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I have never been a good runner, when I had to run at school I hated it because it made me feel really bad, physically. Otherwise I have never been very athletic but I'm not a complete couch potato either. I'm young and not really overweight and I want to start running, but the Runner's World 8-week program for beginners seems slow. I know I can do more, but I don't want to overdo it because I have never been a runner. What do you recommend?
Thank you very much
Your enthusiasm and desire to incorporate running into your life is wonderful, so, how about starting with the RW Beginner training plan, and then decide as you go if the progression is really too slow. The important thing is to set aside the time for regular training and START because that commitment is huge! As you start out, begin at the beginning. Better that the exercise feels too easy rather than too hard because the biggest risk new runners face is injury. For this reason, beginner programs need to be very conservative. It takes longer than we realize to condition the body for the rigors of regular, sustained exercise.
More From Runner's World
The general rule of thumb for increasing mileage is 10 percent a week, so when just starting out and mileage is very low, yes, it does feel slow; however, better to build slowly than too rapidly. Realize that the effects of workouts are cumulative, so while Week 1 may feel too easy, by the end of Week 3, when muscles are experiencing the effects of training, the plan may not be too conservative at all. As you proceed, if you are not at all fatigued after the workouts, and/or you experience no muscle soreness a day or two later, then try increasing the distance or time of the workouts by applying the 10 percent rule. Another adaptation you could make is to convert some of the walking to running for a more advanced version.
Even when the exercise feels easy, your body is working fast and furious to adapt and meet the physiological demands of this new fitness regimen. We forget to consider what is happening on the inside of our bodies. Rather, we step on the scale, look in the mirror, or measure our waists looking for outward changes and fail to acknowledge the many internal physiological changes occurring at the cellular level. It is these adaptations that improve our health and fitness, allowing us to run further and faster. So by progressing slowly, with gradual increments of time or mileage, we allow these physiological adaptations to keep pace with our training and thus reduce the risk of injury or burn out.
So what are some of the physiological adaptations that occur with consistent, sustained exercise? Here are a few: strengthened heart muscle, which improves its' ability to pump blood by an increase in cardiac output and stroke volume; improved coronary blood supply, which reduces the risk of heart attack and improves the odds of surviving one; lower resting heart rate and a lower heart rate at any given workload, which reduces the stress on the heart; improved lung ventilation; strengthened respiratory muscles, like the diaphragm and the intercostal muscles; enhanced supply of pulmonary blood; increased blood plasma volume; increased total number of red blood cells, which improves oxygen transport; lower blood pressure; more capillary beds; increase in high density lipoproteins and a reduction in low density lipoproteins; stronger skeletal muscles; improved ability to utilize fatty acids; and, stronger bones, cartilage, and connective tissue.
As you begin your training, keep some of these changes in mind as you decide whether or not to ramp up faster than the training plan recommends. Running is a lifestyle commitment leading to better health and fitness, so keep the long-term in mind while dealing with the short-term, like the weekly training plan.
All the best to you!
Susan S. Paul, MS
Susan Paul has coached more than 2,000 runners and is an exercise physiologist and program director for the Orlando Track Shack Foundation. For more information, visit www.trackshack.com.
Have a question for our beginners experts? Email it to firstname.lastname@example.com. NOTE: Due to the volume of mail, we regret that we cannot answer every email.
Susan Paul has coached more than 2,000 runners and is an exercise physiologist and program director for the Orlando Track Shack Foundation. For more information, visit www.trackshack.com.


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Atlanta, Georgia -- Imagine having your back cut open, part of your spine removed, a stabilizing device that resembles a mini oil rig mounted on your back, the outer membrane of your spinal cord sliced open and experimental stem cells injected into it -- all for the advancement of science because it's not expected to benefit you.
John Cornick, 51, did just that earlier this month as part of a groundbreaking clinical trial.
Almost a year ago, Cornick was told he had ALS -- better known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The diagnosis left him "fairly devastated," he says.
He knew the prospects were grim because there is no cure.
But John wasn't giving up so quickly, nor was his wife, Gina.
"I knew he was a fighter from the beginning and he really wanted to do something," Gina Cornick says. She found information about a clinical trial on online and immediately signed him up, even though she had no idea where it was being held.
ALS destroys the nerve cells in the brain and spine which control muscle movement. When the brain can no longer tell muscles to move, they eventually die, depriving the patient of the ability to move arms and legs and eventually breathe.
The goal of this phase 1 trial is to determine whether fetal stem cells can safely be injected into the spinal cord. Ultimately, researchers hope to show that these cells may slow or halt the progression of the fatal disease.
But for now, the only goal is establishing safety.
Clinical trial
The Cornicks live in North Carolina, just a few hours from Atlanta, Georgia's Emory University, the site of the trial. It is the first FDA-approved clinical trial to inject fetal stem cells directly into the spinal cord of an adult.
Dr. Jonathan Glass, director of Emory's ALS center, is overseeing the trial. Cornick and two previous patients in the trial are heroes, says Glass, because at this point, the trial will likely produce only information, not results.
"In reality what do these patients have? Time, families and their life and we're putting all of these at risk," says Glass.
Dr. Lucie Bruijn, science director of the ALS Association, says the progress being made in this clinical trial is exciting. "We've been able to move it forward ... from animal testing now into actual patients." The treatment had not been tried in humans before.
Glass hopes this trial will lead to a new form of treatment for people with ALS. "We're testing multiple things: We're testing the safety of the surgery; we're testing the cells; we're testing immunosuppressants[because scientists do not know whether the body will reject the cells]." They are also testing how well Cornick handles this major surgical procedure, says Glass.
"After we're finished with the first 12 or 18 patients we will know whether this is surgery that patients can tolerate."
As he was prepped for surgery, Cornick was hopeful but realistic. "Well, of course you'd like to get up and walk ... but I know that's not going to happen."
Stem cells
The stem cells used in the surgery are shipped overnight from Maryland, where Neuralstem, the company funding the trial, is based. The stem cells' source is donated tissue from the spinal cord of an 8-week old aborted fetus, which was donated to the company. The company has developed a method that enables growth of millions of stem cells from this single source of human nerve stem cells.
Before the surgery can begin, a technician at Emory has to verify that a majority of stem cells made it to Atlanta alive. At least 70 percent have to be viable. In this case three samples under the microscope showed 85 percent of the cells arrived alive.
Lead researcher Dr. Eva Feldman, a neurologist at the University of Michigan, designed the trial just four years ago. After a lot of animal testing, her team determined that using fetal nerve stems rather than human embryonic or adult stem cells (such as bone marrow stem cells) was most effective, she says.
Stem cells have the ability to turn into different cells in the body. However, human embryonic stem cells, which come from 4- or 5-day-old embryos, also been found to sometimes turn into cancer cells. Fetal stem cells, such as those used in this trial, are a few weeks older and have already taken on a specific identity -- in this case nerve cells.
Feldman says the fetal stem cells used in this trial did not become any of the unwanted cell types. "That's very, very important," she says.
Animal testing also proved very useful when it came to figuring out how to actually inject the stem cells. Emory University's neurosurgeon Dr. Nicholas Boulis invented the device that holds the needle that injects the stem cells. The goal is to inject the cells without injuring the spine and causing even more paralysis. He practiced on 100 pigs before attempting the procedure on a human.
Boulis says it's critical that the injection be done in a very slow and controlled way.
"If you inject quickly, you're going to create pressure at the head of the needle and that can cause damage," Boulis says. That pressure can also inflate an area in the spinal cord which could cause the stem cells to seep back out of the cord when the needle is pulled out, he says. "So by pumping [cells] in slowly you have more security that you are not going to have reflux and you're not going to have damage."
Dr. Jeffrey Rothstein, who heads the ALS research center at Johns Hopkins University and is not connected to this trial, said work on this method is a big achievement. "This is purely about how to surgically deliver cellular therapy to spinal cord," he says. "It's never been done before."
After the spinal cord was exposed, the injections began. Cornick got five -- each one contains about 100,000 stem cells.
The four-and-a-half hour surgery went smoothly, Boulis, says. "There were no surprises."
A day after surgery, Cornick was lying flat in a hospital bed, chatting and laughing with some friends from North Carolina.
One week after surgery, he says he felt amazingly well and was still hopeful the cells would do some good for him.
Two weeks later Cornick's stitches were removed and he was able to drive home. But he will be making frequent visits back to Atlanta as Glass and his team continue to monitor him.
Neuralstem's Chief Scientific Officer Karl Johe says after the trial's safety board reviews all existing data, including Cornick's results, a fourth patient can be treated with the stem cells.
"Patients Four, Five and Six will receive twice as many [stem cell] injections," Johe says. They will get five more injections on the other side of the spinal cord compared with Cornicks's surgery.
Cornick expects the researchers will follow his progress for a long time. He says he understands the need for people to be willing to participate in experimental research like this.
"For me it just seemed like the right thing to do. I almost felt I had an obligation to do this," he says. "To help other people and myself."

subset: commoncrawl


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11 Children's Drawings Re-imagined
Dave Devries needs to be inducted into the _floss Hall of Fame, like, now! Well, after we create the _floss Hall of Fame. Then he does. Why? Well, take a look at his amazing artwork below based on children's drawings. Such a smart idea, we wish we had thought of it! Let us know your favorite in the comments below.
The Monster Engine was a project that started in the late 1990s:
"It began at the Jersey Shore in 1998, where my niece Jessica often filled my sketchbook with doodles. While I stared at them, I wondered if color, texture and shading could be applied for a 3D effect. As a painter, I made cartoons look three-dimensional every day for the likes of Marvel and DC comics, so why couldn't I apply those same techniques to a kid's drawing? That was it... no research, no years of toil, just the curiosity of seeing Jessica's drawings come to life."
There's a 48-page collection of drawings, paintings, photos and interviews with the kids. Click here to check out more drawings, and click here to read more about Devries' book.


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Gillaspie hits HR in 12th, White Sox sweep KC
Kansas City, MO – Conor Gillaspie golfed a solo home run off Luke Hochevar in the 12th inning to lift the Chicago White Sox over the Kansas City Royals, 4-3, to complete a three-game sweep at Kauffman Stadium.
Jake Petricka (1-0) picked up the win in his major league debut, as he induced an inning ending double-play ball from Salvador Perez to escape the 11th.
Royals relievers did not allow a hit in four innings of work before Gillaspie sent a Hochevar (3-2) curve ball just barely over the wall in right leading off the 12th.
Addison Reed entered in the bottom half and locked down his 34th save of the year and sixth in seven days. Kansas City had the tying run on second base with no outs, but Reed retired pinch-hitter David Lough, Chris Getz and Emilio Bonifacio in succession to secure Chicago's first sweep in Kansas City since 2009.
The White Sox won the final six games of their seven-game road trip and sent the spiraling Royals to their eighth loss in 10 games.
"It would have been nice to kind of get this a month or two ago when we were really scuffling," Gillaspie said. "We're catching a couple of breaks here and there, a couple of balls they're hitting, we're catching. I feel like for a month and half of the season, that was us."
Chicago's Jose Quintana and James Shields each threw seven innings of three- run ball and wound up with no-decisions. Quintana only allowed four hits and struck out seven, while Shields scattered nine hits and fanned eight.
Quintana faced the minimum through four innings before briefly losing his touch in the fifth. A walk and two singles loaded the bases for Bonifacio, who singled home Billy Butler with the game's first run.
Sacrifice flies from Alcides Escobar and Jamey Carroll made it a 3-0 game, but the White Sox got two back in the sixth and tied it in the seventh.
After Alexei Ramirez and Dayan Viciedo singled in Jordan Danks and Gordon Beckham, respectively, Josh Phegley caught a break when his ground ball down the first-base line hit the bag and bounced into right field, allowing Gillaspie to score the tying run from second.
"Their balls were finding holes. Sometimes it goes that way," Shields said. "It's unfortunate."
Game Notes
This is Chicago's first six-game winning streak since last August ... The White Sox improved to 8-12 in extra-inning games, while Kansas City fell to 8-4 after the ninth ... The Royals have dropped three consecutive series after winning seven sets in a row out of the break ... Chicago leads the season series, 8-7.


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Despite a decision loss to Ryan Couture (6-1 MMA, 6-1 SF) this past weekend at "Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine," the UFC is interested in K.J. Noons (11-6 MMA, 3-4 SF).
"They said, 'Heal up, and as soon as you're healed up, then start training, and we'll get you on a card," Noons today told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio).
Noons, who ended his stint in Strikeforce with a 3-4 mark on his ledger, is excited about the possibility of fighting in the UFC. But there's a harder pill he has to swallow, and that's the financial impact of his recent loss.
The former pro boxer, EliteXC champion and onetime Strikeforce welterweight title challenger said half his paycheck for the year was taken away when Couture was declared the winner of their the preliminary-card fight, which aired on Showtime Extreme this past Saturday, Jan. 12, at Chesapeake Energy Center in Oklahoma City.
Couture himself appeared shocked when the decision was read.
Noons lost the fight in the first and third round, according to two judges who gave Couture a 10-9 score in the frames. The third judge scored all rounds for Noons for a 30-27 shutout. (MMAjunkie.com was one of the few media outlets to score the fight for Couture, though it was an obvious close call.)
The discrepancy prompted Noons to wonder aloud about the qualifications for being a judge.
"Because in my mind I'm thinking, there's just some judge who's an older person, comes from boxing and enjoys the sport, and after the fight he's going to get with his buddies and be like, 'Great fights,'" Noons said. "And has no real sense of the consequences of what's actually going into the decision. The decision is my life. My career."
The Oklahoma State Athletic Commission, which oversaw the event, wasn't available for comment when contacted by MMAjunkie.com.
As earlier reported, Noons made $41,000 for the bout. He would have made $77,000 (including $36,000 as a win bonus) with a victory.
Since the fight, Noons said he's received messages that say he should find a silver lining in the $41,000 he made for 15 minutes of work. If he hadn't fought just once in 2012, he might be more receptive.
"My last paycheck was a little bit under $40,000 a year ago," he said. "So now I made $40,000 last year. After taxes, and you have to pay your team, now I've got $30,000. Now I have to catch up on all my bills before my last fight. So there goes another $5,000 or $10,000. Now I have to live for a whole year off of $20,000?
"That was the real frustrating thing about Strikeforce. It's like, 'OK, you're going to get a fight. (And then) no, it's canceled.' (It was like that) the whole year. The thing about the UFC is they are going to get you three fights a year."
Noons, of course, has yet to put pen to paper with the promotion. But when he does, he's interested in a rematch with Couture.
"I can pout on it and complain, or dust myself off, know that in my head I won the fight, and take this and turn it into a positive," Noons said.
For complete coverage of "Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine," stay tuned to the MMA Events section of the site.
MMAjunkie.com Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino's Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by "Gorgeous" George Garcia, MMAjunkie.com lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Brian "Goze" Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.


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TOKYO – Boeing CEO Ray Conner met with Japan's transport minister and other officials in Tokyo on Thursday to explain his company's proposal for resolving problems with the 787 Dreamliner's lithium-ion batteries that have kept the aircraft grounded for over a month.
Conner met with Akihiro Ota, who heads the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and with the director general of the Civil Aviation Bureau, to explain the proposed solution to the problem of the batteries overheating.
"I just want to reiterate that the 787 is still the game-changing aircraft it is meant to be," Conner told reporters between meetings in Tokyo. He would not give details of Boeing's plan, but said it had come up with a solution "that addresses all probable causes of the incidents in the aircraft."
"It is not an interim solution. This is a permanent solution," Conner said. "We are very hopeful that we will get the aircraft back in the air very soon."
Conner said Boeing was not at odds with the GS Yuasa, the Japanese maker of the batteries, over the fix.
Connor met earlier with All Nippon Airways, Boeing's launch customer with 17 of the 787s, said ANA spokeswoman Megumi Tezuka. She said the contents of the discussion were confidential.
A staffer at Japan Airlines' headquarters in Tokyo said he could not confirm if Conner had already met with JAL executives. JAL has seven of the aircraft.
Dreamliners were grounded worldwide after an overheated battery aboard an ANA 787 domestic flight forced an emergency landing in Japan on Jan. 16. Investigators are still probing the cause of that event, and of a Jan. 7 fire that erupted in an auxiliary power unit battery of a JAL 787 about a half-hour after the plane landed at Boston's Logan International Airport.
Boeing's plan, presented to U.S. regulators last week, calls for revamping the batteries to prevent potential short-circuiting from spreading from any one battery cell to others.
Officials in the U.S. said Boeing would fix the problem with the batteries overheating by having more robust ceramic insulation around each of the battery's eight cells so as to prevent any thermal runaway, a chemical reaction that leads to progressively hotter temperatures that was found in damaged batteries in JAL and ANA incidents.
"This solution takes into account any possible event that might occur," Conner said. "We see nothing in the technology that would tell us it's not the appropriate thing to do," he said.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is considering the plan.
There are a total of 50 of the planes in service worldwide, and Boeing had orders for 800 of the airliners at the time they were grounded.
ANA has extended the cancellations of its 787 flights to May 31, with the total number of flights affected at nearly 3,600, involving some 167,820 passengers. JAL has cancelled its 787 flights through Mar. 30.


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Every so often, the internet takes a break from trolling tech sites and complaining about celebrities to create a beautiful mash-up of movie bits, be it a montage of brilliance, like the 100 greatest movie threats of all time, or a trailer remix that adds new meanings to the same old shots.
These bring delight to us all for five minutes on a Friday afternoon – but this year videos such as these faced a threat in the form of anti-piracy measures like the controversial SOPA bill which would have curbed all that creative reworking of films and music by legally lumping it in with full on movie piracy.
It's hard to know what actual filmmakers think about you taking their work and making it into something else – real live directors and creators, who put months and years of work into a film before you even hear about it let alone see it.
You've got red on you
So we asked Edgar Wright, director of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, where he stands on the online remix culture that has borne such fruits as Scott Pilgrim vs. the Matrix and the tear-jerking Shaun of the Dead Island.
Understandably, he's not exactly in favour of anyone reproducing whole films and making them available online for anyone to watch for free.
"There's a weird thing online - people expect to get everything for free and you maybe don't think about the fact that the people who make these things do need to get paid. There are crews that make these films and TV shows and they have families and stuff. It doesn't just happen for free.
"People kind of think that they're stealing from a corporation but [individual cast and crew members] all work hard and want to get paid for that," he added.
But if you're a movie mash-up maestro, Wright doesn't have beef with you. In fact, he's a bit of a fan:
"With that kind of thing, for me it's pretty cut and dry," he told us. "But I don't mind if somebody does a mash up of bits of my films and stuff, I don't mind about that at all.
"I think that's really creative when people take something like that. There was that short the other day when somebody had reconstituted Rear Window into one shot – it's amazing. That kind of stuff I think is brilliant.
"I think it's as simple as that - there's a big difference between people reconstituting material for art's sake than there is about people just pirating a movie and putting it up online so everybody can watch it for free. There's quite a distinct line there."
Wright is putting his money where his mouth is by working on Brandon Generator, an interactive, collaborative comic book backed by Microsoft, which allows users to submit ideas and artwork to become part of the story. Perfect for those who fancy honing their creative chops or showing off in front of the man who directed Spaced.


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Publisher: EA
Developer: Klei Entertainment
Release Date: 10/25/2010
Also Available On
Shank is an artistically stunning game about a man named Shank (voiced by the same man who voiced Kratos in God of War) who is trying to get revenge on the death of his girlfriend. It doesn't quite go according to plan, but he heads for the people responsible anyway. The game has gory melee combat with a tad bit of platforming. The game can be beaten in less than 4 hours, but by the end, you will have wished it ended long before that.
The combat consists of light attacks (your shank), heavy attacks (weapons that are picked up like the chainsaw, katana, chains, and machetes), as well as three different guns for distance combat. You can toss grenades to clear crowds, but that's pretty much all there is to the combat. There really aren't any combos to learn, or gain, which is a shame because by the end of the first couple of levels you will get bored with the combat. There are problems despite the hacking being fast-paced. Sometimes the controls will feel a bit sluggish when trying to counter people behind you, and when you get knocked back you can get bounced around by multiple enemies with no way to get back up until it stops. This really frustrated me throughout the game. I always felt like I wasn't 100% in control of Shank. Even some of the weapons had problems like the shotgun only firing a couple of rounds, but then he puts the gun away, and during this animation you are vulnerable. The problem is you're not even done shooting it so he has to take it back out. Things like this crop up while you are playing, and by the end, you just have had enough. There is some minor platforming, but it's not very challenging and feels like just some lame filler content.
One major issue was that the health pickup button was the light attack button. Who's bright idea was this? During boss fights, this poses a real problem when you are trying to conserve health and then you accidentally use a light attack near the pickup and drink it. Other than this other problems consist of repetitive boss fights, but the few that are different are the only things that break up the monotony. The visuals change between levels, but other than that you just get bored. I wish there was a level-up system or some way to earn combos. Hacking and slashing enemies in a gory fashion only is fun for so long until you want more. Hell, even some more varied level design would have been nice, but no such thing exists here.
Overall, Shank provides a mediocre story that barely keeps your interest. The game has a beautiful art style but is lacking in design change, and the combat is very shallow and monotonous. This game had a lot of potentials, but what is here is enough for a quick play through then you will forget about it. Even playing again in different costumes isn't enough to drudge through this repetitive side-scroller.


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Menelik II
Menelik II mĕn´əlĭk [key], 1844–1913, emperor of Ethiopia after 1889. He was originally ras (ruler) of Shoa (central Ethiopia). After the death (1868) of Emperor Tewodros II, Menelik, with Italian support, gained strength steadily. He seized the throne after Emperor Johannes IV died. In 1889, Menelik concluded the Treaty of Uccialli with Italy. When he learned, however, that the Italian version of the treaty made Ethiopia a protectorate of Italy, he denounced the agreement. The Italian invasion that followed (1895–96) was crushed by Menelik's great victory near Adwa. Italy was forced to renounce all claim to Ethiopia and to pay an indemnity. Menelik took important steps to strengthen and modernize his domain. He made Addis Ababa his capital, constructed a railroad, attempted to end the slave trade, and curbed the feudal nobility. His conquests doubled the size of the country and brought the present S Ethiopia (largely Muslim in population) into the realm. Gradually his health failed, and the end of his reign was marked by intrigue and maneuvering for the succession. He was succeeded as emperor by Lij Yasu.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: African History: Biographies


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New paper on the arXiv with Chris Hall and Emmanuel Kowalski.
Suppose you have a 1-dimensional family of polarized abelian varieties — or, just to make things concrete, an abelian variety A over Q(t) with no isotrivial factor.
You might have some intuition that abelian varieties over Q don't usually have rational p-torsion points — to make this precise you might ask that A_t[p](Q) be empty for "most" t.
In fact, we prove (among other results of a similar flavor) the following strong version of this statement. Let d be an integer, K a number field, and A/K(t) an abelian variety. Then there is a constant p(A,d) such that, for each prime p > p(A,d), there are only finitely many t such that A_t[p] has a point over a degree-d extension of K.
The idea is to study the geometry of the curve U_p parametrizing pairs (t,S) where S is a p-torsion point of A_t. This curve is a finite cover of the projective line; if you can show it has genus bigger than 1, then you know U_p has only finitely many K-rational points, by Faltings' theorem.
But we want more — we want to know that U_p has only finitely many points over degree-d extensions of K. This can fail even for high-genus curves: for instance, the curve
C: y^2 = x^100000 + x + 1
has really massive genus, but choosing any rational value of x yields a point on C defined over a quadratic extension of Q. The problem is that C is hyperelliptic — it has a degree-2 map to the projective line. More generally, if U_p has a degree-d map to P^1, then U_p has lots of points over degree-d extensions of K. In fact, Faltings' theorem can be leveraged to show that a kind of converse is true.
So the relevant task is to show that U_p admits no map to P^1 of degree less than d; in other words, its gonality is at least d.
Now how do you show a curve has large gonality? Unlike genus, gonality isn't a topological invariant; somehow you really have to use the geometry of the curve. The technique that works here is one we learned from an paper of Abramovich; via a theorem of Li and Yau, you can show that the gonality of U_p is big if you can show that the Laplacian operator on the Riemann surface U_p(C) has a spectral gap. (Abramovich uses this technique to prove the g=1 version of our theorem: the gonality of classical modular curves increases with the level.)
We get a grip on this Laplacian by approximating it with something discrete. Namely: if U is the open subvariety of P^1 over which A has good reduction, then U_p(C) is an unramified cover of U(C), and can be identified with a finite-index subgroup H_p of the fundamental group G = pi_1(U(C)), which is just a free group on finitely many generators g_1, … g_n. From this data you can cook up a Cayley-Schreier graph, whose vertices are cosets of H_p in G, and whose edges connect g H with g_i g H. Thanks to work of Burger, we know that this graph is a good "combinatorial model" of U_p(C); in particular, the Laplacian of U_p(C) has a spectral gap if and only if the adjacency matrix of this Cayley-Schreier graph does.
At this point, we have reduced to a spectral problem having to do with special subgroups of free groups. And if it were 2009, we would be completely stuck. But it's 2010! And we have at hand a whole spray of brand-new results thanks to Helfgott, Gill, Pyber, Szabo, Breuillard, Green, Tao, and others, which guarantee precisely that Cayley-Schreier graphs of this kind, (corresponding to finite covers of U(C) whose Galois closure has Galois group a perfect linear group over a finite field) have spectral gap; that is, they are expander graphs. (Actually, a slightly weaker condition than spectral gap, which we call esperantism, is all we need.)
Sometimes you think about a problem at just the right time. We would never have guessed that the burst of progress in sum-product estimates in linear groups would make this the right time to think about Galois representations in 1-dimensional families of abelian varieties, but so it turned out to be. Our good luck.


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The European Union's flagship climate policy, its emissions trading scheme (ETS), saw the price of carbon crash to a record low on Thursday after a vote in Brussels against a proposal to support the struggling market.
The price of a permit to emit a tonne of carbon dioxide fell 40% at one point to €2.81 today, far below its record high of €32, before recovering to more than €4 later in the day.
The ETS, aimed at reducing emissions from Europe's entire energy and industrial sectors, has been plagued by an oversupply of permits due in part to over-generous initial allocations following lobbying by industry.
"This should be the final wake-up call both to governments and to the European parliament," said Connie Hedegaard, EU climate commissioner. "To those in industry who both say that they want a strong EU ETS while they at the same time lobby against the policies that can secure exactly that I say: it is time to think twice.''
David Hone, climate change adviser for oil company Shell, said policy makers needed to focus on delivering a clear carbon price, rather than setting targets for renewable energy. "Many in the business community have been clear on this issue for over a decade - it's all about putting a price on carbon."
"The dinosaurs of European industry are holding progress back at the expense of all those businesses that would benefit," said Lady Worthington, Labour peer and founder of carbon-trading thinktank Sandbag. "The wrong people - those who have not invested in energy efficiency and emissions reductions - get rewarded if the carbon price is low." Sandbag calculates that there will be an excess of 2.2bn permits by 2020.
Thursday's freefall in the ETS was prompted by the energy and industry committee of the European parliament opposing a proposal to delay the release of 900m future permits, so-called "backloading". This would limit supply in the capped market and therefore support the carbon price. Analysts believe such a move could raise carbon prices to €15, but say prices above €20 are needed to give utilities the incentive to make serious switches to lower carbon energy generation.
"Until there is a clear will to give legislative support to this market we cannot expect participants to keep believing in it," said one emissions trader.
The European commission warned this week that without action the carbon price could drop dramatically, leaving the ETS irrelevant and EU energy and environment policy unravelling. Coal-intensive Poland is opposed to reform, while the UK wants a more ambitious plan, with 1.2bn permits delayed. Germany, the EU's most influential member on industrial policy, is undecided.
The ETS was launched in 2005 and prices crashed during the first trading period to near zero in 2007, because of the over-allocation of permits. But traders today dismiss that collapse, blaming it on early errors in the experimental phase of the market. The carbon price hit a peak of €32 in April 2006 and traded above €30 in 2008. Thursday's price is the lowest since the second trading period began.
Thursday's vote is non-binding and more decisive votes will take place in the environment committee in February and a European parliament plenary session in March. "There are good signs they will vote the right way," said Lady Worthington, who supports the postponement of permits but argues that many must be permanently removed. "I think there is a reasonably good chance of getting the backloading measure passed by March."
Hedegaard said: "Few would disagree that the ETS - a market-based cap and trade system - is the most cost-efficient tool in EU climate politics. If in doubt look at all the big economies now following the EU example by establishing similar ETS systems: Australia, Korea, California and China."
Whatever the outcome in Brussels, analysts say the ETS will limp along, even if the carbon price is so low as to provide no incentive at all for emissions reductions, because dismantling the scheme would be as complicated as reforming it.


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Save your feet some major pain when you hit the mall to shop for holiday gifts! With kicks this cute, you won't want to save them just for gym class! Decked out in cool designs and trendy colors, the latest batch of sneakers won't just make your gym uniform look a million times cuter—they'll also up the cool-factor of just about anything you wear outside the locker room, too!
Score a sporty-chill vibe for your next weekend hang by swapping your favorite flats for a pair of neon gym sneaks—they're the comfiest way to amp up a sweater and skinnies. To channel that cool, fashion blogger vibe, try a pair of retro tennis shoes in edgy black with boyfriend jeans and a boxy T-shirt. And fierce animal-print high-tops will totally take a floral dress layered under a fluffy sweater to a whole new level of chicness. The best part? Convincing the 'rents you have to have a pair of new kicks won't be hard once you explain that they'll be spending a lot more time on your feet than in your gym locker!
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The researchers determined that having depression early in life was a key factor in gray matter development.
The experience of early childhood depression is not only uncomfortable for the child during those early years. It also appears to have long-lasting effects on brain development and to make that child vulnerable to future problems.


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Think you could be a scout? If I sent you coach's videotape from a high school football game in, say 1980, would you be able to tell me which quarterback went on to be a star in the NFL and which never even made it as a college player? There's no sound, the uniforms don't provide any insight, and neither kids puts up statistics that would reveal his future stardom.
I ask this question a lot. I ask casual fans. I ask writers. I ask pro coaches and personnel guys. What's most fascinating is that the closer I get to guys that actually have to make these kinds of decisions, the less likely they are to say "yes."
It's a question that interested me as I began to work on my football book, which came out last summer. I wanted to challenge the conventional wisdom about who the great football players of all time were. If Dick Butkus is the greatest linebacker of all-time, then it ought to be obvious to anyone who watches film of his games. Maybe film doesn't exist, or doesn't tell the full story. Fair enough, but then you at least ought to be able to give me some reasons why a player was so good. Tell me what it is about Red Grange that made him stand out. Explain why Jim Otto was the best lineman of his day.
It's a question that transcends sports. We learn about great works of art in the same way. Why is the Mona Lisa a great painting? What makes "Citizen Kane" one of the most important American films? If I think it's boring, am I just too unsophisticated to understand what I'm seeing? (Just for the record, I love Citizen Kane.)
All of these questions point toward the same issue.To what degree is "greatness" a measure of collective opinion and to what degree is "greatness" inherent? If you watch Citizen Kane for the first time tonight, will its greatness be obvious? Or is its greatness more about familiarity? Is it great because "people" have always said it was great?
I'm not the first to raise this question. In fact, it's one of the oldest epistomological debates. Is beauty a measurable fact (as Gottfried Leibniz asserted), or merely an opinion (David Hume), or is it a little of each, colored by the immediate state of mind of the observer (Immanuel Kant)?
In the spring of 2007, Washington Post reporter Gene Weingarten wanted to probe this ageless question in a modern setting. He convinced Grammy award winning classical violinist Joshua Bell to play at the entrance of a Washington D.C. subway station, posing as a run of the mill street performer. Bell isn't as recognizable as, say Brad Pitt, but he was a child prodigy who had, at the age of 39, becmone an internationally acclaimed virtuoso. His 2003 CD Romance of the Violin sold more than five million copies and remained at the top of classical music charts for 54 weeks.
Bell's instrument was a 300-year-old Stradivarius violin, for which he had paid more than four million dollars. He played Carnegie Hall at 14. He has played for kings and queens. The cheap seats for one of his concerts go for around $100. Would folks walking past think he was just another busker, or would they recognize and appreciate the quality of Bell's performance?
in Washington, D.C. on January 12, 2007. Bell is at far left.
Full video available at Washington Post website.
Weingarten started by posing the question to Leonard Slatkin, music director of the National Symphony Orchestra. What did he think would occur, hypothetically, if one of the world's great violinists had performed incognito before a traveling rush-hour audience of 1,000-odd people?
"Let's assume," Slatkin said, "that he is not recognized and just taken for granted as a street musician . . . Still, I don't think that if he's really good, he's going to go unnoticed. He'd get a larger audience in Europe . . . but, okay, out of 1,000 people, my guess is there might be 35 or 40 who will recognize the quality for what it is. Maybe 75 to 100 will stop and spend some time listening."
Slatkin was wrong.
Bell played for 45 minutes and more than a thousand people passed by. Just seven stopped to listen. The vast majority of folks didn't react at all to one of the world's greatest musicians playing a few feet away from them.
Of course, this phenomenon is not limited to music. Weingarten also interviewed one of the leading experts in the world of art.
Mark Leithauser has held in his hands more great works of art than any king or pope or Medici ever did. A senior curator at the National Gallery, he oversees the framing of the paintings. "Let's say I took one of our more abstract masterpieces, say an Ellsworth Kelly, and removed it from its frame, marched it down the 52 steps that people walk up to get to the National Gallery, past the giant columns, and brought it into a restaurant. It's a $5 million painting. And it's one of those restaurants where there are pieces of original art for sale, by some industrious kids from the Corcoran School, and I hang that Kelly on the wall with a price tag of $150. No one is going to notice it. An art curator might look up and say: 'Hey, that looks a little like an Ellsworth Kelly. Please pass the salt.'"
Weingarten won a Pulitzer Prize for the article.


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Web design is a constantly evolving discipline and crosses the line between art and science, at once being a technical achievement akin to architecture but having to express the identity of a brand in a way that will hook in and engage visitors, as well as then driving them to inquire for services or commit to buying products. — MangoMatter is an Australian web design and SEO company that has mastered the balancing point between functionality and style, and has created a new website at MangoMatterWeb as a virtual showroom.
The new website uses retina ready resolutions for top quality monitors and fully responsive composition that flexibly realigns itself and the information within it according to the size of the device, making it ideal for mobile.
It also provides a masterclass in using websites to drive sales, as the site breezily introduces the company, the features of their work, testimonials and portfolio before inviting individuals to submit their contact details for a quote. It provides a single seamless experience in which users access more content in less time than any other form of presentation.
A spokesperson for MangoMatterWeb.com explained, "Presentation is absolutely vital, but it's also a single element in a broader composition. The front end that visitors see on the MangoMatter Web page is underpinned by sound search engine optimization principles with clean architecture that allows Google to seamlessly crawl and rank the site. Because we can offer design that is built with optimization in mind from the start, we can create the website equivalent of a supercar, in which all elements are working together with a single result in mind. For a car that's speed, for a website, that's impact. Our SEO services don't end their we offer a comprehensive service that builds high quality citations and links to ensure clients are found for every search that provides a ROI for their business."
About MangoMatter:
Established in January 2013 and based in sunny Brisbane, MangoMatter is a Web Design & SEO agency, constantly striving to find the perfect combination of creativity and strategy in order to empower local business owners. Their work improves client's online presence and increases customer value through innovative marketing strategies, making a site that markets itself.
Contact Info:
Name: Joe Bragg
Email: Send Email
Organization: Brandoutreach
Phone: (415) 632 1664
Website: http://mangomatterweb.com/
Release ID: 37237


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The Ethics of Eating
By Peter Singer (June 14, 2006)
Global meat consumption is predicted to double by 2020. Yet in Europe and North America, there is growing concern about the ethics of the way meat and eggs are produced. The consumption of veal has fallen sharply since it became widely known that to produce so-called "white" — actually pale pink — veal, newborn calves are separated from their mothers, deliberately made anemic, denied roughage, and kept in stalls so narrow that they cannot walk or turn around.
In Europe, mad cow disease shocked many people, not only because it shattered beef's image as a safe and healthy food, but also because they learned that the disease was caused by feeding cattle the brains and nerve tissue of sheep. People who naively believed that cows ate grass discovered that beef cattle in feed lots may be fed anything from corn to fish meal, chicken litter (complete with chicken droppings), and slaughterhouse waste.
Concern about how we treat farm animals is far from being limited to the small percentage of people who are vegetarians or even vegans — eating no animal products at all. Despite strong ethical arguments for vegetarianism, it is not yet a mainstream position. More common is the view that we are justified in eating meat, as long as the animals have a decent life before they are killed.
The problem, as Jim Mason and I describe in our recent book, The Way We Eat, is that industrial agriculture denies animals even a minimally decent life. Tens of billions of chickens produced today never go outdoors. They are bred to have voracious appetites and gain weight as fast as possible, then reared in sheds that can hold more than 20,000 birds. The level of ammonia in the air from their accumulated droppings stings the eye and hurts the lungs. Slaughtered at only 45 days old, their immature bones can hardly bear the weight of their bodies. Some collapse and, unable to reach food or water, soon die, their fate irrelevant to the economics of the enterprise as a whole.
Conditions are, if anything, even worse for laying hens crammed into wire cages so small that even if there were just one per cage, she would be unable to stretch her wings. But there are usually at least four hens per cage, and often more. Under such crowded conditions, the more dominant, aggressive birds are likely to peck to death the weaker hens in the cage. To prevent this, producers sear off all birds' beaks with a hot blade. A hen's beak is full of nerve tissue — it is, after all, her principal means of relating to her environment — but no anesthetic or analgesic is used to relieve the pain.
Pigs may be the most intelligent and sensitive of the animals that we commonly eat. When foraging in a rural village, they can exercise that intelligence and explore their varied environment. Before they give birth, sows use straw or leaves and twigs to build a comfortable and safe nest in which to nurse their litter.
But in today's factory farms, pregnant sows are kept in crates so narrow that they cannot turn around, or even walk more than a step forward or backward. They lie on bare concrete without straw or any other form of bedding. The piglets are taken from the sow as soon as possible, so that she can be made pregnant again, but they never leave the shed until they are taken to slaughter.
Defenders of these production methods argue that they are a regrettable but necessary response to a growing population's demand for food. On the contrary, when we confine animals in factory farms, we have to grow food for them. The animals burn up most of that food's energy just to breathe and keep their bodies warm, so we end up with a small fraction — usually no more than one-third and sometimes as little as one-tenth — of the food value that we feed them. By contrast, cows grazing on pasture eat food that we cannot digest, which means that they add to the amount of food available to us.
It is tragic that countries like China and India, as they become more prosperous, are copying Western methods and putting animals in huge industrial farms to supply more meat and eggs for their growing middle classes. If this continues, the result will be animal suffering on an even greater scale than now exists in the West, as well as more environmental damage and a rise in heart disease and cancers of the digestive system. It will also be grossly inefficient. As consumers, we have the power — and the moral obligation — to refuse to support farming methods that are cruel to animals and bad for us.
Peter Singer is Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University and the author, with Jim Mason, of The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2006.


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Sunday, 04 August 2013 06:17 AM EDT
Rudd, who was dumped by his center-left party in June 2010, has generated a spike in public support since he returned but conservative opposition leader Tony Abbott is still favorite to win power.
Rudd's Labor government could fall with the loss of just one of the 150 seats in parliament. His government currently holds 71 seats, the opposition 72, with one Green and six independent cross-benchers.
Abbott's opposition has promised to scrap an unpopular 30 percent tax on coal and iron ore mine profits, as well as a A$24.15/tonne carbon tax if he wins power.
Rudd returned as prime minister on June 26 after he toppled Gillard, with a third of Gillard's cabinet also stepping down.
His party has been in power since late 2007 and helped Australia's A$1.4 trillion economy avoid recession following the 2008 global financial crisis, aided by a prolonged mining boom fueled by resources demand from China and India.
However, a budget update on Friday showed Australia's economic growth is slowing as the mining investment boom ends, with unemployment rising and the manufacturing sector in particular shedding jobs.
AMP Capital Investors chief economist Shane Oliver said the election campaign could usher in a quieter period in the economy because Australians usually restrain spending during elections.
"It would be good for confidence to see an end to minority government and to get the election out of the way," Oliver said, adding a victory for the pro-business opposition parties could also boost business confidence.
Rudd announced the election date in an email to his supporters, telling them "it's on", after visiting Governor-General Quentin Bryce, who is Australia' head of state, to dissolve the current parliament.
"We've got one hell of a fight on our hands," Rudd said, later acknowledging to reporters he would lose power if current internal Labor polling was borne out at the election.
The latest polls show Rudd has lifted Labor's support to give the government a chance of victory, although the respected Newspoll in late July still had Rudd's Labor Party trailing the opposition 48 percent to 52 percent.
Abbott called Rudd's government "dysfunctional" and said infighting would continue if he was returned. The opposition would control government spending and stop the controversial flow of boats from Indonesia carrying asylum seekers, he said.
"It's really about who is more fair dinkum," Abbott told reporters, using an Australian phrase for honesty or fairness.
Analyst Nick Economou said polls have not swung back to Rudd enough to put Labor in a winning position, particularly in marginal seats in the outer suburbs of Australia's major cities.
"Rudd has undertaken a risky strategy. . . . I'm not sure that Labor's message is resonating in key marginal seats," Monash University's Economou told Reuters. "I can't see that he can win."
Online bookmaker Sportsbet.com, which takes bets in each of the 150 electorates, said current projections had Rudd winning 65 seats and Abbott's conservatives 82.
Abbott has built a strong lead in opinion polls with his campaign to abolish the carbon tax, which he has blamed for pushing up electricity prices and for job losses.
He has also won support for his strong stance against asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat, with refugee policy set to play a leading role in the election.
Since returning to office, Rudd has announced Australia's toughest measures to deter asylum seekers, saying anyone who arrived by boat would be sent to either Papua New Guinea or Nauru in the Pacific for processing and resettlement.
The election date means Rudd will miss the G-20 summit in St Petersburg on Sept. 5-6, even though Australia will take over as chair of the G-20 for the coming year.
© 2023 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.
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what would be different is if everyone looked at all the comments on /. for this same topic
Rumor Machine Gets Cranking: Google PC?
from the a-little-more-evidence-please dept
It's not the first time this has been rumored, and probably won't be the last, but an LA Times piece has people buzzing about the possibility that Google is planning to announce a PC that will be sold at Wal-Mart later this week at CES. This has all the makings of the supposedly "big" announcement Google and Sun made back in October. For a few days before there were rumors all over the news about how Sun and Google planned to announce something, which way too many people (including the press) immediately assumed was Google offering their own version (perhaps web-based) of OpenOffice and taking on Microsoft directly. Of course, the actual announcement was nothing of the sort. It wasn't even that interesting. Google certainly could introduce their own PC with their own OS, but it seems unlikely. It's also not that clear that it would sell that well. Wal-Mart did recently try to sell super cheap PCs based on Linux, but they didn't sell well and were removed from store shelves. Would it be that different if they had a Google brand slapped on them?


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Maine House approves minimum wage increase
Bill faces opposition from business groups
The Maine House has approved a bill that would that would increase the state's minimum wage.
The bill calls from the minimum wage to be increase from $7.50 per hour to $8 per hour on July 1, 2014.
It would then be increased to $8.50 in 2015 and $9 per hour in 2016.
After that, the minimum wage would be adjusted for inflation annually.
Supporters said the low-wage workers who benefit from the bill would likely spend the money in Maine.
Damon's owner Doug Wheelock said that, though food service workers make up more than 40 percent of the state's minimum wage earners, that is not the case at his business.
"I don't have anyone making minimum wage, not one employee making minimum wage," Wheelock said. "The effect of it is, the person who has been working here three or four years now, the feeling is they're worth more because the entry-level person coming in is worth more," he said.
The National Federation of Independent Businesses, which opposes the minimum wage increase, said it would push some small businesses over the edge and inflate the cost of doing business in Maine.
Small business advocate David Clough said small companies will be affected the most by the change.
"The inevitable consequence of this measure will be fewer jobs. Small businesses that are struggling now will cut hours, reduce payroll and avoid hiring new employees," he said.
Maine Center for Economic Policy Executive Director Garrett Martin disagreed with Clough's assessment of the situation.
"Raising the money actually improves our situation," he said. "When you put more in the pockets of people who need that money and will put it to work in the economy immediately by purchasing goods and services within their local economy, it actually serves to improve opportunities for employers by improving their revenues."
The bill faces further votes in the House and Senate, and would have to signed by Gov. Paul LePage to become law.
Maine's last minimum wage hike was four years ago.
According to the Maine's Department of Labor, about 20,000 Mainers earn the minimum wage. About half are under 25 years old.


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Stretched Canvas
All canvas prints are coated with a premium laminate that protects against dust, water, fungus, mould, scratches and fading (up to 75 years). All canvas prints are stretched over kiln-dried Meranti wood. Unlike the cheap pine wood used by other canvas-makers, this wood will not twist or warp over time. The frames are inserted with high-quality sturdy hooks, along with a slender plastic-covered stainless steel chain to facilitate easy and safe hangingRead More


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Contact speedracer on this site...
Looking for info on the Mason-Dixon retro group.. racing at Staunton Miniature Speedway.
Contact speedracer on this site...
Is the Mason-Dixion retro group still having races? Seems like the group is dead.
speedracer is the man to reach. You might PM him.
I'd be up for a Retro Race at Staunton for sure. My IRRA cars are ready. Team Brantley lives nearby.
Anything worth doing is worth overdoing


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Commerce Department's Census Bureau Announces Management and Structural Reforms that will Improve Efficiency and Cut Costs
Today, the Commerce Department's U.S. Census Bureau announced the first realignment of its national field office structure in 50 years and management reforms that will improve efficiency, reduce costs and enhance data quality. The changes will take place gradually over the next 18 months and reduce the number of regional offices from 12 to six, saving an estimated $15 million to $18 million annually beginning in 2014.
Increasing efficiency, cutting waste and reforming Washington has been a
priority for the Obama Administration since day one, and this consolidation
supports the administration's ongoing effort to make government more efficient,
effective and accountable to the American people. It also builds on the work of
Census Bureau Director Robert Groves and his management team in bringing in the
2010 Census on time and 25 percent under budget, saving nearly $1.9 billion.
For more information, please see today's announcement on the White House Web site.
Earlier this month, President Obama and Vice President Biden launched the Campaign to Cut Waste with the goal of eliminating misspent tax dollars in every agency and department across the federal government. Whether the budget is in surplus or deficit, every dollar must be spent as efficiently as possible, but in a time when so many Americans have had to cut back, our mission takes on added urgency.


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Promise, with its $20 million funding round, modernizes inflexible government and utility payment systems
Many people have had a difficult time making ends meet over the last year, and one of the most basic challenges has been paying for necessities like food, water, and electricity, as well as taxes and some other government fees, which are rarely structured to facilitate simple or flexible payment. Promise has funded $20 million to address this by connecting with established payment systems and providing more flexible payment options for bills and other obligations that customers may not be able to pay in full at once.
It can be difficult to find the money to pay an ad hoc bill like water or electricity when all of your income goes towards rent and food. They are less likely to be terminated suddenly than a cell plan, so it's safer to put off paying them until later—until a few unpaid bills add up and a family is faced with hundreds of dollars in overdue charges with no option to divide them up or pay them over time. The same applies to fines and levies of any kind, including tickets.
Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, CEO and co-founder of Promise, outlined this as one area where the status quo falls short. Municipal ticket payment sites and utility payment sites typically do not provide payment plans, in contrast to online retailers like those selling televisions and furniture. We've found that customers who are having trouble making their payments are willing and able to pay much more quickly and in full if you provide them with periodic reminders, convenient payment methods, and some leeway. She told TechCrunch that the systems themselves are the problem, as they were not made with individuals who "don't always have an excess of money in their bank accounts" in mind. For instance, "they anticipate that if someone makes their first payment at 10 PM on the 15th, the same person will have the same amount of money the following month at the same time," she explained. Most people's basic necessities are ignored by these structures. It's possible that you'll have to make payments once a week, or in several different ways.
Ellis-Lamkins argues that the inflexibility of plan providers is a major factor in the frequent nonpayment she observes even among those who provide coverage. It could even be tough to enrol in the first place. "Some localities offer payment plans but you have to go in person to sign up, complete a multiple-page form, show proof of income, and satisfy tight criteria," she explained. With the help of our partners, we have been able to employ self-certification to streamline the process in place of submitting tax returns or other evidence. Our current payback rate exceeds 90%." Promise operates as an intermediary, integrating minimally with the agency or utility to raise awareness among debtors about the alternative payment option. It's not dissimilar to how online retailers sometimes provide many payment methods, including the ability to pay over time for a product.
Promise doesn't cover the cost up front and collect on its own terms; instead, the user enrols in a payment plan and the company handles the payment processing, including reminders, receipts, and processing. In essence, it's an add-on flexible payment system with a focus on government agencies and similar organisations that collect fees from the general population. Payment to use Promise comes in the form of subscription fees (i.e. SaaS) and/or transaction fees, whatever is most appropriate for a given customer. A utility would rather pay a few dollars to increase the likelihood that it would collect $500 rather than risk getting nothing or having to resort to more expensive and forceful debt collection measures.
Ellis-Lamkins cited a recent analysis by the California Water Boards revealing that 1.6 million people owe a total of $1 billion in water debt in the state, with one in eight homes being $500 or more behind on their payments. With the widespread stress on household budgets caused by the pandemic, those figures are likely to be much worse than usual. Yet, as with payment plans in other contexts, households of varying incomes and types find their own reason to take advantage of such arrangements. And I think we can all agree that anyone who has ever had to cope with a poorly organised website for paying their utility bills would appreciate an alternative. With this new funding round, the company has raised over $30 million to far, including the $10 million it raised before leaving Y Combinator in 2018. Kapor Capital, XYZ, Bronze, First Round, YC, Village, and other existing investors provide the capital.
Lightbox and others invest $25 million in gaming firm Rooter
Organization headquartered in New Delhi Lightbox, March Gaming, and Duane Park Ventures lead a $25 million Series A for the game streaming and e-sports provider Rooter (Gaurav Laghate/The Economic Times). Rooter has 8.5 million monthly active users.
Hosted in New Delhi Gaming and e-sports platform Rooter has raised $25 million in a Series A fundraising round, with the money going towards expanding the company's user base and live-streaming platform for video games. In the new Series A round, the companies Lightbox, March Gaming, Duane Park Ventures, 9Unicorns, ADvantage, Capital-A, and Goal Ventures played the most prominent roles. Previous backers like IeAD Sports and Health Tech Partners were also involved. The online gaming platform has done more than just raise capital; it has also helped some of its stockholders sell their shares and given some employees an exit strategy by buying them out through an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).
In May of 2020, the online gaming platform raised $1.7 million from Paytm, Venture Catalysts, Rockstud Capital, Founder Bank Capital, Anthill Ventures, and leAD Sports & Health Tech Partners as part of a pre-Series A round of funding. Rooter, founded in 2016 by Piyush Kumar and Dipesh Agarwal, features coverage of popular esports and broadcasters for titles including BGMI, Valorant, Call of Duty, and Free Fire. According to the statement, Rooter has over 30 million downloads of its mobile app and over 8.5 million monthly active users. It also notes that each month, roughly 1 million different individuals contribute gaming content to the Rooter platform. Rooter, which plans to build a community of half a million professional game broadcasters, boasts that it can connect with fans by streaming live, user-created audio and video material in at least ten Indian languages. "Rooter has been developing at a rapid speed over the last 18 months, in unison with the exploding mobile gaming market in India, and this latest influx of cash by such major domestic and international investors further validates our work," stated Piyush Kumar, Founder & CEO of Rooter.
Our streamers have reported unprecedented interest in their content, leading to record income growth over the past six months. In the following two years, Dipesh and I plan to work with our backers to grow Rooter into the largest gaming firm in the country, Piyush says. March Gaming Managing Partner Gregory Milken said in a statement about the investment, "The availability of cheap, fast, and reliable mobile data in India has resulted in a massive explosion of streaming services and digital content, and we believe Rooter is best-positioned to capture this expanding market as the clear platform of choice for game streaming. Our first investment in India is a huge deal for us.
"We have closely monitored the gaming market in India for some years," Salil Bhargava, Director at Duane Park, stated. We anticipate tremendous growth in India's gaming streaming market. Loco, Rooter's main competitor, received $9 million in funding from PUBG maker Krafton in June of 2018. In the next three years, RedSeer and Lumikai predict that 700 million people in India will play video games.
In exchange for a $200 million series D investment, Ant-backed M-Daq has given Affinity a majority ownership
M-Daq, a Singapore-based fintech business backed by Ant Group, has received an investment of US$200 million from Asian private equity giant Affinity Equity Partners in a series D transaction.
According to information provided by VentureCap Insights, M-Daq has raised a total of US$34.8 million since its inception in 2010. Richard Koh, founder and CEO of M-Daq, explained to Tech in Asia that the discrepancy in the figure resulted from the fact that not all of the capital had been drawn down by the company due to the presence of secondary shares being offered in the round.
According to a statement released by M-Daq, thanks to Affinity's investment, the company now shares control of the Singapore-based firm with its management and employees.
Koh owns 15.92% of M-Daq and Joo Seng Wong owns 3.15%. In addition, 12.7% of the company is owned by employee stock option plans. Both Noboru Takahashi, the business's first chief technology officer, and Lee Yaw Chyun, the company's first chief financial officer, own stock in the company. According to information from VentureCap Insights, this translates to a 33.56% ownership share in the company.
M-Daq already has a number of investors and commercial partners, including Ant Group, EDBI, NTT Communications, Samsung, and Kiwoom-Shinhan, an alliance between Kiwoom Securities and Shinhan Capital.
M-Daq, which has been cash flow positive since 2018, plans to use the new funds in research and development of new products as well as in expanding its worldwide enterprise customer base.
"We are delighted to have discovered in Affinity a strong believer-partner to pursue our third five-year strategic plan with a view of a public outing," Koh added.
M-Daq claims that its patented FX solutions process over US$10 billion in annual cross-border transactions, principally serving ecommerce and technology firms like AliExpress, Taobao, and Tmall.
Aladdin and Fliq are among M-most Daq's notable offerings. With Aladdin, online shoppers can transact in their own currency while businesses may accept payments in whichever currency they desire. When customers travel internationally with Fliq, they can use their local e-wallets to make purchases anywhere Fliq is accepted.
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Yuasa Battery YuMicron SY50-N18L-AT
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Just six weeks into his retirement, Shaquille O'Neal has agreed to a multi-year deal with TNT to be a member of Inside the NBA. He'll join Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and
Kenny Anderson Ernie Johnson in the cavernous studio next season, and because he is very weird — and as long as he doesn't encroach on any of the overly-established repartee — he should be a very good fit for the show.
Shaq's challenge, though, will be to develop his shtick and fit in a word on a broadcast that is known for repetitive, mildly-entertaining banter. Barkley, Smith, and Anderson have largely succeeded in their roles for TNT because they each take themselves, and the sport that they cover, just seriously enough. Their eagerness to make fun of one another — combined with the network's willingness to let them say whatever the hell they want — makes for a show that feels more like three or four guys passing the time on a high school lunch break together than on a nationally-broadcast show. We wouldn't be shocked if there's a "tell me how my ass tastes" reference within Shaq's first five minutes on air.
And Shaq's strength as a commentator, if we're going to reach for it, might just be that he is very weird. If men like Buck and McCarver have taught us anything, it is that we prefer voices with actual human characteristics in the studio, and that includes flaws. With Shaq, we'll have one of the first commentators who may actually be more eccentric than Chuck, and he was probably hired for that very reason. We're guessing his Tout video collection (including classics such as "Camoflodged in google") was the deal-breaker.
Shaq signs deal with Turner Sports [SI]
Shaq To Join TNT's 'Inside The NBA' Show With Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith [SB Nation]


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If you weren't listening to Kimi Raikkonen's in-car audio during his NASCAR Nationwide series debut yesterday (he raced a truck last week), you missed some gems. During the race he managed to curse his car, his burning ass, and the lack of hydration.
Luckily Jeff Gluck, Motorsports Editor at SBNation.com, captured some of the funnier exchanges during Kimi's first race and shared them via Twitter. We present to you the ten funniest things Kimi Raikkonen said in his Nascar Nationwide series debut at the Top Gear 300.
"I don't understand how this car can be so hot. My ass is even burning in here!"
Kimi decided not to wear heat shields because heat had not been an issue in the truck he raced the week beforehand. It appears it certainly became one.
"Why you shouting on the fucking radio?"
Water bottle confusion also plagued Raikkonen throughout the race. After a crew member gave Kimi an empty bottle, the crew chief started yelling. Kimi quickly told them to take it off the air.
"I am out of the drink again. It's so small. Mark has to make sure it's completely full, because it is too small."
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As the liquid related chaos continues, it becomes obvious the Iceman just can't get enough to drink.
"We're so fucking shit, it's unbelievable."
Regardless of his 27th place finish and uncertain racing future it became clear pretty quickly that Kimi certainly sounds like a NASCAR driver.
"Did you see how fucking bad it is? I cannot even turn the car into the corner. ..And remember, I need water."
As he was about to get lapped, Raikkonen stuck with his pre-existing strategy of asking for more water and complaining about the car.
"I need my drinking water. Hey!! Give me my drinking water!!!"
Jeff Gluck thinks Kimi might have said "bottle" instead of "water" as he was coming into the pit. We hope his second interpretation was correct because "Give me my drinking bottle" could quickly become the official catchphrase of NASCAR fans worldwide.
"You just have to do what you have to do to get fast laps."
In response to Kimi's spotter pointing out he is on old tires and his car is handling accordingly. We aren't really sure what it means either.
"The car is just so fucking bad (mumble mumble)."
Who knows what the mumbles were exactly, but a cry for more drink wouldn't be a bad guess.
"The car is shit because I cannot get it turned! It is so frustrating! I cannot get the fucking car turned!"
This one does a nice job explaining itself.
"Don't talk about other things on the radio"
Kimi quickly made it clear after his spotter began discussing an incident on track he didn't want to hear about it. We imagine this was well received in the pits where the crew had been listening to Raikkonen's burning feet complaints and demands for more water the whole race.


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Guilty plea from Willmar woman charged with running over 3 month old cousin
OLIVIA -- Nicolle Marie Mercedes Prechel, 31, of Willmar, pleaded guilty Monday to causing the death of a child and injuring the child's mother. Prechel backed a van over their tent July 5 in Renville County's Beaver Falls Park, causing the death...
OLIVIA -- Nicolle Marie Mercedes Prechel, 31, of Willmar, pleaded guilty Monday to causing the death of a child and injuring the child's mother.
Prechel backed a van over their tent July 5 in Renville County's Beaver Falls Park, causing the death of 3-month-old Whyatt James Sander and injuring his mother, Sheena Hinshaw, 21.
During a court appearance Monday in Olivia, Prechel entered guilty pleas to criminal vehicular homicide for Sander's death and to criminal vehicular homicide - causing bodily harm while under the influence for the injuries to his mother.
Her guilty pleas were part of a plea agreement in which she pleaded to the most serious of the two sets of charges she faced for the infant's death and the mother's injuries.
District Judge Steve Drange accepted the guilty pleas and dismissed four other related charges. He ordered a pre-sentence investigation and set sentencing for Nov. 12.
Minnesota sentencing guidelines for the homicide charge call for a 58-month prison sentence, although the maximum possible sentence under state statute is 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.
The 3-month-old victim was the son of Prechel's cousin, Jacob Sander. He and the boy's mother and a dozen other family members were in the courtroom to hear a tearful Prechel enter her pleas.
Clad in an orange jail suit, Prechel testified that she had been intending to back the van into the spot where it had been parked overnight when she hit the gas pedal instead of the brake.
Prechel admitted that she had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.13 percent and traces of marijuana when tested more than three hours after the incident. Prechel said she had consumed an unknown quantity of Southern Comfort during the night and slept in her sister's van in the campground.
She drove her sister's Town and Country minivan to bring her and her daughter to the park's restroom, although her driver's license had been suspended. Since she had slept in the van, she had the seat slid back. "When I looked back, my daughter was talking and I hit the gas because ... I didn't move the seat back up," she testified between sobs.
The criminal complaint charges that she dragged the tent for 14 feet before the van struck a pole and stopped. Jacob Sander had been outside the tent and saw his child roll out of the tent. He grabbed the infant and drove him and the boy's mother to the Redwood Falls Hospital, where Whyatt Sander was pronounced dead. Hinshaw suffered bruises.
Prechel was stopped by a Renville County sheriff's deputy as she drove to the hospital shortly after the incident.
Renville County Assistant Attorney Glen Jacobsen said the guilty pleas to the most serious of the charges provide the court with the full range of options in sentencing, while also sparing family members the emotional turmoil of a trial. He said investigators found no evidence that the incident was anything other than what he described as a "very, very tragic accident."
Jacobsen conferred with the family before the plea agreement was reached. He said it has been a "very difficult, very conflicting and very difficult time" for them.
The defense is expected to ask the judge to use the discretion available to the court to "depart" from sentencing guidelines and allow probation and possibly time in the county jail in place of prison.


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Currents, Series 1, No. 3, 2019 (excerpt)
Running time: 7:43 minutes / HD / black & white
Water, Sand, Light.
Camera: Sylvia Safdie
Editing: Patrick Andrew Boivin, Sylvia Safdie
Audio: Silent
NOTE: For the past several years I have spent hours observing moving waters in rivers, lakes, oceans and seas. This process has often guided my travels. I have become captivated by the way they disclose their secret anatomy, by their life force, by their continuous rhythms of movement and transformation and by the way they capture and reflect light.
I have returned several times to the same vantage point in Punta Zicatela, Oaxaca, Mexico, on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. On each occasion I spent several days in the same spot observing and recording the Ocean at different times of day.
Chance occurs in nature – it is echoed by the chance and the unknown that occurs in the making of art. This is what is called improvisation. In Media Luna, I have abandoned myself to the to the life force of the ocean. Water, sand, light, currents and the forces of nature that shape them come together. By observing and recording what is in front of me I am permitting nature to create its own painting.


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September 13, 2012 | The Weekly Standard
In Service of the Blind Sheikh?
September 13, 2012 | The Weekly Standard
In Service of the Blind Sheikh?
The investigation into the exact circumstances that brought us the twin attacks on U.S. diplomats in Egypt and Libya remains ongoing. Much remains uncertain. But a few new press accounts provide clues that are worth noting. And those clues point to a possible motive for the anti-American rallies and violence that has little to do with an offensive anti-Islam film.
It seems that bad actors in both Egypt and Libya decided to agitate for the release of Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman, aka the "Blind Sheikh." This is a longstanding cause for al Qaeda and other militants – even though it is inconceivable that Rahman will be released and terrorism on his behalf is itself, in many ways, a pretext.
Rahman is a widely revered character in jihadist circles, having issued fatwas that repeatedly led to terrorism. Osama bin Laden credited Rahman, a long-time friend and ally of al Qaeda's deceased master, with issuing the fatwa that condoned the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Rahman is serving a life sentence in an American prison for his role in 1993 World Trade Center bombing, which prefigured 9/11, and a follow-on plot against New York City landmarks. Rahman's spiritual guidance directed those terrorists.
According to USA Today, the protest outside of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo was initially planned by Gamaa Islamiya (known as the IG), in which Sheikh Rahman was a top leader. USA Today reports:
The protest was planned by Salafists well before news circulated of an objectionable video ridiculing Islam's prophet, Mohammed, said Eric Trager, an expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
The protest outside the U.S. Embassy in Cairo was announced Aug. 30 by [G]amaa Islamiya, a State Department-designated terrorist group, to protest the ongoing imprisonment of its spiritual leader, Sheikh Omar abdel Rahman. He is serving a life sentence in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.
Then on Monday, Trager says, Mohammed al Zawahiri (brother of al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri) tweeted that "people should go to the embassy and 'defend the prophet.'" Mohammed al Zawahiri, who was present at the assault on the embassy in Cairo, also claims that he helped arrange the protest.
Here is an additional observation about the Zawahiri family's ties to these events: Ayman al Zawahiri himself made a reference to Sheikh Rahman in his September 10 eulogy of top al Qaeda operative Abu Yahya al Libi, who was killed in June. Ayman al Zawahiri's relationship with the Blind Sheikh is decades-old at this point, as the two worked closely together throughout their early terrorist careers. Ayman al Zawahiri's Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) has long partnered with Rahman's Gamaa Islamiya to execute attacks.
In his video, according to a translation by the SITE Intelligence Group, Zawahiri says:
And we, by the grace of Allah, have announced that we will not release the American captive Warren Weinstein, Allah willing, until the Crusaders release our captives including Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman and Aafia Siddiqui.
Weinstein is an American contractor who was kidnapped by an al Qaeda-linked group in Pakistan in 2011 and is currently held prisoner by al Qaeda. Aafia Siddiqui is known as "Lady Al Qaeda" for her work on behalf of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's network of terrorists and is imprisoned in the U.S.
Then there is this video clip from MEMRI which shows Egyptian Salafists protesting for Rahman's release yesterday, September 11. MEMRI also reports that, on September 7, a "prominent writer" on a jihadist forum suggested "burning down the U.S. embassy in Egypt with all workers inside in order to pressure the U.S. to release" Rahman. The post was titled, "How can the U.S. embassy remain in Egypt while [the U.S.] imprisons Sheikh 'Omar 'Abd Al-Rahman."
Turning to the attack on U.S. diplomats in Libya, CNN reports:
The group suspected to be behind the assault — the Imprisoned Omar Abdul Rahman Brigades — first surfaced in May, when it claimed responsibility for an attack on the International Red Cross office in Benghazi. The following month the group claimed responsibility for detonating an explosive device outside the U.S. Consulate, and later released a video of that attack.
It is certainly curious that there is a possible connection to the Blind Sheikh in both the Egyptian and Libyan attacks.
It is worth remembering that al Qaeda isn't alone in calling for the Blind Sheikh's release.
After being sworn into office in June, Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, a longtime member of the Muslim Brotherhood, promised to work for the Blind Sheikh's release. Also in June, a member of Rahman's terrorist organization visited Washington in an attempt, he said, to demand the sheikh's freedom.
We will surely learn more over time, including if there is anything more to this. At a minimum, we know that various forces have been increasingly agitating for Rahman's release in recent months.
And there are potentially significant dots to connect: (1) Gamaa Islamiya's planned protest on behalf Rahman, (2) Mohammed al Zawahiri's involvement, (3) Ayman al Zawahiri's offer on September 10 to trade an American hostage for Rahman's release, (4) Two reports from MEMRI showing renewed calls for Rahman's release by Salafists and jihadists in Egypt, and (5) CNN's reporting on the Imprisoned Omar Abdul Rahman Brigades' suspected involvement in Libya.
Thomas Joscelyn is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.


text: Thanks to the folks over at ostastic.com for pointing me to the posts from the developers working on Unity on Fedora and OpenSuse. Both site problems with the upstream developers and seem to be suffering from burn-out. If you know anyone interested in picking the projects up they both seem willing to turn it over. The current decision though puts Ubuntu out on their own in adopting Unity. If you want to test it out you seem to have to use Ubuntu for now.


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The UFC's globetrotting ways are expected to continue in 2013, really to no one's surprise.
And the calendar year could feature the promotion heading to a new market that has produced one of the most highly regarded fighters in history.
UFC President Dana White believes the company will make its way to Russia sometime in 2013 for its first live event there.
The UFC also is expanding into India this year with an expected edition of "The Ultimate Fighter" there, followed by a live event. But White believes in the case of Russia, the UFC will host an event there first before trying out something like a "TUF" season.
"I would say this year (we'll go to Russia)," White told a small group of reporters following Saturday's UFC on FOX 6 card in at United Center in Chicago. "I think what's going to go on in Russia is we'll put on a live event there first (before an 'Ultimate Fighter' season). We'll do a live event in Russia, and just like every other event we've done, you do the live event and it explodes.
Russia, of course, produced the legendary Fedor Emelianenko, regarded as one of the greatest heavyweights in history, as well as one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters of all time. He had a win streak of nearly 10 years before finally losing in the opening round of the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix in 2011.
Emelianenko recently retired from the sport, and on Saturday White also revealed that the UFC was close to signing him for a 2012 fight against former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, a fight that would have taken place in Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.
But while a show in Russia won't likely feature Emelianenko, who told the UFC he was committed to his retirement, the country's history in combat sports could make the promotion's planned debut there promising.
"Mixed martial arts is already big over there," White said. "Sambo is big over there. (We'll do a live event) and then we'll see where the market goes from there."
Recent Russian signee Khabib Nurmagomedov (19-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) just improved to 3-0 in the UFC after a UFC on FX 7 first-round knockout of Thiago Tavares. White said the UFC will continue to scout talent from Russia – but that's something it does regardless of what part of the world they're planning to head to.
"We're always looking for the best guys no matter where they're from – every country," he said.
For more on the UFC's upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.
(Pictured: Khabib Nurmagomedov)


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Brien Murphy: 'King of Pop' reigned like no other
If you're too young to remember 1983, it's difficult to comprehend just how massive Michael Jackson was as an entertainer.
Before the sad spiral of plastic surgeries, child molestation allegations, sham marriages and the freak show his life became, Michael Jackson was the biggest thing in the Western Hemisphere. And he ruled 1983 like the Beatles ruled 1964, or like the Bee Gees ruled 1978.
You couldn't escape him. And there wasn't anything he couldn't do.
The recording that made it all happen was "Thriller," a nine-song collection released in late 1982 that spawned a ridiculous seven hit singles.
For the record, my teenaged self got mighty tired of Michael Jackson after a while. "Thriller" overstayed its welcome deep into 1984. Minor songs became smash singles — notably, the gawd-awful duet with Paul McCartney, "The Girl Is Mine," with its atrocious chorus "The doggone girl is mine" and (gulp) spoken part. You couldn't even drink Pepsi without seeing his face.
But here's why Michael Jackson ruled all he surveyed.
- "Billie Jean": Led off by a funky, minor key bass line and piercing synthesizer notes, "Billie Jean" was a rare dance hit at the height of new wave and the rise of heavy metal, both of which conspired to kill disco. Kids wanted to get on the dance floor again.
- "Beat It": It seems impossible to believe now, given hip-hop's dominance of the pop charts, but during its first couple of years, MTV was primarily the domain of white rock 'n' rollers. Along came Jackson, who was savvy enough to get Eddie Van Halen to record a hard rock guitar riff and make the heavy metal kids care about an R&B song — and open up MTV's airwaves to other black artists.
- "Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever": The made-for-TV event, which looked back at a quarter century of music released by Motown Records, is best remembered as the day Jackson launched the moonwalk. Every kid in my high school tried to replicate the illusion of floating Jackson pulled off in penny loafers. Jackson sang and danced — none of this lip-synching while doing the more intricate dance moves that we see today from lesser talents.
- He made other people famous. If you believe the hype (and I don't), R&B singer Rockwell earned his recording contract (the fact that he was Motown head Berry Gordy's son notwithstanding). But Rockwell couldn't sing. At all. So Jackson sang the chorus of "Somebody's Watching Me" (the melody now used in commercials for Geico) and the song went to No. 2.
"Thriller" was so huge that Jackson gave his brothers — most of whom hadn't had a hit since Michael split from the Jackson Five to go solo — one more major concert tour in the mid-1980s and a couple more hit singles.
"Thriller" was so huge that, in the crazy lineup of pop stars gathered as USA For Africa to record the fundraising single "We Are the World," only Jackson got two solos (filling in for the AWOL Prince).
"Thriller" was so huge that there was almost nothing Jackson could do to top it.
Except get increasingly weird. Despite recording huge hits well into the 1990s, his bizarre personal life (almost dropping the baby, French-kissing Lisa Marie Presley, the ever-shrinking nose) made more news during the past 15 years than his music. The last time many people cared about Jackson was when the not guilty verdict came down in his child molestation trial in 2005.
But no one has dominated pop culture through sheer force of talent since Michael Jackson in the mid-1980s. It's hard to imagine that anyone ever will.
Brien Murphy can be reached at (217) 788-1515 or firstname.lastname@example.com.


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St Peter's Basilica
By Catholic tradition, the Basilica is the burial site of its namesake St. Peter, one of the Apostles of Jesus Christ and, also according to tradition, the first Pope and Bishop of Rome. Tradition and strong historical evidence hold that St. Peter's tomb is directly below the high altar of the Basilica. For this reason, many Popes have been interred at St. Peter's since the Early Christian period. There has been a church on this site since the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great. Construction of the present basilica, replacing the Old St. Peter's Basilica of the 4th century AD, began on 18 April 1506 and was completed on 18 November 1626.Read More
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text:
Clare, John Fitzgibbon, 1st earl of
Clare, John Fitzgibbon,
1st earl of, 1749–1802, Irish statesman. He was (1783–89) attorney general of Ireland and in 1789 became lord chancellor. A resolute upholder of the Protestant ascendancy in Ireland, he denounced the Catholic Relief Act of 1793 and helped to thwart Lord Fitzwilliam in his move toward Catholic Emancipation. He was instrumental in effecting the Act of Union (1800) between England and Ireland. Clare, who was created earl in 1795, was so unpopular in Ireland that his funeral was broken up by a mob.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
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