Konami has launched a version of Frogger that’s suitable for gambling, which is now available to play in a casino. Frogger: Get Hoppin’ is a skill-based title that enables players to wager money in exchange for testing their reflexes in the game. It’…
Now here’s an offer from Twitch and Banner Saga creator Stoic you can’t refuse. Twitch Prime members (that is, anyone on Amazon Prime) can download the original Banner Saga for free right now, and on March 2nd, also get Banner Saga 2 gratis. But wait…
In 2005, Barack Obama and I were getting into an elevator in Chicago with a few of his Senate staffers. Looking around at the different faces surrounding him, Obama remarked, “I love that my staff looks like a Benetton ad.”
When it came time to put together his administration, Obama understood the value of diversity – not just gender, racial, or sexual orientation – but also a diversity of experiences and viewpoints. He instructed his transition team to seek out the best talent from the private sector, state and local government, philanthropy, and non-profit groups.
Obama understood intuitively that if you want to address the myriad challenges that confront government, you need to have a diverse set of voices and perspectives around the table. It’s especially critical to have voices that are willing to express disagreement with leadership, whether it’s a cabinet member or the president.
Donald Trump has taken a different tack.
Judging from the wall of white men who appear with him at events not held at the Museum of African American History, it’s highly unlikely that the current administration will ever match the diversity of the Obama administration. But if Trump is serious about achieving policy successes, and not repeating the failures of his first month, he would be smart to broaden the pool of political appointees to represent a range of American experiences – even if that comes with the discomfort of hearing more dissenting voices.
According to press accounts, the Trump White House is vetoing candidates for senior agency slots because the proposed pick either was not sufficiently supportive of Trump during the campaign or had been critical of him. Most notably, Elliott Abrams was nixed for the number two spot at State because of “Donald Trump’s thin skin and nothing else.” Apparently, personnel recommendations at departments like Education, Treasury, and HUD have been rejected for similar reasons.
The Trump White House is well within its prerogative to prioritize the hiring of people who have demonstrated long-term support to the president. But if government is to solve complex problems, the previous loyalty of potential candidates can’t be the only factor in whether they are selected for a position.
In the Obama administration, we certainly considered whether someone was an early supporter. But we also looked at whether they had a passion to serve, whether they had the right experience and skills, and how they would fit into a team. There was no litmus test of blind loyalty.
To be sure, not everyone made the cut for jobs in the Obama administration. But if a Republican wanted to serve, we welcomed them even if they had supported John McCain. And we especially embraced Democrats who supported Hillary Clinton during the fierce primary contest.
Given Trump’s outsider campaign, he is already handicapped by a West Wing staff “light on governing experience.” His personnel team also has been slow out of the gate in announcing nominations, so many agencies find themselves with no leadership and with no reinforcements on the horizon.
If Trump is unwilling to widen the circle of potential appointees, he will be relying on a team that, while loyal, is not likely to challenge his worldview and is far too small to run the federal government. This might be a perfectly acceptable way to run a family business, but the failed rollout of the travel ban demonstrates why dissenting voices are needed. And when it comes to solving complicated issues like health care and tax reform, Trump will need to hear a variety of perspectives, including from experts who have challenged him in the past.
Some of Trump’s sharpest critics during the campaign were veterans of previous Republican administrations. And, while Trump is intent on breaking with what he considers to be the failed policies of the past, he will soon learn that experience matters when it comes to navigating government bureaucracies and managing the crises that inevitably arise.
For many of these critics, the tumultuous first month of this administration has not softened their opposition to Donald Trump. But if they do have a change of heart and are willing to serve their country, the president would be well-served to welcome them into the fold. It would certainly go a long way towards making his administration run more like a “fine-tuned machine.”
Chris Lu is a Senior Fellow at the University of Virginia Miller Center. He served in the Obama Administration as White House Cabinet Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Labor. You can follow him at @ChrisLu44.
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A research project is examining how the establishment of Russia’s Northern Sea Route has shaped the lives of residents along the country’s northern coast, amid the booms and busts of industrialization.
Most discussion about ABOUT Russia’s Northern Sea Route focuses on shipping traffic and sea ice. However, an anthropological study is taking a different tack, by looking at how industrialization along the route has affected northern residents.
Connecting the ports of Norway and Japan, the Northern Sea Route (NSR) is roughly half the distance of the southern route between the same two destinations through the Suez Canal. This translates to a saving of around 10 days of travel and related fuel costs. However, the NSR is often impassable for parts of the year due to sea ice. As climate change claims more and more summer ice, though, the route’s navigational window is rapidly changing, and could potentially grow to six months of the year by the end of the century. Ice levels were at the second lowest yearly minimum on record during last September’s travel season, despite some areas holding more ice than normal, such as the Laptev Sea. For convoys equipped with icebreakers, it’s been a year of firsts for winter travel.
The Russian government celebrates the thaw as the beginning of a new era. For the respected Arctic anthropologist and research lead, Nikolai Vakhtin, it’s an era that must be studied. His latest project is a partnership between Tyumen State University in western Siberia and the European University in St. Petersburg. Vakhtin works out of the latter, in the same port city where Russia’s nuclear icebreakers are built (and recent birthplace of Arktika, heralded for her ability to slice through ice 4m/13ft deep). Soon, the team of 10 researchers will commence ethnographies in seaport communities along the coast of the Arctic Ocean from Murmansk in the west to Kamchatka in the east.
The Russian Arctic is a diverse region of roughly 2 million people, including settlers and members of some of the 41 groups represented by the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and Far East (RAIPON). Some communities share a long history of adaptation to change dating back to the frenzied fur trade of the 17th century. Other communities and cities emerged only in the 1950s. Still others, such as the coastal city of Khatanga near the coal-rich Taymyr Peninsula, are being repopulated by Indigenous peoples from surrounding communities following the exodus of settlers in the post-Soviet era.
The idea of the NSR dates back to the 16th century, Vakhtin explains, and its allure has persisted in step with dynamic military, economic and now climatic trends. The result is a region characterized by highs and lows, evidenced by modern hotels and abandoned infrastructure. As if following the jolting ups and downs on a heart monitor display, use of the NSRpeaked in the late 1980s, then slowed significantly in the 1990s. It downturned in the years following the Great Recession of the late 2000s, experienced a short spike in 2012–13, then dropped once more in 2015.Part of this wild ride is due to the NSR’s diverse functions: global shipping route, strategic point of military control and facilitator of resource extraction.
On the shipping side, Sergey Balmasov from the Centre for High North Logistics explains that widespread use of the NSR is hampered by a host of restraining forces such as a slumped freight market, collapse in oil prices, icebreaker technology and seasonal navigation periods. If calculated solely based on ship movement from Asia to Europe without call to an NSR port, 19 vessels carrying around 200,000 tonnes were transported in 2016.
On the military side, it was during World War I that Russia began building infrastructure along the NSR to use as a blockade-free exit route, a trend that continued into the Cold War. Vakhtin explains that military motivations for development of the route persist, and though they fluctuate according to geopolitical tensions, it’s a powerful stimulant for economic growth in Arctic towns and cities.
But while the future of the Northern Sea Route as a global transportation corridor remains uncertain, its use as a route for moving Russian Arctic resources to eastern and western markets seems – for the time being – its most enduring material driver.
Although resource prices waver, extensive reserves of diamonds, nickel and liquefied natural gas (LNG) remain locked under the icy terrain, scraped free by glaciers. “Interest in the Arctic is rising: It is connected with the rise of extracting industries,” Vakhtin says.
Today, the NSR is used year-round by Nornickel, the world’s leading nickel producer, as it moves ore from Norilsk to processing plants in the Kola Peninsula. The Taymyr Peninsula holds significant coal deposits, while the Yamal Peninsula holds Russia’s largest gas reserves, propelling the construction of an LNG terminal and seaport in Sabetta. At least one platform for offshore oil extraction is in permanent operation in the Pechora Sea. For these industries, the NSR is an important route for raw building materials and supplies, Vakhtin explains. Though figures vary depending on exactly what movements are included, they totaled 6.9million tonnes in 2016.
“Usage and viability of NSR as an export route to deliver natural resources out of the Arctic to the markets is on the rise for sure,” echoes Balmasov, who is also the head of the Northern Sea Route information office. (He adds that the route still has a way to go given the general lack of backup infrastructure such as shipment and repair docks, fueling stations and communication, rescue and navigation hubs.) Pressure to complete the $27 billion LNG plant in Sabetta is so great that a Netherlands-based cargo vessel just made history by sailing through the route during the winter months – albeit escorted by icebreakers – to deliver materials for its construction. Similarly, a convoy of vessels carrying supplies destined for port infrastructure in Pevek made history in January by traveling through the western portion of the Siberian coast in the cold of winter. They’ve been locked in ice, however, for a month in Chaunskaya Bay, awaiting assistance from a nuclear icebreaker.
For the many communities along this route, such as the Nenets who herd reindeer and the growing population of Khatanga, these economic and climatic changes are shifting perceptions and realities. It’s an environment ripe for study, and the need to know more about the local effects of development is the driver behind the archival work and ethnographies the team will be conducting within 10 selected communities along the route. “The balance between industrial development and its influence on the local population is an important question that requires extended anthropological research,” Vakhtin says.
“At present we can only say that NSR will influence both the life and the perception of the local people.” This, he says, includes both hopes and fears.
This article originally appeared on Arctic Deeply. For weekly updates about Arctic geopolitics, economy, and ecology, you can sign up to the Arctic Deeply email list.
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A curious morsel of Oscar lore originated on March 29, 1993, when Marisa Tomei was crowned Best Supporting Actress for “My Cousin Vinny.” The following year, The Hollywood Reporter and Entertainment Weekly printed rumors that presenter Jack Palance had announced the wrong name ― a seemingly credible possibility given Tomei’s unanticipated victory (she hadn’t earned a Golden Globe nomination, and “My Cousin Vinny” wasn’t typical Oscar fare). These whispers were debunked in the same breath, but the damage was done. As Gawker noted in a 2015 retrospective about the drama, this alleged mishap persists as Oscar mythology.
There’s no tangible reason to believe Tomei wasn’t the rightful champion. PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accounting firm that tabulates Oscar ballots, employs meticulous checks and balances to ensure no mistakes are made. But the Tomei fodder raises a valid question: What would happen if an erroneous winner is announced during the telecast? Maybe a presenter reads a name from the teleprompter instead of the envelope (which Palance supposedly did), or maybe someone decides to coronate their own winner.
PwC has protocol should such a glitch occur. Heading into Oscar night, only two people know the winners list: Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz, who supervise the counting procedures. They’re the briefcase holders who walk the red carpet every year and often appear at some point during the show.
The tally involves enough “redundancies” to ensure accuracy, as does the stuffing of the envelopes. “It’s him checking me and me checking him, and we do it multiple times against each other to make sure that when we leave and are ultimately handing the envelopes to someone, we’re very confident they’re getting the right envelopes and the contents in them are accurate,” Ruiz said.
Throughout the telecast, Cullinan and Ruiz are stationed on opposite sides backstage. The duo will have memorized the winners, thereby preventing the need to list them on any documentation that could land in the wrong hands. As the night progresses, Cullinan and Ruiz ensure every category’s presentation is factual. Should a presenter declare a false winner for any reason, they are prepared to tell the nearest stage manager, who will immediately alert the show’s producers.
Cullinan and Ruiz, who spoke to The Huffington Post last week, say the exact procedure is unknown because no mistake of that kind has been made in the Oscars’ 88-year history.
“We would make sure that the correct person was known very quickly,” Cullinan said. “Whether that entails stopping the show, us walking onstage, us signaling to the stage manager — that’s really a game-time decision, if something like that were to happen. Again, it’s so unlikely.”
This further punctures the Tomei rumor. Cullinan and Ruiz were not at PwC in 1993, but they are certain it’s a “conspiracy theory.”
“It was something about the way [Palance] read it, or his reaction to the envelope, that created that rumor,” Cullinan said. “Our team was absolutely sure, and they counted it and recounted it a bunch of times, and it was her.”
HuffPost reached out to Oscar publicist Steve Rohr for details about what exactly would unfold if a mistake is made. “I’ll be in touch,” he said in response. He was not in touch.
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WARNING: Do not read ahead if you haven’t watched the Season 3 finale of “How to Get Away with Murder.”
So that’s how you get away with murder.
The person who killed Wes is ― drumroll, please ― Dominic. Let’s pause here to collectively freak out because, um, WHO?!
On Thursday night, the final moments of the Season 3 finale of “How to Get Away with Murder” revealed that Dominic (Nicholas Gonzalez), a hitman with ties to the district attorney’s office, broke into the home of Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) on the night of the explosion and suffocated our beloved puppy. The real doozy, however, was the fact he was acting under the orders of none other than Jorge Castillo (Esai Morales), father of Laurel (Karla Souza).
All season long, the hit ABC drama concocted an impressive whodunit story surrounding Wes’ demise that pointed fingers at pretty much everybody with a pulse and a law degree. But in the end, Jorge, the ruthless head of a Mexican telecommunications company, orchestrated the death of his daughter’s boyfriend and the father of her unborn child.
The finale didn’t reveal exactly why he’s intent on destroying Laurel’s life, but the two haven’t seen eye-to-eye ever since she was kidnapped as a teenager. In an earlier episode this season, Jorge forcibly deceived Laurel to sign an affidavit stating she lied about her kidnapping, which conveniently invalidated her testimony in court and strengthened the case against Annalise. (Thanksgiving is about to be so awkward this year.)
It’s safe to say the Castillo family and friends will play a crucial role next season, as Laurel is still piecing together how they might be connected to Wes’ death. According to series creator Pete Nowalk, the decision to bring Laurel and her father’s story to the forefront of the series was a long time in the making, after seasons of hints and guest appearances.
“Very early on in the series, whenever we mention Laurel’s father, I knew I eventually wanted to investigate her family and who her father was and how bad of a man he is, so it was definitely a possibility in my head that he was behind it, but there were a lot of possibilities in my head,” Nowalk told Variety. “I always have options and it was just really about what felt the most exciting to explore for next year — I like surprising, but I like knowing where it’s going more. I really like what this says about Laurel.”
Even Souza, who’s played Laurel for the past three seasons, was shocked that the “HTGAWM” powers that be chose to take the series in this direction. In a “post-mortem” interview with TVLine, the actress reacted to the devastating twist and hinted at what’s to come.
“I definitely never thought my dad would have involvement with killing the love of my life,” she explained. “And in the episode where I decided to sign my soul away to him, we now find out that I was actually signing a piece of paper that said I was never kidnapped, even though I was. The fact that he just keeps ruining my life is definitely something that will grow in Season 4. It was a shock to know my dad was involved in that, and I don’t even know how I’m going to deal, Laurel-wise, with that. It took us all by surprise.”
How long do we have to wait until next season?
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Meryl Streep’s camp is denying recent claims made by Karl Lagerfeld that she is being paid to wear a particular Oscars gown.
Apparently, Streep saw a dress from Lagerfeld’s recent Chanel couture collection that she wanted to wear to Sunday’s Oscars. Days after sketching a custom version with a higher neckline, Lagerfeld received a call from her team.
“’Don’t continue the dress. We found somebody who will pay us,’” he told Women’s Wear Daily of the call. “After we gift her a dress that’s 100,000 euros [$105,000], we found later we had to pay [for her to wear it]. We give them dresses, we make the dresses, but we don’t pay.”
“A genius actress, but cheapness also, no?” he added.
Yikes.
After the report surfaced, Streep’s team quashed Lagerfeld’s claims, calling them “absolutely false” in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, saying “it is against her personal ethics to be paid to wear a gown on the red carpet.”
Hear that, Karl?
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The late ‘90s and early ‘00s were a rich time for boy bands ― *NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, 98 Degrees ― who sang lyrics filled with sexual innuendos our pre-pubescent ears just didn’t quite understand. But it seems there was at least one “band” that tried to keep it real.
Enter Thr33way, the “first-ever honest boy band,” formed by James Corden, Nick Kroll and Jordan Peele. In a clip from “The Late Late Show,” the three guys opened up about their group’s mission.
“We took existing boy band songs, cut through all the innuendo, and just got to the heart of what those songs are really about: hardcore sex,” Kroll explained.
The “band” released songs like “I Want a Three-Way,” set to the tune of BSB’s “I Want It That Way,” and “Quit Playin’ Games with My Penis,” set to “Quit Playin’ Games with My Heart.” Then there were hits like “End of the Choad,” “Bye Bye Bi-Sexual,” “The Butt Stuff,” and of course, “MMMBoobs.” (You can probably guess how that one went.)
Things quickly went downhill for Thr33way after that last track. Add in a terrible interview with Mario Lopez, and the “band” was pretty much done.” For Peele and Kroll, it’s been a dark time. Corden, on the other hand, has “no regrets.”
Check out their story above.
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President Donald Trump criticized the media again on Friday while speaking at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland.
Trump claimed it was wrongly reported that he called the media the “enemy of the people,” saying he’d actually called “fake news” the enemy. But he has branded such reputable media outlets as the The New York Times, CNN, NBC and others “fake news.”
The president argued that the First Amendment gives him “the right to criticize fake news and criticize it strongly.”
“[The media] say that we can’t criticize their dishonest coverage because of the First Amendment,” Trump said.
“I love the First Amendment. Nobody loves it better than me,” he added.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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Kim Jong-nam, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s half brother, was assassinated last week by a nerve agent called VX, according to the Malaysian police as reported by the Washington Post. What the heck is VX, and why is it so awful?
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.
