Wouldn’t have invaded Iraq
Bush says on the subject of Iraq:
Knowing what we know now, I would not have engaged, I would not have launched an invasion. We’ve answered the question now…That’s not to say that the world [isn’t] safer because Saddam Hussein is gone. It is significantly safer. That’s not to say that there [wasn’t] a courageous effort to bring about a surge that created stability in Iraq. All of that is true. And that’s not to say that the men and women who’ve served uniform and many others who went to Iraq to serve, they did so, certainly, honorably. But, we’ve answered the question now.
Eight dead, all passengers accounted for
An eighth body is found in the wreckage of the train by a search dog, in the mangled first car. The victim has not been identified; only six of the victims have been identified by authorities or friends and family. Mayor Nutter says that all 243 passengers are now accounted for.
‘Reckless and irresponsible’
Philadelphia Mayor Nutter criticizes Bostian:
Clearly he was reckless and irresponsible in his actions. I don’t know what was going on with him, I don’t know what was going on in the cab, but there’s really no excuse that could be offered.
NTSB’s lead investigator:
[I’m] not going to agree with that at all. I think that’s a subjective, judgmental statement,” he said. “We’re here right now just to find out what happened, and that’s what we want to do. We want to find out what happened and why, and we’re not casting any judgment because at this point right now we want to talk to this person and find out what his perspective was.
‘No memory of crash’
Bostian’s lawyer says his client has no memory of the crash, and that he suffered a concussion, leg injuries and a cut in his head that needed 14 staples to close. He has not yet talked with the NTSB.
He remembers driving the train, he remembers going to that area generally, has absolutely no recollection of the incident or anything unusual.
NTSB:
We’ve not interviewed the engineer, but I want to point out that for somebody who’s been through a traumatic event, this is not at all unusual for human behavior to have the mind blank out things like that, at least for the short term.
Three agencies report El Nino return
Three meteorological agencies on the Pacific Rim (The Australian Bureau of Meteorology, United States Climate Prediction Centre and Japan Meteorological Agency) agree that the El Nino weather phenomenon, which can spark deadly and costly climate extremes, will return strongly this year. The Japan Meteorological Agency has forecast that it would continue into late 2015, but there is no consensus between the three agencies over how long it will last, as they each have their own criteria for the phenomena. Commercial forecasters also have their own opinions, which also diverge. The U.S. Climate Prediction Centre says there is a 70 percent chance the pattern will continue through the Northern Hemisphere summer. The Australian weather bureau says:
We know that once an El Nino event’s established, it’s very likely to last through to the end of the year.
Criticizes Bush’s Iraq remarks
Paul criticizes Jeb Bush for his remarks on Iraq in an interview to Politico.
[Iraq] is an important question and [Bush gave] an incredibly fumbled answer…I don’t think it’s hypothetical whether or not it’s a good idea to topple secular dictators in the Middle East and hope to get a good outcome and hope that stability comes thereafter…I think every day we look at the mess of the chaos of the civil war in Iraq, I think every day people become more and more convinced that the war was a mistake. I think we have to learn from the mistakes of our past.
DOT wants to require V2V communication
Secretary Foxx’s discussion took place at Delphi Labs in Silicon Valley, where autonomous car technologies are being developed and tested.Antuan Goodwin/CNET
The DOT plans to expedite making vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication a requirement in future cars, autonomous or otherwise. The V2V technologies likely won’t become requirements for years to come — the proposal is called Beyond Traffic 2045 — but many autonomous driving technologies are hitting the road today. DOT Secretary Foxx says:
The Department wants to speed the nation toward an era when vehicle safety isn’t just about surviving crashes; it’s about avoiding them. Connected, automated vehicles that can sense the environment around them and communicate with other vehicles and with infrastructure have the potential to revolutionize road safety and save thousands of lives. Autonomous technologies will lead to cars that can drive themselves better than a human can.
Israel: Treaty does not promote peace process
Israel is releases a statement about the Vatican’s treaty recognizing Palestine as a State.
This move does not promote the peace process and distances the Palestinian leadership from returning to direct and bilateral negotiations. Israel will study the agreement and will consider its steps accordingly.
Vatican recognizes Palestine
The Vatican announces it will sign a treaty that includes official recognition of the “State of Palestine.” Vatican Official:
Yes, it’s a recognition that the state exists. The treaty concerns the Catholic Church’s activities in that territory and both parties are expected to sign it soon.
Black Spider letters released
27 letters, written between September 2004 and March 2005, from Prince Charles to government ministers, the so-called “black spider” memos because of Charles’s scrawly handwriting style, are published after a 10-year legal battle to keep them from public view. The letters reveal the scale of Charles’ lobbying and cover issues including equipment provided for British soldiers in Iraq, badger culling, herbal medicine, problems in the dairy sector, and saving the Patagonian toothfish. Clarence House issues a statement on behalf of the Prince:
The publication of private letters can only inhibit his ability to express the concerns and suggestions which have been put to him in the course of his travels and meetings.
Traveling at twice speed limit
Federal investigators say the train was travelling at 102 mph, when engineer applied the locomotive’s emergency braking system just after entering the curved stretch of track. The maximum allowed speed on the curve is 50 miles per hour. The brakes slow the train to 102 mph before the locomotive and all seven passenger cars derail. Black box event recordings and video from the train have yet to be fully analysed. NTSB experts believe the derailment would have been prevented by installation of an advanced safety system called “positive train control”. Authorities have offered no explanation for why the locomotive was traveling so fast. They intend to interview the engineer in the next few days. NTSB official:
This person has gone through a very traumatic event and we want to give him an opportunity to convalesce for a day or two. But that is certainly a very high priority for us.
Posts coup failed
Nkurunziza’s office posts on the president’s Twitter and Facebook accounts:
A group of soldiers mutinied this morning and made a fantasy declaration of a coup d’etat. This attempted coup was foiled and these people … are sought by defense and security forces so they are brought to justice.
Belgium suspends aid
Belgium suspends aid to Burundi, the first country to pull funds due to violent clashes in the African country, after concluding that current conditions do not allow election candidates to campaign. Belgium had pledged four million euros to assist with the organisation of the forthcoming elections — of which a 50 percent tranche has already been paid. The country will also pull out of a five million euro police cooperation deal, which it has in place jointly with the Netherlands. Belgian minister:
In the current circumstances the payment of the remaining two million can only be put on hold.
Comments on Idol cancelation
Clark comments about Fox ending American Idol after its fifteenth season.
Even when people say ratings are coming down, that’s like, what, 20 million to 15 [million]? It’s still millions more than the others! They’re killing all the other shows on the network. I do think it’s a lot harder because there’s such a plethora of them. I don’t think it matters how you got here, it matters if you’re good enough to hang around
FDA clears Neuroderm clinical trials
The FDA clears Israeli pharmaceutical firm NeuroDerm’s U.S. clinical studies to proceed in the second half of this year.
Having lifted the clinical hold in the first half of 2015 means that our U.S. clinical development program of ND0612H and ND0612L is proceeding on track. Parkinson’s patients have been hoping for a less invasive, non-surgical alternative that can deliver levodopa continuously. We remain committed to the execution of our plan to bring these product candidates to the market as soon as possible, and to make a significant impact on the lives of Parkinson’s patients.
Interview
Friedman interviews Moore at a gala event to mark the 50th anniversary of Moore’s Law in San Francisco. Moore:
I was beginning to see in our laboratory that we would get more electronics on a chip, and this was an opportunity to get that message across. I had no idea it would be so precise as a prediction.The fact that it has gone on for 50 years was astounding. I can’t see anything else that has gone on for such a long time with exponential growth
What he wished he had predicted:
I wish I had seen the applications earlier. To me the development of the Internet was a surprise. I didn’t realize it would open up a new world of opportunities. We have just seen the beginning of what computers will do for us. The evolution of machine intelligence. It is happening in incremental steps. I never thought I would see an autonomous vehicle driving on our highways.
What was his the biggest lesson:
Once I made a successful prediction, I avoided making another.
New Yorker profile
Andreessen and Andreessen Horowitz are profiled in an article in the New Yorker titled, Tomorrow’s Advance Man.
Entrepreneurs want to raise money from us, so the natural thing when we say ‘What if you did this?’ is to tell us what we want to hear. But we don’t want to hear what we want to hear. It’s a delight when they look at you with contempt—You idiot—and then walk you through the idea maze and explain why your idea won’t work. At the same time, we’re not funding Mother Teresa. We’re funding imperial, will-to-power people who want to crush their competition. Companies can only have a big impact on the world if they get big…Deal flow is everything. If you’re in a second-tier firm, you never get a chance at that great company.
Breakthrough ideas look crazy, nuts. It’s hard to think this way—I see it in other people’s body language, and I can feel it in my own, where I sometimes feel like I don’t even care if it’s going to work, I can’t take more change. O.K., Google, O.K., Twitter—but Airbnb? People staying in each other’s houses without there being a lot of axe murders?
Chris Dixon argues that we’re in the magical-products business—that we fool ourselves into thinking we’re building companies, but it doesn’t matter if we don’t have the magical products. Over twenty years, our returns are going to come down to two or three or four investments, and the rest of this [gestures at the building and staff] is the cost of getting the chance at those investments. There’s a sense in which all of this is math—you just don’t know which Tuesday Mark Zuckerberg is going to walk in.
Used banned IV before Pacquiao fight
SB Nation reports that Mayweather took saline and vitamins injections which had been banned under World Anti-Doping Agency guidelines. Although the substances contained in the IV were not banned by WADA, whose standards United States Anti-Doping Agency says it follows, the fact that they were given intravenously was not allowed. WADA rules do not allow intravenous infusions or injections of more than 50 milliliters per six hours “except for those legitimately received in the course of hospital admissions, surgical procedures, or clinical investigations” because they can be used to “dilute or mask the presence of another substance.” Three weeks after the fight Mayweather received exemption from the USADA, however Nevada State Athletic Commission said such an exemption could not be granted, unless by them. USADA statement:
Although Mr. Mayweather’s application was not approved until after his fight with Mr. Pacquiao and all tests results were reported, Mr. Mayweather did disclose the infusion to USADA in advance of the IV being administered to him. Furthermore, once the TUE [therapeutic use exemption] was granted, the NSAC and Mr. Pacquiao were immediately notified even though the practice is not prohibited under NSAC rules.
Mayweather:
Let’s not forget that I was the one six years ago who insisted on elevating the level of drug testing for all my fights. As a result, there is more drug testing and awareness of its importance in the sport of boxing today than ever before. I am very proud to be a clean athlete and will continue to champion the cause.
While Mayweather was given an exemption three weeks after the fight, Pacquiao was denied a request to be injected with the legal painkiller Toradol on fight night to ease pain in his injured rotator cuff, which he had surgery on after the bout. The commission declined Pacquiao’s request because it was not made in a timely manner, and he had not previously disclosed the injury.
Vigil for slain officers
The community of Hattiesburg Mississippi holds a holds a candle-light vigil to honor fallen Officers killed during a routine traffic stop. Many leave wreathes, pictures and candles. Youlander Ross, Tate’s mother:
Words cannot express the outpouring of love from everyone in Hattiesburg, everyone from across the country. I’m just glad that my son didn’t die in vain.
Robin Deen, Deen’s mother:
Never was in any trouble growing up. Never rebellious, knew what he wanted to do and did the right thing. Always. And let me tell you this, he didn’t see skin color. He was a friend to all.
Criticizes radical Islam for Garland shooting
Cruz criticizes radical Islam for Garland shooting. He also praises police officers for killing the terrorists.
We saw the ugly face of radical Islam in Garland, Texas…Radical Islamists behead Christians and even conduct attacks in Texas…Thankfully, one police officer helped those terrorists meet their virgins.