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Important facts about Ukraine, 2014 – that the major media won't tell you
We often hear, at least from the more reputable businesses out there – and there are some, despite the trends in the opposite direction, led by the ruling corporate oligarchs – that you should "do your research before you buy." How much more important is it that we do our research before we buy the official story told by political elites and their media presstitutes, than doing our research before we buy a new car? We need to look behind the headlines and the sound-bites – and this is arguably more important with regards to the situation in Ukraine, than it was even before the launch of the war in Iraq. We saw what a fiasco the war in Iraq turned out to be, what a quagmire it became, and what lies were spun to rationalize and justify the US invasion of a sovereign nation – over oil reserves and corporate profits for the already astronomically rich ruling 0.001%. Over a million people were killed in Iraq – mainly women, children and innocent civilians – as a result of war, devastation of critical infrastructure and brutally inhumane sanctions. The case with Ukraine is even more ominous. Ukraine could become the flash-point, quite literally, for WWIII. We, the people, absolutely must be aware of what is really going on there. The stakes are immeasurably high, and the situation is in a critical state, right now, as we speak.
When I first saw headlines and images about popular protests in Ukraine, I thought, "Wonderful – the people are standing up for democracy in Ukraine, and exercising their democratic power;" but I immediately thought afterward, "We've seen events misrepresented and completely distorted in the Western media many times before, so I will not assume anything, until I look into it more deeply for myself." Being busy with a number of things already, and it being an impossibility to follow every event, or even every major event, in every country around the world, it took me some time to get around to digging behind the headlines of the mainstream media. When I finally did, I was not surprised at what I found; but what I found was troubling, and very disturbing, to say the least. Here are my findings from a first look behind the curtain of the media spin machine.
But from the outset, let me say this. The more I look behind the headlines into what is actually going on in Ukraine, the more I wonder if the neo-cons who still rule Washington – Obama being the leading offender and buffoon-in-chief – are actually trying to create a war between Russia and NATO: which would be, of course, the beginning of WWIII. They may just be that mad. Certainly, they are risking the outbreak of world war, whether that was the intention or not. This is sheer madness. And the Western media will give you no honest information about it.
Important facts about Ukraine, 2014:
1. The United States and Western Europe – or at least, the business, financial and political elite who rule this part of the world – have been trying to restore Russia to its traditional role as a purposefully underdeveloped backwater colony of the West – a resource base and source of cheap labour – ever since the Russian Revolution of 1917. And ever since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Western powers have been encircling Russia militarily, as NATO has encroached further and further East, swallowing up 12 nations into its sphere of influence that had formerly been aligned with Russia. Now, in Ukraine, the Western powers are on Russia's doorstep, and Russia is not very happy about it, and with good reason. If we do not understand this larger context, then we understand nothing about what is happening in Ukraine, or anywhere in Eurasia, for that matter.
2. The basic game, the primary motives and modus operandi for the American Empire, for the European great powers, and for the Western corporate empire, which has now swallowed both of the former, has not changed. Money rules, and the prime concerns are the pursuit of ever greater wealth and power for the few at the top – the richest 1%, or more accurately, the 0.01% who are the plutocrats, the oligarchs, the business and financial elite who rule the Western world, and who dominate the globe – with no concern and nothing more than rhetoric, pretty speeches and public relations gestures for the overwhelming majority of the people, the other 99.99%, the environment, or the future of life and human beings on Earth.
Obama took the neo-con agenda of the Bush-Cheney regime, and took their core two policy goals – increased militarism and imperial warfare abroad, in order to further the interests of the ruling corporate elite; and a full-scale attack on democracy and freedom, not just around the world, in pursuit of ever greater riches and power, but even more critically, at home, in the heart of the empire, with a full frontal assault on the Constitution, Bill of Rights, civil liberties, democracy and freedom in the United States, in order to protect the ruling plutocrats and their political prostitute cronies from the increasingly restless and discontent populace, by creating a quite literally fascist police state at home.
(See Jonathan Turley, American Constitutional law expert, or Naomi Wolf, Michel Chossudovsky, Paul Craig Roberts, Chris Hedges or Gerald Celente, among numerous other solid and thoughtful observers.)
"Let's call it like it is – it's fascism."
– Gerald Celente, the world's leading trend analyst
With the passing of the Patriot Act and Military Commissions Act, the United States ceased to uphold the Constitution or Bill of Rights, or any meaningful, substantive sense of either democracy or freedom, and descended into what is, by any legal definition, a fascist state.
The pretense of freedom and democracy still remain – but that is to be expected. The United States is now an Orwellian society run by and for the business elite of Wall Street and London. For the moment at least, democracy in the United States, is dead.
When habeus corpus is suspended, and even the Magna Carta overturned, throwing out 800 years of rule by law, along with all civil liberties and the very foundation of all human rights and freedoms; when arbitrary arrest and indefinite detention become permitted and routine, when torture is made legal and becomes institutionalized, when universal and global surveillance becomes the established norm, and when extrajudicial summary execution, either through drone strikes, illegal and unconstitutional police or security force actions, mercenaries, military tribunals or CIA black sites, then there is no other word for it: this is fascism.
So no, we should not expect something different from Obama than we what saw from Bush. In fact, Obama has expanded Bush's wars abroad; he has intensified the Bush-Cheny/neo-con/Wall Street attack on the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, civil liberties, freedom and democracy at home; and he has escalated and accelerated the drive towards a police state in America. This is your champion of "hope and change." He is a Wall Street hireling – a whore to the military-industrial-security complex and the bankers who rule the land.
Let's stop kidding ourselves. By his actions – pretty speeches notwithstanding – Obama is at least as bad as Bush and Cheney, if not worse. He is a crypto-fascist, working hard to ensure the continued rule and ever-expanding wealth and power of the ruling business elite – the people, the Constitution, freedom, democracy and the Earth be damned.
We should not be surprised at cynical, deceitful, Machiavellian or Orwellian maneuvers, regime changes and power plays undertaken by Washington under the figure-head of Obama's "presidency." The real rulers, the Wall Street and international banking and corporate elite, are still in charge – and their game plan has not changed: it is still, divide and conquer, subjugate and rule. Or as Adam Smith called "the vile maxim of the masters" – "All for us, none for anybody else."
Fascism won't come to America dressed in swastikas and accompanied by goose-stepping soldiers in the streets. It will come draped in the flag, wrapped up nicely in ribbons and bows, all smiles, as loveable and American as mom and apple pie – Orwellian to the core, and deeply camouflaged. It will be the full institutionalization and consolidation of a global corporate rule: and the well-paid public relations industry, and its most influential arm, which is the major media networks and the media prostitutes which staff its rank ranks, will put a happy face on it, and make it look sparkling and wonderful to any and all who are foolish enough not to look behind the thin veneer which covers over the ugly truth.
And fascism is not coming to America – it is here.
Obama is just the latest pawn, the latest face of the now globally dominant Western corporate empire. And he does not take his direction or his orders from the American people, anymore than he has any genuine concern for freedom, democracy or human rights anywhere on the planet – including at home, in the United States, much less in Europe or Ukraine.
3. The recent events in Ukraine were portrayed in the Western media as a popular democratic uprising against a corrupt political leader, and a yearning by the people to have stronger ties with the EU. It is true that a large percentage of the people of Ukraine felt this way, although it seems that this may have been a minority opinion; but in any event, that is a small part of the picture. There is also a large element of neo-Nazis that were involved in the protests and the ouster of the democratically elected government – neo-Nazies who trace their histories back to the Nazi sympathizers who murdered up to two million Jews, Communists and Russians in Ukraine during WWII.
And in case anyone is inclined to dismiss this element as fringe and inconsequential, it should be noted that the newly installed government in Kiev, under Wasington's direction, has put the leaders of the neo-Nazi parties, Svoboda and the Right Sector, in charge of the military, the police and the judicial system. The neo-Nazi element, therefore, is in power. They are holding the big stick. And they have made it clear that they are not afraid to use it.
"For anyone in the Western propagandistic presstitutes from James Kirchick for the Daily Beast to the BBC to the Washington Post to Foreign Policy to the Guardian, as well as the Western regimes who have tried odiously over the last three months to whitewash the Right Sector (Ukraine's Far Right paramilitary group that played a part in toppling the government), I give you their young, intelligent, eloquent, photogenic, charismatic, fluently English-Speaking, philosopher and press spokesperson – Olena Semenyaka – an open, proud, unrepentant, Nazi Swastika-waving, Hitler-saluting fascist."
– Occupy London
(When I learn how to overcome my all-thumbs approach to digital technology and know how to use WordPress better, I'll include the photo of Semenyaka proudly waving the Nazi flag and giving the Nazi raised-arm salute. Until then, you can easily find it on OccupyLondon's facebook page.)
This large neo-Nazi element is, of course, anything but democratic – not to mention, racist, fascist, antisemitic and violent. And this is the element that US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland was recorded in a phone call as saying she wanted intimately involved the US putsch which just occurred in Kiev.
Yes, what just happened in Ukraine was "a text-book CIA coup" – according to former CIA analyst and specialist on Russia, Ray McGovern; as well as the University of Ottawa professor of economics and founder of the Centre for Research on Globalization, Michel Chossudovsky; and Francis Boyle, professor of international law in Illinois.
We have seen such regime changes over and over, ever since the US staged a CIA-orchestrated coup in Iran to install the Shaw – and the CIA even has a manual on how to go about such things. And yes, the US political and business elite will work with anyone who will get the job done for them, and act as puppets in their grand imperial game.
Look at the US support for Al Queda in Syria, in the efforts to overthrow the government there, or in Lybia, where US-backed Al Queda forces successfully overthrew that regime. The fact that neither regime is or was desirable is not the point – the point is that the US business and political elite will work with any goons they find useful to their purposes, and who will help them overthrow the governments of their choosing. Imperial ambition has no scruples, and will resort to dirty means and dirty allies and pawns, whenever it is expedient to do so. The US and Western business and political elite, and the new global empire they rule over, are no different. As Chomsky said, "International politics haven't changed significantly since the time of Ghengis Kahn."
It was the leaders of the US-backed neo-Nazi movement in Ukraine that turned the peaceful protests into a violent confrontation and a putsch to overthrow a democratically elected government. Worse yet, the leaders of the neo-Nazi parties in Ukraine have openly made death threats against the "Jewish-Russian" conspiracy, and have said that they will gun down the Jews, Communists and Russians in the streets. With over half of the people in Eastern and Southern Ukraine being native Russian speakers – to say nothing of political and religious freedoms, or the appalling renewal of antisemitism in Europe – we are talking here about very real threats of genocide. And these are the goons that Washington and the Western business elites have decided to make their allies and puppets, for the sake of imperial ambition and power politics. We should be deeply alarmed, and deeply concerned.
4. The tipping point in Ukraine came when the democratically elected president – a fact never mentioned by the Western press – who was thrown from power by a Washington-orchestrated coup – another fact which is never mentioned in the Western press – with the critical aid and allegiance of neo-Nazis – which is a third fact that is not mentioned in the Western media – President Viktor Yanukovych, reversed his former decision to accept a trade deal with the EU. That is when the gloves came off, and the coup was set in motion by Washington and its allies in Europe.
The reason that Yanukovych reversed his decision and rejected the trade deal with the EU, from all indications, is two-fold. Firstly, the billionaire oligarchs of Ukraine realized that if this deal went through, then they could quite reasonably fear that the bigger, badder, and more powerful billionaires of Europe, and the corporations they control, would move in and carve up Ukraine, and leave them with only a few remaining crumbs – so they pulled out their support for the deal.
The second major reason was that there was a little known clause in the trade deal, which would in the end, bring Ukraine into the NATO alliance – which would mean a tectonic shift of allegiances for Ukraine, from Russia and the East, where it has traditionally been for centuries, to Europe and the West: and Yanukovych apparently decided that that might not be the best move, all things considered.
So, Yanukovych killed the deal – Yanukovych had to go. The putsch was on.
It was a very similar, almost earily similar pattern to what we saw leading up to the war in Afghanistan. And in both Afghanistan and Ukraine, a critical factor was a pipeline, and a deal that fell through, with dramatic reprecussions. (Keystone XL activists, make note of this. The oil giants are ruthless and vicious. Be unafraid, be brave, be bold, but do be alert.) The Taliban had been best buddies and allies with Washington, and there are photos of a grinning Donald Rumsfeld, I believe it was, shaking their leader's hands – or was that Saddam Hussein? I'm making a joke, but it is deadly serious. Rumsfeld and his neo-con cronies were the best of friends with the Taliban, just as they had been with Saddam, and armed and funded them both, for various economic and geopolitical reasons. But Saddam got out of line, and forgot who buttered his bread and who ruled over him, so his masters in Washington took him out.
It's a familiar pattern. Noriega in Panama was on the CIA payroll – until he disobeyed orders, and had to be taken down. The Taliban were favourite allies of Washington, until they refused the offer of large sums of cash in return for protecting a US oil company's pipeline (UNOCAL) which was to run from the Caspian Basin through Afghanistan to the sea, for shipment to Chinese markets. The talks between US government representatives and Taliban leaders were transcribed and leaked, and the negotiator for Washington was recorded as saying, just before the US invasion of Afghanistan, "You either accept our offer of streets paved with gold, or we will bury you." The Taliban refused, and the rest is history.
Former National Security Adviser under Jimmy Carter, "Zbig" Brzezinski, even bragged, in an interview in Paris, abut how he created the Islamic terrorist networks based in Afghanistan. It was a plan, he openly stated, to draw the Soviet Union into "their own Vietnam," in order to weaken and destabilize the USSR. And he was proud of the fact that the plan worked, and lead to or at least contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union, and he scoffed at having created a rabid terrorist network in the process, saying, "What's a few worked-up Muslims?" That's bloodless geopolitical power politics for you.
So yes, the US, or rather, the Washington political elite, and the business and financial elite for whom they work, have been engaged in highly deceitful, duplicitous coups, treachery and regime changes for a very long time. Yanukovych is merely the last in a very long line.
According to William Blum, who used to work for the US State Department, but resigned in protest over the war in Vietnam, and author of Killing Hope – a history of the CIA: the US has engaged in coups or regime changes, putsches and the like – however you prefer to call the overthrow of a foreign government – 77 times prior to this latest putsch in Ukraine.
The CIA is now very good at this sort of thing. However, freedom and democracy are always the victims, along with the people, and the blow-back is usually severe as well. Such wild, brazen arrogance on the part of the US is making the American people less safe and more in danger, because of the hate it creates, and it is simply morally appalling and utterly unacceptable, as well as a straight up violation of international law, all democratic principles and principles of freedom, and all basic human rights, of course, at the same time.
The idea with the trade deal with the EU was to plop this economic basket case of Ukraine onto the EU's lap, in order to a) bring Ukraine and its assets into the control of Western bankers, plutocrats, corporations and business elites; b) more specifically, to overturn Russia's control of critical gas pipelines through Ukraine going into Europe, for greater control over, profits from and security of energy resources; and most critically, to sever Ukraine from Russia, not just economically, but also militarily, in order to further weaken, surround and isolate Russia.
But, again, Yanukovych killed the deal, so he had to be removed. The fact that neo-Nazis were chosen as the pawns to do the job, and to effectively replace him, makes no difference in the eyes of the Western imperial powers. They are used to such nefarious allegiances. They are the world's leading terrorist powers, as Chomsky has said, and has documented in great detail. Why would they quibble or wince at working with, or putting in power, some small-fry terrorists in Afghanistan (the Taliban), or a thug in Iraq (Saddam), or neo-Nazies in Ukraine? It's all just business as usual to them.
And again, of course, the Western media and their loyal presstitutes will tell you nothing of these critical details, the history behind them, or their critical significance in the events of the past few days and months in Ukraine.
5. Ukraine literally sits on top of critical pipelines bringing natural gas from Russia to Central and Western Europe. The big Western oil giants are looking to unseat Gazprom, the giant Russian national oil and gas company. We are looking at another battle over control of the world's energy resources. In a nutshell, Russian billionaires are competing with Western billionaires for control over the multi-billion dollar fossil fuel sales in Europe.
We have seen, across the Middle East, what lengths the Western oligarchs are prepared to go to secure such riches and power. Over 1 million people have died in Iraq alone in the bloody wars over oil and gas. The Western plutocrats have no conscience – mass murder does not faze them; and of course, they have no interest in either democracy or freedom, grand rhetoric aside. The Russian oligarchs have acted no better – although they are primarily concerned, as Putin is, with stablizing and securing their empire, and not expanding it, as the Western powers seem intent on doing. In any case, a confrontation between billionaires from the East and those from the West, would be anything but peaceful or pretty, if it comes to a head: it would be, quite literally, WWIII.
That being said, the Western expansion Eastward, economically and also militarily, through NATO, its encircling of Russia, and its recent putsch in Ukraine, is not just about oil and gas profits, as enormously significant and motivating as that may be for the Western plutocrats – and is. It is also about global geostrategic dominance, and global hegemony for the West.
The Western elite seem hell-bent on an extraordinarily dangerous gambit, and seem to want to retain and consolidate their present global dominance, by any means necessary or expedient – even at the risk of global war and the extinction of humanity. The madness has no equal, either now, or at any time in the history of humankind.
As Chomsky clearly elaborated in one of his many major works, Hegemony or Survival, the dangers of this current path which we are being led down, cannot be overstated. We face a critical juncture for humankind. Either we swear off of empire and all its grandiose and horrifying games of power politics, or we watch as the power-mad destroy the world, and all future for human beings on Earth. Our choices have indeed become that stark.
7. Russia will not, and furthermore, feels it cannot, back down. Russia not only has deep, long-standing historical ties with Ukraine, but further, the Eastern and Southern portions of Ukraine were historically a part of Russia, and 60% of the inhabitants of the region are native Russian speakers who still retain strong ties to Russia.
And the bonds of allegiance go both ways. Ukraine, and especially the Crimean Peninsula, are very close to the hearts of the Russian people, for reasons of history, and also because the Crimean Peninsula on the Black Sea is the principle Russian vacation land and Club Med. Watching the West and NATO make gestures towards moving Ukraine, or even the Crimean Peninsula alone, into the sphere of Western dominance, would be something akin to Russia taking over Florida and Ellis Island at the same time. One could imagine what kind of response that would arouse among Americans. The analogy is, of course, imperfect, as all analogies are, but the point remains. Both Russia and also the people of Eastern and Southern Ukraine wish to keep their close ties with one another, and no threat to this long-standing relationship will be easily endured.
Ukraine is also, to repeat, the major route for Russian oil and gas pipelines to Europe. Russia will not surrender one of its most vitally important export routes, for one of its most vitally important industries.
Furthermore, Russia has critically important strategic naval bases on the Crimean Peninsula, giving them vitally important access to the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. And again, after watching NATO and the Western powers expand East and encircle Russia militarily, while taking away important economic allies, piece by piece; and with Ukraine at Russia's southern border and doorstep, and further, being in a strategically critical geographic location, Russia was bound to draw a red line in the sand.
The Russian people back Putin in his move to put troops into the Crimean Peninsula in order to prevent any moves by the West to encroach any further, and also, to protect the Russians living in Ukraine against the neo-Nazis in Kiev who have made public death-threats against them. Putin had no choice, politically, according to Russian specialist, Stephen Cohen, professor emeritus from NYU and Princeton. Had Putin not made this move, his credibility in Russia would go from low, to shattered. Russia will not allow the West to take Ukraine. That is, and should have been, as Ray McGovern, a former CIA analyst and another specialist on Russia has said, "a known-known."
As the leading intellectual and long-term geostrategic planner for the Western elite for the past forty years, "Zbig" Bzrezinski has said, Central Eurasia has always been critical to control, if the Eurasian continent is to be controlled. And since the Eurasian continent contains the majority of the people, markets and resources on the planet, it is critical to control Eurasia, and hence, Central Eurasia – if, like Bzrezinksi and the Western elite, one is above all concerned with global dominance.
All imperial strategy rests, centrally, upon control of this strategically critical area of the world, as the wars in the Middle East indicate and make clear – yes, they are about oil, but more importantly, they are about global geostrategic hegemony and control.
Central Eurasia is the linch-pin. As "Zbig" said, in The Grand Chessboard, historically, whoever controls central Eurasia, controls the continent, and whoever controls the continent, dominates the world.
That is why Brzezinski argued for the "projection of force" in the Middle East, why he argued for the necessity of a large crisis in order to get the American people to agree to or at least tolerate such "projection of force," and why he armed, funded, trained and created the Islamic terrorist network based in Afghanistan, to use as a puppet in the region – the same terrorist network that is alternately an official enemy, say, in Pakistan and Afghanistan, after the pipeline deal went sour, that is, or, in Libya and Syria, unofficial friends, who suddenly become recast as "freedom fighters" – exactly as the Taliban were called, before they became official enemies, and while they were still loyal allies and puppets.
Does all of this sound confusing? It is straight-forward, when you understand the operating principles: anyone we control, is a friend. Anyone we can't control, is an enemy. Simple as that. Sometimes Al Queda can be used and manipulated for our own imperial objectives – and by our, I mean Western business elite objectives – in which case they are eagerly embraced and gladly used, and are official or unofficial friends and allies. Sometimes they get out of line, as servants sometimes do, and then they become official enemies, and must be decried, shot like disobedient dogs who turn on their masters, or simply cast to the wayside, or thrown in prison, like Noriega. It all depends on whether they are considered useful, or in the way – and that can change, literally, from one day to the next.
Yes, central Eurasia is considered geostraticially critical, and Ukraine is in the heart of it. Putin certainly knows this, as do the Western oligarchs. That is yet another reason why Putin is not going to give up Ukraine, or access to the Black Sea. The balance of power globally may well rest upon it.
Putin is trying to secure and stabilize a great nation, Russia, that is, of course, which has collapsed twice in the past century: once in 1917, and once in 1991. His aim, from all evidence, is not expansion, but protection of Russia.
He may be vicious and corrupt, and he is. He was head of the KGB, after all, so what else would we expect? He was the head of the Soviet goon squad. But, what is important here to note, is not his character, or his domestic policies in Russia, but his international relations: and his primary interest, from all indications, is in stability and security for Russia, not the expansion of its territory. And Putin has every reason to be concerned with Western powers staging a coup on his Southern doorstep – clearly. He would have to be a fool not to be concerned; and Putin may be many things, but he is no fool.
Considering the recent expansionist actions of the West, which go back decades and even centuries, the Russian people are rightfully concerned about having Washington, NATO and the Western bankers and oligarchs on their doorstep, and staging yet another regime change – this one, as close as it could get, without actually crossing the Russian border.
Putin will not back down. He can't. The US and the EU can back down, and have or foster a cooperative relationship with energy-rich Russia, but Russia cannot back down. The expansion of Western powers has now reached its limit. Any further, and there will be world war. I don't believe there is any question as to these most essential facts.
The neo-cons and their plutocratic overlords and masters in the corporate and financial world, who, it must be repeated, still control Washington, hopefully have some trace of sanity left in them. So far – with Russian troops deployed in the Crimean Peninsula, protecting the Russian people of Eastern and Southern Ukraine, as well as their naval bases on the Black Sea, facing down the very real threat from Western-backed neo-Nazis in Kiev – not a shot has been fired. A diplomatic resolution could still be reached. But this could change at any moment. If this turns into a shooting war between Russian forces and a Western-backed proxy army of neo-Nazis, Al Queda forces, or whomever the West deems its latest favourite pawn, then, as Stephen Cohen has said, "All bets are off," and anything could happen – including the unthinkable, which is the extermination of the human species on Earth. Pray that sanity prevails.
6. As Stephen Cohen said recently, US options are "Zero. Zero options, unless they want to go to war. Russia is holding all the cards."
Russia holds all the cards politically, since, a) the Russian people back Putin in drawing a line in the sand against further Western expansionism on Russia's doorstep – as it is quite rightly perceived; and more essentially, because b) the people of Eastern and Southern Ukraine are primarily native Russian speakers, with strong historical ties and a strong allegiance to Russia, as well as a very legitimate fear of what the neo-Nazis now installed in Kiev might unleash upon them, in the form of literally genocidal acts, not to mention oligarchic and despotic rule; and c) the evidence is clear that the newly installed government in Kiev was put in place, installed, that is, by the US and its Western allies, through a Washington staged regime change, a coup, and therefore has no legitimacy.
Russia also supplies 30% of Europe's natural gas. The EU will not likely press the matter, believe me. Russia could simply turn off the taps, and Europe will freeze. Europe is now arguably far more dependent on Russia than Russia is on Europe.
The global balance has shifted. Just as China now holds the US by the purse strings, holding its debt and being its principle banker, as well as having American trans-national corporations deeply dependent upon Chinese manufacturing plants, and with the Chinese economy about to surpass that of the United States as the biggest economy in the world, Russia is fast-arising as a global economic super-power, while Europe is on the edge of insolvency, and is struggling economically, to put it mildly.
Europe and the United States are sinking, at least in relative terms, if not also in absolute terms, while the BRIC nations, and especially Russia and China, continue to soar. Europe is in no position to play it rough.
Europe is a sinking ship, as is the US. These declining world powers can no longer afford to engage in boyish imperial games, much less hollow sabre-rattling. The world is increasingly interdependent and also poly-centric. If Washington and the Western elite persist in pursuing 19th century policies in the context of 21st century realities, to paraphrase the hopelessly hypocritical John Kerry, they will not only harm others, but will very likely destroy themselves, and quite possibly all of humanity along with them.
And it is not just in terms of energy and gas that Europe is far too dependent upon Russia to do anything more than bellow in idle gesturing. Russian billionaires and plutocrats now store their money and riches in Europe – in Swiss bank accounts, London real estate and secretive Jersey Island financial havens for the world's super-rich. Europe's big money is now intertwined with Russia's big money – and Russian billionaires have more mobility, by all indications, at least in terms of this relationship is concerned. The European oligarchs don't dare to press the matter, or any matter, for that matter, with the great and increasingly powerful Russian bears.
Europe is simply far too addicted to Russian gas and Russian wealth to do anything more than make hollow public relations statements, which will in all likelihood amount to absolutely nothing more than PR. And without European Allies, a weakened American empire with a struggling US economy would be foolish in the extreme to press the matter – even more foolish than if they had the full support of Europe, which they most decidedly do not.
As Ray McGovern said, anyone who had any understanding of Ukraine and its place in the relationship between Russia and the West, could have known that Russia will not back down and allow its most critical satellite and borderland to fall into the Western military and economic orbit. In McGovern's words, this was "one regime change too many," and Washington "has bit off far more than it can chew."
The putsch in Ukraine is a classic case of imperial hubris and imperial overshoot. Declining empires always tend to behave the same way, and such foolish arrogance tends to put the final nail in the coffin, and seal the fate of the decaying empire. We will see what Washington chooses to do, but it would be wise to acknowledge the facts, and bow out gracefully, to return to the business of rebuilding its own economy and its own crumbling infrastructure and decimated industrial base, and forget about ruling the world or changing regimes around the globe – which will be the end of the nation as well as the empire, if they persist in it.
Obama's only options now, as both McGovern and Cohen have made clear, are to back down, and quietly acknowledge the mistake, even if it means demonstrating the growing weakness of the United States and its Western allies; or, start what may well be the beginning of WWIII. Let us hope that some shred of remaining sanity prevails.
A final note on the US – being the principle antagonist in this very dangerous, still unfolding situation in Ukraine:
The US has more than enough problems of its own for it to be meddling in the affairs of other nations. Are the Washington elite and their Wall Street masters on crack? The US has been de-industrialized through corporate globalization. It has decimated its manufacturing base, and its economic base, through off-shoring of production and profits. It has a trade deficit running into the billions of dollars a day. It has gone, in a few short decades, from being the leading creditor in the world, to the leading debtor. It has squandered its natural resources and stripped itself of its economic powers, through a short-sighted greed by the ruling few, at the expense of the people and the nation. The end of American hegemony is clearly in sight, if it is not already here; and yet, the ruling elite continue to push as hard as they can towards full, unbridled disaster.
Poverty and inequality are skyrocketing across the US – as a result of globalization and the off-shoring of production and profits, and the extraction of wealth from the many to the few, in what can only be described as a conscious and systematic class warfare, waged by the super-rich against the nation and the rest of the population. Meanwhile, while the middle class is being eviscerated and liquidated, and driven into the growing sea of an underclass.
There is more poverty, and also greater inequality, in the US now than at any point in its history – even during the Great Depression. Half of the people in the United States now live below, at, or just above the poverty line – and poverty continues to rise daily. Living conditions in most US inner cities are now worse than many of the poorest third world nations.
For any country, and especially for the richest country in the world, this state of affairs would be an utter disgrace – and it is.
The United States continues to spend over a trillion dollars a year on the military-industrial-security complex, on war and war preparations, on foolish imperial stratagems and adventures, and on the build-up of a police state at home – more than enough money to rebuild the crumbling economy and infrastructure, create jobs for all, eliminate all poverty in the nation, and put the country on track towards true environmental stability and sustainability. But the military-industrial-security complex must be fed – even if it is with the people's own blood, and the blood of their daughters and sons: it is demanded by the ruling super-rich, so the folly must continue, it seems – at least until the American people rise up and say, "No more."
Meanwhile, the richest 1% have grown ever richer and more powerful, while the other 99% face ever-increasing material insecurity and disenfranchisement, their voices silenced and their future raped of all hope, as the political elite in power continue to serve the ruling robber barons and the Wall Street plutocrats – or kleptocrats, as they should more accurately be called. This situation is reaching a breaking point, and rapidly so. America should take care of America, before it goes telling, or imposing on others, its magnanimity and wisdom. Put your own house in order, Washington.
And this is just an overview of the severe and growing economic and social problems in the United States, to say nothing of the deepening political crisis. America, under the rule of Wall Street and the corporate oligarchs, has gone from freedom to fascism in short order. The Constitution and Bill of Rights are in tatters and flames. The people of America grow more weary and more frustrated daily, not only with the rapidly increasing inequality and poverty which they face, not only with the bankrupting of the nation by an imperial fetish among the reigning elite that is out of control, but even more so, by the increasing attack on freedom, civil liberties, democracy and basic human rights at home. They will not take much more, I assure you.
The US is truly a powder keg, and revolution is brewing, as leading trend forecaster Gerald Celente and others have said. But the Wall Street oligarchs and their political prostitutes carry on merrily, singing a chorus of "Let them eat cake." This hubris we have seen before, and we know where it leads.
Revolution is not always pretty, but it is sometimes unavoidable, and moreover, simply necessary. And the ruling elite in the US are making sure that it is, in fact, unavoidable: through sheer arrogance and contempt for the people. I pray that it will be peaceful, but that it will come, is by now, a virtual certainty.
Mr. Obama, you have more than enough work to do at home. Stop meddling in the affairs of other nations. If you persist in this madness any further, it will be the end of America. Enough is enough. It is time for peace, and for prosperity and freedom for all.
No more regime changes. No more games of empire. Take care of your own people – or step aside, and let the people renew their own democracy, and their land.
Conclusion: On empire or survival
Empires have always been brutal, bloody, aggressive, violent, war-like, and inherently anti-democratic, oppressive and tyrannical; and there have always, therefore, been good and strong reasons to resist and oppose them. At this point in time, however, empire is no longer just an extreme offense to every decent human value and an oppressive weight on human beings. At this time in our history, the nature of empire has become quite simply suicidal.
The present rulers of the world, the oligarchs and plutocrats of both East and West, believe that they are engaged in what they call political "realism." It is anything but. What they are engaged in, is imperial folly, which has been shown in every age to be a fool's errand, a lust for power which harms and oppresses human beings widely and profoundly, and an enterprise which, in the end, always turns to dust.
The mongers of empire are engaged in deep self-deception, and in delusions of grandeur. It is the values of freedom, democracy, the self-determination of peoples, and the love of one's neighbor which are the basic tenets of both, basic sanity, and also a sane and truly sustainable, as well as a just and free society.
At this point in human history, we either re-assert these principles of basic sanity and common sense, or we will simply cease to be. This is realism. The rest is pure fantasy, pure delusion.
Madmen now hold the power, but the greater power always resides with the people. When, and if, the people stand up, and stand for their rights, then, and then alone, will the world have a chance at true peace, at justice, at real freedom, at democracy, and at simple survival.
We are now faced with a clear choice: end the age of empires, and let democracy and freedom truly reign; or let the errors of our past be repeated in new and more hideous ways than ever before, sowing, not only a dark age, but our own self-destruction, until human beings are no more, and the light goes out for the entire human race.
Our choice is clear. There is no choice. Empires must end now. This madness must cease, or humanity will simply cease to be.
Again, the billionaires of the East are battling the billionaires of the West for oil and gas money, and the domination of the globe. And I have to say to that, "You childish, reckless, mad putzes – stop endangering us all with your foolishness and utter insanity. Are you completely mad?"
This is a richly abundant planet, and as Gandhi said, "There is enough for everyone's need, but for no one's greed."
It is time for these games of greed, power lust, empire and egomania to come to an end – and now.
The situation in Ukraine could end up being among the final notes of our collective demise, or it could be a warning call that awakens the people of the world, and catalyzes the movements for democracy, freedom, and a better world for all. The choice, is entirely up to us.
The power is always in the hands of the people. Let us use it wisely – and now.
No more war. No more empire.
Stop the madness now.
J. Todd Ring,
March 5, 2014
For further details please see the references below. The first rule to finding out or knowing anything about what is truly going on, is to turn off the major media – both the corporate and state media. The second rule is to read widely, and dig for verifiable information. The third rule, is to seek out and discover selectively chosen, reliable sources, that you have learned from experience and from verification with both reason and evidence, to be highly accurate, if not at all times perfect.
As to reliable sources, you must think for yourself, and discern for yourself. Take no one's word on anything. As the Buddha said, examine things for yourself. But as a starting point, I would recommend a few, generally excellent sources. They have their faults and their blind spots, but generally they are excellent – and certainly they are in an entirely different league, many leagues above and beyond the major media outlets. Among the best sources for news and analysis that I have found, are the following. Most of the rest, with few exceptions – and even those that portray themselves as "alternative media" or "independent media" or "public broadcasters" – either chronically miss the heart of the matter, and skirt about the surface of things merely, or else offer pretty much the same spin, PR, lies and illusions as you would find in the thoroughly corrupt corporate and state-run media. But again, above all, think for yourself. Examine things for yourself.
Trends Research / Gerald Celente
Centre for Research On Globalization / Global Outlook / GRTV
Project Censored
Z Communications / Z Magazine
The Kaiser Report
Dandelion Salad
A few excellent articles on the situation in Ukraine (my apologies that this is not more neatly presented – time seems like it may be critical):
Ukraine – Recent developments and contextual analysis:
(The last article is the weakest, but I will include it, since it does add some important points on Russia's wealth being stored in Europe, and on the hypocrisy of Europe's ruling elite – and because of the lead photo of Putin staring down Obama, and Obama trying hard not to blink. Two thoroughly corrupt oligarchs posturing like they are the saviours of humanity, and looking like two pre-pubescent school boys caught up in childish bravado – such is the current state of the world, and this photo sums it up.)
A few excellent books for an overview of the state of the world:
Year 501: The Conquest Continues – Noam Chomsky
Necessary Illusions – Chomsky
The Ecology of Freedom – Bookchin
World As Lover, World As Self – Joanna Macy
Mutual Aid – Kropotkin
The Shock Doctrine – Naomi Klein
The End of America – Naomi Wolf
A Game As Old As Empire – John Perkins
Escape From Freedom – Erich Fromm
The Discourse On Voluntary Servitude – Etienne de la Boite


text:
I went back to Acton Vale.
There I went to see the house where Maria Landry lived.
Gérard, Antonio and Bernard Landry
The house now belongs to Bernard. He is the son of Wilbrod Landry, Gérard's uncle and Antonio's brother.
My wife, my daughter and I visited the farm.
Quite impressive…
Then I went to the cemetery…
Maria is buried there with her sister Renelda.
Even though my grandfather left here in the 1920s, his name is on the headstone.
No one knew what had happen to my grandfather after Antonio's father chased him away until I came along…
After lunch, Antonio wanted to me to meet someone.
It was Dorilla Landry, Maria's youngest sister, born in 1913. I told her I was Léo Lagacé's grandson.
Then her eyes lit up and she said…
"Ah Léo Lagacé… He was a nice man. He was fun person to be with… He sang and danced and told jokes.
Dorilla died in October 2009.
Gérard sent me this.
The end

subset: commoncrawl


text:
DSLR Video Editing for Photographers - Pt. 2
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[♪mellow guitar music♪] [DSLR video editing in Adobe Premiere Pro CS5] [Editing Basics - with Jason Levine] Hello, everyone. My name is Jason Levine. In this Part 2 of our DSLR video for the Pro photographer series, I'm going to be covering some of the editing basics inside of Premiere Pro. We're looking at the same Timeline that we built up in Part 1. I've also added some additional images and video because what I'm wanting to do is I'm creating a sort of portfolio of images and video that I've shot around the world. What we're going to cover here are some of the basics, things like using some different tools, doing things like transitions, whether it's cross dissolves or fade to black, and then we'll talk a bit about some of the preferences for when you bring your images in. So I think we should start there because that's typically the first question that people ask. "How long should the images last, and how do I set those as defaults?" If we just take a simple image here, and if I drag this in, this actually right now is coming in for approximately 5 seconds. And this is a default that we can set in Preferences. It's in slightly different locations on the Mac and PC. On the Mac it's going to be under Premiere Pro Preferences, General. On the PC it'll be under the Edit menu, Preferences, General. But here we're going to find three things which I think you'll find essential. The main one is Still Image Default Duration, 150 frames. Now remember, friends, because we're in Videoland, we're dealing in frames, effectively, at 30 frames per second, 30 times 5, 5 seconds, 150 frames. This is just a default. Similarly, if you were working with transitions, which we'll show you in a couple of minutes, the transition default is approximately 30 frames or approximately 1second. So here is where you set those defaults. You might kind of set and forget this. I'm just letting you know where this stuff is. And these can all be adjusted after the fact anyway. Using this simple image, because it's not moving yet, if I wanted to make this last 5 seconds or 10 seconds, rather, or 15 seconds, I can with my Adobe Move tool selected-- and by the way, your Tools panel may be in different locations. Mine happened to be in the default location up at the top here. Let's use my Selection tool, also known as the Move tool, and I can simply click and drag this out. You'll see it's showing me how many additional seconds and frames I'm adding. So now this piece is 10 seconds long. It's that simple. I just place my cursor over the edge. You'll see that you get these little left and right arrows. Similarly, if I go to the top, you'll see it there. And now I can shrink this up or drag it out however long I want. Fine. That's the basic idea. It works the same with video too. If we've got a video file, for instance, this video here, if I want to shrink this up, I can just click on the edge, shrink it, or make it longer. But that brings up an interesting point because as you saw just a moment ago, what if I want to shrink it but I want everything else to follow along? I want it to sort of ripple delete all that dead space. So for that you're going to use a keyboard shortcut. I know. I said I never use keyboard shortcuts. There are a few that you kind of have to use just to make life a bit easier. So for instance, right now we've got all of my images around 5 seconds in duration. If I wanted to, say, shrink this particular one up to 2½ seconds, I can drag my cursor over top of the image here. It's often easier to select it. You can also use the plus and minus keys to zoom in here. That's going to zoom in to the center position of your time indicator or playhead. So I can zoom in a bit, come over here, and if I hold down the Command key on the Mac or the Control key on the PC, if I now click and drag, and you'll notice when I get to my cursor, do you see those lines there snapping to position? So snapping lines, very handy if you're trying to align things together. When I release the mouse, you'll see that everything snaps into position. It ripple deletes. Let's go ahead and undo that so you can see the before. Let's redo it. Everything moves into position. Because if I didn't ripple delete, if I just simply clicked and dragged and snapped, now you've got this dead space. Sometimes you want to do that, but we wanted everything to ripple. Now remember, it works the same way too. What if I wanted to make this clip longer? Command key or Control key, drag it over to the right. Now everything moves over to the right. So that's known as ripple deleting. That's really handy. That's probably the tool and the feature that I'll use the most when I'm cutting things together. Since we're talking about cutting, what you will also do-- again, in imagery it's perhaps a bit different, but a lot of times in video you're wanting to cut little pieces out. Maybe you set an in and out point and you realized you didn't want the middle. I'm going to zoom back in, and I can use shortcut key C or the Razor tool, rather. Again, shortcuts, different keyboards--I don't know--I never use them. I just always click on the icon here. So here is your Razor tool up here. It looks like a little razor blade. I can set a little cut point simply by clicking right there, put the playhead right here, cut. Now, how do I get rid of that? I can right click and just cut, but of course that's going to leave a hole. That's not typically what you want to do. Often what you want to do is ripple delete. So if you right click and choose Ripple Delete--pay attention to the video-- now the pieces slide together. Okay? Okay, so let's undo all of that and bring that back to normal. Backslash on the US keyboard to zoom back out and show everything in full view. Okay. Now I'm going to go back to my Selection tool or the Move tool. Again, it's shortcut key V, and that's the standard across most of your Adobe applications. If I wanted to multiple select clips and move them around, from within here I can actually click and drag. You notice I get this little sort of marquee selection box. I can select across these clips. Be careful not to grab that little yellow handle right there. Currently, that's working on opacity. We don't want to touch that, so just move the cursor down until it turns back into the black arrow, and now I can very freely move all of these selected clips around. Okay? Also, if I wanted to take everything, I can just click, drag, select, and move everything. Okay? Real simple, easy, but things you need to know. If you just want to simply move something around, just make sure you're on that Move tool. It makes things a lot easier. Okay, so now we've got that in there. Now it's time to talk about adding some transitions. So before we do that, though, typically what I like to do is you don't generally want to start your production, your video, you don't want to start at zero with images. But a really common, useful, best practices technique is just to add a little black video, some basic black video at the beginning and the end of your video edit. So to do that you can go up to the File menu here and choose New, Black Video. It's going to ask you to choose the frame size. It's going to base that frame size and frame rate on the settings of your sequence, which is very helpful. Click OK. All done. There we go. Now again, where do we want to place this? We want to place it at the beginning, so we could select all of our media here and move it and then place the black video in there and then trim it and do all of that. There's even an easier way. If we double click on that black video, bringing it into the Source Monitor, make sure that your playhead, your current time indicator, is at the beginning of your Timeline, and then come down to the bottom of the Source Monitor here where you will see we have something called the Insert button. And if you click on Insert, that's going to insert that black video before everything else begins so now that we can transition from black, fade up into our image. So I can use my arrows and navigation to go to the end. And for the end I can simply just click from within the window here and drag and drop it right there. As mentioned, you've got lots of different options when you're talking about transitions. You can do the standard cross dissolve, you can fade from black, you can fade to white, you can wipe and pull and peel. Some of those are more tasteful or less tasteful than others. Let's start with the real basic ones, just adding some cross dissolves. So I'm going to wind back here, and let's go over down to the bottom left-hand corner where we have the Effects panel here. Twirl this up, and you'll see that we have a section called Video Transitions. There's also Audio Transitions in there. And if we twirl down Video Transitions, you'll see that we've got lots of them--3D Motion, Page Peels, Slides. Those I say use at your own risk. [laughs] If we go to Dissolve, you'll see that we have all the standards. Now again, the most common is the cross dissolve. And if you simply take this, we click on the Cross Dissolve, and we drag it and we drag it between these two clips. That's a bit hard to see. So this is where you might hit the plus key on your keyboard to zoom in a bit. Click on that Cross Dissolve. You can see that you can have it just dissolve the end of one, the beginning of another, or dissolve across the two. Now it's going to place this little cross dissolve from the black video going to the image. And here's what that looks like. Okay? Again, if we want to place one between these two images here, I can do the same. Let's take a look at what that looks like. Wind back, play. Okay, very nice. Now again, we've got our cross dissolves. How do we adjust the duration of the cross dissolve? Well, there's a kind of really nice way that you can do it. If you come over here to where it says Effects Controls, click on the actual Transition right here, you'll get a nice little display of what's actually happening. That might be a bit complex. I'm going to leave that screen on for just a second. Here's a really easy way to do it. You've got your time in the ruler here. You want to adjust the duration of your cross dissolve? Notice those little handles that we saw before when we were trimming clips? They apply to the dissolves as well. So if we want dissolve to be longer, I could just drag it out like so very simply. You'll also notice that it's readjusted here, so now when we wind back, you have a nice fade up. Okay? Similarly, I can come over here, let's zoom in a bit with my plus and minus keys, adjust the cross dissolve, play it, and...nice dissolve. Okay? Another really common one just to point out here is the fade to black, and I'm going to show you the difference here. The thing with fade to black--and by the way, if you want to remove a transition, you can right click, control click, and just choose Clear, or you can actually select it and hit the Delete key. Either one will work. The nice thing with the Dip to Black, this kind of just gives it a bit more of a stylized look. You see this a lot with a lot of professional portfolios literally having each image fade to black and then fade up again. It just looks a bit more polished. So if you look at the difference here, let's show you here. Here's the fade to black. Well, you're not going to see a difference at the top here. Let's look at this one. That was really short, so let's zoom in again and let's make this a bit longer. You can see it just feels a bit more dramatic. Wind back, fades to black, fades up from black. You might be looking at that, going, "I don't really see much of a difference." [chuckles] When you have lots of these on there, I think it looks a bit more stylized, a bit more groovy. I tend to use Dip to Black a lot. Nothing wrong with cross dissolves, and of course you can mix and match. So you can have a cross dissolve in one place, you can have Dip to Black in another, you can have Dip to White in another, you can have additive dissolve in another. It just depends. Whatever you like. So once you've got your transitions here-- By the way, you can add these same transitions between images and video. You'll see right there. If we wanted to wind this back, if we wanted to elongate that dissolve right there, wind back a bit and let's play. [♪mellow music♪] Did you see how nice that looked? We had our image--let me turn the sound down for a minute here-- and it cross fades into the video. That's pretty sweet. Again, we've covered some basic mixing and matching. One last thing about scaling. When we look at our image here, there's obviously a lot of this image missing. So if I select this image, if I select this piece or this clip now inside of my sequence and I go up to Effects Controls, you'll see that we have Motion, Opacity, and Time Remapping. I'm going to twirl down Motion, and inside Motion you'll see we have Position, Scale, Rotation, Anchor Point, Anti-flicker. Okay, great. Scale is exactly what you think. So with the clip selected, if I choose Scale--you'll notice we have this hot text, and if I hover my mouse over it, we get these little left and right arrows-- I can click on this and drag, and I can rescale this image accordingly, right? So we can adjust it to fit the size however we want. In the next episode I'm actually going to talk about animating this. This is just giving you the basic location of where to adjust these things. Also, in terms of position, if I want to adjust the vertical position, I can do that here. If I want to adjust horizontal position, I can do that there. You've also got your opacity. So that's just the location of motion. In the next part we're actually going to show you keyframing, talk about keyframing and adding those Ken Burns type effects to your images, to your video, to create some more emotion, to create some more life. So stay tuned for the next one. Hope you've enjoyed this one. We'll see you in Part 3. Take care. [♪mellow guitar music♪] [Want to learn more?] [http://www.adobe.com/premiere] [http://bit.ly/TryCS5_Ev] [♪♪]
Video Details
Duration: 13 minutes and 22 seconds
Language: English
License: All rights reserved
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Views: 80
Posted by: adobetv on Oct 12, 2010
In Part 2 of this multi-part series, Jason Levine will cover the most common editing functions of Premiere Pro CS5, including the ability to set defaults for image and transition durations, adding transitions between clips & images (like cross-dissolves, dip-to-black and more), basic scaling/resizing, rippling, and cutting.
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text:
Part forum game, part critical think piece, part writing project: how would you resolve some of the classic Star Trek episodes by just changing one small thing?
For example, the entire plot of TOS 1x05 "The Enemy Within" could be solved like this:
Scotty: Sir, the transporter is malfunctioning.
Kirk: I can't have men trapped down there.
Spock: What about a shuttle?
Kirk: Yes, yes. Send a shuttle down to...
Spock: Retrieve the crew? At once.


text:
Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture
Deutscher Platz 6
04103 Leipzig
phone: +49 (0)341 3550 - 315
fax: +49 (0)341 3550 - 333
e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
|Yeh, J., Fogarty, L., & Kandler, A. (2019). Cultural linkage: The influence of package transmission on cultural dynamics. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences,286: 20191951.
Open Access DOI BibTeX Endnote
|Greenbaum, G., Fogarty, L., Colleran, H., Berger-Tal, O., Kolodny, O., & Creanza, N. (2019). Are both necessity and opportunity the mothers of innovations? Behavioral and Brain Sciences,42: e199.
DOI BibTeX Endnote
|Fogarty, L., Creanza, N., & Feldman, M. W. (2019). The life history of learning: Demographic structure changes cultural outcomes. PLoS Computational Biology,15(4): e1006821.
Open Access DOI BibTeX Endnote
|Fogarty, L. (2018). Cultural complexity and evolution in fluctuating environments. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences,373(1743): 20170063.
DOI BibTeX Endnote
Fogarty, L. (2018). Cultural complexity and evolution in fluctuating environments. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 372, 373(1743)
Fogarty, L. & Creanza, N. (2017) The niche construction of cultural complexity: interactions between innovations, population size, and the environment, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 372: 20160428
Fogarty, L., Wakano, J.Y., Feldman, M.W. & Aoki, K. (2016a) The driving forces of cultural complexity: Neanderthals, modern humans, and the question of population size. Human Nature, doi:10.1007/s12110-016-9275-6
Creanza, N., Fogarty, L. & Feldman, M.W. (2016b) Cultural niche construction of repertoire size and learning strategies in songbirds. Evolutionary Ecology, vol. 30, pp. 285-305.
Fogarty, L., Wakano, J.Y., Feldman, M.W. & Aoki, K. (2015a) Factors limiting the number of independent cultural traits that can be maintained in a population. Learning Strategies and Cultural Evolution during the Palaeolithic. pp 9-21.
Fogarty, L., Creanza, N. & Feldman, M.W. (2015b) Cultural evolutionary perspectives on early human innovation. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, vol. 30, no. 12, pp. 736-754.
Fogarty, L. The study of teaching needs an inclusive functional definition. Invited commentary on Kline, M.A. (2015c) How to learn about teaching: An evolutionary framework for the study of teaching behavior in humans and other animals. Behavioral and Brain Science, vol. 38, 1-71.
Creanza N, Fogarty L., Feldman MW. (2014) Cultural niche construction from the Paleolithic to modern hunter-gatherers. Dynamics of Learning in Neanderthals and Modern Humans, Vol. 1: Cultural Perspectives. (Joint first authorship).
Fogarty, L., Creanza, N., & Feldman, M. W. (2013). The role of cultural transmission in human demographic change: An age-structured model. Theoretical Population Biology, 88, 68-77.
Mesoudi, A., Blanchet, S., Charmantier, A., Danchin, E., Fogarty, L., Jablonka, E., Laland, K.N., Morgan, T.J.H., Müller, G.B., Odling-Smee, J.F. & Pujol, B. (2013) Is Non-genetic Inheritance Just a Proximate Mechanism? A Corroboration of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis. Biological Theory, DOI: 10.1007/s13752-013-0091-5.
Creanza, N., Fogarty, L. & Feldman, M.W. (2012) Models of Cultural Niche Construction with Selection and Assortative Mating. PLoS ONE, vol. 7, no. 8, e42744 (Joint first authorship).
Fogarty, L., Rendell, L.E. & Laland, K.N. (2012) The importance of space in models of social learning, cultural evolution and niche construction, Advances in Complex Systems vol. 15, no. 1&2.
Fogarty, L., Rendell, L. & Laland, K.N. (2012) Mental time travel, memory and the social learning strategies tournament, Learning and Motivation, vol. 43, no. 4, pp. 241-246.
Fogarty, L. and Feldman, M.W. (2011) The cultural and demographic evolution of son preference and marriage type in contemporary China. Biological Theory, vol. 3 no. 6, pp. 272-282.
Fogarty, L., Strimling, P. & Laland, K.N. (2011) The evolution of teaching, Evolution, vol. 65, no. 10, pp. 2760-2770.
Rendell, L.E., Boyd, R, Enquist, M., Feldman, M.W., Fogarty, L. & Laland, K.N. (2011) How copying affects the amount, evenness and persistence of cultural knowledge: insights from the social learning strategies tournament, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, vol. 366, pp. 1118-1128.
Rendell, L.E., Fogarty, L., Hoppitt, W.J.E., Morgan, T.J.H., Webster, M.M. & Laland, K.N. (2011) Cognitive culture: Theoretical and empirical insights into social learning strategies, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, vol. 15, pp. 68-76.
Rendell, L.E., Fogarty, L. & Laland, KN (2011) Runaway cultural niche construction, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, vol. 366, no. 1566, pp. 823-835.
Rendell, L.E., Boyd, R., Cownden, D., Enquist, M., Eriksson, K., Feldman, M.W., Fogarty, L., Ghirlanda, S., Lillicrap, T. & Laland, K.N. (2010) Why Copy Others? Insights from the Social Learning Strategies Tournament, Science, vol. 328, no. 5975, pp. 208-213.
Rendell, L.E., Fogarty, L. & Laland, K.N. (2010) Rogers' paradox recast and resolved: population structure and the evolution of social learning strategies, Evolution, vol. 64, no. 2, pp. 534-548.
Other Articles
- Invited entry to the International Encyclopaedia of Social and Behavioural Science, second edition on 'models of cultural evolution', published 2014.
- Invited entry to the Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior on 'teaching'


text:
The Android NDK is a toolset that lets you embed components that make use of native code in your Android applications.
The Android NDK is a toolset that lets you embed components that make use of native code in your Android applications. The Android NDK Revision 6, launched in July 2011, added the possibility of generating machine code that runs on compatible x86-based Android devices (IA-32). Thus, since that version, you can optimize the performance-critical portions of your apps to take advantage of most of the advanced SIMD instruction sets found in Intel Atom CPUs that run Android.
If you have some experience writing Android native code for the ARMv7 architecture, you are probably aware of the ARM Advanced SIMD instruction set extension, known as NEON. Intel Atom CPUs provide support for SSSE3 (short for Supplemental Streaming SIMD Extensions 3) and its predecessors, such as SSE3, SSE2, SSE, and MMX. You can easily take advantage of the powerful SIMD instructions up to SSE3 in order to optimize your algorithms for the x86 architecture with the Android NDK. The latest version of Android NDK is Revision 7, launched in November 2011, and it provides a specific ABI (short for Application Binary Interface) that defines exactly how the application's machine code is expected to interact with an x86 (IA-32) system at runtime.
The x86 ABI provided by Android NDK Revision 7 details the CPU instruction set that the machine code should use up to SSE3 for Intel Atom, and therefore, it excludes SSSE3. It is still possible to use SSSE3 but you have to use both runtime features probing to enable them and fallbacks for devices that don't support the extended instruction set.
The SSE3 instruction set is different than NEON but you can easily port NEON to SSE3 and its predecessor x86 SIMD extensions. In addition, you can write native code that targets x86 from scratch and take advantage of all the SIMD extensions provided by modern Intel Atom CPUs.
One of the main differences with ARM is that you don't need to check for any specific CPU feature in x86 in order to use the SIMD instructions. If the value returned from android_getCpuFamily() is ANDROID_CPU_FAMILY_X86, you will have the SSE3 instruction set extensions and its predecessors available, because you have an Intel Atom. With ARM CPUs, it is necessary to check for the specific availability of NEON. It isn't necessary to check a specific value returned in android_getCpuFeatures for Intel Atom and you don't need to call that function at all.
If you want to have the best performance for your native code but you target multiple platforms, you can create the most efficient code based on the value retrieved from android_getCpuFamily and then you'll have to check android_getCpuFeatures for ARM. However, for Intel Atom CPUs, you can use most of the SIMD instructions you already master and boost performance of Android native code portions of applications. In addition, you can use all the tools provided by Intel to optimize your algorithms, test them in your Intel Atom netbooks in order to solve potential bottlenecks, and finally build them with the x86 ABI provided by the Android NDK. The computing continuum makes it easy for experienced x86 developers to take advantage of their existing knowledge of the x86 platform on different devices and operating systems without having to learn new instruction sets. Android runs on Intel Atom, and the chips that run Android have the same instruction sets you already use in either a netbook or a tablet.
Developers that have experience in optimizing pieces of code to execute instructions in multiple data with SIMD during the last years have a great opportunity to boost performance and extend battery life for Android applications that require native code optimizations. You can read more information about Android on Intel Architecture in the Android Developers portal @ Intel Software Network.


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Last Updated: Aug 03, 2016
These steps help identify and resolve the underlying cause. After completing each step, test to see if the issue is fixed. If not, continue to the next step.
Sometimes, the thickness or texture of a screen protector or the pressure of a protective case affects the touchscreen's performance.
Try removing any screen protector or case, and test to see if your issue is fixed.
Note: Use only Samsung Replenish™-compatible protective cases.
A soft reset deletes any temporary files that may be causing the issue.
If these steps don't solve your issue, a broader performance issue may be the cause.
Note: To optimize device performance, be sure your Samsung Replenish is running the most recent device software. Check for software updates.
If you're still having issues, please try the Sprint Community pages or make an appointment at a nearby Sprint Repair center for more help.


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LG has taken the wraps off what it claims is the world's first 3D TV to be independently checked and approved for lack of flicker.
Dubbed the Cinema 3D - aka the LW5700 - the telly was given the 'flicker free' thumbs up by European test labs TÜV and Intertek, LG said.
The company claimed the telly "practically eliminates the feelings of dizziness or eye fatigue that could occur with previous 3D TVs".
"Practically eliminates", you note, not "eliminates", so it's not a complete absence of flicker
Beyond 3D, the set does 100Hz playback, has LED array backlighting with local dimming, can connect to IPTV services and DLNA servers, and can operate as a DVR if you hook up some local USB-connected storage.
LG didn't say how much the Cinema 3D will cost, but it'll go on sale next month. ®


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Nick Jonas is leaving his brothers behind – temporarily.
According to Denise Jonas, Nick's mom, the teen, who just turned 17 last month, is prepping a new project, apparently without Kevin and Joe.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Maria Menounos On The Road With The Jonas Brothers
"Nick is working on a solo act — it's called Nick Jonas and The Administration," Denise told Parade.com. "Shhh! He's at the photo shoot for the album cover right now."
Rumors have circulated that Nick, the JoBros' main songwriter, was planning a solo project for some time, but Denise's comments are the first official confirmation.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: All Access: 'Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience' Premiere!
While Nick will no doubt be busy with The Adminstration, his brother Kevin is busy gearing up to be a groom.
As previously reported on AccessHollywood.com, Kevin, 21, is engaged to Danielle Deleasa and Denise told Parade she couldn't be happier with her son's bride.
"Kevin and his fiancee Danielle have set their wedding date," Denise revealed. "But it's completely private. Danielle, bless her heart, is from a great little Italian family. She is everything I ever prayed for and hoped for Kevin."
Related Content from AccessHollywood.com:
VIEW THE PHOTOS: The Jonas Brothers, Foo Fighters & More Help MusiCares Honor Neil Diamond
PLAY IT NOW: Jonas Brothers Rock Out At 77kids Launch Party
PLAY IT NOW: Jonas Brothers School Children On Going Green
MORE ACCESS ON THESE TOPICS: Nick Jonas - TV - Music - Celebrities - Rumors


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This week I am writing this post from Sydney where I am accompanying the Holy Father and a large group of Boston pilgrims for the celebrations of World Youth Day.
The Holy Father arrived in Australia on Sunday and spent a few days resting, to recover from the long trip.
While he was resting at Kenthurst Study Centre in Kenthurst, near Sydney, the Holy Father was presented with a variety of Australian animals, including a python. I thought you would like to see those photos of the Holy Father petting such animals.
We arrived in Sydney on Monday. It was a long and tiring trip. I was glad to meet the archdiocesan group at the hotel.
The inaugural Mass took place on Tuesday. It was celebrated by Sydney's Cardinal George Pell. It was an afternoon event at the Sydney harbor and it was very beautiful. 150,000 youth participated in the Mass.
This year's theme for the gathering, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, is "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses."
Cardinal George Pell
The bishops arrived at the place of the Mass, called Barangaroo, on a boat. A couple of days later, the Holy Father also arrived at the same place on another boat.
With Archbishop Charles Chaput from Denver on the boat
A nice view of the Opera House taken from the boat
With Archbishop Chaput and Bishop Paul Hinder of Saudi Arabia – both bishops are OFM Cap.
With Archbishop Yannis Spiteris, O.F.M. Cap.from Corfu, Greece
This year, the organization has stressed the importance of the catechesis. For three days during this week, speakers have given catechesis in over 250 different locations every day. These catecheses have been given in different languages so every pilgrim had a chance to attend.
I had my first catechesis in the church of St. Fiacre which is an Italian parish that the Capuchins run in Leichhardt, in the outskirts of Sydney on Wednesday morning.
Father Jim Menkhus, OFM Cap., of the Pittsburgh Province.
He introduced me at the Parish of St. Fiacre on Wednesday.
There were about 50 friars there and many young people who are parishioners in different Capuchin parishes in Australia. There were even some youngsters from Papua New Guinea and the Philippines.
The first day, the catechesis was about "The call to live in the Holy Spirit." I spoke for about one hour and then we had some reflections, questions & answers. There was adoration of the Blessed Sacrament before the conference and afterwards we had a Eucharist.
Then there was a sort of a musical program in the town where I was , in a sort of a plaza they had there.
This young man's name is actually Seán O'Malley.
His mother is from Fiji, and his father is from Ireland!
Some O'Malleys can get very creative with their hair cuts!
Thursday, I gave another catechesis at LaSalle College in Ashfield, a suburb of Sydney, with a much larger group of around 1500 pilgrims.
Bishop Francesco Panfila – a bishop from Papua New Guinea.
There were a number of pilgrims from Papua at the catechesis on Thursday.
One of the Boston groups was present including some members of our deaf Catholic community. The theme for that catechesis was "The Spirit, the soul of the Church." There was also a Mass afterwards.
Then, in the afternoon, I came back to Sydney to go and be on the boat that brought the Holy Father in a sort of a big entrance for the welcoming ceremony at Barangaroo where we had the opening Mass. A number of the bishops and cardinals accompanied the Holy Father on the boat. It was a beautiful ride.
The weather has been gorgeous. It is cool — it is winter here — but it was sunny. We went along the coast and huge crowds of people were waiting to see the Holy Father. There were about half million people waiting to see the Holy Father.
When we arrived at the park, the Holy Father led a liturgy of the word and after that there was a reception with the premier and in the evening there was a dinner with Cardinal Pell.
Next week I will tell you more about the weekend events, that will include a Saturday evening vigil and a Sunday morning Mass with the Holy Father. Before that, I will have another catechetical session with the theme "Sent into the world. The Holy Spirit the principal agent of mission," and in the afternoon of Friday there will be outdoor Stations of the Cross with the young people and later in the evening a concert in the famous Opera House of Sydney. They will have the Sydney Symphony play Beethoven's Missa Solemnis.
Then, on Saturday morning, the Boston groups will come together with me for a Eucharist, before attending the events with the Holy Father.
Sydney is filled with pilgrims from all over the world. I am impressed by the great enthusiasm among the young people. There is a great sense of devotion and just joy.
In some local papers there was kind of a hostile atmosphere at the beginning, but as time goes on and people observe the reactions of the young people, there has been more of a shift and openness to what the Holy Father's visit can bring to the people of Australia. It is a great grace.
Cardinal Pell did a wonderful job organizing this event. In fact this is the largest event Australia has ever hosted, even larger than the 2000 Olympics.
The largest number of pilgrims from outside of Australia are from the United States. The second largest group would be from Italy and the third largest group is from Germany and that is a great tribute to the Holy Father. We have around 400 pilgrims from Boston, from a number of groups.
One of the great surprises is the large number of people that came from the Islands of Oceania, even from Papua New Guinea.
The young people are very enthused. Many of them are making the World Youth Day for the first time in their life and certainly feel very affirmed in their faith by being with hundreds of thousands of their peers who love the same things and are devoted to the Eucharist, to the Blessed Mother, to the Church. There is a great desire to promote vocations among the youth here at World Youth Day.
Until my next post.
In Christ.
Cardinal Seán


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I have been searching for a while for a solution to my problem. I am running Word 2008 on a Mac OS X.6.8. I recently formatted my hard drive and the Greek fonts in my old word.docx documents are not appearing correctly. Lucinda Grande seems to work and Times when I type with the Greek Polytechnic keyboard.
I like the Times New Roman font however. The η with a breathing mark ἡ appears larger then the rest of the letters.
The main problem is the fact that I have over 200 pages with Greek texts interspersed and when they dont show up correctly, I would have to go through the whole document.
Any Suggestions???
I copy alot from the TLG but would like this to be Times New Roman and I also type alot in Greek.
Unicode Mac Greek
Post Reply
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2XU Men's X:3 Project X Wetsuit
- MW2301c
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Recognized as the leading triathlon wetsuit on the planet, 2XU has updated its Project X for even greater flexibility and buoyancy than ever before.
This suit features new Intermediate Zone Stretch (IZS) Panels and thinner neoprene on the shoulders to deliver unrestricted movment.
A foam insert panel elevates body position in the water while new CWEZ X catch panel, engineered from flexible silicone in 2013, assures comfort. For hydrodynamic stability and serious speed, 2XU's proprietary Velocity Strakes seperate foam inserts on the torso.
- Nano SCS Coating - Extra 4% Buoyancy
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- Rollbar - Improved Core Buoyancy and Body Position
- 16 Sizes - A Specialized Comfortable Fit
- 2 Year Warranty


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My love for music began back in the days when singers like Patti Page, Bing Crosby, and Doris Day were on the radio all the time. Then rock and roll hit the scene and created the music revolution
Since I have lived through so many changes in the music industry, I have developed an eclectic taste in music. I like so many different types of music that I can't profess to be a true fan of any one genre. My collection is a reflection.
Swann Bridge in Blount County, AL
Sunset at Orange Beach, AL
Our country has some of the most beautiful places in the world. Instead of spending money in other countries, I think it wise to keep my dollars here in my own country.
I am retired. I enjoy not having to be on the clock. The first thing I did when I retired was to retire my wristwatch.
I love spending time with my grandchildren, but as they get older, they seem to be so busy that they don't have a lot of time for grandparents. College life is tough and I understand that.
Tinkering around with computers is one of my favorite things. I have built every desktop computer that I have had since Windows 95. Reading, crafts,photography, and gardening are other things I enjoy.


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Victory, Wanderers draw 1-1 in Ballarat
Melbourne Victory have laboured to a second 1-1 friendly result in as many Saturdays, drawing with Western Sydney in Ballarat.
James Troisi's early strike was cancelled out by Roly Bonevacia's finish with 11 minutes remaining.
The A-League champions had the better of a picture-perfect day at Morshead Park but couldn't make it count on the scoreboard.
"There was a lot to like," coach Kevin Muscat said.
"The only thing that was disappointing was we didn't get the win we deserved ... we created a truckload of turnovers and opportunities."
Muscat was without his trio of recent international signings - Keisuke Honda, Ola Toivonen and Raul Baena.
Honda missed the match as he prepares to manage the Cambodian national team for the first time, while Toivonen and Baena are yet to arrive.
But German centre-back Georg Niedermeier impressed in his first start for Victory, making a stunning last-ditch tackle to deny Lachlan Scott a one-on-one chance in the first half.
Troisi started up front with striker Kenjok Athiu sidelined with an ankle issue.
His 18th minute goal came from Jai Ingham's short corner after clever work from Kosta Barbarouses.
The Kiwi international had two chances to extend Victory's lead in the second half after neat interplay from Josh Hope, but was denied by new Wanderers goalkeeper Danijel Nizic.
Terry Antonis was effective in midfield despite a possible kit mix-up that led to him playing in AFL-sized shorts.
Western Sydney fielded their three ex-Melbourne City signings, but struggled to create much of note in the first half.
"The first half was awful . We couldn't play our style," coach Markus Babbel said.
"Too many mistakes. Not a good pass. The second half was much better, we had more control over the game. Not many big chances but much more control."
The Wanderers' influence brought an equaliser.
Hope gave away a ball in midfield and the Wanderers pounced, with Bonevacia rounding Storm Roux and scoring at the back post.
Victory are yet to arrange any further pre-season fixtures and instead will head to the Sunshine Coast on a pre-season camp.
Babbel brings his side back to Melbourne in a fortnight to face City in an FFA Cup quarter-final.
Australian Associated Press


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Groups enable you to associate entries for ease of administration. For example, using groups makes it easier to define access control instructions (ACIs). Group definitions are special entries that either name their members in a static list or provide a filter that defines a dynamic set of entries.
The scope of possible members of a group is the entire directory, regardless of where the group definition entries are located. To simplify administration, all group definition entries are usually stored in a single location, usually ou=Groups under the root suffix.
The two types of groups are static groups and dynamic groups.
Static groups. The entry that defines a static group inherits from either the groupOfNames or groupOfUniqueNames object class. Group members are listed by their DN as multiple values of the member or uniqueMember attribute.
Alternatively, you can use the isMemberOf attribute for static groups. The isMemberOf attribute is calculated and added to the user entry at the start of the search. It is then removed again after the search has finished. This functionality provides easy management of groups, and fast read access.
Dynamic groups. The entry that defines a dynamic group inherits from the groupOfURLs object class. Group membership is defined by one or more filters that are specified in the multivalued memberURL attribute. The members in a dynamic group are the entries that match any one of the filters whenever the filters are evaluated.
You cannot use DSCC to perform this task. Use the command line, as described in this procedure.
Create a new static group using the ldapmodify command.
For example, to create a new static group called System Administrators and to add some members, you could use this command:
$ ldapmodify -a -h host1 -p 1389 -D cn=admin,cn=Administrators,cn=config -w - dn: cn=System Administrators, ou=Groups, dc=example,dc=com changetype: add cn: System Administrators objectclass: top objectclass: groupOfNames ou: Groups member: uid=kvaughan, ou=People, dc=example,dc=com member: uid=rdaugherty, ou=People, dc=example,dc=com member: uid=hmiller, ou=People, dc=example,dc=com
Check to see that the new group has been created and that the members have been added.
For example, to check that Kirsten Vaughan is in the new System Administrators group, type:
$ ldapsearch -b "dc=example,dc=com" uid=kvaughan isMemberOf uid=kvaughan,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com isMemberOf: cn=System Administrators, ou=Groups, dc=example,dc=com isMemberOf: cn=HR Managers,ou=groups,dc=example,dc=com
You cannot use DSCC to perform this task. Use the command line, as described in this procedure.
Create a new dynamic group by using the ldapmodify command.
For example, to create a new dynamic group called "3rd Floor", which includes all employees whose room numbers start with 3, you could use this command:
$ ldapmodify -a -h host1 -p 1389 -D cn=admin,cn=Administrators,cn=config -w - dn: cn=3rd Floor, ou=Groups, dc=example,dc=com changetype: add cn: 3rd Floor objectclass: top objectclass: groupOfUrls ou: Groups memberURL: ldap:///dc=example,dc=com??sub?(roomnumber=3*)


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This product is out of stock
We've taken the classic MAX&Co. T-shirt and given it a fresh spin for the new season. Adorned with a two-tone 3D logo, it has contrasting trims and technical stitching. The garment is crafted from pure cotton jersey and is cut to a slim fit.
Product name: DANARO
Product code: 6971920003002
Distributed by Manifatture del Nord S.r.l. Unipersonale, with registered office in Reggio Emilia (Italia), Via Mazzacurati n. 6, 42122
100% cotton.
Wash by hand in water. Do not bleach. Iron at max. 110 °C using a damp cloth between the iron and the fabric. Do not dry clean. Do not tumble dry. Flat drying in the shade.
Wear it with


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Stevie Wonder is facing the music.
The Grammy-winning singer, whose real name is Stevland Morris, has filed for divorce from his wife of 11 years, fashion designer Kai Millard Morris, a rep confirms to E! News.
U.S. & World
"Today Stevland Morris filed for divorce, ending his marriage to Kai Millard Morris," reads a statement released on behalf of the couple. "As this is a private and personal matter, he asks that the public and the media kindly respect the privacy of Kai, his children, and family at this time."
According to the divorce docs, Wonder and Morris have been separated since October 2009, but are finally making it legal. The 62-year-old "Superstition" singer cites irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split.
Wonder is asking for joint custody of the couple's two sons, Kailand, 10, and Mandla, 7. Wonder agrees to pay both spousal and child support to Morris.
The couple still has to settle how some of their assets will be split.
Wonder and Morris married in 2001.


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Motorola Gets Yahooed
Eric Jackson, the effectively noisy shareholder advocate who prodded Terry Semel to leave Yahoo as CEO at its annual board meeting just days before he did, is now targeting Motorola and its CEO Ed Zander.
While Jackson runs a small operation, he uses his Web site, YouTube videos, posting to wikis and other online tools in his effort to build a small group of disgruntled investors and offer a "Plan B."
Zander, who appeared at our D3 conference, might want to be careful. Jackson craftily asked Semel at the Yahoo meeting–see my post on it here and the video from it below–whether he had the "fire in the belly" to continue as CEO at the troubled Internet giant. At the meeting, Semel answered with a hearty yes, but was gone soon after.
As of yesterday, Jackson now has a lot more fodder in his fight with the telecommunications-equipment maker, when Motorola warned of weak shipments of cellphones and said its mobile-devices division would lose money for the year.
With the stock in the tank, management turmoil, a lackluster product line and rumors of a Zander exit, let us not forget the recent explosive launch of the iPhone to cause even more agita at the company.
But let Jackson take it from here with his recent video on Motorola, followed by mine from the Yahoo board meeting in June:


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Department of Evolutionary Genetics
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6
04103 Leipzig
phone: +49 341 3550 - 500
e-mail: mittag@[>>> Please remove the brackets! <<<]eva.mpg.de
Vice Ombudsperson - Mark Stoneking
"Scientific honesty and the observance of the principle of good scientific practice are essential in all scientific work which seeks to expand our knowledge and which is intended to earn respect from the public." (Rules of Good Scientific Practice, MPS, 2009)
Ombudsperson: Shannon McPherron
Vice Ombudsperson: Mark Stoneking
As elected Ombudsperson and Vice Ombudsperson of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, we stand at your disposal in case you are experiencing or observing any kind of scientific misconduct, or if you need advice on the subject of good scientific practice.
Scientific misconduct includes: false statements, infringement of intellectual property, impairment of the research work of others, joint accountability. More information is provided in the following brochure:
Rules of Good Scientific Practice
March 20th, 2009
[pdf - English] [pdf - German]
Rules of Procedure in Case of Suspected Scientific Misconduct
November 24th, 2000
[pdf - English] [pdf - German]
Guidelines for the Deployment of Ombudspersons
February 16th, 2006
[pdf - English] [pdf - German]


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One of the best documentaries of 2010, the latest chapter in the most popular story of this generation, a noir classic, an animated classic and myriad others are on offer this week.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
It's the first chapter of the final chapter of the story of
Jesus Luke Skywalker the boy wizard!. Now available on Blu-ray and DVD, and a super duper comb-pack read our theatrical review and watch the trailer [Note: "Deathly Hallows Part 1" is being released this Friday, April 15th]
Country Strong
It's "Crazy Heart" for women! Gwyneth Paltrow stars as a washed up country star who's fallen on hard times and substance abuse, who then falls for a young up-and-comer. Co-stars Garrett Hedlund, Tim McGraw and Leighton Meester. Now available on Blu-ray and DVD, read our theatrical review and watch the trailer
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
Behind the Burly Q
A behind-the-scenes oral history of burlesque as told by the performers themselves. Now available on DVD, watch the trailer
Just in time to get you pumped for "Cars 2" comes the original, about hotshot race car Lightning McQueen, who gets sidetracked on his way to a big race. Now available on Blu-ray and DVD, watch the trailer
Willem Dafoe, Guillaume Canet and Diane Kruger star in this Cold War thriller about what happens when the French warn the U.S. about a Soviet spy in their midst. Now available on Blu-ray, watch the trailer
Jim Sturgess stars as an East London photographer who stumbles upon a warren of monsters terrorizing the innocent and the weak. Now available on DVD, watch the trailer
Le Cercle Rouge (The Criterion Collection)
A noir classic about a thief, a besotted ex-cop and a jailbreak specialist who join forces to plot a heist. Now available on Blu-ray, watch the trailer
A fascinating and inspiring documentary about Mark Hogancamp, who after suffering a.savage beating outside a bar, began building Marwencol, a make-believe Belgian town, circa WW II. Now available on Blu-ray and DVD, read our home video review watch the trailer
The Incredibles
After years of being cowed into retirement by a repressive government, a superhero gets lured back into the crime-fighting business, and soon finds he needs to help of his equally exceptional wife and kids. Now available in four-disc Blu-ray/DVD+Digital combo pack, watch the trailer
White Material (The Criterion Collection)
Isabelle Huppert stars in the latest from French filmmaker Claire Denis, about a wealthy white woman desperate to hold onto her ailing coffee plantation amid the violence of a civil war. Now available on Blu-ray, watch the trailer


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My daughter, Najla, handed me a pink invitation card last week while saying, "My teacher is getting married." I opened the invitation, reading and notifying all important info. One day before the D-day, I told my hubby about the invitation. He agreed to accompany us to the wedding party.
Last Sunday we were on the location. Lucky us, we could easily get a parking space. At the moment we wanted to enter the wedding reception hall, I noticed different names of the bride and the groom stated on the welcoming board. They're not Najla's teachers name. My hubby asked the security guard whether there's other reception hall in the area. While the conversation took place, I just felt that something wrong here.
Since we left the invitation card in the car, my hubby asked all of us to return to our car and re-check it. The day checked, the hour checked, the location checked but the date is….December 14 while that day was December 7. How could I miss such an important info? Yes..I know, it's an old age nothing but old age #CountingTheGreyHair. My hubby said nothing since for the past one week he already left two bags in the flight cabin and realised his belonging at home hours later #TenggakGibolanBareng.


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The on-going space voxel project by the six sibling studio, ZanMgt! A labor of love, Blockade Runner is an ever-evolving development that's currently undergoing a major engine overhaul to provide a solid foundation for the game's bi-weekly builds. We've found the bi-weekly builds to be an enjoyable and healthy development cycle and are anxiously preparing the game for their return!
Only registered members can share their thoughts. So come on! Join the community today (totally free - or sign in with your social account on the right) and join in the conversation.
Rae Sitti Class Battlecruiser; IUN 618 Sea Star, made by SnowDragon, using Blockade Runner's Editor!