#and there there's the potential implications of a 2 vol release....
Text
I think what really puts into perspective the likelihood of ST5 premiering in 2025 (I’m gonna predict March 21st for fun), is that a year from now is just barely Summer 2024, and yet as of now, they have not even started filming.
Are fans really expecting them to have season 5 filmed, fully prepped with marketing and promo ready, with everything ready to be released within one year from now (roughly speaking, give or take a couple months)?
In all honesty it's very much the norm for Stranger Things' to have promo leading up to an upcoming season last for months. And I'm not talking like 3-5 months I'm talking a year+.
This isn't like s1 where they put out a trailer and a release date and some low budget marketing roll out on social media, which is something they do for every new Netflix show. This is a $35 million + budget per episode series and thats just to budget for the literal episodes... There are dozens of partnerships they have going on with merchandise and things like that which are discussed and planned for months/years. There are music rights negotiations which go on for months upon years. Shit, post-production has the capacity to take, at the very least half of the time it takes to film, and in some cases as much time or even more. This shit takes time!!!
The build up to a new season is so huge, that each month leading up to it, there are different things dropping, creating the hype that guarantees millions of fans engagement for a long time.
Like 1 year up to the 6 months before the release, promo starts heating up officially. The main accounts for the show will start posting stuff, initially it'll be cryptic using old footage to kind of recap the characters and get us refreshed on where we left off. This time could have some really awesome surprises, but it's mostly casual. If we're lucky we can count on Atlanta filming paparazzi bc those people are insufferable...
6 months up to the one month mark is when it starts to get more real. At this time we're likely to get an episode list announcement, along with sneak peeks and teasers that are quite short, being that they're still likely in the editing process when they are releasing these so it's very much in part them trying to tide us over and keep us interested.
The final 3 months leading up to it is when it gets REAL real. This is at the latest when we'll get a release date announcement, but that's a worst case scenario. I feel like it took so long for them to announce s4, and not until like Feb 2022 bc they wanted to be certain certain. And that could apply to s5 as well. The state of the world isn't like awesome I would say... Look what happened last time? Like it sucks to be the person to say that but I think also considering delays in general, for any reason are a possibility, is also what contributes to my open mindedness about an early 2025 release.
And so based on what we should be expecting for marketing, that means that assuming s5 would somehow premiere in summer 2024, means we are already close to the one year mark, which means promo should be ramping up right now, with literal content to share? And yet we have nothing filmed...?
A lot of people have this idea that s5 is going to take as much time to film as s1 took, which is just not the case. Not saying it will take as long as s4 took, however it's still going to take a while. One of the main factors for this is an in demand cast with conflicting schedules. In a perfect world, everyone would be available all the time throughout the entire production run. Instead what you have is certain actors not available at this time, and so you have to overlap those that need scenes together and schedule according to all of that. And so even if it wouldn't take more than 7 months to film literally, adding another 4+ months might be necessary to accommodate everyones schedules so that they can have these A/B list actors be able to film scenes together.
And then there’s editing and VFX to account for, happening during filming yes, but also with them needing months to focus on AFTER filming is complete. S5 is arguably going to have more VFX than any other season, as most of the season is expected to be surrounded by UD conditions and with the final battle being pretty epic with a 3 headed dragon potentially. Editing is more likely to be 7+ months post filming AT LEAST, vs. like the 4 or less, which is what I think everyone is imagining and telling themselves.
This is also the last season and so they obviously want to focus on the quality, not their ability to churn it out as fast as possible. Rushing for a quick release is just setting themselves up to flop.
The story is over forever after this (excluding spin-off prospects). It would make sense for them to give themselves the wiggle room to make it perfect (the stakes are so fucking high you guys), as opposed to rushing the entire time just to have it release as early as possible.
This also reminds me of what Noah said when asked about s5 premiering in 2024, where he basically just deflected and said that they want to focus on quality… essentially hinting at the fact that it’ll probably not be soon as we’re expecting, but we’re better off for it bc it gives them time to ensure it's the best that it can be and also is just realistic in terms of considering potential unplanned delays.
And then there are the strike implications. While I think the ST production is lucky in that they wouldn't be impacted as much as other productions, that doesn't mean the solidarity won't impact other parts of the production beyond just the writers. This is an industry where people are extremely overworked and underpaid, where a strike could be on the horizon at any moment. And we’re out here telling them hey i know the conditions are horse shit, but I'm gonna need you to step it up and experience even worse conditions bc I need s5 asap... which is just, it’s asking too much if I’m being honest.
Not trying to rain on anyone’s parade here. I know it sucks hearing that it could be another 1 year and 10 months. But lets be serious right now.
All the action that happens in the fandom, building up to the release is arguably just as exciting as the actual premiere and I think we overlook that. Again, once it premieres, it's over. So being so hellbent that it comes as soon as possible, is built on this idea that getting it is the only worthwhile part of this experience, which couldn't be further from the truth. Hiatus and all of the activity that happens during that time is what makes this experience so unique and without it, none of us would be here.
I think realistically, the timeline for s5 production is likely to look something like filming taking place from May 2023-Feb 2024 (giving them AT LEAST 10 months, but if you ask me srs i think it'll take 12...). We should get an announcement post from the official Netflix/ST social media accounts the very day filming starts.
As time passes and they're filming more and more, we will start to get teasers and sneak peaks from the little bit they have filmed from the earlier episodes in the season. Technically they can't spoil that later stuff too much in promotion, so it does work out for us in that sense.
But in all honesty, well planned out and detailed promo is likely to not start getting official until this fall when they’ll actually have at least (hopefully) over half of s5 filmed, and be planning ahead plenty in advance so all of the promo leading up to the release is well thought out.
I won’t rule out Fall 2024. But there are no Friday dates in fall 2024 that ring any bells to me as being the perfect day? Maybe Winter 2024? Or like January/Feb 2025?
The problem is Netflix loves ST for their summers... But summer 2024 is too soon and Summer 2025 is too late imo...
So what it will likely come down to is them trying to be realisitic about their options, and how to ideally get it to match with the setting of the show, which is something they have tried to do with s2-3, but couldn't in s4 (for obvious reasons), and so I definitely see them thinking ahead to try to bring back that approach for s5 if they are able to.
So filming, best case scenario, ends maybe Jan-Feb 2024. If we give them at least 7 months, which is still arguably rushing to me, that lands them in September 2024.
BUT if they were smart they would be realistic and just plan for late 2024/early 2025 so that they don't have to keep delaying... also why they haven't announced a date/year... if it was for certain going to be 2024, they would say it. But they aren't. That alone should tell us they are not willing to make that commitment bc it's not something that can be made when there are so many impromptu factors at play.
I imagine a scenario though honestly, where it takes them a year (12 months to film), so they won't be done until May 2024, which means that they would have until January 2025 to edit with 7 months for that strictly. And that just honestly feels realistic to me to look at instead of hoping that everything just is swift and fast as possible.
Not to mention ST5 2025 just fits.
However, I don't see anything wrong with hoping for late 2024, since as of now I think it is still possible.
But I also think, keeping all of the factors in mind, most notably a potential strike and also them ensuring quality over a speedy release, I think 2025 is something people should also be prepared for as a possibility.
The good news is that we'll know eventually as s5 starts filming and as time goes on.
If filming is complete in 2023 then we could definitely hope for a fall 2024 release. If filming isn't complete officially until early/mid 2024, then pack up your duffel bags bc we're going back to spring break...
#byler#stranger things#stranger things 5#st promo#st5 preditioncs#i had this in my drafts but bc that rumor from that source#i felt the need to post this#i always get passive aggressive asks when i try to explain why it would be valid for a 2025 release#and i get that people just want it#like i do too#but lets remember we want this shit to be epic crazy good#and we want them to be able to sleep and eat and live not on god awful conditions to succeed in that#marketing is going to go crazy for the final season also#it's going to be like every other season combined#and there there's the potential implications of a 2 vol release....#hell we could get vol 1 in 2024 and vol 2 and 2025#idk how they'd do it#but 2 vol seems like a major possiblity#and i personally enjoyed getting to theorize in between#i'm sure netflix enjoyed having hype for a show last over 5 months instead of 1-2 at most#it would make sense for them to what to apply that model for the last season of their most memorable series in history...#so that's another thing to consider in terms of release possibilities#AND THEN LETS NOT FORGET ABOUT THE MOVIE DNA BOARD LIKE COME ON WE WILL BE SWAMPED WHEN THAT DROPS#AND THAT COULD LITERALLY DROP WITH IN THE NEXT MONTH TO 5 MONTHS OR SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN?#or not at all...#we are not ready regardless of thinking we are#which is the best part honestly#we are not ready!!!
135 notes
·
View notes
Text
Hey can we talk about another very interesting fact?
The Duffers have stated that season 4 was their Empire Strikes Back -moment on multiple occasions. I’ve already made a post about a couple of parallels, but here’s another interesting perspective i totally missed, partially because vol.2 hadn’t released yet at that point.
We start off on Hoth. It seems like Luke and Leia are being set up together. They even kiss (this was obviously prior to George Lucas’ decision to ultimately make them siblings) much to the dismay of Han, who wants to pursue Leia. Leia is annoyed with Han’s advances.
With El, Mike and Will, we start off in California. At first all seems well with El and Mike. They’re being lovey-dovey and this upsets Will, as he’s both in love with Mike but also a total third wheel. Mike seems exasperated with Will’s reaction “we’re friends, we’re friends!” Then, El and Mike’s relationship starts to crumble.
The rebel base on Hoth is then attacked by the Empire. In the aftermath of the attack, Luke goes off to Dagobah in order to get Jedi training. Chewie, Han and Leia hop aboard the Millennium Falcon and are being pursued by the Empire, escaping narrowly.
El is arrested and then handed over to Owens, through whom she goes off to Nevada to train with Brenner. The Byers’ house is attacked, Jonathan, Will and Mike hop aboard the pizza van and narrowly escape the pursuit of the US government.
During their voyage, Han and Leia start to realize their feelings for one another. There is a romantic scene. Meanwhile Luke is on his own, tapping into the force, being guided by Yoda. By the end it’s clear Han and Leia are endgame, but it’s unclear whether Han makes it out of the carbonate freeze.
During their ride, Will indirectly confesses to Mike. There are a couple of scenes with romantic implications, but most importantly everything that happens during this trip establishes Will as a second potential love interest, same as with Han. Meanwhile El is in Nevada, struggling to understand her past and trying to get her powers back.
Here the end is very ambiguous. Max takes up the role of Han, as she’s comatose and it’s unclear whether she’ll make it. Much like Luke, El had her great failure here, and this will inform the ways this character is going to act in the future.
97 notes
·
View notes
Text
Lecrae Pulls The Plug On Mixtape Series With Final ‘Church Clothes 4’
Before releasing the #1 album in the country, Anomaly (2014), multi-Grammy/Dove/Stellar Award-winning rapper Lecrae dropped arguably the most seminal project in his catalog, Church Clothes Vol. 1 (2012), hosted by DJ Don Cannon. In the ten years since the first Church Clothes mixtape dropped, no one has been able to surpass the heights that Lecrae has reached, crossing CHH over to the mainstream while enduring the blows and lows as Lecrae has.
While Lecrae didn’t start Christian Hip-Hop, he’s regarded as a trailblazer in the lane and has consistently released music that represents faith and hip-hop with an Unashamed edginess that challenges the Church to live up to its potential and encourages the Culture to reconcile with its Savior. Respected hip-hop magazine XXL complimented him, saying, “It’s impressive how he’s able to deliver a message without being preachy calling Church Clothes “a prime example of the reach of hip-hop music and culture.” The people spoke even louder, downloading the music for the original Church Clothes mixtape 100,000 times in 48 hours.
A decade later, the mission and vision remain the same for Lecrae. “Once upon a time, we had the vision to demonstrate what it looks like to be authentically hip-hop and a follower of Christ,” shares Lecrae. “We put that vision together in this project called Church Clothes; something for the streets but representing who we are as believers. Church Clothes resonated with people, and they connected with it. Some people say it’s my best work to date! We did Vol 1, 2, and 3, and it’s only right that we keep the legacy with Vol.4. Church Clothes 4 is the last one though!”
The first single from Church Clothes 4, “Spread The Opps,” acknowledges the opposition and stands steadfast despite it. “I’ve been running for so long from the opposition. Since I was a kid, there were enemies, both physical and spiritual, that were trying to destroy me. I decided to stop running. This song, “Spread The Opps,” is me knowing that even in the valley of death, God is with me. He’s scattering the opposition.”
On “Spread The Opps,” the ominous production by DrumGod, JuanRa, Simbo, and DudeClayy, 808 drums pair with haunting vocals from students from AGI Entertainment. Under the direction of Natarsha Garcia, CEO/Artistic Director, BrandinJay, Creative Director and owner of Teddy Bear Productions, the students whose age ranges from 9 to 13 are all triple threats, chasing their dreams of becoming household names. Together they create the backdrop for a lyrical barrage from Lecrae.
Atlanta-based image-maker Ray “Neutron” Spears, director of the music video for “Spread the Opps,” says of the song. “’Spread the Opps’ feels like equal parts imprecatory psalm, personal excavation, and charitable warning— a final act of diplomacy. I found myself interested in his inner turmoil and specific inflection points on his journey of realization, how these experiences reverberate outside of Lecrae the individual, and their broader implications in society.”
Through the years, we’ve watched Lecrae reconstruct a vision of faith despite the large-scale shift towards mistrust and disillusionment within The Church in the wake of America’s racial tensions. As he delivers Church Clothes 4, Lecrae unapologetically stands at the crossroads of sacred and secular. People rocked with Church Clothes because it was the first time someone planted their feet simultaneously in the street and the Church without compromising. He laughs with those who have called him “Righteous and Ratchet,” acknowledging that “it is my lane, and this lane is completely acceptable
Read the full article
0 notes
Text
Week 8: Instagram Influencers and Cosmetic Surgeries
In the digital context, it has been argued that women are presenting themselves in a highly sexualised version on their online profiles, this concept is called sexualised labour (Marvoudis 2020). Pornification refers to the increasing occurrence and acceptance of sexual themes and explicit imagery in popular mainstream culture (Tyler & Quek 2016). Whereas porn-chic is a style that reflects the mainstreaming of new media, and commercial pornography within Western societies (Drenten et al. 2018, p. 42). Conformance to heteronormative notions of attractiveness is how some women on social media present themselves. Displays of female sexuality through sexualised social media content is a powerful means of gaining visibility, predominantly seen on the platform Instagram. Instagram influencers utilise aesthetic templates, an aspect of sexualised labour (Drenten et al. 2018, p. 43).
Instagram influencers are a categorised form of micro-celebrity, a style of an online presence to gain attention and popularity by employing social media accounts (Senft 2013, p. 37). As discussed influencers perform sexualised labour by adopting porn-chic aesthetics to generate attention, and potentially monetisation (Drenten et al. 2018, p. 42). Research highlights female influencers editing their physical appearance both online, through the use of photo-editing tools, and offline procedures such as plastic surgery, to present hyper-sexualised versions due to porn-chic branded ideals and pressures of sexualised labour. Instagram aesthetics have become almost synonymous with 'body image' and is often cites as the reason for an increase in demand for cosmetic enhancement (Marvourdis, 2020, p. 127). In 2017, statistics released by the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery reveals that '42% of surgeons are reporting that their patients are actively seeking aesthetics surgeries to improve their appearance for social media channels (Dorfam et al. 2018). Reinforcing the extent to which influencers meet these aesthetic ideologies that are ultimately disseminated and endorsed by Instagram.
Martha Kalifatidis illustrates a certified Instagram Influencer, due to her blue tick on her profile, with over 330K followers. Martha's profile employs the porn-chic aesthetic discussed above, following the heteronormative feminity in the picture below; botox, lip fillers and breast implants as discussed by Mavroudis (2020). Martha demonstrates the extreme lengths influencer undergo to maintain their following. Prior to fame from Married At First Sight, Martha previously undertook her cosmetic surgeries, hence as an influencer she now maintains her image. Unlike other Instagram Influencers who deny any cosmetic work, Martha openly talks about her cosmetic surgeries, proudly embracing who she is, which is quite empowering. By doing this, individuals can no longer attack her on Instagram and call her out for getting work done as she explicitly talks about it when promoting products and collaborating with businesses. In one of her IGTV, Martha states, "Now this bra fits me perfectly! I have DD boobs and I feel fully supported in this bra. But keep in mind I do have fake boobs so your body might fit differently in this bra." Martha is an exception, compared to other marketing influencers. Although there is not enough research on this type of influencer to suggest if her followers still feel the pressure to undergo cosmetic surgery and look like Martha. More research is required in this field to understand the effects of sexualised labour and explore both arguments of social media problematic pressures and social media empowerment.
I wonder, Is it better to have cosmetic surgery fake it than be “alone”? (season: 2 episode: 4)
References:
Drenten, J, Gurrieri, L and Tyler, M 2018, ‘Sexualised Labour in Digital Culture: Instagram Influencers, Porn Chic and The Monetization of Attention’, Gender, Work & Organisation, vol. 27, no 1, pp. 41 - 61.
Dorfman, R G., Vaca, E E., Mahmood, E, Fine, N A. & Schierle, C 2018, ‘Plastic surgery-related hashtag utilization on Instagram: Implications for education and marketing’, Aesthetic Surgery Journal, vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 332-338.
Kalifatidis, M, I 2020, marthaa__k, 8 April, viewed 12 May 2020, <https://www.instagram.com/p/B-t2GL2ALua/>.
Mavroudis, J 2020, ‘Lecture 8: Digital Health and Cosmetic Surgery on Visual Social Media’, Learning Materials via Canvas, Swinburne University of Technology, 6th May, viewed, May 11 2020.
Mavroudis, J 2020, ‘Am I Too Branded? Fame Labour and Microcelebrity Culture’, PhD thesis, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne.
Senft, T.M 2013, ‘Microcelebrity and The Branded Self’, in Hartley, J, Burgess, J & Bruns, A (eds), A Companion to New Media Dynamics, Blackwell, UK, pp. 346 - 354.
Tyler, M & Quek, K 2016, ‘Conceptualising pornographication: A Lack of Clarity and Problems for Feminist Analysis, Sexualization, Media & Society, Vol. 2, no. 2.
#mda20009#swinburne university of technology#digital communities#Social media#instagram#influencers#plastic surgery#cosmetic surgery#martha#mafsau#married at first sight australia
1 note
·
View note
Text
How Hard Is Too Hard?
You are scrolling through Netflix when you come across a documentary entitled “Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez”. Enticed by the title, you begin to watch anticipating a twisted story of a man destine to become a cold-blooded killer. You learn, however, that despite his frequent criminal activity, lack of close relationships, and the double homicide he was a part of, his brain was probably once just like yours. After years of playing football, both at an amateur and professional level, Aaron Hernandez developed a detrimental neurogenerative disease known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) that led to many different behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with overall thought processing.
CTE has been largely linked to repetitive head impacts (RHI), both concussive and sub concussive, in collision sport athletics. As a result, increased public concerns have encouraged researchers to strive to understand the underlying neurobiological mechanisms associated with sub-concussive and concussive head impacts. A paper entitled “The Neurobiological Effects of Repetitive Head Impacts in Collision Sports” used both animal models and human models to investigate how RHIs affect the blood brain barrier (BBB), neurometabolic activity, neuroinflammatory mechanisms, and aggregation of the Tau protein which plays a major role in the development of neurodegenerative diseases.
Let’s take a look at the mechanism that could have led to the development of CTE in Hernandez’s brain. The first stop for us is the BBB, the brains first line of defense protecting it from toxins within the blood and even head impacts. Mechanical damage caused by concussions and sub-concussive impacts can lead to disruption of the BBB followed by chronical disruption due to neurochemical responses such as inflammation. This ultimately leads to increased pressure in brain regions which impacts blood flow to the local injury site. Both animal and human studies have suggested that there is evidence of BBB damage after hard impacts, but these studies still need further evidence. Moving further into the brain, we next want to examine the neurometabolic affects within neurons. Neurons are specialized cells in the central nervous system crucial in communicating sensory information. It has been found that concussions cause a “neuro-metabolic cascade” of events. This means that when someone experiences a concussion, there is a change in the ion levels across cellular membranes. Specific ion concentrations and charge differences across membranes are crucial to determining whether a neuron will fire or not. When these ion concentrations are quickly changed in the case of RHI, it leads to an unorganized release of neurotransmitters. Sodium-potassium pumps, important for restoring the resting membrane potential, are activated during concussions increasing the utilization of glucose which is crucial for harvesting energy. This high metabolic push to breakdown glucose is soon followed by a hypometabolic state that can last for weeks post-injury. Both animal and human studies confirmed that once someone is concussed, there is a critical period in which further impact can lead to more severe metabolic outcomes. Next, we need to examine how the brain tries to fix some of this immediate damage. This happens through a neuroinflammatory response. In brief, this process recruits’ neutrophils and monocytes to the injury location. These are both types of cells used to fight off infections and their recruitment leads to the response of local microglia, which are a type of glial cell used to clear debris or kill cells harmful to the central nervous system. Microglial can either release proteins called proinflammatory cytokines to damage neurons or anti-inflammatory cytokines that assist in tissue repair. Studies found that in mice, neutrophils and monocytes were observed in the brain when head impacts were within 24 hours from each other. In humans, they found elevated levels of cytokines in university athletes with a history of multiple concussions. Lastly, we need to investigate the aggregation of the protein Tau. Normally, Tau is not harmful and is the most abundant microtubule-associated protein in a healthy adult brain. It has a very important function in the maintenance of microtubules (important for cellular transportation), axonal morphology, and cell physiology. It exists in six different forms, and while it proves to be necessary for overall brain health, an imbalance in its forms can lead to the detrimental effects seen in diseases like CTE. The mechanisms of Tau are not fully known due to the many functions of the protein, but it is suggested that the affects seen in CTE may be due to deleterious effects Tau presents leading the breakdown of the brain. The presence of this protein is perhaps the biggest mystery in the case of RHI. Studies have found that Tau increases during athletic activity, but there is no difference between the increase during a high impact or low impact sport practice. However, it is found in large amounts in the brains of those with CTE suggesting that RHIs in the long term may lead to the change of Tau density in the brain.
These mysteries, like many in medicine, are likely not going to be solved through one idea or study. The response of the brain to RHIs is dynamic and involves many different factors. Genetics plays a major role in brain development and protein encoding meaning the immediate, or long term, neurobiological responses of RHI can be heavily influenced by our genes. Additionally, high impact sport athletes are affected by physical activity in two different ways. First, with the different impacts of RHI that we have discussed previously: an increased risk of damage to the BBB, the presence of hypometabolic rates due to concussive impacts, high rates of neuroinflammatory responses, and the long-term risks of the aggregation of Tau. However, physical activity for the average individual has proven to have many positive affects like improving brain function and slowing age-related memory decline, along with leading to boosts in important proteins that work against both BBB damage and hypometabolic affects along with reduced neuroinflammation. These different responses of the brain during high impact sports seem to contradict each other, however, it is no question that athletes who experience RHI remain at a higher risk of injury and long-term impacts. While much more research needs to be done, it appears that years of RHI puts stress on the neurological responses of head impacts, particularly when faced with concussive impacts and the critical periods associated with them. However, sub-concussive impacts which often go unnoticed by athletes, still experience similar brain responses as concussions. Additionally, there is significant evidence that in the long term, the Tau protein is involved in not just CTE, but many other disorders including Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Pick's disease, Corticobasal degeneration, Frontotemporal dementia, and most notably, Alzheimer's disease (Sundman, 2015). These many gaps in research and lack of strong conclusions leave us wondering what risks do RHI athletes face every time they step up to compete? Will their sport lead them to become quick thinkers, or develop a brain altering neurodegenerative disease? And how do we save them from the fate of a killer’s mind?
1. Hunter, Liane E., et al. “The Neurobiological Effects of Repetitive Head Impacts in Collision Sports.” Neurobiology of Disease, vol. 123, Mar. 2019, pp. 122–126. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/j.nbd.2018.06.016.
2. Sundman, Mark, et al. “Neuroimaging Assessment of Early and Late Neurobiological Sequelae of Traumatic Brain Injury: Implications for CTE.” Frontiers in Neuroscience, vol. 9, 2015, doi:10.3389/fnins.2015.00334.
1 note
·
View note
Text
Our article on changes in data center electricity use from 2010 to 2018, out in Science Magazine today
Our article on global data center electricity use is out today (February 28, 2020) in Science Magazine as a Policy Forum article.
The intro of the article gives context:
Data centers represent the information backbone of an increasingly digitalized world. Demand for their services has been rising rapidly (1), and data-intensive technologies such as artificial intelligence, smart and connected energy systems, distributed manufacturing systems, and autonomous vehicles promise to increase demand further (2). Given that data centers are energy-intensive enterprises, estimated to account for around 1% of worldwide electricity use, these trends have clear implications for global energy demand and must be analyzed rigorously. Several oft-cited yet simplistic analyses claim that the energy used by the world’s data centers has doubled over the past decade and that their energy use will triple or even quadruple within the next decade (3–5). Such estimates contribute to a conventional wisdom (5, 6) that as demand for data center services rises rapidly, so too must their global energy use. But such extrapolations based on recent service demand growth indicators overlook strong countervailing energy efficiency trends that have occurred in parallel (see the first figure). Here, we integrate new data from different sources that have emerged recently and suggest more modest growth in global data center energy use (see the second figure). This provides policy-makers and energy analysts a recalibrated understanding of global data center energy use, its drivers, and near-term efficiency potential.
Key findings:
• Total global data center electricity use increased by only 6% from 2010 to 2018, even as the number of data center compute instances (i.e. virtual machines running on physical hardware) rose to 6.5 times its 2010 level by 2018 (compute instances are a measure of computing output as defined by Cisco).
• Data center electricity use rose from 194 TWh in 2010 to 205 TWh in 2018, representing about 1% of the world’s electricity use in 2018.
• Computing service demand rose rapidly from 2010 to 2018. Installed storage capacity rose 26 fold, data center IP traffic rose 11 fold, workloads and compute instances rose six fold, and the installed base of physical servers rose 30%.
• Computing efficiency rapidly increased, mostly offsetting growth in computing service demand: PUE dropped by 25% from 2010 to 2018, server energy intensity dropped by a factor of 4, the average number of servers per workload dropped by a factor of 5, and average storage drive energy use per TB dropped by almost a factor of 10.
• Expressed as energy use per compute instance, the energy intensity of the global data center industry dropped by around 20% per year between 2010 and 2018. This efficiency improvement rate is much greater than rates observed in other key sectors of the global economy over the same period.
• We also showed that current efficiency potentials are enough to keep electricity demand roughly constant for the next doubling of computing service demand after 2018, if policy makers and industry keep pushing efficiency in their facilities, hardware, and software.
• We offered three primary areas for policy action: (1) extend current efficiency trends by stressing efficiency standards, best practice dissemination, and financial incentives; (2) increase RD&D investments in next generation computing, storage, and heat removal technologies to deliver efficiency gains when current trends approach their limits, while incentivizing renewable power in parallel; and (3) invest in robust data collection, modeling, and monitoring.
Articles summarizing the work appeared yesterday in The New York Times, Bloomberg, USA Today, Data Center Dynamics, Wired, Quartz, IFL Science, New Scientist, and One Zero, among other outlets. Google also did a blog post describing their progress in improving data center efficiency over time.
The Northwestern University news release is here.
The UCSB news release is here.
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory release is here.
The spreadsheet model used for the analysis can be downloaded here: https://zenodo.org/record/3668743#.XmF-Gi2ZPWZ
The full reference is
Masanet, Eric, Arman Shehabi, Nuoa Lei, Sarah Smith, and Jonathan Koomey. 2020. "Recalibrating global data center energy-use estimates." Science. vol. 367, no. 6481. pp. 984. [http://science.sciencemag.org/content/367/6481/984.abstract]
1 note
·
View note
Text
BtT Light Novel Club Chapter 17: Infinite Dendrogram, Vol. 3!
It’s time to dive yet again into the world of Infinite Dendrogram! While the anime adaptation may not have won us over, the original light novels still look to be great, so in we go to volume 3! (By the way, if you have only been watching the anime adaptation, as of the time of posting, the adaptation has stopped just before reaching the material in this volume, so everything here is still spoilers.)
Before we begin the discussion: This novel can basically be divided into two parts: the first part features the “main story” from Ray’s perspective, and the second part features some side stories from other characters’ perspectives. As such, the questions will be split accordingly.
We have a bit bigger of a discussion group this time around: @jeskaiangel and @gaheret are both joining me this time!
=====
What are your overall thoughts on the main story of the volume?
Jeskai Angel: The first half of this book is basically one big prologue to the next volume — I wonder if it should have just been numbered vol. 2.5 instead of 3. It deals with the aftermath of the Gouz-Maise showdown in the previous volume, and then sets the stage for things to come. Compared to the first couple volumes, the pace is a lot slower and the stakes are much lower. In the Xunyu-Figgy fight it didn’t really make much difference who won, unlike the climactic confrontations with Gardrandra and Gouz-Maise where a lot of lives (albeit tians) were on the line. I don’t hate this part of the book, but I don’t really love it either. It’s fun enough, but it also felt like the Xunyu-Figgy fight was just a needlessly drawn out plot device contrived to provide opportunities for foreshadowing (of which there is a TON).
stardf29: Yeah, I definitely agree that there’s not really anything significant happening and that all this is basically a huge prologue. (I mean, I did say I had trouble thinking of questions, so…) The fights are a nice diversion and a highlight of the battle system outside of what Ray and co. would likely be involved with (and should make for decent anime material for the action fans), but it’s definitely not the high point of Dendrogram.
Gaheret: For my part, I liked the main story, and will go on reading. I find the wordlers-ludos dilemma a quite difficult one, and also quite compelling. Not having read the previous two volumes or having any experience as a gamer meant that everything was quite new to me, yet it managed to give me an enjoyable time. I had to rely on my memories of Stephenson´s “REAMDE” at first, but everything (Masters, kingdoms and geopolitics, monsters, tians, powers, jobs, embryos, ultimate movements, levels of power, money, consequences of dying, death penalty, statistics, interactions, time, tournaments) was explained quite clearly and organically.
I liked the personalities of the main characters (Ray, Nemesis, Hugo, Marie, Shu), and even the minor ones have distinct voices. The international aspect of the VRMMORPG was very interesting for me, too. The focus of the characters who are players on appaerance and theatrics, and often roleplaying, is to be expected given the concept and was a very interesting aspect of it all. As people can change how they look and focus on the impression they want to give, they are for the most part idealized (and creative) versions of themselves. I was in the theatre club in University, and have participated in some roleplaying games and events, so the psychology of the performers is an aspect which I´m definitively interested in.
It is mentioned, for example, that Ray´s brother is a rich NEET in real life, while he himself knows in his head, but rejects in his heart, that this is a game. Certainly, to have a young prince of the Hermit Kingdom, seemingly a conscious and free personal being, ill from a plague with could kill him for good, or a child-murdering cult like the one described, could make it difficult to log out and, say, go to work or do homework. As for the tournament itself reminded me of Boku no Hero Academia, which I find to be a good thing.
This is truly half gamer, half isekai story, which means there are two contradictory logics for everyone involved. The fact there are ludos, “worldlers”, and even cults involed, and that the tians undoubtly have conscience means that there is something very interesting going on here from a philosophical and ethical point of view (torturing your enemies increases your Grudge ability? That´s kind of messed up). I found myself enjoying also the mysteries such as the real in-game status of Ray´s brother or that of Marie. I was astonished, in particular, for the level of detail devoted to the magic-technology explanation of the game mechanisms and the insights on the tian civilizations and societies, and the impact of the contemporary players in them.
In this volume, we start to see Hugo now as part of the Triangle of Wisdom, with plans to attack Altar, and we see his interactions with Ray given that. What are your thoughts on this?
Jeskai Angel: Ray is a weirdly / amusingly smart-and-dumb protagonist. Sometimes he proves quite perceptive and clever, and other times he’s painfully dense. I particularly noted instances of the latter in this volume, and one example of that is his dealings with Hugo. We the readers have meta reasons to expect Hugo to be important to the plot (his role in vol. 2, being a maiden’s master, etc.). I know Ray doesn’t have the benefit of our perspective, but he still comes across as strangely oblivious. Like, I don’t expect him to be so suspicious that he goes 1-v-1 in the middle of town, but couldn’t you be a little more observant / inquisitive when someone with a potentially suspicious (i.e. hostile) background starts saying / doing suspicious things?
stardf29: Ray’s obliviousness definitely is something. He’s definitely too trusting overall, but perhaps it’s that trust that starts to get to Hugo a bit.
Hugo’s side is more interesting to me, as he’s starting to wrestle with how he will soon be Ray’s enemy. I think that now that he’s actually gotten to interact with a Maiden’s Master like himself, but in Altar, he’s starting to realize how people might get hurt by the plan he’s part of. This is all still build-up right now but it definitely interested me in how it would play out later on.
Gaheret: I like good stories concerning friends at opposite sides of a conflict, such as Marvel´s Civil War. Someone who fights alongside you against a child murderer or an alien invasion might fight you when it comes to questions of what is the best here and now, and there may be legitimate ground for doubt. I think I would have liked to discover Hugo´s loyalties at the same time as Ray, too. I also find quite perplexing how he feels it morally necessary to give his friend a hint about something as important as an invasion, though perhaps knowing that this is a game is a part of it. But again, I have yet to read the second volume.
What do you think of Xunyu?
Jeskai Angel: Xunyu is weird and cool. Wiping out the bandits in the beginning, combined with showing all the deference from the court officials and even royalty, works quite well for establishing that this character is a big deal. Xunyu doesn’t seem to be strictly what we’d call “handicapped” (although I’m not really clear on that point), but she does rely on prosthetic limbs, which is a rather interesting touch to see in a video game, especially one that leans more fantasy than sci-fi. I also loved the hilarious confrontation where Ray mistakenly thinks Xunyu is kidnapping the ambassador, faces them down only to be nearly killed, but then Shu shows up, and the situation ends with Xunyu FLIRTING with Ray!
Tangent: I can’t help but wonder how Xunyu’s odd diction is represented in Japanese — that language doesn’t have upper / lower case letters like English, after all. I was also reminded of the way the easterners talk in the Cooking with Wild Game series; in that case, the translations deploy excessive / inappropriate commas to help convey the feeling that their diction is unusual.
stardf29: Yeah, Xunyu is an interesting one. Particularly once you find out who she is in real life (which is said in the premium-exclusive stories for this volume but not in the normal releases, so I probably shouldn’t go any further into that). She does have some fun interactions with Ray already and I want to see them “playing together” later on.
Gaheret: It is interesting how having to cope with inhuman abilities the human body is not exactly designed for apparently gives high-level players a somewhat inhuman instance. Xunyu, with her operistic behaviour, her violent, gory tactics, her implication in the politics of the Hermit Kingdom (it is very natural for tians to resent these immortal, theatrical, somewhat hedonistic strangers who play such important roles in their society, can avoid physical pain and achieve insurmountable powers in a few years, as the tian assassin narrator of the last story shows) and her monster-like appaerance, may be the most interesting case. It must require a lot of work to step into that role. At least, that cacogen-like way of talking seems to be a product of the talisman, not of her acting.
What do you think of Figaro?
Jeskai Angel: We already knew Figaro was powerful, so that comes as no surprise. What was more interesting to me was seeing how he’s buddies with Shu, and that’s more significant for what it says about Shu than about Figaro. Like, Figaro is super strong, best of the best. And Shu hangs out with him in animal costumes calling him “Figgy.” Especially considering that we also know Figaro is a solo player who doesn’t join parties, for Shu to pal around with him as he does implies something about Shu’s own status within Dendro (which has also been hinted at in other ways, of course). I also thought the reveal that Figaro’s embryo was his in-game avatar’s heart was pretty cool — we’ve heard that embryos can be nearly anything, but Figgy’s is the most creative, outside-the-box one we’ve learned about so far.
stardf29: Yeah, that is definitely the most unique Embryo yet. I’d wonder what kind of Embryo it is but we know that there are more types of Embryos than the ones we’ve been told of, and his may very well be one of those special types.
As for Figaro himself, one thing about him is that he’s one of the most “pure gamer” players we’ve seen so far. Given his dedication to solo play, such that he doesn’t get involved in the country’s wars, and only resolves the player-killer incident earlier because it intrudes on his dueling interests, he actually makes for a contrast with Ray, at least as far as we know.
And yes, it’s definitely quite telling that Shu is so close to Figaro. I’ll say that, as of reading this volume I pretty much had Shu’s identity figured out with all the clues, but since it is still technically a spoiler at this point, I’ll have to bear with it a bit longer…
Gaheret: I rooted for Figaro during the battle. Insanely powerful as he was, his powers had a more human vibe, and as a local champion against the high authority of an Empire, he was the underdog. The heart embryo seemed more integrated and organic than the multiple arms of his opponent, and as taking your enemy’s heart is a very ugly tactic, it was poetic justice that this turned out to be the case. Aesthetically, he being up against faster-tan-eye tentacular, lethal arms and a power that can extract organs, resist, then fight back was a satisfying experience. About his character, I got the sense that he is a veteran around Shu’s age, and more of a wordler.
-----
What are your general thoughts on the side stories in this volume?
Jeskai Angel: It’s a ton of fun and I enjoyed reading it much more than the first half. The second half of the book is a pair of shorter stories about what Ray’s party members Rook and Marie were up to back in vol. 2 while Ray was off doing the whole Gouz-Maise thing. They turn out to be surprisingly heartwarming tales, as Rook befriends a cowardly slime and Marie befriends a little girl. Each story provides some excellent character develop for its lead, and really helps sell me on Lucius / Nagisa, err, Rook / Marie, being realistic, relatable people (especially Marie!). It’s also cool seeing the author show off the ability to narrate for an extended period in voices besides Ray’s. The way Rook narrates his story feels different than how Ray narrates in the main story, and Marie’s narration is likewise different.
stardf29: I really like these sorts of side stories that look at another character’s perspective in any story, so these short stories are great.
Gaheret: To be frank, I’m not sure they are a good idea. I enjoyed Marie’s, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had happened as a part of the main story: the hints, maybe an encounter with Princess Elizabeth or the nobleman as the protagonist looks for clues about the Death Shadow, an indirect conversation where she reveals the reason why. That sort of thing. I think the sense of mystery about this kind of character is better served by evocation sometimes. It works for me in the case of Shu, for example.
The assassin and the escape artist.
So with this volume, we get the big reveal that Marie is actually the Superior Killer. What do you make of this reveal?
Jeskai Angel: First, Marie’s constant jokes and pop culture references were great. I’d forgotten what a strong narrator Marie is, and now I really want a whole volume told from her perspective. The main story has dropped a number of hints that there’s more to Marie than meets the eye, so a revelation was inevitable. Knowing what goes on vol. 4, I think it was smart of the author to place Marie’s big reveal here, where it can stand out and be exciting on its own, rather than get, err, overshadowed… (see what I did there?) by all the other big things occurring in the next book. The manner of the reveal is also satisfying. Marie’s story keeps teasing us with an escalating series of hints; it’s obvious something is up but the reader is still left a bit uncertain about where this is going, and it’s cool to see all the clues finally come together. One fun hint that jumped out at me this time, that I overlooked on my first read, was that Marie mentions that she used to publish a manga about a female journalist, and that’s what her Dendro character is based on. Later, Marie mentions that it was a shounen manga. And you blink and think, wait, what kind of shounen manga stars a female journalist? The switch to the tian assassin’s narrative POV was also used quite well, facilitating a suitably dramatic reveal — “I’m not using a high-rank job.” We confirm that Marie is indeed the Batman…err, the “Superior Killer,” and get the fun surprise of learning she holds the Superior Job Death Shadow (a super ninja-assassin). This volume really did save the best for last.
Gaheret: I suspected something like that (not specifically the Death Shadow/Superior Killer, but something of the sort) since she recognized the status of Shu. As strange as the tought of a girl wearing a suit and sunglasses in a medieval-like world is, I like Marie´s perspective, focused in the character she wants to roleplay, which is also significant for her as an artist, and a cool, idealized superhero (I didn´t connected this much with Rook or Rook´s story, I must confess). She is more of a “wordler” than Ray, and that is enjoyable in itself: she is acting, he is not, and she finds that interesting. Her decision not to tell Ray of her identity to keep the game interesting makes sense from a gamer perspective, but I wonder if Ray would think the same.
That said, her ironic distance makes me wonder sometimes, as well as the cold-blooded demeanor with which she lets the paralyed killer explode in flames after taunting him, and the conversation between her and the depressed nobleman. In the first case, she may have been protecting the princess, but even so. He was harmless now, and she points out how he could have been put in custody by the guard. Even if one doesn´t believe (against all evidence, at this point) that these are real people, to take life-or-death decisions while roleplaying cannot be helpful. It is a fine line to walk.
Jeskai Angel: I got serious Batman vibes from Marie. She’s got a secret identity, she metes out vigilante justice to street thugs while dressed in dark clothing, and when Marie left the assassin to get blown up by his own bomb, it reminded me of how Ra’s al Ghul dies in the movie Batman Begins (watch the scene at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJCxgt7Qb6k). Ra’s and Batman are fighting aboard an out of control train (which Ra’s set up) that’s about to crash. Ra’s taunts Batman about whether he’s willing to “do what’s necessary” and kill him. Batman answers “I won’t kill you, but I don’t have to save you.” Then he jumps out of the train, leaving Ra’s to experience a fiery crash of deadly flaming death. Is Marie morally obligated to save the man who is actively trying to murder the princess and her from his own bomb (a bomb he set off trying to kill her)? It’s an interesting dilemma, one I don’t know has a clear answer. How far does the idea of loving one’s enemies go?
Gaheret: That’s an interesting question. I would say that when you can save an enemy from a deadly threat without personal risk, not doing so is equivalent to actively killing him. That is, it would be moral when he is a credible and deadly threat to oneself (given her abilities, he is not), or others (maybe this protects the princess?), or a war operative warring against one’s people (as he commands an army, I would say Ra’s fits here). Just as one may shoot a person in those cases, provided that there are no other feasible means to stop him, one may let them burn or explode.
In a medieval world, perhaps it would be also legit as a mean of execution, where there are not functioning authorities (or at the authorities command). As was done with pirates on the sea.
What seems troubling, in this case, is that she explicitly notes that he would be taken care of by the authorities, were not for his stupid act. Plus, she is a player, so I don’t think she has a right to self-defense, if we consider him an intelligent being. But she may not consider him so, as he is an IA. In sum, this world is quite a paradox.
stardf29: If you ask me, the fact that there was an activated bomb in play is more than enough of a threat of danger that I would say that no one in Marie’s position was morally obligated to save that person. I would also say that, even given that players don’t “die” when they are killed, they still have some right to self-defense. After all, the effective 72-hour lockout can be very crippling, especially if there is a tian the player is trying to protect. In this case, Marie is trying to protect the princess, and being out for three days could result in serious danger to said princess–to say nothing of the chaos Prof. Franklin is about to wreak.
But yeah, I believe it is not selfish to prioritize self-protection over risking your life to save someone, if you are in a position where you can potentially save more people by remaining alive. There may be specific cases where someone should risk their lives, but in this case, given that the choice is between remaining alive to protect someone important to the country and risking her life to save a random criminal, I didn’t even see any sort of moral quandary for Marie here.
As for Marie’s reveal in general, it is easily the highlight for me here. Not just in how well it was executed overall, but also how we get to see her own story, how she got into Dendro and how she got interested in Ray.
One interesting thing about her is how her approach in the game seems to be role-playing a particular character of hers, that is largely different from herself in real life. I know this is a popular way for some people to play games: rather than treating it completely like just a game or playing as an extension of themselves, they play as a way of bringing a separate character to life. I think that fits nicely somewhere in between the pure “gamers” of the world and those like Ray who see the world as real.
What are your thoughts on Rook and his side story?
Jeskai Angel: I don’t recall Rook being the subject of as much foreshadowing as Marie, so it makes sense that his story doesn’t have the same kind of major reveal that Marie’s does. If anything, Rook’s story itself serves a vehicle for dropping clues that there are hidden depths to this character. Reading about Rook’s efforts to tame the Mithril Arms Slime, I was struck by how influential The Lord of the Rings is. Tolkien’s fictional metal, originally found only the Mines of Moria (Khazad-dûm to all our dwarven readers), has since turned up in a surprising number of other worlds (including, in this instance, a Japanese work). I wondered if Rook’s penchant for naming his creature after famous actresses is just a joke from the author that implies nothing about Rook himself, or if Rook the character is in-story choosing to name all his monsters after actresses. It was also amusing to be reminded that Rook really does take after Ray a little, in terms of being super smart and observant sometimes, but in other cases (e.g., “Catherine”) seeming oblivious to the weirdness obvious to everyone around him.
stardf29: Rook’s story is definitely fun to see how he goes about his taming work. Also, I am quite amused and curious about his fear of mice… That has to have an interesting backstory to it.
Jeskai Angel: Regarding Rook’s mouse incident, it’s interesting how Babi comforts him, and he says it reminds him of his mother. That feels like potentially a hint about why Rook ended up with the embryo that he did.
Gaheret: I usually do like stories about the bond between master and beast, but not in this case. I guess that when I hear «slime», I do not associate it with the wilderness, the animal life and the balance between the animal nature and the Master’s nature that make the proccess of taming so enjoyable. I’m not a fan of the pimp, neither as a concept nor as it played out here. I like Rook just OK.
What do you think of Elizabeth, the young escape artist princess?
Jeskai Angel: Elizabeth was fun, and I’m impressed at how the translation was able to convey that she speaks in a manner both childish and formal at once. The way she talked really sold me on the idea that this is a person raised as a prim and proper princess…who’s also still a young kid. I wonder how much of that is on the author vs. the translator.
stardf29: Elizabeth definitely seems like the sort of royal girl who feels constrained by her upbringing and responsibility and just wants to get away from it all for a bit. And we really do get a feel for just how “realistic” her character is. I bring that last point up because this week’s episode of the other VRMMO anime, Bofuri, had an example of what NPC sidequests would normally be like, with the NPC spouting pre-programmed lines even when they don’t quite match what actually happened. So yeah, that was a nice reminder of what games are generally like, and by contrast, how realistic Dendrogram is.
Gaheret: On the other hand, I found Elizabeth to be a very interesting character (even if the concept was a bit formulaic, as Marie herself notes). Aside from her being a tian, I like stories about family and royalty, which entails responsibility, danger and also a legacy, and the different traits of the three princesses are enjoyable, while the politics are complicated enough to make this interesting. I liked her better for coming back on her own after the fun. He being in danger made the story feel relevant and urgent.
====
Thanks for joining us for our Light Novel Club discussion! Because of how this volume was, it ended up being mainly about the various characters, which I think is fine since Infinite Dendrogram has so many great characters. Let us know in the comments what you thought of these characters!
Next week, we will be announcing our next two titles, so look forward to that! Here’s a quick teaser of what our next titles will be:
– Definitely doesn’t drink Dos Equis
– Back to where it all started
See you next time!
#Light Novels#BtT Light Novel Club#Infinite Dendrogram#Articles#Author: stardf29#Author: JeskaiAngel#Author: Gaharet
1 note
·
View note
Text
The Signal
“Someone told me that the problem with youth is the inability to accept your own mortality. I wouldn't consider this one of my problems.” - The Signal
Real Name: Duke Thomas
Aliases:
Robin
Lark
Gender: Male
Height: 5′ 9″
Weight: 180 lbs (82 kg)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black
Powers:
Unique Physiology
Abilities:
Leadership
Indomitable Will
Martial Arts
Equipment:
Robin Costume
Unnamed Costume
Signal Armor
Motorcycle
Eskrima Stick
Nunchaku
Universe: Prime Earth
Base of Operations:
Gotham City
New Jersey
Citizenship: American
Parents:
Gnomon; father
Elaine Thomas; mother
Marital Status: Single
Occupation:
Student
Vigilante
First Appearance: Batman Vol 2 #21 (August, 2013)
Powers
Unique Physiology: Duke is a metahuman and is only beginning to understand his powers. Duke's physiology appears to be unique in comparison to other metahumans, amplifying their abilities in his presence. Gnomon claims Duke has his "infinite blood", implying Duke may potentially be immortal.
Photokinetic Vision: Duke has photo-kinetic powers that allow him to take in light through his eyes and manipulate the way he processes light. His eyes can absorb light faster than normal humans, see beyond the visible light spectrum and can detect changes or variations in light that other people can't. Particularly powerful forms of Nth metal can amplify his vision, allowing longer more vivid visions into the past and across dimensions, even hearing some audio.
Retrocognition: Duke can look back at the history of light in a room and see a few minutes of what happened before by looking at the "ghosts" of the light that hit the objects in the room.
Precognition: Duke can use his powers to not only see where light has been, he can also see where light will be to glimpse into the future. This gives Duke an edge in combat, being able to react faster to attacks and even catch projectiles in some cases.
Abilities
Leadership
Indomitable Will: Duke's proven himself to be an exceptionally strong willed individual.
Martial Arts
Eskrima
Stick Fighting
Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced): Duke started fighting without any training and demonstrated considerable skill.
Equipment
Robin Costume: After joining the We Are Robin movement, he was given a red leather jacket by the mysterious "Nest". The jacket proved to be bullet proof, even against multiple bullets at close range.
Unnamed Costume: When Duke went to live with Bruce Wayne, he was gifted a new yellow and black costume. It included a yellow helmet with a black bat-shaped visor.
Signal Armor: After training with Batman, Duke was given a upgraded version of his costume. The new suit is a slightly heavier plated version of his previous suit with some new technology updates. The suit has a reflective bat insignia that can blind or confuse an enemy as well as change color depending on lighting. His suit also has a built-in defensive electrical grid and a stealth mode that makes him invisible.
Motorcycle: Originally a yellow version of Batman's batcycle, Duke has upgraded to a more streamlined motorcycle that can also cloak itself with Duke's suit; rendering it completely invisible
Eskrima Stick: Duke's primary weapon of choice are a pair of modified Esckrima sticks that connect to function as nunchaku as well. The sticks come with spring loaded hatchet blades that allow them to be used as a grapple hook.
Nunchaku
History
Duke Thomas is a vigilante and a member of the Batman Family. He joined the We Are Robin movement and became one of hundreds of civilian teenagers to don the Robin R and fight for their city. Eventually, he would leave the movement and join the Batman Family officially as the vigilante called The Signal.
Origins
When the terrorist known as the Riddler shut off all the power in Gotham City, the madman challenged the city to get smart or die by natural selection during what would later be called the Zero Year. Riddler told the city that if anyone could ask him a riddle that he couldn't answer, he would restore power to Gotham. Duke, who was a confident student at the time, began to train his mind with brain teasers in anticipation of accepting the Riddler's challenge. Duke and Bruce Wayne met for the first time when the Thomas family rescued the unconscious billionaire when Hurricane Rene began its rampage on Gotham simultaneously during the Riddler's plot. Thanking Duke for his kindness, Wayne departed to take on the Riddler himself.
Several years later, the Joker had returned to Gotham with an endgame for Batman in mind. Figuring out the vigilante's secret identity, the Joker kidnapped Duke and his family and planned to recreate Bruce Wayne's parents' murders right in front of him using the Thomas family. Batman managed to rescue Duke from the murderer, but Duke's parents succumbed to the mind controlling gas Joker had released.
Becoming a Robin
After the events of Batman: Endgame, Duke was placed into the foster system. He became desperate to find his parents after it became apparent that the authorities were not making any progress in locating them. During his time in foster care, he went from an excellent student to having a heavy police file because of all of the fights he got into. Because of this, his temporary foster parent, Raymond Mendez, sent him back into the system.
Leslie Thompkins was placed in charge of his social case and tried to keep him from getting into trouble by reassuring him that the police were still looking for his parents and would find them. In the meantime, she asked him to stop picking fights and try to be respectful to his foster parents. She then placed him with Joanne and Roy Dawson, after telling him that police had found some of the Joker's toxin victims wandering in the sewer system. Joanne showed Duke around the dirty apartment, telling Duke that he would need to babysit the other kids and clean the bathroom. Then she left him alone for a few minutes to organize his things into a drawer in the bedroom.
Feeling guilty about letting Dr. Thompkins down, Duke climbed out the window and left the apartment behind in order to go search for his parents in the sewers. As he made his way to the sewers, he thought about his mother and how she was so clean in every part of his life. It made him sad to imagine her wandering the sewers because he knew that that meant she was extremely far gone on the Joker's toxin.
While in the sewers looking for his parents, Duke accidentally stumbled into an underground meeting of homeless people who had created a small city. There he overheard their plan to bomb different landmarks in Gotham, starting with the Hall of Records. Just after hearing this, he was discovered and attacked. Luckily, this was also when the Robins joined the fight to save him.
Together with the robins, Duke fought his way out of the sewers, only to lose consciousness after a blow to the head. When police came, the other robins were ordered by the mysterious "Nest" to abandon him and run. Reluctantly they did as they were told.
Duke awoke inside a police interrogation room. There a skinny man with facial hair and dark glasses asked him what he was willing to do in order to find his parents. When Duke expressed confusion and told the man that that was the police's job, the man left the room. After waiting and then getting frustrated, Duke tried the door handle only to find it unlocked. When he stepped out of the interrogation room, he realized that he was not in a police station at all, but actually inside an abandoned warehouse.
This was when he discovered the red biker jacket with a yellow R on the breast, atop a motorcycle. Inside the jacket, he found a cellphone.
We Are Robin
The cellphone in his new jacket instructed him to go to a new location where he met the robins who had saved him earlier. Together they found the bombs Duke had heard about, beneath the Hall of Record. Using instructions sent to their phones from a mysterious sender called the Nest, they were able to disable one of the bombs. The second bomb proved more difficult, however, as it was on a subway train track and they had to jump out of the way of trains every few moments.
Finally, the Nest instructed them to get on the next train and leave the second bomb there. However, one of the robins, Troy, refused to leave. Determined that he could disable the bomb himself, he stayed behind alone. As the others rode away, he was caught in the blast and killed instantly.
Robin War
After one of the robins was implicated in the shooting of a police officer and a robber in a convenience store, the We Are Robin movement comes under fire by the public. This leads to a member of the city council, Councilwoman Noctua, implementing the Robin Laws. The Robin Laws made it illegal for anyone in Gotham to wear robin paraphernalia and encouraged police to stop and detain anyone who might be a Robin.
Training with Batman
Once Bruce Wayne returned to the mantle of Batman after he had previously lost his memory, the Bat offered Duke a position as his new protege, which the boy accepted under the condition that he not become just another Robin. Handing him a yellow suit instead, Batman agreed to teach him as something else.
Beginning their training together in what Alfred would call the "Cursed Wheel", Batman taught Duke the basics of becoming a professional vigilante by first following a string of murders committed by Victor Zsasz. Though Duke was injured in the process, he learned an important lesson about the psychology of criminals and who he was as a hero.
The "wheel" was forced to turn faster, according to Alfred, when Duke was thrust into a real adventure after Two-Face's return. Having heard a rumor of a cure that could fix him, Two-Face simultaneously fought and befriended Batman and Duke as they tried to locate the cure together, with a hoard of assassins on their tail. Once the adventure ended, Duke was commended for his actions in his first real mission.
Continuing his training under the Cursed Wheel program, Batman and Duke tried to investigate how the Riddler was managing to terrorize the city from his cell in Arkham to celebrate the anniversary of the Zero Year. Following the clues, Duke discovered that the Riddler had secretly allied himself with Duke's former friend and the original Mister Bloom - Daryl Gutierrez, Daryl being the conduit for Riddler's schemes. Together, Duke and Batman saw that the two villains were stopped.
Dark Nights: Metal
While Batman investigated the mysteries of Nth Metal, Duke and Hal Jordan attempted to decode the clues that the Bat had collected and stored in the Batcave, only to discover that Bruce had captured and hidden the Joker there too. Accidentally freeing the madman, the Joker revealed he knew more about the mystery and that he knew that Duke was actually a metahuman before vanishing from the cave entirely.
Fun Facts
Duke Thomas is dating Isabella Ortiz.
#the signal#signal#duke thomas#robin#lark#batman family#outsiders#we are robin#dc#DC comics#thedcdunce
6 notes
·
View notes
Text
Personal Genomics: The Latest “DIY” Trend
By Amanda Piccininni, Florida State University Class of 2020
March 2, 2019
With the rise of companies such as AncestryDNA and 23andMe the idea of taking your health and family history into one’s own hands is enticing for many; tracing not only one’s family lineage but also identifying potential genetic health risks passed down generationally can be helpful in developing a more proactive and healthy lifestyle. While in theory this sounds like a positive tool that one can use to better their own life and chances at staying in peak health, there are quite a few serious and concerning factors that come along with these personal tests. Concerns regarding the validity of results, the fear of genetic discrimination, and the new, controversial technique “familial searching” law enforcement are several of the most prominent issues today. This technology being relatively new means that we have yet to see many of these issues come to fruition or play out in court, yet these are still valid concerns that users of these at home genomic tests have raised, and other implications that potential users should be made aware of.
Law enforcement is becoming one of the main reasons that we hear about the usefulness of these personal genomic tests, recently they have aided law enforcement to prosecute people for previously thought “cold cases”. The most notable case of this being the “Grim Sleeper” case in which police used “familial searching” to find a close relative and DNA match. The Grim Sleeper had never been arrested and therefore his DNA had never been entered into a database meaning it was impossible for police to find his identity. However, this all changed when his son got arrested and they swabbed his DNA they found that it matched what evidence they had for the Grim Sleeper almost perfectly. [4] While this seems like it was an undeniable success, this familial DNA searching remains controversial and is proving a great obstacle even in the courtroom. Familial searching differs from a traditional DNA database search in that it looks for potential matches, with the help of partial DNA matches, not exact ones [1]. The defense uses this to help their case by claiming that this is not reliable enough evidence, and this may in fact prove a winning strategy. Michael Ursy exemplifies the errors that can accompany this familial searching technique, when his father’s DNA was tested and found to be a partial match to the DNA sample they had recovered from an unsolved murder his male relatives became the main suspects in the case. When Ursy voluntarily gave his DNA to a nonprofit research institution, which was later acquired by Ancestry DNA [5] the police ordered Ancestry to hand over Ursy’s information and then required Ursy to submit a DNA sample to them with the force of a search warrant [5]. Ursy felt like a criminal for weeks while the sample was being tested, in the end the DNA conclusively came back as a no matcha and it proved it would have been impossible for Ursy to have committed the crime. This shows that while familial searching may seem to be a winning technique in theory, there have also been numerous cases in which it was simply wrong. These two cases show opposing outcomes, both the successes and failures of this new familial searching technique. This has become an increasingly controversial practice, calling into question the accuracy of partial DNA matches, and whether or not they are reliable enough to use in cases as serious as murder investigations. As more and more cases play out, the legitimacy of this technique will be determined in future court cases.
Another huge concern specific to the legal realm is that of genetic discrimination, naturally when a company codes and stores your genetic, personal data there are a variety of worries that arise. One of the most frightening is the idea that if that information somehow becomes public employers and insurance agencies will be able to use someone’s proclivity for a certain disorder and use it against them in terms of the cost of insurance, and whether or not they will be hired. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (or GINA) was instituted to combat these exact things, specifically to ease the worries of people thinking about getting genetic testing but holding back for fear of such discrimination from employers and insurers. However, not everything is covered within GINA it “does not limit the use of genetic information in determinations of life, disability, or long-term care insurance” [1]. There is also a provision under the Affordable Care Act, called the “Preserving Employee Wellness Act” in which employers are able to make their employees choose between taking a DNA test or paying a higher insurance rate [1]. This is concerning for obvious reasons, it would greatly diminish the restrictions on genetic testing and would have the ability to increase health insurance up to 50% for those employees who are against sharing their personal information with their employers, or for those whose results show certain mutations or increased risk of certain diseases. What makes this even more dangerous is the fact that many of these at home tests can be completely inaccurate, results are based on estimates [3] and certified doctors are not consulted in these processes [2]. There is also a danger that accompanies informing an individual that they have an incredibly high chance for a life-threatening disease without providing them with a doctor’s opinion on how best to prevent the disease, or how to be proactive can result in an individual taking matters into their own hands without proper information which may result in even more dangerous outcomes.
In summation there are advantages to personal genetic tests; they are more affordable and accessible to more people today than ever before, and have also aided law enforcement in solving previously thought “cold cases”. However, along with these advantages there are numerous worries, accuracy and privacy being the most prominent. There is always the threat of someone hacking a company’s database and releasing genetic information to everyone which also calls into question the idea of genetic discrimination. While GINA has been implemented, there are still loopholes within the legislation that allow for genetic data to be accessed. The validity of these tests have also been called into question recently, how seriously should one take their results? The decision of whether or not to take an at home genomic test is a personal one yet all of the pros and cons should be considered beforehand, while it may seem as simple as spitting into a tube there are a myriad of consequences that may arise even in the future.
________________________________________________________________
1. Dohn, Michael. “Personal Genomics and Genetic Discrimination: Is Increased Access a Good Thing?” Western State Law Review, vol. 45, no. 2, 2017, pp. 107–132. HeinOnline, edshol.hein.journals.wsulr45.9.
2. Lee, Sandra Soo-Jin. “Social Networking in the Age of Personal Genomics.” Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy, vol. 3, no. 1, 2009, pp. 41–60. HeinOnline, heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/sljhlp3&div=6.
3. Baron, Ethan. “DNA Spit Kits: 23andMe's Ancestry Results 'Most Confounding,' New Report Says.” Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 17 Jan. 2018, www.chicagotribune.com/bluesky/technology/ct-dna-kits-23andme-20180117-story.html.
4. Gerber, Marisa. “Grim Sleeper Defense Says DNA in Some Cases Points to Another Suspect.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 14 Dec. 2014, www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-grim-sleeper-20141215-story.html.
5. Jim Mustian. “New Orleans Filmmaker Cleared in Cold-Case Murder; False Positive Highlights Limitations of Familial DNA Searching.” The Advocate, The Advocate, 12 Mar. 2015, www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/news/article_1b3a3f96-d574-59e0-9c6a-c3c7c0d2f166.html.
6. “Genetic Discrimination Fact Sheet.” National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), www.genome.gov/10002328/genetic-discrimination-fact-sheet/#al-6.
Photo Credit: Jon Callas from San Jose, USA
0 notes
Text
Bookshelf Briefs 9/10/20
BL Metamorphosis, Vol. 2 | By Kaori Tsurutani | Seven Seas – The balance in this series is nearly perfect. You’d expect, given the premise, that there would be more focus on Ichinoi, and we do get a lot about her current life, her classes she teaches, meeting her daughter, etc. But Urara’s side of the equation is just as strong—she’s not simply there to introduce her elderly friend to the world of BL, as this isn’t that kind of series. The two enjoy discussing their passion for the work, but also find out more about each other, come see each other for other reasons, etc. Urara’s teenage friendships also permeate the volume, and the best exchange in it may be Eri hearing Urara call herself “nobody” and taking it personally, as she knows who her boyfriend really likes. Fantastic stuff. – Sean Gaffney
Bloom Into You, Vol. 8 | By Nakatani Nio | Seven Seas – With the emotional climax of the series coming at the end of the last volume, it’s tempting to simply call this an epilogue, but that isn’t quite right, as Touko and Yuu still have to negotiate the boundaries of their new relationship. To some (Sayaka), they’re really obvious, but not everyone knows about it. Moreover, how physical do the two of them want to get? (Turns out, they do want to get physical.) We then get a flash forward seeing them relatively happy, as well as the fate of some others. (Sayaka has a girlfriend, as you will find out if you read the third novel about her life.) Overall, this did not go quite in the directions I was expecting, but it improved with each volume, and I greatly enjoyed it by the end. – Sean Gaffney
I Love You So Much, I Hate You | By Yuni | Yen Press – As always, very happy to see a yuri manga that’s not about girls in high school with their touching first romance. Fujimura is an up-and-coming office worker. Asano is her hard-working, driven boss. They are secretly having an affair—Asano is married—and trying to keep things as “just a casual thing.” Unfortunately, events conspire against them, both externally (another office couple is caught and one of them resigns) and internal (their growing love for each other). The tension between the two leads is the main reason to read the book, and it feels quite real—though there’s not quite as much of the ‘I’m dating my boss’ power issues as I’d expected. If you’re looking for a solid portrayal of an adult couple, this is a good choice. – Sean Gaffney
Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 8 | By Tomohito Oda | Viz Media – This volume has the school trip, something Komi hasn’t done before (last time her class did it she didn’t go due to communication issues). Fortunately, she has Tadano with her this time. UNfortunately, the groups for the trip are segregated by sex, so she’s going to have to be on her own most of the trip, with two of the lesser-known cast members alongside her. We get to know those two, and their awkwardness but try-hard attitude around Komi, and as you’d expect the results are mostly heartwarming—a good time is had by all. She even gets a quiet moment with Tadano towards the end. This is a manga that knows exactly the mood it wants to set, a balance between funny and touching. – Sean Gaffney
The Man on the Other Side | By Poteto Ueno | Futekiya (digital only) – Takuma Sano is a rather boring salaryman who has trouble connecting with people. The only friend he has is “S,” a Twitter follower whom he hasn’t met in five years of chatting. Finally, S proposes a meetup and turns out to be Sayaka Narumi, a popular and handsome actor. They both want to become friends, but their relationship is hampered by Sano’s profound social awkwardness—I love how Ueno doesn’t depict him as shy or withdrawn, just oblivious to social cues—and Narumi’s paranoia, after having recently been in the tabloids, that Sano is going to blab. This is a very chaste title with only a couple of smooches, and the big payoff comes when they can both finally clearly communicate their feelings. I enjoyed it, and was particularly amused that a photograph of (presumably) roasted chicken served as a sort of bat signal for the couple. Recommended. – Michelle Smith
Our Wonderful Days, Vol. 3 | By Kei Hamuro | Seven Seas – I think I forgot to brief the second volume of this, and now it’s come to an end with the third. The series does a good job of showing us exactly what a series like K-On! or Lucky Star would be if it had genuine yuri in it instead of tease. Mafuyu and Koharu grow closer as a couple, thanks mostly to some nicely surreal dream imagery, but the series seems to be more dedicated to everyday life with friends than budding romances. Which is fine, as the friendships here are great, particularly the beta couple Nana and Minori—though the gag at the end shows off that those two aren’t actually a couple after all. (Honestly, given Nana’s brain, they may just not be aware of it.) This won’t be in a top-ten list, but it’s cute. – Sean Gaffney
Primitive Boyfriend, Vol. 2 | By Yoshineko Kitafuku | Seven Seas – After the first volume returned our heroine to the present, I wasn’t expecting to go back to the caveman era quite so soon. But most of this second volume has Mito once again bopping around the jungles and plains, sent back there to find Garhi. She runs into another primitive man, and manages to befriend him in much the same way, while also getting herself into peril, etc. Naturally, it turns out that she’s way in the future, and that this man may be Garhi’s descendant. She ends up back in the present at the end, and the implication is that she has to find Garhi’s soul in someone in modern times. Will it be one of her many potential boyfriends? We’ll know soon; this ends with the third book. – Sean Gaffney
Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts, Vol. 10 | By Yu Tomofuji | Yen Press – Well, we couldn’t go too far without another kidnapping, and that’s what we get here, with our favorite sacrificial heroine allowing herself to become a hostage to save the rest of the boat. That’s not something that can stand, and while the king is (for now) restrained, several are coming to her rescue, including the former villainous chancellor. There’s a lot in this series about vows of loyalty overriding most other reasons, and I really liked Sariphi showing her mettle against her captor, indicating that gifts and luxuries are nothing without the feeling behind it. This feels like it’s going to be wrapping up soon, but this is a typically strong volume, and an underrated series. – Sean Gaffney
Venus in the Blind Spot | By Junji Ito | Viz Media – I’m always glad for a new volume of Ito’s manga to be released, so it shouldn’t be surprising that I was looking forward to Venus in the Blind Spot, a “best of best” collection. The anthology brings together ten of Ito’s short manga as well as a small selection of illustrations, a few but not all of which have previously been released in English translation. It’s an interesting mix of stories ranging from original tales of horror to adaptations of work by other authors, including two which are based on stories by Edogawa Ranpo (“The Human Chair” and “An Unearthly Love”). As a fan of Ranpo, I was particularly excited to read these, but I was also especially delighted to discover the inclusion of one of Ito’s autobiographical pieces (“Master Umezz and Me”). Ito’s short masterpiece “The Enigma of Amigara Fault” is here, too, adding to an already great collection. – Ash Brown
Waiting for Spring, Vol. 13 | By Anashin | Kodansha Comics – Mitsuki and Asakura-kun officially became a couple in the previous volume, so now it’s time for Ryuji and Nanase to sort out their status. Although Waiting for Spring doesn’t do anything unexpected with its plotting, I do like how it focuses on communication issues for these couples, with Mitsuki somewhat troubled by Asakura’s perpetually calm exterior and Nanase worried about the age difference and the things that will be new for Ryuji that aren’t new for her. You never feel like either pairing is in actual jeopardy, but there will be things that they will have to talk through together. We also see Mitsuki successfully deliver a heartfelt speech to the incoming first-year students. The main story ends here, but there will be one more volume, featuring bonus stories and an epilogue. Anashin hasn’t started a new series yet, but I look forward to reading more by her someday. – Michelle Smith
With a Dog AND a Cat, Every Day Is Fun, Vol. 1 | By Hidekichi Matsumoto | Vertical Comics – This manga is mostly presented as a series of two-page strips. On the first page, Inu-kun, Matsumoto-sensei’s dog, will be full of innocence and energy on a given topic, and on the second page, Neko-sama, the cat, will be… a cat. Topics include things like laptime jealousy, bathroom visitors, the pets trying to cheer up Matsumoto-sensei, etc. I definitely snickered at a few different things, but wasn’t prepared to end up sniffling, too. The story about Matsumoto’s previous dog and how a friend’s comment revived happy memories that had long been obscured by sad ones really got to me, as did the part about lingering regrets affecting how a person interacts with pets who yet live. I know exactly how that feels. So, yes, it was the sad bits that really won me over in the end, but the cuteness is undeniably beguiling, as well. – Michelle Smith
By: Ash Brown
0 notes
Text
Climate change: Making or not making air pollution in America worse?
There are three distinct possibilities:
There is evidence that climate change has altered the concentration or level of pollution in air
The evidence of the effect climate change has on the concentration or level of pollution in air is lacking
Climate change has no influence on pollution in air period
The American Lung Association seems to support the position that not only is climate change real but air pollution in America has been made worse on account of it.
“The 21st annual ‘State of the Air’ report finds that climate change continues to make air pollution worse, with many western communities again experiencing record-breaking spikes in particle pollution due to wildfires,” the association notes1.
Though the intensities and numbers of wildland fires domestically may be on the rise, what proof is there that climate change is at the root of this added activity?
“When it comes to air quality, changing climate patterns fuel wildfires and their dangerous smoke, and lead to worsened particle and ozone pollution,” the lung association added.
Though the above statement may be contextually true, does that offer as definitive, unequivocal proof that air pollution has been made worse on account of climate change directly?
Worth noting, meanwhile, is that six, count them, six air pollutant emissions, 1970 through 2018, have been in steady retreat2.
Rising CH4, CO2
It is no secret that carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has in recent times been on the incline. Its concentration worldwide has reached an average in air of over 410 parts per million. It’s also no mystery that other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions like methane (CH4), for example, have too.
Methane, a potent GHG, happens to also be a pollutant emission. Global warming in recent times, many believe, is a direct consequence of the recent uptick in atmospheric concentration of CO2, CH4 and other GHGs. Much of that increase, meanwhile, is owed to human activity in the form of fossil-fuel burning.
But, couldn’t it equally be as well that, due to the earth being hotter, at least some of the increase in the level of atmospheric CO2 and CH4 has come about on account of the release of CO2 and CH4 through melting-permafrost release?
What this would suggest is that it is not necessarily climate change but instead global warming behind what’s driving, in this case, the melted permafrost-based CO2 and CH4 emissions release. Though climate change and global warming may be related constructs, they are not one and the same thing.
Carbon dioxide domes
There is such a thing known as CO2 domes. And what are they?
These are just as the name implies: Effectively ginormous bubbles encapsulating cities mainly, under which sits high amounts of carbon dioxide gas. Pollutants get trapped underneath and this could have a devastating health effect.
In 2010 a study3 showed that ratios of mixing of atmospheric CO2 are typically less elevated over rural areas than what they are over municipalities4. Also found was that said domes can affect both ozone and particle pollution due to feedbacks to such meteorological conditions as aerosolized H2O, breezes, rain and more5.
With this knowledge the thinking is that regulating carbon dioxide in the atmospheric in a manner not unlike to that of other pollutant emissions such as ozone and particulate matter, for example, this could have a crossover effect in that a reduction in local CO2 emissions could mean such could go a long way in helping to facilitate the cleanup of other emissions6, say, city-produced criteria air pollutants, for example. As another potential benefit, in areas where polluted air is a contributing factor in morbidity and early death7, by controlling emissions of CO2, such action taken could translate into declines in said conditions.
Possible changing mitigation implications
And, here’s something else to think about.
Thinking that air pollution is made worse by climate change, such could have profound implications in terms of mitigation. So, maybe, rather than air pollution per se getting equal time mitigation-wise, say, all of a sudden the main combative effort deals solely with eliminating anthropogenically-induced climate change.
In the upcoming sequel that idea is to be discussed much more in-depth.
Notes
“Nearly Half of U.S. Breathing Unhealthy Air; Record-breaking Air Pollution in Nine Western Cities,” Apr. 21, 2020 American Lung Association press release
American Lung Association, State of the Air 2020 report, Fig. 1, p. 6
Mark Z. Jacobson, “Enhancement of Local Air Pollution and Urban CO2 Domes,” Environmental Science Technology, 2010, Vol. 44, pp. 2497-2502 https://ift.tt/3ktFRkp
Ibid, p. 2497
Ibid, p. 2501
Ibid
Ibid
Images: NOAA (upper); Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (lower)
Published by Alan Kandel
source https://alankandel.scienceblog.com/2020/08/09/climate-change-making-or-not-making-air-pollution-in-america-worse/
0 notes
Text
Midterm Project - iPhone and its Distractibility
Technology has developed to become an integral part of our lives. Almost every college student has a smartphone and a laptop – and almost every college student finds themselves distracted by non-essential things on these devices. For my project, the salient social identity I am focusing on is people around the age range of 18-24, which generally aligns with the ages of college students. A report focusing on cell-phone addiction in college undergraduates says that the students used their phones for an average of 8.7 hours a day (Roberts). A study done in Brazil shows that each 100 minutes spent using their phones per day corresponded to a reduction in the student’s ranking by about 6 points (Felisoni).
iPhone is a brand of smartphone released by Apple, a technology company. An iPhone is a device that has the calling and texting capabilities of a traditional cell phone (“flip-phones”, or the infamous and indestructible old Nokia phones). What is different about smartphones is internet access and large storage space to basically make it an all-in-one device. A phone is no longer just for calling and texting, but it is also a camera, a heart rate monitor, a notepad and more. Books, videos, social media, television, music, research papers, games, and so much more can be accessed on iPhones. The Wi-Fi chip and antenna inside the phone are what allows it to connect to the internet. There is also a memory card inside the phone (Chafkin).
The first iPhone was introduced in June 2007 in America. The international releases were staggered over the next two years. The iPhone was/is designed in California but built in China. In China, Business Insider says that iPhones could be built by coal workers (Leswing).
iPhones are mostly used for social and personal purposes, although they can be used for work-related things as well since there are apps for G-Suite and Microsoft Office. Social media and personal entertainment are the most widespread uses of the iPhone. Common social media apps are Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat. Personal entertainment apps include YouTube, Hulu, Reddit, and Netflix.
Right off the bat, I have listed 8 apps that have major potential for distraction. In fact there are terms like ‘YouTube hole’ that literally refer to the act of going onto YouTube with the intention to watch one video, but then continuing to watch more and more videos because YouTube’s algorithms have succeeded in tempting you to watch new content.
The overload of stimulation coming from an iPhone has greater implications. A systematic review of over 100 different sources concluded that there are direct relationships between phone usage and depression and anxiety, as well as stress and low self-esteem (Elhai). The well-being, or “quality of life” (MacCabe), of people is what can be at stake which is why this problem is widely relevant.
Young people have the greatest online presence and are more likely to have profiles on many media platforms, which makes them a bigger target as consumers, but also makes them more likely to experience the negative effects of a smartphone. The more apps that are downloaded on a phone, the more notifications are going to show up. Every notification we get triggers a dopamine release in our brain, so the feeling of receiving texts from our friends and likes on our posts now becomes addictive. The brain will begin to crave more and will seek out more opportunities to have that dopamine released. This can have disproportionate effects on young adults that already have addictive tendencies.
Within the 18-24 age group, I also want to mention differences in the salient social identity of ability. There are people who have ADD, ADHD, a variety of learning and writing disabilities, and other mental illnesses. The issues that surround attention deficit disorders and iPhones is clear with respect to ability to focus. However, there is also research suggesting that people with ADD and ADHD also have reward deficiency syndrome, meaning the baseline levels of dopamine in their bodies is lower than normal, therefore the craving for dopamine is increased leading to a greater chance of smartphone addiction (Blum).
Younger generations are more technologically forward since we have grown up with digital devices whereas we notice our grandparents are not as fluent and up to date with technology (generally speaking). The age bias actually goes both ways; younger people are more susceptible to be distracted by their phones, but that same device can be too complex for an older person to even operate.
Currently, there are a few in-app features and iPhone features that can help people limit the time they spend on their phone. The Instagram app allows you to set a daily timer to tell you when you’ve spent a certain amount of time on the app. In iPhone settings you can set time limits for any app on your phone. When you open the app, a message telling you that you have reached your daily limit is presented. While this is a good idea, it is super easy to override. You simply need to tap “ignore limit” and you will have access to the app again.
The solution that I propose is the ability to completely disable apps. When one opens their Screen Time settings, they should be able to select which apps they want to temporarily disable. Once disabled, these apps should not appear on the home screen. This would be more effective because the temptation to even click on the app is removed. During finals, it is common amongst students to delete certain apps to avoid the distraction (‘out of sight, out of mind’). This feature should be highly customizable so it can be used in other circumstances. For example, I could create a specific setting for myself called “study mode” so that when I enable that setting it disables social media and entertainment apps. I could also create a customized “relaxation mode” where I disable texts and social media, so I can spend time alone watching Netflix or reading a book. The option to set timers for how long the iPhone stays in this mode should be available. Of course, it would be easy to simply go onto the settings app and turn the mode off, but I believe the extra step of having to open your settings rather than being able to override directly from an app is an added deterrent. An optional addition could be requiring extra slightly tedious steps to override the settings before the time is up. This feature is inspired by an alarm clock app that would require me to do math problems before it turned off because this made it less likely for me to fall back asleep.
My interviewee was Frank Yeon, a third-year student at New York University majoring in Physics and Mechanical Engineering. Frank says he needs to make it a point to stay off his phone, otherwise he will get distracted. He said he had tried on his own to reduce and control the amount of time he spends on his phone but struggles to do so and eventually gives up. When I told him about my solution, he agreed that it was a good idea and is something he would use because the idea of his phone actually helping with time management rather than inhibiting his ability to manage his time is appealing. He particularly enjoyed the proposed idea of being able to have multiple settings for different needs. “The more customizable my phone is, the better,” he said. However, he does not necessarily agree that Apple needs to take responsibility for the distractibility of their devices and does not expect to see a feature like this being released soon. He mentioned that he would download an app created by someone else that allows the same control if Apple did not give him that solution.
A problems= with the solution that I have proposed is that the people who work at Apple may not want to implement a feature that will clearly reduce phone usage because they want their consumers to continuously use their products. Apple may say that it is the responsibility of the user to manage their own time. Another issue that will come up is how difficult it should be to override the disabling or limiting of an app. It is important that the consumer not feel as if they are losing control of their phone while trying to gain control of their time. This is why I brought up high customizability has a key feature of the phone, but even high customizability can be an issue because the feature becomes too intricate for it to be intuitive, which is an important part of iPhones. In the words of Steve Jobs, “technology alone is not enough – it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with humanities, that yields the results that make our heart sing.”
Bibliography
Blum, Kenneth, et al. “Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder and Reward Deficiency Syndrome.” Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, Dove Medical Press, Oct. 2008, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2626918/.
Chafkin, Max, and Ian King. “What's Inside All the IPhones?” Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, 12 Oct. 2017, www.bloomberg.com/features/apple-iphone-guts/.
Elhai, Jon D., et al. “Problematic Smartphone Use: A Conceptual Overview and Systematic Review of Relations with Anxiety and Depression Psychopathology.” Journal of Affective Disorders, Elsevier, 2 Oct. 2016, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165032716303196.
Felisoni, Daniel Darghan, and Alexandra Strommer Godoi. “Cell Phone Usage and Academic Performance: An Experiment.” Computers & Education, Pergamon, 26 Oct. 2017, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131517302324.
MacCabe, Colin Yanacek Holly. Keywords For Today: a 21st Century Vocabulary. OXFORD UNIV Press, 2018.
Roberts, James, et al. “The Invisible Addiction: Cell-Phone Activities and Addiction among Male and Female College Students.” Journal of Behavioral Addictions, vol. 3, no. 4, 26 Aug. 2014, pp. 254–265., doi:10.1556/jba.3.2014.015.
0 notes
Text
Full text: Watergate’s John Dean gives statement on potential Trump obstruction
New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/full-text-watergates-john-dean-gives-statement-on-potential-trump-obstruction/
Full text: Watergate’s John Dean gives statement on potential Trump obstruction
Former White House Counsel John Dean, who was a key figure in the Watergate scandal, arrives to testify before the House Judiciary Committee as the panel seeks to compare the investigations during President Richard Nixon’s administration and that of President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill Monday. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo
John Dean’s statement to the House Judiciary Committee on June 10, 2019, as prepared for delivery.
Chairman Nadler, Ranking Member Collins, the last time I appeared before your committee was July 11, 1974, during the impeachment inquiry of President Richard Nixon. Clearly, I am not here as a fact witness. Rather I accepted the invitation to appear today because I hope I can give a bit of historical context to the Mueller Report.
Story Continued Below
In many ways the Mueller Report is to President Trump what the so-called Watergate “Road Map” (officially titled “Grand Jury Report and Recommendation Concerning Transmission of Evidence to the House of Representatives”) was to President Richard Nixon. Stated a bit differently, Special Counsel Mueller has provided this committee a road map.
The Mueller Report, like the Watergate Road Map, conveys findings, with supporting evidence, of potential criminal activity based on the work of federal prosecutors, FBI investigators, and witness testimony before a federal grand jury. The Mueller Report explains – in Vol. II, p. 1 – that one of the reasons the Special Counsel did not make charging decisions relating to obstruction of justice was because he did not want to “potentially preempt [the] constitutional processes for addressing presidential misconduct.” The report then cites at footnote 2: “See U.S. CONST. ART. I § 2, cl. 5; § 3, cl. 6; cf. OLC Op. at 257-258 (discussing relationship between impeachment and criminal prosecution of a sitting President).”
Today, you are focusing on Volume II of the report. Neither of the two volumes are formally titled, but the first sentence of the second paragraph, on page 1 of Volume II states it’s focus: “Beginning in 2017, the President of the United States took a variety of actions towards the ongoing FBI investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election and related matters that raised questions about whether he had obstructed justice.” Volume II concludes on page 182: “[I]f we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state.” However, the Special Counsel’s office was unable to reach that conclusion, so the report neither alleges criminal behavior by the president nor, as the report states, does it “exonerate him.” (SEE MUELLER REPORT, VOL. II, PP. 1 AND 182.)
I would like to address a few of the remarkable parallels I find in the Mueller Report that echo Watergate, particularly those related to obstruction of justice. And I hasten to add that I learned about obstruction of justice the hard way, by finding myself on the wrong side of the law.
The examples that follow are illustrative rather than exhaustive, and before turning to obstruction of justice, I must make brief mention of the underlying events to place the material in context:
MUELLER REPORT VOLUME I: The underlying crimes were a Russian “active measures” social media campaign and hacking/dumping operations, which Mueller describes as a “sweeping and systematic” effort to influence our 2016 presidential election. The targets of the hacking were the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign, from which information was stolen and released to harm the Clinton campaign and in turn would help the Trump campaign.
WATERGATE: In 1972, the underlying crime was a bungled break-in, illicit photographing of private documents and an attempt to bug the telephones and offices of the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, with plans to do likewise that same night with Nixon’s most likely Democratic opponent Senator George McGovern, which because of the arrests of five men at the Watergate, did not happen.
~ ~ ~
MUELLER REPORT VOLUME I: The Mueller Reports finds no illegal conspiracy, or criminal aiding and abetting, by candidate Trump with the Russians.
WATERGATE: I am aware of no evidence that Nixon was involved with or had advance knowledge of the Watergate break-in and bugging, or the similar plans for Senator McGovern.
Yet events in both 1972 and 2016 resulted in obstruction of the investigations. (See U.S. VS. HALDEMAN, 559 F.2D 31 (D.C. CIR. 1976); AND “IMPEACHMENT OF RICHARD NIXON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,” REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY (WASHINGTON, D.C: GOV. PRINTING OFFICE, 1974); AND SPECIAL COUNSEL ROBERT S. MUELLER, III, “REPORT ON THE INVESTIGATION INTO RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE IN THE 2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION,” VOLUMES I AND II (WASHINGTON, D.C: GOV. PRINTING OFFICE, 2019).
OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE
In both situations the White House Counsel was implicated in the coverup activity. While I was an active participant in the coverup for a period of time, there is absolutely no information whatsoever that Trump’s White House Counsel, Don McGahn, participated in any illegal or improper activity – to the contrary, there is evidence he prevented several obstruction attempts. But there is no question Mr. McGahn was a critical observer of these activities. Mr. McGahn is the most prominent fact witness regarding obstruction of justice cited in the Mueller Report. He is mentioned in the report on 529 occasions, and based on the footnotes he was interviewed at various lengths by the FBI on not less than 9 occasions: July 24, 2015, December 11, 2015 and April 1, 2016 (thus three occasions before Mr. Trump was elected), and July 7, 2017, January 19, 2018, February 16, 2018, March 2, 2018, October 22, 2018, and March 20, 2019 (and on six occasions after Mr. Trump was elected). This is based on my count of FBI 302 reports cited in the Mueller Report.
The Mueller Report also refers to corroboration of McGahn as a witness in that he made contemporaneous notes on occasions (e.g., MUELLER RPT, VOL. II, P.117); McGahn discussed matters with others (e.g. Eisenberg, MUELLER RPT, VOL. II, P. 32); his chief of staff Annie Donaldson made contemporaneous notes of McGahn’s conversations with the president (e.g., MUELLER RPT, VOL. II, P. 52), and McGahn is the only witness that the Special Counsel expressly labels as reliable, calling McGahn “a credible witness with no motive to lie or exaggerate given the position he held in the White House.” (MUELLER RPT, VOL. II, P. 88.)
A few specific examples of the Mueller findings and the Watergate parallels (HEADER CITES ARE TO VOLUME II):
MUELLER REPORT RE MICHAEL FLYNN (PP. 24-48): When President Trump learned that his National Security Advisor Michael Flynn lied to the FBI and others about his telephone conversations with the Russian Ambassador to the United States regarding U. S. sanctions imposed because of Russia’s election interference, he met with FBI Director James Comey at a private White House dinner and asked for Comey’s loyalty. The day following Flynn’s resignation, President Trump in a one-on-one Oval Office conversation with Director Comey said, “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go.”
WATERGATE: In a like situation, when President Nixon learned of his re-election committee’s involvement in the Watergate break-in, he instructed his Chief of Staff, H. R. Haldeman, to have the CIA ask the FBI not to go any further into the investigation of the breakin for bogus national security reasons. The Oval Office exchange between the President and Haldeman was on June 23, 1972, six days after the after the arrests at the Watergate complex. The words Nixon used were strikingly like those uttered by President Trump. Nixon said, “And, ah, because these people are playing for keeps, . . .they should call the FBI and say that we wish for the country, don’t go any further into this case, period. And that destroys the case.”
~ ~ ~
MUELLER REPORT RE TERMINATION OF COMEY (PP. 62-77): President Trump called Director Comey multiple times, against the advice of Don McGahn, to have him confirm that he, Trump, was not personally under investigation. Mr. Trump asked Comey to “lift the cloud” of the Russia investigation by saying so to the public. After Comey’s testimony to Congress on May 3, 2017, in which he declined to answer questions about whether the President was personally under investigation, the President decided to terminate Comey. The White House dissembled on the reason for firing Comey, but President Trump later admitted in a television interview that he made the decision because “the thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story.” Mr. Trump made similar remarks to visiting Russians in Oval Office.
WATERGATE: The Comey firing echoes Nixon’s firing of Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox in the infamous “Saturday Night Massacre” in October 1973. Cox had been appointed after President Nixon fired his Attorney General Richard Kleindienst in April 1973 and the Senate insisted a special prosecutor be appointed by Kleindienst’s replacement, Elliot Richardson. Like Comey, Cox was charged with investigating wrongdoing by the President and his advisors and Cox refused an ultimatum from the White House to limit his access to the secret White House tapes by accepting written transcripts, prepared by the White House and verified by a near deaf senior member of the U.S. Senate, former judge John Stennis, rather than allowing Cox to listen to the tapes. When Cox refused this arrangement, Nixon ordered his Attorney General to fire Cox, which Richardson refused to do and resigned himself. His deputy, William Ruckelshaus, also refused to fire Cox and also resigned, with the next man in succession, Solicitor General Robert Bork carrying out the president’s order to terminate Cox. (Following Cox’s firing, a dozen plus bills calling for Nixon’s impeachment or creating a special prosecutor were filed in the House. The public pressure was so great, Nixon had to appoint a new special prosecutor, Leon Jaworski. After listening to Nixon’s March 21, 1973 secretly recorded conversation with me, Jaworski pursued more tapes as vigorously as had Cox. And by early February 1974, this Committee formally commenced impeachment proceedings.) In short, the firing of FBI Director Comey, like Nixon’s effort to curtail the Watergate investigation, resulted in the appointment of Special Counsel Mueller.
~ ~ ~
MUELLER REPORT RE APPOINTMENT/REMOVAL OF THE SPECIAL COUNSEL (PP. 78-90, 113-133): According to Mueller’s account, Don McGahn played a critical role in interdicting the President’s express efforts to fire Special Counsel Mueller. According to the Mueller Report, President Trump directed Mr. McGahn to have the Special Counsel removed on June 17, 2017, over purported conflicts of interest. McGahn refused to follow the President’s order, recalling the opprobrium that met Robert Bork following the Saturday Night Massacre. McGahn decided he would resign rather than carry out the orders, not unlike Elliot Richardson and William Ruckelshaus when they refused to fire Cox. For whatever reason, President Trump did not follow up with the directive to fire Mueller and McGahn did not resign. Further compounding the situation in 2018, in response to press reports that McGahn had considered resigning over the direction to fire Mueller, Trump asked another White House official (Rob Porter, also an attorney serving as Staff Secretary) to tell McGahn to dispute the story and create a false record stating that he had not been ordered to have the Special Counsel removed. Again, McGahn’s testimony about these events, which are described in detail in the Mueller Report, are important for Congress to understand and, as noted later, claims of executive privilege or attorney-client privilege have been waived (because of disclosure of the Mueller Report authorized by President Trump, and the so-called crime-fraud exception to all privileges).
WATERGATE: This is much like Richard Nixon’s attempt to get me to write a phony report exonerating the White House from any involvement in Watergate. Nixon first announced on August 29, 1973, that I had investigated the situation under his direction and found “nobody presently employed at the White House had anything to do with the bizarre incident at the Watergate.” Since I had conducted no such investigation, I resisted months of repeated efforts to get me to write a bogus report.
Nixon also sought to influence my testimony after I openly broke with the White House and began cooperating with prosecutors and the Senate Watergate Committee. Nixon met with me privately on the evening of April 15, 1973, to try to influence how I would relate the events, particularly our conversation of March 21, 1973, when I warned him of the “cancer on the presidency.” In the March 21 conversation, I tried to convince him to end the coverup, pointing out that paying hush money and dangling pardons constituted obstruction of justice, and that people were going to go to jail, myself included. By April 15, Nixon tried to tell me he was “kidding” about finding $1 million in hush money to pay the burglar defendants to maintain their silence. He was trying to shape my future testimony.
~ ~ ~
MUELLER REPORT RE EFFORTS TO CONTROL ATTORNEY GENERAL SESSIONS (PP. 90- 98): According to Mueller, in addition to McGahn, President Trump pressured former campaign aide Cory Lewandowski and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus to curtail the Special Counsel’s investigation through Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who had recused himself from the investigation.
WATERGATE: President Trump repeated efforts to have Attorney General Sessions reverse his recusal – “un-recuse” himself – to take control of the Special Counsel’s investigation parallels President Nixon’s attempt to control the FBI investigation through his former White House Counsel John Ehrlichman. Later Nixon worked directly with Henry Petersen, the top Justice Department official in charge of the Watergate investigation, once I had broken with the White House. Petersen provided Nixon with confidential information from the prosecutors and the grand jury proceedings. President Nixon’s direct interference with the Department of Justice, while facially proper under his Article II constitutional powers, was for the improper purpose of obstructing the investigation. In Watergate, the lesson learned was that no person, even the President, was above the law.
~ ~ ~
MUELLER REPORT RE EFFORTS TO PREVENT OR DISTORT DISCLOSURE OF THE JUNE 9, 2016 TRUMP TOWER MEETING (PP. 98-103): According to the report, in June 2017 after emails setting up a June 9, 2016 meeting between senior campaign officials and Russians became known in the White House, the President engaged in efforts to prevent disclosure of the emails and then dictated a false or misleading statement characterizing the meeting as about adoptions in order to protect his son, Don, Jr.
WATERGATE: On the weekend that the Nixon reelection committee men were arrested in the DNC offices at the Watergate, Nixon’s campaign manager, and former attorney general, John Mitchell, along with his chief of staff, Bob Haldeman and former White House Counsel, John Ehrlichman, drafted a false press release about the men arrested at the Watergate. This press statement put a coverup in place immediately, by claiming the men arrested at the Democratic headquarters “were not operating either in our behalf or with our consent” in the alleged bugging attempt. The press statement was false. As Nixon’s secret tape recordings reveal, President Nixon knew the statement was false, and suspected (correctly) that his former attorney general John Mitchell had approved the operation. (Mitchell would not admit this fact, even privately, for almost a year.) Nixon chose not to disclose the information he did have in order to protect his friend Mitchell, believing that revealing this truth would “destroy” Mitchell.
~ ~ ~
MUELLER REPORT RE EFFORTS TO INFLUENCE WITNESSES WITH PARDONS ( PP. 6-7, 122-28, 131-32, 134, 147-48, ET AL):The Mueller Report addresses the question of whether President Trump dangled pardons or offered other favorable treatment to Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen and Roger Stone (whose name is redacted so I assume it is him based on educated conjecture) in return for their silence or to keep them from fully cooperating with investigators. The Mueller Report offers a powerful legal analysis that, notwithstanding the fact the pardon power is one of the most unrestricted of presidential powers, it cannot be used for improper purposes. (See “Separation-of-Powers Principles Support the Conclusion that Congress May Validly Prohibit Corrupt Obstructive Acts Carried Out Through the President’s Official Powers,” MUELLER REPORT, PP. 171-181). Mueller refutes the dubious contention that when the president exercises his Constitutional powers, he is not subject to federal criminal laws.
WATERGATE: Nixon used the possibility of presidential pardons to keep witnesses from fully testifying in legal proceedings, a practice that was condemned in the Articles of Impeachment drawn up by the House Judiciary Committee in 1974. Howard Hunt’s lawyer sought assurances through Nixon’s Special Counsel Chuck Colson that Hunt would not spend years in prison if he pled guilty in the trial before Judge Sirica in January 1973. When Colson relayed President Nixon’s positive response, Hunt pled guilty and the so-called Cuban American defendants followed his lead and pled guilty, as well. All believed that they could rely on the President to offer clemency under the President’s pardon power.
Yet President Nixon knew that offering such pardons or giving pardons to try to control witnesses in legal proceedings was wrong.
In an exchange with me on March 21, 1973, Nixon conceded such a use of the pardon power was improper:
DEAN: Well, that’s the problem.
PRESIDENT: That’s a problem. You have the problem of clemency for Hunt.
DEAN: That’s right. And you’re gonna have the clemency problem for the others. They all would have expected to be out and that may put you in a position that’s just . . .
PRESIDENT: Right.
DEAN: . . . untenable at some point. You know, the Watergate hearings just over, Hunt now demanding clemency or he’s gonna blow. And politically, it’d just be impossible for, you know, you to do it. Because, you know, after everybody…
PRESIDENT: That’s right.
DEAN: I’m not sure that you’ll ever be able to deliver clemency. It may just be too hot. PRESIDENT: You can’t do it, till after the ’74 elections, that’s for sure. But even then … your point is that even then you couldn’t do it.
DEAN: That’s right. It may further involve you in a way you shouldn’t be involved in this. PRESIDENT: No, it would be wrong. That’s for sure. [Emphasis added.]
Similarly, when President Nixon met with me on April 15, 1973, after my break with the White House, he raised the concern about the Hunt pardon again. We were in his Executive Office Building office late on a Sunday night when he got up from his chair and walked to the corner of the room and in a stage-whisper asked me, “I was wrong to offer clemency to Hunt, wasn’t I?” I responded, “Yes, Mr. President, that would be an obstruction of justice.” As I later testified, at the time it struck me his moving across the office and whispering was to keep what he was saying from being picked up by a hidden microphone in the room. This small piece of testimony, of course, became highly significant for it led to the discovery of the secret White House taping system.
The point is: Richard Nixon knew he could not use his pardon power, unrestricted as it is in Article II, for the improper purpose of gaining the silence of witnesses in legal proceedings.
MCGAHN’S DILEMMA TESTIFYING BEFORE THIS COMMITTEE
Mr. McGahn has expressed concern about being caught between two branches of government in responding to this Committee’s subpoena for his documents and testimony. For several reasons I believe he should testify. First, he is a key witness in understanding the Mueller Report. Secondly, I believe as an attorney, he has an ethical obligation to testify.
Let me briefly address the ethics question. Following my testimony before the Senate in 1973, the American Bar Association began to look anew at its code of legal ethics. My telling the Senate Watergate Committee of how so many lawyers found themselves on the wrong side of the law during Watergate hit a chord. I learned this fact from Robert Kutak, with whom I had a friendship from our days when we worked as staffers for Congress. Bob, as a leading legal scholar, was asked to chair an ABA commission to reconsider the ABA’s Code of Professional Conduct in light of the Watergate scandal. I met with Kutak and his commission to provide my own insights.
One of the major clarifications that came about through the new ABA Model Rules was with respect to an attorney’s obligations when representing an organization. Every and the District of Columbia have adopted a version of these rules. Model Rule 1.13 provides that a lawyer representing an organization represents the entity and not the individuals running the entity. Hence, it is now clear that White House Counsel represents the Office of the Presidency and not the current occupant of that office.
Rule 1.13 further provides that when an attorney representing an organization encounters ongoing crime or fraud, he or she must first try to solve the problem within the organization, by “going up the ladder” to the highest authority that can address the problem. In a corporation, for example, the attorney would report up to the board of directors or a special committee of the board.
If the problem cannot be solved internally, Model Rule 1.13 provides that an attorney may report out, despite his or her confidentiality, what is going on, despite his duty of confidentiality or the attorney-client privilege. This “reporting out” provision provides lawyers with leverage to stop wrongdoing if the client fails to take appropriate advice.
Since 2011, I have been using the mistakes I made as a young White House lawyer to teach this rule of ethics with a continuing legal education partner, Jim Robenalt, who is here today. Jim is a trial attorney and a partner in a major multi-state law firm. Eight years ago, we created a course called The Watergate CLE. Since we began, we have presented over 150 programs throughout the United States, reaching somewhere between 45,000 to 50,000 attorneys. 8
Don McGahn represented the Office of the Presidency, not Donald Trump personally. This appears to have been well understood by McGahn and his lawyer, and I have read news accounts that McGahn has explained this concept to President Trump. In short, McGahn’s loyalty is to his client, the Office of the Presidency, not the occupant. He had only a limited attorney-client privilege when interacting with the President and advisors and the privilege belongs to the Office in any event.
Jim Robenalt and I have discussed this at length. We also talked with Michael Frisch, a friend who is the Ethics Counsel at Georgetown University Law Center. We believe Don McGahn is not in a conflict situation in testifying to this Committee, for his duty is to protect the Office of the Presidency, sometimes against the very person in charge of it.
To the extent Mr. McGahn wishes to assert Executive Privilege or the Attorney-Client privilege, he can do so, but those privileges were waived regarding the material plainly set forth in the Mueller Report. In addition, it has long been the rule there is no executive privilege attached to criminal or fraudulent activity. Accordingly, I sincerely hope that Mr. McGahn will voluntarily appear and testify. His silence is perpetuating an ongoing coverup, and while his testimony will create a few political enemies, based on almost 50 years of experience I can assure him he will make far more real friends.
Thank you.
Read More
0 notes
Text
Released: May 1, 2015
Running Time: 2 hours 21 minutes
“When Tony Stark jumpstarts a dormant peacekeeping program, things go terribly awry, forcing him, Thor, the Incredible Hulk and the rest of the Avengers to reassemble. As the fate of Earth hangs in the balance, the team is put to the ultimate test as they battle Ultron, a technological terror hell-bent on human extinction. Along the way, they encounter two mysterious and powerful newcomers, Pietro and Wanda Maximoff.”
Marvel Cinematic Universe – Source – Marvel Studios
You can find all of the reviews for the Marvel Cinematic Universe at the link here. At that link, you can also find the dates that the other reviews for the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be posted. My plan is to release one every single day, and because I’ve already reviewed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 here, and Spider – Man: Homecoming here, they will not be included in the two weeks leading up to Thor Ragnarok.
As such, I will now move onto the actual review of the film, and I hope you enjoy!
The Avengers: Age of Ultron Trailer – Source: Marvel Studios
Cast and Crew
This film was written and directed by Joss Whedon, returning for the last time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe after he was ‘absolutely drained and exhausted after this film.’ Now, I’ve already mentioned his previous work in the review for ‘Marvel’s The Avengers’, however, I will do a quick recap of it here. Before joining the MCU, he was known for directing and writing hit television shows including ‘Firefly’, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and Dollhouse. He has since worked on writing and directing portions of the ‘Justice League’ movie that is coming to theatres on November 17, 2017, and is currently working on ‘Batgirl’ for Warner Brothers as well.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
The cast for the ever expanding Avengers: Age of Ultron includes Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, James Spader, Samuel L. Jackson, Don Cheadle, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Cobie Smulders, Anthony Mackie, Hayley Atwell, Idris Elba, Linda Cardellini, Claudia Kim, Andy Serkis, Stellan Skarsgård, Thomas Kretschmann, Kerry Condon, Josh Brolin and Stan Lee
Review
The opening sequence of this film is straight out of a comic book onto the big screen, and it was beautiful. The scene featured the Avengers all working together, having been clearing out the remnants of Hydra and going after Loki’s Scepter to finally get rid of the threats left behind by the Chitauri. It was exciting, and fun, and even has Cap telling people to watch their language. We are also briefly introduced to two new characters in Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, who use their powers to mess with the Avengers a bit.
The one thing that I had a problem with at the beginning of this film was the lullaby, that was used by Black Widow to soothe the Hulk, and to calm him down enough to get him to revert back to Banner. While that is something that they would have obviously tried to figure out as a team, I didn’t like the execution of it, nor the implications that would later be revealed between the two characters.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Dr. Helen Cho, developed a machine that is able to create and synthesise quick healing of flesh wounds, and perhaps more (never explored further). It’s a quick and easy explanation that can be used if ever the Avengers are scene injured in one scene, and ‘fine’ the next. I enjoyed that little scene where Barton was getting fixed up, as it displayed the camaraderie that the Avengers had with one another.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
With the Scepter back in the Avengers hands, the mad scientist, Banner and Stark (mostly Stark), decide that it would be a good idea to use the scepter that they’ve been studying to help them in creating Ultron, the peace program that would be able to protect the planet. As everything Stark does with good intentions, it doesn’t really go all that well.
The celebration scene where we get to see the Avengers all relax and have fun, is somethign that the movie did extremely well. They managed to make these superheroes extremely relatable, especially in the Mjolnir scene, where all the men try and take turns in lifting the hammer. The best part of that scene was when Rogers made it budge, and the priceless look on Thor’s face was extremely satisfying and hilarious.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Ultron as a character in this film starts off really terrifying as he has no control over the emotions that he has, and translates the phrase ‘peace in our time’ into meaning that to have peace, humanity must be extinct, as they are the ones fighting one another, and destroying the planet. It’s not a wrong analogy that Ultron comes up with, but the execution of the idea of manufacturing peace is not humane.
Over the course of the movie, he becomes more obsessed with destroying the Avengers in a grand and theatrical way (something he got from his creator (Stark), that he comes off as weak.
From Left to Right: Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, Steve Rogers, Don Cheadle as James Rhodes / War Machine, Claudia Kim as Dr. Helen Cho, Thor, Tony Stark, Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanoff – Source: Marvel Studios
The music in Avengers: Age of Ultron was done by Brian Tyler & Danny Elfman. I feel that they both delivered great scores and themes for the heroes, while also being consistent throughout their differences. Before writing this review, I was under the impression that it was only Elfman who had worked on the score, not realising that they worked together and separately on this film.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
The cinematography of Avengers: Age of Ultron was done by director of photography Ben Davis. This film featured really somber framing, as well as gorgeous shots. I enjoyed and am surprised by how many characters he was able to fit into a single frame, as the group is only getting bigger. I really enjoyed the action scenes, and appreciated the one shot scene in the church with the Avengers fighting the Ultrons.
Andy Serkis as Ulysses Klaue – Source: Marvel Studios
The character of Vision in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the ultimate android, using the Mind Stone as some sort of super battery. To Ultron, Vision is the perfect being, and as displayed when he picks up Mjolnir, he is worthy of that ability. I feel like they might be backing themselves into a corner with this character whenever the character meets Thanos. Once Vision loses the Mind Stone, will he be finished, or will he somehow live. Infinity War will answer a lot of questions, and will probably feature a lot of deaths. I hope that one of them isn’t Vision just to be able to see people’s reactions if ever Marvel Studios decides to further explore the love interest between himself and Scarlet Witch as implied in Captain America: Civil War.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
The Maximoff twins, without the use of Mutants in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they have been named ‘miracles’, given their enhancements via the Mind Stone that was in Loki’s Scepter. Wanda / Scarlet Witch was portrayed wonderfully and creepily by Elizabeth Olsen. I really loved what they did with the character, even showing glimpses of the potential of her power after her brother’s death. I am happy that they chose to keep Wanda, and ‘let Fox have Pietro’, however I wish we could have had both.
Pietro Maximoff, Marvel’s ‘answer’ to the Flash from DC. He is able to run extremely fast without getting tired, however they chose to add that limitation in the movie so that he would not be overpowered. I feel like the back and forth that he and Clint Barton had throughout the film was fun and enjoyable, and I was happy to see that he will be remembered in the MCU through Nathaniel Pietro Barton, Clint’s third child, after Quicksilver sacrificed himself to save Clint and the child that he had gone to get.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Scarlet Witch got to mess with everyone’s minds, and show them visions of either their worst memory or their worst fear? It wasn’t very clear on that, one thing I truly enjoyed of that was Clint Barton’s response in not wanting to be mind controlled again, and decided to electrocute her with one of his non-lethal arrows.
Tony’s vision showed him the death of the Avengers, and the gaping wormhole that the Chitauri were coming through in New York, it leads him to really go after the Ultron project as wants to prevent that from ever happening, and continues the journey that he was on in Iron Man 3, with wanting to protect those that he cares about.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Natasha’s vision was a memory of her training that she went through in the Red Room, forcing her to remember the horrors that she experienced, including the graduation ceremony where she was sterilised, which influences her to taking the path towards Banner, especially because he doesn’t want to fight, and she just wants to escape, as he once did.
Steve’s vision included him back in the 40s, after the end of the war, where he survived and got to have that dance with Peggy Carter. It was a touching scene, where you realise that his worst memory / fear? is that he couldn’t grow old with the person he loved, and that everyone that he cared about is now long gone. I was surprised that we didn’t see Barnes in that scene of his, even if it was only a glimpse.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Scarlet Witch had one more victim in mind for her mind games, and unfortunately we don’t get to see what caused the Hulk to change, but it’s easy to figure out, most likely the hulk is his worst memory / fear, and in that becomes self explanatory. The good thing about that scene, is that it displays to the world what the Hulk is capable of, and we also got to see the Hulkbuster armour go toe to toe with the Hulk. They caused so much destruction, and the fight was so intense and fun to watch, that you can understand that the Hulk is something to be afraid of, especially if he loses control as he was forced into doing.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Avengers: Age of Ultron is also the start of the rift that will grow to cause the Civil War between the Avengers, with Tony wanting to protect the planet at any cost, while Rogers wants to have the power of free will, and be able to save who he wants and when he wants. The scene between the two chopping wood really shows the tension between the ‘two leaders’, and I feel like it was brilliantly acted by Evans and Downey Jr..
The part of the movie that I feel was the most forced thing out of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe was the whole Banner / Romanoff ‘relationship’ throughout the movie. It wasn’t needed, it was awkward, boring and just plain weird. Natasha must know that there could be no sex life with Banner, as evidence from ‘The Incredible Hulk’, where Banner can’t sleep with Betty Ross because he can’t even get a ‘little bit excited.’ I feel like it was forced, as I’ve already mentioned, and I still don’t know why Marvel thought it would have been a good idea.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
The final confrontation between the Avengers and Ultron felt weak, and copies the same third act formula from the first Avengers film. A shit ton of robots (Chitauri) that are extremely expendable and able to be taken down with ease, versus the Avengers team, with two new heroes added, after an inspiring speech from Hawkeye to Scarlet Witch.
That is one of the greatest problems with the film, was that it felt very much like a carbon copy of the first one, while also throwing in Deus Ex Machina of a Heli Carrier with the help from Maria Hill and Nick Fury. It felt like they just didn’t know how to properly do a third act of the film on this one, and that’s a shame because the first act was fantastic, the second one was good, but the third one was weak.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
I really enjoyed that Clint Barton had a secret family that Natasha of all people knew about. It was a little convenient in that Ultron had access to everything on the internet, but wouldn’t have known that Barton was married and had 2 kids. I found it really touching, as it gave a reason for Barton to be a part of the team, he is the most human out of them all, and he is doing the superhero act because it’s his job, and he wants to protect his family. I thought it was touching to see the Avengers reactions upon finding out.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
At the time, I thought that Thor’s vision that Scarlet Witch had given him was kind of lame, and took him out of the story and it added a storyline that wasn’t needed in that movie. I still believe some of that, as it doesn’t add anything whatsoever in the film, but it does set up the next movie that he is set to appear in, Thor: Ragnarok. He sees the infinity stones that have been seen in the MCU thus far, and he knows that it’s not a coincidence, so he decides that the best thing to do, is electrocute the cradle to bring Vision to life with the Mind Stone. One thing that doesn’t really make sense is how would he know about the Power Stone being in the MCU?
His vision also hints at the whereabouts of the last Infinity Stone, the Soul Stone, when he questions Heimdall about what happened to his eyes, which were white in this scene, but are usually orange, the colour of the Soul Stone).
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
The Hulk, after being tricked and forced to turn by the Black Widow, decides to leave the Avengers after the events in Sokovia, and ends up disappearing. We will hopefully find out exactly what happened in Thor: Ragnarok, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they just gloss over that little detail.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
The Avengers end up getting a new facility, courtesy of Stark using one of his father’s old warehouse in upstate New York to avoid a confrontation where civilians can be hurt near their base of operations. We also get to meet the new Avengers, which include Black Widow, Vision, Scarlet Witch, War Machine, Falcon and Captain America.
We get a fun little chat between Thor, Steve Rogers and Tony Stark where the ‘humans’ debate whether Vision being able to lift Mjolnir counts, as he’s an android. Thor finally leaves, running Stark’s lawn, and heads off towards Ragnarok.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
There was only one post credit scene in this film, and that was of Thanos grabbing a gauntlet and saying that he’s going to have to do it himself, leading into Avengers: Infinity War.
Josh Brolin as Thanos ‘doing it himself’: Post Credit Scene – Source: Marvel Studios
Overall, I feel like this movie could have been a lot better in terms of how the villain was used, the manipulation / release of the Maximoff twins, the lullaby, the hinted relationship between Banner and Romanoff, and being too much like the first Avengers film. There was a lot of good moments, which is why the score might be higher than people think. I really enjoyed the opening sequence of the film as well as the after party that followed. I feel like it made the Avengers relatable and fun to see them interacting as the friends that they’ve become since their first mission in New York.
The twin’s ability was visually well done, except I had problems with Quicksilver being tired. I loved the realization that Barton was hiding a whole life from his friends, having his family off the books at S.H.I.E.L.D. which was really convenient but held true to the character. This film also helps in setting up a lot of films from Phase III of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with; Ulysses Klaue for Black Panther, Stark and Rogers starting to have more friction due to their beliefs for Captain America: Civil War, Thor on his side mission & Hulk disappearing for Thor: Ragnarok, and Thanos in the post credit scene for Avengers: Infinity War.
Promotional poster – Source: Marvel Studios
At the end of the day, this movie had a lot of shortcomings, and was extremely noticeable after coming off two very great movies in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy. I have to give this film a score, and that score is 7/10.
What did you think of the film? Are you excited for Thor: Ragnarok? Let me know in the comments below!
Thanks for reading,
Alex Martens
The Avengers: Age of Ultron Review Released: May 1, 2015 Running Time: 2 hours 21 minutes "When Tony Stark jumpstarts a dormant peacekeeping program, things go terribly awry, forcing him, Thor, the Incredible Hulk and the rest of the Avengers to reassemble.
0 notes
Last Seen Blogs
minhaz21
Untitled
ubriachispolpi
Ubriachi Spolpi
barbielore
Barbie Lore
like-a-crayon
Tatatata tatata