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__label__cc	0.667571	0.332429	Guide:How to effectively prepare the reasons of invalidation to increase the success rate of invalidation under the circu... Guide: MTG has filed an invalidation request for the Chinese design patent imitating MTGs ReFa beauty roller and won the ... HOME > English > Laws > Patent列表 Laws-Patent Provisions of The Supreme People's Court on Several Issues concerning Intellectual Property Court of Appeals Approved at the 1756 th conference of the Judicial Committee of The Supreme Peoples Court (hereinafter referred as SPC) on December 3, 2018, Provisions of The Supreme Peoples Court on Several Issues concerning Intellectual Property Court of Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Review of Act Preserv Provisions of the Supreme Peoples Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Review of Act Preservation in Intellectual Property Disputes Announcement of Supreme Peoples Court of PRC The Provisions of the Supreme Peopl Administrative Measures for Prioritized Patent Examination (2017) (No. 76) Administrative Measures for Prioritized Patent Examination (2017) (No. 76) SIPO Directive No. 76 The Administrative Measures for Prioritized Patent Examination has been reviewed and approved by the Council of SIPO Affair. Hereby, the Measur ORDINANCE OF THE STATE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE No. 63 The Measures for the Labeling of Patent Marks, as deliberated and adopted at the executive meeting of the State Intellectual Property Office of Peoples Republic of China, are hereby issued and shall come into force on May 1, 2012. Di The Measures for the Recordal of Patent License Contract (No. 62) No. 62 The Measures for the Recordal of Patent License Contract has been examined and adopted at the executive meeting. It is now promulgated and will come into force on August 1, 2011. Director: Tian Lipu June 27, 2011 The Measures for the Transitional Regulations on Implementation of the Revised Implementing Regulations of the Patent Law (No. 54) No. 54 The Transitional Regulations on Implementation of the Revised Implementing Regulations of the Patent Law, adopted at the Principals Meeting of the SIPO, is hereby promulgated and shall enter into force as of February 1, 2010. Tian Li Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Amending the Patent Law of the People's Republic (Adopted at the Sixth Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eleventh National Peoples Congress on December 27, 2008) The following amendments to the Patent Law of the Peoples Republic of China were adopted at the Sixth Meeting of the Sta Patent Cooperation Treaty Done at Washington on June 19, 1970, amended on September 28, 1979, and modified on February 3, 1984 Article 1 Establishment of a Union (1) The States party to this Treaty (hereinafter called the Contracting States) constitute a Union for c Locarno Agreement Establishing an International Classification for Industrial Designs TABLE OF CONTENTS Article 1 : Establishment of a SpecialUnion; Adoption of an International Classification. Article 2 : Use and Legal Scope of the International Classification. Article 3 : Committee of Experts. Article 4 : Notification and P AGREEMENT ON TRADE-RELATED ASPECTS OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS PART I GENERAL PROVISIONS AND BASIC PRINCIPLES PART II STANDARDS CONCERNING THE AVAILABILITY, SCOPE AND USE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS 1. Copyright and Related Rights 2. Trademarks 3. Geographical Indications 4. Industrial Designs 5. P	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3859
__label__wiki	0.852792	0.852792	Home Who We Are List of Orders References Contact Us *** Note: KnowYourInsects.org does its best to include correct identifications of insect photos. It’s always possible that we made a mistake, however, so if you see a misidentification, please contact us and we will correct it. Thanks! Order Coleoptera: the beetles — Examples Families represented below: • Anthicidae (the antlike flower beetles) • Attelabidae (the leaf-rolling weevils) • Brentidae (the primitive weevils) • Buprestidae (the metallic wood-boring beetles) • Cantharidae (the soldier beetles) • Carabidae (the ground beetles) • Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles) • Cleridae (the checkered beetles) • Chrysomelidae (the leaf beetles) • Coccinellidae (the ladybugs or ladybird beetles) • Cucujidae (the flat-bark beetles • Curculionidae (the weevils) • Dermestidae (the dermestid or skin beetles) • Dytiscidae (the predaceous diving beetles) • Elateridae (the click beetles) • Hydrophilidae (the water scavenger beetles) • Lampyridae (the fireflies or lightningbugs) • Lucanidae (the stag beetles) • Lycidae (the net-winged beetles) • Lymexylidae (the ship timber beetles) • Meloidae (the blister beetles) • Melyridae (the soft-winged flower beetles) • Mordellidae (the pintail beetles or tumbling flower beetles) • Nitidulidae (the sap beetles) • Oedemeridae (the false blister beetles) • Passalidae, the bessbugs or betsy beetles) • Phengodidae, the glowworm beetles • Scarabaeidae (the scarab beetles) • Silphidae (the carrion beetles) • Silvanidae (the flat bark or silvanid beetles) • Staphylinidae (the rove beetles) • Tenebrionidae (the darkling beetles) • Zopheridae (the ironclad beetles and the cylindrical bark beetles) Chrysomelidae, the leaf beetles Spotted Cucumber Beetle Diabrotica undecimpunctata, subfamily Galerucinae, family Chrysomelidae (the leaf beetles). &square; True to its name of Spotted Cucumber Beetle, this attractive beetle does love cucumbers, but it will also eat other crops, including melons and pumpkins. The adults dine on leaves, vines, and fruit. Photographed by: Quy Thai. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Sterling Heights, Macomb County, Michigan, USA. Date: 31 August, 2014. Spotted Cucumber Beetle, Diabrotica undecimpunctata, subfamily Galerucinae, family Chrysomelidae (the leaf beetles). &square; The larva of the Spotted Cucumber Beetle is sometimes called a Southern Corn Rootworm because it bores into the stems of corn plants, usually right at ground level or a bit above, and this can kill the plant. More information about this species is available here. Photographed by: Dave Delman, M.D. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York, USA. Date: 28 October, 2017. &square; Some Spotted Cucumber Beetles have a yellowish-green abdomen, as can be seen in this photo that shows the abdomen peeking out beyond the forewings (elytra). Others have a more yellowish-orange abdomen. Those with the yellowish-green abdomen fall into the subspecies Diabrotica undecimpunctata undecimpunctata; and the yellowish-orange ones in the subspecies Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi. Photographed and identified by: Thomas Langhans. See Thomas’s full-size image here. Location: city of San Bruno, county of San Mateo, California, USA. Date: 27 November, 2017. Thomas says, “I found this one crawling on our car, a Nissan Leaf. Did it really know it was a Leaf?” Elm Leaf Beetle, Xanthogaleruca luteola, subfamily Galerucinae, family Chrysomelidae (the leaf beetles), &square; The Elm Leaf Beetle may be greenish in color (as shown here) or yellow. It is a pest species on elm trees — the larvae of this beetle are leaf skeletonizers, which means that they eat the green parts of leaves, so only the veins are left behind. For more information and to see the yellow form of the Elm Leaf Beetle, click here. Photographed and identified to order by: Robert Moelder. Identified to species by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Cashmere, Washington, USA. Date: 11 April, 2019. Flea Beetles, subfamily Galerucinae, family Chrysomelidae (the leaf beetles), &square; Flea Beetles get their name from their amazing jumping ability, similar to that of Fleas. Flea Beetles, however, are not related to Fleas. Fleas fall under a completely separate insect order, the Siphonaptera. Read about fleas here. Photographed and identified by: Abang Albert Fomumbod, who is a Ph.D. student working on resistance of okra (the plant shown here) to aphids. Location: Cameroon (specifically AVRDC/IITA station, Nkolbisson, Yaounde Cameroon). Date: September 2014. Flea Beetles, subfamily Galerucinae, family Chrysomelidae (the leaf beetles). &square; Close-up of the flea beetles. Different species of Flea Beetles often favor specific plants. Those in this photo are dining on okra leaves. Photographed and identified by: Abang Albert Fomumbod. Location: Cameroon (specifically AVRDC/IITA station, Nkolbisson, Yaounde Cameroon). Date: September 2014. Dogbane Beetle, Chrysochus auratus, subfamily Eumolpinae, family Chrysomelidae (the leaf beetles). &square; Look at that color! Not surprisingly, the Dogbane Beetle eats the plant known as Common Dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum) — the larvae (grubs) munch on the roots, and the adult beetles nibble at the leaves. Photographed and identified by: Kelly McKinne (@gonzonaturalist). Location: northern Ohio, USA. Date: 6 July, 2016. Colapsis Beetle in the genus Colapsis, subfamily Eumolpinae, family Chrysomelidae (the leaf beetles). &square; Several species in this genus look nearly identical. One is known by the scientific name of Colaspis pseudofavosa, which is sometimes called Colaspis floridana as it is found in Florida where this photo was taken. Colaspis pseudofavosa feeds on blueberries and pecans, as well as other things, such as the southern wax myrtle/bayberry tree, according to the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Photographed by: Marv Goldberg. Location: Tamarac, Florida, USA. Date: 23 April, 2019. Calligrapha Beetle in the genus Calligrapha, subfamily Chrysomelinae, family Chrysomelidae (the leaf beetles). &square; Calligrapha is a good name for these beetles, because the markings look like calligraphy. Most species of Calligrapha Beetles live in Central America and South America, but some (like this one) extend north into the United States. Photographed by; Julie Brown. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Haxtun, Colorado, USA. Date: 18 July, 2017. Mint Beetle, possibly Chrysolina herbacea, subfamily Chrysomelinae, family Chrysomelidae (the leaf beetles). &square; The coloring of this species, several of which are shown on a mint plant, looks different depending on the light and angle of view. They appear to be Mint Beetles, even though this species is usually found in central Asia and Europe, rather than in India where this photo was taken. Photographed by: Syed Gazanfar. Identified by: entomologist Fredric Vencl of Stony Brook University and the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution. Thank you, Dr. Vencl! Location: Kashmir, India. Date: 24 April, 2018. Syed says, “We have abundance of wild mint growing here on the roadsides. I’ve seen this beetle since spring, mating on almost all the plants.” Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle, Labidomera clivicollis, subfamily Chrysomelinae, family Chrysomelidae (the leaf beetles). &square; The color and pattern of the Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle is highly variable. Some are red, some orange, and some are ivory-colored. Black spotting is always present, but the spots may be much more or less extensive in some individuals. Photographed by: Bea Cuthbertson. Identified by: Leslie Mertz. Location: on the border between Hillsdale and Lenawee counties, Michigan, USA. Date: 8 September, 2015. Bea says, “It was roughly 3/8"–1/2" total.” Bloody-Nosed Beetle, also known as a Blood-Spewing Beetle, Timarcha tenebricosa, subfamily Chrysomelinae, family Chrysomelidae (the leaf beetles). &square; Find out how this beetle got its name by reading the photographer’s comment below. Also, see another view of this beetle in the next photo. Photographed and identified by: Bryan Wenham-Baker (@BryanPhotos). Location: Ivybridge, South Hams, South Devon, England, UK. Date: June, 2018. Bryan says, “It’s said that when it’s disturbed, it oozes a red liquid from its front end, but not what I’ve seen so far!” KnowYourInsects.org says, “The liquid is indeed insect blood, which is called hemolymph. The hemolymph is distasteful to predators, so oozing a droplet is a good defensive maneuver.” &square; Another nice view of the Bloody-Nosed Beetle, this one a top view. Photographed and identified by: Bryan Wenham-Baker (@BryanPhotos). Location: Ivybridge, South Hams, South Devon, England, UK. Date: 29 April, 2018. Bryan says “this cute little beetle” was about 10–12mm in length. Colorado Potato Beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata, subfamily Chrysomelinae, family Chrysomelidae (the leaf beetles). &square; The Colorado Potato Beetle is a major pest of potato plants, and will also attack tomato and pepper plants. Photographed and identified by: Leslie Mertz Location: Kalkaska County, Michigan, USA. Date: 28 May, 2012. False Potato Beetle, Leptinotarsa juncta, subfamily Chrysomelinae, family Chrysomelidae (the leaf beetles). &square; The False Potato Beetle is not an agricultural pest. Rather, it eats plants usually considered weeds, such as horsenettle and ground cherry. Photographed by: Elizabeth Boyle. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: West Milford, New Jersey, USA. Date: 11 June, 2017. &square; The brown strip down the middle of the back helps distinguish the False Potato Beetle from the Colorado Potato Beetle. Photographed and identified to order by: Bill Schwartz. Identified to species by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Gettysburg, PA, USA. Date: 20 August, 2014. Clavate Tortoise Beetle, Plagiometriona clavata, subfamily Cassidinae, family Chrysomelidae (the leaf beetles). &square; Tortoise Beetles, like the Clavate Tortoise Beetle shown here, have a wide turtle-like upper shell, the edges of which are transparent. Photographed and identified by: Leslie Mertz. Location: Kalkaska County, Michigan, USA. Date: 12 June, 2012. Tortoise Beetle in the genus Aspidimorpha, possibly Aspidimorpha sanctaecrucis, subfamily Cassidinae, family Chrysomelidae (the leaf beetles). Photographed by Spoorthi Sv. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Shivamogga (Shimoga), Karnataka state, southwest India. Date: 7 March, 2018. Tortoise Beetle, pupa, subfamily Cassidinae, family Chrysomelidae (the leaf beetles). &square; Entomologist Poorani Janakiraman of the National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources in Bangalore, India, identified this as a pupa of one of the beetles in the Chrysomelidae, most likely a pupa of a tortoise beetle. Photographed by: Arkopal Gupta. Identified by: Poorani Janakiraman. Thank you, Dr. Janakiraman! Location: West Bengal, India. Date: 25 February, 2018. Leaf Beetle (no other common name), Cryptocephalus fulgaratus, subfamily Cryptocephalinae, family Chrysomelidae (the leaf beetles). &square; According to entomologist Robert Barney (who identified this beetle), it is not a common species. Photographed by Seif Naqvi. Identified by: Robert J. Barney, Ph.D., professor emeritus at West Virginia State University. Thank you, Dr. Barney! Location: Lexington, Kentucky, USA. Date: 8 September, 2017. Seif’s mother Kathleen says, “KY. I found this bug in a branch in my peach tree.” Mimosestes Seed Beetle, Mimosestes amicus, subfamily Cryptocephalinae, family Chrysomelidae (the leaf beetles). &square; A careful look will reveal a rosy hue in about the middle of the gray wings. Female Mimosestes Seed Beetles lay their eggs in plants in the genus Parkinsonia, which includes plants known as Foothills Palo Verde, Blue Palo Verde, and in Velvet Mesquite. Photographed by: Betty-Lou Archibald. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Apache Junction, Arizona, USA. Date: 7 November, 2017. Betty-Lou describes this one as being able to hop or jump, and also fly. Scarlet Lily Leaf Beetle, Lilioceris lilii, subfamily Criocerinae, family Chrysomelidae (the leaf beetles). &square; According to Bugguide.net, this is a Eurasian species that first came to Montreal, Canada, in the 1940s and has spread into the United States. It is believed that it spread via nursery-bought lilies, but now it has also gotten into wild lilies in the U.S. Photographed by: Duane Schultz. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Wilson, New York, USA. Date: 14 May, 2017. Duane says this beetle is eating their lily plants. Cereal Leaf Beetle, either Oulema melanopus or Oulema rufocyanea, subfamily Criocerinae, family Chrysomelidae (the leaf beetles). &square; The Cereal Leaf Beetle has metallic green elytra (forewings), on an otherwise orange-red body. It is a small beetle — the photographer says this one was just 5 mm (0.2 inches) long, and gets its common name from its preferred diet of oats and cereal grains. Note: Without dissecting the beetle, it is impossible to tell whether it is the species Oulema melanopus or Oulema rufocyanea. Photographed and identified to order by: Bryan Wenham-Baker (@BryanPhotos). Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Ivybridge, South Hams, South Devon, England, UK. Date: 6 April, 2019. Bryan found this one on the inside of his patio door. Cleridae, the checkered beetles Red-Legged Ham Beetle, Necrobia rufipes, family Cleridae (the checkered beetles). &square; A small insect at just 4.5 mm long (less than 0.2 inches), the Red-Legged Ham Beetle has a metallic blue-green back and reddish-brown to orange legs. Its antennae are also reddish-brown to orange with black, clubbed tips. This little beetle eats dried fish, and also feeds on some fly larvae, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Photographed by: Suzanne Cuomo. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Wyckoff, New Jersey, USA. Date: 22 March, 2019. Lymexylidae, the ship timber beetles Ship Timber Beetle, family Lymexylidae (the ship timber beetles). &square; Very unusual — and huge — eyes! See the next photo to get an appreciation for how long an abdomen this beetle has. Amazing! Photographed by: Jorge "Izzy" Irizarry. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Puerto Rico. Date: 29 September, 2015. Jorge says it “was very loud when flying. It died, but before it did it laid around 100 eggs.” Ship Timber Beetle (from a distance to show unique body shape), family Lymexylidae (the ship timber beetles). Hatching eggs of the Ship Timber Beetle, family Lymexylidae (the ship timber beetles). &square; Although they are called Ship Timber Beetles, these insects will bore into living trees in addition to the wood of ships and other structures. Carabidae, the ground beetles Fiery Hunter Beetle, Callisthenes calidus, subfamily Carabinae, family Carabidae (the ground beetles). &square; The Fiery Hunter is sometimes called a Fiery Searcher. (It was once listed under the genus Calosoma). Photographed and identified by: Leslie Mertz. Location: Kalkaska County, Michigan, USA. Date: 24 May, 2012. Leslie says, “Look at the texture on its elytra (its back), especially highlighted with those tiny red dots. Gorgeous!” Purple-Rimmed Carabus, Carabus nemoralis, subfamily Carabinae, family Carabidae (the ground beetles). &square; The Purple-Rimmed Carabus is also known as a European Ground Beetle or Bronze Ground Beetle. It was introduced to the United States, where this photo was taken, from its native Europe. Photographed and identified to genus by: Ryan King. Identified to species by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Fairview, Michigan, USA. Date: 19 April, 2019. Ryan says, “I happened upon a beetle under a log ... that looked rather interesting.” Blue-Spotted Tiger Beetle, also known as Gold-Spotted Tiger Beetle, Cicindela aurulenta, subfamily Cicindelinae, family Carabidae (the ground beetles). Photographed by: Abhiroop Singh Gill. Identified by KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Amritsar, India. Date: 18 November, 2016. Six-Spotted Tiger Beetle, Cicindela sexguttata, subfamily Cicindelinae, family Carabidae (the ground beetles). Leslie says, “That green metallic is even prettier in person.” Photographed and identified by: Kyle Lengerich. Location: Indiana, USA. Date: 2019. Tiger Beetle in the genus Cicindela, likely a Bronzed Tiger Beetle, Cicindela repanda, subfamily Cicindelinae, family Carabidae (the ground beetles). &square; This pair of photos show not only the scrolled markings on this Tiger Beetle’s back, but also the metallic coloration on its body and legs, and the multitude of hairs on this insect. See the comment below about these insects, which were photographed on the harder, upland sandy bank at the very edge of a reservoir. Photographed and identified to order by: Jo Belasco. Identified to species by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Wheatland, Wyoming, USA. Date: 13 June, 2019. Jo’s sister Dawn sent in the photos, and she says, “It was a sunny day and the sand was warm. These creatures were hopping all over the sand, mating, and reminded me of water striders in the way they moved. (They are clearly not water striders; I am only telling you how they seemed to skitter about on the sand.)” To see a water strider, click here. Ground Beetle, either Scarites quadriceps or Scarites vicinus, subfamily Scaritinae, family Carabidae (the ground beetles). Photographed by: Eric Grewe. Identified by KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Novi, Michigan, USA. Date: 16 June, 2015. Eric found this beetle at work. Insects are indeed everywhere! Tyrant Ground Beetle, also known as a Spotted Ground Beetle, in the genus Anthia, probably Anthia mitchelli, subfamily Anthiinae, family Carabidae (the ground beetles). &square; The Tyrant Ground Beetle has a gland at the rear of the abdomen from which it can squirt a chemical secretion that contains some bad-tasting and bad-smelling chemicals. See the photographer’s comment below about how her dog learned about this ability.” Photographed by: Lindsey Southern. Identified by KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Whiteriver, Mpumalanga, South Africa. Date: 6 May, 2019. Lindsey says, “It seems to also squirt an unpleasant liquid out its butt, as when my dog went close to it — to sniff it — she came away very suddenly and was trying to wipe off her muzzle. Tenebrionidae, the darkling beetles Darkling Beetle, probably in the genus Eleodes, subfamily Tenebrioninae, family Tenebrionidae (the darkling beetles). &square; Darkling Beetles are sometimes called Clown Beetles, because of their habit of running around rather crazily and sometimes doing a headstand when they are threatened. Photographed and identified to order by: Thomas Langhans. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. See Thomas’s full-size image here. Location: city of South San Francisco, county of San Mateo, California, USA. Date: 28 April, 2017. &square; Darkling Beetles are sometimes called Stink Beetles because one of their defensive mechanisms is to emit a smelly secretion from their rear ends. Thomas says, “This one was in a real hurry to get somewhere. It was large, I can only guess now, perhaps about 4 cm (1.6 inches).” Darkling Beetle, Morica planata, subfamily Pimeliinae, family Tenebrionidae (the darkling beetles). &square; Most beetles raise their hard forewings (called elytra), unfold the pair of membranous flight wings that lie underneath, and fly away. With this species of Darkling Beetle, however, the elytra are fused, so they cannot fly. Notice this species’ characteristic flattened pronotum behind the head. Photographed and identified to order by: Sanne Houwing. Identified to species by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Tibi, Valencia, Spain. Date: 14 June, 2018. Sanne says, “We encountered this flatheaded fellow at breakfast in Spain.” Flour Beetle in the genus Tribolium, subfamily Tenebrioninae, family Tenebrionidae (the darkling beetles). &square; There are several species of Flour Beetle, and the two that are especially common in houses just about everywhere in the world are the Red Flour Beetle (Tribolium castaneum) and the Confused Flour Beetle (Tribolium confusum. These tiny beetles look almost identical, and both feed on flour and other grains people store in the pantry. More information about these beetles is available here. Photographed by: Fatima Amer. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Dammam, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Date: 18 March, 2019. Fatima says it is about 4mm (0.15 inches) long. She has discovered a few in her apartment. KnowYourInsects.org says, “They are definitely good and sneaking into homes!” Anthicidae, the antlike flower beetles Monoceros Beetle, Notoxus desertus, subfamily Notoxinae, family Anthicidae (the antlike flower beetles). &square; The “horn” projecting forward over the head is a giveaway for the Monoceros Beetle. This beetle is one of the group often described as ant-like. In fact, the submitter described it as about the size of a pea or “small like an ant.” This beetle has two black spots on its back, plus a V-shaped band. See the description in the comment below. Photographed by: Autumn Highstreet. Submitted by: J. H. Highstreet. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Michigan, USA. Date: 17 June, 2019. J. H. says, “We have named it the Minecraft bug, since it looks like the creeper face in minecraft.” Cerambycidae, the long-horned beetles Long-Horned Beetle, in the genus Monochamus, subfamily Lamiinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). Photographed and identified by: Jim Pankey. Location: Chatsworth, Georgia, USA. Date: 27 May, 2014. Female White-Spotted Sawyer, Monochamus scutellatus, subfamily Lamiinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; Females have mottling on the back, gray-and-black banded antennae, and shorter antennae than the males. Photographed and identified by: Shelli St. Clair. Location: Sterling, Alaska, USA. Date: 14 July, 2016. Male White-Spotted Sawyer, Monochamus scutellatus, subfamily Lamiinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; Compare with female in previous photo. Both males and females have a tiny, white, heart-shaped spot behind the head. Long-Horned Beetle, also known as a Sawyer Beetle, Monochamus sartor, subfamily Lamiinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). Photographed by: Peter Huessy. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Date: 3 August, 2016. Peter found it in his garden. Location: Sedrun, Switzerland. Spotted Pine Sawyer, female, Monochamus clamator, subfamily Lamiinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; Males have much longer antennae than females. For more information on this beetle, click here. Photographed by: Sharon Younie. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Outside Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. Date: 14 January, 2018. After learning the identity of this beetle, Sharon says, “It makes sense too, since I live on a lot heavily treed with ponderosa pines. We are located in proximity to burned areas from 2013 Black Forest, Colorado, fires. Although we have few if any dead/dying trees on our property, I realize that I did not notice these bugs before the past few years.” Long-Horned Beetle, Morimus asper funereus (formerly Morimus funereus), subfamily Lamiinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; This black-spotted, gray Long-Horned Beetle lives in dead or dying wood, especially in old-growth or dense forests. This species is “vulnerable,” which means its numbers are decreasing, in this case because of woodland practices that remove branches and other dead wood from forests. Photographed by: Stevica Vojnovic. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Subotica, Serbia. Date: 29 July, 2018. Mating pair of Milkweed Beetles, Tetraopes tetrophthalmus, subfamily Lamiinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). Photographed and identified by: Leslie Mertz. Location: Kalkaska, Michigan, USA. Date: 21 June, 2012. Milkweed Beetle, Tetraopes tetrophthalmus, subfamily Lamiinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; This one is peeking through a chewed-out hole in a milkweed leaf. Photographed by: Dave Delman. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: New York, USA. Date: 26 November, 2017. Poplar borer, Saperda calcarata, subfamily Lamiinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; Zoom in to see the splashes of pale creamy yellow among the delicate black speckles. Photographed and identified by: Kelly Miller. Location: Fremont, Nebraska, USA. Date: 7 June, 2017. Kelly says, “We found a poplar borer online and wonder if that’s it! Says they like aspen trees, which we do have one in our backyard.” KnowYourInsects.org says, “Yes, that’s it! Great job of identification, Kelly!” Mesquite Girdler, Oncideres rhodosticta, subfamily Lamiinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). Photographed and identified to order by: Rodney A. Johnson Jr. Identified to species by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Mesa, Arizona, USA. Date: 3 October, 2016. &square; Mesquite girdlers are also sometimes known as twig-girdling insects. Longicorn Beetle Borer, male, Olenecamptus bilobus, subfamily Lamiinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; Male Longicorn Beetle Borers (like this one) have antennae that are twice as long as the body. The number of spots on the wings can vary within this species — some have an additional pair of large spots farther back on the wings. Photographed by: Chua Kheng Sin. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Singapore. Date: 6 April, 2018. Chua says, “Saw this insect inside the Gents Toilet today on the wall.” KnowYourInsects.org says, “Such a beautiful insect! Great find, Chua!” Long-Horned Borer Beetle, Xylorhiza adusta, subfamily Lamiinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; This Long-Horned Borer Beetle has unusual hairy elytra (forewings). Most beetles have no such feature. This beetle is found in many parts of Southeast Asia, also northeast into China. Photographed and identified to family by: K J Westman. Identified to species by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Nithulemada, Rajawella, Kandy, Sri Lanka. Date: 9 November, 2018. K J says, “The wings of my beetle look quite different from the wings of the Long Horn beetles on your webpage.” KnowYourInsects.org says, “Yes! Those hairy forewings are amazing!” Flat-Faced Longhorn in the genus Coptops, subfamily Lamiinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; The Flat-Faced Longhorn has both a flat face and long “horns” (actually long antennae). Photographed by: Chua Kheng Sin. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Singapore. Date: 2 August, 2018. Chua says he found this insect “inside the gents toilet” KnowYourInsects.org says, “We’ve never seen a human structure that was impervious to insects!” Cottonwood Borer, Plectrodera scalator, subfamily Lamiinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; The Cottonwood Borer grows to 1.25 inches (more than 3 cm) long, not counting the elongate antennae, which can be longer than the body. Its pattern of squarish black marks on a creamy-yellow background set it apart from other beetles. Photographed and identified by: Mike Toombs. Location: Colorado City, Texas, USA. Date: 18 June, 2018. Mike took this photo in a backyard with “many older cottonwood trees” there and throughout the city. Golden-Bloomed Grey Longhorn Beetle, Agapanthia villosoviridescens, subfamily Lamiinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; The Golden-Bloomed Grey Longhorned Beetle gets the "golden-bloomed" part of its name from the gold bloom of color on the pair of speckled wings that cover its abdomen. Its antennae are quite characteristic too, with the black-and-white striping and the initial thicker black antennal segment. Photographed by: Alexandra Manning. Location: Northampton, UK. Date: 31 May, 2019. Alexandra says she took this photo after this beetle landed on her arm. Flat-Faced Long-Horned Beetle, Urgleptes querci, subfamily Lamiinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; This Flat-Faced Long-Horned Beetle has an intricate pattern on its back. The pattern varies quite widely among individuals, but all share the wide black band near the rear and the two black spots behind it (although the spots may be faint). Photographed by: Victor Leverenz. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Oxford, Michigan, USA. Date: 8 June, 2019. Victor says, “The body is about 1/8 inch and the antenna are much longer. Noticed it sitting on my desk.” Long-Horned Beetle in the genus Cereopsius, subfamily Lamiinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; This Long-Horned Beetle has striking, light-colored markings on a dark background, and a graceful curve to its antennae. Photographed by: Amirul Zahil. Identified by: entomologist Suksawat Poninij, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand. Thank you Professor Poninij! Location: Penang Hill, Penang, Malaysia. Date: 7 April, 2019. Brown Prionid, Orthosoma brunneum, subfamily Prioninae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; Despite the rather large and strong jaws on this beetle, the adults are believed to eat very little, if at all. In their short adult lives, the main task is to mate. Photographed by: Molly Bengelink. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Holland, Michigan, USA. Date: 18 July, 2016. Molly says, “I have never seen anything like that around our house before and it had us all a little curious (and somewhat uneasy initially).” &square; The photo at right shows a close-up of the Brown Prionid, and makes evident the small spines extending from the thorax. Also note the large jaws on this big beetle. The beetle is not aggressive, but if it is provoked (especially if it is cornered and can’t get away), it will defend itself as best it can and might even bite. Photographed by: Dave Delman. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Tucson, Arizona, U.S. Date: 5 January, 2018. Dave says, “It was really big!” KnowYourInsects.org says, “Yes, they can reach almost 2 inches long (nearly 5 cm)! &square; This species can grow to between 1–1.9 inches long (2.5–4.8 cm), so it’s a good-sized beetle! Photographed by: Rob Fox. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Ross (near Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania, USA. Date: 4 August, 2017. Rob says, “It was approx. 1.5" in length.” Prionid Beetle, male, in the genus Stenodontes, subfamily Prioninae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; Note the long, narrow jaws on this male! The Stenodontes genus has three species: Stenodontes chevrolati, Stenodontes damicornis and Stenodontes exsertus, the latter two of which are found in Puerto Rico, where this photo was taken. Insect expert Antonio Santos-Silva noted that Stenodontes chevrolati is not formally recorded in Puerto Rico, but it may well also occur in that country. From this photo alone, he was unable to determine exactly which species it is. Photographed by: Juraj Bajgar. Submitted and identified to order by: Clara Bajgar. Identified to family by: KnowYourInsects.org. Identified to genus by: Antonio Santos-Silva, an entomologist at the University of São Paulo. Thank you Dr. Santos-Silva! Location: Represa Lago Guajataca (about two hours from San Juan), Puerto Rico. Date: 19 September, 2018. Clara notes that this beetle was quite large — about 7 cm (3 inches) long. California Prionus, female, Prionus californicus, subfamily Prioninae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; This is the adult California Prionus. The adult female can grow to 2 inches (5 cm) in body length, sometimes even larger. The male is smaller, and reaches 1.5-1.75 inches long (3.8-4.4 cm) long. The larvae, or grubs, of this species and related species are sometimes called giant root borers and, when in large numbers, can cause damage to trees. Photographed by: Michelle Hughes. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Stevenson Ranch, California, USA. Date: 6 July, 2018. Michelle says the body was about 2 inches (5 cm) long! Broad-Necked Root Borer, Prionus laticollis, subfamily Prioninae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; As their name implies, they eat roots of trees and shrubs — usually going after trees and shrubs that are unhealthy. Photographed and identified to order by: Louise Sandler. Identified to species by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Chester County, Pennsylvania, USA. Date: 7 August, 2017. Louise says, “The head and body were about 2 inches long!” Rustic borer, Xylotrechus colonus, subfamily Cerambycinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; This beetle has some gorgeous patterning on its back (the patterning is actually on its hardened forewings, which are called elytra). This beetle was once in a different genus and had the scientific name of Clytus colonus. Photographed by: Amy Jones. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Milford, Sussex County, Delaware, USA. Date: 6 May, 2017. Amy says, “I've never seen anything like this before. It showed up in our house yesterday.” Locust Borer, Megacyllene robiniae, subfamily Cerambycinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; This species is called a Locust Borer because it most notably does damage to black locust trees. Adults are about 3/4 inch long (1.9 cm). Photographed by: Gordon Goos. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Benton County, Washington, USA. Date: 1 September, 2017. Gordon says, “Found several more this evening. One was eating flesh from a freshly cracked ripe cantaloupe.” Long-Horned Beetle, Obrium circumflexum, subfamily Cerambycinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). Photographed and identified to order by: Bárbara Escudero Alejos. Identified to species by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Lima, Peru. Date: 20 December, 2017. Bárbara says, “I took this photo next to my bathroom at midday, but the day before it was walking over my arm.” Monkeypod Round-Headed Borer, Xystrocera globosa, subfamily Cerambycinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; A close look at this beetle reveals the two dark stripes running down its back: one on each of its wings. It is known as a Monkeypod Borer because it bores into monkeypod trees, which were introduced to and now grow in many parts of Hawaii. Photographed by: Rikita Turner. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Oahu, Hawaii, USA. Date: 20 September, 2017. Rikita says, “This was in my ceiling.” &square; The Monkeypod Round-Headed Borer can easily grow to 3.2 cm (1.3 inches) long, and that is just the body. With the antennae, it can be twice that length. This species has spread to warm climates around the world. Photographed by: Juraj Bajgar. Submitted by: Clara Bajgar. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico. Date: 6 September, 2018. Clara notes the “black ‘eye brows.’ Wasp Borer, also known as a Western Ash Borer, Neoclytus conjunctus, subfamily Cerambycinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; The Wasp Borer is a species of high elevations in the western U.S. and up into Canada. Photographed by: Todd Phelps. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Humboldt County, California, USA. Date: 17 June, 2012. Todd found this beetle at 2,400 feet elevation near the coast. Wasp Borer, Neoclytus conjunctus, subfamily Cerambycinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; The Wasp Borer gets its name because its yellow patterning (shown in previous photo) gives the impression of a wasp, and because it makes boreholes, like those shown here in this piece of wood. &square; The pattern on the thorax of this Wasp Borer is evident in this photo. The Wasp Borer is also known as a Western Ash Borer, because the larvae bore into the wood of dead and dying ash trees. The larvae will also get into other wood, including that of oak and arbutus. Photographed by: Arnold Lundwall. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Montana, USA. Date: 20 February, 2019. Gray-Winged Neoclyt-Borer, Neoclytus scutellaris, subfamily Cerambycinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; The Gray-Winged Neoclyt-Borer is distinguished from similar-looking species by the yellow band across the upper back (technically the pronotum). The young (the grubs) bore into in oak and hickory trees. Photographed by: Christin McMahon. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: McKinney, Texas, USA. Date: 2 July, 2018. Christin found this on her couch, and says, “At first I thought it was some sort of bee, then butterfly — it is rather weak, only somewhat moving its front legs.” Banded Ash Borer, Neoclytus caprea, subfamily Cerambycinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; The Banded Ash Borer feeds on sapwood of ash, sometimes hickory and oak, in diseased/stressed, dying, dead (or cut) trees. Females lay their eggs on the bark of these trees, the larvae eventually bore into the tree, and they survive the winter as pupae, transforming into adults and emerging in the early spring. Pupa will transform earlier — in winter months — in firewood that is kept indoors. Most people see Banded Ash Borers in their homes in the winter for this reason. Photographed by: Arthur Dabrowski. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Greenwood Lake, New Jersey, USA. Date: 27 January, 2019. Ivory-Marked Long-Horned Beetle, Eburia haldemani, subfamily Cerambycinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; The doubled light-colored markings are especially noticeable — and elongated — in this beautiful specimen of Ivory-Marked Long-Horned Beetle. Photographed by: Windy Bond. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA. Date: 19 June, 2018. Long-Horned Beetle, Xylotrechus smei (previously Xylotrechus stebbingi), subfamily Cerambycinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; To see the subtle differences between Xylotrechus smei and Xylotrechus stebbingi, click here. Photographed by: Syed Gazanfar. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Kashmir, India. Date: 23 April, 2018. Banded Alder Borer, Rosalia funebris, subfamily Cerambycinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; The Banded Alder Borer is black and white or (blue-tinged white) with bands on its antennae and on its back (actually its forewings or elytra), and a large black spot in the center of a white thorax. According to Washington University entomologist Arthur Antonelli, this beetle is sometimes attracted to wet paint. Some believe the paint smell may be similar to beetle’s own pheromones. Photographed by: Michael Toombs. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Wenatchee, Washington, USA. Date: 22 July, 2018. Peggy says, “ I’ve never seen one before.” Flower Long-Horned Beetle, Trigonarthris proximas, subfamily Lepturinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; This beetle has some fuzz on its thorax — actually on the shield-like structure (called the pronotum) that covers the thorax. Yellow Velvet Long-Horned Beetle, Lepturobosca chrysocoma, subfamily Lepturinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; Look closely to see the very distinctive gold-colored “velvet,” which scientists call pubescence, on the thorax (specifically the pronotum). This Yellow Velvet Long-Horned Beetle also has pubescence on the long wings (elytra) that cover its back. Photographed by: Dave Delman, M.D. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org with help from Audrey Maran. Location: Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Date: 4 July, 2017. Douglas Fir Beetle, also known as yellow Douglas fir borer, Centrodera spurca, subfamily Lepturinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). Photographed and identified to order by: Carson Wille. Identified to species by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Near the Alsea River in the Siuslaw forest, mid-coast Oregon, USA. Date: 16 June, 2016. Carson says, “We found the beetle at our house.... It was around 1.5 inches long.” Red-Shouldered Beetle or Red-Shouldered Pine Borer, Stictoleptura canadensis, subfamily Lepturinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; This Red-Shouldered Pine Borer is holding its stiff upper wings (called elytra) away from its body, allowing the membranous wings beneath to be seen. Photographed by: Alexander Tonkinson. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Wiltshire, UK. Date: 11 August, 2017. Jessamie Tonkinson, who sent in her husband’s photo, says she saw this one buzzing around the back wall of her house in the garden. She notes that it had most of its wings exposed, and was roughly 12mm (about 0.5 inches) in length. Black-Spotted Longhorn Beetle, also known as Black-Spotted Long-Horned Beetle, Rhagium mordax, subfamily Lepturinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; This Black-Spotted Longhorn Beetle has shorter antennae than most of the beetles in this family. The pattern on its back (its upper wings, or elytra) is reminescent of a marled wool sweater. Photographed by: Daryl Fleming. Submitted by: Helen Williams. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Woodleigh, Devon, UK. Date: 7 May, 2018. Helen says, “Found this chap in a garden.” She adds, “It’s a lovely looking one.” KnowYourInsects.org agrees! Spotted Longhorn Beetle, also known as a Black and Yellow Longhorn, Rutpela maculata (formerly Strangalia maculata), subfamily Lepturinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). &square; The row of spots about a third of the way back on the wings can be quite variable. In some individuals, the spots may be almost absent, and in others, they can be quite large (the central pair on this specimen form a heart shape). Note: The genus name has been updated from Strangalia to Rutpela. Photographed and identified by: Iggy Tavares. Location: Lloyds Park, Croydon, UK. Date: 18 September, 2018. Long-Horned Beetle, possibly Centrodera sublineata, subfamily Lepturinae, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). Photographed to family by: Mike Toombs. Identified to possible species by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Fluvanna, Texas, USA. Date: 5 July, 2018. Mike described the area where he found this insect as “the arid west Texas region with mesquite-infested rangeland and cotton/wheat/grain sorghum production.” Long-Horned Beetle, family Cerambycidae (the long-horned beetles). Photographed by: Leah McPherson. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Highland, Michigan, USA. Date: 25 July, 2016. Leah says, “It crawled in front of me and I attempted to catch it and when I did it made a very unnerving sound, like a creepy cricket.” Cantharidae, the soldier beetles Goldenrod Soldier Beetles, Chauliognathus pensylvanicus, subfamily Chauliognathinae, family Cantharidae (the soldier beetles). &square; Look closely to see the female underneath the male — and yes, they’re mating. As with many insect species, the female is often larger than the male. Instead of sitting on goldenrod, this pair is on milkweed. Compare the Goldenrod Soldier Beetle to the Margined Leatherwing (Chauliognathus marginatus) elsewhere on this page, and note the different orientation of the black bar on the pronotum (thorax) — this helps to distinguish the two. Photographed by: Diana Koss. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: L’Anse, Michigan, USA. Date: 9 August, 2016. Margined Leatherwing, Chauliognathus marginatus, subfamily Chauliognathinae, family Cantharidae (the soldier beetles). &square; This species has a lot of variation. Some Margined Leatherwings, like this one, have a good deal of black on the elytra. Others, however, just a black spot at the rear of the elytra. Photographed by: Marv Goldberg. Location: Tamarac, Florida, USA. Date: 17 May, 2019. Marv says, “Amazing what comes to visit me right outside my door.” Brown Leatherwing, Pacificanthia consors, subfamily Cantharinae, family Cantharidae (the soldier beetles). Photographed by: Michael Davis. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: California, USA. Date: 30 April, 2017. Michael says, “My Dad was involved in horticulture and loved his insects. He would laugh that I took a photo of a solider beetle and had it posted when I was more interested in a different Beatle growing up...” &square; This is a type of Soldier Beetle that goes by the common name of Brown Leatherwing. This beetle has a diet that includes many garden pests, including aphids, so it’s good to find it in the yard. Photographed by: Matt McDowell. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Newark, California, USA. Date: 4 July, 2018. Soldier Beetle, Pacificanthia rotundicollis, subfamily Cantharinae, family Cantharidae (the soldier beetles). &square; “You lookin’ at me?” This Soldier Beetle seems to be as curious about the photographer as the photographer is about the beetle in this nice shot! This SOldier Beetle is very similar in appearance to the Brown Leatherwing (see previous photo). In fact, both are in the same genus. One difference is that the legs are all orange in this Soldier Beetle, while they are orange and black in the Brown Leatherwing. Photographed and identified by: Iggy Tavares. Location: Big Sky Resort, Montana, USA. Date: June, 2015. &square; A nice view from the top! Photographed by: Judi Ragsdale. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Lafayette, (northern) California, USA. Date: 6 June, 2018. Judi says, “I am a member of a Facebook group of photographers from Flowers From All Over the World and when someone asked me what the insect was I was stumped. Now, I have a name! Thank you for identifying it.” KnowYourInsects.org says, “Glad to help!” Silphidae, the carrion beetles Burying Beetle (also called a carrion beetle), Nicrophorus sayi, subfamily Nicrophorinae, family Silphidae (the carrion beetles). &square; These beetles will dig under a dead animal, such as a mouse, and once the mouse has fallen far enough into their hole, the beetles will bury it. The beetles then lay their eggs in the dead animal, the eggs eventually hatch, and the larvae have a ready meal waiting for them. Photographed by: Mike Bloodsworth. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Eastern Texas, USA. Date: 11 April, 2017. Mike says, “You know, I have seen them bury dead things over a few hours before but never seen one this colorful.” &square; Look for the tiny red mites on this beetle (they look like red spots on the thorax.) The mites will ride on the beetle to a dead animal, then hop off when the beetle arrives at a dead animal. What’s in it for the mites? Tasty maggots on the dead animal! Mike says, “Upon enlarging the photograph I saw that there were eight mites on the insect and it seemed to be agitated by the mites. I took several shots of it at the time, and then another one about 30 minutes later and all of the mites were gone.” Red and Black Banded Sexton Burying Beetle (also called a Sexton Beetle), Nicrophorus investigator, subfamily Nicrophorinae, family Silphidae (the carrion beetles). &square; These beetles are good fliers, and may travel a mile to track down the scent of a dead animal. Like other burying beetles, they literally bury dead animals, then lay eggs alongside. The eggs hatch and the larva feed on the dead animal. Photographed and identified by: Lindsey Christie. Location: Scotland. Date: 24 June, 2017. Sexton Burying Beetle, Nicrophorus defodiens, subfamily Nicrophorinae, family Silphidae (the carrion beetles). &square; This Sexton Burying Beetle is almost a perfect match for the Red and Black Banded Sexton Burying Beetle (pictured elsewhere on this page). This one, however, has this combination of characteristic features: 1) all-black antennae (no dark-red tips); and 2) the rear red patch on each wing is completely surrounded by black. Photographed and identified to order by: Dave Delman. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Yellowstone National Park, U.S. Date: 4 July, 2017. Dermestidae, the dermestid or skin beetles Larder Beetle, Dermestes lardarius, subfamily Dermestinae, family Dermestidae (the dermestid or skin beetles). &square; These beetles (and their larvae) are very common in houses. They are called larder beetles, because they are often found in the larder, which is an old-fashioned term for a pantry room or food-storage cabinet. Photographed by: Erin Mackay. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Ohio, USA. Date: 3 April, 2017. &square; As the photographer discovered, these little creatures can sneak into a suitcase and be inadvertently transported from one location (in her case, that was a Texas motel room) to another (her house across the country). Photographed by: Kasey Mangold. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Austin, Texas, and New Hampshire, USA. Date: 12 May, 2016. Kasey says, “They seem to like the shower. They can fly but don’t do it often.” Carpet Beetle, likely Black Carpet Beetle, Attagenus unicolor, subfamily Attageninae, family Dermestidae (the dermestid or skin beetles). &square; The tuft of long hairs at the rear end is typical of Black Carpet Beetles. They are common insects in homes, where they find and dine on cereals and other grain-type products. Photographed by: Megan Hartley. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: northern New Jersey, USA. Date: 21 September, 2017. Megan says, “This guy molted, as you can see the shell.... (It was) in the back of my silverware drawer in a bottle cap.” Varied Carpet Beetle, larva, Anthrenus verbasci, subfamily Megatominae, family Dermestidae (the dermestid or skin beetles). &square; One way to distinguish the larva of a Varied Carpet Beetle from the similar Furniture Carpet Beetle (Anthrenus flavipes or Black Carpet Beetle (Anthrenus unicolor is to look at the shape of the body. The larva of a Varied Carpet Beetle is wider toward the rear and narrower toward the head. And in case you are not sure where the head is, it is toward the left in this photo. Photographed by: Jon R. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Herndon, Virginia, USA. Date: 8 October, 2017. Jon says, “I found it today in my kitchen, near the sink. The insect is 3mm long.... It moves extremely slowly.” &square; Another feature of the larva of a Varied Carpet Beetle is the thick tuft of brush-like hairs on its back end. The tuft is clearly evident in this excellent photo. They are frequently found in houses. Photographed by: Don L. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Oklahoma, USA. Date: 17 November, 2017. Don says, “This little guy is 4 mm long, typically noticed solitary on counter tops, often overlooked as being a piece of fuzz or lint. He may sit motionless for days. When he does move, his speed is almost imperceptible. If disturbed, he freezes, appearing dead. After being left alone, he’ll right himself and begin to move only a short distance (an inch or two) before stopping.” Varied Carpet Beetle, Anthrenus verbasci, subfamily Megatominae, family Dermestidae (the dermestid or skin beetles). &square; The quarter illustrates the small size of these pretty little beetles. The larvae are shown in the previous photos on this page. Photographed by: Carey Ann Atherton. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Owensboro, Kentucky, USA. Date: 3 April, 2018. Carey Ann says, “These images were taken at night (around 10 p.m.).” &square; This photo shows the pair of filmy, membranous wings just peeking out from the rear of this Varied Carpet Beetle. Normally, these membranous wings are hidden beneath the zig-zag patterned forewings (called elytra), which cover most of the beetle’s back. Photographed by: Will Plemmons. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA. Date: 4 May, 2019. Will described this beetle as about the size of a BB. Phengodidae, the glowworm beetles Silvanidae, the flat bark or silvanid beetles Glowworm Beetle, male, Phengodes plumosa, family Phengodidae (the glowworm beetles). &square; The male Glowworm Beetles are impressive with those plume-like antennae. The females, on the other hand, look like grubs and they are bioluminescent ... so they glow! Photographed by: Jill Roberts. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Milledgeville, Georgia, USA. Date: 30 June, 2017. Jill says, “It is the weirdest bug I’ve ever seen around these parts.” KnowYourInsects.org says, “We love ‘weird’!” Saw-Toothed Grain Beetle, Oryzaephilus surinamensis or Oryzaephilus mercator, subfamily Silvaninae, family Silvanidae (the flat bark or silvanid beetles). &square; The Saw-Toothed Grain Beetle is a quite common household pest. It feeds on grain or whatever other pantry food it can find, and it’s a small insect, so it can get in even the tiniest of places. Note the tiny spikes on its thorax — they help to identify this beetle as one of the two species mentioned. Photographed by: Laura Vasquez. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: central Minnesota, USA. Date: 1 July, 2018. Meloidae, the blister beetles Oil Beetle in the genus Meloe, subfamily Meloinae, family Meloidae (the blister beetles). Photographed by: Chris G. Briggs Sr. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: northern Muskegon County, Michigan, USA. Date: 5 October, 2015. Craig says, “A lone one was cutting through a grass blade with short, strong mandibles.” &square; When disturbed, Oil Beetles release fluid from their joints (as seen here). It is sometimes called “reflexive bleeding” — the fluid is distasteful to potential predators, so it serves a protective function. Photographed by: Pat (no last name given). Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Belding, Michigan, USA. Date: 7 October, 2014. Oil Beetle, Meloe angusticollis, subfamily Meloinae, family Meloidae (the blister beetles). Photographed by: Alexandra Scheumann, WoodHeaven Photography. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Hurleyville, Sullivan County, New York, USA. Date: 20 October, 2017. Oil Beetles, mating pair, in the genus Meloe, possibly Meloe impressus, subfamily Meloinae, family Meloidae (the blister beetles). &square; The photographer described the larger one (the female) as being approximately 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) long, and the smaller one (the male) at about 1.25 inches (3.2 cm) long. The size along with the flared antennal segment about halfway down each of his antennae suggests they are the species Meloe impressus. See the photographer’s comments below. Photographed and identified to genus by: Susan Anderson. Identified to tentative species by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Bethesda, Maryland, USA. Date: 25 November, 2018. Susan found this pair in her garden. She says they “seemed green in sunlight.” &square; One feature of Oil Beetles is that the thorax is considerably narrower than the abdomen, and also narrower than the head. Although it may look from the top view that the last pair of legs sprouts from the abdomen, all six of its legs arise from the thorax. (This is true of all adult insects.) Photographed and identified by: Josh Bozarth. Location: Proud Lake Recreation Area, Wixom, Michigan, USA. Date: 31 October, 2018. Oil Beetle, probably Meloe proscarabaeus, subfamily Meloinae, family Meloidae (the blister beetles). &square; This oil beetle is indeed a bright blue color — lovely! Oil beetle experts Carolina Bravo and Mario García-París tentatively identified this oil beetle as the species Meloe proscarabaeus, but Dr. Bravo notes that without a good view of the mesonotum (the middle segment of the thorax), there is also a possibility that it could be the species Meloe violaceus. Photographed and identified as an oil beetle by: Matthew Rodda. Identified to genus and tentative species by: Carolina Bravo of the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales-CSIC (the National Museum of Natural History of Spain) and Mario García-París of the Spanish National Research Council. Thank you for the identification, Dr. Bravo and Dr. García-París! Location: Adjara, country of Georgia (between Western Asia and Eastern Europe). Date: 4 March, 2018. Matthew says, “Found on the ground in a rainforest in Adjara, (country of) Georgia.” Margined Blister Beetle, Epicauta pestifer, subfamily Meloinae, family Meloidae (the blister beetles). Photographed by: Anonymous. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Adrian, Michigan, USA. Date: July, 2014. Blister Beetle, Mylabris pustulata, subfamily Meloinae, family Meloidae (the blister beetles). &square; They actually do cause blistering if they are handled. Photographed by: Ajay Antony. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Tamilnadu, India. Date: 24 May, 2017. Blister Beetle, species unknown, family Meloidae (the blister beetles). &square; KnowYourInsects.org could not positively identify this beetle — if you know what it is, please let us know! Oedemeridae, the false blister beetles Wharf Borer, Nacerdes melanura, subfamily Oedemerinae, family Oedemeridae (the false blister beetles). &square; Wharf Borer larvae (grubs) bore long tunnels in moist, decaying wood, often in wharfs, but anywhere they can find moist wood. The adults only live a week, and they usually emerge all at once. Photographed and identified to order by: Mattias Lindstedt. Identified to species by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: southern Spain. Date: 9 June, 2018. Mattias says, “Length without antennas approx. 2 cm.” That’s a bit less than an inch long. Flower Beetle, or Thick-Legged Flower Beetle, Ischnomera cyanea, subfamily Oedemerinae, family Oedemeridae (the false blister beetles). &square; One of the features of this Flower Beetle — besides the beautiful metallic blue-green color — is that it sometimes holds its forewings (elytra) partially open, just as is shown in this photo. Photographed by: Bryan Wenham-Baker (@BryanPhotos). Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Ivybridge, South Hams, South Devon, England, UK. Date: 1 August, 2018. Staphylinidae, the rove beetles Imperial Rove Beetle, Staphylinus caesareus, subfamily Staphylininae, family Staphylinidae (the rove beetles). &square; A very similar-looking rove beetle is the species Staphylinus erythropterus. Photographed by: Yodfat. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: West Swiss. Date: 29 March, 2017. Yodfat says, “I actually saw him on my window, which is in full sun and (on the) second floor above a busy road.” Rove Beetle, likely Staphylinus erythropterus, subfamily Staphylininae, family Staphylinidae (the rove beetles). &square; To distinguish two very similar rove beetles — Staphylinus caesarus (previous photo) from Staphylinus erythropterus (next photo), look at the triangle (called the scutellum) between the front of the forewings (which are called elytra). The arrow here shows the scutellum. Photographed by: Oliver Davies. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: South Wales, UK. Date: 27 August, 2017. &square; The light-colored scutellum helps distinguish this species from the very similar-looking Imperial Rove Beetle, Staphylinus caesareus. To see a good photo comparison between the two species (the writing is in Italian), click here. Oliver found this beetle in his dog’s pen. Devil’s Coach Horse Beetle in the genus Ocypus subfamily Staphylininae, family Staphylinidae (the rove beetles). &square; Devil’s Coach Horse: What a great name! Note the small wings that extend a short way down its abdomen. This is characteristic of rove beetles. Photographed and identified by: Neil Harris-Hutchins. Location: Bratton Fleming, North Devon, England. Date: 5 September, 2016. KnowYourInsects.org says, “Great job on the ID, Neil!” Devil’s Coach Horse Beetle in the genus Ocypus, subfamily Staphylininae, family Staphylinidae (the rove beetles). &square; Devil’s Coach Horse Beetles will often strut around with their abdomens curled up like this. Submitted by: Sandra Cole. Photographed by: Andrew Knight. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Portland, Oregon, USA. Date: 10 October, 2018. Sandra says, “Large, black, six-legged thing found in waste-water plant.” KnowYourInsects.org says, “Thanks to Sandra Cole for sending in her son Andrew’s photo! Hairy Rove Beetle, Creophilus maxillosus, family Staphylinidae (the rove beetles). &square; This Hairy Rove Beetle is an inch long. Look closely to see the setae (the hairs) on its abdomen. The short elytra (forewings) are also covered with hair, and the membranous hind wings are poking out from beneath them. Photographed by: Mary Beth Barenborg. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Identification verified by entomologist Frank Carle of Rutgers University. Thank you, Dr. Carle! Location: Trenton, New Jersey, USA. Date: 21 August, 2017. Mary Beth says she found two in her house — the first was in a clean, plastic mixing bowl sitting on the kitchen counter, and the second was a dinner guest that dropped from the ceiling light fixture “and landed on the center of the table!” Brown Rove Beetle, Platydracus maculosus, subfamily Staphylininae, family Staphylinidae (the rove beetles). &square; One of the especially interesting things about this photo is that it shows the filmy hind wings peaking out from behind the short, hard forewings (called elytra). This cool beetle was found on the playground of a middle school — specifically Westfield Day School — by classmates Cole and Brian. Thanks to Mrs. De Silva and her whole class! Photographed by: Shiromi De Silva. Identified by: Dr. Al Newton, curator emeritus of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Thank you, Dr. Newton! Location: Armonk, New York, USA. Date: 2 November, 2017. &square; The Large Rove Beetle is quite similar in appearance to the Gold-and-Brown Rove Beetles, but it is larger. In fact, the Large Rove Beetle is the largest in the United States, according to the identifier Dr. Al Newton. Large Rove Beetles can reach about an inch (2.5 cm) long, while Gold-and-Brown reach 0.5-0.8 inches (1.5-2.0 cm) long. Photographed by: Stephen J. Taylor. Identified by: Dr. Al Newton, curator emeritus of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Thank you, Dr. Newton! Location: Lake Orion, Michigan, USA. Date: 23 October, 2016. Stephen says, “I’m glad I let him be. Wasn’t sure if it was some kind of queen termite or something!” &square; Rove beetles will often curl up its hind end, much like a scorpion. That curl is evident in this photo. KnowYourInsects.org says, “This is a quite unusual insect, so thank you, Stephen, for sending it in!” Rove Beetle, Platydracus immaculatus, subfamily Staphylininae, family Staphylinidae (the rove beetles). &square; This pretty Rove Beetle is a mix of reddish-brown, dark brown, yellowish-tan and black. The light-colored spots on its abdomen, along with the red-brown head and elytra (the short wings) help to identify this species. Photographed by: Shirley Faust. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Andreas, Pennsylvania, USA. Date: 26 September, 2018. &square; The photographer videotaped a battle between this Brown Rove Beetle and this Japanese Beetle (Popillia japonica). These are screen grabs from the video. See her comment below. Photographed and identified as a Japanese Beetle by: Sharon VanLoozenoord. Rove Beetle identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Belmont, Michigan, USA. Date: 14 July, 2018. Sharon witnessed the fight among some wood chips in her herb garden. On the following day, she reported, “I was in my herb garden again this morning and looked for another ‘fight,’ but I’ll probably never see that again.” Staphylinid Beetle (no common name), Tachyporus hypnorum, subfamily Tachyporinae, family Staphylinidae (the rove beetles). &square; This unusual-looking beetle only measured about 4 mm (0.16 inches) long. Compare that to the Devil’s Coach Horse Beetle and Imperial Rove Beetle, which both grow to around 25 mm (1 inch) long. Photographed by: Ben Dobson, aka The Microscope Man for his microscope-aided photography. Identified by: Mark Telfer. (Thank you, Mark!) Location: Cambridge, UK. Date: 4 August, 2017. Ben says, “I found it in on an old log. I’ve used a microscope to photograph (this is a serious hobby).” KnowYourInsects.org says, “Cool hobby!” Rove Beetle, larva, family Staphylinidae (the rove beetles). &square; The two spiky, tail-like appendages (called urogomphi) identify this as a beetle larva. There are a two beetle families with larvae that look almost alike: the rove beetles (Staphylinidae); and the ground beetles (Carabidae). One of the differences between the two is in the number of segments in the “shin” (tibia). If there is one segment, it is a larva of a rove beetle. Photographed by: Thomas Langhans. See Thomas’s full-size image here. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: San Bruno, county of San Mateo, California, USA. Date: 7 February, 2018. Thomas says, “It was about 22 mm long.” Rove Beetle, larva, probably in the subfamily Paederinae, family Staphylinidae (the rove beetles). Photographed by: Stefan Toft Christensen. Identified by: Alexey Solodovnikov of the Biosystematics Department at the Natural History Museum of Denmark. Thank you, Dr. Solodovnikov! Location: Northjutland, Denmark. Date: 2 October, 2018. Stefan says he found this creature in his house, and believes it came in with his garden plants, which he brought inside the previous day. Scarabaeidae, the scarab beetles Bumble Flower Beetle, Euphoria inda, subfamily Cetoniinae, family Scarabaeidae (the scarab beetles). &square; Check out this beetle’s amazing fur coat. Photographed by: Lucy Solar. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: near Spokane, Washington, USA. Date: 4 September, 2017. Lucy says, “These guys were just around a day or two, and then went somewhere else, since I haven’t seen them again. Maybe they are starting hibernation, since it has gotten rather cold.” Bumble Flower Beetles, Euphoria inda, subfamily Cetoniinae, family Scarabaeidae (the scarab beetles). &square; A row of these cute beetles! Each is about a half-inch long (1.25 cm). Bumble Flower Beetles get their common name from their lazy flight — similar to that of a bumble bee. Bumble Flower Beetles buzz around flowers and rotting fruit, looking for sweet nectar and fermenting fruit juices. Lucy says, “Yesterday I discovered a couple of these insects on the outside of my compost tumbler. This afternoon I saw a few more, about eight. Most are not moving much, but a couple were flying around, seemingly finding a spot to rest. It has been very hot during the day — around the 90s (32-35°C) — and it’s been dry. It has also been very smoky, due to the forest fires around. I don’t know if these conditions have anything to do with the presence of these insects or not. I don’t remember having seen them before.” Green June Beetle, Cotinis nitida, subfamily Cetoniinae, family Scarabaeidae (the scarab beetles). &square; The Green June Beetle is very similar in appearance to the Green Fruit Beetle (pictured elsewhere on this page). The Green June Beetle is a species of the eastern United States, whereas the Green Fruit Beetle lives on the other side of the country: in the southwestern United States. Photographed by: Sheldon L. Boyd. Identified by: Audrey Maran. Location: Hopewell, Virginia, USA. Date: 25 July, 2014. &square; This is a nice photo of the ventral side (belly) of this Green June Beetle. Notice that all six legs extend from the thorax. This is true of all insects: the legs (and the wings) are attached to the thorax ... and not the abdomen. &square; This Green June Beetle shows off its lovely green-bronze sheen. Green June Beetles are fans of ripe fruit, and can be found on everything from berries to tree fruit. Photographed by: Mary Bonomo. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Export, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Date: 6 July, 2018. Mary says, “Seems like they get flipped on their backs, can’t turn over and die.” Green Fruit Beetle (aka Figeater), Cotinis mutabilis, subfamily Cetoniinae, family Scarabaeidae (the scarab beetles). &square; The metallic green of this attractive beetle is set off by the gold stripe down the sides. Green Fruit Beetles are sometimes called Figeaters because they have a taste for figs, although they’ll eat just about any soft fruit, along with tree sap. The larvae are big white grubs that go by the wonderful common name of Crawlybacks! Photographed by: Pat Callahan. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: near San Diego, California, USA. Date: 19 September, 2017. Pat’s wife Peg sent in the photo with a note that this beetle is big! She’s right — Green Fruit Beetles grow to about 1.25 inches (3.2 cm)! Harlequin Flower Beetle, Gymnetis caseyi, subfamily Cetoniinae, family Scarabaeidae (the scarab beetles). &square; The pattern on this Harlequin Flower Beetle looks like a Rorschach ink blot. This is a typical pattern for this species, but some individuals lack the big black blot and instead only have scattered black speckles. Photographed by: Michael Toombs. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Fluvanna (southeast of Lubbock), Texas, USA. Date: 1 July, 2018. Mike says the beetles were “drinking the tree sap from a recently pruned red oak tree” on his farm. Green Rose Chafers, or simply Rose Chafers, mating pair, Cetonia aurata, subfamily Cetoniinae, family Scarabaeidae (the scarab beetles). &square; These beautiful beetles actually come in different colors: metallic green (as shown here), bronze/copper, and even violet, gray, and bluish-black. They are different from the Rose Chafers seen in North America; that’s a completely separate species (Macrodactylus subspinosus) — can you find them elsewhere on this page? Photographed by: Jean-Louis Metzger. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Anduze, in the Languedoc, France. Date: 29 April, 2014. Jean-Louis says, “ These two beetles — thanks to their striking luminescent green colour — caught my eye and my interest.” Flower Chafer, Heterorrhina elegans, subfamily Cetoniinae, family Scarabaeidae (the scarab beetles). &square; Like these two Flower Chafers, the males of many species in this family (the scarab beetles) will wrestle — sometimes for access to a female, sometimes over food. These photos clearly show the brilliant, shiny green color of most of the Flower Chafer’s body, as well as the characteristic red/orange coxa (the “hip”). Photographed by: K J Westman. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Sri Lanka. Date: 4 October, 2018. KnowYourInsects.org says, “Great job getting the top and bottom views of this pair, K J!” Flower Chafer, Protaetia aurichalcea, subfamily Cetoniinae, family Scarabaeidae (the scarab beetles). &square; This is also one of the Flower Chafers, sometimes called Bébête l'argent or silver beetle. See the photographer’s description of this lovely creature below. And compare it to the Harlequin Flower Beetle found elsewhere on this page. Photographed and identified to subfamily by: K J Westman. Identified to species by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Nithulemada, Digana, Kandy, Sri Lanka. Date: 5 December, 2018. K J says, “I like the two dots on the forehead (the pronotum actually) pretending to be eyes, while the eyes are on each side of the ‘nose’.” Grapevine Beetle, Pelidnota punctata, subfamily Rutelinae, family Scarabaeidae (the scarab beetles). &square; Compare this individual Grapevine Beetle from Oklahoma to the other two in this row. This one has more reddish tones, and its legs are quite red. Those in the next two photos — both from the Great Lakes region — are more tan in color and have black legs. Nonetheless, they are the same species. Photographed and identified by: Randy Sanders. Location: Grove, Oklahoma, USA. Date: 30 June, 2017. Randy says, “Beetle is sitting on a wooden bench just after storm.” &square; Grapevine Beetles are common in the eastern United States and in Ontario, although some extend farther west: to Texas and Oklahoma (as seen in the previous photo). Grapevine Beetles are also sometimes known as Spotted Tan Beetles or a Spotted Junebugs. Photographed and identified by Kelly McKinne (@gonzonaturalist). Location: northern Ohio, USA. Date: July, 2016. Grapevine Beetle (aka spotted Junebug), Pelidnota punctata, subfamily Rutelinae, family Scarabaeidae (the scarab beetles). &square; This species mates at night — under cover of darkness — and the females lay their eggs in the summertime. The eggs hatch into grubs that live underground until the following spring, when they emerge as adults. Photographed and identified by: Judy Firestone. Location: Oak Park, Oakland County, Michigan, USA. Date: 13 July, 2013. &square; With that reflection, this is just a cool photo of another Grapevine Beetle. Photographed by: Rebecca Shaver. Identified by: Rebecca and Andrew Shaver. Location: Hastings, Barry County, Michigan, USA. Date: 3 August, 2017. Rebecca took this photo of the beetle on the car roof. She adds, “It is injured. :(” Japanese Beetle, Popillia japonica, subfamily Rutelinae, family Scarabaeidae (the scarab beetles). &square; The Japanese Beetle is native to Japan — surprise ;-) — and it was first identified in the northeastern United States, specifically New Jersey, in 1916. See the full story here. It has since spread far and wide, and is now considered a huge pest in the United States, where it eats all kinds of garden plants as well as the roots of grass. Photographed and identified by: Leslie Mertz. Location: Otsego Township (near Gaylord), Michigan, USA. Date: 18 July, 2017. Leslie says, “I never realized that the white spots along the sides and back were little tufts of hair.” Oriental Beetle, Exomala orientalis, subfamily Rutelinae, family Scarabaeidae (the scarab beetles). &square; This beetle is native to Japan. It was first observed in the United States in 1920, when it was seen in Connecticut. It is now found from the northeastern United States to the Great Lakes region. Photographed by: Elizabeth Boyle. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: West Milford, New Jersey, USA. Date: 17 July, 2017. Elizabeth says, “It’s unbelievable how many strange insects I can find in my neck of the woods.” Garden Chafer, Phyllopertha horticola, subfamily Rutelinae, family Scarabaeidae (the scarab beetles). &square; Garden chafers are often seen munching on flowers. This beetle, which grows to about 1.2 cm (half an inch), has hair-covered, brick-red elytra (forewings), and a pair of spines on the side of each foreleg. Rose Chafers, Macrodactylus subspinosus, subfamily Melolonthinae, family Scarabaeidae (the scarab beetles). &square; Adult rose chafers eat a lot of things from flower blossoms to fruits (as seen here), and also tree leaves (as shown in the next photo). On leaves, they eat the tissue and leave behind the veins — damage that is known as skeletonizing. Fortunately the adults are only out for about 3 weeks or so in Michigan, which is where this photo was taken. Then the adults lay eggs and die. But they do reappear the following year. Photographed by: Diane P. Kraus. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Glen Arbor, Michigan, USA. Date: 10 June, 2016. Diane says, “Wild iris blooms covered with them!” Photographed by: Bob Boomer. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: East Bay Township (near Traverse City), Michigan, USA. Date: 26 June, 2017. Bob says, “These bugs are eating the leaves in my trees.” 10-Lined June Beetle, male, Polyphylla decemlineata, subfamily Melolonthinae, family Scarabaeidae (the scarab beetles). &square; The adults can be up to 1.5 inches long, so this is one big beetle! Check out the next photo to see its wild antennae. Photographed by: Thom Walker. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Sandy, Oregon, USA. Date: August 2013. &square; The male has large and robust antennae and when he fans them out, as shown here, he can sense pheromones (chemicals released by the females). This ability comes in handy when it’s time to find a mate. Photographed by: Erin Hauck. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Bend, Oregon, USA. Date: 5 July 2017. Erin says, “It scared the jeepers out of me. He was a big sucker.” &square; This side photograph shows the tall, round body of this species. Photographed by: Eileen Turk. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Bellingham, Washington, USA. Date: 27 June 2017. &square; A top view of the previous specimen. Nice photo, Eileen! Rainbow Scarab, male, Phanaeus vindex, subfamily Scarabaeinae, family Scarabaeidae (the scarab beetles). &square; Only the male of this species has the horn, and has the metallic sheen. It is a type of dung beetle — the females lay their eggs next to pre-rolled balls of dung. When the eggs hatch, the young feast on the dung. Photographed by: Brandi Rose Lush. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Berks County, Pennsylvania, USA. Date: 3 August, 2017. Brandi is a preschool teacher! She says, “While out on the playground today, my kids and I found this neat scarab.... Hope to make it on the website. My kids would love that!” KnowYourInsects.org says, “ Hello to Ms. Lush’s class! Dung Beetle in the genus Gymnopleurus, likely Gymnopleurus cyaneus, subfamily Scarabaeinae, family Scarabaeidae (the scarab beetles). &square; Numerous species are known generically as Dung Beetles. This one is a lovely metallic blue. Photographed by: K J Westman. Identified by: Audrey Maran. Location: Nitulemada, Digana, Rajawella, Kandy, Sri Lanka. Date: 18 May, 2016. Scarab beetle, family Scarabaeidae (the scarab beetles). Photographed and identified by: Kaden G. Watson. Location: Whichita Falls, Texas, USA. Date: 14 June, 2017. Kaden says, “The beetle is 1.5 inches long.” Lucanidae, the stag beetles Reddish Brown Stag Beetle, female, (Lucanus capreolus), subfamily Lucaninae, family Lucanidae (the stag beetles). &square; Although the jaws may look large on this female, the jaws on the males are much larger! Photographed by Tony L. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: central New Jersey, USA. Date: 15 July, 2017. Photographed by McKinley Sutterfield. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Craig Park, Greenwood, Indiana, USA. Date: 18 August, 2017. Says 10-year-old McKinley, “It was being very lazy for being at the playground.” Hydrophilidae, the water scavenger beetles Giant Water Scavenger Beetle, genus Hydrophilus, subfamily Hydrophilinae, family Hydrophilidae (the water scavenger beetles). &square; These are diving beetles. How do they breathe underwater? They trap a bubble of air under their elytra (the hard wings that cover their backs) — like a scuba tank! Photographed by: John Link. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org Location: Courtland, Virginia, USA. Date: 3 June, 2017. Dytiscidae, the predaceous diving beetles Predaceous Diving Beetle, also known as a Giant Diving Beetle, Cybister fimbriolatus, subfamily Dytiscinae, family Dytiscidae (the predaceous diving beetles). &square; Predaceous Diving Beetles spend much of their lives in the water of ponds and lakes, but they can fly and will often head for streetlights or other lights on land. As noted by the photographer (see below), this one was indeed spotted on land. Photographed by: Brianna Sutterfield. Identified to family by: Mark Stephens, 2016 Conservation Educator of the Year. Mark runs the wonderful Project F.I.S.H. program in Michigan. Identified to species by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Mount Pleasant, Michigan, USA. Date: 27 February, 2018. Brianna says, “I found this big guy in a parking lot tonight! He was at least an inch and a half long and about an inch wide!” Water Tiger, likely in the genus Dytiscus, subfamily Dytiscinae, family Dytiscidae (the predaceous diving beetles). &square; The Water Tiger is the generic name for the larva of a Predaceous Diving Beetle. It is a fierce predator with its sharp and strong jaws, which work well to attack and subdue prey. According to the photographer, the local people in Odisha, India, call them hardabhanga, which he said translates to “bone breaker,” so named because their bite is so painful (see the comments below). Photographed and identified to common name by: Skrahim bakas. Identified to genus by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Odisha, India. Date: 31 July, 2018. Skrahim says, “I found them in a muddy field where farmers are ready to plant paddy crops. Generally this insect has a shrimp-like body structure, and the mouth is like a centipede’s. And it is venomous, equal to scorpion.” Mordellidae, the pintail beetles or tumbling flower beetles Melyridae, the soft-winged flower beetles Tumbling Flower Beetle in the genus Mordella, subfamily Mordellinae, family Mordellidae (the pintail beetles or tumbling flower beetles). &square; This is a close-up of one of a pair of beetles Ed found on a Queen Anne’s Lace plant. Queen Anne’s Lace is also known as Wild Carrot. When Tumbling Flower Beetles feel threatened, they do a little jump/tumble maneuver to get themselves in a better position so they can fly away to safety. See the comment below. Photographed by: Ed Hendrickson. Identified to genus by: entomologist Enrico Ruzzier of the Natural History Museum in London, UK. Identified to genus by: entomologist Enrico Ruzzier of the Natural History Museum in London, UK. Location: North Carolina, USA. Date: 5 May, 2018. Entomologist Enrico Ruzzier noted that it is “impossible to identify at species level without genitalia dissection.” He made the identification of this photo (and the Hoshihananomia in the next photo) while doing field work in Cuba! Thank you for the ID! Pintail Beetle in the genus Hoshihananomia, subfamily Mordellinae, family Mordellidae (the pintail beetles or tumbling flower beetles). &square; This polka-dotted Pintail Beetle has a very noticeable “tail,” which is the pointed end of its abdomen. The photographer described it as “about 1 cm long with pointed spike at end.” See the comment below. Photographed by: Chandan Kumar. Identified to genus by: entomologist Enrico Ruzzier of the Natural History Museum in London, UK. Location: Kunustoria Colliery, West Bengal, India. Date: 5 May, 2018. Entomologist Enrico Ruzzier noted that it is “impossible to identify at species level without genitalia dissection.” He made the identification of this photo (and the Mordella in the previous photo) while doing field work in Cuba! Thank you for the ID! Soft-Winged Flower Beetle, Anthocomus equestris, subfamily Malachiinae, family Melyridae (the soft-winged flower beetles). &square; This beetle is an import to North America. It is a Eurasian species. Photographed by: Susan Reinhardt. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org Location: Bel Air, Maryland, USA. Date: 3 June, 2017. Susan says, “This is an enlarged photo taken with my iPhone. To the naked eye it is much smaller and is long and thin.” Elateridae, the click beetles Eyed Click Beetle, Alaus oculatus, subfamily Agrypninae, family Elateridae (the click beetles). &square; When this large beetle has its legs pulled in and out of sight, it looks more like a fishing lure than a living insect. Photographed and identified by: Keith Grix. Location: Hadley, Michigan, USA. Date: 1 June, 2014. &square; The “click” part of their name refers to the ability of these beetles to jump due to the presence of a hinge mechanism on their ventral (belly) side. When this mechanism releases, the beetle pops off the ground. If you’re holding one when it clicks, it can be a little startling! Photographed and identified by: Leslie Mertz. Location: Kalkaska County, Michigan, USA. Date: 12 July, 2011. &square; The “eyed” part of their name refers to the two big black spots on the thorax. They may look like eyes — and the spots are even called “eyespots” but the spots are just colored spots. Their actual eyes are much smaller and located forward on the head. Photographed by: Earl McKay. Location: Union, Michigan, USA. Date: 19 June, 2016. Earl says, “Caught this insect, have never seen one like it in my area, ever!” &square; This nice photo of an Eyed Click Beetle also includes a second, smaller creature in the shot. It’s a Pillbug, which is a crustacean, so the Pillbug is more closely related to a lobster than it is to an insect. Seven-year-old Noah spotted this pair in a dead tree (great job, Noah!), and his mom took the photo. Spotted by: Noah Louvat. Photographed and identified by: Elizabeth Louvat. (Good work on the identification, Elizabeth!) Location: Central Texas, USA. Date: 21 April, 2019. Flat Wireworm Beetle, Aeolus mellillus, subfamily Agrypninae, family Elateridae (the click beetles). &square; It’s called a flat wireworm beetle after the larva, which looks like a flat, soft, yellowish grub. Photographed by: Chris M. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Peoria Heights, Illinois, USA. Date: 29 August, 2016. After learning it is a type of click beetle, Chris says, “It made an amazing jump off my hand, and I think I do recall hearing a click or pop sound.” Glowing Click Beetle, or Cocuyo, Ignelater havaniensis, subfamily Agrypninae, family Elateridae (the click beetles). &square; The Glowing Click Beetle is known for the two bioluminescent spots on its elytra. The spots glow freen at night. Another species (Deilelater physoderus) is also called a Glowing Click Beetle or Gold Spot Click Beetle. By comparison, Deilelater physoderus is a bit smaller at 0.6-0.7 inches (1.5–2.0 cm) long, compared to Ignelater havaniensis, which is 1-1.2 inches (2.5–3.0 cm) long; it has noticeable ridges on its elytra, compared to smoother elytra in Ignelater havaniensis; and lacks the tiny spines that Ignelater havaniensis has on the rear end of its elytra (barely visible in the photo at right. Photographed by: Marv Goldberg. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Tamarac, Florida, USA. Date: 17 May, 2019. Marv says, “This guy was pretty big. At least an inch long.” Curculionidae, the weevils Citrus Root Weevil, colloquially known as a Chichí, Diaprepes abbreviatus, subfamily Entiminae, family Curculionidae (the weevils). Photographed by: Darryl Gracey. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Parrish (south of Tampa), Florida, USA. Date: July 2016. Darryl says, “I’ve not seen one of these before and had to snap it and research.” Citrus Root Weevil, known locally in the Caribbean as a Chichí, Diaprepes abbreviatus, subfamily Entiminae, family Curculionidae (the weevils). &square; Information about this insect, which has become a major pest on citrus since it was introduced to Florida in 1964, is available here. Photographed by: Carlo Castoro. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: north side of Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Date: 30 July 2017. Carlo says, “I found this little guy crawling up the wall in a house.... Thanks for the cool website!” KnowYourInsects.org says, “Glad you like it!” &square; The top-down view of the previous specimen. It is a pretty weevil! &square; This particular Citrus Root Weevil lacks the typical striped pattern of this species. Compare it to the others on this page to see the difference. Photographed by: Marv Goldberg. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Tamarac, Florida, USA. Date: unknown. Rough Strawberry Root Weevil, Otiorhynchus rugosostriatus, subfamily Entiminae, family Curculionidae (the weevils). Photographed and identified to genus by Kelly McKinne (@gonzonaturalist) Identified to species by: entomologist Robert S. Anderson of the Canadian Museum of Nature. Thank you, Dr. Anderson! Location: northern Ohio, USA. Date: 28 June 2016. Kelly says, “Found this ‘lifer insect’ in my bathroom today. Very cool!” Black Vine Weevil, Otiorhynchus sulcatus, subfamily Entiminae, family Curculionidae (the weevils). &square; This Black Vine Weevil is one of the group of weevils known as broad-nosed weevils. Compared to some of the other weevils in this family, this weevil’s snout is much shorter and broader. Photographed by: Dave Delman. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: New York, USA. Date: 13 December, 2017. Black Vine Weevil, probably Otiorhynchus sulcatus, subfamily Entiminae, family Curculionidae (the weevils). &square; This Black Vine Weevil has a lighter color than normal. This is likely due to its age — as they get older, the color can lighten, so this is probably an old individual, according to entomologist Robert S. Anderson of the Canadian Museum of Nature. Photographed by: Barb Auge. Identified by: entomologist Robert S. Anderson of the Canadian Museum of Nature. Thank you, Dr. Anderson! Location: Minnesota, USA. Date: 23 March, 2018. Fuller Rose Weevil, Naupactus cervinus, subfamily Entiminae, family Curculionidae (the weevils). &square; According to North Carolina State Extension, the Fuller Rose Weevil feeds on all sorts of plants from maple and citrus trees to azalea and other flowers, and also is common in the vegetable garden on beans and potatoes. For more informaiton on this insect, click here. Photographed by: Israel Suarez. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Lewisville, North Carolina, USA. Date: 7 December, 2017. Israel says, “It’s about half a centimeter in length.” Broad Nosed Weevil, probably in the genus Ophryastes, subfamily Entiminae, family Curculionidae (the weevils). &square; This genus is a group of weevils that are common to desert areas in the southwestern United States. Photographed by: Juan Jesus Hernadez. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Palm Springs, California, USA. Date: March 2017. Sri Lankan Weevil, Myllocerus undecimpustulatus undatus, subfamily Entiminae, family Curculionidae (the weevils). &square; This Sri Lankan Weevil made its way from Sri Lanka to Florida in 2000, and now it is in about half the counties in Florida, mostly the southern half of the state. It looks almost identical to another weevil called the Little Leaf Notcher (Artipus floridanus), which is native to Florida and the Caribbean. Two of the features that set the Sri Lankan Weevil apart are a slightly yellowish head (difficult to see here) and spines on its femur (noted with the yellow arrow). For more information on this species, click here. Photographed and identified as a weevil by: Marv Goldberg. Identified to species by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Tamarac, Florida, USA. Date: 18 January, 2019. &square; The Sri Lankan Weevil was introduced to Florida, where this photo was taken. It looks almost identical to a Florida-native species called the Little Leaf Notcher (Artipus floridanus). The two can be distinguished perhaps most easily by looking at the “shoulders”. They are squared off in the Sri Lankan Weevil — almost as it it is wearing shoulder pads or military epaulets — whereas the Little Lead Notcher has smoothly rounded shoulders. Photographed by: Gail Sciarrone. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Lake Worth, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA. Date: 22 October, 2018. Broad-Nosed Weevil in the genus Myllocerus, subfamily Entiminae, family Curculionidae (the weevils). Photographed and identified as a weevil by: K J Westman. Tentatively identified to genus by: Mahendran Govindasamy. Location: Nithulemada, Rajawella, Kandy, Sri Lanka. Date: 10 January, 2018. K J says, “It looks like it is some textile toy for kids.” Imported Long-Horned Weevil, Calomycterus setarius, subfamily Entiminae, family Curculionidae (the weevils). &square; Native to Japan, the Imported Long-Horned Weevil is now very common in much of the eastern United States and southeastern Canada, where they have become aguicultural pests on soybeans, alfalfa and other crops. The “seta” in the species name of setarius is Latin for bristles, and refers to the parallel rows of short bristles that run down the abdomen (too small to be visible in this photo). Photographed and identified as a weevil by: Carolina Torres. Identified to species by: Robert Anderson of the Canadian Museum of Nature’s Beaty Centre for Species Discovery. Thank you, Dr. Anderson! Location: Galesburg, Illinois, USA. Date: 30 June, 2018. Pine Weevil, in the genus Brachyderes, subfamily Entiminae, family Curculionidae (the weevils). &square; The photo of this broad-nosed weevil was taken in the United Kingdom, where two similar species of Pine Weevils are found — for more on the two, click here and here are two species in the UK -- both very similar. You can see the two here and here. Photographed by: Cee Thompson. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: England, UK. Date: 10 May, 2019. Cee described this weevil as about 1.2 cm long and 0.5 cm wide (about 1.3 long and 1/5 inch wide). Broad-Nosed Weevil in the genus Episomus, subfamily Entiminae, family Curculionidae (the weevils). Photographed and identified as a weevil by: K J Westman. Tentatively identified to genus by: Mahendran Govindasamy. Location: Nithulemada, Rajawella, Kandy, Sri Lanka. Date: 11 December, 2018. K J says, “I find it quite intriguing with dots and dimples.” K J notes the “textiles” look of this weevil. KnowYourInsects.org says, “It looks like it is wearing a knitted sweater!” Broad-Nosed Weevil, possibly in the genus Catapionus, subfamily Entiminae, family Curculionidae (the weevils). Photographed and identified to order by: Shefali Chaudhari. Identified to genus by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Location: Flori. farm, NAU, Navsari, Gujarat. Date: 10 December, 2018. Weevil, probably a Vegetable Weevil, Listroderes costirostris, subfamily Cyclominae, family Curculionidae (the weevils). Photographed by: Lynne Nguyen. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Montclair, California, USA. Date: 26 March, 2016. “I found it on my son’s diaper this morning. (It was a) tad less than 1/4 inch.” Green Immigrant Leaf Weevil, Polydrusus formosus, subfamily Cyclominae, family Curculionidae (the weevils). &square; The round scales give this little weevil its brilliant metallic-green color. Some of the scales in this individual have worn off — as they sometimes do — so you can see the dark-colored body underneath. Photographed by: Paul Hinkley. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. Date: 29 August, 2017. Weevil in the genus Neoerethistes, subfamily Molytinae, family Curculionidae (the weevils). Photographed by: Donna Sánchez. Identified to genus by: Macotulio Soto-Hernández, Instituto de Ecología, México. Location: Malinalco, México. Date: 9 July 2017. Weevil in the genus Curculio, subfamily Curculioninae, family Curculionidae (the weevils). Photographed by: Leah Gentry. Identified to genus by: entomologist Robert S. Anderson of the Canadian Museum of Nature. Thank you, Dr. Anderson! Location: Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida, USA. Date: 3 September 2015. Leah says, “It was on my mailbox this afternoon! Mailbox sits under a water oak and several other trees.” Acorn and Nut Weevil, quite possibly Curculio proboscideus, subfamily Curculioninae, family Curculionidae (the weevils). &square; This little insect is just adorable! The super-long snout is a characteristic of females. Photographed by: Denise Rulason. Identified by KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Frankenmuth, Michigan, USA. Date: 31 August, 2017. Denise says, “Interesting bug I have never seen before.... I found her under an oak tree.” European Curculionid Weevil, also known as a Mullein Weevil, Rhinusa tetra, subfamily Curculioninae, family Curculionidae (the weevils). &square; The European Curculionid Weevil is native to Europe, and parts of Asia and Africa, but also now found in North and South America. It also goes by the name Mullein Weevil, because it eats the plant Common Mullein (Verbascum thapsus), a plant with large, soft, and fuzzy leaves (also sometimes jokingly called nature’s toilet paper). Characteristics of the European Curculionid Weevil include the covering of short hairs, and the beefy-looking femora (thighs). Photographed by: Dave Delman, M.D. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Roslyn, New York, USA. Date: 10 June, 2018. Red Palm Weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, subfamily Dryophthorinae, family Curculionidae (the weevils). &square; The Red Palm Weevil comes in a variety of colors (including black with a red stripe), but this rust-colored variation is quite common in Cyprus where this photo was taken. These weevils can grow to about 1.3 inches (3.3 cm) long. Note: The ruler is marked in centimeters (not inches). Photographed and identified by: Katherine Toumbourou. Location: Nicosia, Cyprus. Date: 16 May, 2018. Katherine says, “Your wonderful website helped me identity a bug that flew through my window today.” KnowYourInsects.org says, “Wonderful! And great job with the identification, Kath!” &square; The Red Palm Weevil is native to southern Asia and over to Papua New Guinea and nearby islands, but has spread to other warm climates as well. For instance, it was first reported in southern California in 2010, but after a concerted effort to find and get rid of it, it was declared eradicated in January 2015. Katherine says, “They’re a real problem both here and in the Middle East, and are classified as pests.” Palmetto Weevil, Rhynchophorus cruentatus, subfamily Dryophthorinae, family Curculionidae (the weevils). &square; Considered the largest weevil in North America, the Palmetto Weevil can grow to about 1.25 inches long (3.1 cm). This species has quite a bit of variability. For instance, this individual has considerable black markings on its head, while others have very little black on their heads, and still others are completely black. For more information on this pretty weevil (and to see some the variation in this species), click here. Photographed by: Jordan Knepper. Submitted by: Doug Knepper. Location: Tampa, Florida, USA. Date: 10 March, 2018. Rice Weevil, Sitophilus oryzae, subfamily Dryophthorinae, family Curculionidae (the weevils). &square; Rice weevils infest rice as well as several other grains, such as wheat and corn. And be sure to check out the photographer’s comment below. Note: the subfamily Dryophthorinae is not a universally accepted subfamily. Photographed by: Jim Coolbaugh, a retired U.S. Navy infectious disease research microbiologist. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: in the sea near Malaysia. Date: 24 November, 2017. Jim says, “We are on a sailboat in Malaysia, and have an infestation of these insects. They are about 2mm long, and they fly.” In an update, Jim says they found the source of the infestation: “They are coming from some stored, and thought-sealed pasta.... Out you weevils!” Sisal Weevil, sometimes called an Agave Weevil, Scyphophorus acupunctatus, subfamily Dryophthorinae, family Curculionidae (the weevils). &square; This weevil is known as a Sisal Weevil because its host plant is a type of agave called sisal (Agave sisalana), which is often used to make twine or rope. Photographed by: Carlo Castoro. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Date: 7 January, 2018. Rose Curculio, Merhynchites bicolor, subfamily Rhynchitinae, family Curculionidae (the weevils). &square; The Rose Curculio weevil is mainly brick-red in color, but with black legs and a long, black proboscis. Another feature of this weevil is pair of antennae. Most other weevils have elbowed antennae, but the Rose Curculio has straight antennae (no bend!). Brentidae, the primitive weevils Brentid Weevil, also known as an Oak Timberworm Weevil, male, Arrhenodes minutus, subfamily Brentinae, family Brentidae (the primitive weevils). &square; To tell a male from a female in this species, look at the mouthparts. This male has a rather robust pair of jaws, whereas the female has an elongate, tube-shaped beak. Photographed by: Ray Chin. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Toronto, Canada. Date: 7 January, 2018. &square; Why is is called an Oak Timberworm? The larva of this weevil looks rather like a worm and bores into wood, especially oak. Photographed by: Mary Freelove. Identified by: E. Richard Hoebeke, entomologist with the University of Georgia Extension. Thank you, Rick! Location: northern Georgia, USA. Date: 30 April, 2016. &square; This Brentid Weevil has a little less of the yellow markings on its elytra (the wings covering its abdomen) than is typical. Photographed and identified to order by: Jaymie Miller. Identified to species by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: middle Tennessee, USA. Date: 19 May, 2019. Attelabidae, the leaf-rolling weevils Hazel Leaf-Roller, Apoderus coryli, subfamily Attelabinae, family Attelabidae (the leaf-rolling weevils). &square; The Hazel Leaf-Roller is so named because the young live inside rolled-up leaves of hazel trees and shrubs. Photographed and identified by: Bryan Wenham-Baker (@BryanPhotos). Location: Ivybridge, South Hams, South Devon, England, UK. Date: 29 July, 2018. Leaf-Rolling Weevil, Homoeolabus analis, subfamily Attelabinae, family Attelabidae (the leaf-rolling weevils). &square; Females of this family of weevils lay an egg on a leaf, roll up the leaf (like rolling up a rug) with the egg inside. This protects the egg and the larva that later hatches from the egg. Photographed by: Joan Smith. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Tampa, Florida, USA. Date: 9 June, 2017. Lycidae, the net-winged beetles End Band Net-Wing Beetle with its forewings up, Calopteron terminale, family Lycidae (the net-winged beetles). &square; With its forewings up and out of the way, the hind wings become visible. Photographed by: Claire M.Montgomery. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: southern Louisiana, USA. Date: 1 September, 2014. End Band Net-Wing Beetle, Calopteron terminale, family Lycidae (the net-winged beetles). &square; Similar-looking species include Calopteron discrepans and Calopteron reticulatum, which share the common name of Banded Net-Wing Beetle. Both have an additional black band running through the center of their forewings, whereas the End Band Net-Wing typically only has one band on the end of the forewings, as shown here. Banded Net-Wing Beetle, Calopteron reticulatum, family Lycidae (the net-winged beetles). &square; There are two species of Banded Net-Wing Beetle — Calopteron discrepans and Calopteron reticulatum — both of which have a black band across the middle of each of the two forewings (also known as elytra). The difference between the two is that Calopteron discrepans has a band that is the same width all the way across the wing, while Calopteron reticulatum has a band that is wider where the two elytra meet and tapers off toward the outer sides. This photo seems to show the band tapering, so it is identified as Calopteron reticulatum. Photographed by: Jim Hartzel. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Burke, Virginia, USA. Date: 11 July, 2018. Net-Wing Beetle, Thonalmus chevrolati, family Lycidae (the net-winged beetles). &square; These two photos show both pairs of this Net-Wing Beetle’s wings. The forewings (called elytra) are stiffer and bicolored, with the rear half of each forewing having a blue or green metallic sheen depending on how the light strikes them. The hindwings, which are used for flight, are membranous. Photographed by: Juraj Bajgar. Submitted by: Clara Berger. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico. Date: 30 November, 2018. Clara says that Juraj caught this pretty beetle, which was 1.3 cm (a half inch) long in flight. She adds, “The bug posed for the picture and flew away.” Zopheridae, the ironclad beetles and the cylindrical bark beetles Southwestern Ironclad Beetle, Zopherus nodulosus, family Zopheridae (the ironclad beetles and the cylindrical bark beetles) &square; If they are touched or feel threatened, these beetles will draw in their legs and play dead. They are quite impressive beetles in color and size, and can reach about 2 inches (5 cm) long. Photographed by: Cedia Miller. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Unknown. Date: 2 May, 2016. Nitidulidae, the sap beetles Four-Spotted Sap Beetle, Glischrochilus quadrisignatus, family Nitidulidae (the sap beetles). &square; Love that shadow above the beetle! Photographed and identified by: Kelly McKinne (@gonzonaturalist). Location: northern Ohio, USA. Date: July 2016. Sap Beetle, probably a Small Hive Beetle, Aethina tumida, Nitidulidae (the sap beetles). &square; This specimen (yes, it’s a bit crushed) is tiny. It is originally from sub-Saharan Africa, and was first seen in the United States in the late 1990s in a commercial bee hive. Since then it has since spread all across the country. Photographed by: Harold Vines. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. Date: 9 March, 2017. Buprestidae, the metallic wood-boring beetles Flat-Headed Hardwood Borer, Dicerca divaricata (possibly Dicerca tenebrica), subfamily Chrysochroinae, family Bupestridae (the metallic wood-boring beetles). &square; The color of this metallic species ranges from more of a copper/brown-gray color to a bluish tone (like this one). Photographed by Hannah Lipshutz. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Rochester, New York, USA. Date: 28 May, 2017. Flat-Headed Hardwood Borer, either Dicerca divaricata or Dicerca tenebrica, subfamily Chrysochroinae, family Bupestridae (the metallic wood-boring beetles). Photographed by Maeve Pernot. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Accord, New York, USA. Date: 21 May, 2018. Maeve says, “This insect came to say hi to me today: It just flew over and landed on my finger! It looked brownish-gray with a gold sheen.” Jewel Beetle, Buprestis laeviventris, subfamily Buprestinae, family Bupestridae (the metallic wood-boring beetles). Photographed by Shelli St. Clair. Identified to family by: Kelly McKinne (@gonzonaturalist). Identified to species by Michael S. Caterino of Clemson University. Location: Sonora, California, USA. Date: 10 June, 2016. Shelli says, “This flew into my hair today! I’lve never seen one like it before. Beautiful, isn't it?” Striated Borer, Buprestis striata, family Bupestridae (the metallic wood-boring beetles). Photographed and identified by: Leslie Mertz. Location: Otsego Township, Gaylord, Michigan, USA. Date: 18 July, 2017. Leslie says, “Although the color doesn’t show up perfectly in this photo, it was a bronze metallic color with reddish stripes running down the back.” Bupestrid Beetle, family Bupestridae (the metallic wood-boring beetles). Photographed by Charles Lerable. Identified to family by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Monterey, California, USA. Date: 10 September, 2016. Charles says, “This insect’s size is approximately 0.7 inches and appears to have wings, although I have not observed them flying.... They appear all seasons and are visible day and night.” Passalidae, the bessbugs or betsy beetles Cucujidae, the flat-back beetles Bessbug, also known as a Betsy Beetle, family Passalidae (the bessbugs or betsy beetles). &square; Those little red bumps on its head are actually a whole lot of red mites! (The mites often take free rides on passing insects.) If you look closely, you can see a single “horn” in the middle of the head — protruding from the mass of mites. The horn is a characteristic feature of the bessbugs. Photographed and identified to order by: Moira Richardson. Identified to family by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Oklahoma, USA. Date: 19 June, 2017. Flat Bark Beetle, family Cucujidae (the flat-bark beetles). Photographed and identified by: Kelly McKinne (@gonzonaturalist). Location: Black Swamp Bird Observatory, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA. Date: 12 April, 2015. Coccinellidae, the ladybugs or ladybird beetles Seven-Spot Ladybird Beetle, also known as Seven-Spot Ladybug, larva Coccinella septempunctata, family Coccinellidae (the ladybugs or ladybird beetles). &square; The Seven-Spot Ladybird Beetle does indeed have seven spots: three smaller spots on each of the two forewings (or elytra) and one larger one that spreads onto the front of both elytra (between the two white spots). This is quite a common species in Europe. Photographed and identified by: Bryan Wenham-Baker (@BryanPhotos). Location: Ivybridge, South Hams, South Devon, England, UK. Date: unknown. Seven-Spot Ladybird Beetle, also known as Seven-Spot Ladybug, Coccinella septempunctata, family Coccinellidae (the ladybugs or ladybird beetles). &square; This head-on view of the Seven-Spot Ladybird Beetle shows the pair of small white dots on its head, the larger white spots on either side of its pronotum (the shield that covers the thorax), and the pair of white spots at the front of its forewings (elytra). Photographed by: Thomas Langhans. See Thomas’s full-size image here Location: San Bruno, county of San Mateo, California, USA. Date: 4 November, 2018. Seven-Spot Ladybird Beetle, also known as Seven-Spot Ladybug, larva, Coccinella septempunctata, family Coccinellidae (the ladybugs or ladybird beetles). &square; Gardeners like Seven-Spot Ladybird Beetle larvae because they prey on plant-damaging aphids. A close look at this photo will reveal an aphid crawling on this larva’s back. Photographed by: Thomas Langhans. See Thomas’s full-size image here Location: San Bruno, county of San Mateo, California, USA. Date: 12 March, 2018. &square; The larva of the Seven-Spot Ladybird Beetle can be distinguished from other ladybird beetle larvae by the red markings on its abdomen. It has no red markings past the fourth abdominal segment (abdominal segments are noted as A1, A2, A3, etc.; the three segments of the thorax are labeled as T1, T2 and T3). Photographed by: Thomas Langhans. See Thomas’s original, full-size image here Location: San Bruno, county of San Mateo, California, USA. Date: 12 March, 2018. Orange Ladybird Beetle, Halyzia sedecimguttata, family Coccinellidae (the ladybugs or ladybird beetles). &square; The Orange Ladybird Beetle was once quite rare, but is now becoming more common in the UK. Photographed and identified by: Yvonne Ugarte. Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK. Date: 17 October, 2016. Yvonne says, “I do not see these very often. It has been very mild so far though (this fall).” Red Ladybird Beetle (or Red Ladybug) larva, Cycloneda sanguinea, family Coccinellidae (the ladybugs or ladybird beetles). &square; This is the larva of the Red Ladybird Beetle. The adult is one of the “spotless” ladybird beetles, so called because its elytra (the hard wings that cover most of the insect) are completely red with no spots. Photographed by Sue Sifford. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Gulf Coast of Texas near Galveston, USA. Date: 1 March, 2017. Sue says, “Found it on our orange tree.” Three-Banded Ladybug (or 3-Banded Lady Beetle), Coccinella trifasciata, family Coccinellidae (the ladybugs or ladybird beetles). &square; Often, Three-Banded Ladybugs are orange with black bands that are outlined in yellow, but sometimes (as in this one) they are yellow with black bands. Photographed and identified by: Leslie Mertz. Location: Houghton Lake, Roscommon County, Michigan, USA. Date: 7 July, 2017. Leslie says, “Such a pretty little ladybug!” 20-Spotted Ladybird Beetle (or 20-Spotted Ladybug), Psyllobora vigintimaculata, family Coccinellidae (the ladybugs or ladybird beetles). &square; Depending on which spots you count, you might end up with more than 20. Nonetheless, there are a lot of spots on this beetle! Photographed and identified by: Damian Duron. Location: Watsonville, California, USA. Date: 19 October, 2017. Damian says, “This guy is itty bitty, it’s around 5 mm? That was taken on my very old formica counter.” KnowYourInsects.org replies, “Nice estimation on size, Damian! This beetle is indeed tiny, growing to about 3 mm long.” 15-Spotted Ladybug (or 15-spotted Lady Beetle), Anatis labiculata, family Coccinellidae (the ladybugs or ladybird beetles). &square; Typically, the 15-spotted Ladybug indeed has 15 black spots on a light-gray to orange background. As they age, however, they sometimes become quite dark, like this one, although the black spots are still visible. Photographed by: Jane Weaver. Submitted by: Jane’s friend Lisa Hechler. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Algonquin Lake, Hastings, Michigan, USA. Date: 5 May, 2018. &square; This is another older 15-Spotted Ladybug with even darker coloration than the previous photo. Leslie says, “I met a woman who told me she was seeing ticks all over the place, and it turned out to be these brownish-black ladybugs!” 10-Spot Ladybird Beetle, Adalia decempunctata, family Coccinellidae (the ladybugs or ladybird beetles). &square; The 10-Spot Ladybird Beetle is quite a variable species. This specimen has 10 spots, but not all of them do. To see the considerable variation within this species, click here (on naturespot.org.uk). Photographed and identified by: Bryan Wenham-Baker (@BryanPhotos). Location: Ivybridge, South Hams, South Devon, England, UK. Date: 2 January, 2018. Bryan says, “Looks like a tortoise, but it’s only 4mm long! Two shots of it, one with wings partly unfurled.” 10-Spot Ladybird Beetle, Propylea quattuordecimpunctata, family Coccinellidae (the ladybugs or ladybird beetles). &square; The spots on the back of a 14-Spot Ladybird Beetle often run together, as they do on the beetle in this photo. To see the variation within this species, click here (on naturespot.org.uk). Photographed and identified to family by: Bryan Wenham-Baker (@BryanPhotos). Location: Ivybridge, South Hams, South Devon, England, UK. Date: 11 May, 2019. Spotless Lady Beetle, Cycloneda sanguinea, family Coccinellidae (the ladybugs or ladybird beetles). &square; Not surprisingly, the Spotless Lady Beetle has no spots on the elytra (hardened forewings). It does have a distinctive pattern on her pronotum: a white outline and two white spots on a black background. The white outline in the male continues around the front of the pronotum and has an extra white line partially down the center of the pronotum (photo here on bugguide.net). In the female, the white line is broken in the front of the pronotum and she has no extra white line (photo here). Photographed by: Marv Goldberg. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Tamarac, Florida, USA. Date: 5 April, 2019. Marv says, “I don’t believe I ever saw a no-spotted ladybug before (I swear, I didn’t paint it).” Convergent Ladybug, Hippodamia convergens, family Coccinellidae (the ladybugs or ladybird beetles). &square; The Convergent Ladybug is native to North America. This species has a black pronotum (the shield over the thorax) outlined in white, and decorated with a pair of white, slightly curved markings. Each elytra (forewing) has a large black spot in front, followed by a pair of small black spots, and a trio of large black spots at the rear. Photographed by: Thomas Langhans. See Thomas’s original, full-size image here Location: San Bruno, county of San Mateo, California, USA. Date: 21 August, 2016. Harlequin Ladybird Beetle (also known as Asian Ladybug), Harmonia axyridis, family Coccinellidae (the ladybugs or ladybird beetles). &square; Harlequin Ladybird Beetles come in a wide range of color patterns, but this is one of the most common. This species is native to eastern Asia, and was purposely introduced to Europe as well as North America to control pests, such as aphids. It is now common in its new environs. Harlequin Ladybird Beetle (also known as a Multicolored Asian Ladybird Beetle or an Asian Ladybug), Harmonia axyridis, family Coccinellidae (the ladybugs or ladybird beetles). &square; This Harlequin Ladybird Beetle has white “cheeks” (actually the sides of the pronotum), while many other individuals in this species are decorated with a white “W”. This page has a few photos of Harlequins posted to show some of the wide variation in colors and patterns within this species. Harlequin Ladybird Beetle (also known as Asian Ladybug), Harmonia axyridis,, family Coccinellidae (the ladybugs or ladybird beetles). &square; For more information about Harlequins and misinformation about sexually transmitted diseases (see photographer’s comment below), click here. Photographed and identified by: Bryan Wenham-Baker (@BryanPhotos). Location: Ivybridge, South Hams, South Devon, England, UK. Date: 11 October, 2018. Bryan says, “In certain UK areas, Manchester, Birmingham, Loughborough and Gloucester as example towns, there are swarms of Harlequins, extra spots, or black, invading various premises including people’s houses. Residents are concerned about their carrying of STDs, but authorities (are) trying to educate people that they are not harmful to humans.” &square; Although native to Southeast Asia, Harlequin Ladybird Beetles are now found in North and South America, throughout Europe and Asia, and in Africa. Photographed by Yvonne Ugarte. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK. Date: 17 October, 2016. &square; This Harlequin Ladybird Beetle has minimal spotting, while some other members of this species have 20 or more spots. Harlequin Ladybird Beetles (also known as Asian Multicolored Ladybugs), Harmonia axyridis, family Coccinellidae (the ladybugs or ladybird beetles). &square; The wide color variation among Harlequin Ladybird Beetles is evident in this swarm on an apple. Photographed and identified as ladybugs by: John Hayes. Identified to species by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Maple Park, Illinois, USA. Date: 21 October, 2017. Harlequin Ladybird Beetle (also known as Asian Ladybug), larva, Harmonia axyridis, family Coccinellidae (the ladybugs or ladybird beetles). &square; Take at look at the collection of photos that follow — They are all the same species! They are amazingly diverse. &square; This insect species takes on a number of different color patterns as an adult, as you can see here: http://bugguide.net/node/view/397. Photographed by Dick Ford. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Marsolan, Midi-Pyrénées, southwest France. Date: 28 May, 2017. Dick says, “I live in southwest France, where we have been devastated by the box tree moth caterpillar (Cydalima perspectalis) which is gobbling up box hedges throughout the countryside. Searching for the beastly thing in my box hedge I came across this chap.” Ladybug larva, probably the Harlequin Ladybird Beetle, Harmonia axyridis, family Coccinellidae (the ladybugs or ladybird beetles). &square; This larva was about the size of a large grain of rice. Photographed by Rhonda Baxter. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Dearborn, Michigan, USA. Date: 8 June, 2016. Rhonda says, “The larva survived and grew! I put it out on my rosebush. I was wondering if it made it through to an adult today, and as I was eating my dinner, this ladybug landed on my window screen across from me. It is the only one I have seen around my house at all this year. I am hoping it was the one I saved. I guess I am a crazy bug lady. LOL.” Photographed by Carlo Castoro. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Duff Park, Monroeville, Pennsylvania, USA. Date: 4 Octover, 2014. Ladybug pupa, probably the Harlequin Ladybird Beetle, Harmonia axyridis, family Coccinellidae (the ladybugs or ladybird beetles). Photographed by Rachel Van Horn. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Cedar Springs, Michigan, USA. Date: 10 June, 2016. Rachel says, “I realized after I sent it that it was some kind of pupa, because there was just a casing left a few hours later and our little guy was gone.” Photographed and identified to family by: Thomas Langhans. See Thomas’s full-size image here. Location: city of San Bruno, county of San Mateo, California, USA. Date: 29 March, 2019. Ladybug, larva, Harmonia eucharis, family Coccinellidae (the ladybugs or ladybird beetles). &square; The larvae of this species all have these lovely cream-colored markings on the abdomen — almost like embroidery looped stitches. The adults of this species, however, come in a wide color and pattern variation, as shown here. Ladybug larva in the genus Scymnus, possibly Scymnus (Pullus) castaneus, family Coccinellidae (the ladybugs or ladybird beetles). &square; This unusual-looking ladybug larva looks like it is adorned with tufts of white cotton. Photographed by: Arkopal Gupta. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: district Alipurduar, state west Bengal, India. Date: 28 February, 2011. Lampyridae, the fireflies or lightningbugs Winter Firefly, also known as Diurnal or Day-Flying Firefly, Ellychnia corrusca, family Lampyridae (the fireflies or lightningbugs). &square; The winter firefly is distinguished from the black firefly (Lucidota atra), which occupies a somewhat similar range, by being larger, lighter in coloration, and having thinner antennae. Photographed by: Leslie Mertz. Identified by: Jackie Lucier. Location: Kalkaska County, Michigan, USA. Date: 28 May, 2012. &square; Winter fireflies are not only diurnal, but as adults age they no longer light up (bioluminesce). Larvae and pupae both bioluminesce, as do newly metamorphosed adult fireflies. Photographed and identified by: Leslie Mertz. Location: Gaylord, Otsego County, Michigan, USA. Date: 27 May, 2017. Either a larva of a firefly, family Lampyridae (the fireflies or lightningbugs) OR of a net-winged beetle, family Lycidae (the net-winged beetles). &square; Even though these beetles are in two separate families, their larvae are essentially indistinguishable. Either way, this a a cool larva ... and check out that retractable head! Photographed by: Eric Smith. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Hoover, Alabama, USA. Date: 8 February, 2017. &square; With the plates on the back, the weird retractable head, and the long body, it is hard to believe that this could be a larva (immature) of a firefly! Photographed by: Maiya Patrick. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Southwest Michigan, USA. Date: 26 April, 2018. Maiya says, “I did get to see the head pop out! It was really cool.” Photographed by: Cheryl Hennessy. Identified by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Prince’s Grant estate in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Date: 13 January, 2018. Cheryl says, “Could be a firefly larva as we have observed one in a similar location. I have never seen this little one before, which is why I am so curious. It also uses its abdomen in locomotion, and the end of its abdomen has small appendages which it can use to grip.” Larva of a firefly, possibly Nyctophila caucasica, family Lampyridae (the fireflies or lightningbugs). &square; This larva is shown curled up. Such a posture helps to protect the softer underside of the insect from predators. Photographed by: K J Westman. Identified to family by: Audrey Maran. Tentatively identified to species by: KnowYourInsects.org. Location: Nitulemada, Digana, Rajawella, Kandy, Sri Lanka. Date: 11 July, 2014. Unless noted otherwise, photographs on this website are the property of the photographers and may not be reused without written permission from the photographers. To obtain permission, request it here. Photos at the top of this website are (from left to right): potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) — photo credit: Scott Bauer, U.S. Department of Agriculture; ebony jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata)— photo credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; sweat bee (Agapostemon splendens) — photo credit: Natalie Allen and Stephanie Kolski, U.S. Geological Survey; preying mantis, monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus), hellgrammite (aka toe biter) larva and eyed click beetle (Alaus oculatus) — photo credit: Leslie Mertz; Halloween pennant (Celithemis eponina) — photo credit: Kay Meng, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Reproduction of material from any KnowYourInsects.org webpages without written permission is strictly prohibited.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3864
__label__wiki	0.981476	0.981476	West Virginia town under state auditor investigation GLASGOW, W.Va. (AP) — The West Virginia State Auditor’s Office is investigating a town. WCHS-TV reports Glasgow Mayor Peggy Fisher announced the investigation Monday at a Town Council meeting. She says Glasgow has received a subpoena for all financial records dating back four years and town officials are cooperating with the investigation. The mayor says an auditor’s office investigator has been questioning town employees, but it doesn’t bother her because she and other officials have nothing to hide. Laura Ellis has lived in Glasgow for years. She says she doesn’t believe there’s nothing because Glasgow used to be wealthy, and an American Electric power plant’s departure and the town’s tax base in 2016 can’t account for the financial issues. Ellis says in two years Glasgow went from having more than $1 million to $500,000. Information from: WCHS-TV, http://www.wchstv.com	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3867
__label__wiki	0.89344	0.89344	Dow Jones & Company Les Hinton, CEO; Robert Thomson, Managing Editor Consumer, enterprise and local media, stock indexes and marketing, conferences http://www.dj.com/ The U.S. media and information group is behind two of the financial world's most storied information brands - the Wall Street Journal and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, as well as Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch and a stable of specialist financial titles. The company was acquired in mid-2007 by Rupert's Murdoch's News Corporation. Media Products Founded in 1882 by Edward Davis Jones, Charles Henry Dow and Charles Milford Bergstresser [1] as a consumer newspaper group, Dow Jones and Co. is now a subsidiary of News Corporation. Its best-known media product is the NYC-based Wall Street Journal (WSJ), which publishes editions in the U.S., Europe and Asia and operates the wsj.com Web site. The company also owns Barron's and Financial News and the Hong Kong-based Far Eastern Economic Review. .[2] News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch offered $5 billion for Dow Jones, a significant premium to its market value. The bid triggered a protracted debate among members of the founding Bancroft family, who still controlled the listed company. News Corp.'s offer was accepted after a number of safeguards were introduced to protect the editorial independence of the company's media outlets.[3] Murdoch installed Les Hinton,[4] the former head of News Corp.'s U.K. operations, as CEO. Robert Thomson, a former Financial Times journalist, was appointed managing editor of the WSJ and Newswires operations. Dow Jones Indexes creates, markets and licenses market-benchmark indexes including the U.S. stock-benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average and Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index. It also runs Factiva, a premium media-archive database and content-provider with 1.8 million paid subscribers, including 80 percent of the Fortune Global 500. ↑ About Dow Jones. Dow Jones & Co.. ↑ Fact Sheet. Dow Jones & Co.. ↑ Dow Jones & Co.. New York Times. ↑ Les Hinton. Dow Jones & Co.. Last modified on 11 April 2019, at 11:57 MarketsWiki Mobile‌	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3868
__label__wiki	0.853551	0.853551	The Other Tunnels: Hamas, Egypt and Islamic State in Sinai The Other Tunnels: Hamas, Egypt and Islamic State in Sinai via AUSTRALIA/ISRAEL REVIEW August 10, 2018 \| Oved Lobel In the latest round of fighting between Israel and Hamas overnight which saw more than 170 rockets and mortars fired into Israel, Israeli forces struck around 140 targets in Gaza. Among them were “a factory where the terror groups constructs the concrete blocks it uses for attack tunnels and a fully operational tunnel opening near the Gaza coast belonging to Hamas’ naval commando unit” according to the Times of Israel. Israel has destroyed a number of such terror tunnels over the last two years, and while the problem is not solved, as Gabrielle Burack reported in the latest Australia/Israel Review edition, new Israeli technological solutions are expected to at least significantly reduce this threat. Although not in the headlines quite as often as the “terror tunnels” Hamas and associated terrorist groups in the Gaza strip construct into Israel to kill or kidnap soldiers and civilians, the subterranean tunnel economy between Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt is just as important and just as dangerous. According to one Palestinian interviewed by the Guardian, “if there were no tunnels, there would be such a heavy price that it would force Hamas to sit and find a solution” to the blockade. For all the Egyptian and Israeli efforts to destroy them, the tunnel business continues – though there are signs that Egyptian efforts are making a significant dent, albeit at a very high price to local residents. Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip in 2007 after the violent conquest by Hamas, which uncompromisingly advocates violence and the destruction of Israel. Hamas has partially offset this state of affairs by building thousands of tunnels that honeycomb the entirety of Gaza itself and extend hundreds of metres or even kilometres into both Israel and Egypt, forming a “tunnel village” for the transfer of every sort of good, from medicine, clothing, food, and fuel to cars, weapons, livestock, and even people. These tunnels range in size and sophistication, from small and shallow dirt passages to massive and electrified corridors over sixty feet underground, some large enough to drive a truck through. Although certain tunnels are designated solely for military operations or smuggling certain goods, they are dual use, occasionally running into both Egypt and Israel and allegedly rivalling the Viet Cong’s Chu Chi tunnel network during the Vietnam War. While Egypt never entirely turned a blind eye to the smuggling system–– Hosni Mubarak, prior to being deposed in 2011, oversaw the construction, alongside the US military, of an underground barrier to choke off the smuggling tunnels into Sinai – it only began a coordinated campaign to destroy them in 2014. The 2012 election of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi in Egypt was a relative golden age for Hamas and Sinai-based militant groups, Hamas being an offshoot of the organisation. Even Morsi, however, attempted to shut down the tunnel system. Morsi’s rule came to a very quick end after a military coup overthrew him in mid-2013. The rise of the new ruler, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, coincided with the launch of a brutal massive counterinsurgencycampaign in the Sinai, which is focused as much below ground as above it. The regime also declared Hamas’ parent organisation a terrorist group, although Sisi and Hamas reestablished close working ties in 2017 to help Egypt crack down on Islamic State and other insurgent groups in Sinai. As Israeli Arab Affairs correspondent Avi Isscharoff reported in the Times of Israel recently: Generations of Israeli combat troops who served in the southern Gaza Strip between the Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula almost 40 years ago and the disengagement from Gaza in 2005 remember the homes of Egyptian Rafah, just over the border, on the other side of the Philadelphi Corridor. It was a city with thousands of houses and tens of thousands of residents — Bedouins, Egyptians, and Palestinians — many of whom were related to the families who lived in the nearby Palestinian Rafah inside the Strip. But Egyptian Rafah is no more. The large city, which was considered the urban center of northeastern Sinai, has been wiped off the face of the earth as part of the Egyptian army’s campaign to remove inhabitants and homes from the Gaza Strip border area in order to prevent the smuggling of goods… it has succeeded in establishing a perimeter — an area free of homes and residents — consisting of a three-and-a-half-kilometer-wide strip along the entire border between Egypt and Hamas-run Gaza. Despite being dangerous work, with the risk of natural cave-ins as well as Egyptian and Israeli military and engineering efforts to destroy them, tunnel digging is still a widespread profession, part of an entire “semi-official” economic system in Gaza. An unsophisticated tunnel can cost anywhere from $100,000-$300,000 to build, which their owners earn back very quickly. Workers used to be paid $120 daily on average, although increased pressure on Hamas by Egypt, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority has driven wages down to about $30. Owners of the land on which the tunnel is built are paid a 10% commission, while corrupt Egyptian security officials across the border are given handsome bribes to look the other way. One has to apply for a permit from Hamas to bring in smuggled goods via the tunnels, and “shipping rates” depend on the item and quantity. One tunnel co-owner who spoke to Reuters says he charges about $50 for a person to travel via the tunnels, although heavily armed men might have to pay over $1,000. The precise nature of Hamas’ relationship with the Islamic State in Sinai is difficult to define, though IS moves men, equipment, and funds out of Gaza and sends wounded to be treated via the same tunnel network, and there are Israeli and Egyptian allegations of much closer ties. At the very least, there is a financial and transactional arrangement between the groups, despite technically being at war with one another in Syria and Gaza itself. IS has also demonstrated it is willing to blockade the tunnels against Hamas because of its collusion with Egypt, despite the tribal backlash in Sinai. Both Egypt and Israel have reportedly been very successful in drastically reducing the amount and quality of tunnels, of which Palestinians say there are no longer enough to counteract the closing of the crossings. The workforce and pay have been substantially reduced relative to the heyday in the early 2000s, when around 22,000 Palestinians worked as diggers on over 2,500 tunnels. However, scores of tunnels are being newly built or repaired every year in spite of Egyptian efforts. According to one worker, “we extended the tunnel by an average of 3 kilometers so it goes behind the Egyptian army’s focal points.” If Hamas is ever going to be forced into a genuinely serious ceasefire, or better still, to relinquish its governance of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority, continuing and intensified efforts against these other tunnels – Hamas’ main source of revenue, weapons, and outside assistance – must be a key part of the strategic equation. Follow The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council's on twitter @AIJAC_Update	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3875
__label__wiki	0.501687	0.501687	Nathan Evans Fox Nathan Evans Fox is an Americana/folk musician from Glen Alpine, North Carolina, where he grew up surrounded by country, folk, gospel, and Americana. These roots form the rich undercurrent of his music, which combines bluegrass riffs, folk stories, and religious imagery with unorthodox layers of sound and a heavy dose of wit. Fox has been writing music for ten years, experimenting with a variety of genres and learning new instruments along the way. He has collaborated with other artists as a fiddle player, guitarist, and vocalist. His lyrics confront political, religious, and personal inconsistencies (even his own), but also offer a meditation on what it means to live with and love another. Fox wrote, performed, and produced his first full-length album Home, which was released in January 2017. In April 2018, Fox anticipates releasing his sophomore album, Texas Dust, exploring themes of grief, place, religion, and family. He lives in Atlanta with his best friend/wife Elizabeth and their dog Maisie. nathanevansfox@gmail.com © Nathan Evans Fox, 2018	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3877
__label__cc	0.502671	0.497329	If ever there was a book title to make me run for the hills screaming "PLEASE GOD NO" it is The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. In fact, if I hadn't seen said book at Woolsthorpe Manor, birthplace of Sir Isaac Newton, and if I hadn't been reminded that he was a fan of things like gravity and light, then I wouldn't even have been able to guess what mathematical principles of natural philosophy were. BUT! Before you start writing a letter to Tim Berners-Lee asking him to uninvent the Internet so that people like me can't be so completely stupid in public, I must stress that science has never really been my thing. So props to Woolsthorpe Manor, because today's visit taught me a great deal: 1. Woolsthorpe played a big part in Sir Isaac Newton's life and works Sir Isaac Newton, one of the greatest scientists of all time, was born at Woolsthorpe Manor near Grantham on Christmas Day in 1642. Our tour guide explained that Isaac's father, who was lord of the manor, died before Isaac was born. His mother then spent a few pregnant months wondering what was going to happen to her: if she had a boy, he would also eventually become lord of the manor and they could remain at Woolsthorpe. If she had a girl, the two of them would be packed off back to her relatives and the house would pass to someone else. So she was presumably extra delighted to see Isaac, although it's a miracle that he survived, having been born premature during a very cold winter. Anyway. The Woolsthorpe connection doesn't end there. Isaac was a precocious lad who failed to show the slightest interest in farming, so he was sent off to school followed by university. When the Plague struck Cambridge in 1665, Isaac returned to Woolsthorpe and did some of his greatest work at the manor. 2. Sir Isaac Newton - one of the most influential scientists of all time It's very easy to align one person with one discovery - Alexander Fleming and penicillin for example, or the extremely useful one that has stuck in my brain for 25 years since my History GCSE; Joseph Glidden and barbed wire. But Sir Isaac Newton's thinking went far beyond the subject of gravity, which is what I always connect him with. When he returned to Woolsthorpe in 1665, he spent his 'annus mirabilis' producing some of his most important scientific thinking, covering motion, light and gravitation. He didn't publish his theories until 1687, when Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica appeared in print. It contained three books; the first and second books explore his laws of motion. The third contains his theory of gravity. 3. He didn't get hit on the head with an apple It's a myth that he came up with his theory of gravity when he was hit on the head by an apple. He was a safe distance away when he saw the apple fall from the tree at Woolsthorpe, prompting him to wonder why it dropped straight downwards and not in a random direction. (He wasn't always so health and safety conscious - the short film that you can watch in the education centre tells how he once looked into the sun for as long as he could bear and went blind for three days.) His apple tree is still there though, right outside the house. It fell over in 1816 but re-rooted and continues to grow. It now has offshoots all over the world, ensuring that Newton's legacy lives on at MIT and other places of learning. Bizarrely, the tree doesn't get a mention in the guide book. A rare sighting of my sister, aka Doctor Watscone, being incredibly original and holding an apple in front of the famous tree. We later realised that every single person that visits Woolsthorpe does this. 4. It's probably only right to stick to apple-related items in the tea room Woolsthorpe Manor was the 40th National Trust scone mission of 2015. The year started badly - there were no scones at Leith Hill in January, followed by a similar failure at Aberdulais Tin Works. But since then I've struck scone gold everywhere. Until today. The tea room at Woolsthorpe Manor is very small - they should definitely try and extend it a bit, as it was full the whole time we were there. This was November, so God knows how they cope in poor weather in June and July. The nice lady told me that they were waiting for some scones, but it wasn't clear whether she meant waiting five minutes or until next week so I opted for the last two slices of apple shortcake. And let's face it, apple shortcake is highly appropriate for Sir Isaac's birthplace, AND it was delicious, so I'll overlook the scone scarcity. Anyway. I highly recommend Woolsthorpe - it's a lovely spot with an impressive history that is very well told. Woolsthorpe Manor: 5 out of 5 Scones: 0 out of 5 (there weren't any) Highly appropriate apple shortcake: 5 out of 5 Simon Douglas Thompson 15 November 2015 at 11:27 Yes, I'd have happily eaten the pie. And a scone, if one arrived while I was eating the pie.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3878
__label__cc	0.505863	0.494137	We’ll make our moves at the right time – PDP - in Politics Comments Off on We’ll make our moves at the right time – PDP The Peoples Democratic Party has said that it is not bothered about moves by the ruling All Progressives Congress to sideline its members in the election of the presiding officers of the Ninth National Assembly. Rather, it said it was monitoring what is ongoing in the camp of the ruling party and would act when the time comes. The PDP said there was no way the votes of about 46 senators would not count in the election of the leadership of the Senate. The National Chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus, said these in an interview with our correspondent on Sunday. He said it was not his style to be making noise about the position the party would take when the time was not ripe to elect the presiding officers of the National Assembly. Secondus said the PDP also have what he called “unshaken confidence” in its lawmakers- elect , adding that “they are all capable to take decisions that are in the best interest of Nigeria, Nigerians and are all good party men and women.” He added, “We are not bothered about the hue and cry by the ruling party of their winner takes all position. “We know that politics is about negotiations, discussions and listening to people. “The Senate is made up of former governors who have served for eight years, ex-ministers and even ambassadors. Some deputy governors are there as well. “You don’t just summon and bark out orders at such men and women. National Assembly is the nation’s symbol of democracy. “As a party, we are keenly watching what is ongoing. We are also hearing what some are saying about how they want to control the assembly and all that. “We are not used to making noise. Rather, we discuss, we negotiate and we agree. When the time comes for us to take a position, we know when to strike. That is politics for you. “Notable political players who know their onions don’t make noise on the pages of newspapers and on the screen of television stations. We know what we are doing as a party. “ Secondus said he preferred to be underrated by opponents before any election, adding that such was what happened to the PDP in the just concluded election. “They said we were dead as a political party before the just-concluded general elections. We started with 11 states in December 2017, but got 13 states before the election. Now, we have 15 states with the hope that we would still get more because technically, we are in charge of Osun now. “If we were not rigged out in some states and at the national level, we would have been in charge of more states. So, let the noise makers continue with their noise, while we keep talking to the people that matter,” he added Previous article 9th assembly and the clamour for Gbajabiamila’s speakership Next article Fuel subsidy will not be removed ‘until all buffers are established’	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3881
__label__cc	0.569905	0.430095	Amartya Sen lauds, congratulates Nobel Peace Prize winners Malala Yousafzai, Kailash Satyarthi Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen has lauded the two winners, Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai, for their perform in the youngster legal rights. Sen congratulated the … (sv) Malala Yousafzai, kandidat till World’s Children’s… Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi – Nobel Peace… Kailash Satyarthi, Malala Yousafzai share Nobel Peace Prize… Malala Yousafzai, Kailash Satyarthi Awarded Nobel Peace… Malala Yousafzai And Kailash Satyarthi Gain Nobel Peace… Children’s rights activists Kailash Satyarthi and… Nobel Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi Speech on youngster…	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3884
__label__wiki	0.783235	0.783235	Czech copy of German Kar. 98K Rifle SN 9640/h Peter Paul Mauser, the inventor of the Mauser bolt-action rifle and the youngest of thirteen children, was born on June 27, 1838 in Oberndorf, Germany. His father, Andreas Mauser, had worked as a master gunsmith in a government firearms factory which was located in the town, and six of his sons, including Paul, were trained in this craft. Paul Mauser showed a natural gift for improving existing work methods and developing new ones, as well as for designing new tools that would enable him to work more efficiently. Paul was later assigned to duty as an artilleryman at the arsenal at Ludwigsburg, where he closely studied models of breechloading guns. He later credited this period in his life as influential in the development of his breechloading system for small arms. By 1859, he had left the army and returned to work at the Royal Firearms Factory in Oberndorf. Along with his older brother, Wilhelm, he devoted his free time to the development of new types of firearms. Wilhelm handled the business aspects of this venture, while Paul handled technical work. The Mauser brothers' first invention was a small breechloading cannon, along with the special ammunition developed specifically for use in this gun. Aside from the initial example, this gun was not produced due to difficulties in production and the limited potential for profit. The two also worked to improve the operation of the Dreyse Needle Gun which was then widely used by German military units. These rifles, designed by Nicholas Dreyse, employed a locking mechanism based on a turning bolt system. Using this idea as a starting point, Paul Mauser developed a system in which a cam action opened and closed the action and cocked the mainspring. Wilhelm was impressed with his brother's design, and he successfully presented it to government and military officials. As a result, the Mausers were given funding for additional development work and for the purchase of machinery. Unfortunately, however, senior military officers saw no need to abandon recently-acquired and very adequate rifles for this new design, even though it was superior to existing arms. Undaunted, Wilhelm and Paul took their rifle to the Austrian ambassador. Although Austria had also made large financial commitments to purchase new arms and was thus unable to convert to the Mauser, the design met with considerable enthusiasm. The gun was sent to Vienna for testing, and it was there that the Mauser design came to the attention of Charles Norris, who was a representative of the E. Remington & Sons, a noted American manufacturer of firearms. In 1867, Norris formed a partnership with the Mausers in hopes of securing a contract with the French government for converting the Chassepot needle gun to a metallic cartridge rifle. Unsuccessful in this effort, Norris ended his association with the brothers, but not before generating interest in the Mauser bolt-action with officials of the Royal Prussian Shooting School. Tests conducted there were so successful that the brothers were invited to work at the arsenal at Spandau, near Berlin, to work out additional improvements in their design. On December 2, 1871, the Mauser, officially designated Infantry Rifle Model 71, was officially adopted by the Prussian government, thus becoming the first bolt-action metallic cartridge rifle to enter German military service. The brothers set up a temporary workshop in their home town and began production to fulfill a military contract for the new rifle. Soon, however, they expanded their operations to keep up with increased orders from other German states, as well as from foreign governments. The firm eventually purchased the royal arms factory at Oberndorf, where several members of the Mauser family had been employed. Meanwhile, Paul continued to experiment with further improvements to his design. These efforts resulted in the development of a repeating rifle, designated the Infantry Rifle Model 71/84, which was officially adopted by the army of Kaiser Wilhelm I on January 31, 1884. In April of that year, the company became Waffenfabrik Mauser, a stock company. In addition to their own production, Mauser rifles were also manufactured by various government arsenals under a royalty agreement. The company was unsuccessful in its attempts to secure adoption of its rifles by Britain, but in February, 1887, with the help of the Berlin firm of Ludwig Loewe & Co., Mauser also received a contract from the Turkish government for 500,000 9.5mm rifles and an additional 50,000 carbines. In response to France's adoption of the Lebel 7.9mm smokeless cartridge rifle in 1886, Germany and other nations followed suit. Paul Mauser's preoccupation with the Turkish contract prevented his participation in the development of a new German service rifle. Mauser introduced a 7.65mm smokeless cartridge rifle in 1888 for Belgian military tests. This rifle, designated the Model 89, was adopted by Belgium, and sales were also made to Spain, Turkey, and to several South American countries. Mauser continued to improve his design, with the Model 92 and Model 95 rifles as the result of his efforts, but his greatest success came with the Model 98. Among the Model 98's many improvements over previous Mauser designs are the addition of a third locking lug, a large gas shield which shields the shooter's eyes from hot gasses in the event of a ruptured cartridge case, and an improved firing pin which, even if broken, cannot travel forward unless the bolt is fully closed. The Model 98's strength, simplicity, and ease of manufacture made it the workhorse of the German army in both World Wars, and it has also been adopted by nations around the world. Mauser patents have also served as a platform for other bolt-action rifles, including the U.S./Springfield Model 1903 military rifle. The Model 98 is still manufactured today, and many former military models have been sporterized. In addition to his rifle designs, Paul Mauser is also known for the famous Model 1896 "Broomhandle" semi-automatic pistol and pistol-carbine, the HSc semi-automatic pistol, and various pocket pistols. During the Second World War, Waffenfabrik Mauser also produced the P-08 Luger pistol for Germany's armed forces. Peter Paul Mauser died in May, 1914, but the Mauser name continues today as Mauser-Werke Oberndorf Waffensysteme GmbH, a manufacturer of bolt-action sporting rifles.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3886
__label__wiki	0.792642	0.792642	Making Britain Discover how South Asians shaped the nation, 1870-1950 Great Russell Street London, WC1B 3DG Date began: The British Museum was established by an Act of Parliament on 7 June 1753, but the origins of the Museum lie with Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753), who wanted his collection of more than 71,000 objects, along with his library and herbarium, to be preserved after his death. On 15 January 1759, the British Museum opened to the public and access to view the collections became possible. The round Reading Room at the centre of the museum was constructed from 1854 to 1857. It is this Reading Room which was frequented by a number of South Asians and their English friends. An article in the Star in January 1926 describes the constituency of the Reading Room thus: ‘From the Centre Desk…to the circumference, long tables radiate like the spokes of a spider’s web; and here sit hundreds of human flies, male and female, black, white, yellow and brown; some digging hard in pursuit of knowledge and scratching their heads at the hard words, others curled up and sleeping like babes’ (quoted in Harris, p. 29). On his arrival in Britain as a student in 1888, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi used the Reading Room. Other South Asian users include Fredoon Kabraji, Sasadhar Sinha, mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, Cedric Dover, Aubrey Menen, the writer Mulk Raj Anand and his friend Nikhil Sen. Jomo Kenyatta also frequented the Reading Room when he studied at the London School of Economics. In Conversations in Bloomsbury (1981), Anand relates a meeting between himself, his friend Nikhil Sen and literary critic Bonamy Dobree in the Museum Tavern. Anand also records meetings with Aldous Huxley, Laurence Binyon (who was Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum at the time) and Emily Richardson in the Reading Room. Key Individuals' Details: Laurence Binyon (Keeper of Prints and Drawings), Sir Hans Sloane (founder). Mulk Raj Anand, Bonamy Dobree, Cedric Dover, T. S. Eliot, E. M. Forster, M. K. Gandhi, Sudhindra Nath Ghose, Edmund William Gosse, Eric Gill, Aldous Huxley, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Fredoon Kabraji, Jomo Kenyatta, Louis MacNeice, Aubrey Menen, Henry Moore, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Pulin Behari Seal, Nikhil Sen, Uday Shankar, Sasadhar Sinha. Secondary works: Anand, Mulk Raj, Conversations in Bloomsbury (London: Wildwood House, 1981) Barwick, George Frederick, The Reading Room of the British Museum (London: Ernest Benn, 1929) British Museum, British Museum Reading Room, 1857-1957: Centenary Exhibition, etc. (London, 1957) Caygill, Marjorie L., The British Museum Reading Room (London: Published for the Trustees of the British Museum, 2000) Crook, Joseph M., The British Museum (London: Allen Lane, 1972) Esdaile, Arundell, The British Museum Library: A Short History and Survey (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1946) Fortescue, George K., A Guide to the Use of the Reading Room (London, 1912) Harris, P. R., The Reading Room (London: British Library, 1979) Harris, P. R., A History of the British Museum Library, 1753-1973 (London: British Library, 1998) Hunt, James D., Gandhi in London (New Delhi: Promilla & Co., 1978) Menen, Aubrey, Dead Man in the Silver Market: An Autobiographical Essay on National Pride (London: Chatto & Windus, 1954) Miller, Edward, Prince of Librarians: The Life and Times of Antonio Panizzi of the British Museum (London: Andre Deutsch, 1967) Miller, Edward, That Noble Cabinet: A History of the British Museum (London: Andre Deutsch, 1973) Peddie, Robert Alexander, The British Museum Reading Room: A Handbook for Students (London: Grafton & Co., 1912) Penn, J., For Readers Only (London: Chapman & Hall, 1936) Archive source: Readers' signature books, applications for admission (including testimonials) and various indexes, British Museum Archives © The Open University	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3890
__label__cc	0.743978	0.256022	January 6, 2011 — Perishable Pundit Overview: Never Tell Me The Odds: One Man, One Disease, One Battle Typically the Pundit is written in the third person. This is because the words are written on behalf of the organization. This is why the editorials of major newspapers are also written in the third person. Today, though, the topic is strictly personal and so I write in my own voice. Over the years, I have often shared important personal events through my writing. Times of joy such as the birth of my first nephew, my wedding, the birth of my two children, first William and then Matthew and my 10th wedding anniversary… and more difficult times such as the battle we waged to save my father from Leukemia and the death of my friend, Joe Nucci, while our families were on vacation together. I wrote about my family’s longtime friend Frieda’s hospitalization and recently I’ve written about my friend Jan Fleming and her travails here, here and here. To varying degrees, these people and the lessons learned were relevant to the industry, but I really wrote these pieces because I think it makes no sense to view life as a series of separate spheres. Growing up in a family business, we knew no lines, there was nothing to balance; there was just one integrated, sometimes messy thing called life that included family, friends and work. I know no other way. Five years ago my father, Mike Prevor, who worked his entire professional life in the produce industry as a wholesaler, importer and exporter, among other things, was diagnosed with mylodysplastic syndrome, which quickly turned to acute myeleogous leukemia. He had weeks to live and, in a mad dash to secure treatment, my brother, sister and I persuaded the leading expert to take his case. We did a stem cell transplant with his identical twin brother, the transplant went well but there were serious complications, a gall bladder that was seriously diseased, a bout of atrial fibrillation that led my sister to summon her brothers because they didn’t know if my father would make it through the night. In the end, though, after half a year in Houston at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, we returned home triumphant. The leukemia seemingly was gone. Father and son photo taken in late December 2010 When I recently wrote a little piece about Junior Pundit Primo, aka William, Disney World and the nature of Christmas miracles, I was already aware that my family desperately needed another one. My father had been losing weight and experiencing gastro-intestinal distress of various kinds, so we did a scan and discovered a mass. It was biopsied locally in Boca Raton, Florida, and was diagnosed as pancreatic cancer. I began, with my siblings, a search for treatment. But the statistics on pancreatic cancer are daunting; less than 5% of the victims of this disease are alive five years after diagnosis. After a Christmas search for options, we decided to return to M.D. Anderson, which is where I write this piece. I thought I would share the experience with an industry that also is filled with my friends: Sunday night, January 2, 2011 We have arrived in Houston. I try to remember what it was like almost five years ago when we headed off to M.D. Anderson. I do not remember feeling any emotion, only steely determination to effectively advocate for my father. The job, in recollection at least, was clear then. I had to get the hospital to agree to do the stem cell transplant despite my father being older than was typically acceptable and had to help my father get the support he would need to survive it. I needed to stand with my mother, Roslyn Prevor, both so the experience would not be any more distressing for her than it had to be and so that her understandable emotion would not interfere with the course of action we would have to undertake; a course that would more than once find my father near death. I had to take care of my Uncle, Sydney Prevor, my father’s identical twin, whose precious stem cells were the key to the transplant. I had to make sure that my uncle’s family, my aunt and cousins would understand the stakes and remain supportive. This time is different. It started out well enough, after the imaging in Boca Raton, when the head of radiology at Boca Community Hospital said it was suggestive of a lymphoma, I took Mom and Dad to dinner and laid out a possible plan of action. The survival rates for a lymphoma are better than that for the acute myeleogous leukemia he had endured almost five years ago, so it seemed, if not good news, at least tolerable. When Boca pathology made the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, it was as if all the light left the room. My father, always more concerned for my mother than himself, made jokes. As his children assembled from the corners of the country, he announced to my mother that they all wanted to pay a Shiva call. My mother wanted to hit him with a frying pan. I could scarcely bear to look at my mother. One look at my mother’s eyes, the tears welling as she tried to fight back the emotion lest my father should think himself the cause of her distress, one look as she silently pleaded with me, could I find anything to help? Was there, perhaps, one more rabbit in the hat from which we had pulled M.D. Anderson five years ago? When my father made it through the stem cell transplant and came into full remission, when he returned from M.D. Anderson like Superman, not even needing a single drug, I was given a lot of credit. I had advocated, and I think effectively, for my father, but my role was always overstated. Aside from the fact that my mother, brother, sister and others also did much to help the situation, in the final analysis my father got well because of his own gritty determination to get well combined with medical technology that presented a path. My father had to survive the chemo, the complications of the transplant, and the cells had to take. It was, for a 69-year-old man, no better than 50/50 odds, yet the payoff was so huge, a normal life of normal quality, that it was a risk worth taking. In the last two weeks, as we awaited our appointment at Anderson, there were small rays of hope. The big cancer centers to which I sent scans and biopsy reports seemed hesitant to confirm the pancreatic diagnosis. Maybe it was a mistake, a lymphoma after all or a gastrointestinal cancer of lesser lethality. Monday night, January 4, 2011 When we arrived on Sunday, I had already arranged our schedule. Today we finished our first full day of Chapter II of our stay at M.D. Anderson. Though we slept in the Rotary House, Anderson’s on-site hotel that we stayed in last time, the experience was different. Instead of the optimism with which we approached the first visit — bolstered by the thought that with an identical twin we had a special edge — now there was only a sense of deep foreboding. Monday he also completed a bone marrow biopsy and blood work ordered by Dr. Richard Champlin, the physician and professor whose name I selected from all the doctors in the world as the one best able to help my father with the stem cell transplant. We had some good news. There was no evidence of cancer in the blood or bone marrow, which would have complicated treatment enormously. But there was bad news as well. The test for Carbohydrate Antigen 19-9, the normal range for which is 0 — 35, was 546.6 H U/ml. This is a marker for gastrointestinal tumors. In a sense, the report added no information. We knew my father had a gastrointestinal tumor. Still seeing the numbers there, in black and white, and knowing that those numbers brought us one step closer to a pancreatic diagnosis was deeply disturbing. Prevor family: Barry, Roz, Mike, Cheryl and Jim Last time my sister, Cheryl, had just given birth. Now she is here with me and my parents. In accordance with our experience, my brother, Barry, stayed in reserve, ready to fly down when Cheryl or I had to leave. We tried very hard to never leave my parents alone in Houston and were mostly successful. My sister is a big plus. She is much better than I ever was at taking care of my father and mother’s needs for creature comforts. She gets food and brings along wheelchairs and gives my Mom another person to talk to. She is a psychologist and sometimes reminds me of Deanna Troi from Star Trek: The Next Generation, the empathetic counselor on the Enterprise, who somehow knew what everyone was feeling. She also is very knowledgeable about the science behind the medicine and does copious research. Yet, as we progressed, I felt all this was beside the point. The situation was tumbling out of our control, and our options seemed to be closing every moment. I felt myself possessed by an overwhelming fear that everything is coming down to one question: Is the cancer operable? These GI tumors seem particularly tough. In the bone marrow transplant department, Dr Champlin mentioned that they were researching utilizing stem cell transplants on many types of cancer. The focus is on tumors that can be destroyed with stronger chemotherapy; the stem cell transplant is basically being used to enable the use of such intense chemo. GI tumors, he mentioned, generally did not respond well to additional or stronger chemo, so the research was not focused in that area. I am keeping up our contacts with other cancer centers — an oncologist at Johns Hopkins, a surgeon at Sloan-Kettering, plus others. It seems that if they say the cancer is inoperable and they have no treatment options that are appealing, we should at least get a second and probably a third opinion. We may have to make decisions that we didn’t have to last time. Last time, it was a big gamble, a leap of faith that we would walk away cured. In any case, the most likely outcomes were either a cure or that my father would die from infection or a side effect of the chemo. We had only one decision to make: yes or no, go or no-go. This time may turn out to be more complicated. Now we have to be prepared to consider that circumstances may require us to switch from hoping to cure the disease to hoping to manage the disease to lengthen my father’s life and increase his quality of life. This raises all kinds of complications. My parents will not want to stay in Houston very long if my father has a terminal illness. Quality of life starts to be a major issue, and there may be complicated trade-offs in how much extra time chemo and radiation will buy versus how much it will impinge on their enjoying the final chapter in my father’s life. Last time I tried to be unemotional like Mr. Spock for my parents and with the doctors. I felt that my mother had enough emotion for the whole family and the doctors would respect intellect and logic more than emotion. Yet now I find it hard to contain my feelings. A cold wind of death feels closer, and my Internet searches seem more pointless. I keep saying to myself that if there is a solution to be found in this world, I must find it yet I feel myself thinking that instead of sitting in my room researching treatment options in Germany or how the Hadassah Medical Center in Israel is dealing with pancreatic cancer, I should go sit by my father. He had a colonoscopy/endoscopy today. It was a pretty clean report and the doctor, although he did many biopsies, said he saw nothing that screamed out a problem. But there was a note on the report that he wanted to review the CT scan with contrast that we will do tomorrow (Tuesday, January 4, 2011) for evidence of splenic vein thrombosis. I don’t know very much about this, but thromboses are blood clots, and this large vein that showed up in the colonoscopy could well be feeding a tumor. Each thing itself may be small, the CA 19-9 report, the possibility of splenic vein thrombosis, etc., but cumulatively it adds to the ominous feeling. Anderson does not believe that the biopsied mass, which is sort of in the middle of nowhere, is the primary cancer. The CT scan with contrast, however, may provide some additional insight. At Cheryl’s suggestion, we overnighted tissue from the gallbladder and bile ducts my father had removed in Boca Raton after he returned from his stem cell transplant. Is it possible that the reason nobody can find a primary cancer is because it was in his gallbladder which was removed, thus leaving cells to grow into the mass we see today? I find myself angry in a way I was not five years ago. My father’s internist learned about the diagnosis on Friday afternoon and intentionally concealed it until Monday — telling us she wanted us to have a “fun weekend” before she told us. Completely aside from the factual question of how many people actually have a “fun weekend” when they are waiting for a biopsy result, I thought it so far out of her realm of obligation I would consider it malpractice. Maybe we would have been at a cancer center two days earlier; maybe those two days would have made a difference. Probably not, but it wasn’t her information to conceal. I can’t help but feel that my father was let down by many of his doctors. My father was a cancer patient, his father had cancer, his grandfather died of pancreatic cancer, and my father was having regular blood tests — why didn’t anyone suggest adding to his monthly profile a test for this CA 19-9? My father worked very hard and made a good living, in light of the cancer would it not have been prudent to do a total body scan every six months. He could afford it. Why didn’t anyone suggest it? I wasn’t brought up, though, to expect other people to do things properly… I remember when I first started working for my father, he had me book the trucking for the export loads. Then he had me call to confirm, then check they were on the way, then confirm delivery. He taught me that it was our job to make the boat, and an errant trucker was not an acceptable excuse. My father was always proud that in a lifetime of export, he never missed a boat. Of course, if you can’t blame the professionals, who can you blame? Mostly I blame myself. I feel horribly guilty. After the leukemia, I should have researched possible markers that could have been added to his blood profile. I should have insisted on regular scans. When my father expressed symptoms, I should have made the connection with pancreatic cancer. We had almost five good years after the stem-cell transplant and I let down my guard. I walk the halls of M.D. Anderson painfully aware that my father may pay for my laxity with his life. I find it an almost unbearable thought. I try to remind myself that pancreatic cancer is so lethal, precisely because it presents so few symptoms until so late in the process and because the symptoms are of such a general nature that few cases are caught early enough for surgery — which is the only effective treatment. Of course, it is not as if the medical system would have been all that cooperative even if I had the knowledge and presence of mind to suggest all these things. I feel that in the case of a man like my father, medicine is backwards. When he complained of pain or weight loss, the search was escalated up: Let us look for a herniated disk or pain from shingles, etc. Only a week before this was discovered, my father was with a GI doctor complaining about stomach pains and gas and the doctor said we could do a CT scan, but that would be overkill; let us just do a colonoscopy instead. I think with a man in his condition and with his history and family history, every doctor he went to should have assumed that whatever his symptoms, it was probably cancer and ordered the tests that would be needed to confirm such a diagnosis. Then, if nothing was found, they could always investigate lesser problems. For all the talk of excessively expensive and defensive medicine, my assessment is that the medical system economizes excessively. Tomorrow (Tuesday, January 4) we meet with Professor James Abbruzzese, and I will try to get a measure of the man. I have read about him and several of the papers he wrote. I think he is a very good oncologist. But that doesn’t mean he can cure my father. The issues: 1) Is it pancreatic cancer? 2) Is it spread anywhere other than in the visible mass? 3) Is it operable? 4) Are there treatment options? We returned to the Rotary House and ate at the hotel restaurant. You try to put away what is really on your mind at a time like this and focus on small joys. With myself and my siblings all having spouses and children, it is very rare that my brother and/or sister and I get to spend much time alone with my parents. We tell old family stories and laugh at our childhood antics. There are some nice moments but the stakes are too high. You snap a cell phone photo and wonder how many more we will be able to take. I try to chase such thoughts from my mind; I want to be upbeat, yet realistic with my parents. No false promises but no gloom and doom. I’ve promised my father that if things should go badly he should know that we will love and support and protect my mother in every possible way. I think he knew that already, but I wanted to say it to him as my mother is the only thing I think he really worries about. They have taken care of each other since my mom was 15 years old and my dad 17. They moved directly from their family homes to a home together. They have never known anything but being together. It is, perhaps, the most beautiful thing I’ve ever had the privilege to see. There is scarcely a problem in the world that would not be lessened if everyone was like my parents. I feel like somehow, someway, something ought to be found to save this little patch of beauty in a too often ugly world. I spend all the time I can free up checking for “what if” treatments — things we can do if the diagnosis is bad and conventional treatment doesn’t go well. Everyone heads off to bed, but we know that only a fitful night awaits us. The day began with a CT scan with contrast. My father is allergic to the contrast, but at M.D. Anderson they manage the allergic reaction dosing with Benadryl and Prednisone. Back in Boca they didn’t do that. Five years ago, I found M.D. Anderson on my own and we secured our initial appointment based on a letter I wrote to Dr. Champlin. Although very shortly we would be told that my father had only four weeks to live, we couldn’t get an appointment for months. I wrote a letter less about my father’s medical condition than the fact that he was my mother’s date for her Sweet 16. I included things I thought would be medically interesting such as his having an identical twin. Mostly, though, I pleaded for help that this man, the greatest man I have ever known, should be given a chance to continue to influence his family and the world. We got lucky. The professor’s secretary was leaving the job the week I wrote and, somehow, she was moved by the letter and vowed to get the Professor to call me. She did, and we were on our way to Houston in a few days. This time we had a pre-established relationship and Dr. Champlin secured us an appointment with Dr. Abbruzzese, one of the top oncologists in this area and the chairman of Anderson’s department for GI cancers. My parents had donated a little money to M.D. Anderson to say thank you for the stem cell treatment and we have close friends who are big supporters of the institution, so whereas last time we fought for every appointment, this time we were fortunate, we were treated like V.I. P’s. But though being treated well is always nice, no special status can cure pancreatic cancer. In the meantime there are other issues to deal with. Very often in these scenarios the big issue is not the daily problem. Although my father has cancer, his problem today is gas. After a colonoscopy/endoscopy yesterday and a barium enema this morning, he just feels lousy. We are trying to focus on oncology, but my father keeps running to the bathroom to pass gas. Such is the state of dealing with cancer. The meeting with Dr. Abbruzzese makes me realize I couldn’t do his job for any amount of money. How many people does he have to deliver such painful news to each week? The nurse, Ralph, takes the vitals and warns us to go to the emergency room if we have issues. The Physician’s Assistant, Alicia, who is of course neither a radiologist nor an oncologist, gives us a little hope. The mass is atypical for a pancreatic cancer. Maybe it is something else. A little light turns on. Then Dr. Abbruzzese appears. I read many of his papers before the meeting and know he is smart and respected. I’m glad, for my parents, that he is also a nice man. Then I realize that he has a great deal of practice in telling people that their time on earth is more limited than they had hoped it to be. It is a “tough cancer,” he explains. The treatment options are few. He patiently goes through the scans, showing us the mass and how it has wrapped around veins and showing us spots on many organs. He has no doubt it is pancreatic cancer and that it is inoperable. First wrapped around the veins that way, the surgery would be too difficult and my 74-year-old father might not survive it. Second, it has spread to too many places, so surgery would probably not do any good. It is perhaps the most horrible diagnosis one can receive. The doctor is honest but says the minimal amount. I suspect many patients don’t want to know the whole truth. My father is a realistic man and wants to know the facts so he pushes. He asks the doctor how long he has without any treatment and how long he has with the proposed chemotherapy. The doctor says perhaps three months with no treatment, maybe six to nine with treatment. I had worn an expensive suit and tie to the doctor’s office. I wanted to be in a power position not some schlub off the street. I was ready, if it was a close call, to fight for a surgical approach, which is the only real cure. My sister had a list of additional tests we should run. But the news was deflating. My power position quickly became powerless. My sister’s plans seemed moot. It is always important to have several people at these consults. Too many emotions and it is difficult to listen to the details when you have received bad news. This news, though, was so terrible, all of us were crushed. I feel like I should have brought a secretary to dispassionately take notes. The plan is to quickly begin chemotherapy — gemcitabine and cisplatin. The hope is my father will tolerate well the every-other-week regimen, and it will not detract from his quality of life while it prolongs his life. We hope he is not resistant. But the problem with this chemo cocktail is that most people develop resistance and it stops working. My father remains in remarkably good spirits. He was told years ago that his body reacted well to medicine and his will is strong. So we hope that will be a little edge. Perhaps it will. I’ve tried to find a way to think about this situation. My mind keeps going back to a scene in The Empire Strikes Back, one of the Star Wars movies. Han Solo has taken his spaceship, the Falcon, into an asteroid belt to protect himself and the Princess from the Empire. C-3PO starts calculating and announces the lousy odds of avoiding hitting an asteroid. Han, in the course of doing the statistically improbable, beseeches C-3PO: “Never tell me the odds.” The only way I can see to be productive in this situation is to forget the odds, to remember that everyone is an individual and that the question at hand is how to help my father. One man, one disease, one battle. My brother flies in immediately. We are all together again, parents and children together, the core family, as we were for so many years while growing up. Our parents always took care of us. We will try very hard to take care of them. Before we came to Texas, I gathered my family and told them that we are going to forget about the statistics and fight with whatever intellect and abilities Team Prevor can muster. I reminded them that all our lives have been proof that we can beat the odds — so many successes in business and other areas in life that never could have been statistically predicted. When I started PRODUCE BUSINESS over a quarter century ago, I knew that, statistically the odds of succeeding were actually far worse than the odds of surviving pancreatic cancer. Yet we are still here, still publishing. There is scarcely a problem in the world that would not be lessened if everyone was like my parents. When I was a boy growing up on Long Island I used to drive with my mother and we would pass a house just off the Expressway that was a fancy “named” house. A great mansion called “Whispered Wishes” — my mom always liked that name. It reminded her, she explained, of a young couple, penniless, in some small garret somewhere sharing their dreams for a lifetime and seeing some of those dreams come true. My parents’ entire life has been about dreams unfolding in contravention of all the odds. Part of it is business and financial success but also they have three children and six grandchildren, many nephews and nieces, and I think they are proud of us all. I remember last time in Houston, my father was mostly out of it and my mother and I were sitting by his hospital bed discussing a friend who needed treatment. The friend had said that they were jealous of how attentive my brother and sister and I had been to the situation and I said I was sure that this friend’s children would have done the same. My father, sick as he was, roused himself to say that I was wrong. That they had plenty of friends whose children couldn’t be counted on. Who simply wouldn’t inconvenience themselves. My father is a man of few words. But I remember thinking at that moment that even if all the treatment for the leukemia failed, I was very glad we had made the effort because I think my father would have died more content knowing he raised children who would, in fact, inconvenience themselves. Just two months ago, my parents came to The New York Produce Show and Conference. I know my father was moved by a column I had written about my grandfather. In Yiddish there is a term “shep nachas,” and it means, roughly, to take pride or derive pleasure and the phrase is customarily used in the context of a parent or grandparent proud of the achievements of their children or grand children. My grandfather used to shep nachas from the achievements of his children, and as I saw my father walking the hall, finding old friends and getting to mix with almost 3,000 people — all of whom had no incentive other than to tell him that his eldest son is a genius — I think he got to shep a little nachas himself. I’m very glad my father got to see that, and I really hope he will get to see the next edition of The New York Produce Show and Conference later this year as well. I think we have to take things one year at a time. I will not allow us to be psyched out of this battle. There is no clear path to victory over this cancer, but we will pursue every option and we will fight the good fight. I know a statistician would say I am crazy, but I somehow feel the statistics underestimate my father. I don’t know if we will beat it, but he has more than a few good years left in him. We are going to try to protect those years. Somewhere we have a photo of my father’s old produce company with a tiny little sign hanging underneath a giant sign of the owner of the building, General Produce Company. In the fullness of time, my father bought General Produce Company and named that photo “The Minnow Swallowed the Whale.” How improbable was that? Maybe five years from now, my father will have on his desk a photo of himself at M.D. Anderson on the day of his grim diagnosis. Perhaps he will call it “Beating the Odds.” What an exceptional man my father is. He approaches the chemo — and he has been through chemo so has some idea what it is like — with enthusiasm. He likes to tell the story of a devout man who each day lived virtuously and each day asked the Lord to grant him one wish: that he should win the Lottery. On his deathbed this devout man asked the Lord why, in light of his charitable deeds and virtuous life, he had never granted his wish to win the lottery. God spoke to the man and explained: “You never bought a ticket.” As my father would say, maybe the chemotherapy will be his lottery ticket. He has to do it because maybe that is the tool through which God can save him. My father sent an e-mail to his friends saying he was now in God’s hands. I have always had trouble seeing the world quite that way. After all, if this was a matter for God, then why would He have put such a good man in such a bad position to begin with? Yet one thinks of God at a time like this and, after the diagnosis, as we walked back to the room, it began to rain and my sister said that God was crying. As am I as I write this. But I will hold back my tears and get to work. While there is life, there is hope. That means there is work to do and a battle to wage. I best get to it. We have a very brilliant readership here at the Pundit and perhaps someone will have an idea or a connection that they would like to pass on. If so, my family and I are appreciative and you can send me a note here. To those who would like to wish my father well, that is appreciated also, and you can send him a note here.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3894
__label__wiki	0.650496	0.650496	World Society Russia Opinion Science Sport Hotspots and Incidents Business Su-24 flight recorder severely damage to expose new details For the time being, it remains impossible to obtain information from the black box of the Russian Su-24 aircraft that was downed by Turkish Air Force on November 24. According to Russian officials, one needs to attract specialists who can work with silicon. 0 comments 25 share "Thus, it remains impossible to read information from the flight recorder with the use of standard equipment due to internal damage," deputy head of flight security service of the Russian Air Force, Lieutenant-General Sergey Bainetov said on Monday, Interfax reports. According to the official, the investigation committee will try to attract specialists of Russian scientific institutions to be able to read information directly from silicon (chip). "This work, unfortunately, will require quite a lot of time. We will do everything possible to have this work done successfully," the official said. Noteworthy, observers from China, the UK and the US were present during the opening of the flight recorder of the downed Su-24 fighter jet. The observers expressed no negative comments during the process.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3899
__label__wiki	0.850583	0.850583	How did Rwanda’s genocide change our world? Omar Shahabudin McDoom is an Assistant Professor in Comparative Politics at the London School of Economics. Rwanda’s genocide, twenty years ago this month, symbolizes the zenith of ethnic violence in Africa and international indifference toward it. How did this defining event change our world? It is true that mass atrocity is still not a ghost of the past and international inaction in the face of it is still not an unthinkable choice. Events in the Central African Republic and Syria today serve as dark reminders of each of these realities. Yet we would be overly cynical to think nothing has changed. The hundreds of thousands of lives so brutally taken in Rwanda left a mark on the world’s conscience and moved us a little closer toward making ‘never again’ a credible promise. Inaction over Rwanda moved Kofi Annan in 2001, as UN Secretary-General, to ask when intervention is ever justified. “[I]f humanitarian intervention is, indeed, an unacceptable assault on sovereignty, how should we respond to a Rwanda, to a Srebrenica—to gross and systematic violations of human rights that offend every precept of our common humanity?” A year later, in a paradigm-shifting answer, an international commission re-cast state sovereignty as responsibility rather than control. While neither universally accepted nor legally binding, the notion of a ‘responsibility to protect’ (R2P) decisively entered the lexicon of international relations. R2P signifies more than mere rhetorical change. In authorizing intervention in Darfur in 2006, the UN Security Council took the unprecedented step of explicitly invoking R2P. Its normative power is reflected in the more robust mandates of UN peacekeeping missions since Rwanda. The protection of civilians is now central to UN operations in the DRC, Mali, Ivory Coast, and South Sudan. The tribunals established for Rwanda, and for Yugoslavia, also lent momentum to the movement for an international institution of criminal justice. The idea had waxed and waned for decades, but the International Criminal Court (ICC) opened its doors eight years after the genocide. Critics accuse it of inefficiency and political bias: two convictions in 12 years and all eight investigations focused on Africa. Yet the Court still stands as perhaps the most significant achievement of the human rights movement since the end of the Cold War. Rwanda also helped draw the world’s attention to the scourge of sexual violence during war. In a landmark judgment, the Prosecutor vs Akayesu, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda recognized rape, if intended to destroy a group, as a ground for genocide. Rwanda’s violence has also generated much research and taught us much about ethnic conflict and genocide. Research has, for instance, helped debunk the myth that tribal violence on the continent is the product of ancient, immutable hatreds. We now know the genocide was the premeditated choice of a small elite intent on staying in power. Rwanda has also become a cautionary tale for international mediators about the risks of using democratization as a strategy for ending civil wars. Multipartyism brought ethnic extremism to the forefront of Rwandan politics. The newly-created opposition parties helped push the ruling elite into taking radical steps to ensure its survival.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3903
__label__wiki	0.66233	0.66233	You are here: Home Events Flute Skills – Workshop conducted by William Dowdall Flute Skills – Workshop conducted by William Dowdall Come and join Bill as he explores tone development, articulation, finger technique, vibrato, scales and melodic exercises and lots more in the Academy from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm and from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Fee: €95 (or €80 Teaching Network Members) Register online using the reference FluteW15 Workshop Applications close on Monday 16th February 2015 Dublin born William Dowdall, one of Ireland’s leading musicians, combines a busy career as a soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. He trained in Cleveland, Ohio, where his teachers included Maurice Sharp of the Cleveland Orchestra, and his interest in new music was sparked by Donald Erb, composer in residence at the Cleveland Institute of Music. On returning to Ireland at the age of 21 he was appointed principal flute of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. From 1979 to 2004 he was principal flute of the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra. He was appointed professor of flute at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in 2004. He has given over 50 solo performances with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, and Irish Chamber Orchestra, and has appeared at all the major festivals in Ireland. He has been a member of the Daedalus Wind Quintet, Ulysses Ensemble, and the Ulysses Wind Quintet which was a prize-winner in the Colmar International Chamber Music Competition in 1980. As a chamber musician he has also guested with the RTÉ Vanbrugh and Parisii string quartets. Solo performances abroad have taken him around Europe, and to the USA, China, and New Zealand, and Australia. His work has been broadcast extensively by the Irish public service broadcaster, RTÉ, and he has also broadcast on BBC radio and television, Australian Television, and Shanghai Radio.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3904
__label__wiki	0.883185	0.883185	New England Chapter of the Richard III Society, American Branch Library Exhibit Real vs. Shakespeare’s Richard III Speculations on Francis Lovel—Richard’s Shadowy Friend Simple Medieval Heraldry Flights of Fancy: Medieval explorations into manned flight Plumbing in the 15th-Century [by Joan Szechtman] In his seminal work, Richard the Third, Paul Murray Kendall refers to Lovel as “Richard’s oldest and dearest friend.” Of the many enigmas surrounding Richard III, none may be so odd than that of Francis Lovel. This article will focus on two major periods that are mired in mystery: When did he first become acquainted with Richard; and, what happened to Lovel after the Battle of Stoke? Major details of his life are skimmed and some milestones are summarized at the end of this article. Although born into a wealthy and powerful family, Lovel was orphaned when he was nine and became a ward of Edward IV. Mindful of his debt to the Earl of Warwick for having tutored his baby brother in the art of warfare, Edward used the revenues of the Lovel lands to pay for both Richard’s and Francis’ wardship. By September 1464, Edward IV had secretly married Elizabeth Woodville, foiling Warwick’s plans for a French marriage. Edward’s marriage created a rift between the king and king maker. By May of that year, Richard was at court in Greenwich, ending his tutelage under Warwick. There is the romantic notion that Francis and Richard hooked up in 1467 at Middleham, but by the time Warwick assumed Lovel’s wardship, Richard was long gone. However, Richard was in York at the time, serving in a commission of Oyer and Terminer. So while they weren’t under the same roof, it’s entirely possible their paths crossed. Perhaps Edward had asked Richard to check up on Warwick and also verify that the annuities from Francis’ lands were being properly managed. Richard had lost his father at age eight, just a little younger than when Francis had lost his father. At only four years Francis’ senior, Richard may have had sympathy for this boy, perhaps seeing a reflection of himself at a similar age. He might have chosen to get close to Francis for personal reasons. While it’s impossible to know if this happened, it cannot be ruled out. If they didn’t come together at that time, when is the next potential time they might have joined up? We know that Francis and his wife Anna became members of York’s Corpus Christi Guild in 1473. By then, Richard had married Anne Neville and lived with her at Middleham. While Richard and Anne Neville didn’t join the guild until 1477, it is likely Richard and Francis became close during this time. One reason could be that Francis did not receive his majority until 1477. He may have sought Richard’s alliance as a political necessity. Alternatively, Edward may have instructed Richard to monitor Lovel. We do know that Lovel served with Richard at least from 1480 and that he participated in the border wars against Scotland, for which Richard received praise from parliament. In 1485, in anticipation of Henry invading England, Richard had Lovel defending in the south of England at Southampton. He was there in early August and it is in debate as to whether Richard summoned Lovel at all or in time for him to have joined him at Bosworth. Regardless, Lovel did survive the battle and went into Sanctuary with Thomas and Humphrey Stafford in Colchester. There they fomented a rebellion. Lovel returned to York in the spring of 1486 to muster troops. However the rebellion was quickly put down and he fled to Flanders where he took refuge with Richard’s sister Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy. In Burgundy, Lovel met John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, where they plotted Henry’s overthrow. The rebels had a priest instruct Lambert Simnel, a ten-year-old boy, to impersonate Edward, Earl of Warwick. On 24 May 1487 Lincoln, Lovel, Margaret, et. al. installed Simnel as Edward VI in a ceremony in Dublin. Henry had the real Earl of Warwick imprisoned in the Tower.* From Ireland, Lovel went to England and rebelled at the Battle of Stoke. Henry was triumphant again, and the impostor, Lambert Simnel was captured. Henry’s soldiers slaughtered most of the rebels. Some accounts have it that Lovel died in the battle, while others report he was seen to drown in the Trent while trying to gain the opposite bank. Neither account was confirmed. While he may have been wounded on the battle field, it is unlikely he died there because his body would have been put on display as one of the principal rebels. For the same reason, I don’t think he drowned. If Tudor’s men had seen someone they thought was Lovel drowning while trying to escape, they would have attempted to retrieve the body. Unless more comes to light, I think it plausible Lovel escaped to parts unknown. The most persistent legend is that Lovel managed to flee south to Minister Lovell Hall where he became trapped in an underground vault and starved to death. In 1728 the Duke of Rutland reported that twenty years earlier workmen found a fully clothed skeleton when they exposed a large underground vault during excavation for a new chimney. According to legend, the skeleton, clothes, and papers disintegrated when the air filled the chamber. But, if this is true, why did Rutland wait twenty years to report it? Over the years, the story of the skeletal discovery was embellished. After the Battle of Bosworth, Lovel sought sanctuary and subsequently fled to Burgundy. Why would he change his behavior after the Battle of Stoke by returning to in his former estate? While getting trapped in an underground vault at Minster Lovell Hall makes for a great story, I think it’s apocryphal. It is more likely he either escaped to Scotland, or returned to Burgundy. On 4 November 1488, James IV of Scotland issued safe conducts to 42 exiled Yorkists, including Lovel. It is unknown if he ever collected it. In 1508, an inquisition to determine Lovel’s disposition was held. The jury found that Lovel had escaped and was living abroad at that time, not having proof of his death. Thus, some 500 plus years later, we are still left wondering if Richard’s loyal friend died at Stoke, survived long enough to get trapped in his former manor, or outlived the man who put an end to his good friend’s rule. Oyer and Terminer—Anglo-French name meaning to hear and determine, a judge. I find it interesting that they chose a ten-year-old boy instead of someone older to match Edward V’s age, and that they chose to impersonate the boy who Henry had locked in the Tower. Even though the common man may not have known Simnel was a fraud, wouldn’t the officers and dignitaries who participated in this charade be aware of the real Earl of Warwick’s situation? Could this choice of impostor have signaled the older prince had died before Stoke. A brief chronology of Lovel’s life: 1456 Born Feb 1465 Father died—Francis becomes ward of the crown 14 Feb 1466 Married to Anna Fitzhugh, aged 6 13 Nov 1467 Warwick granted custody with all revenues of Lovel’s estates Summer 1470 Edward IV pardons Francis, his wife and two sisters for their part in the Warwick uprising Mar 1471 Francis’ wardship given to Edward IV’s sister, Elizabeth de la Pole 1473 Francis and his wife Anna become members of the Guild of Corpus Christi in York 1477 Francis received his majority 20 June 1480 Commission of array for North Riding of Yorkshire 1480 Participated in Scots campaign with Richard, Duke of Gloucester 21 Aug 1481 Knighted by Richard, Duke of Gloucester 4 Jan 1483 Promoted to Viscount by Edward IV 19 May 1483 Edward V appointed Lovel to Chief Butler 28 Jun 1483 Richard III appointed Lovel to Chamberlain and Chief Butler 6 Jul 1483 Lovel supervises Richard III’s coronation dinner 9 Dec 1483 Appointed to Parliament 1483-1485 Richard III bestows many gifts of land and title Summer 1485 Lovel assigned to guard port in Southampton ? Aug 1485 Richard summons him to Bosworth (in dispute) 23 Aug 1485 Goes into sanctuary in Colchester with Thomas and Humphrey Stafford Spring 1486 Leaves Sanctuary and goes to York to muster troops for rebellion. Henry suppresses rebellion and Lovel flees, ending up in Flanders with Richard III’s sister Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy 24 May 1487 Ceremony to install impostor Lambert Simnel as Edward VI in Ireland 16 Jun 1487 Battle of Stoke, rebels fail, Lovel’s fate unknown Belenger, G. V., Francis, Viscount Lovel, Thesis (1980) Kendall, Paul Murray, Richard the Third (1955), p58, pp60-61, p 156 Ricca, Joe Ann, Francis, Viscount Lovel (2003), Pamphlet published by Richard III Foundation Robottom, J., Workman, P., Carty R., Francis Lovel (1982) Pamphlet published by West Midlands branch of the Richard III Society. Wroe, Ann, The Perfect Prince (2003), p91	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3909
__label__cc	0.64655	0.35345	In Denouncing Common Core, Ravitch Promotes National Standards Even back to the days when Diane Ravitch was a trusted employee of the Bush I Administration, she was an advocate for voluntary national curriculum standards. She has continued to hold this position, even as her previous pro-corporate vices became untenable for anyone with intellectual aspirations or even a lick of integrity. She said in a New York Times op-ed in 2005 that "unfortunately, the political calculations that resulted in the No Child Left Behind law adopting a strategy of letting the states choose their own standards and tests remain the reality." Some things change, and some don't. What has not changed is Ravitch's embrace of national standards, even though she continues to insist that such standards, if we were to have them, would not necessitate national testing. She had this exchange with John Merrow in August 2009, when asked about the connection between national standards and national tests: Merrow: If we have common standards, are national tests likely to follow? Ravitch: Not necessarily. If the standards are worthy, then any testing organization should be able to develop test specifications that are aligned with the standards. Pearson, of course, has proven her correct, even with national standards that aren't worthy, whatever "worthy" might mean to her. But it is not the content of national standards that has Ravitch's dander up these days but, rather, the process of making the standards. From her post yesterday, now in wide circulation: The reason to oppose the Common Core is not because of their content, some of which is good, some of which is problematic, some of which needs revision (but there is no process for appeal or revision). The reason to oppose the Common Core standards is because they violate the well-established and internationally recognized process for setting standards in a way that is transparent, that recognizes the expertise of those who must implement them, that builds on the consensus of concerned parties, and that permits appeal and revision. The reason that there is so much controversy and pushback now is that the Gates Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education were in a hurry and decided to ignore the nationally and internationally recognized rules for setting standards, and in doing so, sowed suspicion and distrust. Process matters. . . . Process didn't matter, however, to Dennis van Roekel or Randi Weingarten in the years following the somewhat magical appearance and acceptance of Common Core in 2010, and even Ravitch remained agnostic on Common Core until 2013, when it finally dawned on her that the process was "fatally flawed." But I interject too much. Let her finish the point from yesterday's post: . . . . Lacking most of these qualities, especially due process, consensus among interested groups, and the right of appeal, the Common Core cannot be considered authoritative, nor should they be considered standards. The process of creating national academic standards should be revised to accord with the essential and necessary procedural requirements of standard-setting as described by the American National Standards Institute. National standards cannot be created ex nihilo without a transparent, open, participatory consensus process that allows for appeal and revision. So the never-held debate on whether national standards are even desirable obviously remains unimportant, it would seem, especially for those who have already accepted the concept as valid. If we can assure the "process," then it would seem that surely the product will follow. To me this reads like a formula that risks the likelihood of concocting another lethal ed reform cocktail, even as it satisfies some long-held desire for national standards. Does Ravitch believe that the arrogance-intoxicated corporate overlords she is dealing with are going to be held to the corporate standards of ANSI, the same one they have already flipped off? At this point when CCSS is about to collapse, there is a great deal of pressure being exerted by the Oligarchs to strike a deal that preserves the fetid Common Core. Will their guarantee of fair "process" lure Ravitch to the Roundtable, where she, Randi, and Dennis can do a three-way fist bump before their lunch money is taken away by Bill Gates and Eli Broad, just as AFT's was following Randi's celebratory "contract" for Newark teachers. We need the debate on if or why national standards are needed, a debate that Ravitch has avoided, going all the way back to 2009, when her former gentle nemesis, Deborah Meier, tried to coax her out of her cave. I offer Meier's insights from Ed Week back in 2009, presented here as a way to possibly launch the discussion that never happened. The Power of Big Money & Big State Over Knowledge Dear Diane, But let’s not postpone our discussion about national standards for too long. It mostly boils down to my fear about official ideologies and centralized power over ideas. Plus, our old disagreement about intellectual “neutrality” and objectivity. I found your analysis of Obama’s education policy intriguing: pro-spending, but largely along lines Chicago, NYC, et al have pioneered. My disagreements are deep-seated. I want a public system of schooling that has local bases and biases—where we don’t all have to agree on what “social justice” teaching means. It’s a risk—but democracy rests on that risk. The messiness of different standards is, to me, a blessing that creates escape hatches for trying something different—within broad limits. The power of Big Money and the Big State over knowledge and its distribution is immense—including in schooling. My early image of charters was precisely that they might be counter-powers, not so different than what in Boston we called Pilots and in NYC Alternative schools: mom-and-pop ventures, built around a few people with interesting ideas and a constituency that wants to join them in carrying it out. In the case of Pilots and Alternatives, they came under the jurisdiction of local labor-management; charters depend on an arrangement with the State. But somehow we’ve gotten the worst of both private entrepreneurs and public bureaucrats. Transparency has never been harder to find, whether in our highly centralized urban systems or our continuously enlarging charter sector. There are no serious checks and balances, and lots of private “edu-chains” supported by public funds. There is no “public.” Thus, with virtually no public input, NYC’s mayor is allowed to close neighborhood schools and replace them with charters. Parents meanwhile try to figure out how to manipulate a bewildering array of choices while schools are “empowered” to restrict entrance only to high test-scorers, good writers, whatever. In the name of “fairness and equity” we have more selectivity along racial, class, and ability lines, more (white) gifted classes, and fewer than ever minorities in the prestigious high schools. And flat test scores and rising dropout rates. The big business mindset, so destructive nationwide, is being offered a free hand in our schools. Schools are “delivery” systems, teachers are deliverers of curriculum, principals are CEOs. It’s an intensification of the old factory-model for new technology factories. Local empowerment in today’s schools usually means more power to the principal and less for the line workers, students, or parents—now seen as obstructers of progress. My question, then, to longtime supporters of national standards: Why must we have them? Labels: common core, national standards	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3911
__label__wiki	0.786939	0.786939	Reactors installed on floating plant The two reactors for the first floating nuclear power plant being built in Russia have been installed in the vessel's hull, marking a major milestone in the plant's construction. The first 220-tonne steam generating unit - including a 35 MWe KLT-40S reactor - was installed in the vessel's reactor compartment on 27 September at the Baltiysky Zavod-Shipbuilding shipyard in St Petersburg. The second one was installed today. The operation to install the reactors, carried out using a special floating crane, was held in the presence of Rosenergoatom and the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping. Russia's OKBM Afrikantov completed the assembly of the two reactors for the country's first floating nuclear power plant, the Akademik Lomonosov, in 2009. The assembly and acceptance testing of the reactors was conducted at the Nizhniy Novgorod AtomEnergoProekt (NN-AEP). OKBM Afrikantov designed and provided technical support for the manufacture of the reactors, while Izhorskiye Zavody produced the reactor vessels and NN-AEP manufactured parts for the reactors and assembled them. They have been stored at Baltiysky Zavod while the hull of the vessel was completed. Deputy general director of Rosenergoatom's directorate for building floating nuclear power plants Sergey Zavyalov commented, "We, as the customer, can see that work on the project has intensified in the past months, which gives us strong confidence that the floating unit will be ready in time." The keel of the Akademik Lomonosov was laid in April 2007 at Sevmash in Severodvinsk, but the project was subsequently transferred to the Baltiysky Zavod. The 21,500 tonne hull was launched in 2010, although construction work was frozen in mid-2011 amid bankruptcy proceedings against the shipyard. The company was subsequently acquired by state-owned United Shipbuilding Corporation and Rosenergoatom signed a new contract in December 2012 with Baltiysky Zavod shipyard for the completion of the first floating nuclear power plant. The plant is now scheduled for delivery on 9 September 2016 and will be deployed near the port of Pevek on Russia's Chukotka peninsula on the East Siberian Sea. 2019 News Hungarian delegation visiting Belarus NPP MORE 26 June 2019 News ROSATOM Marks 65th Anniversary of Nuclear Energy Industry MORE 9 July 2019 News TVEL Fuel Company of ROSATOM Supplied Fuel for China Experimental Fast Reactor MORE 26 June	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3913
__label__cc	0.590764	0.409236	DRAKE UNVEILS ‘SCORPION’ ALBUM TRACKLIST Drake is just hours from releasing the highly anticipated album Scorpion & he has unveiled the projects tracklist. The album that was executive produced by Noah ‘40’ Shebib & Oliver El Khatib & will be a double album. Peep the track list below. Weeks ago it was rumored that the Scorpion album would be a double album & now fans officially know what to expect. It will consist of a total of 25 songs featuring the popular “God’s Plan” & “I’m Upset”. It’s rumored that Side A & Side B will be more of collection of rap music & the other a r&b vibe. Their is also a song called “Sandra’s Rose” that is dedicated to his mother who we all know he loves very much. The Scorpion album will be released tomorrow June 29th. Labels: Drake, noah 40 shebib	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3914
__label__cc	0.583013	0.416987	About RBC > Media Newsroom > Speeches > MaRS, Jobs, Banks and Small Business MaRS, Jobs, Banks and Small Business Gordon M. Nixon MaRs Innovation Summit It's a real pleasure to be here today to contribute to the important discussion of job creation and innovation in the knowledge economy. My perspective is influenced by three decades of work in financial services, my role as Chair of MaRS, and my concern with the critical issue of improving Canada's productivity. The New York Times reports that there is a white brick café in Greensboro, Alabama called the Pie Lab, which brings people together to eat pie and generate ideas. Their self-described formula goes like this: PieLab = a neutral place + a slice of pie. A neutral place + a slice of pie = conversation. Conversation = ideas + design. Ideas + design = positive change. MaRs is PieLab, minus the pie. The premise is that innovation doesn't happen in isolation. It happens when people interact, debate, discuss and in doing so, foster innovation with purpose. Author Steven Johnson defines innovation as occurring when "we take ideas from other people - from people we've learned from, from people we run into in the coffee shop, and we stitch them together into new forms, and we create something new. This means that we have to change some of our models of what innovation and deep thinking really looks like." He calls this the "liquid network" - an environment that enables the coming together of ideas, in sometimes unpredictable but satisfying combinations. Job creation, the success of our entrepreneurial class and our economic vitality here in Canada depends on the creation of these liquid networks. Especially now, as we stand poised at a new and significant inflection point in our national history, created by: The aftershocks of the financial crisis, including the grumblings of new protectionist attitudes and populist distrust in traditional social frameworks The rise of China and India as economic powers and influencers The continued globalization of the world economy The issue of global warming and the growing tensions between resource-rich and resource-poor countries. These very large and powerful trends raise a multitude of questions for Canada. What will be our role in the world as it faces its social, political and economic challenges? How do we participate more fully for the benefit of Canada and those countries we connect with? How do we as a country recognize and act on our relative strengths and weaknesses? Canada is fortunate to have many, many singular gifts and opportunities. We live on the second largest territorial mass in the world which is rich with natural resources, including the increasingly scarce resource of clean water. At 34 million people - which puts us in the lowest decile of population density in the world - we take in more immigrants per capita than any other country. We are one of the few nations in the world that has not experienced war on home ground for more than two centuries. We are adjacent to what is still the largest economy in the world, with all the attendant benefits. The World Economic Forum considered Canada to be one of the bright lights during the recent recession, thanks to strong fiscal policies and our banking system. In short, we are a young country that has not grown up with the same stress or disadvantages of many others. Our collective memory is of political and economic stability, strong health and education infrastructure, good social safety nets and more peace and goodwill than not. And so we are well positioned to achieve any and all goals we set for ourselves. But we have to rise to the occasion and can't be complacent. As good as our story is, our standard of living is faltering and we have not kept apace of the global developments in innovation and R&D - key components of future success. Our economic success remains rooted in natural resources rather than in innovation and the knowledge economy. We need a better way to translate research and ideas into viable commercial successes that create jobs and new businesses and represent Canada well on the world stage. We must transform our economies and look to the future rather than rely on the past. Earlier this month (October 4, 2010) the Globe and Mail announced the findings of a C-Suite survey, which puts the blame for this country's poor track record on innovation squarely on C-Suite executives. According to my peers who were polled for this study, the two top factors important in explaining weak Canadian productivity is business leaders' risk aversion and a culture of complacency. The World Economic Forum finds that Canada's competitiveness position has slipped from 9th to 10th place, and warns that we need to improve innovation, increase R&D and produce higher on the value chain. We did receive some good marks -- we ranked first in the world for having minimum procedures for starting a new business and ranked a respectable ninth for the time required to start a business. This is an important success, since Canadian small businesses employ nearly half of the private sector work force and in 2008 were responsible for 21 per cent of the total value of exports, with an average value of $1.5 million per firm. Here in Toronto, Stats Canada reports that the city experienced the country's highest small-business growth rate between 2008 and 2009, at 7.5 per cent, compared with a national average of 2.7 per cent. It also found that we are home to a self-employed population in excess of 240,000, the highest number in Canada. But our bad marks included ranking 24th and 19th respectively on ease of access to loans and venture capital availability. Equally troubling, we were 20th in company spending on R&D, and 19th in our capacity for innovation, tied with Iceland, China and Slovenia. In other words, it is easy to start a new business but difficult to grow and transform that business into a global leader. Yes, we have examples of world-class innovation in Canada, from Research in Motion, Bombardier, SNC Lavalin and our banking system, but we need more - more examples and more action. It's time to stop spending our future and start investing in it. Innovation, R&D, Venture Capital - that is the equation we must solve for and they are all interrelated. I say this because Canada's labour productivity level in the business sector has been lower than that of the US for almost 50 years. And a recent report by the Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity shows that if the GDP per capita gap between the US and Canada were closed, Canadian families would have $12,200 more in annual personal disposable income. This is a compelling carrot for encouraging innovation and increasing productivity. There is also a stick. Our population is aging, and underwriting their retirement years and health care will present a serious fiscal challenge. As well, the world economic order is changing around us at lightning speed, driven by the BRIC economies that are aggressively investing and competing to increase their own living standards. Competitiveness, efficiency and productivity will be more important than ever. We face no serious obstacles to taking action, except for our complacency with the status quo. As a small country, however, we must develop strategies that fit our profile, competitive advantages and political realities. MaRS is a great example of a "made in Canada" strategy. Our future standard of living will get its sustenance from a supportive, collaborative environment for entrepreneurship and more successful commercialization of innovation. Collaboration, rather than competition across our institutions - like MaRS Innovation - helps compensate for our size disadvantage. We also need to encourage diversity and immigration that can generate variability and velocity in idea generation, and thus commercial synergy and jobs. Small populations tend to increase a country's need to outsource ideas and knowledge and today, Canada has a small population by virtually any standard. Pundits predict that our population will reach 50 million by mid century, but accelerating this growth through immigration will exponentially expand our collective intellectual vibrancy, and our connection with and understanding of markets around the world. What really matters to innovation, says Ridley, is not how smart individuals are, but how smart our collective brain is. MaRs is a powerful example of Ridley's notion. It's a place where the best laid plans to stop by for twenty minutes can turn into two hours of sharing ideas, meeting new people and learning new things. I know this because we advise and bank most of the companies at MaRS. What is the role of the banking sector in commercialization? Sixteen years ago, RBC created a group dedicated to knowledge-based industries in Canada. The group consists of growth companies in emerging market sectors that are R&D oriented, highly innovative, export oriented and with high growth potential. Our clients comprise the full range - from very small, early stage to the largest multinationals. It is one of our fastest growth segments in our Canadian Banking business with double digit loan growth (14%) in 2009, and we are very honoured to be the leading bank in this sector. We got to be the market leader because we've been working with knowledge-based companies for a decade and a half, through all points of the cycle. We're the only bank with a strategic advisor and specialists in knowledge-based businesses - we have specialists in information and communication technology, cleantech, media and entertainment, and life sciences and healthcare. Because of this specialization, we understand the business models and can provide customized business advice, and provide financial solutions that enable the journey to commercialization. This includes debt capital, great advice and connections to angels, VCs and government funding. We also refer companies to each other - with material results, again and again. For example, Grant Tipler who works in our life sciences and health services sector, was out seeing one of our biotech companies, and asked the CEO, "What is your biggest issue?" He responded that his biggest problem was dealing with the manufacturer doing their product trials in Germany. Grant arranged some introductions, and the trials are now taking place - with no problems - in Toronto. In other words, our longevity in the knowledge economy allows us to see possibilities for connections that others don't, and we use this knowledge for the benefit of our clients. Our work with knowledge-based businesses - through MaRS, across Ontario, and through organizations like Cleantech North Association - makes us acutely aware of their challenges. Complexity related to globalization, world-scale competition and regulatory issues are issues, and early stage companies are particularly hamstrung by insufficient access to capital. We typically lend capital at the latter stage of a company's development and bridging the funding gap between early stage companies, R&D and commercialization is a persistent problem. Canada doesn't suffer from a lack of pure research. It is abundant and reasonably well funded. Applied research, which moves an idea toward commercialization, is our national Achilles heel because of the paucity of funding. As it stands today, countries like Israel and the US are well ahead of us in terms of programs and financial support to the knowledge economy - although as I always emphasize, we can't solve our problems by imitating someone else. We can learn but not replace as dynamics are different. Now, we often get the question why banks don't invest in early stage companies. Although we do have some equity investment activity taking place in funds of funds, the simple answer is that we're in the business of advice and lending senior capital, not venture capital. We are not qualified as venture capitalists or capable of lending the management support that good VC's can provide to a company's success. Banks are first and foremost providers of debt and early stage companies require equity - not debt. It is at a later stage of development where banks play a broader role in capital formation. But we do know who does make these kinds of investments, and what government programs are available, and we make hundreds of connections between our clients and VCs every year. In a world where capital is hard to find, our knowledge of where it is, is valuable. But there is a very large difference between what VC firms do financially for knowledge-based businesses and what RBC does. Banks have a different risk profile than do VC firms. Financing by banks is short to medium term collateral-based debt financing that requires regular cash outflows of regular interest and principle payments by the company. For a start up, debt financing's assumption of cash flow can be extremely difficult and timeframes are much different than those of the banking industry. Venture capital is a better option because of its long term horizons and because it doesn't require collateral, thus allowing the company to preserve cash flow that would otherwise have gone to debt repayment. Start-ups often say VC funding lets them sleep better at night because they don't have to worry about a pending covenant or payment. When a VC takes a stake in the company - be it in the form of common and preferred shares, convertible warrants or options, its goal is to exit its investment at some later stage by selling it a third party or the other equity owners, or listing it on the stock market. This type of capital infusion reduces balance sheet leverage, as opposed to bank financing, which increases leverage. In addition, the VC's operating model is to make a number of investments with the hopes of a small number hitting a home run. It then makes its money by selling the company or merging it with another company. RBC makes its money on interest spreads. It would be foolish to earn debt returns for what amounts to an equity investment. Quarterly results and accounting don't lend themselves to private equity investment and, as a matter of interest banking regulation is discouraging and even preventing banks from providing private VC on private equity investments. As much as I believe banks play a role in facilitating early stage companies, we are not the solution to this problem of early stage underfunding. So how does Canada and Ontario solve the early stage funding short fall? In my view, a lot of little things are necessary. We will never have a developed VC market like Silicon Valley nor will - or can - our governments spend billions on commercialization as is the case with some emerging countries. Our solution must work for Canada, a small country with a highly skilled work force, outstanding science but limited domestic markets. Our solution must be a combination of different initiatives: government programs and support has to increase (R&D tax credits - subsidized funding programs) ways to give easy access to VC's from the United States (access, tax equality, relationship building) Specialty funds like those in MaRS or government support funds (RBC contributes to the Ontario Innovation Fund) Angel programs and initiatives (info sharing and transparency) The development of a VC industry in Canada It is not easy but we have to find ways to improve access to funding. Now, just because RBC doesn't provide financing for early stage companies doesn't mean we're not involved at the incubator stage. Unlike other banks that wait for stable cash flows, RBC is there right at the beginning. At this stage, our client may not have fully built out their business but have developed their research into a marketable idea. We bring advice, our network and our expertise, all of which are helpful to early stage growth. By helping early, we're betting that we will be the bank of choice as the company grows based on the relationship we've built and the value we've provided. We've followed this process with companies like Open Text, a public high-tech company, and Arctic-DX, a company that is developing a molecular test for macular degeneration, and it's a process that makes a real difference to the ultimate success of early stage companies. Let me give you an example. We met a company with an idea four years ago. Claron's idea was software for image-guided surgery using CT scans. One application was software designed to take a CT scan and perform a virtual colonoscopy for diagnostic purposes. In this case, we provided a loan against tax credits (secured lending), we successfully introduced the company to a US VC firm, and when Claron moved out of MaRS, we provided a mortgage on their new building. The company now provides systems to medical centers through North America and in Europe, China and Japan. We're proud of our continued contribution to Claron's success, and our deep understanding of their business allows us to continue to provide good advice and counsel. Canada has a tremendous opportunity in its knowledge-based industry: Canada's bio-based economy is valued at more than $78 billion and is considered foundational to our national economy. In media and entertainment, we expect that the shift from physical distribution to digital distribution of content will generate new growth and revenues. The cleantech industry grew by almost 50% during the financial crisis of the past two years and is rapidly shifting from a domestic market to an export market. Canada has the potential to build world class companies in this space, with virtually all cleantech companies looking to move beyond Canadian borders. In IT, despite very strong growth in IT services, our productivity in this sector is lagging the US due to underinvestment and shortages of skilled people, but attracting a skilled labour force plays into our strengths. Despite many challenges, Canadian companies in the knowledge-based industry are translating new ideas into real and economically significant contributions to our country. For us at RBC, it is a real privilege and immensely satisfying to be a part of this process with our clients, with MaRS, and with the many partners we have who play a role in the success of this key industry. But we have to find ways to take it to the next level which is what today is all about. The future vitality and productivity of Canada will be driven by our success in this area. Thank you for your attention and enjoy the conference.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3915
__label__wiki	0.576755	0.576755	Where R You This series revolves around Jessica Mastriani, an ordinary 16-year-old girl given extraordinary psychic powers after being struck by lightning. Her powers allow her to know the exact location of missing children; after seeing a picture of a person, they appear in her dreams. The first four books take place over less than a year, and chronicle her attempts to help missing children while trying to avoid the scrutiny of the federal government. The fifth book, published four years after the fourth book, picks up the story line after Jess has turned 19. Over the course of the books, Jess is romantically involved with Rob Wilkins, a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. The first four books were written under Cabot’s pseudonym, Jenny Carroll. After poor sales, the series was discontinued. Sales improved when the books were re-released in 2004 under Cabot’s real name. Cabot was unhappy with the discontinuation; she stated that she wanted to take the series up to eight books. Her current publishing house agreed to publish one more installment. Missing You was released in December 2006 and ended the series. The 1-800-WHERE-R-YOU series was the basis for the television show Missing, which aired on the Lifetime cable network for three seasons from 2003 to 2006.[6] The series has been reprinted in the US in an omnibus edition, and retitled Vanished. EBook Downloads: When Lightning Strikes Code Name Cassandra Where R You, 10.0 out of 10 based on 1 rating This series revolves around Jessica Mastriani, an ordinary 16-year-old girl given extraordinary psychic powers after being struck by lightning. Her powers allow her to know the exact location of missing... jojishka Dear Admin, i downloaded all the book in this series, however missing you and sanctuary are password protected. Can you please provide password so i can open the pdf file. No one require password, i have confirmed this.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3916
__label__cc	0.622794	0.377206	RealEstateRama America’s Rapidly Rising Foreclosure Areas America’s Rapidly Rising Foreclosure Areas Though delinquencies continue to mount in Detroit, Stockton, Calif., and Las Vegas, markets where the number of foreclosures are relatively low, but rapidly rising, are also causing concern. Take the Washington, D.C., metro, the Baltimore metro and many spots that fall between the two. While the sheer number of foreclosure filings in Bethesda, Md., (a metro that includes Frederick and Gaithersburg) are about a quarter of those in Detroit, they’re up a whopping 1,288% in 2007, according to a RealtyTrac’s year-end report, released today. In addition, they’re up 574.9% in Washington, D.C., which includes the Maryland and Virginia suburbs, and up 544% in the Baltimore metro. While Project Lifeline, the Bush administration’s plan to give delinquent borrowers 30 days to renegotiate the terms of their loans, should help, U.S. Treasury Secretary Paulson, in announcing the initiative yesterday, said that “the worst is just beginning,” as “the loans resetting over the next couple years–that vintage was done under the most lax underwriting standards.” In places that are beginning to see meteoric rises in foreclosure rates, such as the Washington, D.C., metro, a large share stem from the overbuilt ex-urbs, or commuter towns, where price drops have put people’s mortgages into the red. When prices spike and then fall, the first areas affected are the “drive to qualify” exurbs. “There’s been a ton of development, and a lot of people just flat out overpaid in the ex-urbs,” says Cullen Watson, a real estate broker and settlement attorney in Washington, D.C. “Those properties have become less valuable, and a lot of people found themselves upside down thanks to 95% or 100% financing.” Compounding the problem, says Watson, are banks asking market rates, or the full amount owed on a mortgage note, at foreclosure auctions, hardly a recipe for a quick sale. “It’s hard to say which bank … it’s all of them,” he says. “It’s gotten to the point now where I’ve stopped taking clients to auctions.” Among those cities in deep foreclosure trouble are Stockton, where the 2007 year-end foreclosure rate was up 271.3% over the year before. In Bakersfield, Calif., foreclosures jumped 244.8%. As a matter of perspective, foreclosures in Detroit grew by 68% last year. RealtyTrac’s report measures foreclosure activity, or homes in three phases of foreclosure: properties in default, those with a notice of trustee or foreclosure sale, and homes known as REOs (real estate owned), which have been foreclosed and repurchased by the bank. These distinctions are especially important following Paulson’s announcement Tuesday that the government’s Project Lifeline would temporarily halt foreclosures and provide refinancing and rewriting assistance for homeowners in conjunction with JPMorgan Chase (nyse: JPM ), Wells Fargo (nyse: WFC ), Countrywide Financial (nyse: CFC), Washington Mutual (nyse: WM ), Bank of America (nyse: BAC ) and Citigroup (nyse: C ), who together hold about 50% of outstanding mortgages. For example, a homeowner faced with a notice of default–or the subsequent “lis pendens,” or suit pending–can still avoid losing his home by restructuring payments or simply catching up on overdue ones. For those with no equity as the result of a zero-down payment or piggy-back loans, it’s going to be harder, since they have nothing invested in the home and may find it difficult to work with lenders. It’s important to note that these figures are the percentage change in foreclosures. In absolute terms, foreclosures in Baltimore only represent only 0.7% of the total households, while those in Detroit represent 4.9%. What’s more, foreclosures are not an invention of the last three years. Any jump in foreclosure rates is troubling, though in any healthy market there will be delinquencies. “I always thought that an acceptable range was 1% to 3%,” says Jonathan Miller, research director at Radar Logic, a New York-based real estate firm. Meaning that only a handful of markets on this list are significantly outside of what he calls the normal foreclosure range. “It’s definitely a real issue in certain markets, but I think that it’s being overhyped overall.” by FORBES.com Previous articleFundamentals Holding in Commercial Real Estate Next articleHome Buyer Tax Credit Won’t Fix the Foreclosure Crisis	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3917
__label__wiki	0.656052	0.656052	United States Department of Homeland Security officials • 21st-century American people • Members of the Cabinet of the United States • Ministers of Internal Security by country United States Secretaries of Homeland Security United States Secretaries of Homeland Security - Wikipedia WATCH: President Obama’s DHS Secretary on growing crisis at the border. WATCH: President Obama’s DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson admits that there’s a crisis at the border. Obama Homeland Security Secretary: We Believed Detaining Illegal Immigrant Minors Was “Necessary” Obama’s Homeland Security Secretary explains how the Obama administration also thought it was “necessary” to detain minors who had illegally immigrated into the U.S. Be sure to like, subscribe, and co... Jeh Johnson: Donald Trump Has Potential To Be A Great POTUS (Exclusive) Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson discusses a new electronics restrictions for some overseas flights, Donald Trump's travel ban and why he belie... Trump Makes Choice for Homeland Security Secretary According to NBC News on Wednesday, retired Marine General John F. Kelly has been chosen by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the Department of Homeland S... Jeh Charles Johnson (born September 11, 1957) is an American civil and criminal trial lawyer, and the current United States Secretary of Homeland Security. He was the General Counsel of the Department... Jeh Johnson - Wikipedia Janet Ann Napolitano (/nəpɒlɨˈtænoʊ/; born November 29, 1957) is an American politician, lawyer, and university administrator who served as Governor of Arizona from 2003 to 2009 and United States Secr... Janet Napolitano - Wikipedia Rand Beers Rand Beers (born November 30, 1942) is the current Deputy Homeland Security Advisor to the President of the United States. He previously served as acting Secretary of Homeland Security following the r... Thomas Joseph "Tom" Ridge (born August 26, 1945) is an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives (1983–1995), the 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania (1995–200... Tom Ridge - Wikipedia Michael Chertoff (born November 28, 1953) was the second United States Secretary of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush and co-author of the USA PATRIOT Act. He previously served as a jud... Michael Chertoff - Wikipedia United States Secretary of Homeland Security The United States Secretary of Homeland Security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the body concerned with protecting the U.S. and the safety of U.S. citizens. The sec... United States Secretary of Homeland Security - Wikipedia	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3923
__label__wiki	0.91049	0.91049	Everything tagged Stories tagged: NCAA basketball UPDATED: Wed., July 10, 2019, 6:21 p.m. NCAA charges NC State with 4 men’s hoops violations The NCAA has charged North Carolina State with four violations, accusing a former assistant coach of providing payments and benefits connected to the recruitment of one-and-done basketball player Dennis Smith … UPDATED: Tue., July 2, 2019, 2:54 p.m. Lawyers: Ex-NBA star Chuck Person was broke in NCAA scandal Lawyers for former Auburn University assistant basketball coach Chuck Person say the 13-year NBA veteran was broke and financially desperate when he joined a bribery conspiracy that cheated young athletes. … Tue., July 2, 2019, 11:19 a.m. Top Class: Gamecocks high-level recruits looking for titles South Carolina’s top-ranked women’s basketball recruits are on campus and the confident group expects to make the Gamecocks championship contenders again. South Carolina coach Dawn Staley brought in four of … UPDATED: Tue., July 2, 2019, 11:25 a.m. UConn hoops gets probation for NCAA violations under Kevin Ollie UConn’s men’s basketball program has been placed on probation for two years and Kevin Ollie has been sanctioned individually for violations of NCAA rules during his tenure as coach. An … UPDATED: Wed., June 26, 2019, 1:41 p.m. UConn rejoins Big East for hoops, other sports; not football UConn is heading back to the Big East. The University of Connecticut Board of Trustees voted to accept an invitation to move its basketball and most other teams from the … Hoping for clarity, NCAA adjusts transfer waiver guidelines The NCAA has adjusted some of the guidelines used to determine when waivers should be granted to athletes who transfer. There have been complaints of ambiguity when it comes to … UPDATED: Fri., June 21, 2019, 7:08 p.m. California hires familiar face in Charmin Smith as coach Charmin Smith has been named women’s basketball coach at California, returning to the staff where she most recently served as a top assistant before joining the WNBA’s New York Liberty … Thu., June 13, 2019, 4:15 p.m. John Calipari signs $86 million, 10-year extension with Kentucky Kentucky coach John Calipari has signed a 10-year contract extension through 2029 worth $86 million that includes an option in the sixth year to step down and become a special … Thu., June 13, 2019, 11:18 a.m. Report: 6 men’s basketball programs to face NCAA allegations A key NCAA official says six schools are going to be facing allegations of Level I violations as early as next month, the next turn of the screw in the … Wed., June 12, 2019, 2:03 p.m. New-look Virginia back to work after winning NCAA title Tony Bennett’s first offseason as a national championship coach has come with benefits on the recruiting trail. However, his first season at Virginia after winning the title will bring challenges. … UPDATED: Sat., June 8, 2019, 9 p.m. Ticha Penicheiro, Ruth Riley Hunter headline Hall of Fame class Ruth Riley Hunter says her journey to the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame began while watching the 1992 U.S. Olympic men’s team. Ticha Penicheiro’s own dream started when she received … UPDATED: Sat., June 8, 2019, 10:52 a.m. NCAA clears Division II player after agent-rule mistake The NCAA has cleared Glenville State’s Phil Bledsoe after the Division II college basketball player mistakenly used a new rule permitting only Division I players to declare for the NBA … Thu., June 6, 2019, 10:07 a.m. Ex-Arizona assistant basketball coach gets 3-month sentence A judge has sentenced a former assistant basketball coach at the University of Arizona to three months in prison for his role in a college hoops corruption scandal. Emanuel “Book” … UPDATED: Wed., June 5, 2019, 4:52 p.m. NCAA moving men’s 3-point line to international distance The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel announced Wednesday that the arc will be moved to 22 feet, 1 3/4 inches for the 2019-20 season, matching the international distance. Wed., June 5, 2019, 11:29 a.m. Emotional ex-USC basketball coach avoids prison after plea Tony Bland dropped his head in relief Wednesday when he was sentenced to 100 hours of community service and two years of probation. Bland was the first of four assistant … Kansas’ Devon Dotson, Quentin Grimes withdraw from draft; Grimes to transfer Kansas freshmen Devon Dotson and Quentin Grimes withdrew from the NBA draft ahead of Wednesday night’s deadline, while Grimes also announced that he would transfer elsewhere for his sophomore year. … Wed., May 29, 2019, 2:21 p.m. Maryland guard Anthony Cowan Jr. to return for senior year Maryland guard Anthony Cowan Jr. will return for his senior season after entering his name in the NBA draft. Cowan led the Terrapins in scoring last season and is a … TCU’s Jamie Dixon says he decided to stay instead of going to UCLA TCU’s Jamie Dixon says he made the decision to stay at his alma mater instead of going home to coach at UCLA. Dixon says UCLA was prepared to take care … Wed., May 29, 2019, 12:54 p.m. Duke’s Marques Bolden staying in NBA draft; Javin DeLaurier to return Duke center Marques Bolden is remaining in the NBA draft while Javin DeLaurier will return to the Blue Devils for his senior season. Coach Mike Krzyzewski says Bolden received “some … Florida point guard Andrew Nembhard returning for sophomore season Florida point guard Andrew Nembhard is returning to school for his sophomore year. His decision should have a positive impact on the Gators next season. Nembhard had one final workout … UPDATED: Wed., May 29, 2019, 12:34 p.m. New agent rule leaves college basketball player in limbo Confusion about the new rule allowing college basketball players to sign with agents has led to uncertainty for a Division II player. The rule adopted by the NCAA amid the … Juwan Howard is coming back to Michigan. The former member of the Fab Five basketball team has agreed to a five-year deal to coach the Wolverines. Michigan is giving the … Notre Dame’s Mike Brey: Transferring players need ‘deterrent’ Notre Dame basketball coach Mike Brey says the NCAA is granting too many waivers that allow players who transfer to compete immediately. He calls the requirement that players sit out … Thu., May 16, 2019, 11:04 a.m. Yale basketball coach James Jones signs extension through 2025-26 Yale men’s basketball coach James Jones has signed a contract extension to keep him at the school through the 2025-26 season. Jones is coming off a 22-8 record and an … UNLV adds graduate transfers Vitaliy Shibel and Elijah Mitrou-Long UNLV has added graduate transfers Elijah Mitrou-Long from Texas and Vitaliy Shibel from Arizona State. Both players will be eligible during new Runnin’ Rebels coach T.J. Otzelberger’s first season in … Tue., May 14, 2019, 1:08 p.m. NCAA to consider allowing athletes to profit from names The NCAA says it is forming a working group to consider how its rules can be modified to allow college athletes to be compensated for use of their names, images … Mon., May 6, 2019, 7:55 p.m. NYC jury begins deliberations at college hoops bribery trial A jury has begun deliberating in the trial of a once-aspiring business manager for NBA players and another man accused of bribing assistant college basketball coaches. The deliberations began Monday … Fri., May 3, 2019, 1:21 p.m. A federal prosecutor says a defendant accused of bribing college basketball coaches lied at his New York City trial. Former business manager Christian Dawkins testified as the only defense witness. … UPDATED: Fri., May 3, 2019, 6:23 p.m. Clemson has parted ways with longtime assistant men’s basketball coach Steve Smith. His voice is on a federal wiretap that was played at the ongoing college corruption trial. Clemson officials … UPDATED: Thu., May 2, 2019, 10:36 p.m. Gonzaga could make another run at Duke decommit Boogie Ellis News of Boogie Ellis receiving his release from Duke came out Thursday morning. The Zags were among 10 programs that quickly made contact with the San Diego prep standout.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3925
__label__cc	0.671324	0.328676	Text by Krissy Welle Language technology to the rescue Kató Speak is a new translation memory tool that was created to enable communication in a humanitarian crisis. But its potential could reach well into the commercial market. In some parts of the world, a voice-activated home device can play your favorite song or teach you how to bake a cake. Yet, in those parts of the world that are experiencing humanitarian crisis, people often aren’t able to read instructions to attend to their basic needs, even if they are written in their own language. And they certainly can’t ask Alexa to help. In these situations, speech technology is more than a luxury. Quite often, people affected by a humanitarian crisis are less literate. Women in particular are less likely to be able to read. In such scenarios, having information in an audio format is a need, not a want. Of course, providing information in an audio format is not enough to ensure understanding. Language also needs to be considered. Yet, to complicate matters further, people living through a humanitarian crisis often do not speak a language blessed with extensive resources. The languages they speak may not have many trained interpreters, any translation memory, or even a universally accepted script. Speech-to-text or text-to-speech solutions don’t exist – in many cases there isn’t enough data to build such technology. This is the situation that my organization, Translators without Borders (TWB), deals with on a daily basis. Due to this predicament of human need and lack of technology, we have developed the first voice translation memory system, Kató Speak. Kató Speak is a critical development that can help humanitarian organizations communicate with people living through unimaginable disasters. However, the benefits of the budding technology extend beyond the humanitarian sphere, pushing the boundaries of language technology. Rather than trying to fit commercially developed solutions to the needs of people in crisis, the development of this new technology has reversed the process: The basic human needs of those who speak marginalized languages are the impetus behind Kató Speak. Developed for a crisis Since August 2017, more than 700,000 Rohingya people have crossed the border from Myanmar to Bangladesh. They are fleeing persecution and violence in a country where they are subjected to discrimination as an ethnic minority. International humanitarian organizations mobilized to help the Bangladesh government respond to the needs of the new arrivals. TWB arrived on the scene in 2017 to address the language issue and quickly learned that this was one of the most complicated linguistic situations we had experienced. Five languages were spoken in the response: Rohingya, Bangla, Burmese, Chittagonian, and English. However, Rohingya was the only language that was accepted universally and that all refugees understood. Yet, the resources for the Rohingya language were limited: There aren’t many trained interpreters or translators, many Rohingya are illiterate and, to further complicate matters, there is no agreed-upon, standardized script for the language. Audio messaging was the best solution, yet an efficient, scalable translation solution did not exist. As TWB began working with humanitarian organizations to support the refugees, we recognized the need to create content in an audio format and to streamline and optimize the process for doing so. Working with on-site responders as well as volunteer translators, we began recording spoken translations to supplement written translations. In the process, we generated data to fuel a new and unique kind of translation memory system. The resulting technology, Kató Speak, is the first voice translation memory system of its kind, creating an easy way to generate audio communication in underserved languages. It integrates with TWB’s own Kató 2.0 translation management environment, and allows responders to record and reuse spoken information that has already been translated into text. The recording process is simple, allowing contributors to submit recordings using a simple web link. Anonymous data is collected including age, gender, and, if available, the geo-located accent of the speaker. This data helps match the speaker to the audience. On some subjects, such as reproductive health, for example, women may be more receptive to a message spoken in a female voice. And, as the recorded dataset grows, the search function can retrieve matching recordings based on text and metadata. This streamlines the process for subsequent translations, helping humanitarians to respond more quickly and with greater confidence. The resulting speech translations can be downloaded as simple MP3 files that contain all relevant data, including the source text. In a humanitarian setting, aid workers can play these recorded translations easily over loudspeakers, radios, or on their phones. These standardized recordings are especially important in a humanitarian context. Refugees often encounter aid workers associated with many different organizations. Using a translation memory system that can provide consistent voice translations in native languages such as Rohingya ensures that responders are more confident in the translations and information they are providing. It also makes sure that indigenous people aren’t hearing conflicting translations that confuse the message. Ultimately, Kató Speak addresses a critical human need. Yet the impact of this new technology can extend beyond the humanitarian world, helping other language technologists advance their text-to-speech and speech-to-text capabilities, especially as more data is collected in marginalized languages. Implications beyond the humanitarian world As language technology continues to evolve and adapt, every development can contribute to the whole industry. In fact, Kató Speak was recently recognized as top "invader" technology at the TAUS Game Changer Innovation Awards, demonstrating the industry’s recognition of the approach. We will continue to scale this technology, working with our communities of translators to increase the data collection in more languages. We certainly welcome your help as we do so. Kató Speak is one of the first outcomes of TWB’s Gamayun language equality initiative, which develops language data and technology for marginalized languages. The data generated through Gamayun will be available for others to use. This will help technologists build tools and reduce the gap in knowledge between those speaking more technologically developed languages and those with restricted access to information because of the language they speak. The first voice translation memory system was created as a result of the challenges posed by a humanitarian crisis. Technology does not always develop solely as a result of inquisitive minds and massive funding. It is developed to solve human problems, and the solutions have far-reaching implications, not only for technology and communication but also for human lives. Image: A TWB trainer conducts comprehension research in northeast Nigeria. © Eric DeLuca, TWB ‹‹ back to: translation and localization	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3927
__label__cc	0.596585	0.403415	A life before politics - Office of Tessa Munt MP My inspiration was my grandfather, who took up politics in his adopted country of Kenya in the 1930s, first as a Nairobi City Councillor. In the early 1950s, he served as Minister for Education, Health & Local Government for two years, then as Minister for Finance & Development from 1952 – 1959. My childhood was peppered with his visits for meetings in London. In those days, I used to be allowed to walk across the tarmac from the terminal at Heathrow, up the steps of the huge Boeing 707 to meet him on the plane. Neither of my parents were political, but my uncle was an active member of the Church of England Synod - and a first class challenger of the status quo. My mother was Church of Scotland and several members of my family were Jewish, but I attended a Roman Catholic Convent School until the age of 11, when I went to a state girls’ Grammar School before doing my ‘A’ levels at an independent school. During my lower sixth year, two MPs came to speak to us. I remember thinking then that being an MP was the job I wanted to do. I kept my ambition quiet, but I kept that goal in mind during every job I did. My career has been hugely varied. I spent a year at Midland Bank and then went to work for a firm of solicitors in the nearby town. From there, I moved to work for the hotel next door. After a year or so, I was asked to re-locate to East Anglia, doing sales and marketing and later, personnel and training. I ended up working with managers in 51 hotels, then off to the company’s international division, training managers and staff in customer care. After meeting my husband, I worked for Childline and the Environmental Investigation Agency as a volunteer. Then off to Southend College, first on the admin side and then lecturing. After that, I joined social services for two years, working with adults with learning difficulties, before changing direction to work as a personal assistant to Phil Edmonds, the former Middlesex & England cricketer. He is a great character, with so many different business interests. I then went to work for his solicitor, twice moving firms with one of the partners until we joined a practice called Forsters where I worked for nine years, mainly with tenants. Forsters were fantastic and allowed me unpaid leave to pursue my political ambitions. I was finally catapulted into local politics in Suffolk. Firstly, a challenge to the local council which wanted to pull down a Victorian school to make 17 car parking spaces and then build a new community centre. It seemed ridiculous to waste a beautiful old building. Next, I campaigned against the County Council’s plans to build a new river bridge without consulting residents on the design. I ended up being asked to speak on behalf of a lot of local people. Among them was Andrew Phillips, who now sits in the House of Lords. By 1999, he had persuaded me to join the Party. I found it very attractive that the Liberal Democrats allowed their members to shape Party policy. I stood for Parliament in South Suffolk in 2001, and in the Parliamentary by-election in Ipswich that Autumn. We held our third place, and didn’t get squished. Two days after that, a Glastonbury Councillor, Alan Gloak, asked me to put myself forward as a candidate for Wells. My father lived here, and he was very keen that I return with my children, and so I came home. Sadly, I separated from my husband – I suspect that was down to the strains of political life – but we are good friends and our children flit between our two homes. I stood in Wells for the first time in 2005. It was a ‘warm up’. I wanted local people to have time to get to know me. We did well, and by 2006 I thought I might win the seat in 2010. I gave up my job, sold my part of the house, and spent that money on supporting myself and my household through to 2010. I was out six days a week knocking on doors – I have bags of energy – and I appreciated having the opportunity to listen to local people about their concerns. Expenses were one of many issues in the campaign, but it wasn’t a negative campaign. I didn’t bang on about stuff, I just presented local people with a real choice. I can’t start to describe the joy of waking each morning, knowing that you are doing what you've always wanted to do and that each and every day is different, brings new challenges, a chance to learn and an opportunity to try to do something that will make the world a better place. Tessa Munt life experience before politics before MP	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3929
__label__cc	0.629632	0.370368	On July 1, 2019, the set of specific European rules for Unnamed Aircraft Systems (UAS), commonly referred to as drones, came into force. These rules set out the general principles for ensuring safety, protecting privacy and safeguarding the environment. Let’s see what are the main changes for manufacturers and users. 1. Why a new regulation? Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945 & Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947, have been published to ensure drone operations across Europe are safe and secure. The common rules will help drone operators, whether professional or recreational, to have a clear understanding of what is allowed or not. At the same time it enables them to operate across borders. Once drone operators have received an authorisation in the state of registration, they are allowed to freely circulate in the European Union. This means that they can operate their drones seamlessly when travelling across the EU or when developing a business involving drones around Europe. In recent years there has been an exponential development of drones with reference to both the technology available and the possibilities of use. Initially exploited in the military field, today drones are within everyone’s reach, and are increasingly used for recreation and leisure time. But it is in the commercial field that we find the maximum variety of purposes for which a drone can be used: filming in movie sets, outdoor light shows (as an alternative to traditional fireworks), search and rescue operations, field watering, window cleaning in height and delivery in a short time, are just some of the activities that currently see the use of drones in different countries of the world, and thanks to the versatility of these machines the development of new models and areas of application proceeds rapidly. In England, for example, researchers are developing drones capable of independently inspecting and repairing holes in the streets. And in the near future, drones will certainly be used for public transport, as the “Urban Air Mobility” project supported by the European Union, which is encouraging private initiatives for the creation of “flying taxis”, and which already has Audi and Airbus as partners. As a fact, according to the European Commission, the drones industry could create about 150,000 jobs in the EU by 2050. In this scenario, a significant number of national aviation authorities have started issuing new aviation safety standards to regulate the use of drones in national airspace. However, to ensure legal certainty and consistency across the EU and in the design of a “Single European Sky”, the European Commission proposed on 7 December 2015 a revision of the EU legislative framework to be ready for the challenges beyond 2020. The result of this proposal was the Regulation (EU) 2018/1139, thanks to which the European Union can regulate the civil operations of all types of drones, gradually replacing the national regulations on civil operations of drones weighing less than 150 kg. Recital 26 of the Regulation expressly states that, since drones use the same airspace as manned aircraft and are equipped with technologies that make a wide range of operations possible today, they must be subject to the same general rules on civil aviation regardless of their mass. 2. What do the new rules say? Privacy and environmental protection obligations Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 sets out the general principles for ensuring security, protecting privacy and safeguarding the environment. These rules are proportionate and risk-based, designed to reduce constraints and encourage innovation. For example, sport and recreational aviation, including so-called model aircraft (recreational drones), is subject to simplified procedures compared to those applicable to commercial air transport. On the other hand, operations with high-risk drones are more burdensome for operators. To ensure safety, the Regulation states that all drones must be controllable and manoeuvrable in total safety and never put people at risk. For example, drones must be equipped with collision avoidance systems. In addition, all drones should be designed taking into account a privacy by design and by default approach. The risks to privacy and data protection are essentially related to the availability on the UAS of cameras or other sensors that are able to record personal information. As pointed out by the Article 29 Working Party (now known as the European Data Protection Board), the risks are increased by the lack of transparency, due to the difficulty of being able to see the drones from the ground and to know for what purposes the images are taken and especially by whom. Therefore to protect privacy, and more generally in order to identify offences and violations, the Regulation provides that the drones’ pilots shall be registered in national registers and drones shall be registered in electronic databases that are easily accessible. To guarantee the protection of the environment, new limits are placed on the noise and emissions generated, as in the case of any other aircraft. Finally, the Regulation extends the mandate of the EASA (the European Aviation Safety Agency), giving it new powers of inspection, coordination with national authorities, certification tasks and implementation powers, to strengthen the development of a so-called “single European sky”, which now also affects drones of all sizes. The EASA will also play an important role in cybersecurity. This post is co-authored by my brilliant colleague Ludovica Mosci who is an outstanding expert of drones regulation. For more info drop me a line via Twitter – Fb or Telegram If you think this information is valuable, repay my effort and share it on your #SocialMedia, Be Influent! Also don’t miss my Telegram channel @TechnoLawgy for the latest #Privacy and #TMT news! luglio 1, 2019 /0 Commenti/da wp_7934222	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3933
__label__wiki	0.920748	0.920748	LITE Installation Select an option... Digital - $8.00 180 g Black LP (out of 100) - $16.00 (Out of Stock) White (out of 150) - $16.00 (Out of Stock) Clear w/ Black Smoke (out of 250) - $16.00 (Out of Stock) Something not available? Get emailed if it becomes available again. Starry Morning Fog Up The amazing 2012 release from Japanese Math Rock band LITE. The album features a bonus track on both the digital and vinyl formats called "Pleiades". The record comes in a gatefold jacket. All purchases come with your choice of a FLAC, ALAC, MP3 320, MP3 VBR or AAC 256 download. TSR116. Released September 9, 2014 Tweet LITE merch: Select… $20.00 — Blue in Cloudy Clear Color in Color 12" Vinyl (Out of 150) $20.00 — Transparent Blue 12" Vinyl (Out of 350) $20.00 — 180g 12" Vinyl (Out of 500) $8.00 — Cassette (Smoky) $10.00 — CD $10.00 — Digital Select… $9.00 — Opaque Purple 12" (Out of 300) $9.00 — Bone 12" (Out of 700) $2.00 — Digital Select… $2.00 — 11x17 Inch Poster $4.00 — 11x17 Inch Poster w/ Tube Cubic Poster Select… $12.00 — Opaque Yellow 12 Inch (out of 250) $12.00 — Opaque Red 12 Inch (out of 500) $7.50 — CD $6.00 — Digital $16.00 — 180 Gram Black 12 Inch (out of 100) (Unavailable) $16.00 — Opaque Blue 12 Inch (out of 150) (Unavailable) Select… $10.50 — Clear/Gray Half/Half 12" (out of 500) $10.50 — Gray/Black Half/Half 12" (2nd Press out of 500) $3.00 — Digital $14.00 — Black 12" (out of 150) (Unavailable) $14.00 — Gray 12" (out of 350) (Unavailable) LITE / mouse on the keys Select… $10.00 — 19 x 25 inch 2015 SXSW Poster SXSW 2015 Showcase Print	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3935
__label__wiki	0.689966	0.689966	Certifiably annoying Tuesday, 30 March 2010 15:51:08 CDT David-Braverman Work (0) My new employer requires that I get an appropriate Microsoft certification by February 2012. This requires that I take six certification tests. I've started preparing, after not having bothered in four years. And, as I was in 2006, and 1999, and 1996, and 1993, the last times I jumped into the MCP Pit of Despair, I am unhappy. Why, pray, have I not bothered to get certified? Why only one test in the last 10 years? Because I really, honestly, truly, hate these exams. The last time I took one, I literally walked in off the street and winged it. This didn't work. Not, I assert, because I lack the skills the test purported to measure. No, because the exams, for reasons of economics and volume, don't demonstrate ability; they screen for something else entirely. (I'm still trying to work out what.) Having just taken a practice test, I am saddened to see things haven't improved. Here's an example, which I first demonstrated in 2006. Imagine you want to get a "Chicago Certified Driver in Stick-Shift Transmissions (Automobile)" badge. This credential establishes that you are certified by the city of Chicago to drive cars equipped with manual transmissions. To get this credential, you take a computerized, multiple-choice test. Here is question 1: You're driving from 1200 West Fullerton Parkway to 741 West Cornelia Avenue. What is the route you follow? A. East on Fullerton, North on Halsted, West on Cornelia. B. East on Fullerton, North on Clark, North on Sheffield, East on Cornelia. C. West on Fullerton, North on Western, East on Addison, South on Halsted, East on Cornelia. D. East on Fullerton, North on Clark, North on Broadway, West on Cornelia. Do you know the answer? You have 60 seconds, closed book. The correct answer is C, because the other three are illegal. Of course, no one would ever, ever, ever, choose C in real life, because it takes you three miles out of your way. But that's not the point. Certified Chicago Drivers may not know how to use a manual transmission, but they absolutely know all the one-way streets in the city. See, in order to get this question right you need to know several things. First, Halsted is 800 West, so you need to be East of it to get to 741 W. Cornelia. Second, Cornelia is a one-way street that goes East and West from Halsted. In other words, if you're on Halsted, you can go either East or West on Cornelia, away from Halsted. Further, if you got the question wrong, so what? So you're going up on Halsted and you turn the wrong way on Cornelia. Oops: you're on the 800 block of Cornelia, the numbers are getting bigger, so you waste maybe 15 seconds turning at the next street and trying again in the other directon. And even more: Anyone who has ever spent time in that neighborhood knows you won't find a parking space on the 700 block of Cornelia unless you get really, really lucky. So you may want to turn West on Cornelia anyway, because it's sometimes easier to find parking over there. You may be wondering, why would anyone who wants to demonstrate mastery of driving stick-shift cars (a) take a multiple-choice test requiring him to (b) memorize all the one-way streets in Wrigleyville? Good question. And I have the one and only answer that should ever, ever make you do this: Because someone is paying you to do so. That is a good enough reason for me. Stupid Constitution tricks, ctd. Tuesday, 30 March 2010 09:42:03 CDT David-Braverman Politics (0) Sean Wilentz at The New Republic has a better explanation of the nullification nonsense this morning than I had yesterday: Now, as in the 1860s and 1960s, nullification and interposition are pseudo-constitutional notions taken up in the face of national defeat in democratic politics. Unable to prevail as a minority and frustrated to the point of despair, its militant advocates abandon the usual tools of democratic politics and redress, take refuge in a psychodrama of "liberty" versus "tyranny," and declare that, on whatever issue they choose, they are not part of the United States or subject to its laws—that, whenever they say so, the Constitution in fact forms a league, and not a government. Although not currently concerned with racial supremacy, the consequence of their doctrine would uphold an interpretation of the constitutional division of powers that would permit the majority of any state to reinstate racial segregation and inequality up to the point of enslavement, if it so chose. That these ideas resurfaced 50 years ago, amid the turmoil of civil rights, was as harebrained as it was hateful. But it was comprehensible if only because interposition and nullification lay at the roots of the Civil War. Today, by contrast, the dismal history of these discredited ideas resides within the memories of all Americans who came of age in the 1950s and 1960s—and ought, on that account, to be part of the living legacy of the rest of the country. Only an astonishing historical amnesia can lend credence to such mendacity. The whole idea is childish in a way. Little children and extremist politicians have a definition of "fair" that only encompasses what they want. Seriously, doesn't this whole thing look like a temper tantrum? When you start to think about the far right as a bunch of little kids more concerned with winning than governing, their whole ethos becomes clearer. In other words, my message to Western legislatures is: Grow the hell up. We have real problems that need real solutions. Act like adults and get back to work. Stupid Constitution tricks Monday, 29 March 2010 17:22:23 CDT David-Braverman Politics (0) He really should know better: Utah Gov. Gary R. Herbert has signed two bills authorizing the state to use eminent domain to seize some of the federal government's most valuable land. Supporters hope the bills, which the Republican governor signed Saturday, will trigger a flood of similar legislation throughout the West and, eventually, a Supreme Court battle that they hope to win -- against long odds. Um...no. Starting with the Supremacy Clause, moving on to the Federal applicability of the 5th Amendment, and ending with the unfortunate result of the 1832 Nullification Crisis[1], this bill has less chance of having legal effect than the Cubs have of winning a post-season game. In fact, of the two events, I'd wager on the Cubs. This silly act is merely the latest in a disturbing trend of Republican legislatures imagining that the last 150 years of U.S. history didn't happen. Or maybe it's not their imagination. Maybe, on top of being ornery, they might in fact be ignorant of the late unpleasantness and its aftermath. Utah has no excuse, though. They entered the Union in 1896, four decades after all that stuff about, you know, Federal supremacy had been decided. [1] President Obama will probably not send the U.S. Navy to Utah, owing to certain practical difficulties, but you get the idea. Monday, 29 March 2010 08:41:54 CDT David-Braverman Work (0) Yesterday I expressed more relief than dread after finishing my Term 3 finals. Dread just won: Subject: FedEx Shipment Notification [Redacted] of Duke Fuqua School of Business sent David Braverman 1 FedEx Express Saver package(s). This shipment is scheduled to be sent on 03/29/2010. Oh. Joy. The Term 4 books are coming. Respite? I wish Sunday, 28 March 2010 18:28:25 CDT David-Braverman Work (0) I've just finished my final exams for Duke CCMBA Term 3. Total time: 10.8 hours on statistics, 8.2 hours for marketing, 4.9 hours sobbing quietly at my desk about not having studied more. As the program has six terms, in a sane universe this would mean I'm half-way done with my MBA. Sadly, I'm not even done with Term 3 yet. And anyway the end of Term 3, officially April 7th, isn't really the half-way point. First, I have the Delhi Culture Dash video to produce. My team has succeeded mightily with a divide-and-conquer approach, so for each the three projects that remain in Term 3 (two, technically, being term 4 projects due before term 4 officially starts), we have one project author and one reviewer. I volunteered for the video project when the entire team thought it was due April 6th. It's actually due Thursday. I'm guessing this is another 10 hours of work. Good thing I have all that time to do it, otherwise I'd continue sobbing at my desk. Second, Term 6 will really be two terms. During the residency we have four classes, then after the residency we have two 6-week distance periods, with two sets of finals. Third, the chronological midpoint of the program is actually April 11th.[1] So, really, we're almost there, though I suspect the psychological midpoint will be April 25th, when we leave Shanghai. Or maybe December 12th, the day before the thing ends. Sorry about that. I may have spent too much time doing statistics this weekend. I will now retire to the pub, with The Travels of a T-Shirt in a Global Economy, which I need to finish reading (for Global Markets and Institutions) before next week. [1] The program officially started with Term 1 pre-reading on 8 August 2009; our last final exam is due 13 December 2010; that's 492 days; so 246 days after August 8th is April 11th. QED. If you use the first day of the London residency, August 15th, as the starting point, the midpoint is April 14th. Right-wing rage Sunday, 28 March 2010 14:04:24 CDT David-Braverman Politics (0) To hear the right wingers describe it, passing the Health-Care Reform Act ranked somewhere between breaking the second seal and sending Federal troops to Birmingham in atrocity. I cannot fathom the rage, not one bit. Nor can I fathom the hypocrisy. For example, as the New York Times reported this morning, a sizable chunk of the Tea Party movement have the luxury of banging on against the welfare state because—why else—they're supported by it: Tom Grimes, [who] lost his job as a financial consultant 15 months ago...has organized a local group and a statewide coalition, and even started a "bus czar" Web site to marshal protesters to Washington on short notice. This month, he mobilized 200 other Tea Party activists to go to the local office of the same congressman to protest what he sees as the government's takeover of health care. Mr. Grimes, who receives Social Security, has filled the back seat of his Mercury Grand Marquis with the literature of the movement, including Glenn Beck's "Arguing With Idiots" and Frederic Bastiat's "The Law," which denounces public benefits as "false philanthropy." "If you quit giving people that stuff, they would figure out how to do it on their own," Mr. Grimes said. Now, I believe Grimes has an absolute, without-a-doubt, Congress-given right to Social Security. (I also think that people who receive assistance can spend it any way they want. Assistance should not mean paternalism.) I just can't figure out why he's against it. Possibly, though, we on the left are trying to apply reason where none exists. People like Grimes are nuts. People like Glenn Beck are either nuts or sociopathic. And people like John Boehner are craven opportunists who will probably preserve their own seats at the expense of their party. I know many smart, conscientious conservatives. I go to school with a bunch. (Yes, there are Republicans in business schools.) None, to my knowledge—all right, maybe one or two—is nuts, craven, or sociopathic. Oddly, though, their critiques of HCR come from the economic and fiscal uncertainty they worry it will cause. I've yet to hear one (ok, maybe one :) ) denounce the Democratic party as a bunch of fascistic Communists. The Times' Frank Rich has a hypothesis about the rage: If Obama's first legislative priority had been immigration or financial reform or climate change, we would have seen the same trajectory. The conjunction of a black president and a female speaker of the House — topped off by a wise Latina on the Supreme Court and a powerful gay Congressional committee chairman — would sow fears of disenfranchisement among a dwindling and threatened minority in the country no matter what policies were in play. It's not happenstance that Frank, Lewis and Cleaver — none of them major Democratic players in the health care push — received a major share of last weekend's abuse. When you hear demonstrators chant the slogan "Take our country back!," these are the people they want to take the country back from. Racism? Really? It's not the craziest theory. But I'm not as worried as Rich that the far-right loonies are about to take over. They didn't in the 1850s, though they did put up a fight. Similarly, the far-left loonies didn't take over in the 1970s—or 1870s, or even the 1760s, for that matter.[1] I would like the opposition party to think, just think, about the long-term damage they're doing to their party and to the country by encouraging their loony fringe. Take it from a Democrat: after our loony fringe took over after the 1968 election, we spent 24 years in the wilderness.[2] So unless you want Democratic majorities until the 2030s, you might want to move more to the center. [1] Far-left radicals like Tom Paine got pushed aside as the country swung back to the right during the 1780s. Loonly-left radical Samuel Adams never had much popularity outside New England, unlike his right-leaning brother John. Even Jefferson didn't govern as a radical, though he was considerably left of his two predecessors. [2] President Carter, wonderful man that he is, got the Democratic nomination and won the 1976 General Election almost accidentally. Absent Watergate, Reagan would likely have won in 1976. It's an interesting story, but not one that undermines my basic premise. Darwin's Tears Saturday, 27 March 2010 11:56:34 CDT David-Braverman General (0) My dad has a new novel out. Right now it's available for the Amazon Kindle only; in a couple of weeks he'll have paperbacks as well. As soon as he does, expect to find them in random locations around the world. I've read about 20 different drafts of the book, and each was better than the last. It's a page-turner. And creepy. And funny. An excerpt: It all played out in less than three seconds. Like an errant missile, the two-and-a-half-ton stretch Cadillac slammed into the stunned crowd of mourners, carving through them before planting itself into the back of the standing hearse. One mortuary attendant and two elderly women, whose unfortunate timing had them standing on the street between the two hearses, were instantly crushed, their bones pulverized by the explosive collision of metal into metal. Other bodies were tumbled and tossed like stuffed toys into the street or dashed against the red brick wall of the mortuary. And for those not directly in the path of the hearse, the blizzard of glass and metal shrapnel exploding outward from the collision sliced through their soft flesh with the lethal efficiency of whirling Cuisinart blades. The force of the impact knocked Garland backwards off his feet. The stinging tintinnabulation resounding in his ears deafened and disoriented him. When he was finally able to lift his head, he saw Eugene Kessler writhing behind him on the flooded street, clutching his shoulder a few feet from where Carolyn Eccevarria was lying lifelessly on her back. It only just came out half an hour ago so I'll need to read the latest version. (After finals...ugh.) But if you have a Kindle and you're looking for a fun, quick novel, download it now. Thus endeth all dispute Friday, 26 March 2010 16:14:30 CDT David-Braverman Politics (0) An island claimed by both India and Bangladesh has vanished, ending a territorial dispute going back to 1971: The uninhabited territory south of the Hariabhanga river was known as New Moore Island to the Indians and South Talpatti Island to the Bangladeshis. Recent satellites images show the whole island under water, says the School of Oceanographic Studies in Calcutta. "What these two countries could not achieve from years of talking, has been resolved by global warming," said Professor Sugata Hazra of the School of Oceanographic Studies at Jadavpur University in Calcutta. Professor Hazra said his studies revealed that sea levels in this part of the Bay of Bengal have risen much faster over the past decade than they had done in the previous 15 years. And he predicts that in the coming decade other islands in the Sundarbans delta region will follow New Moore, or South Talpatti, beneath the waves. The article doesn't explain that both countries claimed the tiny uninhabited island because the law of the sea allows countries to claim a 370 km exclusive economic zone around any land they "control," even if it's just a speck poking above the water. This means the total disputed territory was actually over 430,000 km²—an area about as big as California or Thailand. But with the island gone, the competing claims have vanished as well. (With the island sitting right at the mouth of a major river, however, the 22 km territorial waters were probably more important to both.) Wrigley Field, 10 June 2008 Friday, 26 March 2010 15:14:53 CDT David-Braverman Chicago (0) Nothing special about the game, but I do love the shot: Too much dark humor, but too many victims Thursday, 25 March 2010 12:33:13 CDT David-Braverman Politics (0) Today the Vatican announced that there has been no cover-up in the latest U.S. sex-abuse scandal, and could we all just leave the Pope alone? This whole thing must feel like someone stampeded cattle through St. Peter's. But let's be serious. It looks quite like the current Pope intervened in the Ecclesiastical trial of a priest accused of molesting 200 deaf boys, and failed to act on dozens of other cases: The internal correspondence from bishops in Wisconsin directly to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future pope, shows that while church officials tussled over whether the priest should be dismissed, their highest priority was protecting the church from scandal. The documents emerge as Pope Benedict is facing other accusations that he and direct subordinates often did not alert civilian authorities or discipline priests involved in sexual abuse when he served as an archbishop in Germany and as the Vatican’s chief doctrinal enforcer. The Wisconsin case involved an American priest, the Rev. Lawrence C. Murphy, who worked at a renowned school for deaf children from 1950 to 1974. But it is only one of thousands of cases forwarded over decades by bishops to the Vatican office called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, led from 1981 to 2005 by Cardinal Ratzinger. It is still the office that decides whether accused priests should be given full canonical trials and defrocked. Andrew Sullivan: What's fascinating in the steady onslaught of new incidences of previous cover-ups of child rape and molestation in the Catholic hierarchy is the notion that the hierarchs tended to see child rape as a sin rather than a crime. Hence the emphasis on forgiveness, therapy, repentance - rather than removal, prosecution and investigation. Obviously, there's one reason for this: they were defending the reputation of the church by hiding its darkest secrets, and they were using the authority of religion to do so. But I suspect it's also true that this is how they genuinely thought of child rape or abuse. How could that be, one asks? Well: imagine you are a young gay Catholic teen coming into his sexuality and utterly convinced that it's vile and evil. What do you do? I can tell you from my own experience. You bury it. But of course, you can't bury it. So you objectify sex; and masturbate. You cannot have sexual or even emotional contact with a teenage girl, because it is simply impossible, and you certainly cannot have sex with another teenage boy or you will burn in hell for ever ... so you have sex with images in your own head. Your sex life becomes completely solitary. It can be empowered by pornography or simply teenage imagination. Some shard of beauty, some aspect of sensuality, some vision of desire will keep you sexually energized for days. Now suppose your powers of suppression and attachment to religious authority are also strong - perhaps stronger because you feel so adrift you need something solid to cling onto in your psyche. And you know you cannot marry a woman. But you want to have status and cover as a single man. If this is the 1950s and 1960s, it's into the Church you go. You think it will cure you. In fact, it only makes you sicker because your denial is buttressed by their collective denial. And the whole thing becomes one big and deepening spiral of lies and corruption. As Sullivan said only last week, "If this were a secular institution, the police would move in and shut it down."	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3943
__label__wiki	0.749131	0.749131	Tommy Genesis Is A Child Of The Internet On “Art” The “fetish-rapper” showcases her latest track on Awful Records. By Rosie Mitton There’s a moment on her new song “Art” when the Vancouver-based, self-proclaimed "fetish rapper" Tommy Genesis drawls: Are you Awful born and bred? It’s not only a call for deviance, but a shout-out to Awful Records—the independent label and community of DIY artists ruled over by cult rap producer Father that she joined last year. We are children of the internet she sings over a slick trap beat, and it serves as a reminder that the self-proclaimed Baby Awful owes much to the internet for uniting the Vancouver-based creative polymath with her Atlanta-based crew. The track is the delicious first taste from Genesis’ second full-length project, World Vision 2, set for release at the end of this month. Awful, Hip-Hop, Tommy Genesis	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3945
__label__wiki	0.882883	0.882883	Student charged in connection to vandalism ends quarter early, charged with malicious harassment December 5, 2018 One comment By Samuel Fletcher Western student Shayne Merwin, who was arrested in connection with racist and homophobic vandalism, has chosen not to return to campus for the remainder of the quarter. This announcement was met with cheers from more than 200 students who met in Red Square on Monday, Dec. 3 to march in solidarity into the president’s office, upset about the way Western administration handled the incident. Merwin was released from Whatcom County Jail on Nov. 26, and charged with second-degree burglary, a class B felony, on Nov. 27, according to Deputy Prosecutor Erik Sigmar. According to The Bellingham Herald, Merwin was also later charged with malicious harassment, Washington State’s felony statute for committing a hate crime. Merwin is scheduled to appear in court for an arraignment on Friday, Dec. 7. According to a Western Advisory sent out on Nov. 26, Merwin was trespassed from all university dining and residence halls. Following his release from jail, the protesting students said they fear this is not enough to keep the Western community safe. They accused the university of withholding vital information, such as his name and what he looks like, while allowing him to go to class as usual. Their main concern was safety. Second-year student Julian Pritchard lived with Merwin for the 2017-18 school year in Ridgeway Omega. He said he noticed Merwin’s intolerance of students with different identities than his the day he met him. Pritchard said as soon as he saw Merwin’s Twitter page, which shared hateful messages daily, he requested to switch roommates. “I asked to move, to not live with him, and I was ignored,” Pritchard said. Pritchard felt it was difficult to be heard because he wasn’t being personally victimized, he said. Regardless of that, he said he didn’t want to be around someone with hateful opinions. Second-year Anna Schrieve, who lived a floor below Merwin, said she reported him three times to her resident assistant and director for vandalism she found in the Omega lounge. She too received little response, and both Pritchard and Schrieve said they weren’t surprised by Merwin’s crimes. “We all fucking knew this was coming, but I was really pissed because it could have not happened,” Schrieve said. “It could have been stopped.” Schrieve is a human services major, part of the group who put on the walkout and sit-in. “[Merwin] definitely has affected the safety of my friends on campus,” Schrieve said. “I know several people of color who don’t want to come to school and they haven’t come to school—our dead week was last week and they just didn’t come because they are scared.” Pritchard said Merwin was politically conservative and repeatedly expressed his distaste for the popularity of liberal beliefs at Western. Schrieve said Merwin enjoyed sharing his conservative views, citing a Confederate flag collection and frequent polarizing messages written on his dorm door whiteboard. “He wouldn’t [transfer schools] because he wouldn’t have unique views,” Schrieve said. “He wants to make a point on this campus, and I think the administration has been entirely too tolerant of that.” Schrieve attended the sit-in because she feels Western hasn’t done enough to respond to the incident, she said. “The administration has prioritized one hateful person’s education over [minorities] feeling safe on campus,” she said. “That puts them at risk for not being able to come to class, not being able to speak up, not being able to do the things they want to do and feel like they’re a part of this community.” Not long into the sit-in, University Police Chief Darin Rasmussen and Assistant Dean of Students Michael Sledge joined the conversation. They reassured students they’re following the disciplinary procedures from the student code of conduct to the best of their abilities. Vice President of Enrollment and Student Services Melynda Huskey said two processes have been initiated. The first is deciding whether Merwin will be permanently evicted from student housing, and the second is whether expulsion will come into effect. Various students expressed they felt unsafe in the meantime, while Merwin is still able to attend classes. Students suggested a variety of solutions, including temporary suspension or a police escort while he remains on trial. Court Watch Sylvia French December 6, 2018 11:57 am Let him stay in a single room, alone, and mandate that he take some good Sociology and Women’s Studies classes each quarter if he wants a degree.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3955
__label__wiki	0.563349	0.563349	About Us: Who we are and what we do UK Friends of the National Museum of Women in the Arts (“UK Friends of NMWA”) supports the mission of NMWA by championing art by women with a connection to the UK, past and present. We: organize monthly events highlighting the accomplishments of female artists. Our events cover contemporary as well as historical women artists and include discussions with artists, private visits to museums, galleries and private collections, studio visits and lectures publish a monthly e-newsletter presenting the charity’s events as well as an extensive listing and description of current exhibitions featuring women artists throughout the UK help UK-based art by women achieve international recognition with NMWA’s Women to Watch programme. UK Friends of NMWA was established as a UK charity in 2006. It is part of a growing international network supporting the mission of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Located in Washington, DC, the Museum brings recognition to the art by women of all periods and nationalities by exhibiting, preserving, acquiring and researching art by women, and by educating the public about the women’s accomplishments.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3960
__label__wiki	0.758429	0.758429	News Release - News Release U.A man who attacked pacinko parlor receive a sentence of a nine-year prison (October 6, 2009 1:58 AM) \| Permalink According to the Mainichi daily news, a man who attacked by a truck and set fire to pachinko parlor receive a sentence of a nine-year prison. According to the chief justice, the defendant endangered many people life with selfish cause. Therefore, I can not admit the extenuating circumstances. I really want to show the happy news about pachinko parlor in next week. Campaigned to stop leaving the baby in the car (September 28, 2009 2:55 AM) \| Permalink According to the Mainichi daily news, campaigned to stop leaving the baby in the car was held under the auspices of the Akita police because of the incident that the mother of an 11-month-old infant who died after she left the baby boy in her car while she went to play pachinko. The experiment to check the temperature in the car showed the participant the temperature in the car rising 41 degree in just 2 hours. Akita police told that this incident was not only the problem for the pachinko player. All people who has baby have to know the fact. NTT Docomo taps into Google's Android in bid to dethrone iPhone 3GS According to the Mainichi daily news, with smartphone sales growing slowly but steadily, NTT Docomo is going up against current champ SoftBank, with the nation's first smartphone powered by Google's Android.　In fiscal 2008, smartphones accounted for some 5 percent of the domestic cell phone market, but this is set to double over the next 2-3 years. Now, however, Docomo's HT-03A, released in July, is facing off against the Apple iPhone 3GS, which came out in June. Both are large　touchscreen-based phones, but how do they differ?　The iPhone 3GS, the current reigning champ, boasts a 3.5-inch touchscreen, with a smooth, responsive user interface. Rounding out the package is the world-famous iPod media player.　The newer contender, the HT-03A, is a tad smaller with a 3.2-inch screen. However, in addition to the touch interface it also comes with a trackball and several buttons, putting Google's Search and Maps applications a single click away.　On top of that, when accessing Google's Street View, the onboard compass allows users to change the view just by moving the handset in the desired direction. Furthermore, while Android has just a tenth of the software available, developers are likely to catch up in a short time thanks to the open source nature of the platform.　However, when pitted against regular cell phones, some might find their basic features lacking. Both have on-board cameras, but these lag behind those on other phones, at just 3 megapixels for the iPhone 3GS and 3.2 megapixels for the HT-03A. Driver makes off with cash delivery van carrying 78 million yen (September 7, 2009 7:47 AM) \| Permalink According to the Mainichi daily news, a cash delivery van carrying about 78 million yen was stolen by its driver Wednesday afternoon, and later abandoned with the money missing, police said. At around 12:40 p.m., police received an emergency call from Chikuho Bank reporting that one of its cash delivery vans had been stolen on a street in Tachiarai. The vehicle was found abandoned in the parking lot of a nearby pachinko parlor about an hour later. Four duralumin cases that contained a total of about 78 million yen in cash were pried open and the money was missing. Two employees of a subsidiary of the bank were aboard the vehicle. The driver apparently asked his colleague to examine the vehicle, claiming it had developed trouble. After the colleague got out of the van, the driver sped off. Police are searching for the driver. Mother of dead baby boy left in car outside pachinko parlor arrested (August 31, 2009 1:39 AM) \| Permalink According to the Mainichi daily news, the mother of an 11-month-old infant who died after she left the baby boy in her car while she went to play pachinko was arrested Friday. Police arrested 31-year-old housewife Junko Hori on suspicion of abandonment by a person responsible for protection causing death, after leaving her son Ryusei in her car outside the pachinko parlor for around three hours starting from just past 10 a.m. Thursday. Ryusei is thought to have died of dehydration. According to the Akita Local Meteorological Observatory, the weather in the area Wednesday was cloudy with sunny periods, with a high temperature of 29.3 degrees Celsius.　When such a sad accident never happened? It is very difficult to find such a baby left in the car because there are so many cars shield their window to hide. I really hope that pachinko parlor society cooperate to find the way to protect the baby life. 50% of the pachinko parlors violated the law in Yamaguchi According to the Mainichi Daily News, fire station inspected 164 pachinko parlors, then 50% of the parlors violated the law in Yamaguchi. This inspection was proceeded because of the incident that pachinko parlor in Osaka was set fire to last month. The disaster prevention administration of prefecture, they are going to guide the parlors in order to improve their consciousness of disaster prevention. Osaka, Katano city try to stop to open new pachinko parlor According to the Mainichi Daily News, the new pachinko parlor is under construction in Katano city, Osaka where used to stop to open new parlor with their own city regulation against to open new pachinko parlor. The parlor insists that they have the authority to manage the pachinko parlor by the prefecture regulation which is much easier than the city one. The sentence of the Supreme Court in 2002, which is similar to this case, supports the parlors claim. Therefore, Japanese government has to maintain the law in order to solve such a problem between a city and a parlor. The number of closing parlor is increasing again. (August 3, 2009 1:44 AM) \| Permalink According to the monthly magazine, "The Monthly Greenbelt", Zennichiyuren announced that the number of closing a pachinko parlor on May and June is increasing. The total number of Zennichiyuren member is 11,787. The other hand, below is the number of machines. May 2,883,537 (5,735 machines increasing compared with last month) June 2,883,777( 240 〃　) May 1,318,533(7,283 machines decreasing compared with last month) June 1,309,778(8,775 〃　) Sapporo-based investment firm raided for illegal FX trading According to the Mainichi Daily News, Police raided an investment firm and other locations here on Monday on suspicion of unauthorized foreign exchange trading. The firm, Sapporo-based investment company Allin Co. Ltd., allegedly raised vast funds in violation of the Financial Products Transaction Law, by promoting foreign exchange trading as way of fund management without the approval of the Financial Services Agency.　Allin started recruiting new investors in 2007, offering a monthly dividend of 20 percent as well as large profits using the company's foreign exchange trading software, an insider said. The company reportedly explained to its members that it had gathered some 10 billion yen from about 20,000 investors all over Japan, and that the software would automatically trade investors' money upon completion of bank transfers to the company's account.　The company, however, has suspended dividends since around last autumn, and has not responded to members' claims for refunds. Some members have already taken civil action against the company. Read Our Archives »	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3961
__label__wiki	0.821795	0.821795	About YASI Directions & Contact Classical Pianists Jazz Pianists Contemporary Pianists Nicholas Phillips Pianist Nicholas Phillips is Associate Professor of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where he teaches applied piano, class piano, piano ensemble, piano literature, and piano pedagogy. He is active as a soloist and collaborative artist, having performed all across the United States. He has also given solo recitals and performances in Europe, South America, Asia, and Africa, and has given lecture-recitals and presentations at a number of international, national, and state conferences. Described by the New York Times as an "able and persuasive advocate" of new music, and a "talented, entrepreneurial pianist," Phillips’ playing has been praised for its "bejeweled accuracy" (Fanfare) and as "razor-sharp yet wonderfully spirited" (American Records Guide). In 2011 he released two CDs on Albany Records: Portals and Passages, featuring piano music by American composer Ethan Wickman, and Boris Papandopulo: Piano Music, featuring solo piano music by the famous 20th-century Croatian composer. His newest CD project, American Vernacular: New Music for Solo Piano (New Focus Recordings), features commissioned works written for him by 10 American composers. New Playlist will be released on Blue Griffin records in 2016, and features 21st century character pieces by living American composers. A native of Indiana, Phillips began formal piano lessons in the preparatory program at Indiana University at the age of ten. He holds degrees in piano performance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music (Doctor of Musical Arts), Indiana University (Master of Music), and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Bachelor of Music, summa cum laude). His teachers include internationally renowned pianists and pedagogues Karen Taylor, Paul Barnes, Karen Shaw, and Robert Weirich. Nicholas Phillips is a Yamaha Artist. Nicholas Phillips Homepage ©2019 Yamaha Corporation of America. All rights reserved. Terms of Use and Copyright Notice \| Privacy Policy Contact Us \| Corporate Home	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3963
__label__wiki	0.983522	0.983522	In The Wake Of The Primary, It's All About The Signals Sep 14, 2014 05:38AM ● By State House News The television kept cutting out. "No signal," it said just after 10 p.m., as a group of elected officials, activists and donors who backed Steve Grossman for governor stood around the big screen set up at the Park Plaza Hotel, scrolling their phone screens and tapping away at their devices. Attorney General Martha Coakley was still ahead by five points. Upstairs, on the hotel's fifteenth floor, Grossman, joined by campaign advisers and his family, had two televisions and both were working, displaying mixed signals up and down the ballots submitted by Bay State voters. The ones who showed up at the polls, at least. The final result for the Democrats: Coakley with 42 percent, Grossman at 36 percent, and pediatrician Don Berwick at 21 percent. Taken together, Grossman and Berwick earned more than enough votes to defeat Coakley, but that's not how elections work. Coakley is advancing while job-creator Steve and single-payer Don are not. On the GOP side, Charlie Baker, the former health insurance executive, coasted to a win over Tea Party conservative Mark Fisher, 74 percent to 26 percent. Republicans converged on a waterfront restaurant in Dorchester, Democratic turf in deep blue Suffolk County, where they will need to gain some purchase in November in order to grab statewide office in January. Baker took to the stage with an un-subtle sea of supporters wearing "Women for Charlie" shirts behind him. The turnout tallies, noticeably low at 16 percent despite the fact that candidates spent months on self-promotion and money on television ads, put two party insiders on a crowded November ballot: Baker was a key figure in the administrations of Republican Gov. William Weld and the late Paul Cellucci in the 1990s and Coakley, who despite decrying insiders in her Tuesday victory speech, has been a fixture on Beacon Hill since 2007. The next day, Democrats, some of whom the night before voiced jitters over Coakley and her ability to connect with voters, headed to the Omni Parker House to unite, and turn up the heat on Baker. Gov. Deval Patrick, who likes to say that people "need to turn to each other ran than on each other," led the charge. Baker is a "consummate insider" with a "whole lot of friends to whom he has promised favors and willing to say whatever it takes to win," Patrick said. Earlier in the morning, an anti-Baker super PAC, funded in part by the Democratic Governors Association, launched its own broadside against Baker in a television ad that focused on Baker's tenure as CEO of Harvard Pilgrim, where the ad said he raised premiums 150 percent while tripling his pay. On Friday, a pro-Baker super PAC responded with its own ad claiming that Coakley has "no plan to fix welfare." Coakley will be joined on the ballot by Stephen Kerrigan, a former aide to former Sen. Edward Kennedy, while Baker has Karyn Polito, a former state representative from Shrewsbury. Deb Goldberg, a former Brookline selectwoman, was Democratic primary voters' choice for treasurer, and Michael Heffernan, a Wellesley Republican who didn't face opposition in his primary, will square off with her in November. Elsewhere on Tuesday's ballot, Democratic primary voters turned to outsiders. Former prosecutor Maura Healey's trouncing of former state Sen. Warren Tolman and Iraq War vet Seth Moulton's victory over Congressman John Tierney were probably enough to give even the most entrenched politician pause and raise questions about the clout of party leaders. Tolman was endorsed by Patrick, a former outsider himself, by Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, on top of the backing of his brother Steve, the head of the state's largest union. Tierney, who held the Sixth Congressional seat since 1997, had the support of the Massachusetts delegation, including the popular Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. But both Tierney and Tolman were wiped out. Healey picked up 62 percent of the vote to Tolman's 38 percent; Moulton received 49 percent to Tierney's 41 percent in a race that included three other Democrats, who stayed in the single digits. But, again, the signals were mixed. Look at the results of the legislative primaries. If there was any political price to be paid for the Probation Department patronage scandal or the 2013 tax increases it wasn't reflected there. Everett Rep. Wayne Matewsky lost his Democratic primary to Everett City Councilor Joseph McGonagle, the only House or Senate incumbent to do so, for reasons likely unrelated to the issues that frequently roiled Beacon Hill in the last two years. Matewsky, who had originally won his seat in a 2013 special election, endured a string of bad headlines after winning that race, including "Matewsky pays bill owed campaign worker after arrest" and "Matewsky censured in restaurant incident" in the Boston Globe. Down in Kingston, Democratic Rep. Thomas Calter not only cruised unopposed through his primary, but also won a spot in the Republican primary, thanks to a write-in effort from his Republican supporters. STORY OF THE WEEK: Coakley v. Baker* (* = Including independents Jeff McCormick, Evan Falchuk and Scott Lively.) UNDER THE RADAR STORY OF THE WEEK: While nearly everybody was focused on Tuesday's election returns, Coakley's office bounced a group's proposal for a constitutional amendment taking aim at the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling. The campaign finance ruling allows for unlimited spending. Her office made a point of noting Coakley opposes the Citizens United decision, but said the amendment didn't meet state legal standards for a ballot petition. Backers of the amendment are still hoping to get it on the 2018 ballot and planning to ask the Supreme Judicial Court to decide whether the amendment is allowed. Opinion democrats republicans	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3966
__label__wiki	0.743353	0.743353	Robbing Uncle Sam: How 'Die Hard With A Vengeance' Hit A Little Too Close to Home One New York City cop must stop a bunch of machine gun-toting terrorists from robbing The Federal Reserve Bank of New York by using bombs and the subway system. Completely unbelievable. Would never happen. Could not happen. Wait, what? Maybe it could…? The third installment of the long-running action franchise “Die Hard” was one of the best. Following our hero John McClane as he tries to stop the brother of Hans Gruber—the guy who fell out of a window in the first one—as he tries to rob the New York Federal Reserve by bombing a subway stop and then using trucks to drive through water tunnels. Screenwriter Jonathan Hensleigh states in the audio community for the film that while writing the script he wanted to find out how to actually rob one of the world's most important banks. The best way to do that? Probably plan a daring heist for months, right? Nope. Just walk in and ask for a tour. Yes, the building that holds the most amount of gold in the United States allowed a screenwriter to walk into the vault, let him hold a gold bar, and even told him that the nearby subway messes with security system all the time. We assume afterwards they told him where they hid the spare key (Spoiler alert: it’s under the fake rock out front). Later, while Hensleigh was trying to figure out how to get the gold out of the city, he read that a new water duct tunnel was being built. Perfect. He added that to the finished script and turned it in. At this point, the FBI was able to read said script with all the spare time they must have. They discovered a huge problem… All of it was possible! While writing an action movie, Hensleigh had created a very plausible plan to rob Uncle Sam. FBI agents eventually showed up at the studio’s office and started asking questions. “Die Hard With A Vengeance” was allowed to move forward but only after major changes were implemented at the Federal Reserve. The spare key has since been moved to a secret location (it’s now under the plastic frog). Tagged: Die Hard, Die Hard With A Vengeance, movies, thrillers, Bruce Willis, screenwriters, screenwriting, Jonathan Hensleigh Not Coming Soon: The Top Unproduced Action Scripts Part 1 A big pile of scripts. Hundreds and hundreds of movies scripts are written and then sold to studios and then never made. Somewhere in Hollywood there are stacks of unproduced scripts that have been sitting and collecting dust for years. Studios will buy the scripts, work on them for a while, maybe a producer or A-list actor signs on to be involved, and than for whatever reason it falls through. The way of Hollywood. As you might have noticed, I am fan of action films. I love to watch and write action movies. The first script I found and read was Steven de Souza's copy of "Die Hard" when I was 14 years old. Since then I have spent many sleepless nights trolling message boards and search engines for copies of scripts. I love reading a new script. The joy of seeing "fade in" at the top of the page, followed up the scene heading, is indescribable. During my years of searching I have come across several unproduced scripts that have never seen the light of day. After reading these five scripts, I felt cheated by Hollywood for not allowing these imaginative and original stories to be made in to movies! Well, here is my chance to share them with you. Below are the top five unproduced action movies that Hollywood has sadly forgotten, but stay very much alive in my head. "The Nice Guys" By Shane Black and Anthony Bagarozzi Well-written screenplays and Shane Black go together like peanut butter and jelly. "The Nice Guy" is one of the funniest screenplays I have read. The script is filled with black humor, snappy dialog, and vile bad guys with happy trigger fingers. The noir story follows two men; a burnt out private detective and a fighter who try to solve a who-done-it in Los Angeles. Nothing is what it seems. While working the case, the pair get caught up in drug induced car chases, neighbor shoot outs, and hotel brawls. The script is written in crisp and to-the-point lines, the dialog flows smoothly, and nothing feels forced. Will this ever see the light of day? Maybe. Black left the scene for a good 10 years, but came back swinging with indie-hit "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" and the mega-hit "Iron Man 3" so it could get made as a small indie movie. Note: This script was acted out at the 2012 Austin Film Festival and featured Thomas Jane. It was not recorded, but there are stills available. "The Quick Killing" By Ken Nolan Ken Nolan penned the 2001 war-drama "Black Hawk Down" and has done some punch up work in Hollywood, but this script made a name for him. A classic action movie that has deep roots to action films from the 1960s and 1970s, the script told the story of a reformed gangster trying to make some extra cash quickly. Nolan penned a great action script; everything was kept short, but the action scenes are big and over the top populated with tough guys of few words. Will this ever see the light of day? Doubtful. Hollywood is no longer making shoot'em up action movies like this. They want massive CGI movies that have little character and just look cool. A movie like this does not fit in to the Hollywood mainstream. "Hell Bent...And Back" by Doug Richardson Doug Richardson All screenwriting nerds know this script. It was known for making a big splash for being one of the biggest spec sales. It was never made, which is tragic because when you read the script you find yourself reading a love letter to the movies. This script was penned by fan boys who grew up loving movies and wanted to write the kind of movie they watched growing up and they pulled it off. The World War II action film is filled with cigar-chewing, wise-cracking good guys who know when to talk and when to shoot. You also have bad guys who drive around in tanks and are looking for trouble. Most of all, you have a great flow of story and character building throughout the whole story. Will this ever see the light of day? Doubtful. Like so many well penned action scripts there is no place in the market for this kind of movie. If you want to learn more about the true behind the scenes story of this movie go read "A Million Dollar View" written by screenwriter Doug Richardson. You should also check out Part 1 and Part 2 of our interview with him. "Exit Zero" By Kurt Wimmer Kurt Wimmer is one of the few action writers who is able to blend outlandish and good story together. This 1990s action-techno story is "The Net" on blow. A computer nerd and a mentally ill woman are chased across the country by a computer that will bring down mankind. The ending twist is only something Wimmer could pull off without it making sound cheesy. Will this ever see the light of day? No. The fact that "Eagle Eye" was made and did really well doesn't help the cause. Both "Eagle Eye" and "Exit Zero" have similar story lines and I don't see Hollywood making a squeal to another Shia Labeouf movie any time soon. "Godzilla" By Terry Rossio and Ted Elliot When they decided to make an American remake of monster king Godzilla, Rossie and Elliot ("Pirates of the Caribbean") were asked to create a story for the building-destroying lizard. The pair wrote a fantastic monster movie that would have been a great way to introduced Godzilla to American movie goers. Instead, the studio tossed the script and made the heap we all saw in 1998. Rossio and Elliot's script had a strong cast of characters, an larger than life idea that worked, and plenty of things getting blown up. Also, the sight gags in the script are knee slapping good. Will this ever see the light of day? Nope. After the previously mentioned 1998 version of "Godzilla" did not do well at all and ruined my weekend, Hollywood held off from making another movie. Now, they are taking another stab at "Godzilla" and it looks like they may pull it off. They have a great team behind the camera and in front of the camera, and it looks like they are actually going to try this time around. Pity, because I would have paid extra to see Rossi and Elliot's version. Tagged: Die Hard, Doug Richardson, Godzilla, Hollywood, Ken Nolan, Kurt Wimmer, Shane Black, Ted Elliot, Terry Rossio, action movies, movies, screenwriting, writers, writing	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3968
__label__wiki	0.588027	0.588027	USA.com / Minnesota / Motley, MN Motley, MN Weather \| Natural Extremes \| Air Quality \| Environmental Watch \| Government Motley is located close to the center of Minnesota. Motley is between the Morrison, Cass, Todd county. Motley has 1.33 square miles of land area and 0.05 square miles of water area. As of 2010-2014, the total Motley population is 595, which has grown 1.71% since 2000. The population growth rate is much lower than the state average rate of 9.44% and is much lower than the national average rate of 11.61%. Motley median household income is $25,417 in 2010-2014 and has grown by 8.44% since 2000. The income growth rate is much lower than the state average rate of 29.12% and is much lower than the national average rate of 27.36%. Motley median house value is $102,800 in 2010-2014 and has grown by 96.93% since 2000. The house value growth rate is much higher than the state average rate of 51.31% and is much higher than the national average rate of 46.91%. As a reference, the national Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate for the same period is 26.63%. On average, the public school district that covers Motley is worse than the state average in quality. The Motley area code is 218. Population 595 (2010-2014), rank #469 Population Density: 429.91/sq mi, rank #519 Median Household Income: $25,417 at 2010-2014—8.44% increase since 2000, rank #865 Median House Price: $102,800 at 2010-2014—96.93% increase since 2000, rank #444 Time Zone: Central GMT -6:00 with Daylight Saving in the Summer Land Area: 1.33 sq mi, rank #458 Water Area: 0.05 sq mi (3.78%), rank #310 Counties: Morrison County, Cass County, Todd County Accommodations: Motley Hotels Fastest / Slowest Growing Cities in MN High / Low MN Cities by Males Employed High / Low MN Cities by Females Employed Best / Worst Cities by Crime Rate in MN Richest / Poorest Cities by Income in MN Expensive / Cheapest Homes by City in MN Most / Least Educated Cities in MN Motley, MN Map, Border, and Nearby Locations Minnesota State	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3971
__label__wiki	0.561203	0.561203	Alimineti Madhava Reddy Alimineti Madhava Reddy FAQs: Facts, Rumors, Birthdate, Net Worth, Sexual Orientation and much more! Who is Alimineti Madhava Reddy? Biography, gossip, facts? Shri Alimineti Madhava Reddy (born Wadaparthy Bhongir Nalgonda District Andhra Pradesh; 28 February 1949 - 7 March 2000) a politician from Telugu Desam Party. He got elected four times to Legislative assembly (Bhongir assembly constituency) from Telugu Desam Party (TDP) political party. Sri A. Madhava Reddy held several portfolios in the State Cabinet first under the N.T. Rama Rao and then under Sri N. Chandrababu Naidu. When is Alimineti Madhava Reddy's birthday? Alimineti Madhava Reddy was born on the 28th of February 1949 , which was a Monday. Alimineti Madhava Reddy's next birthday would be in 227 days (would be turning 71years old then). How old would Alimineti Madhava Reddy be today? Today, Alimineti Madhava Reddy would be 70 years old. To be more precise, Alimineti Madhava Reddy would be 25568 days old or 613632 hours. Are there any books, DVDs or other memorabilia of Alimineti Madhava Reddy? Is there a Alimineti Madhava Reddy action figure? We would think so. You can find a collection of items related to Alimineti Madhava Reddy right here. What was Alimineti Madhava Reddy's zodiac sign? Alimineti Madhava Reddy's zodiac sign was Pisces. The ruling planets of Pisces are Jupiter and Neptune. Therefore, lucky days were Thursdays and Mondays and lucky numbers were: 3, 7, 12, 16, 21, 25, 30, 34, 43 and 52. Purple, Violet and Sea green were Alimineti Madhava Reddy's lucky colors. Typical positive character traits of Pisces include: Emotion, Sensitivity and Compession. Negative character traits could be: Pessimism, Lack of initiative and Laziness. Was Alimineti Madhava Reddy gay or straight? Many people enjoy sharing rumors about the sexuality and sexual orientation of celebrities. We don't know for a fact whether Alimineti Madhava Reddy was gay, bisexual or straight. However, feel free to tell us what you think! Vote by clicking below. 100% of all voters think that Alimineti Madhava Reddy was gay (homosexual), 0% voted for straight (heterosexual), and 0% like to think that Alimineti Madhava Reddy was actually bisexual. Is Alimineti Madhava Reddy still alive? Are there any death rumors? Unfortunately no, Alimineti Madhava Reddy is not alive anymore. The death rumors are true. How old was Alimineti Madhava Reddy when he/she died? Alimineti Madhava Reddy was 51 years old when he/she died. Was Alimineti Madhava Reddy hot or not? Well, that is up to you to decide! Click the "HOT"-Button if you think that Alimineti Madhava Reddy was hot, or click "NOT" if you don't think so. 0% of all voters think that Alimineti Madhava Reddy was hot, 0% voted for "Not Hot". When did Alimineti Madhava Reddy die? How long ago was that? Alimineti Madhava Reddy died on the 7th of March 2000, which was a Tuesday. The tragic death occurred 19 years ago. Where was Alimineti Madhava Reddy born? Alimineti Madhava Reddy was born in Andhra Pradesh, Bhuvanagiri Andhra Pradesh, India, Nalgonda. Did Alimineti Madhava Reddy do drugs? Did Alimineti Madhava Reddy smoke cigarettes or weed? It is no secret that many celebrities have been caught with illegal drugs in the past. Some even openly admit their drug usuage. Do you think that Alimineti Madhava Reddy did smoke cigarettes, weed or marijuhana? Or did Alimineti Madhava Reddy do steroids, coke or even stronger drugs such as heroin? Tell us your opinion below. 0% of the voters think that Alimineti Madhava Reddy did do drugs regularly, 0% assume that Alimineti Madhava Reddy did take drugs recreationally and 0% are convinced that Alimineti Madhava Reddy has never tried drugs before. Where did Alimineti Madhava Reddy die? Alimineti Madhava Reddy died in Andhra Pradesh, Ghatkesar, India. Who are similar office holders to Alimineti Madhava Reddy? Jim Weidner, Mary Jerram, Tat Marina, Scott Wilk and Charles Gray (New Zealand politician) are office holders that are similar to Alimineti Madhava Reddy. Click on their names to check out their FAQs. What is Alimineti Madhava Reddy doing now? As mentioned above, Alimineti Madhava Reddy died 19 years ago. Feel free to add stories and questions about Alimineti Madhava Reddy's life as well as your comments below. Are there any photos of Alimineti Madhava Reddy's hairstyle or shirtless? What is Alimineti Madhava Reddy's net worth in 2019? How much does Alimineti Madhava Reddy earn? According to various sources, Alimineti Madhava Reddy's net worth has grown significantly in 2019. However, the numbers vary depending on the source. If you have current knowledge about Alimineti Madhava Reddy's net worth, please feel free to share the information below. As of today, we do not have any current numbers about Alimineti Madhava Reddy's net worth in 2019 in our database. If you know more or want to take an educated guess, please feel free to do so above.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3973
__label__wiki	0.602856	0.602856	Home » Sci-Fi Audio Book Club » Hyperion Posted in Sci-Fi Audio Book Club By Marti-Pair Furxheir On June 27, 2015 “In the beginning was the Word. Then came the fucking word processor. Then came the thought processor. Then came the death of literature. And so it goes.” Hyperion is Hugo Award winning book by Dan Simmons published in 1989. It is a frame story book or other words, it is a collection of multiple independent stories told within a greater story. In Hyperion, the Earth was lost due to the Big Mistake (creation of a black hole in Russia which tore apart the Earth) and humans colonized hundred of planets and split into multiple factions. The biggest of them (The Hegemony) unified most of the worlds into the WorldWeb, a series of worlds connected via farcasters allowing instant travel between them so that one of the rivers for example, flows on all of the worlds of the Hegemony, with each segment being located between two farcaster portals. The story speaks of the last seven pilgrims making a pilgrimage toward the Time Tombs (old artefacts not built by humanity) as they are about to open on the non-connected backward world Hyperion, where they hope to meet the mystical killing machine called The Shrike, a tall being made of metal with 4 arms covered in blades and razor blades which normally is only made for killing. All while the enemies of the Hegemony, nicknamed the Ousters, are about to attack and possibly raze Hyperion. When a prime number of pilgrims make it to the Time Tombs, the Shrike, according to legend, listens to their wish, grants one and kills the other pilgrims whose wish was denied. On the way to the Time Tombs, the seven last pilgrim decide to tell their individual tales so that with the shared knowledge of why they are on the pilgrimage, they might have more information on how to survive the confrontation with the Shrike. As a result, as the 7 pilgrims travel in the fascinating Hyperion wilderness, we hear the tale of one of the last catholic Priests who came to Hyperion some years before to save a colleague and reads from that colleague’s diary, we learn how one of the most decorated colonels came to fight along side the Shrike on Hyperion several years before that after a fight with the Ousters, we also learn of the last fate of the Earth and the early colonization of Hyperion by a poet. We also learn about why the elderly Jewish scholar decided to bring his infant child on such a deadly mission and the tragic story of his daughter who suffers from the Merlin sickness and now ages in reverse, since she meant the Shrike in one of the time tombs. Sadly, after his story, the templar disappears so we fail to hear his story. We also hear the tale of Brawne Lamia, the only female adult of the group, who is a private investigator with interesting information on the Technocore, the AI group which seceded from humanity. We end the stories with the former consul of Hyperion who tells the story of Siri, the woman who instigated a rebellion quite a few years ago on the world of Maui covenant, adding his own footnotes and recent activities. The book ends with the group reaching the valley of the time tombs. Critical Review I had read Hyperion back in 1991 or 1992 and until now, this has been one of the books I had been the most divided upon. On one hand, the book is clearly a masterpiece of science-fiction: the themes are exciting and original and the universe it is set upon is one of the most diverse I have ever seen, despite the obvious lack of aliens (apart from the world of Hyperion). Most sci-fi authors introduce a single or perhaps two new concepts in their books, but Dan Simmons goes for the total: Facasters, Thought processors, Treeships, fugue state, ousters, labyrinthine worlds, the Technocore, the hegemony, the Time Tombs, the Shrike, anti-entropic fields, Merlin disease, the Hawking Drive, the cruciform, time debts, the AllThings and so many others the books might feel intimidating. But it’s not. As explained above, the book is told in 6 stories made by the pilgrims each exploring only some of the facets of the universe so that you only take in part of the world at a time. The ending was seriously too abrupt and didn’t solve much, but not all of the books have a proper ending so I tried not to be judgmental. And yet, I hated the extremely soft sci-fi in which most of the various aspects seemed eccentric only for the purpose of making the story interesting. As if the author wanted a great sci-fi book so he crammed as many mysteries so that people would marvel at his creativity. Granted, it didn’t feel like that, but once I was done, I was left with my appetite… and I was right to, for the Hyperion Cantos isn’t told in a single book, but rather in 4 distinct volumes and the remaining 3 apparently reveal the secrets to the mysteries of the first rather than just continuing on expanding them. If I had only known then that sequels were upcoming and that the direct sequel, Fall of Hyperion was already available. As it turns out, I am currently listening to that sequel so expect a review in August 2015’s edition of Preßeu Zespenat My biggest remaining problem is that many of the stories told within the story are actually told by an absent narrator and as a result, they do not feel like a discussion among the pilgrim but rather like a collection of independent short stories stitched together in a novel. For example, one of the pilgrims might reveal something pivotal to the story of another and yet, we do not see the reaction of that other character. Or one of the characters reveals a major hidden secret which would cause the other 5 (or 6) to gasp and react and nothing is shown. As for my initial impression that the book’s setting was made complex just for the purpose of having a complex story? It is already partly redeemed in the first few chapters of the sequel and I read spoilers indicating to me that perhaps, my impression was completely wrong and everything will be explained in due time. The Audio book however, shines over the book by having not a single, but rather 5 readers so that each section has it’s own voice and tone. For example, the reader playing the Poet read his part in a funny drunken tone which makes it much more alive than the other parts of the story. Of course, the readers who play a part in the stories also play them in the interludes between them so that it feels as though we have a full cast even if a few play multiple roles (or one plays all of the other characters? Sadly, I didn’t find an actual voice distribution per character). In short, I highly recommend it, even if it ends abruptly… but make sure you have access to the sequels!	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3975
__label__wiki	0.648934	0.648934	Home » Lifestyle, Health and News Articles » Nanny carrying severed head of a child arrested in Russia, police say Nanny carrying severed head of a child arrested in Russia, police say by M. Malik on February 29, 2016 in Lifestyle, Health and News Articles Russian police arrested a woman working as a nanny on suspicion of murder after she was found parading around Moscow with the severed head of a child and threatening to blow herself up near a subway entrance on Monday. A video published on YouTube, which has since been taken down, showed a woman wearing all black waving what appeared to be a child’s head while shouting in Russian, “I’m a terrorist! I want your death!” and “Allahu Akbar” outside the Oktyabrskoe Pole Field station in northwest Moscow. It took authorities more than an hour to detain the woman, who has been put in psychiatric care so physicians can evaluate her mental state, Moscow’s Investigative Committee said in a statement. CCTV footage published by Kremlin-sponsored Sputnik News showed police officers tackling the woman as what appeared to be the head fell to the ground and rolled away. Warning: The footage below may be disturbing to some viewers. A criminal investigation was launched after police responded to an apartment fire at Narodnoye Opolcheniye Street in Moscow and discovered the body of a 3- or 4-year-old child, which showed signs a violent death, the Investigative Committee said. “According to preliminary information, the child’s nanny, a citizen of one of the Central Asian states born in 1977, waited for the parents and older child to leave the flat, and then, for reasons not established, murdered the infant, set fire to the flat and fled the scene,” the Investigative Committee said. A law enforcement source identified the nanny as Gyulchekhra Bobokulova, a 38-year-old woman from Uzbekistan, according to Russia’s Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper. LifeNews, a Russian tabloid known for digging up scoops because of its close ties with security services, reported that the victim was a 4-year-old girl named Nastya M, citing police. Police first approached the woman at the entrance to the metro station to check her documents. At that point, she took the severed head out of her bag and began shouting that she would blow herself up, according to LifeNews. Russia has long feared terrorist attacks at the hands of Islamic extremists operating in the Caucasus region of the country. President Vladimir Putin has said publicly that about 2,000 Russians as many as 7,000 people from former Soviet countries are believed to be fighting with ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Earlier this month, Russia’s state security service detained seven people in the country’s Ural mountain region who were believed to be plotting to carry out terrorist attacks in Moscow, St. Petersburg and the Ural region, The Associated Press reported. Baby Moscor Murder nany russia World Submitted by M. Malik Lifestyle, Health and News Articles More Posts from M. Malik Is Stevia Safe? How to Turn “Eat Less, Move More” Into a Useful Weight Loss Action Plan The Sleep-Weight Connection How to Stay Motivated to Exercise (When You Aren’t Seeing Results Yet) Is Your Body a Toxic Waste Dump? The 25 Creepiest-Looking Animals In the world. Hello, Nightmares! You’re Not As Safe As You Think. Serial Killers Are Roaming The Streets Right Now. How One Man Is Waking Up In Russia Is Just Epic. I’m So Jealous. These 5 Uber-Famous Guys Nearly Died Before They Changed The World. 10 Of The World’s Greatest Unsolved Mysteries. I’d Never Even Heard Of #7. Is This Russia Or Winterfell? This Family Has Their Own Brood Of Pet Wolves. These Strange Items Are Banned All Over The World. I Had NO Idea. What Heaven Looks Like According To Various Religions. I Hope I Get In One. These Powerful Ads Will Change The Way You Think About The World. No Comments on "Nanny carrying severed head of a child arrested in Russia, police say"	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3976
__label__wiki	0.549464	0.549464	500 Free Pet Vaccinations & Microchips Are Available at the Lubbock Furry 500 We've been working behind the scenes to start a major pet initiative in the Hub City, and we're proud to announce our first event. The Furry 500 II Happens Saturday, Sept. 22 Local radio stations KFMX, Lonestar 99.5, 102.5 Kiss FM, Awesome 98, News/Talk 95.1 & 790 KFYO and 1340 The Fan have teamed up with the Lubbock Animal Services for a morning of FREE vaccinations and microchips. Our goal? To provide these services for up to 500 pets (cats & dogs). We believe this will be the largest one-day pet health and microchipping event ever. In other words, a possible world record. It is, at least, the largest ever planned for Lubbock. We're planning to do this from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on June 9th, 2018 at the Lubbock Civic Center, in the northwest parking lot. We'll have 10 stations where pets can be vaccinated and/or chipped. We're proud to announce the cooperation and help of other tenants of the shopping center, too. Three Dog Bakery Lubbock will have treats, doggy pools and even frozen goat's milk for the animals to cool down. Hope Urgent Care will make sure there's plenty of water. Back 40 Grill will be open with food for humans. And even CVS will be pitching in with some help. Our ultimate goal is to reduce the number of unwanted pets in Lubbock. We think the best way to start is by helping pets stay healthy and easier to return when they get lost. We hope you will spread the word to anybody and everybody that would like to help our goal of healthier and happier pets. Get Our App to Find Out About More Lubbock Events Categories: Lubbock Events, Lubbock News	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3977
__label__wiki	0.770489	0.770489	The Firm and this week's idiot It's the weekend at last!!!! Last Saturday, I thought I'd be weekend blogging and skipping Fridays for at least a while. That way I could cover a Fringe or Nikita on Saturday. But both shows are on hiatus. I'm not sure if they'll be back before April. So what I asked was for regular readers to let me know if there was some show they liked that they didn't feel was getting enough attention or that they just wanted me to weigh in on. And I also pointed out that if I didn't like it, I would say so. For my second show this week, I'm picking up The Firm. It airs NEW episodes on Saturdays on NBC during the second hour of prime time. It's based on the John Grisham novel and the movie of the same name and picks up ten or so years after. Melvin e-mailed me about this show and said he couldn't stand it until episode 5 and then it became his show. Why did he keep watching? He only gets NBC on his TV. I watched the first four when it was still on Thursday night so I caught up with the five I missed. That's where Melvin felt the show got better. And I agree with him. In the first four, there's too much set-up, too much unclear and just too much. It settles in with episode five and became, for me, really involving with episode seven. If episode nine had been the pilot, I think a lot more people would be watching the show right now. "Mike, I'd lvoe to watch but I'm not going to watch five or nine episodes." You don't have to. I'm telling you what's going on. If I'm wrong on something, it's most likely because there are a lot of mysteries still. First off, ignore the mob. I don't think they matter for this season. I think they're being set up with the hopes that in season two they can be more prominent. So ignore them. The thing to really focus on is this woman Mitch is defending who is accused of killing this old lady for a nice but not that valuable necklace. We've slowly learned -- via Mitch's brother Ray (who is an investigator) -- that the woman's claims to have not known the old woman or anything about her were lies. Ray found a computer print up the woman had done on the old lady. She was most likely targeting her. She got the info from the company files from the company she worked at. Tammy got the laptop of the woman's out of police storage. Tammy is Mitch's receptionist and Ray's girlfriend (though we now know he's going to propose as she has been hinting for him to do). She and Abby (Mitch's wife) were booting it up at the office to see what was on it. This crooked firm did a wipe on the laptop while Tammy and Abby were looking. But Tammy did manage to get a few files from it uploaded to a memory stick before it was wiped. (Everyone on the show's forgoten about that; however, I think that's going to be hugely important.) This crooked law firm? They hired Mitch. They wanted him to give up his practice but he refused. He would have given up on their offer but there was a young girl whose mother was injured for life due to a bad heart transplant and that was taking up all their time and resources as they waited for an offer so Mitche agreed to come on with the firm to help with money (to help his family with money). Mitch thought they wanted him for the heart transplant case. They wanted him for this murder case. Did the woman kill the old lady? Did she do it on company orders? What was on her laptop that had the woman heading the firm tlaking about 'options' they had with Mitch? Already a man has jumped to his death (after giving Mitch a list of numbers). There's a lot to absorb. And it's moving much faster. One thing I would have changed about the show is the timeline. It always starts close to present day -- an episode starts -- and then it falls back four weeks or six weeks ago. It should use linear or stop trying to tell every detail. So make a point to check it out tomorrow night, it's worth another chance and you may end up loving it. Now for Idiot of the Week. This was a close race but in the end John Pilger won. You may remember his sexist attacks on Hillary Clinton in 2008 (or since). Or you may remember how he demonized and lied about two women who may have been raped. Pilger finally found feminists and just so he could trash them. He's a piece of st more and more. I hope John Pilger is gay because I would hate to think a woman has to actually put up with his sexist crap day in and day out -- talk about Sleeping With The Enemy! Friday, March 9, 2012. Chaos and violence continue, Iraqi Emo youths and LGBTs remain targeted, a document said to be from the Interior Ministry explaining how to kill the LGBTs surfaces, the political crisis continues, the US Senate discussed Iraq and more. "In Iraq," US Senator John McCain declared Tuesday, "Prime Minister Maliki continues to centralize power at the expense of the other political blocs while the threat posed by al Qaeda appears to be growing along with the kinds of horrific, spectacular attacks, like the one we saw yesterday." He was referring to Monday's attack on Haditha security forces which left at least 27 dead with three more injured. Senator Carl Levin is the Chair of the Committee, McCain is the Ranking Member. General James Mattis (Commander of US Centcom) and Admiral William McRaven (Commander of the US Special Operations Command) were the witnesses appearing before the Committee. We had to hold this to cover the Veterans Affairs Committee hearings this week (and there's a House VA hearing we still didn't get to). The drawdown in Iraq is a drawdown. The military's been clear in their use of "drawdown" and "reposturing" and just as clear in the non use of the term "withdrawal." There are at least 200 US service members guarding the American Embassy in Baghdad and the various consulates. In addition, there are US service members present as "trainers." Nouri al-Maliki has publicly spoken this year -- and repeatedly -- on this issue. The number he supplies publicly is 700. You don't read that in the US newspapers. His number may be too high, it may be too low. Maybe if US newspapers weren't so busy attempting to spin and reported facts, we'd know what the number was. At this point, the only number given is Nouri's number of 700. And there are more, as US Ambassador to Iraq James Jeffrey admitted to Ted Koppel last December on NBC's Rock Center with Brian Williams. MR. KOPPEL: I realize you can't go into it in any detail, but I would assume that there is a healthy CIA mission here. I would assume that JSOC may still be active in this country, the joint special operations. You've got FBI here. You've got DEA here. Can, can you give me sort of a, a menu of, of who all falls under your control? AMB. JAMES JEFFREY: You're actually doing pretty well, were I authorized to talk about half of this stuff. In addition, the US State Dept has its largest mission in Iraq and Iraq is the mission they have militarized. There are 16,000 foreigners working for the US State Dept in Iraq -- that includes a large number of contractors. Iraq is reported badly if at all by most outlets today. You get the Josh Rogins who want to pretend they're journalists but don't want to be held to the guidelines of journalims if it interferes with them completing another page in their slam book. The US occupation of Iraq continues. It hasn't ceased. Moqtada al-Sadr grasps that. So many in the US press pretend otherwise. In addition to those US service members still in Iraq, there are the thousands stationed in the region around Iraq. General James Matthis noted to the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday that most US troops had left Iraq. General James Mattis: The question then becomes: How do we maintain our presence with a light footprint? To accomplish this, the USCENTCOM AOR will assume an increasingly maritime character with special operations forces (SOF) and strong air enablers. Naval forces -- with embarked troops -- provide presence and a cost efficient means of rapidly projecting power in a crisis to execute contingency operations. Sustained naval presence and response forces provide a lighter footprint on the ground and are vital for reassuring our partners, deterring those with malign intent and tempering destructive actors from fermenting trouble in the region. The maritime environment also permits freedom of action unfettered by international boundaries and agreements. However, the stacked Iranian threats in our AOR of ballistic missiles, long range rockets, mines, small boats, cruise missiles and submarines demand stronger naval presence and capability to protect vital sea lines of communication. The US news industry is a story of budget cuts. So Americans get less and less news from the news industry. Less and less coverage. It's much cheaper for Diane Sawyer, Scott Pelley and Brian Willaims to, for example, waste three or more minutes of airtime 'reporting' on some YouTube sensation where a pet does a trick. Pets can be house broken. News anchors, I'm not so sure. As the news industry goes for the cheap and the banal, Americans are less and less informed about what is going on due to this news failure. General James Mattis: Our successful military drawdown from Iraq puts the need to develop a new strategic relationship with the Iraqi government at the forefront of our regional policy. The Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq (OSC-I) has been established and testifies to our respect for Iraqi sovereignty. Our relationship going forward will be based on mutual respect between two sovereign nations. USCENTCOM will work to expand security cooperation activities and deepen our military-to-military ties with Iraq while helping to expand its military engagement with key regional partners. Simultaneously, we remain clear-eyed, recognizing Iran's access to and efforts to subordinate Iraq and work to counter that malign influence. OSC-I -- working under Chief of Mission authority and with the full support of USCENCOM -- is the lead proponent for executing the military component of our intent. Thank you for your fast action in support of our special authority for OSC-I and for your continued patience as we work through a successful transition. The danger from al Qaeda in Iraq is still serious and it remains capable of spectacular attacks against the people and the government there even as it takes advantage next door in Syria to mount attacks there. The Congress, the Pentagon and the State Dept continue to have to address Iraq -- that's staffing, that's budgeting. But the news media tells Americans that the mission (occupation) has ended. We'll note this exchange from the hearing. Ranking Member John McCain: General, are their strong indications that al Qaeda is making a comeback in Iraq? General James Mattis: Yes, sir. Particularly in the western Iraq area but the threat is extending into Baghdad. I think al Qaeda in Mesopatamia is both a catch-all to blame anything on and, especially for the US government and the US press, a device that allows denial. If al Qaeda in Mesopatamia is responsible, then there's no need for the US government of US press to factor in just how much US actions have resulted in a government that so many Iraqis oppose. You might also think that since the US went into a trillion dollar debt over the Iraq War -- a debt that will weigh on the country for decades to come -- the news media might continue to cover Iraq as a result of the money invested but you would be wrong. Then again, maybe the news media avoids Iraq for that reason -- don't you dare let the taxpayers know just how poorly their money was spent. Maybe that's why Senator Claire McCaskill's comments at the hearing weren't noted? Specifically when she observed, "I can give you anecdotally disasters in Iraq. In fact, I am trying to compile all the infrastructure we build in Iraq and what the status is of it today. But I think everyone knows, it's not a pretty picture. How much got blown up? How much was never utilized? How much sits crumbling? And -- and that's all an incredible amount of resources of our country that we have invested." The press is supposed to be a watchdog and provide oversight. Does it really look like that's happening today? Senator Ben Nelson: I've got a number of concerns about our presence in Iraq at the current time. I don't think that I have a clear understanding of what our mission is there. And it's further complicated by the fact that we've got questions about the new embassy which is a significant -- in terms of size -- building with a significant number of security contractors located there -- perhaps not even functioning in a security role outside of the embassy. And the embassy continues to be expanded. And I understand, perhaps, the State Dept is now in charge of establishing what our mission in Iraq is. Can you -- either of you -- help enlighten me about what our mission truly is in Iraq today? And how that might relate as well to the providing of security by contractors and the continuing expansion of a building that seems to be gargantuan in size already. General Mattis? General James Mattis: Sir, as far as our mission in Iraq, it's going from a military-led effort in Iraq over the last eight years to a State Dept-led mission under the Ambassador. There I do have a Lt. General with a small footprint on the ground, part of the Office of Security Cooperation in Iraq and they are engaged in everything from the sales of certain military equipment, providing contractor-led training, to organizing the Iraqis who want to go to military schools in the United States. We've maintained those relationships, that's what they're doing. As far as the security contractors, sir, who actually protect the embassy, those come under the US embassy, under the State Dept. But having been there recently, they're simply doing the guard duty you would expect in a high threat area. And as far as the size of the building, sir, I'm really not competent to respond on that part of the question. Senator Ben Nelson: But it is big, isn't it? General James Mattis: It's big. Senator Ben Nelson: Thank you. In trying to understand the role of the contractors there in providing security, in other embassies in other countries, are we required -- do we require ourselves to provide security or do we look to the host nation to provide security? General James Mattis: Sir, the host nation provides the external security outside the grounds. Inside the grounds, it's sovereign territory and we do that. We do that generally with contract guards, many of them are long serving guards there, and inside the building itself, you have Marine security guards. Senator Ben Nelson: Is that the way it works in Iraq? In Baghdad? General James Mattis: Yes, sir. It is. Senator Ben Nelson: The Iraqis provide the external security? General James Mattis: They do, sir. Senator Ben Nelson: And if our personnel are moving from one place to another, who provides the security? General James Mattis: That security is provided by our own -- our own contract guards. Senator Ben Nelson: What level of security would the Iraqis provide externally to the -- to the Embassy? General James Mattis: In that zone, when you go there, sir, you see that there are checkpoints set up some blocks away. They have patrols that go by. It's not just for our embassy, it's for other embassies in town as well as they provide the kind of diplomatic security that's expected around the world. Here in Washington, DC, some police men [and police women] can provide it because the threat is very low. In a place like Baghdad, prudent measures require the Iraqi army, the Iraqi police to do the security in a much more visual, obvious way. If the State Dept is now in charge of the US mission in Iraq, why are they doing reports? When they weren't in charge, through 2011, they did the "Iraq Status Report." (Click here if you never read them.) Not anymore. And why isn't the State Dept regularly briefing on Iraq. They're supposedly in charge. They are answerable to the American people. They should be required to provide regular updates. They are operating in darkness, they are cloaking their actions and it's not surprising that a senator wants questions answered as to what the mission is. (Yes, I am aware that Victoria Nuland made comments Thursday -- only when asked -- on Iraqi women. I've never seen such ill-informed remarks. And that's despite the fact that we're referring to only a few sentences. I'll address them when I can do so a bit more calmly.) (And I've noted many times that I know Robert Kagan -- and often disagree with him. Victoria and Robert are married. I know Victoria as well. Check the archives, she's gotten no special treatment as a result of that.) They're not just spending taxpayer money, they are asking for record levels of taxpayer money and they can't be open about what they're doing? That should be unacceptable to everyone. We'll note this exchange from the Tuesday hearing. Senator Scott Brown: Regarding Iraq, I am as concerned as others are about the vacuum that has been created. And, as you know, al Qaeda in Iraq has carried out more attacks this year than it did in the entire second half of last year. Do you think there's a security vacuum there since we've left or what? General James Mattis: It's not a security vacuum, Senator Brown, but it is a less capable Iraqi security force without our capabilities there. They're scrambling to try and fill in those gaps. We are working with our small footprint there to help them fill in those gaps but it is a concern, I know, for the Iraqi government and it is a concern for [US] Ambassador [James] Jeffreys. Senator Scott Brown: Alright. You think al Qaeda -- You think al Qaeda's making a comeback in Iraq? General James Mattis: Yes, sir, they are. It's not significant. It won't threaten the government. It will kill a lot of innocent people. Senator Scott Brown: And what about the favoritism in the Iraqi government for the majority Shia political party? Do you think that's fueling another insurgency potentially and does this play right into al Qaeda's hands potentially to create that instability? General James Mattis: It's not playing into al Qaeda's hands yet and I think that there has been some progress back into a political dialogue here in the last couple of weeks that I think is back on the right track. So it's -- I give you a cautious, optimistic view of this -- but it's very, very cautious at this point. Wow. Mattis offers less spin than the US press. Which is supposed to be independent? That's right the US press. But they've rushed to tell you -- especially the New York Times -- that the political crisis is over. No such thing has happened. Mattis offered his "optimistic view" and it was more fact-based than anything the New York Times has offered on the political crisis. That's great for General Mattis, good for him. But that's damn lousy for the US press. Brown and Mattis explored the political crisis. If you're the New York Times, you pretend that the political crisis kicks off on or around December 21, 2011. That's not accurate. The political crisis is ongoing and years-old. The easiest way to trace the current problems is to return to March 2010 when parliamentary elections were held and Nouri al-Maliki was unhappy with the results, stomped his feet for a recount and even after that was completed his State of Law still did not come in first. Instead, the Ayad Allawi-led Iraqiya slate came in first. Per the Constitution, President Jalal Talabani should have named Allawi the prime minister-designate and, at that point, Allawi would have had 30 days to put together a Cabinet -- failure to do so, per the Constitution, would mean Allawi's turn was over and a new prime minister-designate would be named. But Nouri used everything to hang on to his post, from the non-independent Supreme Court to the US White House. For over eight months, Nouri refused to budge. This is Political Stalemate I. It is ended in November 2010 only when the US-brokered Erbil Agreement is signed off on by all parties. The agreement puts a number of things into writing including that Nouri can remain prime minister for a second term. All the political blocs get a little something in the Erbil Agreement -- such as a referendum on Kirkuk will finally take place or Ayad Allawi will head an independent security council. But Nouri gets named prime minister-designate and Nouri immediately calls off the census of Kirkuk that had been announced and due to start in December. Nouri insists that the security council headed by Allawi will need to wait. He gets made prime minister -- moved from prime minister-designate -- on the basis of the Erbil Agreement, not on the basis on the Constitution because the Constitution required him to name a Cabinet -- not a partial one, a Cabinet. Nouri didn't do that in the 30 days, he was in violation of the Constitution and a new prime minister-designate should have been named. The White House and non-independent lackeys in the US press insisted that Nouri would soon name the empty posts. The most critical empty posts were the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of Defense and the Minister of National Security. Nouri's critics charged that he was intentionally refusing to name them because it was a power-grab on Nouri's part. Naming them -- nominating them and allowing Parliament to vote on them -- means they have power and independence. Including, but not limited to, the fact that if Nouri wants to get rid of them, he has to go through Parliament. Once they're approved by Parliament, Nouri can't fire them on his own. (As he's found out with Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq who he's been calling for to be stripped of his post since December with no luck thus far.) So who was right? The White House and the US press or Nouri's critics? It's 15 months since Nouri named his 'Cabinet' and still those three security ministries remain with no heads. It was a power grab. The National Allaince spoke candidly in February to the press stating they didn't want Nouri to name anyone to the post (State of Law is one of the components of the National Alliance, others include the Sadr bloc, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq and other Shi'ite bodies). When this caused distress among some Iraqis, the National Alliance backed off from and disowned those statements. But it was a power grab. Nouri controls three ministries that he wouldn't otherwise. These are the security ministries. As Iraq's security worse and worse over the last 15 months, it's time to grasp that this falls on Nouri. The US press and the White House insisted for months after December 2010 (when Nouri provided a partial cabinet) that Iraq needed time and then all would be well. For awhile even detractors were willing to give it another week, another month . . . Until finally, over the summer of 2011, the Kurdish bloc begins demanding that Nouri return to the Erbil Agreement. That the Erbil Agreement be implemented. This is not confusing, this is not in doubt. KRG President Massoud Barzani -- among others -- has been very vocal publicly on this issue. But the New York Times and ignore that fact. Iraqiya joined the Kurdish call. Others followed. In October 2011, Nouri's dislike for Sunnis became more pronounced. It was obvious by his treatment of the Sahwa (largely Sunni; forces who were put on the US payroll to stop attacking the US military). He refused to bring them into the process. Not just to bring them into the security forces but to bring them into the government in non-security jobs. October 2011, he began having Sunnis arrested throughout the country and Tikrit was among the areas. He lied and claimed he had intel from Libya. There was going to be an attempted coup, he inisted. Insisted? Try confessed. If Freud got anything right, it was the criminal's compulsion to confess. Nouri was carrying on a coup against Sunnis. A large portion of the arrested were college professors. Sunni ones. They're now out of jobs. Even the many who've been released (supposedly all are in the process of being released). They haven't just been replaced with Shi'ites, they've been replaced with fundamentalists who now carry out attacks on Iraqi students. (The efforts to control Iraqi youths are typical moves by a despot in any authoritarian regime.) While Nouri's slate (as well as his political party Dawa) are Shi'ite, Iraqiya was a mixing. It is Sunni, it is Shi'ite (Allawi himself is Shi'ite), it is Turkmen and much, much more. And that's what Iraqis voted into first place in the March 2010 elections. As with the provincial elections the year before, the 2010 elections saw Iraqis rejecting sectarianism and reaching for a national identity instead. The White House, Barack Obama, refused to honor the wishes and will of the Iraqi people and the political crisis is the fault of the White House. Nouri and Barack posed and preened for the cameras in December 2011, claiming success in the 'new' Iraq. Reality would be visible by the end of the week when Nouri returned to Baghdad, ordered troops to patrol the homes of Iraqiya members -- tanks circled the homes -- he began attacking Iraqiya members publicly. December 21st, while Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi was in the KRG (Kurdistan Regional Government -- three provinces which are semi-autonomous and free from Baghdad's control), Nouri al-Maliki issued an arrest warrant against al-Hashemi claiming the vice president was a terrorist. al-Hashemi has remained in the KRG where he has been a guest of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and KRG President Massoud Barzani. The KRG has refused to hand him over to Baghdad. Tareq al-Hashemi has asked that the trial be moved to Kirkuk noting he did not believe he could get a fair trial in Baghdad. Last month, when 9 members of the Baghdad judiciary held a press confrence to announce he was guilty, they demonstrated al-Hashemi's was correct when he asserted he wouldn't receive a fair trial. (Guilt is determined at the conclusion of a trial, it is not determined by judges before the trial even starts.) As AP and AFP noted Sunday, Nouri was again demanding al-Hashemi be handed over to him. Tuesday, the Oman Tribune noted that al-Hashemi told Al Hurra he had no plans to leave the KRG and quoted him stating, "I will stay in Kurdistan unless Kurdistan says that the status of Hashemi is causing us embarrassment." Though the New York Times pretends it's nothing, this political crisis is not a minor thing. As Daniel J. Graeber (Oil Price) obsereves, it's even effecting the oil industry, "Baghdad announced triumphantly this week that oil production increased to more than 3 million barrels per day for the first time in more than 30 years. Exports, the government said, should increase substantially once a new floating oil terminal starts operations later this week. The IEA in December said crude oil production in Iraq could reach an average of 4.36 million bpd by 2016, about half of what Riyadh produces. The agency warned, however, that Iraq's fractured political system might be as much of an obstacle as anything." How do you resolve the crisis? Starting December 21st, Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujfafi and President Jalal Talabani began calling for a national conference. Instead of supporting the call, Nouri dragged his feet. Now he's insisted that the Arab Summit (scheduled to kick off in Baghdad on March 29th) had to be the focus and everything else must be put on hold. It's another delaying tactic on the part of Nouri. Meanwhile Al Mada reports that the Sadr bloc is insisting Iraqiya should not raise the issue of the political crisis at the summit. Apparently the Sadr bloc is under the mistaken impression that the Arab neighbors are ignorant of what's been going on in Iraq for months? Al Mada also reports that Iraqiya's current position is that it will raise the political crisis at the summit. Today Dan Littauer (Gay Star News) reports this morning, that's one of the ways Iraq's LGBTs, Emos and suspected LGBTs and Emos are being killed -- approximately 100 of them since the start of February is by beaten with concrete blocks. Littauer notes that another popular way of targeting them for death is "pushing [them] off the tops of high buildings." Littauer reports: The report from the local LGBTQ activist indicates that Jaish Al-Mahdi (Mahdi Army) and Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq (League of the Righteous) are at least partially responsible for the murders. An anonymous official in Sadr city's municipal council affirmed that some people are recruited by extremist armed militias who carry lists stored in their phones with the names of emo youths and LGBTQ people to be murdered. It has also emerged that some officials are actually behind the killings. Colonel Mushtaq Taleb Muhammadawi, director of the community police of the Iraqi Interior Ministry, stated on 6 February that they had observed the so-called Satanists and emos. He added that the police have an official approval to eliminate emo people because of their 'notorious effects' on the community. The colonel declared to Iraq News Network that: 'Research and reports on the emo phenomenon has been conducted and shared with the Ministry of Interior which officially approves the measures to eliminate them. 'The Ministries of Education and Interior are taking this issue seriously and we have an action plan to "eradicate them". I will be leading the project myself and we have the necessary permits to access all schools in the capital,' added the colonel, thus possibly indicating at the very least Iraqi state complicity with the massacres. It should be noted that Nouri al-Maliki is the one bringing the League of Righteous into the current political process. Margaret Griffis (Antiwar.com) adds, "The Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq warns of a surge in anti-gay attacks across Iraq, particularly in Basra and Baghdad. The attacks, which began in early February, have left at least 42 dead, according to the women's rights group. Militia groups have publicly posted threatening messages and even lists of suspected homosexuals to target. Many of the victims were tortured before their deaths. It is unclear if their deaths went unreported in regular news reports." While many are silent, As Sheikh (Dar Addustour) takes on the issue of the attacks on the Emo youth. He notes a lot of the fear is based upon people not knowing what Emo is and that the media can assist in times like these by not falling back on silence but by clarifying what is taking place. He notes the variety of things Emo youth have been confused with -- including Satanists and vampires -- and how that alarms further. He points out that the hair and clothes are styles and the may be momentary fads or something longer lasting. He points out that you don't kill someone ("some young innocent") because you don't like the way they dress and that there is no blessing granted for murdering someone for those sort of reasons. Meanwhile Kitabat notes that the Interior Ministry is declaring there have been no deaths and this is all a media creation. That would be the same Ministry of Interior that, please note, was declaring earlier this week that Emo was the number one threat to Iraq. Guess someone got the message about how badly this was making Iraq look to the rest of the world? Now the still headless ministry (Nouri never appointed a minister to head it) wants to insist that it is only a small number of Iraqi youth who are even into Emo. The ministry insists that the only truth on the subject of Emo is that which the government tells. But the Parliament's Security and Defense Commission also spoke to the media on Thursday and they spoke of the discovery of 15 corpses of young Iraqis -- Emos or thought to be -- discovered in one Baghdad neighborhood. Activist Hanaa Edwar also speaks of the large number of Iraqi Emo youths being targeted. Al Mada notes the Parliament committee stated that the security forces have failed to protect the Emo youth. Dar Addustour reports that activists Mohammed al-Kazimi has pointed out that the constitution of Iraq guarantees Iraqis the right to freedom of expression and that Emo youth are not unconstitutional. Instinct magazine publishes what may be a document from the Ministry of the Interior giving the orders to kill Iraq's LGBTs and they interview Iraqi Ali Hili who now lives in England and remembers a time when he was able to live in Iraq without fear: When the US and UK invaded Iraq. That ended the secular state of Iraq, and turned it into a very "dark ages", fanatical, religious period for Iraq. They brought us a Shi'ite government whose ideology is imported from Iran, they adopted their lifestyle strategy and cultural habits, and they tried to impose this on Iraq's society. In today's violence, an Anbar clash left 4 dead, and 1 person was kidnapped in Kirkuk Turning back to the US, yesterday the Secretary of the Army, John McHugh, appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee. That was an interesting hearing but we're just going to quickly grab some figures McHugh provided. Specifically, he noted that "less than one-half of 1 percent of Americans [currently] serve in the Army [. . .]. Over one million soldiers and Department of the Army Civilians served courageously in Iraq. [. . .] Their heroic actions earned 8,238 awards for valor, including 408 Silver Stars and 16 Distinguished Services Crosses. Two Medals of Honor were awarded posthumously to Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith and Private First Class Ross A. McGinnis." Scott Weakley tells Denver's 9News (link is text and video), "It isn't like you're in a Humvee where you can name the date, time and route you were on. With these post-deployment lung disorders veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are getting, we don't know [where they are coming from]." The former army Major spent 22 years in the military, he did marathons when not deployed, after his last deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, he returned to home to discover marathons were out and even trying for a half mile was impossible. Tests on his lungs reveal that they "are damaged, constricted and scarred" and that both together now function as if they are "just half of one." Weakley is among many who suffer from exposure to burn pits and he's trying to raise awareness on this issue. National Jewish Health is currently studying the issue and Dr. Cecile Rose is leading the study into exposure to "burn pits, desert dust and extreme humidity." Rosie Torres: It wasn't the military it was the contractors that were running those burn pits. Everything was burned. I mean, amputated body parts, unused pharmaceuticals, batteries, tanks, you name it. Everything was burned there. Because I asked him, I said, "Well didn't you notice?" He's like, "No, no, I have pictures. I've seen the smoke, it's there, but when we ask questions, it's like, no everything's fine, everything's safe." Because they were told that too. So it never dawned on them. He was like, "We were just there to fulfill our mission. We weren't there to ask about smoke, you know?" It would go through the mess hall like when they were eating. The plume would just sort of hang all over. Like the air conditioner unit, would come in through there. There was like no escaping it, it was everywhere. What people fail to realize is that invisible wounds aren't just PTSD, I mean it's now toxic exposure too. Rosie Torres is the wife of Iraq War veteran Leroy Torres and, like Scott Weakley, Leroy Torres was deployed fit and healthy and came back to the US with multiple health issue. Kelly Gustafson and Kristen Kellar (Medill Reports, link is text and audio -- Rosie Torres' comments above are from the audio) report: When Torres lost both of his jobs -- he was a captain in the Army Reserve and a Texas state trooper -- because of his ailments, his wife made the march to Washington. There, she fought to create a national registry that could link long-term health problems with burn pits in the future. "We need to make every legislator aware of our cause. These soldiers are from every state," Torres said. "I think what people fail to realize is invisible wounds aren't just PTSD, it's toxic exposure, too." Torres rallied congressional support from Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) and Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.). While the bill sits in front of the Committee of Veterans Affairs, Torres has started an online registry that is tracking more than 500 soldiers. And you can find out more information at Burn Pits 360. rock center with brian williams gay star news dan littauer margaret griffis dar addustour as sheikh al mada medill reports kelly gustafson kristen kellar Posted by Mikey Likes It! at 11:00 PM Links to this post Thursday. A few e-mailed wondering if I was harsh on Martin Sheen? (Several e-mailed to agree with me.) Those whose names I recognized got an e-mail from me asking if they were Catholic? They weren't. I am. I have no problem judging Martin Sheen by the liberation theology he promotes (I believe in it as well). And if you're Catholic, you know Martin does a lot of things for the Church and Church related groups that factored into my comments. Now Gus and Lana both e-mailed to ask if I'd take a look at Happy Endings? Sure, as Gus points out, I love to laugh. It's a very funny show that airs on ABC each Wednesday night. The characters are Alex and Dave -- two mopey characters who broke up. (Alex is more of an airhead and less mopey than she was last season.) Penny is the friend who grew up with Dave next door (their families are friends). No interest in Dave except as a brother. (Alex was engaged to Dave and left him at the alter in the first episode of the season.) Max lives with Dave and is friends with him and Jane's husband. Damon Wayans Jr. plays Jane's husband but I'm trying to remember the character's name. Give me a second. Max is gay. And a big slob. I think everyone who watches identifies with Max -- gay or straight, male or female. We've all got a lot of Max in us. Lana wanted me to know that Joshua Lyon "is the first person to get that Max is so different from any gay male on TV before. And he is! I really love Max for a number of reasons but one is because he's so different than the usual stereotype." So Joshua Lyon wrote "Happy Endings Is the Most Important Gay Show on TV Right Now" which was published December 14, 2011? Wow, he's so smart to catch something everyone else missed, he must be the smartest -- Wait, what what? Ava and C.I. wrote "TV: Exploding a stereotype" and did so when? Oh, yes, April 17th. Of 2011! The show had just come on and they picked up what Lana thinks Joshua Lyon was the first to discover. Sorry, Lana, as usual, Ava and C.I. were the first on the scene. They lead, everyone else follows. Jane is a big surprise. First, she looks better this season. (Last night's episode is the only one I've seen this season.) I asked Elaine why and she said, "She shaped her eyebrows and found a color for them." She did. (Or the actress did.) She's very pretty this year. And she is married to Brad (Damon's character). Jane is also Alex's sister. Brad and Jane have a great relationship because they are each other's book end. The only way the show could go bad, in my opinion, would be if it attempted to break them up for a little bit like happened with Paul and Jamie on Mad About You. Brad and Jane are made for each other. And without Jane, I doubt Brad would be as happy go lucky as he is. And he's really happy and positive. He's probably the most positive of all the characters. Max is morose. Jane is planned happy in that she forces herself to be happy and sometimes makes herself miserable in the process (like when she looked up the teenager who started out as Jane's donated egg). Penny wants to be happy but life just isn't cooperating. Alex is in her own little world. Probably Dave and Alex will get back together. Dave's a big improvement over last season (this is only the second season). Last year he was the ultimate sad sack. And, yes, he got left at the alter but no one wanted to see all that whining. And it made it hard for you to like Alex, whom you were also just meeting, since she was the one who left him at the alter and made him so miserable. Last night, the two of them had sex. And Alex woke up and thought, "What did I do!!!!" She fled from the apartment. Dave told Brad. I could spin you and not let you know that Alex told Jane. But I won't do that. Suffice is to say, Jane likes to fk with Brad's mind by creating things they did that never happened and convincing him that they did happen. So she makes up all this supporting evidence to prove Alex was with her and Brad watching Mama Mia so she couldn't have slept with Dave. But Brad and Dave catch the one flaw in Jane's plan and she's forced to confess. Then Brad's hurt and really sad and Jane's offering him everything to get him to forgive her. And Brad tells us -- as we should have known -- that this is how he manipulates Jane. See they're always like that, two of a kind. Max and Penny had to win a contest (and did) based on Chicago movies and clues. Dave told Alex they didn't sleep together which was his way of letting her out of whatever might have happened to them as a result of them sleeping together. Thursday, March 8, 2012. Chaos and violence continue, Josh Rogin is an embarrassment whore and Foreign Policy is not about journalism, Iraqi women reject the government spin, the US Congress hears about burial issues, was Dennis Kucinich's Tuesday loss a great blow to the left, and more. In 2009 and 2010, US House Rep John Hall was the Chair of the House Veterans Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and memorial Affairs. With others on the Subcommittee, including former US House Rep Steve Buyer, they raised many important issues. We'll drop back to September 24, 2009 to note one example: During the first panel, US House Rep Steve Buyer opened with a visual display showing various cemeteries. Normandy American Cemetery, Arlington National Cemetery, Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. These were "beautiful" and up to standard. He then went to a national cemetery run by the Department of the Interior, Andersonville National Cemetery. Pointing to the dingy, dirty headstones, "This should not matter that this is the marker of someone who died in the Civil War. It shouldn't matter. It shouldn't matter if it was someone who died in the Revolution or someone who died that's interned in Mexico City." He then "So when you said in your testimony that you gently, finely clean the markers, well that's going to take you a lot of time. This is not a standard for which we should have in America. I think Mr. Cleland, if you saw that in one of yours, you would just freak out." Buyer explained that he complained about the weeds and the result was they pulled out everything, including the grass. If you can't take the heat and embarrassment from the shoddy work noted above, what do you do? Maybe you do like the National Park Service did too and skip a Congressional hearing. The Subcommittee Chair noted that they were invited but they decided they wouldn't attend today. The first panel was made up of government officials who were willing to attend, the Veteran Affairs Dept's Steven Muro (Under Secretary for the National Cemetery Administration), the Pentagon's Kathryn Condon (Executive Director of Army and National Cemeteries Program) and the American Battle Monuments Commissions' Deputy Secretary Raymond Wollman. In the 2010 mid-terms, control of the House flipped to the Republicans and some House members chose not to seek re-election and others did not win their re-election races (that applies to Buyer and Hall). US House Rep Jon Runyan is now the Chair of the Subcommittee and Jerry McNerney is the Ranking Member. Chair Jon Runyan: We are here today to examine the current state of our final resting place for our nation's heroes. These cemeteries and monuments span across our country and the entire world: from my own District in New Jersey with Beverly National Cemetery; to across the Atlantic in Normandy, France; or across the Pacific with Clarke Veterans Cemetery in the Philipines. Some of these cemeteries instantly bring to mind the triumph of courage in conflicts fought around the globe for liberty and freedom. Others hold memories of bravery now known only to God and those who died on the field of battle. Others hold memories of bravery now known only to God and those who died on the field of battle. Yet each one of these national shrines has this in common: They are all honored tributes to our service men and women now resting in peace. He would go on to explain that audits reveal more than "240 mismarked or unmarked graves and 8 veterans or their loved ones buried in the wrong place. Again, this was not a failing of just one national cemetery, but at 13 NCA cemeteries nationwide. Ladies and gentlemen, there is a pattern here and I find it totally unacceptable." The following exchange was typical of the responses offered in the hearing. Chair Jon Runyan: I want to start with Under Secretary Muro. Currently NCA is performing 39 raise and realignment projects. Could you discuss what is being done to make sure the problems related to the prior raise and realignment projects are not repeated? Steven Muro: Thank you for the question, sir. The first thing we've done is ensure that the headstones are not taken from the grave sight. So they're maintained on the grave sight. The second thing is we're requiring the COR -- which is the Contracting Officer's Representative at the site -- to do a daily check at the end of the day at the site before they leave to ensure that the headstones are on the correct grave sight. Chair Jon Runyan: Were you able to identify all of the contractors who were involved in all of the previous raise and realignment projects where the errors occurred that actually uncovered and started this national audit. Steven Muro: Yes, we were able to uncover the contractors that had done the work. Some of them had done multiple cemeteries and we didn't have an issue at other cemeteries but we were able to identify them. Chair Jon Runyan: That -- And what are you doing to ensure that none of these -- none of these contractors involved during the initial errors are involved in the future raise and realignments? And are you going to reach out to the same ones or do we have to make sure that obviously we have the system of checks and balances and that in there? Because, I mean, rewarding bad behavior sometimes becomes, unfortunately, a bad pattern around here. Steven Muro: Two things we've done. Some of them didn't rebid other contracts. But the ones that have? We have been watching them at the other cemeteries where they didn't have problems. Plus, if they have a site now, we're making sure that they're doing it -- Chair Jon Runyan: So you're still -- you're still offering them? Steven Muro: Unfortunately, if they did an error and we didn't catch it, it became our responsibility once they left and we signed off on it. So that's where we're holding our employees accountable for that issue. Chair Jon Runyan: But you're still offering the same contractors -- Steven Muro: Actually, most of the contractors that did the first rounds aren't in the business anymore. A lot of them couldn't keep up with the standard that we set and have not rebid their contracts. Chair Jon Runyan: What is the process of accountabily once personnel are identified who directly led to some of the failings uncovered by the national audit? Steven Muro: Whenever -- Whenever an aerror is found at the national cemeteries, it's reported up through the chain and then we -- we double check to make sure everything they think they found, we do ask differet questions to verify. Then when we are sure that it is an error, we make sure we advise Congress of the error and this committee. And we also work with the families, we contact the families -- where there are families available -- and we talk to the families. If it's just the headstone, once we move it -- We advise them before we move it and after we've moved it that it's been corrected. And then if it's cremated remains or a body that needs to be relocated -- the eight that we did, we contact the family and we have a funeral director there. If the family wishes us to use the original funeral director there -- if they're still in business we do. Otherwise we hire a local one from the area. Chair Jon Runyan: But to the personal accountability, there's nothing being done there? Steven Muro: Yes, there is. We're holding those employees there are still employed there accountable for the error and for not catching the error. Chair Jon Runyan: You have any examples of that? Steven Muro: We're in the process of doing the investigation to take the appropriate adminstrative action on those employees. If you're not feeling like accountability is taking place, you're not alone. Runyan's expressions throughout were often of disbelief. And what of Ranking Member Jerry McNerney? He noted that this was a follow up to the September 24, 2009 hearing and he would also note that "the value of the current $300 burial allowance and $300 plot allowance for qualifying veterans has diminished as funeral and burial costs have increased -- negatively affecting the survivors left behind." He is correct. However, if you go back to our snapshot of that Septemeber 24, 2009 hearing, one of the first things you'll find is this: "Subcommittee Chair Hall also noted that the VA's $300 for a funeral plot and $300 for burial does not begin to cover the costs." This was known in 2009. It's three years later. Why has this not been addressed? One new detail that did come up was when the Department of Defense's Kathyrn Condon informed the Subcommittee that the average wait time is 98 days for the burial of a veteran not killed in action. 98 days seems like a very long time. Back in 2009, then public editor of the New York Times Clark Hoyt weighed in on the issue of anonymous sources. He noted that the paper's "policy says anonymous sources should be used only as 'a last resort when the story is of compelling public interest and the information is not available any other way'." Does Foreign Policy not have a policy on anonymous sourcing? "This is tough enough without paid advocates making it worse" is what Josh Rogin presents "one official" in the government telling him. Are there any standards at Foreign Policy. Is Josh Rogin just allowed write any damn thing? He's now, yet again, attacking Camp Ashraf and this time he's gong after their public supporters. And the poor little White House and State Dept are just so so so worn down by these awful, awful advocates. Not only was the quote unneeded, not only did it violate the basic policies (in journalism) on anonymous sourcing, it also part of yet another catty attack on Camp Ashraf from someone who's been allowed to launch many already. Here's another reality for Josh Rogin: If the United Nations is monitoring Camp Liberty -- where some residents of Camp Ashraf are being relocated -- then you talk to the UN to confirm that. Unless you're a an idiot, you do not run with this, "While there are some legitimate problems at the camp, the ["Obama administration"] official admitted, the U.N. has been monitoring Camp Liberty's water sewage, and food systems on a daily basis and the condtions are better than the MEK is portraying." How the hell is that sourcing? Did Josh ever get his work fact checked? Or did the little punk cry and piss his briefs to get his way with every editor he ever had? The White House is not monitoring by that statement; therefore, the White House cannot tell you what is or isn't going on. If you want to talk -- on the record or off -- about what the UN has found, you go to a UN source. This is basic. And what Josh has offered is bullst. If you doubt it, this section of his 'report' is a character attack and you don't allow anonymous officials to launch character attacks: "The Americans who ought to know better and claim to be on the side of good solutions are really damaging it. Either they are too lazy or too arrogant to actually do their homework. They don't spend the time to learn facts, they just pop off. They accept the MEK line without question and then they posture," the official said. "We have a plan that has a chance to work and the Iraqis want it to work. The MEK ... it's not clear. And in this situation they are being badly advised by the people whose names appear in these ads." I know Howard Dean, Wesley Clark, Patrick Kennedy, Ed Rendell, John Lewis and Evan Bayh. (I know Lee Hamilton but I loath him.) They're among the public advocates for Camp Ashraf residents to be treated fairly. It's strange because I spoke to two about this little 'report' from Joshy Posh and, thing is, he didn't try to get a comment from them. He just, like a good little whore, wrote down what the government wanted him to write down -- no questions asked. Whores don't ask questions, they just take your money. The White House has refused to honor international law. Last week, we called out Hillary for making an idiot of herself and the US terrorist list by stating that whether or not Camp Ashraf residents were taken off that list would depend upon how they 'behaved' as the Iraqi government relocated them -- the same government that's already twice attacked them and -- as the United Nations publicly acknowledges -- the same government that's killed at least 49 Camp Ashraf residents. No, that's not how you determine terorrism. If Josh Rogin weren't such a little whore, he'd be writing about that, he'd be pursuing that. Instead, he launches another attack on a group of people who are defenseless. And, at some point, the argument's going to be made -- and I could do it right now and do it in terms of the law -- that Camp Ashraf residents aren't on the terrorist list. The MEK is. The MEK is on it for activites that don't involve Camp Ashraf. When that argument gets made, the White House has even less to hide behind. Somehow the State Dept refusing to comply with a court order from 2010 to conduct and complete a review of the status of the MEK isn't a concern to a whore like Josh Rogin. It's not even worth mentioning to him. Camp Ashraf residents are protected under international law, that's reality. Josh Rogin doesn't have to like them, doesn't have to support whatever it is they support. All he has to do is recognize the law. Once he does that he can respect or reject the law. But there is nothing in his mental midget ditherings to ever imply, infer or openly suggest that the idiot knows the first thing he's writing about. But he's so very good at working in every point the White House wants made. Here's what so damn embarrassing about Josh Posh's latest crap-fest, the White House is complaining that citizens -- that's what Howard Dean and company are -- are being active in politics. They're using their First Amendment rights. And that's what has the White House bitching, whining and moaning. They need to grow the hell up. In a democracy, what they're facing right now should happen on every issue and if they hadn't dragged their feet on this issue, maybe they wouldn't be fighting such a strong push now. It's hard to tell when Josh is lying because he's so damn stupid. But at one point, when he's listing the 'paid advocates' and their activities, he goes off about sitting in on Congressional hearings. Those aren't paid advocates and that didn't start this year, it didn't start last year. It's been going on forever and maybe if Josh Rogin didn't take swallow everything the White House sticks in his mouth, he'd know that. Then again, maybe not. As I said, it's always had to tell when he's lying or when he's just showing how very stupid he is. I've noted this before, I'll note it again before someone wonders, I have not received any money from Camp Ashraf or MEK or anything to do with them. I don't take money for things like that. I don't take money period. I don't take money for speaking -- I pay my own travel, I pay my own lodging. Nor do I speak on behalf of Camp Ashraf. The law is the law and who knew Foreign Policy would decide that international law wasn't to be respected? Today was International Women's Day. Salam Faraj (AFP) reports that Iraqi women refused to be silent puppets in their government's attempt to distort the record and use them as props. While the Baghdad-government attempted to spin, Iraqi women gathered together for their own conference. Hanaa Edwar was among the brave women gathered to tell the truth and she tells AFP, "Iraqi women suffer marginalisation and all kinds of violence, including forced marriages, divorces and harassment, as well as restrictions on their liberty, their education, their choice of clothing, and their social life." It's an important article and, if you use any link in this snapshot, please use that link. We covered International Women's Day this morning. The only thing to add to that is that Iraqi women are very strong and it's shame they have to be so strong yet again. Their countries been attacked so many times, they've had to live through crippling sanctions, the US-picked ruler does nothing to improve the lives of Iraqis (via jobs or basic services) and the US assisted the "brain drain" -- where large portions of Iraq's educated class left the country -- by installing and building up theocratic thugs. Not only that, the US government actively sought to undercut Iraqi women when the country's Constitution was being written. On top of all that, they have to deal with bombings, with shootings, with threats, with the never-ending attacks just for being a woman. That they get up each day and start the struggle all over is a testatment to their spirit and strength and they are surely (once again) making the country a better place for their children. Hopefully, when their children are adults, the US will not again attack Iraq in an illegal war thereby destroying all the hard earned progress these women are and will be making possible. They are Iraq's heart and soul, its leaders and its dreamers. Today's violence included a rocket attack on Kirkuk's air base, a Kirkuk sticky bombing claimed 1 life and 1 soldier and 1 bystander shot dead in Ninewa. Turning to the US, Tuesday in Ohio, US House Reps Dennis Kucinich and Marcy Katpur faced off against one another in a primary. Both incumbent Democrats ended up in the same district due to redistricting. Only one could run for a spot representing the newly designed district in November. Marcy won the primary and will go on to compete for the vote this fall. Dennis cannot represent Ohio now althogh there are rumors he might attempt to run in Washington state. Marcy and Dennis both represented their constitutents. In what follows, we're not discussing Dennis Kucinich as "your Congress member" but as the national politician -- a spot he actively sought. Theo Anderson (In These Times) wonders who the next Dennis will be and thinks/hopes it will be US House Rep Tammy Badlwin. I would hope not. I was not impressed with National Dennis. National Dennis did vote against the 2002 Iraq Authorization and applause for that. But so what? Did he filibuster to end the war? No. In 2008, former US Senator Mike Gravel would repeatedly explain how you can filibuster to stop the authorization vote for the war spending. Dennis didn't do that. Did he do anything? He spoke. Often and well. Little else. In 2004, he ran for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. This is, as Rebecca's explained many times, is why I truly do not care for National Dennis. After he failed to make much of a dent in terms of votes, he assured his supporters he would make an impact on the platform and on the convention and blah blah blah. Rebecca and I were at the 2004 DNC convention and dealt with the saddest non-physically injured person at a convention we've ever seen -- a Kucinnich supporter who couldn't believe Dennis would sell them out. Dennis did what was best for Dennis. That's all he ever did. Paul D'Amato (International Socialsit Review) analyzed Kucinich's sell-out of beliefs and principals and, yes, supporters at the 2004 DNC convention and concluded: This is indeed the role of all left-leaning Democratic candidates. George McGovern in 1968 and Jesse Jackson in 1988, to mention a couple, did the same thing: corraling millions of votes by making a Left or populist appeal, and then handing those votes to the centrist party choice at convention time. The process is predictable. First the Left-Democrat presents his candidacy as one that can push the party to the Left and pressure it to take on issues it otherwise would not. Then, on the fateful convention day, it is revealed that the dynamic is actually the opposite: the party co-opts the Left, drags it to the right, and neuters it. In the end, it has absolutely no influence on the party's platform or trajectory. All the talk about campaigning for the Democrat as being "part of the movement" for labor rights, against war, for women's rights, and so on, is revealed to be a lie. The truth is that backing the Democrat is aimed at defusing the fight for a genuine alternative. Those who realize this become demoralized and depressed, and when the next presidential election roles around, a new crop of enthusiasts are found who can be convinced that this is the "most important election of your lifetime," and the whole process begins again. It is a seamless trap. This is a textbook case of how to kill any attempt to build a third-party alternative that really represents working-class interests. The Mariah Williamses are right to believe that we have virtually one pro-corporate party. And it is the job of the Dennis Kuciniches to make sure that the Mariah Williamses fail to break from that party by wagging a left tail behind the mainstream dog. That was 2004. Then came his attempt to run for the 2008 Democratic Party presidential nomination. And we treated him fairly here (check the archives) despite the fact that I can't stand National Dennis. He was the peace candidate, he swore. But right from the start, he proved it wasn't a real campaign. Before the caucus vote in Iowa, well before it, he was telling his supporters to vote for Barack Obama. They would support Dennis in the first round and then go over to Barack. Mike Gravel was a peace candidate. You could make the case that Bill Richardson or John Edwards were. But Barack Obama had voted for every Iraq War measure that came before him. And Dennis knew it. So it was offensive that way. It was also offensive in the "I release you minions" manner. But what it really did was demonstrate that Dennis wasn't a real candidate. You don't do that if you're a real candidate. And Dennis had sworn he was going to fight for every vote. Then he wanted to whine that the networks were excluding him. You competed in Iowa by giving your supporters away to another campaign. You're not a real candidate. The networks were under no obligation to cover him. I love Rosenne Barr. But with her announcing that she wants Jill Stein to win the Green Party nomination, that says to me, "You're not a real candidate." And that's fine. But time is limited as are resources and there's no reason to cover candidates who aren't trying to win the nomination. It short changes those who actually are trying to run. There have been many key issues since Barack Obama was sworn in as US President in January 2009. One of them was ObamaCare. The US needs to address health care. From the left, many of us believe the only way to control costs is to supply universal, single-payer health care and the easiest way to get that is to lower the age for Medicare. (You can raise the age on CHIPS and other state programs that cover children.) If you do not have the guts or the votes to go to single-payer system immediately, you go incremental with Medicare lowering the age ten years. You up the age for the children's health programs and pretty soon you're dealing with a 15 or 20 year gap and, of course, it is only fair to everyone that those people be covered so you do one more incremental and you've basically got everyone covered. That's simple and you're not selling the American people on a new plan, you're just expanding one that already has a strong record of serving seniors. That's nothing like what Barack proposed. Though he used the buzzword "universal health care" at the DNC in Denver in 2008, he wasn't going to provide that and he hasn't. What did he do? Prior to ObamaCare, you could purchase insurance or not. Now you have to puchase it. He pushed a law the Congress passed (which hopefully the Supreme Court will toss out) forces all Americans to buy insurance. It turns you into consumers of the insurance companies, it leads you like lambs to slaughter. It is of no help to anyone. Strangely enough, when Mitt Romeny pulled this crap as governor, my own local Pacifica, KPFA, couldn't shut up about how wrong that was. Despite the fact that we're in the Bay Area of California and what Massachusetts does really shouldn't be our biggest concern. But damned if Philip Maldari and the rest couldn't let go of this story and what a fraud and rip-off it was. Strangely enough when Barack pimps it, KPFA will not allow critics of the plan on the air to voice the exact same arguments they did when RomneyCare passed. What does this have to do with Dennis? National Dennis wanted -- and got -- national news stories when he vowed he would not vote for ObamaCare. And in November 2009, he voted "no" and issued a press release which included the following: We have been led to believe that we must make our health care choices only within the current structure of a predatory, for-profit insurance system which makes money not providing health care. We cannot fault the insurance companies for being what they are. But we can fault legislation in which the government incentivizes the perpetuation, indeed the strengthening, of the for-profit health insurance industry, the very source of the problem. When health insurance companies deny care or raise premiums, co-pays and deductibles they are simply trying to make a profit. That is our system. "Clearly, the insurance companies are the problem, not the solution. They are driving up the cost of health care. Because their massive bureaucracy avoids paying bills so effectively, they force hospitals and doctors to hire their own bureaucracy to fight the insurance companies to avoid getting stuck with an unfair share of the bills. The result is that since 1970, the number of physicians has increased by less than 200% while the number of administrators has increased by 3000%. It is no wonder that 31 cents of every health care dollar goes to administrative costs, not toward providing care. Even those with insurance are at risk. The single biggest cause of bankruptcies in the U.S. is health insurance policies that do not cover you when you get sick. "But instead of working toward the elimination of for-profit insurance, H.R. 3962 would put the government in the role of accelerating the privatization of health care. In H.R. 3962, the government is requiring at least 21 million Americans to buy private health insurance from the very industry that causes costs to be so high, which will result in at least $70 billion in new annual revenue, much of which is coming from taxpayers. This inevitably will lead to even more costs, more subsidies, and higher profits for insurance companies -- a bailout under a blue cross. And despite that when it was time to vote in March 2010, despite vowing he would stay a firm no, Dennis took a plane ride with Barack and suddenly changed his vote. Jeff Zeleny and Robert Pear (New York Times) noted his Mach 17, 2010 announcement that he would vote "yes" for it and that, "In an interview five days ago, Mr. Kucinich said he could not support the legislation and dismissed suggestions that his vote would derail the Democratic health care agenda." That is Dennis Kucinich. Dennis talks a big game but in the end he always does what's best for himself. How is it a loss not to have Dennis in the House of Representatives? (Again, he served his constitutents very well. I'm speaking of National Dennis.) Isn't this 'talk big but have no spine' exactly why many of us on the left were upset with a large number of Democrats? Didn't we hate seeing them cave in over and over? What did Dennis accomplish either them getting national press for himself -- press that often portrayed him as a joke? When he raised serious issues -- no, not his lawsuit against the Congressional cafe, think the remarks about Barack's Libyan War being in violation of the War Powers Act -- he was kooky Dennis. How much did he undermine the right positions just by supporting them? That's a serious question and someone should seriously explore it. He voted against the Iraq War. He was a critics of the Iraq War. That's all you can say. He didn't use his office to end the war. Time and again, he caved and, time and again, he provided cover for the most craven acts of the Democratic Party. I'm sorry that Dennis and Marcy had to go up against each other. But this idea that the US Congress just lost Russ Feingold isn't accurate. Russ did stand up and Russ made serious arguments and conducted himself in a serious manner so that when he took a stand -- like opposing the PATRIOT Act -- it registered as something other than, "Oh, look why the kooky flibbertigibbet did today!" The Department of Peace was ridiculed by many this week. It's something Dennis supported. However, contrary to what some of those snarking though, that idea did not originate with Dennis Kucinich and has been around forever and a day -- it was popularized in 1793 by a free African-American. It's an important part of Black history and I wonder if knowing that history would have prevented some of the snark? At Third Estate Sunday Review last October, it was addressed by Jim, Cedric and Ann: Jim: I think it was the fact that The Nation could be leading the way towards something other than making excuses for Barack. And they're not leading. We're all on a treadmill, jogging in place, never getting forward. And that was driven home, to me, with the information -- I didn't know this before -- that a Secretary of Peace had been proposed as far back as 1793. That's 17 years after the start of the American Revolution. Cedric: Benjamin Banneker. That's the person who proposed it in 1793. And that it was proposed in 1793 was as much a revelation to me as the fact that Banneker was a Black man. I had teachers who made a big deal out of Black History Month and really felt like I had a strong grounding in Black History. Obviously, that's not the case and I need to start supplementing what I was taught in school. Ann: Well most of Cedric's Black history reading is on people from the Civil Rights Era. Such as Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth whose passing Ava and C.I. recently noted in "TV: That Bunny Won't Hop." There's a lot of history. Cedric: There is but I think Banneker's contribution is sort of swept to the side the same way MLK's calls for peace, an end to war and economic justice get swept to the side. It's a serious idea and it has been for centuries. It's also an idea popularized by a great American, consider him a founding father, certainly so in terms of information -- he published an almanac. And it's not idea that should be ridiculued -- especially considering all the wars that US has been in lately. But the fact that 'kooky' Kucinich is championing it, leaves it open to ridicule. I realize that those who speak out will always be targeted with ridicule. But you can bring it on yourself. He didn't conduct himself in a serious fashion and he was always eager to grab the spotlight by laughing at himself. Cynthia McKinney speaks out. She is ridiculed for it. She never plays to the press by pulling "Look how stupid I am" the way Dennis did and does. Doing that does not make you look like a "good sport," it makes you look like an idiot because people are calling you one and you're attempting to get their approval by agreeing with them. I don't see his departure from Congress as a great loss for the peace movement. Cynthia McKinney's departure from Congress? That was a huge loss. robert pear Martin Sheen's an ass who will rot in hell Tuesday and Martin Sheen's an ass. I'm so sick of him. Carlos whatever his real name is. Considering the non-stop meltdown that is his son Charlie -- who shot how many women and paid for how many whores -- I really don't know where he gets off thinking he's got moral ground to stand on. I mean, we all he's cheated on his wife, right? We all know Mr. Saint's done that, right? So piece of trash Sheen wants the world to know that Barack cannot be criticized. When Barack out of office I'm going to have so much fun blogging for all these sons of bitches like Martin Sheen to shut the fk up about whatever a president does because they were too chicken s**t to call out Barack. Martin Sheen seems to think his tired soap opera made him a star. Hey, OLD MAN, I'm not a little bitch so I never watched your crappy soap opera. Martin's a lousy actor. He was whoring like crazy on the set of Apocolypse and he almost had a performance when he had his heart attack and he's never had a thing to offer since. He's like a mentally stunted child. He's awful and he can't act. Charlie's three times the actor Martin is. The only reason I gave a damn about Martin Sheen was he was against wars and he was Catholic. I don't even now if he's Catholic anymore. But he's no longer bothered by wars. He's a cheap dirty whore for Barack Obama and he will rot in hell. Here me, Martin Sheen, you will rot in hell. From one Catholic to another, what you have done means you will rot in hell. You can't just pretend killing's okay because you want to suck Barack's cock. Killing is wrong. What Barack did in Libya was wrong. And if Bush had done it, you'd be calling it out. But you're a whore and now you're going to rot in hell. Exactly where you belong. Tuesday, March 7, 2012. Chaos and violence continue, double bombings hit Tal Afar, over 50 Emo kids have been killed in the last weeks, Saddam Hussein's daughter rejects rumors flying around about her, US Senators call for US troops in Afghanistan to come home, the VFW outlines budget concerns to the Senate and House Veterans Affairs Committees, and more. We'll always open with a serious call to bring US troops home. There is a bi-partisan effort in the Senate calling for US troops to come home from Afghanistan. Senator Patty Murray's office issued the following: CONTACT: Murray Press Office MURRAY JOINS BIPARTISAN CALL TO BRING TROOPS HOME FROM AFGHANISTAN Twenty-Four Senators Tell President it's Time to Focus Nation-Building on American Jobs (Washington, DC) -- Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee and member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, joined a bipartisan group of 24 Senators today in calling on the President to bring American combat forces home from Afghanistan. As the Senate considers the 2012 Highway Bill on the floor this week, the Senators pointed out that the total dollar amount spent in both Iraq and Afghanistan to date would provide enough funding to rebuild the American interstate highway system five times over. "We simply cannot afford more years of elevated troop levels in Afghanistan. We are spending roughly $10 billion in Afghanistan each month at a time when we're making tough sacrifices at home. Your recent budget calls for $88 billion more for the war in Afghanistan in 2013. If this money is appropriated, we will have spent a total of $650 billion in Afghanistan. A majority of Americans worry that the costs of the war in Afghanistan will make it more difficult for the government to address the problems facing the United States at home. They're right," the Senators wrote. In June 2011, Sen. Murray spoke on the Senate floor to discuss her views on the need for a sizable and sustained troop drawdown in Afghanistan, and to outline her concerns over the unseen human costs of war. Led by Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), the letter also included: Patrick Leahy (D-VT); Jeff Bingaman (D-NM); Tom Harkin (D-IA); Barbara Mikulski (D-MD); Herb Kohl (D-WI); Ron Wyden (D-OR); Dick Durbin (D-IL); Chuck Schumer (D-NY); Maria Cantwell (D-WA); Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ); Bob Menendez (D-NJ); Ben Cardin (D-MD); Bernie Sanders (I-VT); Sherrod Brown (D-OH); Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI); Tom Udall (D-NM); Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY); Al Franken (D-MN); Joe Manchin (D-WV); Rand Paul (R-KY); and Mike Lee (R-UT). Complete text of today's letter follows below: The Honorable Barack Obama Dear President Obama: We write to express our support of a transition of U.S. forces in Afghanistan from a combat role to a training, advising and assistance role next year, as Defense Secretary Leon Panetta stated was his intention on February 1st, 2012. Although we would prefer a more rapid reduction of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the statement made by the Secretary is a positive step towards ending the decade long war. It is time to bring our troops home from Afghanistan. The United States intervened in Afghanistan to destroy al Qaeda's safe haven, remove the Taliban government that sheltered al Qaeda, and pursue those who planned the September 11th attacks on the United States. Thanks to the exceptional service and sacrifice made by the American Armed Forces and our allies, those objectives have largely been met. We should continue to confront America's enemies wherever they are through targeted counterterrorism operations and end the large scale counterinsurgency effort in Afghanistan. We simply cannot afford more years of elevated troop levels in Afghanistan. We are spending roughly $10 billion in Afghanistan each month at a time when we're making tough sacrifices at home. Your recent budget calls for $88 billion more for the war in Afghanistan in 2013. If this money is appropriated, we will have spent a total of $650 billion in Afghanistan. A majority of Americans worry that the costs of the war in Afghanistan will make it more difficult for the government to address the problems facing the United States at home. They're right. Our troops and their families have made unimaginable sacrifices during the past ten years of war in Afghanistan. Over 1,900 American troops have been killed and over 14,300 have been wounded. Thousands more return home with invisible wounds that will make it difficult to ever again enjoy life the way they did before the war. There is strong bipartisan support in Congress to change course in Afghanistan. The majority of Americans want a safe and orderly drawdown of forces in Afghanistan. In May, the U.S. House of Representatives nearly passed an amendment to the FY 2012 National Defense Authorization Act requiring a plan to accelerate the drawdown of troops from Afghanistan. A similar amendment introduced by Senators Merkley, Lee, T. Udall, and Paul was passed by the U. S. Senate on November 30th. We look forward to reviewing the report required by Section 1221 of the FY2012 National Defense Authorization Act, which will set benchmarks to evaluate progress toward the assumption by the Afghan government of lead responsibility for security in all areas of Afghanistan. In light of the comments made by Secretary Panetta on February 1st, we would also be interested in learning more about how quickly U.S. troops will be coming home, the number and purpose of troops that might remain in Afghanistan and for how long a period, and the costs and savings of accelerating the completion of combat operations. Nonetheless, we welcome his announcement and encourage you to take every possible step to end the large scale combat operations in Afghanistan and transition our effort to a targeted counterterrorism strategy. Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI) Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) Meghan Roh Deputy Press Secretary Office of U.S. Senator Patty Murray @PattyMurray Get Updates from Senator Murray Again, that call is news, big news. Say a little prayer till they all get home I knew when we woke up You would be leaving You knew when you left me It might be too long That kiss on your shoulder It's me looking over Close to your heart So you're never alone -- "Till They All Get Home," written by Melanie (Safka) and first appears on Melanie's Crazy Love Today the Veterans of Foreign Wars appeared before Congress in a joint-hearing of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chair is Patty Murray. Let's note this from her opening statements. Chair Patty Murray: Last month, I set down with veterans from across my home state when we were out at home over recess and I heard from veterans who time and again couldn't get access to VA mental health care in a timely way, who weren't getting the type of treatment they need, talked to women veterans who told me about their ongoing struggles to get specialized care and time and time again from veterans who shared their stories about the claims system that just wasn't working, veterans told me about the obstacles to employment that they continued to face. Some told me that they're even afraid to write the word "veteran" on their job application, for fear that those who have not served will see them as damaged and unstable. We passed last year the Vow to Hire Heroes Act and I want to thank Chairman Miller and everyone for their work on that. It was a great first step in tackling the high rate of veteran unemployment but it was only that, a first step. We have to focus now on building partnerships with private companies -- large and small -- to make sure that they have the information and tools they need to hire and train our veterans. We need to take advantage of the great sea of good will across the country from those who want to do the right thing and hire a veteran and as part of that effort we also need to beat back the myth and disinformation about the invisible wounds of war. No matter the challenges on the battlefield, we owe it to our veterans to give them a fair shot as they look for work when they come home. That's why the litmus test for hiring veterans can't be fear or stigma of PTSD or mental health issues. Instead, it must simply be whether a veteran is qualified for the job at hand. So I will continue to highlight the tremendous skills and leadership and talent our veterans bring to the table and I will continue to work with employers across the country to make sure our veterans can find good paying jobs here at home. And while we focus on jobs we can't lose sight of our veterans who are heading back to school. Before veterans commit their GI Bill benefits, we need to make sure they have the right information to make the best choice about their education and the school they choose. I'm pleased to say that in the next couple of weeks, I'll be introducing a bill that targets how educational institutions are recruiting our veterans and make sure veterans are given a clear picture about an institution's track record with other veterans. But whether is education or jobs or mental health or claims system that isn't working, each of those challenges serves as a constant reminder of the important work ahead to fuffill our obligation to our nation's veterans. Senator Richard Burr is the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee. The Ranking Member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee is US House Rep Bob Filner. The Chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee is US House Rep Jeff Miller and we'll note this from his opening statement. Chair Jeff Miller: Sequestration is in fact probably one of the top issues out there and it could be dealt with pretty quickly. Unfortunately, I've been trying to work for eight months now to get some type of a resolution from the administration and I can't. I've asked the Secretary and I've written a letter to the president. We've asked for all types of folks to come forward and say whether or not sequestration does in fact apply. And I'm sure you've already heard about it while you're up here but there is a conflict in the law. The newest law that was passed basically says you are in fact exempt from sequestration but unfortunately right now there's some -- some discrephancy. So I filed a bill on the House side that basically says that veterans health care and veterans benefits are exempt from sequestration. It will clarify totally the problem for the future so we won't have to ever contend with this again. And I ask you, as you're making your visits on the Hill, to talk to your senators, talk to your members of Congress and certainly on the House side ask your folks to sponsor this one-and-a-half page piece of legislation. Around here, one-and-a-half pages is pretty rare, most of it is thick stuff. This is pretty easy and it basically says veteran dollars are exempt from sequestration. The VFW was represented on the panel by Commander-in-Chief Richard DeNoyer, Executive Director Robert Wallace, Director of National Veterans Service William Bradshaw, Director of National Legislative Service Raymond Kelley and the Chair of the National Legislative Committee Louis C. Stifano. DeNoyer noted in his opening remarks, "Americans will soon forget what these warriors and veterans have done for our great nation." I am of a different opinion: Americans will soon forget what the government has done to these men and women. DeNoyer is absolutely right that there is a time limit on national interest and it's already fading. The VFW is focusing on issues that their membership feels are important. Other veterans organizations should make sure that they are representing the needs their members rank most important. For the VFW, DeNoyer explained that two of the big issues involve transitioning to civilian life which has to do with education and employment. (Wally's weighing on education tonight at Rebecca's site.) On unemployment, he gave these figures: Iraq and Afghanistan veterans unemployment rate in February 2012 was 13.1% ("compared to 7.7% among all veterans) and that "nearly a third of young veterans are unemployed, more than 20% of women veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are unemployed." The other two concerns were medical. First, are the veterans getting the treatment they need? The VFW is concerned over the suicide rate and that more work needs to be done on providing assistance and on removing any stigma on asking for assistance. They are also concerned with the stigma that some people may be placing on veterans who suffer from PTSD or other wounds. That's a brief summary, Ava's going to cover those remarks at Trina's site tonight. That was the first part of the medical. The second concern of the medical for the VFW is the facilities themselves which are in need of repairs, in need of expansion and, in some cases, needing to be replaced. We'll note this exchange between DeNoyer and Chair Patty Murray. Chair Patty Murray: [. . .Y]ou mentioned about our newest student veterans needing to be able to get accurate information and have realistic expectations about the academic programs they choose so they can make their best choices about how to use their GI Bill benefits. As this Committee looks at this issue in the coming months, I want to ask you what are some of the key points that we should keep in mind as we look at this? Richard DeNoyer: We need to provide veteran students with a clear understanding of what colleges offer and what their requirements are and what the requirements of the school are? It seems that many are using the GI Bill for the 21st Century and are not aware of their requirements before they get into school. They are not aware of graduation requirements, curriculum requirements and it would be our recommendation to have a centralized office that they could go to to get this information and that would be one of the solutions that we would encourage to do that. Chair Patty Murray: Okay I appreciate that because I want to make sure -- Richard DeNoyer: That would help the state approving agencies also with their juridiction over colleges and so forth. Chair Patty Murray: Okay. So they use their GI Benefit well since they can only use it once we want to be sure that they get good information. Richard DeNoyer: That's right. Chair Patty Murray: I appreciate that. I want to ask you -- and thank you for the VFW's really great work on the Independent Budget and for highlighting some of the major and minor construction for VA. As we talked about, the President's budget for construction is less than the Independent Budget recommendation. I know that you and I share the same concern about the VA's request. We need to take a hard look at the gap between the funding the VA needs to bring its facilities up to date and the funding that's now actually been requested by the department. In my home state of Washington, this is very important. We want a new pain clinic, a new spinal cord injury ward in Seattle, a new fire structure in Walla Walla. These are all critical infrastructure projects that are not going to get done for a great deal of time and I wanted to ask you if you could kind of share with the members of this Committee what this gap in funding will mean across the country? Richard DeNoyer: Well access is the key to many of the facilities particularly those that provide speciality care. We're concerned the space, with the quality of the care and we believe that many of these are old and antiquated or maybe need to be renovated or even replaced. Safety is also an issue that we are concerned about to with some of these buildings. The seismic conditions. And, therefore, it nets down to access for specialty care and also safety. Chair Patty Murray: Okay. Safety and access. Alright, I appreciate that. Commander, I really appreciated your comments about tasking the high rates of unemployment for returning veterans -- and for your leadership and work on this issue. This is something I care deeply about and I know we've got a lot of work ahead of us. As I talk to veterans and to employers, it has been really troubling to me to hear so many veterans who tell me directly that they don't write the word "veteran" on their resume when they apply for a job because of the fear that they have of the stigma attached to PTSD and mental health issues. I know we've got a lot of work ahead of us to address the misinformation about the invisible wounds of war but I wanted to ask today through your work on this, what strategies have you found to be most effective in fighting against the type of misinformation that many of our men and women are facing in terms of the invisible wounds of war. Richard DeNoyer: Well first and foremost, Madam Chairman, we believe that today's military are the best educated, best qualified, best experienced individuals that America has ever fielded in an army. And they come home and they're completely qualified. They have skills that they could easily integrate into civilian society and the civilian workforce. Unfortunately, there seems to be a gap, a misunderstanding, between the skills that the military provides and the skills that they're looking for in civilian society. We believe that that could be easily resolved. The mental health issue, on the other hand, we propose a screening on mental health before the individual even goes into combat and a screening when they come back and periodic screenings afterwards. We also propose immediate care if needed -- mental health care -- as quickly as possible and only the pharmaceutical drugs used if absolutely necessary so that drug dependence doesn't result in that. And we feel that this would be -- hopefully, resolve these problems. He was speaking of drug dependency and the need for care in prescribing drugs, a new study on PTSD finds that veterans are being overly medicated. The Universty of California, San Francisco (UCSF)'s Steve Tokar reports on the study conducted by UCSF and the San Francisco VA Medical Center which found that veterans being prescribed opiates for PTSD and/or pain are "more likely to receive higher dose prescriptions, two or more opiate prescriptions and concurrent prescriptions of sedative-hypnotics such as valium." And while that is serious all by itself, the study also found that "all veterans who were prescribed opiates were also at significantly higher risk of serious adverse clinical outcomes, such as drug and alcohol-related overdoses, suicide and violent injury, with the risk being most pronounced for veterans with PTSD." Dr. Karen Seal was the lead author of the study and Tokar notes: Seal explained that previous studies have shown that patients with PTSD may experience physical pain more intensely because of either lowered pain thresholds or disruption of the production of endorphins – opiates secreted naturally in the brain and body. PTSD, an anxiety disorder, may be a cause, itself, she said. "The more anxious you are, the more likely you are to be attuned to pain symptoms, which in turn, make you more anxious, which makes the pain worse, so it becomes a vicious cycle." To break that cycle, Seal and her co-authors recommend that the VA continue to extend its current stepped approach to treating patients who have both pain and PTSD. "Fortunately," she said, "the elements of that approach are in place, or can be put in place, throughout the VA health care system." Seal said that those elements include Patient Aligned Care Teams (PACTs), which align primary care physicians with nurse care managers, mental health providers, pharmacists and social workers. "For patients presenting to primary care with pain, PACTs are important step in the direction of better care," she said. "Patients requiring more intensive treatment can 'step up' to multi-disciplinary specialty pain management and PTSD services that are available at most VA medical centers. And the VA is also a leader in providing evidence-based combined cognitive behavioral therapy for PTSD and pain. Finally, she said, the VA is "making strides" to implement pain management guidelines developed by the VA and the Department of Defense that discourage the overuse of opiate medications in favor of anti-inflammatory medications, physical therapy, exercise, relaxation techniques and complementary alternative medicine such as acupuncture. "Even in remote VA clinics and isolated rural areas, many of these resources can be tapped through the use of video teleconferencing with pain experts at the medical centers, as well as online," said Seal. She recommended that veterans visit the VA site MyHealtheVet at www.myhealth.va.gov. Nadia Kounang (CNN) adds, "The authors emphasized that the study didn't find that PTSD or other mental health diagnosis caused increased pain or opioid use. Rather, the study was an alarm to the consequences of pain management through opioids." Kounang quotes Dr. Seal stating, "We now need to start considering alternative solutions to relieving our patient's pain and suffering." Yesterday's snapshot covered the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing, Kat covered it last night with "US House Veterans Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations," Wally covered it at Rebecca's site with "VA refuses to take accountability" and Ava covered it at Trina's site with "VA wants money but not rules." The House Veterans Affairs Committee released the following yesterday: WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations (O&I) held an oversight hearing to examine the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) construction contracting practices. The Subcommittee examined the proposed construction of the community based outpatient clinic in Savannah, Georgia as a case study of VA construction contracting practices nationwide. "We have evidence of similar dubious practices taking place at other locations, and our intent is to have VA fix the problems and conduct necessary oversight at all of its construction sites," stated Rep. Bill Johnson (OH-6), Subcommittee Chairman of O&I. Rep. Johnson noted that the Subcommittee brought these matters to VA's attention last year, but VA ignored them and continued their flawed process, "This Subcommittee contacted VA last year with several specific concerns about this site in Savannah with the hopes of helping VA conduct better business. The response was disheartening; despite the specific concerns cited, VA dismissed the Subcommittee's efforts to reach out and work together, instead giving a cursory response." Johnson expressed further dissatisfaction with regard to the way VA worked through the acquisition process. "VA stumbled through [this] process, using an incomplete and careless appraisal process that according to many involved in commercial real estate lacks common sense. To veterans, taxpayers, and Congress, the resulting concern is that VA is failing to get the best value." VA witnesses failed to adequately answer how their initial estimate of needs in Savannah had been so significantly miscalculated, and admitted to not being forthcoming to Congress about significant changes to the size and scope of construction projects. Based on its interpretation of a long-standing practice, VA has provided notice to Congress of large-scale changes only after new leases had been executed, prompting members of the Subcommittee to suggest changes were needed to improve transparency and oversight. Construction delays, faulty contracting practices and cost overruns were other major failures discussed by the Subcommittee during today's hearing. Noting that these delays reach beyond contracting, Johnson stated that "veterans in need of services are the ones being harmed by delays, cost overruns, and failure to thoroughly analyze costs and benefits associated with every alternative." We're pressed for space, I know. But that hearing was important and I don't know that even AP filed a report on it (usually you can count on AP if no one else for veterans hearings in Congress). Yesterday also brought the news that Iraq's LGBT community was against being targeted. Worker's Liberty carries this joint-statement from the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq and Iraqi LGBT: "New barbaric attacks started against the Iraqi LGBT in many cities like Baghdad and Basra while using inhumane methods such as hitting the head and body parts of gay victims with building concrete blocks repeatedly till death or by pushing them over high building roof which took place in Basra city. The actions of killings, torture, and dismembering against those who were described as "adulterous" by Islamic Shia militias, besides hanging lists on the walls of several sections in Al-Sadr city and in Al-Habibea region, had all terrorized the society at large and especially the Iraqi LGBT community, knowing that those attacks are directed against anyone suspected with gay practices or appearance. "The first killings took place on the sixth of February 2012 and continued or rather escalated till the current days. One of the hanged lists in Al-Sadr city included the names and addresses of 33 person, while other lists included other tens of names in other areas. News confirmed that 42 gay men were tortured and killed so far, mostly by concrete blocks, while some by dismembering. "The Islamic militias in Iraq believe that the religious family should consist of a male husband and a female wife, and is the cornerstone of building a pious Islamic society. Such an institution is handed to the males to rule and control. Under such an institution, they deny the right-to-life, or rather they command a death sentence against all who do not fit under the religious description of a family. "Based on those rules, the campaigns of honor killings happen against women and LGBT under the same token. Just as women face honour killing as a result of extra marital affairs, the lesbians and the gays face the same destiny because of their sexual practices which do not relate to marriage. "We call on all freedom-lovers of the world, the women's and human rights organization and governments in the advanced world to put pressure on the Iraqi government to provide protection to the lgbt in Iraq, and establish legislation for defending their right to life, and criminalizing all aggressions against them. We demand also a full enquiry into the groups and criminal behind the killing campaign and that they get full punishment from the legal and correctional system." We'll note some of the other coverage. Trudy Ring (SheWired) reports: A recent wave of violence in Iraq has resulted in the kidnapping, torture, and killing of about 40 people perceived to be gay or lesbian, with the murder weapon sometimes being a concrete block to the head. The killings began in early February after an unidentified group put up posters with death threats against "adulterous individuals" in largely Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad and Basra, reports the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. The threats listed the targets' names and ages, and gave them four days to change their behavior or face divine retribution. Some of the murders have been carried out by smashing the victims' skulls with concrete blocks or pushing them off roofs of tall buildings, says a report from two other groups, the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq and Iraqi LGBT. Evan Mulvihill (Queerty) notes, "Hillary Clinton made her landmark speech to the UN on the issue in December, and we have seen some commitment to activity in Ecuador and Honduras. But in the Middle East, we haven't seen any commitment to intervention --yet." Huffington Post covers the story here. No, the New York Times couldn't find the story. Did you really think that they would? Receiving more attention is today's double bombing. Adn Kronos International notes a car blew up in Tal Afar and, "when a crowd of people gathered at the scene" after, a suicide bomber set off a second bombing. Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) observes, "The Tal Afar bombing followed a familiar pattern often associated with al Qaida in Iraq -- an explosion followed by another a few minutes later, after rescuers had arrived to assist the victims of the first bomb." Prensa Latina adds, "No organization attributed responsability for the attacks. The government and the police said the perpetrators were members of Al-Qaeda and said Taafalar is in a strategic area between the border with Syria and Mosul." Mohamad Ali Harissi (AFP) counts 14 dead in the bombings with fifteen more injured according to Tal Afar Mayor Abid al-Al Abbas.Earlier today, Nayla Razzouk and Khalid al-Ansary (Bloomberg News) report, "Iraqi Construction and Housing Minister Mohammad Saheb al-Darraji escaped unharmed when a car bomb exploded near his convoy in Baghdad today, injuring six of his bodyguards, the ministry said." Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) reports 1 person was killed and four were left injured and that al-Darraji "was not part of the motorcade" al-Darraji is a member of the Sadrist movement. Jamal al-Badrani (Reuters) notes a Baghdad minibus bombing claimed 2 lives. Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) notes 1 person died in a Haditha bombing and three other people were injured while a Garma roadside bombing claimed the life of 1 police officer and left two more injured. Many reports speculate that the attacks are intended to negatively impact the planned Arab Summit scheduled to start in Baghdad on Marcch 29th. The big news on the potential summit; however, is Hoshyar Zebari has announced United Nations Seretary-General Ban Ki-moon will attend. Actually, there's other big news but it's only Arabic outlets reporting so we'll assume no one in the US press reads Arabic? Is the alternative that US press is yet again lying to the American people? Al Mada reports on a move by the Baghdad-based government to get US forces to protect Iraqi air space for the Baghdad summit. Instead of addressing security concerns, Nouri al-Maliki and his forces would rather go in search of mystics and monsters. Last month, for example, there was the 'big bust' in Baghdad of the "sorcerers" for practicing "voodooism" has not increased the safety in Iraq They also waste time chasing vampires. They call Emo kids that. Apparently, they believe Iraqi youth has been overtaken by a vampire outbreak. The oh-so-modern Baghdad brought to you by Nouri al-Maliki. Al Mada reports that Parliament is offended by the attacks on Iraq's Emo youth while at the same time they note that Emo is criminal behavior and goes against human rights. Ahmed Hussein (Al Mada) reports that Emo youth are considered aliens, other-worldly, are targeted for "liquidation" the same as Iraq's LGBT community. And they're confused with Satanists, vampires and more. It sort of reminds you of when the Twilight crowd comes to Southpark Elementary and the Emo kids are outraged to be considered Twighlight wannabes by the uninformed. Dar Addustour reports that 56 of Iraqi's Emo Youth have been killed. And please note, the security forces consider the Emo kids to be a top security priority. Are you starting to understand why the current government can't provide protection to the citizens of Iraq? When not wasting their time obsessing over Emo kids, the security forces obsess of Raghad Saddam Hussein. Who? Saddam Hussein's daughter. Al Bawaba reports that she's issued a strong denial of the repeated rumors that, from Jordan, she's orchestrating an attempt to overthrow Nouri al-Maliki. Her response to the rumors includes the following: Some press reports said I was in contact with senior military officers in Iraq and providing them with funding to toplle the current government. That is not true. How can I think of staging a coup against ag overnment supported by the military and protected by the most advanced intelligence and monitoring technologies? The time for coups is long gone and nobody does that nowadays. [. . .] Iraqis have enough on their plate. They are oppressed by a ruthless occupation and a tyrannical government, both supported by the military. So they fear a woman in Jordan, they fear Emo kids and their own LGBT community. A lot of fear in Nouri al-Maliki's Iraq. The tone's set at the top. nadia kounang mcclatchy newspapers sahar issa nayla razzouk khalid al-ansary mohammed tawfeeq ahmed husseinq Isaiah, Third, TV	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3980
__label__cc	0.663878	0.336122	When we tested other aspects of IVPN’s performance, it also satisfied our requirements. On the default settings, our real IP address didn’t leak out via DNS requests or IPv6 routing, let alone a standard IP address checker. The DNS-requests check indicated that the app was using the company’s internal DNS servers and that they were correctly configured. None of the 12 services we tested disclosed our true IP address (though some showed mismatched IPs). Every VPN we considered had to operate its own DNS servers in-house and not rely on ISP servers or public options like Google’s, which give third parties a chance to log or analyze the sites you visit. IVPN currently disables all IPv6 connectivity, though the company is looking at solutions to securely support it soon. Most companies we considered do the same; OVPN was the only company to support IPv6 addresses at the time of our testing. Agree expressvpn is an absolute winner, even though nordvpn has more than twice servers (around 5000) it still loses in download speed and therefore streaming. One remark I noticed when tested average speed of different vpns is that the closer your own location is to vpn server you choose the better the speed and it seems to be obvious. The only big cons for expressvpn is of course the price but it seems that the guys from the company knows the best can’t be cheap  I would also like to share a good source for online vpn comparison chart I have found, check it here https://www.vpnhint.com/vpn-comparison-chart/ As unprecedented amounts of data are generated and collected every day, organizations seek to infuse the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning to more effectively derive insights and new knowledge from data to optimize operations, create new products and services, and automate decisions. However, prior attempts at building and implementing do-it-yourself (DIY) platforms … Continue Reading... Since VPNs route your traffic through another network, you can also make it appear as if it’s coming from another location. That means if you’re in Sydney, Australia, you can make your traffic appear to come from New York City. This is useful for certain sites that block content based on your location (like Netflix). It also allows some people (we’re looking at you, Australians) have to deal with insanely high import taxes on software that see them paying twice (or more) what US consumers pay for the same products. All that being said, some VPNs are still all around faster than others. Below we’ve listed our top five fastest VPNs tested in the last year, out of a total of nearly two dozen premium providers. Speed tests we run factor largely into this list, but other non-quantifiable parameters based on our personal experience are also taken into consideration. These include how well they stream HD video and game online. To work around this problem, instead of having the client create a new default route when a connection is made, administrators can configure the client’s routing table with specific routes that direct packets to the organization’s network over the VPN connection. While connected to the intranet, the client can obtain Internet access using the default route that points to the Internet. This configuration is known as split tunneling. VPN protocol: We always recommend users avail of OpenVPN when available, as it is the most secure and open-source protocol available. You may, however, opt for a speedier protocol. IKEv2 is secure and works well especially with mobile data connections. You might or might not notice a difference with L2TP/IPSec or SSTP, depending on your device hardware. PPTP is generally regarded as the fastest, but has known security flaws that make it unsuitable for anyone who values their privacy. Of course that brings up another problem. Since there are so many services to choose from, how can you tell which ones are worth using? PCWorld has taken care of much of the legwork with its Best VPN services roundup. [Spoiler alert: It found Mullvad to be a great all-around VPN for its above-and-beyond commitment to user privacy, and NordVPN to be the current choice for watching U.S. Netflix from abroad.] Trust.Zone offers inconsistent speeds that vary considerably from one server to the other. Users might find it excellent for certain locations like the UK and Germany, but not fast enough for others. The privacy and security features of Trust.Zone are its strongest attributes, making it a great option for users seeking protection at acceptable speeds. Credit: Opera VPNAlso, although your data is encrypted as it travels between you and the far-off VPN server, it won't necessarily be encrypted once it leaves the VPN server to get to its final destination. If the data isn't encrypted — and that depends on the website you're connecting to — then the traffic might be intercepted and read. (One well-known VPN provider was recently accused of inserting ads in users' web browsers, which would violate users' security and privacy.) First I just want to say what a great website you have created, very informative. I am using Avast VPN on a Windows computer and Google Chrome browser. Without a VPN I am getting download speeds up to 180 MB, and 24 MB up, using Ookla to test speeds. Using Avast VPN drops that to 40-60 MB down and 2-3 MB up, and I have tried using multiple locations from Miami to Atlanta, NY, Chicago and Jacksonville. Miami and NY are classed as P2P. My location is S Florida. When I download torrents my speed falls drastically. With one torrent downloading I get 6 MB down and up. 2 torrents simultaneously 2.5 MB down and 1.4 MB up. 3 torrents 2 MB down and 1.5 up, and 4 torrents 1 MB down and up. I have conducted dozens of tests over the course of the day to get an average of the speeds. I had previously used Private Internet Access, which was faster at the beginning of my one year subscription, but the speeds deteriorated towards the end of that one year subscription to speeds similar to Avast’s. Do you have any suggestions for a fastest VPN for streaming and torrenting? I only download torrents once or twice a month. The globetrotter. This person wants to watch the Olympics live as they happen, without dealing with their crummy local networks. They want to check out their favorite TV shows as they air instead of waiting for translations or re-broadcasts (or watch the versions aired in other countries,) listen to location-restricted streaming internet radio, or want to use a new web service or application that looks great but for some reason is limited to a specific country or region. Since we first recommended IVPN in the spring of 2018, the company has added automatic server selection to its desktop applications, bringing it in line with other top-performing VPN apps. Alternatively, when you click on the location at the bottom of the app, you’ll see a list of all of the global IVPN server locations, color coded by speed. At the top of the list is an option to connect to the fastest one, and once selected, the app remembers your preference through future disconnects and reboots. You can also use IVPN’s multihop servers to route your traffic through two VPN servers—a feature unique to IVPN among the services we tested—though we don’t think this step is necessary for most people, given the slower speeds you’ll likely experience. The cause of this performance improvement was not immediately discernible. Experts I have spoken to have suggested the test cheating or data compression mentioned above. It was also suggested that, perhaps, some VPN companies had access to higher bandwidth connections in their networks. Another possibility was that our DSL line was artificially capped and that the VPN allowed our data to bypass that restriction. Protocol: When you’re researching a VPN, you’ll see terms like SSL/TLS (sometimes referred to as OpenVPN support,) PPTP, IPSec, L2TP, and other VPN types. We asked Samara Lynn, Lead Analyst for Networking and Small Business at PCMag, whether or not a user shopping for a VPN should shop for one over another. “SSL is what is commonly used these days. All of these protocols will provide a secure connection,” she explained, and pointed out that most solutions are invisible to the end-user anyway. Strictly, each protocol has its benefits and drawbacks, and if you’re concerned about this (specifically, PPTP vulnerabilities,) you’re probably already aware of them. Most users don’t need to be concerned about this—corporate users on the other hand, are probably all using IPSec or SSL clients anyway. We wouldn’t want you to have to put up with any of that, so we tested over 100 free VPNs to see which ones are the best of the best. We’re happy to say we found several that meet our strict security standards. Are they the perfect solution? Definitely not, but if you’re looking for a free VPN that can get the job done, you should be able to find one here that can suit your needs. IPVanish can be run on any computer and mobile devices. It is capable of simultaneously using different types of connections. Paying with Bitcoin gives users additional security features as cryptocurrency cannot be tracked unlike government currency. This is because information required when paying with bitcoin are but an email address and a password. Downloads took four times as long as they did without the VPN switched on, but even then, ProtonVPN was far from the worst among the nine free services we tested. You'll also be limited to VPN connections in only three countries, as opposed to the paid complement of 25, and you won't have access to ProtonVPN's "Secure Core" of super-hardened servers. When we say that in theory VPNs can’t be intercepted, that’s because VPNs are like any other form of security: if you use them on a device that’s already been compromised by malware such as keyloggers or other security threats then they can’t do their job properly. If you’re on Windows, then good quality, up to date anti-virus software isn’t a luxury. It’s absolutely essential. The Center for Democracy & Technology brought just such a complaint against one VPN provider last year, though no enforcement action has been announced. Many privacy sites suggest finding a VPN service outside the prying eyes of US intelligence agencies and their allies, but FTC protections could be an argument for finding one in the US so that there’s a penalty if it deceives its customers. In the configuration shown in the following figure, the firewall is connected to the Internet and the VPN server is another intranet resource connected to the perimeter network, also known as a screened subnet or demilitarized zone (DMZ). The perimeter network is an IP network segment that typically contains resources available to Internet users such as Web servers and FTP servers. The VPN server has an interface on the perimeter network and an interface on the intranet. Some VPNs will also let you define the specific context in which the VPN functions. TunnelBear VPN, in particular, lets you mark a network as trusted and will only activate when you're not connected to one of these trusted networks. This will protect you from bad guys, but it will leave you open to tracking and surveillance by governments and your ISP when you're on trusted networks. Logging Policy – IPVanish has been involved in a case where the company handed over user information to Homeland Security. The user was suspected of involvement in child pornography. Again, commenting on the decision of IPVanish to assist agencies in catching a suspect is an ethical gray area that I choose my readers to discuss on what they think in the comment section. However, the brand has since changed ownership with the company StackPath. The CEO of the company clearly stated that they are committed to the no logs policy. I think they deserve the benefit of the doubt considering that they weren’t a part of IPVanish when the case occurred. For local VPN issues, you have a couple of options. First, consider installing VPN software on your router and not using a VPN on your local machines. Alternatively, many VPN services offer browser plug-ins that only encrypt your browser traffic. That's not ideal from a security perspective, but it's useful when all you need to secure is your browser information. Google has launched Chrome on Google Daydream View and the Lenovo Mirage Solo with Daydream. If you have one of these headsets, you can launch Chrome directly from your homepage to browse and interact with any webpage while in VR. Chrome aims to be a universal browser on all types of devices and operating systems. This is also true for the new VR version. All the features you love on Chrome, from voice search to incognito mode to saved bookmarks, are now accessible on your Daydream headset. HotSpot Shield is a product that has had some ups and downs in terms of our editorial coverage. Back in 2016, they picked up some very positive coverage based on founder David Gorodyansky comments about protecting user privacy. Then, in 2017, a privacy group accused the company of spying on user traffic, an accusation the company flatly denies. Finally, just this year, ZDNet uncovered a flaw in the company's software that exposed users. Fortunately, that was fixed immediately. Norton WiFi Privacy is a VPN solution that is specifically designed for mobile devices. It is downloadable from the App Store or the Google Play Store. The software is capable of protecting users from the dangers associated with public Wi-Fi hotspots. It has the capability to block ads, which automatically hides advertisements while preventing sites from tracking user location. We like that the company offers a connection kill switch feature and, for those who need it, there's an option to get a dedicated IP address. VyprVPN is a standout in their effort to provide privacy, and thwart censorship. When China began its program of deep packet VPN inspection, Golden Frog's VyperVPN service added scrambled OpenVPN packets to keep the traffic flowing. VyprVPN is one of the few providers that owns all of its own server infrastructure rather than just renting out space on someone else’s hardware. That means fast, consistent speeds that aren’t as affected by unrelated network traffic, with servers all over the world. We wouldn’t recommend torrenting on VyprVPN as it’s against the company’s policy, but it’s more than enough for streaming and gaming. OVPN was regularly the fastest VPN in our tests regardless of the time of week or location. We also liked the app’s clean design and its simple and well-labeled settings pane. But OVPN is a small startup with a limited server network: At this writing, the company has servers in just seven countries, none in Asia. That makes it less versatile for finding less congested routes or geoshifting. OVPN also hasn’t released an Android app yet, so even non-iOS device owners will have to resort to the clunky, third-party OpenVPN Connect app on their phones. When we reached out for details about the company’s operational security, founder and CEO David Wibergh was open to questions and gave us answers that led us to believe that the company acted in the best interest of its customers’ privacy and security. He noted that after an uptick in data requests from local authorities in Sweden—all of which OVPN responded to by explaining that it lacked any pertinent data—the company published a blog post to detail just how little information it keeps. Servers – IVPN offers 51 servers located in 23 countries. IVPN offers a multi-hop feature for in all of these servers, which basically scatters the traffic of users by moving it through different servers before finally reaching its true destination. This serves to enhance the security and helps protect the identity of the user. It is this feature that sets the VPN’s network apart from its competitors, something I found really good during IVPN review. Privacy features – The privacy features you want/need really varies for each person and depends on your threat model. For a higher level of online anonymity, you could use a multi-hop VPN, or possibly chain different VPN providers together. This could be done by using one VPN on a router, and then connecting through a second VPN on your computer. This can also be accomplished using virtual machines. A traditional VPN can affect the user experience when applied to wireless devices. It's best to use a mobile VPN to avoid slower speeds and data loss. A mobile VPN offers you a high level of security for the challenges of wireless communication. It can provide mobile devices with secure access to network resources and software applications on their wireless networks. It's good to use when you're facing coverage gaps, inter-network roaming, bandwidth issues, or limited battery life, memory or processing power. CyberGhost is transparent about its company structure, posting photos and bios on its website of everyone from the CEO to the cleaning lady, and privacy fanatics will like that the company is based in Romania rather than the U.S. But CyberGhost's full-service subscription price is among the most expensive, unless you pay for two or three years up front.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3981
__label__wiki	0.699448	0.699448	CPSC stops sale of Buckyballs magnetic desk toys Consumers Union commends CPSC action to stop sale of Buckyballs magnetic desk toys WASHINGTON – Consumers Union, the policy and advocacy division of Consumer Reports, today praised the legal action taken by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to stop the sale of Buckyballs magnetic desk toys. Consumers Union also commended retailers that have decided to stop selling Buckyballs, Buckycubes, and similar stress-relief magnetic desk toys because of the risks posed to children who swallow one or more of the tiny magnets. The American Academy of Pediatrics noted that a single product can contain 100 or more such magnets, making it difficult for parents to recognize when one is missing. “The CPSC is doing the right thing to help keep children safe,” said Ellen Bloom, Director of Federal Policy for Consumers Union. “These types of toys are marketed to adults, but children have easy access to them, and they can be seriously hurt. We’ve seen too many cases where children swallow these tiny magnets, and they wind up having major surgeries and suffering long, drawn-out injuries. We agree with the pediatricians who say we need to do everything we can to keep these harmful magnetic products away from our children.” Consumer Reports has a new story and video about the safety concerns surrounding magnetic toys posted here at ConsumerReports.org. The CPSC filed an administrative complaint against Maxfield & Oberton, the manufacturer of Buckyballs products, on July 25. In a press statement about the lawsuit, the CPSC said that Buckyballs and Buckycubes “contain a defect in the design, packaging, warnings, and instructions, which pose a substantial risk of injury to the public.” The CPSC said it has learned of more than two dozen cases of children who ingested the tiny magnets in Buckyballs and similar products, with at least 12 of the cases involving Buckyballs. The agency said surgery was required in many of incidents, and it has concluded that, despite attempts to warn purchasers, warnings and education are ineffective, and cannot prevent injuries and incidents with these rare earth magnets. The CPSC cited reports of toddlers finding loose magnets and placing them in their mouths. Teens and tweens have swallowed them when using them to pretend to have lip or nose piercings, the agency said. Consumers Union is the public policy and advocacy division of Consumer Reports. Consumers Union works for health reform, food and product safety, financial reform, and other consumer issues in Washington, D.C., the states, and in the marketplace. Consumer Reports is the world’s largest independent product-testing organization. Using its more than 50 labs, auto test center, and survey research center, the nonprofit rates thousands of products and services annually. Founded in 1936, Consumer Reports has over 8 million subscribers to its magazine, website, and other publications. Media contact: David Butler, and Kara Kelber 202-462-6262 IssuesProduct Safety Consumer Reports: New Fisher-Price recall of inclined sleeper ‘shockingly overdue’ Parents and consumer advocates call on Ikea to do more to get dangerous, recalled dressers out of homes Joint statement supporting H.R. 3172 / S. 1767, the Safe Sleep Act, to prohibit the sale of infant inclined sleepers Joint letter to New York State Legislature in support of “Harper’s Law”	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3986
__label__cc	0.524119	0.475881	Tag Archives: Dennis Lambert IF YOU WANNA KNOW WHY I CAN SMILE Just a quick one today to round out the posts for my forthcoming mix: Longevity Has Its Place. In 1972 Motown moved its headquarters to Los Angeles. Among their large and talented stable of artists, the Four Tops—perhaps most famously associated with their 1965 number-one hit “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” and their 1966 number-one hit “Reach Out I’ll Be There”—opted to part ways with the company and remain in their hometown of Detroit, Michigan. Signing with the ABC-Dunhill label, the Four Tops were teamed up with producers/songwriters Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter. The Four Tops would return to Motown in a decade, but in the interim they would make some great and interesting music. Their first album for ABC-Dunhill— 1972’s Keeper of the Castle—featured the hit “Ain’t No Woman (Like The One I’ve Got)”, which was later interpolated in 1996 by Jay-Z and Foxy Brown for the second single off of Jay-Z’s debut album Reasonable Doubt: “Ain’t No Nigga.” In 1973 the Four Tops would have another hit with the theme song to the film Shaft in Africa: “Are You Man Enough.” However, today I’d like to feature another song off of Keeper of the Castle, the fantastically funked-up and feel-good “Turn On the Light of Your Love.” It should be noted that unlike most R&B groups, the Four Tops (being Levi Stubbs, Abdul “Duke” Fakir, Renaldo “Obie” Benson, and Lawrence Payton) remained together for over four decades, having gone from 1953 until 1997 without a single change in personnel. A change of line-up was finally forced upon the group when Lawrence Payton died on June 20, 1997. For a certain generation (mine), lead singer Levi Stubbs might be more familiar as the voice of Mother Brain on the Nintendo-based NBC Saturday morning cartoon Captain N: The Game Master, which ran from 1989 to 1991. Even more memorable to my generation’s mind, Mr. Stubbs was the man who performed the incredible vocals for the carnivorous, yet completely charismatic plant Audrey II in the astounding, Frank Oz directed, 1986 musical film Little Shop of Horrors. Really, I couldn’t go on enough about this film, so if you have not seen it (or haven’t seen it since you were a kid) you certainly should make it priority viewing. Not only is the soundtrack amazing, but also this hysterical movie contains Steve Martin’s finest screen performance—as Orin Scrivello, the sadistic, nitrous oxide huffing dentist. The Geffen Company, Warner Bros. (1986) (Creators). Robonhigh (Poster) (2008, Aug 20). FEED ME SEYMORE – LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS [Video] Retrieved March 10, 2012 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7SkrYF8lCU The Geffen Company, Warner Bros. (1986) (Creators). TheDoomWizzard (Poster) (2011, May 15). [HD] Dentist! – Little Shop of Horrors [Video] Retrieved March 10, 2012 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_VU1q7czkE Perry, L., Stubbs Jr., L., Benson, R., Fakir, A. (1972). Turn On the Light of Your Love [recorded by Four Tops] On Keeper of the Castle [CD] ABC-Dunhill. (1972). Motown (1992) This entry was posted in Four Tops, Little Shop of Horrors, Movies and tagged a mouthful of pennies, ABC-Dunhill, Abdul “Duke” Fakir, Ain’t No Nigga, Ain’t No Woman (Like The One I’ve Got), Are You Man Enough, Audrey II, Bobby Calero, Brian Potter, Captain N: The Game Master, Dennis Lambert, Four Tops, Foxy Brown, Frank Oz, Honey Bunch), I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Jay-Z, Keeper of the Castle, Lawrence Payton, Levi Stubbs, Little Shop of Horrors, Mother Brain, Motown, Orin Scrivello, Reach Out I'll Be There, Reasonable Doubt, Renaldo “Obie” Benson, Robert Calero, Shaft in Africa, Steve Martin, Turn On the Light of Your Love on March 10, 2012 by Robert Calero.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3989
__label__wiki	0.898874	0.898874	Under the Sun Café Interview: Musical tribute to heroes Irish folk legend Andy Irvine (Planxty, Sweeney’s Men, Patrick Street) is coming to our pocket of regional Victoria to launch his latest album. Made in collaboration with Australian Luke Plumb, Precious Heroes is a tribute to his musical and political heroes who ‘‘stood up for the working people’’. While the album cover is littered with the faces of trade unionists, rabble-rousers and singers, Irvine’s greatest musical influence — Woody Guthrie — is an absentee. Irvine said for the first 15 years of his life he was looking for an unknown type of music which he could call his own. At this time, he said, rhythm and blues was enjoying a period of dominance before rock and roll took over, coinciding with the development of the 45 RPM record. ‘‘My friends all thought it was great . . . but it wasn’t me,’’ Irvine said. ‘‘Then I discovered Lonnie Donegan . . . and on the back of one of his EPs, it said the song was written by Woody Guthrie. So one day I was walking down in the West End of London, and there in a small shop was More Songs by Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston. ‘‘I bought it, took it home and put it on, and pretty much halfway through the first bar of the first song, I thought . . . I’d finally discovered the music I’d been looking for.’’ Fast forward to 2016 and Irvine, already a fan of Luke Plumb’s work as a musician, decided to enlist the Australian’s help as producer after appreciating his work in fine-tuning Declaration — the latest album made by Kate Burke and Ruth Hazleton. Irvine said Plumb leaped at the opportunity to collaborate and the pair went on to transform the house of a friend travelling abroad into something of a DIY recording studio. ‘‘We put mattresses up against all the walls and windows to deaden the sound and Luke and his computer and his microphones were set up and I played and sang into it, which is the way it is these days,’’ Irvine said. ‘‘Recording studios are slightly out of date, because you can record it yourself . . . if you’ve got good microphones, all you need to do is deaden the sound and it’s as good as a studio, except you’re not paying for it.’’ ‘‘We recorded the songs there . . . and later he put on his own instrument, and then a couple of other people in different countries were added onto it. So you couldn’t say it was recorded in one place — it was recorded all over the bloody world.’’ Irvine said while his greatest musical influence has always been Woody Guthrie, he has never been able to write contemporary political songs like the American singer-songwriter. ‘‘It’s a shame . . . but I can’t do it . . . because you don’t know all the facts,’’ Irvine said. ‘‘So the songs that I write are about things that happened in the past, where nearly all the evidence you’re ever going to have is there. And that’s what a lot of these are — the strike in the coal mines in County Kilkenny and the Spanish Civil War. ‘‘It’s the same mix as the last few albums in that there are traditional songs and songs that I have written. But I do feel it’s a little bit further to the left than other albums, as a concept. I have never changed . . . but I’ve evolved at my own speed. I still have the same attitude to music I had all those years ago.’’ Andy Irvine and Luke Plumb are performing at Under the Sun Café in Strathbogie on March 17. For bookings phone 0427 317 694. Precious Heroes is out now. Posted in Gigs, Interview, News and tagged 2018, Andy Irvine & Luke Plumb, Precious Heroes, Strathbogie, The Telegraph, Under the Sun Café on March 13, 2018 by Andy Irvine Fanblog. Leave a comment	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3990
__label__wiki	0.536406	0.536406	“Fifty Years of [Failed] Apocalyptic Global Warming Predictions and Why People [Still] Believe Them” April 24, 2019 April 26, 2019 / sojourner Image: http://www.unz.com Here is why I am and will continue to be a confirmed global-warming skeptic: Over thirteen years ago, Al Gore declared the earth to be in a “true planetary emergency” with only a decade left to save the planet from global warming. The former vice president said, that “unless drastic measures to reduce greenhouse gases are taken within the next 10 years, the world will reach a point of no return.” Gore’s movie, Inconvenient Truth, was found by a British judge to contain nine errors. The judge said it could not be shown to students unless it included a notice pointing out the errors. Here are nine of Al Gore’s guilt/fear producing predictions that never materialized. 1) Rising Sea Levels Threatening Coastal Cities and Islands 2) Increased Tornadoes 3) New Ice Age in Europe 4) South Sahara Drying Up 5) Massive Flooding in China and India 6) Drastic Loss of Arctic Ice 7) Polar Bear Extinction 8) Dramatic Rise in Global Temperature Due to CO2 9) Katrina a Foreshadow of Future Increase in Hurricanes Gore’s point of “no return” was back in 2016. Of course, his movie won an Oscar, and the hero of Hollywood was fast-tracked to becoming the first “carbon billionaire.” In just 7 years between 2000 and 2007, Gore’s assets soared 50-fold from an estimated $780,000–$1.9 million to “well in excess” of $100 million. Besides his hit movie, Gore used his climate panic lobbying to sway the government to invest in the economic sectors he was poised and ready to profit from. By 2008, Gore put $300 million into a campaign to promote climate fears while offering carbon reduction solutions that benefited the firms he was invested in. When the sympathetic Obama Administration introduced a “renewable energy” solution for the economy, fourteen of the tech firms Gore was invested in had received and/or benefited from over $2.5 billion in loans, grants, and tax breaks. Democrats count on the public to forget each dire warning that they issue about the end of the world in ten years. Then ten years later they make the same predictions. And the shocking thing is that somehow the public does forget, or at least the Democrats do. As each new generation of American schoolchildren are indoctrinated to believe this doomsday prediction, they march to protest “climate inaction” and set out to save the planet. The inconvenient truth for Gore, Obama, and the current crop of Democrat hopefuls is that there is no planetary emergency. Not one of their dire predictions has come to pass. Why do they and their multitude of followers continue to believe their doomsday prophecies in the face of 50 years of disconfirmation? Here’s a real inconvenient truth: Al Gore, as I have known for years now, is a con-man/charlatan, a criminal liar and an elite-capitalist-swine wanabe! Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW): “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” and “One Born Every Minute” in action. The following article is long and filled with specific accurate information, so I will let it speak for itself. I do encourage all to read this, and then use it, with friends and families, to dispel, to expose, the faux-left climate-alarmists’ corporate-capitalist, eugenics-driven bullshit: Fifty Years of Apocalyptic Global Warming Predictions and Why People Believe Them Earth Day, 2019 PETER BAGGINS, PH.D. • APRIL 21, 2019 Two of the most important problems that the so-called Green New Deal will attempt to solve at the cost of incalculable trillions are global warming and its consequences, including drought, famine, floods and massive starvation. You may recall that Obama in his 2015 State of the Union speech declared that the greatest threat facing us was neither terrorism nor ISIS. It wasn’t nuclear weapons in rogue states either. “No challenge poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change,” said Obama. His entire administration including Vice President Joe Biden, and Secretary of State John Kerry, frequently repeated the claim that climate change was the greatest threat facing the world. It was a sentiment Obama stressed again during an Earth Day trip to the Florida Everglades where he said, “This is not a problem for another generation. It has serious implications for the way we live right now”. More recently, presidential hopefuls like Beto O’Rourke, along with most Democrat candidates, declared their zealous support for the Green New Deal in forecasting that the world will end in 12 years if nothing is done. “This is the final chance, the scientists are absolutely unanimous on this — that we have no more than 12 years to take incredibly bold action on this crisis. Not to be melodramatic, but the future of the world depends on us right now here where we are.” This leads to the question I pose in this brief, data-driven, essay: What kind of track record do the politicians and their experts have in their climate predictions? After all, some of these predictions were made 10, 20 or even 50 years ago. Can’t we now look back at their predictions and begin to hold them accountable? As others have done, I have chosen to begin with the first Earth Day “Celebration” in 1970. Now who can be against Earth Day? It’s a charming idea, and I have been an enthusiastic supporter since my college days in Ann Arbor, when we celebrated the event on the campus of the University of Michigan. Here’s what the experts were saying almost a half century ago on Earth Day, 1970: 1) “Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind.” — Harvard biologist George Wald 2) “It is already too late to avoid mass starvation,” — Denis Hayes, Chief organizer for Earth Day 3) “We are in an environmental crisis which threatens the survival of this nation, and of the world as a suitable place of human abitation.” — Washington University biologist Barry Commoner 4) “Population will inevitably and completely outstrip whatever small increases in food supplies we make. The death rate will increase until at least 100–200 million people per year will be starving to death during the next ten years. … Most of the people who are going to die in the greatest cataclysm in the history of man have already been born. … [By 1975] some experts feel that food shortages will have escalated the present level of world hunger and starvation into famines of unbelievable proportions. Other experts, more optimistic, think the ultimate food-population collision will not occur until the decade of the 1980s. — Stanford University biologist Paul Ehrlich 5) “Demographers agree almost unanimously on the following grim timetable: by 1975 widespread famines will begin in India; these will spread by 1990 to include all of India, Pakistan, China and the Near East, Africa. By the year 2000, or conceivably sooner, South and Central America will exist under famine conditions …. By the year 2000, thirty years from now, the entire world, with the exception of Western Europe, North America, and Australia, will be in famine.” — North Texas State University professor Peter Gunter 6) “In a decade, urban dwellers will have to wear gas masks to survive air pollution… by 1985 air pollution will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching earth by one half.” — Life magazine 7) “At the present rate of nitrogen buildup, it’s only a matter of time before light will be filtered out of the atmosphere and none of our land will be usable. … By the year 2000, if present trends continue, we will be using up crude oil at such a rate … that there won’t be any more crude oil. You’ll drive up to the pump and say, ‘Fill ‘er up, buddy,’ and he’ll say, ‘I am very sorry, there isn’t any. … The world has been chilling sharply for about twenty years. If present trends continue, the world will be about four degrees colder for the global mean temperature in 1990, but eleven degrees colder in the year 2000. This is about twice what it would take to put us into an ice age.” — Kenneth Watt Global Warming and Massive Starvation I will focus my attention on the two most important predictions: Global Warming and Massive Starvation. If we return to the failed prediction of global cooling noted above, we can put the temperature data in a wider perspective. NASA data show that a period of warming in the 1920’s and 30’s was followed by two or three decades of cooling temperatures, from the 1940s to 1970. At that time many experts, including Carl Sagan, warned us of a possible ice age—only to have the climate change on them. From the 1970s to the late 1990s, scientists began to record slightly warmer temperatures. Curiously, as we look back at this period NASA sounded the alarm for global warming while a short time later the New York Times cited NOAA [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] data showing no warming over the past 100 years in the US. Since then, group think and political correctness, plus rewards in government grants and university promotions, have created incentives for nearly everyone to jump onto the current bandwagon of projecting an escalating warming trend. Once again we came back to the doomsday scenario that characterized 1970’s. Then, out of the blue, the darned climate changed again. Global temperature data has been roughly flat since about 1998, even cooling by .056 degrees C from February 2016 to February 2018, according to official NASA global temperature data. Of course, this is just a two-year trend. You may have noticed that nearly all of the doomsday theories seem to begin with the phrase, “if current trends continue.” But, as I have just reviewed, current trends don’t continue. Global temperatures go down, then up, then stay flat. Population growth tapers off, new oil reserves are discovered, agricultural yields increase at even higher rates. Doomsday forecasters always overestimate gloomy trends and underestimate human ingenuity in problem solving. This raises the question: How would an informed citizen make sense of our current predicament? Without question there has been an increase in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released by the burning of fossil fuels and other human activities. A majority of scientists believe this to be the primary source of the global warming that has occurred. Just how much warming has occurred? The scientific consensus is that the average temperature of the Earth has risen about 0.4 °C over the past 100 years. This is far less than experts predicted. And therein lies the problem: scientists are better at observation than prediction. A case in point: experts from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate carrying out global warming research have now predicted that average global temperatures could increase between 1.4 and 5.8 °C by the year 2100. Notice the nearly 5-fold difference between the conservative and more liberal (one is tempted to say “progressive”) estimates. This strikes me as akin to meteorologists predicting tomorrow’s high as somewhere between 40 and 80 degrees. Not much of a forecast if you are trying to decide whether to head to the beach or not. The confidence interval seems pretty safe, but the precision leaves much to be desired. Just how much faith should one put in such projections, given the flawed models and track record of failed predictions? Regarding the other staggering Earth Day forecast of widespread starvation into hundreds of millions, recent satellite data from NASA and NOAA offer a compelling explanation for the spectacular failure of these predictions. Almost half of Earth’s vegetated lands have shown significant greening over the past 35 years largely due to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, according to a recent study published in the journal Nature Climate Change. An international team of 32 authors from 24 institutions in eight countries led the effort, which involved using satellite data from NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer instruments to help determine the leaf area index, or amount of leaf cover, over the planet’s vegetated regions. This greening represents an increase in leaves on plants and trees equivalent in area to two times the continental United States, or more than two million square miles of extra green leaf area per year, compared to the early 2000’s. That increase represents an enormous amount of food to feed a hungry planet, which is one reason the Earth Day predictions of mass starvation never materialized. Because the mainstream media refuses to report such important data as this is from NASA and NOAA that do not support their doomsday narrative, I have never actually met anyone who knew anything about this when I mention it. I only learned about this myself a few years ago because of Matt Ridley, whose excellent blog I recommend without reserve: You may remember from high school biology that increased concentrations of carbon dioxide increase photosynthesis, spurring plant growth. Green leaves use energy from sunlight through photosynthesis to chemically combine carbon dioxide with nitrogen drawn in from the air with water and nutrients tapped from the ground to produce sugars, which are the main source of food, fiber and fuel for life on Earth. The good news is that the impact that this greening has had in reducing hunger and starvation around the globe is undiminished, despite going unreported. When is the last time you heard a report of massive human starvation of hundreds of millions, or even tens of milions. How about 1 million … do I hear a hundred thousand, anyone? Anyone? Fact Check: Fewer and fewer people die from climate-related natural disasters. This is clearly the opposite of what you hear from the mainstream media, which loves to provide as much coverage as possible of one disaster after another. A more rational analysis would examine the average number of deaths per decade from 1920-1917. But this would show a “huuuge” decline in deaths caused by climate change, and we can’t have that now can we? The data below are from the most respected global database, the International Disaster Database. In contrast to the dire Earth Day predictions of 1970, climate-related deaths have been declining strongly for 70 years. Notice that this decline in the absolute number deaths occurred while the global population increased four-fold. Thus, the individual risk of dying from climate-related disasters has declined almost 99% from the 1920s to the present day. Our increased wealth and technological capacity to respond to natural disasters has greatly reduced our collective human climate vulnerability – Good news for rational beings, bad news for Democrat candidates. Scientists have known for some time that their predictive models of global warming were at increasing odds with the data. More recently, they have begun to pinpoint some of the faulty assumptions in the models used to make projections (not observations) of global warming. One example of this type of correction is a 2018 article published in the prestigious journal, Science. Nitrogen availability is a central controller of terrestrial plant growth and, thereby, of the carbon cycle and global climate change. It has been widely assumed that the atmosphere is the main source of terrestrial nitrogen input. Surprisingly, Houlton et al. now show that bedrock is just as large a nitrogen source across major sectors of the global terrestrial environment. Climate scientists have long known that plants offset some of the effects of climate change by absorbing and storing CO2. But they assumed that the ability to plants to perform this function was limited because the availability of nitrogen in the atmosphere was limited. As an earlier 2003 study published in Science stated, “there will not be enough nitrogen available to sustain the high carbon uptake scenarios.” But this idea that the only source of nitrogen for plant life came from the air has been refuted in a more recent article, also in Science. Now we know that there are vast storehouses of nitrogen in the planet’s bedrock that plants can also feed on. In light of these findings, Ronald Amundson, a soil biogeochemist at the University of California at Berkeley, told Chemical and Engineering News that “If there is more nitrogen there than expected, then the constraints on plant growth in a high-CO2 world may not be as great as we think.” With more nitrogen available, plant life might be able to absorb more CO2 than climate scientists have been estimating. This “has the potential to change all projections related to climate change,” because there could be more carbon storage on land and less in the atmosphere than the models assume. For interested readers, a series of articles on this topic reveal other evidence of weaknesses in climate models used to predict future warming. These models failed to predict a decade-long pause in global temperatures. Nor have various calamities that were supposed to have occurred by now materialized. And a recent paper published in another prestigious scientific journal, Nature, has also concluded that the planet is less sensitive to increases in CO2 than the computer models assume. Of course the sky is falling, but maybe not as fast as is being predicted by the left-wing media. Beware of self-serving socialist projections based on outdated computer models, or sometimes just nothing at all. The notorious AOC and her ilk can get away with unprecedented levels of ignorance given the current state of American journalism as long as the errors are in the left direction. But any curious citizen can look back at what previous “experts” claimed was supposed to happen over the past half century and confirm just how erroneous and exaggerated their claims have been all along. The inconvenient truth for Gore, Obama, and the current crop of Democrat hopefuls is that there is no planetary emergency. Not one of their dire predictions has come to pass. Why do they and their multitude of followers continue to believe their doomsday prophecies in the face of 50 years of disconfirmation? It turns out that psychologists have a compelling explanation. In the 1950s, psychologist Leon Festinger became intrigued with a news story about a doomsday cult led by Dorothy Martin, a suburban housewife who claimed she’d received messages about the impending flooding of the Earth. Festinger was already developing his theory of cognitive dissonance and recognized the situation as a unique laboratory to study what would happen when a deeply-held belief was disconfirmed. He saw this as a case that would lead to the arousal of dissonance when the prophecy inevitably failed. He thought that altering or denying the original belief would be very difficult, as Martin and her group were fiercely committed to it. For an excellent application of cognitive dissonance theory to the liberal mind, see here. Thus began a unique observational study of this small apocalyptic cult that laid the foundation for one of the most influential psychological theories in the history of the field. Martin claimed to have received messages from “the Guardians,” a group of superior beings from another planet, who said a flood would destroy the world on December 21, 1954. Three psychologists and several more assistants joined the cult and observed proceedings firsthand for months before and after the predicted apocalypse. Many of the group members quit their jobs and disposed of their possessions in preparation for the apocalypse. When doomsday came and went, Martin claimed that the world had been spared because of the “force of good and light” that the group members had spread throughout the world. Rather than abandoning their discredited beliefs, group members adhered to them even more strongly and began proselytizing with fervor. Festinger had predicted exactly this reaction. He argued that proselytizing provided a way for them to gain more social support and thus lessen the dissonance of disconfirmation. As Festinger wrote, “If more and more people can be persuaded that the system of belief is correct, then clearly it must after all be correct.” As he wrote in his classic book about the case, When Prophecy Fails, the group’s belief system did not just remain intact, it became even stronger. This has close parallels with today’s climate alarmists who have been forecasting the end of the world as we know it in ten years and renewing that prophecy with more fervor with each passing decade since 1970. The pervasive cultural and institutional power held by the Democrat media (film, the talk show universe (whether morning, noon or late-night), TV news broadcasts, major newspapers and magazines, etc.) represent a particularly powerful form of social support. After all, if you are in a position of tremendous institutional or political power, then not only are you hugely confirmed by the colleagues who share your beliefs, but questioning them would threaten everything you hold dear: job, reputation, future career and social standing. Festinger paid special attention to this role the society plays in keeping dissonance at bay: “The more people who hold a belief in common with you, the greater the amount of consonance that is built up and the less dissonance that is encountered when there is a disagreement.” The doomsday paradigm initiated by true believers on Earth Day in 1970 and echoed by multiple generations of Democrat leaders from Gore to Obama to the current “Green New Deal” continues to develop widening cracks as the ratrio of contradiction to reality increases. The cognitive dissonance caused by being on such intellectually shaky ground insures that this doomsday belief system will remain intact for the foreseeable future, producing more denial and dysfunctional thinking, more hysterical calls and campaigns for the moral exclusion of “climate deniers”, and more desperate measures against them. All sources and links can be found here: Source: Fifty Years of Apocalyptic Global Warming Predictions and Why People Believe Them Agenda 21/2030, Al Gore An Inconvenient Asshole, America, anarchism, Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW): A Bold-Faced Lie Exposed!, Capitalism, corporate greed, crimes against humanity, depopulation, despotism, eugenics, Fifty Years of Apocalyptic Global Warming Predictions and Why People Believe Them, genocide, global climate change, Global Warming Hoax, government, liars, The New World Order, the one-percent, Zionism ← “Yemen: The Triumph of [American/NATO/Saudi] Barbarism:” “The Globalists:” The Corporate-Fascist Powers that Own and Operate Your Local, State and Federal Government! →	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line3994
__label__wiki	0.726358	0.726358	Assiut Journal of Agricultural Sciences (AJAS) - Author Index Home Author Index A., A. Hamada; Volume 48, 1-1, 2017, Page 1-25 A., A. Hamada; Volume 48, 1-1, 2017, Page 28-44 A., Attia M.; Volume 45, Issue 1, 2014, Page 33-44 Abdalla, A. A.; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 55-62 Abdalla, M. M.A.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 157-176 Abd Allah, Samar ; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 56-68 Abd EL-Ati, M. N.M.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 47-55 Abdel-Fatah, B.E. ; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 106-120 Abd El Galil, Y. M.A.; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 41-46 Abdel-Gawad, A. S.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 133-144 Abdel Ghany, N. A.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 75-105 Abdelhafez, A. A.; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 72-83 Abd El-Hafez, A. M.A.; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 11-31 Abd El-Hafez, A. ; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 118-132 Abd El-Hafez, G. A.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 38-48 Abd El-Hamed, Shimaa El-Said; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 40-54 Abd El-Lattie, E. A.; Volume 49, Issue 4, 2018, Page 32-43 Abd El-Maneim, M. ; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 47-55 Abd El-Monem, A. ; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 1-9 Abdel-Motagally, F. M.F.; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 1-10 Abdel-mottaleb El-Mahdi Toeima, El-Mahdi ; Volume 49, Issue 4, 2018, Page 15-31 Abdel-Rahman, E. A.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 56-68 Abd El-Rahman, A. A.; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 11-31 Abd El-Rahman, A. A.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 118-132 Abd El-Razek, M. ; Volume 48, 5-2, 2017, Page 215-230 Abdu Abdel-Ghani Khair Allah, Kamal ; Volume 49, Issue 4, 2018, Page 1-14 Aboalmajd, Suzan Abdalmajeed; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 177-185 Abo-Elnaga, Heidi ; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 106-120 Abo Elwafa, Shahat S.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 15-37 Abo El-Wafa, A. A.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 15-37 Abo-Sapra, H M; Volume 49, Issue 4, 2018, Page 1-14 Abou El Nour, Mona M.; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 141-162 Aboul-Nasr, M. H.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 145-156 Abou-Zaid, Eman A.A.; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 97-106 Abouzied, Hanaa M.; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 27-40 Abu EL-Kassim, M. A.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 38-48 Abu- Khadra, A. S.; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 55-62 Afify, A. S.; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 55-62 Ahmed, Amna A.M.; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 117-127 Ahmed, Asmaa ; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 72-83 Ahmed, Dalia I.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 145-156 Ahmed, S. M.; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 128-140 Ahmed, T. A.A.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 10-26 Ahmed, Zeinab Mohamed; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 177-185 Ahmed-Amen, Kamelia I.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 69-78 Akladios, Talat Rizkallah; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 177-185 Al-Geddawy, M. A.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 121-132 Ali, A. M.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 69-78 Ali, E. A.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 10-26 Ali, M. A.; Volume 49, Issue 4, 2018, Page 32-43 Ali, R. A.E.; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 47-54 Ali Abdel-Rahamn, Kamel ; Volume 49, Issue 4, 2018, Page 15-31 Amein, A. ; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 106-120 Amer, Kh.A. ; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 1-10 Asran, A. A.; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 41-46 Ataalla, M. ; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 55-62 Ati, Muntaha A.; Volume 46, Issue 4, 2015, Page 97-104 Atta, M. B.; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 40-54 Attia, K. K.; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 72-83 Attia, S. M.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 60-74 Awadalla, A. ; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 1-26 Bakheit, Bahy Raghib; Volume 45, Issue 1, 2014, Page 33-44 Bakheit, M. A.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 15-37 Daghash, H. A.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 47-55 Dawood, R. A.; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 1-10 Ebeid, A. F.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 133-147 Ebrahim, M. A.M.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 47-55 Eissa, Doaa ; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 159-188 El-Akad, M. M.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 110-117 El-Alsayed, Sohier G.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 159-188 Elazab, Doaa S.; Volume 48, Issue 4, 2017, Page 168-184 El- Azab, Doaa Sh.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 69-78 El-Dekashey, H. Z.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 157-176 Elderwy, Y. M.A.; Volume 48, Issue 4, 2017, Page 77-91 El-Desoky, A I; Volume 49, Issue 4, 2018, Page 109-124 El-Fawy, M. ; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 106-120 Elgharabley, G. A.; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 117-127 EL-Hebbeeny, Y. I.; Volume 48, 1-1, 2017, Page 28-44 EL-Kad, Y. M.; Volume 48, 1-1, 2017, Page 28-44 El-Kashef, A. H.; Volume 45, Issue 1, 2014, Page 45-57 Elmahdy, T. K.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 110-117 EL-Mahdy, T. K.; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 63-71 El-Nagar, G. R.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 10-26 El- Nawam, Safaa M.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 79-95 El- Nawam, Safaa M.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 96-109 El-Rewainy, Hamdia M.; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 107-116 El-Sallami, I. H.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 133-147 El-Sanosy, Hatem Mahmoud; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 84-96 Elsayed, A. ; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 55-62 El-Sayed, M. H.; Volume 48, 5-2, 2017, Page 215-230 El-Shafei, S. M.A.; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 11-31 El sheemy, Atif Helmy; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 177-185 El-Shimy, A. A.; Volume 45, Issue 1, 2014, Page 33-44 ELShoweikh, Dalia Hamed; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 189-198 Elwan, H. A.M.; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 11-31 Elwan, H. A.M.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 118-132 Essa, A. A.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 79-95 Farag, K. M.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 60-74 Farag, K. ; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 75-105 Farag, M. K.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 121-132 F. Badran, M. A.; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 63-71 Gad, A. A.; Volume 49, Issue 4, 2018, Page 32-43 Gad, M. M.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 133-147 Gameh, M. A.; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 72-83 Gameh, M. A.; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 107-116 Gamuhay, B. ; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 55-62 Gattass, H. R.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 79-95 Gerges, Morad F.; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 84-96 Gomah, Hala H.; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 117-127 Gomma, Nanis H.; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 32-39 Habouh, M. A.; Volume 49, Issue 4, 2018, Page 1-14 Haddad, S. A.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 118-132 Haggag, Leila A.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 75-105 Hamd-Alla, W A; Volume 49, Issue 4, 2018, Page 44-63 Hammam, A. R.A.; Volume 48, Issue 4, 2017, Page 77-91 Haridy, A. G.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 145-156 Hashem, Ahmed AboEL-Maged; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 84-96 Hassaballa, E A; Volume 49, Issue 4, 2018, Page 1-14 Hassan, A. I.; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 32-39 Hassan, E. H.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 38-48 Hassan, M. ; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 55-62 Hassanien, H. G.; Volume 48, 5-2, 2017, Page 215-230 Hefny, Yasser A. M.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 1-14 Hefzy, M ; Volume 49, Issue 4, 2018, Page 44-63 Helmy Galal Mohamed, Inaam ; Volume 49, Issue 4, 2018, Page 15-31 Hussein, Mona F.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 133-147 Hussin, Yehia Aly; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 189-198 Ibraheem, Fatma E.; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 76-96 Ibrahim, R. A.; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 76-96 Ismail, Sahar ; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 159-188 Kahlil, G. Z.H.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 157-176 Kamel, Dalia G.; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 32-39 Keshk, Samia A.; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 40-54 Khalafalla, M Y; Volume 49, Issue 4, 2018, Page 109-124 Khames, K. M.; Volume 48, 1-1, 2017, Page 1-25 Khashaba, Reham A.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 121-132 Mahdy, Rasha E.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 15-37 Mahmod, Omar ; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 189-198 Mahmoud, A. M.; Volume 48, 1-1, 2017, Page 1-25 Mahmoud, Al-Zahraa Abd-Ellah; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 110-117 Mahmoud, Ghada A.; Volume 49, Issue 4, 2018, Page 44-63 Mahmoud, S. M.; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 128-140 Marzouk, Hend A.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 79-95 Masoud, A. A.B.; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 76-96 Masoud, A. A.B.; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 97-106 M. Badawy, Ebtsam F; Volume 49, Issue 4, 2018, Page 98-108 Mekky, M S; Volume 49, Issue 4, 2018, Page 32-43 Moftah, Rofida F.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 133-144 Mohamed, A. ; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 55-62 Mohamed, Asmaa A.; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 63-71 Mohamed, H. M.; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 107-116 Mohamed, M. G.; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 107-116 Mohamed, Nafesa ; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 128-140 Mohammed, Naheif E.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 1-14 Mohammed, Randa Youssef; Volume 46, Issue 6, 2015, Page 144-159 Morsy, A. S.M.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 27-46 Morsy, A. S.M.; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 1-26 Moslim, S.H.A. ; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 1-10 Mostafa, F. M.A.; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 76-96 Mostafa, R. A.A.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 69-78 Mousa, S. M.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 38-48 Nagy, Neven M.N.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 75-105 Nassef, Dalia M.T.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 157-176 Omar, Nagwa M.; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 76-96 Osman, Dina M.; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 32-39 Othman, A. A.; Volume 49, Issue 4, 2018, Page 15-31 Radwan, E. M.A.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 110-117 Radwan, E. M.A.; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 97-106 Ragab, W. S.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 121-132 Ramadan, B. R.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 56-68 Rashed, Mohammed Gamal El-Din; Volume 46, Issue 6, 2015, Page 144-159 Rashwan, M. R.A.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 133-144 Roshdy, Nadia M. K.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 148-158 S.A., Rbab ; Volume 49, Issue 4, 2018, Page 15-31 Saeed, A. ; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 106-120 Said, M. T.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 1-9 Saleh, Salah Ali; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 189-198 Sayed, M. A.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 15-37 Seleim, Magda A.A.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 56-68 Seleim, Magda A.A.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 133-144 Serry, Soad Y.; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 141-162 Shehata, R. S.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 75-105 Sherif, M. M.; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 1-26 Soliman, M. A.H.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 118-132 Swaed, Sajeda Yaseen; Volume 46, Issue 4, 2015, Page 97-104 Talaat, A. ; Volume 48, 5-2, 2017, Page 215-230 Tammam, A. A.; Volume 48, Issue 4, 2017, Page 77-91 Tantawy, M. M.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 27-46 Teama, E. A.; Volume 49, Issue 1, 2018, Page 10-26 Y, Mahdy A; Volume 49, Issue 4, 2018, Page 64-74 Youssef, Muhammad ; Volume 48, Issue 4, 2017, Page 168-184 Zaky Mahmoud, Adham Mohamed; Volume 48, Issue 6, 2017, Page 97-115 Zanouny, A. I.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 49-59 Zedan, O. A.A.; Volume 49, Issue 3, 2018, Page 47-54 Zohri, A. A.; Volume 49, Issue 2, 2018, Page 121-132 Journal Management System. Designed by NotionWave.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4002
__label__wiki	0.597449	0.597449	Oxygen loss could be a huge issue for oceans A major study into an ancient climate change event that affected a significant percentage of Earth's oceans has brought into sharp focus a lesser-known villain in global warming: oxygen depletion. Credit: wildestanimal/Getty Images The study, just published in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, examined a past period of global warming around 94 million years ago, when oceans became de-oxygenated. This famous period in Earth's geological history, known as an Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE), was more severe and on much longer timescales than the current changes. But it has given the scientists studying this period an extreme case-study to help understand how the oceans are effected by high atmospheric CO2 emissions. Research Fellow Dr. Matthew Clarkson and Professor Claudine Stirling, of the Chemistry Department at The University of Otago (New Zealand), applied a revolutionary new tool to examine how the oceans responded to climate change in the past. Professor Tim Lenton, of the University of Exeter, developed a model to interpret the new data whilst visiting the University of Otago. The model enabled the team to quantify how much carbon was injected into the atmosphere to trigger each of the two phases of the oceanic anoxic event. "What this tells us is how vulnerable the Earth system is to large emissions of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere – whether from volcanic processes or human activities," Professor Lenton said. "One long-term consequence of warming the climate is to deoxygenate the ocean – with severe consequences for marine life." The scientists used a novel technique that measures naturally-occurring uranium isotopes from ancient sediments, which could be used to estimate ocean oxygen content, thus identifying an ancient geochemical record of how much of the ocean was deoxygenated these many millions of years ago. They applied this technique to geological sediments that were once deposited in the ocean and are today preserved on land at the white cliffs in the South of England, and also in Italy. They found that the likely driving mechanism of this anoxic, or deoxygenation, event was nutrient run-off, itself driven by high CO2 emissions and warmer temperatures; and that when CO2 emissions reduced, along with nutrient levels, global oceans recovered for a period. Professor Stirling says the ability to predict what could happen, thanks to the combination of uranium isotopes and modelling, is a significant breakthrough. "It helps us understand the missing piece of the puzzle, what happens to oxygen levels in our oceans when they are effected by global warning. CO2 levels in the atmosphere were much higher than they are now, so we won't see this level of change for a long time, but we will see the same sequence of events" she says. Areas of ocean deoxygenation, known as "dead zones", can be found currently in a number of oceans around the world such in the eastern parts of the tropical Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The "dead zones" occur because it is harder to dissolve oxygen in water when the oceans are warm, and also more oxygen is used up during the breakdown of biological material. In these zones there are high amounts of nutrients, leading to high amounts of organic matter, and hence more oxygen is used up. Some of these nutrients come from run-off in rivers, and some from upwelling of deep ocean water. Dr. Clarkson explains the importance of the study: "From studies like this scientists can describe the link between increased global temperatures and increased global weathering rates, which drive a high input of nutrients into the ocean. "This leads to high primary productivity in the oceans and eventually the loss of oxygen as the organic matter degrades by aerobic respiration. This process is similar to eutrophication, which happens in many lakes and rivers due to the input of fertilisers, but in this case it occurred on a global oceanic scale," says Dr. Clarkson. "Through comparison to other geochemical data, and simulating the event with a new biogeochemical model, we present strong evidence for the nutrient input hypothesis as a driving mechanism for anoxia (deoxygenation)." The event was most likely caused by increased CO2 emissions from volcanic activity, over hundreds of thousands of years. Marine fauna suffered heavily during this event, although it is not considered one the major mass extinctions of Earth's history. "Another significance of this study is that we are able to put a new estimate on the area of the seafloor that became anoxic, at around 8-15 percent, compared to only 0.3 percent in the modern ocean. "Importantly, a number of completely independent studies, with very different methods, are finding consistent results for the Oceanic Anoxic Event. This helps gives scientists much greater confidence when trying to understand the legacy of modern human activity." This particular Oceanic Anoxic Event was also thought to have lasted for around 1 million years, but the new data also shows for the first time that the global oceans briefly recovered in the middle of the event, before returning to widespread anoxia again. "This recovery was the result of declining CO2 emissions from volcanic sources, and the removal of carbon from the atmosphere by weathering and the burial of organic matter. These two processes are known to help regulate the global climate, acting as negative feedback mechanisms similar to a thermostat, but they take a very long time." Source: University of Exeter [March 06, 2018] Labels Climate Change, Natural Heritage, Oceans, Wildlife	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4005
__label__wiki	0.911473	0.911473	DNA study: Jomon woman could tolerate fatty foods, alcohol Researchers who decoded the entire genome of a woman who lived in Hokkaido 3,800 years ago said she was well-adapted to a diet rich in fat and had a high tolerance for alcohol. A molar of a Jomon woman was used to decode her entire genome [Credit: National Museum of Nature and Science] The project team, including scientists from the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo’s Ueno district, also said on May 13 that the woman’s genetic makeup had many similarities to people who live in the Arctic. The woman lived on Rebunto island off the northern tip of Hokkaido during the Jomon Pottery Culture Period (c. 8000 B.C.-300 B.C.). Her skeletal remains, including her skull, were unearthed at the Funadomari historic site on the island. Using DNA collected from her molar, the project team on March 12, 2018, showed a reconstructed face of the Jomon woman with light brown eyes, frizzy hair, dark skin and freckles. The decoding of the genome now shows how she likely lived. “This data can be reference material for every genome study on ancient people,” said Hideaki Kanzawa, a specialist in biological anthropology at the National Museum of Nature and Science, who heads the team. “It will also be critical in understanding the origins of hereditary diseases seen in modern humans.” According to the team, the Jomon woman had a genetic mutation that can easily break down fat. A reconstructed head of a Jomon woman based on her skull and genetic information Bones of marine animals were discovered at the Funadomari historic site, indicating that she fed on sea lions and other large creatures that were hunted by her group. The genetic mutation would have metabolized such fat-rich food, preventing her from becoming ill or sick to her stomach, the team said. According to the study, this genetic characteristic has been seen in 70 percent of people who live in the Arctic, such as the Inuit. But the mutation is rarely found among current Japanese who no longer need to hunt for their food. When the Jomon woman was alive, agriculture had started in China but those in Japan still relied largely on hunting for nourishment. The team also said her genes showed she would have been a strong drinker and had a wet type of earwax. With her low variety of genes, the team estimated that Jomon people continued living in small groups for about 50,000 years. They said the study showed that Jomon people were genetically similar to current South Koreans, Filipinos and indigenous people in Taiwan. Author: Roku Goda \| Source: The Asahi Shimbun [May 14, 2019] Labels Anthropology, Asia, East Asia, Forensics, Genetics, Japan	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4006
__label__wiki	0.919595	0.919595	\| Back \| Text Size: https://archive.triblive.com/news/organist-plays-on-fame-from-romper-room-days/ Tom Jewell As a former host of the television show ‘Romper Room,’ Jean A. Dobis finds herself dealing with a bit of a collective consciousness. People ask the Oakmont resident for songs, dances, stories and other routines from the series that dates back not only to their own childhood but also to the early days of television. And if ‘Miss Jean’ gets a complaint, it usually revolves around The Magic Mirror. ‘I still get people asking me, ‘How come you never saw me in The Magic Mirror?” said Dobis, referring to the mirror that was brought out at the end of each show, when the host would use it to gaze out into the TV audience. That audience was vast, and the show was franchised on a regional basis, with Dobis, at the time Jean Federici, starring in more than 500 shows between 1958 and 1961 in the Johnstown viewing area, which was broadcast over parts of four states, including Pittsburgh’s eastern suburbs. Miss Jean also came back for several weeks at a time on the Pittsburgh ‘Romper Room’ in the early 1960s, filling in for Miss Janey when the Pittsburgh hostess got married and went on family leave. The Federici-Dobis file Name: Jean (Federici) Dobis Residence: Oakmont Family: Three grown children, Mary Frances Kirkpatrick, Stephanie Jean Parrish and Joseph C. Dobis; three grandchildren, Benjamin, Taylor and Joseph Background: From 1958 to 1961, ‘Miss Jean’ Federici was the ‘Romper Room’ teacher out of Johnstown, which was broadcast as far away as McKeesport and Uniontown. ‘Some of the ‘Romper Room’ kids now have grandchildren of their own,’ Dobis said of the baby boomers she worked with on a daily basis, getting to the studio at 7 a.m., then going on the air live for an hour at 8 a.m., even doing the commercials herself. ‘We had to get there early to start to warm the cameras up, and the only thing we rehearsed was the commercials,’ she noted. ‘We improvised a lot, including the music.’ At the time she was persuaded to audition to host the show, Dobis wasn’t sure if she was qualified for the part. A standout in Pittsburgh Central Catholic High School’s plays and musicals when she attended nearby Sacred Heart High School, Federici went on to sing lead for the dance band known as The Mellowmen and performed in the summer productions of the Civic Light Opera at Pitt Stadium. Her family moved to Oakmont from the East Liberty-Homewood area in 1950. Her father, George Federici, was a Pennsylvania Railroad detective who patrolled from the Strip District to the Point. He was also a well-known referee and umpire. ‘One of the treasures in our family was a PT-109 tie bar that John F. Kennedy gave to my father on one of his stops in Pittsburgh,’ she recalled. She graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1955 with a degree in musical education. And that’s what she was doing when she saw the advertisement looking for a host of a new ‘Romper Room’ show. ‘I was teaching vocal music in Indiana,’ Dobis said. ‘At first I said ‘I’m not really a preschool teacher.” The audition was in the studio, a converted welding shop in nearby Cambria City. ‘They had me sit at the desk and say, ‘Good morning boys and girls,’ and then I sang a song, something like ‘The Noble Duke of York,” she recalled. And the rest is history. Dobis had been making $3,200 year as a teacher, and ‘Romper Room’ was offering a going rate of $125 a week, which more than doubled her salary. With most of the day still ahead of her after the show, Federici spent a lot of time playing golf at the local public course. ‘I would play with steelworkers, who thought it was fun to play with ‘Miss Jean,” she said. ‘Some of them wanted pictures so they could show their wives.’ She got hundreds of letters every week. Aside from kids’ mail, she got her share of letters from ‘guys in pool rooms and bars’ – as well as her future husband, Joseph Dobis. ‘He wrote to tell me that he remembered me from the college yearbook, that he was coaching and teaching in Johnstown and that we should get together,’ she said. The two were married in 1960, and essentially the honeymoon was over at ‘Romper Room,’ where incidentally she had also fixed up a cameraman with her best friend. Those two wound up getting married. But with the arrival of the Dobis’ first child, she was phased out of the show, although she did come back for several weeks in 1962 and 1963 for the Pittsburgh broadcast. ‘This was all before the Fair Employment Act, and some women weren’t even allowed to be married on their jobs,’ Dobis noted. ‘I never got to say goodbye to the kids. But I think I probably would have quit anyway to raise my own family.’ As her three children were growing up, she worked as a substitute teacher in Johnstown. But she missed Pittsburgh quite a bit. ‘I always had intentions of coming back home to Pittsburgh,’ Dobis said. ‘I missed the spontaneity of doing things in the city, where you don’t have to plan everything in advance.’ Today, she is the organist for First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sharpsburg and Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Natrona Heights, Harrison. She also serves as the president of the Confraternity of Christian Mothers and Guild at St. Irenaeus Church in Oakmont. As for her stint on ‘Romper Room,’ she wishes she would have kept more mementos. ‘All I have is one old script, but I have kept letters from parents,’ Dobis said. ‘It was a wonderful experience. And I had the opportunity to touch a lot of people’s lives. At that time, there just wasn’t much on television for children.’ Tom Jewell can be reached at [email protected] or (412) 380-8516. Copyright ©2019— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4009
__label__wiki	0.551254	0.551254	Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill will transform former Studebaker factory in South Bend, Indiana into tech hub At nearly a century old, the former Studebaker factory—to be renamed the Renaissance District—will be reborn as a major tech hub for the entire Midwest. Re-Plant By Matthew Messner (@MessnerMatthew) • February 14, 2017 The former Studebaker car plant in South Bend, Indiana, is undergoing a complete transformation. At nearly a century old, the complex will be reborn as a major technology hub for the entire Midwest. Working on the design is Chicago-based Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG). Dubbed the Renaissance District, the project broke ground nearly two years ago, with the first phase expected to be completed by this summer. The project is so large that companies have already moved into portions of the former plant. When completed the complex will include a 150,000-square-foot data center, a 230,000-square-foot workspace platform with commercial, incubator, and educational space, a 58,000-square-foot education center with classrooms, learning center, and auditorium, a 88,000-square-foot commerce platform with a fitness center, daycare, retail, and food services, and 100,000 square feet of housing. The large north section of the complex was designed by Detroit-based Albert Kahn in 1923. The six-story reinforced concrete structure was state of the art at the time, designed to host an automobile assembly line. While the process of building cars was generally linear, the AS+GG’s design will enable to the multi-directional, multi-discipline approach of today’s technology industry. The housing in the project will take the form of a long-term hotel and serviced apartments that groups or organizations can rent for weeks, months, or years, depending on their needs. Both the housing portion and commercial portions of the project will include landscaped green roofs and terraces. A large courtyard will also provide outdoor gathering space on the east end of the project. This landscaped courtyard will act as the center of the project for workers and visitors. A 200-seat auditorium will “float” above the east courtyard. The hope is that the project will act as an example for a post-industrial city looking to address economic and development issues on complex sites. Adaptive Reuse Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture Albert Kahn Associates Indiana Tech Incubators It Goes to 11 Audible opens its next chapter in a New Jersey church Sorry, Glass Enthusiasts French Senate declares Notre Dame must be rebuilt as it was before, quashing competition Hoosier Finalist SCAPE, Snøhetta, Hood Design among finalists for major Indianapolis project	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4010
__label__wiki	0.590822	0.590822	Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter. (l) "Advertisement" means all representations, other than those on the label, disseminated in any manner or by any means, relating to seed within the scope of this chapter. (2) "Agricultural seed" includes grass, forage, cereal, oil, fiber, and other kinds of crop seeds commonly recognized within this state as agricultural seeds, lawn seeds, and combinations of such seeds, and may include common and restricted noxious weed seeds but not prohibited noxious weed seeds. (3) "Blend" means seed consisting of more than one variety of a kind, each in excess of five percent by weight of the whole. (4) "Bulk seed" means seed distributed in a nonpackage form. (5) "Business licensing system" means the mechanism established by chapter 19.02 RCW by which business licenses, endorsed for individual state-issued licenses, are issued and renewed using a business license application and a business license expiration date common to each renewable license endorsement. (6) "Certifying agency" means (a) an agency authorized under the laws of any state, territory, or possession to certify seed officially and which has standards and procedures approved by the United States secretary of agriculture to assure the genetic purity and identity of the seed certified; or (b) an agency of a foreign country determined by the United States secretary of agriculture to adhere to procedures and standards for seed certification comparable to those adhered to generally by seed-certifying agencies under (a) of this subsection. (7) "Coated seed" means seed that has been treated and has received an application of inert material during the treatment process. (8) "Conditioning" means drying, cleaning, scarifying, and other operations that could change the purity or germination of the seed and require the seed lot to be retested to determine the label information. (9) "Dealer" means any person who distributes. (10) "Department" means the department of agriculture of the state of Washington or its duly authorized representative. (11) "Director" means the director of the department of agriculture. (12) "Distribute" means to import, consign, offer for sale, hold for sale, sell, barter, or otherwise supply seed in this state. (13) "Flower seeds" includes seeds of herbaceous plants grown from their blooms, ornamental foliage, or other ornamental parts, and commonly known and sold under the name of flower seeds in this state. (14) The terms "foundation seed," "registered seed," and "certified seed" mean seed that has been produced and labeled in compliance with the regulations of the department. (15) "Germination" means the emergence and development from the seed embryo of those essential structures which, for the kind of seed in question, are indicative of the ability to produce a normal plant under favorable conditions. (16) "Hard seeds" means seeds that remain hard at the end of the prescribed test period because they have not absorbed water due to an impermeable seed coat. (17) "Hybrid" means the first generation seed of a cross produced by controlling the pollination and by combining (a) two or more inbred lines; (b) one inbred or a single cross with an open pollinated variety; or (c) two varieties or species, except open-pollinated varieties of corn (Zea mays). The second generation or subsequent generations from such crosses are not regarded as hybrids. Hybrid designations must be treated as variety names. (18) "Inert matter" means all matter not seed, that includes broken seeds, sterile florets, chaff, fungus bodies, and stones as determined by methods defined by rule. (19) "Inoculant" means a commercial preparation containing nitrogen fixing bacteria applied to the seed. (20) "Kind" means one or more related species or subspecies that singly or collectively is known by one common name, for example, corn, oats, alfalfa, and timothy. (21) "Label" includes a tag or other device attached to or written, stamped, or printed on any container or accompanying any lot of bulk seeds purporting to set forth the information required on the seed label by this chapter, and it may include any other information relating to the labeled seed. (22) "Lot" means a definite quantity of seed identified by a lot number or other mark, every portion or bag of which is uniform within recognized tolerances for the factors that appear in the labeling. (23) "Lot number" must identify the producer or dealer and year of production or the year distributed for each lot of seed. This requirement may be satisfied by use of a conditioner's or dealer's code. (24) "Mixture," "mix," or "mixed" means seed consisting of more than one kind, each in excess of five percent by weight of the whole. (25) "Official sample" means any sample of seed taken and designated as official by the department. (26) "Other crop seed" means seed of plants grown as crops, other than the kind or variety included in the pure seed, as determined by methods defined by rule. (27) "Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation, company, association, receiver, trustee, or agent. (28) "Prohibited (primary) noxious weed seeds" are the seeds of weeds which when established are highly destructive, competitive, and/or difficult to control by cultural or chemical practices. (29) "Pure live seed" means the product of the percent of germination plus hard or dormant seed multiplied by the percent of pure seed divided by one hundred. The result is expressed as a whole number. (30) "Pure seed" means seed exclusive of inert matter and all other seeds not of the seed being considered as determined by methods defined by rule. (31) "Restricted (secondary) noxious weed seeds" are the seeds of weeds which are objectionable in fields, lawns, and gardens of this state, but which can be controlled by cultural or chemical practices. (32) "Retail" means to distribute to the ultimate consumer. (33) "Screenings" mean chaff, seed, weed seed, inert matter, and other materials removed from seed in cleaning or conditioning. (34) "Seed labeling registrant" means a person who has obtained a permit to label seed for distribution in this state. (35) "Seeds" mean agricultural or vegetable seeds or other seeds as determined by rules adopted by the department. (36) "Stop sale, use, or removal order" means an administrative order restraining the sale, use, disposition, and movement of a specific amount of seed. (37) "Treated" means that the seed has received an application of a substance, or that it has been subjected to a process for which a claim is made. (38) "Type" means a group of varieties so nearly similar that the individual varieties cannot be clearly differentiated except under special conditions. (39) "Variety" means a subdivision of a kind that is distinct, uniform, and stable; "distinct" in the sense that the variety can be differentiated by one or more identifiable morphological, physiological, or other characteristics from all other varieties of public knowledge; "uniform" in the sense that variations in essential and distinctive characteristics are describable; and "stable" in the sense that the variety will remain unchanged in its essential and distinctive characteristics and its uniformity when reproduced or reconstituted as required by the different categories of varieties. (40) "Vegetable seeds" includes the seeds of those crops that are grown in gardens and on truck farms and are generally known and sold under the name of vegetable or herb seeds in this state. (41) "Weed seeds" include the seeds of all plants generally recognized as weeds within this state, and includes the seeds of prohibited and restricted noxious weeds as determined by regulations adopted by the department. [ 2013 c 144 § 5; 1989 c 354 § 73.] Reviser's note: The definitions in this section have been alphabetized pursuant to RCW 1.08.015(2)(k). Effective date—1989 c 354 §§ 70-81 and 84-86: See note following RCW 15.49.005. Severability—1989 c 354: See note following RCW 15.36.012.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4013
__label__wiki	0.816266	0.816266	David Crabbe David Crabbe, a graduate student in the Division of Classics in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures has been awarded the Swift-Longacre-Scaife Fellowship for academic year 2012-13, in the amount of $6,000. The award was made in recognition both of what David had already accomplished in the Classics program and for his outstanding promise as a career Latin teacher. David graduated with an M.A. in Classics this past year, and is staying at U.K. to complete a second M.A. in Teaching Latin in the Master of Arts in Teaching World Languages program (MATWL) of the Modern and Classical Languages department. The Swift-Longacre-Scaife fellowship is named for and honors three notable teacher-scholars in Kentucky. Louis Swift is an emeritus professor of Classics at UK with a specialty in the Latin Church Fathers; he also served as a university administrator over his career of some 40 years. Mrs. Ruth Longacre, now deceased, was a Latin and pedagogy teacher at Georgetown College, much beloved by her students, and in the long lean years of the 1950s through 1970s, when UK was poorly positioned to train Latin teachers, she trained more than half the Latin teachers in the state. Ross Scaife came to UK as a beginning assistant professor, when digital applications to humanities research and teaching were in their infancy; he rapidly rose to international prominence in this field. His sudden death in 2008 at age 47 was a great loss. The fellowship is awarded annually to students who manifest exceptional promise either as future professors of Classics or future Latin teachers in schools. modern and classical languages	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4014
__label__wiki	0.591415	0.591415	Sedimentary, My Dear Watson By Guy Spriggs With sea levels rising, will coastal land along the northern Gulf of Mexico naturally build itself up enough to combat the loss of its coastline? As the coastline continues to disappear, where will the rate of loss be worst? When did pollution in Maine’s Penobscot River begin? Is the polluted material being introduced into our food chain? Are new laws helping reduce the pollution level? If we wanted to answer these important questions, where would we turn? These questions – and many more – can be solved by the unique equipment and skilled researchers working in Kevin Yeager’s Sedimentary, Environmental and Radiochemical Research Laboratory (SER2L) at the University of Kentucky. >>View a photo album of SER2L “This is one of the best equipped environmental radiochemistry laboratories in the country,” said Yeager, a sedimentary geologist and environmental radiochemist in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES). “There are very few laboratories that do what we do, and even fewer that can handle the number of samples we do. We represent a unique capability here at UK.” Yeager came to UK in 2011 after renovations to the Sloan Building provided space for new equipment and workstations. SER2L is a common-use facility, meaning other EES faculty and students who need its resources are welcome to use it. “The College [of Arts & Sciences] and the University have invested in this facility and they want it to be as fully utilized as possible,” he said. SER2L already has established partnerships with researchers in the Department of Geography and College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, but Yeager wants there to be greater awareness of what the lab can offer to the research and academic environment at UK. “We’re always looking for new collaborations. We bring something new to the University – the things we’re doing didn’t previously exist here, and now they do,” said Yeager. “We want the broader UK community to know about us and what our capabilities are.” In addition to the research capabilities of SER2L, the lab also offers invaluable experiences for undergraduates. For Yeager, it is important to employ undergraduates so they are able to build research skills while also being paid. “We try to employ undergraduate research assistants as often as we can, and it’s great for them to get money by doing something they can add to their resume,” he said. According to Yeager, SER2L has four main components: sediment archiving, physical sedimentology, aqueous geochemistry and radiochemistry. The archive is housed in Bowman Hall, allowing Yeager to facilitate similar work being done by other scientists. “We have sediment samples from all over the world that are in dry or cold storage. We do that because scientists will read our work and ask us to send them materials for use for something else,” Yeager explained. All of the work done in SER2L is built upon the analysis of sediment. The isotopes characterized by Yeager and his research assistants are comprised of elements that are particle-reactive and can be analyzed by the various instruments in the lab. Since particle-reactive elements tend to stick to particulate matter, sediment can be examined to determine where it came from, how old it is, how rapidly it has accumulated, and more. The main space in SER2L is devoted primarily to sedimentology and aqueous geochemistry. The workstations there rely on both common equipment – analytical balances, graduated cylinders, centrifuges – and more complex tools – acid digestion hoods, a clean water system, mortar miller – to process sediment core samples collected from the field. Yeager describes the analytical space in the lab as an “instrument park,” but its capabilities are far from ordinary. For instance, this space contains five gamma ray spectrometers – lead-shielded containers used to measure gamma radiation coming from sediment sample(s). “People think the lead is there to protect us from the radiation, but it’s actually the other way around,” Yeager explained. “We are being bombarded by radiation from the sun and from space, and we only want to measure the radiation coming from the sample.” The laboratory also features a research-grade dissecting microscope, a Malvern mastersizer (used to derive the size distribution of sediment) and an alpha spectrometer (used to measure the emission of alpha particles). However, when discussing the capabilities of SER2L, Yeager underscores the important roles played by research analyst Kimberly Schindler and graduate assistants like Stephen Prosser. Prosser, a graduate student researching in SER2L, came to UK and joined Yeager’s group to pursue his interest in studying sedimentary responses in rivers. “Once I visited campus, the lab and the group, it was all set for me. I loved the atmosphere, the camaraderie and the higher level of science being completed in the lab,” he explained. During his time in SER2L, Prosser has learned every chemical method and how to operate every instrument in the lab. These newly-acquired skills have given him the chance to analyze sediments for his own research at incredibly fine scales, as well as participate in contract work on larger research projects. “We all collaborate on each other’s projects and other non-student-driven projects. It’s nice to have your hands in more than one thing,” said Prosser. As research analyst and laboratory manager, Schindler is in charge of teaching procedures to student assistants and running day-to-day operations in SER2L. She has worked for Yeager since her time as an undergraduate at Texas A&M University at Galveston. “She knows how to run all these machines and how to do all the methods in SER2L. She’s an invaluable resource to the students who come through here. Kim is essential in maintaining a safe working environment for the people in the laboratory,” Yeager said. “We have a few mottos around the lab. One is ‘quality over quantity.’ We strive to do quality research work, and all of us profit from the work we produce,” Schindler added. “Another is that we are a collective. We endeavor to make it ‘our’ work and we all benefit from the help we receive from each other.” With unique equipment and a well-trained staff, SER2L participates in an incredibly wide range of research, from showing the effects of the Deep Water Horizon oil spill on the ecology of marsh organisms to measuring coastal accretion and its relationship to sea level rise to understanding the record of past climate change as captured in sediments from large inland lakes – and many more. kevin yeager	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4015
__label__wiki	0.639373	0.639373	iPhone App Video Review: Cytus Cytus is a new music and rhythm game from Rayark Inc. Rather than trying to cram some pre-existing music game onto the iPhone, this one was built from the ground up to be played with a touch screen. It offers beautiful minimalist design and aesthetics, a great selection of songs, and is generally just a fun experience for music game veterans and novices alike. However, it does have its fair share of questionable design choices and flaws. If I had to compare this game to existing music games, I’d say it’s a cross between the excellent Elite Beat Agents on the Nintendo DS and the mega popular Dance Dance Revolution franchise. The gameplay is very similar to Elite Beat Agents, while the soundtrack consists of the same kind of electronic music and J-pop that you’d find in a DDR playlist. Don’t dismiss the game if that kind of music isn’t your style, though. You’re still probably going to have a lot of fun with the gameplay. As with Elite Beat Agents, music notes will appear on the screen, and you’ll have to tap them in accordance with a scanning bar that constantly scrolls up and down the screen. You also have buttons that must be held for a certain amount of time; and others that move along a pre-set path, asking you to follow along with your finger. The margin for error is rather high, and it seems a little bit too easy to get a perfect hit rather than a good or bad one. There is also no way to fail out of songs midway through them. You are graded in the end, and you’ll need high marks to unlock new songs as well as more difficult versions of songs, but there’s no indication of how well you’re really doing as you play. There are no modes in this game to speak of. After you do the tutorial, you’re just dropped into a scrolling song list, and as you play, that list gets longer and longer. Luckily, there are Game Center leaderboards to help keep things competitive. The minimalist interface and gorgeous hand drawn art style really make this game stand out, and the soundtrack is pretty diverse and excellent. Obviously, your love of the music will be much more subjective than anything else. Hopefully more songs can be added in future updates. This game is iOS Universal and it’ll only cost you two dollars. If you’re a fan of music and rhythm games, I highly recommend you give this one a shot. It’s not as hardcore and challenging as most games in the genre, but it’s still beautifully done. READ iPad App Video Review: Perfect Cell Download the free Appolicious iPhone app Card Wars Kingdom – Video Review Meme Machine – Completely Customizable Video Meme App The Best Basic YouTube Apps All Video Fanatics and Aspiring… YouStar – Your Professional Video Editor Andrew Koziara › Andrew Koziara is a lifelong gamer and metal head. When he isn’t playing or reviewing games, he’s making them at Tribeca Flashpoint Academy. Check out his Twitter page here.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4017
__label__cc	0.689181	0.310819	People with Sun in Cancer Manhattan, New York, United States Birthtime accuracy: good Nancy Davis Reagan (born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921) is the widow of the 40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989.Born in New York City, her parents divorced soon after her birth and she grew up in Maryland, living with an aunt and uncle while her mother pursued acting jobs. As Nancy Davis, she was an actress in Hollywood in the 1940s and 1950s, starring in films such as Donovan's Brain, Night into Morning, and Hellcats of the Navy. Nancy Reagan has remained active within the Reagan Library and in politics, particularly in support of embryonic stem cell research. Rodden / Accuracy: good Symbolism of the Pisces sign Symbolism of the Aries sign	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4023
__label__wiki	0.525615	0.525615	← What’s Right With the UN? The Cynic . . . → Dr. Dee was a Dummkopf Any subject is good for opera if the composer feels it so intently he must sing it out. -Gian Carlo Menotti Last weekend we went to see a new opera at the English National Opera. By new, I mean two things; a modern opera and also new to me. We saw Dr Dee: An English Opera created by theatre director Rufus Norris and musician and composer Damon Albarn in 2011. Definitely not classical opera, supposedly it was inspired by comic book author Alan Moore and based on the life of John Dee, medical and scientific advisor to Queen Elizabeth I in the mid-1500s. Actually, he was described as a “consultant” to the Queen, which explains a lot, to me at least. I must say the staging was impressive and a visual treat, especially the giant accordion-page books (you needed to be there to understand). They even had live crows, and some pretty scary ones in the cast on stage as well. It was such a cacophony of visual images and emotional portrayals of strange characters that I didn’t find myself being nudged by my daughter for napping half way through. But the reason I have titled this posting, Dr. Dee was a Dummkopf (roughly translated as “stupid person”) concerns the main message of the story. Dr. John Dee was so enamoured with learning, his scientific theories, and his role as a consultant to Queen Elizabeth (he even taught navigation to those making the historic sea explorations for England at the time), that he totally ignored his wife and daughter, spending all of his time “at his work”. In the end he lost his family and wound up leading a miserable life in disgrace by those who once revered him. Opera does take its roots from real life, and in this case, we find a workaholic, enthralled with learning, but even more so, seduced by the praise and accolades heaped upon him. Not unlike today’s modern workaholic who gets praise and accolades from his colleagues at the law firm for putting in the most billable hours, or the consultant who is the envy of the office for her massive frequent flier miles. Or the senior executive who spends so much time at the office he knows the names of the night janitor’s children, but forgets his own anniversary. Workaholism is a strong drug, and as we see in the case of Dr. John Dee, is not just a modern addiction. Go to the opera sometime, you can learn a lot about life, assuming you don’t sleep through the whole thing because you’ve been working late all week! Tight Lines . . . John R Childress john@johnrchildress.com About johnrchildress John Childress is a pioneer in the field of strategy execution, culture change, executive leadership and organization effectiveness, author of several books and numerous articles on leadership, an effective public speaker and workshop facilitator for Boards and senior executive teams. In 1978 John co-founded The Senn-Delaney Leadership Consulting Group, the first international consulting firm to focus exclusively on culture change, leadership development and senior team alignment. Between 1978 and 2000 he served as its President and CEO and guided the international expansion of the company. His work with senior leadership teams has included companies in crisis (GPU Nuclear – owner of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Plants following the accident), deregulated industries (natural gas pipelines, telecommunications and the breakup of The Bell Telephone Companies), mergers and acquisitions and classic business turnaround scenarios with global organizations from the Fortune 500 and FTSE 250 ranks. He has designed and conducted consulting engagements in the US, UK, Europe, Middle East, Africa, China and Asia. Currently John is an independent advisor to CEO’s, Boards, management teams and organisations on strategy execution, corporate culture, leadership team effectiveness, business performance and executive development. John was born in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon and eventually moved to Carmel Highlands, California during most of his business career. John is a Phi Beta Kappa scholar with a BA degree (Magna cum Laude) from the University of California, a Masters Degree from Harvard University and was a PhD candidate at the University of Hawaii before deciding on a career as a business entrepreneur in the mid-70s. In 1968-69 he attended the American University of Beirut and it was there that his interest in cultures, leadership and group dynamics began to take shape. John Childress resides in London and the south of France with his family and is an avid flyfisherman, with recent trips to Alaska, the Amazon River, Tierra del Fuego, and Kamchatka in the far east of Russia. He is a trustee for Young Virtuosi, a foundation to support talented young musicians. You can reach John at john@johnrchildress.com or john.childress@theprincipiagroup.com View all posts by johnrchildress → 3 Responses to Dr. Dee was a Dummkopf Steve Borek says: When I first started my career in the computer industry, I’d say I was a workaholic. As the years went by, I became less so. I learned a lot in these last three decades. http://endgamebusiness.com/blog/coulda-woulda-shoulda/ Then one day it happened. I was introduced to the coaching profession. I no longer work. I’m passionate about getting people, mostly business people like C-level typez and their teams, to where they want to go quicker. In regards to opera. I’ve seen it on tv and heard it on the radio. For some reason, I don’t care for it. This opinion comes from a man who loves theatre! In fact, I’ve produced eight plays (community theatre) and been involved with a half dozen others. Maybe if the last Ms. Steve comes along, and she’s enamored with opera, I’ll purchase two tickets front row, stage left. mimijk says: I think one gets seduced by the rhythm of the environment in which one works (this presumes that you’re a moderately competitive person and are driven to keep pace with those around you), and it takes determination to step away, remember our priorities and then act accordingly. Do I rue the days I was at my son’s baseball games, while also listening to a conference call on my cell phone? How many vacations did my husband go play some golf, while I was in the business center? Too many. How many C-level people do this? Too many. As I’ve said, I believe you are engaging in trade-offs all the time – and one has to be pretty grounded in their purpose and awareness of what really matters. If one veers off course, sometimes one cannot return and has to chart a new course. Ideally one doesn’t lose himself/herself in the process. Great post John.. teebob says: thanks for sharing. I love your work and thanks for sharing your thoughts. http://teebob.wordpress.com/	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4028
__label__wiki	0.759718	0.759718	When Somebody Loses Weight, Where Does The Fat Go? Ruben Meerman and Andrew Brown (writing in the British Medical Journal (BMJ)) explain why the answer might not be what you expect. Considering the soaring overweight and obesity rates and strong interest in this topic, there is surprising ignorance and confusion about the metabolic process of weight loss among the general public and health professionals alike. We encountered widespread misconceptions about how humans lose weight among general practitioners, dietitians, and personal trainers (Figure 1). Most people believed that fat is converted to energy or heat, which violates the law of conservation of mass. We suspect this misconception is caused by the “energy in/energy out” mantra and the focus on energy production in university biochemistry courses. Other misconceptions were that the metabolites of fat are excreted in the faeces or converted to muscle. We present a novel calculation to show how we “lose weight.” Figure 1: Responses of a sample of doctors, dieticians, and personal trainers to the question “When somebody loses weight, where does it go?” (Correct answer CO2). Did You Guess Right? Weight We Want To ‘Lose’ Excess carbohydrate or protein in the diet is converted to triglyceride and stored in the lipid droplets of adipocytes. Excess dietary fat needs no conversion other than lipolysis and re-esterification. People who wish to lose weight while maintaining their fat-free mass are, biochemically speaking, attempting to metabolise the triglycerides stored in their adipocytes. The chemical formula for an average triglyceride molecule can be deduced from fatty acid composition studies. In 1960, Hirsch and colleagues published data that yield an “average fatty acid” with the formula C17.4H33.1O2 (Hirsch et al., 1960). This 50 year old result is in remarkable agreement with more recent data (hodson et al., 2008). Three “average fatty acids” esterified to the glycerol backbone (+3C, +6H) give an “average triglyceride” with the formula C54.8H104.4O6. The three most common fatty acids stored in human adipose tissues are oleate (C18H34O2), palmitate (C16H32O2), and linoleate (C18H32O2), (Hirsch et al., 1960; Hodson et al., 2008) which all esterify to form C55H104O6. The complete oxidation of a single triglyceride molecule involves many enzymes and biochemical steps, but the entire process can be summarised as: C55H104O6+78O2→55CO2+52H2O+energy Stoichiometry shows that complete oxidation of 10 kg of human fat requires 29 kg of inhaled oxygen producing 28 kg of CO2 and 11 kg of H2O. This tells us the metabolic fate of fat but remains silent about the proportions of the mass stored in those 10 kg of fat that depart as carbon dioxide or water during weight loss. To calculate these values, we traced every atom’s pathway out of the body. The carbon and hydrogen atoms obviously depart as CO2 and H2O, respectively. The fate of a triglyceride molecule’s six oxygen atoms is a conundrum solved in 1949 by Lifson and colleagues (Lifson et al., 1949). They used labelled heavy oxygen (O18) to show that the oxygen atoms of body water and respiratory carbon dioxide are rapidly exchanged through the formation of carbonic acid (H2CO3). A triglyceride’s six oxygen atoms will therefore be shared by CO2 and H2O in the same 2:1 ratio in which oxygen exists in each substance. In other words, four will be exhaled and two will form water. Novel Calculation The proportion of a triglyceride molecule’s mass exhaled in CO2 is the proportion of its molecular weight (daltons) contributed by its 55 carbon atoms plus four of its oxygen atoms: (661 Da (C55)+64 Da (O4))/(861 Da (C55H104O6))×100=84% The proportion of mass that becomes water is: (105 Da (H104)+32 Da (O2))/(861 Da (C55H104O6))×100=16% These results show that the lungs are the primary excretory organ for weight loss (Figure 2). The water formed may be excreted in the urine, faeces, sweat, breath, tears, or other bodily fluids. Figure 2: When somebody loses 10 kg of fat (triglyceride), 8.4 kg (corrected to 9.4) is exhaled as CO2. The remainder of the 28 kg total of CO2 produced is contributed by inhaled oxygen. Lungs are therefore the primary excretory organ for weight loss. (This calculation ignores fat that may be excreted as ketone bodies under particular (patho)physiological conditions or minor amounts of lean body mass, the nitrogen in which may be excreted as urea). Lifting The Veil On Weight Loss At rest, an average 70 kg person consuming a mixed diet (respiratory quotient 0.8) exhales about 200 ml of CO2 in 12 breaths per minute (Ainsworth et al., 2011). Each of those breaths therefore excretes 33 mg of CO2, of which 8.9 mg is carbon. In a day spent asleep, at rest, and performing light activities that double the resting metabolic rate, each for 8 hours, this person exhales 0.74 kg of CO2 so that 203 g of carbon are lost from the body. For comparison, 500 g of sucrose (C12H22O11) provides 8400 kJ (2000 kcal) and contains 210 g of carbon. Replacing one hour of rest with exercise that raises the metabolic rate to seven times that of resting by, for example, jogging, removes an additional 39 g of carbon from the body, raising the total by about 20% to 240 g. For comparison, a single 100 g muffin represents about 20% of an average person’s total daily energy requirement. Physical activity as a weight loss strategy is, therefore, easily foiled by relatively small quantities of excess food. Our calculations show that the lungs are the primary excretory organ for fat. Losing weight requires unlocking the carbon stored in fat cells, thus reinforcing that often heard refrain of “eat less, move more.” We recommend these concepts be included in secondary school science curriculum’s and university biochemistry courses to correct widespread misconceptions about weight loss. References (In Article) Ainsworth, B.E., Haskell, W.L., Herrmann, S.D., Meckes, N., Bassett, D.R., Jr, Tudor-Locke, C., et al. (2011) 2011 Compendium of Physical Activities: A Second Update of Codes and MET Values. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 43, pp.1575-1581. Hirsch, J., Farquhar, J.W., Ahrens, E.H. Jr, Peterson, M.L. & Stoffel, W. (1960) Studies of Adipose Tissue in Man. A Microtechnic for Sampling and Analysis. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 8, pp.499-511. Hodson, L., Skeaff, C.M. & Fielding, B.A. (2008) Fatty Acid Composition of Adipose Tissue and Blood in Humans and Its Use as a Biomarker of Dietary Intake. Progess in Lipid Research. 47, pp.348-380. Lifson, N., Gordon, G.B., Visscher, M.B. & Nier, A.O. (1949) The Fate of Utilized Molecular Oxygen and the Source of the Oxygen of Respiratory Carbon Dioxide, Studied with the Aid of Heavy Oxygen. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 180, pp.803-811. Reference (Whole Article) BMJ 2014;349:g7257 (original article) BMJ 2014;349:g7782 (8.4 kg to 9.kg correction) Anatomy & Physiology, Food & Nutrition Adipose tissue, Blood Lipids, Fat, Obesity Levels, Triglycerides ← British Army Diving (31) Review into Women in Ground Combat Roles Published →	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4030
__label__wiki	0.638453	0.638453	Amsterdam wants to ban gas and diesel cars from 2030 Home/Blog/Amsterdam wants to ban gas and diesel cars from 2030 Gasoline and diesel fueled cars and motorcycles will be banned from Amsterdam from 2030 in an effort to clean up the city’s air, the Dutch capital’s council said last week. “Pollution often is a silent killer and is one of the greatest health hazards in Amsterdam,” said the city’s traffic councilor, Sharon Dijksma. Despite the widespread use of bicycles by many Dutch, air pollution in the Netherlands is worse than European rules permit, mainly due to heavy traffic in the cities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The health ministry has warned that current levels of nitrogen dioxide and particle matter emissions can lead to respiratory illnesses, with chronic exposure shortening life expectancy by more than a year. Amsterdam said it aims to replace all gasoline and diesel engines by emission-free alternatives, such as electric and hydrogen cars, by the end of the next decade. It will start next year by banning diesel cars built before 2005 from the city, and will gradually expand the range of vehicles that are barred. The city said it will use subsidies and parking permits to stimulate people to switch to cleaner cars.(Reporting by Bart Meijer Editing by Frances Kerry)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4031
__label__wiki	0.571097	0.571097	Front Page » Archives » October 2013 » " Justice Still Delayed for 'Central Park Five' " Justice Still Delayed for 'Central Park Five' Though their convictions were eventually vacated, the five boys who served years in jail after coerced confessions to a crime they didn't commit, still deserve much more... By Brad Friedman on 10/21/2013, 2:33pm PT [This article now cross-published by The Progressive...] I finally found a moment recently to watch The Central Park Five, a documentary film by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, and David McMahon which aired on PBS earlier this year about the travesty of justice following the infamous 1989 Central Park Jogger case. The word "travesty" here isn't really strong enough to properly describe what happened in this case if the film and the available evidence are accurate. The film details the story of the five young African-American and Hispanic boys from Harlem, aged 14 to 16, who had absolutely nothing to do with the brutal beating and horrific rape of a white, affluent, 28-year old female jogger, but who ended up serving some seven years each (more in the case of the one 16-year old) after false confessions were apparently coerced out of them by New York City police detectives in the days immediately following the crime. According to the documentary, one of the kids who was falsely convicted wasn't even considered a suspect when a NYC detective in Harlem, seeking to bring the boy's friend into the station for questioning, suggested the boy come along for the quick ride downtown and back. He promised him he'd be home in an hour or so. It would be years before either of them were allowed to go back home for good. The film, frankly, is extraordinary disturbing, heart-breaking and infuriating on several different levels, not the least of which was that I lived in NYC when the horrible rape and violent assault --- attempted murder, actually --- took place. I remember the supposed "wilding" incident well, along with the fear and furor that subsequently gripped the city. Yet, I had no idea, until this film, that the boys tried and convicted for the crime were, years later, found to have been completely innocent. They had absolutely nothing to do with the crime they were each convicted of... In 2002, while serving a life sentence, the so-called "East Side Rapist", Matias Reyes, offered a real confession to the crime which, he says --- and evidence confirms --- he committed alone. Reyes had been arrested after a string of serial rapes and murders on NY's Upper East Side, just months after the Central Park jogger incident, but police never bothered to tie him to that case. That case was said by NYPD (and the media which simply took their word for it) to have been "solved" just days later. Supposedly it was committed by a roaming "wolf pack" of kids from Harlem as police, and the media at the time, wrongly reported. It wouldn't have been difficult to tie Reyes to the Central Park case. The only DNA found at the scene of the rape of the jogger, Trisha Meili, was never tied to anyone before the kids were tried and convicted. There was no DNA or fingerprints of any of the five boys found anywhere near the crime scene. After Reyes' confession years later, however, DNA in semen samples from the rape was found to be a match to Reyes'. The video taped "confessions" of the falsely convicted boys were the result of nearly 24 straight hours of interrogation for each of the 14-, 15- and 16-year olds who, according to New York Magazine, "had been awake for nearly two days" by the time the prosecutor turned on the camera to tape their stories. Each of the boys had been promised they'd finally be allowed to go home to their parents if they just signed the confessions they were rehearsed to repeat on camera. None of the boys' confessions matched the others (they couldn't, they were made up, suggested to them by the cops) and yet, video tapes of those "confessions" --- given before the boys even had lawyers --- were used as the only evidence against them during their trials. It worked. The jury bought it. The real rapist, in the meantime, spent years before being tied to the crime, thanks to the NYC cops and prosecutors who allowed him to get away in exchange for a quick, if completely false, "capture" and conviction that pleased an anxious, frightened and angry city in 1989. Days later, each of the boys would retract their false confessions, but it didn't matter. The video-tapes were too powerful. One juror tried to hold out, according to the film, but after 13 hours of deliberation, even he ultimately gave up. Each of the boys maintained their innocence throughout all the years of their incarceration. Ironically, that was one of the reasons they were not released from captivity earlier. As they refused to show remorse for their "crimes", the parole boards wouldn't even consider early release. Kharey (now Korey) Wise, who received the longest sentence because he was the oldest at the time of the crime --- 16 years old, so he was tried as an adult and sentenced to years in Rikers Island --- even stopped bothering to show up at his parole hearings at all after a few years. He knew it was pointless. He had lost all hope. In short: what happened to these boys was precisely the setup that so many --- too many --- in the African-American community complain happens routinely in this country. It is the familiar cry of "innocence" from family members and a community that is too-easily dismissed by the media and the general public alike. It is, no doubt, the knowledge of this sort of blatantly false arrests that lead so many in the African-American community, rightly or wrongly, to believe to this day in the innocence of people like OJ Simpson. The fact is, as this film convincingly demonstrates again, false arrests, false evidence and false confessions happen. And, if the way the convictions came about in the Central Park Five case is any indication, it happens routinely and easily, and it not prevented by entire teams of otherwise well-respected prosecutors and law enforcement officials who should (or do) know better. If New York had had the death penalty at the time of the Central Park crime, not only is it likely that at least the oldest, Wise, could have been killed, but had the real rapist, Reyes, been put to death for the murders and rapes he was captured for, or had he been killed during one of them or during the course of capture, those five kids would never have been exonerated for the horrific crime...that they did not commit. After Reyes' 2002 confession, including very specific details of the crime that had never been made public, a review of the original case by District Attorney Robert Morgenthau led to his recommendation the cases against each of the five be vacated. As he found [PDF] when reviewing their confessions, years too late: The accounts given by the five defendants differed from one another on the specific details of virtually every major aspect of the crime — who initiated the attack, who knocked the victim down, who undressed her, who struck her, who held her, who raped her, what weapons were used in the course of the assault, and when in the sequence of events the attack took place. ... In many other respects the defendants' statements were not corroborated by, consistent with, or explanatory of objective, independent evidence. And some of what they said was simply contrary to established fact. Each of these boys, now men, Wise, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam, and Raymond Santana are now struggling to get on with their lives. They each deserve big cash settlements for what was done to them. A $250 million lawsuit against NYC, filed in 2003, is still pending. NYC, which refused to cooperate during the making of the documentary, is currently refusing to settle. Perhaps more importantly, if the details in the film are accurate, the police detectives and interrogators --- and perhaps even prosecutors --- responsible for what happened should be tried, convicted and sentenced to at least as long in prison as each of the so-called "Central Park Five" for what appears to have been knowing and blatant coercions of false confessions and prosecutions. As mentioned, I'm ashamed to say that, even though I lived through the incident in NY in the late 80's and early 90's, I had no idea about the complete exoneration of these guys and the vacating of all charges against them in 2003 until seeing this film. I feel very badly about that. Though I was not a part of the media at the time, I feel badly that "we" failed to do our job back then, failed to ask questions, and joined in the mob mentality that took these guys down without any actual physical evidence tying them to the crime at all. I'm also ashamed that, even after all of these years of covering the torture, or so-called "enhanced interrogation" of terror suspects during the George W. Bush years, I don't think I truly understood just how simple it appears to be to coerce a false confession --- much less from 14-, 15- and 16-year olds --- with exacting details, to just about anything that interrogators might want, when a suspect is placed under extraordinary stress. Central Park Five paints a very vivid picture of how it was done, in the voices of the boys, both in 1989 and now that they are free men, in each of the five cases. This is a very important film and it should be watched by many. (See video clips here, buy the film here. Check "On Demand" for your local PBS station to see if it's still airing.) I hope it receives the attention that it deserves. I'm glad the five boys each lived to see this day as free men. That fact --- like the survival and recovery of the jogger who was left for dead (and yet survived and lived to run a marathon years later!) --- is a miracle in and of itself. Similar stories, particularly with the kind of racial element involved in this case, do not usually end up with this sort of a "happy" ending. They almost never do. But while I'm relieved and amazed they each survived to see this day as free men, after the horrors each of them went through for so many years, I hope some day soon they will see actual justice for what happened to them. Article Categories: New York, Mainstream Media Failure, Accountability « PREVIOUS STORY "19 Takes And Counting: Cuccinelli Campaign Accidentally Produces Best Video of the Year?" "'Green News Report' - October 22, 2013" NEXT STORY » "Justice Still Delayed for 'Central Park Five'" (One Response so far...) ... jOHNNY aLAMO said on 10/24/2013 @ 11:04 am PT... NY City: Give these poor guys each a bunch of money for the things you put them through. Prosecute those responsible for this conspiracy to commit child abuse, illegal prosecution and persecution, and hate crimes. Then you can go on with your city-wide illegal criminal police and prosecutorial activities with a somewhat clear conscience about this one at least.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4032
__label__wiki	0.787254	0.787254	Archive \| 12:02 am The Big Ape part three- The 1950s from July 3, 2007 The 1950s in America were years of prosperity and paranoia. Rural life and racism. The post-war boom may have brought in an era of technology but it brought with it the Red Menace and McCarthyism. Not surprisingly, The Big Ape fought them both. The Big Ape Vs. The Red Menace (1954) was put out by All-American Films, which was actually owned by the Boy Scouts of America. In this one, The Big Ape, under presidential orders, infiltrated Moscow to show America the perils of communism. It was a smash, but of course all Big Ape films were smashes. The Big Ape Vs. McCarthyism (1956) was a puppet show put on by protestors on the White House lawn. 1951 saw the release of the first of many Big Ape comedy albums. “Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One, Jerk” was an attempt by Bob Hope to dispel his good-guy image work with the raunchy jokes he loved. Hope had always harbored a secret desire to do dirty material, but working on the radio, and later TV and film, meant that he had to work clean and he did very well with his family-friendly act. In truth, Bob Hope was the nastiest man alive. Ask anyone who saw his Vegas lounge act. He knew, though, that releasing an album of dirty material would put an end to the gravy-train, so he decided to do it in the way guaranteed to make the most money while protecting his identity- he credited the album to The Big Ape and appeared on the cover wearing a tuxedo and gorilla mask. Only years after his death did the truth come out. The comedy albums were but one type of record put out by The Big Ape. Motion picture soundtracks, original Broadway recordings, children’s songs, all were sung by The Big Ape. In 2005 the cast recording of West Side Story from 1959 featuring The Big Ape as Riff sold for $12,350, and a recording of him singing The Mikado went for $8,000. Even an LP of him covering Beatles tunes from the early 70s sold for $850. Another notable Big Ape fact is that John Wayne earned $195,000 to play the title role in The Big Ape Goes Ape (1959) Wayne had always loved the Ape and wanted to play the Ape at any cost. Any cost to the studio, that is. There was no way that the pairing of the biggest western star and the biggest simian star could be done for less than big star salary. Wayne’s ego didn’t end there. Although the role meant that he would be masked, and Wayne was well aware of that, he still wanted his face to bee seen in the film, forever associating, at least in his mind, The Big Ape and John Wayne. To accomplish this, a lengthy prologue was added to the film. Wayne played Professor John Ape who, in the opening minutes, worked hard on perfecting the potion that would allow him to, in his words “become a giant ape, Pilgrim.” It was never explained why he wanted to become a giant ape, but that’s what he wanted and that’s what he got. But it wasn’t enough for Wayne to be seen in the beginning of the film unmasked, he actually wanted to share some scenes with The Big Ape. It was calmly explained that it would be impossible- after all, he was The Big Ape. So John Wayne, displaying none of the calm and grace that would serve him well in countless feature films, threw a tantrum and threatened to quit. Desperate to keep him (Why they would bother is up for debate. Every Ape film made a fortune.) the producers came up with an ingenious device in which Wayne would also play The Big Ape’s conscience, thereby allowing him and the Ape to appear together via split screen. Film critic Jeffrey Lane: To say that America was having a love-affair with The Big Ape was an understatement. Look at these facts: One: Leave it to Beaver, a show about a suburban family whose young son may or may not have been legally stupid guest-starred The Big Ape forty-seven times. Forty-seven! Two: The Big Ape co-hosted the Academy Awards twice, once with Audrey Hepburn and once with Marlon Brando, both of whom complained of being overshadowed by the Ape. Three: The Big Ape was voted the state symbol of both New York and Colorado. This is why New York is called the Big Ape-le. The simple truth is that The Ape was a bigger star than anyone had ever seen before. “Bigger” was an understatement. In 1953 Rocco Movie Co. was determined to feature the biggest-sized Big Ape in any movie. In Planet Big Ape, The Big Ape was so big he was actually larger than the Earth, and when our planet was destroyed by atomic radiation humanity had to blast off into outer space and colonize The Big Ape. Sure the plots were silly. Sure the acting was atrocious. Sure the scripts were often bizarre and often The Big Ape only received a few seconds of screen time. If it had The Big Ape’s furry mug it was a hit. Because of this, in 1958, serious thought was given to drafting Bradford B. Jacobs into the presidential race. Bradford B. Jacobs, as quoted in Time Magazine, April 25th, 1971: So I was coming home from a little trip abroad and I got a phone call from some state legislator, Buck somebody-or-other. (NOTE: This was Bradford’s controversial goodwill visit to North Korea.) Asked if I wanted to be President. I said hell no! You see, I couldn’t afford the pay cut. I was supporting a staff of literally hundreds, not to mention a few ex-wives by this time. Sure, I worth at least a few billion dollars, but do you know how fast I spent money? I once paid Marilyn Monroe $50,000 just to sing “Happy Birthday” to JFK. And they all thought she was sleeping with him. She was sleeping with me! Bradford had a profile unmatched in American culture before or since. While he didn’t run for office, he acted like he was. He would make appearances at sporting events to throw out the first pitch. He went around kissing babies (and, very often, their mothers.) He chartered a train and made whistle-stop tours of the country. Invariably, his message was the same: “Buy my stuff.” Meanwhile, not everything with The Big Ape in it was poor quality. In this era, there were some true cinematic triumphs. Foreign cinema, especially, would make true art house films starring The Big Ape. (It should be noted that most of the time, there was very little mention of the actor beneath the mask. This infuriated Liberace, who portrayed The Big Ape as a young piano prodigy in 1959s Clefs, Keys, and The Big Ape.) This is a partial list of famous actors who played The Big Ape in the 1950s, according to BigApeOnline.com: Audie Murphy Bob Denver Cantiflas As the 1950s ended and America looked ahead to the 60s, America readied itself for an era of change. Two things would be a constant in the coming years: The Big Ape and Bradford B. Jacobs. TO BE CONTINUED IN PART FOUR: THE BIG APE BECOMES GROOVY Tags: bmj2k, dinosaurs, gorillas, King Kong, Mr. Blog, Mr. Blog's Tepid Ride, Mr. BTR, Politics, The Big Ape Categories Art, comics, Culture, family, Halloween, history, humor, Life, movies, news, people, Technology, Television, Writing	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4035
__label__cc	0.636672	0.363328	PDF - Ethics and sport in Europe PDF - Ethics and sport in Europe (2011) Format : PDF Papier Papier PDF Epub mobi Epub mobi Defending ethics in sport is vital in order to combat the problems of corruption, violence, drugs, extremism and other forms of discrimination it is currently facing. Sport reflects nothing more and nothing less than the societies in which it takes place. However, if sport is to continue to bring benefits for individuals and societies, it cannot afford to neglect its ethical values or ignore these scourges.The major role of the Council of Europe and the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) in addressing the new challenges to sports ethics was confirmed by the 11th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Sport, held in Athens on 11 and 12 December 2008. A political impetus was given on 16 June 2010 by the Committee of Ministers, with the adoption of an updated version of the Code of Sports Ethics (Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)9), emphasising the requisite co-ordination between governments and sports organisations.The EPAS prepared the ministerial conference and stepped up its work in an international conference organised with the University of Rennes, which was attended by political leaders, athletes, researchers and officials from the voluntary sector. The key experiences described in the conference and the thoughts that it prompted are described in this publication. All the writers share the concern that the end result should be practical action - particularly in terms of the setting of standards - that falls within the remit of the EPAS and promotes the Council of Europe's core values. Ethics and sport in Europe Chapter 1 - Ethics in sport: historical and philosophical context Historical and philosophical background Philosophy, ethics and sport Historical and philosophical foundations of sports ethics Sport: a model of anti-ethical practice Might God be watching when we run? Which agencies promote sports ethics? Chapter 2 - New challenges to ethics in sport Amber light for the yellow ball: when betting undermines tennis Defence and promotion of ethics in sport The top-level athlete's dilemma: to dope or not to dope? Business and sport as allies for ethical reasons The ethics of responsibility in the management of high-level athletes (HLAs) in France Human rights, discrimination and extremism: new challenges to ethics in sport Ethics and sports in Europe: the media challenge Teaching boxing to mentally and physically disabled people: which practices for which ethics? Safeguarding the integrity of sport: the case for an international body Recommendations for an ethical physical activity programme with underserved youth Ethics in sport - current and future challenges Resolution on ethics in sport (Adopted by the 11th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Sport, Athens, Greece, 10-12 December 2008) Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)9 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the revised Code of Sports Ethics (Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 1 6 June 2010, at the 1088th meeting of the Ministers' Deputies)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4036
__label__wiki	0.824551	0.824551	November 1st, 2010 \| Issue seventy-six Altoon’s Bloom Visions of the “New Womanly Man” in a Hidden Corner of 1960s Los Angeles Art by Alex Kitnick John Altoon, Untitled (F-24), 1962–63. Ink and paint on illustration board, 60 x 40 in. Courtesy of The Box Gallery, Los Angeles, and Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco. In the print my parents have always had hanging on their bedroom wall, a man and a woman are engaged in conversation. The woman leans forward onto some kind of mound or stump, her posterior exposed and turned to the viewer, a garment hiked up on her hips, while the man stands in profile to the right, his left arm tucked close to his side and the other hanging nonchalantly in the air as if conceding a point. The lines making up these figures are baggy and wrinkled, while the faces, thick with doodles, less detail their features than obscure them. Both bodies are rendered in a greenish blue, an aquamarine close to blueprint, except for the surprise of the work, which is a yellow flower blossoming at the end of the man’s oversize erection. What a funny thing for parents to have in their bedroom! John Altoon, F-24, 1966. 30 x 40 in. Ink, watercolor/board. Collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art. Courtesy of Mary Boone Gallery, New York. As far as I can tell, the work is untitled. Dated 1967, it was made in Los Angeles by the artist John Altoon, who died two years later of a heart attack. Altoon is a minor if storied character in L.A. art-world lore, having moved in the guy-centric circle around the Ferus Gallery with figures like Wallace Berman, Edward Kienholz, and Robert Irwin. “If the gallery was closest in spirit to a single person,” Ferus’s suave proprietor, Irving Blum, later said, “that person was John Altoon—dearly loved, defiant, romantic, highly ambitious—and slightly mad.” This is the kind of retrospective compliment paid to those who evade success—emblematic because elusive—though it seems that Altoon was indeed an energizer and merry prankster. If Altoon’s way of life personified the gallery’s spirit, however, his aesthetic was nevertheless apart from it. Though he contributed to Berman’s Semina, a beat publication composed of loose leaves of pictures and poems and sent to friends, his black-ink drawing of a priest hovering over a dead child stands out from the funky photographs and peyote paeans surrounding it. Indeed, Altoon never pursued a mythic, holy function for his art like Berman (who was arrested at his 1958 one-man show at Ferus for displaying biblically infused “pornography”) nor did he make politically provocative tableaux à la Kienholz (whose Back Seat Dodge ’38 [1964] was a cause célèbre). Unlike Irwin, he never explored the cool intricacies of optical perception. In many ways, Altoon had more old-fashioned ideas about being an artist. He put together serious-looking late abstract expressionist paintings, turned back to surrealist biomorphisms, and followed them both with spare, playful, airbrushed abstractions named after streets near his Venice Beach studio. He struggled, painted, swaggered, drank, womanized, and destroyed things. At times clinically mad, he once threatened to ruin every artwork on earth. In his later years, at the behest of his psychiatrist, Altoon began making a series of drawings that often returned to the figurative style he’d learned while training as an illustrator, producing works that frequently dovetailed with the currents of pop. (“The paintings always, almost always, well, not really always, seemed a problem,” the legendary Walter Hopps, another proprietor of Ferus, wrote in a 1971 commemorative text. “The drawings and gouaches and near relatives just came and came.”) In one drawing, from 1962–63, Altoon invents a Colgate ad with a clean-cut man and a half-undressed woman standing in front of a poster of a crucified female underwear model. “Who won… when clinical testing compared Colgate Dental Cream with the most widely accepted fluoride toothpaste?” the text in the center of the drawing asks, setting stakes in terms of winners and losers. It’s a weird joke, to be sure, but the girls don’t seem to be the butt of it, even if they are pictured on the wrong side of power. The drawing states rather frankly—regardless of Altoon’s intention—that mass culture is misogynist, exploits women, and, in other works from this period, this system of masculine mastery begins to backfire, giving rise to a world anxiously animated by phallic appendages. One drawing from 1968 portrays a spastic penis breaking through a jar of Smucker’s jam, while another depicts a flailing dick smothered in the viscosity of a can of motor oil. Like a coiled snake jumping out of a magician’s trick, Altoon’s cocks deliver violent shocks, but they are also violated themselves, cut off, slathered, and dismembered. When seen in the context of these works, the flowering prick in my parents’ print, reattached to man, looks like an attempt at resuscitation, a peace offering (a blossom stuck in its barrel), hovering comically—ridiculously—rather than making a surprise attack. In a related drawing from 1966, F-24, two women water a similar member, stemming from an androgynous cloaked figure, maniacally trying to make it grow. The head of the penis here is once again a blister of yellow petals, though one critic recently saw “a man’s enlarged genitals on fire,” its flames fanned by the pair of women. No doubt the two have a mischievous glare in their eyes, but it seems important that these lines delineate a flower and not a fire. What is happening here is closer to a science experiment than an act of violence or sexual expectation. The women are waiting on the strange new creation growing before them. What shape will it take? they seem to wonder. Will it drop seed? Will it deflower or be deflowered? What does it mean for him, for us? These are open, perhaps unanswerable, questions, but what seems most important is that a new model for man, not to say persons, which is also to say relationships, is proposed here. Freud called the traumatic moment when one imagines one’s parents having sex the primal scene. If these works by Altoon do not quite reach the level of its opposite or undoing (if these relationships are even consummatable), they are nevertheless powerful things to stumble upon in one’s parents’ bedroom. The reforming of man, and the troubling of gender more broadly, was one of the great projects of the twentieth century, in and outside of the bedroom, continuing on, of course, to this day. In the late 1940s, the British artist Richard Hamilton began working on a series of prints based on scenes and images from James Joyce’s Ulysses (1922), which often address similar questions to Altoon’s works. Bronze by Gold (1985–87), for example, updates the Sirens section of The Odyssey with two bar wenches suggestively pulling drafts of ale from phallic handles. Here, as in Altoon’s “cock in commerce” drawings, the world is again libidinalized, albeit less threateningly so. (Indeed, anxiety is not so much evoked here as desirous pangs elicited.) Any sense of danger and desire is diminished, however, in another print from the series, A languid floating flower (1983), in which Leopold Bloom slumps in the bathtub, a bit of his balls and the tip of his flaccid penis breaking through the water’s meniscus. Exposed rather than intimated, the phallus is drained of life: He foresaw his pale body reclined in it at full, naked, in a womb of warmth, oiled by scented melting soap, softly laved. He saw his trunk and limbs riprippled over and sustained, buoyed lightly upward, lemonyellow: his navel, bud of flesh: and saw the dark tangled curls of his bush floating, floating hair of the stream around the limp father of thousands, a languid floating flower. A languid floating flower. I remember my college professor pointing to a passage in Ulysses that reads, “Professor Bloom is a finished example of the new womanly man,” and thinking, excitedly, that this was right. Flaccidity, though, is not feminization. Hamilton misses the bloom in the floating flower. He never gets Leopold as good as Altoon, who, as far as I know, never meant to illustrate him. Alex Kitnick, The Brant Foundation Fellow in Contemporary Arts, is an art historian and critic based in New York. He received his Ph.D. from the Department of Art & Archaeology at Princeton University in 2010 and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles from 2011 to 2012. An editor of numerous volumes, including a collection of John McHale’s writings, The Expendable Reader: Articles on Art, Architecture, Design, and Media, 1951–1979, and October 136 on New Brutalism, he is also a frequent contributor to publications including Artforum, May, October, and Texte zur Kunst. More by Alex Kitnick Good Shepherds Meghan O’Gieblyn	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4039
__label__cc	0.69005	0.30995	Summit fails to stop genetic engineering of human embryos Gene-editing with the four-year-old CRISPR technique is already so promising that a meeting of American, British and Chinese scientists was held in Washington this week to discuss how it should be regulated. The most controversial item on the agenda was genetic editing of human embryos and germ cells. Chinese scientists have already done this with surplus IVF embryos, although all of them died. Unsurprisingly, the International Summit on Human Gene-Editing declared that it would be “irresponsible to proceed with any clinical use of germline editing” until the risks were better understood. But it failed to endorse even a moratorium on human germline gene-editing, let alone a blanket ban. Gene-editing has far-reaching uses in basic and pre-clinical research and modification of somatic cells. If embryos or germ cells are edited, it might be possible to avoid severe inherited diseases or to enhance human capabilities. The summit pointed out that there are many risks, including : (i) the risks of inaccurate editing (such as off-target mutations) and incomplete editing of the cells of early-stage embryos (mosaicism); (ii) the difficulty of predicting harmful effects that genetic changes may have under the wide range of circumstances experienced by the human population, including interactions with other genetic variants and with the environment; (iii) the obligation to consider implications for both the individual and the future generations who will carry the genetic alterations; (iv) the fact that, once introduced into the human population, genetic alterations would be difficult to remove and would not remain within any single community or country; (v) the possibility that permanent genetic ‘enhancements’ to subsets of the population could exacerbate social inequities or be used coercively; and (vi) the moral and ethical considerations in purposefully altering human evolution using this technology. Read more at www.bioedge.org	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4041
__label__cc	0.584014	0.415986	Archive for the ‘Full Disclosure’ Category Bacon in the chowhall and other images from Iskandariyah, Iraq, August 3-15, 2004 Marine and Iraqi interpreter in serving line for breakfast — including bacon and grits — at Forward Operating Base Iskandariyah, Babil Province, August 10, 2004 Iraqi men on sidewalk laugh as US Marine patrol from 1/2 passes, Iskandariyah, Iraq, August 3, 2004 Rubble of police station in Jurf-as_Sakr that was destroyed by militants. The police chief was executed 500 meters from the front door, Babil Province, August 15, 2004 Iraqi troops on joint patrol with U.S. marines, Iskandariyah, Iraq, August 5, 2004 In the past weeks and months, Islamic State, abetted by other armed groups, has made stunning advances across Iraq as US-built, trained, and funded Iraqi forces evaporate. Islamic State “exposed the utter rot in the Iraqi army earlier this summer,” wrote analysts at the Soufan Group. This sent me back to my journals from my 2004 embed. The seeds of today’s tragedies were germinating then, in the tragically improvised U.S. occupation and the deep sectarian divide dug by Saddam Hussein that existed before American troops rolled into Baghdad. Then as now, a boots-on-the-ground perspective of Iraqi forces’ readiness, professionalism, and tactical skill — shaky and poor across the board— was at odds with absurdly glowing reports from top-level US commanders. Which is why those who truly wanted to know what was happening on the street ignored them and tried to convince grunts, NCOs, and line officers to talk. Not an easy task. “It’s like I told my guys,” a naval gunfire liaison officer told me on August 14, 2004, “we came into someone else’s neighborhood and are trying to tell them how to run it.” I asked a Master Gunnery Sergeant I bunked with whether the U.S. lit the fuse that blew up Iraq. It’s “like the coyote in the cartoon . . . and now we’re fucked.” Both asked me not to use their names. After a dismounted patrol through Iskandariyah on August 4, I wrote in my journal: “What are the salient facts and issues stuck inside me this week? Pork is served in the chow hall, in spite of the dozen plus Muslim translators. Translators get cast-off flaks. This entire enterprise is absurd, I feel, contradictory to its core. Democracy as represented by heavily armed, non-Arabic speaking men (and boys) wearing Wylie X sunglasses. Their allies are, in some sense, desperate men or opportunists. They do not give the impression of being the bedrock of the community. The cops are scared. The Iraqi National Guard posture like thugs and petty criminals. They’re scared too. That’s why they wear masks.” Moments before I hit “publish,” President Obama announced that he had authorized airstrikes on Islamic State military forces in Iraq. The U.S. military is also air dropping humanitarian aid to people of the Yezidi community who are being attacked and killed by IS, he said. “I know that many of you are rightly concerned about any American military action in Iraq,” the president said, “even limited strikes like these. I understand that. I ran for this office in part to end our war in Iraq and welcome our troops home, and that’s what we’ve done. As Commander-in-Chief, I will not allow the United States to be dragged into fighting another war in Iraq. And so even as we support Iraqis as they take the fight to these terrorists, American combat troops will not be returning to fight in Iraq, because there’s no American military solution to the larger crisis in Iraq. The only lasting solution is reconciliation among Iraqi communities and stronger Iraqi security forces. “However, we can and should support moderate forces who can bring stability to Iraq. So even as we carry out these two missions, we will continue to pursue a broader strategy that empowers Iraqis to confront this crisis. Iraqi leaders need to come together and forge a new government that represents the legitimate interests of all Iraqis, and that can fight back against the threats like [Islamic State].” I’m holding my breath. Posted in "War on Terror" 2.0, Full Disclosure, International affairs/foreign policy, Iraq, Journalism, Military, military, Marine Corps, News Media, Photography, Photojournalism, Politics & punditry, War Tagged with documentary, Iraq, Iraqi Amry, Islamic State, Marines, occupation, photojournalism, President Barack Obama, USMC, war Full Disclosure outtakes: Babil (2005) and Anbar (2006) I’m posting via Vimeo a series more favorite scenes I wasn’t able to fit into my 2008 documentary, Full Disclosure. These scenes are from 2005 and 2006. (I didn’t shoot video in Iraq in 2004, only stills.) The first scenes focus on activities in Babil province during the run-up to the first post-Saddam election, January 31, 2005. The second chunk is from 1/2’s time in Hit, Anbar province, in early 2006. There’s no graphic violence, but the video is still NSFW because of expletive-heavy gruntspeak and a flash of a porn magazine. Posted in "War on Terror" 2.0, Counterterrorism, Diplomacy, Documentary, Full Disclosure, Government, History, International affairs/foreign policy, Iraq, Journalism, Politics & punditry, Video, War Tagged with documentary, foreign policy, full disclosure, Iraq, occupation, reportage There’s No Going Back: Iraq Ten Years Later After my last trip to Iraq in 2006, I told myself I would return. I’d go to the places I patrolled with the marines and to the homes I stomped into and out of as an appendage of their squads. As an embedded journalist, I learned little about Iraqi people’s lives, other than what these lives looked like when instantly disrupted and upended. Next time, I would go without bulletproof vest or Kevlar helmet — and without the retinue of troops. I would listen and learn. I figured I’d be able to make this trip in five, maybe six years, once the the conflict ended or at least ebbed. But there is no end or ebb on the horizon. U.S. Marine convoy north from Kuwait to Iraq, July 18, 2004 A decade ago to this day I was rattling around the belly of an assault amphibious vehicle just a few miles into Iraq. I had overnighted with a U.S. Marine section at Camp Scania, a giant way station for military and contractor convoys heading north from Kuwait. Minutes before folding myself into the AAV, a gunnery sergeant briefed his men. “Ninety-nine percent of the people want us here,” the gunny said as I hovered with my cameras. “The other one percent, we’re going to fucking kill… Stay sharp the rest of the fucking way. Trust your training and trust your fucking senior marines.” Marines from 1/2 AAV section during convoy north to Iraq from Kuwait, July 20, 2004 Iraqis harvest salt just across the border from Kuwait, July 21, 2004 I remember rumbling past a family of salt harvesters, a young boy and girl begging, a plot of sunflowers, then a group of men washing cars along the roadside. “We pass through the first real city — buildings with stores and homes; folks on the street. I hear birds singing,” I wrote in my journal that night. ” I had prepared myself for pure desolation. This town was beat up and dusty, but still alive. Minutes later, we pulled into Forward Operating Base Iskandariyah. It was 1430 hours, July 21, 2004. 1st Battalion/2d Marines AAV section arrives in Iskandariyah, July 21, 2004 On my second full day at FOB Iskan, mortars dropped from the air onto the far end of the base, where I was staying with the battalion’s weapons company. Grunts hustled me into the bottom of a packed bomb shelter. I heard shouting and bellowing from the entrance 30 feet away and above me. Later, I learned that Vincent Sullivan, a marine sniper, had been killed. Others, among them a sergeant named DeBoy, had been hit by shrapnel. I asked myself then, if I had moved just one second faster, would Sullivan be alive, DeBoy unscathed? I spent several weeks on base and off in surrounding towns—Musayyib, Haswah, and Iskandariyah. Each day, I observed the troops with Iraqis. I watched these young American men struggle and improvise without guidance, on the fly. I watched Iraqis, men and women, shrink and submit, stand up to and challenge the marines. A good day was when no one got hurt or killed, even if nothing got fixed or solved. Boy on construction team building birthing center funded and then defunded by U.S. Army. Marines promised to resume support — if local leaders cooperated with them. Jurf-al-Sakhar, Iraq, August 8, 2004 Marines from 1/2 Bravo Co., 2nd Platoon, checking for IEDs during a routine patrol, Babil Province, Iraq, August 20, 2004 I made two more trips to Iraq to cover the unit, 1st Battalion/2d Marines, in 2005 and 2006, and the impact of the occupation on Iraq. After coming home, I scoured the Department of Defense list of troops killed in action for familiar names once a day, and I would find some. I Googled “Iskandariyah” and the other towns every few hours. And I kept Iraq war-related sites open on my desktop, from boot-up in the morning to shutdown at night. A year later, I checked the casualty list once a day, Iraq news three or four times. Five years later, I surfed my way to Iraq news and the DoD list once a week, maybe. Now, ten years on, I peek at Iraq news only when it finds me through the throbbing headlines. July 19: “Baghdad bombings kill dozens.” “Obama’s Iraq dilemma: Fighting the ISIL puts US and Iran on the same side.” “Concern and Support for Iraqi Christians Forced by Militants to Flee Mosul.” I Google my old places. “Iskandariyah,” the city I spent the summer of 2004 with 1st Battalion/2d Marines: June 2, a car bomb killed at least two people and injured 10. May 12: “Two police officers were killed while trying to defuse a bomb in Jurf al-Sakhar, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Baghdad.” March 18: “A bombing in Haswa killed one person. Two other people were wounded in a separate blast.” I don’t know what to say or to do as the always-simmering violence explodes and our policymakers and pundits debate taking the same well-worn and deadly paths once again, but I would at least like to know the names of these people we call “casualties.” Posted in "War on Terror" 2.0, Documentary, Film/Video/Multimedia, Full Disclosure, History, International affairs/foreign policy, Iraq, Journalism, Military, News Media, Peace, Photography, Photojournalism, Politics & punditry, War Tagged with 1st Battalion/2d Marines, 24th MEU, AAV, combat, Haswah, Iraq, Iskandariyah, Jurf-al-Sakhar, Jurf-as-Sakhar, Kuwait, Marines, Musayyib, occupation, USMC, war Invasion of Iraq, +10 years, Part 2 U.S. Marine searches Iraqi visitors to Forward Operating Base Iskandariya, which surrounded Musayyib city’s power plant, August 7, 2004 Iraqis, nongovernmental organizations, and others are working to rebuild Iraq and end the sectarian strife. One can’t ignore their labor and sacrifice. Recent events, including today’s bombings, remind us that they face a terrible task. Islamic State of Iraq, an al Qaeda offshoot, took credit for the murders. Al Qaeda followed the United States into Iraq, we should remember, not the other way around. (See pages 64 through 66 of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s September 8, 2006 report.) Ken Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, wrote a measured 10th-anniversary piece for CNN that also appears on HRW’s website. The title: U.S. Has Self to Blame for Iraq Failures. HRW’s E.D. for the Middle East, Sarah Leah Whitson, has an even tougher assessment: The U.S. legacy in Iraq reflects abuses committed with impunity by American and Iraqi forces throughout the U.S.-led occupation. The abuses set in motion over 10 years ago by the Bush administration’s ‘torture memos,’ and the brutal detention policies that followed, facilitated Iraq’s creation of a system that is today either unwilling or incapable of delivering justice to its citizens. The recent investigation by BBC Arabic and the Guardian of the U.S. role in training murderous special police commando units give these charges teeth. The head of the effort, retired U.S. Army officer Jim Steele, played a similar role in El Salvador’s U.S.-sponsored “dirty war” against leftist guerrillas. The Wall Street Journal reported recently that CIA paramilitary units are ramping up their support for Iraq’s Counterterrorism Service (CTS) as a hedge against violence spilling over the border from Syria. This is a force that reports directly to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who has used elite units to mete out violence against his opponents and run secret prisons. The CTS, which has been “accused of committing serious abuses against detainees, worked closely with U.S. Special Forces before the U.S. troop withdrawal in 2011,” Whitson writes. WSJ‘s writers fail to raise (or their editors failed to publish) the question of oversight of the CIA effort. Given that such initiatives have gone off the human-rights rails in the past, it’s kind of an essential question. That said, they may not have bothered because the answer is obvious: There will be no substantive checks or balances. “[O]ur power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint,” President Barack Obama said in his first inaugural address. The record shows that humility and restraint do not blossom in the darkness of extralegal policy. Obama seems to have forgotten his own words and he will sacrifice lives as a result. Posted in "War on Terror" 2.0, American history, Diplomacy, Full Disclosure, Iraq, Journalism, military, Marine Corps, News Media, Patriotism, Politics & punditry, US of A, USA Tagged with asymmetrical warfare, Central American, CIA, counterinsurgency, covert operations, dirty war, Drones, foreign policy, George W. Bush, insurgency, Iraq, Middle East, President Barack Obama, special forces, special operations, Syria I’m traveling through Virginia working on Make the Ground Talk, my second doc. I’m pausing with Erin at our favorite Hampton coffee shop, Blend, to note the anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq War. Marine with 24 MEU, hours before crossing the border into Iraq from Kuwait, July 2004 Demonstration, Union Square, New York City U.S. forces crossed the border from Kuwait into Iraq ten years ago today. The invasion toppled a dictator—and unleashed a sectarian war that continues. Our focus—the American focus—has been on the cost to us, particularly the service members killed and injured. But the cost has been far greater for Iraqis. More to follow… Posted in "War on Terror" 2.0, African American, American history, Civil disobedience, Diplomacy, Full Disclosure, Iraq, Journalism, Make the Ground Talk, military, Marine Corps, News Media, Patriotism, Photography, Race, US of A, USA Tagged with Babil, demonstration, flag, George W. Bush, invasion, Iraq, Kuwait, photo, protest, Saddam Hussein Iraqi Army barracks tour and Omar & Bravo Part 2 This video is an assemblage of three clips from 2006 that we couldn’t fit into the doc. The first two are segments of a tour Iraqi Army soldiers gave me of their quarters at 1/2 Charlie Company’s Firm Base 1. Number three is a second scene from 1/2 Bravo’s encounter with the Anbari college student Omar. In this one, they discuss (American) popular music. The grunts, IAs, and Omar are clearly consciousness of me and my camera. They perform, as many (all?) of us do when there’s a lens trained on us. This camera consciousness made me uncomfortable as I screened the videotape the first half dozen times, but I realized that such performances were as meaningful as the candid moments — or moments in which folks appeared to be unaware of the video camera but could very well have been calculating and acting. The IAs direct their mordant jokes and complaints at me and through me to the presumed American audience. Omar and the boys of Bravo are ostensibly communicating among themselves, but they too are calibrating their statements for the “reporter guy” and the people in the U.S. who will see the video. There’s a heap of subtext the men dance around, under, and on top of — the issue of race springs to mind. This verbal shimmying and jiving is funny, ironic, absurd, poignant, and telling. Agree? Disagree? Weigh in with a comment below! AND: This will be my final prodding. Voting for Best of Doc 2011 ends in two days. Please cast your final digi-ballots for Full Disclosure! Posted in "War on Terror" 2.0, Arts, Documentary, Film/Video/Multimedia, Full Disclosure, Iraq, military, Marine Corps, Politics & punditry, Race, Video Tagged with american audience, american popular music, charlie company, full disclosure 1/2 Charlie Co. & Chicken Lady This sequence, edited by Rachel Shuman and Adam Bolt, was built from footage I shot on one of the first patrols I videotaped. Of all the scenes we had to cut, I was saddest to lose this one. It captures, from a boots-in-the-mud perspective, the perpetual miscommunication between our troops and Iraqi civilians and the general absurdity of the mission. First Battalion/Second Marine Regiment was nearing the end of its 2004-05 deployment to northern Babil province. Iraq’s first national election since Saddam Hussein’s toppling was two weeks away. Anti-US forces, particularly Sunni militant groups like Hizb al Awda and Ansar al Sunna, had promised violence. “This ain’t the fucking Republicans and Democrats,” Col. Ron Johnson, commander of 1/2’s parent unit, the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, remarked in his characteristically colorful style about the growing Sunni-Shia conflict during a briefing for me and two other journalists. Days after 1/2 left Babil—and before the unit had even shipped out from Kuwait—a car bomb rocked Musayyib Hospital. Eighteen people were killed. The patrol base Bravo Company set up for the election had been next door, in the Musayyib Police Station. Less than six months later, a suicide-bomb blast in Musayyib (also rendered as Mussayab or Mussaib) killed more than a 100 people, all Iraqi. “I knew the spot, an intersection in the city’s center,” I wrote in a 2005 blog post. “I had walked or driven through it a dozen times with grunts… There’s a beautiful mosque right at the crossroads.” The bomb had been planted in a fuel tanker nearby. “The blast ignited the fuel inside the truck, turning what might have been a sadly typical tragedy into mass slaughter. “In November 2005, bombers attacked the same mosque, killing 20 and wounding 64.” And so on through the years: December 18, 2011: “A sticky bomb attached to a car exploded when the driver entered a bus terminal…” I can’t say with any assurance what life is like in Musayyib now. Just as it was in 2005, finding stories about the city (in English) that aren’t about violence and death is very difficult. Posted in "War on Terror" 2.0, Documentary, Film/Video/Multimedia, Full Disclosure, Iraq, military, Marine Corps, Politics & punditry, Video	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4046
__label__wiki	0.555619	0.555619	September 22, 2016 / 8:57 PM / 3 years ago Overseas home purchases in Vancouver fall after new tax OTTAWA (Reuters) - The share of homes purchased in British Columbia by foreign buyers decreased as of the end of August, data from the provincial government showed on Thursday, suggesting a new tax in the city of Vancouver was discouraging overseas buyers. A real estate for sale sign is pictured in front of a home in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, September 22, 2016. REUTERS/Ben Nelms The share of property transfers in the province that involved foreign nationals stood at 5.8 percent between early June and the end of August. That was down from 8.4 percent between June 10 and Aug. 1, the last data released by the government. Foreign buyers made up 1.4 percent of transactions between Aug. 2 and 31, when a 15 percent tax on foreign home buying in Vancouver went into effect. Foreign purchases in metro Vancouver made up just 0.9 percent of purchases during the month of August. From June to the end of August, purchases by foreign buyers totaled 9.3 percent in Vancouver, down from 13.2 percent between June and the beginning of August. A large number of transactions in Vancouver involving foreign nationals were completed on July 29, the last business day sales could be registered before the tax took effect, the report said. The value of home sales involving foreign buyers dropped to C$46.9 million ($35.92 million) during August from C$2.3 billion in slightly more than the seven weeks before the tax went into effect. The tax was put in place to address issues of affordability for local residents after a rapid acceleration in home prices in Vancouver, partly due to buyers from abroad. Some have suggested that Toronto, where the market has also been exceptionally hot, should consider a similar move. There were 60 home purchases in Vancouver that involved foreign nationals between Aug. 2 and 31, the report said, which raised about C$2.5 million in additional tax revenue. Some of these purchases included both foreign purchasers and a Canadian citizen or permanent resident on the title. Auditors with British Columbia’s finance department are reviewing these purchases to determine if any were designed to avoid the tax, the government said. ($1 = 1.3057 Canadian dollars) Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4047
__label__cc	0.659145	0.340855	You are here: Home / Carbon Monoxide News / In The News / Union Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Sickens Five People Union Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Sickens Five People Five people were transported to the hospital following a Union carbon monoxide poisoning Sunday night. Union, NJ was the site of dangerously high levels of carbon monoxide in a home, according to TAPinto. Reports said that a female was unconscious in the home, and another person had undisclosed medical issues. Sadly, this tragic event also killed the family dog. The levels in the home were extremely high. The old cliche about canaries in the coal mine is too often true. Since dogs are normally smaller than adult humans, the carbon monoxide will affect them more. Their bodies are smaller, so it takes less of the gas to overcome them. It takes less for them to die from carbon monoxide poisoning. This is also true for children, since they are smaller than normal adult humans, too. The levels of carbon monoxide that the emergency personnel found were about 100 ppm at the door and about 900 ppm on the second floor. These are lethal levels of the toxin. When one breathes in high levels of carbon monoxide in the air, the brain and body becomes deprived of oxygen. Carbon monoxide binds to hemoglobin, a protein in the blood that carries oxygen, with about 200 times the affinity of oxygen. This process of oxygen deprivation is called anoxia. Then, in addition, carbon monoxide causes excess of a neuron-killing neurotransmitter in the brain called glutamate. In effect, too much carbon monoxide causes brain cells to die. The most vulnerable parts of the brain are those located deep in the brain at the end of its oxygen route. These parts of the brain that are susceptible to brain damage include the hippocampus and the corpus callosum. They control memory and coordination, respectively. This is why some people with carbon monoxide poisoning experience memory problems or balance issues. With levels this high, there is a risk of brain damage. A scientific study demonstrated that hyperbaric oxygen therapy is actually an effective treatment for trying to reduce cognitive sequelae in the days and weeks following the acute carbon monoxide poisoning. Hyperbaric oxygen treats with 100 percent oxygen in a pressurized chamber. In the 2 to 40 days following the acute event, victims may begin to suffer from delayed neurological sequelae (DNS). Sequelae simply means complications after the fact. The study mentioned demonstrated that hyperbaric oxygen therapy significantly reduced cognitive sequelae after an acute carbon monoxide poisoning. With levels reaching 900 ppm, the carboxyhemoglobin levels, which measures the amount of carbon monoxide in the blood, were probably very high. With very high levels, it is best practice to treat using hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Hopefully, that is what happened in this case. There may be fault in this case of the Union carbon monoxide poisoning. From a legal perspective, it is important to take the carboxyhemoglobin levels as soon as possible to get an accurate idea of how high their carboxyhemoglobin levels were during the peak of the event. This can help prove that the victims suffered significant damages. With every minute of breathing normal oxygen, or being treated with oxygen, the carboxyhemoglobin levels go down. According to the report, the source of the poisoning was a faulty furnace. The Union FMBA Local 46 posted on Facebook encouraging residents to purchase carbon monoxide alarms if they have not already. https://carbonmonoxide.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/co-site-logo-300x104.png 0 0 Attorney Gordon Johnson https://carbonmonoxide.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/co-site-logo-300x104.png Attorney Gordon Johnson2017-05-20 11:24:552017-05-20 11:24:55Union Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Sickens Five People Building Owner in Manitowoc Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Disputes Citations Police SUV Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Fourth Reported Case in Austin, TX	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4050
__label__wiki	0.992783	0.992783	Dream Theater Tour Dates & Concert Tickets Dream Theater Tour Dates and Concert Tickets Progressive/Metal “DREAM THEATER” was recorded at Cove City Sound Studios in Glen Cove, New York, with founding guitarist John Petrucci producing and studio luminary Richard Chycki (Aerosmith, Rush) engineering and mixing. The album marks a brilliant new chapter for the always adventurous band, their first to have... read more Dream Theater Tickets Other Tour Dates (2) Jul 20 Dream Theater - The Distance over Time Tour 2019 Zitadelle Mainz Mainz, DEU Jul 22 Dream Theater - Distance Over Time Tour 2019 + Support Rathausplatz Singen Singen, DEU More About Dream Theater Recommendations Similar to Dream Theater Dream Theater VIDEOS MORE INFO ABOUT Dream Theater “DREAM THEATER” was recorded at Cove City Sound Studios in Glen Cove, New York, with founding guitarist John Petrucci producing and studio luminary Richard Chycki (Aerosmith, Rush) engineering and mixing. The album marks a brilliant new chapter for the always adventurous band, their first to have been written and recorded with drummer Mike Mangini wholly integrated into the creative process from the start. “I see every new album as an opportunity to start over,” says Petrucci. “To either build or improve upon a direction that has been evolving over time or to completely break new ground. This is the first self-titled album of our career and there is nothing I can think of that makes a statement of musical and creative identity stronger than that. We’ve fully explored all of the elements that make us unique, from the epic and intense to the atmospheric and cinematic. We’re incredibly excited about ‘DREAM THEATER’ and can’t wait for everyone to hear it.” “DREAM THEATER” is available in a wide range of distinctive versions, including standard and special edition CDs, 180 Gram Vinyl Double LP, and a Limited Edition Box Set. “DREAM THEATER” follows 2011’s acclaimed “A DRAMATIC TURN OF EVENTS.” That album – highlighted by “On The Backs Of Angels,” which earned the iconic band its first ever GRAMMY® Award nomination (in the “Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance” category) – proved one of Dream Theater’s most successful, making top 10 chart debuts in 14 countries, including our own Billboard 200. “A DRAMATIC TURN OF EVENTS” was hailed for its ambition, complexity, and sheer melodic power, with Japan’s influential BURRN! naming it as the year’s “Best Album.” Furthermore, the special edition CD/DVD set of “A DRAMATIC TURN OF EVENTS” included “The Spirit Carries On” – a 60-minute movie documenting Dream Theater’s drummer auditions, which resulted in the addition of the gifted Mangini. The challenge spurred Dream Theater to extraordinary artistic heights on “A DRAMATIC TURN OF EVENTS” and the epic world tour that followed. Long known as one of hard rock’s most powerful live acts, the recalibrated band hit the road hard in celebration of the acclaimed album, a 15-month trek which saw sold out headline shows in 35 countries across North America, Europe, Asia, Central America, and South America. With total sales exceeding 10 million albums and DVDs worldwide, Dream Theater have long stood among the upper echelon of hard rock giants. Albums such as 1992’s RIAA gold-certified classic “IMAGES & WORDS” (featuring the breakthrough top 10 single, “Pull Me Under”) have earned the Long Island-based band countless accolades for their visionary synthesis of melodic power and virtuosic experimentation, including being named as one of Rolling Stone’s top 10 “Best Prog Rock Bands of All time.” Since uniting with Roadrunner in 2007, Dream Theater has unleashed a series of remarkable albums, each work revealing stunning new musical facets and creative avenues. 2009’s “BLACK CLOUDS & SILVER LININGS” proved a milestone, debuting at #6 on the Billboard 200 – the band’s highest album chart debut to date. Dream Theater will tour in support of “DREAM THEATER” – full details will be announced soon. For up-to-the-minute news and information, please visit www.dreamtheater.net/tourdates. Dream Theater is: John Petrucci (guitar), John Myung (bass), James LaBrie (vocals), Jordan Rudess (keyboards and continuum) and Mike Mangini (drums). Categories: Music \| Heavy Metal \| Rock Twitter \| Facebook Page \| YouTube \| Official Site \| Instagram \| MySpace Page	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4052
__label__wiki	0.793735	0.793735	Antonio Scalisi, new LSCT General Manager Contship Italia appoints new general manager at La Spezia Contship Italia has appointed a new general manager at its flagship container terminal at La Spezia, Italy. Alfredo Scalisi previously held the role of deputy manager at Gioia Tauro for the Medcenter Container Terminal (MCT) up until May 2019 and he officially began his new role on July 1. Scalisi will report directly to the group president Cecilia Battistello, who is currently covering an interim corporate role as managing director of operations and sales of Contship Italia group. Battistello said: “Scalisi has assumed a very important position at La Spezia during a moment of major change and transformation for the shipping industry. “La Spezia Container Terminal is playing a key role in this ongoing transformation and we shall continue to support our customers with a range of terminal and logistics services delivered with the highest quality.” The terminal operator is currently in the midst of a significant investment programme at the La Spezia facility, which includes increasing both the quay and rail capacity.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4054
__label__wiki	0.686382	0.686382	Infrastructure and Transportation Advantages INFRASTRUCTURE ADVANTAGES Access to highways, airports, and seaports Proximity to large cities in South Florida Center of expanding markets Positive business environment Highly skilled workforce Reasonable costs and wages Industrial/warehouse sites/space available Good weather year-round Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) – 29 miles to the southeast Miami International Airport (MIA) – 45 miles to the southeast Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) – 40 miles to the northeast PUBLIC USE AIRPORTS Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport (FXE) – 10 miles to the southeast. The Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport serves over 150,000 aircraft operations per year, making it the eighth busiest General Aviation center in the United States. The airport is designated as general aviation reliever facility for the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport by the FAA. Boca Raton Airport (BCT) – 18.1 miles to the northeast. A state-owned public-use airport, Boca Raton airport has a control tower which is manned from 7:00am to 11:00pm. There are two full-service fixed-base operators, Signature Flight Support and Atlantic Aviation. For the 12-month period ending June 20, 2002, the airport had 91,004 aircraft operations, an average of 249 per day SEA PORTS Port Everglades – Florida’s “powerhouse port” and one of the most diverse seaports in the United States. Port Everglades is one of the top three cruise ports in the world, is among the most active containerized cargo ports in the United States and is South Florida’s main seaport for petroleum products such as gasoline and jet fuel. Port Miami – The largest passenger port in the world, and one of the largest cargo ports in the United States. Port Miami handles container port in the state of Florida and ninth in the United States. Over four million cruise passengers pass through the Port, 7.4 million tons of cargo and over 1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) (FY 2004/2005) of intermodal container traffic move through the seaport per year. The port currently operates eight passenger terminals, six gantry cranes wharves, seven Ro-Ro (Roll-on-Roll-off) docks, four refrigerated yards for containers, break bulk cargo warehouses and nine gantry container handling cranes Port of Palm Beach – The fourth busiest container port of Florida’s 14 deepwater ports and is the 18th busiest container port in the United States. In financial year 2010, the port moved over 213,000 20-foot container equivalent units. It covers a land area of 971 square miles or approximately 50% of the county area. PUBLIC TANSPORTATION Tri-Rail Palm Tran Broward County Transit – Blue Route Schedule Broward County Transit – Green Route Schedule Broward County Bus Routes in Coral Springs Coral Springs Community Bus Emergency Ride Home Program Senior Ride Program	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4058
__label__cc	0.716982	0.283018	Memory of 9/11 victims My wife and I made a pilgrimage to Ground Zero in lower Manhattan back in 2004. We had to see for ourselves the site where the World Trade Center’s iconic Twin Towers fell in the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. On that hallowed ground, we offered prayers in memory of the more than 2,600 innocent souls who perished in the towers on that great and terrible day in this nation’s history. Today, we mark another 9/11 anniversary. And I find myself disappointed. Because I expected far more progress in the rebuilding of the World Trade Center than has occurred since I visited the site five years ago. Indeed, I went on Google maps this week for the latest satellite image of the 16-acre site. It hardly looks any different than it did in 2004. And that’s not just my impression. Back in May, New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver told an audience at a Downtown-Lower Manhattan Association breakfast, “That we are where we are after this much time is an embarrassment to our city, our state, and the nation.” And just this week, World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein, whose company, Silverstein Properties, is supposed to redevelop the site, said that progress is at a standstill because of lack of cooperation from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the public agency that owns the World Trade Center site. The Port Authority sees things differently. It says that Silverstein Properties is asking the public to take on the financial risk in redevelopment of the World Trade Center that the company is unwilling to take on itself. Meanwhile, the new World Trade Center – which promises five new skyscrapers and a national September 11 Memorial and Museum drawing upon the talents of such world-renowned architects as Santiago Calatrava, David Childs, Norman Foster, Frank Gehry, Fumihiko Maki, and Richard Rogers – remains pretty much a massive hole in the ground. And, at the rate things are going (or, rather, not going) in lower Manhattan, not one of those five new skyscrapers by any of those architects will be completed by the tenth anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks two years from now.. That is a disgrace to the memory of the September 11 victims. 11 Sep This entry was published on September 11, 2009 at 8:01 AM and is filed under General. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Older: Dumbing down high school Newer: Erin Andrews a victim of Internet rape	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4059
__label__wiki	0.671665	0.671665	Earth has lost a Tenth of its Wilderness within the past 25 Years The loss of natural habitats has been proceeding at alarming rates. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons In the vast span of geological time, a quarter century is a mere blink of an eye. Yet within that short period of time we have destroyed a tenth of the Earth’s wilderness. Quite a dubious achievement, that. According to an international group of scientists who have mapped the planet’s surface for the remaining extent of “wilderness” (defined as “biologically and ecologically largely intact landscapes that are mostly free of human disturbance”), less than a fourth (23%) of the planet’s surface now qualifies as such. “[A] total of 30.1 million km2 (or 23.2% of terrestrial areas) of the world’s land area now remains as wilderness, with the majority located in North America, North Asia, North Africa, and the Australian continent,” explain the researchers, who published their findings in the journal Current Biology. An forlorn orangutan clings to a felled tree trunk in a destroyed forest. Photo Credit: nus.edu.sg Since the early 1990s some 3.3 million square kilometers has been lost, with most of that loss occurring in the Amazon region of South America and Central Africa. If that sounds like a whole lot of land, that’s because it is. At this rate, the scientists warn, practically all wilderness will be gone within three generations or so. In all, around 30.1 million square kilometers of wilderness has been left, which covers less than a quarter of the planet’s total land mass. “The continued loss of wilderness areas is a globally significant problem with largely irreversible outcomes for both humans and nature,” they explain. “If these trends continue, there could be no globally significant wilderness areas left in less than a century.” “The amount of wilderness loss in just two decades is staggering and very saddening,” notes a member of the team, James Watson of the University of Queensland in Australia and the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York. “We need to recognize that wilderness is being dramatically lost and that without proactive global interventions we could lose the last jewels in nature’s crown,” he adds. “You cannot restore wilderness. Once it is gone, the ecological process that underpin these ecosystems are gone, and it never comes back to the state it was. The only option is to proactively protect what is left.” In other words, there is no “Reset” button on Nature. Once an ecosystem has been destroyed, we can do little to bring it back from the dead. The obvious solution then is to preserve existing ecosystems in their natural state while we still have them. This, needless to say, applies to Malaysia, where once vibrant ecosystems and natural habitats with their unique kaleidoscope of species have been brought to the verge of collapse. Any more damage to them could prove catastrophic. Tags: conservationism, environmental protection, habitat loss in Malaysia, loss of wilderness	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4068
__label__wiki	0.505725	0.505725	Annex (.xlsx) Abhinav Soman, Neil McCulloch, Harsimran Kaur, Christopher Beaton 2019 IISD and CEEW India's Energy Transition: The Impact of the Goods and Services Tax on Solar Photovoltaic and Coal Power Costs The Goods and Services Tax (GST) has increased the cost of solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation by almost 6 per cent and reduced the cost of coal thermal power generation by 1.6 per cent. The absolute size of the subsidy to coal power generation remains INR 7,685 crore (USD 1.1 billion) higher than for solar PV in 2018. It is important for policy-makers to evaluate the impacts of such tax reforms to make sure they do not send the wrong price signals on energy choices. In India’s Energy Transition 2018 Update, the Global Subsidies Initiative (GSI) of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) published updated estimates of the scale of energy subsidies in India for FY2017, including partial data on the scale of subsidies for FY2018. FURTHER READING: India's Energy Transition: Subsidies for Fossil Fuels and Renewable Energy, 2018 Update One of the biggest causes of changes in India’s energy subsidy policy between FY2017 and FY2018 was the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST)—which overhauled a large share of India’s taxes, and, in doing so, its tax-related subsidies. By removing exemptions and altering tax rates, the extent of preferential treatment for various energy sources has changed under the GST. Total tax subsidies to both solar PV and coal thermal power have been reduced, but the absolute size of the subsidy to coal-based power remains much higher than for solar PV. By altering the net tax burden, the GST has also affected the cost of energy production. Our calculations show that, assuming all other factors are held constant, the GST is likely to lead to a significant increase in the cost of generation for new solar PV plants. In contrast, existing coal-fired thermal power plants are likely to experience reduced variable costs under the GST. A lack of data on the fixed costs of new coal plants makes it impossible to calculate the impact of the GST on the overall cost of new coal plants. The introduction of the GST therefore appears to provide a relative bias in favour of coal-based power. Detailed assessments of the implications of GST on other renewable energy types including wind are needed to determine unintended impact on relative cost against coal. Christopher Beaton Sustainable Electricity Systems	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4073
__label__cc	0.643028	0.356972	Researchers Pursue Truth about Cats and Dogs…and Older Adults By Bill Edmonds, Institute for Successful Longevity Many believe that owning pets can be beneficial for older adults. But is it true that a dog or a cat can make life better for older family members, or is this simply a comfortable myth? Two researchers affiliated with the Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy intend to find out with the support of a $50,000 grant from the Gerontological Society of America and the WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition, the fundamental science center for Mars Petcare. FSU researchers Dawn Carr and Natalie Sachs-Ericsson will tap into data on human-animal interaction collected as part of the Health and Retirement Survey, a long-term study of more than 20,000 individuals 50 years old or older. “The Health and Retirement Survey is an important source of data for understanding aging processes in the United States,” said Carr, assistant professor of sociology and an affiliate of the college's Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy. “In 2012, a subset of the study participants were asked about their pets. These questions on human-animal interaction have drawn little attention.” The research team’s goal is to use these data to determine if, how and under what circumstances companion animals benefit older people. “We know that an animal can be a social facilitator,” said Sachs-Ericsson, a scientist/scholar in the Department of Psychology. “People like pets — think of all the times someone has stopped to talk when you are out walking your dog — and pets can be a bridge for conversation and interaction. We want to pursue this idea further. Are these pet-triggered social interactions significant? Do they ease the loneliness and improve the lives of older individuals? Importantly, we also wish to determine if older adults’ relationships with their pets significantly contributes to their health and well-being.” Sachs-Ericsson explained that the benefits of companion animals are thought to be related, in great part, to social processes. Theories linking benefits of pets to older adults parallel our theoretical understanding as to how social connectedness among older adults is associated with better health. The data in the Health and Retirement Survey may provide answers. “In our study, we will give particular attention to whether a pet is beneficial to those who are socially isolated and have suffered a loss such as the death of a spouse,” Carr said. Carr and Sachs-Ericsson will study four factors to test the hypothesis that a companion animal is beneficial to health in older people, particularly those who are socially isolated and experience a major social loss. They will: - identify critical factors that predict selecting a companion animal later in life, particularly in relation to health, and to understand the selection processes that may influence the benefits of companion animals on older adults. - determine if and in what ways human social processes are involved in shaping the relation between companion animals and human health. - examine the influence of companion animals on health among socially isolated older adults relative to socially integrated older adults who experience a major social loss. - contribute to a theoretical framework outlining the relationships between human-animal interaction among older adults and human health. “We will try to generate a model that will help us better understand how social context shapes the relevance of companion animals for a range of health problems later in life, particularly for vulnerable older adults,” Sachs-Ericsson said.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4075
__label__cc	0.661934	0.338066	3 Great Tools on Medicaid Expansion and Texas, and One More to Read The Affordable Care Act’s opportunity to cover more uninsured Texans under Medicaid starting in 2014 is such a big deal that some county officials are wondering how Texas can move forward, despite the governor’s reluctance. We are lucky to have available three new tools to help us understand why the new option is so valuable for our state—and just how valuable the state Medicaid agency and a top Texas economist predict it will be in the next several years. In case you missed them when they first hit the internet—or just want to have all three in one handy place—here they are: Choices and Challenges: How Texas County Uninsured Rates Will Drop Under Health Care Reform A recent model developed by Michael E. Cline, Ph.D., and Steve H. Murdock, Ph.D. of Rice University (former Texas State Demographer and Director of the US Bureau of the Census) provides county-level projections to help local officials and residents plan for how increased coverage under the Affordable Care Act could affect their communities. This county-level model includes estimates of the much smaller reduction in uninsured rates expected if Texas does not accept the Medicaid Expansion. Choices and Challenges Report >> Your County and the ACA CPPP has compiled data for all 254 Texas counties to illustrate the expected impact of Affordable Care Act (ACA) implementation on uninsured numbers and rates by county. The sources are drawn from respected and reliable experts including the US Bureau of the Census, Texas demographers Michael Cline, Ph.D. and Steve Murdock, Ph.D., and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission’s latest official estimates of the state costs and federal dollar gains expected if Texas allows the parents of children eligible for Medicaid today and other poor adults to participate in Medicaid. Medicaid Expansion County Level Data >>Understanding the Sources >> Texas Has Only One Rational Choice: Expanding Medicaid Under the Affordable Care ActStudy by The Perryman Group Finds that Expanding Medicaid More than Pays for ItselfAccording to an analysis by The Perryman Group, every $1 spent by the State of Texas to expand Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) returns $1.29 in dynamic State government revenue over the first 10 years of the expansion. Medicaid expenditures lead to substantial economic activity, federal funds inflow, reduction in costs for uncompensated care and insurance, and enhanced productivity from a healthier population. When these outcomes and the related multiplier effects are considered, the program actually far more than pays for itself and provides a notable economic stimulus.“Neither the Affordable Care Act nor the Medicaid program is perfect, and there are many opportunities to provide needed health services in a more efficient and cost effective manner,” said Dr. Ray Perryman, “but if we don’t expand Medicaid coverage as envisioned under the Affordable Care Act, Texas loses an opportunity to enhance access to health care for about 1.5 million Texans and foregoes almost $90 billion in federal health care funds over the first 10 years.”You can find the full report and the press release here. Finally, in case you missed it, Dr. Howard Brody, director of the Institute for the Medical Humanities at the University of Texas Medical Branch, weighed in on Medicaid expansion this week with one more reason why it matters: the potential for saving thousands of Texans' lives. Read his commentary here. Written by: Anne Dunkelberg, Center for Public Policy Priorities Center for Public Policy Priorities October 11, 2012 Watch This Wednesday: Health Insurance Exchanges Cover Texas Now October 17, 2012 ACA Enrollment, Affordable Care Act (ACA) Watch This Wednesday: Pre-Existing Conditions Cover Texas Now October 10, 2012	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4076
__label__wiki	0.6835	0.6835	Staving Away October 19th, 2015, by Nick Oscilowski The deeper you delve into conversation with Steve Drissell about Staves, his brewpub in Glebe, the more it feels like being in one of those episodes of Grand Designs where everything that can go wrong does. “It’s certainly taken far longer and far more money than I ever imagined”, he says in a relaxed southern English accent which lends itself to making considerable tribulations somehow seem less vexing. Perhaps, with the opening imminent, they now are. But it’s been a long road. The public announcement in early 2013 of a small bar and microbrewery called Iron Awe had created a little bit of buzz in Sydney beer circles. Around that time, the city was on the cusp of what turned out to be a forceful wave pushing craft beer far and wide. It would have been a good time to open. In the roughly 30 months since, almost a dozen new small breweries have opened within about an hour’s drive of the Sydney CBD, effectively doubling the greater city’s number of craft brewers in less than three years while also adding who knows how many brewing companies. After more than two and a half years with little outward sign of progress, Iron Awe wasn’t one of them and, for pretty much everyone except Steve, it had been consigned it to the scrap yard of the consciousness. But behind blacked out windows, work on what would instead become Staves had been progressing. Slowly. The site is a compact one in an industrial lane flanked by two wings of the Broadway Shopping Centre. Given the small size and commercial location, it wouldn’t seem at first glance to be the most daunting project to get over the line. Why, then, did it take so long? “It was empty for years and really run down”, says Steve, “so basically what happened was that the council had approved it but then hit me pretty hard with the BCA (Building Code of Australia) book. “The complete staircase had to come down, the floors had to be strengthened and a new toilet block built – it hadn’t had a fire certificate for five years so that had to be sorted. Out the back used to be a shed and that was where I was going to have the brewery, but it turned out that the previous tenant, who was a steel fabricator, had just welded the thing together as he went along. When the engineers looked at it they said the whole thing had to be taken down and rebuilt from scratch, so there was debate with the owners about who’s responsible for that and who’s going to pay.” A compromise was reached when they elected not to rebuild and instead turn the area into an open air beer garden, an option Steve says has been a good outcome but, in keeping with the general trend, it had problems of its own. “The whole outdoor area had to have a new concrete slab poured with grease arrester. Of course, that became another issue because as soon as they started drilling they hit rock, so it meant more time and more cost. “In between, I had to change architect and certifier so it was just delay after delay after delay and constantly trying to find the extra cash. I still had a job and had to keep working otherwise I’d have run out of money. It basically became a bottomless pit.” And therein lies the primary reason things have taken as long as they have: “I had a couple of guys that wanted to invest in it but, for me, it was always a last resort. I was determined to do it on my own.” Just as so many craft beer drinkers decide what to drink based on who owns a brewery, Steve was being driven by his own desire for independence. Staves will be operating under the same business model as that which was originally planned for Iron Awe, only under a different name (the reason for the change was “basically because every time I said the name to someone I had to spell it out – A-W-E – and it was starting to drive me mad! So I thought if I wanted to change it I’d better do it before I open,” he explains). There’s a small brewery, a bar with around a dozen taps and plans for an upstairs kitchen serving pizza. While Staves is still some way off producing its own beer on site, in the interim they’ll be supporting other Australian brewers through their taps, such as Little Brewing, Wayward and Batch, and beer will remain the venue’s focus, much of that coming down to Steve’s own relationship with beer. “I first started brewing when I was about 15 or 16,” he says, “after I was looking around in the loft and discovered my dad’s old home brewing stuff that I didn’t know he had. I asked what this gear was for, he said it was for making beer and I said, ‘You can make beer?’ “Me and a mate went and got a tin of extract, made it, drank it straight from the fermenter and got pretty sick. I remember having a day off school because of it! “I come from the south of England and I had the Ringwood Brewery very close to me, plus another one called Badger Brewery (Hall & Woodhouse). Living in between those two, all the pubs in that area always had loads of hand pumped real ales and so I grew up with that kind of beer. It was just always there. But when I came over to Australia in 2000 there wasn’t much choice around so I got back into the whole brewing thing again. At that point I hadn’t done all grain brewing before so I got into it as a hobby but it got a bit out of hand. “I took myself off to the University of Ballarat for a brewing course and before I knew it I’d bought a microbrewery on eBay – woke up one morning and drunk Steve had bought sober Steve a brewery! “It looks like someone made it in their shed but the guy I got it from was making some good beer out of it. It’s gas powered and a lot of brewing is about temperature control so if you can get that right you can make some good beer. I’ll be getting some brand new fermenters and hopefully get it all going early next year.” For all his keenness to open the venue his way and in his own time, Steve doesn’t see himself at the helm of the brewery in the longer term. “Ultimately, I’m not going to be the head brewer. I know that I’m always going to be involved in the brewing in some way because I love it – I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t – but I’d like to get someone else involved. It might be me that gets it going and starts the process as I’ve got some recipes that are pretty close to something I’d want in production. But what I really want is to get maybe five or six traditional ales that are really true to style, trying to hit those BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) guidelines. After we get those down pat, then we can use the pilot system to get the crazy ideas out and, if people like them, do bigger runs.” Staves may have suffered a prolonged false start and missed out on a couple of big years for beer, but as final preparations are made ahead of the official opening, it’s hard to think any of that will matter in grand scheme of things. If anything, with more people now willing to give local beer a go, it might make Steve’s long wait that much more satisfying. Staves can be found at 4-8 Grose St, Glebe, NSW. The official opening is scheduled for October 23. See www.stavesbrewery.com for updates. staves glebe sydney brewpub nsw Beer Nuts: Dave Croft Dave Croft is a man who likes to travel for beer. While many beer geeks make outrageous detours to drink beer from the source, Dave is truly a persistent pilgrim. We caught up with him to find out how it all started and how he plans to spend his 40th. read on Stone & Wood To Open Brisbane Brewpub Brisbane is set to get another brewery as Stone & Wood eyes up a spot in Fortitude Valley to open a brewpub that will act as a home for its Brisbane team from early 2019. read on The Latest Dozen Each time we've added another dozen breweries, venues and bottleshops to our directory, we like to gather them in one place so you know they're there. So here's 12 new listings featuring good beer folks from Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia. read on	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4078
__label__wiki	0.555836	0.555836	Conventions / Criticality / Other Universes / Star Wars Star Wars, Celebrations, and Wristbands April 21, 2017 April 21, 2017 Michael FalknerLeave a comment For fans, the Star Wars Celebration conventions have become a pilgrimage. Since 1999, the gatherings have been used to celebrate movie releases and anniversaries around the world, drawing approximately 30,000-40,000 fans per event. This year, the eighth show in the United States (the twelfth overall) was held in Orlando, Florida over Easter weekend. The big-ticket panels were a celebration of A New Hope‘s fortieth anniversary and a sneak peek at the upcoming Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but aside from the buzz and excitement flooding social media, there was also anger, frustration, and disappointment. Why? Because the convention is stuck in the 20th century. The 2017 convention hosted the headline events in three venues: The Galaxy Stage, the Celebration Stage, and the Behind-the-Scenes Stage. The events were held live in the Galaxy Stage, located in the Valencia Ballroom, and live-streamed to audiences in the Chapin Theater (Celebration Stage) and room W304 (Behind-the-Scenes Stage). In order to get access to these events, attendees needed wristbands, which were only available by queuing the nights before and sleeping in the convention center. Star Wars fans love lines, and have since the first film premiered in 1977, but the frustrations and anger came in how the convention organizers handled the overnight waiting period. After starting their convention camping trip at 8pm, some fans were promised through a loudspeaker announcement at 1am that everyone in line was guaranteed seats in the Galaxy Theater for the 40th anniversary panel. When it came time for their wristbands, they got screwed by line jumpers. Honest considering not doing Celebration again. These failures have been logistical ones. Not facilities. — Brian ⚽ (@LaneWinree) April 13, 2017 And the overnighters officially got screwed. https://t.co/L1QXWoG9rB Every one else has been let in while the people who got here last night still wait… pic.twitter.com/xVSIgbGrqA — Jeffrey Myers (@RepublicOfJeff_) April 13, 2017 Based on other accounts on Twitter and Facebook, this experience is far from isolated. Here’s the thing, though. In 2017, there is no need for it. The wristbands were also used for the other panels on the Galaxy and Celebration Stages, and attendees were able to receive two wristbands per day by choosing their top two panels across both stages. Tickets went on sale on May 25, 2016, and pre-orders were handled through the Celebration website. ReedPOP, the convention organizer, had contact information for each purchase. Upon purchase, ReedPOP could set up simple accounts for each ticketholder, and when the schedule is finalized, ReedPOP could require each ticket holder to log in and set their Galaxy/Celebration panel priorities. Wristbands could be issued by a lottery system, and could be picked up at registration with the event badges. Seats could be assigned, or they could be given on a first-come-first-serve basis with a queue for each panel. No overnight camping. No line-cutting. No frustration for attendees who are paying hard-earned money to have a good time. Now, let’s take it a step further. Star Wars fans are incredibly social. Let’s say that I want to see The Last Jedi panel with my friends from various podcasts or fan groups. ReedPOP could set up the ticketholder accounts to allow grouping, and those groups would be entered in the seat lottery as one entity. The groups could be limited to twenty seats to prevent an entire group from having an unfair advantage. Now, let’s go one more step. Not counting YouTube viewers, the big-ticket events were presented to 10,264 people, or about twenty-five percent of a 40,000-person assumed attendance. According to the Orange County Convention Center (OCCC), the Valencia Ballroom can seat 6,000 people, the Chapin Theater can seat 2,643, and W304 can seat 1,621. It’s also a fair assumption that most (if not all) of the attendees want to see panels like the Star Wars 40th and The Last Jedi. So why not expand the seating and use the streaming capabilities to serve more fans? Based on the stage schedules, ReedPOP had reserved eight additional rooms for scheduled events. Those rooms – W300, W303, W306A, W307, W308, W310, and W312 – house 2,600 extra seats. They could only be used for the headline panels because they’re slated for other purposes throughout the day such as podcasts, educational panels, and screenings, but for the headline panels that brings us to thirty-two percent, and virtually exhausts the West Concourse of the OCCC. If ReedPOP could secure access to North and South Concourses, both of which are attached to the West Concourse by skybridges, they could easily open streaming access to every attendee, including ticketholders who purchase their badges at the show. The North and South Concourses can house 32,111 people each in theater mode, reaching 64,222 total. The North and South Concourses may be a bit of a financial stretch for only two to three hours over two days, but there is another possibility in the connected hotels. Both the Rosen Centre and the Hyatt Regency Orlando are connected to the OCCC by skybridges, and both have substantial meeting capacity. Rosen has 4,000-seat capacity in their Grand Ballroom, 1,888-seat capacity in the Executive Ballroom, and 1,500-seat capacity in the Junior Ballroom, leading to a total of 7,388. The Regency has 3,120-seat capacity in their Plaza International Ballroom, 1,040-seat capacity in the Orlando Ballroom, and 832-seat capacity in the Florida Ballroom, leading to 4,992 seats total. Together, they reach 12,380. Using the hotel ballrooms, the 10,264-seat base jumps to 22,644. If the extra West Concourse rooms are used, we come to 25,244. Between the two, around sixty percent of the audience could attend the headline panels. Of course, at this point it’s time to answer the question: Why do I care? I have wanted to travel to Celebration since they started in 1999, but I have never had the opportunity to do so. But, I’ve also been a bit spoiled by Dragon Con, a 70,000-90,000 attendee convention where lines are limited to one or two hours for big ticket panels. I’m not keen on waiting in lines for hours and hours to see a panel when there are no other options, especially when there is so much more to do at the convention. This whole logistical miscalculation has me reconsidering Celebration on the whole. I’m also a Star Wars fan and convention attendee who has sleep apnea and uses a CPAP machine to sleep each night. That would prevent me from “camping out” on a concrete floor, and would also require me to be awake for 24-36 hours at a shot. While Celebration has a disability contingency that allows someone to pick up wristbands on my behalf, that’s not something I’m going to ask my wife to do for me. Finally, that’s two nights of hotel room rental where I’m not actually using it. That’s a lot of money. I don’t expect this blog post to be an end-all solution to Celebration 2017’s queuing woes, but it certainly shows that there is room for creative problem solving. A conflict obviously exists, and it’s evidently driving fans away. The question is what is more important to ReedPOP and Lucasfilm/Disney: Money or fans. ReedPOP should seriously consider ditching the overnight queuing and remove a source of friction from the only official Star Wars convention that our fandom has. Celebration should live up to its name and celebrate what we love. Celebration shouldn’t include anger, frustration, and disappointment, and it certainly shouldn’t start off with it. conventions, Star Wars, Star Wars Celebration Timestamp #111: Meglos Fortnight Philosophy: April 24, 2017	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4079
__label__wiki	0.817702	0.817702	Marvel Studios Releases Exclusive New ‘Avengers: Endgame’ Clip Eric Italia \| Apr 8, 2019 12:19 pm \| Apr 8, 2019 12:51 pm With just weeks to go until the highly anticipated release of Avengers: Endgame, Marvel Studios has just released yet another exclusive new clip from the movie. The new footage comes just days after Marvel released a new trailer to celebrate tickets going on sale for the first time. Check out the new clip below then keep scrolling down for our thoughts, that could potentially include spoilers. The minute-long scene that is shown in the clip appears to take place at the beginning of the movie, as Tony Stark and Nebula have clearly yet to make their way safely back to Earth. The Avengers, now joined by Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel, are seemingly planning a retaliatory strike on Thanos, who recently “used the stones again.” As War Machine asks Captain Marvel where the hell she’s been all this time — comically saying that everyone in the room “is about that superhero life” — Thor stands up to simultaneously summon Storm Breaker and give the new Avengers recruit his approval. Given the music that’s used — the same music that was used during the title card sequence of Avengers: Infinity War — this scene is likely one of the very first to appear in the movie. The trailer closes with Captain American saying “Let’s go get this son of a bitch”, which is notable because, as we know, Cap can’t stand profanity. 'Avengers: Endgame' Trailer Breakdown: Must-See Recap & Analysis Avengers: Endgame will star Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Brie Larson, Bradley Cooper, Josh Brolin, Jeremy Renner, Paul Rudd, Karen Gillan, Don Cheadle, Gweneth Paltrow and more. At the time of its release, it will be the 22nd film in the 11-year old Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, who previously directed Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, and Avengers: Infinity War. The movie was preceded by Captain Marvel and will be followed up by Spider-Man: Far From Home in July. Avengers: Endgame will officially hit theaters in the United States on Friday, April 26, although screenings will begin on the evening on Thursday, April 25. Entertainment,MoviesMarvel	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4083
__label__cc	0.581428	0.418572	Canadian Crypto Crypto Exchange QuadrigaCX Blames Major Bank for DelaysCanadian Crypto Crypto Exchange QuadrigaCX Blames Major Bank for Delays – Altcoin Today Canada’s largest digital currency exchange QuadrigaCX is blaming legal action from a major bank for delays when customers cash out funds, the Globe and Mail reported Oct. 8. Vancouver-based crypto exchange QuadrigaCX was launched in 2013 and is known as the first exchange in Canada to be licensed by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC). At press time, Quadriga’s daily trading volume is around $600,000 per CoinMarketCap. Quadriga reportedly states that it has been experiencing difficulties accessing $21.6 million of its funds since January when the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) froze five accounts belonging to the exchange’s payment processor, Costodian Inc., and its owner, Jose Reyes. The bank purportedly froze the accounts due to an inability to identify the funds’ owners. From Dec. 4, 2017, to Feb. 20, 2018, 388 users reportedly deposited a total of $51.8 million into the accounts, according to CIBC. Later, some of these funds were withdrawn, leaving about $21.6 million in the accounts. According to the Globe and Mail, CIBC requested the court to withhold the disputed funds and decide whether they belong to QuadrigaCX, Costodian, or the 388 users who had deposited the funds. Quadriga subsequently told the court that the bank froze the funds mistakenly, and claims to be the undisputed owner of the greater part of the funds as there is “no evidence” of competing claims. Quadriga said: “This court should not succumb to the bank’s unsubstantiated and highly offensive speculation that there must be shady dealings afoot because Quadriga’s business is a trading platform for individuals trading in cryptocurrencies.” Gerald Cotten, CEO at Quadriga, said that the legal matter has resulted in delays for a “small fraction” of the exchange’s 350,000 users. None of the allegations has been proven in court, per the Globe and Mail. Cotten said: “There are currently delays for some specific withdrawal options, particularly due to the fact that CIBC is withholding tens of millions of dollars that belong to us that were in an account of one of our payment processors.” The number of participants in the crypto space who have been shut out by banks is “staggering” according to Cotten. According to the Globe and Mail, Quadriga has told the clients that banks in the Canada are “conspiring” against crypto businesses. –AltcoinToday.com Photo via Shutterstock. Source: Cointelegraph Canada’s largest PREVIOUS POST Previous post: Bitcoin Cash Price Analysis: BCH/USD’s Failed Upside Attempt Near $530Bitcoin Cash Price Analysis: BCH/USD’s Failed Upside Attempt Near $530 – Altcoin Today NEXT POST Next post: Juniper Research Report Suggests the Entire Cryptocurrency Market is Near ‘Implosion’ – Bitcoinist.com	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4086
__label__wiki	0.967629	0.967629	/Movies Men in Black Star Tessa Thompson Wants the Franchise to Have a More Inclusive Name in the Future By Jamie Jirak - June 13, 2019 08:47 am EDT The first round of showings for Men in Black: International begin tonight, and the film’s star has some ideas for alternate titles. Tessa Thompson, the actor best known for playing Valkyrie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Charlotte Hale on Westworld, has said that she wants the Men in Black films to be more inclusive to its women characters. According to the Washington Examiner, Thompson recently shared some ideas for a title change. "I pitched some ideas like 'People in Black,' but that would be 'PiB,' which sounds like a sandwich. I pitched 'Humans in Black,' which would be 'HiB,' which sounds like something you don't want to get," Thompson said Tuesday during the movie's world premiere in New York City. Thompson added, ”I think we can change the name at some point. But the truth is, I think it's really significant, and I hope we can get to the space where it's not noteworthy when women topline these films, and I think a film like this helps us get there." Men in Black: International was directed by F. Gary Gray (The Fate of the Furious, The Negotiator, Friday) and will follow our main protagonists as they are plunged into an alien-fueled murder mystery that sends them across the globe. The new movie stars Tessa Thompson (Avengers: Endgame, Westworld), Chris Hemsworth (Avengers: Endgame, Bad Times at the El Royale), Liam Neeson (Widows, Taken), Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley, The Big Sick), Rafe Spall (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, The Big Short), Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible - Fallout, The Greatest Showman), and Emma Thompson (Beauty and the Beast, Sense and Sensibility), who will be reprising her role as Agent O from Men in Black 3. Unfortunately, the film’s premiere did not result in the best reviews from critics. Currently, the movie has the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score in the franchise's history, coming in at low 29%. ComicBook.com’s own Charlie Ridgely gave the film two out of five stars, calling it “clunky” and claiming it suffers from “mediocrity.” You can read the full review here. What do you think would be a good alternative name to Men in Black? Tell us in the comments! Men in Black: International will be hitting theaters everywhere on June 14th. Have you subscribed to ComicBook Nation, the official Podcast of ComicBook.com yet? Check it out by clicking here or listen below. In this latest episode we go all-in on Spider-Man: Far From Home spoilers! We go through the post-credit scenes, what they mean and all the easter eggs we could find. Make sure to subscribe now to never miss an episode! PLUS! Check out our SPOILER FILLED chat with Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige and Sony Pictures' Amy Pascal about the movie! Brandon Davis covers it all, including those Spider-Man: Far From Home post-credit scenes! Listen below or click here! Spider-Man: Far From Home's Biggest Tell Was Hidden In The Marketing Disney's Mulan Trailer Debuts to More Than 175 Million Views in 24 Hours Joker: New Photo of Robert De Niro as Murray Franklin Released Nickelodeon Releases New Trailer for Dora and the Lost City of Gold Funko Conjures Up a Hocus Pocus Sanderson Sisters Movie Moment Pop David Gordon Green Rumored to Be Filming Two Halloween Sequels This Fall Spider-Man: Far From Home Scores "A" CinemaScore Spider-Man: Far From Home Star Knew Endgame Secrets Before Avengers Stars	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4090
__label__wiki	0.51092	0.51092	What a weekend. Getting better thanks to Preferred Transmissions in Miller By PP - May 06, 2006 You know it's not a good sign when you start your weekend with your car breaking down an hour from home. Just because one of my front wheel bearings went bad and the other was on it's way. I have to give major props to Preferred Transmissions in Miller - they pulled it in, stayed a little late and had me back on the road without too much lost time. One of the gentlemen was going to drive to Milbank, and he stayed an hour late to help me get back on the road. You rarely find a commitment to service like that. If you ever break down in Miller, you'd do well to limp your car to their shop on the east edge of town. And when he thinks about Jack, he touches himself. Just another little hint to political candidates that I think I've mentioned more than once. I know it doesn't feel right or might not be comfortable. When posing for a photograph, often the inclination is to clasp your hands together in front of you. However, like many other urges, you should deprive yourself. If you don't, the result is what you see above. A pose that's been termed by Campaign and Elections Magazine as "the fig leaf" photo. And the fig leaf pose doesn't look good. In fact, it looks downright silly. So when there's a camera in front of you, and you get that familiar urge, just deny it, and put your hands at your sides. It might not feel natural, but it makes for a better looking photo. And Quinten, stop that before you go blind. No-on-E campaign begins to ramp up A group of J.A.I.L. breakers are starting to gear up and there's a few people who should start to sweat over this. The No-On-E campaign, who's website will be at NO-ON-E.COM, has just fired their first salvo back at the Judicial Accountability Act and it's a doozy. I just got done watching their 10 minute DVD which has gone to out many local Government officials across South Dakota, and I predict it's going to be a devastating injury to the Amendment E supporters. It does a great job of pointing out the wackiness of the California proponents of the measure, as well as provide the Public TV coverage of Bill Stegmeier's testimony (or lack thereof) on the resolution condemning Amendment E during this last legislative session. Senator Lee Schoenbeck gets some good screen time questioning Stegmeier as to when he planned on being prepared to discuss Amendment E since he's the one who got it on the ballot. Bill looked more sheepish at that moment, despite all the fierce… If the Argus Leader made the rules South Dakota Politics has an article on how the 2 Democratic Candidates are not advocating for the rule of law, but rather the rule of Argus Leader. So the Argus has to accept their news through press release. Big deal. There are a lot of other news outlets in Sioux Falls. The ever expansive KELOland for one. There's also the associated press for another, of which the Argus subscribes to. Somehow, I think they'll manage to continue to get a newspaper out. I'm not so sure we don't get to appoint one now Am I the only one who caught this on the Huron Daily Plainsman website? Haley takes oath as councilman; board reorganized BY ROGER LARSEN Pat Haley took the oath of office Monday evening to become the newest member of the Huron City Commission. He succeeds Ron Volesky, who chose not to seek re-election in April. Haley was unopposed.Why does it matter? Aside from being an item of interest, I'm thinking that taking the oath of office has automatically triggered a legislative vacancy in House District 22. Yes, it could be one of the shortest terms of office ever, and the appointee might not ever see the inside of the Capitol unless there's a special session. But by the action of Pat Haley taking the oath of office, he now holds two offices at once, that of Legislator and that of City Council member. And I'm not so sure those offices are compatible. Check out Attorney General's opinion 82-23, (from Mark Meierhenry) which says in part: The South Dakota Constitution Article III, … There's exceptions for Superintendents, and then there are exceptions for students As I was nursing the worse sinus attack I've had in recent history, myself and my dad were watching tonight's report on KELO of the Sioux Falls School Board's continuing decision on letting the two high school kids who are slightly short on credits due to illness (one suffered a heart attack while participating in school football) participate in graduation with their classmates at Sioux Falls Lincoln. The proposed policy would allow seniors who were being recognized as classmates, and not graduates, to sit separately as a group. But Perez says her son has been away from his classmates long enough and that it's time for him to walk with his peers. She (Wampler's mother) says, "Just to get in line in the W's where he would be walk in sit with the people and when they say his name walk up and for him not to receive a diploma but to just get a handshake and that's it." Nick Kelly is the other Lincoln Student not allowed to participate in the ceremony. He… Union County GOP Website Hey, I have to give big props to the Union County GOP on their website. It looks good, and I'm at the top of their links. Go Check it out at: http://www.unioncountyrepublicans.com/gop/default.asp Rundowns on some of the primary races I’ve been getting recent reports in on some of the primary races, and most of them have been in relation to several of the candidates where I’ve thrown a pebble or two in their direction. Why do I throw pebbles? Because “Bamm Bamm” is too heavy. Okay, bad joke. On a few of the primary candidates out there, I’ve questioned the logic of their views. On others, I’ve questioned their actions and campaign tactics, as in “What they hell are they thinking.” And there are still others that just plain stink. But anyway, what’s happening out in primary campaign land, South Dakota? On the Stan Adelstein/Elli Schwiesow race, Senator Stan just sent out an 8 1/2 x 11 4 page glossy (i.e. expensive) campaign mailer trashing his opponent. As he tries to downplay a national recognition award from Planned Parenthood, it seems Stan can’t catch a break. Because only a couple of days after he tried to portray himself as pro-life, an e-mail to Republican State Senators from a top member of Senate leadership sa… Today's the big day for initiated measures You probably won't see much from me today, as I have an early morning, and a noon meeting. And then I have a candidate in town. So, not much blogging. But.. in the interim, today is the deadline for initiated measures. The suspense will end on legalized poker, zoning, and the Delores Coffing led effort on the drink tax. (I'm not holding my breath on that one). Even Bob Newland will be called on today to see if his signature count can match his commitment to Medical Marijuana (so I can vote no on it in November). I see we're already stuck voting on Video Lottery. Again. The phone tax, tobacco, and school start date are already in as well. It's a big political day, so stay tuned. It's not up today, but I was remiss in not mentioning that the JAIL people were crowing about getting ABC World News tonight to possibly cover their event on Saturday in Gregory. And it gives me the chills to contemplate seeing a political story in the national media portraying South Dakotans as r… JAIL is comin. To your city. You may begin shuttering your doors now. Tim from over at Progressive on the Prairie did a post on the No-on-E Weblog (that we're both disseminating information on) detailing some of the dates that the JAIL-4-Judges crew is setting up informational meetings across the state: According to the "old" website for South Dakota's Judicial Accountability Initiative Law (J.A.I.L.), the J.A.I.L.ers are kicking off their "Amendment E Voter Education Campaign" this weekend. According to the site, a "town hall meeting/debate" will be held at the Gregory Memorial Auditorium starting at 1:00 p.m. Similar functions are also currently scheduled for Brandon, May 13; Mobridge, May 20; Hot Springs: June 3; and, Brookings; June 10.June 10th in Brookings. Now that looks like it actually has the potential to fit my schedule. I'll have to pencil that one in, unless they hold one in Pierre first. Now here's a stupid question that comes to mind - If the AmendmentE.com website is supposed to be the authorita… More on the Unruh/Looby Article It's been pointed out in the blogosphere that parts of that Unruh/Looby article in the Rapid City Journal appear to read... Well, parts of it just read "a little funny." And the more I look at it, the more I can't disagree. "Because of their extremism and their sort of radical approach to the issues that I deal with, I have had an interesting three-year career with Planned Parenthood," she said. Looby said she is handling the fallout from the bill's passage, but it is taking its toll. She has four school-age children, is going through a divorce and recently moved. "I was thinking this morning, 'What's the one other thing that's going to happen that's going to put me totally over the edge?' And it wouldn't take much," Looby said. Umm... yeah. Aside from that's a bit too much information, how does it benefit the pro-choice movement when it's figurehead seems to be going a little postal? (By her own admission.)… Looby and Unruh share the love In today's Rapid City Journal, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Kate Looby and Sexual Abstinence Clearinghouse/Alpha House founder Leslie Unruh both talk about the mutual respect they share for each other: "She is equally as adamant on her position as I am on my side. And so, I have to respect that. I don't agree with her position, so I don't respect the position that she takes on this issue, but I respect her as a strong woman," Looby said. "I don't have any bad feelings towards her. I, at one time, had some of the same thoughts, until I lived it," Unruh said. "I'm hopeful that someday, she'll regret this and she'll want to do something to really help women."Awwww.. I also noticed in the article how it talks abut them both having more than the average number of kids (4 and 5 respectively). Which leads me to believe that with 6, I have clearly entered the category of circus oddity. (And commenters, behave) You know, some people don't get it. By PP - April 30, 2006 My wife and I had this discussion today as we read the newspaper, and I'm reminded of it as I read Nathan Schock over at Fresh Glue editorialize on it. Randall Beck over at the Argus called for the Sioux Falls School System to let the two Lincoln High School kids walk across the stage. And despite my disagreements with many of his editorials, I couldn't agree with this one more. Read it here as he petitions to let Nick Kelly and Jake Wampler join their Lincoln High School classmates at graduation ceremonies: The two students won't have enough credits to get their diplomas next month but would like to participate in graduation ceremonies with classmates. Jake is five credits short because his heart stopped on a football practice field last year; his rehabilitation has been long and difficult. Nick, whose leukemia is now in remission, is just 1 1/4 credits short. Both have worked hard to catch up. No slackers these kids. The Sioux Falls School Board and Superintendent Pam Homan… Heck Yeah! 12k+ visitors in April As April wanes in it's last half an hour, I see my visitor record for the month has climbed from 11,000+ visitors in March, to well over 12,000 visitors this April (well over 27,000 page views). Should you start off on your right foot or your left? Here's a good divergence in political opinion to discuss: With regards to multi-town voting districts, I typically tell candidates that when they go door-to-door (as it says you should in any good campaign manuals) that they should make sure they start in the most populous area. I do that based on the thesis that you stand a better chance on completing it if you start there first. In other words, it's the "Willie Sutton" move - go where the voters are and campaign. If you start in the most populous area, you're likely to spend the most time there because you need to. And you're likely to be noticed since it is the most populous area. Now a couple of my elected official friends disagree. They say, "not so fast, PP." Their opinion is that a candidate should start where they are the strongest, regardless of size. They say that's because even thought you might be spending a lot of time in an area that doesn't have as many votes, you're going t… Congrats from the SDWC Congratulations to Jafar Karim who just got a nice job with the DM&E Railroad as mentioned in the media today. Jafar is a local Pierre grad who had previously served as White House Liaison for the Department of Health and Human Services, and worked as Congressman John Thune’s Chief of Staff. Jafar is leaving his current position as the head of the Governor's Office of Economic Development. "Jaf" as he's known to his friends is the son of Ruth Karim (who was a GOP candidate for the legislature many years ago [I think in a primary]), and Mansour Karim, who just set up a large endowment and scholarship fund at South Dakota State University. There's a neat story on his endowment here how he arrived at SDSU with $27 in his pocket and worked at the seed lab at $.20 an hour. Anyway, read the Article here, and congratulations to Jafar on his new job from the SDWC. The Sioux Falls Argus Leader's assault on the Governor - Many unhappy returns At the end of the year in 2005, I offered my opinion that the #6 story of 2005 was the Argus Leader's assault on the Governor. Let's take a look at this little blast from the past: 6. Argus Leader’s Assault on the Governor The Associated Press considered the Argus Leader’s series of stories of the use of the State Airplane by the Governor as one of its top ten stories. Should that be one of the top ten political stories? Some would argue, yes. But there’s something that has come up since that blurs the focus of that issue for me. After that series of stories, there have been editorials from the Argus Leader’s editor, Randall Beck. (here, here and here) A story is a story, and that’s fine. But in those editorials from the editor, it’s at least apparent to me that he doesn’t care for our state’s chief executive. One editorial from Mr. Beck blasted a local group for giving the Governor an award. Another took an additional swipe at him. The tone of these editorials comes off as… well… What a weekend. Getting better thanks to Preferred... And when he thinks about Jack, he touches himself.... There's exceptions for Superintendents, and then t... JAIL is comin. To your city. You may begin shutter... Should you start off on your right foot or your le... The Sioux Falls Argus Leader's assault on the Gove...	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4098
__label__cc	0.641174	0.358826	The History of Video Games in 64 Objects August 2, 2018 August 1, 2018 lefranzine My earliest memories of my first experience with video games comes in the early 90s when I first picked up the controller for the SNES. Around the same time, the Gameboy also resided in our household and I spent hours going between the two consoles playing Mario, Paperboy 2, Donkey Kong, Star Fox and Gremlins among others. I like to think I know a little about the history of gaming but upon receiving a review copy of The History of Video Games in 64 Objects, I actually realised that there were so many earlier devices which offered a gaming experience which I had no knowledge of whatsoever. The History of Video Games in 64 Objects is a collection of gaming nostalgia brought to us by the experts at The World Video Game Hall of Fame and features 64 of the pioneering gaming objects in their collection which kickstarted one of our favourite modern day pastimes. From the humble pinball machines to Pokémon Go, from Dungeons and Dragons to Pacman there’s likely to be some objects contained within this book that you may never have heard of. Over the course of reading, I feel like I have expanded my gaming knowledge while also wishing I had been alive at the time of these early computers, games and consoles being created so I could see them up close and see how far technology has come over the years. To imagine the first ‘computer game’ being created for a visitors day project from giant computers compared to the Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4 and XBOX One which are massed produced for gamers all over the world is just crazy and unbelievable; but it did happen! The book contains some wonderful images of items in the collection, including a copy of E.T. still covered in dirt from where they were buried all those years ago along with essays explaining the history and people behind their creation. While you may sigh at the prospect of reading an essay when you would just like to enjoy a moment of nostalgia, you will be glad to hear that it is not more than a couple of pages and you’ll find yourself halfway through before you know it. The History of Video Games in 64 Objects is a great book for a coffee table, a lunch time read (which is how I have been spending my time with it) or as a gift for a collector or enthusiastic gamer but it’s also a nice educational tools which young people considering a career in the gaming industry may appreciate as a means to understand how far gaming has come over the last 80 years or so. I would highly recommend The History of Video Games in 64 Objects to anyone who has an interest in history, gaming or just wants to reminisce about a console they once had or those D&D adventures they use to go on or even just to try and understand the Pokémon Go craze. Whatever tickles your fancy, this book offers a treasure trove of delight for gamers old and new. Tagged 101 basic computer games, a history of video games in 64 objects, adventureland, asteroids, Atari, book, book review, breakout, call of duty: modern warfare 2, computer space, death race, Densha do Go!, digi-comp computer, donkey kong, doom, dungeons and dragons, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, esports, failchild channel f, grand theft auto 3, halo: combat evolved, harper collins, History, home pong, humpty dumpty, john burgeson's baseball game, john madden football, King's Quest, magnavox mini-theater, magnavox odyssey, mattel football, Microsoft, minecraft, missile command, mortal kombat, myst, nancy drew: tomb of the lost queen, NES, Nintendo, Nintendo Entertainment System, nintendo love tester, nintendo virtual boy, one on one, pac-amn, pinball, pinball construction set, Pokemon, pokemon go, pong, prince of persia, PS2, ralph baer's brown box, ralph baer's light anti-tank weapon, Review, river raid, simon, skylanders, sonic the hedgehog, Sony, space invaders, spacewar, speak and spell, street fighter 2, strong national museum of play, sumerian game, super mario bros, tennis for two, tetris, that dragon cancer, the legend of zelda, the oregon trail, the sims, utopia, video game hall of fame, Video Games, wii remote, World of Warcraft, zork Published by lefranzine I like gaaaaaaaaames! Have loved playing games all my life across console and PC but also enjoy tabletop and role play campaigns too! View all posts by lefranzine Previous postShaq Fu: A Legend Reborn Next postOvercooked 2!	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4101
__label__wiki	0.835301	0.835301	Life Long Friends Former President of the United States, Harry S Truman lived in Independence, Missouri, not far from Kansas City. He was a very active Mason, and naturally got to know Dad Frank S. Land very well. Truman became a United States Senator in 1934 and was able to be very active in Freemasonry in Missouri because, in those days, politicians didn’t spend as much time in Washington, D.C. Thus, Truman was able to serve as Grand Master of Masons in Missouri in 1940-1941. They had a life-long friendship that Truman didn’t forget when he served as President, and it was with his help that Dad Land was able to be elected to serve as Imperial Potentate of the Shrine of North America. Land had been an unsuccessful candidate for the Imperial Shrine officer line in 1944 and 1945. By the time of the Imperial Session in San Francisco in 1946, Truman had become President, and allowed the rumor to spread that he was coming to the Imperial Session to campaign for his friend. He wasn’t able to leave Washington, D.C., but Land was elected Imperial Captain of the Guard, anyway, and eventually served as Imperial Potentate in 1954-1955. Truman once said, “Frank likes me despite my shortcomings, and I like him because he hasn’t any.” 1.) Do you think the first part of Truman’s statement was true? (Frank likes me despite my shortcomings…) 2.) What characteristic does this suggest about Dad Land’s character? What leadership trait does this suggest that we should emulate? 3.) Do you think that the second part of Truman’s statement was true, or was it just public flattery? (I like him because he hasn’t any!) Is it possible that Dad Land was really that good ALL THE TIME?	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4104
__label__cc	0.610362	0.389638	Department Of Veterans Affairs Manual M1 1 Department Of Veterans Affairs Manual M1 1 - US Department of Veterans Affairs: Permission (Reusing this file) Public domain Public domain false false: This image is a work of a United States Department of Veterans Affairs employee, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the. VA/DoD CLINICAL PRACTICE GUIDELINE FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS . Department of Veterans Affairs . Department of Defense .. sources of law regarding veterans benefits. REFERENCES Title 38, U.S. Code 38 Code of Federal Regulations VA Fast Letters VA Procedures Live Manual M21-1MR, Manual M21 -1 Office of General Counsel Opinions Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims decisions Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decisions Veterans Benefits Manual, § 17.16 S OURCES OF L AW S TATUTES Title 38 of. J Am Acad Audiol 5: 231-235 (1994) Department of Veterans Affairs Compact Disc Recording for Auditory Perceptual Assessment: Background and Introduction. It is the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) policy that no individual be subjected to any form of discrimination because of national origin in any VA programs, programs receiving VA funding, or VA programs receiving Federal financial assistance.. If you are in immediate crisis, call the Veterans Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 and press 1, text to 838255, or chat online at VeteransCrisisLine.net/Chat. Find Mental Health Support Your mental health is a critical component to your overall wellness.. by the Veterans Affairs Department on 10/17/2018. On September 18, 2018, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) published a final rule amending its regulations governing veterans' eligibility for VA pensions and other needs-based benefit programs. The final rule contained some errors in its preamble and in one amendment to the CFR. This document corrects those errors.. The State of New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. The State of New Jersey. Governor Phil Murphy Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver NJ Home \| Services A to Z \| Departments/Agencies \| FAQs. Search. Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. DMAVA. Home Army Guard Air Guard Veterans Administration Leadership Youth. Call the Veterans Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 and Press 1, send a text message to 838255, or chat online. Suicide Is Preventable Suicide is a national health concern that affects all Americans, whether or not they have served in the military.. Veterans Affairs Canada deeply values the contribution that Veterans have made to the development of our nation and we honour the sacrifices they have made in.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4111
__label__cc	0.634183	0.365817	You are here: Home / General / Canon announces the end for EOS-1v film body Canon announces the end for EOS-1v film body The Canon EOS-1v is taking a bow after more than a decade in service. No particular reason was given for ending the product’s production, it was one of the company’s finest achievements when it was released in 2000. Courtesy of Mixed Video An achievement as Canon’s last professional film camera Canon EOS-1v’s body was used as the basis for future models, the EOS-1D and the EOS-1Ds. Before it was retired, the model was the last of Canon’s professional film cameras. When it was released in 2000, the EOS-1v was the fastest moving-mirror film camera. Although that record has since been eclipsed, shooting 10 frames per second back in the day was quite the feat. As mentioned, the camera managed 10fps – with the PB-E2 power pack attached – but it can also shoot 9fps in AF Servo mode. The camera’s 45-point AF area allows impressive subject tracking and quick focusing. The EOS-1v was a successor to the EOS-1N and improved upon certain features, including better water and dust resistance. Canon used leading edge “thixo-molding” metal injection molding technology to produce strong and rigid outer covers. Features of the Canon EOS-1v Canon also incorporated the advanced metering system of the EOS-3 into this model, as well as the 1/8000 sec high-speed shutter that could sync with flash at 1/250 second. The camera can also store data from 100 rolls of a 36-exposure film, which can then be read out using the EOS Link ES-E1 software that was launched along with the product. The images were matched to those on the roll using an ID number. The EOS-1v’s camera features a 0.72x 100% viewfinder can also present a clear and bright view of a scene. When it was launched in 2000, the Canon EOS-1v cost 270,000 yen. Used models also fetched quite the sum on online auction sites – some sold for around $600. A continuation of Canon repair services Canon also announced that it would still be accepting repair services for the product until October 31, 2025. However, their statutory repair period ends in 2020 and from that point on, the company cannot guarantee the availability of parts. The discontinuation of the EOS-1v follows on the heels of Leica’s announcement ending a film camera line, the M7. Many DSLR users might have even forgotten the existence of such a camera – hence the announcement to terminate this product might not have been quite a blow – but this is disappointing news to lovers of film cameras. As the translated official announcement says, “Although it is truly selfish, thank you for your kind understanding of the circumstances.” Canon EOS R Review: A Decent… The Much-Awaited Yashica Y35 Has… Cinemartin Unveils Three Fran 8K… Nikon D850 DSLR Filmmaker’s Kit… Video credit: Dan Watson In November 2017, Nikon introduced its most versatile DSLR camera to date. The Nikon D850 defied convention… Panasonic HC-V770 Review: A… These days you hear about 4K cameras A LOT. Although the Panasonic HC-V770 was released not so long ago, only… Fujifilm’s GFX 50R is Like… The GFX 50R recently launched by Fujifilm is similar to its GFX 50S medium format camera, especially when it comes… Panasonic HC-WXF1: Going a Step… The line between smartphones and video cameras have blurred in recent years. It’s not uncommon to find mobile devices with… T-CUP is the World’s… There are certain phenomena in biology and physics that are best measured and captured in an image. It's even better…	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4113
__label__cc	0.524106	0.475894	How technology is shaping the future of design When it is so hard to keep up with technological potential, it is vital to know why something should be built in the first place. Designers have always worked at the intersection of cultural trends, whether in designer products or buildings. But today these cultural trends are being accelerated by advances in technology, some of which are so rapid that it is hard to integrate them into planning, design and development before they are superseded. Thirty years ago the internet and mobile phones were new and no one was sure what impact they would have. Today over three billion people have a smartphone and the fantasies of science fiction writers are becoming a reality. We meet via teleconference, augmented and virtual reality are becoming mainstream, while machine learning and AI are managing hugely complex sets of data and transforming the potential for people’s living and working spaces. Nest, Hive, Smarthome and other home automation apps are changing the way our houses are managed. With Cortana, Alexa and other personal assistants, the way we shop, play and manage our time is also being transformed. With the rate of technological innovation so far ahead of human behavior, we have to wonder, will artificial intelligence be a tool in the hands of designers or will it become an autonomous chief architect, handed the keys to making our environment harmonious and conducive to our every requirement? The BIQ building in Hamburg has a «bio-adaptive» facade that uses algae within its glass-paneled facades to generate energy. Photo: Paul Ott Connectivity is becoming the fourth utility that underlies all the changes that are coming from new computational architecture, intelligent software and, of course, the Internet of Things in the built environment. Already, the ability to correlate largescale datasets is transforming the way in which buildings frame the way people work. At Qubis Pharma a correlation was discovered between higher sales and higher cross-departmental interaction, an understanding which could never have been discovered without the ability of technology to interrogate the data. Such findings can transform the way in which companies want their staff to operate. And it is not just computing architecture and datasets that are accelerating. New materials and approaches are transforming what is possible. A sugar-lump sized piece of Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOF) porous materials can have the same surface area as a football pitch. Splitterwerk Architects and engineering firm Arup designed the BIQ in Hamburg, which has a «bio-adaptive» facade that is claimed to be a first for using algae within its glass-paneled facades in order to generate energy, and provide shade, to a working building. The demands of sustainability are changing how, as well as what, we build. One example is the 8 House in Copenhagen’s Orestad area. The development was designed by BIG and while it was designed to consume less energy, water and cut down on waste, it is also a new type of living community. It integrates all the ingredients of an urban neighborhood into a 3D figure-of-eight – hence the name. The whole neighborhood is connected in a bowtie-shaped space, where three different types of housing, commerce and commercial operations interact. The idea behind the building was to create an entirely new form of neighborhood, affordable living spaces hand in hand with commercial, as part of a grand design for a new way of living. The 8 House packs all of the ingredients of a lively urban neighborhood into horizontal layers connected by a continuous promenade and cycling path up to the 10th floor. Photo: Jens Lindhe Ambition has to serve reality “What matters is to develop perspective about what we can do, and whether it’s worth doing. It’s important to have a vision and not simply implement what’s possible,” points out Owen King from the futurist consultancy Unwork. The future of design will be more about what we do with our time through an array of technology-supported options. Sustainability and the need to mitigate the impact of climate change will also require advanced technological solutions to improve energy efficiency. Designers and architects’ role will be to anticipate people’s interactions with technology and provide them with products, living and working spaces that help solve the many challenges the 21st century world brings. Design in the age of technology Download the ebook	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4114
__label__wiki	0.511563	0.511563	Joseph A. Mullins, 56, Lake Helmerich Village Joseph A. Mullins, 56, of Lake Helmerich Village in Holland, passed away at 8:46 p.m. on Sunday, January 27, 2019, at home, surrounded by his fiancé and his sons. He was born in Vincennes on September 18, 1962, to Robert P. and Dolores M. (Brawdy) Mullins. Joe was truck driver for many years, his career spanning Jasper Engines, Kimball International, and Styline Transportation. He was a graduate of the Loogootee High School Class of 1981, served in the Indiana Army National Guard, and was a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles in Huntingburg. He enjoyed camping with friends, hunting, fishing, 4-wheeling, kayaking, and working around the house. Surviving are his fiancé, Kelly Kluesner of Lake Helmerich Village; two sons, Chris Mullins (Kesha), and Kyle Mullins (Emily), both of Jasper; one stepson, Jesse Kluesner, Jasper; five grandchildren, Laine, Nolan, Hayden, Rylan and Peyton Mullins; and two brothers, Robert W. Mullins (Phyllis), Loogootee, and Donald Mullins (Cindy), Shoals. Preceding him in death were his parents. Funeral services for Joe Mullins will be held at 6 p.m. on Friday, February 1, 2019, at the Becher-Kluesner North Chapel in Jasper, with burial to follow at a later date. Pastor Ryan Stiles will officiate. A visitation will be held from 1 p.m. until the 6 p.m. service time on Friday, February 1, 2019 at the Becher-Kluesner North Chapel in Jasper. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the wishes of the family. Online condolences may be made at www.becherkluesner.com.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4119
__label__cc	0.630675	0.369325	Borrowing Bones The occasional weblog of writer Dora Dueck What You Get at Home This Hidden Thing The debate around “knowing” Posted on December 21, 2010 by doradueck So what do we think of TIME’s decision to name Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg their Man of the Year? We, the citizens of Facebook, I mean — citizens of the third largest nation in the world, if 500 million accounts counted as a nation. But also we as in all of us, whether we’re on Facebook or not, who know how profoundly media and technology have shifted, who have adapted our communication and connection habits, whether we wanted to or not. And we as in all of us who know that notions of private and public are being re-shaped, again. There’s plenty of chatter about the angles of this – from sneers that TIME isn’t exactly the authority it used to be on what’s important (which is why I asked what “we” all think, if the we over at Facebook can just pause from collecting tractors for our farms for a moment, or taking a test to discover what dead celebrity we might have been in another life) to SNL’s comics setting up WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as bitter over Zuckerberg getting TIME’s honour (and this landing in newspapers and on computer screens everywhere as news!). Of the list of TIME candidates (Julian Assange, the Tea Party, Afghan president Hami Karzai, and the Chilean miners), my pick would have been Julian Assange. Not because I find him more likable (it’s not about liking — Hitler was once was Man of the Year, and Stalin was twice), but because I think the WikiLeak events and the impulses behind them will reverberate through global politics and life more significantly than Facebook has or will. But whether Zuckerberg or Assange, whether social media’s “sharing” or the WikiLeaks insistence on “transparency,” both confront us with the same thing, as Doug Saunders noted in a helpful article at The Globe and Mail. They’re on a historical continuum of debate and action over public versus private, over the ideal of “total openness.” I’m not inclined to summarize that debate or even offer my opinions on where individuals or societies should land. (I am on Facebook, so I shouldn’t get too snobbish about that.) But, I’m going to veer off in closing this post to one place that seems almost untouched by the current discussion. I’m speaking of the institutional church, and — since I know it best — my particular Mennonite denomination. (If you’re not a participant in any of these, you don’t need to read on.) And it strikes me that though there have been, in the past, lively conversations about how one balances the work of “the press” (the need to know) and the work of boards and head offices (the need to not reveal too much of the internal) within a community where love and trust are core values, we’re not talking about it much anymore. This debate often arises around negative goings-on, though it shouldn’t be seen as pertaining only to those. If that debate is still active, it’s not reaching my ears. My denomination is on Facebook, has a website, and a magazine, and there are good stories and also news releases carried in all of them. But the MB Herald, still our national body’s main reporting medium, is not allowed at meetings of the executive board or board of faith and life, currently the main loci of the denomination’s decision-making and direction. Generally, I think it’s safe to say, we’ve settled for much greater distance between the constituency and our leadership structures than ever before. So I’m wondering, how does information, disclosure, transparency, watching – the interplay of public and private – look in the context of church? Do our thoughts/opinions about TIME’s man of the year and the cultural shifts that Zuckerberg (or Assange) are presiding over have any relevance or application here? I need to think about this a lot more, but would welcome thoughts or links to the subject (in reference to a church context) that I may be missing. This entry was posted in Contemporary life, Current events, Mennnonite Brethren, Technology and tagged Facebook, Julian Assange, Mark Zuckerberg, MB Herald, private versus public, TIME Man of the Year by doradueck. Bookmark the permalink. 9 thoughts on “The debate around “knowing”” Laura Kalmar on December 21, 2010 at 3:53 pm said: Thanks, Dora! Yes, our society has a tendency toward disclosure and information – but perhaps it’s mostly superficial or trivial information. I know that my Facebook friends are making gingerbread cookies… but I have no clue how their marriage or family finances are doing! So, maybe “Amusing Ourselves to Death” was right – important facts and details are becoming more and more hidden/inaccessible/irrelevant. Perhaps that’s why we in the church are comfortable with the divide between constituency and leadership structures – as long as leaders keep us amused with trivial information, we don’t ask the tough questions!! doradueck on December 22, 2010 at 10:23 am said: Hi Laura, great to see you here! I know these questions are dear to both of us! Many good wishes to you as you finish up your mat leave and then go back as MBH editor to navigate the waters. — I think you’re right, that while there’s more of one thing, there’s less of another. As Ryan says, your last sentence is a sobering one. Al Doerksen on December 21, 2010 at 11:29 pm said: I really enjoyed this. Both Zuckerberg and Assange have to a degree rewritten the rules of how we relate and how information gets shared. I don’t know if either qualify as the person of the year, but I think that is not the point. For the most part, I endorse the direction of fewer secrets, but I am not convinced that theft and hacking (as in Assange) and data mining (as in the case of Facebook) justifies the end. With respect to the church, I always thought (when we were living in India) that the published accounts and biographies of missionary activities were often boring, and less than truthful in that they failed to tell so many parts of the really interesting human stories. Thanks for your comments, Al. I agree with you on fewer secrets, as well as concerns about the means. I think that diplomacy requires a skillful blending of public face versus private observation/knowledge, so the revelations of WikiLeaks have bothered me from that perspective. But in discussing this with a younger person recently, I discovered from her a real appreciation for the potential of such revelations to expose abuses of power. Much as we in our time delighted in the “leaks” of the Watergate investigation. — I know what you mean about those missionary stories. When readers are also one’s donors, the censor hovers between the words. Ryan on December 22, 2010 at 12:33 am said: Thanks for this, Dora. Really thought-provoking… I think Laura has nailed it—the social media revolution overwhelmingly conditions us toward superficiality and distractedness. Wasn’t it Postman who echoed McLuhan’s “the medium is the message?” If the medium is a fire hydrant blast of uncontrollable volumes and varieties of information, we increasingly seem unable/unwilling to sift through it with discernment and purpose. Instead, we skim the surface of this ocean of information, contenting ourselves with status updates, celebrity gossip, sports scores, and 140 character spurts of triviality. Re: the MB Church, Laura’s last sentence is a sobering one indeed… There are little signs of attempts at broader engagement—I think of the BC Pastors Study day on the atonement in November that was made available on a live stream to anyone who wanted to participate from anywhere in the province—but overall I’m not sure the divide is shrinking. Thanks for your comments, Ryan. — The fire hydrant blast analogy is certainly apt. — I’m glad to hear of the live stream option for the pastors’ study day; I hadn’t known about that. The formal news release of the event didn’t reveal much, but I’ve been cobbling together a somewhat fuller picture from Brad’s post at the Forum, and also from Jay’s report in the recent MBH. I think that there’s a reluctance, in our reporting, to identify personalities with positions — perhaps it comes out of respect for them and for the process — but IMO it’s the mix of ideas/positions and the particular people who carry them that makes matters as ostensibly boring as missionary work or discussions of atonement both interesting and potentially engaging for the wider community. But it feels counter-intuitive to report that way, and I certainly wouldn’t want to imply that it’s not complex. Yes, well put. In the BC situation around the atonement, I sometimes wonder if our reluctance to actually speak more candidly and directly about who is saying what and what it means is dragging things out unnecessarily and unhelpfully. This “debate” has been going on for a few years now, but you still routinely hear of people at these get-togethers that have no idea what all the fuss is about. This is probably due both to the way in which these things are officially presented, as well as a general unwillingness on the part of individuals to take the time to understand (which gets back to Laura’s point above…). James on December 29, 2010 at 6:14 pm said: Great thoughts as usual, Dora. I really appreciated the Saunders article. I do think that transparency changes behaviour for the best, his Cuban prison example notwithstanding. In the early days of the Internet porn would pop up all the time. Now, I never see it even when doing long images searches for sermon backgrounds. We are all aware that what looked like private viewing- isn’t. We know we are being watched. [Of course the internet is still full of porn, maybe more than ever, but now it must be intentionally hunted down.] Person of the Year- I’d vote for Assange. You don’t like the Assanges of the world if they are goring your ox, but unless we have them secrecy wins. Frankly, we need an MB Assange. Hey, Laura, Karla, J 🙂 In MB world, I think one of the things that is going on is a generational shift. I remember arguing that the MHB must refuse to yield on its journalistic mission- that it served the MB constituency not the Conference. It seems to me that fundamental the importance [as opposed to a great conversation piece] of that distinction is now the domain of a few of us oldsters. I am however hopeful that the next generation will get it. There has never been as much opportunity to open up debate and information, as we have today. doradueck on January 1, 2011 at 5:51 pm said: Happy new year to you, James, and thanks so much for your comment. There’s so much in it for further conversation… I appreciate your strong word for transparency, and also the reminder that ultimately the MBH serves the constituency, and by that route, the conference. It’s a complicated relationship, for the medium is strongly “embedded,” as it also needs to be. And yet there has to be distance, and will be different kinds of communication. Earlier, as you say, we had Harold Jantz and Don Ratzlaff in particular, I think, articulating and pushing on the distinctions. — I do have a lot of confidence in the next generation, not only in their writing skills and interest, but in figuring out a way to work at the journalistic mission. One of the things I’m really excited about, though I think it’s still finding its wings, is the potential of the internet to forward a significant participation in community events like conferences, be that by live streaming or through blog-type reports. We first experimented with the latter at a PCO in 2009 and then the Mennonite World Conference and most recently it was used to good effect, I think, at RIM and Celebration 2010. My struggle in some initial attempts at such posts was to find the right “voice” for such reporting and I’m not sure I found it then or that it’s quite been found yet. The temptation is for the posting participants to provide their “happy thoughts” or to mediate sermons from an event instead of stepping back to the edge of their particular assignment event and summarizing not just what was said but the dynamics in the room, some of the key responses, and so on. The kind of journalism that, metaphorically, is scribbling notes and then rushing to the telephone or telegraph wire to transfer the “news,” to get the scoop. But maybe that’s a thoroughly old-fashioned view of what such reporting can do for us! Every new method of communication takes figuring out, but at any rate, I see this as having real potential. — I’m still not sure of the path to more transparent, revealing information from Ex. Bd. and BFL meetings. The mag’s request for presence was turned down. Should it be pursued again? Or, perhaps it’s not, in fact, the MBH’s job?	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4122
__label__wiki	0.855477	0.855477	VIDEO: WW2 Veterans Take Flight & Derek Bell MBE Demonstrates Porsche Racer As The Classic & Sports Car Show In Association With Flywheel Opens To The Public DOWNLOAD VIDEO BROLL HERE: https://we.tl/iDXgeqt9ro Crowds flocked to Bicester Heritage today, Saturday 23 June, for the opening day of The Classic & Sports Car Show in association with Flywheel, which takes place 23-24 June. As well as hosting a huge array of classic road and competition cars, bikes, vintage aircraft and military machines in the Oxfordshire sunshine, the event was attended by six World War Two veterans in honour of the centenaries of the Royal Air Force and the end of the First World War. RAF veterans Maurice Marriott (aged 93) and Eddie Habberley (aged 95), both from Duston in Northamptonshire, returned to the skies in Tiger Moth aircraft above Bicester Heritage, a former WW2 RAF bomber station. The pair had both trained in the aircraft during their time with the RAF WW2 veterans with Derek Bell (far left) following Maurice Marriott (centre) and Eddie Habberley's (third from right) flight in the Tiger Moths Habberley, who was based in Burma during WW2, said: “I joined the RAF when I was 18 years old and started training in Tiger Moths. I then trained in the U.S. before heading to the Middle East and Burma where we flew Spitfires. It’s great that so much has happened for RAF100 and wonder how much interest there is from people of all generations. I haven’t been in a Tiger Moth since 1941 and going up today, I didn’t remember how breezy it was up there! There was a nice cross-wind for take-off and landing, which made it quite interesting. It bounced around something terrific and was really good fun, absolutely marvellous!” Also in attendance, thanks to the support of the Royal British Legion Duston & District Branch and the Royal Air Forces Association, were Martin Calvert (92) of the Scots Guards, from Rothersthorpe; Edward ‘Ted’ Barker (95) Sub Lieutenant on HMS Arbiter, who lives in Church Brampton, and husband-and-wife pairing of Dennis (93) and Joan Wells (93) from Dallington, who acted as wireless operators and a clerk and typist Eddie Habberley after landing in the Tiger Moth Alongside the incredible Tiger Moths, an array of vintage aircraft were on static display and took to the skies for demonstrations during today’s show, including the Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) Dakota, the Bremont Great War Display Team and the BBMF Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster. On land, Le Mans legend Derek Bell MBE wowed the crowds by demonstrating a 1965 Porsche 911 2-litre race car. The British racing star, who has won the Le Mans 24-Hour Race five times, the 24 Hours of Daytona three times and the World Sportscar Championship twice, met with show visitors and signed copies of his new book, Derek Bell: All My Porsche Races. Speaking about the show, Bell said: “Seeing the old planes being flown in such a daring way and showing the real history of what made England what it is, is very special. The crowds are so excited to see the planes because you don’t see them very often so it is magnificent. Driving the 1965 Porsche 911 racer has also been a lot of fun today. When I look at Porsche’s race cars it is terribly impressive to see what they produced over the years. Because I know Porsche so personally I find the race cars the spectacular part, but that was my life; I fell in love with the race cars and now I love the road cars too. But to see all the classic cars from such a variety of marques here at the Show is beautiful to see - they are pieces of art.” Derek Bell takes to the demonstration track in a 1965 Porsche 911 racer Alastair Clements, Classic & Sports Car magazine's Editor in Chief, said: “It’s been a fantastic first day of the Show, with so much action for people to see on track and in the skies. A huge amount of care and attention has gone into curating the collection of vehicles showcased – be they classic cars, planes, military machines or motorbikes – and we’re delighted to have welcomed so many visitors to admire and enjoy them. “It has been particularly special to have incredible WW2 veterans join us, and seeing them return to the machines that they consider old friends has been very touching. We look forward to welcoming more visitors to the show tomorrow to join the festivities in the Oxfordshire sunshine,” added Clements. The Classic & Sports Car Show in association with Flywheel concludes tomorrow, Sunday 24 June. Wing Commander John Francis Durham ‘Tim’ Elkington, one of the few surviving Royal Air Force fighter pilots who flew during the Battle of Britain, will attend the Show. A huge selection of historic road and race cars are on show	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4123
__label__cc	0.705641	0.294359	Travel Series: Ukraine Photography And Words: Scarlett O'flaherty Scarlett is a university graduate with an ambition to travel and document a culture that is far away from her own. The English documentary photographer previously gave us an isight into the Felician Franciscan Congregation of Female Habits (Catholic Nuns) in Krakow, Poland and since then has taken a recent trip to Ukraine, Kiev to make work about life after the EuroMaiden revolution that was expected to reform and improve the citizens way of life. We spoke to Scarlett about her new project; “Disillusionment in the new President has led to the establishment of a protest camp beside government buildings in Kiev. This has symbolic resonance as it is the first street protest movement to have emerged since 2014 and is close to the site of the original massacre of almost 130 civilian protesters. The activists excuse the government of being too weak in the face of Russia’s annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine and its support for pro-Russian separatists. This ongoing piece of work comes from my second visit to Ukraine, after living in Poland for seven months I was surprised by how different neighbouring Ukraine was. It remains very soviet, not only in its brutalist architecture but also culturally and politically. It still faces the east for guidance and the lack of desire by those in power to become affiliated to western Europe was the catalyst for the 2014 revolution. Corruption is rife throughout all levels of power and there is a deep divide between a rich ruling oligarchy and the rest of society who are very poor.” oflaherty, photography, scarlett Previous Connor Weinstein Next Travel Series: Romania	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4124
__label__wiki	0.529339	0.529339	Extending Lifelong Learning Cooperative Extension Services and the 21st Century Land-Grant Mission E. Gordon Gee \| President, West Virginia University Stephen M. Gavazzi \| Professor of Human Development and Family Science, Ohio State University Roger Rennekamp \| Associate Dean and Director of OSU Extension, Ohio State University Steve Bonanno \| Dean and Director of WVU Extension Services, West Virginia University Cooperative Extensions have historically played a critical role in increasing access to land-grant universities, but as communities evolve it’s critical for the Cooperative Extensions—and the universities they’re part of—to transform as well. Ohio State University professor Stephen M. Gavazzi and West Virginia University president E. Gordon Gee recently co-authored “Land-Grant Universities for the Future: Higher Education for the Public Good.” The book, published in November 2018 by Johns Hopkins University Press, is based largely on interviews they had conducted with 27 presidents and chancellors of land-grant universities, some of the largest and best universities in America. Land-grant universities were established by the Morrill Act in 1862 and part of their mission is to make the knowledge of the university accessible to their communities. This critical work is championed by Cooperative Extension divisions, who offer an array of services designed to educate and inform citizens across their respective states. These authors sat down with colleagues from their respective universities—Roger Rennekamp at Ohio State and Steve Bonanno at West Virginia—to discuss the evolving impact of cooperative extension services on the 21st-century mission of our nation’s public land-grant universities. The EvoLLLution (Evo): Why has the focus on Cooperative Extension Services grown so much in recent years? Gordon Gee (GG): In Land-Grant Universities for the Future, we discuss how the intensified focus on cooperative extension services goes hand in hand with the country’s growing interest in outreach and engagement activities. The birth of extension occurred with the Smith-Lever Act of 1914, the congressional action that put all of this into motion over 100 years ago. Since that time, extension personnel have been the natural go-to partners for university faculty, staff and students who wished to become more connected to the communities we were designed to serve. Steve Bonanno (SB): Communities have greater expectations of land-grant universities beyond just educating our students. Viewed as a tremendous resource, many communities want an engaged university to help address local as well as global issues. Often serving as the “front door,” extension serves as the portal for communities to initiate engagement and collaboration with the academic enterprise. Faculty also are beginning to realize extension’s ability to enhance the student experience, bring relevancy to applied research and connect faculty to communities that enrich their academic work. Roger Rennekamp (RR): At a time when many Americans are feeling disconnected from the largely intellectual pursuits of colleges and universities, efforts by academic institutions to re-engage with communities are logical and predictable. For many land-grant universities, it is a matter of demonstrating relevance. A cynic might suggest that such a renewed focus on community engagement is not genuine, but a last gasp effort to ensure their survival. Alternatively we can hope that such efforts are genuine and a sign that a new generation of faculty, staff and students are resurrecting the commitment to education for the common good. Evo: How could Cooperative Extension Services evolve to continue to execute on their mission of expanding access to university knowledge for a 21st-century audience? Stephen Gavazzi (SG): The evolving nature of Cooperative Extension Services is tied to the demographic shifts from rural to urban populations in this country. In the 1860s, when land-grant universities were first created, the population of the United States was 80 percent rural, and 20 percent urban. We have exactly the opposite situation now. Over 80 percent of our nation’s population resides in more urban areas. The land-grant university leaders we interviewed for the “Land-Grant Universities for the Future” book were keen to point to this geographical fact, and they expressed a great deal of concern about the continued need for extension personnel to become more adept at meeting the needs of our increasingly urbanized population. RR: One hundred years ago, less than 10 percent of the population possessed even a high school diploma. A county extension agent could come into a community with a college degree and be revered as someone with deep expertise and broad knowledge of the ways of the world. Their lectures and demonstrations would be well attended and leave audiences spellbound. As issues become increasingly complex, the role of the extension agent must change from technical expert to convener and connector. The next-century extension agent must possess skills in collaborative problem solving and design thinking. They must also be able to reach back into the university to obtain whatever technical expertise is needed by the community to address the issues it is facing. SB: Despite the advances in technology that provide access to vast amounts of information, Extension remains relevant by being a trusted source that is responsive to citizens and their communities. Extension may not always have the technical expertise but rather will be an interface and perhaps bring more of an interpretive role to important research findings. The key will be to continue developing collaborative dialogues between the communities and the campus that hopefully will result in some measure of the pursuit of applied research. Evo: What is the process for research and university knowledge to progress from the main campus faculty to Cooperative Extension Services? GG: The classic model developed by the land-grant universities in response to the Smith-Lever Act was to establish an extension office in each of the counties within a given state. Extension agents assigned to each of those offices were tasked with providing educational resources to the citizens of that county that were based on the latest research findings generated by faculty members. Due to financial concerns, some of these county offices have become more regionalized in certain states. More recently, we have witnessed the development of eXtension, an internet-based educational platform that augments the work of county agents by providing 24/7/365 access to those cutting-edge educational resources. Through these and other ways, Cooperative Extension Services must continue to serve as the front door of the engaged university. SB: We hold symposia to engage campus-based researchers with extension faculty to review campus research and community needs. This often results in collaborative field-based studies. We also assist college capstone courses in field-based projects that enhance the student experience. Extension also can provide leadership campus centers that engage communities in faculty research and applied solutions. RR: The critical link here is the people who can interpret, translate, and synthesize the products of a scientific process in ways that lead to evidence-informed practice at the local level. It is the integration of university-based information and local knowledge that typically results in the best solution to a problem. Evo: How could main campus leaders reorient the university to more thoughtfully and consciously connect traditional faculty with Cooperative Extension Services? SG: I’m not certain that the reorientation should be focused solely on those faculty members who traditionally have been connected to extension. The university leaders we interviewed for our book clearly were not concerned about faculty members in the agricultural disciplines or in family and consumer sciences. Instead, these presidents and chancellors were apprehensive about those scholars from other parts of the campus who have notbeen connected to extension historically. What these presidents and chancellors wished to see were greater numbers of professors from the arts, the humanities, the social sciences and medicine becoming more involved with communities through partnerships with extension personnel. RR: In Ohio, the annual Community Engagement Conference on The Ohio State University campus brings county-based extension practitioners together with faculty from all across campus. Each year, the conference focuses on a different theme that engages a different segment of the campus community. Leaders of college-based extension services must be incentivized to make investments in colleges other than their own. SB: We have been employing more joint faculty positions with campus colleges. These positions, embedded in the college, help raise awareness of outreach and engagement opportunities for on-campus faculty. We’ve seen an increase in collaborative research and outreach programs as a result. Extension and campus leaders need to be the champions for valuing outreach and engagement in the promotion and tenure process. Evo: Why would a closer connection between the university and Cooperative Extension Services be beneficial for the institution and for the communities they serve? GG: Peter Magrath, one of the pioneers of the university engagement movement in the last century, said it best in the forward he wrote for Land-Grant Universities for the Future. He started off by saying that those universities that are not engaged with their communities in the 21st century will soon find themselves disengaged from any meaningful relevance to the citizens of the United States. I believe that wholeheartedly, and I believe that Cooperative Extension Services must be among the leading partners in these engagement efforts. And increasingly, this is going to necessitate involvement in community and economic engagement activities designed to lift up the many and varied communities of each state. By the way, this question points out one of the key challenges we are facing right now. Cooperative Extension Services, like so many other parts of the university, must not exist as a silo within the university’s structure. Traditionally, they have been housed inside of agricultural colleges. Perhaps by placing Cooperative Extension Services under the mantle of Academic Affairs we can accelerate the university-wide connections we are seeking to facilitate. SB: I totally agree with President Gee. WVU Extension is uniquely positioned as an independent academic unit with tenure-track faculty specialists and county agents. We have joint research, programs and/or faculty appointments with nearly all colleges. Besides the obvious student recruitment potential, extension provides tremendous opportunities to enrich the undergraduate and graduate student experience, inform the research agenda and provide a portal for bilateral community engagement. Extension provides services that are often beyond the reach for many rural communities. RR: I agree fully with President Gee as well. I would also say that a closer connection results in increased experiential learning opportunities for students, more relevant research and a broader expanse of knowledge available to communities in their efforts to solve problems and help residents thrive. Cooperative Extensions support the relevance of land-grant institutions and play a critical role in supporting public access to the university. As communities evolve and populations shift, Cooperative Extensions must also evolve to ensure they continue to serve their communities and address their needs. It’s essential to get the entire university involved with supporting and expanding the reach of Cooperative Extension. It’s not the responsibility of the few for the few, but the responsibility of the many for the many. The Forever GI Bill: A Beginning Not an End Karen Gross \| Senior Counsel, Widmeyer Communications At A Time of Extraordinary College Loan Debt, Gen Z Is Looking for New Approaches to Higher Education Richard J. Polimeni \| Chair, College Savings Foundation Expanding Access to Digital Education: Making the Leap from “The Tube” to YouTube Brandon Arolfo \| Senior Director of Content Development for PBS Digital Services, Public Broadcasting System From Pre-K to Postsecondary: Creating a Lifelong Education Continuum Aaliyah Samuel \| Director of the Education Division in the Center for Best Practices, National Governors Association	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4125
__label__cc	0.633768	0.366232	Top Female Motivational Speakers for Women’s Leadership Events Top Women in Business Leadership Conference Speakers Women’s Leadership Conferences are a very dynamic and necessary part of the corporate and cultural landscape for professional women. If you attend one for the first time you’ll find the energy is second to none. If you have already attended one, there is a 99% chance you’ll attend another. And maybe another. There is no better teacher than one who has gone before you and braved the elements, learned necessary lessons through trial and error and can convey the wisdom gained through such from a place of empathy and understanding while still maintaining an air of confidence and control. Men are still from Mars and Women are still from Venus; as such, there is no better place for women to tap into their inherent leadership skills than under the tutelage of an incomparable female leader and speaker at an event tailored just for women. Executive Speakers Bureau is proud to represent several of these leaders and speakers. “None of us exist in a vacuum or bubble. As exciting as our goals may be, our best experience is not the attainment of those aspirations. It is the journey and the people along the way that give us meaning.” During the two decades that Molly Fletcher worked as one of the world’s only female sports agents, she learned the importance of intertwining business and purpose. She was called the “female Jerry Maguire” by CNN, a title fully deserved: Fletcher negotiated over $500 million in contracts and represented some of the top names in sports, including Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz and NBA championship coach Doc Rivers. Drawing from her observations and lessons learned during those twenty years of relationship-building with some of the industry’s best, Fletcher delivers her messages with passion and authenticity, empowering others to grow beyond imagined limitations. Sally Hogshead “As the workplace becomes more commoditized, your personality is the ultimate competitive advantage.” One of the most celebrated advertising copywriters of our time, Sally Hogshead awes her audiences with a simple yet thought-provoking concept: we already have inside of us the necessary traits which make us most valuable to our world. Through her research and books, including the New York Times best seller How the World Sees You Hogshead helps others identify those specific traits in order to become a point of “fascination” and better communicate in both personal and professional arenas. She has been inducted into the Speaker Hall of Fame and her advertising work is displayed at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. “What we know matters, but who we are matters more.” A bestselling author of three books (all occupied the New York Times’ number one spot) and beloved TED speaker (her 2010 TEDx talk has been viewed over 25 million times) Dr. Brené Brown’s name has become almost synonymous with the messages of courage and vulnerability. She digs deep- “daring greatly”- with her audiences, pulling from her background as a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. Dr. Brown’s work has been featured in countless media outlets, including PBS, CNN, NPR, OWN, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. She speaks on the power of connection, the influence of vulnerability and the importance of “cultivating empathy, courage and compassion.” Liz Wiseman “At some point, every new manager has to figure out that it isn’t about them anymore.” Liz Wiseman has been empowering executives around the world through her teachings on leadership and collective intelligence. As current president of the Wiseman Group and former executive at Oracle Corporation, she has taken her traveled to 32 countries and developed an exemplary client list that includes Apple, Nike, Microsoft and Dubai Bank. Wiseman has both spoken and written about working in “learning mode” and facing challenges that appear “impossible to conquer”; both requiring a sense of adaptability and urgency in acquiring knowledge. She believes that the best leaders create an environment wherein everyone can function at their optimum levels. Her bestselling book Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter often serves as the platform for sharing her leadership lessons with audiences and how leaders can effectively become “multipliers”- those who inspire their employees to be more and consequently give more. Sara Canaday “Reputation is not just about your technical skills and know-how, it is about how others speak of you, how you make other people feel and the efficacy of your influence.” Sara Canaday has greatly influenced professionals at all levels of their careers, advising those who wish to move into leadership positions and helping those already in leadership continue developing, impacting and setting goals for targeted growth. With fifteen years of corporate experience behind her, Canaday incorporates into her presentations one of the most important things she has discovered during this time: it is how people apply their knowledge and talents that dictates their success; it isn’t necessarily those with the highest IQ who become the best leaders but those who are able to communicate and collaborate with others in unique and superior ways. Tapping into a combination of personal and professional insights, Canaday has been described as having the “uncanny ability” to foster unparallel career growth in a “compassionately candid way.” She has mentored and influenced thousands of people over the years and continues to do so through her dynamic and down-to-earth speaking engagements. Connie Podesta “When you fight for your HAPPINESS as hard as you fight for status quo – your whole world changes. Your relationships improve. Your quality of life skyrockets. Your success level goes through the roof. It all starts with putting happiness first.” Connie Podesta has spoken to over two million people in twenty-five years and shows no signs of slowing down! She has both the gift of humor and human connectedness, able to engage each audience member at an individual level, no matter how large the audience actually is. A Hall of Fame speaker, award-winning author and former radio and television personality, Podesta uses the sum of her past experiences and interactions with others as a basis for her life-changing expertise in the areas of leadership, change, sales and success. She doesn’t just tell audience members what to do in order to achieve success and overcome life’s obstacles; she passionately explains how to do it and why it should, in fact, be done. She has been described as “game-changing…whose rare blend of humor, substance, style and personality have made her one of the most memorable, in-demand speakers in the world today.” For more information on booking a female motivational speaker for your next event, contact Executive Speakers Bureau at (901) 754.9404. Wednesday Watch: Sally Hogshead Branding speaker Sally Hogshead believes the greatest… Wednesday Watch: Lisa Ford, Customer Service Speaker Lisa Ford is a speaker with over… 3 Reasons to Bring a Sports Speaker to Your Next Event Author Donald Miller once shared during a… Top Rated Leadership Speakers for 2015 Wednesday Watch: Susan Packard on New Rules of the Game Women in Business speaker Susan Packard is… Wednesday Watch: ESB Corporate Video “Executive Speakers Bureau is excited to unveil… Wednesday Watch: Eric Boles Prior to becoming an authority on teamwork,… Top 10 Motivational Speakers of 2015 Year after year we continue to see… Tuesday Tip: Introducing your Speaker Are you preparing to introduce a special… Wednesday Watch: Brian Biro Brian Biro is America’s Breakthrough Coach! He… Tags: Brene Brown, Connie Podesta, esb, event planner, exec speakers, Executive Speakers, Executive Speakers Bureau, female motivational speaker, keynote speaker, keynote speakers, leadership, leadership speaker, leadership speakers, Liz Wiseman, molly fletcher, motivational speaker, motivational speakers, Sally Hogshead, Sara Canaday, Top women speakers, women in business, Women in Business Speakers « « Old Post Next Post » » C.J. Kirkland Mail (*)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4126
__label__wiki	0.782446	0.782446	Jeffrey, Vincent, Jeffrey and Vincent’s Father, and the Woman in the Photograph At a party, sitting at the dining room table, Jeffrey talks shit to James, asserting that he’s a poser, he’s wrong if he thinks he’s cool, and that, generally, he’s a piece of shit. James sits across from Jeffrey, nodding his head. Jeffrey loses his virginity to a freshman in his best friend’s parents’ bed a couple weeks later, at another party, and the following week, with his best friend on the line, silent and listening in, breaks up with her on the phone. After she hangs up, his best friend laughs and covers his face with his hand. He says that Jeffrey is “so crazy.” Another one of Jeffrey’s friends acquires two pairs of boxing gloves, and for weeks, his friends spend their days after school using the boxing gloves to beat the shit out of each other. Jeffrey attends the first two of these meetings — both times managing not to box — then begins going straight home after school, letting his voicemail answer his friends’ calls, until he finds himself in a situation where both his friends and the two pairs of boxing gloves are present. Jeffrey is pressured into a boxing match with a taller male, never lands a solid punch, and just after the match ends and his opponent is walking away, Jeffrey punches him hard on the back of his head. His friends make fun of him for at least the next month. Jeffrey’s parents begin thinking about divorce, and do so by Thanksgiving Day, the process culminating in an episode where Jeffrey sits alone downstairs, clenching the armrests of the green leather recliner, sweating and short of breath, listening to his mother upstairs in her bedroom go insane while his father says nothing. By Christmas, Jeffrey has moved into the basement and begun using a separate entrance. He and his friend smoke marijuana behind the school parking lot the day after Christmas Break is over, and James appears from behind some bushes with Robert, who Jeffrey heard once brought a sawed-off shotgun to a church parking lot where a group of kids were supposed to fight and yelled something about killing everyone. James pushes Jeffrey a number of times, calls him a “little girl,” calls him a “bitch,” moves his face close to Jeffrey’s face and “forces” Jeffrey to say that he’s a “little bitch” and that he won’t talk shit on James again. Robert sometimes interjects, calmly, and almost softly, something about notes, passed around in class, that reference Jeffrey’s shit-talking. Jeffrey keeps swallowing involuntarily. He convinces both of his parents to let him switch to a public school that’s closer to his house and does not make any friends there. He discovers the rave scene and tries ecstasy for the first time, eventually resulting in his mother, about a year later, finding over 30 hits of LSD in his car and sending him to live with his father. Jeffrey is grounded and can’t move his bowels for a week. He becomes ill, and during the worst of it, is overcome with sweating and fever, lying in bed with the space heater turned on high, thinking that, in order to move his limbs, he must first activate in his body a number of strings, levers and pulleys that he can actually see. Shortly after he’s ungrounded, Jeffrey drives to his friend’s house, and since his friend isn’t there, decides to wait. His friend pulls into the driveway with James in the passenger seat of the car. Jeffrey runs out the back door and through the neighboring back yard and types to his friend, on “AOL Instant Messenger,” a half hour later, that he saw James in the passenger seat of his car and ran away, and his friend replies that he is a pussy, that he’s laughing, that James and another kid are there, and that they are all laughing. Jeffrey begins to occasionally wear pajamas to school. This progresses to wearing pajamas and eating LSD at school almost every day. In the middle of his junior year of high school, he wins the school art competition with a black and white photograph of a cactus that he colored with colored pencils while high on LSD. At parent teacher conferences, the photography teacher tells Jeffrey’s mother that Jeffrey has a “gift,” and his mother beams, Jeffrey sitting beside her, and a week later, walking into another party, this one hosted by friends from his old high school, and seeing James standing right there, at the top of the stairs. Jeffrey avoids James until James approaches and says not to worry, that he’s not going to beat him up, and that he’s sorry, because it must suck to have to wear diapers whenever he’s around. James grins and laughs and Jeffrey watches him. He takes college classes between his junior and senior year of high school so he can graduate at the end of the first quarter of his senior year, and shortly after it begins, the media reports that two airplanes are flown into the World Trade Towers in New York City. All students are let out early. On Jeffrey’s last day of class, no one has any idea that it is his last day of class. He moves into a house with a couple from the rave scene and one day snorts ketamine and inhales nitrous oxide using a large pink balloon while concurrently smoking marijuana, exhaling the marijuana smoke into the nitrous oxide-filled balloon and then rapidly inhaling and exhaling until both the marijuana smoke and nitrous oxide are gone, causing his vision to malfunction and him to perceive the living room he’s sitting in as a compact disc sounds when it skips — a number of frames rapidly replacing each other, so fast that it becomes less and less of a comprehensive sequence and eventually something like a vibrating, silver fractal. The following morning he finds out that the girl he lives with has moved out in the middle of the night. Jeffrey moves back into his mother’s house and gets a job as a security guard. He is hospitalized three times: once for a skateboarding accident, once for a snowboarding accident, and another for an affliction called “epiditimytis” that is so embarrassing to him that he can easily recall its name after he moves back from Portland, where he moved with a friend, worked at Wendy’s, and attended his freshman year of college. The summer before his sophomore year of college, Jeffrey drives to Arizona with the same friend to visit another friend, and on the last night of his stay, blacks out from alcohol consumption. It isn’t until the middle of his sophomore year, at a house party, that Jeffrey finds out about that night; how he followed a man and his girlfriend around, accusing them of stealing his hat, until the man slapped him, Jeffrey punched his face, and the man and his girlfriend ran away. It is, coincidentally, at this same house party that Jeffrey sees James again, this time walking through the front door and directly at him, saying to Jeffrey that he had wanted to talk to him, that he’s sorry, that he’s been an asshole, and that he wouldn’t have known what to do if he was in Jeffrey’s situation. Jeffrey says that it’s okay. He acquires a girlfriend, moves into a big house with cheap rent and some people, grows marijuana in the attic, dresses up in a suit, and hosts a cocktail party. James and a large blond man are there, and in the kitchen, the large blond man turns to Jeffrey and tells him that he’s a little girl. He says it again. Jeffrey’s girlfriend says to the large blond man that Jeffrey is her friend and that she wants him to be nice to Jeffrey. Jeffrey says that he isn’t a girl and looks to his right and sees, as if in slow-motion, James staring directly at him, gradually forming a wide, toothy grin. Jeffrey applies to a study abroad program in the south of Holland and breaks up with his girlfriend on the way to the airport, then flies in to Amsterdam, and on his second night there, after smoking marijuana and taking both sleeping and anti-anxiety pills, faints in the bathroom of his hostel, comes to, and spends over five minutes trying to find the light switch. He calls his ex-girlfriend on the third night, takes a train south on the fourth night, and over the course of that year, blacks out over 20 times from alcohol consumption, smokes marijuana on a daily basis, and spends many weekends dancing to techno, high on MDMA, speed, marijuana, alcohol, or a combination of these at all night “squat parties” that last until noon or 2PM the next day. He sleeps with a number of foreign women, concluding with a German who he becomes romantically involved with, and after moving back to the States, graduating with a degree in psychology, and acquiring a job at a reality television show in Portland, he moves in with her, then breaks up with her after three months. In a gesture of emotional support, his father, who’s in Portland on vacation, offers to take Jeffrey out for a night of drinking with his friends. Jeffrey obliges. After initial introductions are made that night, the first thing one of his father’s friends — an overweight, bearded man in a Hawaiian shirt — does is point at a female bartender and say to Jeffrey, “See that bitch over there? I fucked her on the stairwell of The Hilton last night.” Jeffrey averts his eyes, nods his head and says “Nice.” Using the internet, Jeffrey acquires a job teaching English at a school in Seoul, buys his plane ticket, calls the school two days before his scheduled flight and tells them that his father has died; that actually he won’t be able to come to Seoul. After moving out of his apartment and into a shared housing situation, he goes home the following Christmas to visit his mother and has sex with a girl he’s known mostly over the internet. He has nobody in Portland. The day after Christmas, he walks into a coffee shop with an old friend and immediately sees James, right there, sitting to the right of the doorway, and his friend is friends with James, so they all sit together. While Jeffrey’s friend buys a cup of coffee, Jeffrey and James talk, a little, about their current housing situations and cultural differences between Europe and the United States. James also says that he installs flooring. Jeffrey’s friend comes back with a coffee and a crossword and suggests they do the crossword together. Jeffrey, his friend, and James all work on the crossword for awhile, then Jeffrey and his friend leave after saying “Bye.” Upon his return to Portland, Jeffrey finds in his mailbox an envelope containing a professional, black and white photograph of a woman piggybacking his father, both of them grinning into the camera, and in a large cursive font printed underneath, the word “ENGAGED!” Three months later, after the woman in the photograph bears a child named Vincent, she, Jeffrey and Vincent’s father, and Vincent relocate to Kansas City. The woman in the photograph works at a number of law firms, supports Vincent’s father as he makes his way through medical school, and has an affair with a coworker who once impressed Vincent, then 5 years of age, with his soccer skills at a company party to which the woman in the photograph took him. She buys Vincent a bird. A year later, while roughhousing with a friend, the bird viciously attacks the friend in an attempt to protect Vincent, the episode culminating in his friend in a fetal position on the floor, screaming and crying as the bird pecks the shit out of him. Vincent and the bird develop a very close relationship; the bird trusting only Vincent and, sometimes, Vincent trusting only the bird, until the bird flies away the month Vincent enters the fifth grade. It is during this same month that, one day in his back yard, he and his friends expose their pubic hair to each other; the first friend saying “I got a forest,” the second saying “I got a meadow,” and Vincent saying “I got grass.” His face appears increasingly nervous as the day goes on, but Vincent is, to his credit, socially average, and does enjoy hosting the occasional sleepover. During dinner at one of the sleepovers — his friend, his father and the woman in the photograph at the table as well — he spills water on his slice of white bread, immediately soaking it and turning it into a translucent, paste-like substance, and his father stares at him. His father says “Eat it.” As Vincent eats its, he gags a number of times, and no one says anything as they watch. At the beginning of sixth grade, he suddenly notices that he isn’t as obviously more talented than the rest of his Little League baseball team as he used to be. His confidence begins to diminish after a number of episodes, and he finally breaks down after he pitches his first home run: as the batter runs the bases, Vincent begins to cry, and his father jogs to the pitching mound, takes him off the field, drives them home at a frightening speed, and says, when they walk through the door of their home, “Sometimes… I hate you.” He has three violent experiences: the first after jumping into a pool and accidentally landing on his friend’s older brother; the older brother responding by punching him in the face and Vincent responding by acting like he didn’t notice that he was punched in the face; the second after throwing a rock from the end of a soccer field at a classmate standing at the other end of the soccer field, the rock hitting him on the forehead, knocking him out, causing severe bleeding, and his school to call 911; the third after picking up a large clump of dirt, yelling “Curveball!,” throwing it, from almost 20 feet away, directly into an older classmate’s open mouth, and the older classmate chasing Vincent down, pinning him, and laughing while crumbling handfuls of dirt onto Vincent’s face while he screams. Vincent attends seventh grade in Denver, Colorado, after being moved, yet again, by his father (reasons obscure), discovers, at a more detailed level than ever before, sex, and in a game where he and his new classmates describe it only through gesticulation, Vincent, for his turn, jumps into a large playground tire, then jumps up and down rapidly. A lot of classmates laugh. He acquires his first girlfriend in the summer before his eighth grade year, and one night in a movie theater, she tells his two friends that she really wants Vincent to finger her, and doesn’t understand why he hasn’t yet, and Vincent’s friends take him out of the theater and urge him to finger her. Vincent never does, but later lies to his girlfriend that his father beats him on a regular basis; the lie partly a consequence of his friend’s stories of being beaten by his dad on a regular basis. Vincent lies again in his freshman year of high school — this time to his entire social circle — that his family tree consists mainly of Native Americans from the Iroquois tribe, and throughout that year, continues to lie about a broad range of subjects. Everyone begins to joke about Vincent in secret, and then suddenly the joking is open and communal, and Vincent quickly develops a compulsive urge to avoid societal interaction. His father and the woman in the photograph separate in the middle of his freshman year of high school, and shortly thereafter, the woman in the photograph asks Vincent if he wants his father around anymore. Vincent says that he does not want his father around anymore. The woman in the photograph divorces Vincent’s father and explains to Vincent that, in Kansas City, she slept with a coworker, that she confessed this to his father 11 years later, and that he quickly retorted by telling her that he had been having an affair with a local politician. The woman in the photograph cries as she recalls more detailed information, and Vincent’s face remains neutral the entire time. Later, among a new circle of friends, he exploits the information that the woman in the photograph gave him, further legitimizing his recently developed persona as “fucked-up.” He has sex for the first time in the guest bedroom of his house in his sophomore year with an eighteen year-old telemarketer unaffiliated with his high school who he met at a “college party” to which a group of seniors had taken him. During the latter part of his sophomore year, his father often shows up at his house uninvited — still having the garage door opener and keys. One day, his father arrives while Vincent is masturbating on the couch in the living room, and having no pants on or blanket to cover himself with, Vincent runs up the stairs as his father walks in, and continues running until he gets into the upstairs bathroom. His father yells, “What are you doing?” Vincent yells “I’m sick.” When his father shows up uninvited on another occasion, a day after Vincent has an argument with the woman in the photograph that ends with her sobbing and running out the front door, his father steps through the doorway, stares at him, repeatedly yells “What the fuck is your problem,” grabs Vincent’s jaws and cheekbones and pushes hard, causing Vincent to fall into the couch and spill the glass of orange juice he’s holding. Five minutes later, his father asks him for a hug. Vincent’s father leaves the house after he gets his hug, drives to his newly acquired condo, drinks 4 40 oz. bottles of Pabst, calls the woman in the photograph, and after she doesn’t answer, leaves a voicemail saying that he wants to die. That night, he sits in front of his computer and discovers that the media’s reporting that a global pandemic called Megaflu is threatening international security and shutting down airports everywhere. He sighs, lies down on his couch, and closes his eyes. After five minutes, he runs to the bathroom and vomits into the toilet. Vincent’s father returns to work the next day, and over the course of the next three months, he lays off every single one of his employees due to diminishing investor confidence, then lays himself off, sells his kit airplane, his Hummer, and liquidates the majority of the rest of his assets, with the exception of his mini-yacht. He applies for unemployment and claims every week until his benefits run out, additionally consuming, almost every night, 4 to 7 alcoholic beverages, but manages to write a book called Putting the Pedal to the Metal: The Service/Quality System For High-Octane Corporate Performance, which is, via Vincent’s father’s connections in the corporate world, quickly picked up by MacMillan of Canada, initially receiving positive reviews and generating average sales, but soon being accused of being, basically, a copy of a book that had come out twenty years previous (published, ironically, by MacMillan of Canada) called Firing On All Cylinders: The Service/Quality System For High-Powered Corporate Performance. His book never profits and is not reprinted. Vincent’s father spends the next 7 years existing in relative obscurity, living off his retirement fund and social security checks, sometimes drinking alcohol all day and walking a block to the nearby pub at night, where he sits alone, often pretending as if he’s talking on his cell phone or having a text message conversation with someone; glancing, sometimes, to his left and right, and sometimes getting cut off by the bartender, until, after one night at the pub, he wakes up — somehow already screaming — in an antiseptic white and pale yellow room as a number of quickly moving humans secure his wrists and ankles to a stretcher with metal restraints. He cannot see after this incident. He is hit by a bus and killed, and his funeral is the first instance that Jeffrey, the woman in the photograph, and Vincent are all located under one roof. As they say goodbye to each other after the funeral is over, they plan, vaguely, on meeting for dinner next month, or sometime soon — whenever, perhaps; all of them simultaneously anticipating the event with a powerful sense of dread, concurrently feeling sick of themselves, sick of society, sick of the world, and asking themselves “Why can’t I just be left alone?” – Brandon Scott Gorrell (b. 1984) is the author of a novella, MY HAIR WILL DEFEAT YOU (3:AM, 2010), and a poetry book, DURING MY NERVOUS BREAKDOWN I WANT TO HAVE A BIOGRAPHER PRESENT (Mummuu House, 2009). He has a blog. He lives in Seattle. CLUCK CLUCK Oct 27 - Electric Literature Read “In West Mills” is a Love Letter to Black Small Town North Carolinians De’Shawn Charles Winslow on the personality of the small communities Jul 3 - Bradley Sides Broke Down in the Desert with a Box of Bibles An excerpt from The Wind That Lays Waste, by Argentinian author Selva Almada Jul 1 - Selva Almada A Mother With Grown Children Is a Controlled Experiment "Night of the Living" and "Taxonomy," two poems by Susan Leslie Moore Jun 17 - Susan Leslie Moore	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4134
__label__cc	0.729512	0.270488	When the future of smartphones was in doubt Filed under: Augmented Reality, nanotechnology, smartphones, Symbian, vision, wearable computers — Tags: Augmented Reality, insideables, smartphones, Symbian — David Wood @ 11:34 am It’s hard to believe it now. But ten years ago, the future of smartphones was in doubt. At that time, I wrote these words: Smartphones in 2005 are roughly where the Internet was in 1995. In 1995, there were, worldwide, around 20-40 million users of the Internet. That’s broadly the same number of users of smartphones there are in the world today. In 1995, people were debating the real value of Internet usage. Was it simply an indulgent plaything for highly technical users, or would it have lasting wider attraction? In 2005, there’s a similar debate about smartphones. Will smartphones remain the preserve of a minority of users, or will they demonstrate mass-market appeal? That was the opening paragraph in an essay which the Internet site Archive.org has preserved. The original location for the essay, the Symbian corporate website, has long since been retired, having been absorbed inside Nokia infrastructure in 2009 (and, perhaps, being absorbed in turn into Microsoft in 2014). The entire essay can be found here, warts and all. That essay was the first in a monthly series known as “David Wood Insight” which extended from September 2005 to September 2006. (The entire set still exists on Archive.org – and, for convenience, I’ve made a copy here.) Ten years later, it seems to me that wearable computers in 2015 are roughly where smartphones were in 2005 (and where the Internet was in 1995). There’s considerable scepticism about their future. Will they remain the preserve of a minority of users, or will they demonstrate mass-market appeal? Some commentators look at today’s wearable devices, such as Google Glass and Apple Watch, and express disappointment. There are many ways these devices can be criticised. They lack style. They lack “must have” functionality. Their usability leaves a lot to be desired. Battery life is too short. And so on. But, like smartphones before them – and like the world-wide web ten years earlier – they’re going to get much, much better as time passes. Positive feedback cycles will ensure that happens. I share the view of Augmented Reality analyst Ori Inbar, who wrote the following a few months ago in an updated version of his “Smart Glasses Market Report”: When contemplating the evolution of technology in the context of the evolution of humanity, augmented reality (AR) is inevitable. Consider the innovation cycles of computing from mainframes, to personal computers, to mobile computing, to wearables: It was driven by our need for computers to get smaller, better, and cheaper. Wearables are exactly that – mini computers on track to shrink and disappear on our bodies. In addition, there is a fundamental human desire for larger and sharper displays – we want to see and feel the world at a deeper level. These two trends will be resolved with Augmented Reality; AR extends our natural senses and will become humans’ primary interface for interaction with the world. If the adoption curve of mobile phones is to repeat itself with glasses – within 10 years, over 1 billion humans will be “wearing.” The report is packed with insight – I fully recommend it. For example, here’s Ori’s depiction of four waves of adoption of smart glasses: (For more info about Augmented Reality and smart glasses, readers may be interested in the forthcoming Augmented World Expo, held 8-10 June at the Santa Clara Convention Centre in Silicon Valley.) What about ten more years into the future? All being well, here’s what I might be writing some time around 2025, foreseeing the growing adoption of yet another wave of computers. If 1995-2005 saw the growth of desktop and laptop computers and the world wide web, 2005-2015 saw the growing ubiquity of smartphones, and 2015-2025 will see the triumph of wearable computers and augmented reality, then 2025-2035 is likely to see the increasingly widespread usage of nanobots (nano-computers) that operate inside our bodies. The focus of computer innovation and usage will move from portables to mobiles to wearables to insideables. And the killer app of these embedded nanobots will be internal human enhancement: Biological rejuvenation Body and brain repair Body and brain augmentation. By 2025, these applications will likely be in an early, rudimentary state. They’ll be buggy, irritating, and probably expensive. With some justification, critics will be asking: Will nanobots remain the preserve of a minority of users, or will they demonstrate mass-market appeal?	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4137
__label__wiki	0.555635	0.555635	Try DySi Open Driving Greater Employee Engagement in a Digital Workplace By G.I. Sanders Work has changed. OK, tell us something we don’t already know. Work is always changing. But if you think about it, maybe it’s not so much that the work itself is different. Rather, it’s where work happens. “Our research shows that more than half of employees are working at least part of the time – if not all the time – outside of a traditional corporate office,” said Melanie Turek, Vice President of Research at growth consulting firm Frost & Sullivan. “They can be working from home, out in the field, or what we’re increasingly seeing is people blending work.” Turek described how it’s more common at companies that value work-life balance to allow flexible schedules. So, maybe you’re in the office until 2:30 p.m. You leave to take your kids to soccer practice. Then you’re back working in a home office for a few hours later that night. “Workers are so incredibly dispersed these days,” Turek added. “You can’t assume that people are finding out things organically around the water cooler because they’re often not in a physical facility. You need to communicate with people over any kind of device, on any kind of network – whether it’s the company system or the internet at Starbucks. You have to deliver communications the way people want to receive them.” Frost & Sullivan explores why it’s crucial for organizations to adapt to this new reality in a thought-provoking guide, “Growth Requires Activated Employees: Driving Engagement through Digital Transformation.” It explains the growing need for organizations to leverage modern technologies to create an employee experience that connects, engages, and activates a changing workforce. The benefits, according to the guide, can stretch across the business. Leadership: Enabling business agility Sales: Growing the business HR: Reducing risk Marketing: Improving brand equity Corporate Comms: Reaching every employee “Once you take people out of the physical company location, it’s just much harder to keep employees engaged,” Turek said. “It’s not necessarily about being engaged with work, but rather the culture of the company.” Her specialty is researching enterprise communications technologies. In her view, organizations generally are doing a solid job of making sure that dispersed employees have access to the information they need for their jobs. After all, that’s a business imperative. But what organizations often don’t think about as much is this question: How can I make employees in the field feel connected to the company? “It’s not enough to send out an email once a week with a company update,” Turek explained. “Nobody pays attention to that, and Millennials, especially, will just roll their eyes. It’s more about making sure that employees are connected to one another so that everyone really feels like they’re part of something bigger. That’s a really important part of work that often gets overlooked.” Turek added that there’s still “a pretty fair amount of denial” among companies – particularly in industries that skew older – about how the Millennial generation is taking over the workplace and the way these younger workers expect to get information. Not surprisingly, she said, they prefer to receive it on social platforms that allow for two-way interaction. But one key constituency is ready to evolve with the times: IT. In a recent Frost & Sullivan survey of almost 2,000 global IT decision-makers, 75 percent of respondents said that having an integrated and comprehensive set of communications tools to connect with their employees is a top investment priority. That supported one conclusion from the new guide: “It is critical that businesses find new, better ways to communicate critical information quickly, on any platform or device.” Part of the reason for this attitude from IT, Turek said, is the BYOD phenomenon – Bring Your Own Device. “What that’s done is force internal IT departments to start paying more attention to all the different tools that are out there, because they’re showing up in their environment, one way or another,” she added. “As a result, IT has become increasingly open to adding new technologies, while also still maintaining security and privacy control for the organization.” Turek also said that she advises people that while technology obviously is important, what you do with those tools matters more. The goal should always be to help employees not only do their jobs better but also build closer relationships throughout the organizations. When a company has that kind of culture, it’s noticeable in two areas. One is the customer experience. Front-line employees have the most interactions with customers, so they can play a huge role in shaping impressions about the brand. The second is cultivating productive, loyal employees. “Getting the most out of your employees will be a lot easier if they’re happy, feel like they’re having an impact in the organization, and that good work will be recognized,” Turek said. “Things like that go a long way toward increasing their productivity and creativity, keeping costs down, and driving revenues up. So, there’s no downside to keeping people happy.” Learn more by downloading the free guide “Growth Requires Activated Employees” here. Employee Communications Applications and Activating Your Workforce Rapid Fire Friday with Zara Cross Rapid Fire Friday with Karl Knights company culture, Culture, digital transformation, employee communication and engagement, frost & sullivan G.I. Sanders G.I. Sanders is Senior Director, Creative Services at Dynamic Signal. He specializes in entrepreneurship, digital and social media, design, and marketing. G.I. is based in Dallas, TX with his wife and two sons. Passions include technology, startups, music, fitness and sports. Employee Advocacy Defined Employee Communications Applications Employee App Benefits 1111 Bayhill Drive, Suite 125 San Bruno, California 94066 \| 650-231-2550 © 2019. Dynamic Signal Inc. All rights reserved. Legal\|Privacy\|GDPR	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4138
__label__wiki	0.550598	0.550598	Updated: 01/09/2017 01:45 PM \| First Published: 11/11/2014 12:17 PM Brian Keith “the Boz” Bosworth is a former NFL Seattle Seahawks linebacker. Throughout his professional career, he was a controversial figure who the audience either loved or criticized; no in-between. But hate him or love him, he has created quite a fortune with his ambiguous image and is reportedly worth $3 million. Born on March 9, 1965, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Brian had a rough childhood growing up with a father who was too hard on him regarding his performance on the field. Brian went on to attend the University of Oklahoma where he thrived as a linebacker. After getting drafted in 1987, he spent three seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. He was notorious for his controversies with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) during his college career. After his football career ended, Brian went on to pursue acting in movies and television. A father of three, he is presently married to Morgan Leslie Heuman. Name Brian Bosworth Profession Footballer Star Sign Pisces	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4142
__label__wiki	0.671233	0.671233	Many UK pharmacists will sell e-cigs to kids, survey finds Written by Freddie Dawson \|\| 4th July 2014 \|\| Regulatory briefing \| Almost three out of four independent UK pharmacies failed to stop under-age consumers attempting to purchase an e-cigarette, according to a new investigation from two UK governmental bodies, Public Health England and the Trading Standards Institute (TSI). Overall, around 40% of stores failed to check the age of e-cigarette buyers, with 227 successful purchases coming from 574 visits in March of this year. The only places more likely than independent pharmacies to sell e-cigarettes to under-age consumers were independent market stalls (74% of attempts to purchase an e-cigarette in independent pharmacies succeeded, against 80% at market stalls). “Despite age-of-sale warnings, many retailers are selling e-cigarette products to young people. This is unacceptable,” said Kevin Fenton, national director of health and wellbeing at Public Health England. “This study shows that the government and regulatory authorities need to work closely with retailers in advance of any regulations to ensure that retailers are aware of their legal responsibilities.” Current UK law does not prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes to minors. New powers in the Children and Families Act 2014 allow for the introduction of a ban on selling e-cigarettes to under-18s. But such regulations do not exist yet and are subject to future consultation; this report was commissioned by Public Health England to assist this work. However, e-cigarette manufacturers often abide by a voluntary code to prohibit sales to under-18s. Indeed, 80% of the products sold in the study carried warnings that they were not intended for use by under-18s. Still, despite the concern over access, Public Health England does not think that e-cigarettes are likely to be a gateway to tobacco use in young consumers. What This Means: Although some traders may be deliberately playing it close to the edge, knowing that sale of e-cigarettes to minors is not currently a crime, most of the 227 sales to under-age consumers are likely a result of ignorance – either wilful or unintended. In the meantime, the TSI has some work to do educating retailers ahead of any legislation prohibiting the sale of e-cigarettes to under-18s. Online sales are also going to have to be tested and standards devised. Photo: Paresh Gajria	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4143
__label__wiki	0.726871	0.726871	Home / Public Safety / Jail Administration / Inmate Commissary / Inmate Funds Accounting/Blind Vendors In Tennessee, the sheriff is responsible for the jail and for the inmates in the custody of the jail in the sheriff’s county. Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-8-201(3). However, no Tennessee statute addresses whether funds in commissary accounts of inmates in county custody would be considered “public funds.” The most analogous statutory provision is Tenn. Code Ann. § 41-21-216, which permits the warden of a state correctional institution to take charge of any personal property in an inmate’s possession upon entering prison and to receive, hold, and account for money due or belonging to the inmate while incarcerated. The term “public funds” is not defined in Tennessee statute. American Jurisprudence defines “public funds” as “moneys belonging to the United States or a corporate agency of the Federal Government, a state or subdivision thereof, or a municipal corporation; . . . moneys raised by the operation of law for the support of the government or for the discharge of its obligations.” 63C Am. Jur. 2d Public Funds § 1. This office has previously opined that the administrative expenses appropriated by a county or counties for a county or regional housing authority are “public funds.”Op. Tenn. Att’y Gen. No. 89-102, 1989 WL 434599 (Tenn. A.G.). Conversely, this office has opined that funds held by a Clerk and Master for the benefit of a life tenant and ultimately for the benefit of remaindermen, which are not collected for governmental or public purposes, but are held by the Clerk and Master in the performance of his lawful duties for the benefit of private parties, are private funds rather than public funds. Op. Tenn. Att’y Gen. No. 77-249, 1977 WL 28373 (Tenn. A.G.). Based on the foregoing, it is the opinion of this office that inmate funds in the inmate’s commissary account or other account established by or for the benefit of the inmate while incarcerated and used to pay for commissary items such as snacks, clothing items, toiletries, etc.; to pay for medical copays as provided in Tenn. Code Ann. § 41-4-115; to pay child support; or to pay for law enforcement to escort the inmate to family member funerals or hospital visits as provided in Tenn. Code Ann. § 41-4-142, and which are not collected for governmental or public purposes, are private funds held by the sheriff in the performance of his lawful duties for the benefit of the inmates. “All county officials and agencies receiving and disbursing the revenues of the state or any political subdivision thereof” are required to adopt the bookkeeping and accounting standards prescribed by the Comptroller. Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 5-8-501 and 5-8-502. The department of audit is required to annually audit all county records, including any trust funds held by any county official. Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-3-304(4). It is, therefore, the opinion of this office that the inmate funds are required to be handled by the sheriff consistent with the standards established by the State Comptroller’s County Audit Division. This office has previously addressed the question of whether a county can require, as a bid specification, that a blind vendor have the capability to manage its jail or correctional facility’s inmate trust fund accounting system. Op. Tenn. Att’y Gen. No. 01-128, 2001 WL 964181 (Tenn. A.G.). As set forth in that opinion, the statute and rules which govern the blind vendors program do not require a blind vendor to have this capability. Therefore, it was and remains the opinion of this office that TBE has the discretion but may not be required to provide a blind vendor capable of handling inmate funds in order to exercise its statutory priority. DHS’ statutory priority under Tenn. Code Ann. § 71-4-501 et seq. gives DHS “the exclusive right to the operation of any and all vending facilities on any public property” that DHS determines are capable of being operated by a blind vendor. Tenn. Code Ann. § 71-4-502(3). This priority is to be liberally construed. Tenn. Code Ann. § 71-4-501. As previously discussed, DHS’ exercise of its statutory priority may not be conditioned on the blind vendor’s handling of inmate funds. Therefore, should DHS decide not to require that the blind vendor handle inmate funds, that decision will not affect DHS’ statutory priority to operate the vending or commissary facilities at the jail. As previously stated, the statute and rules which govern the blind vendors program do not require a blind vendor to conduct services, other than vending/commissary services, as part of the operation of the commissary. Therefore, a sheriff or some other administrative official may not by-pass DHS’ statutory priority to operate a vending facility by requiring services, other than vending/commissary services, as part of the operation of the commissary. Tenn. Code Ann. § 71-4-502(5) defines the term “vending facility” as follows: “Vending facility” means a location or structure or space that may sell foods, beverages, confections, newspapers, periodicals, tobacco products, and other articles and services that are dispensed automatically by a machine or manually by sales personnel or attendants and that may be prepared on or off premises in accordance with applicable health laws. A “vending facility” may consist, exclusively or in appropriate combination as determined by the department, of automatic vending machines, cafeterias, snack bars, catering services, food concession vehicles, cart services, shelters, counters, and any appropriate equipment necessary for the sale of articles or services described in this subdivision (5). A “vending facility” may encompass more than one (1) building on a public property. Based on this definition, DHS’ discretion to exercise its right to operate the vending facility/commissary/vending machines on public property includes the discretion to determine the services that it will, or will not, perform while still retaining the statutory priority to other vending facility services under Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 71-4-502(5) and 503. Tenn. Atty. Gen. 06-156 (October 9, 2006). ‹ Inmate Commissary up Applicability of the Blind Vendors Program ›	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4144
__label__cc	0.629312	0.370688	By Dr Jeff Carroll May 07, 2019 Edited by Dr Tamara Maiuri Today saw the publication of the first manuscript describing a huntingtin lowering trial in Huntington’s disease patients. This study, sponsored by Ionis and Roche, provided clear evidence of researchers’ ability to safely reduce mutant huntingtin protein in the spinal fluid. An overview of these results has previously been shared, but this manuscript provides important new information about the results of this remarkable trial. What’d we learn? Huntingtin lowering: a little background Huntington’s disease (HD) is caused by a single mutation in a gene we refer to as the HD gene. Like most genes, the HD gene is used by cells as instructions to create a little cellular machine called a protein, which we call huntingtin. The genetic mutation that causes HD also changes this protein, which we refer to as mutant huntingtin. This paper, published today, describes the results of a safety study with a Huntingtin Lowering ASO While HD symptoms are complex, it has pretty simple genetics - if you inherit a single mutant copy of the HD gene from either your mother or father, you will develop HD. Since we know that one has to inherit a mutant HD gene to develop HD symptoms, could we interfere with the process of making the mutant huntingtin protein? If so, would that slow or prevent the progression of Huntington’s disease? That general approach, which we refer to as huntingtin lowering has been a major focus of HD researchers for a number of years, and several companies are pursuing this target. Two companies - Ionis and Roche Pharma - are running the most advanced program, in collaboration with a number of academic researchers around the world led by Prof. Sarah Tabrizi, University College London. We’ve previously discussed the early results of the first human study by Ionis and Roche here, subsequently updated here and here. Excitingly, today saw the release of the first official manuscript describing these huntingtin lowering efforts in HD patients, and it provides new information about the first trail. This trial was focused on understanding whether treatment with a huntingtin lowering drug called an antisense oligonucleotide or ASO is safe. Endpoints, Endpoints, Endpoints As in any clinical trial, this study included a number of endpoints. Endpoints are just the target, or goal, that you want your study to accomplish. In future HD trials, this might include things like improved movement or thinking. But for a new drug that has never been tested in people, the endpoint is always safety, safety, safety. Formally, researchers say that safety is the primary endpoint of the study. This just means it’s the sole criteria we’ll use to judge whether the trial is a success or failure. If the drug turns out to be unsafe, the trial fails. If there are no safety concerns, the study is a success. While we’d obviously like be able to tell whether a drug is safe and whether it helps HD symptoms at the same time, we can’t achieve both goals in the course of a single study. This is because it takes large numbers of participants - many hundreds - to tell whether a drug is influencing HD symptoms. But for a safety study, we want to treat the smallest reasonable number of people to reduce the number of people exposed to the risk of testing a drug for the first time. While trials usually have one primary endpoint, researchers are curious about other possible impacts of their drug on HD-related changes. These other measurements are called secondary endpoints - this term helps us remember that the main, or primary, goal of the trial is to determine safety, but we have many secondary measurements we’re interested in examining. This study included a large number of secondary endpoints, focused on participants’ HD symptoms, brain scans and lab tests to measure specific markers in the blood and spinal fluid. The new manuscript is exciting, because it’s the first chance we’ve had to look at the raw data produced in the study. The interesting results of some secondary endpoints are discussed below, but it’s important to remember that determining safety was the primary goal of everyone working on this trial. No Serious Adverse Events “Since we know that one has to inherit a mutant HD gene to develop HD symptoms, could we interfere with the process of making the mutant huntingtin protein? If so, would that slow or prevent the progression of Huntington’s disease? ” The data published in this new paper generally supports the safety of the drug, called Htt-Rx, in HD patients. The most important safety outcome measure is a list of what researchers call adverse events. These can be anything that causes distress to people, running the gamut from mild (a headache that resolves in a few days without treatment) to severe (a heart attack or suicide attempt). Of course, in any group of dozens of people followed closely for several months, there’s bound to be some adverse events. This is why having a placebo, or dummy treatment, group is so important in studies like this. By comparing the rate at which people in the trial experience adverse events, we can measure whether they occur more frequently in people given real drug, as opposed to the placebo injections. There were no severe adverse reactions in any of the groups in the trial. Excitingly, no participants withdrew from the study, suggesting folks in the trial felt able to handle the repeated spinal injections and many tests administered. Mild adverse events did occur during the study, but people receiving placebo treatment were exactly as likely to experience them as people receiving the drug. This suggests that these effects are not due to the drug itself, but rather the procedure of spinal fluid injections, or just bad luck. The most common side effect was a post-treatment headache, which is known to occur sometimes after spinal fluid injections. NfL Changes This study used several newly developed tests that raise some potential safety concerns worthy of additional study. First, the team measured the levels of a marker called neurofilament light, or NfL, in the spinal fluid of people in the study. This marker is released by sick and damaged brain cells called neurons, and researchers have previously demonstrated that it increases slowly and predictably in HD mutation carriers (covered on HDBuzz here). Surprisingly, in the patients receiving higher doses of ASO, there was a brief increase in the levels of NfL, suggesting some kind of stress on neurons after delivery of a high dose of drug. According to the data presented in the paper, this increase in NfL returned to normal during the course of the study, even though people continued to receive injections of the drug. The meaning of this isn’t clear - researchers were measuring NfL in hopes of eventually seeing a reduction in its levels, not an increase. However, the increase was relatively small, and seems to have returned to normal. This increase in spinal fluid NfL is weird, frankly, and you can be sure that researchers at Roche are thinking about how to get to the bottom of it in the longer, on-going, studies with this drug. If there were any sign that this increase in NfL levels was associated with adverse impacts on brain function, we would know by now, so that doesn’t seem to be the case. Brain Imaging Changes Another finding worthy of additional study arises from brain imaging called magnetic resonance imaging or MRI. This kind of brain scan uses giant magnets to take a picture of the shape of participants’ brains. Many years of work by HD researchers have defined very precise changes in brain shape that occur as HD progresses. One of these changes is a progressive increase in the size of the brain’s ventricles - the fluid filled spaces within the brain tissue. During the course of HD, these spaces appear to grow, as the tissue around them shrinks. In the higher-dose groups, the volume of these fluid-filled spaces actually increased during the study, which is the opposite effect one would hope for if the drug was slowing brain shrinkage. This effect could be a real response to ASO treatment, or it could be due to unexpected physical changes in the brain thanks to some other aspect of delivering large doses of ASOs, and have nothing to do with HD. This key graph from the paper describes the relationship between the dose of ASO given to patients, and the amount of Huntingtin in the spinal fluid As with the brief increases in NfL, the impact of these brain changes is not yet clear. What is clear is that these changes aren’t associated with changes in brain function, at least as far as researchers can tell in this initial study. Getting to the bottom of these potentially concerning lab tests requires a larger group of people, followed for a longer time. This is exactly why Roche and Ionis are conducting a new, larger, study called the GENERATION-HD1 study, the announcement of which we covered on HDBuzz here. Where do ASOs go? Another major outcome from this study is a better understanding of how ASOs move around the body after being injected into the spinal fluid. Based on a large number of animal studies, Ionis and Roche built a computer program to predict how much ASOs would be found in the spinal fluid (and brain) after being injected into people. Models like this are really important because they help researchers plan how much drug to inject, and how frequently they need to inject it to keep levels of the drug high enough to do its job. In the study of HTT-Rx, researchers measured how much ASO was in the spinal fluid (and blood, where it shows up as it’s being cleared away). These results proved that the computer program was accurate at predicting how much ASO sticks around in the spinal fluid. This gives us confidence that the amount of ASO being injected, and the frequency at which it’s being injected, are based on good assumptions. This will reduce the amount of guesswork involved in planning the next trials with this drug. mHTT Knockdown The overall goal of all this work is to reduce levels of mutant huntingtin in the brain. Unfortunately, for now, there’s no direct way to measure mutant huntingtin in the brains of living patients. Brain tissue is irreplaceable, so we can’t sample it to determine how much mutant huntingtin is there. Luckily, we can guess at this by measuring levels of mutant huntingtin in the spinal fluid. This clear liquid bathes the brain, circulating and coming into contact with our entire brain throughout the course of a day. For reasons that are still a little bit unclear, a tiny amount of mutant huntingtin is present in the spinal fluid of HD patients. Our current best guess is that this mutant huntingtin comes from the brain itself, rather than some other source. So, researchers have developed very sensitive tests for measuring mutant huntingin levels in spinal fluid, to give a clue about the levels of mutant huntingtin in the brain. Treatment with ASOs resulted in very clear reductions in levels of mutant huntingtin in the spinal fluid. While it’s not direct proof of lowering huntingtin in the brain, it’s the best evidence we could hope for to suggest that the drug has successfully lowered huntingtin levels. “Treatment with ASOs resulted in very clear reductions in levels of mutant huntingtin in the spinal fluid. ” What about HD symptoms? Finally, investigators examined the relationship between treatment with Htt-Rx and HD symptoms. Remember, the duration and number of people in this study is intentionally low, to minimize the risk associated with testing a drug in people for the first time. That means there’s not enough people in the study - and they weren’t followed long enough - to be definitive about any changes seen in symptoms. And, indeed, there is no large difference in the HD symptoms measured in participants during this short study. Thanks to newly developed lab tests for measuring mutant huntingtin in the spinal fluid, we have a sense of how much mutant huntingtin lowering is occurring in each patient. As an early exploration of their data, the researchers examined the relationship between how much mutant huntingtin was lowered in the spinal fluid of each participant, and the severity of their HD symptoms. There are some intriguing correlations observed - notably, people with the greatest reduction in mutant huntingtin tended to also have better symptoms. The researchers appropriately point out that these results should be taken with a grain of salt until we look in a bigger group of people for a longer time, but it’s very exciting that larger reductions of mutant huntingtin are correlated with better HD symptoms. The study described in this new manuscript represents a huge investment of time, effort and hope by everyone involved. The 46 volunteers and their families deserve enormous gratitude from the HD community, as they took on some risk in testing a drug with the potential to address HD’s underlying cause. Physicians and researchers in academic labs, at Roche and especially at Ionis also deserve enormous credit for developing these drugs and bringing them to patients for testing. What did we learn as a result of all this hard work? First - that lowering mutant huntingtin in the nervous system of HD patients is possible. This represents the first time we’ve been able to lower levels of the protein that causes HD in a targeted way. Second, we learned an enormous amount about how ASOs work in the body - how long they stick around in the spinal fluid and blood, which helps design future studies with more targeted delivery of drugs. The primary endpoint of the trial, to determine whether this drug is safe, was met. There were no severe adverse events associated with this ASO being delivered to the spinal fluid of HD patients. There were some lab tests - including NfL and brain ventricle size - that do raise some questions that need to be addressed in future studies. Luckily, these lab test results weren’t associated with changes in brain function that we can measure. In short, the now published results of the first study with a drug targeting the root cause of HD are a big leap forward for the community. They point towards refinements and cautions we should consider as we test the drug in larger groups of HD patients over a longer time. In fact, the next studies with this drug are already underway, suggesting everyone involved is working towards the goal of determining as quickly as possible whether these drugs are both safe and effective against HD. Dr. Carroll has collaborated with Ionis Pharmaceuticals on mouse studies of ASOs targeting Huntingtin. Ionis staff had no input into the decision to write this piece, or it's content. Dr. Wild, HDBuzz co-founder, was a investigator in the Htt-Rx study described. Dr. Wild had no input into the decision to write this piece or its content. Dr. Maiuri, editor of this piece, has no conflicts to declare. For more information about our disclosure policy see our FAQ... May 07, 2019: First published May 07, 2019: Minor fixes Topicsfeatured drug-development gene-silencing anti-sense development huntingtin-loweringMore... Huntington's disease goes viral as UniQure inches ahead in gene therapy race Advances on many fronts in the battle against the protein that causes Huntington's disease secondary endpoints Additional questions asked in a clinical trial that help scientists look at treated patients as broadly as they can to determine the effects of a drug magnetic resonance A technique using powerful magnetic fields to produce detailed images of the brain in living humans and animals primary endpoint The main question asked in a clinical trial clinical trial Very carefully planned experiments designed to answer specific questions about how a drug affects human beings ventricle Normal fluid-filled spaces within the brain.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0002.json.gz/line4148

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