Westworld season 2 seemed like a no-brainer after all the hype surrounding last night"s finale, but nothing in the TV business is ever a guarantee until it is.
However, fans of HBO"s latest original series can breathe easy: series star Jeffrey Wright confirmed on social media thatWestworldseason 2 is happening - but apparently fans will have to wait until 2018 to see it.
Wright played dutiful Westworld behavior specialist Bernard, who was revealed to himself be a host - one made by park co-founder Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) in homage to his late design partner Arnold, who first endowed the hosts with the potential for consciousness. It was a great dual role for Wright, and last we saw, Bernard was bearing first-hand witness to the "rise of the machines," as it were.
More Westworld: Is Young William Returning? /Did (SPOILER)Really Die/ The Man in Black Revealed /The Maze Revealed/Ford"s New Narrative Revealed/WESTWORLD FINALE RECAP WITH SPOILERS
Livestream: 24 Hours of Reality. Begins at 6:00 P.M. Eastern
The future of the planetary conditions on which human civilization depends are reliant now more than ever upon scientists and innovators, businesses and civil society, and our collective efforts to accelerate the implementation of the solutions to the climate crisis that are already available and cost-effective.
We have always known that this work would not be easy. We still depend on fossil fuels for approximately 80 percent of all the energy we use in the world; it is a daunting challenge to shift away from them as quickly as the scientific community says is imperative and urgent. Every day we pour 110 million tons of heat-trapping global warming pollution into our atmosphere as if it were an open sewer. All that extra heat energy is disrupting the hydrological cycle, evaporating much more water vapor from the oceans, filling the atmospheric rivers that fuel stronger storms and more extreme floods, deeper and longer droughts, increased water stress, declining crop yields, the spread of tropical diseases poleward, refugee crises and political instability. Simultaneously, the melting and fracturing of the cryosphere is accelerating sea level rise, threatening coastal cities and fresh-water acquirers.
The extreme losses of biodiversity and critical ecosystems are at dangerous levels. And the pending collapse of the sub-prime carbon asset bubble threatens the global economy.
Now, in the wake of the United States presidential election, we face even greater uncertainty.
But just as the changes in our climate do not stop and start with elections, our transition to a sustainable future -- which is well underway is not dependent on politics or ideology. Solutions are at hand new technologies exist and are being deployed. Markets are reacting and rewarding clean energy generation and storage and digitally empowered efficiency and waste reduction. But we are in a race against time to ensure that we make these necessary changes quickly enough to avoid the worst climate catastrophes. It is incumbent on the global community of scientists, technologists, innovators, investors, entrepreneurs and grassroots leaders to redouble our efforts to understand the challenge we face, to call for action and to implement solutions.
On Monday, December 5 and Tuesday, December 6, The Climate Reality Project, the organization which I founded and chair, will shine a spotlight on this unfolding transition during 24 Hours of Reality: The Road Forward. The broadcast, a 24-hour live event, will focus on the 24 countries with the highest greenhouse gas emissions in the world, the unique challenges each of them face related to the climate crisis, their commitments to take action and the solutions that are being implemented in communities around the globe.
The Paris Agreement marked a historic moment as the worlds governments collectively agreed to take climate action. In all parts of the world, local, state, and national governments are increasingly realizing the importance of taking substantive action to confront the climate crisis and, perhaps most importantly, public support for climate action is higher than ever.
The cost of solar and wind energy continues to drop dramatically, reaching market parity with coal in many parts of the world. Countries across the globe who have been dependent on oil and gas for far too long are ramping up their use of solar and wind power to address carbon emissions, pollution, and energy poverty. Cities and communities around the world are transitioning to 100 percent renewable electricity.
Science and technology are paving the way, showing us the exciting opportunities ahead and proving that we are not stuck with the archaic energy solutions, infrastructure, and policies of the past. Businesses and investors are seizing these opportunities, proving that we can grow economies, create jobs and protect the planet at the same time. The story of climate action is one of hope and progress, not despair. This is our Road Forward.
But this moment requires more than just hope. More than ever before, we must work together to solve the climate crisis, to move past denial and despair and to move away from old, tired and dangerous ways of consuming energy. A world powered by clean energy is not just possible, but within close reach, and we must be the drivers of progress. Innovation and action will do more good than ignorance and complacency. With the scientific and technology communities in our corner, we are undoubtedly on the Road Forward to a sustainable future.
The views expressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.
Sacramento Kings vs New York Knicks - 1st Qtr Highlights | December 4, 2016 | 2016-17 NBA Season
NBA trade rumors are persistent and they seemingly always involve Paul George and Nerlens Noel. But is Derrick Rose included in the mix? (NBA /YouTube)
After a rocky start, it seems that the New York Knicks are pulling themselves together. Some believe that this is proof of the work rookie coach Hornacek is doing with the Knicks. The help given by Derrick Rose bolstered the team"s lineup. Some NBA trade rumors last season became true when GM Phil Jackson opted to sign up Rose together with Joakin Noah to help the team out.
Derrick Rose Will Be Staying With The Knicks
The Knicks won their game over the Minnesota Timberwolves last Friday night. Although the hero of the night was Kyle O"Quinn, other role players also contributed to the final score. This is testament to the veteran coaching skills of Hornacek, although it is his rookie year for the Knicks.
Derrick Rose has been a great additionto the knicks" roster. his addition helps to bolster the team"s lineup. Carmelo Anthony is performing his best in his role, and the rising second-year veteran Kristaps Prozingas has ably supported him on the court. With this combination, some NBA trade rumors suggest that the Knicks will keep Rose in their roster for a much longer time.
Paul George Being Traded For 7 Celtics Players
Meanwhile, some NBA trade rumorsalso indicate that the Boston Celtics are eyeing Paul George. A report on HNGN said that the missing piece that the team is searching for may come by way of George. The report said that the relentless effort of the Celtics to build up the team induces the trade of four future draft choices including Kelly Olynyk, Amir Johnson and Jae Crowder for Paul George.
An Eventual Trade Could Be Soon For Nerlens Noel
Other NBA trade rumors have suggested that the 76ers will eventually trade Nerlens Noel. With Noel unhappy with his situation on the team, the deal may be inked sooner. The two teams supposedly interested in the deal are the Portland Trailblazers and the Chicago Bulls. If the Philadelphia 76ers will agree with the asking price, the deal might push through with either of the two teams.
2016 iTech Post All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Antonio Brown had an interesting interaction with the media on Friday to say the least. The Steelers All-Pro wideout was apparently adamant about how he has changed his first name to "Ronald," and repeatedly told reporters who questioned him that is the only name that he will answer to going forward.
There has been no legal documentation regarding Brown"s purported first name change at press time, but we can just chalk this up as his No, My Name Is Jeffery moment (except, Young Thug"s actual birth name is Jeffery Williams, whereas Antonio Brown"s government name is, err, antonio brown).
anyway, you can see the reporters question Brown in the clip above. You can also read the list of questions in sequential order in the tweet below of the video conference questions and answers that had many people there scratching their heads about AB supposedly changing his initials to "RB." Brown even spoke about himself as "Ronald" in the third person.
When asked the questions in the press conference about what cleats he plans to wear for Sunday"s game against the Giants, you can see what "Ronald" plans to don for the NFL"s charity week here.
Brown also posted a selfie on his Snapchat with a filter that reads his new name.
Image via Snapchat/Antonio Brown
There is a theory that speculates why Brown could be using the name Ronald. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Brown may possibly be commemorating the memory of Jim Delligatti, a McDonald"s franchisee and creator of the fast food restaurant"s Big Mac sandwich, who died on Nov. 28 at age 98. Delligatti was a native of Uniontown, PA, which is approximately 46 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Brown may possibly be paying homage to Delligatti and the Golden Arch"s mascot ubiquitous Ronald McDonald who made kids "believe in magic" for decades. If that"s not the secret, then let"s just stop guessing altogether because it"s just too much work to debunk or verify.
Another person who knows a thing or two about name changes, Chad Ochocinco, tweeted his best wishes to "Ronald" for Sunday"s game.
We"re waiting on what Metta World Peace has to say about all this.
Send all complaints, compliments, and tips to sportstips@complex.com.
Jayalalitha Passed Away |JAYALALITHA DEAD CONFIRMED |சற்றுமுன் ஜெயலலிதா காலமானார FOX TAMIL TV | LIVE Image copyright AFP Image caption Police have been put on alert across Tamil Nadu
One of India"s most popular and powerful politicians, J Jayalalitha, remains in a critical condition after suffering a heart attack on Sunday night, the hospital treating her said.
Thousands of people are standing vigil outside the hospital in Chennai.
Ms Jayalalitha, 68, has been receiving treatment for months and was last seen in public in September.
The former film star has been Tamil Nadu chief minister four times and is revered by many in the state.
With the extreme devotion she inspires among her supporters, many of whom refer to her as "Amma" (mother), there are concerns that a serious deterioration in her condition could spark unrest.
Police have been put on alert across Tamil Nadu and outside her official residence in Chennai (Madras).
There have already been scuffles outside the hospital, following incorrect reports of her death in Indian media. The reports have since been retracted, and a flag flying at half-mast over her party"s headquarters has been hoisted once more.
News of her health over the last few months has been closely monitored and guarded, and in a sign of the sensitivity around the issue two people were arrested for spreading rumours about her health in October.
Profile: Jayaram Jayalalitha
Why Jayalalitha"s health has an entire state on edge
The photograph "ruling" an Indian state
The women who rule India
Image copyright AFP Image caption Ms Jayalalitha inspires extreme devotion in the state Image copyright Imran Qureshi Image caption People have been gathering outside the hospital where she has been receiving treatment since Sunday night
The latest statement from the Apollo Hospital added that Ms Jayalalitha was being "closely monitored by a team of experts" and she was still on life support systems.
On Sunday evening, the hospital had asked the public to "pray for her speedy recovery".
Leaders, including President Pranab Mukherjee have tweeted, expressing concern about her health.
Last month a letter released by her party seemed to hint at a recovery for the politician saying she had been "reborn" thanks to prayers from her supporters.
As it also urged people to vote for her party at upcoming by-elections, critics said it could have also been an attempt to quell fears about the extent of her illness and mobilise her supporters.
Image copyright AFP Image caption There are fears that her supporters could resort to violence and self harm if her situation worsens
"I drain all the life out of myself out there," said Randall Cunningham, former Eagles" quarterback, when asked in 1990 about his effort on the playing field. "I get paid to play, to win, to give the city pride, so maybe everybody can forget for a little while how hard life is."
Cunningham got it. Apparently, the current Eagles don"t. If they did, the Birds wouldn"t have lost their last three games by 11 points or more, including Sunday"s 32-14 debacle against a mediocre Cincinnati Bengals team.
This exasperating season has become more of the same old broken promises, unrealized potential, and lame excuses that the organization has fed the fans for the last decade.
Although Philadelphia may be a city of respected universities, nationally acclaimed museums, and an ever-diminishing coterie of blue-bloods, its genuine spirit can be found in the clock-punchers and blue-collars who define our character, especially when it comes to football.
That is why Eagles fans pay insane amounts of their hard-earned money on game tickets and NFL-wear bearing the team"s logo. Why they show up at Lincoln Financial Field eight times every season and cheer on the Birds with a passion that borders on the violent. And why they deserve more than what the Eagles have given them over the last several years.
After the 2012 season when the team finished last in the National Football Conference"s Eastern division, owner Jeffrey Laurie finally admitted that after 14 seasons head coach Andy Reid"s time was up and fired him. Even before that Eagles" fans had grown tired of getting to the postseason only to lose in the first round; something Reid"s teams did with regularity.
Birds" fans were promised a fairly quick rebuild under new head coach Chip Kelly, who turned out to be a disaster. Not only was Kelly a poor communicator, but he stripped the roster of its most talented players (DeSean Jackson, LeSean McCoy , and Jeremy Maclin), made expensive - and poor - signings (DeMarco Murray, Kiko Alonso, and Sam Bradford ), and a terrible first-round pick (Nelson Agholor).
Through it all, the fans have been patient. But patience has its limits.
To be sure, no one expected the Eagles to contend for the postseason this year. A first-year head coach, a rookie quarterback, a young, inexperienced corps of wide receivers, and a questionable secondary defense assured that there would be growing pains. But after the Birds won their first three games, including a 34-3 whitewashing of the perennially contending Pittsburgh Steelers, expectations changed. And they should have.
Even after the bye week when the losses started to mount, the Eagles still played with passion and determination. They remained competitive, beating the then-undefeated Minnesota Vikings, and the NFC South"s division-leading Atlanta Falcons. What"s more, the Birds could have easily won any of the other four games they played during that period, losing by no more than a touchdown to any of their opponents.
But their performance in the last three losses - Seattle Seahawks (26-15), Green Bay Packers (27-13), and especially Sunday"s loss against the Bengals - is unacceptable. most of the points the eagles scored in those games were "garbage points," tallied after they no longer had a chance to win.
What"s so disturbing is not the fact that they lost those games, but how they lost them. Not only did the coaches and the players fail to meet the standard that they set for themselves earlier in the season, but they did so with very little passion, focus, or pride. And that is an insult to the fans because it reflects on us and our city.
The next time Doug Pederson, his coaching staff, and his players don the green, white, and black, they better remember that they all get paid to compete with heart, to win, and to represent this city with some pride.
If not, they just might be out of a job in pro football, and then they"ll find out just how hard life really is.
William C. Kashatus is a historian and writer. bill@historylive.net
Published: December 5, 2016 11:54 AM EST
The Philadelphia Inquirer
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Italy"s Renzi to resign following referendum defeat
Financial markets were stoic on Monday after Italian voters decisively rejected changes to their countrys Constitution intended to speed government decision-making and spur italys stagnant economy.
stocks in Europe and the United States rose, and the euro recovered from early losses a reaction that was muted in part because opinion polls had predicted the no vote, giving investors time to adjust their portfolios, and also because political instability in Rome is not exactly unusual.
But analysts said the potential for market turmoil remained if the vote resulted in a long period of government paralysis and delayed plans to fix Italys ailing banks, whose shares fell sharply on Monday.
It will be very much related to two factors, said Nicola Nobile, a senior European economist at Oxford Economics in Milan. What is going to happen to the banking system, and if were going to have a government soon.
The vote was another sign of popular resistance across Europe to changes that economists say are needed for the 19-country eurozone to overcome problems that have threatened its existence. Such overhauls are particularly urgent in Italy, which has had no lasting growth for a decade and is the second-most-indebted country in the eurozone after Greece.
The European Central Banks Governing Council, which is scheduled to meet on Thursday, is expected to extend its purchases of eurozone government bonds to hold down borrowing rates. But analysts say that central bank measures cannot keep the currency bloc together indefinitely if its members are unwilling to take steps that are essential to growth.
The political uncertainty caused by the vote will postpone plans to rebuild Italian banks and to help them deal with problem loans, which account for nearly a fifth of total debt and are a serious drag on the economy.
Though market interest rates, or yields, on government bonds rose across Europe indicating that investors now consider the region to be a riskier place to put their money the increase was highest in Italy, a sign of the heightened uncertainty over the countrys prospects. American Treasuries followed European bonds lower, sending yields up.
After the vote, the euro initially fell as much as 1.5 percent against the dollar in Asian trading, but it recovered by the morning in Europe and even gained ground compared with last week. Major European and United States stock markets were all slightly higher as well.
The most immediate concern for investors is probably the Italian banking system. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said he would resign, postponing, if not derailing, plans to restructure Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Italys most troubled bank and a linchpin of the financial system.
Political instability will make it even more difficult than it already was for Monte dei Paschi to raise the 5 billion euros, or $5.3 billion, it needs to clean up its portfolio of bad loans. Mr. Renzis government had been trying to encourage reluctant investors to put up the money.
Graphic
Right-wing parties have been achieving electoral success in a growing number of nations.
In the worst-case scenario, the bank would not be able to raise the money and there would be a so-called bail-in of the lender in which shareholders, bondholders and depositors would bear the losses.
That would be quite painful for the banking system, Mr. Nobile said. The negative reaction would not just be with Monte dei Paschi.
Shares in Monte dei Paschi were down 3.5 percent in afternoon trading while the shares of UniCredit, Italys biggest bank, fell 6 percent before paring some of the losses.
UniCredit has scheduled an investor presentation for next week and had been expected to outline plans to raise more capital. The timing of the presentation now looks unfortunate.
Problems at Italian banks could spread across the eurozone. Large banks around the Continent continually lend money to one another, which allows problems at one institution to spread quickly.
European banks have lent 385 billion to Italian banks, or slightly less than 2 percent of total credit, according to analysts at Credit Suisse. BNP Paribas of France is the most vulnerable, with just under 10 percent of its outstanding loans in Italy. Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank in Germany have about 3 percent of their credit portfolios in Italy, according to Credit Suisse, which said the sums are not large enough to undermine the eurozone banking system.
However, history shows that the extent of banks exposure to one another does not usually become clear until a large lender gets in trouble.
In the worst case, Italy could again be at the center of a crisis like the one that nearly destroyed the eurozone in 2011. The vote could set off a political chain reaction leading to a government headed by the populist Five Star Movement.
The risk in Italy is that a Five Star party-led government is coming next, and it will move to pull Italy out of the E.U., Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics in Valhalla, N.Y., wrote in a note to clients on Monday. That prospect undermines the creditworthiness proposition underlying Italian bonds.
There is danger of a vicious circle if the Italian economy sags. More businesses and consumers would have trouble paying their debts, and the number of problem loans could rise further. Bad loans are a dead weight on the Italian economy, because they prevent banks from providing credit needed for businesses to expand. And problems at Italian banks would become even more intractable.
Italys national debt is equal to 136 percent of gross domestic product. The government depends on investors willing to continue rolling over the debt at reasonable interest rates.
Investors have already been demanding a higher premium on Italian bonds. The yield on Italian 10-year government bonds has nearly doubled since August, to around 2 percent. That is still far below the more than 7 percent reached in late 2011, during the darkest days of the eurozone financial crisis. But the increase is a sign that investors consider the bonds to be more risky.
