Daily Archives: February 20, 2017

Political correctness on a downward spiral – NCC Linked

Posted: February 20, 2017 at 7:22 pm

Political correctness some call for it to be laid to rest. However, political correctness is not down, its stock value is.

Political correctness is definitely experiencing a decline. Looking at Donald Trumps Cabinet alone would make me sell my futures in political correctness. Trump fought political correctness throughout his campaign and cites saving time as a reason for not being politically correct. Recently on Face the Nation, Trump said that he thought America was being too politically correct on Muslims.

Political correctness in the chivalrous sense is dead, the attack on the politically correct has gone on even after the election. The alt-right are an easy target for examples of the death of political correctness.

After the Ghost Ship fire, there was an alt-right-linked call to hunt DIY spaces. Such spaces are known for being all-inclusive, but were labeled as liberal hideouts. Twelve spaces in total were shut down, Nashville being hard hit as well as California.

Chicagos scene had its casualties over the course of 2016 for unrelated reasons, but it remains a stronghold for the creative and the inclusive. The Oakland fire shined a light on an art scene in the midst of a housing crisis. The alt-right saw it as an opportunity to report all artspaces and illegal venues to crush the radical left.

Gabe Meline writes in an article for KQED Arts about the Oakland space: They dont understand why the floor is so rickety, the lamps dont have shades, the wall is painted three different colors and the table is made of scrap wood.

Meline says that those who criminalized the attendees of the Ghost Ship space asattendees of an illegal event dont understand why those spaces exist.

Often, spaces dont last. I remember seeing pictures of former Chicago venue The Keep being disassembled soon after attending one of its last shows. These venues are not often permanent fixtures. In recent years, the community has organized an annual poster listing the DIY venues and the deceased venues. The dead venue count and the currently active count are often close.

The Chicago DIY community reacted to the Oakland fire by calling for town halls to resume and for venues to have clearly labeled exits and fire extinguishers. While initially people tossed around ideas such as holding a benefit show to raise money for fire extinguishers for every DIY venue in the city, venues have already begun purchasing them on their own, if they did not already have them.

The reactionary witchhunting of safe spaces for dialogue and art is a sign of the downturn of political correctness. Ten days after the election, 867 hate crimes occurred, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, 23 of which were anti-Trump.

In the defense of political correctness, the ACLU received record amounts of donations after the election, although Time magazine says this is because organizations like ACLU and Planned Parenthood may feel under threat from the Trump administration. Fear of retribution for not being politically correct may have driven some people in the past, however, fear of being politically obsolete may drive some people now.

Donald Trump tookoffice on Jan. 20, 2017. Whether or not this will result in even more hate crimes or donations to special interest organizations remains to be seen.

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Populist correctness: the new PC culture of Trump’s America and Brexit Britain – The Guardian

Posted: at 7:22 pm

Its not easy being green a petition complained about Kermits interspecies romance with Miss Piggy. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

An Englishman, a Frenchman and an American man walk into a bar and make whatever jokes they want because have you heard? political correctness is dead. Donald Trump and Brexit have sent it to its grave. You can say whatever you like now, offend whoever you like!

Well, not quite.

From the gender-neutral ashes of political correctness a new sort of PC culture has risen. You could call it populist correctness: a virulent policing of language and stifling of debate that is rapidly and perniciously insinuating itself into daily life in Trumps America and Brexit Britain.

Populist correctness is the smearing and silencing of points of view by labelling them elitist and therefore at odds with the will of the people and the good of the country. Take, for example, the rhetoric around remoaners, which can be summed up as the people have spoken, so the rest of you should shut up. Opposing Brexit, Britains tabloids tell us almost daily, is unpatriotic and undemocratic. See, for example, front-page headlines such as: Damn the unpatriotic Bremoaners and their plot to subvert the will of the British people and Time to silence Brexit whingers. Silencing opposing views would normally be seen as incompatible with the freedom of speech conservatives are supposed to hold so dear.

But the cunning thing about populist correctness is the way it dresses dogma up as democracy, invoking a majority consensus of opinion it doesnt actually command. Theresa May, for example, recently warned MPs not to stand in the way of Brexit, stating: Now is not the time to obstruct the democratically expressed wishes of the British people. Strictly speaking, of course, Brexit wasnt the will of the people. About 17.4 million people voted leave; 16.1 million voted remain; 12.9 million didnt vote. The wishes of the British people are complicated. The same goes for the US, where almost 3 million more Americans voted for Clinton than for Trump. But populist correctness doesnt bother itself with inconvenient details. Rather it carves the country up into a neat dichotomy of ordinary people versus the elite.

As well as silencing opposing opinions by branding them elitist, populist correctness works to rebrand ideas, creating a new vocabulary for a new world order. The right prides itself on being straight-talking, on calling a spade a spade, but when it comes to calling a Nazi a Nazi or a racist a racist well then, things are more vague. They are the alt-right, please. Use unacceptable terminology and they will get very angry indeed.

But whats this? I thought an easily triggered outrage button was the preserve of politically correct liberals? From the vitriol the right heaps on sensitive snowflakes, youd think they have skins as thick as elephants. Far from it: nobody is offended by quite such a wide range of banal things as conservatives. Everything from insufficiently Christmassy Starbucks coffee cups to Budweiser ads to Kermit the Frogs lack of trousers seems to cause an outpouring of outrage. And, while jokes about minorities or women may be considered just banter, dont even try joking about white people thats reverse-racism! Indeed, many triggered rightwingers recently deleted their Netflix accounts in protest against a new comedy show called Dear White People.

Holiday greetings are another hot-button issue. A survey by Public Policy Polling found very conservative Americans were more than twice as likely to be personally offended by someone saying Happy holidays to them (21%) as very liberal respondents to be offended by someone saying Merry Christmas (10%) to them.

Kneeling down can also trigger conservatives. Last year, the American football player Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the national anthem to protest against racism. This caused distress to many patriots. A conservative post that went viral said: My heart is exploding, my lungs are without air my body is shaking, and tears are running down my face. Kaepernick is refusing to stand for the national anthem. But liberals are the sensitive snowflakes eh?

Trump is, of course, king of the snowflakes, flying into a rage at any hint of criticism. He has even, seemingly unironically, called for safe spaces. Last year, after cast members of Hamilton politely criticised Mike Pence, he tweeted: The theater must always be a safe and special place. The cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike Pence. Apologize!

Conservatives are impressively adept at belittling politically correct snowflakes one minute and flying into fits of ideological outrage the next. Snowflakes are to be mocked because they take things personally; their feelings are hurt. The outrage of populist correctness, however, is framed more as righteous indignation. It is not you who is offended. You are offended on behalf of the people. On behalf of your country. Your outrage is morally superior.

The most dangerous thing about populist correctness is the way liberals have been swept into it. Always keen for a little self-flagellation, the triumph of Trump and Brexit triggered a crisis of liberal confidence. Perhaps we have been out-of-touch and elitist, wrote columnist after columnist. Perhaps political correctness did go too far. Perhaps we shouldnt say racist, perhaps we should say alt-right. Populist correctness isnt just making us question our right to dissent, its quite literally putting words in our mouths.

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The folly of political correctness is exposed by one of its high priests … – The Times (subscription)

Posted: at 7:22 pm

February 20 2017, 5:00pm,The Times

Melanie Phillips

For decades, left-wing ideologies silence dissenters - but now there is a welcome backlash

For several years now, Trevor Phillips has been on a political journey. Originally a fully paid-up member of the metropolitan liberal set, the former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission has been regularly denouncing some of the shibboleths to which he previously subscribed.

On Thursday he will take this further. In a documentary on Channel 4, he will blame political correctness for the rise of populism throughout the West.

The reason nobody saw the peoples revolt coming is that political correctness is too easily dismissed. At best it is viewed as a kind of idiocy that takes the avoidance of giving offence to absurd lengths; at worst, as the unpleasantly assertive politics of identity and group rights.

Phillips appears to understand that, far

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COLUMN: Beware eugenics – Indiana Daily Student

Posted: at 7:22 pm

A panel of researchers from the National Academy of Science and the National Academy of Medicine released a report last week indicating preliminary support for embryonic gene editing in cases of severe disease or disability.

This support for genome editing represents not only the potential alteration of human germlines, the genetic material we may pass on to our children, but also the crossing of an ethical line. Genetic selection, after all, has its own questionable historical lineage.

I believe germline editing is a eugenic process. From the Greek term for well-born, eugenics refers to the selection of heritable biological traits with the aim of producing ideal progeny.

Amid post-Darwinian theories of biological degeneracy in the 19th century, eugenics emerged as a scientifically backed effort to eliminate disability, mental illness and non-white races from the human gene pool through forced sterilization and other intrusive measures.

In the 20th-century United States, eugenic efforts consolidated into federally funded sterilization programs in 32 states, some of which endured well into the 1970s. Indiana, in fact, was the first in the world to enact compulsory eugenic sterilization legislation in 1907.

A notorious 1927 Supreme Court ruling in Buck v. Bell upheld the constitutionality of sterilization laws in the case of Carrie Buck, a woman deemed feebleminded and unfit in Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes majority opinion.

It is essential to recognize that eugenic practices received overwhelming scientific, medical and governmental backing in the name of public health. Though the practice is now acknowledged as unethical, it was legally dismantled only about half a century ago.

Embryonic gene editing procedures are not on the same ethical level as forced sterilization, but the processes nonetheless share eugenic goals.

An underlying principle of eugenics is that society gets to decide which conditions should be eliminated from the human gene pool.

This determination involves a subjective value judgment in selecting which specific diseases or disabilities should not be permitted to exist.

The panels report does acknowledge the troubling relationship between eugenics and human germline editing. While the awareness of this history is crucial in considering the ethical principles at stake, it does not resolve the problem.

The report offers no concrete guidelines for assessing which conditions qualify as severe disease or disability, nor does it clarify whether this determination would be based on quantitative measures, like fatality rates, or other more subjective measures.

Research for treatments is a better investment of resources, and it enables progress toward less ethically questionable options.

The National Institutes of Health currently allocate no funding to gene editing in embryos and for good reason.

Fortunately, it will likely require several years before embryonic gene editing would be a viable option. In the meantime, its time to reassess the ethical heritage of the practice: eugenics.

kmilvert@umail.iu.edu

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Must reads: Populism, sexism, cloning, and rudeness – GlobalComment.com

Posted: at 7:21 pm

Good morning! This week were delving into longreads on the present and future of women, the groundwork for Trump, andcloning? Follow us down the rabbit hole, please drop your favourite reads of the week in comments, and stay tuned this week, because we have an exciting announcement coming up!

Some of the most astute predictions about the rise of Trump came not from leftist visionaries, but sharp conservative thinkers which is perhaps a sharp reminder that reading conservatives can provide valuable insight into preventable situations.

But unlike the old kind of populism that struck terror in the hearts of the Founding Fathers, the new populism, as Kristol dubbed it, was nothing to worry about. In his view, the sentiments of the people now represented a common sense reaction against the un-wisdom of the elites. What was needed, he believed, was a strong leader who could rally the masses to reclaim American democracy from the clutches of liberal intellectuals, institute a faith-based government, and bind the nation together by preaching an assertive nationalism.

Women militants are often dismissed, belittled, or treated as secondary to their male counterparts. Society rarely allows women to respond to oppression with violence, to consider violence as a rational and reasonable reaction, and Ensler challenges this notion through conversations with women fighters.

I have interviewed women guerillas in the mountains of the Philippines and the indigenous Lumads fighting back against the mining corporations stealing and poisoning their lands, women in US prisons involved in the Black Liberation movement in the US imprisoned for violent acts. It is clear in joining militant movements that women escaped traditional oppressive gender role assignments in every society. Every woman I spoke to talked about rage, rage and helplessness in the face of state power. For them, becoming an armed militant was a way of expressing political outrage and not being rolled over by the neoliberal, racist, capitalist patriarchy. It was a way of keeping dignity and fighting for their families and land and traditions and life itself. It was a way of surviving.

The social contract that governs our conduct is faded, disrupted, chaotic. What does that mean for the way we interact with each other, and the world? Can we reclaim an age of manners?

The social code remains unwritten, and it has always interested me how many problems this poses in the matter of ascertaining the truth. The truth often appears in the guise of a threat to the social code. It has this in common with rudeness. When people tell the truth, they can experience a feeling of release from pretense that is perhaps similar to the release of rudeness. It might follow that people can mistake truth for rudeness, and rudeness for truth. It may only be by examining the aftermath of each that it becomes possible to prove which was which.

The editorial team at Catapult are consistently developing some of my favourite longreads on a regular basis I stop by at least once a week for absolutely stunning work. This layered, complicated, lyrical piece about being a woman in a world that hates women is a superb read.

Now there is only one man in my office who will hold a conversation with me without looking self-conscious. We are at a happy hour after a work conference where we talk about being writers. The conversation means something to me; it is raining outside and the bar is crowded and loud and we have all come from the conference and I am happy to talk about the thing I love best. Then we talk about our office. It turns out that he knows the story already. It turns out everyone knows the story, just as I feared. Im so happy, I could kiss you right now. I drink. I drink so much that later I will have to walk past my car and keep walking. I ask, is it something, or is it nothing? He hates the boss, too. Everyone hates the boss, wants him out, wants this to be something.

I have a vivid memory of hearing a report about Dolly the sheep on Morning Edition and the series of conversations the earthshattering event sparked what would cloning mean for society? 20 years later, we still arent sure.

Instantly understandable to an excited Mrs WalkerI knew we had done what we had thought we had donethe fax had been kept terse and cryptic because the breakthrough was, at the time, hush-hush. The existence of Dolly the sheep would not be revealed to the world at large until the following February, when a scientific paper was published in Natureat which point a furore broke out that went far beyond the scientific world.

If you enjoy our work, please consider supporting us witha one time or recurring donation. We believe in paying writers, andwe rely on our readers to help us continue serving up interesting, dynamic, and engaging commentary every weekday. To make sure you dont miss any of that commentary, you can subscribe to our newsletter below and if youre interested in writing for us, check outour contributor guidelines.

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15 Animals That Have Been Successfully Cloned by Scientists – Interesting Engineering

Posted: at 7:21 pm

Cloning, to some a glimpse of the future, to others a step too far. There can be no doubt, however, that this technology will have important ramifications for your future, for illor good no one can yet tell. Cloned steaks are currently available on supermarket shelves but cloning is nothing new. Animals have been cloned since 1885 when Hans Adolf Edward Dreisch cloned a sea urchin. Cloning may well be the saving grace for many an endangered species. If you believe inconspiracy theorieshumans have either already been cloned. There can, however, be no doubt that this is inevitable in the not too distant future.

In the mean-time, we will happily be consuming cloned meat, which in the US doesnt require producers to label as such. Lets have a look at fifteen animals that have been successfully cloned. The following list is not exhaustive and merely a selection of interesting examples for your pleasure. Youre welcome.

An Asian carp was successfully cloned in 1963 and a mere decade later Tong Dizhou also cloned a European crucian carp. We often think of cloning as a modern development so excusing the 1885 example this is actually amazing.

Perhaps the most famous of all cloned animals, Dolly was created artificially in 1996. Dolly lived to the grand old age of six. She was the first cloned mammal and to this day is considered a great success. There have been many versions of Dolly since, which is a little perturbing. The author has fond memories of first hearing of this breakthrough during his formative teenage years.

This cheeky little rodent was cloned in Hawaii in 1997. Unsurprisingly, Cumulima was the first successfully cloned mouse. She lived until the ripe old age of two years and seven months. This was a great achievement for her creators. She produced two litters and was, ahem, later retired.

The Japanese were quite prolific during the 90s and their cloning program. These two cows were created in 1998 and have subsequently been duplicated several thousand times since. Noto and Kaga have paved the way for many other clones engineered to produce improved meat and milk products.

Another example of a cloned ruminant, Mira was cloned in 1998. Mira and her sisters were created in a US lab as predecessors of livestock engineering for the pharmaceutical industry.

This family of clones, if an accurate collective term for clones, were created for modification to allow for human cell and organ transplant. Millie and her copies were created in 2000 by a US based company.

Ombretta is a great example of cloning for the good. Before Ombretta, Mouflon were an endangered species until, of course, 2001 when this species was brought back from the brink of extinction. This was a great example of how surrogacy can help to produce a viable clone of endangered species. Thanks, Ombretta.

The lab monkey world received its first clone in 2000. US-based Tetra is the first in a series of cloned monkeys that scientists could use as test subjects to learn more about diseases like diabetes.

Guar what now? A Guar is an Asian ox that has been dwindling in numbers. Thankfully, they were succesfully cloned in 2001. Sadly, Noah lived for two days and died of dysentery soon after.

Copy Cat could well be the starting gun for an entirely new industry of pet clones. Created in 2001 Copy Cat, was, well, a domestic cat. Copy Cat was the worlds first cloned pet.

Given the never-ending game of cat and, ahem, rat it is only fair to include Ralph. Ralph was one, or is it legion, of three rat pups created in 2002. Ralphs genetic makeup may well be used in research labs in the future. 129 embryos were implanted into two female rats with three being viable rats. Ok, so not a legion of rats, but it sounded cool ok? Is is just me who believes that rats arent exactly in need of cloning technology?

Mules are sterile right? Not if you clone them! Well yes, they are still sterile but this is a great way of sticking your middle finger up to biological boundaries. Idaho Gem was born in 2003.

No, not Prometheus damn your devious mindunless, well actually yes if you can speak Greek, of course. An Italian team created this cloned horse in 2003. The belief was that they could mass produce Italian stallions. Sadly the experiment failed. She was birthed by her own clone source parent.

Being endangered is not a prerequisite of cloning potential. The African Wildcat was cloned for no other reason than we just can. US scientists used Ditteaux as a template for cloning other, more vulnerable animals.

Who doesnt like ferrets? Surely if any animal was worthy of replication its these furry, limbed bitty snake beasts? Ok, I might be a bit biased. Libby and Lilly were cloned in 2004. But why? As it turns out, ferrets are useful for the study of human respiratory diseases. They are still nasty bitty furry snake monsters, however. They also smell of pee.

Sources:businesspundit.com

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From Mercury to Starliner: The Evolution of the Spacesuit – NBCNews.com

Posted: at 7:20 pm

10.

Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin stands on the moon on July 20, 1969. The plexiglass of his helmet reflects astronaut Neil Armstrong, taking his picture.

Walking on the Moon's surface a quarter million miles away from Earth presented a new set of problems to spacesuit designers. Not only did the moon explorers' spacesuits have to offer protection from jagged rocks, but the suits also had to be flexible enough to permit stooping and bending.

The suits had to provide protection from bombardment by micrometeoroids, tiny particles that constantly pelt the lunar surface from deep space, but also insulate the wearer from the temperature extremes of space.

Without the Earth's atmosphere to filter the sunlight, the side of a suit facing the Sun may be heated to a temperature as high as 250 degrees Fahrenheit; the other side, exposed to darkness of deep space, may get as cold as -250 degrees Fahrenheit.

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Doc: UConn’s success speaks volumes on evolution of women’s game – Cincinnati.com

Posted: at 7:20 pm

Connecticut Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma looks on from the sideline.(Photo: USA TODAY Sports/David Butler II)

After winning for the 100th straight time last week, the UConn womens basketball team almost lost at Tulane Saturday, which would have been like pizza losing to lima beans.

The Green Wave cut the Huskies' lead to two twice in the last 1:15, but missed its final three shots. What would have been an epic upset became instead consecutive win No. 101 for Connecticut, 63-60. Still, the Tulane women did something almost no one else has been able to do since UConns streak began on Nov. 17, 2014:

Made a UConn game compelling.

Took it off the assembly line of Ws. Made it more than another Globetrotters win over the Washington Generals. Made it competitive.

Count me among the legions fawning over Connecticuts streak, which is now 13 games longer than anything John Wooden achieved. Excellence and the attendant work required should never be taken for granted. UConn lost its three best players this season they went 1-2-3 in the WNBA draft and was picked No. 3 in the country yet still rules the world, as if by habit.

Greatness is making the difficult look routine. If there were a word higher than greatness, wed use it in this case. The Huskies dont have to apologize for being 101-0. Everyone else does.

In the process of creating a kingdom all its own, Connecticut has turned the rest of womens college basketball into sharecroppers. In fashioning singular greatness, the Huskies have shown how far the rest of the league still has to go.

In 2015, 349 Division I schools had womens basketball teams. A total of 5,124 women took part. Each team could have a maximum of 15 players on scholarship. Not one school could find enough good players to at least compete with Connecticut?

Dominance requires partners. Otherwise, its just looking into a mirror. Given that womens college basketball has been ascendant for 25 years at least, why is itthat no school can come up with a roster that can keep UConn coach Geno Auriemma awake at night?

Here are some numbers. Here is statistical proof that UConn is the sneaker of womens basketball and everyone else is the bug:

Of the 100 wins, only two were by fewer than 10 points.

Twenty-five were by 50 points or more. Fifty-six were 40-plus. Fifty-six opponents were props. The average victory margin throughout 100-0: 38.4.

UConn is 9-0 this year against the top 5 teams in the country, winning by an average of 14. Earlier this year, the Huskies beat No. 20 South Florida, 102-37.

Cmon.

This isnt sports. Its performance art.

Why cant anyone give them a game? Why cant anyone given 15 scholarships and playing in a more prestigious league than the AAC recruit a roster capable of making the Huskies nervous? What does this say about the depth and breadth of talent in the womens game?

While we celebrate the greatness, shouldnt we also question the evolution?

The mens game is what it is now because no team dominates. March is Mad because none of us knows whose Moment might Shine. Seasons begin with a usual-suspects list of teams favored to win it all. But not even Kansas, Kentucky, Duke and North Carolina get automatic invites. And the fight for the crown always involves social strivers and climbers such as Butler, Villanova and, this year, Gonzaga.

There is mystery and genuine hope. Sports cant survive without both. There arent 38-point blowouts game after game.

I asked Scott Rogers about this. He coaches basketball at Mount Notre Dame. As the Cougars head coach, his teams have gone to the state title game three times and won it all twice. When Rogers was as an assistant, the Cougars won another. Rogers even sent a player, Mel Thomas, to UConn.

The frustrating part I see is teams subconsciously saying, If we stay within 10, weve done a good job, "Rogers said. Its almost like the streak has gotten inside the heads of some programs."

Rogers admires what Geno Auriemma has built. Not only does he get the top five players every year, he gets the top five he needs,"he said. But Rogers wonders if the lack of competition might turn off some fans. People dont want to watch people get beat by 50."

Thats the rub for the Huskies. Too good for everyone. Too good for their own sport.

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VOTD: The Evolution of CGI Faces in Movies – /FILM

Posted: at 7:20 pm

Visual effects in movies have advanced in a spectacular way in the relatively short history of cinema. What once was thought to be impossible to create in post-production has become a mainstay in blockbuster tentpoles. More recently, visual effects companies have become quite skilled in creating human faces entirely with computer generated imagery, and a new video essay shows us how this part of movie magic has evolved in a small window of time.

Watch the evolution of CGI faces in movies after the jump.

While there have been plenty movies that have used digital doubles, or used visual effects to replace a stunt persons face with a digital recreation of a performers face, this video focuses on visual effects used to bring a human face to life thats prominently used as a character complete with a performance. Thats why they dont include Avatar or Dawn of the Planet of the Apes or other movies with motion capture performance and visual effects used to bring non-human characters to life.

Instead, the video begins with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the earliest use of extensive visual effects used to create a human face with visual effects and utilize it for performance. Then theres bringing back young Jeff Bridges in TRON: Legacy, a visual effect that looks amazing in some shots and then like a video game in other shots.

There was an impressive leap in lifelike recreation in Furious 7, though that digital version of Paul Walker didnt have to do nearly as much as previous CGI creations. Meanwhile, Teminator: Genisys suffers from some of the same video game quality issues as TRON: Legacy, though the double of Arnold Schwarzenegger looks identical to some shots in The Terminator from 1984.

Then were brought up to today with footage of the somewhat controversial recreation of Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Though some fans complained that it looks fake, I maintain that Industrial Light & Magic pulled off something incredible, if only because several people I know (who didnt know Cushing was dead) had absolutely no idea the character was created with visual effects in the movie.

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The Great Evolution of Gordon Hayward – SLC Dunk

Posted: at 7:20 pm

Utah Jazz starting forward Gordon Hayward landed in New Orleans on Thursday, marking the first time in six years that a Jazzman has traveled to participate in the All-Star game.

Gordon Hayward described the whole experience as surreal, a description that could easily used when talking about his basketball career as a whole. His journey to becoming an NBA All-Star started years ago, long before he was considered a NBA heartthrob and long before he became Utahs first offensive option.

The once-lanky tennis player from Indiana has worked hard to transform into the reliable offensive power and decisive leader that Utah has needed for so long. Hayward has more than proven that his All-Star selection is well-deserved.

On Friday, after a long day of press interviews and while most of the other 2017 All-Stars were likely enjoying everything New Orleans has to offer, Gordon spent his afternoon working with Jazz assistant coach Johnnie Bryant. This incredible work ethic is central to the evolution of Gordon Hayward. His entire work-hard-play-hard mentality is what has driven his evolution into one of the 24 best players in the entire league.

Hes always been dedicated to the game and has made gradual improvement every season in the NBA. He has slowly bulked up, gaining pounds muscle since his sophomore year at Butler. His overall strength, both physical and mental, has increased, and that has translated into increased production on the court. But after failing to make the playoffs last season, Hayward decided that it wasnt enough. Gradual wasnt going to cut it.

Hayward went right to work after the season ended. Instead of going home to Indiana, Hayward decided to stay in Salt Lake City to work closely with Jazz coaching staff on improving his game. He even passed up the chance to play with Team USA in the summer Olympics. Instead, he stayed in SLC and challenged himself to make the final push that would evolve his overall game.

The 2016-17 season has been the best of Haywards career. Despite less game time on the court, hes averaging 22.2 points per game, a career high and the first time in his career that he has averaged more than 20 points. Hes shooting 46.5 percent from the field, 38.5 percent from the three, and 87 percent from the free-throw line. Hes also averaging 5.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game, giving him a shot at being one of the most versatile players to represent Utah for quite sometime.

Hayward has helped the Jazz to a 35-22 record, and at just 26-years-old, he has time to make even more All-Star appearances. Hes just barely entering the prime of his career. With his obvious dedication and work ethic, Gordon Hayward will only continue to transform his game to higher levels. Hes key to a playoff run for Utah, and its clear that hes up for the challenge.

Before Gordon Hayward and the other NBA All Stars took could take the court on Sunday night, the Roots turned the Smoothie King Center into a visual time machine as they tried to answer the one question fans always come back to.

We are culture that is obsessed with one question: Who is the greatest? said Black Thought, as the Roots began their original musical-visual performance. With the help of a handful of cultural icons, including DJ Jazzy Jeff and one half of Run DMC Darryl McDaniels, the Roots guided viewers through a retrospective (and incredibly profound) journey of each era of greatnessfrom the beboppin beginnings to the powerful present.

After listening to celebs present their arguments as to who was the greatest era in the NBA, Black Thought gave his ruling: Who really is the greatest? None of you are. True greatness is not comparison; its evolution. If this is trueif true greatness is evolutionthen Gordon Hayward could very well go down in history as one of the greats.

All you have to do is compare the player he is now to the player who took (and missed) the final shot of Butlers historic NCAA tournament run. He has evolved and transformed more as a player than most NBA players do in their entire careers. His hard work has paid off. From scrawny rookie to Mr. Steal-Your-Girl, Gordon Hayward hardly resembles the player he was when his journey began.

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The Great Evolution of Gordon Hayward - SLC Dunk

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