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HORS COURSE STAGE 20: A PILGRIM’S ROUTE AND THE FINAL CHEESE SEGMENT OF THE WEEK

Mountandrew — Sat, 23 Jul 2022 18:42:17 +0000

As heard on the Tour Daily podcast, José Been is taking us off the race route for some local historical and cultural context for each stage, from Denmark all the way to Paris.

A time trial on the penultimate day of the men’s Tour de France. Don’t worry. I will continue Hors Course for the Tour de France Femmes as well, but first: the final cheese segment for this week.

The time trial finishes in Rocamadour. The name is synonymous to many things including the cheese bearing its name. It’s a goat’s cheese made with raw milk. The history of the Rocamadour goes back a long way; the cheese is already mentioned in stories from the 15th century. Because Rocamadour is located on the old pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, the cheese has become more famous through the pilgrims than the region itself.

The area where the goats are kept is characterized by poor, dry soil. As a result, the vegetation is sparse and dries out strongly in the summer. At least 80% of the goats’ food must come from the region, fermented food is prohibited. The limestone soil ensures that the Rocamadour has a mineral-like taste.

The Rocamadour can be eaten after two weeks, then it is mild in taste. After four weeks it starts to get really creamy and has a stronger taste. In the sixth week it will dry up and taste even stronger. In June there is the annual cheese festival celebrating all the cheeses from the region. Count me in!

Yum.
There is much more than just cheese in beautiful Rocamadour. Legend has it that it was home to a hermit, Zaccheus of Jericho, who is said to have personally spoken to Jesus. He died in 70AD and was buried at Rocamadour.

At first, the Virgin Mary was worshipped in Rocamadour, but in 1166 a perfectly preserved body was found. It was said by some to be that of Zaccheus or of Saint Amadour, another hermit and the name giver of the town, or of a complete unknown man. No one knows.

After discovery, the bones of Saint Amadour were moved to the church. They survived a fire as they were held in a small reliquary in the chapel. The chapel is very simple in style with a single nave. Hanging from its ceiling is one of the oldest known clocks which dates to the 8th century. The Saint-Amadour crypt is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and part of the pilgrim’s route to Santiago de Compostela.

Whether the body was that of Zaccheus or Amadour, or whether they were actually the same person doesn’t really matter. The discovery itself caused the pilgrims to come flocking because the body was found with a black wooden statue, the Black Madonna, which has since been linked to many miracles. According to one source I found there are 170 miracles attributed to Rocamadour while Amsterdam has just one. Rocamadour thus became a major pilgrim destination with famous names like Louis XI of France and King Henry II of England.

In the fourteenth century, the century of the Hundred Years War, Rocamadour reached its peak. According to the sources, the town received as many as 30,000 pilgrims a day. That is a lot of people when you consider that Paris had roughly 100,000 inhabitants at the time. All the pilgrims all thought they were entitled to a full indulgence or direct access to heaven without being asked about your sins. This was an attractive price of course. Anyway, it was already busy here then.

But you didn’t just get it, you had to do something for it. After the pilgrim had first attended mass at a departure point, he left for Rocamadour in special clothes. Once they arrived in the town, the pilgrims stripped off their clothes, bare knees and climbed the 223-step staircase to the church with the shrines. To make it even more difficult, the pilgrim was given heavy iron chains.

I don’t know if today’s time trial will be equally challenging but let’s see. The sights of today’s broadcast will be amazing, I promise.

Cheetahs heading towards extinction as population crashes

Mountandrew — Tue, 27 Dec 2016 01:55:00 +0000

The sleek, speedy cheetah is rapidly heading towards extinction according to a new study into declining numbers.
The report estimates that there are just 7,100 of the world's fastest mammals now left in the wild.
Cheetahs are in trouble because they range far beyond protected areas and are coming increasingly into conflict with humans.
The authors are calling for an urgent re-categorisation of the species from vulnerable to endangered.
Wiped out
According to the study, more than half the world's surviving cheetahs live in one population that ranges across six countries in southern Africa.
Cheetahs in Asia have been essentially wiped out. A group estimated to number fewer than 50 individuals clings on in Iran.
Because the cheetah is one of the widest-ranging carnivores, it roams across lands far outside protected areas. Some 77% of their habitat falls outside these parks and reserves.
As a result, the animal struggles because these lands are increasingly being developed by farmers and the cheetah's prey is declining because of bushmeat hunting.
In Zimbabwe, the cheetah population has fallen from around 1,200 to just 170 animals in 16 years, with the main cause being major changes in land tenure.

Researchers involved with the study say that the threats facing the fabled predator have gone unnoticed for far too long.
"Given the secretive nature of this elusive cat, it has been difficult to gather hard information on the species, leading to its plight being overlooked," said Dr Sarah Durant, from the Zoological Society of London, UK, and the report's lead author.
"Our findings show that the large space requirements for the cheetah, coupled with the complex range of threats faced by the species in the wild, mean that it is likely to be much more vulnerable to extinction than was previously thought."
Another of the big concerns about cheetahs has been the illegal trafficking of cubs, fuelled by demand from the Gulf states, as reported by the BBC earlier this year.
The young cats can fetch up to $10,000 on the black market. According to the Cheetah Conservation Fund, some 1,200 cheetah cubs are known to have been trafficked out of Africa over the past 10 years but around 85% of them died during the journey.
At the recent CITES conference in South Africa, governments agreed to put new measures in place to tackle this issue, clamping down on the use of social media to advertise cheetahs for sale.

However if the species is to survive long term then urgent efforts must be made to tackle the wider question of protected areas and ranges.
The new study argues for a "paradigm shift in conservation", moving away from the idea of just declaring an area to be protected and towards incorporating "incentive-based approaches". This, in essence, means paying local communities to protect a species that many see as a dangerous predator.
"The take-away from this pinnacle study is that securing protected areas alone is not enough," said Dr Kim Young-Overton from Panthera, another author on the report.
"We must think bigger, conserving across the mosaic of protected and unprotected landscapes that these far-reaching cats inhabit, if we are to avert the otherwise certain loss of the cheetah forever."
To fully recognise the scale of the threat that the cheetah now faces, the report is calling on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to change the categorisation of the fastest animal on its Red List from vulnerable to endangered.
This would help focus international conservation support on a species that the authors fear is heading for extinction at an increasing pace.
The report has been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

'Deal with it yourself': Dispatcher hung up on woman giving CPR to shooting victim

Mountandrew — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 03:20:31 +0000

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A dispatcher for the Albuquerque Fire Department has been reassigned after a transcript from a 911 call showed him hanging up on a caller who was giving first aid to a 17-year-old shooting victim who later died.

Matthew Sanchez was reassigned out of the dispatch center and is currently performing administrative duties pending a probe of the June 26 incident in which he told the desperate caller, "I'm not going to deal with this, okay?" The teen, Jaydon Chavez-Silver, was shot while sitting on a kitchen counter inside an Albuquerque house in a drive-by attack carried out by unknown assailants.

"He was reassigned immediately after we learned of what happened," said Melissa Romero, spokeswoman for the Albuquerque Fire Department.

"Okay, do you know what ma'am? You can deal with yourself. I'm not going to deal with this, okay?"

- Albuquerque emergency dispatcher
Romero said Sanchez is a 10-year veteran of the department.

"Hopefully our internal investigation will be completed soon," said Romero of Sanchez's actions. Romero would not comment on why disciplinary action wasn't taken sooner.

After Chavez-Silver was shot, an unidentified woman began performing CPR on him while Sanchez was on the phone. The transcript of the 911 call captured the plaintive caller's urgency and frustration, as well as the shocking response of Sanchez.

Caller: (inaudible) I'm keeping him alive.

Sanchez: Is he not breathing?

Caller: Barely. (inaudible) Stay with me. Stay with me, okay? Good job, Jaydon.

Sanchez: Is he breathing?

Caller: He's barely breathing. How many times do I have to f---ing tell you?

Sanchez: Okay, do you know what ma'am? You can deal with it yourself. I'm not going to deal with this, okay?

Caller: No, he's going to die.

The call ends there.

Albuquerque Fire Chief David Downey released the following statement:

“After learning of the alleged misconduct, Matthew Sanchez was immediately removed from the dispatch center and placed on administrative assignment," said Albuquerque Fire Chief David Downey in a statement. "An internal investigation has been initiated. As the chief of the department, I am taking the allegation very seriously.”

Nicole Chavez, mother of the murdered teen, told local media she had heard about what Sanchez said and was shocked when she actually heard the recording.

"After hearing the call [Monday], it is heartbreaking to listen to," Chavez said. "Right now, we just want to find the people responsible for this violent, deadly crime."

Romero would not comment on whether Sanchez had any previous disciplinary actions taken against him.

Judge orders Obama administration to release illegal immigrants from 'deplorable' facilities

Mountandrew — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 01:48:15 +0000

A federal judge in California has ruled that hundreds of illegal immigrant women and children in U.S. holding facilities should be released, another apparent setback for President Obama’s immigration policy, according to The Los Angeles Times.

U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee said Friday that the conditions in which the detainees are being held are “deplorable” and violate parts of an 18-year-old court settlement that put restrictions on the detention of migrant children.

The ruling also raises questions about what the administration will do with the estimated 1,700 parents and children at three detention facilities, two in Texas and one in Pennsylvania.

Last year, tens of thousands of women and unaccompanied minors from Central America arrived at the Southwest border, with many believing a rumor that unaccompanied children and single parents with at least one child would be allowed to stay.

More than 68,000 of them were apprehended and detained while officials decided whether they had a right to stay.

Many were being released and told to appear at immigration offices until the administration eventually opened new detention centers.

Gee said in her ruling that children in the two Texas facilities had been held in substandard conditions and gave the administration until Aug. 3 to respond.

“We are disappointed with the court's decision and are reviewing it in consultation with the Department of Justice,” Marsha Catron, press secretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said in a prepared statement given to The Times.

Many of the Central Americans who crossed the Southwest border illegally last summer said they were fleeing poverty and escalating gang violence.

The Texas facilities are run by private companies, while the one in Pennsylvania is run by a county government.

In February, a federal judge blocked Obama's 2012 executive action to protect millions of undocumented immigrants from being deported.

And a federal appeals court in New Orleans refused three months later to allow the program to go forward, denying an administration request to lift the lower court decision.

Gee’s decision is also seen as a victory for the immigrant rights lawyers who brought the case.

The ruling upholds a tentative decision Gee made in April and comes a week after the two sides told her that they failed to reach a new settlement agreement as she had requested.

The 1997 settlement bars immigrant children from being held in unlicensed, secure facilities. Gee found that settlement covered all children in the custody of federal immigration officials, even those being held with a parent.

The Justice Department had argued it was necessary to modify the settlement and use detention to try to deter more immigrants from coming to the border after last year's surge. The department also said it was an important way to keep families together while their immigration cases were being reviewed, but the judge rejected that argument in her decision.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Hulk Hogan Speaks Out Following News of Past Racial Slurs

Mountandrew — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 20:43:40 +0000

Hulk Hogan is speaking out after the WWE cut ties with the Hall of Fame wrestler following multiple reports that he allegedly used racial slurs in the past.

Shortly after audio surfaced from a 2012 radio interview where Hulk Hogan uses the n-word and reports that he also used similar language in a leaked sex tape from almost a decade ago, he addressed the situation today.

"Eight years ago I used offensive language during a conversation," he said in a statement to ABC News. "It was unacceptable for me to have used that offensive language; there is no excuse for it; and I apologize for having done it."

He continued, "I believe very strongly that every person in the world is important and should not be treated differently based on race, gender, orientation, religious beliefs or otherwise. I am disappointed with myself that I used language that is offensive and inconsistent with my own beliefs. It is not who I am. I continue to work every day to improve as a person, and this matter is an important learning experience for me in that regard. As a result I am resigning from my contractual relationship with the WWE.”

Read: Hulk Hogan Taking Gawker Media to Court Over Sex Tape
Hogan's response came after the WWE also released a statement, saying: "WWE terminated its contract with Terry Bollea (a.k.a. Hulk Hogan)," the network and organization told ABC News. "WWE is committed to embracing and celebrating individuals from all backgrounds as demonstrated by the diversity of our employees, performers and fans worldwide."

Along with the alleged comments, Hogan used other slurs on the DJ Whoo Kid radio show when asked by the DJ about his past use of the word "brother" for years while in the WWF, now known as WWE.

The conversation turned to other wrestlers like Booker T using the n-word at Hogan in the past on live TV. Hogan then repeated what he, and even rap artists like The Game and Lil Wayne would say to him, when he lived in Miami.

Hogan, 61, uses the n-word over and over on the surfaced audio. He admitted than he started saying it back to them, confused as to why he would get flack for saying it back if they were calling him that.

"I get heat when I say it, and they say, ‘Hogan, you can’t say that,’ so I say, ‘Why can they say it to me then?’” he says in the audio.

DJ Whoo Kid tweeted about the situation, writing "nothing racist about that @HulkHogan 2012 interview I did. He was just explaining the usage of the Nword amongst his rapper friends and WWF ... to me @HulkHogan is the coolest and will always be the reason why I watched professional wrestling #legend."

Seattle sees fallout from $15 minimum wage, as other cities follow suit

Mountandrew — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 21:46:37 +0000

Seattle’s $15 minimum wage law is supposed to lift workers out of poverty and move them off public assistance. But there may be a hitch in the plan.

Evidence is surfacing that some workers are asking their bosses for fewer hours as their wages rise – in a bid to keep overall income down so they don’t lose public subsidies for things like food, child care and rent.

Full Life Care, a home nursing nonprofit, told KIRO-TV in Seattle that several workers want to work less.

“If they cut down their hours to stay on those subsidies because the $15 per hour minimum wage didn’t actually help get them out of poverty, all you’ve done is put a burden on the business and given false hope to a lot of people,” said Jason Rantz, host of the Jason Rantz show on 97.3 KIRO-FM.

The twist is just one apparent side effect of the controversial -- yet trendsetting -- minimum wage law in Seattle, which is being copied in several other cities despite concerns over prices rising and businesses struggling to keep up.

The notion that employees are intentionally working less to preserve their welfare has been a hot topic on talk radio. While the claims are difficult to track, state stats indeed suggest few are moving off welfare programs under the new wage.

Despite a booming economy throughout western Washington, the state’s welfare caseload has dropped very little since the higher wage phase began in Seattle in April. In March 130,851 people were enrolled in the Basic Food program. In April, the caseload dropped to 130,376.

At the same time, prices appear to be going up on just about everything.

Some restaurants have tacked on a 15 percent surcharge to cover the higher wages. And some managers are no longer encouraging customers to tip, leading to a redistribution of income. Workers in the back of the kitchen, such as dishwashers and cooks, are getting paid more, but servers who rely on tips are seeing a pay cut.

Some long-time Seattle restaurants have closed altogether, though none of the owners publicly blamed the minimum wage law.

“It’s what happens when the government imposes a restriction on the labor market that normally wouldn’t be there, and marginal businesses get hit the hardest, and usually those are small, neighborhood businesses,” said Paul Guppy, of the Washington Policy Center.

Seattle was followed by San Francisco and Los Angeles in passing a $15 minimum wage law. The wage is being phased in over several years to give businesses time to adjust. The current minimum wage in Seattle is $11. In San Francisco, it’s $12.25.

And it is spreading. Beyond the city of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors this week also approved a $15 minimum wage.

New York state could be next, with the state Wage Board on Wednesday backing a $15 wage for fast-food workers, something Gov. Andrew Cuomo has supported.

Already, though, there are unintended consequences in other cities.

Comix Experience, a small book store in downtown San Francisco, has begun selling graphic novel club subscriptions in order to meet payroll. The owner, Brian Hibbs, admits members are not getting all that much for their $25 per month dues, but their “donation” is keeping him in business.

“I was looking at potentially having to close the store down and then how would I make my living?” Hibbs asked.

To date, he’s sold 228 subscriptions. He says he needs 334 to reach his goal of the $80,000 income required to cover higher labor costs. He doesn’t blame San Francisco voters for approving the $15 minimum wage, but he doesn’t think they had all the information needed to make a good decision.

Dan Springer joined Fox News Channel (FNC) in August 2001 as a Seattle-based correspondent.

Army chief Odierno, in exit interview, says US could have ‘prevented’ ISIS rise

TheUrbanPunk — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 02:30:18 +0000

The Army’s top officer told Fox News Tuesday it’s “frustrating” to watch the gains he helped achieve in Iraq disintegrate at the hands of the Islamic State, saying in an exit interview that the chaos now unfolding “might have been prevented” had the U.S. stayed more engaged.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno, weeks away from retirement after 39 years in uniform, spent more time in Iraq than any other U.S. Army general -- more than four years, the last two as top commander. He is widely viewed as a key architect of the Iraq surge.

In an exclusive interview with Fox News, the general tackled a range of topics, from the Iran nuclear deal to the deep cuts to U.S. Army troop levels. But Odierno had pointed words on the rise of ISIS in Iraq and Syria – suggesting it didn’t have to be this way.

“It's frustrating to watch it,” Odierno said. “I go back to the work we did in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 and we got it to a place that was really good. Violence was low, the economy was growing, politics looked like it was heading in the right direction.”

Odierno said the fall of large parts of Iraq was not inevitable, reiterating concerns about the pace of the U.S. troop withdrawal there.

“If we had stayed a little more engaged, I think maybe it might have been prevented,” he said. “I've always believed the United States played the role of honest broker between all the groups and when we pulled ourselves out, we lost that role.”

In 2009, while still the top commander in Iraq, Odierno recommended keeping 30,000-35,000 U.S. troops after the end of 2011, when the U.S. was scheduled to pull out. The recommendation was not followed.

“I think it would have been good for us to stay,” Odierno said, when asked if it was a mistake to pull out.

Further, when ISIS took over large portions of Iraq last year including its second-largest city, Mosul, the White House apparently didn’t reach out to the Army officer who had spent more time commanding U.S. forces than anyone else.

“All my work was given to [Joint Chiefs] Chairman [Martin] Dempsey,” Odiernio said. “I never talked directly to the president about it at that time, but I talked to the secretary of defense and I'm sure he relayed all of my thoughts,” he added.

Odierno, though, is most worried about the deep cuts to the Army over the past four years – from 570,000 troops in 2010 to near 490,000 today, a reduction of 14 percent. And the cuts are getting deeper.

“In my mind, we don't have the ability to deter. The reason we have a military is to deter conflict and prevent wars. And if people believe we are not big enough to respond, they miscalculate,” Odierno said.

Earlier this month, the Army announced an additional cut of 40,000 troops, which would take the Army down to 450,000 soldiers -- or pre-9/11 levels -- the result of a decision taken two years ago.

"I believed at the time we could do that,” said Odierno. “But I said we were on the razor’s edge that we could actually do our mission at 450.”

He added: “Two years ago, we didn’t think we had a problem in Europe. … [Now] Russia is reasserting themselves. We didn’t think we’d have a problem again in Iraq and ISIS has emerged.

“So, with Russia becoming more of a threat, with ISIS becoming more of a threat, in my mind, we are on a dangerous balancing act right now with capability.”

“When we go to 450, we are going to have to stop doing something," said Odierno.

As for what message these cuts send to adversaries of the United States, Odierno said: “I believe they question whether we will be able to respond and so they're willing to take maybe a bit more risk than they might have just a few years ago.”

While Odierno says he supports the recently announced nuclear deal with Iran, he warned that Iran will not change its behavior in the region.

“Iran has continued to do malign activities throughout the Middle East [and] they will continue,” warned Odierno, who blamed Iran for contributing to the unraveling of Iraq and the rise of ISIS.

Dempsey recently told Congress that Iran was responsible for roughly 500 American deaths, an estimate Odierno did not dispute.

Odierno said of Iran: “We can't be naïve.”

Obama orders flags lowered to honor Tennessee victims, after criticism

Mountandrew — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 22:15:50 +0000

President Obama has ordered that flags be lowered to half-staff at the White House and federal buildings across the country to honor the victims of last week's shooting rampage in Chattanooga, Tenn., after facing pressure from lawmakers and others.

In a proclamation issued early Tuesday afternoon, Obama said of the Chattanooga victims, "We honor their service. We offer our gratitude to the police officers and first responders who stopped the rampage and saved lives. We draw strength from yet another American community that has come together with an unmistakable message to those who would try and do us harm: We do not give in to fear. You cannot divide us. And you will not change our way of life."

He ordered flags flown at half-staff at the White House and "all public buildings and grounds," as well as over military posts and naval stations and vessels -- until July 25. Flags will be flown at half-staff at U.S. embassies and other overseas diplomatic offices.

The decision comes after congressional leaders ordered flags at the U.S. Capitol lowered to half-staff earlier in the day -- that decision fueled questions over why the White House hadn't yet done the same.

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., a veteran, earlier released a statement calling it "unconscionable" that the flags had not been lowered, as of Tuesday morning. "The flag and all it represents is sacred to our military, and the President must know that lowering the flag is a signal of honor and respect," he said.

Shortly afterward, the White House issued its proclamation, following similar instructions for the Capitol by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner.

"Last week, five brave service members were murdered in a terror attack in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Out of respect for their courageous service and sacrifice to our nation, flags at the U.S. Capitol are being lowered to half-staff," Boehner said in a statement.

The House will also observe a moment of silence Tuesday evening for the victims.

McConnell said, "[T]he U.S. Senate's thoughts are with their families and loved ones, and with all those who protect us here, and around the world."

The shooting occurred at two military facilities. A Navy sailor and four Marines were killed.

The White House has ordered flags lowered on several occasions in the past, including after the tragic mass shooting in December 2012 at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. The directive at the time ordered flags lowered, "As a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated on Dec. 14, 2012, in Newtown, Conn."

Asked about the status of the White House flags on Monday, Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters that Obama has offered his "sincere condolences to the families of those who were killed in this attack," without mentioning the forthcoming proclamation.

The shooting has prompted governors in at least a half-dozen states to authorize National Guardsmen to take up arms to protect recruiting offices and installations.

The U.S. military also has outlined security upgrades for recruiting stations, reserve centers and other facilities, according to Capt. Scott Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Northern Command, which covers military bases in North America.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.