A New Jersey congressman wrote directly to Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta two months ago to seek details about the Dover Air Force Base mortuary’s practice of dumping troops’ cremated body parts in a landfill but says he never received a reply.

The congressman’s letter raises questions about when Panetta learned that the mortuary disposed of cremated portions of remains at the King George County, Va., landfill. Panetta has said he was unaware of the dumping before this week.

Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.), acting on behalf of a constituent whose husband was killed in Iraq and was prepared for burial by the Dover mortuary, said he sent a letter to Panetta on Sept. 16 “seeking clear and definitive answers” about the mortuary’s landfill practices. Holt said he had raised the issue a few months earlier with the Pentagon’s legislative affairs office but was “frustrated by a failure” to get a full response.

Pentagon press secretary George Little said Friday that Panetta’s office had received Holt’s Sept. 16 correspondence and that staffers “have been working to collect the information required to answer the questions in the congressman’s letter. We will, of course, provide a thorough response as promptly as possible.”

Little said Panetta was first briefed on the issue Wednesday.

At a news conference Thursday, Panetta said he had been kept informed about a broader federal investigation into problems at the Dover mortuary but had been unaware of the landfill arrangements until The Washington Post reported on them the day before.

“I did not know that, frankly,” he said.

“I think that it happened back in the past,” added Panetta, who took office July 1. “I know they’ve changed that procedure now, but nevertheless it’s something we should look at.”

The Dover mortuary handles the remains of American troops killed overseas. The Air Force said that it ended the landfill dumping in 2008 and that the ashes are now buried at sea in ceremonies overseen by the Navy.

Air Force officials have said they dumped only cremated fragments or portions of body parts that were unable to be identified at first or were later recovered from the battlefield. Family members had authorized the military to dispose of those portions.

The Air Force said the body parts were cremated, then incinerated, and taken to the landfill by a military contractor. The manner of disposal was not disclosed to relatives of the troops.

In his letter to Panetta, Holt asked why the ashes were trucked to the landfill and not interred at Arlington National Cemetery. He also asked whether the human remains had been mixed with incinerated medical waste, and he sought information on which military contractors were responsible.

As of Friday, Holt said, he still had not received answers from Panetta’s office.

“I thought there would be some straightforward explanation that we could get fairly quickly,” Holt said in a telephone interview. “Evidently this has been harder for them to answer.”

Holt said he was acting on behalf of Gari-Lynn Smith, a constituent whose husband, Army Sgt. 1st Class Scott R. Smith, was killed by a buried bomb in Iraq in 2006.

In 2007, Gari-Lynn Smith received her husband’s autopsy report and learned that some remains had not been found in time to include in his casket.

Over the next four years, she tried to find out what happened to those body parts. A Dover mortuary official notified her in April that they had been cremated and taken to the landfill.

Holt said the Pentagon’s legislative affairs staff confirmed to him in June that the landfill dumping had taken place between 2003 and 2008. Though they did not give details, they wrote to Holt that the practice ended as part of “a process improvement initiative and not the result of complaints or findings of non-compliance.”

In a statement, Holt disputed that assertion.

“It is now clear to me that real issues did and may still exist, complaints were made and non-compliance was an all too common occurrence at Dover,” he said.

In addition, Holt criticized the Pentagon for not informing him — at the time of his inquiries this summer — that the Air Force was simultaneously conducting a separate investigation into the Dover mortuary.

The results of that 18-month investigation were made public Tuesday, when federal investigators said they had documented “gross mismanagement” after whistleblowers complained about lost body parts, shoddy inventory controls and lax supervision.

Panetta has said he was fully briefed about the probe as soon as he took office in July. That investigation, however, did not examine the mortuary’s landfill-dumping.

The defense secretary appointed an independent panel Tuesday to review overall operations at the mortuary. The panel’s leader, former U.S. surgeon general Richard H. Carmona, quit Friday so he instead could run for the Senate. He is seeking an open seat from Arizona.

The Pentagon said Panetta would name a replacement to head the review panel.


Artist's concept of astronauts in an Orion capsule helping direct robotic teleoperations on the moon's farside.

NASA is pressing forward on assessing the value of a "human-tended waypoint" near the far side of the moon — one that would embrace international partnerships as well as commercial and academic participation, SPACE.com has learned.

According to a Feb. 3 memo from William Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for human exploration and operations, a team is being formed to develop a cohesive plan for exploring a spot in space known as the Earth-moon libration point 2 (EML-2).

Libration points, also known as Lagrangian points, are places in space where the combined gravitational pull of two large masses roughly balance each other out, allowing spacecraft to essentially "park" there.

A pre-memo NASA appraisal of EML-2, which is near the lunar far side, has spotlighted this destination as the "leading option" for a near-term exploration capability. [Gallery: Visions of Deep-Space Station Missions]

EML-2 could serve as a gateway for capability-driven exploration of multiple destinations, such as near-lunar space, asteroids, the moon, the moons of Mars and, ultimately, Mars itself, according to NASA officials.

A capabilities-driven NASA architecture is one that should use the agency's planned heavy-lift rocket, known as the Space Launch System, and the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle "as the foundational elements."

The Lagrange points for the Earth-moon system. NASA is evaluating an early mission with the Orion capsule placed at Earth-moon L2. Astronauts parked there could teleoperate robots on the lunar farside. (Image: © David A. Kring, LPI-JSC Center for Lunar Science and Exploration)

Cadence of compelling missions

The memo spells out six strategic principles to help enable exploration beyond low-Earth orbit:

Incorporating significant international participation that leverages current International Space Station partnerships.

U.S. commercial business opportunities to further enhance the space station logistics market with a goal of reducing costs and allowing for private sector innovation.

Multiuse or reusable in-space infrastructure that allows a capability to be developed and reused over time for a variety of exploration destinations.

The application of technologies for near-term applications while focusing research and development of new technologies to reduce costs, improve safety, and increase mission capture over the longer term.

Demonstrated affordability across the project life cycle.

Near-term mission opportunities with a well-defined cadence of compelling missions providing for an incremental buildup of capabilities to perform more complex missions over time.

Quiet zone

According to strategic space planners, an EML-2 waypoint could enable significant telerobotic science on the far side of the moon and could serve as a platform for solar and Earth scientific observation, radio astronomy and other science in the quiet zone behind the moon.

Furthermore, the waypoint could enable assembly and servicing of satellites and large telescopes, among a host of other uses.

If NASA succeeds in establishing an astronaut-tended EML-2 waypoint, it would represent the farthest humans have traveled from Earth to date, the memo points out.

Extended stays at EML-2 would provide advancements in life sciences and radiation-shielding for long-duration missions outside of the Van Allen radiation belts that protect Earth, scientists say.

Robotic roll-out of an antenna — part of a low-frequency array of radio antennas to observe the first stars in the early universe. (Image: © Joe Lazio/JPL )

Next step

Gerstenmaier noted that moving forward on international, commercial and academic partnerships will "require significant detailed development and integration."

Moreover, Gerstenmaier added, EML-2 "is a complex region of cis-lunar space that has certain advantages as an initial staging point for exploration, but may also have some disadvantages that must be well understood."

A NASA study team is assigned the task of developing near-term missions to EML-2 "as we continue to refine our understanding and implications of using this waypoint as part of the broader exploration capability development," the memo explains.

The study is targeted for completion by March 30, 2012.

A working group of International Space Station members — a meeting bringing together space agencies from around the world — is being held in Paris this week with NASA’s EML-2 strategy likely to be discussed with international partners.

Proving ground

Bullish on the promise of telerobotics exploration of the moon from EML-2 is Jack Burns, director of the Lunar University Network for Astrophysics Research (LUNAR) Center at the University of Colorado, Boulder. LUNAR is funded by the NASA Lunar Science Institute.

Burns and his team have been collaborating with Lockheed Martin (builder of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle) for more than a year to plan an early Orion mission that would go into a halo orbit of EML-2 above the lunar far side.

"This is extremely exciting from both the exploration and science sides," Burns told SPACE.com. "This mission concept seems to be really taking off now because it is unique and offers the prospects of doing something significant outside of low-Earth orbit within this decade."

In collaboration with Lockheed-Martin, the LUNAR Center is investigating human missions to EML-2 that could be a proving ground for future missions to deep space while also overseeing scientifically important investigations.

Astronauts at an in-space habitat near the moon could achieve near-telepresence, allowing greatly increased functionality of robots on the lunar surface compared to control from Earth. (Image: © Dan Lester, University of Texas)

Roadways on the moon?

In a LUNAR Center white paper provided to SPACE.com, researchers note that an EML-2 mission would have astronauts traveling 15 percent farther from Earth than did the Apollo astronauts, and spending almost three times longer in deep space. [Lunar Legacy: Apollo Moon Mission Photos]

Such missions would validate the Orion spacecraft's life-support systems for shorter durations, could demonstrate the high-speed re-entry capability needed for return to Earth from deep space, and could help scientists gauge astronauts’ radiation dose from cosmic rays and solar flares. Doing so would help verify that Orion provides sufficient radiation protection, as it is designed to do, researchers said.

On such missions, the white paper explains, Orion astronauts could teleoperate gear on the lunar far side. For instance, the moon-based robotic hardware could obtain samples from the geologically appealing far side — perhaps from the South Pole-Aitken basin, which is one of the largest, deepest and oldest craters in the solar system.

Also on a proposed lunar robotic agenda is deployment of a low-frequency array of radio antennas to observe the first stars in the early universe.

Among a number of research jobs, the LUNAR team has been investigating how modest equipment could be used to fuse lunar regolith into a concrete-like material, which could then be used for construction of large structures, without the expense of having to carry most of the material to the lunar surface.

The ability to fabricate hardened structures from lunar regolith could also foster on-the-spot creation of solar arrays, habitats, and radiation shielding and maybe, even roadways on the surface of the moon.

Leonard David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. He is a winner of last year's National Space Club Press Award and a past editor-in-chief of the National Space Society's Ad Astra and Space World magazines. He has written for SPACE.com since 1999.

Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.


The federal government could save billions of dollars if it tackled the roots of poverty, according to a new report from a government advisory body.

The report from the National Council of Welfare urges the governing Tories to take a long-term "investment" approach to preventing poverty, rather than a short-term program spending approach.

It says the public cost of poverty is easily $25 billion a year, and climbing — all while the poverty rate does not improve.

Conservative Senator Hugh Segal says the new report uses hard numbers to link poverty to the cost of productivity, health care and the justice system. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

"The costs and consequences of poverty are much larger than direct spending on social programs. We see the total costs when indirect and societal costs are taken into account," the report says.

The council has been able to look at the cost of poverty in a way that federal departments can't, said Conservative Senator Hugh Segal, who has long been involved in poverty eradication.

Federal departments analyze poverty programs with a simple cost-benefit analysis, while the council report is able to look at "the cost of inertia, the cost of not doing anything," Segal said.

But the new report uses hard numbers to link poverty to the cost of productivity, health care and the justice system, he added.

"It's a very good way to encourage public debate and discussion."

Savings to be found at hospitals, prisons

The long-term preventive approach would eventually save taxpayers significant amounts in emergency health care, prisons, shelters and other social services that are used in floundering attempts to keep poverty under wraps, the report says.

There's a catch. Overhauling social supports would require up-front funding.

P.O.V. How should Canada deal with poverty? Have your say.

"An investment model is geared towards the longer term," says the report titled "The Dollars and Sense of Solving Poverty." "It may require larger initial resources and may take time, but there will be a far greater and more permanent pay-off."

While many an anti-poverty advocate has argued that reducing poverty would also reduce health-care costs, the council's report documents case after case of communities saving money by changing their approach.

A homeless person in Calgary, for example, can run up $42,000 a year in costs at emergency shelters. Putting that person in a prison or psychiatric hospital would cost about $120,000. But giving that person access to supportive housing and social services would cost between $13,000 and $18,000, the report says.

Similarly, about 20 per cent of health-care spending in Canada is attributed to socio-economic factors such as income, the report says, citing research from the Public Health Agency of Canada.

"Canadians are paying the most in the least productive areas, trying to fix costly problems linked to inequality, insecurity and poverty that are preventable," the report states.

The council recognizes there is a general public concern that spending money on the poor would come at a cost to other people and services.

But it argues that poverty reduction benefits society at large, and not just the poor.

Pressure on hospitals would be alleviated. The Canadian population would have higher levels of literacy and numeracy, benefiting the economy. And a healthier workforce would dramatically reduce companies' costs of absenteeism.

The council, tasked with advising the federal government on dealing with poverty, says Ottawa should start by setting out a long-term vision that identifies needed resources and sets up a way to measure success.

The recommendations are similar to those put forward by Canada Without Poverty. In its pre-budget submission, the national activists' group urges the federal government to set firm targets and timelines to reduce poverty, and work with all levels of government to that end.

Both groups warn that dealing with poverty is a far more efficient way to reduce crime than passing tough crime legislation that would hit the poor hard.

"People who face poverty combined with other factors such as addiction, mental illness and discrimination, and who are mixed with those inclined to inflict evil on these victims, equals crime," the pre-budget submission states.

But the federal government has repeatedly resisted calls for a national anti-poverty strategy, saying such issues are better dealt with by local and provincial levels of government.

And, indeed, most provincial governments are seized with designing new, long-term anti-poverty strategies. But they also argue that they have neither the scope nor the money to do it alone.

"It is still a hard sell. Poverty is a hard sell. It shouldn't be, because it costs everybody," said Liberal Senator Art Eggleton, who led a massive study on poverty two years ago, only to see it dismissed by the federal Tories.

"Our future prosperity may well depend on how we address our current level of poverty. I quite simply don't believe we can afford poverty any more."

Human Resources Minister Diane Finley will be less likely to ignore this anti-poverty report than others, added Segal. That's because it comes from a group of advisers chosen by the government for their apolitical work in the field.

"It should have greater impact," Segal said.


The History of the English penny from 1485 to 1603 covers the period of the Tudor dynasty.

The Tudors (1485–1603) [ edit ]

Henry VII [ edit ]

Silver penny of Henry VII.

Henry Tudor, who reigned as King Henry VII between 1485 and 1509, had a rather tenuous claim on the throne, being the Lancastrian claimant via an illegitimate descendant of Edward III when all the more senior candidates had been killed off in the Wars of the Roses. He brought the wars to a conclusion with his 1485 victory at The Battle of Bosworth and subsequently consolidated this power through a variety of means, including his marriage to Elizabeth of York (which united the two warring dynasties.) Henry VII's reign was plagued by pretenders to the throne, whose existence was a result of the King's initially insecure grasp of power. Nevertheless, he was able to subdue each of these attempted usurpers without particular difficulty. The whole style of Henry's coinage marked a break with what had gone before — the king's bust becomes much more lifelike, and the shields on the reverse become much more detailed. Henry's first coinage is very like that of Henry V and VI, minted at London, Canterbury, Durham and York the inscription is one of a variety of HENRIC DI GRA REX ANG — Henry by the grace of God King of England. Soon, however, Henry introduced what is known as the Sovereign coinage, so-called because the king is depicted seated on a throne, while the reverse shows the royal shield over a cross. This issue is regarded as marking the division between the coins of the Middle Ages and of the Renaissance in England. The Sovereign coinage was minted at London, Durham, and York, and inscribed with one of a variety of HENRICUS DI GRA REX ANG .

Henry VIII [ edit ]

Silver penny of Henry VIII.

Henry VIII (1509–1547) is one of England's more interesting monarchs, not just for having married six times, but numismatically too. Henry's first coinage, to 1526, resembled that of his father and still used his father's portrait. With higher bullion prices on the continent, the weight of the silver coins was reduced again. Pennies were minted at the London, Canterbury, and Durham mints. With the reformation starting in the 1530s, the principal effect as far as the coinage was concerned was the closure of the ecclesiastical mints of Canterbury, Durham and York — in future all mints would be Royal mints, under the control of the crown who would consequently get all the revenue. The second coinage, of 1526–1544 had a completely different inscription, H.D.G. ROSA SIE SPIA — Henry by the grace of God a rose without a thorn. At this time the pound standard for mintage was changed from the local Tower pound to the internationally known troy pound; therefore, the value of a pennyweight increased from 1.46 grams to 1.56 grams. The coins were minted at London, and the Canterbury, Durham and York ecclesiastical mints.

The Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 1530s and the ratification of the First Act of Supremacy in 1534 resulted in a huge financial bonus for the king, but by 1544 Henry was running short of money, thanks partially to his own extravagant lifestyle and expenditure. Henry's solution was to drastically lower the fineness of the third coinage (1544–47) to only one-third silver and two-thirds copper. This was understandably not popular with the people, and it resulted in Henry acquiring the nickname "Old Coppernose" as the silver rubbed off the high-relief part of the coin design. By this time there were two mints in London, at the Tower and in Southwark, and both of them, together with mints in Bristol, Canterbury and York produced the debased coinage which bore the inscription H.D.G. ROSA SINE SPINA .

Edward VI [ edit ]

Silver penny of Edward VI.

The debased coinage caused rampant inflation, so when Henry died in 1547 he left behind a country with a sickly nine-year-old king, religious turmoil, and economic unrest. Moreover, the influx of silver and gold from Central and South America into Spain and thus to the rest of Europe was destabilising the price of bullion and making the situation worse.

Until 1551, what is known as the posthumous coinage was produced — these were coins which were exactly the same as Henry's last issue, but with a different portrait of him. Inflation over the last thirty years had made the penny much less important, and in fact for the next few reigns the most common coins would be shillings, sixpences, and groats. The reign of Edward VI though short (1547–1553) was numismatically important for seeing the introduction of new denominations — the silver crown, half crown, shilling, Sixpence, and Threepence — which were to survive until 1971, and which were a reflection of the increasing wealth of the country. The new coins were struck in good silver, with the aim of revitalising the economy. Edward VI's pennies however, were still struck in debased metal (except for one, possibly unique, coin) at the Tower, Southwark, Bristol and York, with the inscription E.D.G. ROSA SINE SPINA — Edward by the grace of God a rose without a thorn.

Mary I [ edit ]

Silver penny of Mary and Philip.

In 1553 Edward died and was succeeded — after the nine-day rule of Lady Jane Grey — by his older sister, the strongly Catholic Queen Mary. Pennies of her first year, bearing her head alone with the inscription M.D.G. ROSA SINE SPINA — Mary by the grace of God a rose without a thorn — are quite rare. In 1554 she married Philip, the Prince of Spain, and put his portrait on the coinage as well as her own. Both fine silver and base metal pennies of this reign were issued from the Tower mint, with the legend P Z M D G ROSA SINE SPINA — Philip and Mary by the grace of God a rose without a thorn.

Elizabeth I [ edit ]

Silver penny of Elizabeth I.

When Elizabeth I ascended the throne in 1558, England was an impoverished country, in religious turmoil, and with a coinage which was in a poor state after Henry VIII's debasement, since when little had been done to improve either the quantity or quality of the coins in circulation. The coinage system as a whole urgently needed reform, and Elizabeth boldly set about doing this. Throughout her reign large quantities of gold and silver coins of many denominations were produced (the gold and silver often being obtained by raiding Spanish shipping); of the silver denominations produced the shilling and sixpence were most important, but small denomination coins — groats, threepences, half-groats, three-halfpence, pennies, three-farthings, and halfpennies — were also struck and were very popular with merchants and small traders.

For the first time in England milled, or machine-produced, coins were produced by Eloye Mestrelle, an ex-employee of the Paris mint, between 1560 and 1572, but while the milled issue was fairly successful there was animosity towards Mestrelle by other employees of the Tower mint who feared for their jobs, which ultimately led to his dismissal. No milled pennies were produced, as they would probably have been too small to be mechanically produced by the equipment of the time. Also for the first time some of Elizabeth's coins were dated.

Elizabethan pennies are very small, and are often found creased or bent. The obverse bears the legend E D G ROSA SINE SPINA — Elizabeth by the grace of God a rose without a thorn — around a left-facing bust of the queen, while the reverse bears the legend CIVITAS LONDON — City of London. All pennies were minted at the Tower mint, in London.

References [ edit ]


Now that Virtual Reality is becoming more mainstream you begin to see games that were previously meant for traditional 2D being resigned and ported over to VR systems. Personally I am EXTREMELY excited to see developers taking popular 2D games and bring them back to life in a fully 3D VR environment. Indie game ‘Please, Don’t Touch Anything’ (PDTA) originally released on March 26th, 2015 and was a HUGE hit for those who tried it out, leaving it with over 1000 positive reviews on Steam. This hidden gem will SOON be available on Oculus Home (MAY 19th) for the Oculus Rift ($14.99) and Gear VR! ($8.99).

The game has been developed by Escalation Studios and Four Quarters based in Texas in partnership with Oculus. Published by Bulkypix based in France.

***The remainder of the article may contain mild spoilers included in text, pictures, & video.

“over 1000 positive reviews”

When I first started the game I was immediately struggling to figure out my purpose as I had never previously played this game and I was not familiar with any of the objectives. I find it extremely satisfying when you have to slowly figure out things for yourself as opposed to being given too many hints and obvious paths to follow at the beginning of the game. Even so it wasn’t long before I was getting into the groove and creating plenty of chaos!

The developers of this game have done an amazing job at creating a seamless atmosphere that looks and feels like a legitimate work space all the while concealing the fact that almost each and every object is a potential clue that must be looked at, studied, and deciphered for it’s proper meaning within the puzzle. What I really love is the fact that you don’t WIN the game as much as you PLAY the game. It’s about doing things differently and making sure you troubleshoot properly. You could say this is a creative troubleshooting simulator set in a warped reality!

VR SPECIAL FEATURES! (escalation.com)

30+ mind-bending enigmas with Virtual Reality enhanced endings

Fully re-imagined 3D environment built specifically for Virtual Reality

Innovative interaction systems for investigating objects in the room

A newly-composed chiptune soundtrack with new tracks for VR

Don’t worry I didn’t forget about the video! Just in case the article wasn’t enough, I have a semi-playthrough ‘Let’s Play’ video available for you to watch! I worked hard on it so please take a look! I played the game for just about an hour an managed to get through about 6 of the 30+ endings!

Thanks a lot for checking out this article! I hope you found it interesting and informative! Please let me know if you have any questions or comments either below or on one of my social outlets! I really appreciate it. Also, if you think that you have something article worthy let me know! I love collaborating with the community! Thanks again!

If you’d like to see more in-game pictures click here! ***Mild Spoilers

VRGAMERDUDE PLAYS IN HIS GEAR VR!

UKRIFTER PLAYS WITH HIS CV1!


I need some advice... I'm a 29 year old female, college graduate, and firmly situated in a great job. I've been dating my 29 year old boyfriend for a year and a half. I love him and I know he loves me. We have a great relationship, enjoy each other's company, and our families love us and emotionally support us. We both are adults with our own homes. We don't live together. We have friends and hobbies. We're both physically active and take care of our bodies. He gets me and loves me for who I am. He defends me and provides a listening ear when I need it. He also isn't afraid to call me out when I'm wrong. He's become one of my closest friends. I love him for all those things.

He started college later than most people and recently graduated. He has a decent job and is job hunting to find something better and more within his degree path. Like me, he has a solid family, great parents who've never been divorced and a sibling married with kids.

He talks about us in futuristic terms. "Our kids, our someday house, our dreams..." I believe he wants a future with me. However, whenever I bring up marriage he gets this "deer in headlights" look. He tells me the thought of marriage frightens and overwhelms him. Those conversation usually end with him frustrated and holding me while I cry. I wouldn't consider myself a clingy or overly emotional woman but when he says those things I get scared. I'm scared on some level of not being enough or unwanted, of being alone for the rest of my life, and of not spending the rest of my life with him. I've stopped bringing it up. I don't want to be a nag and I feel that I shouldn't have to be. Either he loves me and wants to spend his life with me or he doesn't.

I want to be married. I'm ready. I want a family one day. I want a family with him.

My question is this. How long do I wait for him to be ready? Honestly, I feel like the two year mark is the deal maker or breaker. But is that reasonable? I feel like I've been waiting for him... to graduate, to get settled, to become ready... do I keep waiting? I realize, "Love is patient." But how long does one remain patient?

I don't want to have a "you marry me or we're over" discussion. I'm not into ultimatums. But at the same time, I'm nearing my 30s and I do want a family one day. Waiting for years for him to "be ready" doesn't seem healthy.

Your thoughts?


TORONTO — Bullets claimed two more lives early Sunday during a violent month in which the number of people killed by shootings in Toronto doubled compared to last January.

Two men are dead and three others suffered injuries in a Chinatown shooting at Spadina Avenue and Nassau Street around 3:15 a.m.

“Some sort of altercation occurred that prompted the shooting but we’re still early in the investigation,” said Toronto Police Det. Mike Carbone, who wouldn’t rule out the possibility that the killings were the result of gang-related violence.

“It’s difficult to say at this point, but that’s something we will explore,” he said.

I was lying in bed and heard six to eight gunshots and soon I heard a lot of sirens

In the 37 shooting incidents in Toronto in January, eight people were killed. Four died in shootings in January 2014.

In Sunday’s multiple shooting, one man was pronounced dead at the scene, while another died in hospital around 8:45 a.m. Their identities have not been released by police.

The stretch of Spadina between Dundas Street and College Street, home to many ethnic restaurants and small businesses, was closed most of the day for the investigation as police officers canvassed the area.

Officers did not release any information about suspects.

Mitchell Kingsley, who lives near the spot where the shooting took place, recalled hearing a series of shots.

“I was lying in bed and heard six to eight gunshots and soon I heard a lot of sirens,” Kingsley said. “It’s crazy. I don’t know if an altercation went wrong, but I don’t think I have to worry. I’m not the type of person to provoke someone.”

Toronto’s eight gunfire victims in January: Jan 4: Joseph Petit, 17, is shot in front of his home in Danforth Village. He dies in hospital. No arrests. Jan. 19: Tevin James, 22, is shot in an Etobicoke apartment and dies three days later. Frederick Leon, 20, is charged with second-degree murder. Jan. 20: Alfredo Patriarca, 42, is found shot to death in a garage in Etobicoke. No arrests. Jan. 20: A gunman kills Alva Dixon, 70, and wounds a man in his 40s as they sit in a parked van in East Toronto. No arrests. Jan. 24: Adedotun Agunbiade, 28, is shot to death during a private party at a hair salon in a strip mall in Scarborough. No arrests. Jan. 29: Former Mafia boss Rocco Zito, 87, is gunned down in his home near Yorkdale Shopping Centre. His son-in-law, Domenico Scopelliti, 51, is charged with first-degree murder. Jan. 31: Two people are killed and three wounded outside a restaurant in Chinatown.


Had marijuana become a problem for me, it would have been reflected in my job performance, and I would have been cut. I took my job seriously and would not have allowed that to happen. The point is, marijuana and excellence on the playing field are not mutually exclusive.

A good example is Josh Gordon, the Cleveland Browns wide receiver who led the league last year with 1,646 receiving yards, despite missing two games for testing positive for codeine (for a strep throat, he said). He was suspended again late last month for the entire season after testing positive for marijuana. (At least five others were also suspended last year and this year for marijuana, according to the magazine Mother Jones.)

Most players are tested once a year under the N.F.L.’s substance abuse policy, between April 20 and Aug. 9. But players who test positive for a banned drug are placed in the league’s substance abuse program, where the testing is more frequent. It is in this probationary program that players tend to falter.

Gordon had marijuana in his system. He broke the rules. I understand that. But this is a rule that absurdly equates marijuana with opiates, opioids and PCP. The N.F.L.’s threshold for disciplinary action for marijuana is 10 times higher than the one used by the International Olympic Committee.

Nearly 17,000 Americans overdosed and died from prescription painkillers in 2011, according to the most recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These are the same pills I was handed in full bottles after an injury. The same pills that are ravaging our cities. The same ones that are creating a population of apathetic adults, pill-popping their way through the day and dead behind the eyes. The same ones that are leading high schoolers to heroin because the pills no longer get them high and are too expensive. Yeah, those.


Wireless charging is hardly a ubiquitous feature in smartphones and tablets at this point. It's often optional—phones from certain carriers will have it, or you'll be able to add it to a phone using a special charging case. But if you pick a phone at random off the shelf, chances are good that it won't support wireless charging out of the box.

Google's most recent Nexus devices, on the other hand, have all included built-in support for the feature—the Nexus 4, Nexus 5, and 2013 Nexus 7 all support wireless charging. While any charging pad that supports the Qi (pronounced "chee") standard will work with them, as of last week Google will sell you its own Nexus-branded charger to match. This is actually the second Nexus charger that Google has made, after the now-discontinued (and somewhat problematic) Nexus 4 wireless charger. Google sent us one of the new chargers, and we put it through its paces to see if it's worth the $50.

Unboxing

Recent Nexus phones and tablets have come in well thought out, understated blue boxes, and the Nexus wireless charger follows the trend. Lift the lid off the box and the charger will be sitting right there, staring you in the face.

The charger itself is a surprisingly small square that's 2.36 inches on each side and half an inch thick, but it's pretty dense—it weighs 3.7 ounces, not all that much less than the Nexus 5's 4.59 ounces. The glossy black top is unadorned save for a faint Nexus logo in the center, and the sides are a blank matte plastic except for the side with the micro USB port embedded in it.

On the underside, Google has applied some sticky but not-quite-adhesive material that plants the charger firmly to whatever surface you'd like, but it doesn't leave a residue when you pry it off. This material is not quite as sticky as tape, but it's grippy enough that it could hang out on the wall of my office for 15 or 20 seconds before falling on the floor (whoops). It should easily keep the charger from sliding around on your desk or bedside table, but if you move it around a lot you'll need to clean the dust and grit off it to keep it sticky.

You won't find a mention of the Qi standard anywhere on Google's product page, but that appears to be what the Nexus charger is using. It's listed as being compatible with the Nexus 4, Nexus 5, and the 2013 Nexus 7, but it should also work fine with other Qi-enabled phones (or phones with Qi-compatible charging cases).

Once you've stuck the charger where you want it, you just need to set your phone or tablet on top of it to start charging. Magnets will pull the device into place and keep it there, so the device isn't in any danger of slipping off the charger or moving too much if you need to poke at it while it's charging. Centering the tablet on the charger can be a little tricky, but all three Nexus devices make a distinctive notification sound when charging wirelessly to tell you when you've done it correctly.

On the whole, the design of the charger is better thought out than the old Nexus 4 wireless charger. That device had an angled face (which made it difficult to impossible to use with anything larger than a phone) and used the same not quite adhesive material to hold the slippery Nexus phone to the charger. As we've noted, this material picks up dust and other detritus easily, and the dirtier it is the worse it is at sticking to things. The Nexus 4 charger had the more distinctive design, but the new charger is definitely more functional.

Power draw and charging speeds

This was my own first foray into wireless charging, so I was interested in seeing how much power the charger used compared to a standard wired charger plus how this affected charging speeds. Using an ever handy Kill-A-Watt meter, I measured power draw at the wall for both the wireless charger and a standard micro USB charger (these figures are for the adapter that shipped with the 2013 Nexus 7, but the figures for the one that comes with the Nexus 5 were about the same). These figures were each taken when the phone's battery was mostly empty and with the screens turned off (the numbers will generally go up when the screen is on and the device is in active use, and they'll fall as you near the end of a charge cycle).

Device Power draw (micro USB) Power draw (wireless charger) Nexus 5 6.6 Watts 6.0 Watts Nexus 7 (2013) 7.5 Watts 6.1 Watts

The Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 will both draw more power through a micro USB charger than the wireless charger, which is par for the course—wireless charging usually isn't as fast as charging through a cable. These differences in power draw are reflected in charge times. The Nexus 7 takes about two hours and 56 minutes to charge using its power adapter, but six hours and six minutes to charge using the wireless charger. The wireless charger draws about 25 percent less power, but it takes 100 percent more time to charge the tablet. Keep in mind that the convenience of wireless charging also takes longer and is less efficient.

Wireless charging is still a nice feature—it's a good box to check, but its exclusion wouldn't keep us away from an otherwise attractive phone or tablet. If your phone does support Qi, and you're in the market for a nice charger, you could do worse than Google's. Unlike its first try, the new Nexus Wireless Charger is unobtrusive, attractive, and functional. It's a little pricey at $50 (compared both to other charging pads and to the adapter that came with your phone), but it gets the job done.


Monero (XMR), the privacy-centric cryptocurrency that was first released in 2014, is now definitely on the FBI’s radar. In late 2016, darknet markets AlphaBay and Oasis Markets began to accept Monero for payments. At a recent seminar session attended by a journalist from CoinDesk, Special Agent Joseph Battaglia of the FBI’s Cyber Division in New York City, told 150 people at Fordham University that the FBI was monitoring Monero, and was concerned criminals would use Monero for nefarious purposes. Special Agent Battaglia gave a “high-level” account of how the FBI’s Cyber Division conducts cryptocurrency investigations, during the event. The event was hosted by Fordham University and co-hosted by IBM and was attended by law students at the university, as well as by New York City Police detectives and IRS agents.

“There are obviously going to be issues if some of the more difficult to work with cryptocurrencies become popular. Monero is one that comes to mind, where its not very obvious what the transaction path is or what the actual value of the transaction is except to the end users,” Special Agent Battaglia said at the seminar. During 2016, the price of Monero soared from around $0.50 (USD) to over $12 (USD). Monero provides more privacy than Bitcoin, using the CryptoNote protocol which is based on one-time ring signatures and stealth addresses. Monero transactions cannot be traced, and is designed to prevent the identity of the sender and receiver of the cryptocurrency.

During a panel at the event, which featured IBM’s Vice President of Blockchain Business Development, Special Agent Battaglia described the FBI as a “reactionary organization” and said that the FBI’s Cyber Division is taking a wait-and-see approach with Monero. “We’re going to look at what catches on, and what becomes mainstream, and then we’re going to keep an eye on that, because usually not long after that is when you start to see some of the fraud and some of the more nefarious uses of that technology,” Battaglia said during the panel. Battaglia would not provide additional information about the FBI’s investigative techniques surrounding Monero, when asked after the event.

The FBI’s Cyber Division was founded in 2002, and according to Battaglia, the division splits it’s work equally between criminal matters and matters of national security. The Cyber Division is made up of squads located throughout the United States. Special Agent Battaglia explained that partnerships are made between the FBI’s Cyber Division and state police, the IRS, FinCEN, the Secret Service, and “detectives from all sorts of different law enforcement agencies.” At a keynote address, Special Agent Bataglia also mentioned how Monero is increasingly being used by ransomeware.

While Oasis has since gone offline, in an exit scam, AlphaBay continues to function and allow users to make deposits and withdrawals in both Bitcoin and Monero. AlphaBay began accepting Monero on September 1st, 2016. “Following the demand from the community, and considering the security features of Monero, we decided to add it to our marketplace,” a notice on AlphaBay said in August of 2016.


From RationalWiki

Computing woo refers to a range of pseudoscientific practices and urban legends associated with computing, especially computer security.

Technical support [ edit ]

The world of technical support is a magical place. User[Who?] beliefs include:

Programming [ edit ]

Technicians and software developers many of whom consider themselves rational logical thinkers are not immune from all kinds of sloppy thinking and superstitions:

Heisenbugs , issues that never seem the same when you attempt to study them

, issues that never seem the same when you attempt to study them Cargo cult programming

It works on my machine: some programmers and IT have a tendency to assume that because code will run on one computer, that if it doesn't run on another one, that the other one is broken. It's usually the opposite. If you have code that runs on your personal computer but not on other machines, it is probably doing something dangerous that should cause segmentation faults or similar, but somehow is being allowed to do it. Alternatively, it may be set up in a way that is peculiar to the settings and file system on your machine.

Name, time, addresses, maps, gender misconceptions and more![4][please explain]

And among most people there is little conception what's involved in programming, to the point that the moviegoing public can accept the idea that a sufficiently good programmer can write a virus for a completely alien operating system, in a completely alien language, and have it work right the first time.[note 1]

BadBIOS [ edit ]

BadBIOS is firmware malware that was created by Ruiu ... in his head. Individuals like Ruiu are extremely concerned about malicious firmware from hackers and the NSA to the point of literal paranoia.

Origin [ edit ]

According to Ruiu (@dragosr on twitter), BadBIOS is a rootkit that can infect computers without bluetooth, ethernet, or Wi-Fi. Instead it can infect other computers by emitting "ultrasonic sound [...] from the device's loudspeakers". Computers nearby somehow pick up the sound via the speakers and thus get infected. Ruiu suspected his computers were infected with BadBIOS once his computers were acting strange.[5] Ruiu later provided data dumps of his BIOS only to have experts reveal it was normal data. Ruiu then countered stating that the malware probably erased itself whenever he tried to make a data dump.[6] While these claims are not outside the realm of science fiction, Ruiu has not provided a silver bullet, only speculation. Despite this, his reputation seems to be intact somehow.

Years later, Ruiu came to the conclusion that BadBIOS can also contaminate USB , through some way of knowing...[7]

The subreddit [ edit ]

Yep, /r/badBIOS/ is a subreddit for a malware that probably never existed! Unsurprisingly, it's inhabited by some users who think that one weird thing in a computer means infected malware. These people are generally paranoid, judging by the threads:

User thinks hackers infected his ... mp4 file because it got corrupted. [8] OP blatantly states they used a dirty electricity filter to evade hacking. Ironically, his means to evade being hacked is the reason why he thinks he got hacked — having poor connection to an external device can disconnect a device when it's not ready, resulting in corrupted file. [ citation needed ]

OP blatantly states they used a dirty electricity filter to evade hacking. Ironically, his means to evade being hacked is the reason why he thinks he got hacked — having poor connection to an external device can disconnect a device when it's not ready, resulting in corrupted file. A user claims that they're picking up ultrasonic sound ... must be badBIOS! [9] Ultrasonic sound is just high-frequency sound above the human hearing range. There are other (plausible) sources of such frequencies such as bats.

Ultrasonic sound is just high-frequency sound above the human hearing range. There are other (plausible) sources of such frequencies such as bats. "Neuroimaging tech will soon be able to decode our thoughts"[10] An example of just how paranoid this subreddit is.

Truth to it [ edit ]

Despite Ruiu's paranoia, there is truth to the madness:

Through an "internal NSA catalog", the NSA performs firmware attacks through backdoors thus confirming proof that such attacks do exist. Unlike BadBIOS, these attacks are actually detectable and actually have documentation; however, certain tools in the catalog require tools priced as high as 250,000$USD, something not to be wasted on the average Joe. Despite this discovery, it doesn't confirm Ruiu's brain fart that has no evidence. [11] [12] [13] [6]

In the paper Journal of Communication, Michael Hanspach and Michael Goetz showed that BadBIOS is possible but only at 20 bps.[14]

Deep web [ edit ]

See the main article on this topic: Deep web

Cargo cult paranoid computer security practices are often advocated by naive internet denizens and trolls towards even more naive newcomers. High profile attacks aimed at Tor hidden services Operation Onymous as well as large attacks on users such as the FBI's legally dubious network investigation malware[15] has created an association of insecurity and surveillance associated with what is in fact one of the most secure and surveillance-resistant networks ever created.

Prospective explorers often ask if they should put tape over their webcam or use Tails in order to 'safely' explore the dark web. They will fixate on how technological configurations can secure their machines, but are entirely clueless about vectors such as password reuse, identity segregation or how to verify safety of file downloads.

Such common misconceptions stem from limited public understanding of threat modelling , privacy and practical computer security. As such, there is a massive market for bloggers and YouTube charlatans such as Takedownman and SomeOrdinaryGamers to offer off-the-shelf tips which increase the user's feeling of security.

Every day, an intrepid dark web explorer will read that the US Navy founded the initial creation of the Tor network and fancy themselves the next Edward Snowden by disseminating this information.[16]

Hackers and viruses [ edit ]

[17] Or maybe to keep their missiles from crashing into the Firmament. Russian Orthodox Leader Sprays Holy Water on Government Computers to Magically Stop WannaCry Attack.Or maybe to keep their missiles from crashing into the Firmament.

[citation NOT needed] Criminal hackers don't wear balaclavas except when it's cold or they are being ironic.

Due to the low understanding of what hackers do and how viruses and malware works, it has been a relatively accepted trope for someone to claim their account was hacked as a get-out-jail-free card in the event of certain drug-fuelled rants and dramas.[18]

Some computer users will attribute changes to their computer to malevolent forces in a method comparable to astrology when it comes to rationalising changing and intermittent issues.

Of course, in a video gaming context, anyone who is better than you is a hacker.

There is a small number of 'anti-updaters', an anti-vaccination movement-like contingent of people arguing against automatically updating applications due to the misplaced belief that significant numbers of people care to manually review and install all patches.[19][20] Patches and updates are generally good, except maybe if you're working with the CIA.[21] Yes, there are occasions where an update breaks something that was working before or causes other mischief, but by and large updates are something you want: they fix problems and improve the security of your system.

Cryptography [ edit ]

See the main article on this topic: Cryptography

Depending on who you ask, encryption can be anything from the largest piece of social good modern mathematics has ever produced or a dangerous weapon utilised by terrorists[22] and child abusers[22] in order to evade justice which must be carefully controlled.

In the early days of strong cryptography, the US government attempted to issue export bans, classifying the technology as akin of munitions.[23] While such bans were overturned in 1992, it wasn't until the rise of ubiquitous personal computing that governments would once again characterize mathematics as a dangerous tool.

The 2010s saw an increased call from politicians[Who?] around the world to backdoor common encryption software.[24] From the encrypted-by-default iPhone[25] through to bans on WhatsApp [26] in Brazil[27] and proposed and later withdrawn in the UK,[28] governments around the world remain convinced they can create a secure back door into software to counter criminals; however, it's not like backdoors are only exclusive to government agencies.

Said statements could be considered rhetoric to coerce tech giants deeper into mass surveillance programs, and less charitably as mathematical denialism from senior elected officials.

Monitoring your Internet usage [ edit ]

How much do your teachers, coworkers, employers, or other people really know about what you do online?

"The Internet" is really an inter-network, or a network of networks.[note 2] Your home Internet, the free WiFi at a coffee shop, your campus or work networks, etc. are all networks that talk to other networks. When you view a website, check your email, or chat with your friends, your computer achieves that by sending traffic from your network to someone else's, and routing it through every network in between.

Anyone with control of the network can try to figure out what kind of traffic you're sending, where it's going, and what's in it. The modern Internet is moving toward HTTPS by default, which is an attempt to make things more secure. If your browser reports that your connection is "secure" or "insecure", it's talking about HTTPS specifically. It doesn't mean that there's no chance that anyone can intercept what you're doing. By analogy, you're writing letters to a friend, and passing them through the hands of a series of strangers. By agreement, everyone has agreed not to tamper with the contents of the letter. HTTPS lets you seal the letter from (most) prying eyes, but does nothing to hide which friend you're mailing.

It's important to remember that there are good reasons for network administrators to monitor what goes into or out of their networks. If someone downloads and runs malware from an unsafe site, it puts the whole network at risk. If an employee does something illegal with their computers, their employer might be implicated. Few admins should have any kind of interest in spying on individual users, but every good admin has an interest in a safe and healthy network.

Email security [ edit ]

Who can read your email? Whoever provides you with email services, for starters. Microsoft read a blogger's Hotmail inbox in 2012, suspecting a software leak.[29] Ironically, around this same time, Microsoft was running the Scroogled ad campaign, attacking Gmail for using inbox contents to serve up targeted ads. It also defended its own right to read your mail.[30]

Email alternatives such as Slack might also expose even direct messages to your boss.[31]

Secure email and instant-messaging tools do exist, but no security system is absolute.

Web filtering [ edit ]

Web filtering is a magical solution to all the world's problems. Simply by stopping people (particularly children, but also library patrons) reaching the wrong website you can prevent sexual depravity bringing about the fall of modern civilisation, and prevent terrorism. Companies including Impero, Future Digital, and Securus sell "anti-radicalisation software" which prevents children reading about Islamist terrorism'.[32] According to online security company Akamai, British law requires schools and universities to consider the use of such software.[33] Whether Akamai is an unbiased source of legal advice is for you to judge.

The traditional use of such software is to block access to pornography online, but such filters are pathetically useless. A British newspaper report complained that one filter blocked searches for "sex education" but allowed explicit searches in Spanish; it concluded they provide false security and could be easily circumvented (as anybody who knows anything about children could tell you). More seriously, anti-porn filters may discourage children from talking to their parents and actually promote porn addiction: "Filters can also encourage secrecy, deception and shame – key conditions for nurturing dependency or even potential addiction."[34] Because the naughtiness is half the reason why porn is appealing.

Web filters also rarely if ever consider the blocking of pornography or jihadism to be their first priority. The majority of their efforts go to the blocking of websites offering alternative proxies and websites offering translation software. The former because it allows people to easily and perhaps even unintentionally bypass these filters and the latter because they often allow for diverse translations of the thing that people want to be censored and thus increase exponentially the work required to censor everything. Even more worrying is that some have them by default, meaning that no matter what you do, you won't be able to access Babelfish.[35]

You'll be glad to know that the best in the business who have a firm place in the international market are currently selling their software to dictatorships that want to avoid their citizens reading about any information that might potentially harm the way the government is perceived by its citizens. [36] On the plus side, since these governments are spending their time with censoring internet traffic and they will never be able to fully do so anyway, this is often accompanied with a more uncensored traditional press and television. However, one might still question why democratic governments support something that is partially marketed to dictators.

Misc [ edit ]

Things that are not computing woo [ edit ]

Whilst common computing misconceptions are numerous, often too many serious issues are written off[citation needed][Who?] as such including:

See Also [ edit ]

/r/itsaunixsystem on Reddit - dedicated making fun of Hollywood hacking

willusingtheprefixcybermakemelooklikeanidiot.com - You should always be cautious with the about mainstream media reporting of cyber-anything. If in doubt, be sure to check

Notes [ edit ]

↑ As seen for instance in Independence Day ↑ Hence the abbreviation of "Inter-net(work)".


The National Institutes of Health is spending more than $400,000 sending text messages to Latino men to encourage them to exercise.

The University of California, San Diego is conducting the study, which is attempting to employ the “low-cost” strategy of using cell phones to reach Mexican-Americans.

“Mexican-American men report high rates of inactivity and related health conditions. The proposed study seeks to promote physical activity among this at-risk, understudied population by developing interactive and tailored text-messages to enhance a print-based physical activity intervention for Spanish- speaking [Mexican American] MA men,” a grant for the project said. “The proposed high-reach, low-cost strategy for increasing physical activity has great potential for adoption on a larger scale and thereby positively impacting public health and eliminating health disparities.”

Latino men “may have limited access to public health interventions promoting physical activity,” according to the project, and there is a “dearth of studies in this area.”

“To address these rising health disparities, effective interventions that leverage state-of-the-art technology, theory, and methods are needed for [Mexican-American] MA men,” the grant said.

The project is based on a preliminary study using “culturally and linguistically tailored” print campaigns to encourage Latino men to exercise.

Click for more from The Washington Free Beacon.


Ukrainian journalist and political analyst Yuri Romanenko says it's time for Ukraine's Armed Forces to start a deliberate campaign of murdering Russian journalists in Donbass, for the purpose of attracting global media attention.

© AP Photo / Sergei Grits Heard Through Grapevine: Putin Turned Down Poroshenko’s Offer of Donbass

Recalling a recent meeting at Harvard University on his Facebook page , Romanenko noted that he recommended to his colleagues that Ukrainian army snipers suppress Russian coverage of the war in Donbass by deliberately targeting Russian journalists operating in the region.

The political analyst noted that as the conversation turned to the powerful role played by information warfare in the present conflict, speakers began lamenting about how Ukraine has been falling out of the American media space recently. It was then that Romanenko decided to "inject some new life into the debate."

"I know how to resolve the problem of waning attention and to bring media attention to a new level. The Ukrainian army must selectively and carefully eliminate Russian journalists covering the situation in Donbass. We need to direct Ukrainian army snipers to shoot people wearing PRESS helmets, making them priority targets," Romanenko wrote, recalling his comments before the Harvard audience.

"Since the media represent a destructive weapon and allow Russia to operate not only in the war zone, but across Ukraine, taking out several dozen journalists in the conflict zone will reduce the quality of the picture presented in the Russian media and, therefore, reduce the effectiveness of their propaganda."

© Photo : MoD of Ukraine Interpol-Wanted Extremist Appointed Advisor to Ukraine's Chief of Staff

The political analyst explained that such an action would quickly bring Ukraine back into the center of the American media's attention, noting that while on the one hand this would serve as "bad PR" for Ukraine, "all the same, PR is PR, and we must do everything possible not to fall out of the US media's focus in the context of [its] presidential campaign."

The analyst noted that his Harvard hosts rejected his proposal outright, noting that the deliberate murder of journalists is a violation of international law, to which, in Romanenko's recollection, the Ukrainian delegation "happily grinned."

© Sputnik / Anzhela Babenko Ukrainian Economy Suffers 15% Drop in GDP in First 100 Days of 2015

The analyst noted that when Russia repeatedly violated international law in relation to Ukraine, "you didn't seem too worried…so why should you be worried now? The intensification of the conflict, and bringing it to a new level, unable to be ignored by the US and Europe, serves as our magic wand."

Romanenko stated that following the meeting, "one man from the [Ukrainian] diaspora" told him "you are completely right; this is just the way to save Ukraine."


Well, Mrs. Perkins mostly stays put, except when she takes the girls away on vacation. More mercurial is Aline Bernstein (Nicole Kidman), a married theatrical set designer who has adopted Tom as her protégé and appointed herself his muse. This makes her Max’s rival, and also the most interesting and unpredictable person in the movie, even though — or perhaps precisely because — it lacks the imagination to know quite what to do with her.

Instead, “Genius” sighs with palpable nostalgia for a supposed golden age of masculine artistic potency and paints the struggle for self-expression in familiar sentimental colors. For Tom, writing is the unbridled expression of the life force, something Mr. Law indicates by hollering and gesticulating and allowing a stray lock of hair to fall just so across his brow. Mr. Firth’s performance is equally broad, even though he’s supposed to be the more uptight partner in this bromance. He grimaces and sighs like a vaudeville Puritan.

But the actors can perhaps be forgiven, since they are continually pushed into scenes that seem designed to halt subtlety in its tracks. The most egregious of these — in which Tom drags Max to a sweaty nightclub in Harlem, pontificating on the spontaneous energies of jazz and boogieing with the working girls at the bar — adds a dash of racial condescension to the cocktail.

It’s dispiriting to see a movie about interesting real-life characters reduce them to clichés, making them less vivid, less fascinating, less charismatic than they must have been. (It’s also a bit disconcerting, though hardly surprising at this point, to see yet another movie with important figures in American history portrayed by British and Australian actors.) “Genius” is full of talk about art, life and greatness, but it’s only talk.

“Genius” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). Cigarettes and other examples of old-fashioned naughtiness. Running time: 1 hour 44 minutes.


Editor's Note: This has been cross-posted from the EnergyBlog at Energy.gov

As many of us hit the road to celebrate America's independence this upcoming 4th of July weekend, we must once again confront the reality of our country's economy, environment and security dependence on foreign oil.

On Wednesday, June 29th, at 2:00 pm ET, please join Dr. Arun Majumdar at Energy.gov for a frank, two-way discussion about the investments the federal government is making in innovative research and technology today that will move us off of foreign oil and toward the clean energy infrastructure of the future.

Watch the video invitation to the online chat with Dr. Arun Majumdar here.

The Energy Department is making critical investments to improve the technology and ramp-up the development and manufacturing of renewable energy sources, such as advanced biofuels, solar, wind and hydro power.

And as the first director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E), Dr. Majumdar oversees the Department of Energy's investments in high-risk, high-reward projects -- such as work to invent better batteries for electric vehicles, create smarter electric grid infrastructure, explore energy-efficient cooling of buildings, find new ways to create liquid fuels using microorganisms, and many more projects to accelerate the development and deployment of key energy technologies.

You can submit your questions about new energy innovations to Dr. Majumdar in advance of the event through email, Twitter or Facebook, by

Sending an email to newmedia@hq.doe.gov;

Tweeting your question to @energy with the hashtag #energymatters; or

Leaving a question for Dr. Majumdar at http://www.facebook.com/energygov.

You’ll also be able to send him questions live during the event using the above methods, or by visiting energy.gov.

As Dr. Arun Majumdar says in his video, like past American generations have already done, this is our turn to change the world. We hope to see you online on Energy.gov on Wednesday the 29th at 2pm ET to discuss how.


David Cameron today vowed that Britain will take 'thousands' more refugees as he promised to 'fulfil our moral responsibilities'.

The Prime Minister ordered a review of the country's policy on accepting asylum seekers from north Africa, and an announcement on details is expected within days.

The UK is unlikely to sign up to a Brussels plan which emerged today for 160,000 people to be dispersed across the European Union.

But Downing Street has been stung by criticism that Mr Cameron was 'shaming the country' with his refusal to increase the UK's commitment.

Scroll down for video

David Cameron today sought to quell public outrage over the refugee crisis with a promise to 'fulfil our moral responsibilities'

Poll Should Britain agree to take more refugees? Yes No Should Britain agree to take more refugees? Yes 20099 votes

No 75705 votes Now share your opinion

Britain has opted out of UN and EU schemes that could mean accepting tens of thousands more asylum seekers, with the focus on spending aid money in the war torn countries from which people are fleeing.

Mr Cameron argues that opening the door to more refugees is not the answer to the crisis triggered by tens of thousands of people massing in Greece, Italy and Hungary.

But he signalled that senior ministers are now looking at options to increase the number of refugees able to resettle in Britain.

Mr Cameron said: 'We are taking thousands of refugees and we have always done that as a country – running our asylum system properly and giving a proper welcome to people and helping them when they come here.

'We keep it under review. We work with our partners. We are taking thousands of people and we will take thousands of people. What matters is when they come they get a proper welcome and we look after them.'

Public calls for the UK to offer more help has mounted after harrowing images emerged of five-year-old Galip Kurdi and his brother Aylan, 3, who drowned after their dinghy capsized while attempting to cross from Syria to the Greek island of Kos.

Mr Cameron said he was 'deeply moved' by the pictures but refused to spell out plans for an increased offer of more refugee places.

The Prime Minister told reporters: 'Anyone who saw those pictures overnight could not help but be moved and, as a father, I felt deeply moved by the sight of that young boy on a beach in Turkey.

'Britain is a moral nation and we will fulfil our moral responsibilities.

'I would say the people responsible for these terrible scenes we see the people most responsible are President Assad in Syria and the butchers of ISIL and the criminal gangs who are running this terrible trade in people.'

Mr Cameron's remarks were echoed by Chancellor George Osborne, who said Britain had already taken in 5,000 asylum seekers fleeing the war in Syria and would 'go on taking people'

It comes after Mr Cameron has come under pressure from within the Conservative party, as well as political opponents, church leaders and foreign leaders to do more.

Former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond said Mr Cameron was 'shaming the country' over the crisis. He told BBC Radio 4's World At One programme: 'When people, human beings, see other human beings in distress, when we see pictures of young toddlers lying dead on a beach, then the natural human instinct is to help.

'David Cameron's natural instinct is to walk by on the other side and that's why he's shaming the country.'

Britain is a moral nation and we will fulfil our moral responsibilities Prime Minister David Cameron

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby today said the migrant emergency is a 'wicked crisis'.

He added: 'My heart is broken by the images and stories of men, women and children who have risked their lives to escape conflict, violence and persecution.

‘This is a hugely complex and wicked crisis that underlines our human frailty and the fragility of our political systems,’ he added. ‘We must respond with compassion.’

Labour's acting leader Harriet Harman said it was 'deplorable' that the government was 'putting its head in the sand and showing itself to be heartless and out of touch'.

'We are all proud of Britain's historical role of offering a sanctuary to those fleeing conflict and persecution,' she wrote in a letter to the PM.

'We are an outward-facing, generous-hearted nation, not one that turns inward and shirks its responsibilities. I know you will not want to be the Prime Minister of a Government that fails to offer sanctuary while our neighbours are stepping up to respond.

'I strongly support the Government's continued aid for the refugee camps in the region and agree with you that we need much tougher action against people trafficking, but it is clear now that we also have a moral duty to act to take in more of these people and help them to rebuild their lives.'

The human cost: One thousand miles away, a policeman on a Turkish beach had to gently recover the bodies of two brothers drowned as their family tried to make their way to the Greek island of Kos yesterday

Devastating: The two boys' mother also drowned in one of the most harrowing episodes of the migrant crisis

HOW UK'S ASYLUM SYSTEM WORKS It would be easy to think from some of the attacks in recent days that Britain refuses to accept any refugees. In fact, since early 2011 the UK has granted asylum to almost 5,000 Syrians. To claim asylum in the UK, a person has to be in the country. Last year some 32,344 adults and their dependants from around the world applied in 2014, the highest annual number since 2004. In the first quarter of 2015, the figure was 7,435. Genuine refugees are expected to seek asylum in the first safe country to arrive in. However, it can be difficult for people from the most dangerous parts of the world to reach the UK. Under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme, refugees can apply to be resettled in the UK by being transferred from Syria. A total of 216 people have been resettled under scheme so far.

Mr Cameron's remarks were echoed by Chancellor George Osborne, who said Britain had already taken in 5,000 asylum seekers fleeing the war in Syria and would 'go on taking people'. He added that Britain's closed-door refugee policy was 'under review'.

He said Britain would continue sending aid to the Middle East to help Syrian refugees trapped in camps.

He said: 'You have got to make sure the aid keeps coming – we put £1billion of overseas aid in to help these desperate people.'

But he added: 'Of course Britain has always been a home to real asylum seekers, genuine refugees. We have taken 5,000 people from the Syrian conflict.

'We will go on taking more and keep it under review. Britain has been playing a leading role and it will continue to do so.'

It came after Brussels drew up an emergency plan relocate 160,000 refugees across the EU. However, Britain has opted out of the scheme is not obliged to accept a single extra migrant.

Under the new scheme, migrants stranded in Italy, Greece and Hungary will be transferred to countries across the EU based on their population and economic wealth.

It will see Germany granting asylum to 35,000 refugees, France accepting 26,000 and Spain 16,000.

Even poverty-stricken Bulgaria and Romania will be expected to take thousands of families.

However, the UK – which refused to join the scheme when it was originally set up in May – will not have to take in any refugees despite being one of the largest and wealthiest countries in the EU.

If the UK were to take the same share as the rest of the EU it would be expected to grant asylum to around 17,000 refugees - or 11 per cent of the total number.

According to today's leaked EU document there are 54,000 asylum seekers in Hungary 39,600 in Italy, 66,400 in Greece.

Migrants board a train at Keleti Railway Station in Budapest today as plans emerged to relocate refugees across the EU

Around 2,000 migrants from Syria have been forced to sleep near the Keleti railway station in Budapest

PUBLIC PETITION FORCES DEBATE ON TAKING MORE REFUGEES More than 100,000 people have backed a petition calling for Britain to accept more refugees, triggering a debate in Parliament. At one point five people per second were backing the e-petition, urging the government to 'accept more asylum seekers and increase support for refugee migrants in the UK'. The petition adds: 'There is a global refugee crisis. The UK is not offering proportional asylum in comparison with European counterparts. 'We can't allow refugees who have risked their lives to escape horrendous conflict and violence to be left living in dire, unsafe and inhumane conditions in Europe. We must help.' By 10.30am it had passed the 100,000 threshold for it to be considered for a debate in Parliament. Labour leadership contender Andy Burnham called for MPs to debate whether the UK should take in more refugees when Parliament returns next week. 'David Cameron cannot continue to turn his back on the crisis. It is time for him to show leadership and restore Britain's reputation as a country that has always provided refuge to the vulnerable,' he said.

Diplomatic pressure on Mr Cameron is grown in recent days, with Germany and Austria accusing the British PM of behaving like it is 'out of the club in this big task of sharing the burden'.

Some Conservative MPs, peers and donors today publicly called on Mr Cameron to offer sanctuary to 'not hundreds but thousands' of refugees.

Tory MP Jeremy Lefroy told MailOnline: 'We are talking about refugees, people fleeing for their lives. We should be doing more.

'We need to work with local communities up and down the country. The British people are very generous and which to provide help and support.'

The MP for Stafford said the UK government had already done more than any other European country to provide humanitarian help but it was 'not a question of either or', and refugees should be sent to parts of the country best able to support them.

YVETTE'S SELFIE BRIGADE Yvette Cooper has written to all MPs urging them to take a selfie proclaiming that they would welcome more refugees in Britain. The Labour leadership candidate made her move after rival Andy Burnham appeared to claim credit for being the first of the contenders to call for the UK to grant more Syrians asylum. In her letter, the shadow home secretary told MPs the situation ‘transcends’ party politics and the Labour leadership race. She added: ‘We are writing to you now to encourage you to ... take a selfie with a #refugeeswelcome banner and put it on Twitter and Facebook, encouraging others to do the same.’

David Burrowes, the Tory MP for Enfield, said Britain had taken a lead in providing a humanitarian and military response in north Africa but that had to be matched by a 'refuge response'.

'We have got a voluntary resettlement programme but at the moment it is in the numbers of the hundreds compared to other countries where it's thousands,' he told MailOnline.

'Part of the answer is we should not be taking hundreds as we are at the moment but thousands.

'We are open to criticism that we are not taking our fair share but also from our own point of view, I think it makes compassionate sense just to do more.'

Tom Tugendhat, MP for Tonbridge and Malling, wrote on Twitter: 'I've spoken to many in West Kent who want us to do more and I agree with them. Our common humanity demands action at home and abroad.'

Nadhim Zahawi, MP for Stratford-on-Avon, added: 'We r nothing without compassion. Pic should make us all ashamed. We have failed in Syria. I am sorry little angel,RIP.'

Johnny Mercer, the Tory MP for Plymouth Moor View, told The Times: 'We have always led the world in looking after people who can't look after themselves.'

Tory MP Nicola Blackwood posted on Twitter: 'Britain has a proud history of giving sanctuary to those fleeing conflict & protecting the persecuted.

'We cannot be the generation that fails this test of humanity. We must do all we can.'

Fellow Conservative Chris Heaton Harris said the UK had 'always helped refugees fleeing war zones and we should now'.

EU leaders have drawn up a plan to relocate 160,000 refugees around the Continent – but Britain will remain exempt from taking any

Tory MP David Burrowes (left) said Britain had taken a lead in providing a humanitarian and military response in north Africa but that had to be matched by a 'refuge response'. Nadhim Zahawi, MP for Stratford-on-Avon, said Britain was 'nothing without compassion'

100 MIGRANT CHILDREN TAKEN INTO CARE IN KENT IN JUST A MONTH The number of migrant children entering Britain has continued to surge with 100 youngsters taken into care in Kent in just one month alone. Figures show that 720 unaccompanied children seeking asylum are being looked after by Kent County Council, up from 630 at the beginning of August. In comparison, the local authority was supporting around 220 unaccompanied asylum seeking children under the age of 18 in March last year, which rose to 369 in March of this year. The latest figures come after the council said last month it had no more foster beds available for children. The huge surge in the numbers of unaccompanied children seeking asylum comes amid this summer's turmoil in Calais, leaving Kent County Council with a multi-million pound funding gap in care costs.

However, other Tory MPs backed the Prime Minister's stance. Gary Streeter said: 'The reality is that taking more refugees is not going to solve the problem.

'What I am frustrated about is that collectively, whether it is the European Union or the UN or even the US, I don't think we are doing enough to tackle the root problem - we have got to stop people getting on the boats or the trains.'

Former Conservative International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said that the UK was providing an 'immense amount of humanitarian support' to countries such as Syria.

'Were Britain not providing that support, there would be yet more hundreds of thousands of people coming out of that part of the world'

He added that the UK had done 'more than the whole of the EU put together in terms of financial support'.

But Tory MP Andrew Percy said his constituents were not clamouring to accept more refugees, tweeting: ‘It is incredible comparing the media coverage of the migrant crisis with the emails I am receiving from constituents.’ Meanwhile, tension was also mounting across Europe as Brussels was accused of turning the Mediterranean into a ‘cemetery’ for refugees.

Turkey’s president Tayyip Erdogan accused EU states of being responsible for the death of every single victim of the crisis, saying: ‘European countries, which turned the Mediterranean Sea – the cradle of ancient civilisations – into a migrant cemetery are party to the crime that takes place when each refugee loses their life.’

Nils Muiznieks, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, attacked Britain specifically for doing ‘much less’ than other countries to ease the crisis.

Last night, as the numbers crossing into Germany reached nearly 150 per hour, it asked Italy to impose identification checks at Brennero, on the border with Austria, to ease the flow.

An unprecedented surge of migrants has been trying to get to the country after Berlin last week began accepting asylum claims from Syrian refugees regardless of where they entered the EU.

It has caused chaos across eastern Europe as authorities have struggled to cope with the vast numbers who, as undocumented migrants, are theoretically barred from travelling across the EU. Figures released yesterday showed a record 104,460 asylum seekers arrived in Germany last month.

Italian minister for European affairs Sandro Gozi suggested Mr Cameron risks losing support for his plans to curb benefits for migrants.

Mr Gozi told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'It is clear that in front of this mess, in front of this particularly serious crisis, we would welcome that every country take on more responsibility.

'When it comes to the UK, the UK has a special status but if you have a special status you cannot seek to shape policy in which you don't want to participate.'

Labour leadership contender Yvette Cooper has suggested that it should be possible to take some 10,000 people seeking asylum

JUNCKER'S REFUGEE RELOCATION SCHEME EXPLAINED EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker wants 160,000 refugees relocated across the continent European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker is set to propose a big increase in the number of refugees EU countries are required to give refuge to. In July, Mr Juncker called on European leaders to agree to share 40,000 refugees who had successfully made it to Italy and Greece. EU leaders eventually agreed to relocate 32,000 asylum seekers across the continent – but only those from Syria, Iraq and Eritrea. The number of refugees per country was calculated based on population, economic wealth and unemployment rates. Mr Juncker now wants the asylum scheme to be expanded to help relocate 160,000 refugees from three countries - Greece, Italy and Hungary. The new proposals include a 'permanent relocation scheme' so arriving migrants are automatically shared out between EU states. However, the UK, Ireland and Denmark opted out of the scheme when it was first set up.

Peter Sutherland, the UN special representative on international migration, said while some countries were 'massively bearing the burden' of the migrant crisis, the UK was among those that 'can do more'.

Conservative donor Sir Mick Davis said Britain must not 'shut itself off' from modern crises.

Tory former foreign office minister Baroness Warsi told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'We have to be prepared to share the burden.

'This is not about having an open door policy, this is about having quite a specific responsive policy in the areas for example that we have expertise (in).

'Unaccompanied minors, women fleeing from sexual violence, for example territories held by Isis.

'These are areas upon which we have both expertise and an international reputation and I think Britain has always been a generous, open, welcoming country and we must not allow a political climate of today to step away from that proud tradition.'

Labour leadership contender Yvette Cooper has suggested that it should be possible to take some 10,000 people seeking asylum.

She said: 'It is heartbreaking what is happening on our continent. We cannot keep turning our backs on this. We can - and must - do more. If every area in the UK took just ten families, we could offer sanctuary to 10,000 refugees. Let's not look back with shame at our inaction.'

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said the Government's refusal to take more than a few hundred refugees was 'morally wrong' and 'politically foolish' while Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: 'We must do more.'

Amid signs that EU leaders were losing control of the crisis, Germany was yesterday forced to ask Italy to impose identification checks at Brennero, on the border with Austria, sparking claims that free movement is on the brink of collapse.


Huntington Beach Police breath testing patrons in local bars

Is the Huntington Beach Police breath testing patrons in local bars ? The Orange County Register had a news story about the Huntington Beach Police breath testing patrons in local bars as part of the “know your limit” program. Huntington Beach Police received a grant from the State of California Office of Traffic Safety in the amount of $435,226 for the program up to September, 2015, although Police in Huntington Beach said they will continue the program. Police Officers are paid to hang out in local bars, breath test patrons, and give out a silver sticker that reads “I Know My Limit.”

Of 55 cities comparable in size, with 100,001 to 250,000 residents, Huntington Beach was ranked No. 1 in the state in 2011 for alcohol-involved accidents. That year Huntington Beach saw 164 victims killed or injured. Further investigation showed that the majority of those accidents were from the following five local bars:

Baja Sharkeez: 16 accidents Hurricanes Bar and Grill: 5 accidents Marlin Bar and Grill: 5 accidents Huntington Beach Beer Company: 4 Black Bull Chop House: 4

Huntington Beach Police breath testing patrons in local bars

Huntington Beach might be the first to use this breath testing program, but they probably won’t be the last. Officers from the Anaheim Police Department and police agencies in Los Angeles County have joined Huntington Beach officers in downtown bars to test out the program for their cities.

The OC Register Article did state one troubling fact, however. It suggests that people could be arrested for not participating:

Bar patrons who are clearly intoxicated and refuse to participate in Know Your Limit can be arrested for being intoxicated in public, but are mostly encouraged to find a ride home.

Does that mean that if you refuse a breath test in one of the local bars (which is not illegal, as long as you are not being asked to leave), and an officer thinks you are drunk, (without a test to confirm), that you could be arrested based upon not participating in the voluntary test?

The program may also not be particularly effective however. The first city to use the program was Scottsdale, Arizona, where they instituted it in 2010, and then had a record year of drunk driving accidents in 2011.

Awareness to prevent DUIs is admirable, but it’s the driving that is the problem. Drinking is not illegal. If you know how to drink and how to avoid a DUI, you can avoid the intrusion from police demanding a test from you in a bar.

If you do know someone arrested for a Huntington Beach DUI, the best thing you can do is talk to an experienced Huntington Beach DUI lawyer. Call 949-682-5316 to get your free consultation today.


For :iconsMachinesandMonsters:,here is the grand opening for the Dino Charge Megazord Para-Raptor formation..with copics. To be perfectly honest with ya guys,this show rocks!! Hehe. ^_^ Shelby is possibly my fave ranger in the team and is a perfect replacement for Amy from Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger which is still better than freakin' Ninninger!! Well,that is for another time but hey,the characters in Dino Charge are likeable and Koda is possibly the show-stealer. Chase (oh man,he's got the same name as Chaser from Masked Rider Drive..T_T) is literally smooth as ice and Riley is starting to be like Souji. Hehey. Ivan the Gold Ranger is miles better than Utsusemimaru in my opinion and his antics are quite the treasure. Tyler is also a good character and at least the show isn't about him like a certain Mission Impossible trilogy before Ghost Protocol came along.The Dino Charge Megazord is possibly one of the most detailed Megazords in toku history and I only say that is because there is soooo much detail and rivets on the Zords even though they were like from millions of years. XD Hope PLEX comes up with something in the 40th Sentai. XD So yeah,the villain Sledge is also a competent villain and yes,he looks like a Bionicle and I like that. Bite me!There's nothing to say about the Kyoryujin Western other than it is a sharp shoot. What's more to say,this is a great show to watch if you think Ninninger was terrible,give Dino Charge a go. The Graphite Ranger has now been unlocked.


Toward the end of 2006, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility — "a national non-profit alliance of local, state and federal scientists, law enforcement officers, land managers and other professionals dedicated to upholding environmental laws and values" — charged the National Park Service with stalling on a promised review of a creationist book sold at the bookstores at Grand Canyon National Park. Although the park's bookstores are operated by a separate non-profit organization, the Grand Canyon Association, the National Park Service is responsible for approving the items that are sold there. In August 2003, the NPS approved the sale of Grand Canyon: A Different View , edited by Tom Vail and published by Master Books, the publishing arm of the Institute for Creation Research. A Different View expounds a young-earth creationist view of the geology of the canyon, and proclaims, "all contributions have been peer-reviewed to ensure a consistent and biblical perspective." In his review of the book ( RNCSE 2004 Jan/Feb; 24 [1]: 33-6), the geologist Wilfred Elders described it as "'Exhibit A' of a new, slick strategy by biblical literalists to proselytize using a beautifully illustrated, multi-authored book about a spectacular and world-famous geological feature," adding, "Allowing the sale of this book within the National Park was unfortunate. In the minds of some buyers, this could imply NPS approval of young-earth creationists and their religious proselytizing."

After the sale of A Different View was approved, the superintendent of the park appealed to the NPS headquarters for "a review of the book in terms of its appropriateness," and the Chief of the Park Service's Geologic Resources Division recommended its removal, saying that it "does not use accurate, professional and scholarly knowledge; is not based on science but a specific religious doctrine; does not further the public's understanding of the Grand Canyon's existence; [and] does not further the mission of the National Park Service." Meanwhile, the sale of the book became a matter of public controversy (see RNCSE 2004 Jan/Feb; 24 [1]: 4-5). Elders's review appeared in Eos (the weekly newsletter of the American Geophysical Union); the presidents of the American Paleontological Society, the American Geophysical Union, the National Association of Geoscience Teachers, the Association of American State Geologists, the Society for Vertebrate Paleontology, the American Geological Institute, and the Geological Society of America signed a joint letter to the NPS, urging that A Different View be removed "from shelves where buyers are given the impression that the book is about earth science and its content endorsed by the National Park Service" (see RNCSE 2004 Jan/Feb; 24 [1]: 19); and stories about the controversy appeared in the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times . A spokesperson for the NPS repeatedly assured the press and Congress that the promised review would be forthcoming.

In its December 28, 2006, press release, however, PEER charged, "Despite promising a prompt review of its approval for a book claiming the Grand Canyon was created by Noah's flood rather than by geologic forces, more than three years later no review has ever been done and the book remains on sale at the park." Jeff Ruch, executive director of PEER, commented, "As one park geologist said, this is equivalent of Yellowstone National Park selling a book entitled Geysers of Old Faithful: Nostrils of Satan ." In a December 28, 2006, letter, PEER urged the new director of NPS, Mary Bomar, to remove the book from sale at the park's bookstores and museums as well as to "[p]rovide training to the interpretive staff at Grand Canyon NP regarding how to answer questions from the public concerning the geologic age of the Canyon and related matters; and ... [a]pprove an updated version of the long-stalled pamphlet 'National Park Service Geologic Interpretive Programs: Distinguishing Science from Religion' for distribution to agency interpretive staff." It ought to be noted that PEER was not accusing the NPS of forbidding its interpretive staff to present the scientific facts about the canyon's age and geology. Unfortunately, careless wording in its press release suggested otherwise, and PEER's credibility suffered as a result, obscuring PEER's important charge that the NPS is not providing its staff with the resources it needs to present the scientific facts about the canyon's age of geology effectively, especially when faced with park visitors who have questions about, or even embrace, views that reject those facts on religious grounds.

Prompted by PEER's press release, the controversy over the sale of A Different View began to attract attention again in the media, with the Arizona Daily Sun (2007 Jan 4) offering a report in which a spokesperson for the NPS was quoted as saying, "We do not use the creationist text in our teaching, nor do we endorse its content. However, it is not our place to censor alternate beliefs." The Sacramento Bee (2007 Jan 4) suggested, in a forceful and cogent editorial entitled "Don't use parks to promote creationism," "A new year and a new National Park Service director mark an opportunity for change. Here's an easy one. Settle the 3-year-old controversy about a creationist account of the Grand Canyon." The editorial argued that "Mary Bomar, the new National Park Service director, should send a message that programs and materials in national parks present the best scientific evidence and don't endorse any particular religious beliefs," and concluded by urging Bomar to do so quickly:

Remove the book from sale from within the park; its proper place is for sale in private bookstores outside the public park. Equally important, finish the long-delayed pamphlet ... and distribute it to park rangers. The nation's public parks are not the place to promote religious theories about the formation and development of Earth.

A spokesperson for the NPS, David Barna, told The New York Times (2007 Jan 5) that there was no formal review of whether the bookstores ought to discontinue selling A Different View in part because of differences among the NPS's specialists. According to the Times , "When officials got together to discuss the book, the geologists and natural resource specialists would say, 'Get this book out of here,' Mr. Barna said. 'But the education and interpretation people would say: 'Wait a minute. If your science is so sound, the fact that there are differences of opinion should not scare you away.'" In a written statement, the Times reported, Barna "notes that Park Service management policies require reliance on 'the best scientific evidence available' and, as a result, rangers tell visitors that "the Colorado River basin has developed in the past 40 million years." But the Times also reported, "the guidelines also say that material available from concessionaires in national parks should adhere to the standards used to evaluate Park Service materials." PEER's executive director Jeff Ruch was quoted as contending that selling the book promoted fundamentalist Christian views: "This is government establishment of religion in a fairly fundamental way, if you pardon the pun."

Ronald Bailey, the science columnist for Reason , heard NCSE's executive director Eugenie C Scott speak about the controversy at the James Randi Educational Foundation's event The Amazing Meeting V, and promptly went to Grand Canyon National Park to see A Different View for himself. He reports, "As I was buying it, I asked the clerk what she thought about it. 'We're not allowed to say anything about it,' she said covering her mouth with her hand in the 'Speak No Evil' monkey fashion. 'Oh come on,' I cajoled, but the clerk refused any further comment. Later I went in search of it at the other south rim Park Service bookstore at Desert View. In this much smaller bookstore, Vail's slender Flood geology volume was mixed in among the other photo books. Again, I asked this clerk what she thought, and she smiled and replied, 'All I will say is that it's got some really beautiful photographs'" (2007 Jan 26; available on-line at http://reason.com/news/show/118334.html). Acknowledging that the NPS-overseen bookstores carry books that present and discuss the creation myths of Native Americans, Bailey nevertheless drew the crucial distinction: "unlike books on native creation myths, Vail insists that he is making scientific claims about how rock layers are laid down, fossils formed and the canyon carved."

Title: Renewed Concern About Creationism at Grand Canyon National Park Author(s): Glenn Branch NCSE Deputy Director Volume: 27 Issue: 3–4 Year: 2007 Date: May–August Page(s): 15–16