Monthly Archives: February 2020

Updated: May 25, 2018:

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Retail Evolution: Continuing to Think Outside of the Box - JD Supra

As Microsofts Surface Duo slowly approaches for release later this year, LG is getting out in front with its third dual-screen smartphone. The trick to LGs approach, if youre unfamiliar, is the second display is part of a case that can be separated from the main phone whenever you dont want the added weight or bulk.

My colleague Sam Byford was impressed by the multitasking powers of LGs dual-screen G8x ThinQ, and now the company is back with its latest evolution on the idea. The V60 ThinQ 5G Ill not be mentioning ThinQ anymore beyond this point, thank you upgrades the internals with Qualcomms latest processor, 5G data, an improved camera capable of 8K video, and more. And yes, it still includes the hi-fi headphone jack thats become a hallmark of LG phones.

But for a mobile division that continues to struggle, the V60 feels a bit iterative especially in the design department. Its got a 6.8-inch FHD+ (2460 x 1080) OLED panel. No fancy high refresh rates to be found here just plain old 60Hz. The screen has a small notch, but its surrounded by fairly sizable bezels. And around back, the camera bump has returned after LG managed to keep everything flush in last years flagships. Theres still a dedicated Google Assistant shortcut key on the V60 as well. Everything still looks and feels very much like a V-series phone, and I do quite like the classy blue and classy white finishes. A bolder third option wouldve been nice. LG has given the V60 chamfered aluminum edges with a matte finish, and the divide actually comes right across the USB-C port, which looks a bit peculiar but still feels fine in your hand.

Inside the phone is where the notable upgrades are. The V60 is powered by Qualcomms Snapdragon 865 chipset and supports 5G connectivity. On most carriers, its optimized for Sub-6 5G networks, but therell be a (more expensive) model thats designed for ultra-fast millimeter-wave data speeds. You get 128GB of built-in storage with optional microSD expansion and 8GB of RAM. Theres also Wi-Fi 6 on board, and LG says the V60s 5,000mAh battery lets it last 30 percent longer than the G8x did. Thats particularly important when you remember that this phone has to drive a secondary display; the Dual Screen case lacks its own battery.

Like before, that second screen is a perfect match for the primary one. Its the same size and resolution. And yes, it still mimics the notch since LG is using the same panel part to save on costs. You can position its hinge however you want, turning the V60 into a mini laptop of sorts. Previously, only LGs own apps could utilize both screens at the same time. But with the V60, LG has managed to get Googles apps Google Photos, Google Maps, YouTube, etc. working in the wide view mode that spans both displays at once. When the phone is held vertically, this feels a bit silly since the apps literally just stretch across two displays with a big divide in the middle. But switching to landscape lets you use one display as a full-screen keyboard, which could help you jam out emails in Gmail a bit faster and with fewer typos.

By and large, though, the V60s Dual Screen setup is still best suited for multitasking with different apps on each one. This remains the ultimate Uber / Lyft driver command center. You can watch videos on one screen while messaging or scrolling Instagram on the other. And when playing games, you can use the additional display as a gamepad and customize where all the buttons go. LG hasnt managed to solve all of its Dual Screen quirks, though. The second screen still gets its own launcher and home screen, which can get annoying to manage on top of the ones on the regular phone. The Dual Screen case still has the small outer display thatll show you the time and notifications.

But the star of any LG phone, no matter how many screens, is usually the camera. The companys handsets have built a reputation as powerful content creation tools, offering more manual controls than Android competitors especially when recording video. The V60 has dual rear cameras; that third lens on the rear is a time-of-flight depth sensor.

LG has given the phone a larger 1/1.7-inch sensor for the primary 64-megapixel f/1.8 camera, which is on par (in size, at least) with recent Huawei phones and Sonys latest and not too far off from the Galaxy S20. In low light, the camera utilizes pixel binning to produce 16MP images to help combat noise. Theres still also a 13-megapixel ultrawide camera that provides a 117-degree field of view. LG isnt doing any wild tricks with zoom in the same manner as Huawei and Samsung; the V60 still tops out at 10x.

The V60 has the best video chops of any LG phone yet, as it can capture 8K-resolution recordings. The phone includes four microphones (on the top, bottom, left, and back), allowing it to produce 3D audio alongside your video clips. Theres a new feature called voice bokeh that can adjust the audio as its being recorded to emphasize voices, and the fun ASMR mode from the G8x is back again. In manual video mode, you can set the V60 to record in HDR10+ for more vibrant colors.

LG hasnt given up on providing its customers with top-notch audio. The 32-bit hi-fi DAC for wired headphones is still present, and the V60 has balanced stereo speakers, which is something that other flagships have lost as bezels get shaved away. To round out the specs list, theres an in-display fingerprint sensor, Qualcomm Quick Charge 4.0 (with wireless charging), and the phone ships running Android 10.

The V60 ThinQ 5G has flagship specs in a somewhat uninspired design, but until Microsofts Surface Duo arrives this fall, there arent many phones that can give you this dual-screen trick. Foldables seem far more futuristic, but theyre also more fragile and you can detach this second display whenever you want and stick to the traditional slab. Will there be more excitement around Microsofts device? Certainly. And Im not sure the V60 really does anything to move the needle for LG. The companys fans will still be very into this phone, but other consumers might not be swayed. LG has said it hopes to make its mobile business profitable by 2021 through wow factor. Is this supposed to be that? Or is the wow still to come from an eventual G9?

Pricing and availability for the V60 will be announced soon by wireless carriers. It will be released this spring. The G8x sells for an appealing $699 (Dual Screen case included), so if LG can manage to undercut Samsung by a good amount, that can only help the V60s cause.

Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge

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LGs new V60 ThinQ 5G has two screens and can record 8K video - The Verge

How did the eye evolve? Michael Behe in 2006 and JonathanWellsin 2017 wrote about the irreducible complexity of the light-sensing cascade that makes vision possible. Yet Darwinists persist in asserting that this wondrous organ emerged, without guidance or direction, from a presumed ancestral eyespot.

This is an update on that important subject. I wish to emphasize the irreducible complexity of the visual cycle, on top of the sheer anatomical complexity of the human eye with its over two million working parts, second only to the human brain in complexity.

Eyespots only perform a function when embedded in an interdependent system such as the one devoted to locomotion in the green algae Chlamydomonas. Phototaxis is a movement that occurs when a whole organism moves either closer to, or away from a light source, such as the sun. It is essential, for example, for green algae, which can move towards light to perform photosynthesis, capturing light and transforming it into chemical energy. Yet green algae also move away from the light to protect themselves against an intense source of illumination. Eyespots are the simplest eyes found in nature. They are composed of rhodopsins, which are light-sensitive proteins, and orange-red colored pigment granules, which have their color by selectively absorbing or reflecting light. The color spectrum, which is reflected, is the one that becomes visible to our eyes.

The pigment spot reduces the illumination from one direction or changes the wavelength of the incident light falling on the photoreceptor. It thus allows the organism to move in the direction of the light or away from it.

As an interdependent system, this visual system requires certain essential components, including rhodopsin proteins, a pigment spot, and ion flux. If one part is missing, the organism cannot move by phototaxis. Natural selection will not select any intermediate evolutionary step, since the system, with any of the required elements missing, would confer no function, and thus no survival advantage.

While proponents of unguided evolution characterize the light-sensitive spot of some ancestral creatures as simple, it is anything but that. As a 2015 article in Frontiers in Plant Science notes, eyespots have a high ultrastructural complexity. Of course, this may be said, all the more so, of more advanced eyes. Consider some of the details. In forms ranging from the simplest, most rudimentary eye, such as eyespots in unicellular organisms, e.g. Chlamydomonas, to complex vertebrate eyes, such as our own camera eyes, rhodopsin proteins capture the light and are the first and central players in a complex chain of biochemical events. There is no vision without rhodopsin proteins. Unless rhodopsin transforms light into a signal, and that signal is used by a signal transduction pathway to promote phototaxis, neither rhodopsins nor eyespots would have a function on their own.

Rhodopsins themselves are complex. They are composed of two parts: opsin proteins, which are made of seven -helices forming a circle, and retinal, which is a light-absorbing chromophore. Retinal is covalently linked to the opsins and horizontally positioned in the pocket inside the opsin tunnel. When a single photon hits retinal, a small conformational change is triggered in the opsin, and that triggers a cascade of several chemical reactions and biochemical transformations, ultimatively leading to sight. A 2016 article in Nature Communications observed that rhodopsin functions as a molecular offon switch; it isdesigned to be fully inactive in the dark and to rapidly convert to a fully active structure in the light.

As a general note, functional molecules, such as those within the catalytic sites of enzymes (in our case, retinal cofactors), require high specificity in their form and are thus well conserved (unchanged, or non-evolved ) across organisms. That is because mutations within these sites usually do not confer any advantage.

In seeking to explain how biological novelties arise, evolutionists often point to the recruiting and co-option of extant building blocks. In such a scenario, the building blocks are incorporated into new systems by natural selection of new functions. Rhodopsin would have to undergo evolution by recruiting retinal cofactors, which it would have to find fully formed and functional, finely tuned and just the right size to fit the binding pocket of opsin, a molecule obtained by a complex multistep biosynthesis pathway starting with carotenoid organic pigments from fruits, flowers, trees, or vegetables. It would require elaborate import mechanisms from the outside into the eyespot and the information on how to insert it in the opsin binding pocket to form rhodopsin and attach it at the right place.

In their book The Retina and Its Disorders, Joseph Besharse andDean Bokstate (p. 641) that the chromophore-binding pocket is well defined, suggesting that the binding pocket has high specificity for the Schiff base and the ionone ring. The precise and correct binding of retinal to the opsin is essential to trigger the change of the shape of retinal, and thus necessary for visual sight. It must be specific and functional from the beginning.

So the following is required:

Unless all of these specific points are right from the beginning, rhodopsin will not be functional. A coordinated and finely tuned interplay and precise orchestration between opsin and retinal right from the start is thus indispensible.

Hundreds of rhodopsins are embedded in the lipid bilayer of the membrane of Chlamydomonas, each using seven protein transmembrane domains, forming a pocket where retinal chromophores are inserted.

The precision with which opsins must fold into their seven-transmembrane configuration is staggering, as JILA (formerly the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics) reported:

Biophysicists at JILA have measured protein folding in more detail than ever before, revealing behavior that is surprisingly more complex than previously known.

[T]he JILA team identified 14 intermediate states seven times as many as previously observed in just one part of bacteriorhodopsin, a protein in microbes that converts light to chemical energy and is widely studied in research.

The increased complexity was stunning, said project leader Tom Perkins, a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) biophysicist Better instruments revealed all sorts of hidden dynamics that were obscured over the last 17 years when using conventional technology.

If you miss most of the intermediate states, then you dont really understand the system, he said.

Knowledge of protein folding is important because proteins must assume the correct 3-D structure to function properly. Misfolding may inactivate a protein or make it toxic. Several neurodegenerative and other diseases are attributed to incorrect folding of certain proteins. [Emphasis added.]

An article in the journal Eye (Light and the evolution of vision) confirms:

[E]ven as far back as the prokaryotes the complex seven transmembrane domain arrangement of opsin molecules seems to prevail without simpler photoreceptors existing concurrently. Darwins original puzzle over ocular evolution seems still to be with us but now at a molecular level.

As for retinal, the second essential component of rhodopsin, a paper in the journal Vision Research reports:

11-cis-Retinal is a unique molecule with a chemical design that allows optimal interaction with the opsin apoprotein in its binding pocket, and this is essential for the formation of the light-activated conformation of the receptor.

Remarkably, all structural details in the retinal chromophore are functionally important. As another paper, this one in the journal Trends in Biochemical Sciences, finds:

Although there is an intriguing evolutionary conservation of the key components involved in the production and recycling of chromophores, these genes have also adapted to the specific requirements of insect and vertebrate vision.

We have, so far, only scratched the surface. But we can safely say that the origin of both vision and its key player, rhodopsins, cannot be explained by the evolutionary mechanisms of random mutations and natural selection. Instead they must have existed from inception as a unified and codified system. Such an observation, I believe, is best explained by intelligent design.

Image credit: Steve LongviaUnsplash.

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The Evolution of the Eye, Demystified - Discovery Institute

When people invented gears is not certain, but examples survive in artifacts from ancient China and Greece. These indicate that the mechanism was known well over 2,000 years ago. Impressive! And yet as Michael Behe points out in a new episode of Secrets of the Cell, from Discovery Institute, bugs had been there and done that long before humans came on the scene:

Gearsin a bug? I thought humans invented gears, says the always charming Lehigh University biochemist. Indeed, the planthopper bug has gears in its legs that permit it to jump what in human terms would be like vaulting the length of two football fields at one go. Evolutionary theory asks you to believe such a thing arose through chance mutations sifted by purposeless natural selection. Episode 3 of Secrets of the Cell, The Power of Evolution, invites us to wonder if Darwinian thinking has underestimated the mechanical marvels in the design of insects, so wonderfully precise and purposeful, to which nothing we humans have ever built even comes close. To look at such things and not say Yeah, that was intelligently designed requires a supreme effort to deflect our own intelligent intuition. Thats not true just of planthoppers but of bees, fleas, flies, butterflies, spiders, cockroaches insects and other livings, of all species.

But as Darwinists would have it, isnt the case for design just an argument from incredulity, a common logical fallacy? Darwin and his immediate successors could confidently assure themselves that such marvels were simply a product of blind natural churning. But that confidence began to really unravel with a modern scientific revelation: that the changes in a species that we can see are driven by molecular changes in genes and DNA that we cant see. How the hidden reality of coded biological information in the cell fatally upset the case for unguided evolution is the subject of Episode 4 in the series.

Look for that here at Evolution News next Wednesday! Secrets of the Cell is a series of short (five minute) videos, beautifully produced and maximally accessible. Share it widely with your friends and family. For previous episodes, see here and here.

Update: Michael Behe also discussed the planthopper in a recent debate with a critic. See, Behe and Swamidass Debate Evolution and Intelligent Design at Texas A&M.

Link:

In Episode 3 of Secrets of the Cell, Michael Behe Tests The Power of Evolution - Discovery Institute

Netflix execs Brian Wright and Bela Bajaria and YA talent and creators Kaling, Jonathan Entwistle, Robia Rashid and Jessica Marie Garcia took part in a panel breaking down increasing diversity in the space and competing with Disney+.

Led by breakouts like the To All The Boys I've Loved Beforefranchise, Netflix is zeroing in on young adult content and trying to change the industry perception where vp YA and family originals Brian Wright says. "there was a little bit of snobbiness toward YA."

At a Tuesday brunch event hosted by Netflix at West Hollywood's The London Hotel, Wright and vp local language originals Bela Bajaria joined some of their top YA talent and creators, including Mindy Kaling, I Am Not Okay With This co-creator Jonathan Entwistle, Atypical creator Robia Rashid and On My Block actressJessica Marie Garcia to break down their programming and strategy in a time of increasing diversity in the space.

Kaling, who exec produced upcoming series Never Have I Ever "a show about an Indian family with an Indian teenager just hasn't been done before" said that in addition to stories with people of color, she also fights for the "evolution of the nerd."

"Judd [Apatow] did such a great job with Superbad and Booksmart, but we haven't seen an ethnic nerd, and seeing that nerds aren't always the wallflowers or the quiet ones we're ambitious with obnoxious personalities sometimes and we want to have sex and dreams like all the other kids, but we're often portrayed as stuttering kids on the spectrum," she said.

Kaling, who found her lead actress,Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, through a worldwide open casting call of 15,000 people, also noted that "a huge issue in our community and other communities is colorism, you see a certain kind of Indian actor in almost everything our show is about a Tamil Indian family who are typically South Indians and are dark-skinned. Within our community is a big deal to see a dark-skinned Indian family."

Rashid, as showrunner of a series centered on a teen on the autism spectrum, said the definition of diversity has changed for her as she's taken on a greater responsibility in casting. As casting directors have sent her actors that satisfy only gender and racial diversity, "I had to ask for every character, even if they're not written as having a disability, I'll say, 'Let's see some disabled actors for this role.' I think that's our responsibility as creators to think about that, because otherwise they're not getting brought in and they're there."

Entwistle added that while shooting his show in Pittsburgh, they were surrounded by different classes of people and worked to bring in locals as extras in some of their big scenes to bring in a greater range of class diversity.

At a time when the streaming wars are reaching their peak and rival Disney+ has a sole focus on family and young adult content, Netflix says the competition has done little to impact its strategy.

"We think of Disney+ as being very in the family space, and how we define YA I wouldn't say they're quite as much in the YA space," Wright told The Hollywood Reporter. "If you think about the more provocative side of YA I'd say that's not Disney+'s sweet spot, they're a little more on the younger end of that. So it hasn't impacted our strategy, but on the family entertainment side of things it's definitely made us double down our efforts and say 'This is a really important state for people who want to enjoy stuff as a family,' so we're all in on that."

Bajaria added, "in our YA shows we don't talk down or soften, we tackle edgy and interesting topics and the writers really want to explore that in an authentic way. We don't need to try to make it into a general or family audience, so for us it's been continue to back the vision and don't try to over-manufacture or go into a different lane. It's being aware of what they're doing and it's an amazing brand that they have, but ours has really been backing the writers' vision and the tone of how we do YA," to which Wright chimed in, "I would say of the shows profiled here today, I don't think you'd find any of them on Disney+. There'd probably be a little bit too much authenticity."

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Mindy Kaling on Tackling YA for Netflix and the "Evolution of the Nerd" - Hollywood Reporter

Most of Luka Doncics answers to reporters questions after games are repetitive.

Hes either happy to win or upset the Mavericks lost. He accepts the latest praise from teammates, followers and opponents and appears unfazed by milestones and recognition.

But after the Mavericks 139-123 win Monday over the Timberwolves, Doncic strayed from his usual reserved interview demeanor to gush on one topic in particular:

Tim Hardaway Jr.

Hes probably one of the best catch-and-shoot guys in the league right now and hes really going underrated, Doncic said. Not a lot of media talks about him, but he should be. Hes really underrated.

Doncic wasnt the only Maverick pleased with Hardaways team-leading 23 points on Monday and his ascent from salary-dump trade inclusion to Dallas reserve to a key factor in the Mavericks leadership, especially while Doncic has struggled with right ankle injuries.

I just love the way he plays, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. He goes hard, he cares about winning, and he is one of our leaders. Tim is about the right stuff. He is a culture guy, he gets onto teammates, and he cares. Guys like him arent growing on trees.

A year ago, it seemed unlikely Hardaway would be central to the Mavericks maintaining the NBAs highest rated offense scoring 116.5 points per 100 possessions, 2.8 points higher than second-place Houston.

Or that Hardaway would at times guard the opponents best player, as he did Monday against DAngelo Russell.

The Knicks included Hardaway last winter in the multi-player trade of Kristaps Porzingis to shed his salary ($18.15 million in 2019-20) in their now-failed pursuit of adding Kevin Durant and other notable free agents last summer.

Hardaway averaged 15.5 points in 19 games (17 starts) in a piecemeal lineup during the back-third of that lost Mavericks season before suffering a stress reaction in his left tibia and requiring season-ending surgery.

That contributed to why Hardaway didnt enter this campaign with expectations in the same soaring realm as Doncic and Porzingis. Hardaway played with the second unit for the first 13 games of the season and joined the starting lineup Nov. 20 only because Seth Curry was sick.

Perhaps thats all for the better now that the Mavericks are in position to clinch a postseason spot in the final 24 games of the season.

On the court, Hardaway understands his role as a starter: to make [Doncics] life easier [and] make KPs life easier. And when rotation patterns dictate Doncic and Porzingis sub at different times than Hardaway, Hardaway falls back in a rhythm with his original second-team running mates.

The transition has been especially helpful as Doncic has missed eight of the Mavericks last 11 games with a right ankle sprain and subsequent swelling. In the Mavericks last nine outings, Hardaway has averaged 21.8 points including twice recording 33 while shooting 50% from the floor and 47.1% from three.

And his veteran presence has been helpful in guiding the young Mavericks core toward the franchises first playoff berth since 2016. Hes vocal on defense, he directs players to the correct spots on offense and if guys dont feel like theyre getting enough touches or whatever the case may be, Hardaway offers this advice.

Get another stop on defense and you know you never know what happens on the offensive end. Next play down.

Those traits he learned in college at Michigan and honed in New York dont show in value through salary or in box scores.

Being a vocal guy out there on the floor, knocking down my shots once theyre given to me, Hardaway said, once Im doing that, everything else takes care of itself.

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The evolution of Tim Hardaway Jr. from trade throw-in to a 'culture guy' and leader for the Mavericks - The Dallas Morning News

On January 29, 2020, I arrived in Warsaw, Poland, in the middle of a blizzard. Fortunately, most of the snow had cleared away by January 31, when I lectured at an event celebrating the release of a new Polish translation of my book, Icons of Evolution.

The event was organized by Fundacja En Arche (the En Arche Foundation, or roughly, the Origins Foundation). Although its critics call it a creationist organization, Fundacja En Arche is not about biblical creationism (whether young Earth or old Earth). Instead, it focuses on the scientific and philosophical issues of Darwinism and intelligent design. I told the staff that the foundation reminded me of Discovery Institute twenty years ago.

A major part of En Arches work so far has been translating into Polish books such as Phillip Johnsons Darwin on Trial, Michael Dentons Evolution: A Theory in Crisis, Michael Behes Darwins Black Box, and Stephen Meyers Signature in the Cell. To celebrate their translation of my book, the foundation rented a room at the University of Warsaw. But they knew that the event could generate controversy, so they were careful not to publicize it. Only invited guests would be allowed to attend.

Word of the event leaked out anyway. In what has become a familiar phenomenon, local Darwinists bullied the university into cancelling it. So Fundacja En Arche moved the event to a nearby hotel.

In addition to me, three other people were scheduled to speak. Dr. Andrzej Myc (PhD in biology, and a friend of Discovery Institute) spoke on the ups and downs of scientific dogmas, and why the scientific consensus is unreliable. Dr. Adam Cenian (PhD in physics) addressed the origin of life, and why it is Darwinisms blind spot. Dr. Grzegorz Malec (PhD in philosophy) talked about what is, and what is not, the theory of intelligent design.

About 160 people attended, all of them friendly as far as I could tell. I spoke in English and my lecture was translated into Polish, while the other lectures were in Polish. In the photo above, I am at the lectern on the right, flanked by a man (the MC) and a woman (the translator). The other three speakers are on the stage at the left.

A long and lively question-and-answer session followed the lectures. The questions included: Are the icons still used in the U.S.? What has changed since your book was first published? What made you doubt the theory of evolution in the first place? Can ID be tested in science? Do ID proponents believe every structure in biology is designed? The speakers and I took turns answering these and other questions.

Afterwards people lined up to have me sign their copy of my book. Beforehand I had practiced writing Best wishes in Polish, but I quickly defaulted to just my signature when I saw how long the line was. I signed well over a hundred books that day.

After the event, the organizers treated the speakers and a few special guests to a gourmet meal at a restaurant named Vodka. While some restaurants feature wine pairings with their food, this place (not surprisingly) features vodka pairings and there were scores of specialty vodkas on the shelves. Several of the guests ordered one of Polands favorite entres: steak tartare paired, of course, with the appropriate vodka.

The next day I had a small private discussion with the organizers and a few guests at the En Arche offices. Several of them pointed out that Darwinism permeates universities and education so much that it is used outside of science to talk about morals and behavior. One person (a student) talked about a professor who gave advice about marriage and relationships based on Darwinism (namely, you shouldnt commit to a long term relationship; just keep searching for better partners). Several mentioned the connections between Darwinism, Marxism, slavery, and eugenics.

They were surprised to learn that a theory can rely on so many misconceptions and misinformation (e.g., the icons of evolution) and still be widely accepted. Several were shocked to hear about the persecution of critics, and they appreciated learning how Discovery Institute works to help young scientists.

After the discussion, Andrzej Myc (mentioned above) took me on a walk through Old Town Warsaw. During World War II the city was mostly destroyed, but the indomitable Polish people cleared away the rubble and rebuilt the city on the same spot. In the photo below I am standing in the center of Old Town. Behind Andrzej (holding the camera) is an ice-skating rink. Behind me are new houses built in the old style.

Image credit: Top two photos, Fundacja En Arche; bottom, by Andrzej Myc.

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Darwinism and Intelligent Design in Poland - Discovery Institute

The perpetual topic of Russia-Europe relations was one of the centralthemes at the recently concluded annual Munich Security Conference. It is nosecret that these relations have, for a long time, been in a state of profoundcrisis. This was not only caused by the events in Ukraine, even though theirsignificance and consequences for both Russia and Europe should by no means beunderstated. The roots are more profound, related to both parties beingunprepared to develop optimal forms of their current interaction.

Nonetheless, speeches and discussions at the Conference showed signs thatthe involved parties are demonstrating a certain readiness to develop anoptimal model for relations. In his opening speech, Germanys PresidentFrank-Walter Steinmeier clearly said, Europe should notput up with the ever-greater alienation of Russia. We need other, betterEU-Russia relations. Most European leaders speaking at the Conference agreed,in one way or the other, with the notion that the current state of relationsbetween Moscow and its western neighbours is unreasonable and needs to berevised. As always, it boils down to the matter of what specific, mutuallyacceptable parameters new relations could have.

For nearly five decades, I happened to be directly involved in thepractical issues of developing cooperation first between the USSR and Europe,and then between Russia and Europe. Over this lengthy historical period, theparties consecutively tested three interaction models, yet none of themultimately withstood the test of time.

The first model, that of controlled confrontation, emerged during theCold War when the USSR and Europe were divided by unsurmountable ideological,political, military and strategic barriers. Back then, the main task was toprevent a direct military engagement between the sides through reliance on thefundamental documents of the postwar world order. Where possible, the partiesstrove to resolve conflicts through dialogue and simultaneously build mutuallyadvantageous cooperation. The Final Act of the 1975 Conference on Security inEurope and an entire package of treaties and agreements in arms control andconfidence measures are among the starkest examples of such policy.

It should be said that, while being far from perfect, this policy made itpossible to guarantee peace in Europe in the second half of the 20thcentury. In some way, back then, the situation in Europe was more stable andpredictable than it is today. The rules of the game were acceptable for theopposite party, and dangerous red lines in the West and East weremore evident than they are now.

The second model, that of a Greater Europe, was tested afterthe fall of the Soviet Union and the consequent collapse of the entiresocialist bloc and its institutions. The Charter of Paris for a New Europesigned in November 1990 by the heads of state and government of the OSCEdeclared that the era of confrontation and division of Europe has endedand a new era of democracy, peace and unity of Europe has started. The Charterfor European Security signed in November 1999 in Istanbul was intended tocontribute to the formation of a common and indivisible security space on theEuropean continent. This document, as well as many others, signed by Russia,the European Union, NATO and other parties, was the foundation for establishingfar-reaching plans to build a Greater Europe, a Common space stretching fromVladivostok to Lisbon and shared spaces in various cooperation areas, etc.

These developments transpired in front of our very eyes and, to ourprofound regret, never materialized. Today, after some time, we can objectivelyassess the steps of Russia and Europe after the Cold War to establishcooperation within the framework of a new reality. Without attempting to shiftthe blame on the other party, we can confidently say that the differentinterpretation of both the unfolding historical events and the future directionof the development of our relations constituted the key problem of ourpartnership.

Without focusing on the details, perhaps failures in implementinglarge-scale projects of building a new Europe stemmed from conceptualdifferences between Russia and Europe in their understanding of the fundamentalprinciples of building such a European space, and not from craftiness andmalicious intent (which also cannot be ruled out entirely). These differencesbecame apparent and began to gain momentum as political agreements were beingput into practice. Europe viewed the shaping of common spaces as the process ofintegrating Russia into the existing European bodies. At the same time, Russiasaw it as the parties being equal participants in developing new mechanismsthat accounted for new realities and the parties legitimate interests. Suchirreconcilable stances were bound to turn into conflict sooner or later, whichis precisely what happened.

The third relations model emerged after the acute stage of the 2014Russia-West crisis. Subsequently, the European Union labelled it selectiveengagement, and this wording was included in Federica Mogherinis fiveguiding principles. The idea was of Europe interacting with Russia where itsuited Brussels interests, and opposing Russia where the interests of Moscowand Brussels diverged. On the whole, this concept was in line with Russiansentiment. It appeared that selective engagement would delineate mutuallyacceptable parameters of the new normalcy for a long time to come.

However, the new model appeared to have shown its deficiency as well, atleast because the European Union still failed to form a united opinion on whatdegree of engagement in relations with Moscow was necessary. A newalgorithm of interaction with Russia has never been elaborated in a single EUdocument. Additionally, the interests and capabilities of Moscow and Brusselsare clearly asymmetrical; therefore, finding a mutually acceptable balance ofinterests in every specific area appears to be exceedingly difficult.

We believe, though, it to be far more critical that selectiveengagement essentially reduces the positive interaction between Brusselsand Moscow exclusively to tactical, situational cooperation pertaining tocurrent problems and specific, rigidly delineated areas. However, thechallenges Moscow and Brussels face today are not only tactical andsituational, but also strategic and long-term, and the responses, therefore,should also be strategic and long-term.

Unless they want to continue repeating old mistakes, both historians andpoliticians should focus their attention on past experiences. What conclusionscan we draw from the past 30 years of Russia-EU relations?

Our relations should be primarily based on pragmatic assessments of currentopportunities and limitations, and not on emotions. As a result of diverginghistory, culture, religion, and lifestyle traditions, Russia and the EuropeanUnion are not ready to create common spaces in the principal areas of theiractivity (apart from shared spaces, say, in the humanitarian, cultural, oreducational areas). Swept by the euphoria induced by the end of the Cold War,we were clearly too hasty in declaring the prospect of creating a GreaterEurope. No matter how attractive this goal appears, we will not comeclose to implementing it soon.

In the current state, Russia and the European Union are tackling variousdevelopment tasks that are sometimes far from being identical and can evencontradict each other. This applies to politics, economy, and security. Anycooperation mechanisms will be workable only if they account for both sharedinterests and objectively existing diverging interests. This means that bycooperation we should imply combining common or coincidinginterests, as well as minimizing expenses and costs stemming from inevitablerivalry and even elements of confrontation.

If this is the case, pragmatism should form the foundation of Russia-Europerelations. However, pragmatism alone is not sufficient for building stablerelations. The selective engagement model claimed to build upon thepragmatic dialogue between Brussels and Moscow. However, the experience of thepast six years demonstrated that bare pragmatism is barely different fromopportunism and attempts to outmanoeuvre the partner somehow using onesrelative advantage in a particular area.

Therefore, the concept of pragmatism should be supplemented with theidea of responsible interaction. Responsibility here entailsprimarily the parties ability and readiness to account both for theirimmediate situational interests and their long-term strategic interests. Onedoes not need to be Nostradamus to arrive at the obvious conclusion that thefurther into the future we look, the more areas of coinciding Russian andEuropean interests we see. We should not allow the sentiment and emotions ofthe current moment to block the view of long-term prospects.

Additionally, responsibility entails accounting not only forones own interests, for also for those of ones partner, as well as thebroader interests of the entire international system. Both the future ofRussia-Europe bilateral relations and largely the future of the world orderdepend on Russia and Europe today. As we think of interaction in areas such asglobal and regional stability, nuclear non-proliferation, combatinginternational terrorism, managing climate and migration flow, we need to alwayskeep our collective responsibility for the emerging world order in mind. Wesimply do not have the right to think that a game without rules or a war ofall against all is the historically inevitable new world order.

Combining pragmatism and responsibility will require significantintellectual and political efforts of both parties. At first, Russia and Europeshould embark on building such interaction mechanisms, including cooperation atthe highest political level, that would promote better understanding and openup opportunities for fruitful cooperation. Naturally, such an effort should bebolstered by persistent work on all other levels and in all other venues,including joint work of officials, diplomats, military personnel, experts, andcivil society activists.

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The Name of the Rose: De-evolution of Europe - Modern Diplomacy

OTTAWA -- He may live in the middle of the nowhere, but David Clendinings creations are everywhere.

Around downtown Ottawa, the West Quebec artists bronze sculptures and plaques adorn the Centennial Flame, the National War Memorial, the Animals in War Memorial, and Canadas Confederation Boulevard.

Clendining fashions his pieces in a remote studio in Lac-des-Loups, but theyre showcased in some of the most prestigious museums in the world, including the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.

Quite honestly I was thrilled. The Smithsonians a big deal, as we all know, he says. There are so many great artists they could have chosen. Why they chose me, I dont know. Im thrilled that they did. I was quite honoured.

The museum asked Clendining if he might be interested in sculpting a life-size statue of a young Charles Darwin, the naturalist, biologist and geologist best known for his theory of evolution.

I said Yes, of course. Charles Darwin has been a hero of mine since I was a kid. I started learning about Darwin and his Galapagos travels when I was a young boy and I envied him. I really wanted to have such a life myself.

The bold, courageous moves he made at the time to disregard creationism and discuss evolution, to do all that research in the field in very adverse conditions, well, the guys courageous. Hes an amazing man, so I was very happy to be doing a statue of him all these years later.

After a rather extensive interview process, curators at the Smithsonian agreed Clendining was the sculptor for the job.

They said, Yes, youre the one we want to do this, we like your sense of action.

The drawings, carvings and moulds would consume Clendening for much of the year.

All in all, it was probably eight months, from start to actually delivery date, bronze cast and actual installation.

The sculpture is in the Smithsonians Deep Time Hall. Clendining was moved when he viewed his finished work for the first time.

This is his ah-hah; moment. Hes reading an inscription on a wall thats twenty feet up, twenty feet away and thats his theory of evolution.

When I saw the whole thing come togethernot just the statuebut the whole presentation, it was awesome. Beautiful, beautiful design work. A very difficult job but the difficult jobs are often the best jobs, too.

In his Lac-des-Loups workshop, nestled in the snow-covered trees of the Gatineau Hills, Clendining is now sculpting a local legend and world-famous flying ace.

Roy Brown was a World War 1 aviator, from Carleton Place, as it turns out. He was the one credited with shooting down the Red Baron, he said.

And the 65-year-old artist is excited to see what future projects are in his sights.

Oh, Im having a blast. Lifes such an adventure. Every day I wake up and say Yippee, what am I going to do today? What could be better than that?

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The art of evolution: A West Quebec artist sculpts Darwin for the Smithsonian - CTV News

This article is inThe Spectators February 2020 US edition. Subscribe here.

Putney, Vermont

Ahoy, polloi. While I am a fan of the Reformation, I take a circumspect view of change. This old salt has a soft spot for tradition, yes, but he was taught from an early age that the vagaries of life are best met by suppressing doubt and feeling with industriousness and booze. Mostly booze. Mine not to reason why. Nevertheless, I persisted.

Things change, of course. For instance, Ive taken up residence in Vermont for a few weeks with a gal pal I dated between wife number two and wife number three (who is also wife number one, but thats a story for another time).

Ive wintered here all my life and during that time Vermont has, like old Digbys marital status, seen three permutations. In my boyhood, it was a poor but charming backwater, chockablock with flinty, taciturn Yankees. By bright college years, hippies were making goat-milk ice cream and the cities were run by sex maniacs and communists. Now, Vermonts resorts are as gauche as Saddams bathrooms, half the tourists dont ski and one of the sex-maniac communists aspires to lead the free world.

The permanent things endure, of course. The Green Mountains are still beautiful and Im told they still work them like dogs at the Putney School. Still, I have my doubts. Vermont has never been much for schools and still isnt; consistency, I suppose. But you cant have a student kicked by a mule in the Y of Our L 2020. The damn lawyers wont have it.

Even the skiing has changed. Last year we got the best snow in ages, but the season is indisputably shrinking. Whatever the causes, and I wont pretend to know a damned thing about them, the climate is changing. As a devoted conservationist, Ive done my part. The four-door I keep at my summer cottage carries a Preserve the Sound plate.

Which brings me, naturally, to Greta Thunberg, the Swedish sailor-girl who crossed the Atlantic last year in a sporty carbon-fiber vessel. Poor Greta seems angry, frightened and utterly convinced of our ability to change the world on a dime. Thats an uncommon attitude for a sailor, accustomed as we are to bargaining with weather, wind and tide. Tack carelessly and youll find yourself in irons or, worse, all wet.

Say what you will, she appears to be a competent sailor, especially for her age. Some will attribute Gretas certainty to Aspergers, but I think not. Youth is a more likely explanation. When I strode through Phelps Gate and onto the Street in 89, I was full of vim and vigor, with big, bold plans to bend the world of junk bonds to my will. Those went the way of my waistline and slackened over time. Thats why God invented pleated pants.

As the gal pal clears away lunch and I watch the sun set over the woods, I think about young Greta, about my marriages, my career and all the vaporous dreams of youth, these last evanescent as a retreating shoreline. The world will be fine long after were gone. Plot your course and keep it. Steer the bow into the wave and dont leave any rigging loose. Beat on, with or against the current doesnt really matter. Hand on the tiller, Digby, eyes ahead.

The people behind Greta have their hands on the tiller. Her family are actors and singers, and the crown of Monaco floated her boat. The Monegasque royals havent made it this far by being any more profligate than you have to be to keep up appearances. To wit, an old friend, after a solid run at chemin de fer, was greeted en suite by two ladies sent compliments of the principality. He had the good sense to ask what they thought compliments meant and it was indeed lost in translation. Tighter than a tick with a dime, those Grimaldis. My friend swears he sent them packing, but thats not for me to say.

The snow has picked up outside and the aprs-ski is making me wax poetic. You know, they buried old Bob Frost in Vermont, even though he was a Granite Stater. He of two roads diverging and the path less traveled by sleeps beneath the stony soil of a state where he hardly wrote a stanza. And that strikes me as a decent metaphor for this whole business.

Were not choosing two paths in the woods. Were wandering half blind through the implacable passage of time under an obstinately silent sky that doesnt change even as we do. Best to view the whole thing as a highly successful charade, a well-honed marketing endeavor with nothing of substance at its core. Like Dartmouth.

This article is inThe Spectators February 2020 US edition. Subscribe here.

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The evolution of Vermont - The Spectator USA