text: In medieval myth, Cockaigne was a land of plenty, where work was outlawed, houses were made of pie and sausages, rivers of wine flowed, and ready-roasted geese and grilled fish followed villagers around, eager to be eaten. To the poor of the Middle Ages, according to the Dutch historian Herman Pleij, Cockaigne was a well-known paradise, a fantastical escape from the harshness of everyday life.
  Nowadays, the Dutch city of Utrecht is about to see if such a place, where citizens’ fundamental needs are met without any obligations to work, need not be pure fantasy. There, the local government is planning to conduct an experiment that would give 250 Dutch citizens currently receiving government benefits a guaranteed monthly income. A two-year test period is tentatively set to begin in January of next year, and some citizens of Utrecht and some nearby cities will receive a flat sum of €960 per month (about $1,100).
  According to Loek Groot, an associate professor at the Utrecht University School of Economics who is working with the government on the project, the Netherlands’ current welfare system wastes too much money and doesn’t do enough to help its beneficiaries. (Others are quick to say the same of America’s.) Groot’s hope is to learn if a guaranteed income might be a more effective approach.
  The Utrecht proposal—called “Weten Wat Werkt,” or “Know What Works”—includes six test groups, the members of which will receive slightly different stipends under slightly different conditions. In addition to the group that will receive €960 per month without any work obligations, there is a group that will be given that, plus an additional €150 at the end of the month if they provide volunteer services, such as doing maintenance work on schoolyards. And there is another that will have the same option to volunteer, but will get the money at the beginning of the month and have to return it if they don’t volunteer. “Human behavior is always unpredictable,” Groot says. “We want to know what motivates people, what people respond to.”
  There are three other test groups. One is made up of welfare recipients who will keep receiving their benefits, but without their usual work obligations. Another is made up of welfare recipients who expressed interest in receiving the €960 stipend but will continue to receive only standard benefits. And then, lastly, there is a control group of welfare recipients who wanted to keep receiving their usual benefits.
  The guaranteed universal income is an idea that philosophers, economists, and politicians have been kicking around in different forms for hundreds of years. Thomas Paine proposed a capital grant be paid to individuals in his 1797 pamphlet Agrarian Justice. And in 1853, the French philosopher François Huet made the case for no-strings-attached cash transfers to all young adults, to be funded by taxes on inheritances and gifts.
  More recently, the Dutch historian and author Rutger Bregman has said he believes that the Netherlands’ welfare system is flawed, not least because it ties employment to well-being. As he writes in his book Utopia for Realists, “government assistance has become increasingly anchored in employment, with recipients required to apply for jobs, enroll in return-to-work programs, and do mandatory ‘volunteer’ work … the underlying message is clear: Free money makes people lazy.”
  In fact, an experiment similar to Utrecht’s has already put that assumption to the test. Between 1974 and 1979, economists in Canada selected residents of two Manitoba towns to be sent monthly checks with no strings attached, for an experimental program. But the Canadian government’s interest in the program faded, and papers on it were eventually packed up into cardboard boxes. In 2009, the University of Manitoba economist Evelyn Forget dug up that data, and recently told Public Radio International that she found the number of hours worked in the two towns involved dropped only by 10 percent—mainly because of reductions in hours by mothers who wanted to stay home with their small children and young boys who had previously been encouraged by their families to leave school early and support themselves, but who could now finish high school.
  And even if free money were proven to make people lazy, the productivity of a few might outweigh the inactivity of everyone else. That’s the belief of Sam Altman, the president of the incubator Y Combinator, which is now funding research on universal basic incomes. “Maybe 90 percent of people will go smoke pot and play video games,” Altman said on a recent episode of the podcast Freakonomics Radio. “But if 10 percent of the people go create new products and services and new wealth, that’s still a huge net win.”
  Another common argument against instating a universal basic income is that, as Bregman explained in an interview with the news site Dutchnews.nl, “poor people can’t handle money … After all, if they knew how to manage money, how could they be poor in the first place? We assume they must spend it on fast food and soda instead of on fresh fruit and books.” But as Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir argue in their 2013 book Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much, it’s the very condition of not having enough money that can cause people to make poor financial decisions. If everyone received a basic income, Groot argues, they’d have a better chance of learning to manage their money more wisely.
  A more compelling argument against instating a minimum income, though, has to do with how much it’d cost to run such a program. $10,000 a year is a standard figure tossed out for what a guaranteed income might look like in America, but this would, as an economist at the liberal-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities notes, cost over $3 trillion a year—which is almost as much as is collected every year in federal taxes. It’s not clear where exactly all this money would come from.
  Such calculations have done little to sway proponents of the idea. Senator Bernie Sanders has said that he is “absolutely sympathetic” to rolling out a basic income, and Finland is contemplating introducing it for 10,000 residents sometime next year. But the idea has not been restricted to the socialist-minded. In 1969, President Richard Nixon proposed the Family Assistance Plan. Although he refused to call it a guaranteed annual income, it essentially was: Under the plan, a family of four without any income would receive $1,600 (about $10,500 in today’s dollars) a year, but a household with some income would receive a gradually reduced amount until its income reached $3,920 (roughly $25,500 today). The bill passed in the House but died in the Senate.
  Now, the idea is back. Earlier this month, Switzerland was the first country to hold a public referendum on a basic income proposal. The Swiss proposal would have granted a monthly income of 2,500 Swiss francs (about $2,600) to each adult in the country, and 625 francs to each child under 18. It failed by a large margin, with 77 percent of voters against it, but for proponents of Weten Wat Werkt—and of numerous similar experiments around the world—the idea of a universal basic income is far from dead.
  RUTILATED QUARTZ This is the most requested variety from jewelers and collectors. The golden colours of these rutile needles (titanium dioxide),brings a unique royal aspect . It is found in Brazil, Bahia state; every year the value increase. Briolette cut,clean, slightly smoky, fractures free. Size: 33x23.5x20 mm. Weight: 94.57 ct. CODE# 1036
  The 150-year-old Italian crane manufacturer, Raimondi Cranes, continues to make headway in the Middle East
  Wael Hasan, Middle East commercial manager, Raimondi Cranes didn’t have to think twice when he received the call from the Italian manufacturer. We caught up with him as he prepares to lead the company's participation at The Big 5 Heavy in Dubai for the first time.
  Raimondi is historically a family-owned company from Italy but became part of the KBW Investments portfolio in 2014. What has changed for the company since then?
  Raimondi, since 2014, has gone through extensive optimisation. The company’s R&D was prioritised, together with activation of technical team mobility. Our headquarters in Legnano, Italy, regularly flies out technical team members to work side by side with our valued clients. Raimondi technicians have, just over the past six months, visited more than 15 countries to oversee and participate in erections and operations that require expertise over and above the average jobsite.
  A major boon has been that over the course of the past four years, bespoke jobsite requirements have become a Raimondi Cranes specialty – there is no jobsite too complex for our cranes because our technical team, headed by Technical Director Eng. Domenico Ciano, is agile and empowered to hack solutions that are economical, efficient, and tailor-made to client specifications. From a commercial perspective, that type of agility is rare and, to be honest, fantastic. Clients regularly compliment our hands-on approach and feel highly-comforted when we participate in onsite work when and if requested. These client-first policies have advanced our already-strong position across multiple markets. In terms of the MENA region, this year we’ve seen so much movement with existing and new clients alike! These customers have come to us seeking solutions, and I’m proud to say that Raimondi has fielded their respective requests exceptionally – from engineering all the way to after-sales care – we have the resources and the internal structure to make it happen the right way, with safety and timeliness always a core directive.
  Was Raimondi big in the Middle East market prior to the acquisition? Has the partnership helped the company to establish itself in the region since then?
  Raimondi had a relatively small market share in the Middle East prior to 2014. Once the Middle East offices and facilities were activated, Raimondi steadily began to increase footprint and onsite visibility. It is widely acknowledged that to be successful in this region, you must have an on the ground presence, and once Raimondi’s client-direct arm was activated here orders increased dramatically. My team and I see existing clients and potential clients daily – we make every effort to be present when needed and to maintain our relationships. As a small example, this is the first time that Raimondi will showcase at the Big 5 Heavy, and our commitment to the Middle East is such that our global Technical Director will be coming to Dubai to liaise onsite with our customers.
  Another example is what’s considered fairly routine in the crane industry- a climbing procedure. Due to our Middle East presence, we were able to immediately execute a customer request for it in Abu Dhabi. We also staged in-house trainings for the customer’s team members to help them meet their goal for self-sufficient operations. Having a full team in this region has enabled the company to grow and to continue to service clients thereby rewarding their loyalty as repeat purchasers of Raimondi products.
  How would you describe the current state of the local crane market and how do you anticipate it evolving over the next couple of years?
  The local crane market is, in my opinion, highly competitive and active. Customers will not settle for less than the best in terms of both the heavy lifting machinery itself paired with superior client servicing. Our commercial segment is consistently fielding quotation requests for new products, and this is all indicative of the sector’s health. Less than 12 months ago, the commercial climate was labelled as depressed, but our numbers indicate solid activity despite the naysayers.
  I don’t believe that the crane market evolves as much as client needs evolve. Today’s customers want to be prioritised and appreciated – when you’re making an investment in heavy machinery I believe that’s more than justified. Many manufacturers face customer dissatisfaction for this reason, perhaps treated as a ‘smaller fish’ in a sea of huge bulk buyers. Raimondi has made it a policy that each of our customers are assigned a client servicing specialist who is well equipped with technical knowledge, whether that client is purchasing one crane or 10 cranes. In summary, I don’t believe that the crane market changes much from year to year, but I do believe that customers, with their increasingly challenging jobsites and complex operations, do. If you want to remain a top company, a quality machine is definitely required, but so is quality client-facing staff.”
  What advantages do Raimondi Cranes offer in terms of commercial value as well as design & engineering capability?
  I can answer this easily: every single Raimondi crane is forged with tradition – 150 years of manufacturing – and precision – the latest in heavy machinery technology matched with true sector expertise. Massimiliano Volpe, Deputy General Manager of Raimondi Cranes, often says that one of his biggest priorities is staff retention. This is because we have employees that have crossed more than two decades with Raimondi, and their knowledge of our products and of product evolution is truly priceless. I’ve worked in this sector for many years, and I have yet to find a manufacturer with such a storied engineering and technical heritage.
  Commercially, it is an accepted truth that Raimondi products are synonymous with return on investment – I don’t need to emphasise ROI with potential customers simply because they themselves have seen our 20-year old cranes operating still at optimal levels on jobsites. Typically, in heavy machinery sales that is one of the first factors you would encounter, and since I’ve joined Raimondi I’ve never yet had a single client ask about product longevity or durability. Both are accepted truths about our machines, and I’m proud to represent a company that stands by its finished products and by its fully European source trail. A Raimondi crane is a strong asset to any jobsite, manufactured to be reliable, efficient, and safe.
  I have long been a fan of Raimondi’s products. As someone who has worked in the heavy lifting machinery industry for many years, I have a natural interest in the movement and tendencies of both fleet rental companies and of manufacturers. I’ve paid very close attention to the various crane brands throughout the duration of my career, and over the past few years I have found Raimondi’s onsite presence a powerful draw. As someone in the commercial segment I want to present my clients with real value; I have to really believe in the products because there is a huge element of trust required for transactions of this size. I know that my products will perform admirably, and I know that my customers’ trust in my recommendations will be validated. Joining Raimondi allowed me to present solutions that I personally stand behind, and that I’m proud to showcase.
  The team from Raimondi headquarters will be joining the Middle East segment at the Big 5 Heavy. Raimondi’s senior management from headquarters will be in Dubai for the whole show, primarily to discuss our new MRT234 topless tower cranes launched in October 2017, and our new luffing jib LR330 just launched on February 20, 2018. The LR330, with a fantastic approach to heavy lifting machinery technology, is our flagship luffing of the new range. We are truly excited to present these products to the MENA region, and we anticipate a flurry of activity around both new models. In terms of specifications: the MRT234 has eight different jib length configurations, from 70 meters to 28 meters, to satisfy all specific jobsite needs. It has a maximum length jib of 70 meters and a maximum capacity of 12,000kg, with four falls configuration. At the maximum radius it can lift 2,250kg in Ultra-lift mode, and it can be equipped with two different hoisting winches: standard installed power of 45kW or 55kW for higher power requirements.
  The LR330 is what we are calling a ‘transformative approach to heavy lifting technology’ because of its innovations in everything from control system to winches to even jib shape. The LR330 has been studied and assessed for the optimal onsite experience during its beta testing phase at our Italian headquarters. With a maximum jib length of 60 meters and a maximum capacity of 18,000kg with two falls and four falls configurations, the LR330 can lift 3,300kg in Ultra-lift mode. It has six different jib length configurations, from 30 meters to 60 meters, to address all needs in terms of specific jobsite configurations. Our early LR330 sales reports have, quite honestly, blown the commercial projections out of the water: Raimondi’s headquarters has reported that sales in the first presell month exceed the expectations of its 12-month selling calendar. This is both motivational and rewarding, and we anticipate that the Middle East client will be very interested in this advanced luffer.
  Participating at the Big 5 Heavy, for Raimondi, is a signal to the Middle East market that we have strong ties to and in the region. We expect to meet many new potential clients, and we look forward to presenting Raimondi’s solution-based design onsite for the duration of the event. We will be welcoming our existing clients at our stand located at Z5 A93; we have invited them all personally to the meet and greet with our Technical Director, Eng. Domenico Ciano and our Commercial Director, Eng. Mauro Masetti.
  “Does Atiku intend to make good things happen in Nigeria or make corruption happen?” Nigerians especially young intellects and professionals seriously question the former Vice President’s ability, capacity and intention to truly make good things happen in the economy.
  “Make good things happen? This was the political slogan of former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar during his 2011 Presidential campaign on the platform of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) when he was endorsed by a section of northern elders as the so-called Northern Consensus candidate. Today Atiku is still vying for the nation’s top job on the platform of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).
  Atiku is yet to adopt an official campaign slogan for next year’s Presidential elections but as Nigerians especially the youth whom Atiku has promised to create jobs for and revamp the nation’s economy troop to Obasanjo’s Presidential Library, Abeokuta on Monday the 27th of October, 2014 the question on their lips and minds should include practical illustrations on how Atiku intends to create these jobs and make good things happen. Atiku has strongly hinged his Presidential campaign on his ability to create jobs due to his proven credentials in the private industry. He prides himself on experience and his sagacity to turn around the economy of Nigeria towards progress and all routes to El Dorado seemingly lead to Atiku, at least according to him.
  Although the former Vice President is busy on the campaign train to secure his party’s endorsement to fly its Presidential flag, a cross section of Nigerians strongly see Atiku as a dirty chip from the old block that has absolutely nothing to offer Nigerians than continue in his hungry quest for power. Speaking recently, Atiku had claimed that President Jonathan lacked the experienced to lead Nigeria and that he rather has the experience and capacity to make Nigeria move forward than Jonathan. The Adamawa State born politician in a recent interview with French news agency, AFP on 19th September 2014 was quoted as blaming the current spate of insurgency and violence in parts of the North East of the country on President Jonathan.
  He said “this insurgency shouldn’t have lasted even six months. Within weeks, we (Obasanjo and I) crushed it because we did not neglect military training and, of course, we did not lack the leadership or capacity to take decisions”. He continued in the interview saying “of course, I’m more experienced than he is. I believe my capacity cannot be compared with his, in all respect” he said. Well if political analysts vested in the workings of the Presidential system of government are correct then it shouldn’t be hard writing off Atiku’s claim as self-serving as the administration he is referring to and also taking credit for the decisions taken or would have been taken as at then was an Obasanjo’s Presidency.
  Even a primary school pupil of basic Social Studies knows perfectly well that a Vice President is a spare tire in a boot that will remain there for the entire lap of the journey unless call upon due to a tire bust. So therefore, how Atiku who has never ruled or managed Nigerian economy for even a single night happens to be more experienced in ruling a country than President Jonathan who has ruled and managed Nigeria for over four years and still counting beats the mind and imaginations of most political scientists and logicians. To further pour cold water on Atiku’s claim is the fact that the administration which he draws his experience from cannot even endorse him to take over the decision making chair. Now who is fooling who?
  Another place which scratches Atiku’s claim to better manage Nigeria’s economy can be found in his autobiography titled “My Life”. Reading through the book, one can easily spot how he intends to make these good things happen in Nigeria through his voodoo business strategies. For all intents and purposes, Atiku labored in vain to explain how he came about his stupendous wealth. Quoting from his book in Chapter 6 which he titled “Making money”, he wrote “I recognized very early in life that I have a good nose for business. In 1974 I applied for and obtained a Federal Staff Housing Loan. The loan, which amounted to 31,000 Naira, was the equivalent of my salary for five years. I was granted a plot of land by the Gongola State Government at Yola Government Reserved Area (GRA). I hired a foreman and began building my first home. With close personal supervision, the bungalow was completed on time and to my taste. I rented it out immediately. The rent I collected in advance on the plot was substantial enough for me to purchase a second plot. I built my second house there and rented it out. I continued to plow back the rent into the building of new houses and within a few years I had built eight houses in choice areas of Yola…”
  A man who’s only visible source of income before coming into political office had been as a Customs officer now claiming he legitimately built an empire worth in excess of billions of naira spanning oil and gas, maritime, agriculture, private university education institution, banking etc. is fit for the Guinness Book of world record and his strategy is unprecedented in history and beats the business acumens minds of Harvard trained business professionals and top business executives, and Nigerian youths should please as a matter of necessity organize a business seminar where Atiku should be invited as the guest speaker so he can pass on his entrepreneurial strategies and experience to young Nigerians.
  But one can bet Atiku with all certainty that his business voodoo miracle to wealth beats all sensible business reasons and is completely dubious. It is even more heart wrenching to hear Atiku repeatedly speak in public fora that someone with experience of managing business like him should be elected not GEJ. I wonder if his dubious business style which most will hurriedly conclude as corruption is what he intends to bequeath on Nigerians and our future generations. Atiku’s sudden route to fame can only point to one direction which is corruption and this is the reason Atiku is still fighting to occupy exalted public offices.
  However hard Atiku tries, he not gonna be elected the president of this beautiful country. He’s guilty as one of the vandals that raped the Fatherland, and when the time is ripe, as we rebuild our country, we shall exact justice, on him and his cohorts. He should be rest assured.
  Oil-pulling is super simple. You just stick around a tablespoon (I use a little less) of coconut oil in your mouth and keep it there for at least 15 minutes, ideally 20-30, swishing it around a bit. When you’re done, spit it out, rinse your mouth, and brush as usual. It not only helps kill candida in the mouth, it also pulls toxins through your mucus membranes (which is why it’s important to spit it out when you’re done). I’ve experienced a near-complete relief of pain from a chipped filling from doing it daily for less than two weeks, so I suspect it has some anti-inflammatory benefits as well.
  This majestic, sharp-eyed hunter is captured in sterling silver set with a glimmering amber medina citrine.
  These running, bounding hares are captured in Stirling Silver, each with a glinting pink tourmaline eye.
  Inspired by my love of the seaside; rock pools and rivulets of water leaving channels in the sand. This award-winning collection has been named for Ariel’s song in The Tempest:
  This shy, beautiful bird, harbinger of halcyon days, is realised in sterling silver with a lovely deep green tsavorite eye.
  Conceptually, Core is a story of family, protection and inclusion - radiating circles protecting the ‘core’.
  As a piece of jewellery, it is about choice; this flexible design encourages bespoke elements. A long forgotten single earring or a ‘bottom of the box’ broken pendant can have a new lease of life as the star of the show.
  The sterling silver rings can be plated in any metal, such as yellow, rose or white gold. Chain, beads ad leather colour can be selected and made to measure.
  As part of my Unfinished Business concept; this ‘charm’ was one of nine hanging from the wrist ‘manacle’.
  Unfinished Business won a Silver award in the 2018 Goldsmiths’ Craft and Design Council Awards, 2D fashion Jewellery section. The brief - ‘Celebrating Women’.
  This piece is inspired by the original pill packet, patented in 1964. Controversial for some, liberator for others – the contraceptive pill has been with us for over 50 years.
  It is realised here as a pendant in sterling silver, brass, gold plating and 28 blue stones - topaz, aquamarine, tourmaline and spinel.
  Huge Savings Item! Free Shipping Included! Save 16% on the PlayStation Platinum Wireless Headset by Sony at The Connectors Book. MPN: 3001566. Hurry! Limited time offer. Offer valid only while supplies last. The Platinum Wireless Headset redefines premium gaming audio by creating an incredibly rich and detailed soundstage for your virtual world,
  Exclusive Audio Modes: Download the companion app from PlayStation® Store to tune your headset with audio modes created by developers to bring out every subtle nuance in their game
  Mysuru Warriors vs Belagavi Panthers is the 10th match of KPL 2017. Mysuru Warriors has won both of its match. Whereas Belagavi Panthers has won only one match out of its two matches. Both the teams has good standing on the point table. The cricket...
  allergens, allergies, Beauty, cosmetic products, Methylisothiazolinone, parabens, Parfum (Fragrance), skin, skincare - July 10, 2018
  It is very rare to find cosmetic products which don’t contain allergens. 2% of the consumers are victims of the allergens in the cosmetic products. The allergens can cause irritations and eczema on the skin. Every consumer should be careful and aware of what he/she uses. You should read the content on the cosmetic products. We have made a small list of allergens found in the cosmetic products: Methylisothiazolinone (MIT) – this substance is forbidden since 12.02.2017 by the DGCCRF. It can still be found in traces in some cosmetic products. The MIT can cause eczema, because it...
  Beautiful pearls for your hair are purely an elegant touch! 16" of 6.5-7mm white cultured freshwater pearls woven together with ribbon tie closure. Perfect for brides with or without a veil. Wonderful accessory for bridesmaids or flower girls.. The ribbon can easily be removed by you and replaced by color of your choice if you wish. Easily pinned in place as an anchor for your veil.
  Need a longer or shorter length? Custom orders available by contacting theculturedpearlofcharleston@gmail.com. 3 week turn around time needed for custom work.
  Each hair pin has a real 9mm white freshwater cultured pearl on top. What a glorious finish for your bridal hair style or that twisted up-do on the run! Would be a beautiful way to anchor a bridal veil securely. Hair stylists love them! Sold in sets of three.
  Over the course of Fashion Week, Cut videographer Stephanie Szerlip was out and about with the Detail Cam, zooming up close on the best things attendees were wearing (clothing aside). We’ve already dedicated special videos to the visual feast of vibrant shoes and translucent handbags — now, we’re covering all the other accessories that dazzled our eyes. Click the video to see everything from sunglasses that were often clear, circular, or reflective (sometimes all three in one!) to chunky floral costume jewelry, structured black hats, leather caps, chain-link cuffs, studded rings, and more. You don’t want to miss the Hilton sisters showing off their fancy frames. (Paris even puts Nicki in the background, naturally.)
  In the strange case of alleged Ponzi schemer Allen Stanford, a new bit player has emerged. It’s an evangelical answer to YouTube, and you’ll never believe the anti-lust videos. By Max Blumenthal
  In the strange case of alleged Ponzi schemer Allen Stanford, a new bit player has emerged. It’s an evangelical answer to YouTube, and you’ll never believe the anti-lust videos.
  The case of alleged Ponzi schemester “Sir” Allen Stanford, the Texas billionaire, has rocked more than 50,000 customers who fear they may fallen victim in what SEC charges is an $8 billion fraud. One of the more interesting bit players to surface is a website called GodTube. GodTube spokeswoman Holly Taylor says her company’s involvement with Stanford has made “zero business and financial impact” on the website’s parent companies, Tangle.com and Big Jump Media, and insisted that one of Godtube’s funders, VCE Capital Partners, purchased only “a nominal amount of shares,” with Stanford's holdings amounting to 0.5 percent of the company’s total shares.
  “Not even fondling in the name of Jesus!” Hines bellowed in his GodTube video. “Not even excessive hugging, lord God!”
  So the Stanford connection may not doom GodTube. But it reflects the extent to which Stanford’s alleged fraud is so widespread that it touched even a modest online startup that is emerging as a social-networking hub for young evangelicals.
  Many of GodTube’s users are like 26-year-old Marlon Hines of Farmington Hills, Michigan. When Hines wanted to take his self-authored “prayer against lust” to the public, he chose to post it on GodTube instead of the better-known online video-sharing giant YouTube. Tens of millions of users may visit YouTube each month, but the more modestly trafficked religious knockoff guaranteed Hines something no other website could: an audience of like-minded conservative Christians eager for jeremiads against sexual immorality.
  “Oh, lust be rebuked,” Hines bellows in his GodTube video. “Homosexuality be rebuked. Lesbianism be rebuked in the name of Jesus. Masturbation be rebuked in the name of Jesus. Not even dry humping, lord God! Not even any masturbation of any kind, lord God! Not even fondling in the name of Jesus! Not even excessive hugging, lord God! Not even molestation in the name of Jesus. I cast all of these to hell in the name of Jesus.”
  Hines’ video prayer might have been ignored on YouTube, particularly because it contained no images, but on GodTube, the video garnered nearly 2,000 hits, a respectable number for a website visited by only 2 million users a month. By comparison, a trailer posted to GodTube of the wildly popular series “ Every Young Man’s Battle” earned 2,500 hits. In that video, self-styled evangelical sex counselor Steve Arterburn appears on the Civil War battlefield of Gettysburg with a message for the young and tempted. “The loss of life on this battlefield many years ago was tragic, but the number of young men who fall prey to sexual promiscuity, pornography, and even sexual addiction is much greater,” Arterburn declares. “As a young man, you face a battle, but it is a battle that you can win.”
  Those who post videos to GodTube can also form individual profiles much like those on popular socia- networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. From there, they can interact with fellow evangelicals, post and comment on photos, and preview music from Christian pop artists featured by Tangle.com’s editorial team. Users can also browse online ministries from around the country, including those that promise “freedom from homosexuality.”
  Though GodTube is only connected to Stanford through a third party, VCE Capital, which had listed one of his companies as a limited partner until removing it from its website on February 18, The Business Insider’s John Carney, who first noted the Stanford connection, wrote “the loss of a limited partner, who may have capital committed but not yet contributed, would likely be a blow to any venture-capital firm in this environment.” But if the extent of GodTube’s investment with Stanford is no greater than the company has already indicated, the holy war against dry humping and excessive hugging will continue unabated.
  Max Blumenthal is a senior writer for The Daily Beast and writing fellow at The Nation Institute, whose book, Republican Gomorrah (Basic/Nation Books), will be out this spring. Contact him at [email protected].
  If it is true that the Russians hacked the Republican National Committee as well as the DNC, then their power over POTUS potentially knows few bounds.
  Former and current U.S. national security officials and experts say that if it is true that the Russian government possesses documents belonging to the Republican National Committee, Donald Trump’s incoming administration may be the most compromised in U.S. history.
  A senior U.S. administration official confirmed to The Daily Beast that the CIA believes the Russians hacked the RNC. He spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
  On Friday, Dec. 9, The New York Times reported that hackers connected to two separate Russian security services allegedly broke into the computer systems of the RNC, but chose not to disclose the digital contents of those systems, in marked contrast to the gradual release, via WikiLeaks, of emails belonging to the Democratic National Committee throughout the spring and summer.
  As a result, the report said U.S. intelligence agencies concluded with “high confidence” that the Kremlin’s motive in these cyberattacks was to get Trump elected, not just do harm to his rival Hillary Clinton or undermine American democracy, as the agencies had previously concluded with only “confidence,” when they announced concerns over Russian interference in October. One senior U.S. official told the Washington Post for its own story on the matter, “It is the assessment of the intelligence community that Russia’s goal here was to favor one candidate over the other, to help Trump get elected.”
  “There’s a real revolt going on,” said a former intelligence officer of the CIA leaks, citing discussions with former colleagues. “They don’t like [National Security Adviser nominee Michael] Flynn and they hate Trump’s guts. This is their whole life’s work being thrown out the door. They feel like the whole intelligence committee is on probation.” The ex-spy spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to discuss the agency’s internal anguish publicly.
  The DNC hacks, it is widely believed, were perpetrated by two independent organs of Russian intelligence. First, COZY BEAR, a hacker working for the FSB, the domestic intelligence arm, broke into the Committee’s servers in mid-2015. Around the same time FANCY BEAR, a hacker affiliated with the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency, also penetrated the servers. To drum up plausible deniability, the haul from these hacks was then sent to WikiLeaks and uploaded by two suspected cut-outs of Moscow, “Guccifer 2.0” and a newish website called DCLeaks.com.
  The White House and Congress were informed by the Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency that the Russian officials responsible for both the RNC and DNC breaches were identified, according to the Times, although their names have not been publicized.
  “[CIA director] John Brennan does believe the Russians are behind it,” said ret. Col. Tony Shaffer, who briefed Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn this past week at Trump Tower. “He did brief the senate on his belief that the Russians were involved, but he did not provide any specific evidence. My understanding is the data provided was only of opinion in nature, not details of specific attacks. The American people are owed an answer, but my understanding is they are never going to get an answer because there’s no basic data to back up the allegation,” said Shaffer, who is a member of the New York-based London Center for Policy Research where Flynn is a fellow.
  House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mike McCaul told Politico during the election he’d informed Trump that Russia was attempting to influence the elections.
  “Now he hasn’t had the briefing I had, but I made it clear that in my judgment it was a nation-state,” McCaul said in October. His office declined to comment on the matter Saturday.
  “The Russians hacked our democratic institutions and sought to interfere in our elections and sow discord,” said House intelligence committee Ranking Member Adam Schiff (D-CA) Saturday, citing the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper’s public statement. "Sadly, in this effort the Russians were spectacularly successful. One would also have to be willfully blind not to see that these Russian actions were uniformly damaging to Secretary Clinton and helpful to Donald Trump. I do not believe this was coincidental or unintended.”
  Schiff would not confirm that the CIA specifically believes Russia was behind the hacking related to the election. The DNI is charged with marshaling the total view of the 16 intelligence agencies his department oversees.
  An official close to Clapper pointed out that he has brought uncomfortable, unwelcome news to the Obama White House before, including the assessment that ISIS was rising— though not delivered as forcefully as then DIA-director Flynn thought it should have been. Clapper also told the White House more recently that the Syrian regime was using chemical weapons on the battlefield, despite a much-heralded deal negotiated by Russia where Syria supposedly gave up all of its chemical weapons stockpile in return for avoided bombing by the U.S. The official spoke anonymously because he was not allowed to discuss the sensitive communications between Clapper and the Obama White House publicly.
  In a joint bipartisan statement issued on Sunday, Dec. 11, U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Senate Democratic Leader-elect, and Jack Reed (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services wrote: “For years, foreign adversaries have directed cyberattacks at America’s physical, economic, and military infrastructure, while stealing our intellectual property. Now our democratic institutions have been targeted. Recent reports of Russian interference in our election should alarm every American."
  Trump’s transition team is having none of these revelations. Having serially denied or downplayed Russia’s involvement in steering the U.S. election, the team issued an unsigned statement casting doubt on the competence of the very intelligence establishment the president-elect will inherit to help him run the country in a month and a half. “These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction,” the statement read. “The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history. It's now time to move on and ‘Make America Great Again.’”
  “We need a new election,” said Bob Baer, a former CIA operative who himself used to interfere in the affairs of foreign governments. “This is a constitutional crisis. It’s unprecedented. If the CIA had hacked and steered a democratic election in a foreign country, say France or Germany, that country would demand a new election. No question,” he said in an interview.
  Baer said that he agrees with Trump in the sense that, once Trump is in charge, the Agency may bend to his wishes—which makes the airing of the evidence the agency has imperative before December 19th when the Electoral College is set to certify Trump’s presidency. “We cant wait until after he becomes president and has a political appointee decide whether the evidence we have on the Russians is legit or not.”
  Tom Nichols, a professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College, told The Daily Beast, representing his personal views and not those of the War College:“The worst possibility is that the Russians are holding back what they've stolen from the RNC because it's valuable enough to keep in reserve until the president-elect is sworn in. This is a frankly terrifying possibility.”
  Nichols has been an outspoken “Never Trump” Republican and written numerous articles explaining why he thinks the president-elect is unfit for office. The Trump transition team's response to the Times bombshell only solidified that view. “Their answer is to ‘move on,’ which might be a sensible thing to say to political opponents who didn't like the outcome of the election, but it is a unimaginable answer in the face of an open Russian attack on the U.S. political system. The Russians have made it clear they have no intention of ‘moving on,’ and no amount of hand-waving will change that.”
  Trump had campaigned beyond a platform of being in favor of improving relations with Russia, and has often taken to praising Putin personally, comparing his leadership style favorably to that of Barack Obama and casting doubt on the Russian government’s well-documented human-rights abuses, including allegations of the Kremlin having ordered the murder of dissidents and muckraking journalists. Trump also denied that Russia had any role in the downing of the MH17 in July 2014 in the skies above east Ukraine, despite independent international investigations saying that a Russian-imported missile was used to shoot down the commercial airliner. He has also said that Crimeans wanted to be annexed by Russia while denying that Russia had invaded Ukraine.
  And then there’s the fact that Trump’s rumored favorite for Secretary of State, Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, once received Russia’s Order of Friendship award from Putin himself.
  A former CIA operative stationed in Moscow during the height of the Cold War said that it was too soon to tell how Langley came to the conclusion that Trump was Putin’s favored candidate. “They’re ascribing motives to the Russians, but I’d like to see the evidence. In committee meetings and review sessions that go over this kind of thing, it’s a circumstantial point to say ‘they did it because of x or y.’ In the absence of an intercept or of extremely reliable sources — more than one — you’re making an inference that one could quibble with.”
  As to what kompromat might do to Trump’s decision-making, the former operative says it may not carry much weight at all.
  “You’re making an assumption that Trump will respond to kompromat and not to something else, such as his business interests in Russia. He clearly has a blind spot on the country. You can be manipulated by the Chekists in many ways,” the source said, using the catch-all term for Russia spies, “not just through blackmail. We also don’t know what is in the RNC emails.”
  The DNC hacks led to the resignation of then-chairperson Debbie Wasserman Schultz but it is entirely unclear if they really were the decisive factor that swayed the election in Trump’s favor. Other analysts have pointed to Clinton’s exceedingly poor outreach to white working-class voters in battleground states such as Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania, all of which Trump won by narrow margins. Others have also argued that FBI Director James Comey’s eleventh-hour letter notifying Congress that the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email server was still active did more to damage the Democratic nominee’s chances just before voters went to the polls, than did anything contained in the DNC emails, or in campaign chairman John Podesta’s personal correspondence.
  Andrei Soldatov, co-author of Red Web, a book about Russia’s cybersecurity and use of the Internet to silence dissent, thinks that the likelier target of Moscow is not Trump but rather his now powerful party. “I doubt there can be any kompromat on Trump which can hurt him,” Soldatov said. “But the Republican Party is a different story.”
  For Soldatov, the threatened publication of documents confirming rumors or alleged ties between Trump’s cabinet picks and the Russian government could be a useful tool to keep the administration in check. “Remember the story about a former Defense Intelligence Agency chief giving interviews to [Russian state propaganda channel] RT and being paid for that?” Soldatov said, referring to Flynn, who is now Trump’s national security advisor. “It would be bad enough simply to produce documentary evidence confirming things we already knew.”
  Oleg Kalugin was a KGB general in charge of operations in the United States; he also ran the First Chief Directorate’s K Branch, or arm of counterintelligence, which got up to the very sort of dirty tricks, or “active measures,” that state hacking of a political party amounts to. “In the old days, in my time, we relied on human efforts: penetration, handling, manipulating people from the inside,” Kalugin told The Daily Beast, noting that he wasn’t personally convinced the DNC and RNC hacks were done by the Russian government and not by “individual actors.”
  Nevertheless, Kalugin allowed that if the FSB and GRU were responsible and Putin was now sitting on crucial information about various GOP officials, it would be reckless and dangerous to try and blackmail the White House directly. High-level officials, such as cabinet secretaries, have rarely been cultivated as spies or informants of Moscow, owing to what Kalugin characterizes as “potential repercussions.”
  Middle and lower-cadre officials in the State Department or military-industrial complex are deemed easier and better marks for the spooks.
  In this hypothetical, a heretofore semi-anonymous RNC staffer who may have written something professionally or personally damaging to himself is likelier to find himself approached by a Russian operative and offered a chance to switch sides than a member of the National Security Council.
  Brussels sprouts have a bad reputation among the little ones as being a vegetable that tastes bad, but if cooked correctly they are quite delicious. You can use them in a salad, turn them into a roasted side dish with honey and Dijon, and you can even make Brussels sprouts with an Asian twist. Brussels sprouts are the perfect vegetable to make during the colder months — they make the perfect winter side dish. Brussels sprouts are in season from September to mid-February so if you’ve been on the fence about trying a recipe now is your chance. That’s why we made Brussels sprouts the theme of this week’s SWAT (Sharing With A Theme).
  This is a simple salad recipe that is packed with flavor. Kit Graham, blogger of The Kittchen, made a simple shaved Brussels sprout salad with cranberries, walnuts, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and a mustard dressing. What made this recipe irresistible? Bacon.
  Kaitlin of I Can Cook That blog combined two grains — farro and Arborio rice — to create a hearty risotto and Brussels sprout dish.
  If you want a simple Brussels sprout recipe, then look no further. Christine Ma of Cherry On My Sundae blog simply roasted the Brussel sprouts and added a glaze on top. This recipe is full of flavor, but still very easy to make, which is the reason why Christine Ma is the winner of this week’s SWAT.
  With the right dressing and toppings, Brussels sprouts are a great side to your main attraction. This recipe roasts the sprout and dresses it in a honey mustard dressing. It gets garnished with walnuts for crunch and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
  It's great when we can have a sense of humor about weird situations - and this bird definitely does. A curious bird got a little lost while trying to fully explore an exciting box, but that certainly didn't stop him from having a good time.
  This bird absolutely has the right outlook on life. It seems like the joke's on us, because this guy and other talking birds seem to know something we don't about great life is.
  Now if only we could see what was so funny. Maybe this bird found the next door to Narnia and he's laughing with all his newfound power? I guess we'll never truly know.
  A refined Chesterfield design with turned caster legs and button tufts in a warm coral shade embodies the history of this coastal town.
  The Sorrento chair from Jessica Jacobs puts a modern twist on tradition with its button-tufted Chesterfield design in vibrant coral upholstery. Its solid hardwood frame features turned front legs with elegant casters, while the tapered rear legs offer stability and support. Durable 8-way hand-tied coils and a feather down wrapped cushion combine to provide a luxurious seat.