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Ball Aerospace Showcases Phased Array Antennas, Optical Communications and Remote Sensing Capabilities for Commercial and Government Applications at SATELLITE 2018
WASHINGTON, March 9, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Ball Aerospace is demonstrating how its decades of work for the U.S. government in civil, defense and intelligence applications is being applied to benefit commercial markets at this year's SATELLITE 2018 conference. As evidenced by cross-industry collaborations with various partners, Ball's expertise in space-based and tactical remote sensing systems including phased-array antenna systems, optical communications, persistent imaging and data analytics are transforming the commercial marketplace in terms of accessibility and affordability.
Ball is shaping transformational communications with its line of low-cost phased-array antennas for both satellite communications (SATCOM) and 5G connectivity. Ball's phased array SATCOM antennas enable reliable connectivity in the L-, X-, Ku- and Ka-band spectrums, including in-flight connectivity, delivering broadband high data-rate communication and video streaming. In addition, Ball's new 5G Rapid Prototype Phased Array with Anokiwave, Inc. will help enable the future of 5G connectivity.
Ball is also delivering reliable, high-speed, high-bandwidth connectivity – between satellites and to and from space – using its innovative, high-bandwidth inter-satellite links and Earth-to-space links. Ball's optical communications systems meet customers' need for data at the speed of light and connect the world faster and more securely.
Ball's expertise in remote sensing is translating to new commercial markets, from low-cost sensors and spacecraft to open-source software and data analytics, to persistent, high-resolution data from a variety of platforms. Ball is meeting customer demand for near real-time actionable intelligence with its deep understanding of sensors, platforms, missions and analytics.
Ball's phased-array antennas, optical communications technology, sensors and data analytics capabilities will be on display at Booth #1817 in the Exhibit Hall at SATELLITE 2018. Ball Aerospace leaders will also share their knowledge in the following series of high-level panel discussions:
Monday, March 12:
"SGx Keynote Series & Speed Mentoring." Hosted by the Future Space Leaders Foundation and the Space Generation Advisory Council, this program connects young professionals and industry veterans in the satellite community. Ball Aerospace's director of government relations, Joe Vealencis, will speak during the event. Several Ball representatives will also be participating in the speed mentoring sessions. Room 207A throughout the day.
"The New Economics and Costs of Building Constellations." The panel discussion will feature Debra D. Facktor, Ball Aerospace vice president and general manager, strategic operations, along with other industry experts. Room 206 at 9:45 a.m.
Tuesday, March 13:
"Startup Space." Startup Space gives entrepreneurs a chance to pitch their space startup idea to a panel of highly qualified, experienced and accomplished space professionals, investors, thought leaders and fellow entrepreneurs. Ball Aerospace's Facktor will give welcoming remarks. Dave Fischer, strategic operations senior manager, will serve as a judge and Jeff Smith, volunteering for the Space Frontier Foundation, helped organize Startup Space. SATELLITE Unveiled Theater, Booth 1152, Exhibit Hall, from 10:45 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Wednesday, March 14:
"New Antennas, New Opportunities." The panel will feature Pete Moosbrugger, Ball Aerospace chief technologist, phased array and RF technology, as well as other leaders in the aerospace industry. Room 201 at 1:45 p.m.
Thursday, March 15:
"Advances in Earth Imagery and Data Capturing Technology." The discussion will feature Alex Chernushin, Ball Aerospace director of commercial operations, and other panelists from the aerospace industry. Room 201 at 10:00 a.m.
This release contains "forward-looking" statements concerning future events and financial performance. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "believes," "targets," "likely" and similar expressions typically identify forward-looking statements, which are generally any statements other than statements of historical fact. Such statements are based on current expectations or views of the future and are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied. You should therefore not place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements and any of such statements should be read in conjunction with, and, qualified in their entirety by, the cautionary statements referenced below. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Key factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to be different are summarized in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Exhibit 99 in our Form 10-K, which are available on our website and at www.sec.gov. Additional factors that might affect: a) our packaging segments include product demand fluctuations; availability/cost of raw materials; competitive packaging, pricing and substitution; changes in climate and weather; competitive activity; failure to achieve synergies, productivity improvements or cost reductions; mandatory deposit or other restrictive packaging laws; customer and supplier consolidation, power and supply chain influence; changes in major customer or supplier contracts or a loss of a major customer or supplier; political instability and sanctions; currency controls; changes in foreign exchange or tax rates, including due to the effects of the 2017 U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act; and tariffs on imported raw materials, including pursuant to section 232 of the U.S. Trade Expansion Act of 1962; b) our aerospace segment include funding, authorization, availability and returns of government and commercial contracts; and delays, extensions and technical uncertainties affecting segment contracts; c) the company as a whole include those listed plus: changes in senior management; regulatory action or issues including tax, environmental, health and workplace safety, including U.S. FDA and other actions or public concerns affecting products filled in our containers, or chemicals or substances used in raw materials or in the manufacturing process; technological developments and innovations; litigation; strikes; labor cost changes; rates of return on assets of the company's defined benefit retirement plans; pension changes; uncertainties surrounding geopolitical events and governmental policies both in the U.S. and in other countries, including the U.S. government elections, budget, sequestration and debt limit; reduced cash flow; ability to achieve cost-out initiatives and synergies; interest rates affecting our debt; and successful or unsuccessful acquisitions and divestitures, including with respect to the Rexam PLC acquisition and its integration, or the associated divestiture; the effect of the acquisition or the divestiture on our business relationships, operating results and business generally.


...solitary evening walks are healing, a cleansing of the soul, drawing a line between the workaday world and the night time, the land of stories, relaxation and sleep."
This year, I entered a new age bracket in both life and road racing, shifting my fitness goals to enhance my future health and simply revel in placing one bunion-clad foot in front of the other on the road, up a mountain, or in the woods. If all goes well in the next 30 years, maybe I'll be the one to provide inspiration to that tired mother on the race course who just wants to keep moving."
"I move to stay strong for my grandsons!"
"Because I love being in nature and the mountains."
"Movement is my way of getting energy to challenge myself in all aspects of life. I can´t imagine a life without some kind of movement, both physical and mental!"
"So I can move with my boys and keep up!"
- Bobby and Melissa M.


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Home > News > France: Marcellin often went there on pilgrimage to entrust his projects to Mary…
THE INAUGURATION OF THE RENOVATED CHAPEL OF LEYTRA
Marcellin often went there on pilgrimage to entrust his projects to Mary…
02/07/2004: France
Pilgrims from N.-D. de l'Hermitage love to go also to the chapel at Leytra (N.-D. de Pitié), so special to Father Champagnat. Indeed, Marcellin went there often on pilgrimage to entrust his projects to Mary…
But as this site progressively deteriorated, a process of restoration proved to be necessary… This has been accomplished!
On Saturday June 5th, at 10 o'clock, the inauguration of the renovated chapel of Leytra took place. Here is an extract of the speech given by Brother Auguste Gras on this occasion:
"This place has a history linked to the life of the men and women of our village. A long history, since the first mention of this chapel can be noted in 1482… The plague was common at this time. Those who suffered from this disease were excluded from the village and lived in huts in this area. Was this chapel built as a place of worship for the plague-stricken? It is noted that towards 1630 people used to come here to Leytra to pray to Mary under the title of Our Lady of Pity.
Today, the plague or cholera have practically disappeared. But does that mean that such a place would therefore become only a quaint historic monument? And if this place could preserve its tradition as a haven of peace where one can come to confide themselves to Mary …"

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Q: Missing 'edit' link - show 'edit pending' instead of removing 'edit' link for rep<2000
Possible Duplicate:
404 page if submitting an edit suggestion to a post that already has one

I just got really confused.  I edited an answer, and after trying to save I got sent to a 'page does not exist' page.
Going back to the answer, the 'edit' link is gone (for me).  Searching meta, it would appear that the reason for this is that there is a pending edit from another user and as I'm not yet 2000 rep so don't have any way to see pending edits.  Is this correct?
If correct, wouldn't it be better if there was a landing page explaining that there's a pending edit?
Also wouldn't it be better to show a non-linked 'edit pending' text (see below image) instead of having no link at all?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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/**
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class ConfigContextFactory {

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  protected $eventDispatcher;

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}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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Category Archives: People
Brookline people and their stories
All that glitters: how Chump exploited people
For some people, the first public appearance of Chump–currently the President–was hustling applicants seeking to rent his dad's apartments in Brooklyn and Queens. It was also his first close encounter with federal government. In 1973, the U.S. Department of Justice charged him and the family company with civil-rights violations for refusing to rent to African-Americans–contrary to the Fair Housing Act, part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. [Public Law 90-284] That helped spark a lasting reputation as a commercial sleazebag.
There is strong synergy between Chump, as commercial sleazebag, and the late Sen. McCarthy of Wisconsin (1908-1957), as self-annointed prosecutor of leftists. The late lawyer Roy Cohn (1927-1986) was attack-dog for McCarthy during the viral phase of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, not long after which McCarthy died of alcohol abuse. Before dying of AIDS and liver cancer, Cohn was attack-dog for Chump, trying in the 1970s to countersue the government as a dodge around Fair Housing charges.
Cohn failed. The countersuit was dismissed, and Chump was forced into a consent agreement. It was a taste of what became usual Chump behavior: try to blame the victims, and call them insulting names. A reporter told it this way: "As [his] Hyatt [hotel] rose, so too did the hidden hand of his attorney Roy Cohn, always there to help with the shady tax abatements, the zoning variances, the sweetheart deals and the threats to those who might stand in the project's way."
Exploiting the rich: The Chump reputation from the early 1970s stuck through years of turning his dad's real-estate fortune into glitzy Atlantic City casinos and resorts. Those businesses all failed under his clumsy and greedy management. As reported in the New York Times, he cheated hundreds of people and ran down his properties, while contriving to enrich himself. Quoted by the Times: "[the family] name does not connote high-quality amenities and first-class service."
While his gambling businesses in Atlantic City were cratering during the 1990s, Chump stiffed investors, contractors and suppliers, and he turned to almost any source of ready cash. He shortchanged his family as well, borrowing "at least $413 million in today's money…and never fully repaid his loans." He drove his "businesses into bankruptcy by his mismanagement…[and] pillaging."
Exploiting the poor: A problem gambler down on his luck at exploiting the rich turned to exploiting the poor. The main angle was a string of "get rich" games, feeding off notions that the chief card-shark was immensely rich–because of secret knowledge that he could impart, for a fee. Among the better-known games, "Chump University" and later "Chump Institute" were the glitzy upper-crust.
According to a New York Times report, the "secret knowledge" imparted at Chump Institute was actually handicraft of a lawyer and legal writer from Briarcliff Manor, NY. "She said she never spoke" to Chump but "drew on her own knowledge…and a speed-reading" of Chump's ghost-written books. According to another report, Chump University charged students $1,495 or more a course and delivered "nothing" in return: "No certification. No keys to success. Just debt."
Bottom-feeding Chump games are described in the recent complaint beginning a federal class-action lawsuit. Chump, three of his offspring and his ongoing business are charged with exploiting poor and middle-income people by vague promises aimed at suckering them into streams of fairly small payments–around $20 to $500–in hopes of future income. Chump and alleged conspirators are charged with federal RICO violations, under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization provisions of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970. [Public Law 91–452]
Chump suckered the public by pretending to be a self-made billionaire in a television series called The Apprentice, later The Celebrity Apprentice. According to the class-action complaint, "producers candidly acknowledged that their portrayal…was pure fiction." [Class action complaint, page 23 of 164] Chump "has a long and storied history of wildly exaggerating his net worth." [page 26 of 164] Chump's "apparent wealth was largely an illusion." [page 64 of 164]
Buyer beware: The main Chump games were recruiting lower-income people into becoming product resellers, particularly for a little-known outfit called American Communications Network (ACN). [Class action complaint, page 9 of 164]. On The Celebrity Apprentice, Chump displayed and touted ACN products. Offscreen, according to the complaint, he made "false and misleading statements indicating [he] was endorsing the company because he believed the ACN business opportunity offered a reasonable probability of commercial success." [page 10 of 164]
Chump with business agents and conspirators, 2011
Source: Class-action complaint, Jane Doe v. Trump Corp.
Hidden from viewers and recruitment targets was many millions of dollars paid by ACN to Chump and alleged conspirators, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. According to a gushing story in the Boston Globe, Chump also licensed his "brand" to a Massachusetts promoter of "diet plans, energy aids and skin care" products–using a similar game of recruiting lower-income resellers.
The class-action complaint in Jane Doe v. Trump Corp. asserts that the four individual complainants in the lawsuit who were suckered into becoming product resellers each lost hundreds to thousands of dollars to deceptive Chump games. Their occupations suggest this would not be money they could afford to lose.
"Jane Doe" — hospice caregiver
"Luke Loe" — mechanic and handyman
"Richard Roe" — fast-food sales clerk
"Mary Moe" — retail sales clerk
If the class action and the use of RICO sanctions are upheld in U.S. District Court, many other victims of Chump games stand to be identified, and punitive damages plus legal costs can be assessed. Chump and alleged conspirators might become exposed to criminal RICO sanctions, including fines and prison terms of up to 20 years.
– Craig Bolon, Brookline, MA, October 30, 2018
Maggie Haberman and Benjamin Weiser, Trump persuaded struggling people to invest in scams, lawsuit alleges, New York Times, October 29, 2018
Jonathan O'Connell, Trump defrauded investors in marketing scheme, lawsuit says, Washington Post, October 29, 2018
Class action complaint filed under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) provisions of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, Jane Doe et al. v. Trump Corporation et al,, Case no. 1:18-cv-09936, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, October 29, 2018
Alexandra Hutzler, Bill Maher asks Stormy Daniels how she could ever sleep with 'sleazebag' Donald Trump, Newsweek, October 27, 2018
David Cay Johnston, New York Times exposed Trump's tax fraud, Daily Beast, October 2, 2018
David Barstow, Susanne Craig and Russ Buettner, Trump engaged in suspect tax schemes as he reaped riches from his father, New York Times, October 2, 2018
Margaret Sullivan, After a stunning news conference, there's a newly crucial job for the American press, Washington Post, July 16, 2018
David Lombardo, New York attorney general sues Trump Foundation, Albany (NY) Times Union, June 14, 2018
Joy Crane and Nick Tabor, 501 Days in Swampland, New York Magazine. April 2, 2018
Marie Brenner, How Donald Trump's and Roy Cohn's ruthless symbiosis changed America, Vanity Fair, June 28, 2017
Igor Bobic, Trump kicks out 'sleazebag' reporter for asking about sexual assault allegations, Huffington Post, October 13, 2016
Sam Levine, Michelle Obama explains exactly why Trump's comments about women are so repulsive, Huffington Post, October 13, 2016
Michael Kranish and Marc Fisher, Trump Revealed, Scribner, August, 2016
Jonathan Martin, Trump Institute offered get-rich schemes with plagiarized lessons, New York Times, June 29, 2016
Peter Wehner, The indelible stain of Donald Trump, New York Times, June 12, 2016
Russ Buettner and Charles V. Bagli, How Donald Trump bankrupted his Atlantic City casinos but still earned millions, New York Times, June 11, 2016
Quiana Fulton, Trump University documents reveal Trump's sleazebag marketing, Reverb Press, June 1, 2016
Charles Doyle, RICO: a brief sketch, Congressional Research Service, May 18, 2016
Ben Mathis-Lilley, Watch a cornered Donald Trump reveal himself for what he really is, a deceptive sleazebag, Slate, March 4, 2016
Oscar Michelen, NY appeals court rules Trump must stand trial for fraud, Courtroom Strategy (New York, NY), March 1, 2016
James V. Grimaldi and Mark Maremont, Donald Trump made millions from multilevel marketing firm, Wall Street Journal, August 13, 2015
Justin Elliott, Donald Trump's racial discrimination problem, Salon, April 28, 2011
Erin Ailworth, Firm's new moniker may be its Trump card, Boston Globe, December 7, 2010
Marylin Bender, The empire and ego of Donald Trump, New York Times, August 7, 1983
Craig Bolon, Election aftermath: recovery starting, work pending, Brookline Beacon, November 9, 2016
Craig Bolon, Chump disease: political virus, Brookline Beacon, October 2, 2016
This entry was posted in Business, History, People on October 30, 2018 by Craig Bolon.
Discord over surveillance: Justice Kennedy retires
Justice Kennedy had enough sense to step aside before most of the public would see that he was losing his grip. Evidence showed in his dissent from Carpenter v. United States. In this high-profile case, he failed to see a difference between business and personal data. Even Chief Justice Roberts–sometimes a backer of imperial government–saw the difference, described in the U.S. Supreme Court opinion released Friday, June 22.
Carpenter v. United States involved government use of cell-phone location-tracking data in a criminal case without obtaining either consent from a cell-phone owner or a search warrant. As Justice Roberts wrote, "Tracking a person's past movements through [cell-phone data is]…detailed and encyclopedic…the Court has already recognized that individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the whole of their physical movements."
Interstate crime watch: The Carpenter case arose from interstate crimes in Michigan and Ohio. Through cell-phone location-tracking data, the FBI found that Timothy Carpenter, alleged ringleader of a crime gang, was near the sites of several armed robberies at the times they occurred. Carpenter was convicted by a federal district court jury and sentenced to more than 100 years in prison.
Informed by a confession from one of the robbers, the FBI might have been able to justify search warrants for cell-phone records under the Fourth Amendment. Instead it relied on exemptions found in the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986. [Public Law 99-508] A key issue was whether locations tracked from cell phones are Constitutionally protected as elements of personal privacy. If so, the Fourth Amendment requirement for search warrants should apply to records of locations.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.
A so-called "third-party rule" derived from United States v. Miller and from Smith v. Maryland exempted data voluntarily sent to businesses from Fourth Amendment protections: bank transactions and manually keyed telephone numbers. However, those Supreme Court cases from 1976 and 1979 could not anticipate circumstances of the recent Carpenter v. United States case. Consumer cell-phone services were introduced to North America in the mid-1980s and grew slowly in early years, when they were very costly.
Surveillance: While they are powered on, cell phones sample the radio environment and silently exchange messages with transceivers so that they can respond to incoming calls and be ready to place outgoing calls. Most if not all cell-phone services keep records of silent messages that include cell-phone identifications and transceiver locations. Location tracking exposes cell-phone owners to continuous surveillance–a major threat against personal privacy.
The 2018 Carpenter case challenged whether the federal government can access location-tracking data for a criminal investigation without obtaining a search warrant. Joined by Justices Breyer, Ginsburg, Kagan and Sotomayor, the opinion from Chief Justice Roberts said no–citing among other cases Riley v. California, decided by the Supreme Court in 2014.
The Riley case arose from data contained within cell phones, not data acquired by cell-phone transceivers. As in the Carpenter case, however, data had been examined by law enforcement without obtaining consents or search warrants and had been used to convict cell-phone owners, who appealed. The Supreme Court opinion found a novel, qualitative factor in the "immense storage capacity" of cell phones, calling that "a digital record of nearly every aspect of their [owners'] lives."
Confusion: The Supreme Court opinion in the 2014 Riley case was likewise written by Chief Justice Roberts and joined by Justices Breyer, Ginsburg, Kagan and Sotomayor. Justice Kennedy also joined that 2014 opinion, yet for the 2018 Carpenter case he wrote a carping dissent. It shows confusion, starting with a claim that the Carpenter case somehow involves "new technology."
Justice Kennedy either knew or should easily have learned that technology relevant to the 2018 Carpenter case is older than technology relevant to the 2014 Riley case. He tried to invoke the "third-party rule" based on cases four decades ago. Only by comparison with the 1970s era of communications does either of the more recent cases involve "new technology."
Justice Kennedy's dissent failed to recognize changes in communication uses and technologies over the 39 years since Smith v. Maryland. It failed to distinguish the 2018 case from the 2014 case whose opinion he joined. He was unable to see that–unlike bank transactions or manually dialed telephone numbers–durable records linking individual cell phones to dates, times and locations are not essential to business services as usually provided in the United States but instead reflect personal information.
Justice Kennedy seemed to think cell phones are active only when "a cell-phone user makes a call, sends a text message or e-mail or gains access to the Internet." His views suggest location data from cell-phone transceivers have been voluntarily sent to businesses and are subject to the "third-party rule." At a late point in a long span on the Supreme Court, he faded to a shadow of his former presence.
Todd Ruger, Justice Kennedy to retire from Supreme Court, Roll Call (Washington, DC), June 27, 2018
Adam Liptak, Supreme Court says warrants generally are necessary to collect cell-phone data, New York Times, June 22, 2018
Carpenter v. United States, U.S. Supreme Court, Case no. 16-402, June 22, 2018
Matthew Tokson, The Supreme Court's cell-phone-tracking case has high stakes, New York, November 27, 2017
Orin Kerr, Supreme Court agrees to hear Carpenter v. United States, Washington Post, June 5, 2017
Riley v. California, U.S. Supreme Court, Case no. 13-132, June 25, 2014
Ken Schmidt, Wireless telecommunications timeline, Steel in the Air (Baldwinsville, NY), 2014
Smith v. Maryland, U.S. Supreme Court, Case no. 78-5374, June 20, 1979
United States v. Miller, U.S. Supreme Court, Case no. 74-1179, April 21, 1976
This entry was posted in Business, History, Information, People, Services on June 29, 2018 by Craig Bolon.
Against neighborhoods: Brookline zoning for marijuana
This month–likely on Thursday, May 24–Brookline's Town Meeting will vote on a risk-laden approach to marijuana zoning and licensing. A complex surface hides disorganized, hypocritical, neighborhood-hostile efforts. Two meetings on Thursday, May 10 showed confusions and lapses of community spirit: a review for some Town Meeting Members and a regular Advisory Committee meeting, both held at Town Hall.
Recreational marijuana regulation: At the 2018 Annual Town Meeting starting May 22, under Articles 17 through 22 Brookline could allow up to four retail shops selling recreational marijuana and up to four marijuana cafes. The Planning Board and the Planning staff, supported so far by three of the five Select Board members, propose to allow the recreational marijuana shops in Local Business zones as well as in General Business zones.
Brookline has five main General Business zones. They are mostly well separated from residential areas and schools: Commonwealth Avenue, Coolidge Corner, Brookline Village, Washington Square and the west end of Route 9 near the Chestnut Hill Mall. There are smaller ones near the north end of Harvard Street, bordered by Allston, and near the east end of Route 9, bordered by the Riverway.
There are seven main Local Business zones. Many thread through residential areas and near schools: the shopping center near Putterham Circle in South Brookline, the northern part of Harvard Street between Devotion School and Verndale Street, the middle part of Harvard Street between Pierce School and Marion Street, the northern part of Cypress Street near Washington Street, the middle part of Cypress Street near the High School and Route 9, the southern part of Cypress Street near Kendall Street, the east end of Beacon Street between St. Mary's and Carlton Streets, and land near the west end of Beacon Street around Sutherland Road.
Threatened neighborhoods: Proposed zoning for marijuana includes so-called "buffer zones" extending 500 feet out from schoolyard boundaries. Marijuana shops are not allowed inside "buffer zones." The maps that follow identify some of Brookline's threatened neighborhoods–showing parts of Local Business zones outside "buffer zones." Colored in bright blue are Local Business areas where marijuana shops would be allowed. "Buffer zones" around schools are cross-hatched.
Threatened neighborhoods near Harvard Street
Source: Brookline Planning Department
Threatened neighborhoods near Cypress Street
Threatened neighborhoods near Putterham Circle
Information from Town Hall: Planning staff held a late-afternoon information session at Town Hall on May 10, sought by Precinct 5 Town Meeting Members. The two staff were Francisco Torres and Ashley Clark–hired in part to develop and promote plans for marijuana. They have fairly short spans of experience in Brookline, and they smile a lot.
At the Town Hall session were Betsy DeWitt–formerly a Select Board member–plus Phyllis O'Leary, Wendy Machmuller, Rob Daves, Andy Olins, Hugh Mattison and newly elected Cindy Drake from Precinct 5, John Bassett from Precinct 6, Craig Bolon from Precinct 8 and Regina Frawley from Precinct 16.
Precinct 5 Town Meeting Members generally opposed medical marijuana at the former Brookline Bank on the corner of Route 9, High Street and Washington Street. They spoke about keeping marijuana shops out of the Local Business zones on Cypress Street. Betsy DeWitt saw high profits from marijuana shops pushing out ordinary local business.
Planning has proposed no standards that support ordinary local businesses. Their proposals for zoning and licensing amount to a "first in the door" approach to zoning permits and business licenses. However, they propose no system to regulate how the timing of applications would be recognized. That could leave Brookline exposed to long and potentially costly "due process" lawsuits, claiming that results from its informal approach had been arbitrary and capricious.
Advisory Committee hostile to neighborhoods: Many of the 24 out of 30 Advisory Committee members at the evening meeting on May 10 seemed hostile toward Brookline neighborhoods. Because around 60 percent of Brookline voters opted to legalize marijuana, they claimed recreational marijuana shops could be sited without considering impacts on neighborhoods. Fisher Hill resident Clifford Brown of Precinct 14 led a charge for more marijuana revenue, while several others on the committee chimed in.
Critically examined, some claims about huge local revenues turn out to be fragrant BS when not flagrant lies. The budding marijuana industry had its friends at (the General) Court when Chapter 55 of the Acts of 2017 was being written: the ironically titled "act to ensure safe access to marijuana." The access is particularly "safe" for marijuana dealers. Much of the potential local revenues come from so-called "community impact fees" that can be included in city and town contracts with marijuana dealers. However, when the revenue party is over after five (5) years, it's done and gone–while all the problems the community may find continue indefinitely. According to Chapter 94G, Section 3(d) of the General Laws, as amended by the 2017 act:
"…a host community may include a community impact fee for the host community; provided, however, that the community impact fee shall be reasonably related to the costs imposed upon the municipality by the operation of the marijuana establishment or medical marijuana treatment center and shall not amount to more than 3 per cent of the gross sales of the marijuana establishment or medical marijuana treatment center or be effective for longer than 5 years…." [emphasis added]
Voters blindsided: Many of the Brookline voters who opted to legalize marijuana had been informed by the cautious, two-year process to zone and license medical marijuana. Medical marijuana dispensaries are not allowed in Local Business zones. The only current one is on Route 9. Hardly anybody would have expected "full speed ahead" and "open floodgates" for recreational marijuana–the approach from Brookline Planning, welcoming both marijuana shops and cafes to the Local Business zones threading through residential neighborhoods and near schools.
At Advisory Committee on May 10, vocal majorities rejected a motion to exclude marijuana shops from Local Business zones. They supported another motion to allow marijuana cafes. Hypocrites would continue to ban medical marijuana sales from Local Business zones, and they support a new ban on marijuana treatment centers. The outlook of hypocrites seems to be that medical marijuana would not yield as much in licensing fees and local taxes as recreational marijuana–so medical marijuana should be banned.
Those supporting neighborhoods by voting to exclude recreational marijuana shops from Local Business zones were committee members Harry Friedman, David-Marc Goldstein, Angela Hyatt, Alisa Jonas, Steve Kanes, Fred Levitan and Lee Selwyn. Thumbing noses at neighborhoods by voting the other way were Ben Birnbaum, Clifford Brown, Carol Caro, Lea Cohen, John Doggett, Janet Gelbart, Neil Gordon, Janice Kahn, Bobbie Knable, David Lescohier, Pamela Lodish, Shaari Mittel, Michael Sandman, Kim Smith, Charles Swartz and Christine Westphal. Committee chair Sean Lynn-Jones did not vote. Vice-chair Carla Benka and members Dennis Doughty, Kelly Hardebeck, Amy Hummel, Mariah Nobrega and Susan Roberts were absent.
Preventing needless burdens: The NETA medical marijuana dispensary on Route 9 is already in negotiations for one of the potential licenses as a recreational marijuana shop. Its success would leave only three licenses available. There are six more General Business zones to provide sites, leaving no need to burden neighborhoods near Local Business zones. A simple amendment to Article 17 at the 2018 Annual Town Meeting can keep recreational marijuana shops out of Local Business zones.
VOTED: To amend the motion under Article 17 so as to change "Use 29A, Storefront Marijuana Retailers" from "SP *1,2″ to "No" for L (local business) districts.
As of May 17, an equivalent motion is being proposed by Neil Wishinsky (chair of the Select Board) together with Betsy DeWitt, a Precinct 5 Town Meeting Member (TMM-5), Cynthia Drake (TMM-5), Scott Gladstone (TMM-16), Angela Hyatt (TMM-5) and Kate Silbaugh (TMM-1). After several years of experience with recreational marijuana shops in General Business zones, Brookline could review the results and see whether it might make sense to allow them in other places.
– Craig Bolon, Brookline, MA, May 12, 2018, updated May 17, 2018
Recreational marijuana information, Department of Planning and Community Development, Brookline, MA, 2018
Locations for marijuana shops, Department of Planning and Community Development, Brookline, MA, 2018
Advisory Committee, Town of Brookline, MA, 2018
Adult use of marijuana, 935 CMR 500, Massachusetts Code of Regulations, 2018
Public documents, Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, 2017-2018
Emma R. Murphy, Brookline's NETA marijuana dispensary seeking recreational license, Brookline (MA) Tab, April 18, 2018
Business and functional requirements for the licensing, tracking and sale of adult-use marijuana (57 pp) Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, November, 2017
An act to ensure safe access to marijuana, Massachusetts Acts and Resolves of 2017, Chapter 55
Gintautas Dumcius, Brookline medical marijuana dispensary, operated by NETA, set to open in mid-January, Springfield (MA) Republican, December 24, 2015
This entry was posted in Business, Grade schools, High school, History, Licensing, Meetings, Neighborhoods, People, Public health, Regulations, Taxes on May 12, 2018 by Craig Bolon.
Circuses: cheaper than bread
Last fall, the cockroach candidate attacked "people who are registered to vote in more than one state." At the time, an Associated Press reporter recently discovered, his "voter fraud expert" Gregg Allen Phillips was registered to vote in three states: Alabama, Mississippi and Texas.
A "voter fraud" investigation recently vanished from political radar. Jonathan Lemire of Associated Press quoted Lindsay Walters as saying on February 3 at the White House, "I do not have an update at this time." The cockroach President had enjoyed no political "honeymoon." Less than a day after he took office, millions of protesters had begun to march in more than 600 events held world-wide.
This January 21, at least 500,000 demonstrated in Washington, DC, and in Los Angeles, 200,000 in New York City and in Chicago, 150,000 in Boston and many hundreds of thousands in at least 300 other U.S. cities–all together the largest single day of demonstrations in U.S. history. Many more hundreds of thousands demonstrated in London, Paris, Mexico City, Buenos Aries, New Delhi, Sydney, Tokyo and hundreds of other locales on all the continents.
The next day, the New York Times dropped its whining about "fact checking" and "errors"–writing that the new President told a "lie" about supposedly winning the popular vote. That seemed to startle some readers of the Grey Lady, but it likely had no impact on voters who chose this President.
Sewage clerks: Early last year, the Politico organization dispatched three experienced reporters to review the cockroach candidate and check out the sewage. On average, they found a false statement for each five minutes of public contact.
*** "death of Christianity in America"
*** Sen. Rubio "totally in favor of amnesty"
*** taking "no money from donors" [then $7.5 million]
*** we send Japan "nothing" [$62 billion in 2014 imports]
*** owns a "successful winery" [denied by the actual owner]
*** "Made in the USA…not anymore" [$4.4 trillion in 2014]
*** "winning every poll with the Hispanics" [losing in all]
Harry G. Frankfurt, a social philosopher, published a widely quoted essay, On Bullshit, in 1986, when he chaired the Philosophy Department at Yale. It anticipated the cockroach candidate, as Prof. Frankfurt, now retired from Princeton, noted in discussions with reporters last year. That candidate, he said, "provides a robust example of someone who…indulges freely both in lies and in bullshit."
Reporters and news media, repeatedly smeared by the cockroach President, have begun checking every claim and describing what they find. Associated Press posts a "fact check" summary at least once a week. The New York Times publishes "fact check" stories about public events and news conferences.
*** This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine….
"Trump's first month has been…missteps and firestorms"
*** I inherited a mess….
"Incomes were rising and the country was adding jobs"
*** ISIS has spread like cancer….
"Islamic State…began to lose ground before Trump took office"
*** The biggest Electoral College win since Ronald Reagan….
"The winners of five…won a larger Electoral College majority"
*** You probably saw the Keystone pipeline I approved….
"He hasn't approved the Keystone XL pipeline"
– from Associated Press, February 20, 2017
No prior President has been so rampantly and casually dishonest. History offers other salient examples in U.S. politics, notably from campaigns against Communism and drugs. At a party conference in West Virginia held in February of 1950, the late Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R, WI) waved a sheaf of papers that he said named "205…individuals..loyal to the Communist Party" and working in the State Department. After years of filth, smears and lies, McCarthy was eventually censured by the Senate. He died in office, likely from alcoholism.
Present danger: Clear dangers from an unhinged President are war and financial collapse. An unhinged Walker Bush was left a strong economy and a world in tension but not at war. From him we got Iraq, the September 11 hijack attacks that he was warned about a month before and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. It took eight years of an Obama administration to work through the disasters.
The cockroach President has already shown signs of trouble. We need to keep the heat on and be prepared to act when he falters. He has earned no charity. As Kevin Baker noted, writing in the New York Times, "Mr. Trump was exposed enough for any thinking adult to see exactly what he is."
– Craig Bolon, Brookline, MA, February 21, 2017
Jim Drinkard and Calvin Woodward, AP fact check: Trump's view at odds with events of the week, Associated Press, February 20, 2017
Linda Qiu, Fact check: what Trump got wrong at his rally, New York Times, February 18, 2017
Charles J. Symes, Why nobody cares the President is lying, New York Times, February 4, 2017
Jonathan Lemire, Trump executive order on voter fraud quietly stalled, Associated Press, February 3, 2017
Garance Burke, Trump's voter fraud expert registered in 3 states, Associated Press, January 30, 2017
Michael D. Shear and Emmarie Huetteman, Trump repeats lie about popular vote in meeting with lawmakers, New York Times, January 23, 2017
Kevin Baker, The America we lost when Trump won, New York Times, January 21, 2017
Nika Knight, On first full day as President, Trump attacks the press, Common Dreams (Portland, ME), January 21, 2017
Robert King, Trump says it's OK if 'rigged' voters vote for him, Washington (DC) Examiner, October 22, 2016
David Greenberg, Are Clinton and Trump the biggest liars ever to run for President?, Politico Magazine, July, 2016
Harry G. Frankfurt, Donald Trump is BS, Time, May 12, 2016
Daniel Lippman, Darren Samuelsohn and Isaac Arnsdorf, Trump's week of errors, exaggerations and flat-out falsehoods, Politico, March 13, 2016
Harry G. Frankfurt, On Bullshit, Raritan Quarterly Review (Rutgers, New Brunswick, NJ) 6(2):81-100, 1986
Craig Bolon, Second day: millions protest, Brookline Beacon, January 22, 2017
This entry was posted in Elections, History, Information, People on February 21, 2017 by Craig Bolon.
Second day: millions protest
The day after the recent inauguration of a new President, millions of protesters marched in more than 600 events held world-wide. The protest in Washington, DC, drew about three to five times the numbers at the inauguration, by different estimates. It may have been the largest demonstration ever held there, rivaling the 1969 protest against the Vietnam War.
At least 500,000 demonstrated in Washington and in Los Angeles, 200,000 in New York and in Chicago, 150,000 in Boston and many hundreds of thousands in at least 300 other U.S. cities–all together the largest single day of demonstrations in U.S. history. Many more hundreds of thousands demonstrated in London, Paris, Buenos Aries, Mexico City, New Delhi, Sydney and hundreds of other locales on all the continents.
Despite its enormous scale, the Washington, DC, protest did not result in arrests. No major incidents were reported from any of the other U.S. events. Protesters called for respecting women's rights and civil rights and for promoting friendship. "Love Trumps Hate" was a common theme–mocking the sexist, racist, hate-filled campaign conducted by last year's winning candidate.
True to form: The recently installed President, who campaigned like a sleazebag, began governing like a jerk. His first full day in office sounded like a two-year-old's tantrum. According to Julie Pace of Associated Press:
"[With] a memorial to fallen CIA agents…as the backdrop, [Trump claimed that] journalists are 'the most dishonest human beings on Earth.' Looking out at an audience of men and women who have played a direct role in the nation's wars against terrorism, Trump said, 'I have a running war with the media.' High-level CIA leaders stood silently as the commander-in-chief unleashed his off-topic attacks…."
John O. Brennan, the outgoing CIA director, called out the incident, saying he was "deeply saddened and angered" at the remarks. According to a wire-service report based on interviews with participants, "Many people felt used and awkward."
The new President has nominated a rigidly reactionary slate of appointees and touted a hostile, insulting approach to government. He has gone far outside conservatism into a cult of personality. For better or worse, he has already ignited flames of conflict within his administration and with Congress.
– Craig Bolon, Brookline, MA, January 22, 2017
Alanna Durkin Richer, Tami Abdollah, Juliet Linderman, Brian Witte, Matthew Barakat and David Dishneau, Associated Press, Defiant women to Trump: your agenda won't go unchallenged, Action News (Pittsburgh, PA), January 22, 2017
Colin Dwyer, Maggie Penman, Mandalit del Barco and Frank Langfitt, Women's Marches go global: postcards from protests around the world, (U.S.) National Public Radio, January 21, 2017
Jason Easley, Women's March is the biggest protest in U.S. history as an estimated 2.9 million march, Politicus USA (Los Angeles), January 21, 2017
Timothy B. Lee, Aerial photos show large crowds at Women's Marches across the country, Vox (New York City), January 21, 2017
John Wright, DC Metro reports second busiest day in history for Women's March, behind Obama inauguration. NCRM News (Washington, DC), January 22, 2017
Associated Press, More than 1 million trips taken on DC rail system for Women's March, Action News (Pittsburgh, PA), January 22, 2017
Jessica Rice and Heather Navarro, 750 thousand flock to downtown LA for Women's March, NBC Los Angeles, January 21, 2017
Evan Allen, Eric Moskowitz, Laura Crimaldi, Patricia Wen and Nicole Fleming, Boston rally draws up to 175,000, officials say, Boston Globe, January 21, 2017
Julie Pace, Associated Press, Trump promises big change but picks small fights, WTOP (Washington, DC), January 22, 2017
Jonathan Lemire and Jill Colvin, Trump uses bogus claim to knock media on reports, Associated Press, January 22, 2017
Ryan Browne, Former CIA chief Brennan bashes Trump over speech during CIA visit, Cable Network News, January 22, 3017
Jonathan Martin, Inaugural speech dims GOP hopes for a more conservative Trump agenda, New York Times, January 21, 2017
Doina Chiacu and Jason Lange, White House vows to fight media 'tooth and nail' over Trump coverage, Reuters (UK), January 22, 2017
Peter Baker, Glenn Thrush and Maggie Haberman, Rocky first weekend for Trump troubling top aides, New York Times, January 22, 2017
This entry was posted in Elections, Events, History, People on January 22, 2017 by Craig Bolon.
Obama's legacy: tracking hate crimes
Electing an African-American as U.S. President in 2008 capped centuries of bigotry and began a legacy of inclusion. An image of Obama taking the oath of office became a picture worth a billion words. Despite all the flapping from Europe and Asia about peace and tolerance, so far nothing comparable happened there. For example, there has been no Franco-Arab president of France–not even someone mentioned or on the horizon.
A quiet message, the obverse of promoting inclusion, was delegitimizing racial and ethnic hate. From growing up with bigotry, signs are easily remembered–serving as sly handshakes through words and acts that signal shared outlooks: "one of the gang." Electing a black President, then re-electing him to another term said, "No, that's not OK any more. That's not us."
Lynching and race riots grew in the aftermath of the Civil War and continued into the 1940s. The way of inclusion became an official outlook through the Great Depression, the era of World War II and the landmark Brown v. Board decision from the Supreme Court in 1954. That did not make it the common way of life. Hate crimes against African-Americans surged during civil rights struggles of the 1950s through the 1970s.
Tracking hate crimes: The U.S. Department of Justice finally began to record hate crimes in 1992, as required by the Hate Crime Statistics Act of 1990 and the Arson Prevention Act of 1996. [Public Laws 101-275 and 104-155] About 17,000 law enforcement agencies now contribute to annual reports. Records since 1996 are available online as part of Uniform Crime Reports compiled by FBI central offices. However, the Justice Department does not publish trends and has not tried to provide consistent reporting.
Anti-African-American hate crimes
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, 2016
Data from the U.S. Department of Justice show that the most numerous reported hate crimes target African-Americans, Jews and Muslims. For 2015, recent hate crime data show about 1,750 incidents targeting African-Americans, about 660 targeting Jews and about 260 targeting Muslims.
Anti-Jewish hate crimes
The most recent U.S. population survey for race and ethnicity estimates 43 million African-Americans. The most recent survey for religion estimates about 6 million Jews and 3 million Muslims. Proportionately, the 2015 rates of hate crimes per million residents were about 40 targeting African-Americans, 110 targeting Jews and 90 targeting Muslims.
Anti-Muslim hate crimes
Crime trends: Hate crime statistics reflect crime motives as reported by law enforcement agencies–not as determined by courts or as found by other third parties. They are affected by reporting bias. If, for example, law-enforcement training increased likelihoods that incidents were flagged as hate crimes, then rates of reported hate crimes would rise, but such increases would reflect training rather than changes in crime rates.
The falling rates of reported hate crimes targeting African-Americans, down about 20 percent for the five years from 2010 to 2015, signal apparent progress during core years of the Obama administration. There was similar apparent progress in lower rates of reported hate crimes targeting Jews, falling about 25 percent over that five-year span.
However, reported hate crimes targeting Muslims increased significantly, about 60 percent over those years. All of that increase occurred during the final year, 2015. Not shown in the foregoing charts, a sustained and even greater increase occurred in reported hate crimes targeting Native Americans. They tripled between 2010 and 2013, then remained nearly steady at the increased rate.
Situations of Native Americans might be so different from those of other groups for reported rates to be largely fictions. On the basis of hundreds of interviews, Barbara Perry, a professor of criminology at the Ontario Institute of Technology, estimated in 2008 that hate crimes targeting Native Americans had been drastically under-reported. A sharp rise in reported rates between 2010 and 2013 could stem from reporting improvements during the Obama administration. Ken Salazar, Interior secretary during those years, promoted policies of inclusion toward Native Americans. So far no systematic survey has addressed the issues.
Causes and consequences: Filth spread by Donald J. Trump's campaign for President acted to relegitimize and encourage racist behavior, starting in 2015. Trump did not need to "be" a racist or an anti-Semite but just to become a fellow traveler. His race-baiting dog whistles drew poisonous support from Nazi, Klan and other white supremacist groups. He circulated some of their propaganda. There is an obvious precedent. Former President Wilson also drew support from racist groups. The first Southerner elected since Taylor in 1848, he resegregated parts of the federal workforce, notably the Post Office.
Just as Wilson's attitude and behavior encouraged lynching and growth of the Ku Klux Klan, vile propaganda emerging around the Trump campaign probably encouraged recent hate crimes–notably against Muslims, whom Trump savaged. People with antisocial outlooks and violent bents are apt to find signs of acceptance and perhaps approval. Unless Donald J. Trump were somehow to reverse his ways and become a beacon of tolerance, we can expect a parade of moral cretins and their crimes to surge in future years.
– Craig Bolon, Brookline, MA, November 18, 2016
Errin Haines Whack, Associated Press, Trump's staff picks alarm minorities: 'injustice to America', U.S. News, November 18, 2016
Hate crime statistics for 2015, U.S. Department of Justice, November 11, 2016
Adrian Walker, The politics of hatred and resentment seem headed for defeat, Boston Globe, November 7, 2016
Dana Milbank, Anti-Semitism is no longer an undertone of Trump's campaign. It's the melody, Washington Post, November 7, 2016
Trump closes his campaign as he opened it: preaching xenophobia and hate, Daily Kos (UK), November 7, 2016
Michael Finnegan, Trump stokes terrorism fears, citing refugee 'disaster' in Minnesota, Los Angeles Times, November 6, 2016
Sarah Posner and David Neiwert, How Trump took hate groups mainstream, Mother Jones, October 14, 2016
Daniel Marans, Meet members of Donald Trump's white supremacist fan club, Huffington Post, August 25, 2015
Emily Flitter, Reuters, Trump tweet that blasts Clinton as corrupt includes the Star of David, Washington Post, July 2, 2016
Tom Shoop, When Woodrow Wilson segregated the federal workforce, Government Executive (Washington, DC), November 20, 2015
William Keylor, The long-forgotten racial attitudes and policies of Woodrow Wilson, Boston University Office of Public Relations, March 4, 2013
Population statistics, Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce, 2016
Gregory Smith, et al., America's changing religious landscape, Pew Research Center, 2015
Barbara Perry, Silent Victims: Hate Crimes Against Native Americans, University of Arizona Press, 2008
Brown v. Board of Education, Leadership Conference (Washington, DC), 2004
Robert A. Gibson, The Negro Holocaust: Lynching and Race Riots in the United States, Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute, 1979
This entry was posted in Elections, Events, History, Information, People, Public health on November 18, 2016 by Craig Bolon.
Election aftermath: recovery starting, work pending
In a column titled, "Politics of hatred and resentment seem headed for defeat," Adrian Walker, a writer at the Boston Globe, claimed that the 2016 election involved "the ugliest and strangest Presidential campaign of modern times." Actually, this year was neither notably ugly nor notably strange for a campaign, either in "modern times" or in historical ones.
The 1968 contest was vile–at the nadir of the Vietnam War–leaving the socially conscious voters without a general-election candidate to support. The main alternative to the pro-war candidates from both major parties was George Wallace, a coarse, violently racist former governor of Alabama who got about 14 percent of the votes. However, early and middle nineteenth century–in the era of slavery–saw far more vicious campaigns than that.
Instead of such modern and historical extremes, this year there was simply one notably ugly Presidential candidate. To our vexation, he won. At best, a Long Night of Nixon–like the one starting in 1968–begins again. We have a President-elect whose lack of character has not been seen since Buchanan in 1856 and Polk in 1844–and whose lack of competence and stature has never been seen before.
To the last day of the campaign, Hillary Clinton's message remained inclusive: "Stronger together." Donald J. Trump's message remained divisive: "Crooked Hillary." Clinton closed her campaign with rallies featuring President Obama, his wife Michelle, the Clinton family, prominent entertainers and other major figures from politics. Trump closed his campaign much as he had opened it, largely isolated, spouting lies and hate.
The outcome from the 2016 election for President exhibited classic racial voting, strongly coupled to sexist bias. Over 24,500 exit poll responses were reported by Edison Research to the Associated Press, television news networks and the New York Times–made available online by Cable Network News–from which the following table shows a small but telling example, extracted and rearranged for readability. Majorities of both white men and white women voted for Donald J. Trump. Majorities of all other groups voted for Hillary Clinton.
Voting for President in 2016 by race and age
Race.and.age..(Pct)….Clinton….Trump…..Other
Whites.18-29.(12%)…….43%…….48%……..9%
Whites.65-up.(13%)…….39%…….58%……..3%
Blacks.18-29…(3%)…….83%………9%………8%
Blacks.65.up…(1%)…….90%………9%………1%
Latino.18-29…(2%)…….70%…….24%………6%
Latino.65-up…(1%)…….71%…….24%………5%
Others.18-up…(6%)…….60%…….34%………6%
Source: Edison Research via Cable News Network
Chump disease: For readers who followed Donald J. Trump over a career of around 50 years in real estate, he was not strange at all–just greedy and vulgar. Some might remember an arrogant young man, a mediocre new college grad who apparently could not land a real job on his own. Instead, he went to work for his dad, helping to rent out his dad's apartments.
His first brush with government proved chilling; it foreshadowed his career path. In 1973, he was accused of refusing to rent apartments to African-Americans–a violation of the federal Fair Housing Act of 1970. Instead of mending his ways, Donald J. Trump employed Roy Cohn–a former hired gun for Richard Nixon and J. Edgar Hoover. That attack strategy failed; Trump was forced into a settlement agreement. However, attack strategies settled into Trump's character; he became known as a business bully.
After a fatuous tangle with casino properties in Atlantic City, Donald J. Trump courted ruin as mismanaged properties lurched to bankruptcy, following the sharp recession of 1991. Facing competition from Connecticut he could not counter, he chiseled his way out by loading losses onto lenders, investors and contractors and avoiding taxes, counting some of their losses as though they had been his losses. Then he discovered a second calling as a media rube. He became known as a sick hustler.
Pending work: There would have been tons of work for a Hillary Clinton administration–starting with investigation of FBI director James Brien "Jim" Comey, Jr.–who in effect acted as a Trump booster while a government employee. Comey's stunts threw the election. Polling trends up to the stunt on October 28 showed clearly that Hillary Clinton would otherwise have won. One-percent margins in Pennsylvania and Florida, for example, would have landed in the other direction.
Nevertheless, on election day there remained severe problems to solve in domestic programs, notably in Health and Human Services, Education, Interior and Transportation. Chronic Congressional paralysis would likely have taken far more effort than executive agencies, because it springs from voter choices for members of Congress. Most and maybe all that work will probably wait at least another four years, unless Donald J. Trump were to stumble enough to be impeached and convicted.
If nothing more, the effects from Donald J. Trump's dog-whistle rants showed large segments of U.S. voters may be happy to back candidates who come across as sleazebags, xenophobes, anti-Semites, sexists, racists, Nazi fellow-travelers, political whores and traitors. A recent Washington Post headline put it, "Finally: someone who thinks like me." Were Trump cheerleaders off their rockers? A more recent Post article cited evidence suggesting many of them were over their heads in debt.
This year, millions of U.S. citizens have been denied a right to vote. David Leonhardt, writing in the New York Times, argued that systematic efforts by reactionary Republicans to swing elections in their favor are the main causes. Corruption is rankest in the Deep South and the Southwest. It also threatens voters in parts of the Midwest. Some of the arrogant rubes behind it Trumpet their motives. Leonhardt quoted one from North Carolina claiming that throttling early voting was "in the best interest of the Republican Party."
We do not know what Hillary Clinton might have promised high-income sponsors who put up most of around $1 billion she was able to attract in support of her campaign. An early promise by Donald J. Trump to "self fund" his campaign turned out to be just another casual lie from him. Despite the threats emerging from the Citizens United case in 2013, big money–including early big money–proved less effective than many feared it would be. Former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida had the most early big money, yet he was an early loser.
New business: A new item of business–so far skipped by most mainstream media in the United States–is a federal lawsuit against Donald J. Trump. It was filed on September 30, 2016, in the District of Southern New York. It accuses him and an alleged collaborator of child rapes and murder threats. Trump, the co-defendant and their lawyers have sought to dismiss accusations as lies and smears. Jon Swaine, a reporter for the Guardian in Britain, treated an earlier version of the lawsuit as a media circus.
In the recent federal lawsuit, Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey E. Epstein, of New York, are accused of raping a 13-year-old girl in 1994, and both are accused of threatening to have her whole family killed if the girl were to "say anything" about it. With the filings in federal court, the lawsuit seeks to override statutes of limitation. Thomas Meagher of Princeton, New Jersey, the attorney of record, is a patent lawyer–his firm's chief litigator and managing partner when the recent federal lawsuit was filed.
According to an Internet news article published this past summer, Donald J. Trump's co-defendant Jeffrey E. Epstein has been classified in New York as "a Level 3 registered sex offender–the most dangerous kind." The author of that article is a lawyer in California who focuses on tort and divorce cases and who has identified herself as assisting the plaintiff in the recent federal lawsuit.
In an exhibit filed with the complaint against Donald J. Trump, the plaintiff provided a sworn statement saying that "Defendant Trump tied me to a bed,…and then proceeded to forcibly rape me…violently striking me in the face with his open hand and screaming that he would do whatever he wanted." She further states, "Immediately following this rape, Defendant Trump threatened me that, were I ever to reveal any of the details of Defendant Trump's sexual and physical abuse of me, my family and I would be physically harmed if not killed."
Unusual with incidents of violent sexual abuse, the complaint against Donald J. Trump in the lawsuit also provided a sworn statement from a claimed eyewitness to the alleged rapes. It states that she "personally witnessed the Plaintiff being forced to perform various sexual acts with Donald J. Trump and Mr. Epstein. Both Mr. Trump and Mr. Epstein were advised that she was 13 years old." It further states the claimed eyewitness "personally witnessed Mr. Trump…[and]…Mr. Epstein physically threaten the life and well-being of the Plaintiff if she ever revealed any details of the physical and sexual abuse…."
Donald J. Trump and the co-defendant are presumed innocent unless proven to be at fault. According to the New York Daily News, the next step in the recent federal lawsuit is a court conference set for December 16. One might suspect, however, that a difficult case–now against a President-elect–could be withdrawn.
– Craig Bolon, Brookline, MA, November 9, 2016
Note: As was obvious to us on November 8, election day, by November 12 the Hillary Clinton campaign also found that the publicity stunt on October 28 by James Brien "Jim" Comey, Jr., the FBI director, had thrown the election–wrecking the growing Clinton advantage seen in earlier polls. Comey rehashed Clinton's use of a private e-mail server while Secretary of State, in a letter sent to eight Congressional committee chairs–all Republicans. That was immediately forwarded to news organizations from one or more of those offices. Starting the next day, polls showed declining margins of support for Clinton. By election day, margins had not recovered.
Comey's FBI staff in New York had found there was an e-mail cache on a computer seized from ex-Congressman Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of Huma Abedin, a key assistant to Hillary Clinton. As of October 28, the FBI did not have a search warrant to examine the computer and could not legally have known the content of e-mails stored on it. Longstanding Department of Justice policy forbids disclosure of information close to elections, and Comey had recently been reminded about that policy.
News stories soon surfaced that Comey's October 28 stunt had been engineered by FBI staff in New York City and disclosed to Rudy Giuliani, the former city mayor who had become a key backer of Donald J. Trump. For several days before October 28, in comment sections of major news sites, well known Trump trolls had been feverishly writing comments seeking to persuade readers not to use early voting and suggesting that some major news was in the works. On November 7, Comey was celebrated at an event held by a group of longstanding Trump supporters. [note added November 13, 2016]
Anne Gearan, Washington Post, Hillary Clinton blames Comey letter for stopping her momentum, Boston Globe, November 12, 2016
K.K. Rebecca Lai, Alicia Parlapiano, Jeremy White and Karen Yourish, How Trump won the election according to exit polls, New York Times, November 9, 2016 (updated, with charts)
David Leonhardt, The real voter fraud, New York Times, November 8, 2016
Josh Lederman, Associated Press, As campaign closes, the Obamas pass the torch to Clinton, U.S. News, November 7, 2016
Jake Pearson and Jeff Horwitz, Comey honored by group with longtime Trump ties, Associated Press, November 7, 2016
Max Ehrenfreund, Something has been going badly wrong in the neighborhoods that support Trump, Washington Post, November 4, 2016
David Barstow, Mike McIntire, Patricia Cohen, Susanne Craig and Russ Buettner, Donald Trump used legally dubious method to avoid paying taxes, New York Times, October 31, 2016
Former Bush ethics lawyer accuses FBI director of violating Hatch Act, Government Executive (Washington, DC). October 31, 2016
Richard W. Painter, On Clinton e-mails, did the FBI director abuse his power?, New York Times, October 30, 2016
Sari Horwitz, Washington Post, Officials warned FBI head about decision on e-mails, Boston Globe, October 29, 2016
Photocopy, Letter to Congress from FBI director on Clinton e-mail case, New York Times, October 28, 2016
Drew Harwell, When Trump goes confrontational, lawyer steps in, Washington Post, October 16, 2016
Victoria Bekiempis, Lawsuit accusing Donald Trump of raping 13-year-old girl gets December hearing, New York Daily News, October 12, 2016
Richard Cohen, Why do Republicans suddenly find Trump repugnant? He looks like a loser, Washington Post, October 8, 2016
Philip Rucker, Trump hopes to revive campaign after tax discovery caps a week of self-sabotage, Washington Post, October 2, 2016
Robert O'Harrow, Jr. and Shawn Boburg, The man who showed Donald Trump how to exploit power and instill fear, Washington Post, June 17, 2016
Gabrielle Levy, How Citizens United has changed politics in five years, U.S. News, January 21, 2015
Jane Doe v. Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey E. Epstein (refiled complaint), Case No. 1:16-cv-07673, U.S. District Court for Southern New York, filed September 30, 2016
Thomas F. Meagher, Meagher Emanuel Laks Goldberg & Liao, LLP, Princeton, NJ, September, 2016
Jon Swaine, Rape lawsuits against Donald Trump linked to former TV producer, Guardian (UK), July 7, 2016
Lisa Bloom, Why the new child rape case filed against Donald Trump should not be ignored, Huffington Post, June 29, 2016
Craig Bolon, Hillary Clinton for President, Brookline Beacon, October 8, 2016
This entry was posted in Elections, History, People on November 9, 2016 by Craig Bolon.
Hillary Clinton for President
Despite reservations, we support Hillary Clinton. Like former Senator and current Secretary Kerry, former Senator and Secretary Clinton might lean toward aggression as a Cabinet officer. As President, she will own the outcomes. Like President Obama, she is much more likely to resist rather than promote foreign adventures.
With a second President Clinton, we can expect to sustain progressive programs from the last two Democratic administrations. We can expect strong opposition to scams left from the last Republican one, such as its attempts to sell out national assets and shutter pollution regulation.
There is a major lapse in judgment waiting to be corrected: a quagmire left from launching the Affordable Care programs without any Republican support and without sound financial plans. Few national figures have more experience with the topic than Hillary Clinton.
The two candidates from small parties offer nothing comparable. When at his best, the Republican candidate is a sick joke. His hero is Richard Nixon, the only President to resign the office and the historical promoter of racism that now pervades the Republican Party.
Hillary Clinton is well qualified to serve as President. She deserves our support.
Editorial, Hillary Clinton for President, Boston Globe, October 8, 2016
Patrick Healy and Alan Rappeport, Tape reveals Donald Trump bragging about groping women, New York Times, October 7, 2016
Editorial, Hillary Clinton for President, New York Times, September 25, 2016
This entry was posted in Elections, Environment, History, People on October 8, 2016 by Craig Bolon.


text:
Just In: 17-year-old arrested for allegedly impregnating 10 ladies in Rivers
The Rivers Police Command has arrested a 17-year-old boy for allegedly impregnating 10 ladies.
The suspect, Noble Uzuchi, was nabbed with his accomplice, Chigozie Ogbonna, 29.
According to the authorities, the two suspects and two other ladies, Favour Bright and Peace Alikoi, were allegedly running a baby factory.
Rivers Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Grace Iringe-Koko, said the arrests were carried out following a tipoff.
In a statement, Iringe-Koko stated the four suspects operated in the Obio/Akpor and Ikwerre local government areas of the state before their arrest.
She added the 10 pregnant ladies had been rescued by the Force operatives after the raid and arrest of the suspects.
On Saturday, January 7, 2023, around 4.45 pm, while acting on credible intelligence available to the Rivers State Police Command, C4I Intelligence Unit operatives raided two houses at Igwuruta and Omagwa communities respectively, where victims of child trafficking were being kept.
"The victims rescued in the operation are 10, most of them pregnant," she said.
She claimed that investigations found that when a victim delivered her baby, the syndicate leader kept the child and paid N500,000 while some of the babies previously delivered in the houses had been sold.
"All the victims confessed that they were lured to the illicit sales of children because of the need to meet some financial challenges. A Honda Pilot Jeep, white, was recovered from the syndicate leader," she added.
I Don't Belong To Any Party; I Won't Join Any Campaign Train – Ex-President, Obasanjo Replies Critics
Supreme Court, education ministry, 50 others are 'High Corruption Risk' – ICPC


text:
\section{Introduction}
\noindent
We have always wondered why people have the opinions they have.
Why did mediaeval Europeans think their souls would pass through purgatory after they died~\cite{Zaleski2018}?
Why did the Germans before the war think that Jews posed a mortal threat to their nation?~\cite{Weitz2015}
Why do some people today think that passenger aircraft spray us with poisonous chemicals~\cite{chemtrails}?
Where do these spontaneous clusters of consensus originate?
From a distance of a few generations, a few hundred kilometers, or a few social classes they look almost incredible.
Nevertheless, they are real and sometimes they matter more than governments, parliaments, and constitutions~\cite{Ferguson2018}.

\section{The Model}
Let me tell you how I come to an opinion.
I think today what I thought yesterday, just a little bit more.
That is if I haven't talked about the matter with anyone and if I haven't received any new information.
Without any interaction with the world, my opinions tend to strengthen themselves.
(My wife says only men work this way, and that is the problem.)

Let us assume that my opinion on a certain matter (e.g. \textit{Brexit}) lies somewhere between
``absolutely nay'' ($x=-1$) and ``aye by all means'' ($x=+1$).
The self-amplification of the opinion may be modelled by the relation
\begin{equation}\label{tvrdohlav}
	x_{t+1} = \sqrt[3]{x_t},
\end{equation}
where $x_t$ denotes my opinion yesterday and $x_{t+1}$ my opinion today.
The choice of the cube root is not essential;
any odd extension of an increasing concave function $f:[0,1] \to [0,1]$ would work.
Figure \ref{fig:tvrdohlav} shows the behaviour of a single opinion repeatedly
amplified through function (\ref{tvrdohlav}).
In a hypothetical world where no one interacts with anyone else and no one receives any new information,
all opinions slowly drift to an extreme. Those who started with a slightly positive opinion $(x_0>0),$
will end up as extremists $(x_\infty=1).$ Those who started with a slightly negative opinion $(x_0<0)$
will also end up extreme $(x_\infty = -1).$ Only the phlegmatic $(x_0=0)$ will stay phlegmatic forever $(x_\infty=0).$

\begin{figure}[ht!]
\includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{cbrt2.png}
\caption{Self-amplification of an opinion.
An opinion $x_t$ of a person is modelled by a number between 0 and 1.
In a hypothetical world where no one interacts with anyone else and no one receives any new information,
the opinion amplifies itself through equation (\ref{tvrdohlav}).
The figure shows the graph of $f(x) = \sqrt[3]{x}.$
Three iterations of this mapping are shown for $x_0 = 0.5.$}
\label{fig:tvrdohlav}
\end{figure}

In the real world, however, we are inter-connected by a web of friendship, hostility, media, and social networks
where we exchange information and opinions. Whenever I read something about \textit{Brexit} in the newspaper,
see something on TV, or talk to friends or foes, I correct my opinion according to what I learn.
This mechanism may be captured by the relation
\begin{equation}\label{difuse}
	x_{t+1} = \frac{ y_t^1 + y_t^2 + \dots + y_t^N}{N}
\end{equation}
where $x_{t+1}$ denotes my opinion today and $y_t^i$ denotes the opinion of my $i-$th source yesterday.
This relation describes a completely affectable person whose opinion today is a simple arithmetic mean of the opinions of his friends yesterday
-- the dream of a marketing specialist come true.

A more realistic mechanism for the spreading of opinions in a society may be a combination of the two approaches described above. Most classical approaches do not include opinion drift (\ref{tvrdohlav})
(see ~\cite{Noorazar2019} for a recent review);
however, we will show that it is a key factor which makes the model non-linear and thus interesting.

Let us assume a group of $N$ individuals (vertices/nodes) inter-connected by certain links (edges).
The links are described by the adjacency matrix $A,$ the elements of which are either zeroes or ones,
\begin{equation}
    a_{ij} =
    \begin{cases}
        $1$,  & \text{if nodes}\ i\ \text{and}\ j\ \text{are connected by an edge,}\\
        $0$,  & \text{if nodes}\ i\ \text{and}\ j\ \text{are not connected}.
    \end{cases}
\end{equation}
For the sake of simplicity, we assume that the graph is unweighted
(all the links are positive with a unit weight)
and undirectional $(a_{ij} = a_{ji}).$
It is straightforward to include directional edges (The Economist influences me and not vice versa),
more or less important edges (my wife has more influence on me than my cat),
and edges with negative weights (it is a matter of honour not to align my opinion with Russia Today).

Let us focus on a certain matter that may be subject to an opinion.
The value $x_t^i \in [-1,1]$ denotes the opinion of individual $i$ at time $t.$
The combination of the mechanisms (\ref{tvrdohlav}) and (\ref{difuse}) reads
\begin{equation}\label{oba}
	x_{t+1}^i = \alpha \, \sqrt[3]{x_t^i} + \frac{1-\alpha}{k_i} \, \sum_{j=1}^N a_{ij} x_t^j
\end{equation}
The term $k_i$ denotes the degree of the respective vertex (i.e. the number of its neighbours),
which is given by
$$	k_i = \sum_{j=1}^N a_{ij}. $$
The term $(1-\alpha) \in [0,1]$ captures the ``affectability'' of the system.
For $\alpha$ close to one, mechanism (\ref{tvrdohlav}) prevails, while for $\alpha$ close to zero mechanism (\ref{difuse}) prevails.
For simplicity, let us assume that all individuals have the same affectability.

\section{Simulation Results}
The model is so simple that it contains only two features to investigate:
(1) the affectability $\alpha$,
and (2) the type of connectivity of the network given by the adjacency matrix $A$.
The behaviour of the model naturally also depends on the initial condition,
which will be sampled randomly from a uniform distribution on $[-1,1]$.

It has been shown~\cite{Barabasi1999} that the human interaction network can be captured
by what are called scale-free models.
Scale-free networks are characterized by a vast majority of vertices of
low degree and a few vertices with a very large degree (hubs).
More precisely, the frequency of vertices of degree $k$ decreases as $k^{-\gamma},$
where $\gamma$ usually lies between 2 and 3.
We chose such a scale-free model (Barabási-Albert model~\cite{Barabasi1999})
for the simulation of opinion spreading for various values of  $\alpha.$
We generated a scale-free network by means of the NetworkX package~\cite{NetworkX}.
The network generation process started with a small network of $m < N$ nodes.
Nodes were added until the desired network size was reached.
The probability of the connection of a new node $A$ to an already existing node  $B$
was proportional to the degree of $B.$
See Figure \ref{fig:net} for an example of a simulated scale-free network.

\begin{figure}[!tbp]
  \centering
  \subfloat[Initial state.]{\includegraphics[width=0.4\textwidth]{pre.jpg}\label{fig:pre}}
  \hfill
  \subfloat[Final state.]{\includegraphics[width=0.4\textwidth]{post.jpg}\label{fig:post}}
\caption{A typical scale-free network.
This is an illustrative example of a small network ($N=200$ and $m=2$);
a network that was five times larger was used for the simulations.
The initial opinion distribution was drawn from a uniform distribution.
Nodes with a positive opinion (blue) and nodes with a negative opinion (red).}
\label{fig:net}
\end{figure}

Let us now simulate the spreading of opinions
\footnote{The source code of the simulation is available at \url{https://github.com/DostalJ/OpinionModel}.}
by means of equation (\ref{oba}) on a scale-free network
with the parameters $N=1000$ and $m=2$ (a network five times larger than the one in Figure \ref{fig:net}).
The value of $\alpha$ is increased from $0$ to $1$ with step $0.02.$
For each value of  $\alpha,$ 50 simulations of the model (\ref{oba}) are performed,
each time with a different initial condition randomly sampled from a uniform distribution on $[-1,1].$
The simulation is terminated after an equilibrium has been reached.
In the final equilibrium state, the mean opinion is computed
$$	P = \frac{1}{N} \sum_{i=1}^N x_\infty^i $$
and its variability is measured by the standard deviation
$$	V = \frac{1}{N} \sqrt{\sum_{i=1}^N (x_\infty^i - P)^2} $$
For each simulation, the mean equilibrium opinion $P$ is depicted by a black cross
in Figure \ref{fig:ba-model}.
Its standard deviation is plotted by an orange dot.
Altogether, $50 \times 50$ simulations are performed, so Figure \ref{fig:ba-model}
contains $2500$ crosses and the same number of dots.
For example, the simulation for $\alpha = 0.1$ yields all the crosses either at $P=1$ or $P=-1,$
with the standard deviation always at zero.
This means that all the simulations ended with everyone taking the same extreme opinion,
either $x=-1$ or $x=1$ with no variation.
This is an absolute consensus on an extreme --
everyone takes the same extreme opinion and the consensus is absolute.
However, looking e.g. at $\alpha = 0.8,$ a different picture appears.
The crosses showing the mean equilibrium opinion $P$ form a line segment between $P \sim -0.1$ and $P \sim 0.1,$
while the standard deviation stays around $V=0.6$ for all the simulation runs.
This means that the system always stabilized in a plurality of non-extreme opinions.
There may be individuals taking an extreme opinion $x=+1$ or $x=-1;$
however, most of the nodes are moderate.
The fraction of positive and negative opinions in the equilibrium is similar, thus $P \sim 0$.
\begin{figure}[ht!]
\includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{3rdn1500,m2+v.png}
\caption{
Summary of the 2,500 runs of the model on a scale-free network with $N=1000$ and $m=2.$
For each simulation, the mean equilibrium opinion $P$ is shown (black cross) and also
the standard deviation $V$ of the equilibrium opinion (orange dot).
The horizontal axis shows the affectability of the system.
See the text for details.}
\label{fig:ba-model}
\end{figure}

The most remarkable region in Figure \ref{fig:ba-model} lies around $\alpha = 0.65,$
where there is a transition between the absolute consensus on an extreme and plurality of opinions.
A small change in $\alpha$ (e.g. from $0.67$ to $0.62$) may lead to the sudden
emergence of an absolute consensus on an extreme
without any change in the structure of the network.

\section{Discussion}
If there is anything realistic about this toy model,
we should wonder which processes may alter the value of $\alpha.$
Education is an obvious candidate.
Socrates' famous quote ``Scio me nihil scire'' (which probably comes neither from Socrates nor in this form)~\cite{Socrates-wiki}
reminds us that the more we know, the more nuanced the opinions we form are and the less convinced about them we are.
Let us assume that education makes one more attentive to the opinions of others
and thus \emph{increases} the affectability of the system (and consequently reduces $\alpha$).
This assumption is very natural -- much research shows a correlation between lower education and extreme opinions~\cite{Davies2003}.
Suddenly, we face a fascinating emergent behaviour of the system:
as the level of education in a society grows, affectability increases and the society may quite suddenly
switch from a healthy plurality of moderate opinions into the state of an absolute consensus on an extreme.
This transition is very counter-intuitive.
On the level of an individual, higher affectability makes one more attentive to the opinions of others.
However, on the level of the society, the effect of higher affectability is quite the opposite in a rather dramatic way.

Naturally, one may disagree with the assumptions of the toy model,
and doubt the interpretation of its parameters.
However, there is at least one reason to give it a second thought:
many historians keep wondering why people in pre-war Germany --
probably the most educated society in the world at that time~\cite{Elon2004} --
succumbed to mass psychosis and decided to exterminate many of their neighbours.
As this toy model shows, emergent effects in complex networks may be very counter-intuitive.

\medskip

\bibliographystyle{abbrvnat}

\section{Introduction}
\noindent
We have always wondered why people have the opinions they have.
Why did mediaeval Europeans think their souls would pass through purgatory after they died~\cite{Zaleski2018}?
Why did the Germans before the war think that Jews posed a mortal threat to their nation?~\cite{Weitz2015}
Why do some people today think that passenger aircraft spray us with poisonous chemicals~\cite{chemtrails}?
Where do these spontaneous clusters of consensus originate?
From a distance of a few generations, a few hundred kilometers, or a few social classes they look almost incredible.
Nevertheless, they are real and sometimes they matter more than governments, parliaments, and constitutions~\cite{Ferguson2018}.

\section{The Model}
Let me tell you how I come to an opinion.
I think today what I thought yesterday, just a little bit more.
That is if I haven't talked about the matter with anyone and if I haven't received any new information.
Without any interaction with the world, my opinions tend to strengthen themselves.
(My wife says only men work this way, and that is the problem.)

Let us assume that my opinion on a certain matter (e.g. \textit{Brexit}) lies somewhere between
``absolutely nay'' ($x=-1$) and ``aye by all means'' ($x=+1$).
The self-amplification of the opinion may be modelled by the relation
\begin{equation}\label{tvrdohlav}
	x_{t+1} = \sqrt[3]{x_t},
\end{equation}
where $x_t$ denotes my opinion yesterday and $x_{t+1}$ my opinion today.
The choice of the cube root is not essential;
any odd extension of an increasing concave function $f:[0,1] \to [0,1]$ would work.
Figure \ref{fig:tvrdohlav} shows the behaviour of a single opinion repeatedly
amplified through function (\ref{tvrdohlav}).
In a hypothetical world where no one interacts with anyone else and no one receives any new information,
all opinions slowly drift to an extreme. Those who started with a slightly positive opinion $(x_0>0),$
will end up as extremists $(x_\infty=1).$ Those who started with a slightly negative opinion $(x_0<0)$
will also end up extreme $(x_\infty = -1).$ Only the phlegmatic $(x_0=0)$ will stay phlegmatic forever $(x_\infty=0).$

\begin{figure}[ht!]
\includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{cbrt2.png}
\caption{Self-amplification of an opinion.
An opinion $x_t$ of a person is modelled by a number between 0 and 1.
In a hypothetical world where no one interacts with anyone else and no one receives any new information,
the opinion amplifies itself through equation (\ref{tvrdohlav}).
The figure shows the graph of $f(x) = \sqrt[3]{x}.$
Three iterations of this mapping are shown for $x_0 = 0.5.$}
\label{fig:tvrdohlav}
\end{figure}

In the real world, however, we are inter-connected by a web of friendship, hostility, media, and social networks
where we exchange information and opinions. Whenever I read something about \textit{Brexit} in the newspaper,
see something on TV, or talk to friends or foes, I correct my opinion according to what I learn.
This mechanism may be captured by the relation
\begin{equation}\label{difuse}
	x_{t+1} = \frac{ y_t^1 + y_t^2 + \dots + y_t^N}{N}
\end{equation}
where $x_{t+1}$ denotes my opinion today and $y_t^i$ denotes the opinion of my $i-$th source yesterday.
This relation describes a completely affectable person whose opinion today is a simple arithmetic mean of the opinions of his friends yesterday
-- the dream of a marketing specialist come true.

A more realistic mechanism for the spreading of opinions in a society may be a combination of the two approaches described above. Most classical approaches do not include opinion drift (\ref{tvrdohlav})
(see ~\cite{Noorazar2019} for a recent review);
however, we will show that it is a key factor which makes the model non-linear and thus interesting.

Let us assume a group of $N$ individuals (vertices/nodes) inter-connected by certain links (edges).
The links are described by the adjacency matrix $A,$ the elements of which are either zeroes or ones,
\begin{equation}
    a_{ij} =
    \begin{cases}
        $1$,  & \text{if nodes}\ i\ \text{and}\ j\ \text{are connected by an edge,}\\
        $0$,  & \text{if nodes}\ i\ \text{and}\ j\ \text{are not connected}.
    \end{cases}
\end{equation}
For the sake of simplicity, we assume that the graph is unweighted
(all the links are positive with a unit weight)
and undirectional $(a_{ij} = a_{ji}).$
It is straightforward to include directional edges (The Economist influences me and not vice versa),
more or less important edges (my wife has more influence on me than my cat),
and edges with negative weights (it is a matter of honour not to align my opinion with Russia Today).

Let us focus on a certain matter that may be subject to an opinion.
The value $x_t^i \in [-1,1]$ denotes the opinion of individual $i$ at time $t.$
The combination of the mechanisms (\ref{tvrdohlav}) and (\ref{difuse}) reads
\begin{equation}\label{oba}
	x_{t+1}^i = \alpha \, \sqrt[3]{x_t^i} + \frac{1-\alpha}{k_i} \, \sum_{j=1}^N a_{ij} x_t^j
\end{equation}
The term $k_i$ denotes the degree of the respective vertex (i.e. the number of its neighbours),
which is given by
$$	k_i = \sum_{j=1}^N a_{ij}. $$
The term $(1-\alpha) \in [0,1]$ captures the ``affectability'' of the system.
For $\alpha$ close to one, mechanism (\ref{tvrdohlav}) prevails, while for $\alpha$ close to zero mechanism (\ref{difuse}) prevails.
For simplicity, let us assume that all individuals have the same affectability.

\section{Simulation Results}
The model is so simple that it contains only two features to investigate:
(1) the affectability $\alpha$,
and (2) the type of connectivity of the network given by the adjacency matrix $A$.
The behaviour of the model naturally also depends on the initial condition,
which will be sampled randomly from a uniform distribution on $[-1,1]$.

It has been shown~\cite{Barabasi1999} that the human interaction network can be captured
by what are called scale-free models.
Scale-free networks are characterized by a vast majority of vertices of
low degree and a few vertices with a very large degree (hubs).
More precisely, the frequency of vertices of degree $k$ decreases as $k^{-\gamma},$
where $\gamma$ usually lies between 2 and 3.
We chose such a scale-free model (Barabási-Albert model~\cite{Barabasi1999})
for the simulation of opinion spreading for various values of  $\alpha.$
We generated a scale-free network by means of the NetworkX package~\cite{NetworkX}.
The network generation process started with a small network of $m < N$ nodes.
Nodes were added until the desired network size was reached.
The probability of the connection of a new node $A$ to an already existing node  $B$
was proportional to the degree of $B.$
See Figure \ref{fig:net} for an example of a simulated scale-free network.

\begin{figure}[!tbp]
  \centering
  \subfloat[Initial state.]{\includegraphics[width=0.4\textwidth]{pre.jpg}\label{fig:pre}}
  \hfill
  \subfloat[Final state.]{\includegraphics[width=0.4\textwidth]{post.jpg}\label{fig:post}}
\caption{A typical scale-free network.
This is an illustrative example of a small network ($N=200$ and $m=2$);
a network that was five times larger was used for the simulations.
The initial opinion distribution was drawn from a uniform distribution.
Nodes with a positive opinion (blue) and nodes with a negative opinion (red).}
\label{fig:net}
\end{figure}

Let us now simulate the spreading of opinions
\footnote{The source code of the simulation is available at \url{https://github.com/DostalJ/OpinionModel}.}
by means of equation (\ref{oba}) on a scale-free network
with the parameters $N=1000$ and $m=2$ (a network five times larger than the one in Figure \ref{fig:net}).
The value of $\alpha$ is increased from $0$ to $1$ with step $0.02.$
For each value of  $\alpha,$ 50 simulations of the model (\ref{oba}) are performed,
each time with a different initial condition randomly sampled from a uniform distribution on $[-1,1].$
The simulation is terminated after an equilibrium has been reached.
In the final equilibrium state, the mean opinion is computed
$$	P = \frac{1}{N} \sum_{i=1}^N x_\infty^i $$
and its variability is measured by the standard deviation
$$	V = \frac{1}{N} \sqrt{\sum_{i=1}^N (x_\infty^i - P)^2} $$
For each simulation, the mean equilibrium opinion $P$ is depicted by a black cross
in Figure \ref{fig:ba-model}.
Its standard deviation is plotted by an orange dot.
Altogether, $50 \times 50$ simulations are performed, so Figure \ref{fig:ba-model}
contains $2500$ crosses and the same number of dots.
For example, the simulation for $\alpha = 0.1$ yields all the crosses either at $P=1$ or $P=-1,$
with the standard deviation always at zero.
This means that all the simulations ended with everyone taking the same extreme opinion,
either $x=-1$ or $x=1$ with no variation.
This is an absolute consensus on an extreme --
everyone takes the same extreme opinion and the consensus is absolute.
However, looking e.g. at $\alpha = 0.8,$ a different picture appears.
The crosses showing the mean equilibrium opinion $P$ form a line segment between $P \sim -0.1$ and $P \sim 0.1,$
while the standard deviation stays around $V=0.6$ for all the simulation runs.
This means that the system always stabilized in a plurality of non-extreme opinions.
There may be individuals taking an extreme opinion $x=+1$ or $x=-1;$
however, most of the nodes are moderate.
The fraction of positive and negative opinions in the equilibrium is similar, thus $P \sim 0$.
\begin{figure}[ht!]
\includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{3rdn1500,m2+v.png}
\caption{
Summary of the 2,500 runs of the model on a scale-free network with $N=1000$ and $m=2.$
For each simulation, the mean equilibrium opinion $P$ is shown (black cross) and also
the standard deviation $V$ of the equilibrium opinion (orange dot).
The horizontal axis shows the affectability of the system.
See the text for details.}
\label{fig:ba-model}
\end{figure}

The most remarkable region in Figure \ref{fig:ba-model} lies around $\alpha = 0.65,$
where there is a transition between the absolute consensus on an extreme and plurality of opinions.
A small change in $\alpha$ (e.g. from $0.67$ to $0.62$) may lead to the sudden
emergence of an absolute consensus on an extreme
without any change in the structure of the network.

\section{Discussion}
If there is anything realistic about this toy model,
we should wonder which processes may alter the value of $\alpha.$
Education is an obvious candidate.
Socrates' famous quote ``Scio me nihil scire'' (which probably comes neither from Socrates nor in this form)~\cite{Socrates-wiki}
reminds us that the more we know, the more nuanced the opinions we form are and the less convinced about them we are.
Let us assume that education makes one more attentive to the opinions of others
and thus \emph{increases} the affectability of the system (and consequently reduces $\alpha$).
This assumption is very natural -- much research shows a correlation between lower education and extreme opinions~\cite{Davies2003}.
Suddenly, we face a fascinating emergent behaviour of the system:
as the level of education in a society grows, affectability increases and the society may quite suddenly
switch from a healthy plurality of moderate opinions into the state of an absolute consensus on an extreme.
This transition is very counter-intuitive.
On the level of an individual, higher affectability makes one more attentive to the opinions of others.
However, on the level of the society, the effect of higher affectability is quite the opposite in a rather dramatic way.

Naturally, one may disagree with the assumptions of the toy model,
and doubt the interpretation of its parameters.
However, there is at least one reason to give it a second thought:
many historians keep wondering why people in pre-war Germany --
probably the most educated society in the world at that time~\cite{Elon2004} --
succumbed to mass psychosis and decided to exterminate many of their neighbours.
As this toy model shows, emergent effects in complex networks may be very counter-intuitive.

\medskip

\bibliographystyle{abbrvnat}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


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text:
Anomalopus verreauxi est une espèce de sauriens de la famille des Scincidae.

Répartition
Cette espèce est endémique d'Australie. Elle se rencontre dans le Queensland et en Nouvelle-Galles du Sud.

Étymologie
Cette espèce est nommée en l'honneur de Jules Verreaux.

Publication originale
 Duméril & Duméril, 1851 : Catalogue méthodique de la collection des reptiles du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris. Gide et Baudry/Roret, Paris,  (texte intégral).

Liens externes

Notes et références

Saurien (nom scientifique)
Sphenomorphinae
Faune endémique d'Australie

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia