After the martyrdom of St. Boniface, Vergilius was made Bishop of Salzburg (766 or 767) and laboured successfully for the upbuilding of his diocese as well as for the spread of the Faith in neighbouring heathen countries, especially in Carinthia. He died at Salzburg, 27 November, 789. In 1233 he was canonized by Gregory IX. His doctrine that the earth is a sphere was derived from the teaching of ancient geographers, and his belief in the existence of the antipodes was probably influenced by the accounts which the ancient Irish voyagers gave of their journeys. This, at least, is the opinion of Rettberg ("Kirchengesch. Deutschlands", II, 236).
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"Whoever gets him, they'll be getting a good one," David Montgomery said.
INDIANAPOLIS — Hakeem Butler has been surrounded by some of the best wide receivers on the planet this week at the NFL Scouting Combine.
It’s an experience that might humble some. But for Butler, it has only enhanced his confidence.
As it stands, 22-year-old Butler is not regarded as the best wide receiver in this year’s NFL Draft. He’s projected by some experts to go as late as the third round. But when wide receivers were measured Thursday, Butler gained some attention: He led all receivers in height (6-foot-5 3/8), arm length (35 1/4 inches) and wingspan (83 7/8 inches).
On Thursday, running back David Montgomery, who played with Butler at Iowa State, captured the general vibe surrounding Butler here.
Butler says he’s met with every NFL team on an informal basis. He had “nine or 10” formal meetings set up for Friday night, but didn’t divulge which teams he’d be sitting down with.
There is clear interest in Butler, who declared for the draft after his junior season in which he had 60 receptions for 1,318 yards and nine touchdowns.
But in his mind, the hype machine hasn’t been turned up high enough — yet.
Butler, of course, is talking about Saturday’s wide receiver workouts. If he crushes the drills, he could vault up the draft board — perhaps into the first round. And he feels well-prepared because he’s spent the past few months working out with some legendary NFL receivers in Calvin Johnson and Anquan Boldin.
Butler met Boldin at the South Florida gym where he trains. He was connected to Johnson through his agent.
Johnson and Boldin are known for being precise, tactical receivers. But Butler says the most valuable lesson of working with them has been learning about how they think.
Butler admitted the first time he worked with Johnson, who went to six Pro Bowls with the Detroit Lions from 2010-15, that he was a little starstruck.
Butler is hoping that one day he can leave a legacy like Boldin or Johnson. But for now, his goal is to prove what he already believes is true: that he is the top receiver in this draft.
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8i announced today it has launched a web player, the 8i Portal, for its volumetric 3D video of people in virtual reality.
Using 8i’s technology and VR goggles, you’ll be able to walk around a person inside a virtual environment to see their entire being. The Wellington, New Zealand-based startup said its VR platform will allow you to view fully volumetric 3D video.
Previously, VR cameras could record a partial torso of a person, but the 8i Portal goes beyond that. It enables “complete freedom of movement,” and it gives you a sense of “presence,” or the feeling that you are there in the virtual space with the person. It creates a more “emotional connection with the person you are watching,” the company said in the video below.
8i’s platform will let you create, experience, and share immersive 3D video of real people — for virtual reality, augmented reality, and the web. I’m not sure how it can be used for games, but you can see how it could give you a unique perspective at a music concert or theatrical performance.
Linc Gasking, who previously ran countingdown.com (which DreamWorks acquired), and Eugene d’Eon, formerly of Weta Digital and Nvidia, founded the startup in 2014.
To date, 8i has raised $14.8 million in funding from investors including RRE Ventures, Founders Fund Science, Horizons Ventures, Samsung Ventures, Dolby Family Ventures, Signia Venture Partners, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, Sound Ventures, Inevitable Ventures, Freelands, and Advancit Capital.
The new 8i Portal is a volumetric VR player for Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive VR platforms. If you use the Oculus Rift or Vive headsets, you can view cool VR videos of people who look real, not computer-generated, and move around them, make eye contact, and feel “true presence,” the company said.
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The Arlington County Board plans to vote Saturday afternoon on giving Amazon $23 million and other incentives to build a headquarters campus in Crystal City, but only after hearing scores of northern Virginia residents and advocates testify for or against the project.
The five-member board is expected to support the plan, which was announced amid much hoopla on Nov. 13. The proposed county incentives are part of an agreement in which Amazon would occupy significant office space and bring at least 25,000 high-paying jobs to Arlington in coming years.
Opponents hope to postpone the vote until after additional public hearings, where they want representatives of the online retail giant to answer questions directly from anyone in the community.
The Saturday hearing was scheduled to begin no earlier than 1 p.m. and last several hours before the vote. Ninety-one people signed up in advance to speak on the topic.
In the four months since Arlington won a much-publicized, nationwide contest to attract the facility known as HQ2, Arlington residents have been asking questions about its impact on their community.
People have looked at the county’s five online Q&A sessions 14,000 times, and about 400 attended community events to discuss the provisions in the Amazon agreement. Board members and county staff also met with scores of civic organizations, served on multiple panels and appeared on television, online and in news articles to discuss the deal.
Most Arlingtonians, northern Virginians and residents of the Washington region support Amazon’s arrival, several surveys have found. Business organizations, universities and nonprofit groups came out strongly for the deal.
But a small, vocal group of activists has sought to block the project, saying that the county and commonwealth should not give any incentives to one of the world’s most valuable companies. They also have demanded housing and job protections for existing residents.
These opponents — including left-wing organizations and immigrants groups — felt empowered after Amazon canceled plans last month to build a headquarters facility in New York City, also with 25,000 jobs. The company withdrew after criticism of the plan from some elected leaders, unions and community activists.
In Virginia, however, such opposition did not appear to catch fire among the broader public.
Officials estimate that the Amazon project’s net fiscal impact on Arlington could be worth additional revenue of $162 million over 12 years and $392.5 million over 16 years.
The incentives agreement promises the world’s largest online retailer cash grants estimated at about $23 million if it occupies 6.05 million square feet of office space in Crystal City and Pentagon City through 2035.
The money would come from an expected increase in the hotel, motel and lodging tax paid by visitors; Amazon would get up to 15 percent of that increase, pegged to how much floor space is in active use by the company each year from 2020 to 2035.
Amazon’s offices will be located within an already-established special tax district where a portion of the property tax revenue goes toward infrastructure improvements such as parks and wider sidewalks.
The incentive agreement says that half of any new revenue from that district starting in 2021 will go specifically toward improvements around the Amazon buildings for the following 10 years. That grant is worth an estimated $28 million but the county says it’s not a grant just for Amazon, because the improvements will benefit other companies in the immediate area. Amazon will have a chance to express its opinion on how the county uses the money, although the board will make the decision.
The county also offered Amazon the possibility of using its fast, fiber-optic network connection, which would be the subject of a separate agreement if the company chooses to use it.
It’s not yet clear whether Amazon will pay the local business license tax because that tax is levied only on certain types of business, and Amazon has not yet announced which of its business units will be based in Arlington. If the company does pay the license tax, then some of its operations could be eligible for a discount of up to 72 percent under an existing program designed to attract technology companies.
While Arlington pored over the details, the Virginia General Assembly passed, and Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam signed, an incentives package worth up to $750 million for Amazon.
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Karl Kispert, principal of cyber and information security, has more than 28 years of experience in selling, managing and delivering information risk management, internal audit, regulatory and compliance programs, and information security and technology risk management.
A former chief information security officer, Kispert has helped design and implement cybersecurity programs for many firms, according to the firm.
“By adding this new service line, and bringing someone with Karl’s expertise to the firm, we can service yet another important aspect of our clients’ and prospects’ businesses, ensuring their continued success,” CEO Louis Grassi said in a written statement.
Services will include full security programs, compliance, third party vendor risk assessment, threat management, and managed security services.
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The Hawaii man who was fired after issuing the false ballistic missile alert in mid-January told reporters Friday that he was very upset over the incident but remained adamant that it appeared, at the time, to be a real-life attack.
The former state employee – a man in his 50s who asked to remain anonymous for his safety – said that he was “100 percent sure” that the drill on Jan. 13 was real, even though several other employees heard the word “exercise” repeated throughout the message, according to officials.
Once the man realized what had happened, he said he felt like he’d sustained a “body blow.” Since then, he’s reportedly been distressed to the point that he has had trouble eating and sleeping.
During a news conference on Tuesday, investigating officer Brig. Gen. Bruce Oliveira shared details of the state’s probe and said when the mistake was realized, the employee “froze” and “seemed confused.” Another employee had to resume his duties and send a correction message, Oliveira said.
The employee also reportedly had at least two previous incidents in which he mistook drills for real-world events, including for tsunami and fire warnings. But Oliveira said the employee was previously counseled and allowed to resume his duties.
Following the event, the employee was fired and Vern Miyagi, who oversaw the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, took responsibility and resigned.
Toby Clairmont, the agency’s executive officer, also resigned before disciplinary action could be taken, and authorities are in the process of suspending another worker without pay.
By 8:20 a.m., Hawaii EMA tweeted there was “NO missile threat” to the state, but failed to send a phone alert for another 38 minutes, causing mass panic among people who weren’t able to check social media.
Fox News’ Katherine Lam and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Shania Twain expected to break the charts with new album NOW!
Even after a 15-year hiatus, she’s still the one! Shania Twain is on pace to top the charts with her new album NOW. The 16-song LP was released on Sept. 29 and is set to shoot past Demi Lovato and Miley Cyrus to claim the number one spot on Billboard’s Top 200. The Timmins native hopped on Twitter on Wednesday to announce that her album is already platinum in Canada!
Shortly after the release of the lead single “Life’s About to Get Good,” it hit number one on the Billboard 200. Of course, fans were simply dying to see how their favourite country icon was doing, so the new single rocked its way to the top of Billboard + Twitter Trending 140, too! So far, the song’s video has over four million views on YouTube and the number continues to ride the wave of Now’s release.
The 52-year-old country star, still clad in her iconic leopard print, insists that Now is not a break up album but another coming-of-age collection of tunes bound to make listeners laugh, cry and rock out.
This is one country powerhouse that just doesn’t quit. Despite originally declaring her 2015 Rock This Country tour as her final encore, Shania is ready to hit the road again. “I look forward to everyone getting familiar with the album – and then getting out there and performing live!” she exclaimed to Hello!.
The Shania Now tour kicks off on May 3 in Tacoma, Washington, and will see the singer make stops in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Hamilton, Ottawa, London and Quebec City. Tickets to see the Canadian musician are on sale now.
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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on July 12, 2018, on page 16.
Assembled by Palestinian artist Said Baalbaki, the exhibition presents 50 of Abbo's sketches, etchings and object, as well as texts – all taken from Baalbaki's personal collection of work from, and publications on, the elusive sculptor. Baalbaki has no work of his own in this show.
Born in Safad, northern Palestine, around 1888-1890, Abbo was a farmer and fisherman who later took up carpentry and stone masonry. It was not until he moved to Berlin in 1911 to study sculpture that his artistic career took shape.
Baalbaki has spent the last four years finding, and determining attribution for, 70 artworks and 100 texts mentioning the artist.
Baalbaki says many of Abbo's sculptures didn't survive World War I. He believes those that were originally exhibited in museums in Germany were taken during the war and melted down to make weapons.
Alongside Abbo's artworks are vintage photos of places he'd been or postcards from that time period, which Baalbaki says is to give an overall look at the life he led, in today's age of media and imagery.
Baalbaki intends to continue his research and tracking down Abbo's works.
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A blind man in his 60s is searching for the young man who pulled him back from an approaching train and saved his life last Thursday, Nov. 9.
Mike Wyatt stood at the stairs to the Peoria train station in Aurora, Colorado, on Monday, looking for the young man who saved his life days earlier.
Wyatt was heading back home after visiting friends in Longmont, and was about to cross the tracks to transfer to another train, unaware that a train was approaching. Seconds before the train pulled up, a man can be seen on security camera footage pulling him back with both arms.
“I am so stoked right now thinking that guy is going to come down that ramp [from the platform],” Wyatt told 9 News.
In the video by 9 News, he can be seen talking to passersby in hopes that they have some info about the man.
Although he hasn’t yet found him, 9 News did find a woman who saw the incident. She said she felt inspired by it.
“People are good,” said Miranda, one of the witnesses.
9News writes that Wyatt is thankful because the man has made it possible for Wyatt to be part of his grandchildren’s lives as they grow up.
Wyatt told 9 News he will come to the station one more day to look for the man.
“I will be always remembering this man and his kindness,” he said.
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After Kevin’s horrific leg injury, everyone is asking: will he ever play basketball again? Dr. Glashow, co-chief of sports medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center, tells HollywoodLife.com exclusively if Kevin will ever be back on the court. Read on for details!
After Louisville sophomore Kevin Ware broke his right leg during a game against Duke University, the basketball player was rushed to the hospital and underwent emergency surgery. After a successful surgery, Kevin is now focused on healing, but what does the future for his career hold?
Kevin Ware’s Basketball Career: Will He Ever Play Again?
Dr. Glashow, the co-chief of sports medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center, tells HollywoodLife.com exclusively that not only will Kevin play basketball again, but he could be healed in time for next season!
Although Kevin will be able to play basketball again, he has a long road to recovery ahead of him before he’ll be back on the court. After he’s recovered from surgery, Kevin’s next step will be physical therapy, according to Dr. Glashow.
HollywoodLifers, do YOU think Kevin will play basketball again? Vote below!
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This month some important Walmart news did not get the attention it deserved. The news wasn't some flashy announcement about virtual reality or about some new service for busy Manhattanites. It was something much more subtle and much more substantive.
It was the hire of Valerie Casey. Google "Valerie Casey" even today and only two listings make mention of her newfound connection with Walmart on the first page of the returned search results. This amount of attention is unjustifiably slight. Let this piece then serve as the hire's coming out party.
Shrewdly, Walmart has made Valerie Casey, formerly of Frog, Ideo, and Pentagram, its new head of design. She will be charged with leading Walmart into the future and ensuring that all its products and services, from websites to employee and consumer apps, will work in cohesion and from a singular experience design point of view.
"What's the big whup?" you might ask.
The big whup is that this announcement clearly shows that Walmart has jumped feet first into the waters of next generation retailing. Under Doug McMillon's bold leadership, Walmart here again is taking one of the most essential steps to long-term success for any legacy bricks-and-mortar retailer—specifically, redefining how it thinks of the word "product."
Instead of doing what many retailers do, like staffing de facto "product" heads within owned brand development, store operations, e-commerce, etc. and then leaving them to collaborate inside complex organizations with competing priorities, Walmart rightly understands that retailing has become so complex that all these aforementioned roles now need their own steward to ensure alignment.
Walmart having a mission to help its customers save money and live better is one thing, but putting that promise into coherent action is another thing entirely. Many retailers take such coordinated action for granted, which is why so many legacy retail experiences feel disjointed across the digital and physical divide. Success rarely is found in the compromise and turf wars of internal politics. The buck needs to stop somewhere.
Prior to e-commerce, before customers had the myriad of options they have today to consume products (via web portals, apps, social media, etc.), retailers were able to differentiate themselves by the products inside their four walls. The strategic practice of product differentiation became so prevalent and such a point of emphasis that it even gave way to the commonly heard parlance of retail being a "merchant-led business."
The growth of e-commerce in the 1990s and 2000s rewrote the playbook though. During this period, Jeff Bezos built Amazon into the "Everything Store." His idea was that as long as he could offer a great selection, convenience and great prices, consumers would gravitate towards Amazon over time. Boy, was he right, and, boy, did they ever gravitate towards Amazon.
Whether customers try to order direct from Amazon or from one of Amazon's many third-party suppliers on its marketplace, it is becoming more and more difficult for a consumer not to find what he or she desires on Amazon. At this point, nearly 50% of all first product searches start on Amazon, indicating that Amazon is settling into the digital and product acquisition-equivalent of the 1980s shopping mall. The products inside a retailers four walls or within a retailers assortment are now, in a way, almost non-differentiating.
Bezos saw that the opportunity in retail was to put the customer first and to think not about the product he or she buys but about the Product he or she really buys—for him, the Product (big "P) of the Amazon brand. The white space in retail was no longer leading with product (small "p"), but leading with the discipline of Product Management, where his Product, or in this case, the Amazon brand, was the magic created at the intersection of great experience design, technology and business. Product was not a pair of khaki pants, a new set of bed sheets or a bar of soap. It was the culmination of a friction-free user experience that delivered on the universal truths of selection, convenience, and low prices and that exceeded consumers' expectations consistently, again and again.
Sadly, many retailers have not grasped this "Product Problem." The greatest Product Manager in history, Jeff Bezos, saw the problem early on, while many merchant princes missed the signals and have even now admitted that they underestimated the impact technology would have on retail. Fortunately, Walmart's recent hire of Casey indicates that there could be light at the end of what has, until now, been a dark tunnel.
Walmart is big. The acquisitions of Jet.com, Bonobos, ModCloth, etc. have only made it bigger and more complex, saying nothing too of the ever-changing demands of consumers and Walmart's ever-expanding interests abroad (see Flipkart). Therefore, it is only right that someone, like Casey, take up the mantle to oversee and to fight for the consumer and to ensure that all Walmart's activities look, feel, and convey the Walmart brand in the simplest, most straightforward way as possible.
The products inside Walmart's stores are immaterial to its future success. What matters is the Product of its brand—its website, its store, its app-based services, etc. Those are the Products that matter. In a future world where the only thing that differentiates a physical from a digital experience is the memory and delight of being somewhere, a Walmart store is the Product or collective set of experiences that will get someone off his or her couch.
A tube of toothpaste just won't cut it anymore.
While the products within Walmart's store or on its website will come and go and ebb and flow, the shroud of the Walmart brand will be what matters. Walmart's store and its digital properties will be the envelopes that carry its brand promise.
The experiment that bears this out has already been run. We need look no further than the history of Amazon and also to the young upstart CEOs like Emily Weiss, Katrina Lake and Adam Goldenberg who are already thriving in this new world. Their collective early success indicates that they get the punchline to the joke of 21st century retail—that the retail of the future won't be merchant led, it will be Product led.
Best of luck, Valerie Casey. A bricks-and-mortar nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
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University of Utah track and field athlete Lauren McCluskey was found shot dead Monday night in the backseat of a vehicle outside a campus dormitory, according to university police. The suspected shooter was 37-year-old Melvin Rowland, a man McCluskey’s family said she had recently stopped dating. Rowland’s body was found a few hours later at a church; police said he died by suicide.
At a press conference, university police chief Dale Brophy said that McCluskey had filed a police report with them “on Oct. 12 and Oct. 13” about threats from Rowland. There was “some follow-up” and it was assigned to a detective who was “working to build a case against our suspect at that time,” Brophy said. The police chief would not go into further details about what happened with that investigation.
On Monday night, Brophy said that police got a call from a frantic mother saying “something happened to her daughter.” In a statement released by the McCluskey family, McCluskey’s mother said that she was on the phone with her daughter that night when she suddenly heard Lauren McCluskey yell “no no no!” Afraid her daughter was in a car accident, she stayed on the line while her husband called 911. A few minutes later, the family statement said, “a young woman picked up the phone and said all of Lauren’s things were on the ground.” It was the last time she spoke with her daughter.
Police officers went to the parking lot and found McCluskey’s body, Brophy said. The university issued an alert and an order for students to “secure-in-place.” It was lifted at 11:46 p.m., according to the university’s website, after police determined that Rowland was no longer on campus. Brophy said that Rowland was picked up by a vehicle and, about 1:15 a.m. he was spotted by Salt Lake City police who ran after him. Rowland got inside the Trinity AME Church, where he killed himself. A retired pastor told the Salt Lake Tribune that, to the best of his knowledge, Rowland didn’t attend the church and he had no idea why he chose that building.
The family of McCluskey, 21, said that their daughter had dated Rowland for about a month. She ended the relationship after she learned about his criminal history.
Lauren was a senior student athlete on the University of Utah track team. She was an outstanding student with a 3.75 GPA majoring in Communication and was excited to graduate in May 2019. She was a 2015 honors graduate of Pullman High School where she was Washington state champion in the high jump and the school record holder in the 100 meter hurdles. She attended Capital Church in Salt Lake City. She loved to sing and had strength and determination. She was dearly loved and will be greatly missed.
Police said the two had been in a “prior relationship,” but wouldn’t comment further. According to Utah Department of Corrections, Rowland was convicted in 2004 of enticing a minor, a second-degree felony, and attempted forcible sexual abuse, a third-degree felony. His last known home, Brophy said, was a halfway house.
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The Linux kernel now includes everything that is needed to use 3D acceleration with all GeForce graphics chips. Drivers have also been added for a Wireless Gigabit chip and a PCIe WLAN chip from Realtek.
In his email announcing the release of Linux 3.8-rc6, Linus Torvalds emphasised that he wanted the seventh release candidate to be the last one. When he released RC7 on Friday, however, he made no mention of whether there would be an eighth RC before the final version of Linux 3.8.
As long as no more major problems arise, though, the Linux kernel 3.8 should still be released this month. This article on driver updates will therefore bring the "Coming in 3.8" Kernel Log mini-series to a close. The first two parts of the series focused on the changes that kernel developers made to filesystems and storage and the platform and infrastructure code for Linux 3.8.
In Linux 3.8, the Nouveau kernel driver will include everything that the OpenGL driver â which is part of current versions of Mesa 3D and is also called Nouveau â needs to use the 3D acceleration of all GeForce graphics chips available so far without further configuration. This is the first time that the Nouveau developers, who use reverse engineering to get the information they need to program their drivers, have managed this feat; before this, they were still lacking standard 3D support for some newer Fermi GPUs and the Kepler graphics chips, which have been on the market since March 2012 (1, 2, 3). For many computers, however, NVIDIA's proprietary graphics driver will still be a better choice, since Nouveau can't activate the faster operation modes for many of the newer GeForce chips, resulting in 3D performance that leaves something to be desired. There are also other issues, particularly when it comes to video acceleration and fan management support.
Version 3.8 of Linux is the first to include a simple kernel graphics driver for the graphics cores in NVIDIA's TegraÂ 2 and 3 SoCs (system on a chip) (1, 2, 3 and others). The driver is not from NVIDIA; it was developed mostly by a developer from the German company Avionic Design. The company works on embedded solutions in close cooperation with NVIDIA and programmed the driver independently, but with input from NVIDIA. Surprisingly, NVIDIA jumped into the development process, publishing extensions a few weeks ago that let the driver make the graphics cores' acceleration features available, but these improvements did not make it into 3.8. Userland drivers are still needed to use the acceleration functions, and NVIDIA has yet to give any indication that it is interested in releasing those drivers under an open source licence. Nouveau developer Lucas Stach shared background information on the Linux drivers for NVIDIA's Tegra in a presentation at FOSDEM 2013, a recording of which is available on YouTube.
The Radeon driver now allows more of the graphics cores' DMA engines, which have previously been largely ignored, to be used from userspace (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). The i915 graphics driver now supports by default the graphics cores of the Haswell processors that Intel will introduce under the name Core i4000 in a few months. The developers have also included a workaround for a bug in the Intel 830 and 845 chipsets so the graphics drivers are supposed to be stable on these chipsets.
The virtio_net network driver, which uses paravirtualisation and is especially used with KVM and Xen, should provide better performance now that it can use multiple queues for each network device. The same goes for the Tun/Tap driver, which is also used for system virtualisation as well as other purposes like emulating network hardware.
The batman-adv (Better Approach To Mobile Ad-Hoc Networking Advanced) mesh implementation developed as part of open-mesh.org to spontaneously create WLAN networks can now build a distributed ARP table, which allows non-mesh clients on a network to receive quick, reliable answers to their ARP queries.
The rtl8723ae driver for the Realtek RTL8723AE PCIe WLAN chip is new (1, 2 and others), as is the wil6210 driver for a Wilocity WLAN chip that operates at 60GHz and uses the IEEE 802.11ad standard promoted by the Wireless Gigabit Alliance (WiGig).
Another addition to the kernel is the ar5523 driver, which was started over five years ago for the Atheros USB chipset of the same name. Extensions for supporting more chips and WLAN adapters were added to a number of other drivers; the brcmsmac WLAN driver, for example, now supports the BCM43224 Broadcom chip, while the rt2800usb RaLink driver supports the Sweex LW323 USB WLAN adapter.
The cdc-mbim driver, which supports broadband modems that implement Mobile Broadband Interface Model (MBIM ) 1.0, specified by the USB Implementers Forum, is also new (1, 2). MBIM is a USB protocol for connecting modems for laptops, tablets and desktop computers that provide an internet connection using GSM and CDMA-based 3G and 4G (including LTE). Aleksander Morgado provides more details on the protocol and its advantages compared to other technologies in a blog post.
The kernel's audio drivers now support the Philips PSC724 Ultimate Edge sound card. The kernel can also handle VIA's VT1705CF HD audio codec now. The merge listing the most important changes to Linux 3.8's sound subsystem includes some other changes to audio drivers.
The kernel now includes a driver for human interface devices (HIDs) that use I2C (1, 2 and others), using the "HID over I2C" protocol designed by Microsoft and implemented in WindowsÂ 8. Extensions were added to the HID multitouch driver to support some of the features for better finger and movement recognition found in WindowsÂ 8.
The drivers for Video4LinuxÂ 2 (V4L2) located in the media subsystem can now use the "DMA Buffer Sharing Mechanism" (dma_buf) integrated in Linux 3.3 to share buffer space with graphics cards, which makes it possible that data from video hardware will no longer need to be duplicated in the buffer in order for a graphics chip to display it.
The kernel developers have marked the uas driver, which handles the USB Attached SCSI protocol, as broken because it causes problems and is not yet ready for the major distributions.
Alan Cox has given up kernel development for family reasons, leaving his position as maintainer of the serial driver subsystem. Cox is a Linux veteran who maintained the Linux kernel 2.2, during which time he was considered the second most important kernel developer after Linus Torvalds. Although he hasn't been that far up in the ranks these last few months, Cox has still contributed quite a lot to the development of Linux.
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The location of the July 15, 2002 flare is shown at left. The other panels compare the scale of Earth to the eruptions. Red shows superheated gas held together by magnetic fields. The time sequence lasts only 80 seconds and yet reveals tremendous amounts of gas leaving the Sun.
A detailed study of a huge solar eruption reveals that a series of smaller explosions combined in a domino effect to fuel the blast.
The findings improve understanding of the Sun's most powerful events and could lead to better forecasting of the tempests, researchers said.
Scientists studied data collected from a radiation flare on the Sun on July 15, 2002. The eruption, ranked as an X-7, was one of the most powerful in recent times. The flare was accompanied by a coronal mass ejection, which is a colossal discharge of electrified gas called plasma. The event was 5,000 million times more powerful than an atomic bomb.
Scientists don't know exactly what triggers such eruptions. They are associated with strong magnetic fields, however, and emanate from sunspots, which are cooler regions of the Sun that correspond to bottled-up magnetic energy.
"Sunspots are at the surface of the Sun, and are essentially the footprints of the magnetic field," explained Louise Harra of the Mullard Space Science Laboratory at University College London. "The magnetic field reaches into the outer atmosphere in the same way as for example a bar magnet has a magnetic field around it."
Researchers had thought the big eruptions are created when magnetic field lines from the core of a sunspot become tangled and reconnect high in solar atmosphere, or corona. The new study contradicts that assumption.
X-7 flare started when plasma from below the Sun's surface broke suddenly through.
"Below the surface of the Sun a dynamo process is working creating magnetic field," Harra explained in an email interview. "When this becomes buoyant it can rise to the surface of the Sun, and into the atmosphere."
The plasma collided with a strong magnetic field at the surface, and the interaction triggered release of "phenomenal amounts of energy," the researchers concluded. There were three eruptions, each triggering the next.
The gas was heated to 36 million degrees Fahrenheit (20 million Celsius) before being flung up into the solar atmosphere at 90,000 mph (40 kilometers per second).
"We have observed the flows of hot gas for the first time, enabling us to see that several small flares combine to create a major explosion," Harra said. "This may eventually enable us to predict large flares before they erupt."
Not all solar flares are accompanied by coronal mass ejections, and nobody knows for sure why.
"It must be a combination of the magnetic field strength and the magnetic configuration that will allow field lines to be opened and hence the release of gas," Harra said.
The observations were made with SOHO spacecraft, a joint project of NASA and the European Space Agency. The results were presented last week at a meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society.
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Last summer I took a cross-country road trip with a group of people driving different types of electric vehicles.
It was an amazing experience, and our trip, our adventures, and our misadventures were portrayed in the documentary Kick Gas.
That experience gave me the idea to take my own road trip to experience the freedom of traveling alone on an electric motorcycle.
My goals were simple: ride the great motorcycle roads of America, meet other electric motorcycle riders, and visit friends.
The cross-country trip last summer taught me that charging stations are plentiful near cities, but sparse near the good roads. By "good roads" I mean the mountainous, twisty, curvy, windy, fun roads you dream about when buying a motorcycle!
To take road trips in an electric vehicle as easily as in a gas-powered vehicle, two things are necessary: a car with a highway range of 150-plus miles, plus DC fast charging available every 50 miles. That would be a good beginning as we await an affordable 1,000-mile battery.
Currently drivers must rely on the availability of public and private charging stations to venture further than half the range of their electric vehicle. This creates a bit of an adventure if you want to take a journey of, say, 4,000 miles.
Public charging stations are easiest to access. On the East Coast, you can show up at a charging station and pretty much expect that nobody else will be plugged in.
That's not the case in California, which has a much higher density of electric vehicles--at least some of them already using the charging station you've just arrived at.
My favorite public charging stations are at restaurants, so I have a place to eat and relax while my vehicle is charging. On this trip, I stopped at several Cracker Barrel restaurants in Tennessee and a Makuto's Japanese restaurant in Boone, North Carolina.
Car dealerships will let motorcycles charge, although not always electric cars of another make. Nissan in particular has outfitted their dealerships with 240-Volt Lvel 2 chargers, and more recently, some of them now have high-powered CHAdeMO DC fast chargers.
Even dealerships that normally only allow charging by cars sold by that dealer will allow me to plug in my electric motorcycle, since it's unique. Some dealers happily let me charge, others let me charge after a little conversation.
Still, recharging my electric bike at a car dealer proved less than ideal, since they're often far from food or anywhere interesting to hang out.
Personal homes are fun if you plan ahead. I've met some interesting folks who make their home Level 2 charging stations available to travelers by listing them on the PlugShare app. They are lovely people, and meeting them is a fun part of being an early adopter.
Clearly, though, using someone's home charging station is not a sustainable way to propel electric vehicles forward.
The fun riding part of my journey began in Front Royal, Virginia, on Skyline Drive going through the Shenandoah Mountains. The road winds its way around the mountaintops and was designed as a sightseeing project by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
After a great day on Skyline Drive, I got to ride through the back woods around Blacksburg, Virginia, until I reached the glorious Blue Ridge Parkway. The road is absolutely incredible, flowing through farmland and mountains on either side for miles and miles.
I made a brief stop in Asheville to swing -dance to bluegrass music with friends from Italy; I rode to the top of Mt. Mitchell, and then I headed to the best motorcycle road in America, known as the Dragon.
After riding the Dragon, I headed to Nashville to visit some electric-motorcycle friends, and we headed down the famous Natchez Trace Parkway. This is another phenomenally beautiful road with scenic stops and meandering curves that caress the local terrain.
The first half of my journey ended in St. Louis, where I attended my cousin's wedding and visited the Country Music Hall of Fame. My trip was broken up because I had to fly back to New York City for a week, but I'll resume today--traveling to Chicago, Cleveland, and Rochester, New York, on my way to ride up New Hampshire's Mount Washington.
1) It's still an adventure to take an electric-vehicle road trip (unless you're driving a Tesla using the company's Supercharger network).
2) While it's easy to find charging stations, they're not always guaranteed to be available. They could be in use already, not working at all, or--worst of all--they might be "ICEd," or blocked by a thoughtless driver of an internal-combustion engine (ICE) car.
3) Most people at RV campgrounds are super-nice! I've shown up to many campgrounds unannounced, and most were incredibly welcoming and let me recharge my motorcycle for free (even though I always offer to pay the dollar or so for the electricity).
4) To take a road trip in any electric vehicle, you need to plan ahead. At the start of each day, I decided where my stops for charging would be--including alternate locations if available.
6) A couple of RV parks have claimed that they needed to replace receptacles to their 50-Amp hookup after a Tesla used it. This should be further investigated, as electric-vehicle owners very much don't want to burn those bridges or create any distrust of our community on the part of park owners.
7) When I learn a Tesla has stopped at an RV park, the park operators will often ask me for $10 or more to recharge (my bike uses maybe $0.60 of electricity). This highlights the fact that most people have no idea how much electricity costs--and no one understands how much electricity different electric vehicles use. My motorcycle battery holds one-tenth the energy of a Tesla battery, so the cost for electricity is a factor of 10 less--but I often have to explain that slowly and carefully.
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Larry checks in with KPCC reporter Sharon McNary, who’s been hitting up several polling stations in Orange County and Los Angeles County, as well as Registrar of Voters for O.C. and L.A.
After being a finalist for LAPD chief in 2009 only to see the job go to Charlie Beck, Michel Moore has been selected to succeed Beck by L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti.
President Donald Trump signed the “right-to-try” bill into law on Wednesday, a measure that gives terminally ill patients access to experimental drugs that have not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Humans have a habit of measuring things. Our shoe size. The ingredients in our food. How long it takes to get to work, with or without traffic.
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According to Variety, one of the movies about the 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs is recasting one of its leads. No, not the serious one that HBO is doing with Elizabeth Banks and Paul Giamatti, and not the overtly comedic one that Will Ferrell is set to star in. It’s Battle Of The Sexes, the middle one that’s supposed to be a comedy with “dramatic and political overtones”—as we said in an earlier report. Battle Of The Sexes comes from Little Miss Sunshine’s Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, and it was set to star Emma Stone and Steve Carell as the eponymous sexes. Now, Stone has backed out due to “a scheduling conflict,” and the studio is reportedly in talks with Brie Larson to replace her.
Larson recently appeared in Room, a film that is not only making some waves in the film festival circuit but also has a name that’s very similar to a certain other movie, which could end up causing a reverse-Asylum by tricking people who want to see a bad movie into seeing a good movie. She’s also set to be in Kong: Skull Island and possibly the eventual Godzilla fight movie that it’s going to set up.
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Health authorities in New Zealand said that about 200 passengers on the Dawn Princess ship became infected with the norovirus.
The ship was scheduled to leave for Australia on Monday. The last time there was a norovirus outbreak on the ship was back in 2012.
According to Yahoo, health officials conducted a series of tests, and they confirmed that the illness was norovirus, but the outbreak does seem to be going away.
The norovirus usually lasts for one to three days, and those infected may experience stomach pains, vomiting, diarrhea and nausea.
Princess Cruises released a statement saying that those who were infected were isolated in their cabins. They remained there until they were considered not contagious. The statement continued to say that crew members disinfected door handles, railings, elevator buttons and so forth.
The cruise operator also said that passengers were encouraged to wash their hands properly and that they should use sanitizing gels.
About a month ago, another cruise ship, the Crown Princess, had an outbreak of the norovirus. In that incident more than 150 crew members and passengers came down with the norovirus. That ship was also operated by Princess Cruises.
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Politico, which broke the PR story, reports, “The group circulated a memo to reporters and producers late Monday that discouraged them from airing the undercover videos, arguing that they were obtained under false identification and violated patient privacy. ‘Those patients’ privacy should not be further violated by having this footage shared by the media,‘ the memo reads.” Patients’ privacy? What about the victims whose body parts are sold? Planned Parenthood technicians may find that kind of depravity chuckle worthy, but congressional Republicans don’t, which is why Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will hold a vote before August recess to end the more than $500 million Planned Parenthood extracts annually from taxpayers. Amazingly, Minority Leader Harry Reid responded, “Good luck with that. We’re dealing with the health of American women, and they’re dealing with some right-wing crazy.” With even more videos set to be released, it’s only a matter of time before the story goes mainstream. Let’s see who the public will think is crazy — those who want to protect the sanctity of life, or those who try to justify the trafficking of human organs.
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NEW YORK (AP) — Could the U.S. lose its top credit rating even if a deal is reached to raise the debt limit?
Market analysts and investors increasingly say yes. The outcome won't be quite as scary as a default, but financial markets would still take a blow. Mortgage rates could rise. States and cities, already strapped, could find it more difficult to borrow. Stocks could lose their gains for the year.
"At this point, we're more concerned about the risk of a downgrade than a default," said Terry Belton, global head of fixed income strategy at JPMorgan Chase. In a conference call with reporters Tuesday, Belton said the loss of the country's AAA rating may rattle markets, but it's "better than missing an interest payment."
Even with a deadline to raise the U.S. debt limit less than a week away, many investors still believe Washington will pull off a last-minute deal to avoid a catastrophic default. Washington has until Aug. 2 to raise the country's $14.3 trillion borrowing limit or risk missing a payment on its debt. President Barack Obama and Congressional Republicans have failed to reach an agreement to raise the debt ceiling and pass a larger budget-cutting package. Politicians have tied raising the debt limit and spending cuts together.
But at least one credit rating agency has already made it clear that unless that agreement includes at least $4 trillion in budget cuts over the next decade, the country's AAA rating could be lost. Right now, the proposals under discussion cut around $2 trillion or less.
Standard & Poor's warned earlier this month that there was a 50-50 chance of a downgrade, if Congress and President Obama failed to find a "credible solution to the rising U.S. government debt burden." S&P said it may cut the U.S. rating to AA within 90 days. Passing a $4 trillion agreement could prevent a downgrade, S&P said.
The other chief rating agency, Moody's Investors Service, said the U.S. government would likely keep its top rating if it avoids a default.
Spokesmen from both Moody's and S&P said they wouldn't comment beyond their recent reports.
JPMorgan's Belton said clients have started asking how markets will respond if the U.S. loses its AAA rating. A drop to AA will mean permanently higher borrowing costs for the U.S. government, he said. And because government lending rates act as a floor for other lending rates, mortgages, student loans, corporate debt and other types of loans will become more expensive.
Belton estimates that borrowing costs would rise between 0.60 to 0.70 points. That may not sound like much. But mortgage interest rates, which have hovered around 4.5 percent for the last several weeks, could rise by at least that amount, to more than 5.1 percent.
And for the federal government, it eventually means an extra $100 billion in interest payments to Treasury holders like China each year.
"That's a huge number," Belton said. That $100 billion a year that could be spent elsewhere on everything from education to infrastructure.
An increase in interest rates could soon become a drag on other parts of the economy, experts say. State governments and insurance agencies would also be downgraded — and states are already having financial troubles. Business confidence could sink again, leading to prolonged high unemployment.
But some investors aren't unhappy about the thought of a U.S. debt downgrade. Don Quigley, manager of the $1.5 billion Artio Total Return Bond fund reasons that such a move could provide a buying opportunity. He believes that a downgrade would immediately send the yield of the 10-year bond up to 3.15 percent from its current level of about 3 percent.
If the economy sinks further in part because of higher interest rates, investors would very likely return to buying bonds, Quigley said. That's what they've done during the last several years both during the financial crisis and recession, and again the last several months as the economic recovery has slowed.
Treasurys would keep their allure, in part, because there are few alternatives for large foreign buyers looking for a market big enough to handle massive investments.
"The German market is not big enough and Japan has its own problems," Quigley said.
A cut to the U.S. credit rating could hit stocks harder than bonds. A study by Janney Montgomery Scott looked at rating changes to countries over the past decade. After Spain was downgraded in 2009, Spain's stock market fell 8 percent in three months. A cut to Japan's credit rating in 2011 knocked the country's stock market down 3.4 percent in three months. The study, released in April, suggested the S&P 500 would fall 6% after a U.S. downgrade, erasing all its gains for the year.
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MAMADOU SAKHO remains unavailable for selection for Liverpool's Europa League semi-final first leg clash with Villarreal in Spain on Thursday (8.05pm).
The defender will not be considered for selection while he is being investigated after admitting to failing a drugs test.
Kolo Toure is set to keep his place in the side in place of the Frenchman.
Striker Christian Benteke, who has not played since the defeat to Southampton on March 20, has travelled with the squad.
With Jordan Henderson and Emre Can injured, Lucas Leiva and James Milner are set to play in central midfield.
Divock Origi, Danny Ings and Joe Gomez remain on the sidelines.
Provisional squad: Mignolet, Clyne, Toure, Lovren, Moreno, Milner, Lucas, Lallana, Firmino, Coutinho, Sturridge, Ward, Skrtel, Smith, Allen, Brannagan, Chirivella, Ojo, Ibe, Benteke.
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IHS Markit INFO, -0.02% a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions, expanded its alternative data offering for asset managers with the launch of new stock selection and strategy signals covering the automotive sector.
Covering more than 30 auto manufacturers worldwide and providing more than 10 years of historical data, the 32 new factors are designed to assist in the prediction of stock returns using analytics derived from company-specific datapoints on sales, production and market share. They include multiple financial factors for revenue and sales as well as novel factors covering production of electric vehicles and plant utilization.
Analysis by the Research Signals service at IHS Markit finds positive alpha in several of the factors, including, at times, a return spread of up to 1.41% for the Monthly Trend in Production Growth factor and up to 2.64% return spread for the Monthly Trend in Sales Growth factor.
Data inputs for the signals are mined from robust statistical automotive datasets from IHS Markit that include vehicle sales and production history, aggregated registration information, manufacturing volumes and vehicle pricing insight for multiple geographies.
According to Greenwich Associates, 50 per cent of institutional investors are planning to increase their usage of alternative datasets.
Research Signals delivers valuable investment insights through a comprehensive library of more than 600 global stock selection and strategy signals. The service covers more than 30,000 securities across 80 countries. It extracts valuable investment insights from a broad range of raw financial and industry-specific data sources to enable customers to assess intended and unintended exposures across investment themes.
IHS Markit INFO, -0.02% is a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions for the major industries and markets that drive economies worldwide. The company delivers next-generation information, analytics and solutions to customers in business, finance and government, improving their operational efficiency and providing deep insights that lead to well-informed, confident decisions. IHS Markit has more than 50,000 business and government customers, including 80 percent of the Fortune Global 500 and the world’s leading financial institutions. Headquartered in London, IHS Markit is committed to sustainable, profitable growth.
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MK Moshe Feiglin in a Knesset committee meeting, next to MK Ahmad Tibi, in 2014. It appears Feiglin is on his way back to the Knesset, while Tibi just sank below the threshold minimum vote.
An Israel Hayom poll published Friday morning shows former IDF chief of staff with 19 seats, the Likud down from 30 to 28, the Labor Party falling to its lowest point so far –5 seats, Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid stuck in the mud with 9 seats (down from its current 11, which is down from its previous Knesset list of 19), and, for the first time in this campaign, the Zehut (Identity) party, headed by former Likud MK Moshe Feiglin who is a regular pundit at Jewish Press Online, crossing the electoral threshold with 4 seats.
The numerous splits of the past few months, on the left and on the right—some of which may end up merging by the official deadline set by the Central Elections Committee, have led to many parties that are swinging just above or just below the: Gesher, headed by Orly Levy-Abekasis, receives 4 seats, while Shas, Meretz, Habayit Hayehudi receive only 3.
Here’s another doozie: Both Avigdor Liberman and his nemesis Ahmad Tibi get only 3 seats and walk into the setting sun, probably not hand in hand.
And like we said, Zehut, headed by Cool Hand Feiglin, which just held the first open primaries in Israel ever on Tuesday, and did it online (you gave them your ID number and cell number, they SMSed you a code, you clicked in and got to spread 6 points among the candidate/s of your choice) is also on the verge of the electoral threshold – but for the first time looking at the abyss from above, with 4 seats.
Parties that are so far from the threshold they’re already in Party Heaven (doesn’t that sound like the place you’d want to go when the time comes) are Tzipi Livni and Eli Yishai, each of whom receives but one mandate.
The survey examined a scenario according to which Gantz and Lapid unite and bring in former Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi. The result: they all get 32 ​​mandates, with the Likud pushed to second place with 30, while Labor falls into the 3.25% abyss and goes to pole paradise with a measly 3 seats (down from 24).
Immediately after Ganz’s speech, the Likud and New Right tried to associate Ganz with the left, while Resilient to Israel, Gantz’s party, what a name) insisted that theirs is a centrist party. Well, the poll showed that 25% of respondents still do not know how to define him.
After the pollsters removed the “I don’t know” results, 52% of the rest located Gantz at the center, 19% see him as a right-winger, and 29% as left-winger.
Final surprise: on the issue of who is more suitable to be the next prime minister, Netanyahu leads safely with 38%, while Gantz gets only 22%.
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SOUND FORGE Audio Cleaning Lab can be used to record any sound you can hear on your computer - from internet radio to LPs and tapes which have been connected to the sound card. When recording older material, particularly when it has been stored on vinyl or cassette, it is likely that the sound quality has deteriorated over time. Using this program you can remove any unwanted extraneous noise such as clicks, pops and hisses and generally improve the overall audio experience working with an easy to use interface.
Of course, you don't need to record audio either. You can simply import an existing track of segment of music for processing, before exporting the final track.
Audio Cleaning Lab will remove unwanted sections from a recording, increase the volume of quiet tracks and split longer recording up into multiple sections - in fact, Audio Cleaning Lab can take care of much of this for you automatically. A great level of control is available through the use of a graphic equaliser that can be used to balance out tone, while additional options are available to improve the quality of video sound, reduce the volume of background music on vocal tracks and much more besides.
Don't worry, most of the options are presets which you can select to improve or clean your audio. There are options to reduce tape noise from old cassettes, reduce crackling from your LPs, remove wind noise from recorded voice, and even create your own presets to use later. You can increase the loudness of the track, increase the stereo width, add various special effects and much more.
If you've been looking for a way to digitise your music collection, Audio Cleaning Labs Deluxe may just be the tool you have been looking for. In a few simple steps you can record music to your computer, enhance its sound and then export the results as high-quality MP3s/OGG/FLAC/AAC and other formats that can be played back on a variety of devices.
Professional quality audio clean-up tool which will produce superb results from an instantly accessible program.
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What’s the news? A couple of weeks ago, Instagram promised you’d be able to download your data from its servers. It’s now rolled out that feature, as first reported by TechCrunch. It includes photos, videos, comments, profile information and more. It does not, however, appear to include all the analytics data the company has on you outside of what you’ve shared.
For context: While we’d like to think Instagram will let you download your data simply out of the goodness of its heart, there are two major factors contributing to the decision.
First there’s the Cambridge Analytica scandal (I’m sure you’ve heard of it by now, but if you need a recap, our explainer post is here).
Even if Cambridge Analytica had never happened though, allowing users to download data is an important step for complying with Europe’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). GDPR goes into effect on May 25, so don’t be surprised to see plenty of other apps implementing a similar feature. In fact, you can already do so with Facebook.
Download it: The feature is available to everyone via the Web now, and is in the process of rolling out to the Android and iOS apps. Still, whether you’re on a desktop of smartphone, you can go ahead download your data by inputting your account information here. Keep in mind it takes some time for Instagram to amass all your data; the company says the process may take ‘up to 48 hours.’ After that’s complete, you’ll receive a link at the provided email address.
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President Donald Trump returned to Washington, DC on Monday for a very important event.
It was not for a meeting with an international leader.
And it was not for a joint session of Congress.
No, on this day, Trump greeted thousands of children. They had come to the White House for the annual Easter Egg Roll.
The event has been a U.S. tradition for more than a century. In the late 1800s, local children gathered on the hill beside the president’s house to play a game with their colored eggs following the Easter holiday.
The White House Easter Egg Roll was of special interest this year. The Trump administration was very late to organize it. Some people who hoped to attend the event were even worried that it would be canceled.
Political observers said the Easter Egg Roll would show how well Trump’s administration could plan and operate a complex public relations event.
Talk about the event also brought attention to the first lady, whose office usually plans the White House Easter Egg Roll. First Lady Melania Trump has not yet moved to Washington, DC. She says she will remain in New York City until her son finishes the school year.
So, how did the White House Easter Egg Roll go this year?
Just fine, early reports say.
About 21,000 children and their families received tickets to this year’s event. They came in small groups to the lawn near the president’s house. They played soccer, tossed bean bags and, of course, pushed hard-boiled eggs down the hill.
The event was smaller than in previous years. Last year, for example, about 36,000 people attended.
This year’s Easter Egg Roll also did not include performances by top celebrities or professional athletes. Instead, children were invited to draw pictures for U.S. soldiers.
The Easter Bunny made an appearance, though, as did both Trump and the first lady. They were there with their 11-year-old son, Barron. The president welcomed his young guests and promised them that the nation was getting stronger, bigger, and better.
Kelly Jean Kelly wrote this story for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.
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So you might ask yourself, “What is going on?” How can things be so bad that educators feel the need to petition?
Superintendent Michael Hanson’s administration issued a mandate to all school principals, vice principals and counselors to lower the number of suspensions and expulsions districtwide using a repackaged, rhetoric-filled behavioral modification program called Restorative Justice.
This Restorative Justice concept is not new. These interventions usually fail under the weight of their overexaggerated promises. This leads to an odd belief that if you decrease the number of official suspensions on paper, you can claim success regarding improved behavior.
Fresno Unified board member Christopher De La Cerda, McLane’s representative, highlighted this delusion when he stated, “The data confirms that restorative practices at McLane are working as we intended it to work.” Sort of like bragging that no one drowned in the pool after the water was removed.
If the intention was for more than 80 percent of the teaching staff to be so fed up they needed to file a petition – congratulations! Mission accomplished.
The saddest part of this debacle is that it has ironically resulted in increased insecurity and systemic violence for our teachers and students who truly want to be educated.
But here is the most disappointing fact: This situation did not need to happen; it was self-inflicted.
Three years ago, there was a wonderful, accredited, academic program in Fresno Unified that took in up to 1,600 secondary students a year, who either could not – or should not – attend a traditional high school.
This program was a last-chance beacon of hope for thousands of students who, by their own fault or the fault of others, would have had no real chance of graduating from high school. It was called the J.E.Young Academic Center (JEY). It provided an educational sanctuary for the very students FUSD is trying to corral with this Restorative Justice debacle.
Every student was treated – educationally and emotionally – as a unique individual. JEY accepted the entire spectrum of students; from those whose special needs could not be adequately met, to those whose behaviors could not be adequately accommodated on a traditional high school campus. This program was an oasis for students on the precipice of failure.
It was a wonderful independent study program that served the needs of those most in need. Everybody won. But that didn’t matter.
For spurious and ego-driven reasons, this program was dismantled and diminished to a mere shell of its former self. It was replaced by a program that failed after two years. Like prisons, it involves removing those in society with unacceptable behaviors and placing them into a concentrated environment of only themselves.
If shooting oneself in the foot was considered a good thing, then FUSD could qualify as a world-class marksman regarding this issue. If FUSD really wanted to practice restorative justice, it would bring JEY back to its previous stature. Maybe Larry Powell could help.
William (Bill) Larkin monitors online credit-recovery classes in the Apex program. He taught in the JEY program for eight years. Connect with him at William.Larkin@fresnounified.org.
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ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. - Commissioners in St. Johns County voted unanimously to postpone any legislative action against a localized ban of a substance that the DEA has classified as a "drug of concern."
According to a report by the St. Augustine Record, 19 speakers during a Tuesday night commission meeting defended their right to use kratom, speaking about the health benefits they'd recieved while battling fibromyalgia and anxiety. Commissioners agreed to table any action until at least May, after the Legislative session.
ORIGINAL STORY: Could drug with opioid-like properties be banned in St. Johns County?
The FDA has warned people against using kratom, saying it has properties similar to those of opioids. It's legal in the U.S. aside from Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Tennessee, Vermont, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.
There are no restrictions on kratom in Florida, expect in Sarasota County, where it's banned.
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This was Reinsdorf's reply on Friday when asked whether the preseason announcement that Phil Jackson will not return as coach of the Bulls next season is, as the French saying goes, a fact accomplished.
And the notation on the desk of Reinsdorf, the owner of the Chicago Bulls, also indicates his position regarding Michael Jordan's often-stated contention that he will play for no other coach than Jackson, and he will play for no other team than the Bulls, which would mean no Jordan filling up the nets next season.
The Bulls make their final regular-season appearance at Madison Square Garden this afternoon against the Knicks, and it seems inconceivable that Jordan will not return for yet another year, and that neither Jackson nor Scottie Pippen will be with the Bulls, either.
Jordan, still the world's greatest hoopster, is leading the National Basketball Association in scoring for the 10th time in his 14 seasons. Even at age 35, he is playing as good an all-round game as ever. Fans, players and team executives know this, so it can hardly be lost on Jordan himself.
It is also obvious that His Airness -- a little less airy these days and a little more earthy but ever sovereign -- is having a grand time at his occupation, and satisfying that remarkable lust for competition and success that has made him an indomitable basketball player.
Jordan has changed his mind before, remember. He quit basketball to play baseball and quit baseball to play basketball.
But hadn't decisions already been made? As recently as early February, Jerry Krause, the Bulls' general manager, reiterated that Jackson would not return next season, after having led the Bulls to five championships and, if the best-laid plans of Krause and his men do not go awry, to a sixth come June.
The personality, or perhaps ego, clash between Jackson and Krause is no secret. While he hired Jackson, Krause also believes that after a certain time, a general manager and a coach may tire of each other, as, has been said, Jerry West and Pat Riley did with the Lakers, thereby compelling a change.
In fact, personality clashes between Krause and some of his players, including Pippen and Jordan, and assistant coaches over the years have been no secret. It seems, however, that Krause has had no such conflict with the owner of the team. But it also seems clear that Reinsdorf has sought for Krause and staff to zipper their lips in regard to what may transpire at season's end.
Still, Reinsdorf's respect for Krause as a basketball operative is lofty, and for good reason. Krause became general manager in 1985, the year after Jordan was drafted. Six seasons later, the Bulls won the first of their championships.
''Everyone on the first championship team except Jordan was acquired by Krause,'' Reinsdorf said. That included Pippen, astutely attained in a trade for his draft rights and now seemingly headed elsewhere next season as a free agent, although who knows for sure.
Pippen, who will be 33 in September, doesn't talk to Krause, but he does talk to Reinsdorf. And while Pippen is said to be seeking a huge five-year contract, Reinsdorf said he had yet to hear anything like that from Pippen, who has been bitter about what the Bulls have been paying him but has also been making plenty of money with endorsements.
Krause took a chance on Dennis Rodman. He found a place for Steve Kerr. He traded a nonentity, Stacey King, for center Luc Longley. He traveled for years to Europe to court Toni Kukoc, and finally snared him. He saw the possibilities in Ron Harper's career being revived.
Yes, Krause has had Jordan all this time, but Jordan found that he couldn't do it alone. He didn't win his first championship until his seventh season in the league -- with a requisite ''supporting cast,'' as Jordan termed it.
Krause has surely made mistakes, too, such as some draft picks.
Krause, meanwhile, sometimes says things without a veneer of suavity. He can rankle in his bluntness, or, sometimes, in his evasiveness. And possibly he is frustrated in not receiving much of the due he believes he deserves.
When he received his championship ring for last season along with the rest of the team at the season opener at the United Center, the boos for him were evident. It was odd, since if he had been the general manager of five championships in, say, New York, he could be Mayor of this town -- and on a write-in ballot.
So at what point do you make a decision to break up the team?
Looking at their history, it is manifest that as a twosome neither Krause nor Reinsdorf is so stupid or driven by ego that he will perpetrate the sublimely imbecilic.
The view here is that Jordan will definitely be playing next season with the Bulls, with or without Jackson. But the odds of Jackson returning appear healthy, as well, especially if the Bulls win another title.
If there is one exception to ''Nothing is written in stone,'' it is this: It's a bottom-line game.
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(HOST) As the season for summer blockbuster movies about super heroes and rings of power approaches, commentator Willem Lange is feeling nostalgic for other mighty champions of yesteryear.
early western United States. Nowhere in the pages of history can one find a greater champion of justice. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. From out of the past come the thundering hoof beats of the great horse Silver! The Lone Ranger rides again!"
How many times I must have heard those lines, and how impressive they must have been, to be remembered 70 years later?
means stupid in Spanish? What did kemo sabe mean? – boss, or pal, or champion of justice, or paleface idiot?
When I was little, there was no radio in our house; our parents were deaf. Our grandparents had a big table-model Philco in their parlor. Just as kids nowadays tease for an iPhone, I kept asking for a radio until I got it. A tiny, dark-brown Bakelite-cased Arvin, it sat on the sideboard in our dining room.
Every weekday, from 4:45 till 6:00 in the afternoon, I pulled my long-legged chair up to the sideboard, turned on the radio, and gazed at the dial. Many of you must remember "watching the radio" and memorizing the numbers of the AM dial, from 520 to 1610 kilohertz. I could tell from the glances I got from my parents as I sat there – sitting still for longer than at any other time in my life – that they suspected I was listening to something inappropriate and possibly sinful.
At 4:45 a voice crackled over a simulated radio transmission: "CX4 to control tower. CX4 to control tower. Standing by…" The answer was immediate: "Control tower to CX4. Wind southeast, ceiling 1200. All clear."
"This is Hop Harrigan, coming in!" So it went: five 15-minute episodes, featuring Jack Armstrong, Captain Midnight; Terry and the Pirates, and finally Tom Mix.
Evenings, there were half-hour shows – The Green Hornet; The Shadow, in real life Lamont Cranston, "wealthy young man-about-town" who once in the Orient had learned to "cloud men’s minds so they cannot see him."
Everything we imagined was the product of our separate minds’ eyes. When the Lone Ranger walked across the board platform of a railroad station, each of us constructed a different scene. It was like the famous "driveway moments" on Public Radio; you could do nothing else demanding thought while you were into an on-air drama. Listening to archived recordings now reveals it to have been pretty simplistic drivel. Still, wasn’t it glorious!
(TAG) You can find more commentaries by Willem Lange at VPR-dot-net.
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This is the news you’re looking for.
Carrie Fisher has seemingly confirmed to Palm Beach Illustrated magazine that she will be returning to that Galaxy Far, Far Away for J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode VII. Taken with Mark Hamill’s recent comments to Entertainment Tonight that Lucasfilm wants him, Fisher, and Ford back for a new trilogy of movies, this news makes it seem more and more likely that we might be able to see a Wishful Drinking Leia yet.
So take this news with a grain of (bagel bun) salt. Fisher made headlines recently because of her ongoing struggle with bipolar disorder, so there is still a very great possibility she will not be back for Episode VII. But we can dream.
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numerous aunts, uncles and cousins. She attended Shanksville Stonycreek High School and was a member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Buckstown. Family will receive friends from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. until time of service at 8 p.m. Sunday at the Deaner Funeral Home, Stoystown. Rev. Robert Way officiating. Interment Lambertsville Cemetery. Contributions may be given to assist the family c/o Kay Grasser 158 Juniata St., Berlin, PA 15530, or to St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 6872 Lincoln Hwy., Stoystown, PA 15563. DeanerFuneralsAndCremations.com.
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In the market for a low-cost networked storage solution? You may want to take a look at the Netgear ReadyNAS 104.
Typically, home users have been subjected to very few, true performance NAS products. If you wanted true performance, you had to reach a little deeper into your pocket, and pull out a bit more of that hard earned money.
With Netgear being an industry leader in network storage solutions, it seems only fitting that they would offer top to bottom storage solutions for every sector of the market. Today, on this crisp winter morning, we will be looking over the Netgear ReadyNAS 104. The RN104 is a four bay NAS appliance that caters to the needs of consumers that want personal cloud storage. It offers standard features like a home media and file server, coupled together with low entry cost.
The RN104 is built upon the Marvell ARMADA 370 platform, clocked at 1.2 GHz, with 512MB of memory to accompany it. Across the front of the unit, we have four 3.5" drive trays that support tool-less installation. Total storage capacity is listed at 16TB, with dual gigabit LAN ports at the rear of the unit.
For quick management of the NAS, we have a two line LCD screen on the front of the unit, with dual USB 3.0 ports, and eSATA for additional storage options. Power consumption is listed at 45 watts for operation, and 1.4 watts with WOL enabled.
Pricing of the four bay Netgear ReadyNAS 104 is listed at $319.99, without drives. The unit carries a three-year warranty from Netgear.
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No, Trump can’t pardon himself. The Constitution tells us so.
Correction: An earlier version of this op-ed misspelled the name of former defense secretary Caspar Weinberger. This version has been updated.
Laurence H. Tribe is the Carl M. Loeb University Professor and Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard Law School. Richard Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota, was chief White House ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush from 2005 to 2007 and is vice-chair of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). Norman Eisen, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, was chief White House ethics lawyer for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2011 and is chair of CREW.
Can a president pardon himself? Four days before Richard Nixon resigned, his own Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel opined no, citing “the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case.” We agree.
The Justice Department was right that guidance could be found in the enduring principles that no one can be both the judge and the defendant in the same matter, and that no one is above the law.
The Constitution specifically bars the president from using the pardon power to prevent his own impeachment and removal. It adds that any official removed through impeachment remains fully subject to criminal prosecution. That provision would make no sense if the president could pardon himself.
The pardon provision of the Constitution is there to enable the president to act essentially in the role of a judge of another person’s criminal case, and to intervene on behalf of the defendant when the president determines that would be equitable. For example, the president might believe the courts made the wrong decision about someone’s guilt or about sentencing; President Barack Obama felt this way about excessive sentences for low-level drug offenses. Or the president might be impressed by the defendant’s subsequent conduct and, using powers far exceeding those of a parole board, might issue a pardon or commutation of sentence.
Other equitable considerations could also weigh in favor of leniency. A president might choose to grant a pardon before prosecution of a person when the president believes that the prosecution is not in the national interest; President Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon in part for this reason.
Or a president may conclude that even if a person may have committed a crime, he was acting in good faith to protect the national interest; President George H.W. Bush pardoned former defense secretary Caspar Weinberger in the Iran-contra affair in part for this reason.
In all such instances, however, the president is acting as a kind of super-judge and making a decision about someone else’s conduct, the justice of someone else’s sentence or whether it is in the national interest to prosecute someone else. He is not making a decision about himself.
The Constitution embodies this broad precept against self-dealing in its rule that congressional pay increases cannot take effect during the Congress that enacted them, in its prohibition against using official power to gain favors from foreign states and even in its provision that the chief justice, not the vice president, is to preside when the Senate conducts an impeachment trial of the president.
The Constitution’s pardon clause has its origins in the royal pardon granted by a sovereign to one of his or her subjects. We are aware of no precedent for a sovereign pardoning himself, then abdicating or being deposed but being immune from criminal process. If that were the rule, many a deposed king would have been spared instead of going to the chopping block.
We know of not a single instance of a self-pardon having been recognized as legitimate. Even the pope does not pardon himself. On March 28, 2014, in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis publicly kneeled before a priest and confessed his sins for about three minutes.
President Trump thinks he can do a lot of things just because he is president. He says that the president can act as if he has no conflicts of interest. He says that he can fire the FBI director for any reason he wants (and he admitted to the most outrageous of reasons in interviews and in discussion with the Russian ambassador). In one sense, Trump is right — he can do all of these things, although there will be legal repercussions if he does. Using official powers for corrupt purposes — such as impeding or obstructing an investigation — can constitute a crime.
But there is one thing we know that Trump cannot do — without being a first in all of human history. He cannot pardon himself.
Elizabeth Holtzman: In the Russia probe, could Trump pardon himself?
Dana Milbank: Trump can do whatever he wants. God help us.
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MANILA, Philippines — The state-run Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) has extended by one more month or until Jan. 31 next year its revised offer to buy out existing Philippine Dealing System Holdings Corp. (PDS) shareholders and gain control of the bond exchange.
In a text message Friday, Landbank president Alex V. Buenaventura said the offer period was moved from the earlier deadline of end-December 2018 as there was “no response so far” from PDS shareholders.
Last October, Landbank issued a new offer to buy shares at P215 per share, lower than P360 a share previously.
The downgraded offer took into account the P600 million in dividends that PDS issued to shareholders in June, even as the share price remained a multiplier of 1.5 times adjusted net asset value or the same as the previous offer.
The dividend payouts reduced PDS’s asset value, Buenaventura had noted.
Buenaventura earlier expressed optimism that a majority or at least 66.67 percent of shareholders would give their acceptance letters to Landbank before yearend to seal the deal and sign share purchase agreements with them.
During the previous offer, 43 percent of shareholders already submitted acceptance letters, such that they expect the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), banks and investment houses to accept the new offer as well, Buenaventura had said.
Buenaventura’s plan to acquire a majority stake in PDS runs counter to the planned merger of the latter with the PSE.
But Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, who chairs Landbank, had lamented that the PSE was not being compliant with the conditions set for its merger with PDS.
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Jerry Springer says he is still deciding whether he will run for Ohio governor in 2018.
Speculation around Springer’s potential gubernatorial bid has been growing for several months.
The Enquirer also reported Wednesday that Springer is soliciting feedback from Ohio State Sen. Sandra Williams, Democratic Reps. Janine Boyd and Stephanie Howse, and political consultants.
“Glad to be in attendance @ rep’s Stephanie Howse and Janine Boyd fundraiser w/Jerry Springer, possible candidate for Gov. of Ohio,” Williams tweeted Tuesday.
“He’s very serious,” Williams said of Springer’s interest in running, in an interview with Cleveland.com.
The fundraiser was held at Nighttown, a Cleveland Heights jazz club and restaurant.
Ring said Springer gave a brief speech at the fundraiser.
Springer, 73, previously considered running for US Senate in 2000 and 2004, but decided against it.
He has previously attributed the rumors around his potential bid for governor to former reality TV star Donald Trump’s successful White House bid.
But people continued to discuss Springer’s potential return to politics.
In late May, Business Insider, citing more than half a dozen Democrats familiar with the race, reported influential Ohio Democrats — including former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and Hamilton County Democratic Party Chairman Tim Burke — pushed for Springer to run.
In an interview with CNN’s Brooke Baldwin in May of 2016, Springer — who supported Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016 — was seemingly unsurprised by Trump’s popularity. He said that since President Ronald Reagan, a generation of Americans has grown up believing government is the problem in America.
“The celebrity in politics was inevitable,” Springer said.
Since Trump’s win, a growing number of celebrities have expressed interest in running for office, or have not ruled out pursuing politics in the future.
“I think it’s a real possibility,” Johnson told the publication when asked if he would ever run.
In July, a West Virginia resident created a campaign committee called “Run The Rock 2020” to draft Johnson as a presidential candidate in 2020.
Musician Kid Rock teased a potential bid for US Senate, but ultimately used the social media hype around the buzz to announce his non-profit designed to promote voter registration.
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It’s a continuation of a trend they have seen over the last several years.
“It’s been almost three years of nothing but above normal temperatures for the most part,” Zierden told the Bradenton Herald in a phone inteview Monday.
He noted that the last 21 consecutive months have all been warmer than what is considered normal.
Tampa is one of the weather stations showing a record warm ranking, according to a second tweet from Zierden.
According to the Florida Climate Center, the average temperature in Tampa during November was 72.1 degrees, three degrees warmer than normal.
Most of the state exhibited a similar, warmer-than-normal trend.
“All of that is consistent with what other parts of the world have seen and what we expect with climate change, and so I would certainly think climate change has its fingerprints on the recent trend of above-normal temperatures,” Zierden said.
In Manatee County, there were nine record-setting high temperatures through November, according to NCEI daily weather records. Six days through November tied for record- high temperatures.
However, Zierden cautioned, just because the average temperatures have been warmer doesn’t mean Florida won’t see cold snaps this winter.
Across the country, it’s been an above-average year for temperatures, the report from the National Centers for Environmental Information shows.
The year-to-date U.S. average temperature, 56.4 degrees, was the third warmest on record. That’s 2.61 degrees above the 20th century average, according to the NCEI.
The warmest year on record for the U.S. was 2012, when the average temperature through November was 57.04 degrees, NCEI archives show.
Spectrum Bay News 9 Meteorologist Josh Linker said average temperatures will likely remain above average at least through Christmas, but just by a couple of degrees each day. Temperatures, however, return to average for the last few days of the year.
Linker said December is currently averaging less than 1 degree above normal, due in part to a recent week of cooler weather.
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This mildly racy spot introduces us to the character of the brown M&M, who only looks like she’s not wearing her shell. And it does so by showing us more than we ever cared to see of one of her bagmates. “That is not something I want to be thinking about when I’m eating M&M’s,” my 10-year-old son says. He’s got a point, but be thankful: if someone bared his peanut, we’d have an FCC issue right now.
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Originally Published: September 24, 2018 8 p.m.
Soledad O’Brien, 10 to 11:30 a.m., Yavapai College Performing Arts Center, 1100 E Sheldon St, Prescott. Hear her take on the roles we play in our communities to create meaningful change.
Can you tell a book by its cover? 6 p.m., Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin Street, Founders Suite (1st floor). The Professional Writers of Prescott (PWP) will host Mariah Sinclair, an award-winning book cover designer.
ESL, 6 to 7:30 p.m., Prescott Valley Public Library, Genealogy Room, 7401 E. Civic Circle.
The Rockin’ Ukes, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., Prescott Valley Public Library-Crystal Room, 7401 E. Civic Circle Dr. The Rockin’ Ukes is a ukulele-centric band that plays an eclectic mix of classic rock, folk, country and whatever they feel like playing. Seating is limited so come early to get a seat. 928-759-3040.
Join Scouting Night, 6:30 to 8 p.m., St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 2000 Shepherds Lane, Prescott. Hosted by Boy Scout Troop and Pack 10. Girl Scout Troop 79 is also open for girls who want to join. 928-772-1312 or email at pack43@cox.net.
Sedona International Film Festival Presents “Quiz Show,” Mary D. Fisher Theater, 2030 W. Highway 89A. Tickets are $4.25 and can be purchased by calling 928-282-1177 or online at www.sedonafilmfestival.org. 928-282-1177.
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Located near all that the Catskills has to offer! Close to Hunter Mountain, Wyndham, state land, antiquing and many other recreational opportunities in the area. Also very close to the Hudson River. Come see this charming home with a rocking chair front porch. Great for a hunting or skiing base camp or full time residential living. Additional adjoining land available for sale separately. This listing now includes a large pole barn and sheds. Lot line adjustment has increased the property size to 4.91 acres. Come see it today!
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Attendees visit the Vodafone Group pavilion at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, March 4, 2015.
Vodafone, one of the world's biggest telecoms companies, announced better-than-expected sales Friday as its 4G plans grow.
The U.K.-based company reported an acceleration in its main quarterly sales growth on Friday as a cable TV acquisition in its biggest market, Germany, where it faces strong competition from Deutsche Telecom, lifted sales and consolidated the overall return to growth for the British firm. It also returned to growth in the U.K.
However, there was no mention in its statement of the one thing many investors want to hear about - a potential deal in Western Europe with John Malone's Liberty Global. The U.K., Germany and Netherlands were the markets identified by Malone as most fertile ground for a tie-up in May, but little has been heard on the deal in recent weeks.
The world's second-largest mobile operator said first-quarter organic service revenue grew 0.8 percent, ahead of the 0.1 percent it recorded in the fourth quarter and better than most analysts had expected.
Vittorio Colao, chief executive of the company, said in a statement: "Our emerging markets have maintained their strong momentum and more of our European businesses are returning to growth, as customer demand for 4G and data takes off," said.
The group reiterated its outlook for the full year.
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NORTH BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Body cameras captured the moment a North Brunswick police officer climbed up a burning building to rescue a family.
The fire started Saturday around 10:20 P.M. at the Governor's Pointe Condominiums. When Officer Grasso arrived, two grandparents and their grandchildren were trapped on the balcony of their apartment.
Grasso climbed up to the family and handed the family members down to other officers who were on the ground below.
In all, 28 people were left homeless after the fire destroyed 12 apartments. No one was injured.
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The Congress of South African Trade Unions has noted the latest cabinet reshuffle by President Jacob Zuma. We can confirm that the federation did receive a courtesy call from President Jacob Zuma regarding his decision to reshuffle his cabinet this morning.
While, we acknowledge that the president of the republic has a prerogative to reshuffle his National Executive as per the Constitution of the republic, we find the frequency of these cabinet reshuffles unsettling because they do not help to create the much needed stability at a government level. What compounds the situation is that some of these government departments are also witnessing an exodus of senior technocrats.
All of this is happening while workers and the poor are continuing to be victims of a system that has condemned millions of our fellow citizens to lives of brute survival. Our economy is currently haemorrhaging jobs at an alarming rate and it does not help that we are also experiencing this kind of political uncertainty and policy incoherence from government.
COSATU expects cabinet reshuffles to be about strengthening the capacity of government in order to help government to better implement its developmental agenda and deliver on its promises. We are not convinced that this reshuffle is informed by that ,considering that some of the most ineffectual ministers like Minister Bathabile Dlamini, Minister Nomvula Mokonyane, and Minister Mosebenzi Zwane are still part of the National Executive.
These recent cabinet reshuffles have done very little to help take the National Democratic Revolution forward. We call on the African National Congress to reflect deeply about the state of the economy and the overall performance of its government. The majority of workers are facing a bleak future and the people South Africa need a clear sign that the government has a plan to rescue them from poverty and kick-start this economy.
As COSATU , we will continue to work with and support the newly elected ministers and deputy ministers with the hope that they will prioritise a people driven and people centred development. We wish them well in their new positions.
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The NHS is still running Windows XP en masse, two and a half years after Microsoft stopped delivering bug fixes and security updates.
Nearly all of England NHS trusts – 90 per cent – continue to rely on PCs installed with Microsoft’s 15-year-old desktop operating system.
Just over half are still unsure as to when they will move to a replacement operating system.
Fourteen per cent reckoned they’d move to a new operating system by the end of this year, and 29 per cent reckoned the move would happen “some time” in 2017.
Windows XP is not receiving any security updates from Microsoft, meaning health service PCs are wide open to hackers and malware.
The data on the NHS' use of Windows XP comes courtesy of a Freedom of Information request from Citrix, which approached 63 NHS trusts and received responses from 42.
An FoI request from Citrix made in July 2014, three months after Microsoft’s deadline to move off Windows XP, had found 100 per cent of NHS trusts were dependent on the operating system.
The Reg first reported in early 2014 how vast sections of the UK public sector was set to miss Microsoft’s April 2014 kill date for XP.
The government had agreed a temporary framework support agreement with Microsoft which guaranteed delivery of special security patches for a year.
That agreement ended on April 14 2015 after it was decided not to go for a second year.
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After much anticipation, Melania Trump has finally given the world a glimpse of her platform.
Like those before her, Trump is keen to make a difference in her own unique way. Speaking in the Rose Garden, she officially launched "Be Best," which tackles three key pillars: well-being, social media and opioid abuse.
But what does it take to be effective as first lady, especially amid an ever moving spectrum of expectations, responsibility and public opinion?
The first lady's communications director, Stephanie Grisham, recently stated that most first ladies have focused on a single issue. In fact, several presidential spouses in the last century have taken on multiple causes, and Trump can look to them for guidance. To be successful, here are three recommendations from the Bush Institute's report "A Role Without a Rulebook" that Trump should consider implementing.
1. Develop a strategic vision.
As first lady, Trump is uniquely positioned to be a compassionate listener and supportive facilitator. As she develops this platform, she should clearly define actionable goals that engage citizens at local and national levels.
She can look to her peer, Laura Bush, who launched "Ready to Read, Ready to Learn" with two clear objectives in mind: to ensure young children are prepared when they enter their first classroom, and once there have well-trained, qualified teachers. She also addressed how these goals would be achieved. By outlining a clear mission alongside defined actions, Bush was able to make progress on these goals during her time as first lady.
2. Engage with citizens and peers.
In a polarized political climate, Trump must embrace the opportunity to transcend boundaries. Unelected but official, she is able to build bridges between government and civil society. For example, one of our most prominent first ladies, Eleanor Roosevelt, championed causes including racial equality, labor rights and women's rights, and she was the first presidential spouse to testify before a congressional committee. Central to her efforts: community and stakeholder outreach.
Engagement with predecessors and peers can also aid Trump's efforts. For example, longstanding advocates for mental health and those battling addictive diseases, Rosalynn Carter and Betty Ford joined forces to advance policy and increase support for services. Reflecting on their collaboration, Carter said: "(Betty and I) could be a stronger force if we worked as partners, and we did for many years."
Trump has the opportunity to use the power of partnership. As political influences, first ladies can reach across industries and ideologies to unite diverse viewpoints and mobilize action. For example, Michelle Obama and Jill Biden launched "Joining Forces," working with the public and private sectors to improve outcomes for service members, veterans and their families by providing the tools needed to succeed throughout their lives.
While the role of first lady is one without a rulebook, these are proven actions that can aid Trump's efforts on a variety of platforms. When used effectively, a first lady's podium serves as a force for change.
Natalie Gonnella-Platts is the deputy director of the Women's Initiative at the George W. Bush Institute and co-author of "A Role Without a Rulebook: The Influence and Leadership of Global First Ladies." She wrote this for InsideSources.com.
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OKLAHOMA CITY - Kevin Durant scored 25 points, James Harden added a spark with 23 points off the bench while returning from an injury and the Oklahoma City Thunder ended a string of futility against the Houston Rockets with a 122-104 victory.
The Thunder got out to a sizzling start and opened a 23-point lead within the first 14 minutes. Their lead was never in jeopardy against a Houston team desperately needing a late charge to make the playoffs.
Instead, Oklahoma City used its second-best shooting performance of the season to take a big step toward solidifying its spot in the postseason.
Luis Scola scored 25 and Trevor Ariza added 20 points for Houston, which fell seven games behind Oklahoma City and 51/2 behind eighth-place Portland in the Western Conference.
BOSTON - Paul Pierce scored 27 points, Kevin Garnett had 20 and the Boston Celtics clinched a playoff berth with a win over the Denver Nuggets.
The Celtics dominated inside and the Nuggets, one day after losing to the Knicks in New York, slipped a half-game behind the Dallas Mavericks and into a third-place tie with Utah in the Western Conference with their third consecutive loss.
Boston led by 21 points twice in the third quarter before Denver cut the lead to 87-80 going into the fourth. But the Celtics stayed ahead by seven to 16 the rest of the way for their fifth win in six games. Rajon Rondo had a triple-double with 11 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds.
Carmelo Anthony led Denver with 32 points and J.R. Smith added 21.
TORONTO - Deron Williams had 18 points, 16 assists and eight rebounds, leading the Utah Jazz to victory over the Toronto Raptors.
Carlos Boozer added 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Mehmet Okur and rookie Wesley Matthews had 16 points apiece for the Jazz, who won their third straight. Seven Jazz players finished with at least 12 points.
Chris Bosh celebrated his 26th birthday with a 20-point performance for the Raptors (35-35), who fell 11/2 games behind Charlotte and Miami in the race for sixth place in the Eastern Conference.
Antoine Wright had 10 of his 15 points in the second quarter for the Raptors, while Andrea Bargnani added 12 and Jose Calderon 10.
ATLANTA - Josh Smith swooped in to slam through Joe Johnson's missed shot just ahead of the buzzer and the Atlanta Hawks finally beat the Orlando Magic, clinching a third straight trip to the playoffs.
The Hawks bounced back from an early 15-2 deficit and overcame going 8:45 in the fourth quarter without a field goal against a division rival that had routed them three times this season. For Atlanta, it came down to the final shot of regulation for the fifth straight game.
INDIANAPOLIS - Danny Granger scored 31 points to help the Indiana Pacers beat the Washington Wizards and extend Washington's losing streak to a franchise record-tying 13 games.
Andray Blatche started for the Wizards a night after he was benched for most of the game following a spat with coach Flip Saunders.
The Wizards last lost 13 straight in 1995. They can set a record for futility Friday at Charlotte.
It was Granger's third straight game with at least 30 points. Josh McRoberts had 14 points and a career-high 12 rebounds for the Pacers, who have won four in a row overall and six straight at home.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Stephen Jackson shook off a sore hand and busted out of his shooting slump with 37 points, leading the Charlotte Bobcats past Minnesota to send the reeling Timberwolves to their 14th straight loss.
Jackson, who a night earlier revealed he had been plagued by a bruised ligament near his left index finger, hit 15-of-24 shots after shooting 37 percent in the previous 10 games. Gerald Wallace added 23 points as the Bobcats shot 54 percent from the field and moved into sixth place in the Eastern Conference with their sixth straight home win.
Al Jefferson scored 21 points for the Timberwolves, who came apart in a 20-0 Charlotte run in the second quarter to drop to 5-32 on the road.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Brook Lopez had 26 points and 13 rebounds, and New Jersey Nets moved a step closer to avoiding a dubious date with NBA history by beating the Sacramento Kings to snap an eight-game losing streak and a franchise-record, 14-game skid at home.
Devin Harris added 24 points and nine assists for the Nets (8-63), who need to win once in their last 11 games to avoid breaking the league mark for fewest wins in a season (9-73), set by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1972-73.
Nets interim coach Kiki Vandeweghe guided the team despite learning of the death of his mother, former Miss America Colleen Kay Hutchins, earlier in the day.
Beno Udrih had 19 points for the Kings, who lost the eighth time in 11 games.
MILWAUKEE - Rookie Jrue Holiday had 15 points and seven assists, leading the Philadelphia 76ers to a victory over the Bucks that snapped Milwaukee's longest home winning streak in six years at eight games.
It was a dismal display for Milwaukee, which had won 15 of the last 17 to virtually assure a postseason berth for the first time since 2006.
Instead, Samuel Dalembert had 12 points and 10 rebounds, Willie Green scored 16 points and Andre Iguodala 14 as the Sixers poured it on for their third win in the last 16 games.
Jerry Stackhouse scored 15 points and rookie Brandon Jennings added 12 for Milwaukee, but the Bucks shot 5 of 28 from 3-point range and led only once in the game, 3-0.
NEW ORLEANS - LeBron James scored an efficient 38 points on 15 of 22 shooting to go with nine assists, and the Cleveland Cavaliers won their eighth straight game, over the New Orleans Hornets.
J.J. Hickson scored 20 for the Cavs, who led by as many as 17 and never trailed after James' floater tied it at 10 in the first quarter. Delonte West added 15 points and Antawn Jamison had 11 points and 11 rebounds as Cleveland won its 27th straight over a team with a losing record.
Marcus Thornton scored 20 points and Darren Collison added 17 for the Hornets, who will be eliminated from the playoffs if Portland wins today. David West added 16 points.
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We build our students up only to encourage them to flee. Why?
Combining advertising campaigns handled by pros along with play on the editorial side of reputable media outlets gets a business noticed by potential customers who won’t be concerned about the veracity of claims.
A sad week in the world of journalism.
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1 Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father's stead in Jerusalem.
2 Joahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.
3 And the king of Egypt deposed him at Jerusalem, and fined the land a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
4 And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Neco took Joahaz his brother, and carried him to Egypt.
5 Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah his God.
6 Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.
7 Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of Jehovah to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon.
8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.
9 Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah.
10 And at the return of the year king Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house of Jehovah, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.
12 and he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah his God; he humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet [speaking] from the mouth of Jehovah.
13 And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart against turning unto Jehovah, the God of Israel.
14 Moreover all the chiefs of the priests, and the people, trespassed very greatly after all the abominations of the nations; and they polluted the house of Jehovah which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.
16 but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until the wrath of Jehovah arose against his people, till there was no remedy.
17 Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldeans, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or virgin, old man or hoary-headed: he gave them all into his hand.
18 And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon.
19 And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.
21 to fulfil the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths: [for] as long as it lay desolate it kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
23 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath Jehovah, the God of heaven, given me; and he hath charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whosoever there is among you of all his people, Jehovah his God be with him, and let him go up.
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Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Narayana Kocherlakota will step down when his current term ends in February 2016.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis president said the U.S. central bank risked damaging its credibility.
The MInneapolis Fed reports the pace of consolitation is unchanged since reforms were put in place; critics say otherwise.
Minnesota farmers and the state’s economy could be impacted by a decline in formerly booming farmland prices.
Minnesota business service firms are slightly more optimistic about the next 12 months than they were last year, according to a report released Monday.
The metro’s net loan growth was 1.34 percent over the past year.
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This bicycle sprocket hub and sprockets from the Wright Bicycle Co. are on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. The Wrights later used a bicycle-type chain drive in their early airplanes. Also on display are a composting stick and metal type from the Wright printing business.
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Roger Federer of Switzerland and Bill Gates shake hands at the Match For Africa 4 exhibition match at KeyArena on April 29, 2017 in Seattle, Washington.
When I was in my 20s and early 30s, my whole life was focused on work. I didn’t take vacations or weekends off. I was always the first in the office and the last to leave. These days, I’m better at balancing the work that I love to do with my foundation and taking time off to spend with family and friends.
My parents first taught me bridge, but I really started to enjoy it after playing with Warren Buffett. It takes a mix of strategy and teamwork to do well. We always find time to play a few games when we’re together.
This civilization-building board game is a favorite in my family. Melinda, our kids, and I have spent many hours sitting around the table trading resources, building roads, and strategizing to be the first to reach 10 victory points.
I have played tennis my whole life. This year, I got to play a match with Roger Federer to help raise money for his foundation. I wouldn’t say it was the most relaxing tennis game I’ve ever played, but it was a whole lot of fun.
It may not be too surprising that one of my favorite ways to relax is to keep learning. On average, I try to read a book a week, and I always bring a whole tote bag of them on vacation.
In 1993, Melinda and I visited Tanzania, Kenya, and Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). That trip changed our lives and inspired us to start our foundation and get involved in philanthropy sooner than we planned. I know it’s not possible for everyone to travel halfway around the world, so I’ve started sharing VR videos on my Gates Notes blog of what I’m seeing and learning.
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Elvis Costello played a two-hour, 25-song show that touched on phases throughout his career, both deep cuts and hits, as well as nine of the new disc’s 12 songs. And to the delight of the nearly sold-out crowd, Costello did them all them well.
Over a career of more than 40 years, singer Elvis Costello has been a punk provocateur, a seminal new wave voice, a contemporary pop singer and even a classic crooner. And there have been fans of each of Costello’s career ventures.
So how to satisfy everyone coming to see Costello kick off the North American leg of his latest tour at Sands Bethlehem Event Center to support yet another venture – his very strong new disc “Look Now”?
On Friday, Costello did his best to do just that, playing a two-hour, 25-song show that touched on phases throughout his career, both deep cuts and hits, as well as nine of the new disc’s 12 songs.
And to the delight of the nearly sold-out crowd, Costello did them all well – not afraid to revisit not only the songs of his earlier career, but also carrying the spirit of them into the newer songs.
Perhaps after surviving cancer surgery that canceled the end of his European leg, the 64-year-old Costello was emboldened, or re-invigorated.
Either way, his performance, and voice, was stronger than when he played the Sands in 2016.
Backed by a crack three-man band and two female singers, Costello opened the show with “This Year’s Girl” from his 1978 sophomore disc, “This Year’s Model,” with its swirling synth reviving that new wave sound.
He followed that with two 1980s deeper cuts: a forceful “Honey, Are You Straight or Are You Blind,” and “Clubland,” with Costello’s ‘70s rocking edge. On the latter, Costello even held a finger to his nose to hush the crowd as he played a scrubbing lead and sang with a “Watching the Detectives” affect.
Later offerings from the new disc were even better. The disc’s new single “Under Lime” had very much that 1977 vibe that ushered in new wave. “Why Won’t Heaven Help Me” was pretty rocking. The slow guitar-and-piano “Stripping Paper” was a clear reminder or the Elvis of old, and the slow, sensitive “Suspect My Tears” had some of his best vocals of the night, as he reached for a falsetto.
Early in the show, the older songs Costello played were nearly all deeper cuts: “New Lace Sleeves” from 1981’s “Trust”; a rocking, new-wavey “(I Don’t Want to Go To) Chelsea,” with good lead guitar.
So that when he did play a hit – his 1977 U.S. breakthrough “Watching the Detectives,” (in the same darkened-stage presentation as the last time he was at the Sands) it got a huge crowd reaction – and deservedly so.
Costello later did the same with later songs: A largely voice-and-acoustic guitar version of 1986’s “Indoor Fireworks” to a big cheer from the crowd, and closed the main set with a faster, more rocking “Can You Hear Me” from his last disc, 2013’s “Wise Up Ghost” that segued right into the hit “Pump It Up,” thumping, urgent and rocking.
Costello’s encore stretched eight songs and 40 minutes.
It opened with one of the night’s best: a barely instrumented, mostly a cappella “Allison,” with his two female backup singers. It got a huge cheer. Then a stark and spare, piano-and-voice “Accidents Will Happen,” on which he reached for a high and powerful end note.
He used that same vocal approach on “I Still Have That Other Girl,” which he also wrote with Bacharach, – really singing it --and paired that with a new Bacharach co-write, “He’s Given Me Things,” from the new disc.
Costello flubbed the start of that song slightly, and after saying “this is the first night,” re-started it dramatically better. He followed that with another early deeper cut, “Green Shirt,” which started stripped, then built as the crowd clapped along.
And then a six-minute version of his 1979 hit “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace Love and Understanding,” with a wonderful chorus coda.
That completed Costello’s journey of giving everyone what they wanted. The fact that he could do that, and do it as well as he did, shows how important Costello’s music has been, and how much he still has left.
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BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Fighting in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City killed 23 Iraqis yesterday, hospital officials said, and the U.S. military reported five troop deaths, as April showed signs of becoming the worst month for U.S. forces in Iraq since September.
At least 11 of the Iraqi deaths occurred when mortar shells landed in residential neighborhoods. Men rushed wounded children to overcrowded emergency rooms in Sadr City hospitals, on foot because of a ban on all vehicular traffic. In some parts of Sadr City, masked militiamen bearing machine guns and grenade launchers remained on the streets.
Officials at local hospitals have put the death toll in the neighborhood at more than 70 since Sunday, but it was not clear if those figures included militia fighters.
Thousands of Sadr City residents have fled for other neighborhoods. Prices in local markets were soaring as supplies dwindled, a result of suppliers' inability to bring in goods. Iraqi and U.S. forces appeared to be penetrating deeper into the neighborhood, one local journalist said.
There were no signs that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was pulling back on his offensive against Shiite militias, which has sparked fighting between Iraqi and U.S. forces and militiamen loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Al-Maliki's deadline for fighters to hand in heavy weapons expired Tuesday, but the latest clashes showed that rocket-propelled grenades, mortars, and rockets remained in militia hands.
Baghdad had spent part of yesterday quieter than in recent days, because of a curfew imposed to prevent clashes and protests marking the anniversary of the fall of Saddam Hussein on April 9, 2003.
Al-Sadr had called for a huge march in Baghdad to mark the anniversary of Hussein's ouster and to protest the U.S. presence and al-Maliki's offensive. The cleric says the offensive, which began March 25 in the southern city of Basra, is targeting his Mahdi Army and is a ploy to cripple his political movement in advance of provincial elections planned for October.
His fighters have risen up against Iraqi and U.S. forces, virtually collapsing a cease-fire that al-Sadr announced last August and that was credited with bringing a sharp drop in violence nationwide.
Although U.S. and Iraqi officials maintain that they are targeting criminal elements or "special groups" that did not abide by al-Sadr's truce, U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker acknowledged yesterday that the Basra offensive had drawn in others.
"A dangerous development in the immediate wake of the Basra operation was what appeared to be a reunification between special groups and JAM," he told lawmakers in Washington, using the acronym for al-Sadr's militia.
Crocker and Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, gave lawmakers their assessments of the war during two days of hearings in Washington that ended yesterday.
The surge in troop deaths since the Basra offensive has underscored their contention that security gains witnessed in recent months easily could be reversed. At least 30 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since the Basra operation began, most in Baghdad; at least 19 have died in Iraq so far this month, representing the highest daily average since last September.
The deaths announced yesterday brought to at least 4,031 the number of U.S. troops to die in Iraq since the war began in March 2003. Brief military statements said three of the soldiers died in roadside bomb blasts: two in northeastern Baghdad and one east of the city. Two others died of "non-combat" injuries, statements said, giving no other details.
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With its eye on Western next-gen gamers, the Japanese publisher pays $15 million for Secret Level.
Sega Holdings of USA announced on Monday that it has purchased independent game studio Secret Level for $15 million.
Last July, Sega announced a next-generation development deal with Secret Level, an arrangement that asked the San Francisco-based shop to "re-create a classic Sega franchise" on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Though the unnamed game in question isn't "Sonic the Hedgehog"--which is being shepherded into the next generation internally--the prospect of a next-gen "Altered Beast" or "Golden Axe" has many players excited.
Prior to its next-gen project, Secret Level was best-known for developing "Karaoke Revolution," "Magic the Gathering: Battlegrounds" and console versions of the military title "America's Army: Rise of a Soldier."
Sega Holdings, the U.S.-based arm of Japan's Sega Sammy Holdings, said the acquisition of Secret Level was part of its push to concentrate on the U.S. and European video game markets.
"We looked long and hard at building an internal studio from scratch but were so impressed with the team at Secret Level and their next-gen technology that we decided to create our internal development infrastructure through a direct acquisition," said Simon Jeffery, Sega of America's president and COO.
The deal comes just more than a year after Sega acquired The Creative Assembly, makers of the highly acclaimed "Total War PC" strategy series and the not-so-highly acclaimed "Spartan: Total Warrior" for consoles. It also comes two weeks after Sega said it will "collaboratively develop" an all-new role-playing game with "NeverWinter Nights 2" developer Obsidian Entertainment for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Tor Thorsen reported for GameSpot.
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Tulsa race riot survivor: "Learn how to forgive, but never forget"
SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) -- A 100-inch, high definition screen projects an intense college basketball game. Massage therapists rub the nervous tensions of men and women away. Scissors skillfully cut men's hair. Two chandeliers adorn the main room, complimented by brick walls and a glass bar that doubles as a retail counter.
Sean Heywood, right, and Kumi Walker own MR., a barbershop and wine bar in San Francisco, California.
This is not your typical barbershop.
And that has always been the vision of owners Kumi Walker and Sean Heywood.
"We are literally trying to create a new version of the country club golf experience. But we're replacing golf with haircuts, and we're putting it in urban environments," says Heywood.
MR. (for mister) is their first business venture. It's an upscale barbershop, wine bar and lounge in the financial district of San Francisco where memberships cost $65 to $250 a month. In addition to the basic services, those who become members benefit from exclusive services like golf putting clinics and human resource workshops.
"We're trying to thrive, not just survive," Heywood said.
MR. takes the cultural aspect of the black barbershop experience and modernizes it, making it a place where businesspeople of all races can network.
The two entrepreneurs are bridging a cultural divide, and also giving back to the community. They offer free lifetime memberships to MR. to those in good standing with a re-entry program called Back on Track.
Among other things, Back on Track offers first-time, low-level criminal offenders GED preparation, tutoring, money-management instruction and job training and placement. And that's where MR. steps in. The membership provides them with one free haircut, trim, and shoeshine monthly.
"We'll take care of their grooming so that they don't have to. And they're ready for all the different jobs that they pursue going forward," Walker says.
Giving back is paramount for the entrepreneurs. And the story of one black business district in Tulsa, Oklahoma, inspires them. It was known as Black Wall Street, and it was destroyed in a race riot and fire 88 years ago.
"All of the businesses that we wanted to create, we wanted to encompass the culture of, if that community still existed today, what it would look like," says Walker, who says he read about the riot six years ago.
Imagine a credit union, a barbershop, a library, and men in freshly pressed suits with top hats sauntering on sidewalks. The melodic sounds of jazz flow into the streets from several nightclubs. A thriving community of black-owned businesses serve their clientele across a 42-block area.
That was the community that existed in the segregated neighborhood of Greenwood from 1830 to 1921.
But on the evening of May 31, 1921, white mobs entered Greenwood with torches and guns. Black residents gathered to protect a young man accused of assaulting a white woman. When the smoke from fires cleared on June 1, more than 1,000 homes, businesses and other institutions were burned or destroyed, according to the report of the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921.
Sound off: What challenges do black entrepreneurs face?
iReport.com: How would you make black America better?
"People came and said, 'Run, they are shooting people,' " says Wess Young, who was 4 then. "We evacuated. They were destroying everything."
The death toll has been debated for years, because many victims were dumped in mass graves. An American Red Cross estimate puts the total at 300, much higher than the 36 reported by local officials.
The riot devastated the social underpinnings of the Greenwood community and leveled a black economic force. Greenwood was rebuilt, but it never recovered.
"It was a really tragic end to thriving businesses. I think we'd be a lot further ahead had that area been able to continue to thrive," says Walker.
Wess Young and his family rebuilt their lives in Tulsa. When asked what he thought America would be like if the Tulsa race riot had not happened, he answers without hesitation, "We would have had a black president before now. ... He has done a good job, but we [blacks are] still in a box."
His advice to people is to let go of the past once they've learned from it.
"Hate will destroy your whole universe -- got to learn how to forgive, but never forget," Young says.
Walker says these stories of black struggle and survival motivate him.
"I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors," he says. "I just want to be as successful as possible so I can turn around and be mentors and sponsors to other people who come after me."
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Two recently published reports shed damning light on the high cost of low wages in the fast food industry – an industry dominated by the restaurant giant McDonald’s, which raked-in over $5.4 billion in profits last year.
The reports – Super Sizing Public Costs: How Low Wages at Top Fast-Food Chains Leave Taxpayers Footing the Bill and Fast Food, Poverty Wages: The Public Cost of Low-Wage Jobs in the Fast-Food Industry – argue that low-wages in the fast-food industry cost taxpayers nearly $7 billion annually.
Medicaid and CHIP (the Children’s Health Insurance Program) account for more than half of the $7 billion, at an average of $3.9 billion annually. Additionally, due to low earnings, fast food workers’ families also receive an annual average of $1.04 billion in food stamp benefits and $1.91 billion in Earned Income Tax Credit payments.
The ten largest fast-food companies alone made more than $7.4 billion in profits in 2012 and paid their top executives more than $53 million in compensation.
Low-wage fast-food jobs cost tax-payers the most in California ($717 million), New York ($708 million), Texas ($556 million), Illinois ($368 million), and Florida ($348 million).
According to Super Sizing Public Costs, “McDonald’s represents the most costly fast-food company for tax-payers.” Low wages and lack of benefits at McDonald’s cost tax-payers “$1.2 billion every year in public assistance programs,” according to the report.
YUM! Brands (Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC), Subway, Burger King and Wendy’s round-out the top five fast-food companies with workers who rely on public assistance.
The median average wage for fast-food workers is $8.69; an estimated 87 percent of fast-food workers do not receive health benefits. Furthermore, 67 percent of front-line fast-food workers are adults 20 and older; 68 percent are the main earners in their families and more than one-quarter are raising children.
“This business model puts tax-payers on the hook, while rewarding corporate CEO’s,” Jack Temple, a policy analyst for the National Employment Law Project and co-author of Super Sizing Public Costs, said during a conference call with the press on October 15.
The reports come on the heels of a nation-wide wave of fast-food worker strikes; most recently strikes took place in over 60 cities across the nation with thousands of fast-food workers walking off their jobs.
“The CEO of McDonald’s makes more in a day than I make in a year,” Yates added.
Fast-food workers nationally are calling for $15 an-hour in pay and the right to form or join a union without retaliation.
Jacobs also addressed the wave of non-traditional worker organizing taking place in fast-food, retail and other low-wage service sector jobs.
Super Sizing Public Costs: How Low Wages at Top Fast-Food Chains Leave Taxpayers Footing the Bill was published by the National Employment Law Project and Fast Food, Poverty Wages: The Public Cost of Low-Wage Jobs in the Fast-Food Industry was published by the University of California Labor Center.
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When Cait and I found out how easy it is to make ravioli–and with such completely impressive and delicious results!–we just had to share this fabulous harvest recipe with you.
This dish is a poem to autumn, filled with sweet, tender butternut squash combined with a touch of honey, fresh thyme, rosemary, sage, and Parmesan, and topped with chopped hazelnuts (or you could substitute walnuts) and brown butter. This would work beautifully for any family feast or romantic, intimate dinner.
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly oil a baking sheet. Cut the squash in half through the stem and lay the halves cut side down on the oiled baking sheet. Bake 50-60 minutes, until easily pierced with a knife. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. Scoop out seeds and fibers and discard, then spoon the flesh into a mixing bowl. Mash squash with a potato-masher until smooth, then add breadcrumbs, 2 tablespoons Parmesan, honey, thyme, rosemary, chopped sage, and orange zest. Mix thoroughly and season with salt and pepper.
2. Warm the olive oil and nut oil over medium heat in a small frying pan and add hazelnuts or walnuts. Cook, stirring often, about 3 minutes, or until nuts are golden. Transfer nuts to a plate and set aside.
3. Melt butter in a medium saucepan until it turns brown and begins to smoke, 3-4 minutes. Remove immediately from heat, add nutmeg, and set aside.
4. Place a pasta sheet on a lightly floured work surface. Spoon mounds of filling on the sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart (the number of mounds you make will depend on the size of the pasta sheets you use). Lightly mist the mounds with a spray mister filled with water, then place a second pasta sheet over the first, covering the filling mounds, and pressing firmly around the edges and between the mounds to seal. Using a fluted cutting wheel or knife, cut between the rows of ravioli. Repeat with remaining sheets of pasta and filling.
5. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add ravioli and cook until tender, 2-3 minutes. To serve, reheat the browned butter. Drain ravioli and place in warmed serving bowl. Toss with butter, sprinkle with hazelnuts and 1/4 cup Parmesan. Garnish with sage leaves and serve immediately.
Inspired by Williams-Sonoma Seasonal Celebration: Autumn, by Joanne Weir (Time-Life Books, 1997).
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Every morning on The Style Blog, we celebrate the best footwear weve come across. Now, for your benefit, its all in one place.
Every morning on The Style Blog, we celebrate the best footwear we've come across. Now, for your benefit, it's all in one place.
Walk in these down the boardwalk.
Walk in these when you're feeling sick of summer.
Walk in these to your crucial mid-week meeting.
Walk in these... no, actually, bike in these to work.
Walk in these no matter what you're wearing.
Walk in these before summer's over.
Walk in these to... your car?
Walk in these to get noticed.
Walk in these to the grocery store.
Walk in these to work this morning.
Walk in these the next time you take her out — tonight?
Walk in these wherever you go, because espadrilles are this summer's solution to another scorcher.
Walk in these to your computer, then explore sidmashburn.com, the just-launched online home of the storied Atlanta store.
Walk in these the next time you ditch the office for the mountains.
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It may not have been enough to bring out the skis, but Wood River Valley residents woke up with a shock Wednesday to see a snowstorm three days before the start of summer.
Elizabeth Padian, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pocatello, said observers reported snow from Timmerman Hill north through the Wood River and Sawtooth valleys.
Padian said late-June snowstorms are a rarity in the area, but historical records show that a trace of snow is possible on any given day year-round. She said that since the start of record-keeping in 1937, there has been snowfall in the Wood River Valley on several days in late June, as well as in July and August.
Jan Turzian, owner of Sun Valley Garden Center in Bellevue, said a few of her customers told her they lost tomatoes due to the unexpected cold weather. She said plants that were covered were probably all right. She said it’s the cold temperatures more than snow that damages delicate flowers and vegetables.
The Herr brothers, Ed and Nevin, who grow strawberries in Picabo for sale around the Wood River Valley, said their crop was undamaged by the late snow.
“It’s supposed to be 80 degrees from here on out, so I think we’re OK,” Ed Herr said.
The storm was widespread, and was more pronounced farther south in Utah. According to the National Weather Service office in Salt Lake City, snow fell throughout the Wasatch Mountains, including 9 inches at Alta, which is at 8,800 feet elevation.
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LOS ANGELES – A lawsuit filed Wednesday against ABC (search) and "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell (search) alleges they conspired to steal the brand and concept of "Million Dollar Idea," a series airing in syndication.
The suit, filed in federal court by Jean Golden and Todd Walker, the creators and hosts of "Million Dollar Idea," (search) follows ABC&apos;s announcement in July of a new show of the same name that the network said was created by Cowell.
"From stem to stern, each and every detail of Simon Cowell and ABC&apos;s mock &apos;Million Dollar Idea&apos; is a patent rip-off of Todd and Jean&apos;s four-year labor of love," attorney Pierce O&apos;Donnell alleged in a statement Wednesday.
The lawsuit sees to stop ABC from using the name and idea and calls for unspecified damages. O&apos;Donnell predicted they would reach into "the tens of millions of dollars."
A call seeking comment from Cowell was not immediately returned Wednesday.
"We have not even been served with the complaint in this matter, and so have no comment," said ABC spokeswoman Annie Fort.
The suit also names FremantleMedia North America, producer of FOX&apos;s "American Idol" and proposed producer of ABC&apos;s "The Million Dollar Idea." (Note the slightly different title.) FremantleMedia does not comment on pending litigation, spokesman Brian Reinert said.
"Million Dollar Idea" first aired on KSTC-TV in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market in 2003. The series was recently syndicated to more than 125 stations nationwide and its creators registered for both copyright and trademark for the show&apos;s name and premise, according to their statement.
The show is taped before an audience and judges at the Mall of America. New product inventors and marketers from across the country compete for a prize package to help launch their product and place it for sale with a Mall of America retailer.
The syndicated series has received newspaper, magazine and TV coverage, including on NBC&apos;s "Today" show, the suit says.
"It is incredibly ironic that our show, the premise of which is to promote, protect and reward small-town American ingenuity, was itself the victim of corporate theft and greed," Golden said.
Her partner, Walker, pitched a deal for the show to ABC in early 2004 and provided copies of their presentation to CAA, according to the suit. That&apos;s the same agency identified in a recent ABC press release as having "packaged" "The Million Dollar Idea" with Cowell.
Besides the alleged theft of the title, every major concept connected to the show also was copied, the suit claims.
In the July 13 news release announcing "The Million Dollar Idea," ABC described the series as "a nationwide search for America&apos;s greatest entrepreneur with the best business idea or new product," with the prize to be $1 million "worth of business support," including cash and other resources.
The idea was conceived by Cowell and British entrepreneur Peter Jones, according to the ABC release.
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Are stoners now a target advertising demographic for fast food companies?
Ever since Harold and Kumar went to White Castle, fast-food companies have become increasingly blatant about targeting to stoners in their advertisements.
July 31, 2012, 1:48 a.m.
Between Taco Bell's "Fourthmeal" advertisements and Jack in the Box commercials featuring slow-talking stoners, it's hardly a secret anymore that fast-food companies are shamelessly targeting potheads with their ads. But have they crossed a line?
Once considered a taboo marketing approach, the fast-food industry today appears to have brazenly embraced the late-night munchies, according to The Fix. Although advertisements never blatantly refer to pot smoking, subliminal messaging has become more obvious.
Take, for instance, this recent Jack in the Box advertisement. And Taco Bell has created a jingle to go with its latest string of advertisements, which sings of the "late-night munchies." Of course, drive-thru windows open well into the morning hours also cater to the average midnight snacker, but there's little denying who the real target is given the choice of terminology.
"If you're targeting that heavy fast-food user, you need to speak their language," said Denise Yohn, a brand consultant who's worked with restaurants for 25 years, to The Fix. "One way to do that is to talk about partying and munchies. To the mainstream audience it may just sound like late nights and drinking, but to a certain audience they're talking about getting stoned."
It's not the same thing as flagrantly endorsing the use of marijuana, of course. But the fast-food industry no longer appears to think the pothead subculture is off limits either. Perhaps they're just embracing a market force, but the strategy also runs perilously close to catering directly to a drug-induced appetite that drives people to consume their product.
Of course, this wouldn't be the first time that the fast-food industry was accused of catering to addiction. Not only has fast food been proven to be highly addictive, but the industry actually hires scientists to design its food for exactly that purpose.
Whether marketing to stoners crosses an ethical line or not, it certainly seems to be working. Taco Bell has seen its sales spike by 6 percent since launching its "late-night munchies" advertisements. The marketing has been so successful that at least one new upstart fast-food enterprise has decided to sell its line of frozen burritos directly to potheads. Drive-thrus of nearly every major fast-food chain now typically stay open past midnight, undoubtedly due to a steady profit margin.
So long as it works, it's not likely to change. In fact, without any backlash, it may not be long before advertisers compete explicitly for the stoner demographic.
"A lot of companies are skipping the innuendo," said Yohn. "They think it's more effective to be overt. It creates more buzz. I think that's why you see a lot of advertising that seems unapologetically targeted to pot smokers."
Ever since Harold and Kumar went to White Castle, fast food companies seem increasingly blatant about targeting to stoners in their advertisements.
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Seren Rayne Frank Sutherland, a six lb., eight oz., girl, was born Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016, at Yavapai Regional Medical Center to Donell Sutherland and Adam Frank of Prescott.
Alexander Velasco, a six lb., 12 oz., boy, was born Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016, at Yavapai Regional Medical Center to Erika Avitia Villalobos and Eduardo Velasco of Prescott Valley.
Teagan Mikelynn Scotia Walls, a seven lb., 11 oz., boy, was born Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016, at Yavapai Regional Medical Center to Jamie Ashlyn and Michael Scott Walls of Prescott Valley.
Owen Matthew Wederski, an eight lb., two oz., boy, was born Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016, at Yavapai Regional Medical Center to Kayla Greseth and Joshua Wederski of Prescott Valley.
Rorik Isaiah Wilson, a eight lb., three oz., boy, was born Thursday, Dec. 22, 2016, at Yavapai Regional Medical Center to Marina Wilson and Colton McKeever of Prescott Valley.
Sayge Elijah Anthony Zamora Gheiler, a seven lb.,two oz., boy, was born Friday, Dec. 23, 2016, at Yavapai Regional Medical Center to Nicollette Gheiler of Prescott.
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Due to Hurricane Irene, parts of New Jersey were declared a federal disaster area this week. Federal funding is available to people in Bergen, Essex, Morris, Passaic, and Somerset Counties.
More than 150,000 homes and businesses in the state remained without electricity Wednesday afternoon, with utilities predicting restoration by the weekend or early next week.
The old Reading Viaduct, becoming a city park? Talks have been going on for eight years to get city officials on board with the idea. Now, the city is in talks with Reading International Co. to take control of the larger section of the viaduct to transform it into an elevated public park.
Meanwhile, the Center City District is working with SEPTA on a legal agreement to create a park on the shorter section of the viaduct owned by the transit agency.
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Adventist HealthCare seeks to hire a Med Surg Registered Nurse who will embrace our mission to extend God's care through the ministry of physical, mental and spiritual healing. If you want to make a difference in someone's life every day, consider a position with a team of professionals who are doing just that, making a difference.
• One year of current nursing experience within in a hospital environment, prior Med Surg or Oncology experience preferred. Chemo certification required and provided by the organization at no cost.
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As many British visitors to France have learnt to their dismay, if you ask a local, “Parlez-vous anglais?”, the answer is often “Non”.
Such a response, perhaps accompanied by a dismissive Gallic shrug, may prompt the appearance on the traveller’s face of what the author PG Wodehouse described as “the shifty hangdog look that announces that an Englishman is about to speak French”.
Britons have never been renowned for their mastery of French — or indeed any other foreign language — but a new ranking shows that our historical rivals and closest neighbours have little to crow about when it comes to their command of English.
The English Proficiency Index, a survey of countries without English as a national language, puts France in 35th place – behind the Philippines, South Korea and Lebanon.
The index, compiled by Education First, a language training company, ranks the French as the worst English speakers in western Europe while Sweden comes out top.
Christian Monlord, a Frenchman and conference interpreter, said the results did not surprise him. “French used to be the language of diplomacy, and it is still a big international language, so many French people still take the attitude that others should speak their language,” said Mr Monlord, 75.
Another reason why the French are lagging behind in learning English may be a feeling that the world’s lingua franca is creeping into daily life in France, threatening the very survival of the language of Voltaire.
English expressions are increasingly used by French speakers, even if their overall level of spoken English may not be good.
Parisians speak the best English in France, according to the survey, but it places the capital 25th among international cities behind Shanghai, Buenos Aires and Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.
Many French people also blame foreign language teaching in schools.
Teachers say they are trying to place more emphasis on conversational English, but they are often limited by a lack of resources, especially in small towns and rural areas.
Damien Gabriel, 29, said children and their parents were also to blame. “I think there are many kids in school who don’t understand how important it is to speak English,” he said.
According to a Eurobarometer report in 2012, 39 per cent of France’s population speak English. Another survey published by the European Commission indicated that 38 per cent of Britons speak a foreign language.
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Check out the Charleston Parks Conservancy's newest glow-up project at their inaugural Hampton Park culinary event, Shucked + Sauced, Sat. Jan. 26 from 1 to 4 p.m.
The event will take place at the newly renovated Rose Pavilion, a previously unused concession stand that has been "re-envisioned and refurbished through the collaborative efforts of the Charleston Parks Conservancy and the City of Charleston." This space will serve as a gathering spot for community events and park programs.
Conventional wisdom says that oysters are best enjoyed during those months containing the letter "r," making September through April prime oyster season.
Shucked + Sauced was curated by chef Mike Lata of FIG and The Ordinary and will feature bites from The Ordinary, Nico, 167 Raw, Chubby Fish, Rodney Scott's BBQ, Lewis Barbecue, and The Obstinate Daughter in addition to local oysters from Lowcountry Oyster Co., Clammer Dave, Barrier Island Oyster Co., and Lady's Island Oysters. There will be wine, and beer from Holy City Brewing Co., plus beachy Lowcountry tunes from Dallas Baker and Friends.
Lata said in a press release, "This event connects two of my favorite things: oysters and Charleston. Having been here for 20 years, I've seen many changes in Charleston. As the city has grown, development has put a lot of stress on the fishing community. Our local oyster farmers are helping to revitalize our working waterfront, just as the Parks Conservancy works to rejuvenate and preserve our city's public green spaces."
Tickets are $85 and include all food and beverages. All proceeds from this event support the Conservancy and their work renovating and beautifying public parks and green spaces.
More photos from our visit to Lowcountry Oyster Co.
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For professors, publishing in elite journals is an unavoidable part of university life. The grueling process of subjecting work to the up-or-down judgment of credentialed scholarly peers has been a cornerstone of academic culture since at least the mid-20th century.
Now some humanities scholars have begun to challenge the monopoly that peer review has on admission to career-making journals and, as a consequence, to the charmed circle of tenured academe. They argue that in an era of digital media there is a better way to assess the quality of work. Instead of relying on a few experts selected by leading publications, they advocate using the Internet to expose scholarly thinking to the swift collective judgment of a much broader interested audience.
That transformation was behind the recent decision by the prestigious 60-year-old Shakespeare Quarterly to embark on an uncharacteristic experiment in the forthcoming fall issue — one that will make it, Ms. Rowe says, the first traditional humanities journal to open its reviewing to the World Wide Web.
Mixing traditional and new methods, the journal posted online four essays not yet accepted for publication, and a core group of experts — what Ms. Rowe called “our crowd sourcing” — were invited to post their signed comments on the Web site MediaCommons, a scholarly digital network. Others could add their thoughts as well, after registering with their own names. In the end 41 people made more than 350 comments, many of which elicited responses from the authors. The revised essays were then reviewed by the quarterly’s editors, who made the final decision to include them in the printed journal, due out Sept. 17.
The Shakespeare Quarterly trial, along with a handful of other trailblazing digital experiments, goes to the very nature of the scholarly enterprise. Traditional peer review has shaped the way new research has been screened for quality and then how it is communicated; it has defined the border between the public and an exclusive group of specialized experts.
Today a small vanguard of digitally adept scholars is rethinking how knowledge is understood and judged by inviting online readers to comment on books in progress, compiling journals from blog posts and sometimes successfully petitioning their universities to grant promotions and tenure on the basis of non-peer-reviewed projects.
The quarterly’s experiment has so far inspired at least one other journal — Postmedieval — to plan a similar trial for next year.
Just a few years ago these sorts of developments would have been unthinkable, said Dan Cohen, director of the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. “Serious scholars are asking whether the institutions of the academy — as they have existed for decades, even centuries — aren’t becoming obsolete,” he said.
Each type of review has benefits and drawbacks.
The traditional method, in which independent experts evaluate a submission, often under a veil of anonymity, can take months, even years.
Clubby exclusiveness, sloppy editing and fraud have all marred peer review on occasion. Anonymity can help prevent personal bias, but it can also make reviewers less accountable; exclusiveness can help ensure quality control but can also narrow the range of feedback and participants. Open review more closely resembles Wikipedia behind the scenes, where anyone with an interest can post a comment. This open-door policy has made Wikipedia, on balance, a crucial reference resource.
Ms. Rowe said the goal is not necessarily to replace peer review but to use other, more open methods as well.
In some respects scientists and economists who have created online repositories for unpublished working papers, like repec.org, have more quickly adapted to digital life. Just this month, mathematicians used blogs and wikis to evaluate a supposed mathematical proof in the space of a week — the scholarly equivalent of warp speed.
In the humanities, in which the monograph has been king, there is more inertia. “We have never done it that way before,” should be academia’s motto, said Kathleen Fitzpatrick, a professor of media studies at Pomona College.
Ms. Fitzpatrick was a founder of the MediaCommons network in 2007. She posted chapters of her own book “Planned Obsolescence” on the site, and she used the comments readers provided to revise the manuscript for NYU Press. She also included the project in the package she presented to the committee that promoted her to full professor this year.
Many professors, of course, are wary of turning peer review into an “American Idol”-like competition. They question whether people would be as frank in public, and they worry that comments would be short and episodic, rather than comprehensive and conceptual, and that know-nothings would predominate.
After all, the development of peer review was an outgrowth of the professionalization of disciplines from mathematics to history — a way of keeping eager but uninformed amateurs out.
“Knowledge is not democratic,” said Michèle Lamont, a Harvard sociologist who analyzes peer review in her 2009 book, “How Professors Think: Inside the Curious World of Academic Judgment.” Evaluating originality and intellectual significance, she said, can be done only by those who are expert in a field.
The most daunting obstacle to opening up the process is that peer-review publishing is the path to a job and tenure, and no would-be professor wants to be the academic canary in the coal mine.
Although initially cautious, Mr. Galey said he is now “entirely won over by the open peer review model.” The comments were more extensive and more insightful, he said, than he otherwise would have received on his essay, which discusses Shakespeare in the context of information theory.
Advocates of more open reviewing, like Mr. Cohen at George Mason argue that other important scholarly values besides quality control — for example, generating discussion, improving works in progress and sharing information rapidly — are given short shrift under the current system.
“There is an ethical imperative to share information,” said Mr. Cohen, who regularly posts his work online, where he said thousands read it. Engaging people in different disciplines and from outside academia has made his scholarship better, he said.
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Adweek: So what’s a digital-media tyro like you doing at a fusty old-media company like CBS?
Jim Lanzone: I don’t really think of it that way at all. People think the Internet will supercede TV, but it’s really been more additive than anything else, largely because it’s so portable. It’s not taking anything away from linear television; if anything, it’s encouraged people to spend even more time watching video.
AW: The fact that we can watch TV on a telephone: is this doing something insidious to the parts of our brain that process narrative?
JL: Think about the very early days of TV—the first shows were structured just like radio broadcasts or Broadway shows. You start with the familiar and you expand from there. Creative people haven’t taken advantage of the new media platforms; we’re still in this brackish time between two eras.
AW: You still watch TV?
JL: I’m a binge watcher. I have DirecTV, so I have a ton of shows on the DVR: The Daily Show, [Real Time With] Bill Maher, SNL. I’ve been watching How I Met Your Mother for six years. There are definitely more shows out there that I want to watch that I don’t have time to watch, which I suppose is a great sign of where programming is headed.
AW: Why did CBS issue a fatwa against Hulu?
AW: Can you write code?
JL: I never got into programming when I was a kid. I was too busy playing Pitfall and Kaboom! on Atari to write code. But then again, I don’t think Les Moonves knows how to make a television set either.
AW: So there’s no disconnect between the old media centers—New York, L.A.—and Silicon Valley?
JL: Well, you’re looking at it from a geographic standpoint and that really isn’t relevant any longer. I think Silicon Valley is the third leg of the media stool; I mean, there’s a reason why all the animated features are made in Silicon Valley now. Engineers are the new artists of this generation of media.
AW: Are you from Silicon Valley?
JL: I grew up in San Carlos, where Oracle now stands. In fact, they built Oracle on the old Marine World site. George Lucas used some of the elephants from Marine World in Star Wars, and after it came out—I must have seen it 25 times that summer—they started offering Bantha rides at Marine World.
AW: Speaking of which, what the hell happened to George Lucas? Those three Star Wars prequels were just god-awful.
JL: I know what happened to George Lucas: the ‘80s. If movies peaked in the ‘70s, then it’s fair to say that the 2000s is the Renaissance period for TV. The new Battlestar [Galactica] was at least a thousand times better than the old one. And I almost didn’t watch it at first because I was afraid it was going to ruin my childhood memories of the original.
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After rebranding from beverages to a blockchain company, Long Blockchain says it is refocusing yet again and launching operations related to gift cards, as well as naming a new CEO.
The Farmingdale-based firm said it has formed a new subsidiary, Stran Loyalty Group, focused on providing loyalty, incentive, reward and gift card programs to corporate and consumer brands.
The firm also appointed Andy Shape as chairman and CEO, focusing on the loyalty business. He succeeds Shamyl Malik who will step down.
The company said that Shape, the founder and president of Stran Promotional Solutions, has more than 25 years of merchandising, marketing, branding, licensing and management experience.
Prior to forming Stran Promotional Solutions, he worked at Copithorne & Bellows Public Relations, a Porter Novelli company, as an account executive covering the technology industry.
The company said its goal is to “implement disruptive technology solutions, including distributed ledger technology,” in the loyalty industry.
“At this time, however, the company has not taken any steps toward developing any such technology and does not employ personnel with the relevant technology expertise,” the firm said.
Long Island Iced Tea, a beverage company, rebranded as a firm with blockchain in its name, announcing various plans that did not develop as initially described.
The firm’s wholly-owned subsidiary Long Island Brand Beverages operates in the non-alcohol ready-to-drink segment of the beverage industry, including the Long Island Iced Tea brand.
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A live events and bespoke creative technical solutions company based in Loughborough is seeking a technical project manager to join their growing production team.
You may currently be working be working as an audio-visual/AV project manager or technical production manager in live events or you may be a senior AV technician looking to make the next move in your career.
This position will encompass all elements of technical pre-production from developing and designing technical solutions in order to achieve their clients' briefs, through to managing and where appropriate supervising their execution. The projects they undertake include experiential marketing events, conferences, exhibitions and other live corporate events. The successful candidate will be passionate about driving forward improvements in technical production and working with the team to implement innovative technical solutions.
The role will include both UK and international travel and will require the successful candidate to work non-standard working hours including evenings, weekends and bank holidays.
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Noel Gallo, an organ builder who designed a new organ at Xewkija parish church and Paolo Oreni, an international organist from Italy, gave a two-hour masterclass to organists and other musicians at the church. They also briefed pianists on the basics of organ performance and gave demonstrations on how organs are made and how they work. At the end of the session Oreni and Sara Musumeci also performed music by Bach, Liszt and Reubke on the same organ. This was part of a series of concerts and masterclasses given by Gallo, Oreni and Musumeci in Malta and Gozo to encourage people explore the beauty of this instrument. Picture shows Gallo playing the organ watched by Musumeci and Oreni.
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The latest report from Violence Policy Center.
I find it ironic and sad that the very day an annual report on violence against women was released, a famed pro athlete was kicked off his team for slugging his wife in the face.
By now you’ve probably heard that Ray Rice, the Baltimore Ravens star running back, was caught on camera hitting his then-fiance and knocking her out with the single blow in an elevator . The March incident cost him a two-game suspension, but when TMZ released the video showing the act, the Ravens terminated his contract and the NFL suspended him indefinitely.
Today I captured the seriousness of domestic violence. The report from the Violence Policy Center shows that South Carolina is ranked the second worst state in the nation for violence against women. The report notes that 50 women were killed in 2012. Spartanburg County had four in 2012. The county has seen two husband-on-wife homicides so far this year and DV cases are some of the most common ones among daily incident reports here. Local leaders tell me it is a significant combination of problems that all need to be dealt with in order to change the status quo surrounding violence against women. Much of it starts with a serious culture change, they tell me.
I was baffled when a colleague of mine pointed out the Fox News morning show “Fox & Friends.” The anchors on the program somehow find a way to joke about Ray Rice knocking out his now-wife and dragging her limp body out of the elevator.
“I think the message is take the stairs,” one anchor quips.
We got right to the point during an interview today with the victim services director at SAFE Homes, a domestic violence shelter and coalition in Spartanburg County.
The gist of the interview was to hold people accountable for their actions and for society to never turn a blind eye.
My full story on the violence against women ranking in South Carolina is at goupstate.com and in Tuesday’s Spartanburg Herald-Journal.
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Meet Google's Robot Army. It's Growing.
Google can't stop buying robotics companies. In the past two months, eight of the 12 companies the search giant has acquired have "robotics" in their name or descriptions. Here's your complete breakdown of the robot army presently at Google's command.
As stated in the midst of its buying spree, the company's largely letting its new robotics divisions continue to work on their preexisting projects, and why wouldn't they? The newly acquired companies are doing a damn good job. They're even winning competitions.
Robot technology would help with self-driving cars, certainly, but the range of these acquisitions hints at even broader ambitions. Again, we don't know much. They're all a part of the Google X division, which is top secret by definition. We do know what the new companies in the Google family are up to, though, and that might offer us some clues.
These guys are rockstars. The Japanese team that got its start at Tokyo University just took the top prize at DARPA's Robotics Challenge Trial thanks to the cunning and agility of its 5-foot, 5-inch, 209-pound bipedal robot. After being purchased by Google in early December 2013, Schaft's blue machine proved to be the best at walking on uneven terrain, climbing ladders, clearing debris, and connecting hoses, ultimately scoring an impressive 27 out of 32 possible points.
The company was originally founded to build disaster response robots after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 but has since broadened its scope, thanks in part to funding from the U.S. government. Who knows how far they'll go floating on Google's coffers?
Industrial Perceptions, Inc., is an imaging company that spun off of the Menlo Park robotics company Willow Garage. Before being acquired by Google in December—the day after the Schaft acquisition, in fact—IPI was focusing on building advanced technology for 3D vision-guided robots to be used in manufacturing and logistics. This includes the ability to see and sort different objects, say, in a factory. You could imagine a company like Amazon being very interested in this kind of technology, but it's so far unclear exactly what Google wants to do with it.
Redwood Robotics started as a joint venture between Meka Robotics, SRI International, and Willow Garage, IPI's parent. And like IPI, it's always had a very focused mission. Redwood wants to build the "next generation arm" for robots. Meka Robotics founder Aaron Edsinger once said that he wants to do for robotic arms what the Apple II did for computers. Specifically, Redwood wants to build robotic arms that can work alongside people even in the comfort of their own home. That also means being the common arm manufacturer of service robots, so in the future, everybody's personal robot could have Redwood arms. Well, make that Google arms.
Like its cousin, Redwood Robotics, Meka is dedicated to building robots that can live and work with human beings. The company describes its flagship model, the M1 Mobile Manipulator, as having "human-safe, human-soft, and human scale robot technologies that will enable the robots of tomorrow to work alongside people in the home and the workplace." The human-like faces on the robot can even emote, a feature that's as creepy as you let it be.
Even before joining Google, Holomini was a pretty secretive outfit. All we really know from its now shuttered website is the company describes itself as "Creators of high-tech wheels for omnidirectional motion." The image above is just a stock photo guesstimate of what a "high-tech wheel for omnidirectional motion" might look like.
If Redwood and IPI are the engineers in the family, Bot & Dolly are the artists. The company describes itself as "a design and engineering studio that specializes in automation, robotics, and filmmaking" with a mission "to advance motion control and automation as a creative medium." In reality, this means that Bot and & Dolly use robots to help film commercials and movies like Gravity. This doesn't mean that Google wants to get into the movie business, but hey, if a robot's good enough to make a movie, what else can it do?
Boston Dynamics is the real celebrity of the bunch. After acquiring six robotics companies in six days, Google took a couple of days off before announcing this major acquisition. The company is known for building all kinds of futuristic bots from the bipedal, humanoid robot Atlas (above) to the impossibly fast, four-legged Cheetah. Actually, Boston Dynamics brings a whole robot army to Google, one that the military is very eager to recruit.
Google's latest purchase is less interested in building an actual robot than in designing an intelligent robot brain. The self-described "cutting edge artificial intelligence company" that uses "the best techniques from machine learning and systems neuroscience to build powerful general-purpose learning algorithms: comes with a team of 75 researchers and software engineers whose talents could be put to use on anything from the hypothetical Googlebot to the company's flagship search engine and anything in between. Because after all, robots are just another step in Google becoming the company that is everywhere, and does everything.
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Thorpe of the New York Trucking and Delivery Association says the decision to raise penalties won’t solve the parking crisis.
For more than a decade, Ken Thorpe has been a soldier in the fight against parking tickets, which has become part of the escalating war for access to the curb. It's a conflict that has intensified in recent years as ride-hail services have clogged roads, New Yorkers have had more of their purchases delivered, and the streetscape has been remade with bicycle lanes, pedestrian malls and restrictions on parking and unloading.
The city "has whittled away at the commercial parking infrastructure," said Thorpe, the chief executive of the New York Trucking and Delivery Association, which he founded in 2004 to deal with parking issues for small and midsize businesses.
At the same time, trucks are making more deliveries than ever, and they must do that regardless of whether there's unloading space available. "Trucking is not a 'choice' situation," Thorpe said. "It's a necessity."
But now the 600 members of his group, as well as large fleet operators such as UPS and FedEx, are facing higher fines—and possibly more paperwork and time in traffic court—as a little-known yet controversial city policy comes under fire. The stipulated-fine program was established in 2004 by the Department of Finance to let businesses pay slightly reduced fines—and no fines at all for some infractions—in exchange for not contesting their tickets.
It was mainly a way to reduce everyone's administrative costs while having delivery companies pay roughly what they would have otherwise. (The reductions were calculated with an eye on the percentage of tickets that were successfully challenged.) But the program was a sore point with advocacy groups such as Transportation Alternatives, which considered it a corporate giveaway that neutered traffic enforcement.
Last month, in a bid at leveling the playing field for businesses not in the program—and furthering the city's congestion-reduction goals—the Finance Department announced that next month it would raise the program's fines, including those now set at zero.
As if that were not bad enough for Thorpe's membership, in the same week five City Council members introduced a bill to abolish the program. They denounced it as a free pass to large corporations and a contributor to reckless parking and congestion.
Thorpe says it's the council bill that's a giveaway—to parking-ticket brokers, who stand to gain business adjudicating tickets. He sees no way that the Finance Department's plan will change driver behavior or have any impact on congestion.
"The theory of the program was there are bad things, good things and some things in between, and it taught the driver you're going to pay a lot to do bad things and little or none to do the others," Thorpe said. "Now they've put the bad and good closer together, removing the driver's incentive for doing the good, because it's going to cost just a little more to do the bad."
In fact, good and bad parking behavior will not be punished that similarly. The most serious violations that get discounts, such as obstructing traffic ($10 off the $115 total), will now get no break at all, while many of the zero-fine infractions will cost $25.
But Thorpe says those increases could cost some of his members hundreds of dollars a week—enough that he would consider taking them out of the program. The $35 fine for double parking outside Midtown is still better than the official $115, but he notes that double parking is legal for the first 30 minutes, and enforcement is not always scrupulous.
In 2011 he sued the city, which for some years had been slapping double-parked delivery trucks with the more expensive violation of blocking a travel lane, which carried a $40 fine. In 2016 the city settled and paid those covered by the lawsuit $14 million.
Even so, the Finance Department, which worked with the Department of Transportation on the new fine schedule, says more needs to be done to ease congestion. The agency says the stipulated-fine program has been sending the wrong signal to the wider parking universe by not reflecting the fact that not all double-parking tickets are dismissed.
"We need the program to have incentives that are aligned with the city's goals to reduce congestion, and we need the program to be fair," said Finance Deputy Commissioner Jeffrey Shear. "We agree that the conversation about congestion is a larger conversation, and there are many other factors, and this program is one small piece. But we don't want to send the wrong message by saying double parking outside of Midtown will cost businesses nothing."
The Transportation Department maintains that it is doing all it can.
The agency is "committed to improving commercial accessibility throughout the five boroughs, especially in the context of our street-improvement projects," a spokeswoman said. As part of those projects, "new curb regulations are installed that are complementary to the larger curb-management goals of the corridor, such as faster bus mobility, reduction of double parking, and better commercial access."
But the Transportation Department is aware that it's a long way from curing congestion when demand for deliveries from myriad e-commerce businesses, including Amazon and Fresh Direct, is bigger than ever.
"Consumer demands and the amount of available space we have at the curb, they're at odds right now," Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said at a Crain's breakfast forum last month. She added that parking enforcement can only do so much, and larger fixes, including congestion pricing and technology such as license-plate readers, might be part of the answer.
"Right now the demand for the curb exceeds the supply," she said.
Some members of the City Council are not convinced that higher fines will make the program more effective. They say any solution will include abolishing stipulated fines.
"This program doesn't work," said Costa Constantinides, a City Council member from Queens, who introduced the bill to end the program as one of several parking and transportation proposals. "Trucks are still parking in bike lanes. It's been around for years, and I really feel it's prohibiting us from having a real conversation around parking that we desperately need to have."
As part of that conversation, the councilman introduced a bill that would require the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, which oversees city agencies, to have buildings under its jurisdiction receive deliveries between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m.
"The city should lead by example," Constantinides said.
That's not so simple, it turns out. A Transportation Department off-hours delivery program proved unworkable for many businesses, some of which had to add employees to accept the shipments. The councilman said his program would be "one part of the puzzle."
As it happens, parking-ticket broker Glen Bolofsky has contributed more than $4,000 to Constantinides' campaign treasury in the past five years. A spokesman for the councilman dismissed the idea that the bill was intended to help brokers.
"The majority of those that benefit from this [stipulated-fine] program are big-box delivery corporations who flout traffic laws at the expense of pedestrians, cyclists and drivers," the spokesman said.
Bolofsky agreed that ending the program would help brokers, but he insisted the biggest beneficiary would be the public. "Congestion will be reduced," he said. "More money will be raised."
Assuming 70% of double-parking tickets are dismissed, he estimated the city has forfeited $147.5 million over the life of the program by not fining participants for double parking beyond Midtown.
The new schedule will collect about 30% of double-parking fines, but Bolofsky insists the program still benefits the biggest operators the most. He maintains that neither the city nor companies such as UPS will lose money adjudicating tickets, arguing that many companies still have in-house teams for the job, and automation can reduce the expense further. He noted that the city handled 12 million tickets a year in 1990, when they were handwritten, and had to deal with only 10 million last year. Enforcement agents now use handheld devices that reduce the errors and bad handwriting that led to dismissals.
The Finance Department disagrees with his conclusions, saying both the city and the 1,751 companies in the program—encompassing 48,880 vehicles—would spend more without the program.
"We would need more hearing officers," Shear said. "The companies would have to retain brokers or hire staff to defend against these parking tickets. In terms of revenue, there would be no increase to the city."
Apart from whether the program is good for the city, a walk through Midtown with several UPS executives revealed how difficult following parking rules can be.
Another option would be to park at a metered spot a couple of blocks away and cart diamonds by hand truck to recipients, which UPS rules out for security reasons. "It would put our driver and other people in the area at risk," said Axel Carrion, director of state public affairs.
A few blocks away, on West 50th Street, where commercial parking was allowed at that hour, every space between Sixth and Seventh avenues was taken, mostly by delivery and commercial vehicles. There were two idling for-hire vehicles and three cars with "parking authorization" placards—the bane of parking-reform advocates—on their dashboard.
Even when a UPS driver finds a legal spot, regulations can conflict with the company's efforts to operate efficiently. Using new dispatch-planning technology, the company has increased the number of packages a truck will carry to nearly 400 so that one truck does the work of two. But that truck needs to stay in one place much of the workday, doing pickups when it's done with deliveries. Parking rules—which aim to promote the flow of traffic and keep operators from hogging spots—require it to move after three hours.
But circling the block will delay deliveries and the truck could lose the spot, so the driver will stay put. This reduces congestion and pollution. But the ticket, which costs program participants nothing, will set them back $25 under the new schedule.
Overall UPS expects its payments under the fine program to jump 32% next year, to $21.8 million, with a $3.4 million increase from double parking and more than $1 million from unloading in the wrong spot or at the wrong time. The company says it would like to try other solutions, such as paying for spots where a truck could sit all day. Long term, it would like to see new building construction include space for unloading.
Right now the firm is weighing the benefits of staying in the program.
"My drivers can be trained to avoid the ticket, and we have drastically reduced the amount of tickets over the past couple of years," said Dan Byrnes, director of finance at UPS, adding that the city's ticket data aided his efforts. "Now with these changes, [the city] is not really helping. Just raising prices is not going to change behavior."
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Michael Schumacher - a seven-time Formula One world champion is "not bedridden or living on tubes", it has been reported as new details about his recovery emerge.
It's nearly five years (December 29, 2013) since the 50 year old hit his head on a rock while skiing with his then 14-year-old son Mick in Meribel in the French Alps.
The multiple head injuries caused blood clots which were not entirely removed by doctors because of the extent of the injury.
He was placed into a medically induced coma to aid recovery from the accident, and he was gradually brought out of the coma in April of 2014.
Schumacher is believed to be receiving nursing and physiotherapy care at an estimated cost of more than £50,000 (Sh6.4m) a week.
According to The Daily Mail via German magazine Bravo, Schumacher is to be moved to a clinic in Dallas, Texas because he is claimed to be either intubated or bedridden.
Mark Weeks, the director, told the magazine: "We have a lot of experience with patients who are suffering this kind of trauma.
Schumacher‘s family have always remained tight-lipped about the German’s condition leaving his fans in the dark about his health.
Currently Schumacher is being cared for by a team of medical experts at his luxury home in Gland near Lake Geneva in Switzerland.
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A District Court decision overturning major provisions of three Executive Orders has been appealed. Here is a summary of the arguments made by Justice Department.
Wednesday, December 5th, has been declared a day of mourning by President Trump. Most federal employees will be excused from work, including the Postal Service.
On Wednesday, December 5th, the Federal Government will close in honor of America’s 41st president who died on Friday.
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On April 4, 1975, Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft. The small firm used to develop and sell BASIC interpreters. Little did they know that in the next 40 years, their company will become the biggest software firm in the world, and also bag the title for one of the most valuable companies.
Today, there is a little bit of Microsoft in everybody’s life. Whether it is the desktop computer where Microsoft’s Windows has about 90 percent market share or the company’s Office which is unarguably the best productivity suite available. Maybe you are into gaming and own an Xbox One, or your company relies on Azure cloud services.
In the last 40 years, Microsoft -- which once used to sell program language interpreters -- has expanded into several categories, and now makes full-fledged operating systems for not just desktop computers, but smartphones, gaming consoles, servers, as well as Internet of Things devices. Surface tablets and Xbox consoles show the company’s side interest in developing its own hardware modules.
"Early on, Paul Allen and I set the goal of a computer on every desk and in every home. It was a bold idea and a lot of people thought we were out of our minds to imagine it was possible. It is amazing to think about how far computing has come since then, and we can all be proud of the role Microsoft played in that revolution", Gates wrote in an email sent to all Microsoft employees yesterday.
"In the coming years, Microsoft has the opportunity to reach even more people and organizations around the world. Technology is still out of reach for many people, because it is complex or expensive, or they simply do not have access. So I hope you will think about what you can do to make the power of technology accessible to everyone, to connect people to each other, and make personal computing available everywhere even as the very notion of what a PC delivers makes its way into all devices", Gates noted.
"Under Satya's leadership, Microsoft is better positioned than ever to lead these advances. We have the resources to drive and solve tough problems. We are engaged in every facet of modern computing and have the deepest commitment to research in the industry. In my role as technical advisor to Satya, I get to join product reviews and am impressed by the vision and talent I see. The result is evident in products like Cortana, Skype Translator, and HoloLens -- and those are just a few of the many innovations that are on the way".
And this attitude was the reason Windows Phone 7 -- arguably Microsoft's first real take on a mobile operating system-- wasn’t released until 2010. By this time, iPhone had showed its dominance in the world, and Google was upping the ante with Android. Windows Phone is still struggling to gain any substantial market share. The mobile platform still has a wide "app-gap" problem, though the company seems to have found a couple of ways to fix it.
But one of the most exciting things that happened in the company was its decision to open up. Under Nadella, Microsoft finally accepted that it doesn’t have a significant user base in smartphones. The company realized that if it didn't open up to rival platforms, it would miss out on a lot of users. And that’s one of the first things Nadella did after taking the charge of the company. Microsoft launched Office on iOS. Until then Office was only available on Windows, Windows RT, and Windows Phone, and a half-baked mobile version on Android.
The move received an overwhelming response from users, resulting in Office apps -- Word, Excel and PowerPoint -- top the app chart in within 24 hours of their release on the platform. Late last year, the company made premium access to the Office suite free on iOS and Android. Office for iOS was in the works at Microsoft for a long time, but Ballmer used to prioritize its products on Windows devices first. Nadella evidently changed that.
"We have accomplished a lot together during our first 40 years and empowered countless businesses and people to realize their full potential. But what matters most now is what we do next", Gates writes in his email. Microsoft does have a lot of things to look forward to in the coming months and years. Later this year, Microsoft will release Windows 10 for desktop computers, as well as smartphones, IoT devices and Xbox One. In the coming months, Microsoft will also release the next iteration of its productivity suite, Office 2016. For the first time, the company is simultaneously releasing Office on OS X and Windows.
Additionally, Microsoft has showcased a number of products that could change the way we compute and interact with technology. Its augmented reality headset HoloLens is just one example. It will be interesting to see what the company does next and how things work out for it in the coming years.
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The democratization of data is a real phenomenon, but building a sustainable data democracy means truly giving power to the people. The alternative is just a shift of power from traditional data analysts within IT departments to a new generation of data scientists and app developers. And this seems a lot more like a dictatorship than a democracy — a benevolent dictatorship, but a dictatorship nonetheless.
These individuals and companies aren’t entirely bad, of course, and they’re actually necessary. Apps that help predict what we want to read, where we’ll want to go next or what songs we’ll like are certainly cool and even beneficial in their ability to automate and optimize certain aspects of our lives and jobs. In the corporate world, there will always be data experts who are smarter and trained in advanced techniques and who should be called upon to answer the toughest questions or tackle the thorniest problems.
Last week, for example, Salesforce.com introduced a new feature of its Chatter intra-company social network that categorizes a variety of data sources so employees can easily find the people, documents and other information relevant to topics they’re interested in. As with similarly devised services — LinkedIn’s People You May Know, the gravitational search movement, or any type of service using an interest graph — the new feature’s beauty and utility lie in its abstraction of the underlying semantic algorithms and data processing.
The problem, however, comes when we’re forced to rely on these people, features and applications to decide how data can affect our lives or jobs, or what questions we can answer using the troves of data now available to us. In a true data democracy, citizens must be empowered to make use of their own data as they see fit and they must only have to rely apps and experts by choice or when the task really requires an expert hand. At any rate, citizens must be informed enough to have a meaningful voice in bigger decisions about data.
The good news is that there’s a whole new breed of startups trying to empower the data citizenry, whatever their role. Companies such as 0xdata, Precog and BigML are trying to make data science more accessible to everyday business users. There are next-generation business intelligence startups such as SiSense, Platfora and ClearStory rethinking how business analytics are done in an area of HTML5 and big data. And then there are companies such as Statwing, Infogram and Datahero (which will be in beta mode soon, by the way) trying to bring data analysis to the unwashed non-data-savvy masses.
Combined with a growing number of publicly available data sets and data marketplaces, and more ways of collecting every possible kind of data — personal fitness, web analytics, energy consumption, you name it — these self-service tools can provide an invaluable service. In January, I highlighted how a number of them can work by using my own dietary and activity data, as well as publicly available gun-ownership data and even web-page text. But as I explained then, they’re still not always easy for laypeople to use, much less perfect.
Statwing spells out statistics for laypeople.
Can Tableau be data’s George Washington?
This is why I’m so excited about Tableau’s forthcoming IPO. There are few companies that helped spur the democratization of data over the past few years more than Tableau. It has become the face of the next-generation business intelligence software thanks to its ease of use and focus on appealing visualization, and its free public software has found avid users even among relative data novices like myself. Tableau’s success and vision no doubt inspired a number of the companies I’ve already referenced.
Assuming it begins its publicly traded life flush with capital, Tableau will not just be financially sound — it will also be in a position to help the burgeoning data democracy evolve into something that can last. More money means being able to develop more features that Tableau can use to bolster sales (and further empower business users with data analysis), which should mean the company can afford to also continually improve its free service and perhaps put premium versions in the hands of more types of more non-corporate professionals for free.
Tableau is already easy (I made this) — but not easy enough.
The bottom-up approach has already proven very effective in the worlds of cloud computing, software as a service and open-source software, and I have to assume it’s a win-win situation in analytics, too. Today’s free users will be tomorrow’s paying users once they get skilled enough to want to move onto bigger data sets and better features. But the base products have to be easy enough and useful enough to get started with, or companies will only have a lot of registrations and downloads but very few avid users.
And if Tableau steps ups its game around data democratization, I have to assume it will up the ante for the company’s fellow large analytics vendors and even startups. A race to empower the lower classes on the data ladder would certainly be in stark contrast to the historical strategy of building ever-bigger, ever-more-advanced products targeting only the already-powerful data elite. That’s the kind of revolution I think we all can get behind.
Feature image courtesy of Shutterstock user Tiago Jorge da Silva Estima.
Great article Derrick – appreciating your work on the topic here on GigaOm.
We’re seeing wider availability of reasonably priced BI and visualization software tools to help us understand that harnessing all this data is possible – and I think even consumers are beginning to understand the value of all the data, and the ability to make meaning from it. One part of the puzzle that’s missing from what I can see is the education – knowledge transfer of how individuals can use the tools, what good data science methods are, and how data citizens can actively contribute to the larger data analysis community. I see movements like the Open Data/Open Gov folks, and events like the NYC Big Apps hackathon as part of the solution – but as individuals, where do we go to take part? What is the role of an informed, curious citizen in this? More venues exist for learning some of the ‘how’ to make sense of big data as an individual taking a course online, but I’m not seeing a vision from anyone talking about how to connect all of the dots. To make sense of data, we need the tools, the practitioners, the analysis of the problems, but we also need a vision of how all of these will work. If anyone has ideas of who’s got that vision, I’d love to hear it.
I feel one of the biggest impediments to the democratization of data is access. Most people know what they would like to answer, and how the data needs to be shaped to achieve that, but getting the data to do the actual analysis with can be one of the most difficult aspects.
This is a bit of a plug, but we’re working on enabling data access that is easily attainable by everyone. Our platform http://www.quandl.com is a “search engine for data” that is able to fetch time series data from a disparate sets of sources, and provide it in a simple searchable form that allows users to extract, validate, format, merge, graph, and share it however they want.
By providing the underlying data for analysis tools like Tableau, Statwing, and many others, we feel we can help to create the tool stack that empowers people to create a sustainable DIY data culture.
In every company I’ve worked at, I’ve seen this major divide between IT analysts and Business users. Part of it was cultural, but a major reason was as you point out: “a historical strategy of building ever-bigger, ever-more-advanced products targeting only the already-powerful data elite”. The business user typically was left to use Excel to prepare and analyze data.
It took 15+ years, but thanks to new players like Tableau, Spotfire and Qlikview which were sold primarily to the business user and focused on ease of use, the data democratization process has resulted in a power shift to the business user. Some IT departments have now come around and are trying to accommodate these “shadow IT” projects by providing IT support and giving Tableau users limited access to enterprise data stores.
As for upping the ante for the traditional players, it has happened already. Over the last two years, the larger vendors have responded with products like Visual Insight (MicroStrategy), Visual Intelligence (SAP), PowerPivot (MicroSoft), JMP (SAS) etc. taking aim at this segment of the market. The Big Data market is still new, but the trend to build user-friendly (or at the very least, SQL-aware) tools on top of Hadoop is also hitting its stride.
One good thing coming out of this data democratization is the realization that it has to be supported by a Data Governance effort. Otherwise we’ll see the unfortunate return of a major problem with data democracy: data chaos. Previously it would have meant comparing and reconciling two Excel spreadsheets, now we may end up reconciling the findings from two Tableau workbooks.
Thanks for the comment, and for making a really good point about data governance. Obviously, that’s not too big a concern for personal data use, but competing findings from lots of disparate data sets would be problematic.
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John Beilein and the Michigan Wolverines are one win away from a national title. On Saturday the Wolverines knocked off Loyola-Chicago 69-57, outscoring the Ramblers 47-28 in the second half.
Beilein, 65, was born and raised in Burt, NY, a small hamlet in Newfane. Beilein began his coaching career at Newfane High School, where he spent three years. He then took over the basketball program at Erie Community College. After a short stint with Nazareth College and nine years at Le Moyne, Beilein returned to Western New York, where he coached Canisius for five seasons. Beilein then spent time at both Richmond and West Virginia before accepting the Michigan job in 2007.
Michigan hasn't won a national title since 1989. This will be Beilein's second championship appearance with the Wolverines, falling to Louisville in 2012-2013.
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The Council of PR Firms yesterday urged PR firms to "pledge" to Wikipedia that they will only submit materials to the hidden "Talk" pages where posts can languish for long periods and which are supervised by anonymous "editors."
Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, has decreed an end to arguing over whether Gregory Kohs should have been allowed to speak at WP’s meeting May 30-June 1 at New York Law School.
It has been a momentous June 2014 on Wikipedia for those who follow the endless battle over encyclopedia content that is generated by public relations professionals.
The banning of Gregory Kohs from the Wikipedia conference May 30-June 1 has sparked an "edit war" of 10,000+ words on WP. Defenders of Kohs say he was "condemned without a trial" and start petition.
New York magazine, a "reliable source" to Wikipedia, has upset WP editors by linking to the odwyerpr.com coverage of WP critic Gregory Kohs being banned from the May 30-June 1 conference.
The tense relationship between the PR and Wiki communities ranked front and center at the first national WikiConference USA held May 30-June 1 at New York Law School in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood.
Wikipedia, whose 21 billion hits a month makes it the fifth most popular website, drew 300 to a conference in New York this weekend. PR people are grappling with WP’s huge, autocratic and anonymous panel of editors.
Qorvis partner Matt Lauer has unleashed a barrage of criticism of Wikipedia over its policies blocking PR firms from editing content about clients and firms themselves, sparking a sparring match with Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales.
PR firm rankings by '18 net fees with separate charts for 12 public relations specialties such as healthcare PR, tech PR and travel PR. Look up top PR firms in key cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Jan., PR Buyer's Guide/Crisis Comms.
Each month a different area of PR is examined and firms with strengths in the focus area are profiled.
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Two Democratic state representatives from South Florida said Thursday that they've gathered with 33 colleagues to file paperwork with the Secretary of State to poll lawmakers for their support for a special session.
At the end of session, superintendents and the statewide teachers' union called for the Legislature to redo their education funding in the budget they were about to pass. When a special session seemed imminent on gambling issues, again, they made the same call, without success.
Now, Democrats have organized a last-ditch effort to use an obscure state law to poll lawmakers on their willingness to come back for a special session to address education funding.
State Reps. Shevrin Jones of West Park and Nicholas Duran of Miami said Thursday that they and 33 others have filed petitions with the Florida Secretary of State for the poll. This method of calling a special session circumvents the Republican Legislative leadership, who typically are the ones who must call any special sessions and declare its purpose.
Both Jones and Duran hail from the two counties, Broward and Miami-Dade, hit hardest by a change in the way the state calculates school funding this year, designed to direct more dollars to smaller districts. They, like the rest of the House members who aren't termed out, are up for re-election.
"In the aftermath of Parkland and the waning days of session, the Legislature took action for the safety of our schools," Duran said. "In our rush to do something we didn't account for the conesequences of that bill 7026 and now the school districts are facing those consequences."
Since the passage of this year's budget as well as SB 7026, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, school districts have been scrambling to comply with the new safety requirements as well as their normal operations. Several are considering raising local property taxes.
Democrats tried the same tactic after the Pulse shooting in the summer of 2016, in an effort to force a special session vote on guns. They failed to garner enough support to call the session.
This year's final vote on the budget was taken on March 11, the Sunday after the legislative session was supposed to end but it went into overtime after the Feb. 14 Parkland shooting changed the entire direction of the session and caused lawmakers to reconcile with issues like school safety and gun rights not previously taking center stage.
Jones was not present for the vote on the budget. He said it was because after the Legislature's official end date he needed to go back to his full-time job as the executive director of the Florida Reading Corps, a branch of AmeriCorps. Duran voted yes, along with many other Democrats who argued against the budget but who ultimately voted for it.
"When our members were presented with the budget, they were presented with something they did not like," Jones said. "But (some are) going to vote for it because there are some good things in there."
Despite the fact that Republicans have said repeatedly that they are proud of the investment they made this year in education, Jones said this poll at the very least will require every lawmaker to go on the record in an election year with their position on the current school funding levels.
It's unlikely the Democrats will succeed, but now that the Secretary of State has received Jones and Duran's petition, that office will send out the poll today. Lawmakers will have until noon on May 24 to respond, according to Sarah Revell from the Secretary of State's office.
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He and a neighbor managed to lure the horse toward them with a handful of grass, Sickinger said, and they even petted the horse for a bit. Sickinger had a strap he planned to use to bridle the horse, but he said better judgment took over and he decided the horse was too wild to control even if he could wrangle it.
Sickinger told a St. Clair County sheriff’s deputy the horse might belong to a neighbor. There are several horse farms in the area, but none came forward as the owner, Sickinger said.
Moments after Sickinger started petting the horse, a truck drove by and the horse followed after it. No one would see the horse until more than a week later.
On Wednesday, area resident Aranza Lee spotted the horse in a soybean field near Imbs Station and Wagner roads, less than a mile from Sickinger’s home. She captured a video of the horse running freely through the field and shared it to the Millstadt News Facebook page. By Thursday afternoon, the post had more than 400 shares, but no one had come forward as the owner.
“I mean, how weird is that?” said Sara Yoch of Smithton, a self-described horse-lover.
Lt. Alan Haake of the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department said the department has received several reports over the past three weeks about the missing horse, but he said no one has come forward as the owner, nor has anyone been able to catch it.
Yoch was out at the intersection of Otten and Wagner roads Thursday afternoon with a bucket of feed and a lead, looking for the horse. She said she was out in the same area Wednesday for about four hours, but didn’t have any luck.
She warned area residents to avoid approaching the horse if they aren’t familiar with how horses behave, and to slow down when driving through the area. Yoch said a horse standing in a road on a dark night can cause serious damage to a vehicle and hurt the driver, as well as the horse, of course.
It’s possible the horse was dumped, according to Stephanie Goepfert, a member of the Lincoln Trail Riders in O’Fallon. It can easily cost more than $500 a month to care for a horse, Goepfert said, and it’s possible the owner could not afford to keep it.
On its own, the horse could get sick or injured, Goepfert added.
“They can survive for a period of time in the wilderness, but if they’re a domesticated animal, they’re relying on a certain diet. It can be bad for them,” Goepfert said.
They can survive for a period of time in the wilderness, but if they’re a domesticated animal, they’re relying on a certain diet. It can be bad for them.
The most recent sign of the horse was a bedded-down area next to a creek near where the horse was spotted on Tuesday, Lee said.
There was no sign of the horse as of Thursday afternoon, though several groups were planning to head out and search for it.
Anyone who spots the horse can call the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department at 618-207-4374.
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Hospitals are seeking ways to reduce readmissions, due to new penalties from Medicare.
Demand for qualified professionals in the health care industry is expected to continue rising, according to the Healthcare Association of New York State.
Certified registered nurse anesthetists, also known as CRNAs, say they, and not doctors, administer anesthesia, and physician supervision simply adds costs.
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Wolf, 33, joined the Africa Mercy crew in March, taking a short leave from her job as a registered nurse with the UC Davis Medical Center’s burn unit. She sat down recently to talk about language barriers, cabin fever and readjusting to life in east Sacramento.
Q: Between orphanage work in Zimbabwe and Guatemala and clinic work in Bolivia, you’re no stranger to long flights. How did that come about?
A: I’ve always enjoyed traveling, and then once I became a nurse, to be able to use that career overseas was really neat to me. What intrigued me about Mercy Ships is it’s a fully run hospital – you have a lot of equipment, you have a lot of medications. It’s a lot of what I get to do here, over there.
I am a Christian, and I think a lot of it has to do with seeing how God’s heart breaks when people are broken and poor. So much that you see is diseases of poverty.
Q: In August, you were scheduled to join a Mercy Ships crew in Benin in West Africa, but the service was canceled due to a possible Ebola case. Months later, your own hospital became a designated Ebola treatment center, and you took part in the preparedness efforts. Would you have considered going overseas to provide care during the outbreak if given the chance?
A: Had I been signed up with an Ebola team, I wouldn’t have been opposed. I enjoy the risk. I think that’s part of why I became a nurse, because there’s always those risks out there. When that came up, I decided to not be scared and to take more education and learn more about Ebola. For me, it was just a decision of, I’m a nurse, and I have risks even at UC Davis in Sacramento, and that’s why we learn to protect ourselves.
Q: You said you had a much heavier patient load and more limited resources on the ship than you do in Sacramento. What did you learn on this trip that you’ll bring back to UCD?
A: In the ward, there were 15 patients at a time with five nurses and five translators. There were people on the guitar and singing, and kids running around. It was a very different environment for me. I had to calculate my antibiotics and draw them up and mix them. It was just a stretch for me as a nurse, to need to focus on something, but also learn an art of nursing where I am appreciating and valuing the relationships of the Malagasy people. ... Just challenging my mind to see that I can function differently, and to bring that back to the burn unit is huge.
Q: Working in the oral and facial ward, you said you saw a lot of patients with physical obstructions that had long been neglected, such as large dental tumors or cleft palates. What is life like for them after surgery?
A: When you have a pimple and it feels like the end of the world, imagine missing a nose or having a tumor that’s out to there (gestures to a point several inches from her face). A lot of our patients lose their families, or their spouses will leave them. They are outcasts from society, so this gives them confidence. It brings them a huge healing, not just the physical aspect but their soul as well. ... When they have that healing, they finally feel like they can enter society again.
Q: Even on top of the jet lag, you must have a lot going on right now. How do you readjust to your old life?
A: I’ve done the reverse culture shock thing before, of coming to the U.S. and feeling like this is crazy. For me, it’s always reminding myself that these are two beautiful cultures that are different. There are good things about both of them. For me, knowing that God is present in both and working in both helps. But I never want to forget what I see.
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OK!'s NYC Fashion Week Blog: Gwen Stefani's L.A.M.B.
Can’t make it to NYC for Fashion Week? Don’t worry, OK!’s got you covered!
We’ll be hitting up all the big shows and reporting back right here, every day, as soon as we tear our eyes off the runway!
This afternoon we caught an eyeful at Gwen Stefani‘s L.A.M.B. show.
WHO: Gwen Stefani and baby Zuma.
FASHION: Edgy, rocker chic, high-heel booty shoes, over-the-knee-boots, straps, ripped shirts, over-the-knee socks, muti-fabric tight pants, military inspired cargo pants, layered, dark colors. Leather jackets, metallic jackets, some plaid, British inspired asymmetrical jackets with separate corset, futuristic leather dresses, ruched black catsuit, wool trench coats.
BEAUTY: Bangs with curled 1940’s inspired hair, dark maroon lipstick, smokey dark eyes, almost Dita Von Teese-esque. Very dramatic. Styling by Paula Bradley, makeup by Charlotte Tilbury and the M.A.C. Pro Team, hair by Danilo at the Wall Group.
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A Chicago judge on Thursday dismissed a patent case between Apple and Motorola because, he said, neither side could adequately "establish a right to relief."
As a result, a trial that was set to begin on Monday has been canceled. However, U.S. District Judge Richard Posner said he would "delay entry of judgment until I have prepared a full opinion, because in the course of that preparation, I may change my mind."
In his brief filing yesterday, however, Posner said Apple has already admitted that it cannot prove damages on two of the four patents it is using against Motorola. On the two remaining patents, Posner said yesterday that he does not think Apple will prevail.
Both companies think damages are an adequate remedy for the alleged infringements, "though they failed to present evidence on damages strong enough to withstand summary judgment," Posner wrote. Since "injunctive relief would impose costs disproportionate to the harm to the patentee and the benefit of the alleged infringement to the allowed infringer and would be contrary to the public interest, I cannot find a basis for an aware of injunctive relief," he said.
Apple requested a full evidentiary hearing on the matter, but Posner said the "existing evidentiary record is adequate."
Motorola did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
As patent blogger Florian Mueller noted, the case will likely now head to the Federal Circuit.
The decision comes several days after Posner dismissed one of two patents Motorola was trying to assert against Cupertino in the same case.
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FILE - Guinea security forces, center, face people rioting and burning rubbish and other goods in the streets of Conakry, April 13, 2015.
Guinean security forces clashed with anti-government protesters in the opposition stronghold of Labe on Thursday, beating one man to death, the government said.
"His friends got away but he was captured and beaten in the heat of the moment," said Moustapha Naite, deputy government spokesman. "He didn't survive his injuries and is dead."
The demonstrators, protesting against a delay in holding local elections in the West African country, erected makeshift barricades in Labe, several hundred kilometers northeast of Conakry, and threw rocks at police who responded with tear gas.
"It is currently really tense in Labe," Naite said, adding that the authorities were trying to calm the situation.
Hundreds of people also marched in the capital Conakry as well as the cities of Kindia and Dabola as part of a nationwide protest, considered illegal by the government, against the timing of elections.
The opposition accuses the government of breaking a promise it made in 2013 to hold a long-delayed local ballot before a presidential vote due in October this year.
President Alpha Conde told journalists during a visit to Paris on Wednesday that there were no plans to change the electoral calendar.
In Conakry's suburb of Bambeto, residents said they heard a spurt of gunfire at noon, without specifying the origin.
A local radio station Lynx FM said that several people with bullet injuries had been brought into a local clinic in the capital, although this could not be independently verified.
"Since this morning, we are trying to stop protesters from gathering. Whenever we see a group we try to disperse them rapidly," said a police officer, requesting anonymity. He said he was not aware of reports of gunfire.
Protests earlier this month turned violent and the opposition accuses security forces of firing live rounds at protesters, wounding several people. The government denies this.
Presidential and legislative elections since 2010, when Guinea emerged from decades of military rule, have been marred by violent protests, with parties divided along ethnic lines.
Members of the opposition said on Thursday that police forces were surrounding the houses of their leaders to prevent them from participating in the protest.
"They blocked the two exits with pick-up trucks and a van with water cannons. Clearly, they don't want leaders to get out and are trying to control the protest," said Souleymane Tianguel Bah, spokesman for the UFDG party.
Sidya Toure, former prime minister and now a member of the opposition, said security forces were also outside his home.
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Ford is building cars that "talk" with traffic lights, road signs and pedestrians.
At CES 2019 in Las Vegas on Monday, the automaker announced plans to start selling cars that feature this type of technology in 2022.
The technology, called cellular vehicle-to-everything (or C-V2X for short), uses wireless signals to share road data, such as a car's location or the color of a traffic light, with other vehicles.
Ford believes it will make cities safer by better informing drivers of their surroundings, and compares the innovation to the invention of the traffic light in the 19th century.
"The world's first traffic light [helped] people move through a congested London intersection that had become dangerous for pedestrians due to the popularity of horse-drawn carriages," Don Butler, executive director of Ford Connected Vehicle Platform and Product, wrote in a Medium post. "At Ford, 150 years later, we are excited to continue advancing this type of thinking."
But critics says the cost of installing the technology will be burdensome for cash-strapped governments. Corinne Kisner, deputy director of the National Association of City Transportation Officials, called the expense of installing and maintaining vehicle-to-everything technology a major concern. Many municipalities struggle to fill their potholes, let alone install smart city technology. She also described any effort to require a pedestrian to carry a smartphone to guarantee safety as a dangerous paradigm shift.
"It's an unreasonable burden to ask or require people walking in their streets and cities and in front of their homes to carry a signal transmitting device," Kisner said. "The burden needs to be on the driver of the two-ton vehicle, whether it's a human or autonomous technology."
Ford sees things differently. Butler described to CNN Business the example of a pedestrian walking on a dirt road who might be identified by a car with C-V2X because they were carrying a smartphone. Traditionally, a driver would rely on their headlights to see the pedestrian. But Butler stops short of expecting smartphones to be recommended or required for pedestrians.
"It's like the question of will people be permitted to drive once autonomous vehicles become prevalent," Butler said. "That's something we can only speculate about."
Ford isn't the first company to explore outfitting pedestrians with sensors. Siemens, the German conglomerate, began a US Department of Transportation pilot test in Tampa, Florida, last year using pedestrians' smartphones to communicate their location to vehicles. But Siemens officials found the smartphone location data to be so inaccurate that it wasn't useful.
The pilot was reworked to focus on outfitting 1,000 vehicles with sensors, and notifying drivers of nearby vehicles with audio alerts, according to Dave Miller, the head of connected vehicles at Siemens.
Bicycling advocates also argued it was unrealistic to require someone to carry a phone on roads.
"We think the way things are headed, what we need is more smart sensors [built] in the roadway, or infrastructure," Miller told CNN Business.
This is something Ford wants, too. It sees the coming arrival of 5G networks -- the next-generation of internet speed -- as a chance to install vehicle-to-everything technology throughout cities.
"We think there's an opportunity for a win-win that helps offset to a significant degree the cost a city might have to otherwise undertake to deploy this infrastructure," Butler said.
Ford is urging other automakers to install C-V2X in their vehicles.
But there's a long road ahead for Ford to make C-V2X as widespread as the traffic light, which took decades to be popularized.
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Sunday's college basketball roundup: No. 8 N.C. State women stay unbeaten with rout at U.Va.
Do conference hoops tournaments hinder NCAA preparation?
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Things get a bit messy in a new brand campaign from Chobani. Centered on the tag "Love This Life," its anthem film opens with a young family -- dad, mom, young daughter and son -- looking a bit worse for the wear as they trudge back to their farmhouse, caked in mud, pulling a calf along. All is not quite right as the woman glares back at her husband when he looks at her regretfully -- we don't know quite why -- maybe he let the calf get away and the kids got lost trying to retrieve it. In any case, there's a nagging tension thoroughout that feels all so very "familial." But here, it's really quite beautiful.
The story unfolds through a series of clever edits that simultaneously play up the conflict but remind the viewer that there's love beneath it all. The man reaches out for his wife's hand -- she quickly pulls away, as the spot quickly cuts in scenes of the couple in a more happy, romantic moment. Meanwhile, it's all backed by a moving, folksy guitar track by Clem Snide's Eef Barzelay, who, oddly, happens to be playing right there on the farm.
The TV spots will begin running on primetime tomorrow through May sweeps. The new campaign includes print and a package redesign highlighting Chobani products' core attributes, including non-GMO ingredients and 40% less sugar than regular fruit yogurts.
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“All the gold names have been pretty much getting hammered both on the credit side and the equity side for quite some time with gold prices coming down,” Wen Li, an analyst at CreditSights Inc., said in a phone interview yesterday. Pascua- Lama is also a “really big overhang” for Barrick, he said.
Gold futures in New York yesterday dropped below $1,200 for the first time since August 2010, as signs of improving U.S. economic growth boosted speculation the Federal Reserve will wind down its asset-purchase program. After rising to a record $1,923.70 an ounce in September 2011, gold futures for August delivery fell 1.6 percent to $1,192.20 at 8:47 a.m. today on the Comex in New York.
Barrick has forecast it will cost $950 to $1,050 to produce an ounce of gold on average from all its mines this year. Goldcorp forecast a cost of $1,000 to $1,100.
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Trump's new immigration ad was panned as racist. Turns out it was also based on a falsehood. - Hartford Courant Trump's new immigration ad was panned as racist. Turns out it was also based on a falsehood.
Trump's new immigration ad was panned as racist. Turns out it was also based on a falsehood.
The expletive-filled advertisement President Donald Trump released this week, seemingly to raise fears about immigration in advance of the midterm elections, was widely denounced, with Democrats and even some Republicans criticizing it as racist.
But, beyond the outrage, the ad was also reportedly based on a falsehood.
The 53-second video focuses on the courtroom behavior of Luis Bracamontes, an undocumented immigrant who was convicted of killing two sheriff's deputies in California in 2014 and bragged about it during the trial.
"Democrats let him into our country," the ad's script reads. "Democrats let him stay."
Just one problem: It doesn't appear to be true.
Bracamontes, who had been deported multiple times before his crime spree, last entered the country while George W. Bush was president, sometime between May 2001 and February 2002, when there is a record for his marriage in Arizona, according to the Sacramento Bee.
He lived near Salt Lake City until 2014, when a methamphetamine-fueled road trip ended with the murder of the two Sacramento-area deputies, according to the Bee.
The ad also failed to mention that in 1998 he was arrested on drug charges in Phoenix, then released by the office of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio "for reasons unknown," the Bee reported.
Arpaio, a close Trump ally who has made waves for his hard-line immigration policies and rhetoric, was convicted in 2017 for ignoring a federal judge's order to stop detaining people on the suspicion of being undocumented immigrants. He was later pardoned by Trump.
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office did not respond to a request for comment.
Bracamontes had been deported under both Democratic and Republican presidencies.
He was first arrested on charges related to marijuana possession in Phoenix in 1996 and sentenced to four months in jail, the Bee reported. He served his time and was deported in 1997, when Bill Clinton was president, only to be deported again in 2001 soon after being arrested on marijuana charges, according to the Bee.
Bracamontes has been sentenced to the death penalty in the murder case.
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Customers line up to purchase lottery tickets, Monday, Oct. 22, 2018, at La Preferida Superdiscount store in Hialeah, Fla.
For all the anticipation about whether someone will finally snag the gigantic Mega Millions and Powerball jackpots, the games come down to two things: simple math — and very long odds.
But there are some quirks and surprises about the math equations that likely will soon vault someone into stratospheric wealth after the jackpots grew for months without a winner.
The biggest quirk starts with this fact: The advertised $1.6 billion Mega Millions prize — the world's largest ever lottery jackpot — and $620 million Powerball prize aren't quite real. That is, those are the amount you'd be paid if you chose an annuity, doled out over 29 years. Nearly every winner opts for cash, which is the amount of money the lottery folks actually have in the bank ready to pay out to the company that would fund the annuity.
The cash option is still massive, at $904 million for Mega Millions and $354.3 million for Powerball. But those numbers aren't splayed across billboards and shown in countless mini marts across America.
The dismal odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot — 1 in 302.5 million — mean there are 302.5 million potential number combinations, or a little less than one combination for each of the 328 million people living in the U.S. For last Friday's drawing, about 59 per cent of possible combinations were taken. But by Tuesday night's drawing, officials estimate that 75 per cent will be sold.
That would mean a 25 per cent chance of no winner. If that happens, it's likely even more combinations would be covered before the next drawing three days later. Officials don't have an estimate on how many tickets would be sold for that potential drawing, and they haven't said how large the estimated prize would be. Could it reach $2 billion?
The odds of winning Powerball are 1 in 292.2 million.
The odds of winning don't change as jackpots get larger, but the chance that more than one winner will share the prize do. When so many people rush to play as a jackpot soars , the chances increase that two or three tickets — of the millions of tickets sold — will match. Of the five largest jackpots awarded in the U.S., three went to multiple winners. The largest single prize went to a 2017 player from Massachusetts who celebrated a $758.7 million Powerball payday.
If the odds of winning either Mega Millions or Powerball don't seem gigantic enough, how about winning them both? Spend $4 on a ticket for each game and it could happen. But the odds aren't especially favourable, at about 1 in 88 quadrillion (that's 88,000,000,000,000,000).
For Mega Millions, players choose six numbers: five from a range of white balls, numbered 1 to 70, and one number for the Mega Ball, with a range of 1 to 25. What numbers have come up most? Since 2010, that honour goes to the number 2, with 92 hits, followed by the numbers 20, 11, 31 and 17. The most hit Mega Ball number is 9.
Lottery officials are quick to point out that the number selection is random, so there's no reason that what hit in the past will be selected again. The game also has changed over the years, so some numbers included weren't always in the mix.
Not surprisingly, the most Mega Million jackpot winners in the past five years have come from states with the largest populations. New York, with the nation's fourth-largest population, leads with seven winners. The No. 1 population state of California is second in Mega Millions winners with six, while Illinois is third with four winners.
Still, there are some quirks, as Georgia has the eight-largest population and three winners and Washington state has two winners but only the 13th largest population. Texas has the nation's second-largest population, yet players have only bought winning Mega Millions tickets in the state twice in the past five years. And let's hear it for Rhode Island, the smallest population state to have won a Mega Millions jackpot in the past five years.
For those with an international bent, the current Mega Millions jackpot has surpassed all lottery jackpot records — so it's not only the largest lottery prize in U.S. history, it's now the world's largest.
The annual El Gordo national lottery in Spain advertises a larger total prize pool, but the money is divvied up into many prizes, according to Seth Elkin, a spokesman for the Maryland lottery, which currently takes questions about the Mega Millions drawing.
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• Engage with other SRA functions to support the evidence gathering and credible deterrence approach of the SRA.
The role of a Forensic Investigator is a key component part of the Investigation and Supervision Directorate within the SRA. As a Forensic Investigator, you will attend solicitors’ premises throughout England & Wales to identify, investigate and report serious breaches of all rules (Accounting and Conduct).
You will also investigate serious fraud and dishonesty not specifically covered by the Rules but which are considered likely to bring the profession into disrepute.
You will need to understand our code and principles, which often include mortgage fraud, money laundering, probate fraud, or other schemes as they arise. You will be required, where applicable, to secure admissible evidence for use in the Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal and, if the matter proceeds to a criminal prosecution, at Court.
The role is based either in either our offices in Birmingham or London. However, you will be required to travel extensively throughout England and Wales, for which a car allowance is provided, subject to minimum mileage criteria. The appropriate equipment will be provided to enable you to work in the field.
• Experience in accountancy, law or relevant regulation / investigative environment.
• Experience of analysing complex information and translating it into plain, simple language.
• You should be flexible, tenacious and able to adjust your priorities at short notice.
• Be an excellent communicator, both orally and in writing.
Please make sure that your application clearly demonstrates how you meet the knowledge, skills and experience requirements of the role.
Interviews for Birmingham based candidates will take place on 29 November 2017 and for London based candidates the 30 November 2017. Please make sure you clearly state on your application the location that you wish to be based from.
Experience in accountancy, law or relevant regulation / investigative environment.
Ability to analyse, assimilate and apply numerical and financial information from a wide range of sources to reach conclusions.
Ability to apply regulation and rules to cases.
Working knowledge of Fraud Act, Money Laundering Regulations and the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Resilient and able to cope in a high challenging environment.
Degree and or ideally hold a professional qualification such as an accountancy or legal qualification.
Please state which location you wish to be based from, London or Birmingham.
The SRA is the independent regulator of solicitors and law firms in England and Wales, protecting consumers and supporting the rule of law and the administration of justice. We do this by overseeing all education and training requirements necessary to practise as a solicitor, licensing individuals and firms to practise, setting the standards of the profession and regulating and enforcing compliance against these standards.
We offer a generous flexible benefits package, a friendly working environment and the opportunity to develop your career within a professional organisation.
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There're no feet like happy feet and these Rechargeable Heated Slippers will ensure your feet are always happy. Just slip them on your frigid toes and let the internal heat warm you up. They're fully rechargeable so you never have to worry about going cold again.
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MidMichigan Health plans to restructure and re-align its work force in the coming months, and the changes could mean laying off as many as 1 percent of the company's nearly 5,000 workers.
MidMichigan Health is the parent company of MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland as well as Medical Centers in Clare, Gladwin and Alma. The company also owns other health care facilities including home health care and nursing homes.
In a news release, the company said the restructuring is needed because of changes in the way health care is provided, the economy and health reform. These factors are affecting health care organizations in Michigan and nationwide, the news release stated.
The health system has a work force of 4,831. Officials will not know the number of employees who could lose their jobs until the restructuring is completed in mid-May. But it is expected to be less than 1 percent of all employees.
Company officials said these changes are happening just as demand for health care services is increasing in some areas and decreasing in others. Growing areas include physician practices, emergency services and critical care. In the past nine months, MidMichigan has added 50 new physicians and what the company calls mid-level providers. New positions include primary-care providers, specialists and a new critical care team.
"MidMichigan's vision is to be an integrated health system, and we have been working toward that vision for more than three years," said Richard M. Reynolds, president of MidMichigan Health. "With changes in the health care environment and declining reimbursement we are challenged to shift our resources and realign our employees to continue to provide excellent clinical quality and excellent patient experiences in a safe environment. Doing that means that we have to change and re-tool how we do things."
Developing new physician practices requires clinical and support staff. As a result, MidMichigan Health plans to take staff members from under-utilized areas and put them in open positions. Some people could lose their jobs, the company said, because they cannot be redeployed into open positions.
Management of some departments throughout the four hospitals will be re-aligned, and some services will be consolidated, the news release said.
"Our business is changing," said Lynn Bruchhof, MidMichigan Health vice president of human resources. "We are fortunate to be able to realign our talent resources, our people, to areas of growth and need throughout MidMichigan Health."
Some employees will retire, while others are volunteering to take part-time positions, and still others are applying for the 120 open positions in MidMichigan Health, she said.
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When Katherine Gotovsky sees a problem, her response is immediate. The gears in her 17-year-old mind start working away, determined to come up with a solution whether it’s at school, retirement residences or in the tech industry.
She is one of six GTA students selected as Loran Scholars, an award which recognizes character, community contributions and future leadership potential.
From a pool of more than 5,000 applicants, 34 young Canadians were selected for the award valued at $100,000 over four years. The honour includes an annual stipend of $10,000, matching tuition waiver and access to $10,000 in funding for summer internships.
The other winners from the GTA are: Elektra Dakogiannis, Georgia Koep-Freifeld, Eden Wondmeneh, Lauren Prophet and John Milkovich.
The selection of a Loran Scholar focuses on the young person’s character with the belief that integrity, courage, grit and personal autonomy are better indicators of overall potential than standard academic measures.
Gotovsky, a University of Toronto Schools student, founded and leads a robotics team and the Girls in Tech conference. She teaches code to women and youth, plans initiatives for a national student organization and created her school’s foreign language newspaper. She established a companionship program at a retirement residence.
Most of her endeavours began with her desire to solve a problem, she said.
The Thornhill resident’s passion for solving problems began as a child when she would use her limited amount of Lego blocks to build elaborate and complex structures.
Gotovsky now helps others solve their problems by teaching code to women and girls at Canada Learning Code, a digital skills program.
Gotovsky plans on pursuing a degree in computer science at either McGill University or the University of Waterloo.
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Tennessee farmers are cashing in on the local food movement.
The federal government never measured just how much Tennessee farmers sold directly to customers at, say, a farmers market, but when it did (for the first time this year), it found a huge, farm-fresh, steaming pile of cash.
Tennessee consumers spent more than $58.7 million with farmers directly in 2015, according to the first survey on direct-to-consumer sales from the federal government. Across the country, Tennessee ranks 15th for the number of farms selling directly to consumers.
"We know that many people care about what they eat and want to know where their food comes from," said Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Jai Templeton. "This survey shows what that farmer-to-consumer relationship is worth in Tennessee."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture conducted the survey to get data on the growing and changing local-food sectors across the country. It found that 4,148 Tennessee farms sold food directly to consumers in 2015, and more are getting in the game in a hurry.
"The number of farms selling directly to consumers increased more than 500 in the three years since the [last agriculture census]," said Debra Kenerson, a Tennessee state statistician. "This shows tremendous growth in a short period of time."
The farm sales include fresh foods like meat and vegetables but also edible processed foods like bottled milk, cheese, meat, jam, cider, and wine. Farmers sold these goods to institutions like schools, universities, hospitals, wholesalers, and distributors.
But farmers also sold their goods directly to the person who would eat them at farmers markets, farm stores, roadside stands, through community supported agriculture (CSA) arrangements, online sales, pick-your-own operations, and mobile markets.
Sandy Watson, a board member with the Cooper-Young Community Farmers Market, said the more consumers are educated on the importance of eating locally sourced, healthy food, the more likely they are to hit farmers markets for their weekly grocery shopping.
This, Watson said, is fueling the local food movement. That movement is responsible for the year-over-year growth seen at the Cooper-Young market and responsible for the big numbers the government found when looking at direct-to-consumer farm sales.
Those big sales figures, too, provide a "real opportunity for more farmers to capitalize on the 'buy local' movement," Kenerson said.
The strength of that "buy local movement" is a big reason the Cooper-Young market is now open year-round.
"We don't stop eating when winter comes, and many of the local farmers are producing year-round," Watson said. "Our winter market is just as busy as the spring/summer market, and some of the best vegetables are those grown in the winter."
While much of the food consumed in Memphis was not likely grown here, a move is underway to change that. Last year, the East Arkansas Planning and Development District and the Memphis-Shelby County Office of Sustainability launched Delta Roots: The Mid-South Regional Food System Plan.
The plan lays out a 20-year path to a local, sustainable food network here in which consumers will eat more locally grown products and farmers can cash in on the $550 million annual demand for produce in the Memphis area.
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A rocket attack by ISIS militants in northern Syria caused symptoms of “chemical gas” in 22 Syrian rebels, state media cited the Turkish armed forces as saying on Sunday.
The attack targeted Turkey-backed rebels who have been besieging the ISIS-controlled town of al-Bab for days. Al-Bab is a major target in the “Euphrates Shield” operation to push the extremists away from the Syrian side of the Turkish border.
The Turkish military said the rocket attack was in Syria’s Haliliye area, according to state-run Anadolu agency. It did not specify when the attack occurred.
Media reports said Turkish AFAD emergency relief teams had conducted various tests on the affected rebels for traces of chemical materials at a hospital in Turkey’s border province of Kilis.
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Ozier Muhammad/The New York TimesReynaldo Rodriguez of the Care Coordination program counseled a patient with H.I.V. on how to adhere to a drug regimen.
Doctors are very good at telling us what to do — but we are very poor at doing it. In fact, the health problems of millions of Americans are directly related to our failure to follow doctors’ orders.
Doctors tell us to take our pills, exercise, go get that C.T. scan, stop smoking, change our diets, cut out salt, quit drinking, monitor our blood sugar. We know we should do it, but we very often don’t. About three-quarters of patients do not keep appointments for follow-up care. In one study of diabetes patients, only 7 percent were compliant enough with their treatment plans to control the disease. Even people at grave and immediate risk do not always take their medicines: a quarter of kidney transplant patients in one study did not take their medicines correctly, putting them at risk for organ rejection. Among elderly patients with congestive heart failure, 15 percent of repeat hospitalizations were linked to failure to take prescribed medicines. And compliance with exercise and diet programs is even worse. Poor compliance is a major reason that sick people don’t get better, and that our health care costs are so high.
It is a reason that often gets ignored. Many doctors are uncomfortable wrestling with adherence. They may even believe that it is not their problem, that their job is done when they write the prescription or hand the patient a diet plan. But even concerned doctors would find themselves helpless in a 10-minute office visit. They are too removed from their patients, too much the authority figure to really get to the bottom of why a patient isn’t doing what he is supposed to.
Bad adherence doesn’t discriminate by social class. Tens of millions of Americans struggle with high cholesterol and blood pressure and yet can’t manage to stick to an exercise program. Far fewer — but far sicker and more expensive to the health care system — are the handful of emergency room frequent flyers: people with multiple serious conditions such as AIDS, diabetes, hypertension, depression, mental illness, social isolation, substance abuse or domestic violence. Such people have extraordinary problems sticking to their plans to get better, and need extraordinary help.
Joe McManus is a 56-year-old former heroin and crack addict who lives in a single-resident-occupancy apartment in Manhattan. He spent 15 years as an addict, about 10 of them homeless. In some ways, he’s far from the typical homeless person. He used to work on Wall Street and still retains some of his Wall Street friends. In 2005, one of those friends took him to the Super Bowl.
In other ways, he is absolutely typical of drug users who have hit bottom. McManus has AIDS, Hepatitis C and liver problems. “My doctors went three or four years with me not showing up,” he said in a recent interview in his apartment. “I had no relationship with her — except for her to put me in the hospital because I didn’t listen to what she had to say. I was still not addressing the fact that I was H.I.V.-positive. I was not taking my medicine and only going to the hospital when I had to be put in the hospital. I was still messing around with drugs.” McManus was hospitalized four times in the year before November, 2009. Then he got a visit from Reynaldo Rodriguez.
When Rodriguez first visited McManus, he had already quit drugs, on his own. But he was still living as if he were homeless. His apartment was covered with soot and grime, the bed had cigarette burns and the refrigerator held moldy food. McManus was treating his apartment like it was the street. “How the hell are you living like this?” Rodriguez blurted out.
It made a difference. McManus started taking his medicines. The medicines brought down his viral load — he was getting better, and that motivated him to take care of himself. McManus is thin and twitchy, but when I saw him was dressed in jeans and a nice zippered sweater, and the apartment was in reasonable condition. McManus is now 100 percent adherent to his medicines, and his hospital stays amounted to only a single night in the last 16 months. He said that part of it was a spiritual awakening, but it was clear that Rodriguez played a huge role. McManus now goes to all his doctor’s appointments on his own.
But that doesn’t mean he follows all of his doctor’s advice. He’s no longer doing crack, but he’s still drinking — several nights a week he goes to hang out in a friend’s bar. He loves the bar — it’s his entire social network.
But his Hepatitis C makes this dangerous behavior, and his doctor was stern: “You can not ever have a drink again. Not even on your birthday,” she told him. “I never have to tell you if I ever have one,” McManus thought to himself.
Rodriguez and McManus worked out a compromise: he could keep going to the bar, but he had to tell his friends about his health problems so they would put the brakes on. He had to try to drink less, and keep doing tests that monitored his liver.
“He’s been very honest with me,” Rodriguez said. Why more than with your doctor? I asked McManus.
“She’s a doctor,” he said.
The Care Coordination program, a city-wide initiative now in 28 sites in different hospitals around New York, was inspired and trained by a Boston-based program called PACT, for Prevention, Access to Care and Treatment. PACT is part of Partners in Health — a nongovernmental group famous for its work in Haiti, Rwanda and elsewhere. Part of Partners’ strategy is to use people from the community who are paid a stipend to visit patients, watch them take their pills and support them. Since 1995, PACT has been using these ideas in tough neighborhoods of Boston, first with H.I.V. patients and now with people with chronic diseases such as diabetes. The PACT project trains people from the community, some of whom have the same diseases and similar problems as their patients, to be community health workers.
The new health reform law encourages pilot programs to try different forms of medical homes, and the better care and cost savings that come from improving adherence with peers or lay people like Rodriguez are attractive. The New Yorker magazine writer Atul Gawande recently profiled two clinics that use this model, in Atlantic City and Camden, N.J.
There are successful programs that use nurses for outreach. The Nurse-Family Partnership sends nurses to visit low-income first-time mothers, beginning in pregnancy and continuing until the child is two. The program now operates in 32 states and has proven to greatly improve the life of both child and mother. The Camden program that Gawande wrote about also uses nurses and nurse practitioners to make home visits.
But nurses are expensive home visitors, and they may not even be the best people for the job. “Given the rising cost of health care, we have found having peer-based health promoters providing care management is an equally effective way to provide high-quality care at a low cost,” said Ayesha Cammaerts, the director of operations at PACT. “Especially with patients who suffer from substance abuse and mental health issues, they need someone they feel comfortable letting into their environment. Sometimes patients don’t feel they can connect to clinicians from outside their community,” she said.
PACT’s methods work. A study of AIDS patients found that the patients’ use of appropriate medicines rose — they were becoming adherent. At the same time, spending on hospitalization dropped by nearly two-thirds. Overall, patient costs dropped by 36 percent. Even taking into account the $6,000-per-patient cost of PACT, patient costs dropped 16 percent. And in a group of people who would likely have died if they had not been in the program, 70 showed clinical improvement.
The PACT method is likely to be an important part of the future of American medicine. Many of the deficiencies of American health care require not more technology, but the human touch. It’s certainly true for high-risk, high-cost patients, but it can help nearly everyone get better health for less money. In Saturday’s column, I’ll write about how.
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And yet the Cardinals are in position to complete a three-game sweep of the Cubs on Sunday night after erasing deficits of 4-0 and 6-4 on Saturday before Kolten Wong's two-run walk-off homer in the 10th inning capped an 8-6 victory Saturday.
The win, however, cost the first-place Cardinals center fielder Tommy Pham, who left in the second inning with right groin tightness, catcher Yadier Molina, who left the game in the ninth inning after being hit by a foul tip, and closer Bud Norris in the 10th inning with a triceps injury.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, manager Mike Matheny told reporters that all three players were candidates for replacements.
Despite the injuries, though, the Cardinals improved to 3-1 this season against the two-time defending National League Central champions.
"I've never (played) in the World Series or those kinds of games," Cardinals outfielder Marcel Ozona told reporters after he tied the game in the ninth inning with a two-run double. "This feels like more of a regular game."
But after trailing twice Saturday, including by two runs late, St. Louis' latest win felt like so much more than a normal game in early May.
"I'm telling you, we never feel like we're out of it," Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter told reporters, according to the team's official website. "This was a really great win for us, and everybody had a piece of it."
Michael Wacha (4-1, 3.62 ERA) will try to deliver the series sweep for the Cardinals, who have won four straight games.
Wacha won four straight games in April before he registered a no-decision last week against the Chicago White Sox when he allowed two runs and scattered five hits in five innings. Wacha is 4-7 with a 6.41 ERA in 16 games (14 starts) against the Cubs.
The Cubs will enter Sunday's primetime showdown having lost four straight games after putting together five straight victories. The Cubs finally showed promise offensively Saturday, when they snapped a nine-game string of games in which they scored three or fewer runs.
But after blowing two different leads as their slide continued, the Cubs will attempt to get back on track in Sunday's series finale.
The back and forth Cubs performance has been difficult to predict after they finished a 5-2 homestand despite struggling to score runs.
Manager Joe Maddon found silver linings in the Cubs' recent roller coaster ride and continues to point to how early in the season his team's Jekyll and Hyde act has surfaced.
"Regardless of what your plan may be, teams are going to go through these moments," Maddon told reporters before Saturday's game, according to the Chicago Tribune. "It just happens to be ours right now. I want to continue to work like we've been working. I believe in our guys and believe in our methods. It's just the ebb and flow of the season. Right now, it's our turn. We'll come out of it and be fine."
Jon Lester will take the mound for the Cubs. Lester (2-1, 2.73) has already beaten the Cardinals once this season when he threw six innings and allowed an unearned run and two hits April 19. Lester is 6-4 with a 3.16 ERA in 15 career starts against the Cardinals.
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Talking to the press people here at the Heliport on Saturday, the National BJP leader, while stating the Naga issue as complicated, said all the stakeholders would taken on board while trying to find a permanent solution to it.
When asked about a series of protests in Manipur against what it called the Center’s reported plan to extend the Article 371A of the Constitution of India in the State in trying to resolve the Naga issue, Madhav said there were talks with many stakeholders, and the Government of India was sincerely trying to find a solution to the longstanding Naga political issue “that is acceptable to all.” Even there were many Naga groups and they had to take them along while trying to find a permanent solution to the issue.
On their party’s announcement that there should be “Election for Solution” while Naga civil societies and other political parties in the State were for “Solution before Election” and also whether there would be any possibility of settling the Naga issue before the next Parliamentary Election, Madhav refused to give any timeframe for the settlement but said there were about seven months to the next Parliamentary Election which is likely to be held in the month of April 2019. He further expressed the hope that since their party, BJP, was in power in Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, besides a major ally in the PDA Government in Nagaland, there would be a resolution to the Naga issue sooner than later.
He also informed that the Central Government was working out to extend all possible helps towards restoring unprecedented damages caused by the recent massive landslides and floods in Nagaland.
The BJP National Secretary was here to meet their party people to discuss about the upcoming Parliamentary Elections. He did not say they would be setting up their own BJP candidate for the upcoming Parliamentary Election in the State. He, however, stated that they would be discussing the matter with their party people in the State as to whether they would be setting up or not.
Earlier on his arrival here at the Heliport, he was received by BJP Ministers - Deputy Chief Minister Y Patton, Minister for Higher and Technical Education and Nagaland BJP Unit President Temjen Imna Along Longkumer, Medical Minister Pangnyu Phom - and other party people.
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LUCERNE VALLEY — A motorist on Thursday morning found the body of a bicyclist who had been struck by a hit-and-run driver the night before.
Angelo “Andy” Douglas Azzato, 47, of Lucerne Valley had been riding east on Highway 247 when he was struck from behind, San Bernardino County coroner’s officials said.
Investigators say the crash occurred either late Wednesday or early Thursday.
A passing motorist found his body on the side of the road just before 8 a.m..
Anyone with information may call the California Highway Patrol’s Victorville office, 760-241-1186.
Relatives of Azzato, who are being sought by coroner’s officials, may call 909-387-2978.
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Famously tight-lipped about her Scientology faith, The Handmaid’s Tale star Elisabeth Moss has opened up in a candid new interview.
Elisabeth Moss won’t delve into the specifics of her beliefs in Scientology, but she does think they perfectly align with her work on The Handmaid’s Tale, despite what critics may think.
“Listen, it’s a complicated thing because the things that I believe in, I can only speak to my personal experience and my personal beliefs. One of the things I believe in is freedom of speech,” she told The Daily Beast.
“I believe we as humans should be able to critique things. I believe in freedom of the press. I believe in people being able to speak their own opinions.
“I don’t ever want to take that away from anybody, because that actually is very important to me,” she continued. “At the same time, I should hope that people educate themselves for themselves and form their own opinion, as I have.
“The things that I believe in personally, for me, The Handmaid’s Tale, and the ability to do something that is artistically fulfilling but is also personally fulfilling, I’ve never had that.
Moss, 36, said taking away the right to talk about certain topics or believing in certain religions would cause society to turn into a place that mirrors Gilead, the fictional dystopia that serves as the setting for The Handmaid’s Tale.
“I don’t choose to talk about not just religion, but my personal life — who I’m dating and that kind of thing,” she said.
“ … I think people should be allowed to talk about what they want to talk about and believe what they want to believe and you can’t take that away — and when you start to take that away, when you start to say ‘you can’t think that,’ ‘you can’t believe that,’ ‘you can’t say that,’ then you get into trouble. Then you get into Gilead.
While the former West Wing star is passionate about her religion, there are also tenets of it in which she doesn’t believe, such as its history of having anti-LGBTQ views.
“Which is not where I stand. It’s like, it’s a lot to get into and unpack that I can’t do. But that is not my bag,” she said.
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TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) -- With a snowstorm (and possible blizzard) moving, many of us will spend Sunday indoors. And, while our four-legged friends may come with their own fur coats, they are still vulnerable to frostbite and exposure.
According to the ASPCA, the winter winds’ cold, dry air and chilly rain and snow can chap our pets’ paws and dry out their skin. But, that’s not the only problems they face. The chemicals used to melt ice can be “downright dangerous” when they lick their paws to clean them.
Don’t leave your pets alone in the car. While we often hear about how quickly cars heat up during summer months, they can turn into refrigerators in the winter.
Finally, the ASPCA reminds pet owners if it’s too cold for them, it’s probably too cold for their pets. So, they recommend keeping them inside. If they are left outside, the pets could freeze, become disoriented, lost, stolen, injured, or killed.
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Madore received the package along with three crosses she had ordered in memory of her son Christopher Medina who died July 15, 2009, in a traffic accident along the Carson River.
She purchased the crosses from Harriet Carter, a Pennsylvania mail order company.
“I gave one to Christopher’s father, to his grandmother, to my best friend, and kept one for myself,” Madore said.
The crosses arrived individually boxed with Christopher’s name on the outside.
Madore didn’t open the fourth box until she went to the site of the accident near the old power dam to place it with other items honoring her son’s memory.
“At first, I was very, very, very upset, so devastated. Then I got this really weird feeling. It was like angels – or maybe Chris – had to let me know this little girl needed to be remembered,” Madore said.
She contacted the company the next day, but was unable to find out who ordered the cross for Holly or what happened to the fourth memorial she ordered for her son.
“When I called the company, they said I should just throw Holly’s away, but I’m not going to do that,” she said.
Over the next several weeks, Madore said she made nearly 20 telephone calls across the country and used the Internet, Facebook, MySpace and every social network she could think of to try to track down the girl’s family.
She left several telephone messages, but no one called her back.
If she can’t find whoever ordered the memorial, Madore said she would place it next to her son’s cross which the company replaced.
“Chris was always very compassionate, and he would be OK with having her cross next to his,” Madore said.
Madore said the experience has taught her another lesson.
“It was an awakening to me and a reminder that I am not the only parent who lost a child. My heart goes out to her family. She’s just a little lost soul,” Madore said.
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Rockland — Maine-based nonprofit WindowDressers coordinates community volunteers to build affordable, re-usable, interior insulating window inserts that tighten up existing windows. The cost of the insert depends on the size of the window, but averages $25 for a medium-sized insert in natural pine. Twenty-two percent of the inserts built are reserved for low-income customers for a small donation. Go to windowdressers.org or call 596-3073 to sign up.
Volunteers are needed now through December at the Lincoln Street Center, 24 Lincoln St., where lumber for the inserts is cut, drilled, and assembled before being sent out to the 27 Community Builds across the state. At the Community Builds, customers and volunteers come together in an organized, barn-raising model to construct the custom-built inserts for themselves and their neighbors.
The production center at Lincoln St is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and volunteers can sign up online for morning or afternooon volunteer shifts at windowdressers.org, or call 226-3555 to speak with a volunteer coordinator. Volunteers of all skill levels are welcome and will be trained on site.
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France is in a difficult position. It has not had a sufficient spur to reform, despite the platitudes by both Sarkozy and Hollande. The fall of the Berlin Wall was a great spur to Germany, though it took it a few years to realize it. A capital strike against the periphery by both creditors in the Eurozone and international investors forced the periphery to adopt policies they would not have otherwise.
Large pools of capital, including central banks and sovereign wealth funds continue to buy French bonds, keeping yields near German levels. The logic is not so much about fair value based on economic fundamentals. Instead, it is a political judgment. Despite the divergence between German and French economic prowess, the two remain the twin pillars of Europe. As long as one is confident that EMU remains intact, then France's credit is as good as German credit.
That same logic, of course, can be applied to other euro area countries. On one hand, officials want investors to distinguish between different credit conditions. On the other hand, they insist they will not allow EMU to fail. As we have learned over the last couple of years, this does not preclude sovereign debt restructuring (Greece and Cyprus), and even capital controls (Cyprus).
The peripheral premium over Germany was narrower prior to the crisis. There was even a brief shining moment that Spain traded through Germany (this is to say that yields slipped marginally below German yields). Continued easing of ECB monetary policy can see spreads compress further. However, it is unreasonable to think the spreads can return to status quo ante, as the risk of debt restructuring must be perceived as higher than before.
Managers of large pools of capital recognize there are not sufficient bunds available. Recall that next year, the German coalition government has committed itself to a balanced budget. That means new supply is not going to be forthcoming. French bonds are seen as the next best alternative, and they offer a slightly higher yield to boot. Simply, if crudely put, French bonds are to German bunds, what Agency debt is to US Treasuries.
Without the push of necessity, French politicians find it difficult to do the right thing. They are reluctant to declare a break from the German ordo-liberalism's drive for fiscal austerity, but refuse to embrace it. Last month, Hollande unilaterally declared no more effort to reach the EC budget targets that had already been postponed. The EC implicitly threatened to reject it, but reports suggesting that Merkel was reluctant to push France hard, possibly fearing to do to the AfD, what Cameron has done for the UKIP.
Instead, the EC accepted some cockamamie sleight of hand. France would cut its structural deficit by 0.5% instead of 0.2% as Hollande initially proposed. This would be accomplished by 1) assuming lower debt servicing costs, 2) reducing its EU budget contribution, 3) proposing nearly a billion euro savings from a crackdown on tax evasion. Recall that Brussels had expected, and France had previously agreed to a 0.8% reduction in its structural deficit.
Perhaps Merkel was worried about the rise of the National Front in France. Le Pen embraces the social welfare state of France. It sees the biggest threat to it, not coming from the discipline being imposed by what Thomas Friedman has called the "golden straightjacket", but by the encroachment of French sovereignty. The culprit is the German fist inside the EC glove and enshrined in the monetary union.
Yet the leaders of France's main political parties are doing more to boost the National Front than anyone, including, arguably, Marine Le Pen. She often claims that there is significant collusion between the major parties. She says that the Socialists and the UMP are a single self-interested group. The developments in France this week provide her with the proverbial smoking gun.
Consider this: Hollande's chief of staff Jouyet is a personal friend of the French President. He also served in the Sarkozy government. He reportedly had lunch with Sarkozy's rival in the UMP, Fillon, who was also a prime minister in Sarkozy's government. Among the things they talked about was the investigation into overspending by the Sarkozy re-election campaign in 2012.
What are not agreed upon are the reports that suggest Fillon, threatened by Sarkozy's attempt at a political comeback, wanted the Hollande government to expedite the investigation. The idea was hit Sarkozy quickly and hard to derail his hope to be elected as the head of the UMP next month. Yet, it does seem Sarkozy himself is struggling without any help. Ever since he threw his hat in the ring, his support in the polls has deteriorated. Last month, his candidate to head the Senate lost, suggesting Sarkozy's support in the UMP is not insurmountable.
Hollande's has the lowest support of any French president since the end of WWII. He is half-way through his five-year mandate, and he recently indicated he would not seek re-election if there were no improvement in the unemployment rate. It is an idle threat. Barring a miracle, he cannot win, and the Socialist Party may dump him. We might be witnessing the slow and painful death of the Fifth Republic. The other republics ended by war or a coup, but this one may be ending due to self-immolation. The Socialist candidate who ran against Sarkozy in 2007, S. Royal, who was once Hollande's life partner, used to talk about a Sixth Republic.
Although Merkel is recognized as the outstanding leader in Europe, she is playing with a strong hand, the hand that holds the purse. France has a weak hand, and yet despite the lack of strong leadership, it has done remarkably well in pursuing its agenda. It has been given more time to reach the 3% deficit/GDP mandate. After years of complaining about the strong euro, in word and deed the ECB is now driving the euro lower.
France has wanted the ECB to pursue aggressive monetary policy, which it now is. The ECB will likely increases the range of assets it is buying under its version of QE and if may include corporate bonds. Given that the French capital markets are more developments than most in the euro area, including Germany, its corporate bond market is among the largest. Almost 45% of the corporate bonds issued by Eurozone companies are accounted for by French businesses.
After Russia occupied two areas in Georgia after the 2008 conflict, and its continuous in attempts to intimidate it neighbors, France thought it reasonable to sell Russia two ships that can be used for amphibious assaults. France has been reluctant to renege on its contract, which reportedly has penalty clauses for failure to deliver. However, within weeks of the expected delivery of the first ship, there is talk of an alternative. Reports suggest that NATO could be favorable disposed to buy the ships from France. Perhaps the logic is that it is better to own them then possibly fight against them.
Asset managers are unlikely to declare a capital strike against France. The premium France pays over Germany for 10-year money is about 36 bp presently. In the past six months, the premium has approached 30 basis point a few times, but never penetrated. The mid-September low of 31 bp was the smallest French premium in three years. This seems to be the floor.
The ceiling seems to be about 47 bp, which it neared three times in the past six months, most recently on October 20. Recall that, in the four years before the crisis, there were several occasions where the French yield dipped slightly below the German yield. In any event, pre-crisis, France did not pay more than a 10 bp premium.
Neither international capital, represented by asset managers nor the EC is going to force France to enact structural reforms. In addition, there is even less of a chance that Hollande makes a clean break and announces an aggressively pro-growth fiscal initiative. This means the continuation of the charade, yet the status quo is toxic. The political elite are committing a French version of hara-kiri. What fertile terrain for the National Front.
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The Volstead Act was repealed on this date in 1933, returning control of alcohol to the states, and it was a happy day at the F.X. Matt Brewery.
UTICA, N.Y. -- A total of 85 years ago Wednesday marked the end of prohibition, which meant legally drinking beer again. And for the Matt family from Utica – that meant getting back to selling beer again.
They let customers and suppliers know that at midnight, they could deliver, buy, and drink beer at the brewery once again.
The local business managed to survive 13 years.
"Kept it going with soft drinks and malt tonic and malt syrups, but this was a special day. In fact, he sent a letter out to announce beer was available at midnight, the next day, actually,” said F.X. Matt Brewery CEO/Chairman Nick Matt.
Matt says sales dropped off 75 percent when prohibition went into effect. And thanks to the current craft beer movement, business has been growing by leaps and bounds.
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Nelson Mandela statue in Westminster, London.
"Comrade Mandela's release was achieved through our struggles that had pushed the apartheid regime into a corner where they were forced to negotiate their way out of power," he said.
"Mandela's freedom from his prison cell was also brought about because of unrelenting pressure by our international allies."
"We are eternally grateful that he had lived to enter a new country. Here in the Western Cape we pledge to continue Mandela's fight for a just society."
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Ronny Deila blamed a rutted, ploughed Hampden pitch for his side's failure to inflict League Cup embarrassment upon Rangers.
Denying they removed their feet from the pedal after the break Deila warned the SPFL the awful pitch wasn't good enough - and wrecked his team's efforts to play passing football.
Asked if he urged his players to consolidate their lead at half-time the Norwegian insisted: 'I didn't say that – I said to go for three.
'But we wanted to really go and just kill the game.
'But we killed it another way – we were solid at the back and kept them away from the goal.
'We wanted to attack more, but I have to make the excuse as well that we are a passing team and we had no chance to pass the ball on that pitch.
Relaid in the aftermath of the Commonwealth Games the surface at the National Stadium cut up badly during Dundee United;s victory over Aberdeen in the other semi on Saturday.
Urging Hampden plc and the SPFL to make sure the surface if repaired adequately before the first showpiece final of the season on March 15 Deila added: 'If you are going to develop Scottish football you need pitches you can play football on.
'If you are going to go four or five months with poor pitches all over the country then every game will be in the air.
'If you are talking about Champions League it's not even near.
'This is the national team's stadium – it has to be much better.
Delighted with his side's first half display – less so with the second – Deila savoured his first experience of an Old Firm derby.
'It can't be better. It was a very good day.
'There was an unbelievable atmosphere in the stadium.
The Celtic boss will now turn his attentions to transfer reinforcements today with an increased bid for Dundee United Stuart Armstrong expected.
A £1.5million offer was rejected on Friday and the midfielder would miss the League Cup Final, cup tied if he made the move.
Declining to expand Deila added: 'We want to add people tomorrow and keep everybody. We are now in the critical period. On Tuesday we will know the answer, which will be good for you and for me.
Celtic have also secured Tannadice winger Gary Mackay-Steven on a pre-contract agreement in the summer and must decide whether to pay £250,000 to secure him now.
Bolton Wanderers could also launch a formal bid to sign Celtic goalscorer Kris Commons today, despite Deila insisting the 31-year-old is staying.
Celtic are also considering a move for South Korean free agent Kim Bo-Kyung.
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Back in 1982, the Endangered Species Act took the ocelot under its protection. The ocelot is a vulnerable creature, susceptible to habitat changes like roads, agriculture, housing developments and trapping. There may be fewer than 100 left in southern United States.
Concerns that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is making the plight of these 'dwarf leopards' worse led the Animal Welfare Institute and WildEarth Guardians to take legal action against the USDA's Wildlife Services program. They are suing Wildlife Services for "failing to ensure that it is not harming ocelots."
Wildlife Services describes itself as a program that resolves human - wildlife conflicts so people can "co-exist" with nature, but often, their solution to wildlife problems involves traps and cyanide capsules. They use these methods to deal with predators that are bothering farmers, but The Animal Welfare Institute and WildEarth Guardians say ocelots are getting caught in the cross-fire, killed by methods that can't tell the difference between an ocelot and a fox.
"Wildlife Services routinely fails to comply with federal laws like the Endangered Species Act," said Tara Zuardo, wildlife attorney with the Animal Welfare Institute in a press release. "Few ocelots remain in the United States and they require basic protection to ensure that they are not killed by the devices—such as steel-jaw leghold traps and cyanide capsules—Wildlife Services indiscriminately uses on public lands to kill wildlife."
This is not the first time the methods of Wildlife Services have been criticised. This June, the Washington Post reported it had killed more than 4 million animals through poisoning, snaring and shooting in 2013 alone.
But from year to year, the number of animals killed by the program fluctuates significantly, from 1.5 to 5 million. In 2008, 5 million animals were killed while over the next four years it was 3 million.The number is not rising, as Wildlife Services suggests, causing critics to question their justification for their methods.
So far, their secretive approach has gone relatively unnoticed. Now, the Animal Welfare Institute and WildEarth Guardians are trying to change that.
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Why do CEOs need extravagant perks even when they are firing staff and pleading for taxpayer bailouts? It may just be in their makeup, experts say. It takes arrogance and narcissism to become leader of a Fortune 500 company. Those same traits, however, have become their undoing during the deepest recession in decades.
U.S. President Barack Obama has noticed, telling reporters on Thursday he was outraged by a New York State report that $18.4 billion in Wall Street bonuses were paid in 2008 as taxpayers rescued the crumbling financial system. "That is the height of irresponsibility. It is shameful," Obama said.
New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is investigating Wall Street bonuses, welcomed Obama&apos;s comments. "While Wall Street melted down, top executives believed that, unlike the rest of the country, they still deserved huge bonuses," Cuomo said.
For Bob Monks, a former executive who has written nine books on corporate governance, the reason is that the rich and powerful simply love their toys. "It&apos;s a boy thing. Sort of, &apos;Mine&apos;s bigger than yours.&apos; It&apos;s really childish," said Monks, a shareholder rights activist and the subject of a book called "A Traitor to His Class."
Monks related a story about flying on someone&apos;s corporate jet. The host was devastated when, upon landing, he saw that while he planned for a limo to be waiting at the airport another captain of industry had a helicopter take him to town. "I thought my guy was going to die. ... It&apos;s entirely about people&apos;s self-image."
Longtime advocates of shareholder rights were handed a gift in November when Detroit auto executives flew to Washington on corporate jets to ask for billions of dollars in taxpayer money, sparking a public outrage.
More recently, it became known that former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain spent $1.2 million remodeling his office last year, including $1,405 for a trash can. Merrill Lynch is owned by Bank of America, which consumed $45 billion of taxpayer money through bailouts.
Then on Tuesday, Citigroup canceled plans to buy a $50 million executive jet after a White House rebuke.
"People don&apos;t become head of Merrill Lynch without having a certain sense of self-importance. Once they arrive at that position, they have all kinds of toadies tell them what geniuses they are, then of course they begin to feel their lifelong feelings of self-importance have been confirmed," said Charles Goodstein, a psychoanalyst and professor at New York University School of Medicine.
Defenders of executive perks say generous compensation is needed to retain talent. Sometimes it&apos;s jets but can also include home security systems, country club memberships, sports tickets and financial advice. The value of these benefits is considered income, so CEOs also sometimes get another perk: company help in paying their taxes. "I was CEO of a bank once and it&apos;s not rocket science. You need the same skill set as somebody running a hardware store in a medium-sized town," Monks said.
Steve Thel, a former lawyer with the Securities and Exchange Commission and now a professor at Fordham Law School, blames compliant board members who often come from the same privileged world and can get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for attending a few meetings each year. "It&apos;s endemic to the system. The last administration didn&apos;t think there was any structural flaw. Now across the political spectrum people feel that Wall Street executive compensation is out of control," Thel said. He predicted Congress would pass legislation granting minority shareholders more say on pay and possibly introduce higher taxes on some parts of executive compensation. "A year ago it was absolutely unthinkable that this would be heard in Congress," Thel said.
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Assembly Minority Leader Pat Hickey, R-Reno, will have a GOP primary election opponent in 2014.
Richard Fineberg, a retired lawyer who specialized in workers compensation cases, confirmed Tuesday he would run against Hickey in the Assembly District 25 race.
Now, the two Republicans who guided the Washoe school-tax bill (AB46) from the Legislature to the Washoe Commission — Hickey and Assemblyman Randy Kirner — both have GOP primary opponents.
Earlier, Lisa Kransner announced she would take on Kirner in the District 26 GOP primary. Kirner & Hickey were partners in getting AB 46 shipped to the commission, thus avoiding a tax-hike vote for Washoe school refurbishing in the Legislature that could have proven awkward.
Yet some constitutional conservatives — who adhere to the "no new taxes' ideology — were angered that Kirner and Hickey did not just kill the bill in Carson City.
Fineberg declined comment until after the holiday week.
He is a member of the Washoe County Republican Central Committee, has a B.A. in Psychology from UCLA and got his law degree from Southwestern University School of Law.
Fineberg is described as a constitutional conservative who is big on the 2nd Amendment rights (guns).
No doubt, Kransner and Fineberg will try to run to the right of the two incumbents. That is what you do to beat entrenched incumbents who are considered moderate.
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Northeastern International Airways suspended service on all but one of its routes after an unsuccessful attempt to attract passengers with new cut-rate fares. The airline, which filed for bankruptcy Tuesday, suspended ''until further notice'' flights to Chicago, Philadelphia and Orlando, St. Petersburg and West Palm Beach, Fla., a spokesman said. It is continuing flights between Islip, N.Y., and Ft. Lauderdale. A Northeastern flight from Chicago to Florida was canceled Wednesday because of mechanical problems. The privately held Ft. Lauderdale-based airline owes some $15 million to creditors. Under mounting pressure from creditors, Northeastern terminated flights to a number of cities earlier this week. The operation was undercapitalized and ran into problems after a quick expansion.
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Friday Night Live: Hilarious Improv Comedy featuring live music from pianist Keith Munslow! Get beside yourself with FNL’s interactive scenes, on-the-spot musicals, improvised song, dance, and skits! Performances are intended for audiences of all ages, personality types, and food groups. Friday Night Live unites a diverse cast of veteran Everett artists and young up-and-coming performers, in the production of fun, funny, creative, and meaningful performances! ​​ $5 at the door – All ages show – Families always welcome!
Mystic Aquarium, 55 Coogan Blvd.
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DAVIDSON, N.C., Jan. 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Rocus Networks, a managed cybersecurity service provider for business, announced today that it has entered the Palo Alto Networks NextWave Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) Program.
"We created the MSSP program due to increased customer demand for managed security services and to provide a better way to connect businesses with service providers," said Karl Soderlund, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Channel Sales at Palo Alto Networks. "As part of our NextWave MSSP program, partners like Rocus Networks can continually and efficiently improve security effectiveness for our mutual customers, and accelerate the deployment of new security services."
"This program with Palo Alto Networks allows Rocus Networks to provide organizations, regardless of size, with best-in-class next-generation security technology without the need to hire dedicated security personnel," said Michael Viruso, Rocus Networks Chief Strategy Officer. "They get cloud-delivered, enterprise-level security that is easy to use and won't disrupt business operations."
The Palo Alto Networks NextWave MSSP Specialization empowers managed services partners with the most innovative technology in the industry, protection on registered deals and best-in-class training, all to provide our mutual customers with the technical expertise and services they require of their trusted security advisers.
To learn more about Rocus Networks, visit rocusnetworks.com.
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Do Twinkle and mum Dimple share a wardrobe?
The star wife was missing for a greater part of the year from public glare due to her pregnancy. Twinkle chose to wear an Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla outfit, the same one her mother Dimple had worn last November at the 25th anniversary bash of the designer duo.
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McDonald’s jumped 5.3 percent after the world’s biggest fast-food chain by revenue topped analysts’ forecasts for profit and sales.
Shares of oil refiner Andeavor surged 14.4 percent, the biggest percentage gainer on the S&P 500, after rival Marathon Petroleum agreed to buy the company for more than $23 billion. Marathon’s shares slid 4.2 percent.
“The big news was really the deals, that continue the trend of strong M&A environment,” said Aaron Clark, portfolio manager at GW&K Investment Management in Boston, Massachusetts.
Walmart rose about 2 percent after Sainsbury’s agreed to buy the UK arm of Walmart, Asda, for about $10 billion, while Marriott Vacations Worldwide said it would buy timeshare operator ILG Inc for $4.7 billion, sending the target company’s shares up 4.5 percent.
Another big deal announcement was that of T-Mobile’s $26 billion takeover of fellow wireless carrier Sprint . Sprint shares fell 13.5 percent as analysts said it could face antitrust hurdles and the offer was seen as less favorable than an earlier one.
“Muted reactions to what was very strong earnings, capex spending picking up and strong M&A applies to what I’d say is part of classic late-cycle behavior,” said Clark.
At 11:36 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 125.42 points, or 0.52 percent, at 24,436.61, the S&P 500 was up 4.38 points, or 0.16 percent, at 2,674.29 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 7.74 points, or 0.11 percent, at 7,127.54.
U.S. bond yields edged lower after data showed March personal income rose lesser-than-expected, and personal spending in February was revised down to 0.3 percent, from the previously reported 0.4 percent.
Of the 274 S&P 500 firms that have reported first-quarter earnings so far, 79.2 percent topped profit expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data. That has lifted the estimate for earnings growth to 24.6 percent from about 18 percent at the start of the season.
Healthcare stocks were a drag, led by Celgene’s 6 percent fall after Morgan Stanley noted it expects delay of up to three years for the company’s key multiple sclerosis drug.
The S&P healthcare index was was down about 0.6 percent.
Arconic plummeted 15.2 percent after the aluminum products maker slashed its 2018 forecasts for profit and free cash flow as higher prices of the metal squeezed profit margins.
Allergan Plc reversed course to fall 4.1 percent after its chief executive officer said he was opposed to fundamental changes to the drug company’s business strategy.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 1.16-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and for a 1.04-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
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the World Challenge a year ago. He won at Hilton Head on the U.S.
Championships in Doral and Shanghai.
the way up to No. 12.
Woods won the vote as the best player on the U.S. PGA Tour.
and Firestone – and there would be no debate.
who are all on form.
much weight is given a major.
that not even he thought he could win.
Who won the most meaningful major this year? Mickelson or Scott?
Best to save that argument for the bar.
summer when the Swede began to shine.
Cup and Race to Dubai in the same season.
year at No. 1 – McIlroy. He still had a good view.
to win. Henrik comes back,” McIlroy said. ”Yeah, it’s deep.
until she faltered in the Titleholders.
===
Hull - Where the US goes the UK often follows. This is especially true of negatives. If the US has extreme weather we usually experience similar a few days later. If violent crime increases across the Pond likewise in the UK. Then there is shopping madness.
The UK is taking up traditional US activities such as Christmas shopping bargain days that leave customers with empty wallets and a range of unwanted goods.
Black Friday has just passed and today is Cyber Monday. Each have become big shopping days on both sides of the Pond. Last Friday many people hit the shops attracted by huge price cuts and today the same is happening online. Is all as it seems though?
As usual the answer is probably not.
It is so easy to get sucked into spending unnecessarily. You buy in haste and repent at leisure. This year remember it is still in reality a consumer market. Businesses want your trade. That does not stop some of them throwing the odd rogue item into the pot.
This year more than ever retailers will be trying hard to get you to part with your hard-earned money. There will be pre-Christmas sales and bargains long after today. With Christmas a few weeks away perhaps it would be wiser to hang fire. Shop around, be it online or on the High Street, take your time and purchase well.
Bargains are sometimes far from that. They could be second-rate, last year's model or simply stock that is hard to shift. Once it is dressed up with a fancy cut-price sign you may find it hard to resist.
Consider all the implications of your purchase before you buy.
1- If you buy online there may be delivery charges but you will be saving a potentially expensive trip to town which could be full of hassle.
2 - Emails dropping into your inbox, that offer great bargains, can be tempting. However, if you purchase an item you had no intention of buying is it really a bargain? Probably not, especially if money is tight.
Having some idea of what you want to buy helps. If you shop "blind" you will be more likely to spend more than you should. Online retail oulets, just like the shops, are full of goods you never knew you wanted or needed and in many cases cannot afford.
Cyber Monday also increases the temptation to buy now and pay later. Not a good idea. Pay for purchases online with a switch or debit card so you are not paying for Christmas well into the New Year or even beyond.
One factor specific to the UK is that this week Chancellor George Osborne will announce to the country his Autumn statement, or Budget. It is doubtful that it will have a real positive effect on retail trade but it could. It could also cost you dearly in many ways. Brits take care and look after your money this cyber Monday.
Perhaps the rest of you would be wise to follow suit too!
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2 bedroom home with extra room for office or 3rd bedroom. Kitchen features Oak cabinets. Home features wood flooring in living area and large deck for entertaining. Pets negotiable with deposit.
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GRANT COUNTY, N.M. - "Everywhere I go, the kids call me the book lady," Dolly Parton said.
She may be known for her country hits, but for years Dolly Parton has been giving out books to homes all over the country, with the help of people like Barbara and Loren Nelson.
"Dolly started in an underserved mining area. And we thought we know an underserved mining area," Loren Nelson said.
These retired school teachers began Dolly's Imagination Library in Grant County with just a thousand dollars of their own money and donations from a few dozen businesses.
"There's great poverty. The people in Grant County can't afford to buy books," Nelson said. "We know because of all kinds of research how important it is to have books in the home. And quality books, not just for reading, but the snuggle, the family bonding. And so we decided this is going to be our passion."
While Dolly takes care of choosing and shipping the books, the local affiliates are in charge of raising the funds.
"We kind of work month-to-month-to-month, but we've been able to keep the program going," Nelson said.
Now, they've expanded into 22 of New Mexico's 33 counties. 18 of those are just partial expansions, and Bernalillo County is one example of that.
"I only have funds to work with families that work with zip codes in 87105 and 87121. And as we raise more money we'll open up more zip codes. We're anxious to do that," said John Heinrich, President of Libros for Kids, Imagination Library in Bernalillo County.
If you'd like to sign up for the program, go to imaginationlibrary.org and you can see if your zip code participates. Or to donate, go to that website as well to connect with a local affiliate.
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Following her acceptance into iPOP! after try-outs in Fort Walton Beach, Michelle Bryant is talking positively about her fast-approaching opportunity. In her mind, there are no ifs, ands or buts. She�s going. Period.
However, to participate in the program, Michelle must raise about $5,000 � and she needs to do it fast.
Michelle is signed with a New Orleans talent agency, which recently raised the possibility of her being cast as an extra in the HBO series �Treme.� However, the exposure budding performers receive at iPOP! reaches a wider audience, she said.
Locally, Michelle has garnered some name recognition. She has appeared in several Crestview High School drama productions, most recently appearing in May in �The Sound of Music� as Marta, one of the singing von Trapp children. She�s appeared on the Pearl Tyner Auditorium stage in �Touchtone M for Murder,� �The 21st Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee� and �Seussical the Musical.� She hones her already impressive vocal talents as a member of the elite Destiny show choir of the Crestview High chorus. In October, she was voted the Bulldogs� Homecoming queen.
In California, Michelle will do more than perform before an audience of casting directors, talent managers and theatrical agents. There are professional development and educational components to iPOP.
The program gives participants a taste of the entertainment world, including auditioning before professionals responsible for casting films, commercials and television shows, and for populating fashion show runways, according to the iPOP! website.
�Every performer auditions for qualified professionals who are currently working in the industry,� the iPOP website states. �Some will walk away with cash awards and scholarships and some will find success after the event in the acting, modeling and singing arenas.
Though Tinseltown visions dance in her head, Michelle concentrates on the latest high school production. When �It�s a Wonderful Life� opens Friday evening, Michelle will experience theatre from a different perspective than she�s used to.
As she prepares for the upcoming show, Michelle has been seeking sponsorships to attend iPOP. She hopes to attract local businesses willing to invest in her dream of becoming a professional entertainer. It�s a big investment, but it�s also an incredible opportunity, Michelle said. It could even propel her to national recognition.
There�s just no way a price tag could be attached to experience that valuable, Michelle said.
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While many restaurants in New York City have close relationships with farmers, and boast unimpeachable farm-to-table ethics, far fewer have actual gardens wherein they grow the produce that’s used on their plates. Six great restaurants with their very own gardens follow. Call them “roof to table.” By Jessica Allen.
Atop a 100-year-old building in the West Village grow lettuces, bicolor squash, fennel, dill, parsley, poblano peppers, Japanese eggplant, and tomatoes, among other things, using soil-less, solar-powered hydroponic technology. Bell, Book & Candle incorporates these and other vegetables and herbs into its New American food. Being so close to the source means the chefs don’t refrigerate the produce. In fact, they call the freshly grown produce “dormant, not dead,” since the roots are kept attached until the very last second before cooking.
Roberta’s might look like a bunker from the outside, but inside the message is all about love—love of good food, love of food to create change, love of the community that comes together around good food. Behind its scruffy exterior lie terrific pizza and pasta, a radio station, a greenhouse, and a very big garden. You can see what’s growing via the garden’s blog, with its photos of violets, edible weeds, raspberries, basil, strawberries, watermelon, peaches, chard, and blackberries, or you can take a seat in the wooden-paneled dining room, beneath a pizza party Barbie and board games, and order whatever’s just been harvested.
Like most Westin properties around the world, the newest one in New York City features luxurious amenities like the Heavenly Bed® (definitely worth its copyright in plushness), in-room Starbucks coffee, and special velour robes. But this hotel also has its very own organic garden, 384 feet above 42nd Street, supplying veggies and herbs to The LCL: Bar & Kitchen on site. This means fresh mint for mojitos and other cocktails, heirloom tomatoes for gazpacho and other dishes, mesclun lettuce for salads, grilled squash and zucchini as seasonal sides, and everything and anything else Executive Chef Brian Wieler (pictured) can cook up.
Modeled on a shebeen, an informal dining hall, and named for Nelson Mandela, Madiba claims to be the first South African restaurant of its kind in the United States. It opened in Fort Greene in 1999. Its rooftop garden is the source of at least some of the produce on the bushman’s vegetable platter (pictured), including yellow squash, asparagus, string beans, baby bok choy, corn on the cob, spinach, and fat triangles of garlic. This dish serves as a counterpart to meatastic South African braai, or barbecue, a specialty of the restaurant.
The people behind Brooklyn Grange, the world’s largest rooftop soil farms, helped construct a much smaller one atop Rosemary’s, an Italian enoteca and trattoria in the West Village. Here, on 1,700 square feet, grow peppers, radishes, arugula, basil, broccoli rabe, and all kinds of organic goodness. Picked produce arrives in the kitchen in a basket using a block and tackle. An actual basket! Not content with herbs and veggies, restaurateur Carlos Suarez has expanded the garden to include a chicken coop and beehive. Diners are sometimes allowed up for a peek.
When chef/restaurateur Jean-Georges Vongerichten and his partners decided to build a rooftop garden 10 stories above Broadway to supply ABC Kitchen with microgreens, herbs, and other produce, they sought out seeds from farmers at the Union Square Greenmarket. In addition to what gets harvested upstairs, the seasonal, oft-changing menu at this James Beard award-winning restaurant includes sustainable, locally sourced (when possible) meat, dairy, seafood, and produce, free of antibiotics and pesticides, along with beverages whose ingredients come from fair-trade cooperatives.
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In the past 11 months, Mauti has had to rely on his words unlike any other time in his life. Penn State’s leading tackler went from being a quiet, unquestioned leader to a harsh-talking student representative nearly overnight.
When a scandal and the ensuing fallout threatened to tear apart his team, all Mauti could fight back with were his words.
To Penn State fans, Michael Mauti was unknown in 2008.
His dad, Rich, had played for the Nittany Lions and went on to his own successful run in the NFL. His brother, Patrick, was a junior on the Nittany Lions. The youngest Mauti was just the new kid — Pat’s little brother — in the No. 42 jersey.
He introduced himself eight games into the season. With Michigan in town and threatening to take a two-possession lead at Beaver Stadium, Mauti flew down the field on kickoff coverage in the first quarter and exploded into Michigan return man Sam McGuffie.
The football popped free, and although the Wolverines recovered it, a psychological blow had been dealt. The packed stadium was rocking and the Penn State sideline drew sudden inspiration from Mauti’s jackhammer hit.
The Nittany Lions then rattled off 39 unanswered points to secure a 46-17 win.
It took a hit of that caliber to spark a young Mauti’s love of the game.
Although Rich Mauti played seven seasons in the NFL, he wouldn’t let his sons step on a football field until they were in seventh grade. In Michael’s case, he didn’t start playing until eighth grade.
It didn’t take long for the youngest Mauti to be put off by football.
So Mauti, the smallest kid on the team, let the season play out. Soon, an unwilling participant became the fiercest of competitors on the freshman team at Mandeville (La.) High School.
He started the season as a quarterback but soon found himself making plays on kickoff coverage.
It’s not that Mauti intends to injure opponents. He plays within the rules. But he won’t deny that football is a violent game and being the player to initiate contact is Mauti’s specialty.
If an opponent remembers Mauti’s number after a hit and has second thoughts about touching the football for the rest of the game, Mauti’s made a huge impact by his own standards.
“The feeling of the hit. The feeling of delivering a blow, it’s just — There’s something about it,” Mauti said.
It was the worst feeling of his playing career — laying on his back on the Beaver Stadium grass, staring up at a blue sky knowing it was happening all over again.
Mauti had torn an anterior cruciate ligament before, so he knew pretty quickly when his left leg buckled during the first quarter of the 2011 Eastern Illinois game that his left leg was shot before he even hit the ground.
After sutting out the entire 2009 season concentrating on rehabilitating his right knee, Mauti came back with a vengeance in 2010. He finished fifth on the team with 57 tackles.
An expanded on-field role would have to wait, however, following the early season injury to his left knee last season.
Mauti got luckier the second time around. When he was injured in 2009, he contracted a nasty case of strep throat. He lost nearly 30 pounds and couldn’t eat normally for weeks. Last fall, Mauti was able to stay relatively healthy except for the knee injury. He was able to concentrate on healing after his surgery and took a better approach to his rehab having gone through it just months before.
Then-defensive coordinator Tom Bradley wanted to keep his star linebacker involved with day-to-day operations. So Mauti became an extra coach, going so far as to call the majority of the defenses in the TicketCity Bowl after Bradley was promoted to interim head coach.
It helped having counsel from former Nittany Lions such as Jerome Hayes, Brennan Coakley and Sean Lee - who had been in Mauti’s situation, battling back from knee injuries.
Beyond two major knee injuries, Mauti has racked up the bumps and bruises one would expect of a brute who plays every snap with reckless abandon, thriving on collisions.
Mauti appeared in 11 games in 2010 and wouldn’t let a sprained ankle suffered against Iowa or a separated shoulder courtesy of Ohio State to keep him away from football.
Mauti learned over a tumultuous summer that he could take on an even greater role for a squad desperately in need of vocal leader.
When the NCAA came down on Penn State with a four-year bowl ban to go along with a $60 million fine and serious scholarship reductions, Mauti and teammate Michael Zordich got together with a plan to combat the NCAA’s harshest penalty.
The sanctions gave any Penn State player a free chance to transfer out of the program without giving up a year of eligibility. Some chose to do just that, and other college programs began contacting Penn State players, some even coming to campus on recruiting trips.
Mauti and Zordich took it personally. The duo made their way to Coach Bill O’Brien after the NCAA penalties were announced, and the next day made a statement outside of the team’s practice complex that Penn State players would stick together.
For the most part, the Nittany Lions have.
Mauti said he was honored to eulogize Joe Paterno at a memorial service following the longtime coach’s death in January. Speaking last in a line of players, each representing a decade Paterno in which coached, Mauti took to the lectern in the Bryce Jordan Center with no notes and spoke from the heart.
He told the story of his initial recruitment. Mauti’s family didn’t expect him to commit on the spot to Paterno, but that’s what happened. Mauti remembered Paterno giving him flack for getting kicked out of a drill for fighting as a freshman.
“‘Hey, your dad used to act like he was tough, too, trying to fight people all the time,’” Mauti said in his best high-pitched impression of Paterno.
Pat Fitzgerald’s eyes are trained to watch football and immediately evaluate.
When the Northwestern coach dissects an opposing team’s defense, his eyes go to the linebackers first. Fitzgerald, himself a college football hall of famer who played the position, sees no weaknesses in Mauti’s game.
Mauti won’t dwell on his past. He won’t allow the fear of being injured to creep into his mind.
He won’t let the negative white noise, the criticism of his team or school by outside talking heads, distract him. Like he did this summer, when other coaches were on Penn State’s campus, looking to lure Nittany Lion players way, Mauti will give them an earful. He’ll do everything in his power to keep opposing coaches away.
If that means he has to talk, so be it. Mauti said he would rather hit someone between the sidelines.
He’ll throw himself into Northwestern players with explosive zeal. He’ll get up off the pile of players and high step his way back to the Penn State sideline.
Mimicking his big-hit celebration at his seat in the Lasch Football Building, Mauti bounces both of his legs simultaneously so his knees come up above the table where he’s sitting.
Mauti’s presence is heavily requested these days. He does this interview, then he’s got to get going.
“For me, I’ve got nothing to lose, man,” he says. “I’m just playing every play like it’s my last.
“For all I know it could be taken away on any play.
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T-Mobile has just rolled out a service called HotSpot @Homethat allows you to use a WiFi-enabled cell phone to make calls via a wireless network. You'll still use the phone with regular cellular airwaves while on the move, but once you're in range of a T-Mobile Hotspot or a pre-configured WiFi access point, the phone will know to automatically switch over. The best part? Call minutes made via WiFi aren't deducted from your plan. That's right -- as long as you're within range of a wireless broadband network, you'll have unlimited calls. An added benefit to this is that you're almost guaranteed great signal strength when you're in a place with good WiFi coverage. And since T-Mobile is providing special T-Mobile configured D-Link and Linksys wireless routers that offer optimal @Home coverage, you might as well say Sayonara to that old-fashioned landline at home.
Compatible handsets at launch are the Samsung T409 and the Nokia 6086, which cost $49.99 each with a contract. When you sign up with the service, you'll get one of the aforementioned wireless routers for free after rebate, but any 802.11b-compatible router should work. The service is an additional $9.99 per month on top of your existing T-Mobile plan, and an additional $19.99 per month on family plans that have up to five handsets. Personally, I think it's a pretty cool idea, though I don't know if such a service will make up for the fact that T-Mobile has yet to roll out a proper 3G service like the rest of its competitors. We currently have the Samsung t409 plus a Hotspot-configured Linksys router in house, and will let you know what we think of it soon.
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The FINANCIAL (AD) -- ProCredit Bank has donated a unique ex libris collection to the National Centre of Manuscripts. This donation was part of a project jointly initiated by the National Centre of Manuscripts and ProCredit Bank, in which the Bank bought a unique collection of ex librises from a private individual living in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Many of the graphic images on the ex librises were the work of Georgian painters, so their donation to the National Centre of Manuscripts is a very important contribution to preserving the heritage of Georgian manuscripts. They carry additional information about the life and creative work of Georgia’s artists and important public figures.
“From ProCredit Bank’s side we are extremely delighted to have had the chance to support Georgia’s culture and inheritance of manuscripts. It’s extremely rewarding to have had the chance to hand over this unique and interesting collection of ex librises to the National Centre of Manuscripts; that we had the opportunity to obtain these very interesting examples of Georgian culture and history. By handing this collection today to the National Centre of Manuscripts we also, one more time, want to demonstrate our support for the development of Georgian culture. All in all I think it’s a very promising beginning for a hopefully fruitful and long-lasting relationship with the National Centre of Manuscripts,” said Sascha Ternes, General Director of JSC ProCredit Bank.
“In the National Centre of Manuscripts there are manuscripts, historical documents, archival materials and library collections. This is one of the largest collections across the country. It has been gathering material and growing since the 19th century; this process is still ongoing and will never be finished. The collection has mainly grown from people’s donations, except for a few exceptions. Over the years we received donations from individuals, families, from private companies, public and private organizations. And the result is a unique collection which is now protected by the National Centre of Manuscripts,” he added.
“Today, one of the priorities for us is searching for new materials and continuing the pursuit of our great ancestors, who began collecting such materials in the 19th century. We also have another sub-priority, as just like this material was found in a foreign country, great care is needed not to lose Georgia-related materials that may be located abroad. They shouldn’t fall into someone else’s hands, in some cases private collectors. Then the trace will be lost,” Buba Kudava said.
“We were searching over the internet with our colleagues for information of this sort, and we managed to connect with an individual in Thessaloniki, Greece. We asked them to send us information on a regular basis about Georgia-related materials. And indeed they sent us the ex libris collection and when we showed this material to experts, it turned out to be very interesting. There are many famous figures associated with these ex librises. On the one hand, one part of this collection was designed by well-known artists. The second part is known because it is created for famous statesmen, but by a lesser-known Georgian painter. The first is the Elene Akhvlediani ex libris, the second is the Sergo Kobuladze ex libris. We did not have a separate collection of ex librises until now. Of course there are such materials in archives and in books, but so far we have not had such an amount of ex librises,” he said.
“Ex librises were invented along with book printing and were an integral part of a book through the ages. Today, some of them are considered works of art. That is why participation in such a project is very important for ProCredit Bank, and we are very pleased that this unique ex libris collection has been added to the heritage of Georgian manuscripts,” said Sascha Ternes, General Director of JSC ProCredit Bank.
The term “ex libris” is Latin for “from the library of”, and is used to describe a printed label on the inside front cover of a book indicating the name of the owner. In the past, ex librises often took the form of a drawing, an emblem or an illustration of some famous event, sometimes by a famous artist.
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"Oh, you are stuck on homework problem number 13? I found a solution on YouTube. That helped a lot. Just Google it, you can find all the solutions."
The second problem is partially my fault. When I give an in-class assessment, I leave the solution out on the front desk so that students can check their answers when they are finished. Instead of studying this and figuring out their mistakes, students will usually just take a quick picture of the solutions using their phone. Of course they ask if it's OK to take a snapshot first, and I let them. However, the problem is that they think of the solution as something to collect rather than something to learn from.
Confusion is the sweat of learning.
You can't just google a physics solution and expect to learn. Imagine if Luke Skywalker had access to the Internet on Dagobah. Here's what would have happened when his x-wing sunk beneath the water.
Yoda: So certain are you? Always with you what cannot be done. Do you nothing that I say?
Luke: Master moving stones around is one thing, but this is entirely different. But let me just Google "how to lift an x-wing with the Force." Ah. Here it is.
Of course that's not what happened (I would make this alternate scene into a comic if I could actually draw). Luke learned about the Force by failing. Yes, students learn physics by working on problems and by failing to solve problems. It's the journey to the solution that's important, not the solution itself. Using a video solution would be like using a golf cart to run 5 miles. Sure, you end up in the same place if you run or ride—but they do not produce the same results.
But why do students think this? Why do they think learning is as simple as quick search or a photo with their smart phone? There are likely many reasons for students to hold these learning beliefs. However, I popular media often doesn't help. Remember this scene from The Avengers?
SHIELD agent Maria Hill asks Tony Stark: "When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Stark's answer: "Last night". This shows that Tony Stark is so awesome he just figured astrophysics out last night. Clearly, students feel that you have to be a special superhero to understand astrophysics. You either get it in one night, or you'll never get it. I would prefer to have Stark say "Well, I've been working in this field for 10 years and I'm just scratching the surface." Maybe that wouldn't fit too well in the movie.
Or here's another good one from Days of Thunder.
Cole pulls up to the race track to test out a stock car.
Harry Hogge: What do you know about stock car racing?
Cole Trickle: Well... watched it on television, of course.
Harry Hogge: You've seen it on television?
Cole Trickle: ESPN. The coverage is excellent, you'd be surprised at how much you can pick up.
Harry Hogge: I'm sure I would.
See. Learning is simple. You just need to watch some videos and you'll be all set—except when you aren't. Nope. Learning is tough, but it's totally worth it.
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These two healthcare REITs are trading for dirt-cheap valuations despite high dividends and a solid history of growth.
Investing in real estate investment trusts, or REITs, is one of the best ways to enjoy high dividends and the potential for capital growth. On a valuation basis, REITs specializing in healthcare properties are trading cheaply right now, and two seem to be a particularly good bargain: HCP Inc. (NYSE:HCP) and Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW).
This type of real estate should be an excellent long-term investment for three main reasons: demographics, increased healthcare spending, and market opportunity.
Demographics indicate a growing demand for healthcare properties over the coming decades. Simply put, the population is getting older -- fast. The 65-and-up population in the U.S. is expected to nearly double by 2050 as baby boomers age and live longer. Older individuals require more healthcare, therefore the number of healthcare facilities will grow to meet the demand.
Furthermore, healthcare costs are rising at a faster rate than other expenditures, as you can see in the chart below. Given that commercial properties derive most of their value from their ability to generate rental income, healthcare properties should appreciate faster than other property types as long as this trend continues.
Finally, the healthcare real estate market is about $1 trillion in size, and no REIT has more than a 3% market share. The industry is highly fragmented, meaning there are plenty of opportunities for new investments from existing properties, in addition to the opportunities that will come from future growth of the industry.
HCP is one of the "big three" healthcare REITs, and it owns 1,179 properties in a variety of categories -- mainly senior housing, post-acute care, life science, and medical office buildings. Essentially, the business model is to acquire attractive properties and team up with some of the best operating partners in the business, such as Brookdale Senior Living.
The company pays a notable 7.1% dividend yield and has an even more impressive record of dividend growth. In fact, HCP has increased its dividend for 31 consecutive years and is a member of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats.
HCP's biggest recent news item is the planned spinoff of its HCR ManorCare assets, which include virtually all of the post-acute/skilled-nursing properties in the company's portfolio. You can have an in-depth look at the spinoff, but the general goal is to allow HCP to focus on its private-pay senior housing, life science, and medical office properties, thereby improving portfolio quality and giving the company more financial flexibility to pursue future growth opportunities. The spun-off assets, meanwhile, will be placed in a newly created REIT that will strive to maximize their value.
According to HCP, once this happens, the company can employ several new strategies with these properties, including some that are not possible or practical while the assets are still a part of HCP.
Data source: HCP company presentation.
Medical Properties Trust focuses on hospital properties, which, according to the company, produce better initial yields than other types of healthcare real estate. In fact, the company is the fourth-largest owner of for-profit hospital beds in the country.
Data source: Medical Properties Trust.
The company has 204 properties located in 29 states and four foreign countries, and the long-term plan calls for even further international diversification. This way, if one market faces headwinds (say, the U.S.), it won't represent virtually all of Medical Properties' assets.
The company does have a relatively high debt load for a REIT: Debt represents 51.6% of Medical Properties' assets, so there's added risk to consider. However, 98% of the portfolio's leases have annual rent increases built in, and the company's payout ratio is less than two-thirds of FFO -- lower than that of most peers.
In short, there's no reason to believe Medical Properties Trust will have any debt-related issues going forward, with a growing stream of income that's already more than enough to cover the dividend.
Note: Share prices and guidance are current as of 5/23/16. Normalized or adjusted FFO guidance is used when available.
No stock with double-digit growth potential is without risk, and these two are certainly no exception. In fact, a higher level of perceived risk is responsible for the low valuations. Healthcare spending could slow, operating partners could face greater financial difficulties, or there could be a shortage of attractive acquisition opportunities in the target property types. Any one of these factors could cause these stocks to take a dive.
However, I think the growth potential and the solid track record of delivering profits in a variety of economic climates more than make up for the risks. Either of these healthcare REITs would make a solid addition to a well-diversified dividend growth portfolio.
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Up to an inch of snow is likely on the Eastern Shore and up into Sussex County Friday afternoon.
Below-freezing temperatures this week is leading to extra slippery roads Friday as snow falls across the Delmarva Peninsula.
Multiple school districts and Sussex County government offices have closed early for the afternoon snow that is supposed to linger into the early evening, according to Eswar Iyer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wakefield, Virginia.
"The heaviest snow should move east in the next couple hours and might not taper off until later afternoon and early evening," Iyer said just after 2 p.m.
Accumulation totals have not changed from the morning prediction of 1 inch, but some areas could see a little more, Iyer said.
Multiple vehicle crashes have been reported on the police scanner as roads have become icy, which is due to the cold temperatures leading up to Friday.
"When it’s colder, the snow is able to stick to the roads quicker, and your roads are going to get slick quicker," Iyer said.
The Ocean Police Police Department announced at 2:40 p.m. that westbound Route 90 lanes were closed because of a crash.
It could take up to two hours to clear the crash. Maryland State Police is investigating.
Rt. 90 is closed between Rt. 589 and Ocean Due to poor road conditions. Avoid the area.
Salisbury Police tweeted they have nine active crashes under investigation as at around 3 p.m.
"Snow catches us by surprise today and causes very icy road conditions," police said.
"Slow down, use caution if you must be on the roadways this afternoon."
Temperatures were forecasted to climb close to the freezing point for water in Salisbury, while Georgetown and Rehoboth Beach were only going to reach 28 degrees. It will be a little warmer in Ocean City and Accomac, with temperatures in the mid to upper 30s.
The temperature won't drop significantly at night, with a low of 20 degrees in Salisbury, 18 degrees in Georgetown and 26 degrees in Accomac.
Over the weekend, expect temperatures to rise into the 40s across Delmarva. By Monday or Tuesday, Delmarva residents can expect temperatures in the low 50s.
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Young Lions skipper Brad Galvin isn’t afraid of taking his side’s ‘scrappy’ style of play into Sunday’s semi final clash with Henwood Park. Galvin has headlined the Lions’ defensive unit from centre back this season, putting together a string of solid performances to contain rival sides to just 28 goals in their 19 games to date. Now, the 27-year-old is relishing the lead-up to a shot at grand final glory and says there’s no reason why his team mates can’t tough out another gritty win against the favoured Hawks. “We really toughed it out against Leeton last weekend but we’ve been doing that all year,” Galvin said. “It was a pretty scrappy win and we defended like our lives depended on it when they threw everything at us in the last few minutes.” Having only just taken over the captaincy from the unavailable Duncan Cameron, Galvin is facing the unusual prospect of being one of the side’s most senior players in just his second season at Hall Bros Oval. The defender also admitted his surprise at Young’s run to the finals but credited the injection of youth into the side. “We were really in a building phase last year and we copped a few floggings with all those juniors blokes coming in,” Galvin said. “Now, we’ve kept that core group together for two years and I think we’ve come along quicker than we anticipated. “That comes down to those younger boys in the side having an impact and guys like Alex Mitchell, who I’d say is one of the fastest blokes in the competition, and Pat Hislop have been real standouts all year.” All eyes are now fixed upon the task ahead - toppling the defending premiers. Galvin knows it’s no easy task but says the result will be vastly different from their 6-0 loss to Henwood Park in July. “We were missing a few players from our back line that game, so I think that probably affected us a fair bit,” Galvin said. “Still, we know they’ll be hard to get on top of and they’ll throw everything at us in attack. “We’ll just have to hold them out and look to hit them through counterattack.” While you’re with us, did you know that The Daily Advertiser is now offering sports and local events as part of its growing email newsletter service? Our sports email will keep the sports-mad up-to-date with a round-up of all the weekend’s sports action - sign up here.
LEADER OF THE PRIDE: Young Lions skipper Brad Galvin (right, pictured tackling Lake Albert's Henri Gardner in 2017) says his side won't shirk away from the tough stuff against Henwood Park in this weekend's semi final.
Young Lions skipper Brad Galvin isn’t afraid of taking his side’s ‘scrappy’ style of play into Sunday’s semi final clash with Henwood Park.
Galvin has headlined the Lions’ defensive unit from centre back this season, putting together a string of solid performances to contain rival sides to just 28 goals in their 19 games to date.
Now, the 27-year-old is relishing the lead-up to a shot at grand final glory and says there’s no reason why his team mates can’t tough out another gritty win against the favoured Hawks.
“We really toughed it out against Leeton last weekend but we’ve been doing that all year,” Galvin said.
But honestly, we don’t mind scrappy games like that - I’d be happy to grind out a 1-0 win every week if that’s what it takes.
Having only just taken over the captaincy from the unavailable Duncan Cameron, Galvin is facing the unusual prospect of being one of the side’s most senior players in just his second season at Hall Bros Oval.
The defender also admitted his surprise at Young’s run to the finals but credited the injection of youth into the side.
“We were really in a building phase last year and we copped a few floggings with all those juniors blokes coming in,” Galvin said.
“Now, we’ve kept that core group together for two years and I think we’ve come along quicker than we anticipated.
ROCK IN DEFENCE: Galvin clears the ball under pressure from Tolland's Ramon Atayde during a Pascoe Cup clash in 2018.
All eyes are now fixed upon the task ahead - toppling the defending premiers.
Galvin knows it’s no easy task but says the result will be vastly different from their 6-0 loss to Henwood Park in July.
“We were missing a few players from our back line that game, so I think that probably affected us a fair bit,” Galvin said.
“Still, we know they’ll be hard to get on top of and they’ll throw everything at us in attack.
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It’s dense, interesting, weird and funny, but what it’s all wrapped around is another “Chosen One” story that really feels drawn out and convoluted, crumbling into something tiresome and tedious.
Where the science-fiction genre is concerned, it’s not hard to at the very least appreciate the ambition of the storytelling. It takes an honest, extra layer of creativity to create a reality not bound by the restrictions of our own, and it can be a delight to watch a perfect mixture of detailed universe building mesh with smart, unique storytelling. Of course, this requires delicate balance, as a dip too far one way finds a convoluted mess, and a dip in the opposite direction creates something that ultimately feels hollow and incomplete. It is sadly the former trap to which Andy and Lana Wachowski’s Jupiter Ascending falls victim.
In a similar vein to what they were able to accomplish with previous sci-fi stories like The Matrix and Cloud Atlas, Jupiter Ascending is a narrative set in a vivid and comprehensive world. There are legions of soldiers who have had their DNA spliced with animals – like the wolf-infused Caine (Channing Tatum) or the bee-like Stinger (Sean Bean). There are galaxy-spanning businesses where worlds are held like long-term investments. There’s even intergalactic low-level bureaucracy that has all varieties of individuals waiting in lines and shuffling from one department to the next. It’s dense, interesting, weird and at times funny, but what it’s all wrapped around is another “Chosen One” story that really feels drawn out and convoluted, eventually crumbling into something tiresome and tedious – albeit consistently beautiful.
The Wachowskis do legitimately make good choices in the casting department, as both Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum make for fun, charismatic leads to take us through the story. Kunis stars as Jupiter Jones, an illegal alien living with her Russian immigrant family and working as a housekeeper living in modern day Chicago. As we see happen oh so often at the cinema, however, her life changes in an instant when she meets Caine (Tatum), an intergalactic bounty hunter. Jupiter is not only made aware of life on other planets, but also that she is the genetic recurrence of one of the most powerful women in the galaxy, and stands to literally inherent the Earth now that she has passed away. It’s a simple and rather familiar plot, but through a first act of enjoyable “awakening” material and sky-shredding action scenes, Jupiter Ascending holds its own.
It’s with the introduction of the trio of central villains that everything begins to fall apart – which is a sincere problem considering that they wind up completely driving the entire story. These are the three surviving members of the Abrasax family -- Balem (Eddie Redmayne), Titus (Douglas Booth) and Kalique (Tuppence Middleton) – and the sons and daughter of the woman whom Jupiter Jones is a genetic equal. Each of them has a personal desire to take control of the Earth – which is alternately described as being extremely valuable and just a single piece of a much larger business – but also each take their own place doing more harm to the movie than good. Kalique winds up being mostly useless to the story, simply providing huge amounts of exposition and then disappearing; Titus merely feels like a stall in the narrative, serving as what is really a fairly pointless obstacle; and Balem simply feels overcooked in every sense, with Redmayne giving a highly bizarre, scenery-chewing performance full of needless affectation that makes him stick out like a sore thumb (really making you wonder what kind of off-base directions he was being given by the Wachowskis). As Jupiter Ascending’s plot encounters these characters, the film begins to degrade faster and faster, exploring needless and unnecessary elements of the sci-fi world that do more subtraction than addition.
At this point in their careers, Andy and Lana Wachowski have become better known for their visual flash and style, and it serves the movie well. Their flair is apparent from the costume and makeup work (the idea of DNA splicing works magic in this department) to the production design, and it all serves to provide Jupiter Ascending with a unique feel (even when it wears references to movies like Brazil on its sleeve). Immense credit also goes to the visual effects teams, who not only render some fantastic air battles and spaceships, but also expansive alien environments that do their part to make the audience feel like they’re being taken to a different world. All of this spectacle doesn’t make up for the fact that character motivations are at times completely dubious, and that the third act drags on far too long, but it does help.
It’s hard to really begrudge a film like Jupiter Ascending, both for its creative scope and in that it is one of the few-and-far-between female-led action movies, but it is equally hard to validate it beyond those elements, it’s aesthetics, and the casting of the leads. There is perhaps a better feature that exists partially on the cutting room floor – explaining some of the more bizarre plot developments/holes – or one that could have been made with just a few tweaks to the screenplay. But the movie that will be hitting theaters this week is best described as unfortunate.
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For a career that once seemed so good on paper, the crisis in teacher recruitment is now hardly ever out of the news.
There are not enough people signing up to become teachers and too many are dropping out - some experienced due to the stress and increase in workload but often the newly qualified leave the profession, unprepared for the life in the classroom.
School lead Andrew Truby, a national leader of education, is determined to change the narrative about teaching as a profession.
He feels school leaders have it in their gift to change this situation on the ground by making brave decisions and by investing in the professional culture so that schools become irresistible places to work.
At St Thomas of Canterbury School, in Meadowhead, where Mr Truby is executive headteacher, there is a 100 per cent school-based teacher training school which is going from strength-to-strength.
The outstanding Ofsted-rated school became a teaching school in 2015, and works with partner schools in the Learning Unlimited Teaching School Alliance.
The alliance, based in a modern training facility at the school, takes on School Direct trainees on a year-long programme.
Each student is placed in one of 14 partner schools across Sheffield, Doncaster and Chesterfield for the entire programme, where they will work for a year alongside outstanding and primary class teachers.
Teaching school manager, Anita Bray, said: "The beauty of this course is that trainee teachers are based in a school for the whole programme.
"They encounter children and liaise with parents. They do things like parents evening - all the nitty gritty.
"The trainee teachers have been there and have done it, they have had that experience which is much different from doing it in classrooms."
During the course, students spend time in another of the partner schools so they get to experience life in two schools.
They are given a mentor who, at first, they observe, then plan lessons alongside before the mentor oversees the trainee teacher planning and delivering the lessons.
The trainee teachers meet once a week at the School Direct hub session for training, with specialist leaders of education or subject specialists coming in to take sessions.
Teaching school director, Sarah Rockliff, described the process as 'learning by doing'.
She said: "Trainee teachers are in classrooms and they are coming to hub sessions and picking up ideas about teaching and learning and then the next day they get the chance to put that into practice.
"Teaching is a craft and the only way to become a master of your craft is to keep practising it."
She added: "After only a few weeks the trainees start to refer to their partner school as 'my school' and they feel a real connection to the school they are working in and are invested in the children. That adds to the motivation.
"It's a hard course and requires a lot of hard work."
The alliance was established in 2015 and the first cohort of students all gained jobs after completing the course.
Trainees come from a variety of backgrounds, some have been teaching assistants or involved in education, while others are looking for a career change.
Trainee teacher Nick Walker, aged 31, taught English abroad before returning to England to further his career.
He said: "I have been teaching for five years already and I thought it would be beneficial to me to be in a hands-on situation and seeing what it was like day-today.
"I was at university 10 years ago. I wanted to carry on learning and this feels like a job whereas if I'd gone back to university it would have felt like a step backwards."
Former secondary school teaching assistant Kirsty Norris, 25, said: "You see the reality of life in a school. You experience parents' evening and when sometimes your lessons plans just don't work.
"It's hard work but you know that next year it will all be worth it."
Mr Truby, who is strategic lead for the alliance, said recruiting teachers ready for the classroom had been a challenge in the past.
"Recruitment of high quality teachers is an ongoing challenge for schools and in the past the newly qualified teachers who we did appoint were not ready for the classroom," he said.
"Through our 100 per cent school-based teacher training route, our School Direct trainee teachers experience the full school year in a primary school.
"When they start in their NQT year, they are confident in subject knowledge, planning, marking, assessment as well as knowing how the school works throughout the year."
He felt the perception around teaching needed to change because it is 'the best job in the world'.
He added: "Although teaching as a career gets a really bad press and there is a lot of talk about workload, we believe that the schools who invest in their culture will have an easier job recruiting and retaining the best teachers.
"We spend time making our schools a positive place to work because happier teachers mean happier children.
"It is time to change the narrative about this profession because we believe that teaching is the best job in the world."
The alliance is still recruiting trainees for September when it will start two new programmes. In addition to general primary, there will be a primary with maths and an early years route.
===
Maddie Hinch and her England team-mates should be proud of their Hockey Women’s World Cup exploits, according to their head coach.
The West Chiltington-based goalkeeper’s dreams of adding another medal to her collection were extinguished last Thursday night as they were knocked out at the quarter-final stage.
The hosts nation suffered a 2-0 defeat to defending champions Netherlands at the Lee Valley Hockey Centre in London.
Lidewij Welten opened the scoring for the Dutch in the first quarter and Laurien Leurink then doubled the lead early in the second half as the world number one side dominated.
The Dutch went on to beat Australia in the semi-finals and then overcame shock finaliasts Ireland with a crushing 6-0 victory in Sunday’s final to retain their crown.
It wasn’t the tournament England were expecting after drawing their opening two Pool B matches. They then beat Ireland to finish second in the group, but had to beat South Korea in the crossover game to make the main knockout stages.
Head coach Danny Kerry, however, defended his team’s performance and pointed to the difficulties they had faced.
He said: “I told the players I was really proud. We have had a tough tournament with injury and for all sorts of reasons.
“One of our players played the entire tournament with a broken big toe but they all grit it out and carried on.
Hinch won Olympic gold on 2016 and Commonwealth Games bronze in Australia earlier this year.
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councilors at the USC Annenberg School for Communication.
Arkansas governor and congressman who joined the board in 2006.
renewed attention to noncommercial broadcasting.
The elections came at CPB&apos;s board meeting in New Orleans Tuesday (Nov.
16). Ramer succeeds Ernie Wison as chairman.
The newly elected chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting talks with B&C’s John Eggerton about transforming noncommercial broadcasting into multiplatform, locally-focused public-service media.
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Anna C. Christensen has been a supporter of family planning since high school, when she stuffed envelopes as a volunteer at a Planned Parenthood affiliate in California. Now a Tucson resident, she continues to advocate for reproductive rights and sexual health.
Planned Parenthood Arizona serves more than 100,000 families every year; maybe your family is one of them.
Tucson is home to the Margaret Sanger Health Center, namesake of Planned Parenthood's founder. A century ago, Margaret Sanger was a New York City nurse who witnessed the horrors of women dying prematurely after having too many children, while others died from botched abortions. This experience motivated her to become an activist for the availability and legality of contraception. Sanger was a controversial figure—and that controversy lingers to this day.
Sanger first visited Tucson in the 1930s, when she helped set up the Tucson Mother's Health Clinic (also called Clinica Para las Madres), Planned Parenthood of Southern Arizona's precursor. Sanger, bedeviled by health problems, was drawn by Tucson's climate. Her husband was drawn by Arizona's lack of income tax, and in 1933, they purchased an adobe house in the foothills.
In the early '40s, Sanger and her husband moved closer to the city's heart, as gasoline rations dulled suburbia's attractiveness. They moved into a house on Elm Street, just east of the Arizona Inn. Before his death, her husband obtained an empty lot on Sierra Vista Drive, a stone's throw from their Elm Street residence. Sanger's son Stuart built a house on one side, and Sanger decided to build her dream home on the other.
Sanger's homes hosted lavish parties as well as fundraisers for organizations like Planned Parenthood of Southern Arizona and the Tucson Medical Center (of which she was also a co-founder). She took up hobbies such as cooking and watercolor; today, many of her original paintings adorn the walls of Planned Parenthood administrative headquarters in Tucson, the building that was named in her honor.
Planned Parenthood, in Arizona and nationwide, is currently under attack. Republicans in the House of Representatives voted to do away with Title X, a national program providing preventive health care to low-income patients; the fate of Title X is now in the Senate's hands. Since 1970, when President Richard Nixon signed it into law, it has helped millions of women access services such as contraception, preventing an estimated 973,000 unintended pregnancies and 406,000 abortions every year.
Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), meanwhile, seeks to interfere with services covered by private insurance. By cutting off federal funds for insurance companies that cover abortions—even when the tax dollars aren't put toward abortion coverage—his bill would deny women the legal right to an abortion, guaranteed by the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. It would also impose tax penalties on those whose insurance offers such coverage.
In Arizona, families are facing further potential threats as the Republican-controlled Legislature introduced several anti-women's-health initiatives this year. HB 2384 would make Planned Parenthood newly ineligible for the Arizona Working Poor Tax Credit. HB 2416 would cause additional obstacles to abortion access, including changing the definition of "surgical abortion" to include abortion by pill, which could cut off rural women from abortion services. HB 2443 would infringe upon patient privacy by denying care to women who refuse to disclose the reasons behind their decision to abort.
A century ago, Margaret Sanger witnessed tragedies that resulted from unintended pregnancies. In response, she illegally smuggled diaphragms into the country and opened family-planning clinics in defiance of the law—and spent time in jail for her troubles. This is the world Sanger and other birth-control activists came from, and it's the world lawmakers are trying to bring back.
Don't stand for it. Talk to your friends; write to your representatives; vote; volunteer; and visit www.standwithplannedparenthood.org to show your support for Planned Parenthood's crucial work.
===
The Las Vegas real estate market got a small reprieve in February; with sales volume at a four-year high for the month and a dip in foreclosure resales helping prices increase slightly from January. A total of 3,698 new and existing houses and condos were sold in the Las Vegas-Paradise metro area in February, according to MDA DataQuick. That’s up 9.8% from January and 10.5% from one year ago. A 5.7% increase from January to February is the average, dating back to 1994, DataQuick said. The February 2010 total was the highest for the month since 2006, when 6,065 homes were sold, but 2% below the 16-year average February sales total. It’s the 18th straight month that total sales rose year-over-year. Existing home sales totaled 3,311, up 7.1% from January and up 9.5% from last year. It’s the highest total for February existing sales since 2005. Existing home sales are on a 22-month-long run of monthly year-over-year increases. Foreclosure resales accounted for 59.6% of all resales in February, down from 62% in January and down from 70.6% last year. After peaking in April 2009 at 73.7%, foreclosure resales have declined every month. While foreclosure resales were down, foreclosure proceedings were up. In February, 1,756 homes and condos were foreclosed on in Las Vegas, up 5.3% from January, but down 52.8% from 3,718 foreclosures last year. New home sales totaled 387 in February, up 40% from January and up 20.2% from last year, but it was one of the slowest February sales totals in DataQuick’s 16 years of records, second only to last year. The decline in foreclosure resales and the increase in new home sales helped the median price increase from January, but only slightly. The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the Las Vegas metro area in February was $126,197, up 0.4% from $125,750 in January but down 17.2% from $152,500 a year earlier. DataQuick said the year-over-year decline was the smallest since March 2008, when the median dropped 16% from a year earlier, to $247,925. In addition, sales of homes over $200,000 made up 22.4% of total sales, up from 21.3% in January but down from 30.8% a year earlier. The median sales price is on a 34-month-long run of monthly year-over-year declines and in February 2010, was 59.6% below the peak median of $312,000 in November 2006. The median price for single-family homes was $133,800 in February, down from $135,000 in January and down from $157,000 last year. The median condo sales price was $69,000, even from January, but down 9.2% from $76,000 last year. Nearly half — 49.8% — of borrowers that used mortgages to fund home purchases used government-backed Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans. Cash buyers accounted for 51.5% of all February sales, up from 50.4% in January. DataQuick defines cash borrowers as those purchases where there was no indication of a purchase mortgage recorded at the time of sale, but can include those that used alternative financing arrangements and in some cases borrowers might be taking out mortgages after their purchases. Absentee buyers, usually investors, but anyone who indicates at the time of sale that the property tax bill will go to a different address, accounted for 44.6% of all Las Vegas area home sales. However, house flipping declined. Homes sold in February that had previously sold in the past three weeks to six months accounted for 3.7% of all sales, down from 5% in January, but up from 2.6% last year. Write to Austin Kilgore.
===
Jesse Winker will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery. He was batting .299 this year with 7 homers and 43 RBI.
Throughout the last couple of seasons, Jesse Winker dealt with pain his right shoulder.
After he felt more pain Monday, it was determined that Winker would need surgery to repair his shoulder. He will miss the remainder of the season.
The Reds placed Winker on the 10-day disabled list Thursday with a right shoulder subluxation.
"Man, I have no idea it is," said Winker. "I know my shoulder hurts. That’s all I know."
Winker said the pain was "off and on" all season but Monday was essentially the final straw.
On first base during a comeback win over the St. Louis Cardinals, Winker ducked under a line-drive single from Tucker Barnhart in the ninth inning and fell to the ground on the base paths. Winker later scored the game-winning run.
A potential Rookie of the Year candidate, Winker was batting .299 this season with seven homers and 43 RBI. The outfielder ranked fourth in the Majors with a .405 on-base percentage. He had more walks (49) than strikeouts (46).
Speaking to reporters Thursday, Winker was emotional about the end of his season.
"Obviously, I was hoping that surgery wasn’t the end result but I’ve been dealing with this for 2-3 years," Winker said. "Just got to the point now where it’s time to go fix it."
It's a tough loss for the Reds' lineup, which was already without outfielder Scott Schebler. On the DL, Schebler began a rehab assignment Wednesday, going 1-for-3 with a walk as a designated hitter at Triple-A Louisville.
Winker, based on what he's been told from doctors, said his goal is to return by Feb. 1, 2019. He said he felt the pain when he completed "any baseball move."
"There were times where it affected his swing," Reds interim manager Jim Riggleman said. "He altered his swing path because of the pain. That’s a tough way to play at the Major League level. He did a heck of a job. I don’t think anybody realized that he was going through it as much as he was."
Mason Williams, an outfielder at Louisville, was called up to fill Winker’s roster spot. Williams played in 25 games with the New York Yankees over the past three seasons.
A left-handed hitter, Williams signed with the Reds as a minor league free agent last offseason.
Williams was batting .280 with six homers and 30 RBI in 87 games at Louisville. He recorded a hit in 13 of his last 14 games.
"It’s been a matter of me being healthy and staying on the field and playing my game and just having confidence in myself," Williams said.
Williams, once considered the Yankees' top prospect, learned of his promotion to the big leagues Thursday morning.
He played on the same high school team in Florida as Cardinals pitcher Austin Gomber, who had a no-hitter against the Reds for six innings Tuesday. The two players will sometimes train together in the offseason.
To make room on the 40-man roster for Williams, the Reds moved injured infielder Alex Blandino (torn ACL in his right knee) to the 60-day DL.
"He’s had productive at-bats, competitive at-bats, against both left-and-right-handed pitching," Riggleman said of Williams. "He’s a good athlete. We’re confident he will come up here and do a good job."
SCHEBLER STILL PROGRESSING: Schebler was in Louisville's lineup as a designated hitter for his second rehab game Thursday.
But the key to his return will be when he's comfortable making throws.
===
Rafael Nadal became the first man to win eight titles at the same Grand Slam tournament after beating fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in the French Open final on Sunday.
If Rafael Nadal truly was going to be challenged, if his bid for an unprecedented eighth French Open championship would be slowed even a bit, this might have been the moment.
Leading by a set and a break 70 minutes into Sunday's final against David Ferrer, another generally indefatigable Spaniard, Nadal faced four break points in one game. The last was a 31-stroke exchange, the match's longest, capped when Nadal absorbed Ferrer's strong backhand approach and transformed it into a cross-court backhand passing shot.
Ferrer glared at the ball as it flew past and landed in a corner, then smiled ruefully. What else was there to do? Dealing with Nadal's defence-to-offence on red clay is a thankless task. His rain-soaked 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Ferrer on was Nadal's record 59th win in 60 matches at the French Open and made him the only man with eight titles at any Grand Slam tournament.
"I never like to compare years, but it's true that this year means something very special for me," Nadal said, alluding to the way he managed to come back from a left knee injury that sidelined him for about seven months.
"When you have a period of time like I had," he added, "you realize that you don't know if you will have the chance to be back here with this trophy another time."
But he does it, year after year.
He won four French Opens in a row from 2005-08, and another four in a row from 2010-13.
"Rafael was better than me," said Ferrer, who had won all 18 sets he'd played the past two weeks to reach his first Grand Slam final at age 31. "He didn't make mistakes."
A week past his 27th birthday, Nadal now owns 12 major trophies in all — including two from Wimbledon, one each from the U.S. Open and Australian Open — to eclipse Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver and equal Roy Emerson for the third-most in history. Nadal trails only Roger Federer's 17 and Pete Sampras' 14.
"Winning 17 Grand Slam titles, that's miles away," Nadal said with his typical humility. "I'm not even thinking about it."
This was Nadal's first major tournament after a surprising second-round loss at Wimbledon last June. Since rejoining the tour in February, he is 43-2 with seven titles and two runner-up finishes. He's won his past 22 matches.
"For me, it's incredible," said Toni Nadal, Rafael's uncle and coach. "When I think of all that Rafael has done, I don't understand it."
Let's be plain: No one, perhaps not even Ferrer himself, expected Nadal to lose Sunday.
That's because of Nadal's skill on clay, in general, and at Roland Garros, in particular, but also because of how Ferrer had fared against his friend and countryman — and video-game competitor — in the past.
Ferrer entered Sunday 4-19 against Nadal. On clay, Nadal had 16 consecutive victories over Ferrer, whose only head-to-head win on the surface came the first time they played, in July 2004, when Nadal was 18.
Nadal had yet to make his French Open debut then, missing it that year because of a broken left foot. On May 23, 2005, Nadal played his first match at Roland Garros, beating Lars Burgsmuller 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-1 on Court 1, known as the "bullring" because of its oval shape.
And so began the reign.
Nadal won a record 31 consecutive matches at the French Open until the fourth round in 2009, when Robin Soderling beat him. In 2010, Nadal started a new streak, which currently stands at 28.
There was occasional shakiness this year. Nadal lost the first set of each of his first two matches, and was pushed to a tiebreaker to begin his third. His fourth match, a straight-set win against No. 15 Kei Nishikori, "was a major step forward," Nadal said. Still, he barely edged No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic in a thrilling semifinal that lasted more than 4 1/2 hours and ended 9-7 in the fifth set Friday.
By any measure, that match was far more enjoyable to take in than the final, akin to dining on a filet mignon accompanied by a well-aged bottle of Bordeaux — each bite and sip rich, textured — one day, then grabbing a hot dog and can of soda from a street vendor 48 hours later.
Under a leaden sky that eventually would release a steady shower from the second set on, Ferrer felt nerves at the outset, he acknowledged later. But after the players traded early breaks, Ferrer held for a 3-2 lead.
That's when Nadal took over, winning seven games in a row and 12 of 14 to render the ultimate result pretty clear. It was as if he simply decided, "Enough is enough." His court coverage was impeccable, as usual, showing no signs of any problems from that left knee, which was supported by a band of white tape. His lefty forehand whips were really on-target, accounting for 19 of his 35 winners and repeatedly forcing errors from Ferrer.
When Nadal did have lapses, he admonished himself, once slapping his forehead with his right palm after pushing a lob wide. But what's demoralizing for opponents is the way Nadal slams the door when they have openings, then rushes through when he gets the slightest chance.
He was at his relentless best on key points, including those four break chances for Ferrer at 3-1 in the second set. Immediately after, Nadal broke to 5-1 on a forehand winner down the line.
As Nadal prepared to serve in the next game, a man wearing a white mask and carrying a fiery flare jumped out of the stands nearby. The intruder quickly was shoved to the ground by one security guard, while another went to protect Nadal.
"I felt a little bit scared at the first moment," Nadal said, "because I didn't see what's going on."
It happened within a few minutes of other actions by protesters, including chanting from the upper deck that briefly delayed play. Police said seven people were held for questioning.
Nadal got broken in that game, then broke back right away to take the second set.
The third set was similar to the first. It was 3-all, then suddenly over. Nadal took the last three games, ending the match with a forehand winner before dropping his racket and falling on his back, leaving a rust-colored smudge on his white shirt and flecks of clay on his stubbled cheeks. Soon he was standing, holding his index finger aloft.
Yes, Nadal is No. 1 at the French Open, without a doubt. When the ATP rankings are issued Monday, however, he will be No. 5, due to points he dropped while hurt. Oddly enough, Ferrer will be at No. 4.
"Yeah, it's strange, no? I lost the final against Rafael, but tomorrow I am going to be No. 4 and him No. 5," Ferrer said with a grin, then delivered his punchline: "I prefer to win here and to stay No. 5."
Sorry, David. This is Nadal's tournament.
Now the question becomes: Is eight enough?
===
Combined company will make Chevron second-largest petroleum producer in the world.
The combined company will remain far behind Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc. in market capitalization, but Chevron will jump from being the world's fourth biggest energy producer, to second, according to Wood Mackenzie.
The cash-and-stock deal announced Friday comes as U.S. crude prices have shot up 40% this year.
Chevron gets access to Anadarko's liquid natural gas operations in Mozambique and it would control a 75-mile-wide corridor across the Delaware Basin, a region bountiful with natural gas.
Oil prices have been on the rise as OPEC members cut production.
OPEC said this week that its output had been slashed by more than a half million barrels a day last month to just over 30 million barrels, a level not seen since early 2015.
U.S. crude was selling for nearly $65 per barrel Friday. But there are signals that global economic growth is slowing.
Shares of Anadarko jumped 33 percent Friday, while Chevron's stock fell 5 percent.
===
No longer limited to calling other Jaxtr users, the service is taking cue from Skype for its revenue strategy.
Jaxtr, the dial-around service (see Jaxtr makes click-to-call really simple) that lets you make free calls to those people who have at one point called you via the Jaxtr widget, is launching a new service that lets you bypass the step of first connecting with callers via the Internet.
Now you can make "out of network" calls directly from you mobile phone to anyone in the world. These calls aren't free, though. As in Skype, if you want to use this service to call people on regular phones, you've got to buy credits on the system against them. Rates are either good or great, depending on where you're calling: For example, calling a landline or mobile phone in China is one cent a minute, but a call to a mobile in the U.K. is 15 cents a minute.
In order to make out-of-network calls, you call a central Jaxtr number that's local to you, and then tell it who you want to reach. Then it calls you back and connects you--the typical dial-around procedure. But with Jaxtr, you can save the incoming number and use it the next time you want to reach the same person.
Skype has shown that a free telephony service can turn its free users into paying customers. Jaxtr also has another revenue stream: It has a free SMS service, in which message lengths are even more limited than normal text messages to Jaxtr can insert paid 40-character-long ads at the ends of messages.
Jaxtr is also announcing that it has closed a second round of funding: $10 million, led by Lehman Brothers. Jaxtr's first round was also $10 million, and the initial investors are contributing in this B round.
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YOKOHAMA, Japan – Nissan Motor Co. announced it has licensed its Around View Monitor and Moving Object Detection technology, jointly developed with Clarion Co for use by Hitachi Construction Machinery Co.
These two systems are the building blocks of autonomous driving technology that will operate commercially viable Nissan Autonomous Drive vehicles by 2020.
The Around View Monitor is a parking support system that offers the driver a bird's eye view of the vehicle's surroundings in real time using four exterior cameras.
MOD is a driving assistance technology that analyzes the images from the AVM cameras to detect moving objects around the vehicle and warn the driver with visual and audio alerts.
Since the market launch of AVM in 2007 and MOD in 2010, both firsts for any automaker, Nissan has steadily expanded its safety technology offerings, which have become a cornerstone of autonomous drive technology development.
The licensing agreement enables Hitachi Construction Machinery to provide AVM and MOD technology to its massive haul trucks and hydraulic excavators working at large open-pit mines.
When drivers start operating the vehicle, drop cargo, back up to load cargo, or when a hydraulic shovel is used in close proximity to the vehicle, the AVM-MOD technology detects any movement or workers in the area around it in real time, enabling the driver to work with greater situational awareness which enhances safety.
Nissan will contribute to the growth of technology through the application of its unique technologies and know-how for its own use as well as in a variety of fields.
Profit generated through the effective use of these intangible assets will be invested in new technology development, further contributing to Nissan's technological competence.
Autonomous Drive is being developed to help lower the element of human error during driving and contribute to a reduction in the number of accidents and injuries related to automobiles.
The licensing of this technology is an example of Nissan's intention to offer the AVM and MOD technology to other industries beyond the automotive sector.
Through the wider application of its safety technologies Nissan aims to do its part in contributing to the development of society.
March 6, 2019, 4:14 p.m.
Feb. 28, 2019, 8:34 a.m.
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A three member bench of the Supreme Court has adjourned the hearing of Orange Line Metro Train case till Friday.
During the course of proceedings today, the court summoned the Chairman Planning Commission, the Secretary Finance and the NAB prosecution team on the next hearing.
In his remarks, Justice Azmat Saeed said work on the project should not stop because of funds.
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A concrete slab and 10-foot high block walls with exposed rebar sit behind a chain link fence as an ugly reminder of how quickly the oceanfront condominium market crashed here in 2008.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH — A concrete slab and 10-foot high block walls with exposed rebar sit behind a chain link fence as an ugly reminder of how quickly the oceanfront condominium market crashed here in 2008.
But on the ruins of the partially built former Vizcaya condominium complex, which was abandoned during the Great Recession, a new developer is looking to build a new luxury condo complex, but with a different design and a new name: Waterford.
The planned 19-unit complex at 807 S. Atlantic Ave. would be the first oceanfront condo project to be built in Southeast Volusia in six years.
St. Petersburg-based Eckall Development says it already has two reservations for condo units at Waterford.
The city’s planning board on Monday will consider a new site plan for the seven-story building that developers hope to begin building by the end of the year.
Condo demand in New Smyrna Beach is on the rise.
From March through June, condo sales rose 34 percent to 205 this year from 153 last year, according to the New Smyrna Beach Board of Realtors. The median sale price in June was $189,000, up 6 percent from $139,000 a year ago, but slightly down from $212,500 in April, the highest level in 1.5 years.
A declining inventory is also fueling a rise in prices. The number of condos for sale in Southeast Volusia fell 22 percent to 462 in June, the lowest level in at least 4-1/2 years, from 594 a year ago.
A Winter Park developer started building the proposed nine-story, 19-unit Vizcaya condo project in 2007, but abandoned the project the following year.
That left a development site where 193 pilings had already been pounded into the earth, a slab poured and blocks laid for the first-floor walls. The property has remained in that state ever since.
Eckall Development bought the property in December for $1.1 million, according to Volusia County property records. The existing infrastructure was tested and is sound, said Lee Allen, a company principal.
Allen and Ken Eckelkamp, the founders of Eckall Development, say they are already familiar with Southeast Volusia having previously worked for JMC Communities, which built the 310-unit Minorca condo complex at the north tip of New Smyrna Beach between 2002 and 2007 and the 39-unit Seacrest condo complex in 2007 at 4071 S. Atlantic Ave. in New Smyrna Beach.
The last oceanfront condo started in the city was The Wave in 2007 at 2801 Hill St. The project was only 80 percent completed in 2008 when it was foreclosed and abandoned. Houston-based Silvestri Investments, which owns the Oceanwalk Condominiums in New Smyrna Beach, bought The Wave in late 2009, completed construction and has sold 10 of the 11 units.
Eckall Development needs to sell at least 11 units at Waterford before it can start construction, Allen said.
The company is offering six floor plans, including two penthouse units, each three bedrooms and three bathrooms. The units range in size from 1,845 square feet to 3,088 for a penthouse.
Prices currently range from $700,000 to $1.6 million, but are expected to rise once construction starts, Collado said.
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A primary school caretaker has been found guilty of attacking a group of teenagers.
Karl Lucas, 27, of Manor Fields, Horsham, who is employed as a premises officer at the Three Bridges Primary School, Gales Drive, was involved in an attack on five teenagers.
West Sussex County Council said Lucas was not currently at work. Sussex Police said at about 5pm on July 12 last year a group of teenagers, two aged 18, and three 16 year olds, were attacked by two men as they walked in Manor Fields Park, Horsham.
The men tried to grab the teenagers’ football and cricket bat after confronting them. The two 18-year-old victims were each punched during the incident. One suffered minor cuts but the other was not injured.
Karl Lucas, 27, and Ben Lucas, 24, of Denne Road, Horsham, pleaded guilty to affray when they appeared at Lewes Crown Court on June 22.
They were both ordered to do 100 hours of community service and made to pay costs, £100 compensation and a £60 victim surcharge.
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It may be noted that Air India's was the only service that plied between Madurai and Mumbai.
Some passengers pointed out that all the tickets used to be sold out during the festive season and summer.
Chennai: Much to the chagrin of air passengers and traders of Madurai, Air India announced the temporary cancellation of its Mumbai to Madurai flight via Chennai from July 12 to July 31, citing low patronage to the service that has been catering to passengers of the southern districts for almost 42 years.
Although the announcement of cancelling AI671 (Mumbai to Madurai) and AI672 (Madurai to Mumbai) said that the cancellation has been done on a temporary basis, Air India sources said that the operation of the service from August 1 would be decided in the coming days. AI671 was taking off from Mumbai and reaching Chennai at 10.45 am every day from 1976.
The flight would leave for Madurai at 11.30 am. It was taking off from Madurai to reach Chennai at 2.15 pm. The decision was taken at a time when local passengers are demanding a direct service from Madurai to Mumbai.
“Private airlines are operating as many as 16 services between Chennai and Madurai. But Air India claims that the flight has low patronage. How can a private player operate flights without patronage? Air India is making way for private airlines,” a regular passenger alleged.
It may be noted that Air India's was the only service that plied between Madurai and Mumbai. “Many traders were using the Air India flight to send their jasmines, vegetables and other agricultural products to Mumbai for years. Withdrawing the flight service will hurt traders and farmers of the southern districts,” the passenger added.
Some passengers pointed out that all the tickets used to be sold out during the festive season and summer. “On normal days too, nearly 80 percent tickets were sold for the Air India flight. The claims of poor patronage made by the authorities are misleading,” they alleged.
Meanwhile, union minister Pon. Radhakrishnan said that he would talk to the Civil Aviation Minister to operate the existing flight service and an additional flight between Madurai and Mumbai.
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It's not always easy to keep mentally focused during running. Focus requires discipline and a certain level of mental toughness, meaning that you have developed the capacity to perform to the best of your ability despite external conditions or internal distractions. You can minimize distractions and help yourself stay focused by implementing self-help techniques and maintaining a positive, nonjudgmental attitude.
Mentally tough athletes push through and overcome obstacles to stay focused on their ultimate goal. Developing the traits that characterize mental toughness can help you remain focused during running. According to sports psychologist JoAnn Dahlkoetter in an article for the online runner's resource, "Competitor," several characteristics or traits tare commonly identified in mentally tough runners: Resilience, focus, strength, preparation, vision, openness and trust. You simply do not allow yourself to become distracted by external conditions or internal emotions -- you have the ability to put these distractions behind you for the time being and live in the moment.
Positive self-talk can encourage you and help you stay focused while running. According to sports psychologists Leif Smith and Todd Kays in "Sports Psychology for Dummies," mentally repeating specific cue words, such as "focus" or "hustle," may help to increase your concentration when you feel a decrease in your level of focus. Tape the cue words to a piece of athletic tape around your wrist and mentally concentrate on them while you run, as though the words are your mantra. Don't beat yourself up if you're having an off day. Talk to yourself as you would talk to a good friend. Be positive and encouraging and tell yourself that you can do it.
When you feel yourself starting to tire or slow down, marathon runner and trainer Jeff Galloway suggests practicing the following drill, adapted from his book, "Mental Training for Runners: How to Stay Motivated." Tell yourself that you're going to continue running for just one minute more, reducing your pace slightly for a few seconds, then continue this pattern, telling yourself "one more minute" or "10 more steps" until you achieve your goal for the day. If you break down your goal into small chunks, it may seem more manageable and achievable and you'll be less likely to lose focus.
Almost all athletes use some form of visualization prior to or during their workout or competition to help them stay focused. According to Galloway, worrying and focusing on the negative possibilities is a major way that many runners become distracted and lose motivation. Visualization can help you overcome your worries and direct your focus back to your goal. Visualization involves vividly imagining and rehearsing positive outcomes to future events or the event in which you're currently involved. Before your race, you might lie down and imagine yourself running effortlessly, overcoming obstacles and achieving your goal. The more vividly you can imagine the scene by involving all of your five senses, the more effective your visualization will be.
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Initiated by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Nathan Twining and Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Arleigh Burke, and then presided over by General Thomas Power, Director of the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff (1960-1964), SIOP-62 mapped out a synchronized nuclear attack by the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Army combining strategic bombers, Polaris submarine-launched missiles and Atlas ICBMs in an ‘alert’ force of over 1,706 nuclear weapons and a ‘full’ force of over 3,240 nuclear weapons delivered to 1,060 targets in the Soviet Union, China and allied states. In this Plan there was little or no distinction made between Communist states that were at war with the United States and those that were not. Some sites (Designated Ground Zeroes – DGZs) would be struck by two or more weapons, and included both military installations and urban-industrial areas. The alert force would target 199 cities and the full force would target 295.2 The planners estimated that the total human deaths from such an attack would be 108 million in the Soviet Union and 104 million in the PRC as well as several million in satellite states,3 while Kaplan estimated that 175 million Russians and Chinese would be killed by the ‘alert’ force and 285 million would be killed by a ‘full’ force, and an additional 40 million more injured.4 To make such threats credible, the Departments of Defense (DoD) and Energy (DoE) and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) conducted visible tests of new nuclear weapons in various atmospheric conditions in a twenty test series between 1946 and 1963. Even after the limited test ban treaty was adopted, they continued with underground tests.
General Thomas Power presided over the creation of SIOP-62 as Commander in Chief, Strategic Air Command (1957–1964) and Director, Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff (1960–1964).
As nuclear intimidation continued, and as other nations sought to gain ‘parity’, the global nuclear industry grew. It was clearly understood in these early decades that the dual-use of nuclear materials in nuclear energy generation and nuclear weapons served to establish and maintain national influence in the international arena. Since 1945, the supply and procurement of uranium together with coal (for steel production) has been a good indicator of a nation’s capacity to both rapidly increase its energy production with the potential to produce munitions and, for those states already with the capacity, to produce and enhance a nuclear weapons arsenal. High-energy power generation was an index of a nation’s war-making potential underlining the link between mining and militarisation.
In the following I seek to explain why and how the Australian government in 2014 has concluded a uranium trade deal with India that is in breach of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) by tracing the development of a nuclear nexus between India, Australia, Japan and the United States. Just as it was in the early cold war, this trade in nuclear materials is informed by interlocking and mutually reinforcing economic and geostrategic interests that have long undermined international disarmament initiatives. I argue that changing climatic conditions caused by emissions intensive energy production, however, demand a fundamental re-thinking of this paradigm.
Of the 67 reactors under construction globally as of July 2014, at least 49 were experiencing delays and eight had been under construction for 20 or more years. China too, having planned before 2011 to replace heavy carbon emitting coal-fired power stations with nuclear power stations, stalled and re-assessed its position after 3.11.8 For the most part, China (along with the US, India and Germany) has boosted its renewable electricity generating capacity so that by 2013, it produced through wind, solar and hydro power over 1000 terawatt hours – the equivalent of the total power generation of France and Germany.9 In Japan, nearly four years after the Fukushima Daiichi meltdowns, 46 other nuclear reactors remain shut down. The Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) approved the restart of two reactors in Sendai, Kyushu on 10 September 2014 and Mayoral consent was secured in October.
Until 2014, along with China, Japan has also seen a boom in mostly solar and wind electricity generation. But this has been stalled by utilities who have refused to take an influx of renewable power into the grid or to reduce electricity prices.10 With fewer nuclear plants scheduled for construction around the world than for shutdown, however, the nuclear industry faces the likely prospect of contraction11 and replacement by rapidly advancing renewable energy options, including solar, wind, tidal, hydro and possibly geothermal power over the longer term.
New mining leases were approved in Western Australia, Queensland and New South Wales, and Queensland Premier Campbell Newman broke his electoral commitment not to permit uranium mining by inviting uranium mining companies to commence exploration operations. The new (Queensland) Mineral and Energy Resources (Common Provisions) Bill 2014, for example, passed on 9 September 2014 authorizes a Coordinator General to overrule community objection rights to ‘State significant projects’ including coal, bauxite and uranium mines, or to limit them to concerns unrelated to environmental protection.13 This Act gives virtual immunity to large companies exploring for uranium deposits in the Mitchell and Alice River basins in Cape York and the Gulf country. Encouraged by these positive signs, along with other Japanese, Chinese and Indian investors in uranium projects in Australia, the major French energy corporation Areva recently bought a 51 percent share in a joint venture with Australian uranium miner Toro Energy for exploration in the Wiso Basin in Northern Territory.14 In other words, federal and state governments in Australia have been approving exploration licenses and the opening of uranium mines at a time when the global nuclear and uranium industry was marked by decline and exit.
While some of the larger corporations chose to wait for uranium demand to rise, many in the Australian uranium mining industry scrambled to reprioritise, turning to the newly emerging market of nation-states tipped for rapid economic expansion. India attracted attention due to its high-growth economic potential, geostrategic positioning and nuclear ambitions. As then Prime Minister Howard had done in 2007, ‘energy starved’ India’s ‘power crisis’ is again being widely portrayed in desperate terms,15 while the solutions are presented as economic expansion and greater energy consumption by a growing middle class.16 In addition to coal exports, Australian politicians, in consultation with business representatives in the uranium and minerals sector, have framed the push for uranium trade with India as a ‘moral duty’ and ‘humanitarian responsibility’ to improve living standards of India’s impoverished people.
Over the nearly four years since the Fukushima disaster, the Japanese government and corporations have actively courted more than 20 countries for the purchase of Japan’s nuclear technologies. Agreements had been reached with Jordan, Vietnam, South Korea and Russia under the Kan and Noda Democratic Party Japan (DPJ) governments, and the export of nuclear technology remained central to the Abe government’s economic plans. Two more nuclear technology agreements with Turkey and the United Arab Emirates have since been reached,19 and six more are under consideration – with India, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh. Despite the continuing negative effects of ongoing radioactive contamination dispersal from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, the Abe government remains intent both on nuclear startups in Japan and on promoting its exports of nuclear technology to other countries.
A similar initiative followed on 5 September 2014, when Abbott and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed the Australia-India Nuclear Cooperation Agreement in New Delhi. It was the culmination of the efforts initiated by the Howard government in 2006,22 carried forward by the Gillard government in 2011–2012.
After India’s ‘Smiling Buddha’ Pokhran-I nuclear tests in May 1974, when the Indian government declared that it intended to harness nuclear energy to manufacture nuclear weapons, the Australian government (and many other countries including the US) placed a ban on exporting uranium to it (France and Russia continued to sporadically export uranium under a safety clause). India had built its clandestine nuclear weapons program using imported Canadian reactors.
Since Nehru, India has justified its indigenous development of civil and military nuclear capacity and fuel and its refusal to ratify the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) by pointing to the nuclear weapons held by existing nuclear weapons states. It has argued that the NPT is a flawed agreement that reflects the hypocrisy of the nuclear weapons states in refusing to seriously engage in disarmament while expecting non-nuclear weapons states to abstain from possession. In 1975, partially in response to the Indian tests of the previous year, the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) initially comprising seven nations (United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, Japan, France, Canada, West Germany) was formed to prevent the diversion of nuclear materials used for commercial and peaceful purposes for the production of nuclear weapons. NSG members were obliged to cease trade with governments that did not submit to international inspection. India and Pakistan were included. Despite the bans, India went ahead to conduct its Pokhran II nuclear tests in May 1998. These were followed by Pakistan’s tests two weeks later. UN Security Council Resolution 1172 of June 199823 expressed grave concern and demanded that both countries foreswear further tests and abandon their nuclear weapon ambitions.
expressed grave concern and demanded that both countries foreswear further tests and abandon their nuclear weapon ambitions.
Despite the resolution’s unanimous adoption and threat of sanctions, the turning point was when the George W. Bush administration (2001-2009) chose to prioritize U.S. bilateral relations with India over any unified front to counter nuclear proliferation. The US–India energy agreement of July 2005 opened the way for other states, such as Australia, to engage bilaterally with India.
Meanwhile in October 2008, the Singh government overcame stiff opposition in parliament to secure national and international backing for the signing of the US–India ‘1-2-3’ Nuclear Cooperation Agreement.This Agreement stipulated that India would open its civilian nuclear facilities to inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and delineate its civil and military facilities so as to ensure US-origin fuel would not be used for military purposes. In return the US would supply nuclear fuel and nuclear technologies (six reactors) and gain greater access to the Indian nuclear market.
As unanimous approval from the 48 states of the NSG was also required, the US and India lobbied hard and secured an unprecedented waiver of NSG export guidelines so as to permit nuclear commerce with India despite its non-NPT signatory status. Having granted the exception, several NSG members then negotiated bilateral nuclear accords with India (including France, United Kingdom, South Korea, Canada and Kazakhstan). In 2008 the Singh government purchased 300 MT of uranium ore concentrate from Areva of France, in 2009 2000 MT of uranium oxide pellets and 58 MT of enriched uranium dioxide from JSC Tvel/Russia, also in 2009 2100 MT of uranium dioxide concentrate from NAC/Kazakhstan and in 2013 2000 MT of uranium ore concentrate from NMMC Uzbekistan.27 While details are yet to be finalised, the deal with Australia in 2014 would secure for India a steady, reliable, high-grade uranium supply from the world’s largest known uranium deposits (its uranium resources are about 28 percent of the world total).
While details are yet to be finalised, the deal with Australia in 2014 would secure for India a steady, reliable, high-grade uranium supply from the world’s largest known uranium deposits (its uranium resources are about 28 percent of the world total).
In November 2010, in a joint statement signed by US President Obama and Indian PM Singh, it was agreed that negotiations would begin between Nuclear Power Corporation India Ltd (NPCIL) and US nuclear energy companies in return for implementing India’s full membership of the NSG in a ‘phased manner’. India agreed to accommodate the demands of General Electric and Westinghouse, which sought strict adherence to the CSC31 by diluting the CLNDA to reduce both suppliers’ liability and the time period for exercising right of recourse in the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Rules 2011.32 The US-India Business Council, PM Modi and industry executives from the Nuclear Power Company of India Ltd. (NPCIL) also devised an insurance package to indemnify the American suppliers in the event of a nuclear accident for the maximum liability amount stipulated in the CLNDA (INR 1500 Crore/$250 million).33 This was to encourage US/Japan companies (among others) to collaborate in building new nuclear reactors to allow India to ‘achieve its full blown potential’.34 In short, India would take as close to full liability for nuclear accidents as possible in return for receiving the benefits of NPT and NSG membership without the full obligations expected of its members. In doing so, the integrity of the NPT was further compromised.
Given that Australia’s uranium mining and export accounts for less than 1 percent of its hundred billion dollar mineral export business (iron ore, bauxite, coal, copper, nickel etc),36 however, these decisions by Australian leaders risked significant political capital over what has been a highly contentious issue in Australia’s recent political history.
the NPT non-nuclear-weapon states agree never to acquire nuclear weapons in exchange for which the NPT nuclear-weapon states agree to share the benefits of peaceful nuclear technology and to pursue nuclear disarmament aimed at the ultimate elimination of their nuclear arsenals.
Nuclear weapons states have had the primary responsibility to ensure disarmament of their own arsenals so as to prevent nuclear non-proliferation among other states. The export controls regime of the NSG and enhanced verification measures of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Association) Additional Protocols are ostensibly to end every possible means to acquire nuclear weapons. While Article Four of the NPT provides ‘inalienable rights to every non-nuclear weapon state’ to pursue nuclear energy for power generation, India is neither a member of the NPT nor a Non-Nuclear Weapon State and there is no provision in the NPT which permits for signatories to form nuclear cooperation agreements with Non-NPT states.
India quite rightly has pointed out the hypocritical approach of the nuclear weapons states in approaching the NPT regime. As the Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee stated in 2007, India was not an NPT signatory because it considers the regime to be not one of ‘universal, non-discriminatory verification and treatment’.37 In the same statement, Minister Mukherjee also claimed that India had an ‘impeccable record on non-proliferation… [was] a leading advocate of the elimination of all nuclear weapons… [and was an adherent] to the values of peace and non-violence’. India’s ‘impeccable track-record on non-proliferation’ was a catch phrase coined by President Bush in 2005,38 and reiterated by both PM Modi and PM Abbott in 2014.
Treating India as an exceptional case and a de facto nuclear weapons state makes even more conspicuous the selective imposition of sanctions or favour upon other non-NPT signatory nuclear weapons states such as Pakistan and Israel, or NPT signatory non-nuclear weapons states such as Iran.39 But the self-interested and strategically motivated application of the NPT was not new, nor was it limited to the US and its allies. The Soviet Union supplied China with the necessary technologies and skills to develop its own nuclear weapons capabilities, as China then supplied Pakistan. In turn, Pakistan also supplied other states that aspire to obtain nuclear capabilities. All were in a chain reaction, however, to U.S. threats to China and ultimately to the Soviet Union, in the early decades of the Cold War. While it is debatable that uranium and nuclear technology supply to India by others might serve to deter contemporary Chinese or Pakistani nuclear aggression, it has not served to prevent Indian conflicts with either of those two nations in the past. In any case, the use of nuclear trade as a strategic instrument does not ensure greater security or stability of the international community broadly defined, and this sort of leverage is not a valid use of the NPT.
So despite PM Abbott’s assurances that ‘suitable safeguards’ were in place to guarantee that Australian uranium would be used for ‘peaceful purposes’ and for ‘civilian use only’, as the former Director General of the Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office John Carlson points out, the Agreement departs from two principles of Australia’s 1987 Safeguards Act (section 51):40 the acquirement of ‘consent to reprocessing’ from the Australian government prior to the separation of plutonium from spent fuel; and the ‘right of return’ of nuclear materials supplied in the event of a breach of the agreement.41 Instead, the Agreement defers to the US-India nuclear cooperation agreement in which India would reprocess in facilities built with the assistance of US companies, and leaves open the question of how separated plutonium would be used or how arbitration would apply to settle disputes.
Ten of India’s twenty nuclear facilities are beyond the regulatory authority of the IAEA and India only selectively recognises IAEA safeguards for specific foreign supplied reactors and facilities. India also refuses to submit to suppliers inventory reports and accounting processes for nuclear material flowing through the nuclear cycle. As the IAEA is not able to fully inspect India’s dual-purpose (civilian and military) indigenous reactors and facilities for reprocessing, enrichment, retransfers to third countries, research and development or the production of tritium (used as a trigger for weapons), India is not fully accountable to either the IAEA or the supplier nation with which it has a bilateral agreement with in-built IAEA norms.
So even if India adheres to Australia’s requirements that its uranium be used solely to supply civil nuclear reactors for electricity generation that may be inspected by IAEA as per the nuclear safeguards agreement, Australia’s (or any other NPT members’) uranium export to India effectively supplements or liberates limited supplies of Indian uranium for military uses.42 Nor could, in the unlikely discovery of the ‘misallocation’ of some Australian origin uranium toward military use, the IAEA force compliance. In fact, whether or not India accounts for the flows of Australian material in its nuclear fuel cycle, it is impossible to verify whether it has actually adhered to the safeguards.
Australian Minister for Resources and Energy Martin Ferguson, Adani group founder Gautam Adani, Queensland Premier Campbell Newman in India in 2012.
As has been recommended by the United Nations (UN), World Health Organisation (WHO), International Energy Agency (IEA), Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), and recognised by the World Bank and the European Investment Bank, the rapid phase out of coal-fired power stations is essential if the world is to meet the now seemingly optimistic carbon emissions reductions necessary to keep planetary warming below 2 percent of pre-industrialisation levels.46 While two hundred licenses for coal-fired power stations have been revoked by the Supreme Court of India recently, many Indian overseas coal projects are still underway.
There are a number of flaws underpinning the logic of this activity between political leaders and nuclear industry executives. PM Abbott insisted at the time of signing the nuclear deal with India that the Agreement would be safe. In fact, the Abbott government has committed to selling uranium to an ambitious nation that barely conceals its intentions to expand its nuclear weapons arsenal and has refused to become a full signatory to the NPT and, along with the US, China and Pakistan, has not ratified the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
Prime Minister Modi is a pro-business politician and hardliner on Pakistan and Muslim populations in India and favours a security policy based on nuclear deterrence. The BJP holds a commanding majority in the lower house of Parliament. There is little reason to assume that Indian relations with Pakistan – or indeed with China – will soften by furnishing India with greater means to project its military power in the region. The surge of fundamentalist and jingoist forces in South Asia and rising military budgets and tensions between India and Pakistan on the one hand and China and the US, Japan and its allies on the other, aggravate the security situation in the region. Further, India has been waging an on-going long-term campaign against an insurgency within its borders, and it cannot guarantee against theft of nuclear-related materials.
Fourth, the option of nuclear power as the ‘clean’ alternative is nothing of the sort. Although the fission operation of nuclear power stations may be ‘cleaner’ than coal-fired power stations in terms of carbon emissions, and although the heat from fission may produce more energy and less waste per volume of uranium than coal, many problems remain unresolved. These include the safe storage of long-lived nuclear waste, long build time of reactors in proportion to rapidly accelerating effects of climate change, enormous financial costs, use and contamination of vital resources required across the nuclear cycle from mining to waste production (including water and fossil fuels),55centralised monopolisation of power management necessitated by nuclear power generation, excess heating of the atmosphere through the discharge of excess heat through water and air, danger to ecologies downwind or downstream from venting while refueling reactors, and increased potential for large-scale and long-term damage from accidents.
Given the advances of wind, solar, tidal and geothermal energy production which have become cheaper and more productive, as field-tested in China, Germany,56 Spain and other countries, and the abundance of these sources of energy in countries like Australia, the myth of base-load power is less sustainable than it was in the heady renaissance days. India’s pitch to rapidly increase economic growth has been embraced by the transnational nuclear industry as it represents an opportunity to expand the nuclear industry, and an opportunity to diversify from reliance on the Chinese market. But when typical cost-benefit analyses are extended to include the actual costs of the above-mentioned scenarios (nuclear weapons exchange, public health effects from industrial pollution from uranium mining and nuclear reactors, nuclear reactor disasters, nuclear waste storage, renewable energy alternatives), in an already fragile ecology in India, India’s nuclear energy plan reflects neither deep commitment to climate change mitigation nor serious concern for India’s impoverished populations.
Why does the Australian, Indian, the United States and Japanese governments (among others) and their affiliated transnational corporations, continue to accelerate nuclear related operations despite these significant obstacles?
It is unlikely that the Japan-India Nuclear Cooperation Agreement went unsigned because of any putative scruple Japan may have about selling nuclear technologies to India as a non-NPT nuclear weapons state. As the Modi and NPCIL accommodation of American supplier demands demonstrates, the liability clause can be flexible. It remains unlikely, however, that India will consent to opening all of its reactors for inspection.60 Rather, it is likely that Japan is awaiting an American executive decision on the liability issue and the possible inclusion of India into the NPT as a nuclear weapons state, since prior agreement would appear to abrogate Japan’s NPT obligations.
That PM Modi reasserted India’s customary ‘no first use’ policy does not mean that he does not intend to stockpile and bolster India’s nuclear arsenal. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) estimates that India possesses 90 to 110 nuclear weapons.61 In June 2014, the IHS (Information Handling Service) Jane’s military research group identified what they believe to be a new uranium hexafluoride (enrichment) facility at the Indian Rare Metals Plant near Mysore. As with its other military plants, this plant is not within IAEA safeguards. Estimated to be operational by mid-2015, it would produce roughly double the amount of enriched fuel (160 kilos a year enriched to 90 percent purity) required for India’s ballistic missile nuclear submarine fleet.62 The IHS analysts surmise that the surplus could be used for thermonuclear weapons (mixing enriched uranium and plutonium stockpiles).63 It could also be used to fuel nuclear submarines, space satellites, tactical and intermediate ballistic missiles, and multiple warhead Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (Agni V ICBM MIRVs) with the ability to reach cities in China and Pakistan. India joins the US, Russia, UK, France and China in possessing the ICBM with MIRV, leaving Pakistan further behind in terms of weapons parity, particularly in navy, air and ground forces, and missile capabilities.64 As India seeks to rival China, it could further destabilize relations with Pakistan by intensifying the ongoing arms race between the two. Regional tensions could be further exacerbated by Pakistan’s border skirmishes with Afghanistan and Iran over its support of the Taliban in Afghanistan.65 Along with increasing tensions involving US-Japan-India and China, this is precisely the scenario that NPT members have tried to avoid by subscribing to IAEA safeguards.
Since the late 1950s, there have been elements in the Japanese government (led by Abe’s grandfather and former Prime Minister Kishi Nobusuke) who have advocated the procurement of tactical nuclear weapons as an entitlement under the nation’s right to self-defence as stipulated in the UN Charter. Although the US has long discouraged Japan’s nuclear weaponisation with assurances of extended nuclear deterrence, in 2003 US Vice-President Cheney stated that Japan’s possession of nuclear weapons could be tenable if it were aligned to US strategic deterrence policy.68 As an NPT signatory, Japan has accumulated the fourth largest stockpile of ‘civilian’ plutonium, the largest stockpile of any non-nuclear weapons state.69 Despite reprocessing programs having been closed down by many other countries, Japan claims that its significant nuclear reprocessing and fuel fabrication program is for ‘energy autonomy’ by which it means ‘closing the nuclear fuel cycle’. This relies upon the ability to separate plutonium from spent fuel and reprocess and fabricate it ‘upwards’ so as to produce more plutonium than is consumed, thereby facilitating an endless loop of fuel production and consumption. In this scenario, the Japanese government regards spent nuclear fuel and stockpiled plutonium as an ‘asset’ rather than a ‘debt’.
This ability should not be understood as solely for the reduction of reliance on foreign fuel imports or even of nuclear waste. In 2009, Ernest J. Moniz, an MIT professor and United States Secretary of Energy in 2014, admitted that uranium, once thought to be scarce, was now so abundant as to raise doubt over the necessity for nuclear fuel reprocessing.70 As of March 2011, despite the recommendations by the Japan Atomic Energy Commission and the Science Council of Japan of both direct disposal and limited surface storage of spent nuclear fuel in dry casks over fuel pool storage and reprocessing, the Japanese government would not rule out the reprocessing option. If the closed fuel cycle ever did eventuate, it would negate Japan’s dependence on the import of vital energy resources (uranium, oil, natural gas) so as to achieve ‘energy autonomy’. This would drastically reduce fuel costs and would also reduce vulnerability to sanctions should Japan breach the NPT (or other international agreements) in its decision to ‘go nuclear’.
Japan’s long-term investment in co-developing this high-level technical capability has made it the second most powerful missile power in the world, and the only nation outside the US with both low and upper-tier defences reputedly capable of intercepting missiles beyond the Earth’s atmosphere.72 Given this long-term commitment, it was not surprising that the Abe government in 2013 decided to declare the constitutional right to participate in ‘collective security’ operations with the US and other allies.
This technology, and Japan’s ambiguous intentions concerning nuclear and space weaponisation, means that the US and Japan, in collaboration with partners such as Australia and India (in sea-going operations in particular), could potentially integrate not only their BMD systems but also their nuclearized capabilities. As South Korea and Taiwan have also expressed interest in reprocessing their spent nuclear fuel (as have other states such as Saudi Arabia), these developments carry strong potential for proliferation.
One of the major implications of this distributed form of ‘self-defence’ is that US Pacific Command would further extend the pre-emptive strike capacity of its global nuclear strike force. With Japan’s recent release of space assets for military use (reconnaissance, communications, navigation, early warning) in collaboration with the US, this further augments the current period of US ‘nuclear primacy’ and a return to the conditions prior to 1963 when the Soviets had developed long-range bombers to deliver their nuclear payloads over US territory. Nuclear primacy transcends the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction in its ability to win a nuclear war, which the US is proposing to do by eliminating retaliatory capability with a single massive attack called ‘Prompt Global Strike’.
Under the Australia–India uranium trade agreement, India will use Australian yellow cake to diversify its nuclear program. If and when the Japan–India Nuclear Cooperation Agreement is concluded, it will supply the nuclear technology India requires to build its industrial capacity and indirectly enhance its nuclear arsenal. Negotiated almost simultaneously and in coordination, both of these Agreements, together with and following the US–India nuclear agreement, tacitly legitimise India’s nuclear status and assist in its ambitions for greater international influence. Australia and Japan, both NPT and NSG members, have become complicit in India’s nuclear weapons program and partially responsible for increasing the risk of nuclear accident in India, and for potentially aggravating nuclear rivalry in Asia.
India claims to need more electricity for domestic and industrial growth as well as to lift a significant population out of poverty. Yet there are many factors which create the conditions for the advance of India’s poor, just as there are many forms of alternative energy generation beyond nuclear and coal which would be safer, more reliable and powerful if given comparable investment and with smart power grid distribution networks.76 To the extent that governments and corporations continue to invest in nuclear power construction and reprocessing as a source of ‘renewable energy’, they diminish the potential to stem the destructive and exponentially increasing effects of climate change.77 China, Germany, the United States, India and even Japan are presently leading the world in investing in renewable energy technology. Yet, with the exception of Germany, this is being done in parallel with plans to expand nuclear power production.
The ongoing contamination from radiation dispersed from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant came, in part, from Australian uranium.78 When the benefits of uranium trade are weighed against the potential and actual costs and damages from uranium mining, the actual risks of nuclear reactor accidents and mismanagement, the decline in costs and advances in renewable technologies, potential nuclear weapons use (broadly defined) and proliferation, and the steady production of nuclear waste, it becomes clear that state-corporate policies to expand the industry are ill-conceived.
In 2014, as in 1945 and throughout the intervening decades, uranium mining, nuclear power generation and nuclear weapons remain ineluctably tied to the formation of a global power structure of nation-states and transnational corporations and instrumental in their overarching ambitions.
Adam Broinowski is an ARC postdoctoral research fellow at the School of Pacific and Asian History, College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University. His recent work includes a chapter, ‘Sovereign Power Ambition and the Realities of the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster’ in Nadesan/Boys/McKillop/Wilcox (eds.), Fukushima: Dispossession or Denuclearization?, The Dispossesion Publishing Group, 2014, and a forthcoming article, ‘Conflicting Immunities: Priorities of Life and Sovereignty amid the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster’, European Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies, December 2014. His book, Cultural Responses to Occupation in Japan: The Performing Body during and after the Cold War is forthcoming in 2015.
Recommended citation: Adam Broinowski, “Undermining Nuclear Non-Proliferation: Energy and Security Politics in the Australia–India–Japan–U.S. Nuclear Nexus,” The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 12, Issue 46, No. 2, November 1, 2014.
1 R. A. Paulsen, The Role of Nuclear Weapons in the Post-Cold War Era, Maxwell Airforce Base: Alabama Air University Press, 1994, pp. 1–11.
2 William Burr (ed.), ‘The Creation of SioP-62: More Evidence of the Origins of Overkill’, National Security Archive Electronic Briefing book No. 130, 13 July 2004.
3 Government of United States of America, Joint Chiefs of Staff, ‘Berlin Contingency Planning’, June 1961, National Security Archives.
4 F. Kaplan, The Wizards of Armageddon, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1983, p. 269. To what extent they calculated the ‘bonus kills’, as General LeMay put it, from radiation exposure is unclear, but it was likely a very conservative estimate.
5 For example, Uranerz Energy Corporation announced a net loss in the second quarter of 2013. See, ‘Uranerz Records Q2 Net Loss of $4.45 million’, 11 August 2014.
6 See Suzuki Tatsujiro in Mycle Schnyder and Anthony Froggat (eds.), World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2014, 18 August 2014, pp. 4, 76, 155; Aaron Sheldrick, ‘Global nuclear power contribution falls to lowest since 1980s’,Reuters, 29 July 2014; Jim Green, ‘Uranium – how low can it go’, Business Spectator, 29 May 2014.
7 Schneider and Froggatt, ‘Executive summary and conclusions’, World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2013, July.
8 David von Hippel, James H. Williams, ‘Nuclear safety concers with China’s growing reactor fleet’, NAPSNet Policy Forum, 28 October 2014.
9 John Mathews and Hao Tan, ‘China shows there is more to renewable energy than fighting climate change’, The Conversation, 11 September 2014.
10 Daniel Cusick, ‘Power companies in Japan move to restrict solar’, Scientific American, 2 October 2014.
11 Aaron Sheldrick, ‘Global nuclear power contribution falls to lowest since 1980s’, Reuters, 29 July 2014.
12 Paddy Manning, ‘Producers bullish on Japanese demand’, Sydney Morning Herald, 18 December 2012.
13 Andrew Picone, ‘Mining companies now have more rights than the community in Newman’s Queensland’, SBS News, 1 October 14. Between 2013–14 and 2017–18 Australia’s uranium production is projected to increase by 32 per cent to total 9590 tonnes, as supported by the Alliance Resources’ Four Mile mine in South Australia, ore extraction at Ranger uranium mine and Toro Energy’s Wiluna mine in Western Australia. Other additional mining operations such as Cameco’s Kintyre and Yeelirrie projects as well as potential projects in Queensland are not projected to begin until 2017–18. Government of Australia, BREE, Resources and Energy Quarterly, October 2013, p. 26.
14 ‘Toro signs NT deal with AREVA’, The West Australian, 29 September 2014.
15 The World Bank estimates that nearly 400 million Indians have no access to electricity. World Bank, ‘Energy’.
16 At the recent opening of a coal mine, Prime Minister Abbott was quoted as declaring ‘Coal is good for humanity, coal is good for prosperity, coal is an essential part of our economic future, here in Australia, and right around the world.’ Editors, ‘Coal is good for humanity’, The Australian, 15 October 2014.
17 ‘Nuclear power in the USA’, World Nuclear Report, 23 October 2014.
18 Mitsubishi CEO Kojima Yorihiko quoted by Rick Wallace, ‘ Billions to flow from Shinzo Abe visit, says Mitsubishi chairman’, The Australian , 7 July 2014.
19 Editor, ‘Exports that defy reason’, Japan Times, 20 April 2014.
20 The Defense Ministry of the Abe government has sought a 3.5 percent increase to ¥5.05 trillion for the fiscal year of 2015, an unprecedented military budget for the nation. Takenaka Kiyoshi, Reuters, 29 August 2014.
21 P. Kallender-Umezu, ‘Japan Quietly Builds Limited Counter-A2/AD Capabilities’, 17 September 2013, Defense News.
22 The Howard government proposed the expansion of uranium mining and uranium exports, establishment of a uranium enrichment industry, and construction of 25 power reactors. Others in Australia propose 20 nuclear by 2050. See Government of Australia, Prime Minister and Cabinet, 29 December 2006, ‘Uranium mining, processing and nuclear energy – opportunities for Australia’.
23 United Nations, UN Security Council Resolution 1172.
24 For more discussion on this, see C. Rovere and K. Robertson, ‘Australia’s Uranium and India: Linking Exports to CTBT Ratification’, Security Challenges, Vol. 9, No. 1 (2013), pp. 51–61.
25 ‘China wants Australia’s uranium’, ABC, 17 October 2005.
26 ‘Reliance Arm paid $3.45 million to UXA for uranium exploration’, The Hindu Business Line, 28 May 2008.
27 Later, it was admitted that Indian projections are overly ambitious, and they would scale down from 20,000 MWe of new nuclear capacity to 11,080 MWe by the year 2020.
29 IAEA, Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage, International Atomic Energy Agency.
30 Government of India, ‘The Civil Liability For Nuclear Damage Act’, 2010.
31 Editors, ‘U.S.-India Business Council Statement on Nuclear Liability Law’, Reuters, 30 August 2010.
32 Government of India, ‘Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Rules 2011’.
33 Indrani Bagchi, ‘India gives US insurance plan for nuclear plants’, The Times of India, 13 March 2014; Kapil Patil, ‘Untying the Civil Nuclear Liability Knot in the Indo-US Nuclear Deal’, Nautilus Institute, 30 September 2014.
34 Kapil Patil, ‘Untying the civil nuclear liability knot in the Indo-US nuclear deal’, NAPSnet policy forum, 30 September 2014.
35 Paul Meyer, ‘India and the meltdown of Canada’s nuclear non-proliferation policy: Ottawa abandons principled position for greater access to India’s economy’, Reuters.
36 Editors, ‘Yellow cake fever: Exposing the Uranium industry’s economic myths’, Australian Conservation Foundation, April 2013, p. 27.
37 Editors, ‘India dismisses NPT as ‘flawed’ treaty’, The Times of India, 23 March 2007.
38 Demetri Sevastopulo, Caroline Daniel, Jo Johnson, ‘India nuclear deal takes Congress by surprise’, Financial Times, 19 July 2005.
39 Yusra Mushtaq, ‘A Blatant Violation Of NPT’, 26 September 2014, Eurasia Review. See also, IAEA, Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, ‘IAEA Topic 2: The Implementation of the NPT for the Non-Supporters of this Treaty’.
40 Government of Australia, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, ‘Australia’s uranium export policy’.
41 John Carlson, ‘Is the Abbott Government abandoning Australia’s nuclear safeguards standards for India?’, The Interpreter, 1 October 2014 (part 1) and (part 2).
42 K. Subrahmanyam, ‘India and the nuclear deal’, The Times of India, 12 December 2005.
43 Crispin Rovere, ‘Australia–India nuclear treaty: a non-proliferation disaster’, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 14 October 2014.
44 Comprising six open-cut pits and five underground mines, the Carmichael mine will cover an area seven times that of Sydney Harbour. Despite warnings from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and UNESCO that this will place it ‘in danger’, plans to dredge and dump about 3 million cubic metres of the Reef into a wetlands sanctuary to make way for port expansions for 480 additional ships to access 330 million tonnes of coal per year from this mega-mine will use 12 billion litres of fresh water per year and will affect the habitat of humpback whales, sea turtles and dugongs. With 130 million tonnes of carbon dioxide produced every year for ninety years, this will cancel out the Queensland Direct Action target of 131 million tonnes of carbon dioxide reduction. Adani Enterprises has a dubious track record including illegal large-scale exports of iron ore at its port and numerous cases of environmental pollution. It has also been a significant supporter of the Bharatiya Janta Party. Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Citi, Morgan Stanley and possible JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs have refused to fund the project while the ‘big four’ Australian banks seem to be giving their approval. India is the third largest producer, consumer and importer of coal in the world and the fourth largest energy consumer in the world. See, Mary McCarthy, ‘Darwin and Adelaide likely export hubs for Queensland uranium’, ABC Rural; Ben Pearson, ‘ Carmichael coal mine impacts will be felt for generations,’ ABC Environment , 28Jul2014, William Rollo, ‘Carmichael Coal and Rail Project: Queensland mine gets Federal Government approval’, ABC News, 29 July 2014; Candace Dunn, ‘India falls back on imported fossil fuels’, Business Spectator, 15 August 2014.
45 ‘Indian activists take on Adani coal mine’, Geelong Advertiser, 9 October 2014; ‘Ramping up against coal’, Beyond Zero Emissions, September – August 2012.
46 In support of the claim for the rapid shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy and energy savings, the United Nations’ Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stated ‘We need to limit global temperature rise within 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This is what the international community has recognised as the upper limit of safety. Beyond 2 degrees, the consequences will be unpredictable, highly dangerous and perhaps irreversible’. See, United Nations, ‘Secretary-General’s remarks at Climate Leaders Summit’, 11 April 2014. It is estimated that at least two thirds of proven fossil fuel reserves must stay in the ground and that carbon utilities and infrastructure must be developed beyond 2017 as 80 percent of cumulative emissions allowable between 2010 and 2035 are already locked into existing power plants, factories, buildings and services. In addition this will result in significant positive in health effects, job production, biodiversity conservation, energy independence and stronger sovereignty and resilience. Although several countries have moved to end public finance for coal and other fossil fuels, Australia has yet to do so in a significant manner. See WHO – 7 million premature deaths linked to air pollution and Climate Change – IPCC Response Strategies.
47 Editors, ‘A new engagement: The Indo-Australian nuclear deal signals a paradigm shift in the quality of the relationship between the two nations’, The Hindu Business Line, 8 September 2014.
48 Neeta Lal, ‘India’s Nuclear Energy Imperative’, The Diplomat, 8 October 2014.
50 Joby Warrick, ‘Obama and Modi announce agreement on U.S.-India efforts to fight global warming’, Washington Post, 30 September 2014.
51 Government of the United States, The White House, ‘U.S.-India Joint Statement’, 30 September 2014.
52 M. V. Ramana, ‘Indian activists detained for protesting against India-Australia uranium agreement,’ Dianuke, 5 September 2014.
53 While there are conflicting reports, in contrast to studies based on dose estimates in accordance with institutional levels (such as the ICRP), an Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD) epidemiological study found in 2007 that living within 2.5kms of the mining operations increased rates of illness (2118 households) and was upheld by the Jharkhand High Court in 2007. This was supported by a study in 2004 by Koide Hiroaki who found the level to be 10mSv/y around the mine and over 1 mSv/y in the villages. The UCIL managers have used the As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) principle to set permissible radiation exposure limits and precautionary measures and have shown disregard for the conditions of indigenous peoples living in the area. See, Shakeel ur Rahman, ‘Study on Health status of Indigenous people around Jadugoda uranium mines in India’, IDPD.
UCIL Chairman Diwakar Acharya denied any correlation and blamed ordinary socio-economic factors (malnutrition). Stephanie March, ‘Australia to sell uranium to India but at what cost to its people?’, ABC 7:30 Report, 3 September 2014; Uranium Corporation of India hopes to get renewal of Jaduguda mine lease soon PTI, 6 October 2014; Rakteem Katakey, Tom Lasseter, ‘India’s Uranium Boss Says Deformed Children May Be ‘Imported’,’Bloomberg, 24 July 2014.
54 Mari Yamaguchi, ‘Sendai reactors vulnerable to eruptions, state-picked volcanologist says’, The Japan Times, 18 October 2014.
55 France, which until recently has drawn roughly three quarters of its energy supply from nuclear power stations, uses 40-50 percent of the nation’s mostly fresh water supply to cool its plants.
56 Germany, for example, prior to the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 was heavily reliant on nuclear and fossil fuels. Over the past decade, however, its use of renewable energy mainly from solar and wind, has tripled. In 2013, however, renewable energy accounted for 24 percent of the nation’s total electricity supply. Despite government subsidies of roughly EU 16 billion, the Government claims to have created new businesses worth 40 billion euros per year and created additional employment to 400,000 people. Emily Steward, ABC, 29 October 2014.
57 See for example, Jeremy Rifkin, ‘No nukes!’, Los Angeles Times, 29 September 2006.
58 Nagao Shigeru, ‘Why Japan needs India as a Strategic Power’, Defence and Security Alert, 26 October 2014.
59 Vince Scappatura, ‘The U.S. “Pivot to Asia”, the China Specter and the Australian-American Alliance’, Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 12, Issue 36, No. 3, September 9, 2014.
60 Bhattacharjee, S., A. Sasi, ‘Japan wants slice of the nuclear pie, warms up to liability law’, Indian Express, 12 June 2014.
61 Editors, SIPRI Yearbook 2014.
62 Along with the P-5 states, India and Pakistan also continue to develop new systems capable of delivering nuclear weapons and are expanding their capacities to produce fissile material for military purposes. India conducted successful tests of the 5,000-km Agni-V, India’s first ICBM. Along with its shorter-range Prithvi missiles, India’s 2,000-km K-4 SLBM and its Agni-I (700-km), Agni-II (2,000-km) and Agni-III (3,000-km) missiles were tested under Strategic Forces Command in March 2014. It is still to test the 750-km K-15 SLBM in India’s first indigenous nuclear-powered submarine the INS Arihant in sea trials in late 2014. Rajat Pandit, ‘Pakistan surges ahead of India in nuclear stockpile: Report’, The Times of India, 17 June 2014.
64 Pakistan possesses roughly the equivalent nuclear weapons as India, which serves as a cheap deterrent in the face of India’s overwhelming conventional superiority. Nevertheless, Pakistan is developing shorter-range cruise missiles to evade ballistic missile defence and is planning a long-term build-up of its nuclear arsenal and delivery systems, including tactical short-range missiles, as a ‘full spectrum deterrent’. See for example, Tim Craig and Karen DeYoung, ‘Pakistan is eyeing sea-based and short-range nuclear missiles, analysts say’, Washington Post, 21 September 2014; Kyle Mizokami, ‘If Pakistan and India clash: 5 Pakistani weapons of war India should fear’, The National Interest, 24 August 2014; Kyle Mizokami, ‘If Pakistan and India went to war: 5 Indian weapons of war Pakistan should fear’, The National Interest, 16 August 2014; Amin Saikal, ‘Pakistan must de-escalate conflicts with three of its neighbours’, Canberra Times, 4 November 2014.
65 Amin Saikal, ‘Pakistan must de-escalate conflicts with three of its neighbours’, Canberra Times, 4 November 2014.
66 Kageyama Yuri, ‘Japan pro-bomb voices grow louder amid nuke debate’, Associated Press, 31 July 2012.
67 Adam Westlake, ‘Surprisingly Japan declines 16 UN outlawing nuclear weapons’, Japan Daily Press, 23 October 2012.
68 M. Mochizuki, ‘Japan tests the nuclear taboo’, Non-Proliferation Review, vol. 14, no. 2, July 2007.
69 M. Pomper and M. Toki, ‘Time to stop reprocessing in Japan’, Arms Control Today, January/February 2013.
70 Matthew Wald, ‘U.S. Panel shifts focus to reusing nuclear fuel’, New York Times, 23 September 2009.
71 Missile shield deployments are currently in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, Greenland, Britain, Norway, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Poland, the Czech republic, Turkey, Georgia and potentially in Ukraine.
72 Chester Dawson, ‘Japan shows-off its missile defense system’, Wall Street Journal, 9 November 2012.
73 While Japan may have a powerful missile system integrated with the US, one should not overlook the US-initiated NATO interceptor missile system that incorporated the U.S.–Germany-Italy Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) and NATO’s Active Layered Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence (ALTBMD) program and is being deployed in the ongoing military build-up in Eastern Europe. See for example, ‘SM-3 BMD, in from the sea: EPAA & Aegis Ashore’, Defense Industry Daily, 13 October 2014.
74 Government of the United States, Department of Defense, ‘Nuclear Posture Review Report’, April 2010.
75 K. Lieber and D. Press (2006), ‘US Primacy in Foreign Policy’, Foreign Affairs, March/April, pp. 42–54.
76 Andrew Picone,‘Queenslanders have more reason than ever to be concerned about uranium mining in the sunshine stateMining companies now have more rights than the community in Newman’s Queensland’, SBS News, 1 October 2014.
77 Yusra Mushtaq, ‘A Blatant Violation Of NPT’, Eurasia Review, 26 September 2014.
78 Dave Sweeney, ‘Fukushima: Australia’s Radioactive Rocks And Responsibility’, New Matilda, 29 August 2014.
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Amazingly, half of all Americans say they don’t care about government surveillance — and during a random sampling of people on the streets of New York City not one could identify Edward Snowden, or what he did.
That’s despite an Academy Award winning documentary on his release of classified documents about the spying activities of a National Security Agency called Citizenfour.
The government is collecting data from you all the time. From your phone, computer, tablet, credit cards, travel records and more. We know they are doing this because of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
John Oliver traveled to Moscow where Snowden, wanted by the U.S government, has asylum for the next three years. There he interviewed Snowden in an attempt to find out why more Americans don’t care about the government spying on their personal lives.
Based on Snowden’s explanation of the government’s spying activities, here are five basic questions every American should ask themselves about the NSA surveillance program.
1. Do you want the government to collect your data (including your naked pictures)?
According to Oliver, Pew Research found that 46 percent of Americans say they don’t care about government surveillance. Why? It’s too complicated and technical to try to trace the life cycle of a text message. Hilariously Oliver tries to put the issue into terms Americans will care about — whether or not the government has access to your naked pictures. Once everyday folks heard the argument in those terms, they got interested in the debate pretty fast.
“I did this [released secret NSA spying information] to give the American people the chance to decide for themselves what kind of government they want to have,” Snowden tells Oliver.
Do you want a government that hoards your most scandalous communications?
2. Why did the government lie about its spying activity?
On June 1, 2015, key provisions of the Patriot Act are set to expire, including the controversial Section 215 provision, which has been interpreted by a FISA Court to mean that the government has the authority to collect comprehensive data on its citizens.
Prior to the Snowden revelations about programs like PRISM, American government officials — including President Obama — said the government was collecting only basic phone and internet records, like when a call was made and to whom (metadata), rather than the actual content of the conversation. Snowden proved that’s just not true.
The Snowden documents showed that the government was collecting and storing the content of Americans’ communications too, like emails, phone calls, internet searches and text and chat messages, rather than just basic call record information.
Worse yet, it’s not just being looked at; it’s being stored in monster government data centers in Utah, in case it needs to be looked at in the future. So if you want to play a semantics game, they aren’t actively looking at it, just saving a copy in case they need to later. Does that make you feel any better about it?
3. Can you trust the government with this kind of power?
Mobile phone data provides an incredibly detailed account of your life — your location, who you call, emails, text messages, internet searches, online shopping habits. Combine that level of detailed data contained in your credit card records, home and work emails and internet searches, and that’s a pretty freaky accurate representation of who you are, where you’ve been, with whom and what you were doing. But not totally accurate.
Your phone data might put you in a mall food court at the same time as a terrorist, but does that mean you’re a terrorist too? What if you just both happen to love Orange Julius and soft pretzels?
Now, imagine in the future the government charges you with a crime. Any crime, really. Doesn’t matter which. For belonging to the wrong religion. For being too friendly with someone the government doesn’t like. Happens all the time around the world. Rather than the government having to collect evidence about your crime to prove your guilt, it’ll already have a pile of information on you it can use however it chooses. No warrant. Nada.
We might be cool with all of this surveillance capability being used against the terrorists, but what if it’s turned on Americans one day?
So do you trust them?
4. How do we balance privacy and safety?
The Patriot Act was conceived amidst the fear following the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S. But even one of the primary authors of the Patriot Act, Wisconsin Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner, testified that the legislation was never intended to authorize the bulk collection and storage of the communications of U.S. citizens and that its powers should be reined in when the Patriot Act is reauthorized this summer.
Government officials argue that this kind of surveillance is critical for fighting terrorists and those who would do America and Americans harm. That sounds totally reasonable and fair. But with programs like PRISM and other surveillance activity Americans have no idea is going on, how can we have a debate and balance the idea of security against the idea of liberty?
How much privacy are we willing to give up for less security risk?
5. Are you on a watch list?
At the end of the interview, Snowden gives John Oliver a pretty ominous warning — that by interviewing him, Oliver is likely now on a very serious, very scary U.S. government watch list. The idea of a watch list is discussed in more frightening detail in the Academy Award-winning documentary about Snowden, Citizenfour.
Americans are put on watch lists all the time, which brings increased scrutiny of communications, increased surveillance and, when traveling out of the country, often problems getting your passport cleared across international borders without intense questioning. But how do you know if you’ve done something to raise the government’s suspicions about your activity? Am I on a watch list just for writing this article? Are you for reading it? How would we know? It’s a secret.
The principles of transparency and checks and balances the U.S. government is founded on demand that citizens be informed about these kinds of government activities. Whether you view Snowden as a hero or a traitor, as he says, now you know what your government is doing in our name. Do you care? Does it bother you? We should be allowed to have this debate and make an informed decision one way or the other.
In the meantime, John Oliver and his team of brillant writers have distilled the argument down to this: Do you want the government to have a picture of you naked?
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DAVENPORT - Don Skipper, an administrative assistant at Ridge Community High School, was named the school's head boys basketball coach Wednesday.
Skipper has served as an assistant basketball coach the last two years for the Bolts and had stints as a head coach at McKeel Academy and All Saints' Academy, and was named Coach of the Year three times by the Coaches Association of Polk County, according to a press release from the school.
BABSON PARK - Webber International University will host the 2007 NAIA Region 14 softball tournament today and Friday at the Diamond Plex in Winter Haven.
The opening ceremony will take place at 4:30 p.m., with Webber playing Thomas University (Georgia) on Field A at 5 p.m.
The tournament will continue at noon Friday with the elimination games.
Admission for the tournament is $5 per day or $8 for a two-day pass.
The tournament champions will receive an automatic place in the NAIA National Tournament to be held in Decatur, Ala, May 18-23.
For details, go to and view the softball page or call 863-638-2980.
LAKE WALES - The 13th annual Lake Wales Football golf tournament will be June 2 at the Lake Wales Country Club.
The tournament will start at 8 a.m. The cost will be $75 and play will be in scramble format.
Cost includes lunch and door prizes. Hole sponsors, prize donations and auction items are needed. Major sponsors are also available for $500.
For details, call Rod Shafer at 863-678-4222 or 863-604-3304.
BALTIMORE - Aubrey Huff homered with one out in the 10th inning against his former team, giving the Baltimore Orioles a 1-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Wednesday night.
After James Shields pitched nine brilliant innings for Tampa Bay, Brian Stokes (1-4) faced only two batters before giving up the game's lone run. Ramon Hernandez hit a fly to center before Huff drove a 1-1 pitch over the wall in center, his fourth homer of the season and second against the Devil Rays.
Huff played for five seasons in Tampa Bay and briefly with Houston last year before signing with Baltimore as a free agent in January.
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Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Lucid Lynx is the latest Linux operating system from Canonical, aimed at consumers. It's free, but is it sufficiently consumer friendly that you should switch from Windows?
Dell offers Ubuntu Netbook Remix as an option pre-installed for its Dell Inspiron Mini 10 netbook. But how well does UNR fare on other netbooks?
There's never been a better time to give Linux a try on your PC. Here's why.
Is this the easiest way to try Linux on a Win7 laptop?
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Still image of Lisa Sharon Harper from YouTube.
Pastors and lay leaders who represent minority and multiethnic communities and are appalled by the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency have a blunt message for the white evangelical majority that helped elect him: we’re disappointed in you, but not surprised.
For these evangelicals of color, Trump’s use of racially-charged language, his anti-immigrant rhetoric, negative remarks targeting Mexicans and Muslims, as well as the emergence of the “Access Hollywood” tape and his other divisive comments about women, were simply disqualifying.
While some prominent white evangelical leaders made their opposition to then-candidate Trump widely known (many signing a letter protesting his candidacy), the majority of white self-identified evangelicals (estimated to run as high as 81 percent), lined up behind him.
“Many of [Trump’s] critics fell silent or fell into line, while the group known as the ‘religious right’ continued to support him’ says Kathy Khang, a Christian writer and speaker based in the Chicago area.
For the past eight years, people of color, the LGBT community, and women have been given license to flourish, says Lisa Sharon Harper, author of The Very Good Gospel: How Everything Wrong Can Be Made Right and chief church engagement officer at Sojourners. “The white church demonstrated on November 8th that it is more white than Christian, and has a [greater] commitment to white supremacy than it does to Christ,” says Harper.
The fact that so many evangelicals didn’t see Trump’s controversial rhetoric as derogatory underlined the presence of a persistent and troubling racial divide in American Christianity that these leaders say is deeply rooted in American history.
Some are questioning the value of continued association with the white evangelical majority.
Despite their dismay over the prospect of a Trump presidency, those I spoke to appear to be more motivated and energized than daunted by the challenges that lie ahead.
“This has been a wakeup call to the progressive, moderate community that we have to stand up for what we believe in and communicate it in the public square,” DuBois concludes.
And Lisa Sharon Harper tells me that “a new Civil Rights movement is happening, and its locus is in people of color.” She sees evidence of it already in the “movement for black lives,” the witness of the so-called “Dreamers” (undocumented immigrants who arrived here as children), and the rising call for solidarity with the poor that mirrors the words of Jesus in Matthew 25. “Every word of Scripture was written by oppressed people,” she says.
Elizabeth Eisenstadt Evans is a Pennsylvania-based freelance writer, and a religion columnist for LNP Media, Inc in Lancaster, PA. Her work has appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the National Catholic Reporter, the Global Sisters Report, Religion News Service and other media outlets.
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New York’s bike share really does attract way more commuters than tourists.
Since its debut last year, New York City’s bike share system, Citi Bike, has been wildly popular. In its first six months of operation, the bright blue bikes logged more than 5 million trips. The system has nearly 100,000 annual members. Yet Citi Bike–which unlike most bike shares in major cities, isn’t subsidized by public funds–is losing money. One of the main reasons is that while annual memberships are popular, the much more profitable day passes aren’t. It’s a phenomenon easily seen in this visualization of two days of Citi Bike rides around New York City.
Designer Jeff Ferzoco, Sarah Kaufman at New York University’s Rudin Center for Transportation and Juan Francisco Saldarriaga of Columbia University’s Spatial Information Design Lab worked together to visualize Citi Bike journey data from September 17 and 18 of last year. Over those two days, when the weather was in the 60s and there was no rain, Citi Bike saw 75,000 rides. Rides are separated by type of membership, either annual (blue) or casual (yellow).
The visualization doesn’t show exact routes along the city’s grid, but instead approximates trips by tracing straight lines between the endpoints. Ridership picks up early in the morning, around 5:30 a.m., and is heavy between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. Almost all of those riders are annual members. Yellow dots are barely visible on the map, except a few around the very lower tip of Manhattan and up near Central Park. As the day wears on, there’s a slight increase in casual members–people riding over the Brooklyn Bridge, for instance–but for the most part, the vast majority of the map is the blue. During the evening rush hours, when commuters get back on a Citi Bike to go home, the map is overwhelmed by a dense network of blue.
Interestingly, more riders seem to take Citi Bike during the evening hours than take it to work. The number of active riders hits 800 at 8:30 a.m., but spikes to more than 1,000 at 6 p.m.
Though the balance of ridership clearly tips in favor of annual membership, it would be interesting to compare this data to a weekend. Perhaps more people are willing to grab a daily pass on a Saturday than during the workweek.
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It’s amazing what a difference time can make in the way we perceive certain technologies. A few years ago, the idea of the cloud was terrifying to many people. What exactly did it mean to have something “in the cloud”? Was your personal information just floating around somewhere, ready for people to steal? Now, a lot of those hesitations have disappeared as people learned more about the cloud and its benefits. Businesses and individuals are more than willing to stick their information “in the cloud,” but it’s really not that simple.
Sure, there are plenty of cloud providers in the market, but choosing the right one for your organization can be a tricky process. Brand name cloud providers are often seen as a reliable option for companies, but the truth is that they may not be the right option for your small-to-medium-sized business (SMB) needs.
Migrating successfully to the cloud requires a SMB to have the right partner by its side, especially if it lacks cloud expertise or the time to develop an appropriate migration strategy. The right partner will be able to ensure that a SMB’s cloud deployment meets regulatory requirements, offers future scalability and flexibility, and/or provides it with the most cost-effective option possible.
Again, finding a cloud provider that can do all of the above should be easy, but that’s not always the case. A lot of cloud providers are focused on helping enterprises rather than SMBs. Luckily, there are some cloud providers that cater specifically to SMB customers.
If you’d like to learn more about SMB cloud migrations and how to choose the right cloud provider to meet your company’s needs, be sure to register for the upcoming webinar titled “How to Know if Your Cloud Decision is Right for Your SMB.” The webinar, presented by Ed Dryer, senior technology strategist at Steadfast, will take place on Tuesday, August 22, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. EDT.
Attendees will gain a better understanding of public, hybrid and private clouds for SMBs; learn the operational and cost benefits of virtualization; hear what is driving SMBs today to make cloud investments; and understand how cloud services complement business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) services, managed security, and on-demand infrastructure. If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, you can REGISTER HERE.
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On Jan. 15, nine of 12 members of the National Park System Advisory Board sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announcing their resignation, effectively dissolving the board.
It was an act of protest against an administration with little appetite for the methodical approach the board has brought to national park management for decades. And it leaves the National Park Service without a means to establish new historic or natural landmarks, since federal law requires the advisory board to sign off on such designations. More significantly, perhaps, it’s another crack in the foundation of the Interior Department, which manages 500 million acres of public land and is already rattled by the prospect of some 4,000 job cuts.
Since 1935, the nonpartisan experts on the National Park System Advisory Board have consulted with the Park Service on its policies and recommended new park units. Lady Bird Johnson served on the board, as did Western writer Wallace Stegner and numerous anthropologists, archaeologists, biologists, architects and social scientists. In recent years, the board has taken a special interest in protecting sites that are of value to Asian-American, African-American, Latino and LGBT communities, and it’s advised the Park Service on management strategies to deal with the impacts of climate change.
When Zinke took office last spring, board members hoped to talk with him about these efforts. But the secretary seemed uninterested—perhaps not surprising, given that a leaked document outlining his department’s priorities scrubbed all mentions of climate change and diversity. In May, Zinke suspended the advisory board, along with some 200 other independent committees that offered management expertise to individual parks or regions. With few options to make their voices heard, advisory board members decided to resign en masse.
Interior Department spokeswoman Heather Swift did not respond to a request for comment, but told the conservative Washington Examiner that the department “welcomes” the resignations of members who she claims ignored sexual harassment issues in the Park Service.
Former Alaska governor and advisory board chairman Tony Knowles says sexual harassment didn’t fall under the board’s purview. He also talked with High Country News about why he quit and what the board’s dissolution means for the national park system. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
HCN: Did you get the sense that until this year, the recommendations of the board were heeded, or at least heard?
Tony Knowles: Yes, absolutely. Over the past 7 years, we really made a difference in the direction of the National Park Service. There was a great sense of collaboration. Our board members worked with more than 160 outside experts to come up with recommendations, including to approve 130 new historical landmarks. We went over recommendations carefully with former superintendent Jon Jarvis, and often they became part of Park Service policy.
HCN: How did that change in the past year?
TK: At the beginning, we were told that all of the advisory boards were suspended and we’d be notified when it would become part of the agenda to reinstate them. So we waited one, two, three, four months. There was no contract (to allow us to continue our work), no understanding of when a Park Service director would be appointed. In early October, I wrote a letter to Secretary Zinke explaining how the board wanted to meet to inform the new administration of what we envisioned to build a better park system in the 21st century, and to hear what their vision was. We got no answer. I pestered and pestered, and in mid-November got a one-sentence email from someone saying the secretary was very busy. That’s when we realized they were just running out the clock until our terms expired in May.
HCN: Why did you decide to resign rather than try to influence the direction of the agency from within?
TK: When you’re on permanent hold, at some time you’ve gotta hang up. There’s no one to talk to but yourselves. By nine of us resigning, we felt we’d be able to get the microphone briefly to at least talk to the American people about climate change, about preserving the natural diversity of wildlife, about making sure underrepresented minorities not only come to the parks but are employees there. All these things we think are important. We may be disappointed with the Department of the Interior, but we are not discouraged. Every single one of us will continue the fight to promote and protect our public lands.
HCN: Given that your action is part of a larger pattern of resignations and layoffs at the Park Service, are you concerned about the agency’s future?
TK: Of course we’re concerned. The secretary proposed a 13 percent budget reduction, which would all come out of personnel, then claimed he’s going to rebuild infrastructure by raising park entry fees. If we’re trying to increase the number of people from lower-income groups who want to come to our parks, that’s counter-productive. I also get worried when I think about the unprecedented reduction of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah. We think those could be a preview of coming attractions for the National Park Service.
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Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect Enters Not Guilty Pleas In 1st Public Court HearingFor the first plea, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev leaned toward a microphone and said, "Not guilty,'' in a Russian accent. He then said not guilty repeatedly about a half-dozen more times.
Mayors Against Illegal Guns Apologizes For Calling Boston Bombing Suspect Victim Of Gun Violence The event is part of the gun-control group's 25-state "No More Names" tour, which is part of its campaign to build support for legislation to expand background checks for gun buyers.
CBS News: Attack At Boston Marathon Was Supposed To Happen On July 4The official also said that Tsarnaev revealed that the bombs were constructed at his older brother Tamerlan's residence and that Tamerlan had brought Dzhokhar into the plot a couple of months before.
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October 30, 2017  Mancari offers stories of wandering and homecoming, colored by a determination to live, artistically, beyond the gender boundaries usually imposed on female artists.
October 27, 2017  Watch the indie-rock band perform a song from Painted Ruins, its first new album after a five-year hiatus.
October 26, 2017  Songwriter Sam Beam returns to the Cafe for a solo set in front of a live audience.
October 27, 2017  Listen to a session recorded at Sound Stage Studios with longtime partner Gillian Welch.
October 25, 2017  Kyle Vanes, of the band The Dales, says his song "Still the Love" was inspired by finding, and losing, the love of his life, who died of breast cancer in 2015.
October 25, 2017  Son Little's new album, New Magic, is bumpy blues meets rooted R&B meets old school nu soul meets... well... magic.
October 25, 2017  There is "no point in wasting sorrow on things that won't be here tomorrow"
October 24, 2017  Before he could legally drive, my guest in this session had his first platinum record. Hear a studio session the blues prodigy, recorded live in Philadelphia.
October 20, 2017  This year marks the 30th anniversary of her album Solitude Standing, and the 25th of 99.9F°.
October 20, 2017  His self-released, self-titled debut EP captures his exuberance and musical openness, setting the stage for what promises to be a brilliant career.
October 19, 2017  A performance session that brings a reminder of comfort in chaos, and community alike.
October 19, 2017  Watch the young UK rockers perform a stripped-down version of their single, live at the KCRW studios.
October 18, 2017  A reflection on the singer's impact on the entire nation of Canada, and his electric last performance on Aug. 20, 2016, in Kingston, Ontario.
October 17, 2017  This is a band that can go from in-your-face to introspective on a dime — and they do just that in this session.
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Chee Wei Wong, professor of electrical and computer engineering in the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, was named a fellow of the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.
The society was founded in 1955 to advance light-based technologies and annually organizes and sponsors major technical forums, exhibitions and education programs around the world. Fellows are members who have made significant scientific and technical contributions in the fields of optics, photonics and imaging. Wong was recognized for his achievements in ultrafast optics, nonlinear photonics, quantum optics and precision measurements.
Physical and wave electronics are Wong’s primary area of focus. Wong is the recipient of the 2018 National Institutes of Health’s Early Scientist Trailblazer Award and the 2016 Google Faculty Research Award.
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Since 2010, Microsoft has been working on a gaming display system so small that it wouldn't need to be sitting on an entertainment unit or even held in your hands. You could wear it in a pair of glasses. Or in a stupid helmet.
The company sees two avenues for such technology: the glasses are an entertainment possibility, while the helmet, being the more heavyweight solution of the pair (including the same display tech but with an accompanying headpiece), could be used for gaming or more practical uses like aviation.
How would the glasses work? It's proposed in a patent that to get around the problem of the human eye being unable to focus on objects so close, it would distort to appear as though it was 21 inches away. The glasses could also adjust their transparency depending on the use's tastes or a game's needs, so you could black everything out and just focus on the action, or conversely use the specs as augmented reality devices able to overlay imagery onto the real world.
Sounds crazy at first, but then, the future always does.
Remember, standard patent disclaimers apply: just because a company is researching stuff like this doesn't mean it'll ever come to market, etc etc.
For Plunkett, this is a pretty impressive piece!
This "use's tastes" do not include articles by this clown.
This has good real world application the HUD in aircraft and other uses like driving get a gps/HUD for road speeds an signs etc.
Am I the only one who thought of this? http://www.1up.com/features/untitled_25 I so wanted the Nintendo Revolution to be that, It reminded me of a case study I did with a mate back in Uni on AR.
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Viewers will not want to miss Friday’s episode of General Hospital. Spoilers tease that everybody will see lots of juicy scenes revolving around the Lulu and Ryan storyline and the January 25 show will seemingly set fans up for a big surprise next week, too.
As Friday’s show begins, General Hospital spoilers indicate that Lulu will remain unconscious after the attack and her emergency surgery. The sneak peek shared via Twitter details that Laura will be by her daughter’s bedside, begging her to wake up. In addition, Lulu’s father-in-law, Sonny, will pay a visit to her as well.
While it sounds as if Lulu will face a lengthy, difficult recovery, General Hospital spoilers suggest that she might peek her eyes open during Friday’s show. Even if she does start to regain consciousness, viewers should be prepared to learn that she won’t be able to share any bombshells about her attacker at this point.
Elsewhere in General Hospital, spoilers suggest that Ryan will be finding out whether his sight has been restored. SheKnows Soaps notes that Ava will be by Ryan’s side — and it sounds as if he probably will be able to see again. Next week, it’s said that he’ll try to finish the job he started with Lulu.
Across town, General Hospital spoilers reveal that Jordan will talk with Anna about the case. Jordan had wanted to grill Peter about where he was prior to the attack on Lulu, and naturally, Anna was quite concerned about this. It looks as if Jordan will share some in-depth information with Anna about what they know about the attacks so far — and Anna will be getting some answers about something.
During Thursday’s episode, Jason and Sam finally made love again. As the Inquisitr previously detailed, Jason and Sam will be fully together going forward, although they will try to keep this development under the radar for the most part. During Friday’s show, however, it seems that Sam will voice some anxiety about what happens when Jason leaves her place.
Jason will promise Sam that things are different now. He was patient in waiting for her to decide what she wanted — and when she was ready to move forward — but he’s all-in when it comes to being reunited with his love. While Sam might feel anxious, he’ll promise that he’s coming back.
Fans always love to see Tristan Rogers pop up as Robert, and they’re in for a treat heading into the February sweeps. Rogers is back beginning with Friday’s show — and General Hospital spoilers hint that soon Robert and Finn will be working together to figure out how Anna was infected with the virus.
Franco and Elizabeth will further discuss the situation with Aiden, and the possibility that he’s gay. All signs point toward the couple reaching out and doing their best to support the little boy during this journey. The next show will also have some scenes involving Maxie and Peter as a relationship continues to slowly evolve between the two.
There are a lot of questions remaining regarding what happens next with Ryan and this case. General Hospital spoilers hint that there may be at least one more victim before he’s caught and he’ll seemingly go to great lengths to avoid detection. Don’t miss any of the drama coming up with Friday’s show, and stay tuned for additional teasers regarding what’s coming next.
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Dubai: The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) witnessed another round of selling on Monday as traders remained cautious ahead of a long holidays.
The DFM general index closed 0.44 per cent lower at 2,727.41, as it managed to stay above the support level of 2.706 that has proved critical after the gauged bounced back from these levels twice.
Emaar Properties closed 1.2 per cent lower at Dh4.74.
“Emaar shares are struggling to find a bottom as the stock has been trading near to its previous low. A close over Dh4.85 shall be considered bullish, and ignite recovery to Dh4.95/5.20 in the short term,” Shiv Prakash, senior analyst with First Abu Dhabi Bank Securities said in a note.
“Emaar’s movements appear to be concerning at this time of year where investors are expected to be taking positions instead of exiting the market,” Essam Kassabieh, senior financial analyst at Menacorp said.
Some stocks witnessed mild selling, whereas others remained stable.
Dubai Islamic Bank closed more than a per cent lower at Dh5.24. Dubai Investments closed more than 1 per cent lower at Dh1.40. Tabreed closed 3.85 per cent higher at Dh1.62. Emirates NBD closed 2.22 per cent higher at Dh9.20.
The Abu Dhabi index continued its out-performance due to strong buying in banking stocks and etisalat.
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange general index closed 0.5 per cent higher at 4,971.43.
Etisalat closed at Dh17.1, up 1.18 per cent.
“Saudi Arabian Refineries shares are expected to surge towards the initial target at 46.40 riyals and then test 49 riyals in the medium term,” Prakash said.
Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul index was 0.28 per cent higher at 7,533.29.
Elsewhere in the Gulf, the Muscat MSM 30 index closed 0.73 per cent lower at 4,393.06. The Qatar exchange index closed 1.02 per cent higher at 10,356.62.
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Tue., May 29, 2018, 10:20 a.m.
CAGUAS, Puerto Rico – At least 4,645 people died as a result of Hurricane Maria and its devastation across Puerto Rico last year, according to a new Harvard study released Tuesday, an estimate that far exceeds the official government death toll, which stands at 64.
The official death estimates have drawn sharp criticism from experts and local residents, and the new study criticized Puerto Rico’s methods for counting the dead – and its lack of transparency in sharing information – as detrimental to planning for future natural disasters. The authors called for patients, communities and doctors to develop contingency plans for natural disasters.
More than eight months after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, the island’s slow recovery has been marked by a persistent lack of water, a faltering power grid and a lack of essential services – all of which have imperiled the lives of many residents who have been struggling to get back on their feet, especially the infirm and those in remote areas, some of which were the hardest hit in September.
Miliana Montanez cradled her mother’s head as she lay dying on the floor of her bedroom here in Caguas, gasping for air and pleading for help.
Leon’s eyes bulged in terror as she described to her daughter the tiny points of light that appeared before her eyes moments before it was all over. She took one last exasperated gulp of air. That’s when paramedics arrived. Far too late.
Leon’s death reverberated through her family and her community. Her son, a college student in a town two hours away, sees no point in coming home anymore. Her husband is withdrawn and is close to losing his job. Her daughter struggles to understand what happened as she fights off despair and anger recalling all the chaos that revolved around Leon’s last moments on the floor of her home.
Puerto Rico’s government faced immediate scrutiny after initially reporting that 16 people had died as a result of the storm, which strafed much of the island on Sept. 20. That number more than doubled after President Donald Trump visited in October, when he specifically noted the low death toll. The number kept rising until early December, when authorities said 64 had died.
The official toll included a variety of people from across Puerto Rico, such as those who suffered injuries, were swept away in floodwaters, or were unable to reach hospitals while facing severe medical conditions. No. 56 was a person from the city of Carolina who was bleeding from the mouth but could not reach a hospital in the days after the storm. Once arrived, the patient was diagnosed with pneumonia and died of kidney failure. No. 43, from Juncos, suffered from respiratory ailments and went to the hospital – only to be released because of the coming storm. That person later returned, dead.
The new study indicates there probably were thousands more, like Leon, who died in the weeks and months that followed but were not counted. Their deaths have long raised questions about the manner and integrity of the Puerto Rico government’s protocols for certifying hurricane-related deaths.
Gov. Ricardo Rossells’s administration did not immediately release mortality data nor did officials provide much information publicly about the process officials were using to count the dead. But officials and physicians acknowledged privately that there were probably many, many more deaths and bodies piling up in morgues across the island.
After pressure from Congress and statistical analyses from news organizations that put the death toll at higher than 1,000, Rossells enlisted the help of George Washington University experts to review the government’s death certification process. He promised that “regardless of what the death certificate says,” each death would be inspected closely to ensure a correct tally.
“This is about more than numbers, these are lives: real people, leaving behind loved ones and families,” Rossells said at a news conference in late February.
Lynn Goldman, dean of GW’s Milken Institute School of Public Health, expects an initial report to be released in coming weeks. The school’s findings will include the first government-sponsored attempt by researchers and epidemiologists to quantify Hurricane Maria’s deadliness. Experts are assessing statistical mortality data and plan to dive into medical records and to interview family members of those who have passed, though the scope and funding of the deeper investigation is still unclear, as its timing.
Some cases are obviously storm-related, Goldman said, such as someone dying after a tree branch falls on his head while clearing debris or someone who suffers a heart attack during the storm and was unable to get help. But death certificates bearing the phrase “natural causes” will require further investigation.
The Center for Investigative Journalism in Puerto Rico has gone to court in an effort to seek the island’s Department of Health and Demographic Registry’s mortality data for the months since November, the last month information was available. The Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics also announced in recent weeks it would perform an independent death count and use subpoena powers to retrieve the data. Spokesman Eric Perlloni Alayon said in a statement the government is still trying to verify the death toll and does not plan to release any new data.
The Harvard researchers reported that there are several reasons the death toll in Puerto Rico has been drastically underestimated. Every disaster-related death, they said, must be confirmed by the government’s Forensic Sciences Institute, which requires that bodies by brought to San Juan or that a medical examiner travel to the local municipality. And it can be difficult to track indirect deaths from a worsening of chronic conditions due to the storm.
Many families here are awaiting clarity on what happened to their loved ones when “natural causes” became the only explanation. That is what was written on Leon’s death certificate the morning a local law enforcement official brought the document to the family home. The Puerto Rico Department of Justice’s Yamil Juarbe said in a statement it is customary for local officials in these cases to review bodies for any signs of trauma and talk to relatives to learn about the deceased’s medical history. That information is collected and sent to the central office of the Institute of Forensic Sciences.
Leon’s family said her name was misspelled on the death certificate and her death was incorrectly attributed to diabetes; they say she did not have any known chronic diseases. Officials later corrected the documents, but it was one of several indignities and oversights the family tracked.
Leon’s demise began with a virus, and the first signs appeared as she was delivering donations to families of Boy Scouts who had lost their homes in another city, Humacao. During Thanksgiving week, Leon had planned a feast for her family but felt too sick to finish the turkey. She seasoned the bird and a local bakery roasted it. Then the vomiting and diarrhea struck her.
It took 20 minutes to obtain cell reception and call 911 from their metropolitan Caguas neighborhood. It took another 10 minutes, records show, before the ambulance could reach Leon’s home because of road congestion and failing traffic lights. Paramedics tried to revive Leon using CPR, but she was already dead upon their arrival. Montanez tried for days to have an autopsy performed, but she said no government agency or private medical organization had the capacity to conduct one.
Montanez stays awake many nights replaying her mother’s last days. She tries to remember the woman who joked so often, and so wryly, that her children often weren’t sure when she was being serious. She recalls how Leon gave each of her neighbors a whistle to call for help in an emergency during Puerto Rico’s prolonged blackout, and how she organized trick-or-treating by lantern light for the children in the barrio so they wouldn’t miss out on Halloween after the hurricane.
Published: May 29, 2018, 10:20 a.m.
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I didn’t notice, but I’ve been told George W, Bush delivered his latest speech smoothly, more so than most of his speeches. He has certainly practiced the stay-the-course storyline.
How many times have we suffered White House fanfare for a presidential speech that will finally solve the mystery of our foreign policy? How many times have we listened, only to reluctantly conclude that George W. Bush is indeed a broken record, and worse for wear?
George waved the bloody shirt at Fort Bragg, recalling 9-11 and global terrorists. He again brought forth the well-used and amazingly stupid idea that we will somehow take the war to the terrorists. And yes, he was talking about Iraq.
Those of us living in the reality-based world must be ever so tiresome to our nifty commander in chief.
In the real world, Mr. Bush, young Americans die, are maimed and morally devastated by wars in Iraq and in Afghanistan, both conducted without legal or moral justification, and hence without hope. In the real world, Americans, Iraqis and Afghans all suffer a conflict dreamed up by finely fed and well-dressed neoconservatives in air-conditioned Washington suites.
At leisurely lunches and late night planning sessions they designed a boutique war to be fought by tin soldiers. I imagine the work, and the finger food, was positively delicious.
As he has since his 9-11 raison d’tre, Bush emphasized this week that we shall prevail by taking the war to the "terrorists." This must sound great echoing off the peach and lavender rooms of the administration’s unreality-based world.
On the other hand, many great thinkers on military affairs have extensively studied the reality-based world, and thus might be helpful. Sun Tzu, for example. The ancient strategist wrote, "The spot where we intend to fight must not be made known; for then the enemy will have to prepare against a possible attack at several different points; and his forces being thus distributed in many directions, the numbers we shall have to face at any given point will be proportionately few."
Transfixed by the light of their own brilliance reflecting from pastel-sheened walls and bulletproof windows, the Bush administration hears him not.
Karl von Clausewitz wrote, "No one starts a war — or rather, no one in his senses ought to do so — without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war and how he intends to conduct it."
Hear, hear! But it seems that the neoconservatives who long envisioned the toppling of the Ba’ath Party, and the emplacement of an administration-friendly Prime Minister in Baghdad as a Do-it-Yourself weekend project, were deafened once again by their own self-congratulatory cheers.
Clausewitz, always trying to help innocent politicians, wryly noted, "In war the will is directed at an animate object that reacts."
Sir Basil Liddell-Hart, in the mid-1900s, not so long ago, expanded upon Clausewitz in this regard. The old Brit noted, "Natural hazards, however formidable, are inherently less dangerous and less uncertain than fighting hazards. All conditions are more calculable, all obstacles more surmountable than those of human resistance."
As President, George W. Bush is a public example of a life spent failing to learn from either his betters or his mistakes, refusing to develop empathy when revenge felt better, and avoiding the hard work and self-doubt of personal accountability. He vows to stay the course and exercise his will because without that, he is left alone with his fears of inconsequentiality and too many vengeful ghosts. It’s enough to drive a man to drink, to swear, to cry and crumble.
The audience at Bragg was politically controlled and generally pro-Bush, yet the only applause-based interruption of Bush’s speech was apparently the result of a Bush aide’s signaling.
American service members and their families — now in the third year of a three-week war driven by a secret Washington establishment geostrategy and fueled by blatant repetitive lies — have seen their friends and lovers and children in wheelchairs and in coffins. They have intimately witnessed the disturbing moral fractures and personality changes that are inevitable in war — whether Congress declares one or not. Unlike George W. Bush, they are challenged by this. Unlike their confident and willful President, they pray every day for their faith to be sustained, and to be delivered from evil.
That they might need to be prompted to cheer this particular President is no surprise.
Sir Basil also noted that "No man can exactly calculate the capacity of human genius and stupidity, nor the incapacity of will."
The history of George W. Bush and his long-desired and endless war in Iraq may disprove Liddell-Hart on this count.
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Kyle Schwarber may be out for the season, but the home run ball he hit during the Cubs-Cardinals National League Division Series has been returned to the top of Wrigley Field's right field video board.
On Monday morning's "Mully and Hanley" show on WSCR-AM 670, Cubs president of business operations Crane Kenney said the ball is back to where it originally landed after it was taken down after the 2015 season.
Kenney said the ball was taken down in part to prevent anyone from getting the idea of climbing up the board and stealing it.
Meanwhile, the metal detectors are all in place and finishing touches were being put on the outside walls of Wrigley Field in anticipation of tonight’s home opener. Fans are being asked to arrive early since it will be the first game with the metal detectors at entrances, a security measure mandated by Major League Baseball.
After landing from Phoenix last night, the Cubs took a bus to Wrigley Field to sneak a look at their new, 30,000-square-foot clubhouse.
The brick pavers that were removed during construction have been moved to the sidewalks on Waveland and Sheffield Avenues, with each section surrounding the name of a former Cubs player or employee, ranging from Sammy Sosa to former clubhouse man Yosh Kawano.
The Cubs players arrived at Wrigley from their opening road trip before midnight on Sunday and got a tour of the new, expanded clubhouse. The Cubs denied all media requests to photograph or videotape the clubhouse because president Theo Epstein wanted his team to be the first ones to see it.
One fan was already camped out at the bleacher entrance at 7 a.m., waiting for the gates to open this afternoon. Veteran bleacher bum Ron Hayden said he arrived early to make sure he got his customary seat in left field.
A sign outside the bleachers lists prohibited items, which includes laser pointers, noise makers and unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones. Cleveland pitcher Trevor Bauer flew a drone at U.S. Cellular Field over the weekend and crashed it in front of the new video board.
Photos from Wrigley Field for the Cubs home opener on April 11, 2016.
Cubs fans in the left field bleachers celebrate the 5-3 win over the Reds in the Cubs' home opener on Monday, April 11, 2016, at Wrigley Field.
Cubs players celebrate the 5-3 win over the Reds in the Cubs' home opener on Monday, April 11, 2016, at Wrigley Field.
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Seven-Year-Old Florida Boy Swallows Grill!
This 7-year-old boy became the latest victim of hip-hop culture – as he was rushed to the hospital after swallowing his grill! ‘Grills’ are a type of decorative dental jewelry often worn by rap artists such as OutKast, Nelly, Lil John and Ludacris. Hip-hop fan Bobby Tedesco, 7, from Sanford, Florida, was delighted when his mum brought home a Â£5 ($10) grill for him from a local car-boot sale. Tedesco placed the grill over his teeth and proudly showed it off in photos. Tedesco’s expression, however, soon changed when the grill fell out off his teeth and he started choking on it. His mother, Dawn Tedesco, attempted to clear his throat, but he swallowed the grill. He was raced to hospital but doctors said there was little they could do, adding there was only one way out for the metal device.
And we all know where that “one way” exit is! Someone’s gonna have a pretty painful bowel movement LMAO. My question is, what the hell was he doing with a grill? And a cheap one at that! And it was obviously too big for his mouth it fell out so easily. I’m just glad he didn’t die. Anyhow, I’ll be glad when that so-called “fad” dies… I’ve never been a fan those damn things. Not like I could get one anyhow since I’m a brace face LOL.
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Only former Israeli President Shimon Peres could pull off something like organizing a friendly football (soccer) match between Israeli and Palestinian children just a week after the latest Gaza war.
And only the Palestinian Authority could be so callous as to condemn such a demonstration of peaceful coexistence.
The game organized by Peres wasn’t between just any groups of Israeli and Palestinian kids. The Israelis came from the rocket-battered town of Sderot, and the Palestinians from Hebron, near to where earlier this summer Hamas terrorists abducted and executed three Jewish teens.
The game marked the start of the current year of the “School of Football and Peace,” a campaign by the Peres Center for Peace that brings together dozens of Israeli and Palestinian children for sports and other extracurricular learning activities.
Israel’s “peace partners” in the Palestinian Authority, however, didn’t seem to feel the same.
“Any activity of normalization in sports with the Zionist enemy is a crime against humanity,” insisted Jibril Rajoub, a senior member of the ruling Fatah faction and head of the Palestinian Supreme Council for Sports and Youth Affairs.
In a post to his Facebook page (which was translated by Palestinian Media Watch), Rajoub said it was official policy to oppose and prevent joint sporting events between Israeli and Palestinian children.
A local Fatah spokesman vowed that the party would “settle the account with these reckless people,” meaning the coach and other organizers who had dared to let Palestinian children commit the heinous crime of playing soccer with Israeli Jews.
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Plan B has announced a nationwide UK tour this autumn.
The rapper-turned-singer, who scored a UK Number One album with ‘The Defamation Of Strickland Banks’ yesterday (April 18), will hit the road starting on October 6 in Nottingham.
Tickets go on sale this Friday (April 23). To check the availability of Plan B tickets and get all the latest listings, go to NME.COM/TICKETS now, or call 0871 230 1094.
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Katie Price and her new baby return home after holidaying in Europe.
Alex Reid has tweeted a message of support for his ex-wife Katie Price.
Price gave birth to her first child with current husband Kieran Hayler eight weeks early last month.
She was rushed to hospital while holidaying in Europe, and was told her labour would be induced early as her baby was at risk of infection and had a dangerously low heart rate.
The model confirmed that she and Hayler arrived home with son Jett Riviera last week.
She tweeted on Tuesday (September 10): "It's been a week since me @kieran0322 and Jett been home haven't told people we are home as wanted to settle in! Thankyou to all tweets x"
Reid messaged her directly in reply, stating that he was happy to hear her family was safe.
Very glad to hear @kieran0322 @MissKatiePrice & baby Jet are all home safe & sound!
Alex Reid and Katie Price have not been on good terms since their split in 2011.
He recently sold his wedding ring to Now magazine to give away in a reader competition.
Katie Price recently told Digital Spy that her latest pregnancy had "been more difficult" than those before.
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Do as I did, started my own business and see how much work it takes and then go from there. I have had all kinds of workers over the years; too many are just lazy wanting money. That young black girl was my best worker.
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Stopping nearsightedness in kids and more.
This week, Dr. Sydney Spiesel discusses a way to stop the progression of nearsightedness in kids, a better method of hormone replacement therapy for women after menopause, and new developments in the search for a cause for autism. His column will start appearing a couple of times a month.
Condition: Nearsightedness, or myopia, is the most common eye problem. In the United States and Europe, about 25 percent of the adult population is nearsighted, and in much of Asia the condition is more common still. Significant myopia can have serious medical consequences. It has long been understood that the condition has a strong genetic component: Nearsighted parents are more likely to have nearsighted children. But recent research has shown that other factors contribute. For example, just as our mothers warned us, there is now evidence that doing close-up work, like reading, seems to promote the condition.
How it progresses: The eyeball of a nearsighted person is deeper than the eyeball of a person with normal vision and becomes deeper as nearsightedness progresses. Myopia often begins to develop between the ages of 6 and 8. As children grow, their nearsightedness worsens, continuing to do so long after they have stopped growing taller. Though we know a lot about factors associated with nearsightedness and its progression, we have no good ideas yet about the mechanism. But can we stop it?
New research: A recent study by Wei-Han Chua and colleagues at the Singapore National Eye Center elegantly built on older research and successfully used atropine eye drops to treat myopia in children. Atropine is a longer-lasting version of the pupil-dilating drops your doctor uses when you go for an eye exam. Available by prescription in the United States, the drops are mainly used to treat amblyopia (lazy eye) instead of the older treatment, patching, which children often hate.
Dr. Chua and his co-workers studied the progression of nearsightedness in 400 children between 6 and 12 years of age. Half the children were treated with atropine eye drops, and the other half were treated with placebo eye drops. Both kinds of drops were administered nightly to one eye, so the untreated eye could be compared with the treated one. The children were followed for two years. All used eyeglasses to correct their nearsightedness, and because atropine dilates the pupil, the lenses of the glasses self-darkened in bright light, to avoid discomfort for the children whose pupils were dilated.
Findings: The effects were extraordinary: After two years, on average, the children’s nearsightedness had not progressed in the atropine-treated eyes but had dramatically worsened in the placebo-treated and untreated eyes. Similarly, atropine-treated eyes did not become deeper, while placebo-treated and untreated eyes did. No serious adverse effects were observed in the course of the research.
Conclusion: This is extremely promising. Further work needs to be done to determine the ideal concentration of atropine in the eye drops, to find out how long the treatment needs to last, and if the effects are permanent. Because atropine interferes with close focusing, children will probably need to wear bifocals while they’re using the atropine drops. Much more research must be done to help us understand why nearsightedness develops and progresses. But in the meantime, we may have a way to head off this common problem.
Treatment: Hormone replacement therapy was introduced in 1941, when the FDA approved the use of estrogen for this purpose. Early on, HRT was prescribed with great enthusiasm. It relieved troublesome symptoms associated with menopause, including hot flashes, sleep problems, and, for some women, difficulty in concentration. And HRT (usually estrogen plus a progestin) was shown to improve the bone density of elderly women and decrease their risk for fractures.
Downside: Time and further research has shown that these gains come at a cost, however: increased risk for cardiovascular problems, stroke, and blood clots in the veins and lungs. Postmenopausal women on HRT also seem to be an increased risk for breast cancer and possibly dementia. This made many women feel they had to choose between improved quality of life and a risk of ill health and early death.
New study: Now research reported in the journal Circulation suggests a way around the blood clotting problem, at least. The researchers studied about 270 women who had developed blood clots in their veins, almost all of them postmenopausal. They were compared with more than 600 women who did not suffer from blood clots but similar in age, smoking status, and age at menopause. Among women in either group who used HRT, the study tracked whether the estrogen medication was taken orally or applied through the skin as a patch or a gel. The nature of the progestin component, if any, was also studied.
Findings: Estrogen HRT increased the risk for blood clots in the veins—but only if it was administered orally. This result is not as surprising as it might seem. A medication that’s given orally collects in the blood supply of the intestines and passes through the liver before it is distributed to the rest of the body. This causes changes in the proteins synthesized by the liver, some of which are known to increase the clotting of blood. When the estrogen in HRT is administered through the skin, by contrast, it bypasses the liver. The study also established that some progestins (there are many kinds) increase the risk of blood clotting and that others do not.
Conclusion: If these findings are confirmed, HRT skin patches or gels and careful choice of the progestin component could normalize the risk of blood clots in the veins, and also blood clots that migrate to the lungs, causing pulmonary embolism, and to the brain, causing stroke. Unfortunately, other studies suggest that administering HRT through the skin won’t affect the rate of heart disease or risk of breast cancer associated with it. HRT will still be a difficult choice. But this study at least lowers the risk and may well shift the balance for many women.
Search for a cause: It has long been clear that autism is primarily genetic in origin. The disorder is almost certainly the result not of a single abnormal gene, but rather the interaction of several. In the past, a few locations on human chromosomes have been suspected of playing a role for a scattering of patients. Now researchers have identified a genetic location on a specific chromosome that seems to be associated with the expression of autism in many patients.
Newresearch: Described in a paper with 137 authors representing 67 worldwide institutions, this finding is the first result of an audacious project conducted by the Autism Genome Project Consortium. The project started with a set of almost 1,500 families with at least two people who fall on the autism spectrum. Of this group, DNA samples from about 1,200 families could be analyzed for chromosomal similarities.
Findings: This analysis points to a hitherto unsuspected “hot spot” on chromosome 11, which seems to be related to an increased risk for the expression of autism. (The genetic function of the hot-spot location is still unclear.) Besides identifying the chromosome 11 hot spot, the data also tantalizingly hint that flaws in the gene coding for a material called neurexin, which plays a role in the development of certain cell-to-cell transmission sites (synapses), can cause autism in some cases. This trigger for autism is probably quite rare. But it suggests that the disorder is somehow related to abnormalities in the connections between nerve cells that make use of glutamate for information transmission, and defects in those transmissions. How (or even if) these two observations—the hot spot and the neruexin flaws—fit together is as yet unknown.
Conclusion: This study doesn’t tell us exactly which gene on chromosome 11 is important, but it does tell us just where to focus our attention. And the neurexin-related discovery hints at the mechanism of what might go wrong in neurodevelopment to lead to autism. These discoveries reinforce the value of collaborative work that puts together information about patients with a relatively rare disorder, from many locales, to create a pool large enough for serious research.
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A large, brand-new movie studio in Palm Beach County already has a potential box-office hit.
Twentieth Century Fox will film interior scenes for Speed II, sequel to the popular 1994 action movie, in the 20,000-square-foot sound stage at Palm Beach Ocean Studios in West Palm Beach, the studio's chief executive said on Thursday.
"I said when we opened in April we'd be lucky to get something in here by September," said Thorpe Shuttleworth, president and developer of the 42,000-square-foot studio at the Vista Center on Okeechobee Boulevard, west of Florida's Turnpike.
"And now we've got a high-budget action-adventure feature. Yes, that's a coup," he said.
Speed II will star Sandra Bullock, making a return appearance in the sequel, and Jason Patric, who is taking over the role played by Keanu Reeves in the original, according to Variety, the movie industry's trade publication.
Speed II will help get the studio's name out among film producers, said Chuck Eldred, executive director of the county's Film and Television Commission.
Eldred pushed for the county to give Shuttleworth $208,000 in job growth incentives.
"This is exactly what we needed to attract this kind of attention here," Eldred said.
And the studio is benefiting from the increased attention being paid to South Florida by Hollywood producers after recent films such as The Birdcage and Striptease, Shuttleworth said.
The film's producers will hire extra cast members in Florida, and other technical support workers may be hired locally as well.
Film industry publications estimate the cost of making Speed II at $40 million to $70 million.
The movie's producers toured the studio in April and have been working there since Monday. Sets are under construction in preparation for filming later this year.
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In this Sept. 1, 2014 photo released by the U.S. Geological Survey, fluid lava streams from the June 27 lava flow from the Kilauea volcano in Pahoa, Hawaii. The June 27 lava flow is named for the date it began erupting from a new vent. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory issued a warning Thursday, Sept. 4, 2014 to a rural community in the path of a lava flow on Hawaii's Big Island, as the molten rock moved to within a mile of homes. Observatory scientists said lava from the Kilauea volcano could reach the Kaohe Homesteads in five to seven days if it continues advancing through cracks in the earth.
PAHOA, Hawaii — Lava from one of the world's most active volcanos has been advancing at a slower pace the past few days and is now moving parallel to a sparsely populated subdivision on Hawaii's Big Island.
Lava from Kilauea volcano was still at least a mile from any homes in Kaohe Homesteads, Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Darryl Oliveira said.
Oliveira took a helicopter flight over the area Monday and saw the lava had crept about 150 yards from the previous day. It's moving north for now but could still stop or change directions.
"It's been doing that for the last several days," he said of its northern pull. Prior to Friday, it was going northeast toward the subdivision.
The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory has warned the lava could reach the subdivision in a matter of days.
Oliveira said he didn't anticipate issuing an evacuation order Monday. But residents should be prepared because it's difficult to predict the lava's movement. It was also raining over the flow site, he noted, which meant there wasn't a wildfire threat.
"That's good for today," he said. "But it doesn't get us out of any potential threat down the road. It just means it's going to be a very slow process."
The lava warning has created an "edgy" mood in Puna, the rural region on the southeast side of the Big Island that is at risk from the lava, said Bill Parecki, a real estate agent who has lived in the area for 42 years. The area is still recovering from the damage from a tropical storm about a month ago.
"Everybody's a little concerned," he said. "Everybody's a little worried. We just have to see where the lava goes. There's no control. It's Mother Nature."
A big concern is lava crossing roads and blocking Puna off from the rest of the island, or becoming "lava-locked," he said.
Business has been quiet since Tropical Storm Iselle made landfall over the region last month, said Mary Bicknell, owner of Big Island Book Buyers, a bookstore in downtown Pahoa.
"We're always watching it, but we're not usually threatened by it," she said of the lava.
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Bengaluru — Gold prices rose on Thursday as the growing expectation that the US Federal Reserve will pause its rate tightening cycle in 2019 and an impasse between US President Donald Trump and Democrats on funding for a border wall weighed on the dollar.
Spot gold was up 0.2% at $1,295.85/oz as of 4.36am GMT, hovering near Friday’s peak of $1,298.42 — a level last seen in mid-June.
US gold futures gained 0.4% to $1,297.2/oz.
Minutes from the Fed’s December 18-19 policy meeting showed that several policymakers said they could be patient about future interest rate hikes and a few did not support the central bank's rate increase that month.
“Gold is getting a bit of support out of a dovish Fed and institutional instability in the US,” said Kyle Rodda, a market analyst at IG, Australia.
“We have got the markets pricing in the possibility of a Fed rate cut rather than a hike in the year ahead,” Rodda said, adding that the Fed minutes gave the dollar a bit of a “kick down” and there were chances for gold prices to break the $1,300 level with the present sentiment.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against major currencies, hit its lowest level in nearly three months.
Gold prices are highly sensitive to declining interest rates, which decrease the opportunity cost of holding the nonyielding bullion while pressuring the dollar.
Meanwhile, Trump walked out of talks with Democratic congressional leaders on Wednesday over funding for a border wall with Mexico and reopening the government, saying the meeting in the White House was “a total waste of time”.
Asian equities took a breather after an extended rally, as markets awaited more news on US-China trade talks that have raised the hope of a deal to avert an all-out trade war between the economic giants.
China’s commerce ministry said on Thursday that trade talks between Washington and Beijing were progressing, but gave no details on the issues at stake.
“With the government shutdown still far from resolved and Chinese trade talks just partly concluded, we are not sure that the turbulence in the equity markets is over just yet,” INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir said in a note.
Holdings in the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund (ETF), SPDR Gold Trust, rose 0.33% to 799.18 tons on Wednesday.
Among other precious metals, silver was flat at $15.75/oz.
Palladium fell 0.5% to $1,320.50/oz. It scaled a record high of $1,342.43 on Wednesday after a Chinese official said the government was contemplating policies to increase domestic buying of cars.
Platinum inched up 0.1% to $825.60.
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The air ambulance was mobilised following reports that a man had fallen on a tree branch and impaled his neck in Durrington, a spokesman said.
The ambulance service spokesman confirmed two response cars and an ambulance were sent to the sports ground in Pond Lane at around 11.40pm last night (Tuesday, August 28).
The air ambulance was also mobilised but stood down when it was reported on scene that his neck had not been impaled, the spokesman said.
The 32-year-old patient was taken to Worthing Hospital for treatment to a neck injury, confirmed the spokesman.
The fire service assisted with the extrication of the patient, added the spokesman.
The fire service confirmed that one fire engine and a heavy rescue tender from Worthing were sent to the scene after the ambulance service asked for assistance.
Crews left the scene at 12.20am.
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After your business is up and running, your focus naturally shifts to increasing efficiency. The small things you do to lower costs and increase output can be the difference between a failing business and soaring profits. No matter how good your team members are, you should tweak the environment in which they work to insure the best possible results.
There are many reasons why developing a protocol to measure efficiency benefits your business. You are able to pinpoint areas that need improvement, and you can break your team’s performance down by tasks. Perhaps you will notice that the whole process is going smoothly except for one minor operation that can be eliminated to improve efficiency. This kind of insight can help you restructure the physical environment or delegate tasks in a new way to increase efficiency. You can also evaluate the performance of individual employees. Take a look at how much you get out of employees versus how much you pay them.
Employees might be a bit nervous about your new methods of close observation and evaluation. This is acceptable and sometimes even beneficial, as employees will make an increased effort if they know their performance is being tracked. However, you don't have to be an intimidating taskmaster. This is a good opportunity to mix in positive reinforcement and show your appreciation for your team. You can offer incentives, such as public recognition, time off or a share in productivity gains. Whatever mode you choose, employees are sure to improve efficiency if they feel that good work is rewarded and they develop a sense of the needs of the business as a whole.
Employees need to have the appropriate equipment and technology to carry out their functions efficiently. A lazy and incompetent worker on a tractor will most likely outperform even the hardest-working person who is plowing manually. Regular maintenance and upgrades of your equipment might seem costly and burdensome, but they are critical to the success of your business. Making sure that your employees have the tools they need to get the job done will drastically improve your output per dollar spent or per unit of time. Keeping equipment up to par also prevents on the job injuries, possible lawsuits and time lost to malfunctions.
Skill is another side of employee efficiency. Your team must have the requisite skill sets to produce up to par, making on-the-job training and education generally worthwhile. Even though specialization and division of labor are important, your team's efficiency can benefit greatly through cross-training, which gives workers a broader perspective and an understanding of the context in which their work fits. It allows them to help each other and to prioritize more effectively, resulting in overall efficiency. This increased workforce agility allows workers to shift their capacity to where it is needed and reduces problems due to worker absences.
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The University of Maryland President Wallace Loh.
University of Maryland President Wallace Loh stood before reporters Aug. 14 and apologized to the family of Jordan McNair, a football player who died days after a team workout. That day, Loh also announced a commission charged with examining the culture inside the school's embattled football program, an undertaking that could prompt sweeping changes at the state's flagship university.
In June, the school had contracted with an outside consulting firm to investigate the events surrounding McNair's death. But the commission Loh announced nearly two months later would be charged with a broader inquiry into the culture of the school's football program - a "thorough investigation by an independent group," Loh said - following media reports that suggested some coaches were abusive toward players, relying on fear, intimidation and bullying.
Few details about the group's work to date are publicly available, but the commission's directives and composition reveal some of the inherent obstacles that arise when independent bodies investigate problems in university athletic departments.
In an initial email to the newly-appointed commission members, a copy of which was viewed by The Washington Post, Loh advised that some of the allegations they would be investigating "probably occur in every football program" and that the line between aggressive and abusive training techniques is "imprecise."
Also, several of the commission members have previous ties with the university and the stakeholders in the affair. One served as a personal advisor to Loh. Another is the brother of an influential booster.
Almost immediately after the commission's unveiling, the University System of Maryland's board of regents took control from the College Park campus, adding five additional members to the three named by Loh and suggesting that key decisions about the football program's future would be made by the regents, not necessarily the school president. The vice chair of the board of regents is a prominent donor to the athletics department and has voiced public support for head football coach DJ Durkin.
This investigation could go a long way to determining the fate of Durkin, who was placed on administrative leave along with three other member of the athletic staff in the immediate aftermath of the media reports. One of those, football strength and conditioning coach Rick Court, has negotiated a settlement and resigned.
According to multiple people familiar with the process, Durkin was interviewed by investigators on the morning of Aug. 22, and they were particularly keen on questioning Durkin about his alleged use of food to demean players, possible verbal abuse and his handling of injuries.
The commission's review is expected to also look at the actions of other prominent coaches and staff members, including Damon Evans, who was promoted to athletics director less than two weeks after McNair's death. Loh, too, could find himself scrutinized by one or both of the external probes. He nixed a plan recommended by the school's athletic director to fundamentally change the way athletes receive medical treatment and athletic training less than a year before McNair died.
There is no formal deadline for the commission to complete its review of the football program.
"We're trying to get that all done this month, one way or another, so that all the facts we can gather are in front of the board and the campus and then decisions can be made about the future," Robert Caret, chancellor of the University System of Maryland, said in an interview last week, "both to protect student-athletes themselves but also to create the kind of environment we want."
A day after he addressed reporters, Loh sent an email to his three new commission members, as well as a handful of school officials, laying out the assignment. He told them "to interview a sufficiently large sample of current and former players, their parents, athletics staff , and any other relevant stakeholders, in order to make an assessment on whether the relatively few (but deeply troubling) cases of alleged 'abuse,' reported anonymously in the media, indicate the existence of a widespread 'toxic culture' . . . or, do these reported cases represent only a small portion of the population of football players, present and past."
Loh told the members that "arguably, a hyper-masculine and insular culture is the norm, rather than the exception, in college football." Furthermore, he advised them that "some of the alleged verbally abusive or demeaning behaviors probably occur in every football program. It is part of the 'football culture.' There is, of course, an imprecise line between training practices that aggressively push players to the limit and are acceptable, and practices that most reasonable persons would deem to be physical and/or emotional abusive conduct.'"
Asked about Loh's email, Maryland spokesperson Katie Lawson said: "The president acknowledges that athletic programs are by their nature demanding and intense, and he asked commission members to investigate if Maryland's program crosses a line into destructive or abusive, which is absolutely unacceptable. President Loh has been clear that if such behavior did exist here, it will not be tolerated."
After assuming ownership of the investigation two days later, the board of regents added five more members to the commission, including former Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich and Tom McMillen, the former Terps' basketball star who served three terms in Congress.
In expanding the panel, the regents faced the delicate task of appointing people who are sufficiently knowledgeable about football and the school but not too partisan.
"Ideally, you want somebody who has more than a passing familiarity with that space and the cultures that exist in that space," said a veteran college sports administrator, who requested anonymity so he could speak candidly about the process. "At the same time, that can cause people to be apologists for all that behavior. That's one of the inherent challenges. I know some of the people on the Maryland committee. They're good people, but many are affiliated with the University of Maryland.
Richard Legon, president of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, said the composition of the Maryland commission on its face appears sound.
"I think if you have a former a member of Congress, a former governor, other prestigious leaders who are connected or not to the institution, what you can get to is an outcome with a high degree of credibility," he said. "At the end of the day, credibility allows the board to put greater stock into the recommendations and take whatever actions they're going to take."
The web of relationships surrounding the Maryland probe is thorny and highlights several areas of possible concern. The eight commission members, who will be compensated for their work, either declined to comment or did not respond to requests to comment.
Loh made Alex Williams, a well-respected retired U.S. District judge, one of his three initial appointees to the commission. Williams is the founder, chief executive and namesake of a center focused on justice and ethics housed within the university's school of behavioral and social sciences.
Prior to joining the commission, Williams had served as a pro bono personal advisor to Loh following the death of Richard Collins III, a 23-year-old student at nearby Bowie State University, who was killed on Maryland's College Park campus in May 2017.
Don Scheeler, past president of the Terrapin Club, left his name off a letter in support of Durkin that was sent last month to the regents from the Champions Club, a group of high-level sports boosters. His brother, Charles Scheeler, was another of the three commission members appointed by Loh.
Charles Scheeler is a Baltimore-based attorney at the law firm DLA Piper, who previously served as the "independent monitor" charged with tracking Penn State's implementation of recommendations made in the report that followed the Jerry Sandusky scandal.
He also was a top deputy for Sen. George Mitchell a decade ago in the exhaustive investigation into performance-enhancing drugs in baseball. Scheeler and his associates at DLA Piper have done much of the commission's investigative legwork behind the scenes.
Asked about the inclusion of Williams and Scheeler, a spokesman said in a statement to The Post: "Both have the objectivity and talent to contribute greatly to an impartial investigation of the culture of the University of Maryland, College Park football program.
"But they are only two of the eight member independent commission, which is comprised of individuals with a broad range of backgrounds and experiences, from both in Maryland and outside the state," the statement continued. "The commission's membership is sufficiently large, fair-minded and diverse in perspective to effectively follow the facts wherever they may lead."
In addition to Ehrlich and McMillen, the other commission members are retired U.S. District Court Judge Ben Legg; Doug Williams, the former Redskins quarterback who serves as the senior vice president of player personnel for the team; Bonnie Bernstein, an alumnus of the school and veteran sports broadcaster; and Frederick Azar, the chief of staff at Campbell Clinic Orthopaedics in Memphis.
It's not known how hands-on all eight of the commission members have been. Two of the eight commission members live outside the area, and others have demanding, full-time jobs.
"I think the vast majority of them will have had some hands-on experience," Caret said in an interview last week. "I don't know if they've met face to face or not. I know they've all talked."
A spokesman for the regents said that once the commission has completed its examination, it will share its findings with the board of regents, which will then "make whatever decisions are necessary to better safeguard and support all students and student-athletes." The board of regents is made up of 17 unpaid members who oversee Maryland's system of 12 colleges. With the exception of one student representative, each member is appointed by the governor and can serve a maximum of two five-year terms.
Barry Gossett is a vice chair of the board of regents and also one of the most influential athletic boosters the school has ever known. He donated $10 million in 2007 to build the football program's "team house," which bears his name, and this spring pledged more than $21 million - one of the largest donations the school has ever received - to a center focused on athletes' academic studies.
"From a donor standpoint, I kind of stand behind DJ and his program and what he has been doing," Gossett told The Post in an interview before the university placed the coach on leave.
Gossett did not respond to requests to comment last week. He had been tending recently to his wife, Mary, who died Monday. The couple have been donors to the school since 1971, championing causes both in and outside of athletics.
"Barry Gossett is a highly regarded member of the Maryland community who has served, and continues to serve, the state in countless ways," a spokesman for the board of regents said in an email last week. "At the same time, he is only one of 17 members of the Board of Regents, which will receive the findings of the independent commission."
Like Don Scheeler, Gossett left his name off the Champions Club letter supporting Durkin.
The board doesn't typically play a role in personnel decisions at the system's schools, though it does have oversight over Loh, who has led the state's flagship university since 2010.
"The board obviously can have influence on the president," Caret said.
Stephen Ross, a Penn State sports law professor who directs a cross-campus center on sports issues, said the pre-existing relationships on these investigative bodies aren't usually as important as the underlying motivation behind the appointment.
He says there are scenarios where those pre-existing ties could undermine an investigation but others in which they could lend credibility, diversify the commission and appease stakeholders in the event of a critical report.
"To me, an ad hoc committee designed to deal with a major public relations problem is itself an exercise in strategic communication," he said.
There is no rulebook for such investigations and schools can pursue them on their own terms. Similar external examinations have been conducted at schools such as Ohio State, Michigan State and Penn State, facing widespread criticism from some corners unhappy with different facets of the respective probes or findings.
The Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges issued a formal statement to schools in 2009 saying "it is time for all [governing] boards to re-examine how they exercise their oversight responsibilities." The organization urged governing bodies, such as Maryland's board of regents, to refrain "from fostering personal relationships with the athletics director or coaches," and urging them to "exercise appropriate oversight while avoiding micromanagement, viewing athletics with a dispassionate perspective."
"We don't want them running college sports,"Legon said, "but we want them to recognize the buck stops with them."
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(Trinidad Guardian) It has been 42 days since Gan­gad­har Hanooman, 49, has been miss­ing and rel­a­tives in re­new­ing their calls for help in find­ing him, have al­so called on Po­lice Com­mis­sion­er Gary Grif­fith for a “per­son­al” in­ter­ven­tion in the in­ves­ti­ga­tions sur­round­ing the case.
Hanooman of Roys­to­nia, Cou­va, was last seen on Sep­tem­ber 1 at about 6.30 pm near a mi­ni mart close to his home in Roys­to­nia in Cou­va.
His car—a sil­ver Nis­san B14—was found aban­doned near a man­grove ad­ja­cent to two veg­etable gar­dens in Fe­lic­i­ty, Ch­agua­nas two days af­ter on Sep­tem­ber 3.
The car was found by a search par­ty or­gan­ised by fam­i­ly mem­bers who act­ed on spir­i­tu­al guid­ance giv­en to them by a pun­dit (a Hin­du leader). Speak­ing with the T&T Guardian, Gan­gad­har’s wife, who was too scared to give her name or be pho­tographed, said she re­mains hope­ful that her hus­band will re­turn to her. She be­lieves that some­thing ter­ri­bly went wrong that day as she was told “strange things” maybe “clues,” “He went by a broth­er of his and I had called him and told him to stop and buy some veg­eta­bles when he was com­ing home. About 8.30 pm I called him and asked him where he was.
“Then af­ter a while, I called him and asked him where he was and he told me to call his broth­er that his car get stick up,” she added.
An­oth­er rel­a­tive fur­ther ex­plained that many times be­fore in con­ver­sa­tion, Gan­gad­har, when talk­ing about crimes would not say the word “hi­jack” but would say “stick up” which she said meant some­one be­ing hi­jacked or hi­jack­ing. “So…think­ing about it that could have been an­oth­er clue that he was try­ing to give, maybe?” the rel­a­tive said.
It is said that dur­ing a call to Gan­gad­har’s cell­phone on one oc­ca­sion that night, male voic­es were heard in the back­ground as though a quar­rel was go­ing on at the time. There was al­so mu­sic heard play­ing be­lieved to be com­ing from the car’s ra­dio. In that call, Gan­gad­har did not say any­thing. The phone sud­den­ly hung up and calls af­ter that went straight to the voice mail record­ing.
Gan­gad­har’s car, which was sub­se­quent­ly im­pound­ed at the Ch­agua­nas Po­lice Sta­tion, was re­cent­ly re­leased to the fam­i­ly and is now parked up in Gan­gad­har’s back­yard. With sad­ness in her eyes, oc­ca­sion­al­ly “drift­ing” in her thoughts, Gan­gad­har’s wife for eight years stood next to her hus­band’s car in dis­may dur­ing an in­ter­view with the T&T Guardian.
An­oth­er rel­a­tive said she strong­ly be­lieves that in­ves­ti­gat­ing of­fi­cers at the An­ti-Kid­nap­ping Squad could do more in their at­tempts to find Gan­gad­har.
“He went miss­ing two days be­fore Na­tal­ie Pol­lon­ais and they were able to use all the tech­nol­o­gy to find her, why they couldn’t use that same pro­ce­dure to find him?” the rel­a­tive said.
Any­one with in­for­ma­tion on his where­abouts or oth­er in­for­ma­tion con­cern­ing his dis­ap­pear­ance can con­tact the po­lice at 555, 800 TIPS or the near­est po­lice sta­tion.
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in French). Nov. 19 at 3:30: "Walkabout" (1971, Nicolas Roeg). Nov. 20 at 1 and Nov. 22 at 4:40: "Mean Streets" (1973, Martin Scorsese). Nov. 20 at 3:15: "Christmas in July" (1940, Preston Stur- ges). Nov. 20 at 4:45: "Mouchette" (1967, Robert Bresson; in French). Nov. 21 at 1 and Nov. 23 at 4:45: "His Girl Friday" (1940, Howard Hawks). Nov. 21 at 3 and Nov. 22 at 9: "I Walked with a Zombie" (t). Nov. 22 at 7, Nov. 23 at 8:45, and Nov. 25 at 2: "Scarface" (1932, Hawks). Nov. 23 at 1: "I Was Born, But. . ." (1932, Yasujiro Ozu; si- lent). Nov. 23 at 3: "Not Reconciled" (t). Nov. 23 at 6:45 and Nov. 25 at 4: "The Lineup" (1958, Don Siegel). A tribute to Frank Sinatra. Nov. 19 at 8:30: "Some Came Running" (1958, Vincente Minnelli), introduced by Adrian Wootton. "Golden Silents." Nov. 21 at 7: "The Docks of New York" (1928, Joseph von Sternberg; silent). A Tribute to Pierre Clémenti. Nov. 25 at 6:15: "Les Idoles" (1968, Marc'o; in French). READINGS AND TALKS MCNAllY JACKSON BOOKS The sixties vets Ed McClanhan, the author of the newly published autobiographical short -story collec- tion "0 the Clear Moment," and the novelist Robert Stone take a look back at the consequential decade. (52 Prince St. No tickets necessary. Nov. 19 at 7.) CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK The poet and memoirist Mark Doty reads from his work. (Graduate Center, Fifth Ave. at 34th St. No tickets necessary. Nov. 20 at 7.) BARNES &amp; NOBLE The actor Christopher Plummer offers selections from his memoir, "In Spite of Myself." (Broadway at 66th St. No tickets necessary. Nov. 21 at 7:30.) SOlAS St. Mark's Bookshop runs a reading series at this watering hole, which is just around the corner from its East Village home. On Nov. 24 at 7:30, it pre- sents the novelist Junot Díaz and the science-fiction master Samuel R. Delany. (232 E. 9th St. No tickets necessary. ) ABOVE AND BEYOND ON THIN ICE The American Museum of Natural History is open- ing a skating rink outside its doors on Nov. 22. The rink, which is a hundred and fifty feet by eighty feet, can accommodate up to two hundred people; at its center is a seventeen-foot-tall polar bear made of stainless steel, boxwood boughs, and lights. But what really makes the rink special is its surface: instead of ice, it's made of a special global-wanning-proof plas- tic. (Central Park \XZ at 79th St. For more informa- tion, call 212-769-5200. Through Feb. 28.) AUCTIONS AND ANTIQUES With the two-week Impressionist -modern-postwar- contemporary smackdown over and done, the auc- tion houses settle back into their new everyday busi- ness-trying to sell expensive works of art in the midst of a bear market. This week, that means works by Latin-American masters. The painter Rufino Tamayo, who ably combined elements of Cubism and Surrealism with Mexican themes and a keen sense of color, is represented by six works in Sothe- by's Latin-American sales (Nov. 18-19). The most important is a monumental canvas from 1955, "America," which for the past fifteen years has been on view at the Dallas Museum of Art. The Tamayos will share the podium with works by the Uruguayan- born modernist Joaquín Torres-García and his fol- lowers (known as the School of the South) and by several female Surrealist painters, including Reme- dios Varo and Leonora Carrington. (York Ave. at 72nd St. 212-606-7000.) Christie's Latin-American sale (Nov. 19-20) also features a smattering of Tamayos, the most highly valued of which, "Sere- nata a la Luna," depicts a solitary figure serenading the glowing night sky with a guitar. But the leading lot in this sale-which also includes works by Car- rington, Matta, and the Argentinean artist Emilio Pettoruti-is by Torres-García, a stained-glass-like composition entitled "Tres Figuras." A few days later, the house shows a more playful side in a pop- culture sale devoted to punk and rock-and-roll items and designer toys (Nov. 24); fans can bid on one of Bob Marley's guitars or on the portable organ played by John Lennon at Shea Stadium in 1965, as well as vintage posters and flyers for the Ramones and the Clash. (20 Rockefeller Plaza, at 49th St. 212-636-2000.) For its upcoming auction of mod- em and contemporary editions (Nov. 23), Phillips has gone all out, printing a special catalogue help- fully entitled "Collect This Catalogue," which in- cludes four original prints by the artists Hilary Hark- ness, James Hyde, William Pope.L, and Kay Rosen. The sale itself contains some striking pieces, includ- ing two lithographs by Jean Dubuffet from his "As- semblages" as well as the whimsical engraving "Score for Ballet 0-100" by Alexander Calder. (450 W. 15th St. 212-940-1200.) NEWYORKER.COM Visit the Goings On blog, at www.newyorker. com/go/goingson, for additional cultural cover- age and commentary. /' <=I "-.."'"1 "" " -- .. '" ., . --_ /' ':ìf tij' , I , /' / ON THE HORIZON MOVIES COLD TURKEY Nov. 28-30 As a welcome corrective to Thanksgiving-weekend sentimentality, Walter Reade presents three days of rain on your parade, with the series "Problem Child: A Cinematic Display of Bad Behavior." The program includes such bilious classics as "The Exorcist," "The F "" M . D " ury, ommle earest, and the rare "Tomorrow, the World!," from 1944, about a teen-age Nazi in >- an American college town. z (212-875-5600.) ,/ I / \ )) .- 4'f \ .- i q \ .- / ART TESTING HIS METAL Dec. 9-Mareh 1 Alexander Calder is best known for his mobiles, but he was a prolific jewelry maker as well. A hundred or so whimsical brass, silver, and gold pieces-some set with beach glass or found bits of wood in lieu of gems-will be exhibited at the Met in "Calder Jewelry." (212-535-7710.) NIGHT LIFE TIN MAN Dec. 9-18 Ten years ago, Howard Fishman, a local singer and songwriter whose 36 THE NEW YORKER, NOVEMBER 24, 2008 -;-" . , / J JI j/ V , ,,/ \J ' .. 1 interests range from swinging small-group jazz to Bob Dylan's "Basement Tapes," made his début at the Algonquin Hoters famed Oak Room. In celebration of that anniversary, he's appearing there and at many other clubs in Brooklyn and Manhattan. (www. howardfishman.com.) CLASSICAL MUSIC STRIKING TWICE Dec. 9, Dec. 11-13 When the Bang On a Can composer Michael Gordon and the visual wizards of Ridge Theatre got together in Brooklyn in 2004, the result was the . thrilling musical film " D ." h iT ecaSla ; now t ey Oller "Lightning at Our Feet," a song cycle inspired by Emily Dickinson, at the BAM Harvey Theatre. (718-636-4100.) THE THEATRE DATE NIGHT Dec. 16 Gina Gionfriddo's new comedy, "Becky Shaw," comes to Second Stage. Peter DuBois directs the play, in which a newlywed couple try their hand at matchmaking. (212-246-4422.) "Lightning at Our Feet, " at the BAM Harvey Theatre.
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Maureen Hancock is an internationally renowned Spirit Medium, intuitive, teacher, lecturer, Holistic Healer, and author of the bestselling book, “The Medium Next Door: Adventures of a Real-Life Ghost Whisperer.” She is the star of the Style Network documentary, Psychic in Suburbia.
Hancock has been interviewed by national television, radio, and print publications, including CNN, Associated Press, VH1, Martha Stewart Living magazine & radio, The Boston Globe, Coast-to-Coast radio, ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX Television programs all over the country.
She has spent decades demystifying the overwhelming subject matter of death, and helping individuals to flex their intuitive muscle, and tap into messages from spirit. Maureen’s work has brought comfort, hope and healing to the masses. She has taught workshops on intuition building to law enforcement, medical professionals, financial experts, and the “Average Joe.” She spends much of her time giving back by assisting those with terminal illness, sitting with newly bereaved parents, aiding law enforcement- including the FBI, and motivational speaking about life after death, stress management, intuition, and perspective building.
Maureen was a reoccurring guest on the Ricki Lake Show, and recently filmed a Television pilot for a major network with the hopes of having a nationally syndicated talk show in the near future.
She sent us her newest predictions for our readers to ponder.
Trump will stay in office, despite Mueller’s thorough, and fact-filled investigation, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that the President was involved in a number of illegal activities, including campaign finance violations, back deals with Russia, The Saudi Prince, and more. February is a volatile time politically. Trump will NOT be reelected. Multiple indictments will be issued within days of the end of his term.
–Joe Biden will win the Democratic nomination for President. He will ask Beto O’Rourke to be his Vice President on the ticket.
Joe Biden and Beto O’Rourke will be ever so close in the bid for the Democratic nomination. Joe Biden will win the nomination. Trump supporters will slide over to Biden with his “knock-him-out” old fashioned style tough talk. O’Rourke, with his Kennedy look-a-like persona will take the country by storm. However, his lackluster policy ideas, and not signing the bill for Social Security, as well as non-support of the bill for Medicare for All, will hurt him.
Trump will go neck-and-neck with Romney for the Republican nomination. I feel Trump will win the nomination.
I predict Joe Biden will be the next President of the United States.
The stock market takes another serious dive in February around the 14/15th. March shows improvement as a new deal with China is reached. Stocks soar to an all-time high with the China trade deal by April 1st.
The housing market: Mortgage rates will rise to 5.5% by June. Home prices will increase slowly, and inventory for new home buyers will go down. New construction will be at an all-time low by spring. June is peak time for the market to show these changes. This spring is a Seller’s market.
The end of 2019 shows signs of a recession.
Tensions remain high with Russia. March brings increased tensions with Putin due to a devastating military action in the Ukraine.
North Korea launches a missile test around May/June, causing increased tensions with the US (South Korea & Japan).
More troops will be deployed to Afghanistan by May/June due to increased tensions and military actions.
Trump will pull troops out of Syria beginning in March, and by summer he will have to order troops back, in larger numbers, due to an overwhelming attack on the Kurds.
–The winter will bring unexpected amounts of snow and Nor’easters to the whole East Coast, with the biggest surprise impact in February from Maryland to the Carolinas. Over 2 ft. of snow will fall on the Boston area around Feb. 6th, and the whole North East will be crippled by an even larger storm around Feb. 14/15th.
June brings a trifecta to California. an Earthquake, 6.2 scale or greater, followed by mudslides, and devastating drought brings wildfires the end of June.
A natural disaster in the form of an earthquake and volcano eruption for Italy around August.
Prince Harry & Duchess Meghan will give birth to a baby girl, with an “A” name (like Amelia) the end of February/beginning of March (not late March April as announced).
Prince Philip’s health declines significantly with a heavy gloomy feeling on November/December.
Taylor Swift will announce her engagement to Joe Alwyn around April.
Selena Gomez will undergo a serious medical procedure (possible stem cell transplant) by the summer.
Miley Cyrus will announce her pregnancy in June.
Jennifer Anniston adopts a baby by the fall.
Brad & Angelina talk reconciliation come summer.
Sofia Richie & Scott Disick announce their engagement this spring! Sofia will be pregnant by summer.
Bill Cosby has renal failure in prison. He might not make it through the treatment.
Venus Williams announces engagement to Nicholas Hammond by the summer. She will be pregnant soon after the quick wedding!
What are the Top Five Action Games?
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(Reuters) - U.S. ride services firm Lyft Inc is in talks with an advisor for a targeted March or April 2019 initial public offering, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
An initial public offering for Lyft would amplify Uber’s[UBER.UL] troubles. It would be an opportunistic way for the company, which was valued at $7.5 billion in its last funding round, to capitalize on its larger rival. Fresh capital for Lyft would merely compound the frontrunner’s injuries.
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Samoas and Thin Mints and Tagalongs, oh my! It's time to celebrate those little cookies that make diets shut right up and give you reason to shell out hundreds of dollars to your co-workers' kids each year.
If the world were run properly, we would all be asking politicians and potential life partners, "Thin Mints or Do-si-dos?" because Girl Scout Cookie preferences are just so telling.
But did you know that along with those sweet treats comes an interesting evolution? Turns out, the cookie names we all live and die by vary from state to state, and, at one point in history, girl scouts had to swap cookies for calendars.
Mashable rounded up 10 of the most surprising facts about those boxes of sinful deliciousness. But, be forewarned: You will so strongly be craving cookies by the end of this video that you may start having Thin Mint hallucinations.
Skivenes posted this as part of the hashtag #WhatInstagramMeanstoMe.
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Advocates for government accountability were alarmed to learn Gov. Jared Polis was undecided on whether to veto a bill to expand police transparency in Colorado.
But Polis spokeswoman Maria De Cambra set the record straight late Wednesday.
The signing is slated for 10:50 a.m. Friday at the Capitol, and it will be open to media, De Cambra said.
Polis is allowed to wait 10 days to sign bills, which gives him until Saturday in this case. In an earlier call Wednesday, De Cambra had said that the governor was still undecided.
The bill — HB-1119, sponsored by Democratic Denver Rep. James Coleman — would require Colorado law enforcement agencies to open the files on completed internal investigations into a wide range of police interactions with citizens, including alleged incidents of excessive force.
This would mean the public, media, lawyers and any other interested parties would, through open records requests, get a glimpse at how Colorado cops police themselves. As it stands, the Denver Police Department is the only Colorado law enforcement agency that consistently releases comprehensive information following internal investigations.
The bill passed the House and Senate and has been sitting on the governor’s desk for about a week, awaiting the final signature needed to make HB-1119 state law.
Upon learning Polis was not necessarily on board with the bill, the Colorado Press Association — one of the primary backers of the bill — sent out an email to its members that called the situation “urgent” and implored journalists and editorial boards to speak out now in support of HB-1119.
Media in the state have heralded the bill as a key step toward transparency from an institution that shrouds much of its accountability system in secrecy. The Denver Post’s Noelle Phillips testified in support of HB-1119 this year.
The effort’s other supporters include the ACLU and Colorado Common Cause, the libertarian Independence Institute and media groups such as the Colorado Broadcasters Association and the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition. Colorado Independent Editor Susan Greene testified last year in support of a version of the bill.
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If it were ever possible to cram all the glittering boy-meets-girl, high-school-love-story stereotypes into one movie, A Cinderella Story does it in spades. The 2004 movie stars Hilary Duff, whose father dies in an earthquake, forcing her to work in a diner for her evil stepmother who keeps her from chasing her college dreams. She meets a boy (Chad Michael Murray) online, but he’s in the cool crowd and she doesn’t fit in (even though she’s beautiful and smart). They agree to meet on the school dance floor, where she wears a mask barely covering her eyes so he magically can’t tell who she really is (even though you can see her entire face). Duff’s performance in the movie snagged her a Razzie nomination in 2005 for Worst Actress. Did anyone expect anything more?
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MADRID: As Cristiano Ronaldo enjoyed his time off at the French Riviera, his Portugal team-mates were busy handing Italy another disappointing result in the UEFA Nations League.
Portugal did not need Ronaldo, who skipped international duty to recharge after a busy summer, to beat Italy 1-0 in Europe’s newest soccer competition.
Elsewhere, Turkey mounted a remarkable comeback from two goals down against Sweden, while Kosovo made history with their first competitive win since being admitted to UEFA in 2016.
The European champions easily outplayed Italy, which had opened its Nations League campaign with a disappointing 1-1 home draw against Poland in its first competitive match under coach Roberto Mancini.
Andre Silva scored on a counterattack early in the second half to give Portugal the Group 3 win in the top-tier League A. The hosts had several chances to extend their lead at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon, while Italy created little and relied mostly on set pieces.
The Nations League gives UEFA’s 55 member countries competitive games and eliminates friendlies. The winners of the League A groups featuring the highest-ranked countries go into a final-four competition in June.
Santos did not call up Ronaldo after talking to the player and saying he needed more rest following the World Cup and his transfer from Real Madrid to Juventus. Ronaldo also didn’t play in the team’s 1-1 draw in a friendly against Croatia last week.
Social media photos showed Ronaldo and his family enjoying time off in Monaco in recent days.
It was Italy’s second competitive match since last year’s World Cup playoff loss to Sweden.
Two goals five minutes apart early in the second half gave Kosovo a historic 2-0 win over the Faroe Islands in Group 3 of the fourth-tier League D.
Kosovo, the Balkan republic which was accepted by UEFA and FIFA two years ago, had opened with a 0-0 draw at Azerbaijan.
Turkey bounced back from an opening loss to Russia by coming from two goals down to defeat Sweden 3-2 thanks to two late goals by Emre Akbaba.
Akbaba scored in the 88th minute and two minutes into stoppage time to give Turkey the League B victory.
Sweden, making its Nations League debut following its surprising quarterfinal appearance at the World Cup, had taken a 2-0 lead by the 49th minute at Friends Arena in Stockholm.
It was Turkey’s first away win in seven matches.
In the third-tier League C, Scotland ended its run of three straight losses with a 2-0 win over Albania in Group 1.
In Group 4, Serbia and Romania drew 2-2, while Montenegro defeated Lithuania 2-0.
In League D, Andorra and Kazakhstan drew 1-1 in Group 1, while Malta drew with Azerbaijan 1-1 in Group 3.
The Nations League guarantees at least one of Europe’s low-ranked League D teams will qualify for Euro 2020 through a playoffs.
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Readers may be familiar with the fundamental changes that took place in the Roman world as it converted from paganism to Christianity in the fourth century, and as its emperors sought to govern, through the turbulent times of the fifth to seventh centuries, as Christian rulers.
This is the stuff of late antiquity as it would be recognised in any classics or history university department. It is, as Tom Holland points out in the opening pages of his latest book, a period of fundamental importance for the shape of our world, as it is the era in which religious monotheism, rather than political kingdom, comes to dominate history.
In that context, Holland focuses on the birth of Islam through the prophet Mohammed in Mecca and Medina (modern-day Saudi Arabia) during the course of the seventh century, as it is told to us by one of Mohammed’s biographers, Ibn Hisham, in the ninth century. The faith of Islam, as Holland points out, is centred on the study and strict observation of both the divine revelations to Mohammed (the Koran), and how Mohammed acted during his lifetime (the Hadith and the Sunna).
Yet, echoing what many (mostly non-Muslim) scholars have queried before, Holland points to the historical problem of the evidence: before 800AD, almost 200 years after Mohammed’s death in 632AD, the only “traces we possess” for the development of Islam “are either the barest shreds of shreds, or else the delusory shimmering of mirages”.
Holland examines late antiquity not as an age of decline and fall, but of energy and inventiveness, setting the Arab world and Mohammed’s life in the context of the changing geographies, cultures and priorities of the empires of Rome around the Mediterranean, the Sassanians to the East, and the religious and cultural melting-pot of the “Holy Land”, which connected them. Holland identifies key events, places, ideas and decisions within the Persian and Roman systems which may have impacted upon the Arab world, and, in turn, on the birthplace of Islam in Mecca and Medina.
In so doing, Holland argues for the forging of Islam in the political and military instability and opportunity of a world convulsed by a changing balance of power. The process, he continues, ensured that, by the ninth century, “a version of Islam’s beginnings that gave no scope for anyone to rule as a Deputy of God”, and in turn no room “for acknowledging the momentous role in the forging of Islam by countless others”, had gained acceptance, the continued presence of which, inevitably, makes Holland’s thesis difficult reading for an Islamic audience.
Focusing on the wider context to unpick key moments in history is a classic Holland approach, echoing, for example, his study of the fifth century BC Persian invasion of Greece in Persian Fire (2005), which explored the context and prior history of the Persian and Greek worlds. Such an approach is now in vogue, because it demands that the historian break the often stifling disciplinary boundaries that have traditionally governed the study of worlds which knew no such boundaries.
This is a handsome volume, tackling an important question from a novel perspective, backed by useful notes and written in an accessible and fluid style. But, as I am sure Holland would accept, in part because of the charged nature of the material and issues on which it dwells, and in part because of the vast developments and arenas it attempts to encompass, it is also bound to encounter the full spectrum of critical reaction.
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Florida Institute of Technology quarterback Brandon Ziarno.
MELBOURNE, Fla. - Florida Institute of Technology quarterback Brandon Ziarno was arrested Friday on marijuana charges after a routine traffic stop yielded 65.7 grams of pot in small, plastic bags, according to police.
Ziarno, 21, told officers he would tell them anything they wanted to know after he was pulled over for running a stop sign and police smelled marijuana coming from his vehicle on Country Club Road, News 6 partner Florida Today reported.
Police reports state that Ziarno, a Melbourne Central Catholic graduate, confessed to selling marijuana to a "few" of his Panthers teammates.
Ziarno was charged with possession of cannabis over 20 grams and possession of cannabis with intent to sell or deliver.
For the past two seasons, Ziarno played backup to starting quarterback Marquis Cato Robins, who was also arrested on a DUI charge after police say he got drunk and crashed into a Melbourne home.
Cato was then suspended from the team, allowing Ziarno to step in during a playoff game during the team's first postseason run during only its fourth year as a team. Cato was reinstated as starting quarterback for the 2017 season.
Ziarno, heading into his junior year at Florida Tech, passed for 7,000 yards during his high school career at MCC before signing with the Division II Panthers.
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A spokesman for the Red Crescent, Mahmoud al-Saadi, said Israeli forces opened fire on two young men who were traveling on a motorcycle near the Jalameh checkpoint in the northern city of Jenin.
The two men were transferred to Jenin hospital. One succumbed to his wounds after he was shot in the head with a live round. He was identified by the Palestinian health ministry as 19-year-old Abdullah Tawalba.
The other unnamed man is in stable condition.
The Israeli army said its troops fired at “two assailants who hurled an explosive device” in the vicinity of the checkpoint, adding no soldiers were hurt.
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Runaway Entertainment is looking for an experienced Associate General Manager to work across all their productions.
Runaway Entertainment Ltd is an award-winning producing and general management company, based on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the heart of theatreland. We produce critically acclaimed and ambitious plays and musicals, working with the most exciting talents in the theatre industry. We love a challenge and are passionate about quality and innovation.
Current projects include Girl From The North Country (Toronto) and Hair (Tour General Manager), as well as many others in various stages of development. Previous shows include Guys and Dolls (Savoy Theatre, Phoenix Theatre and UK Tour), The Railway Children (King’s Cross Theatre), In The Heights (Southwark Playhouse and King’s Cross Theatre), Girl From The North Country (Old Vic, Noel Coward Theatre and Public Theater).
The Associate General Manager will report to the General Managers and provide support in the development, administration and day-to-day running of all productions. They will work closely with the General Managers and Producer to ensure the smooth running of each show. The successful candidate will have at least three years relevant general management experience in a theatre producing environment, excellent organisational and communication skills and strong attention to detail.
For more information please see the attached job description.
Please send your CV and a cover letter of no more than two A4 sides outlining how you meet the requirements of the role by email via the button below. The closing date for applications is 6pm on Friday 1st March 2019.
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Can Container Store Start 2015 on a Positive Note?
In 2014, it was hard to find bad-performing stocks, as the market put in a sixth straight year of gains. For Container Store Group , though, its first full year as a public company was a disaster for investors, with the stock plunging almost 60% last year. Amid falling same-store sales and worrisome trends in overall revenue, confidence in Container Store&apos;s future prospects took a huge hit. Yet as shares have started to stabilize, though, shareholders hope that the worst is over for the company and that customers might return in force to take advantage of the retail chain&apos;s organizational products. Moreover, some enthusiasm both from the professional analyst camp and from an activist hedge fund could help support the stock in the future. Let&apos;s take an early look at what&apos;s been happening with Container Store over the past quarter and what it&apos;s likely to say in its earnings report on Thursday afternoon.
Can Container Store get its earnings organized better this quarter?Investors are more pessimistic than they were a few months ago about Container Store&apos;s earnings, having slashed their views on November-quarter earnings by 30%. Yet even though the stock has fallen 14% since early October, share prices have bounced off their lowest levels since then.
Just about all of the damage done to Container Store&apos;s stock came following its fiscal second-quarter report. On its face, 39% growth in adjusted net income seemed like a reasonably promising performance, coming from a 5.2% rise in net revenue. Yet comparable store sales were actually down 0.4% for the quarter, showing just how important Container Store&apos;s continued expansion has been to its overall growth. Overhead costs rose at a faster pace than revenue, and Container Store cut its guidance for full-year revenue by about $20 million and gave lower predictions of earnings per share than shareholders were looking to see. With comps also predicted to fall again this quarter, the stock plunged 25% in a single day following the announcement.
Since then, Container Store has finally drawn some interest. In late October, a presentation from activist hedge fund Apex Capital highlighted its 4.5% ownership interest in Container Store, with Apex&apos;s founder exploring options such as encouraging faster growth, expense reductions, and even considering selling the company in a going-private transaction. With private-equity company Leonard Green & Partners holding a majority stake in Container Store, Apex will have to convince its institutional peer that its suggested plan of action has merit for the company.
Moreover, some investors simply believe that Container Store&apos;s stock is cheap enough to be attractive. In November, analysts at Merrill Lynch upgraded the organizational-goods company, highlighting some of Container Store&apos;s plans to execute a turnaround of its sluggish sales and drive more customers into its stores.
One long-term concern that investors need to consider is whether potential cost-cutting moves could endanger Container Store&apos;s renowned corporate culture. The company prides itself on treating its employees well, with generous salaries of roughly double the average in the retail industry. Many argue that treating its employees well leads to better results for Container Store, but without solid earnings growth, reducing compensation costs would be a tempting way for an institutional investor to push more money down to the bottom line quickly.
In the Container Store earnings report, be sure to watch whether the company further reduces guidance. Although the fiscal quarter doesn&apos;t include the whole of holiday season, investors should expect to get a good read on whether Container Store had a successful time in a key season for the retail industry. If Container Store can&apos;t deliver an optimistic message this time around, its stock could easily end up headed downward once again.
The article Can Container Store Start 2015 on a Positive Note? originally appeared on Fool.com.
Dan Caplinger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of The Container Store Group. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don&apos;t all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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The New York Times on Thursday printed a special section featuring portraits of nearly every member of the record number of female lawmakers in Congress.
A viral Twitter thread from the Times’ design editor, Josh Crutchmer, includes a video of the covers the night before publication that has been viewed over 320,000 times as of Thursday morning.
The photos, which were taken on Capitol Hill over five days by Times photographers Elizabeth D. Herman and Celeste Sloman, are meant as “a testament to what power looks like in 2019,” according to the paper.
“Like the work of Kehinde Wiley, who painted Barack Obama Barack Hussein ObamaChina, Russia, Iran rise in Latin America as US retreats Castro wants to follow Obama's lead on balancing presidency with fatherhood Trump's regulatory rollback boosts odds of a financial crisis MORE’s official presidential portrait, these photographs evoke the imagery we are used to seeing in the halls of power, but place people not previously seen as powerful starkly in the frames,” the feature reads.
There are 131 women serving in the House and Senate this term, a record class that includes a number of other “firsts,” including the youngest woman elected to the House, the first two female Muslim lawmakers, and the first two Native American female lawmakers. “Redefining Representation” features 130 portraits – Rep. Liz Cheney Elizabeth (Liz) Lynn CheneyRep. Cheney: Socialism 'driving the agenda of the Democratic Party' Dem lawmaker offers tool for 'filling in the blanks' of Green New Deal Judd Gregg: In praise of Mike Enzi MORE (R-Wyo.) was not available, according to the Times.
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Packed WonderCon panel brings out stars and exclusive sneak peeks.
Footage shown at WonderCon reveals what iconic monster looks like in new film.
Fox panel debuts new look at the maze, featured stars Dylan O'Brien and Will Poulter.
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Equipped with their own factory, they make different kinds of outstanding fish cake. Fish cake in Busan is the most delicious in the nation and Graesa fish cake is among the most premium in Busan. It is fresh and has no such things as MSG, preservatives, food coloring or flour in it. You can choose and pay on the first floor, and try it with coffee on the second floor. Although it is more expensive than that in super stores, its quality and taste cannot be compared. You can also order it offline or online. If your order is more than 50,000 won, it will be delivered free.
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10 diversity items for June 29: Unemployment up in most U.S. cities; Pew report shows diversity of U.S. Hispanics and more.
For the first time in history the Pentagon celebrated Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Month on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times reported. The ceremony, which was broadcast on a internal TV network to U.S. military bases around the world, was a straight-laced affair, according to the Times. It included pre-taped videos from President Obama and Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta.
The American Civil Liberties Union will help the Ku Klux Klan in its bid to join a highway cleanup program, according to Fox News. When the International Keystone Knights of the KKK applied to join the program along part of Highway 515 in the north Georgia mountains, the state denied their application--which lead to a legal showdown. The ACLU is developing a strategy for representing the group in what it believes is a First Amendment case.
When advocates for the Asian-American community decried a report by the Pew Research Center full of seemingly good news about Asians as "shallow" and "disparaging," both sides failed to acknowledge that the other may have had a point, Eric Liu wrote in Time on Tuesday.
In May, unemployment rates rose in more than 75 percent of U.S. cities, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday. Among the cities with this highest unemployment rates were Yuma, Ariz. (28.9 percent); El Centro, Calif. (26.8 percent); and Yuba City, Calif. (17.9 percent). Bismark and Fargo, both in North Dakota, had the lowest unemployment rates--2.5 percent and 3 percent respectively--followed by Lincoln, Neb., with 3.4 percent unemployment.
Eighty percent of Mexicans support their president's decision to use the Army to fight powerful drug cartels, a new poll from the Pew Hispanic Center shows. That support has dropped slightly over the past year. In 2011, 83 percent supported the use of military force. Forty-seven percent of those polled said they believed the Army was making progress in the fight.
Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Salvadorans, Dominicans, Guatemalans, Colombians, Hondurans, Ecuadorians and Peruvians make up 92 percent of the United States' Hispanic population, according to a Pew Hispanic Center analysis of Census data released on Wednesday. The majority, 65 percent, of all 50.7 million Hispanics living in the country are of Mexican-origin. The next largest group are Puerto Ricans, who make up just 9 percent of the total Hispanic population.
The attorney for a Latino man who claimed a Seattle police officer threatened to beat the "Mexican piss" out of him during a 2010 robbery investigation said a civil rights lawsuit regarding the incident, which was caught on tape, has been settled for $150,000, the Seattle Times reported on Wednesday.
Tucson Police Chief: Can the Department Handle S.B. 1070 Workload?
As the "show me your papers, please" provision in Arizona's immigration law goes into effect in the wake of the Monday Supreme Court decision, the police chief in Tucson, Ariz., wonders how his staff--which is down to 160 officers because of the economy--will handle the up to 50,000 additional phone calls a year to federal officials to verify the immigration status of people they stop, CNN reported on Wednesday.
The U.S. government has quietly been training and arming the Ugandan military as it drives militants out of Somalia, a stronghold for Islamic militants, Wired reported on Wednesday. But American officials have indicated that the government might cut off that military aid because of LGBT issues. Uganda's gays, lesbians and transgendered citizens have long faced persecution, the magazine reported.
Another lawsuit challenging Florida's contentious move to remove potentially ineligible voters from the state voting rolls was filed last week by The Advancement Project in partnership with other litigants, New America Media reported on Thursday.
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An Alsip police officer seriously wounded a man in an on-duty shooting early Wednesday after tracking a Cadillac suspected of being involved in drag racing into the Mount Greenwood neighborhood.
The officer fired shots when the driver of the Cadillac, identified as a 25-year-old man, failed to follow police commands to raise his hands and drove toward the officer and his partner, Alsip Police Chief Jay Miller said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon.
Just after 2 a.m., the officer saw a Dodge Challenger and a Cadillac drag racing in the David Estates neighborhood in the southwest suburb, Miller said. During a search for the vehicles, the officer pulled into a parking lot for an apartment building in the 4000 block of 115th Street in Chicago and found two people inside the Cadillac.
The officer and his partner got out of their squad car and told the 25-year-old and his passenger to raise their hands, police said. Instead of following directions, the 25-year-old drove toward the officer, who then opened fire. The Cadillac crashed into vehicles parked in the lot and into a squad car.
The 25-year-old was shot twice in the shoulder and was given medical attention by the Alsip officers before paramedics arrived, police said. He was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in serious condition.
Both officers suffered “minor injuries,” Alsip police said.
Miller said the 25-year-old, who has not been charged, was wanted on a warrant out of Indiana on a drug charge and had a “violent history” but did not provide specifics.
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Urban, born Jacques Pantaléon in Troyes c. 1200, was elected to the papacy in 1261. He studied canon law at Paris and served as bishop of Verdun and patriarch of Jerusalem. He hoped to keep Sicily from the heirs of Frederick II, whom the council of Lyon excommunicated in 1245, because Urban wanted to restore papal influence in Italy. In 1263, he negotiated with Louis IX of France to put Louis' brother Charles of Anjou on the throne of Sicily. Urban died the following year before the treaty was signed.
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If you would like to support the Down Syndrome Association of West Michigan's campaign of kindness, you may visit the organization's crowd funding site to help pay for supplies. The more money raised, the more random acts of kindness those in our community with Down syndrome will be able to commit.
The Down Syndrome Association of West Michigan is a resource and advocacy organization promoting public awareness and supporting lifelong opportunities for individuals with Down syndrome and their families. Down syndrome is the most commonly occurring chromosomal condition, with one in every 700 babies being born with Down syndrome. There are more than 400,000 people living with Down syndrome in the United States. For more information, visit www.dsawm.org.
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AMC Networks Earnings Beat Estimates, CEO Says 'Walking Dead' Franchise "Will Have a Long Life"
AMC Networks on Thursday reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings amid higher distribution and advertising revenue as management touted the outlook for hit show The Walking Dead, which is currently in its seventh season and which has been a big topic of debate among Wall Street analysts.
AMC Networks shares were up 13.6 percent in early Thursday trading at $65.30 as investors cheered the upside earnings surprise.
In the company's earnings report, he had similarly said: "The Walking Dead remains the No. 1 show on television by a wide margin and is a powerful example of programming that we own and distribute that commands a loyal audience, attracts advertising revenue, and has significant ancillary revenues that will benefit our business for years to come. With a rapidly expanding studio business, we now have a growing portfolio of shows that we own that provide this kind of opportunity for our business."
Asked about the studio business on the call, Sapan said: "The company is becoming and has become more of a studio,” rather than “only a channel operator.” He said that has allowed its shows to play on its own channels in the U.S. and internationally, then go to Hulu or Netflix in a later window in the U.S. and be sold to other distributors in foreign markets where the company has no channels.
AMC Networks so far has not produced shows only for other companies and has no plans to do so, but could consider such a production approach longer-term if the financial returns and strategic benefits make sense, said Sapan.
Asked about the company's channel portfolio, Sapan said its quality and pricing counts more than the number of channels at a time when some peers may have to close down weaker channels, according to analysts. "We have been of the mind for some time that quality matters, brands matter, content matters, engagement matters," said Sapan. "And you don’t get a free lunch for showing up with 22 channels." He added that his team felt that "a day of reckoning would come” for some peers.
While the company felt SundanceTV and BBC America, in which it bought a stake, are well-defined channels, overall, he said, "we have already skinnied our offering down.” And AMC Networks channels should still get higher carriage fees, he reiterated. “Collectively, they are underpriced," said Sapan.
The cable networks company on Thursday posted a profit of $14 million for the latest quarter, or earnings per share of 20 cents, compared with $90 million in the year-ago period, or $1.23. The company in the latest quarter took non-cash impairment charges of $68 million related to AMC Networks International-DMC, its Amsterdam-based media logistics facility.
Adjusted for charges, earnings reached $92 million, or $1.30 per share, compared with $102 million, or $1.39 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2015. The decrease in adjusted earnings per share was "primarily related to the increase in adjusted operating income more than offset by an increase in miscellaneous expense." Wall Street analysts had on average expected earnings of $1.27 per share. Estimates had come down a bit after Sapan in December said that advertising was looking softer than anticipated.
A 9.2 percent increase in quarterly operating income and 9.2 percent adjusted operating income at the company's U.S. networks, which include AMC, IFC and SundanceTV, reflected higher revenue, offset by an increase in operating expenses. "The increase in operating expenses was primarily attributable to higher programming expenses, partially offset by a decrease in marketing expenses," the company said. "Programming expenses included charges of $5 million in the current-year period related to the write-off of programming assets, as compared to charges of $16 million in the prior year period." The company didn't immediately say which show or shows the write-off was for.
U.S. advertising revenue rose 3.1 percent despite lower ratings in the quarter for the first half of season seven of The Walking Dead. U.S. distribution revenue jumped 15.6 percent.
"2016 was a successful year for our company both financially and operationally, driven by our disciplined and focused strategy of investing in high-quality content and creating brands that have strong, growing, passionate and engaged audiences," said Sapan.
He continued: "We are embracing changing viewing habits by making strategic investments in streaming services that fit well with our programming and the audiences at our network brands. As we look ahead in 2017, we see a number of attractive growth opportunities for our businesses and remain committed to delivering meaningful value to our shareholders.
Michael Morris, an analyst with Guggenheim Partners, said in a note previewing the results: "Season 7 of The Walking Dead premiered in late October, and though the show started strong, by the mid-season finale ratings were declining in excess of 20 percent on a year-over-year basis, worse than the 15 percent decline built into our estimates."
He lowered his fourth-quarter U.S. networks advertising growth estimate for the fourth quarter to 0.5 percent from 6.0 percent "given The Walking Dead's recent ratings trends." Said Morris: "This is consistent with management commentary provided in December. We expect the show to remain in production — and popular with consumers — for the next several years, and as such we anticipate related ancillary revenue (from digital and international partners) to remain intact."
But, he warned, "Investor concern around the company's key Walking Dead franchise continues to weigh on shares. We continue to believe that market value under-appreciates the company’s ability to develop and monetize compelling programming. However, we do not see a clear path to investor realization and thus remain cautious in our target valuation multiple."
Sapan on Thursday also touted the ratings performance of the company's networks. And he said that AMC will this year air such returning series as Humans, Better Call Saul and Preacher, plus new shows like The Terror and The Son.
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Jan. 22 will be here before agencies know it. So will Feb. 6. Here’s betting that even April 16 will be here seemingly tomorrow.
Those are the 45-day, 60-day and 120-day deadlines folded into the Open Government Directive, issued by the White House last month. The first, which arrives soon, is when every federal agency must identify and publish online at least three high-value datasets it plans to make available to the public.
Fifteen days after that, each agency must launch an open-government Web page that is ready to be updated in a timely fashion. By April 16, each agency must unveil an open-government plan that will describe how it will improve transparency and integrate public participation and collaboration into its activities.
Those are tall orders in short times, to be sure. However, most agencies haven't devised an open-government plan, decided what data is high value or figured out how to share it with the public. The directive is a sweeping mandate designed to transform the way the federal government interacts with the public, yet even its White House authors say each agency is essentially moving through this territory on its own without a road map.
Agencies have few choices for figuring out how to comply with the directive. They can go it alone and create a plan that they hope makes the grade. Perhaps some will join forces or find industry partners that might guide them to a successful outcome. Or, counting on the kindness of strangers in the White House, they can rely on promised support from the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Science and Technology Policy, where the authors of the directive live.
But even though the vagueness of the directive is a challenge, most agencies agree that it could be worse. Flexibility is better than getting strict and possibly draconian requirements that don’t account for agencies' special needs and different missions. For example, the way NASA shares images of the surface of Mars needs to be different than the way the Bureau of Transportation Statistics shares airline flight delay data.
The two men behind the directive are federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra and Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra. By the Feb. 6 deadline, they are supposed to establish a dashboard on WhiteHouse.gov that will aggregate statistics and visualizations so the public can see how various agencies are doing.
The goal of the dashboard is not to highlight agencies’ failures, Chopra said.
It’s not unreasonable to assume that new efforts in public engagement will be an evolution of older programs. For example, the General Services Administration published 12 years' worth of Federal Advisory Committee data onto Data.gov the day after the directive was announced.
David McClure, associate administrator of GSA’s Office of Citizen Services and Communications, suggests that agencies take a close look at whom they serve and then provide data that will be the most valuable to people.
But with the directive’s deadlines fast approaching, it’s not clear if all, much less many, agencies will be able to demonstrate the early goals of openness and transparency. After all, the memo issued by President Barack Obama that got all this whole thing rolling called for the directive to be published by late May 2009. It ended up being released Dec. 8, which shows that creating a transparent government isn’t a see-through process.
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Ljubljana, 24 March - Temperatures will stay below the freezing point even during the day on Monday, except in the coastal region. The feeling of cold will be intensified by the chill of winds and it will snow in most parts of the country.
The news item consists of 411 characters (without spaces) or 98 words words.
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Home » BC Network » Recent Updates » Heidi MacDonald To Sing Karaoke Again. World Trembles.
Have these people learned nothing? Do they actually want to raise money for charity? I only ask because the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund appears to be running a Live Rock And Roll Karaoke night during the MoCCA festival in New York.
And it’s being co-hosted by comics blogger, editor and PR maestro Heidi MacDonald.
You don’t understand, I’ve been there, I experienced the horrors of Heidi’s karaoke for myself. I even tried to warn you all with the YouTube video featured below.
But you wouldn’t listen. You’re giving her the mike again. And she’s going to start belting out Deep Purple like there’s no tomorrow. And maybe, after she’s finished with us, there won’t be one.
Do whatever you can to stop this travesty. Go to M1-5 in Tribeca from 7pm this Saturday. Pay the suggested donation. Get close to Heidi. Wait till she gets close to the microphone.
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This research paper explores innovative ways brands are rethinking what’s possible with new technologies and channels. From virtual real-time events to community building, the paper discusses best-in-class examples of how brands are leveraging technology to create cutting edge content and provide customers with more immersive and interactive experiences.
In stores and physical pop-ups, brands create multi-layered sensory experiences that immerse shoppers in the brand’s storytelling. Augmented reality enhances the customer experience with immersive games, while voice activations boost engagement and interact with consumers in a more immersive and intuitive way, creating an overlay of entertainment for everyday life. Using virtual reality, brands create a more personalized and immersive experience for fans, while strengthening their relationship with the brand.
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Two people were killed and two others injured Monday in what authorities are calling a possible murder-suicide at an elementary school in San Bernardino, Calif.
According to USA Today, Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said that two adults were dead and that two students had been wounded and taken to the hospital.
District spokesperson Maria Garcia described the shooting as a domestic dispute, according to the news site, and confirmed that at least two students had been airlifted to a hospital.
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Michael Novak, writing for National Review, admits that he is taken aback by some of the harsh criticisms of Pope Francis coming from American conservatives. Novak—who for decades has been the leading Catholic defender of the free-enterprise system—offers his own gentle suggestions that the current Pontiff should recall the teachings of Blessed John Paul II, especially in Centesimus Annus. At the same time, Novak expresses delight with the overall thrust of Evangelii Gaudium, acknowledging that Americans can learn a great deal from our new Pontiff.
The Financial Times provides some useful background on the struggle toward transparency at the Vatican bank-- a timely piece, in light of today’s news that European banking examiners have given a positive report on the Vatican’s financial reforms.
And finally, immodestly, I point to my friend Robert Royal’s kind and insightful review of When Faith Goes Viral, a collection of reports on successful initiatives in evangelization, which I had the pleasure of editing.
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AUSTIN, Texas — Awkward kisses, emoji and Topanga. That's what love is all about for the cast of Undateable.
Chris D’Elia, Brent Morin, Ron Funches, Rick Glassman, Bridgit Mendler, Bianca Kajlich, David Fynn took a pause from the craziness of SXSW for a little romance. Or at least to talk about romance. And to kiss.
Undateable airs Tuesdays on NBC.
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Perhaps more than any other age group, 8- to 12-year-olds are investigators of sorts, discovering their strengths and weaknesses and how they fit into the world. Sylvie Weil reinforces this idea in My Guardian Angel (Arthur A. Levine), which tells the story of Elvina, an 11th century Jewish girl who secretly cares for a wounded Christian Crusader despite fears of what his compatriots might be planning for her community. The Shadows of Ghadames (Delacorte), by Joëlle Stolz, is set 800 years later in Libya, yet 12-year-old Malika finds herself in a similar situation. She longs to travel and study like her father and brother do, but as a Muslim female, she isn’t allowed. When an injured man in trouble is taken into her home, however, her world broadens a bit more.
A retelling of Miguel de Cervantes’ Tales of Don Quixote (Tundra) packs the title character’s deeds into 200-odd pages, just one-fifth of the original work. Barbara Nichol’s treatment, however, captures the spirit of the aging knight-errant determined to right all the wrongs—some imagined, some not—that he comes across. The adventures of the orphaned Stephen Lansbury are, on the whole, less imaginary but just as bizarre. In The Valley of Secrets (Simon & Schuster), by Charmian Hussey, young Stephen unexpectedly inherits a strange estate after an unknown great-uncle dies, and he must use the uncle’s diary about a trip through the Amazon to unravel the supernatural goings-on.
The 11-year-old in Joan Givner’s Ellen Fremedon (Groundwood) sometimes wishes she were an orphan because her bratty twin siblings always seem to be getting in the way. Ellen’s biggest worry, though, is that she won’t be able to put enough interesting tidbits into the novel she’s writing—until the twins go missing after looking into an environmental threat to their community. In Sammy Keyes and the Psycho Kitty Queen (Knopf), it’s the cats who are disappearing. Wendelin Van Draanen’s ninth Sammy Keyes mystery has the skateboard-riding girl detective contending with an increasingly vicious school enemy while figuring out why large numbers of neighborhood felines are unaccounted for.
It’s no mystery where Indigo Casson has gone: He was taken out of school for a semester to recover from mono. Indigo’s Star (Margaret K. McElderry), Hilary McKay’s sequel about the Casson family, opens with the middle schooler dreading his return to a place where he’d been relentlessly bullied. Yet aided by a new student and his precocious youngest sister, Rose (the Casson kids are all named after paint colors), Indigo learns to stand up for himself. The title character of Becoming Naomi León (Scholastic), by Pam Muñoz Ryan, must do the same after her alcoholic mother shows up (following a seven-year absence) and disrupts Naomi’s happy life with her younger brother and great-grandmother. When Naomi discovers the courage hinted at by her name, she not only reclaims her family but also expands it, establishing a relationship with her father, who had been kept from her.
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There’s now an even easier way to pay your Metro Vancouver transit fare. TransLink has just launched a wearable option and it’s proving to be very successful. Neetu Garcha reports.
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The studio legal affairs veteran will serve as executive vp and deputy general counsel under Wayne Levin.
Lionsgate has tapped former Sony Pictures Entertainment exec Audrey Lee to negotiate M&As under key studio dealmaker Wayne Levin.
Lee, as executive vp and deputy general counsel, will also tackle legal issues for Lionsgate’s SVOD channels and digital initiatives, location-based entertainment and marketing and promotions.
Her hire follows Lionsgate's recently partnering with Liberty Global and Discovery Communications after the two conglomerates aligned with John Malone each purchased a 3.4 percent stake in the studio. Lee oversaw legal affairs for distribution at Sony Pictures, most recently as senior vp legal affairs.
"Audrey’s corporate legal experience at the major studio level and fluency with intellectual property matters and content distribution worldwide make her a tremendous asset to the Lionsgate team," Levin, chief strategic officer and general counsel, said Thursday in a statement.
"As we continue to expand our global footprint, her relationships and expertise will help facilitate our growth and evolution," he added. Besides the Liberty Global and Discovery deals, Lionsgate also recently invested around $200 million in unscripted TV producer Pilgrim Studios and in expanding digital assets.
The studio is also the subject of persistent speculation around a possible merger with Starz as Lionsgate gets deeper into business with Malone.
Lee joined Sony in 2001 as an associate counsel and was promoted to assistant general counsel three years later. She worked at idealab! and the law firm of Latham & Watkins before joining Sony.
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Efamol Neutraceuticals in Boston, a unit of Efamol Ltd. in Guildford, England, said yesterday that it had named Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners in New York as the first agency to introduce its nutritional supplement products in the United States. Billings were estimated at $10 million. The decision came after a two-month review that had been narrowed to Kirshenbaum Bond and one other finalist, Arnold Communications in Boston.
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Question: What's one company culture characteristic that you have found makes your startup employees the happiest? How do you make sure you're implementing it?
"Every six weeks, we have scheduled, highly structured bi-directional reviews with every employee. The predictability and structure of these meetings make it extremely easy for employees to deliver feedback, both good and bad. This level of transparency and communication keeps employees happy and motivated."
"At RTC, we have a motto as a publisher: "Don't expect your reader to change through reading your book if you haven't changed through writing it." That motto defines our core belief that continual growth is necessary for the human spirit to regularly experience joy in the workplace. As a result, our executive team strives to help our staff remove aspects of their work that do not bring them joy so that they can focus on what they love doing. By intentionally making room for them to focus on what they enjoy, they are able to grow out aspects of the business that bring them deep personal satisfaction while also serving our clients. We've developed entire new lines of business this way, as well as new positions within the company. Support their dreams, and they will grow your business."
Follow Rule #2: Have Fun!
"When my co-founder and I started 'ZinePak, our business plan read simply, "Make money. Have fun." As the company has grown, we've made sure not to lose sight of this mission. At the end of each day, we ask our employees if they had fun that day. Almost without fail, the answer is always "yes." We try to always remember that we're an entertainment company. We aren't changing the world. We aren't curing cancer. No one's life is at risk, so there is no need for the doom-and-gloom culture that seems so prevalent in Corporate America. From half-day Fridays to candy jars to days off for charitable activities of the employee's choice, we try to mix "fun" into everything possible to ensure that work feels as much like play as possible."
"We always take time to celebrate our wins. Whether it's a new project, new teammate or new launch, we take time to recognize team and individual successes. Taking small breaks to socialize and catch up at team happy hours reenergizes the team and ultimately leads to awesome workflow and collaboration. Our internal party planning committee makes consistent plans to pull us away from our desks and into fun environments where we can take our minds off work for a bit."
"I think that people are generally happiest at work when they are engaged by the work that they do. Doing the same jobs, having the same responsibilities and facing the same tasks day in and day out can get tiresome. In my company, there is a variety of work to be done, and employees are encouraged to embrace the variety. This keeps work fresh. We also support telecommuting (to the degree that we don't even have a "home" office -- all work is done "off-site") and flexible schedules. We trust our team to do their work when they can and where they can. Work variety and flexible work results in employees who are happy and productive. "
"When we started, we had been told to be careful of what we share with our employees and other stakeholders. We, however, are very open and transparent communicators and did not keep anything confidential and didn't hold back any information. This allowed our early employees to not only feel like they were playing an important trusted role in making an impact on growing the company, but also allowed them to dissent and suggest better ways of accomplishing objectives. They respected the founders because they saw not just what decisions we made, but how we made them, right or wrong. And for failed experiments, we had their support and morale to pivot quickly. Each and everyone felt individual ownership for each decision and worked that much harder to succeed, because they never felt separate."
"Every other Friday, someone different leads our team workout. We've played tennis and basketball, done yoga and CrossFit and even learned (barely) various martial arts. Unintentionally, we've taken risks doing new things, discussed how we're improving our lives (not just our work) and laughed a lot. The benefits of exercise combined with the additional vulnerability, camaraderie and fun has increased the happiness quotient of Team Fig. "
"When people hear the words "company culture," they often think about ping pong tables or beer taps. While those sorts of perks are cool, they really don't matter unless you've created the right work environment to embrace them. You create that environment by giving people a voice. When we built our new corporate office space, it was very important to solicit opinions and ideas from our employees. Before moving into our new facility in 2011, we hosted an internal version of Pinterest where employees could put ideas and pictures that they felt should be considered for the new space and workstation setups. In the end, when you're making a decision based on democratic feedback, you need transparency. People will be invested in the outcome as long as they feel like the process is fair. "
"The characteristic that I swear by is living the mission every day. Oftentimes, people join your team/company as a startup because you are doing something different or you're doing something the way no one has done it before. You cannot afford to lose that, and you have to live that everyday. For us, that is our mission. Everyone who has joined our team is in it for the mission, and we push it and live it every day, which makes our team members happy. "
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On Tuesday, August 20, a US army veteran named Mark Paslawsky was killed during a battle in Ilovyask, near Donetsk, which is currently held by anti-Kiev rebels.
Fighting on the side of pro-government forces, the American had sprung to prominence because of his Twitter feed (@BruceSpringnote), often sharply critical of Ukrainian politicians, and a fawning video interview with Vice News’ Simon Ostrovsky shortly before his death.
The 55-year-old West Point graduate, who was also a former investment banker, mainly focused on Moscow, Kharkov and Kiev, claimed he had changed his nationality to Ukrainian to enlist in the Donbass Battalion. Paslawsky fought under the pseudonym ‘Franko’ and served in the US army until at least 1991, when he was described as a captain in a New York Times op-ed.
There was a very good reason for Paslawsky’s use of a nom-de-guerre like ‘Franko’ and the social media handle ‘Bruce Springnote’ and for the soft soap in the US media.
Paslawsky was not an “ordinary Joe” from New Jersey with benign family connections to Ukraine who suddenly decided to help defend the motherland, he was the nephew of the notorious Nazi Mykola Lebed – who incredibly was employed by the CIA from 1949 to possibly as late as 1991. There is no insinuation that Paslawksy also harbored fascist or anti-Semitic beliefs, but family influences surely played a significant role in the formation of his world view.
Lebed began his terrorist career in 1934 when he was sentenced to death for the murder of Polish Interior Minister Bronislaw Pieracki – later commuted to life imprisonment – but he escaped in 1939. He would go on to lead the genocidal ethnic cleansing of Poles in Eastern Galicia and Volhynia (the area around Lutsk and Rivne in modern-day Ukraine).
Instead of facing trial for his vicious war crimes after his fellow fascists in Germany were defeated, Lebed was spirited to America where – based in New York – he gathered information on the Soviet Union for the CIA (a scheme known as Operation Aerodynamic).
Of course, sheltering Nazis was a common US practice after the war, as bizarre as it seems today, with the primary reason being their potential usefulness in the fight against the Soviet Union. The best known example is Klaus Barbie who they helped to escape to Bolivia, and later Argentina, but according to a 2009 National Archives report “Hitler’s Shadow: Nazi War Criminals, US Intelligence and the Cold War” there were dozens of similar cases. Among them was Rudolf Mildner, who was “responsible for the execution of hundreds, if not thousands, of suspected Polish resisters” and was also involved in the deportation of 8,000 Danish Jews to Auschwitz. The Americans helped Mildner to settle in Argentina. Another was Hans Scholl, a member of Einsatzgruppe B in Belarus, which was blamed for the execution of more than 45,000 people, most of them Jewish.
The report goes into great detail about the hideous crimes of Paslawsky’s uncle. One man extensively quoted is Moshe Maltz, a Jew living in Sokal, a town about 85 kilometers north of Lviv: “When the Bandera gangs (a name inspired by the chief Ukrainian Nazi leader, Stepan Bandera) seize a Jew, they consider it a prize catch. The ordinary Ukrainians feel the same way… they all want to participate in the heroic (sic) act of killing a Jew. They literally slash Jews to pieces with their machetes.” Lebed trained at a Gestapo center in Zakopane.
Interestingly, in 1985 the US Government Accountability Office in Washington mentioned Lebed’s name in a public report on Nazis and collaborators who settled in the States with help from US intelligence agencies. The Office of Special Investigations (OSI) in the Department of Justice began investigating Lebed that year.
The CIA shielded Lebed and, as late as 1991, it dissuaded the OSI from approaching the German, Polish, and Soviet governments for war-related records about Ukrainian fascists. Lebed, Bandera’s wartime chief in Ukraine, died in 1998. He is buried in New Jersey.
Leded married Sophia Hunczak, the sister of Taras Hunczak, a professor emeritus of Rutgers University in New Jersey, where he lectures in Ukrainian, Russian and European History. He also teaches at the Taras Shevchecnko University in Kiev. Despite being a child during World War II, his Ukrainian language Wikipedia entry, judging by the links and tone, an official bio, lists his service as a courier for Bandera’s forces during the war.
Hunczak has written articles for Ukrainian journals whitewashing Roman Shukhevych and his Nachtigall Battalion, including some heavy duty eulogies obviously intended for internal consumption in the Ukrainian language. The Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles claims that between June 30 and July 3, 1941, the Nachtgall and their German comrades kidnapped and killed 4,000 Jews in Lviv. In 2007, the pro-NATO Ukrainian government of Viktor Yushchenko issued a postage stamp commemorating Shukhevych.
So how we do know Paslawsky is the nephew of Lebed after his extensive efforts to hide his true identity? His Ukrainian-language Wikipedia entry refers to him as being the nephew of Hunczak and also mentions a brother, Nestor.
In the September 13, 2009, edition of the US newspaper The Ukrainian Weekly, there is a death notice forSophia Lebed(this page has been removed from the PDF copy on their website as of August 28, but copies are in circulation, one pictured above) lists all her living relatives, including her brother, Taras Hunczak, and her nephews Nestor and Markian (Mark in English) Paslawsky. While it mentions Nestor’s family, it doesn’t for Mark – he told Ostrovsky in the Vice interview that he was a single man.
A second death notice for Sophia, at the Union Funeral Home in New Jersey, describes her as the “beloved wife of the late Michael (the English form of Mykola) Lebed.” Interestingly, this page was removed on August 27 after Ukrainian violinist Valentina Lisitsa questioned the US government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty about it on Twitter – it now exists as a cached version only.
Somebody has been trying to hide the true story of Mark Paslawskyin recent days and western media have shown no interest in telling it.
The German language has a word for coming to terms with the past: Vergangenheitsbewältigung. English has many but the US press refuses, once again, to use them.
===
OKLAHOMA CITY- A metro family is looking for answers after their 21-year-old daughter was found dead.
Police are saying the death of Sandra Stevens appears to be a suicide, but those closest to her think someone else might be responsible.
Sandra’s mother says there’s no way her daughter took her own life. She says Sandra had just finished hair school and was working at a local restaurant.
“She had the most beautiful smile and a twinkle in her eye,” Sylvia Stevens said.
She says her daughter was always so full of life.
“You can see most of her pictures, she was always happy, she had plans for her future,” Stevens said.
That future was cut short after what happened inside a northwest Oklahoma City home.
About a month ago, Sandy moved in with her boyfriend of two months.
On Dec. 6, police rushed to Sandy's new place to investigate a shooting.
When they arrived, officers found her dead inside the home.
Her boyfriend told police she killed herself with a shotgun, but her family says she never would've done that.
Sandy went to her parents’ home the night before her death. Her mother says Sandra and her boyfriend were fighting.
Her parents say she wanted to move back home.
“She was upset, and my husband told her she needed to finish the relationship,” Stevens said.
That was the last time Sylvia saw her daughter alive.
Allegedly, there were a couple of people other than her boyfriend at the scene when Sandy died.
When NewsChannel 4 went to speak with those alleged witnesses, they were not happy to learn about the story.
“I want the truth. I want the truth,” Stevens said.
Sylvia says she’ll never give up on getting her questions answered.
A Facebook page dedicated to her daughter, called “Justice for Sandra Stevens,” has more than 3,000 likes.
“She loved life, and she knew she was loved. I have faith with all my heart that justice will be made. Justice is going to be for Sandy, justice for Sandy,” Stevens said.
Police say this is still an active investigation, adding that they have interviewed Sandy's boyfriend.
The family is holding out hope that they’ll be able to piece together what really happened.
They requested an autopsy, but the medical examiner’s office says it has not finished the report yet.
===
Junior golfers in Sri Lanka are making vast strides and improving by leaps and bounds through the efforts of Sri Lanka Golf who are conducting tournaments to keep them abreast with the game.
They are exposed to competitive games every month with the support of various sponsors.
The latest tournament to be organized will be the Sri Lanka Junior Match-play golf championship for the Rukmini Kodagoda Trophy that will be played over four days beginning April 8. The venue will be the Royal Colombo Golf Club (RCGC) where many leading golfers in Asia began their career.
This tournament is sponsored by her family business, the famous Perera and Sons Bakers Limited, which is a fitting tribute to Rukmini.
She was a lady of charismatic personality who played golf and tennis at national level. This tournament will follow the lines of match-play format that pitches one player against another to decide the winner. This allows a player to gauge his skills and ability to overcome his opponent one at a time.
The players will compete in four Age Categories of Gold Division (15-18 years), Silver (12–14 years), Bronze (10-11 years) and Copper for those nine years and under.
Vinod Weerasinghe who won the boys division will not be there to defend his title while Taniya Balasuriya will defend her title.
However, the overall winner will carry away the Rukmini Kodagoda Challenge Trophy in the boys and girls categories.
===
A British father and his two young children died when their car crashed on a French motorway amid fears he may have fallen asleep at the wheel.
The mother and their youngest child were in hospital on Sunday night having survived the horror smash, which happened during a family holiday.
The dead man was named locally as John Crompton, 31, from Hartlepool and it is understood his son Morgan, believed to be nine, and daughter Evielily, four, also died at the scene.
Mr Crompton’s partner Makayla and the couple’s third child, thought to be aged two, were critically injured and airlifted to a nearby hospital.
French investigators said it was possible the driver may have fallen asleep behind the wheel or was distracted by something which caused him to veer off the road.
Relatives in the close knit community in north Hartlepool were too devastated to talk yesterday but neighbours spoke of their shock at the tragedy.
The accident happened around 7:15 am local time on Sunday morning as the family’s Nissan car was travelling south on the A39 motorway between Dijon and Bourg-en-Bresse in the east of France.
The car is believed to have gone over a railing, smashed against a wall and then landed in a crumpled heap back on the road.
The three children were thrown from the car as it turned over after smashing into the wall.
The roof of the car was torn off by the impact and the vehicle was left on its side in the middle of the road, with the family's belongings strewn across the motorway.
Police said it was not clear what caused the vehicle to veer off the road and smash into the concrete wall of a motorway bridge but no other vehicle was involved in the collision.
“The crash may have been due to the driver falling asleep at the wheel or perhaps the driver was distracted by something and veered to the right,” said senior regional official Georges Bos at the crash site.
Gendarme Captain Gilles Quintaine told the Telegraph that an inquiry had been launched to determine the cause of the accident.
"We don't know how long the father had been driving for, whether he had been at the wheel all night or whether he had just got on the road this morning," he said.
"We are hoping that family members will be able to help us with that. We don't know what the family was doing in France but it looks like they were on holiday because their car was packed with luggage," he said.
In an interview with the France3 TV channel, a member of the emergency services said two of the children were dead when they arrived and the father was trapped.
Two air amublances were called to ferry the injured mother and surviving son to hospital and police closed off the motorway for several hours.
The scene was so devastating that a psychologist was brought in to counsel the two dozen rescue workers who worked at the crash site.
In Hartlepool, one neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said: "John was a big lad, he was only young. He's very much like his mum.
"It's absolutely awful. I'm just in shock."
Another neighbour said: "I knew that they were going away on holiday. It's just such a shock to be honest."
Another added: "All I heard was that they have lost a son and a daughter. I know John worked in Italy so he might have been on his way there.
"I'm just shocked. I still can't believe that it has happened to somebody we actually know."
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We are providing assistance following a road traffic accident in France, in which three British nationals have sadly died and two others have been hospitalised.
"We are working closely with local authorities and supporting the families at this difficult time."
===
The St. Francis defense had a banner afternoon Saturday in Elmhurst, leading the way to an 18-0 Suburban Christian crossover win over Immaculate Conception.
The Spartans (6-2) held the Knights to 101 yards of total offense, forced 15 negative plays from scrimmage, recovered two fumbles and added a safety for good measure.
"It's a great team effort on both sides of the ball," linebacker Jeff Rutkowski said. "Our blitzes off the outside were getting there, and our coverage was right today."
The Spartans got on the board on their second drive of the game when Dan Beck ran for an 8-yard score on fourth-and-goal to cap a seven-play, 61-yard drive. Jack Petrando added a 21-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. He finished with 156 rushing yards.
"I had huge holes to run behind, but what was more impressive was our defensive effort," Petrando said.
The defense highlighted its superb performance with a fourth-quarter safety when a swarm of Spartans, led by Rutkowski, stopped Knights quarterback Demetrius Carr for a loss on a sneak from his own 1-yard line.
Immaculate Conception (5-3) didn't reach the red zone until the fourth quarter, long after the game was well in hand.
"There's no better time to peak," said Rutkowski, alluding to the state playoffs that begin in two weeks. "We're going to make a run."
Player of the game: St. Francis defense, 15 negative plays forced, 6 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries, safety.
Key performers: St. Francis — Jack Petrando, 156 rushing yards, TD; Jeff Rutkowski, 2 sacks; 41 rushing yards; Immaculate Conception — Demetrius Carr, 7-for-13, 77 yards.
===
Technological change has always posed a challenge for companies. But, as we saw once again in 2015, it has never occurred as rapidly, or on as large a scale, as today. As innovation sweeps across virtually every sector, from heavy industry to services, it is transforming the competitive landscape, with the most advanced companies—rather than the largest or most established players—coming out on top.
For incumbents, the threat of displacement is very real. The average tenure of a company on the S&P 500 has fallen from 90 years in 1935 to less than 18 years today. Disruptive new players like Uber, which has upended the taxi industry, are tough competitors, often staking out market share by shifting more surplus to consumers. This is part of a broader trend of intensifying competition that, according to recent research from the McKinsey Global Institute, could reduce the global after-tax profit pool from almost 10% of global GDP today to its 1980 level of about 7.9% within a decade.
The effect of technology on competition arises largely from the power of digital platforms and network effects. New digital platforms reduce marginal costs (the cost of producing additional units of a good or service) to nearly zero. Adding, say, a Google Maps user carries negligible costs, because the service relies on GPS location data that is already stored on a user’s phone. This allows Google to scale incredibly quickly, and then to leverage this scale (and the convenience of having a single platform) to move into adjacent sectors—such as music (Google Play), payment (Google Wallet), and word processing (Google Docs). In this manner, tech firms can quickly come to challenge incumbents in seemingly unrelated industries.
Of course, tech firms are not the only ones innovating. A handful of leading firms in practically every industry are deploying digital technology in increasingly sophisticated ways—and seeing huge benefits. The use of sensors to monitor livestock, for example, has far-reaching implications for the food industry.
But the most digitally advanced sectors show the greatest progress. Indeed, over the past 20 years, profit margins in these tech-infused sectors have grown two-three times faster, on average, than in the rest of the economy. Even within the most advanced sectors, there is a yawning gap between the top-performing companies and the rest of the pack. For example, the retail offerings of digitally advanced multinational banks far outstrip those of local credit unions.
As technology transforms business models and processes, it is also changing the way employees work. Recent McKinsey research finds that already-proven technologies could automate as much as 45% of the tasks individuals are currently paid to perform. In the US alone, that is the equivalent of about $2 trillion in annual wages.
The potential benefits of this transformation for companies extend far beyond cost savings, as workers gain time to pursue more valuable tasks involving critical thinking and creativity. Financial advisers can spend less time analysing financials and more time developing solutions that meet clients’ needs. Or interior decorators can shift their attention from taking measurements to devising design concepts, meeting with clients, or sourcing materials.
Technology also allows companies to rethink conventional wisdom on organizational design and governance. New information-sharing technologies deliver greater transparency, making organizations more efficient and, in many cases, less hierarchical.
For example, the CEOs of Apple, Inditex (a multinational clothing company) and Zappos (a large online retailer) have adopted broad spans of control (the number of subordinates directly reporting to a manager) that far exceed the traditional model of “one to four to eight". Haier, the Chinese white-goods manufacturer, reorganized its 80,000-person workforce into 2,000 independent units, each responsible for managing its own profits and losses. Since the move, its market capitalization has soared, tripling from 2011 to 2014.
Moreover, digitization allows companies to operate as “platforms", not structures, and make greater use of resources outside their company. Insurance company Allstate used the crowdsourcing platform Kaggle to invite programmers to develop a new car accident injury algorithm; the eventual “winner" was 271% more accurate than its existing model.
Likewise, China’s DJI became the world’s largest drone manufacturer by focusing on its products’ core technology, while giving away developer kits for free online so that others could build apps. This approach meant that DJI’s drones were equipped with attractive features far earlier than competitors’ products, which relied on in-house app development.
Similar technology-driven innovations in thought processes and business models can be seen across the economy, reflected in changes in companies’ planning processes. Some have begun creating separate business plans with two-month and 20-year views, reallocating their resources more aggressively, and using new analytical techniques to identify, attract, develop and retain talent.
Technological innovation enables—indeed, requires—companies to boost their agility and thus their competitiveness. That’s why CEOs’ top priorities in 2016 should be to digitize the core components of their business and rethink organizational design and governance processes. Catching this fast-moving—and rapidly growing—“digital wave" is the only way to avoid getting left behind.
Dominic Barton is the global managing director of McKinsey & Company.
===
Residents and businessmen in the Washoe Valley, Pleasant Valley area generally see the Interstate 580 freeway extension as a mixed blessing.
Once open, Nevada Department of Transportation officials say as much as 70 percent of the traffic on Highway 395 will move to the freeway, greatly reducing the traffic on the old road.
Chris Jacobsen, who lives in what he described as a luxury home in Washoe Valley, agreed it will be a blessing for the residential areas along the current Highway 395 route. But Jacobsen, a consultant who advises businesses – primarily convenience stores – on where best to locate, said it will overall hurt the businesses in Washoe City. He said that applies especially to convenience stores, the gas station and businesses like the Chocolate Factory and Nevada Lynn Emporium which rely on impulse buyers seeing them and deciding to stop.
He said Paul Marazzo, owner of Washoe Flats restaurant – formerly the Cattleman’s – may benefit because his is a destination rather than an impulse stop.
Marazzo is counting on that. He said when the trucks and other through traffic move to the new freeway, it will also make it much easier and safer for drivers seeking a nice dinner at the restaurant he and his brother, Lynn, operate. And, as the valley develops, he said he’ll get more and more local business.
At the same time, he said the freeway will make it easier for people to come to his restaurant because they’ll be able to take the freeway to Parker Ranch Road just south of the restaurant.
And in the meantime, he said the freeway construction crews are excellent customers.
She said traffic is the issue and she has been involved in efforts to get people to slow down through the valley.
Tyson Petty, manager of Old Washoe Station, the gas station and mini-mart to the north, made similar comments.
Couch and Petty both said their businesses may be hurt somewhat but neither thought the loss of traffic would put them out of business.
===
Harmelin Media was named media agency of record for Wawa. The agency will be responsible for various media channels including TV, radio, out-of-home, digital channels and sports sponsorships. External View Consulting Group assisted in managing the agency search process. "We are looking forward to working with Harmelin Media in continuing our growth and supporting the Wawa brand," said Lisa Wollan, head of consumer insights and brand strategy for Wawa. Wawa spent $32.2 million on measured media in 2015 and $7.9 million the first half of 2016, according to Kantar Media.
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It's been three years since the filing of a suit against the FBI after agents put several Muslims on the No Fly list to retaliate against their refusal to be conscripted as a confidential informants spying on other Muslims; the FBI's illegal retaliation cost their victims their jobs, subjected them to harassment, and cut them off from visits to family overseas.
The FBI and Department of Justice don't dispute the fundamentals in this case: that FBI officers placed Muslims on the No Fly list in retaliation for their refusal to cooperate (and not because they were believed to be a security risk), and that this was illegal.
However, they do object to their victims ability to sue individual FBI officials for their illegal actions; the government's lawyers asked the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to find that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) immunizes corrupt officials from legal consequences of lawbreaking, limiting victims to suing agencies, rather than agents.
The court disagreed. The FBI's victims' suit against the officers who wronged them can proceed to the next step.
Having decided the lawsuit can continue, the Appeals Court decides it doesn't need to reach a finding on the agents' qualified immunity assertions. This will be handled on remand by the lower court, which will first have to make this decision before deciding what (if any) damages the plaintiffs are entitled to.
This is far from a victory for the plaintiffs but it does open the door for similar lawsuits against federal officers for harassment and intimidation tactics deployed in hopes of turning lawful residents and visitors into government informants. Raising the possibility of a successful lawsuit above the previously-presumed zero percent should hopefully act as a minor deterrent against future abuses of power.
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President, founder, and survivor Sue Weldon takes the wheel of Lily.
Township officials, police officers and Unite for HER organizers pose with Lily.
ENPD, members of the township and survivors met with organizers of Unite For HER, a nonprofit resource and support organization dedicated to helping women diagnosed with breast cancer.
All throughout October, “Lily,” as dubbed by ENPD’s previous chief Karyl Kates, will cruise the neighborhoods and attend events collecting donations on behalf of Unite For HER.
President, founder, and survivor Sue Weldon said they are ready to hit the road running with Lily and encouraged anyone who sees Lily to take a picture and give a shout out on social media.
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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has outlined the state's first deer management plan.
The plan announced Tuesday seeks a target harvest of 200,000 whitetails. The plan is the result of a two-year effort that included meetings around Minnesota and input from a 19-member citizen advisory committee.
DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr says the agency has listened, "and the plan reflects that."
The Minnesota Deer Hunters Association had advocated for a yearly target harvest of 225,000 deer. The Star Tribune reports the plan calls for an annual harvest of 200,000 deer, after DNR deer biologists pushed for a target of 190,000 deer.
The plan also calls for annual "deer management discussions" around Minnesota.
The DNR says responding to chronic wasting disease in Minnesota's wild deer herd will be a top priority.
===
I previously wrote an article stating that the Texas Primary Elections will likely be split with one in March and the other in May. This is what the Texas Republican Party and the AG argued for.
Not everyone likes that idea though, and there are many who want only one Primary election date, including both Democrats and a good number of Republican State Senators and Texas Congressmen.
We will find out soon from the San Antonio Federal Court whether we will have two Texas Primaries (one in March and One in May) of whether ALL the Primary Elections in Texas will be pushed back to a later day, likely in May.
I certainly understand some of the reasons for not wanting to have a split Primary, including the extra costs and confusion. I also completely respect the opinions of the State Senators and Congressmen who are for just one later primary date. I do have concerns that this later primary election will devastate the Texas Vote in the Presidential Primary Election.
A HUGE drawback of pushing back all the primary Elections in Texas would be that it would hurt the ability of Texas to choose the next Republican Presidential Candidate in what would be the biggest election against the Democrats in the History of America.
Right now, Texas is in position to have a major say in the Republican Presidential Primary election. A later primary Election would give Texas nearly no chance of having a major impact on who the Republican Presidential Candidate will be.
The RNC made a rule that if certain states had their primary Elections before March 2012 and February 2012, then those state would lose HALF of their Presidential Primary Delegates. Well, most of the states that have primary elections before Texas have not complied with this rule and therefore those States will lose half of their Republican Presidential Primary Election Delegate Votes. A Candidate needs 1214 Delegates in order to have a majority of the Republican Presidential Primary Delegates and win the Republican Nomination.
As it stands, at the end of February 2012, and going into the March Texas Primary Election, there will only have been 87 Republican Presidential Delegates Selected (after the penalties).
Texas Has 155 Presidential Primary Delegates!
With 155 Delegates, A Texas Presidential Primary Election in March could COMPLETELY alter the Republican Presidential Race with Texas getting to pick the leader.
On the other hand, a Presidential Primary Election in May would give Texas very little say in the Republican Presidential Race because many more delegates will have been selected and the media will likely have already decided who the leader is by that point in time.
We will find out soon from the San Antonio Federal Judges whether we will have two Texas Primaries (one in March and one in May) orwhether ALL the Primary Elections in Texas will be pushed back to a later day, likely May.
===
Dwight McNeil’s remarkable week got even better as he made his England Under 20 debut.
After earning his first official England call up last Thursday, he scored his second senior goal last Saturday in the 2-1 defeat at home to Leicester City.
The 19-year-old was then drafted in to train with the senior England squad on Tuesday, before making his Under 20 bow on Thursday.
McNeil played the full 90 minutes are St George’s Park as England lost 3-1 to Poland.
McNeil played the full 90 minutes of the game at St George’s Park, as the Under 20s lost 3-1 to Poland.
McNeil will now due to fly out with the Under 20s to play in Portugal next Tuesday night.
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VIENNA – A senior U.N. official announced progress Friday in long-stalled efforts to resume a probe of suspicions that Iran may have worked to develop nuclear arms, saying the investigation could be restarted by early next year.
He acknowledged that a key IAEA request -- a visit to a site linked to suspected nuclear activity --was again denied. But he told reporters at Vienna airport that he expected IAEA experts to be allowed to go to Parchin and follow up on suspicions it might have been used as part of secret arms-related experiments once the probe is resumed.
In Tehran, Iran&apos;s state TV made no mention of progress, reporting only that there was no agreement on visiting Parchin. But Iranian envoy Ali Asghar Soltanieh also said a new meeting was set for Jan. 16.
While Nackaerts&apos; comments gave cause for some optimism, they were not the first instance of a senior IAEA official saying that the standoff was close to resolution.
Returning from Tehran talks more than five months ago, IAEA chief Yukiya Amano said the two sides had agreed on "an almost clean text", saying a breakthrough deal would be signed soon. Follow-up IAEA-Iran meetings did not yield significant results.
Iran says it does not want atomic arms and has justified a nearly yearlong delay in cooperating with the IAEA&apos;s probe by saying that a framework regulating such an investigation must be agreed on first. But as talks on such an agreement have dragged on, agency officials have complained that they may be nothing more than a delaying tactic.
They are particularly concerned that such delays can hurt their efforts to investigate Parchin. The IAEA suspects that Iran has conducted live tests of conventional explosives there that could be used to detonate a nuclear charge and cited satellite photos indicating a cleanup of the site, at a sprawling military base southeast of Tehran.
Iran denies it is sanitizing the site, but Amano has warned that his agency&apos;s chances of a meaningful investigation there are diminishing.
Nackaerts offered no details on the substance of his talks. But diplomats familiar with the negotiations have said previously that the agreement was stalled because the IAEA wanted repeated access to sites, officials or documents of interest. Instead, Tehran demanded that once such access was granted, the person, document or site be off limits to the IAEA for repeated visits, questioning of viewing.
Amano&apos;s announcement of a nearly done deal in May came just days before the two sides met in Baghdad for a new round of negotiations meant to defuse tensions over Iran&apos;s nuclear program before leaving the negotiating table with little progress made.
This time, Nackaerts spoke of movement on the probe as Iran and six world powers again prepare to meet. The six nations hope the talks will result in an agreement by the Islamic Republic to stop enriching uranium to a higher level that could be turned relatively quickly into the fissile core of nuclear arms.
Iran denies such aspirations insisting it is enriching only to make reactor fuel and to make isotopes for medical purposes.
By compromising on the IAEA probe, Iran could argue that the onus was now on the six powers to show some flexibility, temper their demands, and roll back U.S. and European sanctions that have hit Iran&apos;s critical oil exports and blacklisted the country from international banking networks.
The IAEA has already visited Parchin twice -- the last time in 2005. But it did not have access then to satellite imagery then and visited buildings other than the one now pinpointed by the aerial photos.
===
Happy Sunday. FRONT PAGE EDITORIAL -- BIRMINGHAM NEWS, HUNTSVILLE TIMES, PRESS-REGISTER (MOBILE) -- “STAND FOR DECENCY, REJECT ROY MOORE”: “This election is a turning point for women in Alabama. A chance to make their voices heard in a state that has silenced them for too long.
“During the phone call on Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Ryan, who had campaigned heavily for Mr. Johnson in 2016, posed an essential question, according to the senator: ‘What are you going to need?’ What Mr. Johnson needs … is for the bill to treat more favorably small businesses and other so-called pass-through entities -- businesses whose profits are distributed to their owners and taxed at rates for individuals. Such entities, including Mr. Johnson’s family-run plastics manufacturing business, account for more than half of the nation’s business income, and the senator says the tax bill would give an unfair advantage to larger corporations.
-- IT’S WORTH NOTING: This is hardly the first time Johnson has clashed with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his GOP leadership team. He also fought with them over how the Obamacare repeal process played out. He is just the first Senate Republican out of the gate opposing the bill. Just because the House GOP tax overhaul was on the fast track and didn’t face many hiccups, don’t expect the same to be true in the Senate.
FOR EXAMPLE… JAKE TAPPER talks with SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-MAINE) on CNN’S “STATE OF THE UNION: TAPPER: “You said this week that Republicans made a big mistake when they changed the tax bill to include this repeal of the Affordable Care Act individual mandate because that -- removing that could raise taxes or payment -- health care payments, premiums, for millions of Americans. If that provision stays in the tax bill, will that mean a ‘no’ vote from you?” COLLINS: “Well, first of all, I think we need to distinguish between taking away insurance from people who already have it, which is what the health care bill said we considered earlier this year would have done, versus removing a fine on people who choose not to have insurance. And that’s … disproportionately 80 percent on those who make under $50,000.
MORE TAX DRAMA IN THE STATES -- “In Democrat-led state capitals, GOP tax reform push could scramble fiscal plans,” by Laura Nahmias in New York, Katherine Landergan in New Jersey and Carla Marinucci in California: “The Republican tax reform push in Washington is setting off budgetary alarm bells in high-tax states like New York, California and New Jersey, in the latest political skirmish to pit national Republicans against Democratic state and big city leaders.
“With Republicans intent on shrinking or repealing the state and local tax deduction, California officials are worried that the House-passed tax bill, and the emerging Senate measure, will force local governments to reduce taxes and make big cuts to schools and social services. In New York, where New York City and state revenues are heavily reliant on just a handful of wealthy tax filers, budget watchdogs fear federal tax changes could trigger the flight of those residents. And in New Jersey, plans for a new millionaire’s tax, one of incoming Gov. Phil Murphy’s biggest campaign promises, are already being reined in as the Democratic-led New Jersey Senate waits on the outcome of any federal tax plan.
TROUBLE FOR FRANKEN -- A1 of the STAR TRIBUNE -- “Sidelined by scandal, Sen. Al Franken faces questions about ability to do his job,” by Jennifer Brooks and Erin Golden: “Suddenly a senator whose statewide approval rating stood at 58 percent in the last Star Tribune Minnesota Poll is facing calls to resign — even from prominent Minnesota DFLers and deeply disappointed supporters.
-- TOO CLOSE TO THE SUN?: STAR LEDGER FRONT PAGE: “Why this N.J. Republican keeps voting for things that could hurt Jersey” (print headline: “MacArthur is showing affinity for risk-taking: Representative’s tax stance could hurt N.J., his future”): “In just his third term in office, Rep. Tom MacArthur is helping to shape legislation in a way lawmakers who've been here a long time can only dream of.
BUT, BUT, BUT -- EMILY HOLDEN in Bonn, Germany: “The White House goaded activists at the international climate talks by pushing coal and other fossil fuels. But behind closed doors, U.S. negotiators stuck to their Obama-era principles on the 2015 Paris deal — despite President Donald Trump’s disavowal of the pact. State Department negotiators at the U.N. conference that ended Saturday hewed to the United States’ long-established positions on the details of how to carry out the Paris agreement. And that's the U.S. role that most foreign political leaders sought to highlight, despite the low expectations inspired by Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda and his dismissal of human-caused climate change as a hoax.
-- TONIGHT ON “KASIE D.C.”: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, Katty Kay, Ashley Parker, Jonathan Swan, Leigh Ann Caldwell, Ken Dilanian, Paul Kane, Paul Singer, Gen. Barry McCaffrey and Azmat Khan.
GREAT STORY -- SCOTT BROWN IN NEW ZEALAND -- “Scott Brown’s pay is $155,000 per year. The benefits are priceless,” by the Boston Globe’s Joshua Miller in Wellington, New Zealand: “Of the waves that followed from Donald Trump’s 2016 tsunami, Brown’s ascension from the everyman-with-a-pickup who lost two U.S. Senate races in two years in two states to US ambassador to New Zealand ranks among the most unlikely. And, for him, the most fortunate.
“The island nation is a paradisiacal land of jade hills dotted with grazing sheep, golden-sand beaches surrounded by Jurassic Park-like jungles, snow-capped peaks that rise steeply from azure fjords, and pastoral villages serving gourmet meals and world-class wine.
2020 WATCH -- “Don’t trust politicians to solve our problems, U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse tells Iowa crowd,” by the Des Moines Register’s Jason Noble: “Don’t look to politics to solve the pressing problems in American culture or address looming technological and economic changes that will rearrange American society, U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse told an Iowa audience Saturday. Politicians, he said, simply aren’t up to the task.
SPOTTED: Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) at the Elton John concert in Bangor, Maine, last night. “She seemed to particularly enjoy his rendition of ‘Daniel,’” per our tipster.
--SPOTTED: Wolf Blitzer and Dana Bash cutting the challah, Spencer Garrett, David Chalian, Alex Moe and Derek Flowers, Joy Lin, Juana Summers, John Legittino, Lauren Pratapas, Polson Kanneth and Sandhya Kotha, Ben Kochman, Rob Yoon, Katie Hinman, Sean and Ashley Kennedy.
OUT AND ABOUT -- SPOTTED at the So Others Might Eat Gala Saturday night at the National Building Museum: Tom Donohue, Suzanne Clark, Bill Conway, Jack Gerard, Matthew Say, Jim McCarthy, Wayne Berman and the winners of this year’s Humanitarians of the Year award, Jane and Steve Caldeira of the Consumer Specialty Products Association.
-- SPOTTED at the “Wonder Woman”-themed birthday party for BBC’s Suzanne Kianpour at Lapis Saturday night: Andrew Rafferty, Neil Grace, Molly Weaver, Walt Cronkite Jr., Lauren French, Paul Kane, Lauren Culbertson, Anastasia Dellaccio, Nikki Schwab, Brendan Kownacki, Sophie Pyle, Chris Brown, Lindsay Walters, Sean Weppner and Richard Strauss.
-- Bert Gomez threw a party celebrating wife Susie Santana’s birthday Saturday night on the W hotel rooftop where guests salsa danced till midnight and were treated to cupcakes and the “Susie Q” specialty cocktail, according to a tipster. SPOTTED: Estuardo Rodriguez, Lyndon Boozer, Maria Cardona, Angela Arboleda, Laurie Saroff, Cristina Antelo and Miguel Franco.
... Brad Bauman … Jason Dumont … John Axelrod, MSNBC alum now at BerlinRosen, is 26 ... Lauren McCulloch of “Meet the Press” ... Obama DOJ alum Dena Iverson DeBonis … Chris Harlow ... Eric Finkbeiner ... Mike Deutsch, FAA attorney … Matt Allen ... Beth Mickelberg … Lynne Walton ... Patrick K. O’Donnell ... Andrew Sollinger, EVP of subscriptions at Business Insider... Cait Graf, VP of comms at The Nation ... Ivan Levingston ... Alexander Heffner is 28 ... Ellen Silva of NPR ... Shelley Hearne (h/ts Jon Haber) … Charlie Siguler ... Geoff Sokolowski ... Neil Bjorkman, VP of legislative affairs at the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum … Hannah McLeod … Michael Reynold … Amber Manko … Bush 43 W.H. alum Ivvete Diaz ... Bush 43 HHS alum Mary Kay Mantho, now director at GSK ... Ivette Diaz ... Shannon Vilmain ... Barb Leach ... Julie Cassidy … David O’Boyle ... Ricky Wilson.
===
Under intense pressure to improve conditions in the jail complex on Rikers Island, the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio has developed a plan to move 16- and 17-year-olds to a dedicated jail for youths in the Bronx.
The cost to carry out the plan is expected to be about $300 million, officials said.
The plan calls for the city to reconfigure the Horizon Juvenile Center, which is currently used to hold 14- and 15-year olds, to house the 16- and 17-year olds who are typically sent to Rikers.
A 2015 settlement with the Department of Justice on reform at Rikers called on the city to seek an alternative location to house inmates under 18, although it stopped short of requiring it.
New York is the only state other than North Carolina that prosecutes all children 16 and older as adults if they are accused of a crime. In New York City, they are likely to wind up at Rikers, a notoriously brutal lockup. There are currently about 200 inmates who are 16 or 17 at Rikers, down from about 330 in 2013.
The city and many advocates have urged state lawmakers to pass a law that would treat those under the age of 18 as juveniles, but the proposal has gone nowhere in Albany.
The new plan to move 16- and 17-year-olds from Rikers must overcome several hurdles. It has to be approved through the city’s time-consuming land use process: The local community board and the Bronx borough president get to weigh in and it must be approved by the City Planning Commission and the City Council.
But the change will not happen any time soon; officials said it could take four years or more to get approvals and to complete construction. The plan also calls for the city to remodel another juvenile detention site, the Crossroads Juvenile Center in Bushwick, Brooklyn, to hold all of the city’s 14- and 15-year-old detainees, including those who had previously gone to Horizon.
The cost of refurbishing the Bronx center is budgeted at $170 million. The cost of remodeling the Brooklyn center is budgeted at $129 million.
Advocates supported the move but lamented the long delay before the new center will be ready, assuming that it survives the land-use review process.
“For us this is a marathon, not a sprint.” he said.
More than 95 percent of the 16- and 17-year-olds at Rikers are awaiting trial. More than a third have been charged with robbery and about one in 10 have been charged with assault, according to data provided by the city.
Increased attention was focused on the plight of younger teenagers at Rikers in 2014 after The New Yorker published an article about Kalief Browder, who was sent there at 16, accused of stealing a backpack. He never stood trial or was found guilty of any crime but he spent three years at Rikers, nearly two of them in solitary confinement. He told of being beaten repeatedly by guards and other inmates and trying several times to kill himself while in custody. After his release he remained deeply troubled by the experience and he committed suicide last year at age 22.
The city ended solitary confinement for Rikers inmates under 18 in December 2014.
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Unprecedented back-to-back annual coral bleaching events have affected two-thirds of the Great Barrier Reef, with this year's event already leading to mortality of half the corals in some key tourist tracts, scientists say.
Record-breaking warm waters along the Queensland coast has triggered widespread bleaching over 1500 kilometres of the World-Heritage-listed reef over the two summers, said Terry Hughes, director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies.
Professor Hughes and his team completed aerial surveys last Wednesday after scoring about 800 separate reefs. The 8000km journey closely followed the path of the 2016 survey that found the northern regions of the Great Barrier Reef most affected.
"It's been a huge blow to the reef after last year the northern third was hit and now this year's it's the middle third," Professor Hughes said.
Corals bleach when temperatures exceed tolerance levels for too long, prompting them to expel the algae that supply most of their energy and the brilliant colours. Not all bleached corals die but as much as two-thirds of north corals have succumbed.
"The mortality in the central region will continue to unfold over coming months," Professor Hughes said. "We've already seen substantial mortality, up to 50 per cent on some central reefs in the past six weeks."
Bleaching has returned even to some of the regions hard hit last year, such as Cape York's Princess Charlotte Bay.
Some 30 reefs in the north had no score as they "effectively have ceased to exist at least in the shallow sections as coral reefs", said James Kerry, a marine biologist from James Cook University who also took part in the survey.
While this year's event is not expected to result in as much coral mortality as in 2016, there are worrying signs corals bleached at lower temperatures than a year earlier. That result may point to more bleaching next summer if conditions are again relatively warm.
"It seemed like the bleaching happened more quickly this year, which may suggest they are in a weakened, more stressed state following last year's event," Dr Kerry said.
Mark Read, manager of operations support at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, said "2017 has shaped up to be a pretty nasty year when it comes to coral bleaching".
"The corals didn't get any respite at all," Dr Read said.
Bleaching, though, was patchy. The authority was already in talks with tour operators to redirect visitors to "refugia" where they can still enjoy "a high-quality experience", he said.
Such areas are likely to be harder to find in the Whitsunday region near Mackay where Cyclone Debbie carved a swathe about 100km wide through the reefs.
"The one area that was actually doing pretty good was the one that bore the brunt of the category 4 cyclone," Dr Read said. "A lot of those massive corals are now lying on the beach in those locations. They've simply been snapped and rolled up onto the beach."
Temperatures are showing signs of easing back to more typical levels for this time of year, such as the Davies Reef off Townsville.
But the area had been remarkably warm even in a non-El Nino year, such as during the previous 2015-16 summer.
In March, for instance, large areas of Queensland reported their hottest mean temperatures on record. These included the coastal region of the state's north adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef.
Professor Hughes said some corals may regain their colour in the next three to six months, but it would take longer to see if they recovered their reproductive health and began a fuller recovery.
The faster growing branch corals and some other rapidly growing "weedy" species of corals could rebuild the reefs but the process would take years or even a decade. The loss of boulder corals would take much longer to recover from the bleaching.
Rising temperatures from global warming means the corals are likely to enjoy ever shorter stints between mass bleaching events, the scientists said.
"It's highly unlikely we'll have a period of calm for 10 or 20 years that will allow these reefs to re-establish to the point that they might be recognisable as they were," Dr Kerry said.
Dr Kerry said he was surprised the severity of the bleaching had not provoked more of a public response: "I don't really know what else the reef needs to do to signify that it's in serious trouble."
===
Editor’s Note: A few weeks ago, we ran a provocative piece by Stephen Watts and Sean Mann in which they argued that in both its politics and in its development, Afghanistan is doing better than is commonly believed. Gary Owen, a civilian development worker who has spent the last several years working on the ground in Afghanistan, begs to differ. He paints a far gloomier picture of Afghanistan, arguing that the country and U.S. policy have a long way to go.
Many Americans are surprisingly bullish on Afghanistan, and this perspective showed up in a July Lawfare post on “Afghanistan After the Drawdown” by RAND analysts Stephen Watts and Sean Mann. Although the two authors offer some valid points, they miss many of the country’s problems and, in so doing, are wrongly optimistic about where Afghanistan is going.
After a decade and more of U.S. intervention, it can be difficult to pin down how things are going in Afghanistan. By some measures, things in Afghanistan are better: There are more children in school than there were under the Taliban, more Afghans have access to basic healthcare than before the 2001 invasion, and Internet access means more connections to the outside world than was ever possible during the time of the black turbans. Watts and Mann cite those cases as reasons to be optimistic about the country, and rightly so. Where they go wrong is in three key areas: relations with Pakistan, the current government as a symbol of Afghan unity, and the abilities of Afghan security forces.
Pakistan’s got plenty to worry about when it comes to sanctuaries within its own borders, a grim point made by last year’s school shooting in Peshawar. And recent revelations that Mullah Omar died in Pakistan, and his whereabouts were known to the ISI for years, don’t paint a picture of Afghanistan being used as a base to launch operations against Pakistan. Instead it speaks to Pakistan’s harboring of the Taliban with the government’s knowledge, something Islamabad is scrambling to correct as they look ahead to peace talks with the Taliban.
Or it’s just a case of Afghanistan following the American lead.
In the fall of 2014, after another runoff election threatened to bring the country’s democratic future to a grinding halt, Secretary of State John Kerry addressed a group made up of Abdullah’s leadership team. According to an administration official, Kerry told the group, “I have to emphasize to you that if you do not have an agreement, if you do not move to a unity government, the United States will not be able to support Afghanistan.” Aimed squarely at those who supported Abdullah to the point that they might take up arms in his name, Kerry’s statement was an offer neither Ghani nor Abdullah could possibly refuse. The current government isn’t a triumph of consensus so much as it is a case study in diplomatic extortion, and its survival is doubtful if the Americans stick with the current timeline for complete withdrawal by the end of 2016.
The current government isn’t a triumph of consensus so much as it is a case study in diplomatic extortion, and its survival is doubtful if the Americans stick with the current timeline for complete withdrawal by the end of 2016.
Thanks to advances by the Taliban in Faryab and Kunduz, influential politicians like Rashid Dostum (currently Ghani’s vice president) and Atta Noor (the powerful governor of Balkh province) have been pretty vocal in their thinking that Afghan forces alone can’t get the job done; that to tip the balance means more troops from somewhere—either the Americans (not out of the question completely, but unlikely), or some kind of militia. Since today’s anti-Taliban militia could be tomorrow’s coup attempt, it lays some troubling groundwork for widening existing divides in the country that the United States had hoped the Ghani/Abdullah deal would help bridge. Unless they can manage to bring the security situation that’s deteriorating faster than Iggy Azalea’s career back under control, Afghan troops could have some new bosses very soon. Their current performance doesn’t inspire much hope.
Actually, it’s pretty clear how those forces will perform. In a word? Badly.
Since the Afghans assumed control of the country’s security in 2014, more civilians have been killed, more soldiers have died, more Afghan troops have deserted than ever before, and security forces are still torturing one-third of their detainees. This is the force Watts and Mann describe as “passably capable” and “resilient.” If by “passably capable” they mean “doesn’t torture too many people,” then sure, I suppose they are “passably capable,” but I think we might want to aim just a bit higher.
According to the Americans, civilian casualties as a result of ground engagements between the Afghans and insurgents were up eight percent for the first three months of 2015 when compared to the same period in 2014. In June, Afghan Chief of Army Staff Gen. Qadam Shah Shaheem told his troops that using artillery and conducting night raids against the insurgents was just fine, and no one would be prosecuted as a result. Since most engagements occur among the population when one is countering an insurgency, this change in the rules of engagement means more innocent civilians are going to die as the result of actions by Afghan security forces. That’s borne out by the latest report on civilian casualties from UNAMA, which found that throughout the first half of 2015, Afghan forces caused more civilian casualties than the Taliban did.
And when they’re not busy leveling villages, Afghan forces are dying in record numbers. Throughout the first five months of 2015, security forces casualties were up 70 percent from the same period in 2014. Some of that’s attributable to increasing activity by the insurgents, but a “capable” force doesn’t see that kind of casualty increase unless its capabilities are less than optimal. Even so, the biggest cause of attrition for Afghan troops isn’t being killed in action (KIA). According to a June report by the Americans to Congress, the largest source for attrition is “dropped from rolls” (wherein a soldier stops showing up for work for more than a month so he’s no longer counted), and KIA is the smallest source for Afghan force attrition.
But when they do manage to not die and to show up for work, Afghan forces like to spend some quality time with their detainees. A February report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) found that while torture is on the decrease, around 35 percent of all detainees surveyed reported being tortured in detention. Much of that alleged torture was at the hands of the National Directorate of Security (NDS), which is similar to the FBI, except that the FBI has better windbreakers and isn’t prone to hooking people up to car batteries unnecessarily. That probably explains why the Americans made it clear in June that no U.S. funds were going to the NDS, even though nearly every other aspect of Afghan defense operations comes directly from American coffers and internal defense is vital for the success of the counterinsurgency.
In an alternate-reality Afghanistan, civilians aren’t dying in greater numbers, the government isn’t on the verge of collapse, and the return on foreign investment is staggering. The Afghans would love it—because that’s the country the Americans promised them.
An American solution to Afghanistan’s problems faces the struggles of a dwindling security force to keep the Taliban at bay as they strike from sanctuaries in Pakistan, a government on the verge of collapse, and large numbers of civilians being victimized by their own government. And that’s without the growing threat of the Islamic State. In an alternate-reality Afghanistan, civilians aren’t dying in greater numbers, the government isn’t on the verge of collapse, and the return on foreign investment is staggering. The Afghans would love it—because that’s the country the Americans promised them.
The reality is that that Afghanistan’s future, while grim, is still better than it was. There is cause for cautious optimism. That does not mean that we shouldn’t be painfully honest about what’s happening in Afghanistan. Given the sacrifices made since 9/11, it’s tempting to do otherwise. But doing so means ignoring challenges the country faces, and the decisions about its future the Americans still need to make.
===
Wydad Casablanca of Morocco will begin the defence of their African Champions League title against either Mali's Stade Malien or newcomers Williamsville AC of Ivory Coast.
As the reigning champions, Wydad are one of five teams to be given a bye into the second round of the tournament, which begins in March.
Beaten finalists in 2017 Al Ahly of Egypt and DR Congo's Confederation Cup winners TP Mazembe are also straight into the second round.
The other teams to skip the first round are the 2016 African champions Mamelodi Sundowns from South Africa and Tunisia's Etoile du Sahel, who lifted the trophy in 2007.
The 16 winners of the second round ties will advance to the group stage of the tournament.
For the first time ever Zambia had two teams in the draw with Zanaco, who reached the group stage in 2017 drawn to play Gambia Armed Forces, while Zesco United will play Zanzibar's JKU SC.
A change in the calendar for the Confederation of African Football means that the next Champions Leagues will begin in December 2018 and run through to May 2019.
After the 2019 final the competition will be held from August or September through to May of the next year.
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WASHINGTON -- With television lights glaring, 20 lawmakers will gather next week to revisit the fight that consumed Congress before Christmas over renewing a Social Security payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits.
Little real work will be done, but the meeting will mark the formal start of an effort to untangle a dispute that both parties want to resolve, though for different reasons. Following is a look at the path Round 2 could take, based on interviews with participants on both sides.
Q: Can you remind me what's at stake?
A: After a bitter clash and just a week before a New Year's Day deadline, President Barack Obama and Congress renewed a 2 percentage point payroll tax cut for 160 million workers and benefits for the long-term unemployed through February. They also temporarily forestalled a deep cut in doctors' Medicare fees that threatened to make it harder for the elderly to find physicians who would treat them. Now, the two sides need to figure out how to extend all three measures through 2012 and cover the roughly $160 billion cost.
Q: Are they expected to succeed?
A: Yes, though it will probably take until shortly before the current extensions expire Feb. 29. There are complicated decisions ahead, chiefly what programs to cut and what fees to increase to offset the price tag. Just as important, Democrats won't be in a hurry to finish.
A: Republicans took a severe pounding in December when the House GOP resisted a bipartisan, Senate-approved, two-month extension of the payroll tax cut, which was designed to give lawmakers time to negotiate a longer version. With control of the White House and Congress at stake in the November elections, many Democrats think the GOP could incur further damage if these latest talks take time.
Many Republicans doubt the economic benefit of a payroll tax cut, a foundation of Obama's plan to create jobs. But as December's battle unfolded, GOP leaders worried that they would suffer political damage from opposing the deeply popular tax cut, worth $1,000 annually to a family earning $50,000 a year.
With the House's fractious conservative wing balking until the very end, the fight made the GOP look like it was opposing the tax reduction -- which Democrats contrasted with Republican support for tax breaks for the wealthy. Most Republicans want this year's fight to end quickly so they can change the subject to their own efforts to cut taxes, federal spending and Obama administration regulations.
Q: How long can Democrats prolong the negotiations?
A: If they're not careful they could overplay their hand.
Democrats scored points last year by forcing Senate votes on their proposal to finance the payroll tax cut with a small surtax on people earning $1 million or more a year. They have a new incentive to do something similar this year with the GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney, a wealthy venture capitalist, being cast by party rivals as callous and out of touch.
As a result, many Democrats want to begin this year's talks on extending the Social Security tax cut by targeting the wealthy for a tax increase, perhaps with the millionaire surtax or by limiting their deductions. The millionaire surtax has no chance of passage in the GOP-run House, and Democrats could be accused of blatantly playing politics. Democrats and Obama have a reason to cut a deal: They believe extending the payroll tax cut and jobless benefits will goose the economy and reduce the risk of another economic downturn that could hurt their election prospects.
Q; What will the 20 members of Congress do?
A: House and Senate party leaders each have appointed bargainers to hash out differences over the bill, following Congress' tradition of naming conference committees to craft compromise legislation. But as usual when high-profile battles are being resolved, party leaders will have tight control over the ultimate deal. Still, conference committee members will play a role in writing details, and their endorsement of a package would let leaders argue that they didn't jam something down the throats of rank-and-file lawmakers.
Q: Who are these 20 lawmakers?
A: They range from formidable committee chairmen to lowly freshmen, but each has a stake in the fight.
The chairmen of Congress' two tax-writing committees are included: Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., of the Senate Finance Committee.
Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., is the Senate's No. 2 Republican and a close ally of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Democratic Sen. Bob Casey, facing re-election this fall in the pivotal state of Pennsylvania, has repeatedly been given a visible role in the payroll tax fight by party leaders.
Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., a party leader, should be a leading opponent of Republican proposals to help finance the plan by effectively denying the child tax credit to many illegal immigrants. Freshman GOP Rep. Nan Hayworth is from a closely contested district in New York's Hudson River Valley.
Hayworth and Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., are doctors, which could give them roles in the talks involving Medicare. A pair of Maryland Democrats, Sen. Ben Cardin and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, are sure to battle a Republican proposal to make federal employees contribute more to their pensions.
Q: Do they bring other experience to the bargaining table?
A: Seven have participated in recent, failed bipartisan efforts to contain mammoth budget deficits. Those were Congress' supercommittee, talks led by Vice President Joe Biden, the "Group of Six" senators, and a presidential commission headed by former Wyoming GOP Sen. Alan Simpson and former President Bill Clinton's White House chief of staff, Erskine Bowles.
None of those groups succeeded, largely because party leaders could not agree to the controversial tax increases and cuts in entitlement programs like Medicare that would have been required for the trillions of dollars in savings needed.
Far smaller savings are needed to resolve the payroll tax fight, and the consensus is that this time, the president and leaders in both parties want a package that can become law.
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But why will this bailout work when an earlier one failed and has Greece now surrendered control of its own economy?
After more than 14 hours of negotiations in Brussels an agreement has been reached on a rescue package to the tune of $170bn that will allow Greece to pay its debts, which are due in less than a month.
The deal ensures that Greece will not be forced into defaulting on what it owes in the short term.
"It was a bad deal, reached at gunpoint as far as the Greek government is concerned. The new government will have to work around this in order to enhance growth measures and reduce austerity levels because austerity on top of austerity will not do the trick. If you keep milking a cow without feeding it you are not going to end up with the desired results."
Despite reservations over Greece's ability to deliver on austerity measures, eurozone finance ministers have given Athens billions of euros to rescue the country from its financial woes.
Reacting to the second tranche of the bailout, Lucas Papademos, the Greek prime minister, described the day as a historic one for the Greek economy.
"With today's decisions, we are given an opportunity to move towards more stable conditions, to reduce the uncertainty which has affected the economic activity and enhance confidence in the prospects of the Greek economy," he said.
"In this way, the adjustment process of the economy can be facilitated and also better conditions for its recovery can be provided and new jobs can be created."
But some financial experts argue that once again the can has been kicked down the road to be dealt with later.
The conditions of the second bailout include $399m cutbacks in military spending, a $40m saving by reducing staff numbers in central government, and reducing the minimum wage, as well as slashing overtime pay for doctors in public hospitals by at least $66m.
What this means is further budget cuts which are already deeply unpopular with the Greek people who have continuously opposed harsh austerity measures imposed following the first bailout in 2010.
"The political system has very low credibility and in order to proceed with these tough measures you need to have credible political personnel, which we are lacking right now. Hopefully there will be an inflow of new people from the private sector. There is a huge debate as to whether the major parties will survive this economic crisis."
As before, eurozone finance ministers say they want assurances Greece will stick to its promises.
Their comments were backed by the contents of a leaked report from the European Commission, the Central Bank and International Monetary Fund.
The report predicts that Greek debt could stay at a staggering 160 per cent of the country's GDP by 2020, unless drastic changes are made.
Critics say the new measures to bail out struggling countries have to be matched by economic reforms.
Jan Kees de Jager, the Dutch finance minister, said: "When you look at the derailments in Greece which have occurred several times now, it is probably necessary that there is some kind of permanent presence of the troika in Athens, not every three months, but more on a permanent basis. I am in favour of that."
So why should this bailout work when a previous one has failed, and in accepting the stringent conditions attached, has Greece surrendered control of its own economy?
To what extent will this second bailout rescue Greece's shattered economy, at what cost and how is this going to impact Greece's internal politics?
Joining presenter Mike Hanna on Inside Story are guests: Fokion Zaimis, a small business owner and the CEO of Science Park; Vicky Pryce, a Greek-born economist and the former joint head of the UK government economic service; and Constantine Michalos, an economist and president of the Athens chamber of commerce and industry.
"There is already an EU task force here and they are trying to make sure that the various ministries that are important to the economy do the right thing. But there is a concern that actually some of that money will never be spent, it won't be spent correctly, it won't be value for money and it won't benefit the economy."
Finance ministers meeting in Brussels approve $170bn rescue package needed to avoid default by debt-ridden nation.
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Review: This double disc is a complete overview of pianist Dharmawan's stunningly broad stylistic span. Not everything here is world-centric and it is not always pretty, but the gems are worth it, where he addresses the relationships between Indonesian music & modern jazz in unexpected and startlingly creative ways. Mark Wingfield adds some sonic guitar in places.
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BEAVER — After every practice and every game, coach Greg Huston reminds his Beaver girls basketball team that everything they do on the basketball court is a learning experience.
On Thursday night, the young and inexperienced Bobcats learned again that they can compete with any team in their section.
But to consistently win games against the better teams in the section, they have to play a little bit better than they did in a 63-61 loss to Avonworth.
The bright spot for Beaver, 7-2 overall and 3-1 in the section, was how it battled back after trailing by 11 points, 53-42, midway in the fourth quarter.
From that point, the Bobcats went on a 19-8 run and tied the game, thanks to some clutch outside shooting. In the last 3 minutes, they knocked down five three-pointers.
Sophomore guards Anna Blum and Natalie Priest each made two 3s down the stretch. Freshman forward Payton List added one.
With 3 seconds left, Priest’s bomb from long distance tied the game, 61-61.
But just when it seemed like the game was headed to overtime, Avonworth guard Harris Robinson was fouled just past the midcourt line with less than a second on the clock … 0.2 seconds to be exact.
She calmly sank both free throws for a win that put Avonworth (6-3, 4-0) in sole possession of first place.
Hayden Robinson, a 5-foot-10 senior forward who’s going to Quinnipiac University on a track scholarship, led Avonworth with a game-high 22 points. Kathryn Goetz, a 5-9 junior forward, added 16 for the Antelopes.
Sophomore guard Emma Pavelek led Beaver with 20 points. Sophomore forward Maddi Weiland and Payton List scored 11 and 10, respectively.
“Huge win,” said Avonworth coach Mark D’Alessandris, an Aliquippa native who used to coach the Quips’ girls team. “We’re both competing for first place, and now we’re in sole possession. We got a big game Monday when Neshannock comes to our gym.
It was Beaver who handed Neshannock its only section loss, 47-46, on the Lancers’ home court on Dec. 13.
“Avonworth is really good,” Huston said. “I had them and Neshannock as the top two teams in the section. So I feel pretty good that we’re playing right with them for as young as we are.
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and the angels did sing.
and the savior of our world.
to where the Christ child was asleep.
until the time that we grow old.
will be filled with eternal delight.
===
A Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #5 Review – Where Is Walter Jones?
PENCILLERS: Thony Silas, Corin Howell. Cover by Jamal Campbell.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #5 tells us that before Tommy became Rita Repulsa’s evil Green Ranger, she made a play for Zack, the Black Ranger. After being “upstaged” by Jason during a fight, Goldar and the putties abduct Zack so Rita can make her pitch. Obviously, Zack doesn’t accept. But how do the events of this issue impact Zack’s relationship to the team? And what happens when Zack tells Zordon?
Rita tempting one of the Rangers toward the dark side is such a simple, classic tale. It’s perfect for this series. I’m not sure I wouldn’t have gone with Billy instead of Zack, especially considering the scene we saw in issue #2. He was comparing himself to the others, and he seemed to become self conscious and bitter. If Rita could have seen that, she might have exploited it. On the other hand, we’ve seen some curious behavior from Zack in this series. He’s been very suspicious and apprehensive about Tommy. This issue seems to explain why. This experience gives him a negative connection to the Green Ranger that we never knew about.
The Zack we’ve seen in this series isn’t the one I expected. On the show, Walter Jones played a fun-loving dancer. Zack is in love with life, and he’s not afraid to show it. That’s not the character we’ve seen in this series. For the most part he’s been very straight faced. I understand he’s in a very tense storyline. But flashes of personality aren’t going to hurt anything, are they?
In essence, what we need in this book is a little more Walter Jones.
Fussy Fanboy Moment: After Zack is abducted, he wakes up in Rita’s Dark Dimension, which we saw in the show. But in one of the “Green Candle” episodes, which these events obviously predate, Jason says he and Tommy are the only Rangers that have been there.
On the plus side, Higgins sneaks in what seems to be a hint at Zack going to the Peace Conference later in the series. He tells Zordon, “I need to do more … I don’t care about leading. It’s not like that.” I like that second line. It speaks to why Rita’s plan for Zack doesn’t work. He’s imperfect like anyone else, but in the end he’s selfless. It’s more about the good that’s being done, as opposed to the glory you get from it.
The opening sequence, set in Italy, is a lot of fun. The Rangers face Rita’s monstrous take on The Vitruvian Man, who can apparently only speak in da Vinci quotes. Afterward, they receive some fanfare on the ground. We even have the prime minister in the middle of the action. This is yet another example of Higgins doing something that never could have happened on the show.
Thony Silas tags in on pencils for this issue. His style isn’t dramatically different from Hendry Prasetya’s, though his characters are slightly better at emoting. His Rita is particularly sinister. Again, his Zack seems very reserved and stoic, which is not the character we’re used to.
“The Ongoing Adventures of Bulk & Skull” still doesn’t do much for me. Though we do get a surprise in this issue: The BOOM! Studios debut of Lieutenant Stone, Bulk & Skull’s foil from seasons 3 and 4. I’d always been under the impression they’d never met before. Either way, I’m glad to see the putty patroller story is over. On to (hopefully) better things.
Higgins pleasantly surprised me with this Zack story, by following up on a plot seed he’d planted as far back as issue #1. It makes you wonder what else he might come back to in future issues. Whether it’s how Billy sees his role on the team, Jason feeling threatened by Tommy, or something else fans may have wondered about. There’s so much fertile ground to cover, and I’m hopeful that we’ve only scratched the surface.
This entry was posted in Comic Books/Graphic Novels and tagged Billy Cranston, Black Ranger, BOOM! Studios, Bulk & Skull, comic book reviews, comic books, Corin Howell, Green Ranger, Jamal Campbell, Kyle Higgins, Leonardo da Vinci, Megazord, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #5 (2016), Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (BOOM! Studios), Pink Ranger, Power Rangers, Red Ranger, Rita Repulsa, Rob Siebert, single issue reviews, Steve Orlando, superhero comics, superheroes, The Vitruvian Man, Thony Silas, Tommy Oliver, Walter Emanuel Jones, Zack Taylor, Zordon on 07/21/2016 by primaryignition.
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Another day, another feud for Wendy Williams.
Aretha Franklin‘s estate was ripping into the talk show host for comments Williams made about the upcoming film “Amazing Grace,” which is about The Queen of Soul recording her iconic 1972 gospel album.
Franklin’s estate quickly clapped back, according to the Detroit Free Press.
“While Franklin had initially imposed an injunction on ‘Amazing Grace,’ her objections had nothing to do with its quality; negotiations were incomplete at the time of her death… Contrary to Williams’ derisive reference, there is no ‘Cousin Junebug’ making decisions for the Estate,” the statement said in part.
In addition, the film’s director, Sydney Pollock, didn’t use one camera — there were five.
Wendy also caught heat last week from Howard Stern after she said she is “of the people” while insisting the shock-jock went Hollywood. Stern unleashed a verbal assault on Wendy on his Sirius XM show on Friday morning. Listen below, the language is brutal.
After a series of guest hosts during a brief hiatus, Williams returned to her talk show on March 4 and the drama has been non-stop ever since.
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The City collects garbage weekly from 600,000 households along 350 daily routes. The City has long organized garbage collection services on a ward-by-ward basis. The City assigns the laborers and motor truck drivers who collect garbage in individual wards, where they work on truck routes that do not cross ward boundaries.
However, the City’s recycling pickup is organized based on a regional routing system that does not take into account ward boundaries.
Under this option, the City would shift its garbage collection to a regional, grid-based system. By comparing the efficiency of recycling collection with garbage collection, we can estimate what efficiencies might be achieved through a regional, grid-based system of garbage collection.
According to the City’s Mobile Asset Tracking system (CMAT), the City currently has 43 recycling trucks. Assuming that these trucks are all continually operational, the City is providing recycling services to 241,000 households every other week using 43 daily routes.36 The table below compares the difference in annual pickups per daily route of garbage collection and recycling.
The table shows that recycling collection, which uses regional routing, averages significantly more pickups per route than garbage collection, which uses the ward system.
This is despite the fact that recycling trucks only have one laborer assigned, while some garbage trucks have two. However, garbage collection averages nearly 11 tons collected per daily route per day, while recycling collection averages only 4.65 tons per daily route per day.
Because garbage collection is collecting significantly more tonnage per route, workers spend less time collecting because the trucks must make more frequent trips to dump their loads.
In 2008, the average load dumped at City-owned dumpsites was 6.65 tons. Based on the average tons collected per route per day, garbage collection averages 1.65 loads per day and recycling averages 0.7 loads per day.
For simplicity, assume that garbage collection dumps two loads per day and recycling dumps one load per day, and one load in each program is dumped after the 8-hour collection shift is over through the City’s night shuttle program.
Under these assumptions, garbage collection is interrupted by one dump during the 8-hour collection shift, while recycling collection is not. Assuming an average dump takes 1.5 hours, garbage is collected an average of 6.5 hours per route per day, while recycling is collected for the full 8-hour collection shift.
The table below compares the estimated pickups per hour for garbage and recycling collection and shows that recycling collection using regional routing is more efficient in terms of pickups per hour than garbage collection based on the ward system.
If garbage collection averaged the same number of pickups per hour as recycling collection, the number of daily routes could be reduced to 264, or a 24.6% reduction.
Assuming that a 24.6% reduction in routes would yield a 24.6% reduction in staffing devoted to garbage collection, the table below details the reduction in personnel and associated personnel costs that would be realized.
The table shows that if the City were to move to a grid-based routing system for garbage collection and achieve the same efficiency that the regional routing of recycling is currently achieving, the City might reduce its 2010 personnel costs by up to $24.1 million through the elimination of up to 297 positions.
Because of contractual increases in personnel costs, the savings from implementing this option would grow in future years.
The 2011 and 2012 salaries of Laborers and Motor Truck Drivers will be higher due to collective bargaining agreements, which call for salary increases of 3.25% in 2011 and 3.5% in 2012.
Assuming that there are no increases in salaries for the other positions and that the furloughs are continued in their current form, the table below shows the increase in compensation costs over the next two years for the 297 eliminated positions.
In addition to the savings from a reduction in the number of daily routes, additional savings could be generated by reducing the number of laborers on the remaining routes to one laborer per truck.
With 264 daily routes, operating approximately 250 days a year, there are approximately 66,000 annual routes. Assuming that the average sanitation worker works 200 days per year (after holidays, vacation days, and sick and disability leave) to ensure that there would be a sufficient reserve to avoid un-staffed routes, 330 sanitation laborers would be needed to fully staff the 66,000 routes.
This would mean an additional reduction in the number of laborers by 122. At an average compensation of $75,579, their total compensation in 2010 would equal $9.2 million.
The 2011 and 2012 compensation will be higher due to the Laborers collective bargaining agreement, which calls for a salary increase of 3.25% in 2011 and 3.5% in 2012. Assuming that the furloughs remain in place, the compensation for these 122 positions will cost $9.5 million in 2011 and $9.8 million in 2012.
These savings will be slightly reduced because under the current collective bargaining agreement with the Laborers Union, sanitation laborers working on one-laborer garbage trucks are to be paid 9 percent more than their regular hourly rate.
Thus, the reduction in 122 laborers would on average result in 122 additional laborers working on a one-laborer garbage truck, resulting in a 9 percent increase in their salaries. This would cost an additional $856,000 in 2011 and $885,000 in 2012.
Additionally, under the agreement between the City and Coalition of Union Public Employees (COUPE) to impose furlough days from July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2011, if the City chooses to lay off employees during this period, all laid off employees will be paid for any unpaid holidays or furlough days taken since July 1, 2009.
Thus, if the City were to lay off the 269 total sanitation laborers and 110 motor truck drivers, the affected employees would have to be paid approximately 13.5 percent of their salaries to compensate for unpaid days they have taken over the last year and a half, since the furlough agreement has been in place. This would reduce the savings in 2011 by an additional $3.8 million.
Therefore, the total estimated savings from switching to regional routing system of garbage collection and reducing the number of laborers on the remaining routes to 1 would be $29.6 million in 2011 and $34.5 million in 2012.
Of course, there would be additional savings from reducing the City’s fleet of garbage trucks such as savings in future truck purchases, maintenance costs, gas, oil, etc.
Proponents might argue that organizing garbage collection on a ward-by-ward basis is inefficient and wasteful. They would argue that organizing collection by regional grid would reduce the time it takes for workers to get from the ward yard to the routes and routes could be organized to reduce the distance from route to dumpsite.
They may also cite an IGO investigation in 2008 that found that garbage collection crews worked, on average, only 75 percent of the work day, indicating that there was not enough work for the collection crews to perform. Additionally, they might cite the fact that Streets and Sanitation decided to organize recycling collection on a regional, grid-based system in order to deliver the service more cheaply.
Opponents might argue that ward-based system provides better customer service than a more centralized grid system.
With ward-by-ward service, City residents have a more direct relationship with the City workers who coordinate garbage collection in their neighborhoods. Some might also argue that garbage collection has long been a primary responsibility of the City’s aldermen and that this has resulted in cleaner streets, timelier pickups, and satisfied residents.
Reduce the Number of Laborers on a Garbage Truck to 1 Savings: $10.3 million in 2011, $12 million in 2012.
On some of the City’s garbage trucks, the City assigns two laborers and one motor truck driver.... These employees are responsible for the weekly collection of garbage from 600,000 households along 350 daily routes.
Until the last couple of years, the City generally assigned two laborers to each garbage truck. However, due to budget cuts, the City has reduced the number of budgeted sanitation laborers from 816 in 2008 to 599 in 2010. This reduction in laborers means that a significant portion of the 350 daily routes are manned by one laborer.
Under this option, the City would further reduce the number of laborers devoted to garbage collection, so that on average one laborer is assigned to each garbage truck.
With 350 daily routes, operating approximately 250 days a year, there are approximately 87,500 annual routes. Assuming that the average sanitation worker works 200 days per year (after holidays, vacation days, and sick and disability leave) to ensure that there would be a sufficient reserve to avoid un-staffed routes, 438 sanitation laborers would be needed to fully staff the 87,500 routes.
This means that the number of laborers could be reduced by approximately 161.50 At an average compensation of $75,579 their total compensation in 2010 would equal $12.2 million. The 2011 and 2012 compensation will be higher due to the Laborers collective bargaining agreement, which calls for a salary increase of 3.25% in 2011 and 3.5% in 2012. Assuming that the furloughs remain in place, the compensation for these 161 positions will cost $12.6 million in 2011 and $13 million in 2012.
These savings will be reduced because under the current collective bargaining agreement with the Laborers Union, sanitation laborers working on one-laborer garbage trucks are to be paid 9 percent more than their regular hourly rate.
Thus, the reduction in 161 laborers would on average result in 161 additional laborers working on a one-laborer garbage truck, resulting in a 9 percent increase in their salaries. This would cost an additional $934,000 in 2011 and $967,000 in 2012.
Finally, under the agreement between the City and Coalition of Union Public Employees (COUPE) to impose furlough days from July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2011, if the City chooses to lay off employees during this period, all laid off employees will be paid for any unpaid holidays or furlough days taken since July 1, 2009.
Thus, if the City were to lay off 161 laborers, the affected laborers would have to be paid approximately 13.5 percent of their salaries to compensate for unpaid days they have taken over the last year and a half, since the furlough agreement has been in place. This would reduce the savings in 2011 by an additional $1.36 million.
After subtracting the reduced savings due to the increased pay for 1-person garbage trucks and the furlough payback provision, the savings from implementing this option would be approximately $10.3 million in 2011 and $12 million in 2012.
Proponents might argue that the City no longer needs two laborers on a garbage truck because the trucks are now semi-automated, meaning garbage carts are lifted and dumped by a mechanism on the back of the trucks.
They may also cite an IGO investigation in 2008 that found that garbage collection crews worked, on average, only 75 percent of the work day, indicating that there was not enough work for the collection crews to perform.
Others might argue that few cities have three staff assigned to each garbage truck. According to 2008 data from the International City/County Management Association’s (ICMA), among the six jurisdictions with over 500,000 people which submitted data only one (San Antonio) had 3 staff per garbage vehicle, and this is likely because collection is done manually.
The other five jurisdictions (Phoenix, Miami-Dade County, Dallas, Austin, and Oklahoma City) all had 1 person per vehicle and automated or semi-automated collection.
Opponents might argue that reducing the number of laborers to one on all garbage trucks would reduce the quality of collection service in the City. They would argue that reducing the number of laborers could result in less frequent service as it takes trucks longer to perform their routes.
Additionally, others might argue that in addition to their collection responsibilities, laborers sweep alleys, pick up trash, or remove street-sweeping signs. Reducing the number of laborers would mean a reduction in these services.
Simple. Organize the wards on a grid system, rather than gerrymandered as they are now. Makes the garbage collection more efficient, while keeping it in the hands of the aldermen.
The trucks on the Far North Side are picking up less garbage than a year ago.
I know this because while they're leaving the garage on Ravenswood Ave. at the same time every morning, they're coming back for the day way before they used to. Now they return as early as 2 PM, while a year ago it was at 3 PM. All the workers cars are gone by 3 PM now, it used to take until 4 PM last year.
The only explanation for the ward by ward system appears to be the very least paragraph which to me seems pretty flimsy. How are the residents' or aldermen's relationships with the city workers stronger if they don't cross ward boundaries on any given day? They still have to pick up their garbage every week? I don't get that at all.
---I also found it interesting that the city apparently picks up about twice the tonnage of trash than it does recycling. In the superboonies where I live, the ratio is more than twice the opposite. We have two wheeled containers for each house; one for recycling, and a somewhat larger one for trash. We fill the recycling container each week, and the trash container has a few things in the bottom of it; some garbage, contaminated paper not suitable for recycling, used facial tissues, the occasional diaper when the grandchildren come visiting. The city's ratio is possibly a residuum of the blue bag program; people just aren't used to a serious recycling program yet.
And oh yes: the collection trucks have a claw on the side that picks up the container, upends it and dumps it. One man per truck, and he never has to get out.
Cut down on high absenteeism while you're at it.
I lived in Chicago until 1975 and knew that if you wanted to guarantee that the old loveseat or refrigerator that you hauled out to your alley were to be picked up it was a good idea to meet the garbage truck with maybe a cold six pack in a brown bag or possibly a $5 bill discreetly passed to the driver. Actually, you could give it to any one of the three or four 'workers' who either drove, rode on the back of, or walked along behind, the truck. Since then I've lived in the suburbs (Alsip, Justice, Worth, Lockport) and have enjoyed simple, cost effective trash collection by various private refuse companies. I have never, in more than 35 years, had to call to complain about the service I've received. This includes picking up couchs, freezers, construction waste or trees. If there's a holiday, flood, blizzard or any other form of delay they're there the day after the normal pick-up day, never later. The most amazing part is, all of this is done by one worker, and has been for the last 20 years. So, until somebody in city government grows a pair and finally decides to attack the real problem, this totally wasteful practice will continue.
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Az Zallaqa, JNIM’s media branch, branded with other official al Qaeda media wings.
In a recently released video, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) – a jihadist group primarily based in West Africa and the Sahel – went to great lengths to portray its fight against Mali and France as conjoined with al Qaeda’s global jihad. Speeches and footage from several al Qaeda leaders from around the world were shown interlaced with combat footage from the African jihadist group.
At the very beginning of the video, JNIM showed its media division, Az Zallaqa, as being in the same family as other al Qaeda media wings. This includes As Sahab (al Qaeda central’s media division), Al Malahem (al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula), Al Kata’ib (Shabaab), and al Andalus (al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb). By putting its media wing alongside other media branches of the global jihadist organization, JNIM is portraying Az Zallaqa as another official al Qaeda media organization.
This is important as some have categorized JNIM as merely being “linked” or “affiliated” with al Qaeda. However, JNIM clearly sees itself on equal footing with al Qaeda’s official branches around the world.
As the video progresses, JNIM depicts its conflict in Mali as being the same conflict seen in various places around the world, such as Nigeria, Libya, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Kenya, Afghanistan, and Chechnya. Various killed al Qaeda leaders, such as Osama bin Laden, Nasir al Wuyashi, Anwar al Awlaki, Ibn Khattab, Mukhtar Abu Zubayr, Abu al Hasan al Rashid al Bulaydi, Abdelhamid Abu Zeid, Abu Firas al Suri, and Muhammad al Zahawi, are shown in a eulogy segment.
A speech from Sulayman Abu al Ghaith, a former al Qaeda spokesman who is now serving a life sentence in the US, can be heard over footage of combat from JNIM. “God ordered us to protect the vulnerable, so we protect the vulnerable. God ordered us to terrorize the apostates, so we terrorize the apostates. God ordered us to kill the leaders of disbelief, so we kill the leaders of disbelief,” al Ghaith said as he linked al Qaeda’s jihad to “protecting the vulnerable” around the world.
The message then shifted to lambasting both Mali and France for their efforts to combat the jihadist group in the West African country. JNIM used English-speaking political commentators to suggest France’s involvement in Mali is a large conspiracy as part of a wider war against Islam. A JNIM official identified as Abdul Hakim al Muhajir [implying he is a foreign fighter] reiterated in this point in a long-winded tirade against France.
“France’s war on Muslims in the region is not a economic war … it is between faith and apostasy, and Islam and idolatry,” al Muhajir stated in his speech. That theme was common for JNIM and its predecessor groups in Mali, as it painted France as an occupying force oppressing Muslims in a war against Islam. Speeches and statements from various JNIM leaders, including Iyad Ag Ghaly and Yahya Abu al Hammam – its emir and deputy emir respectively – have focused on this exact trope in the last three years.
Yahya Abu al Hammam continued that trend by also making a short speech against France and the G5 Sahel forces operating in Mali. This was immediately before showing suicide bombers and an assault team training for the April 14 suicide assault on the joint UN-French base in Timbuktu. One actual UN peacekeeper was killed in that attack, while at least 10 others were wounded during the assault. France confirmed seven of its soldiers were also wounded. Additionally, the French military reported at least 15 jihadists were killed.
Despite a French counter-terrorism operation, UN troops, and troops from the G5 Sahel, JNIM remain a potent threat within Mali. Its violence has also been continuously shifting further south within Mali, as well as pouring into neighboring countries such as Burkina Faso and Niger.
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Inter Milan's lead at the top of Serie A was cut when they lost 2-1 at home to Lazio on Sunday while AS Roma beat Genoa 2-0 to record their first win in eight games and ease the pressure on under-fire coach Rudi Garcia.
The title race remains congested as second-placed Fiorentina defeated Chievo 2-0 and Napoli, in third, beat Atalanta 3-1. Juventus' winning streak continued when they came from behind to beat Carpi 3-2.
Napoli and Fiorentina have 35 points, one behind Inter who were sunk by two-goal Antonio Candreva.
Roberto Mancini's side fell behind when Candreva struck a fifth-minute thunderbolt but they levelled as captain Mauro Icardi slotted the ball beneath Etrit Berisha in the 61st.
Brazilian midfielder Felipe Melo then gave away a penalty in the 87th minute after fouling Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Candreva beat Samir Handanovic on the rebound after his initial effort was blocked.
Melo lost his composure and was dismissed in stoppage time after aiming a kung-fu kick at Lucas Biglia and Milinkovic-Savic received a second yellow card moments later.
"Unfortunately Melo did two stupid things," coach Mancini told Sky Sport Italia. "We did the damage ourselves, we threw it away."
Mario Mandzukic scored twice as Juve extended their Serie A winning streak to seven matches to head into the winter break in fourth on 33 points, a point clear of Roma in fifth.
Former Juve striker Marco Borriello gave second from bottom Carpi the lead but Mandzukic equalised in spectacular fashion when he swivelled to fire a volley past Vid Belec.
Mandzukic netted again with a header in the 41st minute. Paul Pogba added a third before Leonardo Bonucci's late own goal set up a tense finale.
Roma's Alessandro Florenzi and Sadiq Umar scored, while Edin Dzeko was sent off for swearing at the referee, as Garcia's side ended a run of seven games without a win in all competitions by beating Genoa.
Garcia was close to the exit door, according to media reports, following their midweek Italian Cup elimination by Serie B Spezia but may have bought himself some time.
"We can see the light at the end of the tunnel," said Frenchman Garcia. "We remain close to second place and it's all open for 2016."
Napoli saw off Atalanta with two second-half goals from Gonzalo Higuain although both sides had a player sent off during an ill-tempered match.
Fiorentina downed Chievo with goals from Nikola Kalinic and Josip Ilicic while AC Milan's fine form under Sinisa Mihajlovic continued as they came from behind to win 4-2 at struggling Frosinone to extend their unbeaten run to eight in all competitions.
Verona and Sassuolo drew 1-1, Sampdoria beat Palermo 2-0 and Udinese won 1-0 at Torino.
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Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) visited the University of Rochester Medical Center on Friday, October 7 as part of the University’s annual reunion weekend. NIH is the largest supporter of biomedical research in the world and over the last five years URMC has received approximately $789 million in research funding from the organization.
Collins traveled to Rochester to deliver a positive message: it is an extremely exciting time for biomedical research. In a keynote address to faculty members, staff, students, trainees and alumni, he detailed several new NIH initiatives like the Cancer Moonshot and the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program. He highlighted the work of David C. Linehan, M.D., director of clinical operations at UR Medicine’s Wilmot Cancer Institute and Chair of Surgery at URMC who is studying new immune therapies for pancreatic cancer, as well as Thomas O’Connor, Ph.D., professor of Psychiatry and director of the Wynne Center for Family Research at URMC who is among a group of scientists studying prenatal inflammation and child health as part of ECHO.
“We are in a time of such amazing diversity of opportunity, with people working in fields that maybe weren’t even invented 20 years ago, making advances in basic, translational and clinical science and everything in between,” said Collins, a physician-geneticist noted for his landmark discoveries of disease genes and his leadership of the international Human Genome Project.
Turning scientific discoveries into new treatments for patients is priority for the NIH and Collins applauded URMC on its new $19 million grant to continue the “bench-to-bedside” research taking place at the University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Collins cited translational research conducted by cardiologist Arthur J. Moss, M.D., which has led to new treatments for patients with Long QT syndrome (LQTS), and infectious disease expert John J. Treanor, M.D., which is helping scientists in pursuit of a universal flu vaccine.
After many lean years, Collins reported that the NIH budget is increasing and outlined several new funding initiatives, such as the NIH Director’s Early Independence Award, which is helping Elaine L. Hill, Ph.D.,assistant professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences study the impact of fracking on infant and child health.
Collins’ trip to the Medical Center included an intimate discussion with graduate students and junior researchers about the importance of communicating science to the public and policymakers, increasing diversity in biomedical research and mechanisms to support young scientists at the start of their careers. Members of the Center for RNA Biology highlighted their most promising work for Collins and Center director Lynne E. Maquat, Ph.D. gave Collins a tour of her lab, where he met more trainees and junior researchers (admittedly, Collins’ favorite part of visits like these).
Congresswoman Louise M. Slaughter helped bring Collins to Rochester and introduced him ahead of his keynote address.
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eMagin Corporation (NYSE MKT: EMAN) will release fourth quarter 2016 earnings and host a conference call that will be webcast on Tuesday, March 28, 2017.
eMagin Corporation (NYSE MKT: EMAN) will release fourth quarter 2016 earnings and host a conference call that will be webcast on Tuesday, March 28, 2017. The Company's management will discuss financial results for the fourth quarter of 2016, ended December 31, 2016, and provide a corporate update.
The conference call and live webcast will begin at 9:00 a.m. ET. An archive of the webcast will be available one hour after the live call through April 27, 2017. To access the live Webcast or archive, please visit the Company's website at ir.emagin.com.
A leader in OLED microdisplay technology, OLED microdisplay manufacturing know-how and mobile display systems, eMagin manufactures high-resolution OLED microdisplays and integrates them with magnifying optics to deliver virtual images comparable to large-screen computer and television displays in portable, low power consumption, lightweight personal displays. eMagin microdisplays provide near-eye imagery in a variety of products from military, industrial, medical and consumer OEMs. More information about eMagin is available at www.emagin.com.
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I get the point; this is an M-rated Kinect game. Can you please stop throwing blood all over me, Sega? Oh god, it's in my mouth.
Sega's Rise of Nightmares is the gamer that finally realizes the joy of air-chainsawing the undead into tiny little pieces, even if it still has a way to go towards capturing the joy of simple movement and navigation.
Frankly I feel Sega is trying too hard. All we really need is a guy standing still in a dark room while hordes of bizarre creatures charging us and tons of dismemberment-friendly devices within arm's reach. Don't sweat the moving about. All I crave are clockwork zombies, undead maids, and a scythe to disembowel them by.
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The Hurriyat said although the NIA has an office in Srinagar, it has deliberately asked the Masjid and school officials to come to Delhi to “further harass and trouble them”.
The NIA has sent notices to Srinagar’s Jamia Masjid and the Islamia School, both old Valley institutions of religion and education and both linked to the family of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. The notices have been sent days after separatist leaders were questioned on alleged terror funding from Pakistan. The Mirwaiz presides over the Friday prayers at the mosque in Srinagar and the Islamia School was founded by his family over a century ago.
The NIA’s notices, asking for an appearance at its office in New Delhi, have been sent to Mohammad Hussain Khan, who manages the accounts of the Auqaf of Jamia Masjid, and Mohammad Ibraheem Shah, the general secretary of the Anjuman Nusrat-ul-Islam that runs the institution. The Mirwaiz has said the move was a sign of persecution by the state. “Now the NIA sends notice to #IslamiaSchool & JamaMasjid, exposes level of persecution State can go to against those it can’t defeat politically!” he tweeted.
“Both, the Anjuman Nusratul Islam and Auqaf Jamia Masjid, are apolitical educational and social organisations which have a great history of serving the people of the state selflessly for decades,” a Hurriyat statement said. “Subjecting its members to harassment and intimidation for the sole reason of being part of institutions headed by the Mirwaiz, to put pressure on the Mirwaiz is deplorable,” it added. The Hurriyat said although the NIA has an office in Srinagar, it has deliberately asked the Masjid and school officials to come to Delhi to “further harass and trouble them”.
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A clinical-stage biotechnology company, engaged in the research and development of cancer therapeutics. Its mission is to research, develop and commercialize targeted cancer drugs with reduced toxicities compared to conventional cancer chemotherapeutics.
How do you think NASDAQ:ARQL will perform against the market?
Read the most recent pitches from players about ARQL.
I'm having a hard time reconciling a decent reason not to risk this stock with real money. In my opinion, at $2/share the company is poised to repeat miraculous gains in a relatively near future. Only twice in the past eleven years has this stock been this low. Its price has climbed up to as high as $10 in times past! With the company's current pipeline, a plausible economic crisis (something this sector can be relatively immune to and could therefore draw investors), and add in the fact that ArQule is presenting at the RBC Capital Markets Global Healthcare Conference coming this Tuesday... it seems likely that something positive, no matter how minute, will likely send this stock up quick. Dilution, or other bad things could happen, but I'm having a difficult time seeing it happen with this company. The fundamentals on this stock are shaky, though. This is not without risk.
Find the members with the highest scoring picks in ARQL.
The Score Leader is the player with the highest score across all their picks in ARQL.
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Police in Northern Ireland say two police officers narrowly escaped being killed in a landmine attack in Co Fermanagh at the weekend.
Details of the incident, which happened on Saturday, were only released by the PSNI this afternoon.
A landmine containing a substantial amount of home-made explosives was planted under a bridge near the village of Rosslea.
Police say the two officers sustained minor injuries because only part of the device exploded. The landmine was later defused by British Army bomb experts.
The attack is being blamed on dissident republicans.
The PSNI have condemned those who planted the bomb, saying their depraved actions have nothing to offer anyone in the community.
The PSNI says a number of police officers narrowly escaped being murdered in a landmine attack in Co Fermanagh at the weekend.
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WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Colin Powell (search) has been evasive about his future, skirting questions about the timing of his widely expected departure after four rough-and-tumble years as America&apos;s chief diplomat.
In dozens of interviews, Powell has dismissed questions about his plans by saying with a smile, "I serve at the pleasure of the president."
Powell has long been considered to be a one-term secretary of state, irrespective of whether Bush was re-elected. Speculation has been rife for months about possible successors in a second Bush term. Among those mentioned are national security adviser Condoleezza Rice (search) and U.N. Ambassador John Danforth (search).
Last July, Bush suggested during an appearance in Philadelphia that he would be happy if Powell were to remain on. The remark went virtually unnoticed by the media but caught the attention of Powell aides.
During a September interview with The Associated Press, Powell was asked whether he considered Bush&apos;s comment to be an invitation for him to stay on.
"Time will tell. We will see," Powell replied.
When asked Wednesday about Powell&apos;s plans, his spokesman, Richard Boucher, reverted to the usual language about "serving at the pleasure of the president."
One possibility would be for Powell to stay on for a brief period until after the national elections in Iraq, which are supposed to be held before the end of January 2005.
As analysts see it, a post-Iraq election departure for Powell would make more sense than one that could occur just days before the balloting in Iraq but after Bush&apos;s second term begins.
At a minimum, Bush&apos;s re-election means a series of foreign trips Powell plans will take on a more serious cast than they would have if Sen. John Kerry had prevailed Tuesday.
And the Bush victory means that his own trip to an Asia-Pacific summit meeting in Chile before Thanksgiving will involve substantive exchanges rather than farewell handshakes and polite banter.
The 20 or so Asia-Pacific leaders invited there will be eager to hear what Bush has in mind for the region in his second term.
For his part, Powell will travel to Mexico on Monday for an overnight visit. The following week, he plans to spend four days in Chile as part of the U.S. summit entourage. He then will fly to Egypt for a major international conference on Iraq&apos;s future, a meeting Powell hopes to use to expand international cooperation for Iraq.
He also will attend a NATO meeting in Brussels in December and possibly meetings of other trans-Atlantic groups in Europe. In addition, Powell will attend a meeting in Morocco next month to push the Bush administration&apos;s pro-democracy agenda for Arab countries.
In the coming days, Powell will be boning up on issues involving Mexico ahead of his Monday visit. Mexican officials will be eager to hear more about Bush&apos;s proposal to provide legal status — at least on a temporary basis — for millions of undocumented aliens in the United States. Mexico is the principal source of such migrants.
Renewable three-year work permits would be available for them if they can prove that they have a job and meet other criteria. Mexico strongly supports the initiative.
Bush proposed it last January but little has been heard about it since.
If Congress approves, officials say the new rules will make America safer by helping for the first time to document migrants who have no legal standing in the United States.
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Former Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey has claimed that Sinn Fein’s demand for an Irish language act is “less about recognition and more about trying to impose an ideology that decades of brutal terror could not”.
The House of Lords peer made the remarks yesterday in the wake of an article penned by Sinn Fein MLA Declan Kearney.
In the piece, which was published on EamonnMallie.com on Monday, Mr Kearney said implementation of an Irish language act “is central to parity of esteem, and proper, official acceptance of the Irish national identity in the North of Ireland”.
However, Lord Empey claimed Sinn Fein is using the issue of an Irish language act as a way to divide the people of Northern Ireland, rather than unite them.
He added: “Sinn Fein clearly need reminding that they are not the gatekeepers of equality and human rights. We must never forget that Sinn Fein were willing and enthusiastic apologists for decades of human rights abuses perpetrated by the IRA.
“It is hard to escape the conclusion that this is less about recognition and more about trying to impose an ideology that decades of brutal terror could not.
Lord Empey also accused the republican party of “desperately trying to pursue De Valera’s ideal of recreating a mythical nation of true bred gaels, fluent in their ancient tongue – a tongue precious few of them can speak”.
He added: “The sub-text is clear. Those who do not speak Irish or who do not regard it as part of their identity and heritage are not truly Irish.
In his article, Mr Kearney also wrote: “An Ireland of equals will only come about once partition has been ended and a national democracy is achieved.
TUV leader Jim Allister said Mr Kearney’s comments should demonstrate to unionists that “Stormont for Sinn Fein is a waiting room for Irish unity”.
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Have you ever muttered the words &apos;my precious&apos; in a sinister tone? Mistaken an elderly gentleman with a giant white beard as Gandalf? Or bellowed &apos;you shall not pass!&apos; to someone standing in your way?
The chances are that you&apos;ve heard or done one of these things. And they all have one thing in common - apart from being somewhat anti-social, they are all references to author J.R.R Tolkien&apos;s universe.
Let&apos;s be honest - the books that distinguish Tolkien over the rest is his Lord of the Rings series. There&apos;s no better way to celebrate his work than to read his most recognised pieces.
Let&apos;s say the average person in Cambridge reads at least 300 words per minute.
According to a few sources, it takes approximately six hours and seven minutes to read the Fellowship of the Ring, four hours and 59 minutes to read The Two Towers, and six hours and seven minutes to read the Return of the King.
An estimation of around 17 hours proves it&apos;s possible. If you start now.
Tolkien Day wouldn&apos;t really be a true celebration without a bunch of lunatics dressing up as goblins.
There are a number of characters that you could dress up as - Gandalf, Galadriel, Aragorn, Legolas, Gollum, or the forgotten Tom Bombadil, who didn&apos;t quite make the film.
Even better yet, reading at a local book shop while dressed as Saruman. There&apos;s an idea.
Why not peruse the works of Tolkien&apos;s less known books or poetry?
Such works include The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, The Farmer Giles of Ham, The Battle of the Eastern Field, or Effantry.
Wherever someone lives and breathes, there is a Tolkien Society somewhere.
In this case, there&apos;s one in Cambridge. With just over 200 members on its Facebook group, the members enjoy various events in and around the city.
And I&apos;m sure there will be members who would gladly join you in your adventures with one and two.
There&apos;s an easy one. Just have a party. Include the first three, and maybe invite the fourth.
And you can&apos;t invite people to a party without turning your house into Minas Tirith.
===
creator Jeff Miller, Rodman is unhappy with the negative way the video game portrays him and has asked Miller to remove his character from the game.
The motion comes after North Korea has been accused of hacking into Sony Entertainment's computers and leaking hundreds of confidential — and extremely embarrassing — emails. The cyber-terrorist attack was the first of its kind and resulted in Sony canceling the release of The Interview, which portrays James Franco and Seth Rogan killing Kim Jong-un.
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As royal newlyweds, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have to walk a careful line: while they’ve often proved themselves to be affectionate partners, royal protocol dictates that sometimes they have to scale back their public displays of affection.
But at a reception this week, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex proved they’re still able to find small ways to share their love in public, even if it’s in the slightest of gestures. Cameras captured Markle and Prince Harry holding hands as they walked into an event celebrating the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Youth Leadership Workshop in London on July 5 at Marlborough House.
At the event, Prince Harry gave a brief speech while Markle looked on, dressed to stand out in a sunshine-yellow dress. She was snapped enjoying the day’s activities, as Harry — a Commonwealth Youth Ambassador — extolled their joint interest in getting to know the leaders being recognized.
So why is holding hands so noteworthy? Hand holding can be a fraught practice in the world of royal etiquette. While there is no official rule outlawing the clasp, there are situations — depending on the formality of the event — in which it can be perceived as a no-no, as former royal butler Grant Harrold previously explained to TIME. But while Harry’s older brother Prince William and Kate Middleton tend to go “by the book” when it comes to their behavior with each other, Prince Harry has some leeway to go about “re-writing the etiquette rules” for a younger generation.
Not that there aren’t instances where the pair hasn’t held hands. Just last week, for instance, a video at a formal event with the Queen stirred conversation about public displays of affection for the royal family.
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As the crow flies Denniff’s Cottage on Ringarogey island in Roaring Water Bay is just a few minutes’ boat ride to Baltimore, Co Cork. In contrast, the scenic route is by car, a journey time around the winding roads, of about 20 minutes.
The island, which is joined to the mainland by a stone bridge, part of famine relief work in the mid-19th century, is one of many in an archipelago that includes the better-known isles of Sherkin and Hare.
One of its owners, Pat McKnight, then Denniff, hence the name, bought it in 1974 when west Cork was beginning to flourish as an alternative location. Her parents had had a place in the cove in Baltimore since the 1950s. After a drink with estate agent Charles McCarthy in the Algiers Inn in Baltimore, her husband Tim McKnight recalls that locals couldn’t believe that she paid IR£14,500 for a farmhouse on a sprawling parcel of about 16 acres looking out across the estuary of the Ilen river to the islands of Sherkin and, on a clear day, Cape Clear.
The property, which dates back to the mid-19th century, is charming in every way. The back door, the one in daily use by its owners, is an old half-door and leads straight into the living room, one of the rooms in the original part of the house.
Here the beamed ceiling height is low, about 7.5ft. It has an inglenook fireplace set into a bare stone wall, where a wood-burning stove has been installed. Underfoot is a slate floor which was damp-proofed in 2010 as part of extensive works carried out by the owners.
The works included rebuilding the kitchen and interconnecting dining room, a gorgeous space with windows on three sides and leading out to a south-facing patio.
Upstairs there are four bedrooms, accessed via a waxed timber balustrade staircase leading up from the sitting room.
The main house extends to about 185sq m/2,000sq ft, and is seeking €830,000 through Charles McCarthy. The lands extend down to the sea where there is a small pontoon and mooring, includes several outhouses, one a potter’s studio which, subject to planning, could become a smart self-contained holiday rental. A second building is used as a boathouse.
Coincidentally. the Algiers Inn is also for sale, seeking around €350,000 through agent Cohalan Downing.
===
Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee chairman, entered a lobby elevator at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York on Saturday.
President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday said he would deport 2 million to 3 million undocumented immigrants when he takes office, but he also appeared to soften some of his campaign pledges and took a major step toward the GOP establishment by naming Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus as his future chief of staff.
In Trump’s first television interview since Election Day, the billionaire businessman told “60 Minutes” that he will deport or incarcerate “the people that are criminal and have criminal records, gang members, drug dealers,’’ but at the same time he appeared to leave open the possibility that other undocumented immigrants would be allowed to stay in the United States.
“After the border is secure and after everything gets normalized, we’re going to make a determination on the people that they’re talking about who are terrific people, they’re terrific people but we are going to make a determination at that,” Trump said in an interview that aired Sunday night.
By choosing Priebus as his chief of staff, Trump went with a mainstream, traditional choice, preferred by Washington insiders.
A Wisconsin native, Priebus, 44, is known to have close ties to House Speaker Paul Ryan, who would be a key ally in getting Trump’s agenda through Congress. Priebus remained largely loyal to Trump during his unorthodox campaign, although he sometimes struggled to defend the nominee’s many statements about treatment of women and minorities.
A Globe analysis of the state’s election results showed a reddening of the state’s western counties.
Priebus, supporters suggest, is a Republican Party loyalist who will bring D.C. experience and political acumen to a White House lacking both. He was chosen over a much more controversial, and less-well known, candidate: Stephen Bannon, executive chairman of the conservative Breitbart News and the chief strategist of the Trump campaign. Bannon has a history of using his prominence to support anti-Semitic, xenophobic, and racist messages, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a watchdog group.
In the Trump administration, Bannon will serve as a chief strategist and senior counselor to the president.
“Steve and Reince are highly qualified leaders who worked well together on our campaign and led us to a historic victory,” Trump said in the announcement.
The developments come at an extraordinarily divisive period in American politics.
President-elect Trump with Reince Priebus on election night. Priebus will serve as chief of staff in Trump’s White House.
In urban centers, protesters are speaking out against the presidential election, decrying the bombastic — and sometimes offensive — rhetoric that Trump used during the election season. Republicans, though giddy at the prospect of a conservative White House, Congress, and Supreme Court, are also unclear on just how much of Trump’s lofty campaign promises he will attempt to fulfill.
Indeed, in the “60 Minutes” interview, Trump signaled that part of his promised wall at the Mexico border — a signature pledge during his campaign — might actually be a fence.
Elsewhere on Sunday, Republican leaders also seemed to back away from some of Trump’s policy promises, including jailing Clinton, building the border wall, and implementing a deportation force.
Speaking on Fox News, the House majority leader, Kevin McCarthy, said he does not expect Congress to push any further investigations of Clinton, despite the often-repeated rallying cry of “Lock her up!” at Trump’s rallies. McCarthy also expressed skepticism at the idea of mass deportations.
‘‘First thing you have to do is secure the border and then we’ll have discussions,” McCarthy said.
Ryan, the House speaker who has rallied behind Trump after months of carefully putting distance between himself and the nominee, was more direct than McCarthy.
“I think we should put people’s minds at ease. That is not what our focus is,” said Ryan, of Wisconsin.
Ryan’s words and the seemingly moderated tone of the president-elect might not calm the fears of Democrats, protesters nationwide, and historically marginalized communities, many of which felt demonized throughout the Trump campaign.
Some left-leaning activists have reacted to Trump’s election by rushing to social media to claim Trump is #NotMyPresident, despite the looming truth of Inauguration Day. Others, such as US Senator Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, accepted the election results but pledged to hold Trump accountable for the divisive rhetoric he at times deployed.
This sentiment, coupled with a recent flare of incidents in which self-described Trump voters were harassing people of different cultures, has received a mixed reaction from Trump’s closest advisers — and the president-elect himself.
Trump has made clear that he intends to use Twitter to get his message out, and he continued to snipe at the media over the weekend.
Stephen Bannon, whom Donald Trump named his senior counselor and chief West Wing strategist, at Trump Tower Saturday.
“Wow, the @nytimes is losing thousands of subscribers because of their very poor and highly inaccurate coverage of the ‘Trump phenomena,’” Trump wrote in a tweet posted at 3 a.m. Sunday.
In the “60 Minutes” interview, Trump explained that he uses Twitter to “get the word out’’ and go around traditional media outlets.
“When you give me a bad story, or when you give me an inaccurate story,” Trump said, “I have a method of fighting back.” He vowed to be “very restrained” in his Twitter posts.
On the Sunday morning political talk shows, Trump’s surrogates and advisers downplayed the nationwide anger that continued to surface since his surprising win. Instead, each attempted to recast Trump as a political unifier, a humbled leader capable of compromise and willing to govern for all Americans.
There is one area in which Democrats and Republicans agree: the need for Trump to sign a robust law investing in the country’s infrastructure.
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich, a Trump adviser, mentioned public works projects on CBS News’s “Face the Nation” Sunday, and on CBS News, Senator Bernie Sanders highlighted infrastructure as one area of possible common ground.
“Let’s see the details. But, in general, rebuilding our infrastructure is absolutely imperative for this country,” said Sanders, an independent of Vermont.
Sanders cautioned Trump against claiming any electoral mandate from Tuesday’s results, since Clinton received more votes nationally than Trump.
“We are the majority,” Sanders said.
Astead W. Herndon can be reached at astead.herndon@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter@AsteadWH.
===
A broken speed camera in Leeds is flashing drivers who pass through it travelling at BELOW the speed limit.
The speed camera on York Road in Killinbeck Leeds has a 40mph speed limit.
But the camera has malfunctioned and drivers have contacted the Yorkshire Evening Post to tell us that they have been flashed by the camera even when travelling below the speed limit this morning.
A concerned motorist contacted us to say: "There is a bit of worry about it. It's a busy stretch of road (as is all of York Road) so it's a wonder as to how many people have been flashed by it.
"There must be thousands of cars driving along there on a daily basis. People are asking if they will get a letter/fine that they then have the annoyance of appealing?
"Although you know you haven't exceeded the 40mph limit, if you see a flash you automatically start questioning yourself!"
A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police has confirmed that the camera has malfunctioned.
The camera is not currently being enforced, say police, meaning that those flashed by the broken camera will not get a ticket for travelling lower than 40mph through the camera, even if they see a flash.
Someone has been dispatched to fix the camera.
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What are neutrophils and what do they do?
Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell that helps heal damaged tissues and resolve infections. Neutrophil blood levels increase naturally in response to infections, injuries, and other types of stress. They may decrease in response to severe or chronic infections, drug treatments, and genetic conditions.
Neutrophils help prevent infections by blocking, disabling, digesting, or warding off invading particles and microorganisms. They also communicate with other cells to help them repair cells and mount a proper immune response.
The body produces neutrophils in the bone marrow, and they account for 55–70 percent of all white blood cells in the bloodstream. A normal overall white blood cell level in the bloodstream for an adult is somewhere between 4,500 and 11,000 per millimeters cubed (mm3).
When there is an infection or another source of inflammation in the body, special chemicals alert mature neutrophils, which then leave the bone marrow and travel through the bloodstream to the site in need.
Unlike some other cells or blood components, neutrophils can travel through junctions in the cells that line blood vessel walls and enter into tissues directly.
In this article, we look at the reasons for high or low neutrophil levels, how doctors can test these levels, and what normal neutrophil levels are for different groups.
There are many different reasons why a person may have higher or lower than normal levels of neutrophils in their blood.
Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell.
Having an abnormally high level of neutrophils in the blood is known as neutrophilic leukocytosis, also known as neutrophilia.
Some inflammatory conditions can increase neutrophil levels, including rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, hepatitis, and vasculitis.
An abnormally low blood level of neutrophils is a condition called neutropenia.
A drop in neutrophil blood levels typically occurs when the body uses immune cells faster than it produces them or the bone marrow is not producing them correctly.
An enlarged spleen may also cause a decrease in neutrophil levels because the spleen traps and destroys neutrophils and other blood cells.
A laboratory specialist can evaluate a blood sample for white blood cell levels.
Doctors can identify changes in neutrophil levels from a blood test called a complete blood count (CBC) with differential, which identifies specific groups of white blood cells.
A doctor may order a CBC test when someone is experiencing a range of symptoms related to infection, chronic illness, and injury, such as fever, pain, and exhaustion. A nurse or technician will draw a small amount of blood from the arm and send it off for evaluation.
If the initial test shows a higher or lower number of white blood cells than normal, the doctor will likely repeat the test to confirm the results. If the initial results are confirmed, a doctor will perform a physical exam, ask questions about the person's lifestyle, and review their medical history.
If there is no apparent reason for changes in white blood cell levels, the doctor will order a more specific test. Laboratory specialists will look for specific white blood cells, such as immature neutrophils called myeloblasts. During an infection or chronic illness, these cells emerge from the bone marrow and mature in the blood instead of the bone marrow.
If myeloblasts or other white blood cells appear in significant levels in the blood, the doctor will request a bone marrow sample.
Bone marrow collection involves inserting a long needle into part of the pelvis near the back of your hip. The procedure can be very painful, and a doctor will typically take the sample in a hospital setting with at least a local anesthetic.
Experts will examine the bone marrow sample to see if neutrophils and other blood cells are developing correctly and are in regular supply.
Leukopenia is a condition where a person has a reduced white blood cell levels in their bloodstream. Learn about the causes, symptoms, and treatments here.
Changes in neutrophil levels are often a sign of more significant changes in white blood cell levels.
In non-pregnant adults, a white blood cell blood count over 11,000 per mm3 is known as leukocytosis, which is an elevated white blood cell count. Neutrophilic leukocytosis occurs when a person has over 7,000 per mm3 mature neutrophils in their bloodstream.
Minor changes in neutrophil or white blood cell levels are typically nothing to worry about as long as they are temporary. A raised white blood cell count often means the body is responding to infection, injury, or stress.
Some people have naturally lower levels of white blood cells and neutrophils than other people due to a range of factors, including congenital conditions.
If neutrophil or white blood cell levels are significantly altered for no apparent reason or remain raised or lowered, a doctor will order more tests to determine the cause.
Severely high or low levels of white blood cells often require emergency care and monitoring. People with severe neutropenia will have an inadequate defense against infection.
People with severe neutrophilia typically have a life-threatening type of infection or other inflammatory illness that requires treatment, such as cancer.
Nutritional yeast is a plant-based source of vitamin B-12.
The best way to correct abnormal neutrophil levels is to address and treat the underlying cause.
Antibiotics can treat bacterial infections, while antifungal medicine treats fungal infections. People can treat certain viral infections with medications that slow viral activity. Otherwise, supportive therapies, such as fluids and rest, may be part of the treatment plan.
People with altered neutrophil levels caused by medications or procedures may need to stop or adjust treatments.
People with severely low levels of neutrophils often require monitoring, antibiotic therapy, and hospitalization to reduce the risk of severe infection.
This period of intensive care helps keep people with weakened immune systems away from potentially harmful microorganisms. It also supports the body, giving it time to produce more white blood cells.
Try not to over-exercise or exercise beyond comfort levels.
Reduce stress levels and treat chronic or severe stress.
Seek medical attention for signs of infection, such as fever, weakness, fatigue, or pain, and treat infections exactly as prescribed.
Follow a healthful, balanced diet.
Treat chronic conditions, such as genetic or inflammatory conditions, exactly as prescribed.
However, people with only minor or mild changes in their neutrophil blood levels often show no symptoms and do not require any treatment.
Having a healthy number of neutrophils in the blood and bone marrow is crucial to the correct working of the immune system.
When neutrophil levels are higher or lower than usual for more than a short period, a doctor will order several tests to work out the underlying cause. People with significantly altered neutrophil levels may also require hospitalization to prevent infection and treat life-threatening conditions.
It is a good idea to have regular wellness checks at a doctor's office to stay on top of health. Anyone with concerns about their neutrophil count or any medical condition should talk to their doctor who will be able to answer questions they may have.
Huizen, Jennifer. "What are neutrophils and what do they do?." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 13 Dec. 2018. Web.
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How refreshing! Republicans in Pennsylvania are looking at the impacs of the Marcellus Shale play and trying to come up with honest solutions for dealing with possible problems. One solution: a natural gas tax. This might help take care of the roads once the trucks are gone, the schools once they're over-croweded, and maybe the water once it's polluted. Talk to some of the officials around here, like Sens. Johnson and Gilbert at the UCA Shale Summit, and you'll get a totally different view on how natural gas companies should be taxed.
Local officials worry about damage to local roads ill-suited for heavy truck traffic and equipment. School districts could be strained by families of gas company employees moving into town. And some residents are concerned about gas wells disrupting or polluting the water tables from which they draw drinking water.
Legislators must find the fairest way for companies to share those costs, whether by levying a tax or through some other means, said Sen. Jake Corman, R-Centre, the GOP’s policy chairman.
Get the full article here.
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CAE, based in Montreal, announced a contract amendment with Gulf Aviation Academy (GAA) to provide a CAE 7000 Series Embraer 170/190 full-flight simulator (FFS). The change order amends a contract signed in June 2009 by GAA's parent company, Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, and reflects their decision to switch an A330/340 simulator to an Embraer 170/190 FFS. The CAE 7000 Series Embraer 170/190 FFS will be delivered later this year to Gulf Aviation Academy's new training centre, which currently includes a CAE 5000 Series A320 FFS with another CAE 5000 Series A320 FFS to be delivered soon. The Embraer 170/190 simulator will feature the CAE Tropos-6000 visual system and CAE True electric motion system.
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Two suspects in a weekend stabbing near the Boise airport made their initial court appearances in Ada County Monday.
Police say Jacob Gibson and Kyle Meyer are responsible for a stabbing in a hotel room near the Boise airport around 4:15 a.m. Saturday morning.
21-year-old Jacob Gibson is charged with a felony for accessory to aggravated battery and two felony probation violations. 21-year-old Kyle Meyer is charged with felony aggravated battery and a felony probation violation.
In court Monday, the prosecuting attorney argued Gibson held a person down while Meyer stabbed the victim, adding the stabbing stemmed from an alleged drug deal.
A no-contact order was issued, prohibiting the suspects from communicating with the alleged victim and cannot be within 300 feet of the individual.
Both individuals are being held without bail on probation violations and previous cases. Gibson was issued a $250,000 bail on the accessory to aggravated battery charge, and Meyer was issued a $300,000 bail for aggravated battery.
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The victim has been identified as Antonio Marquez-Melgar, 37, of Plainfield.
PLAINFIELD – A fatal pedestrian hit-and-run in the city is under investigation.
The Union County Prosecutor's Office and Plainfield Police Department are investigating an incident in which a pedestrian was struck and killed by a vehicle in the city Thursday night, authorities said.
Shortly before 7:30 p.m., members of the Union County Homicide Task Force and Plainfield Police Division responded to the area of Madison Avenue and West Eighth Street on a report of a motor vehicle accident, according to a preliminary investigation.
The investigation revealed a white Kia sedan with two occupants collided with a Lexus in the intersection, knocking the Kia into Marquez-Melgar and killing him. The two occupants of the Kia then fled the area on foot and remain at large.
The Union County Sheriff’s Office’s Crime Scene Unit and Union County Police Department Fatal Accident Reconstruction Team are also assisting in this investigation.
Anyone with information about this matter is being urged to contact Prosecutor’s Office Detective Nicholas Falcicchio at 908-721-8186 or the Plainfield Police Division Traffic Unit at 908-753-3360.
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Forget bingo and shuffleboard. Use of computers and cellphones is linked to higher levels of mental and physical well-being among those over age 80, according to new Stanford research.
And these elders — dubbed “the oldest old,” a generation typically ignored by the youth-obsessed tech industry — are motivated for the same reasons as digital-savvy millennials: to stay connected.
“Using tech to connect with loved ones was related to higher life satisfaction, lower loneliness and general attainment of meaningful goals — being happy, independent,” said researcher Tamara Sims of the Stanford Center on Longevity.
Those who used technology to learn new information were in better physical health, her study also found.
Expansion of elder-focused tech education and support could help those born in an era of Greta Garbo, Model T cars and vacuum tube radio, said Sims.
Americans are living longer than previous generations, and many want to stay at home. With digital tools, they can stay socially engaged — and reach out for help, if they need it.
Every morning, after his second cup of coffee, he answers emails about the war and his organization. Then he does research, which helps him stay abreast of any newly published academic studies. He also uses his PC to plan upcoming seminars — honoring the centennial of America’s engagement in the war — seeking conference venues, speakers and nearby hotels.
He searches the web to find images for his World War I lectures to civic groups and schools, and then puts his presentation on a thumb drive for travel.
Ham radio operator Rudy Bahr, 93, of Mountain View uses a computer program that, in an earthquake or other crisis, can communicate radio messages directly to emergency operation centers, hospitals and other critical facilities. Created by the volunteer-run Southern Peninsula Emergency Communications System, it offers a direct connection that is more reliable than traditional email or cell services.
Saratoga’s Tsing Bardin, 78, and her husband, 85, use FaceTime with their children and grandchildren in Italy and in New York. “It is free and you can see them as you speak,” she said.
Google Calendar is the tool used by 91-year-old Lois Hall, of Palo Alto, to book appointments for one-on-one tech tutoring of other elders at a Computer Learning Center, sponsored by Palo Alto’s senior center Avenidas. She also uses computers to create informational fliers.
She cherishes newsy or humorous emails from her son in San Jose and daughter in Cupertino. She also uses email to plan monthly dinners with friends.
She uses Netflix to watch new episodes of the Canadian drama “Heartland.” With the holidays approaching, she’ll use it for shopping.
Sims didn’t expect to find much of a correlation between technology and well-being in adults older than 80 because these elders were considered to be the most unfamiliar with these technologies and the least likely to use them.
Conventional wisdom holds that as people age, they perceive time as more limited — and prioritize meaningful interactions with their loved ones rather than learning new information or meeting new people.
“I was going into it a little bit skeptical,” according to Sims, whose research is published in the current issue of the Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences. She conducted the study with Andrew Reed, a former Stanford postdoctoral fellow, and Dawn Carr, an assistant professor of sociology at Florida State University.
The research team surveyed 445 people between the ages of 80 and 93, online and over the phone. Elders were asked about their motivation for using cellphones, personal computers, video streaming services and other digital tools.
Contrary to stereotypes, most of the adults over 80 said they used at least one technological device regularly, and doing so was related to higher levels of self-reported physical and mental well-being, reported Sims.
“The key here is that if you get them using these technologies, we could probably see some real benefits to quality of life in very old age,” she said, in a prepared statement.
Interviewed elders said that tech tools could be improved to ease their use.
Another common frustration, said Hall, is navigation — for instance, learning how to move photos from iPads and iPhones to the computer. When she sets up tutoring sessions, she matches elders with specific questions to volunteers with that type of expertise.
She, too, was initially stumped — but with time, patience and training, improved.
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Apple's new Music Memos app captures musical inspiration, while GarageBand adds a new AI drummer and loop arranger.
When a bolt of musical inspiration hits, many musicians will reach for their smart phones, pop open the built-in voice-recorder app, and make a quick recording of some combination of guitar, voice or piano, hoping to capture the essence of the idea before it fades.
But a voice memo is a blunt tool for capturing a song idea, and the artist is left on their own to figure out how to translate a rough recording into something more substantial -- or even to remember what chords were played.
Press this big button to record.
Enter Music Memos, a new iOS app from Apple. This simple app is a new type of voice-memo recorder, built around capturing musical ideas, giving them a slight polish, and sending the best ones on to a more powerful music tool, such as Apple's own GarageBand or Logic Pro. It's completely free, and should be available on the App Store later today.
Music Memos starts with a simple record button in the middle of the screen. Tap it and the app starts recording -- it's optimized for guitar or piano, but you could really record anything: voice, ukulele, klezmer, whatever, although other instruments may miss out on some of the advanced features.
Trim and loop the recording and edit the chord information here.
It's what happens next that makes Music Memos stand out from a standard memo-recording app. If you recorded some acoustic guitar or piano, Music Memos analyses the audio input and attempts to chop your song demo into bars, in the appropriate time signature, and then adds chord labels.
You can tweak the recording a good deal, trimming the start and end to form a loop, and overwriting the chord information with your own notations. In practice, I found it worked best with strummy, coffee-shop open chords in 4/4 time. Trying to get a little more complex, such as throwing in jazzy major-7th chords, forced me to manually enter the appropriate chords for each bar.
Songs can be exported to GarageBand or shared via services including SoundCloud and email.
But once that's all set, you can turn on the surprisingly satisfying auto-accompaniment tools, and a simple bass line and drum track will follow along with the rhythm and chords, like a bare-bones backing band. It offers just a few basic beats, and again seems targeted at the strummy, coffee-shop singer-songwriter crowd, but it's also very satisfying to hear a fleshed-out version of a song idea almost instantly.
Song ideas can also be labeled with tags, and you can add comments or even song lyrics to a notes section for each recording. Music Memo recordings can be synced to iCloud, or you can export the actual files to GarageBand or Logic Pro in order to work on them further in a more full-featured music app.
The next step up from Music Memos is GarageBand, Apple's consumer-friendly music recording and editing program. Included on most iOS and OS X devices, it takes an iMovie-like approach to recording, throwing out some of the traditional user interfaces found in programs such as ProTools or Apple's own Logic Pro (which were, in turn, copied from actual real-world recording studios), and instead creating a new, hopefully more intuitive, way to record music.
Having used old-school music DAWs (shorthand for "digital audio workstations," a term used to describe computer-based recording programs) such as ProTools and Logic extensively over the years, I've always found the GarageBand approach hard to wrap my head around. But, this new 2.1 update adds some interesting new features that make it easier than ever to get started crafting or arranging music, even if you have little or no experience.
The Live Loops interface in GarageBand.
The most notable is an entirely new (and entirely optional) interface called Live Loops. It's a performance-friendly sequencer for arranging samples and loops, which can be lined up to play in order, or simply triggered on the fly by tapping on the appropriate square-shaped loop. Apple includes several preloaded templates in different music genres, or you can start with a blank field and import various loops and samples, or original recordings made in GarageBand. With the right tempo and note information (routinely included with commercial samples and loops) the Live Loops interface keeps all the parts in sync and flowing together naturally.
The idea reminds me of performance-friendly music programs such as Ableton Live, but this version is much more pick-up-and-play, and my four-year-old was having a great time with it, triggering samples and creating on-the-fly arrangements in under a minute. Live Loops is fun to play with, but probably more useful for live improvisation from the DJ booth or creating EDM arrangements than traditional songwriting and recording.
Outside of Live Loops, there's also the standard music recording and editing tools in GarageBand, augmented by some new automation features and EQ tools for tweaking the overall sound.
You can still record audio via an external mic or your device's built-in mic (although the latter is not really recommended) or play virtual guitars and keyboards on-screen, which is fun but involves a lot of trial and error to get a feel for. "Smart" versions of these instruments will play preset patterns based on chord information you provide. That can give you an instant backing band for ideas, but again, there's a robotic sameness to the performances and the styles are on the dry side, so it's not going to replace calling your musically talented friends up and asking them to play on your album.
New for GarageBand 2.1 is the addition of Drummer, a high-concept AI drum tool previously found only in the $200 Logic Pro software. Drummer starts with several fictional drummer profiles, each with his or her own music genres and drum kits, and builds a drum track for your song that can be adjusted on the fly to be louder, softer, more or less complex, using different cymbal or kick/snare variations, and with more or fewer fills. The end result is pretty good, and much more human-feeling than basic drum loops or samples. Although, again, the genre choices tend to run towards EDM, straightforward rock, and commercial-sounding hip-hop/R&B. I'm still waiting for a specialized bossa nova drummer, or a virtual version of Bernard Purdie.
The Drummer app inside GarageBand.
Music Memos is for free for iOS users and will work on iPhone 4s and later, and iPad 2 and later. GarageBand 2.1 for iOS will be included on new iOS devices with 32GB or more of storage, and owners of previous versions can upgrade for free if they have iOS 9.
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A 38-year-old man suspected of vehicle theft is under arrest in Abbotsford, but police say he actually captured himself.
A tweet from the department says officers responded to calls early Wednesday about a parked van that was "shaking violently."
Police quickly determined the van was stolen.
They opened the back doors of the vehicle to find the suspect had locked himself into the rear of the van and had no access to the front because a metal wall separated the cab from the back section of the vehicle.
The man was taken into more conventional custody and remains behind bars.
Abbotsford police say charges of possession of stolen property are being considered.
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Designed to improve your effectiveness at all stages of a deal, this program examines innovative approaches to asset management, financial strategy, organizational structure, and portfolio management. You’ll learn how to improve your negotiation approach, identify solid investment opportunities, manage asset inflation and bubble risks, and generate long-term returns to secure a competitive advantage for your company.
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President Barack Obama shakes hands with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office last Thursday, after the two met to discuss the presidential transition.
Donald Trump's victory in the race for the White House leaves widespread uncertainty about what's in store for public schools under the first Republican administration in eight years. Aside from school choice, Trump, a New York-based real estate developer who has never before held public office, spent little time talking about K-12 education during his campaign. And he has no record to speak of on the issue for insights into what he may propose.
"We're all engaging in a lot of speculation because there hasn't been a lot of serious discussion about this, especially in the Trump campaign," Martin R. West, an associate professor of education at Harvard University, said in the run-up to the Nov. 8 presidential election. West has advised Republicans, including 2012 nominee Mitt Romney and Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, on education.
Trump did propose a $20 billion plan to dramatically expand school choice for low-income students. It would use federal money to help them attend private, charter, magnet, and regular public schools of their choice. It's also designed to leverage additional state investments in school choice of up to $100 billion nationwide.
In the campaign, the president-elect also embraced merit pay for teachers, without offering details beyond saying he found it unfair that "bad" teachers sometimes earned "more than the good ones." And, on the early-childhood front, he's pitched offering six weeks of maternity leave to women who do not get it through their employers, expanding the availability of dependent-care savings accounts, and offering tax incentives for employers to provide on-site day care.
But otherwise, the Trump campaign mostly dealt in sound bites with such controversial issues as the Common Core State Standards, the possibility of getting rid of the U.S. Department of Education, and gun-free school zones.
"I could really see him trying to minimize any role [of the federal government in education]," Nat Malkus, a research fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said in contemplating the implications of a Trump presidency ahead of the vote.
While education is not a high-profile issue politically at the moment, it's not as if the Trump administration won't have anything to do on school policy.
At or near the top of the K-12 to-do list is how the new administration handles the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA, the latest version of the flagship federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act that was first passed in 1965. The Education Department under President Barack Obama is relatively close to finalizing ESSA regulations governing how states hold schools accountable and how districts must show they are using federal money to supplement their state and local school budgets.
Republicans in Congress have been critical of both sets of proposals from the department, particularly the one governing the supplemental-money rule. In fact, 25 GOP lawmakers recently asked the department to rescind its proposal for ensuring federal funds are supplemental, not a replacement for state and local money, on the grounds that the proposal would give the department too much power over state and local budget decisions.
The incoming administration may be on the same page as those lawmakers, said Gerard Robinson, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and former state schools chief in Virginia and Florida.
"I think [Trump's] secretary of education will handle it differently than what we've seen from [current Secretary] John King," regarding the so-called supplement-not-supplant rules, Robinson said. Robinson is serving as a member of the Trump transition team, but spoke only on his own behalf.
Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton focused more on early education and college affordability than K-12 in her losing bid for the White House.
However, when it comes to ESSA in general, Robinson said he believes that Trump views the law as a result of a "bipartisan coalition" and that the president-elect won't get too heavily involved in ESSA's rollout.
And Robinson expects states to have a great deal of flexibility in the ESSA accountability plans that they submit to the Trump administration starting next year—significantly more than they enjoyed under Obama-era waivers from the No Child Left Behind Act, the predecessor to ESSA.
"This is a great time to be a state chief," Robinson said, adding at the same time that "I don't want state chiefs to think that when they turn those [plans] in that, 'Oh, well, these will just get approved.' "
What's more, a lot of policies under the No Child Left Behind Act were part of the law but the George W. Bush or Obama administration didn't do much to enforce them. A couple of examples: the requirement that highly qualified teachers be distributed fairly between poor and less-poor schools, and that districts offer free tutoring to students in schools that weren't making progress under the law.
There could be similar examples of provisions that are on the books in ESSA, or in the Obama administration's regulations for the law, said Vic Klatt, a one-time aide to House Republicans who is now a principal at the Penn Hill Group. And since the Trump administration will be the first to enforce ESSA, it could be "easier and less disruptive" for it to simply ignore parts of the law than it would be for another administration down the line, Klatt said.
Trump could also discard another key piece of the Obama education legacy: The president-elect could significantly curb the role of the department's office for civil rights when it comes to state and local policies, according to Robinson, and thereby return the OCR's role more to how it operated under Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. That could have a big impact on everything from action on racial disparities in school discipline to transgender students' rights.
Robinson also said that he expects the OCR to ensure that students' rights are not "trampled on."
Some civil rights advocates though, are already concerned, given some of Trump's campaign-trail rhetoric on Muslims and Latinos, that the office won't flex its enforcement muscles.
"We're worried," said Liz King, the director of education policy for the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. "We're hearing what everyone else is hearing from teachers and families that kids don't feel safe."
Much depends on whom Trump picks to lead his Education Department—assuming that he decides not to seek elimination or drastic cutbacks to the agency, which he has sometimes said he would like to do.
In October, Carl Palladino, a school board member in Buffalo, N.Y., and a Trump campaign surrogate, said he believed that if elected, Trump would pick someone from outside the education policy world to lead the department.
Another critical decision will be on who reviews states' proposed accountability plans for ESSA next year.
"Who are going to be his people? If he brings in a traditional right-of-center group, you can take it from there," said Maria Ferguson, the executive director of the Center on Education Policy, who worked in the Education Department under President Bill Clinton.
President-elect Donald Trump speaks at his victory rally on Nov. 9 in New York City. The Republican real estate developer made school choice a key theme when talking about public education on the campaign trail.
Ferguson suggested a traditional conservative policy agenda of expanded charter schools and other initiatives would probably get traction under Trump.
"All these familiar themes that the right-of-center groups have talked about will become a version of his agenda," Ferguson predicted. She mentioned school choice and groups like the Foundation for Excellence in Education, which was founded by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, one of Trump's rivals for the GOP nomination. "But I don't think it's going to come from him."
Earlier this year, Trump tapped Rob Goad, a staffer for Rep. Luke Messer, R-Ind., to be his education adviser, not long before the Trump campaign released its $20 billion school choice plan. There are some basic similarities between Trump's plan and a push last year to make federal Title I aid "portable" for disadvantaged students to use at both public and private schools.
And Trump's transition team for education includes Robinson, the former Florida and Virginia state chief, and Williamson M. Evers, a research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, who worked at the Education Department under President George W. Bush.
Much also depends on Trump's relationship with Congress and to what extent he empowers key GOP lawmakers on education policy.
Besides ESSA, Congress has been fairly active in moving education-related legislation. In recent months, for example, the House of Representatives approved reauthorizations of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act and the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act.
Some, but less, progress has also been made on renewing the Child Nutrition Act. And the Higher Education Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and the Head Start federal preschool program are up for reauthorization in the near future.
Trump has outlined a general plan on college affordability, including capping student-loan repayments at 12.5 percent of income and instituting loan forgiveness after 15 years for certain borrowers. College affordability is a more prominent issue thanks to the 2016 presidential campaign. And since Congress remains sharply divided along partisan lines, Trump and the Republicans likely won't be able to simply roll ahead with all their preferences on higher education.
"You're not doing anything legislatively without bipartisan support," said West, of Harvard. "It's not obvious to me that there is a clear Republican agenda in Congress right now with respect to K-12 education, except for trying to ensure that ESSA is implemented in a way consistent with the intent of the law of empowering states to design accountability systems as they see fit."
But uncertainty prevails, both over what the new president will take an interest in and how much he will push to get education bills and initiatives over the finish line.
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The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) on Monday announced the names of shortlisted candidates to be interviewed in April for a number of judicial positions in various superior courts, including two vacancies at the Constitutional Court.
The announcement follows the commission’s call in October last year for nominations to fill the vacancies.
The 22 shortlisted candidates will be notified of the date, time and venue of their interviews.
The commission also announced on Monday that it will interview justice Xola Mlungisi Petse following his nomination by President Cyril Ramaphosa for the vacant position of deputy president of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).
Ramaphosa nominated Petse on February 2, in accordance with section 174(3) of the constitution, which states that the president, after consulting the JSC, appoints the president and deputy president of the SCA.
“The president thus seeks the views of the JSC on the suitability or otherwise of justice Petse for the position of deputy president of the SCA,” the JSC said in a statement.
There are six candidates for two vacancies at the Constitutional Court who will be interviewed by the JSC at its April sitting.
The constitution states that JSC must prepare a list of nominees with three names more than the number of appointments to be made and then submit that list to the president.
Candidates to be interviewed for the Constitutional Court vacancies are high court judges Annali Basson, Patricia Goliath, Jody Kollapen and Fayeeza Kathree-Setiloane and SCA judges Stevan Majiedt and Zukisa Tshiqi.
The JSC will also interview nine judges for five vacancies at the SCA. They are Daniel Dlodlo, Trevor Gorven, Caroline Nicholls, Yvonne Mbatga, Pieter Meyer, Fikile Mokgohloa, Selewe Mothle, Clive Plasket and Owen Rogers.
The JSC will also interview Feziwe Renqe and Onica van Papendorp for a single vacancy at the Grahamstown high court.
Labour court judges Edwin Molahlehi and André van Niekerk will be interviewed for the vacant position of deputy judge president of the labour and labour appeal courts.
Judges Bulelwa Pakati and Mmathebe Phatsoane will be interviewed for the vacant deputy judge president position at the Northern Cape division of the high court.
No candidates were shortlisted for a vacancy at the electoral court.
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The departing “SNL” star made Joe Biden aggressive, Mitt Romney benignly out-of-touch and always maintained he was “just friends” with Andy Samberg.
Sorry Saturday Night Live fans, but it’s time to say goodbye to Jason Sudeikis, who has officially announced he won’t be returning to the NBC show this fall.
That means it’s time for us to remember the star’s best characters -- from the jolly (but borderline senile) Vice President Joe Biden to the inexplicably Southern-sounding judge on "Maine Justice."
Sudeikis’ aggressive turn as the vice president reached a fever pitch during the 2012 vice presidential debate, when Biden threatened poor Rep. Paul Ryan (Taran Killam) with physical harm.
With “Maine Justice,” first Jamie Foxx and then Justin Timberlake played bailiff to Sudeikis’ backwoods judge, presiding over a Bangor, Maine, court with folksy wisdom and fiery words. Yep, it was weird. But it worked, and Sudeikis considered getting it on air a high point for him on the show.
Sudeikis’ Gov. Mitt Romney was tall, handsome and comically out of touch. During campaign season, he attempted to show he was a regular guy by eating McDonalds, but immediately spat it out, not used to eating such cheap food (“I’d complain to the chef, but let me guess: No hablas ingles, am I right?”).
After the real-life Romney lost to President Barack Obama, Sudeikis made his final appearance as Romney, where the wholesome candidate drowned his sorrows in milk instead of beer.
Andy Samberg and Sudeikis have always been “just friends.” Seriously, the shorts prove it.
As a bonus, below find the final sketch of season 38, which acted as a sendoff to Sudeikis and fellow departing castmembers Bill Hader and Fred Armisen.
What were your favorite Sudeikis sketches? Sound off in the comments.
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By the time Ohio State’s slow-arriving student section filled up, the Buckeyes had already taken a 7-0 lead against UNLV as speedy H-back Parris Campbell raced 69 yards for the opening touchdown on the offense’s second play. The Scarlet and Gray extended the early lead, continued to build upon it and never allowed the Rebels to even feign a threat as Ohio State dominated, winning 54-21 Saturday afternoon at Ohio Stadium.
Redshirt senior quarterback J.T. Barrett marched his team down the field at will against an overmatched, less-talented UNLV defense, completing 12-of-17 passes for 209 yards and five touchdowns and subbed out before halftime.
Seven players — wideouts Terry McLaurin, Johnnie Dixon, K.J. Hill, Binjimen Victor, Campbell and walk-on C.J. Saunders and tight end Rashod Berry — caught touchdowns for the Buckeyes, the most in a single game in Ohio State history.
Barrett overthrew sophomore wideout K.J Hill on one of his first passes of the game, but settled in as the Buckeyes scored on all but one of his drives. Campbell led Ohio State with three catches for 105 yards, but fumbled near the goal line on his team’s third drive of the game.
The Rebels offense stood no chance facing off against the Buckeyes’ stout defense. An aggressive, blitz-heavy defensive front pressured redshirt freshman quarterback Armani Rogers the entire game. Late in the first quarter, backed up at the 2-yard line, defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones stuffed a run and forced Ohio State’s first safety of the season.
The Buckeyes racked up four sacks and a season-high 13 tackles for loss. Sophomore defensive end Nick Bosa led the Buckeyes with three tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
Rogers competed 11-of-19 passes for 88 yards. The Rebels, buoyed by junior running back Lexington Thomas’ 55-yard touchdown, rushed for 41 yards on 176 carries.
With 3:32 left in the second quarter while leading 37-7, redshirt freshman quarterback Dwayne Haskins replaced Barrett, and first-team All-American center Billy Price subbed out of the blowout.
Haskins threaded the needle to Saunders for his first touchdown of the game, a 28-yard strike across the middle. The strong-armed quarterback went 15-for-23 and 228 yards and tossed two touchdowns. He hit Berry late in the third quarter who rumbled for a 38-yard touchdown, the first of the defensive end-turned-tight end’s career.
Haskins later threw an interception to linebacker/defensive back Javin White, who took it 65 yards for a touchdown, the first pick-six thrown by an Ohio State quarterback this year.
Freshman running back J.K. Dobbins took 14 carries 95 yards. Once again, redshirt sophomore running back Mike Weber did not play. He has dealt with a hamstring injury since the beginning of fall camp and missed the first game of the season.
Defensive tackle Robert Landers, offensive guard Matt Burrell, linebacker Chris Worley and cornerback Shaun Wade also did not play for Ohio State due to injuries.
Ohio State will look for its third consecutive victory when the Buckeyes head to Piscataway, New Jersey, next Saturday to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (1-2) at 7:30 p.m.
Rewarded with another drop in the polls. Nothing will change until they beat a good team. Penn State will be a challenge. They had a great comeback against Iowa.
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“We’re too close not to share resources and promote each other,” Keyserling said.
Plans are still being made by city event staff and its cultural district board for the expanded Taste of Beaufort, which will be held at various venues downtown May 3-4.
Keyserling said the collaboration would pull from the Piccolo Spoleto festival, a companion event run by the city of Charleston to the better-known, 17-day international Spoleto festival held in the city each year.
Plans come as Beaufort and the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce spar in federal court over control of the city’s popular festivals, including Taste of Beaufort.
The nonprofit business group sued the city last year over ownership and operation of the Beaufort Shrimp Festival and Taste of Beaufort, saying its constitutional rights were violated when it was denied a permit in July to operate the shrimp event and objecting to the city registering the names of both festivals with the state.
City officials have said chamber leadership has been unwilling to reach a solution.
Beaufort employed downtown events staff to organize a promote what the city billed as a bigger and better Beaufort Shrimp Festival in October.
Keyserling’s announcement of the Spoleto partnership in his weekly newsletter told visitors to prepare for “a better than ever” Taste of Beaufort.
Tecklenburg and Keyserling have been allies on several recent issues affecting both coastal areas, including opposing offshore oil drilling and exploration and planning for rising sea levels. Beaufort has also patterned its technology incubator, the Beaufort Digital Corridor, after a successful initiative in Charleston.
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DENMARK - UK – ASIA - EUROPE – In a bold move designed to out manoeuvre their rivals Maersk, the largest container shipping line in the world, today announced what they consider to be the first major step forward in box transportation for well over a decade. ‘Daily Maersk’ will offer guaranteed delivery times from four Asian ports to three major European hubs for any FCL freight deliveries every day of the week.
Speaking at the London launch Eivind Kolding, CEO Maersk Line said that from the company's inception in 1928 very little changed from the monthly schedules offered until in the late 1940’s when twice monthly services appeared. Even with the introduction of containerisation weekly schedules failed to appear until the 1990’s since when little if anything had changed. He said it was Maersk’s intention to offer shippers a ‘conveyor belt’ service with Maersk becoming a natural extension of a supplier’s production line.
The service schedules were arrived at after Maersk embarked on a protracted dialogue with their major customers and indeed the product is principally aimed at the heavy hitters, the regular clients with extensive contract commitments to shipping large quantities, which is not to say that spot purchase clients will not necessarily benefit from the reduced delivery times Maersk feel are attainable.
The discussion with stakeholders produced three clear requirements including reliability, all shippers were keen to know exactly when their goods would arrive at the destination port as currently around 50% of TEU’s fail to meet the original estimated times of arrival. Complicated systems were another bugbear, consignors wanted a one stop, one touch system rather than the nineteen or so inputs required to send a box on its way which currently exists. The third request was to ensure that wherever possible the customer could claim to maintain their green credentials by utilising a system that was as clean as could reasonably be expected.
‘Daily Maersk’ is the product of these discussions and Maersk are so confident of its success they are to pay compensation for every container that fails to meet the deadline they have underwritten. The company will pay customers who sign up to the system compensation of $100 for a delay between one and three days. Should the freight arrive 4 days late they will hand over $300. Needless to say Maersk have written in get out clauses for bad weather, port strikes etc.
Of course there is a downside, at present up to 50% of booked boxes fail to arrive at the port in time to meet the cut off times, or indeed at all, and to the container companies this simply means lost revenue. Containers booked under the new system which fail to arrive will be subject to a penalty which presumably will be negotiated with individual shippers (those which deign to agree to it). Maersk see this system as a way to directly influence the current overbooking problem.
The new schedules, from Ningbo, Shanghai, Yantian and Tanjung Pelepas to Bremerhaven, Felixstowe and Rotterdam, will occupy 70 vessels of the company’s fleet, around 25% of Maersk Line’s TEU carrying capacity. Despite the mention of the intent to make the service as green as possible it simply may not be feasible with traffic levels as they are. Only by running the newer, larger yet more efficient vessels closer to their full capacity can reduced emissions of CO2 per tonne be achieved. To ensure vessels make their guaranteed time targets it may even be sometimes necessary to abandon the current slow steaming policy, designed to conserve expensive fuel and reduce pollution levels, simply to stick to schedules.
“This is the first time compensation will be paid by a shipping company and this is to underscore our confidence in this product. We have been in discussion with a number of customers, including Sony, and they have expressed approval. ‘Daily Maersk’ responds to some key concerns by ensuring on time delivery in Northern Europe. How can we do this? By upping capacity and spreading port calls and having a back up plan for every vessel. All the customer needs is total transport. We see larger customers with sophisticated management systems taking advantage of this and reducing their warehousing needs.
No partnerships with other lines will be involved in the provision of this service and, before anyone believes this will be rolled out globally, even Maersk admit that the daily cut off system is currently only feasible on the busy Asia to Europe run. Cynics will note that Maersk are due to collect a lot more of the bigger container vessels they have on order within the next year or two and they need cargo to fill them but there is no doubt that other box carriers will feel a chill down their spines at what is a very inventive and bold move to completely dominate the Asian European freight trade.
The first daily cut off will be on the 24th October, the guaranteed transportation times to the three European ports (Bremerhaven, Felixstowe and Rotterdam) are as follows. Ex Ningbo – 36 days, ex Shanghai – 34 days, ex Yantian – 30 days and for Tanjung Pelepas – 26 days. Transportation time is defined as from the cut off date issued for the departure port and the availability of the cargo at the port of destination. If cargo arrives early there will be no demurrage charges until the agreed cargo availability date has passed.
Around seven million forty foot equivalent units pass from Asia to Northern Europe annually and Maersk currently shift over one million of them. With this set of schedules it is obvious that the Danish giants intend to take up as much of the market as possible by concentrating more than ever on the companies responsible for the bulk of this traffic. The end result remains to be seen but as this scheme takes shape at least two of Maersk’s main rivals will be looked at very closely by industry analysts should it result in an upswing of tonnage for ‘Daily Maersk’.
Photo:- The giant Emma Maersk in port.
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Posted on Wed, Mar 14, 2012 : 8:40 a.m.
A Manchester woman’s selfless gift could help extend the life of a co-worker’s husband, WXYZ reports.
Lisa Moutinho, an administrator at the Washtenaw County District Court in Ypsilanti, is giving one of her kidneys to Michael Brunson, who’s been on dialysis for five years, the station reported.
The surgeries are scheduled for Wednesday at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
Thu, Mar 15, 2012 : 3:28 p.m.
My daughter has lived 37 years with one kidney. No problems all these years. Not even a kidney infecion. Congratulations to Lisa for her generosity and good future health to Michael!!!
Wed, Mar 14, 2012 : 6:03 p.m.
I've known Lisa for many years and this doesn't surprise me in the least. Yeah Lisa!
Wed, Mar 14, 2012 : 3:15 p.m.
This is certainly an amazing gift. Usually it is a relative who does this. But, if something happens to her one-good kidney, then what? She also has 3 children.
Thu, Mar 15, 2012 : 1:41 a.m.
The fear you express in this question is one many people have. Part of the reason that I hear people asking this question is that folks are really unaware of basic biology. It's really uncommon for something to happen to &quot;one&quot; kidney. The most likely thing to have happen to one kidney, is to be born without it. Donating doesn't have a mathematically significant impact upon the donor.
Wed, Mar 14, 2012 : 5:20 p.m.
Harry, I am an organ donor but maybe some people have religious objections? I just hope that people will consider doing it.
Wed, Mar 14, 2012 : 3:51 p.m.
Hopefully there are people who are as generous as she is. One thing I will never understand. Why isn't every person in america an organ donor. Your dead why would you want to be buried with your organs?
Wed, Mar 14, 2012 : 2:29 p.m.
Now here is a hero. Its not her job. She's not getting paid. We seem to throw around that word a lot these days.
Wed, Mar 14, 2012 : 2:27 p.m.
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Kathleen, Marchioness of Hartington. Public Domain/U.S. Govt. photo.
On this day in 1948, Kathleen Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington, the second daughter of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., sister of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and widow of the heir to the Devonshire dukedom, died in a plane crash en route to secure her father's blessings on her second marriage. She was born on February 20, 1920, and was only 28 at the time of her death.
When President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed JFK's father Joseph Kennedy ambassador to the Court of St. James, his daughter Kathleen spent a year and a half living in London. She was educated in London at Queen's College.
Beautiful and spirited, she was named the "most exciting debutante of 1938." In 1943 she returned to England to work in a center for servicemen set up by the Red Cross.
Despite the opposition of her intensely Catholic mother, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, Kathleen Kennedy, known to friends as "Kick", married William John Robert Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington, a Protestant and the eldest son and heir of the 10th Duke of Devonshire on May 6, 1944.
Other than her eldest brother Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. who died in a plane crash three months after the wedding, no one from the Kennedy family attended the marriage ceremony. Her husband was killed in action only four months later in World War II, and his younger brother Andrew Cavendish, married to Deborah Mitford, became the heir to the dukedom. See the newspaper report of her death on right.
Popular on the London social circuit and admired by many for her high spirits - though more traditional members of British society found fault with her boisterousness - the dashing young widow eventually became the mistress of Peter Wentworth-FitzWilliam, 8th Earl FitzWilliam. The couple planned to wed after Fitzwilliam's planned divorce. Instead, while on a trip to visit Joseph Kennedy Sr. and gain his blessing for their relationship, Lord Fitzwilliam and Lady Hartington died in an airplane crash in Saint-Bauzile, Ardèche, France.
Only her father represented the Kennedy family at her funeral. Her mother, Rose, declined to attend supposedly because of Kathleen's intention to marry outside the Catholic Church a second time.
It is also said that Rose Kennedy also discouraged Kathleen's siblings from attending for the same reason. Rose apparently forgave Kathleen not long thereafter, and in 1951, she was reportedly delighted that her first grandchild, Robert F. Kennedy's daughter, Kathleen Hartington Kennedy, was named after her late daughter. However, the family requested that the child not be nicknamed Kick.
The Marchioness of Hartington is buried in the Cavendish family plot at Saint Peter's Church, Edensor, near Chatsworth in Derbyshire, England. Among the wreaths that covered her coffin was one with a handwritten note from Sir Winston Churchill. The gymnasium at Manhattanville College is named in her honor.
On this day in 2005 the U.S. Department of Defense changed its mind about base closings, and that was the end of Otis NG as an air base.
The largest New England facilities saved by the Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) were the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, in Maine, and the Naval Submarine Base New London, in Connecticut -- each with thousands of jobs. Then, on its last day of deliberations, the BRAC unexpectedly reversed the Defense Department's proposed expansion of Hanscom Air Force Base, outside Boston, and voted to close Otis Air National Guard Base, on Cape Cod, with plans to send its fighter jets to Barnes Air National Guard Base, in Greater Springfield.
Otis was later removed from the list on August 26, 2005, although the jets were still transferred to Barnes.
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Wildlife rehabilitators said 88 more pigeons were found at an I-65 rest stop where police found 57 others dumped in December.
WOLCOTT, Ind. (WLFI) — Wildlife rehibilators said 88 more pigeons were found at an I-65 rest stop where 57 others were dumped in December.
"It's a crazy situation," said Kim Hoover with Hoots to Howls Wildlife Rehabilitation.
Hoover was notified of the dumping on Feb. 28. An attendant at the White County rest stop on northbound I-65 called her. Hoover said nine boxes, identical to those found in December, were filled with pigeons in a dumpster. Four of the 88 pigeons were found dead, Hoover said.
The discovery now makes 145 pigeons found dumped in the same dumpster. Indiana State Police recovered 57 pigeons on Dec. 10. Hoover never thought she would see another situation like this again.
"I thought it was a rare act, never happen again, once in a lifetime as heart wrenching as it was then it happens two months later and you're like really?" she said.
Unlike the December discovery where the birds were buried in the dumpster, this flock was found on top of trash. Hoover said likely, they were dumped overnight between Feb. 27 and Feb. 28.
"They're gorgeous birds," said Hoover. "These are some of the prettiest pigeons I've ever seen. It just stinks."
She said pigeon enthusiasts reached out to her and helped fill in some of the blanks. The pigeons found in the dumpster are Parlor Roller pigeons. They are bred for their ability to somersault on the ground. People roll them on the ground in competitions to see how far they can go. Click here and go to the 3:03 minute mark to see these rolling birds in action.
There are pigeon clubs who compete with these birds humanely, but Hoover believes these dumpster pigeons were part of an illegal gambling ring and were abused. She said both times she came to resuce the birds, they had parasites on them and the boxes they were in did not have breathing holes.
"There's a lot of money being made and I am told that this fellow could care less about fines because he knows they won't get in trouble," she said.
Hoover said the birds found recently had the same tags on them as the ones found in December. The tags had the name and phone number of a Dublin, Ohio man. News 18 attempted to make calls to the number provided and it has been disconnected. The fact that the man is located out of state is causing problems for who is responsible to help.
"The animal control of Dublin Ohio which is where they come from say they were dumped in Indiana and Indiana is like well they came from Ohio," said Hoover.
Hoover said she is worried that this has happened at this rest stop other times but unfortunately, those birds were not found in time. She suggested the rest stop get security cameras, but found out that the state won't fund it.
Wildlife centers in Valparaiso and Illinois took a majority of the birds from Hoover. She has 11 left in her care. She said she has received offers of help from other people as well, which she is thankful for. So what's next for the birds?
"They have got to get their health up and hopefully then adopted out," she said. "They are trying to find people who understand the birds and you don't want them to go back into the same situation they came from."
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Hacienda HealthCare announced it is closing its facility, where a patient was raped. Nathan Sutherland was arrested and charged with sexual assault.
Hacienda HealthCare announced Thursday that it is closing its 60-bed intermediate care facility, where a patient was raped and recently gave birth.
The non-profit company said the board of directors, "after a great deal of consideration, has come to understand that it is simply not sustainable to continue to operate" the facility, which is at 1402 E. South Mountain Drive.
Gov. Doug Ducey was quick to criticize the decision, calling the announcement, "concerning" because state agencies have been actively working to increase oversight at the facility to ensure patient safety.
"For some patients at the facility, this is the only home they know or remember," Ducey spokesman Patrick Ptak said. "Forcing this medically fragile community to move should be a last resort. Everyone's first priority should be protecting their health and safety."
Officials with the Arizona Department of Economic Security were similarly upset by the announcement, calling it "very disturbing news" and imploring Hacienda HealthCare to work with the state moving forward.
"We want to find a path forward that is in the best interests of the patients — and this approach is not it," an emailed statement from spokeswoman Tasya Peterson says.
"State agencies are exhausting all efforts to bring this to a conclusion that is beneficial to the patients, some of whom have been at this facility nearly their entire lives," she said. "They are the ones who should come first, without question. This approach simply does not meet that test."
Hacienda HealthCare says the board voted on the closure last Friday, which is also when the third party manager the company had brought on board as ordered by the state left Hacienda for good.
Indiana-based Benchmark Human Services was on site at Hacienda last week but company officials said that at the end of last week they, "reluctantly stopped this very important effort."
Ducey's office said it was aware of the board's vote because Hacienda met with state agencies on Monday morning. Though the board's vote was acknowledged, Hacienda did not provide a notice to terminate, nor did it provide a transition plan, Ptak said.
"In fact, through today discussions continued around developing an ongoing plan to ensure the care of patients at the facility," he wrote in a message Thursday evening.
Hacienda HealthCare officials on Thursday said they will begin to transition clients and eventually will cease to operate the facility.
In its most recent federal survey, Hacienda's intermediate care facility had 39 patients ranging in age from 16 to 68. Most were described as "non-ambulatory." Hacienda officials on Thursday say their patient count is now at 37.
"Given what happened recently it's not surprising and I don't think it's going to break too many people's hearts that a facility that did such a poor job of taking care of vulnerable adults is no longer in business," said Jon Meyers, executive director of The Arc of Arizona, a non-profit advocacy organization that represents Arizonans with intellectual disabilities.
But the problem is that families have no other private alternative in Arizona, which is yet another disservice to the individuals with intellectual disabilities who rely on them for care, Meyers added.
All the other intermediate care facilities for people with intellectual disabilities are operated by the state, and most don't have the capacity to handle individuals who live at Hacienda, he said.
The patient who gave birth is a 29-year-old non-verbal, incapacitated member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe described in court records as needing a, "maximum level of care."
One of the woman's Hacienda HealthCare providers, licensed practical nurse Nathan Sutherland, was arrested on Jan. 23 and charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of vulnerable-adult abuse.
He surrendered his state-licensed practical nurse license on Jan. 24.
Hacienda HealthCare also operates a 74-bed skilled nursing facility for infants, children, teens and young adults on the 1402 E. South Mountain Ave. campus.
When the patient gave birth on Dec. 29, an employee who called 911 indicated that the staff did not know the woman was pregnant.
An option for further testing for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, syphilis and HIV.
On Jan. 16, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System and the Arizona Department of Economic Security sent a letter directing Hacienda HealthCare to have a third-party manager in place to operate its skilled nursing and intermediate care facilities by Jan. 30.
The company agreed, but when the deal fell through, the state told Hacienda they needed to submit a plan by the end of this week.
Two state lawmakers have introduced legislation this session that would require all intermediate care facilities to be licensed by the state, in addition to being certified by the federal government. Facilities like Hacienda have been exempt from state licensing since 1997.
Many of those patients are non-ambulatory, have seizure disorders, behavior problems, mental illness, visual or hearing impairments, or a combination, and all must qualify financially for Medicaid assistance.
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Ah, to be young again. Today’s NY Sun runs an article about the new show Gossip Girls, a fictitious depiction of life at an all-girls private high school on the Upper East Side. Created by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, the masterminds behind The O.C., it’s loosely based on the books of the same name.
We’re not surprised. It’s only a matter of time before the kids are playing beer pong with the I-banking set at Brother Jimmy’s, assuming, of course, they weren’t already.
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Somewhere in a distant time I saw George Washington in blue Jell-O, his wobbly head free-standing outside its mould. Although I think it was art, it might have been a party favor. Matthew Barney’s barbell made of petroleum jelly is art for sure, and yet I tend to link them, the limp muscle-builder and the fragile father of our country, especially now, when there’s a lot of art whose point is the material used to make it.
It ranges from the cute and clever….
but can also rise beyond any category to dominate global art consciousness, as do El Anatsui’s quilts made from liquor bottle tops and flattened food tins.
El Anatsui, “Cloth of Gold” from “Africa Remix: Contemporary Art of a Continent” at the Hayward Gallery, the largest show of African art ever seen in Europe.
Jason Wood’s self-portrait in pencils functions as a warning: don’t touch me.
Everybody making unexpected material choices owes 16th-century Italian painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo. He stuck to oils but opened worlds of unthinkable X’s equaling improbable Y’s.
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Comedian Jon Stewart headed back to Capitol Hill Thursday to blast Congress' "stupid and embarrassing" failure to renew the Zadroga Act.
The former "Daily Show" host, first responders, and Congressional reps made a last ditch push to get the healthcare bill for Sept. 11 responders passed by the end of the year.
"This is insane," Stewart told the crowd.
"We have a bunch of first responders outside freezing their asses off," he said. "Our country's last responders, our country's worst responders, are inside nice and comfy and cozy, and probably having soup."
He pointed the finger at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who many Zadroga backers have also blamed for blocking the bill after it was left out of a massive highway bill they hoped to include it in.
"Sen. Mitch McConnell can rectify this immediately," Stewart said, noting that the Kentucky pol sponsored a health care bill for nuclear energy workers that has cost $11 billion.
"How in good conscience can you deny them the very thing that you have proudly brought to the people of your state? Please, personally ask him that," Stewart said.
McConnell ignored questions about his role in blocking the legislation after a press conference Tuesday. His spokesman denied he was the roadblock.
Sept. 11 advocate John Feal said the group met with McConnell Wednesday and he promised to include Zadroga in an omnibus budget bill, but said money must still be found to pay for it.
Congress let the World Trade Center Health Program expire in September. The program has enough money to continue treatment for responders suffering from cancer and respiratory disease caused by Ground Zero toxins for now, but it will run out if the feds don't renew it.
Backers want a permanent reauthorization.
"Men and women who answered the call of duty after the gravest terrorist attack in our nation's history stood there on the pile looking for survivors, finding remains, doing the horrible work of cleaning up after such a loss — all the while breathing in so many deadly toxins that are now killing them," said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).
"They came because they are patriots. They came before they are heroes. So what is Congress doing today? Nothing. The answer is nothing."
Still, she vowed to get the bill over the finish line before Congress leaves town for the holidays.
"We are moving this bill," she said. "What we need from our Senate and House leadership is exactly that — leadership."
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JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- U.S. Army Alaska and the Indian Army celebrated the end of Yudh Abhyas 2010 during a ceremony Nov. 14 at Buckner Physical Fitness Center, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
Yudh Abhyas 2010 established and enhanced relationships between the two militaries. The 14-day combined training exercise expanded operational and cultural knowledge between U.S. and Indian Soldiers and increased knowledge of peacekeeping operations.
"This two-week exercise brought these Soldiers together for this increasingly complex exercise. What we've done here through Yudh Abhyas is important. It's important to this relationship between our two countries," said Brig. Gen. Raymond Palumbo, commanding general of U.S. Army Alaska.
Approximately 750 Soldiers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (National Guard) and Indian Army soldiers from the 62nd Infantry and 5th parachute Regiment Brigade participated in Yudh Abhyas 2010 and filled the formation during the ceremony.
"I thought the outcome of this exercise was great. As far as our training objectives, we met all of them," said Maj. Edward Berg, brigade judge advocate, 4th ABCT, 25th ID. "The thing that will last for me, that I will remember most, is just the time getting to know my counterpart and creating that friendship."
The ceremony marked the end of many other events centralized on joint cohesion on and off the field of training.
"We had a great time getting to know each other on a personal level as well as a professional level," Berg added. "I think it's important not only personally to make friends with people from different nations, but also professionally as we go more towards joint operating environments."
Yudh Abhyas 2010 included a command post exercise that focused on combined peacekeeping operations, a field training exercise that included several combined missions, marksmanship and tactical training highlighted by a Javelin live-fire, a combined U.S. and India airborne jump, as well as various cultural activities and social exchanges.
The exercise was significant within all levels involved, Palumbo said. It strengthened national bonds between India and the United States, it brought two allied militaries together on the same field, and gave each individual participant a chance to experience an unfamiliar culture and establish new friendships.
"It's great that we brought two professional armies together for something like this. I think we've created great friendships for the future," Berg said.
Soldiers and leaders from both armies presented gifts to commemorate the bonds established through the training event, and bid farewell to each other to conclude the ceremony and Yudh Abhyas 2010.
Yudh Abhyas is a regularly-scheduled bilateral, conventional-forces training exercise, sponsored by U.S. Army, Pacific and the Indian army. The exercise is designed to promote cooperation between the two militaries to develop U.S. Army Pacific and USARAK relationships with India and promote interoperability through combined military decision making process, battle tracking and maneuvering forces, and exchange of tactics, techniques and procedures.
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Wonderful building lot it Clarksville's Premier subdivision, Merifield Acres. 0.71 Acres with a three bedroom Certification Letter for a septic system. Almost touches the CORPS of Engineers lake front property. Quite hidden property prefect for a retirement home of a lake country getaway.
Five Acres in the popular Ivy Hill area at Buggs Island Kerr Lake. Near the amenities of Island Creek Dam with boat launch and lake access. Zoned R2 so your options for a dwelling near the Lake are wide open.
A wooded lot that borders COE Land to the Lake. The added buffer behind offers additional privacy and room to roam. So near the amenities of Island Creek Park with boat launch in the community. Wooded and secluded with Buggs Island Kerr Lake only a walk away.
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LONDON – Now on Facebook: Your garbage.
Five households have signed up for a Newcastle University program announced Wednesday that puts photographs of every item placed in a garbage can on Facebook in a bid to raise consciousness about recycling efforts.
It uses a sensor and a camera phone to record the image each time the garbage can lid is shut. The person who does that is not photographed.
Households that participate will be rated on how efficiently they recycle.
"Normally when you throw something away and the lid goes down you forget about it -- out of sight out of mind -- and that&apos;s the end of it," said Anja Thieme, one of the postgraduate students in charge of the project. "But the reality could not be further from the truth. Waste has a massive environmental impact."
She said the program is not designed to humiliate people who recycle poorly but to make people reflect on how they dispose of waste.
Early results are encouraging, researchers said, as the amount of garbage thrown away and not recycled has diminished in the weeks since the program began.
But the privacy advocacy group Big Brother Watch is raising concerns about the pilot project.
"This sounds like an elaborate joke -- except it isn&apos;t," said director Daniel Hamilton. "Encouraging recycling is fine but publicly humiliating those who choose not to is outrageous."
He said he would not be surprised if some local councils in England start similar programs.
The project is aimed at young people whose attitudes about sustainability are still being formed.
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As a big travel weekend approaches, many drivers are planning when they should hit the road to best avoid seeing a sea of red brake lights. Here's what you should know.
WASHINGTON — If you are planning to hit the road for the Memorial Day weekend, be forewarned: Friday is no longer the busiest day for your road trip.
“Thursday is the new Friday, and Thursday is every bit as bad as Friday on holiday weekends,” said Bob Immler in the WTOP Traffic Center.
Transportation planner Ben Hampton, with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, analyzed five years of travel speed information collected from GPS software to help drivers avoid a sea of red.
Hampton adds that the following year, there was less traffic on Thursday.
“Every year, people try to time-shift to avoid what they encountered the last year,” said Dave Dildine in the WTOP Traffic Center.
If you’re leaving on Thursday, you should leave before noon. Otherwise, leave on Saturday or after midnight, Dildine said.
Weather will likely not be a factor, which should help drivers headed toward the beaches on U.S. 50.
“It’s probably not going to rain. That means eastbounders get three total lanes to work with. There will be delays and it’ll be congested, but it wont be as bad as if it were a soggy start to the Memorial Day weekend,” Dildine said.
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While granting bail, the court said it had dismissed the first plea as the matter was “at the stage of investigation” then but the circumstances had since changed.
A Delhi court on Tuesday granted bail to Gautam Khaitan, who is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate in a black money and money laundering case.
Special judge Arvind Kumar granted him bail on a personal bond of ~25 lakh. The criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was filed by the ED on the basis of a case lodged by the Income Tax Department under provisions of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015.
ED contested Khaitan’s bail plea, arguing that he may hamper the investigation. Khaitan’s counsel Pramod Kumar Dubey and senior advocate Sidharth Luthra said that the investigation in the case was over and ED had already filed a charge sheet on March 25. This is the second bail plea moved by Khaitan, which was dismissed by the court.
Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland chopper scam, moved a Delhi court Tuesday seeking 7-day interim bail to celebrate Easter with his family. Special Judge Arvind Kumar directed the CBI and the ED to respond to his application by April 18, when the court will hear the mater.
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Just a couple of questions in regard to a planned upgrade. Currently I have a POS GF2MX400 and am in search of a card for about 100-150 Aussie Dollars. I've done a bit of research and have found a few cards drawn to my attention the likes being Radeon 9550, Radeon 9550 Extreme and a few from the 9600 series. I'm steering clear of nVidia for that end of the market as they seem to get blasted by ATI.
My current frame of mind is : Get the 9550 for <$100 as it will be 100% better than my current card and have no regrets, spend the rest of the money on something else.
But looking at some reviews the 9550 Extreme seems to be pretty sweet aswell. it has a clockspeed of 400/500 up from the 9550 clock speed of 250/400. It has got a few FPS on the stock 9600 in some benches.
But it costs an extra $50. Are the internals the same on these cards, would I be able to get the same figures from a stock 9550 with an aftermarket cooler?
Haven't read much about the 9550, but looking at the specs on the card, it's clearly worse than a 9600, but doesn't cost much less. I can't say anything about the 9550 Extreme, though. In any case, they all support Direct X 9.0 adn have similar speeds, so I don't think you'll be too dissapointed with whatever you choose.
On the other hand, it would be worth it to get some more money for something from the Radeon 9700/9800 series. The 9800 Pro is probably the best bang-for-buck card in there, but any of them will be much better than a 9600 or 9550 because they are all 256-bit. The 9600 is basically the top of the low-end range of cards, so "upgrading" to one isn't really much of an upgrade.
Most of those R9550's that are less than $100aus will likely only have 64-bit memory access so stay clear of them and get one that has a full 128-bit memory access.
Sorry but I can't really help you on that subject.
Yawgm0th believe my I would absolutely love to go out and buy a 9800 Pro but I simply can't/won't. I don't have the cash, and even If I did I'd prefer to spend it elsewhere.
One more question, how well do nonpro 9600 overclock?
If I remember correctly, my Sapphire 9600 non-pro got somewhere around 400/560 in an OEM desktop with no case fans... But again, I might not remember that right.
But I wouldn't get too worked up over it. All the overclocking in the world isn't going to make a 9600 play any modern game well. It's okay if you're still into some of the older Quake-3 based games, I guess.
It appears to be the same as this, which is 128-bit.
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F-35 Lightning. "They are tearing down old hangars and building new ones to house the jet."
"It's really University City where they are in after-burner mode."
There may be a shift in the military aircraft noise from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, this week and in the long term, base commander Col. Jason Woodworth told the Mira Mesa Planning Group Monday night.
"Folks along Genessee and around the 805 will get more noise than Mira Mesa."
"I assure you - and the general does too - the aircraft that are flying are still meeting the exacting standards before military use," Woodworth said.
According to the base community plans and liaison officer, there will be increased flight operation at the air station due to troop deployments.
"Those living and working near MCAS Miramar may notice large, heavy aircraft (contracted 777, 747s and 767s) departing," the announcement says.
The base gets a half dozen noise complaints a day, a duty officer said. Miramar is an air base open every day all day, Woodworth said, but the Marines tend to fly between 8 am and 12:30 am, with the last two hours part of the 'modified quiet' approach.
"Our pilots need night training as much if not more than day training," Woodworth said.
The command is preparing for the arrival of the F-35 — Lightnings, in the trade language. They are tearing down old hangars and building new ones to house the jet, which ultimately will replace the FA-18. For now, the Marine air base at Yuma has several of the F-35s.
Miramar is home to the 3rd Marine Air Wing, pilots and crews who fly FA-18 Hornets, KC-130s, the MV-22 Osprey, and the KC-130 Hercules.
"The current pattern for decibel levels will stay about the same," Woodworth said. "The sound is different — It's a different craft with a different sound." Much of the noise occurs in University City, he said, and base complaint counts show that's where most of the complaints come from. "It's really University City where they are in after-burner mode," he said. "Folks along Genessee and around the 805 will get more noise than Mira Mesa."
The transition to the F-35s is expected to take 11 years, starting in 2020 and going to 2031, he said.
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PARIS, May 10 (Reuters) - Artists at one of the most-visited hubs of contemporary art in Paris are in a battle with city hall to preserve the status quo at their “aftersquat”, where visitors can freely view 30 painters and sculptors in the throes of the creative process.
The artists, who have travelled from as far away as Japan and the United States to set up in the former illegal squat, say a plan to reduce the number of permanent workshops in order to have more artists move through will kill the family spirit of the site, now leased and legal for several years.
Six floors of rooms showcasing the eclectic creators and their work are accessible from a spiral central staircase, spattered with paint in psychedelic colours that stands out from the building’s nondescript Haussmanian exterior.
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We have some great news for those of you on Xbox now, as Activision and Microsoft have decided to offer something of a great treat for this weekend. For this weekend only, you’ll be able to play COD Ghosts multiplayer online for free, no questions asked.
In an interesting move, this will actually mark the first occasion where a free Call of Duty demo has been offered on console. Unsurprisingly, this is Xbox only on either Xbox 360 or Xbox One with no information whatsoever on the same deal taking place for PS3 and PS4 users.
COD Ghosts will be free on Friday March 7 at 1pm Eastern Time and will run through until Monday at the same time, that’s 10am for those on Pacific Time.
The maps that will be offered will be Strikezone, Warhawk and Prison Break, while players will also be able to get a taster of COD Ghosts Extinction as well – a lovely gesture you have to say.
Some players are already questioning the timing of this incentive though. As we all know, Titanfall is launching on March 11. Is this an attempt by Activision to remind everyone that COD Ghosts is still the number one shooter on Xbox One, regardless of the arrival of Titanfall?
Let us know your thoughts on this and whether you intend to take advantage of the free weekend. Do you think the COD Ghosts popularity is starting to slow down with those more interested in Titanfall?
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Paleo diets avoid foods that came with modern agriculture.
1 What is the Paleo Diet?
4 Does the Paleo Diet Eliminate Healthy Foods Like Brown Rice?
You might not be a caveman, but proponents claim it's advantageous to eat like one. This means sticking to foods that were available to your Paleolithic ancestors during a prehistoric era that ended about 15,000 years ago. While Loren Cordain, author of "The Paleo Diet," is perhaps one of the most well-known proponents of this way of eating, you can find slightly different types of paleo diets.
Loren Cordain recommends avoiding dairy, eggs, grains and legumes and focusing on lean meat, fruits, nonstarchy vegetables, nuts and seeds. Cordain claims the paleo people ate a relatively low-carbohydrate diet, so his approach places emphasis on lean meats above all. On the other hand, Arthur De Vany, author of "The New Evolution Diet," claims that your paleo ancestors mainly foraged for plants and hunted meat when they could. His paleo-style diet places emphasis on vegetables and fruit, not meat. He does not exclude starchy vegetables, and he recommends eating at least 25 percent of your vegetables raw.
If you cringe at the thought of avoiding dairy and eggs, perhaps Mark Sisson, author of "The Primal Blueprint," has the diet for you. Although he claims your paleo ancestors thrived on a plant-based diet, he doesn't exclude dairy and eggs. Sisson recommends choosing raw, grass-fed or fermented dairy products, but he recommends having fruits and vegetables make up the bulk of your diet. In addition, Sisson recommends wild-caught fish and grass-fed meat. He, too, recommends avoiding grains, legumes, processed oils and table sugar.
Robb Wolf, author of "The Paleo Solution," has similar recommendations to Loren Cordain. However, he takes a slightly different approach when it comes to meat. Wolf doesn't seem to think animal fat is a major problem and recommends meat such as pork chops, bacon and fatty cuts of steak that you'd normally avoid on other paleo-style diets. Wolf emphasizes grass-fed meat and wild game meat, which he says is naturally leaner than commercial meat. Wolf also recommends starchy vegetables, which Cordain places on the no-no list.
There's no one way to apply paleo principles to your eating habits. However, all approaches seem to agree that it's better to eat as naturally as possible and avoid junk food, processed food and table sugar. Researchers are finding that paleo diets may offer potential benefits. A small randomized study found that adhering to a paleo diet for three months improved blood sugar control and cardiovascular risk factors in participants with Type 2 diabetes. The results were published in the journal "Cardiovascular Diabetology" in July 2009.
Froek, Barbara. "Alternatives to Cordain's Paleo Diet." Healthy Eating | SF Gate, http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/alternatives-cordains-paleo-diet-11384.html. Accessed 22 April 2019.
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The Rotary Club of Chambersburg has recognized two outstanding students from Chambersburg Area Senior High School.
CHAMBERSBURG -- Chambersburg Rotary has recognized Emily Nozzi and Tedra Ulrich as “Students of the Month” for November.
Dr. Stephen Overcash, chairman of the club's scholarship and Students of the Month program, said the two Chambersburg Area Senior High School seniors "are outstanding, and have contributed a lot to our town, school, and community."
Emily Nozzi was recognized as an exceptional student across all subject areas, challenging herself academically at CASHS with college prep, honors and advanced placement courses, leading to a remarkable 2.51 grade point average.
Apart from excelling academically, Nozzi displays her leadership skills through her position as an associate editor of "CASHS collections," a student-run literary magazine that is published annually. Her other extracurricular activities include being an active member of the Writer’s Workshop, Interact Club and the Gay-Straight Alliance. Outside of a busy schedule at school, she also works at The Shoe Dept and explores her creative interests: painting, reading and writing pieces for "CASHS collections." She also volunteers with her youth group, helping with children’s activities.
Nozzi's plans for the future include a career in the psychology field relating to research or clinical psychology, as she is following a passion fostered during her advanced placement psychology class; and becoming a published author.
Tedra Ulrich, also a senior, was being recognized as a remarkable student across all subject areas, challenging herself academically at CASHS with college prep, honors, and advanced placement classes, resulting in an outstanding 4.38 grade point average.
Aside from her superb academic record, Ulrich displays her leadership as Leo Club treasurer, German club president, and senior vice president of the National Honor Society. She is also involved with the rugby team and Mu Alpha Theta. Her academic and service accolades include the Leo Club Dedication to Service Award, first place in both the AuthorSHIP poetry contest and essay contest in 2014, first place in the Shippensburg Language contest in 2013, and Lenfest Scholarship recipient.
Ulrich still finds time to work at Rutter’s Farm Store, play both the guitar and drums and read anything politically stimulating, including George Orwell and feminist literature. She plans to attend Dickinson College and is looking into the fields of German, philosophy and English, and then further her study with a secondary degree in law or education at any top institution in New York City.
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Tucked away in the huge East Texas trees is where you will find this meticulously maintained home sitting on 2.76 acres. The private 2nd entrance with driveway on FM-2339, large elevated decks off of the living area and master bedroom, Callender Lake and acreage are just a few of the unique qualities of this property. Callender Lake is a private 365 acre spring fed lake with so much to love. Make precious memories with the family while fishing, boating and wildlife watching as the deer frequently visit. Homeowners have full access to all the recreational facilities including the clubhouse, children's park with playground, picnic area, swim park and boat launch ramp. Don't miss out, make it yours!
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The new head of the Boston FBI Field Office sat down with NBC10 Boston to talk about his new role.
He's the FBI's new man in charge in Boston: Joseph Bonavolonta, special agent in charge of the Boston field office, sat down with NBC10 Boston Monday to talk about the current threats the bureau is tackling.
"What keeps me up at night would simply be, 'What is it we don't know or what we aren't aware of,'" said Bonavolonta.
He said the biggest threats are violent crime, gang violence, terrorism and cyber attacks.
"We have nation states that are also backing or sponsoring criminal actor to engage in a wide variety of cyber-crimes," said Bonavolonta.
The FBI veteran took over the field office in Chelsea in January. He now oversees several high profile cases, including "Operation Varsity Blues."
In March, federal investigators announced the arrest of 50 parents, coaches and high profile celebrities in what's been called the biggest college admissions scandal in history.
"We believe all of them parents, coaches and facilitators lied, cheated and covered up their crimes at the expense of hardworking students and taxpayers everywhere," said Bonavolonta at the March 12 press conference.
It's a case that remains active.
"As you know, that is an ongoing and active investigation, so I'm not going to comment any further than what we've already stated based on the press conference subsequent to the arrests in that case," said Bonavolonta. Asked if was still an ongoing and evolving case, he said, "Yes."
Bonavolonta took over the post from Hank Shaw, but he's no stranger to this field office. He served as assistant special agent in charge from 2013 to 2017. His father was also in the bureau for 24 years and worked on organized crime investigations in New York.
"You could say the FBI is in my DNA. It's in my blood," said Bonavolonta.
The threats are always changing. Right now, the Boston field office is heavily involved in security preparations for the upcoming Boston Marathon.
"We are incredibly focused on determining if there is any type of intelligence that could lend itself toward a credible threat," he said. "As we sit here right now, we have not determined any."
Six years after the attack at the finish line, terrorism, both foreign and homegrown, remains a top threat.
"I think now, when you look at what one of our primary focuses is within counter-terrorism program, it's home-grown violent extremists," said Bonavolonta.
He added that the bureau continues to work around the clock on marathon security.
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MESUT OZIL, Roy Hodgson and Gareth Bale all feature in today's paper review.
THE SUN: Gary Lineker was painted in vegetables yesterday as Roy Hodgson warned him - You're sprout of order. Also: Mesut Ozil is in line for a shock start for Arsenal at Sunderland on Saturday.
DAILY MAIL: Gareth Bale turned up for his first day at the office and was warmly welcomed by the man he has replaced as the world's most expensive footballer. Also: Gary Lineker is willing to sit on FA chairman Greg Dyke's crisis commission into the state of English football after smoothing over relations with England manager Roy Hodgson.
DAILY MIRROR: Gary Lineker last night backtracked over his England criticism and insisted Roy Hodgson was doing "a good job". Also: Gareth Bale got to grips with the superstar he calls The Boss when he turned up for his first day with Real Madrid yesterday.
DAILY EXPRESS: Roy Hodgson's fractious relationship with Gary Lineker threatens to become further strained after he accused the former England striker of having a selective memory. Also: It was almost manbags at 20 paces yesterday as new signing Gareth Bale was greeted at Real Madrid by the man he replaced as the world's most expensive player.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Roy Hodgson has returned from Kiev with a point and a grievance. Also: Manchester United defender Phil Jones is demanding a written apology from Stuart Pearce after being left furious following claims that he lacked the commitment to play in the European Under-21 Championship this summer.
THE TIMES: Bradley Wiggins offered to walk out on Team Sky in the middle of his Tour de France victory last year. Also: Even now, Roy Hodgson seems surprised that his delight at a solid, if uninspiring England performance away from home might not be shared universally.
THE GUARDIAN: Roy Hodgson has admitted he deliberately set out his England team to play long-ball football in the World Cup qualifier against Ukraine that has led to prolonged criticism of the team's methods under his management. Also: On a tiny sofa in a private members' club in London's Soho, Clarke Carlisle draws up his long limbs and buries his face in his hands.
THE INDEPENDENT: Roy Hodgson has hit back at Gary Lineker's criticism of the England team's "awful" 0-0 draw with Ukraine, claiming that the England sides the former striker played in were not always a "total success" either. Also: What should not be forgotten about Roy Hodgson is that he is the coach called in from the cold.
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It is possible more people who came in contact with a man who died from the Ebola virus in Dallas, Texas, could test positive for the virus in the coming days, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Sunday.
Tom Frieden offered this possibility a day after a preliminary diagnosis showed that a health care worker who had “extensive contact” with Thomas Eric Duncan tested positive for Ebola. If the test is confirmed, this would be the first known case of Ebola being contracted or transmitted in the United States.
The level of the virus in the woman’s system was “low,” Frieden said, adding that another test to confirm whether she has the virus will be conducted later Sunday.
Frieden said at least 48 people who came in contact with Duncan before he was admitted to the hospital in Dallas are at risk of contracting the virus.
“Unfortunately, it is possible in the coming days we will see additional cases of Ebola,” Frieden said.
“The risk is in the 48 people who are being monitored, all of whom have been tested daily, none of whom so far have developed symptoms or fever,” Frieden said.
An “intensive investigation” is also being conducted to determine others who may have come in contact with Duncan while he was being treated, because they may have been exposed as well, Frieden added. Some of these workers could have had a breach in contamination control similar to the one that led to the nurse being infected, he said.
When the nurse became feverish on Friday, she reported it and was given a preliminary test for the virus, which turned up positive Saturday night, Frieden said.
The CDC and Texas health officials are investigating how many people the nurse came in contact with after coming down with symptoms of the disease.
Frieden said the CDC has sent additional staff to Dallas to assist with the response. The agency will also enhance training of health care workers who may have to treat patients with the virus.
The key to stopping the spread of the disease is to “break the chains of transmission,” he said. This involves promptly diagnosing anyone who has symptoms of the disease, isolating that individual, identifying everyone this person came in contact with and actively monitor those people over a 21-day period. If any of these contacts comes down with Ebola symptoms, then the same process starts over again.
David Lakey, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, who also participated in the news briefing, agreed.
“I firmly believe we will stop it,” Lakey said.
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In previous seasons, K-State developed an effective scouting routine leading up to its NCAA Tournament opener. Video and other information on an opponent began flowing.
But the Wildcats will prepare differently this time. On top of adjusting to the approach of a new coaching staff, they will have to spend the next two days planning for multiple opponents before locking in on either La Salle or Boise State on Thursday in Kansas City.
Scouting for two teams instead of one will be a challenge. Coaches will come up with two game plans, and the staff will provide players with twice as much video. To help ease the process, Bruce Weber said four coaches will help gather information instead of the usual three.
Some will argue preparing for multiple opponents puts K-State at a disadvantage compared to other highly seeded teams. Three other teams in the field of 68 have to deal with the same time crunch and challenge of facing a team that has already won a game in the tournament.
Boise State averages more than 73 points behind Anthony Drmic (17.3 points) and Derrick Marks (16.3). The Broncos won nine games in the Mountain West Conference — which this season has college basketball’s top conference RPI — and beat Creighton on the road. They are not easy to prepare for.
Neither is La Salle, which won 11 games in the Atlantic 10 behind dynamic guards Ramon Galloway and Tyreek Duren. The Explorers beat Butler and VCU this season.
Of course, others will say it is an advantage. Sure, K-State doesn’t know who it will play on Friday, but La Salle and Boise State aren’t even thinking about the Wildcats yet.
A live game, especially in the NCAA Tournament, can often reveal more about a team than what can be found from replays of regular-season games.
Kansas State’s basketball game against current No. 1 Gonzaga next season at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita will be Dec. 21, the schools announced Monday. It’s a return trip to Kansas after Gonzaga’s victory in a neutral-court game in Seattle this season.
K-State season-ticket holders and Ahearn Fund members will have first opportunities to purchase tickets, with a public sale beginning at 10 a.m. Sept. 13 through selectaseat.com or by calling 855-755-7328. Tickets will range between $12 and $200, and K-State students can purchase $10 student tickets in the fall.
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APATZINGAN, Mexico — Federal forces struggled to bring order to western Mexico Wednesday as vigilantes battled a vicious drug cartel that apparently tried to reassert its authority by burning a downtown pharmacy to enforce its orders that no businesses should open.
The fire attack came just two blocks from the Apatzingan city center where, the day before, dozens of federal police had paraded in an impressive display of force meant to re-impose order in a region where heavily armed vigilantes have taken up a freelance fight against the drug gang.
An employee of the pharmacy said two men pulled up with jerry cans of gasoline and began dousing the store and its merchandise. “They just told us to get out, because they were going to burn the place,” she said.
The employee, part of whose hair was burned off in the attack, refused to give her name for fear of reprisals.
Owners of other stores have said that cartel gunmen have ordered them to close or risk being burned down. Another pharmacy employee, who gave her name only as Norma, said the increased federal security that arrived this week appeared to have done little to discourage the Knights Templar cartel, which has subjected local residents to systematic extortion for years.
But federal forces have other challenges, as well. The local police in Apatzingan were considered so untrustworthy that the entire 300-man force was relieved of duty and sent out of town for background checks.
Officials from the federal and Michoacan state governments met until late Tuesday with leaders of “self-defense” groups.
While refusing to give up their weapons, vigilante leaders appeared to be seeking a cooling of tensions.
“We have to be discreet with our weapons and not move up and down the highways with them,” said Hipolito Mora, a lime grower who leads the self-defense group in the town of La Ruana, after the meeting.
Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong confirmed the talks had taken place, and said the government was offering jobs as police to qualified members of the self-defense forces.
The spokesman for the vigilante movement, Estanislao Beltran, previously said the vigilantes weren’t interested in such offers. “We don’t want jobs as policemen. We’re fighting for the freedom of our families,” he said.
The talks came after soldiers clashed with townspeople in Antunez, where at least two men were reportedly killed during the confrontation that began late Monday. Video of the clash aired by Milenio Television showed a chaotic scene in which angry townspeople scuffled with soldiers and apparently tried to grab the gun and equipment of at least one soldier.
The unrest is in a region of Michoacan known as Tierra Caliente, a farming area rich in limes, avocados and mangos where vigilante groups have been trying to drive out the Knights Templar drug cartel. After a weekend of firefights, the government announced Monday that it would take on security duties in the area.
Throughout Tuesday, federal police officers and soldiers set up roadside checkpoints just yards from roadblocks manned by vigilantes on routes into towns controlled by self-defense groups, but there were no attempts to take weapons from the civilians.
One federal officer who was not authorized to speak to the press said they had no orders to disarm anyone, or to try to take towns held by vigilantes, who have surrounded Apatzingan, which is said to be a Knights Templar stronghold.
Hundreds of federal police officers poured into Apatzingan, the region’s main city, in pickup trucks mounted with machines guns, armored vehicles and buses. They massed in the city’s main square.
Critics have suggested that some self-defense groups have been infiltrated by the rival New Generation cartel, which the vigilantes vehemently deny.
After initially arresting vigilantes months ago, the federal government has appeared to be working with them recently. The army and federal police have provided helicopter cover and road patrols while self-defense groups attacked the cartel, but never intervened in the battles.
Self-defense group leaders said they were coordinating the highway blockades in the 17 municipalities they control to keep out soldiers and federal police.
Felipe Diaz, a leader of vigilantes in Coalcoman, said close to 1,000 men, women and children helped block the main highway until soldiers and dozens of federal police in four buses and 15 pickup trucks left the area.
Associated Press writers Olga R. Rodriguez, E. Eduardo Castillo and Katherine Corcoran in Mexico City contributed to this report.
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LAURA'S is just what Oyster Bay needs and its residents know it. They have taken this newly opened American restaurant to their hearts and made it an instant hit. Even midweek evenings find nearly every table filled; on Saturdays there are crowds waiting in the bar.
Part of the draw is James Paskins, the restaurant's chef and owner, who acquired a following during his years at the Coach Grill, also in Oyster Bay. His wife and other family members efficiently handle the front of the house. Another crowd pleaser is the reasonable prices. Entrees start at $11 and top out at $18.
Laura's, named for Mr. Paskins's late mother, looks much as it did last year, when 68 West Main was at this location. It is spacious and comfortable. The dining room is defined by white columns, carved molding, smoky mirrors and crystal chandeliers. In a town filled with casual cafes, Laura's smart good looks make it stand out.
One new feature is the entrance through the bar. This, no doubt, eliminates drafts in the dining room but the crowded, smoky bar does not make a positive first impression. The dining room, however, is a place of charm and serenity.
Other salad sensations are a just-right Caesar and a plate of grilled vegetables served atop baby greens with a balsamic vinaigrette as a dipping sauce. The seafood salad carries a price tag ($12) that is higher than some entrees, but this abundant assembly could be a main course. It stars jumbo shrimp, sea scallops, calamari, scungilli, chopped peppers, red onions, celery and black olives in a lemon-basil vinaigrette.
Other openers I would order again are tender clams oreganata with a refreshingly spare use of bread crumbs, New Zealand mussels in a sherry pink sauce enlivened by spicy, smoky andouille sausage, a huge crab cake made lighter by the inclusion of shredded vegetables and two big portobellos served on a bed of grilled tomatoes and baby spinach. One creation that does not work, though, is the smoked-salmon-crusted-oysters. The delicate bivalves never had a chance. The assertive bready topping was too much for them. Every day a different homemade ravioli ($13) is featured. On my visit, they were filled with sun-dried tomatoes and black olives and tossed with big chunks of succulent chicken, chopped tomatoes, broccoli and an abundance of garlic. A winner! Another tasty pasta pick was fettuccine hidden under a mountain of sliced shell steak, three types of mushrooms and a chunky tomato sauce.
Fish were all cooked with precision. The herb-crusted tuna was rare as ordered and a special of striped bass in a tomato-basil sauce was moist and flaky as was sauteed tilapia in a mushroom-lemon-wine sauce.
Good meat selections include chicken medallions in a brown sauce spiked with bourbon and touched with cream, a juicy grilled rib eye, a tasty shell steak marinated in teriyaki sauce and a memorable rack of lamb special, served pink as ordered, atop a bed of barely wilted baby spinach. That spinach aside, the same vegetables show up with every entree. But, it should be said, the creamy mashed potatoes are terrific.
Desserts are not homemade but high-quality bakery fare. The ganache-like chocolate mousse cake and the creamy New York-style cheesecake are the most noteworthy.
Prices here are gentle, with 15 of 21 table wines in the $14 to $20 range. A glass of flinty Fetzer Sundial chardonnay costs $5 and a bottle of 1995 Tessera zinfandel, displaying a velvety texture and accessible fruit flavors, is $20.
68 West Main Street, Oyster Bay, 624-7100.
Recommended dishes Clams oreganata, crab cake, portobello mushrooms, mussels, all salads, bourbon chicken, rib eye, marinated shell steak, rack of lamb, ravioli, shell steak fettuccine, tuna, tilapia, striped bass, chocolate mousse cake, cheesecake.
Price range Lunch, entrees $5 to $11. At dinner, appetizers $4 to $12; entrees $11 to $18.
Hours Lunch, 11 A.M. to 3 P.M. Tuesday through Saturday; Sunday brunch 11:30 A.M. to 3 P.M.; Dinner 5 to 10 P.M. Tuesday and Wednesday, till 11 P.M. Thursday through Saturday, 4 to 10 P.M. Sunday.
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There are no indications missing teenager Scott Redman is still alive, according to South Australian police investigating his disappearance following a high-speed chase earlier this year.
Police have now declared Mr Redman's disappearance a major crime and have launched a fresh search for the 19-year-old, who has not been seen since April.
Investigators are focusing their search efforts on a 12-square-kilometre area west of Kimba on Eyre Peninsula.
Police believe Mr Redman and an associate travelled to the area after abandoning an SUV which was involved in a brief police chase.
The black Kia Sorento was being pursued on the Eyre Highway near Kimba about 3:50pm on Saturday, April 21.
Police terminated the chase a short time later, and said the SUV then turned onto a dirt road.
The other alleged occupant was arrested two days later after hitch-hiking from Middleback Range, and the SUV was found abandoned at Secret Rocks about 40 kilometres east of Kimba on April 25.
But police have been unable to find any trace of Mr Redman, despite several searches.
"Investigators have not been able to find any indication that he is still alive," police said in a statement.
Mounted police will today be assisted by officers from the Major Crime Investigation Branch, STAR Group and the State Tactical Response Group, as well as local police.
"Police are determined to do everything possible to locate Scott and return him to his family, and are committing significant resources to this search in the hope of finding him," Detective Superintendent Des Bray said.
In May, police said they held "grave fears" for Mr Redman's wellbeing, after monitoring his social media accounts and speaking to friends and family.
But at that time it was thought he could have travelled interstate, with police stating that "Scott doesn't want to necessarily be found".
"It is possible that Mr Redman has also caught a lift with someone, but we have no evidence of that at this time," Inspector Mark Hubbard said in May.
Police have not provided detail on why Mr Redman was being pursued in the first place.
Anyone with information has been urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
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SPOILER ALERT: Before you read this post, roast yourself a nice pig, pour yourself a bottle of wine (I suggest a fruity grenache with the pork), cork the bottle extremely tightly and watch last night’s Lost.
We can spend all day talking about the mythology and background revealed on “Ab Aeterno,” an intense episode of Lost–and I’m sure we will–but let’s say this first: fancy story aside, last night showed us a fine hour of acting, plain and simple.
I’ve seen Nestor Carbonell in a variety of roles on TV (from Bat Manuel in The Tick to the CBS soap Cane), and it’s not like he’s been a slouch as Richard on Lost. But until this season, he’s had to play Richard on a single, subdued, sustained note of enigmatic cool. In “Ab Aeterno,” he almost literally made Richard into another character, showing us the decent, desperate, heartbroken man who would be transformed over 140 years as Jacob’s ambassador on the Island.
It may have seemed like a lot of time spent to some viewers, but clearly Cuse and Lindelof thought they needed to show, not just tell, the circumstances that brought Richard to his current pass. And Carbonell sold it, embodied Ricardo’s horror as he lived through a Victorian-horror melodrama. Which is important, because they had to place us in the mindset of someone who believes, literally not figuratively, that he is actually in hell.
So are they in hell? (That, and Purgatory, were among the first theories fans spun about Lost.) Are they actually in danger, as Ghost Isabella says, of going to hell? No, but Ricardo has come to what he thinks of as hell, and to a place that someone of his era and mindset will naturally interpret as hell. Unlike, say, Hurley, a religious, penitent man living on the Canary Islands in 1867 has not read sci-fi or seen a monster movie in his life. If he ends up in a place where he sees horrors, where the dead come to life (and are seemingly killed again), and a thing made of smoke snatches men up to their death—well, that’s hell, case closed. Someone of another era will give it a different name.
It’s not hell–right?–but it is, “Ab Aeterno” told us more explicitly than ever, a metaphysical playing ground, where two forces are battling it out through human subjects, not unlike gods in Greek mythology. So what game are Jacob and Smokey/The Man in Black playing? We got the rough outline at the end of season 5–and fans have inferred or theorized most of the rest–but it was still a bit stunning to hear Jacob say it to Ricardo directly.
To wit: Smokey is imprisoned on the Island. He is a malevolent force–call him evil, call him hatred, call him the devil if you want–who, if released, would spread over the world like, well, black smoke. (Or wine. I like the idea of a Wine Monster.) Jacob brings people to the Island, where–whatever they have done in the past–they have a chance to choose good over evil. (He is, metaphorically, the producer of Lost.) Jacob believes people can choose good. Smokey believes (as he said in the season 5 finale) that they always go bad in the end. Smokey tries to manipulate and tempt them toward that end; Jacob believes they must choose of their own free will.
So far, so God-and-Devily. But what is “right and wrong” in the endgame of Lost, anyway? I’m glad, if this is the case, that the arc of the series is the characters’ redemption, and that they have agency to choose for themselves. Still, is their goodness going to be defined by which side they pick in this Island-god showdown? Why exactly, is it “good” to pick the jackass deity who strands innocent people in an Island hellhole over the jackass deity who deceives and or kills them once they get there? It’s better, maybe, but I’m not sure Jacob’s role in all this seems so holy. You crashed me on this terrifying rock so you could “prove [Smokey] wrong?” Have a freaking debate society and leave me out of it!
In any event, from “Ab Aeterno,” the notion of the Losties finally saying pox-on-both-your-houses and rejecting the whole cosmic game seems less likely. Though I still see signs that Smokey and Jacob may be more alike than they let on: it was certainly interesting to see that, when Smokey tried to enlist Ricardo to kill Jacob, he gave him the knife and the same speech that Dogen (not Jacob, but his servant) gave Sayid to get him to kill Smokey.
As all this unfolds, I hope that the other conflicts over the Island built over the last five seasons–the “science-based” story, if you will–aren’t wholly subsumed in the Paradise Lost scenario. How does Hanso, and his descendants in the Hanso foundation, figure into all this? Why did they come to see the Island as significant, and what exactly did Dharma want to achieve on the Island? How did Widmore get there in the first place, and what did he want–and what investment, if any, do Smokey and Jacob have in his war with Ben, and vice versa? The closer I get to the center of the onion, the more I want to revisit the layers.
Those are all big-picture questions that (I will be a broken record here) are impossible to judge until the season and series are over. As an episode, “Ab Aeterno” again proved Lost’s ability to find the humanity in, and build a connection with, its most seemingly enigmatic characters. Hell of a job.
* Is it just me, or did Titus Welliver get direction to deliver his lines like Terry O’Quinn—or, specifically, as O’Quinn-as-Smokey-as-Locke? Whether intentional or coincidental, Welliver’s phrasing and manner made clear he and O’Quinn were playing the same character in different bodies. Nice work.
* So if Smokey gets off The Island, the world will become plagued with evil, hatred and malevolence. As opposed to…?
* And about Jacob: did he strike anyone else in the 1867 part of this story as more tough and hard-assed than we’ve seen him in the Island’s present? A bit of an Old Testament Jacob?
* I’ve been reading elsewhere about the parallels between the plot on the Island and Stephen King’s novels, especially The Stand, which at this point I am glad I haven’t read. But when the Man in Black took out the magic weapon and told Ricardo to kill his enemy, was I the only one reminded of HBO’s Carnivàle, and the murderous eternal war among the avatars?
* When Ricardo saw Isabella in the hold of The Black Rock, the inference was that this was actually Smokey appearing as Isabella to manipulate him. Presumably Smokey had access to Ricardo’s memories after examining and flash-photographing him, yes? I could look this up but I’m not going to: is this the first time we’ve seen Smokey manifest as a person who (unlike Locke, Yemi or Christian) had not physically been on the Island, even as a corpse?
* That CGI butterfly that fluttered into the Black Rock’s hold–I assume it’s significant, and I have no explanation for it. (My one theory, that the Island is actually Pandora from Avatar, is probably not too likely.) Speaking of CGI, credit to Lost for showing some scenes set on the ocean that did not look like a low-budget video game.
* OK, this may be immature, but was anyone else wondering if Hurley and Richard were going to share a kiss, a la Ghost, when Ricardo was visited by the shade of Isabella? It would have blown the moment, I suppose, but still.
* More seriously, when Isabella told Richard he’d suffered enough, were you thinking he was going to die? More to the point, were you, like me, hoping he would die, as a mercy to him? It’s a tribute to the show that it can cause a reaction like this to a character we’ve long known as one of the bad guys–or so, at least, we thought.
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Texas Tech has announced four finalists for the open position of provost and senior vice president.
Each finalist will participate in an open forum where participants can learn about them and ask questions.
� Lawrence Schovanec, interim provost and senior vice president at Tech. Schovanec's open forum is set for 4 to 5:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 2, in Room 169 of the Human Sciences building.
� Michael O'Brien, dean of the College of Arts & Science at the University of Missouri. O'Brien's open forum will be 2:30 to 4 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 5, in Room 169 of the Human Sciences building.
� Diane Chase, executive vice provost for academic affairs at the University of Central Florida. Chase's open forum will be announced next week.
� Kimberly Andrews Espy, vice president for research & innovation and dean of the graduate school at the University of Oregon. Espy's open forum will be announced next week.
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So now Stephen Harper needs the Indians.
It seems everybody does these days — for all the wrong reasons.
According to sources who have seen Harper consultant Doug Eyford’s confidential report, Stephen Harper’s bureaucrats have not done him any favours in moving the Northern Gateway file forward. Eyford told the PM that genuine engagement with First Nations is the only path left. For a variety of reasons, selling the pipeline to First Nations leaders is now an unofficial panic situation.
As things now stand, the odds are against a deal with West Coast bands on the pipeline that is supposed to carry Alberta bitumen through British Columbia and out to Asian markets.
From industry and government’s perspective, time is of the essence. They want a delivery system for Alberta raw oil before other countries with energy for sale put a long-term lock on the markets that are up for grabs, particularly China.
By contrast, First Nations leaders will not be hustled into a quick or unsatisfactory deal. Northern Gateway is a multiple sore spot for them. They feel as though they have been ignored, marginalized and, to a degree, vilified. There was even a pitiful attempt to buy them off — with a 10-per-cent equity position in Northern Gateway. If it were only a matter of numbers, a deal-winning arrangement would be a stake at least three times as large.
But it’s not just dollars. It is a matter of reasonable fears by First Nations leaders about protection of the land and water in the wake of the Harper government’s gutting of environmental regulations in its anti-democratic and notorious omnibus legislation.
It is also a matter of trust: The Harper government doesn’t enjoy much of that in the native community these days. Normally, that wouldn’t bother a government that deals with opposition by taking out a baseball bat and going head-hunting.
But this time bullying and bulldozing can’t bring the First Nations into line. They have the Constitution and scores of court decisions in their favour. This time around, it is the Harper government that will have to compromise — if the First Nations decide to give it the chance.
The truth is, they might not bother.
This time around, it is the Harper government that will have to compromise — if the First Nations decide to give it the chance. The truth is, they might not bother.
Stephen Harper’s trust account is badly overdrawn. Native leaders will not soon forget how the Conservatives blithely walked away from the work-in-progress that was the Kelowna Accord.
Although former prime minister Paul Martin wasn’t around long enough to implement a program that aimed at ending native poverty in a decade, his plan enjoyed wide support and created something even more seductive: a sense of optimism.
Then-Opposition leader Stephen Harper claimed that he supported the plan to end native poverty and the principles of the Kelowna Accord, though he differed on how that should be accomplished.
Put that in the same category with Harper’s promises not to mess with income trusts or the Old Age Supplement. Canada’s First Nations leaders have had their bags packed for that meeting for going on seven years but the invitation, apparently, is still in the mail.
That statement covers more than one million people.
But when Federal Court Judge Michael Phelan ruled in 2013 that Metis and non-status Indians were in fact “Indians” under section of 91/24 of the Constitution, the Prime Minister did not adopt the advice he once gave with such alacrity to the provinces and the territories to discharge their responsibilities. He decided instead to appeal the decision and dispute the ruling that said 600,000 “new” aboriginals came under federal jurisdiction.
It’s the same story on reserves after seven years of Stephen Harper — the water is still poor, the housing Third World and the health outcomes a national scandal. The best Harper could manage during the Idle No More protests aimed at holding Ottawa to its responsibilities was to mock Chief Theresa Spence.
The last blow to the PM’s credibility on the aboriginal street may well be the government’s vaunted native education legislation — a plan AFN Chief Shawn Atleo has already panned because it was conceived, as most of this government’s legislation is, unilaterally.
It is not, in the end, that Stephen Harper has done nothing for Canada’s First Nations. There has been good work on human rights, for example, and real progress on the thorny issue of matrimonial reserve property.
There has also been some progress on First Nation’s governance. But there has been no consistent record of striking the new relationship once promised, and which looked so promising in the lustre surrounding the government’s apology to Canada’s aboriginals for the cultural atrocities of the residential schools.
There are things the federal government could do to help win First Nations’ support for pipeline plans. One is to make the bands in B.C. true stakeholders by recognizing the order of wealth transfer that must take place.
Brian Crowley and Ken Coates of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute came up with some excellent ideas: developing an advanced, evidence-based pipeline and shipping system with input from First Nations and environmental groups; designating the corridor land for pipelines as reserves under the Indian Act, thereby creating another revenue stream for First Nations which could collect taxes; and creating an endowment to cover the cost of oil spills and their clean-up — though no one believes after Exxon Valdez or Deepwater Horizon that any fund could ever hold enough money.
Even under those circumstances, Northern Gateway is still a very tough sell, and not just to First Nations leaders. The majority of people in British Columbia oppose the project. They know that one major spill could wipe out the B.C. coast, because every salmon, halibut, sea lion, gray whale and sea bird goes past the mouth of the Douglas Channel, where hundreds of tankers would be navigating.
But the Conservatives’ push needs to start somewhere and it would probably be a good thing if Stephen Harper opts to meet with Canada’s aboriginals in some place other than court. There will never be progress on this file as long as Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada owns the dubious record of having the biggest legal bills in the federal government.
Trust is earned — not litigated.
===
I was hoping to share some of the final bits of the Twitter Flight conference with you from my front row seat live and in beautiful mobile color, but was unable to. Seems like Periscope is having a bit of an issue right now that’s not letting anyone stream. Sucky timing, for sure.
We’re seeing unusually heavy service loads and working on stabilizing the service. Apologies for the inconvenience!
Twitter was using Periscope to show backstage footage before CEO Jack Dorsey took the stage and perhaps that rocked the house so much it went down. To be fair, it was a 2 hour keynote (that might have gone a bit long, not sure) and if anyone was trying to stream all of it they should learn what livestreaming is all about.
It’s been down for well over 50 minutes and we’ll update you when we hear more. Luckily there’s a lot of developers around today at the conference, so I’m sure they’ll get everything going again.
Just picture my Periscope from the end of the keynote being ridiculously awesome. I mean, it would’ve been wobbly but hey, gimme a break.
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The arrest of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez exposes Venezuela’s Potemkin democracy and Hugo Chavez’s poisonous legacy.
A few days after Venezuelan caudillo Hugo Chavez expired, his body saturated with cancer he believed was implanted in him by the CIA, I sat on an MSNBC panel encircled by academics sympathetic to the dead autocrat. Vastly outnumbered by halfwits and fellow travellers, I reached for the most conciliatory point available. “Chavez was no democrat," I muttered, after viewing clips of various silly pundits denouncing him as a dictator, "but words mean things." An authoritarian, yes, but he didn't quite rise to the definitional standard of dictator. “You can go to Venezuela, you can be in the opposition, you can read [opposition newspaper] El Nacional...” And on and on I droned.
It was a tedious point, and one that, in pursuit of a narrow semantic argument, elided all the undemocratic developments in Venezuela since Chavez began his campaign of political and social polarization, his destruction of the country’s economy and already tattered democratic institutions. But compared to my fellow guests, I was something of a counterrevolutionary, a wrecker, an ideological deviationist serving the interests of the bourgeoise. Or the CIA. Or USAID. A particularly radical panelist, one of those sad little political pilgrims always sniffing out the next Third World utopia, had argued in the days after Chavez's death that "the biggest problem Venezuela faced during his rule was not that Chávez was authoritarian but that he wasn’t authoritarian enough."
My academic co-panelist, so disappointed in Chavez’s apparently mild form of Castroism, can rejoice in the disastrous but sufficiently authoritarian rule of his chosen successor, the former bus driver and Chavez confidante Nicolás Maduro. But the Cuban-trained Maduro, who has variously claimed to have seen Chavez’s ghost in bird form and reported that his mentor’s apparition was spotted loitering in the Caracas subway system, rendered the autocrat-versus-dictator debate moot this week when he ordered the arrest of the handsome, telegenic, and Harvard-trained opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez. It was Lopez and his allies who helped organize a series of protest marches in the past week, during which three people were brutally gunned down--and the weight of evidence, much of it marshalled by the usually pro-government newspaper Últimas Noticias, suggests that all three were killed by Maduro’s goon squads.
So naturally, the government ordered the arrest of...Lopez.
And yesterday, at the start of a large—and illegal—opposition march (the government had a counter demonstration, which oddly wasn’t declared illegal), Lopez gave a short speech and turned himself over to the National Guard. It was an astoundingly brave bit of defiance; after all, is there a place on Earth worse than the inside of a Venezuelan prison? And a lesser man, like myself, would have sprinted to the airport and hopped the next flight to Miami. But there was Lopez, after having tenderly kissed and bid farewell to his wife, being wrenched into a waiting police van, a Venezuelan flag in one hand and a clutch of white flowers in the other. A picture that perfectly illustrated the death blow to Venezuelan democracy. Lopez would soon arrive at a military prison to await charges of incitement (!), homicide (!!), and terrorism (!!!).
Maduro, in the lunatic tradition of his lunatic predecessor, conjured a sinister plot: “We have been informed that the ultra-right wing of Venezuela, in tandem with the ultra-right wing of Miami, apropos the bench warrant, activated foreign groups to find and kill [Lopez] so as to fuel a political crisis and lead us to civil war." It’s not so generous to defame and arrest a political opponent, but look how generous they were in saving his life from his fellow fascists!
Indeed, outside of the official newspaper of the 1932 German Communist Party, is there any other organized political movement in history that is so profligate in its use if the word fascist? And if we are to allow elastic political definitions when discussing Venezuela—the moderate opposition are National Socialists, for instance—I am going to slacken my rules governing the use of the word dictator: Chavez might not have qualified, but Nicolas Maduro sure as hell does.
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Sengoku Basara 3 could very much be summed up as a really diversified Dynasty Warriors clone. It’s not much of an insult or a too far from being considered a compliment, either. Nevertheless, for gamers who enjoy thousand-army battlefield games then Sengoku Basara will definitely appeal to you.
We have a series of new video trailers available for viewing here at Blend Games and that means that it’s time for another gameplay media blowout, courtesy of GameTrailers.
The videos showcase different characters and spotlight their moves, special abilities as well as a few boss encounters. For this game to be on the Wii it actually looks pretty good, and any gamer knows that it’s a testament to the developer’s capabilities to even have a game that runs on both the Wii and the PS3 and not have the Wii version dumb-downed to a little retarded quarter experience of the original (i.e., Ghostbusters).
You can check out the new videos below or visit the Official Capcom Website for more info.
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Analysts at B. Riley upgraded Guess?, Inc. (NYSE: GES) from Neutral to Buy. Guess? shares gained 1.35 percent to close at $15.02 on Friday.
Analysts at Bank of America upgraded Schlumberger Limited. (NYSE: SLB) from Neutral to Buy. Schlumberger shares rose 1.20 percent to $67.30 in pre-market trading.
Raymond James upgraded Dine Brands Global Inc (NYSE: DIN) from Market Perform to Outperform. Dine Brands Global shares rose 1.46 percent to $70.00 in pre-market trading.
JP Morgan upgraded Acceleron Pharma Inc (NASDAQ: XLRN) from Neutral to Overweight. Acceleron Pharma shares rose 2.17 percent to close at $42.91 on Friday.
Gabelli & Co. upgraded Visteon Corp (NASDAQ: VC) from Hold to Buy. Visteon shares fell 0.74 percent to close at $126.64 on Friday.
Wells Fargo upgraded American Water Works Company Inc (NYSE: AWK) from Market Perform to Outperform. American Water Works shares rose 2.40 percent to close at $80.63 on Friday.
Susquehanna upgraded Finish Line Inc (NASDAQ: FINL) from Neutral to Positive. Finish Line shares rose 1.26 percent to close at $10.48 on Friday.
Analysts at Loop Capital upgraded United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE: UPS) from Hold to Buy. UPS shares rose 1.32 percent to $107.00 in pre-market trading.
RBC upgraded BP plc (ADR) (NYSE: BP) from Sector Perform to Outperform. BP shares rose 0.62 percent to $40.35 in pre-market trading.
Bank of America upgraded Baker Hughes, a GE company (NYSE: BHGE) from Underperform to Neutral. Baker Hughes shares fell 0.04 percent to close at $28.03 on Friday.
Analysts at Bank of America downgraded Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) from Buy to Neutral. Halliburton shares fell 0.97 percent to $47.98 in pre-market trading.
JP Morgan downgraded Zebra Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: ZBRA) from Overweight to Neutral. Zebra Technologies shares rose 4.92 percent to close at $141.90 on Friday.
Societe Generale downgraded General Mills, Inc. (NYSE: GIS) from Hold to Sell. General Mills shares fell 0.91 percent to $52.50 in pre-market trading.
JMP Securities downgraded Endo International plc (NASDAQ: ENDP) from Outperform to Market Perform. Endo International shares rose 4.57 percent to close at $6.86 on Friday.
Wells Fargo downgraded Aqua America Inc (NYSE: WTR) from Outperform to Market Perform. Aqua America shares rose 2.79 percent to close at $35.00 on Friday.
Jefferies downgraded Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) from Hold to Underperform. Mattel shares fell 3.25 percent to $16.10 in pre-market trading.
Morgan Stanley downgraded Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) from Equal-Weight to Underweight. Albemarle shares fell 3.58 percent to $114.50 in pre-market trading.
Compass Point downgraded AmTrust Financial Services Inc (NASDAQ: AFSI) from Buy to Neutral. AmTrust Financial shares dropped 1.24 percent to $12.77 in pre-market trading.
Lake Street downgraded MiMedx Group Inc (NASDAQ: MDXG) from Buy to Hold. MiMedx shares rose 0.26 percent to $7.85 in pre-market trading.
Imperial Capital downgraded Blue Buffalo Pet Products Inc (NASDAQ: BUFF) from Outperform to In-Line. Blue Buffalo Pet Products shares gained 17.23 percent to close at $40.00 on Friday.
Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on SAGE Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: SAGE) with an Overweight rating. The price target for SAGE Therapeutics is set to $225. SAGE Therapeutics shares closed at $164.15 on Friday.
Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Corporacion America Airports SA (NYSE: CAAP) with an Outperform rating. The price target for Corporacion America Airports is set to $23. Corporacion America Airports shares closed at $15.55 on Friday.
Analysts at JMP Securities initiated coverage on Sol Gel Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ: SLGL) with a Market Outperform rating. The price target for Sol Gel Technologies is set to $20. Sol Gel Technologies shares closed at $11.13 on Friday.
Analysts at Wells Fargo initiated coverage on Landmark Infrastructure Partners LP (NASDAQ: LMRK) with a Market Perform rating. The price target for Landmark Infrastructure Partners is set to $18.50. Landmark Infrastructure Partners closed at $17.75 on Friday.
Barclays initiated coverage on VICI Properties Inc (NYSE: VICI) with an Equal-Weight rating. The price target for VICI Properties is set to $22. VICI Properties shares closed at $19.82 on Friday.
Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Chegg Inc (NYSE: CHGG) with an Equal-Weight rating. The price target for Chegg is set to $23. Chegg shares closed at $20.35 on Friday.
Analysts at H.C. Wainwright initiated coverage on Intec Pharma Ltd (NASDAQ: NTEC) with a Buy rating. The price target for Intec Pharma is set to $16. Intec Pharma shares closed at $5.70 on Friday.
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The child was flown to St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, where, at about 5:15 p.m., the child died, according to the press release.
The Macoupin County Sheriff’s Office, along with Illinois State Police Crime Scene Division, DCFS and the Sangamon County Coroner’s Office were conducting an investigation.
In the press release, the Macoupin County Sheriff’s Office said they “gave their deepest condolences to the family of the child.” The chlid was not identified in the press release.
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ZHANJIANG, CHINA - JANUARY 03: The marines of China navy participate in the annual military training on January 3, 2018 in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province of China.
Taiwan deemed this “an intentional, reckless & provocative action,” which triggered “a 10-minute standoff” in the air. As Asia security expert Bonnie S. Glaser notes that, if intentional, this would be the first PLAAF crossing of the median line in about 20 years. In this case, it’s likely that Taiwan, not the South China Sea, prompted Beijing’s actions.
Read the full article in The Washington Post.
To hear more from Ketian, don't miss her recently posted video Q&A. In addition, be sure to RSVP for her April 16 seminar "Killing the Chicken to Scare the Monkey: Explaining Coercion by China in the South China Sea."
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Well maintained home situated in private culdesac. Home boasts lots of light, 4 bedrooms + office, large backyard perfect for entertaining, shed and fireplace with mantel. Brand new carpet on main, newer water heater, furnace with ionizing air filter for better air quality.
Gently used, clean, split entry home, with granite counter tops and laminate vinyl flooring! Close to Bangerter Highway, and Jordan Landing. No backyard neighbors as home backs up to park. Quiet neighborhood, but central to everything.
VIEWS VIEWS VIEWS. Check out the tour. Sits high on the west bench. Awesome view from the front porch and master bedroom window. Very quiet neighborhood, no through traffic. Fully finished basement, all new carpet throughout, new granite kitchen.
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Veterans Day is a federal holiday, but this year, many banks and credit unions will be open for business. Created to honor men and women who have served in the United States Armed Forces, the holiday is observed annually on November 11. However, because the 11th falls on a Saturday in 2017, most government offices and schools will be closed on Friday, November 10.
What does that mean for banks? Will they be closed both Friday and Saturday? Here’s the latest scoop on Veterans Day banking hours. Keep in mind, if your bank is closed, most major banks have mobile apps that allow you to check your balance, pay bills, and transfer funds. And if you need cash, make sure you use an ATM that is associated with your bank so you don’t have to pay a hefty fee to withdraw some holiday weekend cash.
The Federal Reserve Bank will be closed on Veterans Day, but some banks have opted to stay open on Friday and/or Saturday. While some financial institutions may open for limited holiday hours, others, including TD Bank, will be open regular business hours on Friday and Saturday.
According to the Holiday Schedule, in addition to TD Bank, many other major banks will also stay open during regular business hours on Friday, including Bank of America, Citibank, Chase, Capital One, Citizens, HBSC, PNC, Santander, SunTrust, US Bank, and Wells Fargo.
On Saturday, it’s going to be hit or miss with bank hours. Many banks are open limited hours on weekends, but most will be closed to observe the Veterans Day holiday on Saturday, November 11. Branch offices for some banks located in retail stores and supermarkets may be open, but it’s important to call ahead to confirm hours at the branch office near you.
To add to the confusion about what’s open and what’s closed, federal offices — including the IRS, Social Security, federal courthouses, the DMV/RMV, and local social services and food stamp offices — will be closed on Friday, November 10 in observance of the Veterans Day holiday. However, the U.S. Postal Service will be open on Friday and closed on Saturday.
Although banks and government offices will be closed on either Friday or Saturday, rest assured that retail stores and restaurants will be open throughout the three-day weekend. According to a previous report by the Inquisitr, numerous restaurants will be offering free meals for veterans and active duty military this weekend to honor the brave men and women who have served, or are currently serving, in the U.S. Armed Forces.
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A devastating report by the State Department’s inspector general Wednesday shows just why Americans are right to distrust Hillary Clinton.
The 78-page document (by an Obama appointee, no less) concludes that Clinton’s server and email practices as secretary of state violated department policy — and she and her team lied about it repeatedly.
Clinton never sought an OK from State’s legal staff to use a private server, as required, and as her aides claimed. If she had, permission would’ve been denied.
Despite her repeated denials, there were at least two attempts to hack into her system. Neither was ever reported to State’s security personnel, as required.
Clinton claimed she used a private system strictly for convenience. But when urged to also use an official email address, she refused, citing the risk that personal emails might become publicly accessible.
Tellingly, Clinton and top aides Huma Abedin, Jake Sullivan and Cheryl Mills refused to be interviewed by the IG.
Here’s the bottom line: Virtually everything Clinton has said about her emails has been a lie. And no longer can supporters laugh off Emailgate so easily.
Hillary’s culpability and her flouting of the law now seem clear. But that leaves one more shoe to drop: Will Attorney General Loretta Lynch indict the Democrats’ presumptive presidential nominee? If she doesn’t, she’ll need a good excuse why.
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You join us at Courtney Love‘s home, high in the Hollywood Hills. Courtney and Michael discuss make-up.
She wants to know if he has any left over from the Velvet Goldmine shoot.
He says he has some great lip gloss she can have because his lips never chap.
Courtney and Michael have some history. They go back a long way to the extent that, famously, in the bad old days Courtney once told an interviewer that, while her husband, KURT COBAIN, was still alive, she tried to get him off with Michael.
They’re going out for dinner together, so we get started.
Part 2 NME: It’s said that stars often make friends with other stars because they’re the only people they can trust, the only ones who are unlikely to be on the make.
NME: You’ve said in the past that you got kicked out of bands for liking REM.
CL: “It’s true, I did. There was a time before I was in Hole when I was living in San Francisco and I had a real pop sensibility – I played the Peter Buck D chord with the pinky. And in the first band, which was called Sugar Babylon, with Kat Bjelland and Jennifer Finch, literally the verbatim was, ‘You like REM too much. You wanna be REM too much’ because I’d just be listening to ‘Reckoning’ all the time. And I was thrown out of Babes In Toyland and Faith No More for that literal exact reason.
NME: When did you actually meet?
More of this interview tomorrow when they discuss movies, fame and work.
A meeting of great minds or a mutual ego-masturbation session? Have your say. Post a message on Angst!
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Brittney Griner had a pretty average game last night against Florida—by her standards, anyway—when she finished with 25 points, nine rebounds, six blocks, and four assists during Baylor&apos;s 76-57 win. But she also did something that was definitely not average when she threw down a dunk at the start of the second half to become just the second woman in the history of women&apos;s basketball to dunk during the NCAA Tournament. As if we needed any further proof, Brittney Griner is officially a beast.
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The Human Rights Commission welcomes the appointment of two new Commissioners, announced today by Justice Minister Andrew Little.
• Professor Paul Hunt has been appointed the Chief Human Rights Commissioner. Professor Hunt will the join Commission in January 2019.
• The new Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner will be Dr Saunoamaali’i Karanina Sumeo.
Acting Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paula Tesoriero, who agreed to take on the role on a temporary basis, remains as the Disability Rights Commissioner and will continue to act as Chief Commissioner until Professor Hunt takes up the position.
Ms Tesoriero says she is looking forward to working with the new Commissioners who will bring fresh perspectives and ideas to the work of the Commission.
“The new Commissioners are highly qualified and bring a wealth of experience to their work. Their appointments are an exciting opportunity to build on what’s been achieved by the Commission and to continue our work of helping create a fairer, more harmonious society,” Ms Tesoriero says.
With Dr Sumeo joining the Commission in late October, the current Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Dr Jackie Blue’s term will end later this month.
Ms Tesoriero thanked Dr Blue for continuing in her role after her term ended in June until the new Commissioners were appointed.
• Disability Rights Commissioner Paula Tesoriero took over as the acting head of the Human Rights Commission on 25 May 2018.
• Ms Tesoriero agreed to take on the leadership short term following Chief Human Rights Commissioner David Rutherford’s decision to leave the Commission at the end of the financial year in June.
• Mr Rutherford had been Chief Human Rights Commissioner since 2011 and his term expired in 2016. He had indicated his intention not to seek reappointment.
• Ms Tesoriero, who was appointed Disability Rights Commissioner in late 2017, will be acting Chief Human Rights Commissioner until three new Commissioners, including a new Chief Commissioner, are appointed.
• Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Dr Jackie Blue’s term expired in June 2018. She had indicated that she would not be seeking reappointment. However, she agreed to continue in her role until new Commissioners were appointed.
• Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy’s term expired in March 2018. She also did not seek reappointment and left the Commission at the end of June.
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The write-up “Doctor had thyself” (Spectrum, October 4) took up the issue of professional ethics among doctors. Once sacrosanct Hippocratic Oath has been obscured by the lure of lucre and commission culture.
All human concerns and considerations are at stake so much so that each patient is considered a milch-cow. But all this is antithetical to the concept of a welfare state. Healthcare matters more than anything else in India.
The government, intelligentsia, law enforcing agencies and charitable organisations must rise to the occasion and curb illegal and undesirable medical practices. The marketing of drugs should be strictly regulated and supervised. Justice should be prompt and deterrent.
The role of a doctor in society ought to be consoling, sustaining and elevating in order to revive the erstwhile cordial and courteous bonds in doctor patient relationship. Still a roaring practice laced with milk of human kindness, credibility and self-esteem will bring fame, prestige and money. Introspect deeply and act resolutely.
Varanasi or Banaras (Spectrum, October 11) was one of the six flourishing places in the days of the Buddha. British resident, Jonathan Duncan established a Sanskrit college there in 1792. Mrs Annie Besant, an activist of the Theosophical Society started Central Hindu School in 1889, which eventually developed into the Banaras Hindu University in 1915.
When the celebrated Vishvanath Temple in the city was demolished and a mosque was built there under the orders of Aurangzeb, poet Chandar Bhan satirically said: “Ba-been karaamat-e-butkhaana-e-mara ai Shaikh/Agar kharaab shavad khaana-e-khuda gardad” (See the miracle of my temple. Even after its destruction it remains the abode of God).
Peerless poet, Mirza Ghalib, visited Varanasi on December 1, 1827. He was so much enamoured with the place that he stayed there for about a month. In his poem Chiraag-e-dair (lamp of temple) he admired the city. It comprises 108 couplets, a lucky number for the Hindus. Their rosaries have 108 beads. The poet, who described Banaras as the Ka’aba of Hindustan, says, a wise man told him that doomsday would not come, as God did not want the destruction of this elegant city.
The practice of giving English titles to Hindi movies (“Desi movies English titles”, Spectrum, Sept 27) is not new, as many movies have had English titles throughout the history of Indian cinema. First and foremost comes to mind films like Street Singer and President which had K.L. Saigal as hero. Mother India (1957) made by Mehboob is considered a landmark in Indian cinema.
Guru Dutt and Madhubala came up with an evergreen musical comedy Mr & Mrs. 55. Raj Kapoor produced “Boot Polish” (1956) bringing out the struggles of street children. Another one was Love in Shimla (1959) which introduced Sadhana as a new face. Evergreen hero Dev Anand starred in many movies with English titles like Taxi Driver, House No. 44, Paying Guest, CID, Love Marriage, Gambler, Jewel Thief and above all his magnum opus Guide (1966).
In “Road to happiness” (Saturday Extra, Sept. 12) the writer has beautifully enumerated eight points to achieve happiness, which has become a rare commodity in this materialistic and selfish world.
I fully endorse his points. Nathaniel Cotton’s verse, which the writer quoted to buttress his points, was full of wisdom, prudence, reason, sanity and practical knowledge.
It is said that sympathy is a heavenly quality and should be shown to everyone in trouble to attain happiness. Kindness, goodness and loving care of one’s aged and ailing parents, contentment and peace of mind, the belief in “live and let live”, “let bygones be bygones” and practice of ahimsa (non-violence) are the key ingredients of happiness. Noble deeds, good food, good thoughts, good conduct devoid of envy, jealousy, rivalry, grudge, malice, back biting and ill-will lead to happiness. The recital of god’s name acts as an icing on the cake.
Life is a precious gift of God. It is worth living with all its frustrations, impediments and failures. Those who live it as it comes along can solve problems; overcome hardships to achieve their goals and happiness. One should work and not remain idle to be happy. Bad habits like drinking in excess, smoking, taking opium and other such vices should be shunned as these ruin one’s happiness, home and hearth. Punctuality, the mark of civilisation and culture, must be cultivated to gain happiness.
Thinking about common good rather than about one’s own self, caring more for one’s duties than for rights and providing food, water and shelter to the have-nots can increase one’s happiness manifold. To conclude: Happy is the man, whose wish and care, a few paternal acres bound, content to breathe his native air, in his own ground.
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The Lakers' Lamar Odom and teammate Ron Artest guard Rockets guard Trevor Ariza during the first half.
Rockets guard Trevor Ariza gets a hug from the Lakers' Kobe Bryant before the start of the game.
The Lakers' Ron Artest guards Rockets guard Trevor Ariza during the first half.
The Lakers' Ron Artest dives for a loose ball as Rockets forward Luis Scola looks on during the first half.
The Lakers' Ron Artest tries to get a hand on the ball as Rockets guard Trevor Ariza makes his way around during the first half.
The Lakers' Ron Artest points at Rockets guard Trevor Ariza during the first half.
The Lakers' Ron Artest looks onto the court from the bench during the first half.
Lakers guard Kobe Bryant guards Rockets forward Trevor Ariza during the first half.
Rockets forward Trevor Ariza goes up for a lay up in traffic during the first half.
Lakers forward Ron Artest defends against Rockets guard Aaron Brooks during the first half.
Lakers guard Kobe Bryant flys to the basket with Rockets forward Shane Battier trailing during the second half.
Rockets forward Luis Scola drives around the Lakers' Luke Walton during the second half.
The Rockets' Aaron Brooks jumps up as the crowd goes wild after one of his three-point shots during the second half.
The Lakers' Ron Artest battles with the Rockets' Chuck Hayes for a loose ball during the second half.
Rockets guard Aaron Brooks drives around the Lakers' Derek Fisher and Lamar Odom during the second half.
Rockets forward Trevor Ariza drives up the court against the Lakers' Lamar Odom during the second half.
The Rockets' Kyle Lowry drives up the court against the Lakers' Derek Fisher during the second half.
The Lakers' Ron Artest with his haircut during the second half.
Lakers guard Kobe Bryant flys to the basket with Rockets forward Louis Scola trailing during the second half.
Ropckets forward Trevor Ariza goes up for a basket during the second half.
The Lakers' Kobe Bryant gets a shot off as the Rockets' Shane Battier tries to defend during the second half.
The Lakers' Kobe Bryant bumps into the Rockets' Shane Battier during the second half.
The Lakers' Kobe Bryant booed by fans during a free throw during the second half.
Lakers forward Ron Artest fights Rockets forward Chuck Hayes for the ball in the fourth quarter.
Lakers forward Ron Artest puts a hand in the face of Rockets forward Carl Landry during the second half.
Rockets guard Trevor Ariza celebrates with Pops Mensah-Bonsu after his three-point shot during the last seconds of the second half.
The Rockets' Trevor Ariza tries to get his hands on a ball held by the Lakers' Ron Artest during the second half.
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PHILADELPHIA - Flyers forward Simon Gagne reiterated that he will sit out the rest of the season because of lingering symptoms from a series of concussions, with one caveat: A trip to the Stanley Cup final.
"I'm going in the right direction like I want," he said. "I'm sure I'd like to be 100 per cent right away, but I know it's going to take time. We've got a long period of time in front of me before I start playing again."
Gagne had his first concussion Oct. 24 when he was hit in the jaw by Panthers defenceman Jay Bouwmeester. He sat out four games, then was hurt again Nov. 7 and missed the next 26 games. He was injured again on his first shift in a Feb. 10 loss at Pittsburgh and hasn't played since.
The Flyers are in seventh place in the Eastern Conference.
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NEW YORK — Chicago Bears defensive end Akiem Hicks has been fined $33,425 by the NFL for bumping an official in last Sunday’s win over Tampa Bay.
Hicks was not suspended although he was ejected from the Bucs game.
Hicks pushed down judge Mike Carr while he was attempting to separate Hicks and Buccaneers guard Ali Marpet after Eddie Jackson intercepted a pass.
Falcons safety Brian Poole was fined $26,739 for unnecessary roughness for a helmet-to-helmet hit against Cincinnati running back Mark Walton.
Also fined were Chargers defensive ends Melvin Ingram and Darius Philon $20,054 each for roughing the passer against San Francisco; Packers linebacker Blake Martinez 13,369 for removing his helmet against Buffalo; Jaguars linebacker Myles Jack (unnecessary roughness) and safety Tashaun Gipson (taunting) $10,026 apiece against the Jets; and Packers cornerback Josh Jackson, $10,026 for unnecessary roughness.
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Robin Gibb, one of the three singing brothers of the Bee Gees, the long-running Anglo-Australian pop group whose chirping falsettos and hook-laden disco hits like “Jive Talkin’ ” and “You Should Be Dancing” shot them to worldwide fame in the 1970s, died on Sunday in London. He was 62 and lived in Thame, Oxfordshire, England.
The cause was complications of cancer and intestinal surgery, his family said in a statement.
Mr. Gibb had been hospitalized for intestinal problems several times in the last two years. Cancer had spread from his colon to his liver, and in the weeks before his death he had pneumonia and for a while was in a coma.
Mr. Gibb was the second Bee Gee and third Gibb brother to die. His fraternal twin and fellow Bee Gee, Maurice Gibb, died of complications of a twisted intestine in 2003 at 53. The youngest brother, Andy, who had a successful solo career, was 30 when he died of heart failure, in 1988.
With brilliant smiles, polished funk and adenoidal close harmonies, the Bee Gees — Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb — were disco’s ambassadors to Middle America in the 1970s, embodying the peacocked look of the time in their open-chested leisure suits and gold medallions.
They sold well over 100 million albums and had six consecutive No. 1 singles from 1977 to 1979. They were also inextricably tied to the disco era’s defining movie, “Saturday Night Fever,” a showcase for their music that included the hit “Stayin’ Alive,” its propulsive beat in step with the strut of the film’s star, John Travolta.
Barry, the oldest brother, was the dominant Bee Gee for most of the group’s existence. But the lead singer for many of the early hits was Robin, whose breaking voice, gaunt frame and gloomy eyes were well suited to convey adolescent fragility. “I Started a Joke” (with the second line, “Which started the whole world crying”), “I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You,” “Massachusetts” and other heavy-hearted songs brought the Bee Gees to the top of the charts as one of the British Invasion’s most musically conservative groups.
Robin Hugh Gibb and his twin, Maurice, were born on Dec. 22, 1949, on the Isle of Man, a British dependency in the Irish Sea. (Barry was born there in 1946.) The boys largely grew up in Manchester, England, where the family lived on the edge of poverty. Their father, Hugh, a drummer and bandleader, encouraged his sons to sing. Their mother, Barbara, was also a singer.
According to Bee Gees lore, the boys’ first performance was sometime in the mid-1950s, and unplanned. They had been scheduled to perform as a lip-synching act at a movie theater in Manchester when the record broke, forcing them to sing for real.
The family moved to Australia in 1958, and before long the brothers, performing as the Bee Gees — for Brothers Gibb — began scoring local hits and appearing on television. They left for London in early 1967 and within weeks had signed with Robert Stigwood, the impresario who guided them in their peak years.
The band’s first single in Britain, “New York Mining Disaster 1941,” was released in April 1967 and reached the Top 20.
But in private Robin was far from dull. He and his wife, Dwina Murphy, who survives him, lived in a 12th-century former monastery in Oxfordshire that he had restored and filled with statues of Buddha and suits of armor. In Miami, his mansion was open to celebrities and politicians like Tony Blair.
Robin briefly left the group in 1969 and tried out a solo career. After he rejoined his brothers, they scored their first No. 1 in the United States with “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” in 1971. But with harder rock taking over, the Bee Gees’ popularity ebbed, reaching bottom in 1974 with a series of supper-club gigs in England to pay off tax debts.
At that point their label, Atlantic, sent the brothers to Miami for musical experimentation. There, with the 1975 album “Main Course,” they reinvented the Bee Gees’ sound with Latin and funk rhythms, electronic keyboards and vocals that owed a debt to Philadelphia soul. It brought the band its first hits in years: “Nights on Broadway” and “Jive Talkin’,” which went to No. 1.
For many listeners, the Gibbs were the face of disco. Even “Sesame Street” got caught up in the trend, with Robin singing on the disco-themed album “Sesame Street Fever.” It went gold.
The Bee Gees’ 1979 album, “Spirits Having Flown,” produced three more No. 1 singles, “Too Much Heaven,” “Tragedy” and “Love You Inside Out.” Then, in 1980, the band filed a $200 million lawsuit against Mr. Stigwood, saying he had swindled them out of royalties. Mr. Stigwood countersued for defamation and breach of contract. They settled out of court and publicly reconciled.
In the ’80s the band’s popularity waned in the United States but remained strong abroad. Robin released three solo albums, with limited success. The Bee Gees returned with some moderate hits in the late 1990s and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. With his brothers, Mr. Gibb won six Grammys.
In addition to his wife and his brother Barry, Robin Gibb is survived by his sons, Spencer and Robin-John, known as R J; his daughters, Melissa and Snow; a sister, Lesley; and his mother. An earlier marriage, to Molly Hullis, ended in divorce.
Mr. Gibb had recently been working on a classical piece, “The Titanic Requiem,” with Robin-John. It had its premiere in London on April 10, played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, but Robin was too ill to attend.
Despite the Bee Gees’ close association with disco, the Gibb brothers had long insisted that they had no stake in the genre. They had simply written songs that suited their voices and caught their fancy, they said.
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NEW YORK (AP) Six years after saying they wanted to explore alternative sites to downtown St. Petersburg for a new ballpark, the Tampa Bay Rays still are in search of a location.
”Tampa is obviously very, very attractive on the list, and we expect to at some point, hopefully sooner, look there as well as some other parts of the region,” Rays owner Stuart Sternberg said Tuesday during a panel at the MLB Diversity Business Summit.
Sternberg took control of the team after the 2005 season, and in November 2007 the Rays proposed to replace Tropicana Field with a 34,000-seat, open-air stadium at the downtown site of Al Lang Field, a longtime spring training ballpark. They withdrew that plan the following June, and Sternberg said in June 2010 he wanted to explore potential sites throughout the Tampa Bay area.
The Rays’ lease at Tropicana Field runs through 2027. Tampa Bay hasn’t drawn more than 2 million fans at home since its first season in 1998. Despite winning 90 or more games in each of the last four seasons, the Rays haven’t topped 1.6 million in any of the last three years.
”We haven’t had the greatest success in attracting the what we call enough fans relative to the success we’ve had on-field, and we would like to explore other part of the region, specifically Tampa and parts of St. Petersburg,” Sternberg said.
He said the Rays need to undertake ”a full-out exploration” of transportation and access issues.
”Until we’re able to do all the work that’s necessary there, I won’t really have an answer for it,” he said.
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The Catskill Mountains of southeastern New York are several hours northwest of New York City, west of the Hudson River and roughly cover four counties. Considered the frontier in Colonial days, the area was dubbed the "Borscht Belt" or "Jewish Alps" in the mid-20th century for the hotels, resorts, camps and cottage colonies favored by New York City Jews escaping from the city's heat in the summer. With mountains, cool lakes, numerous streams and rivers and small towns scattered among the forests and farmlands, the area is rich in natural beauty, culture and history. The Catskills have lodging options ranging from country inns to chain hotels, cabins and campgrounds.
April 1 is the opening of fishing season in many areas of the Catskills, and Roscoe, in Sulllivan County, is billed the "Fly Fishing Capital of the World." The Upper Beaverkill River meets the Willowemoc River in Roscoe, and the stretch of river between Roscoe and nearby Livingston Manor is open to the public. Just off Route 17 between the two towns, visit the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum for exhibits and programs related to the sport.
On Memorial Day weekend, head to the Woodstock-New Paltz Arts and Crafts Fair at the Ulster County Fairgrounds for arts, crafts, music, food and wine. Running for more than 30 years, the fair has been voted one of America's best by "Sunshine Artist" magazine. Late May is also the time to head to Tannersville in Greene County for the Rubber Duck and Crazy Boat Races and Festival. Watch as hundreds of rubber ducks are released or build your own boat for the boat race; the festival also has crafts, music and food.
Visit Bethel in Sullivan County in the summer to enjoy classical, jazz, rock and country music concerts at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. Built on the site of the 1969 Woodstock Concert, Bethel Woods offers acres of landscaped grounds, with a monument listing the performers at Woodstock at one corner of the property. The museum focuses not only on the history of the famous concert but also on significant events of the 1960s, including the Civil Rights Movement and the Space Race. Just down the road in Monticello, the Monticello Raceway and Casino, or "racino," offers both thoroughbred harness racing and a casino where you can try your luck at the slot machines or table games.
Head to Greene County's Windham Mountain for the Fourth of July celebration, where you'll find a parade, a barbecue, music and a fireworks display. The mountain resort offers hiking, biking and horseback riding.
Fall, particularly early to mid-October, is the time for leisurely drives to take in the glory of the autumnal display of color anywhere in the heavily treed Catskills. Book a weekend at a resort such as the Villa Roma Resort and Conference Center in Callicoon, which offers golf, tennis, pools and an arcade room, or explore the Legend of Sleepy Hollow at the Washington Irving Inn in Hunter, a bed and breakfast with themed rooms and cottages. Hunter Mountain hosts an annual Oktoberfest on two weekends in October with music, crafts and food.
Hunting is a popular fall activity in the Catskills. Check the Department of Environmental Conservation website (dec.ny.gov) for dates and license requirements for bow and firearm hunting of deer, turkey, bear, bobcat, waterfowl and small game. You'll need permission to hunt on private property, but some public lands are open to hunting as well. Check with the local Department of Environmental Conservation or a New York Forest Ranger for maps and required permissions for public areas.
The long, snowy winters in the Catskills make it a destination for winter sports. Top ski resorts in the Catskills include Windham Mountain in Windham, Hunter Mountain in Hunter, Plattekill in Roxbury and Belleayre Mountain in Highmount, although many smaller venues also operate.
Delaware County offers two ice festivals, the Winter Festival at the Walton Fairgrounds in Walton, with an ice-carving competition, ice skating, snowmobile races and local food vendors; and the Ice Harvest at Hanford Mills Museum in East Meredith, with demonstrations of ice fishing and the cutting and harvesting of ice, horse-drawn sleigh rides and plenty of warm soups and hot apple cider.
For an unusual holiday experience, look for a performance by Bells and Motley, a couple who play medieval and Renaissance instruments, sing, dance and celebrate at libraries and other venues throughout the area. Cap off your winter holiday with a visit to one of the area's many tree farms, where you can pick out your own Christmas tree and have it cut for you on the spot.
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LOS ANGELES, Aug. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Carinsuranceplan.org has released a new blog post that explains what car insurance policies are recommended for drivers.
It is important to remember that a single policy provides limited coverage. In order to increase the overall protection, drivers should buy different policies. Of course, it is recommended to compare prices before any purchase. Now, drivers can get multiple quotes using just a single brokerage website, http://carinsuranceplan.org, Get free quotes and compare the best deals!
He has sufficient funds to compensate the victims of an at-fault accident. Liability car insurance is a mandatory policy all over the United States. This policy reimburses the victims for property damage and bodily injuries. This policy does not reimburse the policyholder.
He will be reimbursed for his own car repairs. Collision car insurance will reimburse the policyholder, no matter who is at fault. It can be used even if the policyholder flips his own car or hits other cars that he possesses.
He will be reimbursed if the car is damaged by events not involving an accident. Comprehensive car insurance is designed to financially compensate the driver is the covered car is damaged or totaled by extreme weather phenomena, animal attacks, vandalism or other factors beyond policyholder's control. In many contracts, the client will encounter the term "Act of God". This policy also covers car theft.
He will be reimbursed if he is hit by an underinsured or uninsured driver. The number of uninsured and underinsured drivers across the United States is pretty high. Having this policy is recommended if the driver lives in areas with high unemployment rates.
"Purchasing multiple car insurance policies may cost more than having just a bare-bones policy, with just the minimum requirements. But you will have a better financial protection" said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company.
Hub International Acquires Ontario-Based Southland Insurance Brokers Inc.
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As I said the other day, being an environmentalist in China is not easy and potentially bad for your health. A mob reportedly beat up a local environmentalist who called for government officials to swim in a heavily polluted river in China.
We’d written about the river’s plight a week ago (check out the photo of the river to the right).
Interestingly, the man who was assaulted was not the local business person who offered big money ($32,000) to a government environmental official if he’d swim in the polluted river, but instead they targeted a 60 year old activist who had backed the call.
We’re not immune “to two weights, two measures” in the US either (e.g., Wall Street getting away with economic destruction, while the little guy pays the price) but for the most part, it doesn’t involve street violence.
It looks like someone is not interested in cleaning up the river.
“The whole thing lasted four or five hours until the police arrived. My father got hit in the head by six or seven people, with their fists. He is now feeling dizzy and sleeping all the time,” she added, claiming the attack had been orchestrated by local officials.
Calls to the mobile phone of the local Communist Party chief went unanswered on Wednesday.
We’re heading that way fast… only with more guns.
I foresee life as a meme for the bizarre “[You] used the internet, you always use the internet!” said by the mob.
China’s path to prosperity and national independence has been betrayed at every juncture by the CCP, a rancid collection of Stalinist’s and Maoist’s with a choke hold on government. They’re not plutocrats like Democrats and Republicans here but they might as well be.
It’s almost inevitable at this point that they’ll follow the Russian Stalinisit’s and try to liquidate the extremely deformed Chinese workers state and reintroduce capitalist norms. .
China: everything old is new again. In spite of its ritzy, world class cities China is still a backward hell hole of human abuse and explotation.
That’s exactly what I was thinking. Except it’s not that far off.
Consider what happens whenever someone stands up as an object case for any kind of social reform — like that family without health insurance, who then had to endure harassment for weeks. “OMG, they have granite countertops! Fraud!” Or that guy in Newtown CT getting death threats because he took in a bus driver and a bunch of kids after the school shooting massacre. (Heck, right anybody who gets national attention in advocating for any gun control laws gets death threats now.) Or the very real danger anybody involved in providing safe & legal abortions has to face every day.
Or let’s get closer to the topic at hand: How many perfectly peaceful environmental activist groups have been investigated by the FBI in recent years as possible eco-terrorism suspects?
We can expect that here — and worse — when the Teabaggers and gun nuts are in control.
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Hearings will continue over September's Merrimack Valley gas explosions with a state hearing scheduled next week.
Those directly affected got a chance to air their concerns during a special congressional hearing in Lawrence Monday.
Among those who spoke was Lucianny Rondon, sister of Leonel Rondon, the 18 year-old man killed in the explosions.
"We will not have the joy of seeing the wonderful man we know he would have become," Rondon said. "I stand in front of you in his honor. I will never have my brother back. But we hope there will be justice for him, and the community."
U.S. Sen. Ed Markey led Monday's hearing, and is among several politicians calling for executives to step down because of how the explosions were handled. He also questions whether they should continue their work in Massachusetts and beyond.
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The Bend again had the Supercars' biggest names in a spin before reigning series champion Jamie Whincup claimed pole position for the opening race of the category's newest track.
Whincup was among the stars who struggled on the demanding 18-turn, 4.95km course at Tailem Bend, an hour's drive from Adelaide, spinning out during the 15 minute qualifying session on Saturday.
He recovered to clock a lap of one minute, 50.13 seconds to top the timesheets ahead of Holden teammate Shane van Gisbergen and Nissan's Michael Caruso.
Series leader, Ford's Scott McLaughlin, will start Saturday's 120km opening race at the maiden The Bend SuperSprint round from fifth spot on the grid.
Whincup earned his third pole of the year but may face an anxious wait.
Officials launched a post-session investigation after Holden's James Golding was forced to take evasive action as Whincup tried to return to the track following his shock spin.
"It was really challenging conditions. It is so hard to just get a lap in, let alone a quick one but we got a nice clean run," Whincup said.
"That [pole] means a lot coming to a new track but we all know it is about the race today."
McLaughlin holds an 89-point series lead over van Gisbergen but appears vulnerable at The Bend after admitting he still had no idea how to tackle the $110 million circuit after spending most of Friday's practice spearing off track.
"It's a really unpredictable track. I have no feel for what the car will do but I am looking forward to it," McLaughlin said.
Like Friday's eventful practice sessions, drivers continued to fly off the track during qualifying, spraying dirt across the circuit.
"I have more dirt on my car than Russell Coight," Nissan driver Rick Kelly laughed.
McLaughlin and van Gisbergen set the scene for an interesting race after they tangled during qualifying, with the latter clearly unimpressed as he walked away from a TV reporter as she tried to interview him.
The Bend did not discriminate when dishing out the heartache on Saturday – Holden great Craig Lowndes will start fourth last on the 28-strong grid.
The Bend SuperSprint round concludes with Sunday's 200m race.
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How successful has Nato's strategy been in Afghanistan?
Under General David Petraeus, a major plank of Nato's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) strategy has been "kill/capture raids" - lightning strikes on senior Taliban personnel to either take prisoner or kill.
But have they worked? Isaf supplies no consistent data on the policy, other than issuing a string of press releases claiming success after success, releases which often describe several raids in different places simultaneously. Researchers Alex Strick van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn wanted to find out exactly how the missions worked.
You can read their full report here. Frustrated by the lack of hard data, Strick van Linschoten scraped the reports, then used the Tinderbox database package to process each incident and extract the key numbers.
What he found is a very different picture to that described by Isaf press releases. "There are still relatively large numbers of Afghans subject to the capture-or-kill raids," he says.
Although, interestingly, there has been a decline in these raids since Petraeus left Afghanistan in July this year.
The report is a fund of data crucial to understanding the way Nato has fought the conflict. We've mapped some of the key facts by province, too.
This data, painstakingly collated, is the first time we can get a real picture of what is happening.
Aside from occasional scraps thrown to the media by ISAF, this is the first time that we have been able to get a somewhat more nuanced picture of how ISAF is operating, minimum figures for how many people are being detained and killed as well as a makeshift way to evaluate the usefulness of ISAF's own aggregate numbers that supposedly show the successes of the raids in Afghanistan.
Strick van Linschoten has visualised the timeline of releases below - you can explore it by clicking and dragging - or seeing it on the original site.
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“Cape Up” is Jonathan’s weekly podcast talking to key figures behind the news and our culture. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and anywhere else you listen to podcasts.
The day before President Trump’s rambling Rose Garden remarks announcing a national emergency on our southern border, I sat down with Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.). All that was needed was for Congress to vote on the budget deal to avert another government shutdown and send the legislation to Trump’s desk for his signature. And Bass was clear-eyed about what Trump’s theater was masking.
Bass’s first visit to the podcast came just months after Trump’s inauguration in 2017. A time when the Los Angeles Democrat said her town halls had turned her into a “political therapist.” That all changed, Bass said, when she put anxiety into action.
So I asked Bass, who was part of a small CBC delegation that met with the president in March 2017, how successful the caucus could be in thwarting him and achieving its goals with Trump in the White House. “With 55 people and the amount of power that we have on a committee and subcommittee level, it’s all very doable,” she said. CBC members now chair the committees on homeland security, financial services, oversight and reform, education and labor, and science, space and technology.
Listen to the podcast to hear Bass talk more about Trump, the Democratic Party and her thoughts on the freshman House member everyone can’t seem to stop talking about: “AOC,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
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Richard Swift Obituary: Richard Swift’s Obituary by the TheTimesNews.com.
Richard Swift, singer-songwriter, musician and producer who worked with the Shins and many others, has died at the age of 41, according to multiple news sources.
The sad news was announced in a Facebook post and it was confirmed to Pitchfork and other media outlets.
No cause of death was given. In June, a GoFundMe campaign was started to help Swift with medical costs for an undisclosed life threatening medical condition.
The multi-instrumentalist was a member of the Shins from 2011 until 2016 and he was a touring musician with the Black Keys.
Dan Auerbach from the Black Keys paid tribute to Swift on Instagram.
Swift produced albums for many on the independent music scene including Foxygen, Guster, Damien Jurado, and the Mynabirds. He opened as a solo artist on Wilco’s 2007 tour.
He also released multiple solo albums and EP’s.
We invite you to share condolences for Richard Swift in his Guest Book.
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Mir Quasem Ali was hanged after being convicted for offences committed during 1971 war with Pakistan.
Bangladesh has executed a wealthy tycoon and top financial backer of its largest opposition party after his family paid him a final visit.
Mir Quasem Ali, a key leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, was hanged on Saturday after being convicted by a controversial war crimes tribunal of offences committed during the 1971 independence conflict with Pakistan.
"The execution took place at 10:35pm (16:35 GMT)," said Anisul Huq, the country's law and justice minister.
Ali had been imprisoned in the Kashimpur high security jail in Gazipur, some 40km north of the capital Dhaka.
After the Supreme Court rejected his final appeal against the penalty on Tuesday, Ali declined to seek a presidential pardon, which would require an admission of guilt.
Ali was a key commander of the pro-Pakistan militia in the southern port city of Chittagong during the 1971 war, and later became a shipping and real estate tycoon.
Past convictions and executions of high-profile Jamaat leaders have triggered violence in Bangladesh, which is polarised along political lines.
Russel Sheikh, a senior Gazipur police official, told the AFP news agency that officials took "highest security measures" ahead of the execution for fear of violence by his supporters.
"More than 1,000 police have been deployed in the district," Sheikh said.
Talha Ahmad, a commentator and lawyer on Bangladeshi affairs, told Al Jazeera that Ali was different from other Jamaat leaders.
"He was a celebrated philanthropist, a very successful businessman and somebody who has done a tremendous amount of work to create free media and with vulnerable people, especially refugees," Ahmad said.
"He was one of the rare breed of Jamaat politicians who was able to reach out to the wider society. It seems government goes after anybody who is capable of mounting an intellectual and practical challenge to the them. The government has become so authoritarian recently that it doesn't allow any opposition activism at all, whether it is Jamaat or any other party."
The Supreme Court's decision to reject Ali's appeal was a major blow for the Jamaat-e-Islami party, which the 63-year-old tycoon had helped to revive in recent decades.
Five opposition leaders have been executed for war crimes since 2013. Ali was the last prominent leader of Jamaat to face execution.
The war crimes tribunal set up by the government has divided the country, with supporters of Jamaat and the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party branding it a sham aimed at eliminating their leaders.
Ali was convicted in November 2014 of a series of crimes during Bangladesh's war of separation from Pakistan, including the abduction and murder of a young independence fighter.
His son, Mir Ahmed Bin Quasem, who was part of his legal defence team, was allegedly abducted by security forces earlier in August, which critics say was an attempt to sow fear and prevent protests against the execution.
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PARIS – French children go to school four days a week. They have about two hours each day for lunch. And they have more vacation than their counterparts almost anywhere in the West.
It may sound a bit like the famously leisurely work pace enjoyed by their parents, most of whom work 35 hours per week as dictated by law.
But the nation&apos;s new government says elementary school kids risk classroom burnout, and is moving to help them cope. The issue: French school days may be relatively few, but they are at least as long as a day of work for adults. Even 6-year-olds are in class until late into the afternoon, when skies are dark, attention flags and stomachs rumble.
As a candidate, President Francois Hollande promised to change things by adding a fifth day of classes on Wednesday while shortening the school day. For France, it&apos;s something of a revolutionary idea that would overturn more than a century of school tradition. The thinking is that the days are too full for young children under the current system and that Wednesday free time could be put to more productive use.
"France has the shortest school year and the longest day," Hollande said at the time, promising change.
His education minister, Vincent Peillon, will decide this month how to carry out the reform. He has said he may also compensate for a shorter school day by trimming France&apos;s sacred summer vacation. A panel of experts will present their conclusions on Friday, and the president is expected to address the issue on Tuesday.
No proposal affects tradition — and potentially family and municipal budgets — as much as what the French call changes to the "scholastic rhythms."
There&apos;s been a midweek break in French primary schools dating back to the 19th century, a government concession to the Roman Catholic Church, which wanted children to study the catechism on their weekday off. In today&apos;s secular France, Wednesdays currently are a blur of sports, music, tutoring for families of means, or a scramble for working parents struggling to get by — who must either find a sitter or send their kids to a full day at a state-run "leisure center."
Things aren&apos;t exactly easy for French kids.
Despite long summer breaks and the four-day school week, French elementary school students actually spend more hours per year in school than average — 847, compared with 774 among countries in OECD, a club of wealthy nations. But the time is compressed into fewer days each year. The French school day begins around 8:30 and ends at 4:30 p.m., even for the youngest, despite studies showing the ability of young children to learn deteriorates as the day goes on.
But many parents are afraid that the changes will force them to figure out extra childcare five days a week, especially at schools where the afterschool program amounts to sitting silently at a desk for two hours or near-chaos in the play areas. Under the education proposal, school would end at lunchtime on Wednesday.
"It&apos;s completely unrealistic," Valerie Marty, president of the national parents&apos; organization, said of the proposed timetable. "They have to figure out who will take care of the children after school, who will finance it."
In France, the answer is usually the government.
The state is expected to provide for just about everything education-related: Classes come under the national budget, and lunches and leisure are the domain of municipalities. So if school lets out most days at 3:30 p.m., under the plan most recently floated, more working parents than ever would need afterschool care — and towns would have to figure out what to do with restless children. That would almost certainly involve something more constructive than sitting quietly at desks, kicking around a ball, or playing cards until the evening when parents get out of work.
The Education Ministry has proposed more organized extracurricular activities like sports, theater and art to replace the relatively free form time children now have after school. But that means trained staff and, of course, more money from local budgets already strained in difficult economic times.
Marty, who has three children, proposes something entirely different: lengthening lunch to three hours.
"After a meal, children have a moment when they&apos;re tired. They&apos;re not ready for intellectual activities and could do something more relaxing," she said, suggesting theater, or quiet time in a library for others. Afterward, she said, classes could resume until evening.
Trimming the hallowed summer break is another tricky proposition. The school year ends at the beginning of July. Some families take July off, some August. But nearly everyone takes a month, and many French families travel for the entire period.
Peillon said he was flexible about vacation time: "If the question of vacation is blocking things, I&apos;ll propose that the prime minister leave it alone."
Eric Charbonnier, an OECD education expert supports the proposed changes. He believes the current system isn&apos;t working for the children most in need of a good education.
"A schedule with long days and lots of vacation is not one that will help the students who are having problems," he said.
Peter Gumbel, a British journalist who has lived in France since 2002 and written a book about the country&apos;s education system, said the length of the school day is only part of the problem. He says that French schooling is outmoded, dull and grinding. His take is clear from his book&apos;s title: "They Shoot Schoolchildren, Don&apos;t They?"
"You have to tackle head-on the fundamental questions of the classroom," he said, citing "the sheer heaviness of the national curriculum, the enormous amount of hours, the enormous amount of unbroken attention required, and the sheer boredom and tiredness."
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A lot has changed since the Federal Reserve decided in September once again to take a pass at raising interest rates and normalizing monetary policy. For hawks, not much of it has been particularly good.
When choosing not to move last month, the Federal Open Market Committee referred to some vague "international developments" it was monitoring to decide when it would enact its first rate hike since 2006.
For Wall Street, the message was clear: Fed officials worried that the slowdown in China would spread to other areas of the global economy, dampening prospects at home and making it the wrong time to lift off from the zero-bound range where it has been for seven years.
Since then, the news from China has gotten marginally better, with the government reporting that gross domestic product gained 6.9 percent in the most recent period.
The news from home, though, has improved little. Expectations for U.S. third-quarter GDP have tumbled in recent weeks, with the consensus now at just a 1.7 percent gain, according to FactSet, down from 3.9 percent in the inventory-inflated second quarter and well off hopes for 2.5 percent or better. CNBC's Rapid Update tracker has the estimate down to 1.4 percent.
A batch of economic data points Tuesday helped drive home the weakness: Consumer confidence declined and was below economist expectations, orders for long-lasting goods fell in line with consensus at 1.2 percent, and the Markit Purchasing Managers Index survey of manufacturing activity hit its lowest level since January, with the hiring component particularly worrisome.
Indeed, the jobs market, considered perhaps the brightest spot in the economy, has tailed off considerably, with September adding just 142,000 positions, according to the latest government report that came out after the last Fed meeting.
Not to mention corporate profits, which currently are tracking for a 3.8 percent decline in the third quarter, according to S&P Capital IQ.
"Global weakness, a large inventory overhang, economic uncertainty — take your pick. The current environment leaves businesses hesitant to invest in everything from equipment to structures to additional employees," Lindsey Piegza, chief economist at Stifel Fixed Income, said in summing up the most recent indicators.
The conditions add up to a headache for the Fed during a year in which Chair Janet Yellen and her top lieutenants repeatedly have expressed a desire to begin the rate normalization process. The first hike was supposed to happen in March, which would have been five months after the Fed ended its quantitative easing program, a series of monthly bond purchases that exploded the central bank's balance sheet past $4.5 trillion.
Now, the target again appears to be March, but in 2016. Traders at the CME assign just a 1 in 20 chance that the FOMC will announce a hike on Wednesday. The outlook has dimmed so much that traders say there's a 16 percent probability the Fed will still hold steady next September.
Fed watchers should expect the FOMC to tone down its assessment of the economy in the statement it releases at the meeting's conclusion, said Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank.
"The financial markets will treat the marking down of the Fed's near-term assessment of the economy as dovish, thereby further reducing the probability of a December 2015 rate hike, because the data will simply not be strong enough to convince the financial markets the Fed can actually begin tightening," LaVorgna said in a note.
"And if the Fed determines that it really wants to raise rates this year, the likely tightening in financial conditions that would accompany such a desire would give policymakers pause," he added. "Therefore, we do not expect a rate hike until the March 2016 meeting at the earliest."
Sure, there's been a rebound of sort in the global equity markets, but even that only seems to exemplify how much investors have come to depend on monetary largess from the Fed and its global counterparts. The S&P 500 index had been in a sharp tumble around the time of the September meeting, falling more than 12 percent from its July peak until it cratered 12 days after the FOMC decision.
Since then, the market is up nearly 10 percent, buoyed in part by hopes of a lower-for-longer Fed.
Summing up the Faustian bargain between the two entities, Hans Mikkelsen, credit strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, wrote, "Global weakness is OK for U.S. markets as long as the Fed refrains from hiking rates, and vice versa it would be OK from a markets perspective for the Fed to begin hiking rates if global weakness diminishes (but not OK if US data rebounds in isolation)."
Mikkelsen added that it's important the Fed acknowledge that the U.S. growth story is deteriorating.
"Hence risk assets have rallied for three weeks prompted by the turn to weaker U.S. data that began with the weak September jobs report, as the Fed's rate decision is understood to be completely data dependent," he said. "However, clearly for the market rally to be sustained it would be helpful if (the) FOMC statement tilted dovish by acknowledging this turn to weaker U.S. data."
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A Florida felon is back in jail after uploading photos to his Instagram page showing him posing with firearms.
Police raided Depree Johnson’s Lake Worth home last week after investigators spotted the incriminating images of the 19-year-old on the photo-sharing web site. Johnson’s rap sheet includes convictions for grand theft, burglary, and felon in possession of a firearm.
As seen above, one of the Instagram photos (click to enlarge) shows Johnson holding two handguns, while a friend points another weapon at his head.
Detectives with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office recently examined Johnson’s Instagram account as they were investigating his possible involvement in a series of burglaries.
The search of Johnson’s home turned up numerous pieces of stolen jewelry and a pair of stolen firearms. As a result, Johnson was arrested and booked into the county jail on 142 criminal counts.
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According to c8sciences.com, “While they share some of their respective symptoms, the definitions of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Executive Function Disorder aren’t quite the same. There is a definite difference between ADHD and Executive Function Disorder. A child or adult with ADHD might be hyperactive, inattentive, and/or impulsive, and while clinicians have always had a grasp on impulsivity and hyperactivity, the concept of inattention has evolved from a simple focus on “inability to stay on task” to a broader concept of “executive functioning”. Executive Functioning problems involve a pattern of chronic difficulties in executing daily tasks.” With that said, this article will describe the difference between Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Executive Function Disorder.
According to c8sciences.com, “Wouldn’t it make sense, then, that someone experiencing issues with executive functioning may have problems analyzing, planning, organizing, scheduling and completing tasks? Children and adults with EFD exhibit issues with organizing materials and setting schedules; they misplace papers, reports and other school materials and often times will have similar problems keeping track of their personal items or even keeping their bedroom organized. No matter how hard they try, the failure rate remains.” With that said, children and adults with Executive Function Disorder have difficulty with organization and setting schedules.
With that said, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Executive Function Disorder are similar to one another. However, it is also important to note that Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Executive Function Disorder are also different from one another. To be specific, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity focuses on staying focused on tasks. In contrast to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Executive Function Disorder focuses more on completing tasks. Therefore, to conclude this article, on a final note, similarities do exist between Executive Function Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder but so do differences, as well.
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Art can be found anywhere. And it doesn't have to be created with paint on canvas, sculpted from clay, or chiseled in stone.
Sometimes all it takes is a simple piece of chalk and a public sidewalk. That's the theory behind the annual Chalk Art Festival, which is June 13 at the Uptown Shopping Center in Richland. Registration starts at 8 a.m. Chalkers will begin their work at 9 a.m. and continue until 3 p.m.
"Chalk art is a wonderful and unique form of creativity," said Gus Sako, the event's organizer and owner of the Octopus' Garden novelty store in the Uptown.
"Give the smallest toddler a piece of chalk and sidewalk and they will be happy for hours," he said.
"I get off work and usually just head to the sidewalk," she said with a chuckle. "It's just too irresistible not to take part."
Both women also say creating chalk art can wreak havoc on the body, especially the knees, the back and shoulders.
"It's pretty hard for anyone to whip out a drawing in the hot sun on a dirty sidewalk. And, at almost 66, my knees are pretty creaky," Loomis said. "On the other hand, my kids just gave me a gardening stool with rails that might be just the thing!"
Calicoat says creating chalk art is like doing one-arm push ups for hours.
"I've been trying to train myself to use my left hand to paint so I'll probably do the same thing with chalk," Calicoat said.
The Chalk Art Festival was started by the now defunct Corporate Council for the Arts as a regional arts activity, Sako said. The festival moved to several locations until it finally settled at the Uptown a few years ago.
Categories and registration fees are: Up to age 5 $5; Ages 6-9 $5; Ages 10-12 $7; Ages 13-17 $7; Ages 18 and older $12. Sidewalks to be used for the chalk artistry will be on George Washington Way, Jadwin Avenue, Symons Streets and Williams Boulevard.
For more information, call 946-0077 or 943-6542.
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EXCLUSIVE: Actor and comedian Joel McHale has signed with UTA and Anonymous Content for representation. Previously with WME, McHale is perhaps best known for starring as Jeff Winger for six seasons on the NBC/Yahoo comedy Community and spent twelve seasons as the host of E!’s satirical series The Soup. Most recently, he toplined CBS’s short-lived sitcom The Great Indoors.
McHale will next be seen in the Netflix biopic A Futile & Stupid Gesture, portraying former Community co-star Chevy Chase, and in Sam Levinson’s upcoming thriller Assassination Nation.
Other credits include A Merry Friggin’ Christmas, where he played Robin Williams’ son, the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced supernatural thriller Deliver Us From Evil, Warner Bros’ rom-com Blended, and Seth MacFarlane’s blockbuster comedy Ted.
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BARTOW - The next regular meeting of the Central Florida Regional Planning Council is scheduled for Jan. 9, at 9 a.m. at the Bob Crawford Agriculture Center, 605 East Main Street, Bartow.
The Florida Retired Educators Association District 8, Unit II will meet at 10 a.m. Jan. 7, at the First United Methodist Church of Haines City, at 21 S. Second St. The program will be "Fun Time" presented by Dolla Williams. Cost is $6 for those eating brunch, others free.
volunteering, and other services that benefit our community. In December the unit gave food, toys, and books, to area schools to be distributed to needy families.
For details, call Betty Woodard, Vice-president at 863-324-0214.
LAKELAND - Polk Works Workforce 2020 will host two employers' edge seminars with the topic "Retaining Your Employees" in March.
On March 11 from 7:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., the first seminar will be at the Hilton Garden Inn, 3839 Don Emerson Dr., Lakeland.
The second seminar will be held March 19 from 7:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Lake Ashton Golf Club, 4141 Ashton Club Dr., Lake Wales.
Employers' Edge Seminars help business owners, executives, managers and human resource professionals gain the edge in hiring, training, motivating and retaining good quality employees.
The spring agenda will focus on motivation techniques for four generations in one workplace and retention best practices that you can implement tomorrow.
SEBRING - Founders' Day of the P.E.O. Sisterhood will be observed on Jan. 19, 2008, with a luncheon at 11:30 a.m. to be held at the Sebring Lakeside Inn and Tea Room, 1063 Lake Sebring Drive in Sebring. Cost of the luncheon is $18. All P.E.O.s in the area are invited to attend.
For reservations call Martha Carter, secretary of the Ridge Reciprocity Council, at 863-655-5630.
Deadline for reservations is Jan. 7.
Classes for the AARP 55 Driver Safety Program are being conducted at the following locations: the Gill Jones Center in Winter Haven, the Winter Haven Senior Center, Lake Region Mobile Home Park and the Lakeland Police Department.
To enroll in the Gill Jones, the Lakeland Police Department or the Lake Region classes, call Ernie Conte at 863-324-6887.
To enroll in the Winter Haven Senior Center class, call John O'Flaharty at 863-984-9721.
WINTER HAVEN -�The Winter Haven AARP Tax-Aide Program will begin training sessions for old and new volunteers in January. The training dates will be on Jan. 11, 15, 18, 22, and 25 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Last year, the program prepared free-of-charge over 800 tax returns for area Senior citizens. The location of the program will continue to be in the meeting room of the Hope Presbyterian Church at 2110 Cypress Garden Blvd SE. The facility and utilities are donated by the church as part of its Senior citizen outreach program to the community, and are very much appreciated.
All volunteers must pass a standardized test that is part of the course materials provided by the Internal Revenue Service. All of the computers and programs are provided by IRS in cooperation with AARP. The entire program is administered by volunteers with AARP and IRS oversight.
New volunteers are always needed, program officials say. Previous tax preparation knowledge and experience is desired but not necessary. However, the tax course material is covered rapidly, and without previous knowledge could be difficult due to its complexity. Some aspects of tax preparation are limited, not covered by the course, and cannot be done for tax payers with large stock portfolios, stock day traders, small businesses, and those with K-1 reports as part of their corporation holdings. Some volunteers serve as receptionist and assistants which does not require testing.
People who wish to volunteer for the Winter Haven's AARP Tax-Aide program may contact Shirley Rafool at 863-294-4542 or for other locations, contact AARP 1-888-687-2277.
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Tipmont REMC has acquired Wintek Corporation.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Tipmont REMC has acquired Wintek Corporation.
Together, the two companies will deploy residential fiber internet access to Tipmont's current 23,000 customers in eight counties over the next eight years. The acquisition will give those who live out of the city limits better internet speeds and access.
Tipmont President and CEO, Ron Holcomb, spoke about how the acquisition and improving internet access goes hand in hand with Tipmont's mission of providing service to as many people as possible.
A local small business owner, Susan Benedict, attended the press conference this morning to give a brief testimony about how her experience with Wintek. She also shared her excitement about the merge and the opportunities it will lend to the community.
The acquisition is expected to close by the end of the calendar year, and the joint organization plans to unveil a corporate rebrand and naming convention in the coming months.
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Don Keough thinks Ireland should have a Diaspora Minister, saying it would transform Diaspora/Irish relations.
He also wants to see Notre Dame back in Dublin playing football in the next couple of years. Tourism leaders will surely salivate after 30,000 US fans showed up the last time they played.
He has just helped raise $3 million for a world class 1916 Rising documentary prepared at Notre Dame and already bought by RTE Public Television in the US and the BBC.
He also believes that Ireland faced the worst crisis any western government had after the economic collapse and that American business leaders are keenly aware of how well they have handled it.
He is the man who brought Notre Dame and Coca-Cola to Ireland. He also brought Bill Gates and Warren Buffett his lifelong friend too, hosting them at the K Club on their first ever visit. He serves on Berkshire Hathaway’s board with Buffett and is still an advisor to the board of Coca-Cola, the company he served for 40 years.
As president of Coca-Cola he blazed the multinational trail to Ireland in the 1970s. As Chairman of the Board at Notre Dame he created the Keough-Naughton Irish Institute in 1994 and their Dublin campus and laid the groundwork for the university to play in Dublin in September 2012.
At 86 he is far from a back number. He is Chairman of the Board of Allen and Company, the New York investment bank, and co-hosts their annual Sun Valley retreat attended by world business leaders such as Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch.
He divides his time still between New York and Atlanta, his home, and keeps a schedule a younger man would surely tire of. Every year he visits his beloved Ireland with his family and recently paid a visit to New Ross in Wexford and the famine-era replica ship like the one his great-grandfather Michael embarked on back in the 1840s.
He has come a long way from Michael’s lonely journey. Warren Buffet once stated that two men he met in business, Jack Welch and Don Keough, could have become president of the United States if they had chosen a political rather than a business career.
Keough demurs, but there is little doubt that he has been Ireland’s greatest advocate in America for decades now. His sense of the potential of the Diaspora was uppermost in his mind during our New York interview.
How would you approach the Diaspora if you were the Irish government?
If a person wants to be part of that Diaspora the Irish government needs to acknowledge that. A good start would be a Minister for the Diaspora, who would be charged with creating that welcome and outreach.
I know when you become an Irish citizen in Ireland there is an event around it. If you announce you are of the Diaspora and coming to Ireland that is important too.
Israel has a minister of the Diaspora, I read in the New York Times, where and I quote, “Over the next five years the Israeli government will spend $1.4 billion on a range of initiatives to strengthen Jewish identity abroad and Jewish connections to Israel and vice versa.” That is the kind of thinking we need.
There should be someone as Minister who is a constant part of the Diaspora, who is reporting back to cabinet.
It is an asset that needs to be used. Just to announce that minister would be huge all over the world.
I was delighted to see Irish President Higgins mention and dedicate his trip to the Irish Diaspora in Britain in his remarks during the state visit.
We are everywhere across this world, this Irish army waiting to help this small country their people left from.
Think of it – 70 million people worldwide, millions of whom are seeking a relationship with their ancestral home. What an opportunity!
If the Notre Dame game can bring 35,000 people to Ireland what could a massive outreach do? The Notre Dame game demonstrated what was possible. It was the ultimate power of the Diaspora that they didn’t just come to the game – they captured the country.
I was at church last week in Atlanta. A couple who came to the game came up and told me they were returning again, they fell utterly in love with Ireland. They are just one small example of what I’m saying.
What is the upside potential for the Diaspora do you think?
I think within a matter of five years you would double the number of people who would visit Ireland. That would be my goal.
It needs preparation; Diaspora packages need to be put together. A self-proclaimed member of the Diaspora should feel like Notre Dame fans do, part of something bigger, greater than the sum of its parts. There should be special discounts, meetings, and outreach.
Look what we did with Notre Dame – 35,000 came and there was a massive range of activities.
The visit to Ireland is always enjoyable, despite the weather sometimes. Ireland and what it continues to represent is the best argument for itself.
What brought you there first to your Irish roots?
Well, I wanted to bring my children to Ireland. My father had gone late in his life and he was deeply moved by it. I’ll never forget how proud he was to go.
It was the memory of my father. It was the happiest trip of his life, and he said he was so upset he didn’t go when he was younger so that was always on my mind. So the first time I went was when I could afford it. My father touched Ireland for me.
I brought my children and we drove everywhere. This was the early 1970s. I was so excited. I wanted to get involved. I remember years later reading your magazine Irish America and saying, finally, someone gets it.
You first created the links between the University of Notre Dame and Ireland. There was very little connection until you came along. What made you want to do it?
Well, Notre Dame had an extraordinary Irish background. Almost all the presidents had Irish connections. It was just waiting to be connected into Ireland.
What made me do the Keough-Naughton Irish Institute was Professor Chris Fox, who I had met, and he told me we had an amazing Irish collection of books and major historical links and he had a deep interest in Ireland. I said, “Why don’t you do something?” Then the issue was how do we get it started.
So I talked to Seamus and said, “You have some amazing ideas about what an Irish studies program should be like we’ll give you the blank canvas and the paints and you paint the Irish studies program you want at the home of the Irish in America.” By golly, that was what exactly he did.
One of the most exciting things in my life has been to see it develop the way it has. It was perfect timing and Chris was a great leader, and the university supported it totally.
Some 10,000 students have studied there in the past 20 years and thousands go to Ireland. Then Martin Naughton came on board as my partner. He has been amazing.
Martin and his family played a massive role in the success of Notre Dame game. It became a happening because of Martin and it was great that the Taoiseach was fully involved, and we even got the weather!
I always remember telling Martin about the idea of the game and really getting the Irish involved. He asked, “What took you so long?” It was a huge boost to the institute and we have enlarged our efforts and numbers in Ireland since.
You have a great new Irish project as well.
Yes, the 1916 landmark documentary series. BBC, RTE and PBS will show a three-part landmark documentary about the 1916 Rising and we have raised the money, almost $3 million for it. We are very excited about that. The series will run to coincide with the centenary of the Easter Rising.
What has Ireland meant to you overall?
Ireland has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. To have such an involvement there is a privilege. My family loves it and we have all spent amazing times there. I wanted to buy a house there, but my wife Mickie said I’d never leave it.
How is Ireland doing now in your opinion?
So the Kenny government had no easy way to solve the problems, and so they had the toughest job of any country in the world.
They have done well. You hear a lot of respect for Ireland now over here. They faced the toughest problems and were the first to demonstrate that they were working their way out of it.
I look on what happened with a lot of pride on how they have done it. It has been very tough on the Irish people I know, but you have to give them credit. I’m very optimistic about what is going to happen. A lot of smart Americans are getting involved there now, guys like John Malone.
Will you bring Notre Dame football back to Ireland?
It is not up to me but my own view is they will be back. The call to Ireland for Notre Dame is very strong. Maybe within the next couple of years.
Are you still bullish on US?
When I talk about the US I say never bet against it, these are the most resilient people in the world.
We have an amazing gene pool a collection of people from all over the world who came not to exploit but to find a new way to grow and develop, many of them were running away from poverty and oppression.
They could see hope here those that came. It took enormous courage for people to get up and leave in the first place.
I’m an absolute optimist; my own journey proves it from a small farm in Iowa to the presidency of Coca-Cola.
Who do you consider inspirational figures?
Father Ted Hesburgh at Notre Dame. He is an absolute inspiration; still a simple priest. His most important moment in his life is when he says Mass.
I took him to Latin America once. We called on several heads of state. The minute I brought him in there they paid no attention to me. He spoke to them in Portuguese, Spanish and charmed them all.
He was an incredible visionary who served six presidents on issues such as civil rights and immigration and built one of the great universities. There were those who said a Catholic university could never reach the heights of academic excellence, but Father Hesburgh knew differently.
Warren Buffet still tap dances to work every day. He has arranged to give all his wealth away, but he’d be rich in every important way with or without it.
He lives a very simple life. We have been friends for decades. I lived across the street from him in Omaha many years ago and he still lives there, in a modest house, like the man.
Outside of my own father, of the people I have worked with Warren Buffett stands out. He is a learning machine, a great philanthropist. He has kept an amazing sense of humility.
What is the best life lesson you have learned?
The life lesson I have learned is that wealth has nothing to do with money. It has to do with family, with friendships, with knowing and learning from interesting people, people who make a difference. If I didn’t have ten dollars I’d consider myself one of the wealthiest people in the world with the friends and family I have had.
I say to my grandkids, you need to be an interesting person, and not just learn how to move your thumbs around an iPhone or iPad. No one wants to be around uninteresting people I tell them. Young people today don’t want to be vulnerable. They want to be cool, the worst possible thing to be.
I tell them you need to go through life saying this is who I am comfortable in my skin, for better or worse. Take me for what I am.
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World Series of Fighting on Tuesday announced that Alexandre has inked “an exclusive, multi-year agreement” to compete for the Las Vegas-based organization. Specifics of the deal were not disclosed.
A decorated muay Thai practitioner, Alexandre began his mixed martial arts career in 2011 and ran up a 5-1 record inside the Bellator cage in the span of 13 months, including a rematch win against the only man to beat him, Josh Quayhagen. The 33-year-old was absent from MMA for more than a year before returning to knock out Rey Trujillo in his most recent bout under the banner of Texas’ Legacy Fighting Championship.
Alexandre has focused mainly on kickboxing in the past two years, most recently defeating John Wayne Parr for the Lion Fight super middleweight title in October.
The date and opponent for Alexandre’s promotional debut “will be announced soon,” according to a release. WSOF has two events on its slate for the end of the year: WSOF 25 on Nov. 20 in Phoenix and WSOF 26 on Dec. 18 in Las Vegas.
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WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said on Monday that the United States wanted a ceasefire in Afghanistan during Eidul Azha because this was also the desire of the Afghan people.
The Afghan government announced on Sunday that it wanted a ceasefire in the country during this Eid like the one that was observed during Eidul Fitr, which allowed rival Afghan factions, particularly the Taliban, to celebrate the religious festival peacefully with their families.
But Mr Pompeo and Afghan officials both said that for this ceasefire to happen, it was necessary for the Taliban to desire it as well.
“This plan responds to the clear and continued call of the Afghan people for peace,” Mr Pompeo said.
He noted that the last ceasefire in Afghanistan revealed the deep desire of the Afghan people to end the conflict. “And we hope another ceasefire will move the country closer to sustainable security,” the chief US diplomat said.
Mr Pompeo said the US supported this initiative because “it is our hope and that of the international community that the Afghan people may celebrate Eidul Azha this year in peace, free from fear”. He said the US also supported Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s offer for comprehensive negotiations with the Taliban on a mutually agreed agenda. “We remain ready to support, facilitate, and participate in direct negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban,” said the US diplomat.
Earlier this week, Mr Pompeo telephoned the Saudi crown prince and also asked him to help arrange a ceasefire during Eidul Azha. The United States hopes that the ceasefire will enable the Taliban to experience the blessings of peace while celebrating the festival with their families.
Mr Pompeo, who will be arriving in Islamabad after the ceasefire, is expected to urge the new Pakistani government to back its efforts for bringing a durable peace in Afgha­nistan. In return for Pakistan’s support in Afghanistan, Washington may drop its opposition to a $12 billion aid package with the IMF and consider restoring its security assistance to Pakistan.
Afghanistan was on Monday awaiting the Taliban’s response to President Ghani’s proposal for a three-month ceasefire, an offer welcomed by the US and Nato after nearly 17 years of war, according to AFP.
The president said his office had cleared “all obstacles” to peace with the announcement following consultations with religious scholars, political parties and civil society groups.
The Taliban did not immediately respond to President Ghani’s truce offer, but vowed to release “hundreds” of “enemy prisoners” to mark the Eidul Azha holiday. A Taliban member told AFP that the leadership had yet to issue a formal response to the ceasefire, but suggested fighting might be restrained during Eid even if no announcement was made.
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SANOK, POLAND — In the far southeast corner of Poland, the warm summer air is resounding with the rasp of old-fashioned iron saws and the satisfying twack-twack-twack of ax blades on wood.
Here, in the foothills of the Carpathians, an international crew of master timber craftsmen and students has been working on an intensely hands-on project that combines history, art and education. They are building a replica of the tall peaked roof and inner cupola of an ornate wooden synagogue that stood for 300 years in the town of Gwozdziec, now in Ukraine.
The replica, which will be 85 percent of the original size of the building, will be installed as one of the key components of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, currently under construction in Warsaw and scheduled to open in 2013.
Its elaborate structure and the intricate painted decoration on the cupola ceiling will reproduce a form of architectural and artistic expression that was wiped out in World War II, when the Nazis put the torch to some 200 wooden synagogues in Eastern Europe. Many of them, like that in Gwozdziec, were centuries old and extraordinarily elaborate, with tiered roofs and richly decorative interior painting.
The Gwozdziec Synagogue, built in the 17th and 18th centuries, was a “truly resplendent synagogue that exemplified a high point in Jewish architectural art and religious painting,” the architectural historian Thomas C. Hubka, an expert on the building, has written.
Constructing the replica is a joint project of the museum in Warsaw and the Handshouse Studio, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit organization that emphasizes learning by building, particularly the reconstruction of historical structures and other objects.
The Browns conducted years of research on Eastern Europe’s lost wooden synagogues before embarking on construction of the Gwozdziec replica in Sanok in May. They studied prewar photographs, drawings and other documentation, built models and made on-site investigations of wooden churches and other buildings still found in Poland and Ukraine.
There are also several impressive masonry synagogues within an easy drive of Sanok. The 18th-century synagogue in Lancut, now a museum, has beautifully restored interior painting and other decoration. One in Rymanow stood for decades as a ruin but has been partially rebuilt, with a tall peaked roof now protecting the vigorous but sadly fading frescoes of Biblical animals and Jerusalem that grace its walls.
In Lesko, the 17th-century synagogue was rebuilt in the 1960s and today houses a gallery of local arts and crafts. Lesko’s vast Jewish cemetery, just a short walk away, is one of the oldest in Poland, with massive tombstones dating to the 16th century.
For the Gwozdziec project, an international team of nearly 30 master craftsmen from the Timber Framers Guild are being joined by groups of students from Massachusetts College of Art and Design, where the Browns teach.
Timber framers came from the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, Belgium and Japan to lend their skills, all on a volunteer basis.
All the work is being carried out using techniques and tools that the builders of the original synagogue would have used: axes, saws, mallets and other hand-held implements. The aim is to gain an understanding of just what went into the building of the synagogue and how its construction would have been envisaged and carried out — and also to lend authenticity to the replica.
“It brings back the lost story of the synagogue, the town, this culture,” said Patrick Goguen, a student at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
The project is occurring in several stages. Building the timber-framed roof and cupola is the first stage, running through June. Students and artists will hold workshops this summer and next summer to reproduce the intricate polychrome painting that adorned the ceiling of the cupola. These workshops will be held in eight Polish towns in masonry synagogues that still stand.
The timber framing is taking place in a corner of Sanok’s Ethnographic Park, a sprawling open-air folk-architecture museum that displays wooden buildings — houses, barns, churches, chapels and even beehives — that have been transferred from a number of villages in the region.
Here, thick logs are being hewn by hand into flat-sided timbers — a process that can take two days per log — and then manually sawed into thinner pieces. The components are then shaped and joined without nails.
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A drink-driver who sneezed and crashed his car before walking home to get another vehicle to tow it back onto the road has avoided jail.
Farm worker Ian Simpson, 59, was more than three times the limit when he veered off the B967 Arbuthnott Road, near Inverbervie, on October 28 and ended up down an embankment.
He walked home, had a large whisky, then went back to the scene in another car in a bid to pull the first one up the hill.
Simpson, of Kinneff, Aberdeenshire, previously pled guilty to driving with 76 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath – the limit is 22mcgs. He also admitted being in charge of another vehicle. The court heard he has a previous conviction for a similar offence.
Defence agent Gail Goodfellow said her client had been working as a dairyman but since the offences he had been signed off work and intended to resign. She said her client was diagnosed with cancer three years ago, his mental health had been impacted and he had “regrettably resorted” to alcohol use.
She previously said Simpson had been working on the evening prior to the offence. He returned home, had a bottle of beer and a large whisky – but was then called out to deal with an alarm going off on a milk tank.
Sheriff Ian Wallace banned him from the road for three years as well as placing him under supervision for a year and ordering him to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work as an alternative to custody.
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The SNP's internal feud reached new depths of bitterness last night when party leader Alex Salmond was told by treasurer Ian Blackford to apologise for criticisms made last week or face being sued for defamation.
As moves continued to oust Mr Blackford, the party was also preparing disciplinary action against one of his closest allies, Ms Margo MacDonald, who faces accusations of breaking internal rules by publicly challenging a parliamentary group decision.
Ms MacDonald, a critic of Mr Salmond's leadership style, will be dealt with on Thursday at a meeting which her supporters claim could mark the start of a campaign to have her deselected.
Nationalist spokesmen desperately sought to play down the effects of the furious row which erupted between Mr Salmond and Mr Blackford last week over reports that the SNP was in deep financial trouble.
Press officer Kevin Pringle refused to give details of the behind-the-scenes leadership attack on Mr Blackford at the weekend party executive meeting which passed a motion of no confidence in him by 18 votes to three.
SNP rules allow the executive to admonish, suspend or expel a member - which some observers think could be the leadership's next move if Mr Blackford stays put.
Party insiders have pointed privately to Mr Blackford as the source of recent stories about the SNP's financial state. Mr Blackford has hotly denied any wrongdoing. The cause of the row is Mr Blackford's reputedly hard line as treasurer in drawing up tough housekeeping rules for the party which is in debt.
He is thought privately to believe Mr Salmond and former chief executive Michael Russell, together spent irresponsibly during the Scottish Parliament elections and then left him to clear up the financial mess. Mr Blackford has repeatedly said that as a prominent and wealthy banker in Edinburgh he must ensure his conduct is above reproach because his professional reputation is on the line.
The latest dispute between the leader and treasurer involves the extent of the party's overdraft and the effectiveness of Mr Blackford's efforts to have it cleared before the General Election.
He and Mr Salmond were involved in an acrimonious dispute last summer after The Herald revealed that Stagecoach millionaire Brian Souter had made a major contribution - said to be about #200,000 - to the SNP but had not been named as the source. Rules at the time did not require the identity of major donors to be revealed but parties had agreed to abide by the spirit of the new procedures.
Mr Blackford irritated Mr Salmond, who claimed the SNP had behaved perfectly properly, with his insistence that there must be no ''jiggery pokery''.
Relations between the two men have never recovered and hit a new low last week with newspaper claims that the SNP was broke and had been forced to sell its Edinburgh HQ to help pay off an overdraft believed to be #400,000.
In fact, the SNP had planned long ago to sell its offices. The party is believed to have struck an agreement on the sale last week and it must now find a new headquarters.
Proceeds from the sale are not expected to be used in clearing the overdraft which deputy party leader John Swinney predicted last month would be paid off around the end of this year and which was about #600,000 at its worst.
Mr Blackford, who is reputedly wealthy, told Radio Clyde that when he was involved in talks with his bank about personally helping the SNP out of its financial difficulty, Mr Salmond was encouraging former party leader Willie Wolfe to run against him as treasurer. Mr Wolfe subsequently withdrew. ''I don't need lessons from Alex Salmond on integrity or trust,'' Mr Blackford said.
The SNP would not confirm a report that Mr Salmond accused Mr Blackford of incompetence and of destabilising the party and had appeared to blame him for the overspend.
He rejected suggestions that he and allies like Ms MacDonald were being purged as an offensive against dissidents. ''I don't believe in conspiracy theories,'' he said.
Mr Blackford pointed out that his treasurer's report to the national council last month had been accepted without questioning.
Ms MacDonald incurred the wrath of the leadership when she complained publicly about the parliamentary party's refusal to set aside SNP debating time in the chamber for her ideas for exploring the use of cannabis, particularly as an aid to those suffering pain. She accused some of her colleagues of ''reneging'' on the issue.
between the leader and treasurer.
Labour revelled in the SNP disarray. Scotland Office Minister Brian Wilson said: ''Alex Salmond's control freak tendencies have finally come home to roost. Having ousted the party treasurer in the night of the long sgian dubhs he has now turned his sights on the independence-minded Margo MacDonald.
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An article published by Zippia ranks Bakersfield as one of the worst job markets in America in 2018.
The article states researchers ranked 386 metro areas based on wage change, unemployment rate change and the current unemployment rate. Bakersfield ranked number seven out of the worst ten.
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Quite frankly, thoughts and prayers can only go so far. They have limited ability to protect our families. The time has come for our elected leaders – including President Barack Obama – to stand up and fight for our families and children, and their safety.
But the American people support stronger gun safety measures more than he believes or cares to say. Polls now demonstrate this to be true.
When our children are being shot at and killed in their schools, or movie theaters, we have to take meaningful action. These tragedies are too frequent, and are, as the president said, heartbreaking.
We need to talk about gun laws. We need an open and honest debate about the tragedies happening in our communities, one after another. There are common-sense laws that can help prevent these tragedies, and Americans support them.
The “Fix Gun Checks Act,” if passed, would make it tougher for the mentally ill to legally buy guns by strengthening background checks so people like James Holmes (the Aurora shooter) can’t acquire guns. Ninety percent of Americans want to fix gaps in government databases that allow the mentally ill or drug users from buying guns. Even gun owners support the laws.
Eighty-two percent of gun owners (National Rifle Association and non-NRA members) believe that a criminal background check should be required for anyone purchasing a gun, according to data released by Republican pollster Frank Luntz for Mayors Against Illegal Guns earlier this year, 76 percent of gun owners support prohibiting people on the terrorist watch list from buying guns, 80 percent support mandatory gun safety training for anyone applying for a concealed permit, and 78 percent of gun owners believe that concealed permits should only be granted to applicants who have not committed violent misdemeanors.
The NRA, which fights against all this, is out of touch — even with its own membership. Its power to dictate this debate has to be challenged.
The data on assault weapons is just as telling. The man identified Friday as the gunman, Adam Lanza was armed with semiautomatic pistols and a semiautomatic rifle and the killers in Aurora and Portland both used an AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle. Sixty-three percent of Americans said they favor a nationwide ban on assault weapons, according to a 2011 CBS/New York Times poll, and 63 percent favored banning high-capacity magazines that hold many rounds of ammunition.
We found, in a 2011 survey we conducted for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, that 57 percent of Americans support a law that would limit the size of ammunition clips so that the gun could not fire more than 10 bullets without having to be reloaded. Only a third, or 34 percent, of Americans opposed that law.
The Brady Bill, which expired under President George W. Bush, and that Obama said he supported, regulated these kinds of assault weapons (AR-15). Those guns are now unregulated and the result is tragedy after tragedy that won’t end until elected leaders step up.
Support for sounder, safer gun laws is not restricted to blue states or big urban cities. In a study conducted by Lake Research Partners earlier this year in swing state-senate districts in Virginia, we found that two-thirds of voters (65 percent) in a rural western Virginia district believe the gun laws should be made stronger — including 52 percent who strongly believe so. Just 24 percent say they should be less restrictive.
Ninety-two percent of voters in a state senate district centered in Roanoke, Virginia, strongly endorsed requiring background checks for people purchasing guns and permits for people who want to carry a concealed loaded weapon.
The NRA and those who oppose gun safety measures should welcome a gun-control debate — especially if they think they have the winning hand.
The consistent lack of leadership on this issue is stunning. But what is most unnerving is that it does not have to be this way – the American people support common sense gun laws.
Others have said, even on Friday, that now is not the time to discuss more gun laws. They said this same thing after Aurora, after Portland, and now after Newtown. They are trying to silence the millions of Americans who want stronger protections from gun violence in their communities.
These silencers, led by the NRA, continue to use the 2011 Gallup poll, which we have already explained is problematic, to shut down the debate about new gun laws that will make us safer. That poll said that 43 percent of Americans support stricter gun laws, a 6 percentage point drop from 2008.
But as the numbers we have cited here show, this single Gallup question is too shallow to really tell the story of what Americans think about gun safety measures.
Now is the time to have a discussion about gun laws that will make our communities and families safer. The American people are ready.
Obama showed great courage earlier this year when he stood up for the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry. His courage and leadership is needed here too. These tragedies will happen again and again until our leaders stand up and pass meaningful gun-safety laws that the American public supports.
No, the public doesn’t agree.
The majority of Americans support the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. This is a fact.
The public does not agree. The only reason there were so many deaths is because the federal ban on firearms within 100feet of a school does not permit a responsible citizen from carrying a firearm. Otherwise someone would have dropped this Perp in his tracks. The police and your gov’t can’t be everywhere and make you safe. Grow up and start taking responsibility for your own security. This article represents the psychology of the victim.
The Republicans need any and all fringe groups to make up for the fact that they represent a small percentage of the electorate.
Their greatest fear is that people will figure them out.
Which public is this that you speak of? The 26% as usual? Stop using tragedy to push your BS agendas.
Almost every Swiss man has an assault rifle and its ammunition, at home, as part of his obligation to do military service. Yet killings using these rifles are extremely rare. Why?
The two writers of this “opinion piece” (you noted, I didn’t call it news, nor refer to the authors as journalists), have managed to present about as much political drivel and spin as I’ve ever seen, in one single story. The vast majority of the article is composed of opinion, half truths, and highly targeted, and vague opinion “polls”. PULEEZE, can we get some real journalism here?
A species that eats its young or fails to protect them becomes extinct. Think about it.
@saildog07. You are clearly remarkably ignorant of what the US is, what we face as a people and what “inalienable rights” means.
I think we should ban meth and heroin, that would keep it off the streets and, keep people from doing it.
The Colordao theater killer chose the only movie theater within 20 miles that had a ban on concealed weapons. You want the only people in the world to have guns to be governments and criminals? a naive concept.
This guy was insane – lets address the problems with mental illness and get some security at schools for God’s sake.
For the first time in my life, I am thinking about buying a gun.
The only places where these mass shootings have happened are where guns are not allowed. (Schools, churches, government buildings) These people maybe mentally ill but they still know enough to do this in places where someone can’t shoot back at them. Anyplace that does not allow legal gun owners to carry a firearm should be required to have an armed guard 24/7. Even then the armed guard won’t be in the right place at the right time. I would feel much safer sending my kids to the school in Texas with the Guardian program where some of the teachers are licensed to carry firearms. Outlaw firearms and only criminals will have them.
This is not what the public wants. This is what the liberals want for the public.
I believe in gun control. I control mine very well. How about controlling the pez dispensing of mind altering, psychosis enducing drugs you’re giving people. Even dispensing these harmful drugs to young adults!
In the Supreme Court case, Castle Rock v. Gonzales, 545 U.S. 748 (2005), the court ruled that our local police are not responsible for protecting us. SOOOOOO, who IS responsible for protecting us? We are responsible. That’s why I responsibly conceal carry. I protect my wife and 2 small children. When more responsible people carry, violent crime goes down. The FBI crime statistics don’t lie. Why do the left and gun grabbing crowd ignore this fact? Liberalism is a mental disorder.
Lets look one poll that this particular article is using for it’s numbers.
The poll used 2 Senate Districts in the State of VA. District 21 and District 38.
with the total numbers of respondents being 305 voters in District 21 and 302 voters in district 38.
That’s a fairly small sample size considering Roanoke VA (part of district 21) has a population of 92,376 (2010 numbers) but polls being what they are they can’t call every registered voter.
So they are making a statement for the entire state of Virginia with a population of 8 million give or take from the words of 607 people. Now not all of the 8 million are old enough to vote or even care enough to vote. But the statement that such a small group of people are the norm for a much larger population is suspicious.
Lets now look at the generator of the poll and the authors of this piece. Lake Research here is a snippet from their web site.
Nothing unusual there, next check their “outstanding clients” I did not check all of them but the ones I did check are Democrats with a history of voting for more firearms laws or outright bans.
So going down to the list of causes that they have worked for I see several that catch my eye, The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, MoveOn.org, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. So I think it is safe to say that this is a group that is defiantly not non-bias. Nothing wrong with that, but I would not trust this group to give me honest results any more than I would a Republican think tank on gay marriage.
So as to the title of this opinion piece states “Public agrees” there is not enough data in their source material to even make that assumption let alone any reason to believe that the authors are trying to give anything but their own viewpoints legitimacy.
I think the founding fathers would have had a different opinion if they realized that modern “constitutionalists” were defending the right of 14 year old drug dealers to carry semiautomatic weapons or mentally deranged people to spray bullets into elementary school classrooms. The one part that is frequently lacking in these types of discussions is any realistic alternate solution or approach for stemming the regular occurrence of these types of events. Arming guards at the entrances to all schools? Really? Is that really the statement of our times? Ok, so we are the most heavily armed society in the world and we kill more fellow Americans every year than the combined total of the Gulf War, the Twin Towers assault, the Iraq war and the War on Terror in Afghanistan. Every year. Are there any serious suggestions of how to begin to address these murders?
A gun is an inanimate tool not deviant behavior and crime is deviant behavior not an inanimate tool.
You can’t prevent deviant behavior by regulating tools because tools are incapable of behavior and the number of tools available to the world’s deviants is endless.
Even if you could legislate guns out of existence, deviants could, would and have used other things that gave them a power advantage over their victims—knives, clubs, rocks or even sharp sticks—all of which are very legal and very accessible.
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Fisher-Price issued a recall of 4.7 million Rock ‘n Play Sleepers Friday after multiple infants were found to have died while the product was in use.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Division’s website, 30 infant fatalities have occurred when infants rolled over while unrestrained “or other circumstances” since the product was introduced in 2009.
Consumers are advised to stop using the sleepers immediately and contact Fisher-Price for a refund or voucher.
Rock ‘n Play Sleepers were sold at major retailers for between $40 and $49.
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James finished the preseason ranked tied for 14th in scoring (13.7 points per game) among league forwards.
Exhibition numbers mean little, or perhaps nothing, in the grand scheme of a season, but Bosh’s statistical effort during the preseason is anything but irrelevant — or random — when taken in the correct context. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra spent the entire training camp drilling his players on the idea of a free-flowing, equal-opportunity offense. That Bosh, Mr. Random Guy, emerged from training camp as the team’s leading scorer means the Heat’s offense is healthy heading into the season opener against the Celtics on Tuesday at AmericanAirlines Arena.
More often than not, Bosh is open on the offensive end. The ball found him during the preseason, and Bosh’s skills did the rest. He led the Heat in field-goal percentage (.551) while also leading the team in rebounds (43).
James is the driving force behind Spoelstra’s idea of “positionless basketball,” but Bosh might be the second-most important cog in the wheel. On most nights, Bosh is the quickest big man on the floor, and his consistent jump shot allows him to stretch defenses.
Conventional defensive strategy against the Heat calls for packing the paint to account for Wade and James. Entering his third season with the Heat, Bosh knows where to find the open spots on the periphery. He likes to call those opportunities random, but, when paired with James, the results are more like basketball jazz.
“He’s open,” said James, who led the Heat with 41 assists in the preseason. “We’re playing with a lot more pace and a lot more space for him, and giving him a lot more opportunities to go at his matchup.
Wade credits Bosh’s big preseason to his work before training camp. Bosh skipped the Olympics to fully heal from the abdominal injury he sustained in the playoffs. Upon his return, he met with Wade and James and vowed to carry more of the load early in the season.
When Bosh first arrived in Miami, the Heat wanted him to pack on muscle mass and bulk up for a life in the paint. Spoelstra scrapped that plan after the playoffs when the Heat used an unconventional lineup to win its second NBA championship. The Heat’s coach instructed Bosh to focus on his natural skill set: speed, quickness and shooting.
Bosh averaged 18.0 points per game last season, but Wade says Bosh is capable of “going for 20-plus a game and probably more effortlessly than” himself and James.
While Bosh has accepted the label of center, offensively he’s more of a hybrid power forward than anything. The position of a traditional center is a dying art in the NBA, so much so that the league has removed the designation from All-Star ballots this season.
Fans will now vote for three “frontcourt players” and two guards rather than two guards, two forwards and a center. Despite the change, Bosh still doesn’t expect to garner any more votes for a starting spot.
• The Heat finalized its 15-man roster on Saturday, cutting point guard Garrett Temple. Miami begins the season with 12 players from its championship team. Forward Rashard Lewis, forward Josh Harrellson and guard Ray Allen are the new additions.
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We see college admissions exams such as the SAT as a critical tool – not a barrier – for our students, parents and teachers, as well as college admissions officers. Teachers and counselors in Patterson Joint Unified are provided with SAT data, which can be used to inform them how best to support students in reaching their academic goals. When our students take the SAT, they can be connected to college application fee waivers, Khan Academy’s official free, personalized test practice and extensive scholarship opportunities.
The way to ensure authentic equity in college admissions is to give all students the support and tools they need to pursue their college and career ambitions.
When college admissions tests are offered during the school day, instead of Saturday mornings when some students would be working, more students are able to achieve their fullest potential.
When school districts are working to level the field, that includes making sure all students have the support and accommodations they need. English learners taking the SAT are always provided appropriate accommodations, including access to testing instructions in their primary language, bilingual glossaries and, more recently, extended testing time.
All students with exceptional needs are given appropriate accommodations on the SAT as identified by their personal education team.
Leaders in the college admissions community recognize college admissions tests are an important part of a holistic admission process – one that considers test scores as one factor among many that can show a students’ true potential for success. But college admission is just one component of these exams’ utility.
College admissions exams provide highly useful data for teachers and administrators, not just admissions officers. College admissions tests are used nationwide as a complement to grades, in order to reliably predict college and career success and student achievement across socio-economic status, race and ethnicity without bias or potential inflation.
Patterson is diverse, inclusive and proud. Increasing access to important college admissions tests like the SAT – at no cost to the students – means Patterson Joint Unified students from every walk of life can seek their college and career dreams. This is an approach many districts across California are taking as we endeavor to provide students the tools they need to succeed.
Philip M. Alfano, Ed. D, is superintendent of Patterson Joint Unified School District.
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87, of Waianae, died in Waianae on July 9, 2018. She was born in Lahaina, Maui. Visitation: 10 AM; Services: 11 AM on Saturday, August 4, 2018 at Sacred Heart - Waianae. Burial: 3 PM at Hawaiian Memorial Park Cemetery.
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Paddling students is still legal in a third of the country. Kentucky legislators want to ban it.
As a 10th-grader in Jefferson County, Ky., Tina was caught cutting the lunch line. She would be disciplined, a school official told her, but he gave her a choice: detention or two “licks,” a sugarcoated term for two strikes with a wooden paddle.
A male faculty member brought the teen, who was dressed in a cheerleading uniform, into an office and spanked her bottom with a paddle.
Tina Bojanowski’s memory was made more than 30 years ago, yet in a handful of states — including Kentucky — it seems the times have not changed, as the practice is still legal there. Now a member of the state legislature, Rep. Tina Bojanowski (D) is supporting a bill to prohibit corporal punishment.
“When someone is doing something wrong, the most important thing is to change their behavior. There are more effective measures to change students’ behavior than striking them,” Riley, a former high school principal, told The Washington Post.
There’s been a national downward trend in corporal punishment in schools, according to research by Kids Count Data Center. In 2016, the Obama administration called for an end to the practice in all states and school districts. Thirty-one states have barred the practice, but 19 still permit it, Riley said.
In Kentucky, 17 school districts permit corporal punishment. According to research done by the Kids Count Data Center, during the 2017-2018 academic year, there were 452 reported instances of such punishment in the state.
Of those 17 districts, five accounted for 85 percent of cases. Bell County reported 129 incidents, the highest in Kentucky for the academic year. Clinton County, the second highest, reported 128 incidents, a figure more than seven times the 17 incidents reported during 2016-17. Neither county schools superintendent responded to The Post for comment.
Pulaski and Harlan counties reported increases in instances of corporal punishment, to 67 and 30 cases, respectively.
Riley presented the legislation to the state House Education Committee earlier in February, but the bill was not voted on. Similar bills were also introduced in 2017 and 2018 but not passed.
The Kentucky school districts that permit paddling are predominantly in rural areas, according to Riley. Their legislators who oppose the bill argue they want to protect against government overreach. “They say that discipline should be left to local school board, not state government,” Riley said.
With eight days left in the legislative session, Riley said, H.B. 202 is unlikely to be voted on imminently. But, he added, “I’m going to keep proposing until it gets passed."
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Lookout Landing jots down a few thoughts on Shoppach as only they can. Marc W over at USS Mariner take s a look at catching defense and trying to measure it.
For me, there aren't many ways to statistically measure catching defense. And of those ways -- throwing out runners, passed balls (don't you ever use catcher's ERA, ever) - that's about 1/10th of the responsibilities of the position. And because of that, any stat - namely Win Above Replacement player (WAR) - that uses a defensive metric is kind of flawed when it comes to catchers. So much of a catcher's responsibility cannot be measured or quantified with numbers. I was converted to catcher in college (ate my way out of second base), and played the position for three years. The amount of things that went into just one game were overwhelming - and that was at the NAIA level. So at the big league level? It's ridiculous. It's why I kind of just shrugged my shoulders on WAR comparisons of John Jaso and Mike Morse.
One thing that would be interesting is the 40-man roster move the Mariners would make if they sign Shoppach. Who do they designate for assignment? Would it be another young player like Yoervis Medina, or would the Mariners part ways with Mike Carp, who seems to have no place on the team.
As for other free agents .... outfielder Michael Bourn met with the Mets (see what I did there?). If you notice in the Sherman story, he views it as a long shot. Why? Well according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, Bourn's agent - Scott Boras - wants 5-years at $15 million per year. And if anyone knows what Boras wants, it would be Heyman.
From what I've been told, there hasn't been a ton of discussion about Bourn in the Mariners' front office. I'm guessing the idea of $75 million is a little too much of a commitment, particularly with their push to sign Felix Hernandez to a contract extension. Of course, that could change if the asking price went down a little. But how often does Boras' asking price go down? Would Bourn help the Mariners? Yes. He would give them a legitimate lead-off hitter that they don't have and another defensive presence in the outfield. Having Bourn and Gutierrez in the same outfield could offset any defensive issues in left field. But I'd be surprised if they go this route. And it's not because they are worried about giving up their first round pick (No. 12 overall) as compensation.
The Mariners are still hoping to add a veteran pitcher as well. Joe Saunders' name has been mentioned outside sources, but it doesn't sound like the team is interested in overpaying. Lohse's asking price is also way too high for his value .... here's a list of other pitchers that are unsigned. Any names that interest you?
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A proposed $226-million youth mental health centre in Edmonton will boast more than 100 inpatient beds and bring various treatment programs under one roof, said the province.
Funding for the child and adolescent mental health centre was first set out in the 2017 budget to the tune of $200 million, said Health Minister Sarah Hoffman.
On Monday, the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation promised to contribute an additional $26 million to the project. The foundation will receive the naming rights for the facility.
“We just recently finished the scope, so now we know the how many beds and what the kinds of services will be,” Hoffman said.
The centre will include 101 inpatient beds, child and adolescent crisis services, a mobile response team and a slew of other services including outpatient support.
The centre will be built on land owned by Alberta Health Services east of the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital.
The foundation plans to raise the additional funds over the next five years, he added.
Construction is set to begin in spring 2021, with completion slated for 2024. Project design will start in the next few months, said the province.
“I actually think this is going to be something that has an indelible mark on things like crime and homelessness and poverty, because so much of that is endemic to mental health,” House said.
Annie Belley, 24, spoke about her own struggle with bipolar disorder at the news conference.
She said having multiple services under one roof will be helpful for patients.
“It’s so hard to navigate the health system as it is. When you throw mental health into the mix, there are so many other factors that go into play there,” she said.
She said feeling overwhelmed used to stop her from seeking help.
The province estimated the project will create up to 250 construction jobs.
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LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-An angry landlord on Wednesday sealed a flat house at Area 6 in the capital Lilongwe for Zodiak Broadcasting Corporation Managing Director Gospel Kazako for non payment of rentals.
According to information gathered reveals that Kazako has been giving excuses to the owner of the Area 6 flats which he stays, and in return not fulfilling the promise to sort his bills.
The sources added that ZBS boss is in financial crisis following his financing of UTM party of Saulos Chilima in a bid to be picked as a running mate.
Kazako has been giving free advertising to UTM and coverage at the expense of ZBS airtime, a development which had disturbed his cash flow.
The landlord has since said Kazako will only access the house if hr pays the bills or risks losing everything in the house to cover for the rentals.
Efforts to get Kazako’s side of the story proved futile on several attempts as his mobile number could not be reached.
The development comes barely a month after two senior and talented presenters Joseph Mwanoka and and Lucy Chimwanza left the station.
Not only that just two weeks ago another two senior officers also pressed an existing button.
The senior ZBS senior members leaving includes Africano Phiri, Director of Marketing (who have been with the station since 2006) and Steve Chikopa Head of Finance and Administration.
Sources with the station told the Maravi Post that the due are leaving ZBS over to poor leadership from management and politics at the office.
Information gathered reveals that since the coming in of ZBS Managing Director Gospel Kazako’s brother Grey Kazako who became the station’s General manager things have not been operating well as he is accused of abusive, oppressive tendencies.
So far in 2018, ZBS lost 20 employees some of them including Don Stanley Kamwanthendo Joseph and Teresa Ndanga.
A Kazako inu ife timakupatsani ulemu, onani mwagulitsa station ku UTM omwe kuludza kwao ndikosayamba. Mumadzudzula boma za nepotism, nanga zomwe mwachita ku campan yanuyo kubweretsa mchimwene wanu si nepotism?
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A man was shot while driving Wednesday night in the West Elsdon neighborhood on the Southwest Side.
The 25-year-old was driving his vehicle when a group of males got out of a white car and black SUV and fired shots about 10:15 p.m. in the 3800 block of West 51st, according to Chicago police.
He was shot in the hand and suffered a graze wound to the shoulder, police said.
He was taken to Holy Cross Hospital where his condition was stabilized, police said.
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HANOI, Vietnam – Vietnam&apos;s government has vowed to crack down on three dissident blogs, a move that appeared to backfire Thursday as record numbers of people visited the sites and the bloggers pledged to keep up their struggle for freedom of expression.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung&apos;s order for police to arrest those responsible for the websites reflects growing unease within the Communist Party over the emergence of blogs and social media accounts that publish dissenting views, independent reporting and whistleblowing. The party doesn&apos;t allow free media, and fears criticism or discussion of its failings on the Internet could lead to social instability and — ultimately — loss of its power.
"Nobody can shut our mouth or stop our freedom of expression," said a member of the team that administers one of the targeted blogs, Danlambao. "This is our mission. We will continue at any cost." The blogger chatted over the Internet with The Associated Press on the condition that his name and exact location not be published because of the risk of arrest.
Danlambao, or "Citizens&apos; Journalism," is one of the most prominent of several dissident blogs that have sprung up in the last two years.
It has attracted thousands of viewers in recent weeks because of its reporting on suspected power struggles among the ruling elite that it says may have been behind the arrest of a banking tycoon last month. It has speculated that the detention of Nguyen Duc Kien, said to be close to the prime minister&apos;s daughter, was the result of tensions between the premier and the president.
Late Wednesday, the government said Danlambao and two others sites had been "publishing distorted and fabricated articles" against the leadership. It said that Vietnamese state employees were forbidden from visiting the sites.
It is not illegal for Vietnamese to visit the targeted sites, but they are blocked by the government&apos;s firewall. Vietnam blocks many sensitive websites, though the firewall is fairly easy to get around.
"This is a wicked plot of the hostile forces," a government statement said, adding that the prime minister had ordered police to arrest those associated with the sites.
The statement led to a surge in visitors to the sites as curious Vietnamese wanted to see what they had been publishing, according to the blogs.
The Danlambao blog said it was on course to have more than 500,000 page views Thursday, more than double its normal amount, thanks to what it called the unintended public relations coup handed to it by the government.
One of the other targeted sites, Quanlambao, or the "Officials&apos; Journalism" blog, said Dung&apos;s threat was meant to lay the legal groundwork for a campaign of arrests against bloggers.
The blogger contacted by The AP said Dung mentioned their site by name to try to scare contributors from contacting it.
"They (the government) are losing control of the independent blogs," the blogger said. "Not just our one."
The blogger said Danlambao&apos;s sources of information were other bloggers, journalists who work for state-run media, ordinary citizens and Communist Party members seeking to damage other factions within the party. Some of the material comes from reading between the lines of reports in the state-run media, the blogger said.
"They provide us the bullets and we shoot — because they can&apos;t," the blogger said.
International watchdog Reporters Without Borders says there are currently at least five journalists and 19 bloggers being held on various charges in Vietnam, part of a gathering government effort to stifle criticism over the last two years even as the country presses ahead with opening its economy to foreign investment. The government labels democracy and free speech activists as terrorists.
Journalists working for foreign news organization are allowed to live in the country but must ask permission to report outside the capital. That is routinely denied if the subject of the story is seen as sensitive or damaging to Vietnam.
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Some 3,839 new vehicles were registered in Qatar last month, the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics said while noting this was 14.1% lower than in the previous month.
In June, some 4,471 new vehicles were registered in Qatar.
MDPS, in its monthly statistical bulletin, said there was a significant increase in the number of sold properties in July.
The number stood at 238, a 76.3% increase compared to June.
The bulletin shows a decrease in the total value of sold properties, which has stood at nearly QR1.83bn in July, down 48.8% on the previous month.
According to MDPS, Qatar’s population stood at 2.4mn in July, up 6.3% on the same period last year. In July, 2016 the country’s population stood at about 2.3mn.
MDPS statistics showed that Qatar recorded a total of 2,205 births in July and as many as 172 deaths in the same month.
The total number of registered marriages was 299 in July, while the total number of divorce cases was 63 during the same month.
On the beneficiaries of social security, the bulletin put their number at 13,649 in July. The total value of social security reached nearly QR78.3mn in July.
With regard to electricity and water consumption, the bulletin said the total electricity utilisation during July was 4,521.8GWh, attaining a monthly increase of 4.6% compared with June.
Total water consumption reached 45,304,7000m3 during the same month, registering a monthly decrease of 3.3%.
The number of building permits was 629 during July, up 53% on June.
A total of 451 traffic cases were recorded during July, resulting in a monthly decrease of 7.4% compared to June. At the same time, as many as 11 deaths in relation to traffic cases were registered last month.
MDPS said the total number of visitors to Qatar was 1.57mn in July, the largest number (about 42%) arriving from the GCC countries.
Total broad money supply (M2) recorded about QR532bn during July, showing an annual increase of 8.3% compared with the same period in 2016.
On the other hand, “cash equivalents” (including deposits) were valued at QR772.5bn in July.
This shows an annual increase of 12.8% in comparison with July last year, when it stood at nearly QR685bn.
===
Riot police were quick to crack down on a march in Hledan market in Yangon, beating several protesters on March 10.
A group of students and activists came onto the streets of Yangon at 2 pm in sympathy with the protesters who had been beaten in a melee of violence by police earlier in the day in Letpadan.
About 1,000 students and activists took part in the protest, and the authorities used about 500 police to launch a crackdown.
The protestors marched along Pyay Road. When they approached Sitepyoyay bus-stop, scuffles broke out between the protestors and the police. Some protestors were beaten.
The protestors in Hledan shouted slogans calling for the immediate release of the students and activists who were arrested in Letpadan. The protesters in Letpadan were demonstrating for changes to the National Education Law and had been blocked from continuing their march to Yangon.
Riot police on Tuesday launched violent crackdown on student protestors’ camp in Letpadan, so on the same day, in Hledan, Yangon, some students and other people staged a brief protest against the “Letpadan crackdown”. But police launched a violent crackdown against the brief protest in Hledan, too.
Initially, student protestors in Letpadan announced that they would leave from Letpadan for Yangon on March 10. So students and activists in Yangon planned to stage a protest outside the Hledan market in Yangon if authorities did not allow the students in Letpadan to enter into Yangon. But authorities announced that they would allow students in Letpadan to enter into Yangon, so the plan of the activists in Yangon was cancelled.
Despite announcement, the riot police launched a violent crackdown against student protestors in Letpadan. So the students and activists in Yangon staged a protest at about 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday and the police in Yangon launched a violent crackdown on the brief protest.
“We will make efforts by using various ways until we get democratic education,” he said.
About 1,000 students and activists took part in the protest, and authorities used about 500 police to launch crackdown the protest, Mizzima witnessed.
The protestors marched along Pyay Road. When they reached near Sitepyoyay bus-stop, scuffles broke out between the protestors and the police. Some protestors were beaten.
The protestors (in Hledan) shouted slogans calling for the immediate release of the students and activists who were arrested in Letpadan.
===
There are a range of useful commands which can be accessed through the game console, or entered into the .con files. To open the console, press the tilde (~) key. To close the console, press ~ again. You can bring up a full list of commands for each category (Console, Game, Chat, Renderer, Sound, Admin, Debug and Profiler) in the console by typing the group name (e.g. Game.) and then pressing the TAB key repeatedly to first see the group list, then the correct usage of the commands.
will turn the Tool Tips on. Using the value 0 in front of the above command will turn the Tool Tips off. This is shown as 1/0 below (called a Boolean value - [bool]), which indicates that using 1 enables a function, 0 disables it. The use of # (or [float]) after a command below means a numeric value is required for the command.
A list of console commands is provided below, grouped into the various categories - although Debug and Profiler categories are not covered. Where known a description of the command is also provided.
The Following Game Settings are explained in the In-Game Settings section above and perform the same function. Note they cannot be changed in-game in the console. You can edit/insert these settings in the relevant .con files.
The Following settings can't be changed in-game. You can edit/insert these settings in the Sound.con file.
Note, if logged in as a remote admin, to run the following commands you need to use the admin.execremotecommand "command" console function to execute each command successfully.
===
The sound-blocking feature is planned for a gradual rollout, so many users may not see it for a while yet. For those who do, look out for a new icon appearing in the increasingly cluttered Site Information section of the Address bar. Clicking this reveals a new 'Autoplay sound' feature, which can be toggled on or off for that specific site.
The feature can be enabled/disabled at the user’s discretion via Options > Privacy & Security under Permissions -- click untick 'Block websites from automatically playing' to disable it. Click the Exceptions… button to whitelist individual sites and edit existing preferences.
Elsewhere Firefox 66 unveils an improved search experience, with a new 'Search Tabs' option (found on the tabs overflow menu under the ˅ button. The new Private Window tab has also been redesigned to provide users with the ability to easily search using their default search engine.
A new scroll anchor has been introduced to eliminate the annoying jumping of content as images and ads load further up the page.
Extensions now store their settings in a central Firefox database rather than individual JSON files, which should speed up website browsing. Users also benefit from more easily being able to assign keyboard shortcuts to specific extensions via the about:addons panel (click the tools icon and choose 'Manage Extension Shortcuts').
Certificate error pages have been redesigned to provide more information and help resolve issues.
Platform-specific changes include basic support for Touch Bar on supported MacBooks. Windows 10 users gain support for Windows Hello, allowing face, fingerprint or external security keys to authenticate websites.
Fixes include one that resolves freezing issues when downloading files on Firefox for Linux. The Dark and Light Firefox themes now override system settings in Windows 10 too.
Android users gain the sound-blocking feature and scroll anchoring support, plus users can now open files from external SD cards and other storage. Firefox Quantum 66.0 and Firefox for Android 66.0 are both available now as a free, open-source download for supported versions of Windows, Mac, Linux and Android.
===
The Sri Lanka Women’s sevens Rugby team lost a possible Bronze medal by not participating at the 18th Asian Games rugby sevens held from August 30-September 1 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
According to reliable sources, the rugby administrators were unable to convince the Sports Ministry and the NOC when initial discussions took place for selections of teams and individual events.
Sources further revealed that no representative of the Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) attended the deciding meeting that may have otherwise had the opportunity for the women’s rugby team to see the light at the end of the tunnel. However, it seemed that in a bid to absolve itself from the blunder and the chaotic situation, the SLR kept on stating that they are hoping to send the team but it never materialized.
What was really baffling was the comment made to the media by one of the top ranked SLR officials, where he said: “When it comes to such high profile tournaments, the Ministry of Sports is funding only the teams which have clear opportunity to secure a medal.” Such a statement, it appears gives the impression that SLR was under-prepared.
The Women’s Tuskers did reasonably well in the Asian 7’s circuit in 2017 just a few months prior to the Asian Games under the watchful eyes of Sudath Sampath (Head Coach), Inthie Marikkar (Director, High Performance), and Dilan Zoysa (Trainer). Going by some of their performances of this tournament especially of Sri Lanka’s losing margins to Hong Kong (5-10) and Kazakstan (0-12); and the fact that Sri Lanka beat Thailand (24-12 to win the Plate championship) who incidentally lost the bronze medal to Kazakhstan at Asian Games speaks volumes of Sri Lanka’s bright chances. While Japan won the Gold, the Silver went to China. So the top four teams at the Asian Games finally stand as Japan, China, Kazakstan and Thailand. Where would Sri Lanka been placed had they participated?
It is indeed a very sad state of affairs why the SLR officials just could not do their home work to come out with a sound assessment. Surely, the authorities who are top administrators in their own rights (may not necessarily be well conversant in sports) would have possibly understood the prospect of a medal on a general analytical perspective. How on earth did the Sri Lanka hockey administrators able to convince the authorities to field a men’s team and got humiliated by India 20 goals to nil at the Asian Games. In that context, the SLR surely had all the rights to impress the authorities. Where did the think-tanks of SLR go wrong? The rugby fraternity’s only hope would be to see that SLR conducts its affairs more sensibly in the future.
Furthermore what’s really shocking was that 180 athletes and nearly 70 odd officials amounting to a total of approximately 250 people had participated at this year’s Asian Games representing Sri Lanka while depriving the prospect medalists, the women Tuskers. In the overall assessment, it was the 4 x 400 men’s relay team and Men’s 7’s rugby team did perform well to secure fourth place. We wish to reserve the comments on the performance of the men’s rugby team.
===
Russell Scherrer is taking another shot at constructing a new auction business, and this time he is promising to provide Wales officials with specific details about his plans.
Scherrer and his attorney, Charles Ritter, appeared at Tuesday's work session of the Wales Town Board to answer questions about Scherrer's application for a special-use permit for Auctions International on its current site at 11167 Big Tree Road (Route 20A).
The Town Board revoked Scherrer's permit two years ago for failing to comply with town codes and conditions of the permit.
Scherrer told the board he has finances and a clearer picture to present to the board. He said his plan calls for the operation to be built in three phases.
* Phase I, to be completed by June 15, would consist of an administrative office building housing 15 employees. Outdoor lighting and 40 parking spots will be allowed on the site until Phase I and II are completed.
* Phase II, to be completed by next August, would include additional buildings in the front portion of the property and indoor auctions.
* Phase III, to be finished by November 2012, would include an L-shaped flea market on the perimeter of the property.
When everything is complete, the site would have parking for 150.
Ritter asked the board to consider allowing Scherrer to use the current sanitary system for Phase I until the larger crowds are attracted.
Jude Hartrich, a board member, told Ritter that the board wants a detailed business plan in writing with deadlines.
In another matter, Denise Marshall, a director for the Elma, Marilla and Wales Boys & Girls Club, asked the board to consider an increase of $250 in the board's normal annual donation when the town budget is compiled.
Voters in the the Iroquois School District, she explained, defeated the school budget, so the district is required by law to charge rent.
===
Even if you’re not at risk of dying, you can still get other people sick.
The number of people who died from the flu in the 2017-2018 season.
Estrada Anton // Shutterstock - Even if you will not die from flu, your actions affect others.
It feels like up until a couple years ago, the accepted line about the flu shot was that you only needed it if you were a) young, b) old, or c) sick, and that maybe it didn’t work that well anyway because it only protects against certain (the most common) strains. Millennials received this info gratefully; finally, a thing we were not responsible for, an errand we did not actually have to do. Unfortunately, this is wrong; in fact, everyone should get the flu shot.
Last year’s flu season was the worst in a decade, worse than the year of swine flu. Over 80,000 people died. There are many factors at work, but a big one that medical professionals attributed to the unusually high rate of deaths and infections was a drop in the rate of adults who bothered to get their shot — yes, those same people between the ages of 18 and 65 who “don’t need” it.
To think about vaccines as they affect each person individually is blinkered; sure, you don’t want to get sick, but more than vaccines prevent individual illness, they prevent illnesses from spreading. We see this already with children in locations where it’s trendy among parents to simply not get their kids vaccinated from preventable diseases like measles out of irrational fears; because of those parents, those diseases spread faster and people die more frequently. Epidemics happen because of new, wild, aggressive disease strains, but they also happen for lack of prevention. More to the point, just because you can afford to miss work or buy medication when you get sick doesn’t mean others can.
In the same way you don’t not vote because nothing is bothering you specifically, you don’t not get the flu shot because you are very likely to survive it yourself. This is how social contracts work: How a collective action impacts you personally is maybe the least important thing, especially if you are in the most privileged group. Please get your flu shot.
===
"I wanted to retire," he said. "That's what I wanted to do.
"That was definitely on my mind. It was there."
How seriously was he considering it? Opara says he isn't quite so sure.
But a long injury history — and a look toward life after soccer — made it more than just a hasty reaction. He played only three games in 2014 before suffering a rare chondral defect in his right ankle.
"I've been through a lot with all the other injuries," he said. "I wanted to be healthy for my life.
"And I felt like I couldn't catch a break. It was like, this again? I just wondered if it would be worth it to go through all that all over again."
Opara spoke with his family and friends. He told them he was contemplating retirement — only two months after his 26th birthday and only days after national experts put him in the conversation for Major League Soccer's best defender.
Then? A change of heart.
It came slowly. After undergoing a minimally-invasive surgery — a recently-developed procedure designed to expedite his return to the field — Opara learned his season wasn't over just yet. Doctors allowed for the possibility of a 2015 return. Maybe.
A possibility is all he needed. He began rehab in the following weeks. The pain subsided more quickly than he expected. He regained the urge to join his teammates back on the field.
And that's looking more and more likely by the day. Opara has returned to Sporting Kansas City practice, at least for the non-contact drills, with an eye toward returning to the field this season. His coach, Peter Vermes, expects it to happen — whether it be before the regular season concludes on Oct. 25 or sometime during the playoffs.
"That's always been the goal (since the diagnosis)," Opara said. "Obviously the way I've been progressing, for now, why not try to push and see where it goes? If we keep doing well as a team and hopefully make the playoffs and make a deep run, I see no reason why I wouldn't be available for that."
There are still hurdles to cross, of course. While Opara says his lateral movement is "just as good, if not better" than it was prior to the Achilles' tendon rupture, the linear movements are still a work in progress. He is noted for his athleticism — which makes him a dangerous aerial weapon — but his jumping ability hasn't fully returned yet.
There are signs it's close.
"Ike was in an exercise the other day. If you would've come out here and you didn't know the team, and I (told) you to pick that guy that you think is injured out there, you would never pick him," Vermes said. "I can tell you that."
Even so, Opara isn't near 90-minutes fit. And central defender isn't a typical spot for a mid-gme substitution, though Vermes hinted at an exception.
"One of the things you can do with Ike is bring him on late in the game, and he can be an extra guy for aerial duels and things like that," Vermes said. "He has value in that respect."
It's an exciting possibility — and a potentially significant one for a Sporting KC team in need of an added aerial threat on offensive set pieces.
"I don't know what my future holds. I'm just taking it day-by-day," Opara said. "But it looks a lot better than it did a few months ago. I know that."
===
Popular film producer, writer and director, Amaka Igwe is dead. She reportedly died of an asthma attack last night. Reputed for her professional and brilliant concepts, Amaka produced breathtaking sitcoms like Checkmate and Fuji House of Commotion.
She is one of the foremost movie directors in Nigeria today and one of the few contemporary film makers who have had their films on celluloid.
Amaka’s celluloid film is A Barber’s Wisdom – a film which was part of M-Net’s new direction on film project with Nigerian producers.
Her films have drawn international recognition to the home video industry. She is producer of the award winning movie Forever and founder of Amaka Igwe Studios and Top FM Radio.
Amaka hails from Obinagu, Enugu, Nigeria is survived by her husband and children.
may her soul rest in peace. MA BEGI FUN E PRODUNCTIONS.
damn. great talent gone justlyk dat.
OMG!May her soul rest in peace.
sad. may her soul rest in perfect peace..
May her gentle soul rest in perfect peace.
a rare gem is gone! may her soul rest in the bossom of our Lord Jesus Christ…AMEN!!!
May her gentle soul rest in peace.Rare breed that gave so much particularly in the film industry.good night.
may her gentle soul find rest at the bosom of lord. for the family and friends, the courage to bear this irreparable and monumental loss. R.I.P., AMAKA.
A big loss at this time. May her soul rest in perfect peace.
I feel this profound loss deeply because she had been one of my role models since I was a child.
I shall miss you always.
Oh dear, may your soul rest in peace.
===
Mrs. Sarah E. Senavitis, 71, of 332 Grandview Blvd., Bethlehem, died Monday in St. Luke's Hospital. She was the wife of Albert R. Senavitis.
She was employed by Sure Fit Products Co., Bethlehem, for 30 years before retiring in 1975 as a floorwoman.
Born in Mahanoy City, she was a daughter of the late Harry and Bertha (Taylor) Bennyhoff.
Surviving with her husband are a son, Albert M. of Easton; a daughter, Mrs. Joanne Bachman of Bethlehem; a brother Harold of Upper Darby, Delaware County, and two sisters, Mrs. Florence Geiss of Allentown and Mrs. Helen Bruce of Mahanoy City.
Memorial services will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday (today) in the Snyder-Hinkle Funeral Home, 527 Center St., Bethlehem. There will be no calling hours.
===
2019 NFL Conference Championships: How Are Bookies Prepping?
The NFL puts on its second most spectacular show of the season this Sunday when the top four teams in the league battle it out in the NFC Championship and AFC Championship.
Over in the NFC, 1-seed New Orleans hosts the 2-seed L.A. Rams. That’s the first game on January 20.
Then, in the AFC Championship, the Patriots travel to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs.
Online bookie agents must prepare for the huge amounts of action that should land in their sportsbooks before the 2019 NFL Conference Championships.
Check out how they’ll do just that using PayPerHead’s Prime Package tools.
Saints versus Rams could be one of those nail biters, or, it could end up a Saints blowout win.
Obviously, New Orleans was rusty in the first quarter of their 20-14 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. The Saints came back after being down 14-0.
New Orleans should control the clock, as they did with the close to 12 minute drive in the third quarter versus Philadelphia, meaning many pay per head agents might not use their layoff accounts on the total.
Many will also allow money on the Rams to ride if the Rams are over bet. Just in case, bookmakers will set max betting limits on both moneylines.
The New England Patriots are in a strange position on Sunday.
The Pats must beat the Chiefs on the road to stamp their ticket to Super Bowl 53. New England has been masterful for close to a decade.
Sunday’s AFC Championship will be New England’s eighth straight.
Less than 50% of NFL handicappers believe the Patriots cover the spread. Many are pounding the Chiefs.
Some pay per head agents will try and score big profits by allowing money to ride on the Chiefs and not use their layoff accounts.
If the Chiefs don’t cover the spread, those bookies who take that risk could make out big time.
Most all bookie agents will set max betting limits on both the Patriots and Chiefs. The odds are low enough to where some players will bet massive amounts on both sides.
Keep that in mind when deciding whether to back a team against the spread or on the moneyline.
Just as quickly as the 2019 NFL Conference Championship games approached, so to will Super Bowl 53. Each year the Super Bowl brings in over $4 BILLION worth of wagers, over 97% of wagers are placed through off-shore sportsbooks and individual bookmakers.
Don’t miss out on that $4 billion dollar pie. Become a bookmaker before February 3rd! Sign up for PayPerHead’s Prime Package today to get a 3-week trial at just $3 per head.
Speak to a rep today and start cashing-in on Super Bowl 53.
===
A new development designed by the architects Ron and Jim Vari, 33rd Street Square acknowledges both past and present in rapidly changing Bridgeport. The cutouts and big modular panels give the place a contemporary feel, while the red-brick construction recalls the neighborhood’s traditional housing.
The development (at 33rd Street and South Parnell Avenue) also positions every unit to take advantage of the two best local views: the fireworks over U.S. Cellular Field and the city skyline. Each of the 11 units has one upper-floor terrace looking south and another looking north. “You’re never going to want to go inside all summer,” says Jennifer Liu, an Atland Realty agent selling units in the building.
The spaces inside are roomy and bathed in light from a two-story gridwork of windows; in most of them, an overlook from one floor to another also helps light reach the lower level. At presstime, three units remained at 33rd Street Square, all ready for occupancy. The lowest-cost unit is a 2,800-square-foot three-bedroom unit priced at $559,000; at the upper end, a 3,400-square-foot corner unit with dramatic cutouts and light wells is priced at $675,000.
===
Let’s try again: what happened to the stock market yesterday? We still don’t know, but it appears that something concrete happened against the background of a market that was already tripwire nervous over Greece and the euro and China and whatnot.
Considering that the giant decline happened on pretty much *no* volume, I think other factors are at work. I believe the core problem here was a real order imbalance with lots of volume (which took us down the original 350), then nyse halts these stocks, the market orders get rereouted (regnms and all) to ECN’s where there is much less liquidity, and what liquidity is normally there is mostly provided by the nefarious HF strats who were rightly scaling back risk. So the 10K shares that might have been a downtick on nyse blows throught the BATS book completely.
In English, this means that when trading started to get too hot and heavy, the New York Stock Exchange stepped in to slow things down. In the old days, this would have worked, but not anymore. Most trading of NYSE stocks doesn’t actually happen on the NYSE anymore, it happens on electronic communication networks (ECNs) like BATS in Kansas City, which is the third-largest stock exchange in the world. So what the algo guy is saying is that when the NYSE tried to slow things down, the computers responsible for program trading just switched their orders over to ECNs. Unfortunately, ECNs are largely used by high-frequency trading shops, and the HFT guys closed up when the market went kablooey. So the ECNs had no buyers, and even a small sell order could blow the doors off a stock price. Which it did.
I’m very much in favor of this. Maybe someday we’ll understand all this stuff well enough to control it, but right now we don’t seem to. Our financial system really needs a little bit of sand in the gears to bring it back down to human speeds. This would be a good way to do it, and would probably have other benefits too (quite aside from the money it raises). Count me as a fan.
===
West Virginia quarterback Major Harris, who scrambled his way from Pittsburgh's mean streets to stardom, will skip his final year of eligibility and enter the NFL draft.
"With some sense of regret, I am making myself available for the NFL draft and professional football," Harris said today at a news conference. "I do it because it's a great challenge, a great opportunity and a great benefit for me and my family."
During his three seasons as West Virginia's starting quarterback, Harris led the Mountaineers to three bowl games--all losses--and to their first unbeaten regular season in 1988.
===
KARACHI: Driving up to Landhi you reach an area on the rather bumpy Mehran Highway where pick-ups and lorries number more than the other vehicles. Those coming in are empty but the ones driving out are loaded with dozens of silver milk canisters. Well, of course, why wouldn’t they be? After all, this is Bhains Colony, the place the entire city gets its milk from.
You can pick up some moos coming from various directions. But there are hardly any cattle roaming about freely here or there. That’s because they are all doing the work inside the dairy farms on either side of the road. The animals there eat and drink all day to stay healthy and be able to produce lots and lots of good quality milk.
“We milk our buffaloes twice in 24 hours — at 4am and 4pm,” says Imtiaz Ahmed, one of the staff supervisors at Shaukat Mukhtar Farms. There are some 450 buffaloes at the farm and almost all are lined up to enjoy their feed as the men milk them manually by hand.
“Eating keeps them busy. So as they munch on their feed they stay in one place for us to be able to milk them,” he says. To ensure that the dairy workers don’t get kicked in the face by the buffaloes, they also lightly tie up their hind legs while milking them.
Asked why they don’t have pumps for milking, he explains that there are pumps too at several dairy farms in Bhains Colony, but at their farms they prefer to milk by hand. “Usually, we use pumps to milk cows, not buffaloes. Cows give more milk, too. Pumps are good for milking in quantity. But cows’ milk is thin while buffalo milk is thicker and richer,” he explains.
The feed the animals eat has been specially designed and is highly nutritious to help them produce more milk. “It contains wheat, porridge, lentils, mustard, spinach greens, Malaysian palm oil, corn, ghee, etc,” he says.
The dairy workers with stainless steel buckets and metal canisters bring over the milk they collect to pour into big metal tubs placed at various points. “Fresh milk is warm. Keeping it in big tubs helps it to cool slightly before sending it off to the market,” shares Aslam Malik, another staff member at the farm. And he adds that the milk better reach the milk shops in a couple of hours otherwise it can go bad.
“The shops have chillers and refrigerators to store it properly but we here only concentrate on the production part of it,” he says, adding that the milk is absolutely pure at this point. “Forty litres of milk carries about 4kg of cream,” he says gesturing to the layer of cream floating on top of the milk in the tubs. “But once this milk leaves this place, it will be tampered with and diluted according to the conscience of the people who are into this kind of dishonesty,” he says.
The milk is sold for Rs70 per litre at the dairy farms and in the shops it is sold for Rs80 or 85 a litre.
“The price was only increased earlier this month from the previous rate of Rs66 per litre,” he says.
The dairy farmers say that everyone should have fresh milk instead of the packaged variety. “What you get in the name of milk in a box is something devoid of the healthy fats, cream and nutrition. It is processed milk where they have taken away the fat for making side products such as cheese, butter, ghee, yogurt, lassi, etc,” says Malik.
The dairy farmers buy new cattle every month to replace the ones that have finished their milking cycle and are considered spent. These could then be sent off to the slaughterhouse or to a farm where they can take a short break before insemination and parturition before lactating again.
The best cattle, the farmers say, are from Badin in Sindh and from the Ravi area in Punjab. These may cost between Rs160,000 to Rs200,000. They also have foreign cows and buffaloes such as the black and white ones from Australia, which are known for producing more milk than the local varieties, but these are very expensive and delicate so they require more care.
===
Midfielder Jason Kennedy today became City’s first new face for League One.
The 26-year-old, who left Rochdale after four seasons, has joined on a two-year deal.
City beat off competition, most notably Colin Cooper's Hartlepool, for his signature.
Kennedy added: "It's a great club to come to. I'm hoping to build on their success last season and be a key part of the team."
===
A stunning development opportunity - large building with consent to convert to a dwelling. Attractive setting. 5/6 Bedrooms. Excellent views. Exciting design. Very accessible. Near to Thorverton. Paddock. 1.7 acres.
Thorverton is a delightful and very popular Exe Valley village, which includes a primary school, two public houses, two churches, superb village hall, local cricket and football clubs, and a community shop/post office.
The area is known for unspoilt and beautiful countryside and yet Thorverton is only 7 miles from the Cathedral and University City of Exeter, which has an extensive range of facilities befitting a city of its importance. Access to the M5 motorway can be made at Junctions 27, 28, 29 & 30. Mainline railway stations on the London Paddington and Waterloo lines can be found at Exeter (Tiverton Parkway next to Junction 27 of the M5 on the Paddington line too.) Exeter International Airport lies to the east of the city.
To the north of Thorverton the market town of Tiverton has a further range of facilities, including the well renowned Blundell's School, which offers discounts to local pupils. Exeter has an excellent range of schools for all ages.
The properties location and position are superb, looking out over rolling farmland. Thorverton is within walking distance and Exeter very accessible with quick commuting access along the A396.
The plans showing the design of the property can be found on Www.middevon.gov.uk/ see below.
The accommodation is over two floors with mezzanines covering about 400 M2. It includes entrance hall, study, open plan kitchen, dining and living area, sitting room, utility, cloakroom, landing, 5 bedrooms, 4 shower/bathrooms. There is large feature glazing taking advantage of the views and looking out over the land included with the property and beyond.
Attached to the barn is a lean-to which provides garaging within the plans.
The barn is surrounded by 1.7 acres providing space to create parking and turning and garden around the property as per the consent. Beyond the garden is an area of field positioned directly behind the barn. This will enable a main aspect of the barn to look down over its land.
Change of use approval was granted on 20th December 2018 by Mid Devon District Council. Reference number 18/01620/PNCOU.
On the home page click on planning. Then click on 'search and comment on planning applications.' Then click on 'search', and then finally, in the search box, enter in the reference number 18/01620/PNCOU. The documents can be looked at by clicking on 'documents'.
The purchaser will be required to erect, as a minimum standard, a stock proof fence between points A, B and C.
Strictly by appointment via the agents, Stags, on 01884 235705.
In the centre of Thorverton turn opposite the Thorverton Arms signposted Cadbury, passing the Church on your left and proceed out of the village. After passing through the national speed limit signs take the next turning left, signposted Cadbury. Continue up the hill and down the other side and the barn will be found on the left.
Mains electricity. Purchaser to install new water supply and private drainage. The vendor will supply water for an initial period of time while the property is developed.
===
Actress Ellen Pompeo of “Grey’s Anatomy” has sold an income property in the Hollywood Hills for $2.075 million, or $80,000 more than the asking price.
The split-level residence on a leafy hillside lot had been leased out in the $6,500 to $7,500 per month range. It previously changed hands nearly a decade ago for $1.226 million, records show.
Set at the end of a steep driveway, the Harry Greene-designed house boasts walls of windows that capture treetop and canyon views.
About 1,900 square feet of open-plan living space include a step-down living room, a media room and an eat-in kitchen. In the master suite, sliding glass doors open to a private outdoor bathtub. There are three bedroom and two bathrooms in all.
Outdoors, a central courtyard holds a rock fire pit and built-in barbecue. Flagstone and lush landscaping surround the swimming pool and spa in the backyard.
Brett Lawyer of Hilton & Hyland was the listing agent. Tori Horowitz of Compass represented the buyer.
Pompeo, 48, is known for her long-running role as Dr. Meredith Grey on the medical drama show. Among her film credits are “Catch Me If You Can” (2002), “Old School” (2003) and “Life of the Party” (2005).
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MIDDLETOWN, NJ - The Egg Hunt is back—with a twist! Bring your basket, running shoes and a flashlight and get ready to find those eggs at Croydon Hall Football Field! This is strictly an egg hunt. Registration closes Wednesday, March 25.
No registrations will be taken at the event.
Croydon Hall is located at 900 Leonardville Road, Leonardo. Middletown Residents only. Ages 1-10.
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Carter Page, a former foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, met with a Russian spy in New York City in 2013 and passed him documents about the energy industry, BuzzFeed News reports.
"The revelation of Page's connection to Russian intelligence — which occurred more than three years before his association with Trump — is the most clearly documented contact to date between Russian intelligence and someone in Trump's orbit."
Page, an energy consultant, confirmed to Buzzfeed that he was "Male-1". He has repeatedly said he did nothing wrong in his contacts with Russia. He was nixed by the Trump campaign after it emerged that federal investigators were looking into his ties with Russian officials.
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Latest in "Revolution in Rojava"
Who are they, these revolutionary Rojava women?
Meredith Tax just had to find out who they were - the revolutionary women of Rojava, bearing arms against ISIS, building a new world...she had to find their story, for herself, and in her new book, for us.
Rojava revolution: how deep is the change?
Is optimism in the future of revolutionary change misplaced in a region torn apart by war and a society where patriarchy has been so entrenched? Part 6 of Witnessing the Rojava revolution.
Rojava is a fast moving, dynamic place where things change by the minute. What are the material conditions which support this woman-centred revolution ? Part 5 of 50.50's series Witnessing the revolution in Rojava, northern Syria.
Rojava's battle with ISIS stronghold Raqqa is not simply a military one, but an ideological one in which the position of women could not be more polarised. Part 4.
In less than four years, the women’s umbrella organisation, Kongira Star, has set up an autonomous, grassroots, democratic structure which has resulted in shifting patriarchal mindsets and reversing gender discriminatory laws. Part 3.
Travelling in Rojava is to witness the ways in which the different commitments to the revolution present a conundrum. How can one system satisfy the vast differences in human aspirations? Part 2. Part 1.
Travelling in Rojava is to witness a revolution experimenting with a form of stateless, direct democracy with women’s liberation, race and class equality at the heart of it. Part 1.
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This is a short but enthralling walk, possibly the nicest coastal walk in Ireland: it’s a walk to take at your ease, to stop, look around, sit and listen.
Normally the promotional photo for a hike aims to attract, often with sunlit mountain and sea and a high blue sky; and it works especially well if it features a distant summer-clad hiker taking it all in. Unfortunately, the hiker seduced to our west coast by such a photo can be in for a disappointment!
And so it was for us in mid-August in Glencolumbkille: a moist warm sector airstream had narrowed our world to a 200m deep slot between grey sea and grey sky. Within this space, as we drove to our start point in Glencolumbkille and to our carsplit finish in Port, mists rose and fell over wet hedges and heather, all seeming to make for an unattractive hiking prospect.
Except that, just north of the Napoleonic Watchtower on Glen Head, we quite unexpectedly happened upon an utterly beautiful world that had our heads and hearts reeling. Why was that, we asked ourselves? Well, the beauty that came to us that day on that wonderfully wild and ragged coastline, between the low grey sky and a swirling, noisy sea of dramatic white and sky-grey, was not “picture postcard perfect”, but magical in its ever-changing, elemental play of cloud, sound, sea and rock. And it brought home to us the wonder of the shore and sea, especially our Atlantic Ocean, as walking companions or backdrop in all but the very worst of conditions.
This is a short but enthralling walk, possibly the nicest coastal walk in Ireland: it’s a walk to take at your ease, to stop, look around, sit and listen. We started at Biofán, about 1.5km from Glencolumbkille, and progressed in low mood and mist to the signal tower just north of Glen Head. Soon we were in from under the curtain of mist, with truly awe-inspiring Sturrall pitched before us. Easy cropped grass underfoot allowed us safely to admire this shattered quartzite sea arête, with its fresh and ancient scars of battle with the wildest of Atlantic storms. Below and around it were surf-girdled sea-stack remnants, some undercut into dramatic sea arches. Wraiths of mist rolled up its windward flank, obscuring the sea but seemingly accentuating its sound - a great place to stop for lunch and to appreciate the immense privilege of just being there.
Soon great stream-cut ravines interrupted the route, forcing encircling swings inland or aerobic descents and ascents, until the wild shore of Port came into view. By now for us, the mist had thickened, adding even more to the age-old elemental “feel” of the place.
We meandered carefully the indentations of the coast, staying inside a restraining ditch and fence, joined the marked trail to our car in Port and stood beside the memorial to the 19 crew members lost on the “Sydney” in November 1870. Meanwhile, the arriving rain and enshrouding mist, and thoughts of the terror of the sea as well as its beauty, added a sombre note to the end of our hike!
Suitability: easy to moderate, care needed on off-trail sections near cliff edges, especially in windy weather.
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It’s been nearly five years to the day that Ashley Smith made the 9-1-1 call leading to Brian Nichols’ surrender.
The story of the seven hours preceding that March 12, 2005, phone call seemed almost impossible to swallow: a polite, soft-spoken waitress from Augusta gets inside the mind of a man fresh off a killing spree, gains his trust, makes him pancakes, stays alive and gets free.
Editor's Note: This article was published in 2010, five years after the Fulton County Courthouse shootings. In 2015, the 10th anniversary of the shootings, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is taking another look at the case of Brian Nichols and the events around that violent day. 2015 Coverage: Brian Nichols shootings 10 years later.
She recounted the events of the night Nichols forced his way into her home on television two days later, and the nation saw the same calm demeanor and steady blue eyes that had soothed Nichols as he showered, ate, watched television and did his laundry after murdering four people. Days later when she returned to the scene, she discovered that in the time after he let her go and before the authorities arrived, he’d hung a mirror she’d been meaning to put up in her new apartment.
Today, Ashley Smith Robinson – she married Daniel Robinson in June 2007 – says that was “the one event that really changed my life.” She earns a living from speaking engagements, mainly before religious groups, retelling her ordeal and the self-transformation that followed.
She’s also on track to complete the radiologic technology program at Lanier Tech in September. She someday hopes to do ultrasounds.
But people will always know her for the poise under pressure that led to the media moniker, the Atlanta Hostage Hero.
Six months after the public first marveled at the details of March 12, with its bizarrely squeaky-clean images of scrambled eggs and the pair huddled over Rick Warren’s “The Purpose Driven Life,” a second wave of news stories added a different veneer. Smith Robinson’s book about the ordeal, “Unlikely Angel,” revealed she’d given Nichols a few lines of methamphetamine to snort from her stash.
When Nichols pulled a gun on her outside Bridgewater Apartments in Duluth, Smith Robinson was trying to get her life back on track, kick meth and get a career going to prove to her family she was capable of being a mother.
The book showed that this pretty blond Georgia girl had a dark side of her own, a well she drew from to elicit compassion from Nichols. She writes about a past that includes drug-induced psychotic visions, hospitalization, sending her daughter, Paige, away to be raised by an aunt so she could have more time to party, and holding her first husband, Paige's father, in her arms as he died from a knife wound after a violent fight in a parking lot in 2001.
But that was then. Paige, 10, now lives with her mom, and Smith Robinson’s post-Brian Nichols life seems safe and successful. She coaches Paige’s basketball team, has learned to Scuba dive, runs marathons, attends classes and is active in her church.
Until now, she's spurned offers to make a movie about her life. But she’s recently OK’d preliminary plans with “Amazing Grace” producer Ken Wales to make a Christian-themed movie about the event. She’s not sure when it would be released.
Nichols himself predicted the windfall of positive change that would grow out of her time with him. She writes in her book that just before he let her go he said, “Everybody’s going to praise you and talk about how wonderful you are.” Soon after, Nichols surrendered peacefully in front of Ashley’s apartment and admitted his crimes.
Smith Robinson immediately left Atlanta at that time and sought shelter with her aunt and uncle at their house in a gated community near Augusta.
“It was very important that I went from one extreme to the other after that happened,” she said. Her aunt, Kim Rogers, who had been raising Paige for the past three years, walked her through it all.
When Smith Robinson talks about the night with Nichols, she says it was God, not her, who made the psychological maneuvers to relate to his outrage. On March 14, 2005, when she apologized on his behalf, she seemed in the odd position of serving as a bridge between the killer and his victims. She’s since been in contact with immediate family members of all the victims, save one.
She’s not sure yet if she'll ever have further contact with Nichols. She said she couldn’t look at him during the five and a half hours she spent repeating the facts in the 2008 trial that led to his imprisonment with no chance of parole.
“From day one, I always said, ‘God, if you want me to have anymore contact with this person whatsoever, I need for you to lay it heavy on my heart.' For a very long time, I haven’t felt that. Recently, I’ve felt like maybe I’m supposed to write a letter, but I need to be sure this is God talking and not something else.
"I don’t know what that letter would say. The only thing that comes to mind is that when we were talking, he asked me what his purpose in life was. I told him maybe it was to minister to people in prison. I think that’s one thing I would write: What are you doing with your life? I’ve made something positive out of mine. What are you doing with yours?"
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Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov on Thursday threatened retaliatory steps if any country deploys weapons in space, Russian news agencies reported.
Ivanov said Russia is "categorically against the militarization of space," according to the Interfax news agency.
"If some state begins to realize such plans, then we doubtless will take adequate retaliatory measures," ITAR-Tass quoted him as saying at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
President Bush's administration currently is reviewing the U.S. space policy doctrine. Last month, White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters that the policy review was not considering the weaponization of space. But he said new threats to U.S. satellites have emerged in the years since the U.S. space doctrine was last reviewed in 1996, and those satellites must be protected.
In 2002, after the United States withdrew from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, China and Russia submitted a proposal for a new international treaty to ban weapons in outer space.
But the United States has said it sees no need for any new space arms control agreements. It is party to the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which prohibits stationing weapons of mass destruction in space.
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MANCHESTER UNITED boss Jose Mourinho could still snare Real Madrid star Gareth Bale this summer.
At least that’s the verdict of beIN Sports journalist Richard Keys, who thinks the potential deal won’t be dead until the transfer window shuts on August 31.
Bale has spent the past four years with Real and during that spell he’s won the Champions League three times, as well as one La Liga title.
His future has been the subject of much speculation since the end of last season though with Florentino Perez targeting Kylian Mbappe.
Bale is thought to be the player Real would be most likely to sacrifice in order to generate funds to sign the Monaco forward.
And that situation has seen the 28-year-old heavily linked with a return to the Premier League with United.
Mourinho claimed he had no chance of signing Bale after he featured in Real’s UEFA Super Cup win over the Red Devils.
Keys reckons the Welshman could rock up at Old Trafford before deadline day though.
On Twitter, a fan asked him: "Hi Richard, still think there is legs in the Bale to United deal?"
And Keys replied: "Until the window shuts I do."
Should United bag Bale, he’s likely to cost more than the then-world-record £85m which took him to Real from Tottenham in 2013.
In the meantime, Mourinho's men will be out to make it two wins in two Premier League games when they visit Swansea on Saturday.
They got their 2017/18 campaign off to a perfect start by thrashing West Ham 4-0 last weekend, with new boy Romelu Lukaku bagging a brace.
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Warner Music Group artists Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers saw their respective albums race to the top of the iTunes charts Monday.
Mars took the No. 1 slot — up from No. 4 on Sunday — with his second album, “Unorthodox Jukebox,” while his first album, “Doo-Wops & Hooligans,” ranked No. 3.
Disney’s album “Frozen” separated the two.
Meanwhile “Red Hot Chili Peppers: Greatest Hits” hit the No. 6 position, jumping 19 slots from Sunday.
Len Blavatnik’s Warner Music Group hasn’t fielded a Super Bowl artist since Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers back in 2008, and the fact that both artists have their recording and publishing catalogs with Warner makes the news all the more profitable.
Meanwhile, Verizon reported that its data connections rose 800 percent versus last year. The astounding increase — no doubt attributable to people sharing photos — came during the halftime show.
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How Far is Skyhome Mahalakshmi Nagar?
Mahalakshmi Nagar is a residential Plot development by Skyhome Enterprises. It is an Ready to occupy project of Skyhome Enterprises. It has a thoughtful design and is being developed with all the modern day amenities as well as basic facilities.
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MARION, N.Y. (WHEC) -- Neighbors tell News10NBC the woman who died in Monday's deadly fire in Marion, Wayne County was bedridden.
State police have identified the victim as Beatrice Murray. She was 80 years old.
Neighbors and family members described the mother of six as a loving and kind woman.
Investigators spent the day trying to determine what started the fire in her home on Cory Corners Road.
Fire investigators with the New York State Police and local fire investigators worked all day Tuesday sifting through rubble.
"We're not ruling out anything at this point," said Trooper Mark O'Donnell, New York State Police. "Our investigators have been canvassing and interviewing dozens of people and we've been working around the clock in the fire trying to figure out what the cause was and if there's anything we need to find out."
State fire investigators used a drone to take pictures from above. They also had canines on hand.
It's an all-out effort to find the cause.
Family members tell us she had lived in the house that dates back to the 1800s for more than 50 years.
"We were not able to launch an interior attack," said Walworth Fire Chief John O'Toole on Monday. "There was too heavy a volume of fire."
Such extensive damage can make it tough for investigators to find the cause.
"Our investigators are very skilled at what they do," O'Donnell said. "I have complete faith they will find out the cause of the fire and if there's any other circumstances we need to be aware of, they'll find it."
O'Donnell added that it could be days before investigators find out the cause of the fire.
Officials say if you have any information about the fire, call 911.
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This week in Washington, Cliff Floyd is expecting the best – but bracing for the worst.
“I’m expecting good, clean baseball,” said Floyd, who was 3-for-18 with six strikeouts against Dontrelle Willis and was given yesterday off. “I think if Pedro [Martinez] hits [Jose Guillen], we’re going to fight.
Floyd has never understood that when a pitcher hits a position player, a position player on another team is targeted.
He said he’d be seething if his team had been hit six times in a series, as the Nationals were.
“But my point over there is, hit the guy who’s throwing,” Floyd said. “He’s going to pitch again, sooner or later.
The Mets left fielder nearly charged the mound against Houston’s Roy Oswalt last season, and he acknowledged talking about retaliating (as he did at the time) is nonsense that must stop.
Batting .200 (3-for-15) this season, Floyd worked on his mechanics in the indoor cage before the 3-2 victory over Florida.
The Mets realigned their rotation after Saturday’s rainout, and Victor Zambrano will start Thursday in Washington. Zambrano (strained left hamstring) was originally scheduled to start yesterday.
Brian Bannister and Pedro Martinez will stay on turn and pitch Tuesday and Wednesday. Tom Glavine and Steve Trachsel will flip-flop and work on Friday and Saturday so Glavine can stay on turn.
Carlos Delgado was inconspicuous during the seventh-inning rendition of “God Bless America,” when a handful of his teammates stood on the top step or above it. . . . Saturday’s rain washed away starts for Chris Woodward and Ramon Castro. Yesterday, Paul Lo Duca and Anderson Hernandez were back at catcher and second base, respectively. “We’ve got an off-day [today], and I didn’t want guys playing every day to get three days off,” Willie Randolph said. “That’s just the way it works out.” The Mets play day games after night games on Thursday and Saturday, so Castro should start a couple of games. Woodward pinch-hit in the sixth and whiffed against Willis.
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Bravo, France! And shame on you, David Cameron!
France has offered asylum to the Iraqi Christians forced to flee from Mosul. The BBC reports this, and so does Al Jazeera.
“We are in constant contact with local and national authorities to ensure everything is done to protect them,” both ministers said.
So, these are not cheap words, or political posturing. Something is actually being done.
Bravo, France! You are a secular republic that sees, in true secular fashion, the human needs of people in distress, and wants to do something about it.
Bravo, France! You have form in this matter already. For France it was that received thousands of refugees from Russia in the aftermath of the revolution there, and also took in thousands of Armenians who survived the Ottoman genocide of 1915. Now, once more, you are helping those who need a safe haven.
Bravo, France! You have expressed outrage at the treatment of the Christians of Mosul, and you have not taken the line that these are merely one oppressed group among many: there has been no ‘universalise to minimise’ strategy here.
Italy and the Vatican acted over the case of Meriam Ibrahim; France is now prepared to act over the persecuted Christians of Mosul. (Entry to France may well give them entry to the entire European Union.) Over to you, David Cameron and William Hague.
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Archives|Is Mr. Gorbachev Turning Tail?
Just who is Mikhail Gorbachev? The reformer whose unconventional thinking encourages the Soviet Union to transform itself, or a pushover for reac tionaries who want him to arrogate authority and save the Union at all costs? Americans have reason to wonder, and cause for concern. But they'd be wrong to ignore the continuing revolution in Soviet society amid the moment's political machinations.
Soviet reformers are themselves uncertain of what to make of Mr. Gorbachev's increasingly conservative behavior. Sensing a mood swing in Moscow, some actually applaud his efforts to restore order. Their hope is that he will thus tame the tiger of reaction and consolidate reform before renewing it. Others, like the most reform-minded of his inner circle, Eduard Shevardnadze and Aleksandr Yakovlev, warn of impending dictatorship. Yet even they have warm words for him.
Mr. Gorbachev's reformist critics fall into two camps. One is composed of radicals who favor the breakup of the Soviet Union. They, along with those who cheer them on from outside, call for Mr. Gorbachev's overthrow. But they've always underestimated his radicalism and his perseverance, while overestimating their own support.
The other camp consists of reformers who have grown disenchanted with the pace of change. They fear that he has been co-opted by apparatchiks who identify freer speech and markets with chaos.
But these critics do not include Mr. Shevardnadze or Mr. Yakovlev. The real enemy, they still say, is not Mr. Gorbachev but the forces of reaction deeply entrenched in Moscow's ministries, the security forces, Communist Party apparatus and regional military commands.
"We are witnessing the rise of a vengeful and merciless conservative wave," Mr. Yakovlev said last week. "I'm extremely worried by the indifference and fatigue of the democratic forces."
Now both he and Mr. Shevardnadze are on the outside looking in. And both may have lost power on what is now the central issue confronting Mr. Gorbachev -- how to reconstitute the Union.
Both men favor decentralization to allow reformers in the Russian Republic to plunge ahead, while republics in Central Asia proceed more slowly. And they want to cede more power to the republics as a way for leaders who favor the Union to head off independence movements. The exceptions are the Baltic republics; Mr. Yakovlev admits that they were forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union, implying they eventually deserve independence.
Such fine distinctions seem to be lost on Mr. Gorbachev just now. The immediate task, as he sees it, is to restore order. And to do so he has turned to the bureaucracy, the military and the K.G.B.
The great fear -- not only in Moscow but also in Washington -- is that Mr. Gorbachev's alliance of convenience will restore the reactionaries and torpedo reform. That could happen.
But the social revolution has moved too far for any lasting return to the days of Stalin, or even Brezhnev. No longer a peasant society, the Soviet Union is increasingly urban, educated and cosmopolitan. Mr. Gorbachev knows all that, and more: he knows that technological accomplishment cannot proceed without freer discussion and that social renewal cannot come without relaxing central command. For now, and as long as the transformation of the Soviet Union continues, it still warrants America's watchful encouragement.
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Posted on January 25, 2017. Brought to you by yellowpages.
Posted on June 03, 2013. Brought to you by ezlocal.
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WATCH ABOVE: The National Lacrosse League and the Professional Lacrosse Players' Association have yet to reach a new collective bargaining agreement, threatening the start of the 2019 season. Ryan Flaherty reports.
The National Lacrosse League (NLL) announced Thursday it reluctantly has no choice but to cancel the first two weekends of the 2018-19 season due to a labour dispute with its players.
NLL has been negotiating with the Professional Lacrosse Players’ Association (PLPA) — the exclusive bargaining agent for players — and a collective bargaining agreement has not been reached.
League officials said the PLPA has instructed its players not to attend training camps or submit to physicals. The players have followed these instructions which has made it impossible for the teams to form rosters or otherwise operate, the NLL said in a statement.
All games on Dec. 1 and Dec. 8 have been cancelled by the league.
The NLL said it has proposed a fair calculation of bonuses based on attendance growth plus a percentage increase each year to account for growth in all attendance-related revenue streams.
“We have put a very good and fair offer on the table, which includes a 25 per cent increase in salary and benefits for the players,” the NLL statement said.
The players’ association told Global News it’s sorry the league chose not to accept either of its two proposals and they welcome dialogue around ways to create the partnership both sides deserve.
“Our proposal Wednesday would have us play under the first two years of their seven-year proposal, with the prospect of a five-year term if an agreement on the definition and application of gross average team revenue is reached by January of 2020,” the PLPA statement said.
Founded in 1986, the NLL is comprised of 12 franchises in North America that include: Buffalo Bandits, Calgary Roughnecks, Colorado Mammoth, Georgia Swarm, New England Black Wolves, Philadelphia Wings, Rochester Knighthawks, San Diego Seals, Saskatchewan Rush, Toronto Rock, Vancouver Warriors and Halifax ‘18.
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System Of A Down have confirmed final details of their new album.
The group have announced that the first CD from their new double record ‘Mezmerize’/’Hypnotize’ will be released on May 16.
The second CD, ’Hypnotize’, will follow in the autumn. A new single, ’B.Y.O.B’, is out on May 2.
The album is made up of from 30 songs, which were recorded at producer Rick Rubin’s Laurel Canyon Studio in autumn last year. The album was mixed by Andy Wallace, who also mixed the band’s previous efforts ‘Toxicity’ and ‘Steal This Album!’.
Additionally, the band have announced they will play a extra London date in April ahead of their June tour.
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Is borrower required to pay?
DEAR BENNY: We are in the final steps of completing a refinance of our barely year-old $410,000 mortgage. We were pleased with the interest-rate drop, and our local bank was generous in dropping many of the so-called "junk fees" associated with a refinance. However, we are being charged $1,007 for title insurance. When I asked our banker about this, the response was basically, "Well, yes, it is a rip-off but there is nothing we can do about it."
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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has "certified" that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are working to reduce risks to civilian life in Yemen -- a key step to ensuring continued US support to the coalition.
Pompeo's assessment, announced Wednesday, came even as he admitted that the US believes civilian death rates at the hands of the coalition are "far too high."
Under new rules, Congress requires the certification to continue allowing US air tankers to refuel Saudi and UAE warplanes.
The measure comes amid a string of high-profile coalition strikes that have killed scores of civilians, many of them children.
In a statement, Pompeo noted that both Saudi Arabia and UAE "are undertaking demonstrable actions to reduce the risk of harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure resulting from military operations of these governments."
On September 1, the coalition admitted that "mistakes" had been made in an August air strike that killed 40 children.
The bombing on a crowded market in part of northern Yemen held by Huthi rebels killed a total of 51 people, according to the Red Cross.
In an unclassified report, obtained by AFP, that accompanied Pompeo's certification, he acknowledged that the US "recognizes that civilian casualties have occurred at rates that are far too high in the Saudi-led coalition's campaign in Yemen."
The Yemen conflict has triggered the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with the UN estimating that as many as 10,000 people have died, most of them civilians, since the coalition launched military operations in 2015.
Twin strikes south of the rebel-held Red Sea port of Hodeida on August 23 killed 26 children, the United Nations has said.
The United States has drawn sharp criticism for its ongoing support to the coalition, which also includes intelligence sharing and targeting information.
In the report, Pompeo said civilian casualties must be reduced "for both strategic and moral reasons."
The document points to multiple ways the coalition is trying to do this, including by avoiding hitting civilian infrastructure, keeping a "no-strike" list, and by updating rules of engagement.
The Royal Saudi Air Force has also pledged to fund $750 million in US-provided training.
The report notes the coalition is engaged in an "urgent and good-faith effort" to support diplomatic efforts to end the war.
But aid groups slammed Pompeo's certification, saying it would ensure further civilian bloodshed.
"With Secretary Pompeo's certification, the State Department demonstrated that it is blindly supporting military operations in Yemen without any allegiance to facts, moral code or humanitarian law," Oxfam America said in a statement.
Brookings Institution fellow Scott Anderson said Congress must push for more information on the basis of the certification, and challenge Pompeo if this is deemed inadequate.
And Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna called the certification a "farce."
"The Saudis deliberately bombed a bus full of children. There is only one moral answer, and that is to end our support for their intervention in Yemen," Khanna said on Twitter.
The coalition supports the internationally recognized government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, which is fighting Iran-backed Huthi rebels who seized control of Sanaa in 2014.
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis issued a separate statement endorsing the certification, saying the UAE and Saudis are making "every effort" to reduce the risk of civilian casualties and collateral damage.
Mattis last month warned that US support for the coalition was "not unconditional," noting that the coalition must do "everything humanly possible to avoid any innocent loss of life."
Pompeo said Washington would work closely with the coalition to ensure Saudi and UAE support for UN peace efforts and to allow unimpeded access for commercial and humanitarian relief supplies to reach Yemenis.
"The Trump administration has been clear that ending the conflict in Yemen is a national security priority," Pompeo said.
Long-awaited, UN-brokered peace talks between the Saudi-backed government and the Huthi rebels failed to take place as planned last week in Geneva.
The Huthis said the UN had failed to guarantee the safe return of their delegation from Geneva to Sanaa and to secure the evacuation of wounded rebels to Oman.
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Liberty Hill is conveniently located in the vibrant city of McKinney, named one of the Best Places to Live in America, near 121 and 75.. You won’t have to venture far with multiple corporate headquarters, shopping, and dining just minutes away. Normandy Homes features both single story and two story homes in Liberty Hill with a mix of Traditional, Tudor, and French Country inspired exteriors. Children will attend the highly acclaimed Frisco ISD.
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Riley Hunter, 39, was drafted by the Sol with the fifth overall pick in 2001. She will be able to again work with Heat halftime TV host Ron Rothstein,who coached Riley Hunter during her two seasons with the Sol.
Aside from the Sol, Riley Hunter also played with the Detroit Shock, San Antonio Silver Stars, Chicago Sky and Atlanta Dream during her 13-year WNBA. She is a two-time WNBA champion and also was on Notre Dame’s 2001 NCAA championship team.
Riley Hunter brings some broadcast experience to the position, as she has served as color commentator for Notre Dame women’s basketball games. She also brings front office experience, serving as the general manager for the WNBA’s San Antonio Stars from May 2016 until the team relocated to Las Vegas last year.
Riley Hunter is not related to Heat president Pat Riley.
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He was in the airline business. He was American. And he knew his golf.
You know, he said, the American golfer who makes a first foray across the Atlantic typically goes to Scotland first.
Then the golfer goes to Ireland.
This, of course, begged the question: why?
I’ll attempt to answer, but first an admission.
I am biased because I am from Ireland and much of my youth was spent of golf courses there, one in particular, where my dad and other family members enjoyed membership.
That said, I am also objective enough to know that in writing about Ireland as one of the planet’s prime golf destinations I am on very firm ground indeed, anything but a voice in the wilderness, or the rough.
And here’s another thing. I have played the game all over the United States and that includes Hawaii.
I have walked the walk at the likes of Augusta National and Pinehurst. I have cast an admiring eye over Pebble Beach.
And yet I still close my eyes and imagine a fair Irish day on a green Irish fairway.
I also imagine better shots than I’m capable of hitting, but that’s another story.
At the end of this homage to Irish golf - being penned just days before the U.S. Open in a place called Erin Hills (Wisconsin) no less - I will repeat what has been said to me by more than one American golfer, this with regard to where arguably the most spectacular golf course on planet earth can be found.
It’s an Irish course…of course.
And, yes, this is a subjective point of view. It’s really impossible to rate a course as being “best” in the world. But “spectacular” leaves a little more wiggle room.
And, as stated, the affirming with regard to this particular course opinion has been directed at yours truly more than once.
I have not played this course, but have played a fair few other Irish courses that certainly rate in global terms.
So let’s take a little trip around the island and name a few.
First up though, it’s important to note that golf, along with a number of other sports, is an all island affair in terms of governance.
There is no border in Irish golf.
This fact led to all the ballyhoo a while back regarding Rory McIlroy and whether he would represent Ireland or Great Britain in the Olympics.
He didn’t play in the games, but had he done so it would have been for Ireland.
Rory is a pivotal figure in Irish golf in more ways than one.
His foundation is a prime sponsor of the Irish Open, this year being played in Portstewart, County Derry in early July.
McIlroy’s success in golf majors, along with that of Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke, both from Northern Ireland, has been instrumental in the decision to bring The Open to Royal Portrush, just down the road from Portstewart, in 2019.
Padraig Harrington’s name being twice inscribed on the Claret Jug is also a factor.
This return of The Open to the Antrim coast draws a link back to 1951 when the oldest of golf’s majors was played there and won by Max Faulkner, a player remembered for his preference for plus fours instead of golfing slacks.
Faulkner was a standout in more ways than just dress.
The story has it that after three rounds through the rolling Portrush dunes, Faulkner was signing autographs that already proclaimed himself as the winner of the tournament.
True, he was six shots up after 54 holes but stranger things have happened. In this case they didn’t.
I met Max Faulkner when I was a kid.
He was playing at that course where I spent so much of my youth, Woodbrook, which straddles the line between Dublin and Wicklow.
I remember those odd looking plus fours. Faulkner was also a nice guy, or at least a tolerant one as he was being buzzed by whippersnappers like myself eager for player monikers.
Royal Portrush and Portstewart rate highly then.
And in Ulster there’s another brace to add to the list of must-plays. Royal County Down for sure, and I have fond memories of a nice stroll around Rosapenna links in County Donegal, a place where you could tee off on the eighteenth at 10.30 on a midsummer’s night and, assuming no diversions into the rough, finish in a manageable gloaming.
Being an island, Ireland has an abundance of links courses but also some truly beautiful parkland venues.
The K Club in Kildare and Mount Juliet in Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny come to mind.
In the case of the latter, there is a claim that this is the best parkland course on the island. Well, it was designed by Jack Nicklaus so that’s an argument that would be difficult to refute.
Druid’s Glen in County Wicklow is definitely worth a visit. Killarney, which I have battled my way around, is for sure another as is Adare Manor in County Limerick.
The aforementioned Woodbrook, which hosted a number of Ireland’s top tournaments in the 1960s and 1970s, is beside the Irish Sea but is rated a parkland course because it is fronted by mud cliffs.
The wind has had its wicked way with some of the course trees, not least pines that end up leaning this way and that.
Sometimes, with a quick glance at certain corners of the course, you would actually be reminded a little of Pebble Beach.
It is probably fair to say that the American golfer, when thinking in terms of an Irish foray, first and foremost considers a links.
No shortage of those of course. From those northern bastions mentioned above come on down the coast stopping at Rosses Point in County Sligo, Lahinch in Clare and also in the Banner County, Doonbeg and its mountainous dunes.
Doonbeg has Greg Norman’s name on the designer credits. He is reputed to have turned up, cast an eye over the landscape only to proclaim that there was nothing he could do here that God had not already done.
Having played Doonbeg, I would confidently second that assertion.
Having played it in a fresh Atlantic wind I would throw in the devil himself for good measure.
Down the coast a bit there is mighty, and mighty famous, Ballybunion with that opening tee shot that invites you to land your ball in a cemetery.
A fitting metaphor for my game so when I stood on the tee I made sure that I aimed well left of the headstones.
Waterville in County Kerry is another course to tackle. This was the late great Payne Stewart’s home from home. He used to tend bar in the clubhouse and was proclaimed honorary captain.
There is a statue of Stewart at Waterville that is the Irish match for the bronze that can be viewed at Pinehurst in North Carolina.
The Waterville website mentions that less than one percent of the world’s golf courses rate as true links courses, and that 85 percent of them can be found in Ireland and Britain.
Waterville asserts that it is the greatest links in the Republic, while granting the title to Royal County Down in Northern Ireland.
There would be argument over that of course, but both courses are for sure prominent in said argument.
Closer to Dublin there are a fair few fine links tracks, notably Royal Dublin and Portmarnock, while down the coast a bit, in County Wicklow, there is a true gem called the European Club.
But what of that as yet unnamed course so beloved by those peripatetic American eyes?
Many years ago, the great journalist and broadcaster, Alistair Cooke, spun out a tease on television.
At the end of the broadcast he promised that he would deliver his verdict on the woman that he believed was the most beautiful in living memory.
Well, he went this way and that until the very end at which point he proclaimed his belief that the actress Ava Gardner was his one and only.
Such a proclamation was certain to inspire debate of course.
Every Hollywood star has a fan club. Every great golf course has a fan club.
And Irish golfers will spend many a long evening arguing for this course and that course – and never quite reach a conclusion.
But this assertion is based on the verdict, arguably more objective, of a slew of American golfers who have played this course, or have simply clapped eyes on it, and who have come within earshot of yours truly while announcing their verdict.
So this jury is in.
To describe it as the “best” course is not applicable because that invites subjective argument from here to eternity.
But to describe this course as being the most stunning sight in the most spectacular setting invites greater consensus.
So without further ado….Well, with just a little because the reader can have a moment to guess.
The course in question can be found on a clenched fist of land off the Cork coast.
I am speaking (of course!) of Old Head.
This promontory peach has prompted a unanimity to a degree and pitch that I have not heard applied to any other golf course in Ireland, and from some, the world.
Readers might beg to differ, but best to do that after playing Old Head which is just a few miles from Kinsale.
In a way, Old Head is itself a metaphor for the entire island when it comes to golf.
It reaches out into the sea from a much larger landmass, just as Ireland itself sits in the sea off a much larger landmass.
Both metaphor and reality share their other worldly and spectacular natures.
And that’s beyond any argument in any club house bar.
We will be reminded of this very soon with the Irish Open at Portstewart, and again two years from now when The Open returns to Royal Portrush.
Finally, back to that question at the top: Scotland, Ireland, Ireland again. Why?
Now that’s a tough one but I suspect that the “craic,” as they say, might just be a little mightier in Hibernia than Caledonia.
One to argue over a wee dram ... of Irish, of course.
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Amanda Staveley has explained her infamous curry house meeting with Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley.
Would-be buyer Staveley, Ashley and mutual friend Richard Desmond, a newspaper publisher, were photographed leaving a London restaurant last month.
And news of the meeting raised hopes on Tyneside that a deal to sell the club was close.
However, Ashley this week walked away from talks with financier Staveley.
As indicated by sources close to Ashley, it wasn't a formal meeting, and Staveley has revealed that it was set up by Desmond.
Photographs of the trio leaving the Hampstead restaurant were not published in a newspaper owner by Desmond.
Instead, they first appeared in The Sun. Had Staveley – who was pictured smoking a cigarette – arranged for a photographer to be outside?
“I would never had done that,” said Staveley. “If I had, I certainly wouldn’t have been pictured smoking.
Staveley says her £250million bid for the club, which was put up for sale by Ashley in October, "remains on the table".
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1. Blast the heater 2. Blast the AC 3. Turn OFF the air circulation 4. Crack open the windows a bit.
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ESCONDIDO (NEWS 8) – The long-running saga over what to do with the site of the former Escondido Country Club is coming to an end after the City Council on Wednesday voted on a proposed plan to build nearly 400 homes on the shuttered property.
In a 3-2 vote, the Escondido City Council approved a controversial housing development at the former country club.
The fight over the development has been going on for more than five years, and it got ugly when neighbors accused the property owner of dumping chicken manure as retaliation.
“From the bottom of my heart in the long run, this is going to be the best thing for us,” said Michael Morasco, Escondido City Councilmember.
Last month, the Escondido Planning Commission approved Santa Monica based New Urban West’s housing development called The Villages – it would include 380 solar powered homes, a country club, a restaurant and open space on the Northwest side.
“We believe that we have created the best possible plan – one that reflects that thoughtfully reflects and extremely complex set of factors,” said Jonathan Frankel.
In 2014, voters rejected the plan. Three years later, the Escondido Country Club Homeowner’s Organization – ECCHO- continues to fight the scaled down project on the 106 acres and said the project is too dense. They want half the housing and remain concern about traffic.
“This whole deal does not make sense. It’s an old community. It was not designed for this amount of homes,” said one resident.
During the fight, the former country club that was once a jewel became overgrown with weeds, was boarded up and was infested with drugs and graffiti.
A victory for supporters Wednesday night, but opponents said the fight is not over.
“Our attorneys have said they are open to litigation,” said Mike Slater.
The mayor voted against the project and said there were too many houses.
New Urban plans to start moving dirt by the middle of next year. Now that the project was approved, they will also buy the property from Michael Schlesinger.
Beverly Hills Property owner Michael Schlesinger owns the Escondido property and last week Poway voters rejected his proposal to build luxury condos at the Stoneridge Country Club.
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Steve Jobs is arguably one of the most successful CEOs ever. Apple's stock price has climbed from a little over $5 in December 1996 to more than $350 this month and it's hard to imagine Apple without him at the helm. But that wasn't always the case. Jobs was ousted as CEO of the company back in 1984 only to return 12 years later.
Jobs is still on a medical leave of absence that was granted back in mid-January, but COO Tim Cook told investors last week that his boss hopes to "return to his full-time role at Apple 'as soon as he can,'" according to EconMatters' Dian L. Chu. With Jobs preparing for his return to the director's seat and the first authorized biography of the CEO due out next year, EconMatters put together an infographic documenting Jobs' influence on Apple.
12 days after Apple was founded, Ronald Wayne sold his stake in the company to Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak for only $800. Today, his share would be worth about $22 billion.
The Apple II was responsible for $1 million in sales per year in 1977. Today, the MacBook series generated $1 million in sales every month.
In December of 1980 Apple stock was worth $4.428 per share.
An Apple Macintosh in 1984 was sold for $2,495.
$2,495 worth of Apple stock in 1984 would be worth $1.87 million today.
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There are now conflicting reports as to whether Nancy Lanza — the mother of Newtown shooter Adam Lanza and the woman believed to be his first victim — taught at Sandy Hook Elementary, where Lanza killed 26 others, or if her relationship with the school was much more nebulous. It had been reported for much of Friday that Nancy taught at the school — and that Adam may have targeted children in her classroom — but that hypothesis got much murkier late Friday night.
A former school board official in Newtown called into question earlier reports that Nancy Lanza had been connected to Sandy Hook Elementary School, possibly as part of the teaching staff.
"No one has heard of her," said Lillian Bittman, who served on the local school board until 2011. "Teachers don't know her."
At least one parent said Lanza's mother was a substitute teacher there. But her name did not appear on a staff list. And the law enforcement official said investigators were unable to establish any connection so far between her and the school.
The New York Times' updated story still identifies Lanza as a teacher at the school, as does the Washington Post, which calls her a kindergarten teacher at Sandy Hook. The Stamford Advocate, meanwhile, cites a source that echoes that Lanza was indeed a substitute teacher there.
This should be cleared up in the morning — or not.
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Film producer Guneet Monga, who is all set to co-produce Suriya's next titled "Soorarai Pottru", says the southern star is one of the best actors in the country.
On venturing into Tamil films, Monga said: "We are so thrilled to start our journey in Tamil cinema with none other than Suriya for our film 'Soorarai Pottru'."
She praised Suriya and called him "a national icon and one of the best actors in our country".
"This is truly a dream team here, with Suriya and Rajsekar Karpoorasundarapandian's 2D Entertainment and Aalif Surti and Shriram Krishnan on my maiden venture in Tamil cinema," she added.
"Soorarai Pottru" is directed by Sudha Kongara. It also stars Aparna Balamurali.
Suriya said: "'Soorarai Pottru' will bring together highly skilled people on one platform to entertain the audiences in a different level. We welcome Sikhya Entertainment whole-heartedly."
"It's a very special film for all of us and we are kicked about it," co-producer Rajsekar Karpoorasundarapandian added.
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Filed to: Whatcha Gonna Do?Filed to: Whatcha Gonna Do?
Being a successful professional wrestler takes more than having the right moves in the ring, and no one knows that better than the legendary Hulk Hogan. That's why the Kinect-powered Hulk Hogan's Main Event focuses as much on winning the crowd as it does winning the match.
Terry Gene Bollea didn't become one of the world's most iconic wrestlers by knowing how to do an Atomic Drop. He did it by becoming Hulk Hogan, a bombastic, charismatic, and generally larger-than-life personality capable of bending a crowd to his will whether a shining red and gold hero or a black-stubbled villain. The man knows how to put on a show. Hopefully he knows how to put on a game as well.
In Hulk Hogan's Main Event, developed by Panic Button for Majesco, the Impact Wrestling superstar takes players' custom characters under his meaty wing, guiding them on the path to stardom. He'll coach them on his signature poses as well as more than 30 wrestling combos using MIcrosoft's Kinect sensor to measure their movements. The more dynamic their motions, the more effective their performance. Once they feel the true power of Hulkamania coursing through their veins players are sure to dominate the game's nine increasingly lavish venues. It even supports two-player tag team matches, complete with virtual metal chairs and ladders, which certainly won't lead to anyone getting seriously hurt.
"Listen up, people! You will feel the power of Hulkamania when you step into this game," said Hulk Hogan. "Whether you are taking the damage or selling the pain, this game will let you unleash your inner wrestler as you hype up the crowd while putting the hurt on anyone that stands in your way!"
He's right! Too long have our inner wrestlers been leashed! Too long have our wrestling games delivered the sport without the spectacle! It's time to put on the hurt!
See? The guy is really good at that.
Hulk Hogan's Main Event is due out this fall from Majesco. Keep an eye out for more Hulkamania during E3 early next month.
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Office space has recently been renovated and is ready for occupancy. Located in the heart of downtown the space is convenient to the Post Office and local convenience store. There is plenty of off street parking with rear entrance available.
This ranch offers 3 Bedrooms, 2 full baths. Enjoy the back deck for grilling & chilling on those summer days. Call today!
Maticulously mantained 3 Bedroom home with a bonus family room on the first floor, and finished attic. 1st floor open floor plan with updated kitchen and Stainless steel appliance. Laundry room conveniently located off the kitchen.
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Noble Prize winner Baruch Blumberg will present the 2009 Saxon Graham lecture on April 16.
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Baruch S. Blumberg, M.D., Ph.D., winner of the 1976 Nobel Prize in Medicine for discovery of the hepatitis B virus (HBV), will present a talk on "The Adventure of Science and Discovery," April 16 at 5 p.m. in Butler Auditorium in Farber Hall on the University at Buffalo's South (Main Street) Campus.
Blumberg has had a major impact on worldwide public health throughout his career. He and his colleagues were responsible for developing the HBV vaccine, which has decreased HBV infection dramatically along with the incidence of liver cancer that can be caused by HBV.
The virus is an important cause of disease and death in many populous nations, especially Asia and Africa. The vaccine and the diagnostic tests that followed the discovery of the virus have saved millions of lives.
Blumberg is a professor of medicine and anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania and Distinguished Scientist at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. More recently, he has been involved in research at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, where he is director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute. The institute concentrates on studying the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe.
Blumberg will discuss both his work with HBV and his work on astrobiology during his lecture.
Among his many affiliations, Blumberg is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society and the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Sponsored by the UB Department of Social and Preventive Medicine (SPM), the lecture is part of the Saxon Graham Lectureship series.
An accomplished epidemiologist, Graham chaired the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine from 1981 to 1991. He is known for his important contributions to the understanding of the impact of diet on cancer, many of which were based on studying dietary habits of Western New Yorkers.
The department, an integral component of UB's School of Public Health and Health Professions, continues Graham's legacy of using epidemiologic tools in research studies to understand to the causes and prevention of diseases in human populations, especially in the Western New York community.
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Figma’s Table Museum series is adding another iconic artistic masterpiece to its collection. Following up on action figure versions of the Venus de Milo and Michelangelo’s David, there’s now a bizarre multi-limbed version of Leondardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man to add to your toy box.
With eight limbs at his disposal, Vitruvian Man would have no problem besting Michelangelo’s David in a wrestling match. But you’ll be paying a premium for all of those extra arms and legs. The figure is now available for just shy of $60, with an included display stand and da Vinci sketch backdrop.
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CINCINNATI -- As FC Cincinnati fans chanted and cheered for taxpayers to help fund a Major League Soccer stadium, Hamilton County leaders laid out a bleak reality: The county has too many projects and no way to pay for them all.
From an outdated convention center to the obsolete Western Hills Viaduct, Hamilton County Commissioners are trying to figure out how to pay for more than $1.5 billion worth of infrastructure, development, transportation and county building needs in the coming years.
"We have more projects than we have money," Hamilton County Commission President Todd Portune told a crowd of at least 150 people Tuesday night.
And a battle over one of the few sources of money left -- a small slice of sales tax that becomes available in 2020, currently being used to pay for a renovation of Union Terminal -- is already brewing.
Portune called the meeting Tuesday to gather public comments to help decide which projects the county should fund.
FC Cincinnati's General Manager Jeff Berding led roughly 100 of the team's fans into the packed meeting, yelling "Build it here." It's no surprise that Berding, a former Cincinnati city councilman, was able to organize the loudest and largest display of political pressure in the room.
More than 30 people weighed in on a range of projects, but most begged commissioners to help post the $100 million FC Cincinnati is requesting from taxpayers to build a $200 million MLS stadium in Cincinnati. The team is currently contending for a spot in the MLS, and Berding said he needs a stadium deal hammered out before the end of the year.
"We're not here to ask that you only support FC Cincinnati because we have many needs in this community," Berding told the three-member commission. "But we're probably asking to be among the first, given the timeline of the decision."
FC Cincinnati's ask to be first in line is still a big deal.
The county is grappling with an overcrowded jail, a dated courthouse and an aging Jobs and Family Services building -- all of which serve hundreds of county families. In 10 years, the county will be grappling with a $266 million maintenance backlog, Hamilton County Administrator Jeff Aluotto said.
The city's two current major league sports teams -- the Reds and the Bengals -- will eventually come knocking on the county's door for a new deal. The Bengals stadium lease with the county expires in 2026, and the Reds' lease expires a few years after. Combined, the two stadiums could need more than $200 million in upgrades within the next decade.
"While no one is talking about demoing these stadiums, we know there will be substantial maintenance (needs)," Alutto said.
County taxpayers will need to help pay for some of the $330 million overhaul of the Western Hills Viaduct. Hamilton County Engineer Ted Hubbard has proposed paying for some of that project with an additional $5 driver's license fee.
"It needs to be addressed and now," Portune said Tuesday.
A $230 million upgrade of the Duke Energy Convention center is necessary to keep visitors -- and their money -- flowing into the city, experts say. Another $10 million renovation of Sharonville Convention Center is also needed, Sharonville's mayor said Tuesday.
U.S. Bank Arena owners have asked the Port Authority to buy the deteriorating facility and for taxpayers to finance a $342 million demolition and rebuild it. The building's small and old conditions have caused the city to miss out on huge conventions, most notably the Republican National Convention last year, that would have pumped millions of dollars into the city's economy.
"It allows Cincinnati and the county to compete," said Nederlander Entertainment COO Ray Harris. "We're willing to work with anybody to try and make Cincinnati better.
The Banks, which taxpayers have already invested $135 million to carve out on Ohio's river , remains unfinished.
Meanwhile, any money that would be used to pay for these projects is nearly tapped out.
County is painting a bleak picture here for available $. Hotel tax - tapped. Sales tax - a quarter left. None = new stadium or arena.
The county can't collect any more hotel tax. Parking revenues generated from garages at The Banks are being used to pay down the debt on those garages. And the county can only legally collect a quarter percent more in sales tax, which would mean buyers pay 7.25 percent on every purchase, bringing in roughly $38 million every year. Hamilton County currently charges a 7 percent sales tax.
That little room to fund even one or two of the projects discussed Tuesday.
"There is not now, and never will be, enough money to ever fund every major capital project that is before you for consideration," said Tim Mara, a Cincinnati attorney and government watchdog who led the charge against a tax increase to pay for Paul Brown Stadium and Great American Ball Park more than 20 years ago.
Mara was one of a few speakers who urged commissioners to oppose any taxpayer funding for a new FC Cincinnati stadium.
"It makes no sense to divert scarce money to building a soccer stadium when these vital needs remain unfunded," he said.
Commissioners are bracing for a fight over the quarter percent sales tax increase, currently used to pay for a restoration of Union Terminal, that expires in 2020. That sales tax generates roughly $38 million every year. It's been floated as a way to pay for the Western Hills Viaduct, the FC Cincinnati Stadium and, now, U.S. Bank Arena.
In a statement released just moments after Tuesday's meeting ended, U.S. Bank Arena leaders called for the county to use that sales tax money for a $342 million overhaul of the 42-year-old facility. That plan would require a seven-year extension of the sales tax.
But the clock is ticking for the county to strike a deal that would keep FC Cincinnati on the Ohio side of the river, dozens of soccer fans draped in orange and blue reminded the commissioners Tuesday night.
"We have time to do the other projects later, this one needs to take precedent," FC Cincinnati Max Ellerbe said.
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my daughter had sudden fever at night (102 F) and we took her to pediatrician two days back. Doctor had diagonised her with pharyngitis and prescribed amoxicillin for 5 days and paracetamol to reduce the fever.
Day 1 - she was getting fever 101-102 F temperature and we used to give paracetemol dose each 3-4 hours to control the temperature.
Day 2 onwards she is having fever of 100-101 and giving paracetamol dose each 8-9 hours time. fever occurrence gap has increased.
Day 3 we went back to doctor and expressed the concern. Dr said baby is improving and continue with antibiotic and no need to worry about fever, just give paracetamol and it will settle down after 2-3 days.
Paracetamol is an antipyretic that can reduce fever by affecting the part of the brain known as the hypothalamus that regulates the temperature of the body. Any fever that does not go away within seven days, especially while taking paracetamol. Should definitely be seen by a doctor. If your doctor won’t do anything about it, then you should seek an advice from a different pediatrician.
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Five of the Menlo Park City Council candidates met up at the Oak City Bar and Grill in Menlo Park on Wednesday night to share campaign stories. The drinks were on Peter Ohtaki, since he received the greatest number of votes. The sixth candidate, Russ Peterson, was unable to attend. Photo by John Woodell.
● Ohtaki, Keith, Cline elected to Menlo Park council.
Whoa, wait! There are three pending council members having a conversation- but where is Peter Carpenter with a Brown Act accusation? What if the new council has to act on something like an Oak City noise complaint case? Will all three have to recuse themselves because they acted like normal human beings and socialized? My goodness!
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I met several customers in the past few weeks who are evaluating Application Performance Management (APM) solution. They are facing a lot of challenges with their existing investments in old generation of APM solution. In this blog, I will outline some of the shortcomings with APM 1.0 tools that make them unfit for today’s applications.
Customers have been managing application performance since early days of mainframe evolution. However, Application Performance Management as a discipline has gained popularity in the past decade.
Let me first introduce what I mean by APM 1.0. The enterprise applications and technologies such as Java have evolved in past two decades. The APM 1.0 tools were invented more than a decade back and they provided great benefits to resolve application issues that were prevalent with the early versions of Java and .NET technologies. However Java/.NET application servers have become mature and do not have those challenges any more. Also enterprise application architecture and technologies have changed drastically and the APM 1.0 tools have not kept up. The following figure shows the evolution of enterprise Java in the past 15 years and when APM 1.0 and APM 2.0 tools have started emerging.
Following are few challenges with the APM 1.0 tools that you will run into when trying to manage your enterprise applications.
The application owner and the application support team primarily cares about the user experience and service level delivered by their applications. APM 1.0 tools were primarily built to monitor applications from an application infrastructure perspective.
These tools lack the capabilities to monitor applications from real user perspective and help you isolate application issues whether it is caused by the network, load balancers, ADNs such as Akamai, or the application, database, etc. Some of these solutions were quick to add some basic end-user monitoring capabilities such as synthetic monitoring. However an application support personnel has to switch between multiple consoles and depend on manual correlation between end-user monitoring and application deep dive monitoring tools.
These tools do not allow you to track a real user request to the line of the code. That means you are blind-sighted when users are impacted and struggle to find what is causing the application failure.
APM 1.0 deep-dive monitoring tools were primarily built to diagnose issues during the application development lifecycle. These tools morphed into production deep-dive monitoring tools when the need arose for APM in production environments. So, These tools were not optimized for production monitoring and hence require a lot of effort to tune for production.
First off, the complexities of agent installation and configuration hinder deployment in production environment. Second, these tools usually require configuration changes every time new application code is rolled out.
Most damagingly, they have high overhead on application performance and do not scale beyond 100-150 application servers. This means that most customers use these in a test environment or enable deep-dive monitoring retroactively after an application failure - assuming the problem will recur.
Finally, these tools do not provide operation friendly UIs and because they were originally built for developers.
As I alluded earlier, the old generation APM tools are very complex to configure because these require application knowledge, manual instrumentation and complex agent deployment. Hence expensive consultants are required to deploy and configure and maintain these tools. These tools also have multiple consoles - adding to total cost of ownership. Some customers told me that they spend a lot of time managing these APM tools rather than being able to manage their applications.
These tools were built more than a decade back, and have not evolved much although the application architecture, technologies and methodologies have gone though drastic changes.
APM 1.0 tools certainly cannot satisfy these needs. In the next blog, I will discuss how an APM 2.0 solution like BMC Application Management addresses the challenges with APM 1.0 products and help you manage applications better thus improving customer satisfaction and resulting in better bottomline.
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President Barack Obama was in Latin America this weekend to assure leaders they can expect continued stability in U.S. relations with the region. We look at what the future holds for relations with Latin America.
Following our Thanksgiving tradition, we hear about Meal Sharing&apos;s efforts to connect with people with a meal and new friends for the holidays.
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One-time Yankees killer Dallas Keuchel is entertaining the idea of donning pinstripes.
So much so the free agent pitcher is willing to shave his signature beard in order to abide with team protocol.
"I think everybody is in play right now," Keuchel said in a recent interview with Fox Business. "The lure of the city would be really cool. I like pitching in Yankee Stadium.
"For the right opportunity, I would happily shave this beard off," Keuchel said, channeling his inner-Johhny Damon who did so in 2005. "It's all about winning. I've made that very clear from Day 1 of my career starting to this position right now."
But don’t stock up on shaving cream just yet, Yankees fans.
While Keuchel, 31, has a history of tormenting the Yankees stretching back to the 2015 wild card game, he struggled a ton this past season.
The Yanks, who have made pitching a priority this winter, had their way with the southpaw, tallying seven runs in two wins against Keuchel.
It was an overall down year for the 2015 Cy Young winner, who posted career highs in hits allowed, walks and WHIP.
The Daily News’ Wally Matthews suggested Brian Cashman stay away in his Yankees free agency primer.
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Former U. S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales talks with U. S. Congressman Chuck Fleischmann, left, before speaking at the Brainerd Kiwanis Club meeting at the Chattanooga Choo Choo on April 21, 2015, in Chattanooga.
Anyone seeking to unseat U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann next year will need deep pockets.
Tennessee's 3rd District Republican got a big jump-start on fundraising Friday during a private event at the Mountain City Club in Chattanooga.
The room was packed with monied supporters from across the 11-county district, and Fleischmann was joined by U.S. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and 8th District U.S. Rep. Stephen Fincher, R-Tenn.
When Fleischmann arrived, federal reports show his campaign had nearly $147,000 on hand. By the time he left, he had more than $500,000.
The Ooltewah lawyer raised more than $370,000 Friday afternoon alone.
For perspective, in 2013 and 2014 combined, Fleischmann raised a total of $1.6 million.
The purse was the biggest Fleischmann has ever collected at one time.
"This time, I am making sure we have the financial wherewithal early, so we can defend any primary challenge," Fleischmann said after the event. "I'd prefer to have no primary challenger, but I'll be ready."
Fleischmann has never had an easy primary run in three elections to date.
Last year, he eked out a win against then-27-year-old Republican challenger Weston Wamp, son of former Rep. Zach Wamp. Fleischmann won the race with 51 percent of the vote to Wamp's 49 percent.
And in 2012, he battled the younger Wamp and Athens, Tenn., dairy icon Scotty Mayfield in the primary. Fleischmann got 39 percent of the vote, Mayfield got 31 percent and Wamp pulled 29 percent.
His first run in 2010 was a six-candidate scrum.
McCarthy said Friday the Tennessee Republican has been "very effective" for the 3rd District by getting funding for Oak Ridge National Laboratory and helping to move things along at the Chickamauga lock from his coveted spot on the House Appropriations Committee.
"I don't know if I've ever seen someone get on that [committee] faster than our own Chuck Fleischmann," he told the crowd.
No one has officially announced a campaign to challenge Fleischmann in the 2016 primary, but politicos have nodded toward state Sen. Bo Watson. And Watson hasn't denied the rumors.
In March, Watson said he was focusing on his job in session, not a campaign. But he didn't say whether he would run.
"I have people encourage me all the time," Watson said. "I don't rule that out. ... I think every election cycle you look at what opportunities might come up."
Watson did not return a telephone message left Friday afternoon for comment.
Weston Wamp has said he would not seek to run in 2016, but he didn't rule out future bids.
Contact staff writer Louie Brogdon atlbrogdon@timesfreepress.com, @glbrogdoniv on Twitter or at 423-757-6481.
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An exploration of the fundamental drivers behind long term shifts in the demand for, and supply of, land for agriculture, forestry and environmental uses over the next four decades. Topics include trends in food and bioenergy demand, crop productivity on existing and potential croplands, water and climate constraints, non-extractive uses such as carbon sequestration, and the role of global trade and public policies. Students will lead discussions of weekly readings and perform simple numerical experiments to explore the role of individual drivers of long run global land use.
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Gloria Williams Sander is hoping that her home in Glendale’s North Cumberland Heights neighborhood soon will become a historical district.
With her neighbor Susan Dasso and others, Williams Sander canvassed the neighborhood a few years ago to learn if anyone had any interest in making the neighborhood a historical district.
“The feedback was really positive,” she said.
The area’s homes were built between the 1920s and early 1950s in the styles of Mediterranean Revival, Monterey Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival, Ranch Style and Minimal Traditional.
For her, the neighborhood’s openness and uniformity of scale represents “the best of a certain moment in history.” The neighborhood’s beauty lured Williams Sander and her husband there in 1998 from Silver Lake.
Williams Sander is familiar with beauty. She’s a curator at Pasadena’s Norton Simon Museum, where she has worked since 1987 shortly after earning her master’s in art history at USC.
“The best thing about Gloria is she knows so much about art, yet she is so happy to share it in a way that does not make you feel you don’t know anything, even though, really, I know nothing about it,” she said. “She makes art enjoyable and she’s so open to accepting all different kinds of art,” said Betty Astor, a friend.
While Williams Sander does not consider herself an artist, her husband is a painter. And for her family of three, including their son Ian, Glendale is a blessing.
And though she’s put considerable effort into lobbying for North Cumberland Heights to become a historical district, it’s been worth it, she said.
According to Jay Platt of the Historic Preservation Commission, for North Cumberland Heights to become a historical district, the city needs to see support from more than 50% of the area’s property owners.
Royal Boulevard, Cottage Grove and Ard Eevin Highlands encompass Glendale’s three historical districts. They achieved that designation in 2008 or later.
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What he did: The UC San Diego commit scored 17 goals to lead the Red-tailed Hawks to a 6-0 week. After beating San Rafael and Marin Academy by a combined score of 29-12, Tam cruised past Pinole Valley (20-1), Irvington (13-9), Piedmont (12-2) and Bishop O’Dowd (12-5) to capture the Pinole Valley Tournament championship over the weekend. King, who has scored 54 goals this season, has 194 in his career, third on Tam’s all-time leaderboard behind Jackson Hettler (330) and Max Sieck (222).
What’s next: The Hawks (15-6, 5-0 MCAL), riding a nine-game win streak, face San Marin, Drake and Novato before the MCAL playoffs. Thursday’s showdown against the Pirates will likely decide the No. 1 seed.
Bob Kustel: Tam coach on what King brings to the Red-tailed Hawks.
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Your reputation defines how people see you and what they will do for you. It determines whether your bank will lend you money to buy a house or car; whether your landlord will accept you as a tenant; which employers will hire you and how much they will pay you. It can even affect your marriage prospects.
And in the present Reputation Economy, it’s getting more powerful than ever. Because today, thanks to rapid advances in digital technology, anyone access huge troves of information about you your buying habits, your finances, your professional and personal networks, and even your physical whereabouts at any time. In a world where technology allows companies and individuals alike to not only gather all this data but also aggregate it and analyze it with frightening speed, accuracy, and sophistication, our digital reputations are fast becoming our most valuable currency.
Today everything depends on the social score, and everyone is desperate to move up in the rankings. But the omnipresent rating game has one big catch: ranking up is incredibly hard, while ranking down is rapid and easy, like a free-fall.Welcome to the reputation economy, where the individual social graph the social data set about each person determines one’s value in society, access to services, and employability. In this economy, reputation becomes currency.
On the web or via mobile, we can now share almost anything. The reputation economy is based on the simplistic, but effective star ratings system. Anyone who’s ever rated their Uber driver or Airbnb host has actively participated. But what happens when algorithms, rather than humans, determine an individual’s reputation score based on multiple data sources and mathematical formulas, promising more accuracy and more flexibility via machine learning to effective star ratings system. promising more accuracy and more flexibility via machine learning?
Over 60% of companies in Malta currently use social media to screen employees. And many AI-enabled startups are competing in the HR assessment market, using AI to crawl potential candidates’ social media accounts to filter out bad fits. What unifies all current platforms is a reliance on our ability to get enough information about the person we are exchanging with to feel comfortable setting the terms on an individual basis. In other words, they are economies of reputation.
Much of the growing interest in these platforms springs from the conflicts we’re seeing in traditional markets. Lack of access to capital, slow market growth, poor employment rates all of these are driving people to find ways to leverage value from other areas of their lives.
Back In 2012, Facebook applied for a patent that would use an algorithm to assess the credit ratings of friends, as a factor in one’s eligibility to get a mortgage. And China is aiming to implement a national social score for every citizen by 2020, based on crime records, their social media, what they buy, and even the scores of their friends.
Being able to accurately or even reasonably accurately measure reputation has immense value. It makes it far easier to find suppliers or business partners and this lowering of transaction cost can create a far more fluid and efficient economy. If you are investing in or supporting small businesses especially in developing countries . It means your resources can go far further. We will increasingly have reputation scores attached to content, to publishers and to journalists, making it easier to find trustworthy information and it might even make dating a little easier. The reputation economy will increasingly drive business and society. Your reputation will precede you wherever you go.
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President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team held an hour and 15 minute meeting on Tuesday with just over a dozen social justice groups that presented what they see as the concerns of Catholics. In response, some Catholic bishops and commentators have told CNA that they don’t believe these groups’ concerns resonate with those of the Church.
The discussion between the Obama transition team and the different representatives touched on international development and trade, health care reform, reducing abortions, immigration, domestic policy and poverty reduction, and the environment.
The meeting of the 14 different organizations was organized by Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and the lobbying group “Network,” which describes itself as "a progressive voice within the Catholic community" that lobbies Congress on justice and peace issues.
Sr. Simone Campbell, director of Network, told the National Catholic Reporter that the meeting was called to "acknowledge the work that some of the Catholic groups had done in the Catholic community during the election and to begin to develop relationships for ‘post-Jan. 20,’ when the new administration takes over after Obama’s inauguration."
James Salt, Organizing Director of Catholics United, explained to CNA that Catholics United participated in the meeting by highlighting "key policies that are important to Catholics.
"Specifically we want the new administration to take seriously its commitment to reduce abortions in America. People of goodwill from both sides of the conversation can agree that 1 million abortions a year are 1 million abortions too many. We wanted to make sure that the Obama administration knew this was one of our highest priorities."
Yet, when Salt was asked if Catholics United planned to hold Obama accountable for his pledge to work to reduce abortions, he was cautious. "We're hopeful that the Obama administration is with us on abortion reduction. We were not there to make asks, but rather to build consensus around real solutions."
Salt also added that no one raised the issue of Obama overturning the Mexico City Policy, which prevents American aid from going to those who counsel women on the availability of abortion.
Alexia Kelley, Executive Director of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, informed CNA that there are "many efforts underway and planned" to show support for the incoming administration as well as to challenge it to keep its abortion reducing commitment.
Additionally, Kelley mentioned that the topics of how to help the poor, homeless, children and the sick during these times of economic hardship were also raised.
Both Salt and Kelley confirmed to CNA that there was no one officially representing the Catholic Church present at the meeting, although they thought that an Obama team representative had met with key bishops at the USCCB.
Bishop Thomas Wenski, a member of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, reacted to the meeting by saying, "while the Obama transition team is free to meet with anyone they wish…the fact is that the only ones who speak for the Catholic Church are the bishops.
"If the transition team wished to telegraph a message that their intention is to marginalize the bishops then there is reason for some serious concern regarding the relationship between the future Obama administration and this nation's 60 million Catholics," Wenski said.
Catholic scholar and author George Weigel expressed his doubts about the meeting’s make up. "If the Obama transition team thinks that meeting with the refugees from the Catholic revolution that never was is a way to open a dialogue with the Catholic Church in the United States, they're far less clever than I think they are. This strikes me as simply a pay-off to people who, from the Obama campaign's point of view, helped with the ground game in 2008."
The proof of the social justice groups’ commitment to promoting Catholic concerns will be in "how these ‘Platform for the Common Good’ folks help the rest of the Catholic Church defeat the Freedom of Choice Act and maintain the Bush administration's AIDS and malaria-reduction initiatives in Africa, which has helped millions more poor people than any of these groups has ever managed to do," Weigel explained to CNA.
Bishop of Madison Robert Morlino also added that the transition team must do more to dialogue with the Catholic Church. "Recognizing the stark contrast between the positions on abortion of the President-elect and the teachings of the Catholic Church, it would be a mistake for the President-elect's transition team to pretend that this meeting satisfied his promise of dialoguing with the Catholic community," he said.
The bishop of Phoenix, Thomas Olmsted, also weighed-in on the meeting by addressing what a Catholic organization should be emphasizing. He told CNA that “Being 'right' on any number of other issues will never outweigh the taking of human life through abortion. It would be my hope that any group calling themselves 'Catholic' would make this message abundantly clear, and express grave concern over the possibilities that the new administration may increase funding for abortions with public money or even erode conscience protections for Catholic hospitals and healthcare workers."
Finally, Brian Burch, who heads a group of four lay Catholic organizations in the political, legal, research and educational fields, also expressed misgivings about the ability of the social justice consortium to rein in Obama’s policies.
"We are pleased to hear that the Obama transition team is interested in talking with Catholics, but caution that such conversations must be weighed against his reported plans on abortion policy, including his Cabinet selections thus far. Specifically, we remain concerned that the new Administration is composed of leading abortion advocates who are preparing to overturn a large number of existing pro-life laws, while proving hundreds of millions of new taxpayer dollars for abortion.
"The fact that transition officials are consulting a select group of Catholic organizations who supported Obama's candidacy is not surprising. Whether these groups, some of whom claim to adhere to Catholic teaching, are able to hold him accountable on the issue of life, remains doubtful."
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The Ventura County Star has won six California News Publisher Association awards, including for coverage of the Thomas Fire.
Coverage of the Thomas Fire and an in-depth look at law enforcement in Ventura County were among Ventura County Star stories to receive California News Publishers Association awards.
The Star received six awards in its class, including first and second place for enterprise news story or series and second place for public service journalism. An additional four entries were finalists in their categories.
"Night on patrol in Ventura County: From heroin to headlights," an in-the-moment look at law enforcement agencies in Ventura County, captured first place in the enterprise news story or series category. For the story, nine Star journalists spent an evening with police and deputies across the county to document one night on patrol.
The Star's coverage of the Thomas Fire, the largest wildfire in modern California history, received a second-place award for public service journalism. In addition to breaking news of the fire, Star coverage included emergency communication challenges, the fire's impact on mental health services and farmworkers, and stories of people who lost everything.
Reporter Tom Kisken and photographer Anthony Plascencia received a second-place award in the enterprise news category for their piece on opioid use, "Ventura County's opioid fix: 'I crave it all the time." Kisken and Plascencia spent a week documenting the impact of opioids on Ventura County.
Third place award winners in their division were photographer Chuck Kirman for a photograph of a firefighter during the Thomas Fire; reporter Arlene Martinez in the business news category for a piece on retiree health costs at public agencies; and reporter Cheri Carlson, photographer Anthony Plascencia, digital producer Yazmin Cruz and former reporter Amanda Covarrubias in the youth and education category for their piece on students and truancy.
The CNPA awards were announced Saturday in Sonoma. See all the winners at https://cnpa.com.
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BE AWARE: Motorists in the Newcastle CBD must now observe a 40kph speed limit on Hunter Street (pictured) and Scott Street between Worth Place and Telford Street. Picture: Darren Pateman.
MOTORISTS from Lake Macquarie and the Central Coast - who aren't familiar with the changes to driving conditions in Newcastle caused by the light rail system - would do well to take extra care around the city's CBD.
Officers from Police Transport Command, Traffic and Highway Patrol Command and Newcastle Police District have been regularly patrolling around the Hunter Street transport system since it went live on February 18.
Northern Region Traffic Tactician Chief Inspector Amanda Calder said officers have observed a number of dangerous incidents putting the lives of not only drivers at risk, but also bystanders and light rail commuters.
"The light rail has been up and running for more than a month and the vast majority of people are aware of the changed road network and have adapted to the changes," Chief Inspector Calder said.
"There are some drivers who are not paying attention and are making serious mistakes with their actions endangering themselves and others along Hunter Street and Stewart Avenue.
"Officers from Traffic and Highway Patrol have observed several near-misses during this first month of operation, with the most common offences being vehicles driving on the tram tracks; running red lights at light rail crossings; and pedestrians - who are often distracted and looking at their phones - jaywalking across the tracks."
She gave the example of one motorist who got it all wrong.
"One driver was seen by police to drive onto the rail track on Hunter Street, cross to the wrong side of the road, and drive into the path of an oncoming tram before proceeding through a red light before police could stop the car," Chief Inspector Calder said.
The Newcastle Transport website advises there are new signs, traffic lights and road markings across the city centre which show how drivers, cyclists and pedestrians should behave around light rail vehicles and tracks.
Motorists are being urged to pay attention and follow the signage that spells out how to behave when sharing the roads with light rail vehicles. Picture: Marina Neil.
"A 40kph speed limit is in place for all vehicles, including light rail, on Hunter and Scott streets between Worth Place and Telford Street," the website said.
For most of Hunter and Scott streets, light rail runs in its own dedicated lane known as a tramway. Drivers are not allowed to drive on a tramway unless avoiding an obstruction.
There is also a mixed running section on Scott Street, between Newcomen and Pacific streets. In this section, light rail vehicles and other road users share a lane.
Road users are generally required to treat light rail as any other large vehicle in this section.
Police are encouraging motorists to use their common sense and take their time on the roads to adapt to the new road conditions.
"We're asking the community to not let these issues become long-term habits, be safe and alert at all times when near the light rail network," Chief Inspector Calder said.
For more information on the Newcastle Light Rail visit newcastletransport.info/light-rail.
Discuss "Police spot risky driving habits around light rail vehicles"
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Gartner identifies three types of BI buyers - which one are you?
Sticky tape not only binds, but gives off useful radiation!
Large Hadron Collider to Resume at half potential power – just to be on the safe side..
The evil machines: Is a Skynet machine revolution close?
Does social media stifle creativity?
Hyper-V vs. VMware: Which costs more?
Can SharePoint step up into project and portfolio management roles?
Twitter: Should businesses stay away until support improves?
COMMENTARY: What came first, the NBN or the egg?
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The acting commissioner of Inland Revenue in Papua New Guinea says there is nothing she can do to help an Australian couple who have to pay 8,000 US dollars on a car they donated to charity.
Sydneysiders Edward and Alvina Renyard sent a 1993 Mitsubishi Pajero to Caritas in Madang to help the work of aiding Manam Islanders displaced by volcano eruptions.
Mrs Renyard's relatives are among the displaced people.
But acting inland revenue head, Betty Palaso, says all imported vehicles, even those bound for charities are subject to duty.
"I think it's just unfortunate that Internal Revenue Commissioner was not consulted before these things were brought in. Otherwise we would have advised them that duty would be applicable on this vehicle."
Betty Palaso says she feels for the Renyards but she cannot work outside the law.
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Jake Smith has worked for a variety of technology-focused publications over the years, covering Apple's smartphone rise as an editor at 9to5mac and the explosion of the consumer tech obsession for Pocket-lint as US News Editor. Jake currently attends the University of Kentucky, studying finance, and thinks drones will be the next big thing.
Apple is planning a new corporate campus for the United States, and a new report says it's set for North Carolina.
It's a limited initial rollout, but a start. Google says Android Auto wireless support should come to more phones and car displays soon.
All gold everything: Did Apple ditch this color before the iPhone X's September release?
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Brown vetoed Assembly Bill 267, which would compel courts to inform defendants about the consequences of pleading guilty to a felony. They can include being barred from owning a firearm, joining the military, serving on a jury and receiving some types of government aid.
“I believe ensuring adequate consideration of the various consequences of a criminal conviction prior to a guilty plea is the responsibility of the defendant’s counsel,” Brown wrote in his veto message.
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(Conakry) – The fifth anniversary on September 28, 2014, of the Conakry stadium massacre should be the last before justice is done, seven Guinean and international organizations, in unity with the victims, said today. More than 150 people were killed, some 100 women were raped and several hundred people were injured on September 28, 2009, as government troops attacked peaceful demonstrators.
Since legal proceedings began in February 2010, close to 400 victims have been interviewed by the judges leading the case. But only eight people have been charged, though offenses were committed by scores of members of the armed forces, particularly the Red Berets. The military junta in power at the time of the massacre was headed by Moussa Dadis Camara.
There has been real progress in justice in recent months, the groups said. The establishment of a High Judicial Council in July, the ongoing improvement in the status of judges and the start of justice reform are all likely to help the judges complete their work.
There has been some progress in the legal case in recent weeks, including questioning of the director of Conakry stadium, the former Minister for Youth and Sport and, through an international rogatory commission, Dadis Camara, who has taken refuge in Burkina Faso. These new developments are in contrast to the slow pace that long characterized the proceedings.
Administering justice for the victims is all the more urgent because scores of victims have died in the past five years from their injuries or disease without being vindicated, the groups said.
Despite the government’s stated commitments, a lack of financial and political support has been a major obstacle to the progress of the investigation. The government needs to guarantee that all of the people summoned for questioning, including members of the security forces, regardless of their rank, answer the summonses issued by the judges. On several occasions, despite repeated summonses, the judges have not been able to interview people summoned for questioning about the events of September 28, 2009.
The International Criminal Court (ICC), which opened a preliminary examination on October 14, 2009, and which is continuing to monitor this case closely, has already alerted the national authorities to the need to conduct these proceedings within a reasonable time frame.
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What made you a music director? As a Bengali with an MBBS degree, did you never feel the pressure to pursue a medical career?
There is always pressure on you while taking risks. Opposition from family and society is natural. I guess that���s how the society reacts. But some of us are just not made to follow the societal norms. My immense love for music coupled with my adamant nature didn���t let me settle for anything apart from music. For me, music is like medicine.
Despite hailing from Kolkata, you never thought of composing for Bengali films.
Of course I do. I���d love to work with Srijit Mukherji and Kaushik Ganguly.
How much are you clued in to Bengali film music?
I left Kolkata around eight years back and Bengali film music has come a long way since then. I love Anupamda���s (Roy) songwriting and compositions. He is brilliant. The song Ek baar bol tor keu nei is one of my favourites.
Heard you used to fight with your mother as a kid because you were forced to learn Rabindrasangeet?
Oh yes! Protidin ma er sanghe jhogra hotoh gaan sekha niye! But now Rabindrasangeet is my fave. There are times when I just sit quietly and listen to the songs. During my college days, I used to love rock. Fossils was at its peak then. I grew up listening to Kabir Suman, Anjan Dutt and so on.
Do you catch up with your old friends whenever you come down to Kolkata?
I do meet my school friends when I come here. Right now, Kolkata seems to be brimming with joy as Durga Puja is just weeks away. But sadly, I���m going to miss it this time as I would be out of the country for work. What I will miss the most are pandal-hopping and eating out in the wee hours.
Are you in touch with other Bengali music directors based in Mumbai?
Of course. I have known Pritamda very well since I was nominated for my debut in Jism2 and for my second film, Yaariyan. I was lucky to score the soundtrack along with him, Mithoon and YoYo Honey Singh. We won the best music award for it too. Pritamda is very warm and often invites us over to his house. Jeetda (Gannguli) is like family to me. His wife is my mom���s student and they are the sweetest people on earth. We often hang out in a group for adda where we don���t talk work. I don���t know Shantanu Moitra personally, but whenever we meet he is extremely encouraging and supportive.
How is the competition in Mumbai music industry?
Quite tough, but fair at the same time. What matters there is your song���s merit and nothing else.
Most of your songs, which are also penned by you, are hits. Does that create a pressure on you when you compose your next song?
There are certain expectations when you work with big stars and banners. But I take it more as a compliment than a burden.
Well the list is endless -- my childhood, daily experiences, the people around, my lovers, travelling and imagination.
While promoting Rustom in Kolkata, Akshay Kumar crooned Tere sang yaara, which is composed by you. How does it feel?
Feels great. He told me that after a long time he has a favourite song. Akshay sir has always been very kind to me. This is the third song I made for him after Meherbaani from The Shaukeens and the title track for a TV show hosted by him called Dare 2 Dance.
Who are your favourite male and female singers?
Among male artistes, it���s Chris Cornell, Eddie Vedder, Bruce Springsteen, Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Hemant Mukherjee and Mohammed Rafi to name a few. Among female singers, Lauryn Hill, Adele, Alanis Morissette, Abida Parveen and Shreya Ghoshal are my favourites.
Which music director do you like the most?
My all-time favourite music director is Hemanta Mukherjee. I am also very fond of Vishal Bhardwaj.
One singer you wish to lend voice to your music?
My dream is to have Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan or Jagjit Singh lend their voice to music composed by me some day.
Which is your favourite composition till date?
Dariya, from an upcoming film starring Katrina Kaif and Sidharth Malhotra. The song conveys the simplest and purest emotion and that���s how music should be.
Akshay Kumar, Sidharth Malhotra, Irrfan, Randeep Hooda all have lip-synced on your tracks. Any actor you would want to playback for?
I would like to playback for Ranbir Kapoor. He is one of my favourite actors.
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Holland, others condemn bigotry; Monson's chair vacant in afternoon, but he addresses priesthood session.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Conferencegoers before the afternoon session of the 187th Annual General Conference at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City Saturday, April 1, 2017. Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Conferencegoers before the afternoon session of the 187th Annual General Conference at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City Saturday, April 1, 2017. Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Brook P. Hales, Secretary to the First Presidency, speaks during the afternoon session of the 187th Annual General Conference at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City Saturday, April 1, 2017. Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Members affirm a vote during the afternoon session of the 187th Annual General Conference at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City Saturday, April 1, 2017. Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Members affirm a vote during the afternoon session of the 187th Annual General Conference at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City Saturday, April 1, 2017. Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Members affirm a vote during the afternoon session of the 187th Annual General Conference at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City Saturday, April 1, 2017. Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Kevin Jergensen, Managing Director Church Auditing Department, speaks during the afternoon session of the 187th Annual General Conference at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City Saturday, April 1, 2017. Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency, speaks during the afternoon session of the 187th Annual General Conference at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City Saturday, April 1, 2017. Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency, and President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, arrive during the afternoon session of the 187th Annual General Conference at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City Saturday, April 1, 2017. Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Elder Gary B. Sabin, General Authority Seventy, speaks during the afternoon session of the 187th Annual General Conference at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City Saturday, April 1, 2017. Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Elder Valeri V. Cordón, of the Seventy, speaks during the afternoon session of the 187th Annual General Conference at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City Saturday, April 1, 2017. Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune A couple cuddles during the afternoon session of the 187th Annual General Conference at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City Saturday, April 1, 2017. Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, speaks during the afternoon session of the 187th Annual General Conference at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City Saturday, April 1, 2017. Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune President Thomas S. Monson's empty seat during the afternoon session of the 187th Annual General Conference at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City Saturday, April 1, 2017. Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Elder Neil L. Andersen, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, speaks during the afternoon session of the 187th Annual General Conference at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City Saturday, April 1, 2017.
During a time of jarring political polarity and town hall meetings marred by shouts and boos, several top Mormon officials Saturday strongly condemned hostility and hatred as anathema to Christian discipleship.
"Someday I hope a great global chorus will harmonize across all racial and ethnic lines," apostle Jeffrey R. Holland said, "declaring that guns, slurs and vitriol are not the way to deal with human conflict."
Holland was among more than a dozen speakers who addressed tens of thousands of Mormons in downtown Salt Lake City and millions more around the world, tuned into the LDS Church&apos;s 187th Annual General Conference.
One voice the faithful didn&apos;t hear during the morning and afternoon sessions was that of LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson. The increasingly frail 89-year-old leader presided over the morning gathering after being helped to his seat.
In the afternoon, that chair  between Henry B. Eyring and Dieter F. Uchtdorf, his two counselors in the governing First Presidency  sat noticeably vacant.
A spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Monson, viewed by Mormons as a "prophet, seer and revelator," was "conserving his energy" for the remainder of the weekend&apos;s sessions.
Monson has led the 15.8 million-member church for more than nine years; Mormon presidents serve for life.
Two years ago, the Utah-based religion announced Monson was "feeling the effects of advancing age." Since then, the longtime LDS leader, who also didn&apos;t attend last Saturday&apos;s women&apos;s meeting, has been scaling back his conference sermons.
Other speakers had no trouble preaching with passion about current ills.
"Economic deprivation is a curse that keeps on cursing, year after year and generation after generation. It damages bodies, maims spirits, harms families, and destroys dreams," Holland said, decrying poverty and lamenting that "so many around us suffer from mental and emotional illness or other debilitating health limitations."
The former president of LDS Church-owned Brigham Young University pleaded with members to stay in the faith&apos;s expanding fold.
"There is room for those who speak different languages, celebrate diverse cultures, and live in a host of locations. There is room for the single, the married, for large families and for the childless," he said. "There is room for those who once had questions regarding their faith and room for those who still do. There is room for those with differing sexual attractions."
In short, Holland proclaimed, "there is a place for everyone who loves God."
Fellow apostle Robert D. Hales said as Latter-day Saints follow Christ, "there will be no disparity between the kindness we show our enemies and the kindness we bestow on our friends. We will be as honest when no one is looking at us as when others are watching. We will be as devoted to God in the public square as we are in our private closet."
Like the parable of the good Samaritan, true believers "cross the road to minister to whomever is in need, even if they are not within the circle of our friends," Hales said. "We bless them that curse us. We do good to those who despitefully use us. Is any attribute more godly or Christlike?"
In the morning, apostle Dale G. Renlund cautioned Mormons against railing on opponents.
"We must guard against bigotry that raises its ugly voice toward those who hold different opinions. Bigotry manifests itself, in part, in unwillingness to grant equal freedom of expression," he said. "Everyone, including people of religion, has the right to express his or her opinions in the public square."
Renlund, a physician by training, spent his teen years in Europe in the 1960s, where he felt "picked on and bullied" as an American, he said, "as though I were personally responsible for unpopular foreign policies."
During that time, he also witnessed the "ugliness of prejudice and discrimination suffered by those who are targeted because of their race or ethnicity."
In LDS history, Mormons were persecuted for their faith, Renlund noted. "How ironically sad it would be if we were to treat others as we have been treated. ... Let us fully mirror [Jesus&apos;] love and love one another so openly and completely that no one feels abandoned, alone or hopeless."
Eyring, who spoke first Saturday, addressed Mormons&apos; theological drive to seek out their ancestors  a practice they believe opens the door of the LDS gospel to long dead kin  and the growing fascination with genealogy among millions of others.
"Interest in exploring one&apos;s family history has grown exponentially. At ever-increasing rates, people seem drawn to their ancestry with more than just casual curiosity," he said. "Genealogical libraries, associations and technologies have emerged around the world to support this interest."
He said the "hearts of the children  you and me  have turned to our fathers, our ancestors. The affection you feel for your ancestors is ... deeply seated in your sense of who you are. But it has to do with more than just inherited DNA."
The morning&apos;s concluding speaker was Russell M. Nelson, senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and next in the line for the church presidency.
Nelson touted the power of faith to change lives.
"True disciples of Jesus Christ are willing to stand out, speak up, and be different from people of the world," the 92-year-old leader said. Faith "propels us to do things we otherwise would not do. Faith that motivates us to action gives us more access to his power."
When believers "reach up for the Lord&apos;s power ... with the same intensity that a drowning person has when grasping and gasping for air," Nelson promised, "power from Jesus Christ will be yours. When the savior knows you truly want to reach up to him  when he can feel that the greatest desire of your heart is to draw his power into your life  you will be led by the Holy Ghost to know exactly what you need to do."
In the afternoon, apostle Neil L. Andersen emphasized the importance of "overcoming the world," rising above earthly concerns and focusing on God.
"Overcoming the world is not a global invasion, but a private, personal battle, requiring hand-to-hand combat with our own internal foes," Andersen said. "The world, on the other hand, is more interested in indulging the natural man than in subduing him."
One of those indulgences is social media. "A disciple of Christ is not alarmed if a post about her faith does not receive 1,000 likes or even a few friendly emojis," Andersen said. "Overcoming the world is less concerned with our online connections and more concerned with our heavenly connection to God."
Fellow apostle M. Russell Ballard advised the faithful to set goals for their lives and make plans to achieve them, "within the framework of our Heavenly Father&apos;s eternal plan."
The most important aims, he said, are "to return to [God&apos;s] presence and to receive the eternal blessings that come from making and keeping covenants."
Ballard warned about "loud voices" used by Satan  including the mass media, the internet and social media  "that seek to drown out the small and still voice of the Holy Spirit that can show us &apos;all things&apos; we should do to return and receive."
"We must keep the doctrine and gospel of Jesus Christ at the center of our goals and plans," Ballard said. "Without him, no eternal goal is possible, and our plans to achieve our eternal goals will surely fail."
No women spoke Saturday, but three new female leaders were named to lead the women&apos;s Relief Society.
Editor David Noyce and reporter Sean P. Means contributed to this story.
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A plan to build fifty giant wind turbines in the province of Drenthe may interfere with the operation of a radio telescope and do ‘disastrous’ damage to scientific research, according to the Dutch Institute for Radio Astronomy (Astron).
Astronomers claim that the placement of the 200 metre high windmills will interfere with the low-frequency array (Lofar) which uses thousands of low-frequency antennae to survey the universe. Because of their height, the windmills reflect other radio and television signals towards the Lofar station.
Minister for economic affairs Henk Kamp has a year to decide whether to continue with the project. The plan has already been criticized by local residents and municipalities.
The Dutch telecom agency is currently looking into whether windmills interfere with radio telescope operation in Drenthe.
Minister Kamp gave the project the go-ahead based on a study by a British company, which found that the operation of the telescope would not suffer if windmills were placed nearby. However, Astron argues that the British researchers didn’t have sufficient knowledge to make that claim.
Astronomers at the Lofar site would prefer if the windmills were at least 15km away from the telescope. The current plan would see seven of the fifty turbines placed within a 15km radius of the Lofar site.
‘It might not sound like too much of a difference, but going from a few kilometres to fifteen really makes a big difference when it comes to the strength of the reflected signals,’ said Garrett.
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This full stratified home has a 2 level main home and fully contained suite on the walkout lower level! Great investment or revenue opportunity; or choose your unit and sell the other! Excellent quiet location on the Knoll at Silver Star Mountain Resort with the ski-way out your back door. Beautiful Monashee Mountain views! Well layed-out floor plan with a common entry and shared double garage. Both units enjoy in-floor hot water heat, private hot tubs with shower rooms, private laundry and a full ensuite with every bedroom! The main house features a large private entry/ski storage with access to the hot tub, sauna and shower room. Great room concept living area with a grand river rock gas fireplace, 2 story windows and soaring ceilings in the living room to the upper level. The kitchen has stainless appliances and casual eating bar while the dining area will accommodate your large gatherings. 3 Bedrooms and 3 baths on the upper level including the master which has mountain views and ensuite featuring a soaker tub and separate shower. Lockable owner storage off the laundry room. The lower suite presents 2 bedrooms, 2 baths and generous open concept living with gas fireplace in the living room, a large island in the kitchen with eating bar and level walkout to the hot tub.
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Upbeat on plans: Girija Pande of TCS says the company’s revenues from its Chinese operations will grow by around 45% in the next two years.
Hyderabad: With business from the US and Europe expected to decrease due to the ongoing financial turmoil, Indian information technology services (IT) firms are increasing their focus on the Asia Pacific region, particularly China, in an effort to tap the latter’s IT market and use it as a strategic base to enter the at least $100 billion (Rs4.76 trillion)-a-year Japanese IT market.
Business from the US and Europe together account for between 80% and 95% of revenues of the top five Indian IT services firms, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd or TCS, Infosys Technologies Ltd, Wipro Ltd, Satyam Computer Services Ltd and HCL Technologies Ltd.
Market research firm IDC estimates the Chinese IT services market to reach at least $55 billion by 2010.
TCS entered China in 2002 with a software development and delivery center. While its initial objective was to serve its global clients having Chinese operations, the company has now started addressing the regional and local market. Currently, it has 1,300 employees working in China. In its latest annual report, TCS said its China operations had managed to break even.
According to Girija Pande, executive vice-president and head of Asia Pacific division at TCS, the Chinese IT market is growing by at least 20% annually and revenue from the company’s Chinese operations will grow by around 45% in the next two years.
“In the short term, we will be expanding our presence and increasing the headcount to at least 5,000 by 2011," said Pande.
Similarly, Infosys has a 1,000-strong workforce in China and said it is in expansion mode. “We have expanded our operations in two cities Shanghai and Hangzhou," a company spokesperson said in an email response. The company’s Chinese subsidiaries, however, were still loss-making as on 30 September, according to the company’s second quarter results.
Satyam admitted it is yet to make significant headway with its China operations but said it is in expansion mode with an eye on the long-term.
The company currently employs around 1,000 people in its two subsidiaries in China and plans to scale up headcount to nearly 2,000 by 2010. It is also investing in a training centre in China, which will have a capacity of at least 2,500 by 2010.
“It is still a mystery why Indian companies have not been able to get any significant share of outsourced work from China and Japan," said Virender Aggarwal, head of rest of the world operations for Satyam.
Analysts acknowledge that China has been a rather difficult market for a variety of reasons.
“So far, the Chinese domestic market has been one that is difficult to engage, primarily because of state and public sector dominance," said Milan Sheth, partner and head of IT outsourcing advisory at audit and consulting firm Ernst and Young. “It is critical to have a well connected and established Chinese local partner who can help penetrate that market," he said.
TCS said it views China as a better base to address the Japanese market. “A significant share of outsourced work from the Japanese market is cornered by Chinese companies, as they have a relative cultural and linguistic advantage over their Indian counterparts. We see being present in China as the first step in building the right relationships," said Pande.
Both TCS and Satyam are betting on local talent to succeed in their Chinese operations and help the company better address the local market as well as help build bridges with Japanese companies. At least 90% of TCS’ workforce in China comprises local hires.
Nasscom’s Som Mittal said that the size of the Japanese IT market and the potential for outsourcing presents a huge opportunity for Indian IT firms, but, he added that the market has been relatively insulated due to language and cultural barriers. “However, we see an increasing desire among Japanese companies for sourcing competitively priced IT services from foreign companies. More importantly, the factors limiting market penetration by Indian companies are being recognized and addressed by the Japanese themselves."
Nasscom has set up a Japan desk to explore ways for Indian IT companies to adapt themselves to compete more effectively in the Japanese market.
Both China and Japan are long-term plays, said experts.
“It is very important for Indian IT companies to understand that investments in the Chinese market should be done with a long term view. Given the nature of that market, it is unrealistic to expect quick turnarounds," Sheth said.
Wipro and HCL did not respond to queries on their China and Japan strategy.
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JOHN REED, recognized as one of the best ''patter'' men performing in Gilbert and Sullivan operas, has been singing such quintessentially comedic roles as the Lord Chancellor in ''Iolanthe'' and Ko-Ko in ''The Mikado'' for more than 30 years. On Saturday, he and the other members of the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players will perform ''Iolanthe,'' a satire set in a fairyland, at the Palace Theater in Stamford.
As a ''patter'' man, Mr. Reed must speak lines that are exercises in rapid-fire phonetics.
''It's just fast and furious,'' said Mr. Reed, a native of northern England who now splits his career between Britain and the United States.
One of the most famous patter songs in the Gilbert and Sullivan repertory is ''The Nightmare Song'' from ''Iolanthe,'' which he performs.
''It goes on forever,'' Mr. Reed said.
''Iolanthe'' will treat lovers of breathless buffoonery to not one but three such exercises in elocution, all performed by Mr. Reed.
Mr. Reed has to have impeccable diction to get the lyrics across to the audience. And every single note has to be right. But in 1951, when he joined the famous D'Oyly Carte Company in London, which was founded in 1878 by Richard D'Oyly Carte, the producer of the first operas by William S. Gilbert and Arthur S. Sullivan, things were different.
But by 1959, Mr. Reed had taken over all the company's comedic roles. There were eight performances every week, then seven or eight tours in England and abroad. ''I wonder how we did it,'' he said. His efforts were deemed worthy by Queen Elizabeth II, who bestowed him with the Order of the British Empire in 1976.
Mr. Reed left the D'Oyly Carte two years before its demise in 1981.
Three years ago, Mr. Reed performed in the Washington Opera production of ''Trial by Jury'' at the Kennedy Center. That is where he met Mr. Bergeret, and they have performed together several times since.
Now Mr. Reed spends half his time performing and the other half directing. For the past several summers he has directed Gilbert and Sullivan shows for the Colorado Music Theater Festival in Boulder.
The curtain goes up at 8 P.M. Call the Palace Theater box office at 359-0009 for tickets and information.
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Health authorities have issued another measles warning after a person travelled on public transport and visited two universities and a grocery shop while infected.
The alert is the fourth of its kind in recent weeks.
The most recent infected person visited a number of public spaces between Sunday January 27 and Wednesday January 30.
30 January: on train from Aubin Grove to Perth between 10:25 - 11:15am, and from Canning Bridge to Mandurah between 2:20-3:15pm. On bus 100 between Canning Bridge and Cannington between 10:50-11:40am, and bus 101 from Curtin University to Canning Bridge between 2-2:50pm.
People who have been inadvertently exposed should remain vigilant for the onset of measles symptoms for the next three weeks.
Senior medical advisor in communicable diseases, Professor Paul Effler said the measles virus survives in the air or on objects and surfaces for less than two hours and is inactivated rapidly in the presence of sunlight or heat.
“It is generally considered safe for non-immune individuals to enter a room 30 minutes after a measles case has left the area," he said.
According the health department figures, the number of incidents of people in WA presenting with measles has increased from a rate of 0.3 per 100,000 people in 2015 to a rate of 1.4 per 100,000 people in 2018.
In 2018, 38 cases were recorded.
In recent weeks, people infected with measles have visited Perth Zoo, IKEA, Albany, Mandurah and used public transport and air travel.
Symptoms typically include fever, cough, runny nose and sore eyes, followed by a red blotchy rash three or four days later which usually starts on the face.
“Anyone who has had a potential exposure to measles, and who develops a fever with these other symptoms should see a doctor. It is important to call ahead of travelling to a clinic or Emergency Department so that they can be isolated from infecting other patients and staff when they arrive,” Professor Effler said.
"Complications following measles can be serious and include ear infections and pneumonia in about 10 per cent of cases.
"Around 30 per cent of cases require a hospital admission and about one person in every 1,000 will develop encephalitis, inflammation of the brain."
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Perhaps The View is looking for yet another new co-host…?
The syndicated daytime talker The Meredith Vieira Show will come to an end early next year after two low-rated seasons, according to a report by Page Six.
Despite efforts to bolster the program’s viewership by tinkering with its format, reps for celebrity guests have been informed that the show will be cancelled in March, a source tells the site.
Season 2 of the former View co-host’s solo effort opened this past September to a 0.8 household rating, down 50 percent from its very first installment.
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The Moto Z2 Play and Z2 Force give you maximum customization at a minimal price.
WiredYou won't find mods as useful or well-designed on other phones. Motorola's gestures are handy. Fantastic battery life, especially on the Moto Z2 Play. Storage is expandable via MicroSD.
TiredWhere's the waterproofing? The Z2 Force has no headphone jack. The best Moto Mods are pricey, as are these phones. The cameras are acceptable, but still need work.
A lot of Android phones claim to be different, but Motorola’s Z series backs up that claim. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the Moto Z phones have something that other phones just don’t. The new Moto Z2 Force and Moto Z2 Play have magnetic Mods that snap onto the back of them, adding new features. What you think about those Mods will determine whether either of the two Moto Z2 phones are right for you.
Whatever you’re doing, Moto wants to have a Mod for that. Snap on a battery pack if you’re going off grid, or maybe a 360-degree camera so you can capture everything on that nature hike. Pop on a speaker and you can pump up the jams, or attach Motorola’s brand new Polaroid printer Mod that lets you instantly print out any photo you take. You can even buy a Mod that turns your phone into an Amazon Echo speaker, complete with a glowing blue ring.
There are more than a dozen of these Mods, and they all magnetically cling to the back of the rather svelte Z2, which feels almost too thin and flat without one. Moto Mods are the defining reason to buy a Moto Z2 Play and its more expensive sibling, the Z2 Force. But they don’t come cheap. Many of these doodads cost upward of a hundred bucks.
My Moto Z2s have worn a lot of Mods in the last few weeks. I found most of them fun, but I didn’t want to keep any of them snapped on forever. Many of them make the phone a little too fat. My favorite was a battery pack, which I kept in my back and snapped on whenever I had a long day ahead of me. Oddly, I rarely needed it. Both the Z2 Force and Play get excellent battery life without augmentation. I was able to use the Z2 Play for two days straight after forgetting to charge it, though it was gasping for a charge by the second evening. That kind of battery life is hard to come by these days.
Both Moto Z2 phones are nearly identical from the outside. They have large glass 5.5-inch screens above a nice fingerprint sensor. The sides and back are smooth, brushed aluminum with a large circular bump for the rear camera. Ridges on the power button make it easy to distinguish from the volume keys, all of which sit on the right side of the phone. Charging via the USB C slot on the bottom is also pretty standard.
Initially, I was bothered by how flat the back of the phone feels. It doesn’t contour to your palm like some phones. After a few days, I got used to it and now appreciate how thin these phones feel, though I still recommend a bumper case, like this one from Lenovo.
Setting aside the lack of waterproofing on either phone, the only problem with the design is that it’s large for one-handed use. This is an extra-large phone, and if that bothers you, consider the smaller and cheaper Moto X4.
Both phones also run Motorola’s slight twist on Android 7 Nougat (the new Android 8 Oreo is promised, but not out yet). Most of what’s here is identical to other Android phones, but there are a few Moto Action gestures that I like to use. You can twist the phone to open the camera and swipe it down and up like you’re swinging an ax to turn on and off the flashlight. Even better are the home button gestures, which let you dump the onscreen back, home, and multitasking buttons in favor of swiping left, right, and pressing on the home button. It takes a good day to get used to it, but swiping is very intuitive, and a great reason to stick with a phone with a home button fingerprint sensor, like this one.
The 12-megapixel rear cameras perform similarly, as well. I snapped some lovely night photos on a trip to New York City, and the camera did a decent job balancing dark areas and bright Christmas light displays at Saks Fifth Avenue and Rockefeller Center. The Moto Z2 Play has been my go-to camera for three weeks now. Despite what feels like a second of lag when pressing the shutter button, it hasn’t hampered my ability to take timely shots. The 5-megapixel front camera on each is decent, but has had some trouble in low-light situations. The rear camera’s 4K (30fps) video support is also nice. If you’re picky about your photos though, neither of these can match the shooters on the new iPhone X or Pixel 2.
Both Z2 models will work on most wireless carriers, have 64GB storage (with MicroSD slots), and 4GB of RAM. Still, there are a few vital differences between these phones that I’m going to sum up quickly.
The Z2 Force is the fancier $720 version. It has an extra rear camera (that, to be honest, does not add a whole lot to the experience), a cutting-edge Snapdragon 835 processor (this does speed the phone up substantially if you use intense apps or games), and a higher-resolution Quad HD screen that will supposedly withstand falls better. It also comes with a "Shattershield" screen cover stuck on it that’s sharp around the edges. What you lose is a headphone jack and a few hours of battery life. It’s also imperceptibly thicker.
The Moto Z2 Play has a weaker Snapdragon 626 processor, larger battery, FM radio, and standard HD screen. I was legitimately shocked when I found out both screens had a different resolution, which shows just how adequate a 1080p screen still is. Both Super AMOLED displays look excellent.
I still like having a headphone jack and the slightly slower performance of the Moto Z2 Play is an easy tradeoff for the savings. The $500 64GB Unlocked version of the Moto Z2 Play is my favorite model (linked in the Buy buttons on this review), though there is a Verizon-only edition for $408.
There are a few truly high-end phones you can buy for $500 or less, like the OnePlus 5T or Essential Phone, but neither of them have Moto Mods. That’s the reason to choose a Moto Z phone.
The 64GB Unlocked Moto Z2 Play is a fantastic phone, if Moto Mods interest you. If they don’t, I can’t help but direct you to the other Moto in the room, the Moto X4.
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Authorities are asking for the public's help in identifying and locating the man pictured in this photo.
Police are investigating an alleged robbery at a South Lake Tahoe credit union Thursday evening.
The incident occurred at the Sierra Central Credit Union, 3668 Lake Tahoe Blvd., at 5:30 p.m., according to the South Lake Tahoe Police Department.
A security camera captured a white male adult wearing a fake beard and black pinstripe suit holding what appears to be a piece of paper in front of a teller.
Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to call the South Lake Tahoe Police Department at 530-542-6100.
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If you tuned out the fourth quarter of the biggest blowout win by the Giants in four years, then you might have missed the entire body of work for rookie Kyle Lauletta.
The Giants demoted and deactivated their rookie quarterback to No. 3 on the depth chart and activated veteran Alex Tanney against his former team Sunday as the Titans visited rainy MetLife Stadium.
Eli Manning and Tanney had been the Giants' top two quarterbacks for the first 11 games before the Giants flip-flopped Lauletta and Tanney two games ago. Lauletta did not play against the Bears but made his NFL debut with a 40-0 fourth-quarter lead against the Redskins.
Lauletta went 0-for-5 with an interception as the Giants won 40-16.
Rookie quarterback Kyle Lauletta debuted for Giants in the 40-16 blowout win against the Washington Redskins on Sunday, December 9, 2018 (12/9/18) at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. His teammates and Richmond coaches say there is much more coming than the box score showed.
The Giants did not hide their disappointment with Lauletta after the game.
"I don't think we had enough there to evaluate how he did," coach Pat Shurmur said after the game. "I would've liked a couple more completions and to not throw that interception, certainly.
"We felt like, 'OK, let's take a look at him and see.' I fielded enough questions regarding Kyle Lauletta that we were interested in seeing him. Hopefully, you got a chance to see what you were looking for."
If the true reason the Giants were interested in seeing him was because of the amount of media questions about him in the weeks when the team started 1-7, that is troubling.
After all, they used a fourth-round pick on Lauletta when an offensive tackle, pass-rusher or cornerback could've helped immediately.
If the Giants feel Lauletta is far off being able to play in a game, that is more of a question of the pick than of the people asking if he should be inserted into a game during a lost season, especially considering Giants owner John Mara saying it was a mistake not to play a rookie quarterback (Davis Webb) last season.
Shurmur said Wednesday that Lauletta was the No. 2 quarterback but subject to change. He also declined to commit to a backup quarterback when asked Friday.
Asked if he saw anything encouraging from Lauletta beyond the box score, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Shula succinctly said, "Yeah, he got experience."
The Giants still are alive in the NFC playoff race and can't be eliminated this weekend if they beat the Titans. A loss spells elimination.
Will the Giants re-open the door for Lauletta under those circumstances? Shurmur admitted more evaluation is needed, but Lauletta is going the wrong way on the depth chart, rather than nipping at Manning's heels to be the starter in 2019.
Manning has stepped up his play of late, with the Giants offense averaging more than 28 points per game during a 4-1 stretch over the last five games.
The purpose of the switch back to Tanney is unclear, though Shurmur does like having a veteran quarterback as a backup on gamedays.
Once he made the move to Lauletta, however, he is risking shaken confidence for a rookie handling a setback with seemingly little to gain because the Giants will not bench Manning and he is as injury-proof as any NFL quarterback ever.
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We’ve known about Disjointed, Netflix’s upcoming stoner comedy starring Katy Bates and co-created by Chuck Lorre (Mom, The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men), for nearly a year now, but it wasn’t until Thursday that we were given a first look. In the 19-second teaser cheekily released on 4/20, we see Kathy Bates emerge from a smoke-filled weed dispensary while puffing on a joint. She says nothing, because what else is there to say? This is a show about Kathy Bates working in a dispensary, and that’s more than enough to get people interested.
[Disjointed] follows Ruth (Bates), a lifelong advocate for legalization, as she finally lives her dream as the owner of an Los Angeles cannabis dispensary. Joining her at Ruth’s Alternative Caring are three charismatic “budtenders” (Dougie Baldwin, Elizabeth Ho and Elizabeth Alderfer), her entrepreneurial twentysomething son (Aaron Moten) and a very troubled security guard who served in Afghanistan (Tone Bell).
All 20 episodes of Disjointed will be released on Netflix August 25.
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The replies were sought after a PIL was filed by NGO Removal of Corruption and Welfare Society.
Even though Parliament has extended protection to unauthorised colonies of Delhi by amending the National Capital of Delhi (special provision) Act, the South municipal corporation on Wednesday told the High Court that “illegal” properties will not be allowed to be sold or rented.
The counsel for South corporation told the High Court that the properties that had already been booked as “unauthorised” before the Act was passed, will be held in status quo. “Even though no sealing or demolition can be done, if we have booked the property, lists are sent to the sub-registrar in the Revenue department to make sure that the properties are blocked from sale,” advocate Ajay Arora said.
The submission was made after the court of Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed and Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva asked the South corporation and the Delhi government whether there were any rules or guidelines to ensure that unauthorised buildings are not sold off to “unsuspecting” buyers.
The replies were sought after a PIL was filed by NGO Removal of Corruption and Welfare Society to protect the “public at large” from being “deceived into buying unauthorised development”. During the brief hearing, counsel for the NGO Ambareesh Singh Bhadauria said that there should be “preventive action” by the government to protect the public from buying or renting “illegal” premises.
Citing the example of the Coca Cola building in Mumbai, the PIL alleges that buyers are usually unaware of the legal status of the properties and may be put under the impression that the property is “authorised”. “By the time the buyer realises that the property is an unauthorised development and that the developer has cheated and defrauded, it is too late,” the plea states.
Arora said under the present rules, any unauthorised construction is “booked” and the information is sent to the sub-registrar in the Delhi government’s Revenue department, so that the sale or rent deeds of the property cannot be registered.
The High Court asked the government and the South corporation to give a status report on the number of properties that have been booked and the details of the guidelines to prohibit the “transfer of properties that are unauthorisedly constructed or booked”.
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The Solar Decathlon is a wonderful idea, where teams from all over the world compete to design the most energy-efficient buildings which are, of course, solar powered. Most have tended to be the size of mobile homes, so that they can be built at the universities and shipped to the decathlon, and then shipped home. Most entries act like mobile homes, being detached buildings that will stand alone.
The DPD is a uniquely syncretic product of our study of two proven traditional housing typologies born of different cultures. The row house typology, typical of Montreal’s urban fabric, accommodates single-family scenarios in a long and narrow low-rise form. The Siheyuan courtyard house demonstrates an environmentally and culturally specific approach to city dwelling of great historic, social, and functional value.
The DPD is also designed to the Passive House standard, which can be a challenge in a city like Montreal; there is a reason that an unofficial anthem for Quebec is Gilles Vigneault’s “Mon pays, ce n'est pas un pays, c'est l'hiver” (My country is not a country, it's winter). So it has a lot of insulation, an energy recovery ventilation system, and is designed for serious air-tightness. I looked in vain to see who the Passive House consultants were but see that they are “using passive design and construction principles” to design “a net-zero energy capable dwelling”. A press release says that it is a “Passive House-inspired design”.
Another feature of the house is that it is prefabricated.
A key innovation of the DPD is the utilization of off-site (factory) prefabrication methods of construction. It is designed for both modular & panelized options. Prefabrication addresses issues of affordability, reduction of waste, health and safety of workers, greater export capacity, and quality control to achieve high-performance building standards. Quebec’s prefabrication industry is one of the most robust in North America and its expansion into the high-performance building industry is a key to its development.
But they are not doing Passive House quality prefabs in Quebec yet, so the team turned to Ecocor in Maine, which builds houses from Passive House quality panels. Chris Corson, founder and President of Ecocor tells TreeHugger that there was nobody in the Province who could deliver this and having seen Ecocor’s work at the North American Passive House Network conference last year I can believe it, these are closer to cabinetry than wall panels. They had to be modified so that they could be easily taken apart in Montreal and reassembled in China, and the insulation was changed from Corson’s preferred, cellulose, to what everyone in Canada loves (it’s made there), Roxul rock wool.
It has all the smart home stuff, including “Sensor networks and Internet of Things technologies installed throughout the home for performance and durability monitoring, consumption, and automation.” But with that much insulation, and being a townhouse with neighbours on either side, it is also what I like to call a dumb home- it is resilient in the face of power outages, and could keep people warm and safe for weeks.
TeamMTL’s goal is to employ socially, culturally and technologically advanced architecture that embodies energy efficiency, comfort, wellbeing, affordability, environmental sustainability and ecological awareness. Sustainable building starts with quality construction and design, and Ecocor’s 21st Century, prefab approach to building the most energy efficient homes on the market today helped us reach our objectives.
It really does press all the buttons; small, urban design built with the most sophisticated prefab technologies to the highest standards of energy efficiency and comfort. Most solar decathlon designs are one-offs but I hope this one gets multiple printings.
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For more than a decade, Daveyton's Mayor, Tom Boya, was Pretoria's evidence of the legitimacy of the municipal councils running its segregated black townships.
As president of the United Municipalities of South Africa, an organization of black municipal officials, Mr. Boya put aside his mayoral duties and traveled as far afield as the United States and Brazil to discourse on the concerns of local government.
But he recently stunned a crowd of 80,000 residents of Daveyton by announcing that he was quitting his posts. He said the system with which he had become identified had no future. Whether motivated by conscience or survival, his unexpected resignation elicited wild cheers and seemed to signal the beginning of the end for black township governments.
Mr. Boya, who is 39 years old, said the handwriting appeared on the wall after the African National Congress was made legal and Nelson Mandela released in February. "I realized there was no room any more for a person to serve in a structure created by the Government," he said.
His decision to quit, he said, was prompted by his inability to stop the state-owned power company from switching off Daveyton's electricity for four days recently because of unpaid bills. He said it illustrated the frustrations he had faced in Daveyton since joining its town council in 1978.
"The weakness of the black local authorities was simply lack of funds, lack of local sources of revenue," Mr. Boya said. But, he quickly added, "the structures were illegitimate" because the white minority Government had imposed them on blacks.
Their resources are not shared with the satellite black townships, which began as stark dormitories for blacks working at menial jobs in white areas and which suffer chronic poverty and unemployment.
Anti-apartheid civic associations have organized boycotts of rent and utility payments to protest inferior living conditions, which deprive municipal governments of the modest revenue upon which they depend. The associations have accused municipal officials like Mr. Boya of being puppets of apartheid.
Satisfied that the crisis had been resolved, Mr. Boya flew to Rio de Janeiro for a conference. In his absence, the deal collapsed when the Transvaal Provincial Administration insisted that most of the money paid go to pay municipal wages and only a little to the utility company. He returned home to find the electricity turned off and his constituents irate.
"I felt so lonely," Mr. Boya said. "I felt rejected. I felt betrayed."
The electricity was turned back on after residents took the utility company to court.
Mr. Boya's foreboding about the future of black local government was heightened when he went to a United Municipalities conference recently and found only 8 of its 60 municipal councils represented.
Mr. Boya said he went to the other rally and decided to quit. "You could have heard a pin when I went over to the podium," he said. "I then offered my resignation."
James Ngubo, chairman of the Daveyton Interim Committee said that "Mr. Boya coming out really symbolizes that the system is bankrupt." He said the white minority Government had set up Mr. Boya as a "good black man" to make black local authorities palatable. His group had pressed Mr. Boya to resign, Mr. Ngubo said, and the power cuts "must have been the last straw for him."
Four other Daveyton councillors have followed Mr. Boya's example.
Mr. Boya predicted the inevitable collapse of all township government structures. "I think it will be very healthy when it happens," he said. "From those ruins, we can build."
He said municipalites must encompass white and black communities together and pool their revenue. And municipalities, he said, should be defined by region instead of race.
"The Government should abolish black local authorities and white local authorities and call for an election of local authorities under one umbrella," he said.
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ZTE, Huawei: Can China ever become a true innovation powerhouse? A Future Tense event.
Will China’s Scientists and Technologists Ever Be Truly Innovative?
From left: Adam Segal, Denis Simon, Yifei Sun, and Steve LeVine.
Just this week, a House of Representatives committee issued a report warning the United States against doing business with two major Chinese tech firms, ZTE and Huawei. The companies were closely tied to the Chinese government, the report said, and could be stealing information from the U.S. government and American businesses.
In opening remarks, Steve LeVine, Washington correspondent for Quartz magazine and a Bernard L. Schwartz fellow, established the questions for the day: Can China ever become an “innovation juggernaut,” just as it is a world leader in manufacturing? Does “innovation” have to mean breakthroughs, or is incremental innovation—small tweaks on Western-made technology to make it cheaper and sometimes better—enough? And should the rest of the world be worried?
-Creativity isn’t encouraged: Segal argued that while we focus on the “hardware”—the more tangible results of innovation, like patents filed—China needs to focus on the “software” problems of culture. In China, researchers aren’t urged to think creatively, nor do they feel free to fail. “No risk, no reward” may be a cliché, but it is also a truism.
-Quantity is valued over quality: According to Huang, the number of journal articles published by Chinese researchers has exploded in recent years. But outside of the life sciences and biology, the level of impact from this research has remained fairly flat—indicating that the research is not high-quality. In part, this may be because researchers are paid per publication, so repetitive research and short-term work is incentivized.
-Intellectual property rights are not respected: Since patents and copyrights are frequently violated, there is less incentive to create.
China’s leadership understands all of these things, said Segal. In fact, they have probably visited Silicon Valley “more than anyone,” he joked. Accordingly, China’s 2006 mid- to long-term plan for science and technology development emphasized the need for better intellectual property protection, for startup culture. But politically, introducing these elements will be very difficult—especially, as Simon noted, because the politicians have other significant worries on their minds, like domestic protests. Still, they understand that the “transition to a knowledge economy” is critical, and accordingly they want to be the No. 1 or No. 2 country in the world for innovation by 2049—China’s centennial. That’s one reason why they are expanding investment into R&D, going from 1 percent of GDP for a long time to 2 percent of GDP in 2011. But China isn’t doing this only for financial reasons, according to Segal—the country also wants not to have to depend on the West for its technological and scientific needs.
There are some positive signs here for China. For instance, Simon said that more and more research funding is coming in at the local level, not from the national government—a “systemic change,” he termed it. And while many Western companies opened their research labs in China initially because the government effectively made it a condition for selling goods in the country, said Sun, they are increasingly producing interesting work. No breakthroughs yet, he acknowledged, but they may come soon. China’s most successful fields—nanotechnology, life sciences, biology—are those that have been open to international collaboration.
Watch the entire event on the New America Foundation website.
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"Animal Rights & Pro Life"
Hi everyone- I am temporarily without a p.c. the one I am borrowing has no Java script so I am not able to send any messages or get many of the ones you send me. PLEASE go to cbs Houston's blog- http://houston.cbslocal.com and read about the hundreds of abandoned donkeys. i FEAR THE WORST. If you are able to make a petition/write articles/ask for donations, anything you can to help them I ask that you do so.Thank you so much. Your friend, Lesley.
Wild Fact About Me I find myself smiling when looking at things like pictures of beautiful kittens on the" I can has Cheezeburger ? site, and the picture of the two little kitties to the right, and I wonder "Does anything else ever make me Smile?" and then I wonder "Why Not?"
My Philosophy I wish people were as humane as animals are.
If I were Mayor, I'd make the world a better place by I don't want to be President-but I would like to be rich so I could start a sanctuary for throwaways. Retired circus elephants, bears, cats of all sizes, dogs , Horses & all orphaned wildlife, .......and the elderly.
What/who changed my life and why EWTN - and Mother Angelica, Father John Corapi, Fr. Benedict Groechel, Fr.Wm.Casey, because they opened my eyes to the truth of the Catholic Church.
Quotation They told us we were "civilized" then They took our picture and put it in the paper, under it they wrote Civilized Indians continue to endeavor to persevere. We thought about it for while, and after we had thought long enough, we declared war on the blue coats. (Chief Dan George in The Outlaw Josie Wales).
Happy Birthday Lesley! Enjoy your birthday!
Enjoy your special day Lesley!
lesley t. (85) Thank you all so much for your Christmas and Holiday Greetings and Well Wishes. I hope that all of my Care 2 friends will have a most joyous season whether it is a much needed holiday or just a get together at home with family and friends and furkids. Looking forward to working together with you all in the coming year to make the world a better place for us all to live. God Bless you all. Lesley a.k.a. lgcatwoman19. Hugs!
Suzan F. (137) Hi, Lesley...TY for the FR. Glad to be your newest friend.
Yeah, the wreck was bad. I have Titanium in my ankle, thigh, & wrist now. Hope your friend is doing OK. ~ ~ Glad to be here with you, & you have a good one...Suzan.
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The Rolling Stones' US tour is likely to take place in July, following news that Mick Jagger had to postpone 17 dates due to ill health.
The band are working with promoters to reschedule the shows, amid reports that Jagger will have heart surgery later this week.
"I really hate letting you down like this," tweeted the star after the tour was postponed at the weekend.
"I will be working very hard to be back on stage as soon as I can."
US gossip website Drudge Report was the first to report that Jagger would need surgery to replace a heart valve. The story was subsequently confirmed by US music magazine Rolling Stone.
The 75-year-old is expected to make a full recovery and return to touring this summer.
"We're beginning to look at the rescheduling options and we're going to try and do this as quickly as we can," said John Meglen, of the Stones' promoters Concerts West.
"Everyone's health and happiness comes first," he told Billboard, adding that new dates could be announced "in the next couple of weeks."
The US leg of the band's No Filter tour was expected to kick off in Miami's Hard Rock Stadium on 20 April; wrapping up two months later in Ontario, Canada.
Fellow Stone Keith Richards tweeted following the postponement, "A big disappointment for everyone but things need to be taken care of and we will see you soon. Mick, we are always there for you!"
Band-mate Ronnie Wood added, "We'll miss you over the next few weeks, but we're looking forward to seeing you all again very soon. Here's to Mick - thanks for your supportive messages. It means so much to us."
Although the main shows will all be rescheduled, the band's headline performance at the New Orleans Jazz Festival has been cancelled, with organisers currently seeking a replacement.
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This past month in Google webmaster and SEO news was pretty busy. We had a Halloween search algorithm update that still seems to be creeping around. We also had another few updates including Google saying they are going to make tweaks to the news algorithm. Google+ is shutting down, Google launched their Home Hub and discover feed and so much more.
A month ago we reported Google was testing showing a stats box in the search results from your Google Search Console data. It included showing clicks, impression and average position with some tips. It seems like as of this morning, it is now rolling out to everyone - if they are logged into their Google account and have verified profiles that match queries for the site.
Google's John Mueller said there is no ranking benefit in using different Google Search Console and Google Analytics accounts for each individual web site you manage. The topic came up before, as long as you are not spamming Google - there also is no down side to using the same accounts across multiple web sites.
Last week we reported Google was dropped addresses for some local service businesses. Well, Google posted over the weekend in the Google My Business help forums that they went ahead and separated out the addresses and service areas for these local service businesses.
A couple months ago we reported Google was testing future open dates within Google Maps listings and Google My Business. Well, this weekend, Google officially announced it in the Google My Business Help forums. Allyson Wright, Community Manager, Google My Business, said "We're excited to announce that Google My Business now supports businesses that haven't yet opened to the public!"
As you know, Google renamed the Google Top Contributors to Google Product Experts and this year they held their Product Experts Submit on November 1st. Here are some photos from the day.
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VIDEO Kris Jenner Dumps Longtime Boyfriend Corey Gamble!
Kris Jenner Dumps Longtime Boyfriend Corey Gamble!
The couple has not been since together since Valentine’s Day.
Starmagazine.com has learned that Kris Jenner has called it quits with longtime boyfriend Corey Gamble! The couple have not been seen together since Valentines day and an insider said momager asked for a break with him not long after.
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China hacked Google, according to secret US government documents leaked by whistleblower website WikiLeaks.
China hacked Google, according to secret US government documents leaked by whistleblower website WikiLeaks. The US Embassy in China believes the People's Republic of China orchestrated a "coordinated campaign of computer sabotage carried out by government operatives, private security experts and internet outlaws recruited by the Chinese government", according to the New York Times.
The US faces a massive diplomatic crisis over Wikileaks' release of 251,287 classified cables sent from American embassies. The cable from the US embassy in Beijing cites a local source claiming government involvement in the hacking of Google's servers to identify the Gmail accounts of human rights activists in China in January this year.
The attack, combined with government censorship of Google and the web in general, led to Google pulling out of China in March.
Dating from 1966 to the end of February 2010, the cables contain reports on various countries' political situations, from fears of security around Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia urging the US to strike against Iran. Russia is described as a "virtual mafia state", with close ties between Russian and Italian prime ministers Vladimir Putin and Silvio Berlusconi.
Cables related to the UK include US criticism of David Cameron and British military operations in Afghanistan, and requests for intelligence on specific MPs. They also reveal inappropriate remarks made by a member of the royal family, although for once it wasn't His Royal Highness Prince Phillip, The Duke of Edinburgh making the embarrassing gaffe: it was Prince Andrew, the Duke of York with his regal foot in his chinless mouth.
Wikileaks claims it was attacked in a mass distributed denial of service attack yesterday ahead of the release of documents. The site, founded by Julian Assange, is hosted by the Swedish Pirate Party.
Leak your thoughts in the comments. Was WikiLeaks right to blow the whistle on the arcane machinations that underpin international relations, or is it putting people in danger?
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WASHINGTON - WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators voted Wednesday to require companies to reveal more information about how they pay their executives amid a public outcry over compensation.
The Securities and Exchange Commission voted 4-to-1 to expand the disclosure requirements for public companies.
Company policies that encouraged excessive risk-taking and rewarded executives for delivering short-term profits were blamed for fueling the financial crisis.
The SEC also changed a formula that critics say allowed companies to understate how much their senior executives are paid. At issue is how public companies report stock options and stock awards in regulatory filings. Such awards often make up most of top executives' pay.
The new requirements include information on how a company's pay policies might encourage too much risk-taking.
Separately, the agency voted unanimously to require thousands of investment advisers who have custody of clients' money to submit to annual surprise exams by outside auditors.
The surprise audits would allow independent accountants to review the books and verify that the money is there. The snap audits would apply to about 1,600 investment advisers that don't use third-party custodians, out of roughly 11,000 advisers registered with the SEC.
This move is aimed at plugging gaps that allowed disgraced money manager Bernard Madoff to deceive investors.
The expanded executive pay disclosure rules will take effect next spring, when companies send annual proxy disclosures to shareholders.
The changes will help investors make better-informed voting decisions for the companies in which they hold stock, SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro said.
"By adopting these rules, we will improve the disclosure around risk, compensation and corporate governance, thereby increasing accountability and directly benefiting investors," Schapiro said before the vote.
But Commissioner Kathleen Casey said she opposed some of the new requirements, such as added information on qualifications of directors and candidates for the board, that she said could be "unduly burdensome."
As a result, Casey said she was voting against the rule as a whole.
It was the first final rule adopted by the SEC this year under Schapiro's tenure. Numerous proposals have been made by the commissioners.
—Legal actions involving the company's executive officers, directors and nominees for the board.
—The role played by diversity as a factor in choosing candidates for the board.
—Potential conflicts of interest on the part of compensation consultants retained by the company.
The Obama administration imposed pay curbs on banks that received federal bailout money. Since then, eight of the largest such banks have either repaid or said they will repay their federal money, largely to escape caps on executive pay.
The Federal Reserve has set a February deadline for the 28 biggest U.S. banks — including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. — for submitting 2010 compensation plans. The Fed also will be encouraging, though not requiring, banks to revise this year's pay plans if they are out of step with principles the Fed has proposed to limit risk.
Anger over lavish Wall Street pay has led some U.S. banks to take pre-emptive action. Goldman Sachs, for example, has said it won't give cash bonuses to 30 top executives. Instead, the bonuses will be paid in stock that can't be cashed in for five years.
Companies will have to disclose how pay is determined in departments involved in the riskiest activities — or departments that produce a big chunk of company profits.
The new requirements were proposed by the SEC and opened to public comment in July. They build on rules the agency adopted in 2006.
Under current rules, companies don't have to reveal the full value of stock options they give an executive. Instead, they must disclose in their annual proxy statements only the portion of an options award that vests that year.
The new rule will require companies to show in a summary table the estimated value of all stock-based awards on the day they are granted. The SEC's 2006 rules had relegated those totals to a separate table that investors often overlook or find hard to decipher.
An example is the case of a company that decides its CEO deserves $10 million worth of stock options, to vest in equal installments over four years. Under current rules, the company would have to include only $2.5 million — one-fourth of the total of the $10 million total — in the summary table.
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InspiredPosters.com now offers larger-sized posters featuring all of their currently available designs, it has announced. The 24x36 format is now available in addition to the 8x10 and 18x24 sizes, all of which are ideal for standard frame sizes.
LAS VEGAS, Dec. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Inspired Posters has announced that it is now offering larger-sized posters, expanding the available sizes to include the 24x36 size in addition to the already-available 8x10 and 18x24 sizes. The larger format is aligned with the commonly available standard frame sizes, as are the smaller formats. This makes it exceptionally easy for the prints to be immediately framed and hung upon arrival.
The larger format is ideal for displaying the expertly designed posters, all of which feature vibrant colors and vivid imagery produced by the company's in-house team of designers. Using a unique UV printing process, color accuracy is assured.
"We are very pleased to expand the available sizes that we offer to include the 24x36 size," said a representative with the company. "There has been a great deal of recent demand for a larger format, and we are excited to be able to meet that demand while also adhering to our high standards for quality."
The company has made the larger format available for all of its current designs. The variety of categories offered by the company includes state-themed posters, animal posters, awareness posters, humorous posters, religion-themed posters and many others as well. The posters are all carefully rolled and shipped in a cardboard enclosure that ensures its arrival in pristine condition. The posters are immediately suitable for framing upon delivery.
Among the more popular posters currently available are the state-themed posters, which feature a depiction of each of the 50 states against a chevron pattern background and includes a star over the state's capital. Also popular are the awareness-themed posters, which help to raise awareness of a number of conditions that are deserving of attention and can benefit from additional funds for research.
"The larger format is perfect for showcasing the outstanding work of our designers," said the representative. "We feel that our customers are going to be thrilled to see these larger-sized posters that are now available."
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Affordable .28 Ac lot with low yearly taxes of $61.00. No time limit to build. Privacy and tranquility to enjoy. Close to rivers, lakes, Ocala National Forrest, fishing, boating, kayaking, hunting and camping. Hwys 441/301/27. Not far from shopping, schools, businesses, the Villages, and the City of Ocala. Build your dream home or invest now. Schedule a viewing of the property on paved road.
Nice affordable lot! Great size for building your dream home!
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Apr. 16 5:48 PM PT6:48 PM MT7:48 PM CT8:48 PM ET0:48 GMT8:48 5:48 PM MST6:48 PM CST7:48 PM EST4:48 UAE (+1)20:48 ET21:48 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 30 of 33 shots in the Blue Jackets' 7-3 win over the Lightning on Tuesday. The victory pushed him to 4-0-0 on the season with a 2.01 GAA and .932 save percentage.
Apr. 14 5:53 PM PT6:53 PM MT7:53 PM CT8:53 PM ET0:53 GMT8:53 5:53 PM MST6:53 PM CST7:53 PM EST4:53 UAE (+1)20:53 ET21:53 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 30 of 31 shots in the Blue Jackets' 3-1 win over the Lightning on Sunday. The victory pushed him to 3-0-0 on the season with a 1.67 GAA and .940 save percentage.
Apr. 12 6:02 PM PT7:02 PM MT8:02 PM CT9:02 PM ET1:02 GMT9:02 6:02 PM MST7:02 PM CST8:02 PM EST5:02 UAE (+1)21:02 ET22:02 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 of 24 shots in the Blue Jackets' 5-1 win over the Lightning on Friday. The victory pushed him to 2-0-0 on the season with a 2.00 GAA and .925 save percentage.
Apr. 10 6:02 PM PT7:02 PM MT8:02 PM CT9:02 PM ET1:02 GMT9:02 6:02 PM MST7:02 PM CST8:02 PM EST5:02 UAE (+1)21:02 ET22:02 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 of 29 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-3 win over the Lightning on Wednesday. The victory pushed him to 1-0-0 on the season with a 3.00 GAA and .897 save percentage.
Apr. 5 6:20 PM PT7:20 PM MT8:20 PM CT9:20 PM ET1:20 GMT9:20 6:20 PM MST7:20 PM CST8:20 PM EST5:20 UAE (+1)21:20 ET22:20 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 of 27 shots in the Blue Jackets' 3-2 shootout win over the Rangers on Friday. The victory pushed him to 37-24-1 on the season with a 2.58 GAA and .913 save percentage.
Apr. 2 5:52 PM PT6:52 PM MT7:52 PM CT8:52 PM ET0:52 GMT8:52 5:52 PM MST6:52 PM CST7:52 PM EST4:52 UAE (+1)20:52 ET21:52 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 19 of 23 shots in the Blue Jackets' 6-2 loss to the Bruins on Tuesday. The defeat dropped him to 36-24-1 on the season with a 2.59 GAA and .913 save percentage.
Mar. 31 4:34 PM PT5:34 PM MT6:34 PM CT7:34 PM ET23:34 GMT7:34 4:34 PM MST5:34 PM CST6:34 PM EST3:34 UAE (+1)19:34 ET20:34 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 38 shots he faced in the Blue Jackets' 4-0 win over the Sabres on Sunday for his ninth shutout of the year. The victory pushed him to 36-23-1 on the season with a 2.55 GAA and .914 save percentage.
Mar. 30 6:45 PM PT7:45 PM MT8:45 PM CT9:45 PM ET1:45 GMT9:45 6:45 PM MST7:45 PM CST8:45 PM EST5:45 UAE (+1)21:45 ET22:45 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 of 25 shots in the Blue Jackets' 5-2 win over the Predators on Saturday. The victory pushed him to 35-23-1 on the season with a 2.60 GAA and .912 save percentage.
Mar. 28 5:43 PM PT6:43 PM MT7:43 PM CT8:43 PM ET0:43 GMT8:43 5:43 PM MST6:43 PM CST7:43 PM EST4:43 UAE (+1)20:43 ET21:43 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 of 28 shots in the Blue Jackets' 6-2 win over the Canadiens on Thursday. The victory pushed him to 34-23-1 on the season with a 2.61 GAA and .912 save percentage.
Mar. 26 5:40 PM PT6:40 PM MT7:40 PM CT8:40 PM ET0:40 GMT8:40 5:40 PM MST6:40 PM CST7:40 PM EST4:40 UAE (+1)20:40 ET21:40 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 26 shots he faced in the Blue Jackets' 4-0 win over the Islanders on Tuesday for his eighth shutout of the year. The victory pushed him to 33-23-1 on the season with a 2.62 GAA and .911 save percentage.
Mar. 24 8:36 PM PT9:36 PM MT10:36 PM CT11:36 PM ET3:36 GMT11:36 8:36 PM MST9:36 PM CST10:36 PM EST7:36 UAE (+1)23:36 ET0:36 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 21 shots he faced in the Blue Jackets' 5-0 win over the Canucks on Sunday for his seventh shutout of the year. The victory pushed him to 32-23-1 on the season with a 2.67 GAA and .910 save percentage.
Mar. 21 11:40 AM PT12:40 PM MT1:40 PM CT2:40 PM ET18:40 GMT2:40 11:40 AM MST12:40 PM CST1:40 PM EST22:40 UAE14:40 ET15:40 BRT - Bobrovsky (undisclosed) will play Sunday in Vancouver after he did not dress for Thursday's game at Edmonton.
Analysis: The two-time Vezina Trophy winner is 4-2-0 with a 1.66 GAA and .946 save percentage in his last six starts.
Mar. 19 7:49 PM PT8:49 PM MT9:49 PM CT10:49 PM ET2:49 GMT10:49 7:49 PM MST8:49 PM CST9:49 PM EST6:49 UAE (+1)22:49 ET23:49 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 27 of 30 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-2 loss to the Flames on Tuesday. The defeat dropped him to 31-23-1 on the season with a 2.72 GAA and .909 save percentage.
Mar. 15 5:53 PM PT6:53 PM MT7:53 PM CT8:53 PM ET0:53 GMT8:53 5:53 PM MST6:53 PM CST7:53 PM EST4:53 UAE (+1)20:53 ET21:53 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 46 shots he faced in the Blue Jackets' 3-0 win over the Hurricanes on Friday for his sixth shutout of the year. The victory pushed him to 31-22-1 on the season with a 2.71 GAA and .909 save percentage.
Mar. 12 5:51 PM PT6:51 PM MT7:51 PM CT8:51 PM ET0:51 GMT8:51 5:51 PM MST6:51 PM CST7:51 PM EST4:51 UAE (+1)20:51 ET21:51 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 27 of 31 shots in the Blue Jackets' 7-4 win over the Bruins on Tuesday. The victory pushed him to 30-22-1 on the season with a 2.76 GAA and .906 save percentage.
Mar. 11 5:28 PM PT6:28 PM MT7:28 PM CT8:28 PM ET0:28 GMT8:28 5:28 PM MST6:28 PM CST7:28 PM EST4:28 UAE (+1)20:28 ET21:28 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 18 of 19 shots in the Blue Jackets' 2-0 loss to the Islanders on Monday. The defeat dropped him to 29-22-1 on the season with a 2.74 GAA and .907 save percentage.
Mar. 9 5:41 PM PT6:41 PM MT7:41 PM CT8:41 PM ET1:41 GMT9:41 6:41 PM MST7:41 PM CST8:41 PM EST5:41 UAE (+1)20:41 ET22:41 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 of 29 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-1 win over the Penguins on Saturday. The victory pushed him to 29-21-1 on the season with a 2.77 GAA and .906 save percentage.
Mar. 5 5:48 PM PT6:48 PM MT7:48 PM CT8:48 PM ET1:48 GMT9:48 6:48 PM MST7:48 PM CST8:48 PM EST5:48 UAE (+1)20:48 ET22:48 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 of 30 shots in the Blue Jackets' 2-1 shootout win over the Devils on Tuesday. The victory pushed him to 28-21-1 on the season with a 2.81 GAA and .905 save percentage.
Mar. 3 5:39 PM PT6:39 PM MT7:39 PM CT8:39 PM ET1:39 GMT9:39 6:39 PM MST7:39 PM CST8:39 PM EST5:39 UAE (+1)20:39 ET22:39 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 21 of 25 shots in the Blue Jackets' 5-2 loss to the Jets on Sunday. The defeat dropped him to 27-21-1 on the season with a 2.85 GAA and .904 save percentage.
Mar. 2 11:40 AM PT12:40 PM MT1:40 PM CT2:40 PM ET19:40 GMT3:40 12:40 PM MST1:40 PM CST2:40 PM EST23:40 UAE14:40 ET16:40 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 15 of 19 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-0 loss to the Oilers on Saturday. The defeat dropped him to 27-20-1 on the season with a 2.83 GAA and .905 save percentage.
Feb. 28 6:00 PM PT7:00 PM MT8:00 PM CT9:00 PM ET2:00 GMT10:00 7:00 PM MST8:00 PM CST9:00 PM EST6:00 UAE (+1)21:00 ET23:00 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 of 31 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-3 overtime win over the Flyers on Thursday. The victory pushed him to 27-19-1 on the season with a 2.78 GAA and .907 save percentage.
Feb. 26 5:37 PM PT6:37 PM MT7:37 PM CT8:37 PM ET1:37 GMT9:37 6:37 PM MST7:37 PM CST8:37 PM EST5:37 UAE (+1)20:37 ET22:37 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 of 26 shots in the Blue Jackets' 5-2 loss to the Penguins on Tuesday. The defeat dropped him to 26-19-1 on the season with a 2.78 GAA and .907 save percentage.
Feb. 23 3:36 PM PT4:36 PM MT5:36 PM CT6:36 PM ET23:36 GMT7:36 4:36 PM MST5:36 PM CST6:36 PM EST3:36 UAE (+1)18:36 ET20:36 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 26 shots he faced in the Blue Jackets' 4-0 win over the Sharks on Saturday for his fifth shutout of the year. The victory pushed him to 26-18-1 on the season with a 2.75 GAA and .908 save percentage.
Feb. 22 5:38 PM PT6:38 PM MT7:38 PM CT8:38 PM ET1:38 GMT9:38 6:38 PM MST7:38 PM CST8:38 PM EST5:38 UAE (+1)20:38 ET22:38 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 22 shots he faced in the Blue Jackets' 3-0 win over the Senators on Friday for his fourth shutout of the year. The victory pushed him to 25-18-1 on the season with a 2.82 GAA and .906 save percentage.
Feb. 19 6:10 PM PT7:10 PM MT8:10 PM CT9:10 PM ET2:10 GMT10:10 7:10 PM MST8:10 PM CST9:10 PM EST6:10 UAE (+1)21:10 ET23:10 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 of 32 shots in the Blue Jackets' 3-2 loss to the Canadiens on Tuesday. The defeat dropped him to 24-18-1 on the season with a 2.89 GAA and .904 save percentage.
Feb. 16 7:10 PM PT8:10 PM MT9:10 PM CT10:10 PM ET3:10 GMT11:10 8:10 PM MST9:10 PM CST10:10 PM EST7:10 UAE (+1)22:10 ET1:10 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 39 of 41 shots in the Blue Jackets' 5-2 win over the Blackhawks on Saturday. The victory pushed him to 24-17-1 on the season with a 2.88 GAA and .904 save percentage.
Feb. 14 5:35 PM PT6:35 PM MT7:35 PM CT8:35 PM ET1:35 GMT9:35 6:35 PM MST7:35 PM CST8:35 PM EST5:35 UAE (+1)20:35 ET23:35 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 24 of 27 shots in the Blue Jackets' 3-0 loss to the Islanders on Thursday. The defeat dropped him to 23-17-1 on the season with a 2.90 GAA and .903 save percentage.
Feb. 12 5:40 PM PT6:40 PM MT7:40 PM CT8:40 PM ET1:40 GMT9:40 6:40 PM MST7:40 PM CST8:40 PM EST5:40 UAE (+1)20:40 ET23:40 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 20 shots he faced in the Blue Jackets' 3-0 win over the Capitals on Tuesday for his third shutout of the year. The victory pushed him to 23-16-1 on the season with a 2.90 GAA and .903 save percentage.
Feb. 9 8:42 PM PT9:42 PM MT10:42 PM CT11:42 PM ET4:42 GMT12:42 9:42 PM MST10:42 PM CST11:42 PM EST8:42 UAE23:42 ET2:42 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 20 of 23 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-3 win over the Golden Knights on Saturday. The victory pushed him to 22-16-1 on the season with a 2.98 GAA and .901 save percentage.
Feb. 7 7:45 PM PT8:45 PM MT9:45 PM CT10:45 PM ET3:45 GMT11:45 8:45 PM MST9:45 PM CST10:45 PM EST7:45 UAE (+1)22:45 ET1:45 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 of 31 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-2 win over the Coyotes on Thursday. The victory pushed him to 21-16-1 on the season with a 2.98 GAA and .902 save percentage.
Feb. 5 7:52 PM PT8:52 PM MT9:52 PM CT10:52 PM ET3:52 GMT11:52 8:52 PM MST9:52 PM CST10:52 PM EST7:52 UAE (+1)22:52 ET1:52 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 27 of 30 shots in the Blue Jackets' 6-3 win over the Avalanche on Tuesday. The victory pushed him to 20-16-1 on the season with a 3.01 GAA and .901 save percentage.
Jan. 31 6:41 PM PT7:41 PM MT8:41 PM CT9:41 PM ET2:41 GMT10:41 7:41 PM MST8:41 PM CST9:41 PM EST6:41 UAE (+1)21:41 ET0:41 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 of 26 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-3 loss to the Jets on Thursday. The defeat dropped him to 19-16-1 on the season with a 3.01 GAA and .901 save percentage.
Jan. 29 5:42 PM PT6:42 PM MT7:42 PM CT8:42 PM ET1:42 GMT9:42 6:42 PM MST7:42 PM CST8:42 PM EST5:42 UAE (+1)20:42 ET23:42 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 of 34 shots in the Blue Jackets' 5-4 loss to the Sabres on Tuesday. The defeat dropped him to 19-15-1 on the season with a 2.97 GAA and .902 save percentage.
Jan. 19 7:39 PM PT8:39 PM MT9:39 PM CT10:39 PM ET3:39 GMT11:39 8:39 PM MST9:39 PM CST10:39 PM EST7:39 UAE (+1)22:39 ET1:39 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 of 31 shots in the Blue Jackets' 2-1 loss to the Wild on Saturday. The defeat dropped him to 19-14-1 on the season with a 2.91 GAA and .904 save percentage.
Jan. 13 4:51 PM PT5:51 PM MT6:51 PM CT7:51 PM ET0:51 GMT8:51 5:51 PM MST6:51 PM CST7:51 PM EST4:51 UAE (+1)19:51 ET22:51 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 of 27 shots in the Blue Jackets' 7-5 win over the Rangers on Sunday. The victory pushed him to 19-13-1 on the season with a 2.93 GAA and .903 save percentage.
Jan. 11 11:30 AM PT12:30 PM MT1:30 PM CT2:30 PM ET19:30 GMT3:30 12:30 PM MST1:30 PM CST2:30 PM EST23:30 UAE14:30 ET17:30 BRT - Bobrovsky was suspended one game by the Blue Jackets organization for conduct detrimental to the team after an emotional outburst in Tuesday's 4-0 loss to Tampa Bay.
Analysis: The former Vezina winner served his time Thursday and will reportedly travel with the team Saturday when Columbus plays the Capitals, although a starter has yet to be announced. Both sides are saying the right things regarding the incident and sound ready to put it in the rear-view mirror.
Analysis: The two-time Vezina Trophy winner is 18-13-1 with a 2.87 GAA in the final year of his contract and so far has declined to sign a long-term extension. Backup Joonas Korpisalo (6-2-2, 3.29 GAA) is in line to start Thursday.
Jan. 8 6:07 PM PT7:07 PM MT8:07 PM CT9:07 PM ET2:07 GMT10:07 7:07 PM MST8:07 PM CST9:07 PM EST6:07 UAE (+1)21:07 ET0:07 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 15 of 19 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-0 loss to the Lightning on Tuesday. The defeat dropped him to 18-13-1 on the season with a 2.87 GAA and .906 save percentage.
Jan. 5 5:45 PM PT6:45 PM MT7:45 PM CT8:45 PM ET1:45 GMT9:45 6:45 PM MST7:45 PM CST8:45 PM EST5:45 UAE (+1)20:45 ET23:45 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 27 of 30 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-3 overtime win over the Panthers on Saturday. The victory pushed him to 18-12-1 on the season with a 2.81 GAA and .908 save percentage.
Jan. 4 6:13 PM PT7:13 PM MT8:13 PM CT9:13 PM ET2:13 GMT10:13 7:13 PM MST8:13 PM CST9:13 PM EST6:13 UAE (+1)21:13 ET0:13 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 13 of 16 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-2 loss to the Hurricanes on Friday. The defeat dropped him to 17-12-1 on the season with a 2.80 GAA and .908 save percentage.
Dec. 31 5:54 PM PT6:54 PM MT7:54 PM CT8:54 PM ET1:54 GMT9:54 6:54 PM MST7:54 PM CST8:54 PM EST5:54 UAE (+1)20:54 ET23:54 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 of 25 shots in the Blue Jackets' 6-3 win over the Senators on Monday. The victory pushed him to 17-11-1 on the season with a 2.74 GAA and .910 save percentage.
Dec. 28 5:41 PM PT6:41 PM MT7:41 PM CT8:41 PM ET1:41 GMT9:41 6:41 PM MST7:41 PM CST8:41 PM EST5:41 UAE (+1)20:41 ET23:41 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 of 29 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-2 loss to the Maple Leafs on Friday. The defeat dropped him to 16-11-1 on the season with a 2.73 GAA and .911 save percentage.
Dec. 23 11:08 AM PT12:08 PM MT1:08 PM CT2:08 PM ET19:08 GMT3:08 12:08 PM MST1:08 PM CST2:08 PM EST23:08 UAE14:08 ET17:08 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 39 shots he faced in the Blue Jackets' 3-0 win over the Devils on Sunday for his second shutout of the year. The victory pushed him to 16-10-1 on the season with a 2.68 GAA and .913 save percentage.
Dec. 22 11:43 AM PT12:43 PM MT1:43 PM CT2:43 PM ET19:43 GMT3:43 12:43 PM MST1:43 PM CST2:43 PM EST23:43 UAE14:43 ET17:43 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 34 of 37 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-3 win over the Flyers on Saturday. The victory pushed him to 15-10-1 on the season with a 2.79 GAA and .908 save percentage.
Dec. 20 5:53 PM PT6:53 PM MT7:53 PM CT8:53 PM ET1:53 GMT9:53 6:53 PM MST7:53 PM CST8:53 PM EST5:53 UAE (+1)20:53 ET23:53 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 of 30 shots in the Blue Jackets' 2-1 win over the Devils on Thursday. The victory pushed him to 14-10-1 on the season with a 2.78 GAA and .908 save percentage.
Dec. 17 5:33 PM PT6:33 PM MT7:33 PM CT8:33 PM ET1:33 GMT9:33 6:33 PM MST7:33 PM CST8:33 PM EST5:33 UAE (+1)20:33 ET23:33 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 28 shots he faced in the Blue Jackets' 1-0 win over the Golden Knights on Monday for his first shutout of the year. The victory pushed him to 13-10-1 on the season with a 2.86 GAA and .905 save percentage.
Dec. 15 5:50 PM PT6:50 PM MT7:50 PM CT8:50 PM ET1:50 GMT9:50 6:50 PM MST7:50 PM CST8:50 PM EST5:50 UAE (+1)20:50 ET23:50 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 20 of 22 shots in the Blue Jackets' 2-1 overtime loss to the Ducks on Saturday. The defeat dropped him to 12-10-1 on the season with a 2.99 GAA and .901 save percentage.
Dec. 13 5:43 PM PT6:43 PM MT7:43 PM CT8:43 PM ET1:43 GMT9:43 6:43 PM MST7:43 PM CST8:43 PM EST5:43 UAE (+1)20:43 ET23:43 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 of 30 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-1 win over the Kings on Thursday. The victory pushed him to 12-10-0 on the season with a 3.04 GAA and .901 save percentage.
Dec. 8 5:47 PM PT6:47 PM MT7:47 PM CT8:47 PM ET1:47 GMT9:47 6:47 PM MST7:47 PM CST8:47 PM EST5:47 UAE (+1)20:47 ET23:47 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 10 of 13 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-0 loss to the Capitals on Saturday. The defeat dropped him to 11-10-0 on the season with a 3.14 GAA and .898 save percentage.
Dec. 6 5:44 PM PT6:44 PM MT7:44 PM CT8:44 PM ET1:44 GMT9:44 6:44 PM MST7:44 PM CST8:44 PM EST5:44 UAE (+1)20:44 ET23:44 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 of 26 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-3 overtime win over the Flyers on Thursday. The victory pushed him to 11-9-0 on the season with a 3.04 GAA and .901 save percentage.
Dec. 4 5:45 PM PT6:45 PM MT7:45 PM CT8:45 PM ET1:45 GMT9:45 6:45 PM MST7:45 PM CST8:45 PM EST5:45 UAE (+1)20:45 ET23:45 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 18 of 26 shots in the Blue Jackets' 9-6 loss to the Flames on Tuesday. The defeat dropped him to 10-9-0 on the season with a 3.04 GAA and .901 save percentage.
Dec. 1 5:47 PM PT6:47 PM MT7:47 PM CT8:47 PM ET1:47 GMT9:47 6:47 PM MST7:47 PM CST8:47 PM EST5:47 UAE (+1)20:47 ET23:47 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 of 29 shots in the Blue Jackets' 3-2 loss to the Islanders on Saturday. The defeat dropped him to 10-8-0 on the season with a 2.72 GAA and .911 save percentage.
Nov. 29 5:41 PM PT6:41 PM MT7:41 PM CT8:41 PM ET1:41 GMT9:41 6:41 PM MST7:41 PM CST8:41 PM EST5:41 UAE (+1)20:41 ET23:41 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 of 25 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-2 win over the Wild on Thursday. The victory pushed him to 10-7-0 on the season with a 2.70 GAA and .912 save percentage.
Nov. 26 6:17 PM PT7:17 PM MT8:17 PM CT9:17 PM ET2:17 GMT10:17 7:17 PM MST8:17 PM CST9:17 PM EST6:17 UAE (+1)21:17 ET0:17 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 27 of 32 shots in the Blue Jackets' 7-5 win over the Red Wings on Monday. The victory pushed him to 9-7-0 on the season with a 2.75 GAA and .912 save percentage.
Nov. 23 5:37 PM PT6:37 PM MT7:37 PM CT8:37 PM ET1:37 GMT9:37 6:37 PM MST7:37 PM CST8:37 PM EST5:37 UAE (+1)20:37 ET23:37 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 32 of 34 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-2 win over the Maple Leafs on Friday. The victory pushed him to 8-7-0 on the season with a 2.59 GAA and .917 save percentage.
Nov. 19 5:45 PM PT6:45 PM MT7:45 PM CT8:45 PM ET1:45 GMT9:45 6:45 PM MST7:45 PM CST8:45 PM EST5:45 UAE (+1)20:45 ET23:45 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 of 25 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-2 loss to the Maple Leafs on Monday. The defeat dropped him to 7-7-0 on the season with a 2.64 GAA and .915 save percentage.
Nov. 17 5:40 PM PT6:40 PM MT7:40 PM CT8:40 PM ET1:40 GMT9:40 6:40 PM MST7:40 PM CST8:40 PM EST5:40 UAE (+1)20:40 ET23:40 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 30 of 31 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-1 win over the Hurricanes on Saturday. The victory pushed him to 7-6-0 on the season with a 2.60 GAA and .917 save percentage.
Nov. 15 9:39 AM PT10:39 AM MT11:39 AM CT12:39 PM ET17:39 GMT1:39 10:39 AM MST11:39 AM CST12:39 PM EST21:39 UAE12:39 ET15:39 BRT - Bobrovsky (illness) will play Saturday at Carolina.
Analysis: Bobrovsky got off to a slow start, but the two-time Vezina Trophy winner has won three straight outings while stopping 86 of 89 shots.
Nov. 12 7:26 PM PT8:26 PM MT9:26 PM CT10:26 PM ET3:26 GMT11:26 8:26 PM MST9:26 PM CST10:26 PM EST7:26 UAE (+1)22:26 ET1:26 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 of 27 shots in the Blue Jackets' 2-1 win over the Stars on Monday. The victory pushed him to 6-6-0 on the season with a 2.74 GAA and .913 save percentage.
Nov. 9 5:57 PM PT6:57 PM MT7:57 PM CT8:57 PM ET1:57 GMT9:57 6:57 PM MST7:57 PM CST8:57 PM EST5:57 UAE (+1)20:57 ET23:57 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 33 of 34 shots in the Blue Jackets' 2-1 win over the Capitals on Friday. The victory pushed him to 5-6-0 on the season with a 2.90 GAA and .909 save percentage.
Nov. 6 5:39 PM PT6:39 PM MT7:39 PM CT8:39 PM ET1:39 GMT9:39 6:39 PM MST7:39 PM CST8:39 PM EST5:39 UAE (+1)20:39 ET23:39 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 27 of 28 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-1 win over the Stars on Tuesday. The victory pushed him to 4-6-0 on the season with a 3.09 GAA and .902 save percentage.
Nov. 4 9:21 PM PT10:21 PM MT11:21 PM CT12:21 AM ET5:21 GMT13:21 10:21 PM MST11:21 PM CST12:21 AM EST9:21 UAE0:21 ET2:21 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 of 29 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-1 loss to the Kings on Saturday. The defeat dropped him to 3-6-0 on the season with a 3.33 GAA and .895 save percentage.
Nov. 2 9:26 PM PT10:26 PM MT11:26 PM CT12:26 AM ET4:26 GMT12:26 9:26 PM MST10:26 PM CST11:26 PM EST8:26 UAE0:26 ET1:26 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 44 of 45 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-1 win over the Sharks on Thursday. The victory pushed him to 3-5-0 on the season with a 3.24 GAA and .899 save percentage.
Oct. 30 5:45 PM PT6:45 PM MT7:45 PM CT8:45 PM ET0:45 GMT8:45 5:45 PM MST6:45 PM CST7:45 PM EST4:45 UAE (+1)20:45 ET21:45 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 of 24 shots in the Blue Jackets' 5-3 loss to the Red Wings on Tuesday. The defeat dropped him to 2-5-0 on the season with a 3.58 GAA and .882 save percentage.
Oct. 23 5:41 PM PT6:41 PM MT7:41 PM CT8:41 PM ET0:41 GMT8:41 5:41 PM MST6:41 PM CST7:41 PM EST4:41 UAE (+1)20:41 ET21:41 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 of 26 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-1 loss to the Coyotes on Tuesday. The defeat dropped him to 2-4-0 on the season with a 3.87 GAA and .872 save percentage.
Oct. 20 5:42 PM PT6:42 PM MT7:42 PM CT8:42 PM ET0:42 GMT8:42 5:42 PM MST6:42 PM CST7:42 PM EST4:42 UAE (+1)20:42 ET21:42 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 of 25 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-1 loss to the Blackhawks on Saturday. The defeat dropped him to 2-3-0 on the season with a 3.84 GAA and .876 save percentage.
Oct. 18 5:32 PM PT6:32 PM MT7:32 PM CT8:32 PM ET0:32 GMT8:32 5:32 PM MST6:32 PM CST7:32 PM EST4:32 UAE (+1)20:32 ET21:32 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 32 of 35 shots in the Blue Jackets' 6-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday. The victory pushed him to 2-2-0 on the season with a 4.04 GAA and .875 save percentage.
Oct. 13 5:50 PM PT6:50 PM MT7:50 PM CT8:50 PM ET0:50 GMT8:50 5:50 PM MST6:50 PM CST7:50 PM EST4:50 UAE (+1)20:50 ET21:50 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 of 31 shots in the Blue Jackets' 8-2 loss to the Lightning on Saturday. The defeat dropped him to 1-2-0 on the season with a 4.39 GAA and .860 save percentage.
Oct. 9 5:42 PM PT6:42 PM MT7:42 PM CT8:42 PM ET0:42 GMT8:42 5:42 PM MST6:42 PM CST7:42 PM EST4:42 UAE (+1)20:42 ET21:42 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 of 27 shots in the Blue Jackets' 5-2 win over the Avalanche on Tuesday. The victory pushed him to 1-1-0 on the season with a 2.53 GAA and .919 save percentage.
Oct. 5 5:55 PM PT6:55 PM MT7:55 PM CT8:55 PM ET0:55 GMT8:55 5:55 PM MST6:55 PM CST7:55 PM EST4:55 UAE (+1)20:55 ET21:55 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 32 of 35 shots in the Blue Jackets' 3-1 loss to the Hurricanes on Friday. The defeat dropped him to 0-1-0 on the season with a 3.07 GAA and .914 save percentage.
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The black, glossy background in the Nike store took attention away from the brand's shoes.
In February, I visited Nike and Adidas' flagship stores in New York City.
Nike's displays were confusing, and the store didn't do enough to highlight the striking visuals that have always been one of the company's strengths.
Adidas' design instincts were much better, and the store found a number of smart ways to allow customers to interact with products.
The rivalry between Nike and Adidas has been one of the top stories in athletic apparel for decades. While Nike has often landed bigger athletes for sponsorships, Adidas has surged in recent years by anticipating and responding to customer demand with stylish, versatile products that make sense for exercise or everyday use.
Now, Nike is rethinking its retail approach in an attempt to keep Adidas from overtaking it as the top-selling athletic apparel company in the United States.
I started at Niketown on 5th Avenue. Niketown was previously Nike's flagship store in New York City, but it closed in the spring and was replaced by a new store in November.
The first floor played to Nike's strengths.
Nike's acclaimed print and television ads have long played up its eye for striking visuals. Niketown's first floor reflected that skill set by highlighting images rather than products, creating excitement before customers even saw any merchandise.
It also promoted an inclusive, culturally relevant message. Nike's "Equality" ad campaign promoted diversity and tolerance.
Most of the products shown on the first floor were inspired by that message. The items associated with the "Equality" campaign were some of the best I saw in the store.
Unfortunately, the product displays (and many of the products themselves) on the other floors didn't quite live up to the hype. The store didn't have a consistent aesthetic, and many of the displays failed to highlight — and sometimes even detracted from — Nike's products.
The glossy black background on this display drew attention to its reflective qualities rather than the shoes.
Basketball shoes have long been one of Nike's signature products, but Nike made some confusing decisions with its basketball shoe displays.
Placing a shoe off-center in the middle of a net-less basketball rim made the shoe line designed for LeBron James — perhaps Nike's most recognizable American athlete who isn't retired — look cheap rather than aspirational.
It didn't help that many of the shoes themselves were unattractive.
It would be difficult to make the raised, scale-like texture on Nike's "Lebron 15" shoe line look desirable in any environment. Considering the clout that Air Jordans still have with sneaker enthusiasts, it's surprising how badly Nike missed the mark with products associated with an athlete who will likely become one of the brand's most legendary icons.
One of Niketown's biggest problems was that it didn't consistently take advantage of Nike's best assets.
Throughout its history, Nike has been able to land elite athletes for sponsorships more consistently than its competitors. But Niketown didn't do enough to highlight those athletes. This Lebron James display was a step in the right direction, but it wasn't reflected in the store's overall strategy.
Some displays hinted at a strategy the store should have adopted.
This display for soccer shoes did a great job of creating an environment where the products could stand out, while complementing the products with eye-catching visuals of elite athletes. If Nike had applied this formula throughout the store, it may have been more compelling.
But more often than not, Nike wasted opportunities to show off the qualities that make it stand out from its competitors. I was drawn to the framed, black-and-white photos on each floor, but they were placed near the elevators and away from the merchandise.
I went to Adidas' Fifth Avenue store next. Adidas opened the 45,000-square-foot store in December 2016.
Adidas' flagship store also had a notable entrance. The Adidas store was designed with sports stadiums in mind, and the entrance was meant to look like the tunnel some athletes walk through before games. Like Niketown, the Adidas' store's entrance emphasized design over product.
The Adidas store had a more subtle and effective strategy for showing off its products, often placing shoes against walls with muted colors and using small, rectangular posters to separate the shoes into smaller groups that were easy to visually process.
The products were better, too. Adidas has gained an edge on competitors with its "lifestyle running" shoes, which are more stylish than the typical running shoe and are often worn as fashion accessories.
No matter their purpose, Adidas' shoes looked way better than anything Nike had to offer, often using sleeker designs, more sensible color schemes, and versatile textures that made sense for exercise and everyday use.
The store also highlighted the customer's ability to customize its products.
The second floor had a section that appealed to more creative types. Situated in the middle of the floor, the custom-design display wasn't intrusive, but it was obvious enough to draw the attention of a customer who might be interested in designing a custom shoe.
Customers could then make and order their own designs in the store.
The computers weren't quite as intuitive as they could be — they didn't indicate that users were supposed to scroll down at the beginning instead of clicking on the buttons at the bottom of the screen — but they were a smart way to engage customers who liked the brand's designs but weren't entirely satisfied with the color combinations available in the store.
The store also emphasized interactivity in creative ways.
Rather than only using a treadmill for customers who wanted to try out shoes (there was a treadmill available on the bottom floor), the second floor had a test track where customers could use clip-on sensors that would analyze their strides and allow salespeople to give them customized recommendations. The track was a smart way to encourage customers to reach out to salespeople, rather than the other way around.
The store allowed customers test out products in non-running contexts as well. On the bottom floor, a testing area with soccer balls and other sports equipment let customers get a sense of how products might work in sport-specific contexts.
Between the first and second floors, there were two sets of bleachers where people could watch sports while their friends, family members, or significant others shopped.
By integrating the bleachers into the staircase, they gave non-shoppers a place to hang out without getting in the way of customers.
Overall, Adidas was the clear winner.
I've preferred Nike to Adidas products for most of my life, so I was surprised by how impressed I was by the Adidas store. While it wasn't quite as flashy as its entrance indicated, it excelled where it mattered: in smart, carefully designed product displays and creative spaces where customers could test products in a wide variety of contexts. Add in the fact that Adidas has a significant edge on Nike in product design, and the result wasn't close.
Nike may still be the top-selling apparel brand in the US, but if it doesn't step up, Adidas could overtake it in the coming decades.
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Gaza is an open air prison where one and a half million people are deprived of adequate water, electricity, opportunities to farm, and the right to move about their own land or the world freely. Palestinian children are detained without charge for months and when charged, they are tried in military courts. Gazan schools are insufficient and the funds often cut. An Israeli museum is built over a centuries old Muslim graveyard. Ancient olive trees, the livelihood of Palestinian farmers are burned. Homes are bulldozed. A blockade prevents goods from coming into and out of Palestine, inhibiting commerce and the means for a livelihood. Water is diverted from its source directly to Israel where it is abundantly available, including for swimming pools, while Palestinians have to buy water from tanker trucks. (A Durham Presbyterian church funded water purifiers for Gaza schools after the bombing of U.N. schools.) The wall closing off Israel from Palestinians makes everyday life difficult. Israeli settlements take more land from Palestinians every year. Drones fly 24 hours a day spying on and frightening the residents of Gaza.
The asymmetry of the two sides is extreme. A few rockets a week fall into north Israel and if they hit an Israeli citizen, Israel attacks with an over-the-top force, killing hundreds of Palestinians. Palestinians have only stones, and now knives, to express their frustration and anger.
Those who support Israel based on religious beliefs do not realize that Palestine Christians also suffer under the burden of the Israeli occupation. The Presbyterian Church of America, and The Episcopal Peace Fellowship have spoken out about the repression in their book and DVD called, “Steadfast Hope” for their parishioners. It is painful to watch and read.
Palestinian student campus organizations face bureaucratic harassment, severe restrictions on and censorship of their columns, even cancellations of their speakers. If they do win the battle to publish their viewpoint, Jewish organizations immediately spring into action to overwhelmingly deny and refute their message.
Movies, media and games perpetuate stereotypes with Palestinians depicted as terrorists and villains, vicious gunmen, wide-eyed maniacs killing anyone, anywhere, any time for any reason. Movies and television programs such as “Tyrant,” “Dig” and “Homeland” depict Arabs as the lowest of human beings.
This in contrast to positive portrayals of Israelis, such as Ziva David as a Mossad agent in “NCIS.” Europeans are speaking out about the Gaza tragedy, but American voices are silenced out of fear of being accused as anti-Semitic. A major conference, “The Israel Lobby: Is It Good for the US, Is It Good for Israel?” received no main stream media coverage.
How to get the message out? Jewish organizations inside Israel and the U.S. are working for peace and to let the world know of the suffering of the Palestinians. That is the message the protesters want to bring to the council and the public.
Eleanor Kinnaird is a former state senator and mayor of Carrboro.
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MURFREESBORO — I guess my older son’s mother and I always knew it would happen: college move-in day.
I’d been noticing on Facebook where co-workers, friends and others had incoming freshmen moving into their dorm, and this past weekend, actually just a really long Saturday, it was our turn.
My son Jonathan is officially a Middle Tennessee State University freshman. He went down Saturday in one car and his parents in another.
— Even with a GPS, things don’t always work out as planned. His mother and I headed down Interstate 81 and then I-40 toward Nashville. He ended up taking I-75 toward Chattanooga at the I-81 and I-40 split east of Knoxville. However, his phone GPS directed him a different way after his southern turn and he beat us there by at least 20 minutes.
— If you travel with a gumball machine, don’t put the gumballs in until you get to your destination without a top on the machine. My ex’s rear floorboard was full of gumballs before we left Kingsport.
— If you ever make a trip to Murfreesboro, when you make the exit off I-40 to I-840, be forewarned there are no gas stations until you reach Murfreesboro, about 22 miles. We realized this as the gas gauge was about on empty. On much of I-40 there are gas stations galore, often at every exit.
— Once we got to Mufreesboro and then campus, we relied more heavily on GPS to guide us since we weren’t familiar with the campus or the city. After the third time of being directed to turn left onto Mount Sue Boulevard, I realized the GPS meant MTSU Boulevard. Hmm, Big Blue of Mount Sue? At least it rhymes.
— Always check to be sure the dorm refrigerator works and have a checklist of items. After his refrigerator didn’t cool, he told me it had been about two years since the fridge had been used. As of last word, it was still not working. I guess a new fridge might be in his future unless he snags his sister Erica’s refrigerator from her old room at home. He also forgot his backpack and extra car key and remote but plans to get those, and maybe another fridge, when he visits here in September. He also didn’t take his 50-plus-inch television, at least yet.
— Listen to the keynote convocation speech. This one was by attorney Bryan Stevenson, author of “Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption,” the freshmen summer reading selection. A black man who grew up on the proverbial wrong side of the tracks, he went to Harvard Law School and became a defender and champion of the downtrodden. He has argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and is to do so again later this year.
He has spent his career fighting against racism, against other discrimination and for justice and for equality. His message was for the class of 2022 to become involved and try to make things better, to get up close and personal with people so they could make a difference just like an attorney needs to get to know about his clients before helping them.
Funny, he didn’t say a thing about GPS pronunciations, spilled gumballs and not-so-cool refrigerators. Maybe there’s a book there? Future convocation keynote speech, here I come.
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Providing healthy food for a growing population starts with healthy animals. Many factors contribute to the overall health of an animal and the quality and safety of animal-derived food products such as meat, milk and eggs. The Department of Animal Science actively engages in cutting edge research on the roles nutrition, genetics, reproduction, physiology, welfare and the environmental footprint of farming play on supporting the healthy growth of livestock to ensure both a plentiful and safe food supply for the future. Our research and teaching efforts here in California and around the globe are contributing to the sustainability of livestock production and the training of the next generation of animal scientists to carry forward the production of healthy food from healthy animals.
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Take a look around the National Trust's Tyntesfield house and grounds with our exclusive interactive tour.
Take an exclusive look inside the Gothic splendour of the National Trust property at Tyntesfield in North Somerset.
Panoramic shots of the newly opened Bath Spa in the centre of the city.
Panoramic views from the ss Great Britain in dry dock at Bristol Harbourside.
See 360-degree pictures of Pulteney Bridge in Bath.
Find out all about the city's massive port where the Avon and Severn rivers meet.
See behind-the-scenes at Bristol Zoo, and check out the seal enclosure and water tunnel.
See some of the stuffed animals in the Bristol Zoo collection including this scary tiger.
See a panoramic image of Bristol's famous Suspension Bridge.
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When Thanksgiving preparations are concerned, I favor recipes that can be cooked ahead. The only thing I make on Thanksgiving day is the turkey. This avoids the situation where I'm so exhausted from cooking by the time my guests arrive that I can't enjoy their company. So bit-by-bit, during the past several weeks, I've been cooking and refrigerating or freezing all the other items on my menu.
Being an avid iDevice user, and a huge fan of recipes found on epicurious.com, I decided to focus my efforts to go paper-less, if not totally paper-free, on this combination of software and hardware. The Epicurious app, available for both Apple and Android devices, is free and has many useful features, including the ability to set up your own recipe box and create shopping lists that come in handy during trips to the grocery store – for example when I am trying to remember how many apples go into the Apple and Butternut Squash Soup. If you're looking to expand your repertoire, the app also gives you access to the full library of Epicurious recipes.
I sprung for the upgrade ($1.99) that would keep these treasures in a culinary cloud and enable me to sync my recipe box across platforms – my iPhone, iPad and desktop computer.
The question was how well the app would import the “keepers,” which I have gleaned from a variety of sources.
Not surprisingly, it worked best with recipes that originally came from Epicurious. The only keeper that actually falls into this category is a recipe I use for Thanksgiving leftovers – Moroccan Chicken Pot Pie, which for obvious reasons I make with turkey instead of chicken.
Importing The New York Times recipe for Apple And Butternut Squash Soup was more cumbersome. It first required that I download the “Epi Clipper,” tool and drag it to the toolbar of my browser. This was easily enough accomplished on my desktop computer, though since the tool is powered by ZipList, I first had to enter a bunch of personal information and sign up for ZipList, which I would have preferred not to do. Nor, after a handful of attempts, was I able to install Epi Clipper on the browser of my iPad – this despite the fact that I am a reasonably tech-savvy person.
The next thing I discovered was that although it is now possible for me to access the Apple and Butternut Squash Soup recipe on my iDevices, what I get is just the recipe title and list of ingredients. For the full instructions I must click on a link that takes me to The New York Times website where the original recipe appeared. This is fine provided that you have Wi-Fi or a cellular data plan that works in your kitchen.
All this said, I did make the Apple and Butternut Squash Soup several weeks ago using the recipe on my iPad rather than on the very yellowed, water-stained original that I clipped from The New York Times in 1989 and have been referring to ever since. The soup can be made far an advance of Thanksgiving and frozen. When doing that, I don't add the half-and-half until I am ready to serve it.
With one exception, I have found this recipe is a crowd pleaser. My son eats it for breakfast, dunking toasted French bread in it. And I once delivered a quart of it to a neighbor after a sudden death in his family, and he told me it was great comfort food. But I will never forget the pain of watching a guest who obviously did not like this soup. He swirled it around in the bowl with his spoon, taking tiny mouthfuls, and washing them down with big gulps of water, until I swooped down and took the bowl right out from under his lifted spoon.
Another thing you need to know about this recipe is that although it is one of my keepers, it takes many hours to prepare. One guest who asked for the recipe later told me that she decided it was easier just to eat it at my house than to make it herself.
In my march (actually it was more of a crawl) towards a paper-less kitchen, I had less success with another New York Times recipe that is one of my Thanksgiving keepers: Cranberry-Pineapple Chutney, which by the way, can be made several weeks ahead and kept in a jar in your refrigerator. This recipe was part of a 1988 story, “Where Do Cranberries Come From, Anyway? The Answers.” When I used Epi Clipper, the only ingredient that appeared was a pinch of salt. I took this snafu with a grain of salt, entered the rest of the ingredients manually on my desktop, and then synced the Epicurious account on my iDevices.
The app was of no help with the various sources of instructions for cooking the perfect turkey. Trussing is critical to this effort, and I continue to rely on the diagram (it’s actually for trussing a chicken, but a turkey has the same basic anatomy) on pages 237-239 of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1, by Julia Child et al. (My copy of the book falls open to this page.) Other tips, from Bobby Flay, were originally published in the Nov. 22, 2002 issue of Newsweek, and are summarized here.
Another recipe that will not migrate to my iDevices is my grandmother’s famous noodle pudding. As a child, I used to help her make it. First she let me crush the Sugar Frosted Flakes that she used for topping. When I got older, I was promoted to the job of running the KitchenAid mixer as she added the eggs, sugar and other ingredients.
I still have a yellow index card, written in an insecure adolescent’s script, with the recipe that she dictated to me. But a more cherished memento is a copy of the recipe in her own handwriting. She gave it to my sister-in-law, Lisa, welcoming her into our family. After Nanny (a name that stuck from the days when I couldn’t pronounce “Granny”) died, Lisa duplicated it and gave each family member a laminated copy.
The Epicurious app has a feature that would allow me to type the noodle pudding recipe into my electronic recipe box. But doing that would expel Nanny from my kitchen. And I wouldn’t dream of it.
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In a world dominated by natural science, the church finds itself driven into a corner having to defend the existence of the spiritual.
Fortunately I am a non-theist. That means I disbelieve in the whole ten thousand or so gods who have been held by some to be of utmost importance since hominids first stared at the stars and asked,"Why?"
Peter Sellick only disbelieves in 9,999 or one less that I do.
Christianity has only been around for 0.1% or less of the time which has elapsed since the first hominid started hunting for a living. We managed to survive without Christianity and domineering popes and other clerics for much of that time.
If they had their way we would go back to giving them the power over life and death as they had during the Inquisition and the Thirty Year War.
As Terry Lane said in a radio interview after writing "God; The Interview" all theologians make it up as they go along.
Peter, I think you've explained the situation clearly. Unfortunately, apart from those who attack Christian faith from a scientistic (not merely scientific) viewpoint, there are also some within the church who don't understand that God is not supernatural.
The article is not about the institution but about some concepts central to Christian understanding. And I would suggest that the Christian path is about being fully human: far more than survival.
I may be wrong, but you seem to be suggesting that God is simply constructed to explain the material world and the position of humans in it. I think that for many people the starting point of faith in God is not an intellectual effort to find a God to fill the gaps in knowledge. Rather it is an awareness, however faint, of the presence of God in their lives. The intellectual efforts to describe and understand this awareness become what we often call theology.
Sell, I think your whole argument falls down because the Christian church believes that God becaome flesh in the form of Jesus. This is an oxymoron if you wish to continue to believe in God as a spiritual being. He may be one or the other, but not both.
"there are also some within the church who don't understand that God is not supernatural."
is an understatement. In a room of intellectually leaning church men and women I had the distinct feeling that I was the only one in the room that thought that God was not supernatural and who did not exist in the world as supernatural being. It seems that most of them wanted God to act somehow in the material world apart from the power of the Word in the Spirit. The providential God is alive and well!
Thank you Peter, for an interesting article. I have recently completed a course on the Trinity and would like to read your paper - would you be willing to post it on your website?
You may find it at: http://petersellick.nationalforum.com.au/admin/upload.php?
It is called "At the origins of antitrinitarianism 2"
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But those numbers are actually troubling. In contrast to our dominance in sports, African-American men make up less than 5 percent of all males enrolled in medical school. A recent report from the Association of American Medical Colleges highlights that there actually was a slight decline in the number of black men applying to and enrolling in medical school from 1978 to 2014, a finding unique among all demographic groups. The numbers of black men in law, business, academia and engineering are also disproportionately low.
The AAMC report describes some of the persistent barriers: underperforming K-12 education, lack of positive role models, negative or limiting public perceptions of African-American men. For decades, any listing of prominent African-American men would almost exclusively contain athletes and other entertainers.
These perceptions all too often become reality. I grew up in the 1980s in a working-class black neighborhood near Washington where sports and entertainment framed our dreams. I can’t remember anyone aspiring to become an astronaut or engineer or a senator or governor. Many of us did play competitive sports in high school, and a handful made it to the college level (me included). But only one went to the pros; the rest had to face the reality of finding regular jobs. Some had serious struggles with this transition. While we encouraged one another to practice our jump shots and perfect the art of throwing and catching a football, spending more time on the education road would have surely been a better strategy.
Let’s be honest, though. Becoming Barack Obama or Ben Carson is just as unlikely as becoming Michael Jordan or LeBron James. The difference is the process and where you’ll land if you fall short of their status. While going to law school (like Obama) or medical school (like Carson) isn’t likely to land you anywhere near the White House, it can lead to a very comfortable life. The average annual salary for a physician, which can be earned for 30 or 40 years, is over $200,000.
Putting all of one’s efforts into sports has enabled the exceptional few to become rich while leaving the majority with resumés ill-suited to economic success. The best sports-related options for those who don’t become professional athletes (sports agent, front office executive, sportswriter or coach) usually require a college degree. Unlike our dominance on the field or court, African-American men – unless they are well-known former players – are far less likely to wind up in these ancillary positions.
It’s unfortunate that Obama and Carson are so polarizing – politics has a way of glamorizing and denigrating people all at once. The shortcomings in how they are perceived underscore the need for more black men to reach the highest levels of achievement in other fields – whether it is in science, communications or business/technology. In the meantime, let’s take a step back to acknowledge the important example that Obama and Carson offer to young black men.
And while recent racial tensions at Duke, UNC and other colleges across America illuminate some of the challenges that black students can face in academic settings, education remains our best path toward long-term success. That’s a message that my sons, and every other young black male, can’t hear too much.
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Pop star Rihanna has made a plea for an end to gun violence following the death of a man she named as her cousin.
Rihanna posted an image of the two of them on Instagram, alongside the hashtag "#endgunviolence", saying: "RIP cousin ... can't believe it was just last night that I held you in my arms!
"Never thought that would be the last time I felt the warmth in your body!!! Love you always man!"
The image has been viewed more than two million times.
Rihanna did not name the man, but tagged the image to an account under the username @merka_95.
The man is believed to be 21-year-old Tavon Kaiseen Alleyne, who was fatally shot in the singer's native Barbados on Boxing Day.
Alleyne was shot multiple times and died later in hospital, according to local media.
Are celebrities breaching consumer rights on Instagram?
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The Department of Education’s Values, Education and Democracy report looks at new ways of dealing with diversity at school level.
THE release of the Values, Education and Democracy report by the Department of Education last month should trigger some interesting and long-overdue debate on the nation’s value system—or on what the nation’s priorities should be when it comes to the education of our children.
The report, compiled by a working group consisting of Wilmot James (chair), Franz Auerbach, Zubeida Desai, Hermann Giliomee, Pallo Jordan, Antjie Krog, Tembile Kulati, Khetsi Lehoko, Brenda Leibowitz and Pansy Tlakula, identifies several key values that it recommends be promoted in schools, including equity, tolerance, multilingualism, openness, accountability and social honour.
- adult learning opportunities be promoted.
Framing the report’s recommendations is the panel’s identification of underlying responsibilities of schools: to develop learners’ abilities to think critically and independently, to embrace all children regardless of race, gender or culture and to give children problem-solving tools that extend beyond academia into the realm of life challenges.
Equity: teachers need to be taught about the educational inequalities of the past and about how equal opportunities are essential for a flourishing country in future.
Tolerance: understanding each other and appreciating our differences, which can only come about by “deepening our understanding of the origins, evolution and achievements of humanity”, by celebrating people’s diversity with dance, theatre, music and sports, and by disallowing any form of discrimination in schools.
Multilingualism: learners should be able to learn in their home language and should also learn a second language. All learners should speak English or Afrikaans and an African language.
Openness: to stimulate children to think for themselves, to be open to new ideas and hungry for knowledge; a richer reading and debating culture needs to be nurtured.
Accountability: in a climate where public perceptions about both schools and teachers are negative, teachers need to dedicate themselves to their profession and view it as a vocation. A fellowship between all those involved in education should ensure that “quality learning and teaching take(s) place”.
I promise to be loyal to my country, South Africa, and to do my best to promote its welfare and the well-being of all of its citizens. I promise to respect all of my fellow citizens and all of our various traditions. Let us work for peace, friendship and reconciliation and heal the scars left by past conflicts, and let us build a common destiny together.
What do you think of the values, ideas and recommendations identified by this report? Please write or e-mail us (teacher@mg.co.za) with your opinions. The Teacher is keen to stimulate debate around these values and reflect further on ways in which we can meet the challenges of diversity. See editorial for comment.
—The Teacher/Mail & Guardian, June 7, 2000.
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Pop-rock band Ariy Shibuya have released their first single, “Thonglor” (“Wanna Ask”) on Sanamluang Music, a subsidiary of GMM Grammy.
The band’s name is a hybrid of Bangkok’s laid-back Ari neighbourhood and Tokyo’s Shibuya ward, home to all five members – singer Taishu “Taoz” Sumiyoshi, guitarist Bhumipat “Mine” Armano, bassist Tetsuya “Tetsu” Ueda, drummer Asawin “Win” Burapongbandhit and keyboard maestro Lertmaytee “Lert” Sanguankaew.
“We’re fascinated by the Japanese rock band X Japan, but our music isn’t meant to sound like theirs,” says Taoz, the head songwriter. “There’s only a Japanese scent to it. Basically, we put Thai lyrics to Japanese melodies."
View the “Thonglor” video at https://youtu.be/33HMOxWYwdo and check out the “AriyShibuya” page on Facebook.
Opera Siam and the Bangkok Opera Foundation are presenting “Madama Butterfly” at the Thailand Cultural Centre on July 11 and 12.
Madama Butterfly is Nancy Yuen’s signature role, having performed it at London’s Royal Albert Hall. The protégée of Placido Domingo will reprise the role in Bangkok alongside Covent Garden baritone Phillip Joll, in a production conducted by Somtow Sucharitkul.
Seats cost Bt500 to Bt5,000 for VIP treatment at www.ThaiTicketMajor.com and (02) 262 3456.
A-Time Media radio stations EFM and Chill are hosting the Perd Warp music festival at the Makkasan Airport Rail Link Station on July 14.
On the roster are Atom Chanagun, Somkiat, the Mousses, the Yers, Twopee Southside, WonderFrame, Gliss, Mean, and Moving and Cut. Great gear, food and drinks will be on sale.
To get there, register at www.EFM.fm or www.ChillFM.fm and get a code for admission to the festival.
Seven underground metal bands are wrecking the country on the Banana Tour 77, which kicked off last Saturday at the G Village Bangkok Circus Studio on Lat Phrao Soi 18.
Kluaythai, Annalynn, Roses Fall, Sudden Face Down, Ugoslabier, Break the Kids and In Vein will launch upcountry next, starting at Khon Kaen’s Tom Studio on July 29 and hitting the Boog Bar Pub & Restaurant in Nakhon Si Thammarat on August 25.
Saturday’s kickoff also featured all-girl outfit Adabel and Overdose. Upcountry there’ll be local talent at every gig, such as Skinny in Khon Kaen and Perpetual Demise in Nakhon Si Thammarat.
Get the details at (089) 768 6204 and the “Banana Mahachon” Facebook page.
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It soon became apparent that Gov. Jerry Brown had insisted on having the reserve limit in the bill, which was a little surprising.
It not only defied common sense by potentially forcing local districts to spend down financial reserves against their will, but clearly violated Brown’s own oft-voiced principles of “subsidiarity” – leaving decisions in local hands – and building reserves as prudent hedges.
It was clearly a sop to the powerful California Teachers Association and other unions which might have otherwise opposed Proposition 2, which was to be the focal point of Brown’s re-election campaign.
Forcing districts to spend down reserves could potentially free money for salary negotiations. Thus, placing the reserve limit in SB 858 would, it appeared, persuade union leaders to not oppose Proposition 2’s passage and give them cover vis-à-vis their own members – even though it’s unlikely that conditions for invoking the limit will be met in the foreseeable future, and school officials could probably sidestep it with creative budget-writing.
As the Legislature reconvened this week, the California School Boards Association demanded repeal of the limit, citing a study saying it could force districts to spend as much as $17 billion, including emergency reserves, against their better judgment.
“This is bad law and needs to be repealed,” the group’s president, Josephine Lucey, declared.
It may have been an acceptable tradeoff to Brown, ever the pragmatist willing to set aside even his principles when political exigencies intrude. But it’s still bad public policy and he has dropped hints that with Proposition 2 now passed, he might entertain repealing or modifying it.
However, a Brown flip-flop, if it happens, would make the whole episode look even more cynically manipulative and would also present a political dilemma for the unions.
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The Health Research Board today showcased some of the research projects and clinical trials which have been made possible thanks to this funding.
Trials to help prevent second strokes and heart attack after a first stroke episode.
Trials to establish whether giving ‘fresher’ blood versus ‘older blood’ in transfusions make a difference to patients who are admitted to the Intensive Care Unit.
The first national drug trial in pregnancy, assessing the use of aspirin in low risk women to prevent pregnancy complications.
Trials in blood cancer to see if new treatments can be combined with existing medication for better outcomes.
Quality of Life trials exploring ways to improve comfort and the quality of life for individuals with a chronic illness.
Some Principal investigators are available to talk about these studies in more detail.
Speaking at the showcase event, Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar, said: “Every treatment we receive, every tablet we take and every piece of medical advice we get should be based on solid research. This event is all about acknowledging the important work underway in Ireland thanks to the support of the HRB. There’s a fascinating mix of research projects on display here which really brings home the difference that good research can make to individual patients.
The impact of the facilities and networks are evident already. For example, Ireland was at the forefront in testing Oncotype DX, a genetic diagnostic that helps women and their doctors determine the best course of individualised treatment in breast cancer and which helps patients avoid unnecessary chemotherapy.
Ireland also led a trial which examined 1,100 babies experiencing growth restriction in the womb. The study changed international guidelines when it found that intervention to prevent serious health complications for a small baby in the womb is only required for those in the bottom 3% from a weight perspective, not the bottom 10% as previously thought. This is improving survival rates and outcomes for small babies, reducing stress among mothers-to-be and ensuring effective use of health service time and resources.
* What does the HRB Clinical Research Infrastructure entail?
Three HRB Clinical Research Facilities on hospitals grounds in Dublin, Galway and Cork where, to date, more than 10,000 people are participating in clinical trials. These facilities provide the physical space, facilities, expertise and culture needed to support patient-focused research studies and clinical studies aimed at understanding a range of diseases and translating the knowledge obtained through this research work into regulatory approved advances in patient care as fast as possible.
The Wellcome-HRB CRF in Dublin also houses the HRB Centre for Advanced Medical Imaging (CAMI). This is the only 3 Tesla MRI scanner dedicated to research in Ireland and plays a crucial role in a wide range of studies from breast cancer to dementia.
Five HRB Clinical Trial Networks in the specialties of Primary Care, Stroke, Cancer** Perinatal Care and Critical Care which will show whether specific interventions work, or indeed don’t work. **This is the cancer clinical trial network funded with the Irish Cancer Society for many years now – the All-Ireland Cooperative Oncology Research Group (ICORG).
HRB Trials Methodology Research Network which will strengthen the approach taken to trials and the way they are reported in health and social care so they are relevant, accessible and influential for patients, other service users, practitioners, policy makers and the public.
HRB Clinical Research Coordination Ireland a ‘hub’ which will coordinate Ireland’s involvement in clinical trials, promote our network internationally and increase our capacity to successfully deliver multicentre trials led by Irish or international investigators.
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A feast of family fun is on the cards when an annual village fundraiser gets underway this weekend.
Wroot Feast, on Saturday July 9, is the finale of a week of activities which has included quizzes, open gardens, bingo, sports, art and crafts, a scarecrow festival and a film night.
The weekend event takes place on the village playing field to commemorate St Pancras - the patron saint of children - and since 1890 it is always held on the Saturday nearest to July 11.
The day kicks off at noon with a grand parade of floats from Southlands Farm. At 12.30pm the show and sports day will be officially opened by Paul Verrico, on behalf of Isle-based charity Team Verrico to which feast proceeds will be donated.
There will then be the crowning of Miss Wroot and the judging of floats and fancy dress - this year’s event has a movie theme.
Attractions throughout the afternoon include a hog roast, face painting, bouncy castle, ferret racing, dance diplays, miniature donkeys, Daisy the T-Rex, a doodle wall, Bumblebee from Transformers, produce and crafts, classic cars and bikes, Reptile Rendezvous, Morris dancing and much more.
Organiser Neil Sanderson said: “One thing that we do really try hard with during Wroot Feast week is keeping costs down for families. So many events have had to put their prices up, where as we are only £2 per adult and kids are free, and plenty off free stuff for kids to do on the day.
“It’s something we are all really proud of especially when we can bring people from all over the Isle, Doncaster, Scunthorpe, Hull and even Sheffield together for the day.
“We love the fact that we have Team Verrico helping and supporting us this year.
“This is an amazing charity with even more amazing people behind it, the work they do supporting and helping people who have been diagnoised with cancer is unbelivable.
Paul Verrico said: “It is a huge honour to be asked to open this year’s Wroot Feast. It is an event which I have attended with increasing regularity since the birth of my daughter, Lucia, in 2010 and my son Alessandro, in 2012.
“Team Verrico was set up by my late wife in 2013 with a stated aim of sponsoring research into hard to treat cancers.
The day will end with a family night in the marquee from 7.30pm.
There will be live music from Wrooted, a DJ and bar.
Food will be available from the Woodfired Pizza Co, but everyone is welcome to take along their own food.
Entry to this is by ticket only - £8 adults, £3 for the under 18’s - available from Neil Sanderson at 4 Sand Lane Terrace and Village Markets.
All children must be accompanied by an adult, and only alcohol purchased at the bar may be consumed within the marquee.
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Professional golfer Fred Funk, right, gave a clinic Monday at The Woodlands Country Club, the site for the 10th Annual Insperity Championship.
THE WOODLANDS - Professional golfer Fred Funk made his triumphant return to The Woodlands Country Club on Monday, nearly one year after winning the PGA Champions Tour event held there.
Funk was back in town to promote this year’s tournament, the 10th Annual Insperity Championship, which will be played April 29-May 5 on the country club’s Tournament Course.
As of Monday, there were 81 competitors in the tournament field, including eight members of the World Golf Hall of Fame. The purse is set at $1.8 million, with the winner taking home $270,000.
Funk, a 56-year old Maryland native, won last year’s event by one shot over Tom Lehman, and is hoping to bring home the title again in 2013. The Woodlands Country Club holds special meaning to Funk, as it was the site of his first PGA Tour victory in 1992.
Overall, he has laid claim to nine PGA Tour victories in his career, as well as eight wins on the Champions Tour.
In addition to promoting the upcoming event, Funk also held a clinic for some local recreational golfers, handing out some pointers on swing technique.
Tim Moore of The Woodlands, one of the golfers who gathered around Funk as he demonstrated various intricacies of his game, said participating in the clinic was an exciting experience.
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Australian internet users were the big losers from today's NBN Co deal with Telstra, according to opposition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull, as it condemns them to pay high broadband prices.
The $11 billion deal with Telstra paved the way for accelerated rollout of the national fibre network.
But Turnbull said the deal served only Telstra and the Government's interests.
"The deal will have damaging consequences for consumers – that is, every Australian that purchases broadband or telephony services during the next decade," Turnbull said.
"The NBN Co corporate plan makes it clear that broadband prices will be high and stay high."
In addition, the sell-off of Telstra and Optus' HFC networks would remove the only networks that could have competed with NBN Co's services to keep prices low, he said.
Turnbull continued to push the Coalition's line that options should have been built into the Telstra deal to give NBN Co access to copper should a "future Government" decide to can FTTP in favour of an FTTN architecture.
The suggestion didn't find favour with the Greens.
"Today we heard the opposition communications spokesperson claimed that if elected, the Coalition will leave those parts of the NBN already existing intact, but that the remainder of the network would be a hodgepodge of Fibre to the Node (FTTN), wireless and Fibre to the Premises – a flawed model which was roundly rejected in the 2010 election campaign," Greens Senator Scott Ludlam said.
"This suggestion has nothing to do with communications reform".
Ludlam said the Opposition had been delaying the NBN for a year, "hysterically predicting doomsday scenarios for the sector."
He said constructive input on telecommunications reform from the Opposition would be welcome but none had eventuated.
Telecommunications analyst Paul Budde said the deal was structured in such a way that it would be difficult for a Coalition Government, if elected, to roll it back.
"In our eyes the future of the NBN looks now secured," Budde said. "The Opposition Shadow Minister Malcolm Turnbull has already indicated that he is not going to turn the clock back, but he of course is still planning changes if they would win the next elections.
"It will be difficult for any government to renege on the broadband services that are now staring to emerge in the first release sites around the country, once people started to get a better understanding what this will mean for them, few people in regional or rural areas will accept a second class solution for them, simply because that is cheaper."
Ovum consulting director Nigel Pugh said that while there had "always been an overhang to the deal with regards to a change of government", the analyst firm's "initial reading of the cessation clauses don't position this deal as a poison pill if there is a change of government at the next election."
The Australian Information Industry Association welcomed the deal, with the proviso that it renewed the "imperative [of business] to act quickly to seize the opportunities it presents."
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fans who have been getting their fix via the PlayStation 3 version of The Orange Box are in for a shock: The updates coming to the PC and Xbox 360 versions of TF2 won't be landing on Sony's console, reports 1up.
Additionally, the monolithic console is unlikely to ever see any updates from Valve. "We don't have PlayStation developers," said Valve marketing head Doug Lombardi.
"They're not doing ongoing development on The Orange Box for the PS3."
It doesn't seem to be a matter of disdain for the PlayStation 3, so much as a lack of resources that's preventing Valve from showing Sony's console the same affection they offer to Microsoft's.
When asked about the Xbox 360 exclusive zombie shooter Left 4 Dead, Valve founder Gabe Newell told 1up that the decision to make the game an exclusive came down to a matter of not having the "bandwidth" to port the title.
360 and PC version ourselves," Newell said, adding that he would like to craft a PS3 version, but that will only be possible as their "bandwidth allows."
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SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego International Auto Show is scheduled to open a four-day run at the convention center Thursday, with 400 new-model vehicles, alternative fuel cars, exotics, crossovers and classics on display.
Vehicles from 36 manufacturers will be shown, including, among others, a 2017 model year Porsche 911 Carrera coupe with new twin turbo engines, and a newly designed Lincoln Continental.
"The cars continue to be the stars," said Kevin Leap, show director. "Today's vehicles shine more brightly than ever with a level of quality, design brilliance, and tech savvy that has never been seen before."
Attendees will be able to test drive cars to experience various features first-hand, check out environmentally friendly vehicles and enjoy entertainment, according to the New Car Dealers Association of San Diego County, which organizes the event.
The show floor opens daily at 10 a.m. Closing times are 6 p.m. today, 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 7 p.m. Sunday.
Admission for attendees 13 over is $12. The cost is $9 for seniors 62 and over and military with identification, and $8 for youth 7-12 years old. Children 6 and under are free when accompanied by an adult.
Children 12 and under are free on Ford Family Day on Sunday, when accompanied by a paying adult.
Parking is available for $15 at the San Diego Convention Center. Show organizers, however, encourage visitors to take the trolley to the Gaslamp stop.
Information on discount coupons or VIP e-tickets is available at SDAutoShow.com .
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FILE — Michael Larobina, Director of Legal Affairs.
STAMFORD -- Director of Legal Affairs Michael Larobina defended his handling of legal issues related to the ongoing ethics proceedings and explained the city's settlement with former Board of Finance Chairman Joe Tarzia during a meeting with city representatives last week.
Larobina appeared before the Board of Representatives Legislative and Rules Committee on April 25 to explain the February arrangement that resulted in Tarzia's abrupt resignation from public office. Tarzia, first elected to the Board of Finance in 1987, had been battling several ethics violation charges at the time of his departure.
One charge, filed by Human Resources Generalist Tania Barnes in April 2010, alleged Tarzia asked two city employees, Director of Operations Ernie Orgera and Parks Superintendent Mickey Docimo, to intervene in the disciplining of a vehicle maintenance worker.
Another complaint, filed by City Fleet Manager Michael Scacco, alleged Tarzia, along with City Rep. Sal Gabriele, R-16, and Republican finance board member Bob Kolenberg, "led a campaign of harassment and retaliation" against him after he attempted to discipline city equipment mechanic James Fasoli.
The city's deal with Tarzia ended public ethics hearings on the complaints. The arrangement was a settlement of a federal lawsuit Tarzia had filed against the city in October 2010, Larobina said.
An ethical dilemma: Who should pay?
Tarzia was paid $45,000 in exchange for dropping the lawsuit, resigning from municipal office, and withdrawing all ethics complaints and Freedom of Information requests he had filed.
"In my mind, it was simply a question of stemming the hemorrhaging of taxpayer dollars to defend and pay legal fees to outside counsel to defend this frivolous lawsuit, that, in our opinion had no merit," Larobina said. "The decision was that we would spend more money litigating and defending this suit than we would to settle it. And we do that every day. We settle lawsuits every day."
Committee Chair Eileen Heaphy asked Larobina how much money he estimated the settlement saved taxpayers.
"I'm sure that we would have expended at least twice or three times the amount of what we paid out in legal fees," Larobina said. "The case really hadn't gone very far at that point. We spent a significant amount of money."
A breakdown of the more than $130,000 Stamford has spent on legal fees related to the past year's ethics proceedings shows the city paid the Law Office of Byelas & Neigher $42,390 for legal representation related to the federal lawsuit, in addition to the $45,000 settlement. It also spent an estimated $30,000 on legal fees incurred by the Board of Ethics in connection with the complaint filed against Tarzia and Kolenberg.
Arthur Layton, the committee vice chair, asked Larobina if the settlement stipulated Tarzia could not run for municipal office again or speak adversely about the city following his resignation. Larobina said the agreement did not include these requirements.
City Rep. Jay Fountain, D-7, asked about the status of the ethics complaints filed against Tarzia. Larobina said they had been withdrawn.
"Contrary to what some people have suggested, if you look at the ordinance, the Board of Ethics only has what we call in the law jurisdiction over individuals if they are a city employee, officer or elected official," Larobina said. "Once you cease to become one of those things, the board has no jurisdiction over you."
The Stamford Code of Ethics section on "continuing investigations," however, gives the Board of Ethics jurisdiction to pursue ethics inquiries even after the person in question has left a position with the city.
"If an officer or employee under investigation leaves office or employment, the Board by a majority vote shall have the power to continue the investigation," the Code says.
Heaphy said she was glad Larobina clarified the circumstances surrounding the settlement.
"I think that the important thing was getting it on the record and in the open," she said. "I think they did a fair and honest job with it. They came to a conclusion that saved the city a lot more problems, so I have to say that was wise on their part."
City Rep. Harry Day, R-13, said he was happy with Larobina's explanation.
"I'm a lawyer also and if I had been in Mike's shoes, I would have done exactly what he did," Day said. "It was a deal that was premised on here we are, and let's just resolve where we are. It didn't look back, it didn't look forward. It just resolved what was in front of them."
Larobina also answered questions from committee remembers regarding his department's stance on providing legal representation to city officials accused of ethics violations. Last spring, the city paid $3,000 for an attorney for Tarzia before deciding he would be responsible for his own legal fees unless he was cleared of the ethics charges against him.
"Initially Mr. Tarzia made a demand for his legal representation to be paid by the city," Larobina said. "Our initial position was that we would do that. Upon my insistence, I gathered the senior attorneys in the law department and asked for further research on this matter."
Larobina said he spent four or five hours researching the issue with three other attorneys in his office. They concluded the city was not legally obligated to provide upfront legal representation for city officials accused of ethics violations.
"We made a decision to change course," he said. "Practicing attorneys do this all the time. You take a position, you do further research, you reflect and you decide that you're going to go in a different direction."
City Rep. John Zelinsky, D-11, said he was concerned volunteer elected officials would be deterred from serving on Stamford boards and commissions if they felt they could be liable for large legal expenses.
"What's to stop somebody from filing an ethics complaint against anybody ... and we have to go out and retain an attorney to defend us possibly in a suit that really has no merit?" Zelinsky said.
Larobina said the issue would need to be taken up with the state Legislature.
"As your legal representation, let me tell you what your options are," he said. "You need to address this with the Connecticut General Assembly. Those are your options."
Board of Ethics Chair Dan Young said Wednesday he intends to address the subject at Thursday's meeting, which will be held in part to discuss possible recommendations for improvements to the ethics code.
"I don't know what other board members will think, but I intend to raise the issue of whether we should recommend to the Board of (Representatives) that they make a rule about when/whether participants get their attorneys' fees paid for," Young said in an email.
Thursday's Board of Ethics meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the Board of Representatives, legislative chambers at the Government Center. It is open to the public.
Staff Writer Kate King can be reached at kate.king@scni.com or at 203-964-2263.
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The world of technology, particularly medical technology, tends to be consumed with making us superhuman. It wants to enhance our abilities and prolong our lives, if not enable us to live forever. But new innovations give rise to new and tough choices, and a small but growing group of startups sees it as their mission to use technology, not to extend life, but to help people make and document some of the most difficult decisions regarding the end of it.
The story of a patient from her days as a student at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine particularly haunts Azalea Kim, co-founder of the startup TrueNorth. A 60-year-old woman, who had terminal cancer, came to the emergency room one weekend evening in dire condition. Because of a complicated family situation, Kim said, she arrived alone, without any family member to serve as an advocate and describe the kind of care she would want.
Although her medical record was overflowing with documentation, the doctors were unable to locate a health care proxy form that could also have provided guidance on the kind of procedures the woman would – and wouldn’t – have wanted in her final days. So, Kim explained, the doctors slipped into default mode, administering intravenous therapy, sending her to a radiologist, considering a surgical intervention and providing all kinds of aggressive and potentially unwanted care.
Partly motivated by that experience, Kim and two Harvard Business School classmates, Margaret Terry and Amy Flaster, launched TrueNorth. A recent graduate of the Healthbox startup accelerator in Boston, TrueNorth provides a free online service for patients to record their legal healthcare proxy (or power of attorney) and then share it with loved ones and healthcare providers.
The goal, the founders said, is for TrueNorth to encourage patients to tackle difficult end-of-life decisions and ultimately integrate with electronic medical record systems to make these forms available in the health and emergency contexts in which they’re needed.
A planning tool on MyDirectives prompts patients to indicate their preferences and values related to end-of-life care.
And it’s one of a handful of relatively new startups trying to use technology to help patients think through and share their end of life decisions. For example, along with TrueNorth, the Dallas-based MyDirectives exclusively offers support around health-related decisions, while startups Everplans and AfterSteps focus on medical planning services, along with a wider range of financial and legacy planning options.
According to Kim, just 25 percent of patients have documented a health care proxy or living will. And, other estimates indicate that even when a document exists, it can’t be located 35 percent of the time. These companies say their digital tools help ensure that patients’ voices are heard when they’re at their most vulnerable or can no longer speak for themselves.
For example, they can walk patients through their end-of-life prioritizes, enabling them to indicate that they most value being free from pain or not being a burden to their families. They also let patients specify the circumstances in which they’d want life-sustaining treatment, like heart machines and dialysis.
And their rise makes sense given the growth of the so-called “longevity economy” of services for the aging Baby Boomer demographic, increasing awareness among patients that they need to be more proactive about their health and the digitization of healthcare — not to mention major advances in medical technology.
As a study from the Pew Internet & American Life pointed out earlier this month, nearly 40 percent of American adults are caring for another adult or child with a serious illness. And, a big chunk of those adults are part of the workforce. According to MyDirectives, caregiving-related expenses cost employers $17 to $33 billion a year in lost productivity (canceled meetings, delayed product launches, etc.) and an additional $11 billion in healthcare costs because caregivers suffer from stress, depression and other conditions.
For end-of-life care companies, that means there’s an opportunity in targeting employers with a service that lets them improve care for their employees while hopefully contributing to productivity. For health plans, the pitch is that these services could help them attract and retain customers. And, in an era of rising healthcare costs, these services could also reduce the number of unwanted and often expensive procedures – an amount some experts peg at $6 billion a year.
That this topic isn’t exactly uplifting is not lost on these companies – Jeff Zucker, co-founder and CEO of MyDirectives acknowledged that many people don’t realize the ramifications of not having end-of-life documentation or just don’t want to deal with it. But he said his hope is that his company, which started its work in 2007 and launched its service last year, can help people think of end-of-life planning as a way to take control of their circumstances, minimize suffering and honor a person’s life.
Image by racorn via Shutterstock.
Another great use of technology – I was not aware of these end of life apps/software but they seem like they would be incredibly useful (providing all health care providers would have easy access to them, of course!).
I am the manager of HealthWorks Collective, the healthcare website in the Social Media Today network. I would love to repost this article for our readers. We have a series on Health Start-Ups and I think this would be a great addition. I would create a profile for you on our site and credit you as author, and would also link the post back to the original on gigacom. Please let me know if this is OK.
I can’t help but wonder if there isn’t a gray area that medical staff would consider intrusive or extreme and a family member would have considered it to be an option that may have extended the life of a loved one.
Does TrueNorth have an actual product available on the market right now? Plenty of nice problem statements on their site, but no screenshots or descriptions of the actual product. Iâ€™m unclear as to whether itâ€™s something I could proactively use as a patient vs. something a doctor would advise me to use.
Does TrueNorth have an actual product available on the market right now? Plenty of nice problem statements on their site, but no screenshots or descriptions of the actual product. I’m unclear as to whether it’s something I could proactively use as a patient vs. something a doctor would advise me to use.
A very useful post on end of life decisions. Thank you.
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October 6, 2011 (JUBA) - South Sudan said Wednesday that the ongoing food crisis in the newly independent country could develop into a famine if no immediate remedies are taken.
Joseph Lual Acuil, South Sudan’s minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management told a weekly media briefing in Juba that “lower harvests due to unreliable rains coupled with the rising food prices world-wide, have created a severe food shortage leaving more than 1.3 million in need of food aid."
As of September 26 the UN estimate that 342,000 South Sudanese have returned to the country since last autumn, many of whom require food aid. In July South Sudan seceded from the north following a referendum in January.
The minister said that the greater Equatoria region had been the worst effected by the late rains this year. Insecurity, returnees from north Sudan and newly displaced people from the contested region Abyei and Jonglei state have all added to the food crisis.
Acuil said his ministry has attempted to address the problem by sending aid to Agok in Northern Bahr el Ghazal where many of the 110,000 people displaced from Abyei and its surrounding areas are residing.
“I just spoken to the chief administrator and he confirmed arrival of some of the trucks", the minister said.
Flash floods in Agok in early September "compounded an already difficult situation for people displaced by conflict in Abyei in May this year" a recent UN report said.
"Food insecurity of the affected households continued to be of concern as the people displaced from Abyei are largely dependent on food assistance" the September 26 report found.
The minister also said that food aid was also being sent to Uror county in Jonglei State, where fighting in August killed around 600 people and displaced over 20,000, the UN estimates.
"The people at ‘severe risk’ may either not have enough food to eat, enough money to buy seed to plant or enough money to buy food. The prices are increasing almost every hour. I am in Wau, Western Bahr el Ghazal, nobody can get food at eleven o’clock in the morning because people queue up at the restaurant and other local hotels for food”, the minister added.
In many parts of the Republic of South Sudan, he said, food prices have gone up due drought and the closure of supply routes with north Sudan after partition. The situation is especially bad in the areas closest to the border with Sudan.
An agreement between North and South Sudan to create ten points for trade and for people to move between the two countries has yet to be implemented.
Minister Acuil said his government was working with donors to invest in irrigation systems to increase crop production.
"Urgent action is needed to prevent a looming humanitarian and food crisis in this country", said Acuil.
He added that more than 11,000 people returning to South Sudan are in Renk awaiting transportation, explaining that local resources have been overstretched.
In order to address the food shortages the United Nations World Programme (WFP) is helping South Sudan’s government by constructing new roads to improve humanitarian access and allow agriculture goods to be brought to market.
Lakes state Governor Chol Tong Mayay, speaking at the inauguration of two roads being built in Rumbek East County, pledged unconditional support and cooperation of his administration to facilitate humanitarian operations in the area.
The two new roads link local farmers to markets marking the beginning of a three-year partnership between the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the South Sudan Ministry of Transport to build a total of 500 kilometres of feeder roads to help boost agriculture development.
The two roads, totaling 114 km, will connect the villages of Karich with Amok Piny and Aluakluak with Akuoc Cok, providing farmers with better access to markets. The project is being carried out in close cooperation with the Ministry for Roads and Bridges and local government authorities.
“We are proud to be starting the construction of this road, which will connect food producers to markets and will connect isolated communities,” said Mayay, in a statement sent to Sudan Tribune.
Speaking to Sudan Tribune on Wednesday in Juba, Lydia Stone, a senior WFP staff member explained that road construction is a key part of WFP’s support to South Sudan to enable the nascent country to overcome some of the obstacles to developing agriculture.
“Feeder roads link areas with high agricultural potential to trunk roads and will provide farmers with easier access to markets for their crops, thereby stimulating production and trade”, she said.
In the statement Kuoi Maluach, the chief of Paloich, one of the remote villages connected by the new road said: “We suffer from insecurity and a lack of services. If a woman is having trouble giving birth, we have to transport her to the clinic by bicycle. The road will change everything. It will give us access to trade and services”.
Stone said Chris Nikoi, WFP’s new country director, plans to build 500 km of feeder roads throughout South Sudan, especially in areas with high food production.
She named Western Equatoria as one of the states WFP plans to help the government construct feeder roads to facilitate local farmers access markets with their produce.
The two roads in Rumbek East are being built with funding from the South Sudan Recovery Fund. WFP has contracted the German organization GIZ to undertake the construction works which will be completed by July 2012. To ensure the long life of the feeder roads, local authorities and communities are being trained in road maintenance. Since 2004, WFP has repaired 2,600 km of trunk road, linking eight out of the ten state capitals and connecting South Sudan to Uganda and Kenya via four different routes.
The two feeder roads are being constructed as part of the Lakes State Stabilisation Programme, a joint UN programme under the ownership of the government of South Sudan. The programme aims to show the benefits of peace and encourage the participation and empowerment of communities affected by conflict and poverty.
Customers in Unity state have told Sudan Tribune reporter Bonifacio Taban Kuich that the cost of some basic food products have doubled since South Sudan became independent in July.
Traders and retailers say that they are not to blame for the increase in prices of food and other goods due to the long distances they have to travel and the increase in fuel prices. Landlocked South Sudan has to import almost all of its food and other goods including petrol.
Despite being an oil producing country South Sudan has no refinery or processing plant so it has to send its oil to be exported through North Sudan. Juba accuses Khartoum of the blocking the world’s newest international border forcing price rises especially in border states like Unity. In September the two countries agreed to establish ten entry check points in order to facilitate the movement for goods and people.
After South Sudan’s secession many traders from North Sudan returned to the North leaving locals to step in to fill the gap. Women in Rubkotna town have taken over businesses from Darfuri traders including vegetable sales.
One of the women, Nyayang Nhial, said a bundle of ground okra that cost 1 South Sudanese Pound (SSP) two months ago now costs 2 SSP.
"Before the local perfumes cost 20 SSP but now reached up to 50 SSP", said Nhial who started working in 2005 after her husband died in a car accident.
Customers told Sudan Tribune that almost everything in the market had doubled in price.
Viviana Philip, a customer at the market said she cannot afford to feed her family properly. Items like slippers have risen from 10 SSP to 25 SSP over the last two months, she said while asking the government to intervene.
Local butcher Latjor Wiyoak said that meat prices have also increased from 10 SSP to 12 SSP a kilo. He said traders had been forced into the price hike as otherwise they would make a loss.
Businesses in South Sudan face many challenges. Poor roads and insecurity make it difficult to move goods around the county and river transport can take weeks.
As most traders in South Sudan were from the North before independence many South Sudanese are not as experienced at importing goods from abroad which inevitably involves using much sort-after hard currency.
President Salva Kiir of South Sudan announced this week that he would hold a meeting with his northern counterpart Omar Hassan al-Bashir on the issue of price rises and rampant inflation.
Stops issuing these stark warnings and get down to the real business of picking it so urgently. It’s too dires now, and will eventually be too diaboblical if you guys failed to addressed it cause now rather later.
This is a man-made drought so, the government of South Sudan should take the case to the International Court at Hague against the Global Pollutors Europe, USA, Russia, China, India and Australia. Although there are others, these mentioned countries are the major Pollutors and must be held accountable for loss of Rain in Africa.
the should start doing something before this particular cost of living shooting high and rocket the sky. it is the government responsibility to address the food prices before it is deteriorate. failure to address it will lead into disaster.
Surprise! Our government did not see this coming! Instead of making food security the number one priority, guess what did it do, it made the relocation of the capital city an important matter. What a bunch of mindless people!
I fully agree with the statement attibuted to the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs about the looming famine in South Sudan if urgent intervention measures were not taken. The issue had already been raised. What I do not seem to understand is Minister’s claim that " greater Equatoria region had been the worst effected by the late rains this year" is not in accord with the facts. Plse crosscheck.
The recent Rapid Cros Assessment (RCA) indicates that the only states which were better off in terms of food secuirty were the three states in Greater Equatoria. The Minister therefore has to crosscheck his information so that any intervention has to address the trully food insecure population.
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Billionaire Mark Cuban offered some advice to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) this week, urging the newly anointed congresswoman to avoid the “bad habit” of partisanship when relaying her message to the masses.
An avowed socialist, Ocasio-Cortez rocketed to political stardom during the 2018 midterm elections after unseating fellow Democrat Joe Crowley en route to the U.S. House of Representatives. The congresswoman engaged in a war of words with House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) last weekend after he criticized her proposal to pay for a “Green New Deal” policy initiative by imposing a 70 percent tax on the rich.
“My point is that right now Pelosi=McCarthy=Schumer=McConnell=all the same. Now would be a great time for the new generation of politicians, across the board, to take a new approach. We need you to represent us all. The partisan approach doesn’t work,” Cuban wrote.
Cuban, who appears on ABC’s “Shark Tank” and owns the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, has also mulled the possibility of running for office. He is frequently mentioned as a potential presidential candidate in 2020.
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Yet again the transfer window seems to be passing by with barely a mention of Stoke City. This summer all the narcoleptic gamblers, crocks, and 'ard workers seem to be tied down to lengthy contracts elsewhere.
Much to my son&apos;s continued disgust, Stoke City are the least interesting Premiership club to support during the transfer window.
Almost the entire school summer holidays can be wasted parked in front of Sky Sports News watching absolutely nothing happening.
Or as Sir Anthony Pulis would put it, &apos;waiting for something to drop&apos;.
Frankly it&apos;s enough to turn a 15 year old into a Sunderland fan, at least for the duration of the window.
How exciting that must be: watching players come, go, nearly come, nearly go, pass within 150 miles of the Stadium of Light on their way to visit the in-laws only to find themselves snapped up on double the salary just because they stopped off for a cup of tea somewhere outside Carlisle.
Contrast that with Stoke City; for a start you can discount any player we&apos;re linked with as they will also be linked to several other clubs all of whom will be prepared to pay them more money and probably not ask them to work quite so &apos;ard.
We know immediately whether they&apos;re a genuine possibility if the announcer on SSN prefaces the player&apos;s name with &apos;injury prone&apos;, &apos;addict&apos;, &apos;convicted murderer&apos;, &apos;cat-strangler&apos;, &apos;pensioner&apos;, &apos;free agent&apos;, &apos;recently retired&apos;, &apos;unknown&apos; and so on.
3. &apos;ard working players from the championship who are not quite good enough but might be as long as "they buy into this football club&apos;s &apos;ard work ethic of &apos;ard work and then more &apos;ard work followed by a day of really really &apos;ard work as a reward for all their &apos;ard work "
Our only signing to date, Jonathan Woodgate, is the living (or barely living) embodiment of Category 2, suffering, as he does, from every single complaint listed above.
But apart from him, we remain seated in front of SSN with no expectations other than to be informed of a whole host of players who&apos;ve turned us down for being unglamorous, not in the north and not in the south (that’ll be the midlands then), not paying enough, not liking our style of football, not liking cold, wind or rain, having an allergy to the angle of the roof on the Family Stand, their agent not liking the M6, there being no Pizza Express in Stoke, and preferring Cliff Richard to Tom Jones thus only being prepared to sign if the fans dispense with Delilah and adopt Wired For Sound as their anthem.
We are the masters of the last minute deal, many of whom we get really, really excited about like Eidur Gudjohnnsen only to discover the reason they came to us was.... was..... well, actually none of us can work out why Eidur came to us except that we were pathetically grateful to sign a player of his stature and prepared to pay him a wad of cash without realising he&apos;d formally retired from the game but singularly failed to inform anyone of the fact.
And then there are the last minute signings that barely warrant a raising of the head from the summer long transfer inactivity torpor, like Jon Walters & Dean Whitehead, who turn out to be worth a thousand Eidur Fatjohnnssens and exemplify further TP&apos;s mastery of the dark arts of footballing alchemy.
We sit, we wait, we arch an eyebrow, we groan, we nod off, and we repeatedly utter the mantra that has served us so well in the past: &apos;Trust in Tony&apos;.
Or we pretend to support Sunderland for the close season.
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The bullpen collapsed again as the Diamondbacks lost for the 13th time in the past 19 games.
DENVER – The cast has changed for the Diamondbacks, only they keep playing out the same tired script, one brutal night after another. In a deathly quiet visitors’ clubhouse, players sat motionless in front of their lockers late Wednesday night, seemingly stunned by the realization that their misery could reach new depths.
Yoshihisa Hirano, only recently given the reins in the closer’s role, became the latest Diamondbacks reliever to get beat in excruciating fashion, serving up D.J. LeMahieu’s opposite-field, walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth of a 5-4 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night.
The Diamondbacks were two outs away from shaving their deficit in the National League West to just 1 1/2 games. Instead, it could grow to 4 1/2 games by the time they leave town on Thursday evening.
Handed a 4-3 lead in the ninth, Hirano allowed a leadoff single to Gerardo Parra, a hard-hit ball that first baseman Paul Goldschmidt could not handle, and, two batters later, Hirano left a fastball over the plate that LeMahieu smacked into the right-field seats.
They did get a lead. They did get a solid outing from lefty Patrick Corbin. And they did get good relief work through the eighth inning. But while the ninth was a disaster, the Diamondbacks’ offense once again gave the pitching staff little breathing room.
With one out in the fourth, Alex Avila launched a solo home run to center field to extend the Diamondbacks’ lead to 4-2. It was the last baserunner the Diamondbacks would have, as the Rockies retired 17 consecutive batters through the end of the game.
Rockies relievers recorded 15 of those outs, marking the first time in the franchise’s 25-year history the bullpen recorded five perfect innings.
It was the eighth consecutive game decided by one run that the Diamondbacks have lost. This season, they’re just 18-28 in one-run games.
But the Diamondbacks’ recent misery is not limited to one-run games. Nineteen games ago, they were a first-place team. But their 6-13 stretch has resulted in a five-game swing in the standings, with the Diamondbacks now sitting in third place with 16 games remaining.
Parra smoked the first pitch he saw from Hirano on one hop to Goldschmidt. It came off his bat at 98 mph, and Goldschmidt tried to play the ball to his left on a short hop. He couldn’t do so cleanly.
After a Charlie Blackmon sac bunt, LeMahieu hit a 1-1 fastball, a pitch that Hirano wanted down and away but instead went up and over the plate.
“It got away and it was kind of up where he could hit it,” Hirano said, speaking through interpreter Kelvin Kondo.
It was the eighth time the Diamondbacks’ bullpen had suffered a loss in the past 15 games.
===
And Kate came out ahead of Meghan in a recent poll.
Photo Illustration by Jordan Amchin. By Mark Cuthbert/UK Press/Getty Images (Queen Elizabeth II), by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images (Prince Harry).
Prince Harry has pushed his grandmother the Queen off the top spot in a new royal poll, which has deemed the newly married duke the most popular royal of 2018.
Harry, sixth in line to the throne and at the center of the year’s biggest royal media event, was deemed likable by 77 percent of respondents, in a poll of 3,600 Britons conducted by YouGov between May 15 and October 31. Harry is followed closely by the Queen, with 74 percent, and Prince William, who is third with 73 percent of respondents saying they have a favorable view of him.
Harry is described by his fans as “admirable, likable, humorous, fun-loving, and genuine,” the YouGov survey said.
Prince Charles, who celebrates his 70th birthday tomorrow, comes seventh in the poll. His brother Prince Andrew is the least popular royal, ranked 15th in the survey.
Despite their constant presence in the media and ease with audiences, both Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle came in behind their spouses in the poll, ranked fourth and sixth, respectively. (Meghan came in behind Prince Philip, who has retired from public life, though he might have decades of royal life to boost him there.) It’s not the only poll in which Kate has recently out-ranked her sister-in-law; another recent survey found that Kate remains the most influential royal when it comes to fashion.
The Queen, the country’s longest reigning monarch, is traditionally voted the most popular member of the royal family, but 2018 has been an epic year for Prince Harry, whose global popularity was on vivd display during his and Meghan’s recent South Pacific tour. Only 7 percent of those surveyed had a negative opinion of Harry while 13 percent had a neutral one. 20 percent had a negative view of Prince Charles, and 30 percent percent had a neutral opinion.
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9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
The Catholic University of America | Washington, D.C.
3600 John McCormack Road, N.E.
Attire for this event is business.
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SYCAMORE – A Cortland man who police say stabbed his father in the chest with an 11-inch knife during an argument is being held without bond after a court hearing Wednesday.
DeKalb County Judge Philip Montgomery ruled Wednesday that Ricardo A.G. Vasquez, 24, of the 100 block of Paw Paw Avenue in Cortland, would remain jailed without bond. The DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office has asked that Vasquez be denied bond, and a hearing on that request is set for 9 a.m. April 23.
Vasquez was charged with attempted murder and armed violence, aggravated domestic battery and aggravated battery causing bodily harm. If convicted of attempted murder, he could face up to 30 years in prison.
“If there is a finding of severe bodily injury, you’d serve your sentence at 85%,” Montgomery told Vasquez, who appeared during the bond call via closed-circuit video.
Montgomery also ordered that Vasquez have no contact with his father.
Vasquez, who had been hospitalized since the incident, was arrested at 3 p.m. Tuesday at Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital. He is also charged with criminal damage to property.
First responders were dispatched to the area around 9:45 p.m. Saturday, police have said. A man, later identified as Ricardo Vasquez, Ricardo A.G. Vasquez’s father, ran to a neighbor’s home and asked them to call for help. Upon arrival, police learned the father had been stabbed.
According to court records, Ricardo A.G. Vasquez stabbed his father twice in the chest with an 11-inch knife. Vasquez also used a ball joint separater tool to damage his father’s car.
Police said in court records that he broke the windshield and made several dents in the 2003 Nissan’s body.
The father was taken to OSF St. Anthony Hospital in Rockford with serious injuries. The nursing supervisor on call Tuesday evening at St. Anthony’s said that he was no longer in the ICU and not listed on her patient sheet.
Vasquez is currently on probation for an earlier felony conviction stemming from an incident in Sycamore, according to DeKalb County court records. In October 2016, he was charged with aggravated battery to a pregnant woman, domestic battery and battery to an unborn child.
Police said Vasquez admitted to trying to punch his pregnant girlfriend in the abdomen during an argument over her plans to take their 4-month-old child and leave him. Vasquez pleaded guilty in October 2018 and was sentenced to two years of probation and a domestic violence prevention class in that case, records show.
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These are commercial building permits on file with Cleveland County for the month of September.
Location: 525 W. Zion Church Rd.
Location: 110 S. Main St.
Location: 4357 W. Dixon Blvd.
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The only thing missing is the star of the show. When she hears that performer Cassie Cassava (American Idol finalist Melinda Doolittle) is coming back home to sing in her church’s Easter service, Marlee contrives to steal the singer for her own program. She’s just trying to help her fellow “Crispers.” A big production needs a big star, right? But of course, nothing ever goes as planned. When disaster strikes, will Marlee’s big dreams disintegrate? Will she discover what will truly help others? What is Easter really all about?
As Marlee struggles with the collapse of her theatrical dream, her friends gather around to encourage her and point her in the direction of Easter’s true significance. She thinks “bigger” means “more important,” that good drama needs flash and show. But she learns that Easter’s message of forgiveness and hope doesn’t need a big spectacle. Jesus “came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” The message from Mark 10:45 resounds throughout the story.
This newest Easter-themed VeggieTales show (the first since 2004) features Bob the Tomato as the good-hearted but slightly grumpy Pastor Erwin, Mr. Luntz as the slightly crazed robot rabbit creator, and the rest of the usual Veggies as townspeople and singers. The music, always funny and clever, is better than ever. Because Cassie is coming to sing in an Easter church service, she and the choir naturally belt out gospel tunes heavy on soul. Doolittle showcases her talent through Cassie, adding a delightful new character to the Veggie family.
Big Idea Entertainment is using the launch of this DVD to partner with World Vision. The DVD includes a short promotional video with a special message from Bob and Larry on the opportunities for child sponsorship. Also releasing in conjunction with the DVD is a special music CD, VeggieTales: Hosanna! Today’s Top Worship Songs For Kids!, featuring award-winning artists Amy Grant and Casting Crowns’ Mark Hall.
‘Twas the Night Before Easter contrasts the popular sentiment that “bigger is better” with the gospel truth that Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection is our true source of hope. The writers did not flinch from including direct references to Scripture and the Bible’s themes of hope and salvation. In this VeggieTale, the gospel message shines bright and clear.
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Qualcomm has violated a court-ordered ban on the use of patented wireless tech owned by Broadcom, a federal judge rules.
The legal drama between wireless chipmakers Qualcomm and Broadcom continues this week.
On Thursday, the companies said a federal judge has ruled that Qualcomm is in contempt of an injunction that bans the use of patented wireless technology owned by Broadcom.
U.S. District Judge James Selna ruled that Qualcomm violated an injunction issued last year that banned Qualcomm from using technology in its chips that violates Broadcom's patents on wireless technology. The judge also ruled that Qualcomm has not been paying royalties to Broadcom for the use of its technology in Qualcomm-based cell phones with QChat walkie-talkie feature.
Qualcomm said in a statement that it will appeal the decision. It didn't disclose how much the damages will mount to.
In May 2007, a jury found that Qualcomm had violated patents held by Broadcom that help cell phones process video and walkie-talkie conversations. Selna ordered Qualcomm to stop using the technology and to pay Broadcom royalties on existing infringing QChat products.
Qualcomm has since developed technology that circumvents the disputed patents. This means that newer QChat phones aren't affected.
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Country singer Daryle Singletary died suddenly Monday morning.
Singletary died at his home in Nashville. The cause of death is not immediately known, but it was unexpected.
Daryle had 5 Top 40 hits, including "I Let Her Lie" and "Amen Kind of Love." He also scored a number 4 song with "Too Much Fun."
He performed Friday in Alabama at The Rodeo Club and as far as we can tell there were no signs of trouble or health complications.
He was not a Bro Country guy ... his roots were more traditional country. He once said, "I've been fortunate to be able to always keep it real and not have to compromise."
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In the age of Instagram, food is no longer designed to just be food. It’s a set piece, a lifestyle statement of fantastical hyperbole. So we drink unicorn lattes, eat rainbow bagels, and lick our charcoal-black soft serve in front of neon signs. Food is no longer about eating. It’s about the documentation of unattainable perfection, catching the next ever-illusive meme.
Yet in this new wave of food-as-influencer, there is a single, curmudgeonly brand that insists on photographing its dishes on conference room tables, under fluorescent lighting, and from all sorts of unflattering angles. It’s a brand that looks art directed by your 65-year-old parents who bought some no-name Android smartphone, hired based upon their portfolio of blurry photos on Facebook.
Indeed, transparency strategy that’s been working for Domino’s since it started critiquing its own product in a 2010 reformulation and apology tour. Domino’s admitted that its food was failing taste tests and disappointing consumers, and it promised to embrace more legible ingredients. Sales at Domino’s continue to climb in the U.S. while industry-leader Pizza Hut’s drop. One forecast projects Domino’s taking Pizza Hut’s No. 1 spot by the end of the year. And though it has fewer followers than the Hut, Domino’s routinely gets more likes on Instagram and Twitter. In the world of big pizza, this unlikely approach is outmaneuvering the competition, including peers like Papa John’s and Little Caesar’s.
But let us be clear about something when it comes to Domino’s social feeds. It’s not just full of realistic photography without a food stylist on the set. It’s often downright gross bro-food, like what you might see waking up at 5 a.m. on the floor of a frat house.
We’re talking about grease-stained boxes, mozzarella cheese that has a white balance set to the color of earwax (17,000 likes).
We’re talking about garlic knots that resemble lovingly shaped micro-penises (8,500 likes).
Here’s a twist you didn’t see coming! Introducing BREAD TWISTS, pizza’s newest best friend.
We’re talking about congealed chicken wings sitting in a pool of lukewarm buffalo sauce (8,000 likes).
We’re talking about using a flash to photograph food (10,000 likes).
This pizza’s hot in more ways than one. ????????????
The Domino’s feed is not appetizing by any objective measure. But if you look at it long enough, over enough time, the cadence of grotesqueness begins to sink in. The studio lighting and Photoshop-enhanced pepperoni of Papa John’s and Pizza Hut start to look like the culinary equivalent of a French manicure and a spray tan. Fake.
Instead of employing professional photographers, Domino’s relies on its digital marketing team to update the social media feeds. The cinema verité approach began in 2012, when Domino’s launched the Show Us Your Pizza Campaign, and shared the (often ugly) food photos taken by its customers. After that, the aesthetic just stuck. And today, the pizzas Domino’s photographs are all real, either pulled from a test kitchen oven, or delivered by an employee, no food stylist required. And, clearly, there’s no sweating the need for natural light or perfect post-processing by Domino’s employees who will sometimes even take photographs in their own suburban homes. Domino’s is a living embodiment of a #nofilter brand.
Of course, this approach doesn’t just buck social media trends; it bucks everything established by fast food (or what the industry calls QSR) restaurants. Consider the low-angled Greek god stature with which McDonald’s has photographed its Big Macs over the years. The bun is a golden mountain. The seeds upon it are alabaster gems. And somehow, as if through consumer X-ray vision, you can even make out the pickles, beef, lettuce, and special sauce within their perfectly balanced stack. These foods have always been photographed as icons, so carefully presented that no minimum wage employee working during the lunch rush could ever live up to the promise. And yet as consumers, we continue to fall for the bait and switch again and again.
In theory, Domino’s will only drive more loyalty with every person who sees a deflated pile of cheese sticks on its feed and orders them in real life, because Domino’s is delivering on its promise. And in the age of the unicorn-colored influencer, when nothing we see in social media is really all that real, perhaps society is using Domino’s to self-administer its own antidote, one soggy slice at a time.
For now, Domino’s plans to stay the course with its approach to food photography. Maloney suspects that Domino’s will soon have competitors on Grosstagram, and as implausible as that may sound in today’s influencer space, perhaps it’s true. For as much as we’re all hooked on social media, more and more, we seem to be reaching a societal tipping point of understanding that what we see online isn’t actually all that real. And for a brand that wants to connect with its customers in an earnest way? Maybe admitting that is the first step.
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The Truth and Reconciliation Commission's (TRC) final report shone a light on Canada's residential school system, a dark chapter in our history with lasting impacts still felt by Indigenous people today. Ontario is working with Indigenous partners to address the legacy of residential schools, close gaps and remove barriers, create a culturally relevant and responsive justice system, support Indigenous culture, and reconcile relationships with Indigenous peoples. True reconciliation goes beyond the TRC's 'Calls to Action'. The Province will continue to look to Indigenous partners for guidance and leadership.
Ontario plans to invest more than $250 million over the next three years on programs and actions focused on reconciliation, which will be developed and evaluated in close partnership with our Indigenous partners.
New Funding: Up to $20 million over three years, including up to $1.4 million in 2016-17 to support the revitalization of the Mohawk Institute Residential School.
Work with Indigenous partners to establish a commemorative monument in Toronto -- dedicated to residential school survivors -- as a site of learning, healing and reconciliation.
Support restoration of the Mohawk Institute Residential School and work with Indigenous partners to develop an interpretation centre.
Identify death records of "lost children" who attended residential schools and contribute to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation archives, locate burial sites and repatriate remains when requested and/or provide memorial ceremonies and markers.
Work to waive fees for Indigenous people seeking to reclaim traditional names, and honour Indigenous traditions by accommodating the use of single names.
Address systemic racism and discrimination directed against Indigenous peoples through an Indigenous-Informed Anti-Racism Strategy.
New Funding: Up to $150 million over three years, including $3.5 million in 2016-17 in life promotion support and $2.3 million in 2016-17 in new mental health and addictions supports.
Establish up to six new or expanded Indigenous Mental Health & Addictions Treatment and Healing Centres.
Help stop the cycle of intergenerational trauma by investing in mental health and wellness programs.
Increase the number of licensed child care spaces and culturally relevant programming off-reserve.
Expand child and family programs on-reserve and, through Indigenous and federal partners, make supports available in more communities.
Through recreation-based programming, work with remote high-need Indigenous communities to identify community priorities for children, youth and families.
Support culturally based suicide prevention strategies for children and youth, and provide crisis intervention, as needed.
Explore reclassifying First Nations/federally operated schools to enhance collaboration between the provincially funded education system and First Nation schools.
Develop an action plan for responding to social emergencies in Northern First Nation communities.
New Funding: Up to $45 million over three years, including $200,000 in 2016-17 in Gladue expansion.
Create more victim services programs for Indigenous peoples.
Establish an Indigenous Language Courts pilot project to help break down language barriers and increase access to justice.
Increase funding to Community Justice Programs that focus on healing and cultural restoration.
Develop culturally appropriate programs, including community supervision, to provide support to Indigenous people accused of crime.
Host a Gladue summit to identify service gaps in the justice system.
Increase the number of Gladue report writers and Gladue aftercare workers.
Enhance healing services and cultural supports for Indigenous inmates in custody and offenders under community supervision.
New Funding: Up to $30 million over three years.
Develop an Indigenous Cultural Revitalization Fund that would support cultural activities and programming in Indigenous communities, including on-reserve and in urban centres.
Host an Indigenous languages symposium with Indigenous partners to review current programs, and to identify community priorities and supports needed for Indigenous languages.
Support youth cultural camps in Indigenous communities.
Create a traditional medicine garden on government-owned property in Toronto.
New Funding: Up to $5 million over three years.
Lead by example and take active steps to apply a model of reconciliation on a daily basis.
Change the name of the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs to the Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation.
Reflect the term 'Indigenous' in government ministries and programs, where appropriate.
Discourage the use of names that are considered offensive to Indigenous people in organizations funded by the government.
Engage with Indigenous partners on approaches to enhance participation in the resource sector by improving the way resource benefits are shared.
Work with the federal government to address the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
This document was published on May 30, 2016 and is provided for archival and research purposes.
===
The final chapter in Roy Andersson's droll trilogy 'on being a human being' introduces three dozen more brilliantly absurd vignettes.
In a Venice Film Festival lineup full of cynicism, suicide and despair, who would expect the new Roy Andersson picture — “the final part of a trilogy on being a human being” — to be the most life-affirming? And yet, from its comic title to the wistful smile that accompanies its over-too-soon last shot, Andersson’s delightfully odd “A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence” finds the Swedish master of comic absurdity feeling downright generous, perched at a comfortable enough distance from this coterie of sad sacks and lonelyhearts to recognize the humor in such painful subjects as mortality, aging, unpaid debts and unrequited love.
Just last year, Ethan Hawke was quoted as referring to “Before Sunrise” and its two sequels as “the lowest-grossing trilogy in the history of motion pictures.” But even he probably hasn’t bought tickets to Andersson’s incomparable triptych — rapturously received by critics, though audiences have proven all but allergic to the first two films, which have cleared barely $100,000 so far in the U.S. The result of four years of rigorous planning and meticulous execution, “Pigeon” could fare slightly better than “Songs From the Second Floor” and “You, the Living” (both of which bowed at Cannes), but only just. At least arthouse programmers can now get creative, treating Andersson’s now-complete tragicomic opus, a decade and a half in the making, as the special event that it is.
“Pigeon” is by far the most accessible of the three films, offering a continuity throughline in the form of novelty salesmen Sam (Nils Westblom) and Jonathan (Holger Andersson), a comedic duo who’d be right at home in a Samuel Beckett or Tom Stoppard play. Here, the Laurel-and-Hardy-esque pair appear in nearly one-third of the film’s 37 fixed-camera compositions, a series of chuckle-inducing tableaux that clock in at just under three minutes apiece on average.
Each of these shots serves as a nearly self-contained comic vignette, like a cross between a “Where’s Waldo” cartoon and a Gregory Crewdson photograph, and the best way to approach them is as you might a large-canvas painting or a Jacques Tati film: Study the faces, soak up the details, allow the eye to wander and the mind to free-associate. Where other directors seek out exceptional moments, Andersson endeavors to capture the poetry of the mundane.
With the exception of one scene, in which twin girls blow bubbles from the balcony of a nondescript apartment building, and another that observes a plumpish new mom (Andersson loves his ladies with a little meat on their bones) cooing over her baby carriage, all the characters here are adults. Most of them have fewer days ahead of them than they do behind, but none seem to truly appreciate the gift of living. Andersson does, and he wants us to recognize it, too.
Right up front, the helmer presents three “meetings with death”: a husband who suffers a heart attack while struggling to uncork a wine bottle; an old lady convinced she can take her handbag to heaven; and a cruise-ship passenger who collapses at the lunch counter, having just paid for his meal (sorry, no refunds). More playful than his fellow Swede Ingmar Bergman, who famously challenged Death to a game of chess, Andersson recognizes that there’s no cheating mortality — though sometimes we can speed it along, like the suicidal CEO glimpsed later in the film. Best just to have a sense of humor about it.
Some critics have mistaken Andersson’s movies as “depressing” (while others have incorrectly labeled him a “commercials director,” failing to understand that he accepted those commissions to finance his painstaking feature ventures). “Droll” would be a better word for the artist’s attitude toward the washed-out blue and beige world he presents. His characters wear white face makeup to enhance their pallor, sleepwalking zombielike through their lives. Even the young couple seen necking on the beach appear to be doing so in slow-motion.
In the interval since his last film, Andersson has embraced hi-def digital cameras, which benefit his aesthetic enormously. Now, the helmer can ensure that even the far-distant background of every scene appears in sharp focus. Though the colors are dreary and the characters numb, compositionally speaking, there’s not a single dull frame in the entire film. Andersson thinks like a painter, following Edward Hopper’s example of enhancing loneliness by depicting it within a greater context. He shoots rooms at an angle, using perspective to direct our eyes toward the activity in adjacent rooms or on the other side of windows, instead of observing everything directly on axis, the way his similarly detail-oriented American namesake, Wes Anderson, insists on doing.
In “Pigeon,” people go about their business in the dreary little boxes of their lives, but they don’t behave like marionettes on strings, but almost like actors on a stage, occasionally turning to address the audience. “Today I feel kind,” announces a cheesemonger, while his wife gestures to the audience to let us know she thinks he’s crazy.
It’s unclear whether the shift to digital has allowed Andersson to manipulate his footage the way directors such as David Fincher and Ruben Ostlund do, using their locked-down cameras to make invisible nips and tucks. Regardless of the method, the film is a master class in comic timing, employing pacing and repetition with the skill of a practiced concert pianist.
Early on, outside a dance studio where the flamenco teacher gets a little too hands-on with one of her pupils, a lady janitor says into her phone, “I’m happy to hear you’re doing fine.” (Mobile phones are a rare nod to modern life in a film that appears to be set in a timeless retro past — and where King Charles XII and his infantry are prone to drop in unannounced, like characters in a Monty Python sketch.) The cleaning woman’s line becomes a hollow platitude echoed by many of the characters by film’s end, and yet, there’s something to be said for merely surviving in such an absurd world as this.
Down on their luck, Sam and Jonathan bill themselves as being in the “entertainment business,” selling plastic vampire teeth and a corny laughing device engineered to amuse. These two friends look like they haven’t smiled in a long, long time. Emerging as the most well-rounded character in the entire trilogy, Jonathan suffers from melancholy spells, culminating in a disturbing dream sequence, where colonial soldiers lead African slaves into a giant copper instrument that produces a beautiful sound as the people inside are being roasted alive. What a curious species are homo sapiens. Judging by the film, we wage war, torture animals and take advantage of one another, and yet, Andersson assures us, things could be worse. In the grand scheme of things, he’s happy to show we’re doing fine.
Production: (Sweden-Norway-France-Germany) A Roy Andersson Filmproduktion production, in co-production with 4 1/2 Fiksjon, Essentail Filmproduction, Parisienne de Production, Sveriges Television, Arte France Cinema, ZDF/Arte, with support from Svenska Filminstitutet, Eurimages Council of Europe, Nordisk Film- och TV Fond, Norska Filmfonden, Film- ind Medienstiftung NRW, CNC. (International sales: Coproduction Office, Paris.) Produced by Pernilla Sandstrom. Executive producers, Sarah Nagel, Isabell Wiegand. Co-producers, Philippe Bober, Hakon Overas.
Crew: Directed, written by Roy Andersson. Camera (color, HD), Istvan Borbas, Gergely Palos; editor, Alexandra Strauss; production designer, Ulf Jonsson, Julia Tegstrom, Nicklas Nilsson, Sandra Parment, Isabel Sjostrand; costume designer, Julia Tegstrom; sound, Robert Hefter, Owe Svensson; casting, Sophia Frykstam, Zora Rux, Katja Wik, Stig-Ake Nilsson, Andrea Eckerbom.
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Steven Spielberg has Ready Player One officially out in theaters today and Carl's Jr. tried to get in on the marketing fun by renaming their new charbroiled sliders to "SpielBurgers." The legendary director caught wind of the fast food chain's publicity stunt and quickly shut it down after admitting that the sliders tasted "pretty good." Though Carl's Jr. never officially renamed their product, they're pretty happy that they got some kind of reaction out of Steven Spielberg with a semi-endorsement.
Carl's Jr. posted a bunch of spoof videos on Twitter advertising the name change of their sliders to the "SpielBurgers" to help promote Ready Player One and their new product. The videos each take on some of the director's most famous work, from E.T. to Jurassic Park. The fast food chain even decided to take their guerilla campaign to the next level when they had some of the "SpielBurgers" delivered to Amblin Entertainment yesterday, which prompted Steven Spielberg to record a response video and post it to Twitter.
The fast food chain tweeted over the weekend about the name change in honor of Ready Player One and noted that Steven Spielberg hadn't signed off, but that they "assume that he's cool with it." In addition to the burgers, an employee even left a letter on an Amblin executive's car. After Carl's Jr. delivered the "SpielBurgers" to Amblin, the director announced a cease and desist to the fast food chain after sort of complimenting the taste of their creations. Spielberg had this to say.
"It has recently come to my attention that Carl's Jr. wants to rename their charbroiled sliders SpielBurgers and they're pretty good, but I'm passing. Cease and desist. You can't do it - sorry, guys."
The publicity stunt worked out perfectly for Carl's Jr. They knew that Steven Spielberg would never sign off on the deal, but if they got any response from him, it would be well worth it. Not only did Spielberg respond, he recorded a video that stated that "SpielBurgers" were pretty good, resulting in free promotion for the fast food chain and Ready Player One. Obviously, Carl's Jr. is pretty happy with the outcome that they orchestrated. Though the note on the executive's car was a tad bit creepy.
As for official partnerships, Ready Player One teamed up with the extremely popular HQ Trivia app for a record breaking prize of $250,000. The trivia game will take place tonight, March 28th at 6:30 PM Pacific and 9:30 PM Eastern, to celebrate the release of the movie. As for Steven Spielberg actually eating Carl's Jr., that has to be a bit of a white lie. One cannot imagine one of the most legendary directors of all time eating that type of fast food, even though our president mows down McDonald's more than once a week. You can check out the brilliant marketing plan to promote fast food and Ready Player One below, courtesy of the Carl's Jr. Twitter account.
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BLAKELY, Pa. --More than 170,000 pounds of food was handed out to those in need in Lackawanna County.
Newswatch 16 found cars lined up outside Peckville Assembly of God Church waiting to take advantage of the generosity.
The church gave out hundreds of hams, turkeys and other meat as well as fresh produce and toiletries.
"I do not know how to explain it to you but the food helps me pay medical bills because I save money here and I pay my bills, ya know?" said William Carter of Dickson City.
Peckville Assembly of God Church gives out free food every Friday.
Anyone who lives in Lackawanna County can sign up.
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Hello fellow people who desire to change their habits.
I want to start a habit of 30 minutes of yoga each morning before work. In order to do that, I would need to establish a morning routine AND wake up 30-40 minutes earlier than usual.
I immediately became overwhelmed just thinking about this and already anticipating my failure. Considering I am not much of a morning person, and don’t work out EVER, this is a rather ambitious goal.
*Deep Breath* Upon reading further I learned that many people have a burst of motivation when they start a new habit – however this quickly fades after a slight slip up or when you realize there may be limits to your motivation. This is why itis important that your habit be EASY PEASY and require little to no motivation!
•	Drink a full glass of water before my feet hit the floor (I leave it at my bedside all night, so I guess I ingest a little dust as well, maybe a gnat. Whatever).
•	Go to the bathroom (I told you, easy, no motivation, but super exciting to cross off your list).
•	Clean out kitty kat’s litter box (something I would sometimes have no problem skipping before initiating this challenge).
•	Enjoy a cup of coffee (never actually skipped this before).
•	Take vitamins (when I don’t eat breakfast, I don’t bother taking vitamins because you’re supposed to take them with food. So this is another one that was easily skipped).
Yes, most of this stuff is stuff I would do anyway, but now I am doing it consciously, consistently, SKIPPING NOTHING, every day.
I am only implementing this routine on BUSINESS DAYS. I have a feeling this is frowned up. But we’re just going to go with it for now. I am on (business day) 9.
Anyway, only one day in the last nine did I forget my vitamins. My first instinct was to recoil in failure, but I went easy on myself and just made sure I got back on the track the next (business) day.
Another important part of this challenge is logging your progress and being held ACCOUNTABLE. This is where YOU - my fellow habit changers come in!
So even though I’m already a few days in – from here on I will check in each day to let everyone know I’ve accomplished my EASY PEASY morning routine and will offer support and encouragement to the rest of you.
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The Netherlands’ Chris Vos clinched gold as the World Para Snowboard World Cup Finals in Klövsjö concluded.
Newly crowned world champion Lisa Bunschoten earned victory on the opening day of the World Para Snowboard World Cup Finals in Klövsjö.
Klövsjö is set to host the World Para Snowboard World Cup Finals, with athletes set to descend on the Swedish municipality for the last competition of the season.
France’s Maxime Montaggioni retained his men’s SB-UL banked slalom title as action begun today at the World Para Snowboard Championships in Pyha in Finland.
The World Para Snowboard Championships are due to get underway in Pyha in Finland tomorrow boasting a new snowboard cross format and the return of France's world champion Maxime Montaggioni among the highlights.
Slovakia's Miroslav Haraus was among the six slalom gold medallists on the last day of the World Para Alpine Skiing World Cup Final in Morzine in France.
Marie Bochet and Arthur Bauchet both claimed standing gold medals for hosts France today at the World Para Alpine Skiing World Cup Finals in Morzine.
Jesper Pedersen led Norway to victory in World Para Alpine Skiing's inaugural mixed team competition at their World Cup Finals in Morzine in France.
The closing event of the World Para Alpine Skiing season will begin tomorrow when the World Cup Finals get under way in Morzine in France.
France’s Paralympic champion Marie Bochet finished the World Para Alpine Skiing World Cup at La Molina today with a perfect record after winning her eighth consecutive race in this season’s series.
Austrian 16-year-old Veronika Aigner, with sister Elisabeth as her guide, sprang a surprise in women’s visually impaired event on the fourth day of the World Para Alpine Skiing World Cup at the Spanish resort of La Molina.
Switzerland's Theo Gmur, Paralympic champion in the men's standing giant slalom, succeeded at the third attempt in beating France's 18-year-old world champion Arthur Bauchet at the World Para Alpine Skiing World Cup at the Spanish resort of La Molina.
Double world champion Jeroen Kampschreur’s revenge win in the men’s sitting event headlined a day of comebacks during the second giant slalom races at the World Para Alpine Skiing World Cup in La Molina in Spain.
France's Arthur Bauchet got off to a winning start today at the World Para Alpine Skiing World Cup in La Molina, triumphing in the first of three men's standing giant slalom contests.
France's Arthur Bauchet will be the man to beat in the standing events when the penultimate World Para Alpine Skiing World Cup of the season begins in La Molina tomorrow.
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The Mapes family of Effingham enjoy the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago with their children including their adopted children, Regino and Regina, who were born in the Philippines.
Misty Mapes and her husband, Patrick, of Effingham always had a desire to add to their family through adoption.
That dream became a reality in part due to Gift of Adoption Fund, a nonprofit organization that provides financial support to families that need help to pay for the hefty cost of adopting a child.
The Mapes, who have two biological children, Braydon, 16, and Madison, 11, were able to adopt 8-year-old twins, Regina and Regino — who go by Ina and Ino — about a year ago from the Philippines. They received a $4,000 grant that helped them pay travel expenses to the Philippines to bring the children home.
Though they had always had tossed around the idea of adoption, they were spurred to take action when their older son asked them about it a few years ago.
"He said, 'Hey. Can we adopt? I'd like to have a brother," Misty Mapes recalled.
Misty Mapes, who works as a teacher, and Patrick, who is a dockworker, set about eliminating as many of their expenses as they could to save the $40,000 they would need to took to fund the adoption.
That final boost was provided by the Gift of Adoption Fund, which bridges the game when people are nearing the goal of completing the adoption, but need a little extra financial help to finalize it, said Marcy McKay, a La Grange resident and volunteer for the fund.
Though they didn't need the financial help to adopt their children that the Gift of Adoption Fund provides, the McKays, who have three adopted children ages 14, 13, and 11, know how costly it is and are working to help other families adopt.
In November 2014, Bethany and Jared Crain got a call saying that they were matched with an expectant mother.
While they were ecstatic that they could be adding to their family of three, they decided not to tell their 4-year-old that she could be getting a sibling.
"It's just so extremely expensive," said McKay. "A lot of people don't have that kind of money."
The need on the part of children to have families is great, too. The fund estimates there are 140 million children around the world who are orphaned and 500,000 in the U.S. who are living in foster care and have no permanent family to call their own.
The goal of the fund is to inspire adoption by providing grants to qualified parents. Parents who seek grants are required to show that they have financial need and have already completed some of the steps needed to adopt such as working with a licensed agency and having a home study done.
The fund puts an emphasis on completing adoptions for children who may find it more difficult to be placed with a permanent family. Those children may be siblings, like Regina and Regino Mapes, children who are aging out, have medical needs or who may go into foster care.
The grants that are supplied by the nonprofit range from $3,500 to $7,500.
Joan Schoon's desire to be a foster parent was born out of compassion and sympathy.
As a teenager, she remembers listening to her friends who were foster children complain about treatment they endured in some of their previous foster homes.
"They apply for the exact dollar amount they need and the grants are paid directly to the adoption agency," McKay said.
The fund was founded in 1996 by a couple who, like the McKays, felt thankful that they had the financial resources to pay for adopting children, and wanted to help other families who need the support, according to its website.
She said the group raises money through a variety of fundraisers such as cocktail parties and golf outings.
"It's such a compelling cause," said McKay, noting that many of their donations are in the $50 to $100 ranges.
"It's a perfect fit," she said.
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https://shop.bbc.com/guinness-harp-baseball-cap-21685.html?___store=en_us 4964 Guinness Harp Baseball Cap https://shop.bbc.com/media/catalog/product/2/1/21685-guinness-baseball-cap_1_.png 21.98 21.9800 USD InStock /New to the Shop /Apparel /Gifts /Apparel/Accessories /Fall Catalog /Holiday Catalog /Shop by Price/Gifts Under $25 When the strings of a Gaelic harp design appear on the left, it’s the official emblem of Ireland. When they’re on the right, it’s the classic trademark of Dublin’s most famous brewery, established in 1759. When the harp is embroidered in golden thread and appliquéd on a grey cotton cap, you’re ready for a good day, wherever you are. Sturdy bill with top-stitching shades your face from the sun.
Back strap with golden, embossed clip adjusts for a perfect fit. Official Guinness merchandise. 100% cotton.
When the strings of a Gaelic harp design appear on the left, it’s the official emblem of Ireland. When they’re on the right, it’s the classic trademark of Dublin’s most famous brewery, established in 1759. When the harp is embroidered in golden thread and appliquéd on a grey cotton cap, you’re ready for a good day, wherever you are. Sturdy bill with top-stitching shades your face from the sun.
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BATH TWP. - The annual presentation by the Bath Park Board on the "State of the Parks" is scheduled from 7 to 9 p.m. March 21 at The University of Akron Field Station in the Bath Nature Preserve.
Trustee Elaina Goodrich, Interim Service Director and Bath Parks' Administrator Mike Rorar, Field Station Manager Dr. Greg Smith and Bath Park Board member Pam Reitz will present updates of the parks' improvement projects, detail the status of grant requests and outline future plans for Bath's four parks.
Light refreshments and a bonfire in the Regal Beagle will follow the presentations.
For further information, call 330-666-4007.
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The Learning Network | What Have You Learned Playing Video Games?
What Have You Learned Playing Video Games?
What are your favorite video games? What do you think they have taught you?
Do you think video games can help inspire social change? Have you ever played one that helped you understand a serious global problem?
This year, a United Nations program devoted to urban planning in countries affected by poverty or natural disasters began developing a sports field in the slums of Kibera, Kenya, designing it in the popular sandbox video game Minecraft. The game, which allows players to build entire worlds out of cubes in a 3-D environment, helped the project leaders create a visual representation of the field that could be easily understood by the neighborhood’s residents.
The project, known as Block by Block, is among the highlights this week at the Games for Change Festival in New York, an annual event that promotes video games that seek social change. These efforts — known as serious games — once focused on education, to entice students to learn through digital play. But attention has shifted to more ambitious efforts like Block by Block, and a large part of that push has come from Games for Change, a nonprofit organization founded in 2004 that has worked with Google, NASA, the United Nations, the Rockefeller Foundation and TEDx.
One speaker at this year’s festival is Zoran Popovic, the director of the Center for Game Science at the University of Washington, in Seattle. He led the team of researchers responsible for the puzzle game Foldit, which sought to crowdsource a solution to a scientific problem. Foldit asked players to take on the role of a biochemist and map out how proteins might be folded in nature. The game provided scores based on how well they performed. Three papers in the journal Nature have been published, based on Foldit discoveries, since the game’s release in 2008; the most famous, in 2011, explained how Foldit players had helped to decipher the structure of an AIDS-related enzyme, a problem that scientists had been trying to solve for years.
Mr. Popovic plans to unveil a new project this week, a synthetic-biology game called NanoCrafter, whose goal is to discover molecular structures that could benefit vaccine and cancer research.
— What are your favorite video games? What games did you play when you were younger? Looking back, what do you think they taught you — whether physical or mental skills or something more intangible? How have they enriched your life?
— Have you ever played a video game like the ones at Games for Change, in which the goal is “more than entertainment”? What did you think of it? What did you learn?
— Do you think video games can be effective tools for learning? Do you think playing them might actually help “change the world”? Why or why not?
— If your school were to invest in a “video game for change” that was, like the examples in this article, fun to play, intellectually enriching and altruistically focused, what would you like it to be about? How might it work?
Honestly I have never really played video games before, well I have but not as much as an average teen. But that little that I did play I just learned little strategies and the games really made you think. But they are really not that productive.
I used to play games a lot but i have slowed down playing them now. I actually have learnt a lot of things from certain video games like strategies, and my friend said that he learnt that rubber comes from trees.
I think integrating games into school could be a good idea. It would probably be executed poorly in most areas though. There’s a stigma against video games in general that label all games as bad for your brain and they make you do bad things.
My favorite video game has to be guitar hero. I think this game has taught me how to multitask with my hands. I think video games are very good and can help inspire social change, depending on the type of game. No, I have never played a video game that has helped inspire me to change a serious global problem.
I don’t like to play video games. I rather do something else than be in four hours play games that not be educated.
the video games i have played are strategic and would make me think. i have never played a video game that benefits a cause before so i would go with some of the concepts listed in the article when deciding on one for my school to invest in.
That’s actually really interesting concept because most games are like what you guys said, fps and the like. there are a handful of games that are different or promote learning. i personally have not heard anything that could help with research.
My favorite video games are the grand theft auto video games. Not just because of the violence but also because I don’t play very many video games and it’s fun to just drive around and wander the game. When I was younger my favorite video game was a hand held analog stick with a few different games on it including PAC man. I don’t believe that playing these types of video games benefits you much. I’ve never played a more than entertainment goal game. But I think it’s a very intriguing idea, especially scenes so many kids learn from their surroundings and technology now days.
My favorite video games are Minecraft, COD, Counterstrike Source, Guitar Hero, Farcry, and Rainbow six. Looking back at these games I have learned a little more about weaponry, and playing video games has also helped with my hand-eye corrdination. I also think playing video games can help increase your reflexes and response time. When I started playing Minecraft I immediately fell In love because it allowed me to use my creativity and build things that I’ve always wanted to build. I think video games can be a very effective tool for learning because it makes learning fun. But I also think that it should be taken in moderation and staring a screen all day isn’t that great for you and neither is sitting all day. The more interactive learning is the better it will be in general. I think that bringing video games into schools could be a good way to bring more interaction to learning.
My number one game is World of tanks. when i was younger, i played minecraft. I was a 4 year minecraft player.. Minecraft gave me inspiration. But when i got World of tanks, i quit minecraft. World of tanks has taught me alot. Ive learned alot since i started playing. No blood, no gore. Just fun with big metal machines.
I don’t know because I don’t play video games.
Well i have not learned a lot because i don’t play a lot. It shows that there is violence in the world. Also how to help you shoot more acculturate. I think that if schools had games then more people could enjoy and relax more.
I have played some games that teaches you life lessons and some games that inspires you. Video games nowadays have little education to offer for you if you are playing modern consoles.
The way i learned to play video games is that most people can easily play any game if they put their mind into it. i play video games every single day and beat every single game there is its just what i like to do everyday when i get home from school etc. i can play really hard games that not everyone can beat i’m technically the best at playing horror games and war games plus games like assasins creed 1 to throughout all the other assasin creed games. i am such a video game expert i’ve played every system that ever came out from the beginning of atari to all of todays games. i just love to play video games.
I love playing video games with my brothers. I play Black Ops, Mine Craft, Kinect Sports and more. Playing these games explain more than moving your thumbs it showed you how to multitask and some of the video games keeps you physically active when you have a X-Box 360.
Im a senior in High School. Im always playing video games whenever im not either at school, work, or golf. I love video games and I feel that they are a quintessential part of learning. I have played almost every game. Games like pokemon help you to solve problems. Games like portal cause you to use physics and puzzles to play the game. Games like the bioshock series or the half life series create stories, that in my opinion, are better than reading book because you get to experience it. Even games like Call of duty increases reflexes.
– My favourite video games are Deus Ex, The Witcher 2 and Half-Life 2.
As someone who lives in germany, where most students don’t speak english very good. I think video games taught me a lot about english. It was the only subject I NEVER had problems with. From the first day on I was too good for my grade.
– I honestly have never played one of those games, but after this article I’m definitely looking forward to them.
– I don’t know, maybe about subjects, that are boring and complicated for many students, like biology and chemistry? I personally wouldn’t be able to come up with an idea, but smart people, probably would.
I play a lot of RPGs mostly. They are some of my favorite games. Most RPGs give you choices, and what choices you make affects the people, and world around you. Usually the choices range from good, to neutral, to evil. This is very similar to how life really is. The choices we make, whether they are good or bad, have a bigger impact on the world around us than we may think.
my favorite video games are games like Portal and Persona, games that actually require thinking while playing and not just mindless button mashing, the thing i think they’ve taught me… that no matter who you are you can always be a hero if you put your mind to it!
Unfortunately not, i would love to have the chance to be able to though, i believe that video games are more than just a way to distract ourselves or have a good time, i believe that the educational value of video games are much greater than what people believe.
Yes, video games are tools, whether the tool is used for entertainment or for education, it’s full potential cannot be realized unless someone steps forward and says “lets try to use it like this!” and works hard on that.
I would like that many possibilities for interactive learning would open up, these interactive lessons would not only increase the amount of fun in a classroom, but also the amount of passion from students who can honestly say that the lessons spoke to them.
@Alondra The correct sentence would be: I don’t like to play video games. I Would rather do something else than playing four hours of video games that do not help with my education.
I have played video games for years. All to often my choices were challenged or denied by my parents. At first I couldn’t comprehend the difference or what were the deciding factors for their answer. As I’ve grown older I see know how video games have the power to shape one’s personality. Even in video games there are choices to be made, altruistic choices that can benefit another individual in the game or choices to eliminate your opponent. The choices are made in real life all to often and it’s vital that children and teenagers recognized the value or consequences of the choices even within the games.
I am impressed by the idea of Games for Change. If our school were to invest in such a game perhaps one that affords students the opportunity to understand how closely connected their games choices are to real life. A game that teaches altruistic behavior and choices while still having fun. We find a significant change and positive growth in our society through future generations.
The focus of the some games is to build what ever the mind can imagine. I think that games can be more than entertainment because it makes you think about things that you may have see in your life. It also could make you think of real building and structure around the world. Others games can make you think about real life world problems and make you aware that they are happening. They may also help influence what you do later in your life. Overall I think that some games can do more than just entertainment and can make you think about real things and ideas.
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During LeBron James’ back-to-back championship winning tenure in Miami, rival Joakim Noah famously referred to King James and the Heat as “Hollywood as hell.” Over the summer, James fully embraced his inner producer by relocating to Los Angeles and jump-starting the Spurs-Lakers rivalry that had remained dormant since 2013.
After a string of untimely backcourt injuries during the preseason, NBA pundits are predicting that San Antonio’s 21-season playoff streak is likely at its end, with James and his “Meme Team” among the squads supplanting the Spurs in the pre-season. Although neither team is projected to be hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy in June, Spurs vs. Lakers still presents some intriguing matchups. Besides, anytime Michael Beasly, JaVale McGee and Lance Stephenson are on the court at the same time, expect the unexpected.
$22-$398, Sat Oct. 27, 7:30pm, AT&T Center, One AT&T Center Pkwy., (210) 444-5000, attcenter.com.
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Trevor Brennan was sensationally exonerated by Toulouse for his sickening attack on an Ulster fan, just as the victim was leaving an A&E department in London having been treated for a suspected fractured skull.
accountant Patrick Bamford at the Stade Ernest Wallon during Sunday’s Heineken Cup match.
serious injuries after being punched at least six times in the head, the incident was still causing shockwaves.
contradicted by the 33-year-old second row’s uncle — speaking on Irish radio — and the French club.
involved in an "altercation" with one visiting supporter who is alleged to have repeated the chant.
understandable" in light of the alleged provocation.
gone further by asking ERC to investigate the conduct of the Ulster fans, a move which is bound to incense the Irish province.
charges but last night he appeared ready to drop the matter, saying: "It is not up to me to decide what punishment Brennan gets. It is in the hands of the ERC. But it would be nice if at the very least he apologised."
bar's a load of rubbish" and I just shouted: "A below-par Irish pub, Trevor".
banter. I actually put my hand out to shake his hand.
"The next thing I remember was being in the Toulouse physio room where I was being treated by a French doctor."
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As usual, Professor Jack Ponton (Letters, 8 July) cuts through all the smoke and mirrors erected by the renewables industries to give the facts.
He points out the absurdity of the regular and monotonous claims from the wind industry that at certain times they providing enough electricity to power umpteen million homes.
Until there is a research breakthrough in battery storage, wind-generated electricity will continue to be an expensive failed science which only benefits the developers and land owners.
I am reminded of a former MSP who berated me on my anti-wind stance, stating that the wind produced at night was more than required during the day and was not wasted but stored in batteries.
I asked her where this scientific breakthrough was located. Silence.
I suspect that many of our present politicians are equally ignorant and are unaware of the risks that renewables pose to our energy security, especially with their anti-fossil fuels fixation.
Do they appreciate that Longannet is due to close soon, followed by nuclear?
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Touted as the world's "most human" Artificial Intelligence (AI) assistant that can "read between the lines" and "understand emotional expressions", Amelia has the potential to turn India's healthcare sector into an inclusive one, believes her creator Chetan Dube, CEO of New York-headquartered AI company IPsoft.
Amelia got her name from Amelia Earhart, one of the pioneering women in American history who became the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1932.
The tech Amelia combines automation, cognitive and emotional intelligence with Machine Learning (ML) capabilities to perform as a digital colleague.
When Amelia was first created, her conversational abilities sent shockwaves in the AI community, raising fears of job losses, especially in countries like India where a large number of people are employed in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.
But Dube, who left a teaching job at New York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences 20 years ago to pursue a career in business, is unperturbed by the talk of job losses as he believes that AI would not displace as many jobs as it would help create.
"We are now at the third version of Amelia, a development process that has been going on for the last 15 years, and she is the industry's most advanced, conversational AI," Dube told IANS in an email interview.
"Not only does she communicate in over a 100 languages, she also has the ability to learn and improve over time which makes her the market's only AI that can fully adapt to new business requirements. She can automate any process in a business," he added.
Amelia can be pre-trained to handle requests and questions related to HR, finance, IT and procurement. In fact, according to Dube, Amelia can be trained to handle almost any knowledge-based task.
"She helps customers open new bank accounts, process insurance claims and register patients for hospital entry. As a whisper agent, Amelia provides her human colleagues with a personalised conversational user interface (UI)," said Dube, who thinks Amelia can do wonders in transforming India's healthcare sector.
"Amelia allows patients to self-manage in scheduling doctors' appointments, tests and medicines. She can also offer condition-specific advice and well-curated health management tips.
"A robust digital colleague like Amelia can free caregivers from high-volume patient needs to provide specialised care for unique or pressing concerns, while subsequently providing patients with enhanced 24/7 access to medical services," Dube explained.
"AI and Amelia are vital for an inclusive and democratic healthcare sector and could have an enormous impact," he added.
According to him, common AI assistants like Alexa, Cortana and Siri cannot read between the lines. They cannot understand underlying meanings or emotional expressions. Even when it comes to more advanced AI, the majority of these virtual assistants lack capabilities of contextualising information as people do, he said.
"When customers or employees interact with Amelia, they don't feel they are interacting with something artificial due to her advanced empathetic abilities, capacity to switch context and channels, and intelligent responses. Amelia is the only AI on the market that offers all of these features with expert-level accuracy and emotional intelligence," Dube noted.
IPsoft, Dube said, is now exploring opportunities with a number of agencies in digital health programmes, to accelerate technology adoption which will take pressure off of the human workforce while maintaining and improving services.
The company, which has 16 offices in 13 countries, including one in Bengaluru, helps with the digitisation process required in an organisation to deploy Amelia and make her work.
"It is a crucial part of our work to make sure our clients have the right prerequisites to implement Amelia. In fact, we have developed Amelia 'Marketplace', the first off-the-shelf AI-Marketplace for digital labour and conversational AI.
"The Amelia Solutions Marketplace offers complete out-of-the-box functional roles and associated skills for Amelia across verticals such as banking, insurance and healthcare," he said.
In order to train Amelia, IPsoft and its partners teach her the essential knowledge she will need to understand how a business runs.
"Partners provide IPsoft with industry-specific terminology, as well as any required logic frameworks that Amelia needs to learn to develop her decision-making skills," Dube explained.
India, according to Dube, is on a "straight path" of becoming a technological force to be reckoned with in the coming years.
"An important part of this advancement is, of course, to invest in the right innovation and technologies that strengthen the country's already strong industries," he said.
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An Aberdeen nursery has been given a positive review by inspectors.
Donview Nursery, Clifton Road, was given a “good” rating, the second highest possible, by the Care Inspectorate after a recent inspection.
Owner Amanda Wallace Davidson said: “The entire team do a wonderful job every day caring for the children of Donview Nursery and it’s lovely to hear the feedback from the parent and carers acknowledging this.
One parent quoted in the report said: “I am extremely happy with the care provided for my child at Donview Nursery.
The Care Inspectorate made just one recommendation for the nursery, calling for more work to be done on personal care plans for each child, although it was noted that staff were fully aware of the needs of each child.
Donview has improved from the last inspection in July of 2017, where they were given an adequate rating.
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The Progressive Conservatives brought an emergency two hour debate to the floor Wednesday to discuss the current shortage of family doctors and the decision by the new health authority to limit how many doctors can work at walk-in clinics or set up shop in the Halifax area.
The McNeil government's promise to provide every family in the province with a doctor has become the major issue of the spring sitting.
The opposition brought an emergency two hour debate to the floor to discuss the shortage of family doctors and the decision by the new health authority to limit how many doctors can work at walk-in clinics or set up shop in the Halifax area.
The opposition says the decision flies in the face of a key Liberal election promise.
"Mister Speaker, when we asked the Speaker about that promise that he made to the people of Nova Scotia that every family would have a doctor," said Progressive Conservative Leader Jamie Baillie. "When we asked him about that promise in their campaign platform he said that that was old information."
"Well, Mister Speaker, Nova Scotians remember it as a promise made and now it's a promise broken."
Emergency debates are not rare and they don't accomplish anything concrete except to give people a chance to talk about the issue.
Alfie MacLeod, the PC MLA for Sydney River-Mira-Louisbourg, was the man who called for the debate.
"We have, according to the minister, 10 new doctors coming to Cape Breton ... that is only to replace 10 doctors that are already gone," said MacLeod.
MacLeod said in a meeting that happened this weekend, local doctors said 15 new physicians were leaving the area.
"They put in their resignations and they've been attracted to different jurisdictions. They have said they're going to retire and some have just thrown up their arms and said 'I could practice for a few more years, but you know what, the system is making it so hard I don't want to do that.'"
Marian Mancini, MLA for Dartmouth South, said one of her constituents, a young woman in her 30s who moved back to Nova Scotia from Alberta more than two years ago, still can't find a family doctor. Mancini says while the woman is able to go to the walk-in clinic, it's not acceptable.
"At the walk-in if she needs to get an x-ray, they'll give her the slip to get the x-ray and then do your follow-up with your family doctor. She doesn't have a family doctor," said Mancini.
"This is a young person ... wondering whether it's worthwhile staying in this province that she returned to. It's her home province. And she's thinking 'I might as well go back out west because this is not quality of life.'"
Liberal backbencher Terry Farrell from Cumberland North said the McNeil government intends to keep its promise to improve the health care system.
"Nova Scotians chose that change resoundingly in October of 2013, they voted for that change and they chose that change, he said. "I'm pleased to say that under the premier and the minister of health, we're in the process of effecting that change. That is happening every single day of our mandate."
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Mohammad Hadaf, who was struck by an Israeli missile aged six, is among more than 500 children killed in the conflict.
Nine-year-old Mohammad Hadaf sustained severe injuries in an Israeli air strike during the 2014 Gaza War when he was six, leaving him paralysed, blinded, and unable to speak.
He finally succumbed to his wounds on December 6, last year.
"I hope nobody will ever have to experience what I did," said Saleh, Mohammad's father.
"I had to feed my son through a tube. When you see your son in this kind of pain, you also feel the pain with him," he told Al Jazeera.
Mohammad is among more than 500 child victims of the 51-day Israeli offensive, in which more than 2,000 Palestinians were killed.
When Israel began bombarding Gaza, Saleh said he was afraid for his children because "our house was not well-built and could not survive the bombs".
With his wife Nisrin and five children, the family moved to a relative's home in Khan Younis.
Their home in al-Qarara was bombed by Israel a few days later.
During a ceasefire, they returned to collect whatever belongings they could find. Saleh wanted to go alone, but his children and wife begged to join him.
An hour after they arrived, Saleh saw smoke. Israeli forces had fired a missile in front of his home.
"I saw all of them fall down to the ground," he said.
Three of Saleh's young neighbours - aged eight, 15 and 19 - were on the street at the time. They were killed instantly.
Saleh, Nisrin and four of their children were injured.
Three-year-old Ayesh was paralysed on one side of his body. He has since healed.
Five-year-old Remas sustained an injury to the skull.
Mohammad was hit in the abdomen and spine, and had to be resuscitated during surgery because of a lack of oxygen to the brain.
Accompanied by his aunt, the child travelled to Turkey for further treatment.
Mohammad spent years rotating between hospitals and undergoing surgeries, but continued to deteriorate.
He became blind and lost the ability to speak or move.
The financial burden wreaked havoc.
"If I were to try and explain to you all the money I spent on Mohammad's treatment - his wheelchair, medicine, special food - I wouldn't be able to finish," said Saleh.
None of Gaza's political factions helped the family because they are not associated with a specific party, he claimed.
"We spent everything we had on Mohammad's treatment. We have nothing left," said Saleh, who was with his son when he died.
"Even though I knew how badly he was doing, and that he wouldn't last much longer, it was hard to accept his death. I loved him so much," Saleh told the B'Tselem rights group.
Amit Gilutz, B'Tselem spokesperson, told Al Jazeera that "one of the most horrifying hallmarks" of Israel's assault on Gaza was its targeting of residential homes.
This policy resulted in more than 1,000 Palestinians, including hundreds of children, being killed.
They took "no part in the fighting", said Gilutz.
The trauma continues to haunt the Hadaf family.
"We don't even own a television in the house, because we cannot deal with seeing bad things anymore," said Saleh.
Jess Ghannam, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California - San Francisco, told Al Jazeera that he has documented "many cases of severe PTSD" in Gaza following Israeli bombardment in 2012, from 2008 to 2009 and most recently in 2014.
"Many Palestinians living in Gaza exposed to war develop symptoms of PTSD that include flashbacks, anxiety, and hypervigilance," he said. "They live with daily distress and the expectation that something bad will happen, and this results in fatigue and general ill health."
Saleh is among those who live in constant fear, saying: "We feel like another war will break out at any moment."
Ghannam said this sentiment is common among traumatised Palestinians.
"Because of the occupation and siege, there are continuous reminders of war so that the healing process can never fully be realised," he said.
"Palestinians in Gaza live in constant fear of another attack and do not have any chance to process events and heal. It is a constant state of psychological distress and siege."
Children struggle the most, said Saleh.
"They become so scared when they hear the Israeli planes above us at night. Sometimes they wake up at night crying," he said.
"They are always afraid. My children are completely different than how they were before the war. Sometimes they have problems focusing. You have to ask them questions more than once in order to get an answer.
"All of these memories of the war and Mohammad's suffering will stay with them for the rest of their lives. They will never be the same."
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April 24 (Reuters) - Canadian stock index futures pointed to a higher open, supported by some stronger-than-expected North American corporate earnings and data from Germany that boosted hopes of a European Central Bank rate cut.
* Apple Inc on Tuesday bowed to investors’ demands to share more of its $145 billion cash pile, while posting its first quarterly profit decline in more than a decade.
* Barrick Gold Corp reported an 18 percent drop in first-quarter profit on lower metal prices and volumes, and cut its capital spending for this year. But Barrick shares rose in pre-market trading.
* Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd reported a 53 percent rise in first-quarter profit as freight revenue rose and it improved its efficiency.
* Cenovus Energy Inc reported a higher first-quarter operating profit as margins at its U.S. refineries improved.
* Metro Inc more than tripled its second-quarter earnings, helped by an after-tax one-time gain of C$266.4 million related to the sale of 10 million shares of Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.
* MEG Energy Corp reported a first-quarter loss, compared with a profit a year earlier, after a weaker Canadian dollar and lower prices overshadowed higher production.
* European shares built on their best day in seven months and oil climbed back above $101 per barrel on Wednesday after weak data bolstered expectations for a European Central Bank rate cut.
* BlackBerry : The company said its new smartphone BlackBerry Q10 will be available in Canada starting May 1 through Rogers Wireless Inc, Telus Corp and Bell Mobility.
* The Bank of Nova Scotia : Colombian financial group Sura and Bank of Nova Scotia said on Tuesday they bought the Peruvian pension fund BBVA Horizonte for a total of $516 million.
* CRH Medical Corp : Bloom Burton cuts to hold from buy, believes although the company’s first-quarter earnings came in line with expectations, the balance sheet is not sufficient to acquire any other products that could meaningfully add to its top line although management has indicated it continues to scan the environment for possible acquisitions.
* Encana Corp : Canaccord Genuity cuts price target by $1 to $20.50, says the company’s new hedges in 2014 have further removed its torque to any additional potential natural gas price strength.
* Teck Resources Ltd : RBC cuts target price to C$38 from C$42 as the company noted that at current prices higher cost and lower quality mines are coming under pressure, and that the market has already seen production cut by approximately 30 million tonnes.
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It’s immediately clear that Parquet Courts aren’t done now, not by a long chalk. Based in Brooklyn, Savage and his bandmates – guitarist and fellow songwriter Austin Brown, bassist Sean Yeaton and Savage’s younger brother Max on drums – have been releasing excellent punk-rock records defined by venom, groove and lyrics that make you wish you read more books since their 2011 debut ‘American Specialties’.
If 2012’s ‘Light Up Gold’ woke the world up to a group that many touted as the latest answer to The Strokes, ‘Wide Awake!’ is an indelible underlining of their status as one of the most important bands in the world right now. Before we continue, a mildly surprising fact: this record was produced by 19-time Grammy nominee Danger Mouse, whose CV includes The Black Keys, A$AP Rocky, Norah Jones. Far from softening Parquet Courts’ edges, he has enhanced everything that makes the quartet great – sound, imagination, style. The Beastie Boys, Black Flag and Talking Heads are all here in spirit.
‘Violence’ is the first standout, a mazy, bassy call to arms. Like many of Parquet Courts’ best songs, it functions as an alarm clock, a cattle prod. “Violence is daily life,” they chant, Savage considering the “pornographic spectacle of black death” that is the human condition. But the frontman is there for the listener too, offering us his hand as he spits, “Savage is my name because Savage is how I feel… My name belongs to us all… My name is a threat”.
This band have long articulated the inertia of acclimatising to adult life, and ‘In And Out Of Patience’ – a classic Parquet number – does so almost flippantly. “I’m neither here nor there,” muses Savage. It’s there again on the breakneck ‘Extinction’, Savage poking fun at his daily existence (“I’m trying not to turn into a psychopath”) over impatient guitars.
Austin Brown’s contributions (‘Mardi Gras Beads’’ dreamy textures, the spacey, desperate ‘Back To Earth’, maudlin jam ‘Death Will Bring Change’) take their time with their introspection, but cut just as hard. By the time the record spins through the pepped-up ‘Freebird II’, the irresistible carnival feel of the title-track and the piano-driven stomp of closer ‘Tenderness’, you’re left winded by its brilliance.
Parquet Courts are a magical band that make you feel everything all at once: youth, nostalgia, happiness, desolation, flying high, running low. The record’s last line, then, is fitting, Savage calling for “the fix of a little tenderness”. But where would the thrill be in that?
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The controversial $3 billion corporate tax initiative Measure 97 went down in defeat, according to partial election returns Tuesday night.
Measure 97 was failing 58 percent to 42 percent as of 9:50 p.m.
The defeat follows a hard-fought campaign that broke Oregon's spending record for ballot initiatives and pitted business interests against the state's largest public employee unions.
Measure 97 would charge certain C corporations a 2.5 percent tax on their gross annual sales in Oregon above $25 million. The measure called for the state to spend the new revenue on education, health care and senior services.
Supporters of Measure 97 were still figuring out how to respond Tuesday night. Ben Unger, executive director of the union-affiliated group Our Oregon which backed the measure, suggested a different tax proposal might have fared better with voters. "Clearly, we learned the tonight that the details weren't right," Unger said. However, when a reporter asked if the tax rate proposed in Measure 97 was too high, Unger said "I would be surprised if you talked to very many voters that found that that was the problem."
Pat McCormick, a spokesman for the campaign to defeat the tax, said Measure 97 "fell of its own weight when people understood what it would do" and now it's up to state officials to come up with proposals to balance the state budget. "The business community does have members that are very much committed to finding routes to go forward," McCormick said.
State economists in the nonpartisan Legislative Revenue Office estimated the tax would raise at least $6 billion for every two-year spending cycle, a 33 percent increase in tax revenue going to the state's current $18 billion general fund budget. That would have been the largest tax increase in Oregon's history, at least by dollar amount, according to Legislative Revenue Officer Paul Warner.
Those potential tax hits -- and the promise of new revenue for government services -- spurred businesses and public employee unions to the highest level of campaign spending in Oregon history.
As of Friday, opponents reported raising $25.9 million, while supporters reported $16.4 million. The previous record for the costliest Oregon campaign was set in 2014, when opponents of a measure to label genetically modified foods spent nearly $21 million with supporters spending $8 million.
Measure 97 started out with 60 percent support in a poll taken a year ago. A poll in September found the same level of support. But by mid-October it had eroded down to 46 percent and by the end of the month only 40 percent of respondents to one poll said they'd vote for it.
The central debate throughout the campaign was whether corporations or consumers would end up paying the cost of the tax -- and how much.
A study by economists in the Legislative Revenue Office found businesses would pass on part of the tax in the form of higher prices, and a typical Oregon family might wind up paying $600 a year. Grocery stores and other low-margin businesses said they would be forced to raise prices, because the 2.5 percent tax would obliterate their slim profit margins.
Supporters of the measure said no economic modeling -- including in a study they funded, by Portland State University economists -- could accurately estimate the impact of the measure.
The backers argued it was too different from gross receipts taxes in other states. And they offered state-by-state shopping comparisons to show that different tax rates didn't result in different prices.
But Measure 97 opponents also pointed to a written opinion from a lawyer for the Legislature that said lawmakers could spend the revenue as they wanted simply by passing budget bills, despite language in the measure calling for the money to be spent on early childhood and K-12 education, health care and services for seniors.
Gov. Kate Brown, lawmakers, public employee unions and the business community now face the challenge of coming together after the bruising battle to address the state's ongoing challenges.
Voters' rejection of Measure 97 means the governor and lawmakers must now pass a tax increase, budget cuts or some combination to fill a projected $1.35 billion budget shortfall in the next two-year budget. That estimate was based on the amount of money needed to preserve existing services and programs.
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Chinese electronics firm HiSense is occupying the space at CES normally reserved for Microsoft.
The company is making the most of the Windows-maker's absence by displaying its wares - including this transparent 3D television.
The company says it could potentially be used by museums and other attractions to create exciting displays that combine real objects - such as artefacts - with 3D imaging.
Hisense spokesman Payton Tyrell said the screen was still a prototype.
Go to next video: Online plants a growth area?
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USC announced Thursday it would appeal NCAA sanctions it considers "excessive." And even before those plans became official, Trojans football coaches were calling recruits and getting out the message that the penalties could be reduced.
"They're trying to appeal it and at least cut it in half," said incoming freshman Giovanni Di Poalo, an offensive lineman from Ventura St. Bonaventure High who said he spoke to Trojans line coach James Cregg.
However, if recent history is any indication, Trojans players and fans shouldn't get their hopes up.
Since a key change to an NCAA bylaw was made in January 2008, only one in 11 appeals has been successful.
The change: An appeal will be granted only if the offended party shows "the penalty is excessive such that it constitutes an abuse of discretion" by the NCAA Committee on Infractions.
Before, an appeal could be won if, upon review, it was determined that a penalty was inappropriate based on the evidence and circumstances.
"It's a tougher standard to meet," said Mike Glazier, the head of Collegiate Sports Practice group at the Kansas office of Bond, Schoeneck & King, who for 20 years has been working with universities during the NCAA investigation process. "It was changed for that purpose — to make it harder to be successful on appeal."
USC officials were not commenting specifically about their appeal plans Thursday, but the university released a letter from school President Steven B. Sample addressed to "Members of the Trojan Family," and in it he said he "sharply" disagreed "with many of the conclusions reached by the NCAA Committee on Infractions."
Among those conclusions was that USC knew or should have known that star running back Reggie Bush and members of his family were receiving extra benefits from would-be marketers and prospective sports agents in violation of NCAA rules. As a result, the Trojans' football program was hit hard — too hard, the university feels — with penalties including 14 vacated victories, a two-year ban from participating in bowl games and a loss of 30 scholarships.
"…monitoring and regulating human behavior is complex at best," Sample's letter continued. "…In this environment, we need to make sure that we are doing everything we can…to protect our students, their families — and ultimately the university — from unscrupulous sports agents and others who seek to exploit our elite student-athletes or their families."
USC's stance is that violations with Bush took place — but they had no way of knowing about them. Bush has denied wrongdoing from the time allegations surfaced years ago.
Glazier said such an appeal would be "a pretty big uphill battle." He added: "Just to be successful on appeal because you claim the penalties are too harsh, your chances are not very good."
Michael Buckner, a Florida-based attorney and private investigator who has worked on NCAA cases, agreed that "most of the penalties" would be upheld. However, he said the loss of 10 scholarships a year "might be excessive," noting that the NCAA usually reduces scholarships at the rate of two for every one ineligible player.
Buckner, a USC alumnus, said it appeared to him the infractions committee "did what they should have done and imposed the appropriate penalties" considering USC's status as a repeat offender that was failing to properly monitor its athletes.
Buckner's firm represented Alabama State — the only school to be successful with an appeal since the bylaw was changed.
That change was prompted, experts say, by a string of successful appeals that overturned certain aspects of sanctions against Oklahoma (2008), Ohio State (2007), Georgia (2005), Georgia Tech (2004) and Michigan (2003).
NCAA spokeswoman Stacey Osburn said the bylaw change was "part of the normal legislative process to constantly be evaluating what is happening in our structure and what's being addressed and what's being successful."
Alabama State had its penalty of five years probation for widespread academic fraud shortened to three years in 2009 after Buckner's firm asked the appeals committee to consider how federal and state courts had defined "abuse of discretion."
Not based on a correct legal standard or was based on a misapprehension of the underlying legal principles.
Based on a clearly erroneous factual finding.
Failed to consider and weigh material factors.
Based on a clear error of judgment, such that the imposition was arbitrary, capricious or irrational.
Based in significant part on one or more irrelevant or improper factors.
That the NCAA would toughen rules on appeals came as no surprise to its membership.
"It's like anything," said Brian Battle, the compliance director at Florida State, which had an appeal denied in January. "Any time somebody wins something, they'll say, 'Where did we … do something that caused this separate group of people to overturn the decision?"
Times staff writers Mike Hiserman and Eric Sondheimer contributed to this report.
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Franklin police arrested a gunman Friday morning after he sequestered himself inside a home and refused to come out.
Police said Martin Zaragoza, 22, was on the run after he fired several shots outside a home on Granville Road during a domestic dispute. Zaragoza fled prior to officers arriving. Officers searching for Zaragoza determined he was inside his West Meade Boulevard home and requested SWAT support after he refused to surrender.
The gun Zaragoza is suspected of firing was located inside his home.
Several residents in Franklin Estates have been allowed back in their homes after they had to evacuate while police worked to place Zaragoza into custody. Zaragoza was taken safely into custody. Authorities charged him with reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault and violation of an order of protection.