May 19th 2020

Editors note: Some of our covid-19 coverage is free for readers of The Economist Today, our daily newsletter. For more stories and our pandemic tracker, see our hub

RUSSIA IS FAR more successful in fighting covid-19 than the West, thanks to its superior health-care system and excellent leadership. Though faced with one of the highest rates of infection, its fatality rate is a seventh of that in most countries. That is, if you believe Russian statistics.

Few independent experts do. Russia has officially recorded nearly 290,000 cases of covid-19 and 2,700 deaths, which makes its fatality rate less than 1%, compared with 4.5% in Germany and 14% in Britain. Yet the fatality rate among Russias front-line health professionals, who keep their own records, is about 16 times as high as in those in comparable countries, which suggests that the official figures are too rosy.

Nonetheless, these were the figures that on May 11th led Vladimir Putin, Russias president, to order an end to a period of non-working days, a euphemism for a national lockdown that he never officially declared. Although he transferred responsibility for retaining restrictions to regional authorities, he signalled that Russia was through the worst. We must give thanks to our doctors and our president, who works day and night to save lives, Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the Russian Duma, declared.

The Russian government and its servile parliament were upset when, on the same day, the Financial Times reported that the real death toll could be 70% higher; the New York Times quoted an expert as saying it could be nearly three times the official tally. These estimates were derived by calculating excess deaths. One member of the Duma demanded that the journalists accreditation be revoked. Russian state propaganda unleashed a campaign against what it called an orchestrated attack on Russia by the West, intended to distract attention from its own problems.

Meanwhile, some Russian doctors on social media say they were instructed to keep numbers low by including in the covid statistics only those who died directly of the disease, not those who had underlying conditions that might have contributed to their demise. Victims relatives are furious.

Adding to the confusion are the improbable figures posted by some regions. For example, in Krasnodar, a region with 5.2m people, the number of reported infections has varied only minutely, fluctuating between 96 cases and 99 cases a day for the past two weeks. That seems rather unlikely.

Several other regions have produced even more peculiar statistics. They show the number of infections recorded in regional centres and those recorded in adjacent territories fluctuating in opposite directions, thus balancing each other out and producing an oddly straight line of cases across the region as a whole.

The official numbers may not tell anyone much about the true scale of the epidemic in Russia. But they shed light on Russias political system which, like its Soviet predecessor, is saturated with lies and mistrust. Russian elections throw up similarly strange graphics. Many Russian athletes during the Sochi winter Olympics in 2014 took performance-enhancing drugs, and their cheating was covered up by secretly swapping urine samples with official connivance.

Konstantin Sonin of the University of Chicago says the problem is not that the Kremlin hides or distorts figures, but that it often does not have them in the first place. Most regional bigwigs are not accountable to voters but are entirely dependent on the Kremlin for status and money. They file rosy reports so as to appear to be meeting official targets. The aim is to please the president, not the people. The Kremlin does not even need to tell them what figures to report; they know to report what the Kremlin likes to hear, he says.

Over the past few weeks, Russian state television has provided a perfect illustration of this distorted system. In the West, officials have at least tried to communicate with their electorates and the media. On Russian television people see their officials reporting to the self-isolated Mr Putin via a videoconference screen. The screen resembles a Russian Orthodox icon: Mr Putin is displayed in a large central box, surrounded by 12 apostles in smaller boxes.

Yet this carefully manufactured image is starting to crack. Mr Putins ratings have dropped to historic lows in recent weeks. The latest setback occurred on May 17th, when the health minister in Dagestan, a Russian territory of 3m people in the North Caucasus, told a local blogger that the true number of coronavirus infections in the republic is four times that officially reported, and that outbreaks of pneumonia near hospitals and clinics had killed 657 people, not the officially recorded 27. Fully 40 medics had died of it. Mr Putin has blamed the citizens for trying to treat themselves at home.

The city of Moscow, along with a few other cities, has been more open in its communications that the Kremlin itself. It also admitted that the real number of cases could be significantly higher, and retained a lockdown.

The Kremlins handling of the crisis reminds some of the cover-up of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which prompted Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet leader, to launch glasnost, a campaign for more openness. The whole system is penetrated by the spirit of bootlicking, persecution of dissidents, clannishness, window dressing. We will put an end to all this, Mr Gorbachev told his politburo at the time. Mr Putin, who has changed the constitution to allow himself to stay in power indefinitely, is determined not to repeat that experiment, which ended up helping to bring the whole system crashing down.

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Russias covid-19 outbreak could be far worse than the Kremlin admits - The Economist

Samos And The Anatomy Of A Maritime Push-Back

Refugees and migrants have all but stopped arriving on Greek islands amid mounting reports of maritime push-backs. In April of 2020, the UN Refugee Agency recorded a single landing with 39 people. During the same period in 2019, there were 1,856 arrivals by sea. The near-complete drop off follows a border standoff between Greece and its neighbour, Turkey, which shifted its stance in late February, saying that it would no longer prevent the estimated four million refugees and migrants it hosts from crossing into the European Union.

Greece has denounced what it calls extortion diplomacy by Turkey and suspended access to asylum during March. But while the asylum system has officially reopened since April 1, arrivals have not resumed certainly not to the levels from the past. The Greek government, conscious that push-backs break international law, has briefed national media that it is pursuing a new dogma of aggressive surveillance without specifying what this strategy entails.

First of all, we must establish what push-backs are.

According to the European Convention of Human Rights:Push-backs are a set of state measures by which refugees and migrants are forced back over a border generally immediately after they crossed it without consideration of their individual circumstances and without any possibility to apply for asylum or to put forward arguments against the measures taken. Push-backs violate among other laws the prohibition of collective expulsions stipulated in the European Convention on Human Rights.

Greece, as well as other EU frontier states such as Croatia, has long been dogged by accusations of push-backs. Respected human rights groups have collected dossiers of witness testimony which typically allege that phones have been confiscated during such operations. However, in the absence of corroborating evidence that these devices might provide, these accusations have largely been ignored.

Maritime push-backs, taking place far from any of the cameras onshore, present an even greater evidential challenge. However, as part of a broader investigation into push-backs conducted jointly with Deutsche Welle, Trouw, and Lighthouse Reports, we have collected evidence to demonstrate how one of these operations worked in practice. The result is the most precisely documented push-back of its kind.

We verified three videos and gathered the accounts of two witnesses who were themselves pushed back, as well as the account of a relative of one of the victims. We confirmed that the people we see across three separate videos, including footage of these refugees on the Greek island of Samos, are the same. We cross-referenced this with local radio broadcasts reporting their arrival and social media posts by islanders who saw them.

April 29, 2020 Aydn, Turkey

On April 29, the Turkish coast guard (TCG) shared a video and pictures of a rescue operation they claimed happened that day. According to the TCG website they had recovered a total of 22 people who were adrift off the coast of Aydn province near the Dip Burnu peninsula.

The video contains three main sections: in one of the scenes we see the inside of the TCG vessel. The captain films the dashboard where we see what time it is (10:16:11 AM UTC, 13:16:11 Greek time) and the coordinates (37.621833, 26.952611). He then shows two Greek vessels and a life raft that is being towed by one of them.

Then it cuts to footage from a different camera closer to the Greek vessels. The Greek ships are the LS146 and the SAR boat 513 from the Hellenic Coast Guard (HCG).

After another cut we see one more ship, this is the LS050 also from the HCG. The orange vessel, marked 513, appears to be pulling a black-orange life raft behind it.

In the remainder of the video we see how the TCG recovers people from the raft and checks their temperature while they are boarding. The faces of the people being rescued are clearly discernible and their clothes are also distinguishable.

The video itself is suggestive of a push-back, but how do we go from here to proving what actually happened? For that, we had to closely examine the events leading up to the video, beginning the day before.

A Well-Documented Arrival

April 28 was a significant day on Samos, one of the five eastern Aegean islands that has been used by the European Union since 2016 as a kind of buffer zone to contain newly-arrived asylum seekers.

It was the day of the visit by Greeces Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis, the politician who has spoken publicly about taking a harder line on asylum and migration. The ministers arrival coincided with reports on Samos itself of a new landing by refugees and migrants.

On Wednesday, April 29, at 02:17:35 UTC, a video was posted on Facebook showing migrants arriving on an island. The post came from the Consolidated Rescue Group, a Facebook page which regularly publishes video evidence showing apparent endangerment of refugees or migrants by both the Turkish and the Greek coast guard.

The person filming says the date is April 28. The footage consists of two videos that have been stitched together. The first video shows a group of people at sea on a dinghy heading for an island. The second video shows them on a steep hill next to a small cove. We were able to identify the island, to approximate the position of the dinghy, and to geolocate the hill-side vantage.

The first segment was shot at sea, just north of Samos on its westernmost side. We know this because of the mountain range in the background.

When compared to the 3D model from Google Earth it was consistent with the horizon of Samos.

Top: panoramic still from video. Bottom: the island of Samos from the north-west

In the other video segment, we see a cove when the person filming turns their phone toward the sea. Given what we know about their approximate position approaching Samos, there are only two coves that could match the one seen in the video.

Panorama of video taken by asylum seekers

Under the Facebook video, some users left comments saying that they had relatives and friends who were aboard the boat and asking if anyone knew what happened to them. We contacted these people. One individual shared a WhatsApp location sent by a member of the group on arrival. It was shared 07:51 Greek time and the location corresponds with that of the western cove.

We were sent an additional image by one of the asylum seekers who were part of this group, which confirmed they landed at the western cove, at 37.763515, 26.602741.

Left: image sent to us by a member of the group who landed on Samos. Right: Satellite imagery (courtesy of Google Earth/Maxar Technologies)

The next step was to establish what time the group arrived on Samos. We know it was in the morning, because of the time that the WhatsApp location was shared. During individual interviews with migrants who were part of this group, all put the time of arrival at around 7:30 that morning.

We do not need to rely solely on their testimony. In the video, we see the sun is about to rise from the northeast when the group is still on the dinghy, near Samos. The time of sunrise on Samos that day was 06:18. This time is consistent with the people reaching Samos itself at about 07:30 local time.

First light is clearly visible as the asylum seekers approach Samos

The cove we see in the video is located at a distance of only about 800 meters from the village of Drakei, but the climb from the cove to the village is extremely steep and may have taken considerably longer than the distance would suggest.

Mentions Of Migrants On Radio And Social Media: 28th of April, 2020

The first recorded mention of the new arrivals comes on local radio 2000 FM, when a local woman from the village of Drakei, who owns a shop next to a church, told the host, Giannis Negris, that she saw roughly 17 people passing through the village. At noon, the host received a call from a man
who told him that two police vehicles were on their way to Drakei. Negris decided to call the hospital to see if the migrants were checked there, but the hospital told him that no migrants had been admitted that day.

Posts made by locals on social media also discussed the issue. In the post below an eyewitness claims they saw this group being apprehended by the authorities when they arrived at the village.

Posts made on Facebook by locals. Left: Original Greek, Right: English translation

The social media post of the incident claims the group was picked up by the port police. According to one of the asylum seekers from this group, who later spoke to us, they were taken to the shore and loaded onto a vessel they remember as being orange. They were taken to and put aboard a second vessel, before eventually being forced onto an orange-black life-raft whose description matches the one we see in the Turkish footage of April 29.

At 7:30 PM, a couple told Giannis Negris they were driving near Mikalis when police stopped them and demanded to see their codes (permission to go out during the Covid-19 lockdown in force on the island during this period). The police then asked them to leave the area due to an unspecified exercise by security forces. The couple left the location, but not before one of them was able to spot a Hellenic coast guard vessel pulling a life-raft. One of the asylum seekers stated that their group were towed out to sea on the same day they landed and left adrift in Turkish territorial waters. People aboard the life-raft could see Turkish coast guard vessels nearby but these boats did not intervene. The asylum seekers said that the tide kept pushing them back into Greek territorial waters. Each time this happened the Greek vessel would use its wake to push the life-raft back into Turkish waters. This push and pull continued overnight and into the afternoon of the next day (April 29), when the Turkish coast guard finally picked them up. Confirmation of this last part is seen in the video published by the TCG.

In addition to the video material, we found corroborating evidence from multiple sources giving near identical accounts of incidents, locations and times. In all cases, they state that on that day, a group of migrants arrived near Drakei and that they were detained shortly after.

Matching People

After confirming the location and time, we were then able to match the individuals from the three separate videos and establish that they are indeed the same people in each. This demonstrates that we see the same people arriving on Samos, before later being picked up by the TCG. In all cases below the footage taken by the asylum seekers is on the left, while the footage taken by the TCG is on the right.

A Pattern Of Push-Backs

Our reconstruction of April 28 and 29 is built on a mixture of open source evidence, which includes videos and pictures, as well as testimony from the group of asylum seekers and locals on Samos. We have located this visual evidence in time and space and found that it corroborates the accompanying witness accounts we were able to collect.

What is potentially unique here, in relation to reported push-backs, is the chain of evidence. In other instances, there is either no footage of migrants being pulled back into Turkish territorial waters by the Greeks, or there is no open source evidence that confirms absolutely that asylum seekers actually made it onto a Greek island.

A good example of these partially evidenced cases came on April 30 on Chios, another Greek island in eastern Aegean, where migrants allegedly arrived on the island before being pushed back. In this case the migrants ended up on an uninhabited islet called Boaz Adasi inside Turkish territory, where they were later picked up by the TCG. There is footage of the people being taken off that islet and there is footage of a dinghy presumed to have been used by the same group on the shore of Chios.

TCG rescuing migrants from the Boaz islet near eme, Turkey

As was the case on Samos, local witnesses discussed seeing the group on social media. This was also picked up by local news sites, that claimed there were newly arrived migrants on Chios, although some of these posts were later removed. So far, however, no images have emerged that show the same individuals on land on Chios.

Dinghy used by migrants who allegedly arrived in Chios on April 30, 2020.

A pack of diapers that was presumably left behind by migrants. This brand of diapers, Super Rest Baby, is sold in Turkey

The Chios example is important because the depth of local testimony would normally be taken as proof of the incident in the absence of photographic evidence. A common complaint among victims of push-backs is that their phones are confiscated when they are taken into custody and prior to being coerced back across the border. In the Samos case, the visual evidence chain remained unbroken, because the video and locations were shared prior to the group being detained.

In the Samos case we were able to establish contact with two asylum seekers who were part of the group pushed back, as well as the husband of one of the women in the videos. They all confirmed the group made it onto the island, and that the members were detained and almost immediately pushed back.

The people we spoke to were also frustrated with Turkish authorities who left them adrift through the night of April 28 and into the following afternoon before taking action. Relatives of the group were left uncertain of their fate because the individuals we see rescued on April 29 were later transferred to a detention center in Aydn, Turkey, where they were quarantined for 14 days without access to a phone before being released.This was a joint investigation conducted by Youri Van Der Weide and Bashar Deeb

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Samos And The Anatomy Of A Maritime Push-Back - bellingcat - bellingcat

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A.D.A.M. Interactive Anatomy Online. - A.D.A.M. Education

When Grey's Anatomyfirst started, viewers fell in love with the original cast. As certain characters were killed off, or left, it made us a little heart sore. Of course, when a show goes on for more than fifteen years, it's to be expected that some of the characters may become a little boring or even redundant.

Some of these include characters like Teddy Altman, Tom Koracick and even Richard Webber. We understand that new characters or fresh blood needs to be introduced at some stage, but the newer guys (like Levi and Nico) don't even seem to have much of a vibe. We're hoping that they move on quickly and that there are newer, more interesting characters to get hooked on to soon!

While some of these characters have recently left, we would certainly have removed them a lot sooner! But, better late than never also helps we guess.

We met Teddy in season six. Since then she has become more permanent. She's been around the block and even married a patient. Recently she gave birth to Owen's baby, but she's in love with Tom. In recent episodes, it was revealed that she was once in love with a woman too...

This was Meredith's first love interest after Derek died. Nathan was involved with Maggie and Meredith, but in the end was able to get back to his original love. It was thanks to this that he was able to exit the show. His dry personality was not one we enjoyed.

Catherine seems to be nothing but a bully who buys whatever she wants - and even what she doesn't want! She has this 'air' about her but the arrogance seems to come from her bank balance.Besides this, does she even have a personality? She's definitely no Ellis Grey, is she?

After 16 seasons, Alex finally made his move to leave the show. Fans were not impressed, and after his disappearancewe had our theories of where he had gone. One of these was back to Izzie. It was soon revealed that he did actually go back to her and their kids.

Atticus Lincoln recently joined the Grey's Anatomy team and is a long lost friend of Jo's. Alex didn't really like this idea but now that Link is having a baby with Amelia, he isn't going to be going anywhere soon - sadly. He doesn't really seem like an awesome doctor either...

Jo and Alex walked a very difficult road together. Even as individuals, they had rough starts to life. Eventually though, they finally got hitched and Jo was also moving up in her career when out of the blue, Alex leaves. So isn't it kind of pointless having her left behind?

Who rememberswhen Webber colored his hair to remove thegrey bits? This was back in the dayswhen Mark and Derek were still around, so it just goes to show how old he really is. Isn't it time to hang up the scrub cap and put down the scalpel?

RELATED:Ranking Greys Anatomys Biggest Character Exits, From Bummer To Necessary

Tom is the female version of Catherine (and rumor has it they once hooked up too...). He is also very arrogant and will sleep with almost anyone. He's sort of like the new Mark Sloan - and look how that ended... Shonda, please take Tom Koracick away from our favorite show!

Levi, AKA Glasses, recently fell in love with Nico (another guy). He never even realized that he was actually gay - neither did we since he went to bed with Jo, too. Nevertheless, his character doesn't seem to have much promise, so maybe now is the time to make an exit.

Carina has been on the show for a while, and even dated Arizona. She's had her fair share of screen time but now seems to be dragging her feet as a doctor. She hasn't really made much of a contribution since diagnosing Amelia's brain tumor, so maybe it's home time?

RELATED:15 Surprising Facts About Greys Anatomys Kim Raver

Nico is a hypocrite and he made Levi feel really bad. He had a lot to say because Levi had not 'come out' yet, but Nico also hadn't told his own parents about his love life... Nevertheless, and like Levi, there doesn't seem to be much promise or personality here.

We met Owen in season five, he came to Cristina's rescue when she had a massive piece of ice piercing her stomach. Owen's role has seemingly become boring and redundant. There's not much more for him to do now, and he needs to leave - or at least leave cheating Teddy!

April joined as a timid and insecure young doctor who had lots to learn, especially how to be confident in herself. Her role seemed to drag on - out of what could have been pure desperation. She's been married, divorced, had babies, worked in the war - what more could be done?

RELATED:Heres How These 15 Greys Anatomy Moments SHOULD Have Happened

Arizona's character also goes way back. She survived so much, including the plane crash where she lost her leg. Arizona taught us a lot, especially after taking Sophia on as her own child. But after Callie left and Mark died, it was about time that she moved on and out.

When Maggie first joined, viewers may have been a little confused as to why she was even there. For such a young person, she sure has achieved a lot, too. She never seems to make much of a forward move in her relationships and seems so stagnant as a character.

NEXT:Ranked: The Guys Of Greys Anatomy In Order Of Who Wed Date

NextVanderpump Rules: 15 Things That Never Made Sense About Stassi

Nicole likes to think of herself as a young, vivacious and talented individual. Previously she wrote for TheQuiz, and thoroughly enjoyed it. While being the mum of a young toddler (and a bunch of fur babies) she still holds down a full time job. Nicole also has a hubby to keep her on her toes. Back in the day, she worked as a Basic EMT before pursuing an office job. Nicole never finished her studies in psychology but did get a certificate in being a nail tech.

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15 Grey's Anatomy Characters We Would've Canned A Long Time Ago - TheThings

From his early days as an infant with the X-Men to his role as X-Force's founder and leader, Cable has one of the most complex, complicated histories in modern comics, and Nathan Summers' body is just as strange as his life story. In fact, his body is one of the major reasons behind his complicated backstory.

Now, we're taking a closer look at the man behind the giant guns and equally giant shoulder pads to get under Cable's skin. While Cable might not have the most famous body in the Marvel Universe, the power that lies inside of his head and the Techno-Organic virus coursing through his veins changed the course of history in the Marvel Universe.

RELATED: X-Men Anatomy: The 5 Weirdest Things About Deadpool's Body

One of Cable's eyes always glows when he uses his psionic abilities, and sometimes when his emotions are heightened. This eye is usually the one that's infected by theTechno-Organic virus, al though it can switch sides along with his scar depending on the artist.

At a glance, it's easy to assume that the glow is a side effect of his T.O. Virus, but it's mostly part of his natural mutation, as a visual representation of his telepathic powers. His Age of Apocalypse counterpart Nate Grey -- who grew up uninhibited by T.O. -- also usually displays a single glowing eye when using his powers.

For virtually all of Cable's existence, he has sported a trademark head of silver or white hair. While this could be chalked up to his being in his 40s or 50s, his years of time travel make it hard to quantify his age. However, comics that depict his childhood and the current young incarnation of Cable that is running around Krakoa these days, reveal that his hair started going gray as a teen.

Assuming that the source of the gray hair isn't just part of his natural physiology, it could be caused by the stress of growing up as a rebel and future messiah in a dystopian wasteland. However, it could also stem from the strain his immense powers put on his body, since Nate Grey has a similar hair color.

Related:X-Men: Could X of Swords Bring Back Cable's Most Powerful Weapon?

Cable's scarred eye is another trademark of his appearance, but it has an inconsistent backstory. When he first appeared in comics as a mysterious mercenary, he only had a single scar across his right eye. Over time, that scar grew and changed into a star-like pattern, which evolved into its standard design. kept from then on out. The story behind the scar in the comics was eventually explained as the point where Cable was first infected with the Techno Organic virus as a baby before he was sent into the far future for treatment.

Similarly to his glowing eye, the scarred eye is also prone to switching sides depending on whoever is drawing Cable at the time. Sometimes, the scar is put over the left eye instead of the right and/or combined with the glowing eye.

During a particularly body-horror heavy storyline in Fabian Nicieza and Patrick Zircher's Cable& Deadpool, the dysfunctional duo were temporarily fused together after getting infected by the Facade virus. As a result, they weregenetically linked, which left Cable with a much weaker version of Deadpool's healing factor for a while.

Hilariously, this also meant that Cable's DNA-based teleportation -- or "bodysliding" as it was known in the future -- technology would also bring Deadpoolalong for the ride, dragging him to Cable's location. The activation phrase "Body Slide By Two" became the catalyst for several wacky misadventures between the pair that helped deepen the friendship between the two characters.

Since Apocalypse attacked him as an infant, Cable has been infected with theTechno-Organic (or T.O.) virus that's infected over half of Cable's body. Under normal circumstances, the virus slowly converts an organic host intoa metallic, essentially lifeless form.To keep the rest of his body from being consumed Cablehas beenforced from a very young age to use a significant amount of his telekinetic powers and concentration to hold the virus at bay, keeping him from ever fully utilizing his incredibly strong psionic abilities.

The left side of Cable's body is the most obviously affected by the virus and gives him a cyborg-like appearance. Technically he is a cyborg of sorts, since that part of his body is not solid medal but made up of ahighly complex series of cybernetics that requires careful maintenance and repair if damaged. Despite its downsides, this technology can come in handy, and it allows Cable to plug into the internet, download and upload programs, and hostmicrocomputers or AI.

Though it mightlook like only Cable's left side is fully infected, the virus has actually spread much, much further than that.His entire skeleton, nervous system, and several vital organs are all at least partially converted to a T.O. material and cybernetically enhanced. This makes Cable much stronger and more durable than most usual, and it enhanced his senses and reflexes as well. In a pinch, Cable can even get enough of a grasp on the T.O. with histelekinesis to alter the metallic portions of his body, which lets him spontaneously change his size, sprout knives or spikes or tinker with the capabilities of his internal hardware.

KEEP READING: Cable Brings Back a Classic X-Men Villain With a VIOLENT New Role

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X-Men Anatomy: The 5 Weirdest Things About Cable's Body | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources

On the surface, the Joker might not look like much more than a bad Halloween costume. However, his simply clown makeup and bright suits hide one of most fearsome villains in the DC Universe. Since he debuted in Bill Finger, Jerry Robinson and Bob Kane's Batman #1 in 1940, the Clown Prince of Crime has built an enduring legacy of spreading chaos around Gotham City and the rest of the DCU.

While DC's other iconic villains have cosmic powers or super-strength, the Joker's abilities are far more subtle, which makes them that much more dangerous too. Even though the Joker's unique mental state might seem like a compelling explanation for his fearlessness, he has a surprising amount going on under his red hood -- so to speak -- to make him a danger to heroes who seemingly outclass him in every way. Now, we're peeling the skin off of Gothams greatest villain and see what makes his sense of humor so lethal.

RELATED: The Joker: Batman's Greatest Foe Joins Jim Lee's Charity Sketch Auction

Outside of the rictus grin that's permanently etched onto most versions of the Joker's face, the villain's most striking feature is his alabaster white skin. Although some of his live-action appearances have simply reduced it to clown make-up, the genesis this unhealthy glow usually comes courtesy of a fateful dip into a vat of chemicals that warped his mind as much as his body.

Aside from being one of his most identifiable features, the skin that peels off of him is often topped with green hair, which completes his signature appearance. While providing no inherent advantages of its own, the look provides an unsettling aesthetic for anyone looking to cross him, and it instills fear and commands respect from anyone in Gotham.

While it could be argued that the Joker's most defining gadget consists of acid sprayed through a pin on his jacket, a cloud of his famous Joker Toxin seems to follow him everywhere he goes.

The gas asphyxiates by forcing the victim to laugh themselves to death all the while contorting their face into a morbid laugh. Thanks to decades of exposure, his famous dip in a chemical bath and his own self-experimentation, the Joker is now immune to its effects. In Frank Miller, Klas Janson and Lynn Varley's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, he's shown as being completely capable of breathing it in as if it were air.

RELATED: The Joker Gave DC's Mightiest Villain His Most Embarrassing Defeat

As if he wasn't already toxic enough, the Jokers blood itself is also poisonous. In the Batman: Arkham Asylum video game, the Joker injects himself with Titan, a formula developed with an intent to turn the citizens of Gotham into rampaging, hulk-like monstrosities. The Joker's body was an incubator for Titan Disease in Batman; Arkham City, and after mixing in with the various properties already in the Joker's bloodstream, it became a deadly disease that could kill anyone within a day, even the Joker himself.

Ironically, the only cure for the condition caused by the Joker's blood was Batman's blood, which had the antibodies needed to mitigate the disease's most lethal side effects.

RELATED: Batwoman Reveals What Happened to Joker, With a Shocking Twist

As one of Batman's most usual punching bags, the Joker knows how to take a hit, and he has an incredibly high pain tolerance. Mixed with his own sadomasochistic tendencies, the Joker has even enjoyed some of his most brutal injuries, and he's given one of them to himself.

In Tony Daniel's Detective Comics #1, the Joker hired the Dollmaker to cut off his face as part of his plans to get under Batman and his allies' skin in a very literal sense. Taken with his long history of broken bones, concussions, drops and lacerations, the Joker is just as comfortable taking as a serious blow as he is at receiving one.

While he may tout the virtues of chance and uncertainty, randomness and luck could never account for the success that Joker has had against Batman over the years. As Grant Morrison and Howard Porter's JLA #11 revealed in 1997, the right hemisphere of the Joker's brain is smaller than the analytical left hemisphere, which means that his thought process is incredibly difficult for anyone else to understand.

As a master of strategy and forethought, many of the Jokers seemingly haphazard and half-baked schemes actually contain immense forethought and contingencies that have been shaped by the totally unique way his brain works. In the Emperor Joker crossover, he was shown as being clever enough to outsmart an extra-dimensional deity like Mister Mxyzptlk and turn the entirety of reality on its head.

KEEP READING Justice League Anatomy: The 5 Weirdest Things About Wonder Woman's Body

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A content creator since 2005, Kai's work has netted several awards in the online community. From fiction to documentary, page or screen, you'll find much of his work covers a little bit of everything. Follow him on Instagram as @themediabay

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Gotham Anatomy: The 5 Weirdest Things About Joker's Body | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources

The mutants of theX-Mencan come in all shapes in sizes, but the femme fatale Mystique takes that idea to a whole new level. As a shapeshifter, Mystique has always been able to assume the form of others to aid her as a spy, assassin, and saboteur. And with her shapeshifting mutant powers, Raven Darkholmes has one of the most unique physiologies in the Marvel Universe.

While the X-Men movies only broached the subject of her powers broadly, the Mystique of the comic book Marvel Universe proved capable of using her body in all varieties of ways and showed that "shapeshifting" is a pretty broad category that can come with a host of powers beyond just looking like another person, and her entire biology alters itself for almost whatever task she needs. Now, we're taking a closer look at some of the weirdest aspects of Mystique's biology in comics and film.

RELATED:X-Men: Does Krakoa Have ANOTHER Secret Resurrection Rule?

The first thing to understand about Mystique's physiology is that she does not purely need to be imitating somebody in order to assume a different shape. Although she usually does just take the appearance of another person to infiltrate super teams and government organizations through the art of impersonation, she can often fall into tough spots where she needs to get creative with her powers.

Mystique is capable of forming extra limbs, increasing her muscle mass, and even forming a second face on the back of her head to act as a lookout. She clarifies when she does this, it's essentially a battle form that is not easy to maintain for extended periods of time. Still, it turns Mystique into a veritable juggernaut capable of wielding four assault rifles at once and maintaining a 360-degree field of vision.

RELATED:X-Men Anatomy: The 5 Weirdest Things About Apocalypse's Body

Over the years Mystique's ability to take on such unconventional shapes has increased, and she's even managed to manifest physical adaptations that allow her body to change into even more drastic shapes. She can sprout wings to glide or even fly, or fins and gills so she can navigate underwater environments quite literally like a fish. The more control she gains over her body the greater her ability to adapt to increasingly extreme environments, and she's never fully been pushed to her limits, even if these applications are painful to maintain for long stretches.

When she imitates mutants or other characters with physical abilities, she can imitate physical manifestations like Nightcrawler's tail, Colossus' shiny metal skin, or Wolverine's claws. However, these traits don't come with any function they might provide their original counterparts.

When Rebecca Romijn's Mystique debuted on-screen in 2000's X-Men, she had a distinct look that saw her blue-skinned body covered in reptilian scales when she wasn't in her base form. Throughout the X-Men's cinematic universe, these scales remained a hallmark of her appearance, even though they didn't really have a precedent in comics.

After X-Men premiered, Fabian Nicieza and Kevin Maguire's miniseries X-Men Forever gave her a dramatic new appearance that featured her cinematic scales. After being used as a conduit for cosmic energy, she developed scales all over her body. Although she maintained that look for the remainder of the series, she did not have them in any of her subsequent appearances. It's not clear if she still has the scales and is simply concealing them with her shapeshifting powers or if the scales went away naturally.

RELATED: X-Men's Phoenix Force Needs to Leave the Grey Family Alone

With Mystique's body in such a constant state of flux, it's not surprising that her mind is in flux either. Mystique's mind proves extremely difficult for telepaths to read or manipulate. The grey matter of her brain shifts from moment to moment, which gives her a psychic signature that is tremendously difficult to maintain a lock on. Even when she's volunteered to open her mind to others they have a hard time doing so, and the ability can be a curse as well as a gift.

One of the more cursed aspects of such a mental state is that Mystique suffers from a condition similar to bipolar disorder. The constant flux of her mind causes mood swings and shifts in personality that create a unique psychosis, and the psychic ninja Psylocke once performed surgery on her with her psi-sword to fix the issue.

RELATED: Dark Phoenix's Scathing Reviews Weren't Fair

As another strange part of her powerset, Mystique can move the position of her organs around the inside of her body. On more than one occasion Mystique has shifted the location of her brain inside her body so that she does not suffer a fatality from headshots. This can be done either as a protective measure when she needs to ensure her own survival or for the purposes of deception to truly sell the fiction of her death.

Such an ability extends to all her other organs, and she's been known to move them around inside her torso or into her limbs in order to decrease the efficacy of aiming at center mass against her. While it might seem strange to consider breathing through lungs crammed into wrists or digesting your meal somewhere in your shoulders, but that's the particular brand of strange Mystique lives with every day.

NEXT:How the X-Men FAILED a '90s Mutant Antihero

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X-Men Anatomy: The 5 Weirdest Things About Mystique's Body | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources

What is an aura? How can I learn to perceive and work with subtle energy?

Come and join Eliza Swann, author of The Anatomy of the Aura, and find out! By learning to engage and interact with the aura, we can uncover our own unlimited capacity for self-healing and divine connection. During this two hour online workshop, well learn about the different layers of the human energy field and do a group meditation to clear our auras well end by giving an aura reading to a house plant or crystal! You will also be given instructions for giving a friend an aura reading through FaceTime or Zoom.

This workshop is suitable for beginning and advanced aura readers alike you need no prior experience to attend!

Please have a house plant or a crystal handy to give an aura reading to.

About the teacher:

Eliza Swann is an interdisciplinary artist, intuitive, writer, educator, and community organizer based in Los Angeles and New York. Eliza received a BA in Painting from the San Francisco Art Institute, and an MFA from Central St. Martins in London.

She has trained in hypnotherapy at the Isis Centre in England, Vedic cosmology and yoga with Dr. Vagish Shastri in Benares, India, and Tarot and Western Magical Practice with the Builders of the Adytum Western Mystery School.

Eliza has contributed critical writing to BOMB, Arthur, Contemporary Art Review LA, and Perfect Wave Magazines. Her book The Anatomy of the Aura was released by St. Martins Press in 2020. Eliza is the founder of The Golden Dome School, a curatorial and educational platform that studies intersections of art, metaphysics and ecology.

More information: https://www.facebook.com/eliza.swann1

About the workshop:

Date: May 8th, 7pm 9pm Online Class Cost: $20

More information on our website:Online Class: The Anatomy of the Aura with Eliza Swann May 8th, 7pm 9pm

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The Scarlet Sage Herb Co.: Online Class: The Anatomy of the Aura with Eliza Swann - Mission Local

There have been 39 hat tricks by Blue Jackets players in the 19-year history of the franchise.

Two were added this season; one apiece from Zach Werenski and Gustav Nyquist. Werenski had 20 goals when the NHL season was suspended, which led all defenseman and was one behind Oliver Bjorkstrand for the club lead. Nyquist came into the COVID-19 suspension with 15 goals on the year.

Let's take a look at each of their hat tricks from this season, and what transpired to make them possible.

On November 29th, the Pittsburgh Penguins came to town for what is always a testy, adrenaline-filled battle. Nyquist scored the Blue Jackets' first, third, and fifth goals of the game in what was a fantastic contest.

Just five minutes in, Nyquist notched his first goal: a perfect example of Nyquist putting himself in a good position and making things happen, as he deflects Bjorkstrand's shot past Penguins netminder Tristan Jarry.

Then, with the Blue Jackets leading 2-1 early in the second period, Nyquist grabbed his second on the power play. Pierre-Luc Dubois drew two defenders along the wall, threw the puck out and found Nyquist, who drove to the net and buried a backhand to give the Blue Jackets a 3-1 lead.

The Penguins put together a push in the third period, but that was promptly shut down when Nyquist notched an empty-netter to put the game to bed with 59 seconds remaining. Josh Anderson cleared the puck out of the Blue Jackets' zone, and Nyquist won a footrace against Kris Letang to negate the icing call. All he had to do after that? Just tap it in.

It was a great night for Nyquist and the Blue Jackets, as they took two points from the Penguins and improved their record to 11-10-4.

Just over a month later, the Blue Jackets had a New Year's Eve date with the Florida Panthers. Old friend Sergei Bobrovsky made his first start against his former club, butZach Werenski ensured that the Pantherswouldn't leave Columbus with any points.

Just like Nyquist's hat trick, Werenski scored his first goal roughly five minutes into the game. Alexander Wennberg won a faceoff in the offensive zone, and the puck went directly to Werenski.The Blue Jackets' stalwart defenseman wasted no time rifling a slapshot past Bobrovsky.

Then, with just over four minutes gone in the third period, Werenski struck again. David Savard found him in space, and this time he uncorked a wrister that beat Bobrovsky low glove side. The Panthers would challenge the play for goaltender interference, believing Bobrovsky was bumped, but the call on the ice of a goal was confirmed after video review.

Four minutes later, Werenski gave the Blue Jackets a three-goal cushion. Nyquist, Boone Jenner, and Nick Foligno had a fantastic shift in the offensive zone leading up to the goal. Nyquist stole the puck from Mike Matheson behind the net, and then the three connected several passes while cycling the puck. Eventually, a pass from Nyquist deflected off of a Panthers defenseman and fell to Zach Werenski in an area that Werenski rarely misses from.

This game may have been the turning point for the Blue Jackets' season. Elvis Merzlikins defeated Bobrovsky for his first NHL win, and the Blue Jackets went on to go 9-2-0 in their next 11 games after this one, in large part due to the play of Merzlikins and Werenski.

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Anatomy of a Hat Trick: How Gustav Nyquist and Zach Werenski Put Three in the Back of the Net | 1st Ohio Batte - 1st Ohio Battery

Sandra Oh won her first Golden Globe in her role as Dr. Cristina Yang onGrey's Anatomy. Although she enjoyed her time on the series, Oh always knew that she was more than a co-star. Nonetheless, the actress had to pay her dues in supporting roles for thirty years before landing the lead on the BBCdramaKilling Eve. Now that she is finally center stage,Sandra Ohis making TV history.

Sandra Oh was actually an accomplished actress in Canada before she got her big break in the States. She revealed to E Newsthat she was the black sheep of her traditional Korean family. Hersiblings were overachievers; her sister Gracebecame a lawyer, and her brother Rayearned a PhD in medical genetics. Even though she is oriented towards the arts, Oh certainlybuilta resume that could easily inspire sibling rivalry.

Related:18 Surprising Facts About Grey's Anatomy Star, Sandra Oh

Sandra Oh began acting as a teenager in the suburbs of Ottawa. She landed her first TV gig in Canada in 1989, and by 1994 she had wonthe Genie (Canada's highestfilm award) forDouble Happiness in which she played the lead. The following year she won a Gemini (Canada's highest television award) for the TV movieThe Diary of Evelyn Lau. And four years later in 1999, she won her second Genie forLast Night.After she rose to the top of the entertainment industry in Canada,Sandra Oh decided to take on Hollywood.

Related:10 Grey's Anatomy Characters Who Should've Left Years Ago

Although Sandra Oh's success in Canada came quickly, she had many prejudices to overcome in America. Oh was told by a Hollywood agent that she wasn't star material, and that she should consider plastic surgery. Sandra Oh was hurt by the discriminatory comments, but she knew her talent was real. She reflected, "I had already done all I could do to get to that A level, which is star in theater, TV, film, and somehow, that wasn't enough for someone to say, 'I believe I can get you an audition.' " Sandra Oh paid her dues in Canada, so she wasn't about to let a pessimistic American agent get in her way.

A year after her arrival in L.A., Sandra Oh finally landed a role on HBO. But it still wasn't until 2005 that Oh began playing Dr. Cristina Yang on Grey's Anatomy. Even though her ascent toprime-time television was painstakingly slow, it only took one season for the Oh to win the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. This win was also historic. According to Vox, it had been 39 years since an Asian actress took home an award in that category. Thus, ten years after her negative encounter in Hollywood, Sandra Oh finally received recognition for her hard work.

Related:10 Most Replaceable Grey's Anatomy Characters (5 We'd Get Rid Of In A Heartbeat)

Eversince her adolescence in Canada, Oh knew shepossessed the talent toplay a leading role. Sandra Oh loved her time on Grey's, and it was difficult to say goodbye.But after ten seasons in a supporting role, she was determined to fulfill her potential. The actress had a very specific goal:"I only want to play roles that are central to the story." So once again, Oh had to wait. This time it was for four years.

WhenSandra Oh sat down to read for Killing Eve in 2018, she did not even ask about the title role, she assumed she was reading for a supporting character. Her agent had to whisper to her that she was reading for the lead. When she reflected onthe process Its like, Oh, its so easy! They just called you!...In a way, yes, thats true. But in another way, it took 30 years to get this call.Like many minorities in America, Sandra Oh worked twice as hard, and received half the recognition. When her moment finally came, she could hardly believe it.

Sandra Oh recently posted a photo on Instragram of her parents proudly posing in front of aKilling Eve billboard. Her caption reads, "Proud #immigrantparents Just took me 30 yrs." It may have taken 30 years for the world to recognize her talent, but the truth is that Sandra Oh deserved recognition a long time ago. When shesecured a second Golden Globefor her performance inKilling Eve,Sandra Oh became the first Asian actress to winmore than one Golden Globe Award. And last year Sandra Oh made Golden Globe history for the third time, becoming the first Asian person to host the award show.

Now that she is finally starring as a title character, Sandra Oh haszero regrets about ending herten-yearcareer onGrey's Anatomy.The actressknew she would have been stuck in a supporting role if she was not willing to take a leap of faith. Now Sandra Oh has both recognition, and a unique place in television history.

Next:Here's How Phoebe Waller-Bridge Impacted The Popularity Of 'Killing Eve'

Who Is Richer: Cardi B or Nicki Minaj?

An educator and writer from Nashville, TN, Courtney writes about all things music, movies and TV. However she doesn't shy away from the heavy topics either, she has published articles on feminism and philosophy.

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Heres Why Sandra Oh Doesnt Regret Leaving Greys Anatomy - TheThings

Mr Jones and his UK-based sister Susan, also an engineer, hope the idea catches on in countries that may have small health systems but access to oxygen in the form of welding or scuba gear.

I thought if things got really bad we would run out of industrial oxygen and I got to thinking where could we find some more? Mr Jones said.

The oxy-sai part that will allow oxygen to be provided in a medical setting via a scuba tank.Credit:Ian Jones

The dive industry has all this latent capacity to use and there are other places that dont have much scuba but lots of welding kit.

Im not a medical guy but I know when we started this there might be the need for lots of portable oxygen particularly for field hospitals and particularly in the regions.

When you get down to battlefield engineering you need to think MASH, not Greys Anatomy.

The designs are still in their infancy and need more testing but the siblings are hopeful they will be useful somewhere.

Susan Jones said they were encouraging other engineers and medical professions to evolve their idea and, so far, had gained some interest.

The solutions we suggest would need review by their own doctors and scientists to ensure that it can be used safely. We wanted to share it with some aid organisations because we hope it could be useful in other parts of the World, she said.

From early review, some medics and government officials have shown interest. Fortunately, emergency planners feel at this point it is not needed in the UK, but are keeping the idea in reserve.

Before the phrase contract tracing was commonplace in the global vocabulary a small team of Perth software designers set to work on what they correctly assumed would be the perfect use of modern technology to curb the spread of the virus.

As work began slowing, staff at Neorise were prompted by calls from the World Health Organisation for countries to employ extensive contact-tracing measures.

They decided to follow Singapores lead and build a contract-tracing app called UpHealth that anonymously records movements and interactions with other app users using Bluetooth.

If a user comes into contact with someone who contracts COVID-19 they receive an alert.

Without knowing the Australian government was working on something similar with its COVIDSafe app, the team of five managed to pull a beta version together in just five weeks.

While the release of the government app did throw a spanner in the works, Neorise chief executive Patrick DCruze said once the COVIDSafe source code was released they would make UpHealth compatible with it.

Neorise CEO Patrick D'Cruze.

Neorise has also started conversations with health departments in other countries that dont have the capacity to build their own app.

Mr DCruze said everyone had to do their bit to help any way they could.

COVID doesnt respect borders, politics or religion. It is a worldwide issue and if we all sit back and wait for somebody else to fix it, it will take 10 times longer, he said.

This is one thing I knew we could have a big impact with and we couldnt just sit back and wait for Australian government to develop it.

At the end of the say if it helps get society back up and running and reduce this outbreak then it makes sense.

In just two weeks Get Scrubbed has evolved from a lightbulb moment into a genuine godsend to WAs medical sector.

Group founder and registered nurse Lisa Cooke started the movement after noticing a growing need for clothing for healthcare workers gearing up to fight COVID-19.

Volunteers sew scrubs to certain patterns which are then disinfected and sent on to healthcare workers.

Since the beginning of April, the group has grown to 3500 members and received more than 100 requests from doctors, nurses and hospital staff. It has made more than 2000 hats, 1000 laundry bags and 30 scrub tops.

Virgin Cabin Crew member Gisele Satie with Get Scrubbed administrator NicoleAbbott.

On Monday the first consignment of hats, scrubs and laundry bags arrived in Broome on a Virgin flight.

The response from Western Australians volunteering their time and sewing skills has been unbelievable, Ms Cooke said.

But whats also unbelievable is the huge number of requests were getting for more and more scrubs and caps to be made and donated.

Were definitely in need of more people with sewing skills but we also need material and elastic to be donated. If any textiles company can donate some that would be amazing. Were also looking to see if we can get a grant to buy more so it would be great to get some extra financial support from WA businesses too.

Hamish Hastie is WAtoday's business reporter.

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'Think MASH, not Greys Anatomy': West Australian ingenuity shines in COVID-19 fight - The Age

Im Andrew Patterson, and Im the director of The Vast of Night. So the actress here is Sierra McCormick, and shes playing Fay, who is all by herself with the 500 members of her town all at a basketball game. So the movie is set in November of 1958, and the setting is in a fictional town of Cayuga, New Mexico. [STRANGE SOUND] And the first thing that happens in this scene is you hear a very new sound. We wanted the sound in particular to be new in cinema. And so we worked pretty hard at mixing a number of elements together, and then Fay responds to it in a way that initially is it frames it as a viewer. Like you see that she doesnt understand it, and even though shes not threatened by it, she certainly starts taking immediate action. Hello? Hello? Hello? Listen, maam, can you disconnect and then try again? Its all calling, and its a strange, large object holding over my land off and on, like a tornado. Please send the police. Maam, is this an emergency? All of that frames your relationship to the sound. All of that kind of creates a tension that is a setup in this scene. And hopefully as a viewer youre looking for the resolution just like Fay, the switchboard operator, is. And what we were aiming to do was, in her performance, not go to the extreme that you would probably expect in this scene from if you were watching a horror film or you were watching a different kind of genre. We wanted her to be very grounded and continue to be the stand-in for the viewer. And we worked on that by heavily rehearsing her performance. This is actually the scene Sierra chose to audition with. And from the time that she auditioned with it to the night when we got this shot, we pulled it way, way, way back because we knew that the film itself, we didnt want to steal away the magic of where the film was going to go by having a large performance here. On set, there is no sound being played. The sound was a year away from being created at that point. And so shes just playing to an AD reading lines very dryly in the room but not necessarily in a way that you can play off of as an actor. So it truly was both the sound and the people on the other end of the line were yet to be cast and yet to be created. So theres no Sierra had to very much do this on her own, reading against someone that has no training in acting. went away. I just wanted to see if it Just call Everett Well, I dont want to disturb I think the only thing I told her as a director was this is something that is entrancing. Its mesmerizing. Its not scary. Its not threatening. And if anything, its the thing thats going to take you down the rabbit hole. [STRANGE SOUND]

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'The Vast of Night' | Anatomy of a Scene'The Vast of Night' | Anatomy of a Scene - The New York Times

Lillian Hyslop. Photo: Facebook.

Wentworth Valley resident Heather Matthews believes her walking companion might still be alive if the RCMP or Nova Scotias Emergency Measures Organization (EMO) had issued a special alert early Sunday morning to stay inside. Instead, she says Wentworth resident Lillian Hyslop a 60 year old, community-minded person, and parent was gunned down during her daily walk by a killer who had already taken multiple victims and was the subject of a 10-hour manhunt.

If there is ever hopefully never a next time let people know, urges Matthews. Theres so many different reasons why we should be given an alert that could save lives. They give us the Amber alert, we get the COVID-19 alert twice over the Easter weekend?

Heather Matthews lives above the former Highway 104, known locally as The Four, that runs past the Wentworth Ski Hill north toward Oxford. She and her husband David were walking Sunday morning along a forested path parallel to the road when they heard what they described as a single gunshot. Heather estimates the time of the shooting at 9:20-9:30am because she had checked the clock before leaving home.

When the couple returned home, they had a phone call from a neighbour warning them to lock their doors and not go outside because there were reports a gunman was in the area. Heather Matthews immediately called Lillian Hyslops mother-in-law to tell her, but it was too late. Lillian had already left for her daily walk. She died near the entrance to the Wentworth Provincial Park.

I really believe if there had have been an alert sent out, some of these random people that were shot would not have been shot, Matthews told the Halifax Examiner. The people he had targeted, thats one thing. But these people he got just because they were there?

The women [employed by the VON] like Kristen Beaton and Heather OBrien who were out driving. Perhaps if they had been given warning, Matthews voice trailed off.

There are also questions in the community about whether Tom Bagley, 70, would have died if an alert had been issued over the cellphone network or the radio. Bagley was out for a walk when he saw a house burning on Hunter Road. Two people inside, Corrections Canada managers Sean McLeod and Alanna Jenkins, perished in the blaze. The Wentworth Fire Department was notified about the fire, but firefighters were instructed not to respond because the situation was too dangerous. Bagley didnt know that. The retired firefighter with the Canadian Armed Forces went to help and was shot and killed by the gunman.

At 9pm on Saturday night, the RCMP communications people were evidently in a good mood. They posted a fun tweet, which in hindsight is eerily sad:

Its Saturday and our #9PMROUTINE is complete! That means we get to relax for the evening and sleep in tomorrow. Are you done your #lockup? When you are, share this post! pic.twitter.com/WBfYWsUDNn

RCMP, Nova Scotia (@RCMPNS) April 19, 2020

An hour and a half later, at 10:26pm, RCMP officers responded to a possible shooting in Portapique, said RCMP Chief Superintendent Chris Leather at a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

At about 11:08 pm, a first responder at Portapique reported that:

So theres a structure fire. Theres a person down there with a gun. Theyre still looking for him. The patient we have got shot by him. He was just down there observing the fire, checking out the fire, so there could be other patients around the fire that could be gone already, but were not sure. Police are stationed at the end of the road there on the 2, not letting anybody down any further but its very vague whats going on down there but there is for sure multiple patients down there.

So police knew there were multiple people shot and the gunman was on the loose, but at about 11:30pm, the RCMP tweeted only that there was a firearms complaint in the Portapique area.

#RCMPNS is responding to a firearms complaint in the #Portapique area. (Portapique Beach Rd, Bay Shore Rd and Five Houses Rd.) The public is asked to avoid the area and stay in their homes with doors locked at this time.

RCMP, Nova Scotia (@RCMPNS) April 19, 2020

Leather said that the search for the gunman continued into the evening and early morning hours on Sunday. In response to new information indicating the suspect was not in the secure perimeter [around Portapique], at 8:02am on Sunday, the RCMP began providing real-time information on its Nova Scotia RCMP Twitter account.

But the 8:02am tweet implied only that the shooter was in the Portapique area:

#RCMPNS remains on scene in #Portapique. This is an activeshooter situation. Residents in the area, stay inside your homes & lock yourdoors. Call 911 if there is anyone on your property. You may not see the policebut we are there with you #Portapique.

RCMP, Nova Scotia (@RCMPNS) April 19, 2020

The next tweet from the RCMP came at 8:54 AM, and it carried a photo of the suspect along with this message. The only hash-tagged location in the message was Portapique.

Around this time, there was the house fire on Hunter Road in Wentworth, over 40 kilometres from Portapique, where the two corrections officers Alanna Jenkins and Sean McLeod lived. Only later, on Monday, would the RCMP add their names to the list of the perpetrators victims, along with that of Tom Bagley, the 70-year-old neighbour and retired firefighter who went to the burning house to see if he could help, only to be shot and killed. And Lillian Hyslop was killed while walking along The Four.

At that point, there had been no mention in RCMP tweets that the killer had left Portapique, or of any danger in Wentworth, and yet the RCMP told firefighters not to attend the scene because of the danger of the gunman.

The next tweet came at 10:04am:

#RCMPNS is advising people to avoid Hwy 4 near Hidden Hilltop Campground in #Glenholme. Gabriel Wortman is in the area. Please stay inside your homes and lock your doors. #Portapique

RCMP, Nova Scotia (@RCMPNS) April 19, 2020

The very first reply to that tweet came from MaritimeGirL who wrote:

This should be announced on the emergency alert system. People out there driving may have no clue.

At 10:13am Sunday first responders reported two cars in MVA (motor vehicle accident) with possible entrapment (people trapped in the vehicles) at 1760 Plains Road in Debert:

At 10:15am, said Leather, the Emergency Management Office (EMO) contacted the RCMP to offer the use of the public emergency alerting system. We were in the process of preparing an alert when the gunman was shot and killed by the RCMP.

The problem with that explanation is that an hour and 25 minutes elapsed between 10:15 and the time the Twitter account announced that the gunman was in custody (curiously, the account did not say the gunman was killed).

During that period, nine more tweets were issued.

Two connected tweets at 10:17am and 10:21am:

Gabriel Wortman is currently in the #CentralOnslow #Debert area in a vehicle that may resemble what appears to be an RCMP vehicle & may be wearing what appears to be an RCMP uniform. Please stay inside and avoid the area. #RCMPNS

RCMP, Nova Scotia (@RCMPNS) April 19, 2020

Those tweets elicited an immediate tweeted reply from Joanne Roberge, who tagged Premier Stephen McNeil:

If there was ever a time to send out an emergency sound off alert to everyones phone it is now! You sent it out on Easter to have people stay home this is just as serious.

Another two at 10:39am:

Thank you for your understanding as we work to provide the most updated information while addressing public and officer safety. 2/2 #Portapique #CentralOnslow #Debert #Glenholme #Colchester

RCMP, Nova Scotia (@RCMPNS) April 19, 2020

And another one at 11:04am:

Gabriel Wortman, suspect in active shooter investigation, last seen travelling southbound on Hwy #102 from #Brookfield area in what appears to be RCMP vehicle & ma
y be wearing RCMP uniform. Suspect's car is 28B11, behind rear passenger window. If you see 28B11 call 911.

RCMP, Nova Scotia (@RCMPNS) April 19, 2020

Once again there was an immediate reply from a follower Levi Marshall asking for an alert:

Can we get an emergency alert please! Not everyone checks their phones after waking up?

Yet another tweet at 11:06am:

Gabriel Wortman, suspect in active shooter investigation, now believed to be driving small silver Chevrolet SUV. Travelling southbound on Hwy #102 from #Brookfield area If seen, call 911.

RCMP, Nova Scotia (@RCMPNS) April 19, 2020

At that time, Joey Webber was on a family errand towards Shubenacadie, Halifax councillor Steve Streatch told the Halifax Examiner. [Joeys] father told me this morning that [Joey] came right up around the ramp where the police cars were on fire there. He just left the service station to come up around, and he met the face of evil.

Joey was killed. The gunman took the silver Chevy Tracker Joey had been driving.

The RCMP tweeted out at 11:24am:

Confirmed suspect vehicle is silver Chevy Tracker. Last seen #Milford. If seen, call 911.

RCMP, Nova Scotia (@RCMPNS) April 19, 2020

Then at 11:35am:

To clarify, the suspect in our active shooter investigation, Gabriel Wortman, is NOT employed by the RCMP but he may be wearing an RCMP uniform. He is considered armed and dangerous. If you see him, do NOT approach and call 911 immediately.

RCMP, Nova Scotia (@RCMPNS) April 19, 2020

And finally, at 11:40am:

Gabriel Wortman, suspect in active shooter investigation, is now in custody. More information will be released when available. Thank you for your cooperation and support. #Colchester

RCMP, Nova Scotia (@RCMPNS) April 19, 2020

Oddly, the final tweet did not mention that the gunman was killed.

At todays daily COVID-19 briefing, Canadian Press reporter Keith Doucette had the following exchange with Premier Stephen McNeil:

Doucette: The US Consulate in Halifax issued an email alert to their citizens on Sunday about an active shooter based on the Nova Scotia RCMPs Twitter feed. Why was the province waiting for official word from the Mounties before issuing an emergency alert?

McNeil: Well, thats the protocol in place when it comes to EMO. As you know, the emergency alert, the lead agency is the one who has to put the message together. We would not go by whats happening by Twitter. We would need the lead agency to actually craft the message so that we could put that out and no message was received even though EMO had reached out a number of times throughout the morning to the RCMP.

Doucette: Why did you have EMO staff in anyway? It appears that you were anticipating that something was needed and then nothing happened. Is that a question for you, that youre wondering about?

McNeil: That command centre wouldve been going around COVID, so we stood that on early on, EMO put that up. But through a number of things that we were seeing on, or the EMO staff was seeing on Twitter, they called in their support staff around the alert message team and then began to reach out to the RCMP, who would have to craft the message or work with our team to craft that message and no message was received.

This morning, the Emergency Management Office confirmed to the Halifax Examiner that the Provincial Coordination Centre (PCC), from which emergency alerts can be issued, has been staffed seven days a week (but not nights) since the COVID-19 State of Emergency was declared on March 22.

The Halifax Examiner was not provided the opportunity to ask a question at the COVID-19 briefing. But we wanted to follow up the exchange between Doucette and McNeil by asking: What exactly is the emergency alert system for, if not for making the quick decision to alert the public to imminent danger?

McNeil seemed to be describing a complex alert system, such that the PCC first has to be staffed, and then get an ask from whatever the lead agency is in the case of an emergency. Then, the lead agency, perhaps in cooperation with the EMO, has to craft an alert, and only then can the alert be activated.

Is this bureaucratic system overly complex? What if the emergency happens at night, or otherwise when the PCC isnt staffed? More to the point, what happens if the emergency the public is to be alerted about has a timeframe shorter than the hour and 25 minutes it took between the EMO asking the RCMP to request an alert and the RCMP crafting it? What if there are only moments to spare, as in the case of a tsunami, or tornado, or missile attack or, as it turns out, a mass murderer on the loose?

Can the alert system serve to alert anyone to a real impending emergency?

Terry Canning thinks the system can work just fine; it just didnt this time. Canning was the emergency communications coordinator for the province for 15 years. Before that he was a specialist inmulti-agency trunked mobile radio systems. He is now a radio communications consultant.

We contacted Canning to ask about the lack of an emergency alert during Sundays murder spree.

Somebody within the Royal Constabulary fucked up big time, said Canning in an interview with the Examiner Wednesday evening. And relying on fucking Twitter of all things.

Canning said he has no immediate knowledge of events over the weekend, but in my experience, and Ive been in the emergency response field for 35 years, you would appoint a public information officer pretty quickly in a situation like that. And one of the first responsibilities of a PIO is to distribute information. Obviously, the most efficient way to do that was through the provincial public alert system, without a doubt.

Canning said that even when the PCC is closed, an EMO staffer is on call 24 hours a day, and they have to be within landline or cellphone range during their shift. They also carry radios.

He couldnt say for sure if the off-hours staffer can issue an alert without travelling to the PCC, but he thinks it likely.

Id be very surprised if they dont have some means through the internet, obviously, to get on line and issue the alert from wherever they are, but thats outside my scope of knowledge I cant say that categorically, but Id be very surprised if one of the duty officers couldnt be able to do that wherever they happen to be, so long as they have internet service.

The Examiner has requested a copy of the procedures and policies for issuing an emergency alert, but as of publication, the EMO has not provided it.

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The anatomy of failure: How and why the emergency alert system was not activated when a mass murderer was roaming around Nova Scotia - Halifax...

Most conspiracy theories have some sort of basis in historical fact. The CIA really did have a mind-control program. The FBI knew more about Lee Harvey Oswald than it let on to the Warren Commission. The planes that smuggled guns into Nicaragua were also smuggling drugs out of Nicaragua. We frequently uncover secrets about the U.S. government that make the wilder conspiracy theories sound more plausible.

But it is hard to draw a line from the U.S. government's coronavirus response to the conspiracy theories circulating about that response. Conspiracists believe the pandemic, or "plannedemic," is a coordinated effort to hold American citizens hostage and institute martial law. They warn that sheltering-in-place and social distancing are not temporary measures but instead will become the new normal. The government will require us to receive some sort of "digital tattoo" or microchip implant before we are allowed to leave our homes and go back to work. And eventually, the conspiracists claim, there will be a mandatory rollout of tainted vaccines concocted by the same mysterious forces that concocted the "COVID-1984" virus: vaccines that will render us infertile, docile, or dead.

How does this square with the federal government's documented actions? If anything, the government has been guilty of downplaying the threat posed by the virus, not exaggerating it. They have demonstrated a grievous lack of planning for this supposed "plannedemic." And rather than attempting to parlay the temporary economic lockdown into something more permanent, the president is eager to end it as soon as possible, so the stock market can go up and unemployment can go down in time for his re-election. When protesters around the country demanded that the economy reopen, Trump didn't call them enemies of the state; he celebrated them. If the Trump administration's secret goal is to provoke mass hysteria, shut down the economy permanently, and cancel democracy, it is not doing a good job.

There are other narratives being spun about the coronavirus which at least have greater internal logic. Small-government conservatives at outlets like The National Review and the Wall Street Journal argue that, yes, the federal government's response has been weak and this is a good thing. They champion what corporations, nonprofits, and state and local governments are doing to combat the virus. Where conspiracists see the ascendance of tyranny, many conservatives see a vindication of capitalism and federalism.

Meanwhile, traditional nationalists like Tom Cotton, Josh Hawley, and Steve Bannon see the pandemic as a chance to vilify China and the World Health Organization. They call for greater national autonomy and stronger border control, which have indeed been the clearest aspects of the White House's coronavirus response. Conspiracists, however, are less interested in vilifying China, which they see as a pawn in a greater scheme. They frequently claim the pandemic is a hoax, in which case border control would be irrelevant.

There are at least two explanations for this dissonance between the conspiracist imagination and the federal government's actual policies. One is that we may be witnessing the decline of "fusion paranoia" and the repolarization of conspiracy theories, so that conspiracists no longer denounce the government per se. Another is that the real source of conspiracist angst isn't the government, but rather the citizens who are willingly giving up their freedom.

The term "fusion paranoia" was first coined by journalist Michael Kelley in 1995, as the conspiracy theory movement was becoming an increasingly baroque fusion of the left- and right-wing fringes. This was a distinct break from the Cold War, when conspiracy theories were more ideologically contained. Right-wing conspiracists focused on the threat of communism, while left-wing conspiracists focused on the anticommunist right.

These Cold War conspiracists did not fear the government itself, but rather cabals working to subvert the government. Conservatives defended the State Department while they decried the communists who had infiltrated it. Liberals castigated the military-industrial complex while they propped up John F. Kennedy as a martyr, ignoring his record as a foreign-policy hawk. The big revelation in the Watergate-era thriller Three Days of the Condor wasn't that the CIA was crooked; it was that there was "another CIA in the CIA."

With the fall of the Soviet Union, ideological battle lines blurred. Alex Jones became an Austin counterculture darling, while Gore Vidal wrote a glowing Vanity Fair profile of fellow anti-imperialist Timothy McVeigh. White nationalists co-opted black nationalist accounts of the crack epidemic; religious skeptics cribbed from fundamentalist Christian tracts claiming barcodes were the sign of the Beast; self-identified liberals counted the Clintons' murder victims, while conservatives parsed through George H. W. Bush's 1990 speech proclaiming a "new world order."

Conspiracism was no longer tethered to any partisan ideology, no longer caught up in the cat-and-mouse game of communist vs. anticommunist. As Kathryn Olmsted explains in her history of conspiracy theories, the postCold War left and right "found a common enemy to fight in their defense of the republic: their own government."

But the election of Donald Trump may have repolarized our paranoia. Jones, who was no more a fan of George W. Bush than he was of Barack Obama, firmly believes Trump is on his side. When he lists the members of the plot to weaponize the coronavirus, he includes the "blue cities" and "blue states," Hollywood and the mainstream media, the universities, the medical industry, communist China but he leaves out the Trump administration.

Rather than blaming the U.S. government for unleashing the virus and shutting down the economy, right-wing conspiracists blame "the globalists" working inside and outside the government. Ben Garrison, the "alt-right's favorite cartoonist," portrays Trump in the backseat of a car, asking, "Are we there yet?" (i.e., when can the economy restart); sitting up front are his public-health advisers Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, who syly grin and respond, "In a few more months!... Maybe." Like Oliver Stone's JFK, Trump is trying his best but is undermined by sinister forces outside his control.

Bill Gates looms oddly large in these paranoid narratives Jones and Roger Stone believe the Gates Foundation manufactured the coronavirus, and in Garrison's cartoon Birx is wearing a Gates Foundation button. Another Garrison cartoon has Bill Gates (looking rather like a Protocols-esque Jewish caricature) unrolling a scroll that lays out his coronavirus plot: Stage 1 is "fear," Stage 3 is "shutdown and social distancing," Stage 5 is "martial law and checkpoints," and the last stage ("Stage 666") is the "mandatory vaccine rollout."

Gates is singled out not just because of his enormously wealthy foundation that has spent hundreds of millions on fighting the virus, but also because of his history as a software developer. Conspiracists frequently tie the "plannedemic" to the allure of new technology, from 5G mobile networks to VR headsets, because they fear that the seductiveness of technology is the New World Order's model for controlling all aspects of life. The globalists "seduced and beguiled everyone," Jones claims, with an "extended spring break" and "nice big juicy checks." The endgame is for everyone to be "put into our little bubbles, our little pods," where you have to get permission from an app to leave your home conveniently enabled by Microsoft, Apple, and other tech companies.

Conspiracists fear this plot will succeed if American citizens let themselves be manipulated. Jones calls our efforts to flatten the curve staying inside, washing our hands, wearing masks, meeting people on Zoom, keeping six feet from each other at the grocery store "little rituals" of "submission," and we must stop performing them if we want to be free. Popular podcast host Joe Rogan
, who is less of a conspiracy theorist but is certainly conspiracy-curious, laments that "people are willing to give up certain civil liberties if they think they can get more safety." And while he concedes this is necessary for the time being, he asks, "what if it just sorta stays that way?" What is the price of our submission?

Jones explains the choice Americans face with a bizarre, violent, lowkey-racist allegory: imagine you stop at the grocery store "on your way back home from church on a Wednesday night," and as you return to your car, a couple of "thugs pull knives on you" and ask for "everything you got" and start coming on to your wife. Jones says you can let the thugs tie you up and take you to your house, where they'll get the codes to your safe, violate your wife, and "kill you while you cry." Or, Jones posits, you can "explode" in the grocery-store parking lot, "rip the knife out the guy's hand, and stab it right into his throat." This is analogous to our current situation, he insists, with the globalists standing in for the thugs: "You are under lockdown, you're under martial law. And it's just gonna get worse the more you submit to it."

Conspiracists are drawn to this fantasy of domination and submission because they refuse to accept that people are willingly surrendering their individual autonomy for the common good. Americans are looking out for each other, staying home even when they're not especially at risk, and calling on the government to take care of their basic needs. No one is drawing a knife on us.

This is too much for the conspiracist to bear. Their libertarian worldview is seemingly repudiated by the fact that, when faced with such a serious crisis, Americans are, by and large, not behaving like libertarians. It is easier for conspiracists to believe the pandemic is a globalist plot to brainwash us than to believe that Americans will give up certain freedoms with little if any pressure from any government or cabal that a little bit of peer pressure and genuine selflessness is all it takes. Behind the fear of a conspiracy, behind the fear that citizens will be easily duped, is a greater fear: that no conspiracy is necessary.

Read the rest here:
The anatomy of a coronavirus conspiracy theory - The Week

Gandhi Jafta has a name that exudes a sense of calm and composure, and she is looking at bringing more of that to the crease in the 2020-21 season for the Northerns Womens team.

Jafta admits that the ongoing lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic has been hard, but understands that it is absolutely necessary in order for life and cricket to resume in future.

FROM THE MAG: Heartbreak Mountan for Proteas Women

I love being out in any of the nature that we have in South Africa. And playing cricket, of course. I have stayed busy with my studies through Tuks University, as well as watching The Good Wife and Greys Anatomy, she revealed.

Playing for Northerns means an enormous amount to the energetic Jafta, and she has been inspired by the wealth of talent around her at Centurion.

Its an absolute privilege. It means I get to do what I love with an incredible group of ladies and a team vision I agree with. The squad has stayed relatively the same from the previous season which is exciting because it means we get to continue growing together and becoming better people and players together, she added.

From a personal perspective, she has set her goals out for the upcoming season. She wants to play a big part in the push for silverware, and that means doing her primary function even better.

I want to help the team win as many games as possible. Its also important to contribute significantly to the batting department by getting some big scores with increased consistency, she said.

Outside of the game, she cites Margaret Mitchell, her school teacher, as her inspiration, and wants to work in policy making once she puts her bat down. But that is a while away yet, and she plans on making the most of her opportunities right now.

Playing within the Titans brand has been very inspiring. Their sustained winning culture is really something to aspire to and, in the womens team, I really look up to Mignon Du Preez, she explained.

She is amazing to play with, simply because of the wealth of knowledge she possesses about the game and also her willingness to share and teach this knowledge.

Photo: Gallo Images

Read more:
Gandhi banks on The Good Wife and Grey's Anatomy - SA Cricket Mag

A routine proficiency flight for two Alberta-based rescue pilots on April 28 turned into an eight-hour ordeal involving at least four helicopters when they were called to pluck two men from a swollen Athabasca River.

Located in northeastern Alberta, Fort McMurray is a hub for the regions oil-and-gas industry and an outpost of civilization in an otherwise rugged, remote wilderness. With the onset of spring, river ice on the Athabasca and other waterways in the area is breaking up, causing flooding the likes of which has not been seen in at least half a century.

Its a huge flood. Ive been here since the early 80s and this is the largest flood on record where the river came up over 20 feet in a matter of about a half a day, said Paul Spring, owner of Phoenix HeliFlight and founder of the Local Helicopter Emergency Response Organization (HERO).

It was in those conditions April 28 that an EC135, callsign HERO 1, was flying a routine proficiency mission when a call came from the local fire department asking for help locating aFirst Nations family at a remote cabin on the bank of the Athabasca River. Two men trying to resupply the cabin by four wheeler had been swept away by rising water and lost downriver among the ice floes.

Ken Dueck was at the stick when the call came in about 2 p.m. He and co-pilot Marc McGee abandoned their training run and headed north to search but without a fix on where the lost men might be.

We didnt know how far downstream, but they gave us a rough idea, so we headed that way, Dueck told Vertical. We did our best to locate the individual by cell phone.

They began searching an area north of Fort McKay, which itself is about 58 kilometers (36 miles) north of Fort McMurray. McGee got the victims cell phone number from the fire department and was able to reach him from the cockpit.

However, his cell phone battery was down to three percent, so he gave me a general idea where he was but said he wasnt very familiar with the area, McGee said.

Fortunately, a nearby family member ashore was familiar with local geography and was able to talk the helicopter into the location, about 40 km (25 miles) from the initial guesstimate, McGee said.

From there, we found that party and then I was able to contact the stranded individual again by cell and he was able, once he had visual sight of us, was able to guide us to his location, he said.

It was a daunting spot for the helicopter and crew. Not only were huge chunks of ice flowing downriver, the watercourse was surrounded by 80-foot (25-meter) poplar trees, partially submerged in the flood. To make matters worse, the people needing rescue were wearing camouflage, McGee said. The man was waving a red hat to make himself more visible to the aircraft.

The location was not quite next to the river but in a marsh area that had been flooded out, with very tall poplars, another kind-of creek area that was flooded out as well and he was perched on a log, McGee said. It took us a couple of tries to actually see him in place and then Ken was able to identify him.

McGee dropped a GPS pin on the helicopters Foreflight to mark the location of the rescue because the EC135 was not able to get down to recover the folks in distress. The helicopter also was running low on fuel by this time. Their primary mission of locating the stranded people complete, the crew flew back to the Local Hero Foundation base in Fort McMurray where they could refuel and relay the coordinates to other units that could respond.

Thats when Cameron Spring, Pauls son and a pilot at Phoenix HeliFlight, was called in. The company operates a fleet of single- and twin-engine Airbus helicopters. With just about 400 hours in the cockpit, this was Cameron Springs first real-world rescue.

The younger Spring hopped into an AS350 B2 AStar, flew to downtown Fort McMurray where he picked up two search-and-rescue (SAR) personnel outfitted with immersion suits, and then headed north to the coordinates he received from McGee and Dueck.

It took us a little while to, essentially, find them again because we didnt have good radio communications after the other helicopter left, but we eventually did locate him, Spring said. I hovered down low and looked for a spot where I could let the two SAR guys down . . . but there wasnt anything solid for the helicopter to land on.

Instead of landing near the stranded duo, Spring was able to land and make contact with family members on the shore nearby. The two people were swept away by rising water while trying to drive four-wheelers loaded with supplies to a nearby cabin where the family was planning to ride out the rivers breakup, they learned.

We talked to the family and decided I was going to drop the SAR guys on an ice floe in the channel next to them, Spring said. At this point, I didnt realize there were actually two individuals. One of them was laying in the water, unable to pull himself out onto the ice because he was injured. They were both, again, wearing camo, which was terrible.

While the rescue swimmers crawled and waded over to the two stranded men, the helicopter flew a few miles downstream to the cabin, where there was already a couple of feet of water at the front door to rescue the two women, two children and a pair of dogs.

I was able to land in the front yard with just enough clearance, Spring said. I shut down and was able to load up all four people, their two dogs and some baggage.

The family and their pets were safely transported to the staging area where the various emergency services organizations had parked their trucks and other equipment.

By that time, a Bell 412 Griffon helicopter with a winch was inbound from a practice range near Cold Lake frequented by Canadian and NATO fighter jets. Griffon SAR crews are posted there when the range is active, in the event a jet goes down.

The fire department, knowing this was a water rescue maybe needing a winch, had already requested support from the military, Paul Spring said. The Griffon, because it was on standby for any air crash in the zone, was able to lift off pretty quickly. It was en route, but its at least an hour-and-a-half just to get to town and then another half an hour to get to scene, so theyd be two hours into their fuel by the time they arrived at the subjects that were needing rescue.

Meanwhile, the younger Spring was refueled and flying back to the rescue scene with two immersion-suit-clad fire department personnel on board the AStar. He deposited the pair on another ice chunk near the stranded men and their first round of rescuers.

This time, he set the helicopter down on a large chunk of ice, maintaining about 50 percent power, putting just about 500 pounds on the skids, and waited for the Griffon to arrive. The aircraft also served as a large spinning marker for the inbound 412. Once the military chopper was on scene and started hoisting the victims from the river, Spring returned to the staging area for more fuel.

We knew that the B2, from staying on scene so long, was near the end of its fuel cycle and was still needed, so we determined we should probably take some fuel up, Paul Spring said.

The elder Spring loaded 600 pounds of jet fuel in 10-gallon steel kegs into the squirrel cheek compartments of an EC130 and flew up to refuel the AS350 B2 before taking command of the aviation operation on scene. By this time, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the local fire department, HERO, Phoenix HeliFlight and others were all now involved.

The conservation officers and the police officers, theyre just not used to interfacing with helicopters, he said. Between the B2 and the paramedics and myself, we managed to keep things going.

The military Bell 412 was able to hoist one of the stranded victims, in so-called code yellow, from the water and onto the helicopter. His friend was code red, meaning critical condition, but could not be immediately placed into a rescue harness. Needing fuel, the 412 headed to a nearby oil company-o
wned airport for fuel and to transfer the patient to a ground ambulance before returning for the other patient.

They were having trouble getting the red patient secured for a lift, Paul Spring said. You can imagine, everyone is in the water and cant touch the bottom, so theyre all floating in amongst 80-foot trees bobbing around trying to secure and wrestle a very large gentleman into a harness and then get him in the basket to get him up.

The patient was brought to the staging area where the HERO 1 EC135, which had changed crew, was on standby. What would have been an hour-long drive to Fort McMurray down a gravel logging road took the helicopter 25 minutes. The more seriously injured patient later died at the hospital.

After refueling, the Griffon flew back to the scene to recover the four rescuers still in the water. They were safely returned to the staging area before the party broke up and everyone involved returned to their respective bases.

More than seven hours had elapsed since HERO 1 first received the call at around 2 p.m.

It was a 50-percent success rate on that one, but they would have had zero chance of living if HERO hadnt found them and the B2 hadnt been able to set the swimmers in and get them going into scene. It would have been a whole different story. It really took every machine there doing its part, from the Griffon, to the spotter, to the transport and even the fuel chopper.

Original post:
Anatomy of an airborne wilderness river rescue: 'It took every machine' - Vertical Magazine

"This is your starting line. This is your arena. How well you play...that's up to you."

First episode (2005): "A Hard Day's Night" (Season 1, Episode 1)

Latest episode (2020): "Put on a Happy Face" (Season 16, Episode 21)

What she's up to now (2020): Of course, Ellen is still on Grey's and has been in a whopping 363 episodes and counting. She's also directed two episodes so far and is a producer on the show.

First episode (2005): "A Hard Day's Night" (Season 1, Episode 1)

Latest episode (2020): "Put on a Happy Face" (Season 16, Episode 21)

What she's up to now (2020): Like Ellen, Chandra is one of only three original cast members who are still on the show. Besides playing the iconic Miranda Bailey, Chandra has also directed 21 episodes, including the show's record-breaking episode when it passed ER as the longest-running primetime medical drama.

First episode (2005): "A Hard Day's Night" (Season 1, Episode 1)

Latest episode (2020): "Put on a Happy Face" (Season 16, Episode 21)

What he's up to now (2020): Alongside Ellen and Chandra, James has played Richard Webber in 363 episodes and counting. Besides starring on Grey's, James also reprised his role from Roseanne on The Connors.

First episode (2005): "A Hard Day's Night" (Season 1, Episode 1)

Last episode (2020): "Leave a Light On" (Season 16, Episode 16)

What he's up to now (2020): Justin technically made his last onscreen appearance in 2019, and only his voice appeared in Alex's farewell episode in 2020. Justin made the decision to leave Grey's during Season 16 as he looked to "diversify [his] acting roles and career choices."

First episode (2005): "A Hard Day's Night" (Season 1, Episode 1)

Last episode (2015): "How to Save a Life" (Season 11, Episode 21)

What he's up to now (2020): After leaving the show, Patrick went on to star in Bridget Jones's Baby in 2016. Now he stars in the TV series Devils, which premiered last year in Europe.

First episode (2005): "A Hard Day's Night" (Season 1, Episode 1)

Last episode (2014): "Fear (of the Unknown)" (Season 10, Episode 24)

What she's up to now (2020): Sandra currently stars on the critically acclaimed series Killing Eve as Eve Polastri. Her work on the show earned her a 2019 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama.

First episode (2005): "A Hard Day's Night" (Season 1, Episode 1)

Last episode (2010): "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked" (Season 6, Episode 12)

What she's up to now (2020): After leaving Grey's, Katherine starred in a number of movies, including Life as We Know It and One for the Money. She also joined the cast of Suits for the final two seasons. In 2020 she's expected to star in Netflix's Firefly Lane opposite Sarah Chalke.

First episode (2005): "A Hard Day's Night" (Season 1, Episode 1)

Last episode (2009): "Now or Never" (Season 5, Episode 24)

What he's up to now (2020): After Grey's, T.R. appeared in several episodes of The Good Wife, and he rejoined the ShondaLand family in the short-lived series The Catch. Most recently, he starred in Genius: Einstein and Genius: Picasso. He'll appear in the upcoming limited series A Higher Loyalty opposite Jeff Daniels, Holly Hunter, and Brendan Gleeson, among others.

First episode (2005): "A Hard Day's Night" (Season 1, Episode 1)

Last episode (2014): "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" (Season 10, Episode 22)

What he's up to now (2020): Although he made his last series regular appearance in 2007, Isaiah returned for one episode of Grey's in 2014 as part of Cristina's final arc. After leaving the show, Isaiah went on to star in The 100 as Thelonious Jaha.

First episode (2005): "Who's Zoomin' Who?" (Season 1, Episode 9)

Last episode (2012): " If/Then" (Season 8, Episode 13)

What she's up to now (2020): Of course, Kate went on to star in Private Practice from 2007 to 2013 while still appearing in Grey's episodes. Since leaving the Grey's Anatomy universe, Kate has appeared in 13 Reasons Why, The Umbrella Academy, Girls Trip, and numerous other TV shows and movies. Also, she recently celebrated Addison's iconic first episode, which first aired 15 years ago.

First episode (2005): "A Hard Day's Night" (Season 1, Episode 1)

Last episode (2019): "Blood and Water" (Season 15, Episode 16)

What she's up to now (2020): After Grey's, Kate notably went on to star in Scandal as Vice President Sally Langston. She also appeared on Veep, The Good Wife, and, most recently, Supergirl. Although Ellis died during Season 3, Kate has since made several appearances on Grey's.

First episode (2006): "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" (Season 2, Episode 19)

Last episode (2016): "Family Affair" (Season 12, Episode 24)

What she's up to now (2020): After leaving Grey's, Sara went on to star in Madam Secretary as Kat Sandoval, and she voiced Queen Miranda on Sofia the First.

First episode (2006): "Yesterday" (Season 2, Episode 18)

Last episode (2012): "Remember the Time" (Season 9, Episode 2)

What he's up to now (2020): Eric went on to star in The Last Ship as Tom Chandler from 2014 to 2018. Currently, he plays Cal Jacobs on Euphoria.

First episode (2006): "Begin the Begin" (Season 2, Episode 13)

Last episode (2009): "Here's to Future Days" (Season 5, Episode 23)

What he's up to now (2020): Jeffrey went on to appear in The Good Wife before landing the role of Negan on The Walking Dead. Also, you can currently catch Jeffrey on Friday Night In With the Morgans with his wife, Hilarie Burton.

First episode (2007): "Testing 1-2-3" (Season 3, Episode 24)

Last episode (2012): "Flight" (Season 8, Episode 24)

What she's up to now (2020): Since 2015, Chyler has starred as Alex Danvers on Supergirl.

First episode (2008): "Dream a Little Dream of Me: Part 1" (Season 5, Episode 1)

Latest episode (2020): "Put on a Happy Face" (Season 16, Episode 21)

What he's up to now (2020): Of course, Kevin is still playing Owen and has appeared in 283 episodes. Besides Ellen, Chandra, James, and Justin, Kevin has appeared in the most episodes. He has also directed 27 episodes of Grey's.

First episode (2009): "Wish You Were Here" (Season 5, Episode 11)

Last episode (2018): "All of Me" (Season 14, Episode 24)

What she's up to now (2020): Jessica is scheduled to appear in the Netflix holiday movie Holidate and in the film Dear Zoe opposite Sadie Sink, Justin Bartha, and Theo Rossi.

First episode (2009): "Invasion" (Season 6, Episode 5)

Latest episode (2020): "Put on a Happy Face" (Season 16, Episode 21)

What he's up to now (2020): Of course, Jesse is still on Grey's playing Jackson Avery, and he's directed three episode. He also appeared on Hulu's Little Fires Everywhere this year.

First episode (2009): "Invasion" (Season 6, Episode 5)

Last episode (2018): "All of Me" (Season 14, Episode 24)

What she's up to now (2020): Since leaving, Sarah has starred in several holiday TV movies, including Christmas Pen Pals and Twinkle All the Way.

First episode (2009): "New History" (Season 6, Episode 9)

Latest episode (2020): "Put on a Happy Face" (Season 16, Episode 21)

What she's up to now (2020): After leaving Grey's at the end of Season 8, Kim returned as a series regular during Season 15 and is still on the show.

First episode (2010): "State of Love and Trust" (Season 6, Episode 13)

Latest episode (2020): "Sing It Again" (Season 16, Episode 20)

What he's up to now (2020): Currently, Jason stars on Station 19 and still makes plenty of appearances on Grey's Anatomy.

First episode (2010): "Superfreak" (Season 7, Episode 3)

Latest episode (2020): "Put on a Happy Face" (Season 16, Episode 21)

What she's up to now (2020): Alongside her work on Grey's, Caterina played Amelia on Private Practice from 2010 to 2013 between the two shows, she's actually appeared as Amelia in 211 episodes and counting.

First episode (2012): "Going, Going, Gone" (Season 9, Episode 1)

Latest episode (2020): "Put on a Happy Face" (Season 16, Episode 21)

What she's up to now (2020): Of course, Camilla is still playing Jo on Grey's and has appeared in 189 episodes and counting in fact, that's more than Katherine Heigl or T.R. Knight ever appeared in.

First episode (2014): "Everything I Try to Do, Nothing Seems to Turn Out Right" (Season 10, Episode 23)

Latest episode (2020): "Put on a Happy Face" (Season 16, Episode 21)

What she's up to now (2020): Of course, Kelly is still playing Maggie on Grey's and has now appeared in 144 episodes and counting.

First episode (2005): "A Hard Day's Night" (Season 1, Episode 1)

Latest episode (2020): "Put on a Happy Face" (Season 16, Episode 21)

What she's up to now (2020): BokHee has appeared in 257 episodes of Grey's and counting. In real life, she is a surgical nurse too.

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Original post:
"Grey's Anatomy" Is Officially 15 Years Old Here Are 25 Side-By-Sides Of The Cast Then Vs. Now - BuzzFeed

Complete Anatomy, an iPad app from 3D4Medical, is designed to teach medical school students human anatomy with a virtual dissectible heart, real-time muscle movement mapping, nerve tracer, and microanatomy models to explore.

The feature is demoed in a YouTube video featuring Irene Walsh, the chief design officer at Complete Anatomy. According to Walsh, there has been no standardized way to measure range of motion, a problem solved with the iPad Pro's LiDAR Scanner.

Using the new 2020 iPad Pro, Complete Anatomy is able to view movements in three dimensions, using motion capture to identify which movement a person is doing. Movements are paired with 3D muscle animations, providing information on the primary muscles required to carry out the action.

Walsh says that the upcoming version of Complete Anatomy on the iPad "has the potential to transform the medical community of the future."

The LiDAR Scanner feature is coming to the Complete Anatomy app in the near future, though no specific release date is provided. So far, few apps are able to take advantage of the LiDAR Scanner, but previews like these give us an idea of just how powerful of a tool it will be when implemented by developers.

Rumors suggest that iPhones set to be released in 2020 will also include a similar 3D scanning LiDAR feature, which would allow Apple's iPhones and iPad Pro models to be used for more advanced and exciting augmented reality functions.

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Complete Anatomy App Will Use LiDAR in iPad Pro to Measure Range of Motion After Injury - MacRumors

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With the broadcast-TV season coasting to an early end, TVLine asked which plot developments you hoped still played out on-screen before your favorite shows faded to black. And with several series already signed off, did any of you enjoy payoff?

In alphabetical order below, weve laid out the shortened-season wishes of both readers and the TVLine staff, then taken stock of which hopes were sated and who among us is still left hanging. We will of course update this scientific document as the seasons still playing out near their respective ends.

Batwoman: Poor Mary as of late has not-so-subtly been inviting Kate and Luke to formally bring her into the Bat-circle of Bat-trust. Itd be great to see her officially join the team sooner versus later. TVLineThe synopsis for May 3 says, in part, that Mary tries to prove herself to Kate. Perhaps to be trustworthy as a new team member?

The Blacklist: This show has worn out the wonderment of Reds past. WE ALL dont care! Just go after evil people. Period. HalThough Season 7 doesnt wrap until May 15, Red has indeed gone back to pursuing Blacklisters of the Week now that he thinks Katarina Rostova is dead. That said, we know Katarina is very much alive, and the April 17 episode once again brought up the question of Reds real identity.

Charmed: Abigael has been a gorgeous nuisance for the Charmed Ones all season. Now that theyve regained the Power of Three, its time to put that demon out of her (and the audiences) misery. TVLineParkers pesky sister hasnt appeared since the April 3 episode, during which she speculated that shed probably be dead within the week. Still, something tells us we havent seen the last of Abigael and were actually OK with that. Shes really grown on us (and Mel) since we made this wish.

Chicago Fire: I am so ready for a Brett and Casey kiss. ImzadiCasey and Bretts friendship continued to deepen as she came to him for support after her biological mothers death, but the two have yet to share even a peck. (Are they bucking for a spot on this list, perhaps?)

Chicago Med: I would like some kind of resolution to #Chexton, if they can work it out and communicate openly about their relationship. Get the real reason why April kissed Crockett. AuroraAlas, #Chexton was still in limbo as of the April 15 finale. After Ethan found himself in the middle of a dangerous hostage situation, he realized hed made a big mistake by letting April go. But just when it looked like the exes were finally going to talk Ethan was called away to give his witness statement.

Chicago P.D.: It would be nice to have Burgess and Ruzek dating again, even if theres just a hint. IngmarTheyre not dating but there was a friendly scene in the seasons penultimate episode that hinted theyre on their way to possibly reuniting.

Dynasty: We know Fallon has a lot on her plate at the moment between planning a wedding and tricking Liams son into liking her but itd be nice if she could also squeeze in one more fantasy musical number, preferably a mother-daughter duet with Alexis. TVLineOur wish is Dynastys command, apparently! The CW dramas April 17 episode featured an impromptu duet between Liz Gillies (aka Fallon) and Broadway star Laura Osnes.

Empire: A recent episode alluded to UK transplants Jamal and Kai adopting a baby. A few more details about (and perhaps a photo of?) the new arrival would go a long way in giving us some closure to Jamals already-truncated arc. TVLineWe kinda got our wish. Although the Fox dramas final-ish episode made no mention of Jamal and Kai, showrunner Brett Mahoney provided TVLine with an exclusive update on the couples off screen baby pursuit in our post-swan song Q&A. (They had a boy!)

The Flash: Showrunner Eric Wallace told TVLine the audience wont have to wait until the end of the season for Barry to realize his wife is a fake. But will that reveal come four whole episodes before the planned end of the season? TVLineThe promo for the April 28 episode suggests that, coming off that rough quarrel about Joe/WITSEC, Barry will come to suspect that his wife isnt his actual wife. But what will/can he do with that hunch?

CLICK HERE FOR PAGE 2: GREYS ANATOMY, NEW AMSTERDAM AND MORE

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Despite Shortened TV Season, Which of Your Storyline Wishes Still Came True? - TVLine

Natasha Romanoff' has been a lot of things in the Marvel Universe. From her time as an assassin, a spy, a villain and an Avenger, Black Widow has shown that she's one of Marvel's most skilled fighters, and she also has one of the biggest hearts, even if she doesn't show it.

Outside of her moral compass, wit and fighting ability, Natasha might seem like an average human. However, she still has some enhanced abilities that make her much more than simply human.

RELATED: Black Widow: What Differentiates Women Superheroes From the Men?

In everymedium she appears in -- comics, film, video games and animation -- the Black Widow is always one of Marvel's best hand-to-hand fighters. Trained in the Red Room since she was a child, Natasha Romanoff is an incredible acrobat, marksman, ballerina, assassin and martial artist. Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting's Captain America #27 confirms that she trained beside the Winter Soldier, another one of Marvel's deadliest characters, so it's no wonder shefights so well in the field.

Along with rigorous training, Natasha Romanoff also has a super-soldier serum pumping through her veins.This version of the serum does not grant her the same strength Captain America has, but it does allow Natasha to perform at peak human condition in regards to herstamina and strength. In Kelly Thompson and Annapaola Martello's Captain Marvel#7, Natasha proves how strong she is by single-handedly taking out an alligator without any assistance.

RELATED: Black Widow Addresses Natasha's Life Between Other MCU Films

Along with being incredibly strong, fast and flexible, the serum also makes Natasha physically more durable and gives her a stronger immune system. Injuries that would most likely kill someone or put them out of commission for an indefinite amount of time are not critical for Natasha. In writer Mark Waid and artist ChrisSamnee's2016 Black Widow run,Natashais brutally stabbed by a Black Widow trainee, but she is able to get back into action after some rest and the most minor medical treatment.

While Natasha can still be injured, it takes a lot to cause damage. Thanks to her healing factor, she recovers from these wounds in record time if they're too critical and do not result in severed body parts.

Black Widow is in a dangerous line of work, and Natasha is no stranger to jumping through glass windows, suffering physical blows from villains twice her size, enduring explosions and continuing the fight despite a few knife and bullet wounds. Would this would be fairly debilitating for most people, they're everyday occurrences for Natasha.

Thanks to the health benefits of the super-soldier serum, Natasha'spain toleranceis far beyond a normal human's threshold. It's also thanks to decades of torture, fighting and painful training that she's built up a superhuman endurance that allows her to power through the pain. One of the best examples of this is in Marjorie Liu and Daniel Acuna'sBlack Widow run,where she drags herself out of the hospital after being operated on while conscious,having felt every cut the doctorsmadeas well as their hands digging around her body.

Black Widow was first introduced as an adult in Stan Lee, Don Rico and Don Heck's Tales of Suspense #52, back in 1964, and Chris Claremont and Jim Lee'sUncanny X-Men #268 confirmed thatNatashawas a little girl in World War II prior to entering the Red Room. While she should at least bein her 80s, Natasha still appears to be in the physical prime of her life.

While Marvel has plenty of ways to explain away the age discrepancies of characters who've been adults for decades, Black Widow's aging was slowed by the same serum that gave her other abilities. This has allowed Natasha to age slower, feel younger and maintain her youthful appearance for decades.

RELATED: Endgame: Black Widow's Death Was Originally More Extreme

Prior to the events of Matthew Rosenberg and Travel Foreman'sTales of Suspense: Hawkeye& the Winter Soldier, the Black Widow was believed to be dead. However, those two Avengers discovered that Natasha had been revived through cloning while investigating a string of murders that appeared to be tied to her. Her body is a perfect replica of the original Black Widow, but this one is newer.

Her memories and her personality are also the same, but they were implanted by the Red Room, who conveniently withheld the information thatmakes Natasha an independent hero. However, she quickly realized what was going on and reprogramed her brain so that she could be her true, heroic self again.

KEEP READING: Marvel Artist Tutorial Includes Look at Black Widow's New Costume

Pokmon's Creepiest Character Is Based on... George Clooney!?

After moving to New York, Caitlin Sinclair Chappell got a job at Forbidden Planet, a science fiction and comic book mega store, working as a sales associate and a writer for their newsletter, the Weekly Planet. Prior to moving across country, Caitlin was a honors student at Lewis & Clark College, where she was an editorial intern at Dark Horse Comics, a director on several short films, and a writer for the Odyssey and the Piolog - her articles focusing on comics, film, and theatre. With several friends from Portland, Caitlin co-started the Comic Book Buds podcast, which she still co-hosts to this day. In her free time, Caitlin volunteers for festivals and conventions like NewFest, Screamfest, and Wizard World. Shes currently working on a handful of creative projects, including her first comic and a two act play.

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Avengers Anatomy: The 5 Weirdest Things About Black Widow's Body, Explained - CBR - Comic Book Resources