pred_label
stringclasses 2
values | pred_label_prob
float64 0.5
1
| wiki_prob
float64 0.25
1
| text
stringlengths 134
1.01M
| source
stringlengths 39
45
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
__label__wiki
| 0.788578
| 0.788578
|
Bryn Mawr Hospital
130 S Bryn Mawr Ave
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania 19010
(484) 337-3000 http://www.mainlinehealth.org/brynmawr
Bryn Mawr Hospital, a nationally recognized community teaching hospital, is conveniently located on the Main Line, just outside of Philadelphia. Dedicated to helping the community stay well ahead on the path to life-long health, The Hospital offers a full range of services, including an orthopedic center,neurovascular center,maternity services,heart services,bariatric medicine, and a cancer center. Bryn Mawr Hospital has collaborated with Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children to include round-the-clock care for thelevel III neonatal intensive care unit,inpatient pediatric unit and the pediatric emergency department. Bryn Mawr Hospital also offers the Main Line Health Center in Newtown Square, an outpatient center located in Delaware County.
Bryn Mawr Hospital physicians are recognized each year in many local and national publications as the Delaware Valley's "Top Doctors
41 trials
Lung Cancer Clinical Trial
Radiation Therapy Regimens in Treating Patients With Limited-Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer Receiving Cisplatin and Etoposide
Genetic Testing in Screening Patients With Stage IB-IIIA Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer That Has Been or Will Be Removed by Surgery (The ALCHEMIST Screening Trial)
Cisplatin With or Without Veliparib in Treating Patients With Recurrent or Metastatic Triple-Negative and/or BRCA Mutation-Associated Breast Cancer With or Without Brain Metastases
S1417CD Financial Impact Assessment Tool in Patients With Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
Pegylated Liposomal Doxorubicin Hydrochloride With Atezolizumab and/or Bevacizumab in Treating Patients With Recurrent Ovarian, Fallopian Tube, or Primary Peritoneal Cancer
Cediranib Maleate and Olaparib or Standard Chemotherapy in Treating Patients With Recurrent Platinum-Resistant or -Refractory Ovarian, Fallopian Tube, or Primary Peritoneal Cancer
S1505: Combination Chemotherapy or Gemcitabine Hydrochloride and Paclitaxel Albumin-Stabilized Nanoparticle Formulation Before Surgery in Treating Patients With Pancreatic Cancer That Can Be Removed by Surgery
Nivolumab After Surgery and Chemotherapy in Treating Patients With Stage IB-IIIA Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (An ALCHEMIST Treatment Trial)
Combination Chemotherapy With or Without Atezolizumab in Treating Patients With Stage III Colon Cancer and Deficient DNA Mismatch Repair
Breast Carcinoma Clinical Trial
Breast Cancer WEight Loss Study (BWEL Study)
Osimertinib in Treating Patients With Stage IIIB-IV or Recurrent Non-small Cell Lung Cancer With EGFR Exon 20 Insertion Mutations
Lung-MAP: Talazoparib in Treating Patients With HRRD Positive Recurrent Stage IV Squamous Cell Lung Cancer
Radiation Therapy With or Without Cisplatin in Treating Patients With Recurrent Endometrial Cancer
Gastroenterology, Musculoskeletal, Oncology Clinical Trial
Manuka Honey in Preventing Esophagitis-Related Pain in Patients Receiving Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy For Lung Cancer
Endocrinology, Hematology, Oncology Clinical Trial
Targeted Therapy Directed by Genetic Testing in Treating Patients With Advanced Refractory Solid Tumors, Lymphomas, or Multiple Myeloma (The MATCH Screening Trial)
Doxorubicin Hydrochloride and Cyclophosphamide Followed by Paclitaxel With or Without Carboplatin in Treating Patients With Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Hip Fracture Clinical Trial
Effects of Tranexamic Acid on Blood Loss and Transfusion Requirement Following Hip Fracture
Lung-MAP: Nivolumab With or Without Ipilimumab as Second-Line Therapy in Treating Patients With Recurrent Stage IV Squamous Cell Lung Cancer and No Matching Biomarkers
Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Clinical Trial
Cancer Care Delivery in Adolescent and Young Adult Patients With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Non-valvular Atrial Fibrillation Clinical Trial
Conformal-Early Feasibility Study of the CLAAS LAA Closure Device
Neurology, Oncology, Psychiatry / Psychology Clinical Trial
Combination Chemotherapy Plus Bevacizumab With or Without Oxaliplatin in Treating Older Patients With Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
S1207 Hormone Therapy With or Without Everolimus in Treating Patients With Breast Cancer
MRI and Mammography Before Surgery in Patients With Stage I-II Breast Cancer
Colorectal Neoplasms Clinical Trial
S0820, Adenoma and Second Primary Prevention Trial
Lung-MAP: Biomarker-Targeted Second-Line Therapy in Treating Patients With Recurrent Stage IV Squamous Cell Lung Cancer
Crizotinib in Treating Patients With Stage IB-IIIA Non-small Cell Lung Cancer That Has Been Removed by Surgery and ALK Fusion Mutations (An ALCHEMIST Treatment Trial)
Whole-Brain Radiation Therapy With or Without Hippocampal Avoidance in Treating Patients With Limited Stage or Extensive Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer
Maintenance Chemotherapy With or Without Local Consolidative Therapy in Treating Patients With Stage IV Non-small Cell Lung Cancer
Nivolumab After Combined Modality Therapy in Treating Patients With High Risk Stage II-IIIB Anal Cancer
Durvalumab and Tremelimumab in Treating Patients With Recurrent Stage IV Lung Cancer
Cardiology / Vascular Diseases, Oncology Clinical Trial
S1501 Carvedilol in Preventing Cardiac Toxicity in Patients With Metastatic HER-2-Positive Breast Cancer
Erlotinib Hydrochloride in Treating Patients With Stage IB-IIIA Non-small Cell Lung Cancer That Has Been Completely Removed by Surgery (An ALCHEMIST Treatment Trial)
Platinum Based Chemotherapy or Capecitabine in Treating Patients With Residual Triple-Negative Basal-Like Breast Cancer Following Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy
Pembrolizumab in Treating Patients With Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Node Positive HER2 Negative Breast Cancer Clinical Trial
Aspirin in Preventing Recurrence of Cancer in Patients With HER2 Negative Stage II-III Breast Cancer After Chemotherapy, Surgery, and/or Radiation Therapy
Obinutuzumab With or Without Umbralisib, Lenalidomide, or Combination Chemotherapy in Treating Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Grade I-IIIa Follicular Lymphoma
Evaluation of Treatment Strategies for Severe CaLcIfic Coronary Arteries: Orbital Atherectomy vs. Conventional Angioplasty Technique Prior to Implantation of Drug-Eluting StEnts: The ECLIPSE Trial
S1613, Trastuzumab and Pertuzumab or Cetuximab and Irinotecan Hydrochloride in Treating Patients With Locally Advanced or Metastatic HER2/Neu Amplified Colorectal Cancer That Cannot Be Removed by Surgery
Endocrinology, Oncology, Reproductive Clinical Trial
Bupropion Hydrochloride in Improving Sexual Desire in Women With Breast or Gynecologic Cancer
Ibrutinib and Obinutuzumab With or Without Venetoclax in Treating Patients With Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
Rucaparib in Treating Patients With Genomic LOH High and/or Deleterious BRCA1/2 Mutation Stage IV or Recurrent Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (A Lung-MAP Treatment Trial)
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2247
|
__label__cc
| 0.535142
| 0.464858
|
Roth vs. traditional IRAs: How to decide where to put your money
Published Mon, Jul 30 20181:42 PM EDT Updated Mon, Jul 30 20183:10 PM EDT
Lorie Konish@LorieKonish
Traditional individual retirement accounts, which are funded with pretax money, and Roth IRAs, which are for post-tax money, have different rules for retirement savers.
IRA expert Ed Slott breaks down what you need to know.
Traditional IRA versus Roth IRA
Your Money, Your Future
If you think traditional and Roth individual retirement accounts are the same, think again.
There are some big differences between these popular retirement savings plans.
And what you don't understand about the particular rules that apply can cost you, according to IRA expert Ed Slott, founder of Ed Slott & Co.
With traditional IRAs, you get a tax deduction upfront. The taxes you pay on that money are delayed until you withdraw it in retirement.
Roth IRAs, on the other hand, are funded with post-tax money.
"With a traditional IRA, you're at the mercy or uncertainty of what future higher tax rates might do to your retirement savings," Slott said. "With a Roth IRA, you don't have to worry about future rates, because your tax rate in retirement will be zero."
There are five key differences between these two retirement accounts that savers need to understand.
designer491 | Getty Images
1) Income limits
Contributions to traditional IRAs do not have income limits for savers who contribute to these kinds of accounts (though high earners may not get the upfront tax break).
Roth IRA contributions, however, do have income limits. For 2018, the income phase-out range is $120,000 to $135,000 for singles and $189,000 to $199,000 for married couples who file jointly.
2) Age limits
The rules for traditional IRAs prevent you from making contributions once you turn 70½.
But the same doesn't apply to Roth IRAs. You can continue to contribute to those accounts at any age, according to Slott, if you have the earned income wages or self-employment income to do so.
3) Plan participation
Your participation in a company retirement plan generally doesn't affect either traditional or Roth IRA accounts.
It is important to note, however, that with a traditional IRA, you may not be eligible for the deduction depending on your income.
4) Required minimum distributions
The rules around required minimum distributions mark the biggest difference between traditional and Roth IRAs, according to Slott.
With traditional IRAs, you are forced to take distributions starting at age 70½. Roth IRAs aren't subject to required minimum distribution rules.
5) Money withdrawals
If you withdraw from a traditional IRA before retirement, you will pay tax on that money. Plus, if you are under 59½, you generally will be subject to an additional penalty.
You can take money out from Roth IRAs, on the other hand, for any reason, penalty free. The key is that those withdrawals have to be the money you contributed, not funds from IRA conversions or earnings on your investments.
In order to withdraw the earnings on your contributions without paying taxes or other penalties, you have to wait at least five years since you first invested the money. You must also be age 59½ or older.
"That's a big deal for lots of younger people who are worried, 'What if I need to get to my money?'" Slott said.
More from Personal Finance:
Believing these Social Security myths could make you poorer in retirement
Two strategies to simplify your taxes in retirement
These two changes may radically improve your retirement prospects
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2249
|
__label__wiki
| 0.764461
| 0.764461
|
Home > Guests > Charles Pellegrino
Charles Pellegrino has been known to work simultaneously in entomology, forensic archaeology, paleogenetics, the preliminary design of advanced rocket systems, astrobiology, and marine archaeology. He is the author of eighteen books including Return to Sodom and Gomorrah, Unearthing Atlantis, Dust, Ghosts of the Titanic, Her Name, Titanic: The Untold Story of the Sinking and Finding of the Unsinkable Ship. He is also the scientist whose dinosaur cloning recipe inspired the Jurassic Park series.
Charles has made dives to the Titanic and to the strange oases of the deep ocean hydrothermal vents aboard the Mir submersibles. Together with Dr. Jesse Stoff, he formulated the theory that environments similar to the deep-ocean volcanic zones might support life in subsurface oceans beneath the ice of certain moons of Jupiter and Saturn, in what is often called "The Europa Theory."
charlespellegrino.com
Ghosts of the Titanic
Ghosts of Vesuvius
Return to Sodom and Gomorrah
Unearthing Atlantis
To Hell and Back: The Last Train from Hiroshima
Farewell, Titanic: Her Final Legacy
Hiroshima/Nagasaki Survivors & Ecological Collapse
Author Charles Pellegrino discussed the atomic bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and his ecological disaster novel Dust about an ecological collapse.
Host: Ian Punnett
Microbes & Nature/ Titanic & Hiroshima
In the first half, Professor of geomorphology at the University of Washington David R. Montgomery and biologist Anne Bikle addressed the latest scientific discoveries and theories surrounding the microbial world and our tangled relationship with microbes, from garden to gut.
Digestive System Stories
Science writer Mary Roach discussed her research into the alimentary canal - the pathway by which food enters the body and solid wastes are expelled. In her new book, Gulp, she explores the digestive system from... More »
Hitler's Escape
Ian Punnett welcomed author Peter Levenda, who discussed how his research suggests that Adolf Hitler faked his death and escaped to Indonesia using an underground network of Nazi sympathizers.
In the first hour, author Charles Pellegrino provided an update... More »
Life of Jesus/ Titanic Stories
Ian Punnett was joined, in the first half, by historian and Bible expert, Bart Ehrman, who discussed the debate over whether or not Jesus existed.
In the latter half, scientist Charles Pellegrino shared untold stories about the sinking and exploration of the... More »
The Phoenix Lights
Saturday March 6, 2010
Nearly 13 years since the largest mass UFO sighting known as The Phoenix Lights, researcher Dr. Lynne Kitei shared her astonishing eyewitness testimony of the incident, as well as talked about similar sightings leading up to the March 1997 event.
In the first hour, author More »
Effects of Hiroshima
Ian Punnett was joined by scientist and author Charles Pellegrino, who discussed the horrifying days at the end of WWII, after the bombs were dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and revealed the strange physics that occurred just beneath the bomb blasts.
Gulf War Vet advocate More »
Sites of Destruction
Author and scientist Charles Pellegrino presented details about sites where great destruction has taken place-- New York's Ground Zero, the Titanic and Pompeii's sister city, Herculaneum. He investigated the Titanic first hand, traveling underwater in a submersible.
Dr. Rita Louise
Open Lines
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2250
|
__label__cc
| 0.695976
| 0.304024
|
More languages available
Show fewer languages
Trusted evidence.
Informed decisions.
Better health.
Length of time needed for antibiotic treatment given directly into the blood stream to clear acute chest infections in people with cystic fibrosis
We reviewed the evidence about how long intravenous antibiotic treatment (antibiotics given directly into the blood stream) is needed to clear flare ups of chest symptoms in people with cystic fibrosis.
Flare ups of symptoms (exacerbations) in people with cystic fibrosis are treated aggressively to prevent further damage to the lungs. This practice has led to better survival rates for people with cystic fibrosis in recent years. However, there are no clear guidelines on how long treatment with intravenous antibiotics should be to treat these flare ups. Different centres tend to use different treatment regimens. Most centres use 10 or 14 days, extending this to 21 days if there is no improvement in a person's symptoms. This is an update of previously published reviews.
The evidence is current to: 30 May 2019.
No completed studies have compared different lengths of treatment with intravenous antibiotics, but there is one study under way looking at this question. When the results are published, we plan to include the study in this review.
Further research is needed to find the best duration of treatment for exacerbations. A shorter duration of treatment may be better as these courses of treatment are easier for people to complete. They are also less expensive and cause fewer drug reactions than longer treatments. However, it is not clear if shorter treatment is enough to treat infections adequately. It is also not clear whether shorter treatment results in early recurrence or increased frequency of chest infections.
Authors' conclusions:
There are no clear guidelines on the optimum duration of intravenous antibiotic treatment. Duration of treatment is currently based on unit policies and response to treatment. Shorter duration of treatment should improve quality of life and adherence, result in a reduced incidence of drug reactions and be less costly. However, the shorter duration may not be sufficient to clear a chest infection and may result in an early recurrence of an exacerbation. This systematic review identifies the need for a multicentre, randomised controlled trial comparing different durations of intravenous antibiotic treatment as it has important clinical and financial implications. The currently ongoing STOP2 trial is expected to provide some guidance on these questions when published.
Read the full abstract...
Progressive lung damage from recurrent exacerbations is the major cause of mortality and morbidity in cystic fibrosis. Life expectancy of people with cystic fibrosis has increased dramatically in the last 40 years. One of the major reasons for this increase is the mounting use of antibiotics to treat chest exacerbations caused by bacterial infections. The optimal duration of intravenous antibiotic therapy is not clearly defined. Individuals usually receive intravenous antibiotics for 14 days, but treatment may range from 10 to 21 days. A shorter duration of antibiotic treatment risks inadequate clearance of infection which could lead to further lung damage. Prolonged courses of intravenous antibiotics are expensive and inconvenient. The risk of systemic side effects such as allergic reactions to antibiotics also increases with prolonged courses and the use of aminoglycosides requires frequent monitoring to minimise some of their side effects. However, some organisms which infect people with cystic fibrosis are known to be multi-resistant to antibiotics, and may require a longer course of treatment. This is an update of previously published reviews.
To assess the optimal duration of intravenous antibiotic therapy for treating chest exacerbations in people with cystic fibrosis.
Search strategy:
We searched the Cochrane Cystic Fibrosis and Genetic Disorders Group Trials Register which comprises references identified from comprehensive electronic database searches, handsearches of relevant journals, abstract books and conference proceedings. Most recent search of the Group's Cystic Fibrosis Trials Register: 30 May 2019.
We also searched online trials registries. Most recent search of the ClinicalTrials.gov and WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) portal: 06 January 2019.
Randomised and quasi-randomised controlled trials comparing different durations of intravenous antibiotic courses for acute respiratory exacerbations in people with CF, either with the same drugs at the same dosage, the same drugs at a different dosage or frequency or different antibiotics altogether, including studies with additional therapeutic agents.
Data collection and analysis:
No eligible trials were identified for inclusion. A trial looking at the standardised treatment of pulmonary exacerbations is currently ongoing and will be included when the results are published.
No eligible trials were included.
Intravenous antibiotics given at home for people with cystic fibrosis
Giving aminoglycoside antibiotics intravenously once daily compared to giving them several times per day in people with cystic fibrosis
Testing antibiotics in combination for acute infections of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in cystic fibrosis
Standard versus biofilm antibiotic testing to guide antibiotic treatment in cystic fibrosis
Oral antibiotics for treating infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa in people with cystic fibrosis
Genetic disorders > Cystic fibrosis > Antibiotics
Lungs & airways > Fibrosis: cystic fibrosis > Antibiotics
Abbott L, Plummer A, Hoo Z, Wildman M
Primary Review Group:
Cystic Fibrosis and Genetic Disorders Group
See the full Review on
Abbott L, Plummer A, Hoo Z, Wildman M. Duration of intravenous antibiotic therapy in people with cystic fibrosis. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2019, Issue 9. Art. No.: CD006682. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD006682.pub6
Who is talking about this article?
Our health evidence - how can it help you?
Our evidence
Join Cochrane
News and jobs
About Cochrane
Archie log-in
Cochrane Groups
Index | Disclaimer | Privacy | Cookie policy
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. OK More information
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2251
|
__label__cc
| 0.545359
| 0.454641
|
home See 3D Tour collections 14 Photos
Lot 109 Sabeta Drive
Ridgway, CO 81432
Ridgway is among the most desirable towns in Southwest Colorado. People love its central location-right in the middle of Telluride, Ouray and Ridgway. This quarter acre building lot is in Ridgway's most sought after subdivisions-Solar Ranches, and it's located in its Southeast corner, giving amazing Cimarron and Sneffels Range views. It is a duplex lot, giving you so many options for how you use the lot. You are not required to do a duplex, and a duplex doesn't have to look the same on each side. There is a paid Ridgway water tap, and all other utilities are adjacent to the parcel. The lot is nicely grassed and has a gentle slope, so homes built on the west end have an especially good view above any possible structure that could block your mountain views. The former owner has completely fenced the property with a rounded split rail fence to keep animals out or in, depending on your point of view! Your new homesite will be within easy walking distance of Downtown-local schools, banks, restaurants, churches. The Ridgway Athletic Park is just a couple hundred yards away, and the biking and hiking trail that leads along the Uncompahgre River, past the Weaver Park to the north end of Ridgway State Park is accessed on the east edge of the Park. Make your arrangements to come see this lot today and make it the spot for your new home, whether it be a modest to large single family home or a duplex.
Ridgway | Ouray County |
Land in Ridgway
I'm interested in Lot 109 Sabeta Drive and would like to know more. Please contact me.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2253
|
__label__wiki
| 0.944177
| 0.944177
|
GOP senators reject plans to dismiss Trump impeachment
By LISA MASCARO, ALAN FRAM, MARY CLARE JALONICK and LAURIE KELLMAN, AP
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans signaled Monday they would reject the idea of simply voting to dismiss the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump as the House prepares to send the charges to the chamber for the historic trial.
“I think our members, generally are not interested in the motion to dismiss. They think both sides need to be heard,” said Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., who is part of GOP leadership.
It will be only the third presidential impeachment trial in American history, a serious and dramatic endeavor coming amid the backdrop of a politically divided nation and the start of an election year.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not set the timing for the House vote that will launch the Senate action. Trump was impeached by the Democratic-led House last month on charges of abuse of power over pushing Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden and obstruction of Congress in the probe. Democrats said the vote could be Wednesday.
It was an extraordinary suggestion, but one being proposed by Trump allies with support from some GOP senators, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
One key Republican, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, said she too would oppose a motion to dismiss the charges.
Collins is leading an effort among some Republicans, including Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, to ensure the ground rules include plans to eventually consider voting to call witnesses.
Romney said he wants to hear from John Bolton, the former national security adviser at the White House, who others have said raised alarms about the alternative foreign policy toward Ukraine being run led by Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
"I've said I'd like to hear from John Bolton," Romney told reporters Monday. “I expect that barring some kind of surprise, I'll be voting in favor of hearing from witnesses after those opening arguments.”
Democrats have been pushing Republicans, who have the majority in the Senate, to consider new testimony, arguing that fresh information has emerged during Pelosi's monthlong delay in transmitting the charges.
McConnell is drafting an organizing resolution that will outline the steps ahead. Approving it will be among the first votes senators take after they are sworn as jurors by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts for the Court of Impeachment.
Republicans control the chamber, 53-47, and are all but certain to acquit Trump. McConnell is hesitant to call new witnesses who would prolong the trial. He prefers to model Trump's trial partly on the process used for then-President Bill Clinton's trial in 1999.
Most Republicans appear willing to go along with McConnell's plan to start the trial first then consider witnesses later, rather than upfront, as Democrats want.
"I've been working to make sure that we will have a process that we can take a vote on whether or not we need additional information, and yes, that would include witnesses,” Murkowski told reporters.
McConnell is expected to huddle privately with senators at their weekly lunch Tuesday.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters the House vote might come Wednesday. “Could be,” he said.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2254
|
__label__wiki
| 0.876833
| 0.876833
|
FCP, Westbridge Partners Sell Atlanta Project for $70M
Westport Capital Sells Retail Center for $36M
Bronx Office Building Trades for $65M
Office 20 January 2020 10:59
Transwestern Arranges Michigan Office Lease
Parkview Financial Backs Inland Empire Mixed-Use Project
Mixed Use 17 January 2020 20:58
Northwestern Mutual Expands Manhattan Footprint
Nightingale, Wafra Pay $175M for Wall Street Office Building
Serendipity Labs Coworking to Enter 6 New Markets
Newmark Knight Frank Grows Philadelphia Finance Group
Canadian Malls See Success via Evolution
South Carolina Distribution Center Sells for $98M
Industrial 17 January 2020 13:52
Radisson Opens 3rd New York City Hotel
Hotel 17 January 2020 12:46
Rich Development Sells Washington Retail Property
Retail 16 January 2020 20:49
Navigating NYC’s Landmark Energy Law
Property Management 16 January 2020 20:48
Gearing Up for an Electric Decade
Sustainability 16 January 2020 20:28
Distinguished Achievement
Executive of the Year
Värde Partners’ Value-Add Play Reels In $641M
Hyatt’s New Milestone
Thor Equities Hires New EVP
Based in the company’s New York office, Danny Sachnowitz will serve as executive vice president of Capital Markets.
the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
Subscribe to CPE
Danny Sachnowitz, Executive Vice President, Thor Equities. Image courtesy of Thor Equities
Thor Equities has selected Danny Sachnowitz as its newest executive vice president of Capital Markets. He will be based in the firm’s New York headquarters.
Between 2003 and 2019, the recently appointed executive served as deputy director & deputy chief investment officer at Texas Treasury Safekeeping Trust Co., a $60 billion regional investment arm. There, he led all the medium- and long-term investment strategies for all asset types, including real estate, private equity and hedge funds, as well as traditional fixed income and public equity strategies.
From 2000 to 2003, he was deputy executive administrator of the Texas Permanent School Fund. Prior to that, Sachnowitz worked as chief investment officer of the Office of the Comptroller’s Investment Division, where he dealt with all investment and custody operations, including the implementation of a $3 billion endowment.
Sachnowitz holds a bachelor of arts degree in Economics from the University of Texas and an MBA from Texas State University.
Last year was busy for Thor Equities. The company launched Thor Sciences, its life sciences platform, which culminated with the $152 million acquisition of The Center of Excellence in Bridgewater, N.J.
Danny Sachnowitz
Thor Equities
5 Sustainable Principles Leading to CRE Profitability
DAILY READS: Jan. 17, 2020
Electronics Stores Join Brick-and-Mortar Exodus
5 Ways to Make Your Property More Energy Efficient in 2020
Connect with CPE
© 2020 - Commercial Property Executive - Privacy Statement
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2255
|
__label__wiki
| 0.606224
| 0.606224
|
"Where is all the good writing about games?"
Where to Pitch
Blogs of the Round Table
January Roundup
by Alan Williamson
This month’s Blogs of the Round Table received the biggest response ever: a cavalcade of contributions so intimidating, I can feel my wrists hurting in mere anticipation of the impending writeup. “Don’t do it Alan”, the sentient tendons whisper, but that would be a disservice to all of the writers who took part. Also, I’ve already written this paragraph and so may as well finish. Here we go.
January’s theme was Challenge:
“The past few years have seen a resurgence of challenging games: Dark Souls, Spelunky, FTL: Faster Than Light, XCOM: Enemy Unknown to name but a few. Do you think videogames have more value in providing a stern challenge for the player to overcome, or does difficulty serve to alienate and deter potential players, impeding their potential for inclusiveness?
Alternatively, write about the greatest challenge you have overcome in a game (this can be a personal or emotional challenge rather than one of dexterity).”
Gods and Demons
Jeremy Voss isn’t a fan of challenging games, instead praising the ‘God mode’ offered by older shooters like Doom and Duke Nukem 3D as a way to explore these worlds without fear of death. The problem I’ve always had with God mode, noclip and friends is that they allow you to reach places you were never meant to visit, find those places empty or unfinished, breaking the illusion of the game’s world.
Brett Douville looks back on his fifteen years in the games industry, the challenges of the past and the prospects of the future. It’s interesting to read about the difficulties of programming games rather than playing the finished products, also detailed in an interview with Brett on the Bethesda Blog.
Daniel Lipson totally cheated at Final Fantasy VII by letting someone else defeat the Demon Wall. It’s alright though, because he can beat it himself now. In the age of YouTube, it’s possible to watch incredible feats of skill (apparently some people can actually complete Ninja Gaiden!) but nothing can match watching a friend beat a challenge in person.
Oscar Strik argues that the endless reloading and fruitless interactions of videogames are our own Groundhog Day. Interactions and battles become puzzles with finite solutions to be discovered by repetition, and “if the real world doesn’t work this way, why then should games?”. But who wouldn’t want to be Bill Murray in that film, freezing time for forty years so he could save lives and learn French with the torturous cost of hearing Sonny and Cher every single morning?
Give Me Challenge or Give Me Death
Donald Conrad has bucked the trend by playing Demon’s Souls rather than Dark Souls, offering a good explanation of why the Souls games are appealing if you’ve not played one yet. Since I spend a lot of time on Twitter, I just assume everyone is constantly playing Dark Souls.
Nate Paolasso draws a distinction between the deliberate trial-and-error pacing of Dark Souls and the lightning reactions of Super Meat Boy. Are all these blogs going to be about Dark Souls? Is every blog about Dark Souls? Is this the game that launched a thousand Tumblrs? Paolasso states games “that lack challenge are simply not worth playing”, but it’s just not true people! Ever played Rez?
Tom Battey is sick of meaningless death in games like Far Cry 3, and I know how he feels. I recently finished Uncharted, a game with worse checkpoints than Berlin in the 1960s, and they really do detract from your enjoyment. I disagree with Battey’s assertion that “games that aren’t challenging are dull”, though. Ever played Journey?
Sinclair Target is also a proponent of the “challenge is fun” school of games philosophy. To be honest, a piece containing the sentence “Dear Esther isn’t really a game” and using the anti-description ‘gameplay’ is a good way to troll your humble curator, but I can acknowledge the argument that challenge is a useful way to analyse mechanics- separating Bayonetta from Barbie, if you will.
Ben Hallett thinks the consequences of failure in XCOM and Dark Souls separate them from the inconsequential Civilization V and Arkham Asylum, for example; these consequences give them more in common with difficult online games like Counterstrike.
Let’s Talk About Games That Aren’t Dark Souls
Jackson Lango makes the compelling argument that The Walking Dead has moral difficulty, where the pressure comes in justifying our decisions, but without excluding players in the way mechanical challenges do. There’s also the traditional pressure of having to kill zombies before they eat you, of course, but Walking Dead has the tension of consequence where the situations in Oscar Strik’s aforementioned blog piece do not.
Nick Degens reaches a similar conclusion: that challenge can also rely on the affective state of the player, such as in horror games or the ‘psychological shooter’ Spec Ops: The Line. Some of the difficulty in Mass Effect comes from the torture of choice (or “die Qual der Wahl” as I heard it in high school), even when the consequences of choice are obvious.
Mark Filipowich sees difficulty as a glue that holds narratives together, whether it’s Luke piloting an X-Wing down the Death Star trench or Link snagging Ganon in the groin with a hookshot. Winning does feel good, and beating a hard challenge feels better for some, but I still don’t see why the existence of ‘Hard’ mode precludes the existence of ‘Easy’ mode as well.
Also, since when did Medium Difficulty look so snazzy? Great job with the redesign.
Mark Filipowich… wait a minute, he’s written two blog posts! In the second, he talks about the virtues of persevering with the weaker character Agnes in Final Fantasy Tactics. Investing time and effort into a character also increases our emotional investment with them.
Joseph Miller also talks about Final Fantasy Tactics, but calls difficulty “a limited expressive tool”, at least in the context of the games he wants to make which are about other feelings than “fiero” and “grip” (those are going into my lexicon).
Christopher Floyd has completed PGR3 on Platinum: we mere mortals should remain humble in the presence of a true thumb warrior. Even if PGR3 was utterly lacking in personality, its courses still had character – none more so than the Nordschleife.
Psepho wrote about the ‘accessible challenge’ of Super Hexagon, the magic of muscle memory and when the word “begin” becomes “again” through repetition. Have we all played Super Hexagon by now? You really should. It’s ace.
Peter Shafer challenges himself to be a pacifist in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, living with the consequences of his augmentation choices.
Taking It Easy-ish
Cha Holland confronts the all-too-real challenges of Dinner Date, a bizarre role-playing game where you play the subconscious of a man being stood up. I watched the trailer for the game since I’d never heard of it before. Is that what the inside of a person’s head really sounds like?
Jordan Erica Webber plays games on Easy, without shame. I’m glad someone took the bait on the topic of inclusion: challenging games are exclusive and elitist by necessity, and I’m not sure that’s what the medium needs right now.
Last but not least, some guy compared the ‘Nintendo Hard’ Jet Set Radio to its easier sequel. Difficulty isn’t enough to ensure satisfaction: games need a sense of reward to match, and it’s not just hard games that can be truly rewarding.
Wow, what a month. Massive thanks to everyone who submitted a piece for BoRT this month, especially our new contributors.
If you’ve participated, don’t forget to add the BoRT Linkomatic 5000 to your blog. Just embed the following code on your blog’s page:
<iframe type=“text/html” width=“600” height=“22” src=“http://www.tinysubversions.com/bort.html?month=January13” frameborder=“0”></iframe>
And you’ll get this:
If you have trouble embedding the Linkomatic 5000, let me know on Twitter and I’ll try my best to help.
Previous articlePrince of Persia
Next articleFebruary 3
Highlighting and archiving the most incisive, thought-provoking, and remarkable discussion in and around games.
Agony Auncle
Critical Compilations
This Week in Videogames Blogging
This Year in Videogame Blogging: 2019
Since 2009, we have been creating a legacy for critical thinking in games.
Help us to bring our work into different media and bring diverse games criticism to a larger audience.
A big thank you to our Premium Backers: Thene A, Joe O, Akshan D, Brendan V, and Ted D!
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2257
|
__label__wiki
| 0.799428
| 0.799428
|
Black-Belt Thunder
North Carolina & Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF)
By Hunter Bear (John R Salter, Jr.)
[As head of the Jackson MS NAACP Youth Council, Hunter Bear played a leading role in the Jackson MS, Movement 1962-1963, and then worked as a field organizer for SCEF in North Carolina and elsewhere.]
The Northeastern North Carolina Black-Belt Project, which burst forth with rapidly growing claws and feathers in the mid-1960s, had a major impact on that far-flung racist and poverty-stricken (Deep South in every sense!) multi-county section of the state — as well as on the entire state itself and the region well beyond. Yet it received, aside from much often hostile local and regional press coverage, little enduring publicity. One of the reasons was that it, in an obscure corner of the South, was frequently overshadowed by events in more publicized regions of the Deep South.
Another — especially to those academic and popular historians deemed revisionist — is that its primary sponsor was the left Southern Conference Educational Fund and its principal organizer was myself. I should add that, from the point that I was honorably released from the United States Army after a full hitch at the beginning of 1955, just turning 21, I have been my own kind of ecumenical socialist with consistency. I belonged to the IWW from the very beginning of 1955 well into 1960 — and have remained always a rather quintessential Wobbly. At the same time, my deepest waters have always been Iroquoian — with its traditional bent toward careful organization with democratic form and structure and ethos.
In any event, the public mention of this critical and sometimes wild crusade has been relatively minimal. In my own book, Jackson Mississippi: An American Chronicle of Struggle and Schism (1979 and 1987), my necessarily trenchant epilogue, covering my life since Jackson to the end of the '70s, spends the better part of three pages on our Carolina Black-Belt struggle. Willa (Johnson) Cofield, who with other members of her family, was among the key leaders in Halifax County, our starting point and the most major of several related battlefields, contributed a chapter containing a discussion of our saga in a quite interesting anthology (Cathy L. Nelson and Kim A. Wilson, editors, Seeding the Process of Multi-Cultural Education (Plymouth, MN: Minnesota Inclusiveness Program, 1998.) These editors and Willa all honored us with a long visit at our Idaho home in 1998.
I, myself, have written some pieces on the Project — e.g., the J.P. Stevens Textile boycott and its background in the Halifax County mill town of Roanoke Rapids, the United Klans of America, Jesse Helms — which have been published in good and honorable radical journals. This website of [mine], Lair of Hunterbear, contains much stuff on the Black-Belt fight. But, despite the strong commitment of the grassroots people (mostly Black but many Indians as well), the high drama, the firm backing always of our SCEF executive director Jim Dombrowski and the often involvement of Ella J. Baker (herself a SCEF staffer at that point who had grown up in Halifax County), the (non-violent) War in the Black-Belt has received little notice.
I joined the staff of SCEF as its Field Organizer in late Summer, 1963. Jim Dombrowski asked that I be based near the Eastern Seaboard part of the South, and encouraged North Carolina. We moved into an all-Black neighborhood at Raleigh and set up shop. From there I traveled into various Southern places of civil rights significance, spoke in a few Yankee settings such as the annual meeting of United Negro College Fund up in New York, had — with Ella Baker as my fine colleague — a splendid "Western trip" into the Midwest and Southwest. (A year later, I did a shorter solo run in the Mountain States.) On the Virginia Southside, I spent a week assisting Moses Riddick in his successful run for a key Nansemond County office — against the Byrd Machine. I traveled to various arenas in the Deeper South.
And then I got to Halifax County in the Northeastern Carolina Black-Belt, initially taken there by the intrepid Rev. A.I. Dunlap, who had been a major figure in the hard-fought 1963 movement at Danville, Virginia — well to the northwest.
In very early 1964, I launched a major SCEF-sponsored project: cracking the rigidly segregated, thoroughly repressive, Klan-infested northeastern North Carolina Black Belt — containing some of the most poverty-stricken counties in the United States. This hard- core region had been isolated from the main currents of the Civil Rights Movement. Our SCEF Director — Jim Dombrowski — backed us to the hilt; as did the SCEF President, the Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth. Valuable support was provided by Ms. Ella J. Baker, a nationally known Black activist and Special Consultant to SCEF, who had herself grown up in that particular locale. The editor of the SCEF newspaper, The Southern Patriot, Ms. Anne Braden, provided valuable regional and national publicity for us. Up North, the SCEF fund-raiser, the Reverend William Howard Melish, was extremely helpful.
We started with Halifax County. Opposition was tough and violent. With hard work (among other things, at one point I spoke to over 120 community meetings in 90 days), boycotts, non-violent demonstrations, and litigation in Federal courts — and, in time, political leverage — we were increasingly successful. And then we moved across the Black Belt, county by county.
Clyde Appleton led the singing at our large and historic Black Belt conference ("Civil Rights and Anti-Poverty") at Indian Woods Baptist in Bertie Co., early March 1965, which drew about 1,050 people from 14 Black Belt counties — plus several from some outlying areas. Ella Baker was keynote speaker.
This fine statement by a key and extremely capable Halifax Co. Movement leader and old friend, Willa Cofield, is in our website and has been on our Tribute since soon after its inception early in 2004:
WILLA COFIELD (WILLA JOHNSON)
". . .I'd like to share my own impression of John Salter, whom I first saw on a 1963 television newscast being mercilessly pummeled by a group of white men. The attack took place during a Black student demonstration in Jackson, Mississippi. A few months later, John appeared in my rural, eastern North Carolina community, where we Black people were staging our own demonstrations.
Originally from Flagstaff, Arizona and part-Indian, he was young, intense, smart and completely committed to social justice.
Salter's civil rights record, his obvious sincerity, as well as his willingness to take on the local racists, soon won over the most skeptical among us. For over a year, he worked in our community, facing daily death threats, abuse, and the virulent hatred of local white people.
With John Salter's help, we initiated a countywide voter registration drive, and when local officials set up obstacles, John convinced a battery of topnotch lawyers to challenge the county board of elections in court. Our side won. For the first time since the disenfranchisement of Blacks in the late nineteenth century, thousands of eastern North Carolina Blacks registered.
In the 1980s, those voters helped send two Black men to the North Carolina Legislature. In 1992, they sent Eva Clayton, a Black woman, to Congress where she served for many years.
John Salter was not present for the victory celebration or for the happy bus trip to Raleigh for the inauguration of Thomas C. Hardaway as Representative from our District, but many of the bus passengers recalled Salter's courageous work during the 1960s. He had helped break the fierce Southern wall of resistance, thereby setting the stage for the Voting Rights Act and the election of Black people to local, state, and federal legislative bodies.
John drove with us the morning six of our children, including my own six-year-daughter, integrated the local white school. He found lawyers and financial support, and we successfully battled the school officials and politicians who tried to kill our movement by firing Black teachers.
In communities throughout the South, John Salter is remembered for his selfless leadership and courage and as a man deeply and passionately opposed to injustice.
Since the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, I have met many of his former Tougaloo College students. All remember him with the greatest respect and admiration.
John has never flinched from taking unpopular positions. Those of us who benefited from his determination to act upon what he believed right consider that very quality a key factor in making him one of the truly great leaders of our time. Sincerely,
Willa M. Cofield, Ph.D. Enfield, North Carolina and Plainfield, New Jersey
In due course, we moved into adjoining counties — and our organizing work area broadened greatly. As this statement of mine from a final report to the SCEF Board indicates, even our basic heartland (not even counting the further frontiers of our activities) encompassed a very wide region indeed: "From Littleton in Halifax County to Windsor in Bertie County is about sixty miles straight (as the crow flies) and about seventy-five miles by road; Severn in Northampton County is about thirty-five miles straight and about fifty miles by road, from Enfield in Halifax County; Hollister in Halifax County is about sixty-five miles straight and about ninety-five miles by road from Colerain in Bertie County."
A recent response of mine to an excellent question by William "Bill" Mandel: From Hunter:
The rise of the Movement — economic force and litigation and the civil rights laws and voter activism — broke the hard lines of resistance to social change. When the power of the Movement became obvious, pragmatism (not necessarily the principled variety of William James) often took over within the power structures. Frequently, this initially sought tokenism but, in the end, of course, the momentum of progress generally carried things far beyond that. Your recent North Carolina examples don't surprise me (and one should remember, of course, that the late Sam Ervin, although considered a "conservative," was a pretty good civil libertarian.) There are plenty of people in North Carolina, military and military families and many others indeed, who join much of the rest of the country in its growing antipathy toward the Bushies and All Their Wicked Ways.
Briefly using Halifax County, NC as an example, a Black county with a fairly substantial number of American Indians therein, the time came in latter '64 during our One Hell of a Fight on several fronts when I got a surprise telephone call from former State Senator Lunsford Crew, representing the state Democratic Party. He was in Raleigh but his home town was Roanoke Rapids in the northern part of Halifax County. That was also the home of a huge JP Stevens textile plant — whose later unionization provided the direct basis for the fine labor film, Norma Rae. (We have always held that our Movement helped lay the basis for that unionization which came some years later.)
With the exception of Sam Mitchell (Black), a fine lawyer based at Raleigh, our lawyers were all from out of the South: Bill Kunstler, Arthur Kinoy, Phil Hirschkop, Morty Stavis, and others. One of our Federal lawsuits, eventually won when USSC denied cert to North Carolina, was Willa Johnson (Cofield) vs Joseph Branch et al. What made this especially interesting was that Joe Branch, of Enfield, was State Campaign Manager for Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Dan K. Moore. We were suing him along with the school board, for which he was attorney, since they all had fired Willa, a long time and award-winning high school teacher at (Black) Inborden High School in Enfield, in obvious retaliation for her consistently effective civil rights activities.
Anyway, Senator Crew wanted to do business directly with me — to the effect that, if the Halifax Movement would agree to support the Democrats, and especially at the state level (the Republicans were becoming powerful), he could guarantee that a number of concessions would be made by the official leaders of Halifax County. We had many brand new voters indeed and we also had the Image which would influence other minority communities in the state. He wanted me to handle that matter and indicated he would be quite satisfied with my word (plus appropriate Movement leaflets as the election drew nigh.)
Pleasantly, I told Senator Crew that we didn't function that way at all and that, in no sense, could I — the Organizer — make that kind of deal. I told him he would have to come directly to a meeting of our about 36 County Chairmen (several were women, btw), and make his offer directly to them. To give him credit, he pluckily accepted my proposal to set the meeting up if our Chairmen wanted to go that route.
We had a quick meeting of our County Chairmen at Enfield. They voted to give Senator Crew a solid and fair hearing. We also, thoughtfully, prepared a long shopping list of that which we wanted. It ranged from official anti-Klan action to acceptance of surplus commodities and a promise to participate in the forthcoming Food Stamp plan when that was enacted, substantial desegregation and minority hiring in county offices, and much more. And then we scheduled a meeting for the Senator.
Senator Crew came by himself to the Cofield Funeral Home (Willa's family) at Enfield and he was there for three long hours. He met our demands and we all agreed to support the Democrats — and, in due course, we issued sample ballots with the Democratic candidates (all of them) properly Xd in the appropriate boxes. The Democrats won. The Other Side in Halifax County honored the agreement we all had reached. There were many more miles to travel in that tough county, and then in all the other tough counties involved, but we had a Big Beginning.
In Solidarity - Hunter (Hunter Bear)
The Southern Conference Educational Fund (The Good Realities)
Eldri and I, who had come into Mississippi in the ominous Summer of '61, left the South in the Summer of '67 and went into the Pacific Northwest and then, for an academic year, to Coe College in Iowa. From 1969 to 1973, I directed the large-scale grassroots organization of block clubs and related groups (mostly Black, Puerto Rican, and Chicano) on Chicago's very bloody South/Southwest Side. Also active in Native affairs and issues on the Northside, we organized the long-enduring, all-Indian Native American Community Organizational Training Center (of which I served for a number of years as Chair — doing so for some time after we left Chicago.) Later, we were in Iowa again, then up-state New York, then the Navajo Nation — and then to the Northern Plains — and now to Idaho. The organizing trail is very much a Romany trail.
SCEF, very broadly Left in a completely non-sectarian fashion, grew out of the very fine Southern Conference on Human Welfare — a courageous and interracial group of Southern liberals and some radicals originating in the New Deal era. SCEF had its most effective period from the onset of the 1950s to the retirement of its excellent executive director, Jim Dombrowski, at the end of 1965.
During that period, its splendid newspaper, The Southern Patriot, was very capably edited by Alfred Maund and later by the equally capable Anne Braden. ( Al Maund, a good friend of mine, is a noted Southern writer and author of a great novel, The Big Boxcar, and was also editor of Labor's Daily and later a key staffer of International Chemical Workers Union.) The SCEF board was a fine interracial cross section of sensible Southern activists — religious and labor and general social justice folk — and its advisory committee extended into Arizona. Aubrey Williams (a major Southern leader with a highly placed New Deal background) served as its President for years and was later succeeded by the Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth of Birmingham (President of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights and National Secretary of SCLC.)
My own activist links with SCEF began soon after Eldri and I arrived at Tougaloo in the Summer of '61. Almost immediately I became Advisor to the Jackson Youth Council of NAACP and a member of the board of directors of the Mississippi State Conference of NAACP Branches. When we launched our historic Jackson boycott in late 1962, SCEF — especially through Jim and Anne Braden and Carl Braden — gave us a great deal of invaluable assistance. The very effective Jackson Boycott Movement became, in due organizing course, the massive and historic Jackson Movement in which youth played a major role at all points. I was Chair of its Strategy Committee.
At the conclusion of the very hard-fought, super-dramatic and extremely sanguinary Jackson Movement era, Jim Dombrowski offered me the position of SCEF Field Organizer — with the understanding that I could do my own thing pretty much in any way I wished. I was pleased to accept. We set my salary at the precise salary figure drawn from NAACP by my very good friend, the recently murdered Medgar Evers: $6,500.00 with some expenses and benefits. At the same time I joined SCEF, my very good friend, Miss Ella J. Baker, founder and Advisor to SNCC (who had been SCLC's first Executive Director), accepted Jim's offer of an ongoing position as Consultant. I was instrumental, with Jim's enthusiastic concurrence, in securing the New York law firm of Kunstler, Kunstler and Kinoy (known affectionately as KKK) as SCEF's counsel. (Bill Kunstler had already represented me in several key Mississippi cases.)
Much was certainly accomplished by SCEF during the next two years or so. I worked in grassroots civil rights and anti-Klan organization in several very hard-core Deep Southern areas. Ella played a critical role in liaison work with SNCC and other projects and gave me much assistance at key points. Carl Braden did a great deal of valuable, on-going work with Northern supporters — and was much involved in Appalachian affairs. A key fund-raising role was carried by Howard Melish. Through The Southern Patriot, Anne Braden reported Southern civil rights news — much of which would otherwise have been obscure — to a national and international audience and gave much media-linkage assistance to a wide variety of grassroots civil rights projects.
Jim Dombrowski, severely crippled by illness (but he marched in the SCLC demonstrations at Danville, Virginia), continued to very capably hold down the SCEF national office on 822 Perdido Street, New Orleans. (My old Chicano Mine-Mill compañeros were always intrigued by that address since it, of course, translates into "Nowhere.") During this period, we were constantly Red-baited and attacked on many fronts — including the notorious Louisiana Un-American Activities Committee/State Police raid on the New Orleans SCEF office in October 1963, the arrest of Jim and two other SCEF officials, the seizure of the SCEF records — and their illegal shipment by train into Mississippi where they were then taken by Mississippi Senator Jim Eastland and his U.S. Senate Internal Security Subcommittee. SCEF sued and, in 1965, won a total victory at the USSC level: Dombrowski v. Pfister.
At the end of 1965, Jim retired as SCEF director and Anne and Carl Braden became co-directors. At the point Jim retired, Ella and I both left. She, of course, continued to work with SNCC and related projects and I continued my organizing work in the South — in radical grassroots anti-poverty activism (much support from Highlander Research and Education Center.) Ella and I and Jim kept in very close touch, always, both during this period and thereafter all the way through. Jim died at New Orleans in 1983 and Ella passed away in NYC in 1986. I miss them much indeed.
After our departure, SCEF hired a much larger number of staff people than had formerly been the case — essentially on subsistence "Movement wages." In time, internal difficulties developed.
The major SCEF papers are at State Historical Society of Wisconsin: Jim's collected papers, those of the Bradens, and mine — including my organizing reports plus much secured from FBI via FOIA/PA. (My papers are also held by Mississippi Department of Archives and History.) A very good biography of Jim was done by another good friend of mine and I strongly recommend it: Frank Adams' James A. Dombrowski: An American Heretic (Knoxville, University of Tennessee Press, 1992.)
I personally have copies (many of them originals) of my basic organizing materials and detailed reports from over these many decades.
I regularly and with some frequency filed very long, detailed letter/reports to Jim Dombrowski on my organizing activities in the Black-Belt. These, along with related materials from the somewhat later "anti-poverty wars," have been an invaluable resource for me over the many, many years that have followed. Initially, they dealt with the formative organizing period (for a time I was assisted by J.V. Henry and Doug Harris of SNCC — but mostly I was the sole "professional".) Quickly, succeeding reports move into the exciting realms of massive voter registration campaigns, economic boycotts, non- violent direct action, our litigation in a number of cases (almost exclusively in Federal courts), and bitter resistance from the Klan, Birch Society, and the North Carolina Defenders of States' Rights (White Citizens Council.)
Two of my major latter reports not only provide summarization — but also give a specific category-by-category breakdown of our specific action areas and their successful development:
For the SCEF Board Meeting of April 15-16 1965 at Atlanta, I presented a detailed five page single-spaced report.
At Jim's request, I wrote again for the SCEF Board a long and detailed wrap up on the whole Black-Belt project which, with a long covering letter, I sent on October 5 1965: 12 double spaced legal sized pages. (In addition, I also attached the previous report to the Board of April '65)
An important piece of my writing during this period is, "Organizing The Community For Action," March 1965 and several subsequent editions (six tightly spaced legal-sized pages) — part of the basis for my much later Combined Community Organizing catechism in January 2004 (With Addenda). That "catechism" has now been widely reprinted in various print journals and websites. www.hunterbear.org/my_combined_community_organizing.htm .
In my long covering letter to Jim with that final report, I expressed our great appreciation to the SCEF Board and its officers and to the staff. And I explicitly noted, "This work in the black-belt counties would not have gone as well as it did had it not been for the whole- hearted backing of SCEF. We are mighty indebted to you and to Ella."
And, years later, Jim wrote an extremely strong, kind statement for my career reference file at Arizona State University. The original is shown in the bloc of North Carolina Black-Belt material on our website and is also on the large Tribute:
JAMES ANDERSON DOMBROWSKI (d. 1983) Director, Southern Conference Educational Fund. From a vigorously positive letter of reference (9/17/79), written carefully with a pen and ink.
"Mr. Salter is an unusual and many talented person. He is a careful scholar, writes and speaks well, relates easily to all kinds of people, understands and practices the art of listening. He has few peers as a community organizer.
For those and other reasons, I hold Mr Salter in the highest esteem, professionally and socially."
James Anderson Dombrowski, PhD, Executive Director, Southern Conference Educational Fund (Ret.)
The basic sections in my report to the SCEF Board, April 15/16 1965:
Halifax County Voters Movement
Political Action (First Portion)
Retreat of the County Officials
The Towns
Public Accomodations
Attacks on Non-Literacy
The Willa Johnson Teaching Case
Anti-Poverty Program
Change in the Attitude of the Whites
Political Action (Second Portion)
The Enfield and Weldon Gerrymandering
School Transfers (First Portion)
Black-Belt Counties Workshop/Conference
Political Action (Third Portion)
The First Successful Effort on Federal Food (Our mass demonstration at the Bertie courthouse)
School Transfers (Second Portion)
Bertie KKK
Northampton County (and other adjoining areas)
Impact on the State and Region
The basic sections of my report to the SCEF Board, October 5 1965:
Operation Head Start
Bertie Co. School System
Ku Klux Klan and Allied Activities
Hospital Complaints
Anti-Poverty
Bi-Racial Committees
Outside Contacts
Other Aspects During This Latter Period
Involvement of SNCC
Some Continued Contact
Impact on the State and the Region
We have a great deal of Mississippi material on our Lair of Hunterbear website. What follows here is some SCEF and North Carolina material:
www.hunterbear.org/creative.htm (The initial, key link to 20 consecutive, sequential pages covering basics in the Northeastern North Carolina Black-Belt Project. Included is some SCEF material and three pages with photos (taken by J.V. Henry) of our historic Black Belt Conference, March, 1965.
www.hunterbear.org/salt2.htm (I was the speaker at Superior, Arizona in late 1963 — a very long gathering indeed, heavily attended from a dozen, often widely scattered Mine-Mill copper locals, and sponsored by the Arizona Mine-Mill Council.
www.hunterbear.org/personal_reminiscence.htm (North Carolina and Jesse Helms.
www.hunterbear.org/handling_the_klan_on_easter_sund.htm (Major, Southwide United Klans of America Rally in the Black-Belt and our effective non-violent counter-Klan activism.
www.hunterbear.org/lumbee_indians_of_north_carolina.htm (Lumbee Indians seek Federal recognition and social justice.
HUNTER GRAY (HUNTER BEAR/JOHN R SALTER JR) Mi'kmaq /St. Francis Abenaki/St. Regis Mohawk. Protected by Na`shdo`i`ba`i` and Ohkwari'
In our Gray Hole, the ghosts often dance in the junipers and sage, on the game trails, in the tributary canyons with the thick red maples, and on the high windy ridges — and they dance from within the very essence of our own inner being. They do this especially when the bright night moon shines down on the clean white snow that covers the valley and its surroundings. Then it is as bright as day — but in an always soft and mysterious and remembering way. (Hunter Bear)
— Copyright © Hunter Bear (John Salter), 2006
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2258
|
__label__wiki
| 0.550708
| 0.550708
|
Microsoft » Windows 7 » SP1 X64 : Security Vulnerabilities Published In 2011 (Denial Of Service)
1 CVE-2011-3414 399 DoS 2011-12-29 2018-10-30
None Remote Low Not required None None Complete
The CaseInsensitiveHashProvider.getHashCode function in the HashTable implementation in the ASP.NET subsystem in Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 SP1, 2.0 SP2, 3.5 SP1, 3.5.1, and 4.0 computes hash values for form parameters without restricting the ability to trigger hash collisions predictably, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) by sending many crafted parameters, aka "Collisions in HashTable May Cause DoS Vulnerability."
2 CVE-2011-2004 20 DoS 2011-11-08 2018-10-30
None Remote Medium Not required None None Complete
Array index error in win32k.sys in the kernel-mode drivers in Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 and R2 SP1 and Windows 7 Gold and SP1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (reboot) via a crafted TrueType font file, aka "TrueType Font Parsing Vulnerability," a different vulnerability than CVE-2011-3402.
None Local Medium Not required None None Complete
win32k.sys in the kernel-mode drivers in Microsoft Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2, R2, and R2 SP1, and Windows 7 Gold and SP1 does not properly handle TrueType fonts, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (system hang) via a crafted font file, aka "Win32k TrueType Font Type Translation Vulnerability."
4 CVE-2011-1985 DoS +Priv 2011-10-11 2018-10-30
win32k.sys in the kernel-mode drivers in Microsoft Windows XP SP2 and SP3, Windows Server 2003 SP2, Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2, R2, and R2 SP1, and Windows 7 Gold and SP1 does not properly validate user-mode input, which allows local users to gain privileges or cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and system crash) via a crafted application, aka "Win32k Null Pointer De-reference Vulnerability."
The kernel in Microsoft Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2, R2, and R2 SP1, and Windows 7 Gold and SP1 does not properly parse file metadata, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (reboot) via a crafted file, aka "Windows Kernel Metadata Parsing DOS Vulnerability."
Tcpip.sys in the TCP/IP stack in Microsoft Windows 7 Gold and SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 and R2 SP1 does not properly implement URL-based QoS, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (reboot) via a crafted URL to a web server, aka "TCP/IP QOS Denial of Service Vulnerability."
Tcpip.sys in the TCP/IP stack in Microsoft Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2, R2, and R2 SP1, and Windows 7 Gold and SP1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (reboot) via a series of crafted ICMP messages, aka "ICMP Denial of Service Vulnerability."
10 CVE-2011-1281 119 DoS Overflow +Priv Mem. Corr. 2011-07-13 2018-10-30
11 CVE-2011-1267 399 DoS 2011-06-16 2018-10-30
The SMB server in Microsoft Windows Vista SP1 and SP2, Windows Server 2008 Gold, SP2, R2, and R2 SP1, and Windows 7 Gold and SP1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (system hang) via a crafted (1) SMBv1 or (2) SMBv2 request, aka "SMB Request Parsing Vulnerability."
Total number of vulnerabilities : 11 Page : 1 (This Page)
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2267
|
__label__wiki
| 0.85199
| 0.85199
|
Home Animation DC Universe Storms San Diego Comic-Con with Powerhouse Panel Line-Up, Fan Events...
DC Universe Storms San Diego Comic-Con with Powerhouse Panel Line-Up, Fan Events And Member Exclusives
DC UNIVERSE will return to the city of San Diego in a big way during the 50th annual Comic-Con International on July 18-21, 2019. One year after DC UNIVERSE launched its membership program at SDCC, the first-of-its-kind digital subscription service and ultimate DC fan destination is back with a powerhouse panel focused on original series, along with a slate of exclusive member-only fan events and giveaways.
DC UNIVERSE’s sizzling summer panels will feature many of the highly acclaimed, critically-lauded original series’ stars and creators. Fans can expect sneak peeks, first looks, exclusive screenings and breaking news for Titans, Doom Patrol, Young Justice: Outsiders and the upcoming adult-animated comedy series Harley Quinn during a special two-hour DC UNIVERSE event on Saturday night, July 20 from 7-9pm in the Indigo Ballroom at the Hilton Bayfront. Fans of DC Daily, the one-stop news program for all things DC, can attend a panel featuring the show’s hosts on Friday, July 19 from 10-11am in Room 9.
“We are excited to showcase our original shows and share more news of what’s to come in year two for DC UNIVERSE,” said Sam Ades senior vice president and general manager, DC UNIVERSE. “In San Diego, we’ll embrace the ways in which DC UNIVERSE provides real-life membership benefits like no other service, designed specifically for DC fans. After last year’s amazingly successful introduction at SDCC, we’re thrilled to focus on the members who have made the service home to their DC fandom by offering unique, interesting experiences only we can provide.”
A fantastic line-up of exclusive events and giveaways will give DC UNIVERSE annual members unique experiences they would not have access to anywhere else. A DC UNIVERSE membership opens the door for a chance to attend exclusive signings, screenings and private gatherings, including:
Passes to the exclusive screening of the premiere of DC Spotlight: Shazam, a behind-the-scenes documentary
VIP tickets to attend Batman’s induction into the Comic Con Museum Hall of Fame
Access to sign-up for a members-only signing with Jim Lee, world-renowned comic book artist, writer, editor and Publisher of DC
A chance to attend a private, DCU member brunch on a yacht in the San Diego Marina with surprise talent appearances and special giveaways
For more information about exclusive DCU member events and benefits, click here.
The combined DC/Warner Bros. booth (#4545) will be located in the entertainment section of the exhibit hall, in close proximity to Artists’ Alley, and will feature exclusive DCU giveaways, artist signings and a special experience that will take them into the realm of Harley Quinn:
Get an immersive glimpse into the world of the highly-anticipated, upcoming adult-animated comedy series Harley Quinn in a special booth activation that takes fans inside the comically twisted world of the new series with an Arkham interactive tour
With purchase of an annual DC UNIVERSE membership on-site and online, fans will receive an exclusive gift set of four limited-edition comic books with new variant covers, including YOUNG JUSTICE: OUTSIDERS #1, DETECTIVE COMICS #1000, SAGA OF SWAMP THING #21, and DOOM PATROL #19
DCU members will have the opportunity to collect an original series print every day in the redemption area of the DC booth. The prints, inspired by DC UNIVERSE Original Series, were made by pop culture artists Doaly, Cliff Cramp, Chris Thornley, and Ruiz Burgos
DC UNIVERSE is celebrating summer with a fun, fresh creative campaign leading up to Comic-Con that invites fans to engage and share their love of DC. More to come as the campaign rolls out through summer. Fans will spot DCU billboards, buses and convention center signage that showcase a pantheon of DC characters and the role they play in the lives of fans.
Previous articleNYC – My Life is Murder’s Lucy Lawless Q&A
Next articleWA – Gender Queer Signing
FL – Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey #1 Signing
Amanda Conner guests at Rhode Island Comic Con
Brendan Fraser visits MegaCon Orlando
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2273
|
__label__cc
| 0.650536
| 0.349464
|
Grand Canyon National Park Lodges
Home » Find a Job » Categories » Lodge and Resort Jobs » Grand Canyon National Park Lodges
Grand Canyon Jobs - Live. Work. Explore.
Adventure, discovery, hard work, hard play and a unique work-life balance; this is but a part of what you can experience as a valued member of Grand Canyon National Park Lodges.
The Grand Canyon is located in Northern Arizona.
About Grand Canyon National Park Lodges
Providing guests with Legendary Hospitality while contributing to the preservation of this incredible natural resource is our guiding mission. With this in mind, the history and the future of the Grand Canyon is ingrained in all that we do.
Until 1968, the principal concessioner and provider of Grand Canyon visitor services was the Fred Harvey Company. Founded in 1876, the Fred Harvey Company became the “civilizer of the West.” Although Fred Harvey died in 1901, he envisioned Grand Canyon as a major tourist attraction and convinced the Santa Fe Railroad to run a line from Williams, Arizona to this natural wonder. With his sons and grandsons carrying on the business, the company kept pace with service and facility needs as Grand Canyon visitation steadily increased during the first half of the twentieth century. In 1905 the El Tovar Hotel opened at the South Rim, at the end of the railroad line.
In 1968, Xanterra purchased the Fred Harvey Company. Xanterra Parks & Resorts is currently recognized for its leadership, creativity and innovation as the largest parks management company in the country. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Xanterra has national park concession operations at the South Rim of Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Glacier, Crater Lake, Mount Rushmore, Zion and Death Valley.
Today, as six million people a year visit Grand Canyon, the genius and spirit of Fred Harvey lives on. The train arrives every day, the view from the El Tovar dining room is as it was in 1905 and the hospitality of the modern-day Harvey Girls still beckons.
At Xanterra, we are a welcoming community of employees who work hard, share a passion for the environment, and enjoy creating memorable experiences for our guests in some of the most beautiful places on earth.
Ideal candidates possess the following characteristics:
Adventurous spirit
We live along the South Rim of the Canyon at a 7000-foot elevation in the ponderosa pine forest.
Most new employees will reside in dormitory style housing sharing a room with another employee. The dorm rent is $19.20 per week, which is deducted from the employee's paycheck. Employees who stay for long-term and/or have a higher job grade can qualify to live in an apartment setting. No pets are allowed in dormitory housing.
Couples' housing is available on a limited basis, but housing for families is not immediately available.
The employee meal plan is a pay-as-you-go system. We have an Employee Cafeteria, which offers a set menu, plus daily specials which include vegetarian specials. Meals are sold at near cost in the "E-Caf." A 50% discount off the menu price is extended to employees in our public cafeterias. A minimal amount of cooking is allowed in the dormitory housing.
Grand Canyon has basic services available such as shopping, banking, post office, medical clinic, church services and a community library.
Free in-park Bus Tours
Discounted mule rides each winter
Vacation Day on your birthday
Free Grand Canyon Railway train rides
Discounts at other Xanterra Parks and Resorts
$200 Referral Bonus
40% Retail Discount twice a year
Tuition Reimbursement Program
Free Uniforms and Cleaning
Free Laundry Facilities
Verizon phone services and product discount
PrimeLending Mortgage discount
Low Cost meals at employee café
No forced meal expense
Opportunity for transfer to other Xanterra Properties
Sam’s Club membership discount
Summer Property Olympics
Community Recreation Center for exercise, computers, free WiFi, activities and trips
30% Retail Discount all year
50% Cafeteria Discount all year
20% Restaurant Discount all year
Work alongside employees from varied cultures and countries
Free satellite TV signal in dormitories
Deeper Restaurant/Retail discount for you birthday
Recognition Dinner and Gift for significant service anniversaries
In-House Training Department
The secrets of the inner canyon, the slick rock plateaus, the heavily forested rim country ~ these are the worlds of Grand Canyon for you to explore in your free time. Hiking, biking, camping, skiing, photography, wildlife viewing and athletics are but a few of the recreational activities happening at Grand Canyon. C'mon play with us on over 700 miles of hiking trails and countless miles of back roads for biking. A year-round-outdoor playground is waiting for you. A community recreation center provides indoor activities such as weight/fitness center, computer lab, evening classes, basketball, volleyball and co-ed softball.
View our Jobs »
Click on APPLY HERE to read more about our available jobs and our on line application procedure.
Contact Grand Canyon National Park Lodges
www.grandcanyonlodges.com
Spring, Summer, Fall, and Year Round
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2274
|
__label__wiki
| 0.698497
| 0.698497
|
Dean Butler - 30 years behind the camera
PUBLISHED: 11:58 15 November 2011 | UPDATED: 20:17 20 February 2013
One of the region's most professional photographers has launched a brand new website, which demonstrates just how far the world of photography has come today
Thirty years behind the camera
Photographer Dean Butler launches a brand new website
One of the region's most professional photographers has launched a brand new website, which demonstrates just how far the world of photography has come today.
For Dean Butler, whose studio is based in the village of Poulton, near Cirencester, it is one of his biggest investments ever - and one creating accolades among creative and communication teams throughout Gloucestershire and beyond.
Dean, who undertook formal training as a photographer - "from two old school advertising photographers" - eventually became a director of a former Swindon photographers, Hedges Wright, whose creativity was renowned throughout Europe and beyond.
Today Dean Butler Digital Photography undertakes everything from a single subject photoshoot to assignments across the UK, mainland Europe and beyond.Dean's work embraces a wide span of specialist services and sectors, including blue chip client work, packshot/product photography, profiling, PR support, lifestyle activities, architecture - from buildings very old to future heritage, food, location and portraits.His abilities have been developed over 30 years.
"People say that anyone can take a picture; maybe they can, but professionalism, as with any other trade, comes about through experience, creativity, many hours behind the camera," says Dean.
"We believe our skills and long term experience produce campaigns and projects of the highest possible order - vital in today's world where you basically get one chance.
"Our aim is always to create consistently visual impact, our work is of the highest order for reproduction on whatever media has been chosen."
Dean's new website - a montage of high skill, photo visuality and professionalism - can be viewed at www.deanbutler.co.uk
The studio is based at Unit 3, Butts Courtyard, Poulton, Cirencester, tel: 01285 851923.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2278
|
__label__cc
| 0.563948
| 0.436052
|
CmiA in Africa
African Cotton
Cotton made in Africa is an initiative of the Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) that helps African smallholder cotton farmers in Africa to improve their living conditions.
The CmiA standards with social, environmental, and economic criteria were designed to improve the living conditions of African smallholder farmers and promote environmentally friendly cotton production.
Agricultural Training
Economic Training
CmiA Against Child Labour
Through its training programs, Cotton made in Africa improves the living conditions of smallholder farmers and allows continuous knowledge transfer to smallholder farmers.
The CmiA Community Cooperation Programme
Bottom up: Anchoring environmental and social standards in the Ethiopian textile industry
Our work focuses primarily on the people in the African project countries. Beyond sustainable cotton cultivation, we also commit to cooperation projects.
CmiA in the Market
Textile Chain
Cotton made in Africa enables all participants to win. Become partner or supporter.
CmiA Standard
Here you can find necessary information about Cotton made in Africa.
Interview with Torsten Stau
“We need solidarity.”
Torsten Stau on work wear, cooperation with civil society, and CmiA in the mass market
Mr. Stau, you are responsible for many areas at the REWE Group. What do you do exactly?
Within the REWE Group, I am responsible for the areas of purchasing and category management non-food, capital and consumer goods as well as PENNY Online. In addition, I am the CEO of HLS GmbH, which stands for Handel-und Lager-Service, a trade and warehouse service provider. And finally, Non-Executive Director of REWE Far East Ltd., the procurement organization of the REWE Group, which procures goods from the Asian market for the REWE Group.
The REWE Group has been a partner of CmiA for many years. It has continuously increased its demand for CmiA cotton. How can business and sustainability be combined?
At the start of the cooperation 10 years ago, our share of more sustainable cotton was 15 percent. Today it’s over 70 percent, with the aim of converting to 100 percent for all private label textile products by 2025. To achieve this goal, we rely on the Cotton made in Africa raw material, which ensures both ecological and social improvements at the beginning of the supply chain, thus helping us to live up to our responsibility in the value chain. On the other hand, we have now managed to ensure that CmiA can hold its own in price competition with conventional cotton.
What feedback on CmiA do you get from employees, customers and media?
In 2016, we started to switch our work wear to CmiA. This will be the case for all workwear in Germany by 2020. In addition, we regularly inform our employees about CmiA through activities. Externally, we inform the public about this successful cooperation through various formats and on various occasions. Internal and external feedback is entirely positive.
You have many years of experience in the international textile industry. How do you assess the development of the topic of sustainability?
Demand for more sustainable cotton has evolved from a niche to a mass market. CmiA also has its share in this. In terms of content, a lot was added: Whereas in the 1990s, we were almost exclusively concerned with social issues, today, also ecological issues increasingly have to be solved.
Do you have an example of this?
Many. Another very striking signal sent against disposable plastic was when the REWE Group became the first retailer in Germany to discontinue selling extremely non-durable plastic straws across the board in spring 2019. We are also getting deeper and deeper into the supply chain. A good example of this are our activities as part of the Detox campaign, with which we are eliminating harmful chemicals from lower levels of textile production in order to help protect water as a resource. In addition, many industry and multi-stakeholder initiatives have emerged, such as the ‘Bündnis für nachhaltige Textilien’ (Alliance for Sustainable Textiles). A joint commitment is often more effective and efficient than individual activities. We are also responding to the growing demand for transparency.
Do you also face challenges when implementing CmiA?
Sure. This is particularly true in countries that are themselves strong producers of cotton. There, the question of price is much more difficult to implement.
If you had one wish, what would the textile industry look like in the future?
We need even more industry solutions and market participants to join forces to implement social and ecological requirements within the value chain. This applies vertically in the supply chain for suppliers and production sites as well as horizontally for cooperation between companies. To achieve this, we first need more transparency in the value chains. In order to change basic conditions, companies must also cooperate with civil society, governments, and standard organizations.
Introducing Agri Exim as a new CmiA partner
Agri Exim has approached CmiA end of 2018 during the Cotton Expert House Annual Conference in Kampala with the interest to become a partner of the Cotton made in Africa Initiative. Soon after this encounter in Uganda, the AbTF and Agri Exim kicked-off the on-boarding process, and after successful competition of the verification missions for the ginnery – conducted end of January 2019 – and on field level – carried out in September 2019 – now is the second certified partner in Uganda.
Here is a portrait of the company presented by Varun Bhassin, CEO of Agri Exim Uganda:
Agri Exim was founded in 2012 in an age when going organic & natural was still more of a luxury than a lifestyle. Our main goal – which remains true today – was to make quality ingredients more accessible to global customers, while making our credible farmers economically secure and productive. We recognized that there were so many farmers in communities who had the potential to offer high-quality products, but no way to scale or market them. We equipped them with the necessary education and the tools, so they could realize their full potential and their vision.
What started as a small attempt to assist our farmers has today grown into a thriving, rewarding operation delivering certified-organic & natural products worldwide. With a presence in over five countries and a farmer community over 17,000 strong, we still work at the ground level. We work closely with our farmers to assist them in identifying opportunities to maximize their land’s output potential and support them through the provisions of necessary guidance resources to reach their goal. We stand behind them through the entire process – from training camps to cultivation to harvest – and guarantee the purchase of their yield at a premium. Agri Exim provides a global platform for local farmers to market their product, and make sure that they get the best return for their hard work.
Our hands-on approach ensures that the entire supply chain right from cultivation all the way to packaging passes through stringent globally accredited quality standards. We are thoroughly involved and oversee every step of the manufacturing process, and our rigorous quality checks ensure that our customers get the finest local product, without any compromise.
For Agri Exim’s cotton supply chain in Uganda, our ginnery is situated in Iceme, in the north of Uganda in the district of Oyam. It was acquired in early 2018. We currently work with about 10,000 small holder farmers out of which 3,540 farmers have been certified CmiA.
Agri Exim services the sustainable food and non-food industry and thus ensures that its farmers are paid fair prices. With a strive to ensure a sustainable market for its cotton farmers, Agri Exim decided on CmiA to be its certification partner.
Better access to clean water for cotton communities in Burkina Faso
CmiA’s first partner in Burkina Faso, the cotton company Faso Coton, launched in October 2018 in a community project with the financial support from S. Oliver, and realized the construction of two boreholes in the villages of Doubgin and Thiougou by March 2019.
Initiated in close collaboration with local committees, the project quickly gained the support of the local communities. The construction took place in two stages, starting with an outreach phase to the communities of the populations and the other to the operational phase.
The communities were first made aware of the risks associated with diseases caused by the consumption of unsafe water. A few months later, the construction of the boreholes started under the supervision of the local committees set up by the village. Faso Coton’s approach was to set up these committees with seven or eight members, including five women, to manage the borehole in the long-term. There are trained persons for the maintenance of the borehole, and the committee is responsible to collect funds for routine maintenance, spare parts and any other necessary repairs. The committee is supported by the local authorities and the community as such.
Once the boreholes were up and running, the beneficiaries were interviewed in April and May 2019 on their views and opinions in order to evaluate the short-term impact of the project.
In total, more than 2250 people use the boreholes on daily basis for both domestic and commercial purposes. The most outstanding result from the impact interviews is a significant amount of time that is saved for the tasks to collect safe drinking water for the households. Women and children, mainly girls, safe two to four hours per day, which they had to spend to collect water from remote places. While children can invest this time in learning for school, women report to devote the ‘gained’ time in economic activities, such as picking, processing and selling of local products like shea butter or néré.
In conclusion, the project succeeded in having a very positive impact on the livelihoods of community members, specifically in
Protecting the health of community members by providing clean and safe drinking water, thus reducing water-borne diseases
Reducing the challenges and burden of fetching water for women and girls specifically
Improving school attendance and learning success of children, specifically girls by reducing their time spent on household chores
Strengthening women’s economic activities
Interview with Josia Coulibaly
For the benefit of the female producers
Josia Coulibaly on sustainability in the cotton business, women in Africa and her assertiveness in the village
Ms. Coulibaly, you are responsible for corporate responsibility and sustainability at SECO, a cotton branch of a company of the Olam Group and a wholesaler of agricultural goods. What is your main role?
Together with my department, I develop and implement programs and activities to benefit our partners. The focus is on creating living landscapes where prosperous farmers and thriving communities live in harmony with healthy ecosystems.
One aspect of working in-line with the CmiA standard is empowering female farmers. How are the female cotton farmers organized?
We work with registered individual producers as well as with organized women’s associations, registered under the name of their president. In addition to their fields where they grow food crops, they have a common plot where they work one or two days a week — often earning their own income for the first time. Revenue is collectively spent to benefit the community, such as fixing water pumps and other social actions.
Are there any initiatives you have set up to specifically assist female cotton farmers?
Yes, selected women’s groups are trained by us with the support of external partners in associative life, entrepreneurship and the establishment of ‘Village Savings and Loan Associations’ (VSLAs). Although these initiatives are carried out for the benefit of female cotton producers, they are also open to other women in the villages. In 2018, 543 women participated in these activities. At the end of the season, there is a celebration in which they were officially recognized and rewarded to encourage other women to do the same. I am proud that our work to support women even attracted the international press – our work got featured in the newspaper “The Telegraph” among others.
Do you get different feedback from men and women?
Some producers report significant improvements in their living conditions. They also participate financially in community projects and are more involved in meetings on decisions. It is a great challenge to undertake activities that are culturally undesirable, for example access to land. That’s difficult.
How did you manage to be accepted as a woman in the villages?
My first experience was in the village of Yedandiekaha. I was there for a broken water pump. People were amazed to see such a young lady and wondered what she was doing here. But when I came back again and again, the villagers learned that my visits are always linked to a social initiative or a project for them.
And how does SECO work on equal opportunities for men and women in their own company?
Olam International has a non-discrimination charter that promotes equality for all people without discrimination. An internal mentoring system called ‘GROW’ (Globally Reaching Olam Women) has been set up in order to coach women to take on greater professional responsibilities.
CmiA at the AFCOT Conference: Major Sustainability Trends and Effects for Producers
The Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) was invited to present the Cotton made in Africa initiative at the French Cotton Association (AFCOT) conference, which was held in Deauville on September 30th and October 1st, 2019. Over 300 people from five continents took part in the event. The CmiA Representative in Western and Central Africa, Younoussa Imorou Ali, gave a presentation titled “Major Sustainability Trends and Effects for Producers”.
Key messages of the speech included the AbTF’s conviction that sustainability actually is more than a trend, but a phenomenon which is here to stay. It has been embedded at national legislation and corporate policy level. Successful organisations promote its implementation and work on developing more sustainable and transparent production. An ever-increasing number of consumers around the world demand that their goods are sustainably produced and expect that the can trace their products back to their origins via clear and transparent value- and supply chains. If the cotton industry is to cope with these ever-increasing demands, it too needs to become more sustainable and transparent. The Cotton made in Africa Standard and the Aid by Trade Foundation can play a key role in enabling stakeholders within the cotton producing countries and regions of Sub-Saharan Africa to make this shift.
The discussion, which followed the presentation, was driven by three major questions: First, who can become a CmiA partner and how is the process. Secondly, why CmiA is not implemented in more countries. Finally, it was questioned whether the currently achieved impact through trainings and additional community projects is sufficient to justify the efforts made by farmers to change their system from “conventional” to “sustainable”. While the first two questions were straight forward to answer, the last question is rather considered a major task and long-term work assignment to CmiA.
The Aid by Trade Foundation thanks the French Cotton Association for the opportunity to give the cotton industry’s executives food for thought and vice versa.
Picture: © Francois Louchet
Interview with Boaz Ogola
Symbol of light and freedom
Boaz Ogola on higher harvests, girl dormitories and the feeling of carrying a very special torch
Mr. Ogola, what role do you play in the Alliance Tanzania cotton company?
I am responsible for managing the day-to-day business operations, but I also represent the company in all government affairs and of course those relating to village communities. In addition, I coordinate, supervise, and manage the implementation of all CmiA projects.
Alliance Tanzania has been working with CmiA since 2014, and its first certificate was issued in 2015. How has your business developed since then?
Remarkable. Our employees are extremely motivated as a result of our efforts to promote decent working conditions, including gender equality. This leads to better harvests, high productivity, and a close relationship with the people who work near our factory, especially with those farmers who benefit from community projects. Our cotton intake has increased as a result of our commitment to contract farming, and cotton quality has improved enormously through training for farmers.
Alliance Tanzania is also committed to improving the livelihoods of cotton growing communities. Can you give a brief overview of the projects?
Together with CmiA we were able to realize a number of joint projects. The old building at the Kasoli Health Center was renovated and a maternity ward was set up to reduce the mortality rates of expecting mothers and infants. We also installed wells in various places and built water collection systems in schools, health centers, and vegetable gardens to improve the community’s nutritional situation. To improve the inadequate school infrastructure, we also put up twelve modern classrooms, 30 pit latrines, and a girls’ dormitory at Mwamlapa Secondary School together with CmiA.
Is there anything that truly stands out from your commitment to the village communities?
Our joint work and efforts for the Simiyu region have received a great deal of attention. We received a tribute visit by the ‘Uhuru Torch’ during the official handover of the classroom project and the ‘Busese’ water project. This torch represents freedom and light and is carried every year on a different route through the country. Being the national symbol that it is, it was a great honor for me to hold the torch.
Do you already have plans for 2019 to achieve similar success?
What really counts is that people’s life are getting better - the community still needs a lot of support, whether in terms of health, education, or water and sanitation. In 2019, our focus will be heavily on education. In addition to new classroom buildings for primary and secondary schools and the expansion of the girls’ dormitory with kitchen and dining room, we will also start building a vocational training center at Kasoli Ward, the region in which many of our contract farmers live.
In your opinion, which are the three decisive tasks for making the cotton industry in Tanzania fit for the future?
First of all, I would extend the concept of contract farming to a larger region in order to provide smallholder farmers with the necessary knowledge to increase their productivity. I would also provide quality training in sustainable cotton production to include good agricultural practices, conservation tillage or Integrated Production and Pest Management (IPPM). Last but not least, further support for the rural communities is needed by helping to ensure that the villagers are healthy and happy.
Aid by Trade Foundation
Gurlittstraße 14
info@abt-foundation.org
Tel.: +49 (0)40 - 2576 - 755 - 0
Fax: +49 (0)40 - 2576 - 755 - 11
CmiA Representative Asia | Bangladesh
Mahbub Khan
H#11, R#113/A, Gulshan-2
Mobil: +88 (0)171 - 312 - 2417
Mail: mahbub.khan@abt-foundation.net
Coordinator CmiA Quality Assurance for West and Central Africa
Younoussa Imorou Ali
M younoussa.imorouali@abt-foundation.net
MOB: +229 97 29 34 96 / 94 15 67 67
Skype : yimorouali
By subscribing to this newsletter you will be exclusively provided with the latest news about Cotton made in Africa.
Mrs. Mr.
You can change your mind at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the footer of any email you receive from us, or by contacting us at info@abt-foundation.org. We will treat your information with care and respect. For more information about our privacy practices, visit our website. In our section Data Protection you can find more information how we treat your personal data.
CmiA Facebook
CmiA Twitter
CmiA YouTube
CmiA Instagram
Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) was founded in 2005 by entrepreneur Dr. Michael Otto as an independently operating initiative. CmiA is carried by the Hamburg-based Aid by Trade Foundation (ABTF). CmiA’s mission is to promote decent work for cotton farmers and cotton ginnery workers in Sub-Saharan Africa, to protect the environment and to create transparency in the textile supply chain. Instead of collecting donations, the initiative follows the principle of helping people help themselves through trade. An international alliance of textile companies and brands demands for CmiA certified cotton, integrates it into their globally spanning supply chains and pays a license fee to the initiative for using the CmiA seal. Income from licensing fees is reinvested by CmiA to achieve its mission – enabling smallholder farmers to grow cotton in accordance with CmiA values, improving their living conditions and those of their families and securing the preservation of natural resources. For consumers, products supporting Cotton made in Africa can be recognized by a small product label.
FR: Afin d'optimiser notre site pour vous et de pouvoir l'améliorer continuellement, nous utilisons des cookies. Les cookies nous permettent de vous fournir nos services, d'optimiser nos contenus et de nous aider à attirer de nouveaux soutiens. En utilisant ce site, vous acceptez que nous utilisions des cookies. S'il vous plaît lire notre politique de confidentialité pour plus d'informations.
EN: In order to optimize our website for you and to be able to continuously improve it, we use cookies. Cookies make it easier for us to provide you with our services, optimize our contents and help us attract new supporters. By using this website, you agree that we use cookies. Please read our privacy policy for further information.
DE: Um unsere Webseite für Sie optimal zu gestalten und fortlaufend verbessern zu können, verwenden wir Cookies. Cookies erleichtern uns die Bereitstellung und Optimierung unserer Arbeit und helfen uns bei der Gewinnung neuer Unterstützer. Mit der Nutzung dieser Website erklären Sie sich damit einverstanden, dass wir Cookies verwenden. Weitere Informationen erhalten Sie in unserer Datenschutzerklärung.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2280
|
__label__cc
| 0.530497
| 0.469503
|
Texan Man Lost Weight to Join the Army
By James Lambert | August 11, 2017
Facebook/ William Guinn
People would generally begin a weight loss program with the aim to achieve better health and life, but one patriotic Texan wanted to do so for a noble cause – to serve his country.
February 2016, William Guinn Jr. from Abilene, Texas weighed 456 pounds and that’s when he also decided he needed a change.
It has been a life-long dream for him to serve in the military but given the enlistment requirements, his weight was not just acceptable. So, he decided to lose the excess weight to qualify.
It took him 14 months of exhausting exercise and a strict diet plan. He ate healthy foods and even sought advice from a nutritionist to achieve his goals. By April 2017, he had lost half of his body weight, 230 pounds. And, this year, he finally fulfilled his dream to join the army.
To achieve this, Guin worked with Planet Fitness’ personal trainers six days a week. Sometimes, he will even jog back home after working out in the gym for two hours.
““When I first started losing weight I was 456 pounds in 14 months without surgery or anything else, just dieting, eating right, and gym 6 days a week and very active i manage to lose 211 pounds all thanks to planet fitness,” Guinn wrote in a Facebook post.
One great motivating factor that pushed him is because he wanted to follow after his grandfather’s footsteps.
“It can be done ad yes for those that didn’t know [I was] trying to [get into the] military, he wrote on a public post on Facebook. “[It] will be a great start for my career and to push [myself] harder than ever before. I will graduate from basic and M.I.T. and start my career. I do see a change.”
The married father-of-four was sworn in to the Army in Dallas last July 10 and explained to a local news outlet.
This is just evidence how persistence, determination and hard work can do amazing things. Keep it up, Mr. Guinn.
Thanksgiving Recipes: Simple and Timeless
Our Kind of Country LIKE MY MOTHER DOES: Me, Marlena and My Momma…
Our Kind of Country HOT LEGS BY ROD STEWART: One Fine Example of Honky-tonkin’ Country Music
DIY Summer Ideas for Your Farmhouse
Country Music is Showing a Paradigm Shift in the Ideals of American Masculinity
A Tour to Female Country Singers’ Exquisite Houses
Today Is Lionel Richie’s Special Day, Happy Birthday!
Country Wedding Playlist For Wannabe June Brides II
Country Songs Wedding Playlist For Wannabe June Brides
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2281
|
__label__wiki
| 0.879789
| 0.879789
|
Nicole Kidman Joins Keith Urban for a Duet in “The Fighter”
By James Lambert | July 22, 2017
“The Fighter” has easily been one of my favorite songs because of its upbeat tune and lyrics. The original version of it with Carrie Underwood is already great but this duet between the couple is definitely something else. It’s really cute and sweet how the couple sang the song as if they are just talking to each other.
[like_button]
Last May 12th, Urban shared this video of what I can consider an intimate moment between the sweet, lovely couple. When the song started, Kidman screamed:
“Oh my God, I love this song!”
Urban responded, “Thank goodness!” The songs started and there was even a moment when the record momentarily stopped but Urban continued to sing. Then they began singing to each other.
While sitting in the car, the chemistry between the two of them is undeniable. They smile, flirt and act the song out with their cute little gestures. It’s so cute that it will make you smile.
The song is about a man promising a woman that he will defend and support her.
“I was working with busbee that day; we were in London. I was actually driving to the studio to work on this other song we started, and I had most of it the chorus in my head, and it felt like I had most of the song in my head — the verses just had to flesh out. I walked into the studio and played the chord progression, and he built this track really quickly, and then I could sing over the top of it”. He continued and said “it was just a very quick, quick song to write, because I literally thought about Nic and I and our relationship in the beginning, and some of the things we had said all went into that song.”
Watch the adorable duet of Keith and Nicole here.
Tags:keith urbannicole kidmanthe fighter
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2282
|
__label__wiki
| 0.861614
| 0.861614
|
Norman Solomon is co-founder and national coordinator of RootsAction.org. His books include "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death" and "Made Love, Got War: Close Encounters with America's Warfare State." He is the founder and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy.
Not Bernie, Us. Not Warren, Us.
The dismal conflict that erupted this week between Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren should never have happened. But now that it has, supporters must provide grassroots leadership to mitigate the dangerous mess. The argument that broke out between Warren and Sanders last weekend and escalated in...
Biden, Buttigieg, and Corporate Media Are Eager for Sanders and Warren 'Trash Talk' Narrative to Take Hold
Corporate Democrats got a jolt at the end of last week when the highly regarded Iowa Poll showed Bernie Sanders surging into first place among Iowans likely to vote in the state’s Feb. 3 caucuses. The other big change was a steep drop for the previous Iowa frontrunner, Pete Buttigieg, who—along...
Trump Is a Reckless and Dangerous Warmonger, But Too Many Democrats Continue to Work Against Peace
The huge crisis with Iran is more dangerous because so many Democrats have been talking out of both sides of their congressional mouths. An example is the recent rhetoric from Sen. Chris Murphy. “The attack on our embassy in Baghdad is horrifying but predictable,” he tweeted on the last day of 2019...
Biden and Buttigieg Exemplify How Corporatism and ‘the Madness of Militarism’ Go Together
There's nothing like an illegal and utterly reckless U.S. act of war to illuminate the political character of presidential candidates. In the days since the assassination of Iran’s top military official, two of the highest-polling Democratic contenders have displayed the kind of moral cowardice...
Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg Are Not to Be Trusted
In a recent New Yorker profile of Pete Buttigieg, one sentence stands out: “Watch Buttigieg long enough and you notice that he uses abstraction as an escape hatch.” Evasive platitudes are also routine for Joe Biden, the other major Democratic presidential candidate running in what mainstream...
Here It Comes: Get Ready for a Stop-Bernie Onslaught Like You've Never Seen
A central premise of conventional media wisdom has collapsed. On Thursday, both the New York Times and Politico published major articles reporting that Bernie Sanders really could win the Democratic presidential nomination. Such acknowledgments will add to the momentum of the Bernie 2020 campaign...
It's Corporate Media, 'Moderate' Democrats, and the Oligarchy vs. Bernie Sanders and a Movement
For the United States, oligarchy is the elephant—and donkey—in the room. Only one candidate for president is willing to name it. Out of nearly 25,000 words spoken during the Democratic debate last Thursday night, the word “oligarchy” was heard once. “We are living in a nation increasingly becoming...
Progressives Need a United Front for Sanders and Warren
We’re now seven weeks away from the Iowa caucuses, the first voting in the Democratic presidential race. After that, frontloaded primaries might decide the nominee by late spring. For progressives torn between Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren -- or fervently committed to one of them -- choices...
Will the Democratic Presidential Nomination Be Bought by the Oligarchs?
From three different vectors, the oligarchy is on the march to capture the Democratic presidential nomination. Pete Buttigieg has made big gains. A timeworn ally of corporate power, Joe Biden, is on a campaign for his last hurrah. And Michael Bloomberg is swooping down from plutocratic heights...
Kerry's Endorsement of Biden Fits: Two Deceptive Supporters of the Iraq War
On Thursday afternoon, the Washington Post sent out a news alert headlined "John Kerry Endorses Biden in 2020 Race, Saying He Has the Character and Experience to Beat Trump, Confront the Nation's Challenges." Meanwhile, in Iowa, Joe Biden was also touting his experience. "Look," Biden said as he...
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2288
|
__label__cc
| 0.536013
| 0.463987
|
Compass Expeditions Motorcycle Tours and Rentals
Motorcycle Tours of South America, Australia, Asia and Major Expeditions - Road of Bones
Major Expeditions
Australian Bike Rental
South American Bike Rental
Trip Extensions
Frequent Rider Program
It Pays To Have Friends – The Compass Expeditions Referral Program
Ride Grade System
Compass Expeditions Release and Waiver of Liability
Compass Expeditions Excess Reduction Policy (ERP) Summery
Free Promotional DVD
Compass Expeditions Tour Catalogue
October 21, 2015 By Craig Jackson
Ethiopia – Cairo to Cape Town Expedition 2015
21st October 2015 –
Ethiopia has exceeded our expectations. The country is stunning, the people are very friendly and the riding is the best so far. Everyday seems to just get better with magnificent mountain passes, great twisties and terrific views. If it weren’t the endless stream of people walking along the road, it would be a biker’s paradise
A few days ago we walked in the footsteps of “Indiana Jones” as we searched for the lost Ark in the city of Axum. It is said that the Ark of the Covenant, containing the tablets of the Ten Commandments, is enshrined at the chapel in the city. As expected, we didn’t actually get to see it, but as legend has it, those who do see it, don’t survive very long. So probably just as well.
The next few days we rode through the countryside, absorbing the simple hospitality of the Ethiopian people. No matter where we stop, even on seemingly deserted roadsides, people swarm around to greet us with a friendliness that is lost in other parts of the world.
Visiting the ancient city of Lalibela was an absolute highlight. Riding into the town, we had no idea of the splendours that were literally hidden beneath the surface. At first, it seemed like just another poor, dusty, rural town. But it’s what underneath that surprises!
The city is home to one of the world’s most astounding sacred sites. 11 rock-hewn churches, each one carved, using just chisels and hammers, entirely out of single blocks of granite and descending down to 40 feet below ground level. During construction, it is said that at night Angels would pick up where the workers left off.
We were lucky enough to arrive on market day where thousands of local traders sell everything from grains, fruit and vegetable,s to donkeys, cattle and camels. One of the guys almost walked away with a bargain donkey!
The past few days we have been riding South, towards Addis Ababa where some local kids think it’s good sport to throw rocks and shoot bow and arrows at the bikes riding past. Jack, the tour leader was hit with a rock that smashed his mirror and bounced into his shoulder. It’s a shame, as it doesn’t reflect the rest of the country or people. Hopefully, their parents will teach them a lesson one day.
It’s said that for every positive, there’s always a negative. And Addis Ababa is that negative. It’s a big ugly city with horrible traffic, congestion and pollution. It’s just such a contrast to the awesome beauty of the rest of the country. Well at least we can do a bit of bike maintenance do some shopping for the camping ahead.
From here we start our ride towards Kenya. We are so looking forward to the amazing Kenyan plains and of course the awesome wildlife we will soon encounter.
Learn more about this expedition here at – http://www.compassexpeditions.com/tour/major-expeditions/cairo-to-capetown/
Filed Under: Blog & Updates Tagged With: Adventure Motorcycling, Africa, BMW Motorrad, cairo to cape town, ethiopia, lalibela, motorbike, motorcycle expedition
Compass Expeditions
Motorcycle Tours of South America, Australia, and Asia
Head Office (Australia)
2/21 Glenville Drive,
Melton,
Terms & Conditions: International Tours
Terms & Conditions: Australian Tours
Our Ride Grade System
© Compass Expeditions - All Rights ReservedPrivacy | Sitemap Developed by - WD3 Web Hosting
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2290
|
__label__wiki
| 0.898141
| 0.898141
|
Robertson advances on DWTS
Olympian Lolo Jones first celebrity to be eliminated
Robertson advances on DWTS Olympian Lolo Jones first celebrity to be eliminated Check out this story on dailyworld.com: http://tnsne.ws/1u4RE7f
Published 8:35 p.m. CT Sept. 16, 2014
TV personality Sadie Robertson from the A&E series “Duck Dynasty,” poses backstage at the Sherri Hill Fashion Show in New York. Robertson is one of 13 contestants on the new season of “Dancing With the Stars.”(Photo: AP)
Sadie Robertson, daughter of “Duck Dynasty” star Willie Robertson, may have stepped out of her father’s shadow, finding her own wings as a dancer.
Robertson and her professional dancing partner Mark Ballas were among the first to be declared safe from elimination as “Dancing With the Stars” had its first elimination show Tuesday night.
The couple danced the cha cha in the opening night of competition, live Monday on ABC.
The Duck Dynasty star and model said her only dancing has been done in her bedroom, alone in front of her mirror. Ballas said he was "proud" to be helping her hone her skills. Their cha cha sizzled, with Robertson showing herself to be a dancing diamond in the rough (in a spangly dress approved by dad Willie). Judge Bruno Tonioli called her a "bird of paradise." Carrie Ann Inaba said, "You're a star, honey. You don't even know it yet."
Robertson and Ballas were the second-highest scoring couple based on judges’ scores Monday. They totaled 34, trailing only the team of Alfonso Ribeiro and Witney Carson, who scored 36.
After the judges’ scores were mingled with viewer votes, two teams ranked at the bottom.
Fashion designer Betsey Johnson, in her 70s, received the lowest marks from judges after a cha cha to Material Girl came to an abrupt halt after a feather boa she tried to pull off a rack got stuck and the music went on. She still ended it with a cartwheel/split anyway.
That effort seemed to be appreciated by viewers, who voted to send Olympian Lolo Jones home.
Jones declared she was a virgin and was concerned about the intimacy of her dance. She was teamed with new pro Keo Motsepe. Lolo admitted that her dance was "awful," saying there was a technical glitch at the start. "I'm honestly really mad." Although the judges had her scored above Johnson, the viewers sent her packing.
Read or Share this story: http://tnsne.ws/1u4RE7f
Pastor of burned St. Landry Parish church mourned
St. Landry Parish budget doesn't include election costs
St. Landry schools shut down computers after attack
Parlons Opelousas: The Cotton Carnival of 1924
The Rev. Harry Lee Richard dies at 66
St. Landry Parish could face budget cuts, tax renewals
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2307
|
__label__wiki
| 0.599798
| 0.599798
|
Iraq Gets Extension on Energy From Iran
BAGHDAD (AP) -- Two Iraqi officials say the United States has given Iraq a new 90-day extension for an Iran sanctions waiver allowing Baghdad to import electricity and natural gas from Tehran.
An Iraqi official told The Associated Press on Saturday that Baghdad was informed about the waiver during a call the previous day between U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi.
Another official confirmed the waiver, saying it will start June 19.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Iraq's power sector is in disrepair and doesn't generate enough electricity to meet domestic demand, especially during the scorching summer months.
Iraq has received one waiver after another since U.S. sanctions on Iran went into effect in November.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2319
|
__label__wiki
| 0.801857
| 0.801857
|
Reviews » Audio Reviews » Linkin Park - Reanimation
Linkin Park - Reanimation
Warner Music // DVD Audio // October 15, 2002
List Price: $18.98 [Buy now and save at Dvdempire]
Review by Geoffrey Kleinman | posted March 10, 2003 | E-mail the Author
Pts.Of.Athrty
Enth E Nd
[Cali]
Frgt/10
P5hng Me A*wy
Plc.4 Mie Haed
X-Ecutioner Style
H! Vltg3
[Riff Raff]
Wth>You
Ntr\Mssion
Ppr:Kut
[Stef]
By_Myslf
Kyur4 Th Ich
1stp Klosr
Krwlng
The 'Sophomore' album release is often dreaded by artists, especially ones who do remarkably well with their debut album. Rather than try to hurry out a successor to their best selling album Hybrid Theory for their 'Sophomore' effort, Linkin Park decided to turn over their successful debut album to a myriad of re-mixers for a fresh take on the songs that made Linkin Park a success. The result is [Reanimation] a grab bag of musical styles and sonic assaults. While this innovative 'experiment' does bear some real fruit [Reanimation] unfortunately still falls in the dreaded 'Sophomore Slump' that many bands find themselves in.
As a complete album [Reanimation] is nowhere near as good as Hybrid Theory and if this were a CD I'd probably only give it a mild recommendation (mostly for the top songs remixed from Hybrid Theory). But as a multi-channel surround sound experience [Reanimation] is a must for fans of Linkin Park or anyone wanting to experience the future of Digital music. [Reanimation] is a Hard Rock symphony with a wide range of dynamic audio which jumps from speaker to speaker. It's got rich tones with deep bass which is truly enveloping. [Reanimation] pulls you in and then seems to run sonic circles around you in one of the more dynamic surround mixes I've heard. The tone of [Reanimation] is decidedly futuristic and I could easily see animators use this DVD as the backdrop for a Heavy Metal like film.
Many of the stand outs songs on [Reanimation] are the same stand outs from Hybrid Theory including: KRWLNG, ENTH E ND, PTS.OF.ATHRTY, 1STP KLOSR. Interestingly these four songs bookend the DVD. I also really liked WTH > YOU which seems to benefit from the remix and is one of the better fusion of musical styles and MY DSMBR which takes the well known song and gives it some nice sonic texture with a fresh interpretation of the tone of the song. Some of the weakest points on the album are the non musical interludes which ineffectively try to 'bridge' the album together including [CHALI] and [Riff Raff] which both contain my biggest pet peeves on albums - messages from people's answering machines! [Reanimation] would be a much better album without these pointless interludes. [Reanimation] seems to be strongest when it's tapping it's hard rock roots and weakest when it meanders into rap.
The Audio
[Reanimation] was specifically mixed and mastered for DVD-Audio and it shows. [Reanimation] packs more sonic punch than even the most aggressive sci-fi film soundtrack and sonically is definitely a model for how Hard Rock can work even better in multi-channel surround.
Owner's of DVD-A capable players can experience [Reanimation] in either high resolution multi-channel surround sound (48 khz/24-bit) or high resolution stereo (44.1 khz/24-bit) DVD-Audio players. If you don't have a DVD-A capable player you'll be able to enjoy [Reanimation] in either Dolby Digital 5.1 surround of Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo.
I did notice a CONSIDERABLE difference between the (48 khz/24-bit) DVD-A and the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio tracks. While both tracks do a great job with the surrounds, the separation of sound and instruments, the richness of the bass and overall clarity is quite noticeably better with the high resolution DVD-A. While [Reanimation] does sound good in the high resolution stereo mode, the mix shines best in multi-channel surround. [Reanimation] is a great disc for DVD-A owners to compare the experience between the 4 available audio formats on the DVD. It's really eye opening and an excellent demonstration of the power and quality of high resolution audio.
In addition to the music on [Reanimation], there are also three music videos and a making of documentary. The menu system for [Reanimation] leaves a lot to be desired, so to get to the Special Features, you need to click on 'Playlist' from any song and then 'Main' which is on the top right corner. It's easy to miss because the lettering for Main blends with the background, and is positioned so it's actually partly cut off.
The PTS.OF.ATHRTY music video is a mix of Final Fantasy, The Matrix and Halo. Presented in Letterboxed Widescreen the music video is really a massive computer animated space battle that could easily be a 'cut scene' for an X-Box video game. PTS.OF.ATHRTY is a real treat for anyone who is a fan of the animation style from Final Fantasy and really plays more like a mini movie than anything else.
FGHT/10 also done with computer animation, but this time around it's much a much more subtle and subdued type of animation. FGHT/10 is presented in letterboxed widescreen and follows a rouge as they're being chased through the night streets by police armored in riot gear. The rouge 'tags' buildings with LP (Linkin Park) as they're pursued by the police. Another Matrix-esque video which is well done and enjoyable.
KYUR4 TH ICH is a complete departure from the other two videos on this DVD. Also presented in Letterbox the video for KYUR4 TH ICH is a series of fisheye home videoesqu shots of people breakdancing. It's a pretty short video and nowhere near as interesting and exciting as the first two.
The Making of PTS.ATHRTY - a 5 min short making of documentary focuses mostly on the director Joseph Hahn (who is also a member of the band) and the original concept for the video. It's an interesting segment that covers a lot of ground in a short amount of time.
I have real mixed (excuse the pun) feelings about [Reanimation], sonically I think the DVD-A presentation is a real treat for any Hard Rock Fan, but musically the album doesn't hold together. After my first listening to the DVD-A I found myself skipping over tracks to get to the ones I liked and after several listenings I found myself wishing that Linkin Park had given Hybrid Theory a Multi-Channel DVD-A release over [Reanimation]. Shortcomings aside [Reanimation] is definitely something worth checking out, if for no other reason than to experience this fantastic mix. [Reanimation] breaks ground for a hard rock multi-channel mix and for that I'm recommending music loves (especially Hard Rock ones) to check it out.
Order "Linkin Park - Reanimation" now!
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2322
|
__label__wiki
| 0.821925
| 0.821925
|
Naval Air Station Fallon TDY [Image 8 of 8]
FALLON, NV, UNITED STATES
Photo by Tech. Sgt. Caycee Watson
169th Fighter Wing/Public Affairs
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Timothy O’Neil, an electrical and environmental systems specialist from the 169th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at McEntire Joint National Guard Base, S.C., conducts maintenance on an F-16 Fighting Falcon vertical stabilizer at Naval Air Station Fallon, Nev., Nov. 19, 2014. Swamp Fox Airmen from the 169th Fighter Wing and South Carolina Air National Guard are deployed to NAS Fallon to support Naval Carrier Air Wing One with pre-deployment fighter jet training, integrating the F-16s suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) capabilities with U.S. Navy fighter pilots. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Caycee Watson/RELEASED)
VIRIN: 141119-Z-WT236-042
Location: FALLON, NV, US
This work, Naval Air Station Fallon TDY [Image 8 of 8], by MSgt Caycee Watson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
South Carolina ANG
169th Fighter Wing
169th FW
McEntire Joint National Guard Base
South Carolina Air National Guard
Swamp Fox
SCANG
S.C. Air National Guard
S.C. Air Guard
169th FW/PA
Naval Air Station Fallon TDY
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2323
|
__label__cc
| 0.734583
| 0.265417
|
Experienced Representation You Can Trust State Bar Certified Specialist
Business & Civil
Veterans Courts Q&A
Q: What are veterans courts?
A: Veterans courts are specialty courts that seek to address the particular challenges that many veterans face with mental illness and substance addiction. They emphasize the delivery of treatment, not the infliction of punishment, as the right response to many types of offenses, rather than the often punitive responses of the criminal law.
At the Law Offices of Derek P. Wisehart, we are excited about the opportunity that the Veterans Court in Tulare County offers for the resolution of legal disputes.
If you are a vet who has gotten in trouble with the law, we encourage you to call us to discuss your specific case in a free consultation. You can reach us at our office in Visalia at 559-429-5630 or 800-742-6392.
Q: Does Tulare County have a veterans court?
A: Yes. Tulare County created its veterans court in 2010. Not all counties in California have these courts.
Q: Am I eligible for veterans court?
A: To be eligible for the Tulare County Veterans Court, there are several eligibility criteria you must meet. For starters, the offense you are charged with must not be classified as a serious or violent felony. In addition:
You must provide documentation of combat service and be no longer on active duty.
You must also be a resident of Tulare County and voluntarily agree to participate.
You have to sign a waiver to release your medical records.
Referrals to veterans court come from various stakeholders in the justice system, including police, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges or probation officers. The key question, ultimately, is whether you have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a substance abuse problem or a mental health issue that is best addressed in a treatment setting rather than in the regular criminal justice system.
Q: I know I am eligible for the program. But will my case be considered suitable?
A: That depends on your specific circumstances. Talk with your defense attorney about this.
Q: How does the program work?
A: If the court accepts you into the program, you will have to plead guilty to the offense you have been charged with. But you will have a chance to get the charges dismissed entirely if you complete the program successfully.
Q: How long does the program last?
A: At least 18 months. A veterans court judge will check on your progress monthly throughout this time, including your compliance with random drug checks.
Q: Can I get help to re-engage in civilian life?
A: Yes. Talk with your defense lawyer about how this program fits with your larger life goals.
Protecting Your Driver's License
Diversion Programs / Specialty Courts
Veterans Courts Q & A
Contact The Law Offices of Derek P. Wisehart
Law Offices of Derek P. Wisehart
Visalia Law Office Map
Law Offices of Derek P. Wisehart represents residents in Visalia and surrounding communities such as Fresno, Tulare, Clovis, Porterville, Hanford, Lemoore, Avenal, Exeter, Bakersfield, Dinuba, Selma, Sanger, Reedley, Madera, Delano, San Luis Obispo, Pismo Beach, Grover Beach, Paso Robles, Santa Maria, Corcoran, Wasco, Tulare County, Kings County, Fresno County, Kern County and San Luis Obispo County, California.
© 2020 by Law Offices of Derek P. Wisehart. All rights reserved. Disclaimer | Site Map
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2325
|
__label__cc
| 0.615141
| 0.384859
|
Home | Departments | Town Clerk | Election Information | Early Voting
Early Voting is available to Massachusetts for the Presidential Primary Election on March 3, 2020 and for Precinct 6 voters for the Special State Primary Election to fill Representative Shauna O'Connell's seat. No application or mailing is necessary for early voting…just show up and vote!
What? EARLY VOTING
When? February 24th – 28th
Where? TOWN HALL – 136 Elm Street – Colleen Corona Room
Voters who are registered in one of the 4 Political Parties (Democrat, Republican, Green-Rainbow, Libertarian) will be required to vote on that party ballot type. All other registered voters, including Unenrolled (sometimes known as Independent) will be able to choose one of the 4 ballot types to vote.
Voters are encouraged to educate themselves on their current party enrollment and ballot type options (for those who may choose) PRIOR to arriving at the polls or early voting site. Click the KNOW BEFORE YOU GO TO THE POLLS banner above to obtain your voter information and SAMPLE BALLOTS banner below to prepare in advance of voting. Your preparation as a voter will reduce the amount of time necessary in the voting booths and reduce lines and crowding at the polls.
EARLY VOTING FAQ:
If I vote early can I also vote at the polls on Election Day?
No. Your ballot will be considered cast and you will not be eligible to vote by mail, in person or at the polls on Election Day.
When & how is an early voter's ballot cast?
Similar to Absentee ballots, Early Voting ballots are sealed by the voter in an envelope and held until Election Day. On Election Day early voting ballots are opened and scanned into the voter tabulation equipment, in the same manner as absentee ballots at OAHS.
Voting in Person at the Polls after submitting an early ballot is prohibited as outlined in 950 CMR 4 7.19.
<a href="http://www.easton.ma.us/departments/town_clerk1/early_voting/index.php">Your Link Name</a>
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2327
|
__label__wiki
| 0.585851
| 0.585851
|
Modern Age (1992-Now)
Rare The Astounding Wolf-man Robert Kirkman & Jason Howard signed #1May 2007
THE DARK # 1 SIGNED BY JOSEPH NAFTALI MAY 1993
$2.980 bids
Cold Blooded #1 May 1993 VF Kelly Jones cover - Vampires
Cable #1 (Marvel May 1993) Gold Foil Embossed Cover MODERN AGE VF/NM
+ $11.00 Shipping
Locke & Key #4 - First Print - May 2008 VF+/NM
Details about True Gein #1 May 1993 VF 1st print - Ed Gein
True Gein #1 May 1993 VF 1st print - Ed Gein
Mentor, OH, United States
Estimated on or before Tue. Jan. 28 to help icon for Estimated delivery date - opens a layer
Last updated on Sep 05, 2019 14:38:00 PDT View all revisions
Grade: 8.0 VF Publisher: Boneyard Press
Item location: Mentor, OH, United States
Shipping to: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Estonia, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Japan, China, Sweden, Korea, South, Indonesia, Taiwan, South Africa, Thailand, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Bahamas, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Croatia, Republic of, Malaysia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Jamaica, Bermuda, Brunei Darussalam, Bolivia, Ecuador, Iceland, Jordan, Cayman Islands, Luxembourg, Peru, Paraguay, Vietnam, Uruguay, Russian Federation
Change country: -Select- Australia Austria Bahamas Bahrain Belgium Bermuda Bolivia Brazil Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Canada Cayman Islands Chile China Colombia Costa Rica Croatia, Republic of Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Ecuador El Salvador Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Guatemala Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland Indonesia Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Korea, South Kuwait Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malaysia Malta Mexico Netherlands New Zealand Norway Panama Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar Romania Russian Federation Saudi Arabia Singapore Slovakia Slovenia South Africa Spain Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Thailand Trinidad and Tobago Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Vietnam
On or before Tue. Jan. 28 to
Ed Roth Art Prints,
Ed Roth Limited Edition Print Art Prints,
Willie Mays MLB Bobbleheads,
Ed Sheeran,
1962 Willie Mays Baseball Cards,
devil may cry poster,
willie mays the catch,
devil may cry gun,
1st Edition Louisa May Alcott Books,
longaberger may series
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2328
|
__label__cc
| 0.59328
| 0.40672
|
The big fat thread of what phone do or did you have!
By Ryzen, May 23, 2018 in Everything Else
ME ME ME ME ME
A place to talk about what phone you have/had, and what you might like about it. Please no arguing about which is better either.
I had a old iPhone 6 for a while, but a few days ago I put it out of commission and traded it for a Pixel 2 XL, which is noticeably faster and has a better camera. Overall it's a very solid upgrade from what I had before.
Avoozl
My first phone was a Nokia 2690 which I think I got in 2010, my second and current phone which I got in 2015 is a Samsung Galaxy S5.
The jump to smart phones was amazing to me at the time, when I went out on long train trips I was able to do so much more than just rely on music from my seperate MP3 player which I no longer needed, I could also play games and watch movies to pass the time on those long trips.
I have a Note 8 right now and am quite happy with it. My previous phone was a Nexus 6 and I was even more happy with it. The best phone I've ever had, however, was the Nexus One.
GarrettChan
I'm still using my Samsung S4 right now, and it sucks, but I usually won't change electronics stuff before it's broken for some reason. Therefore, I'm still using a GTX 560 for my computer...
The funny thing is that even my mom can't tolerate my phone and said "change your phone already!".
ShoDemo
Edit: In the past I had used a bunch of button phones from time to time. But the one I loved the most was a Sony Cybershot.
My first smartphone was an Xperia Arc S (WITH ONE CORE AND 512MB OF RAM!!! - let's not talk about internal storage, which was less than the RAM).
I loved my phone and I had 4.4.4 AOKP on it, but as time passed, it started messing up the battery and it burnt a few SDs.
So, I recently switched to a used Nexus 5 (currently Marshmallow, but I am going to flash a ROM during summer). Needless to say, it is miles ahead of my previous phone. I am able to run a shit ton of games with more than acceptable performance (except some new games that have drops), store the 5 GBs of my music freely and not be afraid of the battery.
Edited May 23, 2018 by ShoDemo
NeedHealth
My first phone was a Nokia 33 10. My next phone, samsung model can't-remember I used until it oneday started reciving airplane chatter.
Battle_Korbi
I started off as a kid with a Sony Ericsson something something. It was a cool phone, I didn't spend my ass on it the whole day, and it served well until it retired from the service, as I got a Galaxy Mini (cannot remember which one), a tiny but cute smartphone which I was promptly hooked on. Like, real bad addiction. I used to joke that I stored my soul into the phone so in case I die the next person who would pick it up would be haunted and forced to carry two souls in a body. It did well, but I mistreated it horribly. It now lies in one of the drawers, tossed aside like a plague-ravaged corpse, decaying.
The first phone finds itself in the hands of one of the villagers who soaked her phone in the rain, it was the same model, and I didn't mind parting from it, so I gave it to the old lady, free of charge.
Then, I obtained a Chinese knock-off that I won't ever name (just mentioning it gives it more honor than it deserves), which, at first, was great, but:
-It had it's batteries replaced three times in a span of a year and a half because they kept overheating.
-It would kill itself over at least once a day, if not for the battery, then from something else.
-The front camera died off and the face camera was about to die as well.
I cast down the phone into the bowels of hell from which it came from, and got myself a Huawei P10 Lite which I now use, and to be honest, it's the best thing ever. My days of addiction were long gone, but it still finds use even with me, a casual user at most.
Zahid
my first one was a 3310 nokia then
2:1100 nokia
4: 5800 express music nokia
6: 6710 navigator nokia
7: some chinese shit mobile
8:S3 samsung (my first Smartphone)
And C7 samsung currently
CarboxylicAcids
Green Marine
I have a lenovo but i don't know which:D
My fav will always be the nokia 6600 <3
R4L
First phone I ever got was some LG flip phone. It was purple, but IDK anything else about it. Then I had the Envy 3, then the Envy Touch (worst phone ever), and then an LG Optimus (which I learned rooting and flashing custom ROMs on) and then an HTC Evo V 4G (which is CRAZY to get S-Off on. Never ever have I had to ground out a pin to the SD Card slot!)
After a few iPhone 4s, a Galaxy S3 chinese knockoff that couldn't even do 3G, and Moto G, I'm rocking a Pixel XL. Best phone ever made IMO. Camera is incredible, the OS is never slow (I've had mine for a year now and it's still as fast as day 1) and doesn't come bloated with useless apps, and the 32 GB storage while not a lot nowadays, is still far from full thanks to all the cloud solutions we have now, and I don't store music on it so it works perfectly for me.
Grimosaur
First phone was a Nokia that one of my mums friends just gave to her so she just gave it to me. I think I used it from 2012 to 2014 where I then got a Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini as my first smartphone which I then used till late 2017 when it FINALLY froze and then wouldn't boot up anymore no matter what I did. I used it for so long that the metal around the button had actually started to rust somehow. The one I got after that and the one I'm currently using is a Samsung S5 Mini. I hate having huge phones, I have no idea why people ever think that bigger is better. I can barely even fit some other peoples phones in my pocket. I actually don't even like my S5 that much, it sometimes just randomly shuts off on it's own and the back shell is the flimsiest thing I've ever seen, it's got tons of cracks in it at the edges, Also the words for 'SAMSUNG' on the back just come off if you even slightly brush your fingers over them, It actually says '_M_UNG' right now on it.
Edited May 23, 2018 by Grimosaur
Pyrolex
iPhone 6S, but when my contract expires I'm upgrading to a Galaxy S8. I don't really need all the crazy features the S9 has, but I also want to at least kind of stay up to date on phones with headphone jacks.
MFG38
Huawei Y560, aka Huawhycantyouworkyoupieceofshit.
Rosh Fragger
My first ever phone was a Nokia 2630.
Using a Galaxy Note 4 these days.
Kristian Nebula
I think I had these ones during the years:
My first one was Nokia 8110 (the banana model) back in 1996-1997
Then 6110, 7210, 6230i, N95, 2680s-2, N8. I may have forgotten 1-2 models that I had from the list.
Now I have a similar Samsung phone which I still use, the Xcover 271 GT-B2710.
Uncle 80
Nokia 111, the un-smart edition. It can ring and send texts. Oh, an it's got fancy stuff like a calendar, calculator and alarm clock. I strongly dislike anything touch screen based. And on the bus I stick to my PORTABLE MP3 PLAYER thank you very much
riderr3
leodoom85
Started with a Nokia (can't remember the model), continued with an LG (same, can't remember model), next I had another phone for my previous job (no luck remembering brand and model...fuck) and currently having a chinese replica (sigh) of a Samsung Galaxy S6 and a Lenovo A2016 which I use it now.
mrthejoshmon
Samsung Galaxy Ace gt-s5830i, unreliable and prone to the dreaded "emergency calls only" error, I have 3 of them due to the cheap cost and fickle nature of them and the third and final just got the emergency calls only error.
Rather than replace it I'll upgrade this time, unreliable piece of shit.
Revved
I think my first phone was the OG iPhone back in 2011, but then upgraded to a 4S in late 2014. Then the 6 a couple years later, and then 7 the following year, which is my current one.
Seeker_of_Truth
My first phone was the Razr phone 10 or 12 years ago. I've had a few since, but I don't recall what they were off the top of my head. Right now I have a Galaxy S8, which I've had since its release.
Formerly Piper Maru
Sony Ericsson W610i and now currently an iPhone 7.
MTF Sergeant
Used to have A Samsung Galaxy Note II. Now I use the Honor 8.
Chezza
Currently a Samsung A5. It's aight.
Not really big on phones, they are useful tools. I use mine plenty for whatsapp, music player, alarm and Doomworld Forum.
DoomUK
Galaxy S7. I'm happy with it, though regrettably I got it about a month before the S8 came out, thanks to my cat knocking my S6 on the floor (landed on its weak spot, destroyed the screen) and I just couldn't live without a phone for a month.
I've used a number of phones until now.
My first mobile phone was a Sagem, but it's been so long I no longer remember what model it was (in fact I don't remember the exact model of most of my past phones honestly). Then I got a Sony Ericsson K510i, a LG something, a Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini, a Samsung Galaxy something, and my current phone which is a HTC. I've never owned an iPhone.
How phones have evolved over the years though, from a very small screen with few features, terrible speakers for music, MB size internal storage, unresponsive touchscreen which needed to be constantly re-calibrated manually back when it first became a thing, very simple games, and no App Store or Android. Heh, a time when you couldn't do much on a phone beside texting and calling people.
Marlamir
I remember that as for most people here, my first phone was nokia as well. it was allready old school phone from late 90's back then. This brick end up hide in my room for most of the time. The only usage the phone got was for counting time for my running training. Im currently using galaxy a3 2017 model.
Go To Topic Listing Everything Else
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2332
|
__label__cc
| 0.69119
| 0.30881
|
Remove This Item Sub-theme: British
Remove This Item Sub-theme: Showbiz
Remove This Item Sub-genre: Fantasy
Remove This Item Sub-genre: Horror/Gothic
The Shakespeare Revue
By Christopher Luscombe and Malcolm McKee.
Product Code: SD4000
Middle School | High School | College and Adult | Family (all ages) | Senior Adults
Cast Size: 2m., 2w. (2-4 m, 2-4 w., 1 pianist; expandable to 35; chorus if desired.)
This sparkling entertainment comprises the finest comic writing inspired by Shakespeare. As well as classic songs and sketches by such well-known names as Stephen Sondheim, Cole Porter, Noel Coward, Tom Lehrer and the Beyond the Fringe team, it also features specially written material by the best modern revue writers. The Shakespeare Revue was first presented by the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-upon-Avon. Following a sell-out run, it transferred to the West End where it won great critical acclaim. Learn More
Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There
Adapted by Rosemary Nursey-Bray. From Lewis Carroll's classic.
Product Code: TM2000
Young Audiences | Family (all ages)
Cast Size: 9+ (2m., 3w., 4+ either gender) with doubling or up to 35+ (4m., 5w., 26+ either gender).
One afternoon while playing chess by herself, Alice enters through the looking glass into a world of strange back-to-front magic where she meets the kings and queens of her chess set. The world inside the glass is marked out as a chess board, across which she must travel as a pawn. She meets Tweedledum, Tweedledee, Humpty Dumpty, the Mad Hatter and the March Hare in her adventures. She finally reaches the eighth square and becomes queen. Or is it all a dream? Learn More
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2335
|
__label__wiki
| 0.708998
| 0.708998
|
VW unveils Tarok lifestyle ute
One-tonne ute will get variable double-cab for versatility.
Volkswagen has unveiled a baby brother to its Amarok ute.
The Volkswagen Tarok has been revealed at the Sao Paulo International Motor Show in Brazil this week, designed as more of a lifestyle accessory rather than a conventional work horse.
The German car company says the Tarok has “the versatility of a cleverly designed five-metre pick-up” with foldable rear seats and rear panel to fit larger, heavier items in the tray, with a load rating of around one-tonne.
Klaus Bischoff, head designer for VW, says the Tarok’s DNA adds an exhilarating dynamic to the segment.
“With its striking Targa-inspired roof bar, charismatic front end, three-dimensional LED lighting strip in the rear, and powerful yet stylish side panels, the Tarok Concept’s expressive design makes it the first pick-up to combine the stylistic elements of an urban SUV with an authentic off-road design,” he says.
The interior will be heavily digitalised with a glass-covered infotainment system, digital air conditioning controls and a digital cockpit along with a colour-keyed crossbar covering the length of the dash panel similar to the Polo GTI.
VW has confirmed the Tarok will be sold in Brazil with a 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine, but has not given a timeframe for when it will go on sale.
However, Australia will most likely miss out on the ute with a spokesperson from Volkswagen Australia saying the Tarok isn't suitable for Aussie customers.
"Utes in this country are about capacity, both in the tray and under the bonnet, and the Tarok has neither of those things."
Alexandra Lawrence
Ali is a Motoring Reporter at Drive.com.au. She completed her Journalism degree in 2018 and has a background in the automotive industry. Ali also has a passion for racing that started in go-karts from an young age, progressing into car racing in 2016…
(0) Comments on: VW unveils Tarok lifestyle ute
NEXT ARTICLE: Loading...
car-article
motor-news
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2337
|
__label__wiki
| 0.926986
| 0.926986
|
By James Allen
Lego to launch new Land Rover Defender scale model kit
Latest Land Rover gets the Lego treatment
YOU MIGHT have expected the blocky shape of the new Land Rover Defender to be a perfect candidate for a Lego version, and sure enough, here it is.
Announced shortly after the latest Land Rover made its world debut at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show, the car maker revealed the new Defender would be arriving in toy form this October, as a “highly-detailed” and “authentic” Lego Technic set.
As a Technic set, rather than a basic brick-based offering along the lines of last year’s Lego James Bond Aston Martin DB5, the Lego Defender will be quite a complex beast under the plastic bodywork. Like the real car, the mini Defender has a permanent all-wheel drive system and three differentials have been crammed into the toy’s tiny drivetrain.
Lego claims by far the most complex feature of the Defender is its transmission; describing it as “the most sophisticated Lego Technic gearbox to date”. Though it only has half as many gears as the real-life Defender, the Lego version features a four-speed ‘box, complete with interior shifter controls to change up and down the gears — much like the Lego Technics Bugatti Chiron that we built last year.
Complementing the gearbox controls is a gadget that will be familiar to die-hard off-road enthusiasts: a low range transfer box that, in real-life 4x4s, enables low speed drive scrambling over very rough ground or over steep ascents and descents, keeping the engine ticking over quick enough to enable decent torque.
As with the standard transmission, the low range ‘box on the Lego Defender can be engaged and disengaged using a controls in the cabin — though, as the model doesn’t have a motor allowing it to move under its own power, any kind of transmission is more a fun engineering exercise than a practical feature.
Lego and Land Rover also created a working winch in the front bumper, a six-cylinder ‘engine’ under the bonnet (with moving parts), and the spare wheel on the rear tailgate. Bits and bobs from the real life Defender’s accessories range, including the roof racks, the exterior panniers and the traction mats, have made their way onto the Lego version, too.
Considering how much has been crammed into a model that’s 42cm long, 20cm wide and 22cm tall, the Lego Land Rover Defender set is perhaps unsurprisingly made up of many pieces. Once it’s fully assembled, the car will comprise 2,573 components — more than a thousand fewer than the 3,599 pieces that make up the Lego Chiron but still a lot for a Lego kit.
Although the Lego Defender more is less than half the price of the Chiron kit, it’s still a complex set and so a shade pricier than your typical Lego kit — the toy maker says the set will start at £159.99.
As it will go on sale in the UK from October 1 this year, however, it means anyone who buys the Lego Land Rover on launch will own a new Defender months before the people who have ordered the full-sized car collect the keys to their off-road-ready 4×4.
Tweet to @J_S_Allen Follow @J_S_Allen
2020 Land Rover Defender: official photos, price, off-road ability and on sale date
This is what it’s like to build the £330 Lego Technic Bugatti Chiron model (video)
Video: Revisiting the Jaguar I-Pace in Tokyo
Times Luxx magazine's motoring editor David Green thought the time was right to revisit Jaguar's first ever pure-electric car.
Video: Real-world range of electric cars revealed
What happens when you take six electric cars and drive them until they run out of juice. And how far can they go?
Clarkson: What's the point of a diesel G-Class?
Jeremy Clarkson may have a soft spot for the AMG G-Class, but he's less approving of the Mercedes when there's a diesel engine under the bonnet.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2338
|
__label__cc
| 0.596171
| 0.403829
|
NEXT-STEPS TOOLKIT
Community/Corporate Program
Is your community, workplace or organization interested in examining the impact of their food choices on human health, the environment, and animals? The Educated Choices Program can help!
A healthy, sustainable and more compassionate world will require thoughtful, critical thinkers. Communities have the tools to solve global problems. The Educated Choices Program is dedicated to inspiring others to realize the importance and responsibility of being informed and to understand the power and influence they wield to make the world a better place through their food choices. In understanding the realities behind these choices and the many benefits of healthy eating, people can make informed, responsible and compassionate decisions for themselves and other beings.
Rather than telling participants what to think or feel, ECP educators help them find answers for themselves. We encourage our audience members to think about their own experiences and examine their choices anew through an informed lens. Through respectful, non-judgmental and open dialogue, attendees are encouraged to choose a path that accords with their own values and beliefs.
Our educators are exceptionally trained and teach throughout the US and Canada, bringing our free presentations directly to communities. We explore the agricultural systems and healthy lifestyles that help prevent disease, preserve and protect our resources and provide alternatives to ensure the compassionate treatment of animals.
ECP offers five engaging, interactive presentations that encourage participation and critical thinking. Using videos, activities and open-ended questions we challenge our audience to identify widespread assumptions about human health, the environment and the use of animals. Educators provide only current, mainstream research and information about these issues and non-judgmentally discuss the validity of common assumptions.
Presentations are either 45 or 90 minutes long, but can often be adapted and formatted to any group’s particular needs. Additionally, we provide free resources to help attendees expand on the program’s themes.
Healthful Eating
Obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers and other diseases are lifestyle-related. Audiences learn about the connections between diet and health and discuss ways that informed dietary choices can help prevent or relieve diseases. The latest meat and plant-based food science technologies are also discussed.
The Environment and Modern Agriculture
Audiences explore how raising farmed animals and related crops affect ecosystems and our health through global warming, the depletion of natural resources, the pollution of soil, water and air, the use of pesticides, hormones and antibiotics, soil erosion, deforestation and world hunger. Participants discuss alternative choices that can help protect our environment. The latest meat and plant-based food science technologies are also discussed.
Modern Animal Agriculture
More than 95% of animals raised for food in the U.S. are raised in intensive confinement facilities, often called "factory farms." Participants learn about the realities for animals, the impact on the environment and the health implications of modern agriculture practices, while also exploring the alternatives for a more compassionate and just society. The latest meat and plant-based food science technologies are also discussed.
The Ethics of Eating
A combination of all three presentations. (A 90 minute block is needed for this presentation.)
Cell-based/Plant-based Technologies - The Future of Meat and Dairy
Cell-based meat may be the future of meat production. Using cultured animal cells to grow REAL meat, many scientist-led companies plan to provide cell-based meat products like steak, hamburgers, chicken breast, duck, etc., to grocery stores and restaurants by late 2019/20. But what is it, exactly? How is it grown and processed? Is it safe? What does this really mean for the future of our planet, human health and animal farming? Will this new food science be the answer to many of our world’s problems or not? How will the market change and who is investing? This presentation addresses these questions while illustrating the technology and processes that go into producing “cell-based meat.”
We also take a look at a new source of dairy - made without using a cow, or even cells from a cow! Scientists have developed a fermentation process to produce casein and whey, allowing for the production of REAL dairy products - the same ones we've enjoyed all along, from cheese to ice-cream. How does it all work? What kind of options will this new technology create for consumers, chefs and those with dairy-related health concerns? What about lactose? We explore this brand new technology and its potential.
Lastly, we take a look at the enormous improvements made in plant-based food technologies. Advancements in food science have led to the creation of new plant-based products that give meat-eaters the same experience they enjoy with traditional meat. Some companies are close to replicating the exact cellular structure of meat, to attain an even more improved texture, taste and experience. How is this accomplished? What are the ingredients? Why are meat producers investing in plant-based foods? We look closely at this growing industry.
We also address the impact of these industries on human health, the environment and the ethical issues regarding farmed animals. Will these products help us address some of the most critical issues facing the planet and its inhabitants? To what degree? How does it all weigh out in the end?
Educated Choices Program
info@ecprogram.org
High & Middle School Program
Community & Corporate Program
Canadian 7-12th Grade Standards
U.S. High School Standards
U.S. 7th-8th Grade Standards
Executive and Management Team
Field Educators
Copyright ©2015-2020 by the Educated Choices Program
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2341
|
__label__wiki
| 0.695776
| 0.695776
|
For an Authentic Taste of Greece, Go to Taverna 38 in Williston Park
By Kerriann Flanagan Brosky| January 9, 2017 | Photos by Kerriann Flanagan Brosky | 38 Hillside Avenue Williston Park, NY 11596
Long Island has a lot of Greek dining options. Taverna 38 is one of the best.
If you’re looking for traditional, authentic Greek food at a reasonable price in a homey, elegant atmosphere, Taverna 38 on Hillside Avenue in Williston Park is the place to be.
Owned by seasoned restaurateurs, Claudio Peralta and John Alexopoulos, Taverna 38 is Greek cooking at its best. Executive chef Steve Papadopoulos is at the helm in the kitchen, and has worked extensively in European restaurants, many of which he owned, and in European hotels.
Taverna, which means tavern in Greek, is a far cry from a tavern. With its plush ivory-colored upholstered chairs and booths, and warm blue tones and accents, there is an elegance here that you don’t see at many Greek restaurants today. It’s elegant, but not pretentious, and as soon as you meet Claudio and John, you are welcomed as if you are family coming for dinner.
“Our concept was to serve traditional Greek cuisine, like home cooking—very simple, rustic,” said Claudio Peralta. “It’s very elegant looking inside, but when the people walk in we treat them like they are coming home. The food is truly Greek—simple, healthy, fresh.”
Taverna 38 owners Claudio Peralta and John Alexopoulos
Paralta, a native of the Dominican Republic, moved to the United States in 1996 at age 21, and started working in fine dining restaurants, as a maître d’, manager, captain and sommelier. His credits include stints at the London NYC, A Voce, Daniel and Picholine where he worked for over a decade. It was at Picholine where he met John Alexopoulos.
Alexopoulos grew up in the restaurant business, working weekends and summers as a teenager in his father’s Greek diner. While studying accounting at Baruch College in 1993, a friend was able to get him an interview at the St. Regis in New York City. John was hired to work as a busboy in Lespinasse, and within a year he was promoted to captain.
“It was at Lespinasse where I fell in love with fine dining,” said Alexopoulos.
From there he went on to work as captain at several acclaimed restaurants including Adour by Alain Ducasse, Estiatorio Milos, Bouley and Picholine. Alexopoulos also holds a certificate from the Sommelier Society of America.
Mutual friends of John and Claudio convinced them to open a restaurant together and to look at the space in Williston Park. In November of 2015 they launched a Mediterranean restaurant called Xarello, but by May, the partners decided to go back to Alexopolous’s roots, and re-launch it as a traditional Greek restaurant with an emphasis on fresh seafood. Taverna seats 60 in the dining room and 14 at the bar.
The menu includes delicious traditional Greek cuisine such as avgolemono, an egg, lemon, chicken soup with orzo; spanakopita, northern Greek village–style spinach pie; pastitsio, layers of baked macaroni, tomato, ground beef and béchamel; and moussaka, baked layers of eggplant, potato, zucchini, ground beef and béchamel.
Some of the more interesting and popular dishes include a grilled Spanish octopus appetizer with arugula in a Greek red wine vinaigrette, and a whole branzino imported from Greece. It is grilled and served with olive oil, lemon and some parsley. The spreads are equally as popular and include tzatziki, the Greek yogurt, cucumber and garlic spread; melitzanosalata, roasted eggplant, red pepper and garlic; taramosalata, red caviar, lemon and extra virgin olive oil, and traditional hummus made with chickpeas, tahini and extra-virgin olive oil.
All the olive oil and vinegar, as well as all the fish, are imported directly from Greece. Other fish dishes include garides psites, grilled shrimp with lemon, olive oil and oregano; taverna glossa, a baked fillet of flounder with tomato, feta, white wine and herbs; and a Mediterranean sea bass served with lemon potatoes.
To see where else Kerriann Eats, click the logo!
For those who love traditional Greek lamb dishes, there is paidakia, grilled baby lamb chops; arnisio kotsi, braised lamb shanks with tomato and orzo, and arni kleftiko, a braised leg of lamb with graviera cheese wrapped in a filo purse with baked vegetables.
Claudio and John started me off with some amazing appetizers. The first was a house special—a whole baked calamari stuffed with fresh sautéed spinach, leek, feta and a touch of tomato and herbs finished in a delicate tomato sauce with a tomato, honey, balsamic aioli. A crispy, panko-breaded zucchini stick was served with the dish. The generous portion is definitely a dish that can be shared, and the flavors and textures of this dish were outstanding. This dish paired perfectly with a glass of Assyrtiko, Lyrarakis Petrokaliva, a 2014 Greek white wine from Crete that was absolutely delicious.
Next up was the grilled Spanish octopus, which was served with grilled shrimp over a lightly dressed arugula salad. This dish could probably be shared, too, but I couldn’t help myself. I ate the whole thing. It was that good. The octopus was tender and sweet, perfectly cooked and full of flavor, as were the shrimp. There is a process to preparing and cooking octopus, and Chef Papadopoulos has mastered it. The octopus is covered in foil and is braised with bay leaves in the oven for several hours at a low temperature. The foil helps to steam the octopus, which makes it extremely tender. It is then lightly grilled to order. This dish was colorful and beautifully presented. It’s something I would definitely order again. It, too, paired well with the Greek white wine.
Baklava, served in three easy-to-eat bites.
For an entrée, I was served a house special, a whole pork tenderloin, peppercorn crusted and braised with red wine. It was stuffed with feta and tomato and topped with a basil, barbecue sauce, baked apples and vegetables. This was a generous size dish showcasing a lot of different flavors. It paired nicely with a wonderful Zinfandel from Napa Valley. Be sure to ask for this dish cooked medium rare.
The baklava blew me away, and I loved how it was served in three easy-to-eat logs. It is made traditionally with chopped walnuts and sugar in filo, with a touch of cinnamon, but chocolate syrup is added to the honey as well as a hint of citrus to create a melt-in-your-mouth experience. It was a perfect ending to a delicious Greek meal.
Taverna 38 is open for dinner seven nights a week. Monday–Thursday from 5–9:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday 5–10 p.m., Sunday 3–9 p.m.
Cinema Arts Centre Director of Publicity Raj Tawney’s Essential Huntington Restaurants
Long Island Restaurant Week to Return from January 22 to January 29
Where to Find Edible Long Island
Watch Edible on the Road with Chef Plum
The Edible Guide
Our picks for the island’s best things to eat and drink, along with fantastic food markets, food sellers, food artisans and other shops.
Hush Bistro Moves to Huntington
Rustic Root Kitchen Brings Farm-to-Table Cuisine to Woodbury
What Is the Best Thing You Ate This Year on Long Island?
Edible Long Island is published four times a year and available by subscription, for sale at selected retailers and at other distribution spots throughout Long Island. Please visit our sister magazines, Edible Manhattan, Edible Brooklyn, Edible East End, and the Edibles in New York state. And visit Edible Communities to find the publication nearest you.
© 2020 Edible Long Island
Join the Edible Long Island community.
Subscribe to the Edible Long Island newsletter to keep up with local food news, events and more!
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2345
|
__label__cc
| 0.691446
| 0.308554
|
Expert Law
Legal Help, Information, and Resources
Government and Administrative Law
Student Discipline: Student Wrongfully Accused of Being Under the Influence at School
If this is your first visit please consider registering so that you can post.
Student Wrongfully Accused of Being Under the Influence at School
Robbin.edwards88
My question involves education law in the State of: North Carolina.
I have a 16yr old cousin that's been told he cannot return to school until he takes a drug test and is evaluated by monarch or a daymark center for substance abuse.
Second day of school, after his weight lifting class, he started falling alot and couldn't walk due to leg pain and legs giving out on him. He fainted a couple of times at the school and my grandmother picked him up they took him to urgent care and he was diagnosed with a hamstring strain.
That afternoon his principal came to the house with papers for his parents letting them know he needed to be tested for drugs and evaluated before returning to school because they think he's on drugs.
This is a 16yr old boy that's spent his entire summer staying up all night playing video games and never eating like he should. Once school started back he also was put back on his adhd medication and started weight lifting without being physically active for almost 2 months.
Does the school have the right to make these accusations with no proof and keep him from school like this?
adjusterjack
Re: Student Wrongfully Accused of Being Under the Influence at School
Quoting Robbin.edwards88
The physical manifestations are evidence that there is something wrong with your cousin.
The school has a right to rule out booze and drugs and his parents should have enough common sense to get him tested and medically evaluated.
Quoting adjusterjack
So if I get sick after gym class because I didn't eat breakfast, I should be drug tested and not allowed at school until being assessed for substance abuse?
And he was medically evaluated after leaving school, and it was before the school decided to take these actions.
If this happened to you:
he started falling alot and couldn't walk due to leg pain and legs giving out on him. He fainted a couple of times
then, yes, you should be drug tested and not allowed back in school until being assessed for substance abuse.
What happened after that? Do you actually know? Or are you operating with only second hand information and have no idea what's really going on?
That's rhetorical. No need to answer.
Bottom line, the school did nothing wrong or illegal.
Shadowbunny
Muscle strain does NOT cause one to faint and rarely would it cause falling over.
ADHD medicine doesn't cause drowsiness; in fact, it's a stimulant.
IOW, you have zero notion of what's really going on, and the school has done nothing wrong.
And I'm sure the school knew all this, right?
First of all, "proof" is nothing but a quantum of evidence that is sufficient to persuade someone that something is or isn't true. In this case, there is unquestionably evidence of possible drug use. Is it conclusive evidence? Of course not, and if what you've told us is true, the drug testing will rule it out. The implication that a school needs to have absolute "proof" is absurd.
his parents should have enough common sense to get him tested and medically evaluated.
I don't disagree. However, if, as the OP stated, the OP's cousin "spent his entire summer staying up all night playing video games and never eating like he should," then the cousin's parents are pretty crappy parents, so....
Student Discipline: Student Accused of Smoking Weed at School
By Shana80 in forum Education Law
Defamation: Falsely Accused of Being Under the Influence at Work
By KimKess in forum Defamation, Slander And Libel
Education Law Issues: Wrongfully Accused of Doing Drugs at School
By Intoxicatedd in forum Education Law
Disciplinary Issues: Wrongfully Accused of Giving Pornography to a Student
By dusy123 in forum Employment and Labor
Student Discipline: Wrongfully Accused of Drug Use and Possession at School
By blownaway in forum Education Law
Legal Help, Information and Resources
ExpertLaw Home
Law Forums
Join our forum and ask a legal question for free, or to participate in discussions. Our forum includes lawyers, employment, insurance, tax and real estate professionals, law enforcement officers, and many other people with specialized knowledge, in addition to participation by interested laypersons. You will find thousands of answers to legal questions. Use of this forum is subject to the ExpertLaw terms of use.
-- ExpertLaw 6 -- Default Mobile Style
ExpertLaw
About ExpertLaw
Copyright © 2004 - 2018 ExpertLaw.com, All Rights Reserved
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2360
|
__label__wiki
| 0.789024
| 0.789024
|
Star Wars Last Jedi: Why Supreme Leader Snoke could have a LIGHTSABER
STAR WARS EPISODE 8 is now just six months away - and with questions around Supreme Leader Snoke still bubbling away, is there any truth to claims he will have a lightsaber?
PUBLISHED: 16:03, Sun, Jun 18, 2017 | UPDATED: 16:15, Sun, Jun 18, 2017
Will Supreme Leader Snoke have a lightsaber?
Various alleged leaks and unfounded rumours have suggested over recent months that we could see Snoke in combat in The Last Jedi, although a number of whispers have also pointed towards him staying relatively enigmatic.
Star Wars expert Mike Zeroh speculated that the villain’s obsession with wealth could point towards him indeed being possession of the iconic weapon.
He pointed to rumours suggesting Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) will target Snoke, while Rey (Daisy Ridley) focusses on Kylo Ren (Adam Driver).
“I’m assuming that’s how we transition to Star Wars Episode 9, where perhaps Luke Skywalker finds Snoke, confronts him and they engage in a lightsaber duel,” Zero suggested.
Star Wars: Is Snoke the Last Jedi? 'He's the only original Force user'
Star Wars 8 The Last Jedi LEAK: Supreme Leader Snoke details REVEALED?
The character is shrouded in mystery
Luke Skywalker will allegedly confront him
“It leads me to believe that Snoke will have his very own lightsaber at some point in the sequel trilogy, maybe even in this film.
“We know is a wealthy individual, this is why he has the ring with a black kyber crystal. He has a golden throne… he has a lot of stuff that is very much valuable and he is obsessed with wealth.
“The fact that he is obsessed with wealth tells me he should at least have a lightsaber in this film or in Star Wars Episode 9.”
Snoke’s identity has also been the subject of much discussion, but director Rian Johnson has hinted that we won’t find out much more about his backstory in The Last Jedi.
Who is Supreme Leader Snoke? The 10 best Star Wars The Last Jedi fan theories
Vanity Fair contributor David Kamp said in a Reddit AMA: “I asked Rian about Snoke—Who/what is he?—and Rian was fairly up front in saying that Snoke is not a character he particularly gets into in TLJ. Hmmm.”
We’ll see just how much Snoke will appear when the film is released at the end of the year.
Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi is out on December 15.
Star Wars 8 LEAK 'Snoke is ancient and can jump bodies'
Star Wars 8: FIRST pictures of AT-M6 Gorilla Walker, Snoke's Guard
Star Wars 8 The Last Jedi: ‘Snoke and the Man in Black's connection'
Star Wars 8 The Last Jedi LEAK: Snoke’s Praetorian Guards REVEALED
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2361
|
__label__cc
| 0.632821
| 0.367179
|
Historic Resources-
Map of History
Historic Tours & Programs
Fairfax History Day+
Sample Photos
Government » Historic Resources
Historic Blenheim and the Civil War Interpretive Center
Historic Blenheim House, c. 1859
HOLIDAY HOURS: We will be closed December 24 and December 25, as we as New Year's Day. We will be open on New Year's Eve Day,
Location: 3610 Old Lee Highway, Fairfax, VA 22030. Map Directions to Historic Blenheim Hours: Civil War Interpretive Center and Gallery: 10 am to 3 pm Tuesday-Saturday. House tours: 1 pm Tuesday-Saturday Check back for holiday closings. Admission fee: Free except for Fairfax History Day and group tours.*** Contact: For information call 703.591.0560.
Historic Blenheim is a c. 1859 central-hall plan Greek Revival-style brick farmhouse built by Albert Willcoxon just prior to the Civil War (1861-65). It is nationally significant for the voluminous quantity and quality of examples of Civil War inscriptions. More than 122 signatures, pictographs, games, and thoughts were left on the house walls by Union soldiers during their occupation of the Fairfax Court House area in 1862-63. This "diary on walls" provides insight into typical soldier life and extends to the effect of this war on local residents--such as the Willcoxon family--and free and enslaved people of African descent.
Guided Tour of Historic House: Please Note: The house is only available for view during the Tuesday through Saturday 1 pm guided tour. At this time the tour is of the first floor of the historic house and historic features around the site. Meet in the Civil War Interpretive Center. The Historic House is accessible for handicapped visitors. Phone: 703.591.0560.
Our gallery with replica attic in the Civil War Interpretive Center is open from 10am to 3pm.
**Group Tours: Private guided tours for adult groups and educational programs for students are available for a fee ($). All tours for 8 or more people are tailored for group needs, educational standards, and interests. Tours require advanced reservations. To arrange group educational programs or tours of historic Blenheim call Andrea Loewenwarter at 703.591.0560 or 6728.
Civil War Interpretive Center
In the Civil War Interpretive Gallery (2008), wall inscriptions and pictographs from the house are reproduced with full-scaled photographs in the replica attic.
To learn about the newest investigative research of the graffiti click here!The gallery also includes an illustrated timeline of Civil War events, artifacts that interpret the everyday soldier, biographies of several of the wall signers, and temporary displays.
Along with the featured gallery in the Civil War Interpretive Center at Historic Blenheim, we also hold monthly Civil War Programs in our center and feature short videos on local Fairfax Civil War topics. The gift shop stocks books, children's toys and games, replica items, and souvenirs related to the Civil War and Fairfax history.
Cannon drawing in Attic Soldiers' Signatures in Attic
The Civil War Interpretive Center is available for rentals for private use. For information call 703.385.7858 or Click here for rental properties information .
On the grounds of the Historic Blenheim estate is "Grandma's Cottage," which dates to c. 1840. It was occupied for much of its history by Margaret Conn Willcoxon Farr, the sister of Albert Willcoxon, owner of the Willcoxon farm (later named "Blenheim"). Margaret Farr is buried in the Blenheim cemetery along with her husband, brother, parents, and grandmother.
The cottage is important for its combination of log-wall construction and rare hewn timber framing with brick infill between the studs in the c. 1840 left portion of the house. A log cabin, of unknown date was connected to the 2-story house in 1867. It has been moved twice: in 1962 from its original location at the corner of Old Lee Highway and Route 236/Main Street to Old Lee Highway near Layton Hall Drive, from which it was moved to the Blenheim estate in 2001 after being donated to the city by local descendants of Margaret Farr.
The City of Fairfax is committed to the letter and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act. To request a reasonable accommodation for any type of disability, call: 703-385-8414 or 703-591-0560.
TASTE OF THE VINE
will be held Friday, October 4, 2019, 6:30-9:30pm at the Historic Blenheim's Civil War Interpretive Center. Join Historic Fairfax City, Inc. for this annual wine tasting fundraiser: wonderful wine, food, and silent auction items. Net proceeds benefit City of Fairfax Historic properties.
For further information and registration contact
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2364
|
__label__wiki
| 0.930861
| 0.930861
|
Set Free Course
Kids Running Lemonade Iowa Stand Donate Elizabeth Warren’s Money to Pro-Life Fund
Photo credit: @ewarren/Twitter
By Tré Goins-Phillips
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a Democratic presidential candidate, took a pit stop at a nearby lemonade stand as she was traveling through Iowa last month, and her money went to a cause she probably wasn’t anticipating.
Warren’s bus pulled off the road in Harlan in early August, when the 70-year-old politician noticed a quaint lemonade stand run by two 11-year-old girls, Sienna Michels and Audrey Billings, and saw an opportunity for a photo-op.
Stopped for a quick drink at a lemonade stand in Harlan, Iowa. When life gives you lemons, make big structural change! pic.twitter.com/rp1PMyzwKX
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) August 8, 2019
According to The Washington Free Beacon, Warren paid the girls $7 for seven cups of lemonade and then donated $3 to the kids.
Michels’ dad, Dan, who supported President Donald Trump in 2016, said the two girls thought Warren was “nice” and said the candidate told them to tell their parents to vote for her for president. Michels, in fact, was so impressed by her conversation with Warren, she told her parents they should vote for the Massachusetts lawmaker in 2020.
Dems Target Tax-Exempt Status of Christian, Conservative Non-Profits Using Biased SPLC ‘Hate-Group’ List
After hearing her request, Michels’ parents explained to her their opposition to abortion and told her Warren is a pro-choice politician who favors expanding abortion access. So they instead suggested Michels and Billings donate the $10 from Warren to the group March for Life Education and Defense Fund, a nonprofit that advocates for pro-life legislation.
“We talked about the abortion part of things and said maybe we should donate money to stop abortion,” Dan Michels said, “and my daughter was all for that.”
Ashley Bratcher Tells of Her Own Unplanned Pregnancy and the ‘Praying Grandmas’ Who Helped Lead Her to Faith
Warren, for her part, has not specifically addressed the small donation to March for Life. On her website, though, she has advocated for the protection of “a woman’s right to choose,” arguing, “Extremist Republican lawmakers are trying to turn back the clock and deny women access to reproductive health care.”
She is in favor of codifying the rights granted under the Supreme Court’s 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade, which essentially gave nationwide legal cover for abortion, and has endorsed the passing of federal laws “to preempt state efforts that functionally limit access to reproductive health care.”
The Christians Doing Battle in the NFC Championship Game
‘It’s a Glimpse at the Body of Christ in Action’: Tony Evans Reacts to Overwhelming Support for Daughter Pricilla Shirer
Facebook Now Classifies ‘Denying Existence’ of Transgender Identities as ‘Hate Speech’
‘I Still Believe’ Voted No. 1 Romantic Movie of 2020 — By Seventeen Magazine
Watch: This Three-Year-Old’s Lunchtime Prayer at His Preschool Will Bless Your Day
Sponsored Sidebar Default (2)
Sign up to get our newsletter your inbox every day.
Do you want to read
more articles like this?
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2365
|
__label__cc
| 0.505479
| 0.494521
|
https://www.farmprogress.com/sites/all/themes/penton_subtheme_westernfarmpress/images/logos/footer.png
Serving: West
Crop disease
Salinas-based romaine lettuce outbreaks declared over
California senators split over USMCA
What can farmers learn from e-commerce?
Valley vineyard removals may exceed 30,000 acres
Pork producers battle 'fake meat', '60 Minutes'
Calif. seeks to revive Delta tunnel project
USDA-FAS trade mission schedule set for 2020
Healthy soil focus of California organic conference
Home>Crops>Orchard Crops
Trademarking fruit and thwarting thieves — 19th century style
To protect the fruits of their labor and thwart 'plant thieves,' early American growers enlisted artists.
From Smithsonian:
In 1847, Charles M. Hovey, a stalwart of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and the proprietor of Hovey & Co., a 40-acre nursery in Cambridge, began publishing a series of handsomely illustrated prints of American fruits. Most of the trees—apple, pear, peach, plum and cherry—had come from England and Europe. Over time, many new fruit varieties emerged from natural cross-pollinations effected by wind, birds and insects—for example, the Jonathan apple, after Jonathan Hasbrouck, who found it growing on a farm in Kingston, New York. By the mid-19th century, a few new indigenous fruit varieties had arisen from breeding, notably Hovey’s own widely admired seedling strawberry and the prizewinning Concord grape, a recent backyard production of Ephraim Bull, a neighbor of Ralph Waldo Emerson.
At the time, regional and national agricultural markets were emerging, aided by steamboats, canals and railroads. The trend was accompanied by expansion in the number of commercial seed and nursery entrepreneurs.
For more, see: How to Trademark a Fruit
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2366
|
__label__cc
| 0.687912
| 0.312088
|
Andrew Sean Greer: The Confessions of Max Tivoli
Review of the novel The Confessions of Max Tivoli, by Andrew Sean Greer.
The Confessions of Max Tivoli
TPB, © 2004, 267 pp, Picador, ISBN 0-312-42381-0
The Confessions
of Max Tivoli
I knew by page three that I wasn’t going to like this book.
The tip-off was that the prose was just too purple for my tastes: It was difficult to slog through the raw verbiage, and there were too many digressions and embellishments. The story seemed too enamored of its narrative voice, and not enamored enough with, well, its story.
The story is a simple conceit: Max Tivoli was born in 1870 in San Francisco, but as an infant his body was 72 years old. Although born the size of an infant, he grew quickly, and as a teenager looked like a man of about 60, his body aging backwards as his mind aged forward. At age 6 he meets his lifelong friend, Hughie, and at age 17 he meets the love of his life, Alice. But while Hughie accepts Max for who he is, Alice cannot: He doesn’t tell her. Instead he hides his condition from almost everyone (save for Hughie and a select few who figure it out themselves), and attempts to woo Alice at three different points in their lives.
The story is narrated by Max when he’s 60 years old, in 1930, and appears to be a 12-year-old boy. He’s living with another boy, Sammy, and Sammy’s mother, and reminisces in detail. But, really, not enough detail: The book is really only about Max and his obsession with Alice, even though their only common feature is that they were both born to relatively high-class families which were brought low. But Max seems to have no interests, no hobbies, not really any ambitions beyond being with Alice.
The book’s conceit, Max aging backwards, seems almost superfluous: Other than the period in 1930, his earlier exploits could have been the adventures of any normal man dealing badly with unrequited love. For all his eloquence of tongue, Max is not introspective, he provides little true insight into such an unusual life as his condition must create. He’s a shallow thinker, of the worst sort, really: He spends great amounts of time and energy describing tedium.
And as for that purple prose: It seems especially inappropriate for its narrator, who’s not very well educated. It makes him seem like a poseur. And ultimately Max is just not a likeable figure, and he spends so much time in self-pity that it’s difficult to actually pity him. Alice is no better, although she’s slightly better rounded; but she’s no less self-absorbed and disagreeable.
Author Greer does have a couple of clever turns of plot, mainly when Max learns some hard truths about each Hughie and Alice near the end. But rather than tragic, it all just feels rather tiresome. It seems like Max Tivoli gets wrong everything The Time Traveler’s Wife gets right: It’s not romantic, its characters are hard to root for, Max’s condition isn’t especially interesting, and the tragedy of the story left me simply shrugging. I went back and re-read passages of Time Traveler several times after finishing it; I had no such compulsion for Max Tivoli.
Maybe Greer was going for something that simply eludes me. But there just wasn’t much here for me to enjoy, and consequently, not much for me to learn from. It was eloquent wordsmithing in the service of a slight story. A pity.
Author Michael RawdonPosted on 21 May 2007 1 December 2009 Categories Reviews, Science Fiction & FantasyTags Andrew Sean Greer
One thought on “Andrew Sean Greer: The Confessions of Max Tivoli”
Pingback: New was old in a newer San Francisco. « The Hieroglyphic Streets
Previous Previous post: What’s Open?
Next Next post: Heroes: Season One
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2367
|
__label__wiki
| 0.929079
| 0.929079
|
Yep Roc Records
Nick Lowe - Love Starvation/Trombone (EP + Download)
As he approaches his 70th birthday, it's incredible that Nick Lowe hasn't lost a step in his unrivaled songwriting and rockin' abilities. His forthcoming four song EP, Love Starvation/Trombone, features the razor-sharp lyricism that he's made so famous and is complemented by the returning dulcet tones of his backing band and tour mates Los Straitjackets. Lowe originals like "Love Starvation," "Trombone" and the tender "Blue on Blue" are among his strongest compositions across his half-a-century-spanning career. Lowe breathes new life into a cover of Rick Nelson's "Raincoat in the River," which may be mistaken for an original given the unique cadence and arrangement Nick and Los Straitjackets put on the classic tune. There's no slowing down for Nick Lowe, and these four songs will leave you pining for even more from the Jesus of Cool.
Love Starvation
Raincoat in the River
More From Yep Roc Records
Chatham County Line - Sharing The Covers (LP + Download Card)
Dressy Bessy - Fast Faster Disaster (CD)
Dressy Bessy - Fast Faster Disaster (LP)
Eli Paperboy Reed - 99 Cent Dreams (LP)
Eli Paperboy Reed - Roll With You (LP - Deluxe Remastered Edition]
Erykah Badu and James Poyser - Tempted (7")
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2368
|
__label__cc
| 0.726678
| 0.273322
|
https://www.emmausleadership.me/userfiles/Emmaus/WebContent/Rochester%20Leadership%20Services_%20Email.pdf
"I have no hesitation in commending Emmaus to any school which is seeking to appoint a Christian Head. My only regret is that we did not go to them for the first round of interviews that proved unsuccessful. It is an expensive option, but in the long run they are more than value for money. I am very thankful to God for the ministry of Emmaus, and I warmly commend them to you. In OFSTED terms, they are outstanding."
The Rt Rev Keith Sinclair - Anglican Bishop of Birkenhead
"Could we afford it? My belief, as Chair was that we couldn’t afford not to. Our pupils deserved and needed strong school leaders to be found and drawn to apply. Our success was down to using Emmaus and definitely money well spent."
Carry Lynott - Chair of Governors, Our Lady and St Brendan's Catholic Primary School, Bradford
"We are delighted with the appointment we made and I have reported to the whole community that we could not have been more thorough in the search or more rigorous in the selection process. Thank you Emmaus Leadership."
Jacqui Feely, Chair at All Hallows Catholic College, Macclesfield
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2375
|
__label__wiki
| 0.816761
| 0.816761
|
ScienceDaily: Top Environment News: New species of dolphin found in Australian waters
Jay Owen October 30, 2013 Earth Systems Science
ScienceDaily: Top Environment News
New species of dolphin found in Australian waters
A species of humpback dolphin previously unknown to science is swimming in the waters off northern Australia, according to biologists.
Thawing permafrost: The speed of coastal erosion in Eastern Siberia has nearly doubled
The high cliffs of Eastern Siberia — which mainly consist of permafrost — continue to erode at an ever quickening pace. This evaluation is based on data and aerial photographs of the coastal regions for the last 40 years.
Coral reefs may be able to adapt to moderate climate change
Coral reefs may be able to adapt to moderate climate warming, improving their chance of surviving through the end of this century, if there are large reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, according to a new study. Results further suggest corals have already adapted to part of the warming that has occurred.
Physicists provide new insights into coral skeleton formation
Scientists have shed important new light on coral skeleton formation. Their investigations, carried out at the nanoscale, provide valuable new information for scientists and environmentalists working to protect and conserve coral from the threats of acidification and rising water temperatures. As corals grow, they produce limestone — calcium carbonate — skeletons which build up over time into vast reefs. The skeleton’s role is to help the living biofilm to move towards the light and nutrients.
Paleontologist presents origin of life theory
Meteorite bombardment left large craters that contained water and chemical building blocks for life, which ultimately led to the first organisms, according to one origin of life theory.
Echolocation: Bats and whales behave in surprisingly similar ways
Sperm whales weigh up to 50 tons, and the smallest bat barely reaches a gram. Nevertheless, the two species share the same success story: They both have developed the ability to use echolocation — a biological sonar — for hunting. Now researchers show that the biosonar of toothed whales and bats share surprisingly many similarities — even though they live in very different environments and vary extremely in size.
Geneticists map human resistance to AIDS
The key to future HIV treatment could be hidden right in our own genes. Everyone who becomes infected deploys defense strategies, and some even manage to hold the virus at bay without any therapy at all. Scientists retraced the entire chain of events in these battles, from the genome of the virus to the genome of the victim, and have published their results.
‘Lost world’ discovered on Australia’s Cape York Peninsula
An expedition to Cape York Peninsula in north-east Australia has found three vertebrate species new to science and isolated for millions of years — a bizarre looking leaf-tail gecko, a golden-colored skink and a boulder-dwelling frog.
Common bioindicator resistant to insecticides
Scientists have found a common bioindicator, Hyalella azteca, used to test the toxicity of water or sediment was resistant to insecticides used in agricultural areas of central California. The study is the first to demonstrate that the indicator species may adapt to polluted conditions of a habitat and become an entirely unreliable source of information about ecosystem health.
AIDSaustraliabiologistsCape York Peninsulacarbon dioxide emissionsclimateclimate changeclimate warmingcoral reefsEastern SiberiaEcholocation BatsHIVinsightsmove towardsnew insightsorganismspacesciencescientiststemperaturestimeTop Environment Newsviruswater
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2376
|
__label__wiki
| 0.914475
| 0.914475
|
For a better experience on eTickets.ca Update Your Browser
E: support@etickets.ca P: 1(855)730-0208
MLS Tickets
CFL Tickets
50s And 60s Era
Hard Rock And Metal
Rap And Hip Hop
Techno - EDM
support@etickets.ca 1(855)730-0208
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Tickets
Imagine cheering your favorite gymnastics team live at the stadium and being a part of its winning streak! A feeling that certainly can’t be felt by watching the game on the television or even worse, trying to relive the moment through its highlights. No more of that with eTickets.ca. Check out the Notre Dame Fighting Irish upcoming game schedule below and buy tickets from eTickets.ca at the best prices. Whether you are looking for the cheapest game tickets or VIP ones, we have an extensive selection of Notre Dame Fighting Irish tickets to help you find game tickets you are looking for. For the spontaneous bunch, we also offer last minute tickets to ensure your plan is a success.
So, what are you waiting for? Get going before the tickets are sold off! Don’t miss checking out our special discount corner to get the best tickets at discounted price.
BUY TICKETS NOW & GET DISCOUNT
Take extra 10% off
Promo Code: SAVE10ETKT
*This offer is valid till 31 January, 2020 Use this promo code to get instant 10% OFF when you spend $99 or more. *Use this promo code on checkout page in step-2
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Tickets on Sale - Notre Dame Fighting Irish Game Schedules
Events Near
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Cicero, New York
Notre Dame, Indiana
Choose dates Today This weekend This week This month All dates
Apply Reset Filter
Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Syracuse Orange
Purcell Pavilion At Joyce Center, Notre Dame, Indiana
Find Seats
Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Wisconsin Badgers
Compton Family Ice Arena, South Bend, Indiana
Florida State Seminoles vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Donald L. Tucker Civic Center, Tallahassee, Florida
Virginia Cavaliers Women's Basketball vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
John Paul Jones Arena, Charlottesville, Virginia
Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Women's Basketball vs. Louisville Cardinals
Penn State Nittany Lions vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Pegula Ice Arena At Penn State, University Park, Pennsylvania
Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Women's Basketball vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
McCamish Pavilion, Atlanta, Georgia
Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Pittsburgh Panthers
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Women's Basketball vs. Pittsburgh Panthers
Clemson Tigers vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Littlejohn Coliseum, Clemson, South Carolina
Virginia Cavaliers vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers
Duke Blue Devils vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, North Carolina
Louisville Cardinals Women's Basketball vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky
Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. North Carolina Tar Heels
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Women's Basketball vs. Virginia Tech Hokies
Michigan Wolverines vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Women's Basketball vs. Syracuse Orange
Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Miami Hurricanes
Boston College Eagles vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Women's Basketball vs. North Carolina Tar Heels
Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Michigan State Spartans
Wake Forest Demon Deacons vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Winston Salem, North Carolina
Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Florida State Seminoles
North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Bryson Field At Boshamer Stadium, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Virginia Tech Hokies
Ohio State Buckeyes Men's Lacrosse vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Louisville Cardinals vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Jim Patterson Stadium, Louisville, Kentucky
Syracuse Orange vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Cicero-North Syracuse Stadium, Cicero, New York
Mike Martin Field at Dick Howser Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida
North Carolina State Wolfpack vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Doak Field, Raleigh, North Carolina
Aer Lingus College Football Classic: Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Navy Midshipmen
Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Dublin
2020 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Season Tickets (Includes Tickets To All Regular Season Home Games)
Notre Dame Stadium, Notre Dame, Indiana
PARKING: Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Arkansas Razorbacks
Notre Dame Stadium Parking Lots, Notre Dame, Indiana
Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Arkansas Razorbacks
Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Western Michigan Broncos
PARKING: Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Western Michigan Broncos
Bank Of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina
Wisconsin Badgers vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin
PARKING: Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Stanford Cardinal
Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Stanford Cardinal
Pittsburgh Panthers vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
PARKING: Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Duke Blue Devils
Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Duke Blue Devils
PARKING: Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Clemson Tigers
Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Clemson Tigers
Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Louisville Cardinals
PARKING: Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Louisville Cardinals
USC Trojans vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California
With eTickets.ca you can experience any Notre Dame Fighting Irish games live in the stadium with your friends and family. Imagine the chanting of Notre Dame Fighting Irish name and their super natural performance. If you are a recent or a old timer Notre Dame Fighting Irish fan, we want you all to get the best seats at best prices and watch Notre Dame Fighting Irish games in the stadium. We guarantee all our Notre Dame Fighting Irish tickets are 100% authentic and your seats will be together.
Hurry...
Less than 18% of tickets left for Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Why eTickets.ca?
Print eTickets instantly
Assured authenticity
Cancellation protection
Similar Sports
Johns Hopkins Blue Jays
Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers
Popular Sports Teams
AFC Championship Tickets
WWE Live Holiday Tickets
Canadian Grand Prix Tickets
The Harlem Globetrotters Tickets
Rogers Cup Tennis - Montreal Tickets
Top Cities in Canada
Never Again Say Never to Your Favorite Events!
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Tickets in Toronto
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Tickets in Montreal
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Tickets in Calgary
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Tickets in Edmonton
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Tickets in Vancouver
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Tickets in Ottawa
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Tickets in California
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Tickets in New York
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Tickets in Chicago
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Tickets in Quebec
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Tickets in Winnipeg
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Tickets in Los Angeles
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Tickets in Boston
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Tickets in Miami
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Tickets in Houston
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Tickets in San Francisco
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Tickets in Las Vegas
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Promo Code Deals
Etickets News
Experience the Best in Miami: The Ultimate Super Bowl LIV 2...
Experience the best things that Miami has to offer during Super Bowl LIV Weekend. Learn more about the Hard Rock Stadium & attractions while in town for Super Bowl 2020.
Toronto Blue Jays Game Schedule and Tickets for MLB 2019
Blue Jays were one of the two teams to join the American league via 1977 MLB expansion. With MLB 2019 taking place, here's a brief about them, their wins & more.
10 Coolest Sports Stadiums in Canada of All Time
Commonwealth Stadium is the largest sports stadium in Canada with a seated capacity of 56,302. Check out more coolest sports stadiums here!
Subscribe for a savings, info, and more!
Toronto Tickets
Winnipeg Tickets
Quebec Tickets
Ottawa Tickets
Montreal Tickets
Vancouver Tickets
Edmonton Tickets
Copyright © 2010-2020 eTickets.ca - All Rights Reserved.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2377
|
__label__wiki
| 0.850426
| 0.850426
|
Copernicus Sentinel-3B starts delivering on its promise
The first images of Earth from the ocean-monitoring satellite Sentinel-3B, launched on 25 April, have been released today and are repaying the faith invested in its crucial mission.
Experts are meeting at the Darmstadt headquarters of the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) this week to examine the data being sent back to Earth as each of the spacecraft’s instruments is switched on.
The stunning first image over Europe shows the east coast of Greenland, captured at 13:20 UTC on Monday 7 May. It shows sea ice swirled into eddies by wind stress and underlying currents.
The image was taken less than two weeks after Sentinel-3B’s launch by the first of its instruments to be switched on, the Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI).
The Sentinel-3 mission
“The Sentinel-3 constellation establishes the European backbone of a space-based, global ocean-monitoring system,” EUMETSAT Director-General Alain Ratier said.
“These images are a first demonstration that Sentinel-3B will deliver on its promise…”
Alain Ratier
“These first images are the first demonstration that Copernicus Sentinel-3B will deliver on its promise to usher in a new era for operational oceanography and flow-on benefits for human safety, businesses and industry. They will amplify the benefits of the Sentinel-3 mission for ocean forecasting and the blue economy.”
European Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs Elzbieta Bienkowska welcomed the successful launch of the seventh Copernicus Sentinel and the additional data it is now providing.
“This new satellite will deliver valuable images of how our oceans and land are changing,” Commissioner Bienkowska said.
“This will not only speed up the response to natural disasters but also create new business opportunities. Earth observation is a larger market than you would think – a driver for research discoveries, a provider of highly skilled jobs and a developer of innovative services and applications.”
The Ocean and Land Colour Instrument
The OLCI monitors ocean colour – crucial information of global importance for climate change monitoring – as well as observations of vegetation, crop conditions and inland water when observing over land.
Pierre Yves Le Traon, Scientific Director at Mercator Ocean, which operates the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS), said OLCI observations from Sentinel-3A and -3B will be merged by CMEMS to better capture rapid and fine scale changes in phytoplankton concentration, primary production and carbon dioxide uptake by the oceans.
“This is also essential to monitor coastal waters and coastal water quality threats such as eutrophication and the development of harmful algae blooms,” Le Traon said.
Two-satellite constellation
The successful launch of Sentinel-3B represents the full deployment of the two-satellite Sentinel-3 mission.
Sentinel-3B is currently flying in tandem with its “twin”, Sentinel-3A, which was launched in February 2016. The satellites are expected to fly in this arrangement, 30 seconds apart, for the next several months, to allow cross calibration of the spacecraft’s instruments.
Then, they will be moved 140 degrees apart, as requested by the users of the mission’s data, to provide the best possible coverage and frequency.
EUMETSAT, which already operates Sentinel-3A on behalf of the European Commission, will take over operations of Sentinel-3B after completion of the current seven-month commissioning phase, which is led by the European Space Agency. EUMETSAT processes and disseminates marine-related data from the mission, while ESA is responsible for the land-related data.
Sentinel-3A has been producing extremely high-quality data for two years.
The mission is one of six Sentinel missions deployed and exploited by EUMETSAT and ESA as the space component of the European Union’s flagship Copernicus Earth observation programme.
ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes Josef Aschbacher said: “The launch of Sentinel-3B completed the first batch of Sentinels that we are delivering for Copernicus.
“We finished the launch and early orbit phase in a record time and we are now getting on with the task of commissioning the satellite for service.”
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2380
|
__label__wiki
| 0.514234
| 0.514234
|
World Championship • Group B
Italy - United States
World Championship - 9 May 2020
World Championship – Follow the Ice Hockey match between Italy and United States live with Eurosport. The match starts at 12:20 on 9 May 2020. Our live coverage lets you follow all the key moments as they happen.
Have your say by voting on who will win between Italy and United States? Enjoy some pre-match reading with related articles about these two Enjoy some pre-match reading with related articles about these two Ice Hockey teams.
Head-to-head: see historical stats and visit our detailed profiles for Italy vs United States. Get all the latest on Ice Hockey: fixtures, results and tables.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2381
|
__label__wiki
| 0.671638
| 0.671638
|
Tag Archive for: Christopher Wray
The Revelations about FISA Bureaucracy in FBI’s FISA Fix Filing
January 11, 2020 /22 Comments/in FISA /by emptywheel
The government submitted the filing ordered by now (thankfully) former FISA presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer on Friday, explaining how it’ll avoid the problems identified in the DOJ IG Report on Carter Page. As I’ll show in a follow-up, I believe the changes — with one possible exception — are worthwhile, if inadequate to the task.
In this post, however, I’d like to lay out what the filing reveals about two aspects of the FISA process that I did not know before.
Other agencies and state and local law enforcement can use FISA: While minimization procedures have revealed that FBI can share FISA information with other agencies, including state and local authorities, this filing reveals those other agencies can serve as the affiant for FISA applications.
Agents from other federal law enforcement agencies or state or local law enforcement officers serving on a Joint Terrorism Task Force with the FBI may, in some cases, act as the declarants for applications submitted by the FBI after reviewing receiving the necessary training. In the case of state or local law enforcement officers, such officers are deputized as Special Deputy United States Marshals for this purpose. (4)
I’ve never heard of this before and there are a whole lot of questions this raises, both about whether non-DOJ agencies are submitting FISA applications (CIA would be unsurprising, but ICE would be alarming and under this administration, not at all crazy), but also about the accountability for people who aren’t Federal employees. How many “Special Deputy United States Marshals” does SDNY have, for example, and was FISA used during the worst excesses of its intelligence program?
The timeline of updates to the Woods Procedures: The filing explains (I’m sure some of this is public, but it’s laid out here as well) that the Woods Procedures have been updated:
On February 2, 2006, FBI reminded its agents they need to,”create, maintain, and update a sub-file that contains all materials that document the support for each factual assertion contained in FISA applications.” Given the timing, this change may have been part of the effort to clean up Stellar Wind, which had been used to substantiate FISA applications without notice for the previous five years.
On March 24, 2006, DOJ’s OIPR advised the court about the sub-file requirement, though focused especially on ensuring that, “the federal official currently handling the source (or the federal official who is responsible for liaison to another entity who is handling the source) [confirms] that the source remains reliable, and that all material information regarding the reliability of the source is reported accurately in the FISA application.” This would have been the period when the FBI was cleaning up after Katrina Leung, one of the worst double agents in recent history, so may have pertained to her reporting.
In February 2009, NSD and FBI together required the FBI to remove any asserted fact for which there is no documentation, and do so retroactively. It also implemented quarterly accuracy reviews that have since been made semi-annual. The Section 215 disclosures in this same time period suggest Bush got sloppy in its last years, so this may have reflected a need to clean that up, too.
August 2016. There was an update to the Woods Procedure and 2009 Memorandum in 2016, but the filing doesn’t describe it (or why).
How OI’s accuracy reviews work:
As DOJ has revealed in the past, OI’s Oversight Section does FISA oversight reviews at 25-30 (of the 56) Field offices a year. They review the compliance with minimization and querying procedures, the latter of which only recently got imposed.
In addition, they do an accuracy review of a subset of FISA applications that reviews:
The facts establishing probable cause to believe that the target is a foreign power or agent thereof
The verification process that the targeted facilities are used by, owned by, possessed by, or in transit to or from the target
The basis for the US person status of the target
The factual accuracy of the related criminal matters section, such as types of criminal investigative techniques used (e.g., subpoenas) and dates of pertinent actions in the criminal case
As the filing makes clear, “these accuracy reviews do not check for the completeness of the facts included in the application,” which is the real source of the problems identified in the Page application. Right now, OI is “considering” expanding a subset of reviews to check for completeness, but is not committing to doing so.
Two things are of interest here. The definition of FISA “facilities,” has long been of interest, not least because the government likes to pretend it consists mostly of phone numbers and email addresses. Indeed, 2007, FISC approved a broad definition of “facility” that can be used to target suspects of a terrorist group (and, presumably now, other clandestine networks), in large numbers. The language in this bullet all comes from statute, but the use of “about to be used,” would support the kind of monitoring of a new computer or phone we’ve heard of. This language also might support the monitoring of Amazon and bank accounts. The validation of facilities (both to be sure Page was still using them and to sustain FISA coverage to be able to get to new ones) was something important to the renewal process of Page’s FISAs.
The language on criminal matters reveals how the FBI deals with parallel investigations, such as the one that happened with Keith Gartenlaub (where they government used both criminal subpoenas and FISA searches, which ultimately led to a child porn prosecution unrelated to any FISA suspicion). I knew this section existed, but thought it did so just to comply with a statutory requirement, when targeting US persons, that their clandestine activities may involve violating criminal statute. But this language makes it clear that this part of the FISA application also serves to provide notice of such parallel proceedings. Given that the FBI has to declare that they can’t obtain information under FISA via other means, this raises more questions about the degree to which FISA can serve as an additive authority for certain kinds of investigations that will let the FBI use techniques they wouldn’t use otherwise.
The section on OI reviews also reveals that they review FISA applications before information from an application is used in a proceeding against someone picked up in it.
OI has also, as a matter of general practice, conducted accuracy reviews ofFISA applications for which the FBI has requested affirmative use ofFISA-obtained or -derived information in a proceeding against an aggrieved person.
It’s hard to tell whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. That’s because it doesn’t necessarily help the defendant. After all, if the OI review discovers problems with FISA applications, then DOJ would be more likely to parallel construct the prosecution, thereby burying a problematic part of the investigation. And a review at the period when FBI is already considering using it in a proceeding is too late in the process to protect the civil liberties of the person who is aggrieved if there was a problem with the application.
The section describing these reviews also reveals that, “in enumerated exceptions,” the FBI doesn’t have to rely on “the most authoritative document that exists” in the Woods Procedure. A footnote makes clear that one of the areas where the application itself may not include everything in the underlying documentation is human sources, which permits the lawyer submitting the application to ask a human source coordinator to verify the application matches the underlying documentation. Remember that the language about Christopher Steele used in the Carter Page application didn’t come from his handling agent’s assessment, but it came from a serialized intelligence report based off his reporting. That’s not what this describes, but may be one of the reasons the FBI took that shortcut.
https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Screen-Shot-2017-12-07-at-5.32.28-PM.png 832 2028 emptywheel https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.png emptywheel2020-01-11 17:11:102020-01-11 17:41:57The Revelations about FISA Bureaucracy in FBI's FISA Fix Filing
How Twelve Years of Warning and Six Years of Plodding Reform Finally Forced FBI to Do Minimal FISA Oversight
October 12, 2019 /5 Comments/in emptywheel, FISA /by emptywheel
Earlier this week, the government released the reauthorization package for the 2018 Section 702 certificates of FISA. With the release, they disclosed significant legal fights about the way FBI was doing queries on raw data, what we often call “back door searches.” Those fights are, rightly, being portrayed as Fourth Amendment abuses. But they are, also, the result of the FISA Court finally discovering in 2018, after 11 years, that back door searches work like some of us have been saying they do all along, a discovery that came about because of procedural changes in the interim.
As such, I think this is wrong to consider “FISA abuse” (and I say that as someone who was very likely personally affected by the practices in question). It was, instead, a case where the court discovered that FBI using 702 as it had been permitted to use it by FISC was a violation of the Fourth Amendment.
As such, this package reflects a number of things:
A condemnation of how the government has been using 702 (and its predecessor PAA) for 12 years
A (partial — but thus far by far the most significant one) success of the new oversight mechanisms put in place post-Snowden
An opportunity to reform FISA — and FBI — more systematically
This post will explain what happened from a FISA standpoint. A follow-up post will explain why this should lead to questions about FBI practices more generally.
This opinion came about because every year the government must obtain new certificates for its 702 collection, the collection “targeted” at foreigners overseas that is, nevertheless, designed to collect content on how those foreigners are interacting with Americans. Last we had public data, there were three certificates: counterterrorism, counterproliferation, and “foreign government,” which is a too-broadly scoped counterintelligence function. As part of that yearly process, the government must get FISC approval to any changes to its certificates, which are a package of rules on how they will use Section 702. In addition, the court conducts a general review of all the violations reported over the previous year.
Originally, those certificates included proposed targeting (governing who you can target) and minimization (governing what you can do once you start collecting) procedures; last year was the first year the agencies were required to submit querying procedures governing the way agencies (to include NSA, CIA, National Counterterrorism Center, and FBI) access raw data using US person identifiers. The submission of those new querying procedures are what led to the court’s discovery that FBI’s practices violated the Fourth Amendment.
In the years leading up to the 2018 certification, the following happened:
In 2013, Edward Snowden’s leaks made it clear that those of us raising concerns about Section 702 minimization since 2007 were correct
In 2014, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (which had become operational for the first time in its existence almost simultaneously with Snowden’s leaks) recommended that CIA and FBI have to explain why they were querying US person content in raw data
In 2015, Congress passed the USA Freedom Act, the most successful reform of which reflected Congress’ intent that the FISA Court start consulting amicus curiae when considering novel legal questions
In 2015, amicus Amy Jeffress (who admitted she didn’t know much about 702 when first consulted) raised questions about how queries were conducted, only to have the court make minimal changes to current practice — in part, by not considering what an FBI assessment was
In the 2017 opinion authorizing that year’s 702 package, Rosemary Collyer approved an expansion of back door searches without — as Congress intended — appointing an amicus to help her understand the ways the legal solution the government implemented didn’t do what she believed it did; that brought some (though not nearly enough) attention to whether FISC was fulfilling the intent of Congress on amici
In the 2017 Reauthorization (which was actually approved in early 2018), Congress newly required agencies accessing raw data to submit querying procedures along with their targeting and minimization procedures in the annual certification process, effectively codifying the record-keeping suggestion PCLOB had made over two years earlier
When reviewing the reauthorization application submitted in March 2018, Judge James Boasberg considered that new 2017 requirement a novel legal question, so appointed Jonathan Cederbaum and Amy Jeffress, the latter of whom also added John Cella, to the amicus team. By appointing those amici to review the querying procedures, Boasberg operationalized five years of reforms, which led him to discover that practices that had been in place for over a decade violated the Fourth Amendment.
When the agencies submitted their querying procedures in March 2018, all of them except FBI complied with the demand to track and explain the foreign intelligence purpose for US person queries separately. FBI, by contrast, said they already kept records of all their queries, covering both US persons and non-US persons, so they didn’t have to make a change. One justification it offered for not keeping US person-specific records as required by the law is that Congress exempted it from the reporting requirements it imposed on other agencies in 2015, even though FBI admitted that it was supposed to keep queries not just for the public reports from which they argued they were exempted, but also for the periodical reviews that DOJ and ODNI make of its queries for oversight purposes. FBI Director Christopher Wray then submitted a supplemental declaration, offering not to fix the technical limitations they built into their repositories, but arguing that complying with the law via other means would have adverse consequences, such as diverting investigative resources. Amici Cedarbaum and Amy Jeffress challenged that interpretation, and Judge James Boasberg agreed.
The FBI’s querying violations
It didn’t help FBI that in the months leading up to this dispute, FBI had reported six major violations to FISC involving US person queries. While the description of those are heavily redacted, they appear to be:
March 24-27, 2017: The querying of 70K facilities “associated with” persons who had access to the FBI’s facilities and systems. FBI General Counsel (then run by Jim Baker, who had had these fights in the past) warned against the query, but FBI did it anyway, though did not access the communications. This was likely either a leak or a counterintelligence investigation and appears to have been discovered in a review of existing Insider Threat queries.
December 1, 2017: FBI conducted queries on 6,800 social security numbers.
December 7-11, 2017, the same entity at FBI also queried 1,600 queries on certain identifiers, though claimed they didn’t mean to access raw data.
February 5 and 23, 2018: FBI did approximately 30 queries of potential sources.
February 21, 2018: FBI did 45 queries on people being vetted as sources.
Before April 13, 2018: an unspecified FBI unit queried FISA acquired metadata using 57,000 identifiers of people who work in some place.
Note, these queries all took place under Trump, and most of them took place under Trump’s hand-picked FBI Director. Contrary to what some Trump apologists have said about this opinion, it is not about Obama abuse (though it reflects practices that likely occurred under him and George Bush, as well).
These violations made it clear that Congress’ mandate for better record-keeping was merited. Boasberg also used them to prove that existing procedures did not prevent minimization procedure violations because they had not in these instances.
As he was reviewing the violations, Boasberg discovered problems in the oversight of 702 that I had noted before, based off my review of heavily redacted Semiannual Reports (which means they should have been readily apparent to everyone who had direct access to the unredacted reports). For example, Judge Boasberg noted how few of FBI’s queries actually get reviewed during oversight reviews (something I’ve pointed out repeatedly, and which 702 boosters have never acknowledged the public proof of).
As noted above, in 2017 the FBI conducted over three million queries of FISA-acquired information on just one system, [redacted]. See Supplemental FBI Declaration at 6. In contrast, during 2017 NSD conducted oversight of approximately 63,000 queries in [redacted] and 274,000 queries in an FBI system [redacted]. See Gov’t Response at 36.
Personnel from the Office of Intelligence (OI) within the Department of Justice’s National Security Division (NSD) visit about half of the FBI’s field offices for oversight purposes in a given year. Id at 35 & n 42. Moreover OI understandably devotes more resources to offices that use FISA authorities more frequently, so those offices [redacted] are visited annually, id at 35 n. 42, which necessitates that some other offices go for periods of two years or more between oversight visits. The intervals of time between oversight visits at a given location may contribute to lengthy delays in detecting querying violations and reporting them to the FISC. See, e.g., Jan. 18, 2019, Notice [redacted] had been conducting improper queries in a training context since 2011, but the practice was not discovered until 2017).
He also noted that the records on such queries don’t require contemporaneous explanation from the Agent making the query, meaning any review of them will not find problems.
The FBI does not even record whether a query is intended to return foreign-intelligence information or evidence of crime. See July 13, 2018, Proposed Tr. at 14 (DOJ personnel “try to figure out” from FBI query records which queries were run for evidence of crime purposes). DOJ personnel ask the relevant FBI personnel to recall and articulate the bases for selected queries. Sometimes the FBI personnel report they cannot remember. See July 9, 2018, Notice.
Again, I noted this in the past.
In short, as Boasberg was considering Wray’s claim that the FBI didn’t need the record-keeping mandated by Congress, he was discovering that, in fact, FBI needs better oversight of 702 (something that should have been clear to everyone involved, but no one ever listens to my warnings).
FISC rules the querying procedures do not comply with the law or Fourth Amendment
In response to Boasberg’s demand, FBI made several efforts to provide solutions that were not really solutions.
The FBI’s first response to FISC’s objections was to require General Counsel approval before accessing the result of any “bulk” queries like the query that affected 70K people — what it calls “categorical batch queries.”
Queries that are in fact reasonably likely to return foreign-intelligence information are responsive the government’s need to obtain and produce foreign-intelligence information, and ultimately to disseminate such information when warranted. For that reason, queries that comply with the querying standard comport with § 1801 (h), even insofar as they result in the examination of the contents of private communications to or from U.S. persons. On the other hand, queries that lack a sufficient basis are not reasonably related to foreign intelligence needs and any resulting intrusion on U.S. persons’ privacy lacks any justification recognized by§ 1801 (h)(l). Because the FBI procedures, as implemented, have involved a large number of unjustified queries conducted to retrieve information about U.S. persons, they are not reasonably designed, in light of the purpose and technique of Section 702 acquisitions, to minimize the retention and prohibit the dissemination of private U.S. person information.
But Boasberg was unimpressed with that because the people who’d need to consult with counsel would be the most likely not to know they did need to do so.
He also objected to FBI’s attempt to give itself permission to use such queries at the preliminary investigation phase (before then, FBI was doing queries at the assessment stage).
The FBI may open a preliminary investigation with even less of a factual predicate: “on the basis of information or an allegation indicating the existence of a circumstance” described in paragraph a. orb. above. Id. § II.B.4.a.i at 21 (emphasis added). A query using identifiers for persons known to have had contact with any subject of a full or preliminary investigation would not require attorney approval under § IV.A.3, regardless of the factual basis for opening the investigation or how it has progressed since then.
Boasberg’s Fourth Amendment analysis was fairly cautious. Whereas amici pushed for him to treat the queries as separate Fourth Amendment events, on top of the acquisition (which would have had broad ramifications both within FISA practice and outside of it), he instead interpreted the new language in 702 to expand the statutory protection under queries, without finding queries of already collected data a separate Fourth Amendment event.
Similarly, both Boasberg and the amici ultimately didn’t push for a written national security justification in advance of an actual FISA search. Rather, they argued FBI had to formulate such a justification before accessing the query returns (in reality, many of these queries are automated, so it’d be practically impossible to do justifications before the fact).
Boasberg nevertheless required the FBI to at least require foreign intelligence justifications for queries before an FBI employee accessed the results of queries.
The FBI was not happy. Having been told they have to comply with the clear letter of the law, they appealed to the FISA Court of Review, adding apparently new arguments that fulfilling the requirement would not help oversight and that the criminal search requirements were proof that Congress didn’t intend them to comply with the other requirements of the law. Like Boasberg before them, FISCR (in a per curium opinion from the three FISCR judges, José Cabranes, Richard Tallman, and David Sentelle) found that FBI really did need to comply with the clear letter of the law.
The FBI chose not to appeal from there (for reasons that go beyond this dispute, I suspect, as I’ll show in a follow-up). So by sometime in December, they will start tracking their backdoor searches.
FBI tried, but failed, to avoid implementing a tool that will help us learn what we’ve been asking
Here’s the remarkable thing about this. Something like this has been coming for two years, and FBI is only now beginning to comply with the requirement. That’s probably not surprising. Neither the Director of National Intelligence (which treated its intelligence oversight of FBI differently than it did CIA or NSA) nor Congress had demanded that FBI, which can have the most direct impact on someone’s life, adhere to the same standards of oversight that CIA and NSA (and an increasing number of other agencies) do.
Nevertheless, 12 years after this system was first moved under FISA (notably, two key Trump players, White House Associate Counsel John Eisenberg and National Security Division AAG John Demers were involved in the original passage), we’re only now going to start getting real information about the impact on Americans, both in qualitative and quantitative terms. For the first time,
We will learn how many queries are done (the FISC opinion revealed that just one FBI system handles 3.1 million queries a year, though that covers both US and non US person queries)
We will learn that there are more hits on US persons than previously portrayed, which leads to those US persons to being investigated for national security or — worse — coerced to become national security informants
We will learn (even more than we already learned from the two reported queries that this pertained to vetting informants) the degree to which back door searches serve not to find people who are implicated in national security crimes, but instead, people who might be coerced to help the FBI find people who are involved in national security crimes
We will learn that the oversight has been inadequate
We will finally be able to measure disproportionate impact on Chinese-American, Arab, Iranian, South Asian, and Muslim communities
DOJ will be forced to give far more defendants 702 notice
Irrespective of whether back door searches are themselves a Fourth Amendment violation (which we will only now obtain the data to discuss), the other thing this opinion shows is that for twelve years, FISA boosters have been dismissing the concerns those of us who follow closely have raised (and there are multiple other topics not addressed here). And now, after more than a decade, after a big fight from FBI, we’re finally beginning to put the measures in place to show that those concerns were merited all along.
https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Screenshot-2017-07-21-at-2.37.25-AM.png 513 787 emptywheel https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.png emptywheel2019-10-12 21:54:142020-01-11 18:52:52How Twelve Years of Warning and Six Years of Plodding Reform Finally Forced FBI to Do Minimal FISA Oversight
DOJ Should Just Give Andrew McCabe What He Wants, But They Won’t
August 8, 2019 /71 Comments/in 2016 Presidential Election, Department of Justice, Law /by emptywheel
185 paragraphs into his complaint against Bill Barr, Christopher Wray, and DOJ and FBI for unlawful termination, Andrew McCabe makes what is probably an untrue statement.
Had Plaintiff pledged his personal loyalty to Trump, voted for Trump in the 2016 election (or falsely told Trump that he had), not worn a T-shirt supporting Dr. McCabe’s campaign, and not been married to Dr. McCabe, Defendants would not have reached the decisions to demote him and terminate him, nor would they have proceeded on the accelerated schedule that deprived him of his full vested pension and related benefits.
The statement is true, insofar as they’re the issues that Trump bitched about for the year leading up to McCabe’s firing in part to discredit the Mueller investigation. They’re true because Trump has claimed they’re true, so there will be abundant evidence to submit to prove they are true. But they’re not true insofar as the Russian investigation is what led Trump to hunt down his perceived enemies, and the DOJ IG investigation is the claimed reason for McCabe’s firing.
But the claims nevertheless assert the principle that FBI employees can’t be forced to take a loyalty oath. And as such, the lawsuit seeks to uphold a principle at the core of our judicial system.
That’s not the only complaint McCabe makes. Along another First Amendment claim, he also makes two due process claims and one mandamus claim that gets into the legal fine print of the way that, in response to pressure from Trump, top DOJ officials fast-tracked an effort to get rid of McCabe.
The legal details are actually of real interest, given that Wray, then Associate Deputy Attorney General Scott Schools, and Jeff Sessions, among others, bolloxed the firing of McCabe. As Schools told McCabe while he was trying to accelerate the review of his termination in March 2018, “We’re making it up as we go along.” DOJ fucked up in two significant ways.
First, they didn’t get around to “firing” McCabe until 10:00 pm on March 16, 2018, after FBI clocked the final day McCabe had to put in before qualifying for retirement at 5:00 pm that same day. FBI registered that day as a full vacation day. By the time Sessions fired McCabe late at night, he claims, he was already legally retired. (Note, there’s a real tragicomic section describing Sessions’ role, including that the firing did not come with any of the official details like time of termination needed for such a firing, that are very similar to the way that Sessions himself would be fired 8 months later).
The other way they bolloxed McCabe’s firing is by demoting him on January 28, 2018. On that day, Wray gave McCabe a choice: to remain at FBI in a demoted role of his picking if he lied and said the demotion was voluntary, or remain in a lesser role of Wray’s choice if he refused to lie. Instead, McCabe took terminal leave, meaning he was no longer one of the positions that the Attorney General or Acting Attorney General could terminate directly. As McCabe described it, Sessions didn’t have the authority to fire McCabe.
Sessions publicly announced that he had terminated Plaintiff “[p]ursuant to [DOJ] Order 1202,”but that did not give Sessions the authority to terminate employees in Plaintiff’s position. DOJ Order 1202, promulgated pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 3151, provides that the FBI Director alone has authority to terminate career FBI senior executives, except that the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General retain authority to remove those who serve in certain enumerated “key positions.” After Defendant Wray removed Plaintiff from the role of Deputy Director in January 2018 and replaced him with Bowdich, Plaintiff remained a career FBI senior executive but did not serve in any of the “key positions” listed in DOJ Order 1202. Defendant Wray, as FBI Director, did not authorize Plaintiff’s termination and in fact previously refused Sessions’ request to terminate Plaintiff. Accordingly, Plaintiff was not, in fact, terminated before his retirement.
Additionally, Sessions lacked any authority to terminate Plaintiff due to conflicts of interest and recusals, including Sessions’ March 2017 recusal from “investigations of any matters related in any way to the campaigns for President of the United States.” Defendants’ pretextual basis for Plaintiff’s termination arose from the OIG investigation of Plaintiff’s actions related to the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, specifically his actions regarding campaign-related articles published in October 2016 by the Wall Street Journal. Sessions’ recusal, on its face, extended to the OIG investigation. Sessions’ recusal was therefore a “disability” under 28 U.S.C §508(a), meaning that he lacked qualification to participate in Plaintiff’s termination. As a result, Sessions had no authority to terminate Plaintiff.
The entire complaint is (as one would expect for a suit filed by four Arnold & Porter lawyers on behalf of a lawyer who happens to be a former top FBI official) very well lawyered in such a way that the legal issues are very narrow, even while invoking the entirety of Trump’s obstructive behavior along the way.
The easiest way DOJ could make this go away would be to grant McCabe’s request, to find that he had retired before he was fired, with the benefits accruing accordingly (McCabe refutes the findings of the DOJ IG investigation against him in more cursory fashion, though it’s key to his due process claims and his allegations reflect badly on the well-respected Michael Horowitz). But to do that, DOJ would rob Trump of one of his favorite petty wins.
So they probably won’t.
https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Screen-Shot-2019-02-18-at-9.26.06-PM.png 850 1524 emptywheel https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.png emptywheel2019-08-08 18:00:212019-08-08 19:09:11DOJ Should Just Give Andrew McCabe What He Wants, But They Won't
It Is False To Claim the Counterintelligence Investigation into Trump Is Unprecedented
August 7, 2019 /70 Comments/in 2016 Presidential Election, Mueller Probe /by emptywheel
There’s a conceit among the frothy right that the counterintelligence investigation into Donald Trump is unprecedented. At a recent hearing with FBI Director Christopher Wray, for example, Josh Hawley set up the question this way.
Hawley: Director Wray, earlier this year I sent the FBI two letter seeking additional information about news reports that the agency, the Bureau, had opened a counterintelligence investigation of the President following the exercise of the President’s constitutional prerogatives to direct foreign policy and otherwise oversee the Executive Branch. I did not receive a response to those letters beyond a form letter acknowledging receipt. And since I have you here and have you under oath, let me just ask you what I want to know. To your knowledge has the FBI ever launched a counterintelligence investigation into another President in American history?
Wray: I don’t know the answer to that question.
Hawley: And so it would be “no” then, since it’s “to your knowledge”? It’s fair to say you’re not aware of one, personally, is all I’m asking?
Wray: It’s fair to say I’m not aware of one.
Hawley: Is it safe to say then, to the best of your knowledge, that such a move would be and is unprecedented?
Wray: Um, well again, we’ve been around for 111 years, so I don’t really know what is precedented or not precedented in that regard.
The question, as framed, is totally bullshit, and Democratic members of Congress should stop letting their colleagues frame what happened to Donald Trump in such a way.
The proper question is, is there precedent that a counterintelligence investigation was opened into a major party candidate (distinguishing from Eugene Debs, into whom I’m sure there was a standing counterintelligence investigation through his presidential runs).
And the answer to that is simple. The precedent is Hillary Clinton.
In 2016, there was a counterintelligence investigation touching on both the Democratic and Republican candidates for President. The one into the Democrat was public. FBI managed it in ways, twice, that had an impact on the race. In addition to that CI investigation, there was also an investigation — predicated in part on oppo research from the Republican party — that involved the candidate’s interactions with foreign leaders. The latter investigation, into the Clinton Foundation, leaked. It leaked so egregiously that the Deputy Director of the FBI was fired for the leak.
The counterintelligence investigation into the Republican candidate was not public. Unlike the investigation into the Democrat, the one into the Republican was also not, at first, predicated against the candidate himself (to be honest, the Clinton email investigation would have been differently, and probably better, handled if Hillary weren’t the only possible target). It did not come to be opened against the guy who was still a candidate when the investigation was opened until he obstructed the investigation by firing the people conducting it.
The proper question for Josh Hawley to ask is, “Is there precedent for a criminal investigation against a sitting president for obstructing the investigation into what his campaign did to get elected?” The answer is easy. Yes. That is what happened with Nixon, and appropriately so.
The thing is, I can guarantee you Republicans would support an investigation into Hillary for obstructing the counterintelligence investigation into her behavior. The reason I can guarantee it is Republicans to this day — from the President on down — think there should be an ongoing investigation into whether Democrats gamed the investigation into Hillary. If Hillary had won, Senate Republicans would have demanded a special prosecutor into Hillary’s server, to say nothing of whether her interactions with foreign leaders were influenced by the Clinton Foundation.
Virtually all the conspiracy theories about the investigation into Trump, from the claims of a coup on down, are premised on granting him, as candidate, the privileges he would get when he became President. Those theories ignore the fact that in 2016, the FBI conducted CI investigations into both candidates. And there’s no question which it treated worse in doing so.
https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-07-at-11.17.39-AM.png 559 1000 emptywheel https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.png emptywheel2019-08-07 11:34:302019-08-07 11:51:09It Is False To Claim the Counterintelligence Investigation into Trump Is Unprecedented
About the Two Investigations into Donald Trump
I’m still pretty cranky about the timing and form of Andrew McCabe’s publicity tour.
But since it’s out there, I’d like to comment on three details, two of which have gotten significant comment elsewhere.
Trump wanted Rod Rosenstein to include Russia in the reasons he should fire Comey
The first is that Trump specifically asked Rosenstein to include Russia — McCabe doesn’t further specify what he meant — in the letter recommending he fire Jim Comey.
McCabe says that the basis for both investigations was in Mr. Trump’s own statements. First, Mr. Trump had asked FBI Director Comey to drop the investigation of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who has since pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his Russian contacts. Then, to justify firing Comey, Mr. Trump asked his deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, to write a memo listing the reasons Comey had to go. And according to McCabe, Mr. Trump made a request for that memo that came as a surprise.
Andrew McCabe: Rod was concerned by his interactions with the president, who seemed to be very focused on firing the director and saying things like, “Make sure you put Russia in your memo.” That concerned Rod in the same way that it concerned me and the FBI investigators on the Russia case.
If Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein listed the Russia investigation in his memo to the White House, it could look like he was obstructing the Russia probe by suggesting Comey’s firing. And by implication, it would give the president cover.
Scott Pelley: He didn’t wanna put Russia in his memo.
Andrew McCabe: He did not. He explained to the president that he did not need Russia in his memo. And the president responded, “I understand that, I am asking you to put Russia in the memo anyway.”
When the memo justifying Comey’s firing was made public, Russia was not in it. But, Mr. Trump made the connection anyway, telling NBC, then, Russian diplomats that the Russian investigation was among the reasons he fired Comey.
The most obvious explanation for this is that Trump wanted to box DOJ in, to prevent them from expanding their investigative focus from one campaign foreign policy advisor, a second campaign foreign policy advisor, his former campaign manager, his National Security Advisor, and his lifelong political advisor to the one thing those five men had in common, Trump.
But it’s also possible that Trump wanted Rosenstein to do what Don McGahn had narrowly prevented Trump from doing, effectively shifting the obstruction to Rosenstein. That seems like what Rosenstein was worried about, an impression he may have gotten from his instructions from McGahn, laying out the case that investigating Russia would get you fired.
It’s possible, too, that Trump was particularly interested in the public statement for the benefit of the Russians, a view supported by the fact that Trump made sure he fired Comey before his meeting with Sergey Lavrov and Sergey Kislyak, and then stated that he had more freedom with Comey gone. That is, it’s possible he needed to prove to the Russians that he could control his own DOJ.
The order to Rosenstein was one of the predications for the investigation into Trump
McCabe elaborates on a story told at least partly by the Peter Strzok-Lisa Page texts: that the day after Trump fired Comey, FBI moved to open two investigations into Trump. A number of people have suggested McCabe just vaguely pointed to Trump’s statements, but he’s more specific than that. One of the statements was that order to Rosenstein to include Russia in the firing memo.
Scott Pelley: How long was it after that that you decided to start the obstruction of justice and counterintelligence investigations involving the president?
Andrew McCabe: I think the next day, I met with the team investigating the Russia cases. And I asked the team to go back and conduct an assessment to determine where are we with these efforts and what steps do we need to take going forward. I was very concerned that I was able to put the Russia case on absolutely solid ground in an indelible fashion that were I removed quickly or reassigned or fired that the case could not be closed or vanish in the night without a trace.
Andrew McCabe: There were a number of things that caused us to believe that we had adequate predication or adequate reason and facts, to open the investigation. The president had been speaking in a derogatory way about our investigative efforts for weeks, describing it as a witch hunt…
President Trump on Feb. 16, 2017: Russia is a ruse. I have nothing to do with Russia. Haven’t made a phone call to Russia in years.
Andrew McCabe: …publicly undermining the effort of the investigation. The president had gone to Jim Comey and specifically asked him to discontinue the investigation of Mike Flynn which was a part of our Russia case. The president, then, fired the director. In the firing of the director, the president specifically asked Rod Rosenstein to write the memo justifying the firing and told Rod to include Russia in the memo. Rod, of course, did not do that. That was on the president’s mind. Then, the president made those public comments that you’ve referenced both on NBC and to the Russians which was captured in the Oval Office. Put together, these circumstances were articulable facts that indicated that a crime may have been committed. The president may have been engaged in obstruction of justice in the firing of Jim Comey.
As McCabe describes it, the other things are obstruction-related: Trump’s attacks on the Russian investigation.
But remember, McCabe had heard the substance of Mike Flynn’s comments to Sergei Kislyak. The rest of us have seen just outlines of it. In some way, Mike Flynn convinced Sergei Kislyak on December 29, 2016, that Russia had Trump’s assurances on sanctions relief. Trump may well have come up specifically. In any case, the FBI would have had good reason — from Flynn’s lies, and his call records showing his consultations before he lied — to suspect Trump had ordered Flynn’s statements to Kislyak.
McCabe describes the genesis of the obstruction and the counterintelligence investigation
Finally, McCabe provides additional details to the dual investigation into Trump: the obstruction one arising out of Trump’s efforts to kill the Russian investigation, and the counterintelligence one into whether Trump was doing that at Russia’s behest (which goes back to my initial point, that Trump may have wanted Russia included in the firing memos as a signal to Russia he could kill the investigation).
Scott Pelley: What was it specifically that caused you to launch the counterintelligence investigation?
Andrew McCabe: It’s many of those same concerns that cause us to be concerned about a national security threat. And the idea is, if the president committed obstruction of justice, fired the director of the of the FBI to negatively impact or to shut down our investigation of Russia’s malign activity and possibly in support of his campaign, as a counterintelligence investigator you have to ask yourself, “Why would a president of the United States do that?” So all those same sorts of facts cause us to wonder is there an inappropriate relationship, a connection between this president and our most fearsome enemy, the government of Russia?
Scott Pelley: Are you saying that the president is in league with the Russians?
Andrew McCabe: I’m saying that the FBI had reason to investigate that. Right, to investigate the existence of an investigation doesn’t mean someone is guilty. I would say, Scott, if we failed to open an investigation under those circumstances, we wouldn’t be doing our jobs.
With that laid out, I’d like to look at Rod Rosenstein’s August 2 memo laying out precisely what Mueller was — and had, from the start — been authorized to investigate, which both Paul Manafort and the President’s flunkies in Congress spent a great deal of effort trying to unseal. Knowing as we now do that the redacted passages include at least one and probably two bullet points relating to Trump himself, it seems more clear than every that once you lay out the investigations into Trump’s flunkies known to have been predicated at the time, that’s all that would have been included in the memo:
Obstruction investigation into Trump
Counterintelligence investigation into Trump
Election conspiracy investigation into Manafort
Ukrainian influence peddling investigation into Manafort
Transition conspiracy investigation into Flynn
Turkish influence peddling investigation into Flynn
Counterintelligence investigation into Carter Page
Election conspiracy investigation into George Papadopoulos
Election conspiracy investigation into Roger Stone
At that point, there wouldn’t have been space for at least two of the three bullets that now exist on a scope memo, as laid out by Jerome Corsi’s draft plea (though “c” may have been there in conjunction with Stone).
At the time of the interview, the Special Counsel’s Office was investigating the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, including:
a. the theft of campaign-related emails and other documents by the Russian government’s Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff (“GRU”);
b. the GRU’s provision of certain of those documents to an organization (“Organization 1”) for public release in order to expand the GRU’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election campaign; and
c. the nature of any connections between individuals associated with the U.S. presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump (“Trump Campaign”) and the Russian government or Organization 1.
That’s another to believe — as I have long argued — that bullets a and b got moved under Mueller at a later time, probably around November 2017. After Flynn flipped, the Middle Eastern pass-through corruption would likely have been added, and inauguration graft probably got added after Rick Gates flipped (before the non-Russian parts of both got spun off).
One thing that means, if I’m correct, is that at the time Mueller was hired, the investigation consisted of predicated investigations into probably six individuals. While there would have been a counterintelligence and criminal aspect to both, there was a criminal aspect to each of the investigations, with specific possible crimes envisioned. If that’s right, it means a lot of hot air about Mueller’s appointment simply misunderstood what part of Comey’s confirmed investigation got put under Mueller at first.
I have been authorized by the Department of Justice to confirm that the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election and that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts. As with any counterintelligence investigation, this will also include an assessment of whether any crimes were committed.
In any case, the certainty that there are at least one and probably two bullets pertaining to Trump in that August 2 memo is interesting for a few more reasons.
It makes it far more likely that the Strzok 302 — based on a July 19, 2017 interview, drafted the following day, and finalized August 22 — was an effort to formalize Mueller’s authorization to investigate the President. The part of the 302 that pertains to Mike Flynn’s interview takes up the middle third of the report. The rest must lay out the larger investigations, how the FBI found the intercepts between Flynn and Kislyak, and what the response to the interview was at DOJ.
The 302 is sandwiched between two events. First, it follows by just a few weeks the release of the June 9 meeting emails. Indeed, the interview itself took place on the day the NYT published the interview where Trump admits he and Putin spoke about adoptions — effectively making it clear that Putin, not Trump, drafted a statement downplaying that the meeting had established a dirt-for-sanctions relief quid pro quo.
The 302 was also drafted the day before Mueller started pursuing the transition emails and other comms from GSA that would have made it clear that Trump ordered Flynn’s statements and key members of the transition team knew that.
Specifically, on August 23, 2017, the FBI sent a letter (i.e., not a subpoena) to career GSA staff requesting copies of the emails, laptops, cell phones, and other materials associated with nine PTT members responsible for national security and policy matters. On August 30, 2017, the FBI sent a letter (again, not a subpoena) to career GSA staff requesting such materials for four additional senior PTT members.
It also happens to precede, by days, when Michael Horowitz would inform Christopher Wray and then Mueller about the Page-Strzok texts, though that is almost certainly an almost unbelievable coincidence.
In any case, as I’ve noted, unsealing that August 2 memo has been like a crown jewel for the obstructionists, as if they knew that it laid out the investigation into Donald Trump. That effort has been part of a strategy to suggest any investigation into Trump had to be improper, even one investigating whether he engaged in a quid pro quo even before the General Election started, trading US policy considerations — starting with, but not limited to, sanctions relief — in exchange for help getting elected.
The obstructionists want to claim that an investigation that started with George Papadopoulos and then Carter Page and then Mike Flynn (the obstructionists always seem to be silent about Paul Manafort and Roger Stone, as if they knew who engaged in substantive conspiracy with the Russians) should not end up with Donald Trump. And they do so, I think, to suggest that at the moment it discovered that quid pro quo in July 2017, it was already illegitimate.
But as McCabe said, “the FBI had reason to investigate that. Right, to investigate the existence of an investigation doesn’t mean someone is guilty. I would say, Scott, if we failed to open an investigation under those circumstances, we wouldn’t be doing our jobs.”
It just turned out that Trump was guilty.
https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Screen-Shot-2019-02-18-at-9.26.06-PM.png 850 1524 emptywheel https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.png emptywheel2019-02-18 21:26:572019-02-18 21:26:57About the Two Investigations into Donald Trump
The Disinformation Campaign Targeting Mueller and the Delayed Briefing to SSCI on Russian Election Interference
January 30, 2019 /133 Comments/in 2016 Presidential Election, 2018 Mid-Term Election, emptywheel, Mueller Probe /by emptywheel
A lot of people are reporting and misreporting details from this Mueller filing revealing that it had been the target of disinformation efforts starting in October.
1000 non-sensitive files leaked along with the file structure Mueller provided it with
To substantiate an argument that Concord Management should not be able to share with Yevgeniy Prigozhin the sensitive discovery that the government has shared with their trollish lawyers, Mueller revealed that on October 22, someone posted 1000 files turned over in discovery along with a bunch of other crap, partially nested within the file structure of the files turned over in discovery.
On October 22, 2018, the newly created Twitter account @HackingRedstone published the following tweet: “We’ve got access to the Special Counsel Mueller’s probe database as we hacked Russian server with info from the Russian troll case Concord LLC v. Mueller. You can view all the files Mueller had about the IRA and Russian collusion. Enjoy the reading!”1 The tweet also included a link to a webpage located on an online file-sharing portal. This webpage contained file folders with names and folder structures that are unique to the names and structures of materials (including tracking numbers assigned by the Special Counsel’s Office) produced by the government in discovery.2 The FBI’s initial review of the over 300,000 files from the website has found that the unique “hashtag” values of over 1,000 files on the website matched the hashtag values of files produced in discovery.3 Furthermore, the FBI’s ongoing review has found no evidence that U.S. government servers, including servers used by the Special Counsel’s Office, fell victim to any computer intrusion involving the discovery files.
1 On that same date, a reporter contacted the Special Counsel’s Office to advise that the reporter had received a direct message on Twitter from an individual who stated that they had received discovery material by hacking into a Russian legal company that had obtained discovery material from Reed Smith. The individual further stated that he or she was able to view and download the files from the Russian legal company’s database through a remote server.
2 For example, the file-sharing website contains a folder labeled “001-W773.” Within that folder was a folder labeled “Yahoo.” Within that folder was a folder labeled “return.” Within the “return” folder were several folders with the names of email addresses. In discovery in this case, the government produced a zip file named “Yahoo 773.” Within that zip file were search warrant returns for Yahoo email accounts. The names of the email accounts contained in that zip file were identical to the names of the email address folders within the “return” subfolder on the webpage. The webpage contained numerous other examples of similarities between the structure of the discovery and the names and structures of the file folders on the webpage. The file names and structure of the material produced by the government in discovery are not a matter of public record. At the same time, some folders contained within the Redstone Hacking release have naming conventions that do not appear in the government’s discovery production but appear to have been applied in the course of uploading the government’s production. For example, the “001- W773” folder appears within a folder labeled “REL001,” which is not a folder found within the government’s production. The naming convention of folder “REL001” suggests that the contents of the folder came from a production managed on Relativity, a software platform for managing document review. Neither the Special Counsel’s Office nor the U.S. Attorney’s Office used Relativity to produce discovery in this case. [my emphasis]
It sounds like Mueller’s office found out about it when being contacted by the journalist who had been alerted to the content on Twitter.
But before Mueller asked Concord’s trollish lawyers about it, the defense attorneys — citing media contacts they themselves had received — contacted prosecutors to offer a bullshit excuse about where the files came from.
On October 23, 2018, the day after the tweet quoted above, defense counsel contacted the government to advise that defense counsel had received media inquiries from journalists claiming they had been offered “hacked discovery materials from our case.” Defense counsel advised that the vendor hired by the defense reported no unauthorized access to the non-sensitive discovery. Defense counsel concluded, “I think it is a scam peddling the stuff that was hacked and dumped many years ago by Shaltai Boltai,” referencing a purported hack of Concord’s computer systems that occurred in approximately 2014. That hypothesis is not consistent with the fact that actual discovery materials from this case existed on the site, and that many of the file names and file structures on the webpage reflected file names and file structures from the discovery production in this case.
Without any hint of accusation against the defense attorneys (though this motion is accompanied by an ex parte one, so who knows if they offered further explanation there), Mueller notes any sharing of this information for disinformation purposes would violate the protective order in the case.
As stated previously, these facts establish a use of the non-sensitive discovery in this case in a manner inconsistent with the terms of the protective order. The order states that discovery may be used by defense counsel “solely in connection with the defense of this criminal case, and for no other purpose, and in connection with no other proceeding, without further order of this Court,” Dkt. No. 42-1, ¶ 1, and that “authorized persons shall not copy or reproduce the materials except in order to provide copies of the materials for use in connection with this case by defense counsel and authorized persons,” id. ¶ 3. The use of the file names and file structure of the discovery to create a webpage intended to discredit the investigation in this case described above shows that the discovery was reproduced for a purpose other than the defense of the case.
Update: Thursday evening, Mueller submitted another version of this clarifying that the @HackingRedstone tweets alerting journalists to the document dump were DMs, and so not public (or visible to the defense). The first public tweet publicizing the dump came on October 30, so even closer to the election.
Shortly after the government filed, defense counsel drew the government’s attention to the following sentence, which appears on page nine of the filing: “On October 22, 2018, the newly created Twitter account @HackingRedstone published the following tweet: ‘We’ve got access to the Special Counsel Mueller’s probe database as we hacked Russian server with info from the Russian troll case Concord LLC v. Mueller. You can view all the files Mueller had about the IRA and Russian collusion. Enjoy the reading!’” Defense counsel pointed out that this sentence could be read to suggest that the Twitter account broadcast a publicly-available “tweet” on October 22. In fact, the Twitter account @HackingRedstone began sending multiple private direct messages to members of the media promoting a link to the online file-sharing webpage using Twitter on October 22. The content of those direct messages was consistent with, but more expansive than, the quoted tweet to the general public, which was issued on October 30. By separate filing, the government will move to file under seal the text of the direct messages. The online file sharing webpage was publicly accessible at least starting on October 22.
I’m not sure it makes the defense response any more or less suspect. But it does tie the disinformation even more closely with the election.
The Mueller disinformation was part of a month-long election season campaign
This thread, from one of the journalists who was offered the information, put it all in context back on November 7, the day after the election.
The thread shows how the release of the Mueller-related files was part of a month-long effort to seed a claim that the Internet Research Agency had succeeded in affecting the election.
Update: This story provides more background.
Other signs of the ongoing investigation into Yevgeniy Prigozhin’s trolls
Given how the Mueller disinformation functioned as part of that month-long, election oriented campaign, I’m more interested in this passage from the Mueller investigation than that the investigation had been targeted. Mueller argues that they shouldn’t have to share the sensitive discovery with Yevgeniy Prigozhin because the sensitive discovery mentions uncharged individuals who are still trying to fuck with our elections.
First, the sensitive discovery identifies uncharged individuals and entities that the government believes are continuing to engage in operations that interfere with lawful U.S. government functions like those activities charged in the indictment.
To be sure, we knew the investigation into Prigozhin’s trolls was ongoing. On October 19, just days before these files got dropped, DOJ unsealed an EDVA complaint, which had been filed under seal on September 28, against Prigozhin’s accountant, Alekseevna Khusyaynova. Along with showing Prigozhin’s trolls responding to the original Internet Research Agency indictment last February, it showed IRA’s ongoing troll efforts through at least June of last year.
Then, in December, Concord insinuated that Mueller prosecutor Rush Atkinson had obtained information via the firewall counsel and taken an investigative step on that information back on August 30.
On August 23, 2018, in connection with a request (“Concord’s Request”) made pursuant to the Protective Order entered by the Court, Dkt. No. 42-1, Concord provided confidential information to Firewall Counsel. The Court was made aware of the nature of this information in the sealed portion of Concord’s Motion for Leave to Respond to the Government’s Supplemental Briefing Relating to Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss the Indictment, filed on October 22, 2018. Dkt. No. 70-4 (Concord’s “Motion for Leave”). Seven days after Concord’s Request, on August 30, 2018, Assistant Special Counsel L. Rush Atkinson took investigative action on the exact same information Concord provided to Firewall Counsel. Undersigned counsel learned about this on October 4, 2018, based on discovery provided by the Special Counsel’s Office. Immediately upon identifying this remarkable coincidence, on October 5, 2018, undersigned counsel requested an explanation from the Special Counsel’s Office, copying Firewall Counsel on the e-mail.
Having received no further explanation or information from the government, undersigned counsel raised this issue with the Court in a filing made on October 22, 2018 in connection with the then-pending Motion to Dismiss. In response to questions from the Court, Firewall Counsel denied having any communication with the Special Counsel’s Office.
This was a bid to obtain live grand jury investigative information, one that failed earlier this month after Mueller explained under seal how his prosecutors had obtained this information and Dabney Friedrich denied the request.
What this filing, in conjunction with Josh Russell’s explanatory Twitter thread, reveals is that the Mueller disinformation effort was part of a disinformation campaign targeted at the election.
Dan Coats doesn’t want to share the report on Russian election tampering with SSCI
And I find that interesting because of a disturbing exchange in a very disturbing Global Threats hearing the other day. After getting both Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and FBI Director Christopher Wray to offer excuses for White House decisions to given security risks like Jared Kushner security clearance, Martin Heinrich then asked Coats why ODNI had not shared the report on election tampering even with the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Heinrich: Director Coats, I want to come back to you for a moment. Your office issued a statement recently announcing that you had submitted the intelligence community’s report assessing the threats to the 2018 mid-term elections to the President and to appropriate Executive Agencies. Our committee has not seen this report. And despite committee requests following the election that the ODNI brief the committee on any identified threats, it took ODNI two months to get a simple oral briefing and no written assessment has yet been provided. Can you explain to me why we haven’t been kept more fully and currently informed about those Russian activities in the 2018–
Chairman Richard Burr interrupts to say that, in fact, he and Vice Chair Mark Warner have seen the report.
Burr: Before you respond, let me just acknowledge to the members that the Vice Chairman and I have both been briefed on the report and it’s my understanding that the report at some point will be available.
Coats then gives a lame excuse about the deadlines, 45 days, then 45 days.
Coats: The process that we’re going through are two 45 day periods, one for the IC to assess whether there was anything that resulted in a change of the vote or anything with machines, uh, what the influence efforts were and so forth. So we collected all of that, and the second 45 days — which we then provided to the Chairman and Vice Chairman. And the second 45 days is with DHS looking, and DOJ, looking at whether there’s information enough there to take — to determine what kind of response they might take. We’re waiting for that final information to come in.
After Coats dodges his question about sharing the report with the Committee, Heinrich then turns to Burr to figure out when they’re going to get the information. Burr at least hints that the Executive might try to withhold this report, but it hasn’t gotten to that yet.
Heinrich: So the rest of us can look forward — so the rest of us can then look forward to reading the report?
Coats: I think we will be informing the Chairman and the Vice Chairman of that, of their decisions.
Heinrich: That’s not what I asked. Will the rest of the Committee have access to that report, Mr. Chairman?
Heinrich: Chairman Burr?
Burr; Well, let me say to members we’re sort of in unchartered ground. But I make the same commitment I always do, that anything that the Vice Chairman and myself are exposed to, we’ll make every request to open the aperture so that all members will be able to read I think it’s vitally important, especially on this one, we’re not to a point where we’ve been denied or we’re not to a point that negotiations need to start. So it’s my hope that, once the final 45-day window is up that is a report that will be made available, probably to members only.
Coming as it did in a hearing where it became clear that Trump’s spooks are helpless in keeping Trump from pursuing policies that damage the country, this exchange got very little attention. But it should!
The Executive Branch by law has to report certain things to the Intelligence Committees. This report was mandated by Executive Order under threat of legislation mandating it.
And while Coats’ comment about DOJ, “looking at whether there’s information enough there to take — to determine what kind of response they might take,” suggests part of the sensitivity about this report stems from a delay to provide DOJ time to decide whether they’ll take prosecutorial action against what they saw in the election, the suggestion that only members of the committee (not staffers and not other members of Congress) will ever get the final report, as well as the suggestion that Coats might even fight that, put this report on a level of sensitivity that matches covert actions, the most sensitive information that get shared with Congress.
Maybe the Russians did have an effect on the election?
In any case, going back to the Mueller disinformation effort, that feels like very familiar dick-wagging, an effort to make key entities in the US feel vulnerable to Russian compromise. Mueller sounds pretty sure it was not a successful compromise (that is, the data came from Concord’s lawyers, not Mueller).
But if the disinformation was part an effort to boast that Putin’s allies had successfully tampered with the vote — particularly if Russia really succeeded in doing so — it might explain why this report is being treated with the sensitivity of the torture or illegal spying program.
Update: I’ve corrected this to note that in the end the Intelligence Authorization did not mandate this report, as was originally intended; Trump staved that requirement off with an Executive Order. Still, that still makes this look like an attempt to avoid admitting to Congress that your buddy Putin continues to tamper in US elections.
https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Screen-Shot-2019-01-30-at-8.14.03-PM.png 1056 1988 emptywheel https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.png emptywheel2019-01-30 20:32:592019-01-31 20:32:12The Disinformation Campaign Targeting Mueller and the Delayed Briefing to SSCI on Russian Election Interference
Peter Strzok’s Out of Scope Polygraph
June 29, 2018 /21 Comments/in 2016 Presidential Election, Mueller Probe /by emptywheel
I watch shit-show hearings so you don’t need to.
And yesterday’s HJC hearing with Rod Rosenstein and Chris Wray was one of the shitshowiest I’ve sat through. I hope to do a post mapping out the cynical theater the Republicans put on yesterday, and how they succeeded in manipulating the press. But first, I want to point to the one really good point Doug Collins sort of made at the hearing.
In January 2016, Peter Strzok had an out of scope polygraph. And yet, by all appearances, he remained working on a sensitive leak investigation, then moved onto an investigation into one of the most damaging spying operations targeting the United States since the Cold War.
Let’s go back to something I asked, you and I had a conversation about a few months ago. Mr. Strzok’s issue I asked at the time did he have a security clearance. You said you would check. Now it appears that security clearance has been revoked. The concern I have again is again, process, inside the Department of Justice on what happens when you have someone of his caliber, counterintelligence level, this is not a new recruit, this is somebody who’s been around has had sensitive information. And on January 13, 2016, an individual from FBI’s Washington Field Office emailed Mr. Strzok and other employees that their polygraphs were, I think it was, “out of scope.” I asked you about that. And asked you if he had been polygraphed. You didn’t know at the time. It said the polygraph raised flags. Now, my question about this would be you didn’t know about the polygraph at the time. We just assume now that it’s out there, you do. Would the topic of extramarital affair have come up in that polygraph or possibility of extramarital affair come up to to put it out of scope?
Do you think it’s interesting you would continue to have someone in an investigation of such magnitude and sensitivity who basically had a failed polygraph or an out of scope polygraph test in which they had to then go back and re-answer or complete sensitive [sic] compartmentalized information request on this. Would they stay in that investigation? And if so were they treated differently because of his position or who he was?
Does it not strike you as strange, Mr. Wray, and I was not going here but now you’ve led me here. Does it not strike you as strange that someone who has had an issue with a polygraph, during the investigation in which you have, in which sensitive information were coming about, in which we’ve now seen the text and other things, what would be–could they just flunk a polygraph and you just keep them on, if they could flunk questions, you keep them on sensitive information simply because that — not speaking of Mr. Strzok here, I’m talking overall policy. Is your policy just to keep people around that lie?
I get that polygraphs come close to junk science and don’t measure what they claim to measure. I get that Collins is just trying to discredit the Mueller investigation.
But if you’re going to require that cleared employees — throughout the federal government — take and pass polygraphs, shouldn’t you act when someone has an adverse polygraph? Especially if you’re the FBI, the agency that investigates everyone else’s clearance?
It turns out, FBI already knows it had a problem on this front. In March of this year, DOJ’s Inspector General completed an investigation into how the FBI responded to adverse polygraphs. Based on a review of what happened with problematic polygraph results from 2014 to 2016 — so covering the period in which Strzok’s took place — DOJ IG found that the FBI was not following protocols. Two of its findings pertain directly to what appears to have happened with Strzok. First, the FBI wasn’t always pulling people off SCI information after someone had failed a poly.
Second, we found that the FBI did not always comply with its own policy governing employee access to Sensitive Compartmented Information, classified national intelligence information concerning or derived from sensitive intelligence sources, methods, or analytical processes, which is to be handled exclusively within formal access control systems established by the Director of National Intelligence. The FBI’s policy generally prohibits access to Sensitive Compartmented Information for FBI employees who have not passed a polygraph examination within a specified period. We identified instances in which employees unable to pass multiple polygraph examinations were allowed to retain access to sensitive information, systems, and spaces for extended periods of time without required risk assessments — potentially posing a security risk to the FBI.
While it appears Strzok had just one problematic polygraph, not multiple ones, this appears to be what Collins is talking about: someone not being pulled off sensitive cases when a polygraph triggers a warning, presumably because the FBI considered them too valuable to deal with according to protocol.
In addition, when the FBI investigated failed polygraph, the IG found, the FBI’s investigators weren’t always accessing all materials available to them.
Third, we found that investigations of unresolved polygraph results did not always draw on all sources of FBI information. We identified communication issues between the FBI’s Analysis and Investigations Unit (AIU), which investigates and makes adjudicative recommendations on employee polygraph results, and other FBI personnel security stakeholders. We also had concerns about the AIU’s thoroughness in leveraging all relevant FBI information during its investigations. These issues prevent the AIU from consistently producing thorough and efficient investigations.
I’m not sure whether this would include reviewing an employee’s FBI communications or not, but it might (and probably should). If FBI had reviewed Strzok’s FBI texts in January 2016, they would have discovered he was conducting an undisclosed extramarital affair, the probable explanation of any finding of deception on his polygraph. They’d also have discovered that Strzok agreed with most of the country about what a buffoon Donald Trump was — which in his case would be problematic given that he was carrying out an investigation into Hillary Clinton.
In September, Michael Horowitz informed Christopher Wray of the problem, as he had immediately informed Wray of Strzok’s problematic texts.
Now, that Strzok had a bad polygraph may create problems for any affidavits that Strzok was an affiant for. If he was specifically asked about extramarital affairs in his interview, and lied about it, that lie will be used to challenge any investigative steps that he swore to. While Strzok’s not known to have been the affiant for key steps (such as the Paul Manafort warrants or the Carter Page FISA order), this could create problems for Mueller elsewhere (a point that Wray and Rosenstein admitted elsewhere).
But there’s the counterpart of this. Pulling Strzok off the Hillary investigation in January 2016 would have identified the source of his apparent deception, and led to minor disciplinary action, after which he would have been back on the beat hunting out foreign spies. Instead, his involvement in these two cases has unnecessarily discredited both of them, even though his investigative actions appear to have been defensible in both cases.
https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Screen-Shot-2018-06-29-at-10.32.10-AM.png 557 997 emptywheel https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.png emptywheel2018-06-29 10:39:232018-06-29 10:39:23Peter Strzok's Out of Scope Polygraph
Roger Stone and ConFraudUs
June 23, 2018 /82 Comments/in 2016 Presidential Election, emptywheel, Mueller Probe /by emptywheel
CNN’s David Gelles has an instructive tweet this morning showing how the rate at which Trump tweets about the Mueller “witch hunt” is accelerating.
Assuming this includes this morning’s two “witch hunt” tweets, Trump is on pace to use the phrase 28 times by the end of the month, though I bet he’ll continue to accelerate the use of it in the week remaining in the month.
The Mueller investigation is, I suspect, coming to a head.
I don’t claim I know how it will turn out. The president has an enormous amount of power and his flunkies in Congress promise they’re about to end Rod Rosenstein’s bend-don’t-break defense by impeaching him (though Rosenstein and Chris Wray have just thrown more documents out to slow the Republicans). It’s certainly possible that Trump will make a last ditch effort to undercut the Mueller investigation and that effort will be competently executed and none of the secondary fall-back defenses Mueller has put into place will work. For now, though, the Trump team seems intent on a delay and discredit strategy, which won’t stave off any imminent steps.
So we shall see whether Trump succeeds in undercutting the investigation. I keep thinking, “that’s why they play the game,” but this is no game.
There are a number of reasons I think Mueller’s investigation is coming to a head. But consider one detail. I’ve long explained that Mueller seems to be building a series of Conspiracy to Defraud the United States indictments that will ultimately incorporate the entire Russian operation (and may integrate the Trumpsters’ international self-dealing as well). As Mueller’s team has itself pointed out, for heavily regulated areas like elections, ConFraudUs indictments don’t need to prove intent for the underlying crimes. They just need to prove,
(1) two or more persons formed an agreement to defraud the United States;
(2) [each] defendant knowingly participated in the conspiracy with the intent to defraud the United States; and
(3) at least one overt act was committed in furtherance of the common scheme.
Let’s see how evidence Mueller has recently shown might apply in the case of Roger Stone, Trump’s lifelong political advisor. We already knew that Stone had communications that he did not immediately disclose with Guccifer 2.0 and Wikileaks. With both, Stone has contributed to and reinforced claims the entities were not Russian operations, though his conversion about the source of the Hillary emails was pretty sudden and curiously timed.
Now we know that in May, Stone had lunch with someone calling himself Henry Greenberg offering dirt on Hillary. His explanation — based only on the texts that Michael Caputo was asked about in a Mueller interview — is not that he didn’t entertain the offer, but that he didn’t take Greenberg up on the offer as made in late May because Greenberg was asking for big money.
Both clearly recognized Greenberg as a Russian, therefore a foreigner offering something of value during an election.
Bizarrely, in trying to rebut the import of this exchange publicly, Caputo and Stone are doing nothing more than working the public refs, claiming to assume this was an FBI sting. Mueller knows whether it was an FBI sting, and there’s virtually no way he’d be asking questions about it if it were (particularly if Stone really didn’t take the bait). In short, Stone has no justification for this he’s willing to offer publicly; instead, he’s just adopting the SpyGate narrative in an attempt to discredit the investigation. And that’s assuming there were no follow-ups or other damning texts that didn’t involve someone willing to leak them to the press.
And all that happened before Peter Smith came on the scene, someone who, unlike Donald Trump, was willing to spend money for such things, an operation Stone is suspected of being involved in but which he studiously avoids mentioning when trying to explain himself. Smith did obtain emails from people Matt Tait advised him might be part of a Russian operation, and when he couldn’t validate them, sent them on to Wikileaks.
Which is to say Stone repeatedly entertained offers from foreigners illegally offering dirt that would benefit the Trump campaign — Greenberg, Guccifer 2.0, possibly Peter Smith’s Dark Web hackers. He may even have exhibited a belief that Australian Julian Assange had and could release the latter dirt, possibly with the knowledge they came from Russians.
So we’ve got Stone meeting with other people, repeatedly agreeing to bypass US election law to obtain a benefit for Trump, evidence (notwithstanding Stone’s post-hoc attempts to deny a Russian connection with Guccifer 2.0 and Wikileaks) that Stone had the intent of obtaining that benefit, and tons of overt acts committed in furtherance of the scheme.
And all that’s without leaning on the the other stuff Mueller found on Stone’s phone, which Stone is also trying to explain away by public conspiracies (in this case that the phone content was obtained with a FISA order rather than with a probable cause warrant obtained on March 9).
This is just one of the people Mueller has publicly focused on in recent days. We could lay out similar arguments for Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort, and Brad Parscale, at a minimum. Mueller had — and acted on — probable cause warrants covering five AT&T phones in March, all of which probably had close ties to Rick Gates. Assuming those targets are distributed proportionately with the US population, he’s likely to have obtained warrants for as many as 15 phones just in that go-around.
So if Roger Stone is any indication, the Mueller investigation may soon be moving into a new phase.
https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Stone-Agent-of-Chaos.jpg 797 1072 emptywheel https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.png emptywheel2018-06-23 16:30:142018-06-23 16:30:14Roger Stone and ConFraudUs
In Attempt to Learn How Much Mueller Knows about Roger Stone’s “Collusion,” Devin Nunes Blames FBI for Stone and Michael Caputo’s Perjury to HPSCI
On Thursday, in the wake of the release of the DOJ IG Report showing that Jim Comey hurt Hillary Clinton with his intervention after the end of the email server investigation, the Gang of Eight met with Rod Rosenstein and Christopher Wray to discuss the House Intelligence Committee demand for documents allegedly investigating FISA abuse.
On Thursday night, Rudy Giuliani (whose receipt of leaks from the NY FBI field office received no attention in the IG Report) appeared on Sean Hannity and argued that the Mueller investigation (which removed Strzok once his inappropriate texts were revealed) should be suspended immediately and instead investigated by those very same NY FBI agents.
Every FBI agent should demand that that man be fired and tomorrow Mueller should suspend his investigation and he should go see Rod Rosenstein who created him and the Deputy Attorney General and Attorney General Sessions who should now step up big time to save his Department should suspend that investigation. Throw out all the people is that have been involved in the phony Trump investigation and bring in honest FBI agents from the New York office who I can trust implicitly and they should turn their attention to Comey, Strzok, Page.
Who are we providing them to? People who have already concluded to frame Donald Trump, agents who started a phony Russia investigation. That’s the whole core of this. That’s why the investigation should be suspended. And I am talking for myself now, not the president. But I believe he would agree with this. A very serious investigation has to be done of the FBI agents at the very top by FBI agents who are honest in order to prosecute them…
Rosenstein and Jeff Sessions have a chance to redeem themselves and that chance comes about tomorrow. It doesn’t go beyond tomorrow. Tomorrow, Mueller should be suspended and honest people should be brought in, impartial people to investigate these people like Peter Strzok. Strzok should be in jail by the end of next week.
On Friday, in the wake of the Thursday Gang of Eight meeting, Paul Ryan, Devin Nunes, Trey Gowdy, and Bob Goodlatte had a meeting with Wray and Rosenstein to demand documents on their investigation into alleged FISA abuse.
Also on Friday, Roger Stone appeared on Laura Ingraham’s show to comment on the IG Report. He made no comment about the story he was seeding with the WaPo, spinning that the Russian he reached out to learn about dirt on Hillary Clinton, whom he didn’t mention when the House Intelligence Committee asked him about contacts with Russians, was actually an FBI spy. In its story this morning, the WaPo didn’t point out all the reasons why it’s almost certain that “Henry Greenberg” was not operating under the control of the FBI; as a result, the WaPo gave the informant story credibility it shouldn’t have.
Today, Devin Nunes went on Fox to report on the Friday meeting. In three segments (one, two, three), Maria Bartiromo treated the Friday meeting as breaking news. Nunes said that their subpoenas “will be complied with” or the House would take other measures. When Bartiromo asked Nunes specifically what he was looking for, he didn’t respond. Instead, he posed the quest this way.
How did you use our nation’s counterintelligence capabilities. These are capabilities used to track terrorists and other bad guys around the globe. How did you weaponize that against a political campaign, against the Trump campaign, where ultimately it ended up in Carter Page having a FISA warrant put against him which allowed the government to go in and grab all of his emails and phone calls. So that’s primarily what we’ve been investigating for many many months. I will tell you that Chairman Gowdy was very very clear with the Department of Justice and FBI and said that if there was any vectoring of any informants or spies or whatever you want to call them into the Trump campaign before the investigation began, we better know about it by Sunday, meaning today. He was very very clear about that. And as you probably know there’s breaking news this morning that now you have a couple Trump campaign people who are saying that they were, that they’ve amended their testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, they sent in both Friday night and this morning, amendments to their testimony saying that in fact they feel like somebody, they’re not claiming that it was the FBI, but someone ran informants or spies into them to try to get information and offer up Russian dirt to the Trump campaign. Now this would have been in May of 2016. Which is obviously months before this counterintelligence investigation was opened by the FBI into the Trump campaign.
If I were them I would pick up the phone and let us know what this is about, this story that broke in the Washington Post, this morning, just hours ago. They probably ought to tell us whether or not they were involved in that or else they have a major major problem on their hands.
We should have been told about this about eight months ago. In compliance with the subpoena that we issued last August.But for sure a couple months ago, when we began to ask, we asked questions about, we had a subpoena, and we wanted to figure out what they were doing before and af, right before and right after the opening of the counterintelligence investigation. So we asked for specific information and documents. As you know, that’s what we’ve been fighting over for the last couple months now. And on Friday night it culminated with us telling them because they have swore up and down that they have given us everything that’s pertinent to our investigation after the investigation was open. And they have claimed that there is nothing else that exists before that date. Now, this Washington Post story, I don’t know that they’re claiming for sure that this was an FBI spy or informant, you know, I have no idea whether it is or not, but it has all the makings of the looks of some type of spy or informant. And that would be a major problem because that is not something that has ever been brought to us, and it would be totally out of bounds.
In an appearance providing extensive details about past classified requests and meetings with DOJ (including the one on Friday), Nunes also accuses Rosenstein of leaking by telling the press that Nunes hasn’t read the documents they’ve been demanding but which DOJ has already turned over.
At midnight, just a week ago, the Department of Justice put out something on Republicans saying that we had not read documents that the Department of Justice had provided for us to read. Now, that is a major leak, of a classified meeting, that also happens to be false because they knew that we ran out of time and didn’t have time to actually read these documents, but they did that to embarrass the Speaker of the House and myself and Chairman Gowdy who were given access to those documents but not given time to read those documents. That came from the top of the Department of Justice. Why are those people still working at the Department of Justice. They are leaking.
Here’s the bottom line. Mr. Rosenstein, the Deputy Attorney General, and Director Wray have to decide whether or not they want to be part of the cleanup crew or they want to be part of the cover-up crew.
Then Nunes ends by saying he will move towards impeaching Rosenstein and Wray this week, based off a claim that the FBI is withholding details about that contact with “Greenberg,” the one both Stone and Caputo lied to his own committee to cover up.
Nunes: There”s going to be hell to pay by Wednesday morning.
This is going to go from myself and just a few committee chairmen to all the members of the House of Representatives who are going to begin to take action against the Department of Justice and FBI.
Bartiromo: Taking action meaning contempt of Congress?
Nunes: Well that’s just one of the options. That’s just one of many options. But I can tell you that it’s not gonna be pretty.
Bartiromo: Are you going to force the resignation of Rod Rosenstein?
Nunes: We can’t force the resignation, but we can hold in contempt, we can pass sense of Congress resolutions, we can impeach, and look, I think we’re getting close to there.
So let’s unpack what’s going on here, aside from a really well orchestrated campaign that has been in the works since January.
First, note how Nunes twists the meaning of counterintelligence here? When discussing why the FBI obtained a FISA order on Carter Page, whom FBI suspected was a willing Russian asset going back to 2013 and whom FBI had questioned the same month Trump added him to the campaign, as part of those ongoing concerns, Nunes suggests FISA orders are only used on terrorists and international bad guys, not people who’ve been suspected of being Russian assets for years. But later in the appearance, he treats the formal start of the counterintelligence investigation into Russians infiltrating Trump’s campaign — the counterintelligence investigation (he is now using counterintelligence in its traditional sense) — as if any investigation of Page or Manafort on their own right before that would be corrupt.
Then Nunes moves to suggest that a Russian contact that Mueller may have only discovered after he obtained a warrant for Stone’s phone on March 9 — a contact that both Caputo and Stone lied to the committee about — is something the FBI has been hiding, not Caputo and Stone.
In an appearance providing a slew of non-public information about a long series of contacts, Nunes accuses Rosenstein for once doing the same thing, with the important difference that Rosenstein was correcting the false claims that Nunes was presenting to the press.
And out of all that — out of Nunes’ willingness to blame the FBI for Stone and Caputo’s lies to his own committee — Nunes is going to bring an impeachment case against Rosenstein and Wray.
Obviously, there’s an easy way for Rosenstein and Wray to defuse this, in more of the bend don’t break approach they’ve been using with these extortionists. They could explain what I have surmised: that the materials about the contact with “Greenberg” that Stone and Caputo lied to him about actually came pursuant to a grand jury search warrant based on information Rick Gates provided in February and March. This is probably a grand jury search warrant (or one similar) that Paul Manafort already tried to, but failed, to get unsealed. As far as we know, Rosenstein and Wray haven’t provided any grand jury material to HPSCI.
Of course, providing the background to this question would require providing more details about what Mueller does and doesn’t know about Roger Stone’s efforts to conspire with Russians during the election.
That’s the hostage situation that Nunes is creating here: Impeachment or details about what Mueller knows of Roger Stone’s conspiracy with Russians to obtain dirt on Hillary Clinton.
https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Screen-Shot-2018-06-17-at-10.48.09-AM.png 391 684 emptywheel https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.png emptywheel2018-06-17 13:03:522018-06-18 09:04:30In Attempt to Learn How Much Mueller Knows about Roger Stone's "Collusion," Devin Nunes Blames FBI for Stone and Michael Caputo's Perjury to HPSCI
Why Are Republicans Still Squealing about FISA Applications If HPSCI Report Cedes Carter Page Concerns?
Republicans in Congress continue to make fairly breath-taking demands on Rod Rosenstein and Christopher Wray in what seems to be an attempt to create a bogus claim of non-responsiveness that Trump can use to fire one or both of them.
First there was the demand that the House Intelligence Committee get all of FBI’s non-grand jury records on the Mueller investigation, a demand Paul Ryan backed. Then there was the push to publish the Nunes memo over DOJ’s objections. More recently, after Wray’s doubling the number of FBI staffers (to 54) in an attempt to meet a Bob Goodlatte document deadline for FISA, Hillary investigation, and McCabe firing materials proved insufficient, Jeff Sessions has put Chicago’s US Attorney, John Lausch, in charge of the response. As with Sessions’ selection of Utah US Attorney John Huber to review other GOP demands, Sessions seems to be giving himself and his deputies cover from fairly ridiculous GOP demands.
Nevertheless, such concessions have not entirely sheltered Trump’s main targets from the kinds of complaints that might expose Robert Mueller’s investigation below them. Mark Meadows, one of the lead attack dogs in this congressional obstruction effort, even suggested Congress might impeach Rosenstein for failing to meet a 2-week deadline on a Bob Goodlatte subpoena.
Through it all, the complaints that FBI used the Steele dossier as one piece of evidence in Carter Page’s FISA application, persist. This, in spite of the fact that Page had been under FISA surveillance years before, and in spite of the fact that all sides agree that the counterintelligence investigation into Trump’s aides started in response to the George Papadopoulos tip from Australia.
This, in spite of the passage from the Schiff memo (including one redacted sentence) that seems to assert that FBI considered Page an on-going counterintelligence concern.
DOJ cited multiple sources to support the case for surveillance Page — but made only narrow use of information from Steele’s sources about Page’s specific activities in 2016, chiefly his suspected July 2016 meetings in Moscow with Russian officials. [entire short sentence redacted] In fact, the FBI interviewed Page in March 2016 about his contact with Russian intelligence, the very month candidate Donald Trump named hi a foreign policy advisor.
And the Schiff memo is consistent with what Sheldon Whitehouse (among the few other people who had read the application at the time) said.
Whitehouse: I’ve got to be careful because some of this is still classified. But the conclusion that I’ve reached is that there was abundant evidence outside of the Steele dossier that would have provoked any responsible FBI with a counterintelligence concern to look at whether Carter Page was an undisclosed foreign agent. And to this day the FBI continues to assert that he was a undisclosed Russian foreign agent.
Importantly, however, it’s no longer just former prosecutors in the Democratic party who seem to confirm that Page was a real counterintelligence concern, and therefore legitimately a FISA target. At least, that’s what these two passages from the GOP House Intelligence Report suggest.
If you’re complaining that the Intelligence Community didn’t inform Trump about that members of his campaign team were “assessed to be potential counterintelligence concerns,” (and this likely includes Paul Manafort, as well as Page), then you can’t very well complain if FBI obtained a FISA warrant once those counterintelligence concerns left the campaign team. Hell, you’re practically inviting the FBI to obtain such a warrant while the counterintelligence concern is on the campaign, to help warn the candidate.
I know this is a bit to ask, but the GOP should not be able to have it both ways, to try to discredit the Trump investigation by pointing to the use of the Steele dossier in targeting Page, even while demanding FBI should have shared what it knew about Page because he posed a risk to Trump.
https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Screenshot-2017-07-21-at-2.37.25-AM.png 513 787 emptywheel https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.png emptywheel2018-04-10 11:09:102018-04-10 11:09:10Why Are Republicans Still Squealing about FISA Applications If HPSCI Report Cedes Carter Page Concerns?
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2385
|
__label__wiki
| 0.857695
| 0.857695
|
Tag Archive for: Tony Podesta
On the Potential Viability of Foreign Agent Charges for Rudy Giuliani
October 16, 2019 /40 Comments/in emptywheel /by emptywheel
Since the NYT revealed that SDNY is investigating Rudy Giuliani for what they call “lobbying” laws,
Mr. Lutsenko initially asked Mr. Giuliani to represent him, according to the former mayor, who said he declined because it would have posed a conflict with his work for the president. Instead, Mr. Giuliani said, he interviewed Mr. Lutsenko for hours, then had one of his employees — a “professional investigator who works for my company” — write memos detailing the Ukrainian prosecutors’ claims about Ms. Yovanovitch, Mr. Biden and others.
Mr. Giuliani said he provided those memos to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this year and was told that the State Department passed the memos to the F.B.I. He did not say who told him.
Mr. Giuliani said he also gave the memos to the columnist, John Solomon, who worked at the time for The Hill newspaper and published articles and videos critical of Ms. Yovanovitch, the Bidens and other Trump targets. It was unclear to what degree Mr. Giuliani’s memos served as fodder for Mr. Solomon, who independently interviewed Mr. Lutsenko and other sources.
Mr. Solomon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lobbying disclosure law contains an exemption for legal work, and Mr. Giuliani said his efforts to unearth information and push both for investigations in Ukraine and for news coverage of his findings originated with his defense of Mr. Trump in the special counsel’s investigation.
He acknowledged that his work morphed into a more general dragnet for dirt on Mr. Trump’s targets but said that it was difficult to separate those lines of inquiry from his original mission of discrediting the origins of the special counsel’s investigation.
Mr. Giuliani said Mr. Lutsenko never specifically asked him to try to force Ms. Yovanovitch’s recall, saying he concluded himself that Mr. Lutsenko probably wanted her fired because he had complained that she was stifling his investigations.
“He didn’t say to me, ‘I came here to get Yovanovitch fired.’ He came here because he said he had been trying to transmit this information to your government for the past year, and had been unable to do it,” Mr. Giuliani said of his meeting in New York with Mr. Lutsenko. “I transmitted the information to the right people.”
And since the WSJ reported that Pete Sessions — named as Congressman 1 in the Lev Parnas/Igor Fruman indictment — was cooperating with a grand jury subpoena targeting Rudy,
A grand jury has issued a subpoena related to Manhattan federal prosecutors’ investigation into Rudy Giuliani, seeking documents from former Rep. Pete Sessions about his dealings with President Trump’s personal lawyer and associates, according to people familiar with the matter.
The subpoena seeks documents related to Mr. Giuliani’s business dealings with Ukraine and his involvement in efforts to oust the U.S. ambassador in Kyiv, as well as any interactions between Mr. Sessions, Mr. Giuliani and four men who were indicted last week on campaign-finance and conspiracy accounts, the people said.
Mr. Sessions’ knowledge of Mr. Giuliani’s dealings is a primary focus of the subpoena, the people said.
There has been a closer review of whether it would be possible to indict the President’s personal lawyer under foreign agent laws, with broad consensus that what Rudy is doing is actually covered by FARA — and not just his work for Ukraine, but also (among other places) for Turkey.
But there have been a number of claims that, I think, have been too pat about how easy or hard this is going to be.
Greg Craig, Tony Podesta, Vin Weber, and Bijan Kian are not apt precedents
First, a number of people have looked at how SDNY considered — but did not charge — Greg Craig, Tony Podesta, and Vin Weber under FARA, suggesting the same considerations would hold true with Rudy. Others have looked at Greg Craig (who was prosecuted but acquitted in DC for FARA after SDNY decided not to charge it) and Bijan Kian (who was convicted but then had his conviction thrown out by Judge Anthony Trenga based on the legal theory DOJ used) to suggest these cases are too difficult to charge to get Rudy.
It is absolutely the case that when powerful men with skilled lawyers have been pursued under FARA in recent years, DOJ has succeeded not in trial, but instead has gotten either plea deals or failed at trial (and that may have been one of the facts behind Mueller’s decision to strike a plea deal with Paul Manafort). That is sound evidence that SDNY is no doubt aware of.
But several things distinguish Rudy.
Most notably, all of those earlier cases came before DOJ’s newfound commitment to prosecuting FARA, with Mike Flynn prosecutor Brandon Van Grack taking over where a woman named Heather Hunt had been in charge before. At a minimum, that means a process that originally took place with Craig, Podesta, Weber, and Kian under an assumption that FARA would be treated solely as a registration issue may now be taking place under an assumption that violations of FARA — presumably to include both a failure to register and (what most charges have been so far) false statements under registration — can be prosecuted. That assumption would dramatically change the attention with which DOJ would document their communications, so prosecutors would not now be stuck going to trial (as Craig’s prosecutors were) without having DOJ’s documentation of a key meeting.
Notably, the same thing that triggered the FARA prosecution of Mike Flynn — concerns raised by Congress — happened last year when seven Democratic Senators wrote National Security Division head John Demers asking for a review. So there may well be documentation of Rudy’s claims about whether he does or does not need to register that SDNY is building a prosecution around.
Plus, one thing clearly distinguishes Rudy from all these other men. Rudy is not taking this investigation seriously, and does not have a lawyer reviewing his exposure. From reports, he may not have the ready cash to pay the likes of Rob Kelner (Flynn’s original, very competent, lawyer) or Robert Trout (Kian’s excellent lawyer). So he may be doing things now (not least, running his mouth on TV and making public statements about who he works for and how it gets paid) that put him at greater exposure.
Rudy G’s efforts to implicate State and DOJ (and the President) in his work
That said, another thing distinguishes Rudy from these past cases. Since the whistleblower complaint got made public, he has spent most of his time insisting that everything he did, he did with the awareness and involvement of — at least — the State Department. And in Trump’s July 25 call to Volodymyr Zelensky, he invoked Bill Barr’s name right alongside his nominal defense attorney.
Both foreign agent statutes (FARA — the one being discussed for Rudy, and 18 USC 951 — another one, with more flexibility, that Kian was charged under) require registration with the Attorney General. And while telling foreigners you’re negotiating with that the Attorney General will be by soon to pick up the disinformation demanded does not fulfill the requirements for registry (in part, the point of registering is to provide a paper trail so the public can track who is paying for what), it does change things that Rudy is suggesting that his work has the imprimatur of official policy to it.
That said, the assumption that implicating powerful government figures will keep you safe is a dangerous proposition. If the easiest way to end the Ukraine inquiry is to blame Rudy for it all (and if that’s still possible after several weeks of damning testimony), that may well come to pass.
And if Bill Barr needs to greenlight a FARA prosecution of Rudy as a way to minimize the damage to the Administration, and to himself, he may well do that (yet another reason why he should have recused long ago).
That’s all the more true given that most of Trump’s aides seem to recognize how damaging Rudy is for Trump’s exposure. If Trump won’t separate himself from Rudy, his lackeys might one day decide, then separate Rudy from Trump by prosecuting him, the same way they separated Michael Cohen from Trump.
That said, with Trump, loyalty is always transactional. And if he believes Rudy has dirt that can bring him down — and given the likelihood some of what Rudy is doing is the continuation of what Paul Manafort had been doing since August 2, 2016, that may be true — then Trump will defend Rudy’s work even if it means claiming everything he did operated under Article II authority.
The additional factor: ConFraudUs
The discussions about Rudy’s exposure under FARA, however, seem not to have considered another factor: that Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman have already been charged with conspiracy in conjunction with actions Rudy had a key role in. The Ukrainian grifter indictment charges them with two counts of Conspiracy to Defraud the US for hiding what money was behind their influence campaign on Ukraine (count 1) and Nevada marijuana (count 4), as well as False Statements to the FEC (count 2) and falsification of records (count 3) tied to the Ukraine influence operation. Counts 1-3 all pertain to the Ukrainian grifters laundering of campaign funds through Global Energy Producers, a front that (SDNY alleges) they falsely claimed was “a real business enterprise funded with substantial bona fide capital investment,” the major purpose of which “is energy trading, not political activity.” Those funds went, among other places, to the Trump related Super PAC America First Action and to Congressman Sessions.
Rudy has equivocated about his relationship to the Ukrainian grifters (and claims it goes through Fraud Guarantee, not GEP). But John Dowd, writing as the grifters’ lawyer, already stated for the record that he does have ties and those ties relate to his representation of the President. That is, the grifters are working for him, even while he works for them.
That’s important because Sessions’ statements have denied any official action in response to meetings with the grifters, but he also had meetings with Rudy in the time period, official action in response to which he has not denied. In addition, Rudy (whom Sessions says he has been friends with for three decades) also headlined a fundraiser for Sessions. And on top of the straw donations the grifters gave Sessions directly, America First Action gave Sessions far more to him, $3 million, the indictment notes twice.
In other words, while Sessions has denied doing anything in response to the grifters’ meetings, he has not denied doing anything in response to Rudy’s communications with him. If he sent his letter calling for the ouster of Marie Yovanovitch in response to a request from Rudy — whose finances are inextricably tied to the grifters — then it may be fairly easy to add him to the conspiracy the (successful) object of which was to get Yovanovitch fired. The propaganda Rudy sent (as laid out by NYT, and which the State IG already sent to the FBI earlier this year) would then simply be part of the conspiracy.
A few more points. There’s a passage of the indictment included to substantiate the allegation that the grifters were affirmatively trying to hide their purpose.
Indeed, when media reports about the GEP contributions first surfaced, an individual working with PARNAS remarked, “[t]his is what happens when you become visible … the buzzards descend,” to which PARNAS responded, “[t]hat’s why we need to stay under the radar…”
The indictment doesn’t disclose a number of details about this communication: who the interlocutor is, how it was collected, and whether it involved a mere warrant (for stored communications such as email or texts) or a wiretap. But particularly given the seeming overlap between these activities and those of people we know were surveilled during the period in question, it’s a pregnant inclusion in the indictment. It suggests the Feds may already be privy to far more about this scheme and the reasons the grifters might want it suppressed. Add that to the fact that, as WSJ reported, the Feds already have Rudy’s bank records, which will show whether he really worked for Fraud Guarantee or whether that, like GEP, is just a front.
Cui bono
Finally, consider this. The indictment says that the grifters were pushing to oust Yovanovitch to benefit particular unnamed Ukrainians’ interests.
[T]hese contributions were made for the purpose of gaining influence with politicians so as to advance their own personal financial interests and the political interests of Ukrainian government officials, including at least one Ukrainian government official with whom they were working.
At and around the time PARNAS and FRUMAN committed to raising those funds for [Sessions], PARNAS met with [SESSIONS] and sought [his] assistance in causing the U.S. Government to remove or recall [Yovanovitch]. PARNAS’s efforts to remove the Ambassador were conducted, at least in part, at the request of one or more Ukrainian government officials.
According to NBC, the Ukrainian in question was Yurii Lutsenko. But Lutsenko has since been ousted, and he has reneged on statements elicited by Rudy implicating the Bidens. More importantly, one of the promises Zelensky made in his July 25 call to Trump was to put in his own prosecutor who would pursue the two investigations — to trump up a claim Ukraine was behind the election tampering in 2016, and to invent evidence against Hunter Biden — that Trump wanted.
The President: Good because I heard you had a prosecutor who was very good and he was shut down and that’s really unfair. A lot of people are talking about that, the way they shut your very good prosecutor down and you had some very bad people involved. Mr. Giuliani is a highly respected man. He was the mayor bf New York Ci:ty, a great mayor, and I would like him to call you. I will ask him to call you along with the Attorney General. Rudy very much knows what’s happening and he is a very capable guy. If you could speak to him that would be great. The former ambassador from the United States, the woman, was bad news and the people she was dealing with in the Ukraine were bad news so I just want to let you know that. The oteer thing, There’s a lot of talk about Biden’s son. that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it … It sounds horrible to me.
President Zelenskyy: I wanted to tell ·you about the prosecutor. First of all I understand arid I’m knowledgeable about the situation. Since we have won the absolute majority in our Parliament; the next prosecutor general will be 100% my person, my candidate, who will be approved, by the parliament and will start as a new prosecutor in September. He or she will look. into the situation, specifically to the company that you mentioned in this issue.
Which is what led to Lutsenko’s ouster.
Moreover, the prosecutor Biden shut down was not Lutsenko, but Viktor Shokin, who has written affidavits which then got fed to John Solomon on behalf of Dmitry Firtash, who is trying hard to avoid extradition (on bribery charges) to the US.
That — plus the financial and legal ties between Firtash and the grifters — suggests there may be other Ukrainians on whose behalf the grifters were working to get Yovanovitch withdrawn. Firtash is certainly one. A corrupt prosecutor with ties to Russian intelligence, Kostiantyn Kulyk, who had worked for all these guys — and who is behind a dossier on accusing Hunter Biden of corruption — may be another. That is, Yovanovitch may have been the impediment not to inventing dirt on the Bidens, which is a fairly easy ask, but instead on creating the pre-conditions for people like Firtash to go free (which would also explain the natural gas angle).
All of which is to say that it would be a fairly trivial matter to establish the evidence to charge Rudy in ConFraudUs along with the Ukrainian grifters, as SDNY already has a lot of the evidence it would need.
Yes, Rudy Giuliani is, by all appearances, in blatant violation of FARA. Yes, he may get away with that, in part because DOJ hasn’t yet figured out hard to charge it consistently (though knows what not to do given recent history), and in part because he has made sure to implicate Trump and his cabinet officials.
But there’s a larger question about whether those same financial ties expose Rudy for much uglier conspiracy charges.
https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Rudy_Giuliani_1500x1000.jpg 1000 1500 emptywheel https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.png emptywheel2019-10-16 12:13:362019-10-16 14:46:44On the Potential Viability of Foreign Agent Charges for Rudy Giuliani
Roger Stone and Jerome Corsi’s Matryoshka Cover-Up
December 4, 2018 /18 Comments/in 2016 Presidential Election, emptywheel, Mueller Probe /by emptywheel
I want to reverse engineer the serial cover-ups that Jerome Corsi and Roger Stone have attempted, at least as disclosed by Corsi’s leaked statement of the offense.
I will assume, for this post’s purposes, that Corsi and Stone not only learned that John Podesta’s emails were going to be released, but also at least some information about what they would contain, as laid out in these two posts. Given the elaborate cover-up I’m about to lay out, it seems likely that where and how they learned that is quite sensitive.
The immediate cover story (probably for knowledge that Joule Holding documents would be released)
The first cover-up, at least according to Corsi, came within a month of the time whatever they’re trying to cover-up happened. Nine days after Stone tweeted that it would soon be Podesta’s time in the barrel, he called Corsi and asked him to invent an alternate explanation for it.
He said in an interview Tuesday that Mr. Stone called him on Aug. 30, 2016—nine days after the tweet—and asked Mr. Corsi for help in creating an “alternative explanation” for it.
Shortly after that conversation, Mr. Corsi said he began writing a memo for Mr. Stone about Mr. Podesta’s business dealings. In the following months, both Mr. Stone and Mr. Corsi said the memo was the inspiration for his tweet, even though it was in fact written afterward, Mr. Corsi said.
“What I construct, and what I testified to the grand jury, was I believed I was creating a cover story for Roger, because Roger wanted to explain this tweet,” Mr. Corsi said. “By the way, the special counsel knew this. They can virtually tell my keystrokes on that computer.”
In the version of the story Corsi told Chuck Ross, he seems to have forgotten the parts of the phone call where he and Stone explained why it was so important he have a cover story.
Corsi writes that his alleged cover up plan with Stone began on Aug. 30, 2016, when Stone emailed him asking to speak on the phone.
“I have no precise recollection of that phone call,” writes Corsi, adding, “But from what happened next, I have reconstructed that in the phone call Stone told me he was getting heat for his tweet and needed some cover.”
Corsi claimed he had begun researching John Podesta’s business links to Russia and believed the research “would make an excellent cover-story for Stone’s unfortunate Tweet.”
Corsi writes that in his phone call later that evening, “I suggested Stone could use me as an excuse, claiming my research on Podesta and Russia was the basis for Stone’s prediction that Podesta would soon be in the pickle barrel.”
“I knew this was a cover-story, in effect not true, since I recalled telling Stone earlier in August that Assange had Podesta emails that he planned to drop as the ‘October Surprise,’ calculated by Assange to deliver a knock-out blow to Hillary Clinton’s presidential aspirations.”
Corsi emailed the nine-page memo to Stone the following day.
“So you knew this was a lie when you wrote the Podesta email,” Zelinsky asked Corsi during one question-and-answer session, he writes.
“Yes, I did,” Corsi responded. “In politics, it’s not unusual to create alternative explanations to deflect the attacks of your political opponents.”
Corsi’s report — as I detailed here — made no sense and makes even less now that we know that Paul Manafort ordered Tony Podesta to hide his Ukrainian consulting, but it distracted from a focus on Joule Holdings that Stone and Corsi had been focused on earlier that month and would return to after the Podesta emails were released in October.
When SSCI announces its investigation, Corsi attempts to destroy evidence of (probably Joule Holding) knowledge prior to October 11
According to Corsi’s draft statement of the offense, he deleted all of his email from before October 11 sometime after January 13, 2017.
Between approximately January 13, 2017 and March 1, 2017, CORSI deleted from his computer all email correspondence that predated October 11, 2016, including Person 1’s email instructing CORSI to “get to [the founder of Organization 1]” and CORSI’s subsequent forwarding of that email to the overseas individual.
There are several things that might explain that date. It was the day after Guccifer 2.0 returned to WordPress to insist he wasn’t a GRU persona. It was days after Obama’s top spooks talked about the Intelligence Community Assessment of the Russian attack, which found that Guccifer 2.0 was a GRU operation. It was the day that the Senate Intelligence Committee announced its investigation.
And January 19 was the day the NYT reported that Stone was under investigation.
Mr. Manafort is among at least three Trump campaign advisers whose possible links to Russia are under scrutiny. Two others are Carter Page, a businessman and former foreign policy adviser to the campaign, and Roger Stone, a longtime Republican operative.
The F.B.I. is leading the investigations, aided by the National Security Agency, the C.I.A. and the Treasury Department’s financial crimes unit. The investigators have accelerated their efforts in recent weeks but have found no conclusive evidence of wrongdoing, the officials said.
Mr. Stone, a longtime friend of Mr. Trump’s, said in a speech in Florida last summer that he had communicated with Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy group that published the hacked Democratic emails. During the speech, Mr. Stone predicted further leaks of documents, a prediction that came true within weeks.
In a brief interview on Thursday, Mr. Stone said he had never visited Russia and had no Russian clients. He said that he had worked in Ukraine for a pro-Western party, but that any assertion that he had ties to Russian intelligence was “nonsense” and “totally false.”
Stone falsely claims that the story said he himself was wiretapped (it said Manafort was); he dates it to January 20, when it appeared in the dead tree NYT.
According to the New York Times, I was under surveillance by the Obama administration in 2016. They wrote that on January 20, 2017.
In any case, as I’ve noted, October 11 is the date when the Peter Smith crowd discussed their pleasure with the Podesta emails in coded language.
“[A]n email in the ‘Robert Tyler’ [foldering] account [showing] Mr. Smith obtained $100,000 from at least four financiers as well as a $50,000 contribution from Mr. Smith himself.” The email was dated October 11, 2016 and has the subject line, “Wire Instructions—Clinton Email Reconnaissance Initiative.” It came from someone calling himself “ROB,” describing the funding as supporting “the Washington Scholarship Fund for the Russian students.” The email also notes, “The students are very pleased with the email releases they have seen, and are thrilled with their educational advancement opportunities.” The WSJ states that Ortel is not among the funders named in the email, which means they know who the other four funders are (if one or more were a source for the story, it might explain why WSJ is not revealing that really critical piece of news).
And it’s the date when WikiLeaks released the Podesta emails that had Joule Holdings documents attached.
Thus, it seems likely that Corsi, at least, was trying hide that he had foreknowledge of what WikiLeaks ended up dropping on that day.
Corsi packages up the past August’s cover story publicly
Then, on March 23, 2017, Corsi packaged up the cover story he had laid the groundwork for the previous year. In doing so, however, he acknowledges the common thread of Joule starting on August 1.
Having reviewed my records, I am now confident that I am the source behind Stone’s tweet.
Here is the timeline showing how I got Roger Stone on the track of following the real story – that Podesta played a key role in the Clintons’ plan to get paid by Putin.
On July 31, 2016, the New York Post reported that Peter Schweizer’s Washington-based Government Accountability Institute had published a report entitled, “From Russia with Money: Hillary Clinton, the Russian Reset, and Cronyism.”
That report detailed cash payments from Russia to the Clintons via the Clinton Foundation which included a Putin-connected Russian government fund that transferred $35 million to a small company that included Podesta and several senior Russian officials on its executive board.
“Russian government officials and American corporations participated in the technology transfer project overseen by Hillary Clinton’s State Department that funneled tens of millions of dollars to the Clinton Foundation,” the report noted in the executive summary.
“John Podesta failed to reveal, as required by law on his federal financial disclosures, his membership on the board of this offshore company,” the executive summary continued. “Podesta also headed up a think tank which wrote favorably about the Russian reset while apparently receiving millions from Kremlin-linked Russian oligarchs via an offshore LLC.”
Reading Schweizer’s report, I began conducting extensive research into Secretary Clinton’s “reset” policy with Russia, Podesta’s membership on the board of Joule Global Holdings, N.V. – a shell company in the Netherlands that Russians close to Putin used to launder money – as well as Podesta’s ties to a foundation run by one of the investors in Joule Energy, Hans-Jorg Wyss, a major contributor to the Clinton Foundation.
Note how carefully he postdates the report — which he has testified before the grand jury he wrote very quickly on August 30 — to August 14.
On Aug. 14, 2016, the New York Times reported that a secret ledger in Ukraine listed cash payments for Paul Manafort, a consultant to the Ukraine’s former President Viktor F. Yanukovych.
When this article was published, I suggested to Roger Stone that the attack over Manafort’s ties to Russia needed to be countered.
My plan was to publicize the Government Accountability Institute’s report, “From Russia With Money,” that documented how Putin paid substantial sums of money to both Hillary Clinton and John Podesta.
Putin must have wanted Hillary to win in 2016, if only because Russian under-the-table cash payments to the Clintons and to Podesta would have made blackmailing her as president easy.
On Aug. 14, 2016, I began researching for Roger Stone a memo that I entitled “Podesta.”
Making a cover story about the Credico cover story
On September 26, 2017, Stone testified to HPSCI. He gave no name for his go-between with WikiLeaks. But later that fall, he privately gave them Randy Credico’s name and then released it publicly, claiming that Credico had accurately predicted what would come when.
Randy Credico is a good man. He’s extraordinarily talented. He’s come back from personal adversity .He often using Street theater and satire to illustrate the hypocrisy of our current drug laws and in his fight for Prison reform. He is a fighter for Justice.The Committee is wasting their time. He merely confirmed what Assange had said publicly. He was correct. Wikileaks did have the goods on Hillary and they did release them.
Credico’s three interviews of Julian Assange on WBAI are an example of excellent radio journalism.
Credico merelyconfirmed for Mr. Stone the accuracy of Julian Assange’s interview of June 12, 2016 with the British ITV network, where Assange said he had “e-mails related to Hillary Clinton which are pending publication,”
. [sic] Credico never said he knew or had any information as to source or content of the material. Mr. Credico never said he confirmed this information with Mr. Assange himself. Mr. Stone knew Credico had his own sources within Wikileaks and is credible. Credico turned out to be 100 % accurate.
I initially declined to identify Randy for the Committee fearing that exposure would be used to hurt his professional career and because our conversation was off-the-record and he is journalist. Indeed when his name surfaced in this he was fired at WBAI Radio where he had the highest rated show.
I want to reiterate there is nothing illegal or improper communicating with Julian Assange or Wikileaks. There is no proof Assange or Wikleaks are Russian assets.The CIA’s “assesment” is bullshit.Credico has done nothing wrong.
Then HPSCI subpoenaed Credico, meaning they would check Stone’s cover story (as Mueller has been doing for nine months). Stone apparently told Credico to invoke the Fifth rather than admit that he really wasn’t that go-between.
At that point, Stone asked Corsi to start backing that cover story.
After the U.S. House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (“HPSCI”), the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (“SSCI”), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) began inquiring in 2017 about Person 1’s connections with Organization 1, CORSI communicated with Person 1 about developments in those investigations. For example, on or about November 28, 2017, after Person 1 had identified to HPSCI a certain individual (“Person 2”) as his “source” or “intermediary” to Organization 1, Person 2 received a subpoena compelling his testimony before HPSCI, and Person 1 learned of the subpoena. On or about November 30, 2017, Person 1 asked CORSI to write publicly about Person 2. CORSI responded: “Are you sure you want to make something out of this now? Why not wait to see what [Person 2] does? You may be defending yourself too much – raising new questions that will fuel new inquiries. This may be a time to say less, not more.” Person 1 responded by telling CORSI that the other individual “will take the 5th—but let’s hold a day.”
Pressuring Credico to sustain the cover story
Finally, sometimes this spring — as Mueller started systematically working through Stone’s associates — Stone pressured Credico not to contest his public claim that he was Stone’s go-between, going so far as threatening him.
“I am so ready. Let’s get it on. Prepare to die cock sucker,” Stone messaged Credico on April 9. Stone was responding to a message from Credico that indicated Credico would release information contradicting Stone’s claims about the 2016 election and that “all will come out.”
Corsi’s lies to prosecutors
As bad luck would have it for Corsi, Mueller’s team interviewed him, not Stone. That meant he was the first person to have to sustain this cover story with the FBI (though of course Stone already did with HPSCI).
When asked on September 6 and (apparently) on September 10, Corsi claimed not to have remembered that he was Stone’s journalist cut-out all this time.
CORSI said he declined the request from Person 1 and made clear to Person 1 that trying to contact Organization 1 could be subject to investigation. CORSI also stated that Person 1 never asked CORSI to have another person try to get in contact with Organization 1, and that CORSI told Person 1 that they should just wait until Organization 1 released any materials.
CORSI further stated that after that initial request from Person 1, CORSI did not know what Person 1 did with respect to Organization 1, and he never provided Person 1 with any information regarding Organization 1, including what materials Organization 1 possessed or what Organization 1 might do with those materials.
He arranged that — the outer layer of the Matryoshka cover story — with his lawyer even before he got asked any questions. Which is going to make his currently operative cover story — that he didn’t remember crafting a multi-level cover story with Stone over the course of over a year — because he had deleted some of the emails reflecting that (but not, apparently, the ones from fall 2017).
It’s fairly clear, this Matryoshka cover-up has become part of Mueller’s investigation. It all suggests that whatever lies inside that last little doll is something so damning that the guy with the Nixon tattoo allowed the cover-up to become a second crime.
As I disclosed in July, I provided information to the FBI on issues related to the Mueller investigation, so I’m going to include disclosure statements on Mueller investigation posts from here on out. I will include the disclosure whether or not the stuff I shared with the FBI pertains to the subject of the post.
https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Stone-Agent-of-Chaos.jpg 797 1072 emptywheel https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.png emptywheel2018-12-04 19:44:082018-12-04 20:46:05Roger Stone and Jerome Corsi's Matryoshka Cover-Up
The Universe of Hacked and Leaked Emails from 2016: Podesta Emails
October 23, 2018 /12 Comments/in 2016 Presidential Election, emptywheel, Mueller Probe, WikiLeaks /by emptywheel
When Mueller’s team released George Papadopoulos’ plea deal last year, I noted that the initial denials that Papadopoulos had advance warning of the emails the Russians were preparing to hack and leak did not account for the entire universe of emails known to have been stolen. A year and several Mueller indictments later, we still don’t have a complete understanding of what emails were being dealt when. Because that lack of understanding hinders understanding what Mueller might be doing with Roger Stone, I wanted to lay out what we know about four sets of emails. This series will include posts on the following:
DNC emails
Podesta emails
DCCC emails
Emails Hillary deleted from her server
The series won’t, however, account for two more sets of emails, anything APT 29 stole when hacking the White House and State Department starting in 2015, or anything released via the several FOIAs of the Hillary emails turned over to the State Department from her home server. It also won’t deal with the following:
Emails from two Hillary staffers who had their emails released via dcleaks
The emails of other people released by dcleaks, which includes Colin Powell, some local Republican parties (including some 2015 emails Peter Smith sent to the IL Republican party), and others with interests in Ukraine
A copy of the Democrats’ analytics program copied on AWS
The NGP/VAN file, which was not directly released by Guccifer 2.0, but is central to one of the skeptics’ theories about an alternative source other than Russia
Meuller remains coy about how the Podesta emails were released by WikiLeaks
My post on the DNC emails noted some timing curiosities about when and how the DNC emails got shared with WikiLeaks.
The curiosities about the Podesta emails, however, are far more important for questions about Roger Stone’s knowledge of the process.
As a number of people have observed, while Mueller’s GRU indictment provides extensive details describing how Podesta was hacked and showing that the infrastructure to hack him was used for other parts of the operation, the indictment is far more coy about how the Podesta emails got to WikiLeaks.
In or around 2016, LUKASHEV sent spearphishing emails to members of the Clinton Campaign and affiliated individuals, including the chairman of the Clinton Campaign.
For example, on or about March 19, 2016, LUKASHEV and his co-conspirators created and sent a spearphishing email to the chairman of the Clinton Campaign. LUKASHEV used the account “john356gh” at an online service that abbreviated lengthy website addresses (referred to as a “URL-shortening service”). LUKASHEV used the account to mask a link contained in the spearphishing email, which directed the recipient to a GRU-created website. LUKASHEV altered the appearance of the sender email address in order to make it look like the email was a security notification from Google (a technique known as “spoofing”), instructing the user to change his password by clicking the embedded link. Those instructions were followed. On or about March 21, 2016, LUKASHEV, YERMAKOV, and their co-conspirators stole the contents of the chairman’s email account, which consisted of over 50,000 emails.
The funds used to pay for the dcleaks.com domain originated from an account at an online cryptocurrency service that the Conspirators also used to fund the lease of a virtual private server registered with the operational email account [email protected] The dirbinsaabol email account was also used to register the john356gh URL-shortening account used by LUKASHEV to spearphish the Clinton Campaign chairman and other campaign-related individuals.
On or about October 7, 2016, Organization 1 released the first set of emails from the chairman of the Clinton Campaign that had been stolen by LUKASHEV and his co-conspirators. Between on or about October 7, 2016 and November 7, 2016, Organization 1 released approximately thirty-three tranches of documents that had been stolen from the chairman of the Clinton Campaign. In total, over 50,000 stolen documents were released.
Mueller’s silence, thus far, about how the Podesta emails got shared with WikiLeaks is intriguing for several reasons, even aside from the fact that (as noted in the last post) the first documents Guccifer 2.0 shared were billed as DNC emails but (as far as have been identified) are actually Podesta ones. Perhaps Mueller doesn’t know how those emails were passed on. Perhaps the sources and methods by which the FBI learned about how they were shared are too sensitive to put in an indictment. Perhaps Mueller has reserved that story for a later indictment.
The August to September timing on receipt of the emails
The publicly known timing is no more clear.
The Roger Stone tweet on which suspicions of advance knowledge of WikiLeaks’ releases rest — warning “Trust me, it will soon [sic] the Podesta’s time in the barrel” — is dated August 21, 2016.
That date is significant, because it’s not at all clear WikiLeaks had the Podesta emails by that point (and if so, may have just obtained them).
Raffi Khatchadourian cites a WikiLeaks staffer saying they received the emails in “late summer” but also points to an August 24 Fox News interview where Assange described processing “a variety of documents, from different types of institutions that are associated with the election campaign,” which doesn’t necessarily narrow down those emails to Podesta’s.
A pattern that was set in June appeared to recur: just before DCLeaks became active with election publications, WikiLeaks began to prepare another tranche of e-mails, this time culled from John Podesta’s Gmail account. “We are working around the clock,” Assange told Fox News in late August. “We have received quite a lot of material.” It is unclear how long Assange had been in possession of the e-mails, but a staffer assigned to the project suggested that he had received them in the late summer: “As soon as we got them, we started working on them, and then we started publishing them. From when we received them to when we published them, it was a real crunch. My only wish is that we had the equivalent from the Republicans.”
As we’ll see later in this series, there was more certainty that by August 24 WikiLeaks had other hacked emails than that they had Podesta’s.
Khatchadourian also notes that the raw files are all dated September 19 and describes Assange “weaponizing” the release of the data a week or two before the files were released starting on October 7.
All of the raw e-mail files that WikiLeaks published from Podesta’s account are dated September 19th, which appears to indicate the day that they were copied or modified for some purpose. Assange told me that in mid-September, a week or two before he began publishing the e-mails, he devised a way to weaponize the information. If his releases followed a predictable pattern, he reasoned, Clinton’s campaign would be able to prepare. So he worked out an algorithm, which he called the Stochastic Terminator, to help staff members select e-mails for each day’s release. He told me that the algorithm was built on a random-number generator, modified by mathematical weights that reflected the pattern of the news cycle in a typical week. By introducing randomness into the process, he hoped to make it impossible for the Clinton war room “to adjust to the problem, to spin, to create antidote news beforehand.”
That timing lines up in interesting ways with the date when retired British diplomat Craig Murray claims he got a handoff of something (he’s never explained precisely what it was, though it sounded like it could be an encryption key) relating to the Podesta emails when he was in DC to attend the Sam Adams Award ceremony on September 25.
All of which suggests significant events relating to the transfer to WikiLeaks and preparation of the Podesta emails happened after the Stone tweet.
Still later, according to a recent WSJ report, Peter Smith indicated that he knew Podesta emails were coming ahead of time (the reporting is not clear whether this was before or after the fact).
The person familiar with Mr. Smith recalled him repeatedly implying that he knew ahead of time about leaks of Mr. Podesta’s emails.
That claim is all the more interesting when you tie it to the email shared with Smith via foldering on October 11, seemingly reflecting happiness about emails already released, which would seem to point to the Podesta emails that started to drop four days earlier.
“[A]n email in the ‘Robert Tyler’ [foldering] account [showing] Mr. Smith obtained $100,000 from at least four financiers as well as a $50,000 contribution from Mr. Smith himself.” The email was dated October 11, 2016 and has the subject line, “Wire Instructions—Clinton Email Reconnaissance Initiative.” It came from someone calling himself “ROB,” describing the funding as supporting “the Washington Scholarship Fund for the Russian students.” The email also notes, “The students are very pleased with the email releases they have seen, and are thrilled with their educational advancement opportunities.”
The email apparently linking the contemporaneous release of the Podesta emails to a future hoped for release of deleted Hillary ones is significant for several reasons. First, it shows that other geriatric rat-fuckers, in addition to Stone, linked the two. The reflection of pleasure with emails on October 11 is significant given that that was the day WikiLeaks released two Podesta emails Smith associate Jerome Corsi and Stone would use to advance an attack on Podesta pertaining to his ties with Joule Unlimited, an attack that the right wing had been pushing since August (and working on since March). The WSJ notes that both Corsi and Charles Ortel (to the latter of whom Stone now ties some of his WikiLeaks claims) were tied to both Smith and Stone, though Stone claims to have been unaware of the Smith effort.
Stone’s three different explanations for his tweet and the import of Joule emails
In this post, I looked in detail at how epically shitty Stone’s current excuse for his August 21 Podesta tweet is. Over time, Stone has basically offered at least three excuses for it.
First he adopted an explanation offered in March 2017 by Jerome Corsi. In that explanation, Corsi basically conflated two efforts: an attack on John Podesta based on his service on the board of Joule Unlimited from 2010 to 2014, and an effort to respond to mid-August reports on Paul Manafort’s corrupt ties to Russia by focusing instead on Tony Podesta.
The Joule attack research was started (per web access dates recorded in this report) two days before Podesta was spearphished, on March 17, and first rolled out publicly in a Steve Bannon-affiliated Government Accountability Insitute report on August 1. Corsi and Stone resuscitated the attack starting on October 6 (the day before the Podesta emails started coming out), seemingly correctly anticipating the WikiLeaks email releases that Stone and Corsi would use to advance the attack.
The Corsi explanation that Stone once adopted conflated that attack with a report that Corsi did for Stone (starting at PDF 39), which largely projected onto Tony Podesta the corrupt ties to Ukraine and Russia that Paul Manafort had; the report only tangentially focused on John. The date on the Corsi report is August 31, ten days after Stone’s tweet, but Corsi claims he and Stone started it on August 14.
Stone offered a slightly different explanation when he testified under oath to the House Intelligence Committee. There, he generalized the attack on “the Podesta brothers” and attributed his tweet to “early August” discussions about the August 31 Corsi report. In his prepared statement, he made no mention of Joule.
In the wake of Corsi’s interview on September 6 and grand jury appearance on September 21 (in conjunction with which he reportedly shared a bunch of documents that would substantiate when he and Stone were talking about Joule and when about Tony Podesta), Stone changed his tune again, now only admitting publicly for the first time that Charles Ortel forwarded him an email showing James Rosen promising “a massive dump of HRC emails relating to the CF in September,” but also attributing any August 14 interest to something besides Corsi, a Breitbart post that may be this one.
Stone, however, says that the tweet was based on “an August 14th article in Breitbart News by Peter Schweitzer that reported that Tony Podesta was working for the same Ukrainian Political Party that Paul Manafort was being excoriated for,” and that “the Podesta brothers extensive business dealings with the Oligarchs around Putin pertaining to gas, banking and uranium had been detailed in the Panama Papers in April of 2016.”
Stone’s explanations seem to attempt to do three things:
Provide non-incriminating explanations for any foreknowledge of WikiLeaks — first pointing to Randy Credico and now to James Rosen
Offer explanations for discussions about Podesta that he may presume Mueller has that took place around August 14
Shift the focus away from Joule and the remarkable prescience with which the right wing anticipated that WikiLeaks would be able to advance an attack first rolled out on August 1
With that in mind, I find the timeline of Stone’s tweets mentioning either Podesta instructive. It shows Stone never mentioned either brother until August 15 — the day after the first of the stories on Manafort’s Ukraine corruption and after that August 14 date he seems so worried about. That tweet, “@JohnPodesta makes @PaulManafort look like St. Thomas Aquinas Where is the @NewYorkTimes?” may prove as interesting as the August 21 one.
Stone mentioned John Podesta again in that August 21 tweet.
Then he remained silent on Twitter about Clinton’s campaign chairman until the day after the Podesta emails started coming out, whereupon Stone started claiming that Podesta had been money laundering for Russia.
Stone’s first tweet as the Podesta emails dropped pointed back to an earlier Corsi post reporting that the Podesta Group was also under investigation. That same day, he pointed to the Corsi post that seemed to anticipate the Joule attack would be returning. Yet, in an interview done after the release on October 11 of the Podesta emails that both he and Corsi would later rely on to extend the Joule attack, Stone made no mention of those emails or the Joule attack. By the next day, however, Stone was relying on (but not linking) those emails.
In other words, at least as measured by his Twitter feed, Stone was uninterested in the Joule attack when it came out in August. He didn’t mention it at all in his two Podesta tweets that month (nor does he in his currently operative explanation). But he did become interested in the story in advance of the release of emails by WikiLeaks pertaining to the attack.
This is probably a good time to recall that many of the Stone associates Mueller has interviewed did research for Stone, and others had access to his social media accounts. Note that even this selection of his tweets show the use of multiple clients — Twitter Web Client, Tweetdeck, and Twitter for iPhone — that may reflect different people posting from his account.
Stone’s claims about WikiLeaks — and his outreach to Guccifer 2.0 — took place as Manafort started to panic about his own Russian ties
Given some of Stone’s explanations (and his apparent concern with offering some explanation for discussions about Podesta on August 14), I also find it notable the way this timeline overlaps with Manafort’s increasingly desperate efforts to stave off bankruptcy even while working for Trump for “free.” Part of those efforts, of course, involved criminal efforts to hide his ties to Russia in the wake of reporting on those ties in mid-August.
It’s unclear when Manafort knew for sure his ties with Russia would blow up. In the wake of the first WikiLeaks dump on July 27, he got asked about his and Trump’s ties to Russia, a question he struggled with before responding by pointing to Hillary’s deleted emails. In spite of the risk of his own Russian ties, Manafort met on August 2 with Konstantin Kilimnik, talking (among other things) about unpaid bills and the presidential election. Sometime in early August, in advance of the first NYT story substantiating his Russian ties, he was reportedly blackmailed over the secret ledgers of his work with Ukrainian oligarchs.
Remarkably, just as attention to Trump and Manafort’s ties to Russia started becoming an issue, Republicans had that GAI report insinuating a tie between Hillary and Russia all ready to go on August 1. That insinuation went through John Podesta and his ties to Joule. Before laying out that relationship, however, the GAI report suggested there must be more dirt on the topic in the emails Hillary deleted.
More recently, in January, 2015, Podesta became the campaign chairman of Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the 2016 presidential bid.85
During Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State, he was in regular contact with her and played an important role in shaping U.S. policy. For one thing, he sat on the State Department’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board, appointed by Hillary. (The board was established in December 2011.)86
The full extent of Podesta’s email communication cannot ultimately be known because Hillary Clinton deleted approximately half of her emails after she left the State Department.
So along with everything else the report did, it built expectations that Hillary’s deleted emails would reveal secret dirt about Russia she was suppressing to win the campaign.
By the time the report came out, we know that Stone was already interested in what WikiLeaks might have, as Charles Ortel BCCed him on an email suggesting that WikiLeaks had Clinton Foundation emails to dump in September in late July.
Then, precisely as the Russian attack on Podesta was rolling out, Stone flip-flopped on his claimed belief about who hacked Hillary Clinton. Between August 1 and August 5, on the same days he was claiming to have dined with Julian Assange when he was instead in Southern California meeting his dark money associates, he started claiming that Guccifer 2.0 was just a hacktivist, not Russians. That stated belief has always been central to his claims not to have conspired with Russia.
In significant part because he flip-flopped publicly, he and Guccifer 2.0 started communicating, first about Stone’s claim that Guccifer 2.0 had nothing to do with Russia, then about Guccifer 2.0 being shut down on Twitter:
August 12: Guccifer 2.0: @RogerJStoneJr thanks that u believe in the real #Guccifer2
August 13: Stone: @WL @G2 Outrageous! Clintonistas now nned to censor their critics to rig the upcoming election.
Stone: @DailyCaller Censorship ! Gruciffer2 is a HERO.”
August 14: Guccifer 2.0: #Guccifer2 Here I am! They’ll have to try much harder to block me! #DNCleak #dccchack
Stone: First #Milo, now Guccifer 2.0 – why are those exposing the truth banned? @RealAlexJones @infowars #FreeMilo
Stone: @poppalinos @RealAlexJones @infowars @GUCCIFER_2 Thank You, SweetJesus. I’ve prayed for it.
That’s when Stone moved their conversations to DM.
That conversation, including Guccifer 2.0’s question whether Stone found “anything interesting in the docs I posted?” (which, in public context at least, would refer to some DCCC documents Guccifer had posted on WordPress on August 12) took place even as Stone was continuing to speak about knowing what was in the next WikiLeaks dump and as he responded badly to his childhood friend becoming the target of NYT’s attention on August 14.
As noted, Stone seems to be struggling to answer why he was discussing John Podesta on August 14.
To be sure, Stone was talking to Corsi on August 14 or 15. On August 15, Corsi published an interview with Stone, in which he claimed to have been badly hacked and described what he expected would come next from WikiLeaks.
But nothing in the interview mentions Podesta.
Stone’s descriptions of what WikiLeaks might dump next in that interview could reflect the BCCed James Rosen email reporting that WikiLeaks would dump Clinton Foundation documents in September, but the information he laid out went far beyond that email (and promised an October surprise, not a September dump).
“In the next series of emails Assange plans to release, I have reason to believe the Clinton Foundation scandals will surface to keep Bill and Hillary from returning to the White House,” he said.
In a speech Southwest Broward Republican Organization in Florida, published Aug. 9 by David Brock’s left-wing website Media Matters, Stone said he had “communicated with Assange.”
“I believe the next tranche of his documents pertain to the Clinton Foundation, but there is no telling what the October surprise may be,” he said.
Stone told WND that Assange “plans to drop at various strategic points in the presidential campaigns Hillary Clinton emails involving the Clinton Foundation that have yet to surface publically.”
“Assange claims the emails contain enough damaging information to put Hillary Clinton in jail for selling State Department ‘official acts’ in exchange for contributions to the Clinton Foundation and as a reward for Clinton Foundation donors becoming clients of Teneo, the consulting firm established by Bill Clinton’s White House ‘body man’ Doug Band,” he said.
That same day, August 15, is the first time Stone ever mentioned Podesta on Twitter.
Stone claims (and claimed, in sworn testimony) that his focus on John Podesta was a response to the allegations against Manafort. That makes the confluence of all these events all the more interesting.
Corsi’s lawyer claims he avoided criminal liability
As noted above, Jerome Corsi has explained what he knows of all this in a September 21 grand jury appearance, a grand jury appearance that Mueller seems to have been working towards since having Ted Malloch questioned way back in March.
In advance of that testimony, Corsi’s attorney David Grey seemed to suggest that Corsi declined to participate in certain activities involving Stone that might have exposed him to criminal liability.
Gray said he was confident that Corsi has done nothing wrong. “Jerry Corsi made decisions that he would not take actions that would give him criminal liability,” he added, declining to elaborate.
Asked if Corsi had opportunities to take such actions, Gray said, “I wouldn’t say he was offered those opportunities. I would say he had communications with Roger Stone. We’ll supply those communications and be cooperative. My client didn’t act further that would give rise to any criminal liability.”
But Mueller is apparently now chasing down Corsi’s associates.
FBI agents have recently been seeking to interview Corsi’s associates, according to the person.
One other key player in the Podesta hand-off conflated the Podesta brothers
The close ties between how Stone focused on both Podesta brothers in response to the public allegations against Manafort is interesting for another reason.
Former Ambassador Craig Murray, the only one not denying some role in the handoff of the Podesta emails (again, he has said he didn’t get the emails themselves, which he believed were already with WikiLeaks, but something associated with them).
Murray told Scott Horton that his source had obtained whatever he received from a figure in American national security with legal access to the information.
[H]e says “The material was already, I think, safely with WikiLeaks before I got there in September,” though other outlets have suggested (with maps included!) that’s when the hand-off happened. In that account, Murray admits he did not meet with the person with legal access; he instead met with an intermediary.
But the explanation of his source’s legal access and motivation not only doesn’t make sense, but seems to parrot what Stone was saying at the time.
I also want you to consider that John Podesta was a paid lobbyist for the Saudi government — that’s open and declared, it’s not secret or a leak in a sense. John Podesta was paid a very substantial sum every month by the Saudi government to lobby for their interests in Washington. And if the American security services were not watching the communications of the Saudi government paid lobbyist then the American intelligence services would not be doing their job. Of course it’s also true that the Saudis’ man, the Saudis’ lobbyist in Washington, his communications are going to be of interest to a great many other intelligence services as well.
As Stone did, this conflates John and Tony. It wrongly suggests that US national security officials would be collecting all of Tony Podesta’s emails, or that collecting on Tony would obtain all of John’s emails. All the more interesting, this conflation would have come in a period when Manafort’s lifelong buddy, Stone, was trying to distract attention from Manafort’s own corruption — which included telling Tony not to disclose the influence-peddling he had done for Manafort in the legally required manner — by projecting Manafort’s corruption onto Tony.
One more point about Murray. Murray has ties (including through the Sam Adams Association the awards ceremony for which he was in DC attending) to NSA whistleblowers Bill Binney (Murray received the award in 2005 and Binney received it in 2015) and Kirk Wiebe. This claim that US law enforcement would collect everything (including Hillary’s deleted emails) is the kind of line that Binney was pushing at the time, including to Andrew Napolitano, who was CCed on the email Stone received about WikiLeaks’ plans in July. Napolitano is one of the people who has championed that Binney line about the hack.
In other words, it’s not just that Murray was telling a similar story as Stone, even though they’re politically very different people. It’s that he was not that distant from the network of Republicans talking about what WikiLeaks might have had.
Update: Emma Best just wrote up something she’s been tracking for some time: there are four different numbers on how many Podesta mails there are.
WikiLeaks’ own data gives us five different totals for the number of Podesta emails:
The two most authoritative answers to the question come from WikiLeaks and the Special Counsel’s office, and both indicate that the total exceeded 50,000. While WikiLeaks’ stated there were “well over 50,000” emails, the Special Counsel’s indictment simply said that “over 50,000 stolen documents were released.” Since “documents” can be construed to include both the emails and their various attachments, the SC’s total is even more vague and less definitive than WikiLeaks’.
Ultimately, he best answer to the question of how many Podesta emails there are appears to be 59,188.
This raises the possibility that Stone or Corsi saw copies that WikiLeaks didn’t publish. Mueller’s distinction between how many emails were stolen and how many released suggests FBI may know what WikiLeaks chose not to public, if in fact they did.
July 18-21: Stone meets Nigel Farage while at RNC
July 25: Stone gets BCCed on an email from Charles Ortel that shows James Rosen reporting “a massive dump of HRC emails relating to the CF in September;” Stone now claims this explains his reference to a journalist go-between
July 27: Paul Manafort struggles while denying ties to Russia, instead pointing to Hillary’s home server
July 31: GAI report on From Russia with Money claiming Viktor Vekselberg’s Skolkovo reflects untoward ties; it hints that a greater John Podesta role would be revealed in her deleted emails and claims he did not properly disclose role on Joule board when joining Obama Administration
August 1: Steve Bannon and Peter Schweitzer publish a Breitbart version of the GAI report
August 1: Stone NYC > LA
August 2: Manafort and Konstantin Kilimnik meet in the Grand Havana Room in Jared’s 666 Park Avenue and “talked about bills unpaid by our clients, about [the] overall situation in Ukraine . . . and about the current news,” including the presidential campaign
August 2, 2016: Stone dines with dark money funder, John Powers Middleton in West Hollywood
August 3 and 4: Manafort obtains the bio of Steve Calk, from whom he was getting a $16 million mortgage in tacit exchange for a role in the Trump administration
August 3: Stone claims to Sam Nunberg to have dined with Assange
August 3-4: Stone takes a red-eye from LAX to Miami
August 4: Stone flip-flops on whether the Russians or a 400 pound hacker are behind the DNC hack and also tells Sam Nunberg he dined with Julian Assange; first tweet in the fall StopTheSteal campaign
August 5: Trump names Calk to his advisory committee
August 5: Stone column in Breitbart claiming Guccifer 2.0 is individual hacker
August 7: Stone starts complaining about a “rigged” election, claims that Nigel Farage had told him Brexit had been similarly rigged
August 8: Stone tells Broward Republicans he has communicated with Assange, expects next tranche to pertain to Clinton Foundation
August 10: Manafort tells his tax preparer that he would get $2.4 million in earned income collectable from work in Ukraine in November
August 10: Stone asserts that Hillary’s deleted emails will be coming out
Early August: Manafort gets blackmail threat pertaining to secret ledgers
August 12: Guccifer 2.0 publicly tweets Stone
August 13: Stone claims to have been hacked
August 14: NYT publishes story on secret ledgers
August 14: Stone DMs Guccifer 2.0
August 14: Corsi claims to have started research on response to NYT story
August 14: Breitbart piece suggesting NYT was ignoring Hillary’s own ties to Russia; this may be Stone’s latest explanation for interest in Podesta on that date
August 15: Manafort and Gates lie to the AP about their undisclosed lobbying, locking in claims they would make under oath later that fall
August 15: In first tweet mentioning John Podesta, Stone claims John Podesta “makes Paul Manafort look like St. Thomas Aquinas”
August 15: Corsi reports Stone’s prediction that WikiLeaks will release deleted Hillary emails (also reports on claimed hack)
August 17: AP publishes story on Manafort’s unreported Ukraine lobbying, describing Podesta Group’s role at length
August 17: Trump adds Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conaway to campaign leadership team (Manafort’s daughter claims he hired them)
August 19: Manafort resigns from campaign
August 21: Stone tweets it will soon be Podesta’s time on the barrel
August 26: Rebekka Mercer asks Alexander Nix whether Cambridge Analytica or GAI could better organize the leaked Hillary emails
September 12: Following further reporting in the Kyiv Post, Konstantin Kilimnik contacts Alex Van der Zwaan in attempt to hide money laundering to Skadden Arps
September 28: Corsi post (later linked on Twitter by Stone) noting that Podesta Group also under investigation
October 6: Corsi repeats the Joule/GAI claims
October 11: Release of Podesta email allegedly backing Joule story (December 31, 2013 resignation letter, January 7, 2014 severance letters)
October 11: Foldering email among Peter Smith operatives that may included coded satisfaction with emails released thus far
October 12: Roger Stone interview with the Daily Caller responding to Podesta’s allegations he knew of release in advance, which makes no mention of Joule attack
October 13: In response to accusations he knew of Podesta emails in advance, Stone repeats Joule story falsely claiming this WikiLeaks email, released October 11, substantiates it; Corsi also posts a story on Joule, like Stone not linking to the underlying WikiLeaks emails
October 17: Corsi post that actually links the WikiLeaks releases relied on in his and Stone’s October 13 posts
October 30: Additional Joule letter (including actual transfer signatures) released
October 31: Additional Joule letter released
November 1: Additional Joule letter released
https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Screen-Shot-2017-01-01-at-2.51.44-PM.png 91 149 emptywheel https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.png emptywheel2018-10-23 17:18:572018-10-26 19:51:25The Universe of Hacked and Leaked Emails from 2016: Podesta Emails
Detour: Roger Stone’s Epically Shitty Explanation for His Podesta Tweet
October 22, 2018 /10 Comments/in 2016 Presidential Election, Mueller Probe /by emptywheel
I need to take another detour from my series on the universe of the known hacked and leaked emails from 2016.
While working on the Podesta email post, my treatment of how epically shitty Stone’s explanation for his August 21, 2016 tweet boasting that “it would soon the Podesta’s time in the barrel” grew so big it has become its own post.
For reasons I laid out in this post, the public record is not all that convincing that Stone did have foreknowledge of the Podesta dump. Both in August, when he started talking about foreknowledge of a Hillary release, and in October, when he promised it on a specific day (that turned out to be wrong), he predicted WikiLeaks would dump Hillary’s deleted emails, not Podesta’s emails.
But Stone’s explanation for the tweet is epically shitty and increasingly makes me think he not only knew that Podesta’s emails would be released, but may have seen some of them in advance.
Effectively, Stone claimed to the House Intelligence Committee that his Podesta comment referred to a report Jerome Corsi did for him between August 14, and 31 ,2016 (which doesn’t identifiably show up in Stone’s political expenditures in this period).
My Tweet of August 21, 2016, in which I said, “Trust me, it will soon be the Podesta’s time in the barrel. #CrookedHillary” Must be examined in context. I posted this at a time that my boyhood friend and colleague, Paul Manafort, had just resigned from the Trump campaign over allegations regarding his business activities in Ukraine. I thought it manifestly unfair that John Podesta not be held to the same standard. Note, that my Tweet of August 21, 2016, makes no mention, whatsoever, of Mr. Podesta’s email, but does accurately predict that the Podesta brothers’ business activities in Russia with the oligarchs around Putin, their uranium deal, their bank deal, and their Gazprom deal, would come under public scrutiny. Podesta’s activities were later reported by media outlets as diverse as the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg. My extensive knowledge of the Podesta brothers’ business dealings in Russia was based on The Panama Papers, which were released in early 2016, which revealed that the Podesta brothers had extensive business dealings in Russia. The Tweet is also based on a comprehensive, early August opposition research briefing provided to me by investigative journalist, Dr. Jerome Corsi, which I then asked him to memorialize in a memo that he sent me on August 31st , all of which was culled from public records. There was no need to have John Podesta’s email to learn that he and his presidential candidate were in bed with the clique around Putin.
The claim is, particularly knowing what we know about efforts Paul Manafort was making to hide his own corruption by asking Tony Podesta to avoid legally mandated reporting, … interesting. Particularly given the way this timeline overlaps with some other events, notably Manafort’s increasingly desperate efforts to stave off bankruptcy even while working for Trump for “free.” There are also some oddities about how the timing evolved from those August “research” documents and later October publications. I’ll hit both those timing issues in my Podesta email post.
For now, consider what Corsi claimed back in March 2017, the first attempt to explain Stone’s tweet. In his version, Stone’s tweet was about four different reports.
Corsi first said that he started researching the Podestas and Russia in response to reading a July 31, 2016 Government Accountability Institute report, one not mentioned in Stone’s explanation.
Having claimed this report got him interested in substantiating a tie between Hillary and Russia, Corsi then shifts, saying that the August 14 NYT story on Manafort’s secret ledgers did (which I would call “mid-August,” not early August). He claimed his goal in response to the NYT reporting — it’s not clear whether this started on August 1 or August 14 — was just to publicize the already-written GAI report.
So Corsi suggests the report he did for Stone was based on the GAI one.
Except Corsi’s report (starting at PDF 39, copies of the report are at this point just reproductions without metadata to track when they were written, but Corsi claims to have handed over ways for Mueller to track such things when he interviewed with Mueller’s team and then appeared before the grand jury in September) doesn’t deal with the GAI report at all. Instead, it is a direct response to the NYT Manafort report, claiming that the NYT reporting (the stuff that has since been confirmed by all of Manafort’s guilty pleas) was not substantiated. It then makes a key logical move, admitting that his report is an attempt to undermine the claim that Russia’s close ties to Manafort had some relation to the hack-and-leak.
From there, the Democratic Party narrative continues to suggest Manafort’s close relationship to the Kremlin allowed him to position the Trump campaign to receive a dump of hacked emails that embarrassed the Clinton campaign by exposing the efforts Debbie Wasserman Schultz, as chairman of the DNC, took to rig the primaries for Hillary, to the distinct disadvantage of challenger, Sen. Bernie Sanders.
The entire Democratic Party narrative is thrown into disarray if it turns out the Podesta brothers, via the Podesta Group, have tighter and more easily documentable financial ties to Russia, involving far greater numbers than have ever been suggested to tie Manafort to Russia via Ukraine.
This is a key distinction. While the report definitely responds to the burgeoning scandal about Manafort’s ties to Russian oligarchs, Corsi admits that this report is about undercutting the claim that Russia would have reason to target Hillary in a hack-and-leak effort. So yeah, it’s about Stone’s “boyhood friend and colleague” (who at the time was setting off on a crime spree to hide his Russian ties), but it’s also about his longtime buddy Donald Trump, too.
From there the Corsi report focuses on the Podesta Group, on Uranium One, on Clinton’s ties to Fethulla Gulen (whom Mike Flynn was moving towards on kidnapping at the time), as if any of that suggests closer ties to Russia than Manafort has. Virtually the only claim about John Podesta (as opposed to Tony) is that he had ties to Hillary’s Foundation.
The idea behind Corsi’s story, I suppose, is that if Corsi started writing this report on August 14, then when Stone tweeted on August 21, it would reflect a draft of the report that bears the final date of August 31. There’s no public record to support that chronology, though.
From there, Corsi notes that he and Podesta returned to the subject of the GAI report — Podesta’s ties with Joule — in October.
On October 6, 2016, I published in WND.com the first of a series of articles detailing Putin’s financial ties to Clinton and Podesta, based largely on the research contained in the Government Accountability Institute’s report, “From Russia With Money.”
On Oct. 13, 2016, Stone published on his website an article entitled, “Russian Mafia money laundering, the Clinton Foundation and John Podesta.”
So thus far, Corsi argues that the progression goes from an August 1 GAI Report, to … something … to his research starting on August 14 about entirely unrelated allegations about the Podestas, back to both he and Stone writing on Joule in October.
In his description of the October pieces, Corsi claims — citing selectively — that Stone’s Joule piece relied on his and (he seems to claim, but this is nonsense) his private research report.
A comparison of the two articles will show the extent to which Stone incorporated my research into his analysis.
Probably, Corsi is talking about that series he is referring to, which include these posts:
September 28: Media Neglect Clinton-Linked Firm’s Role in Russia Scandal (pointing out the Podesta Group was also under investigation)
October 6: Russia? Look Who’s Really in Bed with Moscow (Reiterates findings of GAI report)
October 13: Hillary Campaign Chief Linked to Money-Laundering in Russia (cites but does not link to WikiLeaks releases)
October 17: How Hillary’s Campaign Chief Hid Money from Russia (actually inking to the WikiLeaks emails and claiming the Leonidio to which Podesta transferred Joule shares was one one in Utah
Though he cites Stone’s denials of advance knowledge that WikiLeaks would dump the Podesta emails, Corsi doesn’t cite this passage in Stone’s October 13 piece.
Wikileaks emails tie John Podesta, chairman of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, into the money-laundering network with the confirmation Podesta had exercised 75,000 shares out of 100,000 previously undisclosed stock options he was secretly issued by Joule Unlimited, a U.S. corporation that ties back to Vekselberg connected Joule Global Stichting in the Netherlands – a shady entity identified in the Panama Papers as an offshore money-laundering client of the notorious Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.
As a clear indication of guilty conscience, the Wikileaks Podesta file further documents that Podesta made a serious effort to keep the transaction from coming to light as evidenced by his decision to transfer 75,000 common shares of Joule Unlimited to Leonidio LLC, another shady shell corporation – this one listed in Salt Lake City at the home apartment of the gentlemen who registered the company.
Stone mentions — but does not link to — some of the WikiLeaks files he’s discussing. It is true that two Podesta emails released two days earlier on October 11 (December 31, 2013 resignation letter, January 7, 2014 severance letters) relate to the stuff Stone mentions and have some of the same numbers. They certainly don’t substantiate Stone’s claim about mob ties and shell corporations. Plus, three of the Joule documents that might actually pertain to Stone’s claims weren’t released until October 30, October 31, and November 1. Significantly, the research that Corsi claims Stone relied on didn’t show up until Corsi’s October 17 post, four days after Stone’s.
That at least suggests that Stone may have had those WikiLeaks emails earlier — and it may suggest he had “WikiLeaks documents” that never got published, which he ironically would have referenced in a piece purporting to prove he didn’t have advance knowledge of the release. It also raises real questions about why Corsi resuscitated the Joule attack on October 6, as if knowing both that Podesta emails would come out and that they would include some attached documents allegedly substantiating and advancing the GAI report from the summer.
Stone also claims further research reflects an unsubstantiated further tie with (Trump inauguration donor) Viktor Vekselberg, one he didn’t repeat when he revived the post to implicate Michael Cohen last May.
Further research has documented that Viktor Vekselberg arranged for two transfers of unknown amounts to a private Clinton Foundation account in the Bank of America, with the funds passing though a pass-through account at Deutsche Bank and Trust Company Americas in New York City – with the first transfer made on Feb. 10, 2015, and the second on March 15, 2016.
Vekselberg is known to have donated to the Clinton Foundation, though it’s not clear where Stone gets the banking details.
I’m not actually sure what to make of Stone’s post. I have yet to chase down where all these claims come from (if not from Stone’s ripe imagination).
But even aside from these three unsubstantiated claims, I know this.
Corsi originally claimed that all four reports — the August 1 GAI report, his own August 14-31 private report to Stone, his own revival of the GAI report the day before the Podesta emails started coming out on October 7 (and, arguably, the entire series), and then Stone’s own piece after some WikiLeaks documents came out that sort of related to his arguments but not entirely — were part of the same effort.
That’s not right. His own report for Stone is the outlier.
While it’s unsurprising that Manafort’s “boyhood friend” might solicit a report both to protect that boyhood friend and his longtime political mentee, Donald Trump, that report was part of a separate effort than the GAI research — which Stone would ultimately claim without proof WikiLeaks releases supported. It’s unclear which of the three things is most damning: the Stone report which claimed to use WikiLeaks research to elaborate on the GAI research, the report attempting to disprove true facts about Manafort’s ties to Russia, or the tweet.
But they don’t explain each other. And inserted into the timeline — as I’ll do — they become even more problematic.
Update: I took out a paragraph on Corsi’s timing, which was erroneous.
Update: Via the Daily Caller, Stone has now offered another explanation: that he learned of all this from a James Rosen email to Andrew Napolitano on which he was BCCed.
Stone also told The Post he had a “second source” regarding his claims about WikiLeaks the Clinton Foundation. Emails provided to The Daily Caller show the “second source” referenced is an email Stone was Bcc’d on from July 25, 2016. Stone was Bcc’d on the email by Clinton Foundation expert Charles Ortel, who was conducting a conversation with then-Fox News journalist James Rosen and Judge Andrew Napolitano.
July 2016 Email
The email included a previous exchange between Ortel and Rosen in which the Fox News journalist wrote “am told Wikileaks will be doing a massive dump of HRC emails relating to the CF in September” to Ortel. There is no evidence to suggest Rosen was aware of Stone’s visibility on the email chain.
James Rosen Email
Ortel confirmed the authenticity of the email exchanges to TheDC while Rosen declined to comment.
Stone explained to TheDC the information he learned from the email was part of the basis for his August 2016 claim of impending information from WikiLeaks about the Clinton Foundation.
This doesn’t actually explain squat. But it does put Stone in contact with people who might be explain the rest of what went down. The DC piece also provides another Stone excuse for why he was interested in Podesta’s plight on August 14, which he claims was a Schweitzer piece at Breitbart, but which might instead be this one. In any case, Stone seems to have a real urgency to have something that explains an August 14 interest in Podesta.
Update: One other point about the language in Corsi’s report making it clear it was a response to the Russian allegations. He still seems to treat the possibility that Russia did the hack seriously. That’s an interesting detail given that the guy he was purportedly doing the report for was publicly on the record blaming a 400 pound hacker in mom’s basement.
https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Stone-Agent-of-Chaos.jpg 797 1072 emptywheel https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.png emptywheel2018-10-22 21:44:212018-10-23 11:18:30Detour: Roger Stone's Epically Shitty Explanation for His Podesta Tweet
Mueller Juggles Plea Agreement Housekeeping
In the last two days, both Rick Gates’ and Paul Manafort’s plea deals have made news.
In Gates’ case, his lawyers have filed an unopposed motion to liberate him from his GPS device and curfew, arguing that the leverage of the plea deal itself is enough to keep him on the straight and narrow.
The plea agreement contains very serious consequences for Mr. Gates should he violate any of its terms or conditions. The advantages that attach to strict compliance with that agreement, and the extraordinary disincentives to violating that agreement, alone guarantee Mr. Gates’s appearance at any scheduled Court proceeding. Over a substantial period of time, now approaching one year, Mr. Gates has demonstrated his resolve to comply with all conditions of his release. Removing the GPS monitor and allowing Mr. Gates to travel within the Eastern District of Virginia and District of Columbia without restriction will surely not increase the risk of flight or make it less likely that Mr. Gates will appear in Court when required to do so.
The more interesting bit comes when, in a bid to talk up Gates’ cooperation, his attorneys reveal he’s been meeting with other prosecutors.
Both before the entry of the plea, and for many weeks thereafter, Mr. Gates, whenever requested, traveled to Washington, D.C., to appear at the Office of Special Counsel to be interviewed as part of his cooperation agreement. Those sessions have been numerous and they continue to this day.
These meetings with the Office of Special Counsel continued during the weeks preceding the trial of co-defendant Paul Manafort in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Following that trial, Mr. Gates has continued to cooperate with the Special Counsel and with other federal investigators by attending current meetings at which he provides additional information. [my emphasis]
Rick Gates met in March and he met in July and he met in September, Thomas Green says. It’s the “other federal investigators” that’s of interest, as it suggests his cooperation extends beyond Mueller’s case in chief.
But that may not mean all that much. After all, Gates’ cooperation would be useful for the three cases Mueller referred to SDNY (involving Tony Podesta, Vin Weber, and Greg Craig), as well as for Stephen Calk, the Chicago banker who gave Manafort a loan in hopes of getting an appointment with the Trump Administration. Gates would surely also have information that might corroborate Sam Patten’s cooperation.
Still, it’s possible those “other federal investigators” include some of the “garden variety” Trump corruption I keep suggesting might also get spun off, such as the non-Russian Inauguration pay-to-play.
Meanwhile, in EDVA, TS Ellis is being TS Ellis. Yesterday, he filed an order saying that the parties in Manafort’s EDVA prosecution can’t just defer resolution of the ten hung counts against him until after Mueller is done with his cooperation. He scheduled a hearing for a week from Friday, on October 19, so the process of sentencing can begin. At that hearing, Ellis expects the parties to “address dismissal of the outstanding counts on which the jury deadlocked.”
Dismissing the charges may be no big deal. Manafort is on the hook for 210 – 262 months if he breaches his plea agreement in DC, before any state charges, and some of the charges that Ellis would dismiss could be charged in VA, aided by Manafort’s admission of guilt in them in the plea. As Popehat notes, cleaning up these charges is consistent with good docket management.
The push for the government to move forward on cooperation is more interesting as it may require the government to weigh in on the value of Manafort’s cooperation while he’s still discussing things with Mueller’s team. Of particular interest, any discussion on cooperation may reveal how much Manafort has cooperated against the President.
I’m also interested in timing. Manafort’s lawyers submitted their notice that they won’t challenge anything that happened in that trial right on schedule, on September 20. The government filed their response just under the week later that they had under Ellis’ schedule, on September 26. But Ellis took two weeks before he issued this hurry up and wait order, setting a hearing for October 19, at which any sentencing schedule is likely to be after Manafort’s next status hearing in DC.
In any case, it’s not clear that Ellis’ haste will help Manafort much. Even if Ellis is perturbed that Mueller used his courtroom to flip a witness against Trump, the PSR will show that Manafort is an admitted criminal in the DC charges, meaning his sentence should be harsher than it would with any kind of cooperation assistance. And prosecutors can just defer any 5K statement, and instead account for cooperation with a Rule 35 motion submitted after the fact. In any case, the plea envisions concurrent sentencing, and if Manafort does’t cooperate willingly, he’ll face 10 years in the DC plea, which is longer than Ellis is likely to have sentenced him on anyway.
So it seems like Mueller can still retain the breathtaking upper hand they have with Manafort, and defer any public statement on cooperation until later.
https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Paulie.jpg 600 476 emptywheel https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.png emptywheel2018-10-11 16:51:452018-10-11 16:51:45Mueller Juggles Plea Agreement Housekeeping
Offering John Podesta Emails While Selling Deleted Hillary Emails
October 11, 2018 /20 Comments/in 2016 Presidential Election, Mueller Probe, WikiLeaks /by emptywheel
Back in April 2017, I noted something problematic with Democratic theories about the advance knowledge of Roger Stone — and by association, the Trump camp — of Russia’s hack and leak plans: Democrats have largely focused on Stone’s warning, on August 21, 2016, that “it would soon be the Podesta’s time in the barrel,” arguing it reflected foreknowledge of the October 2016 dump of John Podesta’s emails. Stone has said he was talking about blaming Tony Podesta for his corruption, and while that does appear to be a projection-focused defense of Paul Manafort as his own corruption posed problems for the Trump campaign, none of that explains how Stone implicated John in his brother’s sleaze.
That one comment aside, virtually every time Stone predicted a WikiLeaks October Surprise, he implied it would be Clinton Foundation documents or other ones she deleted from her home server, not Podesta emails. That is, while Stone appears to have known the general timing of the October dump, Stone didn’t predict the Podesta emails. He predicted emails deleted from Hillary’s home server, emails that never got published. Here’s how it looks in a timeline (partly lifted from this CNN timeline).
August 12, 2016: Roger Stone says, “I believe Julian Assange — who I think is a hero, fighting the police state — has all of the emails that Huma and Cheryl Mills, the two Clinton aides thought that they had erased. Now, if there’s nothing damning or problematic in those emails, I assure you the Clintonites wouldn’t have erased them and taken the public heat for doing so. When the case is I don’t think they are erased. I think Assange has them. I know he has them. And I believe he will expose the American people to this information you know in the next 90 days.”
August 15, 2016: Stone tells WorldNetDaily that, “’In the next series of emails Assange plans to release, I have reason to believe the Clinton Foundation scandals will surface to keep Bill and Hillary from returning to the White House,’ … The next batch, Stone said, include Clinton’s communications with State Department aides Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin.”
August 26, 2016: Stone tells Breitbart Radio that “I’m almost confident Mr. Assange has virtually every one of the emails that the Clinton henchwomen, Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills, thought that they had deleted, and I suspect that he’s going to drop them at strategic times in the run up to this race.”
August 29, 2016: Stone suggests Clinton Foundation information might lead to prison. “Perhaps he has the smoking gun that will make this handcuff time.”
September 16, 2016: Stone says that “a payload of new documents” that Wikileaks will drop “on a weekly basis fairly soon … will answer the question of exactly what was erased on that email server.”
September 18, 2016 and following: Stone asks Randy Credico to get from Assange any emails pertaining to disrupting a peace deal in Libya, making it clear he believes Assange has emails that WikiLeaks has not yet released.
In a Sept. 18, 2016, message, Mr. Stone urged an acquaintance who knew Mr. Assange to ask the WikiLeaks founder for emails related to Mrs. Clinton’s alleged role in disrupting a purported Libyan peace deal in 2011 when she was secretary of state, referring to her by her initials.
“Please ask Assange for any State or HRC e-mail from August 10 to August 30–particularly on August 20, 2011,” Mr. Stone wrote to Randy Credico, a New York radio personality who had interviewed Mr. Assange several weeks earlier. Mr. Stone, a longtime confidant of Donald Trump, had no formal role in his campaign at the time.
Mr. Credico initially responded to Mr. Stone that what he was requesting would be on WikiLeaks’ website if it existed, according to an email reviewed by the Journal. Mr. Stone, the emails show, replied: “Why do we assume WikiLeaks has released everything they have ???”
In another email, Mr. Credico then asked Mr. Stone to give him a “little bit of time,” saying he thought Mr. Assange might appear on his radio show the next day. A few hours later, Mr. Credico wrote: “That batch probably coming out in the next drop…I can’t ask them favors every other day .I asked one of his lawyers…they have major legal headaches riggt now..relax.”
As I further noted, when WikiLeaks started dumping Podesta emails in October (including excerpts of Hillary’s private speeches), Stone focused more on accusing Bill Clinton of rape, another projection-based defense of Donald Trump (especially in light of the Access Hollywood tape) than he focused on the Podesta emails.
In other words, Stone may not have exhibited foreknowledge of the Podesta dump. By all appearances, he seemed to expect that WikiLeaks would publish emails obtained via the Peter Smith efforts — efforts that involved soliciting Russian hackers for assistance. That actually makes Stone’s foreknowledge more damning, as it suggests he was part of the conspiracy to pay Russian hackers for emails they had purportedly already hacked from Hillary’s server and that he expected WikiLeaks would be an outlet for the emails, as opposed to just learning that Podesta’s emails had been hacked some months after they had been.
It was Guccifer 2.0, not Assange, who claimed anyone had Clinton server documents (including in a tweet responding to my observation he was falsely billing documents as Clinton Foundation ones).
And Guccifer 2.0 was (according to Politico, not WSJ) in the loop of this effort, so may have been trying to pressure WikiLeaks to publish sets of files already sent, as he had tried to do with DCCC files earlier in August.
[Chuck] Johnson said he and [Peter] Smith stayed in touch, discussing “tactics and research” regularly throughout the presidential campaign, and that Smith sought his help tracking down Clinton’s emails. “He wanted me to introduce to him to Bannon, to a few others, and I sort of demurred on some of that,” Johnson said. “I didn’t think his operation was as sophisticated as it needed to be, and I thought it was good to keep the campaign as insulated as possible.”
Instead, Johnson said, he put the word out to a “hidden oppo network” of right-leaning opposition researchers to notify them of the effort. Johnson declined to provide the names of any of the members of this “network,” but he praised Smith’s ambition.
“The magnitude of what he was trying to do was kind of impressive,” Johnson said. “He had people running around Europe, had people talking to Guccifer.” (U.S. intelligence agencies have linked the materials provided by “Guccifer 2.0”—an alias that has taken credit for hacking the Democratic National Committee and communicated with Republican operatives, including Trump confidant Roger Stone—to Russian government hackers.)
Johnson said he also suggested that Smith get in touch with Andrew Auernheimer, a hacker who goes by the alias “Weev” and has collaborated with Johnson in the past. Auernheimer—who was released from federal prison in 2014 after having a conviction for fraud and hacking offenses vacated and subsequently moved to Ukraine—declined to say whether Smith contacted him, citing conditions of his employment that bar him from speaking to the press.
Two interesting issues of timing arise out of that, then.
First, to the extent that Stone’s tweets during the week of October 7 (the ones that exhibited foreknowledge of timing, if not content) predicted the timing of the next leak, they would seem to reflect an expectation that deleted emails were coming, not necessarily that Podesta ones were.
[O]n Saturday October 1 (or early morning on October 2 in GMT; the Twitter times in this post have been calculated off the unix time in the source code), Stone said that on Wednesday (October 5), Hillary Clinton is done.
Fewer of these timelines note that Wikileaks didn’t release anything that Wednesday. It did, however, call out Guccifer 2.0’s purported release of Clinton Foundation documents (though the documents were real, they were almost certainly mislabeled Democratic Party documents) on October 5. The fact that Guccifer 2.0 chose to mislabel those documents is worth further consideration, especially given public focus on the Foundation documents rather than other Democratic ones. I’ll come back to that.
Throughout the week — both before and after the Guccifer 2.0 release — Stone kept tweeting that he trusted the Wikileaks dump was still coming.
Monday, October 3:
Wednesday, October 5 (though this would have been middle of the night ET):
Thursday, October 6 (again, this would have been nighttime ET, after it was clear Wikileaks had not released on Wednesday):
But it also makes the October 11 email — which was shared with still unidentified recipients via foldering, not sent — reported by WSJ the other day all the more interesting. The email seems to suggest that on October 11, the “students” who were really pleased with email releases they had seen so far were talking about the Podesta emails.
In a follow-up, WSJ confirmed the identities of three of the four alleged donors (they’re still trying to track down the real ID of the fourth).
He reached out to businessmen as financial backers, including Maine real-estate developer Michael Liberty, Florida-based investor John “Jack” Purcell and Chicago financier Patrick Haynes. They were named in an email reviewed by the Journal as among a group of people who pledged to contribute $100,000 to the effort, along with $50,000 of Mr. Smith’s own money.
If the Smith conspirators were referring to the Podesta emails stolen by GRU in the same breath as a funding solicitation for Clinton Foundation ones, it suggests that whoever Smith’s co-conspirators were, as late as October 11, they were referring to the Podesta emails in the same breath as the Clinton server ones they were still hunting for.
As I said in July, I provided information to the FBI on issues related to the Mueller investigation, so I’m going to include disclosure statements on Mueller investigation posts from here on out. I will include the disclosure whether or not the stuff I shared with the FBI pertains to the subject of the post.
https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Stone-Agent-of-Chaos.jpg 797 1072 emptywheel https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.png emptywheel2018-10-11 12:15:132018-10-11 15:14:39Offering John Podesta Emails While Selling Deleted Hillary Emails
Roger Stone’s Excuse for His “Podesta Time in a Barrel” Comment Is Even Stupider Given the Paul Manafort Prosecution
September 5, 2018 /12 Comments/in 2016 Presidential Election, Mueller Probe, WikiLeaks /by emptywheel
In addition to Randy Credico, Jerome Corsi will testify before the Mueller grand jury on Friday. That means that the grand jury will hear testimony from two people who can address the truth of two claims Roger Stone made before the House Intelligence Committee on September 26, 2017.
First, there’s Stone’s claim he learned about WikiLeaks’ plans to release the John Podesta emails in October via Credico.
Now, let me address the charge that I had advance knowledge of the timing, content and source of the WikiLeaks disclosures from the DNC. On June 12, 2016, WikiLeaks’ publisher Julian Assange, announced that he was in possession of Clinton DNC emails. I learned this by reading it on Twitter. I asked a journalist who I knew had interviewed Assange to independently confirm this report, and he subsequently did. This journalist assured me that WikiLeaks would release this information in October and continued to assure me of this throughout the balance of August and all of September. This information proved to be correct. I have referred publicly to this journalist as an, “intermediary”, “go-between” and “mutual friend.” All of these monikers are equally true.
Credico has not only said this is not true, but that Stone threatened him to prevent him from testifying as much.
Then, there’s Stone’s claim (first made publicly by Corsi the previous March) that his tweet predicting John Podesta would soon catch political heat pertained to a project he and Corsi were working on at the time.
I noted at the time that that Corsi’s explanation didn’t make any sense, because while the July 31 report did pertain to John Podesta, his August 31 report focused exclusively on Tony (the Corsi materials start at page 39 of Stone’s HPSCI testimony; note the conflation of Tony for John got repeated in Craig Murray’s explanations for the WikiLeaks’ go-between he met in September).
But the explanation is even less credible given what has happened since: Paul Manafort, whose plight the Corsi report was (per Stone) explicitly a response to, got indicted in part because he told Tony Podesta to hide his ties to Russian-backed Ukrainian politicians. Indeed, in classic Corsi style, he describes Podesta’s role in Manafort’s crime, without disclosing that Podesta was in legal trouble because of Manafort’s effort to hide his own crimes; Corsi presented them as equal partners in this crime.
CNN further reported on Aug. 19 the Podesta Group had issued a statement affirming the firm has retained the boutique Washington-based law http://www.capdale.com firm Caplin & Drysdale “to determine if we were mislead by the Centre for a Modern Ukraine or any other individuals with potential ties to foreign governments or political parties.” The Podesta Group statement issued to CNN continued: “When the Centre became a client, it certified in writing that ‘none of the activities of the Centre are directly or indirectly supervised, directed, controlled, financed or subsidized in whole or in part by a government of a foreign country or a foreign political party.’ We relied on that certification and advice from counsel in registering and reporting under the Lobbying Disclosure Act rather than the Foreign Agents Registration Act.”
The CNN statement concluded with the statement, “We will take whatever measures are necessary to address this situation based on Caplin & Drysdale’s review, including possible legal action against the Centre.” In breaking the story that the Podesta Group had hired Caplin & Drysdale, Buzz Feed https://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/top-lobbying-firm-hiresoutside-counsel-in-ukraine-manafort?utm term=.duLexkeKBx#.rj4gn3gmln reported on Aug. 19, that both the Podesta Group and Manafort’s D.C. political firm were working under contract with the same group advising Yanukovych and his Ukrainian Party of Regions – namely the non-profit European Centre for a Modern Ukraine based in Brussels. On Dec. 20, 2013, Reuters reported http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usaukraine-lobbying-idUSBRE9BJ1B220131220#6oTXxKZp25obYxzF.99 the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine paid $900,000 to the Podesta Group for a two-year contract aimed at improving the image of the Yanukovych government in the United States that the Podesta Group told Reuters they were implementing through contacts with key congressional Democrats.
That detail is important of a number of reasons. First, because it makes it entirely unlikely that Stone (who was meeting with Rick Gates during this period, if not his “boyhood friend” Manafort himself) learned of Podesta’s ties via Panama Papers and not from Manafort himself. But it also provides a reason why Corsi and Stone would be focusing on Tony at the time — to draw attention away from Manafort, and with it, the corruption that Manafort implicated the Trump Administration in. Indeed, the Manafort EDVA court record shows that Gates and Manafort were using a range of financial and political means of doing the same at precisely that time.
It’s clear, given what we’ve learned as part of the Manafort prosecutions, that the effort to impugn Tony Podesta had everything (as Stone partly tells truthfully)to do with the plight of Manafort at the time.
Which is to say, it didn’t have anything to do with John, and so can’t be used to explain that tweet.
On top of everything else. Mueller appears to be finishing up false statements charges against Stone.
https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Stone-Agent-of-Chaos.jpg 797 1072 emptywheel https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.png emptywheel2018-09-05 14:38:012018-09-05 15:06:40Roger Stone's Excuse for His "Podesta Time in a Barrel" Comment Is Even Stupider Given the Paul Manafort Prosecution
Spy Versus Spy: The Two Alleged Agents of Foreign Powers Sitting in the Alexandria Jail, Part One (Paulie)
August 30, 2018 /37 Comments/in 2016 Presidential Election, emptywheel, Mueller Probe /by emptywheel
The Alexandria jail houses two alleged criminal agents of foreign influence: Paul Manafort and Mariia Butina. In the coming days, both may present interesting questions about the boundaries the US uses to define — and criminalize — foreign influence peddling. Legal questions in their prosecutions will address two questions:
What does it take to criminalize a failure to register as an Agent of a Foreign Principal?
What are the boundaries between Agent of Foreign Principals and Foreign Governments?
At issue are two laws: the Foreign Agents Registration Act, 22 USC 611 et seq., which requires certain people engaging in politics and propaganda for non-commercial foreign entities to register as their agents and to disclose the propaganda they disseminate. Mostly, FARA is a documentary requirement, but lying in the registration process can carry a five year sentence. That’s what Paul Manafort has been charged with. Butina has been charged with violating 18 USC 951, which basically criminalizes people who don’t register with DOJ (as, for example, diplomats would) when they spy for a foreign power; it carries a ten year sentence.
The problems with FARA … and distinguishing it from spying
As a DOJ Inspector General Audit completed in September 2016 laid out, people stopped complying with FARA in the 1990s, as any commercial lobbyists could register under the Lobbyist Disclosure Act more easily and FARA wasn’t rigorously enforced. The IG Report cited a bunch of reasons why FARA is not better enforced, such as that they aren’t staffed to be effective, nor do they have the investigative authorities DOJ thinks they need to figure out who’s not complying.
During our audit the FARA Unit was comprised of one Unit Chief, who is also an attorney; two staff attorneys; one Supervisory Program Manager; one Intelligence Research Specialist; one Program Specialist; and two Case Management Specialists.5 NSD staff emphasized that this is a limited staff, which is responsible for a considerable range of activities. The unit is responsible for processing and monitoring new and existing FARA registrations on an ongoing basis. This includes receiving, reviewing and processing documentation and payments, and addressing late or inaccurate submissions. The unit also performs periodic formal inspections to assess the adequacy of registrant reporting and disclosure, and conducts open source searches to identify individuals that may be obligated to register.
One of these two staff attorneys joined the FARA Unit during our audit. At the conclusion of our audit we were informed that the FARA Unit was back to one staff attorney, however the unit planned to hire a replacement.
NSD officials stated that a major difficulty is a lack of authority to compel the production of information from persons who may be agents. As a result, NSD is currently pursuing civil investigative demand (CID) authority from Congress in order to enhance its ability to assess the need for potential agents to register.
Ultimately, however, DOJ almost never uses the teeth in the provision — prosecution — to ensure compliance.
Between 1966 and 2015 the Department only brought seven criminal FARA cases – one resulted in a conviction at trial for conspiracy to violate FARA and other statutes, two pleaded guilty to violating FARA, two others pleaded guilty to non-FARA charges, and the remaining two cases were dismissed. We were also told by NSD that the Department has not sought civil injunctive relief under FARA since 1991.
The IG Report cites two reasons why there aren’t more prosecutions. First, as the National Security Division explained, because it is so hard to get evidence of 1) willfulness, 2) that the agent is working under the “direction and control” of a foreign principal and 3) that the influence-peddling isn’t for some other (exempted) reason.
FARA contains a criminal penalty provision, and NSD approves criminal prosecution as an enforcement mechanism if there is sufficient admissible evidence of a willful violation of FARA, and the standards applicable to all federal criminal prosecutions set forth in the U.S. Attorney’s Manual are otherwise satisfied. The high burden of proving willfulness, difficulties in proving “direction and control” by a foreign principal, and exemptions available under the statute make criminal prosecution for FARA violations challenging. These challenges are compounded by the government’s current inability to compel the production of records from potential and current registrants, a situation NSD is working to remedy by proposing legislation for consideration by the Department of Justice (Department). Despite these challenges, the Department has brought four F ARA criminal cases since 2007, all of which resulted in convictions (one conviction at trial for conspiracy to violate F ARA and other statutes; two guilty pleas for violating FARA; and one guilty plea to related non-FARA charges).
The other reason why there aren’t more FARA prosecutions, per the IG Report, is because FBI agents confuse FARA (what Manafort is charged with) with 18 USC 951 (what Butin is charged with). Indeed, Agents mix the codes for the two crimes up in their filing system.
[W]hen we discussed FARA with FBI personnel, we found that they considered a “FARA case” to be a case investigated pursuant to either the FARA, 22 U.S.C. § 611, et seq., or 18 U.S.C. § 951 (Section 951), which is the federal statute that provides criminal penalties for certain agents of foreign governments who act in the United States without first notifying the Attorney General.12 Unlike Section 951, FARA requires agents of foreign principals engaged in legal political or quasi-political activities such as lobbying, government and public relations, tourism promotion, and foreign economic development activities in the United States to register and make detailed disclosures of their activities in the United States conducted on behalf of their foreign principals.13
By contrast, Section 951 was described to us by the NSD as “espionage lite” because a Section 951 case generally involves espionage-like or clandestine behavior or an otherwise provable connection to an intelligence service, or information gathering or procurement-type activity on behalf of a foreign government. Although FARA registration can serve as the required notification to the Attorney General under Section 951, NSD officials told us FARA and Section 951 involve different sets of elements and different types of issues. According to NSD officials, only 22 U.S.C. 611 et seq. constitutes a FARA case. Nevertheless, NSD officials acknowledged the differing views on what constitutes a FARA charge and are currently engaged in an ongoing effort to better educate field investigators and prosecutors on the difference.
12 According to NSD, notification under Section 951 may be made by registration under FARA in circumstances where the activity requiring notice is disclosed on the FARA registration form.
13 Political activities are defined by the statute as “any activity that the person engaging in believes will, or that the person intends to, in any way influence any agency or official of the Government of the United States or any section of the public within the United States with reference to formulating, adopting, or changing the domestic or foreign policies of the United States or with reference to the political or public interests, policies, or relations of a government of a foreign country or a foreign political party.”
Here’s how NSD described the difference.
Although OIG’s report reflects some criticism of aspects of NSD’s review of F ARA cases, NSD notes at the outset, as OlG acknowledged in the Report, that personnel interviewed in preparation of the Report frequently confused FARA (22 U.S.c. § 611 el seq) with 18 U.S.C. § 951 (“Section 951 “), a criminal statute entitled “Agents of foreign governments.” Although the two statutes have similar terms, they address different types of conduct. The typical conduct to which Section 951 applies consists of espionage-like behavior, information gathering, and procurement of technology, on behalf of foreign governments or officials. FARA, on the other hand, is designed to provide transparency regarding efforts by foreign principals (a term defined more broadly than foreign governments or officials) to influence the U.S. government or public through public speech, political activities, and lobbying. Accordingly, Section 95 1 is codified in Title 18 of the U.S. Code (designated for “Crimes and Criminal Procedure”), while FARA is codified in Title 22 (designated for “Foreign Relations”). Section 951 is aimed exclusively at criminally punishing individuals who violate its terms, and lacks a formal administrative registration regime. FARA in contrast, is predominantly a disclosure statute, under which there is an administrative registration regime, and while the Act authorizes criminal penalties for willful violations, the primary means of achieving FARA’s main purpose of transparency is through voluntary disclosure in compliance with the Act. The mistaken conflation of the two statutes can lead to undue weight being given to criminal prosecution as the measure of F ARA enforcement and insufficient recognition of the significance of administrative enforcement efforts relating to the FARA registration regime. It is therefore essential to understand the distinctions between FARA and Section 951 for purposes of this audit, the scope of which is expressly limited to the enforcement and administration of FARA.
Mueller’s two FARA pleas
Mueller actually already shifted the balance on FARA enforcement since that 2016 IG Report. Among the false statements Flynn pled guilty to is filing a false FARA filing.
On March 7, 2017, FLYNN filed multiple documents with the Department of Justice pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”) pertaining to a project performed by him and his company, the Flynn Intel Group, Inc. (“FIG”), for the principal benefit of the Republic of Turkey (“Turkey project”). In the FARA filings, FLYNN made materially false statements and omissions, including by falsely stating that (a) FIG did not know whether or the extent to which the Republic of Turkey was involved in the Turkey project, (b) the Turkey project was focused on improving U.S. business organizations’ confidence regarding doing business in Turkey, and (c) an op-ed by FLYNN published in The Hill on November 8, 2016, was written at his own initiative; and by omitting that officials from the Republic of Turkey provided supervision and direction over the Turkey project.
And one of two conspiracy schemes (what I call ConFraudUS) to which Gates pled guilty is violating FARA.
GATES understood that it was illegal to engage in certain activities in the United States as an agent of a foreign pricipal without registering with the United States Government. Specifically, a person who engages in lobbying or public relations work in the United States (hereafter collectively referred to as lobbying) for a foreign principal such as the Government of Ukraine or the Party of Regions is required to register. Manafort, together with GATES’ assistance, engaged in a scheme to avoid this registration requirement for DMI, Manafort, and others.
These efforts — and Manafort’s prosecution — have already led to a significant increase in how many people are registering as foreign influence peddlers.
You can lose your profits if you don’t register
Particularly because Manafort’s case is so high profile, Mueller’s bid to prosecute him for FARA violations comes with high stakes and potentially high payoff — though DC District interpretations of the law. That said, the government has actually backstopped itself by charging Manafort’s sleazy influence peddling under multiple different crimes; the indictment actually uses seven different counts to hold Manafort accountable for hiding that he was an agent of a Russian-backed Ukrainian party, the Party of Regions (and its successor).
ConFraudUs: Claiming Manafort prevented DOJ and Treasury from tracking his foreign influence peddling
Conspiracy to Launder Money: Claiming Manafort and Gates laundered the proceeds of their Ukrainian influence-peddling
FARA Violation: Claiming Manafort hid both his own lobbying for the Party of Regions and that he paid other influence peddlers to engage in
Submitting a False FARA Statement: Claiming Manafort submitted a claim falsely claiming he didn’t need to register as a foreign agent
False statements: Claiming he lied in his FARA filings
Obstruction of justice: Claiming he tampered with witnesses associated with the Hapsburg group in an attempt to get them to lie about his failure to register as a foreign agent
Conspiracy to obstruct justice: Claiming he conspired with former GRU officer Konstantin Kilimnik to tamper with witnesses
Manafort already tried and failed to narrow the application of FARA in two ways: first, by objecting to tying money laundering to FARA (and thereby tying a forfeiture to it). Second, Manafort tried to get either the false FARA statement (count 4) or the false statements (count 5) thrown as as multiplicitous. Amy Berman Jackson ruled against him on both attempts (forfeiture, multiplicitous), though the latter order basically just punted the issue until after trial.
The former is more interesting, in any case, because in her ruling ABJ took Manafort’s bid to distinguish FARA from 18 USC 951 and instead described how similar they are.
Section 951 of Title 18 states that “[w]hoever, other than a diplomatic or consular officer or attaché, acts in the United States as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the Attorney General” shall be fined or imprisoned for up to ten years, or both. 18 U.S.C. § 951(a). According to defendant, this statute criminalizes acting as a foreign agent, whereas FARA is merely a “regulatory scheme for foreign agent registration” that criminalizes only the willful failure to register. Def.’s Mot. at 5, quoting United States v. McGoff, 831 F.2d 1071, 1075 (D.C. Cir. 1987).
But the reference to section 951 does not support defendant’s position, since defendant acknowledges that section 951 plainly governs acting as an agent of a foreign government, and the language of the two provisions is quite similar. See Def.’s Mot. at 4–5; compare 18 U.S.C. § 951(a) (“Whoever . . . acts in the United States as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the Attorney General . . . shall be fined under this title or imprisoned . . . .”) with 22 U.S.C. § 612(a) (“No person shall act as an agent of a foreign principal unless he has filed with the Attorney General a true and complete registration statement . . . .”) and id. § 618(a) (imposing criminal penalties on any person who “willfully violates any provision of this subchapter or any regulation thereunder” or “willfully makes a false statement of a material fact or willfully omits any material fact” in a FARA statement). These laws are not just about paperwork; their object is to ensure that no person acts to advance the interests of a foreign government or principal within the United States unless the public has been properly notified of his or her allegiance. So both statutes expressly prohibit “acting” as a representative of a foreign entity without submitting the required notification to the Attorney General. For these reasons, the alleged international banking transactions could “promote,” and Manafort could realize “proceeds” from, a FARA violation.3
3 Defendant argues that section 951 does not bear on the issue presented here since it requires an “additional element” that FARA does not, and applies to “activities . . . under the control of a foreign government.” Def.’s Mot. at 4–5. But FARA also applies to agents of foreign governments. 22 U.S.C. § 611(b) (defining “foreign principal” to include “the government of a foreign country”). So the difference between the two provisions is that section 951 covers a narrower subset of foreign agents.
In addition to treating sleazy influence peddlers as akin to spies (albeit less serious ones) if they hide that influence peddling, ABJ’s order means that in DC, where all the sleazy influence peddlers work, a sleazy influence peddler can forfeit the money he makes off sleazy influence peddling if he doesn’t properly register to peddle influence.
The crime-fraud exception in FARA registration
Which brings us to one of the reasons why FARA is so hard to prosecute: the difficulty of proving willfulness. One way Mueller is getting around that is to rely on the testimony of the lawyer Manafort used to file his delayed FARA registration.
After Manafort’s influence-peddling for Ukraine became the focus of attention in 2016, the chief of the FARA unit wrote to Manafort and asked him if maybe he should have registered. Manafort hired Melissa Laurenza. She submitted three filings on Manafort’s behalf, on November 23, 2016, February 10, 2017, and June 27, 2017, all based on the representations made by Gates and Manafort (including that they had no record of communications with Tony Podesta and Vin Webber’s firms, but that they only retained email for 30 days). In the earlier filings, Laurenza claimed Manafort’s Ukrainian consulting didn’t include any outreach to US government officials or media outlets.
Last August, Mueller asked for and obtained Chief Judge Beryl Howell’s permission to compel Laurenza to testify under the crime-fraud exception to attorney-client privilege. Based off five lies for which Mueller provided evidence, Howell authorized Mueller’s team to ask seven questions of Laurenza about preparation of the FARA filings.
Then, earlier this month, a Taint Team lawyer asked for permission to have the taint Team turn over the emails that Laurenza used to write up her FARA filings. Manafort responded by claiming, in part, that he had never even seen the entirety of the litigation before Judge Howell. The Taint Team lawyer then produced the evidence that she had provided that information to Manafort in April.
If this thing goes to trial, we’re going to see a whole slew of evidence that Manafort was working directly for Viktor Yanukovych’s party, even while he hid that fact as he had Tony Podesta and Vin Weber lobby on Yanukovych’s behalf. That will get Mueller to the “direction and control” prong of the statute. By showing the efforts to which Gates and Manafort made to lie to their lawyer when they were finally forced to submit a FARA filing, Mueller will show that Gates and Manafort twice made sure that the FARA filing lied about what they had really been doing for Yanukovych.
One question I’m left with, particularly when we compare Manafort’s actions with Butina’s (which I’ll do in my next post), is why Mueller didn’t just charge Manafort with spying for Yanukovych, rather than just lobbying for him?
Update: Sam Patten, who also worked with Konstantin Kilimnik pitching Yanukovych’s party, is pleading guilty to FARA violations this morning.
As I disclosed July, I provided information to the FBI on issues related to the Mueller investigation, so I’m going to include disclosure statements on Mueller investigation posts from here on out. I will include the disclosure whether or not the stuff I shared with the FBI pertains to the subject of the post.
https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Paulie.jpg 600 476 emptywheel https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.png emptywheel2018-08-30 17:14:492018-08-31 10:36:30Spy Versus Spy: The Two Alleged Agents of Foreign Powers Sitting in the Alexandria Jail, Part One (Paulie)
A Warning about Hype Surrounding the Manafort Tax Evasion Trial
July 29, 2018 /115 Comments/in 2016 Presidential Election, Mueller Probe /by emptywheel
As I laid out a few weeks ago, I provided information to the FBI on issues related to the Mueller investigation, so I’m going to include disclosure statements on Mueller investigation posts from here on out. I will include the disclosure whether or not the stuff I shared with the FBI pertains to the subject of the post.
Because Mueller has already obtained the testimony of chatty Trump allies who promptly leaked the content of their interviews to the press, the constant stream of easy updates on the Mueller inquiry has dried up. No outlet has thus far invested in the critical thinking to figure out the publicly available side of what I reported to the FBI that subsequently got moved under Mueller. No one has thought about why Michael Cohen’s very competent attorney is letting him leak to the press rather than (or, at best, in parallel with) offering a proffer to the Feds. Instead, outlets are dedicating front page space to recycled stories they first reported three months earlier. We actually spent half the day Friday getting our fix from the news that Don Jr and Robert Mueller not only had reason to fly out of National Airport’s shitty 35X gate, but were doing so at the same time (for the record, I would have been in the 35X terminal with Trey Gowdy Thursday, but he apparently got rebooked from a badly delayed Greenville flight onto an on-time Charlotte one across from 35X; he wore shades right up to boarding the plane to avoid detection but that didn’t thwart my powers of observation).
We’ve hit the summer doldrums of the non-stop Mueller inquiry news addiction and things are getting bleak.
Perhaps because of that, news outlets are hugely hyping the Paul Manafort trial, due to start on Tuesday. Here’s Politico reporting “Risks pile up for Trump as Manafort heads to trial.” And here’s WSJ claiming “Manafort Trial Holds Big Implications for Russia Probe.” [Update: Here’s the WaPo contribution to the hype; I make some specific compliments and criticisms of it in this thread.]
Yes, it is true that (as both Politico and WSJ point out) there will be a small campaign angle to the trial: Mueller’s team wants to explain how Manafort got a $16 million loan from Chicago’s Federal Savings Bank by promising its Chairman, Stephen Calk, a position in the Trump Administration. But that’s garden variety sleaze, not conspiring with Russia.
It’s also true we’ll get salacious new details on the luxury goods Manafort used to launder money. But most of that, including details of a bizarre arrangement with the local antique rug shop, have already been stipulated in pre-trial filings. Manafort is even trying to get details of his ties to Viktor Yanukovych excluded from the trial, but in doing so, he released a ton of documents that the press has already mined for worthwhile reporting.
It’s also possible that Manafort will decide, between today and Tuesday, to cooperate with Mueller rather than face a fairly straightforward trial, or that a guilty verdict in four weeks time will induce him to cooperate. Thus far, there’s little sign of that, and a guilty verdict will have no immediate change on his jailhouse conditions that might persuade him to cooperate. Any federal sentence will ultimately be served in conditions better than the ones he currently is in at Alexandria jail.
Barring some unexpected jury intransigence or judicial rulings, it still looks like Manafort’s best shot to avoid spending the rest of his life in prison is a pardon, and he looks to be operating accordingly, imposing as much reputational damage to Mueller as possible, without budging on his willingness to stay the course in apparent expectation he’ll be rewarded at some point in the future.
Aside from Rick Gates — who is sure to be beat up by Manafort’s attorneys — the most interesting witness who might testify at trial is Bernie Sanders’ former campaign manager Tad Devine, who would testify about PR work done before 2014. We’ll have to wait to see Tony Podesta and Vin Webber and similarly illustrious people testify for the DC trial, if it happens. This trial is just the appetizer course for the feast on sleazy DC influence peddling we’ll get in September, if the DC trial actually happens.
The newsworthiness of the trial will be limited further still by the outdated policies of the courthouse, EDVA. No devices are permitted in the courthouse, which means there will be no real time coverage. To break news, you have to leave the courthouse, and go to your (meter parked) car or the cafe where you’ve left your device across the square to report out. As a result, any “breaking” scoops will likely come from less responsible journalists with less grasp of both how trials and Judge TS Ellis works (as we saw earlier this year, when Daily Caller led everyone to believe one of Ellis’ typical rants indicated trouble for Mueller). Responsible journalists (Josh Gerstein and Zoe Tillman are particularly good bets for this trial) will sit through the entire proceeding before reporting out something more measured.
This is a tax trial, not a spy trial. Financial experts call it a “paper trial,” meaning the jurors will weigh dry documentary evidence rather than the reliability of unreliable witnesses (like Gates), which makes the outcome more predictable, though in no way guaranteed.
One of a slew of reasons why I declined an offer to cover this trial is I expect any interesting Mueller news to happen elsewhere — perhaps in his apparent relentless pursuit of testimony from Roger Stone’s allies, perhaps in the negotiations over Julian Assange’s continued residence in Ecuador’s embassy, perhaps even in fallout from Mariia Butina’s arrest (though Butina is not a Mueller case, in spite of what some outlets will tell you). I didn’t want to miss such news because I was stuck in a court room watching witnesses talking about financial documents.
Undoubtedly, the trial will be well-watched and in some outlets well-reported. It will teach a lot of people about how white collar trials of privileged defendants work. It may well be the rare moment when a white collar criminal faces consequences for his acts.
But don’t rest your hopes for continued Mueller disclosures on the Manafort trial.
https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Paulie.jpg 600 476 emptywheel https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.png emptywheel2018-07-29 11:47:132018-07-30 11:27:45A Warning about Hype Surrounding the Manafort Tax Evasion Trial
The Access Hollywood Search Doesn’t Mean Trump Coordinated with Assange
As I noted, yesterday several outlets reported that among the things included in the FBI warrant for Michael Cohen’s premises was communications between Trump, Cohen, and others (whom I suspect to include Steve Bannon and Marc Kasowitz) “regarding the infamous ‘Access Hollywood'” video.
FBI agents who raided the home, office and hotel of Donald Trump’s personal lawyer sought communications that Trump had with attorney Michael Cohen and others regarding the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape that captured Trump making lewd remarks about women a month before the election, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The search warrant also sought communications between then-candidate Trump and his associates regarding efforts to prevent disclosure of the tape, according to one of the sources. In addition, investigators wanted records and communications concerning other potential negative information about the candidate that the campaign would have wanted to contain ahead of the election. The source said the warrant was not specific about what this additional information would be.
From that, people on both the right and the left have assumed, without presenting hard evidence, that this means there must be a tie to Russia. Most often, people assume this must mean Trump somehow managed the events of October 7, when the Intelligence Committee report blaming Russia for the DNC hack, the Access Hollywood video, and the first Podesta emails all came out in quick succession.
That’s certainly possible, but thus far there’s no reason to believe that’s the case.
Mueller and Rosenstein referred this
That’s true, first of all, because after consulting with Rod Rosenstein, Robert Mueller referred this to the Southern District of New York for execution and prosecution, rather than dealing with it himself. He did that surely knowing what a sieve for leaks SDNY is, and therefore knowing that doing so would undercut his remarkably silent teamwork thus far.
In spite of a lot of reporting on this raid this week, we don’t yet have a clear understanding of why the two chose to refer it (or, tangentially, why interim SDNY US Attorney Geoffrey Berman recused himself from this matter).
There are two options. The first is that Rosenstein believed hush payments and taxi medallion money laundering sufficiently attenuated to the Russian investigation that it should properly be referred. In which case, the fact that it was referred is itself reason to believe that Mueller — even while he had abundant evidence supporting the search warrant — has no reason to believe those releases were orchestrated with Wikileaks, and therefore have no direct interest to his investigation (though they may cough up one to three witnesses who will be more willing to cooperate when faced with their own fraud indictments). In which case, the Access Hollywood video would be just another example, like the Stormy Daniels and the Karen McDougal payoffs, of Trump’s efforts to bury embarrassing news, using whatever means necessary.
The other option is that Mueller does have evidence that Trump in some way managed the October 7 events, which would be one of the most inflammatory pieces of evidence we would have heard of so far, but that there was some other reason to refer the matter.
Michael Cohen wasn’t serving as an attorney for much of the reported documents
The really good reason to refer the warrant would be so that SDNY would serve as a natural clean team, sorting through seized items for privileged communications, only to hand them back to Mueller’s team in DC once they’ve sorted through them. It’s an idea Preet Bharara and Matt Miller, among others, have floated.
Before we conclude that SDNY is only serving as a clean team for Mueller’s team here, consider that coverage has vastly overstated the degree to which the items being searched will fall under attorney-client privilege.
The search also sought information on Cohen’s taxi medallions, a business in which he has had really corrupt partners, some Russian, with their own legal problems, and one that has reportedly left Cohen with some debt problems that make his purported personal payment to Stormy Daniels all the more sketchy.
In addition, as soon as Trump claimed to know nothing of the hush payment to Daniels last Friday, the government could credibly claim that either Cohen was not representing Trump when paying off Daniels, or involved in fraud.
The NYT has reported that the raid also sought all communications between Cohen and National Enquirer’s top brass, communications that would in no way be privileged.
Even the reported communications about the Access Hollywood video may not be privileged. If they involved four people, then the only way they’d be covered by privilege is if they counted as campaign emails and Marc Kasowitz, not Cohen, was the attorney providing privileged advice in question. In that case, Cohen would have been playing the press contact role he often did during the campaign.
Still, just because Cohen was not playing the role of an attorney during most of the activities the FBI is interested in doesn’t mean the FBI won’t be really careful to make sure they don’t violate privilege, and I’m sure they’ll still use a taint team.
Mueller has already dealt with (at least) two sensitive attorney-client relationships in his investigation
Even on top of the eight members of the White House Counsel’s office who have spoken with the Special Counsel, Mueller’s team has dealt with (at least) two other sensitive attorney-client relationships.
The first was Melissa Laurenza, a lawyer for Paul Manafort whom he had write false declarations for FARA registry. Judge Amy Berman Jackson permitted Mueller’s team to ask her seven of eight proposed question after proving Manafort had used her services to engage in fraud.
More recently, we’ve gotten hints — but only hints — of what must be extensive cooperation from Skadden Arps and its partner Greg Craig, describing how Manafort and Gates laundered money to pay the firm loads of money to write a report they hoped would exonerate Ukraine’s persecution of Yulia Tymoshenko. While the cooperation of Skadden itself was probably effusive in its voluntary nature (the firm seems determined to avoid the taint that Tony Podesta’s firm has acquired in this process), Mueller did subpoena Alex Van der Zwaan and it’s unclear what methods the FBI used to obtain some of the materials he tried to hide from prosecutors.
Neither of those exchanges involves a search warrant. But they do show that Mueller is willing to take on the tricky issue of attorney testimony first-hand. Using SDNY as a clean team still may be the easiest option in the Cohen case, but Mueller clearly isn’t shying away from managing all such issues in-house in other cases.
The other possible explanations for the Access Hollywood search and the October 7 timing
Which brings us finally to the other possibilities behind the Access Hollywood search.
It’s certainly possible that the coincidental release of all these things was coordination, entirely orchestrated by the Trump campaign. But there are a number of reasons — on top of the fact that Mueller isn’t keeping this search far tighter under his own control — I think that’s not the most likely explanation.
Consider this story, arguing that the real story of Access Hollywood isn’t that it leaked on October 7 — the piece notes that David Farenthold had only received it that day — but that it didn’t leak earlier in the process, when it might have led Trump to lose the primary.
t is just impossible to believe that the tape not coming out at the start of Trump’s campaign, when logic dictates that it would have blown Trump instantly out of the water (before he was in a position where Republicans had no choice other than to keep backing him against the evil Hillary Clinton), was anything but a highly unethical political decision by someone at NBC. The fact that no one has ever even gotten an answer from NBC about how this could have happened is equally unfathomable and yet, given the news media’s overall incompetence, kind of expected.
It has always struck me as EXTREMELY odd that it was the Washington Post, not NBC, who first released the tape on Friday Oct. 7, 2016, barely beating NBC which, it should be noted, was clearly ready to go with it immediately after the Post did. I presumed that perhaps NBC wanted this to be the case because it might take some of the focus off why they had not released it during the primaries (and thus chose not to prematurely kill off the media’s Golden Goose which was Trump’s ratings-friendly campaign).
However, there is another aspect of the Post being the outlet which got the big scoop that has always struck me as potentially very significant. The Post’s reporter, David Fahrenthold, has said that he was only made aware of the tape, via an unnamed source, THAT day — which is a clear indication that whomever was trying to get the Post to release it had decided to do so in tremendous haste. After all, if the source had planned it sooner they would have made contact with Fahrenthold well before then because he might have been out of pocket that day.
For instance, what if it was actually someone from the TRUMP team who leaked the tape. At first glance, this seems ludicrous because no one thought that Trump would be anything but greatly harmed by the tape (though he clearly was not). But what if someone in Trump World got wind that the tape was about to be released and decided that stepping all over the Russia news (which would normally have dominated the narrative for the remainder of the campaign) would at least create the least bad outcome for them?
I don’t agree that the release was released when it was to distract from the Russia announcement that day. As I’ve long noted, in reality, the Access Hollywood distracted from the Podesta emails, effectively burying the most damning release in the bunch, the excerpts of Hillary’s speeches that even Democrats had been demanding she release since the primary. And while the Trump team might claim they didn’t control the release of the Podesta emails directly — and Roger Stone’s predictions that Wikileaks would release Clinton Foundation rather than Podesta emails were dead wrong — the Trump team at least knew something was coming (indeed, Wikileaks had made that clear themselves). So there’s little reason they would stomp on what they had long welcomed with the Access Hollywood tape. As this post alludes, I also think the Trump team and Russians or Wikileaks may have been squabbling over whether Wikileaks would release possibly faked Clinton Foundation emails that week, only to scramble when Wikileaks refused to release whatever the Peter Smith effort had gotten dealt to them.
Like the Mediate piece, I’m interested in the way that Steve Bannon had Clinton accusers all lined up to go that weekend (indeed, I noted how quickly Stone moved to that after having raised expectations for a Clinton Foundation release). But I also think there are some reasons to believe that attack was in the works for other reasons (though I agree it might reflect advance knowledge that the video might come out, or even that Stormy Daniels might come forward). Finally, I don’t think the release came from Trump because of all the reports of Republicans trying to convince Trump to step down (though it’s possible the GOP dropped the video in one last bid to get him to do so).
One alternative narrative, then, is that the real story about the Access Hollywood suppression goes back months or years earlier, as one of the things Trump managed to suppress throughout the campaign, but something happened internally to breach that agreement. And, separately, that either Assange by himself, with Russian help, or with Trump assistance, timed the Podesta emails to come out as the Russian attribution was coming out. That is, it could be that the real story remains that whoever orchestrated the Wikileaks release did so in an attempt to bury the Russian attribution, but that the coincidental release of the Access Hollywood video in turn buried the Podesta emails.
Finally, it’s possible that Democrats got ahold of the Access Hollywood video and they released it to (successfully) drown out the Podesta emails, which they (and the intelligence community) also would have known were coming, but by doing so, they also drowned out the all-important Russian attribution in the process.
The point is, we don’t know. And nothing we know thus far about the process leading to this warrant or about the suppression and release of either the video or the women’s stories suggest it all took place that week of October. Trump’s usual m.o. is about suppression, not timing.
That said, I’m curious if this raid will reveal details about one other item Trump probably tried to suppress: the nude Melania photos that NYPost released on July 31, 2016, just as campaign season got going in earnest.
https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Screen-Shot-2017-03-07-at-10.05.25-AM.png 246 487 emptywheel https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.png emptywheel2018-04-12 16:05:402018-04-12 17:14:00The Access Hollywood Search Doesn't Mean Trump Coordinated with Assange
Eureka on Lev Parnas, Creator of Echo Chambers
Rapier on Lev Parnas Wouldn’t Reveal Whether He Has Receipts on Bill Barr
Che on Lev Parnas Wouldn’t Reveal Whether He Has Receipts on Bill Barr
JameJoyce on As Accused Co-Conpirators, Donald Trump and Lev Parnas Should Be Treated with Same Skepticism
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2386
|
__label__wiki
| 0.852194
| 0.852194
|
Don't Get Stiffed
Use these 4 simple steps to make sure you get paid.
Lydia Dishman
More than 43,000 businesses filed for bankruptcy last year, according to data from the American Bankruptcy Institute. Michelle Dunn, a 20-year veteran of the collections industry and author of seven books on the subject, has seen her share of companies go belly-up from losing thousands of dollars, some from their biggest accounts.
"Most business owners were hurt that their customer stiffed them and confused about what to do," Dunn says. Fortunately, there are simple steps you can take to ensure prompt payment, and to recover debt to stay in the black.
Be Proactive. Entrepreneurs don't go through the difficult work of planning and launching new companies to become bookkeepers or bankers. However, proper invoicing and collections are just as important to the success of a new venture as bringing an idea to market, says Richard Weeks, senior vice president of Business Internet Services at Wells Fargo.
"Managing cash flow and receivables has become even more critical in this environment," he says, noting that one of the best ways to handle those tasks is, literally, to take them to the bank. Some banks, offer a full suite of software tools for invoicing that may also facilitate electronic payments. It's a solution that could save business owners countless hours and thousands of dollars.
There is a greater likelihood customers will pay if they can do so easily, Weeks says. If a customer has an existing merchant relationship with the business owner's bank, a credit or debit payment can clear automatically. "It takes set-up time of 24 hours, and as the process gets established it can cut [payment time] down six to 14 days," Weeks says.
<insert ad here>
Watch For Signs. When a customer offers partial payments or is not answering calls, it's a warning sign, says William Dantin IV, president of the Corporate Investigations Bureau, a national collections agency. Dunn concurs. "Businesses should be watching their accounts early," she says. In this economy, that's around five to 10 days past due. "If they wait too long, the business may not be able to pay anyone any more," Dantin says.
Do-It-Yourself Recovery. If an account is past due, business owners may be able to collect by paying a personal visit. Dunn says, "Go see them at work, at the coffee shop, anywhere you know they will be." She believes the next most effective way to get paid is by calling. While sending a letter or late notice is OK, it may not trigger a prompt response.
Consider a settlement if a customer is in a bad financial situation but has some cash, or if that customer plans to file for bankruptcy. To strike a deal, set a specific amount and make clear it is a one-time offer that must be paid in full. "Never take payments on a settlement offer," Dunn says.
Seek Professional Help. When delinquent payments are piling up and you spend more time trying to recover the funds than run the company, Dantin says it's time to call in a hired gun, preferably one with good references from the Better Business Bureau or the attorney general's office.
Collection agents have expertise on debt laws as well as resources to find people who have no current address or phone and report them to the credit bureaus.
Dunn says some businesses balk because they think they can't afford the fees. "If the agency doesn't collect anything, you don't pay anything," she says. While a reputable agency cannot guarantee results, it will often estimate an average recovery rate.
Business owners must provide the agency with documentation to prove the debt or dispute, or they can't collect. Agencies are also unable to take a customer to small claims court or make a settlement without authorization.
Above all, Dantin emphasizes quick action. "Once they lock the doors and disconnect the phone, it gets that much harder to collect."
The Tax & Legal Playbook
The Business Owner's Guide to Financial Freedom
Cash From The Crowd
Dirty Little Secrets: What the Credit Reporting Agencies Won't Tell You
The Best Way to Borrow From Friends and Family to Grow Your Business? Here's How to Do It Right
How to Save for Retirement While Running a Business
Free Webinar: Learn How to Tell Your Business' Financial Story
The 12 Tax Days of Christmas: Day 12
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2388
|
__label__wiki
| 0.684249
| 0.684249
|
The Wood Brothers Tour Dates
Brothers Chris and Oliver Wood’s divergent musical paths crossed in 2004, when at a family gathering the brothers decided to play and record their own material. While sibling collaborations are not out of the ordinary, the fact that Chris and Oliver pursued separate projects for some 15 years before joining forces makes for an unusual story.
Oliver Wood (guitar, vocals) moved to Atlanta, honed his instrumental and vocal chops and formed one of the Southeast’s most popular rock/blues bands, King Johnson. His younger brother Chris Wood (bass, vocals, harmonica) moved to New York City, immersed himself in the City's jazz/improv scene and formed the internationally acclaimed, genre busting trio Medeski Martin & Wood.
The Wood Brothers tour dates listed on Ents24.com since Apr 2013.
Official website thewoodbros.com
Follow The Wood Brothers on Ents24 to receive updates on any new tour dates the moment they are announced...
Here are the most recent UK tour dates we had listed for The Wood Brothers. Were you there?
The Long Road Festival The Wandering Hearts, Megan O'Neill, Twinnie, Kevin McGuire, Two Ways Home…
Leicester, Stanford Hall
London, Bush Hall
Glasgow, Òran Mór
London, Power's Bar
Fans who like The Wood Brothers also like:
John Craigie
Fraser Anderson
Gizmo Varillas
Robert Finley
Luke Winslow-King
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2389
|
__label__cc
| 0.706181
| 0.293819
|
Media Advisory: EPA Regional 4 Administrator Mary S. Walker to Make a Significant Brownfields and Economic Development-Related Announcement in Charlotte, North Carolina
EPA visits Charlotte to announce the Selection of Training to Work an Industry Niche for an Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Grant
North Carolina Receives $3,682,900 Million Grant to Support Efforts to Improve and Protect Water Quality
EPA Awards North Carolina State University $900,000 in Funding to Research Potential Environmental Impacts of PFAS Substances in Waste Streams
City of Wilson Receives $400,000 in Supplemental Funds to Clean Up and Reuse Brownfield Sites
North Carolina to Receive $277,000 from EPA for Beach Water Quality Monitoring
EPA Awards $20,000 in School Bus Rebates to Ms. Tasha's Transit, LLC in Durham, North Carolina
EPA Announces Availability of Nearly $2.3 Million in Funding to Improve Drinking Water for Schools and Small and Disadvantaged Communities in North Carolina
EPA Provides Continuous Support to North Carolina for Hazardous Waste Management Program
EPA Awards $1.6 Million in Funding to Reduce Diesel Emissions at the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport in Mecklenburg County, N.C.
EPA Awards $262,000 to Support Environmental Education Grants Projects in Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee
EPA Honors Six North Carolina Companies as 2018 ENERGY STAR® Partners of the Year
EPA Supports North Carolina's Efforts to Safely Manage Hazardous Waste
EPA Partners with North Carolina to Protect Drinking Water
Remove filter for North Carolina
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2390
|
__label__cc
| 0.512435
| 0.487565
|
UK & Eire Distributor for Pipistrel Aircraft
Bringing you the latest in Aviation Technology
T:- 0844 556 1279 or M:- 07540 899 690
Alpha at Cape St Vincent
Virus EASA cockpit
Alpha Electric
Technical Training Course
20-21 Jan & 3-4 Feb
Call us for details and bookings
Home Fly About Aviation
X-Alpha
Alpine Ferry, or a decent day's work.
Alpha Around Mont Blanc
Profits for flight schools/clubs
Unusually Cold Weather Flying
Mont Blanc by Pipistrel Alpha
Electric Spider Web
Alpha Trainer
Deepak Mahajan
electric spiderweb
Electric charging spiderweb for cars and aircraft at various airfields.
Alpha Electro 1
First and only production electric aircraft in the world.... the Alpha Electro from Pipistrel
For a few moments, Dear Reader, just imagine the normal source of power for the last two hundred years has been Solar Energy and Battery Power. All our vehicles, ships, airplanes and appliances run with power from the Sun and on chemical reactions that are contained in small packets with a big punch and run with 96% efficiency without emitting toxic chemicals and noise.
Now imagine further, that some innovating scientist tells you that he has discovered a new source of energy in liquid form; which is highly flammable; needs to be drilled out of the earth at great danger to the miners and workers; causes huge amounts of air pollution as well as dumping toxic chemicals in the ground and in the seas all over the world, harming humans and animal life as well as the eco systems and the climate. And it needs to be refined before sale and costs even more to transport to various destinations for use. And further, we need to fight wars far afield to protect our supply of this liquid fuel.
This liquid fuel needs to be stored in special containers and burnt at the rate of several thousand explosions per minute in a metal motor, which is heavy and bulky with hundreds of moving parts which cause friction loss and heat and lose efficiency before transforming up and down movement into a circular motion which then causes wheels and propellers to rotate. And it is only 25% efficient in converting the liquid fuel into work.
Were we to imagine, for a few more moments, a world where Internal Combustion Engines were introduced as a novelty, would we ever buy one or try one or risk the flammable fuel and exploding reciprocal motion and the inefficient energy transfer into locomotion? Would we risk the noxious and harmful emissions of solids and vapours, which cause many thousands of deaths and disease all over the world?
(The above scenario is inspired by a lecture given by Dr. Tine Tomazic (Head of R&D at Pipistrel and their resident Genius)
Today in the market place we have a 96% efficient, non-emitting, non-polluting chemical reaction, which generates electricity to power motors, which turn wheels and propellers. We have been aware of chemical reactions, which produce electricity, since the days of Luigi Galvano and Alessandro Volta, from the 18th Century, before any motorcars and airplanes ever existed. In the previous two centuries, but more so in the last 5 years, innovations in the field of “battery” (stacked in rows) power have made them more energy dense and rechargeable in a shorter time.
Car and mobile phone manufactures all over the world have brought the economies of scale and their financial clout to push research and development towards bringing prices lower. The absence of any harmful emissions during the chemical reactions generating electric power has enamoured electric cars to city centres and influenced national governments to take notice of this.
In my almost daily flying experience since the last 5 years all over the UK and Europe, I notice an increasing number of disused and used airfields and large farm tracts being covered by Solar Photo Voltaic panels converting sunlight to electricity and feeding it back into the National Grids.
I would like to explore and discuss the concept of a “Spider-Web” of Airfields and Airports, which have solar panels and storage batteries installed with charging point for cars and airplanes as well as personal items such as phones and laptops.
Most privately owned cars and aircraft sit idle more than being utilised, this allows for a slow leisurely recharge to their battery systems while the owners are working or sleeping. No need to divert nor queue at the Petrol garage during rush hour. At present the range of battery powered cars and airplanes, commercially available is approximately the same, at 120 nm on a single charge. The recharging of their fully discharged batteries takes about the same time, between 1 hour on a rapid charge system and up to 12 hours on a slow charger. This is very likely to become more time efficient as the batteries become more efficient. And just as in reality, we don’t deplete all the fuel in our tanks; we may only need to recharge the amounts we have used, so the replenishment time could be measured in minutes.
My estimate is that most private drivers use their cars for commuting for about 2 hours on a daily basis. Thus their car is idle and available for re-charge for the remaining 22 hours of the day. This gives a ratio of 8760 hours to 520 hours on a yearly basis. This is approximately a ratio of 87:5.
Most privately owned small aircraft are flown on average 100 hours in one year. Thus they are on the ground and available to receive a replenishing charge of energy for 8660 hours in one year. This is approximately a ratio of 86:1.
Is there a better way involving less physical effort than to simply plug in your vehicle to a solar powered charger to top your car and aircraft batteries ready for flight, while you go and enjoy your £5 burger, which includes the £1 of electric replenishment?
I can imagine a scenario in late 2017: - I drive my electric car from home to the airfield on the daily commute, 20 miles each way, at the same speeds as any other car on the motorway. My Electric aircraft is awaiting me fully charged overnight from the storage battery connected to the hangar roof mounted solar panels. No need to carry jerry cans full of flammable liquid in the boot of my car, then climb up a ladder to decant it into the airplane wing tanks. No need to check the fuel for water contamination. No need to check for type of fuel and the octane rating.
While I am flying my Electric plane in the circuit, teaching student pilots to take off and land, my electric car and that of my student, is being re-charged from storage batteries, which are in turn topped up by the solar panels on the hangar roof.
The hangar roof and storage battery combination is connected to and feeds back into the national grid, supplying cheap, if not free, electricity to the neighbours around the airfield, thus generating good will. The quiet cars and airplanes are not noticeable by the neighbours who can enjoy some quiet time in their gardens watching the aircraft flying over silently.
There are more than 500 airfields and private landing strips in UK that may be suitable for installation of solar panels and battery installations. Some already have solar panels installed and feed back into the grid earning a steady revenue, even though the government subsidies have been lowered substantially.
Owners of Electric cars could be invited to airfields to park and charge their cars for free, while visiting the airfield café and restaurants and watching aviation take place. This will generate much needed income for such café and restaurants as well as increasing awareness of aviation for the younger generation of future pilots.
Many Local Authorities have schemes for grants and subsidies for installing solar panels and storage batteries, which may be availed by airfields and the income generated by feedback into the national grid can be used to earn some revenue for airfield owners on a long-term basis. Some local authorities are exploring the use of street lampposts converted to recharge cars while they are parked; thus generating revenue and reducing inner city pollution in one stroke.
Airfields can be used as “show-case” locations for commercial producers of solar panels and batteries, which will generate additional advertising and rental income for airfield owners. This kind of advertising revenue will far exceed the revenue from landing fees.
Hangars with solar panel roofs will be an initial capital investment, which may qualify for subsidies and grants from local government and will continue to generate revenue, regardless of usage of runways for more than 25 years after installation.
The “spider-web” concept is to identify and locate airfields suitable for solar panels and battery storage (if not already present) within 50 miles to 100 miles distant from each other. This will enable Electric Aircraft and Cars to fly and drive freely using the “stepping stones” analogy, given the present day battery capacity and range of these vehicles.
This concept will help prepare airfields for future modes of electric transport, including pilotless cars and drone aircraft for deliveries of vital supplies and emergency equipment as well as leisure travel, thus ensuring continued revenue for owners into the future.
I welcome the Reader’s views on this debate and more information to help promote this concept in the microlight and SSDR world, where it is easier to innovate than in the rigidly regulated GA world.
Readers may contact me to fly in the Electric Aircraft commercially produced now, to experience for themselves, its handling and range capabilities. And no, at present there are no electric aircraft “certified” in the UK, but we may soon see that regulatory hurdle being overcome with collective innovative power!
Some examples of Electric Hub Airports and Airfields:-
Damyns Hall Aerodrome: - Local Council plans to install 18 hectares of solar panels on landfill site on the airfield boundary for supply to local housing. This solar energy can be tapped into for cars and aircraft.
Sandown airfield: - a popular tourist destination for pilots and drivers going for the day or the week end; large parking spaces for both aircraft and cars and solar panels.
Duxford Airfield: - A Museum of International repute visited by pilots and enthusiasts from all over the world as well as many thousands of school children on school project trips. Cars and busses can be charged from the more 2000 sq. meters of potential solar panels on hangar roofs. Large parking for modern electric aircraft at the home of historic aircraft will be ideal Hub for this concept.
Beccles Airfield already has more than 4600 sq. m of solar panels and is a popular destination for pilots to fly to the East Coast.
pipistrel
alpha electro
no pollution
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2396
|
__label__cc
| 0.698796
| 0.301204
|
Island Cannabis/Ray Landgraf: Utter Quality In Cannabis
Warren Bobrow Contributor
I work with cannabis and have done some wild things in life. cocktailwhisperer.com
Ray Landgraf
Courtesy: Island Cannabis
I love Island Cannabis. No, it wasn't their packaging that did it to me, nor was it their ebullience and smiles, although that did draw me into their bright and shiny booth at the Hall of Flowers just a month ago. Island Cannabis represents to me quality and balance in a friendly package. I wanted to try all their products and at Hall of Flowers I had that unique opportunity, which didn't disappoint in any way. This led into the honor of interviewing the founder of the company. I must apologize in advance, it wasn't so long ago that I was the one setting up this sort of meeting for others. I was an executive assistant for far too many years and I never gave a second thought to setting up an interview for someone else. Not thinking for a moment that the person who conducted the above said meeting was myself in my former incarnation. Cannabis surprises abound, and this is the really good stuff. I love their packaging too at Island Cannabis. Bright, exciting, intriguing. I want to taste what is inside. The product that has boldly optimistic creativity signified on the label.
WB= Warren Bobrow: Where are you from? What did you want to be when you grew up? How is this different from where you are now, and doing what you are doing…now?
RL= Ray Landgraf: I’m from Sacramento, CA and I've spent my whole life in CA. I grew up reading about great investors like Warren Buffett, Julian Robertson, John Doerr and other prominent venture capital firms down the road from me in Silicon Valley. It was fascinating learning about the various concepts and strategies around value and growth investing. I thought I wanted to be an investor too. After a few years working for investment firms it dawned on me that the entrepreneurs were the ones that got to have all the fun. So, in 2007, I took my first job at a venture backed company and I haven’t looked back since.
WB: Tell me about your company? Why Cannabis? Where do you see your brand six months from now? One year? How do you determine the cultivars used in your fine products?
Selection of Island Cannabis Products
Courtesy Island Cannabis
RL: I started Island in Southern California in 2014. We launched our first product in 2015 focusing on the pre-roll space, which was virtually non-existent at the time, and overall, I had the goal of building a great company around a great brand that embodies a passion for exploration, community, the outdoors, and inspiring moments of happiness with our customers. Our flower is seasonal, single strain, and sourced from a network of small farms across California.
Island has focused on cannabis production technology for the three largest product categories: flower, pre-roll, and vape. From the start we’ve been committed to adopting thorough production practices and developing technology that allows us to produce higher volumes of product without sacrificing consistency or quality. We’ve been able to set ourselves apart from other cannabis brands by holding ourselves to a higher standard even before the law required us to do so. Since the product first hit shelves in 2015, we’ve tested all raw materials for pesticides, molds, contaminants, and fungicides to ensure consumer safety, even at the beginning of legalization when most cannabis companies – if they even tested for anything - tested for levels of THC potency for marketability and not product safety.
On top of our premium quality and consumer safety standards, we’re really proud of the way Island has grown into a lifestyle business people want to be a part of. As opposed to other cannabis companies that pander to the stereotypical stoner-culture branding—big marijuana leaves, incorporating the color green or words like “Canna,” or “420,” on labels and packaging—we intentionally do not. We’ve differentiated ourselves from the clutter of the industry by appealing to a broader audience beyond cannabis experts and longtime enthusiasts. We understand that for a lot of people, cannabis doesn’t consume every waking hour of their lives, but it fits in neatly at just the right times. Island offers ready-made products for newcomers to the cannabis consumption space such as our PAX Era pods and our 5 pack of Island Minis which can function as both a box of modestly measured joints for personal use and/or a social product to be shared among friends. Our mission has always been to celebrate all types of cannabis users, including the ones that are too busy to consume cannabis regularly because they are out there pursuing their passions and living their lives.
We’re building with a long-term mindset so the biggest change we expect to see over time is broader access of Island products to consumers.
Island Minis (My favorite)
WB: Do you cook? If so, who taught you? Mother? Father? Do you have a favorite restaurant? What is their specialty and what do you love to eat there?
RL: Yes. I love to cook. It’s one of the things I really enjoy doing most since it allows me to step away from running the company and get lost in something else for a little while. It’s tough to pinpoint a favorite restaurant but my favorite chef is José Andrés. I fell in love with his restaurants visiting the DC area frequently and have enjoyed several great meals at the Bazaar, his restaurant in LA. Beyond being an amazing chef he’s also making an important statement through his humanitarian efforts and showing what it’s like to be an amazing leader.
WB: How do you deal with stigmas surrounding cannabis? Do you feel that outdoor or indoor grown is more flavor (terroir) driven? Do your parents know you smoke? (Do you smoke?)
RL: I don’t worry about the cannabis stigma anymore. Being born and raised in California I was never taught that cannabis was an evil plant. I enjoy smoking our Island Mini’s and our Island PAX pods. My Mom has been known to share in a moment of happiness or two... One of the things we’re excited about at Island is to support the move away from grow medium as a quality indicator. Because something was grown indoor doesn’t mean that it’s better quality than outdoor and this is a misunderstanding we’re working to change by standardizing how quality is assessed. Characteristics such as terpene profile, as an example, are better quality indicators than grow medium.
WB: If you could be anywhere in the world, right now- where would that be and with whom would you want to be with?
RL: I’d be on an actual Island with my wife and daughter. Doesn’t have to be anywhere particularly special or exotic. Just being on a beautiful beach somewhere without a care in the world sounds pretty nice.
Thank you Ray. Great interview! WB
Island Premiums 5pack Red
Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website or some of my other work here.
Warren Bobrow
Warren Bobrow, the Cocktail Whisperer, is the multi-published author of six books. Apothecary Cocktails: Restorative Drinks from Yesterday and Today, Whiskey Cocktails:
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2399
|
__label__wiki
| 0.95636
| 0.95636
|
Elliott, Fabbri lead Blues to 1-0 win over Sharks
St. Louis Blues goalie Brian Elliott, right, deflects a shot against the San Jose Sharks during the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, March 22, 2016, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) (The Associated Press)
San Jose Sharks' Joel Ward (42) works near the goal next to St. Louis Blues goalie Brian Elliott during the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, March 22, 2016, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) (The Associated Press)
St. Louis Blues' Jaden Schwartz (17) works against San Jose Sharks' Joel Ward (42) and Paul Martin (7) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, March 22, 2016, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) (The Associated Press)
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Brian Elliott made 37 saves in his second straight shutout since returning from an injury and Robby Fabbri scored the lone goal midway through the third period to give the St. Louis Blues a 1-0 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night.
Elliott has stopped all 56 shots he has faced against Vancouver and San Jose after missing nearly four weeks with a knee injury suffered in a loss to the Sharks last month. His return helped the Blues finish their road trip with a 3-2-0 record to remain two points behind Central Division-leading Dallas. St. Louis is four points ahead of third-place Chicago.
Martin Jones made 23 saves but the Sharks failed to convert on a late two-man advantage and missed an opportunity to clinch a playoff berth. More importantly, San Jose failed to gain ground in the Pacific Division after Los Angeles and Anaheim lost earlier in the night. The Sharks remain one point behind the second-place Ducks and five in back of the Kings.
The game was a tightly played defensive contest before St. Louis finally broke through midway through the third period. Troy Brouwer flipped the puck out of his defensive zone into neutral ice and Fabbri gained possession. He skated into the offensive zone, settled the puck in the faceoff circle and beat Jones with a high shot to the short side for his 17th goal of the season.
Fabbri's status had been in doubt after he left practice early Monday with a lower-body injury, but he was healthy enough to play and came through with the key play to give St. Louis the win.
But it didn't come easy as the Blues had to survive a late penalty kill when Carl Gunnarsson shot the puck over the glass for a delay of game with 2:45 remaining. David Backes then was called for a high-stick with 1:23 remaining, giving San Jose 38 seconds of a 6-on-3 advantage with Jones pulled.
The game had good pace early with the Blues spending lots of time in the Sharks zone. But San Jose took over the play late in the first and carried it over into the second period, holding St. Louis without a shot on goal for more than 9 minutes.
The Sharks had two power plays starting late in the first but failed to get anything past Elliott. The Blues picked up their play late in the second after drawing a high-sticking penalty from Dainius Zubrus. Alex Pietrangelo had St. Louis' best chance but missed the net with a backhand when he was alone in front.
The Sharks nearly picked up a short-handed goal. Joel Ward was taken down on a partial breakaway by David Backes but the referees let the play go and the game remained scoreless through two periods.
NOTES: The Sharks had not allowed a goal for 132:23 before Fabbri scored. ... The road team won all three games this season between the teams with San Jose winning twice in St. Louis in February. ... Sharks D Marc-Edouard Vlasic (lower body) and F Matt Nieto (hand) missed their third straight games.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2403
|
__label__wiki
| 0.87774
| 0.87774
|
Last Update December 5, 2015
Beijing struggles to control smog even as it reins in trucks, coal-fired plants, barbecues
In this photo taken May 26, 2015, a worker of a restaurant barbecues meat skewers in Beijing. More than a year since Chinese Premier Li Keqiang declared war on pollution across the country, Beijing’s massive anti-smog fight is transforming this 20-million-person metropolis in ways both big and small.(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) (The Associated Press)
In this photo taken May 26, 2015, a worker at a restaurant barbecues meat skewers over a smoke ventilator as customers eat nearby in Beijing. More than a year since Chinese Premier Li Keqiang declared war on pollution across the country, Beijing’s massive anti-smog fight is transforming this 20-million-person metropolis in ways both big and small.(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) (The Associated Press)
In this photo taken May 21, 2015, workers look at a display of pollution monitors around the Beijing municipality at the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Monitoring Center in Beijing. More than a year since Chinese Premier Li Keqiang declared war on pollution across the country, Beijing’s massive anti-smog fight is transforming this 20-million-person metropolis in ways both big and small. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) (The Associated Press)
BEIJING – When Dong Yingli first opened her east Beijing meat skewers restaurant six years ago, her chefs cooked the lamb, chicken hearts and assorted treats over an uncovered grill, with giant fans blowing the clouds of pungent smoke from the sidewalk into the middle of the street.
Elsewhere in this sprawling capital city, four coal-fired power plants belched exhaust into the smoggy skies, while countless steel and cement factories in neighboring provinces emitted millions of tons of cancer-causing particles into the air.
Now, more than a year since Chinese Premier Li Keqiang declared war on pollution across the country, Beijing's massive anti-smog fight is transforming this 20-million-person metropolis in ways both big and small. Still, as was evident on several days over the past week, when a thick gray pall filled the streets, the Chinese smog battle is far from won.
Authorities in Beijing are shutting down coal-fired power plants within the city limits and have tried to reduce vehicle exhaust by forcing many residents to wait years to win a license plate. The capital last Monday launched the country's strictest ban on smoking indoors. Officials have even tried to convince people to cut back on the centuries-old tradition of setting off fireworks during Chinese New Year, though booms and crackles still rang out across the city in February.
In the predominantly Muslim neighborhood where Dong runs her restaurant, inspectors have become a regular sight as they make sure vendors have installed thousands of dollars' worth of ventilation and filters. Though Dong doesn't think her business had much to do with the state of Beijing's air, she says the extra enforcement in general has made breathing easier.
"The environment has gotten a lot better here," Dong said at a sidewalk table on a recent smoggy evening. "There used to be so much smoke here, it was hard to even see. This needed to be done."
Despite all the reforms, official figures show Beijing's average density of PM2.5 — harmful particles that are small enough to enter bloodstreams — was nine times the World Health Organization air quality safety level in the first three months of the year. That still marked a 19 percent drop from pollution levels a year before.
The city has shown it can bring back days-long stretches of blue skies for high-profile events such as last year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group meeting, but only by wielding the toughest of measures, such as encouraging residents to leave town and closing factories more than 120 miles away. Keeping the skies clean on a daily basis will require more permanent fixes, said Li Xiang, with Beijing's Environmental Protection Ministry.
"Changing air pollution is a long-term project," Li said. "In other cities, like London and Los Angeles in the U.S., it took about 50 years to reduce air pollution and show significant change. ... Beijing has made significant improvements, but meeting people's expectations will take some time."
The anti-pollution fight has become a particularly sensitive task for image-conscious Chinese leaders as the country becomes known globally as much for its severe pollution as its economic growth.
Environmental woes have also become one of the top causes of social unrest in China, as well as a major health hazard. Studies show pollution causes more than a million premature deaths annually in China and shortens life spans by an average of five years.
Lax enforcement of the new environmental restrictions is a clear obstacle to cleaning up the capital's air.
For example, although Beijing has banned open-air barbecues within its Fourth Ring Road, clouds of skewer smoke are common sights in the twisting alleyways and roads throughout the city center. Many drivers regularly flout restrictions that require cars to stay off the roads on certain days of the week.
The biggest problem, however, is much of Beijing's smog drifts in from beyond its borders, especially if winds blow in from the south or east.
Heavy industry in neighboring provinces, in particular Hebei, Shanxi and Shandong, account for 28 to 36 percent of the fine particulate in Beijing's air, according to Chinese state media. Shutting down those industries would hit one of the most economically vital areas in the country.
An analysis by the environmental group Greenpeace showed the five smoggiest parts of China all sit just hundreds of miles from Beijing, with the capital itself suffering the country's fourth-worst air quality average.
"You have to work with the surrounding region and control the heavy industries there," said Fang Yuan, a campaigner in Greenpeace's East Asia office.
Yet without much of the international media and diplomatic corps watching, like they do in the capital, companies have been much slower shutting down cement, chemical and other industrial factories elsewhere in the northeast.
About a three-hour drive from Beijing, on the outskirts of the city of Tianjin, hundreds of angry residents have taken to the streets over the past week to protest what they say are the rising emissions of the giant Rock Check steel plant, which churns about a mile from a teeming housing complex. The protesters say they suspect the plant has caused outbreaks of lung cancer in the area.
A neighbor who would identify herself only by her surname, Hang, said she and other protesters have blocked coal-carrying trucks from the plant and wouldn't leave the streets until the plant either closes or cuts emissions to a tolerable level.
A Rock Check spokesman said last week the company was considering an interview request, but subsequent phone calls to him rang unanswered.
"Why does Beijing have so much pollution?" Hang asked as the factory's multiple smokestacks puffed smoke high into the sky. "It's because of the areas around it. It's all like this. Beijing hardly produces any of its own pollution anymore. We have industry all around us. It doesn't matter which way the wind blows."
Associated Press videojournalist Helene Franchineau contributed to this report.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2404
|
__label__cc
| 0.534591
| 0.465409
|
Franchise Opportunities with the Godfather
Venues looking for franchise opportunities with the Godfather of Modern cooking can do so following a deal between a new hospitality development company and Marco Pierre White.
With Marco Pierre White as a stakeholder, Black and White Franchising, which is the trading name of New York Italian Limited, will now oversee the roll out of the Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar & Grill and Marco’s New York Italian concepts across the UK, with plans to open 50 new franchised restaurants within five years.
Heading this new venture is Nick Taplin, who has been instrumental in establishing the already successful and popular Steakhouse and Italian concepts at a number of destinations including Doubletree by Hilton Cadbury House in North Somerset, The Cube in Birmingham and Hampton by Hilton Sheffield.
Two new restaurants are to open in August including venues in Stratford and Glasgow.
Nick and his team are now looking to establish partnership agreements with other quality hotel and independent venues that want to drive footfall and custom to their business, utilising UK buying power while benefitting from the association with Marco Pierre White and the exposure it brings.
Nick Taplin said: “We have had great success with our own ten restaurants and are looking forward to expanding both franchises. Some of the Steakhouses have been in operation for a number of years and have proved extremely successful while the New York Italian concept is a slightly newer idea.
“The move has been made following extensive market research and analysis to create both concepts to ensure we deliver the food, service and experience that people want.
“What we found is that generally, people who stay in hotels do not necessarily eat in the hotel restaurant. A key focus is to therefore open restaurants in city centre locations within hotels with existing restaurants that do not trade well or profitably.
“Marco Pierre White is one of the most globally recognised brands in the catering industry. As a franchisee you will benefit from the great brand recognition and publicity it brings.
“A venue that has the provenance of Marco Pierre White will not only attract residents to dine in-house but also attract non-resident customers to visit.
“The Marco Pierre White name gives us a great platform for launch as it is synonymous across the world for good quality food. We know that with the current establishments the name alone pulls people through the door.
“Marco will ensure the food is top class and the team will ensure the rest of the experience works for diners. We believe the package will raise awareness and deliver footfall.
“Operationally, each venue has also needed to perform, attaining and maintaining the exacting standards of Marco while building its own reputation for meals that are good quality and excellent value for money. All of the restaurants stand behind Marco’s philosophy of ‘affordable glamour’.”
“We are now ready to roll out this model to those who want to drive custom to their venue and make their restaurant the destination of choice.”
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2406
|
__label__cc
| 0.72206
| 0.27794
|
Compare Funeral Directors Help & Advice
Funeral Directors - Join now
Who can conduct a funeral service?
Tradition & Culture
Not many people realise it, but anyone can conduct a funeral service. There are plenty of options available when you choose who should officiate your loved one’s funeral, depending on their religious beliefs and what you feel would be most fitting.
Traditionally, religious figures such as vicars or priests lead a funeral service, incorporating prayer and religious worship into the ceremony. For many religions there is a set order of service for funerals, or certain prayers and readings that are traditionally included.
If your loved one was religious, you may want to hold their funeral in their local place of worship and ask their religious leader to conduct the funeral. They will be able to help you plan the service and other aspects of the funeral, should you wish. Usually they will meet with the family and discuss the funeral, the person who has passed away, and any other spiritual needs as you say goodbye to your loved one.
Some religions will perform funeral services even if your loved one was not particularly religious, or did not attend worship very often. For example, the Church of England will lead a funeral service for anyone, regardless of their commitment to the Church.
Most religious leaders will also offer ongoing support after the funeral, which may not be the case with other types of celebrant. They often welcome bereaved family and friends to visit them again for spiritual guidance, advice or simply for company in difficult times.
Civil celebrant
You may choose to have a civil celebrant conduct the funeral. Civil celebrants are not part of any religion or belief system and can perform services with no religious content at all, or with some religious content such as prayers and readings.
Civil funerals usually focus on meeting the needs of the family and the person who has passed away, rather than sticking to prescribed religious ceremonies. In the same way that a religious leader would meet with the family to discuss arrangements, civil celebrants will meet with the bereaved and talk about the kind of ceremony they want.
Many people nowadays find that although they do not consider themselves religious, they still find some familiar prayers, funeral hymns and readings comforting during difficult times. Civil celebrants can incorporate religious elements if you want, although they will not have the religious authority to perform blessings and rites.
Likewise, if you want a wholly non-religious funeral service, the civil celebrant will be able to do this. The emphasis is on what you and your family want from the funeral service.
Humanist celebrant
Humanism, broadly speaking, is the belief in science as a means of understanding the universe and emphasises the importance of finding happiness in this life while also being kind and compassionate to others. Humanist funerals focus on the individual’s life, expressing sadness at the loss but also celebrating the life that has been lived.
Humanist funerals are growing in popularity and represent a completely non-religious service. Humanists do not believe in an afterlife or a god, so humanist services will not make reference to any religious ideas.
Humanist celebrants pride themselves on being compassionate and supportive and will meet with the family to discuss their loved one and any wishes they have for the service. Though they will not be open to any religious elements, they are very much open to personalising the service to reflect your loved one’s character.
A friend, family member or yourself
As mentioned, anyone can conduct a funeral, including you or another family member or friend. As long as you have a plan for the order of service and are comfortable speaking in front of a crowd, you should be able to lead the service.
The role of celebrant will require you to lead the order of service by speaking in front of the congregation. This may include reading prayers, a eulogy, poems or other readings, as well as inviting other people to speak. At the end you may invite the congregation to attend a wake.
Like a celebrant consults the family about their wishes, you should involve your loved one’s family and friends in planning the order of service. It could be a positive experience as you all come together to share memories and talk about your loved one.
Another option is splitting the role of celebrant between several family members. Sometimes siblings choose to do this in tribute to a parent. This may, however, take more organisation as you will need to work together to figure out who speaks when and how to divide up the responsibilities.
Find out more about arranging a funeral, or find a local funeral director to discuss arrangements for your loved one’s funeral.
Decide how you're remembered
Have you thought about your funeral wishes yet?
Create your funeral wishes
Cheap Funeral Ideas
A guide to cheap ideas for quirky funerals and memorial services, including ideas for funeral decorations and funeral music
#Bereavement #End of Life Planning #Funerals
Funeral Guide Launches Awareness Campaign
Funeral Guide launches awareness campaign on the London Underground, featuring more than 3,300 adverts to be displayed in tube carriages
#Bereavement #Funerals
Sympathy Flowers: A Guide to Sending Flowers for Funerals & Condolences
15 popular sympathy flowers for condolence bouquets, funeral wreaths and coffin sprays
#Funerals
UK Cremation & Burial Costs
A guide to average cremation and burial costs in the UK, based on Funeral Guide's own research, including the cheapest & most expensive places to be buried or cremated.
Top 10 most popular hymns for funerals
10 pieces of classical music for funerals
Creative ideas for a special funeral
The 20 most popular funeral songs
10 famous celebrity graves
How to write a condolence message
10 short verses for funerals
Top 5 places to scatter ashes
5 alternatives to sympathy flowers
Going back to work after bereavement
Funeral Hymns
Cemetery Symbolism
Famous Graves
Crematoriums
Natural Burial Grounds
Bereavement in the workplace
©2020 All Rights Reserved Funeral Zone Ltd
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2407
|
__label__cc
| 0.671848
| 0.328152
|
Sustainability Zone
More fun for everyone aged 3 to 11
Have your party at Treffpunkt Baumhaus
Book a birthday party online with one click
The Treffpunkt Baumhaus Gang
Gang pertners
Search for services, shops, news, events
Our goal is for you to feel good all-round when you’re with us. Comprehensive service is extremely important to us.
service-alle
Pictos_15x15_Alle_V6_2018_10_RZ_ohne_Text_deutsch_ZW
service-familien
Mon - Wed
Thu + Fri
Open again in We will open again in Still open for We are still open for
Language Selector DE EN SK CS
COOKIE TRACKING FOR THE BEST SHOPPING EXPERIENCE
By selecting “Accept Tracking,” you permit ECE Projektmanagement G.m.b.H. & Co. KG to utilize cookies, pixels, tags and similar technologies. We use these technologies in order to learn your device and browser settings so that we can monitor your activity. We do this in order to be able to provide you with personalized advertising as well as to ensure and improve the functionality of the website. ECE can forward these data to third parties – such as social media advertising partners like Google, Facebook, and Instagram – for marketing purposes. Please visit our Privacy Policy (see the section on Cookies) for additional information. There, you can also learn how we use your data (e.g., security, shopping cart function, registration).
Marketing (Display personalized advertising)
ECE and our advertising partners (including social media platforms such as Google, Facebook, and Instagram) use tracking in order to offer you personalized offerings that provide you with the full shopping experience. This includes displaying “Direct Advertising on Third-Party Advertising Platforms” as described in the Privacy Policy. If you do not accept this tracking, you will still be shown random ECE advertisements on other platforms.
Functional (Improvement of the website)
We use functional tracking in order to analyze how our website is used. These data help us discover errors and develop new designs. It likewise enables us to test the efficacy of our website. In addition, these cookies provide insights for advertising analyses and affiliate marketing.
Required (Access to the website)
We use cookies in order to enable the operation of the website and to ensure that specific features work properly, such as the option to log in or place a product in your shopping cart. This tracking is always activated since you would otherwise not be able to view the website or shop online.
Would you like to know more about how ECE tracks you? Visit our Privacy Policy.
Manage tracking settings
Accept tracking
https://www.g3-shopping.at/en/services/departure/
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2409
|
__label__cc
| 0.727419
| 0.272581
|
Motivations for users to upgrade smart solar solutions (linked to the fellowship Smart Solar Solutions for ALL (S34ALL))
Department of Civil, Environmental & Geomatic Engineering
Dr P Parikh
Applications are invited for a PhD studentship jointly funded by BBOXX and UCL Engineering. The studentship is for a full-time doctorate over three and a half years.
The lack of access to modern energy services continues to be the reality for over a billion people worldwide[1] .In Sub-Saharan Africa, 65% of the population (37% in urban and over 80% in rural areas) live off the grid[2] and have to rely on polluting fuels such as candles, kerosene or wood. There is a growing need for research into innovative solutions for making energy accessible to all with a stronger understanding of how end-users consume energy and how those trends will evolve.
This research will build on the innovative work of BBOXX (https://www.bboxx.co.uk/), a next generation utility unlocking potential through energy access. With headquarters in London and operations in 12 countries including Rwanda, Kenya, Togo, DRC and Pakistan, BBOXX offer pay-as-you-go solar power. At the heart of BBOXX is their pioneering management platform, called Pulse, which continuously collects data and insights. BBOXX are currently needing support to assess consumer behaviour and energy consumption trends, both current and future, to understand how best to meet future demand for energy and related solar power appliances.
a) Assess through a combination of smart quantitative data and household consumer surveys why some users would continue using BBOXX’s smart solar home systems versus those who stop.
- For the consumers who continue to use smart solar systems: how consistently they use the systems, for how long and for what type of appliances. What are the payment patterns of those long-standing consumers?
- Develop customer archetypes and market segmentation according to use of systems
- Develop Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models to assess future energy demand for consumers in Rwanda at household level
-Plot demand curves for energy consumption for users in Rwand
B) Business models linked to BBOXX’s ongoing models
- Compare different business models, upgrades and payment patterns such as subsidy versus non-subsidy models.
- Build on existing models to assess which upgrades are likely to be good upgrades and viable for consumers
C) Incentives and upgrades:
- Understand motivations for upgrades to more electrical appliances and/or future services other than electricity. Would consumers be interested in other offerings such as solar water pumping, cooking, internet etc.?
- Assess the nature of incentives such as bonus, referral schemes and other schemes, which could influence upgrades to more appliances, bigger systems and/or other household services (e.g. internet).
- Explore the relation between payment models and energy consumption trends.
- How does ability to pay at current price link with customer payment patterns and seasonality? Where is the sweet spot in terms of pricing energy to ensure high end-user payment performance.
[1] Sustainable Energy for All (2015). Progress Toward Sustainable Energy 2015. Global Tracking Framework Report. International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank Group and the International Energy Agency
[2] International Energy Agency (IEA) (2016). World Energy Outlook 2016. OECD/IEA, Paris: France.
Studentship Description
The overall ambition is that the student would work closely with the BBOXX team and build on a knowledge base of long-standing consumers in Rwanda and potentially comparing and contrasting with consumers in another BBOXX country (Kenya, DRC or Togo).
The studentship work would support future market expansion strategy for smart solar services including cooking, internet and other services to be explored during fieldwork in Rwanda and possibly in Togo. Methods to be employed include a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, in-depth interviews with relevant stakeholders and household surveys on energy consumption and income and expenditure (mixed methods).
We expect elements of machine learning models to predict energy consumption and upgrades trends combined with qualitative tools such as household interviews and consumer interviews to assess behavioural trends. It is anticipated that the student will spend considerable time in Rwanda and possibly some time in Togo during various stages of the doctorate.
The scholarship covers UCL home/EU tuition fees and provides a tax free stipend per annum, rising with inflation (£17,280 for 2019/2020 academic year, paid pro rata). Research equipment and part travel expenses for one trip per annum will also be covered under the funding.
[International students – we would consider applications from international students of exceptionally high academic merit if they are able to submit written evidence of confirmed funding from a scholarship, governmental agency or other reputed organisation to cover the difference between UK and overseas fees (circa £60,000).]
Applications are invited from UK and EU members, residing in UK. To be eligible to pay fees at the UK/EU rate, you must normally be a national of an EU country, or the relevant family member of an EU national, and have been ordinarily resident within the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland or EU Overseas Territories for the 3 year period before the first day of the first academic year of your programme. Please see the UCL Student fee status page to determine your appropriate tuition fee.
Applicants should send a covering letter and CV to Dr. Priti Parikh at [email protected] The successful applicant will then have to apply online to UCL by submitting the PhD application form which they can do by clicking on the Apply now button at the bottom of this page: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/graduate/research-degrees/civil-environmental-geomatic-engineering-mphil-phd. Please name Dr. Priti Parikh as the proposed supervisor.
Additionally for international students we would need written evidence of funding already secured for covering the fee difference between UK and overseas fees (Circa £60,000)
Civil & Structural Engineering
Computer Science & IT
View all PhDs at University College London
Smart Data Analytics for Climate/Weather workflows
University of Reading Department of Computer Science
Smart cyber-physical systems for multimodal human-robot collaboration
University of Bath Centre for Accountable, Responsible and Transparent AI
Anti-reflecting and Anti-soiling coatings for solar panel cover glass
Loughborough University Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering
Bayesian federated learning for collaborative intelligence in modern smart car-road infrastructure networks
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2414
|
__label__cc
| 0.635645
| 0.364355
|
Tide Times for Uramu Island, Papua New Guinea
Nearby Tide Stations:
Uramu Island, Papua New Guinea
Port Romilly, Papua New Guinea
Goaribari Island, Papua New Guinea
Today's tide charts show that the first low Tide will be at 02:08 am with a water level of 1.94 ft. It is then followed by a high tide at 08:44 am with a maximum water level of 12.53 ft. The next low Tide will be at 02:49 pm with a predicted level of 4.17 ft and the last high Tide for today will be at 08:26 pm with water at the 10.86 ft mark.
Tide Times for Android
Best Fishing Times for Kivaumai Number 2, Papua New Guinea
High Tides
Low Tides
Tue, 21 Jan 08:44 am @ 12.53 ft
08:26 pm @ 10.86 ft
02:08 am @ 1.94 ft
02:49 pm @ 4.17 ft
Wed, 22 Jan 09:17 am @ 13.06 ft
Thu, 23 Jan 09:47 am @ 13.29 ft
Fri, 24 Jan 10:16 am @ 13.29 ft
Sat, 25 Jan 10:45 am @ 13.09 ft
04:51 pm @ 4.1 ft
Sun, 26 Jan 11:13 am @ 12.7 ft
10:52 pm @ 10.4 ft
Mon, 27 Jan 11:41 am @ 12.17 ft
05:03 am @ 2.2 ft
Tue, 28 Jan 12:10 pm @ 11.55 ft
Wed, 29 Jan 12:42 pm @ 10.79 ft
Thu, 30 Jan 12:30 am @ 8.69 ft
Fri, 31 Jan 01:32 am @ 8.04 ft
Sat, 01 Feb 03:59 am @ 7.81 ft
Sun, 02 Feb 06:10 am @ 8.73 ft
Mon, 03 Feb 07:05 am @ 10.04 ft
Search for Tide Stations
Browse Tide Station Index
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2416
|
__label__wiki
| 0.901165
| 0.901165
|
Watch Town take on Everton U21s on iFollow for £10
Fleetwood Town travel to Merseyside on Tuesday night to face Everton U21s in the Leasing.com Trophy, and you can watch the action unfold on iFollow for just £10.
Due to the match taking place midweek, fans will be able to live stream the full game whilst listening to full match commentary from Goodison Park for only £10.
This means you will be able to cheer on the Cod Army from the comfort of your own home.
Please click HERE to purchase your matchday pass.
For more information on Tuesday night's game, as well as iFollow for the remainder of the 2019/20 season, please contact sam.fielding@fleetwoodtownfc.com.
Everton U21 vs Fleetwood Town on 26 Nov 19
iFollow Video Match Pass available for Accrington match
Fleetwood Town play Accrington Stanley in the Leasing.com Trophy on Tuesday evening, and fans all over the world will be able to watch the match live on iFollow.
iFollow Video Match Passes available for Sunderland clash
Fleetwood Town can confirm that Video Match Passes will be available for all supporters on New Years Day for the match against Sunderland at Highbury Stadium.
iFollow Video Match Passes available for Bristol Rovers clash
Fleetwood Town fans all around the world will be able to watch the final game of 2019 against Bristol Rovers for just £10!
iFollow International Half Season Passes now available
Fleetwood Town are delighted to offer supporters outside the United Kingdom with a special festive package, allowing you to watch all remaining matches in the 2019/20 season for just £60!
What’s on at The Crossbar this week
There are plenty of football matches taking place over the next week, and you can watch it all unfold at The Crossbar down at the club’s training complex, Poolfoot Farm.
Read: Fleetwood's programme from Shrewsbury game
Did you grab your programme from our game against Shrewsbury Town on Saturday? If not, catch up on all the latest news from Fleetwood Town by reading our eProgramme.
Watch: Fleetwood Town 2-2 Shrewsbury Town highlights
Here are the highlights from Fleetwood Town's 2-2 draw with Shrewsbury Town at Highbury on Saturday 18 January.
Team news: Shrewsbury Town (H)
Fleetwood Town head coach Joey Barton has named his 18-man squad for Saturday's Sky Bet League One match against Shrewsbury Town at Higubury.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2422
|
__label__cc
| 0.586228
| 0.413772
|
New motion poster for The Tall Man
By George Wales 2012-08-14T14:39:00.226Z
The kids are not all right
The Tall Man has released an eerie new motion poster, in which the titular boogeyman can be seen making his way into the night with a stricken child over one shoulder.
The film stars Jessica Biel as a small-town nurse living in some godforsaken hamlet where the local kids have a nasty habit of going missing. Often the way in eerie, fog-obscured Nowheresville, isn't it?
The townsfolk believe the culprit to be a nightmarish figure known as The Tall Man, although sensible Miss Biel isn't convinced. Not until her own son is taken, that is…
Driven half-mad with worry, Biel's character heads out into the woods in search of the shadowy child-catcher, but naturally winds up biting off way more than she can chew. As you can see from the new poster, her nemesis is quite an imposing figure.
Directed by Martyrs ' Pascal Laugier, The Tall Man will arrive in France as soon as 5 September 2012, with a UK release date expected shortly after. In the meantime, you can check out The Tall Man's spooky antics, below...
George Wales
George is GR's resident movie news person, based out of London. He understands that all men must die, but he'd rather not think about it.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2423
|
__label__cc
| 0.573205
| 0.426795
|
GenomeWeb
Precision Oncology News
Contains all of these words:
Business & Policy
Microarrays & Multiplexing
Mass Spec
Gene Silencing/Gene Editing
Gene Expression Research
Epigenetics Research
Proteomics & Protein Research
Cell Biology Research
Biomarker Discovery & Validation
Neurological & Psychological Disease
Inherited Disease
Applied Markets
Genomics: Clinical Implementation
Home » Resources » Jobs » Principal Software Engineer
Principal Software Engineer
New York Genome Center
https://www.nygenome.org
101 Avenue of the Americas
The New York Genome Center is looking for a detail-oriented software engineer to lead our next generation of data processing and pipelining tools. As an engineer at NYGC, you will be responsible for writing software that follows industry best practices. You will write extensible, unit-tested software that adheres to the DRY (don’t repeat yourself) principles in a teamwork environment. Principle Software Engineers are project leads, expected to operate under minimal supervision, working under the direction of the technical lead and collaborating with other NYGC software project leads. This includes requirements gathering, planning, setting milestones, and driving the project through to completion. It also entails directing the progress and work patterns of junior engineers and making individual code progress.
The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.
Including but not limited to, the following:
Design and implement software solutions from scratch in object-oriented Python 3 for complicated problems and workflows;
Create and analyze existing requirements documents and communicate proposed solutions with team members;
Add functionality to existing Python REST APIs in Flask and create new APIs that fulfill business goals; and,
Engage in unit testing, integration testing, and validation testing for your software solutions.
BS in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field;
12+ years related experience; master’s degree plus 10+ years related experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience;
Excellent skills in programming extensible object-oriented software solutions using Python 3;
Functional familiarity with common open source database systems such as PostgreSQL;
Professional work experience with more than one programming language;
Experience implementing a software solution from scratch;
Experience working with legacy code;
Experience writing effective tests for your software;
Successful both as an independent contributor and in small teams;
Experience directing up to two junior engineers in implementation and maintenance;
Experience with common source control systems such as Git;
Experience in estimating components and features;
Excellent written and verbal communication skills;
Comfortable learning a new domain in a short amount of time; and,
Comfortable working in an issue-tracking system (e.g. JIRA).
Experience with designing and administering role and permission management systems;
Experience with design and implementation of REST APIs, knowledge regarding the different REST-ish approaches;
Experience working successfully with contractors;
Experience with containers work patterns and administration;
Experience with applications involving Clinical data;
Experience with HIPAA regulations;
Familiarity with application security best practices; and,
Familiarity with encryption best cost-effective practices.
Job Mastery- Knowledgeable of current role and technical skills, and the impact it has on the Center.
Continuous Learning– Strives to expand the depth and breadth of technical and professional skills.
Collaborative– Encourages participation from team members and works effectively with all levels.
Credible– Works with a high level of integrity.
Communicative– Actively listens to others and uses good judgement as to what to communicate to whom; provides feedback.
Focused – Utilizes efficient and effective processes.
Adaptable– Demonstrate flexibility with changing priorities.
Innovative– Develops new insights and pursues improvements.
Takes Ownership– Prioritizes tasks, manages time and delivers on commitments.
Visionary – Aligns and inspires efforts toward our mission driven organization.
Talent Builder – Attracts, develops, empowers and retains talent, and communicates expectations and feedback in real time.
Stewardship – Uses NYGC’s resources responsibly.
FLSA Status – Exempt
This position is eligible for visa sponsorship and relocation assistance.
About Our Organization
About the New York Genome Center
The New York Genome Center (NYGC) is an independent, nonprofit, academic research organization dedicated to advancing genomic research. NYGC scientists and staff are furthering new approaches to diagnosing and treating neurological diseases and cancer through their unique capabilities in whole genome sequencing, RNA sequencing, state-of-the art analytics, and the development of genomic tools. NYGC concentrates specifically on disease-based research in the following areas: neuropsychiatric disease (autism, schizophrenia, bipolar); neurodegenerative disease (ALS, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s), and cancer.
Located in Lower Manhattan, the New York Genome Center was founded by and remains closely affiliated with twelve leading academic medical centers and research universities in the New York region and beyond, engaging in research projects with and for these institutions. Essential to our collaborative work is an outstanding faculty, whose members typically hold a joint appointment at NYGC and a partner university. They support our scientific mission by conducting independent research in areas of mutual interest to us and the wider scientific community.
The New York Genome Center is a VEVRAA Federal Contractor. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, creed, color, gender, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, age, disability, genetic predisposition or carrier status, protected veteran or military status, domestic violence victim status, partnership status, caregiver status, alienage or citizenship status, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. The New York Genome Center takes affirmative action in support of its policy to hire and advance in employment individuals who are minorities, women, protected veterans, and individuals with disabilities.
The Career Blog
Gaps in Pay
Nature Careers reports that male researchers at US federal agencies are paid more than their female counterparts, despite mechanisms to prevent wage disparities.
Major Regrets
CNBC reports that many STEM majors, despite their generally higher pay, regret their choice of field.
But Mostly Satisfying
A Nature survey reports that PhD students' experiences can be frustrating, but also satisfying.
Students, Workers, or Both?
A proposed rule would deem graduate students at private institutions to not be employees, which ScienceInsider reports might affect unionization efforts.
Privacy Policy. Terms & Conditions. . Copyright © 2020 GenomeWeb, a business unit of Crain Communications. All Rights Reserved.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2427
|
__label__cc
| 0.514559
| 0.485441
|
Crime / Culture / Development / Economy / Government / Lifestyle / Politics / Society
Sorry, Joe. No more boom-boom in Manila and Olongapo City
October 29, 2014 - by benign0 - 25 Comments.
If I were a businessman of any sort in the Philippines, I’d be fuming. In most NORMAL countries, the arrival of shiploads of young, cashed-up, and physically vigorous American military personnel would be greeted with joy and eyes flashing with $$ signs. Not in the Philippines though. The other day, the United States aircraft carrier USS George Washington sailed into Manila Bay for a port call carrying 5,500 American navy personnel. The bad news is that none of them were allowed off the ship and on Manila’s streets to stroke the local fauna and smoke the local flora.
Tinapay na nga, naging bato pa.
Thanks to the fiasco erupting in the aftermath of the killing of Filipino transgender Jeffrey Laude allegedly by US Marine Pfc Joseph Scott Pemberton, we won’t be hearing too many gleeful “boom boom Joe?” calls ringing across Manila’s streets any time soon. There won’t be any cold beers served to partying sailors in Manila’s bars, there won’t be any quaint Filipino souvenir handicrafts packed in trendy paper bags being dispensed over counters at the Mall of Asia, and there won’t be any photos of Manila’s excellent sights being uploaded onto Facebook by the boys either.
It’s more fun in the Philippines. But not if you are an American soldier. Not anymore, at least.
“It’s a shame. Twenty to 30,000 service people come here for exercises and other events during the course of a year. They want to see the Philippines. They want to meet Filipinos. They want to engage and taste Filipino food and buy things. It would have been better for some of the shopping malls. We didn’t think that it’s good moment for shore liberty just out of respect for sentiment here,” said US Ambassador Philip Goldberg to reporters last Friday.
One wonders. Filipino sex workers are often painted by “activist” groups like GABRIELA as “victims” of Big Bad American Imperialism. But how many of them are really such? Indeed, how many of them now bristle with anger over the now empty quiet streets in Olongapo City, Manila, and any Philippine city where GI Joe once set foot to share Uncle Sam’s wealth with the locals?
The Philippines of the 21st Century is a far far cry from the pompous and cocky persona it exhibited back in the early 1990’s when twelve bozos duly elected by the popular vote (and as such presumably representing the Filipino people’s “will”) voted to boot the American Military out of Philippine shores…
Thanks to the 12 bozos who voted against US military bases in the Philippines in 1991 — Senate President Jovito Salonga, Sens. Wigberto Tanada, Teofisto Guingona, Rene Saguisag, Victor Ziga, Sotero Laurel, Ernesto Maceda, Agapito Aquino, Juan Ponce Enrile, Joseph Estrada, Orlando Mercado, and Aquilino Pimentel — Filipinos have, right in their faces today, a sad lesson twenty years in the making in what it is like to languish outside the American sphere of what is globally relevant.
Thus Philippine President Benigno Simeon ‘BS’ Aquino III owes the United States big time. His mother, the late former President Corazon ‘Cory’ Aquino in the 1990s vowed to help the US keep its bases in the Philippines even as Congress successfully rationalised its decision to kick them out on the back of old national insecurities to do with its colonial past. Back then the US military presence in the Philippines pumped billions of dollars into the Philippine economy in the form of aid, employment, and local business. And so it is likely that the Second Aquino Administration is out to make amends to its former colonial master and make up to Aquino’s “bosses” for decades of lost revenue owing to “Pinoy Pride” by continuing his mother’s work.
Indeed, times have changed and the question of the benefits of American military presence in its old colony has become all but a no-brainer. The Philippines today is a humbled nation run by crooks. It sees attracting foreign capital as its biggest “priority” because it utterly lacks any semblance of domestic capability to create and expand capital owing to a pathetic predisposition to squandering its indigenous wealth. This sad aspiration coupled with a bizarre culturally- and religiously-wired mindset to multiply like cockroaches pretty much dooms the Philippines to a future of abject sub-mediocrity.
More importantly, the Philippines faces an enormous military threat from China which, even now, is slowly annexing Philippine territory in the South China Sea with impunity while the Philippine government naively tries to appeal its case with the United Nations and through an approach to “diplomacy” that has long proven to be an ineffective approach to dealing with the Chinese.
If I were an American navy man, I may as well be stationed in Afghanistan or Iraq. The Philippines, once a port call US servicemen look forward to visiting has now become no better than Taliban Town.
Taggedactivismchinagabrielajeffrey laudejoseph scott pembertonMetro Manilamilitaryolongapo citypinoy prideprostitutionsouth china seaspratly islandssubic baytourismUnited Nationsuss george washingtonvisiting forces agreementwest philippine sea
Previous Article I am Jejomar Binay
Next Article Trees Need More Than Just Hugs And Kisses
25 Comments on “Sorry, Joe. No more boom-boom in Manila and Olongapo City”
aer says:
Learn to live without the Americans. The Philippines need to stand on its own.
Loraine says:
The same way to the Americans…
you mean the US needs Philippines ? Really ??
Yes, they Need Philippines just to exercise, nothing more
US not gonna miss Philippines lack support
Many other countries are lining up, and are even investing money to secure US Bases
Sea Bee says:
@acer: How is that going?
Filipinos in general are to incompetent for that.
Yeah right like how smartass? By keep shouting “proud to be pinoy” while charging our enemies with only our puny bolo while our incompetent politicians, leaders and generals are hiding under the rock? Your death will be meaningless that’s for sure.
Amir Al Bahr says:
It’ll be a cold day in hell before that will happen.
Jerry Lynch says:
I see you’re doing real well @ standing on your own. This country could not stand on its own if it had crutches and a wall to lean on.
How the hell are you going to do that?
Tailbuster says:
I agree with you Benign0. I grew up in a US Mlitary family, I remember well my growing up days in Subic Naval Base and Olongapo, went to college in Manila. Im a full bloodied Filipino, my heritage is the Philippines, but had sworn my allegiance, to protect the constitution from enemies, foreign or domestic and still doing my part of service to this nation I chose to live in protecting the skies of Washington DC. Back in the heyday, once the news of a battle group with no less than 12 ships would pull in Subic, from the newspaper vendor, sari sari stores, to the market, restaurants, tricycle and jeepney drivers not mentioning the clubs will benifit from the sailor’s spending spree. It created a good business for everyone. Including the crook drivers who would charge first timers with sky rocketing fares, street hawkers who sell juicy fruit gums at P25/pack from a P2.00/pack. But hey, its still a good business to everyone. One more thing, we could go fishing back then at the scarborough shoal, no more than half a day trip for some finger lickin good grouper, wrasse and sweet lips, fun are the days with friends and family, but I guess not anymore, pinoys are no longer aloud to fish in there by Chinese Coast Guards. 21 years after Subic Naval Base, went back to see my hometown, impressed with the changes economically, Olongapo is better off. But militarily? I dont think so…
I can never see why there is so much hate for US, but given a chance, 90% will migrate in a second to US
Anyway, some nearby Asian country sunk a billion $, so the US Carriers can dock, instead of ligthering from anchorage
the said Asian country sunk so much money, as they know 4000 AmericansX200$ Spent per day X 5 days = 4 Million US$ being fed into the local economy
And the country sees an average of 20 plus visits a year = 80 Million, being pumped into the economy. or more like 3 billion plus peso pumped in, into the common man’s hands, not into the govt
That is apart from the charges being levied to the US for replenishment, stores, Chandling, services, repairs, husbanding etc. etc, estimated to add up to another 3 or 4 billion peso equivalent into the economy
And for Philippines, there is no money need be spent as the Dock Yard is there, infrastructure is there, and even the airfield for use by USN aircraft rushing urgent spares etc is alrady there, all built by Uncle Sam !!
That is proper thinking.
But in Philippines Politicians stoking anti-US emotions are just ensuring that kind of filtering doesn’t happen
I wonder what goes through those drama kings’ minds, doing everything to ensure poverty remains as it is ..
Enlightened1 says:
The greed of the wealthy elite (whom mostly all happen to be senators as well) don’t want foreigners here as it mke take away from some of their profit earning businesses.
There are too many laws preventing foreigner businesses and people from operating here, and even owning land so that the rich elite can rape the country all for themselves. The greedy crooks want it all for themselves and that’s partly why the country is in a mess. Not much has improved since the 70’s in terms of infratructure and improvements. But tht’s ok for the rich as they still keep earning big bucks and can afford to have all the housemaids, yaya’s, drivers, and houseboys that they want.
This has fostered and spread a growing resentment among some of the upper and middle class wannabe’s towards foreigners.
Fortunate the Philippines is still a place where foreigners are made welcome by many other fantastic filipino’s.
as a matter of fact, the rich cream of the society funds the politician’s war chest and the elected are at the beck and call of the rich .. damn the poor, the poor can always be bought over with a few thousand peso at a time
Did Trillanes call Binay’s farm as Exhorbitant ?
the lifestyle of the rich and politicians in this poor country is VULGAR, and exploitation roars.
The rich here, only when you know, you find out they are rich beyond what they show.
Helicopters, private jets, Bentleys and Rolls Royces etc are kept overseas and the poor locals think the rich arr not that rich
The sad fact is the poor don’t know they are being squeezed dead
Now if the few vocal can say Marcos was a good president and they are clean, forgetting that the development that happened would have happened whoever was in power, though the Marcos developed so little considering how many billions of $ they stashed away, gets lost in the haze
Jim DiGriz says:
Back in the day, the bases brought the Philippines about 5 Billion US$ a year. But it seems that the Philippines was so bloody rich that they did not need any financial bread buttering. All this hate against the Americans is just fucking crazy looking at Philippine history and what the US did for the Philippines. Typical Filipino bullshit, extending the hand asking for help and after getting some, shouting “fuck you Joe”. Filipinos are really people without any shame. Time for the US to shout back “fuck you too Philippines”.
MidwayHaven says:
Camp John Hay (Baguio) is a perfect example of this. Back when the US bases were still existing it was touted as the best R&R facility for US military personnel in the Pacific.
Unfortunately, much of Camp John Hay now, despite its purported “corporate care,” is mired in stacks of intricate court cases. Hotels which are supposed to bring in cash to Baguio are still closed due to litigation. Around a dozen old bunk houses have been bulldozed for faux-log cabins nobody uses anyway. The corporations which supposedly take care of Camp John Hay’s well-being refuse to pay taxes to the government because they think they have some sort of “special privilege.”
At the center of this all is a lawyer-politician under the Liberal Party banner who has plans to become Baguio’s mayor. Furthermore, his SJW wife turns her back and keeps silent over John Hay’s wanton environmental degradation, and rather be more vocal against the earthballing of trees at SM Baguio.
Flint BEastwood says:
LOL, the U.S. Military can topple the puny gov’t. of the Philippines at any moment, just like the Chinese miltary could. Pick your friends Filipino’s ,and be nice to them. As anyone knows: The friends you have today can be your worst enemies tomorrow.
it is also a shame that the national wealth was not spent on defending the country but rather pillaged by the oligarchs who ,in turn ,have to appear as beggars to the world’s military strongmen: The USA & Chinese militaries. this pillaged wealth could have transformed the country into an industrial and military powerhouse of S.E.Asia, but instead it is a laughingstock. How sad it all is.
Philippines: Population 100 million. No nukes
China: Population 1300 million. Has nukes
Get a life. There will never be any chance in a military conflict with China.
@ Stefan, is that directed at me ? the Chinese were the most backward country on earth until 1980. From 1948 to 1980, the Philippine wealth could have established a Military second to none in S E Asia, but instead chose to plunder the ca$h and be subjugated by all foreign entities….that is a fact.
…and BTW, do not worry about me and my life. I have a really good one, while you ,on the other hand, you…well….you are probably stuck in a shit-hole.
@Flint Beastwood: “…the Chinese were the most backward country on earth until 1980.”
Highly doubt this. In fact, your claim is total BS, if you had actually did some research.
Hyden Toro 767 says:
The Whores lost their businesses…
We also lost the protection of Uncle Sam…learn to stand on ourselves…it is hard, but is the way to Maturity…
Well, the issue is not that much easy. Large US bases have their own infrastructure. There are shopping and recreational opportunities inside the base. But such a base provides jobs to Filipinos.
On tho other hand attracts American presence Al Quaeda. Al Quaeda has ties to Abu Sayaf in Mindanao. If Americans have bases in Philippines Al Quaeda would provide more training and funds to Abu Sayaf so that abu Sayaf can prepare direct attacks to these bases.
American presence in Philippines will not change Philippine standing in the South China Sea conflict. Either Americans are interesten in the natural gas there then they would exploit it by themselves and also take the profits. No advantage for Philippines. Or they don’t want the gas. Then they would keep neutral and won’t help Philippines to secure it.
American presence will have littele effect on Philippine GDP but will also increase the risk of terrorist attacks.
@ Stefanie, ur last statement is unknowable.The way the GDP is figured out is bad enough, but just look at where the bases used to be, and compare that what they look like now, to what they looked like when JOE USA was there, any questions ? DUH!
PhilC says:
I was a visiting US military in OC in the 80’s. I live in SBFZ now. The “stroke the local fauna” was the success & downfall of the area. Not mentioned by the Ambassador it is the #1 thing used to motivate troops “cheap women/beer” on RR. PH is known as the cheapest, this is not a good thing. Peddling the women has cheapened the value of the people. Not all countries have ports that set up to “host” the visiting forces. Prostitution is illegal in the PH..foreigners get nabbed for it. Many illigitimate children exist. Many of my friends have regrets of what they did here in PH and will not return. Now with the internet the RR is dangerous, no longer a secret. Back then I worked w/ the local bar girls, many of them like the easy work, one even a nurse at Gordon Hosp. some are naive victims. However build the reputation of your country on the positives not the ability to ignore your own laws and exploit your own people. Visitors may enjoy the quick visit but they certainly won’t be returning with the big bucks and neither will other tourists. Clean up the country, habits of the people and the beautiful land will bring you success. Stop relying on the women the most beautiful and the beaches most beautiful….we can all surf the net and see what we wish. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Long term economic success will take social change not visiting ships.
lellylel says:
No more real life “Miss Saigon”, huh?
I think most people are missing the point. The Pinnes had a huge payday from the us for the bases filling the gov. crooks pockets and the sailors went on shore leave filling the locals pockets and all that is gone now because of your stupid peenoise pride. The Pinnes has basically shot itself in booth feet and both hands while gleefully shouting their stupid idiotic pride slogans that make them look like the fools they are. The total lack of common, let alone any sence, is so prevalent that it defies any logic and leaves a person dumbfounded as to how absolutely stupid a nation and almost all of its people can really be. Now they beg borrow and steal thinking it normal and OK and people do it in other countries is the excuse bandied about which only a retard would use because it shows a total lack of the ability to think. I am surprised how people can still function with so little grey matter. The continual justification for their useless existence has the world baffled and after stealing the relief supplies they will no longer help them out. It is like trying to fill a black hole, impossible, and most of the world will give the idiot nation its wish, stand on your own two feet and don’t call again because your nothing but a bunch of liars who would steal your dying grandmothers blood to satisfy your greedy pathetic useless lives.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2429
|
__label__cc
| 0.725816
| 0.274184
|
Making Tax Digital represents a significant change to the way in which taxpayers record their financial information and submit tax returns. At GKA Accountants Ltd, we can provide guidance on the key aspects of MTD for individuals.
The government has started phasing in its landmark MTD initiative, which will see taxpayers move to a fully digital tax system.
In this factsheet we outline some of the key issues for individuals including the Personal Tax Account and Simple Assessment.
Making Tax Digital for Business (MTDfB) was introduced in the 2015 Spring Budget. The government’s ‘Making Tax Easier’ document was published shortly after, and outlined plans for the ‘end of the tax return’. It also set out the government’s vision to modernise the UK’s tax system, with digital tax accounts set to replace tax returns for ten million individuals and five million small businesses.
Revised timescales
However, industry experts and those within the accountancy sector expressed concerns over the proposed pace and the scale of the introduction of MTDfB. As a result, the government amended the initial timetable for the initiative’s implementation, to allow businesses and individuals ‘plenty of time to adapt to the changes’.
The focus of MTD is currently VAT, which was implemented from April 2019. HMRC has confirmed that businesses will not be asked to keep digital records, or to update HMRC quarterly, for other taxes until at least 2020.
Although MTD has been paused for individuals until at least 2020, HMRC has introduced the Personal Tax Account and Simple Assessment.
The Personal Tax Account
Personal Tax Accounts (PTAs) are digital tax accounts for individuals that have been created by HMRC, and are pre-populated with information held by it. PTAs are designed to permit individual taxpayers to communicate with HMRC, allowing them to update their financial details and check their tax affairs in real time.
Taxpayers may make use of a PTA to make tax payments, provide bank details to HMRC for tax refund purposes and provide details of taxable benefits from employment: for example, the use of a company car.
Individuals can register for a PTA by visiting www.gov.uk/personal-tax-account. The government predicts that, over time, the requirement to complete and file a tax return will lessen for those with straightforward tax affairs.
Simple Assessment
Under Simple Assessment, HMRC has the power to assess an individual's liability to income tax or capital gains tax, without the taxpayer having to fill out and submit a tax return.
Simple Assessment may be used to deal with the tax liabilities of:
state pensioners whose state pension is higher than their personal tax allowance where the tax owed cannot be collected via their tax code.
taxpayers with PAYE liabilities who have underpaid tax and cannot have it collected via their tax code.
Taxpayers are required to ensure that the information provided by HMRC is correct, and pay their income tax liability online, or by cheque, before a specific deadline, as outlined within the letter they receive. If the taxpayer believes the information to be incorrect, customers are given 60 days to contact HMRC.
Those that miss the deadline are encouraged to contact HMRC in order to discuss their circumstances. Individuals who fail to do so may be subject to penalties.
Development ‘paused’
HMRC announced a prioritisation of certain HMRC projects at a House of Commons Public Accounts Committee in April 2018 and a pause in the extension of MTD in certain areas. These areas include further developments to the PTA and further roll out of Simple Assessment. So far only some pensioners and taxpayers with underpaid PAYE have been moved onto Simple Assessment. The expectation was that more PAYE taxpayers would be moved out of self-assessment and into Simple Assessment. This has now being paused with no indication of when it will be resumed. HMRC has confirmed that it will continue to encourage more individuals to use their PTA and will focus on improving the existing service to taxpayers.
Please do contact us for information on MTD.
Charitable giving Child Benefit charge Dividends and interest Enterprise Investment Scheme Individual Savings Accounts Making Tax Digital for Individuals Non-domiciled individuals Personal tax - self assessment Personal tax - when is income tax and capital gains tax payable? Property investment - buy to let Property investment - tax aspects Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme Statutory Residence Test Taxation of the family Tax-Free Childcare Venture Capital Trusts
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2438
|
__label__wiki
| 0.743931
| 0.743931
|
Firma's GracePoint Mining Corp Announces Updates on the Magistral Project
November 29, 2018 10:47 ET | Source: Firma Holdings Corp.
HENDERSON, Nev., Nov. 29, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Firma Holdings Corp. (OTC PINK : FRMA) announces that its subsidiary GracePoint Mining Corp. and MX Gold Corp., signed a confidential mutual release. As a result, MX Gold Corp no longer has any rights, ownership interests, liabilities, or obligations associated with the Magistral Project.
Furthermore, as a result, GracePoint Mining Corp, through its wholly owned subsidiary, owns 100% of the Magistral Project.
Mr. Francis Biscan Jr., Chairman and CEO of Firma Holdings Corp., stated, "We have enjoyed our relationship with MX Gold Corp, and wish them great success with their future endeavors. We look forward to providing additional updates, regarding the future direction for GracePoint.”
About Firma Holdings Corp.
Firma currently holds GracePoint Mining Corp as its Mining subsidiary.
GRACEPOINT MINING CORP: Firma Holdings currently owns four mining projects that encompass over 48,000 acres in Mexico: the Don Roman district has 70+ distinct structures identified within 8 km diameter of a 100% owned centralized processing mill; the Picacho group has 9 gold-bearing veins over 4 mineralized target areas with an aggregate vein strike length of over 10.8 km; the Durango Smelter Project; and the Magistral Project, which includes a processing plant, and the exclusive rights to process approximately 1.2 million tonnes of mineralized mill tailings, grading an average of 2.06 gold per tonne (79,000 ounces of gold).
David Barefoot (888) 901-4550
David@FirmaHoldings.com
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The statements contained herein are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, certain delays beyond the Company's control with respect to market acceptance of new technologies or products, delays in testing and evaluation of products, and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Please read the full disclaimer at www.FirmaHoldings.com.
More articles issued by Firma Holdings Corp.
More articles related to:
Firma Holdings Corp.
Subscribe via ATOM
http://taraminerals.com
With a Reader Account, it's easy to send email directly to the contact for this release. Sign up today for your free Reader Account!
FirmaHoldingsLogo.jpg
LOGO URL | Copy the link below
mining junior mining GracePoint Mining Gold
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2441
|
__label__cc
| 0.686658
| 0.313342
|
The 32 Best Side Hustles in America
Find out how to make money on the side.
By Beverly Bird July 1, 2019 Find a Side Gig
10 Recession Warning Signs You Need To Know
©Shutterstock.com
Traditional 9-to-5 jobs provide a stable, steady income for many Americans. But life isn’t always steady, and some people need to find ways to make extra cash on the side to pay off debt or just to bolster their savings.
If you find that you’re not quite satisfied with your salary, you’re in luck: There’s no shortage of weekend jobs or side gigs you can try out to make money on the side. GOBankingRates surveyed 1,000 Americans and asked about their side work to find out the most popular side hustle jobs in the U.S. — and they’re gigs you can pursue too if you want your own side job.
BraunS / Getty Images
How much it pays: $17.45 per hour
Working in the auto industry is the most popular side hustle for Americans, with 4.4% working as auto mechanics, repair people, detailers or salespeople, the survey found.
Automotive mechanics and service technicians are responsible for diagnosing and repairing issues with automobiles, maintaining inventories of tools and car parts and working with customer service and sales teams. Although no college degree is typically required for this job, the diagnosis of automotive malfunctions now usually requires electronic testing equipment, so formal training is required for most jobs in the field.
You Won’t Believe the Things You Can Get Paid For: 12 People Share Their Wackiest Odd Jobs
IMG Stock Studio / Shutterstock.com
How much it pays: $8.02 per hour, plus tips
Many people romanticize working as a bartender. What could be better than making drinks for friends, listening to a good playlist and pocketing cash tips?
However, as any bartender will tell you, the job isn’t as easy — or as fun — as it might seem. To get started as a bartender, you can enroll in bartending classes, but nothing can replace experience. Many bartenders work their way up to the position after working as hosts, bussers, servers or waiters. Most will work as barbacks — which involves carrying heavy buckets of ice and cases of alcohol — before they make it to that coveted spot mixing drinks behind the bar.
According to the GOBankingRates survey, 1.6% of Americans bartend as their way to make money on the side. It can be a good option for those who work an office job and are looking for a side hustle that doesn’t require a desk or screen.
Open a New Bank Account
Sponsors of
Andriy Blokhin / Shutterstock.com
If you’ve ever scrolled through the jobs section of Craigslist, you’ve likely seen a number of postings that call for a brand ambassador or brand marketing representative. According to Entrepreneur, a brand ambassador is someone who is passionate about the brand, builds brand awareness and connects and engages with customers.
Full-time brand ambassador jobs exist, but many of these opportunities pop up on a part-time basis to support special events.
blyjak / Getty Images/iStockphoto
If you don’t mind physical labor, working in construction can be a fruitful side gig. Construction workers perform various tasks at project sites, including loading and unloading equipment, clearing work areas and operating hand and power tools.
The training required depends on the specific gig, with some requiring apprenticeship programs and others simply requiring on-the-job training.
According to the survey, 2% of Americans have a side hustle in the construction business.
domoyega / Getty Images
Craft Seller
How much it pays: Varies
Thanks to online marketplaces like Etsy, you can turn your crafting hobby into a successful side hustle. To sell on the site, you pay a small listing fee, plus fees for transactions and payment processing. But you’ll gain access to over 33 million buyers, which can help you to make a substantial profit. Some successful Etsy shop owners make six-figure revenues.
ESB Professional / Shutterstock.com
Data Entry Clerk
Data entry might not sound too exciting — you’re essentially just filling out fields in a document — but it’s the perfect job to veg out to. Data entry clerks provide logistical support to large projects that require filtering through a lot of information. Brush up on your Excel and Google Sheets skills before seeking out this easy part-time job.
Sites such as Clickworker crowdsource at least hundreds of thousands of independent contractors to help with projects such as processing data. Data entry is a side hustle you can do without quitting your job.
kupicoo / Getty Images
Driver (Not Ride-Sharing)
How much it pays: $15.19 per hour for bus drivers
Most part-time drivers now work for a ride-share company but 1.8% have other driving gigs, including driving public transportation buses, school buses, trucks and limos, the survey found.
Bus drivers are assigned to specific routes, and are responsible for safely transporting passengers while keeping to a strict time schedule. Requirements for this side hustle can include obtaining a specialized license, completing training lessons, passing health screenings and submitting clean background checks and drug tests.
vgajic / iStock.com
Event Assistant
If you’re the type of person who notices minute details — such as the fold of napkins at a dinner party — you might want to consider pursuing an event assistant gig. As an event assistant, you’ll be responsible for completing behind-the-scenes tasks that help make weddings, birthday parties, corporate events and more run smoothly.
While this side hustle idea might seem glamorous, be advised that event assistants work long hours, spending much of that time on their feet. Also know that event assistants are not event guests, meaning you will not partake in event happenings.
Sorbis / Shutterstock.com
Fast Food Worker
How much it pays: $8.36 per hour
Fast food workers are responsible for greeting customers, taking orders, assisting with kitchen prep and cleaning the restaurant. A high school degree or equivalent might be required, though some positions require no education — just on-the-job training.
Approximately 1.7% of Americans work in fast food as their way of making money on the side, the survey found.
Find Out: This Is Why the Gig Economy Is Shrinking
Mangostar / Shutterstock.com
Focus Group Participant
How much it pays: Varies, but can be over $100 per focus group
One of the easiest ways to earn money on the side is to become a focus group participant. Focus groups are small gatherings of select individuals organized by market researchers to garner feedback on a specific product or topic.
If you are selected as a focus group participant, you’ll have the opportunity to try out new products, taste test food and drinks and more. The best part? You’re paid for sharing what you do and don’t like. You can find focus group opportunities using resources like FocusGroup.com.
Andrey_Popov / Shutterstock.com
Food and Beverage Delivery Driver
If you have a reliable car, a good driving record and free time on nights and weekends, consider part-time work as a food and beverage delivery driver — 3% of Americans work in delivery as their side hustle, according to the survey. While at one time delivery drivers were limited to pizza parlors and restaurants that offered take out, the opportunities for delivery drivers today are endless.
For example, you can consider working for popular delivery apps like Seamless, Grubhub, DoorDash and Postmates, to name a few.
How much it pays: $23.67 per hour for freelance writing
Freelancing encompasses such a wide range of skills and talents that it can be paralyzing to figure out which one to market. Some common freelancing opportunities to consider include:
Check websites such as Upwork, Toptal, LinkedIn, Indeed and Craigslist for available opportunities. If you work as a freelance writer, you might even be able to turn your writing into a passive income stream.
Because of the range of talent and demand for particular jobs, it can be nearly impossible to assess how much a freelancing gig can earn you. Some sources even point out that dedicated freelancing can net you more than your 9-to-5 job. Freelancing gigs depend on a lot of things — such as experience, skill set and networking — but most of all, it depends on you.
Nearly 2% of Americans are consulting as a side gig, the survey found. Design and photography are also significant freelance jobs, with a total of 1.4% working in these creative industries on the side.
skynesher / iStock.com
Hair Salon or Spa Receptionist
How much it pays: $10.16 per hour for salon receptionists
Hair salons and spas are often bustling on the weekends with clients who want to kick back, relax and pamper themselves. You can take advantage of busy weekends by finding a side gig as a hair salon or spa receptionist.
To be successful as a receptionist, you need a friendly demeanor, a great attitude, excellent customer service skills and the ability to stay organized and schedule appointments. Receptionists often get discounts on salon or spa services as well.
Blend Images / Shutterstock.com
Host or Barback
How much it pays: $9.17 per hour for hosting
Securing a job as a host or barback is an excellent way to break into the restaurant business. These positions are ideal for individuals who have little or no restaurant experience but are interested in working their way up to waiting tables or working as a bartender.
Exemplary hosts have excellent customer service skills, as they are most often the first representative guests see when they enter a restaurant. They are required to keep track of reservations and waiting lists, to seat guests at their tables and to complete other miscellaneous tasks, such as cleaning menus. Hosts earn an average hourly rate of $9.17.
Unlike hosts, barbacks do not usually interact with guests. Instead, they can be seen stocking the bar with ice, glasses, alcohol and other necessary items. Barbacks sometimes also clear dining tables, though this is usually reserved for bussers. While working as a barback is much more strenuous than working as a host, the pay is roughly the same. The average hourly rate for a barback is $9.61 an hour plus tips.
DGLimages / Getty Images/iStockphoto
House Cleaner
Some people thrive on cleaning and organizing, so working as a house cleaner could be the ideal side hustle for this personality type. According to the survey, 4.3% of Americans do this as a side hustle, making it the second-most popular side gig.
Many housekeepers work for an agency, though some are self-employed. Either way, the job often allows for a flexible schedule, as you can typically choose how often and when you work. This job can be strenuous, so it’s best for people who don’t mind being on their feet and doing physically taxing work.
Other Jobs You Can Do in a House: Work-From-Home Jobs You Can Get Right Now
Krystyna Taran / Shutterstock.com
Lawn Maintenance Worker
If you want to make extra money on the weekends but don’t want to spend your time indoors or inside your car, consider a gig as a lawn maintenance worker. About 3.7% of Americans work in landscaping as a side hustle, the survey found.
To get started, you can contact landscaping companies near where you live, or you can look for opportunities on services like GreenPal, which connects individuals who need yard services with lawn professionals via its website, YourGreenPal.com.
The pay you’ll earn when working for private clients might vary, so do your research so you know what an acceptable hourly rate is.
ChameleonsEye / Shutterstock.com
Another great outdoor job is that of a lifeguard. Working as a lifeguard at a local pool, gym, water park or beach is not exclusively for high school students on summer break. In fact, any person certified through an accredited lifeguard training and certification course — which includes CPR, first aid and automated external defibrillator (AED) training — can do the job.
How much it pays:$46.52 per hour
If you’re musically inclined, you can turn your talents into some extra cash. Musicians and singers can get paid gigs performing at a variety of venues, including theaters, lounges and orchestras. It’s helpful to secure an agent if you want to get paying gigs regularly, but you’ll likely have to begin performing for free before you can charge to be an entertainer.
According to the GOBankingRates survey, 2.4% of Americans pad their income by working as a musician on the side.
Pazargic Liviu / Shutterstock.com
Nanny or Caretaker
Even families that employ full-time nannies or use day care services often need extra help taking care of their children on the weekends. You can help fill this need so parents can get more done — or simply go on a date every now and then — by working as a nanny, caretaker or baby sitter.
Word of mouth is still a powerful method for finding good work in this field; however, you can also sign up with reputable resources like Care.com or Sittercity.com. Be advised that caretaking experience is expected. Some parents might also prefer candidates with certifications in CPR and some early childhood education or training. One perk of this job is that you might be able to watch your own children while watching the children of others, making it an ideal job for stay-at-home parents.
The survey found that 2.8% of Americans work as baby sitters for their side hustle, and an additional 2.4% work in other care services.
svetikd / Getty Images/iStockphoto
If you’re looking for side-business ideas, this can be a lucrative one. Buying and selling items online is tied with auto-related side hustles as the top side gig among Americans, with 4.4% supplementing their income this way. Online resellers buy items on sites like OfferUp, Craigslist, eBay, Amazon and other online retailers, as well as garage sales and discount shops, and then resell them for a profit.
To be profitable, you’ll need to have an eye for a good deal and take the time to find items you’ll realistically be able to resell. But the pay-off can be high, with some online resellers earning six figures, Yahoo Finance reported. One woman cited in the article is a retiree who scours thrift stores and makes an extra $600 a month selling these items on eBay, while another now resells full time and made $144,000 in a single year. You can also learn a lot of side-hustle lessons by opening your own eBay store.
JasonDBrown / iStock.com
It’s hard to beat getting paid to walk among nature. There are certainly people who prefer to spend their time outdoors year-round, but park work can also be seasonal. Park ranger duties might include general surveillance of the park, cleaning up trash and ecological projects such as restoring wildlife habitats. If you work in an area with a high tourism rate, such as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee, expect to field a lot of tourists’ questions.
The National Park Service offers seasonal employment opportunities, though salaries depend on the park, the scope of duties and the type of position itself.
antoniodiaz / Shutterstock.com
Pets are part of the family, and some people are willing to shell out cash to ensure their fur babies receive endless love and care. If you have experience caring for animals like dogs and cats, you should consider a side gig as a pet sitter.
Websites like Rover.com and Petsitting.com can help you find pets that need care in your area. Services offered by these websites range from daily walks to caring for an animal in your home while the pet owner is away.
How much you make as a pet sitter depends on many factors, including the service you are providing and your experience with animals. Rover.com says its pet sitters can earn up to $1,000 per month. You might even be able to pay off thousands of dollars of debt by working as a dog walker. With such high earning potential, it’s no wonder 1.6% of Americans work in pet-related services as a side hustle, according to the survey.
Repair Worker
Thanks to sites like TaskRabbit and Handy, it’s easy to find side gigs doing repairs and performing other handyman services. With TaskRabbit, you can search job tasks to find ones that fit your skill set, set your own rates and choose your own schedule. But before becoming a Tasker, you must register online and attend an onboarding info session in your city.
Working as a repair person is a popular side gig, with 3.6% of Americans doing repairs to earn extra cash, according to the survey.
Monkey Business Images / Shutterstock.com
Retailers are often busiest on weekends, which presents a great opportunity for those looking to bring in a little extra cash. Retail sales associates work in the customer areas of stores to help maintain orderliness and appearance, and to assist shoppers with any needs they might have. Retail associates spend the bulk of their shifts standing and are often required to be able to lift items weighing up to 25 pounds. In addition to their hourly pay, most retailers give their employees a discount on store merchandise.
According to the survey, 2.3% of Americans work in retail as their side hustle.
Air Images / Shutterstock.com
Security Guard or Bouncer
Clubs, bars and music vendors are always on the hunt for extra muscle on weekends and for major events. To increase your chances of being hired as a security guard or bouncer, sign up for a training course that culminates with licensure. Physical fitness is another requirement of the job, as you’ll need to be able to handle unruly and, oftentimes, inebriated patrons.
What Happens When You’re Your Own Boss: 6 Lessons I Learned Starting My Own Business
How much it pays: $6.63 per hour plus tips, for servers
It’s easy to squeeze in shifts working nights and weekends as a server, waiter or other restaurant worker if you work a traditional 9-to-5 job.
Working as a server usually requires on-the-job training, and you should be prepared to be on your feet for long periods of time. Having good people skills is also a must with this side gig, which 4.1% of Americans do, according to the survey. It’s the third-most popular side gig in the U.S.
SolStock / Getty Images
Stylists, Massage Therapists and Personal Trainers
How much it pays: $9.79 per hour for hairstylists
The survey found that 3.6% of Americans have side gigs in personal or cosmetic services, which includes jobs as hairstylists, massage therapists, nail technicians, makeup artists and personal trainers.
Hairstylists need special training and certification, plus the ability to be on their feet for long periods of time. It also helps to be outgoing and good at making conversation, to keep clients coming back.
Survey Taker
Sites like Swagbucks allow you to get paid to take surveys in your downtime. Companies, brands and organizations work with the site to get consumer opinions, and you get rewarded with cash back and gift cards for your time. The pay per survey varies, but some pay up to $50. This side gig is an easy way to earn some extra cash, and you don’t need any special skills to do it — which could be why it’s one of the most popular side hustles, with 2.3% of Americans taking surveys as a side gig.
tsyhun / Shutterstock.com
There are countless part-time telemarketing jobs available for anyone willing to work nights or weekends. Even better, these jobs sometimes allow you to work from the comfort of your own home — which is perfect if you’re looking for jobs that offer work-life balance.
As you likely know, telemarketers call potential customers over the phone in the hopes of persuading them to buy products or services. Sales skills are a plus, though not necessary, as most companies provide their workers with a prepared pitch. Thick skin, however, is a must.
You can find telemarketing opportunities online on FlexJobs.com and via internet job boards.
RichLegg / Getty Images
Theater Usher
If you love the cinema and enjoy order, ushering might be the perfect side gig for you. Theater ushers are the last lines of defense between a popcorn fight and a pleasant viewing experience. A good sense of customer service and patience will serve you best in this gig, as well as a willingness to be on your feet most of the time.
Look up theaters such as AMC or Cinemark for usher jobs, or check in with your local theater. Benefits likely include free movies and popcorn.
asiseeit / Getty Images
According to the survey, 3.3% of Americans work as teachers, tutors or other instructors on a part-time basis.
Tutors provide an invaluable service to those seeking academic help or alternatives to professional help. Customers, most of whom will likely be students and their parents, will want you to field their questions and concerns about math, English, history or science. You’ll have to take their class schedule into account, working primarily after school or on weekends. Tutoring might work best if you live on or near an academic campus. Sites like Care.com can link up tutors with prospective students.
Read: Match Your Side Hustle With How Much Free Time You’ve Got
g-stockstudio / Shutterstock.com
Uber or Lyft Driver
How much it pays: $17.50 per hour for Lyft drivers
Ride-sharing apps have become so popular that “Uber” is now used as a verb as well as a noun.
You must meet several requirements to become a driver for a ride-share service. For example, to become a Lyft driver, you must be at least 21 years old, own an iPhone or Android phone and meet other requirements that vary by city. As a driver, you’ll set your own hours and generally choose the area where you want to drive. Drivers make an average of $17.50 per hour with Lyft, while UberX drivers make an average of $14.22 per hour after tip, according to Ridester.
According to the survey, 2.7% of Americans work as ride-share drivers as their side hustle.
andresr / Getty Images
How To Get Started Finding a Side Hustle
The first step in determining the best side hustle for you is figuring out how much time you have to dedicate to it — you should match your side hustle to the amount of free time you have. Next, figure out what marketable skills you have: Are you a people person who would do well in the service industry? Are you artistic or crafty? Do you love to write? Once you hone in on your available time and the skills you can monetize, you should have a good idea of the best side hustle for you.
Always keep in mind, however, that if a side gig seems too good to be true, it might be. Multilevel marketing companies like Mary Kay, Avon, Herbalife and The Pampered Chef are a side hustle many Americans — 1.7% — use to add to their earnings. But before you sign up for any sort of MLM sales gig, make sure it’s a legitimate business and not a pyramid scheme. Signs that a company is a pyramid scheme include paying you simply to recruit more salespeople, charging you huge startup costs and allowing five or more levels of distributors to collect commissions, according to How Stuff Works.
Click through to read about the side hustles of these top 15 athletes.
More on Making Money With Side Gigs
How To Find Your Side Hustle Sweet Spot
How To Get Free Money: 7 Steps To Collect $1,640 Online
101 Side Business Ideas and How To Start Without Quitting Your Job
Got a Side Hustle? This Is What You Need To Know Before Filing Taxes
Sean Dennison and Gabrielle Olya contributed to the reporting for this article.
Methodology: GOBankingRates conducted a poll with a sample size of 1,000 respondents from across the United States, asking them a series of nine questions: (1) Have you ever had a “side hustle” (aka a second job or gig in addition to your full-time job); (2) Please list all side hustles you currently have; (3) Which statement most applies to you?; (4) Why did you take on a side hustle? Select all that apply; (5) Approximately, how many hours per week do you spend on your side hustle? (6) Which of the following statements apply to you? Select all that apply; (7) Has the money you earned from your side hustle helped you do any of the following? (8) Do you know how to file taxes for your side hustle? (9) Which state most applies to you? This article is based on the responses to question (2).
Average hourly pay and salary information is according to PayScale, which uses real-time, market-enabled compensation models to provide salary information for workers and employers unless otherwise noted.
Beverly Bird
Beverly Bird is a New Jersey-based writer specializing in personal finance and law. She has more than 30 years’ experience, including numerous published books. She offers personal finance workshops for single and divorced parents.
Check Out the Next Article
30 Legitimate Ways to Make Some Quick Cash This Year
Increase your income with these side gigs.
Sponsored Links by Zergnet
Feeling Overwhelmed With Debt? Here Are 14 Ways to Get Your Financial Life in Order
By taking these steps, you will see the financial finish line.
By Gabrielle Olya
17 Steps Millennials Can Take Now for a Better Future
Are High-Yield Savings Accounts Worth It? Here’s Everything You Need to Know
20 Beautiful Places Where You Can Buy a Home for Under $300,000
By John Csiszar
Best Stadiums With the Cheapest Food
Are Tiny Homes Worth It? 21 Reasons Why They’re a Huge Mistake
By Daria Uhlig
Great Places to Retire Where Rent Is Under $1,000 a Month
These Places Will Pay You to Live There — But There’s a Catch
GOBankingRates > Making Money > Side Gigs > The 32 Best Side Hustles in America
Content Marketing Solutions
© 2020 GOBankingRates. All Right Reserved.
You’re in!
Important! Add news@email.gobankingrates.com as a contact to ensure you receive our emails to your inbox. Instructions here.
Advertiser Disclosure: Many of the offers appearing on this site are from advertisers from which this website receives compensation for being listed here. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). These offers do not represent all deposit accounts available.
Find the Best Bank for You
Open a Checking Account
Open a CD Account
Compare Checking Accounts
Compare CD Rates
Compare Money Market Accounts
Compare National Banks
Compare Online Banks
Compare Regional Banks
Compare Credit Unions
Compare Bank Promotions & Offers
Your Strategy
Open a Brokerage Account
Invest Your Money
Invest in Bonds
Compare Online Stock Brokers
Compare Investment Apps
Compare Robo-Advisors
Compare Day Trading Platforms
Compare Mutual Funds
Compare Cheap Stocks
Savings Advice
Compare IRA Providers
Compare Roth IRA Providers
Compare 401k Companies
Compare 401k Plans
Types of Cards
Raise Your Credit Score
Live Richer™
Tackle Debt
Find a Side Job
Your Money Champion
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2445
|
__label__cc
| 0.687592
| 0.312408
|
GW Home
Firm lawyers named in 2020 Louisiana Super Lawyers and Corporate Counsel Edition of Super Lawyers
Charles S. Weems, III, Henry B. Bruser, III, Eugene J. Sues and Bradley L. Drell were named to the 2020 Louisiana Super Lawyers Edition , and B. Gene Taylor, III was named as a Rising Star, a recognition by Super Lawyers for attorneys under 40.
Super Lawyers is a listing of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.
It is published as a special supplement in leading newspapers and city and regional magazines across the country. Super Lawyers magazine, featuring articles about attorneys named to the Super Lawyers list, is distributed to all attorneys in the state or region, the lead corporate counsel of Russell 3000 companies and the ABA-approved law school libraries.
GOLD WEEMS BRUSER SUES & RUNDELL
2001 MACARTHUR DR.
ALEXANDRIA, LA 71307-6118
COPYRIGHT © 2020 GOLD WEEMS BRUSER SUES & RUNDELL, APLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Developed By Ugly Mug Marketing
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2448
|
__label__cc
| 0.733169
| 0.266831
|
2018 Kia Sportage vs Sorento
If you need extra storage capacity in your vehicle, whether it be for cargo or passengers, an SUV is the clear choice. The next question, however, is how big do you want your vehicle to be? Crossovers are smaller, but incredibly popular and easy to drive. On the other hand, midsize SUVs offer a lot in terms of comfort and power. So, how can you know which one is right for you?
The 2018 Kia Sportage and the 2018 Kia Sorento are some of the best examples of crossovers and midsize SUVs, respectively. They both have a lot to offer, but only one can be right for you. Consult this detailed comparison to discover which of these brilliant SUVs is best suited for your needs.
More Kia Sportage Reviews
Browse Our Kia Sportage Inventory
If your primary concern is raw power, the 2018 Kia Sorento might be the way to go. At their base models, the Sportage and the Sorento have around the same horsepower, with the Sportage getting 181 horsepower while the Sorento gets 185 horsepower. However, you can opt for a turbo engine in the Sportage for 237 horsepower. While impressive, it doesn't match up with the Sorento's available 290 horsepower V6.
As you might expect with all that power, the Sorento sacrifices fuel efficiency. While its EPA-estimated 19 mpg combined is good for a vehicle with that much power, the Sportage offers an EPA-estimated 21 mpg combined at worst. At its best, that number goes up to 23 mpg combined.
Interior space is likely one of the main reasons you bought an SUV in the first place. While both of these have plenty of interior space to offer, the Sorento tends to have more. Up to seven people can fit into the Sorento on corresponding trim levels while the Sportage always maxes out at five.
With the third row up, however, the Sorento suffers in terms of rear passenger footroom. They only get 31.7 inches while the Sportage rear passengers get 38.2 inches. The driver, however, always has more room in the Sorento with 39.5 inches of headroom and 44.1 inches of legroom. The latter differs from the Sportage's measurements by nearly four inches.
When you're taking your family or friends along with you on a trip, the most important thing you need to worry about is their safety. Fortunately, Kia has outfitted both the Sportage and the Sorento with outstanding safety features. In terms of crash test ratings, both of these SUVs received an overall rating of five stars.
In addition to being well-constructed, both vehicles include advanced driver assistance features. Systems like lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring and forward emergency braking can grant you peace of mind in what might be the easiest driving experience you've ever had.
Test Drive the Sportage and the Sorento
If you're more into power and have children that can squeeze in the back, the Sorento is the choice for you. If you want fuel efficiency and versatility, however, the Sportage is the way to go. Which is best for you largely depends on what you value. Reading about these vehicles will only get you so far, though. To fully understand what each can offer, you need to experience them for yourself.
Fred Beans Kia of Mechanicsburg invites all Mechanicsburg and Harrisburg drivers to test drive the 2018 Kia Sportage and the 2018 Kia Sorento. Visit us or give us a call to schedule your test drive today!
New Sportage Inventory
New Sorento Inventory
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2456
|
__label__cc
| 0.737156
| 0.262844
|
Listening to the Dharma is the beginning of all...
Order login
Padmavajri, East Sussex
How wonderful to be able to listen to such a wealth of deeply inspiring Dharma talks by Bhante and so many other experienced practitioners of the Dharma. I feel blessed.
Jinamitra, Welwyn, UK
These recordings have been a key part of my life, especially as I don't live near a Buddhist Centre. With its excellent organisation and fast delivery, FBA is a unique resource. A pleasure to donate.
Advayasiddhi, Denmark
At FBA, sangha members can listen to Sangharakshita, hear him say things in his own voice, talk about the Dharma in his own way. And through that people here build up their own relationship with him.
Sangharakshita, Birmingham, UK
As the founder of the Triratna Buddhist Community, I am very happy to have learned that by the end of this year more than a million talks will have been downloaded - that is a tremendous achievement.
Padmatara, San Francisco, USA
Being in San Francisco, I value the easy access to talks from so many different people in the Triratna Buddhist Order - not just the famous ones! It makes me feel connected. A bit like Pirate Radio!
Ratnaghosha, FBA Chairman
As the Chair of the charity that runs Free Buddhist Audio, I am completely inspired to be making available Dharma talks and study materials to anyone who has access to the internet.
Kalyanavaca, London, UK
I love giving to FBA because thousands of people access our community's unique approach to the Dharma. I think this resource is one of our finest creations and feel proud to sponsor it.
My meditation practice is benefiting from access to the led meditations and reflections for those times when I need a helping hand.
Become a supporting friend
kara moses
a-z as images | a-z as text | newest first
Sangha As a Radical Alternative to Capitalism and Modern...
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2457
|
__label__wiki
| 0.588423
| 0.588423
|
Scoolptures - White Sickness (Leo Records, 2011) ****½
Tuesday, May 31, 2011 Avant-garde jazz 1 comment
I have been listening to this album for the last couple of weeks, and there's rarely been a day when I did not put the album on. And that's a very good sign. And the reason is quite simple : this is weird, mesmerising music, a great sequel to "Materiale Umano", their debut album.
The Italian quartet are Nicola Negrini on bass, metallophone and live electronics, Achille Succi on bass clarinet and alto sax, Philippe "Pipon" Garcia on drums and live electronics, and Antonio Della Marina on sinewaves and live electronics.
The band's music is minimalist in the sense that sounds and sound textures are the critical building blocks of their creations, but then again that is not entirely true because Succi plays long and often moaning phrases, and sometimes sounds are repeated by the live electronics.
Like the novel "Blindness" by Jose Saramago, to which the album's title refers, the universe created here is inhospitable, floating in nature, with several stylistic elements that take out familiarity or discard with known reference points that could provide comfort, while at the same time being human in a very basic emotional way, taking out all the stuff that does not matter. And it is the latter that draws me in, time and time again.The sad sax or bass clarinet, the incredibly powerful and warm bass tones, the precise percussion and the overall uncanny electronics create a superb listening experience.
It is so sensitive that it hurts.
In Transit - Shifting Moods (Konnex, 2011) ****
Sunday, May 29, 2011 No comments
Swiss soprano and altoist Jürg Solothurnmann has not released many albums as a leader, and the previous release by his band "In Transit" already dates back to 2007. The band further consists of Michael Jefry Stevens on piano, Daniel Studer on bass and Dieter Ulrich on drums. Despite its lack of recordings, the band is quite tight and coherent, with the saxophonist and pianist being incredibly like-minded inside-out players, staying real close to the jazz vocabulary and grammar, but then speaking a slightly different language with it. That language is full of pulse and lyrical flow, yes stays away from recognisable themes and structures. The pieces are, after all, fully improvised.
Their language can range quite widely. On the second piece, "Color Deep", Michael Jefry Stevens starts with a sweet, almost impressionistic piano piece, with Studer and Ulrich demonstrating their dexterity by adding minimalist accents to the overall sound. Solothurnmann then beautifully captures the same mood to continue where the piano left off, maintaining the subdued atmosphere till the end. A a matter of contrast, the next piece "Spices & Devices, Part 1", starts with a strange repetitive phrase on the piano, leading to lots of counter rhythms from drum and bass, and some distressed playing by the sax.
The strength of the band is its power to create together. Even if the four musicians are great, this is not about the soloing per se, not about the expressivity of the individuals, it's about the joint creation of really nice music, one that can best be described by gentle adventurousness. It doesn't have the spectacular tension of Alpine skiing, but rather the slowly evolving beauty of cross-country, if you want a weird analogy.
Nate Wooley - Trumpet/Amplifier (Smeraldina-Rima 2011) *****
Friday, May 27, 2011 *****, Avant-Garde, Solo Trumpet 3 comments
By Joe Higham
This is one of the strangest records I've listened to in a while, and yet it's also an easy record to give 5 stars to simply because what you hear on this record defies any expectations of what a solo trumpet record, even with an amplifier, would or should sound like. It's this second element, the amplifier, which defines the outcome of Nate Wooley's sound explorations. I use the expression 'sound exploration' as what you hear on this record is anything but music in conventional terms, more an exploration of the sonic possibilities of a trumpet. Wooley investigates the various sounds produced (and not normally heard), brought to the fore via the amplifier, a kind of microscopic sound-view of a brass instrument. Others before have also found new directions on which to experiment such as Evan Parker, Joelle Leandre, Derek Bailey, or more recently trumpeter Alex Boney, and it seems that Nate Wooley is following in the same direction, looking to find new ways of using his instrument.
As for the LP itself. Side One has two tracks : 1) Trumpet A, 2) Trumpet B. Side Two, one track titled quite simply 'Amplifier'. I can imagine looking at this you wonder if it's possible to keep ones attention throughout, and if so are the tracks that different. The answer in both cases is 'yes, no problem'. The opening track takes you a short while to enter into and understand what you're actually listening to, but once you've 'caught on' the rest is just 'sit back and listen'. Even if the sounds are abstract to begin with, little by little you hear Nate Wooley's thinking process unfold as he uses both sound and rhythm in these improvisations which at times sound like early computer generated sound. In fact whilst watching a performance of this music I noticed he not only blows into the trumpet, but sometimes spits, blows at, talks, hits, and sings into his instrument, a more physical approach than the standard playing technique. The three tracks passed by as if in the blink of an eye and I ended up placing the needle back at the beginning as if to confirm what I'd heard, after all did I just hear a trumpet record where no actually brass (musical) note was sounded?
I can recommend this album to all who are interested by new sounds, techniques and their possibilities. Of course if you're into the sound experiments of the likes of Schaeffer, Stockhausen, or even certain moments of Supersilent etc, you'll be quite comfortable with this music, like old friends. I'd love to hear how Wooley and Paul Lytton combine these sonic possibilities in there duo CD reviewed elsewhere. One should note that this is a limited edition of 495 LPs, so if you're interested you better get your copy whilst it's available.
As Stef would say ..... highly recommended!
Buy from Instantjazz.
Vyacheslav Gaivoronsky & Alexander Ragazanov Revelation (Bomba, 2011) ****½
Thursday, May 26, 2011 Trumpet-drums duo 1 comment
In one of my previous reviews on Russian master trumpeter Vyacheslav Gaivoronsky I made the unpleasant comment that he often combines serious music with silly moments, an unlikely combination that is luckily totally absent on this album. "Revelation" brings nine duets with drummer Alexander Ragazanov, and it is a revelation.
Regular readers will know - and hopefully appreciate - my preference for trumpet-percussion duos, because they reflect the pure essence of music : free lyricism and rhythm, close to nature, close to our own feelings, close to our own physical existence, and then especially so if there are no patterns, no structures, just free playing.
But I may be wrong about structure in this case : the whole album seems to evolve from pristine lightheartedness at the beginning, with flute even on the first track, playful melancholy on the second, but gradually becoming deeper, darker too, more earnest. If Ragazanov plays his trap in the conventional acoustic fashion - but how! - the trumpeter does not shy away from sound alterations.
With "Unexpected Companion", he shows his darkest sounds, vibrating wildly, but surfacing again with clear sound. "Step Aside" is a short rhythmic delight, a ray of sunshine beaming through the dark clouds which follow with "On The Brink Abyss", on which the trumpet sounds like you've never heard it before, deep, raw, full of agony and distress, played over tribal percussive polyrhythmics.
On the title track, the mad rhythms, hypnotic and mesmerizing, the uncanny vocals and soaring trumpet create a kind of primitive chant to placcate the gods to spare us all from some looming evil. And truth be told, it sounds unique, absolutely unique, and it is guaranteed to change the minds of even the most strongheaded gods.
The long last track brings the pièce-de-resistance of the album, adding musical drama and tension, shifting colors and textures with just the two of them, first slowly, then gradually increasing the tempo, relaxing for more slow drama, then up again and ending in clear unison.
Without a doubt, both musicians deserve much wider recognition. Among Gaivoronsky's best albums.
Full Blast & Friends - Crumbling Brain (Okkadisk, 2011) ***
Wednesday, May 25, 2011 1 comment
Full Blast is Peter Brötzmann on saxes, clarinet and Tárogató, Marino Pliakas on electric bass and Michael Wertmüller on drums, and with the three of them they already honor the band's title quite well, but here the band is expanded with Mars Williams on sax, Keiji Haino on electric guitar and Peter Evans on trumpet for this live performance at the Jazzfest Berlin in November 2008.
The band's simples recipe is as hard and as energetic as possible and please without breaks. The aptly named opener "Crumbling Brain" starts full force and just never releases the high speed mad power of the band. The second track starts suprirsingly slow, with Brötzmann playing a long solo, but luckily the band pushes him onward and forward into hurricane mood, ending with a great full stop resulting in the deserved appreciation of the enthusiastic crowd.
The short "Have Your Eyes", is a little more subtle for thirty seconds, until Wertmüller comes crashing and thundering down and Bro goes back into the stratosphere, to be joined by the friends at the end of the piece, led by a soaring trumpet blast by Evans. Total chaos ensues.
Side B (yes, this is vinyl) starts with drumming and crazy and maddening guitar sounds, which suddenly and unfortunately loses its momentum and falls into a kind of hesitating feedback with Wertmüller seemingly a bit at a loss of what to do. The next track is even less inspired, with weird shouts and chaotic interplay.
In the last piece, "Deathbop", the raw power-play gains control again with the saxes and trumpet in full blast.
In short, a tremendous first side, with uncompromosing raw focused violence, and with unfortunately a little less of this and more meandering developments when the "friends" join on the B side. But that's always the risk of course.
Watch the band in its best format, as on the A side of the album.
Andrea Centazzo - Moon In Winter (Ictus, 2011) ****
Tuesday, May 24, 2011 Avant-garde jazz No comments
Italian percussionist Andrea Centazzo can be rightly called an innovator, someone who manages to create his own compositional voice, recognizable yet elusive at the same time, bringing a synthesis of many musical genres, ranging from classical, folk, to jazz, world music, new music and one could even say new age. The end result is often evocative, cinematic in its sweeping story-telling, its drama and expansiveness. Centazzo loves effects - unexpected rumblings, hard hits, gongs, sudden tonal or textural changes - as much as he likes broad canvases and refined sensitivities. He abhors noise but also sweetness : anger and sentimentality seem to be alien to him.
On this excellent album, he is accompanied by Nobu Stowe, the Baltimore pianist who invited him for this performance, and by Dave Ballou on trumpet, Achille Succi on alto sax, clarinets and shakuhachi, Daniel Barbiero on bass. Yet this is not a quintet.in the true sense: the musicians play the music in shifting line-ups: duos, trios, quartets, given the music a relatively low density and ephemeral feel with the exception of "Moon in Winter III", the fifth track in which the quintet plays jazz in full force, before you are taken by surprise again.
The ten pieces are composed with room for improvisation, and then mixed afterwards. On some tracks strings are heard, but not credited.
As can be expected, the band creates a welcoming yet unpredictable musical universe, a kind of dreamworld, where things happen that are beyond logic or linear evolution, where familiar things meet on unfamiliar grounds, where incompatible things match, without turning into a nightmare, but far away from reality too.
You will not be shocked, you will not weep. You will float in a land of wonder.
Listen and download from eMusic.
Wadada Leo Smith's Organic - Heart's Reflections (Cuneiform, 2011) *****
Sunday, May 22, 2011 *****, Modern jazz 3 comments
Dialogue intérieur by Stef
Q : Stef, again a 5-star album, and again by Wadada Leo Smith .... Aren't you a little bit exaggerating?
A : I might, but then I mightn't. This is again fabulous music, very much in the vein of his previous album "Spiritual Dimensions".
Q : Is it similar then?
A : Yes, on this double album, the line-up is very similar with Wadada Leo Smith on trumpets, Brandon Ross, Michael Gregory, Lamar Smith, and Josh Gerowitz on guitar, Skuli Sverrisson and John Lindberg on bass, Angelica Sanchez on acoustic and electric piano, Stephanie Smith on violin, Casey Anderson on alto saxophone, Casey Butler on tenor saxophone, Mark Trayle and Charlie Burgin on laptops, and Pheeroan AkLaff on drums.
Q : Four guitars and two basses?
A : Yes.
Q : Does it add anything to the previous album?
A : Even if it does not add anything conceptually to the previous album, it is still of superb musical quality.
Q : I thought you were all about adventure and uncharted territories?
A : Yes, and they do in a way. They take the electric Miles Davis legacy and push it into today's world.
Q : Is it free jazz? Is it fusion?
A : No, no, no ...
Q : What is it then?
A : It is funky, hypnotic, tribal, spiritual, uplifting ... with pumping basses, soaring trumpets, shredding guitars, polypolyrhythmic drums.
Q : Sound like fusion?
A : No, definitely not. It's all about the music, not about the instrument skills.
Q : But there is some guitar shredding for sure?
A : Yes, there is. And even if I don't like it usually, I can appreciate it in this context.
Q : What is then so special about it?
A : The overall sound, the variation between slow spiritual moments and almost danceable uptempo pieces, the instrumental prowess, the interplay, the unbelievable feeling to be one with it all, because it resonates so deeply with everything that feels true and warm and human.
Q : Is it that good?
A : Once you're in it, you don't want it to stop.
Q : Doesn't it affect your credibility to always give a 5-star rating to a Wadada Leo Smith album?
A : I indeed gave five stars to "The Blue Mountain's Sun Drummer", "Tabligh", "Compassion", "Spiritual Dimensions", "America", "Wisdom In Time", but I was less impressed by the two albums on Treader ... and I don't care about my credibility.
.... Can you now please stop asking all those questions and start enjoying this music?
Listen and download from iTunes.
Guillaume Roy, Vincent Courtois, Claude Tchamitchian - Amarco (Emouvance, 2011) ****½
Saturday, May 21, 2011 Avant-Garde, Violin Trio 3 comments
Apart from the Masada String Trio, there aren't many trios of violin, cello and bass to be found in modern jazz, yet here is one from France, and one with equally seasoned virtuosi: Guillaume Roy on viola, Vincent Courtois on cello and Claude Tchamitchian on bass.
As can be expected from the line-up, this is chamber music, but one that goes far beyond the classical notion of the music, and far beyond the sweet melodies of the Masada songbook.
The music, the sounds, the approach are new and fully improvised. The music floats, is melancholy, or full of intensity, full of distress, or full of drama.
Listen to the first piece, listen how the tune is built up gradually, out of soft touches on strings, some pizzi cello, then gradually the bass takes over the core rhythm to the very end, for the viola to start adding bowed tension, just to have the cello switch magnicently and shortly to arco, piercing, profound.
The title piece is romantic classicism, with all three instruments bowing around a tonal center,with deep sadness and melancholy, moving slightly away from each other, which accentuates the sadness even more, then all three go into higher regions, before the bass bows the last incredibly deep tones. It is hard to believe that this is improvised, yet it is.
"'Champ Contre Champ" starts with a crazy rhythm on bass, and viola and cello kind of fight their way through the piece, duelling, circling around each other, while the bass keeps on plucking, then bowing the same rhythm hypnotically onwards.
This is serious and abstract music, with lots of gravity and a dark overall feeling, but the kind of music that is gripping in the way it's told, in the way it is created in front of your ears,
It is also incredibly creative. The eleven relatively short pieces each tell their own story, invite you in a different context, but then without losing the overall coherence of the album.
But why am I ranting on .... this is remarkable music by three fantastic artists. Judge for yourself on the long clip below, that gives an entire performance by the trio.
On our way to 1,000,000 visitors
Saturday, May 21, 2011 General 8 comments
Today, this blog was visited by 900,000 unique visitors since its original creation some years ago, of which one third visited us repeatedly. The total page loads is 1,435,000.
These figures are of course quite relative, but I hope our global outreach did its work in promoting adventurous and authentic music.
Now up to 1,000,000!!
Please spread the word and promote this blog (based on work by music fans with no commercial interests).
Marcin Wasilewski Trio - Faithful, ECM 2011 ***½
Friday, May 20, 2011 Piano Trio No comments
When listening to the Marcin Wasilewski Trio's Faithful, I've begun developing a feeling that there is something that I'm not quite tuned in to. Having not heard this trio's music before but having read some laudatory write-ups online, I must I admit I was anticipating something, though what, I'm still not entirely sure.
Wasilewski's approach to piano is strikingly lush but at the same time employs a great economy. The phrasing is exquisite and the atmosphere, light and refreshing, is consistently applied. His trio is telepathic, and is a wonderful example of the interactions a group that has been working together for the better part of a decade can have. Their touch is impeccable and compliments the leader's piano perfectly.
The opening song, 'The Secret Marriage', is like an air cleansing rain. Slawomir Kurkiewicz's bass and Michal Miskiwicz's percussion lightly accents passages, but the song is pretty much features the piano and effectively bridges classical and jazz idioms. The next song, 'Night Train to You', features a more strident, yet still reserved, rhythm section. There are moments when the music is skating along, and employing open chordal voicings that remind me a little of the Pat Metheny Group circa Still Life Talking. Overall, it seems that the recording vacillates between these two styles, ethereal, almost solo piano and more rhythmic driving trio tunes.
This is a quiet recording with moments of both insistent rhythm and introspective melody. Its tone is positive and I appreciate the beauty of the melodies, but overall, I find myself trying hard to hear something more gripping. While I find the music to be a little too delicate, I do also have this feeling that when I return to listen at some point, I'll realize that I was indeed not getting it the first time.
See & hear Song For Świrek
(c) Paul Acquaro
Michel Pilz & Jean-Noël Cognard - Binôme (Bloc Thyristors, 2011) ****
Thursday, May 19, 2011 Clarinet-drums duo 1 comment
Recorded in 1984, this issue on vinyl of a performance by German bass clarinetist Michel Pilz and French drummer Jean-Noël Cognard is everything my heart needs today, bringing raw but lyrical improvisations on two short album sides (really too short).
Both musicians are absolutely great to hear. Pilz's tone on the bass clarinet is excellent, and so are his improvisations. He did not release much under his own name, but performed amonst others with the Globe Unity Orchestra, Peter Kowald and Manfred Schoof.
I couldn't find much information on Jean-Noëlle Cognard, apart from the fact that he released several vinyl albums, and performs regularly. His drumming is excellent too, and especially on the second side, he really gets the chance to show his skills, during a polyrhythmic and captivating solo.
Easy to recommend, although possibly hard to find, since printed in only 200 copies, but not yet sold out. So grab your chance!
Scott Tinkler, Bae Il Dong, Simon Barker - Chiri (Kimnara, 2010) ****½
Thursday, May 19, 2011 Clarinet-drums duo, Trumpet trio 1 comment
Trumpeter Scott Tinkler and drummer Simon Barker are not only well-kept Australian secrets, both musicians have a kind of organic interplay that is quite exceptional. Their music is improvised, raw and straight from the heart. Listen also to "Lost Thoughts" for a duo performance.
On this interesting album, they team up with Korean pansori singer Bae Il Dong, whose singing will take many listeners by surprise, as it is quite unusual. He kind of sings and shouts at the same time, spitting out his lungs, his heart, his entire system, in a way that is quite difficult to fathom, yet resonates deeply. What does he sing? Is he singing incantations? Is he bemoaning a lost love? Is he angry? Is his singing spiritual? Possibly a combination of all those : blues and spiritual and tribal.
The idea for the music comes from drummer Simon Barker's fascination with South-Korean shamanistic drumming, a skill which he mastered over the years, and can be described as "powerfully relaxed". It my opinion, it is a sheer delight to hear him play.
Tinkler is an equally incredibly good trumpeter. His dialogues with Bae Il Dong are nothing short of unique, offering not only a great mirror of sounds to the singer, in counterpoint or just pushing the intensity, he can also set the rhyhtm with great staccato blasts, or falling back on intimate sounds.
The most unique element is the Korean's voice though, and the album's title, Chiri, refers to the mountain area where the singer spent many years in isolation singing at waterfalls in order to reveal "the voices". It may require transcending some preconceived notions about singing at first, and that's a good thing.
All comparisons are wrong by definition, but the album comes close in spirit to Norwegian's Jorgensen and Isungset on "Agbalagba Daada" : same instruments, equally shamanistic, equally improvised and free, other continent.
Below you find a trailer for the documentary by Emma Franz "Intangible Asset Number 82" which shows the journey of Simon Barker to Korea to hear and learn from shaman master Kim Seok-Chul.
Thomas Heberer - Clarino (No Business, 2011) ****
Monday, May 16, 2011 Solo Trumpet, Trumpet trio 2 comments
This double vinyl LP is a real treat for fans of small ensembles or chamber jazz. The first sides, called "Klippe", bring us the trio of Thomas Heberer on trumpet and quarter-tone trumpet, Joachim Badenhorst on clarinet and bass-clarinet, and Pascal Niggenkemper on bass, three stellar musicians from respectively Germany, Belgium and France/Germany combined, but who all met in New York. The trio improvises based on Heberer's self-developed compositional development which gives clues to the players on pulse, density, pitch etc allowing also for spontaneous phrases to be repeated. The end result are quite intimate and abstract miniatures, quite gentle and full of mutual respect, no doubt the result of very attentive listening to each other. Sometimes the music itself has few references to jazz, but more linked to ethereal new music, but at other times, both trumpet, clarinet and bass play deeply emotional bluesy tones, giving the overall tone one of fragile sensitivity.
On the second LP, called "One", Heberer goes solo, demonstrating his incredible skills, especially when his circular breathing allows him to play an entire piece seemingly in one breath, or when he kind of shouts and creates multiphonics on his horn. Yet he is of course too good a musician to just demonstrate technique on his instrument, which is entirely in function of the music. I must say that I prefer the austerity of the solo pieces above the trio. They give the fragility a different, deeper, more personal dimension, of the lone individual struggling, moaning, singing. Unlike other trumpeters like Peter Evans or Nate Wooley, Heberer keeps his tone voiced throughout, which makes this overall somewhat more accessible, although that is of course an extremely relative concept. Some pieces are absolutely astonishingly beautiful.
Motif - Facienda (Jazzland, 2011) ***½
Sunday, May 15, 2011 Modern jazz 5 comments
The Norwegian jazz scene is without a doubt one of the most vibrant in Europe, with musicians climbing to international recognition due to their combination of instrumental skills and creative voice. And the latter is no doubt the most important in art : you may like them or not, but Jan Garbarek, Terje Rypdal, Nils Petter Molvaer, Bugge Wesseltoft, Frode Gjerstad, Terje Isungset, Trygve Seim, Ståle Storløkken, Ingar Zach and many more, have all created quite different, yet very distinct sounds, and even new musical subgenres within the jazz tradition, but very often going beyond that, always with maturity and intelligence. And I emphasise the creative aspect : letting us hear new and innovative approaches, rather than destructive noise.
The Norwegian band Motif is part of this creative stream. They describe their own music as "a sound that echoes the acoustic outings of Miles Davis, the structures of Ligeti, and the electronic collage of Aphex Twin", which is not always easy to recognise on this triple album.
The band is led by Ole Morten Vågan on bass, Eivind Lønning on trumpet, Atle Nymo on saxophone, Håvard Wiik on piano, and Håkon Mjåset Johansen on drums. On the second and third volumes, Petter Vågan joins on guitar and Ola Kvernberg on violin. The band's former trumpeter Mathias Eick joins on the third volume.
The music is composed, with discernible themes and structures, beautifully arranged, often slow to mid-tempo, and could mostly be categorised as mainstream jazz with exuberant soloing, but then you have pieces like "The Korean Barbecue Smokeout", which is crazy, or "Seksten" which is more explorative.
Without having the energy and power of their fellow countrymen of Atomic, Motif manages to bring a very strong album, and one that will appeal to a broader audience of jazz fans.
Listen to Apo Calypso
Dennis González & Ingebrigt Håker-Flaten - The Hymn Project (Daagnim, 2011) ****½
Sunday, May 15, 2011 1 comment
Trumpeter Dennis González stole my heart many years ago, and this for several reasons : he has lots of warmth in his playing, a relative accessibility, spritualism and emotional power. He is also a great band leader, giving the other musicians lots of space, while maintaining a good focus on the overall sound.
With this band it is no different. He is joined by his sons Aaron on bass and Stefan on drums, and by Norwegian bass-player Ingebrigt Håker-Flaten, now also residing in Texas, and cellist Henna Chou, also from Austin.
This strong line-up also leads to strong music, very much in line with some of González's previous albums, with quite open and hypnotic structures, slow-flowing and reverent as the album's title might suggest. The themes repeat themselves freely over the improvisation, as on "Eg Feif I Himmerik Ei Borg", composed by Håker-Flaten, possibly the only piece with an easily discernible melody.
Even to atheists like myself, the spiritual dimension of the music will not be lost, because of its universal appeal of unity and expansiveness and transcending our day-to-day struggles and mediocrity.
The two basses and the cello weave the solid and light foundation for the improvisations, with Dennis González' warm and soaring trumpet tones lifting you up, accentuated by Stefan González' precise punctuation and emphasis, very much in the tradition of Paul Motian. On the moments when the strings are bowed, Tomasz Stanko comes to mind.
A truly beautiful album, one that will not get you out of your comfort zone, but it is guaranteed to bring you into another dimension.
Aram Shelton's Arrive- There Was... (Clean Feed, 2011) ****½
Friday, May 13, 2011 2 comments
Aram Shelton's 'This Was...', recorded with his group Arrive in 2008 is a serious affair that is quite a fun and demanding listen.
I was first struck by how cool this group was, cool in the sense of how the vibes, the upright acoustic bass, the commanding sax, and some very hip drumming, casts a spell. At the same time, I was impressed by how hot the band was, in the sense of, well, just tearing it up. Their intensity is impressive, but so is how neatly they color outside the lines. While on the surface the tunes may feel very composed and modern, a deeper listen reveals some fine and fierce free playing.
I think by the time I got to the tune, 'Lost', I found myself thoroughly engaged. Jason Adasiewicz's vibraphone and Jason Roebke's bass generate a palpable density that is buoyed by Tim Daisy's drums. On top, Shelton has a serious foundation for spinning fractured and dazzling solos. Adasiewicz shines throughout, using the vibes to set a dark, sometimes mysterious, atmosphere. His solos, like on the laid-back 'Frosted' are as tantalizing as Shelton's, reacting to the rhythm section, always servicing the aesthetic of the song but not pulling any punches.
Shelton's composing blends sophisticated syncopation and harmonies, and all the songs are distinctive. The suspended and slow building 'Golden' comes to mind as a highlight. All four instruments act as part of the melody, building up to a small peak before resolving into some free playing. Soon it becomes a duet between the vibes and bass, their conversation becomes more obscure, but captivating, only to soon be joined by the others and driving to a greater crescendo. Shelton solo is rather intense but always in control of the exuding passion.
The contrasting qualities of this album are what makes it so tantalizing. It's laid back, but aggressive, cool but passionate. Composed, arranged but free and unpretentious. There is not a dull or unimportant note or rest that is out of place on this edgy piece of modern jazz.
See a clip of Arrive playing 'Frosted'
Louie Belogenis Trio - Tiresias (Porter, 2011) ****½
Tuesday, May 10, 2011 Sax trio 1 comment
The opening track of this album is something to share, also with innocent free jazz sceptics. It starts with some frenetic bowing by Michael Bisio, a couple of cymbal touches by Sunny Murray, and then ... out of incredible emotional depths comes this human sorrowful howl from Louie Belogenis' tenor, all feeling, all resonance, combining sadness with fear and anguish, so human, so human, interrupting the slow wailing with staccato outbursts while Murray's toms start emphasing more, hitting harder, with Bisio's bass coming back to frenzy.
This magnificent trio used Albert Ayler as their example for this album, not trying to copy him, but rather using his process-oriented composing as an example, resulting in an nice flow in the music, but one that remains focused.
So much for the rationalisation and the context. The music does the rest and does not need many words : it speaks for itself. Three stellar musicians playing well, really well, listening carefully, adding creative touches, all three with a "voice" of their own - Murray is unique, Bisio is excellent, and Belogenis' tone will make many sax-players jealous - offering a perfect match of deeply emotional and free music, and all this with an excellent sound quality on top. The highlight of the album is the long "Tiresias", but John Coltrane's "Alabama" also gets a rendition that is hard to equal in terms of sensitivity and sheer musicality.
What an incredible joy to hear this trio play.
So what about subjecting free jazz sceptics to the album? I tried it with some of my friends : one of them laughed out loud out of sheer pleasure for the ferocity and uncompromising nature of some of the moments, the other friend smiled pityngly while shaking her head, saying "these guys make noise because they can't play their instruments". There is still work to be done ...
Listen to "Blind Prophecy"
Piano, piano, piano, ....
Tuesday, May 10, 2011 Solo Piano 2 comments
Totally stuck with far too much on my plate, professionally and privately, the great music that is coming my way does not get the attention it deserves. The albums are here on my left, piling up, screaming to be listened to, complaining when only listened to once, depressed when put on the "hold" pile (also on my left but less so). So I must change the approach, and tell you less about more albums.
Howard Riley - “The Complete Short Stories 1998-2010” (No Business, 2011) ****
When I bought Keith Jarrett's "Sun Bear Concerts" many years ago, I was completely lost by the sheer amount of music on the 6 album box with only solo piano. Some pieces were to my immediate liking, some took some time to absorb, but finding those pieces back was almost impossible unless I listened to the entire six albums again. That's the feeling I have with Howard Riley's new compilation on No Business : it is a lot of music, spanning more than a decade of solo performances. How do you get your ears around this?
Riley is kind of his own genre : a lyricist and synthesist, someone who manages to carve his own voice from material coming from the entire music legacy, from classical to modern music, with obvious jazz as a major influence. In contrast to musicians like Jarrett, Riley does not need the epic lengths to come to a climax, hence the real appropriate title of "short stories", in which you don't need the entire history, but just a glimpse, a snapshot of good ideas, perfected in its smallness, in its uniqueness. The end result is one of close intimacy, recognisable and human. It is also not about the musician, nor about the pyrotechnics. It's all about the music. Fresh, simple, but a lot of it.
Angelica Sanchez - A Little House (Clean Feed, 2011) ***½
On "A Little House", Angelica Sanchez brings also an intimate performance, nothing exuberant, nothing expansive, just thirteen short pieces that do not disturb, that do not challenge, yet which require close attention and concentration. By doing so, she also moves more into mainstream jazz, without losing a sense of abstraction. The playing is good, but I prefer her work with Tony Malaby and Tom Rainey.
Umberto Petrin - A Dawn Will Come (Leo Records, 2011) ****
Italian Umberto Petrin is of a totally different nature: he is a spectacular story-teller, creating drama and expectation with a few notes, then expanding on it, measuring pace and tempo to create suspense and climax. He is not as abstract as Riley, or as intimate as Sanchez, he is the man of the depth and universality, easily accessible, but so beautiful. Listen to his majestic "Mantra and Blue", starting heavy and intense, ending in a beautiful blues.
His accessibility does not mean that he takes easy routes, quite to the contrary, themes are not always available, and the way forward while improvising remains full of anticipation and unexpected turns, sometimes coming to an emotional closure, but you can as easily be left hanging in mid-air. Intelligent beauty.
Michel Wintsch - Metapiano (Leo Records, 2011) ***
On previous occasions, I have praised Swiss pianist Michel Wintsch for his forward thinking in music-making, someone who lifted the piano trio and piano improvisation "tout court" to a different level, minimalist, utterly creative and extremely appealing. On Metapiano, he takes things a step further, using synthesizers and feet devices, and possibly lots of stuff in his piano itself, mentioning very clearly that there are "no overdubs".
Even if a solo album, he sometimes sounds like an orchestra, but not always a nice one. There are plenty of good ideas, and he keeps his minimalist approach, but I hate the sound of synths, and is the case here too. Some of the music is nice, some of the synth is plain irritating. The good thing about this is that it will not leave you indifferent. An interesting exercise, but not a route to further pursue if I had anything to say about it, which obviously is not the case.
Nicola Cipani - Klavier Massagen (Long Song Records, 2011) ***½
I was quite charmed with Nicola Cipani's debut album "The Ill-Tempered Piano" on which he plays only untuned and damaged pianos. On this album, he takes the instrument into real uncharted territories, with highly repetitive, drone-like sounds, resulting in feedback, screeching strings, tonal percolations, and a general weirdness that is highly likeable - and sometimes outright impressive - when in the right mood (you have to be calm and serene, if not, you risk to start throwing with things, unless the nervous and unrelenting tension on this album acts as a kind of antidote to calm even if the most restless high-strung anxious bundle of nerves into a state of zen-like acceptance).
To me, the serene mood works best in any case, and it may help to appreciate Cipani's unique and interesting voice.
The Dreamers - The Gentle Side (Tzadik, 2010) **
Friday, May 06, 2011 Fringes of Jazz 10 comments
By Stanley Zappa
More than once Bill Dixon talked about music in terms of problems and solutions. Gerry Mulligan's quartet with Chet Baker was a solution to the problem of there being no piano. At least one semester of ensemble class with Dixon was dedicated to solving the problem of an ensemble with no drummer. Vade Mecum (5 stars, by the way) solved the problem posed by symmetric, academic sounding lines (and did so by
eliminating them all together.)
If you told me one of the problems solved by Zorn et.al. On The Gentle Side was how to extend the intro of Santana's Black Magic Woman for the entire length of a song, I'd be inclined to believe you. If you told me another problem solved was how to fill the spaces between shows on National Public Radio while simultaneously reaching out to the Grateful Dead listening demographic and their Gold Cards, I'd believe that too.
While listening, at times I found myself announcing to no one “partly sunny skies with winds out of the south west at 5 miles per hour.” Other times I found myself desperately looking for a rose to put between my teeth or a sombrero to wear—the gestures are vague enough that either would work.
As disparate as all the numbers are, they are, as suggested, unified by a gentleness. With that gentleness comes a certain anonymity. John Zorn? Really? Where?
That you can hear the professionalism in the playing and the production makes this recording that much more troubling; is there really nothing else left to do other than put out “professional” sounding stylized jazz-ish instrumentals?
An entirely unremarkable project.
Peter Evans Quintet - Ghosts (More Is More, 2011) *****
Thursday, May 05, 2011 ***** 6 comments
The quintet : Evans (trumpet), Carlos Homs (piano), Tom Blancarte (bass), Jim Black (drums), Sam Pluta doing live processing. What they do with the music is like going on a roller-coaster as you're tossed up in the air, whizzed around corners, spinning down and around. The quintet mixes bop and electronics in a compelling way, reminding me of the direction John Zorn took with his zapping music. 'One to Ninety-Two' is a post bop type melody but with subtle use of electronics and a rhythm section that stops and starts, speeds up and slows down, it's almost like a be-bop Captain Beefheart ... and that's just the first track. '323' (Tk 2) hits you right between the eyes, flying off into a free form improvisation that gradually reassembles itself only after visiting several different rhythmical sections, here the music is relentless.
Carlos Homs plays excellent piano keeping a fine balance between post bop and the avante-garde by mixing modern styles in a way that Matthew Shipp or Craig Taborn do. Jim Black is also in great form, maybe his most interesting drumming since the Tiny Bell Trio. Sam Pluta takes the music, in particular Evans trumpet, and sends it back to us the listener in many guises. In fact sometimes it takes you a second to realise what you're actually hearing. Blancarte holds the whole thing together, probably more than we actually notice.
There are a few stopping places on the journey though, Ghost (Tk 3) being the first - based on the standard 'I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You'. Here the music is calm and spacious with Evans trumpet spiralling away in all directions even though he stays close to the melody (never played). The music is often daring and always interesting. And 'that' is probably the winning point of the album, the music always stays melodic even in the wildest moments whilst remaining remarkably accessible. 'Articulation' (Tk 6) is like a conclusion at 14 mins, the sum of all the music heard, forever changing. This for me is where Wynton Marsalis could of gone with his classic 4tet, but never did.
You could write much more about this CD as the music manages to subtly integrate many styles and which has endless details to discover also. An excellent album with no weak moments and I suspect one that will be high on 'best of' lists at the end of the year. 'Stardust' (the final track) is a nice way to leave the listener, don't you find?
Colorlist - The Fastest Way To Become The Ocean (2011) ***
"*** LIMITED EDITION 10" VINYL *** The Chicago based Colorlist is comprised of crossover jazz duo Charles Rumback and Charles Gorczynski. Both multi-instrumentalists, Rumback mans percussion, bells and melodica, while Gorczynski plays saxophone, numerous woodwind instruments, synthesizers and harmonium."
This is the start of the press release for the latest from Colorlist, however I will mention immediately that there's also mp3 and Flac versions.
If you look at the mixture of instruments above you'll notice that these two guys play most things and the rich colours that come out of overdubbing these various instruments can at times give the impression of a mellotron at work. But with the inclusion of the drums the direction of the music can change like the weather in unpredictable ways.
The music is a sort of post rock minimalism, using overdubbing with cycling riffs and gentle drum beats, a kind of 'Jade Warrior' meet 'Tortoise' one could say. The opening piece is almost bleak in it's use of looping synths, harmoniums, flutes and a saxophone that calls out like a sound heard from somewhere in the forest. On the second track with Jeff Parker guesting on guitar, the music loops as if taken from a Steve Reich composition, the drums continually driving the piece forward but never dominating the music. 'Coming into Sight' (Tk 3) starts with harmonium in full swing and one wouldn't be surprised to find oneself in a chapel somewhere in the Outer Hebrides, but little by little drums roll in to accompany the saxophones call as if out on the waves somewhere unseen - hence the title I imagine? The last track (#4) finds Liz Payne adding vocals to a piece which relies on a mixture of looped saxes, harmonium, clarinets(?), drums and voice. The music fades away almost as gently as it all starts making a kind of bookend to the mini album.
It's difficult to sum up this short album. I listened to it many time due to it's length and found it interesting but slightly underdeveloped. I wondered what the music would/could sound like if more real time musicians were added (a la 'Fond of Tigers'), giving Rumback and Gorczynski more chance to develop these compositions. However, the music holds together nicely and the album kind of passes by fleetingly as if in a dream (26 mins 34 seconds).
Contemporary Noise Sextet - Ghostwriter's Joke (Electric Eye, 2011) ****½
Monday, May 02, 2011 Modern jazz No comments
Hailing from Poland, the Contemporary Noise Sextet is redefining the definition of the word 'noise' for me. To them, it seems 'noise' means well constructed and full sounding. "Ghostwriters Joke" is a seriously good piece of work that while not exactly free jazz, or even straight ahead jazz, is a collection of arrangements that sometimes border on the tongue in cheek, but never treats music as a joke.
Honestly, I was a bit underwhelmed at first. I thought that "Walk with Marilyn" was a neat wash of music, a cinematic composition with a certain sad grandeur. Electronic tones mixed in with the dominating suspended piano tones while the horns played a vaguely familiar melody in unison. It passed. Next up, "Morning Ballet" kicked off with a catchy rhythmic figure and the uptempo horn arrangement contrasted expertly with the first tune's dreaminess. The sax solo took the song to a new height, only to be followed by a splintered guitar solo that danced gingerly over a restrained rhythm and was finally teased to climax by the horn section.
It was "Is That Revolution Sad?", though, that sealed the deal for me. For a moment I thought my iPod had skipped over to a previously unheard Marc Ribot track. After a brief intro by the trumpet, the guitar took center stage and spun a rich melody with a distinct 'old-world' noir feel to it, all underscored by a powerful horn section. For me, it neatly interpolated the Cubanos Postizos and Ribot's recent work with Lucian DuBois.
"Norman's Mother" is the closest that this group comes to noise. Some free playing and adventurous percussion kicks in about two thirds of the way through the tune, tastefully building to a grand crescendo. The album closes with "Kill the Seagull, Now!", a stand out modal romp, where the piano and drums lock from the count off into a repetitive foundation for some soaring arranged passages interspersed between solos.
The musicianship within is excellent, the arrangements breath and the soloing is well crafted. This is cool music that is perfectly irreverent and precisely executed.
Matana Roberts - Live In London (Central Control, 2011) ****
Sunday, May 01, 2011 3 comments
Finally another album by Matana Roberts. The Chicago altoist is kind of underrecorded, and I assume not always too happy with the exposure she gets.
This live performance, recorded at the The Vortex in London in 2009, is among her best album with "Shed Grace" by Sticks & Stones, her trio with Chad Taylor and Josh Abrams, and her "Chicago Project" of two years ago. "The Calling" brought good music, but bad sound quality.
For the occasion, she teams up with three British musicians : Robert Mitchell on piano, Tom Mason on bass and Chris Vatalaro on drums. The band did not get much time to rehearse, and relying on compositions proved to be an excellent basis for further improvisation. And even if Roberts has the main voice on the album, the band does a great job in supporting her warm and energetic playing.
Interestingly enough, when listening to the lengthy opener "Sistr", the expansive post-boppish nature is quite reminiscent of John Coltrane, but then the press release describes it as post-rock as compared to the more "Coltrane-ish" influence on "Turn It Around", which is possibly true in one of his former manifestations. Apart from this, the band also takes on Ellington's "Oska T", circling around the main theme, and at the end a little bit lost on how to move on, hence the fade-out.
She is at her best in the more free form "Glass" on which a soft unaccompanied alto solo develops into an intense duet with the drums, then a duet with the bass - fragile and free - until somewhere halfway the theme emerges in nice full-band unison, pushing the piece into more mid-tempo territories while maintaining the initial sensitivity, equally in one of the few solos that Robert Mitchell plays on piano.
It is not a very adventurous album, but the playing is good and the overall quality excellent.
Watch a clip from the performance at The Vortex
Scoolptures - White Sickness (Leo Records, 2011) *...
Nate Wooley - Trumpet/Amplifier (Smeraldina-Rima 2...
Vyacheslav Gaivoronsky & Alexander Ragazanov Revel...
Full Blast & Friends - Crumbling Brain (Okkadisk, ...
Andrea Centazzo - Moon In Winter (Ictus, 2011) ***...
Wadada Leo Smith's Organic - Heart's Reflections (...
Guillaume Roy, Vincent Courtois, Claude Tchamitchi...
Michel Pilz & Jean-Noël Cognard - Binôme (Bloc Thy...
Scott Tinkler, Bae Il Dong, Simon Barker - Chiri (...
Dennis González & Ingebrigt Håker-Flaten - The Hym...
Aram Shelton's Arrive- There Was... (Clean Feed, 2...
Louie Belogenis Trio - Tiresias (Porter, 2011) ***...
Peter Evans Quintet - Ghosts (More Is More, 2011) ...
Colorlist - The Fastest Way To Become The Ocean (2...
Contemporary Noise Sextet - Ghostwriter's Joke (El...
Matana Roberts - Live In London (Central Control, ...
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2458
|
__label__wiki
| 0.779317
| 0.779317
|
Derrick Rose's game-winner propels Detroit Pistons past Pelicans, 105-103
Derrick Rose buried a nifty jump shot to propel the Detroit Pistons past the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday.
Derrick Rose's game-winner propels Detroit Pistons past Pelicans, 105-103 Derrick Rose buried a nifty jump shot to propel the Detroit Pistons past the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday. Check out this story on Freep.com: https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2019/12/09/detroit-pistons-score-new-orleans-pelicans/2629549001/
Vince Ellis, Detroit Free Press Published 11:13 p.m. ET Dec. 9, 2019 | Updated 11:23 p.m. ET Dec. 9, 2019
NEW ORLEANS – This is why the Detroit Pistons signed Derrick Rose.
The Pistons point guard scored 17 of his team-high 21 points in the fourth quarter and his winner with .3 seconds left gave the Pistons a 105-103 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night at the Smoothie King Center.
After Rose created space against Pelican guard Jrue Holiday for the fallaway winner, it appeared the game was over with teammates surrounding Rose at center court.
Detroit Pistons guard Derrick Rose (25) passes as New Orleans Pelicans center Jaxson Hayes (10) defends during the first quarter at the Smoothie King Center. (Photo: Derick E. Hingle, Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sport)
But the officials reviewed the basket to make sure he got it off before the final horn.
The call was confirmed, but .3 seconds was put back on the clock.
The Pelicans (6-18) called timeout and went for the lob, but Andre Drummond knocked the pass away easily. The Pelicans have lost nine straight.
The Pistons (10-14) go into Thursday night’s game against the Dallas Mavericks at Mexico City with momentum, having won four of five games.
The Pistons won despite a poor night from Blake Griffin, who finished with five points on 1-for-9 shooting.
The Pistons also won despite 19 turnovers.
Langston Galloway scored 16 points and Andre Drummond added 13 points and 10 rebounds. Luke Kennard scored 12 of his 14 points after halftime.
Brandon Ingram led the Pelicans with 31 points.
Sloppy beginning
The Pistons lived up to their 28th ranking in turnover percentage with eight turnovers in the first quarter.
There were many culprits with Griffin, Brown and Galloway committing two turnovers each as the Pelicans led by 11 points early.
But the Pistons drew three charges – two by Griffin, one by Galloway – to hang close.
And Galloway made two 3-pointers to help the Pistons cut the deficit to 29-25 after one quarter.
Detroit Pistons forward Christian Wood (35) dunks over New Orleans Pelicans center Jaxson Hayes (10) during the first quarter at the Smoothie King Center. (Photo: Derick E. Hingle, Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sport)
Ingram was a matchup problem, scoring 14 points in the first quarter.
“Ingram is a problem,” Pistons coach Dwane Casey said before the game. He’s having a career year from the 3-point line, so he’s been issue.”
The Pistons used smaller defenders – Brown and Galloway – in the second quarter to limit him to three points.
The Pistons were plagued by foul trouble in the first half with Drummond, Kennard and Wood picking up three fouls.
The Pelicans took a 53-47 halftime lead.
Jackson, Thomas traveling
For the first time since suffering their injuries, guards Reggie Jackson and Khyri Thomas are traveling with the team.
Jackson struggled through the first two games of the season before being sidelined with a stress reaction in his lower back.
He isn’t expected to play during this three-game trip, but Casey downplayed Jackson getting up shots at the morning shootaround.
“He got lonesome and tired of being at home,” Casey said sarcastically.
Casey added: “Don’t read anything to it.”
Jackson was re-evaluated last week with the next update coming next week.
When Jackson does return, it could present a quandary with how he will be used.
Thomas had foot surgery Nov. 13, and it was announced he would miss six weeks.
“All of our training people are here with us so he and Reggie both can get rehabbing done,” Casey said.
Follow Vince Ellis on Twitter @vincent_ellis56.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2459
|
__label__wiki
| 0.565895
| 0.565895
|
Tag Archives: Todd Marriott
UTOPIA Sued: Is there really a story here?
By Jesse | April 26, 2011 - 2:50 pm | April 26, 2011 Jeers, UTOPIA
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Chris Hogan, one of UTOPIA’s former execs, has filed a suit against the agency over violations of his employment contract. The suit alleges that consulting firm TetraTech was awarded an improper contract for network construction because Executive Director Todd Marriott’s brother is a manger there. The suit also alleges that Hogan’s replacement, Gary Jones, is Marriott’s neighbor. Now I’ve got friends on both sides of this, so this is where I tread very, very lightly.
I can’t speak to Mr. Jones’ qualifications, but I do know that UTOPIA has done plenty of business with TetraTech in the past. They are also a very large multi-national corporation with offices across the world, including two here in Salt Lake County. Even with the blood relationship between the Marriotts, I don’t see that this would necessarily disqualify TetraTech from being a candidate, especially if the work they did in the past was up-to-par.
UTOPIA has also told me that Hogan’s contract was up for renewal and they opted to not renew it. Obviously, I don’t have any details beyond that, but the timing does seem to coincide with my recollection of when he was brought on. Assuming an annual contract, the timing would likely fit.
The Tribune, however, doesn’t dive into any of this background to provide essential context here. I also noticed that they did not include any statements from UTOPIA to provide balance to the story, though I imagine with pending litigation, they can’t really say too much anyway. This is the far too common behavior I’ve come to expect from Utah’s major media outlets when it comes to UTOPIA. They present very one-sided stories and practically cheerlead for UTOPIA’s failure from the editorial pages. There are two sides to every story, but outlets like the Tribune and Deseret “News” are only concerned with the doom-and-gloom side that moves papers.
Tagged Chris Hogan, Deseret News, Gary Jones, lawsuit, Salt Lake Tribune, shoddy journalism, TetraTech, Todd Marriott, UTOPIA
Connected Lyfe, Hangman, and the UTOPIA Headend
By Jesse | April 13, 2010 - 6:48 pm | April 13, 2010 News, Rumors, UTOPIA
There’s been a whirlwind of speculation since last night when a press release came out announcing that Connected Lyfe, one of UTOPIA’s newer providers, was being acquired by a then-unknown company called Hangman Productions. This wasn’t helped when an 8-K filing with the SEC came to light that showed Connected Lyfe as the purchaser of UTOPIA’s new video headend. It was pretty easy to assume the worst that the white-label video product would end and it might be a small step towards selling the network. After doing some digging and talking to both Todd Marriott and Chris Hogan at UTOPIA, it looks like that’s not the case at all. In fact, this is probably a really good thing all around.
Tagged Chris Hogan, Connected Lyfe, Hangman Productions, Todd Marriott, UTOPIA, video headend, white-label video
Podcast for April 2010
By Jesse | April 9, 2010 - 5:28 pm | April 9, 2010 Podcast, Website
Tagged Todd Marriott, UTOPIA
April 2010 Podcast is Scheduled
By Jesse | April 7, 2010 - 9:25 pm | April 7, 2010 Podcast, UTOPIA
The April 2010 podcast is scheduled for Friday April 9 from 4PM to 5PM. Our guest this month will be UTOPIA Executive Director Todd Marriott. Listen in online, join the chat room, and feel free to call in at any time at (347) 838-8025.
Tagged Podcast, Todd Marriott, UTOPIA
Headend Brawl: UTOPIA and Provo at Odds on Shared Assets
By Jesse | November 13, 2008 - 10:03 am | November 13, 2008 iProvo, Jeers, News, Rumors, UTOPIA
As the clock ticks down on a contract between UTOPIA and Provo for a shared video headend, the fight over who owes who money is starting to heat up. I’ve had a lot of anonymous tipsters relating details and rumors over some strong disagreements regarding compensating UTOPIA for their portion of the headend, a subject that appears to be strongly muddied by unclear contracts with Broadweave.
I’m no lawyer, but from looking at the headend agreement, it appears that Provo sold UTOPIA’s interest in both the VOD and Wildvine servers to Broadweave as a part of the sale of iProvo and used UTOPIA’s unused exercise of the right of first refusal as consent to do so. If that is the case, UTOPIA would naturally like to be paid for their share of that asset; it just isn’t clear who should cut the check, City of Provo or Broadweave. Given that the total is rumored to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars range, I can imagine that all parties involved are taking a strong stance on their respective positions.
The Daily Herald reported that both Kevin Garlick of Provo and Todd Marriott of UTOPIA are confident they can work something out, though I’ve heard that the problem in all of this is Broadweave CEO Steve Christensen who refuses to reach any kind of agreement. It looks like the headend agreement with Broadweave was signed in August of 2007 and I don’t think UTOPIA was involved in that discussion. This is coming back to bite Provo since they decided to make a lot of assumptions instead of talking it through with their partner.
Given the price tag and the tight financial situations with Provo, UTOPIA and Broadweave, I’m anticipating that this disagreement will get ugly if none of the sides plans to budge. Here’s to hoping they work out some kind of equitable solution instead of ended up in an “all sides lose” expensive legal action.
Tagged Broadweave, headend, iProvo, Kevin Garlick, Provo, Todd Marriott, UTOPIA
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2461
|
__label__cc
| 0.652021
| 0.347979
|
(-) Remove Timber filter Timber
(-) Remove Waddell, Karen filter Waddell, Karen
(-) Remove Evans, David filter Evans, David
(-) Remove Champ, Patricia filter Champ, Patricia
Butler, Brett (15) Apply Butler, Brett filter
Kurtz, Cassandra (13) Apply Kurtz, Cassandra filter
Brand, Gary J. (11) Apply Brand, Gary J. filter
Healey, Sean (10) Apply Healey, Sean filter
Perry, Charles H. (Hobie) (10) Apply Perry, Charles H. (Hobie) filter
Colclasure, Perry (2) Apply Colclasure, Perry filter
Araman, Philip A. (1) Apply Araman, Philip A. filter
Galleher, Beth (1) Apply Galleher, Beth filter
Hill, Andrew D. (1) Apply Hill, Andrew D. filter
Olson, Cassandra L. (1) Apply Olson, Cassandra L. filter
Reid, Janice (1) Apply Reid, Janice filter
Comparative analysis of spectral unmixing and neural networks for estimating small diameter tree above-ground biomass in the State of Mississippi
The accumulation of small diameter trees (SDTs) is becoming a nationwide concern. Forest management practices such as fire suppression and selective cutting of high grade timber have contributed to an overabundance of SDTs in many areas. Alternative value-added utilization of SDTs (for composite wood products and biofuels) has prompted the need to estimate their...
https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/search?keywords=%22estimation%22&%3Bamp%3Bf%5B0%5D=author_facet%3A%22Gormanson%2C%20Dale%20D.%22&%3Bf%5B0%5D=author_facet%3A%22May%2C%20Dennis%20M.%22&f%5B0%5D=author_facet%3A%22Yamasaki%2C%20Mariko%22&f%5B1%5D=author_facet%3A%22Champ%2C%20Patricia%22&f%5B2%5D=author_facet%3A%22Wanek%2C%20Ron%22&f%5B3%5D=author_facet%3A%22Evans%2C%20David%22&f%5B4%5D=author_facet%3A%22Knopp%2C%20Peter%22&f%5B5%5D=author_facet%3A%22Millar%2C%20Constance%22&f%5B6%5D=nrt_combined%3A%22Natural%20Resource%20Management%20%26%20Use%21Timber%22&f%5B7%5D=author_facet%3A%22Waddell%2C%20Karen%22
Moham P. Tiruveedhula; Joseph Fan; Ravi R. Sadasivuni; Surya S. Durbha; David L. Evans
Minimum noise fraction, supervised classification, spectral angle mapping.
In: Merry, K.; Bettinger, P.; Fan, J.; Kushla, J.; Litts, T.; Siry, J.; Hepinstall-Cymerman, J.; Song, B. eds. Proceedings of the 7th Southern Forestry and Natural Resources GIS Conference, December 7-9, 2009. Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources: University of Georgia, Athens, GA. p. 76-85.
Valuing the forest for the trees: Willingness to pay for white pine blister rust management
The nearly two million acres of high elevation forests in the Western United States are not an important source of timber or any other market products. However, that does not mean that the forests are not highly valuable. Visitors and nonvisitors alike value the unique five-needle pine trees found in these high elevation ecosystems. In this study, we estimate the...
James R. Meldrum; Patricia A. Champ; Craig A. Bond
high elevation five-needle pines, threats, whitebark, Pinus albicaulis, limber, Pinus flexilis, southwestern white, Pinus strobiformis, foxtail, Pinus balfouriana, Great Basin bristlecone, Pinus longaeva, Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine, Pinus aristata
In: Keane, Robert E.; Tomback, Diana F.; Murray, Michael P.; Smith, Cyndi M., eds. The future of high-elevation, five-needle white pines in Western North America: Proceedings of the High Five Symposium. 28-30 June 2010; Missoula, MT. Proceedings RMRS-P-63. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 226-234.
Timber resource statistics for the north interior resource area of California.
This report is a summary of timber resource statistics for the North Interior Resource Area of California, which includes Lassen, Modoc, Shasta, Siskiyou, and Trinity Counties. Data were collected as part of a statewide multiresource inventory. The inventory sampled private and public lands except reserved areas and National Forests. The National Forest System provided...
Karen L. Waddell; Patricia M. Bassett
Forest surveys, forest inventory, statistics (forest), timber resources, resources (forest), periodic change, trends, north interior, Lassen County, Modoc County, Shasta County, Siskiyou County, Trinity County, California
Res. Bull. PNW-RB-222. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 49 p
Timber resource statistics for the central coast resource area of California.
This report is a summary of timber resource statistics for the Central Coast Resource Area of California, which includes Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, San Benito, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, and Ventura Counties. Data were collected as part of a statewide multi-resource inventory. The inventory...
Forest surveys, forest inventory, statistics (forest), timber resources, resources (forest), periodic change, trends, central coast, Alameda County, Contra Costa County, Marin County, Monterey County, San Benito County, San Francisco County, San Luis Obispo County, San Mateo County, Santa Barbara County, Santa Clara County, . Santa Cruz County, Solano County, Vetura County, California
Timber resource statistics for the Sacramento resource area of California.
This report is a summary of timber resource statistics for the Sacramento Resource Area of California, which includes Butte, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Lake, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, Sierra, Sutter, Tehama, Yolo, and Yuba Counties. Data were collected as part of a statewide multiresource inventory. The inventory sampled private and public lands except...
Forest surveys, forest inventory, statistics (forest), timber resources, resources (forest), periodic change, trends, Sacramento, Butte County, Colusa County, El Dorado County, Glenn County, Lake County, Napa County, Nevada County, Placer County, Plumas County, Sacramento County, Sierra County, Sutter County, Tehama County, Yolo County, and Yuba County, California
Timber resource statistics for the San Joaquin and southern resource areas of California.
This report is a summary of timber resource statistics for the San Joaquin and Southern Resource Areas of California, which include Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Fresno, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare, and Tuolumne Counties. Data were collected as part...
Forest surveys, forest inventory, statistics (forest), timber resources, resources (forest), periodic change, trends, Alpine County, Amador County, Calaveras County, Fresno County, Imperial County, Inyo County, Kern County, Kings County, Los Angeles County, Madera County, Mariposa County, Merced County, Mono County, Orange County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, San Diego County, San Joaquin County, Stanislaus County, Tulare County, Tuolumne County, California
Timber resource statistics for the North Coast resource area of California 1994.
This report is a summary of timber resource statistics for the North Coast Resource Area of California, which includes Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, and Sonoma Counties. Data were collected by the Pacific Northwest Research Station as part of a State-wide multi-resource inventory. The inventory sampled private and public lands except reserved areas and National...
Forest surveys, forest inventory, statistics (forest), timber resources, resources (forest), periodic change, trends, North Coast, Del Norte County, Humboldt County, Mendocino County, Sonoma County, California
Using remotely sensed data and elementary analytical techniques in post-katrina mississippi to examine storm damage modeling
Hurricane Katrina?s passage through south Mississippi on August 29, 2005, which damaged or destroyed thousands of hectares of forest land, was followed by massive salvage, cleanup, and assessment efforts. An initial assessment by the Mississippi Forestry Commission estimated that over $1 billion in raw wood material was downed by the storm, with county-level damage...
Curtis A. Collins; David L. Evans; Keith L. Belli; Patrick A. Glass
AWiFS, damage modeling, forest damage, hurricane damage, Katrina damage, timber damage.
In: Pye, John M.; Rauscher, H. Michael; Sands, Yasmeen; Lee, Danny C.; Beatty, Jerome S., tech. eds. 2010. Advances in threat assessment and their application to forest and rangeland management. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-802. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest and Southern Research Stations: 225-236.
The Effect of Urban Sprawls on Timber Harvesting
In Mississippi and Alabama, urban population growth is pushing development into rural areas. To study the impact of urbanization on timber harvesting, census and forest inventory data were combined in a geographic information system, and a logistic regression model was used to estimate the relationship between several variables and harvest probabilities....
Stephen A. Barlow; Ian A Munn; David A. Cleaves; David L. Evans
Journal of Forestry, December 1998, Vol. 96, No. 12, pgs. 10-14
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2467
|
__label__wiki
| 0.913391
| 0.913391
|
Lady 'Canes Split With West Alabama
West Alabama (1-2-0) 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 4 9 2
Georgia Southwestern (2-1-0) 0 1 1 5 0 0 X 7 7 2
Georgia Southwestern (2-2-0) 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
West Alabama (2-2-0) 0 0 9 0 X 9 5 0
2B: W. Brown; J. Whiddon; S. Wright
2B: Hayley Knight 2
HR: Allison Pastor
2B: Chelsea Littlejohn
3B: L. North
HR: R. Schick
MILLEDGEVILLE-The second double header for Georgia Southwestern Softball team in the Bobcat Blast took place at Georgia College on February 2nd. GSW split the games with West Alabama. The bottom of the fourth inning in the first game was golden for the Lady 'Canes. The bottom of the third inning in the second game showed to be the take down force for the Lady 'Canes in the end.
GAME 1: GSW 7 West Alabama 4
The Lady 'Canes went into the bottom of the 2nd inning tied zero zero, with no hits so far. Allison Pastor stepped up to the plate and sent a home run into the right field. The Lady Hurricanes finished the inning with one run and hit, no errors, and no one left on base.
The following inning for GSW proved to be just as rewarding with Kiley Doster singling into the center field. Mason Moreland sent a sacrifice bunt to let Doster advance to second. When Haley Knight stepped up to the plate she hit a double into left field allowing Doster to score.
The Lady 'Canes finished the inning with one run, two hit, no errors, and one left on base.
The Lady 'Canes were on a roll going into the bottom of the fourth. Pastor started things off with a walk, then making it to second on a pass ball. Keri Tompkins was the next Hurricane to reach first. Rachel McElroy made a sacrifice bunt to help advance her teammates, although on a throwing error McElroy made it to first. With the bases loaded Chelsea Hodges was walked, bringing in Pastor. Doster was next to reach first base, on fielder's choice, bringing Tompkins to score. McElroy was out on third. Hodges made it to second base. Moreland was the next at bat to reach first on fielder's choice; however, Hodges was out at second. Hayley Knight hit a double to right center allowing McCall Faulkner to score and Moreland to advance to third. Jordan Miller was the next Hurricane to be walked. Nellie Moore followed singling to center field bringing in both Knight and Moreland. The inning ended with five runs, three hits, one error, and two left on base.
The top of the sixth and seventh inning West Alabama was able to get a few runs in by Brown, J. Whilddon, S. Wright, and A. Shartzer. West Alabama finished the game with two runs, three hits, zero errors, and two left on base. The Lady 'Canes were able to cut the game short in the final inning with a three run lead.
Ashley Cavender takes the win for GSW after facing 29 batters, striking out four, and only allowing four runs and two walks. Lauren Thrasher assisted in the pitching efforts with one strikeout.
West Alabama's T. Tucker gets credited with the loss. After facing 13 runners, three hits, two runs, one walk, and allowing one home run. Alli Hall assisted the pitching efforts in the final three innings. Allowing four hits, five runs, and four walks.
The second game in the double header came to a different tune for the Lady 'Canes.
After an unsuccessful first three innings, West Alabama was up to bat at the bottom of the 3rd. A. Shartzer was the first to walk, then L. North tripled bringing Shartzer in for the first point of the game. Following which two players walked, then Schick sent a home run into left center. Another player was walked. Then Cavender replaced Allison Pastor on the pitchers mound. Four more players from West Alabama were able to score. The inning ended with nine runs, five hits, no errors, and three left on base.
No more runs happened over the course of the final two innings. S. Davis of West Alabama was credited with the win after pitching all five innings facing 19 batters allowing only three hits. Pastor is credited with the loss for GSW after facing 15 batters, and giving up two hits, six runs, and one home run. Cavender finished the game only allowing three hits, runs, and walks.
The Lady 'Canes are on the road again to play a double-header against Albany State on February 5th, the first game is set to begin at 1:00 p.m.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2470
|
__label__cc
| 0.57699
| 0.42301
|
Crime, Murder, Mystery & Thriller
Family Sagas
Carolyn Belcher
K. J. Frost
David Hynes
Wendy Lawrance
Carole McEntee-Taylor
D P Nicholls
Suzie Peters
K K Poole
David Rodie
Nicky Stratton
Nicholas Temple-Smith
Mark Weir
Home / Fiction / K. K. Poole / The Long White Cloud
The Long White Cloud
Author: K. K. POOLE
Amazon Customer Rating:
Kindle: £1.99
BUY AMAZON KINDLE
Paperback: £10.00
BUY AMAZON PAPERBACK
The year is 1918. In the forbidding asylum of a British Military Hospital an anonymous patient struggles with the effects of shell-shock. Everyone who knows him thinks he’s dead.
Many years have elapsed since Doctor John Hunston was last in England. In a bid to escape his past, he has worked the gold towns of Australia and New Zealand, practising medicine and enjoying the company of his friend Reverend Rennie. Always at the back of his mind, however, is the loss he suffered as a young man – the death of his twin brother during the Boer War.
Now, there is a new war to fight, one into which John is reluctantly drawn. Before heading for Europe to serve with the NZ Medical Corps, an old family secret is uncovered; resulting in a request he feels duty bound to honour.
In the trenches of the Western Front, John finds that simple bravery is no match for the insanity surrounding him. It is a place where a promise – though easily made – can be very hard to keep. The Long White Cloud is a story of conflict and adversity, of faith and compassion, and of a man’s silent courage.
Above all, it is a story of love.
The Long White Cloud is a sequel to The Sudden Metropolis, continuing John Hunston’s story through the First World War. A third novel, Blade Warriors, will be published in March 2018, concluding the series.
Format(s): Paperback and Kindle
ISBN: 978-1-910603-45-1 (Paperback)
ASIN: B0798R9892 (Kindle)
Imprint: GWL Publishing
Classification: Fiction, Historical, War
Paperback Published: 24 January, 2018
Kindle Published: 23 January, 2018
No. of pages: 346pp
Praise for The Long White Cloud:
An spectacular novel set in WW1, capturing the sheer horror of the war, hitting you in the face from the pages but balanced so well by power of friendship, kindness and courage. There is something extra here, a human connection which reaches out of the pages and touches all of us in loss and in war. Through the main character, the author seems to bare his soul in this book, so powerfully written and you just can’t put this book down.
Superb imagery, raw emotions and the incredible attention to detail, yet everything flows so effortlessly from the pages to make this a wartime classic.This author has a gift from the gods, he stirs emotions inside you and the pages come alive.
What a talent. Everyone should read this book. Sublime.
Dr M B Gonzalez – Amazon Paperback Review, 04 February, 2018.
– read by K K Poole.
Blade Warriors
The Sudden Metropolis
©2019 GWL Publishing
Keep up with news about books, authors, and more from GWL Publishing.
This website uses cookies to collect anonymous data to improve this website and your browsing experience. We'll assume you're okay with this, but you can opt-out if you wish, though the website may not function properly. Find out more.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2471
|
__label__wiki
| 0.89988
| 0.89988
|
Home / News / Electric Cars
EV incentive credited for boosting Canadian sales by 30 percent (Updated)
Update: To clarify that the incentive is not a tax credit that requires filing federal taxes, and to correct Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau's first name.
After Canada introduced a nationwide $5,000 discount for electric cars, sales shot up by 30 percent, the country's Transport Ministry announced on Thursday.
The government announced the national incentive in March, after a provincial election in Ontario last July brought a Conservative government to power which had ended that province's $14,000 rebate for electric cars.
Since the new national incentive has been in effect, the government has issued 14,000 of the subsidies, Transport Minister Marc Garneau said in a statement. Sales of plug-in cars in the country reached 3 percent in the second quarter, up from 2 percent last year.
The country has set a goal to reach 100 percent sales of electric vehicles by 2040, under the Paris Climate Accord, and is working with California to adopt that state's goals for clean air and clean fuels.
In a statement announcing the subsidies' effect, Garneau said that the 14,000 EV purchases—which include plug-in hybrids—will eliminate the emissions of 36,000 tons of greenhouse gases a year, or 429,000 tons over their expected lifetimes.
"Through these efforts, the Government of Canada is encouraging the use of zero-emission vehicles and making this clean technology more affordable to Canadians, while promoting a cleaner environment and better quality of life," the Ministry said in a release. "Canadians’ quality of life—and Canada’s future growth—are deeply tied to the environment."
Canada Car Sales Electric Cars
California sues Trump administration again over fuel economy fines
California, NHTSA lawsuit; Karma GT; Canada tax credits; self-driving mpg: Today's Car News
Pininfarina-kissed Karma GT plug-in hybrid heading to Monterey Car Week
Volvo study shows driver-assistance, self-driving features will make cars more efficient
Volvo to build electric XC90 and its battery packs in South Carolina in...
Electric emergency vehicles: Tropos Motors shows how to start small
New Jersey approves $5,000 EV rebate, charging infrastructure, electric...
Volkswagen diesel settlement funding electric school buses
Petition alleges widespread unintended acceleration in Tesla vehicles
Kia makes $25B shift toward more electric vehicles: 11 new EVs by 2025
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2473
|
__label__wiki
| 0.703476
| 0.703476
|
Blame Canada (and España)
Page | November 20, 2006 at 16:17
Pulp Fishin
Stop the mine! Save our seas!
Page | August 16, 2006 at 15:22
Top ten ways to help
Page | August 2, 2006 at 12:51
There's more than ten, of course, so why stop there? Check our Take Action page - where we're adding more ways to help all the time. But to get you going, here are the top ten you can do everyday any day...
Roadmap to recovery
Save the bluefin tuna of..
Save the bluefin tuna of the Mediterranean
Action | June 4, 2010 at 20:42
Support the creation of a marine reserve for bluefin tuna by writing to the Spanish Environment Minister.
Landmark ordinance in Cebu..
Landmark ordinance in Cebu sets to establish the country’s first shark and ray sanctuary
Press release | July 3, 2015 at 14:38
Cebu City— Almost a year after Cebu hosted the first Philippine Shark Summit, the province strengthened its commitment to protect shark and ray species by establishing the country’s first shark and ray sanctuary, located close to Malapascua...
Opposition of commercial..
Opposition of commercial fishers to the amended fisheries law could bring the country...
Press release | July 24, 2015 at 15:21
Manila— A protest called Fishing Holiday orchestrated by some traders and commercial fishing operations in Manila Bay on Thursday morning showed that the main actors responsible for emptying our seas don’t want illegal fishing to end. The...
Fisheries stakeholders on..
Fisheries stakeholders on the effective implementation of RA 10654
We, the members of conservation and fisheries NGOs, and fisherfolk organizations laud the passage of RA 1065, which amended the Philippine Fisheries Code, and its Implementing Rules and Regulations of the amended Fisheries Code of the Philippines...
Greenpeace ranks Philippine..
Greenpeace ranks Philippine tuna canneries based on sustainable and equitable...
Press release | October 2, 2015 at 15:28
Quezon City – After months of research and monitoring, Greenpeace Philippines today released a tuna ranking of nine local canneries based on international sustainable and equitable fisheries guidelines. It found that almost all the local...
all types Action (5) Blogentry (102) E-card (5) Feature story (30) Frequently asked questions (0) Gallery (46) Job (0) Magazine Article (0) Magazine Edition (0) Magazine Homepage (0) Magazine Short Article (0) Multimedia overige (14) Opinion (0) Page (120) Photo (182) Photo essay (0) Press release (127) Publication (22) Video (21)
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2475
|
__label__wiki
| 0.500516
| 0.500516
|
Forums / Games / Halo Infinite
343 has NOTHING to show us.
OP Axiios
Happy Place8166
ODST - Iron
Axiios wrote:
People will read this and say - "The game is a year away...chill bro..." & although I complete agree and understand that stance...here is the reality - 343 has NOTHING to show for this game or the state that it's in...that should be a point of concern for the Halo community.
A lack of content shown is not proof of a lack of content. To state it another way: just because 343 hasn't shown us much doesn't mean they have nothing to show. And to be fair (I feel like I've been having to say that a lot lately lol), 343 has released more than just two trailers. They've done interviews, social streams, and a variety of other stuff talking about Infinite. That's how we know there will be microtransactions, split screen, etc in the game.
Furthermore, and has been mentioned before by myself and others, I think 343 learned some hard lessons with H5's marketing campaign and are taking a more conservative approach to releasing details about their game.
IF they had a great game in the making, the would give us something to hold onto or to be hyped about. It's a shame how they have 0 to tell us or show us about this mysterious game that people are excited about.
If they don't release a VIDoc or info on the game, or gameplay soon...I can see people loosing interest.
As far as building hype goes, just look at this thread... we're building all the hype ourselves with hardly any input from 343. It's quite a genius marketing strategy when you think about it. For very little comparative cost, we're doing all the marketing for them by speculating on the game, generating traffic on Halo-centric Youtube channels, and many other ways.
DARTH CEDIOUS
Marine - Gold
Happy Place8166 wrote:
Is that really the case though? The Halo community seems rather dead at the moment tbh...
ADE MacBamboo01
DARTH CEDIOUS wrote:
It would be one way or the other though. H5 is not really beloved, MCC on Xone was a total failure sadly and let's not even start with H4... If that's not enough Hi is going to be released five years after the last main title, therefore I doubt the community would be alive and well even with a gameplay video on our hands.
That said MS through Phil Spencer warned us well over two years ago about their changes in marketing strategies. Hi at this point is basically one step from the finishing line, but they won't show anything until the release date gets closer. If That wasn't the case, I doubt MS would have changed so many leading roles at 343i. My guess is they're getting prepared for H7 already. Hi can't be behind schedule either: it has to be ready for the XBox Scarlet launch, doesn't matter what. XBox Game Studios for sure did everything in their power to make it happen and than some!
All the bad news and lack of content is concerning on the surface of course, but when you think about with a calm and reasonable mind it's all quite logical and calculated.
Last thing MS is concentrating their marketing on services and a game at a time. Gears is over, now it's the turn of MCC on Steam with Reach as a front flag! Only than we MIGHT get something Hi related, but I doubt it. E3 is going to be the big reveal most probably.
Fully Skully
ODST - Onyx
With it being a year away they definitely could show us stuff, they're just not. Microsoft is being a lot more careful about showing off their games, not just Halo Infinotd but most of their games, we only started getting big info on Gears 5 within 6 months of release for example. If they literally didn't have anything that they could show at this point there would 100% be at least a year delay... or they'd force the launch and we'd end up with another H5 at launch or worse.
GentleMicrobe24
Marine - Iron
With so many "Hunt the truth" clues and hints still hidden in the Game Engine Demo and Trailer that many players have missed, perhaps 343i don't feel the need to reveal more yet...
Try watching them again.
The Game Engine Demo has a double and even triple layer storyboard for those that can read the Film Code with:
- Pictionary style clues making Halo references (Halo: Reach, Halo: Escalation #8-#10, Halo 3, Halo 5)
- Puzzle Codes (3-Trees Puzzle from the 123- Code from Halo 5, Radio Morse Code)
- Stylistic references to another game which links back to Frank O'Connor's original suggestion about Halo 6 being "an exploration game" set amongst the Xenoarchaeology of the original Halo Ring (Zeta Halo).
Meanwhile, in the trailer, only those who "Seek the truth. Behold the Truth. Reveal the truth" will spot what so many have missed about bees and spiders, and whether the trailer or the audio clip is actually Cortana...
Sooo many clues, and sooo many "Memories of Reach" involving those "dear to our hearts" / "deer to our harts", one of whom raises so noble a number "6" on their antler, just before we see 3 leafless trees standing like "pillars of autumn" against that backdrop of pines...
Cortana is innocent and will yet return in Halo Infinite! YAY! ;-)
Zac Static
Recruit - Gold
I have been hopeful for this game since the first teaser trailer at E3 2018...I thought "I can't wait to learn more about the next Halo game." - a year went by & we were told NOTHING & shown NOTHING.
fast forward an entire year to the next E3 2019...we get an in-game cinematic...with 0 gameplay...& guess what? NOTHING else was told to us or shown to us.
I love this game with all my heart, & would love to see Halo return to its throne as THE FPS to play...but at this point I just can't hold onto the false hope of 343 delivering.
I wish they would have shown more to be honest
tsassi
Here are some facts about when gameplay was show the first time for different Halo games:
Halo 2: E3 2003 demo (16 months before release); not representative of final game
Halo 3: Et Tu Brute (9 months before release)
Halo Reach: Once More Unto the Breach (7 months before release)
Halo 4: Making Halo 4: First Look (7 months before release)
Halo 5: Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta First Look (14 months before release)
On average, first gameplay for Halo games is shown 11 months before release, 9 if you exclude Halo 2. 7 months is not exceptional. We are currently 13–15 months from release.
The Halo Population Database
ADE MacBamboo01 wrote:
Hi at this point is basically one step from the finishing line,
One year before release? I really doubt that...
If That wasn't the case, I doubt MS would have changed so many leading roles at 343i.
If anything having a having many roles changed mid-development is concerning.
Hi can't be behind schedule either: it has to be ready for the XBox Scarlet launch, doesn't matter what.
And not meeting a deadline/halfassing to meet a deadline is something that has never happend in game development and never will...
Gears 5 marketing was lackluster at best.
Really? I mean people are a bit distracted with games like Gears and the COD beta releasing recently, but that doesn't mean it's dead. Think back to the E3 trailer for Infinite... people were losing their freaking minds watching that thing. It was one of the most hyped games of E3 2019 if I recall correctly (at least for Xbox fans). The crowd reactions alone are enough to suggest Halo's community is far from dead, but the reviews and articles produced after E3 2019 further confirmed that people are genuinely hyped for this game.
The game had a five years development circle. That's huge for a shooter, even if you count the lost time they had to deal with the new Slipspace engine. Also I'm not saying the game is gold already, but I'm sure the game is way beyond of just being playable. Or at least it should be.
It's not mid development though, it's close to end development if something. Hi should come out together with Scarlet in between 11 to 13 months and a game should go gold at least three months before that to ensure the disc printing ans shipping phase. Or at least that used to be the status quo, in the digital era a lot might have changed now, I give you that but in both cases 343i doesn't have much time left if you think about it.
Oh! They might halfyoinking a lot, I'm well aware of that! X'D But that wasn't the point of my comment mate! :)
I'm saying the game is coming out with the Scarlet no matter what, there is too much on the table for MS for failing that release window! That was the point! However - to open up a new parentesie - it's also in MS's best interest to create something the player-base actually want to play, a real killer app if I may use the term. I don't know if this is going to be a Halo I enjoy, and they also might fail royally in delivering a good game, but MS gave them well enough time to deliver something good, to deliver in time and they also opened their money bank to ensure a good quality product.
So is possible we might get a half-baked product still even with all that prep-time? Sure. Doubtful, but it could happen. Are they missing the deadline though? Heck no! In any case I'm sure we're not seeing yet another Anthem situation here!
That's the one point I actually agree with you. I hate this new marketing politic! Because sure, it helps MS in avoiding false advertising in the case things change close to release or when they cancel production like in case of Project Spark, Phantom Dust and such, but it also mean we're getting little to no info until the game is basically behind the corner. And I don't mean just gameplay like tsassi mentioned prior. For instance we didn't saw the gameplay of H5 until 14 months before the public beta, but we still saw mechanics discussions and presentations, 343i talked openly about the story, characters, world we would visit! What do we know about Hi? It's going to be on the ring, it has a more Halo atmosphere in the art-style and Brohammer is going to be yoinking awesome - that's it. So no,I'm not a fan of this!
BUT -> and this time it's a big "but", one statement is that I don't like this new system, another is explaining the new system and why they implemented it. I did the second one! In other words, because of this new terrible marketing ploit don't expect to get anything substential until we get a lot closer to the releaseing window!
Five years if they didn't start over sometime in 2017. I would have to do some digging but iirc there were some red flags around late 2017 that did hint at some major shift in development.
I don't think any game is going gold 3 months before release these days anymore. If anything "going gold" at all is just symbolic and relic of the past with massive day-one patches and "games as a service".
Well you said 343 cannot be behind schedule because they have a deadline, but having a deadline doesn't mean that you're not behind schedule, which, as you metioned can lead to a rushed game. I don't doubt the game will be pushed out next year no matter what.
I'm sure we're not seeing yet another Anthem situation here!
Sure, I don't have much hope for HI left (due to how H4/5 turned out) but I agree that MS will not allow such a trainwreck. But it's not a issue that is either black or white.
XynuX
Wait and see ! ;)
stckrboy
It's not really concerning at all. People of all levels move jobs all the time for a variety of reasons, doesn't always affect development. There's nothing, beyond speculation, to suggest that any of the recent changes have had a negative affect on 343's development progress on Infinite.
34626-48323-97985-35629-51413 | #HUNTtheTRUTH | dc 4ntFxYm
DeadIock3d
There should be more when they are ready, some games may take longer than others, and I'm pretty sure they are also adding some of the communities ideas.
AlanDjikkaity
I know right? I'm sick of 343 boring us out with what could be a terrible game, especially if they go all-out nostalgia mode in 2020
stckrboy wrote:
in the end, we will never know about any negative effects anything might have or might not have on development. Most devs/publishers try really hard to not unsettle any players. So yeah, it's not a 100% sure that something happend that shouldn't have happend but pretending like it's all fine for sure and ignoring that it could just as well be a bad sign is a bit naive in todays gaming world...
xTheLagMasterx
Well to be fair OP, they did something similar to what you said about having no gameplay n such back in 2018 with the initial teaser. Then cue up E3 earlier this year, sure we got to see some more, but I agree I would've like to see more things teased/showcased for Infinite at E3(something was better than nothing honestly), but it's also worth noting to keep in mind we have a little over a year yet before the game official is released. During that time, it'll give 343 time to make new ads, teasers, etc. to showcase for us until it's release.
QuadDAUMINATOR
I tend to think it’s actually more of a case of wanting a big surprise. People typically react to that better and then criticize and pick it apart later on....whereas if you release everything too early nothing is a surprise, and you could open yourself to criticism before the product is even out, leading to rush change orders on the product, leading to a bad launch with patches and bugs etcetera etcetera etcetera.
I thought they didn’t have anything at first either but I’m thinking now they are just trying to do some smart marketing in the wake of previous information dumps and massive ad campaigns that led to big disappointment in the past. They’re not going to reveal anything till they are fully ready and when they do, it probably won’t be a lot but it will be big. Just like the last two glimpses we got. Then the game will drop and it will be a “nice surprise” so to speak when we get to discover what lies in wait, leading to a more positive impact on the players psyches, even if they don’t like the game as much as previous installments.
Think of it like movies.
BroodGuitar3757
Wait till the new year webwill probably get alot more info then. I would like to see a screen shot of a new weapon or a new vehicle
Lleighvack
I think that they're being smart about it. Last time they came out early there was a whole marketing campaign that didn't relate to the game at all. They were working on to much criticism at a point in development where acting on it caused the game to be half baked more than it already was gonna be. They need this game to hit big and sell alot! So they're gonna hit big with just letting the game show it's off right before release instead of smoke and mirrors, pre recorded b s. Also you need to think, this is the first halo to ship out the gate with a brand new console, a console that we have no clue about what's going on within it as well so Microsoft wants to have all this halo hype bundled up in that short period too to sell the console. When they start showing off halo Infinite, it's going to be yoinking huge!
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2478
|
__label__cc
| 0.749634
| 0.250366
|
The Life of Art Books: Circulation, Distribution, Exchange
Sun 5 Aug 2018, 1 – 2.30 pm
Artbook @ MoMA PS1 Bookstore, 22-25 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City
Recto / Verso: Art Publishing in Practice, a month-long event series exploring the creative processes and ecosystems in the art publishing communities of New York, kicks off with a panel discussion led by the Brooklyn Rail’s Art Books Editor, Megan N. Liberty, focusing on the circulation of art books and their unique ability to move between and function in various realms—such as exhibitions, commercial spaces, and scholarly research—and the opportunities this creates for artists and publishers. The panel will also explore the many modes of distribution of art books, from sharing and exchange, to sales, web publications and e-books. Participants will include: Nicole Kaack (Dedalus Fellow in The Museum of Modern Art Archives), Emmy Catedral (Coordinator of Fairs and Editions at Printed Matter), Sharon Helgason Gallagher (President and Publisher of ARTBOOK | D.A.P.), Lisa Pearson (Publisher at Siglio Press)
This August, Artbook @ MoMA PS1 Bookstore and Hauser & Wirth Publishers are delighted to co-present Recto / Verso: Art Publishing in Practice, a month-long event series exploring the creative processes and ecosystems in the art publishing communities of New York. Bringing together a range of voices and participants, Recto / Verso features local small presses and zine collectives, as well as digital, nonprofit, and institutional publishers.
Each week of Recto / Verso will center on a pertinent topic within the field of art publishing, beginning with an in-depth look at how art books circulate in creative communities, then shifting focus to activism and zine publishing, artists’ books and artist-run presses, and concluding with digital, institutional, and non-profit publishing. Events will include panel discussions with notable publishers and artists as well as three hands-on workshops that will give participants the opportunity to learn a variety of bookmaking and binding techniques.
The series will culminate in a publication produced by Hauser & Wirth Publishers that will act both as a record of the series — featuring contributions from each week’s presenters — as well as a reference guide mapping publishing resources in New York. The publication will be launched at the New York Art Book Fair in late September 2018.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2487
|
__label__wiki
| 0.992644
| 0.992644
|
Absent Katy cheered up as she sweeps the board at People's Choice Awards
January 12, 2012 - 13:27 GMT hellomagazine.com The singer-actress won the most People's Choice Awards at the 38th annual fan-favourite extravaganza.
Recently separated Katy Perry had some news to cheer her up on Wednesday.
The singer-actress won the most People's Choice Awards at the 38th annual fan-favourite extravaganza.
Meanwhile, Morgan Freeman was bestowed with the first-ever favourite movie icon award.
CLICK ON PHOTO FOR FULL GALLERY
Katy, who was absent from the ceremony, was honoured in five categories, including favourite female artist, tour headliner, song of the year for E.T. with Kanye West, music video for Last Friday Night, and TV guest star for How I Met Your Mother.
The singer, who is divorcing Russell Brand, told fans on Twitter earlier this week that she wouldn't attend the show but that "I want to thank u all for voting for me, fingers crossed!".
Last night she took to the microblogging site to thank her fans after winning: "THANK U to every1 who voted for me for the People's Choice tonight! We won so many! Now I need to get more books 2 successfully display them!"
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the final instalment of the magical film series starring Daniel Radcliffe, followed behind Katy with four wins for favourite movie, action movie, book adaptation and ensemble movie cast, but none of the film's stars were present at the ceremony, leaving more time on the CBS broadcast for winners in other categories.
Ellen DeGeneres, Nina Dobrev, Chloe Grace Moretz, Adam Levine, Lea Michele and Demi Lovato, who performed Give Your Heart A Break, were among the winners on hand to accept their awards selected by Internet votes.
Emma Stone and Johnny Depp - another no-show - won two trophies at the ceremony, which was hosted by The Big Bang Theory star Kaley Cuoco.
Johnny and Emma, respectively, won the favourite movie actor and actress awards, while the actor was also honoured as favourite animated movie voice for Rango, and Emma was selected as favourite comedic movie actress.
Winners in the movie categories included Hugh Jackman for action star, Bridesmaids for comedy movie, Water for Elephants for drama movie, Adam Sandler for comedic movie actor and Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern for favourite superhero.
More about katy perry
Prince Charles shares photo with Katy Perry in honour of Indian charity event
Prince Harry and Meghan keep low profile at Misha Nonoo's pre-wedding dinner with Karlie Kloss and Katy...
Katy Perry shares sweet photo with Ellie Goulding on her wedding day
Dazzling Jennifer Lawrence wins big in sparkly Valentino Couture
'Was that posh or plush, Robert?': Queen Latifah pokes fun at 'Twilight' crew
Newly-single Taylor Swift's daring night out at the People's Choice Awards
Hollywood starlets up the style stakes in dramatic gowns
Daniel Radcliffe admits marriage 'seems like the most romantic thing you can do'
Tears, hugs and high emotion as Emma and co bid farewell to Harry
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2490
|
__label__wiki
| 0.549279
| 0.549279
|
Princess Madeleine of Sweden takes daughter Leonore to meet the Pope
hellomagazine.com Princess Madeleine along with daughter Leonore, mother Queen Silvia and husband Chris O'Neill met with Pope Francis on Monday.
Princess Madeleine of Sweden had the honor of meeting with Pope Francis on Monday, and to mark the special occasion, the royal made it a family affair. Madeleine brought her daughter Leonore to the event, while the princess' mom Queen Silvia and Madeleine's husband Chris O'Neill were also invited.
In keeping with papal tradition, Madeleine and Queen Silvia were dressed in black and partially covered their heads with lace veils. Only Catholic queens and queen consorts are permitted to wear white in the presence of the Pope, following the privilège du blanc rule.
Chris O'Neill, Princess Madeleine and Princess Leonore arrive at the Vatican City Photo: Getty Images
Arriving at the Vatican City, Madeleine, who is due to give birth to her second baby in June, looked the picture of health and happiness. The pregnant royal glowed and was seen encouraging her little girl to wave at onlookers as they walked by.
During their meeting the Pope was clearly charmed by 14-month-old Leonore, who looked cute as a button in a cream frock and cardigan.
Pope Francis looked particularly charmed by the 14-month-old royal baby Photo: Getty Images
Madeleine, 32, shared a couple of sweet photos of the pair's encounter on Facebook, captioning it, "Three generations of my family met with the Pope today at the Vatican, all of us united in the fight against child trafficking."
The Swedish royal was making reference also to a second meeting scheduled for the afternoon, during which her mother Queen Silvia met the Pontiff.
Princess Leonore was born in January 2014 in New York City where her parents live Photo: Getty Images
Silvia was due to meet with the Pope in private and also open a seminar on human trafficking, with a focus on children, that is being held at the Vatican. The issue is an important one to the reigning monarch, who founded the World Childhood Foundation, also known as Childhood, in 1999.
Silvia's charity aims to protect children from sexual abuse, as well as those who are already victims of it. Her youngest daughter Madeleine has been a keen campaigner of the foundation, and works for her mom's organization in New York City, where she lives with Leonore and businessman husband Chris. Although Madeleine told Sweden’s Sveriges Television network that they will be moving to Europe “in the near future.” The Princess added, “That’s where we have our families.”
Swedish Royals
Princess Madeleine
Princess Leonore
Queen Silvia
More about swedish royals
Princess Estelle of Sweden, 7, injured in skiing accident
Prince William and Kate's beautiful tree and more lavish royal Christmas decorations
Celebrity daily edit: Princess Estelle and Prince Oscar's Christmas greeting - video
Princess Victoria and Princess Madeleine support Queen Silvia on her 70th birthday
Princesses Victoria and Madeleine of Sweden support mum Silvia at her children's charity gala
Princess Madeleine posts photo of 'sweet pumpkin' daughter Leonore
Princess Leonore and Prince Nicolas of Sweden hit the Swiss Alps
Princess Madeleine and Chris O'Neill to christen daughter Leonore on first wedding anniversary
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2491
|
__label__wiki
| 0.522377
| 0.522377
|
50 hotels totally worth the splurge
50 hotels...
While it's nice to vacation on a budget, sometimes you just have to splurge. You're worth a ritzy vacation at the best hotel with the nicest restaurants and all the amenities! Your family is worth it! Luckily, there are a bunch of bucket list-worthy hotels across the world that will cater to your every wish and leave you feeling as pampered as a prince.
The Active Times has searched the internet for five- and four-star hotels that offer every extravagance, including curated dining experiences, butlers and top of the line spa experiences. What's great about some of these splurge-worthy hotels is that many of them are in the United States, so you won't have to leave the country - or even your state - to ball out on your time off. Some of them are even in the best places to vacation!
Grab your family, invite your significant other, or just go alone to any of these indulgent 50 hotels totally worth the splurge.
PeteInPerth/Shutterstock
Acqualina Resort and Spa on the Beach (Miami, Florida)
If you're springing for a room at Miami's Acqualina, you might as well ball out and get the penthouse. According to Forbes, its 7,725 square feet and includes five bedrooms, a kitchen, a private saltwater pool, a cabana guest house and unobstructed views of the ocean.
Plus, when you're sick of all that luxury, you can chill out at the hotel's Acqualina Spa by Espa. It's a five-star retreat offering aromatherapy, hydrotherapy, sea product- and plant-based beauty therapies, and more.
Acqualina Resort & Spa on the Beach/ Yelp
Alvear Palace (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
The Alvear Palace is the height of luxury in Buenos Aires. It's located in the upscale neighborhood of Recoleta, surrounded by high-end boutiques (if you want to pop out and do some major spending). The hotel's rooms look straight out of Versailles, and they offer a tea service that would rival Marie Antoinette's from their restaurant L'Orangerie.
If you book a deluxe suite or higher, Alvear offers its guests complimentary butler service. That means someone from the hotel will do trivial things for you like draw you a bath, unpack your bags, and even order your room service.
Alvear Palace Hotel/Yelp
Auberge du Soleil (Napa Valley, California)
This Napa Valley hotel has been featured on Goop - and if it's good enough for Gwyneth, it's definitely the best of the best. This luxurious hotel in wine country with its large suites, outdoor showers and bathtubs, and private cottages, also has a restaurant with two Michelin stars, a gorgeous full-service spa, custom-tailored wine tastings, and stunning views of Napa.
Auberge du Soleil, An Auberge Resort/Yelp
Belmond Hotel Caruso (Ravello, Italy)
Ravello is the most gorgeous Italian mountain town that you have never heard of. Within it is the equally gorgeous Belmond Hotel Caruso. The 11th-century palace offers breathtaking views of the Tyrrhenian Sea and two restaurants serving delicious Italian fare.
Nicole M./Yelp
Beverly Hills Hotel (Beverly Hills, California)
The Beverly Hills Hotel is the perfect mix of old and new Hollywood glamour. This hotel does all their decorations in its signature pink and green; even the plastic palm trees meant to shade guests are classic "Beverly Hills Hotel Pink." They have bungalows named for famous past guests such as Marilyn Monroe and Howard Hughes, but you're also just as likely to see living celebrities brunching in the restaurants and bars at this 5-star luxury hotel. It's worth the splurge if you're celeb-crazy, as it's always been one of the best places to see celebrities in LA.
The Beverly Hills Hotel/Yelp
Carlton Hotel (St. Moritz, Switzerland)
If you'll spend any price for the perfect scenic view, this is the hotel for you. The Carlton Hotel faces the Swiss Alps and a stunning placid lake that looks like a mirror when it freezes over. Plus, the hotel has a ton of activities from skiing and sledding to a horse-drawn-carriage ride, a fondue lunch and a dainty tea service. Plus, it oddly looks a lot like the hotel from Wes Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel"!
Dmitry Chulov/Shutterstock
Cavas Wine Lodge (Mendoza, Argentina)
Set in a 55-acre vineyard, Cavas Wine Lodge is a boutique hotel experience that you should definitely splurge on if you're a wine lover or are planning on spoiling one. This gorgeous little hotel in the foothills of the Andes mountains offers everything from horseback riding, zip lining, hikes, bike rides and whitewater rafting to (of course) wine tasting, vineyard tours and extravagant meals at the hotel's restaurant.
Feeling sloshy from too much wine? Decompress in the hotel's top notch spa, which offers massages, therapeutic rituals, body treatments, facial treatments, and even a yoga retreat.
Leandro P./Yelp
Farmhouse Inn (Sonoma, California)
This tiny family-run inn contains a Michelin-starred restaurant, a gorgeous spa and little 20th-century cottages with dry saunas. The seasonal menu features foods sourced from nearby artisans and farmers, and there are a ton of great wineries nearby. Even though it's just about an hour and a half outside of San Francisco, you might feel like you're in Provence.
Farmhouse Inn/Yelp
Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace (Budapest)
This Four Seasons is known for being one of the most beautiful hotels in Budapest. With its stained-glass windows, mosaic tile ceiling and view of the Chain Bridge, it truly is a sight to behold. According to Forbes, the hotel's rooms are also the largest accommodations you will find in Budapest, so if you're looking for space, splurge here.
Matthew T./Yelp
Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas (Las Vegas, Nevada)
When you're tired of the Strip and you're tired of the casinos, the Four Seasons Las Vegas is the place to relax. It's the anti-Vegas, with all the luxurious amenities you've come to expect from, well, Vegas. First of all, this Four Seasons location is a non-gaming property, which makes it the perfect place to stay if you're traveling with kids.
This Four Seasons location offers three full-service restaurants, a very hot bar called Press, a five-star spa and a private pool.
Pfeiffer/Shutterstock
Four Seasons Resort (Chiang Mai, Thailand)
This bucket list-worthy resort's layout looks kind of like a Thai village, and guests are often charmed by the rice paddies and lily ponds that separate its pavilions. The hotel also offers villas and private residences to guests as well as traditional Thai cooking lessons.
Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas/Yelp
Four Seasons Resort (Hualalai, Hawaii)
Splurge on this Big Island hotel if your idea of a vacation is broken up with high intensity workouts. Its most popular amenity is its sports club, which offers over 15,000 square feet of facilities like yoga, tennis, a four-lane pool, a rock-climbing wall, a sand volleyball court and a gym. This nature-centric Four Seasons also complements the Hawaiian scenery that surrounds it. Whether you're chilling by the saltwater pool or lounging on a lanai on the balcony of your room, you'll notice that the hotel practically grows out of its lava rock surroundings.
chettarin/Shutterstock
Eunice K./Yelp
Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort (Orlando, Florida)
You're not far from Disney World, but if you want to forget that you are, stay at the Four Seasons Resort Orlando. Your kids will be so busy with the pool, the lazy river and the Goofy-character breakfast that they will hardly notice you've slipped away to the luxurious Four Seasons spa or to the adults-only pool. Plus, this hotel doesn't incorporate Disney into its decorations. No hidden Mickeys here!
Brian M./Yelp
Four Seasons Resort The Nam Hai (Hoi An, Vietnam)
The most eye-catching feature of this Four Seasons location is The Nam Hai's three tiers of infinity pools. The first is kid-friendly, the last is for adults only, and the middle pool is for laps. Whether you're swimming, checking out the eight treatment suites or enjoying a themed dinner at one of the hotel's two restaurants, you'll be excited to turn down at your villa which includes a garden, an outdoor rain shower, a bedside bathtub and a patio with a daybed.
Four Seasons Resort The Nam Hai
Four Seasons Whistler (Whistler, Canada)
Ski bunnies, this is the hotel for you to splurge on. The Four Seasons Whistler is bucket list-worthy and is based at the foot of Blackcomb and Whistler mountains, just a five-minute walk away from the lifts - so you can ski for hours and then lift home, no problem. To soothe those aching muscles, the hotel boasts a five-star spa with tons of relaxing amenities such as massages and facials.
Guests of the hotel can also take advantage of its ski concierge, who will store your equipment or help you to rent gear and purchase lift passes.
Four Seasons Whistler
Gstaad Palace (Gstaad, Switzerland)
According to The Hollywood Reporter, celebrities such as Madonna, Princess Diana, Michael Jackson, Anne Hathway, Elizabeth Hurley and Hugh Grant have all stayed at Gstaad Palace. The opulent hotel offers views of the Swiss Alps, luxurious rooms and spa services, and visitors enjoy what MySwitzerland.com calls "discretion and hospitality" for "the most discerning international guests." So basically: celebrities, royalty and spies?
purwanto lim/Shutterstock
Hotel Bel-Air (Los Angeles, California)
This secluded hotel is the perfect place to stay if you're hiding from the paparazzi or just want to get away from the slow crawl of LA traffic and your terrible assistant job (if you can afford it). This is the hotel to splurge on if you want private everything. The amenities are top of the line, but you won't find five pools and a kid's club or cooking demonstrations. In fact, this hotel only has one bar and one restaurant - but it's by no less than Wolfgang Puck, so you won't rue the lack of options.
Hotel Bel-Air/Yelp
Hotel Esencia (Tulum, Mexico)
This Tulum hotel is situated on what Forbes calls "the most pristine stretch of beach in all of Mexico." This the place to splurge if you love to eat. Hotel Esencia brings guests fresh coffee and pastries every morning, and the stunning hotel is brimming with restaurant and meal options that serve everything from Japanese-Peruvian fusion to Latin American cuisine and even a few specialty dishes from around the world.
Daniel C./Yelp
Hotel Il Pellicano (Porto Ercole, Italy)
Hotel Il Pellicano has maintained its glamorous '60s and '70s flair with a few timeless touches. Once a favorite of Kirk Douglas and Sophia Loren, the hotel is now reeling in guests with its prestigious Michelin-starred restaurant, Pellicano, and their wine cellar with over 1,000 bottles of wine. The hotel's master suites have private saltwater pools and terraces with sweeping views. Plus, according to CN Traveler, the beds are massive and the bathrooms come with bath products custom-made by the hotel's parfumeur.
Brittany F./Yelp
Hotel Maria Cristina (San Sebastian, Spain)
Hotel Maria Cristina was renovated in 2012 - 100 years after it opened in 1912 - but maintains its stunning original stained glass ceiling. This five-star hotel is curated to the nines with special concierge services, a gourmet shop with local Spanish treats, and daily classes at the hotel's below-ground cooking school. Food is a big deal here. Hotel Maria Cristina offers a massive breakfast buffet in the morning, two in-hotel restaurants which also offer food tours, and even fun pop-up restaurant experiences inside the hotel galleries.
Celia M./Yelp
InterContinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa (French Polynesia)
If you want to splurge on an island paradise, this is it. This five-star hotel faces the main island of Bora Bora and Mount Otemanu and is surrounded by sapphire waters. If you're not busy gaping at the scenery, check out their Deep Ocean Spa, the first seawater therapy spa in French Polynesia. The hotel also boasts a ton of restaurants and bars, all named after the oceanic scenery.
St. Clair Travel/Yelp
J.K. Place (Capri, Italy)
Capri is a must-see if you're ever stopping by the Amalfi Coast. This stunning island is home to the J.K. Place, which you must splurge on should you come to Capri. The hotel serves up high-end Italian comfort food and, according to CN Traveler, the service is impeccable. It's the chicest place to stay on the island, so know that you're not missing out should you hear about friends, diplomats, or celebrities staying anywhere else.
J.K. Place Capri
Jade Mountain (St. Lucia)
If you're looking to take the most luxurious vacation of your life alone, with friends, or with your partner, go to Jade Mountain. Kids age 15 and under aren't allowed at this hotel, so you won't suffer any crying or screaming babies. A personal concierge is assigned to each suite, so all you have to do is say the word and whatever activity you feel like doing on the 600-acre beachfront resort is set up for you.
Plus, it offers a stellar view of both the Piti and Gros Piton mountains, which rise dramatically from the Caribbean Sea shoreline. Bring your camera, because you may also want to photograph your food. The menu at the Jade Mountain Club was created by James Beard award-winning chef Allen Susser.
Jade Mountain St Lucia
Jumeirah Mina A'salam at Madinat Jumeirah (Dubai, United Arab Emirates)
This Dubai hotel will not disappoint should you chose to splurge on this four-star hotel. There are over 50 restaurants and bars on the property as well as a water park. There's also a private beach for windsurfing and wakeboarding, play areas, and tons and tons of pools. Should you feel like shopping, the hotel offers boutique stalls with jewelry, perfume, antiques, and more. You can even take a boat tour through the market shops via a canal. It sounds like paradise!
HainaultPhoto/Shutterstock
Katikies Hotel (Santorini, Greece)
No, you did not just land on the set of "Mama Mia" - you're at Katikies Hotel in Santorini. You must have come at the right time too, because this hotel is seasonal and closed from November to April, ensuring that guests will have the best weather during their stay. This 34-room hotel is a Greek retreat 300 feet above the Aegean sea full of infinity pools, wine cellars, gorgeous restaurants serving Byzantine feasts, and even a Champagne bar!
Katikies
La Mamounia (Marrakech, Morocco)
The beauty of La Mamounia is what is most shocking. It's just so splendid. Everything is colorful and covered in artwork or draped in opulent fabrics, and according to Forbes, it smells of jasmine, orange blossom and cedar. The hotel has gorgeous gardens that guests can have tea in, a fantastic spa and a pool that will make you want to swim all day long. Plus, it's right inside the city's old medina which means you're very close to Marrakech's colorful markets and centuries-old historical sites.
art4stock/Shutterstock
Las Ventanas al Paraiso (San José del Cabo, Mexico)
This picturesque hotel is equal parts desert and sea as this vacation spot sits on the Sea of Cortez and also the sprawling Mexican desert. A major reason to stay here is their "tequila sign" class, in which guests go through a blind taste test of tequilas to create a personalized profile. Once your profile is made, hotel bartenders create pairings around your taste wherever you drink or dine! Isn't that cool?
If you've had too much tequila, every suite comes with its own butler on call 24 hours a day to fetch you an Advil or bring you something to eat - or at the very least, draw all the curtains while you nurse your hangover.
Las Ventanas al Paraíso/Yelp
Le Bristol Paris (Paris, France)
This Parisian hotel is a must if you're staying in the City of Light! Near the Arc de Triomphe, the Grand Palais, and the Champs-Elysees, Le Bristol is like staying in the finest Parisian chateau. The rooms are spacious and elegantly decorated. The spa is done by cult beauty brand La Prairie and is open until 9 p.m. for any late-night treatment shenanigans.
Guests can manger (eat) at the hotel restaurants such as Epicure, 114 Faubourg and Le Jardin Français and pop in for a beverage at Le Bar du Bristol, which also turns into a weekend nightclub. Plus, everything looks extremely chic - because let's face it, it's Paris! C'est magnefique, non?
Inna I./Yelp
Le Meurice (Paris, France)
Le Meurice is Parisian luxury. It is the oldest palace in France, but accommodations and amenities are state of the art. Spa Valmont offers cutting-edge services that will leave your skin glowing like a French model's. Famous French chef Alain Ducasse has curated the menu at Restaurant le Meurice Alain Ducasse where you can have all your meals. If you're really splurging, stay in the Belle Etoile Royal Suite, which boasts a 360-degree view of Paris.
Hôtel Meurice/Yelp
Lodge & Spa at Brush Creek Ranch (Saratoga, Wyoming)
If you're looking to get away without leaving the country, head to Wyoming. If you're looking for a hotel that maximizes the available activities, head to The Lodge and Spa at Bruch Creek Ranch, where it is as luxurious as it is wild. You can glamp (glam camping), ride horses, get dirty on an ATV, partake in some yoga, or relax in the rustic luxury of the lodge's modern accommodations and enjoy a farm-to-table dining experience.
The Lodge and Spa at Brush Creek Ranch/Yelp
One & Only Reethi Rah (Maldives)
Do the Maldives right at this large and luxurious resort. The food is a standout at One & Only, which offers sushi, fresh fruits and vegetables and stunning cocktails. It's a big attraction for romantic vacations, but it's also kid-friendly and offers a ton of waterskiing, windsurfing and more.
Christian Giaffrey/Shutterstock
Primland (Meadows of Dan, Virginia)
This four-star hotel was called "luxury summer camp for adults" by Forbes. The space in the Blue Ridge Mountains offers ethereal cottages complete with gorgeous soaking tubs and plush white robes that you can relax in after a day of hiking, biking, hunting and more. Primland's restaurant, Elements, offers seasonal fare that, according to their website, "showcases the natural abundance of the Virginia Highlands."
nancy c./Yelp
Resort at Pedregal (Cabo San Lucas, Mexico)
Cabo has long been a destination for celebrities on vacation - and if you're willing to splurge, it can be for you too! The Resort at Pedregal is perfect for anyone who loves long strolls through quaint adobes, ocean views and a really great spa. The resort is also in the perfect place to go scuba diving and snorkeling, and they offer a concierge service that can hook you up!
Monique C./Yelp
Rosewood Mayakoba (Playa del Carmen, Mexico)
Mayakoba is "The Venice of Mexico" according to Forbes. The Rosewood hotel there is all villas and freestanding suites with private pools and outdoor showers. Some suites even open right onto the beach! Going with a large group? Some of the villas offer up to four bedrooms. The hotel's tequila bar is also a highlight; it has more than 100 tequila options.
Wil S./Yelp
Sant Francesc Hotel Singular (Palma, Mallorca, Spain)
This 5-star Spanish hotel is perfect for people who need to occasionally stop vacationing and start working. Located near the Basiilica St. Francis and the Cathedral of Santa Maria of Plama, guests can pop outside for all the history and sightseeing they can handle before running back into their rooms to connect to Wi-Fi.
Sant Francesc Hotel Singular/Yelp
Shangri-La Singapore Valley Wing (Singapore)
Singapore is opulent, and its hotels are no exception. The Shangri-La Singapore is near Singapore's most famous shopping street, Orchard Road. However, you'll feel like you're in the heart of paradise, as the hotel is surrounded by 15 acres of lush tropical gardens. Want to spend your time totally blissed out? Book a room in the Valley Wing, which has a separate entrance and lobby. Your room comes with personal butler service!
Lance W./Yelp
Soho Farmhouse (Oxfordshire, United Kingdom)
Frequently by British celebrities like Alexa Chung and Nick Grimshaw, the Soho Farmhouse in Oxfordshire might just be the poshest of the Soho House bunch. Set in gorgeous English countryside, this hotel and members-only club includes garden rooms, cabins, private cottages and even a seven-bedroom farmhouse. It may seem rustic, but this hotel offers all the amenities of a regular Soho House location, such as four different restaurants, an outdoor pool and a spa stocked with cult-favorite Cowshed brand products.
E J./Yelp
Taj Lake Palace (Udaipir, India)
You'll feel like a celebrity as you speedboat your way to the Taj Lake Palace. You're not being extra - the only way to reach this splurge-worthy hotel is by boat. This hotel was an 18th century palace, and it offers the most gorgeous view of Lake Pichola. You may have to spend like a king to stay here, but you'll feel like royalty reclining in the four-poster beds and using the butler service. If you're hungry, the hotel has four different restaurants for you to choose from that serve authentic Indian cuisine.
Amit kg/Shutterstock
The Beekman, A Thompson Hotel (New York, New York)
This Financial District hotel is actually one of New York's best. Formerly the Mercantile Library Association, the luxe digs contain a Tom Colicchio restaurant and bar as well as a brasserie-style restaurant serving French food. When you're done wining and dining, check out the hotel's art collection inspired by writers who spent time on the same lot back when it hosted the Mercantile Library Association, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Edgar Allen Poe.
The Beekman, A Thompson Hotel/Yelp
The Cloister (Sea Island, Georgia)
The Cloister is a secluded five-star Georgia getaway with tons of activities and a killer spa. After seeing the on-staff nutritionist or getting all kinds of face and body treatments, chill out in the waterfall circular whirlpool or one of the outdoor hot tubs. The hotel is also family-friendly and offers a kids' club called Camp Cloister.
Milly M./Yelp
The Dewberry (Charleston, South Carolina)
If you're not afraid of dropping some major cash on your Southern vacation, head to The Dewberry. First off, the interior is modern South Carolina cool, with palm-shaped chandeliers and beach-y looking rooms. Dine at the hotel restaurant Henrietta's, for French food with a Southern influence. The hotel also offers in-room bar service with seasonal drinks curated by The Dewberry's executive chef.
George W./Yelp
The Dorchester (London, England)
This London hotel is located in Mayfair, the ritziest London neighborhood. If you choose a roof suite, you'll have an outdoor balcony with views of Hyde Park. The Grill at Dorchester by chef Alain Ducasse is a must, as is The Bar at The Dorchester. Plus, the hotel offers an afternoon tea experience that is the height of English sophistication with various pastries and treats made exclusively by The Dorchester pastry team.
The Dorchester/Yelp
The Inn of the Five Graces (Santa Fe, New Mexico)
You've never been anywhere like The Inn of the Five Graces. It's in New Mexico, but because of the way it's decorated, you might feel transported across the world with its gorgeous Middle Eastern and Indian accents. Every room is different, but they all come with flat-screen TVs, fireplaces, and Le Creuset dishware. Their kitchen serves tons of Mexican-influenced dishes as well as health conscious meals. It's a great hotel to wander around in due to its many courtyards and picturesque adobe buildings.
The Inn of the Five Graces
The Lowell Hotel (New York, New York)
You should splurge on this NYC hotel because it's easily the most spacious in Manhattan. Every room contains a kitchenette, and some have wood burning fireplaces and balconies. That's insane for New York! Many hotels there don't even have bathtubs!
The Lowell/Yelp
The Peninsula (Chicago, Illinois)
This five-star hotel in the Windy City is all about comfort. The rooms are large and come with a seating area and a control panel next to your bed that lets you control temperature, lighting and music and also opens and closes your curtains. Plus, the bathrooms here all have soaking tubs with built-in TVs and a separate shower.
If you're hungry and don't feel like braving the cold to hit up the Gold Coast area hotel's great restaurants, The Peninsula Chicago has three restaurants which serve French food, Chinese food, and Malaysian eats, respectively.
The Peninsula (Hong Kong, China)
This particular Peninsula hotel is styled like an ancient Roman bath despite its Chinese location and includes 10 different dining options. Cuisines served range from French to Swiss to Japanese to Cantonese. Plus, you can rent a ton of different movies from the hotel's film library to watch in your room.
And if you're really feeling like splurging, before you arrive, schedule one of the hotel-owned Rolls-Royce phantoms to pick you up from the airport and take you to your destination.
Takahiro S./Yelp
The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park (New York, New York)
The Ritz-Carlton New York is classic New York luxury. Splurge on its opulent Swiss skincare-based La Prairie Spa, the exclusive Club Lounge, or one of the hotel's higher floor rooms with an avenue view. What makes this hotel really worth it is its afternoon tea spread. The hotel serves a variety of tea sandwiches, scones, and desserts that you won't find anywhere else.
The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park/Yelp
The St. Regis Abu Dhabi (Abu Dhabi)
This Abu Dhabi destination is perfect for vacationers who want to soak up the sun. Located in one of the safest cities in the world, The St. Regis gives you access to one of Abu Dhabi's best stretches of beach according to Forbes, and it has an adult pool that can't be beat, as well as a kid's pool if you want to splash with your little ones. Plus, pool cabanas are free on weekdays and come with free popsicles!
Every type of room comes with a dedicated butler to draw your bath or shine your shoes, and when it's time to eat, you can hit up the hotel's famed Terrace restaurant or access the Nation Galleria mall from its entrance inside the hotel and taste its delights.
Myroslava Bozhko/Shutterstock
Wynn Las Vegas (Las Vegas, Nevada)
Most people flock to the Wynn for Le Rêve, a dreamlike stage show full of stunts, dancing and feats of strength. But if you're looking to splurge while you're in Vegas, stay at The Wynn for its 15 restaurants, high-end mall The Wynn Esplanade, and bathrooms with massive bathtubs. Plus, rooms have floor-to-ceiling windows so you can really take in the Strip - which offers some of the best food and drink in Nevada. Don't feel like splurging? There are 20 free things you can do in Las Vegas.
Best Extreme Hotels in the World
The Most Incredible National Park Lodges in America
13 Hotels With Scenic Views That Will Blow You Away
The World's 10 Best Hotel Spas
The Best Eco-Friendly Hotels in America
Wynn Las Vegas/Yelp
A Road Trip Through Kentucky's Historic Bourbon Country Gallery
The Best Food and Drink in Every State for 2019
Surprising signs you're eating too much salt
Tips for finally becoming an efficient packer
Easy things you can do to be more polite
What commute times look like across America
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2492
|
__label__wiki
| 0.800199
| 0.800199
|
Hotels in Queensland
Cranbrook Hotels
Hotels in Cranbrook, Queensland
Search & Compare Cranbrook Hotels
Map of Cranbrook hotels
Best hotels in Cranbrook
What's Cranbrook like?
If you're looking for a place to get away, look no further than Cranbrook. Whether you're planning to stay for a night or for the week, the area around Cranbrook has accommodations to fit every need. Search for hotels in Cranbrook with Hotels.com by checking our online map. Our map displays the areas and neighborhoods around all Cranbrook hotels so you can see how close you are from landmarks and attractions, and then refine your search within the larger area. The best Cranbrook hotel deals are here with our lowest price guarantee.
What types of hotels are available in Cranbrook?
We have Cranbrook accommodations with prices starting at USD 13. Choose one of our 181 deals and get discounts of up to 45%.
Below are the number of accommodations by star rating in Cranbrook and the surrounding area:
How to Get to Cranbrook
What is the closest airport to Cranbrook?
• Townsville, QLD (TSV), 3.6 mi (5.8 km) from central Cranbrook
Things to See and Do in Cranbrook
What is there to see near Cranbrook:
• Magnetic Island Ferry Terminal (5.9 mi/9.5 km from the city center)
• James Cook University (1.7 mi/2.8 km from the city center)
• 1300SMILES Stadium (2.8 mi/4.6 km from the city center)
• Cluden Racecourse (4.5 mi/7.3 km from the city center)
• Castle Hill (4.7 mi/7.6 km from the city center)
What is there to do near Cranbrook:
• Willows Shopping Centre (1.7 mi/2.8 km from the city center)
• Townsville Palmetum (0.8 mi/1.2 km from the city center)
• Riverway Lagoon (1.9 mi/3 km from the city center)
• Army Museum North Queensland (5.5 mi/8.9 km from the city center)
• Museum of Tropical Queensland (5.6 mi/9.1 km from the city center)
When is the best time to visit Cranbrook?
• Hottest months: January, December, February, November (average 88°F)
• Coldest months: July, June, August, September (average 58°F)
• Rainiest months: January, February, March, and December (average 7.89 inches of rainfall)
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2501
|
__label__wiki
| 0.576798
| 0.576798
|
HTML Goodies : HTML5 : Other HTML5 Topics
The Dangers of HTML5: WebSockets and Stable Standards
By Cameron Laird
You celebrate: it's the first Friday after your start-up opens its first real office and a round of funding came through. This is going to be a good weekend. HTML5 has the technologies you need to make your idea for a Web-based massive multi-player game take off. Hardware-accelerated gaming in a browser is real and you're going to lead the way.
Until Monday, when you find that all the tests you'd already done, and all the demos you've staged, no longer matter. Your website crashes, the game freezes and there's nothing obvious you can do to bring it back.
What Happened to the WebSockets?
This story is a true one. It happened already to several teams that depend on the WebSocket protocol. How could things go so wrong? What protection can Web developers put in place to prevent being "burned" this way?
The short answer: constant vigilance. The WebSocket situation is more involved than any few-word explanation like, "he ran a red light" or "they didn't do back-ups." Like most real-world dramas, many factors came together to create the WebSocket situation:
The potential for "cross-layer" security exploits due to lack of testing
A highly unpredictable path for how technologies evolve across standards organizations
The role of browsers and browser vendors that support standards
The only insurance you have is to be aware of the changes that occur with unstable standards (and invest the time to support them). To see why there's no easy systematic fix, we need clarity about what HTML5 is, WebSocket's position within HTML5, and how standard-based development itself is evolving.
HTML5 and Application Development
HTML5 has significantly more potential than its predecessors. In the past, "Web Application" generally involved something no more sophisticated than a data-entry form like a college entrance examination or a tax return. Previous incarnations of Web standards went by several titles, including HTML4; they brought us to roughly the point that that made search engines, the cloud and the rest of Web 2.0 become possible.
HTML5, in contrast, is a collection of technologies that are emerging with varying degrees of stability. These range from hardware-accelerated graphics, audio, and video that can make a Web game feel like a native application to a mundane (but a highly valuable) approach to database standards like IndexedDB.
The Web is still the platform to reach the most people possible for relatively low cost. HTML5, in broad terms, will be the set of standards that make networked application development feasible across a range of platforms and devices. All the devices you use -- phones, game consoles, automobiles, TVs, point-of-sale installations, household appliances and more -- have the realistic potential to fulfill a single set of standards. That's quite an achievement for a set of technologies that are just emerging!
It is also not a single coherent definition or document like, say, HTTP1.1 (and we should recognize that even that rather well-controlled topic was published in seven distinct parts). HTML5 won't be completely finished for at least a few years more. So how do web developers take advantage of these technologies at varying levels of readiness? How do browsers play a role in supporting HTML5 standards with developers in mind?
Speed of Innovation vs. Spec Stability
The key actors behind HTML5 could make it "tight" -- more coherent, integrated and internally consistent. It would be more trustworthy and blemish-free. That would appear to make our choices as developers simpler.
Such an alternate-reality HTML5 would probably have taken an extra decade, and been unused on release. The real choice is not between a high- and low-quality standard; it's how best to balance flexibility and reliability in standardization. Moreover, when the standard lags too much, clever developers create their own techniques for solving their real problems, and further muddying the engineering landscape. The HTML5 sponsors did the right thing in modularizing the standard and its process. Parts of HTML5 are fairly well understood and noncontroversial; they just needed standardization, and a few of them have been usable in Web browsers for more than five years already.
Other parts are more difficult, including the WebSocket protocol. Understand that "difficulty" here isn't a euphemism for "written by people acting in bad faith" or "subject to an evil conspiracy." The problems HTML5 addresses are hard ones that demand careful design and engineering. Occasionally, with the best of intentions and even plenty of intense meetings, mistakes are made.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2503
|
__label__wiki
| 0.670159
| 0.670159
|
Los Angeles City, California
The city of Los Angeles is one of just a few hundred cities to have a population recorded during the 1850 census or before. It is the 2nd largest city in the US and the largest city in California. Los Angeles is home to the Coast Guard Station Los Angeles-Long Beach military base and Los Angeles International Airport. Marilyn Monroe, Meghan Markle, Gigi Hadid, Jennifer Aniston, and Kim Kardashian were born in it. The city of Los Angeles is located in southern California in Los Angeles County near Pacific Ocean. It is one of the 19 principal cities of the Los Angeles, CA Metro Area.
Los Angeles, CA is a Place (City):
Need a wider view? Los Angeles, CA is a part of the Los Angeles, CA Metro Area.
beachwoodbbq chumash castaic wiltern sugarfish disneyland csulb portos canoga calabasas dland oxnard dtla olivos islandsburgers wurstk ojai ucsb wondercon camarillo moorpark carpinteria deltopia barbara solvang katella sharkeez ralphs avst goleta noblealeworks cinespia thegrovela donnalynn flylaxairport dtsantamonica cityofbevhills montecito urthcaffela csula ynez yoshinoya csun weho unistudios aliso segerstrom lompoc katsuya souplantation bako freshandeasy ventura niguel pantages habra
The unadjusted gender pay gap is the median indvidiual female earnings as a percentage of male earnings. In other words, women who work in Los Angeles, CA generally make around 8720% of what men do. Much of that difference is likely due to the number of hours worked (see the Full Time vs Part Time Work chart), occupations chosen (see the Employed by Occupation chart), education, and job experience. Adjusting for each of those factors to see what women with similar qualifications and jobs make compared to men is difficult, but the adjusted pay gap would be more likely to show the difference due to discrimination, difference in ability, or willingness to negotiate pay. For these reasons, differences in the gender pay shown here may be more likely to show the gender ideals in an area than the discriminatory practices. It is also worth noting that the 28% of men and 41% of women ages 16+ that did not have earnings were not included in the calculation.
To classify as unemployed, people must not be in the military and must be actively looking for work (also known as the U3 measure of unemployment which is the official unemployment rate). In Los Angeles, CA, 34% of the population ages 16+ are not employed, but are also not looking for work so they are not considered in the unemployment rate. See the Labor Force Participation Rate for more information.
People in the labor force include those in the armed forces as well as civilians who are employed or classified as unemployed. To classify as unemployed, people must be actively looking for work. Common people that are not considered in the labor force are students, homemakers, retired workers, seasonal workers not currently looking for work, and institutionalized people. In Los Angeles, CA, 34% of people are neither employed or looking for work.
High Other services, except public administration
High Information
High Administrative, support, waste management services
Normal Finance and insurance
High Arts, entertainment, and recreation
Normal Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting
Low Management
Normal Sales and related
Normal Production
High Building, grounds cleaning, maintenance
Normal Business and financial operations
High Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media
High Food preparation and serving related
High Personal care and service
Normal Installation, maintenance, and repair
Normal Computer and mathematical
Not being enrolled in school does not necessarily mean that the student dropped out. Only schools that lead to a high school diploma or college degree are included. Home schoolers were instructed to select private school. Ages 3-4 are not included because preschool programs are not usually mandated by law and only 56% of children in this age range were enrolled in Los Angeles, CA.
The historical population of Los Angeles, CA in each census year since 1790 is derived from census records as well as historical state references. Learn more about the urbanization of the US and historical city populations.
The racial and ethnic diversity index measures the probability that any two people chose at random from Los Angeles, CA are of different races or ethnicities where higher numbers represent more diversity. It was developed by the University of North Carolina and USA Today in 1991 and adapted in 2000 to account for differences in Census questions. It uses the same calculation methods as the Gini Index used by the Census Bureau to determine household income inequality.
The climate estimates use Los Angeles, CA weather from 1971 to 2000 at the nearest official weather station which is located at U C L A.
This weather station's average summer high temps are lower than 90% of other weather stations.
This weather station's average precipitation levels are lower than 77% of other weather stations.
State 2013 ACS CA
Name 2010 Census Los Angeles city
Name 2013 ACS Los Angeles city, California
Population 2010 Census 3,792,621
Population 2013 ACS 3,827,261
Housing Units 2010 Census 1,413,995
Housing Units 2013 ACS 1,422,368
Water Area 2013 ACS 34.0 square miles
Minimum Bounding Rectangle Or Bounding Box 2013 ACS [33.70403,-118.668162], [34.337157,-118.15529],
Centroid Or Center Coordinates 2013 ACS 34.113942761092, -118.40683166297
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2508
|
__label__wiki
| 0.919351
| 0.919351
|
Former foes now helping push Farmington Hills road millage plan
Residents who fought Farmington Hills on a special assessment district policy are now helping push the millage the city hopes to replace it with.
Former foes now helping push Farmington Hills road millage plan Residents who fought Farmington Hills on a special assessment district policy are now helping push the millage the city hopes to replace it with. Check out this story on HometownLife.com: https://www.hometownlife.com/story/news/local/farmington/2018/09/26/former-foes-now-helping-push-farmington-hills-road-millage-plan/1366835002/
Brad Kadrich, Hometownlife.com Published 8:33 a.m. ET Sept. 26, 2018
The millage proposal put forth by Farmington Hills officials would replace the controversial, unpopular directed Special Assessment District policy that drew huge crowds to meetings.(Photo: Aileen Wingblad)
Two years ago, residents in the Bridgeman subdivision — and several others— in Farmington Hills fought back against the city's policy of directing a special assessment district for neighborhoods with crumbling roads.
The unpopular program saddled residents with special assessments on their tax rolls that — in some cases — added up to tens of thousands of dollars, money many residents simply couldn't afford.
Now some of those same residents are helping to push the roads millage plan city officials have come up with to replace the directed SADs.
"The 80-percent was turning out to be 10 years and $25,000," said Barb Cripps, a Bridgeman resident who is helping promote the new roads millage. "Seniors can't afford that. We hung in there and forced them to do something different. Residents are happy."
City council earlier this summer approved a motion to put the question of a local road millage on the Nov. 6 ballot. The proposal, if approved by voters, would establish an additional 2.75 mills to fix local roads.
More: Man charged with exposing himself at the Farmington Hills Public Library
More: Harvest Moon sets on successful Farmington celebration
The city currently uses a special assessment district to fund local road improvements. The charter allows the council to direct the SAD whether residents want it or not, if pavement evaluations are low enough.
The SAD plan has been used in subdivisions like Independence Commons, which resulted in a controversial case where the city sued the residents of that subdivision over the issue.
This proposal would end that practice and would, in fact, reimburse subdivision residents who've already paid off those assessments.
City officials are hitting the trail to explain the millage plan. Mayor Ken Massey said his first town hall on the subject, held Sept. 13, drew a good crowd with "lots of questions."
Related: Farmington Hills launches campaign promoting road millage proposal
City officials are planning a series of town hall-style meetings where they will lay out what they say are the facts supporting the request:
The city has 243 miles of roads and 129 miles of them have "poor" ratings, with only 21 miles rated "good."
"It's a citywide issue," said Karen Mondora, the city's director of public services. "We have bad roads everywhere."
The 2.75-mill proposal will cost the average homeowner (with a $90,000 taxable value) in Farmington Hills $247.50 per year.
Residents who paid off their roads assessments early will get a refund. Finance director Steve Barr said the refunds would cost the city some $2.8 million.
City Manager Dave Boyer said the city already has the 12th lowest tax rate in Oakland County and that adding the 2.75 mills for roads will still leave it around 20th lowest.
The city will take on payments being made by residents for repaving projects already underway.
"The city will take on those payments," Mondora said. "We don't want people having to pay both."
And while Cripps and some of her neighbors are happy, not all residents are pleased with how the plan came about.
Independence Commons resident Tom DeWard has been vocal at recent city meetings in his contention that the whole process has not been played out in an open forum. In an email to city council and city officials, DeWard had several questions, many of them pertaining to potential refunds and other potential plans should the millage fail.
He also said the city denied his request for documents provided to council members by city attorney Steve Joppich, citing attorney-client privilege.
"The idea that the ballot proposal was fully discussed in open meetings is a joke," DeWard wrote in an email to the Farmington Observer.
But Mayor Ken Massey said discussion of the proposal has been discussed at meetings not only recently, but "for years."
"We've been extremely transparent," Massey said. "We've had multiple meetings where we've gone through all the math."
And they're going to have more. Massey had another meeting with residents Wednesday and city officials hosted a presentation the same evening at city hall.
The city has also scheduled:
Meeting with the Mayor – 7 p.m. Sept. 25, Fire Station No. 2, 28225 Middlebelt Road
Meeting with the Mayor – 7 p.m. Sept. 26, Fire Station No. 1, 35725 Nine Mile Road
Road Millage Presentation – 10 a.m. Oct. 6, City Hall, 31555 11 Mile Road
Road Millage Presentation – 7 p.m. Oct. 30, Fire Station No. 5, 31455 11 Mile Road
For more information, call the city manager’s office at 248-871-2500 or go to www.fhgov.com/localroadballotproposal.
Contact Brad Kadrich at bkadrich@hometownlife.com. Follow him on Twitter: @bkadrich.
Read or Share this story: https://www.hometownlife.com/story/news/local/farmington/2018/09/26/former-foes-now-helping-push-farmington-hills-road-millage-plan/1366835002/
New medical building opens in Bloomfield Township
New nitrogen ice cream shop opening in South Lyon
Superintendent talks about her dad, 'Titans' coach Boone
Police: Driver charged for striking other driver
Police: Arrested man said he was hunting coyotes
Novi Asian village development delayed again
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2510
|
__label__cc
| 0.665169
| 0.334831
|
You are at:Home»Posts Tagged "Jerry Shore"
Jerry Shore
Fred’s Names Bloom CEO
Fred’s Inc. will soon have a new leader at the top as Michael Bloom has been named the company’s new CEO, replacing Jerry Shore who will retire effective February 2017.
Fred’s Sees Q1 Sales Growth, But Comps Remain Flat
First quarter sales at Fred’s were up 8% as the company reported margin increases in general merchandise departments that allowed…
Fred’s Names New CFO
Fred’s Inc. has named Rick Hans the company’s new evp/chief financial officer, filling the position left open when Jerry Shore,…
Fred’s Sees Strong December Sales Growth
For the five-week fiscal month of December, Fred’s Inc. announced that total sales increased 10% to $231.9 million compared with…
Fred’s Posts November Comp Gain Despite Headwinds
For the four-week fiscal month of November, Fred’s Inc. reported that comparable store sales rose 1.7%. The company posted a…
Fred’s Improves Sales, Income Through Q3
For the third quarter, Fred’s posted net income of $1.4 million, or four cents per share, versus a net loss…
Fred’s Gains In September Despite Southeast Floods
For the five-week fiscal month of September, Fred’s posted a comparable store sales increase of 4.2% versus the month last…
Fred’s Advances Sales Through August
For the month of August, Fred’s Inc. posted a sales increase of 12% to $165.6 million versus last year’s period.…
Fred’s Gains In Q2 But Back-To-School Sales Disappoint
In the second quarter ended August 1, Fred’s Inc. has reported that second quarter comparable store sales increased 0.9% versus…
Fred’s Struggles To Build Momentum In Q1
For the first quarter ended May 2, Fred’s posted a net loss of $29 million, or zero per diluted share,…
Fred’s Reports Slight Comp Gain In Q1
For the first quarter ended May 2, Fred’s Inc. posted a comparable store sales gain of 0.8% as total sales…
Fred’s Struggles To Get On Track With Net Loss In Q4, Fiscal Year
Today, Fred’s, Inc. posted a net loss of $28.9 million, or 79 cents per diluted share, for the fiscal year…
Acquisition Adds Store, Specialty Pharmacy To Fred’s Business
Fred’s, Inc. has announced that it signed an agreement to acquire Reeves-Sain Drug Store, Inc., a private specialty and retail…
Fred’s Sales Improve As Fiscal Year Closed
For the fiscal year ended January 31, Fred’s Inc. posted a sales gain of 2% to $1.97 billion from $1.94…
Fred’s Appoints Bloom President And COO
Fred’s, Inc. has named Michael K. Bloom as the company’s president and chief operating officer. Most recently, he served as…
Competition Crimps Fred’s December General Merchandise Returns
For the five-week fiscal month of December, Fred’s Inc. sales increased 1% to $210.7 million. However, comparable store sales for…
Fred’s Names Shore New CEO
Fred’s has named Jerry A. Shore as the company’s new CEO, replacing Bruce A. Efird who is leaving the company.…
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2511
|
__label__wiki
| 0.914868
| 0.914868
|
Monkey Island 2
Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck's Revenge Review
Guybrush and LeChuck are back for the better.
By Kristine Steimer
Updated: 8 May 2012 11:12 am
Posted: 8 Jul 2010 4:58 pm
The Monkey Island series is revered for its humor, creative and challenging puzzles, and charming characters. For the uninitiated, the Monkey Island games are adventure/puzzlers following the story of plucky wannabe pirate Guybrush Threepwood. After besting the ghost pirate LeChuck and winning over the lovely Governor Elaine Marley in the Secret of Monkey Island
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge Special Edition for Xbox 360
$9.99on Microsoft Store
, Threepwood has fallen out of Elaine's good graces and decides to pursue the fabled treasure of Big Whoop.
The first Monkey Island SE was simply a re-skinned version of the original game with a few minor additions. The newest offering features re-worked controls that make it easy for console gamers and newcomers unfamiliar with the SCUMM menu to play. On the Xbox 360, players can either navigate the world with the standard point and click controls or by moving Guybrush with the left analog stick and using the right stick to select things on the screen. This is a big change, and it does take some getting used to. Once you get the hang of it, it works well but expect to get stuck in environments and accidentally exit/enter a lot of rooms in the beginning.
Watch More Monkey Island 2 Special Edition Clips
The other neat thing about Special Edition mode is that pulling the right trigger while hovering over an object or a person launches a wheel of the most appropriate actions. For example, if you clicked on Wally the Cartographer you'd only see "Look, Pick Up, Talk To" as options. "Pick Up" may seem like a strange choice, but choosing it produces a witty line about wrestling the monocle wearing mapmaker. The new control wheel successfully streamlines the game without removing the amusingly absurd choices.
The new artwork in the first Monkey Island SE was pretty, but the classic art still managed to out-charm it and the hint system was (and still is) useless for people that have already played it. The best addition was perhaps the voiceover work, but you couldn't integrate that with the classic graphics. That's been fixed, and now you can enjoy listening to the characters while watching them in their 16-bit glory. Most of the actors are spot on with their portrayal of the characters, with the exception of the actress who voices Elaine Marley. The Governor comes off as a whiny shrew, which is not at all what I imagined her to be.
Fans have more to be excited about this time around, as LucasArts got Monkey Island creators Ron Gilbert, Tim Schafer and Dave Grossman to record their thoughts on the game. About an hour of that audio has been placed into the title, and while it's a satisfying element I wish there was a little more of it. Also, it would be great if the scene paused while the commentary played -- the strongest aspect of the game is its clever dialogue, so it's a bummer that people will miss out if they're busy listening to Gilbert, Grossman, and Schafer. The new art viewer is another goodie for fans to enjoy. As you play the game you will unlock concept art from both the original game and character models for the updated version.
How+far+can+you+spit?
If you're a pro at the Monkey Island series you probably won't need any help solving its puzzles. For those that do need assistance, LucasArts added two great features: the object highlight system and the hint system. The hint system was added in the first Special Edition, and it's back for round two. It's useful when you need a general nudge in the right direction, but when you need specific help it's best to hit up the good old Internet. The object highlight system is brand spankin' new. Whenever you'd like to see what you can interact with on the screen you can press the left bumper and objects will light up. This can be a really helpful tool, but I didn't have to use it often.
The artwork is clean and beautifully drawn with the intention of keeping the spirit of the '90s version. I found myself torn between the classic and new visuals, but spent most of my time with the crisper imagery of the Special Edition (though pixilated Guybrush will always have my heart).
If the idea of updated graphics, voice acting, a hint system and object highlighting makes you sick to your stomach, don't fret -- you can still play LeChuck's Revenge in its original form. Of course, if you wanted to that you could just fire up DOSBox.
There’s something for everyone in Monkey Island 2 Special Edition. Fans will appreciate the colorful commentary from the franchise creators and unlockable art gallery, while those intimidated by the adventure games of the past will find comfort in the simplified controls, object highlighting and hint system.
If you buy something through this post, IGN may get a share of the sale. For more, learn more.
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge -- Special Edition
DeveloperLucasArts
PublisherLucasArts
Release DateJune 30, 2010
PlatformsiPhone, iPad, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC
Microsoft Store $9.99
xbox-360
HBO's Avenue 5 Series Premiere Review
Studio Ghibli Films Will Exclusively Stream on Netflix From Next Month
The Outsider Brings in Oscar Nom Cynthia Erivo, Heads into X-Files Territory
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2519
|
__label__wiki
| 0.674501
| 0.674501
|
Oldies 93.5
Columbia & Greene’s 60s, 70s & 80s Hits
Oldies 93.5 Podcasts
Ken Dashow's Beatles Revolution
We pick apart why and how the Beatles became the most influential musical group of all-time with interviews, performances and roundtable discussions.…
Rock N Roll Pantheon
2018 Nominee for Best Music Podcast. The Rock N Roll audio magazine featuring shows: Rock N Roll Archaeology, Rock n Roll Librarian, Muses, Art of Rock with Kosh & Friends, Vinyl Snob, Rock Candy, Reel Rock, Miss Pamela's Pajama Party, Who Cares About the Rock Hall?, The Career Musician & Deeper Digs in Rock. All things Rock N Roll. The Music. The People. The Culture. The Technology.…
The Beatles Anthology Podcast
British music journalists and Beatles experts Kevin Holwett and Mark Ellen discuss the classic Anthology releases, shining a light on the fascinating stories behind these albums which tell the story of the development of The Beatles career.…
Former Professor Accused of Using Grant Money for Strip Clubs, iTunes…
More Coronavirus Cases in China as Virus Spreads to Beijing …
New York Times Editorial Board Endorses Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar…
Chat About Oldies 93.5
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2520
|
__label__wiki
| 0.879775
| 0.879775
|
Illicit Trade News Network
Submit your Articles
Italian police target organised metal thieves in EU-wide operation
Illicit Firearms Trade
Illicit Tobacco & Alcohol Trade
Illicit Pharmaceuticals Trade
Illicit Goods Trade
Counterfeit Currency
Illicit Fuel Trade
Matúš Tóth
Police in Italy last month led a major EU-wide crackdown on organised metal theft.
Supported by Europol, the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL) and the informal Network Against Metal Theft, the operation targeted thieves in Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Britain.
Across the 12 countries that participated in the one-day effort, law enforcement officials ran checks on nearly 54,900 individuals, more than 42,200 vehicles, almost 8,000 environmental companies and scrap dealers, 589 border areas and 2,572 other hotspots, including harbours and rail transport sites.
The crackdown resulted in the arrest of 117 suspects alleged to have committed serious crimes, who were detained alongside more than 1,300 individuals who were convicted of minor offences and released.
Investigators identified a further 1,659 crimes, including 75 cases of theft, 60 of knowingly receiving stolen goods, 137 environmental crimes, 1,387 miscellaneous offences, and 2,763 administrative violations.
Officers seized nearly 358 tonnes of metal worth an estimated €890 000 ($1 million) during the operation, including almost 93 tonnes of copper worth around €540,000, and 983 solar panels and 140 vehicles.
In a statement, Europol said: “This action sends a strong signal from law enforcement authorities to metal theft gangs operating all over Europe and to the many scrapyards that accept all kinds of metal with ‘no questions asked’.
“The phenomenon of copper theft has taken a European dimension and it often affects companies operating in the transport, energy, and telecommunications sectors, disrupting essential public services and leading to significant economic and social repercussions and possible implications for security.”
The operation, during which investigators carried out real-time cross-checks against Europol databases, was conducted within the framework of EMPACT, an ad hoc management environment to develop activities in order to achieve pre-set goals in Europol’s fight against serious international and organised crime.
In May 2016, Europol revealed that police in Romania and France had taken part in an operation that resulted in the disruption of a major Romanian metal theft gang operating in France.
The effort involved 10 simultaneous raids across the country in the provinces of Ilfov, Teleorman and Galati.
Three suspects were arrested and a large quantity of evidence was seized during the raids, including 300kgs of iron alloy, cash and documents.
Earlier this month, China border force agents arrested 245 people on suspicion of being members of a scrap steel smuggling ring who were said to have illegally sold more than 2.4 million tones of metal to buyers across Southeast Asia.
Europol smash international vehicle trafficking gang
Police in Greece smash travel document forgery network
Police in Spain and Bulgaria bust drug smuggling, money laundering and burglary gang
UK facing growing threat from organised crime, National Crime Agency warns
‘Ndrangheta mafia clan branching out to other countries, Italian police chief warns
Related Topics:Europolmetal theftNetwork Against Metal Theft
Convicted felon arrested in LA after police seize 553 illegally-owned guns
How paedophiles, sex traffickers and blackmailers freely use the surface web to exploit victims
Police in Spain smash sham marriage network that charged migrants €12,000 for bogus nuptials
Spanish police have arrested 30 suspected members of a sham marriage network that facilitated illegal immigration by setting up partnerships of convenience.
In an operation backed by Europol, investigators from Spain’s Policía Nacional carried out 11 raids on multiple residential and business premises, seizing more than €10,000 ($11,093) in cash along with evidence that indicted those detained were involved in the facilitation of illegal immigration and document fraud.
Members of the network are said to have set up sham marriages between male illegal immigrants and Spanish women, allowing the men to formalise their stay in the European Union.
Migrants seeking to avail themselves of the gang’s services would be charged as much as €12,000, with their bogus partners being paid €3,000 for agreeing to enter into fake marriages.
Members of the gang, which was made up of members of both Moroccan and Spanish origin, used a complex web of shell companies to facilitate the conspiracy, and had also set up a sophisticated money laundering operation, through which their profits were funnelled.
The network was based in the Valencia town of Sagunto, but also had bases in Morocco, Belgium, France and Italy, a fact that triggered the involvement of Europol.
In a statement, the EU law enforcement agency said: “Europol provided coordination and analytical support and facilitated the information exchange.
“On the action day, Europol also deployed experts on-the-spot to cross-check operational information in real time against Europol’s databases and to provide technical expertise.”
The investigation that led to the dismantling of the network was launched after Spanish police were alerted to potential irregularities in residence permit applications in Sagunto.
The two alleged leaders of network, a Spaniard and a Frenchman both of Moroccan origin, owned several companies in Sagunto, through which the Spanish women to whom migrants were married were employed.
Migrants who used the network’s services would either remain in Spain or be transported by the gang to France or Belgium.
In January of last year, police in Belgium and Portugal broke up an organised criminal gang that paid mostly Portuguese women to enter into sham marriages with Pakistani men.
Investigators arrested 17 suspects in Belgium and a further three in Portugal in a series of coordinated raids in an operation that targeted a network that was said to have paid women thousands of euros to marry the illegal immigrants.
Back in August 2018, law enforcement agencies in Romania and Poland held five members of an organised crime gang suspected of being behind the arrangement of sham marriages for Indian and Nepali nationals looking to gain access to the EU.
British Government should pay illegal migrants to return home, think tank suggests
Police smash crime network behind illicit trade of Bluefin tuna in Spain
Armenian tennis match-fixing gang brought down during Europol-backed operation in Spain
Police in Belgium and Portugal dismantle organised crime gang behind sham marriage conspiracy
Spanish police arrest top football players and club officials over match-rigging allegations
US scientists develop edible security tags to thwart drug counterfeiters
Guillaume Goudreau
Researchers at Purdue University have created a small edible tag that can be embedded into medicines in order to prevent the counterfeiting of drugs.
In a paper published in the journal Nature Communications, scientists from the institution explain that drug counterfeiters would need to decipher complicated patterns not fully visible to the naked eye to get round the new security system.
The edible tags serve as digital fingerprints for individual pills and capsules, and are intended to help pharmacists verify the legitimacy of their stock before dispensing it to patients as well as being a method to discourage the counterfeiting of medicines.
According to the researchers, their invention uses an authentication technique called physical unclonable functions (PUF) that generate a different response each time they are stimulated, meaning that even drug manufacturers would not be able to recreate tags.
Taking the form of a transparent film made of silk and fluorescent proteins, the tags are easily digestible, meaning they can be consumed by patients when they take their mediation.
Commenting on the new technology, Jung Woo Leem, a postdoctoral associate in biomedical engineering at Purdue, said in a statement: “Our concept is to use a smartphone to shine an LED light on the tag and take a picture of it. The app then identifies if the medicine is genuine or fake.”
The tags currently last for at least two months before the proteins start to degrade, but Leem and his team are working on extending their life so as they can last until the expiry date of the drugs they are intended to protect.
As well as holding a security key that can verify the authenticity of medication, the tags could also hold other information, such as dosage instructions.
Leem has made two patent applications to protect the tags through the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialisation.
According to a report published by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in November 2017, 10% of all pharmaceutical products circulating in low and middle-income countries at that time were either fake or of substandard quality.
The WHO said the trade in illicit pharmaceuticals is controlled by major organised crime networks who often channel their profits into other forms of illicit activity.
In March of last year, Europol revealed that a crackdown it had led on the sale of illicit pharmaceuticals across 16 countries in 2018 resulted in the seizure of some 13 million doses of counterfeit or smuggled medicines.
Interpol-backed crackdown on illicit pharmaceuticals nets 500 tonnes of fake meds
Kenya to roll out mobile phone service that will allow people to check authenticity of medicines
UK police seize huge haul of prescription drugs destined for sale on illicit online pharmacies
One in ten medicines in low and middle-income countries fake or substandard, WHO study finds
European crackdown on smuggled medicines results in arrest of 435 suspects
British charity Dogs Trust warns pet lovers about being ‘dogfished’ by puppy smugglers
UK animal protection charity Dogs Trust has revealed that thousands of Britons may have been conned into buying puppies smuggled into the country illegally by organised criminal gangs in a practice it has dubbed “dogfishing”.
In a survey of 2,000 owners of puppies designed to establish how many may have purchased their pet from gangs that smuggled young dogs into the UK from countries in eastern Europe, the charity spoke with many animal lovers who described puppy dealers offering discounts for quick sales and lying about the age and breed of dogs.
The poll found that more than half (51%) of puppy buyers were not allowed to see the animal they were purchasing more than once, while 43% were not offered the chance to visit the puppy with its mother, which Dogs Trust described as two signs all might not be well.
Nineteen percent of respondents said they were not able to collect their puppy from the seller’s home, of whom a “worrying number” said they were asked to collect their new pet in a carpark or layby.
One woman told Dogs Trust how she was left heartbroken after purchasing a puppy that she saw advertised online on Christmas Eve, only to have to rush it to a vet for emergency treatment on Christmas Day because it had contracted parvo virus, a highly contagious and potentially fatal condition that causes lethargy, vomiting and diarrhoea.
The puppy had to be put down.
Launching a new campaign named Don’t Be Dogfished, Dogs Trust Veterinary Director said: “People think they are getting a healthy, happy puppy but behind the curtain lurks the dark depths of the puppy smuggling trade.
“Many of these poor puppies suffer significant health conditions or lifelong behavioural challenges, and sadly some don’t survive, leaving their buyers helpless and heartbroken – as well as out of pocket.
“This is why we are touring the country in a van like those used by puppy smugglers to educate the public on the shocking realities of the puppy smuggling trade and advising them how they can take action to avoid being ‘dogfished’.
“If it seems too good to be true, as hard as it is, walk away and report it.”
Many organised crime gangs across Europe have moved into puppy smuggling owing to the huge profit it returns for relatively little risk.
Charity probe reveals true scale of brutal European puppy smuggling trade
British solar panel fraud gang jailed for 30 years over $22 million scam
Puppy smuggling gangs trafficking heavily-pregnant dogs into UK to dodge border checks
Criminal money mule recruiters increasingly targeting middle-aged Britons, UK fraud prevention agency finds
Britain’s ‘worst-ever’ paedophile found stabbed to death in his jail cell
Sign up for our mailing list to receive updates and information on events
PayPal agrees to help US NGO Polaris tackle human trafficking
US border guards arrest 14-year-old boy with three packages of methamphetamine taped to his stomach
Skulls in the mail: Indonesia foils artifact smuggling
Sentencing postponed as cocaine-smuggling sailboat captain undergoes surgery
NYC Gun Smuggling Operation Hid Guns In Gym
16 Year Veteran Seattle Cop Pleads Guilty To Smuggling Large Quantities Of Weed Cross Country
8 Prison Officers Sacked For Smuggling
Tweets by @illicit_trade_
Articles4 weeks ago
UK customs officers seize fake Chinese goods worth almost £3 million in run-up to Christmas
Police arrest man in connection with plot to smuggle 16 tonnes of loose-leaf tobacco and 20 million cigarettes into Australia
Border closures in Nigeria’s northeast slash fuel smuggling, country’s petrol agency says
The GirlsDoPorn compensation award highlights a sickness at the heart of the adult film industry
Young women coerced into appearing in adult videos by US porn site owners awarded nearly $13 million
Portuguese woman facing life sentence after being charged with smuggling cocaine stashed in shampoo bottles through Perth Airport
Sentencing of traffickers linked to 1.8-tonne cocaine shipment cements Guinea Bissau’s reputation as major smuggling hub
UK troops help rangers in Malawi fight back against poachers targeting endangered black rhinos
Copyright © 2017 Zox News Theme. Theme by MVP Themes, powered by WordPress.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2522
|
__label__cc
| 0.529595
| 0.470405
|
Published: Feb 27, 2014
New York State is home to some of the countries most incredible scenic driving routes and byways. Just outside New York City, in the Hudson Valley and LI regions is where some of the magic begins. Immerse yourself in the history of the state, experience top regional wines and ascend into the mountains, where commanding views of the Hudson River Valley await you.
Below are a few suggestions of the many scenic routes within 60-miles from New York City:
Hudson Valley, Nyack
Only 35-minutes outside Manhattan, the Hudson River Village of Nyack retains a small-town charm with elegant mansions mixed with modest homes, delightful shops and fine restaurants. Your scenic drive draws you into the Hudson River at Hook Mountain State Park connecting to Nyack Beach State Park. From start parks to art, Nyack offers a piece of the great outdoors to it cultural roots. Art has always played an important role in Nyack, as the birthplace of realist painter Edward Hopper. Today Hopper's house is a community cultural center and exhibit space that visits can see ongoing and special exhibits, participate in workshops, enjoy jazz concerts and more. End your drive in downtown Nyack, where the longtime home of stage actress Helen Hayes, and namesake of the thriving local youth theatre is open for camp, classes and productions.
Hudson Valley, Bear Mountain
Head north on U.S. 9W along rolling hills and forested mountains, you'll reach Bear Mountain State Park, where you'll discover expansive views of the Hudson River Valley. Continue your drive to Revolutionary War Grounds, where American troops fought for and took control of two forts. If historic sites aren't for you, the park also offers a wildlife center, camping, golf, boating, and the Bear Mountain Inn and restaurant. Drive deep into the history and beauty of Bear Mountain and hop out of the car to stretch your legs along miles of scenic hiking trails.
Hudson Valley, Sleepy Hollow
New York State is rich with history from agriculture to urban legends along U.S. 9 to Sleepy Hollow where you'll find Philipsburg Manor, a landmark of the Underground Railroad and an 18th century working farm. A shuttle leaves from the Philipsburg Manor to Kykuit, a country home of the Rockefellers and the crown jewel of Hudson Valley's Mansions. Also, who could forget the site of the storied Legend of Sleepy Hollow at Old Dutch Church, where the headless horseman's tale began next door to the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and the burial site of the story's writer Washington Irving.
Hudson Valley, Shawangunk Wine Trail
For wine lovers, the Hudson Valley is America's most historic wine making region. Just over an hour from the enrichments of the city, lay the most hospitable wine tasting rooms with award-winning wines made from varietals grown from all over the world. This beautiful drive indulges your senses with the best food and wine the Hudson Valley has to offer. With nine wineries in a scenic 30-mile loop and festivals including, ‘Bounty of the Hudson Food & Wine Festival' and ‘Wreath Fineries at Nine Wineries' this drive couldn't possibly steer you wrong.
Suffolk County, North Folk
Suffolk County's North Fork Trail carries visitors from Southold to Orient Point through a series of charming hamlets, renowned wine tours, expansive farms and wild wetlands. This gorgeous driving route mingles intermittent glimpses of the ocean and incredible beaches, concluding with an uninterrupted view of the Atlantic Ocean stretching as far as the eye can see.
View the attached document
Posted In: Press Kits
1000 Islands - Seaway Itineraries (7)
Adirondacks Itineraries (3)
Canadian Press Kit (5)
Canals Press Kit (1)
Capital Saratoga Itineraries (6)
Catskills Itineraries (5)
Central New York Itineraries (5)
Chautauqua-Allegheny Itineraries (3)
Earned Media Clips (1)
Family Travel Kit (8)
Finger Lakes Itineraries (5)
Greater Niagara Itineraries (6)
Hudson Valley Itineraries (4)
Kids Page (1)
Long Island Itineraries (6)
Matching Funds Application Form (1)
New York City Itineraries (10)
Official Logos (1)
Oktoberfests (9)
Path Through History (1)
Press Kits (35)
Research & Analytics (3)
TAC Information (4)
Tourism Campaign (1)
TPA Summit (1)
Winter 15/16 (1)
Show some love for New York State
Come get social with your favorite state!
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2523
|
__label__cc
| 0.712878
| 0.287122
|
Early Stephens, CEO of Infogix, Selected to the Forbes Technology Council
Forbes Technology Council is an Invitation-Only Community for World-Class CIOs, CTOs and Technology Executives
Michelle GenserAugust 1, 2019
Naperville, Ill. – August 1, 2019 – Early Stephens, CEO of Infogix, a leading provider of data management tools, has been selected to the Forbes Technology Council, an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives.
Early was vetted and selected by a review committee based on the depth and diversity of his experience. Criteria for acceptance included a track record of successfully impacting business growth metrics, as well as personal and professional achievements and honors.
“We are honored to welcome Early into the community,” said Scott Gerber, founder of Forbes Councils, the collective that includes Forbes Technology Council. “Our mission with Forbes Councils is to bring together proven leaders from every industry, creating a curated, social capital-driven network that helps every member grow professionally and make an even greater impact on the business world.”
As an accepted member of the Council, Early has access to a variety of exclusive opportunities. He will connect and collaborate with other respected leaders in a private forum. Early will also be invited to work with a professional editorial team to share his expert insights in original business articles on Forbes.com and to contribute to published Q&A panels alongside other experts.
“Data sprawl continues at an astronomical pace, making it no secret that organizations still struggle to capitalize on enterprise data. Data allows organizations to increase operational excellence, mitigate risk, increase revenue and so much more,” said Stephens. “I’m excited to share experience and insights with readers to help them better understand how data governance, metadata management, data quality and data analytics, if matched with the right purpose, can help them drive growth and compete effectively in the emerging, data-driven economy.”
To learn more about Infogix, visit www.infogix.com or @infogix.
About Forbes Councils
Forbes Councils is a collective of invitation-only communities created in partnership with Forbes and the expert community builders who founded Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC). In Forbes Councils, exceptional business owners and leaders come together with the people and resources that can help them thrive.
For more information about Forbes Technology Council, visit forbestechcouncil.com. To learn more about Forbes Councils, visit forbescouncils.com.
About Infogix, Inc.
In our fourth decade as an industry pioneer, Infogix continues to provide large and mid-market companies around the globe with a broad range of integrated and configurable tools to govern, manage and use data. From operations and the office of data to sales, from product and customer service to marketing—users across the entire organization rely on our software to remove barriers to data access, accelerate time to insight, increase operational efficiency and confidently trust business decisions. Our best in class retention rate is proof of our customer-centric focus as we partner with them to thrive in today’s data-driven economy. To learn more visit www.infogix.com or @Infogix.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2527
|
__label__wiki
| 0.798318
| 0.798318
|
Gwen Stefani’s Kids Are Helping Blake Shelton Prepare For Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards [Report]
Lindsay Cronin
Gwen Stefani’s three sons, Kingston, Zuma, and Apollo are said to be helping Blake Shelton prepare for his upcoming appearance as the host of Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards.
“Blake has been trying out material and jokes to [Gwen Stefani]’s kids, he feels that if he can make them laugh then he will be able to make the audience laugh and have a great time during the Kids’ Choice Awards. He keeps telling jokes to Kingston, because he gets the best reaction from him. It makes Blake happy that he can bond with [Gwen Stefani]’s kids this way, its a blessing in disguise,” a source revealed to Hollywood Life on March 9.
.@gwenstefani and @kelly_clarkson praise @blakeshelton‘s new song https://t.co/BuTUBolDyI pic.twitter.com/WhYUERsibe
— People Magazine (@people) March 7, 2016
According to a separate report, Blake Shelton is a complete natural with Stefani’s three boys, and the children have nicknamed him “Bwake,” because that is how Stefani’s youngest son, Apollo, 2, pronounces his name.
“Blake is amazing with the kids. He’s such a big kid himself and loves doing all the same things as they do,” a second insider told Hollywood Life. “One of his favorite things to do with them is go on hikes — they love Malibu Creek. They get out there in the mud, hunting for frogs or playing hide-and-seek. Blake loves any excuse to get outside and get dirty, so he’s a big hit with [Gwen Stefani]’s kids. It drives Gavin nuts that his kids have bonded with Blake. He hates that they’re spending so much time with him. He doesn’t have any say in it … and it’s killing him.”
Did you miss @GwenStefani‘s performance on @latelateshow last night? Watch here: https://t.co/8MCdDYrMNo pic.twitter.com/gr4oHGS0Oy
— idolator (@idolator) March 9, 2016
Earlier this month, a source spoke to People Magazine, revealing Gwen Stefani and Shelton likely have a long-term future ahead of them. According to the source, Gwen Stefani was concerned that she would never find someone who would accept and love her and her sons after splitting from Gavin Rossdale in 2015, but once Shelton came into her life, she deemed him a “blessing.”
Shelton “had no hesitation” when it came to getting to know Stefani’s three young sons, Kingston, 9, Zuma, 7, and Apollo, 2, and actually “loved it,” the magazine’s source explained.
Gwen Stefani began dating Shelton in November, 2015, and in the months since, they’ve been getting to know one another better in Los Angeles and in Shelton’s hometown in Oklahoma. They’ve also been spotted many times with Gwen Stefani’s sons. Meanwhile, the boys have also been photographed with Gwen Stefani’s former partner, Rossdale.
Gwen Stefani and Rossdale were married for 13 years prior to their split, and Shelton was married to Miranda Lambert for four years before the pair parted ways in July, 2015. However, Shelton does not yet have any of his own children, and it is hard to say whether or not he wants children of his own. Either way, he and Gwen Stefani continue to openly flaunt their love for one another on social media and at L.A. events, and will soon reunite on-screen, when Gwen Stefani takes on her new role as mentor to Shelton’s team.
As for what else could possibly be coming in the future for Gwen Stefani and her boyfriend, there have been tons of rumors claiming the 46-year-old could be pregnant or engaged, but so far, despite wearing an impressive diamond ring to a recent event, neither of those things appear to be true.
Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton will reunite on The Voice later this season. Currently, the show is being aired on Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on NBC.
[Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images]
Jennifer Aniston Responds To ‘Hysterical’ Brad Pitt Reunion Buzz At SAG Awards January 20, 2020
Brunette Bombshell Lyna Perez Teases Fans & Tugs On Bikini Bottoms In Flirty Video January 20, 2020
‘Teen Mom 2’ Star Leah Messer Gets ‘Extremely Vulnerable’ In New Book, Opens Up About Dark Times January 20, 2020
Adrienne Bailon Reunites With Raven Symone During Women’s March LA Performance January 20, 2020
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2528
|
__label__wiki
| 0.946045
| 0.946045
|
Mokonyane to decide whether Watsons can build wind farm in Eastern Cape
Politics / 13 March 2019, 1:20pm / John Yeld
Ths is the Inyanda-Roodeplaat wind farm site in the Eastern Cape, taken from the cover of the Final Environmental Impact Report.
The Watson family, whose links to Minister Nomvula Mokonyane were exposed during explosive testimony at the Zondo Commission on State Capture, want to build a controversial wind farm in the Eastern Cape. And the minister on whose decision their plans depend is … Mokonyane.
Mokonyane has a history of a direct relationship with the eldest of the four brothers, Gavin Watson, and also, at the very least, a tangential relationship with the “wind farm branch” of the family: two of the younger brothers, Ronald (Ronnie) and Valence, and Valence’s son Jared.
The Inyanda-Roodeplaat Wind Energy Facility is a wind farm project that they want to build on the top of a mountain in an area of critical biodiversity and environmental sensitivity some 50km north-west of Port Elizabeth.
The 187.2 MW project is being developed by Inyanda Energy Projects (Pty) Ltd, a company established in July 2012. Three of its four active directors are Ronnie, Valence and Jared Watson. (The fourth director is Tandy Ronell Snead.) The properties where Inyanda wants to construct the wind farm are owned by Laidback Investments (Pty) Ltd and O’Feh Investments (Pty) Ltd, both companies represented by director Ronnie Watson.
The plan is for 47 turbines, each 85m high and with 130m diameter blades, on top of the Groot Winterhoek mountain ridge at an altitude of about 1,000m. It would be situated on 21 parcels of land totalling some 12,200ha, between three portions of Groendal Nature Reserve.
Groendal is a provincial nature reserve, and the surrounding Groendal Wilderness Area is protected under the National Forestry Act.
The project proposal drew strong objections from, among others, the Eastern Cape Parks & Tourism Agency, the Eastern Cape’s Department of Economic Development, Environment & Tourism, BirdLife South Africa, Wilderness Foundation Africa, and the Elands River Conservancy.
But the wind farm received the environmental go-ahead from the national Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) in April last year.
This decision is now under appeal.
Appeals against environmental approval made by the department are adjudicated by the Minister of Environmental Affairs. An appeals site visit had been on the cards for mid-September last year. However, it was postponed, and then minister Edna Molewa, who would have adjudicated the appeals, died suddenly on 22 September. The site visit was eventually held in the first week of November, led by the department’s acting director of appeals.
Nomvula Mokonyane took up the environmental cabinet post on 22 November. A former Minister of Water and Sanitation in President Zuma’s administration and – very briefly – Minister of Communication under President Cyril Ramaphosa in January 2018, Mokonyane served as Premier of Gauteng between 2009 and 2014. She has some previous experience of environmental issues, having also served as Gauteng MEC for Agriculture, Conservation and Environment between 1996 and 1999.
Mokonyane should be preparing to consider the appeals. But she may be facing a significant conflict of interest that should disqualify her from making any appeal decision.
The Bosasa story
The origins of Bosasa Supply Chain Management lie in a company initially called Emafini that later became Meritum Hostels in 1985. In 1996, it was awarded the contract to run the newly established Lindela Repatriation Centre in Krugersdorp.
Around the same time, Meritum Hostels offered a black economic empowerment share in the company to a group of 12 senior ANC Women’s League members, who took up the offer through the creation of the Dyambu Trust, of which Mokonyane was one of two trustees. The company was renamed Dyambu Operations with Gavin Watson as its chief executive. The trust’s operating arm was called Dyambu Holdings, which held a 10% share in Dyambu Operations.
In August 2000, Watson bought out Dyambu Holdings’ share – represented by Hilda Ndude – for R5,5 million, and the company was renamed Bosasa Operations. By the time it acquired its first major prisons contract for catering in 2004, the ANC Women’s League no longer had any direct financial interest in it; it was fully owned by a Watson family trust (26%), Bosasa directors Carol Mkele (33,3%) and Joe Gumede (18,5%), and the Bosasa Employees Trust (22,2%).
Bosasa, which later became Bosasa Supply Chain Management and then changed its name again in 2017 to African Global Operations (now in liquidation), came under the spotlight at the Zondo Commission in January, where testimony about systemic corruption of politicians and state officials by Bosasa included allegations of impropriety against Mokonyane.
In particular, former chief operating officer Angelo Agrizzi testified that Bosasa had given Mokonyane gifts and favours over several years – including R50 000 a month, huge quantities of Christmas drinks and groceries, and catering for ANC rallies she was involved in. He claimed the gifts were intended to facilitate her help in protecting the company from law enforcement agencies.
Another Bosasa employee, Richard le Roux, said in his statement to the Zondo Commission that he had been tasked by Gavin Watson to do maintenance work and installing a Bosasa-funded security system at Mokonyane’s house. “I was specifically instructed by Mr Watson and [others]… not to disclose the installations or the work done,” he said.
Witnesses whom Le Roux suggested could be called to support his testimony included “Mrs Sandy the Personal Assistant to the Minister Nomvula Mokonyane, who will attest that I would be called out at all times of the day”.
Mokonyane has not yet had an opportunity to formally respond to any of the allegations made against her at the Commission, and she complained through her lawyers that her constitutional rights had been breached in this regard.
Gavin Watson is not a director of any of the companies involved in the Inyanda-Roodeplaat project, and Ronnie, Valence and Jared Watson are not directors of Bosasa. However, the last three all featured in testimony about Bosasa both by Agrizzi and his one-time colleague, former chief financial officer Andries Van Tonder.
Van Tonder referred to the 2007 investigation by the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) into four tenders awarded to Bosasa by the Department of Correctional Services, worth more than R1.5bn. “When the SIU investigation commenced, a meeting was held with Ronnie Watson, Valence Watson, Gavin Watson, Angelo Agrizzi, where we were told that a ‘pact’ was formed and no-one must break the ‘pact’ or testify against one another. We were told that the Watson’s [sic] had it all under control and had access to both the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority,” his statement reads.
Van Tonder also testified that after Agrizzi released a media statement in August last year about his intention to blow the whistle on Bosasa and Gavin Watson, he had received a phone call from Valence Watson asking him to help change Agrizzi’s mind.
“The calls from Valence Watson continued over time…
“On the request from Watsons, we held meetings at Angelo Agrizzi’s house which were attended by Angelo Agrizzi, myself, Brian Biebuyck, Ronnie Watson, Valence Watson, Jared Watson… Jared Watson begged me on numerous occasions to meet with him.”
Biebuyck was the Watson family lawyer.
Agrizzi also testified that on 23 August last year, Ronnie Watson, Valence Watson, Jared Watson and Biebuyck had arrived at his home.
“And basically they said that they had confronted Gavin Watson who … denied absolutely everything. But they said that they were mandated by Gavin Watson to make an offer to me to market their property called Royalston Estate. It is a wildlife residential resort in Port Elizabeth that they wanted me … to get involved with. Quite simply they said… I must start a business and they would fund it. I refused it point blank.”
The commission heard that a draft legal agreement to secure Agrizzi’s silence was drawn up that was to be kept “strictly confidential”. It included provision for an “Oversight Committee” whose members were Valence Watson, Ronnie Watson and Biebuyck.
Agrizzi told the commission about expensive gifts presented by Bosasa to a business partner of Valence Watson, Siviwe Mapisa, the one-time head of security at the SA Post Office where Bosasa had also secured a tender and who is also the brother of former Correctional Services Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.
Agrizzi told the commission that Mapisa would go hunting on Ronnie Watson’s game farm in the Eastern Cape “and we (Bosasa) would transport the meat”.
None of the Watsons has yet responded publicly to any of this evidence.
No conflict of interest, says Minister’s office
Gavin Watson is not a director of the wind farm project, but there is an argument to be made that Mokonyane has been placed in a difficult and compromised position by the damning (though as yet unanswered) testimony at the Zondo commission, concerning both her alleged personal benefit from Bosasa and the Watsons’ close family ties that drew all four brothers into the Bosasa drama. (The youngest of the four, Daniel “Cheeky” Watson, was also named during Agrizzi’s testimony.) This argument holds that the minister should not adjudicate the Inyanda-Roodeplaat appeals, at least until – and if – she’s able to clear her name.
Mokonyane has indicated through her spokesperson Mlimandlela Ndamase that she will not withdraw from the adjudication process.
“The Minister exercises her powers in line with law and processes of the department. This power is not exercised in isolation from the above,” Ndamase said in response to questions by GroundUp.
“There is no conflict of interest that arises in the above matter as the department must apply its regulations and legal prescripts to all appeals without prejudice based on directors and or owners of companies involved in the appeal processes. The Minister acts and exercises her powers within the parameters of such processes.”
Ndamase did not say when Mokonyane planned to make her decision.
Constitutional expert Professor Pierre de Vos of UCT believes that the minister is in an untenable position.
Asked by GroundUp to comment, De Vos said the Zondo Commission testimony had created a “reasonable apprehension of bias” on the part of Mokonyane.
“It’s about perception. There would be a problem with her making the decision and it could be challenged. Although it depends on the facts, there is a strong argument to be made against her and it would be better for her to recuse herself to avoid the possibility of a legal challenge,” he said.
GroundUp invited the three Watsons who are directors of Inyanda Energy Projects to comment, through their lawyers Rushmere & Noach. On Tuesday Rushmere & Noach director Steve Gough responded: “It would be presumptuous of my clients to opine on what the Minister should or shouldn’t do with regard to the appeal. They also have no on the record comments regarding what may or may not have been said about them by Agrizzi at the Zondo Commission.”
* This article was published by GroundUp
Mokonyane ‘showered with cash, expensive gifts’
DA's Natasha Mazzone to lay charges against #NomvulaMokonyane
Some of the officials implicated by Agrizzi at #StateCaptureInquiry
Bosasa scandal: Inside the world of corruption, greed and irregular tenders
#StateCaptureInquiry: Mokonyane's right to procedural fairness breached, say lawyers
#NomvulaMokonyane bribes held no benefit for Bosasa: Agrizzi
Remove tainted members from MP lists or risk losing election, ANC warned
#StateCaptureInquiry: Revelations of Bosasa's corrupt dealings last straw for Makhura
Bosasa paid MPs to 'manage' negative media reports, Agrizzi tells inquiry
Agrizzi: Correctional services bribes increased by R250k after Moyane's appointment
Bosasa paid in cash for upgrades for Mantashe and co, #StateCaptureInquiry told
How many more in ANC benefited from Bosasa ‘gifts’?
#StateCaptureInquiry: Chief magistrate Nair implicated in Bosasa scandal
#StateCaptureInquiry exposes the tawdry mechanics of corruption
5 shocking things revealed this week at the #StateCaptureInquiry
#StateCaptureInquiry: #Agrizzi reveals list of gifts from Bosasa to Nomvula Mokonyane
Cope wants 'incorrigible disgrace' Mokonyane fired from Cabinet
Bosasa forked out millions on analysis at #NomvulaMokonyane's behest: Agrizzi
Mokonyane used Bosasa facilities for ANC campaign, #StateCaptureInquiry told
'Bosasa funded and installed security systems for Mantashe, Myeni and Mokonyane'
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2533
|
__label__cc
| 0.525323
| 0.474677
|
Cape police investigate after armed suspects rob Spur in 'two minutes'
Western Cape / 6 August 2019, 12:23pm / Saafia February
TARGET: Spur at Vangate Mall robbed at gunpoint yesterday. Photo: Daily Voice.
Cape Town - Vangate Mall’s Spur was robbed on Monday morning when two armed men walked up to the cashiers and demanded money from the tills.
According to an eyewitness who was standing near the entrance of the restaurant, the incident happened in “two minutes” and they saw the robbers take the Spur manager’s firearm from his holster before fleeing.
The two young black men had apparently walked in at the back entrance of the mall, where the food court is situated, at 9am and headed straight for the Spur.
The cashiers are situated in the front of the restaurant and to the left of the entrance.
The skelms (thiefs) pointed a gun at the shocked cashiers and demanded cash “or they would shoot”, said the witness.
Police say nobody was injured and no shots were fired during the incident.
“The men seemed like they knew what they wanted. It was about two minutes of drama and then the guys ran out,” says the witness.
“They took the manager’s gun also. They ran out and down the side and then they were gone.”
The Daily Voice called The Golden Feather Spur for comment, but a female manager said they did not want to comment on the robbery.
A moment later, a male came on the line and shouted: “There was no robbery here.”
However, police have confirmed the incident.
According to police spokesperson, Siyabulela Malo, the suspects are still at large.
“Two men held staff at gunpoint this morning. They fled on foot. A business robbery is being investigated.”
It is not clear how much money was stolen.
Almost a year ago, on 17 August, there was a similar incident at the popular restaurant when two men entered the store and threatened staff with a firearm.
One of the robbers walked off with an entire till.
The skelms (thiefs) fled and were not caught.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2534
|
__label__wiki
| 0.917654
| 0.917654
|
Residents kick up stink over these new waste water treatment plans
Objectors against latest proposals for new plant to serve Withernsea area
Revamped plans for a new waste water treatment works for the Withernsea area have failed to win over strong opponents of the scheme.
Yorkshire Water’s existing plant at Hollym is at risk of falling into the sea within 10 years and needs to be relocated.
Initial plans for a new site to the north of the village saw residents kick up a stink over fears of nasty niffs.
Now, an alternative site to the south of Hollym, which has been unveiled after 18 months of talks, is also running into opposition.
Yorkshire Water's plant at Hollym must be relocated because of coastal erosion
About 50 residents viewed the plans at Hollym Village Hall and many were against the latest proposals, according to parish councillor Bernard Jull.
Cllr Jull said: “Most people in the village are against it.
“Yorkshire Water says there will not be a smell but the biggest concern is there might be.
“Residents think they are being put on, that we are having to take all Withernsea’s sewage and what does Hollym get out of this.”
Yorkshire Water's wants to build a new treatment works to the south of Hollym
Yorkshire Water insisted some were “quite positive” about the revised plans but it also acknowledged others were “quite against” the new location in the Holderness village.
The company claimed the risk of odour would be greatly reduced and there would be no negative visual impact from “a much greener, more environmentally friendly” plant.
Are you looking for a job? Click here to see our Hull listings
Project manager Emma Jose said: “The approach we’re taking at Withernsea demonstrates a shift away from tradition solutions when it comes to treating waste water and demonstrates our commitment to listening to our customers.
“Although the solution we’re proposing is a first for the Yorkshire region, similar sites across the UK have demonstrated particular successes in reducing the impacts of potential odour and noise which we know are a concern for residents in the area.”
The sea outfall pipe is at risk of collapse
Yorkshire Water’s first part of the project will be to replace a long sea outfall pipe, which is in poor condition and at risk of collapse.
Until the new pipe is in place, emergency works need to be carried out to protect the existing outfall using four-tonne rock bags.
'Fly-tipped sofas, mattresses, fridges and shopping trolleys are blighting our streets'
The company is now writing to residents in the area to keep them informed.
Yorkshire Water says: “The new outfall is our main priority and we’re hopeful that we’ll be able to install it next summer, which is when the sea is at its calmest.
Yorkshire Water's waste water treatment plant at Hollym is at risk of falling into the sea
“This is dependent on us getting the appropriate licences; however, once installed and connected, the temporary protection on the old pipe will be removed.
“With regards to the new treatment works, we hope to be able to submit for planning permission next spring.
This new holiday park with hot tubs and 'luxury' log cabins has just opened in East Yorkshire
“Again this is dependent on the results of a screening opinion which we’ll be submitting in January.”
Withernsea sewage plant was built in 1991 some 164m from the cliff edge but it is now just 45m away as a result of coastal erosion.
UK & World NewsPharmacists should tell obese customers to lose weight, NHS guidance saysNew guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has urged pharmacists to 'start conversations' about their customers' health
UK & World NewsHusband furious after 'stinking' steak gives wife diarrhoeaTerry and Noeline Lawton bought the rump steak from Morrisons but he says it went 'rotten' before the use by date
UK & World NewsMrs Hinch reveals common household areas we forget to cleanThe Queen of Clean reveals areas of the house that desperately need to be 'Hinched'
UK & World NewsThis is what a butcher really thinks about Greggs' vegan sausage rollsBrian McAvoy described the Greggs vegan sausage roll as 'disgusting'
UK & World NewsThe cryptic letter that a man handed to a business'A random guy just walked in and put it down on the counter'
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2538
|
__label__wiki
| 0.989821
| 0.989821
|
Autumn Statement: Watch John Bercow tell Labour MP to 'take up yoga' after he heckles George Osborne
Speaker of House warned Labour MP Clive Lewis "to get a grip"
By Ian Silvera
Updated February 9, 2017 18:01 GMT
The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, was forced to make an unusual recommendation during George Osborne's joint Spending Review and Autumn Statement on 25 November. The former Conservative urged Labour MP Clive Lewis to "take up yoga" after the left-winger heckled the chancellor.
Lewis, 44, first entered parliament in 2015 after winning the Norwich South seat at the general election, with a majority of more than 7,600 votes. The victory over incumbent Simon Wright meant Labour regained the seat from the Liberal Democrats, who were reduced to just eight MPs in total.
The former Territorial Army officer, who has backed pro-Jeremy Corbyn pressure group Momentum, landed himself in hot water when he shouted out from the green benches during Osborne's big announcement. "Get a grip of yourself man," Bercow said when he stopped proceedings. "Take up yoga you'll find it beneficial."
The intervention came as Osborne revealed he had decided, among other things, to scrap the government's tax credits cuts and give the NHS an extra £3.8bn ($5.7bn) in 2016/17. The chancellor also disclosed that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) estimated that the UK's GDP rate would grow by 2.4% in 2015, 2.4% in 2016, 2.5% in 2017, 2.4% in 2018 and 2.3% in 2019.
Make sure to follow @IBTUKPolitics, @IBTUKBiz and our live blog for all the news, views and reaction from the Autumn Statement and Spending Review.
More about the Autumn Statement
Autumn Statement 2015: Housebuilders rally as George Osborne is set to boost private developers
Autumn Statement 2015: What do businesses want from George Osborne?
Watch PMQs live: David Cameron and Jeremy Corbyn to debate before Autumn Statement
Autumn Statement 2015: George Osborne's cuts will condemn women to violence on White Ribbon Day
Autumn Statement 2015 LIVE: George Osborne makes tax credit U-turn in Spending Review
Autumn Statement 2015 preview: What can we expect from George Osborne?
Autumn Statement 2015: John McDonnell faces first big test as Labour shadow chancellor
This article was first published on November 25, 2015
Related topics : Autumn Statement Jeremy Corbyn
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2540
|
__label__cc
| 0.627392
| 0.372608
|
December 26, 2012 Long Zheng
Acer Iconia W510 with Intel Atom Clover Trail gives Microsoft Surface RT a run for its money
The Microsoft Surface RT may be the poster child for Windows 8 tablets but hardware choice is one of the mantras of the Windows platform. In matrix of tradeoffs between performance, battery and form factor, the Acer Iconia W510 comes pretty close to the Surface RT. With specs to match, I would argue it’s even better than a Surface if you’re willing to forgo the Touch Cover.
Even though the best name Acer’s marketing department could come up with was W510-27602G06iss, the engineering department has done its job. The W510 comes packed with a Intel Atom Z2760 1.8 GHz Clover Trail CPU, 2GB RAM, 64 GB SSD drive, 10.1″ 1366×768 IPS display, WiFi & BT 4.0, HDMI, USB, NFC and more.
First and foremost on my mind was, can Intel Atom Clover Trail deliver the performance and battery life people expect of a current generation tablet? The answer seems to be a pretty convincing yes. Although I’ll leave the in-depth technical wattage analysis up to the fine folks at AnandTech, my experiences pretty much confirm their conclusion – it’s as good if not better than a Tegra 3 ARM chip.
Since it’s an x86 chip, the W510 runs a 32-bit of Windows 8 (the normal version). This is superior to the Surface RT in the sense that it can run all the Windows 8 Store applications plus any reasonable desktop Windows applications, while not sacrificing any of the battery life as a traditional x86 device.
Performance wise, the Intel Atom Z2760 is quite comparable to the Surface RT’s Tegra 3 ARM chip. To set the right context, an Atom is still nothing like an Intel Core desktop CPU, but it gets the job done for a tablet. Similar to the Surface RT, Windows 8 itself works very well on it, but some of the apps may be a bit held back. Also don’t expect to run any intensive Windows apps and games.
It’s also worth noting the 64GB SSD out of box has only about 27GB of free usable space. Approximately 12GB is lost to recovery partitions. The rest is taken up by Windows and some pre-installed Acer apps and tools, some of which can be deleted for approximately a GB of space. It’s unfortunate to be limited to such scarce disk space, but the expandable microSD slot allows for a separate media and document store if it need be.
The W510 lives up to the expectations of a tablet battery life with approximately 8 hours of general use on a single charge (without the dock) which is quite comparable to the Surface RT’s battery life.
The Atom Clover Trail also supports the new Intel S0ix power management state that enables support for Windows 8’s Connected Standby feature. What this means in practice is instant on-off standby and more importantly of all, the ability to receive push notifications and alerts while the device is in standby.
In my own tests, I was alerted to an incoming Skype call while the device was otherwise “off”. Emails and messages were also updated in the background similarly.
Dock and weight
The unique attribute of the W510 is the included docking keyboard and station, but not for its atrocious design. In contrast to the superior magnetic latch design of the Surface, a hinge is undeniably primitive but not without purpose. Since the dock actually weighs more than the tablet itself, its purpose is more than just a keyboard attachment. It’s also a second battery.
I haven’t been able to find out the exact amount of juice in the dock but since the device is rated for 9 hours on its own and an impressive 18 hours with the dock, one can only assume it’s the equivalent of a second battery. But all this juice comes with a compromise, weight.
The tablet itself weighs only 580grams and is 9mm thin. This is both lighter and thinner than the Surface RT and to say the least, it feels great. (It’s also easier to hold than a Surface landscape with one hand since the screen and frame is marginally smaller.)
But when you dock/”clunk” it (which is not nearly as entertaining as the Surface), it charts into the Ultrabook territory with a combined weight of 1.28kg. It’s still good to carry like a book, but it’s no longer as slick as a Surface or iPad.
(There’s a different W511 model without the dock, roughly $150 cheaper too).
Weight aside, the keyboard is quite practical to type on but the rudimentary trackpad is relatively redundant since there’s 10 inches of touchable screen right in-front. There’s also a full-size USB port on the right if you forget to bring the mini USB adapter.
Looking at the tablet itself, the W510 is a pretty well-rounded Windows 8 tablet with 5-point multi-touch (the same as the Surface) that is responsive, smooth and jitter free. The frame is finely tapered and comfortable to hold and there is adequate bezel all round for Windows 8’s edge gestures.
The 10.1″ IPS glossy display has good vivid colours in indoor conditions, but its relatively weak brightness makes it impossible to read under glare or direct sunlight.
Similar to the iPad and Surface, yes Acer also decided to include front and back cameras – 0.8 and 8 megapixels respectively, but unless you like your photos to look like a Van Gogh painting, don’t bother.
The placement and tactility of the power, volume and screen lock are quite predictable and convenient. Like the Surface, the Start button is also touch sensitive which I personally find issue with for being too easy to activate accidentally.
The promise of HDMI, USB and expandable storage all come with a catch. The first and last is respectively Micro-HDMI (VGA converter included) and microSD which are not all that uncommon, but the third, Micro USB is a bother. Even though a Micro to full-size converter is included, you’ll need to carry it with you if you ever want to attach a USB accessory.
Last but not least, the power plug seems to be a carbon copy of the older Apple 30-pin connector with all of its issues – bulky to plug-in and one-way only.
No doubt the Microsoft Surface has sparked a lot of interest in Windows 8 tablets and it’s easy to overlook the other options out there. The Acer W510 is a comparable alternative to the Surface RT with a reasonable set of advantages and disadvantages.
If the idea of tablet with 8+ hours battery life and the ability to run some x86 desktop Windows applications is of any interest, then don’t look past the W510 with Intel Atom Clover Field. On the other hand if you’re looking for a slick keyboard attachment, there’s nothing to show off about the dock.
At a recommended retail price of $849 AUD ($749 USD) but cheaper in shops, it’s literally the middle ground between a 64GB Surface RT and Surface Pro. The ability to run just one desktop app (Fiddler network debugger) have already paid off for me.
Update: Almost forgot to mention, there’s also a 3G version of the W510 which allows for mobile data mobility which the Surface RT can’t do.
xpclient says:
Spec comparison table with Surface?
Long Zheng says:
Thanks for suggestion. Added.
Thanks for the review. I really like the look of this tablet and the dock.
Side note: The Surface RT does not have NFC.
jaxboy32 says:
Long, was that you wearing the blue t-shirt and holding the Acer laptop?
Running ‘powercfg /batteryreport’ should tell you the dock capacity.
Migue says:
I got the 32gb version of this without dock on Cyber Monday and am pretty happy with it (though it’s my first tablet).
Performance is really good though on games it lags a bit. I’ve tried jetpack joyride and it has few hiccups here and there and Pinball fx has low fps but its bearable. Snes8x works like a charm though which I’m happy with.
There’s a issue I have with it though. I get BSOD almost everyday related to the sound driver. Sometimes I don’t get the BSOD but sound stops working and have to restart. And sometimes it refuses to wake up, usually after few hours of standby; the windows button responds by vibrating but screen won’t come up at all and I have to force power cycle. I guess these are kinks of a “first generation” device.
Also why does that WEI screenshot say 3.1 and I get 1.7 on mine with the processor being the lowest score?
1.7 would suggest something is very different. Can you confirm you have the same CPU?
Have you tried getting the latest drivers from the Acer website?
Edmund Tse says:
There’s no NFC on the Surface RT by the way
Sorry you’re right. Will update.
It looks pretty ugly in the picture. Is it much nicer (more stylish) in real? How durable is it?
Only the dock is ugly. The tablet itself is quite nice with simple aesthetics. Nothing that really sticks out or weird.
Surface also lacks GPS and cellular connectivity (Wi-Fi is not that ubiquitous and public Wi-Fi isn’t that safe)
Pingback: Acer Iconia W510 – Is it a Worthy Alternative to Surface RT? :: TinyHacker
brawdan says:
I got a surface 3 weeks ago and so far haven’t had any problems with it. I am typing this with it right now with the touch key board. there are a couple things the Acer has that I wish the surface did. one is nfc, Bluetooth is just too slow for large files. also the second battery in the keyboard would have been nice. beyond that, gps would have been extremely useful! but I got a usb gps antenna. hopefully I can find a usb nfc antenna, if it exists.
Pingback: Acer Iconia W510 with Intel Atom Clover Trail gives Microsoft Surface RT a run for its money « MS Tech BLOG
I have the Acer w510 for two weeks and the sound keeps disappearing randomly. I have to reboot the system all the time. Many customers have the same (undressed by acer) problem (see Acer community forum!). It is a deal breaker if nothing is done about it. Be careful!
Tony (@tonycubed) says:
If it requires a restart to get the sound back then surely it’s a driver issue?
Phil M says:
This actually looks a nice windows 8 tablet and the keyboard would be useful for bloggers on the move 🙂
Pingback: Acer Iconia W510, Testberichte vom Tablet Seite 4 - Acer Iconia W510 - Windows Tablet Forum
RyaRyan says:
I tried this at the Microsoft store. In many ways, I love the tablet itself. The dock, however, is terrible. The main gripe I have with it is that the keyboard is recessed such that it is flush with the wristrest. That means that in order to press the spacebar, you end up rubbing your thumb against the sharp-ish edge of the keyboard area recess. For me, that makes the dock a deal-breaker on what otherwise seems to be a very fine tablet.
Georged says:
Would be interesting to compare it with Lenovo Tablet 2. They’re no longer taking orders until April but I managed to get one in before Xmas. The tablets are virtually identical, Lenovo has full USB port, slightly better battery life (claimed 10 hours on streaming video), beautiful stylus doing a good job for sketching, doodling and note taking, arguably better design but keyboard is an optional extra and without additional battery at that. The tablet feels really good, I’m not even sure I any longer want a Surface Pro!
awesome designs. In my opinion, it will be the future.
shavlego says:
hello, i have a problem with gps, it’s showing a different place from me. can i change it? thank you
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2547
|
__label__cc
| 0.538614
| 0.461386
|
Pak Elektron Limited: Converting Systems to ERP
Muntazar Bashir Ahmed
9B12E002
21 pages (10 pages of text)
Pak Elektron Limited was a prominent manufacturer of consumer home appliances, large distribution and power transformers, and switch gears for power companies in Pakistan. From 2007, the company had started the process of changing the information systems of the company. These systems had become outdated as Microsoft withdrew its support of Visual FoxPro, the platform on which all systems had been developed. The company decided that a Tier 1 ERP (enterprise resource planning) system with strength in manufacturing modules would be suitable. An ERP system was then selected and a firm was appointed as implementer in December 2009. The case describes the issues surrounding the implementation, including many unexpected events. It presents the situation as of the fourth quarter of 2011, after Phase 1 of the implementation had finished in December 2010 and the company had decided in March 2011 to dispense with the services of the consulting firm supporting the implementation. Pak Elektron Limited was facing a liquidity crisis and had to save costs even though there was insufficient corporate knowledge of ERP procedures. The staff was not comfortable with the ERP system and would not let go of the legacy systems and, as such, the project was in trouble.
Identify factors to be considered to achieve value from an ERP system.
Evaluate the impact on department staff when a technology change is made.
Learn from the mistakes made by the company in handling the IT staff, including the training needs that were not met.
Understand the dynamic nature of the software industry.
Understand why ERP systems are difficult to implement.
Many companies invest in ERP systems, but the case shows that simply buying a Tier 1 ERP does not ensure success, as implementing ERP software can be difficult. The case provides information about changes that were needed in the IT systems and staff at Pak Elektron Limited, and explains how these changes would impact the organization. The sequence of implementing a large number of modules is discussed. The company faced an unexpected short-term cash flow crisis soon after the project started, which led to stressful conditions. The risk in ERP implementation was a factor, as the company faced problems after a heavy investment.
Human Resource Management, Change Management, Enterprise Resource Planning, Information Systems, Pakistan
Information Systems, Organizational Behaviour/Leadership, International
Pakistan, Large, 2010
Snapper Future Tech: Land Records and Registration Using Blockchain
Poonam Garg, Rashmi Kumar Aggarwal, Shashank Raj, Ashish Garg
CropIn Technology Solutions: Farm Management through Digitization
Tuhin Sengupta, Arunava Ghosh
JioMoney M-Wallet: A Cure for the Digital Economy?
Poonam Garg, Rashmi Kumar Aggarwal, Vaibhav Garg Vaibhav
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2548
|
__label__wiki
| 0.552511
| 0.552511
|
MICROANALYSIS
SEM-EDX Systems
SEM-XRF
XRF Encyclopedia
Bridging the Gap: MXRF Technique Rapidly Maps Centerline Segregation
Joydeep Sengupta, Jackie Leung, Kenny Witherspoon
http://digital.library.aist.org/pages/PR-370-272.htm
Abstract: Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS) and Ultra High Strength Steel (UHSS) slabs produced form ArcelorMittal casters worldwide have high alloy contents-manganese up to 5%, silcon up to 2% and aluminum up to 2% – for achieving desired mechanical properties for automotive customers. These specialty steel grade groups include Dual Phase (DP) and TRIP steel grades. High Strenght Low Alloy (HSLA) steel grades slated for the line pipe industry also have high manganese content (upt to 1%) and relatively higher sulphur (>50ppm) and phosophorus (>100ppm) contents comparted to other steel grades
Keywords: Continuous Casting, Centerline Segregtaion, Advanced High Strength Steels, X-Ray Fluorescence
Comparing the Detection of Iron-Based Pottery Pigment on a Carbon-Coated Sherd by SEM-EDS and by Micro-XRF-SEM
Michael W. Pendleton, Dorothy K. Washburn, E. Ann Ellis, and Bonnie B. Pendleton
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3941461.
Abstract: The same sherd was analyzed using a scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and a micro X-ray fluorescence tube attached to a scanning electron microscope (Micro-XRF-SEM) to compare the effectiveness of elemental detection of iron-based pigment. To enhance SEM-EDS mapping, the sherd was carbon coated. The carbon coating was not required to produce Micro-XRF-SEM maps but was applied to maintain an unbiased comparison between the systems. The Micro-XRF-SEM analysis was capable of lower limits of detection than that of the SEM-EDS system, and therefore the Micro-XRF-SEM system could produce elemental maps of elements not easily detected by SEM-EDS mapping systems. Because SEM-EDS and Micro-XRF-SEM have been used for imaging and chemical analysis of biological samples, this comparison of the detection systems should be useful to biologists, especially those involved in bone or tooth (hard tissue) analysis.
Keywords: scanning electron microscopy, pottery pigment, archeology
Macroscopic X-Ray Fluorescence Capability for Large-Scale Elemental Mapping
https://permalink.lanl.gov/object/tr?what=info:lanl-repo/lareport/LA-UR-11-02172
Heather M. Volz, George J. Havrilla, Robert M. Aikin, Jr., Velma M. Montoya
Abstract: Compositional information at moderate resolution over many centimeters will be powerful in materials research, not only to validate casting models but also to understand large-scale phenomena during solidification. These elemental differences across a part have a huge impact on materials properties so that identifying variations will help industry immensely with process optimization and quality control. Therefore, a nondestructive method of obtaining spatially resolved elemental compositions over large areas would be very useful. To this end, we have developed an enhanced macro-x-ray fluorescence (XRF) capability in conjunction with IXRF Systems, Inc. (Houston, Texas) to accommodate samples larger than those that typically fit into an XRF instrument chamber. Our system can accommodate samples up to 70 cm x 70 cm x 25 cm, which is unique in that most systems are trending toward smaller micro- and nano-XRF. This system uses a rhodium tube having a maximum power of 35 kV and 100 JlA; the detector is a liquid-nitrogen cooled, lithium-drifted silicon detector, and the smallest spot size is approximately 400 micrometers. Reference standard specimens will enable quantitative elemental mapping and analysis. Challenges to modifying the equipment are described. Nonuniformities in the INCONEL 718 system will be shown and discussed. As another example, segregation of niobium and molybdenum in depleted uranium (DU) castings has been known to occur based on wet chemical analysis [inductively coupled-plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS)], but this destructive and time-consuming measurement is not practical for routine inspection of ingots. The U-Nb system is complicated because of overlap of the Nb K-alpha line with the U L-beta. Preliminary quantitative results are included on the distribution ofNb across slices from DU castings with different cooling rates. We foresee this macro-XRF elemental mapping capability becoming a valuable asset to the materials industry.
Study of the possibility of using IXRF technique to detect the elements present in dust using Monte Carlo N Particles
R. Dehghan , A. Negarestani , M. R. Rezaie
http://bcc.bas.bg/BCC_Volumes/Volume_49_Number_4_2017/BCC-49-4-2017-4456-Dehghan-874-878%20.pdf
Abstract: Detecting heavy metals present in soil and dust as a major factor of environmental pollution has got a particular importance. An experimental (laboratory) method based on energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) technique was utilized so far to detect the elements. In this research, the Monte Carlo method based on the EDXRF technique was used to detect the elements. MCNPX2.7 code is based on Monte Carlo calculations and is able to trace 32 particles including photons within the range of X-rays and γ-rays. In this paper, the outcomes of multi-source EDXRF simulation technique were compared with the experimental results. The comparison shows that multi-source EDXRF technique(IXRF) is able to detect the percentage of elements present in soil and dust with a high compatibility.
Keywords: IXRF; Elements; Dust; EDXRF; Multi Source; MCNPX; Detection
Micro X-Ray Fluorescence in Food Forensics & Food Safety
Var L. St. Jeor, Carrie A. Lendon
http://www.icdd.com/resources/axa/VOL57/V57_19.pdf
Abstract: For this study, Energy Dispersive Micro X-ray Fluorescence (µXRF) is applied in a practical sense to real problems existing within the food industry. It is also compared to electron-based Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS). Both systems are generally considered non-destructive methods for determining elemental composition; however µXRF demonstrates specific advantages for elements heavier than phosphorus, or above ~2KeV in the energy spectrum. Elements such as iron, nickel and copper, can be detected in smaller concentrations by µXRF than EDS. Although the X-ray probe is fixed, two-dimensional elemental dot maps can be collected by robotically scanning the SEM stage using available software. Since µXRF employs small probe sizes (focal points are usually 10-50µm), and X-ray probes are not usually optically visible, a simple method for aligning and “aiming” of that probe is presented so that very small, specific regions, or very small particles can be analyzed. When combined with SEM, µXRF becomes a very powerful tool.
Detecting iron-based pigments on ruthenium-coated ancestral Pueblo pottery using variable pressure scanning electron microscopy
M.W.Pendleton, D.K.Washburn, E.A.Ellis and B.B.Pendleton
https://core.ac.uk/reader/81545449
Abstract: Ancestral Puebloan black-on-white ceramics of the American Southwest can be classified as containing pigments within their painted designs containing high levels of organic-based elements such as potassium, or mineral-based elements such as iron, or a mixture of these elements. The identification of pigment elements of the pottery of a site is fundamental in determining the site’s cultural and temporal context. This paper will concentrate only on the analysis of mineral based pigment which was shown by previous researchers to exhibit greater concentrations of iron than organic based pigment. Although the visual discrimination of these pigments can be difficult if the pigment is a mixture of both pigment types or if the pigment is worn, this paper will describe a sherd sample previously shown to contain only mineral pigment. For the present study, a Tescan variable pressure scanning electron microscope, a JEOL 6400 scanning electron microscope, and a Hitachi S-3400N scanning electron microscope were used with the same sherd. This sherd was coated with ruthenium to reduce charging without the visual color change associated with sputtered metal coatings. A reduction in microscope chamber vacuum also greatly reduced charging of unpainted areas. An energy dispersive spectrometry detector produced a map of the iron present in the sherd. Areas of iron in the sherd were identified using a backscatter electron detector. Iron as well as other elements present in the paint pigment was also detected using micro-X-ray fluorescence on the same sherd.
Keywords: Iron, Pigment, Archeological pottery, Scanning electron microscopy
A Test of Diagenetic Ordering in Siliceous Lithofacies, Montery Formation, Southwestern Casmalia Hills: Santa Maria Basin, Ca
Idu Opral C. Ijeoma and Richard J. Behl
http://www.searchanddiscovery.com/abstracts/html/2014/90191pacsec/abstracts/1.7.html
Abstract: A detailed analysis of a well-exposed section through the Sisquoc and Monterey formations test the results of previous silica diagenesis studies by Isaacs (1981), Pisciotto (1981), and Murata and Nakata (1974). From these studies a key understanding was that for each compositional range, there would be a regular progression of opal-A opal-CT progressive ordering of opal-CT d101 spacing quarts. This progression should apply to any stratigraphic succession for strata of a particular compositional range, and opal-CT d101 could be used as a geothermometer and indicator of maximum burial depth. Surprisingly, these classic studies analyzed only limited numbers of samples in single successions, so we decided to test if the same trends are evident in a very dense data set in one stratigraphic sequence, 230 outcrop and road-cut samples were collected from a 700-meter thick sections and analyzed for composition, silica phase, and d101-spacing using combined EDS/XRF and XRD.
Hematite spherules in basaltic tephra altered under aqueous, acid-sulfate conditions on Mauna Kea volcano, Hawaii: Possible clues for the occurrence of hematite-rich spherules in the Burns formation at Meridiani Planum, Mars
R.V. Morris ,*, D.W. Ming , T.G. Graff , R.E. Arvidson , J.F. Bell III , S.W. Squyres , S.A. Mertzman , J.E. Gruener , D.C. Golden f , L. Le , G.A. Robinson
http://molokai.sese.asu.edu/~jimbo/indexed/publications/other_co_author/0077_Morris_RV_Hematite_Spherules_in_Basaltic_tephra_altered_Earth_Planet_2005.pdf
Abstract: Iron-rich spherules (>90% Fe2O3 from electron microprobe analyses) ~10-100 µm in diameter are found within sulfate-rich rocks formed by aqueous, acid-sulfate alteration of basaltic tephra on Mauna Kea volcano, Hawaii. Although some spherules are nearly pure Fe, most have two concentric compositional zones, with the core having a higher Fe/Al ratio than the rim. Oxide totals less than 100% (93-99%) suggest structural H2O and or OH-1. The grey color of the spherules implies specular hematite. Whole-rock powder X-ray diffraction spectra are dominated by peaks from smectite and the hydroxyl sulfate mineral natroalunite as alteration products and plagioclase feldspar that was present in the precursor basaltic tephra.
Keywords: Mars; Meridiani Planum; Mars Exporation Rover; Spherule; hematite; concretions; sulfate
Characteristics of centrifugally cast GX25CrNiSi18-9 steel
By R. Zapała, B. Kalandyk and A. Rakowska
Abstract: The paper presents the results of microstructural examinations of the industrial heat-resistant centrifugally cast GX25CrNiSi18-9 steel characterized by increased content of Cu. The study included changes in the microstructure of base cast steel respective of the steel held at a temperature of 900 and 950°C for 48 hours. Based on the results obtained, an increase in microhardness of the examined cast steel matrix with increasing temperature was stated, which was probably caused by fine precipitates enriched in Cr, M o, and C forming inside the matrix grains. The layer of scale formed on the tested cast steel oxidized in the atmosphere of air at 900 and 950°C was characterized by an increased tendency to degradation with increasing temperature of the conducted tests.
Keywords: Metallography, Heat resistance 18Cr-9Ni cast steel, Microstructure
Investigations of high-temperature corrosion of Cr-Ni cast steel
Zapała and B. Kalandyk
Abstract: Austenitic cast steels of Cr25-Ni32-Nb grade have found wide application in chemical and petrochemical industries. This study discusses the problem of the kinetics of oxidation of these materials in the atmosphere of laboratory air at temperatures of 930 and 1000 °C. Considering the operating conditions of castings centrifugally cast reformer tubes), the results of the oxidation test of specimens taken from the zone of columnar crystals and equiaxial grains were presented.
Keywords: Fe-Cr-Ni alloys; Oxidation; High temperature corrosion; Oxidation kinetic; Scale
Mechanism of Pinhole Formation in Membrane Electrode Assemblies for PEM Fuel Sells
Vesna Stanic Teledyne Energy Systems, Inc., West Palm Beach, FL, 33417 Mark Hoberecht NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH, 44135
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20050198939.pdf
Abstract: The pinhole formation mechanism was studied with a variety of MEAs using ex-situ and in-situ methods. The ex-situ tests included the MEA aging in oxygen and MEA heat of ignition. In-situ durability tests were performed in fuel cells at different operating conditions with hydrogen and oxygen. After the in-situ failure, MEAs were analyzed with an Olympus BX 60 optical microscope and Cambridge 120 scanning electron microscope. MEA chemical analysis was performed with an IXRF EDS microanalysis system. The MEA failure analyses showed that pinholes and tears were the MEA failure modes. The pinholes appeared in MEA areas where the membrane thickness was drastically reduced. Their location coincided with the stress concentration points, indicating that membrane creep was responsible for their formation. Some of the pinholes detected had contaminant particles precipitated within the membrane. This mechanism of pinhole formation was correlated to the polymer blistering.
Silica nanoparticles aid in structural leaf coloration in the Malaysian tropical rainforest understorey herb Mapania caudata
Greg Strout, Scott D. Russell, Drew P. Pulsifer, Sema Erten, Akhlesh Lakhtakia and David W. Lee,
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/255987009_Silica_nanoparticles_aid_in_structural_leaf_coloration_in_the_Malaysian_tropical_rainforest_understorey_herb_Mapania_caudata
Abstract: Background and AimsBlue-green iridescence in the tropical rainforest understorey sedge Mapania caudata creates structural coloration in its leaves through a novel photonic mechanism. Known structures in plants producing iridescent blues consist of altered cellulose layering within cell walls and in special bodies, and thylakoid membranes in specialized plastids. This study was undertaken in order to determine the origin of leaf iridescence in this plant with particular attention to nano-scale components contributing to this coloration. Methods Adaxial walls of leaf epidermal cells were characterized using high-pressure-frozen freeze-substituted specimens, which retain their native dimensions during observations using transmission and scanning microscopy, accompanied by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy to identify the role of biogenic silica in wall-based iridescence. Biogenic silica was experimentally removed using aqueous Na2CO3 and optical properties were compared using spectral reflectance. Key Results and Conclusions Blue iridescence is produced in the adaxial epidermal cell wall, which contains helicoid lamellae. The blue iridescence from cell surfaces is left-circularly polarized. The position of the silica granules is entrained by the helicoid microfibrillar layers, and granules accumulate at a uniform position within the helicoids, contributing to the structure that produces the blue iridescence, as part of the unit cell responsible for 2 ° Bragg scatter. Removal of silica from the walls eliminated the blue colour. Addition of silica nanoparticles on existing cellulosic lamellae is a novel mechanism for adding structural colour in organisms.
Keywords: Mapania, Cyperaceae, leaf, epidermis, cell wall, silica, helicoids, nanoparticle, iridescence, circular polarization, photonics.
Novel Synthesis of Kanamycin Conjugated Gold Nanoparticles with Potent Antibacterial Activity
By Jason N. Payne, Hitesh K. Waghwani, Michael G. Connor, William Hamilton, Sarah Tockstein, Harsh Moolani, Fenil Chavda, Vivek Badwaik, Matthew B. Lawrenz and Rajalingam Dakshinamurthy
Abstract: With a sharp increase in the cases of multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria all over the world, there is a huge demand to develop a new generation of antibiotic agents to fight them. As an alternative to the traditional drug discovery route, we have designed an effective antibacterial agent by modifying an existing commercial antibiotic, kanamycin, conjugated on the surface of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). In this study, we report a single-step synthesis of kanamycin-capped AuNPs (Kan-AuNPs) utilizing the combined reducing and capping properties of kanamycin. While Kan-AuNPs have increased toxicity to a primate cell line (Vero 76), antibacterial assays showed dose-dependent broad spectrum activity of Kan-AuNPs against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, including Kanamycin resistant bacteria. Further, a significant reduction in the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of Kan-AuNPs was observed when compared to free kanamycin against all the bacterial strains tested. Mechanistic studies using transmission electron microscopy and fluorescence microscopy indicated that at least part of Kan-AuNPs increased efficacy may be through disrupting the bacterial envelope, resulting in the leakage of cytoplasmic content and the death of bacterial cells. Results of this study provide critical information about a novel method for the development of antibiotic capped AuNPs as potent next-generation antibacterial agents.
Keywords: gold nanoparticles, kanamycin, antibiotic resistance, antibacterial activity, characterization
High-Temperature Superconducting Fiber
By Daniel Homa, Yongxuan Liang and Gary Pickrell
Abstract: In this study, we demonstrated superconductivity in a fiber with an yttrium barium copper oxide core and fused silica cladding. The fibers were fabricated via a modified melt-draw technique and post-process annealing treatment in excess oxygen. The fibers maintained overall diameters ranging from 100–900 microns and core diameters of 50–700 microns. Superconductivity of this fiber design was validated via the traditional four-point probe test method in a bath of liquid nitrogen at temperatures on the order of 93 K. The high-temperature superconducting fiber provides a glimpse of its cross cutting potential in fields of electromagnetism, healthcare, optics, and energy and lends credence to the promise for superconductivity.
Keywords: Superconductivity, Superconductor cables, Fiber optics, Optical fiber, High-temperature superconductors
Cellular Immunologic Responses to Cochlear Implantation in the Human
Joseph B. Nadol, Jr., M.D., Jennifer T. O’Malley, Barbara J. Burgess, and Donald Galler
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037859551400152X?via%3Dihub
Abstract: A cochlear implant array consists of biomaterials, including metal and polymeric in type which are biocompatible, but not necessarily bio-inert. Histologic evidence of a foreign body reaction has been described in temporal bones in patients who in life had undergone cochlear implantation. In the current study, the cellular immune response was characterized using immunohistochemical stains for B-cell lymphocytes (CD20), T-cell lymphocytes (CD3), and macrophages (CD68). In addition, energy dispersive spectroscopy by scanning electron microscopy (EDS-SEM) was performed to characterize the nature of particulate foreign material seen near the electrode array. Infiltrations of B-cell and Tcell lymphocytes and macrophages were identified immunohistochemically. The track of the electrode array was frequently lined by multi-nucleated foreign body giant cells. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy identified the particulate material found in the fibrous sheeth surrounding the cochlear implant to be consistent with platinum.
10421 Old Manchaca Rd., Suite 620 | Austin, TX 78748
Telephone: 512.386.6100 | Fax: 512.386.6105
IXRF Sytems, Inc. reserves the right to change specifications without notice. Copyright 2018 IXRF Systems Inc.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2549
|
__label__cc
| 0.609029
| 0.390971
|
(-) Remove National Security filter National Security
Counterintelligence and Export Control (156) Apply Counterintelligence and Export Control filter
Counterterrorism (342) Apply Counterterrorism filter
National Security (352) Apply National Security filter
Asset Forfeiture (3) Apply Asset Forfeiture filter
Cyber Crime (16) Apply Cyber Crime filter
Financial Fraud (2) Apply Financial Fraud filter
Identity Theft (1) Apply Identity Theft filter
Public Corruption (1) Apply Public Corruption filter
(-) Remove National Security Division filter National Security Division
Civil Rights Division (3) Apply Civil Rights Division filter
Criminal Division (7) Apply Criminal Division filter
Environment and Natural Resources Division (1) Apply Environment and Natural Resources Division filter
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (38) Apply Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) filter
Office of the Deputy Attorney General (3) Apply Office of the Deputy Attorney General filter
U.S. Attorneys (USAO) (452) Apply U.S. Attorneys (USAO) filter
Chinese Government Employee Charged in Manhattan Federal Court with Participating in Conspiracy to Fraudulently Obtain U.S. Visas
Couple Who Worked at Local Research Institute for 10 Years Charged with Stealing Trade Secrets, Wire Fraud
North Texas Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Conspiring to Provide Material Support to a Foreign Terrorist Organization
Former Alabama Resident Pleads Guilty to Concealing Terrorism Financing
Defense Contractor Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Conspiracy to Defraud U.S. Department of Defense, Conspiracy to Violate Arms Export Control Act, and Income Tax Evasion
Russian and Italian Nationals Charged with Conspiring to Steal Trade Secrets From American Aviation Company
American Citizen, an Alleged ISIS Sniper and Weapons Instructor, Indicted for Providing Material Support to ISIS
Turkish Businessman Sentenced to 27 Months Imprisonment for Conspiracy to Violate U.S. Sanctions by Exporting Marine Equipment from the United States to Iran
Individual Who Planned Attack in Queens Charged with Attempting to Provide Material Support to ISIS
Iranian Businessman Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Violate U.S. Sanctions by Exporting Carbon Fiber From the United States to Iran
New York City Man Admits to Making False Statements Involving International Terrorism
Maryland Man Facing Federal Indictment for Attempting to Provide Material Support to ISIS and for Interstate Transportation of a Stolen Vehicle
Two Queens Women Plead Guilty in Connection with Plan to Build Explosive Devices Similar to Those Used in Prior Terrorist Attacks in the United States
University of Kansas Researcher Indicted for Fraud for Failing to Disclose Conflict of Interest with Chinese University
Arms Trafficker Convicted in Anti-Aircraft Missiles Scheme and Other Arms Offenses Sentenced to 30 Years in Federal Prison
Unsealed Warrant and Forfeiture Complaint Seek Seizure of Oil Tanker “Grace 1” for Unlawful Use of U.S. Financial System to Support and Finance IRGC’s Sale of Oil Products to Syria
Defendant Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Provide Material Support to ISIS
Arkansas Man Charged With Providing Material Support to Al Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula While Overseas
Iranian Citizen Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Facilitate the Illegal Export of Technology to Iran
Florida Man Sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court to 20 Years in Prison for Mailing 16 Improvised Explosive Devices in Connection with October 2018 Domestic Terrorist Attack
Texas Man Charged with Conspiring to Provide Material Support to ISIS
Texas Man Convicted of Conspiracy to Commit Theft of Trade Secrets
Two Men Arrested for Conspiring to Provide Material Support to ISIS
Bronx Man Arrested for Attempting to Provide Material Support for Terrorism
Former Government Contractor Sentenced to Nine Years in Federal Prison for Willful Retention of National Defense Information
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2554
|
__label__cc
| 0.627828
| 0.372172
|
Top Seasonal New
Preppy Clothing Preppy Fitness Preppy Guys Preppy Shoes Preppy Weather Gear
Matouk Classic Chain Monogrammed Bedding Collection
hover to enlarge
Matouk Classic Chain Monogrammed Bedding Collection heraldingg a classic Greek motif, the chain embroidery on white percale sheeting creates a distinctive look for a perfectly timeless bedding collection. is100% long-staple cotton white percale with an embroidered chain in your choice of beautiful thread colors. These classic sheets are made in the USA and have a 350 Thread Count.
Fitted Sheets are labeled "Sierra"
Colors Available: Almond, Ivory, Jade, Light Blue, Orchid, Silver, Spring Green, White
Step (1) Pick a Size (select Bed Size or Sham category)
Step (2) Build your order (select pieces and quantities)
Step (3) Add your custom options
Please Note: Step (3) Custom Options (color, monogram, etc.) will be automatically added to the appropriate items.
Matouk Classic Chain Monogrammed Bedding Collection You are browsing the Queen sizes. To switch to another size, select below:
Matouk Bedding Sizes:
Select Your Bedding Quantities:
Matouk Classic Chain Duvet Cover Full Queen 12 Inch Monogram 86 x 92 Duvet Cover with 3" flange - 12" Monogram is placed in the center of Cover (not center of mattress) - Monogram matched to trim color. - $578 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 25 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Matouk Classic Chain Duvet Cover Full Queen With No Monogram 86 x 92 Duvet Cover with 3" flange - No Monogram - $423 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 25 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Matouk Classic Chain Flat Sheet Full Queen No Monogram 94 x 112 Flat Sheet - No Monogram - $198 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 25 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Matouk Classic Chain Flat Sheet Full Queen With 4" Monogram 94 x 112 flat sheet - 4" monogram placed 5.5" in from outer edge - Monogram matched to trim color - $241 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 25 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Matouk Classic Chain Fitted Sheet Queen 17" pocket - No Monogram - $95 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 25 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Matouk Classic Chain Boudoir Sham 3" Monogram 12 x 16 Sham - 3" Monogram Centered - Monogram matched to trim color. - $131 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 25 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Matouk Classic Chain Boudoir Sham 6" Monogram 12 x 16 Sham - 6" Centered Monogram - Monogram matched to trim color. - $151 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 25 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Matouk Classic Chain Boudoir Sham No Monogram 12 x 16 Sham - No Monogram - $79 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 25 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Matouk Classic Chain Euro Sham 10" Monogram 27 x 27 Sham - 10" Centered Monogram - Monogram matched to trim color. - $271 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 25 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Matouk Classic Chain Euro Sham No Monogram 27 x 27 Sham - No Monogram - $149 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 25 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Matouk Classic Chain Euro Sham Top 3 Inch Monogram 27 x 27 Sham - 3" Monogram Placed 5.5" Down From Edge of Flange - Monogram matched to trim color. - $193 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 25 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Matouk Classic Chain Standard Sham No Monogram 21 x 27 Sham - No Monogram - order 2 for a pair - $135 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 25 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Matouk Classic Chain Standard Sham Top 3" Monogram 21 x 27 Sham - 3" Monogram Placed 5.5" Down From Edge of Flange - Monogram matched to trim color. - order 2 for a pair - $175 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 25 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Matouk Classic Chain Standard Sham With 8" Monogram 21 x 27 Sham - 8" Centered Monogram - Monogram matched to trim color. - Single sham only order 2 for a pair. - $248 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 25 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Matouk Classic Chain Standard Pillow Cases Pair 4" Monogram Two 21 x 32 pillow cases - 4" Monogram placed 5.5" In from outer edge - Monogram matched to trim color. - This order is for 2 cases with monograms on each one - $219 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 25 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Matouk Classic Chain Standard Pillow Cases Pair No Monogram Two 21 x 32 pillow cases pair - No Monogram - $149 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 25 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Select your options:(Our software sorts out the details of which items get the monogram, which have trim, and adjusts the order as it goes into the shopping cart)
If you need to order different colors and sizes, just add one group at a time to your cart. You can call with questions 10-5 EST: 864-271-3587 .
Matouk Classic Chain linen colors
Almond Blue Light Ivory Jade Silver Spring Green White
Matouk Embroidery Fonts
2002 2006 2010 2011 2022 2023 2026 2029 2049 2061 2062 2063 2064 2065 2066 2067 2075 2078 H262 V1000
Matouk Tape or Thread Color for Monogram
Match to trim White camel Chinese Red Ruby Coral Saffron Morocco Orange Hot Orange Valencia Bark Mineral British Tan Mahogany French Toast Chocolate Caramel Wheat Tarnished Gold Black Bronze Lt. Maize Cornsilk Tiger Brite Azure Cornflower Hydrangea Riviera Sky Blue Alaska Marble Summer Blue Blue Crest Periwinkle Jewel Brazilian Blue Morning Glory Cadet Blue Papyrus Sailor Blue Cobalt Deep Royal Indigo Trieste Blue Navy Very Navy Frost Sea Island Bright Aqua Heavenly Blue Peacock Blue Lagoon Robin Egg Opal Tealeaf Dusty Green Misty Green Bottle Green Seacrest Bamboo Ivory Honeydew Willow Celadon Spring Green Jade Tendril Aspen Green Glow Lime Kelly Forest Sand Jungle Hunter Avocado Cyprus Black Olive Pearl Light Gray Gray Smoke Gray Steel Linen Wedgewood Slate Violet Wisteria Purple Crocus Lavender Lilac Baby Pink Petal Pink khaki Shocking Pink Fuchsia Vibrant Pink Nectar Peach Pink Coral Watermelon Melon Poppy Rally Red
Enter Your Monogram 1 letter monograms 1 Letter Monogram (M) 3 Letter Monograms Traditional
F irst name
M iddle name Couple
Man's first name
Woman's first name
Man or masculine style
(All letters same size)
3 Letter Monogram Guides
note: for company initials, words or short names, use the "Text and Words" section down below}
In a couple's monogram the the first letter of the shared last name will be in the center of the monogram and will be larger than the other two letters. Traditionally the man's first initial will be on the left and the woman's first initial will be on the right.
In men's monograms each letter appears the same size & in the order first, middle, last.
3 letter Usage:
Monica (First) Roberts (Middle) Smith (Family)
Mr. and Mrs. Jonathon and Monica Smith
J SM
Words and Text If you wish to use text such as a name, phrase and or initials please add it in the text box below. We will embroider the text as written so include your choice of capital letters, lowercase letters and symbols. TEXT and WORDS (IBM, CNN, Tom, Bride, Nana, Cook)
( Visit our main Matouk gallery )
Owner: Monica Smith - e-mail - 864-271-3587 Login
copyrights © justpreppy.com 2014-2018 - SitemapGoogle
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0098.json.gz/line2555
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.