How fitting that Dan Quayle, a bumbling excuse for a vice president of the United States, should end up as a top executive of a $20 billion private equity firm mired in controversy. Quayle, who signed on with Cerberus in 1999, was with that company during its takeover and subsequent bankruptcy of Chrysler, questionable military contracting deals in Afghanistan and, most recently, manufacturing the assault rifle used in the Newtown, Conn., massacre.
The former Indiana senator, to whom most of us in the press corps covering George H.W. Bush’s presidential campaign in 1988 referred to as the Ken doll, must have found life in the private sector so much more rewarding, but how much so is not known, since Cerberus is privately held.
Dan and his son Ben Quayle, a congressman from Indiana, have been ardent supporters of the NRA, but even they must have been shocked by the latest — and not only — incident involving one of Cerberus’ product lines. The company now acknowledges that its gun unit, Freedom Group Inc. — which refers to itself as “the largest manufacturer of commercial firearms and ammunition,” sold in 80 countries — is a public relations embarrassment and has put it up for sale.
While there is much evidence that child victims of domestic violence experience psychological trauma that may lead to mental illness, a just-published study looks at the prevalence of domestic violence in the lives of adult men and women with mental illnesses….
Karen was living a secret double life on “Shocking Family Secrets.” Her co-workers knew during the day knew her as an English-language teacher at an adult school, but they wondered about her life outside of school. She never spent time with them or talked much about her personal life.
She was considered “demure” and “soft spoken,” which is why her confession shocked Michael, one of her fellow teachers. She told him that as well as being a teacher, she was also a dominatrix and a stripper.
“I was speechless for a few seconds,” Michael said. “I had known Karen … for close to 10 years. I would never have guessed Karen for whipping people on the weekends.”
We already knew OUYA‘s Dev Console was shipping slightly ahead of schedule, but the open-source gaming team has now revealed exactly what comes in the box: a special edition frosted translucent version of the console. The limited availability version is headed off to 1,200 developers with a new casing – along with a few hardware tweaks – while OUYA has also thrown open the doors to its Dev Portal with the full development kit (aka ODK) and full support forums.
The OUYA Development Kit is also being released under a free license – Apache 2.0, in fact, just like Android itself – meaning as long as coders steer clear of OUYA’s own trademarks, they’re free to modify the console software at will. However, with an eye on the fragmentation that has become a headache for Android-based phones and tablets, the OUYA team say there’ll still be some control retained, to make sure it’s a safe, welcoming, and productive place for developers and gamers alike:
“It’s worth mentioning that “open” does not mean “anarchy” — and as we continue to build out OUYA’s core services, please know that not every facet of OUYA will be totally open. In order to ensure the best possible experience for our gamers and developers, for example, we will be screening games for copyrighted content and offensive material (which we’ll define under our developer guidelines), and we’ll make sure that OUYA is a secure place to discover great games and conduct business” OUYA
The first developer boxes should be reaching lucky recipients in the next couple of days, though the ODK is available to anybody who wants to sign up. In addition to the frosted casing, it has a microUSB port for connecting to a computer and debugging more straightforward. There’s also a fan, as you can see in the company’s new video:
OUYA Dev Console overview video:
The full package contents include:
Jet-black OUYA Devs package
Official Developer Welcome Letter
One frosted translucent OUYA Dev Console
Two frosted translucent OUYA Dev Controllers
HDMI cable
Micro-USB cable
Power adapter
Meanwhile, there’s also a sneak peak at the UI which will face gamers; it’s still a work-in-progress, OUYA says, as is the version loaded onto the Dev Consoles, but the final thing should look something like this:
Regular Kickstarter supporters and those who have pre-ordered the console since its funding round finished will have to wait until 2013 to get their unit. Shipping is expected to begin in March.
It’s a little early for an Ouyateardown, but Kickstarters who chipped in $699 won’t have to wait long to see what the little console is made of — Ouya’s developer hardware is transparent. The console’s team decided to cut the inevitable march of unboxing videos off at the neck, offering fans a quick preview of the package it’s shipping out to devs. The standard accoutrements are there — the tiny console itself, two prototype controllers with batteries, HDMI and power adapters, plus a micro USB cord and a letter to developers thanking them for their investment and warning them of the early build’s bugs. The note also cautions deep-pocketed gamers that the device is built specifically for developer use, and has no games to placate eager couch potatoes. The video shows the console booting up, and even demonstrates how easy it is to open the hardware. Skip on past the break to get a glimpse at what early adopters and developers are getting their hands on.
Fossil fuel-funded front groups, commonly referred to as “think tanks” or “institutes,” have been secretly influencing the media and the public on energy issues by moving pro-fossil fuel messaging. Read More…
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A government official says Pakistani authorities have asked tribal elders to help rescue 23 policemen who appear to have been kidnapped by the Taliban.
The tribal policemen went missing Thursday when militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons attacked two posts before dawn in Pakistan’s northwest tribal region, the main sanctuary for al-Qaida and Taliban fighters in the country. Two policemen were killed in the attacks.
Lori’s story on “Shocking Family Secrets” wasn’t so much a surprising secret as it was a horrible saga of torture and suffering. She was so happily married to a man named Mohammed that she moved to Iran with him. But there, he became controlling.
Mohammed beat her, and then she found out he was going to anti-American meetings. She was trapped, told by authorities that she would need her husband’s permission if she wanted to go back to the U.S. In September 2001, her husband told her “something was going to happen in America.” When she tried to call home, operators wouldn’t put her through.
“I still have guilt and nightmares because I couldn’t get through to warn anybody,” Lori said.
This holiday I am thinking about Judy Garland. Her fragile strength was not the contradiction it seems, and her memory presents what we need most after tragedy — hope rising above hate. She didn’t end well fore sure, but dammit she tried. This week I’ve devoted my blog to her message: Seeing rainbows through it all, no matter what. Giving a damn when it counts, even when you feel like giving up.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
