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Michael Ledeen announces the Darwin awards for 2007.
There's really no need for my comments here, except to marvel at the fantasy, creativity and colossal stupidity that led these people (all men?) to remove themselves from the gene pool. Here you go:
And once again, it's time for the Darwin Award Nominees. The Darwins are awarded every year to the persons who died in the most stupid manner, thereby removing themselves from the gene pool.
This years nominees are:
Nominee No. 1: [San Jose Mercury News]
An unidentified man, using a shotgun like a club to break a former girlfriends windshield, accidentally shot himself to death when the gun discharged, blowing a hole in his gut.
Nominee No. 2: [Kalamazoo Gazette]
James Burns, 34, (a mechanic) of Alamo, MI. was killed in March as he was trying to repair what police describe as a "farm-type truckâ€. Burns got a friend to drive the truck on a highway while Burns hung underneath so that he could ascertain the source of a troubling noise. Burns clothes caught on something however, and the other man found Burns "wrapped in the drive shaftâ€.
Nominee No. 3: [Hickory Daily Record]
Ken Charles Barger, 47, accidentally shot himself to death in December in Newton, NC. Awakening to the sound of a ringing telephone beside his bed, he reached for the phone but grabbed instead a Smith & Wesson 38 Special, which discharged when he drew it to his ear.
Nominee No. 4: [UPI, Toronto]
Police said a lawyer demonstrating the safety of windows in a downtown Toronto skyscraper crashed through a pane with his shoulder and plunged 24 floors to his death. A police spokesman said Garry Hoy, 39, fell into the courtyard of the Toronto Dominion Bank Tower early Friday evening as he was explaining the strength of the buildings windows to visiting law students. Hoy previously has conducted demonstrations of window strength according to police reports. Peter Lawson, managing partner of the firm Holden Day Wilson, told the Toronto Sun newspaper that Hoy was "one of the best and brightest†members of the 200-man association.
Nominee No. 5: [The News of the Weird]
Michael Anderson Godwin made News of the Weird posthumously. He had spent several years awaiting South Carolinas electric chair on a murder conviction before having his sentence reduced to life in prison. While sitting on a metal toilet in his cell attempting to fix his small TV set, he bit into a wire and was electrocuted.
Nominee No. 6: [The Indianapolis Star]
A cigarette lighter may have triggered a fatal explosion in Dunkirk, IN. A Jay County man, using a cigarette lighter to check the barrel of a muzzle loader, was killed Monday night when the weapon discharged in his face, sheriffs investigators said. Gregory David Pryor, 19, died in his parents rural Dunkirk home at about 11:30 PM. Investigators said Pryor was cleaning a 54-caliber muzzle-loader that had not been firing properly. He was using the lighter to look into the barrel when the gun-powder ignited.
Nominee No. 7: [Reuters, Mississauga, Ontario]
A man cleaning a bird feeder on the balcony of his condominium apartment in this Toronto suburb slipped and fell 23 stories to his death. Stefan Macko, 55, was standing on a wheelchair when the accident occurred, said Inspector Darcy Honer of the Peel Regional Police. "It appears that the chair moved, and he went over the balcony,†Honer said.
Finally, THE WINNER!!!: [Arkansas Democrat Gazette]
Two local men were injured when their pickup truck left the road and struck a tree near Cotton Patch on State Highway 38 early Monday. Woodruff County deputy Dovey Snyder reported the accident shortly after midnight Monday. Thurston Poole, 33, of Des Arc, and Billy Ray Wallis, 38, of Little Rock, were returning to Des Arc after a frog catching trip. On an overcast Sunday night, Pooles pickup truck headlights malfunctioned. The two men concluded that the headlight fuse on the older-model truck had burned out. As a replacement fuse was not available, Wallis noticed that the .22 caliber bullets from his pistol fit perfectly into the fuse box next to the steering-wheel column. Upon inserting the bullet the headlights again began to operate properly, and the two men proceeded on eastbound toward the White River Bridge. After Traveling Approximately 20 miles, and just before crossing the river, the bullet apparently overheated, discharged, and struck Poole in the testicles. The vehicle swerved sharply right, exiting the pavement, and striking a tree Poole suffered only minor cuts and abrasions from the accident but will require extensive surgery to repair the damage to his testicles, which will never operate as intended. Wallis sustained a broken clavicle and was treated and released. "Thank God we weren't on that bridge when Thurston shot his balls off, or we might both be dead,†stated Wallis "I've been a trooper for 10 years in this part of the world, but this is a first for me. I can't believe that those two would admit how this accident happened,†said Snyder. Upon being notified of the wreck, Lavinia (Poole's wife) asked how many frogs the boys had caught and did anyone get them from the truck???
(Though Poole and Wallis did not die as a result of their misadventure as normally required by Darwin Award Official Rules, it can be argued that Poole did, in fact, effectively remove himself from the gene pool.)
Hat tip to Dominique Poirier.


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subset: commoncrawl


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Today's Hot Stories at a Glance:
*Don't miss your FFL roster deadline!
*Is Jim Tressel just sloppy or really a fraud?
*Blankings remind us how bad MLB pitching has gotten
*Is Lena Girardi the new Suri Cruise?
*Joe Torre: Soft-porn producer?
*More NFL PED-testing? Not if you love the game.
*Brett Favre takes career advice from Phil Simms
*Not-on-Sports: Katie Couric's Evening News debut
*NYC readers: Don't forget tonight's reading!
It exposes a couple of things:
Ken Griffey injured? Say it ain't so!...
I don't know how Joe Girardi could manage the game last night a mere two hours after his wife gave birth. Congrats on Lena Yvonne (7 lbs, 19 inches is just about the same size as Gabe was at birth.) Somehow I doubt pictures will generate as much attention as Suri Cruise's. (See item below.)
NFL: Increased drug-testing? Does the NFL really want to open the Pandora's box of stricter drug-testing? Sure, the Panthers story was an embarrassment, but -- and this is key – it barely made a ripple, despite essentially claiming that the team's championship runner-up was loaded with 'roid-mongering players. Maybe they're just trying to be pro-active to avoid the prying attention of Congress. Story link here.
More NFL: Favre on HBO. Did Brett Favre make his decision not to retire from listening to Phil Simms on a satellite-radio sports talk show? Yeah, he sure is quite the decisive leader.
More NFL: Foley twist. This Foley thing is very very strange. ProFootballTalk.com is all over this, and I'm finding that site is becoming more and more must-read as the season approaches.
Sporting News sold: Excuse me for being underwhelmed. Aside from being mismanaged into worse than oblivion – irrelevance – it simply isn't a player on any level: Print, online or other.
(Random guess: Not good enough to put the LPGA on the mainstream map... hell, men's golf is already on the periphery. But good enough to play regularly in men's events... and do well.)
What did you think of Katie Couric's debut on the CBS Evening News? I don't watch nightly network news, but I tuned in for her. I thought it was pretty smooth, actually – better than the other two network broadcasts (though admittedly I don't watch them nearly enough to really compare). But not nearly as relevant to viewers as Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert or even Keith Olbermann.
It's also possible that, as I've argued for years, the network Evening News has simply run its course with viewers my age (and, frankly, 10 years older) and everyone younger. I doubt I'll tune in tonight -- not necessarily because Katie is good or bad, but because she -- like the other two -- are increasingly irrelevant.-- D.S.


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The Who's Pete Townshend Reveals How He Curated the 'Quadrophenia' Box Set
The reissue of the Who's rock opera 'Quadrophenia' has been guided by the careful hand and direction of guitarist Pete Townshend. The new version is remastered and features Townshend's demos of each song, as well as extensive liner notes. In a pair of videos, the guitarist shares his methodology behind the reissue.
As he tells Spinner, Townshend was already dipping into the archives for his own personal memoirs, so the first stage required about a month of preparation, then a second month to pen the liner notes and yet another to sort the demos. So, it was by no means a short process. He also oversaw the surround sound mixes and had to "assess and make sense of the demos I put together."
Interestingly enough, Townshend found photos, notes and "sad letters" in the archives. He revealed that the letters reminded him of tough times, saying, "I was having trouble with the guys in the band, particularly (drummer)Keith (Moon)." He also said the letters were not all nice but he needed to "talk honestly about how I felt, whether I was right or wrong."
Townshend also said that after two years of touring, the band was sick of 'Tommy' and he eventually came up with the concept of Jimmy for 'Quadrophenia.' He said that the overarching concept for Jimmy was that "as a boy, he looked at the four members of The Who, and saw himself in them."
Townshend also succinctly summed up what happens when the Who get together in a studio setting. "We catch fire immediately," he said. He paid compliments to his bandmates, heaping high praise on vocalist Roger Daltrey, saying, "His singing is off the map. He was a giant on that record."
Watch Spinner's Pete Townshend Interview (Part I)
Watch Spinner's Pete Townshend Interview (Part II)


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A Guide to Practical Compassion
In practice, it's a lot harder. How do you understand the pain of others? If I see anything about you, it's based on very limited information, just what you've shown me — and often, based on very limited interactions. So I have to project a story that I make up about you, and the truth is, it's probably wrong. But sometimes that's all we have to work with, and then gain more information once we've started to apply it.
I think that's the only way to do it. For instance, here on Zen Habits, I constantly try to help people change habits, get out of debt, or realize that there's awesomeness within themselves. But I start with me and show how I did it, then show how you can replicate it within your own lives.
If you have a large group of people — me trying to find compassion for all of you, for example — that can be very difficult. How do I find empathy with thousands of people? It's almost impossible. So you see that applied compassion can become a complex thing. Much more easily applied on an individual basis.


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Two hours later, during a separate altercation with 11 other guards, Farias stopped breathing and then died.
Those details come from Maricopa County Sheriff's detectives' investigation of the incident. On November 14, the Sheriff's Office released nearly 5,000 pages of jail records — four months after New Times requested them, wrote a story about the sheriff's stonewalling, and filed a lawsuit to secure them.
The lawsuit was filed in October. Without a court order or ruling, sheriff's attorney Michelle Iafrate volunteered to release most of the records — about one week after Arpaio won re-election.
New Times first reported on Farias' death in September ("Dead Again," September 11). At that time, the sheriff refused to hand over a single public record regarding Farias. New Times based its story on photos of Farias' beaten body, as well as an autopsy and jail guard reports, secured through a public-records request made to the Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner.
The limited records secured in September revealed that Farias stopped breathing on December 5, 2007, when 11 guards pinned him face-down on a concrete "bed" in the Lower Buckeye Jail. When the guards pulled a "spit mask" off Farias' face, they noticed blood coming from his mouth.
The release of additional records reveals a fuller and even more disturbing scene. According to eyewitness reports from guards and inmates inside the jail, guards violently subdued Farias three different times. Jail guards say that Farias was violent, but testimony from inmates contradicts that. It's difficult to even see what Farias is doing in video footage because so many guards piled on him and the video has no sound. The altercations included two different groups of guards on different shifts.
The altercations lasted from approximately 8:30 p.m. to 11:10 p.m., when Farias urinated, stopped breathing, and began bleeding from his mouth and nose. By that time, Farias — naked, with his legs shackled — had been moved through three different isolation cells. Doctors at St. Joseph's Hospital pronounced him dead early the next morning.
The new records contain a sheriff's "criminal investigation" into Farias' death, including detective interviews of more than 50 jail guards and inmates. The detectives produced an investigation summary for the county attorney. The records stop short of naming which guards the investigators thought played a role in Farias' death. The county attorney also issued a grand jury subpoena, the records indicate.
The records do not reveal the ultimate outcome of the criminal investigation or the grand jury proceedings.
In the sheriff's interviews, inmates say that guards "high-fived" and congratulated each other after the first of three brawls with Farias.
The guards repeatedly told detectives that they didn't use excessive force, nor did they see other guards doing so. The second-shift guards also say that they weren't aware how harshly Farias had been handled when they came on shift.
The records also include video, which offers 29 different camera angles of Farias in the jail. The videos are in color and show Farias in focus. That is, until the time when guard reports say that Farias stopped breathing under their weight. At that time — and for the next 40 minutes of CPR — the sheriff's attorney claims no camera angle captured what happened.
The biggest holes in the records are the missing camera footage — of the first Taser and pepper-ball attack and the final dog pile, when Farias stopped breathing. The reports also fail to give a clear conclusion of the detectives' findings.
What follows here is an overview of new information about Farias and the guards who handled him, revealed in the 4,978 pages of documentation compiled by the sheriff's homicide detectives.
Farias, 40, was a legal U.S. resident with a legitimate Social Security number. He spoke Spanish only and was a self-professed alcoholic. Glendale Police arrested him on December 2, 2007 — on an outstanding warrant for violating probation from a DUI.
About 15 minutes before doctors declared Farias dead, the MCSO ordered an immigration specialist to triple-check his immigration status, the records show.
"On 12/06/07 . . . at 7 a.m. I was assigned the task of verifying the immigration status of Juan Mendoza. Even though Mendoza's booking record for this incident states he had been interviewed and no ICE holds were required . . . I was told that Mendoza was legally in the United States, with Legal Permanent Resident status," investigator T. Sullivan wrote.
Farias had been in Arpaio's jail for only two days when he died. But it was evident that Farias needed medical attention from the time he was booked. According to the sheriff's reports, Farias experienced a number of seizures when he first entered the jail and was taken to the jail infirmary.
At least two of the guards told detectives that Farias should not have been released back into the general population.
On Farias' first day in the jail, he was "clammy" and in pain, according to inmate Armando Salgado. "Armando described Juan to be calm, but had a very clammy and/or sticky appearance. Armando observed that Juan talked with his eyes almost closed, as if he was in a lot of pain when he spoke," detectives wrote.
Officer Dallas Uphold was one of many jail guards who saw Farias have a seizure on his first day in the jail. Uphold said Farias "began shaking violently and then fell to the ground. He said that he asked for medical personnel to respond and that they responded and removed Mendoza," detectives wrote.
That's not the only seizure Farias had. At the jail's intake, Officer Adrianne Epperson also saw Farias experience a seizure and heard what sounded like vomiting noises.
The jail's medical personnel saw Farias, but their actions are redacted from the records. What is clear is that within hours, Farias was released back into the general population. Officer Rutherford (no first name listed), a guard who observed Farias firsthand, thinks that decision was fatal, according to her interviews with detectives.
Jail medical staff also put Farias on the anti-seizure drug Dilantin.
That's notable because Farias' "fights" with guards reportedly resulted from his acting confused, "crazy," and failing to obey guards' commands. Some of the most common side effects of Dilantin are confusion, hallucinations, and unusual thoughts or behavior. The day after Farias saw medical staff, he exhibited unusual behavior — possibly from alcohol detox or, perhaps, from the Dilantin. The fact that Farias couldn't understand the guard's commands in English obviously made matters worse.
Inmates report that Farias was acting "crazy" but not violent. They said he talked about having barbecues and missing his family. They also said he tried to eat a bar of soap and constantly talked about food because he was so hungry.
Inmate Gabriel Chavez remembers that Farias "became frightened when they shut the cell door and would bang on it. [Chavez] noticed that [Farias] was shaking and talking . . . Mr. Chavez remembered waking up one night and seeing the inmate sitting on the floor of the cell, killing insects with his shoe," investigators wrote.
Guards told investigators that Farias was acting as though he were on meth, but Farias wasn't on drugs, the autopsy shows.
When Farias ignored the guards' English commands, the guards grew frustrated and increasingly violent, inmates told investigators. Farias appeared to be "fighting for his life," one inmate said.
The guards locked Farias alone in an isolation cell. When they fired pepper balls through the hatch on the door, Farias attempted to block the projectiles with a mattress.
"As soon as he saw the pepper ball coming in, that's when he pulled one of the mats, the mattress to protect himself. And that's when Officer Keever saturated the, um, the cell. And that's when Sergeant Straight had advised or told me . . . to go back," Officer Yazzie told detectives.
Yazzie added that before guards engaged Farias, he was uncooperative but not violent. "He wasn't kicking or trying to bite nobody, but you know he kept us from securing him," he said.
Detectives interviewed more than 25 guards in the Farias case. Each told detectives that appropriate force was used, in their opinion, during the altercations with Farias. But their statements are revealing.
Officer Chauntel Dwight said officers sprayed so much pepper spray into Farias' cell that they "were choking, including herself, and she almost got sick to her stomach because of the smell from the pepper spray," detectives wrote.
"It should be noted that Chauntel became very emotional toward the end of the interview, and she clarified that she was upset about Sergeant Wardlaw's decision in regards to putting Mr. Mendoza Farias back into general population [after his seizures]," they added.
Officer Richard Keever, who acknowledged that he fired between eight and 12 pepper balls at Farias, told detectives that Farias was shaking during the incident. Investigator J.G. Edward summarized his interview by writing, "Whatever they threw at him, the inmate would absorb it. As time went by, the inmate started to shake — not like a nervous shake."
After the pepper balls and after another officer shot Farias with a Taser, Officer Ronald Heino shot Farias with a Taser an additional 11 times, according to his recollection of events.
"And then I pulled out my Taser and I shot, and I must have hit him because he went down, kind of face first and towards the back of the cell," Heino said in a sheriff's interview.
Heino then described the next 10 times he shot Farias with a Taser. "I stood at the door while they went in with this gun shield . . . There was a lot of pepper spray in there . . . And the lieutenant told me to continue to Tase him. And then I let it off and then I Tased him again. And I think it probably went three or four times . . . There was a lot of people fighting with him . . . And they couldn't put him in handcuffs. So then I took my Taser and I went in and I Tased him in the, I believe it was the back right cap . . . and I Tased him there several times. Nothing happened. And then I moved up, I Tased him once in his, in his butt. And then, ah, and then I looked forward and the officers still couldn't crank his arm back to get him in handcuffs. And he wasn't moving, so I, ah, Tased him, I believe. I'm not for sure. I believe it was in the shoulder or, like, in the back of the, ah, triceps area . . . And after all this Tasing he just, ah, just didn't respond to it."
The Tasers, pepper balls, mace, and "stun shield" were all deployed during the first of Farias' three brawls with guards.
The jail video given to New Times begins after that incident. It shows Farias' second altercation with guards, when two guards used their knees to pin him face-down on the floor, while another two held his legs. Those guards cut Farias' clothes off and left him naked in an isolation cell.
The guards strapped a mask over Farias' face, cuffed his hands behind his back, and shackled his legs. Farias then rolled around the isolation cell for about an hour and a half — unable to stand, at first, and then bumping up against the walls once he did stand.
Next, the video shows 11 guards move Farias to the third cell — where he stopped breathing, according to officer accounts. When the guards carried Farias into that cell, they walked off-screen, and the next time Farias appeared onscreen, he was being wheeled out on a stretcher.
In contradiction to a number of other guards, one guard told detectives that Farias was already bleeding from his mouth when he was thrown into the second of the three cells. Officers wiped up the blood with a towel.
Officers also removed a bloodstained mattress from Farias' first cell, they admit in reports. Inmates additionally reported that trusties were sent to clean the first cell up just 10 minutes after the altercation — before jail investigators could document the scene.
Because the general-population cells were on lockdown during the first altercation with Farias, only two inmates had a view of the incident. The final two altercations happened in isolation units, so no inmates saw what happened to Farias.
In separate interviews, the two inmates who saw Farias' first altercation echoed what jail guards described. But the inmates added a number of details that guards left out, including descriptions of guards "elbow-striking" Farias and "high-fiving" one another.
Inmate Shawn Kirkpatrick "said the officer shot the man in the cell 'at least 20 times' with the pepper-ball gun. He said that a Taser was then used against the inmate, and then a canister of mace was used," detectives wrote.
"Kirkpatrick said an electric riot shield was brought in . . . He said they started hitting the man while he was handcuffed. Kirkpatrick said the officers were then 'high-fiving' each other like it was the thing to do. He said a hood was placed on the man's head and he was carried from the pod."
Another inmate, in a separate interview, offers the same story. Louis Deangelo told detectives, "The man was brought out and put face-down on the ground in front of the cell door. Deangelo said that several officers hit the Mexican guy with elbow-strikes. He said when the officers got up several of them were giving each other 'high fives' and laughing . . . Deangelo said while the incident was going on, several of the inmates were yelling at the officers to quit because the Mexican guy was handcuffed."
Inmate John Michael Reed couldn't see into Farias' cell, but he could hear officers "laughing" as they sprayed pepper balls at Farias. Reed could also see the ground in front of Farias' cell, once guards pulled him outside.
"John stated there were three officers on each side of the inmate and were holding him by his clothes face-down as they took him out of the pod. John stated as the officers were taking him out of the pod that the inmate was not fighting or resisting with the officers," detectives wrote.
Inmate Jesus Rodriguez said that Farias was shouting that he couldn't breathe under the officers' weight. "Upon being taken to the ground, Jesus advised that at least 8-9 officers were pinning the subject down to the ground. At that time, the subject was yelling in Spanish to get off of him and also that he could not breathe," detectives wrote.
"Jesus also stated that officers were banging the subject's head into the ground while he was pinned down . . . Shortly thereafter, he observed the subject being dragged out of the cell and down the stairs."
The autopsy photos of Farias' face make it clear that his nose and lips were slammed into a hard surface at some point during his jail stay.
The records produced by the sheriff include a number of redactions. Some pages are entirely blacked out.
The records also contradict the sheriff's reasons for initially withholding the records.
In August, Lieutenant Dot Culhane, the sheriff's legal liaison, told New Times the records couldn't be released because an "ongoing investigation" was under way. However, the records show that the most recent investigative movement was in March 2008, months before New Times' July request.
The records do not clarify whether the case was closed.
In September, after New Times filed a lawsuit to obtain the records, the sheriff's legal liaison claimed that releasing the videos of Farias might alter the memories of guards involved and, thus, compromise the investigation.
However, a review of the records shows that some of those guards watched the videos of Farias less than 24 hours after he died.
By December 6, 2007, at 6:10 p.m., one of the sergeants and her lieutenant had already viewed the jail's video footage of the altercation with Farias.
"I saw a shot where the safe-cell door opens [and] it looked like the inmate just walked out on his own," Sergeant Debra Renteria told a detective. "God, this is going to sound awful . . . They put a blanket over him. Over his head, body."
In addition to those contradictions, sheriff's attorney Michelle Iafrate blacked-out entire portions of the record. Some records — including Farias' medical records and a grand jury subpoena — are confidential, by law. Other redacted records, however, are not clearly confidential, including:
• The jail log of what cells Farias stayed in,
• Employee logs, which could show a full list of the guards who interacted with Farias,
• A written summary of the jail's video-surveillance footage of Farias.
Finally, the video footage itself may be redacted, as camera angles during the crucial moments of Farias' altercations with jail guards supposedly don't exist.
According to a December 27, 2007 note by sheriff's investigator C.F. Garcia, 28 camera angles exist "[showing] the incident where inmate Mendoza Farias is escorted from Level One, T13 to Level Three, T-31 on Wednesday, December 5, 2007, after getting into altercation with detention staff."
Detective Garcia was given another "23 camera angles" in January.
Iafrate gave New Times 29 of the total 51 camera angles.


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TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – The Biden administration is temporarily delaying stepped-up legal protections for two imperiled species following efforts by congressional Republicans to derail the actions.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Wednesday it was postponing reclassification of the northern long-eared bat from "threatened" to the more severe "endangered" category until March 31. The change had been scheduled to take effect Jan. 30.
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On Tuesday, the service announced that new designations for the lesser prairie chicken scheduled to take effect then had been bumped to March 27. The agency is granting endangered status to the grassland bird's southern population segment while listing the northern segment as threatened.
The administration said the delays were intended to give regulators and those affected by the changes — such as landowners, loggers, ranchers and wind turbine operators — time to adjust.
"This is basically a chance for us to get our guidance and tools ready for when the listing goes into effect," agency spokesperson Georgia Parham said, referring to the decision on the northern long-eared bat.
In a separate statement on the lesser prairie chicken, the service said the 60-day grace period would provide a window for establishing grazing management plans and voluntary habitat protection measures.
"We are committed to working proactively with stakeholders to conserve and recover lesser prairie chickens while reducing impacts to landowners, where possible and practicable," the service said.
The listings, both announced in November, drew pushback from GOP lawmakers who complained that stronger protections would disrupt infrastructure projects and other economic activity.
"While a delay gives industry stakeholders valuable time to prepare for more bureaucratic red tape, our preference continues to be that this listing of the lesser prairie chicken be dropped," said Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas. He was among senators who wrote to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland this month requesting an extension.
Two dozen House members, led by Arkansas Republican Bruce Westerman, wrote a letter to congressional leaders in December pushing unsuccessfully to block federal funding for reclassifying the bat.
The Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group, accused the Fish and Wildlife Service of setting a dangerous precedent by holding off on the new designations.
"It's a red flag that they could continue denying the protections," said Tierra Curry, a senior scientist with the center.
"This is happening behind closed doors, there's not enough time for us to challenge it legally and they're just caving to Republican pressure that's driven by industry."
The northern long-eared bat has been driven to the brink of extinction — primarily by white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease. Declines are estimated at 97% or higher among affected populations. The bats are found in 37 eastern and north-central states, plus Washington, D.C., and much of Canada.
The disease causes the bats to wake early from hibernation and to sometimes fly outside. They can burn up winter fat stores and eventually starve.
In many cases, the service identifies "critical habitat" areas considered particularly important for survival of an endangered species. Officials decided against doing so for the northern long-eared bat because habitat loss isn't the primary reason for its slump.
Still, the agency plans recovery efforts focused on wooded areas where the bats roost in summer, nestling beneath bark or in tree cavities and crevices.
Under the Endangered Species Act, federal agencies are required to consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service to be sure projects that they fund or authorize — such as timber harvests, prescribed fires and highway construction — will not jeopardize a listed species' existence.
Westerman and the other Republicans complained that efforts to protect the bat could impose "significant restrictions" on logging, which they said actually can help the bats by increasing roosting and foraging areas. Oil and gas development, mining and other industries also could be hampered, they said.
Parham said the service is crafting instructions to help regulators, landowners and business interests determine more easily how protecting bats' summer habitat might affect individual projects.
The service said it also is developing "conservation tools and guidance documents" involving the lesser prairie chicken for landowners and business interests as well as other government agencies.
The lesser prairie chicken's range covers a portion of the oil-rich Permian Basin along the New Mexico-Texas state line and extends into parts of Colorado, Oklahoma and Kansas. The habitat of the bird, a type of grouse, has diminished across about 90% of its historical range, officials say.
The crow-size, terrestrial birds are known for spring courtship rituals that include flamboyant dances by the males as they make a cacophony of clucking, cackling and booming sounds.
Environmentalists consider the species severely at risk due to oil and gas development, livestock grazing, farming and construction of roads and power lines.
Follow John Flesher on Twitter: @JohnFlesher
Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP's climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.


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Length: 130,000 words approx.
Cover Design: Natasha Snow
Kings of Hell MC Series
Book #4 - Gray's Shadow (Coming 2018)
Jake. Kings of Hell MC Prospect. Obedient. Desperate for approval.
Vars. Dominant. Stern. Undead.
Jake is itching to become a patched member of the Kings of Hell MC.
For two years he's toiled as the only prospect. So when a new guy swans in and thinks he'll get a patch in no time just because he's got friends in high places, Jake is there to stand in his way.
Only that the guy is older, more experienced, drives a Harley, and has the kind of boots Jake craves to lick.
But he won't.
Because he only fucks patches.
Vars is ready to find a new home in the Kings of Hell MC after a messy relationship led him straight to hell. In comparison, the pretty, blue-eyed prospect could be just the pleasant rebound he needs.
The boy is a brat, but that could be amended with a firm hand and a gag.
If only Jake was ready to admit to his submissive needs, Vars would gladly take him under his wing.
That is, until he finds out something inhuman resides inside of Jake.
Vars didn't cheat death only to call out to it again.
But stuck together in one room, keeping each other's secrets, they might just have to become allies, no matter how unwilling. Because if there is something Vars can't resist, it's a boy with pleading eyes.
"You are mine now, boy. This room is soundproof. No one will hear you scream."
"Yes, sir. My body is yours."
WARNING: This story contains scenes of violence, offensive language, and morally ambiguous characters.
Jake wouldn't be subjected to this indignity. He hit right back at Vars, even if the man was solid as a rock. "I'm no slave! I do what I'm asked, and yes, if that means sucking dick, so be it. It's called dedication. I bet you've never heard of it!"
Something flashed in Vars's eyes, and he descended on Jake, twisting back his arms and pushing him forward as if Jake barely weighed anything. With a yelp, Jake clenched his eyes shut, unable to breathe as he braced himself for impact with the floor, but his body met hard steel instead.
Dampness started soaking into his clothes, and his chin slid over Knight's newly-cleaned car. It smelled of detergent, sharp and unpleasant, but the large body pressing him down overpowered all his senses.
He struggled against the firm hold but knew he could put more strength into it. His mind drifted off to the leather flogger and cuffs that have occupied it from the moment Jake had made the mistake of touching Vars's toy bag.
The cool touch of the car's hood was a relief to his burning cheek. It was increasingly difficult to remind himself every day that Vars was a prospect like him when the man carried himself with so much authority.
"You sure of that?" Vars whispered, leaning over Jake until his lips were inches away from Jake's ear. The movement pressed his hips tighter to Jake's ass, and even though there was no trace of arousal in those leather pants, sensing the heat of Vars's groin had Jake's flesh feel like molten fire. Were Vars's pubes salt-and-pepper as well, or had that been his imagination?
"Of what?" Jake's voice came out trembling so heavily he didn't recognize it at first. What was he doing? He couldn't possibly give into this weird thing Vars was pulling him into. Vars had no right to him. No patch. And yet everything about the energy Vars exuded spoke to Jake on a level he didn't understand.
So he stayed put and stopped the pretense of struggle.
Vars breathed fire down the back of Jake's neck, and while his body still pressed down hard, and his powerful hands still kept Jake's arms in a twist, something about the hold changed. Vars hesitated with his answer, his hips swaying gently against Jake's buttocks as he inhaled and exhaled so close to Jake's ear it was almost like shouting.
"That you want to serve. That polishing all those shoes on your knees gets your dick hard."
Yes? No? Maybe? No. Yes.
So he might actually enjoy doing things for the members. Big deal. It was a lucky thing, since he'd been stuck as a prospect for years.
Jake couldn't understand why he was so nervous. Why his body reacted so violently to this inquisition. Vars's bulk pressing against him wasn't helping with focus, but it was the hold on his arms that was making Jake's senses spiral out of control. He'd gotten a glimmer of that when wrestling with Gray before, but there was something different about Vars holding him down. He just didn't know what.
"I just want to please," Jake whispered so quietly he wasn't sure he'd be heard.
K.A. Merikan are a team of writers who try not to suck at adulting, with some success. Always eager to explore the murky waters of the weird and wonderful, K.A. Merikan don't follow fixed formulas and want each of their books to be a surprise for those who choose to hop on for the ride.
K.A. Merikan have a few sweeter M/M romances as well, but they specialize in the dark, dirty, and dangerous side of M/M, full of bikers, bad boys, mafiosi, and scorching hot romance.
Hosted By Signal Boost Promotions |


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Early this week David Damroth was strolling Zack's Cliffs in Aquinnah and gazed across the gulf to Noman's Land when he saw an eruption from the water a mile and a half out. It was a double spout, a trademark of the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. For the next 45 minutes he watched as at least three animals romped about the surface.
"They stayed in one place and you'd see their noses come out of the water," Mr. Damroth said. "I have one photograph where the whale was almost lying on its back with its fins straight up in the air."
With just over 400 right whales left in the Atlantic it was a remarkably rare scene.
"That's just right whales being right whales," said Michael Moore, a whale biologist with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, hearing the description of the playful behavior.
Right whale activity, already of concern to federal regulators, is seeing redoubled interest in anticipation of wind turbine development in the waters south and west of the Vineyard. Apart from Mr. Damroth's chance encounter with the whales, two ongoing aerial surveys have caught glimpses of the endangered animals in recent weeks. Since the fall, one survey — a joint project between the University of Rhode Island and the New England Aquarium and funded by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center — has been patrolling an area south of the Vineyard recently designated by the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for wind turbine development. In January the survey spotted two right whales several miles south of Long Point in West Tisbury on the south shore.
Tony LaCasse of the New England Aquarium said that area, though lacking data, is not considered a hot spot for right whales.
"We'll see a group of a dozen whales or so on a very anomalous basis, maybe once every five years in the farthest western portion of the area," he said.
A separate bird survey being conducted by the University of Rhode Island in the area between Aquinnah and Block Island, also eyed for wind turbine development, has made right whale sightings off Block Island. And on Sunday a group of three right whales were spotted in the approach to Naragansett Bay, just a day before Mr. Damroth's sighting. Whether they were the same group of whales is unclear, but the sighting prompted a voluntary vessel speed restriction zone for mariners in the area.
The right whale, sometimes referred to as the urban whale for its near-shore comfort, and hunted nearly to extinction because of its docility, is especially vulnerable to human interaction.
"They're a coastal whale," said Mr. Moore. "If you look at the most recent mortalities in right whales in the last few years it's been more of an entanglement problem than a vessel strike problem. They quite often feed at the surface and they also feed with their mouths open for a protracted length of time, so it's a great way to catch any debris in the water. Wherever you've got fixed fishing gear, whether it's trap fishery, like lobster traps, or gill net gear, those kinds of gear tend to be a problem. They can snag right whales very easily."
He said the sighting between Noman's and Squibnocket, if confirmed, is not totally unexpected for this time of year. Females that journey to the waters off Jacksonville, Fla., and Savannah, Ga., to calve are currently migrating back to Cape Cod Bay, the great south channel east of Nantucket and the Bay of Fundy to feed on the great blooms of planktonic crustaceans called copepods that blossom over the spring and summer. Mr. Moore admitted that whale activity has been slightly odd of late.
"They've been in Cape Cod Bay since before Christmas and they've been there in greater preponderance than they usually are, so it's been an unusual year," he said.
As for Mr. Damroth's whales, Mr. Moore said the animals are given to bouts of playfulness between feeding, though the behavior could be less carefree.
"If the female doesn't want to get impregnated she may roll on her back," he said. "That doesn't mean that the males can't still do what they want to do, but they usually do a fair amount of foreplay."
Mr. Moore will be making his own migration to the Vineyard this Saturday at the invitation of the Martha's Vineyard Film Society. For Vineyarders whose appetite for all-things-whale rivals whales' appetite for copepods, Mr. Moore will field cetacean-related questions after a 7:30 p.m. screening of the documentary The Whale at the Katharine Cornell Theatre.


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Sweet Possession
A.M. Salinger
(Nights Series, #5)
Publication date: May 15th 2018
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
I don't want to ruin his future. I don't want him to miss out on having a family. I should let him go — Luke
I love him. And I know he loves me. So why is he pulling away from me? — Ash
Settled in his new life in Singapore with the man he has loved his entire life finally at his side, Ash Colby has never been happier. Not only does Luke fulfill him body and soul, their future together could not be any brighter.
Luke still cannot believe that Ash is finally his. But although he loves Ash more than life itself and has finally found a partner who can satisfy his carnal needs, Luke doesn't want to get in the way of the young Colby heir's future. When he decides to give their relationship some breathing space, Luke cannot foresee the despicable act he will commit the night Ash finally challenges him about his cool behavior.
With their love and their future at stake, can Ash force Luke to face his fears and admit they truly do belong together? Or will Luke's stubbornness and remorse tear their burgeoning relationship apart?
Find out if Ash and Luke find their happy ever after in this fifth novella in the hot, contemporary romance series Nights by A.M. Salinger. Note from the author: Although each book in Nights can be read as a standalone, you will enjoy this series even more if you read the books in order!
This is a novella length MM romance with a HEA.
Author Bio:
Ava Marie Salinger is the pen name of an Amazon bestselling author who has always wanted to write scorching hot contemporary and erotic romance. In 2018, she finally decided to venture to the steamy side. NIGHTS is the first of several sizzling series featuring sweet, sexy men and women with dark pasts and a whole lot of love to give to the ones brave enough to fight for their hearts. When she's not dreaming up hotties to write about, you'll find Ava creating kickass music playlists to write to, spying on the wildlife in her garden, drooling over gadgets, and eating Chinese.
Want to be the first to know about Ava's new releases and get access to exclusive content, sneak previews, sales, and giveaways ? Then sign up to her Reader Group here and join her VIP Facebook Fan Group here.


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"Nostalgic memory is employed to connect the present to a particular version of the past. By establishing a link between a 'self-in-present' and image of 'self-in-past,' nostalgic memory also plays a significant role in reconstruction and continuity of individual and collective memory."
Svetlana Boym
The spaces in my work are in a transient state. They are not specific to their own location; they are not geographically defined. Something is always about to happen; something is always about to change. They are always incomplete and uncanny and at the same time, they vigorously defend their existence asserting their position in my memory. I am seduced into believing that they are there. I feel ashamed and constantly surveyed, afraid of being accused of not crediting them their historical validity.
In the early part of the 20th century politicians, activists and artists in Communist Russia were involved in an act of building a Soviet myth, creating a new space-time continuum, while violently eradicating the past by erasing facts from the history texts, documents, photographs, and from the consciousness of people. In the process, a new history was fabricated, thus creating a new order, a new collective memory, and turning an entire country and its many cultures into exiles in their own land.
In the years since, Vladimir Nabokov explorations of nostalgia and reflections on exile, and Ilya Kabakov reconstructing of the past, to name a few examples, are all part of a ritualistic return or an obsessive homecoming and anxious preservation of memory. Nostalgia in the work of these artists is palpable and real and has great impact onto constructs of cultural memories. They do, however, remind us that the images produced and circulated within that culture need to be carefully examined. Perhaps, while remnants of history are scattered all over with no sign of provenance, they have no ability to tell a story of their own but can only remain in a form of melancholic nostalgia.


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WAI R&D Symposia » Metrics Home
Web Accessibility Metrics Symposium Home
Page Contents
The Website Accessibility Metrics symposium brought together researchers and practitioners to scope the extent and magnitude of existing website accessibility metrics, and to develop a roadmap for future research and development in the field. Details are in the Background and Objectives.
Measuring the level of web accessibility is essential for assessing accessibility implementation and improvement over time but finding appropriate measurements is non-trivial. For instance, conformance to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is based on 4 ordinal levels of conformance (none, A, AA, and AAA) but these levels are too far apart to allow granular comparison and progress monitoring; if a websites satisfied many success criteria in addition to all Level A success criteria, the website would only conform to level A of WCAG 2.0 but the additional effort would not be visible.
Using numerical metrics potentially allows a more continuous scale for measuring accessibility and, to the extent that the metrics are reliable, could be used for comparisons. However, it is unclear how metrics can be developed that fulfill requirements such as validity, reliability, and suitability. For example, is a web page with two images with faulty text alternatives out of ten more accessible than another page with only one image with a faulty text alternative out of five? While such a count may be a fairly simple and reliable metric it is generally not a valid reflection of accessibility without additional information about the context in which the faults occur, but identifying this context may introduce complexity, reduce reliability, and raise other challenges.
More in-depth background and discussion on web accessibility metrics can be found in the RDWG wiki.
The primary objective of this symposium is to gather, analyze, and discuss practical experience with measuring website accessibility. These may include approaches for measuring 'accessibility in terms of conformance' (metrics that reflect violations of conformance of web content with accessibility guidelines such as WCAG or derivatives such as Section 508) and 'accessibility in use' (metrics that reflect the impact that accessibility issues have on real users, regardless of guidelines). The papers resulting from this symposium will constitute the basis from which to further explore a research and development roadmap for website accessibility metrics.
We particularly welcome discussion of the relationship of these two approaches and how to potentially combine them, as well as a discussion of any of the following types of questions:
- What sort of techniques can we explore to combine metrics that are computed automatically, semi-automatically (with input from humans), and manually (where the judgment is made by humans, even if with input from software)?
- How can we build an infrastructure (such as IBM Social Accessibility) that allows experts to store accessibility information (metadata) for use with metrics that are computed during subsequent audits?
- What metrics, or combination of metrics, can be used as predictors of accessibility?
- How shall we characterize the quality of such predictors in terms of properties such as reliability, validity, sensitivity, adequacy and adaptability?
- Which approaches can be embraced for validating, benchmarking, and comparing web accessibility metrics?
- How should we tackle metrics in web applications with dynamic content?
Further open research questions and ideas have been identified and we welcome contributions related to any of these too.
The Website Accessibility Metrics symposium was organized by the W3C/WAI Research and Development Working Group (RDWG). Contact Shadi Abou-Zahra (W3C Staff Contact) with questions.
Symposium Chairs
- Giorgio Brajnik
- Markel Vigo
- Joshue O Connor
Scientific Committee
- Shadi Abou-Zahra
- Mario Bartusic
- Giorgio Brajnik
- Simon Harper
- Joshue O Connor
- Markel Vigo
- Yeliz Yesilada


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CIMIC Group company UGL has been selected as preferred Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor by Genex Power (Genex) to deliver the 270MW solar farm project, as part of the Kidston Stage Two works in North Queensland.
Revenue to UGL will be finalised on contract execution, which is expected in the coming months.
Securing preferred EPC contractor status reflects UGL's depth of experience and expertise in the renewable energy sector
UGL and Genex have entered into an exclusive Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) agreement where Genex and UGL will work together to accelerate project development, complete final design optimisation and reduce cost through value engineering and risk workshops.
CIMIC Group Chief Executive Officer Michael Wright said: "Securing preferred EPC contractor status reflects UGL's depth of experience and expertise in the renewable energy sector and our commitment to our partnership with Genex."
UGL Managing Director Jason Spears said: "UGL has a proven track record in the design and delivery of solar farms. Partnering with Genex to deliver the first Kidston solar project demonstrates UGL's in-house engineering capability, innovative construction techniques, and ability to provide a fully wrapped EPC solution – all of which we will apply to the Kidston stage two solar project.
"Our end to end capabilities, strong supply chain and technical expertise in linking renewable generation assets to the electricity grid sets us apart and makes UGL a valuable partner to our clients."
UGL has delivered five solar projects and currently has five solar projects under construction: Emu Downs in Western Australia, Kidston Stage One and Collinsville in Queensland, White Rock in New South Wales and Bannerton in Victoria.


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Online Casinos, A Marketplace For Ladies Who?
An online video slot payout schedule lists of all possible returns and there probability. A slot machine game that pays at the same rate for each coin bet is a straight washing machine. What this means is that if the maximum payout for a single coin bet is eight hundred coins, a two coin bet will pay 1,600 coins effectively three coin bet will pay 2,400 coins. In the sample payout schedule, if the coin size were 26 cents, a three coin bet would pay $600 and also $1 coin size would pay $2,400 for a three coin bet. This example is from a well-balanced payout schedule. More often you will see payout schedules that pay higher amounts when the maximum coins are dabbled in.
Roulette – this is actually a game of luck. The ancient Roulette wheel was invented by a mathematician in France. In this game the player assumes a number for him. Now the marble is rolled over and the playing social has to ascertain if both the identical.
A simple game that will not require little leaguer to spend a lot of cash is Online Slots. It requires you to put a quarter before being allowed in order to on the lever. Slots online changed the lever with a click of the mouse. Money has to be deposited first before person can games.
Online games are possible the most well-known type of gaming available on the internet. It is true that Online Slots are known as a game of chance may don't need to have exceptional skills for similar. If you maintain a strategic approach then you're able enhance the likelihood of winning recreation.
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Search for that Loose Slots. Payout frequency, or hit frequency, will be the probability receiving a payout of any size on a spin. Machines are usually set with hit frequencies of from 5% to more than 90%. Slots with high hit frequencies are called the "loose slots" These loose slots don't necessarily offer high payouts but they offer more entertainment and slower losses than machines with lower hit frequencies, referred to as "tight slots".
Here's Could Win in the Slots – quit pay day loans ahead. In case you are interested in profiting from the time in the slot machines, you can't count on staying in advance of the casino over extended run, faster you do manage hit a winner and you jump to increase the casino in of course run, benefit from of the idea. Walk away and enjoy your payout!


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Every organization has media events, and everyone thinks theirs is special, different, or worthy of news coverage. The truth is, journalists have seen many of these happenings before, covered them ad nauseam, and sometimes even ignore them altogether.
One way to entice cameras, of course, is creating a really great visual, something that they just can't live without. But sometimes there's nothing you can add visually, and some photo ops just don't get reporters excited because they've been there, done that. That's when it's helpful to turn to the human story inside of your media event to generate great health system PR.
That party for underprivileged children? Not a big deal to jaded editors, but imagine if one of those kids is reunited with a military parent on leave during the party? We've seen these stories time and again, but there's always interest because of the emotions involved.
Take a deep look at not only WHAT is happening at your media event, but WHO it is happening too. In any group, there's usually one or two participants for whom the event is most meaningful. If you can find those people, and learn their backstories, you can more easily sell your event, because now it's not merely a "photo op" but a human interest story.
A love story…broken
Take our health system client's recent "virtual dementia tour," for example. This is a recurring opportunity for caregivers and family members to literally walk in the shoes of dementia patients, such as Alzheimer's sufferers, seeing what they see and experiencing what they feel through special goggles, gloves, headphones and shoe inserts. The virtual dementia tour is provided by a handful of companies around the country, which contract with hospitals, hospice companies, nursing homes and other organizations to deliver the experience to those with an interest.
In our research, we found that TV stations and some newspapers have covered virtual dementia tours when they've occurred in other markets, and one or two even covered a prior event in this health system's service area of Philadelphia. On the one hand, that meant there's proven interest in the topic among the media. On the other, it's not particularly new. So how could we excite the media for this latest tour?
Upon learning that one woman signed up for the dementia tour because her husband, a patient at our client's assisted living facility, had Alzheimer's and wanted to see what he was going through, we were sold, and we thought we'd be able to entice the media with it too. We were told she'd be happy to talk with a reporter, and even accompany one through the dementia experience for the cameras (within the constricts of what the tour provider allows, for proprietary reasons).
This couple had been married for 65 years, and the husband has been suffering from dementia for the past nine. This was her chance to better understand what goes on inside his head, particularly since he is no longer able to speak. A local television health reporter was intrigued, and she determined early in the process that her story about the virtual dementia tour would be focused on this woman. The reporter even requested still photos of the couple in better times, which the wife was happy to bring along.
Coverage was not only assured, but it was now a highlight of that evening's newscast. While most photo ops might, at best, merit a 45-second voiceover, now that this was about people, rather than a high-tech, visual event, the result was a nearly three-minute feature story.
Build people into your media event planning
When planning outreach for your media event, build into your plans the people who will be attending. Attempt to learn the following:
- What motivates them to be there?
- Why is this important to them?
- What is their "backstory" as it relates to this event?
- What will happen to them after the event, or how will things be different?
Not everyone's going to have a relevant story, let alone one that might be newsworthy, so you might have to speak with several people, or staff or organizers who know some of them personally. But you'll find it's usually worth the effort.
It's academic to say that all news is about people, but if you have a human face and a great story to complement an otherwise ordinary activity, your event becomes much more than an event.


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The Chinese are well-known for their penchant for knock-offs, be it brand-name handbags or high-tech gadgets, but this time, they've taken it to a whole other level.
A small Unesco-protected village in Austria, Hallstatt, has been recreated, brick for brick, in the subtropical district of Guangdong, China. While Hallstatt residents were at first unhappy with this clone, most have come around to the idea (aided in large part by the influx of Chinese tourists now making their way to this small Austrian site).
As odd-ball as this cloning idea may seem, it's highly possible that Hallstatt will only be the first of many. When you consider ever-improving 3D Printers and the increasingly-common open sharing of "physible data" (digital data that has the potential to become physical objects), it's not so difficult to imagine that – one day – cities will be downloadable and reproducible all over the globe. Perhaps in the future, Architects will work purely in the conceptual realm, designing plans that consumers will then produce.
If that's the case, can there be any doubt that China will lead the way?
Check out a video, after the break.
Story via Inhabitat and Reuters.


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Service-learning is a pedagogy that utilizes community service projects within the context of an academic course. Academic service-learning distinguishes itself from internships and other credit-bearing community experiences in several ways. First, the community experience is a component of an academic course, used as a "text" for student learning. Second, service-learning projects are designed in partnership with community to meet an expressed community need. Third, a structured reflection activity is utilized to help students understand how their community experiences link with the academic and civic learning objectives of the course.
Courses at Sonoma State University that seek to bear a service-learning designation should adhere to the following guidelines, as approved by the SSU Academic Senate in 2005:
- The service shall be connected to and support the academic learning objectives of the course.
- The service shall address a need identified or developed in partnership with the greater community.
- Participation in community service is a core component of the course.
- Service-learning activities and requirements are described in the course syllabus or independent study contract.
- Faculty shall provide structured activities for critical reflection linking the service and academic study.
- Service sites are evaluated and approved by the course instructor. Students shall be appropriately supervised and supported by faculty or staff, in collaboration with site personnel.
- The opportunity shall be distinct from an internship, field experience, practicum or volunteer activity, unless these experiences meet the above criteria.
In the spirit of service-learning best practice, faculty are strongly encouraged to:
- Design the service-learning component to address an off-campus community need, except when intentionally addressing sustainability, peer education, campus activism, etc...
- Evaluate students on their ability to draw connections between the community service and course content, not just on completion of service.
- Visit service sites to assess their appropriateness to learning outcomes.
For more in depth information about what faculty should consider in using service learning, please consider the following:
- Reflection, Processing, Analysis, Critical Reflective Analysis
- Service-learning in the disciplines
- Why should faculty do community engaged teaching?
- Connect with another SSU faculty member about service-learning
- Assessing service-learning
- Watch a Developing Service-Learning Courses with OPERA video from St. Mary's College of California


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Secrets of Past Elections Revealed! (2000)
After every presidential election since 1984, Newsweek has printed the best gossipy stories, revealing all the whining and backbiting of America's greatest spectacle. Linda Rodriguez has gone through Newsweek's archives to pick out some memorable moments from recent elections. Today's topic is the endless election of 2000.
The 2000 election "" the one that saw George W. Bush follow in his father's footsteps "" didn't come to an official conclusion until December 12, 2000. Of course, everyone remembers that. But here are a few things you might not have known about the election that wouldn't end.
Just kidding
On the night of the election, former vice president Al Gore called George Bush to concede the hard-fought race, after several television networks had declared Bush the winner. But after Bush's lead in Florida shrunk to a mere 500 votes, with 99.5 percent of the precincts reporting, Gore called him back "" to withdraw his concession. According to Newsweek, the conversation was somewhat tense: "Circumstances have changed dramatically since I first called you," Gore said. "The state of Florida is too close to call."
Bush: "Are you saying what I think you're saying? Let me make sure that I understand. You're calling back to retract that concession!"
Gore: "Don't get snippy about it!"
Hush up, Nader
Gore aides were so frustrated with Ralph Nader, whose presence in the race some believe cost Gore the election, that every time he appeared on television election night, a staffer would mute his voice.
New Age finds a new home
Al Gore's single most important advisor for at least part of the 2000 campaign was New Age guru and consummate feminist Naomi Wolf. Introduced to her through his daughter, Gore took Wolf's word as gospel. Wolf, for her part, told Gore that Americans felt betrayed by President Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky and were ashamed that they had voted for him. Gore, influenced by Wolf, then told staffers that he was paying a "psychic penalty" for Clinton's indiscretions. For that tenuous bit of psychobabble, as well as advice on how to become the "alpha male" in the country, the campaign paid Wolf around $15,000 a month.
Keeping the Gore campaign afloat
Gore's image suffered from his limp television presence, his somewhat dull demeanor, and his seeming inability to make voters realize that he really cared about becoming the—that it wasn't simply the next rung on his career ladder. The Gore campaign's ham-fisted attempts to personalize the candidate weren't helping matters. In the run up to the New Hampshire primary, for example, the campaign organized a photo-op canoe trip on the state's Connecticut River. Unfortunately, they had two problems: The first was that the candidate couldn't seem to relax in the canoe. The second was that the press later found out that Gore's boat was floated by millions of gallons of water pumped in the river just for that purpose, in order to avoid any awkward moments and stuck canoes.
Sweating to the oldies?
According to Newsweek, Gore sweats. A lot. Like, more than the average human. Like so much that during debates with Bush, he demanded that the temperature in the hall be kept as low as possible. Bush, entering the debate hall one night, joked, "Who's got my parka?"
Bush on Oprah
It was Laura Bush who convinced George Bush to go on Oprah, a move that she thought would help the then-candidate show the American people the personable, funny person he was. It worked, and stalled a popularity nosedive in the polls. His appearance on Oprah—kissing the cheek of the most powerful woman in America "" led to appearances on Regis, on Leno, and later on MSNBC to chat with Brian Williams.


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Having a modern and mobile-friendly and user-friendly website is important. Chroma Cars understands this and is able to provide you with a website that works with Google and Bing's Algorithms. We provide user-friendly websites that help drive traffic where you want it to go resulting in more leads. We make it easy for you by keeping your website up-to-date and optimized for the next big Google update so you are never left behind.
We have some of the most powerful automotive digital inventory management and re-marketing tools in the cloud. It is able to decode VIN to trim level, increase brand & sales event awareness, increases time on site & lead conversion, and enhance sales promotions & lead source tracking. Plus our customer friendly integration makes it easy to implement other services. All of this makes it easier to keep your inventory up-to-date and correct.
AdShark� by Chroma Cars make it easy for you and your company to create effective Inventory Based text and display. Our system will update, launch, and deactivate the ads for you. Once it is configured, AdShark� will do all of the work to keep your Ad Campaigns updated. We also make it easy and simply to post your inventory on Craigslist, just set the filters and go.
Sometimes your information is outdated or incorrect on many Local Directories. Radar lets you scan and see how well your business is represented online. Chroma Cars is able to scan numerous local directories, find out what information is wrong or missing, and optimize the information. This makes it much easier for your customers to find your location or get in touch with you.
Max Allowance� is our mobile-friendly system that helps private sellers connect with your dealer by phone or text. Our exclusive mobile-friendly platform encourages private sellers to talk to you about their vehicle's unique selling proposition. We are able to target only published private seller listings that match the vehicles you need for your used car dealer inventory. You will be able to buy better cars at a better price while converting private sellers into potential customers.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) works to keep your dealership at the top of Google and Bing search engines. We are able to track keywords and help you find keywords that will increase visibility for your website via blogging or one of our other SEO packages. We also understand the algorithms that Google and Bing use and are able to use this to your advantage. See how proper SEO can make a difference for your dealership.


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Check out our best off-season picks!
Travelling to some of our favourite destinations in the off-season months comes with many benefits, from better hotel prices to shorter queues and less crowds. Here are five of the best places to enjoy the quieter months at.
New York
New York gets hot and hectic in the summer months. From October onwards, you can enjoy a far more relaxed and authentic version of the city – while also making the most of the best cultural season! On Broadway (and off-Broadway), most shows open in September and the best offering is available through to December. The New York Theatre Guide is your best friend when planning a theatre trip to the city.
Another great draw in New York during the autumn off-season is the wonderful holiday vibes. From Halloween to Thanksgiving and Christmas, New York does holidays beautifully. The city is flooded with decorations, amazing window displays, as well as seasonal treats from pumpkin spice lattes to Christmas pretzels. If you are in town in late November you might even catch a glimpse of the famous Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade – although if you don't like crowds, you might want to avoid it.
When in Europe it's already quite chilly in October, in Dallas, you can enjoy lively mild weather all the way to early December. In the summer, the heat can get quite overwhelming. There is also a dip in tourist crowds from September to November, which means that hotel prices are at a much more comfortable level and discounts are easy to find.
Autumn is also the event season for Dallas. One of the key events to visit is the huge Texas State Fair that lets you enjoy all that is Texan, from rodeos to live music, in one place. If you want to enjoy something a bit more cultural, autumn is a great time to visit the city's popular museums, as the queues are getting shorter. Dallas Museum of Art and Nasher Sculpture Centre are fabulous places to start.
Lisbon also enjoys the combination of lovely weather, less crowds, and cheaper hotel prices in October and November. The temperatures tend to be perfect for outdoorsy activities. There are several great hiking and mountain biking trails near the city to make the most of. You could, for example, plan a route around Palácio de Sintra and Castelo dos Mouros, or head out to enjoy the breathtaking seaside scenery of Cabo da Roca.
Autumn is also the time of events and celebrations in Lisbon. There is the Lisbon Marathon, and the Lisbon International Film Festival for example. Somewhat surprisingly Halloween is also a very big thing in Lisbon and costume parties are everywhere at the end of October. The Portuguese start Christmas early too. From November you can enjoy many seasonal festivities from Christmas concerts to markets selling seasonal treats.
While autumn in Milan can be a bit rainy, in all other ways it is the perfect time to visit. The prices of hotel rooms drop significantly right after fashion week in September, and many of the very popular art and culture sights can be seen without queuing for hours. Autumn is a good time to visit Il Duomo or see the Last Supper, for example.
Fashion lovers will also love autumn in Milan. The freshly finished fashion week means that brands have just refreshed their offering in all the shops and the window displays tend to be at their most glamourous too. Because the season has just changed even the outlets around the city tend to have a lot of new stock. Make sure you have space in your suitcase when you arrive.
The capital of hygge knows how to make autumn the cosiest it can possibly be. The obvious hotspot to experience this is Tivoli, where the summer crowds make way for locals enjoying a night out. The strings of fairy lights, cups of mulled wine, and autumnal decorations will get anyone in a hygge mood. In the weeks leading up to Halloween, the park is also full of fun, spooky attractions.
October is the best time to be in town for all culture lovers, as Kulturnatten or Culture Night is being celebrated with tons of exciting events in museums, theatres and libraries. The exhibitions and permanent collections at Arken Museum of Modern Art and Louisiana are worth the visit for art lovers all year round.


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The very first newspaper op-ed article I ever published, way back in 1984, was about All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California, which has long had a reputation as a leading "progressive" parish. I wrote about attending a meeting where a group of parishioners were reporting back on a recent visit to the newest workers' paradise, Nic . . .—now just wait for it!!—yes, indeed, it was Nicaragua (or "KNEE-car-AHHH-gua," if you're really au courant). Since this article was published in the pre-Internet age, I can't link to it, so here's the lede from my hard-copy archive:
When Karl Marx wrote that religion was an opiate, he never foresaw the ironic way his words would be confirmed. In Pasadena, California, at All Saints Episcopal Church, the congregation recently witnessed a "political pilgrimage"—the phrase coined by Professor Paul Hollander to describe those earnest travelers who visit the latest revolutionary "experiment" and return with glowing reports of peace, harmony, and progress.
It got worse from there, of course. Those loveable Sandinistas—why they were all "deeply devout Christians" practicing brotherly love. Naturally everything wrong in Nicaragua, even late garbage pickup, was the fault of American intervention and CIA skullduggery. This was the heyday of "Liberation Theology," fruit of the fad at the time known as the "Christian-Marxist dialogue," though I always thought the idea of "Christian Marxism" made about as much sense as Jewish Nazism, while "Liberation Theology" was best described as "Marxism with Salsa."
Well, the old Sandinistas are long gone, or at least aren't trendy any more, but not to worry, All Saints has it covered. Guess who they're all cozy with today? The Muslim Brotherhood, naturally. FrontPageMagazine reports:
On December 15, All Saints Episcopal Church of Pasadena hosted the annual convention of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, a group with Muslim Brotherhood origins and a controversial past. The question of why All Saints would collaborate with this specific group persisted. The answer came during the event when Reverend Ed Bacon listed "acts of evil" committed by Christians and included "evangelical Zionism."
There's much more in Ryan Mauro's comprehensive report, but this is quite enough. Good to know All Saints hasn't lost its touch for being "trendier than thou," in the late great Paul Seabury's famous phrase.
UPDATE: How could I miss passing along this three-minute video, an ode to womens' ordination, passed along by Fr. Y in northern California, who assures me that this is NOT a parody:


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Editor's Note: This is the second of a two-part series, and describes how easy it would be to create a portable EMP weapon. The first story described the ability of a lone-wolf terrorist to inflict major, anonymous damage on the United States.
WASHINGTON – The ability of a lone-wolf terrorist to make an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, weapon is made easy by the ready access such an individual has to websites and other open source information on how to construct such a device.
In the hands of a determined individual, a weapon like this could have serious consequences on the nation's critical infrastructures that rely on electricity and their electronic components in order to function, experts say.
Estimates are that tens of millions of fatalities could occur in the aftermath of a major EMP calamity as food, fuel and power supplies evaporate and the nation is transported instantly back to the 18th century lifestyle without a power grid or anything else electronic.
As the first installment described, while many have focused on the possibility of an EMP disaster developing because of a nuclear explosion or an intense solar storm, there is another great danger: The lone-wolf terrorist.
The attack could come from someone someone who strikes out on his or her own without any group affiliation. Such individuals either may see themselves as supporting the views of various terrorist groups or may have a personal grudge.
Such an individual with a penchant for electronics can pull together components from a Radio Shack or electronic store – even order the components off of selected internet websites – and fashion a radio frequency, or RF, weapon.
As microprocessors become smaller but more sophisticated, they are even more susceptible to an RF pulse. The high power microwave from an RF weapon produces a short, very high power pulse, said to be billions of watts in a nanosecond, or billionths of a second.
This so-called burst of electromagnetic waves in the gigahertz microwave frequency band can melt electrical circuitry and damage integrated circuits causing them to fail. Ironically, this type RF weapon won't affect humans, although there are some forms that experts say can affect the body's own electrical system.
The pulse from an RF weapon travels at the speed of light and can be fired without any visible emanation. These weapons can come in ultra-wideband or narrow-band, with the latter acting like a laser emitting a single frequency at very high power. This pulse then is directed at a specific electronic target.
What makes RF weapons so dangerous is their compactness and ability to be powered by hand-carried energy sources. Experts say that their range of intensity is from 200 meters to 1,000 meters, or from some 656 feet to 3,281 feet.
Experts also say the most frightening circumstance is how available the information is on how to make an EMP device – in this case, a radio-frequency, or RF, weapon.
For example, an obscure, 41-page paper published by Lt. Col. John A. Brunderman, U.S.A.F., outlined how high power radio frequency in what he termed a directed energy role has "huge potential" for both offensive and defensive military use.
His paper, "High Power Radio Frequency Weapons: A Potential Counter to U.S. Stealth and Cruise Missile Technology," was written while he attended the Center for Strategy and Technology at the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala.
That paper, readily available on the Internet, sufficiently details what sources say give insight on how radio frequency, or RF, weapons, can be used in downing stealth aircraft, including unmanned drones.
Sources say that where it lacks in detail, it is sufficiently able to point a knowledgeable engineer in a direction on how to proceed in developing systems to counter U.S. stealth technology.
The open source paper pointed out that if an enemy is able to exploit such technologies, then U.S. tactics and strategy inevitably will have to change, assuming the technologies were used in an integrated air defense role to counter U.S. high technology, deep-strike capabilities.
Ready access to such information could be dangerous in the hands of a lone wolf, or person not affiliated with a group, determined to attack society's vital infrastructure which is largely dependent on the national electrical grid and electronic components to function.
As electronics become more densely packed, more energy efficient and operate at higher speeds, Brunderman pointed out that they become even more susceptible to high power RF microwave radiation.
While Brunderman's paper is a readily available open source guideline on how to defeat U.S. stealth aircraft and drones, similar information from the Internet offers a "how-to" to construct a simple but effective electromagnetic pulse weapon using off-the-shelf components from retail electronic stores.
On the website BlockYourId, for example, there is a step-by-step approach to constructing a simple EMP generator.
While the one pictured won't destroy "every computer in the neighborhood," it does give a detailed technical overview of the steps needed to make up electromagnetic pulse warfare, including the off-the-shelf components that go into making an RF generator.
It points out that the most critical component will be a high-voltage pulse capacitor.
For "really significant results," it will need a pulse capacitor output in the hundreds of Joules. It also offers suggestions on boosting the electromagnetic pulse. While some of the components may be a bit pricey, cost will be no object to those individuals or groups determined to make such a generator.
If a lone wolf or terrorist group wants to build an RF weapon, all the person would have to do is go to Information Unlimited at the website amazing1.com.
It is a virtual catalog of electromagnetic pulse devices offered in a variety of ranges, most capable of doing either severe damage or frying electronics at considerable distances.
The prospect also is there to upgrade the offered technology to increase the power and distance of the RF device, elements which are important to determine effectiveness.
For example, the website catalog offers a variety of "EMP/HERF/SHOCK Pulse Generators," with the caveat that it is a "Dangerous electrical device, may damage sensitive electronic systems, computers, etc."
"Shock wave generators are capable of producing focused acoustic or electromagnetic energy that can break up objects such as kidney stones and other similar materials. EMP generators can produce pulses of electromagnetic energy that can destroy the sensitive electronics in computers and microprocessors. Destabilized LCR circuits can produce multi megawatt pulses by using an explosive wire disruptive switch. These high power pulses can be coupled 'with difficulty' into antennas, conic sections, horns etc. for very directional effects. Research is currently being undertaken to disable vehicles thus avoiding dangerous high speed chases. The trick is to generate a high enough power pulse to fry the electronic control processor modules without creating collateral damage to unintended targets. This could be a lot simpler if the vehicle was covered in plastic or fiber glass rather than metal. The shielding of the metal body offers a challenge to the researcher to develop a practical system. A system could be built that could do this but would be costly, large and produce collateral damage to friendly targets.
"Devices described are intended for experienced researchers and qualified personnel who are aware of all hazards and liabilities in use of this equipment."
This explanation implied guidance to a potential user on how to boost existing systems to provide greater damage to an intended target.
The catalog then goes into the specific generators, some of which come with the caveat that "This is an advanced and highly dangerous project!"
One in particular is the "Complete EMP Systems Crated with All Setup Instructions," with the caveat that it will be "Sold only to qualified research companies and personnel" – a condition which easily could be manipulated by providing false representation to mask true intent.
While the EMP150 has an output of 300 Megawats and weighs 90 kilograms, or 198 lbs., selling for $8,000; the EMP400 has a 1.8 Gigawatt output and weighs 170 kg, or 374 lbs. selling for $14,000.
For $32,000, a would-be lone wolf or terrorist group can get the "Electromagnetic EMP Blaster Gun, Gen II," capable of "shutting down a computer at a distance of 15 meters," or almost 50 feet, and can "ignite highly explosive fuels in case of proximity or contact."
The website also offers Marx Impulse generators which it describes as "Professional Equipment for Serious Research."
The website describes its Marx Impulse generator as simulating a lightning strike, with a "current rise" faster than a natural lightning bolt.
With some technical savvy, a person may be able to take these basic elements and boost them to even greater levels of lethality either aimed at electronic systems or to provide greater coverage to maximize electronic destruction.
These and a myriad of other high voltage products, lasers, capacitors/rectifiers/diodes can be ordered from the website just like you'd order clothing from a catalog. There is one disclaimer that puts the burden of responsibility on the buyer, not the seller. It refers to the:
"Legal Status of these Products: It is the responsibility of the buyer, not the seller, to ascertain and obey all applicable local, state, federal, and international laws in the regard to the possession, use and sale of any item purchased from Information Unlimited, Inc. Absolutely no sales to minors. By placing an order, the buyer represents that the products ordered will be used only in a lawful manner and that he/she is of legal age. Information Unlimited, Inc. will not be held liable for the misuse of any product purchased from us or any of our direct distributors or dealers. Also, whereas no product is 100% effective against attack, Information United Inc. assumes no responsibility if a personal safety product purchased from us is not effective in preventing bodily injury or death.
"Some of the items we carry are 'DANGEROUS' and may be 'ILLEGAL' in your state or country. Please be sure to check local laws 'BEFORE' ordering."
The company does offer a hazardous equipment affidavit for various items, compelling the purchaser to sign and acknowledging that the person understands the hazards involved.
It adds that, "Hazardous devices are only made available to qualified and established companies in these related fields," but it doesn't explain what constitutes a "qualified" company.
And that's it.
There was no response to WND attempts to contact Information Unlimited through its www.amazing1.com website for a further explanation on how it goes about determining a company is "qualified" to obtain the equipment.
Some mail order catalogs that sell ammunition, for example, require the would-be buyer at least to submit a photocopy of a driver's license or state-authorized identification card to determine some modicum of bona fides to determine age and list the person's address. Such an approach also includes a photograph of the purchaser.
If the FBI then would launch an investigation following an electromagnetic attack on a facility, aircraft or any number of other targets that would result in widespread damage, then such information would offer a potential lead.
However, www.amazing1.com located in the "Live Free or Die"state of New Hampshire doesn't have such a requirement.
For the individual who wants to increase the capability of an existing system or build one from scratch, open-source websites offer insight into how to make an RF weapon and make available all of the necessary components.
F. Michael Maloof, a senior WND/G2Bulletin writer, is a former security policy analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Media who want to interview the author on this subject should email [email protected].


text: This short animation features four guests of curious demeanour who commit unforgivable acts at the dining table. Food flies everywhere while the guests prop their feet up and talk with their mouths full. Thankfully, Lady Fishbourne's eating etiquette instructions will show these dinner party misfits the error of their ways.


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The New York Times recently ran an interesting article by Adam Frank titled "Is Climate Disaster Inevitable?" This piece posed an intriguing answer to this puzzling question: Where are all the extraterrestrials?
(If you think the answer is "Roswell, New Mexico," go sit with Bigfoot and be quiet—adults are talking.)
The Drake equation gives us an order of magnitude feel for how many advanced civilizations there could be in the universe by looking at parameters such as the percentage of stars that have planets, the percentage of those planets which have the right conditions to support life, etc. There are a lot of unknowns in these parameters, but the upshot is that even if one assumes conservative conditions, there should be millions of advanced civilizations out there right now.
Enrico Fermi famously phrased the question: "So where are they?" thus spawning the eponymous Fermi paradox. With so many potential civilizations, why is the cosmos not saturated with radio signals, with extraterrestrial equivalents of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" streaming into space from a thousand different tacky cultures? Despite the implications of the Drake equation, we have never encountered even the slightest hint of extraterrestrial life, not the faintest wisp of a stray radio signal from a distant civilization. SETI is listening diligently, but so far the universe is sepulchrally quiet.
One answer to Fermi's paradox is dark. Uranium is ubiquitous. There's so much uranium in the Earth that it's played an important role in keeping our mantle hot, and hence keeping plate tectonics functioning. (We're the only planet we know of with both life and plate tectonics. The recycling of the crust and its essential elements through tectonics suggests this isn't a coincidence.) Because uranium is everywhere in the universe, any advanced civilization would inevitably discover the basics of fission and learn how to create an atomic bomb. So perhaps the solution to Fermi's paradox is that advanced civilizations inevitably annihilate themselves with nuclear war, as we came so close to doing (and still have the potential to achieve). We don't see UFOs buzzing around because given enough time each nascent civilization enters a nuclear age—and they don't make it out.
That seems unlikely. Sure, it's reasonable to assume that warfare and conflict are not unique to humans, but would that be universally true for all possible civilizations? Millions of them? Surely one would develop along the lines of The Big Lebowski, a civilization populated with alien versions of The Dude, aspiring not to warfare but only to abide on a comfortable couch, pontificating about how well the rug tied the room together, while sending radio waves into space proclaiming this slacker anthem.
So maybe the real answer to Fermi's paradox is climate change. Adam Frank's piece in the New York Times put it this way:
From climate change to resource depletion, our evolution into a globe-spanning industrial culture is forcing us through the narrow bottleneck of a sustainability crisis. In the wake of this realization, new and sobering answers to Fermi's question now seem possible.
Maybe we're not the only ones to hit a sustainability bottleneck. Maybe not everyone — maybe no one — makes it to the other side.
An interesting thought. While we can't assume life on other planets employs the same chemistry as our M-class planet, with its nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere, the issue of energy would still come up. In any variety of energy-providing chemical reactions, organisms would still generate and have to deal with waste products. As Frank puts it, "There are no planetary free lunches."
It's notable that Earth's atmosphere has already undergone a major shift due to the activities of organisms. Over three billion years of photosynthesizing bacteria transformed the atmosphere from oxygen depleted to our current twenty-one percent. The oxygen you breathe now is the waste product of biology that stripped carbon from oxygen to form carbohydrates, some of which were later altered into the hydrocarbons now spewing out the tailpipes of stretch Humvees.
On a vast scale our species pushes this in the other direction, taking carbon and recombining it with oxygen. So far we've been fortunate that our carbon dioxide waste is absorbed in the oceans and used by many other things—plants, diatoms, mineral weathering—meaning anthropogenic increases have not been as steep as they could have been. But those natural reservoirs are not infinite, and the rate of carbon dioxide increase is dramatically accelerating. From 1965 to 1974, the rate of carbon dioxide increase averaged 1.06 ppm per year; from 2005 to 2014, the rate doubled to 2.11 ppm per year.
As we continue this planetary-scale geoengineering experiment of pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and seeing what happens, it's worth considering that maybe this path has already been taken by predecessors a long time ago, in galaxies far, far away. Why don't we hear them now?
Maybe Adam Frank's proposal is right, and our current climate crisis is so intractable that other civilizations have tried and failed and collapsed. But we humans did get through the most dangerous phase of the nuclear era, which for so long seemed guaranteed to end us all. At the very least we have the potential to get through our climate conundrum, which, like the nuclear danger, is a failing of our political systems, not our scientific knowledge. Just as Neo in The Matrix had five predecessors who failed, the universe might need a few tries before finally solving the difficult problem of maintaining a civilization without destroying its planet.