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Safe Neighborhoods was part of a national movement launched in 2002 but momentum slowed after 2010 as resources were diverted to other needs, he said. Between 2002 and 2015, the Memphis task force reviewed more than 28,000 incidents.
Dunavant said additional personnel were pledged after he reached out to senior officials at the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, Memphis Police Department and Shelby County Sheriff’s Office. ATF assigned two more personnel, MPD three more and SCSO two more.
The Safe Neighborhoods task force members meet routinely each week to review each crime case involving a firearm and examine whether a conviction in state or federal court could bring the maximum sentence. Some violations are treated more sternly in federal than state court.
Cases in which charges of drug use, domestic violence and other serious crimes coincide with guns get special interest. This includes drug cases in which the accused has no prior criminal record but was caught with a weapon, he said.
“We believe that person is dangerous,” Dunavant said.
The initiative is part of an anti-crime emphasis from the U.S. Justice Department that includes ferreting out criminals from other countries who commit crimes in the United States and reducing violent crimes such as car jackings and illegal gang activities.
Dunavant’s office has been funded for two more violent-crime prosecutors to work in Memphis and Jackson. This would bring the number of federal prosecutors in West Tennessee to 43 from the current 41.
Memphis’ spate of burglaries traces in part to criminals looking for opioids and other prescriptions as well as looking for weapons. These are used by the thief in the commission of other crimes or sold on a robust gun market that distributes firearms across Memphis and moves them to other cities, he said.
Although more than 300 million firearms are estimated to be in private hands across the nation, or about one gun per person, ATF computers now have the ability to examine spent ammunition casings picked up at crime scenes and tell if the casings trace to firearms listed in the crime data base.
Dunavant said this new procedure can help identify violent characters and prosecute them for gun offenses.
Archives\|MOVEMENT OF GOLD HERE LIGHT IN JULY; Only $2,100,000 Exported and $500,000 Imported in the First 28 Days. MUCH ACTIVITY IN LOANS Out-of-Town Banks Drew Heavily on New York in First Week, but Repaid Quickly.
MOVEMENT OF GOLD HERE LIGHT IN JULY; Only $2,100,000 Exported and $500,000 Imported in the First 28 Days. MUCH ACTIVITY IN LOANS Out-of-Town Banks Drew Heavily on New York in First Week, but Repaid Quickly.
The concept Piano quintets represents the subject, aboutness, idea or notion of resources found in Boston University Libraries.
Symphony : Symphonic variations etc.
The early string quartet in the U.S.A.
Two pieces for two pianos op. 58 : Sonatina (1898) ; Moment musical (Gnomenklage) op. 4 no. 3 ; Prelude in E flat op. 4 no. 4 ; Sonata-skazka : op. 25 no. 1 ; Piano quintet op. posth.
The Foggy Bottom-GWU Metrorail station is getting a makeover.
On Monday, Metro workers will begin installing three new escalators, a staircase and a canopy at the rail station's entrance, the agency announced Wednesday in a press release.
The move is designed to help riders exit and enter the train station faster and with greater ease.
"For the first time, the station will have a staircase to improve passenger flow and increase capacity to move people through the station,” said Metro General Manager Richard Sarles.
Metro's spending tens of thousands of dollars to address its escalator problems.
The project is expected to be completed within a year and cost Metro about $4.5 million.
“While we regret the inconvenience to customers, after one year customers will benefit from three brand new escalators they can rely on,” said Sarles.
All three escalators at the station will be replaced along with the electical systems within each unit. Metro’s plan is to replace one escalator at a time. The other two operating escalators will be configured so that one is going up and the other is going down.
To learn more about the project and its status, riders should check out Metro’s website.
Pakistan Arrests 35-40 CIA "Informants."
Despite Pakistan's denial that it arrested any army personnel in its round-up of alleged CIA informants, the Washington Post confirmed the name of an army major who's been detained.
Amir Aziz is a doctor in the Pakistan army who lived adjacent to the Bin Laden compound for several years before being recruited by the CIA to monitor traffic in and out of the walled residence.
Aziz's neighbors confirmed the doctor disappeared just days after the May 2 raid and hasn't been seen since.
All told up to 40 people have been arrested for supporting the U.S. in the raid, including a milkman who made deliveries to Bin Laden's compound.
Pakistan's round-up of CIA "informants" further strains the already-strained-to-the-breaking-point relations between it and The United States.
(Reuters) - The incoming chair of the congressional panel that oversees labor issues on Monday questioned the need for unions and said she wants to repeal various Obama administration labor policies.
Labor unions have already been wary about how they will fare under the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, with Republicans poised to control the presidency and both chambers of Congress.
AFL-CIO spokesman Eric Hauser pushed back against Foxx’s comments, saying that a thriving labor movement and strong union presence has never been more important in light of the economic tumult in the United States.
Foxx, who was first elected to the House in 2004, said one of her committee’s top priorities will be to roll back a slew of Obama administration labor initiatives.
At the top of her agenda is the U.S. Labor Department rule that would extend mandatory overtime pay to more than 4 million workers. A federal judge in Texas blocked the rule last month before it took effect, but the Labor Department has challenged that ruling in a federal appeals court.
Among other targets that Foxx cited for repeal are the National Labor Relations Board’s revised standard for “joint employment” that could make it easier for unions and regulators to hold companies accountable for the employment practices of staffing agencies, contractors and franchisees with which they partner. That issue has been most prominently in play in a case involving McDonald’s Corp over whether it, as well as its franchisees, can be held liable in complaints about the violation of employee rights.
Foxx said she expects strong opposition from Democrats.
“I think that they will bring up their tired arguments about how we are destroying the world by doing the things that we’re doing, but frankly I think this last election shows that the American people aren’t buying those arguments anymore,” Foxx said.
Representatives for the Democratic leadership on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce were not immediately available for comment.
Is Mexico Taking Swine Flu Precautions Too Far?
It was not the kind of argument I wanted to hear first thing in the morning. On today's local news, Mexico's top epidemiologist was accusing the World Health Organization of botching its response to the rapidly spreading swine flu virus. The WHO fired back that it had reacted as quickly as possible, given Mexico's refusal to promptly hand over the flu samples.
It was the perfect cap to a long week in Mexico City.
The population of 25 million or so people had endured a series of small catastrophes: a 5.6-magnitude earthquake that shook even the tallest buildings in the capital; a wildfire-like spread of a disease that seemed to kill victims in Mexico while not having the same effect anywhere else in the world; and a halting of the economic machinery of one of the biggest cities in the world. So as we enter a five-day shutdown ordered by the government, Mexico City understandably threatens to lose its calm.
"There are no customers, none," the owner of a dress shop in the historic center said this week, shrugging her shoulders helplessly. All along her cobblestone street, boutiques, bookshops, and food stands remained empty while masked pedestrians hurried past. Even in the historical center, normally a congested tourist magnet, I could easily count the number of people on the street. The subway ride over was disturbingly pleasant, with normally crowded cars empty of commuters."How are we going to eat?" asked street vendors and taxi drivers, most of them angry at what they believed was a hysteria fueled by the government. Before last Friday morning, most residents of Mexico had never heard of swine flu. Now, fear of the deadly new strain of the virus was all anyone talked about. Public events, schools, and theaters were hastily shut down, and somber-faced health workers flitted about airports and bus stations looking for the sick. Even Starbucks, after a particularly grim television address by the health minister, switched to a drive-thru service.
And despite reports that Mexico is losing nearly $60 million a day due to the economic slowdown from lost tourism and shuttering of businesses, the government ordered the closing of street food stalls, restaurants, gyms, and several other types of private establishments, leaving only "essential" services—some offices, hospitals, and markets—open until May 6. Analysts say the economic effect may be devastating. The stock market has fallen by 3 percent since last week and the peso has also dipped some 4 percent against the dollar, though it is stabilizing. Add to that travel warnings and a reduced number of flights from the United States, Canada, and parts of of Europe.
Already distrustful of their leaders because of a messily-fought drug war, Mexicans are beginning to question if the collateral damage of the flu response is worth it. While some think the government's handling of the virus was dangerously delayed, others believe President Felipe Calderon's new emergency powers—which allow him to search and isolate citizens, enter private homes, close down venues, break up gatherings, and set up checkpoints at whim—are a blatant effort to abuse power.
The most serious charge against him, perhaps, is that he ignored the country's failing public health system until it was too late. But until more details emerge about this puzzling epidemic, all Mexico City can do is wait.
Alexis Okeowo is a writer living in Mexico City.
LONDON, April 12 (Reuters) - The dollar held near a two-week low on Thursday against a basket of currencies as investors remained cautious over possible Western military action against Syria, while the euro was also steady before minutes of the ECB’s March meeting.
Hawkish minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve in the previous session did little to lift the dollar, with U.S. Treasury yields soft and European stocks subdued after a weak Asian session.
“The broad theme in the currency market this week has been risk appetite, and today (this) ... is pretty cautious because of the geopolitical risks,” said Adam Cole, head of G10 currency strategy at RBC Capital Markets in London.
The dollar was flat against the basket at 89.57, just above a two-week low of 89.35 hit on Wednesday.
The political tensions shifted some of the market’s focus away from a lingering trade standoff between Washington and Beijing, with the dollar inching up 0.1 percent to 106.88 yen after losing 0.4 percent on Wednesday. The yen often draws demand in times of uncertainty.
The risk overhang has also pressured carry trades, in which investors buy low-yielding currencies - the yen has appreciated more than 5 percent so far this year - to invest in relatively higher-yielding ones.
Bilal Hafeez, an FX strategist at Nomura said the broad economic and risk backdrop has become unstable after 2017 saw booming stock markets, synchronised global growth and benign inflation.
“This year is seeing all these reverse,” he said.
The euro held steady at $1.2362, stabilising after gains in recent sessions. The euro has gained 0.7 percent so far this week, as comments from European Central Bank officials reinforced views that the bank is on track to normalise monetary policy.
Rihanna launches her Fenty x Puma collection at Paris Fashion Week \| HELLO!
There was just one Paris Fashion Week show the style set wanted to be at on Wednesday night – the launch of Rihanna's Fenty x Puma SS17 collection.
Rihanna, who was announced as the label's creative director in December 2014, debuted her SS17 collection to a star-studded crowd at Hotel de Salomon De Rothschild.
The singer opened the show by walking the runway in a brown hoodie and leggings, which she glammed up with lace-up heels and pearl accessories. Rihanna appeared to be in her element as she waved to the audience before the models showcased the rest of the collection, which fused sportswear with luxe Marie Antoinette influences.
As guests including Jourdan Dunn, Natalia Vodianova and Doutzen Kroes applauded, Rihanna took her bow in another head-to-toe look from her spring collection.
The 28-year-old wore a pink floor-length broderie anglaise trench coat with matching flared trousers and heels, while clutching a lace fan adorned with the Puma logo. She complemented the look with a pearl choker and dewy pink make-up, while her hair was tied back into a low ponytail.
It is the first time Rihanna has presented her work at Paris Fashion Week; the stylish singer previously launched her debut Puma collection at New York Fashion Week in February.
Speaking to Vogue about why she chose to present at Paris, Rihanna explained that it was due to the inspiration for the collection.
"I chose Paris because I wanted people to feel the entire tone of the new collection," Rihanna said. "I wanted them to feel like this is what Marie Antoinette might wear to the gym, or play tennis in.
"I imagined it like that, and I hope people receive it in a fun way."
The ongoing controversy over the celebrity-endorsed Brazilian Blowout and similar keratin hair smoothing treatments that are used to tame frizzy hair intensified this week, when U.S. health officials issued a hazard alert warning about dangerous formaldehyde levels found in some of the products.
State OSHA offices in California and Oregon began investigating the Brazilian Blowout and other hair smoothing products several months ago after a host of complaints from salon workers and clients reporting headaches, nosebleeds, blisters, burning eyes, vomiting, asthma attacks and other respiratory problems. Several state-level agencies -- including those in California, Oregon and Connecticut -- issued warnings about the products. Health Canada issued an outright ban. The solutions used in the brand-name Brazilian Blowout, in particular, contained formaldehyde -- which is a known carcinogen -- at an amount “42 times the acceptable limit,” Canadian officials said.
On April 6, the California attorney general filed a motion in Alameda County Superior Court requesting a preliminary injunction against GIB LLC, the company that makes the brand-name Brazilian Blowout. It is the first enforcement action the state has taken under the California Safe Cosmetics Act.
The company’s chief executive, Mike Brady, takes issue with the findings and questions the government agencies’ testing methods. In December, GIB LLC sued Oregon OSHA over its testing, although the suit was later dropped.
Brazilian Blowout solutions have “never emitted any unacceptable levels of anything that I’m aware of per OSHA testing,” Brady said in a phone interview Wednesday.
It’s not only government agencies that are questioning the safety of products used in keratin smoothing treatments.
In a report called “Flat Out Risky,” the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit organization that lobbies for health and environmental protections, raises concerns about the treatments and the comparatively slow response of the U.S. government to complaints.
“Hair straighteners based on formaldehyde have been recalled in six countries -- Australia, Ireland, Canada, France, Germany and Cyprus, but are still widely used in American salons,” the report said.
Stacy Malkan, author of “Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry,” and co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, which is leading an effort to pass the Federal Safe Cosmetics Act, cites the hair-smoothing issue as a perfect example of why the U.S. needs a better product safety system. “It’s shocking the reports that have gone to the FDA regarding people who have been harmed from these products. They need to be pulled from the market,” Malkan said.
Hair salon owners who are concerned about whether products they use are problematic can request an on-site consultation from OSHA by visiting its website or calling (800) 321-6742. On-site consultations do not result in penalties or citations. Consumers who believe they been negatively affected can call the FDA’s MedWatch adverse event reporting system at (800) 332-1088.
"Within days, the House of Representatives will vote to pass the Senate health-care "reform" bill. This bill is a joke. It has NOTHING to do with "health-care reform." It has EVERYTHING to do with lining the pockets of the health insurance industry,"- Michael Moore.
Add fallen leaves to the compost pile whenever rake them up.
You hear about composting a lot. TV and radio shows, magazines and websites extol the virtues of composting. But the instructions for creating a compost pile may seem so specific and complicated that you're turned off by the idea. The truth is that home composting doesn't have to be complicated. If you're looking for the lazy gardener's approach to composting, you're in luck.
Composting is the natural process of decomposition of organic matter into nutrient-rich garden humus. Any compost pile is made from a mix of carbon-rich and nitrogen-rich materials -- the "brown" and "green" matter, respectively. Microorganisms, tiny creatures and earthworms feed on the materials and break them down over time. The compost is ready to use when it turns black and crumbly and smells like earth.
Hot composting mixes a specific proportion of brown and green materials, along with manure, compost accelerators and other additives. Then the pile is tended on a schedule so it reaches the high temperatures that break down organic matter quickly. Brown materials, such as fallen leaves, and green materials, such as cut grass, are set aside and saved until sufficient materials are available to construct the pile. You have to regularly water, turn and check the temperature of the pile. A perfectly constructed and tended hot pile can produce finished compost in a few months.
Cold composting is the lazy gardener's method. While a cold compost pile needs both brown and green materials, you don't have to be as exact with the proportions. Instead of saving the materials up before creating the pile, add them when you have them. Cold compost doesn't heat up, so earthworms move through the pile faster, enriching it with their castings. A cold compost pile started in spring is usually ready for use the following spring.
Occasional turning and watering boost biological activity in a cold pile, speeding up decomposition. Build a pile until it reaches 3 or 4 feet in diameter and 3 feet tall. While you continue to tend this pile, start building the next. The first pile will be ready sooner. Cold compost doesn't heat up enough to kill weed seeds, so don't put weeds that have gone to seed on the pile. Add food scraps, such as vegetable peelings, banana peels and peanut shells, to the pile. Avoid meat, bones, dairy and any scraps that are covered in oil. If you add twigs and woody bits to the pile, the process will take longer.
W., Robert. "Lazy Composting." Home Guides \| SF Gate, http://homeguides.sfgate.com/lazy-composting-72718.html. Accessed 19 April 2019.
I have been a staunch opponent of suppressing athletes’ ability to communicate on social media platforms (including Facebook and Twitter), but I am certainly a proponent of properly educating those athletes regarding the best practices of using those networks.
Athletes need to understand that the platforms make it relatively easy to post text updates, pictures, and videos, but also just as easy for others to instantly be able to access that content. The hard part is damage control. Once the content is made available, it is tough to take down.
The content spreads like wildfire.
I was recently forwarded a webpage created by Twitter titled, Twitter for Athletes. At first, I was surprised that Twitter took the time to create a page dedicated to informing athletes about best practices for using the service. But the real shock was seeing just how much effort was put forth by the Twitter team to come up with a guide that is actually worthy for all athletes and their agents to view.
In the guide, Twitter covers the proper usage of hashtags, the value of responding to follows and asking questions, and engagement with teammates.
Most importantly, it explains that Twitter can be used by athletes for breaking news and that “a Tweet can be more powerful and personal than a press release.” The power of a Tweet can be a great thing for an athlete, but also terribly disastrous if written without thinking.
Ali Ejaz who died last week was an actor of great accomplishment. Though he played all kinds of roles but his real forte was comedy. It is only to state the obvious that comedy requires an intuitive sense of timing and Ali Ejaz had oodles of it. The repartees were finely tuned and timed to perfection to get the best results.
Much has been written about since his passing away of his contribution to films and television, only because the two mediums have an outreach that is greater but his contribution to the growing theatre scene of the Punjab, particularly Lahore, was seminal. The professional theatre, if it could be called professional, was a very limited affair with Alhamra being the only substantial venue for the staging of plays, consisting mostly of adaptations of famous western plays and a small bunch of actors under the guidance of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Imtiaz Ali Taj, Safdar Mir and Ali Ahmed performed to a limited audience, which could qualify to be elitist at least in the sense of its cultural orientation.
But by the late 1960s it was evident that theatre scene was expanding and more plays needed to be staged. It also had the potential to be financially viable. The second makeshift stage on the lawns of the erstwhile Alhamra premises was enacted and plays started being staged there.
It was on this stage that the talent of Rafi Khawar (Nannah), Masood Akhter, Khalid Abbas Dar, Najma Mehboob, Athar Shah Khan blossomed, and the most to flourish was that of Ali Ejaz. It was as if suddenly the talent within him had been given the opportunity to realise itself. The greater opportunity and the ability to make a living out of theatre were two very big incentives for these thespians to convert this into a full-time activity.
This was a period before other popular actors like Amanullah and Albela started to steal the thunder. But it was the consequence of the greater censorial outbursts that theatre moved out of specialised, dedicated environment to hotels and restaurant. The prohibition also added to hotels opening their doors, actually lawns, to these theatre groups to perform, given the growing audience. A flourishing theatre activity started at four or five such makeshift venues.
Television, it must be stated, snowballed their popularity. These actors, only voices on the radio, could now also be seen. The public at large started to identify the names with the faces and this increased their rating. Television and theatre complemented each other and the actors, script writers and directors created a niche for themselves through television and then made money from the plays where the box office returns showed satisfactory results. From then on, the stage could be taken seriously as a professional venture that could make the personnels associated with it live off it without recourse to moonlighting.
What really happened was the indigenisation of characters, to begin with, and then the situations in the plays. The particular themes that resonated with the growing and diverse audiences were the rural-urban divide, the language barrier, the emerging nouveau riche circles and then the growing trend of going off to the Middle East, thereby bringing about a silent economic revolution that saw the class figuration undergo a sea change.
Ali Ejaz was able to capture the changes that were taking place and incorporated them in the new character types that were emerging as a consequence. One of the most popular plays was thus Dubai Chalo and it struck a chord with the growing middle-class that was becoming part of the growing theatre audiences. The social disruption and the new formations in society and its cultural fallouts were sealed. It was later with this in mind that a film was also made with the same theme and more or less the same cast.

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