While some book bans have led to higher sales, as seen with “Maus” and “The Hate U Give,” some authors say the bans tank sales and devastate their careers, especially when they belong to marginalized communities.
Source: Book bans are surging — and taking an emotional toll on many authors | CNN
Everybody feels like they could use a faster internet connection, and now engineers in Japan have shattered the record for data transmission. The team managed to transmit more than 20 times the global internet traffic per second through a single optical fiber.
Source: Record-breaking fiber transmits 20x global internet traffic per second
Harper, Mike Roman, Sheer, O’Toole and Poilievre have one major thing in common: they are all members of the International Democratic Union (IDU). This organization is an international alliance of far-right political parties that works to destroy democracy around the world. It was founded in 1983 by a group of conservative leaders from Europe and North America who wanted to create a global forum for exchanging ideas on how best to protect right wing values.
The IDU has grown significantly since its founding and now includes over 80 member parties from across five continents. Its membership consists mainly of right-of-centre governments as well as some opposition parties that share similar beliefs about economic freedom, individual responsibility and limited government intervention in people’s lives. Harper served as President of the IDU between 2009–2010 while Mike Roman was Secretary General during 2012–2015; Andrew Scheer held this position until 2019 when he stepped down to run for Prime Minister; Erin O’Toole is currently Secretary General while Pierre Poilievre serves on its Executive Committee representing Canada at this time.
The mission statement outlined by the IDU states “to strengthen our democracies through free markets open competition within societies based upon respect for human rights.” In practice this means promoting policies such as reducing taxes so individuals can keep more money earned through their hard work; encouraging entrepreneurship so businesses can thrive without excessive regulations or barriers imposed by governments; advocating against corruption which undermines trust in public institutions among citizens etcetera . By working together with like minded political groups across borders these five Canadian politicians hope achieve positive change both domestically here at home but also abroad via their involvement with International Democratic Union.
The International Democratic Union (IDU) is an international political organization that brings together far-right and conservative parties from around the world. It was founded in 1983 by prominent members of the British Conservative Party, including Margaret Thatcher, as well as other influential figures such as Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and U.S. President Ronald Reagan. In Canada today, several prominent politicians are affiliated with IDU: Andrew Scheer, Mike Roman, Pierre Poilievre and Erin O’Toole all belong to this group alongside Charles Koch of Koch Industries – a major American industrialist who has become one of the most powerful players in global politics due to his immense wealth and influence over both sides of the aisle in America’s two-party system. Koch funded Trump and the Republicans in excess of a billion dollars out to destroy democracy as Trump racks up indictments with over whelming evidence. Last week, along with former President of the United States, Donald Trump, a Republican operative and now former (apparently) assistant chairman to Stephen Harper’s International Democratic Union, Mike Roman, was indicted in Georgia along with other co-conspirators.
These five individuals have much more than their membership with IDU in common; they share similar views on economic policy which emphasize free markets rather than government intervention or regulation when it comes to business decisions or operations within a market economy structure – something that resonates strongly with Charles Koch’s libertarian beliefs about minimal government involvement within society at large . All five also believe strongly that governments should provide citizens with adequate social services while still maintaining fiscal responsibility through balanced budgets without running up huge deficits for future generations to pay off – another point where they align closely on economic principles .
Finally , these men also support strong national defense policies which prioritize protecting their respective countries against external threats but do not involve getting involved militarily overseas unless absolutely necessary – again mirroring Mr .Koch’s stance on foreign policy matters . All five are committed supporters of limited government interference overall while advocating for increased personal freedom among citizens living under democratic rule , making them natural allies within IDU’s ranks despite coming from different backgrounds politically speaking
| The Man Behind Napa’s Buzziest New Cabernet Sauvignon |
| When we recently went in pursuit of the next great Napa Valley cult wines, the experts, producers, and retailers we spoke to distilled the magic behind the labels we’ll soon be coveting: vineyard sourcing and winemaking talent. And while we often expect the latest sensation to arrive in the form of a young upstart taking center stage, that’s not the case here. With 45 years of making wine under his belt, Paul Hobbs has just dropped what he calls his “pinnacle” bottling, Hobbs 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley, the first cult wine he has created with his own name on the bottle. Hobbs’s Napa Valley bona fides run deep; after just a year working at Robert Mondavi, Hobbs was tapped to join the inaugural team at Opus One thanks to his expertise in oak aging. Founded by Mondavi and Baron Philippe de Rothschild in 1978, Opus One remains a reference point for cult Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon to this day. Hobbs remained at Opus until 1984 and in the interim has had a hand in legendary Napa releases from the likes of Larkmead, Diamond Mountain Vineyard, Peter Michael Winery, Merus, Gemstone, and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, earning numerous accolades and at least 10 100-point scores along the way. Speaking with Hobbs via Zoom while tasting his 2015, we noted that he is the rare American winemaking consultant toiling alongside the likes of French greats such as Michel Rolland, Philippe Melka, and Stéphane Derenoncourt, who all have a deep footprint in Napa. A native of Buffalo, New York, Hobbs is a third-generation farmer, although he’s the first in his family whose main crop is grapes. He earned a B.S. in chemistry from Notre Dame in 1975 and an M.S. in viticulture and enology from the University of California, Davis, in 1978. He began an internship at Robert Mondavi while still attending UC Davis, where his research included the comparison of French and American oak under the tutelage of Professor Vernon Singleton, whose exploration of the science of oxidation led to some of the greatest improvements of winemaking practices of the 20th century. |
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| In addition to his eponymous brand, Hobbs is also the owner and vintner at seven other wineries around the world: Paul Hobbs Winery and Crossbarn in California; Hillock & Hobbs in New York’s Finger Lakes; Crocus in Cahors, France; Armenia’s Yacoubian-Hobbs; Alvaredos-Hobbs in Galicia, Spain; and Viña Cobos, which Hobbs cofounded in 1999, in Mendoza, Argentina. It is not hyperbole to say that Hobbs’s involvement in many of these regions has brought renewed interest in them from the press and consumers. Although Armenia is one of the oldest winemaking regions in the world, it’s hard to have a conversation about the current industry there without someone mentioning Hobbs’s name. In addition to personal provenance, Hobbs is also an expert in vineyard sites and grape procurement, having worked for 45 years in Napa Valley. Despite our numerous attempts to uncover the exact vineyard sources for Hobbs, he would only admit to one of the components, stating that the Nathan Coombs vineyard in Coombsville, which he has owned since 2012, is “a core player in the blend.” Named for the founder of the city of Napa, the vineyard is in an AVA that’s been planted with grapes for over 175 years but only received official recognition in 2011. Hobbs told Robb Report he has been familiar with Coombsville since his days at Robert Mondavi in the late 1970s. Other than his own estate vineyards, Hobbs simply reveals that his grapes are from “scattered” sites throughout Napa Valley, with parcels in Oakville, St. Helena, and elsewhere. “They may not always appear in a given vintage for the Hobbs bottling, so it will vary from vintage to vintage,” he says. “Without giving away too much, a significant part of this is volcanic soils and there are also some alluvial soils.” All the vineyards are located either directly on the valley floor or on low-lying foothills. “There is no quintessential mountain fruit like Howell Mountain or Diamond Mountain,” Hobbs says. He also won’t drop hints as to who else buys from these vineyards, teasing, “They are all named, pedigreed vineyards. The wine has pedigree; it comes from known sites that have performed at the highest level for many, many decades.” Made with mostly Cabernet Sauvignon and a very small percentage of Cabernet Franc, Hobbs 2015 finished its fermentation in 225-liter French oak barrels, where it then aged for about 18 months, and was not filtered before bottling. Hobbs is fastidious about his oak regime and points out, “Oak is the second most important ingredient after grapes.” He sources barrels from slow-growing trees; once built, the barrels receive a “long, slow, deep and penetrating toast,” which he states adds stability to the finished wine, eliminating the need for filtration. |
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| “The finish is the fermentation in barrel, not in the tank, which is one of the reasons I don’t break all the berries,” he says. “When we press it, some of those unbroken berries release sugar into the wine and there’s a little bit of sugar there for it to ferment in barrel. There’s sugar in new oak. And I want the yeast to consume those as well. That’s one of the reasons I put it down sweet. It’s not very sweet but it’s just enough to have the yeast consume all the sugars rather than have a cold ferment; then you have problems and have to filter.” While he is also reticent to pinpoint an exact ideal drinking window for his bottle, Hobbs says it will drink well for at least 30 years, lamenting that it will “long outlive its cork.” He refers to the idea of the 2015 giving different “snapshots” depending on when it is opened and consumed. “You get the opportunity to experience more rides with a wine like this,” he says. “A well-put-together individual is interesting in their youth as well as in their young adulthood all the way through to the very end of their life cycle, so I think this wine will offer something great for the next 30 years.” Asked point blank what makes the 2,196 bottles of Hobbs 2015 worth $800, Hobbs says, “To be direct about it, I think the experience, the history, and my experience with Napa Valley. This is the culmination of all those. It feels a little arrogant to say these things, but it’s really 40 or 45 years of experience working in Napa Valley with some of the best properties and this is a wine at the pinnacle of my career.” We can’t help but agree. |
This was an exciting year for cookbooks. New releases focused on a diverse variety of cuisines and included the debuts of several exciting authors. Interconnectedness was a key theme, with many books drawing from global influences or emphasizing the fusion of international traditions and groups of people. Gastro Obscura spoke with many authors about how their culture and personal experiences have shaped their goals for developing and sharing recipes. We also explored historical cookbooks and the role they played in creating the food we know and love today. From the old to the new, here are our favorite cookbook stories of 2023.
The US Navy and US Air Force have tapped Raytheon to design, build and test two high-power microwave antenna systems. These will be used in field-grade directed energy weapons to counter aerial drones and similar threats.
Source: Raytheon to build microwave weapon antennas for US Air Force and Navy
The Amazon is the largest tropical rainforest in the world. Spanning eight countries, it has been called the “lungs of the planet” for its vital service of converting enormous amounts of carbon dioxide into oxygen.Now, Brazilian lawmakers have approved a bill to allow conservation funds to be used to pave a highway — BR-319 — that cuts through the middle of the Amazon; researchers say the road could threaten the rainforest’s existence, reported Reuters.The bill would allow use of the funds for the “recovery, paving and increasing the capacity of the highway,” according to Reuters.This means capital such as the Amazon Fund’s $1.3 billion — supported by European and United States allies to be used for conservation — could go toward the project.“I don’t think it makes any sense. This project does not fit into any of the fund’s planned support lines,” Tasso Azevedo, one of the creators of the Amazon Fund, told Climate Home News in September.BR-319 was built in the early 1970s by the country’s then-military dictatorship, but quickly deteriorated, and by 1988 had become impassable.Preventing more access is one of the biggest defenses the Amazon has against deforestation. A new road opening up in the undisturbed rainforest provides a way in for loggers, farmers, miners and developers, who often conduct their activities illegally.Since 1978, the Amazon has lost more than 185 million acres to deforestation, and the rate of destruction is accelerating, according to the Amazon Conservation website.Nearly all Amazon deforestation — 95 percent — happens within 3.4 miles of a roadway, Leanderson Lima of Amazônia Real and Micael Pereira of Expresso reported in The Guardian in June.“Deforestation follows a fairly predictable pattern,” NASA Earth Observatory said, referring to satellite images on its website. “The first clearings that appear in the forest are in a fishbone pattern, arrayed along the edges of roads. Over time, the fishbones collapse into a mixture of forest remnants, cleared areas, and settlements. This pattern follows one of the most common deforestation trajectories in the Amazon. Legal and illegal roads penetrate a remote part of the forest, and small farmers migrate to the area. They claim land along the road and clear some of it for crops. Within a few years, heavy rains and erosion deplete the soil, and crop yields fall. Farmers then convert the degraded land to cattle pasture, and clear more forest for crops. Eventually the small land holders, having cleared much of their land, sell it or abandon it to large cattle holders, who consolidate the plots into large areas of pasture.”
Source: Brazil’s Congress Passes Bill to Pave Highway Through Heart of Amazon Rainforest – EcoWatch
The Alberta and Saskatchewan governments are isolating their provinces and their populations from a shift off fossil fuels that was already under way before this year’s UN climate negotiations, and will be accelerated by the final COP28 declaration, says Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.
Source: Alberta, Sask. Governments Isolate Themselves as Off-Fossil Transition Begins: Guilbeault
“It’s unlikely to think this kind of pause and decision will have no impact on investment,” said Sara Hastings-Simon of the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy. “It’s hard to know how large (the impact) is—but we’re in a competitive market to attract capital.”As recently as last summer, the sun shone bright and the breezes were favourable for Alberta renewables. The Business Renewable Centre, a group that links buyers and producers of renewable energy, said Alberta was on track to see $3.7 billion worth of construction by the end of this year, creating more than 4,500 jobs.Then, in August, Alberta’s United Conservative government announced a moratorium on approvals for all wind, solar, and geothermal projects greater than one megawatt. The announcement was made suddenly, without consultation.Government officials initially said the pause was made at the request of rural municipalities and the Alberta Utilities Commission. When it turned out no such requests had been made, the move was justified by concerns over reclamation, destruction of farmland, and despoiling of what the government called “pristine viewscapes.”Premier Danielle Smith has since expressed public doubts over renewables, calling them a “fantasy” and suggesting they are unreliable and expensive. She mused about creating a Crown corporation specifically to fund natural gas-fired power generation.“They’ve been pretty clear in their public messaging,” said Tim Weis, a professor in the University of Alberta’s engineering faculty. “There seems to be a lot of direct attacks on renewables.”All of which has eroded trust, said Claude Mindorff of PACE Canada, a company behind several solar projects in Alberta, including a stalled 14-megawatt installation outside of the village of Caroline.“I feels like there’s underlying agendas on the part of the government,” he said.Weis said the pause’s end date of February 24 doesn’t necessarily signal a return to normal.The Alberta Utilities Commission has another month after that to complete an inquiry into the industry. Then the government has to digest and implement recommendations.“If (it has) announced that we need another two or three years to figure out the rules, that’s going to add to the uncertainty,” Weis said.Meanwhile, other jurisdictions are making moves. Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia are opening their doors to more renewable power—not to mention the vast U.S. appetite for investment capital.The favourable economics of renewable power in Alberta could also be eroded by increased costs, whether from new regulatory requirements that force companies to front-load clean-up costs or competition for labour and materials as the backlog of projects breaks.“That may move (power purchase agreements for renewables) out of an economic range,” said Jorden Dye of the Business Renewables Centre.Hastings-Simon said installing enough solar power for Alberta to have a net-zero grid would consume about 0.1 per cent of its arable land.“We certainly need to be thoughtful about local land use impacts,” she said. “But as far as the concern around competition for land, the scale of land available suggests that’s not a serious concern.”The Alberta Utilities Commission requested a report on agricultural effects. It found farming can continue around renewable energy sites, from pasturing animals to growing crops.The commission also asked for a report into how giant windmills might affect the province’s much-loved landscapes.That report looked at 20 different studies of how wind farms affected real estate values. Eight showed no effect, six showed a negative effect. while the rest showed mixed results.The very idea of “viewscapes” rules makes investors nervous, said Dye.“It’s too nebulous to be a regulatory concept.”As for decommissioning and remediating costs, developers say those requirements already inform their budgets. Mindorff said a pause wasn’t needed to firm up rules around something companies were already doing.He said placing roadblocks in front of an industry that hasn’t caused any problems is “unbelievable gall.”“Without dealing with the decommissioning of oil and gas sites, how can you with a straight face say the renewable energy industry should deal with decommission?”Another report for the utilities commission concluded that solar and wind facilities have significant, although variable, salvage value. Nor does renewable power create the chemical contamination concerns of oil and gas sites.The pause will come off sooner or later and new rules will be laid down. Alberta’s abundant sun and wind as well as its open-entry electricity market are powerful motivators for companies to build there.Josh Aldrich, spokesperson for Alberta’s Ministry of Affordability and Utilities, told CP the proof is in the number of companies that want to build in the province. The number of projects in the Alberta Utilities Commission approvals queue has grown by almost 50%.“This is a strong indication tha
Source: Crucial ‘Stumble’ on Renewables Moratorium Could Cost Alberta ‘Forever’
America One responds to US Sailing lawsuit
This statement comes from the AmericaOne Foundation following recent legal action by US Sailing against the organization:
As the largest private financial supporter of US Sailing Association (USSA) and the US Olympic Sailing effort for more than a decade, this has been a disheartening and disappointing week for us at the AmericaOne Foundation. Now, in the final run-up to this year’s Olympics, we have been laser-focused on providing support for our American sailors. US Sailing should be doing the same.
Unfortunately, instead of putting their efforts into what matters most – our Olympic athletes – US Sailing is pursuing a meritless lawsuit against AmericaOne. Despite the unprecedented levels (over $6M) of assistance AmericaOne has provided to USSA and our sailor athletes over the past 15 years, USSA is actively defaming our reputation.
The accusations being levied against Bill Ruh, Paul Cayard, Jose Spina, and AmericaOne by the US Sailing Board of Directors are unfathomable. But what is even more egregious is that they would take this action immediately after the U.S. Olympic trials – a time when we should be celebrating our athletes who have trained so hard for the past four years and supporting them as they get ready for the biggest race of their lives.
Now is when our sport’s national governing body should be doubling down to help our sailors, but instead, USSA is trying to attribute blame for their shortfalls to AmericaOne. Instead of ramping up focus on fundraising and athlete support, they are working to divide our community by publicly attacking their largest supporter.
Here are some facts:
Prior to the arrival of Bill and Paul, US Sailing had no significant donors and a multi-million dollar hole in its Olympic budget. Upon starting his employment, Paul was asked to defer half his salary, which he accepted.
In 2021-2022, Bill and Paul – through their own personal contacts – secured $18 million in commitments for our U.S. Olympic effort. Every donor committed because they could see a clear plan to support sailor athletes, a plan focused on returning the U.S. to the Olympic podium, credible leadership, and responsible oversight of the funds. – Full report
