Monthly Archives: August 2017

UCLA Football Making Progress Offensively – Bruins Nation

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Overall, the UCLA football team seemed to have its best practice of Fall camp so far yesterday.

Josh Rosens throws were better for the most part, but still show signs of being a bit rusty.

Offensive Coordinator Jedd Fisch spoke about the overall state of the offense after practice yesterday. Its fun to see [the progress the team is making], Fisch said. Its been very minimal on the mistake side and very positive on the execution side. Theres a long way to go to where we want to be, but very happy so far.

Offensive line coach Hank Fraley also met with the media after practice yesterday and he spoke about the progress the line is making. Theyre coming out every day and all trying to get better, Fraley said.

Fraley also spoke about graduate transfer Sunny Odogwu. He wants perfection and thats a good thing, Fraley said. Were all striving for that and, if he messes something up, he tries not to make the mistake a second time and thats what you want to see from the whole group.

I shot video of four drills during yesterdays practice. First, we have the offensive line hitting the blocking sled.

Another offensive line drill from yesterday was a medicine ball drill.

The skilled players have been going through a rotation of drills. One of the rotations is the ball control drill seen in this video.

The last drill video for today is from the one-on-ones between the DBs and the WRs.

Thanks to Thuc Nhi Nguyen of Inside SoCal for todays post-practice interviews. First up, we have offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch.

Next, new offensive line coach Hank Fraley discusses his guys.

Finally, we have two of Coach Fraleys guys, Kenny Lacy and Andre James.

Go Bruins!!!

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UCLA Football Making Progress Offensively - Bruins Nation

System Sundays: 2017 Draftee Progress Reports – Viva El Birdos

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Nope, not going to talk about the big league club. Not going to win, didnt do anything at the deadline to move the club in a positive direction for the future. Enjoy playing out the string, everybody. In fact, if I could come up with a way to not write about the big league team for the rest of the season, I might do it. Most likely, that will last until about this coming Wednesday, though. So give my pouting the amount of regard it calls for, which is frankly not very much.

In the meantime, however, I will talk about one of the more positive aspects of the 2017 season: the draft class. Admittedly, the 2017 draft class for the Cardinals doesnt come without some caveats in terms of how positive it can really be; the hacking penalties put the Cards and Randy Flores behind the eight ball, and ensured there was a fairly hard ceiling on how much they could get done. Within the confines of all that, though, Flores and his department did one of the more remarkable jobs I think Ive seen of acquiring talent.

So lets update the performances so far of a few notable draftees just starting out their pro careers, shall we?

Level: State College (Short Season)

134 PA, .299/.376/.470, 9.7% BB, 22.4% K, 2 HR, 8 2B, 3 3B, .171 ISO, 4/6 SB, 149 wRC+

So far, Scott Hurst is off to pretty much exactly the kind of start one would hope to see from him. One of the most, if not the most, dynamic talents the Cards grabbed on draft day, Hurst has shown some power, some speed, patience at the plate, and generally loud contact the majority of the time.

The strikeouts are a little higher than I would have hoped, but that seems to be the case with most of the Cardinal hitters even in the minors these days. To be fair, though, its Hursts first pro season, hes playing later than ever before, and seeing better competition than hes ever faced. Still, when I looked at him in college at the time of the draft, I thought he should run a sub-20% strikeout rate in the pros. So far, hes above that, though not terribly so. Still, with a walk rate close to 10% you dont worry as much about the strikeouts.

Hes running a very high BABIP (.384), but anecdotally from the one or two sources I have who have seen him play for the Spikes, hes also just hitting the hell out of the ball. The higher of the two short season leagues the Cardinals run, State College was a slightly aggressive assignment for Hurst, considering how much time he missed with back/spine issues in college, but so far both the stats and the eye tests suggest hes a little too good for the level. Very encouraging.

Level: Peoria (Low A)

116 PA, .255/.293/.373, 3 HR, 5/8 SB, 87 wRC+, 5.2% BB, 19.0% K

Scott Hursts placement at State College felt aggressive, but not overly so, and he has so far looked as if the organisations faith was well placed. Kramer Robertson, on the other hand, was placed even more aggressively as a college senior, sent straight to full-season Peoria, and at least to this point it looks like the placement may have been a little too aggressive.

To be fair, Robertson did come out of the gate quickly; in his first seven games he hit .367 with a couple home runs. After that, though, the former LSU Tiger found the going much tougher as a professional, particularly during a 3-for-33 tailspin to close July. Hes hit well so far in August, but suffice it to say Robertson has not come out and put himself on the fast track just yet. Considering hell turn 23 in a couple months, he should absolutely start no lower than Peoria next year, and should really move up to Palm Beach if he wants to get on any kind of prospect age track. Well have to see if the organisation believes him ready for that challenge, though.

Level: State College

119 PA, 15.1% BB, 20.2% K, .082 ISO, .233 BABIP, 89 wRC+

Kirtley, product of the same St. Marys program that brought the Cardinals the perpetual power tease of Patrick Wisdom, is in many ways the exact opposite of his fellow alum. Wisdom is a high-quality defender at third, with power to spare but poor contact skills and atrocious discipline. Kirtley, on the other hand, is all patience and discipline, with modest pop, questionable quality of contact (at least so far), and no real defensive home.

On the other hand, this is a player getting his first taste of pro ball, with an aggressive placement (particularly considering Kirtley is very young for a college draftee, not turning 21 until October), who is also walking over 15% of the time and striking out not much more than that. It was an open question what position Kirtley would play coming out of the draft, but so far the Cards seem dedicated to trying him out at second, perhaps just because they cant help themselves but try to corner the second base market completely.

Level: Johnson City (Short Season)

135 PA, .319/.430/.425, 136 wRC+, 13.3% BB, 16.3% K, 9 2B

First off, I skipped round six draftee Zach Jackson, the high school catcher with the big lefty uppercut, because hes only played in about a dozen games and hasnt really gotten going yet. Well check back in on him at a later date.

Pinder, meanwhile, received a less aggressive assignment than Scott Hurst, partially because I think the organisation wanted to challenge Hurst as their highest pick, but also because of the glut of outfielders at pretty much every level of the farm system. Pinder and Hurst being assigned to two different levels allows both to play center, where they need to be evaluated first.

The best part of Pinders line so far is that near-1:1 strikeout to walk ratio; hes rocking a hard-contact-assisted .389 BABIP as well. Hes also put the ball in the air more often than on the ground, with roughly 60% of his batted balls being either line drives or fly balls, compared to a little under 40% on the ground. Admittedly, stringers and batted ball date in the minors can be shaky, but its fair to say already that Pinder is doing pretty much everything right so far.

Oh, and another note: those numbers are from FanGraphs, but I happen to know Pinder just put up a 5-for-6 performance last night that should help his line even more.

Wilberto Rivera, the clubs eighth round pick, has thrown four innings. So, you know. Lets wait on that one.

Level: Peoria

7 GS, 34 IP, 6 HR, 5.03 ERA, 16.5% K, 3.4% BB , 48.6% GB

Kruczynski was pushed to full-season ball immediately and so far has been bitten by the home run bug. Beyond that, though, hes pretty well held his own. Hes not striking out a ton of hitters, but hes also not walking basically anyone at all. So, pretty much as advertised so far.

Level: Johnson City

6 Games, 2 GS, 16.2 IP, 17 K, 3 BB, 0.55 ERA

Brett Seeburger has been nothing short of awesome so far. He is 22 years old already, having been drafted as a college senior, and so is fairly advanced for the Appy League, but hes still come out and been great. I havent been able to lay eyes on him yet for Johnson City, but as good as hes been out of the gate I need to get a look soon.

Level: State College

165 PA, .370/.433/.541, 9.1% BB, 18.2% K, .452 BABIP, 13 2B, 3 3B, 2 HR

Evan Mendoza is a bad, bad man. At least in State College, anyway.

So far in his brief minor league career, Mendoza has done nothing but barrel up baseballs left and right, sending screaming line drives pretty much foul pole to foul pole. The strikeouts are not bad, the walks are just fine, and the contact has been phenomenal.

The only downside of Mendozas profile is hes running a very low fly ball rate, just over 25% of his batted balls so far. Now, theres absolutely the small sample issue, but thats very much the kind of hitter he was in college as well. He hits the ball hard, but the swing is fairly flat and doesnt lend itself to much loft. Still, hes done nothing but crush New York-Penn pitching this summer, and you have to kind of love how many of these draftees have been startlingly good to begin their careers.

Level: State College

24.1 IP, 1.85 ERA, 21.6% K, 13.7% BB, .313 BABIP

As for the Cards newest Stanford acquisition, Summerville has had some control issues in the early going, with the walks way up compared to what you might have expected of him coming out of college. Hes walked twelve hitters in his last four starts, though, so I suspect theres probably some fatigue involved. It wouldnt shock me to see the organisation shut him down relatively soon if he continues to labour, just to try and avoid any kind of injury risk elevated by him being tired and pitching later in the year than he has previously.

Level: Johnson City

15 G, 17.1 IP, 1.04 ERA, 37.3% K, 6% BB

What we have here, ladies and gentlemen, is an extremely intriguing bullpen arm. Intriguing to the tune of 25 strikeouts in just 17 innings intriguing. Yes, its Johnson City, so a fairly conservative assignment for the lefty slinger, but those numbers are still remarkable. I thought at the time of the draft the Cards might have found a bit of a diamond in the rough with Patterson, and hes not disabusing me of that notion yet.

Level: Gulf Coast League (Rookie)

58 PA, 15.5% BB, 19.0% K, .311/.431/.489, 158 wRC+

Wow. Thats really about all there is to say about Donivan Williamss performance so far. I loved the bat speed, the arm strength, and the overall athleticism Williams brought to the table at the time of the draft, but in no way was I expected a kid with the kind of plate maturity hes shown immediately. High school kids do not come into pro ball and walk over 15% of the time. Or, at least, they dont do so while also striking out less than 20% of the time.

Its incredibly early, yes. But Donivan Williams has my full and undivided attention now.

Level: Gulf Coast League

82 PA, .219/.305/.370, 93 wRC+, 9.8% BB, 36.6% K, 3/3 SB, 2 HR

Terry Fuller has swung and missed quite a bit so far in pro ball. Thats not shocking, considering how short a time hes actually been concentrating fully on baseball, but its a good reminder that there were reasons why the guy who outhomered Bryce Harper at a showcase fell all the way to the fifteenth round. Not that he should have fallen anywhere near that far, mind you; Im just saying, there are reasons Fuller was not a top prospect in spite of some elite physical tools.

Hes looked very athletic in the outfield, and hit a couple of absolute moon shots right off the bat. Hes been fighting it as of late, however, it appears, which Im tempted to chalk at least partially up to tiring out, similarly to Andrew Summervilles declining control. Fuller the first couple weeks of his season was much more patient, but has hit a rough patch the last ten days or so. The swing and miss concerns me, but the tools are still there, and have plenty of time to emerge and be polished.

Jake Walsh (16) has struck out 25 in 19 innings for Johnson City.

Will Latcham (17) has struck out 22 in 16 innings at State College, walking just 5.

Irving Lopez (18), another second baseman, has a .405 on-base percentage for Johnson City, with four homers in less than 100 at-bats and a 13:14 walk to strikeout ratio.

Thomas St. Clair (24) has struck out almost 37% of the hitters hes faced this season at JC.

Kodi Whitley (27) is running a 14:2 K:BB ratio in nine innings for the GCL Cardinals.

Wood Myers (29) put up a 162 wRC+ at Johnson City, then moved up to State College and has struggled so far.

Taylor Bryant (33) is both walking and striking out 17.7% of the time for the GCL club. Hes old for the level as a college player, but thats still encouraging. The org needs to move him up, but Im not sure to where just yet. (Hes a shortstop.)

Michael Brdar (36) has more walks (9) than strikeouts (8) playing in the GCL. He has walks like he has consonants in his name, in fact.

So far, its hard to find too many really terrible performances from 2017 draftees for the Cardinals. There are a few, of course, but the early returns on the draft this year are remarkably exciting, considering how limited the options were. Its still far too early to make any sweeping declarations about the quality of the class, but that wont stop me from thinking very loudly that the Randy Flores drafting department is the best the Cards have had since Jeff Luhnow left town.

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System Sundays: 2017 Draftee Progress Reports - Viva El Birdos

Progress Chapter 53 recap & review: London Riots explode, Dunne plumbs new depths, and the South Pacific Power … – Cageside Seats (blog)

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Progress Chapter 53: Fate Loves the Fearless went up on Demand Progress a few days ago so let's not waste any more time in digging right into it!

Solow cuts a promo to thunderous boos from the Progress faithful, claiming that he and Starks were screwed last week. They're not used to performing in this environment, they're used to a 20x20 ring and referees like Charles Robinson, and you know who's not going to be happy when he talks to her about his time in the UK? His girl Bayley, that's right.

Ricky adds that they're gonna walk out #1 contender's and it doesn't matter how much he squats or deadlifts, because he knows they're better than #CCK, who are "punk ass bitches".

Aaron and Brookes to start, Mr. Bayley taking an early advantage but Chris comes back in with strikes and, of all things, a stepover armlock wet willy. Lykos in, sick tag moves ensue, but Starks gets the tag and the wolf man gets worked over a moment. Slick escape through the ropes, diving arm drag, back kick, calling for the brainbuster early but Ricky floats over.

Starks counters a bulldog into a falling slam, quick tags as they choke Kid out and generally abuse him in the corner. Bridging fisherman suplex gets Ricky a nearfall, back to grinding Lykos down with the quick tags but Brookes gets the tag! Double dragon screw, dropkick to a half nelson suplex to a wild figure four German suplex!

Kid alive again, Chris Brookes tope con giro, wild rolling wheelbarrow facebuster / dropkick combo, Solow makes the save but #CCK just run wild on him, tandem Codebreaker, Starks back in with a spear to cut the sequence off! Tilt-a-whirl slam for the wolf man, Aaron outside for a superkick to take care of Brookes, springboard lariat / powerbomb combo... CHRIS BROOKES MAKES THE SAVE!

Ricky throwing kicks, wiping Chris out but he wastes time taunting a crowd that hates him and further makes the mistake of throwing disdainful slaps. Brookes fires back, big slap rush, he pulls ahead but Starks drops him with a lariat! Lykos with a diving knee, Solow with an enzuigiri, Chris with a wiked knee lift, Ricky plants him with the Last Ride!

Lykos moonsault DDT blocked, Tombstone piledriver, assisted Canadian backbreaker DDT... NOT ENOUGH! Kid with the low bridge, Solow trying a wheelbarrow stomp, Brookes blocks but the wheelbarrow stomp connects and Aaron hits a cradle DDT! They're not done with him yet... SUPERKICK ASSISTED DOUBLE UNDERHOOK PILEDRIVER ON THE APRON!

Solow puts his hair up in a side ponytail in case we've forgotten he's Mr. Bayley... BAYLEY-TO-BELLY! CHRIS BROOKES LIVES BUT SOLOW TAKES HIM RIGHT INTO A WRENCHING CROSSFACE! Lykos hits a diving Frankensteiner on Starks and Solow abandons ship, Lo Mein Pain, a tornillo, the wolf man is on a roll!

Brookes sends Starks back outside and Lykos wipes both Extra Talent-ed men out! Back in, the assisted Codebreaker connects, followup senton... NOT ENOUGH! Kid holds Ricky back as Brookes gets the underhooks in...

#CCK win by pinfall with a double underhook piledriver from Chris Brookes on Aaron Solow, becoming #1 contender's to the Progress Tag Team Championship.

Really fun opener that made up for last Chapter's confusion quite well. Shout out to Aaron "The Entire Offense of the WWE Womens Division" Solow, not just busting out the obvious Bayley-to-Belly here, but also a RamPaige and the Bank Statement crossface, all in pretty short order. A tip of my hat, sir.

A man on the ring crew by the name of Spud gets a shout-out, he's only been in the business nine months but I think he's gonna be something special, guys.

Mambo starting off with a bit of fun, riding Dunne like a surfboard and getting a Gedo Clutch for a near fall. On with the lucha, thrust spinebuster and he calls for the People's Elbow but again his elbow is stuck in a bit of a time loop and no matter how many elbow pads he pulls off he has more!

Damian uses the opportunity to head outside, and cuts a dive off with the megaphone but Chuck gets it from him and throws the springboard somersault senton! Back in the ring, he finally manages to remove the elbow pad, People's Elbow connects... NO GOOD! Freeze! enzuigiri gets a nearfall in return and Dunne goes back to work, stomping away and choking Mambo with his own bandanna.

Clubbing away, well in charge, a foot on Chuck's face as he decrees there shall be no fun and fires a knee drop off for another nearfall. Trading strikes, Mambo gets a backbreaker off and the Chief Deputy is on the back foot. Blockbuster, springboard Meteora, another nearfall, the enzuigiri is scouted and now Chuck rides Dunne in a surfboard in the wrestling move sense, more specifically a Romero Special.

Fireman's carry denied, standing switch, Dunne with elbows and knees, fireman's carry Michinoku Driver... NOPE! Off the ropes, Mambo catches him, fireman's carry double knee gutbuster, superkick, Chuck You denied, roll-up gets two, to the apron, Chuck springboards in but gets caught by a spear... only a nearfall! Dunne pops him up on the ropes...

Chief Deputy Dunne wins by pinfall with a rope-hung DDT.

Good stuff, comedy early seguing to intensity nicely as the match gets more heated but never losing track that these two are, well, not the most serious wrestlers around.

Zack Gibson does his usual #1 spiel before adding that whatever we write about him online, James Drake will still be the future of UK wrestling. (Look, I got no beef with your Drake, Zack, just he's not even the best James Drake. That honor goes to one half of Evolve Tag Team Champions the Workhorsemen, pro wrestling's REAL James Drake.)

He continues saying he used to get told off for bullying people but tonight they get paid to bully! The Origin is dead, Nathan Cruz has taken his ball and gone home, and the only thing that matters is Zack Gibson and James Drake. (Now, a Drake/Gibson vs. Workhorsemen match? Make it happen, Progress and Evolve!)

Drake and Gibson just taking it to Never Say Die, wiping Cupid out and isolating D'Angelo, who's game to fight but gets taken out by That Damn Numbers Game. Alex back in, he runs into some combinations, a pop-up powerbomb into a Boston Crab, Gibson adds the Shankly Gates! Referee Paz insists on the break and demands order!

Dillon in, he takes James out with a gamengiri, strike rush for Zack, knucklelock applied, stepping up, springboarding, combo arm drag and headscissors takeover! Gibson with a double chop to the throat but Cupid is back in with a Blue Thunder Driver! D'Angelo with a rolling thunder DDT... ZACK HAS TO MAKE THE SAVE!

Charging in, Gibson sets him up in the corner, Codebreaker wipes Dillon out and they wipe Cupid out with a lariat after. Off the ropes, Zack assists Drake on his way to a tope con giro! Whipping D'Angelo into a double team...

James Drake & Zack Gibson win by pinfall with Ticket to Mayhem on Dillon D'Angelo.

Great match for what it was, establishing both these teams in one short go, one as veterans without much regard for the rules and the other as plucky kids who, well... Never Say Die. And after seeing how well they click as a team, I've gone from "that would be cool" to "GOTTA HAVE IT" on that Drake & Gibson vs. Workhorsemen match I pitched up there. Give it to me!

James Davis vs. Rob Lynch

Testing their strength in the lockup early, giving way to straight up bull moose action and then striking. Big slaps turn the heat up, they shake hands and we got Frye/Takayama punches! Davis gets a German suplex off, Lynch with one in return, trading Germans on Germans! Rob sends Davis outside with one... BIG MAN TOPE CON GIRO!

Struggle on the apron, James with a dropkick, climbing the turnbuckles... MOONSAULT TO THE OUTSIDE! JD sets a chair up, puts Big Rob in it and cannonballs him down! Back inside, Lynch cuts him off with a forearm, back to the apron, cartwheel into a big boot on the floor, dropkick follows!

Davis back in in a big way with a back suplex on the apron, senton on the floor, motioning for the crowd to part, suicide dive but Rob catches him into an overhead belly-to-belly suplex deep in the crowd! Lynch taking his time to recover as James answers the count and he cuts referee Chris Roberts off, he doesn't want to win that way!

JD back in, they trade chops and take their shirts off! Davis dodges a boot, floats over, ducking and dogdging, Big Rob lands a Saito suplex but James pops right up into a belly-to-belly of his own! Double lariats and both men are wiped out! To their knees, slugging it out with forearms, to their feet, still throwing, JD in with uppercuts, he charges into a boot but catches a dive with an uppercut!

St. George's Cross connects... NOT ENOUGH! Big Rob hits a kick on the second try, Death Valley Driver for a nearfall, throwing forearms but Davis just wants more and harder! Charging elbows, James with a pop-up powerbomb, only a nearfall! Off the ropes for another, Lynch counters with a Frankensteiner and hits the spear... NO GOOD!

Big Rob up top... SPIRAL TAP?! NOBODY HOME AND HE LANDS ON THE BAD SHOULDER! Davis is ready to go but Roberts backs him off as the camera cuts to Lynch's mother in attendance. At last Rob throws Chris off, JD in with a schoolboy pin but it's not enough to do the job. Lynch, defiant in the corner, isn't going to let it end like that and they commit to doing it right.

Forearms for forearms, Rob working one-armed but he gets a lariat off... ALMOST! Davis with a kick to the shoulder, he hesitates for a second, cobra clutch using the bad arm blocked, double axehandle to the shoulder, the cobra clutch is back on...

James Davis wins by submission with a cobra clutch, winning a future shot at the Progress Atlas Division Championship.

JD goes in for a hug and raises Rob's hand after. Lynch picks up a microphone and says it seems like just yesterday that they debuted; the fans haven't changed a bit, and he loves all of them. He gets choked up and says it's his last time, talking about being out on his back, numb, unable to forget the ovation the Progress faithful gave him.

They didn't go off to another country, they stayed here, but he's too hurt, he can't do it anymore, and you'll see him in a few places but he'll be totally done by October. The Riots hug, Lynch goes to kiss the mat to say goodbye to Progress... AND DAVIS BREAKS THE CRICKET BAT OVER HIS BACK! THE COBRA CLUTCH IS BACK ON!

Rob Lynch having passed out, James Davis gets on the mic. He says he knows this comes as a surprise but it shouldn't. They've known each other for ten years and he's recognized a pattern, that pattern being that Lynch is a loser. He loses things, like his house, his money, his fiancee, even his dad, who left when he was nine years old. So just like his fiancee and his dad, he's leaving Rob, and leaving Rob with nothing.

So usually I drop the review blurb in right after the finish and let whatever angle stuff speak for itself before I wrap everything up at the end, but holy hell. The match was great, just two dudes clubbing the hell out of each other, opening up their entire arsenal, dropping everything they had, until a long-term injury reared its head and gave Davis the opening to win... but the post-match makes it a classic.

That moment of hesitation when Davis realized the shoulder was bad enough that he could turn it into a win, in the context of turning on him after? Brilliant. And of course, the turn itself is just the stuff of nightmares, breaking the symbol they share over Rob Lynch's back and dragging up damn near every bad thing that's happened to Rob in his life and using them as "proof" that he's a loser?

Anybody tells you heat is dead in pro wrestling and you need to turn to meta drama and bad decisions to get a crowd angry, you show 'em this match and the aftermath, because friends, heat is alive and well.

Dunne ambushes Sexsmith during the introductions and knocks him to the outside! Fighting into the crowd, throwing a chair at him as the ring crew try to keep the crowd safe! Forearm, a stomp on the floor, Pete sends Jack into about the sixth row! Throwing another chair, he's shoving the crew down!

Collecting Sexsmith again... X PLEX ONTO CHAIRS IN THE FRONT ROW! He lays one of the crew out with a fore arm and goozles another but Jack has recovered... SENTON ATOMICO TO THE FLOOR! The bell rings, Jack in control, throwing kicks, knees, From Dusk 'Til the Crippler Cockface! Dunne reverses to a pin for two and gets a snap German suplex off shortly after.

Big slaps wobble Sexsmith, punch to the back of the neck, off the ropes but Jack catches Pete with the LGBDT... NOT ENOUGH! Charging forearms met by the corner enzuigiri, another X Plex... only a nearfall! Targeting the injured arm with a kick, stomp to the back of the neck, setting Jack up in the turnbuckles, Jim Breaks Special applied for a moment, big forearm, underhooks but Sexsmith fights back and wishbones the fingers!

Pete takes a second to wrench his fingers back into place... BDSM! NOT ENOUGH! Mr. Cocko comes out to play but Dunne blocks, rips him off, and bites the fingers! Big forearm, springboard up and over, Jack with a superkick, thinking shiranui but Pete reverses to a Tombstone piledriver! Jumping Tombstone follows... JACK SEXSMITH LIVES!

Dunne right on him with Kawada kicks, pumphandle... JACK REVERSES TO LGBDT! RAINBOW ROAD... NOT ENOUGH! To the outside, Pete lays Jack out with a forearm and a Pedigree and demands the count! Sexsmith breaks the count with a little assistance from fans in the first row! Bitter end reversed into a small package... STILL NOT ENOUGH!

German suplex into the turnbuckles bad shoulder first, pumphandle applied...

Pete Dunne wins by pinfall with the Bitter End.

This ruled. Dunne being cowardly enough to jump Jack because he knew he was a real threat was enough but the match that followed just made Jack Sexsmith in a big way. Excellent match.

Pete rips Jack's boot off and beats him with it to add insult to injury!

Mat grappling early, Storm with an edge but LeRae holding her own, and when she gets an opening to take flight with a Frankensteiner, a dropkick, and a suicide dive, Candice takes charge. Setting Toni in a chair in the front row, forearms, Storm catches the boot and puts her face into the chair for her trouble!

Breaking the count, charging hip attack, uppercut, back inside but the cover barely gets one. Uppercuts on uppercuts, keeping LeRae wobbly as a snapmare sets up the champion's tradition butt bumps. To the corner, Candice comes back with some kicks, diving reverse STO gets her a nearfall! Toni shoves her off the ropes but LeRae gets the octopus hold!

Reversed by way of a tilt-a-whirl into Gargano Escape! On the break, superkick from the champion gets a charging forearm, duck a lariat, sweep, leg caught on a followup right into the German suplex from Storm! Pass aside, a... plex, going for a springboard and Toni catches her into a German suplex!

LeRae back in after dodging a hip attack, back elbow to a double stomp to the back... NO GOOD! Storm plucks her off the turnbuckles, buckle bomb, charging hip attack, Strong Zero... OUT AT ONE?! TONI CAN'T BELIEVE IT! Candice gets a small package nearfall, forearms, single knee facebreaker, climbing but Storm cuts her off with a slap!

Up top, struggling, Toni with a headbutt, LeRae slips out... AVALANCHE ...PLEX! NOT ENOUGH! Tornado DDT countered into a northern lights suplex into the turnbuckles! Strong Zero, into another, and another...

Toni Storm wins by pinfall with Strong Zero, retaining the Progress Women's Championship.

Great match. The arc from one Strong Zero getting a one count to three putting Candice away was top shelf stuff, and all the rest was basically straight-through excellence.

BSS playing HHH nonsense and get kicked for their trouble! Tandem dives, Havoc throws Bate into the crowd and Haskins kicks Seven's face off! Jimmy takes Tyler way deep and comes back as Mark is throwing forearms at Trent and taking chops in return, so Havoc comes over to poke Seven in the eye. Chest kicks, another eye poke, Jimmy wipes Bate out with a forearm and drags him over to the chairs!

Setting the champions on each other, punches for good measure, Havoc hits a dropkick to Tyler that also functions as a senton on Trent! Bate and Haskins slugging it out in the ring, Koppo kick for a dropkick, up and over, Tyler catches him with the exploder suplex but nobody's home on the shooting star press and the bridging Fujiwara armbar is on!

Jimmy using chairs to brutalize Seven outside while Haskins and Bate continue to have a wrestle inside, Tyler gets the deadlift German suplex but Mark lands on his feet, roll-through into a fireman's carry Michinoku Driver... NOT ENOUGH! Haskins and Havoc rolling two on one on Tyler, catapult into a Death Valley Driver, superkick into an Acid Rainmaker... TRENT THROWS JIMMY INTO HASKINS TO MAKE THE SAVE!

Seven thinking piledriver, Havoc catches him from behind for the Rainmaker but the superkick catches him instead! Into the "everybody do something cool" section of the match, Mark takes Seven Stars after a series of kicks but Havoc's right there with the Acid Rainmaker! Tyler ducks his, hits his rebound lariat, shooting star press connects, deadlift German suplex... HASKINS BREAKS IT UP!

Mark throwing chest kicks two for one, into corner-to-corner elbows, Bate sidesteps, Bop and Bang, tandem Banzai Drop into the piledriver... MARK HASKINS LIVES! Disdainful kicks and slaps as Haskins tries to get to his feet, crotch chop, Seven gets the underhooks but Mark reverses to a sharpshooter! Ring the damn bell!

Tyler stops Trent from tapping and Jimmy gets a high-angle Boston Crab on him! PETE DUNNE IS HERE AND HE HAS MARK HASKINS' WIFE VICKY! MARK BREAKS THE HOLD TO SAVE HIS WIFE AND SEVEN HITS HAVOC LOW!

British Strong Style win by pinfall with a schoolboy pin from Trent Seven on Jimmy Havoc, retaining the Progress Tag Team Championship.

Really good stuff, Haskins and Havoc a surprisingly well-oiled machine, but in the end foiled by Dunne plumbing new depths of deprativity by dragging Vicky Haskins into it.

Post-match, Havoc and Haskins get in each other's faces about the loss and end up in a bit of a shoving match as Vicky tries to keep the peace. Unsuccessfully, as it turns out, as when Jimmy gently shoves her away, Mark sees blood and double legs him for mounted punches! Ring crew and wrestlers hit the ring to separate them!

"Flash" Morgan Webster comes down and tries to talk some sense into them but they just keep fighting! Jimmy finally pulls away and walks off as Flash and Vicky try to talk sense to Mark.

Pete Dunne joins the commentary booth for this one by ripping RJ Singh's headset off and manhandling him out of the way, which I suppose is one way to do it.

Electric staredown, the atmosphere here is incredible. Lee invites Banks, in his fashion, to bask in his glory but eats a front kick! Throwing hands, off the ropes for a lariat and Keith is a brick wall! Catching him on a headscissors, Travis flips out, ducking and dodging, of the ropes, Lee runs THROUGH a lariat and snaps a Frankensteiner off!

Banks gives him a thumbs up for it! Soaking in the atmosphere a second, more basking and again Travis is having none of it, firing off an overhand chop. Boot up on the charge, missile dropkick and Keith is actually staggered, heading outside! Suicide dive... LEE CATCHES HIM EFFORTLESSLY INTO A SPIRIT BOMB ON THE APRON!

Parting the crowd, Keith Lee biels Travis Banks almost into the dividing wall! Back in the ring, Banks throwing desperate forearms but Lee drops him with an overhand club, a stomp follows, Travis slips out of a slam, superkick connects, a lariat takes Keith to a knee, thinking fisherman, the Limitless One reverses, off the ropes... Banks caught with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex!

Another biel sends Travis clean across the ring, Stinger splash, those wicked overhand hamhocks and Banks is absolutely melting down the turnbuckles! One more biel, another Stinger splash, another double overhand chop and Travis is in absolute agony at the hands of Keith Lee. Worked so far, why not go for it again, the biel connects but an elbow blocks the splash, firing kicks off, taking Lee down, Busaiku knee connects!

Keith to the outside, the suicide dive knocks him back this time, a second, Banks firing on all cylinders, a third dive finds its mark! Back in the ring, charging uppercut, a forearm follows to set up the cannonball but Lee deadlifts him up, thinking Spirit Bomb... TRAVIS REVERSES TO A SUNSET FLIP POWERBOMB! NO GOOD!

Forearms, Lee hosses him up, fireman's carry into a backfist, charging in but Banks trips him up... AIR NEW ZEALAND! NOT ENOUGH! Kick combo connects but Keith gets him up for a swinging powerslam for a nearfall! Lee shrugging off kicks, he hits the pop-up thrust spinebuster and follows with the Spirit Bomb but he's slow to capitalize... TRAVIS BANKS LIVES!

Keith climbing, thinking Doomsault but Travis gets a low superkick into a lungblower, jumping lariat connects, Kiwi Krusher... NO GOOD! Both men spent on the mat, trying to get to their feet, Banks up first, Slice of Heaven... LEE COUNTERS WITH A HEADBUTT! Climbing, the Doomsault connects... BANKS OUT AT ONE?!

Alternating slaps and chops, Keith fires back with the double overhand chop, Travis makes the poor decision of throwing a shoulder block, tossed in the corner, the dropkick followup is rather more successful and Banks hits a double stomp to Lee's back! Dunne leaves the commentary booth and heads ringside with the sledgehammer!

Travis keeps his focus, goes for Slice of Heaven... KEITH LEE CATCHES HIM INTO THE SPIRIT BOMB! FIREMAN'S CARRY...

Keith Lee wins by pinfall with Ground Zero.

When two guys on hot streaks meet, it doesn't always go exactly as well as you'd hope. This one, though? This went better. Keith's, well... Limitless ability meeting up against Travis' incredible resilience makes for magic here, folks. Great match.

Bate and Seven hit the ring to beat Banks down but #CCK make the save! Pete's in with the sledgehammer and lays Brookes and Lykos out! Bate runs referee Paz off and British Strong Style stand united in the ring. Dunne beckons his pals draw Banks up, he lifts the sledgehammer high...

KEEP IT 100!

TK COOPER AND DAHLIA BLACK ARE BACK! CHAIRS IN HAND THEY RUN BRITISH STRONG STYLE OFF!

Bit of an awkward staredown with #CCK, but the Best Boys take their leave so the South Pacific Power Trip can have their reunion moment!

Progress honestly feel like they can do no wrong right now. Every chapter seems like it delivers at least three dynamite matches, and this is no different, with the entire show from Davis/Lynch onward just being hit after hit. But a special shoutout to Sexsmith/Dunne, where Jack once and for all feels like he's made it after tearing the house down with the Progress World Champion.

Story-wise, we got some real developments here, with Rob Lynch sadly announcing his departure and James Davis proving that maybe Regression isn't so gone after all given the vehemence with which he turned on his partner, Haskins and Havoc finally came to all out blows (with a little help from Pete Dunne stirring the pot), and the return of the South Pacific Power Couple (along with the establishment of NSD and Gibson/Drake) means the tag division is absolutely overflowing right now.

Check it out on Demand Progress, folks.

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Progress Chapter 53 recap & review: London Riots explode, Dunne plumbs new depths, and the South Pacific Power ... - Cageside Seats (blog)

Israel Will Ban Al Jazeera and Censor Its Cable and Satellite Transmissions, Comms Ministry Says – Gizmodo

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Israels communications minister, Ayoub Kara, is moving forward with a plan to ban Qatari state-funded broadcaster Al Jazeera throughout the country.

According to Al Jazeera, the plan would revoke the credentials of all journalists working for the broadcasters Arabic and English credentials, shut down its cable and satellite transmissions, and evict staff from their Jerusalem headquarters. Kara would need approval from the Knesset to move forward with some elements of the plan.

All journalists working within Israel must be accredited by the government, and both civilian and military authorities have wide latitude to censor print and broadcast publications, according to the US State Department. Its unclear whether Israeli authorities will order access to Al Jazeeras web content cut off, though just weeks ago the Knesset approved a law allowing the censorship of content deemed criminal or tied to terror groups.

We have based our decision on the move by Sunni Arab states to close the Al Jazeera offices and prohibiting their work, Kara said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously threatened Al Jazeera over its coverage of violence and security measures at the Temple Mount-Noble Sanctuary compound. One of two police investigations against Netanyahu, both of which appear to be nearing indictments, concerns allegations he secretly held negotiations with an Israeli paper in exchange for good coverage.

In the past few years, Sunni Arab states have accused Qatar of funding extremist groups like al-Qaeda, Hamas and Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, though the Qatari government insists it is being scapegoated. Theres some evidence foreign hackers, possibly from the UAE, have deliberately sought to inflame tensions by posting fake articles to the Qatari foreign ministrys web sites.

Months ago, the same governments accusing Qatar of funding terror put in place a regional trade blockade on its land and sea borders, a move enthusiastically backed by President Donald Trump, though said blockade does not seem to be working.

The Committee to Protect Journalists urged Israel to abandon the plan to block the network, with Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour issuing a statement saying Censoring Al-Jazeera or closing its offices will not bring stability to the region, but it would put Israel firmly in the camp of some of the regions worst enemies of press freedom.

Regimes that want to control power will almost always go after two targetsthe media and the foreigners, the American University in Beiruts Rami Khouri told Al Jazeera. Everybody goes after the media.

As the Guardian noted, Al Jazeera has faced crackdowns in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain, with the latter four countries blocking its channel and affiliate sites.

[Al Jazeera]

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Is the Israel Anti-Boycott Act an infringement of free speech? – The Jerusalem Post mobile website

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Palestinian advocates use the language of free speech, human rights, social justice and international law to rationalize the irrational and immoral financially supporting terrorists while promoting economic discrimination against the State of Israel. This manipulative use of universalistic terms hides the boycotters real agenda: the elimination of the State of Israel.

Congress is now deliberating on whether to update 1970s-era legislation against boycotting Israel with the Israel Anti-Boycott Act that would target the international Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Some of the same misleading arguments raised against the act were also used to discredit the Taylor Force Act, a proposed piece of legislation that would punish the Palestinian Authority if it continues to financially support and incentivize terrorists and their families with American taxpayer dollars.

Today, there is bipartisan support in Congress for updating the 1979 Export Administration Act prohibiting American corporations from cooperating with boycotts against Israel by foreign nations, the EU or the UN. No American should be compelled to acquiesce to a boycott ordered by a foreign entity.

Enter Democratic Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, and Republican Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, who introduced the updated legislation to combat the 21st-century boycotters of Israel.

The Israel Anti-Boycott Act is bipartisan legislation currently supported by 42 senators and 247 members of the House.

The ACLU, J Street and Moveon.org among other progressive groups are lobbying legislators to withdraw their support, claiming the legislation seeks to impose an unconstitutional restriction on free speech.

Senators Portman and Cardin responded to the ACLU, writing, Nothing in the bill restricts constitutionally protected free speech or limits criticism of Israel... it is narrowly targeted at commercial activity and is based on current law that has been constitutionally upheld.

Lets be clear: the right to express ones point of view, no matter how contentious or odious, is a constitutionally protected right.

However, the attempt to expand the meaning of speech to include commercial transactions is a transparent maneuver to stop this particular piece of legislation that would bar economic discrimination against Israel.

According to Scholars for Middle East Peace, Legal analysts have shown... the amendment only... prohibits actual commercial boycotts... The distinction between expression, which cannot be regulated, and commercial conduct, which can be, is vital.

Boycotts against the Jewish state began immediately with its creation in 1948. The Arab oil embargo and economic blackmailing of companies doing business with Israel motivated Congress to pass the Export Administration Act in an attempt to punish the boycotters of Israel and other American allies. The law barred economic discrimination against Israeli businesses, on pain of criminal and financial penalties.

Fast-forward to the 21st century, where the original boycott effort has mutated into the BDS movement, whose endgame is the destruction of Israel not the creation of two states for two peoples.

BDS is a serious and growing problem targeting investment funds, pensions funds and companies doing business in Israel.

Groups already supportive of BDS include various trade unions, municipalities, progressive mainstream churches, and academic organizations.

But the greatest potential threat from BDS may come from the halls of the United Nations and the European Union.

The ACLU claims the proposed legislation is an infringement of free speech. Yet many state legislatures have already passed anti-BDS legislation, going to great lengths not to restrict First Amendment rights.

Now that the legislation has reached the national level, the ACLU wants to include commercial transactions under the banner of speech.

It should be no surprise that the ACLU would be at the forefront in defending the rights of the anti-Israel movement. The ACLU is an advocate of intersectionality, whereby Zionism is stigmatized as being incompatible with everything from feminism to fighting racism. Progressive Zionists are demonized while even the most illiberal BDS supporters are celebrated.

Memo to the ACLU: fighting against Israels right to exist meets the State Department definition of antisemitism. Even the UN secretary general said that the denial of Israels right to exist is antisemitism.

The ACLU says it does not want to stifle efforts to protest Israels settlement policies by boycotting businesses in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. Notice that it doesnt confine itself to the disputed territories but includes all of Israel, more proof this is not about a two-state solution but supporting the BDS goal of eliminating the Jewish state.

According to the pro-Palestinian website Electronic Intifada, WESPAC, Adalah-NY, Jewish Voice for Peace-Westchester and Peace Action NY successfully mobilized to make this bill a central issue at New York Senator Gillibrands town halls.

The intimidation is working, as Senator Kristin Gillibrand, a co-sponsor of the original legislation, has withdrawn her support, moving her into alignment with J Street.

Does Senator Gillibrand know these groups are vehemently anti-Israel and antisemitic, on the fringe of the left-wing extreme? J Street, a self-styled pro-Israel, propeace organization which reliably comes to the aid of BDS supporters, has expectedly lobbied Congress to oppose the Israel Anti-Boycott Act. Despite claiming that it is opposed to BDS, it is using its considerable voice not to explain the dangers of BDS to the State of Israel, but to support BDSs rights, advocating engagement through dialogue that lends legitimization to BDSs antisemitism.

BDS is not about two states or the occupation, it is about the destruction of Israel.

The words of BDS co-founder Omar Barghouti say it all: Definitely, most definitely we [BDS] oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine, and no Palestinian Supports a Jewish state in Palestine.

Lets hope that the rest of Congress will rally in support of this important legislation against international BDS and will not be duped by the ACLUs dubious freedom of speech argument.

The author is director of MEPIN, the Middle East Political and Information Network. He regularly briefs members of Congress and think tanks on the Middle East. He is a regular contributor to The Jerusalem Post.

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Speaking free: Congress shall make no law on campus speech – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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Speaking free: Congress shall make no law on campus speech
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Rep. Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio, recently led a hearing on Capitol Hill about free speech on American campuses. Freedom of speech and thought are at risk in colleges and universities. But congressional intervention is a nonstarter. At the ...

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Speaking free: Congress shall make no law on campus speech - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Lyrical performance tackles questions around faith and atheism – The List

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Todd (Richard Marsh) is part of a generation for whom atheism is almost fashionable. This lyrical performance tells the story of what happens when this unremarkable and faithless individual is asked by God (Sara Hirsch) to found a new religion.

As well as being an atheist, Todd is also in possession of a significant ego, which quickly overrides his rational scepticism: initially furtive and quizzical, his confidence and presence swell as he settles into his messianic status.

Marsh also portrays Todd's wife, Helen, as well as his father in law, Pete, and is equally in command of these roles. Indeed, Marsh seems to reserve much of his energy for these ancillary parts, which provide effective emotional punches while also highlighting the ordinariness of Todd himself.

Hirsch's God also thrives while presenting a dichotomy: both saviour and corrupter, provider and destroyer, she lacks some menace during the play's grisly denouement, but her performance is rich in suggesting danger.

To criticise a piece which revolves around the creation of a new religion for being preachy feels absurd, yet the heavy handedness of the final monologue suggests the writer (also Marsh) lacks confidence in his own work. There was no need to evangelise, the audience already believed.

Pleasance Dome, until 28 Aug (not 15), 2.50pm, 1113 (1012).

13 (12) / 0131 556 6550

2 for 1 Part of Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

13 (12) / 0131 556 6550

2 for 1 Part of Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

12 (11) / 0131 556 6550

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Does Science Make Theism Likelier than Atheism? – Patheos (blog)

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Victor Reppert recently linked to an article on the blogSaints and Sceptics (S&S), Why Science Makes Theism Likelier than Atheism.In this blog post, Im going to critically assess that article.

1. What is the Evidence to be Explained?

S&S begin their article as follows:

Should we view the order of the universe, and our ability to comprehend that order, as evidence of God?

This question suggests two related but independent items of evidence to be explained:

E1. Theuniverse is orderly.

E2. The universe contains intelligent beings able to comprehend that order.

Regarding E1, S&S dont clarify or explain what they mean by phrases like the order of the universe or, elsewhere, the high degree of order of the universe. In order to be charitable, Im going to steel man their argument by assuming they are appealing to something similar to what Christian philosopher Richard Swinburne calls the arguments from spatial and temporal order in his book,The Existence of God. Theargument from temporal order appeals to the fact that there are regular successions of events, codified in laws of nature.[1] The phrase regular succession of events is key; this is why, I suppose, Swinburne calls it the argument fromtemporalorder. In contrast, the argument from spatial order appeals to the fact that, given our universe conformstosimple, formulable, scientific natural laws, our bodies are suitable vehicles to provide us with an enormous amount of knowledge of the world and to execute an enormous variety of purposes in it.[2] This steel man interpretation seems highly charitable, since E1 seems to correspond with Swinburnes argument from temporal order, whereas E2 is very similar to Swinburnes argument from spatial order.[3]

Accordingly, we may clarify E1 as follows.

E1. The universeconforms to simple, formulable, scientific laws.

With the evidence to be explained sufficiently clarified, lets unpack their argument.

2. What, Precisely, Is the Argument?

Before I can turn to the logical structure of S&Ss argument, lets first review some notations which will make it easier to summarize the argument in a concise form.

Pr(x): the epistemic probability of any proposition x Pr(x | y): the epistemic probability of any proposition x conditional upon y >!: is much more probable than >!!: is much, much more probable than T: theism A:atheism. A is logically equivalent to ~T.

The first premise of the argument is a simple statement of E1:

(1)E1 is known to be true, i.e., Pr(E1) is close to 1.

Lets now return to S&S:

Lets start with atheism. From an atheistic perspective, there doesnt seem to be any explanation for the order in the universe; it would just be a brute fact or a happy accident as Polkinghorne puts it.

But that doesnt seem good enough. In the absence of an explanation, we would have no reason to expect the high degree of order that we find. But does theism fare any better? To many it seems very likely that if the universe is the product of an intelligent mind, it would exhibit order.

So thesecond premise of the argument seems to be:

(2) An orderly universe is antecedently much more probable on the assumption that theism is true than on the assumption that atheism is true, i.e.,Pr(E1 | T) > Pr(E1 | A).

The third premise is a simple statement of the evidence E2.

(3)E2 is known to be true, i.e., Pr(E2) is close to 1.

Returning to S&S:

But does theism make anintelligibleuniverse especially one which is governed by comprehensible laws and which can described by mathematics any more likely?

If our minds are the result of design we could rely on them to discover the truth. Rational rulers used laws to govern and God was the ruler of the universe. And it would not be surprising to discover that mathematics could describe the universe if the divine mind and human minds were analogous inat leastsome respects. Finally if the universe is created by a good God, he would not systematically deceive us. In light of these considerations, Kepler and his fellow scientists were surely right to think that there is much more reason to expect an intelligible universe if there is a God than if there is not.

So the next premise seems to be:

(4)An intelligible universe is antecedently much more probable on the assumption that theism is true and an orderly exists than on the assumption that atheism is true and an orderly universe exists, i.e.,Pr(E2 | T & E1) > Pr(E2 | A & E1).

Finally, S&S concludes:

So it is obvious that any complex, valuable, beautiful and intelligible state of affairs including our universe is much, much more likely given theism than chance.

And so the conclusion of their argument is:

(5) Therefore,theism is a much, much morelikely explanation for the order and intelligibility of the universe than chance, i.e., Pr(T | E1 & E2) >!! Pr(chance | E1 & E2).

We are now in a position to concisely state the argument in its logical form.

(1) Pr(E1) is close to 1. (2) Pr(E1 | T) > Pr(E1 | A). (3) Pr(E2) is close to 1. (4) Pr(E2 | T & E1) > Pr(E2 | A & E1). (C) Therefore, Pr(T | E1 & E2) >!! Pr(chance | E1 & E2).

Let us now turn to evaluating the strength of this argument. While I have many objections to this argument, let me present just four.

3.First Objection: The Argument Ignores Intrinsic Probabilities

This argument is a deductive argument about inductive probabilities. As stated, however, the argument is incomplete. It does not contain any premises regarding the prior probabilities of theism and atheism. But Bayes Theorem shows that posterior or final probabilities are a function of two things: prior probability and explanatory power. S&S write much about the latter, whereas they are completely silent about the former. This invalidates their argument. Its possible that (1) (4) could all be true and yet the conclusion, (C), still might not follow if the prior probability is extremely low.

In order to repair the argument, S&S would need to add a premise to their argument which explicitly addresses the prior probabilities of theism and atheism. Now, applying the concept of a prior probability to a metaphysical hypothesis like theism is tricky. It isnt clear from S&Ss article which propositions they would include in their background information for the purpose of assessing a prior probability, and I do not know of a non-controversial way to choose such propositions. Fortunately we dont have to solve that problem; another option is to replace prior probability with intrinsic probability. As the name implies, an intrinsic probability is the probability of a hypothesis based solely on intrinsic factors relating to its content (i.e., what it says); it has nothing to do with extrinsic factors, such as the relationship between a hypothesis and the evidence to be explained.

In an attempt to steel man S&Ss argument, I propose that we adopt Paul Drapers theory of intrinsic probability, which says that the intrinsic probability of a hypothesis is determined by its scope, its modesty, and nothing else. Draper explains modesty and scope as follows.

a. Modesty: The modesty of a hypothesis is inversely proportional to its contentto how much it says. Hypotheses that say lessfor example, becausethey make fewer claims or less specific claims or claims that are narrower in scopeare, other things being equal, more likely to be true than hypotheses that say more.

b. Coherence: The coherence of a hypothesis depends on how well its components fit together.

c. If we abstract from all factors extrinsic to a hypothesis, then the only thing that could affect the epistemic probability of that hypothesis is how much it says and how well what it says fits together. No other factors affecting probability could be intrinsic to the hypothesis.

Using these criteria, were now in a position to compare the intrinsic probabilities of theism and atheism. Before we do that, however, we need to start with the intrinsic probabilities of naturalism and supernaturalism. Heres Draper:

4. The intrinsic probabilities of naturalism and supernaturalism

a. Naturalism is the statement that the physical world existed prior to any mental world and caused any mental world to come into existence. b. Supernaturalism is the statement that the mental world existed prior to any physical world and caused any physical world to come into existence. c. Otherism is the statement that both naturalism and supernaturalism are false. d. Naturalism and supernaturalism are equally probable intrinsically because they are equally modest and coherent. Since the intrinsic epistemic probability of otherism is greater than zero, naturalism and supernaturalism are each less probable intrinsically than their denials. (So both naturalists and supernaturalists bear a burden of proof and that burden is equal.)

5.The intrinsic probabilities of theism and atheism a. Theism is a very specific version of supernaturalism and so is many times (i.e. at least 10 times) less probable intrinsically than supernaturalism. b. Naturalism is a specific version of atheism and so is many times less probable than atheism. c. Thus, since naturalism and supernaturalism are equally probable intrinsically, it follows that atheism is many times more probable intrinsically than theism, which entails that atheism has a high intrinsic probability (certainly higher than .9) while theism has a very low intrinsic probability (certainly lower than .1).

Let me introduce a bit more notation:

Pr(|x|): the intrinsic probability of any proposition x

Using that notation, we are now in a position to add the missing premise to S&Ss argument:

(5) Atheism is many times more probable intrinsically than theism, i.e., Pr(|A|) > .9 >!! Pr(|T|) < .1.

Unfortunately for S&S, however, it is far from obvious that the evidence to be explained, E1 and E2, outweigh the very low intrinsic probability of theism. Accordingly, its far from obvious that the conclusion, (C), follows from premises (1)-(5).

4. Second Objection:Pr(E1 | A) May Be Inscrutable

My second objection to S&Ss argument is that Pr(E1 | A) may be inscrutable.If its inscrutable, thentheycant compare Pr(E1 | T) to Pr(E1 | A). Accordingly, the truth of (2) would be unknown.While Im open to the possibility that (2) is true, I cannot figure out a way to defend it.

Why think Pr(E1 | A) is inscrutable? In the context of E1, A is a catch-all hypothesis. A is logically equivalent to A conjoined with all possible explanations for temporal order in the universe apart from theism.[4] For example:

A1: A is true, and the explanation for temporal order in the universe is naturalistic explanation #1. A2: A is true, and the explanation for temporal order in the universe is naturalisticexplanation #2.

An:A is true, and the explanation for temporal order in the universe is naturalisticexplanation #n.

Thats a lot of potential explanations. Accordingly, this constitutes a prima facie reason to be skeptical of the claim that Pr(E1 | A) can be known well enough to support a comparative claim such as (2).The only way to reject this prima facie reason would be to identify some intrinsic feature of A which either ruled out a naturalistic explanation for E1 or which made such an explanation antecedently less likely than it would be on T. Is there such a reason?

Lets reconsider part of what S&S write in support of (2):

From an atheistic perspective, there doesnt seem to be any explanation for the order in the universe; it would just be a brute fact or a happy accident as Polkinghorne puts it.

By brute fact, I assume that S&S mean a fact which has no explanation. By happy accident, I assume that Polkinghorne means due to chance. But brute fact and happy accident hardly constitute an exhaustive set of the possibilities. Let me add just one more to the list: factual necessity. Metaphysical naturalism (as defined in the Draper quote, above) is antecedently very probable on the assumption that atheism is true. If metaphysical naturalism is true, then it seems highly plausible that physical reality whether that consists of just our universe or a multiverse is factually necessary. If physical reality is factually necessary, it seems highly plausible that temporal order could also be factually necessary. But if temporal order is factually necessary, then it is just factually necessary and there is nothing for atheism to explain.

Admittedly, the hypothesis, our universe and its laws are factually necessary,is highly speculative and not known to be true. But, to paraphrase a point once made by CalTech physicist Sean Carroll, theists like S&S are the ones proposing bizarre thought experiments involving the fundamental laws of nature. So we have to consider such speculative possibilities due to the very nature of the topic and the argument. In any case, this much is clear: S&S give no evidence of having even considered, much less addressed, such a possibility.

5. Third Objection: The Conclusion Confuses Atheism with Chance

My third objection is closely related to my point about factual necessity.

So it is obvious that any complex, valuable, beautiful and intelligible state of affairs including our universe is much, much more likely given theism than chance.

The conclusion of the argument does not follow from the premises because the conclusion compares theism to chance, not theism to atheism. But, as weve just seen, atheism functions as a catch-all hypothesis. Atheism is compatible with the proposition, The universe and its temporal order are factually necessary. N.B. That proposition denies that the order of the universe is due to chance. And S&S provide no reason to think that chance is antecedently much more probable on atheism than factual necessity.

6. Fourth Objection: The Argument Commits the Fallacy of Understated Evidence

As is the case with E1, Im open to the possibility that E2, either by itself or when conjoined with E1, is evidence favoring theism over atheism.[5] In other words, Im open to the idea that (4) is true.I dont think S&S have successfully shown this, however. Rather than pursue thatobjection here, however, Ill leave that as an exercise for interested readers.Instead, I want to pursue a different objection: even if (4) were true, it would commit the fallacy of understated evidence.

Lets suppose, for the sake of argument, that the intelligibility of the universe really is evidence favoring theism over atheism. Given that the universe is intelligible, the fact that so much of it is intelligible without appealing to supernatural agency is much more probable on naturalism than on theism. (Ive defended this argument at length elsewhere, so I will refer interested readers to that defense.) Since naturalism entails atheism, it follows that this evidence favoring atheism over theism.

The upshot is this: even if the intelligibility of the universe is evidence favoring theism, there is other, more specific evidence relating to its intelligibility which favors naturalism (and hence atheism) over theism. Its far from obvious that the former outweighs the latter.

7. Conclusion

As weve seen, there are four good objections to S&Ss claim that science makes theism more likely than atheism. I conclude, then, that S&Ss argument is not successful.

Notes

[1] Richard Swinburne,The Existence of God(second ed., New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 153.

[2]Swinburne 2004, p. 154.

[3] The main or only difference between Swinburnes argument from spatial order and S&Ss E2 is that the former also appeals to our ability to execute an enormous variety of purposes in the world, whereas the latter does not.

[4] Herman Phillipse,God in the Age of Science? A Critique of Religious Reason(New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), 258.

[5] For what its worth, I think E2 is much more promising than E1 as a potential source of theistic evidence.

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Chicago to sue over ‘misguided’ sanctuary city warning – CNN

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Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office said in a statement that the Trump administration's "latest unlawful misguided action undermines public safety and violates" the Constitution. He said the city is challenging the administration "to ensure that their misguided policies do not threaten the safety of our residents."

The legal action comes amid Trump administration threats to cut off funding for so-called sanctuary cities, including Chicago. The city, which emphasizes that Chicago and its Welcoming City ordinance are in compliance with the law, wants the court to render the federal stipulations unlawful.

"Chicago will not be blackmailed into changing our values, and we are and will remain a welcoming city," said Emanuel. "The federal government should be working with cities to provide necessary resources to improve public safety, not concocting new schemes to reduce our crime fighting resources."

The suit revolves around new conditions set for an important funding program: the FY2017 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant, or JAG, which provided federal funding to support local law enforcement efforts, according to the statement.

Applications for the grants in fiscal year 2017 are due on September 5. The program is named for Edward Byrne, a New York City police officer who was killed in 1988. He had been protecting a Guyanese immigrant who reported illegal activity to police.

Chicago argues the new conditions placed on the grant program "effectively federalize local detention facilities and violate the Fourth Amendment."

The conditions include:

-- "Compliance with a federal statute that bars restrictions on federal-local sharing of immigration status information";

-- "Unlimited access to local police stations and law enforcement facilities by US Department of Homeland Security personnel to interrogate arrestees"; and,

-- "The requirement that cities provide DHS with at least a 48 hour notice prior to an arrestee's release, which would require detaining residents longer than is permissible under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution."

The Constitution's Fourth Amendment protects against "unreasonable searches and seizures."

Chicago Corporation Counsel Ed Siskel said the attorney general's office doesn't have "the authority to add these requirements to a grant program created by Congress and cannot commandeer local law enforcement to carry out federal immigration law functions."

Chicago's Welcoming City ordinance "prioritizes effective local law enforcement and crime prevention over federal civil immigration issues."

"This ordinance promotes public safety by ensuring that no city resident, regardless of their status, is afraid to cooperate with law enforcement, report criminal activity to the police, serve as a witness in court, or seek help as a victim of crime," the news release said.

Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said federal funding and agents have greatly helped Chicago fight crime.

"The federal government has been an effective partner in the crime fight, as funding and additional federal agents have greatly helped us to take guns off the streets and make our communities safer," said Johnson.

"Removing those resources, regardless of the reason, makes CPD's mission to protect all residents in Chicago that much more difficult."

The threats could result in the loss of billions of dollars in federal grants that pay for a range of programs for crime and domestic violence victims, drug treatment, missing and exploited children, forensic labs, services for disabled people, and boys' and girls' clubs.

In Chicago, $3.6 billion in federal funds are at stake, possibly jeopardizing money to pay for everything from feeding low-income pregnant women to repairing roads and bridges, according to a recent analysis by the Better Government Association, a nonpartisan state watchdog group.

In May, the city launched a campaign in response to President Donald Trump's threats to cut off funding for sanctuary cities. "One Chicago" was recently established in response to the growing needs of the city's refugee and immigrant populations.

The campaign slogan reads: "Three million residents, three million stories, one Chicago."

Originally posted here:

Chicago to sue over 'misguided' sanctuary city warning - CNN

A new, dubious "smart" cryptocurrency for prostitution / Boing Boing – Boing Boing

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"Lust" is an initial coin offering based on the Ethereum blockchain platform, designed for prostitutes and their customers to exchange money for sexual services.

It uses smart contracts and anonymity features to escrow funding of the parties and keep their identities private, in order to avoid law-enforcement scrutiny and public shaming.

Leaving aside the thorny moral and social questions raised by the currency's intended use, there's the technical matter of how well this would work (and this technical matter wraps around to those moral and social questions).

The wireframe drawings of user interface features pictures of sex workers, selected by "elaborate filters based on skill ratings, age, eyes, hair color and other body parameters." The anonymity dimension of this platform is limited to the (presumably male) customers, not the (all-female) workers.

Likewise, the "smart contracts" favor one side of the bargain: the "key has to be scanned later if they make an agreement and meet otherwise the contract gets automatically closed in 48 hours, and the client gets his Etherium tokens back in the wallet" (note that "his" pronoun for the "client"). The game-theoretical aspects of this aren't hard to unpick: if the "client" has sex with the worker, and then does not scan her (sic) token, the client gets to have sex, and the worker gets nothing. Despite high-minded talk about preventing violence against sex-workers, the major threat-model addressed by these smart-contracts is men who don't feel like they got value for money when having sex, not women who perform sex-for-money and don't get paid for it.

Finally, there's the legal question: the people behind this cryptocurrency claim that "our system is not illegal anywhere in the world." That's just not true. There are plenty of territories in which simply using strong crypto is illegal, and others where having a nexus with the procurement of sex for money is itself illegal, no matter how attenuated the connection.

So, in a nutshell: this is a legally dubious platform designed to help men solve the problem of not being embarrassed when they procure the services of a female sex worker, and to protect them in the event that they choose not to pay for her services, but without any real protection for the sex workers' anonymity or ability to get paid.

Escrow deal based on smart contracts

Our escrow deals based on smart Ethereum contracts facilitate, verify, and enforce the negotiation or performance of a contract. An access key is generated from a clients wallet. The partner scans the key and the client gets the service without the intervention of a third party. Etherium tokens are returned back in case of non-performance of the agreement.

Decentralized platform

We are a decentralized online marketplace that enables users to transact without the need for a centralized location or any third-party arbitration. Experience hassle free transactions anonymously without any scams or fake reviews in a completely transparent setup. Decentralisation also implies that it can never be shut down, unlike dedicated servers.

Fully anonymous

You can register without any personal details on our website to connect with most desired body figures in an entirely incognito mode. We defend your privacy with features like cryptography, anonymous mail forwarding systems, digital signatures, and crypto-currencies to ensure smooth transactions.

Law does not prohibit

Whether you live in an extremely conservative country or in one of the most progressive ones, you can access our portal from anywhere at any time in the world. Whats better is, that our system is not illegal anywhere in the world. Since, it can be used everywhere instantly, you can find new partners even if youre visiting some other country or while travelling.

Lust

(via Beyond the Beyond)

Torontos crazy-insane property prices stayed high even through the 2008 crash and its aftermath, but sales volumes of houses of all types plummeted by 40.4% for July 2017-vs-July 2016, new listings are up by 5% over the same period and the average selling price has fallen by 19% since April.

Monsanto is facing over 100 lawsuits in a Federal district court in San Francisco brought by people who attribute their non-Hodgkins lymphoma to exposure to glyphosate in Monsantos Roundup weed-killer, and as part of the discovery process, it submitted internal documents to the court that detailed shenanigans in the companys internal science and its dealings []

Joseph Stiglitz, winner of a Nobel prize in economics, describes the foolishness of enacting further tax cuts for the wealthy in America, and the structural impediments that stand in the way of Trumps pursuit of this foolish goal.

Web technology has matured considerably in the last decade, and developers are continually in demand. If youre looking to add some skills to your resume, or are just interested in exploring the possibilities of the web, check out this Interactive Web Developer Bootcamp.In this course, youll get a comprehensive overview of full-stack development using modern []

Even if you only use your PC for web browsing, media playback, or light document creation, default software can sometimes come up short. To give your Windows PC a bit of a boost, weve compiled a variety of helpful, paid apps that can enhance your user experience and make you more productive.In thePremium PC Power []

Many people find it easiest to learn things by doing them. If youre looking to give a doer in your life an interesting, hands-on project, check out these tech-focused DIY kits:DIY AT-AT Cable Organizer & Card Case ($32.99)With this kit, you get to put together a wooden replica of an AT-AT that keeps cables, pens, []

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A new, dubious "smart" cryptocurrency for prostitution / Boing Boing - Boing Boing

If grandpa had pension, we have cryptocurrency – Economic Times

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Most readers have probably heard of Bitcoin, the digital coin that dominates the cryptocurrency market. It has gained notice both because of its skyrocketing value (from less than a cent in early 2010 to around $2,600 currently) and because it is frequently a key player in hackingand black-market-related stories, from the looting of nearly half a billion dollars in coins from the Mt Gox exchange in 2014 to the recent demand for payment in Bitcoin in the WannaCry ransomware attack.

But do you know Ethereum, with a total value of coins in circulation of close to $20 billion? Bitcoin Cash, which split off from the original Bitcoin on August 1, lost about half its value within hours, then nearly quadrupled by the next day?

Or, rounding out the Big Four, Ripple -whose currency is known as XRP -which shot up to about 40 cents by mid-May from less than a cent at the end of March? Then there are over 800 lower-value and often creatively named coins among those listed on Coinmarketcap.com.

One can buy FedoraCoin (its jaunty symbol being the Justin Timberlake-approved hat), CannabisCoin (one guess what it looks like) or, to choose one of many bringing up the rear, Quartz, currently priced around three-thousandths of a cent. (Bad news for those who bought it at just under $2 at the end of May).

After years as a niche market for technologically sophisticated anarchists and libertarians excited about a decentralised financial network not under government control, digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream. "It's the wild, wild West," said Ron Ginn, 35, founder of a private photo-sharing service called Text Event Pics in St Augustine, who has taken all his money out of the stock market and put it into Ripple and real estate."

This is like getting to invest in the internet in the '90s. I'm very bullish, but I expect to make a couple million dollars off very little money. This is the opportunity of a lifetime. Finance is getting its internet."

Cryptocurrency has understandable appeal to millennials who came of age during the 2008 financial crisis and are now watching the rise of anti-globalist populism threaten the stability of the international economy.

"There's a low cost for entry, you don't pay a lot of fees and millennials are the most tech-savvy," said John Guarco, 22, a recent Duke graduate who, like most of the people interviewed for this article, asked that names of the coins in which he has invested not be published for fear of being targeted by hackers.

Unlike previous generations, many of these greenhorn investors don't have pensions, are mistrustful of socking money away in mutual funds and are fully accustomed to owning digital assets that have no concrete properties.

As traditional paths to upper-middle-class stability are being blocked by debt, exorbitant housing costs and a shaky job market, these investors view cryptocurrency not only as a hedge against another Dow Jones crash, but also as the most rational - and even utopian -means of investing their money.

But there are dissenters who are less sanguine about the future of cryptocurrency, arguing that we are in the midst of the biggest bubble yet, fueled by speculative trading in Japan and South Korea, and pointing to previous Bitcoin crashes as justification for their skepticism.

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If grandpa had pension, we have cryptocurrency - Economic Times

Bitcoin rallies to new record, market cap hits $50 billion for first time – MarketWatch

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Bitcoin surged above $3,000 to reach a new all-time high over the weekend, less than a week after a split that worried some investors.

Bitcoin BTCUSD, -0.62% peaked Saturday at a record $3,360.87, according to CoinDesk.com. By Sunday, the cryptocurrency had settled down to $3,286.87, with a market cap of $53.4 billion, according to Coinmarketcap.com. Saturday marked the first time bitcoin surpassed $50 billion in market cap.

Read: Confused about bitcoin? 10 things you need to know

Prices have jumped more than 10% in the past week, after bitcoin on Tuesday launched a new version of its currency with a different configuration, known as Bitcoin Cash. Bitcoin prices initially fell more than 5% as the new currency confused markets, but quickly recovered.

Despite its volatility, bitcoin has more than tripled its value this year, crossing the $2,000 threshold in May and hitting $3,000 for the first time in June, before crashing back to earth and shedding about 20% of its value before continuing its meteoric gains.

Competing digital currency ethereum tagged along for the weekend rally, surging 12% Saturday and another 7% Sunday, to $270.07, with a market cap of $25.2 billion.

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Bitcoin rallies to new record, market cap hits $50 billion for first time - MarketWatch

3 Must Read Stories: Bitcoin Surges, China’s Debt Binge, North Korea Sanctions – Barron’s

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Barron's
3 Must Read Stories: Bitcoin Surges, China's Debt Binge, North Korea Sanctions
Barron's
"With SegWit activation and the hard fork in the rear view mirror, bitcoin buyers see a smooth road ahead for the next two months," he told CNBC in an email, referring to a more popular upgrade proposal called Segregated Witness. The South China ...

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3 Must Read Stories: Bitcoin Surges, China's Debt Binge, North Korea Sanctions - Barron's

Illicit activity is hurting Bitcoin’s future | New York Post – New York Post

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Dear John: I really think you missed the boat on bitcoin.

You assume bitcoin is just money, when in fact it has many other uses. Its here to stay, and will disrupt every industry, including governance.

Bitcoin ATMs are an easy on/off ramp, since due to regulations in the US its very hard to get bitcoin today. If you look at all the companies (including all banks) that are looking into utilizing this technology, I think you may want to rethink your view.

Santander Bank alone will save $20 billion in internal transfers. E.G.

Dear E.G.: You are referring to a column I wrote about bitcoin being used to launder money from illegal activities.

It just so happens that last week a US jury indicted a Russian man for operating a digital bitcoin exchange that he allegedly used to launder more than $4 billion for people involved in crimes ranging from computer hacking to drug trafficking. The guys name is Alexander Vinnik, and he was arrested in a small beach-side village in northern Greece. This is all according to a report by Reuters.

US officials alleged Vinnik and his firm received more than $4 billion in bitcoin and did substantial business in the US without allowing appropriate protocols to protect against money laundering and other crimes.

So that pretty much confirms what I wrote about the sudden growth of bitcoin ATMs throughout the city.

But lets also look at the illogical stance you are taking. You say that bitcoin is going to disrupt every industry, including governance.

If that were so if governments were going to be disrupted why would governments allow bitcoin and other digital currency to survive? They wouldnt.

Will there someday be a universal currency used by all countries? And will it be digital?

Probably. But thats not going to happen until bitcoin and the others control the illicit activities they are condoning, and until someone backs these currencies with something other than the full faith and credit of nothing.

In other words, eventually governments will band together to create and back a digital currency. And it probably wont be bitcoin.

Dear John: The only way to make going to the doctor affordable is to get rid of the insurance companies, Medicare and Medicaid.

When I first began working full-time in 1985, I went to a neighborhood doctor, God rest his soul.

For a $20 visit and another $20 for a prescription, he got me well. Follow-ups were free. He gave free samples. He even made house calls.

In a cash business, doctors would only be able to charge what the patients have in their wallets and pocketbooks. No greedy middle men. Prices would fall.

God bless and straight ahead. S.H.

Dear S.H.: I remember when I could get an ice cream cone for 25 cents and a decent dinner would cost $20.

But those days are gone.

And so is the Marcus Welby-era that you describe.

Now Id like to see some real letters on the health care problem.

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Illicit activity is hurting Bitcoin's future | New York Post - New York Post

Bitcoin, ethereum gurus live in ‘Crypto Castle’ San Francisco commune – CNBC

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"When we first got this place, I was the only girl who was here and I actually got involved with this place because I have amazing friends," said Toni Lane Casserly, a faculty member at Singularity University, a collaborative technology learning platform.

Lane-Casserly has seen a shift in her years in the space. When she first got there, people were telling her that Bitcoin was used for bad ends. Now people are asking her how they could get involved in the ecosystem.

Another roommate, Viviane Ford, had a similar experience.

"It's funny to see this slowly just gain more and more ground. We used to have a Bitcoin predictor on the window up there and we would guess by the end of the year it's going to hit a thousand or something." said Ford, vice president of Operations at Comma.ai.

"There was one moment where we had a big white board upstairs, a bunch of us were talking about different things and I think Bitcoin hit $2,000," she said, adding that "at that moment we popped a bottle of champagne and celebrated."

Whether Bitcoin or other crypto currencies are flying high or sliding backward, for the visitors and tenants of the Crypto Castle, it's about the game and not the score.

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Bitcoin, ethereum gurus live in 'Crypto Castle' San Francisco commune - CNBC

Everyone is crazy for Ethereum, but Bitcoin is still the beast to beat – Digital Trends

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Everyone is crazy for Ethereum, but Bitcoin is still the beast to beat - Digital Trends

Chuck Kallai helped launch Coventry’s meotoric rise in wrestling – Suburbanite

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Steve King TheSuburbanite.com correspondent

The great Dave Riggs gets a whole lot of credit and rightfully so for helping jump-start Coventry High Schools wrestling dynasty by winning the Comets first individual state championship as a senior in 1973.

Riggs, who would go on to become an outstanding coach at Perry High School, was first in the 105-pound weight class a little more than 44 years ago, showing everyone in the program that yes, a kid from Coventry could all the way to the top. It helped put the Comets on the map, as they finished tied for 21st place as a team in the Class A-AA competition with 15 points.

The Comets had not scored a single point in the 1972 tournament.

But what gets lost in the shuffle is that another senior, a young man by the name of Charles "Chuck" Kallai, kept that momentum going the following year in 1974 by placing second at 145. That vaulted the Comets all the way up to seventh place with 25 points. It was well, a meteoric rise.

The only downer was that Ohio High School Athletic Association records still recognize his last name as "Kallay." In addition, a few years later, the last name of Dale Huston, who was a co-head coach of the Comets along with Dick Miller, was spelled on the official records as Houston.

Oh, well. Thats not really a big deal. Those mistakes were corrected when those last names appeared again a few years on Coventrys return visits to the state tournament.

Much more important is the fact that what Chuck did was so critical, so essential in the grand scheme of things, proving that Riggs accomplishment wasnt a fluke. Neither Riggs nor those 1973 Comets were, as it were, shooting stars, blazing brightly for a few brief moments, and then, just as quickly, fading away, never to be seen again.

No, the Comets both individually and as a team were here to stay, a bright light that wouldnt be extinguished quickly. Actually, Coventry was just getting started.

If Chucks near-championship performance had come four years later, three years later even two years later the interruption of that one year would have choked off the buzz that Riggs title had created. It would have been a real blow.

Out of sight, out of mind, as they say.

But that Chucks runner-up finish came literally on the heels of Riggs crown just 12 months later in the very next state tournament, with no void in between stoked Coventrys flame and kept it going.

Sadly, Chuck Kallai passed away on July 22 at the way, way too young age of 61.

The celebration of his life is a joyful and key reminder of all that. It is an opportunity to tell that long-ago story of one of the greatest times not just in Coventry sports history, but in the history of the entire school system.

Actually, it is one of the most impressive feats ever by any program at any school in Northeast Ohio.

After a step back in the 1975 state tournament, with the Comets finishing in a 15-way tie for 61st place with one point, they went back to work in 1976, placing a lofty third with 61.5 points in the first year of the Class AA event. A separate tourney had started for the Class AA and A schools as wrestling continued to grow by leaps and bounds.

To show that the Comets could stay near the top, they were third again in 1977, increasing their point total by nearly 30 from the year before by getting 90.5.

What happened next the next three seasons, actually was something to behold. The Comets won the AA title in each of those seasons.

Coventry rolled to the 1978 crown it wasnt even close by accumulating 156.5 points, or 35 more than defending state champion Columbus St. Francis DeSales, which had to settle for second this time with 121.5 Highland, the Comets arch rival in the Suburban League, was fourth.

Fittingly so, Gus Kallai, Chucks younger brother, led off Coventrys parade of four state champions by winning at 126 pounds. Right after him was Randy Glover with a title at 132. Keith Foxx (155) and Bill Potts (167) also triumphed.

Four titlists. Its no wonder Coventry had so many points.

Mike Potts (175) chipped in with a second-place finish, while Mike Spurr (112) was third and Mike Scott (185) fourth.

The Comets were even more dominating in 1979, winning the state title by 51.5 points. They had 131.5 to runner-up Columbus Wattersons 81. Highland was third with 80, setting up a real showdown between the w o schools the following year.

Coventry had four individual state champions in Ralph Glover (132), Gus Kallai (138), Mike Potts (175) and Mike Scott (185).

Ray Hughes (104) was fourth.

It was a Suburban League dogfight in 1980, with the Comets finishing first with 106 points, just nine in front of runner-up Highland (97). No one else was close. Oregon Cardinal Stritch was a distant third with 63.5 points.

Jim Florian, who coached those Highland squads, once told me that the Suburban League dual matches between the Comets and Hornets during that period of time was like "a 1927 New York Yankees intrasquad game (that Yankees team is considered the best in baseball history). There were heavy hitters in every weight class on both teams. It was a Murderers Row for both us and Coventry."

The Comets had two state champions the same number as Highland -- in the Potts brothers, John (167) and Mike (185).

Coventry won the team title by getting four other placers in Rick Klemp (second at 155), Ted Roth (third in unlimited), Keith Harpster (fifth at 119) and Frank Parvin (fifth at 175).

The three-time defending state champions made a good run again in 1991, placing ninth, while Highland finally won the title, giving the Suburban League four team titles in a row.

Coventry would go on to win two more state championships in 1993 (Division III) and 96 (II) under the guidance of Randy Glover.

The Comets from 1978-80 were a machine from top to bottom. It started with the fact that the kids arrived at the high school well-trained. Bob Kutz, an extremely dedicated and knowledgeable coach at what was then known as Erwine Junior High School, was way ahead of his time with his ability to teach the inner nuances of the sport. Kutz was one of a kind in a lot of ways. He was a classroom teacher, coached wrestling and worked full-time at Firestone overnight building tires.

How did he do all that?

Similarly, how did those long-ago Comets do all that?

The answer to the latter question is directly tied not just to the great Dave Riggs, but also to the great Chuck Kallai.

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Chuck Kallai helped launch Coventry's meotoric rise in wrestling - Suburbanite

Therapy for Psoriasis May Not be Triggering Inflammatory Bowel Disease – Medical News Bulletin

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A currently approved antibody for the treatment of plaque psoriasis, ixekizumab, targets a cytokine that may also play a role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease. This has led to concerns that ixekizumab increases the occurrence of inflammatory bowel disease in patients with psoriasis. A recent study published in the American Journal of Dermatology have now put those concerns to rest.

Plaque psoriasis is an inflammatory skin disorder, characterized by the appearance of raised red scales, which are often itchy and painful. Whats worse is that psoriasis has a significant genetic overlap with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and patients often develop IBD as a co-morbidity. Crohns disease and ulcerative colitis are the two most common manifestations of IBD, characterized by chronic and recurrent inflammation of the intestines.

Animal and human studies have suggested a potential role of the cytokine interleulin-17 (IL-17) in the pathogenesis of IBD, although the results have often been confounding. So far, clinical trials using antagonists of IL-17A have failed to show efficacy in treating Crohns disease, or worsened prognosis.

Ixekizumab, an antibody against IL-17A, is an effective monoclonal antibody approved for the treatment of plaque psoriasis. Considering the genetic overlap between psoriasis and IBD, and prior reports of adverse events in Crohns patients receiving IL-17A antagonists, Eli Lilly and Company, the pharmaceutical giant that helped developed ixekizumab, conducted a study to gain a better understanding of IBD incidence in psoriasis patients treated with ixekizumab.

The company set up an independent external committee to look at data from 4029 patients with moderate to severe psoriasis who have received ixekizumab. Participants were previously enrolled in one of 7 different randomized clinical trials for ixekizumab. Adjudication of IBD was performed according to an internationally recognized classification system, combining reviews of radiographic, endoscopic, pathological, clinical and laboratory features.

Published in the American Journal of Dermatology, the study found that rates of new IBD cases (comprising both Crohns disease and ulcerative colitis) were uncommon (<1%) in psoriasis patients receiving ixekizumab. They reported that flares of preexisting disease were also rare.

The authors, however, acknowledged one major limitation of the report: the post-hoc nature of the adjudication process, which may have limited the amount of data collection necessary for IBD confirmation. Also, no information on patient or family history of IBD was collected at the time of the trials. Furthermore, the study lacked information on the duration of earlier therapies that may have led to IBD symptoms i.e. before exposure to ixekizumab.

Albeit, the authors suggest that dermatologists monitor patients with concomitant psoriasis and IBD who are receiving IL-17 antibody therapy and advocate for providing full warnings and precautions when prescribing IL-17A antagonists.

Written By: Debapriya Dutta, PhD

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Therapy for Psoriasis May Not be Triggering Inflammatory Bowel Disease - Medical News Bulletin

The secrets of earning rewards travel – CBS News

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Even in these budget-stretched times, some families have miles to go -- and they're traveling for FREE! Anna Werner has a story that's "in the cards" (A version of this story originally aired on April 9, 2017):

When Werner caught up with Cincinnati residents Dan Miller and his wife, Carolyn, earlier this year, they were getting their six kids ready for a Spring Break trip to California. Sounds expensive, right? But Miller managed to fly his family of eight for $500.

In fact, the Miller family has been able to travel the world on a computer programmer's salary, all by using airline miles or credit card points. [He and his wife have about 40 cards between them.]

Points With a Crew

He's not your average card user, though. Miller got so good at this card game, he started writing a blog: Points with a Crew.

"You don't have to be as crazy as I am," Miller laughed. "I like to tell people if you do it right, really with one or two additional credit card sign-ups, you can take your family somewhere for free using those miles."

And guess what? The savings really add up.

Miller has saved, he's reckoned, "tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars over the course of the last couple of years."

No surprise to Brian Kelly, who told Werner, "You are literally throwing money away if you're not getting miles and points."

Kelly is The Points Guy, who turned a lifelong passion for travel into a website that gets more than 3 million views a month, from fans eager to learn his secrets.

"The first thing to do, if you want to have a good miles and points strategy, is to get the right credit cards," Kelly said. "These are not frequent flyer programs anymore; they're frequent spender programs."

The Points Guy

"So why is it worth it for the credit card companies to do that?" Werner asked.

"It's a huge business. The credit card companies charge merchants for every time you swipe your credit card. The merchant is paying the credit card issuer for the ability to process your transaction. And then the credit card company kicks you back a portion of that in the form of rewards."

The airlines make out, too, getting roughly half their profits by selling miles to credit card companies, who use them as incentives to get consumers to sign up for their cards, often with huge sign-up bonuses.

Generally speaking, the more you charge, the more points you get, and the more perks you accrue ... perks which are becoming vital for anyone who wants to travel comfortably.

Kelly said, "I view it as a way for the common person who can't afford that $10,000 first-class seat, but you can book it using miles and points. Everyday people can travel like millionaires."

On the other hand, both men warn their readers not everyone should play this game: if you're in debt, or don't pay off your card balances in full every month, this game will not deal you a winning hand.

"You absolutely have to have financial discipline," Miller said. "No amount of rewards that you're getting are going to offset the 25% interest that you're paying on your credit card balance."

But for Miller, it's been an inexpensive way to offer his kids a valuable lesson: "People are just people. Whether it's in another state, another city, another country, people are pretty much the same no matter where you go. And to be able to see that, I think, makes a big difference."

Good point!

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Breakthrough Stem Cell Study Offers New Clues to Reversing Aging – Singularity Hub

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What causes the body to age?

The Greek Philosopher Aristotle thought it was the hearta hot, dry organ at the seat of intelligence, motion and sensation.

Fast-forward a few centuries, and the brain has overthrown the heart as master of thought. But its control over bodily agingif anywas unclear. Because each organ has its own pool of stem cells to replenish aged tissue, scientists have long thought that the body has multiple aging clocks running concurrently.

As it turns out, thats not quite right.

This week, a study published in Nature threw a wrench into the classical theory of aging. In a technical tour-de-force, a team led by Dr. Dongsheng Cai from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine pinpointed a critical source of aging to a small group of stem cells within the hypothalamusan ancient brain region that controls bodily functions such as temperature and appetite.

Like fountains of youth, these stem cells release tiny fatty bubbles filled with mixtures of small biological molecules called microRNAs. With age, these cells die out, and the animals muscle, skin and brain function declines.

However, when the team transplanted these stem cells from young animals into a middle-aged one, they slowed aging. The recipient mice were smarter, more sociable and had better muscle function. Andget thisthey also lived 10 to 15 percent longer than mice transplanted with other cell types.

To Dr. David Sinclair, an aging expert at Harvard Medical School, the findings represent a breakthrough in aging research.

The brain controls aging, he says. I can see a day when we are implanted with stem cells or treated with stem cell RNAs that improve our health and extend our lives.

Its incredible to think that a tiny group of cells in one brain region could be the key to aging.

But to Cai, there are plenty of examples throughout evolution that support the theory. Experimentally changing a few of the 302 neurons in the nematode worm C. elegans is often sufficient for changing its lifespan, he says.

Of course, a mammalian brain is much more complicated than a simple worm. To narrow the problem down, Cai decided to zero in on the hypothalamus.

The hypothalamus has a classical function to regulate the whole bodys physiology, he says, so theres a natural logic for us to reason that the hypothalamus might be involved in aging, which was never studied before.

Even so, it was a high-risk bet. The hippocampusbecause of its importance in maintaining memory with ageis the most popular research target. And while the hypothalamus was previously somehow linked to aging, no one knew how.

Cais bet paid off. In a groundbreaking paper published in 2013, he found that a molecule called NF-kappaB increased in the hypothalamus as an animal grew older. Zap out NF-kappaB activity in mice, and they showed much fewer age-related symptoms as they grew older.

But heres the kicker: the effects werent limited to brain function. The animals also better preserved their muscle strength, skin thickness, bone and tendon integrity. In other words, by changing molecules in a single part of the brain, the team slowed down signs of aging in the peripheral body.

But to Cai, he had only solved part of the aging puzzle.

At the cellular level, a cornucopia of factors control aging. There is no the key to aging, no single molecule or pathway that dominates the process. Inflammation, which NF-kappaB regulates, is a big contributor. As is the length of telomeres, the protective end caps of DNA, and of course, stem cells.

Compared to other tissues in the body, stem cells in the brain are extremely rare. So imagine Cais excitement when, just a few years ago, he learned that the hypothalamus contains these nuggets of youth.

Now we can put the two threads together, and ask whether stem cells in the hypothalamus somehow regulate aging, he says.

In the first series of experiments, his team found that these stem cells, which line a V-shaped region of the hypothalamus, disappear as an animal ages.

To see whether declined stem cell function contributes to aging, rather as a result of old age, the researchers used two different types of toxins to wipe out 70 percent of stem cells while keeping mature neurons intact.

The results were striking. Over a period of four months, these mice aged much faster: their muscle endurance, coordination and treadmill performance tanked. Mentally, they had trouble navigating a water maze and showed less interest in socializing with other mice.

All of these physiological changes reflected an acceleration in aging, Cai and team concluded in their article.

And the consequences were dire: the animals died months earlier than similar transgenic animals without the toxin treatment.

If the decline in stem cell function is to blame for aging, then resupplying the aged brain with a fresh source of stem cells should be able to reinvigorate the animal.

To test this idea, the team isolated stem cells from the hippocampus of newborn mice, and tinkered with their genes so that they were more resilient to inflammation.

We know the aged hypothalamus has more inflammation and that hurts stem cells, so this step was necessary, explained the authors.

When transplanted into middle-aged mice, they showed better cognitive and muscular function four months later. Whats more, they lived, on average, 10 percent longer than mice transplanted with other cell types. For a human, that means extending an 85-year life expectancy into 93. Not too shabby.

But the best was yet to come. How can a few cells have such a remarkable effect on aging? In a series of follow-up experiments, the team found that the pool of biological molecules called microRNAs was to thank.

microRNAs are tiny molecules with gigantic influence. They come in various flavors, bearing rather unimaginative names like 106a-5p, 20a-5p and so on. But because they can act on multiple genes at the same time, they pack a big punch. A single type of microRNA can change the way a cell workswhether it activates certain signaling pathways or makes certain proteins, for example.

While most cells make microRNAs, Cai found that the hypothalamus stem cells have a unique, very strong ability to pack these molecules up into blobs of membrane and shoot them out like a bubble gun.

Once outside the cell, the microRNAs go on a fantastic voyage across the brain and body, where they tweak the biology of other tissues.

In fact, when the team injected purified little bubbles of microRNAs into middle-aged mice, they also saw broad rejuvenating effects.

Cai explains: we dont know if the microRNAs are pumped out to directly affect the rest of the body, or if they first act on different areas of the brain, and the brain goes on to regulate aging in the body.

Even so, the aging field is intrigued.

According to Dr. Leonard Guarente, an aging biologist at MIT, the study could lead to new ways to develop anti-aging therapies.

Whats more, its possible the intervention could stack with other known rejuvenating methods, such as metformin, young blood or molecules that clean out malfunctioning cells.

Its possible that stem-cell therapy could boost the hypothalamus ability to regulate aging. However, scientists still need to know how stem cells link with the hypothalamus other main role, that is, releasing hormones.

Of course, injecting cells into the brain isnt a practical treatment. The team is now working hard to identify which of the thousands of types of microRNAs control aging and what exactly they do.

Then the goal is to validate those candidate anti-aging microRNAs in primates, and eventually, humans.

Of course humans are more complex. However, if the mechanism is fundamental, you might expect to see effects when an intervention is based on it, says Cai.

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Breakthrough Stem Cell Study Offers New Clues to Reversing Aging - Singularity Hub