Category Archives: Evolution

Native St. Louisan Jonathan Losos is a Harvard University biology professor and director of Losos Laboratory at the university. He recently wrote the book Improbable Destinies: Fate, Chance and the Future of Evolution.

The book follows researchers across the world who are using experimental evolutionary science to learn more about our role in the natural world.

On Thursdays St. Louis on the Air, Losos joined host Don Marsh to discuss the science behind evolution and whats changing in todays world.

The scientific evidence that evolution has occurred is overwhelming, Losos said. We have ample evidence in the fossil record that documents one species changing to another. We can see that evolution happening today, before our eyes, and we can do experiments on evolution and see it occur.

On the day-to-day, Losos said scientists are able to see environmental pressures that spur natural selection and evolution, giving the example of antibiotic-resistant microbes. In humans, its not so palpable.

One could argue humans arent evolving so much anymore, Losos said. The reason for that is that for evolution by natural selection to occur, individuals with particular genetic variants must leave more offspring in the next generation. For example, if individuals with blue eyes produce more offspring, that would lead to evolution. But the way our culture has come to be, the link between physical characteristic and reproductive success is weak. Human evolution isnt happening so much anymore.

Listen to the full discussion about evolution and how it impacts the world we live in today here:

Harvard biologist Jonathan Losos discusses evolutionary biology and what it means in today's world with St. Louis on the Air host Don Marsh.

Related Event

What: St. Louis County Library Presents Jonathan Losos When: Thursday, August 17 at 7:00 p.m. Where: St. Louis County Library Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., St. Louis MO. 63131 More information.

St. Louis on the Airbrings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. St. Louis on the Air hostDon Marshand producersMary Edwards,Alex HeuerandKelly Moffittgive you the information you need to make informed decisions and stay in touch with our diverse and vibrant St. Louis region.

View original post here:

Harvard biologist, St. Louisan Jonathan Losos discusses evolution we see in the world today - St. Louis Public Radio

In July of this year, a prominent statue of antievolutionist William Jennings Bryan in Dayton, Tennessee acquired a new neighbora statue of Clarence Darrow, the evolutionist and criminal defense attorney who fought against Bryan in the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial. The new statue is largely funded by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and the trial itself was backed by the ACLU, which persuaded John Scopes, a local science teacher, to incriminate himself for violating the Tennessee Butler Act, which prohibited the teaching of evolution in state-funded schools. The trial garnered much attention during its eight-day run in 1925, including among African Americans.

Many Fundamentalist African Americans supported William Jennings Bryan, despite his lack of support for the black community. However, some church leaders, such as the Reverend W. H. Mosesthe campaign director for the National Baptist Conventionbelieved the focus on evolution would bridge the increasing divide between secular and religious African Americans. Historian Jeffrey P. Moran writes, Moses hoped that the trial would demonstrate that Christianity is strengthened by science rather than weakened and that the conflict would thus restore the confidence of the darker races in Christianity.

Southern black intellectuals viewed the fundamentalist nature of the South, among both blacks and whites, as counter to intellectual and socioeconomic progression.

While Moses desire largely went unfulfilled, the secular black elite championed evolution during this time, and even employed the Scopes trial in their twin struggle against white supremacy in the South and ministerial dominance throughout African America. The black newspaper the Washington Tribune connected the black struggle not just to Scopes, but also to his sister, who was denied employment as a math teacher based on her evolutionist opinions. The newspaper immediately connected the decision with the white Souths refusal to grant African Americans their rights because they might become trouble-makers and challenge the status quo.

Moran writes that part of the white, Southern antagonism against evolution was due to its perceived connection to interracial marriage and the increase of mixed race individuals who could not easily be classified. Other antievolutionists fought against the idea that races had not come from a single sourceAdam and Eve. Even evolutionists of the time, however, largely supported eugenics and the belief that African Americans, and other minorities, were less evolved than their white counterparts. In fact, the well-regarded textbook John Scopes used in his classroom promoted eugenics.

Despite evolutionists historical connection to racist ideology in the manner of intelligence tests, craniometry, and physical anthropology, the secular black elite saw these antiquated views slowly but positively leaving professional practice. For this reason, [b]lack intellectuals took the occasion of the Scopes trial to renew their struggle for influence within the overwhelmingly pious black community. They viewed the fundamentalist nature of the South, among both blacks and whites, as counter to intellectual and socioeconomic progression.

John Scopes ultimately lost the trial and was forced to pay a $100 fine. Though The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes did not end in favor of Scopes, Darrow, or the secular black elite, it paved the way for future recognition and legislative support for evolution. It also turned Dayton, Tennessee into place of national significance, where travelers and enthusiasts flock to the small town for the annual Scopes Trial Festival.

By: Jeffrey P. Moran

The Journal of American History, Vol. 90, No. 3 (Dec., 2003), pp. 891-911

Oxford University Press on behalf of Organization of American Historians

Comments are closed.

View original post here:

How African Americans Supported Evolution in the 1925 Scopes Trial - JSTOR Daily

Vegas lawyers confidents laws will follow pot evolution Columbus Ledger-Enquirer Just over two years after filling out tens of thousands of sheets of paperwork for their medical marijuana licenses, Nevada weed entrepreneurs didn't have it as bad this time around, according to lawyers in the new recreational industry. While first ... and more »

Here is the original post:

Vegas lawyers confidents laws will follow pot evolution - Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

Gone are the days of pro wrestling's biggest boom in the late 1990s when WWE, long the standard bearer in sports entertainment, faced legitimate opposition from rival WCW.

Westling has steadily evolved since those days and is currently in the midst of an entirely new renaissance of sorts. While WWE isn't in direct competition with one promotion from a financial standpoint, the quality of wrestling outside the walls of WWE is as critically strong as it has ever been in terms athleticism and performance.

It would seem one can look no further than New Japan Pro-Wrestling and its incredible month-long G1 Climax tournament (which wrapped last weekend with arguably its best showing in history) for WWE's best competitor from a critical standpoint. NJPW's hard-hitting and realistic style has rapidly gained fans in America, helped by July's "G1 Special in USA" card in Long Beach, California, the first independently promoted NJPW card in the United States.

But WWE executive and 14-time world champion Paul "Triple H" Levesque sings a much different tune. Appearing as a guest this week on CBS Sports' "In This Corner Podcast," Levesque had a much different idea about which competitor WWE's main roster needs to pay the most attention to.

"When you say, 'What's the No. 2 promotion?' and 'WWE doesn't have a promotion knocking on its door and pushing them,' Raw and SmackDown do," Levesque said. "Raw and SmackDown have a promotion right on their tail pushing them to do more. That promotion is going to run a show on Saturday night at the Barclays Center, and it's called NXT."

Levesque, 48, who has served as a patriarch for WWE's developmental third brand, was referring to Saturday's NXT TakeOver III card from Brooklyn, New York, one day before SummerSlam invades the Barclays Center for the third straight year.

"[NXT] is going to set a bar, and the main roster is going to have to step up to that bar. And trust me, those are all people that are coming from NXT, and now the kids here are pushing them to do the same thing that they pushed the people in front of them to do," he continued.

To illustrate his point, Levesque referenced a story from 2015 when Sasha Banks and Bayley put on a match-of-the-year contender during the first NXT TakeOver in Brooklyn and Seth Rollins, just 24 hours before his SummerSlam match with John Cena, watched from the front row.

"[Rollins] came backstage and said he had dust in his eyes -- and it wasn't dust, it was tears," Levesque said. "He looked at me and said, 'I'm going to be up all night trying to think how I surpass that. Oh my God. Like, I was totally relaxed about tomorrow and now I'm not going to sleep all night because I'm the main event on the main roster of SummerSlam and I've got to beat that.'

"If that's not the ultimate compliment of what takes place at NXT, I don't know what is. And if you're looking for the promotion that pushes WWE, it's NXT."

While Levesque's stance regarding NXT is understandable, it's easy to see the influence NJPW's rapidly growing success in recent years has had on the entire business. WWE has certainly taken notice and has made headlines by acquiring top NJPW stars like Finn Balor, AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson.

Still, Levesque wouldn't go as far as saying that the success of NJPW or any other promotion has challenged or forced WWE's hand when it comes to adapting in any way.

"I don't think anyone forces anyone to make adjustments, I think it's just that the world changes," Levesque said. "What people will accept changes? What people will like changes?

"People's styles that I bring in, I'm not trying to change these performers, I'm trying to give them a platform and then take them on that platform and make the biggest, global star you can make. Whether that goes on to NXT and then on to SmackDown or Raw, whatever that is. A lot of these kids, I want them to be headlining WrestleMania."

When asked whether matches like the stiff and MMA-inspired NXT bout from two weeks between Aleister Black and NJPW alumni Kyle O'Reilly were specific examples of WWE actively adopting Japan's "strong style" and making it their own, Levesque saw it differently. It's not the influence of any competing promotion as much as its the influence of specific performers WWE has been able to acquire.

"I think in anything, the way games are played, it's the way talent change the game [by] the way they play it," Levesque said. "Because Kyle O'Reilly brings a different style, that's not a style he brought in from a promotion. That's Kyle. Aleister Black brings in a style from someplace else. That's not a promotional style, that's him. Even Nakamura, you can say 'strong style,' but to be quite honest, is there anything like Nakamura? Is there anyone else doing what Nakamura is going? No, it's Nakamura.

"I can look at 20 other people in that same organization or in many of those places and think, 'I really don't care about them.' It's not because they are not great it's just they don't bring that game to the table. Nakamura does, Kyle does, Aleister does, Drew McIntyre does. And the game changes based around the players. No different than in the 90s -- [Steve] Austin, myself, [The] Rock, [Under]taker, Shawn Michaels. All those players changed the game and changed what the style was."

Read the original here:

Triple H dishes on WWE's main competitor, whether NJPW has forced an evolution - CBSSports.com

TVAndMovies

I feel like when things get more dangerous, itll be a chance for Missandei to show what shes really made of, Nathalie Emmanuel told BuzzFeed News. (Warning: Spoilers all over the damn place.)

Posted on August 17, 2017, 20:23 GMT

Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) in Season 7 of Game of Thrones.

Nathalie Emmanuel was a fan of Game of Thrones long before she joined the cast in Season 3 as Missandei, a trusted adviser to Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke). As fate would have it, after two seasons of faithfully watching the HBO series along with other fans, she saw the listing for a nonwhite actress, playing age 18 to 24, and immediately jumped at the chance.

I phoned my agent and she was like, Ive already got you an audition, Emmanuel told BuzzFeed News. The actor knew little about her characters arc besides the fact that she would appear in a few episodes in Season 3 of the HBO original series, with the possibility but no guarantee of returning in future seasons. Emmanuel was also drawn to the role because of Missandeis relationship with Daenerys, also known as Daenerys Stormborn, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Mother of Dragons, and Breaker of Chains, among other names.

When I first had the audition, they just gave us one scene to prepare, so I didnt know much about Missandei. But what I did know was shed been through a lot and was a very strong individual, Emmanuel said.

When viewers first meet Missandei in the first episode of Season 3, she was a slave to Kraznys mo Nakloz (Dan Hildebrand) in Astapor. Kraznys is a slave trader and a Good Master someone who rules over the three cities that make up the appropriately named Slavers Bay. We learn later that she was born on the island of Naath in the Summer Sea, and was removed from her home at a young age before she began her life of servitude. Fluent in 19 languages, Missandei acted as an interpreter between Kraznys and Daenerys when Daenerys visited Astapor. While the slave master was rude and condescending to Daenerys, Missandei diplomatically as Emmanuel described it translated his words so as to not offend Khaleesi.

After reaching an agreement to trade one of Daeneryss dragons for his 8,000 Unsullied soldiers and Missandei, the Queen of Dragons spoke to Kraznys in his own language of Low Valyrian and revealed that she understood his insults the whole time Missandei was translating for him. She then orders the Unsullied to attack the Good Masters and kill all of the slave owners and their soldiers. Daenerys and the Unsullied leave Astapor, and Missandei joins her new queen on a journey to reign over Westeros. After freely serving Daenerys and assisting her with handmaiden-like tasks, Missandei eventually earns her place as one of Daeneryss trusted advisers.

Shes gone from enslaved object and a piece of property to this free-thinking, free-feeling person with emotions, opinions, and authority. And in a way, assertiveness."

Emmanuel thinks of Missandeis current role as a significant shift and major achievement, considering where she started. Aside from being Daeneryss adviser, shes a member of her small council, the most trusted people within the queens inner circle.

Shes gone from enslaved object and a piece of property to this free-thinking, free-feeling person with emotions, opinions, and authority. And in a way, assertiveness, Emmanuel said.

Missandei and Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) have a brief moment alone in Season 7.

Missandei and Daeneryss friendship has become one of the hallmark relationships on the show. She spends most of her days with Daenerys the two powerful women existing in a world dominated by men.

Missandei had seen this woman free people and show her incredible humanity to people. Missandei believed in her and wanted to support her, Emmanuel said. But then in return, Daenerys has this person who knows this world and understands these people, and she obviously seeks her advisement and her expertise on it. As a result, theyve got this pretty great team.

Missandei and Daenerys's relationship extend beyond the politics of Westeros its deeply personal. In Season 7, Episode 4, The Spoils of War, Missandei had a moment alone with Daenerys and asked if she'd heard from the Unsullied after they were ordered to storm Casterly Rock. Daenerys picked up on Missandeis sense of urgency about Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson), an Unsullied soldier Missandei has developed a strong affection for. In fact, the two had a romantic encounter before Grey Worm left for Casterly Rock. When asked by Daenerys what happened between them, Missandei coyly replied, Many things. Daenerys replies, Many things? and the two smirk at each other, leaving the obvious unsaid.

Its not uncommon on Game of Thrones for advisers to develop strong bonds with the kings and queens they serve, but Missandei and Daeneryss relationship is still a unique one; the two can go from discussing war policy to matters of the heart, according to Emmanuel.

The story is mostly about this war and this journey that were on with these characters, and so I think these very real moments between Missandei and Daenerys are lovely to see because it reminds us that theyre really just human beings, she said. They all have crushes, and its an aside from the official business.

Their characters' friendship on the show reflects a genuine relationship in real life, according to Emmanuel. The cast members have built an authentic bond off set and hang out outside of work, which often results in chatting and drinking tea. Bless her heart, she works so hard, Emmanuel said of her Emilia Clarke. Shes up and puts in work a long time before I am even waking up.

Missandei and Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson) kiss in Season 7.

Missandeis relationship with Grey Worm who is also a part of Daeneryss small council is another window into her characters evolution. Grey Worm, like Missandei, has been loyal to Daenerys since her usurping of Astapor, and has risen through the ranks to become the leader of the Unsullied forces. The pairs relationship is based on their mutual understanding of where they both come from and what theyve survived, from enslavement and abuse to gaining freedom and power.

They found themselves in the middle of this new world, and theyve almost helped each other through it, Emmanuel said.

The feelings between Grey Worm and Missandei came to a head in Season 7, Episode 2, titled Stormborn. When Daenerys sent the Unsullied soldiers to overtake Casterly Rock and fight the Lannisters, Grey Worm was forced to leave Missandei behind in Dragonstone where she and Daenerys awaited Jon Snows arrival and plotted their next moves toward Westeros. In a vulnerable moment, before Grey Worm left, the two are physically intimate.

From what I imagine about Missandeis sexual experiences as a woman and a slave, they would not have been consensual or what she wanted, she said. So, this is her first time being touched and embraced by a man who cared about her, who loved her, and who she felt the same way about.

After it appeared in the July 23 episode of Game of Thrones, Missandei and Grey Worms sex scene was at the center of the conversation around the show. It was well-received by critics and was considered a big deal. Emmanuel thinks a lot of people reacted so positively to Missandei and Grey Worms sex scene because viewers have watched their relationship build for a long time. Often, a lot of the sex scenes are about gratification, stealing moments with each other, and with certain people it happens in the brothels or its been rape, Emmanuel explained. Thats been very brutal. The only exception Emmanuel could think of is Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) and Ygrittes (Rose Leslie) cave moment in Season 3, which, like Missandei and Grey Worm, involved trust and consent.

As a member of the Unsullied, Grey Worm was castrated, leaving him especially vulnerable with Missandei. That factor alone made this moment incredibly important to him. She wasnt concerned with what was there or what wasnt there, essentially. She was like, I love this man, I want to see him in his entirety, and love him just as he is, Emmanuel explained.

She knows where he comes from, she knows what happened to him, she said.

Missandei and Daenerys when they first meet in Season 3.

There arent many actors of color who appear on Game of Thrones in significant roles, and the HBO show has received backlash for its predominantly white cast and lack of diversity. Daenerys has even been at the center of this criticism, with people calling her a white savior for emancipating slaves and helping people of color. In Season 3, Episode 10, there was an especially controversial image of Khaleesi being lifted up in a large crowd of Yunkai people who were worshipping the woman who liberated them. The shot shows Daenerys (white, blonde, and wearing a light blue dress) lying on top of a sea of nonwhite people, repeating the word mysah (mother) over and over again in gratitude.

Emmanuel thinks her role as a woman of color on GoT is crucial and she's grateful that the writers on the show gave Missandei an interesting and important storyline. When it comes to diversity on television overall, however, the actor believes there are still many strides to be made in the name of progress. Hopefully in the future when we have shows on this kind of level, we can see more and more characters of diversity and actors from different backgrounds being included, she said. Im hopeful for that, and am willing to work and push toward that.

"Hopefully in the future when we have shows on this kind of level, we can see more and more characters of diversity."

While she personally will always want to discuss representation on television and film, Emmanuel believes its a conversation everyone needs to have.

I feel like its a question thats often posed to people of color and actually the conversation is for everybody the people who are making shows, writing, and casting on every level, she said. Maybe one day Ill be in those rooms and making my own things and I can influence that more myself. Its a conversation that I enjoy having and will always have, but I do think that its a conversation that needs to be had with everybody at every level.

As far as Missandeis experience as a person of color with power in Westeros, Emmanuel thinks you can relate that back to real life.

Missandei is very aware that shes in new territory with new people and probably people that are racially different from her, she said. That can often be a huge shock to your system when youve been growing up in one place with people who look like you, and then all of a sudden youre thrown into this world where youre one of a few. And then especially also being a woman, theres no doubt shes felt a little trepidation about that.

Despite the fact that shes an outsider in the predominantly white and fictional land of Westeros, Emmanuel thinks her character still holds her her own agency and power.

In Season 7, Episode 4, when Jon Snow and Ser Davos (Liam Cunningham) were visiting Dragonstone at Daeneryss invitation, the men asked Missandei why she still serves Daenerys even though shes freed from slavery and servitude. Missandei replied that shes free to serve who she wants, and that she genuinely believes in Khaleesi. Jon Snow then asked what would theoretically happen if Missandei wanted to return to her home, to which she said, Then she would give me a ship and wish me good fortune. Missandeis power lies in her own choice to stay loyal to Daenerys, and whatever role she is given if Daenerys does become queen of the Seven Kingdoms.

They believe in this woman and this queen based on her actions not based on anything else, Emmanuel said. Thats the world that I want to live in one day, one thats based purely on your actions and who you are, not based on your gender, race, sexual orientation, or gender identification, and its about what you are as a person who you are as a person.

With Season 7 drawing to a close on Aug. 27 and only one final season to follow thereafter, viewers anxiously watch each week to see what will happen to the people of Westeros. Emmanuel is one of the millions of people watching GoT on Sundays, and like the shows fans, shes watching these episodes for the very first time.

Weve read scripts a year ago and maybe have an idea of whats happening. I know my own storyline, but even with that, it was such a long time ago, she said. Its hard to know how its going to unveil on screen. And no matter what you think it might look like or feel like to watch it, it exceeds all of your expectations, ever.

Missandeis fate, much like everyone else's on Game of Thrones, is currently unknown. Emmanuel said she isnt sure whats in store for her character, but that shes happy to be a part of Season 8.

"I feel like when things get more dangerous, itll be a chance for Missandei to show what shes really made of."

She is smart. I feel like when things get more dangerous, itll be a chance for Missandei to show what shes really made of, Emmanuel said. Shes got the bravery to get to this point, so maybe well see a bit more of that bravery.

As for the prospect of Missandei enduring a less positive outcome, Emmanuel said shes made her peace with that being an option for her character. After seven seasons fans of Game of Thrones are aware that death is always a possibility, especially as the plot thickens and tensions rise between the Lannisters, Starks, Daenerys Targaryen, and the White Walkers. If Missandei does die in the midst of the impending action, Emmanuel said she wants people to feel a lot of things.

I want her death to be an epic moment that people remember.

Krystie Yandoli is an entertainment editor for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York.

Contact Krystie Lee Yandoli at krystie.yandoli@buzzfeed.com.

Got a confidential tip? Submit it here.

News moves fast. Keep up with the BuzzFeed News daily email!

Great!

You're almost there! Check your inbox and confirm your subscription now!

Go here to see the original:

The Evolution Of Missandei As One Of The Most Important Game Of Thrones Characters - BuzzFeed News

Thursday's meeting of the Boulder Planning Board was a big moment for the future of the city's east edge.

Before the board were proposals for two separate developments along east Arapahoe Avenue, which together would bring 566 rental housing units to the evolving corridor.

The first proposal a plan to redevelop the Eastpointe Apartments at 1550 Eisenhower Drive won the board's approval, in a 5-1 vote that will be final barring an intervention and subsequent reversal by the City Council.

Should that decision stand, the existing Eastpointe complex, which features 140 relatively inexpensive units in aging buildings, will be razed. The 7-acre site will be redeveloped with 226 units with rents, developer Aimco said, that will range from about $1,500 for studios to "the high $3,000s" for three-bedroom units.

High as those figures might be, the immense wealth in the Boulder area means that, according to calculations of area median incomes, Eastpointe's units would qualify as "middle-income."

The future Eastpointe is set to have a 254-space underground parking garage, plus ample bike parking.

Following the Eastpointe vote was a hearing on the concept plan for a development proposal at what's become known at the Waterview site a location that's proven vexing to developers who've tried and failed to build there in recent years.

At Waterview, across 14 acres at 5801 and 5847 Arapahoe Ave., Zocalo Community Development seeks to put up 11 buildings, in which they'd put 340 units and 19,000 square feet of commercial space.

Those units would range from roughly $1,000 for studios to $1,300 for two-bedrooms, the developers said, while the market-rate units would range from $1,250 to $2,450.

In presentations to the board on Thursday, the developers of the respective sites made similar appeals: Their projects, they said, will provide sorely-needed housing largely at middle-income rates along a major transit corridor and burgeoning job center. Pedestrian-oriented designs with an eye on green space will appeal to residents and passersby, they both argued.

"This," said Eastpointe developer Patti Shwayder, "is going to be transformational to the community."

Eastpointe is only one project, and the Waterview plans are likely months away from even going up for possible approval. But these two plans, if realized, would bring many hundreds of new residents to a corridor that includes single-family neighborhoods, minimal commercial options and a lot of industrial and office space.

While Aimco and Zocalo focused on what their projects can do to fill needs, Eastpointe and Waterview could also help usher in or at least accelerate a period of substantial change along east Arapahoe Avenue in terms of transportation options, housing density and mixed-use development.

But not all are thrilled with the changes that these two projects represent.

The public-hearing portion of Waterview did not begin until late Thursday night, but previous comments submitted to the city indicate strong concerns about the project's potential impact on traffic and transportation safety, as well as the presence of wetlands on the site.

"This is a very low-density area and to put a high-density project on this site does not fit," said Mary Beth Vellequette, who lives nearby. "We are very concerned about the number of cars on Arapahoe; there's already difficulty getting out of our subdivision as it is."

The Planning Board was only giving feedback on Waterview, as opposed to voting, but comments by some members suggested the site's flood risk could be a hurdle for the project, as could the fact that the developers aim to insert hundreds of new residents into an area with a presently undefined character.

Meanwhile, at Eastpointe, the concerns lean more toward the issue of affordability.

Aimco, like all developers, must satisfy the city's inclusionary housing requirement as part of its approval; it plans, as of now, to satisfy that by paying cash in lieu of developing affordable units on- or off-site.

While those Planning Board members generally offered high praise for the project's design, the fact that the new Eastpointe will attract greater wealth than the current one has is troubling to some. That includes members of the City Council who called up the project when it was still in the concept phase, and specifically requested Aimco prioritize a diversity of housing types at a diversity of price points.

"I think we have to strive harder for on-site affordability," lamented Planning Board member Crystal Gray, who cast the lone vote against the project.

"There's a certain sense of regret that we know there will probably be higher rents in the new development," member David Ensign said. "It does make us take a little pause to think about how we are meeting our affordable housing goals."

And board Chairman John Putnam added: "I am disappointed that at least one of the (four residential) buildings wasn't designated for a housing authority."

But the Planning Board and City Council can't require that under the city's current rules, which allow every developer the option to simply give the city cash or land, if they don't want to build on-site affordable housing.

"I think as we look forward, we have to look at this," Putnam said, "because we're going to have more of our housing stock turning over."

Alex Burness: 303-473-1389, burnessa@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/alex_burness

See more here:

East Boulder evolution in focus as Eastpointe redevelopment wins approval - Boulder Daily Camera

It's 2003. May. IT is becalmed, in the doldrums, in limbo. The flurry of activity and inexplicable spending that was the Y2K tsunami has long since blown over. Some still refer to the millennium bug as IT's finest hour. Others believe it was a totally manufactured crisis. Either way, in 2003, the business side of the house is no longer supporting any of IT's fantasies. The Standish Group has just published the results of five years of analysis on the failure rate of IT projects: A depressing 65% of IT projects fail. The dominant project methodology is Waterfall (popular since the 1970's). Looking at the breakdown of the average IT spend, approximately 20-25% is committed to keeping everyday IT operations up and running, with the remainder going to innovation and new solutions for the business. The business is reacting to Y2K and pushing for more stability, availability and reliability from their IT systems. The business is demanding real business value and ROI from their IT spend, not pie-in-the-sky touchy-feely measurements. IT is struggling to respond. Struggling to translate real IT performance gains into demonstrable value for the business. Struggling to understand its role in the confusing new millennium. Struggling, in some way, to justify its very existence.

Looking to establish accountability across disparate project teams? Trying to automate processes or allow for lean methodology support? Hoping to enable business consequence modeling or real-time reporting? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you need to download this comprehensive, 68-page PDF guide on selecting, managing, and tracking IT projects for superior service delivery.

By submitting your personal information, you agree that TechTarget and its partners may contact you regarding relevant content, products and special offers.

You also agree that your personal information may be transferred and processed in the United States, and that you have read and agree to the Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy.

Around this same time, a small group of unconventional programmers gathered at a ski resort in Utah in October 2001 and created Agile. More about this milestone in the evolution of IT later

Economically, in 2003, we are in a downturn. The collapse of Enron and WorldCom has vividly demonstrated that no company is "too big to fail." These scandals lead to the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002, which contains provisions where key executives can now be sent to prison for falsifying the financials of public companies. IT is to play a major role in the financial reporting systems of public companies. In addition to the heavy operational focus of most IT shops, new compliance requirements are added to IT shops already heavily burdened with a plethora of audits.

Politically, in 2003, we are reeling from recent events. Our first presidential election of the new millennium took six weeks to decide because of the method used by Florida to collect simple data ("hanging chads"). The headlines in Europe call it a real "Mickey Mouse" operation. Less than two years prior, 9/11 had caused us all to question everything. Even the long-vaunted FBI had been caught with its IT computing pants down. The nation's top cops, famed for their ability to gather and sift through huge volumes of information, are exposed as laggards in 2001, dependent on outdated systems that do not have a prayer of keeping up with the exponentially increasing demand. Systems that were linked -- at least, indirectly -- to the domestic intelligence failures leading up to 9/11. We went from invincible to vulnerable in the span of one sunny Tuesday morning. It is a difficult time for the U.S. and a difficult time to be in IT.

IT operations is still operating under the old rules. The 2003 rules. Nothing has changed for them. Well, that's not quite true. They are trying to apply the 2003 rules to a world with smartphones, Wi-Fi and ubiquitous cloud environments.

As if things couldn't get any worse for IT, in the May 2003 issue of the Harvard Business Review comes an article by Nicholas Carr entitled, "IT Doesn't Matter." The premise is simple and direct: IT, like so many other technological innovations before it, has become a commodity. IT no longer represents a strategic business advantage. No longer can one organization exercise technological dominance using IT as its lever. Now, every organization has roughly the same IT: networks, routers, servers, databases, websites, email and so on.

Carr further points out that, now that IT has reached this stage of commoditization, it represents a major risk to the business enterprise: The risk of not being there. IT outages that were mere annoyances in the past now place the business at a significant disadvantage. This development in the evolution of IT was not just a shift in thinking, but a strategic shift in where you put your IT spend: Risk mitigation versus innovation. In fact, this fundamental shift in thinking (and spending) was well underway. Every organization on the planet had been caught on the horns of this dilemma three years earlier during the Y2K mess. But there was simply far too much to do at the time and no downtime to think about why we were doing it. Y2K was the embodiment of Carr's basic premise: IT represented a strategic risk for the business.

The industry's response to Carr's article was swift and pointed. Analysts and pundits lined up to debunk the premise that IT and its technology were little more than 21st century plumbing. The overriding theme of the responses to Carr's article can be paraphrased as, "Sure, we all have the same technology, but it totally depends on what you do with it! Look at Cisco and Wal-Mart and Dell -- they are innovative." (Remember, this is 2003!) So, the real question is: Was Nicholas Carr right in 2003?

Is he right today?

Fast forward to 2017. What has changed? What hasn't? The Standish Group has now been measuring the failure rate of IT projects for 20 years. The IT project failure rate is still at the depressingly low rate of 65%, with very little fluctuation from year to year. The dominant project methodology is still Waterfall.

In 2017, most IT operations groups remain focused on delivering reliable, stable, secure services with a minimum of down time. Now, however, approximately 75-80% of the IT spend is committed to keeping the everyday IT operations up and running, with the tiny remainder going to innovation and business solutions. Is this progress? Today, the business is pushing for more creativity, flexibility and innovation from their IT systems. Yet, many IT operations groups -- stuck in post-Y2K mode -- remain hunkered down and determined to create the most bulletproof environments in history.

Meanwhile, the business side has been scrambling to maintain its relevance while competing in our new digital world. Smartphones and tablets that are always connected. More savvy consumers. Drastically different customer expectations and timeframes. The business now knows what needs to be done and they know how fast they need it done. The business has started pushing development (dev) and project management (PM) to get with the program. Pushing them hard. Very hard. With 20 years of data to back it up, dev and PM have to admit that they are broken. The Waterfall project methodology is simply not working for most development projects. There are better ways to develop software.

Phew! Crisis averted. Business, dev and project management are all in sync, oh my! Breaking into their happy dance and all's right with the world!

Whoa! Not so fast. Yes, things are finally good with biz, dev and PM, but nobody told ops. You remember IT ops, the people who actually deploy all these new wondrous Agile-developed business solutions so that actual value can actually be realized by the business. For real.

IT operations is still operating under the old rules. The 2003 rules. Nothing has changed for them. Well, that's not quite true. They are trying to apply the 2003 rules to a world with smartphones, Wi-Fi and ubiquitous cloud environments. They are still trying to: Lock it down, resist change, make it bulletproof, defeat hackers, safeguard availability, increase reliability and maintain stability and, indirectly, frustrate the heck out of the business and dev and PM as they try to maximize value at a totally different pace.

Ops seem to represent a literal roadblock to the fast lane of Agile deployment. Ops is not a little off- kilter, but rather is suffering from a complete disconnect. A different definition of value and success. Like landing on a different planet where everything seems upside down. A Twilight Zone episode where all the beliefs you have valued and cherished are up in smoke. Poof! Life, literally, doesn't make sense anymore.

Can this chasm be crossed? Can two such diametrically opposed sets of values ever be brought into alignment? Even more than that: Can two sides that seem to be polar opposites actually exist --no, thrive -- under a common set of rules? They can. The popular buzzwords are digital transformation. But haven't we actually been digitally transforming since before the mid 1990s? Yes, so let's call it what it is -- a value transformation. (Which means it's a people transformation.)

Go to part two of Spalding's essay on the evolution of IT, "Soar toward 'value transformation' on DevOps wings," for a discussion of DevOps' role in delivering today's definition of business value.

A strategic CIO plays the long game

Need for speed propels DevOps

Masters of low-cost, low-risk change

View original post here:

The evolution of IT: From 'IT doesn't matter' to value creator - TechTarget

A 7-year-old boy discovered Chilesaurus diegosuarezi in southern Chile in 2010 during a geology expedition with his parents.

A bizarre-looking dinosaur discovered by a young boy in Chile may be the missing link showing how members of one major dinosaur lineage evolved into a completely new dinosaur group, a new study finds.

Researchers in the United Kingdom say the species, dubbed Chilesaurus diegosuarezi, explains how some theropods, mostly meat-eating, bipedal dinosaurs, evolved into the herbivorous, long-necked ornithischians.

Previously, it was unclear how the "ornithischian group just suddenly appeared and became this well-adapted herbivorous group," said the study's co-lead researcher, Matthew Baron, a doctoral student of paleontology at the University of Cambridge in England. "There was no intermediate step. This is the first one we've found." [See Photos of the Missing Link, Chilesaurus diegosuarezi]

If future research confirms this finding, this would make Chilesaurus the earliest member of Ornithischia, a group that includes the armored dinosaurs, such as Stegosaurus and Ankylosaurus, as well as horned dinosaurs, such as Triceratops.

But not everyone is on board with this interpretation. Rather, more "grunt work" is needed to determine Chilesaurus' true identity, said Thomas Carr, an associate professor of biology at Carthage College in Wisconsin and a vertebrate paleontologist. Carr was not involved in the study.

This isn't the first time Chilesaurus has turned heads. In 2010, 7-year-old Diego Surez, the son of two geologists, found the 145-million-year-old beast in southern Chile's Toqui Formation.

After Diego found the first specimen, excavations in Chile yielded more than a dozen Chilesaurusindividuals, including four complete skeletons that ranged from turkey-size young dinosaurs to nearly 10-foot-long (3 meters) adult dinosaurs. But despite the abundance of fossils, Chilesaurus'anatomy was a real head-scratcher.

The creature looked like a mixture of lineages. It had the long neck, small skull and clunky feet of a sauropodomorph (a group of long-necked, herbivorous dinosaurs with lizard-like hips); the beak, teeth and pubic bone of an herbivorous, bird-hipped ornithischian; and the bipedal stance, robust forelimbs and ilium (the upper part of the pelvic bone) of a meat-eating theropod.

An artist's representation of the enigmatic, herbivorous species found in Chile.

To determine where Chilesaurusfit in the dinosaur family tree, the South American researchers looked at four data sets to compare the dinosaur's features with those of theropods, mainly from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, as well as with sauropodomorphs. In the end, they deemed Chilesaurusan enigmatic plant-eating theropod, a relative of Tyrannosaurus rexand the fearsomeVelociraptor, according to a 2015 study published in the journal Nature.

Chilesaurus diegosuarezi walked on its hind legs as other theropods did. It also had robust forelimbs that looked like those of other Jurassic theropods, such as Allosaurus.

However, not everyone was satisfied with Chilesaurus' classification as a theropod. Earlier this year, Baron and his colleagues stunned dinosaur researchers when they published a study revising the dinosaur family tree. According to their analyses, theropods and ornithischians were more closely related than previously thought.

Baron wanted to see where Chilesaurus fit on the new family tree. So he reached out to Fernando Novas, a paleontologist at the Bernardino Rivadavia Natural Sciences Museum in Buenos Aires, Argentina, who was the lead researcher on the 2015 Nature study.

Novas provided data on Chilesaurus to Baron and study co-lead researcher Paul Barrett, a paleobiologist at the Natural History Museum in London. Once Baron and Barrett had Chilesaurus' information, they plugged it into their enormous data set, which has data on the earliest dinosaurs on record. [Gory Guts: Photos of a T. Rex Autopsy]

"[Chilesaurus] came out as basically the first diverging member of one of the major groups, which is a position that had never been suggested before," Baron told Live Science. "It was a bit of a surprise."

However, evolution is a long, complicated process. There are ornithischians that are older than the Late Jurassic Chilesaurus, but they likely evolved from earlier theropods, Baron said. The fossils of these older, transitional creatures have yet to be found, he said.

"More and more evidence is now appearing that the ornithischian group might just be entirely Jurassic and Cretaceous, that they weren't present in the first period of dinosaur history [the Triassic]," he said.

It's difficult to say which interpretation is correct that is, whether Chilesaurus is a theropod or an early member of Ornithischia, Carr said.

"Having read these works side by side, I can understand why the [2015 researchers] thought what they thought: The evidence is convincing that it's a theropod," Carr told Live Science. "[But] this new paper is just as convincing that it's an ornithischian."

There's only one way out of this conundrum, Carr said: "All of these data sets have to be combined" so researchers can determine, once and for all, where Chilesaurus fits a task that can't be completed unless all of the relevant and available data from the Mesozoic is used.

Chilesaurus diegosuarezi has characteristics of three different dinosaur groups. Its pubic bone points backward like that of an ornithischian dinosaur, perhaps because it provided the gut more surface area with which to digest plant matter.

Even though the family trees are different, it's possible to combine the data sets of the early dinosaurs that Baron used and the Sauropodomorpha and later theropod data sets that Novas and his colleagues used, Carr noted.

"It does take a lot of work, but in the end, what you get is a data set that includes all of the relevant characters from all of the relevant analyses," he said. Only then can researchers "get the single truth, the historical truth of the universeas it happened," Carr said.

Baron accepted the critique in stride. "That's genius because that's exactly what we need to do," Baron said. "And that's exactly what I am doing at the [moment]."

Combining data sets is arduous work and could take four or five years to complete, Baron said. But the end result would shine a light on dinosaur evolution, which is a valuable step forward because "we actually are finding we know less and less about dinosaur evolution," Baron said. [Photos: Newfound Tyrannosaur Had Nearly 3-Inch-Long Teeth]

If that's the case, then the discussion on Chilesaurus'relationships has just begun, Novas told Live Science. "However, I welcome the novel interpretation by Baron and Barrett, because it promotes a necessary debate on poorly known aspects of dinosaur evolution as a whole," Novas said.

The new study was published online today (Aug. 16) in the journal Biology Letters.

Original article on Live Science.

Read more:

This Enigmatic Dinosaur May Be the Missing Link in an Evolution Mystery - Live Science

HARI SREENIVASAN: Now a look at the state of global terrorism.

It comes from Ali Soufan, a former FBI counterterrorism agent who identified the 9/11 hijackers. He details the evolution of terrorism in this newest addition to the NewsHour Bookshelf, The Anatomy of Terror: From the Death of Bin Laden to the Rise of the Islamic State.

He recently sat down with Margaret Warner.

MARGARET WARNER: You write in this book that the night Osama bin Laden was announced to have been killed, you were home alone. And then, instead of feeling jubilation, you felt troubled. Why was that?

ALI SOUFAN, Author, The Anatomy of Terror: From the Death of Bin Laden to the Rise of the Islamic State: I was happy that we finally got him. And a lot of my colleagues and friends that I know who sacrificed so much, some of them their lives, you know, finally can rest, knowing that hes dead.

But also, at the same time, I kind of was troubled that we are now not fighting an organization anymore. The terrorists, the threat mutated to a message. Bin Laden accomplished something way bigger. He had a message that was spreading around the Muslim world.

Unfortunately, on May 2, 2011, we killed bin Laden, but we didnt kill his message. His message lives.

MARGARET WARNER: Now, the world has been focused for the last five years or so on Islamic State.

ALI SOUFAN: Yes.

MARGARET WARNER: Major move to get rid of their territorial caliphate.

When thats accomplished, what then?

ALI SOUFAN: See, we forget that the Islamic State basically was a branch of al-Qaida. It used to be al-Qaida in Iraq.

So, when it comes to the message, its the same message of Osama bin Laden. They differ at what stage they are in, in their plan. Are they in stage two, where they just need to create chaos and manage that chaos? Or they are in stage three, establishing a caliphate?

ISIS decided that they are in stage three, established a caliphate and prepare for the final confrontation with the West. But, today, as you mentioned, we see ISIS dwindling. We see that terrorist organization, with all their bravado, losing their territory and going back from a proto-state to an underground terrorist organization.

I think most of the people who joined ISIS are still believers in what bin Laden started back in the early 90s. I wont be greatly surprised to see some kind of a merger between these two organizations under the flag of the message of Osama bin Laden.

And I think his son Hamza today is trying to be the person who claims that message.

MARGARET WARNER: The next bin Laden.

ALI SOUFAN: Exactly.

MARGARET WARNER: You, in almost a novelistic way, look at bin Laden or al-Zarqawi, who was the head of al-Qaida in Iraq, or Baghdadi, the head of ISIS.

ALI SOUFAN: Yes.

MARGARET WARNER: Was there a common thread among them?

ALI SOUFAN: Well, yes, absolutely. And the common thread is their own belief.

It is people who believe that there is an ongoing war between the West and the United States. And anyone who does not in their way of interpreting events around the world is an infidel, regardless if youre a Muslim or youre not a Muslim. That doesnt matter.

And thats why almost 95 percent of the victims of this form of terrorism are Muslims.

MARGARET WARNER: Now , you mentioned Hamza, Osama bin Ladens son, who, by my count, would be, what, 27 years old?

(CROSSTALK)

ALI SOUFAN: Twenty-eight, yes.

MARGARET WARNER: You think hes the coming face of al-Qaida?

ALI SOUFAN: I think they are preparing him to be the coming face. I mean, he has been a face of al-Qaida since he was a child. He was always featured in the propaganda tapes of al-Qaida.

At the age of 13, he was the voice of fiery poems in the presence of his dad about al-Qaida and about jihad. So, many of those old members of al-Qaida fondly remember him.

Hamza, recently, he put five or six messages, but only in the last message, al-Qaida announced him to be sheik, which indicates a promotion. Before, they used to call him Brother Mujahid.

So, we know that al-Qaida is putting him in a leadership position.

MARGARET WARNER: Lets go back to the threat to the United States.

ALI SOUFAN: Yes.

MARGARET WARNER: How can the West, which has been at it for 16 years already, confront that?

ALI SOUFAN: Were not seeing, you know, organizational terrorism threat anymore.

I think the boundaries, you know, between ISIS, al-Qaida, you name it, whatever you want to name it

MARGARET WARNER: All their affiliates.

ALI SOUFAN: All the affiliates. Its kind of very blurry.

I think we have to focus on the message, not on the organization. I think the threat of terrorism mutated since 9/11. It shifted from being an organization to a message with affiliates across the Muslim world. And these affiliates are gaining a lot of strength because of the civil wars that exist in places like Syria or Iraq or Libya or Somalia, you name it.

So, I think what we need to do, number one, is to find a political solution and diplomatic solution for these conflicts. Without solving the conflicts in these areas, its going to be extremely difficult to diminish the threat.

Second, we need to force countries in the region not to use sectarianism in their geopolitical struggle against each other to garnish back influence in the region.

Third, we need to fight the narrative by exposing the hypocrisy of an organization that claims or a message that claims the United States and the West are at war with Islam. But they kill more Muslims than anyone else.

MARGARET WARNER: Do you think that the United States or the West is capable of doing effective countermessaging?

ALI SOUFAN: I dont think governments can do the job, not in the United States, not even in the Muslim world, because governments dont have the credibility.

But there are a lot of things that governments can do. We need to facilitate civil organizations to stand up and speak against these extremists.

Sixteen years after 9/11, we still dont even know what to call the enemy, rather than form a comprehensive strategy. And thats what I try to do in this book. I try to write a novel with real characters in it, with the hope that the American people understand the threat that you are dealing with.

And I hope, in a small, little way, I will be able to contribute to better understanding of the threat that we all continue to face 20 years later.

MARGARET WARNER: Well, Ali Soufan, Anatomy of Terror: From the Death of Bin Laden to the Rise of the Islamic State.

Thank you very much.

ALI SOUFAN: Thank you.

Read the original post:

New book traces the evolution of terrorism since bin Laden - PBS NewsHour

Getty Image

Tim Allen hasnt been having the greatest year. A rare, outspoken Hollywood conservative, shortly after the election the Home Improvement star caught flack for suggesting that Trump supporters are unfairly bullied, and instead of learning from that mistake later doubled down on those remarks by telling Jimmy Kimmel that being a Hollywood conservative is akin to living in 1930s Germany.

A couple of months later, Last Man Standing was canceled by ABC, and although it seemed possible that CMT might pick up the family sitcom, the cable network made like Lucy with the football when it became apparent that it was too expensive to continue producing.

Thats a rough shake for anybody to go through within the span of just six months or so, and as of Wednesday, Allens name was trending again and not for a flattering reason. Late Tuesday night, the Tool Man gifted the world with this deep thought on evolution.

It was his real Kirk Cameron banana moment, you could say.

Continue reading here:

Tim Allen Has Found Himself The Subject Of Ridicule Over His Hot Take On Evolution - UPROXX