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Perry said he sees similarities between that team and the Knicks team he is inheriting. “People forget, our very first season in Detroit, we were 32-50,” Perry said, again adjusting his pen, water and keyboard on his desk. “We knew we had rebuilding to do. We had lost Grant Hill in free agency. So, I’m not afraid of building projects or whatever. It takes a lot of hard work. It takes — first and foremost — establishing a culture of accountability.” Leaning back in his chair and placing his thumb and forefinger on his chin, Perry stopped short of elaborating on what a culture of accountability looks like for the Knicks, a wayward franchise that seems to produce new calamities on a weekly basis. The bar is low. Consider last season, when Joakim Noah, their starting center, was suspended for failing a drug test. Or the game when Derrick Rose, their starting point guard, did not even bother to show up. Or the other game when Madison Square Garden security, at the behest of the owner, James L. Dolan, had Charles Oakley arrested and hauled out of the arena in handcuffs. (Oakley, who just happens to be one of the franchise’s most beloved former players, has since filed a civil suit.) And let’s not forget the team president, Phil Jackson, who somehow managed to alienate both of his star players, Carmelo Anthony and Porzingis, as a disastrous season dragged on. Porzingis, clearly disgusted with the direction of the franchise, went so far as to skip his exit interview with Jackson, who retaliated by shopping Porzingis on the trade market ahead of the draft. Dolan finally pulled the plug on the Jackson experiment a few days later. Before joining the Knicks, Perry worked for three months as vice president for basketball operations for the Sacramento Kings. Kimberly was still living in Orlando, working on selling their house, and planning to join him permanently in Sacramento. Chelsea had just finished her final year at the Tisch School of Arts at New York University (she completed her first three years at the University of Michigan and spent her senior year as a guest student in New York). She was living in Brooklyn and pursuing a career in film. “There might’ve been no one happier when I got this job than her,” Perry said of Chelsea. “The job itself commands me wanting to be here. With that being said, what are the odds of the opportunity opening up for her family to move here and be alongside her? I was teasing her. I said, ‘Now, O.K., you have to make sure Mom is comfortable and that she knows how to get around and get on subways and where to go eat.’” Before her parents moved to the city, Chelsea was working at a fast-food restaurant and was on call as a production assistant. With her family in town, she has quit her restaurant job and is doing freelance film and production work while interning for a fashion photographer.

Roger Ailes' comments referred to a feud between Donald Trump (pictured) and Fox News host Megyn Kelly. | Getty Ailes to Trump: 'What the hell is wrong with you?' After Donald Trump attacked Fox News host Megyn Kelly, the network's CEO Roger Ailes asked him: “What the hell is wrong with you?” “I've always had the same relationship with Donald for 30 years. It's a friendly relationship, surprisingly enough,” Ailes said in an interview with Adweek, which selected him as its “Media Visionary of the Year." “I did call him after the first go-round and I said, ‘What the hell is wrong with you? The United States is at war with every goddamn country in the Middle East and you're at war with Megyn Kelly and you think that looks good? It doesn't look good.’” Trump and Kelly’s spat began after she asked him a series of tough questions, including about his treatment of women, during the first GOP presidential primary debate on Aug. 6. A seething Trump got his revenge afterwards, retweeting supporters who called her a “bimbo” and saying that the Fox host had “blood coming out of her wherever.” (He was referring to her nose, he later explained.) The feud lasted on and off throughout August, with Ailes eventually calling on Trump to apologize for “a surprise and unprovoked attack.” “Megyn Kelly represents the very best of American journalism and all of us at Fox News Channel reject the crude and irresponsible attempts to suggest otherwise," Ailes said in a statement at the time. By the next day, the two seemed to have struck a truce. “Roger Ailes is great. He’s a special guy and a good friend of mine. We just spoke two minutes ago. I mean, Roger Ailes is a great guy and no, I have no problem,” Trump said to radio host Laura Ingraham. In September, however, Trump — apparently aggrieved by the network's coverage of his poll numbers — announced a boycott of Fox News. "@FoxNews has been treating me very unfairly & I have therefore decided that I won't be doing any more Fox shows for the foreseeable future," he tweeted. (Fox responded that it had broken with Trump first by canceling his appearance on Bill O'Reilly's show.) In the Adweek interview, Ailes was asked whether he had any interest in following in Trump’s footsteps of being a businessman turned politician. “I was asked many times, and about 20 years ago somebody actually tried to get me to run. And I concluded I would never do what I advised people to do, which is to behave and not punch people if they say something I don't like,” he said. When the reporter pointed out that Trump was doing it, Ailes responded: “Yeah, but he hasn't physically done it yet.”

By David Wharton | 6 years ago It seems to me that there are two types of Lego fans. There are the ones who dump all the pieces into a pile and start snapping them together without any specific end goal in mind, just letting their imagination take them wherever. Or there are the folks who look at that same pile and envision them assembled into a specific form. Say, for instance, the titular space station from sci-fi classic Babylon 5. That’s obviously how one Lego maniac’s brain works, because he spent seven months constructing a Lego replica of our last, best hope for peace. Eurobricks user Mario Sánchez shared pictures of his months-long project almost a year ago exactly, so I must admit I’m curious what he’s been up in the ensuing time — a Lego Citadel maybe? (Okay, I had to check: he’s also built sets for Sherlock Holmes, the Council of Elrond from The Lord of the Rings, and others — admittedly, none as impressive as his B5.) Here is his description and the model’s specs, for any of you viewing this not just as a cool bit of work, but as a challenge: It has taken me 7 months to finish it. I started with LDD, changed the scale, changed again the scale, almost give up (twice, at least), finalized the design, bought pieces, discovered LDD does not take into account Gravity Law, redesigned the internal structure and the ‘tail,’ bought more pieces, made some minor changes and finally there it was, my own Babylon 5. It is 84 cm. long (33 inches) and it has of 2332 pieces (1904 of them are Plates, Tiles or Cheese Slopes and 270 are various types of Bricks 1×1). Honestly, I’m tired just from reading that. Granted, my Lego experience these days is usually limited to swearing loudly after stepping on one of the blocks my kids left out in the middle of the night. At least with this, a tiny Lego Ivanova would threaten to launch a Starfury squadron if you entered their airspace. For any who haven’t seen Babylon 5, it was centered on a station of the same name, a hub of travel, trade, and diplomacy which soon became a beacon of hope and resistance in at least two wars. Its construction makes use of that classic cylindrical station design that’s been used a ton in science fiction and proposed as the basis for real-world space colonies. The station spins, generating “gravity” of a force that’s near Earth normal, allowing the inhabitants to stroll around on the interior, glancing up at a horizon that rises and curves back above you. It makes for one hell of a view, as this actual NASA concept art for a proposed space colony shows. That’s some nice work, Mario. Check out more shots of his B5 model below, and more of Mario’s work on his Flickr and Picasa pages.

Kevin Williamson has been fired from The Atlantic. Since leaving National Review in March, the conservative writer has managed to produce just one column at his new perch, in which he declared the death of the libertarian moment. But the thing that cost him the gig was a remark he made on a podcast well before his firing and in a tweet (since deleted [UPDATE: Williamson notes that his account is deactivated, not that this specific tweet was deleted]): And someone challenged me on my views on abortion, saying, "If you really thought it was a crime, you would support things like life in prison, no parole, for treating it as a homicide." And I do support that. In fact, as I wrote, what I had in mind was hanging. Williamson expressed the view that abortion is murder and should be punished to the full extent of the law (although he also later indicated that he has mixed feelings about capital punishment). I do not share his view. But by declaring Williamson to be outside the Overton window of acceptable political discourse because he believes strongly that abortion is a serious, punishable crime, The Atlantic is essentially declaring that it cannot stomach real, mainstream conservatism as it actually exists in 21st century America. Williamson uses colorful and sometimes rash language. He didn't have to detail the grisly form of punishment he would inflict on women who decide to terminate their pregnancies. He chose to do so because he enjoys provoking a reaction. But The Atlantic knew that about him before it hired him. Editor Jeffrey Goldberg says he decided to fire Williamson only after learning that the tweet and podcast quote "represented his carefully considered views." But the underlying logic of Williamson's pro-life position is a view shared by roughly half or at least 40 percent of Americans. It is, of course, the perfect right of The Atlantic's editors to publish whomever they wish. Reason staffers are all libertarian, under a big-tent understanding of that term (not to brag, but we are repping the pro-life view). That's written into our mission as a magazine. But if The Atlantic purports to capture a broad spectrum of American political views, Williamson's firing is a sign that it hasn't yet figured out how to do so. And the reader outcry against him (and his rightish heterodox kinfolk at The New York Times) is a sign of a market that has grown increasingly squeamish about a genuinely inclusive journalistic vision. I have personally been the beneficiary of this doublethink on ideological diversity for years. When institutions recognize the need to have a nonliberal somewhere in their midst, they look across the landscape and discover that the closest thing to conservatism that they can tolerate is a relatively mild-mannered, young(ish), female, pro-choice libertarian. Which is to say, not a conservative at all. The Atlantic publishes lots of interesting heterodox voices, of course. And I'd like to think I do provide ideological diversity in situations where I've been called in. But putting me on a panel is not nearly the same thing as giving the conservative side of the American political spectrum a hearing.

Newsen via NateReps confirmed that the two have known each other since 2012 but it was only in recent months that they began dating. They got into a severe verbal argument that turned into a physical fight once emotions got out of control. Reps denied that he habitually assaulted her.The physical fight only happened once. Her rib cage did not break during that fight but in an earlier incident when they were just fooling around. The next day, she went out with her friends and did not realize she had been hurt.1. [+136, -4] They obviously racked their heads for this official statement. Can I laugh at the part where they say she broke a rib while they were fooling around? ㅋㅋㅋ2. [+121, -3] Fooling around assault3. [+91, -4] How exactly were they fooling around that she broke a rib?4. [+18, -2] Fool around one more time and it'll be her funeral5. [+12, -0] Just cut your dick off. You really call that an excuse? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ It's not only childish but goose bump inducing. He claims they physically fought together ㅋㅋㅋㅋ6. [+10, -1] Guess he's showing that an action star is on another level. Just a light physical brawl can break a rib cage.7. [+8, -0] Is his girlfriend a boxer? ㅋ They fought to the point where she broke a rib? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ8. [+8, -3] Kim Hyun Joong, the man who kick boxes for fun with a woman9. [+8, -3] What a pathetic excuse10. [+8, -1] Seems he hasn't gotten over 'Inspiring Generation' yet11. [+7, -0] If the victim was telling a lie, he would've counter sued her by now... who is he taking for fools?12. [+7, -0] Broke a rib just by fooling around... fool around again and will she break her spine? ㅋ Hurry and put him in jail1. [+3,956, -109] So she broke a rib while just fooling around, I see2. [+2,660, -111] Just acknowledge your crime, you'll get more hate the more you deny it3. [+2,547, -111] How hard did they fool around to the point where she broke a rib?? Something doesn't connect here...4. [+2,085, -168] Does he think he can get away with a pathetic excuse like this? Just because she didn't realize she had been hurt, that makes abusing her okay?5. [+1,718, -62] Please reveal the truth with further investigations6. [+404, -19] Women, break up with any man who hits you even once, no matter how much he apologizes. Once a man hits you, he will hit you again.7. [+373, -15] So in conclusion, he did beat her8. [+317, -22] Has anyone ever broken a rib while fooling around with someone?

’m talking a very little, like in the single digits. All of them have the MLS above 19,000 for the first time. From here on out, I’m going to be using the numbers of Scott Phillips at ‘Business of Sports’ because they seem consistently consistent and because he goes into a little more depth than some other outlets. (2) I have to admit that I find a couple of these figures a little difficult to trust. Has BBVA ever felt like it had more people in it than Sporting Park? The Red Bulls are getting 19,000 out to Harrison every week? Not saying any of these are overstatements or anything like that (please don't sue me), but some of these numbers don’t pass the proverbial smell or eyeball tests. (3) Sorry for the cheap shot. That fruit was hanging too low and I couldn't help myself. Plus, it’s a good occasion to point out that from here on out, we’re not going to count Chivas in any of our numbers. Because while they have been dead to most of us for a very long time, they are now officially dead. So let’s pretend that they never existed. It won’t be hard. (4) Yes, there are outliers in the other direction. We’re looking at you, Seattle. But Seattle isn't going anywhere, and neither are their fans, so the point is moot. (5) I did this math twice, but if this is a safe space and we're all being honest, I slept through most of AP Statistics and subsequently failed. Don't tell my Dad. (6) Not meant to be an exact number. So sue me (please don’t sue me). (7) They wouldn’t allow this sort of highly speculative, cherry-picking informed projection in any beginners statistics class. There’s no telling what will happen between now and March. There’s also a couple new variables next year. There’s no World Cup. No Landon Donovan. Maybe no Henry. Orlando City will be playing in the Orange Bowl and NYCFC will be playing in Yankee Stadium, and both will look terrible. So who knows what’s going to happen. But I did it anyway because it was fun. So sue me (once again, please don’t sue me). A couple other facts of no consequence other than their being passingly interesting: Orlando City's average attendance last season was 4,743. That's low. It's not even particularly good for a USL PRO team. There must be something going on with that number that I don't know about. If you know, share below. The longest team name in the MLS belongs to the New England Revolution. This could all change with the addition of Club de Sporting Real Internazionale David Beckham United FC, Miami. Sources: Business of Soccer Doherty Soccer USL 2014 Doherty Soccer NASL 2014

as a Democrat. Still, because Brazile has served up the media's favorite image of Hillary Clinton - as a vicious, backstabbing monster who would lie, cheat, and steal just to achieve her agenda - they are lapping up this article like pudding, and the trolls are out in full force. This last exchange lays bare Brazile's intentions to gain a new audience of BernieBros who undermined the party last year, with Black being among the worst of them (he co-hosted a show from 2016-17 with HA Goodman and supports Seth Rich conspiracy theories.) The publication of her excerpts have also given leeway for the MSM to run with irresponsible headlines like Newsweek's "Clinton Robbed Bernie Sanders of the Democratic Nomination," and unreliable websites like Zero Hedge and True Pundit are running their own takes which praise Brazille for "blowing the whistle," while stating that "Bernie Got Robbed." This is simply not true, and it has been disproven over and over again. The DNC did not rig the primary - Hillary won by getting more votes, particularly the votes of men and women of color, whom Sanders has still not figured out how to address. The most recent example of this deficiency occurred on Seth Meyers the other night when Sanders opined that while Democrats had to take on Trump's fight against POC, "equally important, or more important" were the "bread-and-butter issues that mean so much to ordinary Americans," with "ordinary" being an obvious dog whistle for white. Brazile's claims are further undermined by the Politico article she cites in her piece, the one she said proved that the Clinton campaign was, in effect, a money-laundering operation, taking away money from state parties and down-ballot races. What should be noted is that the article was published in May 2016 - before any down ballot candidates were nominated. And the money that got sent back to them was eventually spent on voter outreach in state parties. It turned out that Clinton raised $40 million that May, with $27 million going to her campaign, and $13.5 million going to the DNC and state parties through the Hillary Victory Fund, which was established in the joint fundraising agreement she signed in August 2015. Should Brazile's story raise concerns? Yes, in that we should hold Obama and Schultz's feet to the fire for not taking better care of the Committee under his presidency so that one candidate wouldn't have to bear the brunt of carrying the entire party on their back. But for Brazile to rewrite history like this to damn the Clinton campaign is a blow of the lowest order, and one that must be debunked and discarded before it further weakens our stature. Brazile may have misgivings about how the Democrats ran in 2016, but they shouldn't be a license to enable those who seek nothing less than the wholesale destruction of the Party because the man they wanted to win got clobbered. Please consider becoming a paid member of The Daily Banter and supporting us in holding the Trump administration to account. Your help is needed more than ever, and is greatly appreciated.

← Sidebar · Posted by Sergei Rzhevsky in Art, History, Religion The following book “Anti-Religious Alphabet” was published in Leningrad in 1933. The author of the pictures was Mikhail Mikhailovich Cheremnykh (1890-1962) – a Soviet graphic artist, cartoonist, book illustrator. Each word in the poetic phrases accompanying the pictures begins with the corresponding letter of the Russian alphabet. Translation gives just a general meaning of these short phrases, but of course, if you know Russian, then this historical document is especially interesting. However, the illustrations themselves give some insight into the attitude to religion during the first decades of the Soviet regime. Source 1. Anti-Religious Alphabet. 2. Brothers, stop fearing the gods. 3. Religion. Faith is harmful, more harmful than wine. 4. Be patient. Voice of the Lord is good for the lords (magnates). 5. Down with the old village life of our grandfathers. 6. Episcopacy could barely eat. 7. The priest’s sting waiting for the victim. 8. Political literacy. Replace healer spells with knowledge. 9. Gandhi. They exposed the traitor’s name. 10. The end of the bells – work for the blacksmith. 11. Pouring lava of crafty lies. 12. Holy relics interfere with the power of machines. 13. 5 in 4 (meaning the early implementation of the five-year development plan of the country). Don’t need heavenly reward. 14. Myrrh-flowing icons – fraud. 15. Proletarian plaster for the holy shepherds. 16. Paradise. Picture, expose paradise of religions. 17. List of saints and holy days – the fairy tales, which worth laughing. 18. Collectivization (collective farms and private landholdings). Drag this way comrade tractor. 19. Agrotechnology, MTS (Machine Tractor Station), Fertilizers. Destroy the saints, multiply the harvest. 20. All people are brothers. The fabricant Ford is a fascism fort. 21. Love each other. Praising Christ and ruling with the whip. 22. The world of churches – the world of chains. 23. Read clearly: rosary – rubbish. 24. Godless. Assault shamans – the gang of charlatans. 25. Tongs, crush these bristly tentacles. 26. Electric excavator to get rid of these exploiters. 27. “Don’t join the collective farm”. Don’t trust the holy fool. 28. Intervention. The flaming rage of the poisonous tongue. Tags: propaganda · Saint Petersburg city · Soviet past << Chita – the view from above Veliky Novgorod Kremlin >> No comments yet.

Ms Yang Feng Glan was charged at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court along with Tanzanians Salvius Matembo and Manase Philemon. By Citizen Correspondent Dar es Salaam. A Chinese woman described by investigators as the “kingpin of ivory trading” was yesterday charged with smuggling elephant tusks worth Sh5.4 billion. Ms Yang Feng Glan was charged at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court along with Tanzanians Salvius Matembo and Manase Philemon. They were not allowed to enter a plea because the court does not have jurisdiction to handle the case. Ms Yang is alleged to have operated in Tanzania for 14 years as the main link between poachers and international buyers. She has allegedly been financing people who have been killing elephants in protected areas, and she buys elephant tusks and supplies them to other people engaged in the illegal trade in ivory. State Attorney Nassor Katuga alleged in court that the accused committed the offence between January 1, 2000 and May 22, 2014. According to Mr Katuga, Ms Yang was involved in the smuggling and trading in 706 elephant tusks weighing 1,889 kilogrammes and worth Sh5.4 billion without a licence from the Director of Wildlife. Going by the estimates of anti-poaching experts, the 706 tusks mean that about 350 elephants were slaughtered. The three were also charged with involvement in organised crime. They are alleged to have illegally collected, transported and sold the ivory for profit without a permit from the Director of Wildlife. Mr Philemon was also charged with escaping from lawful custody. It was alleged before the court that on May 21, 2014 at Sinza Palestina in Kinondoni District, the accused escaped from police after he was detained for illegally possessing government trophies. A certificate from the office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) objecting to the accused being released on bail was submitted in court. Their lawyer, Mr Nehemia Nkoko, requested that his clients be released on bail, pending determination of the case against them. The court is today expected to rule on the application. Ms Yang’s arraignment came just a week after another Chinese woman, Ms Li Ling Ling, was charged before the same court along with four Tanzanians with aiding the smuggling of ivory worth over Sh267 million to Switzerland. They were also charged with three counts of conspiracy, leading organised crime and unlawful dealing in trophies. The four include TPDF soldiers Salum Mnyonesu and Albadil Mshana, who were seconded to Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA). The accused allegedly conspired with other persons to facilitate the smuggling of ivory. They are alleged to have aided the smuggling out of the country 150kg of elephant tusks, 21 lion teeth and 35 lion claws, all valued at $127,334 (Sh267.4 million) without export certificates.

There are four new expansions coming from Rockstar Games for the hit Western Red Dead Redemption. One of them will bring zombies. Plus... new animals? Red Dead Revolver characters? Anti-griefing somethings-or-other? Rockstar outlined the four new paid expansions to Red Dead Redemption today, promising the next one for August and the following downloadable packs in the coming months. The DLC, which will be offered for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, expands the single player and multiplayer aspects of the game. (The following summaries are quoted from a press release) 1) Legends and Killers Pack (Early August 2010, $10) -New active map locations, characters and more - 9 new multiplayer map locations — more than doubling the amount of territories in the multiplayer competitive modes - 8 new multiplayer characters — play as characters from Red Dead Revolver - Introducing a new projectile weapon: the Tomahawk, with corresponding challenges for single-player and multiplayer gameplay - New achievements and trophies 2) Liars and Cheats Pack (TBD release date; $10) - New competitive modes, multiplayer mini-games in Free Roam, and more - Attack and Defend multiplayer competitive mode and challenges - New multiplayer horse races, complete with mounted combat - Play as the heroes and villains of Red Dead Redemption, as well as 8 additional multiplayer characters - Multiplayer versions of Liars Dice and Poker from the single-player game - Introducing a new weapon: the Explosive Rifle, with associated challenges available in single-player and multiplayer gameplay - New achievements and trophies 3) Free Roam Pack (TBD release date; TBD price) -Delve deeper into the world of Red Dead Redemption with new modes, challenges and gang hideouts to discover -New action areas and defensive placements -Posse scoring and leaderboards -New anti-griefing measures in Free Roam (Note from Stephen: Any theories on this, readers?) 4) Undead Nightmare Pack ("Fall" 2010; $10) - Ghost towns and cemeteries come alive in a West gone horribly wrong - Brand new single-player adventure, challenges and quests - 8 new multiplayer zombie characters - Additional animals unleashed in the world - New dynamic events and more Rockstar has not released any screenshots of the new modes, so you'll have to guess what their Red Dead zombies look like. Interesting DLC strategy for this game. Rockstar's last big games, Grand Theft Auto IV, received two massive single-player-centric add-ons released more than a year after the game and offering over a dozen hours of gameplay and story for $20. With Red Dead, Rockstar is creating smaller portions of content and releasing them much closer to release, emphasizing an expansion of multiplayer more than single-player. Both plans were ambitious, showing that Rockstar is serious about post-release support. (But not so serious, folks — zombies!)

Poles celebrated Poland’s National Flag Day in towns, cities and villages all over the country. Poles living abroad celebrate Polish Diaspora Day Poles and people with Polish origins still remember their homeland despite the fact that they are living abroad. see more The main celebrations took place in Warsaw, with the participation of President Andrzej Duda and the First Lady, Agata Kornhauser-Duda. The national flag was raised on the clock tower of Warsaw’s Royal Castle. The presidential couple also gave the Polish colours to the citizens of Poland’s capital. “The Polish flag has its unusual, historical aspect,” the President said. “[The flag] has the power to unite and to create the community,” he added. Another event that took place in Warsaw was the afternoon’s White-and-Red Procession that went through the central streets of the city. The organisers said that the march is “an opportunity for Poles to manifest their love for Poland and their local homelands.” More than 1,300 people took part in the procession. In the morning, the Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki took part in the ceremonial hoisting of the state flag on a building of the Zachodnio-Pomorskie Provincial Office in Szczecin, north-western Poland. He also met with scouts, veterans and activists of the anti-communist opposition. National Flag Day was also celebrated in Gdynia, northern Poland. The official observances took place in the harbour, in front of the Polish destroyer ORP Błyskawica which served in the Polish Navy during WWII. The ceremony involved the authorities of the city, MPs, representatives of the Polish Navy, as well as citizens and tourists. Participants of the White-and-Red Procession in Warsaw. Photo: PAP/Radek Pietruszka A one-hundred-metre long flag was unveiled in the city of Radom, central Poland, to celebrate National Flag Day. Jerzy Zawodnik, the deputy mayor of the city, said that this year’s observances, apart from their recreational character, also had an educational aspect. “It has also shown that the citizens of Radom are the community,” he stressed. The deputy mayor emphasised the importance of flying flags over national holidays. In the city of Łódź, also central Poland, the Oak of Freedom was planted at the premises of the local department of the Supreme Audit Chamber (NIK). “In Polish tradition, oak is a symbol of something permanent and stable. We would like that everything Poland has achieved, sovereignty, independence and security, was as sustainable as this oak,” Krzysztof Kwiatkowski, the head of NIK, said. National Flag Day has been celebrated since 2004. It aims to popularise knowledge about Polish identity and national symbols.

Lisa Vanderpump, star of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and Vanderpump Rules, has kicked off Pride Month by working with The Trevor Project in an all-too important Public Service Announcement (PSA) that everyone needs to see. The Trevor Project, for those who aren’t in the know, is a non-profit organization that focuses on the suicide prevention efforts among LGBTQ youth. They operate The TrevorLifeline through its toll-free number where trained counselors are available 24 hours a day to provide crisis intervention and suicide prevention for members of our community aged 13-24. Footage from Lisa, 58, filming the PSA was released exclusively to Instinct Magazine the morning of Monday, June 3. It took place at her residence in Beverly Hills that she shares with her husband Ken Todd. Lisa’s involvement with The Trevor Project goes beyond providing information. It’s on a much more personal level for her due to her brother Mark passing from suicide last year. She spoke about that in the clip, telling staff members that “I have an understanding of the devastation that radiates through a family.” Lisa also asked them about how many calls The Trevor Project receives daily. “Over the course of the year its about 75,000,” Dana, an officer with The Trevor Project, responded. “And it really speaks to why what you’re doing right now is so important because when a youth in crisis has one person that they feel like supports them it has an incredible benefit to them.” “Sometimes people don’t realize that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem,” Lisa said in the confessional. “When this happens there are so many broken hearts left behind. So many people that could’ve been there.” I spoke with Lisa exclusively about her working with The Trevor Project and why her being a straight ally for our community is so immensely important. “To me it’s a difficult world to live in as is,” she said. “As a straight ally to the gay community, I take it very seriously and I understand still that things aren’t where they should be.” “I think that it’s very important being a straight ally, and I’ve connected to many people over the years through reality television, through supporting Pride, through officiating same sex marriage, through being a spokesperson for GLAAD, and I take it very seriously that I think youngsters in the LGBTQ community are something like three or four more times likely to commit suicide than their straight counterparts.” “And to me that’s a sad state of affair when one in four youngsters are thrown out on the street when confronting their parents about their sexual orientation.” If you in crisis, feeling suicidal, or in need of a safe place to talk, call The TrevorLifeline now at 1866-488-7386 or visit https://www.thetrevorproject.org/.

A freshman Democrat in the US House has already made a mark for herself. Ilhan Omar — a Muslim Somali immigrant — has been thrust into the national spotlight for alleged anti-Semitic rants. And she’s made her mark in North Carolina’s Ninth Congressional District race by making her candidate-of-choice clear: Dan McCready. McCready’s own campaign report to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) indicates he accepted $2,000 from the controversial political figure on November 6. Here’s The right-wing extremist Washington Post from March 7: House Democrats argued acrimoniously Wednesday over whether to rebuke Rep. Ilhan Omar for alleged anti-Semitic remarks, forcing party leaders to confront a growing rift over race and religion that threatened to hamstring the newfound majority. Omar (D-Minn.) suggested last week that Israel’s supporters have an “allegiance to a foreign country,” remarks that angered some Democrats who saw them as hateful tropes and pushed to condemn the freshman lawmaker. Her defenders argued that leadership was applying a double standard in singling out one of the two Muslim women in Congress. In a closed-door Democratic caucus meeting Wednesday morning, lawmakers debated whether to vote on an anti-hate measure in response to Omar. Let’s be clear. Omar did accuse Jews of dual loyalty, a common anti-Semitic trope, and also said the Israel lobby was too powerful. As to the second remark, it is not clear who is too powerful in Omar’s eyes. If she thinks the “Israel lobby” constitutes American Jews who act out of loyalty to a foreign country, she is simply doubling down on the anti-Semitism. If, however, she is saying that Israel, not American Jews, is too influential or powerful in American foreign policy, she’s wrong but within the bounds of civil discourse (more on that below). This is her second strike (the first was her anti-Semitic association of Jews with money), and she has earned a rebuke for using the dual loyalty canard. Democrats who say “But President Trump…” need to avoid the whataboutism that eroded Republicans’ credibility and moral authority. Running to Omar’s defense simply because she is a progressive is reflective of the tribalism that has destroyed the GOP. (Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, predictably, was one of the first to do so. Here’s another link from The Post showing how Jews in Omar’s home state of Minnesota are angry, hurt and frustrated over her comments. Here’s coverage about how Omar’s mouth caused the US House to pass an anti-hate resolution. The McCready campaign shows a number of contribution refunds through the end of 2018. Omar’s name is not among the refund recipients. If McCready is cool with taking her money, and Omar is cool with giving him her money, folks here in North Carolina’s Ninth Congressional District need to ask some good hard questions about what the Democrats are asking them to vote for and invest in.

With less than 48 hours remaining until Amy Klobuchar is expected to announce a presidential run, the “Minnesota nice” senator is grappling with not one, but two deeply reported articles alleging that she is verbally abusive, creating a fraught office environment fueled by fear. “I’ve always been taught that your true character shows in how you treat those with less power than you, especially behind closed doors,” one former staffer said in a BuzzFeed report published Friday. “The way Sen. Klobuchar behaves in private with her staff is very different than when she’s in the public eye, and that kind of cruelty shouldn’t be acceptable for anyone.” Earlier in the week, the Huffington Post published a similar story, alleging that at least three people had turned down the opportunity to manage Klobuchar’s campaign due to her reputation for cruelty and repeated emotional abuse. Klobuchar’s alleged temper was not unknown in Washington. Last year, The New York Times noted that, “On Capitol Hill, Ms. Klobuchar’s reputation is not all sweetness and light.” A March 2018 article in Politico described Klobuchar as among the “worst bosses in Congress,” with the highest office turnover rate in the Senate. But the new details reported by BuzzFeed and the Huffington Post, if true, are particularly damning. BuzzFeed reviewed e-mails, often sent between 1 and 4 in the morning, in which Klobuchar “regularly berated employees, often in all capital letters, over minor mistakes, misunderstandings, and misplaced commas. Klobuchar, in the e-mails, which were mostly sent over the past few years, referred to her staff’s work as ‘the worst in... years,’ and ‘the worst in my life.’” That anger regularly left employees in tears, four former staffers said. She yelled, threw papers, and sometimes even hurled objects; one aide was accidentally hit with a flying binder, according to someone who saw it happen, though the staffer said the senator did not intend to hit anyone with the binder when she threw it. “I cried. I cried, like, all the time,” said one former staffer. [... ] When staffers made mistakes, the emails show, she reamed them out—and sometimes, emails show, threatened to fire them—over threads that included many of their colleagues. A former staffer told the Huffington Post about an alleged incident in which most of the staff had been running late to the office, prompting Klobuchar to leave tardy slips on their desks. It apparently was no joke, and an aide who was called into her office left “in tears.” In a statement to both BuzzFeed and the Huffington Post, a spokesman said that “Senator Klobuchar loves her staff—they are the reason she has gotten to where she is today,” and listed several staffers who had remained with her for years.

s damage has been increased from 200% to 260%, now deals 30% increased damage to bosses, you can now link attributes with the final attack even if you don’t hit an enemy with the first attack Transform One Ton Stone: damage has been decreased from 365% to 250%, if used during Wind Wave: Heaven or Destruction Flame: Heaven it can only be used after the previous skills’ attack has been activated, fixed an error where this skill was sometimes activated 2 times, fixed an error where when the Heaven skills were used sometimes the Real versions of the skills would be activated, fixed an error where if you used the command while on a platform a message that said it was unusable would be outputted damage has been decreased from 365% to 250%, if used during Wind Wave: Heaven or Destruction Flame: Heaven it can only be used after the previous skills’ attack has been activated, fixed an error where this skill was sometimes activated 2 times, fixed an error where when the Heaven skills were used sometimes the Real versions of the skills would be activated, fixed an error where if you used the command while on a platform a message that said it was unusable would be outputted Distortion Axis Gate: if the gate is currently installed somewhere, you can use this skill with the up arrow key to destroy the old gate and install a new one if the gate is currently installed somewhere, you can use this skill with the up arrow key to destroy the old gate and install a new one Enlightenment: damage boost has been changed to a 5% final damage boost, Fan Smash: Human’s damage boost has been increased from 190%p to 325%p, Suction Bottle’s damage boost has been increased from 320%p to 550%p, Ground Wave skills’ damage boost has been increased from 150%p to 215%p, Ground Strike skills’ damage boost has been increased from 130%p to 230%p damage boost has been changed to a 5% final damage boost, Fan Smash: Human’s damage boost has been increased from 190%p to 325%p, Suction Bottle’s damage boost has been increased from 320%p to 550%p, Ground Wave skills’ damage boost has been increased from 150%p to 215%p, Ground Strike skills’ damage boost has been increased from 130%p to 230%p Sage Teachings: Master’s Elixir: final damage boost has been removed, Charm Power charge rate has been increased from 30 to 35, Scroll Power charge rate has been increased from 20 to 30 final damage boost has been removed, Charm Power charge rate has been increased from 30 to 35, Scroll Power charge rate has been increased from 20 to 30 Grandis Goddess’ Blessing: Charm Power and Scroll Power charge rate boost has been increased from 37% to 70% (at level 25) Charm Power and Scroll Power charge rate boost has been increased from 37% to 70% (at level 25) Sage Teachings: Descent of the Superpowered Gods: Descent of the Gods’ number of hits has been increased from 12 to 15

I don't have a vote for the end of season NHL awards and I doubt that the PHWA is close to awarding me one. I do, however, have a vote in the SB Nation version of the NHL awards that will be cast at the end of the season. I'm not sure who I'm voting for in the race for all of the trophies, but I know for certain that I'm casting my vote for the Hart Memorial Trophy for most valuable player in the NHL for Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard. Howard will be making his 23rd straight start in goal tonight for Detroit and it's during his starts streak that Detroit has saved their playoff hopes. On the night that Howard's streak began, the Red Wings were 25-28 and sat ninth in the conference, one point behind Calgary. Since handing the reigns to Howard, the Red Wings have gone 14-8 and now sit sixth in the conference, three points behind Nashville with two games in hand. via www.sportslogos.net SBNation's Oilers vs Red Wings coverage Winging It In Motown That Chris Osgood struggled early in the season isn't news. His save percentage was terrible on a Detroit team that was outshooting their opponents, and it showed in the team's win-loss record. GP MIN W L EGA GA GAA SA SV SV% SO 2009 - Chris Osgood 22 1193 7 8 59 2.97 536 477.890 1 Detroit was outshooting at even strength but losing with Osgood in goal. Osgood was getting shelled on the penalty kill. GP MIN W L EGA GA GAA SA SV SV% SO 2009 - Jimmy Howard 57 3373 32 15 126 2.24 1702 1576.926 2 Then came Jimmy Howard. Looking deeper into the stats, Detroit was outshooting at a better rate with Osgood in goal. Detroit's Corsi percentage in front of Osgood was.547. In front of Howard the rate dips slightly to.532. Osgood's even strength save percentage was a not-so-good.902. To put that in perspective, both Devan Dubnyk and Jeff Deslauriers have been better at even strength. Chris Osgood, hang your head in shame. Howard stepped up and has delivered.927 at even strength and he's been one of the three best goalies in the league on the penalty kill. With Howard in the nets, Detroit has a very good chance to finish fifth in the conference and I doubt that Mike Babcock will take Howard out of the nets unless the last game of the season is meaningless. Howard's starts streak should stretch all the way to 29 games. None of this means that Jimmy Howard will be able to deliver these results over the long term. None of this suggests that Howard deserves a multi-year multi-million dollar contract that NHL general managers seem to love to hand out to goaltenders. All I'm saying is that this year Jimmy Howard saved the Red Wings season and for that he deserves the Hart Trophy.

Getty Images Denver and Kansas City have been officially eliminated from the race to hold the 2016 Republican National Convention - leaving just two cities, Cleveland and Dallas, vying for the top spot. Not everyone was enthusiastic about the remaining possibilities. The reaction on Twitter was as sarcastic as it was swift: i'd rather be lit on fire and pushed into traffic while listening to Nickelback than go to Dallas in the summer. - john r stanton (@dcbigjohn) June 25, 2014 "Oh good, more time in Ohio," said no campaign reporters after today's announcement. - Garrett Haake (@GarrettHaake) June 25, 2014 ABC News did a slightly more objective comparison of the attributes of the two cities. Here's what we came up with: Swinginess: Deep in the heart of a deep-red state, Dallas is far from an election battleground. Cleveland, on the other hand, teeters on the edge of the "ultimate swing state" - and hosting the convention there could tip the scales in the GOP's favor, as Mitt Romney lost Ohio's 18 electoral votes by just 3 percentage points in 2012 while he won Texas' 38 votes by more than 15 points. But because it's located in a swing state, Cleveland is also in the running to host the 2016 Democratic National Convention - and, presumably, it won't get both. Besides, the Cleveland host committee has reportedly raised only $25 million to Dallas' $45 million. Size: Dallas, the ninth most populous city in the country, clearly outranks Cleveland (48th) when it comes to population. But Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena, which seats more than 20,500, certainly rivals Dallas' American Airlines Center, which seats nearly 20,000. Temp: The prospect of vising Texas in July, when average temps hover around 96 degrees, puts a damper on Dallas fans' enthusiasm. Cleveland's average July temp is a much more palatable 83. Dining: Both cities boast an impressive array of dining options: Cleveland has Lola, a bistro run by Iron Chef Michael Symon - but Dallas has Five Sixty by Wolfgang Puck, a revolving restaurant atop the skyline-defining Reunion Tower. Dallas probably beats Cleveland when it comes to barbeque and Tex-Mex - but Cleveland likely wins at hot dogs. Attractions: One big point in Dallas' favor, especially for a group of political junkies, is the recently opened George W. Bush Presidential Library, which includes a display of the 43rd president's post-White House paintings. But can the library compare to the glitz of Cleveland's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame? Track Record: If you base your decision on track record, Big D is the clear winner. Cleveland last hosted the RNC in 1936, when the party nominated Alf Landon. (Spoiler: Landon lost to FDR.) Dallas, on the other hand, last hosted in 1984, the year then-incumbent President Ronald Regan defeated Walter Mondale.

deeds are being performed in our name that will eventually come back to bite us. But the government’s loss of moral authority does not spring from just that one policy: the real problem is that when there is a moral black hole at the very centre of a government’s rationale (“the end justifies the means”), a more general moral laxity becomes possible. This taps into an ancient issue: if a man betrays his wife, does that make it easier for him to betray his country? Does stealing once make stealing a second time more likely? Does every moral lapse make the next one easier? Let’s see how the dominoes might fall in this case. Once you have learnt to live with a policy that hits desperate refugees where it hurts most – denying them identity, dignity, freedom and hope – it becomes easier to be tough on your own poor, elderly, unemployed and marginalised. Thus, the inherent unfairness of the May budget can be traced to this malaise at the core of the government’s philosophy. Similarly, once you ignore your international obligations regarding the treatment of asylum seekers, it becomes easier to ignore other obligations to the global community – like the need to decarbonise the economy by urgently ramping up our production of clean energy. Thus, the proposed scrapping of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the scaling back of the emissions target can also be linked to a general reluctance to accept moral responsibility (except when it comes to military support for the US in the Middle East). In such a relaxed moral climate, it becomes easier to break promises. The long list of broken election promises, from pensions to ABC funding, is extraordinary even by the low standards of contemporary politics. It’s not only easier to break promises, it’s also easier to be blithe about doing it. Once you’ve enshrined a Big Lie at the heart of your signature policy – insisting that “these people have come here illegally” when they most assuredly have not – other lies are easier, whether it’s the lie about school funding (“We’re on the same page as Labor”) or the lies that deny promises have been broken (“No, we haven’t broken our promise about superannuation …”). The Abbott government might not yet fully appreciate the cumulative effect of all this on voter sentiment – an effect compounded, of course, by its extravagant pre-election posturing about integrity, probity, promise-keeping and “Labor’s lies”. Any government can recover from political ineptitude, and the heightened terrorist threat and redeployment of troops in Iraq will probably lift this government’s stocks in the short term. But the loss of moral authority is an underlying problem that won’t go away, because it is a loss that diminishes us all. Hugh Mackay’s new book ‘The Art of Belonging’ is published by Macmillan on 30 September 2014. print

AIDS in 2005. The United States has seen a dramatic drop in pediatric HIV infections since the widespread use of antiretroviral medication and HIV screening during pregnancy. Maggiore, however, remained an outspoken denialist until her death in 2008. As an activist, she gained a fair amount of media attention, even promoting her views via a film whose publicity was aided by a Foo Fighters soundtrack. Marginalized populations are a target for denialist ideas, as such communities might experience more widespread suspicion toward the medical establishment. In many cases, this wariness is understandable — the Tuskegee syphilis study is considered to have sown distrust toward medicine among many African Americans, and the deeply entrenched homophobia that marred mainstream psychiatry until relatively recently might render some in the LGBTQ community suspicious of medical authority. According to one large study, AIDS-related conspiracy theories are fairly widespread among African Americans, and the acceptance of denialist ideas has also been preliminarily documented among gay and bisexual men. Such beliefs might have an impact on a person’s sexual behaviors or likelihood to seek testing or treatment. In the United States, the movement doesn’t have much political clout, but its key players have international influence. Denialism is at its deadliest when it infects public policy, as it most notoriously did in South Africa under the presidency of Thabo Mbeki. Mbeki’s policy was driven by his denialist minister of health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, and an AIDS advisory committee skewed by denialists like Duesberg, resulting in a ban on antiretrovirals in public hospitals. Evidence for antiretrovirals’ efficacy didn’t sway Tshabalala-Msimang, who recommended plant-based treatments such as lemon, potatoes, and garlic instead. In South Africa, HIV rates skyrocketed from almost zero in the early 1990s to around 20 percent of the adult population in 2007 (even more grim, an estimated 1 in 3 women in the 25-to-29 age group is estimated to be HIV positive). By the time Mbeki resigned in 2008, 2.6 million South Africans had died of AIDS; Harvard researchers attributed 365,000 deaths to Mbeki’s policies. (The new president immediately fired Tshabalala-Msimang; South African AIDS policy is being modernized.) Conspiracy theories that arise from suspicions toward science and medicine undermine prevention, screening, and treatment of disease. Whether this suspicion is aimed toward HIV medications, vaccines, cancer treatments, obstetrics, or other evidence-based medicine, the result is the same: Patients are disempowered from making decisions based on the most complete and reliable information. When denialism misinforms, one cannot make an informed decision. Freedom of choice and bodily autonomy aren’t worth as much when we fall prey to junk science and pseudoscience, myth and misinformation. More information about AIDS denialism can be found at Science magazine’s website. Avert.org provides tips for spotting bogus HIV treatments. HIV testing can be obtained at any Planned Parenthood health center.

What does it take to build a consistent winning program? That’s the question being asked on a daily basis by everyone from athletic directors, to coaches, to business owners. Everyone wants to win, but few possess the ability to draw up the blueprint to make it happen. Since his arrival in Denton, Texas in July 2016, Wren Baker, Vice President and Director of Athletics at the University of North Texas, has built a program that has ascended out of the doldrums of the NCAA and onto the map. Establishing a long-term presence in the national consciousness is his next challenge, and it might prove to be more difficult than getting them there in the first place. Baker says it isn’t just one thing, but a combination of factors that has led to the increased success for UNT’s athletic program. When it comes to the football team, hiring the right people, investing in strength and conditioning, and putting a focus on academics have combined to transform the culture around Mean Green football. “All of those go into the total person and development of the total person,” says Baker. “We believe at North Texas if you’re really committed to build champions and prepare leaders and everything that goes into that, they’re going to have success on the field, on the court, and any competition.” Harnessing the excitement and potential of a large alumni base like UNT’s is key to the sustainability of the program. Baker knows that to continue expanding the footprint of Mean Green athletics in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex and beyond, the over 216,000 alumni of the university have to be engaged and excited about the future UNT athletics. “I think it’s important to give our fans reasons to proud,” Baker says. “I sensed that, as a whole, our alumni base, they were proud of UNT, but they weren’t necessarily proud of our athletic programs.” As excitement has continued to build, the question being asked about UNT athletics is how high can it go? Wren has a simple answer for that. “I tell our coaches that if I can do my job, which is give them resources that are competitive with our peers, which right now is Conference USA and group of five, I believe we can compete for conference championships and be nationally relevant,” he says. Wren Baker punctuates that statement with a firm confirmation. “I believe that.” That doesn’t sound like the same University of North Texas athletics program that we’ve known in the past. If Baker has his way, those days will be gone for good. For the latest news, videos, and podcasts in the Sports & Entertainment Industry, be sure to subscribe to our industry publication. Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B! Twitter – @SportsEntMKSL Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale