pred_label
stringclasses 2
values | pred_label_prob
float64 0.5
1
| wiki_prob
float64 0.25
1
| text
stringlengths 70
1.02M
| source
stringlengths 37
43
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
__label__wiki
| 0.806764
| 0.806764
|
Fish and Wildlife Service 25
Interior Department 25
Commerce Department 5
Drug Enforcement Administration 5
Energy Department 5
Justice Department 5
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 5
Environmental Protection Agency 2
Food and Drug Administration 2
Health and Human Services Department 2
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 2
Transportation Department 2
Agricultural Marketing Service 1
Agriculture Department 1
Consumer Product Safety Commission 1
view more agencies
Business & Industry 30
Science & Technology 14
Health & Public Welfare 10
Documents Found 48
Extension of 2019 and 2020 Renewable Fuel Standard Compliance and Attest Engagement Reporting Deadlines
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to modify certain compliance dates under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). First, EPA proposes to extend the RFS compliance deadline for the 2019 compliance year and the associated deadline for submission of attest engagement reports for the 2019 compliance year for small refineries. The...
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Reclassifying Furbish's Lousewort (Pedicularis furbishiae) From Endangered to Threatened Status With a Section 4(d) Rule
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to reclassify (downlist) Furbish's lousewort (Pedicularis furbishiae) from an endangered species to a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), and we propose a rule under section 4(d) of the Act to promote the conservation of Furbish's lousewort. This...
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel Expansion Project in Norfolk, Virginia
by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on 01/08/2021.
NMFS has received a request from the Hampton Roads Connector Partners (HRCP) for authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals incidental to pile driving and removal activities at the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel Expansion Project (HRBT) in Norfolk, Virginia over the course of five years (2021-2026). Pursuant to the Marine Mammal...
Amending Regulations To Require Online Submission of Applications for and Renewals of DEA Registration
by the Drug Enforcement Administration on 01/07/2021.
This rule proposes to amend the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) regulations to require all initial and renewal applications for DEA registration to be submitted online.
Designation of 3,4-MDP-2-P Methyl Glycidate (PMK Glycidate), 3,4-MDP-2-P Methyl Glycidic Acid (PMK Glycidic Acid), and Alpha-Phenylacetoacetamide (APAA) as List I Chemicals
The Drug Enforcement Administration is proposing to designate 3,4-MDP-2-P methyl glycidate (PMK glycidate), including its optical and geometric isomers; 3,4-MDP-2-P methyl glycidic acid (PMK glycidic acid), including its salts, optical and geometric isomers, and salts of isomers; and alpha-phenylacetoacetamide (APAA), including its optical...
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to U.S. Navy Construction at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Virginia
NMFS has received a request from the U.S. Navy (Navy) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to construction activities including marine structure maintenance, pile replacement, and select waterfront improvements at Naval Station Norfolk (NAVSTA Norfolk) over the course of five years (2021-2026). As required by the Marine Mammal...
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Threatened Species Status for Pinus albicaulis (Whitebark Pine) With Section 4(d) Rule
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to list whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis), a high-elevation tree species found across western North America, as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act), as amended. If we finalize this rule as proposed, it would extend the Act's protections to this species. We...
Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Direct Heating Equipment
by the Energy Department on 12/01/2020.
The Energy Policy and Conservation Act, as amended (EPCA), prescribes energy conservation standards for various consumer products, including direct heating equipment (DHE). EPCA also requires the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to periodically determine whether more- stringent, amended standards would be technologically feasible and economically...
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Endangered Species Status for the Peppered Chub and Designation of Critical Habitat
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 12-month finding on a petition to list the peppered chub (Macrhybopsis tetranema) as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The peppered chub is a freshwater fish historically found in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, and...
Endangered and Threatened Species; Critical Habitat for the Threatened Caribbean Corals
We, NMFS, propose to designate critical habitat for the threatened Caribbean corals: Orbicella annularis, O. faveolata, O. franksi, Dendrogyra cylindrus, and Mycetophyllia ferox pursuant to section 4 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Twenty-eight mostly overlapping specific occupied areas containing physical features essential to the...
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Threatened Species Status With Section 4(d) Rule for the Upper Coosa River Distinct Population Segment of Frecklebelly Madtom and Designation of Critical Habitat
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 12-month finding on a petition to list the frecklebelly madtom (Noturus munitus), a fish species from Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee, as an endangered or threatened species and designate critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended...
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Threatened Species Status With Section 4(d) Rule for Sickle Darter
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 12-month finding on a petition to list the sickle darter (Percina williamsi), a fish species from the upper Tennessee River drainage in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). After a review of the...
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Endangered Species Status for the Canoe Creek Clubshell and Designation of Critical Habitat
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 12-month finding on a petition to list the Canoe Creek clubshell (Pleurobema athearni), a freshwater mussel species endemic to a single watershed in north-central Alabama, as an endangered or threatened species and to designate critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act of 1973,...
Suspicious Orders of Controlled Substances
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is proposing to revise its regulations relating to suspicious orders of controlled substances, in order to implement the Preventing Drug Diversion Act of 2018 (PDDA) and to clarify the procedures a registrant must follow for orders received under suspicious circumstances (ORUSCs). Upon receipt of an...
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Child Restraint Systems, Incorporation by Reference
by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on 11/02/2020.
In accordance with the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), this document proposes to amend Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 213, ``Child restraint systems,'' by updating the standard seat assembly on which child restraint systems (CRSs) are tested to determine their compliance with the standard's dynamic...
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Occupant Crash Protection
NHTSA is proposing to amend Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 208, ``Occupant crash protection,'' to update the child restraint systems (CRSs) listed in Appendix A-1 of the standard. NHTSA uses the CRSs in Appendix A-1 to test the performance of advanced air bag suppression and low risk deployment systems in either suppressing or...
Safety Standard for Crib Mattresses
by the Consumer Product Safety Commission on 10/26/2020.
The Danny Keysar Child Product Safety Notification Act, section 104 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA), requires the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to promulgate consumer product safety standards for durable infant or toddler products. These standards are to be ``substantially the same as''...
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Reclassification of Eugenia woodburyana as Threatened and Section 4(d) Rule
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service or USFWS), propose to reclassify the plant Eugenia woodburyana (no common name) from an endangered species to a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), due to improvements in the species' status since the original listing in 1994. This proposed action is based...
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Threatened Species Status With Section 4(d) Rule for Puerto Rican Harlequin Butterfly and Designation of Critical Habitat
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 12-month finding on a petition to list the Puerto Rican harlequin butterfly (Atlantea tulita), a species from Puerto Rico, as a threatened species and designate critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). After a review of the best available scientific...
Energy Conservation Program: Clarifying Amendments to the Error Correction Rule
The Department of Energy (``DOE'' or ``the Department'') proposes amending its procedures for providing public input on possible corrections to pre-publication drafts of energy conservation standard documents, as informed by a decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit regarding the implementation and scope of the...
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1027
|
__label__wiki
| 0.737471
| 0.737471
|
Nintendo 64Nintendo
By N64 Jamesy October 2017 No Comments
Sequels of groundbreaking genre-defining classics often split opinion right down the middle and can get a bad rap, and the second offering in the Banjo series was no exception. N64 Jamesy sorts the good from the bad, and discusses why this particular big-name sequel deserves the benefit of the doubt.
I remember having some N64 magazines to read during a hospital stay around the year 2001, which featured the review and a strategy guide for the newly released Banjo-Tooie. Having fallen in love with Banjo-Kazooie when I played it originally, the sequel was all I wanted at the time.
Soon I was begging my mam and dad to buy me this amazing looking game for Christmas that year. Christmas morning came and I got… a Sega Dreamcast. It wasn’t too long before I was hooked on Chu Chu Rocket, Sonic Adventure and others while my Nintendo 64, along with my desire to play Banjo-Kazooie‘s sequel, took a back seat. That was that, for the time being.
It’d have to wait until 2015, during retro gaming’s resurgence in popularity, to rediscover my love for this console after finding it doing an attic clear-out. I finally grabbed a copy in time for Christmas 2015. Was it worth the wait, and how did it fare as a gaming experience now, for someone that missed out back then?
About that 15-year wait
When it was released, I never had the opportunity to play Banjo-Tooie. We weren’t exactly financially flush as a family; N64 game prices were through the roof back then, even compared to titles on other consoles. None of my friends owned the game to lend me, either – by that time, most of my friends had moved on to the PlayStation 2. Waiting outside the classroom to be let into lessons throughout my final year, I couldn’t help but be a tad envious listening to them all rave about Grand Theft Auto 3.
Gaming was in a good place, and I was looking forward to the next chapter in my video game journey with my little Dreamcast, while also hoping one day to get my hands on a PS2 of my own. I just wanted to experience Banjo-Tooie before moving on properly. It wasn’t to be…
With my first wages from my after-college job in 2002, I bought myself a GameCube to experience the Resident Evil remake. I was all grown up, or so I thought, but I was soon back on the platforming adventures, blazing through the likes of Super Mario Sunshine, Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, and my personal favourite, Star Fox Adventures. Yet while I loved them, they weren’t giving me the same experience as I had from the classics I played in secondary school.
Falling out of love
After my brief flirtation with Nintendo, I finally caught up with my old friends and bought myself a PlayStation 2 in autumn 2003. I was coming up to 18 years old, buying my own games, moving onto the more mature titles my mam had absolutely forbidden me to have as a child. Freedom Fighters, XIII, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas were firmly establishing themselves as my all-time top three, and there was little in the way of platformers interesting me any more. I’d well and truly grown out of these “kiddie” games, as I was then seeing them.
Eventually it was time to move on again. 2009 had been one of the most difficult years of my life, and that Christmas my parents bought me an Xbox 360. There were some decent titles which were fun to play in my collection, but nothing was fun like all that had gone before. Not the platformers, not even the third-person shooting action adventure types I had come to love in recent years. I was reaching a point where everything now felt stale, and I was missing the games I “should have” left behind. Moving with the times wasn’t sitting well with me; looking back felt more right than looking forward. I was falling out of love with modern gaming.
By chance one day I discovered a phone app that let me play Mega Drive games. It felt awesome to experience all these old favourites again and it got me wondering, was there something similar for the Nintendo 64? Short answer: yes. I soon completed Banjo-Kazooie all over again, and I was once again pining for Banjo-Tooie. Remembering how much I wanted to play the first time, I had to get it on my phone, and I did… As far as the title screen. Emulation wasn’t as good as the real thing, apparently. But hang on, didn’t I have the console sat up in my attic? Out of retirement it came…
All I needed was the actual game cartridge. Obviously, it wouldn’t be as simple as walking into my local Game and grabbing a copy off the shelf. The only options were Amazon and eBay, but the ridiculous prices demanded by sellers put me off. Using money I got from my 30th birthday in November 2015, I finally found a reasonably priced copy. I’d promised myself I’d keep it until Christmas morning so it’d feel special to play, but true to form, as soon as I got home I “just tried it to make sure it worked”.
The sequel to Rare’s N64 platforming masterpiece was an impressive show of the size and scale of what the 64-bit machine was capable of producing. Released in PAL regions in April 2001, Banjo-Tooie was the last of Rareware’s 11 Nintendo 64 games to be released to the European market.
Work had started on the sequel even before the final release of the original, but an ambitious project to offer Lock-On technology – similar to what had been seen in Sonic & Knuckles – to link the two games together was hampered by hardware limitations. The bonuses you would have unlocked with the “Stop-N-Swap” feature were now hidden in the game world, and could unlock features that were cool. Still, it didn’t quite live up to the hype created in the final scenes of Banjo-Kazooie.
The story takes place after the events of the original game. It’s been two years since Banjo and Kazooie left the evil Witch Gruntilda stuck under a rock, and after her failure to change the past and prevent the pair from ever meeting – played out in the excellent Game Boy Advance game Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty’s Revenge – we find her ever-loyal minion Klungo still trying to free her.
Eventually aided by Grunty’s sisters, a ginormous digging machine and magic, we see the rock destroyed and find our main antagonist is a not-so-dead rotten husk, whose first action upon being freed is to destroy Banjo’s house, where our heroes are inside playing cards. Sadly one character is killed in the attack, which sets the tone as a grittier affair than the original. For both sides, this is about revenge.
A treat for the eyes and ears
The gameplay starts in a devastated Spiral Mountain area, where Bottles’ molehills can be found as a tutorial/refresher of the first game’s moves, which are all immediately available. From the word go, you appreciate the work that has gone into improving the visuals and audio of what is an already near-flawless game in its predecessor.
The graphics are among the best on the Nintendo 64, and could easily be mistaken for something from the PlayStation 2 generation. Frame rate could sometimes be a slight issue when the game was pushing the system to its limit, drawing up areas this size and using atmospheric lighting effects, which in some areas played a more integral part of the action than just looking good. A project this ambitious could have benefited from Expansion Pak compatibility, but ultimately any slowdown was negligible.
This was a much bigger game, meaning the game’s composers had twice as much space on the 32MB cartridge to work with sound, and the two-tone midi channelling fades really came into their own when approaching an area that required a different atmospheric feel. Each world’s soundtrack had a really catchy feel to it. Some of the tracks even had that nostalgic familiarity about them, evoking memories enjoyed playing the first game. It all captured the essence of actually being in that world perfectly, short of having a live orchestra recording the music; it couldn’t have been much better.
My personal favourite was Hailfire Peaks, the fire and ice world. The fire-side track struck a chord with me due mainly to the intensity in the opening notes – it set the tone for a really challenging, epic game world, and so it proved. The ice-side music I found somewhat less intense, yet still captured the magic of this area perfectly. Listening carefully, the undertones took me back to 1999, sat up in front of my “blue telly” – an electric blue 14-inch CRT TV/VCR combi that was my pride and joy for playing console games on back then – exploring Freezeezy Peak and all the magic that came with it.
Because there were more short cuts between the hub world and its (relatively) smaller areas, the tone of the background music changed up much more frequently, breaking up the monotony suffered by the previous title’s “Teddy Bear’s Picnic” theme consistently looping throughout. Banjo-Tooie was also surround-sound compatible – a big deal at the time. Put this all together and you had something really impressive.
When thrust back into Spiral Mountain, I did what most B-K veterans probably did. Stopping by Gruntilda’s Lair was my first instinct, where we found what was left of poor old Cheato – Grunty’s sympathetic spellbook, who had his pages ripped out after the first game. Surprise surprise, we needed to find his pages scattered throughout the game’s eight worlds, and while optional, this would be the first of several “extra” collectibles for anyone hoping to 100% complete the game. It set the general theme of trading your collectibles for rewards to help you progress.
Start with the corners
Our first introduction to Banjo-Tooie‘s new hub world was the quaint yet deserted Jinjo Village. Speaking with its leader, King Jingaling, told us we have to find them all, and reunite the families (colours). At this point you were introduced to BOB, a machine capable of sucking life force from the world and transferring it into Grunty, giving this bag of bones her body back. But as she’s so big, it would take a long time to achieve this. Just as well, considering the size of the game you had to work your way through.
There were no incomplete puzzles like before, rather you take your Jiggies to a temple to attempt “challenges” of an image of each world, which you completed with the pieces you’d earned. These could be tricky, considering you are against the clock, but if you started with the corners, you were fine, mostly.
Alongside the hub world, there were eight huge new worlds to be explored, which for the most part proved somewhat original for the platform genre, and not necessarily your stereotypical levels. Even the fire and ice world, my favourite in the game, has seen these two almost obligatory ideas for gaming levels brought together fantastically to offer the unique challenges of both in one, intertwined world.
One thing was obvious from the get-go; Rare clearly had the intention of this being a greater challenge to those of us who had comfortably completed Banjo-Kazooie, as there were very few clues as to what needed doing. I was surprised that even the “view totals” screen wasn’t displaying individual collectible totals until I’d found at least one in the stage at the time. In hindsight, I can appreciate all the little clues in the original as they’re lacking here; you really have to do everything yourself.
As someone who enjoyed completing Banjo-Kazooie more than once during my high school years, I thought I knew what to expect, but the massive step up in everything really caught me by surprise. Inexperienced collect-a-thon players may find this overwhelming, given the sheer size of each world. While not as massive as some modern-day offerings, the world sizes pushed the 64-bit machine to its processing power limits, and Rare thankfully included several warp pads at key areas in each level to help massively cut down travelling time. Nonetheless, it still takes a while, and often felt more like trying to navigate Ocarina of Time dungeons without a map and compass, rather than the enjoyable platforming experience you’d expect from the great Banjo-Kazooie‘s successor.
The tasks required to obtain Jiggies also presented a noticeable step up in difficulty, with several timed shooting and button-mashing minigames among the mix that needed to be completed to collect the relevant rewards. Some of these were incredibly challenging and later on might well have tested anyone’s patience, but in balance it gave me a real sense of achievement when completed.
In each world we find the shaman Mumbo Jumbo, as well as his rival, the native American Humba Wumba, now responsible for transforming Banjo and Kazooie into various animals and objects. Mumbo’s new role involves travelling through the stage (controlled by the player) performing various magic to move objects, power up inactive electronics etc. While useful and essential to complete the game, it felt like while these Mumbo elements were a nice touch, they were unnecessary and just made a long game even longer – especially as you were already trekking through each world numerous times to pick everything up. Could he not just do the magic from his skull? Video game logic. Anyway…
Then there were the moves. As Bottles’ moves are allegedly “amateur”, his brother, Drill Sergeant Jamjars, taught you the advanced moves needed to progress through the game in exchange for musical notes. These now came in bunches and thankfully didn’t all need to be picked up in a single sitting (take that, Rusty Bucket engine room).
Moves included, among others, numerous new egg types and ways of firing, individual moves, and the real opinion divider: the ability to split up the two main characters. Promoted as one of the main selling points of the game, this factor ultimately had some fans feeling that the game soon became a chore, having to separate then come together at specific points in order to find the different items. It was a good idea in theory, but it can feel like you’re doing too much exploring and not making any real progress very quickly. A good addition would have been a two-player co-op option, making the split up a more immersive experience than just one character standing around idly while the other does the work. Banjo-Tooie had a multiplayer mode, so why not?
More minor irritations
Another thing with all the moves was the sheer amount of backtracking; you’d be required to learn a move in a later level in order to go back and finish off an earlier level, and some of the characters along the way required objectives that could only be completed at later locations. The worlds were connected at various points as well as their main entry/exit point, making cross-world objectives easier. One of these was by train, which gave a feel of how vast in size this title is to play. It made for a more inclusive overall experience while adding replay value. It brought the game world together nicely, though ultimately it did little to disguise the scale of the challenge at hand.
Banjo-Tooie also had consistently respawning minor enemies. Most of the time this wasn’t an issue, as a simple forward roll or two is enough to deal with them. Later on, particularly with particularly nasty CCTV-type enemies in the factory world that spawned unlimited tintop sentries to pursue you in one of the game’s later levels, this became frustrating, but overall it wasn’t a deal breaker.
Possibly as a reflection of the increase in difficulty was the fact you had unlimited lives as standard, which was appreciated, especially at some of the more challenging platforming sections with bottomless drops.
The best bit
Unlike in Banjo-Kazooie, each world had its own boss fight, and they felt like proper 3D platform game boss fights. Not all these necessarily needed to be fought to finish the game (unless, of course, you were attempting total completion), but they’re worth hunting down for the enjoyment and sense of accomplishment.
I missed good fights in the first game; aside from the final battle, there was little else worth writing home about. The second game more than made up for this – what bosses there were in the first game felt somewhat easy, and it wasn’t hard to appreciate the step-up in difficulty of Banjo-Tooie, where the main boss fight on each stage really tested your skills with the advanced moves you learned. From the totally wacky to the truly epic, these fights were easily one of the highlights of the entire game to me. Even better was discovering that once I’d finally finished the game, I was able to pick just these boss fights to play. Now there’s replay value! If only they’d included a time trial to go with it – that would have been perfect.
Booting up my “new” game the first time and playing through the early levels was almost as nostalgic a feeling as being a 16-year-old kid flicking through that magazine again. It was a hard slog in places, missing target scores by a couple of points in the shooting mini-games, then having to start from scratch again and again was no fun.
There were times when I hated the game with a passion; button-mashing races so intense they resulted in rage quits and even one instance of me hurting my right shoulder from hammering the controller buttons so quickly. In the end, finally earning those Jiggies offered a sense of achievement on par with what it did playing Banjo-Kazooie back in 1999, and Tooie proved to be a title worthy of the Banjo name.
It was always going to be difficult to talk to you about Banjo-Tooie without drawing comparisons with the original. Banjo-Kazooie redefined platforming games of the era and any follow up was always going to have big boots to fill, and anybody expecting it to be a massive improvement will inevitably end up feeling short-changed, but it helped kick-start the second coming of my love affair with my little green Nintendo 64.
To answer the obvious question, it didn’t deliver the same feelings as when I first played Banjo-Kazooie back in the day. That said, it was the kind of top-drawer massive platforming adventure which I had been sorely missing all that time. Despite the things I felt it did wrong, all said and done it was worth waiting for. If you’re able to forgive Banjo-Tooie‘s drawbacks, and fancy having a serious go at a title that at its heart stays faithful to the original while offering a fresh challenge, then go for it. All said and done it was worth giving the time of day to a game that aged fantastically for its generation.
Excellent visuals and one of the best catchiest soundtracks of its generation
Offers a real challenge to seasoned experts of the 3D platforming genre
Incredible boss fights
The sharp increase in size, scale and difficulty may overwhelm and even alienate some players
Frustrating and excessive backtracking can add up to dampen down the overall experience
It just doesn’t have that magical WOW factor that made Banjo-Kazooie so special
N64 Jamesy’s take
It doesn’t quite hit the heights of the original, but if you’re looking for a good solid platformer from this era, you really should give this a go, if only once.
Previous PostRace Results
Next PostSky Chase Zone
© 2017 - 2020 GameTripper.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1031
|
__label__wiki
| 0.702317
| 0.702317
|
What Happened in Vegas ...
20th Annual ACFE Fraud Conference & Exhibition Sets Attendance Record
By Dick Carozza
Photo: Mathew Sturtevant
How can an association attract more than 2,000 attendees to a conference during a major recession? By giving them what they need.
"Our current economic environment demands that practitioners stay current on the latest fraud examination techniques," said James D. Ratley, CFE, president of the ACFE.
That's just what they found at the 20th Annual ACFE Fraud Conference & Exhibition July 12-17 in Las Vegas, according to attendee evaluations collected at the event.
As one attendee mentioned in his conference evaluation, "The ACFE Fraud Conference is like an energy drink for your career. I went away feeling rejuvenated." Another attendee said she'd paid for the conference out of her own pocket because her employer wasn't covering out-of-town travel. "I'm delighted to say that I got more than my money's worth," she said. "I wish I had discovered, and known about, the ACFE earlier in my career."
GROWTH DESPITE RECESSION
Ratley said when business takes a downturn, more fraud is exposed. "It was always there, but when the economy is good, fraud is easy to cover up," he said. "During the recession, more are becoming anti-fraud practitioners. We've added more than 5,000 to our membership rolls in the last year alone, and with nearly 50,000 members in more than 125 countries, we remain the largest anti-fraud organization in the world."
Ratley said this year's event, which focused on fraud risk assessment and prevention training, was the largest in ACFE history.
"This is quite a feat in light of the current difficult economic conditions in the United States and abroad," Ratley said during the opening general session at the conference. "It reflects the strength of our industry and the dedication and commitment to excellence of our members."
Before becoming an expert witness, make sure to study the past and current standards for the admissibility of expert testimony to ensure that you are familiar with the rules and case law
Hiring Boom on the Horizon for CFEs
With the increased financial pressure placed on remaining employees after layoffs, there's never been a better time for companies to increase their internal controls and retain their fraud-fighting staff. Thanks to new legislation like FERA, governments and corporations will also be seeking new CFE recruits for their fraud-fighting teams.
29th Annual ACFE Virtual Conference
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1036
|
__label__cc
| 0.732698
| 0.267302
|
10 Facts About 10 Places The Danube Flows Through
Europe's second longest river flows through ten different countries. Here are some facts about the towns and cities that lie on the banks of the Danube.
Europe’s second longest river was recently announced as the top river cruise destination for 2015, with bookings up a massive 38% from the year before. This important waterway passes through 10 different countries, provides drinking water for more than ten million people and is the main route via which ships can navigate between the Atlantic Ocean and the Black Sea.
But what of the places that it flows through? Well here are some interesting facts about certain destinations that you may well visit on your Danube river cruise.
The Danube is formed by the confluence of two German rivers, the Breg and the Brigach. This meeting takes place on the outskirts of the Black Forest, an area that gets its name due to the fact that the Romans found it very dark.
Not only was Regensburg one of the former capitals of Germany, it is also home to the youngest billionaire in the world, Prince Albert II von Thurn und Taxis.
The quiet and unassuming German town of Passau is actually home to the largest pipe organ in Europe. It features no less than 17,774 pipes and can be found within St. Stephen’s Cathedral, at the point where the mighty Danube is joined by the River Inn. Even those who are not interested in giant musical instruments will enjoy gazing up in awe at the intricacy involved in creating this organ.
Once as big as Vienna is today, during the 11th and 12th centuries, Krems an der Donau is known for making a traditional apricot brandy. Marillenschnaps, as it is called, is 40% proof and varies slightly depending on which distillery you visit.
Not only is Austria’s capital city the birthplace of the snow globe, Sigmund Freud and Beethoven, it has a graveyard in which there are double the amount of gravestones as there are living people in Vienna. In fact, the oldest tram line in town runs from here to the city centre and its name, 71, led to the euphemism ‘taken the 71’ being used when someone dies.
Trivia fans may know Bratislava as the only capital city in the world to border two other countries (Austria and Hungary), but it’s more interesting to note the story behind the city’s symbol. The crest features a castle with three towers to represent the fact that the old city walls were built in a triangle, resulting in just three entrance and exit points.
One of the most interesting facts about the capital of Hungary is that it has a maze of underground caves beneath it. Nowadays these house ancient artefacts and act as a museum depicting Budapest’s history, but in the past they were used as bomb shelters, wine cellars and even hiding places for prehistoric man.
Far from being a place where everyone walks around with a frown on their place, the name Novi Sad actually means ‘new plant’.
One of the most iconic symbols of Belgrade is a statue known as ‘The Victor’. Representing the city’s freedom, a naked man stands with a falcon in one hand and a sword in the other. The bird represents the fact that Belgrade is always watching for the next threat to its freedom and the sword shows that the city is always ready to defend itself.
As one of the last settlements that the Danube flows through, the Romanian city of Galati is the largest port along the river and is known for its naval heritage.
If you would like to book your own Danube river cruise, taking in some of the above destinations in the process, we have some great itineraries for you to choose from.
Cycling Along The Danube
AmaWaterways is the only river cruise provider to carry more than 24 bikes and respective safety equipment on board each boat for no extra charge – allowing for an ultimate sense of freedom to explore either on your own or as part of a comp…
10 Photos To Inspire A Danube River Cruise
As the second longest river in Europe and the waterway flowing through the most countries in the world, the Danube is popular for European river cruises.
4 Unfamiliar Danube Ports To Get Excited About
There are many big cities along the river Danube that you will be very familiar with, but here are some lesser known gems to get excited about.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1037
|
__label__cc
| 0.653735
| 0.346265
|
196.001 Property subject to taxation.
196.002 Legislative intent.
196.011 Annual application required for exemption.
196.012 Definitions.
196.015 Permanent residency; factual determination by property appraiser.
196.021 Tax returns to show all exemptions and claims.
196.031 Exemption of homesteads.
196.041 Extent of homestead exemptions.
196.061 Rental of homestead to constitute abandonment.
196.071 Homestead exemptions; claims by members of armed forces.
196.075 Additional homestead exemption for persons 65 and older.
196.081 Exemption for certain permanently and totally disabled veterans and for surviving spouses of veterans; exemption for surviving spouses of first responders who die in the line of duty.
196.082 Discounts for disabled veterans.
196.091 Exemption for disabled veterans confined to wheelchairs.
196.095 Exemption for a licensed child care facility operating in an enterprise zone.
196.101 Exemption for totally and permanently disabled persons.
196.111 Property appraisers may notify persons entitled to homestead exemption; publication of notice; costs.
196.121 Homestead exemptions; forms.
196.131 Homestead exemptions; claims.
196.141 Homestead exemptions; duty of property appraiser.
196.151 Homestead exemptions; approval, refusal, hearings.
196.161 Homestead exemptions; lien imposed on property of person claiming exemption although not a permanent resident.
196.171 Homestead exemptions; city officials.
196.173 Exemption for deployed servicemembers.
196.181 Exemption of household goods and personal effects.
196.183 Exemption for tangible personal property.
196.185 Exemption of inventory.
196.192 Exemptions from ad valorem taxation.
196.193 Exemption applications; review by property appraiser.
196.194 Value adjustment board; notice; hearings; appearance before the board.
196.195 Determining profit or nonprofit status of applicant.
196.196 Determining whether property is entitled to charitable, religious, scientific, or literary exemption.
196.1961 Exemption for historic property used for certain commercial or nonprofit purposes.
196.197 Additional provisions for exempting property used by hospitals, nursing homes, and homes for special services.
196.1975 Exemption for property used by nonprofit homes for the aged.
196.1976 Provisions of ss. 196.197(1) or (2) and 196.1975; severability.
196.1977 Exemption for property used by proprietary continuing care facilities.
196.1978 Affordable housing property exemption.
196.198 Educational property exemption.
196.1983 Charter school exemption from ad valorem taxes.
196.1985 Labor organization property exemption.
196.1986 Community centers exemption.
196.1987 Biblical history display property exemption.
196.199 Government property exemption.
196.1993 Certain agreements with local governments for use of public property; exemption.
196.1995 Economic development ad valorem tax exemption.
196.1996 Economic development ad valorem tax exemption; effect of ch. 94-136.
196.1997 Ad valorem tax exemptions for historic properties.
196.1998 Additional ad valorem tax exemptions for historic properties open to the public.
196.1999 Space laboratories and carriers; exemption.
196.2001 Not-for-profit sewer and water company property exemption.
196.2002 Exemption for s. 501(c)(12) not-for-profit water and wastewater systems.
196.202 Property of widows, widowers, blind persons, and persons totally and permanently disabled.
196.24 Exemption for disabled ex-servicemember or surviving spouse; evidence of disability.
196.26 Exemption for real property dedicated in perpetuity for conservation purposes.
196.28 Cancellation of delinquent taxes upon lands used for road purposes, etc.
196.29 Cancellation of certain taxes on real property acquired by a county, school board, charter school governing board, or community college district board of trustees.
196.295 Property transferred to exempt governmental unit; tax payment into escrow; taxes due from prior years.
196.31 Taxes against state properties; notice.
196.32 Executive Office of the Governor; consent required to certain assessments.
196.001 Property subject to taxation.—Unless expressly exempted from taxation, the following property shall be subject to taxation in the manner provided by law:
(1) All real and personal property in this state and all personal property belonging to persons residing in this state; and
(2) All leasehold interests in property of the United States, of the state, or any political subdivision, municipality, agency, authority, or other public body corporate of the state.
1196.002 Legislative intent.—For the purposes of assessment roll recordkeeping and reporting, the exemptions authorized by each provision of this chapter shall be reported separately for each category of exemption in each such provision, both as to total value exempted and as to the number of exemptions granted.
History.—s. 8, ch. 79-332; s. 3, ch. 2007-339.
1Note.—Section 1, ch. 2007-339, provides that:
“(1) The executive director of the Department of Revenue is authorized, and all conditions are deemed met, to adopt emergency rules under ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54(4), Florida Statutes, for the purpose of implementing this act.
“(2) In anticipation of implementing this act, the executive director of the Department of Revenue is authorized, and all conditions are deemed met, to adopt emergency rules under ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54(4), Florida Statutes, for the purpose of making necessary changes and preparations so that forms, methods, and data records, electronic or otherwise, are ready and in place if sections 3 through 9 and sections 10, 12, and 14 . . . of this act become law.
“(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, such emergency rules shall remain in effect for 18 months after the date of adoption and may be renewed during the pendency of procedures to adopt rules addressing the subject of the emergency rules.”
(1)(a) Every person or organization who, on January 1, has the legal title to real or personal property, except inventory, which is entitled by law to exemption from taxation as a result of its ownership and use shall, on or before March 1 of each year, file an application for exemption with the county property appraiser, listing and describing the property for which exemption is claimed and certifying its ownership and use. The Department of Revenue shall prescribe the forms upon which the application is made. Failure to make application, when required, on or before March 1 of any year shall constitute a waiver of the exemption privilege for that year, except as provided in subsection (7) or subsection (8).
1(b) The form to apply for an exemption under s. 196.031, s. 196.081, s. 196.091, s. 196.101, s. 196.173, or s. 196.202 must include a space for the applicant to list the social security number of the applicant and of the applicant’s spouse, if any. If an applicant files a timely and otherwise complete application, and omits the required social security numbers, the application is incomplete. In that event, the property appraiser shall contact the applicant, who may refile a complete application by April 1. Failure to file a complete application by that date constitutes a waiver of the exemption privilege for that year, except as provided in subsection (7) or subsection (8).
(2) However, application for exemption will not be required on public roads rights-of-way and borrow pits owned, leased, or held for exclusive governmental use and benefit or on property owned and used exclusively by a municipality for municipal or public purposes in order for such property to be released from all ad valorem taxation.
(3) It shall not be necessary to make annual application for exemption on houses of public worship, the lots on which they are located, personal property located therein or thereon, parsonages, burial grounds and tombs owned by houses of public worship, individually owned burial rights not held for speculation, or other such property not rented or hired out for other than religious or educational purposes at any time; household goods and personal effects of permanent residents of this state; and property of the state or any county, any municipality, any school district, or community college district thereof.
(4) When any property has been determined to be fully exempt from taxation because of its exclusive use for religious, literary, scientific, or charitable purposes and the application for its exemption has met the criteria of s. 196.195, the property appraiser may accept, in lieu of the annual application for exemption, a statement certified under oath that there has been no change in the ownership and use of the property.
(5) The owner of property that received an exemption in the prior year, or a property owner who filed an original application that was denied in the prior year solely for not being timely filed, may reapply on a short form as provided by the department. The short form shall require the applicant to affirm that the use of the property and his or her status as a permanent resident have not changed since the initial application.
(6)(a) Once an original application for tax exemption has been granted, in each succeeding year on or before February 1, the property appraiser shall mail a renewal application to the applicant, and the property appraiser shall accept from each such applicant a renewal application on a form prescribed by the Department of Revenue. Such renewal application shall be accepted as evidence of exemption by the property appraiser unless he or she denies the application. Upon denial, the property appraiser shall serve, on or before July 1 of each year, a notice setting forth the grounds for denial on the applicant by first-class mail. Any applicant objecting to such denial may file a petition as provided for in s. 194.011(3).
(b) Once an original application for tax exemption has been granted under s. 196.26, in each succeeding year on or before February 1, the property appraiser shall mail a renewal application to the applicant on a form prescribed by the Department of Revenue. The applicant must certify on the form that the use of the property complies with the restrictions and requirements of the conservation easement. The form shall include a statement that the exemption granted under s. 196.26 will not be renewed unless the application is returned to the property appraiser.
(7) The value adjustment board shall grant any exemption for an otherwise eligible applicant if the applicant can clearly document that failure to apply by March 1 was the result of postal error.
(8) Any applicant who is qualified to receive any exemption under subsection (1) and who fails to file an application by March 1, must file an application for the exemption with the property appraiser on or before the 25th day following the mailing by the property appraiser of the notices required under s. 194.011(1). Upon receipt of sufficient evidence, as determined by the property appraiser, demonstrating the applicant was unable to apply for the exemption in a timely manner or otherwise demonstrating extenuating circumstances judged by the property appraiser to warrant granting the exemption, the property appraiser may grant the exemption. If the applicant fails to produce sufficient evidence demonstrating the applicant was unable to apply for the exemption in a timely manner or otherwise demonstrating extenuating circumstances as judged by the property appraiser, the applicant may file, pursuant to s. 194.011(3), a petition with the value adjustment board requesting that the exemption be granted. Such petition must be filed during the taxable year on or before the 25th day following the mailing of the notice by the property appraiser as provided in s. 194.011(1). Notwithstanding the provisions of s. 194.013, such person must pay a nonrefundable fee of $15 upon filing the petition. Upon reviewing the petition, if the person is qualified to receive the exemption and demonstrates particular extenuating circumstances judged by the value adjustment board to warrant granting the exemption, the value adjustment board may grant the exemption for the current year.
(9)(a) A county may, at the request of the property appraiser and by a majority vote of its governing body, waive the requirement that an annual application or statement be made for exemption of property within the county after an initial application is made and the exemption granted. The waiver under this subsection of the annual application or statement requirement applies to all exemptions under this chapter except the exemption under s. 196.1995. Notwithstanding such waiver, refiling of an application or statement shall be required when any property granted an exemption is sold or otherwise disposed of, when the ownership changes in any manner, when the applicant for homestead exemption ceases to use the property as his or her homestead, or when the status of the owner changes so as to change the exempt status of the property. In its deliberations on whether to waive the annual application or statement requirement, the governing body shall consider the possibility of fraudulent exemption claims which may occur due to the waiver of the annual application requirement. The owner of any property granted an exemption who is not required to file an annual application or statement shall notify the property appraiser promptly whenever the use of the property or the status or condition of the owner changes so as to change the exempt status of the property. If any property owner fails to so notify the property appraiser and the property appraiser determines that for any year within the prior 10 years the owner was not entitled to receive such exemption, the owner of the property is subject to the taxes exempted as a result of such failure plus 15 percent interest per annum and a penalty of 50 percent of the taxes exempted. Except for homestead exemptions controlled by s. 196.161, the property appraiser making such determination shall record in the public records of the county a notice of tax lien against any property owned by that person or entity in the county, and such property must be identified in the notice of tax lien. Such property is subject to the payment of all taxes and penalties. Such lien when filed shall attach to any property, identified in the notice of tax lien, owned by the person who illegally or improperly received the exemption. If such person no longer owns property in that county but owns property in some other county or counties in the state, the property appraiser shall record a notice of tax lien in such other county or counties, identifying the property owned by such person or entity in such county or counties, and it shall become a lien against such property in such county or counties.
(b) The owner of any property granted an exemption under s. 196.26 shall notify the property appraiser promptly whenever the use of the property no longer complies with the restrictions and requirements of the conservation easement. If the property owner fails to so notify the property appraiser and the property appraiser determines that for any year within the preceding 10 years the owner was not entitled to receive the exemption, the owner of the property is subject to taxes exempted as a result of the failure plus 18 percent interest per annum and a penalty of 100 percent of the taxes exempted. The provisions for tax liens in paragraph (a) apply to property granted an exemption under s. 196.26.
(c) A county may, at the request of the property appraiser and by a majority vote of its governing body, waive the requirement that an annual application be made for the veteran’s disability discount granted pursuant to s. 6(e), Art. VII of the State Constitution after an initial application is made and the discount granted. The disabled veteran receiving a discount for which annual application has been waived shall notify the property appraiser promptly whenever the use of the property or the percentage of disability to which the veteran is entitled changes. If a disabled veteran fails to notify the property appraiser and the property appraiser determines that for any year within the prior 10 years the veteran was not entitled to receive all or a portion of such discount, the penalties and processes in paragraph (a) relating to the failure to notify the property appraiser of ineligibility for an exemption shall apply.
(d) For any exemption under s. 196.101(2), the statement concerning gross income must be filed with the property appraiser not later than March 1 of every year.
(e) If an exemption for which the annual application is waived pursuant to this subsection will be denied by the property appraiser in the absence of the refiling of the application, notification of an intent to deny the exemption shall be mailed to the owner of the property prior to February 1. If the property appraiser fails to timely mail such notice, the application deadline for such property owner pursuant to subsection (1) shall be extended to 28 days after the date on which the property appraiser mails such notice.
(10) At the option of the property appraiser and notwithstanding any other provision of this section, initial or original applications for homestead exemption for the succeeding year may be accepted and granted after March 1. Reapplication on a short form as authorized by subsection (5) shall be required if the county has not waived the requirement of an annual application. Once the initial or original application and reapplication have been granted, the property may qualify for the exemption in each succeeding year pursuant to the provisions of subsection (6) or subsection (9).
(11) For exemptions enumerated in paragraph (1)(b), granted for the 2001 tax year and thereafter, social security numbers of the applicant and the applicant’s spouse, if any, are required and must be submitted to the department. Applications filed pursuant to subsection (5) or subsection (6) may be required to include social security numbers of the applicant and the applicant’s spouse, if any, and shall include such information if filed for the 2001 tax year or thereafter. For counties where the annual application requirement has been waived, property appraisers may require refiling of an application to obtain such information.
(12) Notwithstanding subsection (1), if the owner of property otherwise entitled to a religious exemption from ad valorem taxation fails to timely file an application for exemption, and because of a misidentification of property ownership on the property tax roll the owner is not properly notified of the tax obligation by the property appraiser and the tax collector, the owner of the property may file an application for exemption with the property appraiser. The property appraiser must consider the application, and if he or she determines the owner of the property would have been entitled to the exemption had the property owner timely applied, the property appraiser must grant the exemption. Any taxes assessed on such property shall be canceled, and if paid, refunded. Any tax certificates outstanding on such property shall be canceled and refund made pursuant to s. 197.432(11).
History.—s. 1, ch. 63-342; ss. 1, 2, ch. 69-55; ss. 21, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 4, ch. 71-133; s. 1, ch. 72-276; s. 2, ch. 72-290; s. 2, ch. 72-367; s. 1, ch. 74-2; s. 14, ch. 74-234; s. 3, ch. 74-264; s. 7, ch. 76-234; s. 1, ch. 77-102; s. 34, ch. 79-164; s. 17, ch. 79-334; s. 2, ch. 80-274; s. 1, ch. 81-219; s. 7, ch. 81-308; s. 13, ch. 82-226; s. 25, ch. 83-204; s. 8, ch. 85-202; s. 1, ch. 85-315; s. 1, ch. 88-65; s. 3, ch. 88-101; s. 59, ch. 89-356; s. 1, ch. 89-365; s. 3, ch. 90-343; s. 155, ch. 91-112; s. 4, ch. 92-32; ss. 22, 45, ch. 94-353; s. 1471, ch. 95-147; s. 1, ch. 98-289; s. 6, ch. 2000-157; s. 1, ch. 2000-262; s. 4, ch. 2000-335; s. 2, ch. 2007-36; s. 2, ch. 2009-135; s. 5, ch. 2009-157; s. 25, ch. 2010-5; s. 3, ch. 2011-93; s. 56, ch. 2011-151.
1Note.—
A. Section 4, ch. 2011-93, provides that “[t]he Department of Revenue is authorized, and all conditions are deemed met, to adopt emergency rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54, Florida Statutes, to administer the provisions of this act. The emergency rules shall remain in effect for 6 months after the rules are adopted and the rules may be renewed during the pendency of procedures to adopt permanent rules addressing the subject of the emergency rules.”
B. Section 6, ch. 2011-93, provides that “[t]his act shall take effect upon becoming a law, and first applies to ad valorem tax rolls for 2011.”
196.012 Definitions.—For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms are defined as follows, except where the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(1) “Exempt use of property” or “use of property for exempt purposes” means predominant or exclusive use of property owned by an exempt entity for educational, literary, scientific, religious, charitable, or governmental purposes, as defined in this chapter.
(2) “Exclusive use of property” means use of property solely for exempt purposes. Such purposes may include more than one class of exempt use.
(3) “Predominant use of property” means use of property for exempt purposes in excess of 50 percent but less than exclusive.
(4) “Use” means the exercise of any right or power over real or personal property incident to the ownership of the property.
(5) “Educational institution” means a federal, state, parochial, church, or private school, college, or university conducting regular classes and courses of study required for eligibility to certification by, accreditation to, or membership in the State Department of Education of Florida, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, or the Florida Council of Independent Schools; a nonprofit private school the principal activity of which is conducting regular classes and courses of study accepted for continuing postgraduate dental education credit by a board of the Division of Medical Quality Assurance; educational direct-support organizations created pursuant to ss. 1001.24, 1004.28, and 1004.70; facilities located on the property of eligible entities which will become owned by those entities on a date certain; and institutions of higher education, as defined under and participating in the Higher Educational Facilities Financing Act.
(6) Governmental, municipal, or public purpose or function shall be deemed to be served or performed when the lessee under any leasehold interest created in property of the United States, the state or any of its political subdivisions, or any municipality, agency, special district, authority, or other public body corporate of the state is demonstrated to perform a function or serve a governmental purpose which could properly be performed or served by an appropriate governmental unit or which is demonstrated to perform a function or serve a purpose which would otherwise be a valid subject for the allocation of public funds. For purposes of the preceding sentence, an activity undertaken by a lessee which is permitted under the terms of its lease of real property designated as an aviation area on an airport layout plan which has been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration and which real property is used for the administration, operation, business offices and activities related specifically thereto in connection with the conduct of an aircraft full service fixed base operation which provides goods and services to the general aviation public in the promotion of air commerce shall be deemed an activity which serves a governmental, municipal, or public purpose or function. Any activity undertaken by a lessee which is permitted under the terms of its lease of real property designated as a public airport as defined in s. 332.004(14) by municipalities, agencies, special districts, authorities, or other public bodies corporate and public bodies politic of the state, a spaceport as defined in s. 331.303, or which is located in a deepwater port identified in s. 403.021(9)(b) and owned by one of the foregoing governmental units, subject to a leasehold or other possessory interest of a nongovernmental lessee that is deemed to perform an aviation, airport, aerospace, maritime, or port purpose or operation shall be deemed an activity that serves a governmental, municipal, or public purpose. The use by a lessee, licensee, or management company of real property or a portion thereof as a convention center, visitor center, sports facility with permanent seating, concert hall, arena, stadium, park, or beach is deemed a use that serves a governmental, municipal, or public purpose or function when access to the property is open to the general public with or without a charge for admission. If property deeded to a municipality by the United States is subject to a requirement that the Federal Government, through a schedule established by the Secretary of the Interior, determine that the property is being maintained for public historic preservation, park, or recreational purposes and if those conditions are not met the property will revert back to the Federal Government, then such property shall be deemed to serve a municipal or public purpose. The term “governmental purpose” also includes a direct use of property on federal lands in connection with the Federal Government’s Space Exploration Program or spaceport activities as defined in s. 212.02(22). Real property and tangible personal property owned by the Federal Government or Space Florida and used for defense and space exploration purposes or which is put to a use in support thereof shall be deemed to perform an essential national governmental purpose and shall be exempt. “Owned by the lessee” as used in this chapter does not include personal property, buildings, or other real property improvements used for the administration, operation, business offices and activities related specifically thereto in connection with the conduct of an aircraft full service fixed based operation which provides goods and services to the general aviation public in the promotion of air commerce provided that the real property is designated as an aviation area on an airport layout plan approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. For purposes of determination of “ownership,” buildings and other real property improvements which will revert to the airport authority or other governmental unit upon expiration of the term of the lease shall be deemed “owned” by the governmental unit and not the lessee. Providing two-way telecommunications services to the public for hire by the use of a telecommunications facility, as defined in s. 364.02(14), and for which a certificate is required under chapter 364 does not constitute an exempt use for purposes of s. 196.199, unless the telecommunications services are provided by the operator of a public-use airport, as defined in s. 332.004, for the operator’s provision of telecommunications services for the airport or its tenants, concessionaires, or licensees, or unless the telecommunications services are provided by a public hospital.
(7) “Charitable purpose” means a function or service which is of such a community service that its discontinuance could legally result in the allocation of public funds for the continuance of the function or service. It is not necessary that public funds be allocated for such function or service but only that any such allocation would be legal.
(8) “Hospital” means an institution which possesses a valid license granted under chapter 395 on January 1 of the year for which exemption from ad valorem taxation is requested.
(9) “Nursing home” or “home for special services” means an institution which possesses a valid license under chapter 400 on January 1 of the year for which exemption from ad valorem taxation is requested.
(10) “Gross income” means all income from whatever source derived, including, but not limited to, the following items, whether actually owned by or received by, or not received by but available to, any person or couple: earned income, income from investments, gains derived from dealings in property, interest, rents, royalties, dividends, annuities, income from retirement plans, pensions, trusts, estates and inheritances, and direct and indirect gifts. Gross income specifically does not include payments made for the medical care of the individual, return of principal on the sale of a home, social security benefits, or public assistance payments payable to the person or assigned to an organization designated specifically for the support or benefit of that person.
(11) “Totally and permanently disabled person” means a person who is currently certified by two licensed physicians of this state who are professionally unrelated, by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or its predecessor, or by the Social Security Administration, to be totally and permanently disabled.
(12) “Couple” means a husband and wife legally married under the laws of any state or territorial possession of the United States or of any foreign country.
(13) “Real estate used and owned as a homestead” means real property to the extent provided in s. 6(a), Art. VII of the State Constitution, but less any portion thereof used for commercial purposes, with the title of such property being recorded in the official records of the county in which the property is located. Property rented for more than 6 months is presumed to be used for commercial purposes.
(14) “New business” means:
(a)1. A business or organization establishing 10 or more new jobs to employ 10 or more full-time employees in this state, paying an average wage for such new jobs that is above the average wage in the area, which principally engages in any one or more of the following operations:
a. Manufactures, processes, compounds, fabricates, or produces for sale items of tangible personal property at a fixed location and which comprises an industrial or manufacturing plant; or
b. Is a target industry business as defined in s. 288.106(2)(q);
2. A business or organization establishing 25 or more new jobs to employ 25 or more full-time employees in this state, the sales factor of which, as defined by s. 220.15(5), for the facility with respect to which it requests an economic development ad valorem tax exemption is less than 0.50 for each year the exemption is claimed; or
3. An office space in this state owned and used by a business or organization newly domiciled in this state; provided such office space houses 50 or more full-time employees of such business or organization; provided that such business or organization office first begins operation on a site clearly separate from any other commercial or industrial operation owned by the same business or organization.
(b) Any business or organization located in an enterprise zone or brownfield area that first begins operation on a site clearly separate from any other commercial or industrial operation owned by the same business or organization.
(c) A business or organization that is situated on property annexed into a municipality and that, at the time of the annexation, is receiving an economic development ad valorem tax exemption from the county under s. 196.1995.
(15) “Expansion of an existing business” means:
(a)1. A business or organization establishing 10 or more new jobs to employ 10 or more full-time employees in this state, paying an average wage for such new jobs that is above the average wage in the area, which principally engages in any of the operations referred to in subparagraph (14)(a)1.; or
2. A business or organization establishing 25 or more new jobs to employ 25 or more full-time employees in this state, the sales factor of which, as defined by s. 220.15(5), for the facility with respect to which it requests an economic development ad valorem tax exemption is less than 0.50 for each year the exemption is claimed; provided that such business increases operations on a site located within the same county, municipality, or both colocated with a commercial or industrial operation owned by the same business or organization under common control with the same business or organization, resulting in a net increase in employment of not less than 10 percent or an increase in productive output or sales of not less than 10 percent.
(b) Any business or organization located in an enterprise zone or brownfield area that increases operations on a site located within the same zone or area colocated with a commercial or industrial operation owned by the same business or organization under common control with the same business or organization.
(16) “Permanent resident” means a person who has established a permanent residence as defined in subsection (17).
(17) “Permanent residence” means that place where a person has his or her true, fixed, and permanent home and principal establishment to which, whenever absent, he or she has the intention of returning. A person may have only one permanent residence at a time; and, once a permanent residence is established in a foreign state or country, it is presumed to continue until the person shows that a change has occurred.
(18) “Enterprise zone” means an area designated as an enterprise zone pursuant to s. 290.0065. This subsection expires on the date specified in s. 290.016 for the expiration of the Florida Enterprise Zone Act.
(19) “Ex-servicemember” means any person who has served as a member of the United States Armed Forces on active duty or state active duty, a member of the Florida National Guard, or a member of the United States Reserve Forces.
History.—s. 1, ch. 71-133; s. 1, ch. 72-367; s. 1, ch. 73-340; s. 14, ch. 74-234; s. 13, ch. 76-234; s. 1, ch. 77-447; s. 6, ch. 80-163; s. 1, ch. 80-347; s. 2, ch. 81-219; s. 85, ch. 81-259; s. 9, ch. 82-119; s. 29, ch. 84-356; s. 1, ch. 88-102; s. 45, ch. 91-45; s. 87, ch. 91-112; s. 1, ch. 91-121; s. 1, ch. 91-196; s. 3, ch. 92-167; s. 58, ch. 92-289; s. 9, ch. 93-132; s. 3, ch. 93-233; s. 61, ch. 93-268; s. 67, ch. 94-136; ss. 59, 66, ch. 94-353; s. 1472, ch. 95-147; s. 4, ch. 95-404; s. 3, ch. 97-197; s. 25, ch. 97-255; s. 2, ch. 97-294; s. 109, ch. 99-251; s. 11, ch. 99-256; s. 29, ch. 2001-79; s. 2, ch. 2002-183; s. 907, ch. 2002-387; s. 20, ch. 2003-32; s. 1, ch. 2005-42; s. 20, ch. 2005-132; s. 17, ch. 2005-287; s. 52, ch. 2006-60; s. 4, ch. 2006-291; s. 14, ch. 2007-5; s. 6, ch. 2008-227; s. 54, ch. 2011-36; s. 31, ch. 2011-64; s. 1, ch. 2011-182; s. 20, ch. 2012-5; s. 4, ch. 2013-77.
196.015 Permanent residency; factual determination by property appraiser.—Intention to establish a permanent residence in this state is a factual determination to be made, in the first instance, by the property appraiser. Although any one factor is not conclusive of the establishment or nonestablishment of permanent residence, the following are relevant factors that may be considered by the property appraiser in making his or her determination as to the intent of a person claiming a homestead exemption to establish a permanent residence in this state:
(1) A formal declaration of domicile by the applicant recorded in the public records of the county in which the exemption is being sought.
(2) Evidence of the location where the applicant’s dependent children are registered for school.
(3) The place of employment of the applicant.
(4) The previous permanent residency by the applicant in a state other than Florida or in another country and the date non-Florida residency was terminated.
(5) Proof of voter registration in this state with the voter information card address of the applicant, or other official correspondence from the supervisor of elections providing proof of voter registration, matching the address of the physical location where the exemption is being sought.
(6) A valid Florida driver license issued under s. 322.18 or a valid Florida identification card issued under s. 322.051 and evidence of relinquishment of driver licenses from any other states.
(7) Issuance of a Florida license tag on any motor vehicle owned by the applicant.
(8) The address as listed on federal income tax returns filed by the applicant.
(9) The location where the applicant’s bank statements and checking accounts are registered.
(10) Proof of payment for utilities at the property for which permanent residency is being claimed.
History.—s. 2, ch. 81-219; s. 990, ch. 95-147; s. 8, ch. 2006-312; s. 3, ch. 2009-135.
196.021 Tax returns to show all exemptions and claims.—In making tangible personal property tax returns under this chapter it shall be the duty of the taxpayer to completely disclose and claim any and all lawful or constitutional exemptions from taxation to which the taxpayer may be entitled or which he or she may desire to claim in respect to taxable tangible personal property. The failure to disclose and include such exemptions, if any, in a tangible personal property tax return made under this chapter shall be deemed a waiver of the same on the part of the taxpayer and no such exemption or claim thereof shall thereafter be allowed for that tax year.
History.—s. 14, ch. 20723, 1941; ss. 1, 2, ch. 69-55; s. 991, ch. 95-147.
Note.—Former s. 200.15.
1196.031 Exemption of homesteads.—
(1)(a) A person who, on January 1, has the legal title or beneficial title in equity to real property in this state and who in good faith makes the property his or her permanent residence or the permanent residence of another or others legally or naturally dependent upon him or her, is entitled to an exemption from all taxation, except for assessments for special benefits, up to the assessed valuation of $25,000 on the residence and contiguous real property, as defined in s. 6, Art. VII of the State Constitution. Such title may be held by the entireties, jointly, or in common with others, and the exemption may be apportioned among such of the owners as reside thereon, as their respective interests appear. If only one of the owners of an estate held by the entireties or held jointly with the right of survivorship resides on the property, that owner is allowed an exemption of up to the assessed valuation of $25,000 on the residence and contiguous real property. However, an exemption of more than $25,000 is not allowed to any one person or on any one dwelling house, except that an exemption up to the assessed valuation of $25,000 may be allowed on each apartment or mobile home occupied by a tenant-stockholder or member of a cooperative corporation and on each condominium parcel occupied by its owner. Except for owners of an estate held by the entireties or held jointly with the right of survivorship, the amount of the exemption may not exceed the proportionate assessed valuation of all owners who reside on the property. Before such exemption may be granted, the deed or instrument shall be recorded in the official records of the county in which the property is located. The property appraiser may request the applicant to provide additional ownership documents to establish title.
(b) Every person who qualifies to receive the exemption provided in paragraph (a) is entitled to an additional exemption of up to $25,000 on the assessed valuation greater than $50,000 for all levies other than school district levies.
(2) As used in subsection (1), the term “cooperative corporation” means a corporation, whether for profit or not for profit, organized for the purpose of owning, maintaining, and operating an apartment building or apartment buildings or a mobile home park to be occupied by its stockholders or members; and the term “tenant-stockholder or member” means an individual who is entitled, solely by reason of his or her ownership of stock or membership in a cooperative corporation, as evidenced in the official records of the office of the clerk of the circuit court of the county in which the apartment building is located, to occupy for dwelling purposes an apartment in a building owned by such corporation or to occupy for dwelling purposes a mobile home which is on or a part of a cooperative unit. A corporation leasing land for a term of 98 years or more for the purpose of maintaining and operating a cooperative thereon shall be deemed the owner for purposes of this exemption.
(3) The exemption provided in this section does not apply with respect to the assessment roll of a county unless and until the roll of that county has been approved by the executive director pursuant to s. 193.1142.
(4) The exemption provided in this section applies only to those parcels classified and assessed as owner-occupied residential property or only to the portion of property so classified and assessed.
(5) A person who is receiving or claiming the benefit of an ad valorem tax exemption or a tax credit in another state where permanent residency is required as a basis for the granting of that ad valorem tax exemption or tax credit is not entitled to the homestead exemption provided by this section. This subsection does not apply to a person who has the legal or equitable title to real estate in Florida and maintains thereon the permanent residence of another legally or naturally dependent upon the owner.
(6) When homestead property is damaged or destroyed by misfortune or calamity and the property is uninhabitable on January 1 after the damage or destruction occurs, the homestead exemption may be granted if the property is otherwise qualified and if the property owner notifies the property appraiser that he or she intends to repair or rebuild the property and live in the property as his or her primary residence after the property is repaired or rebuilt and does not claim a homestead exemption on any other property or otherwise violate this section. Failure by the property owner to commence the repair or rebuilding of the homestead property within 3 years after January 1 following the property’s damage or destruction constitutes abandonment of the property as a homestead. After the 3-year period, the expiration, lapse, nonrenewal, or revocation of a building permit issued to the property owner for such repairs or rebuilding also constitutes abandonment of the property as homestead.
2(7) Unless the homestead property is totally exempt from ad valorem taxation, the exemptions provided in paragraphs (1)(a) and (b) shall be applied before other homestead exemptions, which shall then be applied in the order that results in the lowest taxable value.
History.—ss. 1, 2, ch. 17060, 1935; CGL 1936 Supp. 897(2); s. 1, ch. 67-339; ss. 1, 2, ch. 69-55; ss. 1, 3, ch. 71-309; s. 1, ch. 72-372; s. 1, ch. 72-373; s. 9, ch. 74-227; s. 1, ch. 74-264; s. 1, ch. 77-102; s. 3, ch. 79-332; s. 4, ch. 80-261; s. 10, ch. 80-274; s. 3, ch. 81-219; s. 9, ch. 81-308; s. 11, ch. 82-208; ss. 24, 80, ch. 82-226; s. 1, ch. 84-327; s. 1, ch. 85-232; s. 5, ch. 92-32; s. 1, ch. 93-65; s. 10, ch. 93-132; ss. 33, 34, ch. 94-353; s. 1473, ch. 95-147; s. 2, ch. 2001-204; s. 908, ch. 2002-387; s. 2, ch. 2006-311; s. 6, ch. 2007-339; s. 8, ch. 2008-173; s. 1, ch. 2010-176; s. 2, ch. 2012-57; s. 17, ch. 2012-193; s. 8, ch. 2013-72.
2Note.—Section 13, ch. 2008-173, provides that:
(1) Vendees in possession of real estate under bona fide contracts to purchase when such instruments, under which they claim title, are recorded in the office of the clerk of the circuit court where said properties lie, and who reside thereon in good faith and make the same their permanent residence; persons residing on real estate by virtue of dower or other estates therein limited in time by deed, will, jointure, or settlement; and lessees owning the leasehold interest in a bona fide lease having an original term of 98 years or more in a residential parcel or in a condominium parcel as defined in chapter 718, or persons holding leases of 50 years or more, existing prior to June 19, 1973, for the purpose of homestead exemptions from ad valorem taxes and no other purpose, shall be deemed to have legal or beneficial and equitable title to said property. In addition, a tenant-stockholder or member of a cooperative apartment corporation who is entitled solely by reason of ownership of stock or membership in the corporation to occupy for dwelling purposes an apartment in a building owned by the corporation, for the purpose of homestead exemption from ad valorem taxes and for no other purpose, is deemed to have beneficial title in equity to said apartment and a proportionate share of the land on which the building is situated.
(2) A person who otherwise qualifies by the required residence for the homestead tax exemption provided in s. 196.031 shall be entitled to such exemption where the person’s possessory right in such real property is based upon an instrument granting to him or her a beneficial interest for life, such interest being hereby declared to be “equitable title to real estate,” as that term is employed in s. 6, Art. VII of the State Constitution; and such person shall be entitled to the homestead tax exemption irrespective of whether such interest was created prior or subsequent to the effective date of this act.
History.—s. 2, ch. 17060, 1935; CGL 1936 Supp. 897(3); s. 1, ch. 65-281; s. 2, ch. 67-339; ss. 1, 2, ch. 69-55; s. 1, ch. 69-68; s. 1, ch. 73-201; s. 1, ch. 78-324; s. 35, ch. 79-164; s. 4, ch. 81-219; s. 35, ch. 94-353; s. 1474, ch. 95-147.
(1) The rental of all or substantially all of a dwelling previously claimed to be a homestead for tax purposes shall constitute the abandonment of such dwelling as a homestead, and the abandonment continues until the dwelling is physically occupied by the owner. However, such abandonment of the homestead after January 1 of any year does not affect the homestead exemption for tax purposes for that particular year unless the property is rented for more than 30 days per calendar year for 2 consecutive years.
(2) This section does not apply to a member of the Armed Forces of the United States whose service is the result of a mandatory obligation imposed by the federal Selective Service Act or who volunteers for service as a member of the Armed Forces of the United States. Moreover, valid military orders transferring such member are sufficient to maintain permanent residence for the purpose of s. 196.015 for the member and his or her spouse.
History.—s. 1, ch. 59-270; s. 1, ch. 67-459; ss. 1, 2, ch. 69-55; s. 5, ch. 95-404; s. 8, ch. 96-397; s. 3, ch. 2010-182; s. 18, ch. 2012-193; s. 1, ch. 2013-64.
196.071 Homestead exemptions; claims by members of armed forces.—Every person who is entitled to homestead exemption in this state and who is serving in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States, shall file a claim for such exemption as required by law, either in person, or, if by reason of such service he or she is unable to file such claim in person he or she may file such claim through his or her next of kin or through any other person he or she may duly authorize in writing to file such claim.
History.—s. 1, ch. 28199, 1953; ss. 1, 2, ch. 69-55; s. 992, ch. 95-147.
(a) “Household” means a person or group of persons living together in a room or group of rooms as a housing unit, but the term does not include persons boarding in or renting a portion of the dwelling.
(b) “Household income” means the adjusted gross income, as defined in s. 62 of the United States Internal Revenue Code, of all members of a household.
(2) In accordance with s. 6(d), Art. VII of the State Constitution, the board of county commissioners of any county or the governing authority of any municipality may adopt an ordinance to allow either or both of the following additional homestead exemptions:
(a) Up to $50,000 for any person who has the legal or equitable title to real estate and maintains thereon the permanent residence of the owner, who has attained age 65, and whose household income does not exceed $20,000; or
(b) The amount of the assessed value of the property for any person who has the legal or equitable title to real estate with a just value less than $250,000 and has maintained thereon the permanent residence of the owner for at least 25 years, who has attained age 65, and whose household income does not exceed the income limitation prescribed in paragraph (a), as calculated in subsection (3).
(3) Beginning January 1, 2001, the $20,000 income limitation shall be adjusted annually, on January 1, by the percentage change in the average cost-of-living index in the period January 1 through December 31 of the immediate prior year compared with the same period for the year prior to that. The index is the average of the monthly consumer-price-index figures for the stated 12-month period, relative to the United States as a whole, issued by the United States Department of Labor.
(4) An ordinance granting an additional homestead exemption as authorized by this section must meet the following requirements:
(a) It must be adopted under the procedures for adoption of a nonemergency ordinance specified in chapter 125 by a board of county commissioners or chapter 166 by a municipal governing authority, except that the exemption authorized by paragraph (2)(b) must be authorized by a super majority (a majority plus one) vote of the members of the governing body of the county or municipality granting such exemption.
(b) It must specify that the exemption applies only to taxes levied by the unit of government granting the exemption. Unless otherwise specified by the county or municipality, this exemption will apply to all tax levies of the county or municipality granting the exemption, including dependent special districts and municipal service taxing units.
(c) It must specify the amount of the exemption, which may not exceed the applicable amount specified in subsection (2). If the county or municipality specifies a different exemption amount for dependent special districts or municipal service taxing units, the exemption amount must be uniform in all dependent special districts or municipal service taxing units within the county or municipality.
(d) It must require that a taxpayer claiming the exemption annually submit to the property appraiser, not later than March 1, a sworn statement of household income on a form prescribed by the Department of Revenue.
(5) The department must require by rule that the filing of the statement be supported by copies of any federal income tax returns for the prior year, any wage and earnings statements (W-2 forms), any request for an extension of time to file returns, and any other documents it finds necessary, for each member of the household, to be submitted for inspection by the property appraiser. The taxpayer’s sworn statement shall attest to the accuracy of the documents and grant permission to allow review of the documents if requested by the property appraiser. Submission of supporting documentation is not required for the renewal of an exemption under this section unless the property appraiser requests such documentation. Once the documents have been inspected by the property appraiser, they shall be returned to the taxpayer or otherwise destroyed. The property appraiser is authorized to generate random audits of the taxpayers’ sworn statements to ensure the accuracy of the household income reported. If so selected for audit, a taxpayer shall execute Internal Revenue Service Form 8821 or 4506, which authorizes the Internal Revenue Service to release tax information to the property appraiser’s office. All reviews conducted in accordance with this section shall be completed on or before June 1. The property appraiser may not grant or renew the exemption if the required documentation requested is not provided.
(6) The board of county commissioners or municipal governing authority must deliver a copy of any ordinance adopted under this section to the property appraiser no later than December 1 of the year prior to the year the exemption will take effect. If the ordinance is repealed, the board of county commissioners or municipal governing authority shall notify the property appraiser no later than December 1 of the year prior to the year the exemption expires.
(7) Those persons entitled to the homestead exemption in s. 196.031 may apply for and receive an additional homestead exemption as provided in this section. Receipt of the additional homestead exemption provided for in this section shall be subject to the provisions of ss. 196.131 and 196.161, if applicable.
(8) If title is held jointly with right of survivorship, the person residing on the property and otherwise qualifying may receive the entire amount of the additional homestead exemption.
(9) If the property appraiser determines that for any year within the immediately previous 10 years a person who was not entitled to the additional homestead exemption under this section was granted such an exemption, the property appraiser shall serve upon the owner a notice of intent to record in the public records of the county a notice of tax lien against any property owned by that person in the county, and that property must be identified in the notice of tax lien. Any property that is owned by the taxpayer and is situated in this state is subject to the taxes exempted by the improper homestead exemption, plus a penalty of 50 percent of the unpaid taxes for each year and interest at a rate of 15 percent per annum. However, if such an exemption is improperly granted as a result of a clerical mistake or omission by the property appraiser, the person who improperly received the exemption may not be assessed a penalty and interest. Before any such lien may be filed, the owner must be given 30 days within which to pay the taxes, penalties, and interest. Such a lien is subject to the procedures and provisions set forth in s. 196.161(3).
History.—s. 1, ch. 99-341; s. 1, ch. 2002-52; s. 1, ch. 2007-4; s. 26, ch. 2010-5; s. 1, ch. 2012-57; s. 9, ch. 2013-72; s. 27, ch. 2014-17.
(1) Any real estate that is owned and used as a homestead by a veteran who was honorably discharged with a service-connected total and permanent disability and for whom a letter from the United States Government or United States Department of Veterans Affairs or its predecessor has been issued certifying that the veteran is totally and permanently disabled is exempt from taxation, if the veteran is a permanent resident of this state on January 1 of the tax year for which exemption is being claimed or was a permanent resident of this state on January 1 of the year the veteran died.
(2) The production by a veteran or the spouse or surviving spouse of a letter of total and permanent disability from the United States Government or United States Department of Veterans Affairs or its predecessor before the property appraiser of the county in which property of the veteran lies is prima facie evidence of the fact that the veteran or the surviving spouse is entitled to the exemption.
(3) If the totally and permanently disabled veteran predeceases his or her spouse and if, upon the death of the veteran, the spouse holds the legal or beneficial title to the homestead and permanently resides thereon as specified in s. 196.031, the exemption from taxation carries over to the benefit of the veteran’s spouse until such time as he or she remarries or sells or otherwise disposes of the property. If the spouse sells the property, an exemption not to exceed the amount granted from the most recent ad valorem tax roll may be transferred to his or her new residence, as long as it is used as his or her primary residence and he or she does not remarry.
(4) Any real estate that is owned and used as a homestead by the surviving spouse of a veteran who died from service-connected causes while on active duty as a member of the United States Armed Forces and for whom a letter from the United States Government or United States Department of Veterans Affairs or its predecessor has been issued certifying that the veteran who died from service-connected causes while on active duty is exempt from taxation if the veteran was a permanent resident of this state on January 1 of the year in which the veteran died.
(a) The production of the letter by the surviving spouse which attests to the veteran’s death while on active duty is prima facie evidence that the surviving spouse is entitled to the exemption.
(b) The tax exemption carries over to the benefit of the veteran’s surviving spouse as long as the spouse holds the legal or beneficial title to the homestead, permanently resides thereon as specified in s. 196.031, and does not remarry. If the surviving spouse sells the property, an exemption not to exceed the amount granted under the most recent ad valorem tax roll may be transferred to his or her new residence as long as it is used as his or her primary residence and he or she does not remarry.
(5) An applicant for the exemption under this section may apply for the exemption before receiving the necessary documentation from the United States Government or the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or its predecessor. Upon receipt of the documentation, the exemption shall be granted as of the date of the original application, and the excess taxes paid shall be refunded. Any refund of excess taxes paid shall be limited to those paid during the 4-year period of limitation set forth in s. 197.182(1)(e).
(6) Any real estate that is owned and used as a homestead by the surviving spouse of a first responder who died in the line of duty while employed by the state or any political subdivision of the state, including authorities and special districts, and for whom a letter from the state or appropriate political subdivision of the state, or other authority or special district, has been issued which legally recognizes and certifies that the first responder died in the line of duty while employed as a first responder is exempt from taxation if the first responder and his or her surviving spouse were permanent residents of this state on January 1 of the year in which the first responder died.
(a) The production of the letter by the surviving spouse which attests to the first responder’s death in the line of duty is prima facie evidence that the surviving spouse is entitled to the exemption.
(b) The tax exemption applies as long as the surviving spouse holds the legal or beneficial title to the homestead, permanently resides thereon as specified in s. 196.031, and does not remarry. If the surviving spouse sells the property, an exemption not to exceed the amount granted under the most recent ad valorem tax roll may be transferred to his or her new residence if it is used as his or her primary residence and he or she does not remarry.
(c) As used in this subsection only, and not applicable to the payment of benefits under s. 112.19 or s. 112.191, the term:
1. “First responder” means a law enforcement officer or correctional officer as defined in s. 943.10, a firefighter as defined in s. 633.102, or an emergency medical technician or paramedic as defined in s. 401.23 who is a full-time paid employee, part-time paid employee, or unpaid volunteer.
2. “In the line of duty” means:
a. While engaging in law enforcement;
b. While performing an activity relating to fire suppression and prevention;
c. While responding to a hazardous material emergency;
d. While performing rescue activity;
e. While providing emergency medical services;
f. While performing disaster relief activity;
g. While otherwise engaging in emergency response activity; or
h. While engaging in a training exercise related to any of the events or activities enumerated in this subparagraph if the training has been authorized by the employing entity.
A heart attack or stroke that causes death or causes an injury resulting in death must occur within 24 hours after an event or activity enumerated in this subparagraph and must be directly and proximately caused by the event or activity in order to be considered as having occurred in the line of duty.
History.—s. 1, ch. 57-778; s. 1, ch. 65-193; ss. 1, 2, ch. 69-55; s. 2, ch. 71-133; s. 1, ch. 76-163; s. 1, ch. 77-102; s. 1, ch. 83-71; s. 10, ch. 86-177; s. 1, ch. 92-167; s. 62, ch. 93-268; s. 1, ch. 93-400; s. 1, ch. 97-157; s. 2, ch. 2012-54; s. 19, ch. 2012-193; s. 93, ch. 2013-183.
(1) Each veteran who is age 65 or older and is partially or totally permanently disabled shall receive a discount from the amount of the ad valorem tax otherwise owed on homestead property that the veteran owns and resides in if:
(a) The disability was combat-related; and
(b) The veteran was honorably discharged upon separation from military service.
(2) The discount shall be in a percentage equal to the percentage of the veteran’s permanent, service-connected disability as determined by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
(3) To qualify for the discount granted under this section, an applicant must submit to the county property appraiser by March 1:
(a) An official letter from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs which states the percentage of the veteran’s service-connected disability and evidence that reasonably identifies the disability as combat-related;
(b) A copy of the veteran’s honorable discharge; and
(c) Proof of age as of January 1 of the year to which the discount will apply.
Any applicant who is qualified to receive a discount under this section and who fails to file an application by March 1 may file an application for the discount and may file, pursuant to s. 194.011(3), a petition with the value adjustment board requesting that the discount be granted. Such application and petition shall be subject to the same procedures as for exemptions set forth in s. 196.011(8).
(4) If the property appraiser denies the request for a discount, the appraiser must notify the applicant in writing, stating the reasons for denial, on or before July 1 of the year for which the application was filed. The applicant may reapply for the discount in a subsequent year using the procedure in this section. All notifications must specify the right to appeal to the value adjustment board and the procedures to follow in obtaining such an appeal under s. 196.193(5).
(5) The property appraiser shall apply the discount by reducing the taxable value before certifying the tax roll to the tax collector.
(a) The property appraiser shall first ascertain all other applicable exemptions, including exemptions provided pursuant to local option, and deduct all other exemptions from the assessed value.
(b) The percentage discount portion of the remaining value which is attributable to service-connected disabilities shall be subtracted to yield the discounted taxable value.
(c) The resulting taxable value shall be included in the certification for use by taxing authorities in setting millage.
(d) The property appraiser shall place the discounted amount on the tax roll when it is extended.
(6) An applicant for the discount under this section may apply for the discount before receiving the necessary documentation from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or its predecessor. Upon receipt of the documentation, the discount shall be granted as of the date of the original application, and the excess taxes paid shall be refunded. Any refund of excess taxes paid shall be limited to those paid during the 4-year period of limitation set forth in s. 197.182(1)(e).
History.—s. 1, ch. 2007-36; s. 20, ch. 2012-193; s. 10, ch. 2013-72.
(1) Any real estate used and owned as a homestead by an ex-servicemember who has been honorably discharged with a service-connected total disability and who has a certificate from the United States Government or United States Department of Veterans Affairs or its predecessor, or its successors, certifying that the ex-servicemember is receiving or has received special pecuniary assistance due to disability requiring specially adapted housing and required to use a wheelchair for his or her transportation is exempt from taxation.
(2) The production by an ex-servicemember of a certificate of disability from the United States Government or the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or its predecessor before the property appraiser of the county wherein his or her property lies is prima facie evidence of the fact that he or she is entitled to such exemptions.
(3) In the event the homestead of the wheelchair veteran was or is held with the veteran’s spouse as an estate by the entirety, and in the event the veteran did or shall predecease his or her spouse, the exemption from taxation shall carry over to the benefit of the veteran’s spouse, provided the spouse continues to reside on such real estate and uses it as his or her domicile or until such time as he or she remarries or sells or otherwise disposes of the property.
History.—s. 1, ch. 57-761; s. 2, ch. 65-193; ss. 1, 2, ch. 69-55; s. 1, ch. 77-102; s. 6, ch. 81-219; s. 7, ch. 84-114; s. 12, ch. 86-177; s. 4, ch. 93-268; s. 993, ch. 95-147; s. 21, ch. 2012-193.
(1) Any real estate used and owned as a child care facility as defined in s. 402.302 which operates in an enterprise zone pursuant to chapter 290 is exempt from taxation.
(2) To claim an enterprise zone child care property tax exemption authorized by this section, a child care facility must file an application under oath with the governing body or enterprise zone development agency having jurisdiction over the enterprise zone where the child care center is located. Within 10 working days after receipt of an application, the governing body or enterprise zone development agency shall review the application to determine if it contains all the information required pursuant to this section and meets the criteria set out in this section. The governing body or agency shall certify all applications that contain the information required pursuant to this section and meet the criteria set out in this section as eligible to receive an ad valorem tax exemption. The child care center shall be responsible for forwarding all application materials to the governing body or enterprise zone development agency.
(3) The production by the child care facility operator of a current license by the Department of Children and Families or local licensing authority and certification by the governing body or enterprise zone where the child care center is located is prima facie evidence that the child care facility owner is entitled to such exemptions.
(1) Any real estate used and owned as a homestead by any quadriplegic is exempt from taxation.
(2) Any real estate used and owned as a homestead by a paraplegic, hemiplegic, or other totally and permanently disabled person, as defined in s. 196.012(11), who must use a wheelchair for mobility or who is legally blind, is exempt from taxation.
(3) The production by any totally and permanently disabled person entitled to the exemption in subsection (1) or subsection (2) of a certificate of such disability from two licensed doctors of this state or from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or its predecessor to the property appraiser of the county wherein the property lies, is prima facie evidence of the fact that he or she is entitled to such exemption.
(4)(a) A person entitled to the exemption in subsection (2) must be a permanent resident of this state. Submission of an affidavit that the applicant claiming the exemption under subsection (2) is a permanent resident of this state is prima facie proof of such residence. However, the gross income of all persons residing in or upon the homestead for the prior year shall not exceed $14,500. For the purposes of this section, the term “gross income” includes United States Department of Veterans Affairs benefits and any social security benefits paid to the persons.
(b) The maximum income limitations permitted in this subsection shall be adjusted annually on January 1, beginning January 1, 1990, by the percentage change in the average cost-of-living index in the period January 1 through December 31 of the immediate prior year compared with the same period for the year prior to that. The index is the average of the monthly consumer price index figures for the stated 12-month period, relative to the United States as a whole, issued by the United States Department of Labor.
(c) The department shall require by rule that the taxpayer annually submit a sworn statement of gross income, pursuant to paragraph (a). The department shall require that the filing of such statement be accompanied by copies of federal income tax returns for the prior year, wage and earnings statements (W-2 forms), and other documents it deems necessary, for each member of the household. The taxpayer’s statement shall attest to the accuracy of such copies. The department shall prescribe and furnish a form to be used for this purpose which form shall include spaces for a separate listing of United States Department of Veterans Affairs benefits and social security benefits. All records produced by the taxpayer under this paragraph are confidential in the hands of the property appraiser, the department, the tax collector, the Auditor General, and the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability and shall not be divulged to any person, firm, or corporation except upon court order or order of an administrative body having quasi-judicial powers in ad valorem tax matters, and such records are exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1).
(5) The physician’s certification shall read as follows:
PHYSICIAN’S CERTIFICATION OF
I, (name of physician) , a physician licensed pursuant to chapter 458 or chapter 459, Florida Statutes, hereby certify Mr. Mrs. Miss Ms. (name of totally and permanently disabled person) , social security number , is totally and permanently disabled as of January 1, (year) , due to the following mental or physical condition(s):
Other total and permanent disability requiring use of a wheelchair for mobility
It is my professional belief that the above-named condition(s) render Mr. Mrs. Miss Ms. totally and permanently disabled, and that the foregoing statements are true, correct, and complete to the best of my knowledge and professional belief.
Address (print)
Florida Board of Medicine or Osteopathic Medicine license number
Issued on
NOTICE TO TAXPAYER: Each Florida resident applying for a total and permanent disability exemption must present to the county property appraiser, on or before March 1 of each year, a copy of this form or a letter from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or its predecessor. Each form is to be completed by a licensed Florida physician.
NOTICE TO TAXPAYER AND PHYSICIAN: Section 196.131(2), Florida Statutes, provides that any person who shall knowingly and willfully give false information for the purpose of claiming homestead exemption shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable by a term of imprisonment not exceeding 1 year or a fine not exceeding $5,000, or both.
(6) An optometrist licensed under chapter 463 may certify a person to be totally and permanently disabled as a result of legal blindness alone by issuing a certification in accordance with subsection (7). Certification of total and permanent disability due to legal blindness by a physician and an optometrist licensed in this state may be deemed to meet the requirements of subsection (3).
(7) The optometrist’s certification shall read as follows:
OPTOMETRIST’S CERTIFICATION OF
I, (name of optometrist) , an optometrist licensed pursuant to chapter 463, Florida Statutes, hereby certify that Mr. Mrs. Miss Ms. (name of totally and permanently disabled person) , social security number , is totally and permanently disabled as of January 1, (year) , due to legal blindness.
It is my professional belief that the above-named condition renders Mr. Mrs. Miss Ms. (name of totally and permanently disabled person) totally and permanently disabled and that the foregoing statements are true, correct, and complete to the best of my knowledge and professional belief.
Florida Board of Optometry license number
NOTICE TO TAXPAYER: Each Florida resident applying for a total and permanent disability exemption must present to the county property appraiser, on or before March 1 of each year, a copy of this form or a letter from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or its predecessor. Each form is to be completed by a licensed Florida optometrist.
NOTICE TO TAXPAYER AND OPTOMETRIST: Section 196.131(2), Florida Statutes, provides that any person who knowingly and willfully gives false information for the purpose of claiming homestead exemption commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable by a term of imprisonment not exceeding 1 year or a fine not exceeding $5,000, or both.
(8) An applicant for the exemption under this section may apply for the exemption before receiving the necessary documentation from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or its predecessor. Upon receipt of the documentation, the exemption shall be granted as of the date of the original application, and the excess taxes paid shall be refunded. Any refund of excess taxes paid shall be limited to those paid during the 4-year period of limitation set forth in s. 197.182(1)(e).
History.—s. 1, ch. 59-134; ss. 1, 2, ch. 69-55; s. 17, ch. 76-234; s. 49, ch. 77-104; s. 2, ch. 77-447; ss. 7, 10, ch. 81-219; s. 4, ch. 84-371; s. 26, ch. 85-80; s. 11, ch. 86-177; s. 24, ch. 88-119; s. 4, ch. 89-328; s. 1, ch. 90-299; s. 41, ch. 90-360; s. 2, ch. 92-167; s. 63, ch. 93-268; s. 6, ch. 94-314; s. 36, ch. 94-353; s. 1475, ch. 95-147; s. 55, ch. 96-406; s. 50, ch. 2001-266; s. 1, ch. 2007-121; s. 22, ch. 2012-193.
(1) As soon as practicable after February 5 of each current year, the property appraisers of the several counties may mail to each person to whom homestead exemption was granted for the year immediately preceding and whose application for exemption for the current year has not been filed as of February 1 thereof, a form for application for homestead exemption, together with a notice reading substantially as follows:
NOTICE TO TAXPAYERS ENTITLED
TO HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION
Records in this office indicate that you have not filed an application for homestead exemption for the current year.
If you wish to claim such exemption, please fill out the enclosed form and file it with your property appraiser on or before March 1, (year) .
Failure to do so may constitute a waiver of said exemption for the year (year) .
(Property Appraiser)
County, Florida
(2) The expenditure of funds for any of the requirements of this section is hereby declared to be for a county purpose; and the board of county commissioners of each county shall, if notices are mailed under subsection (1), appropriate and provide the necessary funds for such purposes.
History.—s. 1, ch. 67-534; ss. 1, 2, ch. 69-55; s. 14, ch. 74-234; s. 1, ch. 77-102; s. 17, ch. 83-204; s. 2, ch. 85-315; s. 17, ch. 99-6.
(1) The Department of Revenue shall provide, by electronic means or other methods designated by the department, forms to be filed by taxpayers claiming to be entitled to a homestead exemption and shall prescribe the content of such forms by rule.
(2) The forms shall require the taxpayer to furnish certain information to the property appraiser for the purpose of determining that the taxpayer is a permanent resident as defined in s. 196.012(16). Such information may include, but need not be limited to, the factors enumerated in s. 196.015.
(3) The forms shall also contain the following:
(a) Notice of the tax lien which can be imposed pursuant to s. 196.161.
(b) Notice that information contained in the application will be provided to the Department of Revenue and may also be provided to any state in which the applicant has previously resided.
(c) A requirement that the applicant read or have read to him or her the contents of the form.
History.—s. 4, ch. 17060, 1935; CGL 1936 Supp. 897(5); ss. 1, 2, ch. 69-55; ss. 21, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 1, ch. 77-102; s. 5, ch. 79-332; s. 8, ch. 81-219; s. 58, ch. 83-217; s. 994, ch. 95-147; s. 30, ch. 95-280; s. 23, ch. 2012-193; s. 5, ch. 2013-77.
(1) At the time each taxpayer files claim for homestead exemption, the property appraiser shall deliver to the taxpayer a receipt over his or her signature, or that of a duly authorized deputy, which shall appropriately identify the property covered in the application, shall bear date as of the day such application is received by the property appraiser, and shall include any serial number or other identifying data desired by said property appraiser. The possession of such receipt shall constitute conclusive proof of the timely filing of such application.
(2) Any person who knowingly and willfully gives false information for the purpose of claiming homestead exemption as provided for in this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or by fine not exceeding $5,000, or both.
History.—s. 5, ch. 17060, 1935; CGL 1936 Supp. 897(6); s. 1, ch. 21876, 1943; s. 1, ch. 28105, 1953; ss. 1, 2, ch. 69-55; s. 94, ch. 71-136; s. 15, ch. 74-234; s. 1, ch. 77-102; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 9, ch. 81-219; s. 3, ch. 85-315; s. 9, ch. 86-300; s. 3, ch. 88-65; s. 38, ch. 94-353; s. 1476, ch. 95-147.
196.141 Homestead exemptions; duty of property appraiser.—The property appraiser shall examine each claim for exemption filed with or referred to him or her and shall allow the same, if found to be in accordance with law, by marking the same approved and by making the proper deductions on the tax books.
History.—s. 6, ch. 17060, 1935; CGL 1936 Supp. 897(7); ss. 1, 2, ch. 69-55; s. 1, ch. 77-102; s. 6, ch. 79-332; s. 995, ch. 95-147; s. 38, ch. 98-129; s. 49, ch. 2005-278.
196.151 Homestead exemptions; approval, refusal, hearings.—The property appraisers of the counties of the state shall, as soon as practicable after March 1 of each current year and on or before July 1 of that year, carefully consider all applications for tax exemptions that have been filed in their respective offices on or before March 1 of that year. If, upon investigation, the property appraiser finds that the applicant is entitled to the tax exemption applied for under the law, he or she shall make such entries upon the tax rolls of the county as are necessary to allow the exemption to the applicant. If, after due consideration, the property appraiser finds that the applicant is not entitled under the law to the exemption asked for, he or she shall immediately make out a notice of such disapproval, giving his or her reasons therefor, a copy of which notice must be served upon the applicant by the property appraiser either by personal delivery or by registered mail to the post office address given by the applicant. The applicant may appeal to the value adjustment board the decision of the property appraiser refusing to allow the exemption for which application was made, and the board shall review the application and evidence presented to the property appraiser upon which the applicant based the claim for exemption and shall hear the applicant in person or by agent on behalf of his or her right to such exemption. The value adjustment board shall reverse the decision of the property appraiser in the cause and grant exemption to the applicant if in its judgment the applicant is entitled thereto or shall affirm the decision of the property appraiser. The action of the board is final in the cause unless the applicant shall, within 15 days from the date of refusal of the application by the board, file in the circuit court of the county in which the homestead is situated a proceeding against the property appraiser for a declaratory judgment as is provided by chapter 86 or other appropriate proceeding. The failure of the taxpayer to appear before the property appraiser or value adjustment board or to file any paper other than the application above provided does not constitute any bar or defense to the proceedings.
History.—s. 8, ch. 17060, 1935; CGL 1936 Supp. 897(9); ss. 1, 2, ch. 69-55; s. 36, ch. 71-355; s. 14, ch. 76-133; s. 8, ch. 76-234; s. 11, ch. 81-219; s. 7, ch. 86-300; s. 156, ch. 91-112; s. 11, ch. 93-132; s. 996, ch. 95-147.
(1)(a) When the estate of any person is being probated or administered in another state under an allegation that such person was a resident of that state and the estate of such person contains real property situate in this state upon which homestead exemption has been allowed pursuant to s. 196.031 for any year or years within 10 years immediately prior to the death of the deceased, then within 3 years after the death of such person the property appraiser of the county where the real property is located shall, upon knowledge of such fact, record a notice of tax lien against the property among the public records of that county, and the property shall be subject to the payment of all taxes exempt thereunder, a penalty of 50 percent of the unpaid taxes for each year, plus 15 percent interest per year, unless the circuit court having jurisdiction over the ancillary administration in this state determines that the decedent was a permanent resident of this state during the year or years an exemption was allowed, whereupon the lien shall not be filed or, if filed, shall be canceled of record by the property appraiser of the county where the real estate is located.
(b) In addition, upon determination by the property appraiser that for any year or years within the prior 10 years a person who was not entitled to a homestead exemption was granted a homestead exemption from ad valorem taxes, it shall be the duty of the property appraiser making such determination to serve upon the owner a notice of intent to record in the public records of the county a notice of tax lien against any property owned by that person in the county, and such property shall be identified in the notice of tax lien. Such property which is situated in this state shall be subject to the taxes exempted thereby, plus a penalty of 50 percent of the unpaid taxes for each year and 15 percent interest per annum. However, if a homestead exemption is improperly granted as a result of a clerical mistake or an omission by the property appraiser, the person improperly receiving the exemption shall not be assessed penalty and interest. Before any such lien may be filed, the owner so notified must be given 30 days to pay the taxes, penalties, and interest.
(2) The collection of the taxes provided in this section shall be in the same manner as existing ad valorem taxes, and the above procedure of recapturing such taxes shall be supplemental to any existing provision under the laws of this state.
(3) The lien herein provided shall not attach to the property until the notice of tax lien is filed among the public records of the county where the property is located. Prior to the filing of such notice of lien, any purchaser for value of the subject property shall take free and clear of such lien. Such lien when filed shall attach to any property which is identified in the notice of lien and is owned by the person who illegally or improperly received the homestead exemption. Should such person no longer own property in the county, but own property in some other county or counties in the state, it shall be the duty of the property appraiser to record a notice of tax lien in such other county or counties, identifying the property owned by such person in such county or counties, and it shall become a lien against such property in such county or counties.
History.—ss. 1, 2, 3, 4, ch. 67-134; ss. 1, 2, ch. 69-55; s. 20, ch. 69-216; s. 1, ch. 74-155; s. 1, ch. 77-102; s. 12, ch. 81-219; s. 51, ch. 82-226; s. 10, ch. 86-300; s. 4, ch. 90-343; s. 40, ch. 94-353; s. 1, ch. 95-359; s. 10, ch. 2002-18.
196.171 Homestead exemptions; city officials.—City tax assessors, or other officials performing such duties, shall be governed by the provisions of these homestead exemption laws.
History.—s. 7, ch. 17060, 1935; CGL 1936 Supp. 897(8); ss. 1, 2, ch. 69-55.
1196.173 Exemption for deployed servicemembers.—
(1) A servicemember who receives a homestead exemption may receive an additional ad valorem tax exemption on that homestead property as provided in this section.
(2) The exemption is available to servicemembers who were deployed during the preceding calendar year on active duty outside the continental United States, Alaska, or Hawaii in support of:
(a) Operation Noble Eagle, which began on September 15, 2001;
(b) Operation Enduring Freedom, which began on October 7, 2001;
(c) Operation Iraqi Freedom, which began on March 19, 2003, and ended on August 31, 2010;
(d) Operation New Dawn, which began on September 1, 2010, and ended on December 15, 2011; or
(e) Operation Odyssey Dawn, which began on March 19, 2011, and ended on October 31, 2011.
The Department of Revenue shall notify all property appraisers and tax collectors in this state of the designated military operations.
(3) By January 15 of each year, the Department of Military Affairs shall submit to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the tax committees of each house of the Legislature a report of all known and unclassified military operations outside the continental United States, Alaska, or Hawaii for which servicemembers based in the continental United States have been deployed during the previous calendar year. The report must include:
(a) The official and common names of the military operations;
(b) The general location and purpose of each military operation;
(c) The date each military operation commenced; and
(d) The date each military operation terminated, unless the operation is ongoing.
(4) The amount of the exemption is equal to the taxable value of the homestead of the servicemember on January 1 of the year in which the exemption is sought multiplied by the number of days that the servicemember was on a qualifying deployment in the preceding calendar year and divided by the number of days in that year.
(5)(a) An eligible servicemember who seeks to claim the additional tax exemption as provided in this section must file an application for exemption with the property appraiser on or before March 1 of the year following the year of the qualifying deployment. The application for the exemption must be made on a form prescribed by the department and furnished by the property appraiser. The form must require a servicemember to include or attach proof of a qualifying deployment, the dates of that deployment, and other information necessary to verify eligibility for and the amount of the exemption.
(b) An application may be filed on behalf of an eligible servicemember by his or her spouse if the homestead property to which the exemption applies is held by the entireties or jointly with the right of survivorship, by a person who has been designated by the servicemember to take actions on his or her behalf pursuant to chapter 709, or by the personal representative of the servicemember’s estate.
(6) The property appraiser shall consider each application for a deployed servicemember exemption within 30 days after receipt or within 30 days after receiving notice of the designation of qualifying deployments by the Legislature, whichever is later. A property appraiser who finds that the taxpayer is entitled to the exemption shall approve the application and file the application in the permanent records. A property appraiser who finds that the taxpayer is not entitled to the exemption shall send a notice of disapproval no later than July 1, citing the reason for disapproval. The original notice of disapproval shall be sent to the taxpayer and shall advise the taxpayer of the right to appeal the decision to the value adjustment board and shall inform the taxpayer of the procedure for filing such an appeal.
(7) As used in this section, the term “servicemember” means a member or former member of any branch of the United States military or military reserves, the United States Coast Guard or its reserves, or the Florida National Guard.
History.—s. 1, ch. 2011-93; s. 3, ch. 2012-159; s. 24, ch. 2012-193.
1Note.—Section 4, ch. 2011-93, provides that “[t]he Department of Revenue is authorized, and all conditions are deemed met, to adopt emergency rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54, Florida Statutes, to administer the provisions of this act. The emergency rules shall remain in effect for 6 months after the rules are adopted and the rules may be renewed during the pendency of procedures to adopt permanent rules addressing the subject of the emergency rules.”
196.181 Exemption of household goods and personal effects.—There shall be exempt from taxation to every person residing and making his or her permanent home in this state household goods and personal effects. Title to such household goods and personal effects may be held individually, by the entireties, jointly or in common with others.
History.—ss. 1, 3, ch. 29743, 1955; s. 1, ch. 67-378; ss. 1, 2, ch. 69-55.
1196.183 Exemption for tangible personal property.—
(1) Each tangible personal property tax return is eligible for an exemption from ad valorem taxation of up to $25,000 of assessed value. A single return must be filed for each site in the county where the owner of tangible personal property transacts business. Owners of freestanding property placed at multiple sites, other than sites where the owner transacts business, must file a single return, including all such property located in the county. Freestanding property placed at multiple sites includes vending and amusement machines, LP/propane tanks, utility and cable company property, billboards, leased equipment, and similar property that is not customarily located in the offices, stores, or plants of the owner, but is placed throughout the county. Railroads, private carriers, and other companies assessed pursuant to s. 193.085 shall be allowed one $25,000 exemption for each county to which the value of their property is allocated. The $25,000 exemption for freestanding property placed at multiple locations and for centrally assessed property shall be allocated to each taxing authority based on the proportion of just value of such property located in the taxing authority; however, the amount of the exemption allocated to each taxing authority may not change following the extension of the tax roll pursuant to s. 193.122.
(2) For purposes of this section, a “site where the owner of tangible personal property transacts business” includes facilities where the business ships or receives goods, employees of the business are located, goods or equipment of the business are stored, or goods or services of the business are produced, manufactured, or developed, or similar facilities located in offices, stores, warehouses, plants, or other locations of the business. Sites where only the freestanding property of the owner is located shall not be considered sites where the owner of tangible personal property transacts business.
(3) The requirement that an annual tangible personal property tax return pursuant to s. 193.052 be filed for taxpayers owning taxable property the value of which, as listed on the return, does not exceed the exemption provided in this section is waived. In order to qualify for this waiver, a taxpayer must file an initial return on which the exemption is taken. If, in subsequent years, the taxpayer owns taxable property the value of which, as listed on the return, exceeds the exemption, the taxpayer is obligated to file a return. The taxpayer may again qualify for the waiver only after filing a return on which the value as listed on the return does not exceed the exemption. A return filed or required to be filed shall be considered an application filed or required to be filed for the exemption under this section.
(4) Owners of property previously assessed by the property appraiser without a return being filed may, at the option of the property appraiser, qualify for the exemption under this section without filing an initial return.
(5) The exemption provided in this section does not apply in any year a taxpayer fails to timely file a return that is not waived pursuant to subsection (3) or subsection (4). Any taxpayer who received a waiver pursuant to subsection (3) or subsection (4) and who owns taxable property the value of which, as listed on the return, exceeds the exemption in a subsequent year and who fails to file a return with the property appraiser is subject to the penalty contained in s. 193.072(1)(a) calculated without the benefit of the exemption pursuant to this section. Any taxpayer claiming more exemptions than allowed pursuant to subsection (1) is subject to the taxes exempted as a result of wrongfully claiming the additional exemptions plus 15 percent interest per annum and a penalty of 50 percent of the taxes exempted. By February 1 of each year, the property appraiser shall notify by mail all taxpayers whose requirement for filing an annual tangible personal property tax return was waived in the previous year. The notification shall state that a return must be filed if the value of the taxpayer’s tangible personal property exceeds the exemption and include the penalties for failure to file such a return.
(6) The exemption provided in this section does not apply to a mobile home that is presumed to be tangible personal property pursuant to s. 193.075(2).
History.—s. 8, ch. 2007-339; s. 9, ch. 2008-173.
A. Section 1, ch. 2007-339, provides that:
B. Section 13, ch. 2008-173, provides that:
196.185 Exemption of inventory.—All items of inventory are exempt from ad valorem taxation.
196.192 Exemptions from ad valorem taxation.—Subject to the provisions of this chapter:
(1) All property owned by an exempt entity, including educational institutions, and used exclusively for exempt purposes shall be totally exempt from ad valorem taxation.
(2) All property owned by an exempt entity, including educational institutions, and used predominantly for exempt purposes shall be exempted from ad valorem taxation to the extent of the ratio that such predominant use bears to the nonexempt use.
(3) All tangible personal property loaned or leased by a natural person, by a trust holding property for a natural person, or by an exempt entity to an exempt entity for public display or exhibition on a recurrent schedule is exempt from ad valorem taxation if the property is loaned or leased for no consideration or for nominal consideration.
For purposes of this section, each use to which the property is being put must be considered in granting an exemption from ad valorem taxation, including any economic use in addition to any physical use. For purposes of this section, property owned by a limited liability company, the sole member of which is an exempt entity, shall be treated as if the property were owned directly by the exempt entity. This section does not apply in determining the exemption for property owned by governmental units pursuant to s. 196.199.
History.—s. 3, ch. 71-133; s. 2, ch. 88-102; s. 2, ch. 89-122; s. 3, ch. 2007-106; s. 2, ch. 2008-193.
(1)(a) All property exempted from the annual application requirement of s. 196.011 shall be returned, but shall be granted tax exemption by the property appraiser. However, no such property shall be exempt which is rented or hired out for other than religious, educational, or other exempt purposes at any time.
(b) The property appraiser may deny exemption to property claimed by religious organizations to be used for any of the purposes set out in s. 196.011 if the use is not clear or if the property appraiser determines that the property is being held for speculative purposes or that it is being rented or hired out for other than religious or educational purposes.
(c) If the property appraiser does deny such property a tax exemption, appeal of the determination to the value adjustment board may be made in the manner prescribed for appealed tax exemptions.
(2) Applications required by this chapter shall be filed on forms distributed to the property appraisers by the Department of Revenue. Such forms shall call for accurate description of the property, the value of such property, and the use of such property.
(3) Upon receipt of an application for exemption, the property appraiser shall determine:
(a) Whether the applicant falls within the definition of any one or several of the exempt classifications.
(b) Whether the applicant requesting exemption uses the property predominantly or exclusively for exempt purposes.
(c) The extent to which the property is used for exempt purposes.
In doing so, the property appraiser shall use the standards set forth in this chapter as applied by regulations of the Department of Revenue.
(4) The property appraiser shall find that the person or organization requesting exemption meets the requirements set forth in paragraphs (3)(a) and (b) before any exemption can be granted.
(5)(a) If the property appraiser determines that any property claimed as wholly or partially exempt under this section is not entitled to any exemption or is entitled to an exemption to an extent other than that requested in the application, he or she shall notify the person or organization filing the application on such property of that determination in writing on or before July 1 of the year for which the application was filed.
(b) The notification must state in clear and unambiguous language the specific requirements of the state statutes which the property appraiser relied upon to deny the applicant the exemption with respect to the subject property. The notification must be drafted in such a way that a reasonable person can understand specific attributes of the applicant or the applicant’s use of the subject property which formed the basis for the denial. The notice must also include the specific facts the property appraiser used to determine that the applicant failed to meet the statutory requirements. If a property appraiser fails to provide a notice that complies with this subsection, any denial of an exemption or an attempted denial of an exemption is invalid.
(c) All notifications must specify the right to appeal to the value adjustment board and the procedures to follow in obtaining such an appeal. Thereafter, the person or organization filing such application, or a duly designated representative, may appeal that determination by the property appraiser to the board at the time of its regular hearing. In the event of an appeal, the property appraiser or the property appraiser’s representative shall appear at the board hearing and present his or her findings of fact. If the applicant is not present or represented at the hearing, the board may make a determination on the basis of information supplied by the property appraiser or such other information on file with the board.
History.—s. 5, ch. 71-133; s. 15, ch. 76-133; s. 1, ch. 77-102; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 8, ch. 86-300; s. 157, ch. 91-112; s. 998, ch. 95-147; s. 4, ch. 2007-106.
(1) The value adjustment board shall hear disputed or appealed applications for exemption and shall grant such exemptions in whole or in part in accordance with criteria set forth in this chapter.
(2) At least 2 weeks prior to the meeting of the value adjustment board, but no sooner than May 15, notice of the meeting shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation within the county or, if no such newspaper is published within the county, notice shall be placed on the courthouse door and two other prominent places within the county. Such notice shall indicate:
(a) That a list maintained by the property appraiser of all applicants for exemption who have had their applications for exemption wholly or partially approved is available to the public, at a location specified in the notice, and the hours during which the list may be seen. The notice shall further indicate, by name, the types of exemptions which are included in the list.
(b) That a list maintained by the property appraiser of all applicants for exemption who have had their applications for exemption denied is available to the public, at a location specified in the notice, and the hours during which the list may be seen. The notice shall further indicate, by name, the types of exemptions which are included in the list.
(3) The exemption procedures of the value adjustment board shall be as provided in chapter 194, except as otherwise provided in this chapter. Records of the value adjustment board showing the names of persons and organizations granted exemptions, the street address or other designation of location of the exempted property, and the extent of the exemptions granted shall be part of the public record.
History.—s. 6, ch. 71-133; s. 1, ch. 76-122; s. 16, ch. 76-133; s. 62, ch. 80-274; s. 158, ch. 91-112; s. 4, ch. 2013-95.
(1) Applicants requesting exemption shall supply such fiscal and other records showing in reasonable detail the financial condition, record of operation, and exempt and nonexempt uses of the property, where appropriate, for the immediately preceding fiscal year as are requested by the property appraiser or the value adjustment board.
(2) In determining whether an applicant for a religious, literary, scientific, or charitable exemption under this chapter is a nonprofit or profitmaking venture or whether the property is used for a profitmaking purpose, the following criteria shall be applied:
(a) The reasonableness of any advances or payment directly or indirectly by way of salary, fee, loan, gift, bonus, gratuity, drawing account, commission, or otherwise (except for reimbursements of advances for reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred on behalf of the applicant) to any person, company, or other entity directly or indirectly controlled by the applicant or any officer, director, trustee, member, or stockholder of the applicant;
(b) The reasonableness of any guaranty of a loan to, or an obligation of, any officer, director, trustee, member, or stockholder of the applicant or any entity directly or indirectly controlled by such person, or which pays any compensation to its officers, directors, trustees, members, or stockholders for services rendered to or on behalf of the applicant;
(c) The reasonableness of any contractual arrangement by the applicant or any officer, director, trustee, member, or stockholder of the applicant regarding rendition of services, the provision of goods or supplies, the management of the applicant, the construction or renovation of the property of the applicant, the procurement of the real, personal, or intangible property of the applicant, or other similar financial interest in the affairs of the applicant;
(d) The reasonableness of payments made for salaries for the operation of the applicant or for services, supplies and materials used by the applicant, reserves for repair, replacement, and depreciation of the property of the applicant, payment of mortgages, liens, and encumbrances upon the property of the applicant, or other purposes; and
(e) The reasonableness of charges made by the applicant for any services rendered by it in relation to the value of those services, and, if such charges exceed the value of the services rendered, whether the excess is used to pay maintenance and operational expenses in furthering its exempt purpose or to provide services to persons unable to pay for the services.
(3) Each applicant must affirmatively show that no part of the subject property, or the proceeds of the sale, lease, or other disposition thereof, will inure to the benefit of its members, directors, or officers or any person or firm operating for profit or for a nonexempt purpose.
(4) No application for exemption may be granted for religious, literary, scientific, or charitable use of property until the applicant has been found by the property appraiser or, upon appeal, by the value adjustment board to be nonprofit as defined in this section.
History.—s. 7, ch. 71-133; s. 17, ch. 76-133; s. 159, ch. 91-112; s. 2, ch. 91-196; s. 3, ch. 97-294; s. 2, ch. 98-289; s. 3, ch. 2000-228.
(1) In the determination of whether an applicant is actually using all or a portion of its property predominantly for a charitable, religious, scientific, or literary purpose, the following criteria shall be applied:
(a) The nature and extent of the charitable, religious, scientific, or literary activity of the applicant, a comparison of such activities with all other activities of the organization, and the utilization of the property for charitable, religious, scientific, or literary activities as compared with other uses.
(b) The extent to which the property has been made available to groups who perform exempt purposes at a charge that is equal to or less than the cost of providing the facilities for their use. Such rental or service shall be considered as part of the exempt purposes of the applicant.
(2) Only those portions of property used predominantly for charitable, religious, scientific, or literary purposes shall be exempt. In no event shall an incidental use of property either qualify such property for an exemption or impair the exemption of an otherwise exempt property.
(3) Property owned by an exempt organization is used for a religious purpose if the institution has taken affirmative steps to prepare the property for use as a house of public worship. The term “affirmative steps” means environmental or land use permitting activities, creation of architectural plans or schematic drawings, land clearing or site preparation, construction or renovation activities, or other similar activities that demonstrate a commitment of the property to a religious use as a house of public worship. For purposes of this subsection, the term “public worship” means religious worship services and those other activities that are incidental to religious worship services, such as educational activities, parking, recreation, partaking of meals, and fellowship.
(4) Except as otherwise provided herein, property claimed as exempt for literary, scientific, religious, or charitable purposes which is used for profitmaking purposes shall be subject to ad valorem taxation. Use of property for functions not requiring a business or occupational license conducted by the organization at its primary residence, the revenue of which is used wholly for exempt purposes, shall not be considered profit making. In this connection the playing of bingo on such property shall not be considered as using such property in such a manner as would impair its exempt status.
(5)(a) Property owned by an exempt organization qualified as charitable under s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code is used for a charitable purpose if the organization has taken affirmative steps to prepare the property to provide affordable housing to persons or families that meet the extremely-low-income, very-low-income, low-income, or moderate-income limits, as specified in s. 420.0004. The term “affirmative steps” means environmental or land use permitting activities, creation of architectural plans or schematic drawings, land clearing or site preparation, construction or renovation activities, or other similar activities that demonstrate a commitment of the property to providing affordable housing.
(b)1. If property owned by an organization granted an exemption under this subsection is transferred for a purpose other than directly providing affordable homeownership or rental housing to persons or families who meet the extremely-low-income, very-low-income, low-income, or moderate-income limits, as specified in s. 420.0004, or is not in actual use to provide such affordable housing within 5 years after the date the organization is granted the exemption, the property appraiser making such determination shall serve upon the organization that illegally or improperly received the exemption a notice of intent to record in the public records of the county a notice of tax lien against any property owned by that organization in the county, and such property shall be identified in the notice of tax lien. The organization owning such property is subject to the taxes otherwise due and owing as a result of the failure to use the property to provide affordable housing plus 15 percent interest per annum and a penalty of 50 percent of the taxes owed.
2. Such lien, when filed, attaches to any property identified in the notice of tax lien owned by the organization that illegally or improperly received the exemption. If such organization no longer owns property in the county but owns property in any other county in the state, the property appraiser shall record in each such other county a notice of tax lien identifying the property owned by such organization in such county which shall become a lien against the identified property. Before any such lien may be filed, the organization so notified must be given 30 days to pay the taxes, penalties, and interest.
3. If an exemption is improperly granted as a result of a clerical mistake or an omission by the property appraiser, the organization improperly receiving the exemption shall not be assessed a penalty or interest.
4. The 5-year limitation specified in this subsection may be extended if the holder of the exemption continues to take affirmative steps to develop the property for the purposes specified in this subsection.
History.—s. 8, ch. 71-133; s. 3, ch. 88-102; s. 3, ch. 91-196; s. 4, ch. 97-294; s. 3, ch. 98-289; s. 3, ch. 2000-228; s. 5, ch. 2007-106; s. 17, ch. 2009-96; s. 3, ch. 2011-15.
(1) Pursuant to s. 3, Art. VII of the State Constitution, the board of county commissioners of any county or the governing authority of any municipality may adopt an ordinance to allow an ad valorem tax exemption of up to 50 percent of the assessed value of property which meets all of the following criteria:
(a) The property must be used for commercial purposes or used by a not-for-profit organization under s. 501(c)(3) or (6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(b) The property must be listed in the National Register of Historic Places, as defined in s. 267.021; or must be a contributing property to a National Register Historic District; or must be designated as a historic property or as a contributing property to a historic district, under the terms of a local preservation ordinance.
(c) The property must be regularly open to the public.
(2) As used in this section, “regularly open to the public” means that there are regular hours when the public may visit to observe the historically significant aspects of the building. This means a minimum of 40 hours per week, for 45 weeks per year, or an equivalent of 1,800 hours per year. A fee may be charged to the public; however, it must be comparable with other entrance fees in the immediate geographic locale.
(3) The board of county commissioners or municipal governing authority shall notify the property appraiser of the adoption of such ordinance no later than December 1 of the year prior to the year the exemption will take effect. If the exemption is granted only for a specified period or the ordinance is repealed, the board of county commissioners or municipal governing authority shall notify the property appraiser no later than December 1 of the year prior to the year the exemption expires. The ordinance must specify that the exemption shall apply only to taxes levied by the unit of government granting the exemption. The exemption does not apply, however, to taxes levied for the payment of bonds or to taxes authorized by a vote of the electors pursuant to s. 9(b) or s. 12, Art. VII of the State Constitution.
(4) Only those portions of the property used predominantly for the purposes specified in paragraph (1)(a) shall be exempt. In no event shall an incidental use of property qualify such property for an exemption or impair the exemption of an otherwise exempt property.
(5) In order to retain the exemption, the historic character of the property must be maintained in good repair and condition to the extent necessary to preserve the historic value and significance of the property.
196.197 Additional provisions for exempting property used by hospitals, nursing homes, and homes for special services.—In addition to criteria for granting exemptions for charitable use of property set forth in other sections of this chapter, hospitals, nursing homes, and homes for special services shall be exempt to the extent that they meet the following criteria:
(1) The applicant must be a Florida corporation not for profit that has been exempt as of January 1 of the year for which exemption from ad valorem property taxes is requested from federal income taxation by having qualified as an exempt organization under the provisions of s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 or of the corresponding section of a subsequently enacted federal revenue act.
(2) In determining the extent of exemption to be granted to institutions licensed as hospitals, nursing homes, and homes for special services, portions of the property leased as parking lots or garages operated by private enterprise shall not be deemed to be serving an exempt purpose and shall not be exempt from taxation. Property or facilities which are leased to a nonprofit corporation which provides direct medical services to patients in a nonprofit or public hospital and qualifies under s. 196.196 of this chapter are excluded and shall be exempt from taxation.
History.—s. 9, ch. 71-133; s. 2, ch. 73-340; s. 1, ch. 73-344; s. 3, ch. 74-264; ss. 14, 15, ch. 76-234.
196.1975 Exemption for property used by nonprofit homes for the aged.—Nonprofit homes for the aged are exempt to the extent that they meet the following criteria:
(1) The applicant must be a corporation not for profit pursuant to chapter 617 or a Florida limited partnership, the sole general partner of which is a corporation not for profit pursuant to chapter 617, and the corporation not for profit must have been exempt as of January 1 of the year for which exemption from ad valorem property taxes is requested from federal income taxation by having qualified as an exempt charitable organization under the provisions of s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 or of the corresponding section of a subsequently enacted federal revenue act.
(2) A facility will not qualify as a “home for the aged” unless at least 75 percent of the occupants are over the age of 62 years or totally and permanently disabled. For homes for the aged which are exempt from paying income taxes to the United States as specified in subsection (1), licensing by the Agency for Health Care Administration is required for ad valorem tax exemption hereunder only if the home:
(a) Furnishes medical facilities or nursing services to its residents, or
(b) Qualifies as an assisted living facility under chapter 429.
(3) Those portions of the home for the aged which are devoted exclusively to the conduct of religious services or the rendering of nursing or medical services are exempt from ad valorem taxation.
(4)(a) After removing the assessed value exempted in subsection (3), units or apartments in homes for the aged shall be exempt only to the extent that residency in the existing unit or apartment of the applicant home is reserved for or restricted to or the unit or apartment is occupied by persons who have resided in the applicant home and in good faith made this state their permanent residence as of January 1 of the year in which exemption is claimed and who also meet the requirements set forth in one of the following subparagraphs:
1. Persons who have gross incomes of not more than $7,200 per year and who are 62 years of age or older.
2. Couples, one of whom must be 62 years of age or older, having a combined gross income of not more than $8,000 per year, or the surviving spouse thereof, who lived with the deceased at the time of the deceased’s death in a home for the aged.
3. Persons who are totally and permanently disabled and who have gross incomes of not more than $7,200 per year.
4. Couples, one or both of whom are totally and permanently disabled, having a combined gross income of not more than $8,000 per year, or the surviving spouse thereof, who lived with the deceased at the time of the deceased’s death in a home for the aged.
However, the income limitations do not apply to totally and permanently disabled veterans, provided they meet the requirements of s. 196.081.
(b) The maximum income limitations permitted in this subsection shall be adjusted, effective January 1, 1977, and on each succeeding year, by the percentage change in the average cost-of-living index in the period January 1 through December 31 of the immediate prior year compared with the same period for the year prior to that. The index is the average of the monthly consumer price index figures for the stated 12-month period, relative to the United States as a whole, issued by the United States Department of Labor.
(5) Nonprofit housing projects that are financed by a mortgage loan made or insured by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development under s. 202, s. 202 with a s. 8 subsidy, s. 221(d)(3) or (4), or s. 236 of the National Housing Act, as amended, and that are subject to the income limitations established by that department are exempt from ad valorem taxation.
(6) For the purposes of this section, gross income includes social security benefits payable to the person or couple or assigned to an organization designated specifically for the support or benefit of that person or couple.
(7) It is declared to be the intent of the Legislature that subsection (3) implements the ad valorem tax exemption authorized in the third sentence of s. 3(a), Art. VII, State Constitution, and the remaining subsections implement s. 6(c), Art. VII, State Constitution, for purposes of granting such exemption to homes for the aged.
(8) Physical occupancy on January 1 is not required in those instances in which a home restricts occupancy to persons meeting the income requirements specified in this section. Those portions of a property failing to meet those requirements shall qualify for an alternative exemption as provided in subsection (9). In a home in which at least 25 percent of the units or apartments of the home are restricted to or occupied by persons meeting the income requirements specified in this section, the common areas of that home are exempt from taxation.
(9)(a) Each unit or apartment of a home for the aged not exempted in subsection (3) or subsection (4), which is operated by a not for profit corporation and is owned by such corporation or leased by such corporation from a health facilities authority pursuant to part III of chapter 154 or an industrial development authority pursuant to part III of chapter 159, and which property is used by such home for the aged for the purposes for which it was organized, is exempt from all ad valorem taxation, except for assessments for special benefits, to the extent of $25,000 of assessed valuation of such property for each apartment or unit:
1. Which is used by such home for the aged for the purposes for which it was organized; and
2. Which is occupied, on January 1 of the year in which exemption from ad valorem property taxation is requested, by a person who resides therein and in good faith makes the same his or her permanent home.
(b) Each corporation applying for an exemption under paragraph (a) of this subsection or paragraph (4)(a) must file with the annual application for exemption an affidavit from each person who occupies a unit or apartment for which an exemption under either of those paragraphs is claimed stating that the person resides therein and in good faith makes that unit or apartment his or her permanent residence.
(10) Homes for the aged, or life care communities, however designated, which are financed through the sale of health facilities authority bonds or bonds of any other public entity, whether on a sale-leaseback basis, a sale-repurchase basis, or other financing arrangement, or which are financed without public-entity bonds, are exempt from ad valorem taxation only in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(11) Any portion of such property used for nonexempt purposes may be valued and placed upon the tax rolls separately from any portion entitled to exemption pursuant to this chapter.
(12) When it becomes necessary for the property appraiser to determine the value of a unit, he or she shall include in such valuation the proportionate share of the common areas, including the land, fairly attributable to such unit, based upon the value of such unit in relation to all other units in the home, unless the common areas are otherwise exempted by subsection (8).
(13) Sections 196.195 and 196.196 do not apply to this section.
History.—s. 12, ch. 76-234; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 1, ch. 77-448; s. 87, ch. 79-400; s. 3, ch. 80-261; s. 53, ch. 80-274; s. 13, ch. 81-219; s. 1, ch. 82-133; s. 9, ch. 82-399; s. 8, ch. 83-71; s. 2, ch. 84-138; s. 27, ch. 85-80; s. 1, ch. 87-332; s. 46, ch. 91-45; s. 999, ch. 95-147; s. 2, ch. 95-210; s. 2, ch. 95-383; s. 141, ch. 95-418; s. 9, ch. 96-397; s. 19, ch. 99-8; s. 2, ch. 99-208; s. 10, ch. 2001-137; s. 1, ch. 2001-208; s. 7, ch. 2006-197; s. 27, ch. 2010-5.
196.1976 Provisions of ss. 196.197(1) or (2) and 196.1975; severability.—If any provision of s. 196.197(1) or (2), created and amended by chapter 76-234, Laws of Florida, or s. 196.1975, created by chapter 76-234 and amended by chapter 87-332, Laws of Florida, is held to be invalid or inoperative for any reason, it is the legislative intent that the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of said subsections or section which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of said subsections and section are declared to be severable.
History.—s. 18, ch. 76-234; s. 2, ch. 77-448; s. 88, ch. 79-400; s. 2, ch. 87-332; s. 1, ch. 98-177.
(1) Each apartment in a continuing care facility certified under chapter 651, which facility is not qualified for exemption under s. 196.1975, or other similar exemption, is exempt to the extent of $25,000 of assessed valuation of such property for each apartment which is occupied on January 1 of the year in which exemption from ad valorem property taxation is requested by a person holding a continuing care contract as defined under chapter 651 who resides therein and in good faith makes the same his or her permanent home. No apartment shall be eligible for the exemption provided under this section if the resident of the apartment is eligible for the homestead exemption under s. 196.031.
(2) Each facility applying for an exemption must file with the annual application for exemption an affidavit from each person who occupies an apartment for which an exemption is claimed stating that the person resides therein and in good faith makes that apartment his or her permanent residence.
(3) Any portion of such property used for nonexempt purposes may be valued and placed upon the tax rolls separately from any portion entitled to exemption.
(4) The owner shall disclose to a qualifying resident the full amount of the benefit derived from the exemption and the method for ensuring that the resident receives such benefit. The resident shall receive the full benefit derived from this exemption in either an annual or monthly credit to his or her unit’s monthly maintenance fee. For a nonqualifying resident who subsequently qualifies for the exemption, the same disclosure shall be made.
(5) It is the intent of the Legislature that this section implements s. 6(c), Art. VII of the State Constitution.
History.—s. 2, ch. 98-177; s. 28, ch. 2010-5.
196.1978 Affordable housing property exemption.—Property used to provide affordable housing to eligible persons as defined by s. 159.603 and natural persons or families meeting the extremely-low-income, very-low-income, low-income, or moderate-income limits specified in s. 420.0004, which is owned entirely by a nonprofit entity that is a corporation not for profit, qualified as charitable under s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and in compliance with Rev. Proc. 96-32, 1996-1 C.B. 717, is considered property owned by an exempt entity and used for a charitable purpose, and those portions of the affordable housing property that provide housing to natural persons or families classified as extremely low income, very low income, low income, or moderate income under s. 420.0004 are exempt from ad valorem taxation to the extent authorized under s. 196.196. All property identified in this section must comply with the criteria provided under s. 196.195 for determining exempt status and applied by property appraisers on an annual basis. The Legislature intends that any property owned by a limited liability company which is disregarded as an entity for federal income tax purposes pursuant to Treasury Regulation 301.7701-3(b)(1)(ii) be treated as owned by its sole member.
History.—s. 15, ch. 99-378; s. 9, ch. 2000-353; s. 29, ch. 2006-69; s. 18, ch. 2009-96; s. 4, ch. 2011-15; s. 11, ch. 2013-72; s. 3, ch. 2013-83.
196.198 Educational property exemption.—Educational institutions within this state and their property used by them or by any other exempt entity or educational institution exclusively for educational purposes are exempt from taxation. Sheltered workshops providing rehabilitation and retraining of individuals who have disabilities and exempted by a certificate under s. (d) of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, are declared wholly educational in purpose and are exempt from certification, accreditation, and membership requirements set forth in s. 196.012. Those portions of property of college fraternities and sororities certified by the president of the college or university to the appropriate property appraiser as being essential to the educational process are exempt from ad valorem taxation. The use of property by public fairs and expositions chartered by chapter 616 is presumed to be an educational use of such property and is exempt from ad valorem taxation to the extent of such use. Property used exclusively for educational purposes shall be deemed owned by an educational institution if the entity owning 100 percent of the educational institution is owned by the identical persons who own the property, or if the entity owning 100 percent of the educational institution and the entity owning the property are owned by the identical natural persons. Land, buildings, and other improvements to real property used exclusively for educational purposes shall be deemed owned by an educational institution if the entity owning 100 percent of the land is a nonprofit entity and the land is used, under a ground lease or other contractual arrangement, by an educational institution that owns the buildings and other improvements to the real property, is a nonprofit entity under s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and provides education limited to students in prekindergarten through grade 8. If legal title to property is held by a governmental agency that leases the property to a lessee, the property shall be deemed to be owned by the governmental agency and used exclusively for educational purposes if the governmental agency continues to use such property exclusively for educational purposes pursuant to a sublease or other contractual agreement with that lessee. If the title to land is held by the trustee of an irrevocable inter vivos trust and if the trust grantor owns 100 percent of the entity that owns an educational institution that is using the land exclusively for educational purposes, the land is deemed to be property owned by the educational institution for purposes of this exemption. Property owned by an educational institution shall be deemed to be used for an educational purpose if the institution has taken affirmative steps to prepare the property for educational use. The term “affirmative steps” means environmental or land use permitting activities, creation of architectural plans or schematic drawings, land clearing or site preparation, construction or renovation activities, or other similar activities that demonstrate commitment of the property to an educational use.
History.—s. 10, ch. 71-133; s. 1, ch. 77-102; ss. 35, 37, ch. 90-203; s. 2, ch. 91-121; s. 1, ch. 99-283; s. 4, ch. 2000-262; s. 25, ch. 2012-193; s. 12, ch. 2013-72.
196.1983 Charter school exemption from ad valorem taxes.—Any facility, or portion thereof, used to house a charter school whose charter has been approved by the sponsor and the governing board pursuant to s. 1002.33(7) shall be exempt from ad valorem taxes. For leasehold properties, the landlord must certify by affidavit to the charter school that the lease payments shall be reduced to the extent of the exemption received. The owner of the property shall disclose to a charter school the full amount of the benefit derived from the exemption and the method for ensuring that the charter school receives such benefit. The charter school shall receive the full benefit derived from the exemption through either an annual or monthly credit to the charter school’s lease payments.
History.—s. 1, ch. 2000-306; s. 27, ch. 2002-1; s. 909, ch. 2002-387; s. 16, ch. 2003-1.
196.1985 Labor organization property exemption.—Real property owned and used by any labor organization which has a charter from a state or national organization, which property is used predominantly by such organization for educational purposes, is hereby defined as property within the purview of s. 3, Art. VII of the State Constitution and shall be exempt from ad valorem taxation to the extent of such use pursuant to s. 196.192(2). Any portion of such property used for nonexempt purposes may be valued and placed upon the tax rolls separately from any portion entitled to exemption pursuant to this section.
(1) A single general-purpose structure represented as a community center owned and operated by a private, nonprofit organization and used predominantly for educational, literary, scientific, religious, or charitable purposes is hereby defined as property within the purview of s. 3(a), Art. VII of the State Constitution and shall be exempt from ad valorem taxes imposed by taxing authorities. However, no use shall be considered to serve an exempt purpose if, in conjunction with that use, alcoholic beverages are served or consumed on the premises. Any portion of such property used for nonexempt purposes may be valued and placed upon the tax roll separately from any portion entitled to exemption pursuant to this section.
(2) This exemption shall not apply to condominium common elements and shall not apply to any structure unless it is generally open and available for use by the general public.
196.1987 Biblical history display property exemption.—The use of property owned by an organization exempt from federal income tax under s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code to exhibit, illustrate, and interpret Biblical manuscripts, codices, stone tablets, and other Biblical archives; provide live and recorded demonstrations, explanations, reenactments, and illustrations of Biblical history and Biblical worship; and exhibit times, places, and events of Biblical history and significance, when such activity is open to the public and is available to the public for no admission charge at least 1 day each calendar year, subject to capacity limits, and when such organization has received written correspondence from the Internal Revenue Service stating that the conduct of the organization’s activities does not adversely affect the organization’s exempt status under s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, constitutes religious use of such property, which is hereby defined as property within the purview of s. 3(a), Art. VII of the State Constitution and is exempt from ad valorem taxation to the extent of such use pursuant to s. 196.192(2). Any portion of such property used for nonexempt purposes may be valued and placed upon the tax rolls separately from any portion entitled to exemption pursuant to this section.
History.—s. 1, ch. 2006-164.
(1) Property owned and used by the following governmental units shall be exempt from taxation under the following conditions:
(a) All property of the United States shall be exempt from ad valorem taxation, except such property as is subject to tax by this state or any political subdivision thereof or any municipality under any law of the United States.
(b) All property of this state which is used for governmental purposes shall be exempt from ad valorem taxation except as otherwise provided by law.
(c) All property of the several political subdivisions and municipalities of this state or of entities created by general or special law and composed entirely of governmental agencies, or property conveyed to a nonprofit corporation which would revert to the governmental agency, which is used for governmental, municipal, or public purposes shall be exempt from ad valorem taxation, except as otherwise provided by law.
(d) All property of municipalities is exempt from ad valorem taxation if used as an essential ancillary function of a facility constructed with financing obtained in part by pledging proceeds from the tax authorized under s. 212.0305(4) which is upon exempt or immune federal, state, or county property.
(2) Property owned by the following governmental units but used by nongovernmental lessees shall only be exempt from taxation under the following conditions:
1(a) Leasehold interests in property of the United States, of the state or any of its several political subdivisions, or of municipalities, agencies, authorities, and other public bodies corporate of the state shall be exempt from ad valorem taxation and the intangible tax pursuant to paragraph (b) only when the lessee serves or performs a governmental, municipal, or public purpose or function, as defined in s. 196.012(6). In all such cases, all other interests in the leased property shall also be exempt from ad valorem taxation. However, a leasehold interest in property of the state may not be exempted from ad valorem taxation when a nongovernmental lessee uses such property for the operation of a multipurpose hazardous waste treatment facility.
(b) Except as provided in paragraph (c), the exemption provided by this subsection shall not apply to those portions of a leasehold or other interest defined by s. 199.023(1)(d), Florida Statutes 2005, subject to the provisions of subsection (7). Such leasehold or other interest shall be taxed only as intangible personal property pursuant to chapter 199, Florida Statutes 2005, if rental payments are due in consideration of such leasehold or other interest. All applicable collection, administration, and enforcement provisions of chapter 199, Florida Statutes 2005, shall apply to taxation of such leaseholds. If no rental payments are due pursuant to the agreement creating such leasehold or other interest, the leasehold or other interest shall be taxed as real property. Nothing in this paragraph shall be deemed to exempt personal property, buildings, or other real property improvements owned by the lessee from ad valorem taxation.
(c) Any governmental property leased to an organization which uses the property exclusively for literary, scientific, religious, or charitable purposes shall be exempt from taxation.
(3) Nothing herein or in s. 196.001 shall require a governmental unit or authority to impose taxes upon a leasehold estate created, extended, or renewed prior to April 15, 1976, if the lease agreement creating such leasehold estate contains a covenant on the part of such governmental unit or authority as lessor to refrain from imposing taxes on the leasehold estate during the term of the leasehold estate; but any such covenant shall not prevent taxation of a leasehold estate by any such taxing unit or authority other than the unit or authority making such covenant.
(4) Property owned by any municipality, agency, authority, or other public body corporate of the state which becomes subject to a leasehold interest or other possessory interest of a nongovernmental lessee other than that described in paragraph (2)(a), after April 14, 1976, shall be subject to ad valorem taxation unless the lessee is an organization which uses the property exclusively for literary, scientific, religious, or charitable purposes.
(5) Leasehold interests in governmental property shall not be exempt pursuant to this subsection unless an application for exemption has been filed on or before March 1 with the property appraiser. The property appraiser shall review the application and make findings of fact which shall be presented to the value adjustment board at its convening, whereupon the board shall take appropriate action regarding the application. If the exemption in whole or in part is granted, or established by judicial proceeding, it shall remain valid for the duration of the lease unless the lessee changes its use, in which case the lessee shall again submit an application for exemption. The requirements set forth in s. 196.194 shall apply to all applications made under this subsection.
(6) No exemption granted before June 1, 1976, shall be revoked by this chapter if such revocation will impair any existing bond agreement.
(7) Property which is originally leased for 100 years or more, exclusive of renewal options, or property which is financed, acquired, or maintained utilizing in whole or in part funds acquired through the issuance of bonds pursuant to parts II, III, and V of chapter 159, shall be deemed to be owned for purposes of this section.
(8)(a) Any and all of the aforesaid taxes on any leasehold described in this section shall not become a lien on same or the property itself but shall constitute a debt due and shall be recoverable by legal action or by the issuance of tax executions that shall become liens upon any other property in any county of this state of the taxpayer who owes said tax. The sheriff of the county shall execute the tax execution in the same manner as other executions are executed under chapters 30 and 56.
(b) Nonpayment of any such taxes by the lessee shall result in the revocation of any occupational license of such person or the revocation, upon certification hereunder by the property appraiser to the Department of State, of the corporate charter of any such domestic corporation or the revocation, upon certification hereunder by the property appraiser to the Department of State, of the authority of any foreign corporation to do business in this state, as appropriate, which such license, charter, or authority is related to the leased property.
(9) Improvements to real property which are located on state-owned land and which are leased to a public educational institution shall be deemed owned by the public educational institution for purposes of this section where, by the terms of the lease, the improvement will become the property of the public educational institution or the State of Florida at the expiration of the lease.
(10) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, property held by a port authority and any leasehold interest in such property are exempt from ad valorem taxation to the same extent that county property is immune from taxation, provided such property is located in a county described in s. 9, Art. VIII of the State Constitution (1885), as restated in s. 6(e), Art. VIII of the State Constitution (1968).
History.—s. 11, ch. 71-133; s. 1, ch. 76-283; s. 1, ch. 77-174; ss. 1, 2, ch. 80-368; s. 4, ch. 82-388; s. 13, ch. 83-215; s. 30, ch. 85-342; s. 1, ch. 86-141; s. 61, ch. 86-152; s. 81, ch. 88-130; s. 47, ch. 91-45; s. 160, ch. 91-112; s. 1, ch. 96-288; s. 1, ch. 96-323; s. 9, ch. 2006-312; s. 1, ch. 2012-32; s. 26, ch. 2012-193.
1Note.—Section 25, ch. 2012-32, provides that:
“(2) Notwithstanding any provision of law, such emergency rules shall remain in effect for 6 months after the date adopted and may be renewed during the pendency of procedures to adopt permanent rules addressing the subject of the emergency rules.”
196.1993 Certain agreements with local governments for use of public property; exemption.—Any agreement entered into with a local governmental authority prior to January 1, 1969, for use of public property, under which it was understood and agreed in a written instrument or by special act that no ad valorem real property taxes would be paid by the licensee or lessee, shall be deemed a license or management agreement for the use or management of public property. Such interest shall be deemed not to convey an interest in the property and shall not be subject to ad valorem real property taxation. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to exempt such licensee from the ad valorem intangible tax and the ad valorem personal property tax.
1196.1995 Economic development ad valorem tax exemption.—
(1) The board of county commissioners of any county or the governing authority of any municipality shall call a referendum within its total jurisdiction to determine whether its respective jurisdiction may grant economic development ad valorem tax exemptions under s. 3, Art. VII of the State Constitution if:
(a) The board of county commissioners of the county or the governing authority of the municipality votes to hold such referendum;
(b) The board of county commissioners of the county or the governing authority of the municipality receives a petition signed by 10 percent of the registered electors of its respective jurisdiction, which petition calls for the holding of such referendum; or
(c) The board of county commissioners of a charter county receives a petition or initiative signed by the required percentage of registered electors in accordance with the procedures established in the county’s charter for the enactment of ordinances or for approval of amendments of the charter, if less than 10 percent, which petition or initiative calls for the holding of such referendum.
(2) The ballot question in such referendum shall be in substantially the following form:
Shall the board of county commissioners of this county (or the governing authority of this municipality, or both) be authorized to grant, pursuant to s. 3, Art. VII of the State Constitution, property tax exemptions to new businesses and expansions of existing businesses that are expected to create new, full-time jobs in the county (or municipality, or both)?
Yes—For authority to grant exemptions.
No—Against authority to grant exemptions.
(3) The board of county commissioners or the governing authority of the municipality that calls a referendum within its total jurisdiction to determine whether its respective jurisdiction may grant economic development ad valorem tax exemptions may vote to limit the effect of the referendum to authority to grant economic development tax exemptions for new businesses and expansions of existing businesses located in an enterprise zone or a brownfield area, as defined in s. 376.79(4). If an area nominated to be an enterprise zone pursuant to s. 290.0055 has not yet been designated pursuant to s. 290.0065, the board of county commissioners or the governing authority of the municipality may call such referendum prior to such designation; however, the authority to grant economic development ad valorem tax exemptions does not apply until such area is designated pursuant to s. 290.0065. The ballot question in such referendum shall be in substantially the following form and shall be used in lieu of the ballot question prescribed in subsection (2):
Shall the board of county commissioners of this county (or the governing authority of this municipality, or both) be authorized to grant, pursuant to s. 3, Art. VII of the State Constitution, property tax exemptions for new businesses and expansions of existing businesses that are located in an enterprise zone or a brownfield area and that are expected to create new, full-time jobs in the county (or municipality, or both)?
(4) A referendum pursuant to this section may be called only once in any 12-month period.
(5) Upon a majority vote in favor of such authority, the board of county commissioners or the governing authority of the municipality, at its discretion, by ordinance may exempt from ad valorem taxation up to 100 percent of the assessed value of all improvements to real property made by or for the use of a new business and of all tangible personal property of such new business, or up to 100 percent of the assessed value of all added improvements to real property made to facilitate the expansion of an existing business and of the net increase in all tangible personal property acquired to facilitate such expansion of an existing business. To qualify for this exemption, the improvements to real property must be made or the tangible personal property must be added or increased after approval by motion or resolution of the local governing body, subject to ordinance adoption or on or after the day the ordinance is adopted. However, if the authority to grant exemptions is approved in a referendum in which the ballot question contained in subsection (3) appears on the ballot, the authority of the board of county commissioners or the governing authority of the municipality to grant exemptions is limited solely to new businesses and expansions of existing businesses that are located in an enterprise zone or brownfield area. Property acquired to replace existing property shall not be considered to facilitate a business expansion. The exemption applies only to taxes levied by the respective unit of government granting the exemption. The exemption does not apply, however, to taxes levied for the payment of bonds or to taxes authorized by a vote of the electors pursuant to s. 9(b) or s. 12, Art. VII of the State Constitution. Any such exemption shall remain in effect for up to 10 years with respect to any particular facility, regardless of any change in the authority of the county or municipality to grant such exemptions. The exemption shall not be prolonged or extended by granting exemptions from additional taxes or by virtue of any reorganization or sale of the business receiving the exemption.
(6) With respect to a new business as defined by s. 196.012(14)(c), the municipality annexing the property on which the business is situated may grant an economic development ad valorem tax exemption under this section to that business for a period that will expire upon the expiration of the exemption granted by the county. If the county renews the exemption under subsection (7), the municipality may also extend its exemption. A municipal economic development ad valorem tax exemption granted under this subsection may not extend beyond the duration of the county exemption.
(7) The authority to grant exemptions under this section expires 10 years after the date such authority was approved in an election, but such authority may be renewed for subsequent 10-year periods if each 10-year renewal is approved in a referendum called and held pursuant to this section.
(8) Any person, firm, or corporation which desires an economic development ad valorem tax exemption shall, in the year the exemption is desired to take effect, file a written application on a form prescribed by the department with the board of county commissioners or the governing authority of the municipality, or both. The application shall request the adoption of an ordinance granting the applicant an exemption pursuant to this section and shall include the following information:
(a) The name and location of the new business or the expansion of an existing business;
(b) A description of the improvements to real property for which an exemption is requested and the date of commencement of construction of such improvements;
(c) A description of the tangible personal property for which an exemption is requested and the dates when such property was or is to be purchased;
(d) Proof, to the satisfaction of the board of county commissioners or the governing authority of the municipality, that the applicant is a new business or an expansion of an existing business, as defined in s. 196.012;
(e) The number of jobs the applicant expects to create along with the average wage of the jobs and whether the jobs are full-time or part-time;
(f) The expected time schedule for job creation; and
(g) Other information deemed necessary or appropriate by the department, county, or municipality.
(9) Before it takes action on the application, the board of county commissioners or the governing authority of the municipality shall deliver a copy of the application to the property appraiser of the county. After careful consideration, the property appraiser shall report the following information to the board of county commissioners or the governing authority of the municipality:
(a) The total revenue available to the county or municipality for the current fiscal year from ad valorem tax sources, or an estimate of such revenue if the actual total revenue available cannot be determined;
(b) Any revenue lost to the county or municipality for the current fiscal year by virtue of exemptions previously granted under this section, or an estimate of such revenue if the actual revenue lost cannot be determined;
(c) An estimate of the revenue which would be lost to the county or municipality during the current fiscal year if the exemption applied for were granted had the property for which the exemption is requested otherwise been subject to taxation; and
(d) A determination as to whether the property for which an exemption is requested is to be incorporated into a new business or the expansion of an existing business, as defined in s. 196.012, or into neither, which determination the property appraiser shall also affix to the face of the application. Upon the request of the property appraiser, the department shall provide to him or her such information as it may have available to assist in making such determination.
(10) In considering any application for an exemption under this section, the board of county commissioners or the governing authority of the municipality must take into account the following:
(a) The total number of net new jobs to be created by the applicant;
(b) The average wage of the new jobs;
(c) The capital investment to be made by the applicant;
(d) The type of business or operation and whether it qualifies as a targeted industry as may be identified from time to time by the board of county commissioners or the governing authority of the municipality;
(e) The environmental impact of the proposed business or operation;
(f) The extent to which the applicant intends to source its supplies and materials within the applicable jurisdiction; and
(g) Any other economic-related characteristics or criteria deemed necessary by the board of county commissioners or the governing authority of the municipality.
(11) An ordinance granting an exemption under this section shall be adopted in the same manner as any other ordinance of the county or municipality and shall include the following:
(a) The name and address of the new business or expansion of an existing business to which the exemption is granted;
(b) The total amount of revenue available to the county or municipality from ad valorem tax sources for the current fiscal year, the total amount of revenue lost to the county or municipality for the current fiscal year by virtue of economic development ad valorem tax exemptions currently in effect, and the estimated revenue loss to the county or municipality for the current fiscal year attributable to the exemption of the business named in the ordinance;
(c) The period of time for which the exemption will remain in effect and the expiration date of the exemption, which may be any period of time up to 10 years; and
(d) A finding that the business named in the ordinance meets the requirements of s. 196.012(14) or (15).
(12) Upon approval of an application for a tax exemption under this section, the board of county commissioners or the governing authority of the municipality and the applicant may enter into a written tax exemption agreement, which may include performance criteria and must be consistent with the requirements of this section or other applicable laws. The agreement must require the applicant to report at a specific time before the expiration of the exemption the actual number of new, full-time jobs created and their actual average wage. The agreement may provide the board of county commissioners or the governing authority of the municipality with authority to revoke, in whole or in part, the exemption if the applicant fails to meet the expectations and representations described in subsection (8).
History.—s. 2, ch. 80-347; s. 1, ch. 83-141; s. 30, ch. 84-356; s. 11, ch. 86-300; s. 1, ch. 90-57; s. 68, ch. 94-136; s. 1477, ch. 95-147; s. 57, ch. 95-280; s. 110, ch. 99-251; s. 5, ch. 2006-291; s. 3, ch. 2010-147; s. 2, ch. 2011-182; s. 6, ch. 2013-77; s. 1, ch. 2014-40.
1Note.—Section 14, ch. 2014-40, provides that “[a] local ordinance enacted pursuant to s. 196.1995, Florida Statutes, before the effective date of this act shall not be invalidated on the ground that improvements to real property were made or that tangible personal property was added or increased before the date that such ordinance was adopted, as long as the local governing body acted substantially in accordance with s. 196.1995(5), Florida Statutes, as amended by this act.”
196.1996 Economic development ad valorem tax exemption; effect of ch. 94-136.—Nothing contained in chapter 94-136, Laws of Florida, shall be deemed to require any board of county commissioners or a governing body of any municipality to reenact any resolution or ordinance to authorize the board of county commissioners or the governing body to grant economic development ad valorem tax exemptions in an enterprise zone that was in effect on December 31, 1994. Economic development ad valorem tax exemptions may be granted pursuant to such resolution or ordinance which was previously approved and a referendum, beginning July 1, 1995.
(1) The board of county commissioners of any county or the governing authority of any municipality may adopt an ordinance to allow ad valorem tax exemptions under s. 3, Art. VII of the State Constitution to historic properties if the owners are engaging in the restoration, rehabilitation, or renovation of such properties in accordance with guidelines established in this section.
(2) The board of county commissioners or the governing authority of the municipality by ordinance may authorize the exemption from ad valorem taxation of up to 100 percent of the assessed value of all improvements to historic properties which result from the restoration, renovation, or rehabilitation of such properties. The exemption applies only to improvements to real property. In order for the property to qualify for the exemption, any such improvements must be made on or after the day the ordinance authorizing ad valorem tax exemption for historic properties is adopted.
(3) The ordinance shall designate the type and location of historic property for which exemptions may be granted, which may include any property meeting the provisions of subsection (11), which property may be further required to be located within a particular geographic area or areas of the county or municipality.
(4) The ordinance must specify that such exemptions shall apply only to taxes levied by the unit of government granting the exemption. The exemptions do not apply, however, to taxes levied for the payment of bonds or to taxes authorized by a vote of the electors pursuant to s. 9(b) or s. 12, Art. VII of the State Constitution.
(5) The ordinance must specify that any exemption granted remains in effect for up to 10 years with respect to any particular property, regardless of any change in the authority of the county or municipality to grant such exemptions or any change in ownership of the property. In order to retain the exemption, however, the historic character of the property, and improvements which qualified the property for an exemption, must be maintained over the period for which the exemption is granted.
(6) The ordinance shall designate either a local historic preservation office or the Division of Historical Resources of the Department of State to review applications for exemptions. The local historic preservation office or the division, whichever is applicable, must recommend that the board of county commissioners or the governing authority of the municipality grant or deny the exemption. Such reviews must be conducted in accordance with rules adopted by the Department of State. The recommendation, and the reasons therefor, must be provided to the applicant and to the governing entity before consideration of the application at an official meeting of the governing entity. For the purposes of this section, local historic preservation offices must be approved and certified by the Department of State.
(7) To qualify for an exemption, the property owner must enter into a covenant or agreement with the governing body for the term for which the exemption is granted. The form of the covenant or agreement must be established by the Department of State and must require that the character of the property, and the qualifying improvements to the property, be maintained during the period that the exemption is granted. The covenant or agreement shall be binding on the current property owner, transferees, and their heirs, successors, or assigns. Violation of the covenant or agreement results in the property owner being subject to the payment of the differences between the total amount of taxes which would have been due in March in each of the previous years in which the covenant or agreement was in effect had the property not received the exemption and the total amount of taxes actually paid in those years, plus interest on the difference calculated as provided in s. 212.12(3).
(8) Any person, firm, or corporation that desires an ad valorem tax exemption for the improvement of a historic property must, in the year the exemption is desired to take effect, file with the board of county commissioners or the governing authority of the municipality a written application on a form prescribed by the Department of State. The application must include the following information:
(a) The name of the property owner and the location of the historic property.
(b) A description of the improvements to real property for which an exemption is requested and the date of commencement of construction of such improvements.
(c) Proof, to the satisfaction of the designated local historic preservation office or the Division of Historical Resources, whichever is applicable, that the property that is to be rehabilitated or renovated is a historic property under this section.
(d) Proof, to the satisfaction of the designated local historic preservation office or the Division of Historical Resources, whichever is applicable, that the improvements to the property will be consistent with the United States Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation and will be made in accordance with guidelines developed by the Department of State.
(e) Other information deemed necessary by the Department of State.
(9) The board of county commissioners or the governing authority of the municipality shall deliver a copy of each application for a historic preservation ad valorem tax exemption to the property appraiser of the county. Upon certification of the assessment roll, or recertification, if applicable, pursuant to s. 193.122, for each fiscal year during which the ordinance is in effect, the property appraiser shall report the following information to the local governing body:
(a) The total taxable value of all property within the county or municipality for the current fiscal year.
(b) The total exempted value of all property in the county or municipality which has been approved to receive historic preservation ad valorem tax exemption for the current fiscal year.
(10) A majority vote of the board of county commissioners of the county or of the governing authority of the municipality shall be required to approve a written application for exemption. Such exemption shall take effect on the January 1 following substantial completion of the improvement. The board of county commissioners or the governing authority of a municipality shall include the following in the resolution or ordinance approving the written application for exemption:
(a) The name of the owner and the address of the historic property for which the exemption is granted.
(b) The period of time for which the exemption will remain in effect and the expiration date of the exemption.
(c) A finding that the historic property meets the requirements of this section.
(11) Property is qualified for an exemption under this section if:
(a) At the time the exemption is granted, the property:
1. Is individually listed in the National Register of Historic Places pursuant to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended; or
2. Is a contributing property to a national-register-listed district; or
3. Is designated as a historic property, or as a contributing property to a historic district, under the terms of a local preservation ordinance; and
(b) The local historic preservation office or the Division of Historical Resources, whichever is applicable, has certified to the local governing authority that the property for which an exemption is requested satisfies paragraph (a).
(12) In order for an improvement to a historic property to qualify the property for an exemption, the improvement must:
(a) Be consistent with the United States Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.
(b) Be determined by the Division of Historical Resources or the local historic preservation office, whichever is applicable, to meet criteria established in rules adopted by the Department of State.
(13) The Department of State shall adopt rules as provided in chapter 120 for the implementation of this section. These rules must specify the criteria for determining whether a property is eligible for exemption; guidelines to determine improvements to historic properties which qualify the property for an exemption; criteria for the review of applications for exemptions; procedures for the cancellation of exemptions for violations to the agreement required by subsection (7); the manner in which local historic preservation offices may be certified as qualified to review applications; and other requirements necessary to implement this section.
(1) If an improvement qualifies a historic property for an exemption under s. 196.1997, and the property is used for nonprofit or governmental purposes and is regularly and frequently open for the public’s visitation, use, and benefit, the board of county commissioners or the governing authority of the municipality by ordinance may authorize the exemption from ad valorem taxation of up to 100 percent of the assessed value of the property, as improved, any provision of s. 196.1997(2) to the contrary notwithstanding, if all other provisions of that section are complied with; provided, however, that the assessed value of the improvement must be equal to at least 50 percent of the total assessed value of the property as improved. The exemption applies only to real property to which improvements are made by or for the use of the existing owner. In order for the property to qualify for the exemption provided in this section, any such improvements must be made on or after the day the ordinance granting the exemption is adopted.
(2) In addition to meeting the criteria established in rules adopted by the Department of State under s. 196.1997, a historic property is qualified for an exemption under this section if the Division of Historical Resources, or the local historic preservation office, whichever is applicable, determines that the property meets the criteria established in rules adopted by the Department of State under this section.
(3) In addition to the authority granted to the Department of State to adopt rules under s. 196.1997, the Department of State shall adopt rules as provided in chapter 120 for the implementation of this section, which shall include criteria for determining whether a property is qualified for the exemption authorized by this section, and other rules necessary to implement this section.
196.1999 Space laboratories and carriers; exemption.—Notwithstanding other provisions of this chapter, a module, pallet, rack, locker, and any necessary associated hardware and subsystem owned by any person and intended to be used to transport or store cargo used for a space laboratory for the primary purpose of conducting scientific research in space is deemed to carry out a scientific purpose and is exempt from ad valorem taxation.
History.—s. 32, ch. 2005-280.
(1) Property of any sewer and water company owned or operated by a Florida corporation not for profit, the income from which has been exempt, as of January 1 of the year for which the exemption from ad valorem property taxes is requested, from federal income taxation by having qualified under s. 115(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 or of a corresponding section of a subsequently enacted federal revenue act, shall be exempt from ad valorem taxation, provided the following criteria for exemption are met by the not-for-profit sewer and water company:
(a) Net income derived by the company does not inure to any private shareholder or individual.
(b) Gross receipts do not constitute gross income for federal income tax purposes.
(c) Members of the company’s governing board serve without compensation.
(d) Rates for services rendered by the company are established by the governing board of the county or counties within which the company provides service; by the Public Service Commission, in those counties in which rates are regulated by the commission; or by the Farmers Home Administration.
(e) Ownership of the company reverts to the county in which the company conducts its business upon retirement of all outstanding indebtedness of the company.
Notwithstanding anything above, no exemption shall be granted until the property appraiser has considered the proposed exemption and has made a specific finding that the water and sewer company in question performs a public purpose in the absence of which the expenditure of public funds would be required.
(2)(a) No exemption authorized pursuant to this section shall be granted unless the company applies to the property appraiser on or before March 1 of each year for such exemption. In its annual application for exemption, the company shall provide the property appraiser with the following information:
1. Financial statements for the immediately preceding fiscal year, certified by an independent certified public accountant, showing the financial condition and records of operation of the company for that fiscal year.
2. Any other records or information as may be requested by the property appraiser for the purposes of determining whether the requirements of subsection (1) have been met.
(b) The exemption from ad valorem taxation shall not be granted to a not-for-profit sewer and water company unless the company meets the criteria set forth in subsection (1). In determining whether the company is operated as a profitmaking venture, the property appraiser shall consider the following:
1. Any advances or payments directly or indirectly by way of salary, fee, loan, gift, bonus, gratuity, drawing account, commission, or otherwise (except for reimbursement of advances for reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred on behalf of the applicant) to any person, company, or other entity directly or indirectly controlled by such persons, or which pays any compensation to its officers, directors, trustees, members, or stockholders for services rendered to or on behalf of the corporation;
2. Any contractual arrangement by the corporation with any officer, director, trustee, member, or stockholder of the corporation regarding rendition of services, the provision of goods or supplies, the management of applicant, the construction or renovation of the property of the corporation, the procurement of the real, personal, or intangible property of the corporation, or other similar financial interest in the affairs of the corporation;
3. The reasonableness of payments made for salaries for the operations of the corporation or for services, supplies, and materials used by the corporation, reserves for repair, replacement, and depreciation of the property of the corporation, payment of mortgages, liens, and encumbrances upon the property of the corporation, or other purposes.
History.—s. 11, ch. 76-234; s. 2, ch. 77-459.
196.2002 Exemption for s. 501(c)(12) not-for-profit water and wastewater systems.—Property of any not-for-profit water and wastewater corporation which holds a current exemption from federal income tax under s. 501(c)(12) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, shall be exempt from ad valorem taxation if the sole or primary function of the corporation is to construct, maintain, or operate a water and/or wastewater system in this state.
(1) Property to the value of $500 of every widow, widower, blind person, or totally and permanently disabled person who is a bona fide resident of this state is exempt from taxation. As used in this section, the term “totally and permanently disabled person” means a person who is currently certified by a physician licensed in this state, by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or its predecessor, or by the Social Security Administration to be totally and permanently disabled.
(2) An applicant for the exemption under this section may apply for the exemption before receiving the necessary documentation from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or its predecessor, or the Social Security Administration. Upon receipt of the documentation, the exemption shall be granted as of the date of the original application, and the excess taxes paid shall be refunded. Any refund of excess taxes paid shall be limited to those paid during the 4-year period of limitation set forth in s. 197.182(1)(e).
History.—s. 12, ch. 71-133; s. 1, ch. 88-293; s. 1, ch. 2001-204; s. 1, ch. 2001-245; s. 27, ch. 2012-193.
(1) Any ex-servicemember, as defined in s. 196.012, who is a bona fide resident of the state, who was discharged under honorable conditions, and who has been disabled to a degree of 10 percent or more by misfortune or while serving during a period of wartime service as defined in s. 1.01(14) is entitled to the exemption from taxation provided for in s. 3(b), Art. VII of the State Constitution as provided in this section. Property to the value of $5,000 of such a person is exempt from taxation. The production by him or her of a certificate of disability from the United States Government or the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or its predecessor before the property appraiser of the county wherein the ex-servicemember’s property lies is prima facie evidence of the fact that he or she is entitled to the exemption. The unremarried surviving spouse of such a disabled ex-servicemember who, on the date of the disabled ex-servicemember’s death, had been married to the disabled ex-servicemember for at least 5 years is also entitled to the exemption.
History.—s. 1, ch. 16298, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 897(1); s. 2, ch. 67-457; ss. 1, 2, ch. 69-55; s. 16, ch. 69-216; s. 1, ch. 77-102; s. 8, ch. 84-114; s. 5, ch. 93-268; s. 1000, ch. 95-147; s. 31, ch. 95-280; s. 1, ch. 2002-271; s. 2, ch. 2005-42; s. 28, ch. 2012-193.
1196.26 Exemption for real property dedicated in perpetuity for conservation purposes.—
(1) As used in this section:
(a) “Allowed commercial uses” means commercial uses that are allowed by the conservation easement encumbering the land exempt from taxation under this section.
(b) “Conservation easement” means the property right described in s. 704.06.
(c) “Conservation purposes” means:
1. Serving a conservation purpose, as defined in 26 U.S.C. s. 170(h)(4)(A)(i)-(iii), for land which serves as the basis of a qualified conservation contribution under 26 U.S.C. s. 170(h); or
2.a. Retention of the substantial natural value of land, including woodlands, wetlands, watercourses, ponds, streams, and natural open spaces;
b. Retention of such lands as suitable habitat for fish, plants, or wildlife; or
c. Retention of such lands’ natural value for water quality enhancement or water recharge.
(d) “Dedicated in perpetuity” means that the land is encumbered by an irrevocable, perpetual conservation easement.
(2) Land that is dedicated in perpetuity for conservation purposes and that is used exclusively for conservation purposes is exempt from ad valorem taxation. Such exclusive use does not preclude the receipt of income from activities that are consistent with a management plan when the income is used to implement, maintain, and manage the management plan.
(3) Land that is dedicated in perpetuity for conservation purposes and that is used for allowed commercial uses is exempt from ad valorem taxation to the extent of 50 percent of the assessed value of the land.
(4) Land that comprises less than 40 contiguous acres does not qualify for the exemption provided in this section unless, in addition to meeting the other requirements of this section, the use of the land for conservation purposes is determined by the Acquisition and Restoration Council created in s. 259.035 to fulfill a clearly delineated state conservation policy and yield a significant public benefit. In making its determination of public benefit, the Acquisition and Restoration Council must give particular consideration to land that:
(a) Contains a natural sinkhole or natural spring that serves a water recharge or production function;
(b) Contains a unique geological feature;
(c) Provides habitat for endangered or threatened species;
(d) Provides nursery habitat for marine and estuarine species;
(e) Provides protection or restoration of vulnerable coastal areas;
(f) Preserves natural shoreline habitat; or
(g) Provides retention of natural open space in otherwise densely built-up areas.
Any land approved by the Acquisition and Restoration Council under this subsection must have a management plan and a designated manager who will be responsible for implementing the management plan.
(5) The conservation easement that serves as the basis for the exemption granted by this section must include baseline documentation as to the natural values to be protected on the land and may include a management plan that details the management of the land so as to effectuate the conservation of natural resources on the land.
(6) Buildings, structures, and other improvements situated on land receiving the exemption provided in this section and the land area immediately surrounding the buildings, structures, and improvements must be assessed separately pursuant to chapter 193. However, structures and other improvements that are auxiliary to the use of the land for conservation purposes are exempt to the same extent as the underlying land.
(7) Land that qualifies for the exemption provided in this section the allowed commercial uses of which include agriculture must comply with the most recent best management practices if adopted by rule of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
(8) As provided in s. 704.06(8) and (9), water management districts with jurisdiction over lands receiving the exemption provided in this section have a third-party right of enforcement to enforce the terms of the applicable conservation easement for any easement that is not enforceable by a federal or state agency, county, municipality, or water management district when the holder of the easement is unable or unwilling to enforce the terms of the easement.
(9) The Acquisition and Restoration Council, created in s. 259.035, shall maintain a list of nonprofit entities that are qualified to enforce the provisions of a conservation easement.
1Note.—Section 8, ch. 2009-157, provides that “[t]he Department of Revenue may adopt emergency rules to administer s. 196.26, Florida Statutes, as created by this act. The emergency rules shall remain in effect for 6 months after adoption and may be renewed during the pendency of procedures to adopt rules addressing the subject of the emergency rules.”
(1) The board of county commissioners of each county of the state be and it is hereby given full power and authority to cancel and discharge any and all liens for taxes, delinquent or current, held or owned by the county or the state, upon lands, heretofore or hereafter, conveyed to, or acquired by any agency, governmental subdivision or municipality of the state, or the United States, for road purposes, defense purposes, recreation, reforestation or other public use; and said lands shall be exempt from county taxation so long as the same are used for such public purpose.
(2) Such cancellation shall be by resolution of the board of county commissioners, duly adopted and entered upon its minutes, properly describing such lands, and setting forth the public use to which the same are, or will be, devoted. Upon receipt of a certified copy of such resolution, the proper officials of the county, and of the state, are hereby authorized, empowered and directed to make proper entries upon the records to accomplish such cancellation and to do all things necessary to carry out the provisions of this section, and to make the same effective, this section being their authority so to do.
History.—ss. 1, 2, ch. 22845, 1945; ss. 1, 2, ch. 69-55.
196.29 Cancellation of certain taxes on real property acquired by a county, school board, charter school governing board, or community college district board of trustees.—Whenever any county, school board, charter school governing board, or community college district board of trustees of this state has heretofore acquired, or shall hereafter acquire, title to any real property, the taxes of all political subdivisions, as defined in s. 1.01, upon such property for the year in which title to such property was acquired, or shall hereafter be acquired, shall be that portion of the taxes levied or accrued against such property for such year which the portion of such year which has expired at the date of such acquisition bears to the entire year, and the remainder of such taxes for such year shall stand canceled.
History.—s. 1, ch. 26974, 1951; s. 1, ch. 65-179; ss. 1, 2, ch. 69-55; s. 1, ch. 69-300; s. 1, ch. 88-220; s. 2, ch. 2000-306.
(1) In the event fee title to property is acquired between January 1 and November 1 of any year by a governmental unit exempt under this chapter by any means except condemnation or is acquired by any means except condemnation for use exclusively for federal, state, county, or municipal purposes, the taxpayer shall be required to place in escrow with the county tax collector an amount equal to the current taxes prorated to the date of transfer of title, based upon the current assessment and millage rates on the land involved. This fund shall be used to pay any ad valorem taxes due, and the remainder of taxes which would otherwise have been due for that current year shall stand canceled.
(2) In the event fee title to property is acquired by a governmental unit exempt under this chapter by any means except condemnation or is acquired by any means except condemnation for use exclusively for federal, state, county, or municipal purposes, the taxpayer is required to pay all taxes due from prior years.
History.—s. 13, ch. 74-234; s. 1, ch. 75-103; s. 7, ch. 85-322; s. 26, ch. 86-152; s. 15, ch. 86-300; s. 4, ch. 88-101; s. 8, ch. 92-173.
196.31 Taxes against state properties; notice.—Whenever lands or other property of the state or of any agency thereof are situated within any district, subdistrict or governmental unit for the purpose of taxation, which said lands or any of them or other property, are or shall be subject to special assessments or taxes, the tax collector or other tax collecting agency having authority to collect such taxes or special assessments shall, upon such taxes or special assessments becoming legally due and payable, mail to the state agency or department holding such land or other property, or if held by the state, then to the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund at Tallahassee, a notice and make notation under the same date of such notice on the tax roll, which said notice shall contain a description of the lands or other property owned by the state or its agency upon which taxes or special assessments have been levied and are collectible, and the amount of such special assessments or taxes, and unless such notation of notice on the tax roll shall have been made, any nonpayment by the said state or its agency of taxes or special assessments shall not constitute a delinquency or be the basis on which the said lands or other property may be sold for the nonpayment of such taxes or special assessments.
History.—s. 1, ch. 15640, 1931; CGL 1936 Supp. 953(1); ss. 1, 2, ch. 69-55; ss. 27, 35, ch. 69-106.
196.32 Executive Office of the Governor; consent required to certain assessments.—When, under any law of this state heretofore or hereafter enacted providing for the imposition of any tax, provision is made for the payment of any portion of the revenue derived from such tax by any state officer, officers, or board, to defray expenses incident to the enforcement and collection thereof, no such state officer, officers, or board may pay or agree to pay any of such funds without the express authorization and approval of the Executive Office of the Governor.
History.—s. 1, ch. 21919, 1943; ss. 2, 3, ch. 67-371; ss. 1, 2, ch. 69-55; ss. 31, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 94, ch. 79-190.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1038
|
__label__cc
| 0.628021
| 0.371979
|
National School Lunch Program(14)
School Breakfast Program(14)
(-)Special Milk Program(14)
Guidance Documents(14)
(-)Policy(14)
(-)Policy Memos(14)
(-)Technical Assistance & Guidance(14)
Program Operator(14)
State Agency(12)
(-)State/Local Agency(14)
Procurement(2)
(-)2008(14)
Final Fluid Milk Substitution Rule
The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) issued the final rule Fluid Milk Substitutions in the School Nutrition Program (73 FR 52903) on September 12, 2008, to implement a provision of the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004.
SP 02-2009
Reaffirmation of Policy on Limited Disclosure of Children's Eligibility Information to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
The administrators of the NAEP have asked that we remind school food authorities that they may disclose, without parent/guardian consent, children’s names and eligibility status (whether they are eligible for free meals or free milk or reduced price meals) to persons directly connected with the administration or enforcement of a Federal or State education program, as permitted by section 9(b)(6)(A)(ii)(I) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act.
Responsibility to Request Food Safety Inspections
A number of schools nationwide are still having difficulty obtaining the two food safety inspections required by the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004. Although the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) realizes that many of the difficulties schools face are beyond their control, we would like to stress that local program operators are responsible for requesting the food safety inspections from the public health department and documenting their efforts.
30-Day Carryover and Delayed Implementation for Provision 2
This memorandum is to clarify the relationship between delayed implementation of Provision 2 as permitted in §245.9(b)(6)(ii) and use of a child’s prior year’s eligibility status for the first 30 operating days in the new school year (“carryover”) in §245.6(c)(2).
Coordinated Review Effort; National Average Daily Attendance
We have obtained the latest school enrollment and attendance figures from the Department of Education. For your information, the updated national average daily attendance factor for use during Coordinated Review for School Year 2008-2009 is 93.5 percent.
FFVP Nationwide Expansion and Program Operations Resulting from the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (PL 110-234)
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide information to all state agencies regarding operations of the FFVP under section 19 of the NSLA beginning July 1, 2008 (school year 2008-09).
Cooperation with Federal Communications Commission’s E-Rate Audits
We have been asked to address the appropriateness of providing information to contractors auditing school districts’ receipt of funds under the FCC’s E-Rate fund.
Automatic Eligibility for Free Meal Benefits Extended to All Children Enrolled in Head Start
This memorandum provides guidance regarding amendments to the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (NSLA) that extend automatic eligibility for free meal benefits, including free milk, to all children enrolled in Head Start and participating in child nutrition programs.
CACFP 07-2008
Prototype Language for Return of Discounts, Rebates and Credits to School Food Authorities
In response to several requests and to assist SAs and SFAs in their compliance efforts, we are providing the following prototype contract language requiring the return of purchase incentives to SFAs.
Informational Memorandum on the FFVP
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide a summary of the information provided during our calls with Regional Offices (ROs) and State agencies (SAs) regarding implementation of the FFVP as established in The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008, PL 110-161.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1039
|
__label__wiki
| 0.836848
| 0.836848
|
The Guild of Students is your Students’ Union – and, as a student at Birmingham, you automatically become one of our members. We’re a democratic, independent organisation which exists to represent, support and entertain you – and we take Postgraduate matters seriously. Postgraduate study can be intense and challenging – but it’s important to remember that there’s life outside the lab. Whether it’s through volunteering, joining a student group, taking on a part-time job or just catching up with friends over a drink in Joe’s, we’re here to help you get the best from Birmingham.
The Guild of Students was established in 1876 as a charitable organisation. The Guild has always been run by students – for students. Today, the Guild is one of the largest Students’ Unions in the country, representing over 38,000 students and is led by 7 Full Time Officers who are democratically elected by students to represent their interests to the university and beyond.
The majority of the bookable rooms in the Guild building are named after noteworthy people, including Nelson Mandela, Harvey Milk and Rosa Parks. Our Guild Council Chambers are named after Mike Terry, Guild President (1968/69) who led the Anti-Apartheid Movement, campaigning against racial segregation in southern Africa.
The University of Birmingham was founded in 1900 as the first ‘red brick’ university in the UK and a founding member of the Russell Group. The university currently has around 38,000 students – including 14,000 postgraduates (9,000 taught postgrads, 5,000 postgrad researchers) making up nearly 40% of the student body and around 30% of our postgraduates are international students.
On the University’s main Edgbaston campus, you can find historical, scientific, cultural and sporting assets open to our community
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts
Lapworth Museum of Geology
Winterbourne House and Gardens
Cadbury Research Library
Bramall Music Building
University of Birmingham Sport & Fitness
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1045
|
__label__wiki
| 0.919124
| 0.919124
|
2 arrested, 80 detained after tour bus full of people ransack, rob 7-Eleven (VIDEO)
A clerk at a 7-Eleven in Huntington Beach, California, was assaulted during a robbery involving a tour bus full of people Saturday night.
Eighty passengers were initially detained, while two men were arrested for assault following the melee.
The bus, which only had a capacity of 50 passengers, pulled into the parking lot around 11 p.m. More than two dozen unruly passengers then unloaded, ran through the store and grabbed all sorts of loot, including beer and other beverages, candy, and chips.
The clerk, who only wanted to be identified as Mohammad, said he tried to stop the thieves, all to no avail. In fact, at least two of the suspects starting pushing and shoving the clerk as he tried to stop the crime, according to Officer Jennifer Marlatt, spokeswoman for the Huntington Beach Police Department.
In a matter of minutes, the mob cleared the shelves and re-boarded the bus. The clerk, who was not seriously injured, called the police and, with the help of a police helicopter, caught up with the tour bus in a matter of minutes.
All 80 passengers were initially detained. The two suspects responsible for assaulting the clerk, Wynzel Worthan, 18, of Compton, and Isiah Bryant, 21, of Los Angeles, were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit robbery. The remaining passengers were released.
Authorities also found seven loaded handguns on the bus but confirmed they were not used during the robbery.
[ ABC 7 ]
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1047
|
__label__wiki
| 0.95571
| 0.95571
|
FILE - In this Jan. 8, 2021, file photo, President-elect Joe Biden speaks during an event at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del. A coronavirus action plan fromBiden centers on a mass vaccination campaign and closer coordination among all levels of government. The Biden plan comes as a divided nation remains caught in the grip of the pandemic’s most dangerous wave yet.
Susan Walsh
President-elect Joe Biden speaks about the COVID-19 pandemic during an event at The Queen theater, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021, in Wilmington, Del., as Vice President-elect Kamala Harris listens.
Matt Slocum
President-elect Joe Biden speaks about the COVID-19 pandemic during an event at The Queen theater, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021, in Wilmington, Del.
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR and BILL BARROW Associated Press
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden unveiled a $1.9 trillion coronavirus plan Thursday to end “a crisis of deep human suffering” by speeding up vaccines and pumping out financial help to those struggling with the pandemic’s prolonged economic fallout.
Called the “American Rescue Plan,” the legislative proposal would meet Biden's goal of administering 100 million vaccines by the 100th day of his administration, and advance his objective of reopening most schools by the spring. On a parallel track, it delivers another round of aid to stabilize the economy while the public health effort seeks the upper hand on the pandemic.
“We not only have an economic imperative to act now — I believe we have a moral obligation,” Biden said in a nationwide address. At the same time, he acknowledged that his plan “does not come cheaply.”
Biden proposed $1,400 checks for most Americans, which on top of $600 provided in the most recent COVID-19 bill would bring the total to the $2,000 that Biden has called for. It would also extend a temporary boost in unemployment benefits and a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures through September.
And it shoehorns in long-term Democratic policy aims such as increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour, expanding paid leave for workers, and increasing tax credits for families with children. The last item would make it easier for women to go back to work, which in turn would help the economy recover.
The political outlook for the legislation remained unclear. In a joint statement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer praised Biden for including liberal priorities, saying they would move quickly to pass it after Biden takes office next Wednesday. But Democrats have narrow margins in both chambers of Congress, and Republicans will push back on issues that range from increasing the minimum wage to providing more money for states, while demanding inclusion of their priorities, such as liability protection for businesses.
“Remember that a bipartisan $900 billion #COVID19 relief bill became law just 18 days ago,” tweeted Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. But Biden says that was only a down payment, and he promised more major legislation next month, focused on rebuilding the economy.
“The crisis of deep human suffering is in plain sight, and there’s not time to waste," Biden said. “We have to act and we have to act now.”
Still, he sought to manage expectations. “We’re better equipped to do this than any nation in the world," he said. “But even with all these small steps, it’s going to take time.”
His relief bill would be paid for with borrowed money, adding to trillions in debt the government has already incurred to confront the pandemic. Aides said Biden will make the case that the additional spending and borrowing is necessary to prevent the economy from sliding into an even deeper hole. Interest rates are low, making debt more manageable.
Biden has long held that economic recovery is inextricably linked with controlling the coronavirus.
That squares with the judgment of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the most powerful business lobbying group and traditionally an adversary of Democrats. “We must defeat COVID before we can restore our economy and that requires turbocharging our vaccination efforts,” the Chamber said in a statement Thursday night that welcomed Biden's plan but stopped short of endorsing it.
The plan comes as a divided nation is in the grip of the pandemic’s most dangerous wave yet. So far, more than 385,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the U.S. And government numbers out Thursday reported a jump in weekly unemployment claims, to 965,000, a sign that rising infections are forcing businesses to cut back and lay off workers.
Under Biden's multipronged strategy, about $400 billion would go directly to combating the pandemic, while the rest is focused on economic relief and aid to states and localities.
About $20 billion would be allocated for a more disciplined focus on vaccination, on top of some $8 billion already approved by Congress. Biden has called for setting up mass vaccination centers and sending mobile units to hard-to-reach areas.
With the backing of Congress and the expertise of private and government scientists, the Trump administration delivered two highly effective vaccines and more are on the way. Yet a month after the first shots were given, the nation’s vaccination campaign is off to a slow start with about 11 million people getting the first of two shots, although more than 30 million doses have been delivered.
Biden called the vaccine rollout “a dismal failure so far" and said he would provide more details about his vaccination campaign on Friday.
The plan also provides $50 billion to expand testing, which is seen as key to reopening most schools by the end of the new administration's first 100 days. About $130 billion would be allocated to help schools reopen without risking further contagion.
The plan would fund the hiring of 100,000 public health workers, to focus on encouraging people to get vaccinated and on tracing the contacts of those infected with the coronavirus.
There's also a proposal to boost investment in genetic sequencing, to help track new virus strains including the more contagious variants identified in the United Kingdom and South Africa.
Throughout the plan, there's a focus on ensuring that minority communities that have borne the brunt of the pandemic are not shortchanged on vaccines and treatments, aides said.
With the new proposals comes a call to redouble efforts on the basics.
Biden is asking Americans to override their sense of pandemic fatigue and recommit to wearing masks, practicing social distancing and avoiding indoor gatherings, particularly larger ones. It's still the surest way to slow the COVID-19 wave, with more than 4,400 deaths reported just on Tuesday.
Biden's biggest challenge will be to “win the hearts and minds of the American people to follow his lead,” said Dr. Leana Wen, a public health expert and emergency physician.
The pace of vaccination in the U.S. is approaching 1 million shots a day, but 1.8 million a day would be needed to reach widespread or “herd” immunity by the summer, according to a recent estimate by the American Hospital Association. Wen says the pace should be even higher — closer to 3 million a day.
Biden believes the key to speeding that up lies not only in delivering more vaccine but also in working closely with states and local communities to get shots into the arms of more people. The Trump administration provided the vaccine to states and set guidelines for who should get priority for shots, but largely left it up to state and local officials to organize their vaccination campaigns.
It's still unclear how the new administration will address the issue of vaccine hesitancy, the doubts and suspicions that keep many people from getting a shot. Polls show it's particularly a problem among Black Americans.
“We will have to move heaven and earth to get more people vaccinated,” Biden said.
Next Wednesday, when Biden is sworn in as president, marks the anniversary of the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the United States.
Associated Press writers Josh Boak and Alan Fram contributed to this report.
Posted: 20 minutes ago.
Last updated: 10 minutes ago.
Hiring And Recruitment
Government Taxation And Revenue
Government Business And Finance
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1048
|
__label__cc
| 0.578354
| 0.421646
|
GO TO GOULSTONSTORRS.COM
Subscribe by emailSubscribe via RSSG&S TwitterG&S LinkedIn
International Investors
Pop-up Retail
New Lease Accounting Rules Are Final: Retailers and, Ultimately, Landlords Can Expect Changes
by David A. Lewis and Nancy M. Davids on March 9, 2016
We recently wrote about expected changes to the rules governing the way leases are accounted for on balance sheets and suggested the changes would have major implications for retailer tenants and longer term implications for landlords.
Late last week, as expected, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued a suite of now final rule changes related to lease accounting. FASB is the private, non-profit organization that establishes the rules governing generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) used in the United States.
Under the new accounting rules, the former distinction between (a) capitalized or financing leases, which generally are reported as assets and liabilities on the tenant’s balance sheet, and (b) operating leases, which have not historically been so treated, will be eliminated. After these new rules become effective, a tenant under a real estate lease must now include the lease on its balance sheet, even where the lease was treated as an operating lease under prior GAAP rules.
The most significant FASB change would require all tenants to include any lease greater than one year as a liability and an asset on their balances sheet. The amount of the liability would be the present value of the total rent remaining due under the lease, however, there may be some unexpected consequences as the new rules are fully implemented.
Although the content of the rule changes is final, the new rules do not go into effect right away. Instead, most publicly traded companies will have to begin to adopt the new accounting rules for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018. All other entities will have to begin to adopt the new accounting rules for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019.
The new rules are the subject of some controversy. For example, some tenants could face concerns with respect to corporate financing under the new rules because newly-disclosed lease liabilities could cause violations of existing lending covenants regarding balance sheet ratios. (Some lenders, cognizant that these proposed changes have been in progress for many years and could be adopted at any time, have been willing to “grandfather” in the existing GAAP rules into loan covenants. This practice allows a borrower to keep its leases off-balance sheet for the limited (though important) purposes of its loan covenants even after the rules change.) The rule changes could also change some of the dynamics of lease negotiations in the future as tenants will generally be able to continue to keep variable payments off balance sheet.
Despite some dissent, in general the new rules are generally understood to increase transparency in financial reporting.
Related topics: Landlords, Leasing, Real Estate, Retail, Tax
David A. Lewis
Nancy M. Davids
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1049
|
__label__wiki
| 0.922785
| 0.922785
|
'You are not just doing it for Great Grimsby, but for England' - Minister says more cash could follow £60m deal
The £60m Grimsby Town Deal was signed this morning by Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry, Lord Henley and council leader Ray Oxby
NORTHERN Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry has told how more funds could follow Grimsby’s £60 million town deal, as he joined Business Minister colleague Lord Henley in signing off on the transformational long-term plan.
The enthusiastic minister told how the town is leading the nation, urging the civic leaders and private sector pioneers he sat down with to thrash out the package to seize the opportunity, as proposals to bring 8,800 new jobs and 10,000 new homes, as well as regenerating North East Lincolnshire’s core were laid out.
Speaking as the ink dried on the formal documents, Mr Berry said: “Grimsby is very much part, and the heart of the powerhouse, and you can see that from the commitment of Government today.
“It is the first such deal in the country and is really shaping the towns of the Northern Powerhouse and the rest of the UK.
"Where Greater Grimsby leads, the rest of the country will follow. The reason it is so exciting, and why what has been achieved today, is that we have hope and belief, that if it proves successful, it can be a blueprint for other towns and areas around the country.”
Minister for The Northern Powerhouse Jake Berry MP, right, with North East Lincolnshire Council leader councillor Ray Oxby, left and the Greater Grimsby Town deal (Image: Jon Corken)
In what is a rare political step, the deal is not confined to a political term, with NELC leader Cllr Ray Oxby envisaging a transformation over 10 years, mindful of past promises - from Freshney Forest to the Immingham tram way.
Mr Berry said: “The Town Deal is an inherently long term deal, and we are very, very confident. People have described false dawns before, there is a huge commitment with Government and the Council, £30 million each in total, and we have now a long term deal.
"I am absolutely confident in Great Grimsby to deliver the Greater Grimsby Project Board is led by some of the UK's best private sector businesses and I just think it will be a success, it is a proper bringing together of public and private and not just because it is a good thing for the economy, but because we really see potential to raise aspirations of people in Grimsby.
Updates as huge £60m deal for Grimsby is signed with 8,800 jobs set to be created
"We talk about education in the deal, about more highly skilled jobs for people of Great Grimsby.
“It is inherently a long term commitment. This is Town Deal 1.0. if we can prove this concept works to the people of Grimsby, to the private sector, if we can prove it to Lord Henley, then we are open to a discussion around a second phase for Grimsby.
"We really, really want to show the Government and the South of England, that if you give the tools needed to grow, they will make a success of it.
“Come on Grimsby. You are not just doing it for Great Grimsby, not just for the North, but for England.”
Those involved in the deal - including Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry and Lord Henley, pictured following the signing of the Grimsby Town Deal
Lord Henley, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, told how his office’s whole remit was involved.
He said: “The energy part of it is the key here. This is the first Town Deal created as a result of the Industrial Strategy.
"It is very easy for a Liverpool or a Manchester – with all their resources – to put together these sort of deals.
"We want to put these out to other parts of the country, and I hope this can be a model for what a place can do
“It is getting local authorities, local businesses, committed and with Government, working together.
Grimsby Town Deal
Business Secretary backing
Welcome boost
The push for cash
Government green light
“It is not a case of Government coming in and just handing out money, it is everyone working together, co-operating, putting a plan together with the businesses, with local authority and Government seeing this as what can be done.
"We are looking at credible and realistic plans that we can take forward and see just what we can do together. This is just phase one.
“I am looking forward to seeing a lot more plans, it is good there is a great future. With energy and renewables there is a lot happening, and from that I hope more opportunities come forward.
“It is great to recognise that in a place like Grimsby, a long way from London, difficult to get to, smaller than Liverpool and Manchester, can put forward plans to work with Government.”
The final signatory was North East Lincolnshire Council leader Ray Oxby, with Greater Grimsby Project Board chairman David Ross unable to attend.
For a man who has given his entire career to serving the borough, it was a proud moment to get it over the line, having cheered the pilot announcement in the Industrial Strategy.
A historic day for Grimsby as the huge £67m Great Grimsby Town Deal is signed by Lord Henley, council leader Ray Oxby and local growth minister Jake Berry (Image: Jon Corken)
“It has been a lot of work to get to where we are, but the commitment from Government could be transformational for generations,” he said.
“This is Town Deal 1.0, and they want to work with us on 2.0 – this is a fantastic commitment.
“I have been involved as an officer, as a politician and as leader for over 40 years, and in this time there have been numerous plans with Yorkshire Forward and other regeneration bodies, but for me this is now going to happen because everything is stacked up, with all the right people in place and everyone on board.
"I am convinced that in 10 years’ time we won’t recognise this part of the town, and that by September we will have a major investor with public plans to redevelop Garth Lane, facing the water front rather than turning its back on it. The water is our asset and we need to exploit it.”
ABP, hosting the event at the port’s new Marine Operating Centre, is in talks as landowner with the local authority about the prime area that fronts Alexandra Dock and the new cinema site.
So what is the Greater Grimsby Town Deal? Q&A
“Government sees the vision, they see the planning, they see the co-operative partnership and it is about confidence,” Mr Oxby said. “We now have one of the best planning teams in the UK, it won an award last year, and businesses say it is a breath of fresh air. We want to deal with business, and we will do whatever we can to secure long term investment for businesses in the area.
“At the very heart of the deal is creating an environment where people can get a good education, good skilled training and well paid jobs, live in the area in good housing and spend money here.”
Delighted by both the depth of discussion and the deal’s potential span – some elements stretch to 2032 – he added: “I was surprised, ministers tend to be cautious. I have never heard a minister so open and positive, and to be committed to do phase two, to talk about a phase three and a phase four of a Grimsby deal. It wasn’t prompted, he volunteered that himself. It is commitment to a long term plan.”
Ray Oxby
Boris Johnson accidentally praises ‘North WEST Lincolnshire’ vaccination programme in live address
CoronavirusThe Prime Minister was highlighting some of the best areas for Covid vaccinations, but got his directions mixed up in northern Lincolnshire
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1051
|
__label__wiki
| 0.750832
| 0.750832
|
Double life sentence for Kerala Catholic priest for raping minor girl
A Kerala court has awarded Father Edwin Figarez double-life sentence for sexually abusing a minor girl. Fr. Figarez, a Catholic priest, was held for sexually assaulting a Class-IX girl repeatedly…
School Principal, a Kerala Christian Priest, Arrested for Sexually Abusing 11-year-old Boy Student
Kerala police on Sunday arrested a 65-year-old priest, ‘Father’ Basil Kruiakose serving as principal of King David International School, on charges of sexually abusing an 11-year-old boy student in the…
Love Jihad: An Ignored Crime
Love Jihad is an activity under which young Muslim boys and men reportedly target young girls belonging to non-Muslim communities (mainly Hindus as they are easily vulnerable) for conversion to…
British sex slave held captive as minor & raped by Pakistani taxi driver for 13 years
A woman who says she was kidnapped and abused as a sex slave for 13 years by a British Pakistani taxi driver in the Midlands (a region of UK), who…
Christian Missionary gets 18 Years in Prison for Molesting 3 Minor Girls
An 81-year-old former pastor and missionary was sentenced Thursday to 18 years in prison for sexually assaulting three girls in California, USA. Douglas Dale Whinery pleaded guilty to seven felony…
7 year old Girl Kidnapped by Muslim Cleric in Karnataka
A 49-year-old Muslim cleric, Mohammad Akram, has been arrested for kidnapping a 7-year-old girl in Hole Narsipura, Hassan district, Karnataka. Apparently, this news has appeared only in a Tamil news site…
Women Teachers Held in Patna’s St. Xavier’s School For Sexual Abuse of 5-Year-Old Girl Student
Two women teachers, Nutan Joseph and Indu, of the ‘reputed’ St. Xavier’s missionary school in Patna were arrested last Saturday for allegedly having sex with a five-year-old girl student. As…
5 yr old Hindu Girl Raped in Bangladesh, Private Parts Burnt With Cigarette
A distressing account of rape and torture of a 5-year-old Hindu girl by a 42-year-old rapist, Saiful Islam, has come in from Dinajpur, Bangladesh. As per site, eibela24.com, the 5-year-old from…
Pastor Millan Singh held for Sexual Assault & Murder; Cheated 40 Women in Tamil Nadu
An atrocious tale of murder, sexual abuse and cheating reportedly by a Christian priest, Pastor Millan Singh, has emerged from in & around Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu. The case came out in open during…
54-year-old Christian Priest Held For Raping 5-year-old Girl Student
An Evangelist Christian priest, ‘Father’ Joao da Silva, 54, was caught for sexually abusing a five-year-old girl when her parents found horrific drawings the tiny tot had created depicting the sex attacks. The attacks took…
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1052
|
__label__cc
| 0.569159
| 0.430841
|
Chorus of Mushrooms won a 1995 Commonwealth Writers Prize and was co-winner of the 1996 Canada-Japan Book Award. This book heralds the debut of a young Japanese Canadian feminist, Hiromi Goto. Until the publication of ‘Chorus of Mushrooms’ in 1994, the primary voice heard from Japanese Canadians was that of the people interned during World War II. Hiromi Goto examines the immigration experience of the Japanese Canadian beyond war and into present day Alberta. Celebrating cultural differences as a privilege, this novel explores the shifts and collisions of culture through the lives of three generations of women in a Japanese family living in a small prairie town.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1053
|
__label__wiki
| 0.833864
| 0.833864
|
Collections and Exhibitions
PERIOD ARTIFACTS COMBINE WITH SENSORY EXPERIENCES TO TELL A COMPELLING STORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Declaration of Independence Broadside
Iconic artifacts of the American Revolution and early national periods acquired in recent years for the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown are among close to 500 objects on exhibit in the 22,000-square-foot permanent exhibition galleries opened October 15, 2016.
Along with immersive environments, dioramas, interactive exhibits and short films, period artifacts engage visitors in the story of the American Revolution, from its origins in the mid-1700s to the early years of the new United States. The galleries, where visitors first encounter a rare first-model “Brown Bess” British infantry musket dated 1741 and a rare early American long rifle – two remarkable survivals from the era of the nation’s birth – present five major themes.
The British Empire and America examines the geography, demography, culture and economy of America prior to the Revolution and the impact of the Seven Years’ War, which ended in 1763 and resulted in expansion of Britain’s territory in North America and efforts to compel the North American colonies to help pay the war’s costs. A coronation portrait of King George III from the studio of Allan Ramsay symbolizes British rule. A portrait of Ayuba Suleiman Diallo, one of the two earliest known portraits done from life of an African who had been enslaved in the British colonies that became the United States, and a New York-made gorget with a silver bear symbol, probably used in diplomacy or trade with the Iroquois, show the complexity and diversity of colonial American society.
The Changing Relationship – Britain and North America describes rising tensions between the American colonies and chronicles the growing rift, from the Stamp Act of 1665 to the First Continental Congress in 1774. Within a full-scale wharf setting – including a Red Lion Tavern that serves up a short film – issues of taxation and British economic control are brought into focus. Among artifacts on exhibit are an English-made firing glass and silver teaspoons inscribed with symbols of liberty and a document box embossed with the gilded text “Stamp Act Rep ͩ/March 18, 1766.”
King George III in his coronation robes
Revolution traces the war from the battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775 to victory at Yorktown in 1781 and the aftermath. A rare July 1776 broadside of the Declaration of Independence, adopted more than a year after fighting began, is on display near a June 1776 Philadelphia printing of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, one of the inspirations for the U.S. Declaration.
Two early American victories – the 1775 Battle of Great Bridge in Virginia and the 1777 Battle of Saratoga in New York, a turning point that led to a formal alliance with France – are highlighted in a diorama and a short film. A portrait medallion of Benjamin Franklin produced in 1777 while Franklin was serving as an American representative in France is exhibited near a small oval portrait of Louis XVI painted during the king’s reign.
By late 1778, Britain concentrated its military operations on the Southern states. A miniature portrait of General Daniel Morgan, renowned for defeating the British at the Battle of Cowpens in 1781, is on exhibit. Sporadic conflicts between Britain and America and its allies occurred even after the momentous Siege of Yorktown, an event recounted in an experiential theater that transports visitors to the battlefield with wind, smoke and the thunder of cannon fire. Artifacts from the Betsy, a British supply ship scuttled during the siege, on long-term loan from Virginia Department of Historic Resources, are displayed next to the theater. An eyewitness painting, “Lord Rodney’s flagship ‘Formidable’ breaking through the French line at the battle of the Saintes, 12th April 1782,” depicts action during a three-day sea battle that occurred six months after the American victory at Yorktown.
The wartime homefront is portrayed in three-dimensional settings that provide a backdrop for the stories of diverse Americans – Patriots and Loyalists, women, and enslaved and free African Americans. Benjamin Thompson, an American Loyalist who moved to Europe after the war and became a noted scientist, is the subject of a 1785 portrait. This section also explores how the Revolution impacted the lives of Mary Katherine Goddard, a printer whose January 1777 copy of the Declaration of Independence was the first to contain the typeset names of all the signatories, and Benjamin Banneker, a free African American who became famous in the 1790s as a scientist and writer.
The New Nation takes the story of America forward from the 1783 Treaty of Paris recognizing the United States as an independent nation with boundaries extending to the Mississippi River. Recognition of the need for a stronger national government than provided by the Articles of Confederation adopted during the Revolution led to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and the formation in 1789 of the national government that continues to today, a story that unfolds in a short film. Nearby is a 19th-century life-size statue of George Washington formerly exhibited at the U.S. Capitol, along with an assemblage of artifacts associated with the nation’s first president. A Wedgwood antislavery medallion and other artifacts speak to growing public opposition to slavery.
The American People explores the emergence of a distinctive national identity following the Revolution, influenced by immigration, internal migration, and demographic, political and social changes. Emblematic of the new nation are an American-made sword with a silver pommel in the form of an eagle and an early 19th-century sandstone marker – carved with an eagle, stars and the word “Liberty” – from a ferry house that once stood along the Cumberland Road. The exhibition concludes with a look at how the example of America has influenced the world.
Eagle-pommel saber, American, 1776.
Diallo, by William Hoare
Frontispiece of Phillis Wheatley’s Poems on Various Subjects …, 1773
terra cotta medallion depicting Benjamin Franklin, Jean-Baptiste Nini, 1777
Meeting of Washington and Lafayette, Georges-Jules-Auguste Cain, ca. 1890, Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
Louis XVI, King of France, Count Joseph Boze, 18th century
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1054
|
__label__wiki
| 0.73088
| 0.73088
|
Most Complex Cash Register Malware Ever Is Out To Steal Your Money And ID
Jamie Condliffe
Published 5 years ago: November 27, 2015 at 6:30 pm -
Filed to:crime
fraudmalwarepoint-of-sale
A new kind of point-of-sale malware, which uses multiple layers of obfuscation and encryption to cover its tracks, has been identified by security researchers — and is being help up as the most complex software of its kind yet to be identified in the wild.
Security researchers at iSight have identified the malware which they have dubbed ModPOS, short for Modular Point Of Sale. The software uses a wide range of tricks, such as key-logging, network monitoring and RAM scraping, to acquire the credentials of customers whose details pass through an electronic point-of-sale.
The malware then uses a complex series 128 bit and 256 bit encryption to obscure the data it uploads to remote servers. Each customer’s details are encrypted using a different private key, making it almost impossible to identify what data is being stolen.
The researchers at iSight attempted to reverse engineer the software, and found it took three solid weeks of work. By comparison, it normally takes them about half an hour for most POS malware. Speaking to The Register, Steve Ward from iSight explained:
“This is POS [point-of-sale] malware on steroids. We have been examining POS malware forever, for at least the last eight years and we have never seen the level of sophistication in terms of development …[engineers say] it is the most sophisticated framework they have ever put their hands on.”
Sadly, the report also explains that the malware has been in use around the US since 2013, and iSight predicts it’s already been used to steal details for “multiple millions” of debit and credit cards. So it’s probable that it has made its way to Australia as well. So far, the researchers have briefed 80 different US companies about the effects of ModPOS, though those affected haven’t been publicly named.
While it’s thought the problems largely affect transactions performed by swiping a card’s magnetic strip, it’s believed that the more secure chip-and-pin system could also be vulnerable to the malware.
Fortunately, banks are often able to spot nefarious activity on accounts using machine learning and big data — which is good, because there’s no way of knowing as a customer if a point-of-sale device is infected with malware.
[iSight via E&T]
Image by tuthelens/Shutterstock
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1056
|
__label__wiki
| 0.708668
| 0.708668
|
Lorde Lends A Different Kind Of “Glory and Gore” To Mockingjay Soundtrack
Lorde is taking a trip to Panem!
No, she's not joining in the fight with Katniss Everdeen; the musical star is set to curate the soundtrack to the widely anticipated film, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1. The 17-year-old singer will handpick the artists and provide the lead single for the album, which will be released this fall. Given the enormous success of the score for the original Hunger Games film (read: it won a Grammy), this next one has quite the standard to live up to, but it’s clear that Lorde’s the right person for the job.
“I sat down with Lorde on the set of Mockingjay this spring and I was immediately struck by how she so innately understood what we, as both fans and filmmakers, were trying to accomplish with the film,” director Francis Lawrence said in a statement. If you ask us, the union of two “pure heroines” such as Lorde and Katniss is the best choice Lawrence could’ve made. “I think the soundtrack is definitely going to surprise people,” Lorde said. We’ll bet on that being a supremely pleasant surprise, of course, because there’s no doubt in our minds that her talent is the perfect musical complement to the Hunger Games story. Mockingjay hits theaters November 21, and is sure to be filled with all sorts of “glory and gore.”
Francis Lawrencesoundtrackpure heroineglory and goreKatniss EverdeenLordethe hunger gamesfilm
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1057
|
__label__wiki
| 0.752079
| 0.752079
|
Hollifeard History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
The Scottish Hollifeard surname is known to derive from "Olifant (derived from elephas) [which] signifies an elephant's tusk mounted as a horn, which was one of the ancient symbols of command." [1]
David de Olifard is the progenitor of the House of Oliphant. He was one of the many Anglo-Norman nobles that were invited northward by the early Norman kings of Scotland. He settled in Northamptonshire, but when he saved King David I during the siege of Winchester Castle, he received a small grant of lands in Roxburghshire.
Under later rulers, the Oliphant lands were significantly extended as King Malcolm granted the family Bothwell in Lanarkshire and King William I granted them Arbuthnott in Mearns.
"Hugo and William Olifard occur in Hampshire and Northamptonshire in 1130 (Rotul. Pip.) and 1165 (Liber Niger). William Olifard, of Huntingdonshire, in the time of Edward I. (Rot. Hundredorum.) No other mention of the name has come under my notice in England ; but it was very early transplanted beyond the Tweed, and still flourishes in Perthshire under its Scottish pseudonym of Oliphant. " [1]
Early Origins of the Hollifeard family
The surname Hollifeard was first found in Perthshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Pheairt) former county in the present day Council Area of Perth and Kinross, located in central Scotland. "The first of the descendants of this Norman, occurring in the public records, was David Olifard, who served in the army of King Stephen in 1141. A conspiracy was formed against the Empress Maud, who escaped from Winchester, attended by David I. Surrounded by the enemy, the Scottish King owed his safety to the exertions of his godson Olifard, who, although in the adverse party, aided his Royal opponent. In recompense, the rescued Monarch gave to his preserver, who settled in North Britain, the Lands of Crailing and Smallham in Roxburghshire, and conferred on him the dignified office of Justiciary. Thus was established the famous family of Oliphant, so distinguished in the annals of Scotland. " [2]
Sir William Oliphant, of Aberdalgy gallantly defended Stirling Castle again Edward I's invasion. The Castle was the last stronghold that remained in he hands of the Scots. The battle for the Castle began April 22nd and was finally over July 20th with Sir William taken prisoner. He was then forced to swear allegiance to King Edward I of England under penalty of death. However, eight years later, he was appointed Warden of Stirling Castle by Robert the Bruce of Scotland to whom he had willingly pledged allegiance. And yet again, Edward I of England again took him prisoner.
Early History of the Hollifeard family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hollifeard research. Another 114 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1456, 1498, 1583, 1631, 1631, 1680, 1715, 1748, 1715, 1725, 1780, 1691, 1767, 1715, 1792 and 1745 are included under the topic Early Hollifeard History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Hollifeard Spelling Variations
Spelling variations of this family name include: Oliphant, Olifant, Olifard and others.
Early Notables of the Hollifeard family (pre 1700)
Notable among the family at this time was Laurence Oliphant (1691-1767) was a Jacobite army officer[1] who belonged to a branch settled at Findo Gask in Perthshire, Scotland. He took part in the rising of 1715, and both he and his...
Another 41 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Hollifeard Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Migration of the Hollifeard family
Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: William Oliphant who was banished to New Jersey in 1685; James Oliphant arrived in Georgia in 1775; Lawrence Oliphant arrived in St. Christopher in 1716..
Jacobite
The Hollifeard Motto +
Motto: Tout pour voir
Motto Translation: Provide for all
^ Cleveland, Dutchess of The Battle Abbey Roll with some Account of the Norman Lineages. London: John Murray, Abermarle Street, 1889. Print. Volume 2 of 3
^ Burke, John Bernard, The Roll of Battle Abbey. London: Edward Churton, 26, Holles Street, 1848, Print.
Hollifeard (Scottish)
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1061
|
__label__cc
| 0.596618
| 0.403382
|
Workers covered by company health plans hits new low
For the fourth year in a row, the number of Americans getting health insurance from their employer has dropped. It’s now at a record low, and there are four suspected reasons why.
Since 2008, Gallup and Healthways have been teaming up to measure the amount of employees with company-sponsored health insurance.
In 2011 (the most recent data available), a record low 44.6% received employer-sponsored health insurance. That’s down from 45.8% in 2010, 46.8% in 2009 and 49.2% in 2008.
And as one would expect after looking at that data, the amount of Americans without any health coverage at all is increasing — from 14.8% in 2008, to 16.2% in 2009, to 16.4% in 2010 and 17.1% in 2011 (another record).
The four contributing factors to these trends, according to Gallup:
Increased unemployment
Workers can no longer afford the rising out-of-pocket costs of the insurance their employers offer
More employers are no longer offering insurance, and
More full-time employees are being forced into part-time jobs (which usually don’t qualify them for benefits).
Gallup and Healthways also tracked a decrease in employer-sponsored coverage across the three main types of employees — full-time, part-time and self-employed full-time workers:
70.9% of full-time employees had employer-sponsored coverage in 2011 (compared to 73.4% in 2010)
33% of part-time workers had employer-sponsored coverage in 2011 (compared to 34% in 2010), and
27.6% of self-employed workers had employer-sponsored coverage in 2011 (compared to 28.3% in 2010).
Info: The data comes from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index survey, during which a random sample of 353,492 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, were randomly selected and interviewed via telephone.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1062
|
__label__cc
| 0.652799
| 0.347201
|
People's Liberation Army and Contingency Planning in China [open pdf - 3MB]
From the National Defense University website: "How will China use its increasing military capabilities in the future? China faces a complicated security environment with a wide range of internal and external threats. Rapidly expanding international interests are creating demands for the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to conduct new missions ranging from protecting Chinese shipping from Somali pirates to evacuating citizens from Libya. The most recent Chinese defense white paper states that the armed forces must 'make serious preparations to cope with the most complex and difficult scenarios . . . so as to ensure proper responses . . . at any time and under any circumstances.' Based on a conference co-sponsored by Taiwan's Council of Advanced Policy Studies, RAND, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and National Defense University, The People's Liberation Army and Contingency Planning in China brings together leading experts from the United States and Taiwan to examine how the PLA prepares for a range of domestic, border, and maritime contingencies. The book includes chapters on how the PLA, domestic security forces, and the civilian government conduct contingency planning and how military commanders can draw upon national level military assets and mobilize civilian resources to execute their plans. Substantive chapters assess PLA planning for potential domestic contingencies such as suppressing internal unrest, border contingencies involving India, Myanmar, North Korea, Afghanistan, and Central Asia, and maritime contingencies in both the near and the far seas. Authors also examine PLA preparations and performance in disaster relief, counterpiracy, and noncombatant evacuation operations."
Scobell, Andrew
Ding, Arthur S.
Saunders, Phillip C. (Phillip Charles), 1966-
Harold, Scott, 1975-
Retrieved From:
National Defense University: http://www.ndu.edu/
https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=788934
Help with citations
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1063
|
__label__wiki
| 0.745281
| 0.745281
|
THE TERRIER: CELEBRATE FRANK WORTHINGTON’S BIRTHDAY WITH US
Eleanor Haig
Reece Brown on his 11 years at Birmingham City
- Special edition celebrates Frank Worthington’s birthday
- Reece Brown discusses his time at Birmingham
- 84-pages of exclusive interviews and content for just £3.50
Saturday's match day programme ‘The Terrier’ is a special edition to celebrate Frank Worthington’s birthday!
The copy for the game against Birmingham City is a celebration for Frank Worthington’s 71st birthday. We look in depth at his career at both Huddersfield Town and today’s rivals, Birmingham City.
Sticking with the theme, the programme also looks at Frank’s career highlights across nearly three decades, and The Leicester Mercury give us an insight into his personality and eccentricity.
Elsewhere in The Terrier, hear from Reece Brown about his 11 years at Birmingham City.
Reece spoke to us about his scholarship at Birmingham and getting his First Team debut.
“You just feel happy because it’s a new experience and it’s all that you’ve been working for.
“You finally get there and you’re in the Stadium for the First Team – it’s a big achievement for a 17-year-old.”
You can also find out what songs Steve Mounié likes to listen to in the lead up to a game in ‘Players’ Playlist’!
Alongside all of this, you can get all the information on Birmingham City, with articles about which of their players you should look out for, and Caretaker Head Coach Pep Clotet’s background.
You can get your hands on all of these features in Town's match day programme, which can be bought from the John Smith’s Stadium and the Club Shop, available at £3.50!
CLICK HERE to purchase tickets for the Birmingham game!
Huddersfield Town vs Birmingham City on 23 Nov 19
The Terrier
JUNIOR SC HOLDERS CAN ASK PLAYERS QUESTIONS
Brand new, special feature in Huddersfield Town’s match day programme
SEASON CARD HOLDERS TO RECEIVE DIGITAL BRISTOL CITY PROGRAMME
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1064
|
__label__wiki
| 0.526199
| 0.526199
|
All my Daily Kos diaries Some of my photos
Go back one page
Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2016
Read, comment here.
I began to study psychology when I was 15 and first read Freud. I was an undergraduate psychology major and got my masters in social work on the clinical track. I worked 40 years as a psychotherapist diagnosing and treating people with a wide variety of mental health problems. As director of a mental health clinic and clinical supervisor I was familiar with thousand of patients.
Nowhere have I come across a person with the personality of Donald Trump. I have tried to diagnose him but he defies standard diagnostic categories because he exhibits characteristics of so many diagnoses from the DSM and in addition has paraphilias (groping, toucherism, and possibly frotteurism) and pathological lying (which isn’t even a listed disorder). Megalomania, obsession with the exercise of power, especially in the domination of others, isn’t in the DSM and of itself isn’t a psychiatric disorder. Trump’s oral impulsivity is unusual if not unprecedented in a presidential candidate. I could go on, but all this leads up to his apparent believing in tin-foil hat dire conspiracy theories.
The latest wrinkle in his diversionary tactic from the sexual allegations is, of course, his claim that the elections are rigged despite having no rational evidence that this is true. And the latest wrinkle in this is that 1.8 million dead voters are going to vote for Hillary.
What can anyone, whether a clinician or a lay person, make of this?
Damned if I know.
from the Washington Post
Evening edition:
Comments here
Melania in CNN interview with Anderson Cooper which will be aired at 8PM EST.
Melania Trump is going to be interviewed this evening… or the already taped interview will be aired, since I just saw a segment of it.
She’s being trotted out, the loyal wife, to counter the accusations against the lewd mouthed groper.
What she said, in her pleasantly accented English with, often charming bad grammar was that 1) the host egged her husband on and 2) it was just boy talk.
"No. No, that's why I was surprised, because I said like I don't know that person that would talk that way, and that he would say that kind of stuff in private," Melania Trump said.
"I heard many different stuff -- boys talk," she said. "The boys, the way they talk when they grow up and they want to sometimes show each other, 'Oh, this and that' and talking about the girls. But yes, I was surprised, of course.” www.cnn.com/...
I am not attacking her for being less than fluent in colloquial dirty talk English, but I suspect she is.
Somebody ought to translate what Trump said into Slovenian in the interview.
Unless you count the laughing at what he said, nobody egged her husband on to talk in the way he did about both his desires for unwanted and unexpectedly touching female erogenous area (groping, frotteurism, and toucherism) and his actually acting on these desires and impulses.
It is shameful that having already used and abused women to satisfy his own needs, he is ding this with his wife. She is a victim. As Trump sometimes ends his Tweets: SAD!
Quotes of the day from my former senator (when I lived in Massachusetts)
Appearing with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Sunday at a rally for Hillary Clinton in Denver, Warren tore into the real estate mogul by calling him a “selfish little sleazeball” and a “pathetic cheapskate” who doesn’t deserve support from anyone who had previously backed Sanders’ primary campaign.
“Trump said he was excited for a housing crash because then he could swoop in and buy up more real estate on the cheap,” said Warren, referring to comments Trump made ahead of the 2008 recession.
“What kind of a man does something like that?” she continued. “A small, insecure money-grubber who cares about no one and nothing but himself. A man who will never be president of the United States.” from Huffington Post
Hillary’s new online bully ad:
There are a lot of bullies in this world. The last thing we need is one in the White House. pic.twitter.com/M0owOglPjy
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 17, 2016
Sunday, Oct. 15, 2016
Man stopped, harassed, arrested by police for walking while black. Heres what YOU can do.
Comment here.
I saw this reported on Huffington Postwhich linked to the Edina, MN police website. Briefly, all this man, Larnie Thomas, was doing was walking by the side of the road. What transpired is a clear demonstration of abuse of police power. Fortunately a woman, Nancy Rowes, who happens to work as a mediator, made a video of the entire episode with plainclothes police officer Lt. T.F. Olson.
She told the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
she stopped to watch and film because she “was watching something that I didn’t think was very fair.”
Rowles said Thomas wasn’t upset with the officer at first but grew more agitated during the incident.
“I don’t fault him for being agitated,” she said. “I’m a mediator, and I see people all the time be upset in ways that aren’t very pretty. We’re human. It’s the job of the police to deal with it in a good manner, not the [one] who is being falsely accused.” www.startribune.com/...
The 34 yr. Thomas was arrested by a second police officer who arrived, lights flashing and siren blaring, in an ummarked black SUV. He immediately got out of his vehicle and told Thomas he was under arrest even though Lt Olson hadn’t said one word to him about doing this.
Clearly this could have escalated and we can only wonder what would have happened if the bystander wasn’t recording the incident.
There’s a detailed story about the incident in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
What YOU can do is help make the video on the Facebook page go viral. Just click Share on the police Facebook page or anywhere on Facebook. You can also share my story on Facebook and Twitter.
This is from the local paper:
"I witnessed and videoed this earlier today," reads the description in Rowles' video.
"I passed by a man who was walking on the white line of the shoulder of the street. There was construction and it was obvious that the sidewalk was not available right there so he was hugging the right side as far as he could go. I went around him and noticed in my rearview mirror that an unmarked SUV turned on police lights. The officer pulled in front of the pedestrian to cut him off and proceeded to accuse him of walking in the middle of the street."
"I’m not against the police,” Rowles told the Star Tribune. “I was against what he was doing.” patch.com/…
The woman, later identified by the local paper as Janet Rowles, making the video was asked by the police to identify herself. She complied. However this brings up the question as to whether, not being suspected of any crime, she had to or not. I looked it up:
The relevant Supreme Court cases are Terry v. Ohio and Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of Nevada. In Terry, the court said that law enforcement can stop a person and conduct a frisk if the officer has a reasonable suspicion (which is less than probable cause) that the person has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime and has a reasonable belief that the person “may be armed and presently dangerous.” This may extend to asking you to identify yourself as it is a kind of investigation.
In Hiibel, the police were investigating a report of a possible crime. They approached Hiibel, who was parked in a car. Hiibel repeatedly refused to give his name, and was subsequently arrested. Nevada had a stop and identify law, which was used to convict him. The Supreme Court determined that these laws are constitutional, so long as they require officers to have reasonable and articulable suspicion of criminal involvement. However, if the person believes that providing their name would be incriminating, it’s possible that fifth amendment protections might still apply. But if police are not investigating and have no reasonable suspicion, then you do not have to give your name. Read more
Read comments on Daily Kos
Many of us won’t even look at Salon as we check out the usual websites offering opinion on politics in addition to Daily Kos: Daily Beast, Politco, Slate, Think Progress, Buzzfeed, and Vox for example. I still do since I like Digby and Marcotte. So that’s why I read their lead story by D. Watkins. He is “an Editor at Large for Salon, professor at the University of Baltimore, founder of the BMORE Writers Project, author of "The Beast Side: Living (and Dying) While Black in America" and "The Cook Up: A Crack Rock Memoir."
He writes about Hillary:
As a black millennial myself and a person who was personally affected by that 1994 crime bill, I’m not excited about Hillary Clinton. I know she wasn’t the president back then, but she touted the bill as if it were her own. She was aware of the gross number of African-Americans who were unfairly targeted and incarcerated, and she still called it a success until it became politically unpopular. I can’t vote for Donald Trump, because he’s substance-less, even on top of the fact that black people weren’t allowed to enter many of his earlier rallies – one was even punched in the head by some white geezer for showing up — and just like Hillary, he pivots whenever necessary. The rapper Nas had a great line to sum up a previous presidential election, that actually fits this one better: “Who you gonna elect — Satan or Satan?” From Salon
Here’s the comment I wrote (one thing I like about Salon is that you can put a photo in your comment):
When I saw this live I wondered about Bernie’s ability to handle an unanticipated interruption with grace, not to mention, political savvy.
I think your brain has been burned by feeling so much of the Berne. Satan vs. Satan? You are stretching for a meme and it is false hyperbole. What’s more, you know it. Shame on you, Prof. Watkins. I know what I saw when the women from BLM came onstage with Bernie the first time and he wasn’t exactly welcoming.
The notion that Bernie is representative of the progressive future and Hillary of the past ignores that facts that she served as Obama’s secretary of state and at the worst she represents a continuation of the Obama administration. Hilary or Bernie, how different would they be on Supreme Court appointments? Really, on going after Wall Street and corporate excesses? On jobs, on education… but this just isn’t a more or less equal vs. equal between liberals because Hillary has far more foreign policy knowledge and experience. Most of us shudder at the thought of Trump sitting across from foreign leaders, friends or foes. But I just don’t see Bernie as someone I’d choose over Hillary to sit in that chair.
I was pleased to see I wasn’t alone among the first people to comment:
Basho36 minutes ago
Best lines of the day:
“Who you gonna elect — Satan or Satan?”
"when he was approached and challenged by Black Lives Matter, [Bernie] was intellectually curious enough to listen"
"Millennials . . . can spot the phoniness from a block away"
Our political system is in critical condition: Republicans suck. Democrats don't suck quite so bad, but they suck, too.
You millennials are the future, just about my only hope. Don't blow it. Don't lose your idealism as you grow older.
And welcome to Salon. I want to hear your voice.
towpath291 hour ago
I'm not the biggest fan of hillary but I do know she's much better than you make her out to be. Just to make your point doesn't mean you get to downplay her accomplishments.
Splint Chesthair1 hour ago
"Millennials have access to too much technology — they’ll fact-check on the spot in 0.8 seconds and they don’t have the patience to be sold the same dream over and over again. "
"Bernie spoke to people, not at them. When he didn’t understand an issue, like when he was approached and challenged by Black Lives Matter, he was intellectually curious enough to listen, in an effort to solve the issue at hand."
You sure about that? Because I seem to recall him not bothering to return calls to black constituents in Vermont, a state with one of the highest black incarceration rates. Sounds to me like he was entirely uninterested in the BLM phenomenon until they forced it on him. If you don't believe that, here is his "intellectual curiosity" on display in April 2015:
socialistworker.org/...
This is a man who clearly knew that BLM existed but couldn't be assed to do any research. Until BLM showed up at his doorstep.
And when you say ...
"Hillary’s good with black talking points, but not good with black people."
... I have to ask, in all seriousness, whether you have looked at the evidence. Because not only did blacks support Hillary in crushing overwhelming numbers, there are countless stories of her actually listening to blacks -- listening tours and the like -- and the mothers of BLM victims have been campaigning for Hillary precisely because she made the time for them.
@Splint Chesthair
Do you get paid by Correct-the-Record or do you just do this for free? Maybe you didn't get the last memo: The Clinton campaign wants you to quit insulting Sanders voters and millennials.
Yahzi1 hour ago
If you think Hillary Clinton is uninspiring, you are an idiot.
If you watched Hillary put up with the most disrespectful raving lunacy ever played out on a Presidential debate stage, and yet keep her cool and focus on doing the people's work, and are not inspired, you are a f******* idiot.
Take your tired Crooked Hillary memes and shove them where the sun don't shine. That s*** won't play in 2017.
Sat., Oct. 14, 2016
Read story here.
On 7 October, as the political world convulsed from the revelation that Trump had bragged about kissing and groping women without their consent, Cathy Heller, 63, was sitting in her New York home fielding incredulous emails from a friend.
“I keep thinking about how he treated you,” her friend wrote, hours after showing Heller the tape. “Obviously not an isolated incident.”
It was a story Heller had told many friends and family members over the years, but is only now telling in public. Some 20 years ago, she claims, when she met Donald Trump for the first and only time, he grabbed her, went for a kiss, and grew angry with her as she twisted away. “Oh, come on,” she alleges that he barked, before holding her firmly in place and planting his lips on hers. Read at The Guardian
I added the text in red.
From Daily Beast: As women continue to come forward with disturbing sexual harassment tales about Donald Trump, a former Norwegian model has accused the Republican nominee of going on an “excruciating” rant about women’s breasts at a White House Correspondent’s Dinner in 1993. Vendela Kirsebom, a former Sports Illustrated cover model, told The Daily Mail she had to ask organizers to move her after Trump, who was sitting next to her, continued to make “vulgar” and “sexist” remarks about women’s bodies throughout the night. “He talked about big breasts, small breasts, how one was better than the other and the differences between them,” she recalled. “His main focus was breasts and the sizes of women's bodies. Fat women were not real women in his opinion. … He basically said if you are not attractive and beautiful, then you don't have any purpose as a woman.” Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Graydon Carter, who handled seating for the event, said he recalled Kirsebom coming over to him “almost in tears” and begging to be moved to a different table. Trump had spent most of the night assessing women’s bodies and “asking how they measured up to those of other women,” Carter told The Daily Mail.
READ IT AT THE DAILY MAIL
Comments here.
Trump has to know that many more women are in the wings trying to overcome their stage fright so they can come forward with accounts of how he molested them. He probably won’t remember many of them. There were so many, how could he?
He may be ignorant enough, so consumed with hatred of the media, to think that when day or two passes without another woman leveling a charge through a newspaper or her lawyer he can rest easy.
As was noted on Lawrence O’Donnell by a Washington Post reporter this evening, Karen Tumelty (the reporter who broke the story about Kristin Anderson in the nightclub) and other reporters there are working on allegations brought to them by other women.
Trump may not grasp that before such stories are made public by a newspaper or lawyer, arduous investigation is done to assure the story can be verified at the least by the victim contemporaneously reporting the incident to friends or family. The hope of course is that there were witnesses, but it is unlikely Trump would have risked this behavior in front of anybody.
Newspapers and lawyers like Gloria Allred, who has offices in New York and Los Angeles, have large enough staffs experienced with cases like this. Allred is representing The Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos.
What we know from the Bill Cosby case, and the case of the Boston priests who abused boys, is that after the first victims come forward the floodgates are gradually opened and before long there is a many more instance are revealed. If you saw the movie “Spotlight,” which is about how the Boston Globe’s Spotlight reporting team we see how they first learned of a few cases, and during the course of an extensive investigation discovered to their shock that sexual abuse among Boston priest was rampant.
What we don’t know is whether there is a woman, or women, holding back now because they were actually raped by Trump. It would be most difficult to reveal this for several profound reasons, including being attacked for not reporting it when it happened. There are also lots of reasons a woman may be reluctant to put herself in the public eye. Shame is probably the main reason. Fear is another. Already it’s been reported that Mindy Macgillivray, the woman he groped at Mar-a-Lago, says she and her family have been harassed to much since she gave her interview to the Palm Beach Post she’s leaving the country.
My guess based on what we know about Trump, about what he brags about, and about how the instances with the women who have made allegations mirror his claims, is that when the numbers come out Trump may very well have exceeded 51, the number of known victims of Bill Cosby.
We only have a short time before the election. This may spur women who haven’t come forward to do so. I think by election day the number will be in the 50-60 range.
The awful irony of all this is that when you read my title, you knew exactly what I meant.
Addendum: Read the two stories today about Trump and narcissistic rage because as these stories overwhelm the news and the women Trump may very well have such a reaction. My story is “The escalating danger of Trump’s narcissistic rage” and WeeMama’s story is “Narcissistic rage on the national stage.”
Friday, Oct. 14, 2016
The escalating danger of Trump’s narcissistic rage
Now that yet two more credible allegations of sexual improprieties and assault have come out about Trump, bringing the total to 10, I have to wonder what will happen as Trump has to defend himself against behaviors he knows are true. He has denied ever meeting any of the women recounting his undated sexual advances; but he can’t claim that about the the latest one since they clearly knew each other.
It is in his nature to counter-punch. This is what he will do. That’s on the outside, on the inside psychological defenses are at work but we can only make educated guesses as to what they are. This isn’t all that relevant because we know that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.
I’ve written about what the final straw, which bombshell, would break the back of Trump’s campaign. That has happened. The campaign camel has a broken back and four broken legs. But now I wonder what will happen when Trump continues to blame Hilliary and an imaginary evil conspiracy including nefarious (possibly Jewish) banks, the press, and even establishment Republicans. What will his brainwashed supporters do. And as a clinician, I wonder what will happen to Trump himself.
You don’t have to be a psychotherapist like me to conclude that Trump is an extreme narcissist. The DSM-5 is so easy to use laymen can make the actual clinical diagnosis themselves.
I want to get this online quick, so I apologize for republishing excerpts from what I wrote on August 22nd — with one addition which I will put here rather than at the end.
I am now consulting with several other psychotherapists to see if they think that someone with a personality make-up like Trump has would be susceptible to a psychotic break when he finally realizes that he has lost any chance of becoming president. As a clinician who was never interested in learning about narcissistic personality disorder in depth until Trump, this is all new to me.
Because Trump is such an extreme narcissist and has so much of his self-worth invested in winning the election, we need to understand narcissistic injury and narcissistic rage. We must understand what happens when circumstances drive extreme narcissists into a state of rage, and consider what might happen when one has the power to influence and persuade a significant portion of the population to act out.
"Narcissistic rage is the response of a narcissist to anything they perceive as a threat to their ego, their control or their power. It is usually intense, out of proportion, often random and is used to manipulate."
This is what we can expect: "And at the same time the narcissist may also be plotting how to get revenge on the person who dared to challenge them. So the person gets twice the punishment...!"
Instead of his directing his rage against only person (Hillary Clinton) he may direct it against the system.
Quotes from www.decision-making-confidence.com/...
Politico published a disturbing article today:
What if Trump won't accept defeat?
As their nominee unravels, Republicans worry where his scorched-earth, rigged-election rhetoric leads the GOP and the country.
In it conservative radio host Charlie Sykes wrote about how Trump is leading his supporters to believe that the election is rigged against him and the the polls are also rigged. Sykes says: emphasis added.
“There’s a sizable portion of his fan base that will believe these things, and it’s toxic to our democracy,” he continued. “You’re basically taking ideas and voices that have been on the fringes — justifiably — and Donald Trump is bringing them squarely into the mainstream and weaponizing them. This is something we’ve not had to confront before. At one time there were responsible voices that would have drawn some lines that would have kept these voices from dominating our discourse, and they don’t exist now.”
Read more: www.politico.com/...
Their last paragraph gives me pause, to say the least!
"My hope is that if he loses big, anyone who’s not a racist nationalist says ‘Never again’ and the racist nationalists just retreat to their basements where they belong. But my fear is that Bannon and Trump uniting could be about them looking to do something long-term that would ensure this fringe element remains.”
I wrote the following in August, but now we know he is encouraging those who are so angry they want to act out. In fact as of this morning reporters we booed and shout at when the press pool entered his rally.
I think a Trump loss even if he doesn't absolutely nothing to encourage it, there will be a real feeling among the farthest fringe that they are been given license to act out on their feels of white entitlement. The more Trump encourages them by ranting about how he lost because the system was rigged, the more he throws gasoline on the rage of zealous supports who are possibly mentally unstable supporters. These the risk of this rage turning into a flaming and dangerous fury.
It should go without saying what could happen when unstable people feel empowered to act on their anger. Trump has made me afraid, and I no long fear what will happen if he wins, I fear what will happen when he looses.
From searching pictures for angry Trump
Psychology Today: Rage—Coming Soon From a Narcissist Near You: Hell hath no fury or contempt as a narcissist you dare to disagree with, tell they’re wrong, or embarrass
Short fuses
Low frustration tolerance
Need to have the last word
Unable to lose
Won’t take “No” for an answer
Quick to anger if you don’t accommodate them
Quick to being aggressively defensive if you call them on any deficiency, fault or responsibility
Can’t apologize or if do, can’t do it sincerely
Rarely say, “Thank you” or “Congratulations”
Don’t feel or demonstrate remorse
Feel entitled to enthusiastic and appreciative approval, adoration, agreement and obedience
Gloat in victory, sullen in defeat
Quick to rage if you humiliate
Below, emphasis added:
What is really at the core of narcissists is an instability in their ability to feel and sustain feeling bigger, larger, smarter and more successful than everyone else which they need to feel stable. And just as Hamlet’s mother said, “the lady doth protest too much,” “the narcissist doth brag, scorn, talk down, primp and belittle too much” in order to continually prove to the world and themselves that they are larger than life. This is not to increase their self-esteem as much as it is to continually spackle the holes in their core that lead to a feeling of instability—and that, if not spackled, will lead to brittleness followed by fragmentation.
Narcissistic rage occurs when that core instability is threatened and furthermore threatened to destabilize them even further. Not unlike a wounded animal being the most vicious (because they think the next wound would kill them), narcissistic rage occurs when narcissists believe the next insult/assault to their grandiose based stability would shatter them.
Friday, Oct 14, 2016 · 3:08:10 PM PDT · HalBrown
Psychotherapist Neil Friedman writes to me:
I think he is suffering his narcissistic injury all the time but has developed quite an efficient and effective system of defenses to keep it covered. . .at least covered enough so as not to expose to much about his wounds. . . What will happen when the wall he has built (did the Mexican's pay for it) around his aggrandized sense of self comes crumbling down is anybodies guess, but we can safely say it won't be pretty. and all the kings horse and all the kings men. . .
This personal account on Huffington Post “Heroin Is Like Licking The Breath Of God” reminded me of one of my closest college friends.
Paul Berger was my friend. He was my roommate in 1961 at Michigan State when the university made an effort to recruit a large number of freshman from New York with its excellent secondary education system because, frankly, they wanted to raise the acadmeic level of the students.
Paul was from White Plains, 10 miles down route 22 from Mt. Vernon where I live. Paul was a lingust who
I was pretty naive in 1961. Paul was reckless
in his risk taking. I remember he once had
sex under a blanket with a woman acquaintance
in the lobby of the dormitory dining room.
By 1969 my wife-to-be were living together
in an old farmhouse outside Mason, Michigan.
was already fluent in five languages. He was on the swim team. He was also a confirmed non-conformist bordering on an anarchist who before long was a frequent guest of the Dean of Students who warned him that his behavior would get him expelled.
He flouted every rule, although he never hurt anybody. His behavior with women was Trumpian -- he would sometimes just walk up to a woman and embrace her and kss her on the lips. But the things that got him in trouble were along the lines of sitting down at empty table in the Union luch-room and eating the leftovers. He called this progging, a word he coined.
Eventually he was not only exprelled but had a no trespass order so he couldn't cross Grand River Avenue, the street that seperated town from gown.
Paul then went on to wander around Europe where his language skills were put to good use. He told me he slept under bridges in Spain and, although always attracted to women considered himself bisexual and said he “turned tricks with men” to make money.
Eventually Paul moved to New York City.
Once when my wife to be and I were living together Paul came to visit to get away from the lure of herion. He said he'd been "chipping." By that he meant he wasn't using it that heavily.
We talked about what the experience of being on heroin was like and I will never forget what he said: “it is like being totally loved.”
This fits with what Richard Farrell wrote in Huffington Post:
There is nothing on this planet more euphoric than sticking a needle into my vein, watching the blood register like a snake slithering quietly before it strikes its prey, slowly pushing down on the plunger, feeling the warmth moving up into my shoulder, exploding into a head-to-toe rush the instant the white liquid hits my heart. It’s without a doubt, a hundred times more exhilarating than that millisecond right before you explode in a massive orgasm.
I’m in love. Nothing can stop me from getting heroin. I will rob you. I will manipulate you. If my mouth is moving, I am lying. I don’t care who you are or what kind of history we had together. You are nothing to me. Heroin is my god.
Paul stayed with us for a month and without too much physical discomfort kicked the habit.
As far as I know he stayed clean and when he went back to the city he got a job as a cab driver, married, and had children.
Tragically his I.V. heroin use caught up with him and when he was in his fifties he died of hepatits C.
Let’s see if the political junkies who read Daily Kos have any comments on this story.
Mike Pence Won’t Answer An 11-Year-Old Girl’s Question About Donald Trump Objectifying Women
He made it about foreign policy.
There was a Girl Scout troop, came to our station the other day for a tour, and afterward, there was an 11-year-old girl who told our staff, and she said this completely unsolicited. She was talking about Donald Trump’s words in campaign commercials. She said this: “When I hear those words and look in the mirror, they make me feel bad about myself.” Again, she said that totally unsolicited. What would you say to that 11-year-old girl?
Pence: “Well, I would say to any one of my kids and any children in this country that Donald Trump and I are committed to a safer and more prosperous future for their family. The weak and feckless foreign policy that Hillary Clinton promises to continue has literally caused wider areas of the world to spin apart, the rise of terrorist threats that have inspired violence here at home, and we’ve seen an erosion of law and order in our streets. And we’ve seen opportunities and jobs evaporate and even leave Ohio and leave this country. I would say to any of our kids that if Donald Trump and I have the chance to serve in the White House, that we’re going to work every day for a stronger, safer and more prosperous America.”
Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016
Comment on this on Daily Kos here
Chris Mathews just noted that Trump used “slings and arrows” in his rally today, quoting Hamlet. Chris, amused, says “my God, who is this guy quoting Hamlet” and then he went on from memory to recite the verses above. Watch video clip of Trump here.
Trump said "I take all of these slings and arrows gladly; so we can have our country back.”
In other words, he is saying he will take all the weapons being thrown at him to save the country for his supporters. He want to convert the image of standing up to “malicious attacks,” as he called them, like a soldier in ancient times being bombarded by rock and arrows.
What Chris Mathews didn’t say is that Trump has no idea what Hamlet was talking about.
Hamlet says these lines feeling so despondent that he is contemplating suicide and his own death, and wondering whether death — perchance to dream — would be worse than living.
The “to be or not to be” soliloquy is the most famous from all of Shakespeare, if not the most well known from all of literature.
Here’s what educator William Delaney has to say about why this is:
I think it is entirely possible that Shakespeare wrote the “To be or not to be” soliloquy as a separate piece expressing his own personal feelings about life and death and then put it away in the bottom drawer, as writers will do, until he found a convenient spot for it when he was writing his play Hamlet. What is important in this soliloquy, and what explains its great popularity, is the truths it tells about human existence, not what it reveals about the character of the moody Prince. We have all personally experienced some of the slings and arrows Hamlet complains about, just by being alive and having to deal with people and struggle to keep a niche in the crowded, competitive world. And we have all felt discouraged and wondered whether existence was really worth the trouble. Reference
Another explanation:
What Hamlet is musing on is the comparison between the pain of life, which he sees as inevitable (the sea of troubles - the slings and arrows - the heart-ache - the thousand natural shocks) and the fear of the uncertainty of death and of possible damnation of suicide.
Hamlet's dilemma is that although he is dissatisfied with life and lists its many torments, he is unsure what death may bring (the dread of something after death). He can't be sure what death has in store; it may be sleep but in perchance to dream he is speculating that it is perhaps an experience worse than life. Death is called the undiscover'd country from whichno traveller returns. In saying that Hamlet is acknowledging that, not only does each living person discover death for themselves, as no one can return from it to describe it, but also that suicide os a one-way ticket. If you get the judgment call wrong, there's no way back. www.phrases.org.uk/...
Trump quoting Shakespeare is insane enough. His not knowing what the hell he is talking about is Trump being Trump.
Two of my Time covers:
Current Time, my suggestion for next week, and after the election.
23 comments so far on Daily Kos here
It’s another great front page for the New York Daily news which has had many of them about Trump. This is about a story that could eclipse all the others about women coming forward with traumatic accounts of Trump sexually assaulting them. That is because this is about a child.
I think they decided to emphasize the story about the 10 year old girl quite deliberately. And emphasize it they did with huge typeface and a lascivious looking Donald Trump.
The language is lawsuit proof: HE HAD EYES FOR A 10-YEAR-OLD. He saw, he said. It’s indisputable since it’s on video tape.
The top heading calling him a perv certainly fits with this revelation. No doubt some men among his supporters don’t think anything he did makes him a sleazy perv, even his barging in on naked 15 year olds at Miss Teenage America (unless it was their daughter).
On the bottom is the headline about the 4 women accusing him, after all that’s old news.
The editors know that some boorish men admire Trump being able to get away with this actually engaging in the locker room bragging from the bus. However, ogling a 10 year old — leering at her — and saying he has a fantasy of having sex with dating her when she’s 20 is another matter.
These misogynistic men would probably beat up someone who said this about their daughter.
The primary heading calling him a perv certainly fits with this — some men among his supporters don’t think anything he did makes him a sleazy perv, not even his barging in on naked 15 year olds at Miss Teenage America (unless one of them was their daughter).
Crystal ball time:
My hunch is that no matter what comes out Trump will be Trump. He seems to have reacted with fury. Remarks are being convey to the press that he is ready to go to war with the media. There have been threats of suing the media and the women making the accusations. If anyone in his inner circle tries to suggest he withdraw he will fire them.
He will lash out in narcissistic rage until the bitter end, and it will be a bitter, bitter end. And tragically it won’t end after the election. His hardcore supports represent the potentially dangerous unbelly of our society. To call these people a basket of deplorables is to minimize the risk to civil order that they represent.
The People Magazine story will add fuel to the fire. It is a graphic account of an attempted rape.
He can’t deny he said it, it’s on video tape!
Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016
The following, after even more revelations of Trump’s abuse of women, I thought this would be something to hope for tomorrow:
You can comment on Daily Kos
Willamette Week is a weekly liberal tabloid format alternative newspaper known for it’s exhaustive coverage of the cannabis scene as well as local politics.
Willamette Week (WW) is an alternative weekly newspaper and a website published in Portland, Oregon, United States, since 1974. It features reports on local news, politics, sports, business and culture.
Willamette Week is the only weekly newspaper to have had one of its reporters, Nigel Jaquiss, win a Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting.[2] It is also the first newspaper to have won a Pulitzer for a story first published online. Wikipedia
“Our readers have a great affection and fondness for Donald Trump,” editor-in-chief Dylan Howard said in a recent interview. “It’s a readership that is disenfranchised. They do not like the political establishment. They see Donald Trump as someone who will champion their cause, just like the National Enquirer has championed their cause for many decades.”
In 2011, shortly after Trump announced he would not run for the Republican nomination for president, the Enquirer published an article headlined, “Millions Implore Donald Trump to Reconsider New Presidential Run.” Eventually, Trump obliged. And soon after he declared his candidacy last summer, he gave Enquirer readers a world exclusive, in which he explained why he was running. “I am the only one who can make America great again!” he wrote. From www.bloomberg.com/...
My friend just brought me a copy here in the coffee shop at Willamette View, the liberal senior place where I live (shown in photo), and the first thing I thought was that the National Enquirer was having a psychotic break.
The cover is laid out in National Enquirer format with their usual typeface, colors, and sensational headlines. The only difference is that instead of making hateful and outrageous claims against Hillary, it is all pro-Hillary.
Of course, the National Enquirer is 100% in the bag for Trump. It’s been reported that he and Enquirer publisher David Pecker are good friends.
The sensational headlines in Willamette Week are their real sentiments. They compare this election to an episode of Duck Dynasty. They are all in for Hillary.
Trump is a bully, a predator, and a silver-spoon racist who asks his supporters to join him in the sewer. What's most frightening about his candidacy is how many people are willing to sink to his level.
Trump is a pestilence and not even the second-best candidate running for president. Despite his gaffes, Libertarian Gary Johnson would be better. For all her arrogance and pseudo-scientific drivel, Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein also makes Trump look like an apprentice.
Yet there is reason for measured optimism that America can recover from this repulsive election. That's because Hillary Rodham Clinton ranks among the steadiest, most experienced and capable people ever to seek the White House.
Here’s their endorsement of her.
They write:
The 2016 presidential race has been one of the most exhausting shouting matches in recent memory.
The ruckus appears to be obscuring what elections are about: creating a marketplace of ideas so voters can choose among those candidates and proposals that offer the best hope for the future.
In some ways, this year's marketplace looks more like a half-stocked convenience store. It offers, in Donald Trump, the least-qualified, least civil presidential candidate we hope we'll ever see, and a candidate of extraordinary qualifications (and considerable flaws) in Hillary Rodham Clinton.
You can read Willamette Week it here.
The following story is also posted on Daily Kos where you can comment on it and share it to Facebook and Twitter.
Some ideas about what to write about the election are kind of bouncing around in my mind. While it’s midmorning for the majority of you it’s just after 6:00 AM here in Portland (the one where it’s 6:00AM). The coffee cup is on it’s first Keurig.
I woke to the great map top of the page on Kos…www.dailykos.com/... and found a graphic to express how I felt about it.
I’m not sure about the words Trumpageddon and Trumpocolapyse because I’d use those to describe what it would be if Trump won. Of course Trump would at some mental level perceive this landslide loss this way.
On the news now just briefly was the idea of sending people to Mars who would never return. Alas I won’t be alive when they do it. If it was possible now and Trump won I’d try to sign up if my dogs could come along.
Mind freeze...
A morning thought was what Obama pillow talk must be like when they discuss Donald Trump, the man responsible for the birther movement.
I imagine Michelle waking up and saying “Barak, you’ll never what I dreamed you did to Trump.”
What I’d give to hear about that dream.
If I was tasked to provide therapy for the Obama family now it would be play therapy. I’d have them freely draw what they’d fantasize happening to Trump, or make PlayDough figures of him and have go with the playroom kid’s tool set.
As I write this the TV is showing a discussion of Alex Jones and his paying people to disrupt Clinton rallies. I handle this by writing that he and his miserable hoards are disgusting paranoid evil miserable cesspool dwelling trogoldytes.
Hell, my recommendation as a therapist for any of you who is overwhelmed by Trump and worries that he might just win and talking it out with like-minded friends isn’t doing it for you, try the play therapy.
PS: Check out my friend Howard Covitz’s story “Call It By Its Right Name”
www.dailykos.com/… This remind me of another health way to deal with your feelings engendered by Trump which even psychotherapists like Howard and I find helpful : writing about it on Daily Kos. I should have thought of this right off, since I was engaged in doing it as I was writing this story. In fact, journal/writing therapy is well recognized and was something that helped me cope after the death of my wife.
Wednesday, Oct 12, 2016 · 7:07:37 AM PDT · HalBrown
From www.dailykos.com/…
Psychoanalyst Covitz explains why Trump is like a dangerous stalker.
My afternoon story on Daily Kos where you can make comments.
In his OpEd today, David Brooks writes about “the essential loneliness” of Donald Trump in “Donald Trump’s Sad, Lonely Life.” Brooks say he sometimes find himself “experiencing feelings of deep sadness and pity” as he pictures Trump as a deeply isolated and lonely person. As a psychotherapist I feel no sadness or pity for Trump. I have no sympathy for the Devil. Why should I?
Brooks writes:
Trump seems incapable of that. He is essentially adviser-less, friendless. His campaign team is made up of cold mercenaries at best and Roger Ailes at worst. His party treats him as a stench it can’t yet remove.
He was a germophobe through most of his life and cut off contact with others, and now I just picture him alone in the middle of the night, tweeting out hatred.
Trump breaks his own world record for being appalling on a weekly basis, but as the campaign sinks to new low after new low, I find myself experiencing feelings of deep sadness and pity.
Imagine if you had to go through a single day without sharing kind little moments with strangers and friends.
Imagine if you had to endure a single week in a hate-filled world, crowded with enemies of your own making, the object of disgust and derision.
You would be a twisted, tortured shrivel, too, and maybe you’d lash out and try to take cruel revenge on the universe. For Trump this is his whole life.
Brooks has his own psychological analysis:
Trump continues to display the symptoms of narcissistic alexithymia, the inability to understand or describe the emotions in the self. Unable to know themselves, sufferers are unable to understand, relate or attach to others.
To prove their own existence, they hunger for endless attention from outside. Lacking internal measures of their own worth, they rely on external but insecure criteria like wealth, beauty, fame and others’ submission.
In this way, Trump seems to be denied all the pleasures that go with friendship and cooperation. Women could be sources of love and affection, but in his disordered state he can only hate and demean them. His attempts at intimacy are gruesome parodies, lunging at women as if they were pieces of meat.
Don’t worry if you had to look up alexithymia. I did too even though it is considered a psychiatric term. It means simply difficulty in experiencing, expressing, and describing emotional responses.
I forgive you for skipping the more technical definition:
Alexithymia is a personality construct characterized by the inability to identify and describe emotions in the self. The core characteristics of alexithymia are marked dysfunction in emotional awareness, social attachment, and interpersonal relating. Furthermore, individuals with alexithymia have difficulty in distinguishing and appreciating the emotions of others, which is thought to lead to unempathic and ineffective emotional responding. Alexithymia is prevalent in approximately 10% of the general population and is known to be comorbid with a number of psychiatric conditions.
I added to my psychological assessment of Trump’s overall this morning after I read about his inability to understand what other people would find funny:
This is about how difficult it was for writers to work with him when he was the subject of a Comedy Central roast.
“One thing that stuck out to me during rehearsal,” Larsen (executive producer) said, “is he would always poll the people around him if they thought it was funny. He never really seemed to have a grasp on what was funny and why it was funny. He was always looking at others to validate if it was funny.”
“I have done this a long time and nobody blacks out punchlines,” said Jesse Joyce, one of the writers. Scrapping punchlines represents “a classic lack of an understanding of how a joke works,” he added.
What people find amusing tell us a lot about them. The meanness of Trump, his taking pleasure in other people’s discomfort or pain which could be defined as sadistic is illustrated by this:
Trump made a few lackluster attempts at cracking wise. He changed a joke meant to slam MacFarlane from: “The only way you’ll ever draw a crowd is with a pencil.” Trump’s revision: “The only crowd you’ll attract is flies.”
My morning story here is “Here’s proof trump can’t act normal because he doesn’t know what normal is.” It is worth reading if this interests you.
I could treat Donald Trump if he became my client because I would engage in the intellectual discipline of empathy. It would be difficult. For most therapists, I’d say for all effective therapists, empathy comes naturally. But there are rare instances where you really have to work on putting yourself in a client’s place so you can, as the saying goes, walk in their shoes.
For example, I’ve had abusive men in therapy who had little insight and blamed their wives for their own behavior, but I still had to try to grasp their experiential world. When some of the men were Trump-like in having little ability to appreciate the pain (emotional especially) they were causing their wives, all I could try to do was work on convincing them that behavioral change would benefit them if they valued their marriage and family.
When I was working in a clinic I knew that their wives were in therapy with a colleague who was counseling them so they had the self-esteem to get out of the marriage. I can’t count the times when I had men drop out of marital couples therapy because they felt I was siding with their wives. However, when men and women (or in a few cases same sex couples) were both willing to admit they needed to change, my success rate was excellent. I could tell what the chances were by whether or not they both came in willing together for the first session. In all modesty I was a very good marriage counselor.
There’s about as much chance of my becoming Trump’s therapist as there is of a Zombie Apocalypse. Besides I’m retired and would have to renew my license, and he couldn’t afford my fee.
Read and comment on this mornings Daily Kos story here
If Trump has lost Fox News…
Shep Smith Wonders If ‘Almost Fascist’ Trump Has Another Agenda
He says the GOP nominee’s vow to jail Hillary Clinton “might have been bordering on unconstitutional.”
In trying to understand Trump, these are tellings view of some aspects of his psychological make-up which we didn’t know before: Heres another:
"He never really seemed to have a grasp on what was funny and why it was funny. He was always looking at others to validate if it was funny.”
There are two parts to this. One is not knowing what was funny (speaks to lack of empathy but much more), and looks to others to tell him what was funny. Much more here:
The Inside Story Of Donald Trump’s Comedy Central Roast Is Everything You Thought It Would Be
The 2011 event is a window into the mind of the Republican nominee for president.
Clips from the roast here.
Some Trump deplorables.
On Lawrence O’Donnell clips of the dozens of times Trump snorted in the debate and wondering if he had a sinus infection or was on coke.
On Rachel tonight:
Word of the night “how skeevy do the reports on Trump have to get?
And at a Women for Trump rally at the RNC HQ.
The sign holder was interview afterwards
Ya gotta wonder:
I listened to the exchange with Cooper on the radio and without being distracted by visuals it was more disturbing and reprehensible, and unhinged in a way that my psychotherapist friends and I can’t figure out — from a neurological perspective nobody can figure out what’s wrong with his brain… does he have weird seizures under pressure? We have put our collective psychoanalyst minds together on the content of his ISIS escape. To go in a split second from minimizing what he said on the bus to ISIS cutting people’s heads off and drowning them in cages and ranting on about that until brought back to the subject. Then back on the bus topic he avoids answering the question about whether he ever did any of the things he bragged about he uttered a lot of blather before said he did not. I think he was working up the guts to make that lie and reckless fool realized that he had to lie — although he hinted that other women may make allegations which he would deny.
A Freudian could say that his instantly leaping to the example of beheading could symbolize unconscious castration anxiety. This using the example of being drowned in a cage could symbolize death in the womb.
Huffington Post called Trump a “monster schmuck.” It is true that he is a monstrously contemptible and detestable person who is the captain of the basket of deplorables.
However, there are two meanings of the word “schmuck” which most adults familiar with Yiddish slang know.
One is the simply the dictionary definition which is how the word is commonly used, i.e., a foolish or contemptible person, or as Wiki defines it:
"Schmuck", or "shmuck", in American English is a pejorative term meaning one who is stupid or foolish, or an obnoxious, contemptible or detestable person. The word came into the English language from Yiddish (שמאָק, shmok), where it has similar pejorative meanings, but where its original and literal meaning is penis.[1]
However the second meaning from it’s Yiddish origin is penis. I obviously don’t know the size of Trump’s penis, although it would be pleasant to discover from the wacky Doctor that he needs Viagra. I just want to call him a little big schmuck because it puts him in his place in two ways.
It is interchangeable with saying a man is a prick. I know from personal experience that some Jewish adults thought it was vulgar in the fifties. It was commonly used as a minor insult — he’s a jerk, he’s a prick, he’s a schmuck, were all pretty much interchangeable— among my Jewish peers and as a general putdown by lots of other kids, girls as well as boys.
Since Trump when mocked for having short fingers assured us that in the other department he was well endowed.
This is yet one of the extraordinarily surreal aspects of Trump’s candidacy. Can you believe that a major news source would have the headline “Donald Trump defends the size of his penis?”
We can thank Marco Rubio for bringing this aspect of Trump out (from CNN Politics)
"He's always calling me Little Marco. And I'll admit he's taller than me. He's like 6'2, which is why I don't understand why his hands are the size of someone who is 5'2," Rubio said in Virginia on Sunday. "And you know what they say about men with small hands? You can't trust them.”
Trump responded by saying:
"Look at those hands, are they small hands?" the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination said, raising them for viewers to see. "And, he referred to my hands -- 'if they're small, something else must be small.’ I guarantee you there's no problem. I guarantee.”
Trump is one of those insecure males who enjoys bullying and being his version of machismo.
He is a man who wants everyone to admire him because he has a big penis.
While we know from the expert analysis of his hand size based on a cast made for the Madam Tussard Wax Museum his hand size is in the lower 25% for men.
While I can find no science to correlate hand (or foot) size with penis size, we know that urban legend and school yard wisdom has it that one can do this.
That Trump “would go there” suggests, not necessarily that he is embarrassed about the size of his penis, though it could, but that he feels he needs to assure people that he is a manly man in every way.
And then there’s this
=============Addendum=============
Here’s some of what psychoanalyst Howard Covitz (who also writes stories on Daily Kos) has to say about penises:
Rule 1. Men need to carry a moniker like Hose or Rod or Dick or, of course, Donald. Think of all the great Donalds you know ... starting with me. Don't ... I repeat Don't ... Don't ever let your son think his name is Rinse, Jr. Try calling him Hose'emDown-Don (long names with lots of initials do the trick). My Dad used to tell me every morning: Hose'em Down, Don and then he'd chuckle. So, that's Rule 1. and really important.
Rule 2. From an early age, teach your son what to call little girls. The Little Guy must come to realize that being a Guy has power. Calling your sister, Sis, is for Sissies. That Dokteur (Freud) from Vienna said that boys need to have pride in their penises ... Phallic Narcissism, he called it.
What help most are two things:
Teach your little guy that he has the biggest penis since Alex Phallics, the First Prince of the Weimar Republik and no other man's is as big. To settle the matter, tutor him in calling his boy playmates by endearing names like ... Little, Lyin', Crooked, Wee-Wee-Macher and Phyllis. He's gotta learn early how to make other guys feel small.
More from Eight habits of successful Trumps.
Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about schmuck:
Etymology of Schmuck
In the German language the word Schmuck means "jewelry, adornment".[2] The etymology of the pejorative meaning is a matter of some disagreement.
The lexicographer Michael Wex, author of How to Be a Mentsh (And Not a Shmuck), writes that the Yiddish term and the German term are completely unrelated. "Basically, the Yiddish word comes out of baby talk," according to Wex. "A little boy’s penis is a shtekl, a 'little stick'. Shtekl became shmeckle, in a kind of baby-rhyming thing, and shmeckle became shmuck. Shmeckle is prepubescent and not a dirty word, but shmuck, the non-diminutive, became obscene."[3]
According to Leo Rosten in "Hooray for Yiddish!", the pejorative use of the German "schmuck" derives from Schmock, which is closer to the original Yiddish word: and the transition of the word from meaning "jewel" to meaning "penis" is related to the description of a man's genitals as "the family jewels".[4]
The Online Etymology Dictionary indicates that the term derives from Eastern Yiddish shmok, literally "penis", from Old Polish smok, "grass snake, dragon",[5] but Rosten cites Dr. Shlomo Noble of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research as saying that shmok derives from shmuck, and not the other way around.[6]
Because of its generally being considered a vulgarity,[6] the word is often euphemized as "schmoe", which was the source of Al Capp's cartoon strip creature the "shmoo".[7] Other variants include "schmo" and "shmo".
In Jewish-American culture
In Jewish homes in the United States, the word normally has been "regarded as so vulgar as to be taboo".[8] Lenny Bruce, a Jewish stand-up comedian, wrote that the use of the word during his performances in 1962 led to his arrest on the West Coast, "by a Yiddish undercover agent who had been placed in the club several nights running to determine if [his] use of Yiddish terms was a cover for profanity".[9]
In The Joys of Yiddish, Leo Rosten wrote: "Never use schmuck lightly, or in the presence of women and children", which was a common view among Jewish people who felt a connection to the language, and who still viewed it as an obscene reference to a penis.[10]
Although schmuck is considered an obscene term in the Yiddish, it has become a common American idiom for "jerk" or "idiot". It can be taken as offensive, however, by some Jewish people, particularly those with strong Yiddish roots. Allan Sherman explained in his book The Rape of the A*P*E* that, if a word is used frequently enough, it loses its shock value and comes into common usage without raising any eyebrows.[11]
The term was notably used in the 2010 comedy film, Dinner for Schmucks, in which the plot centered on a competition among businessmen to see who could invite the biggest idiot to a monthly dinner. In her review of the film for the New York Times, film critic Debbie Schlussel took issue with the movie's use of the term "schmuck", and with its use of Yiddish at all, adding: “The more correct title would have been ‘Dinner for Schlemiels'.”[12] She added, "At The New York Times, where the word is still considered potentially offensive, the title of [the] film may be mentioned only sparingly. Still, advertisements for the movie would probably pass muster", and suggested that the main characters in the film might be more appropriately called "shmendriks".[12]
Posted by Hal Brown at 8:48:00 AM
All my Daily Kos diaries Some of my photos Go b...
All my Daily Kos diaries Some of my photos Monda...
All my Daily Kos diaries Some of my photos Go ba...
Go back one pageHuffington Post called Trump a “m...
Huffington Post called Trump a “monster schmuck.” ...
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1068
|
__label__wiki
| 0.519216
| 0.519216
|
Boris Korkmazov
Novelist, short story writer, advocate for minority language rights
Boris Korkmazov is a novelist, short story writer and advocate for minority language rights from the North Caucasian republic of Cherkessia-Karachay. He has published several books in Russia and been represented in a collection of short stories by North-Caucasian writers under the common title A Lifelong War. Until August 2008, he was head of the bibliography department of the Master-kniga (Master Book) publishing house in Moscow.
Korkmazov has made many public statements criticizing a range of Russian government policies that he sees as exacerbating ethnic tensions in the Caucasus and elsewhere in Russia. He received threats for a number of years, escalating in August 2008 after he visited Cherkessia and addressed the Council of Elders on various contentious issues. These threats then followed him to Moscow.
In 2009 he was invited as to take residence in Brussels as an ICORN guest writer. In addition to participating in panel discussions and lectures, giving interviews and testifying on the situation in the North Caucasus in a documentary, he has continued to write short stories, including an anthology of Caucasian fairytales and a yearbook on Turkology, all subsequently published in Moscow.
Writers from the same country
Alex Tor (pseud.)
Andrei Nekrasov
Anzhelina Polonskaya
Writer details
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1074
|
__label__wiki
| 0.699229
| 0.699229
|
More Gold Cup Wins Tempt Al Boom Photo
Can Al Boum Photo Clinch a Hat-Trick of Gold Cup Wins at the Cheltenham Festival?
In the first quarter of 2021, much of the horse racing community’s attention will be taken by Tiger Roll’s attempts to clinch a historic hat-trick of Grand National victories.
But there’s another horse seeking a landmark trio of wins, and Al Boum Photo – barring injury or an unexpected loss of form – will all but certainly have a chance of claiming a third triumph in the Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival in March.
But can he do it? Here’s a look at the top five in the ante-post betting.
Al Boum Photo attempts 3rd Gold Cup Win
The defending champion is favourite in the Cheltenham Gold Cup horse racing betting odds to rack up three Gold Cup wins in the race.
Willie Mullins’ charge has been inactive since his last triumph at the festival, but this is not a horse that historically needs much of a tune-up – a pair of wins in the Savills Chase in January is his traditional warm-up of late.
We have no real idea of how Al Boum Photo is shaping up until he makes his seasonal return, but a former champion returning to his favourite haunt is usually a recipe for success for punters.
At the time of writing, the eight-year-old is 11/2 in the ante-post market and that is a fine price given that the horse will almost certainly run in the Gold Cup, barring injury.
Minella Indo
The seven-year-old is being talked up as a potential Gold Cup champion on the back of a couple of handsome runs at Cheltenham, not to mention an unbeaten start to 2020/21.
Henry de Bromhead’s bay registered his first win at the festival in 2019, landing the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle, and 12 months later, he was back at the famous track – this time in second place to Champ by a single length in the RSA Chase.
He has since returned in his native Ireland with a pair of victories at Navan and Wexford, and that activity has just seen Minella Indo climb above our next horse in the Gold Cup betting.
Agonisingly second to Al Boum Photo by a neck in the 2020 Gold Cup, it wouldn’t take much of an improvement for Santini to be in the title picture once more.
The eight-year-old seems to love it at Cheltenham, having finished second in the RSA Chase and third in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at the festival in the past, as well as winning the Cotswold Chase and the Ballymore Classic Novices’ Hurdle in consecutive Januarys.
Nicky Henderson admitted that he had some reservations about sending Santini out for his seasonal debut at Aintree earlier in December, but a solid run there – he was second to Lake View Lad but ahead of former Gold Cup winner Native River and Frodon – offers backers plenty of optimism.
Following his victory in the RSA 12 months ago, Champ is very much on the minds of punters eyeing a Gold Cup success story.
But a lack of activity since leaves his backers taking a leap into the unknown, and until the JP McManus horse resumes competition it is hard to make an informed assessment of Champ’s chances.
The eight-year-old was less than two lengths shy of Al Boum Photo in last year’s edition of the Gold Cup, but this is a horse that tends to be the bridesmaid rather than the bride at the festival.
Second to Defi Du Seuil in the JLT Novices’ Chase in 2019, the Colin Tizzard charge has won just five of seventeen starts anywhere and is more a horse to back in the each-way places rather than as a win outright.
So, as we can see, the path is fairly clear for Al Boum Photo to claim a hat-trick of Gold Cup titles.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1075
|
__label__wiki
| 0.74063
| 0.74063
|
HOUSEFACTORY
Home › DESIGN › HOME
Explore the Cinematic Landscape Architecture L.A. this
When Tim Street-Porter studied architecture in London in the early 1960s, David Hockney is a student at the Royal College of Art. As Hockney, Street-Porter moved to Los Angeles at the beginning of his career as a photographer of architecture to break free from the monotony of drab European cityscapes.
"David wanted to capture the extraordinary light, views of the desert, and a certain quality of architecture and all the palm trees, and they were all the same things I was interested in," said Street-Porter, who first visited Los Angeles as an exchange student in in 1964. He studied in San Francisco and went to lA for the weekend to take on the Beatles concert at the Hollywood Bowl. The same weekend she saw all the Frank Lloyd Wright house in town and got his first taste of the infinite possibilities of LA When he returned a decade later, the architecture photographers meet all the artists Keren School in Venice Beach, including Ed Ruscha and Frank O. Gehry, and the Gehry-sponsored green cards Street-Porter when he moved here in 1978.
"I came as the architecture-trained and come to see it as a blank canvas exotic," said Street-Porter, who has devoted the last four decades to fill the canvas with the image of opera full blooded that captures the essence of the city of iconic architecture, from the Randy's Donuts in Inglewood and Simon Rodia's Watts Towers to Hollywood Chateau Marmont and Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown. In the process he published four books about the city and working on the fifth, L.A. Today, to be released in the spring and arresting dozens of new magic (The Broad) and old (Wright 1921 Mayan Revival-style Hollyhock House). He made these drawings as well as the print edition of the 300 buildings he photographed during the year-towered exterior, the interior is lush, and the murals of the San Fernando Valley to East L.A.-available for licensing through the newly launched Iconic Los Angeles Agency.
"The whole perception of what LA has really changed in the last 40 years," said Street-Porter, who wished photographs can provide a visual narrative for art directors and art collectors to bridge the history of the historic city of architecture-some of which have unfortunately been destroyed, such as efficient Pan Pacific Auditorium, where Elvis once done rapidly changing cultural capital.
"When I add all of them, I have accumulated a picture that no one else has, so why not start an agency where I can sell all the pictures under one roof," said Street-Porter. "LA, has some remarkable architecture of the most in the world, and it is not available to people so I felt I was almost obliged to do this. Everyone was very enthusiastic so far, so we'll see how it goes."
At the time of Los Angeles is the center of the protests of racial justice and in the middle of the second wave lockdown coronavirus, pictures Street-Porter probably the best way for tourists (and residents) to get a glimpse of the cinematic of LA they do not see for some time.
0 Response to "Explore the Cinematic Landscape Architecture L.A. this"
4 Tips For Moving Microwave
In the case of kitchen appliances, mobile microwave will definitely be one job easier to overcome. Microwave is much lighter than other...
Do you dream of owning your own flower garden? Flowers add color and dimension of your landscape, and a big boost to the curb appeal yo...
Is a Kitchen Remodeling Increase Home Value?
The kitchen is the heart of the home. When it was designed to improve the overall look and feel of a property, in terms of both appeara...
When Is the Best Time to Sell the house?
When is the best time to sell a home? Believe it or not - a few seasons and circumstances provide the optimal environment for selling a...
How to Move dishwasher
If you move house then there is a chance you take your equipment with you-and that requires a bit more thought than moving like a sofa ...
Copyright 2020 HOUSEFACTORY
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1077
|
__label__cc
| 0.538549
| 0.461451
|
Buddhas of Bamyan
Hazaragi | Dari
Pakistan and the rest of Asia Pacific
Latin America, US & Canada
Hazaristan
DNA Ancestors
Hazara Contemporary Figures
Hazara Historical Figures
Afghanistan’s children
Carrie, 11 NOVEMBER 2010 Where the buddha's used to be in Bamiyan, northern AfghanistanI have just returned from a break at home with my family. I find being...
By Hazara People
Carrie, 11 NOVEMBER 2010
Where the buddha's used to be in Bamiyan, northern Afghanistan
I have just returned from a break at home with my family. I find being away from them one of the hardest challenges of living here. When I do see them it’s often difficult to fully explain life in Afghanistan. Unless you’ve been here it’s hard to imagine, and the images shown in the media often don’t reflect the country as a whole.
My mum and sister organised a Christmas dinner while I was back as I won’t be home for Christmas. A nut roast (I don’t eat meat) and all the trimmings – it was really lovely. And I got to hear about my nephews’ latest sporting achievements and school plays.
It is great to go home but it can feel like a whole world away from Afghanistan. It is exciting to hear my nephews talk about their futures, but it makes me think of the children I have met here.
Son of a potato farmer in Bamiyan
I went to Bamiyan in northern Afghanistan recently, which is most famous for the giant sixth century Buddhas destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. While I was there I visited a school built by the government through a programme called the National Solidarity Programme.
It’s a really successful programme that operates in over 17,000 communities in Afghanistan. The idea is that local councils are created to make decisions about their own community’s needs. Then the local government provides the funding and support to enable the community to build these basic services. I’ve seen clinics, wells and many other projects built through this programme. One thing all the communities I have visited share is real pride in what they have built.
This little boy (above) in Bamiyan is the son of a potato farmer. When he’s old enough he’ll be able to go to the school we visited along with the other 3000 pupils enrolled. He’ll receive an education that his parents were not able to have.
Girl outside of her school in Bamiyan
Education is actually a big success story for Afghanistan. Today the Ministry of Education says that 5.3 million children are in school in Afghanistan, over a third of which are girls. Considering only one million children were in school in 2001 I think that’s pretty impressive.
But getting to go to school is only the first step forward for this young boy’s future.
Next perhaps he’ll want to go to university or train for a vocation. These are two areas that the Government of Afghanistan has identified as in need of additional work and they are looking at how to do this right now.
Then he’ll need a job. So boosting the economy and attracting industry is another vital piece of the puzzle.
It’s a complex series of improvements that need to be made to ensure that this boy gets the opportunities that my nephews get back in the UK. And this country is probably someway from that. But it is on the right track and hopefully current efforts to build the peace will help quicken the pace.
Afghanistan remembers
At 11am today services took place across Afghanistan to remember British men and women who have lost their lives serving for their country.
At the British Embassy in Kabul wreaths were laid, speeches were made and the last post sounded.
Since 2001, 343 British military personnel have lost their lives in Afghanistan.
They will not be forgotten.
Source: http://blogs.dfid.gov.uk
Analysis: In pursuit of justice in Afghanistan
The beginning of the journey
Copyright © 2021 Hazara International
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1078
|
__label__cc
| 0.633328
| 0.366672
|
How to End the Overregulation of Medical Care
COMMENTARY Health Care Reform
Aug 4th, 2020 11 min read
Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D.
Moffit specializes in health care and entitlement programs, especially Medicare.
Health care is, and remains, one of the most heavily regulated sectors of the American economy. wutwhanfoto/Getty Images
Excessive regulation imposes huge, unnecessary costs on our health system.
The regulatory burden imposes more than just monetary costs. Its “hassle factor” takes a toll as well, in terms of physician burn-out.
One cannot overlook the tens of billions of dollars lost annually because of Medicare’s inability to match private-sector success in rooting out waste.
Confronting the coronavirus pandemic, Trump administration officials have broken with Washington’s standard response to a national crisis. Instead of centralizing and enhancing Washington’s power, the administration has vigorously encouraged state and local decision-making. Rather than impose new federal regulations, it has removed regulatory barriers to fast, efficient responses from health plans, pharmaceutical researchers and medical professionals. The rapid expansion of telehealth is just one example of how regulatory reform has helped.
Yet much more remains to be done. Excessive regulation imposes huge, unnecessary costs on our health system. Researchers writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association report that administrative expenses amount to 8 percent of the total American health care spending—more than in any other economically advanced country.
Citing this high administrative spending, a majority of House Democrats, in tandem with senior Democratic senators, are sponsoring major legislation to abolish virtually all private and employment-sponsored health insurance. The assumption here is that it is private health plans—with their marketing and share-holder related expenses—that drive administrative costs so high. Yet one of the biggest drivers of administrative costs is, ironically, government regulation—the very thing that these proposals would expand, either by creating a new government-run health plan to “compete” against private plans or by creating an all-powerful monopoly, Medicare for All, that would outlaw virtually all private health plans. Either way, health-care decisionmaking and power becomes more concentrated in Washington.
This is precisely the wrong direction to go. Health care is, and remains, one of the most heavily regulated sectors of the American economy. Doctors, hospitals and medical professionals work under both federal and state rules, regulations and guidelines of varying complexity; and though the Trump administration has offered some welcome regulatory relief, the underlying structure of detailed bureaucratic control remains.
Consider the level of federal regulation over U.S. hospitals. A 2017 report from the American Hospital Association found 629 “discrete” federal regulations governing hospitals and post-acute care providers and calculated that complying with those regulations cost almost $39 billion per year—an estimated $1,200 for each patient admitted.
The same report estimated that the typical “average-sized” hospital dedicates the equivalent of fifty-nine full-time employees—more than a quarter of the doctors and nurses—to the compliance effort. These are real administrative costs, imposed directly by federal regulators, yet these costs do not show up on the federal books, notably Medicare’s administrative budget.
The regulatory burden imposes more than just monetary costs. Its “hassle factor” takes a toll as well, in terms of physician burn-out, demoralization, frustration, wasted time and energy and early retirements.
Take the example of requiring the widespread use of electronic health records. Regulators have long insisted that this would improve accuracy, communication and quality in care delivery. However, a 2016 study in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that 49 percent of physicians’ office time was spent with electronic records and paperwork compared to 27 percent devoted to direct encounters with patients. In a 2018 survey conducted by Medical Economics, 79 percent of practitioners reported that a combination of paperwork and administrative burdens is the chief factor “ruining” the practice of medicine. There is also growing evidence that metastasizing bureaucracy and regulation are contributing to the shortage of American physicians.
A 2018 survey of the Medical Group Management Association, an organization representing forty thousand medical practices, found that 94 percent of respondents believe that a reduction in the federal regulatory burden would allow them to “reallocate resources” to patient care.
Not surprisingly, Medicare’s physician payment system, especially the “value-based” payment program enacted in 2015, is the number one culprit on the “hassle factor” list. According to the survey, 88 percent of practitioners rate the Medicare Quality Payment Program, as either “very” or “extremely burdensome.” While a plurality of practitioners expressed interest in participating in alternative payment programs, 55 percent said that Medicare did not offer a payment model that was “clinically relevant” to their practice.
Policymakers can continue to ignore the plight of America’s doctors, but Medicare patients will, in fact, pay the price.
The right policy goal should be to restore, to the maximum extent feasible, the traditional doctor-patient relationship. That goal would be realized when the patient controls the flow of health-care dollars, and the physician enjoys greater professional independence in the delivery of medical care.
In the short term, Washington policymakers could expand Medicare beneficiaries’ access to direct primary care programs by having Medicare pay a direct monthly, quarterly or annual fee for these services. This would be a more convenient alternative to Medicare’s fee-for-service billing program, with its complex cost-sharing arrangements. If the Medicare payment were “budget neutral,” then beneficiaries who wanted more services would, of course, pay more for those services.
Another short-term measure would be to allow Medicare beneficiaries to make tax free contributions to health savings accounts, which they cannot do today. Beneficiaries could then use those accounts to pay doctors of their choice directly, without the bureaucratic and regulatory obstacles that today restrict such doctor-patient arrangements.
In the longer term, building on the success of Medicare Advantage’s defined-contribution (“premium support”) system in Medicare would accelerate progress toward patient-centered, consumer-driven health care, where beneficiaries could choose health plans that offer strong personalized medical care in a transparent environment where patients would not only know the true prices of medical services, but also the performance of medical professionals in securing the best medical outcomes.
Congress, of course, would have to enact major statutory changes to bring about such major changes in the financing and delivery of care, particularly in Medicare.
The president, however, could help prepare the groundwork for such comprehensive reform. For example, he could order the secretary of health and human services to conduct a study that would fully detail the transactional costs imposed on doctors, hospitals and other medical professionals, by the tens of thousands of pages of Medicare rules, regulations and guidelines. Such a report should detail the provider costs (in per capita dollar amounts) in terms of the time, energy and effort required by medical providers to comply with the demands of this gigantic regulatory regime. Such information would allow lawmakers to estimate the total administrative costs borne by private sector providers for their participation in traditional Medicare.
One cannot overlook the tens of billions of dollars lost annually because of Medicare’s inability to match private-sector success in rooting out waste, fraud, or “improper payments.” If one combines Medicare’s annual cost of regulation with the program’s yearly losses from waste, fraud and abuse, taxpayers would get a better idea of Medicare’s true administrative costs. Americans need that clarity.
This piece originally appeared in The National Interest https://nationalinterest.org/feature/how-end-overregulation-medical-care-165991
Donate to The Heritage Foundation
Our more than 100 policy experts and researchers are invited to testify before Congress nearly 40 times a year
DONATE TO HERITAGE
IMPACT2 min read
Tennessee Secures Authorization for Heritage-Backed Medicaid Reforms
No Free Care for All When It Comes to Government-Controlled Health Care
Heritage Health Care Plan Wins Praise, Favorable Reviews
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1080
|
__label__cc
| 0.707085
| 0.292915
|
Moved by All Our Sorrows: The Tender Compassion of Christ
Have you ever paused to marvel at the compassion of Christ? What a wonder that when God himself takes our own flesh and blood, and walks among us in our fallen world, he is known for his compassion.
We might expect he would be erupting with anger and frustration at every turn. Human sin is cosmic treason against him and his Father. To purchase a people for himself, he would be brutally abused and mistreated, even to the point of an excruciating death. Make no mistake, it was fitting for the Son of God to burn with righteous anger. He did (Mark 3:5), and he will (Revelation 6:16). And yet, as God himself moved among us, in utter holiness and perfection, he gave us stunning glimpses into a heart of compassion.
The explicit mentions of Christ’s compassion in the Gospels, though precious few, are more than we might assume. Matthew, Mark, and Luke each give us at least three clear glimpses into his compassion. For one, these are priceless windows into his full humanity. As Calvin said, Christ put on our feelings as well as our flesh. In the warmth of his compassion, we see the fully human emotional life of our Savior, one of us not just in body but also in mind and heart. Jesus didn’t just perform compassionate acts; he felt compassion.
Yet these glimpses also show us his Father. They are windows into the very heart of God, sight lines into the divinity himself. Long had the God of Israel shown himself to be utterly free in divine sovereignty to bestow his grace on whom he chooses, and be compassionate toward his suffering people (Romans 9:15; Exodus 33:19). Now, as we see compassion in the God-man, we see the compassion of God in man. In each peek at his compassion, we see our Savior as both truly man and truly God.
Compassion Walked Among Us
However surprised we might be at Christ’s compassion in one sense, in another, the compassion of Christ shouldn’t surprise us, knowing what we now know. After all, he is the God of Israel come in the flesh. In that sense, as Warfield observed, we should not be startled:
The emotion which we should naturally expect to find most frequently attributed to Jesus whose whole life was a mission of mercy, and whose ministry was so marked by deeds of beneficence that it was summed up in the memory of his followers as a going through the land “doing good” (Acts 11:38), is no doubt “compassion.”
The glimpses we catch of Christ’s compassion are the incarnation itself in miniature. He came to suffer with us — and more, to do so on our behalf. The Christian gospel itself fills the gap between what we should expect from God, because of our sin, and what we receive from him, because of his Son. Christ is divine compassion himself come in the flesh. “Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners,” John Piper explains, “because he was the incarnate display of the Father’s tender compassion for sinners” (Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ, 94).
Compassion on the Crowds
In the Gospels, we find ten specific mentions of his compassion, and see the kinds of people he suffers with, and what actions he takes to help.
First, Jesus had compassion on crowds. A trickle of followers would have captured his concern and heart in one way, but the sheer fact that masses assembled showed how poorly the people had been led. “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). The numbers demonstrated the acuteness of the needs and how many were hurting. And note that compassion in Christ corresponds to the masses being “harassed and helpless.” Any of us today who would hope to be recipients of Christ’s compassion must also be ready to own our own helplessness.
It was compassion on “a great crowd” that led him to perform healings. “When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick” (Matthew 14:14). So also was it compassion on a hungry crowd that prompted him to feed four thousand. “Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ‘I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way’” (Matthew 15:32; Mark 8:2).
The same compassion led to his serving the five thousand, whom he fed after a long day of teaching: “When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things” (Mark 6:34). For those ill-taught, because of poor leadership, he has compassion, and then opens his mouth to teach.
Compassion One by One
But it’s not only hurting people in large numbers that receive his compassion. Also solitary and specific individuals. He has an ear to hear our pains one by one, swell his heart toward them, and provide his perfectly timed solution. When he drew near to the town of Nain, and came upon a funeral procession for a widow’s only son, he took notice, felt compassion, and took action.
When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” (Luke 7:13–14)
He saw her painful circumstances. Not only was she now alone but also helpless. But with a full slate of other good works, and great crowds to teach and heal, Jesus takes notice and feels compassion for a bereaved mother. Then he raised her son from the dead.
When a father with a demonized son asked, “If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us” (Mark 9:22), Jesus responded, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:23). Indeed he can, and indeed his heart beats with compassion. And when Jesus has compassion, it multiplies. Just as raising the widow’s son came from compassion on her, so now casting out the evil spirit comes from compassion on the boys’ father and family (“have compassion on us and help us”).
We also hear of Jesus’s compassion in his pity. When he encountered two blind men, “Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him” (Matthew 20:34). To a desperate leper, “Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him” (Mark 1:41). And Jesus told a parable of a master who “out of pity” for a servant “released him and forgive him the debt” (Matthew 18:27). Jesus has compassion for those who cannot see, and grants sight. Compassion for the untouchable, whom he heals. Compassion for those with an unpayable debt, which he forgives.
Tender and Tough
Where was this compassion when he drove out the moneychangers with a whip (John 2:15)? Or when he pronounced the sevenfold woe on the Pharisees (Matthew 23:1–36)? Or when he turned away presumptuous crowds with offensive language (John 6:60–66)? Where was his compassion when he rebuked his own lead disciple for trying to protect his life (Matthew 16:22–23), or spoke unnervingly to a Gentile woman, likening her people to dogs (Matthew 15:26; Mark 7:27), or heard his beloved Lazarus was ill and “stayed two days longer in the place where he was” (John 11:6)?
One answer is that true compassion will, at times, take up a whip and strong words. Compassion for God’s people, and zeal for God’s house (John 2:17), might require extreme measures to disperse the obstacles and diversions to true worship and lasting joy. Compassion for God’s people might require the piercing language of rebuke to those who sat in Moses’s seat (Matthew 23:2) but “shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces” (Matthew 23:13). Compassion for the flock demands desperate measures against its abusers.
Also part and parcel of his compassion for hurting sinners was considering the true and enduring good of the one suffering. Never did he so lose himself, and his Father, in the feelings of the hurting that he ceded a vision for their good on his Father’s terms. His surprising lack of empathy with the Gentile woman was an act of compassion, designed to elicit faith (Matthew 15:27–28; Mark 7:28–29); his delay in coming to Lazarus, designed to display the glory of God (John 11:4, 40). His compassion led him to bring true relief, not be steered by the hurting in their pain to dictate divine goodness and timing. In no instance in the Gospels does Jesus feel compassion for someone and then simply suffer with them. His compassion led him to action, sometimes uncomfortably so. It “moved” him (Mark 1:41).
And so, as Jonathan Edwards observed three centuries ago, we see in Christ “an admirable conjunction of diverse excellencies.” His tenderness with the humble is all the more striking because of his toughness with unbelief. His compassion for the afflicted would be undermined if not accompanied by righteous anger toward their afflicters. He emphatically did not demonstrate compassion for wicked kings, conniving priests, and self-righteous Pharisees — which makes his compassion all the more precious when he directs it toward his trusting sheep.
His Two Greatest Parables
Remarkably, the two parables which may be Jesus’s greatest, and most well-known, turn on the compassion of Christ.
In Luke 10:25–37, Jesus tells of the Good Samaritan. Verse 33 is the hinge: “But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.” Both priest and Levite had passed by the man lying there half dead. But when the Samaritan passed by, he — like Jesus himself — had compassion.
Compassion here, as the link to the many other compassion-of-Christ glimpses in the Gospels, is the key for seeing the heart of the parable. Compassion is his calling card in the Gospels; it is attributed to no one else. Jesus is the one who characteristically has compassion and then acts: he shows us mercy by approaching us, addressing our wounds, carrying us to safety, and making provision for our care until his return. First and foremost, the Son of God himself has been a neighbor to us sinners — stemming from his compassion. Now, having become recipients of his mercy, we then echo it in our treatment of others.
The second, of course, is the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11–32). How will the father respond to his son who has “squandered his property in reckless living”? The turning point is verse 20: “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” Here again, a heart of compassion, rather than contempt, unleashes a series of merciful actions. Like the Good Samaritan, the father moves toward his half-dead son, rather than away. And he runs, showing us not only the heart of Christ himself but his Father’s heart toward us through him. The Father feels compassion for his prodigals, runs to them, embraces them, and kisses them by sending his own Son as his compassion incarnate.
Compassion of His People
The implications for Christ’s people — those who are the recipients of his compassion — are plain enough in the Gospels, but the Epistles make them even clearer. Christ not only has compassion on his people and gives them his help, but he also forms his people into instruments of his compassion on others. “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).
Such people show compassion on fellow believers in prison, even at great cost to themselves (Hebrew 10:34). We learn to show sympathy and comfort to the hurting among us, not like Job’s three friends (Job 2:11) but like his brothers and sisters (Job 42:11). And we put on, with compassion, its accompanying virtues: “compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” (Colossians 3:12); “unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind” (1 Peter 3:8). In other words, we become the kind of people who see others and then have compassion on them.
Both the good Samaritan and the prodigal son may turn on compassion, but in both parables, and in Jesus’s own life and ministry, seeing preceded feeling. “When he saw him, he had compassion” (Luke 10:33). “His father saw him, and felt compassion” (Luke 15:20). And Jesus himself, with the widow at Nain: “When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her” (Luke 7:13). As with the crowds: “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them” (Matthew 9:36). “He saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them” (Matthew 14:14; Mark 6:34). Perhaps the biggest obstacle to our doing likewise is that our gaze is so often fixed on self, not others. May God give us eyes to see — and the compassion of Christ.
from Desiring God http://tracking.feedpress.it/link/10732/11989052
via DG
Labels: Desiring God
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1082
|
__label__cc
| 0.624259
| 0.375741
|
About SAPHNA
Resources centre
Don't have a https://www.jfhc.co.uk account? create an account now
JFHC home
Go with the flow: best practice in childhood constipation
The following is an extract of Prof Candy and Dr Paul's review of the best practice methods and treatments for childhood constipation from the September/October edition of Journal of Family Health Care - to read the article in full subscribe here.
Constipation is one of the commonest childhood conditions and can be defined as difficulty, delay or pain during defecation. It is also one of the commonest reasons for consultation with a health professional and referral to the secondary care during childhood.
Available statistics shows that constipation can account for three to five per cent of general paediatric outpatient visits and up to 25 per cent of paediatric gastroenterology consultations. It has a prevalence of around five to 30 per cent in children, although this depends on the criteria used for the diagnosis. The symptoms can become chronic in more than a third of patients, and a third of these may have problems persisting beyond puberty.
Similar prevalence rates are found in both sexes. Health professionals may be dealing with the "tip of the iceberg", as true morbidity may go under-reported as some parents or older children do not seek advice as they feel embarrassed. Families may also not seek help as they fear a negative response from healthcare professionals. However, it is vital that when health visitors and community practitioners are consulted by parents a detailed history of symptoms is taken before any treatment starts. It is also worth noting that some children may also present with symptoms, such as urinary incontinence, which are subsequently shown to be due to constipation.
According to the Rome III Childhood/Adolescent Committee Diagnostic Criteria for Functional Constipation for a correct diagnosis of constipation two or more of the following should be present in a child with a developmental age of at least four years at least once a week for two months:
1. ≤ 2 defecations in the toilet per week
2. At least one episode of faecal incontinence per week
3. History of retentive posturing or excessive volitional stool retention
(stool withholding)
4. History of painful or hard bowel movements
5. Presence of a large faecal mass in the rectum
6. History of large diameter stools that may obstruct the toilet (often
described as "loo blockers")
Treatment is primarily aimed at disimpaction of faeces and restoration of regular bowel habits, which consist of passage of soft, normal stools without discomfort at least once every three days and in appropriate places.
Maintenance therapy can be started in children who do not have faecal impaction. There are three main oral therapies used in the outpatient management of children with constipation:
i) Macrogols: polyethylene glycol 3350 + electrolytes (Movicol)
ii) Osmotic laxatives: lactulose
iii) Stimulant laxatives: sodium picosulfate, bisacodyl, senna, docusate sodium.
Long-term prognosis
The majority of the children with idiopathic constipation do not suffer any long-term morbidity. The prevalence of chronic constipation in childhood is estimated between one to five per cent in the UK and USA. In most cases no obvious etiological factors are found. In 30 per cent of cases it can persist to continue beyond puberty. Children aged two to four years were found to have a higher rate of recurrence, and therefore may need a prolonged course of medication.
A follow-up study has noted increased risk of persistent constipation in children who developed constipation early in infancy and who have a family history of constipation. Another follow-up study, which assessed the clinical course of severe functional constipation in early childhood, found that after initial successful treatment, a relapse occurred in 15 per cent of children within three years.
A long term follow-up study from the Netherlands involving 401 children between the ages of five to 18 years with idiopathic constipation found the following factors were associated with poor clinical outcomes in adulthood: older age at onset, longer delay between onset of symptoms and first presentation to the outpatient clinic, and lower frequency of defecation at study entry. It is suggested that a symptom duration of ≤ 3 months at referral is associated with a better outcome.
Role of community practitioners
Health visitors and other primary care workers can play a vital role in detecting and managing children with constipation. A holistic approach is necessary in managing these children and supporting the families, as the medical aspects may just be only one aspect and unless the other issues are addressed the treatment may remain unsuccessful. Health visitors can provide support and help by ensuring that:
●● There is an early detection of children with constipation (especially those with a strong family history)
●● Children with red flag symptoms are identified and referred to paediatric services at the earliest opportunity
●● Parents understand how to administer the medications and are given explanatory written information to accompany this.
●● The parents take the child for consultations and have access to a regular supply of medication
●● Guidance is given on a healthy balanced diet and regular exercise
●● Other issues, such as the child's behaviour, family disputes, child neglect, etc, are appropriately addressed
●● Children who soil are not inappropriately sent home from nursery or school, thus hampering their education
●● In recurrent failed treatment scenarios, it may be necessary to take monitory steps to ensure that the child is actually given the medicines on a regular basis.
Health visitors can play a significant role in the overall management of this chronic and often debilitating condition. Families may need lot of support and
explanation about how the laxative therapy works on the bowel to prevent inappropriate and early discontinuation of the therapy. The NICE guidelines, published in 2010, are a valuable resource for the health professionals, by providing guidance in dealing with different nonmedical aspects of idiopathic constipation.
For a list of references and to read the article in full click here to subscribe to JFHC magazine.
CHILDHOOD OBESITY COULD HARM LIFE EXPECTANCY
Obesity risk of eating for two
DON’T EAT FOR TWO...
CHILDHOOD OBESITY IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Understanding cleft lip and palate. 2: The first five years
Understanding cleft lip and palate. 1: An overview
Email: info@jfhc.co.uk
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1085
|
__label__wiki
| 0.932539
| 0.932539
|
7-10 pm weekdays
Clyde is a powerful voice in parapolitical and paranormal news and commentary. With a diverse background in news, acting, writing and radio, he entertains and captivates audiences across multiple platforms. Lewis’ career in radio began in Utah in 1982 and he created Ground Zero in 1995 in Salt Lake City. Lewis has produced Ground Zero programs online, on radio and on television. The program (which takes its name from the scientific definition of the term) joined FM News 101 KXL in 2011 and consistently ranks #1 in the market.
Lewis has appeared in a SHOWTIME special with magicians Penn & Teller, as well as the television programs Sightings, Strange Universe and the Discovery Channel special Return to the Bermuda Triangle. He has been published in both UFO Magazine and Unknown Magazine, and has been featured in Rolling Stone. Lewis is the model for characters in such books as Safe House by Andrew Vachss, Supernatural Law by Batton Lash, and Alien Invasion by Michael Tresca.
A fan of B-horror and science-fiction movies, comic books and mythology, Lewis has also published his own fanzines and co-written scripts for television and radio. He appeared in the movies Nightfall, which he co-wrote with director Kevin Delullo; Cage in Box Elder; and Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger Part IV, in which he provided the voice of the title character.
Currently, Lewis is working with lawyer and P.I. Galen Cook on the investigation of the latest suspect in the D.B. Cooper case, Wolfgang Gossett, a one-time associate of Lewis’ and a new suspect in the mysterious case.
You can also find out more about Clyde at his WIKIPEDIA Page and his IMDB Page.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1086
|
__label__wiki
| 0.670974
| 0.670974
|
Frontline Healthcare Worker Happy to Be Alive After COVID-19 Infection
Steve Wishnia
NEW YORK, N.Y.—When the COVID-19 epidemic hit the city in March, Jazzmin Wilson, a phlebotomist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in Washington Heights, volunteered to work on the floor with infected patients, drawing their blood for lab work and doing electrocardiograms.
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital phlebotomist Jazzmin Wilson was infected with COVID-19 along with seven other colleagues.
“It was rough,” she says. “People were coding all over. You’d see a patient today, and the next day, they’d be gone.”
Wilson, who is 43 and lives in Yonkers with her husband and four children, has worked at NewYork-Presbyterian for five years. She normally sees 20 to 40 patients a day. But she began coming in at 5 a.m., five hours before her 10-6:30 shift began. The risk of infection was high.
“When you have to draw blood from someone who doesn’t have the best veins, you could spend 10 to 15 minutes with them,” she explains. “We couldn’t social distance, because we were drawing blood. How could you, when you have to have a needle in their arm?”
Personal protective equipment was in short supply during the early days of the epidemic. Staff had to rely on nurses having extra N95 masks to spare, Wilson says; otherwise, they’d have to use the same mask for as long as a week or wear two or three surgical masks at the same time. Seven workers on the ward got infected, including Wilson, who missed a month of work.
She doesn’t blame management for the shortage. “They didn’t have enough,” she says. But in her role as a delegate of SEIU1199 United Healthcare Workers East, she emailed the hospital’s director, asking for goggles, gowns that aren’t permeable, hats, booties, and at least one mask per day.
“That email was the game-changer. Now we have enough,” she says. Hospital officials agreed within three days, she adds, and have been cooperative since then: If a worker needs extra masks during a shift, “they’re not going to deny you.”
Organizers from 1199, she continues, met with workers to find out what their greatest needs were, and then negotiated everything from no layoffs to a waiver of alternate-side-of-the-street parking regulations for hospital staff. The union also got members grants of up to $5,000 to help pay for child care, back rent for those on leave or who had household members lose jobs, and funerals of family members who died. Wilson helped less tech-savvy members apply.
She herself got hospital housing while she was working 13½-hour shifts, “so I wasn’t going home and infecting my whole house.”
“The union has come through for us in such a mighty way,” she says. “I’m thankful to be alive and to have had the opportunity to help during the pandemic.”
Prev“Never Use Your Employer’s Doctor”
Broadway to Remain Dark Through JuneNext
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1087
|
__label__wiki
| 0.918308
| 0.918308
|
Why Won’t This French Company Talk To U.S. Workers?
Joe Maniscalco
By Joe Maniscaclo
Airgas workers are getting the cold shoulder.
New York, NY – The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is calling on one of the largest providers of industrial and medical gases in the world to quit taking toxic anti-labor cues from stateside advisors — and immediately start talking with worker representatives.
In a controversial bid that’s sparking anti-competitiveness concerns, Air Liquide — a Paris-based multinational conglomerate with nearly $18 billion in worldwide sales — is poised to purchase the biggest distributor of industrial, medical and specialty gases here in the United States for a whopping $13.4 billion.
“Air Liquide is going to do much better in the U.S. if they build a more civil relationship with their organized workers,” Tim Beaty, Teamsters director of Global Strategies, told LaborPress this week. “They need to have a conversation with our leadership now.”
The company being purchased is called Airgas, and its shareholders okayed the blockbuster sale to Air Liquide last month.
But instead of continuing the rich European tradition of cooperatively working with organized labor for the greater good of all – the Teamsters charge that Air Liquide appears to be intent on adopting the sour relationship Airgas started creating with U.S. workers in the months prior to the French-based company’s initial bid to buy them out, in November 2015.
Airgas locked out Hingham, Massachusetts workers during contentious contract negotiations earlier that year. Since then, the company has failed to advance bargaining in places like Ohio, Illinois, New York and West Virginia — where Airgas attempted, also in October 2015, to decertify the union after workers rejected what was widely considered a substandard contract proposal.
The Teamsters responded with pickets and protests. They also reached out to their counterparts in France, where the relationship between management and employees is one of — as Beaty describes it — “mutual respect.”
“The idea of folks belonging to a union is common, natural and part of the everyday routine,” Beaty said.
Financial analysts overseas have expressed concerns that Air Liquide might be biting off more than it can chew, and paying too much to acquire Airgas.
“Before a company goes into a new country, they depend on local advisors,” Beaty said. “It may be the case that Air Liquide’s advisors here in the U.S. have some sort of anti-union bias. But that company is going to have a much better understanding of what it’s buying if it enters into a conversation with us.”
Air Liquide operates in over 80 countries. In the U.S., where it employs more than 5,000 workers, it also maintains some 2,000 miles of pipeline. Teamsters already represent workers at seven Air Liquide sites in North America. Until now, the union says its dealings with Air Liquide have been “fairly reasonable.”
On the picket line…
“We’ve had a decent relationship with Air Liquide, so when we heard about [the Airgas purchase], we were hopeful,” said
Tom Curtin, part of the Teamsters’ Strategic Research and Campaigns department. “We’re disappointed that [Air Liquide] has taken a tact of silent approval for what’s going on at Airgas.”
Working for the industry-leading gas suppliers can be dangerous. In the past three years, Airgas employees have been injured in explosions at plants located in both West Virginia and California.
“This is an industry that requires expert workers who understand safety and have a good relationship with the client in order for the company to be successful,” Beaty said. “We think that Air Liquide understands this. We think that Air Liquide wants a professional workforce that feels good about where they’re working every day.”
In France, Air Liquide workers are represented by a union that has a place on a special council which regularly meets with management to discuss all sorts of important company decisions.
“Something going on in the process of the merger has led to a negative relationship [between management and labor],” Beaty added. “Air Liquide is making a mistake if they think that Airgas’ recent labor/management policy changes are a good thing for Airgas or Air Liquide —they’re not.”
Air Liquide has not yet responded to requests for comment.
PrevNext Generation Carpenters Learn From The Best
UC Berkeley Agrees to Make Contract Workers PermanentNext
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1088
|
__label__wiki
| 0.708814
| 0.708814
|
Places to Visit in Trivandrum
<< More About Thiruvananthapuram
Padmanabha Swamy Temple
Dedicated to Lord Vishnu, the temple is a blend of the Kerala and Dravidian styles of architecture located inside the East Fort. One among rare Vishnu temples in, the presiding deity here is of Lord Vishnu reclining on Anantha the Serpent.
The temple is a place for art lovers and is also known for its mural paintings and stone carvings.
Agasthyakoodam
Agasthyakoodam is the second highest peak in Kerala and is also a part of Sahyadri range of mountains, at a height of 1890 metres above sea level. Teeming with wildlife, the forests of Agasthyakoodam abound in rare medicinal herbs and plants and brilliantly hued orchids. A bird watchers paradise, this legendary mountain is accessible by foot from Kotoor, near Neyyar Dam, as also from Bonacaud. The season from December to April is advocated for trekking.
This peak lies in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala, India and is a part of the Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve, which lies at the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. UNESCO has added Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve to its World Network of Biosphere Reserves in March 2016.
Kuthiramalika (Puthenmalika) Palace Museum
The rare specimen of workmanship in the traditional Travancore style of architecture also known for exquisite wood carvings was built by Maharaja Swathi Thirunal Balarama Varma - the King of Travancore, who was a great poet, musician, social reformer and statesman. The palace museum displays paintings and various priceless collections of the royal family and is located near the Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple.
Padmanabhapuram Palace
The splendid palace is situated at Thuckalai, on the way to Kanyakumari which once the seat of the erstwhile rulers of Travancore. This is a well preserved wooden palace, a glorious testimony to the traditional Kerala School of architecture. The extraordinary murals, exquisite floral carvings and the black glossy granite floor have withstood the test of time.
This palace is one of the largest wooden palaces in India and its mostly made out of Rose and Teak Wood. Owned and maintained by the Government of Kerala, this palace is at a distance of 50 kilometers from Thiruvananthapuram city and 20 kilometers from Nagercoil. The palace is located at the foothills of the Veli Hills of the Western Ghats.
Veli Tourist Village
This picnic spot, where the Veli Lake meets the Arabian Sea , offers boating facilities. Pedal boats can be hired to explore the charms of the lagoon in a leisurely manner. For a quick ride over the waters, speedboats are available for hire. Children enjoy climbing over the huge sculptures which dot the landscape.
When in Kovalam/Thiruvananthapuram, do make out some time to visit the Veli Tourist Village.This spot is ideal for picnics at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The Veli Beach is 8 kilometers away from the Thiruvananthapuram town and 10 kilometers from the Thiruvananthapuram Central Railway station. The Trivandrum International Airport is just at a distance of 6 kilometers.
An idyllic hill station with winding pathways and cool, green, wooded environs, Ponmudi is located 915 metres above the sea level. Along with a variety of beautiful mountain flowers, exotic butterflies, small rivulets, springs and the deer park nearby, this hill station also has excellent trekking trails.
Ponmudi or the Golden Peak is a serene and breathtaking hill station located in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.
Ponmudi is a part of the Western Ghats mountain range, running parallel to the Arabian Sea. The 22 hairpin turns along the narrow and short route from Trivandrum, makes the journey to Ponmudi a scenic, serene and a thrilling travel experience.
Napier Museum
The Napier Museum is located at Thiruvananthapuram which has a good collection of bronzes, ivory carvings, ancient musical instruments and life-size figures of Kathakali dancers. The art collection at the Sri Chitra Art Gallery contains paintings of the Mughal, Tanjore and Rajput schools and a special section, devoted exclusively to the paintings of Raja Ravi Varma. There are, also, works of art from , Bali, and . The Zoological Gardens are, said to be, among the well-planned zoos in Asia . The Botanical Garden within the zoo consist of almost every tropical tree existing. The Observatory, located on the highest point of the city, is one of the impressive architectural landmarks of Thiruvananthapuram.
Kerala Legislature Complex
Located at Palayam, this is the new building where the Legislative Assembly of Kerala located.
With its towering dome, exquisitely carved galleries, ornate teak panelling and ceiling, combined with the most modern acoustic treatment and state-of-the-art sound systems, the hall is a beautiful blend of classical grandeur and modernity.
Vizhinjam Rock Cut Cave
There are rock cut sculptures of the 18th century in the cave temple at Vizhinjam. The granite cave here encloses a one-celled shrine with a loose sculpture of Vinandhara Dakshinamurthi.
The outer wall of the cave depicts half complete reliefs of the Hindu God Shiva with Goddess Parvathi.
Varkala is a land of seaside resort and spa. It is also an important Hindu centre of pilgrimage. The final resting place of the great social reformer, Sree Narayana Guru, is near Varkala, atop a hill called Sivagiri. High cliffs with mineral springs rise majestically from the coastline. According to a myth, sage Narada was approached by a group of mendicants who confessed to having sinned. Narada threw his valkkalam(cloth made of the bark of a tree) into the air, and the place where it landed was subsequently named Varkala. The mendicants were directed by Narada to offer their prayers in the newly created place by the seashore. The place where they prayed for redemption, came to be known as the Papanasham Beach ( Papanasham means redemption from sins). The 2000 year old Sree Janardhana Swamy Temple and the Nature Care Centre are the two main attractions here.
For more informations: www.thiruvananthapuram.net
Hotels/Resorts in Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram - Photogallery
Other Destinations in Kerala
More about Kerala
How to Reach Thiruvananthapuram
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1090
|
__label__wiki
| 0.891492
| 0.891492
|
Other viruses cause Zika-like damage to fetuses, study finds
In 2016, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ...
Posted: Feb 18, 2018 5:40 PM
Updated: Feb 18, 2018 5:40 PM
In 2016, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that the Zika virus caused birth defects in babies born to women who had been infected while pregnant. This was the first mosquito-borne disease known to cause birth defects.
Since then, images of babies with underdeveloped heads, born to pregnant women infected with Zika virus, have touched hearts around the world.
Powassan and West Nile are flaviviruses, the family of viruses that includes Zika
Research on mice found that they can cause miscarriage
Now, a study suggests that two viruses that are related to Zika can cause similar birth defects.
West Nile and Powassan viruses caused fetal death in infected pregnant mice, the researchers say.
"All of these viruses are spread by insects, and all of these viruses are currently spreading in the Americas," said Dr. Jonathan Miner, senior author of the study and an assistant professor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The study was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
"Powassan and West Nile virus are flaviviruses, in the same family as Zika virus," he said. These viruses are transmitted by infected ticks and mosquitoes.
Miner and his colleagues decided to experiment on an assortment of four viruses plus Zika to "determine whether certain traits of these viruses may be unique to one family or another," Miner said.
Damage to fetuses
Miner and his colleagues studied the effects of four emerging viruses that are spread by either mosquitoes or ticks: West Nile, Powassan, chikungunya and Mayaro. Found in Brazil, chikungunya and Mayaro can cause arthritis and are classified as "alphaviruses," a category separate from flaviviruses.
The researchers injected each one of a group of wild female mice with one of the four viruses during the sixth day of their pregnancies. One week later, the researchers examined all the rodent fetuses and placentas.
Signs of viral infection were seen in all the placentas and fetuses. However, West Nile virus levels were 23 to 1,500 times higher than levels of the other viruses within the placentas.
In the fetuses, West Nile levels surpassed the other viruses by even more: 3,000- to 16,000-fold.
Through a microscope, the researchers also saw severe damage in the brain tissue of the West Nile-infected fetuses. By comparison, the brain tissue of chikungunya-infected fetuses appeared healthy.
No fetal deaths occurred in mothers infected with chikungunya or Mayaro, but the same could not be said of the mice infected with the flaviviruses.
"We found that West Nile virus caused injury to the fetal brain and intrauterine growth restriction, and that both West Nile virus and Powassan virus led to fetal death in mice. This is similar to what has been observed after congenital Zika virus infection in mice," Miner said. Nearly half of the fetuses of mice infected with West Nile or Powassan died within 12 days of infection.
"We cannot say for certain whether these infections would lead to a birth defect in mice," he said. "However, what we found is consistent with what we and other scientists have observed with congenital Zika virus infection in mice."
Mice are by no stretch of the imagination human, as the researchers acknowledge.
Could West Nile or Powassan virus penetrate the placenta and infect a human fetus?
Human tissue experiments
Carolyn Coyne, co-author of the new study and an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, said the researchers' next series of experiments were based on the fact that "a virus must first cross the placenta, which forms the sole barrier between maternal and fetal blood," to reach a human fetus.
So the team infected explants -- tissues kept alive in a nutrient medium -- from human mothers and human fetuses with either chikungunya, Mayaro, West Nile, Powassan or Zika virus.
All three flaviviruses (Zika, West Nile and Powassan) efficiently replicated in the human placental tissue, while the alphaviruses (chikungunya and Mayaro) were unable to multiply in the same way.
This suggests that all three flaviviruses "could possibly breach the placental barrier to reach the fetus in humans," Coyne said. "Some of these viruses may be teratogenic, which means that they can induce harm to a developing fetus."
Microcephaly, in which a baby's head does not develop properly, is not the only outcome of a Zika virus infection in a pregnant human mother, Miner noted. "There are many outcomes of Zika virus infection including pregnancy loss, intrauterine growth restriction, blindness, brain calcifications and other problems."
Dr. Paul E. Jarris, chief medical officer at the nonprofit March of Dimes, called the study "very helpful."
"It's, of course, not conclusive with regards to humans, and so I think we have to keep that in mind -- not to overstate what it says," added Jarris, who was not involved in the research.
Jarris noted that along with these experiments, the researchers asked whether the Zika virus had been unnoticed but causing birth defects all along -- or had the virus recently mutated, and that's why abnormalities occurred in recent years?
Analysis based on previous research suggests that the Zika virus, first identified more than half a century ago, has been slightly increasing rates of birth defects since its discovery, the authors of the new study found.
It is the Aedes species mosquito that infects humans with the Zika virus. According to the World Health Organization, there is scientific consensus that Zika virus causes Guillain-Barr- syndrome in humans and microcephaly in children born to infected mothers. The virus could be associated with other neurological complications as well.
"We need to do more research here," Jarris said. He added that mosquitoes and ticks are just "bad actors; I think we need to be concerned about them in any case." The same mosquito that spreads Zika spreads dengue, and "dengue can be a deadly disease," he said. "Yet one more reason that you need to avoid mosquito bites and tick bites as well as get rid of standing water in your backyard and take other precautions to keep mosquitoes from breeding."
Durland Fish, professor emeritus of epidemiology (microbial diseases) at the Yale School of Public Health, said this is an "interesting study with enough significance" to demand human study follow-up. Fish was not involved with the research.
Although what happens in a mouse experiments does not always lead to the same result in humans, Fish said, by comparing several viruses in a mice model, scientists can learn about the "innate qualities of the viruses themselves."
More research would lead to more knowledge, but much is already known about these flaviviruses.
West Nile and Powassan
Scientists first isolated the virus that takes its name from the West Nile district of Uganda in 1937. Commonly, it is found in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, North America and West Asia, according to the WHO.
The virus is transmitted between birds and Culex mosquitoes, which can infect humans, horses and other mammals.
Outbreak sites of West Nile virus can be found along major bird migratory routes. Originally, infections were seen only in Africa, parts of Europe, the Middle East, West Asia and Australia. Once introduced into the United States in 1999, though, West Nile virus became widely established from Canada to Venezuela.
Most people infected by West Nile never know it happened: About 80% of the thousands infected each year in the US do not develop symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
However, one in five infected people develops a fever and other symptoms, including headache, body aches, joint pains, vomiting, diarrhea or rash. Most of these patients will recover completely.
And one in 150 West Nile-infected people -- about 1,000 people a year in the US -- develop life-threatening brain infections such as encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) or meningitis (inflammation of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord). In some cases, these infections cause neurological problems for life. Rare though it may be, some patients will die.
West Nile's less-traveled cousin, Powassan, is both dangerous and on the rise in the United States. Powassan virus takes its name from the town in Ontario where it was first identified in 1958. Over the past decade, there have been only 100 cases reported in the US.
Spread by ticks that feed on deer, raccoons, foxes and weasels, this North American virus can be found in midwestern Canada as well as in the Northeast and the Great Lakes region of the US. Additional rare cases have been reported in far eastern Russia, where it is spread by a cattle tick.
Like West Nile, Powassan infections often go unnoticed by those infected, according to the CDC.
Those who experience symptoms may suffer from fever, headache, vomiting, weakness, confusion, seizures or memory loss, while half of the patients who develop symptoms will also experience long-term neurologic problems such as headaches or memory loss.nPatients with severe illnesses caused by Powassan often need to receive respiratory support in a hospital, intravenous fluids or medications to reduce swelling in the brain.
If both West Nile and Powassan infections have occurred in the United States, why haven't we seen these viruses causing birth defects or miscarriages?
"It is possible that there has been a low incidence of pregnancy complications associated with these viruses that has gone overlooked," Coyne said. Or the complications may not be obvious at birth; for instance, they may be "developmental delays that did not present for several years after birth," she said. "It is unlikely that they would ever be linked with an infection that occurred in utero."
And if these viruses caused a pregnancy loss, that also would be difficult to notice and tie to an infection, since miscarriage rates are high and causes are "generally unknown," Coyne said.
Fish said that, for now, people shouldn't be too concerned by these two virus cousins. West Nile and Powassan viruses are relatively rare, though "incidence may increase, and they could become more important," he said.
"These disease threats are out there, and because of globalization and environmental change, there will most certainly be more," Fish said. "We should be much better prepared for such 'natural' epidemics, as they probably pose a more serious threat to human health than bioterrorism."
2 fetuses found as investigators continue search for 3rd
Why the government is creating lethal viruses
Fewer babies were born in Brazil amid Zika outbreak, study says
New viruses, superbugs found in study of New York house mice
Zika spreads rapidly in India, with 94 cases confirmed
Study finds e-cig flavors can damage cardiovascular cells
Remains of fetuses and infants found at second Detroit funeral home
School district uses 'flu gun' to blast viruses
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1091
|
__label__wiki
| 0.972079
| 0.972079
|
K.F Skenderbeu History
The first football club in the city of Korçë was formed on 15 April 1909 under the name Vllazëria by politician and poet Hilë Mosi.[2] The rise in the popularity of the sport resulted in a number of clubs being formed between 1920 and 1922, including clubs such as Përparimi and Sport Klub Korça. In 1923 the Albanian National Lyceum formed the Shpresa sports society. Skënderbeu was officially formed in 1925, when a large number of the young men and young men of the city were playing football regularly in local fields. The rise in popularity of the sport led to most neighbourhoods forming their own football teams, such as Zhgaba in 1926 and Leka i Madh, Pirro, Zjarri, Tigri and Diamanti in 1927, which competed in the city’s first organised football competition held in 1928. However, these teams were local, and would only compete with one another, as the main football club to represent the city was Skënderbeu who managed to overcome several problems at the start, some of which were even political. Skënderbeu was named after 15th century Albanian nobleman and national hero Skanderbeg. The club quickly became the city’s main football team, and in 1926 they began to play friendly games against teams from neighbouring countries, starting with Macedonian side Monastir, then part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In two games played Skënderbeu won 5–2 and then drew 2–2. Skënderbeu also played friendlies against Greek teams from Ermioni and Thessaloniki, which is modern day Aris FC. They also played against Kavala, who they beat 2–0 in Albania but lost 1–0 against in Greece.[3]
1930s championships
The club competed in the first ever national football competition in Albania, which was the 1930 championship. As the only club to represent Korçë nationally, Skënderbeu had hug popular support within the city, with similar support bases seen with the likes of KF Tirana and Vllaznia Shkodër, who all earned a name for themselves in the early stages of Albanian football. During the 1930 championship, Skënderbeu finished runners up to KF Tirana, after forfeiting both championship playoff matches.[4] The club managed to win its first ever Albanian Championship just 3 years later in 1933, finishing 2 points ahead of Vllaznia.[5] The championship winning side was: Klani Marjani, Kristaq Bimbli, Andrea Çani, Andon Miti, Lefter Petra, Fori Stasa, Nexhat Dishnica, Tomor Ypi, Thoma Vangjeli, Servet Teufik Agaj, Enver Kulla, Vasil Trebicka, Stavri Kondili, Aristotel Samsuri, with Qemal Omari as their manager. In the same year the club’s striker Servet Teufik Agaj was the top goalscorer with 7 league goals, an honour also won by his strike partner Aristotel Samsuri in 1931, also with 7 goals scored. The following year Skënderbeu strongly fought to retain their title, but only managed to finish as runners-up once again to KF Tirana, with Samsuri being the club’s top goalscorer that season with 7 goals. In the next 2 championships held before the start of World War II Skënderbeu finished in 4th place in both years under the guidance of manager Qemal Omari. The club ceased operations between 1938 and 1945 due to World War II, as there were no official tournaments held in Albania.
Post-war struggles
In 1945 the club began operating once again, much to the delight of supporters who paraded in the streets of Korçë as the club announced the news. The majority of the players who were active in the 1930s were no longer playing football competitively, so the squad was virtually new, except for Klani Marjani, Bellovoda and Saro. But the delight was short lived as the club struggled to match their performances before the war. In 1945 they finished 4th in Group B, consisting of 6 teams, and in the following 1946 season they finished 5th in Group A, just 1 point ahead of bottom place. The manager Tato Bimbli decided to bring in young players in order to revive the squad during the 1947 season, when the club also changed its name to Dinamo Korçë for the Communist Party, Bimbli’s decision to bring in young players paid off as the club finished 3rd in the league out of 9 teams. The following season, however, turned out to be a disaster as they finished bottom of Group A with just a single point from 7 games. In 1949 the club changed its name to simply Korça, and they finished in 6th place out of 9 teams in the same year. The manager Tato Bimbli left the club after having a difficult time in charge, and he was replaced by Spiro Koçe in 1950. in 1951 all Albanian teams were ordered by the Communist Party to be named Puna, which literally translates to work. During these years the club remained a notable force, but with no relative success often finishing in mid table in the league. Skënderbeu is also a three time finalist in the Albanian Cup in 1958, 1965 and 1976, in which they lost all three finals. They did however win the Albanian First Division in 1976/77 as well as three other times with the last win in 2008–2009 season where Skënderbeu won the rights to move into the Albanian Superliga where they have never looked back.
Recent dominance
During the winter of 2009–10, the club was bottom of the league and facing the real possibility of relegation from the Albanian Superliga, but there were seismic changes in terms of the ownership and the board, as a new president in the shape of Red Bull Albania CEO Agim Zeqo was appointed. A new 16-member board was also elected, and a host of new donors attached themselves to the club. The club’s short term goal was to remain in the Albanian Superliga, and they planned to win the league the following season. In order to escape relegation the club brought in Mirel Josa as the new head coach, along with a host of new players, both from Albania and neighbouring countries. They finished the league in 10th place out of 12 teams, meaning they entered a relegation playoff with the third placed Albanian First Division side KS Kamza, which they won 1–0 through a second minute Klodian Asllani goal to remain in the Albanian Superliga.
Ahead of the 2010–11 season, the squad was revamped and under the guidance of Shkëlqim Muça as the head coach, new players were brought in, many of whom were Albanian internationals including Orges Shehi, Ditmar Bicaj, Endrit Vrapi, Jetmir Sefa and Bledi Shkëmbi who was named captain following his return to his hometown club. Other quality signings made Skënderbeu the favourites to win the title. They were defeated by KF Tirana in their first ever Albanian Supercup game, and they spent much of the season in second place in the league, behind pacesetters Flamurtari Vlorë. Shkëlqim Muça was replaced by Shpëtim Duro as head coach in February and defeated Flamurtari Vlorë in his first game in charge to move closer to top spot, and he went on to guide the club to 11 wins in his 13 games in charge, to win the Albanian title for the first time since 1933 and to qualify for the UEFA Champions League qualifying round for the first time in their history. After winning the league for the first time in 78 years, the club’s president Agim Zeqo said “It was a great season and it was great to see our city and our fans enjoy this title. This town loves football and deserved this win. Let’s do it again next season.”
The club made its Champions League debut against Cypriot side APOEL FC in the second qualifying round on 13 July 2011, and they lost 2–0 at home, before losing 4–0 away as they were knocked out of the competition. They continued a poor start to the season as they lost out to KF Tirana in the Albanian Supercup before the start of the Albanian Superliga season, where they also struggled. After only one win in their opening 4 games the head coach Shpëtim Duro was replaced by Stanislav Levý from the Czech Republic, who became the club’s first foreign coach since Qemal Omari in the 1930s, who himself was of Albanian ancestry, making Levý the club’s first truly foreign coach. He guided the club to a 14 match unbeaten run to reach the top of the table, and he only lost 2 games in charge as they narrowly beat Teuta Durrës to the title with only a single point between the sides to claim the only Champions League spot once again. In the Albanian Cup, Skënderbeu reached their first final since 1976, but they lost to KF Tirana, as they continued their 100% losing record in Albanian Cup finals, having lost in 1958, 1965 and 1976 before the 2012 final..
They kicked off the 2012–13 campaign with their first ever Champions League and European win, as they defeated Hungarian side Debreceni VSC 1–0 at home through a Sebino Plaku goal to give them real hope of qualifying for the third qualifying round of the competition. In the away leg however Skënderbeu lost 3–0 and were knocked out after a 3–1 aggregate loss despite winning the first leg of the tie.
A new era began , Ardjan Takaj was defined as the club’s new president after resignation of Agim Zeqo.
Skenderbeu once again lost out to KF Tirana in the Albanian Supercup for the second consecutive season, but in the league they lost just once in their opening 20 games and managed to remain in first place for the entire campaign as they went on to win the title for the third time in a row. In the Albanian Cup they were knocked out by Bylis Ballsh in the semi final after a 2–1 aggregate loss over two legs, a result which came as a surprise as Skënderbeu had defeated all 5 teams they had faced during their cup run and were considered the favourites.
They then went on to win the Albanian Supercup for the first time in their history, after defeating KF Laçi. Later, Skënderbeu begun their the 2013–14 campaign with their first ever Champions League tie as they draw 0–0 in the away leg against Neftchi Baku, which gave them a shade of hope in their dream about qualifying for the third qualifying round of the competition. In the home leg, they managed to hold the score to a tie in regular time and went to win 1–0 in the extra-time through a Nurudeen Orelesi goal in the 116th minute, qualifying for the first time in the third qualifying round of Champions League. They were drawn against Kazakh side Shakhter Karagandy and they lost 3–0 at home, before losing 3–2 at home as they were knocked out of the competition. They dropped into the UEFA Europa League play-offs, making their debut in the second most important continental competition with a 0–1 loss to Ukrainian side Chornomorets Odessa in the away leg. At home, they recorded their first ever Europa League win, defeating Chornomorets 1–0 with a Andi Ribaj goal, giving Skënderbeu hopes of becoming the first Albanian team to qualify to the group stage of a European competition by progressing to the Europa League group stages. However, with a 1–1 tie, the match went to extra-time and later penalties, with Skënderbeu losing 6–7. In the championship, they began with a 1–0 victory over Besa Kavajë, then lost important matches against Flamutari and Kukësi, but recovered and claimed a winter lead place. They managed to win their fourth consecutive league title after a 2–1 win over Partizani Tirana.
They then went on to win the Albanian Supercup for the second time in a row, after defeating Flarmutari 1–0 in the final. In the new Champions League season, they had great expectations fed by a 0–0 draw in the second qualifying round against BATE Borisov away, but a 1–1 draw at home ended their hopes as were eliminated on away goals rule. In the league, they win the first two games, before losing to Partizani Tirana and a win against Kukësi was shortly followed by a defeat to Teuta Durrës. Then, they managed to have an unbeaten run, with loses against only KF Tirana and KF Laçi. In the Albanian Cup, they were knocked out by Kukësi in the semi-finals.
The summer transfer window was marked by the signing of the Albanian international Hamdi Salihi, who played at Rapid Wien. However, after a 2–2 draw against KF Laçi, they lost the Albanian Supercup 7–8 on penalties. They kicked off the 2015–16 campaign with their biggest ever Champions League and European win, as they defeated Northern Ireland side Crusaders 4–1. They lost the away match 2–3, but managed to qualify to the third qualifying round for the second time with an aggregate 6–4 score and they faced Milsami Orhei. They beat Milsami 2–0 both home and away to become the only Albanian side to qualify to the UEFA Champions League play-offs, where they met Dinamo Zagreb. They were defeated 1–2 at home and 1–4 away and eliminated from Champions League. They were dropped into the UEFA Europa League group stages, becoming the first Albanian club to progress to the group stage of a European competition. Skënderbeu Korçë were drawn against Beşiktaş, Lokomotiv Moscow and Sporting Lisbon. In matchday 1, their first ever group stage game, the club was defeated at home 0–1 by Beşiktaş after a hard fight between the two sides. In the next matchday, they lost 0–2 to Lokomotiv Moscow in Moscow, Russia. Their worst defeat in the European competition yet came the next matchday, a storming 1–5 loss to Sporting Lisbon in the away leg at Lisbon, Portugal, but also had the Albanian side scoring their first goal in the UEFA Europa League group stages. In the home match, Skënderbeu Korçë recorded a historical 3–0 win to Sporting Lisbon, which was one of the most important victories of a football club in Albania, as Skënderbeu recorded their points in a UEFA Europa League group stage game.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1092
|
__label__wiki
| 0.960482
| 0.960482
|
Stitt’s Pick To Run State Land Office Led Bankrupt Energy Company
By Paul Monies & Oklahoma Watch • Jul 13, 2020
The proposed new secretary of the Commissioners of the Land Office ran an energy company which filed for bankruptcy last year and had been underpaying the commission royalties for oil and gas production.
In a special meeting on Tuesday, the commissioners will consider the appointment of Elliot Chambers to be the new secretary at the Land Office, which runs a $2.3 billion trust fund of oil and gas leases and property to benefit public education.
Chambers was CEO of White Star Petroleum LLC, which filed for bankruptcy in May 2019 and owed the Land Office more than $207,000 in underpayments and interest for oil and gas deductions and valuations on its leases, according to bankruptcy documents. White Star’s assets were later sold to Houston-based Contango Oil and Gas Co. for $132 million.
Chambers is Gov. Kevin Stitt’s second pick for secretary of the land office. The former interim secretary, A. Brandt Vawter, resigned abruptly in March. Oklahoma Watch reported last year that Vawter did not meet the statutory requirements for the position.
Before he was interim secretary, Vawter and his company, Monticello Investments, faced several lawsuits over oil and gas leases. Stitt wanted the Legislature to change the requirements for secretary of the land office, but lawmakers were unwilling to take it up during a COVID-19-shortened session.
In September, attorneys for the Land Office protested White Star’s plan to emerge from bankruptcy. In filings with the bankruptcy court, they provided an analysis of the royalty underpayments from leases to White Star. They also objected to assigning the leases to Contango, saying they couldn’t be automatically transferred during the bankruptcy reorganization to a new owner.
Vawter directed attorneys at the Land Office to accept a settlement offer from White Star for $176,000, according to an email obtained under the Open Records Act. That represented 85% of the outstanding claim.
In an executive session at their February meeting, commissioners approved a settlement with White Star and its new owners. The commission comprises the governor, Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell, Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister, Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd and Secretary of Agriculture Blayne Arthur.
Baylee Lakey, Stitt’s communication director, said on Friday the governor “looks forward to presenting Elliot Chambers, who has a proven track record in corporate finance and management” at Tuesday’s meeting.
“White Star went through the same review process with the CLO Board that many companies do each year,” Lakey said in response to a question about the settlement and royalty underpayments. “White Star’s decision to file bankruptcy was extensively investigated and no concerns were found. The White Star settlement was discussed, voted on and approved during the February CLO board meeting.”
Oklahoma Watch is a nonprofit organization that produces in-depth and investigative journalism on important public-policy issues facing the state. More Oklahoma Watch content can be found at www.oklahomawatch.org.
Chambers graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1995 with a bachelor of business administration in accounting, according to a biography on an archived version of the White Star website. He has a master of business administration degree from New York University and is a certified public accountant. Chambers was named CEO of White Star in 2016 and was a former vice president and treasurer at Chesapeake Energy Corp.
A home phone number listed for Chambers on the Oklahoma Accountancy Board’s license verification website did not work.
House Minority Leader Emily Virgin, D-Norman, said any pick to lead the land office should be above reproach.
“This is an entity that produces millions of dollars for our schools,” Virgin said. “The system needs someone who has impeccable credentials and doesn’t raise any red flags. Our schools and our children deserve the best person we can get into that position.”
The Land Office generated more than $132 million for education in fiscal year 2019, according to its annual report.
Longtime oil and gas attorney Terry Stowers said the Land Office has been aggressive about pursuing energy companies for underpayments of royalties. Stowers, who represents royalty owners, said he was concerned that the Land Office could be led by an energy company executive whose former company had settled for royalty underpayments.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1093
|
__label__wiki
| 0.696827
| 0.696827
|
Prevalence of drug-resistant HIV reaches 'alarming levels' in Aruba
The prevalence of resistance to nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors among HIV-infected individuals has increased to 'alarming levels' in Aruba, reaching 45% in 2015, see our recent publication at CID.
Click on the image to access our publication at Clinical Infectious Diseases, 2017.'
L. Marije Hofstra, MD, of the department of medical microbiology at the University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands, and colleagues discovered that the increase in resistance is due to a rise in the nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) mutation K103N. The mutation has a detrimental effect against Sustiva (efavirenz, Bristol-Myers Squibb) and nevirapine, which are commonly used in first-line combination ART (cART) regimens in highly endemic countries.
'Emergence of HIV drug resistance during cART use has tremendously decreased in Western countries, and transmission of drug resistance has merely stabilized in recent years, as a result of close laboratory monitoring, the use of regimens with a higher genetic barrier to resistance, and surveillance,' Hofstra, who also is from the department of infection and immunity at Luxembourg Institute of Health, and colleagues wrote in Clinical Infectious Diseases. 'However, our data demonstrate that in a setting without adequate surveillance, the prevalence of infections with NNRTI resistant HIV can increase to worrisome levels, compromising the efficacy of the standard first-line NNRTI-based regimen.'
The researchers examined data on 104 treatment-naive participants who underwent HIV drug-resistance testing from 2010 to 2015 in Aruba. Among them, 86% were men, 39% were foreign-born and 22% had AIDS at diagnosis.
Results showed that 33% (95% CI, 24-42) of participants were infected with a drug-resistant strain of HIV. While resistance to nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) and protease inhibitors (PIs) was rare, (2%; 95% CI, 0-5), the prevalence of NNRTI resistance was 32% (95% CI, 23-41), increasing to 45% (95% CI, 27-64) in 2015. According to the researchers, all NNRTI resistance was due to the K103N mutation. An additional analysis of 28 participants who experienced treatment failure showed that 54% of participants had virus with a K103N mutation.
All patients who received HIV drug resistance testing at baseline were infected with an HIV-1 subtype B virus, the researchers said. Those infected with a K103N strain were more often men who have sex with men and were more likely to experience virologic failure with NNRTI-based regimens.
Hofstra and colleagues performed a phylogenetic analysis of 688 sequences to determine the source of K103N transmission. They found that K103N-harboring strains were introduced into treatment-naive populations through at least six independent transmissions involving the surrounding countries, including Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Curacao.
The researchers reported that previous research has shown that resistant variants may revert to wild-type after transmission to attain viral fitness, limiting further potential spread of the resistant variant. In this cohort, however, K103N persisted at high frequencies despite the long duration of infection in some participants. A next generation sequencing analysis did not show evidence of reverted minority K103N variants compared with population sequencing.
'The long-term persistence of variants with K103N after transmission underlines their threatening potential to spread widely among therapy-naive individuals,' Hofstra and colleagues wrote.
Following these results, the researchers notified local and regional public health authorities, and local guidelines reinforced baseline resistance testing and replaced the WHO-recommended first-line ART regimen with an integrase inhibitor-based regimen.
'Our data indicate that it is crucial to combine the scale up of cART in low- and middle-income countries with adequate surveillance for resistance as recommended by the WHO, to guard the efficacy of our current public health approach and to prevent jeopardizing the potential benefit of treatment as prevention,' Hofstra and colleagues concluded. 'If strengthened surveillance would show that these NNRTI-resistant viruses are more widespread in the region, a change of the current first-line NNRTI-based regimen to a regimen with a higher genetic barrier to resistance should be strongly considered, despite its major implications for resources and logistics.' by Stephanie Viguers
http://www.healio.com/infectious-disease/hiv-aids/news/in-the-journals/%7B17e947c4-87d8-488d-a874-b58d9a0bfb27%7D/prevalence-of-drug-resistant-hiv-reaches-alarming-levels-in-aruba
Publication cited
Incidence rate estimation, periodic testing and the limitations of the mid-point imputation approach. Vandormael A, Dobra A, Barnighausen T, de Oliveira T, Tanser F, International Journal of Epidemiology (2017), :doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyx134.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1095
|
__label__wiki
| 0.892334
| 0.892334
|
From being a homosexual to a computer science genius, here’s an inspiring life story of Alan Turing
in People
Widely known as the father of computer science and artificial intelligence, Alan Turing was a British scientist who developed a machine that helped in decoding Nazi ciphers during World War II. His works are widely acknowledged as a foundation for research on computer science and AI. In addition to being a brilliant man, he was famous among the LGBTQ community as well because at a time when homosexuality was a taboo and considered illegal, he was an openly gay man however he ultimately succumbed to the convictions that had been made against him. Almost after 60 years of his death, in 2013, Queen Elizabeth II posthumously pardoned him.
His unconventionality, struggles throughout his life for being gay and more importantly, his journey as a scientist are altogether an inspiration for millions.
Early life and career
Born on June 23, 1912, Turing belonged to an upper middle class British family in London. He went to Sherborne School and since childhood, he had an affinity for mathematics and science. After Sherborne, he attended King’s College, University of Cambridge where he further honed his skills in mathematics and it was at that point in time that he started to discover his homosexuality.
Soon after his graduation, he formulated a research paper where he presented a concept of a universal machine (later called the ‘Universal Turing Machine’). The paper was considered to be the precursor to the modern computer. Soon afterwards, he enrolled at Princeton University from where he received his Ph.D. and then took up a part-time job at a British code-breaking organisation – Government Code and Cypher School.
Code breaking during WWII
Turing was a lead participant in wartime code-breaking and he was able to crack the Enigma code which is used in German naval communication and is usually considered unbreakable. However, his achievements in code-breaking didn’t stop there. He also delivered two papers which later became important assets to the Code and Cypher School and they were released at the National Archives of the United Kingdom in 2012.
He has made several notable contributions in the field of computer science and AI the list of which is endless. He is also credited with being the first person to come up with a theory for software as well. Owing to this ground-breaking discoveries, inventions and contributions, he had been honoured with Order of the British Empire Award. A life-size statue of Turing was also unveiled at the University of Surrey in 2004 to mark the 50th anniversary of his death. Furthermore, Princeton University Alumni Weekly regarded him as the second most significant alumnus in the history of the university with James Madison in the no.1 position.
Tags: Alan TuringAlan Turing BiographyEnigma codeHomosexualityLondonsuccess story
Co-incidence of Meeting Your Co-Founder: Successful business leaders who dint look too far to find the right person
Wynyard Group
Success story of Dr A.P.J Abdul Kalam
WGD Analytics
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1097
|
__label__wiki
| 0.934582
| 0.934582
|
Alexy Mollenhauer and Alexis Dillard scored 15 points apiece, and Loeenhauer added nine rebounds and two blocked shots.
The win improved the Trojans to 2-0 on the year heading into a Wednesday night game against Southern Wesleyan at 5:30 p.m. at the Abney Athletic Center.
Ace Easter scored a game-high 18 points while tallying seven steals in a season-opening rout of Clayton State.
The Anderson men’s basketball team plays Limestone at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday after falling to Lander 80-71 in its Conference Challenge over the weekend. Led by freshman guard Josh Livingston’s team-high 16 points, four Trojans reached double figures in the loss: Jeremy Bouton, Randall Shaw, Gage Ellis and Maurice Howard.
Gage Ellis poured in a team-high 17 points in 22 minutes of action and Randall Shaw netted 16 points in a season-opening 92-75 win over Southern Wesleyan.
Calabria honored
Anderson men’s soccer senior Josh Calabria and the volleyball team have been named to the Anderson Federal Credit Union Gold Standard for their performances in October.
Calabria helped lead the men’s soccer team to a 5-2-1 record during the month as the Trojans earned a No. 6 seed in the South Atlantic Conference Championship. The native of Canberra, Australia, scored three goals and was credited with an assist during the eight-match span. Calabria had a two-goal, one assist performance on Senior Night to cap off his career.
The senior defender’s leadership helped lead the Trojans to a three-match win streak to extend the season with a spot in the SAC Championship semifinals.
The volleyball team posted nine wins without a loss during the month as part of a school-record 19-match win streak that has since been extended.
Herbert honored
Anderson women’s soccer senior Kristin Herbert has been named to the College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District Team for District III.
The native of Arlington, Virginia, played in 13 matches and helped anchor a backline that helped produce six clean sheets and a second-straight trip to the SAC Championship semifinals. In the classroom, Hebert carries a 4.0 grade-point-average while majoring in biochemistry. She has been named to the Anderson University Dean's List following every semester of her collegiate career.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1098
|
__label__wiki
| 0.677537
| 0.677537
|
IndiaTIES
International News & Support
ASEAN + ASIAN
CIS Region
Middle East & GCC
Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire)
Agriculture & Commodities
Impact10kMSME
Impact10kMSME Activities
GLOBOIL
HomeTechnologyMyGov Corona Helpdesk gets two awards at the Global Leadership Summit
MyGov Corona Helpdesk gets two awards at the Global Leadership Summit
June 30, 2020 IndiaTies SHM Technology 0
June 30: AI enabled MyGov Corona Helpdesk bagged two awards under categories (1) “Best Innovation for Covid-19 – Society” and (2) “People’s Choice Covid-19 Overall Winner”, at the recently held CogX 2020, which is a prestigious Global Leadership Summit and Festival of AI & Emerging Technology held annually in London.The awards were won by Technical Partner of Mygov, JioHaptik Technologies Limited.
MyGov is the world’s largest citizen engagement platform, which facilitates two-ways communication between the Government and Citizen and facilitates participatory governance in India, the world’s largest democracy. In the fight against Covid-19, MyGov, JioHaptik Technologies Limited and WhatsApp team collaborated to develop AI enabled MyGov Corona Helpdesk in the record time of 5 days including weekend.
MyGov Corona Helpdesk demonstrated the true Public, Private and Public Partnership (PPPP), wherein, Citizen centric services were provided by MyGov, the state-of-the-art technological solution including infrastructure were designed, developed, and deployed by JioHaptik Technologies Limited, and ideas given by public were factored-in on daily basis to improve the services and solution.
CogX is one of the world’s largest events on AI, held annually in London with over 15,000 participants in attendance from the highest levels of business, government, industry, and research. The Cogx Awards are given out to the best-of-the-best in AI and emerging technologies across the world. After a rigorous evaluation, Indian chatbot ‘MyGov Corona Helpdesk’ was chosen among hundreds of entries that made a difference to society during the pandemic. Following a live digital pitch in front of a worldwide audience and esteemed judges, the JioHaptik was awarded the honor for providing AI enabled technologicalsolution for ‘MyGov Corona Helpdesk’ that has helped safeguard lives amid a pandemic.
In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the ‘MyGov Corona Helpdesk’ has received more than 76 million messages and processed over 41 million conversations. With the active involvement of Government, JioHaptik and WhatsApp, this chatbot has helped / continues to help over 28 million Indians stay informed while providing a platform to get latest information on Covid-19, curb rumors and misinformation.
Shri Abhishek Singh, CEO, MyGov said that right communication strategy and leveraging technology is an important strategy to deal with the pandemic. Digital India has made solid foundation. It has been the endeavor of Digital India and its initiative MyGov to act as a bridge between citizens and government and ensure citizen participation and information dissemination on platforms that most citizens use. Towards this objective, MyGov Corona Helpdesk, developed in partnership with JioHaptik and WhatsApp, has really helped improve our outreach and engagement. The chatbotengages citizens in user friendly manner with personalized information and updates on COVID-19, government advisories, advice of medical experts, stories of COVID19 survivors, myth busters and musical interludes through the positive harmonies campaign that also ensures that people are relaxed and stress free. Innovatiove use of inforgraphics, videos and podcasts has ensured that MyGov Corona Helpdesk remains a true friend of citizens in this crisis.
Speaking on the win, CEO & Co-Founder of Haptik, AakritVaish mentioned, ‘’What started as an initiative to spread the right information has today become a world-renowned technological solution that continues to assist millions. The Government’s support was a key driver in building the ‘’MyGov Corona Helpdesk’’ in record time and being recognized at a global technology summit further bolsters our belief that technology is meant to benefit society in the long run. We would also like to acknowledge our healthcare professionals as the real winners of this honor who are battling this pandemic 24/7.’’
Source: PIB
Technology & Automation Solutions
Single window for States to collect stamp duty on securities market instruments
Clean Energy Can Support India’s Economic Recovery post-COVID-19
Climate-Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF 2.0) and Streets for People Challenge launched
September 11, 2020 IndiaTies SHM Technology 0
Hardeep S Puri launches Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF 2.0) and Streets for People Challenge
One District One Product approach could lead India to become Manufacturing Powerhouse
August 27, 2020 IndiaTies SHM Business, Technology 0
Shri Piyush Goyal holds virtual meeting with the industry ministers of states and UT administrators to promote industrial activity and investment; National GIS-enabled Land Bank system launched; Shri Goyal calls upon the states to collectively work in the spirit of ‘Team India’; Asks all states to adopt the Public Procurement Policy-Make in India Order; Seeks States’ cooperation in developing a single-window system to obtain all requisite clearances/approvals, required to start business operations in India; On the ‘One District One Product’ (ODOP) approach, Shri Goyal says this could help in making India a Manufacturing Powerhouse […]
Prime Minister delivers inaugural address at VAIBHAV 2020 Summit
October 2, 2020 News Desk Technology 0
Prime Minister delivers inaugural address at VAIBHAV 2020 Summit whereOver 3000 Academicians & Scientists of Indian Origin and over 10,000 Indian Scientists participate in the Summit […]
Bangladesh becomes Country in Focus for 51st IFFI
Modi chairs meeting with CMs on COVID-19 vaccination
ISRO adopt 100 ATLs for promoting STEM and Space Education
Single Window Clearance Portal of Ministry of Coal launched
MoD conducts online quiz competition on 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War
NEVF gains popularity among Start-Ups and young entrepreneurs
Nidra and Yoga helps in improving the quality of sleep
PM condoles loss of lives in a plane crash in Indonesia
New Rules for renewal of International driving license while traveling abroad
President applauds Indian Diaspora at PBD convention
Product & Commodity Exports
Education in India
Promoting Investments
India Support Office
Central Africa Region: CAMEROON, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC, CHAD,CONGO, DR CONGO, EQUATORIAL GUINEA, GABON
North Africa Region: ALGERIA, EGYPT, LIBERIA, LIBYA, MOROCCO, SUDAN, TUNISIA
West Africa Region: BENIN, BURKINA FASO, CABO VERDE, COTE D’IVOIRE, GAMBIA, GHANA, GUINEA, GUINEA-BISSAU, MAURITANIA, MALI, NIGERIA, NIGER, SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE, SENEGAL, SIERRA LEONE, TOGO
East Africa Region: BURUNDI, DJIBOUTI, ETHIOPIA, ERITREA, KENYA, RWANDA, SEYCHELLES, SOMALIA, SOUTH SUDAN, TANZANIA, UGANDA
South Africa Region: ANGOLA, BOTSWANA, COMOROS, ESWATINI, LESOTHO, MADAGASCAR, MALAWI, MAURITIUS, MOZAMBIQUE, NAMIBIA, SOUTH-AFRICA, ZAMBIA, ZIMBABWE
ASEAN: BRUNEI, CAMBODIA, INDONESIA, LAOS, MALAYSIA, MYANMAR, PHILIPPINES, SINGAPORE, THAILAND, VIETNAM
ASEAN+6: AUSTRALIA, CHINA, INDIA, JAPAN, NEW ZEALAND, SOUTH KOREA
Other ASIAN: MONGOLIA, NORTH KOREA
BAHRAIN, IRAN, IRAQ, ISRAEL, JORDAN, KUWAIT, LEBANON, OMAN, PALESTINE, QATAR, SAUDI ARABIA, SYRIA, TURKEY, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, YEMEN
AFGHANISTAN, BANGLADESH, BHUTAN, MALDIVES, NEPAL, PAKISTAN, SRI LANKA
AUSTRALIA, FIJI, KIRIBATI, MARSHALL ISLANDS, MICRONESIA, NAURU, NEW ZEALAND, PALAU, PAPUA NEW GUINEA, SAMOA, SOLOMON ISLANDS, TONGA, TUVALU, VANUATU
ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN, BELARUS, GEORGIA, KAZAKHSTAN, KYRGYZSTAN, MOLDOVA, RUSSIA, TAJIKISTAN, TURKMENISTAN, UZBEKISTAN
ALBANIA, BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA, BULGARIA, CROATIA, CZECH REPUBLIC, ESTONIA, KOSOVO, LATVIA, LITHUANIA, MONTENEGRO, NORTH MACEDONIA, POLAND, ROMANIA, SLOVAKIA, SLOVENIA, SERBIA, UKRAINE
AUSTRIA, ANDORRA, BELGIUM, CYPRUS, DENMARK, FINLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY, GREECE, HUNGARY, ICELAND, IRELAND, ITALY, LIECHTENSTEIN, LUXEMBOURG, NETHERLANDS, NORWAY, MALTA, PORTUGAL, SAN MARINO, SPAIN, SWEDEN, SWITZERLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
CANADA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Caribbean Islands: ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA, BAHAMAS, BARBADOS, CUBA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, DOMINICA, GRENADA, HAITI, JAMAICA, SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS, SAINT LUCIA, SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
Central America: BELIZE, COSTA RICA, EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, MEXICO, NICARAGUA, PANAMA
South America: ARGENTINA, BOLIVIA, BRAZIL, CHILE, COLOMBIA, ECUADOR, GUYANA, PARAGUAY, PERU, SURINAME, URUGUAY, VENEZUELA
Advertisements & B2B Enquiries
Product/Commodity Exports
Friends of India
Copyright © 2020 | IndiaTIES. All rights reserved
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1099
|
__label__wiki
| 0.696356
| 0.696356
|
Tag: AeroVironment
AeroVironment Awarded $2.3 Million DARPA Concept Definition Contract for TERN Medium Altitude Long Endurance Unmanned Aircraft System Program
AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) announced that it has been selected by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to provide its market-leading expertise in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) toward the development of a new category of this technology. AeroVironment will work as the prime contractor with DARPA on the Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node (TERN) Program to… Czytaj dalej AeroVironment Awarded $2.3 Million DARPA Concept Definition Contract for TERN Medium Altitude Long Endurance Unmanned Aircraft System Program
Umieszczono w kategoriach: UAS Tagi AeroVironment
AeroVironment and Eurocopter to Evaluate Potential Joint Opportunities for Expanding their Product Portfolios, Markets and Capabilities
AeroVironment, Inc., (NASDAQ: AVAV) the world’s highest volume manufacturer of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), and Eurocopter, the leading global helicopter manufacturer, today announced at the Association of the United States Army annual meeting that they have signed a cooperative agreement to explore opportunities for expanding their respective military and commercial product portfolios. “The combination of… Czytaj dalej AeroVironment and Eurocopter to Evaluate Potential Joint Opportunities for Expanding their Product Portfolios, Markets and Capabilities
Umieszczono w kategoriach: UAS Tagi AeroVironment, Eurocopter
AeroVironment Receives $20 Million U.S. Army Order for RQ-11B Raven Unmanned Aircraft System Gimbale
AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) today announced it has received an order from the U.S. Army for the company’s Mantis™ i23 gimbaled sensor payloads to continue upgrading the Army’s fleet of RQ-11B Raven unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). AeroVironment, which develops and produces advanced upgrades for its highly integrated UAS, such as Raven, was selected as the result… Czytaj dalej AeroVironment Receives $20 Million U.S. Army Order for RQ-11B Raven Unmanned Aircraft System Gimbale
Szwecja zamawia UAS od AeroVironment
Podczas imprezy Eurosatory firma AeroVironment otrzymała zamówienie od Szwecji.
Umieszczono w kategoriach: News Świat Tagi AeroVironment
Sweden orders UAS from AeroVironment
At Eurosatory | AeroVironment has received a firm fixed-price order for 12 hybrid small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) from the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (Försvarets Materielverk, FMV) on behalf of the Swedish Army. The order consists of Puma AE and Wasp air vehicles, ground stations, training, and logistics support. The order is the result of… Czytaj dalej Sweden orders UAS from AeroVironment
New contract for AeroVironment
AeroVironment, Inc. (AVAV) today announced it received a $15,813,406 firm fixed-price authorization to perform on May 22, 2012 from the United States Army as the initial portion of a contract action with a total projected value of $65,889,191.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1100
|
__label__wiki
| 0.765933
| 0.765933
|
F.I.S.T.
by Mark Heywood | Friday, September 2nd, 2016
Hello from Los Angeles where, as you may recall, we have relocated for the remainder of the year. As things stand we will be shooting the latest inkjockey productions short film in two weeks.
This weekend’s extended break for Labor Day is a welcome one and a chance to reflect on what we’ve learnt since working here.
Film-making is an art, a passion, a chance to tell a story that could change the world. That’s the theory at least, the reality is actually very different. It’s about permits, insurance, unions, schedules and logistics. A perfect moment then to look at the world of the honest worker as told by the film industry.
What follows is a short list of 5 of my favourite films about workers, unions and horrible bosses (and no, Horrible Bosses isn’t on the list although hats off to whoever cast Jennifer Aniston in that film).
Swimming with Sharks – A 1994 film from writer / director George Huang about a young executive who lands a dream job in Hollywood working for famed producer Buddy Alderman (Kevin Spacey). The dream soon turns into a nightmare as Alderman turns out to be nothing more than a bully. The revenge sequences are a delight and never has the phrase “death by a thousand cuts” been more true. You’ll never look at an envelope the same way again. Universally popular on release it is still a surprise that more people haven’t heard of, or seen this film. It has some of Spacey’s best work in my view.
Hoffa – A 1992 film written by David Mamet and directed by Danny DeVito about the life of the Teamsters Union leader Jimmy Hoffa, played by Jack Nicholson. The film is told largely in flashback and deals with Hoffa’s links to organised crime and his union activities. When he became the President of the Teamsters Union it was the most powerful union in the US and as such was under constant attack from other unions and from mobsters. Hoffa served time in prison before President Nixon commuted his sentence and awarded him a $2 million pension settlement. Hoffa went missing in July 1975 and his body has never been recovered. The film split opinion with the critics but it remains a fascinating look at how closely linked unions and organised crime were at this time.
9 to 5 – A 1980 film from director Colin Higgins, 9 to 5 went on to become a TV show and a musical and it remains one of the most successful comedy films of all time. It catapulted Dolly Parton into a new more mainstream audience. She already had a massive fan base through her music but this film put her on a different level. Acting alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin the characters take on the big bad boss Franklin Hart, Jr. played by Dabney Coleman. Made for $10 million it has taken over $100 million in the US alone. It is worth watching just for the soundtrack.
Gung Ho – A 1986 film by Ron Howard starring a pre-Batman and pre-Beetlejuice Michael Keaton as factory foreman Hunt Stevenson who successfully appeals to the Japanese owners of a closed factory in the US to re-open it. His success is where all the trouble starts as the workers find themselves in a huge culture clash with their strict Japanese superiors. Compromise all round is the only way out of an near-impossible situation. Again this film split opinion with the critics but it is an opportunity to watch Keaton on great form before the roles that defined him came knocking.
F.I.S.T. – Flushed with critical and commercial success from Rocky Slyvester Stallone walked straight on to the set of F.I.S.T. to play union leader Johnny Kovak. When you consider the direction Stallone’s acting took during the 1980s it is remarkable to see him in a period piece such as this. He shares the writing credit with Joe Eszterhas who would go on to write Flashdance, Jagged Edge and Basic Instinct. In a similar manner to Hoffa, F.I.S.T. tells the story of the Federation of Inter State Truckers and its links to the mob.
The influence of the unions is everywhere in the US. It dominates its industrial past and its commercial future. It will, no doubt, play a huge role in the upcoming Presidential election. So happy Labor Day weekend to workers everywhere. Enjoy the day off…but make sure you are back at work first thing on Tuesday!
Sign me up for news & updates from inkjockey!
Behind The Spine
It’s time to play the music
A Billion To One
Emerging Creatives 2018
Four Seasons Film Festival
#RehabMatters
Archives Select Month July 2020 May 2020 December 2019 June 2019 March 2019 October 2018 May 2018 January 2018 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013
Registered office: inkjockey Ltd. Crown House, 27 Old Gloucester Street, London. WC1N 3AX
info@inkjockey.co.uk
Registered in England & Wales number: 09035316.
Copyright ©2017- 2020 inkjockey®. All rights reserved. [ Design by Shokku ]
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1102
|
__label__wiki
| 0.552631
| 0.552631
|
Alexis Sanchez Interested In Possible MLS Spell
Harry Kettle contact
Sep 4, 2019 5 min read
HomeEditorial , European Soccer , MLS
Alexis Sanchez Interested In Possible MLS Spell September 4, 2019 Harry Kettle
One of the biggest ‘what ifs’ over the course of the last few years in the world of football has been Alexis Sanchez’s spell with Manchester United. The expectation was that he would be able to do some really great things with the Red Devils after making the move over from Arsenal, but in the end, he wasn’t able to replicate the kind of form that put him on the map with Barcelona and the Gunners in the first place.
As reported by AS and ESPN, though, the story coming out of his most recent interviews following his move to Inter Milan has nothing to do with either club involved in the deal – because instead, it focuses in on Major League Soccer.
The Chilean was questioned about the possibility of a switch over to North America in the future, and while he did confirm that he turned down the chance to play for Inter Miami (the irony), he certainly didn’t shut the door completely.
“I always have offers” said Sanchez.
“They had told me about Miami, but I have got six or five years left at a good level in Europe. Although one day I could play in the United States.
“I’d like it a lot to play in [MLS], it is a league that is growing and is very good.”
You could certainly try and make the argument that he’s just saying that because he was in the United States for a friendly with Chile, but this is a possible move that we could certainly see being in his future.
A big part of that depends on whether or not he does well for Inter Milan because right now, he’s a bit of an enigma. If he can return to the kind of form we were used to seeing from him back at the Emirates, then the sky is quite literally the limit for him.
Alas, if he doesn’t, then perhaps he will contemplate a change of pace that sees him making the transition over into the big bad world of Major League Soccer.
Still a superstar?
Either way, we’re intrigued. Sanchez knows that his career is at a crossroads and he’ll almost certainly be aware of the fact that if things don’t go well in Milan, his time as a player at top level in Europe could come to an end.
With that being said, we don’t exactly feel like he believes there is any pressure there. All you need to do is take a look at some of the shots of him in training with his new teammates. He legitimately looks happier than he has done in a long time, and if only for his mental state of mind, that’s great to see.
We do hope he thrives and succeeds in Serie A, and subsequently, we would love to see what kind of a run he could have in the MLS before he starts to think about hanging up his boots and walking away from the game.
« Neymar Remains At Paris Saint-Germain As Window Closes
The International Break Beckons »
English professional sports writer with an interest in pro wrestling, MMA, athletics & more. As well as working for Insidemnsoccer, Harry has formerly produced content for FOX Sports Asia & TheLADbible
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1103
|
__label__wiki
| 0.862144
| 0.862144
|
ProJo Editorial: For U.S. House: Cicilline, Langevin
SOURCE: Providence Journal Editorial
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rhode Island benefits from experienced, hardworking leadership in Washington. For that reason, we encourage our readers to vote to re-elect U.S. Representatives David Cicilline and James Langevin. As Democrats, they could become more powerful after January, if pollsters’ predictions hold true and control of the U.S. House flips to their party.
Representative Langevin, who serves Rhode Island’s Second District, sits on the House’s Homeland Security and Armed Services committees. Far from being content to serve as a partisan back-bencher, he has been a been a strong and assertive voice on defense and security matters. He supports internet privacy protections and wants to harden cyberprotections for the critical infrastructure of Rhode Island and the country.
He has correctly identified diagnosed weaknesses in America’s cyberdefenses, even as cyberspace is increasingly a battlefield for nation-states, terrorists and criminals. He has demonstrated a grasp of the havoc that could follow a widespread, malicious attack, and consistently advocated for greater cooperation among the interdependent public and private sectors.
Mr. Langevin also has advocated for broader and deeper health care services for all, especially the disabled. As a paraplegic, he provides a unique and personal perspective on issues ranging from stem-cell research to study of the most effective ways for people to undergo rehabilitation after becoming paralyzed.
He is popular, too, with Rhode Islanders, enjoying sizable electoral majorities after successful stints as a state representative and Secretary of State.
Representative Langevin is opposed by military veteran and Republican Sal Caiozzo, who is an advocate for veterans harmed by toxins while serving. Mr. Langevin’s experience and willingness to reach across the aisle suggest he is the better choice.
In the First Congressional District, which includes Providence and Newport, former Providence Mayor Cicilline enjoys a huge party registration advantage over Republican challenger Patrick Donovan and should coast to victory.
Mr. Cicilline has been an advocate for trying to limit the spread of guns in America. He has aggressively pushed for expanded background checks for gun purchasers and a ban on assault weapons.
In Washington, Mr. Cicilline’s articulate tongue has served him well. He has been willing to appear on conservative TV programs, making the case for his party’s values and helping to bridge the yawning partisan chasm in the nation’s capital. He has also spoken out for manufacturing in America. And he has been a champion of newspapers and a free press.
Mr. Cicilline could well be leadership material. A respected member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, he is competing for the new elected position of assistant majority leader. Little Rhode Island can use all the power it can get in Washington.
We believe Rhode Island voters would be well-served by returning its incumbent U.S. House members to office.
Brady Campaign: Brady Campaign Endorses Gun Safety Champions from Coast to Coast
SOURCE: Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (Bradycampaign.org)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — With just one month remaining until the 2018 midterm elections, voters across the country are ready to make their voices heard in support of gun safety champions in their communities. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence announced its latest round of endorsements for Senate, the House of Representatives, state office, and state ballot initiatives.
For the Senate, the Brady Campaign endorsed Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) is a gun owner who believes the Second Amendment is consistent with stronger safety regulations. She supports a ban on rapid fire “bump stocks” and universal background checks.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has demanded accountability for firearms dealers and manufacturers, voting against exempting them from lawsuits in cases of gun violence. He supports raising the minimum age to purchase firearms from 18 to 21, as well as a ban on assault weapons.
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) has called for background checks on private gun sales and transfers, and has sought to ban assault weapons and 3D-printed guns. He recently condemned a plan by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to use federal funds to arm school teachers and staff.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) is one of the leading gun violence prevention champions in the country, having been elected to the Senate just one month before the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012. His 2016 filibuster in the wake of the Pulse shooting was one of the longest in Senate history, reaching nearly 15 hours. He helped pass the bipartisan Fix NICS Act that strengthened our current background system, and he has fought to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers and for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has made clear that when it comes to gun violence, thoughts and prayers are not enough – we need action. She will commit herself to taking dangerous weapons of war off of our streets, passing a universal background check bill, and fighting gun trafficking resulting from states with weak gun laws.
The Brady Campaign endorsed the following 11 candidates for Congress: Rep. David Cicilline (RI-01), Rep. Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Rep. Ted Deutch (FL-22), Rep. Jim Langevin (RI-02), Rep. Jerry Nadler (NY-10), Rep. Dina Titus (NV-01), Colin Allred (TX-32), Lizzie Pannill Fletcher (TX-07), Jahana Hayes (CT-05), Dean Phillips (MN-03), and Abigail Spanberger (VA-07).
Rep. David Cicilline (RI-01) has been a champion for gun safety while in Congress. He has sponsored bills to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines, as well as downloadable 3D-printed guns that enable anyone – even domestic abusers, terrorists, and convicted felons – to create an untraceable, undetectable firearm.
Rep. Salud Carbajal (CA-24) knows the pain of gun violence firsthand, with his own family being touched by a gun suicide. He has introduced legislation to implement extreme risk protection orders, which would allow family members or law enforcement officials to petition a judge to temporarily remove guns from those who may pose a threat to themselves or others.
Rep. Ted Deutch (FL-22) has represented the community of Parkland, FL with grace and compassion over the past year following the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He supports a comprehensive, common-sense approach to gun safety, including raising the minimum age to buy guns to 21, banning assault weapons, and increasing funding for mental health services in schools.
Rep. Jim Langevin (RI-02) has led the fight in Congress to protect children from unsecured firearms, and to hold gun owners criminally liable if their firearms are used by children. He also worked to strengthen federal oversight of gun dealers and to increase penalties for straw purchases.
Rep. Jerry Nadler (NY-10) has been a gun violence prevention champion in Congress, having introduced legislation to keep guns from misdemeanor sex offenders who prey on children and co-sponsored a bill to ban 3D-printed guns. Should the Democratic Party take control of Congress, he would be in line to chair the House Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over gun laws.
Rep. Dina Titus (NV-01) is a member of the House Gun Violence Task Force, where she has fought for federal action to ban bump stocks and assault weapons, establish universal background checks, and to allow CDC researchers to properly study gun violence. As the Congressional representative for Las Vegas, she has seen firsthand the devastating impact that gun violence can have on a community.
Colin Allred (TX-32), has pledged to protect the rights of responsible gun owners while pushing for common sense reforms. He will fight in Congress for background checks on all gun sales, keeping guns away from domestic abusers, and allowing courts to temporarily block access to guns from those who may be a danger to themselves.
Lizzie Pannill Fletcher (TX-07) knows that gun violence in America is preventable, not inevitable. She will fight for common-sense gun safety measures, including a ban on assault weapons, raising the age to buy guns to 21, and requiring universal background checks on gun sales.
Jahana Hayes (CT-05), seeking to represent the families of the children murdered at Sandy Hook in 2012, knows that the issue of gun safety isn’t being for or against guns – it’s about being anti-gun violence. She has called for universal background checks, banning gun sales to those on the terror watch and no-fly lists, and banning assault weapons.
Dean Phillips (MN-03) will stand with the students in his district and across the country fighting for change, rather than the gun lobby. He is calling on Congress to pass universal background checks, reinstitute a ban on assault weapons, and fund CDC research on gun violence.
Abigail Spanberger (VA-07) knows, as a former federal law enforcement officer, how important it is to take action against gun violence. She supports Gun Violence Restraining Orders, universal background checks on gun sales, banning assault weapons, and other common sense measures.
In Nevada, a week after the one year anniversary of the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history, the Brady Campaign joined with its local chapters to endorse Steve Sisolak for Governor, Kate Marshall for Lieutenant Governor, Aaron Ford for Attorney General, Marylin Dondero Loop for Senate District 8, Melanie Schiebel for Senate District 9, Jason Frierson for Assembly District 8, Michelle Gorelow for Assembly District 35, Sandra Jauregui for Assembly District 41, and Justin Jones for County Commission.
Steve Sisolak is committed to taking action against gun violence as Nevada’s next governor. A year after the Route 91 shooting in Las Vegas, he will move to ban assault weapons, bump stocks, high capacity magazines, and silencers. He also is committed to lobbying for funding to research gun violence as a public health crisis, removing restrictions preventing local governments from enacting gun safety measures, and fighting against efforts to arm teachers.
Kate Marshall immediately got to work in the days after the Las Vegas to work with and help survivors and victims in any way she can. She will continue to be an advocate for all victims of gun violence as she fights to end the epidemic in her state.
Aaron Ford sponsored a bipartisan bill in the Nevada state senate to ban people convicted of stalking or are subject to a domestic violence-related protective order, which was signed into law under the state’s Republican governor. As attorney general, he will continue his efforts to expand background checks and implement and enforce other common sense gun safety measures in his state.
In Florida, the Brady Campaign and its Florida Executive Council endorsed Nikki Fried for Commissioner of Agriculture, Olivia Babis for Florida Senate District 23, Annette Taddeo for Florida Senate District 40, and Debbie Katt for Florida State House District 57.
Nikki Fried will, upon taking office as Commissioner of Agriculture, immediately investigate her predecessor’s failure to properly monitor concealed carry permitting in Florida. She has made clear that she will not be beholden to the NRA, but will put the people of her state first and foremost. She knows that background checks save lives while remaining consistent with the Second Amendment, and will govern as such.
In California, the Brady Campaign and the California Executive Council endorsed Buffy Wicks for State Assembly District 15.
The Brady Campaign also endorsed two statewide initiative campaigns; Ban Assault Weapons NOW in Florida, and Washington State Ballot Initiative I-1639.
Ban Assault Weapons NOW seeks to place an amendment on the 2020 ballot in Florida to ban assault weapons in the state. Led by a combination of family members of murdered Parkland students, survivors of the Pulse nightclub massacre, and elected officials, the committee seeks to take the question of whether or not weapons of war belong in places of peace directly to the people of Florida, who have borne witness to a number of high-profile mass shootings in recent years. More information can be found at bawnfl.org.
Washington State Ballot Initiative I-1639 would, among other measures, raise the minimum purchase age for semiautomatic rifles, establish new safe-storage rules, and require safety training before the purchase of any gun. This would be one of the strongest improvements to Washington state law on gun safety, and will save lives.
“We are constantly amazed by the sheer number of remarkable candidates who are putting gun safety at the top of their agendas in 2018,” stated Avery Gardiner, co-president of the Brady Campaign. “No matter how ‘blue’ or ‘red’ a district might be, we all stand in agreement that gun violence in America needs to come to an end. Soon, we will have a Congress that stands with us in that belief.”
This election cycle, the Brady Campaign is focused on working with and supporting candidates throughout the country who are committed to preventing gun violence. A heavy focus is on whether candidates support Brady’s three-point plan, including expanding Brady background checks, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and passing extreme risk laws. A recent battleground poll commissioned by Brady clearly demonstrated the popularity of this plan throughout the country.
A resurgent Brady PAC is supporting candidates who commit to making gun violence prevention a top priority and is working to replace candidates who refuse to prioritize the safety of the American public. Brady is doing so through the candidate endorsement process and holding candidates accountable to their questionnaire answers. Brady PAC will target races across the country in support of such candidates, especially in those races targeting candidates who put gun industry profits before the safety of their constituents.
Brady is also focusing heavily on voter registration, particularly of young voters through its student initiative, Team ENOUGH. In addition to its Congressional report cards released this summer on gun safety issues, the student-led group will be holding voter registration events throughout the summer and will work to educate and mobilize high school and university students from now until November. The group is also inviting students across the country to form their own Team ENOUGH groups and host nonpartisan candidate forums.
Last November’s elections in Virginia and New Jersey, where multiple Brady-backed candidates won on a clear platform of gun safety, demonstrated that voters are engaging on the issue and are rejecting those supported by the NRA. And with recent polling showing that half of Americans want gun safety to be Congress’s top priority, it’s clear that this issue will be a leading one throughout the 2018 campaign.
Further endorsements will be announced in the weeks to come.
CyberScoop: Leet List- Jim Langevin
SOURCE: CyberScoop 2018 Leet List
As a co-founder of the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus, Rep. Jim Langevin has helped shaped the policy debate on Capitol Hill on issues ranging from federal bug bounty programs to information sharing. The Rhode Island Democrat talks about what galvanized his interest in cybersecurity and his hopes for bipartisanship on the issue, among other topics.
CyberScoop: What sparked your sustained focus on cybersecurity?
Rep. Jim Langevin: A lot changed for me the day a couple of scientists from Idaho National Lab came and gave me a briefing on the Aurora threat [in 2007].
In the SCIF, we saw the video of the generator blowing itself up. They described to me how it could be done. It’s, at first, hard to get your arms around, but then as they further explained, this could affect not only just one generator but several, and not only just one power generation facility, [but] potentially it could shut down a whole sector of the country’s electric grid as a result of a SCADA attack. And that was very alarming.
CS: That was 2007. More than 10 years later, we hear the word “cyber” more on Capitol Hill, for better or for worse. How have your fellow lawmakers improved in paying attention to and talking about cybersecurity, and how do they still need to get better?
JL: Members of Congress have become more aware of the problem in the same way that the American people have become more aware of the problem, in many cases because of the high-profile cyber-intrusions or events that have occurred.
We’ve been at this for a long time. I’d love to say that it is because of the work that I did, or that we did together, to raise awareness. That was a part of it, of course, but unfortunately, most of it is because of the large number of cyber-intrusions and threats that the country has faced, the personal and private information that’s been stolen and compromised, the theft of intellectual property, and the list goes on and on.
CS: Do you find yourself being an educator with fellow lawmakers on cybersecurity? Do other members heed the advice of colleagues who have been paying attention to the subject longer?
JL: There are different times that a bill that I have sponsored or co-sponsored, and it’s come up for a vote, that I have members say they voted for the measure because they have a lot of respect for me on this topic and they know that I spend a lot of time on this issue.
Each member of Congress specializes in a different topic. We’re not all experts on every topic. Certain people are go-to people on any range of issues, and cyber happens to be something that I spend a lot of time on.
CS: Have we had a galvanizing moment that generates widespread momentum to drive better cybersecurity policy — the proverbial “Cyber 9/11,” to use a tortured metaphor? Was the 2016 election that moment?
JL: It was a moment, and certainly one of those things that has gotten people’s attention. But it wasn’t a Cyber 9/11, per se. I am still worried about that type of event occurring. It’s still possible, even though it may be remote at this point. It’s still a possibility. … It’s one of those things that keeps me up late at night — you wonder when or if that date will ever come. It’s probably more of a “when” not “if.”
I’ve often said that you will never have modern warfare again without some type of a cyber component to it.
The United States continues to get better at being better organized and defended against a Cyber 9/11. But you can never say never, that it won’t happen. But between the work that the Department of Homeland Security is doing, the work that U.S. Cyber Command is doing, [and] NSA, we have nation-state capabilities to defend the country. But there’s still more work to do. Remember, most of critical infrastructure is still in private hands and we haven’t completely figured that piece out yet as to how we [might] adequately defend the country if there were a Cyber 9/11.
CS: Cybersecurity has often been described as a bipartisan issue. But with all of the politicization of the aftermath of Russian hacking and information operations during the 2016 election, is cybersecurity still a bipartisan issue in 2018?
JL: I believe it is. … Some make it a partisan issue, but I don’t see it that way. Case in point: I have a bipartisan election security bill, the Paper Act, with Congressman Mark Meadows [a Republican from North Carolina].
We both see this as an American issue — not a Democrat or Republican issue, it’s an American issue – that we need to do a better job with, securing our elections infrastructure.
CS: Congress has recently moved to set up bug bounty and vulnerability disclosure programs at multiple federal agencies. What have you learned from talking to experts on what works in setting up these types of programs at agencies?
JL: What I’ve learned over the years in working on the cybersecurity issue and [from] meeting with cybersecurity researchers is that they want to help … they want to help make the internet more secure and function the way it’s intended to.
Bug bounty programs are a great way to leverage that private sector talent, as we saw with the Pentagon’s bug bounty program. It was set up the right way. You get trusted researchers who want to do the right thing, provide them a vehicle where they can lend their talents, I think [it] is a good model. I’d like to see other government departments and agencies do a similar bug bounty program.
We also need to have a vulnerability disclosure program at each of the departments and agencies so that when cybersecurity researchers do find a vulnerability they’ve got somebody they can report it to – and they know that it’s going to be acted upon.
CyberScoop: GAO report shows how easy it is to hack DOD weapon systems
By Sean Lygaas
In cybersecurity probes of Department of Defense weapon systems in recent years, penetration testers were able to gain control of systems with relative ease and generally operate undetected, according to a Government Accountability Office report.
“We found that from 2012 to 2017, DOD testers routinely found mission-critical cyber vulnerabilities in nearly all weapon systems that were under development,” the report states.
In one test, a two-person team gained initial access to a system in an hour, then gained full control of the system in a day, the watchdog said. In another, the pen-testers seized control of the operators’ terminals, could see what the operators saw on their screens, and “could manipulate the system,” GAO found. Many of the testers said they could change or delete data. In one case they downloaded 100 gigabytes of it.
The scathing report chalks up the insecurities in the Pentagon’s weapon systems to defense officials’ “nascent understanding of how to develop more secure weapon systems” and the fact that those systems are more networked than ever. Until recently, according to GAO, the Pentagon did not prioritize weapon-system cybersecurity. Furthermore, DOD program officials the watchdog met with “believed their systems were secure and discounted some test results as unrealistic,” the report says.
“Due to this lack of focus on weapon systems cybersecurity, DOD likely has an entire generation of systems that were designed and built without adequately considering cybersecurity,” GAO researchers added.
DOD’s evaluators did not pull out top-drawer tools to breach the weapon systems, but instead used simple techniques that were sufficient in the face of a “poor password management and unencrypted communications,” according to GAO.
The report, which focuses mainly on under-development weapon systems, is the product of a 15-month audit that included interviews with officials from the National Security Agency, military testing organizations, and DOD acquisition offices, among other agencies. GAO said its researchers will give Congress a classified briefing on their findings.
Not all of GAO’s findings were negative. The Pentagon has recently moved to improve weapon-system cybersecurity through policy guidance and initiatives to better understand vulnerabilities, according to the watchdog. And one penetration test reviewed by GAO “found that the weapon system satisfactorily prevented unauthorized access by remote users,” albeit not from insiders.
But the report makes clear that DOD’s work to date is far from sufficient in tackling the problem.
“Several DOD officials explained that it will take some time, and possibly some missteps, for the department to learn what works and does not work with respect to weapon-systems cybersecurity,” the report says.
Due to testing limitations, “the vulnerabilities that DOD is aware of likely represent a fraction of total vulnerabilities” in systems, according to GAO.
Defense officials provided technical comments in response to a draft of the GAO report. CyberScoop has requested further comment from the Pentagon.
“The GAO report released today highlighted a shocking reality: just how far behind we actually are in adequately protecting our weapons systems and industrial suppliers from cyber threats,” said Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said he wasn’t surprised by GAO’s findings. “While DOD has made progress in lowering its cybersecurity risks, it has not moved fast enough,” Langevin said. That is why, he added, Congress has mandated that the Pentagon carry out cyber vulnerability assessments.
WPRI: RI delegation reacts to Kavanaugh confirmation
By Eric Halperin
EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Throughout the entire confirmation process, Rhode Island’s congressional delegation have spoken out against the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
Now that he’s been confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court, their feelings have not changed.
In a narrow vote of 50 to 48 Judge Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Senate to become a Supreme Court Justice. Two of those ‘nay’ votes came from Rhode Island’s democratic Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed.
Whitehouse serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which heard testimony about sexual assault allegations from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford against Kavanaugh.
Shortly after Kavanaugh was voted in, Whitehouse released the following statement:
“I developed deep concerns with Judge Kavanaugh early in this process. He holds a narrow view of constitutional protections for women, a troubling affinity for dark money, and a worrying disregard for precedent and important judicial principles. Also, he sides – nine times out of ten – with big Republican corporate and special interests over regular Americans. Our next justice needs to remain independent of those interests; Judge Kavanaugh signaled the opposite. That cost him my vote.
“Then came credible allegations of sexual assault against Judge Kavanaugh, and remarkable testimony from Dr. Blasey Ford. She was calm, composed, and utterly believable. President Trump called her testimony ‘credible’ and ‘compelling,’ as did many of my Republican colleagues. She even provided real evidence, including prior consistent statements, to corroborate her account.”
“We then learned the true measure of Kavanaugh. His bitter, partisan conspiracy theories ought to disqualify any nominee to the bench, let alone to the highest court in the land. Through this dark episode for the Senate and our democracy, I find reason to hope. President Trump mocked her, and Republicans ignored her, but Dr. Blasey Ford’s testimony lit a fire. Like the brave Rhode Island women who shared their own stories with me this week, Americans are shedding the long and unfair legacy of shame, fear, and stigma associated with sexual violence and trauma, to come forward with their experiences. It has been a personal honor to share this moment with these Rhode Islanders, and to be trusted with their stories, and I am very hopeful the fire they lit will lead to change.”
On Friday night, Whitehouse spoke on the Senate floor about why he believes Kavanagh is not fit for the position.
“I did not find him credible at all. I found him belligerent and aggressive, just as his Yale drinking buddies said he was when drunk in college, and evasive, and non-responsive,” Whithouse said.
Saturday morning, Whitehouse’s challenger for his senate seat called the senator out for his behavior during the Kavanaugh hearings.
“I’m here to charge Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse with abusing his seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee and with disgracing that seat through his actions and statements throughout the tumultuous Kavanagh hearings,” Bob Flanders said.
During his event Flanders also called Kavanaugh an “outstanding American.”
Congressman Jim Langevin also issued a statement after the Senate voted saying he was ‘deeply disappointed.’
“The events of the past several weeks surrounding his confirmation hearings have convinced me that Judge Kavanaugh does not have the temperament to credibly act as a nonpartisan arbiter of justice, and many questions remain about the accusations that he sexually assaulted women in his youth,” Langevin said.
“When President Trump first nominated Kavanaugh, I expressed my grave concerns that he would represent a departure from the independent voice of Justice Kennedy. Unfortunately, as he prepares to take his seat on the high court, I fear Justice Kavanaugh’s term will only exacerbate the divisions in our society and further erode public faith in our institutions,” Langevin said.
URI Today: U.S. Rep. James Langevin to host Coastal Resiliency Symposium at the University of Rhode Island
Events, Media Coverage
KINGSTON, R.I., — U.S. Rep. James Langevin, along with a number of University of Rhode Island experts, will convene for a symposium on the topic of extreme weather conditions, including storm surge and flooding, as they affect military installations and the Rhode Island coastline.
URI faculty with expertise in storm modelling and mapping, response and resiliency, ocean and civil engineering, and geologic oceanography will participate in the symposium to be held Tuesday, Oct. 16 from 10:30 a.m. to 12: 30 p.m., in Corless Auditorium at URI’s Bay Campus, 215 South Ferry Road, Narragansett, Rhode Island. Registration is at 9:30 a.m.
A 2018 Department of Defense study indicated that more than half of the 3,500 U.S. military’s sites located both in the U.S. and internationally are affected by instances of extreme weather. Storm surge, here in Rhode Island as well as other coastal regions, can be a particular risk, with more than 200 domestic sites alone reporting flooding—an increase of more than 500 percent over the number reported in 2008.
Rear Admiral (Ret.) Jonathan W. White, former commander of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanographic Command, will deliver the keynote address. White has a B.S. in oceanographic technology from the Florida Institute of Technology and holds a master’s degree in meteorology and oceanography from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.
He was commissioned through Navy Officer Candidate School in 1983, and has had operational shore assignments at Jacksonville, Florida; Guam; Monterey, California; and Stuttgart, Germany, where his joint duty included Special Operations Command Europe, and strike plans officer for U.S. European Command during Operation Allied Force in Kosovo and Serbia. White commanded the Naval Training Meteorology and Oceanography Facility, Pensacola, Florida, and was the 50th superintendent of the United States Naval Observatory.
White’s sea tours as a naval oceanographer include commander, Cruiser Destroyer Group 12, where he completed deployments on board USS Saratoga (CV 60) and USS Wasp (LHD 1). He was promoted to the rank of rear admiral (upper half) in August 2012 as he assumed his duties as director, Task Force Climate Change, and Navy deputy to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Rear Admiral White retired in 2015. He presently serves as president and CEO of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership.
Symposium panelists and topics are:
Christopher D.P. Baxter, professor, ocean, civil and environmental engineering— “Engineering’s Role in Resiliency and Educating the Next Generation.”
Austin Becker, assistant professor, coastal planning, policy and design— “Stimulating Transformational Thinking for Long-Term Climate Resilience.”
John King, professor, geological oceanography— “Climate Model Predictions and Trends in Observational Data for Coastal Environments.”
Pamela Rubinoff, coastal management and climate extension specialist, Coastal Resources Center and Rhode Island Sea Grant— “Engaging Decision Makers in Resilience.”
Congressman Langevin, URI President David M. Dooley, and URI’s Vice President for Research and Economic Development Peter J. Snyder will speak at the symposium.
The event is free and open to the public, however, registration is suggested. For more information, and registration link, visit: uri.edu/coastalresilience.
Giffords: “We are proud to endorse Congressman Jim Langevin for Congress in 2018”
SOURCE: Giffords.org
US House – Rhode Island – 2nd District – Democrat
About Jim Langevin
Congressman Jim Langevin has been an avid supporter of gun safety during his nearly 30 years of public service. Congressman Langevin supports legislation to expand background checks, allow the temporary removal of firearms from people who pose a danger to themselves or others, ban assault weapons, restart federal research into gun violence, and prevent domestic abusers and stalkers from possessing guns. Congressman Langevin has also introduced legislation to prevent children from being injured by guns in their homes and to require regular inspections of firearms dealers. Congressman Langevin has voted against legislation which gives legal immunity to the gun industry, and has voted against concealed carry reciprocity legislation—currently the gun lobby’s top legislative priority—multiple times.
We are proud to endorse Congressman Jim Langevin for Congress in 2018.
Warwick Beacon: Textile comeback: Innovation revitalizes industry
By Mary Johnson
Fifteen years ago, Amerisewn, in Cranston, made carrying cases for Apple computers, eyeglass cases, and sports bags. Today, CEO John Caito designs and manufactures high tech gear that protects military, law enforcement and mental health industry employees from stabbing, slashing and explosives.
The reason for the change?
“Low dollar items go overseas,” said Caito, “complex items stay here in the U.S.”
Caito said the company combines “both advanced and traditional materials in unique ways.” The facility includes rows of sewing machines and workstations where employees cut patterns and fabric to make riot gear and other protective gear. It’s bright, clean and organized, but appears low-tech, although it is actually quite advanced. Caito said the company incorporates fabric, foams, plastics, leather and Kevlar, among other materials, to make the protective gear to withstand impact, slash or stabs, because they haven’t found a wonder material that does it all yet. He said the team is always thinking about ways to make the gear lighter, more durable, and better able to withstand attack, and they spend a significant amount of time doing research to stay on top of current trends, materials and fabrics.
Amerisewn was one of ten companies exhibiting their work at the Rhode Island Textile Innovation Network launch last week at the Historic Slater Mill in Pawtucket. RITIN, as it’s known, was formed by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and the University of Rhode Island Business Engagement Center to foster collaboration among textile companies, designers and university faculty from URI, RISD and Brown. At the event, Senator Jack Reed spoke of uniforms and gear being developed and tested for the military that includes nanotechnology and electronic circuitry. “The uniform I wore in 1967 and 1970 as a paratrooper and cadet doesn’t cut it,” said Reed. “It’s not your granddad’s textiles any longer.”
Michael Woody, the CEO of Trans-Tex, LLC and the President of RITIN, is a man on a mission to “change the hearts and minds” of Rhode Islanders about textile industry. “It’s no longer the dark and dirty factory full of dangerous equipment that they see in the history books,” he said.
Smart fabrics
“Some advanced textiles” he added, “are apparel made of smart fabrics that monitor blood pressure or heart rate.” Rhode Island companies, he added, also make goods that are not widely recognized as textiles, because they are not clothing or apparel, such as “fabrics for structures, the automotive industry and the marine industry; fabrics for medical devices, and fuel storage.”
The Cooley Group, headquartered in Pawtucket with a facility in Cranston, is one such company. “Cooley textile products are very different from the textiles people typically associate with clothing and fabrics,” said Dan Dwight, The Cooley Group’s CEO. Cooley textiles are “coated with polymer or other chemistry formulas to serve a specific market application” said Dwight.
For instance, the company makes a textile coated with “a proprietary urethane-based chemistry formula that is fabricated into combat raiding craft for the U.S. Military Special Forces,” according to Dwight. Once fabricated from the Cooley “rolled goods,” the craft can be carried in a backpack and inflated and deflated as needed, making the forces more mobile and less likely to be discovered during military operations.
Cooley also makes a product that, sadly, hasn’t yet caught on in Rhode Island. It’s a membrane that is injected into the pipes under the road to create a barrier inside, allowing “municipalities to re-line old and leak water and sewage pipes without having to dig up streets.” Dwight said application of the “cost effective and environmentally sustainable technology is much more prevalent in Europe than in North America.”
Innovation vouchers
Both Amerisewn and the Cooley Group, along with six other Rhode Island textile companies, receive Innovation Vouchers from the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation to support research and development. This funding allows the companies to partner with university professors and students to explore innovative ideas for new materials or processes.
The Cooley Group has partnered with faculty at URI to explore technology to bring billboards into the modern age with sensors and other tools to collect and distribute information. “The Innovation Voucher work Cooley is doing with URI facility and students has given Cooley access to additional technical resources to support our global growth through new products,” said Dwight.
At the event last week, hosted by RITIN in partnership with the Rhode Island Congressional Delegation [including Congressman Jim Langevin], Real Jobs RI, the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, Polaris MEP, the Rhode Island Manufacturing Association, the URI Business Engagement Center and the Slater Mill Museum, staff from Cooley Group, Amerisewn, and eight other companies exhibited the products their goods are part of, while more than 100 people, manufacturers, university faculty, students, and government officials, talked shop.
“We are constantly developing new products for new end use categories and networking with other companies to maximize our capabilities. That’s the key to our success,” said Steve Perry, Senior Vice President of Darlington Fabrics, which makes high performance fabric for NFL teams and NASA Astronauts. “RITIN is a very important organization to Darlington because it facilitates collaboration between the diverse group of textile companies in our state.”
Vibrant industry
During the past year, RITIN has leveraged funding from the RI Commerce Corporation and the Department of Labor and Training to host networking events like these, collaborate with Polaris MEP to host a Design Week panel, and host an exhibit at the Providence Mini Maker Faire help promote the modern textiles sector to the general public through a new website and ongoing social media campaign. “Rhode Island has a vibrant textile industry,” said Whitehouse, who founded RITIN with the University of Rhode Island Business Engagement Center, “I hope RITIN will take stars and make sure they form into a constellation.
The organization also conducted a survey of textile companies to better understand industry needs, uncovering an urgent need to attract younger employees into an industry that will lose a significant portion of its workforce in the next decade.
“Textile companies provide a solid career paths for those with college degrees and those who chose to enter the workforce immediately after high school,” said Christian Cowan, Center Director of Polaris MEP, which provides day-to-day management for RITIN and is an affiliate of the NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST MEP). According to NIST data, the state employees approximately 2,500 people in the textile sector and the average earnings was above the national average, at $52,404 annually.
Caito, who graduated from a vocational high school with a degree in cabinet making, said, “It’s important in manufacturing to try to get better every day and never stop learning. Manufacturing is a team and everyone’s job is important for that team. If kids new how many types of industries and interesting opportunities there were using textiles they would be amazed.”
RITIN’s website, at www.ritin.org, created by Walsh and Associates of East Greenwich, features video profiles of three Rhode Island textile employees that Woody said represent the diverse range of job opportunities available for individuals of varying education levels:
Anjali Khemani, an Associate for Design and Innovation at Pawtucket, RI-based Propel, LLC, recently earned a Master’s degree in textiles from Drexel University and moved to Providence because of the innovation underway in the local textile industry. “My focus at Propel is computer programming,” said Khemani. “There are so many textile companies that are looking for people that can write code and develop programs. Our industry has switched from the dull and dusty of years past to advanced technologies and customized solutions.”
Tom Jeronimo, the Director of Color Management at Kenyon Industries in Kenyon, shares his journey of being an auto mechanic before beginning his manufacturing career in an entry-level production job 20 years ago. “I had a passion for fixing cars but several friends were in the textile industry and encouraged me to join them,” said Jeronimo. “It’s a decision I’ve never regretted. Many of my friends and family members had a totally outdated perception of what textile manufacturing is like. I tell them they would be amazed at how clean our plant is. Things have changed in the past 20 years. The career avenues in textiles today are pretty much limitless.”
Warwick Beacon: Reed, Langevin concur FBI investigation next best step in Kavanaugh hearings
By Tabitha Pereira
Senator Jack Reed and Congressman Jim Langevin agree an FBI investigation is the correct next step to take in the process of determining Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.
During a press conference relative to a federal grant for the Warwick Fire Department on Monday, Reed and Langevin took a moment to discuss the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings. Both legislators were in agreement regarding the implementation of the FBI investigation.
“I’m glad that the Republicans finally gave in to the right thing and requested an FBI investigation,” Langevin said.
Reed said an investigation would be beneficial.
“I don’t know if [the FBI report] will be conclusive, but it will provide critical details, and the very fact they’ve done it gives more confidence that the investigation was thorough,” Reed said.
Reed, who voted against Kavanaugh’s appointment to the Circuit Court, questioned his temperament.
“I think there’s also a question now about his temperament as well as his independence from theologian politics and I think those are serious issues for any Supreme Court Justice.”
Kavanaugh was recently accused of sexual assault by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and other women he came into contact with when he was in high school and college. Kavanaugh denies the claims made against him and both Ford and Kavanaugh appeared before senators Thursday during confirmation hearings.
At the end of the hearing, Republican Senator Jeff Flake requested a one-week delay before a vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court to allow for an FBI background investigation into the sexual assault allegations made against him.
The background investigation is currently underway and so far the FBI has contacted Deborah Ramirez, a Yale University classmate who also made sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh.
Clean Water Action: Clean Water Action Announces Rhode Island Endorsements for the 2018 General Election
SOURCE: CleanWaterAction.org
PROVIDENCE – Clean Water Action is pleased to announce its list of endorsed candidates for the 2018 general election being held on Tuesday, November 6th.
“Rhode Island’s natural resources are our state’s greatest asset, and we need to do everything in our power to make sure that we protect them,” said Johnathan Berard, Clean Water Action’s Rhode Island State Director. “These candidates have earned our endorsement because of their commitment to safeguarding our environment and public health. They have pledged their support for policies that will reduce consumption of single-use plastics and plastic pollution, protect our drinking water supply and water resources, and move swiftly towards a vision of 100% renewable energy for our state.”
Clean Water Action Rhode Island proudly endorses the following candidates for US Congress, Governor, Treasurer, and the General Assembly:
Sheldon Whitehouse (D)
David Cicilline (D), House District 1
Jim Langevin (D), House District 2
Gina Raimondo (D)
Seth Magaziner (D)
State Senate
Adam Satchell (D), District 9
Dawn Euer (D), District 13
Val Lawson (D), District 14
Dennis Lavallee (D), District 19
Josh Miller (D), District 28
Jennifer Douglas (D), District 34
Bridget Valverde (D), District 35
Christopher Blazejewski (D), District 2
Rebecca Kislak (D), District 4
Marcia Ranglin-Vassell (D), District 5
John Lombardi (D), District 8
Anastasia Williams (D), District 9
Grace Diaz (D), District 11
Joseph Almeida (D), District 12
Arthur Handy (D), District 18
David Bennett (D), District 20
Justine Caldwell (D), District 30
Carol Hagan McEntee (D), District 33
Teresa Tanzi (D), District 34
Kathleen Fogarty (D), District 35
Lauren Niedel-Gresh (D), District 40
Michael Steiner (D), District 41
John “Jack” Lyle, Jr. (R), District 46
Michael Morin (D), District 49
Karen Alzate (D), District 60
Katherine Kazarian (D), District 63
Liana Cassar (D), District 66
Jason Knight (D), District 67
Laufton Asencao (D), District 68
Susan Donovan (D), District 69
Dennis Canario (D), District 71
Terri Cortvriend (D), District 72
Deborah Ruggiero (D), District 74
Lauren Carson (D), District 75
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1104
|
__label__wiki
| 0.901995
| 0.901995
|
Lions Announce 2021 South African Tour Schedule
By Jonathan Northall Dec 5 2019 11:17AM
Dec 5 2019 11:17AM
The British & Irish Lions will play an eight-game tour of South Africa in 2021 which could see the largest number of spectators for a Lions Test series.
The Lions will tour all over the home of the current Rugby World Cup champions with three Tests against the Springboks being the highlight of the five-week tour.
Watch rugby live on Kayo Sports including major international games, Super Rugby and Six Nations - click here for a free two-week trial!
The two Tests in Johannesburg and one in Cape Town could see 205,000 fans watch the series. The record is just under 193,000 spectators who attended the 2013 Test series against the Wallabies. FNB Stadium in Johannesburg holds 88,000 and hosts the First Test on Saturday 24th July 2021. Cape Town Stadium hosts the Second Test, one week later, before the series wraps up at Emirates Airline Park on Saturday 7th August. The tour will see the Lions face Super Rugby teams DHL Stormers, Cell C Sharks and Vodacom Bulls as well as an invitational side and South Africa ‘A’.
Warren Gatland coached the Lions to a victory against the Wallabies (2013) and a draw against the All Blacks (2017). The tour against the current world champions will be tough, but Gatland is confident, “Touring South Africa is always a huge challenge, not only from a rugby perspective but also in terms of the venues and the conditions facing the players. We are very comfortable that three of the games, two of which are Test matches, will be played at altitude. Our schedule falls in a way to allow us to start at sea level before building up and acclimatising to the unique environment that playing at altitude presents.”
“Ensuring the team are absolutely primed for the Test matches is a critical element of any Lions Tour, and I am confident the quality of opposition we will face in the opening weeks will get us ready to take on the Springboks. The Bulls, Sharks and Stormers are all tough sides and present different challenges, which is exactly what we want”, said Gatland.
The Lions have toured South Africa on 13 occasions with four wins, eight losses and a draw. Head-to-head against the Springboks, the Lions have won 17, lose 23 with six draws.
With Lions tours coming around once a decade for the Springboks and being the world champions, the home side will be ready for the challenge. SA Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus explained, “Here are players who have been to three Rugby World Cups and finished their careers with a winner’s medal and yet never got to play against the Lions. They only come around every 12 years for our players, and only a few of them ever have the privilege of wearing the Springbok jersey in a Lions series.”
Date Fixture Venue
Saturday 3 July British & Irish Lions v DHL Stormers Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
Wednesday 7 July British & Irish Lions v SA ‘Invitational’ Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Saturday 10 July British & Irish Lions v Cell C Sharks Jonsson Kings Park, Durban
Wednesday 14 July British & Irish Lions v South Africa ‘A’ Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
Saturday 17 July British & Irish Lions v Vodacom Bulls Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Saturday 24 July (1st Test) Springboks v British & Irish Lions FNB Stadium, Johannesburg
Saturday 31 July (2nd Test) Springboks v British & Irish Lions Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
Saturday 7 August (3rd Test) Springboks v British & Irish Lions Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg
british & irish lionsbritish lionsrugby unionsouth africaspringbokssuper rugbyunion
Roussel and Meronk share Dunhill lead
The Preview: Alfred Dunhill Championship
So-called expert golf tips for this week
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1108
|
__label__wiki
| 0.649289
| 0.649289
|
Norilsk Nickel donates $143mn to fight coronavirus, steps up its social care of workforce in Russia’s remote Far North
Russia's biggest metallurgical company Norilsk Nickel has donated $143mn to fight coronavirus and has stepped up its social care of workforce in Russia’s remote Far North
By Ben Aris in Berlin April 15, 2020
Russia’s biggest metal and mining company Norilsk Nickel, owned by tycoon Vladimir Potanin, has donated RUB10.5bn ($143mn) towards the fight against the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) virus and to protect the health of its workers.
“The money will be used to purchase medical equipment, medicines and personal protective gear for local healthcare institutions, the company’s operating sites and employees, as well as to provide additional support for the company employees and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) located in NorNickel's regions of operation,” the company said in comments emailed to bne IntelliNews.
NorNickel's main nickel and PGM (platinum group metals) mines operate in the Norilsk industrial region, on the Kola Peninsula and in Zabaykalsky Krai in Russia’s Far North – some of the most extreme climate conditions in the world.
The plant was originally founded as a Gulag camp in the Stalin era but has since become one of the most important companies in the Russian economy and the biggest producer of nickel in the world. Because of its extreme location the company has always been heavily involved in caring for the local community from which it draws its workforce.
The donation is part of NorNickel’s growing focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG). The company implemented a comprehensive ESG policy more than a year ago and has already invested more than $2bn in removing sulphur dioxide gas from its emissions – one of the GHG gases proscribed by the Paris convention – as well as closing some of the more problematic metal plants. And the company said earlier this year it intends to invest another $3bn in the coming years to clean up its emissions.
However, the coronavirus crisis has shifted the attention of the leading Russian corporations on from the “E” in ESG to the “S” – responsible corporate actions for the benefit of society. NorNickel is in the vanguard of a growing number of top Russian conglomerates that have picked up the baton in the current crisis and is putting its money where its mouth is.
The Soviet legacy means companies like this have always maintained close ties with the municipalities of the towns and cities where they work. NorNickel has purchased medicines and medical equipment for testing and treating the coronavirus, including ventilators, specialist ICU equipment and equipment required for re-profiling the existing healthcare facilities so they can effectively provide specialist treatment to the victims of the virus. To beef up the local medical facilities to tackle the crisis the company has also bought two stationary laboratories and five mobile laboratories to test for the coronavirus infection that will shortly be put into operation.
“Measures have also been taken to increase hospitals’ capacity. In Norilsk, the number of beds in the city’s hospital infectious disease ward has more than doubled from 45 to 100, whereas in the worst-case eventuality this number can quickly be increased to 1,000,” the company said.
On the Kola Peninsula, in the same part of the world where the company also has operations, 120 beds have been set aside at the company’s corporate clinic for patients who require observation.
In the city of Monchegorsk, also in the Kola Peninsula, 40 additional adult and 20 children’s hospital beds have been set up for patients requiring treatment from the infection, with another 30 additional hospital beds and 20 additional beds for observation in the Pechenga district.
“In addition, NorNickel funds have been used to set up a 54-patient infectious disease ward at Monchegorsk Hospital to provide treatment to coronavirus patients. In April 2020, the company will spend about RUB3bn [$41mn] to purchase medical equipment, personal protective gear, and develop local healthcare infrastructure,” the company said.
As part of the company’s social responsibility of its ESG policy, the well-being of its employees is a “top priority”, the company told bne IntelliNews.
The company has already sent all its employees to work at home on full pay, with the exception of those whose absence at the workplace may affect business continuity. As the company operates mining equipment, some of which cannot be turned off, employees working the continuously operating units are being paid extra. In addition, from March 30 to April 30, the company has decided to pay full wages to those who cannot work from home, as well as to the employees with children who are not able to perform their job duties because they have to stay at home with their children following the closure of preschools.
“Given that the coronavirus pandemic has led to the forced cancellations of trips booked by our employees planning to spend their vacation at corporate health resorts or elsewhere, NorNickel is fully compensating employees for the purchase of corporate health resort package tours and has committed to cover any losses incurred as penalties for cancelling booked air tickets. This also applies to tickets purchased for employees’ family members where a group travel was booked for such family members,” the company said.
In order to provide Norilsk’s population with high-quality internet services to support remote work and training, NorNickel’s subsidiary Edinstvo, the operator of the local fibre-optic network, has expanded its high-speed internet capacity allotted to local mobile operators by 45% at no extra charge.
As Norilsk is an isolated town in the northern wastes – the locals refer to the rest of Russia as “the mainland” – the company is working with the local authorities to prevent the spread of the virus in the region. Norilsk’s municipal administration has already ordered the local airline NordStar to temporarily suspend regular passenger flights to the regional capital of Krasnoyarsk, which has been affected by an outbreak of coronavirus. Nevertheless, air travel contact with Krasnoyarsk is being maintained, with individual flights being subject to approval by an interdepartmental commission established by order of the city mayor.
While many of the people in Norilsk work for NorNickel, which remains the heart of the local economy, these workers are in the minority. The city boasts its own local economy, replete with small businesses and service companies that have also been badly affected by the stop-shock of the pandemic and need help.
“To support local SMEs, NorNickel has granted rent holidays to more than 100 small businesses that are tenants of the company’s properties in Norilsk. Kola Mining and Metallurgical Company has offered similar benefits to its SME partners,” the company said.
“The winners of NorNickel’s flagship corporate philanthropy project, World of New Opportunities, who previously received loans from NorNickel for the development of their social businesses, have also been granted rent holidays for six months,” the company added.
And finally the company has rallied its labour force to help the disadvantaged and elderly. “Volunteer teams” have been formed in all of the company’s cities of operation, participating in the charity movement “Volunteers Rush to the Rescue” to deliver food, medicines and other essential supplies to those in need. Amongst the services they provide is to teach the older residents how to use the internet and make face masks out of gauze for at-risk citizens and doctors.
NorNickel president Vladimir Potanin said: “NorNickel has approached this crisis with a sufficient margin of safety to maximise protection for our workers and all residents in the cities hosting the company’s enterprises, to support SMEs, and to help the local administrations. I am confident that together with our employees, local people in the cities where we operate, and the nation as a whole, we will be able to step up to this challenge.”
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1109
|
__label__wiki
| 0.569785
| 0.569785
|
04 October, 2020 - 5pm
Interni Meeting Point, Istituto Marangoni, via Cerva 24, Milano
Heritage is a set of values of the past, projected into the present under the form of products. It is a distinctive trait that guarantees authenticity and legitimacy in relation to clients, attributing tradition and roots to the brand; it is persistent, and cannot be imitated by the competition. It is the true competitive advantage in the world of highend products because it is based on the need for roots, also territorial, and on the charm of a history that from the past continues into the future. Italian know-how, the unique synergy of crafts and industry, are indispensable values of the products of our country. Often with a unique historical heritage, whose value needs to be boosted and communicated.
Moderator Federica Sala, curator and design advisor
Giulio Cappellini, designer and artistic director
Trained as an architect in Milan, he is an emblematic figure in the international design panorama. Cappellini’s work covers a vast array of furnishing elements. Through his most ambitious project, his company Cappellini has become a bona fide trendsetter, such that he has become universally recognized as a talent scout for young professionals. Cappellini is also Art Director of brands Flaminia, Icone Luce, Superstudio and an ambassador of Istituto Marangoni. He also teaches as a visiting professor at many schools of architecture and design around the world, and organizes exhibitions and events with various institutions.
Andrea Carnevale, head of marketing Pigna
Degree in Modern Literature, gained broad experience, as head of sales and marketing, in international companies such as Groupama, Royal Sun Alliance, UBS and formerly in leading consulting companies across different industries, from automotive to luxury. He joined PIGNA in 2018, after Dea Capital Fund entering the company, with the aim, together with the new management, to relaunch the historic brand in the Italian and international markets, and across new digital channels. Today, together with the Buffetti Group shareholder, the three pillars of Made in Italy, sustainability and design underpin the ongoing relaunch plan.
Luca Fuso, Ceo Cassina - ph. Stefano Triulzi
Luca Fuso has a long experience in international companies. In his last position he held the role of Chief Brand Officer of Ferrari reporting to Sergio Marchionne. Previously, after some experiences in marketing in multinational consumer goods companies, he spent 10 years in the Diesel group occupying positions of increasing responsibility until becoming General Manager in 2004. Since 2006 he has been CEO and General Manager of B&B Italia SpA and subsequently head of the Licensed and Proprietary Brands Divisions of Safilo Group. Luca Fuso started working with Cassina at the end of 2018 where today he covers the role of CEO of Cassina.
Stefania Lazzaroni, general manager Altagamma - ph. Alessandro Amodio
General Manager of Fondazione Altagamma since 2013, she is a member of the executive team and coordinates the Foundation's activities. Created in 1992, Fondazione Altagamma gathers Italy's High-End Cultural and Creative Companies, recognized globally as authentic ambassadors of Italian style. With more than 130 members in the fields of fashion, design, jewellery, food, hospitality, automotive and yachting, Altagamma's mission is to boost growth for its partners, thus making an effective contribution to the Italian economy. Prior to Altagamma, she held top management positions in Corporate communications, Social Responsibility and Crisis Management at both Italian and multinational companies.
Patricia Urquiola, architect - ph. Massimiliano Sticca
Patricia Urquiola studied architecture and design at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and completed her studies at the Politecnico di Milano where graduated under the mentorship of Achille Castiglioni. She worked with Vico Magistretti and later as head of design at Lissoni and partners. In 2001 she founded her own studio in Milan. She designs for some of the most prominent Italian and international companies and her work is exhibited in many art and design museums across the world. She has given lectures at universities across the world, is part of the Advisory Board of Politecnico di Milano and the Scientific Committee of the Design Museum Foundation of La Triennale in Milan. She was nominated Cassina Art Director in 2015.
#lighting
#crafts
The reinterpretation of time
Sustainable vanguard
#Kitchen
The kingdom of colors
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1112
|
__label__cc
| 0.542446
| 0.457554
|
Sanctuary Laws Creating Dangerous ‘Non-Enforcement Zones’
IRLI defends Sessions, federal law protecting cooperation
WASHINGTON – The Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) filed a friend-of-the-court brief last week in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in support of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his efforts to protect the American people from the harmful impact of sanctuary cities. The case, City of Chicago v. Sessions, is being heard on appeal from a federal district court in Chicago, which had blocked Sessions from making federal grant money to Chicago conditional on that city’s dropping its sanctuary policies.
At issue is a federal statute – 8 U.S.C. § 1373 – that makes it unlawful for states or cities to order their officers not to give information about aliens to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). For example, Chicago now violates this statute by forbidding its officers to tell ICE when criminal aliens in city jails will be released – a lockdown on information that makes it very difficult for ICE to pick up these aliens and deport them.
The district court, however, had ruled that § 1373 is unconstitutional because it “commandeers” states in violation of federalism principles. On this basis, the district court had ordered Sessions to cease making Chicago certify its compliance with § 1373 before dispersing federal grants to the city.
In its brief on appeal, IRLI shows that Chicago’s sanctuary policies force its officers to commit the federal crime of shielding illegal aliens from detection. Seen in this light, § 1373 does not command states or cities to do or refrain from doing anything: it merely creates a federal right in state and local law enforcement personnel not to be compelled to violate federal criminal law.
“It is hardly unconstitutional for Congress to protect local police from their own governments, when those governments are not only violating criminal laws themselves, but are making their employees do so, too,” said Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of IRLI. “We must remember that the ultimate stakes here are extremely high – our integrity as a nation, and as a functioning democracy, is imperiled if states may turn huge areas of the country into immigration non-enforcement zones. In the end,” Wilcox added, “these sanctuary cases will be decided by the Supreme Court, which we hope and expect will not let such gross interference with federal law enforcement stand.”
The case is City of Chicago v. Sessions, No. 18-2885 (Seventh Circuit).
For additional information, contact: Brian Lonergan • 202-232-5590 • blonergan@irli.org
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1113
|
__label__wiki
| 0.983804
| 0.983804
|
Ancient 'swamp king' monster croc once terrorized Australia
By Harry Baker - Staff Writer 23 December 2020
It was one of Australia’s top predators.
The "swamp king" was one intimidating croc.
(Image: © The University of Queensland)
A monster croc spanning 16 feet (5 meters) ruled the waterways of south-eastern Queensland in Australia millions of years ago.
Researchers from the University of Queensland identified the reptilian giant — now dubbed “swamp king" — after studying its fossilized 25-inch-long (65 centimeters) skull, which was first uncovered in the 1980s.
In Latin, the genus name Paludirex translates to “swamp king” and the species name vincenti was chosen to honor the late Geoff Vincent, a resident of the town of Dalby in south-eastern Queensland who discovered the giant skull near the town of Chinchilla in Queensland.
Related: What's the world's largest crocodile?
The largest modern-day crocodile is the Indo-Pacific saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), which can grow to around the same size. Their record size is actually even larger at over 20 feet (6 m), set by Lolong who died in captivity in the Philippines in 2013, according to CNN.
"But Paludirex had a broader, more heavy-set skull, so it would've resembled an Indo-Pacific crocodile on steroids," Jorgo Ristevski, a doctoral candidate at the University of Queensland’s School of Biological Sciences, said in a statement. According to the researchers, this would have allowed the giant croc to hunt oversized prehistoric marsupials and made it one of the top predators in Australia.
—What’s the difference between alligators and crocodiles?
—Alligators vs. crocs: Photos reveal who’s who
—Crocs & dinos: See images of 25 amazing ancient beasts
The swamp king likely emerged around the same time as modern-day crocs — within the last 55 million years. More research is now being carried out to determine how these massive crocs died out, while their slimmer relatives remained.
“Whether Paludirex vincenti went extinct as a result of competition with species like Crocodylus porosus is hard to say,” Steve Salisbury, a senior lecturer at the University of Queensland and fellow author of the study, said in the statement. "The alternative is that it went extinct as the climate dried, and the river systems it once inhabited contracted,” he explained, adding, “we're currently investigating both scenarios."
The findings were published Dec. 21 in the journal PeerJ.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1121
|
__label__wiki
| 0.68388
| 0.68388
|
home / new releases
les presses du réel - series
forthcoming offres spéciale best-sellers back in stock e-books cd & vinyles dvd limited editions events newsletter / rss contact / practical links
newsletter / rss
contact / practical
Les presses du réel
MCJP (Maison de la Culture du Japon à Paris)
Tomoko Yoneda
Transphère #05 – Dialogue avec Albert Camus
This catalogue presents an unpublished series of work by Tomoko Yoneda: the Japanese photographer has followed in the footsteps of Albert Camus, through Algeria and France, carrying on her reflection on the memory of places by way of her sensitive and poetic photographs. It is a subtle evocation of the youth of the author of “The Stranger.”
For this fifth part of the Transphère series—an exhibition cycle dedicated to contemporary Japanese creation—Tomoko Yoneda immersed herself in the life and work of Albert Camus. She went to the places that marked the writer's childhood and youth: Algiers, Tipaza, the ancient Roman port he loved where a stele to his memory now stands, but also Paris, Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, the village in the Auvergne where he lived from 1942 and where he wrote “The Plague”. Also, Chambry where his father, engaged as a Zouave, fought during the Battle of the Marne, and Saint-Brieuc where, in 1947, Camus, with great emotion, discovered his father's tomb. His father died there in 1914, as he recounts in his unfinished novel, “The First Man”. About thirty photographs selected for this exhibition are a dialogue between the photographer and the writer, between the past and the present. It encourages us to think about colonisation, war, and the battles and humanism of Camus.
Published on the occasion of the eponymous exhibition at Maison de la culture du Japon, Paris, from March 28 to June 2, 2018.
Tomoko Yoneda (born 1965 in Akashi, Japan, lives and works in London) studied photography in the United States and then in London at the Royal College of Art, at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union. She realised then that even the most powerful structures and ideologies are ephemeral, and that the society in which we live could be radically transformed in a flash. Deeply questioning the turbulent history of the 20th century, she travelled to Eastern Europe, Northern Ireland, Taiwan, Bangladesh, and more recently to Fukushima in Japan. The resulting photographs are formal compositions of seemingly ordinary places. The titles Yoneda gives to these works bring us back to past events, revealing the traces of forgotten tragedies within our everyday environment.
Preface by Tsutomu Sugiura.
Texts by Aomi Okabe, Tomoko Yoneda, Marta Gili.
Published with Maison de la culture du Japon à Paris.
published in April 2018
bilingual edition (English / French)
21 x 29,7 cm (softcover)
56 pages (color ill.)
Transphère
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1124
|
__label__wiki
| 0.880448
| 0.880448
|
Full funding for FRIB included in spending bill
Maureen Groppe
WASHINGTON – Michigan State University’s Facility for Rare Isotope Beams would receive the full $90 million requested for continued construction under a spending bill Congress hopes to pass this week to keep the federal government running.
“We’re really thrilled that the project remains on track,” said Mark Burnham, MSU’s vice president for governmental affairs.
Before leaving for the year, lawmakers have to finish setting funding levels for the government for the fiscal year that began in October.
The Energy Department, which is funding most of the project, had asked Congress for $90 million for the current phase of construction. That’s up from the $55 million approved last year.
Both the House and Senate panels that set the Energy Department’s budget had backed the request, but lawmakers did not pass full versions of the 2015 spending bills before the fiscal year started so are playing catchup.
Burnham said the delay has not been a problem for construction, which is eight weeks ahead of schedule.
“That can always be affected by everything from funding to weather,” he said.
Workers recently poured 2,700 square feet of concrete for the $730 million, 227,000-square-foot nuclear physics research facility.
All work is supposed to be completed by 2022, but MSU hopes everything will be finished by 2020.
The facility will contain a superconducting linear accelerator able to accelerate beams of heavy ions to more than half the speed of light.
Research that will be done at the facility will expand understanding of the origins of the stars and planets, advance medical technologies and strengthen research related to defense and the life sciences. It’s expected to increase the number of isotopes with known properties from about 2,000 to more than 5,000.
Burnham said MSU is especially grateful for the support the project has gotten from members of the delegation who are retiring, including Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and GOP Rep. Mike Rogers, whose district includes East Lansing.
Despite the significant turnover in the delegation for the next Congress, Burnham said he believes the facility has the support of Michigan’s lawmakers and the Energy Department as it reaches a critical point in the construction phase.
“While I’m certain that there will be additional challenges going forward over the next few years,” he said, “we’ll continue to work to make sure that the project stays on track.”
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1127
|
__label__wiki
| 0.772514
| 0.772514
|
Faithless Love
Lynn Anderson Buy this song
Lynn Rene Anderson (born September 26, 1947) is an American country music singer and equestrian known for a string of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s, most notably her Grammy Award-winning, worldwide mega-hit, "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden". Helped by her regular exposure on national television, Anderson was one of the most popular and successful female country singers of the 1970s. In addition to being named "Top Female Vocalist" by the Academy of Country Music twice and "Female Vocalist of the Year" by the Country Music Association, Anderson has charted 11 No. 1, 18 Top 10, and more than 50 Top 40 hits. She was the first female country artist to win an American Music Award in 1974, as well as the first to headline and sellout Madison Square Gard… more »
The easy, fast & fun way to learn how to sing: 30DaySinger.com
Faithless love like a river flows
Raindrops falling on a broken rose
Down in some valley where nobody goes
And the night blows in like the cold dark wind
Faithless love where did I go wrong
Was it telling stories in a heartbreak song
Where nobody's right and nobody was wrong
Faithless love will find you
And the misery entwine you
Well I guess I'm standing in the hall of broken dreams
That's the way it sometimes goes
Whenever a new love never turns out like it seems
I guess the feeling comes and goes
Like raindrops falling on a broken rose
Faithless love has found me
Thrown its chilly arms around me
Translate these lyrics to another language:
Discuss these Faithless Love Lyrics with the community:
Use the citation below to add these lyrics to your bibliography:
"Faithless Love Lyrics." Lyrics.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2021. Web. 16 Jan. 2021. <https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/3698127>.
Help build the largest human-edited lyrics collection on the web!
Watch the song video
more tracks from the album
Classic Country Crate
Satin Sheets
The Wayward Wind
It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels
Harper Valley P.T.A.
The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A.
Wasted Days and Wasted Nights
Wings of a Dove
Pass Me By
Jambalaya (On the Bayou)
God Bless the U.S.A.
May the Bird of Paradise Fly up Your Nose
Mr. Custer
The Purple People Eater
Don't Go Near the Eskimos
Queen of the House
Take This Job and Shove It
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
Hello Walls
Before the Next Teardrop Falls
My Elusive Dreams
That's the Way Love Goes
Make the World Go Away
Ridin' My Thumb to Mexico
Rockstar David Howell Evans is better known by what name?
A. The Edge
B. The Verge
C. The Purge
D. The Serge
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1130
|
__label__wiki
| 0.587115
| 0.587115
|
Pro-family activism that makes a difference!
Email list - get involved!
In Jamaica: MassResistance speech at pro-family rally on "gay rights" threat, broadcast live on national radio.
Huge battle there over repeal of statute outlawing homosexual behavior.
On International Human Rights Day, December 10, Brian Camenker of MassResistance went to Jamaica and delivered a stirring speech at a pro-family rally in Kingston, warning citizens about the slippery slope effects that would come with legalizing homosexual behavior, now being considered by the Jamaican governent. The speech was broadcast live over national radio.
The homosexual movement wanted to use International Human Rights Day strictly to promote their cause. But these Jamaicans had another plan!
VIDEO of Camenker's speech at Jamaican rally. He was introduced by Dr. Wayne West, chairman of pro-family group. (15 min, 20 sec)
Camenker was the main speaker at the rally, held in Emancipation Park in Kingston by the Jamaican Coalition for a Healthy Society (JCHS), Over 400 people attended.
Camenker outlined -- point by point -- the progression that followed once homosexuality was legalized everywhere else -- and would surely happen in Jamaica. After legalization comes: gay pride parades; non-discrimination laws; homosexuals' adoption of children; the homosexual agenda in schools; forcing "gay marriage" on society; public funding to deal with increased homosexual-related social problems; the transgender agenda; large-scale loss of free speech; ban on counseling for kids with homosexual issues; and attacks on churches.
Over four hundred Jamaicans came to the rally Emancipation Park, an evening event before a brightly lit stage.
After the presentation, one Jamaican activist emailed us: "Your arrival here was timely and most appreciated. The feedback from your talk continued on radio the next day and I know that the MC of the show certainly was shocked to discover what has been taking place."
The Jamaican people are not afraid to wear their religion on their sleeve -- or on their shirt!
Besides Camenker's keynote speech, the 2½ hour event included songs, dances, and several powerful speeches about morality and God's laws. The attendees were very enthusiastic and energetic on this issue. At the end of the event, they eagerly commenced a nationwide petition drive to stop the legalization efforts.
As the rally ended, people started gathering signatures on a national petition to keep the current law intact.
By many accounts, the MassResistance speech was a big boost for the pro-family battle going on right now in Jamaica.
TV Video report. Jamaica's television also reported
on Camenker's speech!
Jamaica-TV
Outrage over push to overturn Jamaica's "Buggery Law"
At issue is a recent push to overturn the country's 150-year-old law against homosexual behavior. The statute (Sec. 76 of the Crimes Against Persons Act) is universally known in Jamaica as "the Buggery Law," after the British terminology. Jamaica is one of about a dozen Caribbean countries where anti-sodomy laws are currently on the books.
Prime Minister's announcement. In early June 2013, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller announced that she is considering having the Parliament take a "conscience vote" on a review of the Buggery Law during the current legislative session which ends March 31, 2014.
This is widely seen as a reaction to growing pressure from the Obama Administration and the Cameron Administration in Britain to force Jamaica to promote "LGBT rights." This has included threats from both countries to withhold foreign aid to nations like Jamaica that continue to hold the line.
Supreme Court case. In addition, this past June the country's Supreme Court agreed to hear a case by a homosexual activist claiming that the Buggery Law violates Jamaica's Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms. The case began Oct. 4 and is continuing.
The sense that we get talking to Jamaicans who've been following the case closely is that the homosexuals have a very weak legal case and a slim chance of succeeding (unlike in other countries).
Strong pro-family outcry from churches and groups
Jamaica has a very strong religious community, and churches and pro-family groups have been very active in opposing any change to the law. They have seen what has happened in other countries such as the U.S. and fear that this would be the beginning of a total assault on the Jamaican culture.
Compared to the United States and other countries, church groups and pro-family activists have been very outspoken and pretty fearless in opposition to the homosexual agenda. There have been pro-family marches, speeches, media appearances, newspaper ads, and a general political awakening to the issue. Church groups are also directly involved in the Supreme Court case.
Jamaican homosexual movement much weaker than in U.S.
On the other hand, since homosexuality is technically illegal the homosexual groups are relatively weak and not able to intimidate and harass the way they can in other places. Sadly, much of the homosexual movement's funding and support in Jamaica comes from the US government and also through the United Nations, which outrages many Jamaicans.
In addition, since Jamaica has never had homosexuality pushed in the schools or in their island culture, the public has not been swayed on this issue as in other places.
Public relations war starts
Nevertheless, Jamaican homosexuals have begun a fairly strong public-relations campaign in the media to support repeal of the Buggery Law, with their own op-ed articles, letters to the editor, advertisements, banners, and more. Much of it appears to be funded by various United Nations organizations.
Their main points have included: (1) "Loving" someone else is an international human right. (2) Criminalizing homosexuality causes a stigma and keeps homosexuals from getting "safe sex" help, thus more AIDS is caused. (3) There is violence against homosexuals triggered by the current Buggery Law.
This slick full-page ad by the homosexual movement appeared in Jamaican newspapers, meant to soften the public on the "human rights" and "justice" aspects of repealing the Buggery Law. Note the logos for United Nations-affiliated groups on the bottom, which appear to be funding this campaign.
The pro-family groups and churches strongly dispute all of those points. Among other things, they point out the overwhelming loss of religious freedom and freedom of speech, and the actual statistics on disease. And there is very strong evidence that the overwhelming amount of violence against homosexuals in Jamaica is committed by other homosexuals.
This full-page ad by Jamaican Coalition for a Healthy Society also appeared in Jamaican newspapers, countering the homosexual campaign. They do not mince words --they tell the "real truth" to the Jamaican people!
Countering the lies. The Jamaican homosexual movement says that
the current Buggery Law causes more AIDS. But the JCHS research
reveals that in fact the opposite is true.
JCHS pro-family coalition confronting the "gay PR" campaign!
Much of the pro-family public relations battle has been taken on by the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society (JCHS). They have been relentless in getting out the truth in the face of a constant flood of disinformation and absurd emotion. In our opinion, JCHS has been a model for the rest of us.
Based in Kingston, they have a fearless and uncompromising attitude, that is all too rare these days on our side. In addition, they have a superb command of the facts and are willing to engage in the often hostile mainstream media, as well as other media.
JCHS energetically covers more ground than almost anyone we've seen around the world. Just before Camenker's visit, the organization released an outstanding 55-minute video that covers the broad range of moral, legal, and medical issues surrounding homosexuality, and also includes man-on-the-street interviews with regular Jamaicans.
GREAT VIDEO: This outstanding 55-minute video by JCHS covers the broad range of issues regarding the Buggery Law repeal.
The group's chairman is Dr. Wayne West, who takes on the destructive medical problems surrounding homosexual behavior and similar issues. There has been a constant effort by the Left to ignore and obfuscate the vast personal and public health effects connected with homosexuality, especially when their political agenda is being pushed. Dr. West cuts through that.
Dr. West has been brilliant in his media work. In this recent newspaper interview, he also takes on the outrageous use of the term "homophobia" to label pro-family citizens as being mentally ill because of their beliefs.
Dr. West fearlessly takes on the issues.
Dr. West has been behind most of the group's newspaper advertisements and other public statements. At the Emancipation Park rally (see video at top), he introduced Brian Camenker of MassResistance.
The other major JCHS figure is Shirley Richards, an attorney and past president of Jamaica's Christian Legal Fellowship. She has been outspoken in the media about the legal and moral issues surrounding homosexuality.
She also has excellent media skills. In this recent newspaper op-ed article, Mrs. Richards takes apart the Left's argument that the Buggery Law is a violation of international human rights.
Great video. Mrs. Richards also unafraid to confront the threats by the United States and Britain to cut off aid to countries who refuse to cave in to the homosexual agenda. In this great (and short) video she stands up to that manipulation and boldly tells the truth about what the homosexual lifestyle will do to a society.
Great video featuring attorney Shirley Richards. She pulls no punches! (4:41)
[NOTE: This was posted on YouTube by a homosexual group!]
A wonderful experience being among pro-family fighters!
The Jamaicans are a people with a lot of common sense. Right now, if the buggery law were to be put to a national vote, it would be kept on the books by a wide margin. But people can see that the political pressure is growing, along with the money coming in to persuade and attempt to brainwash the citizens.
The Jamaicans told us over and over again that MassResistance's message was exactly what they needed to fuel this battle. But to tell you the truth, we got just as much from them. It was a truly wonderful experience being among such fearless and uncompromising pro-family battlers.
Attorney Shirley Richards (left) with Brian Camenker of MassResistance at the Dec. 10 rally.
Please support our cutting-edge work!
Your support is what makes this work possible.
Donate to MassResistance!
And going forward - become a monthly donor; email us to get set up!
Donations can also be mailed to: MassResistance, PO Box 1612, Waltham, MA 02454
ALL donations are confidential. MassResistance does not sell or lend any of its lists.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1134
|
__label__cc
| 0.612431
| 0.387569
|
Home > Scientific Services Staff > Jeff Kenvin, Ph. D.
Jeff Kenvin, Ph. D.
Group Leader, Scientific Services Group
Dr. Kenvin received his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia , Pa. He received his Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Ga. His areas of expertise are in the characterization of porous materials and catalysts using physical and chemical adsorption and in mercury porosimetry.
While employed by the Mobil Research and Development Company as a member of the Mobil Lubes - Process and Products Research Division, Dr. Kenvin managed research and development projects involving the commercialization of new hydrotreated base oils. He was the innovator of the use of chemometrics to define base oil quality standards. These chemometric models subsequently led to the development and implementation of novel techniques for characterizing composition and optimizing refinery lube operations, and the technology was successfully implemented in all Mobil lube refineries.In1994, Dr. Kenvin received the Products Division - Technology Award for his contribution to the Mobil Corporation.
Later, as a member of the Hoechst A.G. North America Next Generation Process-Polymer Group, Dr. Kenvin directed leveraged-research at the Georgia Institute of Technology. His research involved the identification of new technologies for the process and development of low-cost terephthalic acid and novel monomers for improving the properties of PET (polyester terephthalate), including the application of super-acid catalysis for the carbonylation of toluene.
Dr. Kenvin has been invited to present scientific lectures at more than 100 seminars and regularly participates in short courses on particle technology. He also serves on international advisory boards and is an officer of the ASTM D-32 committee on catalysis.
"Jeff Kenvin" search results on GOOGLE SCHOLAR »
Other Publications:
Hierarchical Structures: Quantifying the Complex Pore Architecture of Hierarchical Faujasite Zeolites and the Impact on Diffusion - Advanced Functional Materials, Jeffrey Kenvin, Sharon Mitchell, Michael Sterling, Robbie Warringham, Tobias C. Keller, Paolo Crivelli, Jacek Jagiello, Javier Pérez-Ramírez (2016), (Adv. Funct. Mater. 31/2016). Adv. Funct. Mater., 26: 5768. doi:10.1002/adfm.201670203
Structural analysis of hierarchically organized zeolites - OPEN SOURCE
Sharon Mitchell, Ana B. Pinar, Jeffrey Kenvin, Paolo Crivelli,Jörg Kärger & Javier Pérez-Ramírez
Nature Communications 6, Article number: 8633 doi:10.1038/ncomms9633
Unified Method to the Total Pore Volume and Pore Size Distribution of Hierarchical Zeolites from Argon Adsorption and Mercury Intrusion
Jeffrey Kenvin, Jacek Jagiello, Sharon Mitchell, and Javier Perez-Ramirez, 20 January 2015
" High oxygen nanocomposite barrier films based on xylan and nanocrystalline cellulose", Nano-Micro Lett. 2, 235-241 (2010) with Amit Saxena, Thomas J. Elter, and Arthur J. Ragauskas.
" The Oxidative Coupling of Methyl Benzoate " , Journal of Catalysis, Volume 193, 2000, Pages 49-57, with A. V. Iretski, S.C. Sherman, D. A. Schiraldi, and Mark G. White.
" The Formylation of Toluene in Trifluoromethanesulfonic Acid " , Journal of Catalysis, Volume 199, 2001, Pages 149-153, with Dhiraj S. Sood, Sheldon C. Sherman, Alexei V. Iretskii, David A. Schiraldi and Mark G. White.
" Supported Catalysts Prepared from Mononuclear Copper Complexes: Catalytic Properties " , Journal of Catalysis, Volume 135, 1992, Pages 447 – 458, with Mark G. White.
" Selective Chemisorption and Oxidation/Reduction Kinetics of Supported Copper Oxide Catalysts Prepared from Copper (II) Acetylacetonate " , Journal of Catalysis, Volume 130, 1991, Pages 447 – 458, with Mark G. White.
" Preparation and Characterization of Supported Mononuclear Metal Complexes as Model Catalysts " , Langmuir, Volume 7, 1991, Pages 1198 – 1205, with Mark G. White and Mark B. Mitchell.
" Discrete-event Simulation of Large-Scale Poliomyelitis Vaccine Production" , Process Biochemistry, Volume 22, Number 3, 1987, Pages 74 - 77, with Jude T. Sommerfeld.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1137
|
__label__wiki
| 0.912917
| 0.912917
|
Barry McNamara | Published September 21, 2017
‘Everything and more’
Broadway house is now ‘home, sweet home’ for Kappa Kappa Gamma
From left, Emily Gabaldon ’20, Katie Walker ’18 and Elizabeth Smith ’19.
MONMOUTH, Ill. – Elizabeth Smith ’19 of Geneva, Ill., said the new home for the Kappa Kappa Gamma women’s fraternity has been better than advertised.
“It’s everything and more,” said Smith, when asked if living in the house is what she and her Kappa sisters hoped it would be.
Smith serves in the dual role of house chairman and house manager, with the latter role being similar to serving as a resident assistant in a residence hall. In that role, she is the go-to person among the six other Kappas who live in the house at 915 E. Broadway, just across from campus.
“The space is much bigger,” she said, comparing the 3,500-square-foot home to Kappa’s former house just to the west. “We’re able to have all our members in the house for meetings, and we also had a dinner with all of them here.”
When “all of them” gather, it’s nearly 60 women, which the former house could not accommodate. As a result, previous full meetings were held in a variety of campus locations.
“It’s absolutely gorgeous,” said Smith of the home, which sits on a 33,000-square-foot lot. “You feel like you’re at home. We really wanted to make sure it feels that way. We spend a lot of time in the Sisterhood Room, just watching a movie, or chatting and catching up on our day.”
The 121-year-old house was formally dedicated April 22, and Kappa Kappa Gamma members moved in for the fall semester.
“It’s brought me closer to my other sisters,” said Emily Gabaldon ’20 of Polo, Ill. “Everyone who lives here has become like my best friend.”
“It’s made me a lot calmer with my classes,” said Katie Walker ’18 of Knoxville, Ill. “I love that it’s really a place to come home. I can separate from what’s going on at school and just chill with my sisters. … ‘Home, sweet home’ is a cliché, but it’s so true.”
The 2016 purchase of the home was underwritten by gifts, largely from Kappa alumnae. It overlooks the site of a wooden bridge where tradition holds that founders first met in 1870 to secretly plan the organization, which today boasts more than 260,000 members.
The women’s fraternity movement began at Monmouth College in 1867 with the founding of what is now Pi Beta Phi. Along with Kappa Kappa Gamma, the two women’s fraternities are known as the Monmouth Duo. Monmouth’s other women’s fraternity, Alpha Xi Delta, was founded nearby in 1893 at Lombard College in Galesburg, Ill.
A passion for classics
Hintzke ’18 receives prestigious Manson Stewart Undergraduate Award
Difference Maker Award
College custodian Kim Carrier honored for the impact she has on students’ lives
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1139
|
__label__wiki
| 0.932043
| 0.932043
|
Topics:Applications, Instant Messaging, Mobile, News, Viber, Viber Media, VoIP
Viber Starts Selling Stickers; Has 15 Million Users In India
Brindaalakshmi K
Mobile messaging and VoIP company, Viber Media has released version 4.0 of its platform, Viber on iPhone and Android with new features. Starting with this version, the company plans to monetize its app by selling stickers to monetise its app, an approach followed by Line. Viber’s sticker marketplace will offer both free and paid options for users and will apparently feature content related to events and holidays that will be regularly updated.
The latest version finally adds compatibility to Android tablets. It has also added Push To Talk feature for instant voice messaging that allows its users to send short voice messages to each other. Viber also claims that the four-step process of Push To Talk feature, which includes record, send, download and play, are all done at the same time thereby reducing its average response time to to 4-6 seconds, instead of 45-60 seconds. Viber is finally catching up with its competitors like WhatsApp by introducing this feature.
Some of the other features and upgrades on the platform include message forwarding to any group or contact, new conversation backgrounds and group conversations with up to 100 participants.
Viber currently allows users to send free text messages, photo messages, voice messages, share locations anywhere in the world, and make free, HD-quality calls on iPhone, Android phones and tablets, Windows Phone, Blackberry and other devices. It claims to have more than 200 million users in 193 countries.
India Numbers: Talmon Marco, Founder and CEO of Viber, recently told BGR India that the platform has 15 million users in India, although the exact number of active users was not disclosed. Mobile messaging app WhatsApp had recently crossed 25 million monthly active users in India. This is up from 20 million monthly active users in August 2013, indicating that WhatsApp has added five million monthly active users in just three months. Globally, WhatsApp had claimed to have 300 million monthly active users in August 2013.
VOIP plans & Challenges: Marco also told the publication of Viber’s plans to launch a facility allowing users to call non-Viber users on their phone numbers from the app which will become an additional revenue stream. It is worth noting that competitor Nimbuzz had recently launched a VOIP service in India by tying up with Spectranet, which already had a license for the same. Viber would require a similar license to legally operate a VOIP in India.
Earlier in August 2013, Viber also released an updated version of its Android app, adding support for Hindi and 15 other languages like Croatian, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Indonesian, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Slovak, Thai, Tagalog and Ukrainian among others.
Other competitors of Viber include Microsoft’s Skype, WeChat, Line, Plustxt, Gupshup messenger, Hike (in India), among others.
In this article:Applications, Instant Messaging, Mobile, News, Viber, Viber Media, VoIP
Delhi HC refuses to interfere in Amazon–Future Retail conflict, says regulators can decide on their own
The Delhi High Court on Monday refused to stop Amazon from pushing regulators to stop the sale of the Future Group’s businesses to Reliance...
Aroon DeepDecember 21, 2020
Pine Labs raises fresh funds at valuation of over $2 billion
Pine Labs has raised around $100 million in fresh funds from Lone Pine Capital, a hedge fund based in the United States, at a...
Advait PalepuDecember 21, 2020
Zomato closes $660 million funding round: Deepinder Goyal
Restaurant aggregator and food delivery company Zomato has raised US$660 million (over ₹4,850 crore), taking its valuation to ₹3.9 billion. CEO Deepinder Goyal tweeted...
Trisha JalanDecember 21, 2020
Nitin Gadkari: Toll plazas to be replaced with GPS tolling in 2 years
Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said on December 17 that GPS-based tolling will replace toll plazas in two years, The Hindu...
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1142
|
__label__wiki
| 0.761427
| 0.761427
|
Industry & Trade | 06/08/2018 3:17:52 PM
CIMIC Group Limited
CIMIC's Broad Construction wins $110m in building projects
CIMIC Group company, Broad Construction (Broad), has recently secured social and commercial infrastructure projects totalling $110 million, including the design and construct contract for Karingal Green, a state-of-the-art residential aged care precinct for Hall & Prior in Perth, Western Australia.
This follows other building contracts secured by Broad in Queensland, including The Annex development at 12 Creek Street in Brisbane for Dexus Properties, and the Pimpama State Secondary College (Stage 4) development for the Queensland Government.
Broad is a wholly owned subsidiary of CIMIC Group construction company CPB Contractors.
CIMIC Group Chief Executive Officer Michael Wright said: “Through CPB Contractors and Broad, CIMIC Group’s building capability delivers innovative projects across multiple sectors including health, education, corrections, commercial property, infrastructure and resources.
Broad is our specialist new build and refurbishment company and is delivering high-quality assets across Australia.
“We look forward to building a significant new aged care facility in Perth, a world-class commercial office tower in Brisbane’s CBD, and new facilities for the students of Pimpama.”
CPB Contractors Managing Director Juan Santamaria said: “Our expertise in building draws from an extensive track record and a team of industry leaders who provide certainty of delivery for our clients.
“We are focused on delivering safe and cost-effective building programs, and inclusive procurement strategies that provide opportunities for local workers and businesses.”
Karingal Green is a 160-bed residential aged care development, including a healing and wellness centre. Works have commenced and the project is scheduled for completion in December 2019.
The Annex works include the demolition of the existing building and four-level basement, and construction of a 14-level office tower in Brisbane’s CBD. The project is scheduled to conclude in early 2020.
Pimpama State Secondary College works include new teaching spaces, facilities and sporting areas, and is scheduled to conclude by the end of 2018.
Since its establishment in 1991, Broad has delivered more than 300 new build, fit-out and refurbishment construction projects across Australia’s capital cities and regional areas.
Issued by CIMIC Group Limited ABN 57 004 482 982 www.cimic.com.au
Mr Justin Grogan, Investor Relations T+61 2 9925 6628
Ms Fiona Tyndall, General Manager Communications T+61 2 9925 6188
CIMIC Group Limited (ASX: CIM) is a world-leading infrastructure, mining, services and public private partnerships group. We have businesses in construction (CPB Contractors and Leighton Asia), mining and mineral processing (Thiess and Sedgman), operation and maintenance services (UGL), public private partnerships (Pacific Partnerships) and engineering (EIC Activities). Our mission is to generate sustainable shareholder returns by delivering innovative and competitive solutions for clients and safe, fulfilling careers for our people. With a history since 1899, and more than 50,000 people in 20 countries, we strive to be known for our principles of Integrity, Accountability, Innovation and Delivery, underpinned by Safety. CIMIC is a member of the S&P/ASX 100 index, the Dow Jones Sustainability Australia Index and FTSE4Good.
1828002.pdf
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1143
|
__label__wiki
| 0.670434
| 0.670434
|
archive-title All posts by moderator
All posts by moderator
Home \ Author: moderator \ Page 691
Pediatrics / Healthy Kids
Posted by moderator
Nix That TV in Your 4-Year-Old’s Bedroom
Latest Healthy Kids News TUESDAY, March 19, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Thinking about a TV for your young child? Based on new evidence, you might want to reconsider that. Preschoolers who had a TV in their bedroom were at increased risk for poor eating habits, overweight/obesity and social/emotional struggles in their teens, Canadian researchers say. […]
Cost Puts Sports, Art Programs Out of Reach for Many Families
By Steven ReinbergHealthDay Reporter Latest Healthy Kids News TUESDAY, March 19, 2019 (HealthDay News) — After-school activities help develop social skills and talent, but a new report finds that many kids are priced out of participating. In fact, for 1 in 6 middle and high school students, costs are the prime reason for not taking […]
More U.S. Teens, Kids Seeking Mental Health Care in ERs
By Alan MozesHealthDay Reporter Latest Healthy Kids News MONDAY, March 18, 2019 (HealthDay News) — U.S. emergency departments are seeing a surge in the number of kids and teens seeking help for mental health problems, new research warns. Between 2011 and 2015 alone, there was a 28 percent jump in psychiatric visits among Americans between […]
After Congo Visit, CDC Director Says Ebola Outbreak Could Last a Year
In an interview Friday, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield told The New York Times that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is not under control and could continue for another year. Latest Infectious Disease News Redfield just returned from a visit to the DRC, where he […]
amlodipine and valsartan (Exforge)
What is amlodipine and valsartan, and how does it work (mechanism of action)? Exforge is a combination of two drugs used for treating high blood pressure (hypertension), amlodipine and valsartan. The FDA approved Exforge in June 2007. Amlodipine belongs to a class of drugs called calcium channel blockers. These medications block the transport of calcium […]
CDC Cites Urgent Need to Expand HIV Testing, Treatment
Latest HIV News MONDAY, March 18, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Shortfalls in HIV testing and treatment are hampering efforts to stop new infections of the AIDS-causing virus in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. “We have the tools to end the HIV epidemic, but a tool is only useful if […]
The Benefits of a Home Rowing Machine
By Len CanterHealthDay Reporter Latest Exercise & Fitness News TUESDAY, March 19, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Rowing is often called the best aerobic exercise because it offers a total body workout and is low-impact. Rowing involves performing a continuous motion with focused coordination between the arms and the legs. If you’ve never rowed a boat […]
calcium acetate (PhosLo)
What is calcium acetate, and how does it work (mechanism of action)? Calcium acetate helps reduce phosphate levels in people with advanced kidney disease. People with advanced kidney failure retain phosphate leading to too much phosphate in their bodies (hyperphosphatemia). High phosphate levels cause hyperparathyroidism, which leads to abnormal bone formation and calcium deposits in […]
mebendazole (Vermox)
What is mebendazole chewable, and how does it work (mechanism of action)? Mebendazole is a member of the benzimidazole class of antiparasitic agents, which also includes thiabendazole, albendazole, and triclabendazole. Mebendazole, like other benzimidazoles, causes death of parasites by interfering with the function of tubulin, an important protein in parasites, and preventing glucose uptake. Mebendazole […]
hyoscyamine sublingual (Levbid, Levsin)
What is hyoscyamine sublingual, and how does it work (mechanism of action)? Hyoscyamine is an anticholinergic drug used for treating irritable bowel syndrome, peptic ulcer disease, hypermotility of the lower urinary tract, and gastrointestinal disorders. Anticholinergics work by blocking the action of acetylcholine in the brain and at nerves throughout the body. Acetylcholine is a […]
← Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 569 570 571 572 573 574 575 576 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 589 590 591 592 593 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619 620 621 622 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 659 660 661 662 663 664 665 666 667 668 669 670 671 672 673 674 675 676 677 678 679 680 681 682 683 684 685 686 687 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 699 700 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709 710 711 712 713 714 715 716 717 718 719 720 721 722 723 724 725 726 727 728 729 730 731 732 733 734 735 736 737 738 739 740 741 742 743 744 745 746 747 748 749 750 751 752 753 754 755 756 757 758 759 760 761 762 763 764 765 766 767 768 769 770 771 772 773 774 775 776 777 778 779 780 781 782 783 784 785 786 787 788 789 790 791 792 793 794 795 796 797 798 799 800 801 802 803 804 805 806 807 808 809 810 811 812 813 814 815 816 817 818 819 820 821 822 823 824 825 826 827 828 829 830 831 832 833 834 835 836 837 838 839 840 841 842 843 844 845 846 847 848 849 850 851 852 853 854 855 856 857 858 859 860 861 862 863 864 865 866 867 868 869 870 871 872 873 874 875 876 877 878 879 880 881 882 883 884 885 886 887 888 889 890 891 892 893 894 895 896 897 898 899 900 901 902 903 904 905 906 907 908 909 910 911 912 913 914 915 916 917 918 919 920 921 922 923 924 925 926 927 928 929 930 931 932 933 934 935 936 937 938 939 940 941 942 943 944 945 946 947 948 949 950 951 952 953 954 955 956 957 958 959 960 961 962 963 964 965 966 967 968 969 970 971 972 973 974 975 976 977 978 979 980 981 Next →
Latest News Regarding Your Health
Heading to Work on a Bike? You Might Live Longer
Latest Exercise & Fitness News TUESDAY, Feb. 25, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Do you ride your bike to work? If you don’t, maybe you should. Why? People who commute by bicycle are at lower risk of dying early, a new study from New Zealand finds. Researchers from the University of Otago, Wellington, the University of Melbourne and the University of Auckland found that those who cycled to work had a 13% reduction in death during the study period. Lead researcher Dr. Caroline Shaw attributes this mortality reduction to the health benefits of physical activity that aren’t typically seen from walking or taking public transportation. For the study, Shaw and her team analyzed data from 3.5 million New Zealanders. “We studied 80% of the working-age population of New Zealand over a 15-year period, so it is highly representative,” Shaw said in a University of Otago news release. Only 3% of those studied cycled to work. In comparison, over 80% of people in New Zealand traveled to work by car. “There were gender differences in mode of travel to work, with 2% of women cycling compared with 4% of men, but more women walking or jogging (7%) compared with men (5%),” Shaw […]
Could Heartburn Meds Spur Growth of Drug-Resistant Germs in Your Gut?
Latest Digestion News By Amy NortonHealthDay Reporter TUESDAY, Feb. 25, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Common heartburn meds may foster the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the gut, a new research review suggests. In an analysis of 12 past studies, researchers found that, overall, the evidence supports a link: People who use acid-suppressing medications — particularly proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) — are more likely than nonusers to harbor antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the gut. The findings do not prove that PPIs — which include popular brands such as Prilosec (omeprazole), Prevacid (lansoprazole) and Nexium (esomeprazole) — are the cause, experts said. But they are the latest to raise safety questions about the top-selling prescription and over-the-counter medicines. In recent years, studies have linked long-term PPI use to increased risks of heart and kidney disease, stomach cancer and certain infections — as well as deficiencies in calcium, magnesium and vitamin B12. That said, PPIs are generally safe to use, according to Dr. Todd Lee, an associate professor of medicine at McGill University in Montreal. But, he said, it’s known that doctors overprescribe the drugs and that many people take them longer than necessary. So any safety concerns underscore the importance of using PPIs […]
Latest Diet & Weight Management News By Serena GordonHealthDay Reporter WEDNESDAY, Feb. 26, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Starting the day with a big breakfast and keeping dinner light may help you burn more calories and keep you trimmer, new research suggests. Eating this way may also keep your blood sugar levels from going too high, the small study found. “Extensive breakfasting should be preferred over large dinner meals,” said study lead author Juliane Richter, of the University of Lubeck’s Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism in Germany. “This recommendation can be applied to healthy people to prevent metabolic diseases [such as diabetes], as well as to patients with overweight and obesity to reduce body weight,” she added. How could eating breakfast improve your weight and blood sugar levels? Richter said the reason isn’t clear yet and more study is needed. But it appears that digestion and metabolism keep pace with the body’s internal clock, she said. Another reason may be that if you don’t eat enough earlier, you’ll be more hungry throughout the day, Richter said. That could lead to overeating, or to eating the wrong kinds of foods later in the day. She also noted more calories are burned […]
Drug Offers Hope Against Tough-to-Treat Chronic Cough
Latest Cold and Flu News WEDNESDAY, Feb. 26, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Anywhere from 4% to 10% of adults have troublesome chronic cough, defined as an unexplained cough lasting more than eight weeks. But a new drug may offer some long-sought relief. Reporting Feb. 25 in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, British researchers said the experimental drug, called gefapixant, blocks a cellular receptor that’s key to the cough reflex. “Many patients with a chronic cough are driven to seek treatment because of the significant negative impact it can have on their quality of life, but at the moment physicians are unable to help,” noted study leader Jacky Smith, a professor at the University of Manchester, in England. This “is the first study to report a treatment that is safe and effective over the longer term,” Smith said in a journal news release. She added that “phase 3 trials are already underway with an even larger group of people and over a longer time frame.” The trial was funded by the drug’s maker, Merck, and involved 253 American and British participants. All had suffered from an unexplained or untreatable cough that had lasted for an average of almost 15 years. Three-quarters were […]
Is Your Smartphone or Tablet an Injury Risk?
Latest Chronic Pain News TUESDAY, Feb. 25, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Here’s a good reason to put your electronic devices down whenever you can: Experts say that using them incorrectly or too often can put you at risk for a range of injuries. “When people position their hand, arm or neck in uncomfortable positions for a prolonged period of time, it can lead to strains and overuse injuries,” said Dr. Michael Darowish, an orthopedic surgeon at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Overuse, nerve and neck injuries are the three common types of problems, he said. Nearly all types of overuse injuries such as “swiper’s thumb” and “iPad hand” are a type of tendonitis. “Often, we find it’s De Quervain’s tenosynovitis, an inflammation of the tendons that abduct the thumb,” Darowish said in a Penn State news release. “Pregnant women and parents who often lift their young kids are prone to it, too.” Tendonitis also may occur in the fingers or wrists. Pain while texting, aching and soreness are mild symptoms. Rest, anti-inflammatory medications such as ibuprofen, and changes to activity can ease the pain. Severe cases may require cortisone injections, bracing or even surgery to calm the […]
Female Firefighters Face Higher Exposure to Carcinogens
Latest Cancer News WEDNESDAY, Feb. 26, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Female firefighters are exposed to chemicals that may be linked with breast and other types of cancer, researchers say. Compared to women working in offices, female firefighters in San Francisco are exposed to higher levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). These chemicals are used in firefighting foam and uniforms, grease- and water-resistant coatings and in fabrics, furniture and food packaging. PFAS have been linked to a number of cancers and are known to interfere with breast development as well as immune and endocrine function, according to the study published Feb. 26 in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. It’s one of the first published from the Women Firefighter Biomonitoring Collaborative, a long-term investigation into chemical exposure among female firefighters. “Women firefighters actually raised concern about what they have perceived as elevated rates of breast cancer among their cohort in San Francisco,” said study lead author Jessica Trowbridge, a doctoral student in the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley. “As a team, we decided to conduct an exposure study looking at chemicals that are potential breast carcinogens,” Trowbridge said in a university news release. Studies looking […]
They Thought She Drank, But Her Body Actually ‘Auto-Brewed’
Latest Digestion News By Amy NortonHealthDay Reporter MONDAY, Feb. 24, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Doctors thought they had a fairly common scenario in front of them: A patient with advanced liver disease who needed help for her alcohol abuse. Then they discovered her own bladder was making the alcohol. The doctors, at the University of Pittsburgh, say it’s a previously unrecognized variant of so-called auto-brewery syndrome. ABS, which has been reported sporadically over the years, occurs when yeast builds up in the gut and converts sugar from food into alcohol. “Traditional” ABS causes blood alcohol to spike, along with symptoms like dizziness, disorientation, coordination problems and mood changes. In contrast, this new variant — what the Pitt team terms urinary ABS — does not affect blood alcohol. Instead, yeast in the bladder produces alcohol in the urine. The patient in this case, who was 61 and had liver cirrhosis, did not show symptoms of intoxication. But her urine tests repeatedly came back positive for alcohol, which meant she could not be placed on the waitlist for a donor liver. Doctors at her initial transplant center told her she would have to undergo treatment for alcohol abuse — a problem she […]
Chicago’s Short-Lived ‘Soda Tax’ Cut Consumption, Boosted Health Care Funds
Latest Diet & Weight Management News By Steven ReinbergHealthDay Reporter MONDAY, Feb. 24, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Chicago’s brief and now-defunct soda tax did cut the consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks, a new study finds, along with raising funds for public health initiatives. From August to November 2017, when the tax was in effect, the volume of soda sold in Cook County dropped 21% and the tax raised nearly $62 million, nearly $17 million of which went to a county health fund. “The evidence suggests that taxes on sweetened beverages may be an effective policy tool for reducing sweetened beverage consumption,” said lead researcher Lisa Powell. She’s director of health policy and administration at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s School of Public Health. “The evidence also shows that households will undertake tax avoidance strategies, such as cross-border shopping, which will dampen the impact of the tax,” Powell said. The Cook County levy was 1 cent per ounce on sodas and other sugar-sweetened drinks. After two months, pressure from the public and extensive lobbying by the American Beverage Association forced the Cook County Board of Commissioners to rescind the tax, the Washington Post reported. Samantha Heller, a senior clinical nutritionist at […]
How Safe Is It to Fly?
Latest Travel Health News MONDAY, Feb. 24, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Buckle up and get ready for take-off: Flying has never been safer, an expert says. Despite recent high-profile crashes of Boeing aircraft, the news on flight safety is good: Airline passenger deaths have dropped sharply in recent decades around the world, according to Arnold Barnett, a professor of management at MIT. “The worldwide risk of being killed had been dropping by a factor of two every decade,” Barnett said in an MIT news release. “Not only has that continued in the last decade, the [latest] improvement is closer to a factor of three. The pace of improvement has not slackened at all even as flying has gotten ever safer and further gains become harder to achieve,” he added. “That is really quite impressive and is important for people to bear in mind.” He found that commercial flights for the decade 2008-2017 resulted in one death per 7.9 million passenger boardings, compared to one death per 2.7 million boardings during 1998-2007. The rate was higher during 1988-1997, with one death per 1.3 million boardings. Looking further back, the researchers found the rate was one death per 750,000 boardings from 1978-1987, […]
How Common Are STDs? Most People Have No Clue
Latest Sexual Health News By Adam Townsend on 02/25/2020 8:32 PM Source: MedicineNet Health News Even as the latest government statistics show record numbers of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) throughout the U.S., a major health poll shows most people are oblivious. As the U.S. Centers for Disease Control works to tamp down spikes in STD rates through screening initiatives and other measures, a February survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that two thirds of adult Americans don’t even realize STDs are a growing problem. The CDC numbers are grim. Rates for many STDs rose from 2017 to 2018, but one of the most dramatic fluctuations is in the total cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis — combined, the number represents an all-time high in U.S. history, according to the agency. In 2018 – the most recent stats available – 2.5 million had an active sexually transmitted infection. This includes almost 1.8 million with chlamydia, nearly 600,000 with gonorrhea and 115,000 cases of syphilis, both primary and congenital (passed from infected mother to baby). In fact, the number of infant deaths from congenital syphilis rose 22% in the U.S. from 2017 to 2018, from 77 to 94 deaths. Total congenital syphilis cases […]
Pot Use Among U.S. Seniors Nearly Doubled in 3 Years
Latest Senior Health News By Dennis ThompsonHealthDay Reporter MONDAY, Feb. 24, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Americans may want to rethink the stereotype of the pot-loving teen: More U.S. seniors are using the drug now than ever before. The proportion of folks 65 and older who use pot stands at 4.2%, up from 2.4% in 2015, according to figures from the U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health. “The change from 2.4 up to 4.2, that’s a 75% increase,” said senior researcher Joseph Palamar, an associate professor of population health at New York University Langone Medical Center. “It didn’t double, but 75% is a pretty big increase, I think.” Emily Feinstein, executive vice president and chief operating officer at the Center on Addiction, reviewed the study and commented that the trend is “not surprising.” “First, older people are more likely to experience pain and other chronic conditions,” Feinstein said. “Secondly, marijuana has become increasingly available and acceptable within society. Together, these two factors are probably driving this trend.” But Palamar doesn’t think the wave of marijuana legalization sweeping the nation has prompted Grandma and Grandpa to give weed a try, either to ease aches and pains or have a pleasant […]
Patients Care Little About ER Doctors’ Race or Sex: Study
Latest Prevention & Wellness News MONDAY, Feb. 24, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Americans don’t seem to care about the race or sex of emergency room doctors, a new study shows. Participants were asked to rate their satisfaction with a simulated ER visit and the scores were the same whether their doctor was white or black, or a man or a woman. “We were really surprised that even after looking at these data in many different ways, we did not see evidence of racial or gender bias affecting patient satisfaction or confidence. This is not to say that people are bias-free, but it did not appear to enter into their ratings of care in surveys,” said lead author Dr. Rachel Solnick, a fellow in the clinical scholars program at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. “This is good news, with a grain of salt,” she added in a university news release. The findings don’t mean emergency doctors won’t ever have to deal with patients who express bias against them because of race, gender, age or other factors, Solnick added. The research was inspired by her own experience with bias as an emergency medicine resident. Assessing patient bias is important because […]
Getting Quality Autism Therapy From Thousands of Miles Away
Latest Neurology News By Serena GordonHealthDay Reporter TUESDAY, Feb. 25, 2020 (HealthDay News) — By the time he was 7 months old, John Michael Crawford had been diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder called tuberous sclerosis, associated with a high risk of developmental delays, including autism. Early intervention programs are believed to help reduce that risk, but these time- and labor-intensive therapies often aren’t available in areas of the United States that aren’t close to large medical centers. The Crawfords, from Benton, Ark., live in such an area. “There are plenty of families who live in places without access to specialists. It’s overwhelming when you get the diagnosis, especially when you can’t find specialists that can answer questions and teach you,” said John Michael’s father, Brandon Crawford. An ongoing trial for a program developed at University of California, Los Angeles seeks to change that with the novel use of technology and developmental intervention therapy for families of children with a high risk of autism that live in rural areas. Dr. Shafali Jeste, an associate professor at the UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment, said, “We’re very proficient at making the diagnosis of autism, but families often can’t get access […]
A Woman’s Guide to Skin Care During and After Menopause
Latest Skin News SUNDAY, Feb. 23, 2020 (HealthDay News) — People sometimes refer to menopause as “the change of life,” but many women are surprised that one of the things that changes is their skin, an expert says. “Although fluctuating hormones during menopause can result in a number of skin changes, these don’t need to be disruptive to daily life,” said New York City dermatologist Dr. Diane Berson. “With the right care, women can continue to have healthy, blemish-free skin during midlife and beyond.” During menopause, declining estrogen levels result in dryness and itching. Wash with a mild cleanser, as regular soap may be too drying, Berson suggested in an American Academy of Dermatology news release. After bathing or showering and throughout the day, apply a moisturizer with hyaluronic acid or glycerin. To help soothe itchy skin, apply a cool, wet compress, then a moisturizer. Another way to relieve itchy skin is to take a colloidal oatmeal bath. Colloidal oatmeal is available in most drug and beauty stores. Use warm, not hot, water and pat your skin dry — instead of rubbing — to avoid further irritation, Berson advised. If fluctuating hormones leave you with acne, wash with a cleanser […]
Latest Sexual Health News By Steven ReinbergHealthDay Reporter FRIDAY, Feb. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Listen up, guys: A healthy diet is good for your brain and heart, and also your sperm, new research suggests. In a study of more than 2,900 Danish men, median age 19, those whose diet was rich in fish, chicken, vegetables, fruit and water had higher sperm counts than those who ate a “Western” diet rich in pizza, French fries, processed and red meats, snacks, refined grains, sugary beverages and sweets, researchers found. “Because following a generally healthy diet pattern is a modifiable behavior, our results suggest the possibility of using dietary intervention as a possible approach to improve sperm quality of men in reproductive age,” said lead study author Feiby Nassan. She’s a postdoctoral research associate at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in Boston. Sperm count can affect fertility because the lower the count, the lower the chance of getting a partner pregnant. “It may be useful for men’s fertility to follow a generally healthy diet,” Nassan said. For the study, her team compared sperm counts among men who ate a healthy diet; a Western diet; a Danish diet rich in cold […]
Dietitian-Led Behavioral Therapy May Help Seniors Lose Weight
Latest Senior Health News FRIDAY, Feb. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Dietitian-led intensive behavioral therapy may help obese seniors lose weight, a new study suggests. Intensive behavioral therapy for obesity (IBTO) features individualized counseling sessions to help people change their eating and exercise habits, CNN reported. The East Carolina University study of nearly 2,100 obese women, aged 65 and older, found that after three years, those who received IBTO lost an average of nearly three pounds, while those who didn’t receive IBTO gained an average of half a pound. Those who received IBTO also had an average A1C decline of nearly 0.2, which previous research suggests is associated with an up to 10% decrease in death risk, CNN reported. A1C is a blood test for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. IBTO is provided and reimbursed for Medicare B recipients, who would be 65 or older, the study authors noted. Copyright © 2019 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SLIDESHOW How to Lose Weight Without Dieting: 24 Fast Facts See Slideshow
5 Expert Tips for Preventing Winter Sports Accidents
Latest Prevention & Wellness News SATURDAY, Feb. 22, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Hitting the slopes or the skating rink as the winter of 2020 winds down? Don’t let an accident or injury spoil your fun. “Winter sports and recreational activities have great health and cardiovascular benefits,” said Dr. Joseph Bosco, vice president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). “However, it’s important not to underestimate the risks that cold weather can bring.” He noted that hospitals and health care clinics see a surge of bone and joint injuries during the winter months and many could be prevented with the right preparation. Sprains, strains, dislocations, fractures and more traumatic injuries can happen to anyone. Here, Bosco and the AAOS offer suggestions on how to protect yourself: Be prepared: Before you tackle a winter sport, make sure your muscles are warmed up and in good condition. Cold muscles, tendons and ligaments are more prone to injury. Make sure to have water and other supplies on standby. Wear appropriate gear: Well-fitting protective equipment like goggles, helmets, gloves and padding is crucial. Your clothes should be layered, light, loose and wind-resistant. Footwear should be warm, provide ankle support and keep your feet dry. […]
In a First, Doctors Use Robotics to Treat Brain Aneurysm
Latest Neurology News FRIDAY, Feb. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Canadian doctors who conducted the first robotic surgery to treat a brain aneurysm say the approach could boost the availability and precision of lifesaving stroke care. Use of the technology could also be a first step toward remote robotic surgery for stroke and other conditions affecting brain blood vessels. “In the future, perhaps, a patient could end up in a small center somewhere, and the staff there could put the patient into the appropriate suite where the procedure can be done,” explained American Heart Association president-elect Dr. Mitchell Elkind. “And then, an expert at another site, perhaps hundreds or even thousands of miles away, could perform the procedure remotely. It’s really like science fiction stuff. It sounds really exciting and it has great potential.” Elkind wasn’t involved in the new report, which was led by Dr. Vitor Mendes Pereira, a neurosurgeon and neuroradiologist at the Toronto Western Hospital. His team presented their findings Friday at the International Stroke Conference, in Los Angeles. As the Canadian doctors explained, robotic technology is already used in many surgeries, including cardiac procedures. But it has not yet been tried in delicate neurovascular surgeries — […]
Alcohol-Linked Deaths Soaring in U.S., Women Hit Hardest
Latest Mental Health News By Dennis ThompsonHealthDay Reporter FRIDAY, Feb. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Americans are drinking themselves to death at ever-increasing rates, with women in particular hitting the bottle hard, a new study shows. The rate of alcohol-induced deaths among women increased between 3.1% and 3.6% a year from 2000 to 2016, while deaths among men increased 1.4% to 1.8% each year, according to the findings. What’s worse, the rates have accelerated in recent years — the average annual increase for women was 7.1% between 2013 and 2016, and for men it was 4.2% between 2012 and 2016. “The opioid crisis has generated the most attention in the media, and certainly in Washington as well, but this study demonstrates that America has had a serious alcohol problem for decades,” said Dr. Timothy Brennan, director of the Addiction Institute of Mount Sinai West and Mount Sinai St. Luke’s in New York City. “This study really underlines the ongoing public health menace of alcohol use disorder and risky and dangerous drinking,” added Brennan, who was not involved with the study. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to drink-related fatalities. The deaths documented here were solely […]
Global Coronavirus Outbreaks Stoking Fears of Pandemic
Latest Infectious Disease News MONDAY, Feb. 24, 2020 (HealthDay News) — A coronavirus pandemic looked ever more likely on Monday as multiple countries around the world raced to stem outbreaks of “untraceable” cases of the virus. Clusters of cases arising in South Korea, Italy and Iran with no clear ties to outbreak’s epicenter in China have heightened concerns about local, self-sustaining epidemics and a global pandemic. In a pandemic, outbreaks occur on more than one continent. As of Monday, there were more than 79,000 cases of COVID-19 and 2,600 deaths globally. “We are worried about the situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran and in Italy,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director of the World Health Organization, said Monday. “It is an incredible time. Less than two months ago, the coronavirus was completely unknown to us,” Ghebreyesus said. “The past few weeks have demonstrated just how quickly a new virus can spread around the world and cause widespread fear and disruption.” As reported Monday by Associated Press, the list of countries with burgeoning case counts includes: South Korea. Total cases of COVID-19 have risen from just 28 last week to 833 by Monday. Seven people have died. South Korea now has the […]
Global Coronavirus Outbreaks Worry Experts, as U.S. Cases Reach 34
Latest Infectious Disease News SATURDAY, Feb. 22, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Outbreaks of “untraceable” cases of coronavirus in multiple countries around the world are raising the real possibility of a pandemic, public health experts say. Clusters of cases arising in South Korea, Iran, Italy and Canada with no clear ties to the outbreak’s epicenter in China have boosted concerns about local, self-sustaining epidemics and a global pandemic. As reported Saturday by CNN, the list of countries with burgeoning case counts includes: South Korea. Total cases of COVID-19 have risen from just 28 last week to 433 by Saturday, with a jump of 229 cases in just over the past 24 hours. Two people have died. Most cases are centered in the southern city of Daegu, and more than half are concentrated among members of the Shingeongji religious group. “We have secured a list of about 9,300 members of the relevant religious group, and we are preemptively enforcing self-isolation and facility isolation,” Kim Gang-lip, South Korea’s vice minister of health, said at a press briefing. Iran. So far, Iranian officials say 28 cases have been identified and five people have died — bringing the global death toll from coronavirus outside Asia […]
Without Symptoms or Clear Test Results, Woman May Have Still Spread Coronavirus
Latest Infectious Disease News By E.J. MundellHealthDay Reporter FRIDAY, Feb. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) — A report from doctors battling China’s coronavirus outbreak raises concern that people who have no symptoms and initially test negative on medical tests might still harbor and spread the COVID-19 virus. The case involves an asymptomatic 20-year-old woman who appears to have spread the illness to five relatives who later became ill. If similar reports are found elsewhere, “the prevention of COVID-19 infection would prove challenging,” warned researchers led by Dr. Meiyun Wang of Henan Provincial People’s Hospital in Zhengzhou, China. While the rate of new cases in China appear to be slowing, outbreaks in countries such as South Korea and Iran have experts worried that COVID-19 could go global. As of Friday, a total of more than 75,000 cases and 2,236 deaths were reported in mainland China. For many infectious respiratory illnesses, people have to be symptomatic to transmit the infection to others. But the new report suggests that might not always be the case for COVID-19. As Wang’s team explained, five members of a family in the Chinese city of Anyang came down with coronavirus about 10 days after meeting up with a […]
Latest High Blood Pressure News FRIDAY, Feb. 21, 2020 (American Heart Association News) — Nearly two-thirds of people who survive an often-deadly type of stroke caused by bleeding in the brain continue to experience high blood pressure because they aren’t taking enough medication, new research shows. The preliminary study, presented this week at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference in Los Angeles, found most people who survive an intracerebral hemorrhage need three or more medications to control severe hypertension afterward. “If they don’t achieve control, the risk of a recurrent stroke is three to four times higher,” said lead researcher Dr. Kay-Cheong Teo, of the University of Hong Kong’s department of medicine. His team included researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. The study of 1,172 bleeding stroke survivors from Boston and Hong Kong found 64.3% of those in Boston and 32.7% in Hong Kong continued to experience high blood pressure, also called hypertension, six months after their strokes, despite treatment. About a third of the Boston stroke survivors and nearly as many in Hong Kong, 29.7%, experienced hypertension that was resistant to medication. But the balance – 66.5% in Boston and 70.3% in Hong Kong – were not […]
Latest Heart News MONDAY, Feb. 24, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Want to avoid a stroke? Reach for fruits and veggies, new research suggests. The new European study of more than 418,000 people found that what you eat can influence your risk for different types of stroke. “The most important finding is that higher consumption of both dietary fiber and fruit and vegetables was strongly associated with lower risks of ischemic stroke,” said study lead author Tammy Tong. She’s a nutritional epidemiologist at the University of Oxford, in England. This study involved patients from nine European countries, and it investigated how diet affects both ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. Ischemic strokes — about 85% of cases — occur due to blockages in a vessel, while hemorrhagic strokes involve bleeds from blood vessels. People who consumed greater amounts of fruit, vegetables, fiber, milk, cheese or yogurt had a lower risk of ischemic stroke, Tong’s group found, but there was no significant association with hemorrhagic stroke. Eating more eggs was associated with a higher risk of hemorrhagic stroke, but not with ischemic stroke. The total amount of fiber (including fiber from fruit, vegetables, cereal, legumes, nuts and seeds) was associated with the greatest reduction […]
Certain Gut Bacteria Tied to Lung Vessel Disease
Latest Heart News MONDAY, Feb. 24, 2020 (HealthDay News) — A specific collection of gut bacteria may be a culprit in the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a new study shows. PAH is a chronic disease marked by the narrowing of arteries that supply blood to the lungs. With constant high blood pressure in these arteries, the right side of the heart is forced to work harder, which can result in right-sided heart failure. Symptoms of PAH include shortness of breath, heart palpitations and fatigue. Microbiota, bacteria found in everyone’s gut, aid in digestion. The study showed that having a particular microbiota profile predicted PAH with 83% accuracy. “We showed for the first time that specific bacteria in the gut are present in people with PAH. While current PAH treatments focus on the lungs, looking at the lung/gut axis could open the door to new therapies centered in the digestive system,” said lead study author Mohan Raizada. He is a distinguished professor in the department of physiology and functional genomics at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville. Stool samples from 18 PAH patients and 12 people without cardiopulmonary disease history were collected for the study. The […]
When ‘Time Is Brain,’ Mobile Stroke Units Speed Care
Latest Heart News FRIDAY, Feb. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Ambulances outfitted as “mobile stroke treatment units” provide faster treatment and reduce patients’ risk of severe disability and death, German researchers report. The new study examined the use of three mobile stroke units in Berlin. Each unit is staffed with emergency medicine neurologists and has a CT scanner and lab on board that enables treatment at the scene. Treatment may include clot-busting drugs to restore blood flow to the brain. Timing of this treatment is crucial because the clot-busting medication alteplase should be given within 4.5 hours of stroke symptoms. “Just waiting until the patient arrives at the hospital is not enough anymore,” said lead author Dr. Heinrich Audebert, a professor in the Center for Stroke Research at Charité Universitätsmedizin, in Berlin. The study included 749 patients (average age 73) who were treated by the mobile units, and 794 patients (average age 74) who received regular care in the hospital. Sixty percent of patients treated in a mobile stroke unit received the clot-busting drug, compared with 48% of patients who received conventional treatment in the hospital, the study found. When a mobile unit was dispatched, time to treatment was reduced […]
New Cholesterol Drug Approved by FDA
Latest Cholesterol News MONDAY, Feb. 24, 2020 (HealthDay News) — A new type of cholesterol-lowering drug that works differently than statins has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Esperion Therapeutics Inc.’s Nexletol will provide an alternative for people who can’t tolerate or don’t fully respond to statins such as Lipitor and Crestor, the Associated Press reported. Nexletol is a daily pill approved for people with a genetic predisposition for high cholesterol and for heart disease patients who need to further reduce their bad cholesterol. The drug is to be taken at the highest dose patients can tolerate and used in conjunction with a healthy diet, according to the FDA. “This is a nice alternative” to statins, but statins will still be the first choice, Dr. Christie Ballantyne, Baylor College of Medicine’s cardiology chief, told the AP. He consults for Esperion and helped test Nexletol. Copyright © 2019 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SLIDESHOW Lower Your Cholesterol, Save Your Heart See Slideshow
Could Snake Venom Treat Cancer?
Latest Cancer News “The dose makes the poison,” said Swiss doctor and chemist Paracelsus, meaning a substance is toxic only if it is present in the body in a high enough concentration. But now researchers at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC) believe small amounts of poisonous snake venom may one day help treat cancer. Researchers in the lab of UNC Professor of Biology Steve Mackessy, Ph.D., are studying venoms from several species of snakes looking for potential molecules that may have therapeutic properties. In a podcast discussing his work, Mackessy explains that when analyzing venoms he wonders: “Do they have compounds in them that are interesting, biologically? Interesting potentially therapeutically?” Mackessy and his team isolate compounds from snake venom and test them on human cancer cells cultured in the lab. Venoms from various snakes have different activity against cancer cells. For example, his group discovered that a toxin isolated from Indian snake venom had effects on a certain type of colon cancer cells in the lab, he said in the podcast. Mackessy further discussed how certain compounds from snake venom are capable of inducing programmed cell death, or apoptosis. One key to determining if a compound has therapeutic potential […]
Breast Cancer Care Far From Home for Rural Patients
Latest Cancer News FRIDAY, Feb. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) — As rural hospitals and specialty care units close, a new study shows that some breast cancer patients are forced to travel long distances for their treatments. University of Minnesota researchers found that those living in rural parts of the United States travel three times as far as urban women for radiation therapy. The study, led by Ph.D. student Colleen Longacre, analyzed Medicare data from over 52,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer between 2004 and 2013. With Google maps, the researchers calculated the distance between where the women lived and their place of treatment. For rural women, the nearest radiation facility was 21.9 miles away, on average. Urban women had to travel less than 5 miles to get treatment, the findings showed. The report was published online recently in The Journal of Rural Health. “Radiation treatment is not just a one-time thing,” Longacre explained in a university news release. “Conventional radiotherapy requires treatment five days per week for five to seven weeks at a time. This means that the average rural woman logs more than 2,000 miles of travel over the course of treatment.” Longacre’s team also investigated the characteristics of […]
Sticking With Meds Lowers Lupus Patients’ Diabetes Risk
Latest Arthritis News FRIDAY, Feb. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Taking their medications as prescribed significantly lowers lupus patients’ risk of developing diabetes, a new study finds. Type 2 diabetes is a common complication of lupus, an autoimmune disease that can cause damaging inflammation in many organs, as well as rashes, fatigue and joint pain. For the new study, researchers analyzed four years of data on nearly 1,500 lupus patients in British Columbia, Canada, and found that those who followed their medication regimen were much less likely to develop type 2 diabetes. In particular, those who consistently took antimalarial drugs like hydroxychloroquine had 39% lower odds of developing diabetes, according to the study published recently in Arthritis Care & Research. “Antimalarial drugs are actively used to treat lupus symptoms long-term,” said senior author Mary de Vera, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver. “Now we know that they can also significantly protect patients against type 2 diabetes, if taken as prescribed for the required length of time.” To reduce their risk of diabetes, lupus patients need to take their medications at least 90% of the time, according to the researchers. “It’s not enough to […]
Who’s Caring for Family Caregivers? 1 in 5 Says Health Is Poor
Latest Senior Health News By Steven ReinbergHealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, Feb. 20, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Caring for a loved one at home can be rewarding, but it can also be overwhelming and take a toll on your own health, a new study suggests. According to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 1 in 5 of the nearly 18 million Americans who provide informal, unpaid care may be in fair or poor health. “As the population of America ages and the number of older adults with diseases such as Alzheimer’s continue to grow, there concomitantly has been a growth in the number of non-paid, informal caregivers,” said Dr. Teresa Murray Amato, director of geriatric emergency medicine at Long Island Jewish Forest Hills in New York City. “Many of these caregivers are family members, which can be very helpful for allowing older adults to remain at home,” said Amato, who was not part of the study. Over the three years of the study (2015 to 2017), using data from 44 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, researchers led by the CDC’s Valerie Edwards found that 21% of more than 252,000 respondents were caregivers. […]
How ‘Stranger Things’ Widened Awareness of a Rare Disorder
Latest Healthy Kids News By Amy NortonHealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, Feb. 20, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Teenage actor Gaten Matarazzo III was born with a rare genetic disorder that affects bone development. And ever since his Netflix series “Stranger Things” became a hit, public interest in the condition has shot up, a new study finds. The disorder, called cleidocranial dysplasia (CCD), affects only about one in a million people, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Caused by a mutated gene, CCD leads to abnormal bone development — most apparent in the collarbones and teeth. The collarbones are either only partially developed or absent, causing the shoulders to slope toward each other in the front of the body. The teeth do not come in fully, and the ones that do may be misaligned or misshapen. Some other CCD effects include scoliosis, an abnormal curvature of the spine; a prominent forehead; and larger-than-normal spaces between the skull bones that may fail to close during childhood — as they usually would. Not only does Matarazzo live with CCD, so does his “Stranger Things” character, Dustin Henderson. And since its debut in 2016, the series has featured scenes with Dustin educating others about […]
U.S. Coronavirus Cases Reach 34: CDC
Latest Infectious Disease News FRIDAY, Feb. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) — The number of coronavirus cases among Americans jumped to 34 Friday, as U.S. health officials reported that more passengers who were evacuated from a quarantined cruise ship in Japan have tested positive for the virus. “We have 13 U.S. cases, versus 21 cases among people who were repatriated,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the U.S. National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said during a media briefing Friday. “The repatriated cases include 18 passengers from the Diamond Princess [cruise ship] and three from the Wuhan repatriation flights.” However, nearly everyone evacuated in the special flights from Wuhan have finished their 14-day quarantine, Messonnier added. Of the Diamond Princess patients who are now in the United States, 11 are receiving care at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, five are receiving care around Travis Air Force Base in northern California and two are being cared for around Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, Messonnier said. “Because the passengers on the Diamond Princess were in a close setting where there has been a significant spread of COVID-19, they are considered at high risk for infection and we do expect to see […]
US Cases of Coronavirus COVID-19 Concentrated in West Coast — Where Else?
Latest Infectious Disease News By Peter Schelden on 02/21/2020 3:43 PM Source: MedicineNet Health News As the global death toll tops 2,100, COVID-19 infections continue to spread in countries across the world, including in the U.S. The region with the most infections is the West Coast, with 11 confirmed cases out of 15 total. In comparison, the East Coast has confirmed only one case. There are nine confirmed COVID-19 cases in California, including one patient recently evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan. Another case was reported last week in Arizona involving a man in his 20s, according to The Arizona Republic. The first confirmed case in the U.S. appeared in Washington state. Other people have tested positive elsewhere in the US. Two cases have been confirmed in Illinois, one in Wisconsin, and one in Texas. The only East Coast state with any confirmed COVID-19 cases is Massachusetts, which reported a Boston man in his 20s was infected earlier this month. An additional 13 evacuees from the Diamond Princess were taken Monday to health facilities in Omaha. These patients are in quarantine. The CDC does not reflect these cases in its official statistics, but confirmed in a statement […]
Symptomless Coronavirus Cases Stymie Screening Efforts
Latest Infectious Disease News Brenda GoodmanFebruary 20, 2020 As countries work to slow the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19, the screening of international travelers has become a cornerstone of those efforts. Because there are a limited number of lab tests, travelers generally aren’t being swabbed unless they have symptoms or if they’ve answered yes to certain questions. They include whether the travelers recently had close contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus, which is now officially called SARS-CoV-2. A new study by German researchers shows why that approach probably isn’t catching everyone who’s infected. The researchers tested 126 people who were returning to Germany after recent travel from China. On the flight, 10 people were isolated because they were at high risk of being infected — some had symptoms, and others had contact with people who were infected. As soon as the plane touched down, these 10 passengers were taken to a hospital and tested for the virus. None were positive. Doctors examined the rest of the passengers at a medical assessment center at the airport. One passenger had a fever, a hard time breathing, and a cough. He was also tested, and was negative […]
U.S. Coronavirus Cases Now Stand at 26, South Korea Fights to Stem Spike in Cases
Latest Infectious Disease News FRIDAY, Feb. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Eleven Americans who were evacuated from a quarantined cruise ship in Japan have tested definitively for coronavirus, bringing the case count in this country to 26, U.S. health officials reported late Thursday. In China, the number of new cases of COVID-19 continued to decline on Friday, but South Korean officials battled to contain the rapidly spreading virus in its country. The first case was reported on Tuesday in that country; by Friday, that number had climbed to 204, the AP reported. The decline in Chinese cases has been due in part to Chinese health officials changing how they tally infections. Under the new system, there have now been a total of 75,465 cases and 2,236 deaths in mainland China. Among the 400 Americans who were on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship, roughly 300 Americans were evacuated over the weekend and are under quarantine in the United States. The 11 passengers whose tests came back positive for coronavirus were part of a group of 13 high-risk passengers who had been at Travis Air Force base in northern California since the cruise ship evacuation, the AP reported. They have since […]
Your Best Bet Against Heart Attack, Stroke? Lower Blood Pressure
Latest High Blood Pressure News THURSDAY, Feb. 20, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Millions of Americans with high blood pressure are at risk of heart attack and stroke, but just a few changes might cut that risk. “In February, American Heart Month, we encourage all Americans to take control of their heart health by better understanding and monitoring their blood pressure levels and making healthy lifestyle changes that can significantly reduce their risk of serious health consequences associated with high blood pressure,” said Dr. Patrice Harris, president of the American Medical Association (AMA). “High blood pressure is the nation’s leading risk factor for heart attack and stroke, yet an overwhelming number of U.S. adults are living with uncontrolled high blood pressure,” Harris said in an association news release. In honor of American Heart Month, the AMA provided six tips for improving heart health: Know your blood pressure. Understand what your numbers mean and how you can get your blood pressure under control. Follow a treatment plan to manage your high blood pressure. Work with your doctor and commit to realistic lifestyle changes. Get active. Healthy adults from ages 18 to 65 should get 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week. Eat […]
Brain Stent Could Cut Odds for a Second Stroke
Latest Heart News THURSDAY, Feb. 20, 2020 (HealthDay News) — For decades, artery-opening stents have helped prevent heart attacks, and new research suggests they might also help prevent strokes in the brain. In a new study, the self-expanding, intracranial Wingspan brain stent seems effective over the long term in reducing stroke patients’ risk of a subsequent stroke and death. Intracranial stents are tiny mesh tubes that are permanently implanted to open clogged brain arteries and improve blood flow to the brain. The new study looked at medical registry data on recurrent stroke or death in more than 150 stroke survivors who’d received a Wingspan brain stent. The stent appeared to cut risks in half, said American Heart Association (AHA) president-elect Dr. Mitchell Elkind. “After a year, there was a low risk of recurrent stroke or death in these patients compared to what we would expect historically,” Elkind said. “So, about 9% or so of the patients had a recurrent event, compared with what we would expect to be closer to about 20%.” He stressed that this study wasn’t a “gold-standard” randomized clinical trial. Still, “this is promising, and it suggests that for some patients, the benefits of stenting may be […]
Wearable ‘Brain Stimulator’ May Boost Stroke Recovery
Latest Heart News By Serena GordonHealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, Feb. 20, 2020 (HealthDay News) — A noninvasive magnetic brain stimulation device worn less than an hour a day can increase activity near stroke-injured areas of the brain, a small, preliminary study suggests. Those improvements in brain activity might then lead to increased motor function in people who have had a stroke, the researchers said. “We were excited to see a strong hint of improved motor function even in this small study. There is hope for stroke survivors with chronic motor impairment,” said study senior author Dr. David Chiu, director of Houston Methodist Hospital’s Eddy Scurlock Stroke Center. The study included 30 ischemic stroke survivors. An ischemic stroke is one in which a blood vessel becomes blocked, preventing blood flow to the brain. If blood flow isn’t quickly restored, brain damage occurs. The study volunteers all had some brain damage, and as result, had weakness on one side of their body. Chiu said researchers chose people who were at least three months post-stroke because spontaneous improvements generally don’t happen after that. That means any improvements seen could be attributed to the device. The device, which is controlled with a smartphone, looks like […]
AHA News: Earth-Based or Star-Bound, Heed These Heart-Healthy Lessons From Space
Latest Heart News THURSDAY, Feb. 20, 2020 (American Heart Association News) — On Feb. 20, 1962, John Glenn made history when he became the first American to orbit the Earth. About half an hour after launch, somewhere over Zanzibar, he made a bit of lesser-known history by becoming the first person to use workout equipment in space. “It was called the MA-6 In-flight Exercise Device,” said fellow space veteran James A. Pawelczyk, associate professor of physiology and kinesiology at Pennsylvania State University in University Park. “And it was basically a strap connected to a bungee cord and a handle.” Glenn put his feet through the strap and worked out, while his pulse and blood pressure were measured. That might seem like a minor footnote to a grand adventure. But it shows that from the days of Glenn’s first, short flight, we’ve been asking, “How does the cardiovascular system adapt? And can we keep it healthy?” said Pawelczyk. The answer to that second question offers lessons to those of us who may never get closer to space than an episode of “Star Trek.” In short, no matter where you are, if you want to live long and prosper, you should stay […]
Latest HIV News THURSDAY, Feb. 20, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Adults with HIV have higher rates of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and are diagnosed with the lung disease years earlier than those without HIV, a new study finds. Smoking may be a major reason why, researchers suggest. “As people with HIV live longer, it is important to understand how common other illnesses are to ensure that prevention, screening and treatment strategies can be developed,” said Tony Antoniou, a scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital, in Toronto. “While other factors may contribute to the development of COPD in people with HIV, our work highlights the importance of trying to help our patients with HIV quit smoking to prevent COPD in the first place and prevent further lung damage in people who are already diagnosed with COPD,” Antoniou said in a hospital news release. For the study, the researchers analyzed COPD rates among adults aged 35 and older in the province of Ontario, Canada, between 1996 and 2015. More than 40% of Canadians with HIV live in Ontario. Compared to those without the AIDS-causing virus, people with HIV had a 34% higher rate of COPD […]
AHA News: Research Opens New Avenues to Reduce Foot, Toe Amputations
Latest Diabetes News THURSDAY, Feb. 20, 2020 (American Heart Association News) — Emerging research may help doctors devise better ways to prevent some of the tens of thousands of amputations unrelated to traumatic injury that occur in the U.S. each year. Diabetes is the leading cause of nontraumatic lower limb amputations, including of the toe and foot. That’s partly because diabetes increases risk of peripheral artery disease, or PAD, a narrowing of major blood vessels in the legs and other areas distant from the heart. But research emphasizes another problem in the mix – microvascular disease, impairment of the tiniest blood vessels, which deliver oxygen and nutrients to tissue. Microvascular disease can damage the eyes (retinopathy), the kidneys (nephropathy) and the nerves (neuropathy). Instead of viewing these as separate conditions, researchers suggest in a new review article that they be considered a potential systemic, or body-wide, dysfunction. The article appeared Thursday in the American Heart Association journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. Diabetes, along with high blood pressure, can cause large blood vessels to thicken, narrowing their interior, and small vessels to shrivel or disappear, said Dr. Joshua Beckman, director of vascular medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, […]
Flu Season That’s Sickened 26 Million May Be at Its Peak
Latest Cold and Flu News By Dennis ThompsonHealthDay Reporter FRIDAY, Feb. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) — It’s been overshadowed by the new coronavirus outbreak in China, but this year’s flu season could be near its peak after surging throughout the United States for months. At least 14,000 people have died and 250,000 have already been hospitalized during the 2019-2020 flu season, according to estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 26 million Americans have fallen ill with flu-like symptoms. “There is a deadly respiratory virus that is circulating throughout the United States, and it is at its peak. It is not novel coronavirus,” said Dr. Pritish Tosh, an infectious disease specialist with the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minn. This flu season has come in two waves and has been particularly hard on children, the experts said. The season started early, in October, with an unusual wave of influenza B virus. Influenza B is less likely than other strains to mutate and become more virulent. That means it poses a greater threat to young people than to older folks, who may have gained immunity because they encountered the strain before. There have been 92 flu-related deaths […]
Could the Weather Swings of Climate Change Make Flu Seasons Worse?
Latest Cold and Flu News THURSDAY, Feb. 20, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Climate change, and the sudden weather changes it brings, could fuel future flu epidemics, researchers warn in a new report. They used historical data to assess how major weather swings in the fall months could affect flu season in highly populated areas of the United States, mainland China, Italy and France. Specifically, the researchers examined weather patterns and average temperatures from Jan. 1, 1997, to Feb. 28, 2018, over more than 7,700 days. They also analyzed influenza data from the four countries over the same time period. Previous research suggested that low temperatures and low humidity in the winter create favorable conditions for flu virus transmission. However, the 2017-2018 flu season was one of warmest on record, and also one of the deadliest. During the 2017-2018 flu season, extreme swings in autumn weather “kick-started” the flu, resulting in flu cases early in the season that snowballed in highly populated areas, according to the study authors. “The historical flu data from different parts of the world showed that the spread of flu epidemic has been more closely tied to rapid weather variability, implying that the lapsed human immune system […]
Flu Vaccine Making a Strong Showing This Season
Latest Cold and Flu News THURSDAY, Feb. 20, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Though a severe flu season is now in full swing in the United States, a new government report delivers a bit of good news: This year’s vaccine is working well against the viruses that are circulating. “Preliminary vaccine effectiveness estimates indicate that the 2019-20 flu vaccine is providing substantial protective benefit, particularly among children, who were hard hit by flu this season,” said researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Flu vaccines are reducing doctor visits associated with flu illness by 45% overall and [by] 55% in children,” the new report stated. What does that portend for the rest of the season? Similar preliminary estimates in other flu seasons translated into overall effectiveness that ranged between 40% and 60%, according to the report published Feb. 21 in the CDC publication Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Because of the apparent success of this season’s vaccine, the CDC continues to recommend that anyone aged 6 months or older still get vaccinated if they haven’t already, “because influenza activity is ongoing, and the vaccine can still prevent illness, hospitalization, and death,” the report said. This flu season has […]
Alzheimer’s Gene Mapping Project Proposed in New York State
Latest Alzheimer’s News FRIDAY, Feb. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) — A proposed project to map the genes of 1 million people in New York living with or at-risk for Alzheimer’s disease was announced Friday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. He said the five years of data collected by the Curing Alzheimer’s Health Consortium initiative at the State University of New York would help researchers working to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s, the Associated Press reported. The state will seek proposals for private providers to work with SUNY, other hospitals and non-profit higher education research institutions on the project, Cuomo said. There is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, which affects more than 5 million people in the United States. Current drugs only temporarily reduce symptoms, the AP reported. Copyright © 2019 HealthDay. All rights reserved. QUESTION One of the first symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease is __________________. See Answer
What’s Source of ‘Stinging Water’? Jellyfish Release Toxic Mucus
Latest Prevention & Wellness News WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) — The mystery of “stinging water” has been solved, scientists say. Stinging water is the seawater near and around upside-down jellyfish (Cassiopea) — and swimmers can get stinging, itchy skin while submerged in it, even if they have no direct contact with the creatures themselves. But it wasn’t clear in the past if the jellyfish were to blame for this discomfort, since several other possible causes had been suggested, including severed jellyfish tentacles, “sea lice,” anemones and other stinging marine animals. In this new study, researchers concluded that stinging water is caused by toxin-filled mucus that the jellyfish release into the water. The mucus contains gyrating balls of stinging cells called cassiosomes. “This discovery was both a surprise and a long-awaited resolution to the mystery of stinging water,” said study author Cheryl Ames, a research associate at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., and an associate professor at Tohoku University in Japan. “We can now let swimmers know that stinging water is caused by upside-down jellyfish, despite their general reputation as a mild stinger,” Ames said in a Smithsonian news release. The study — by […]
Pregnant Women Who Take Macrolide Antibiotics Have Increased Risk of Birth Defects: Study
Latest Pregnancy News THURSDAY, Feb. 20, 2020 (HealthDay News) — A slightly increased risk of birth defects was found among women who took macrolide antibiotics early in pregnancy, a new study shows. Researchers analyzed data from 104,605 children who were born in the U.K. between 1990 and 2016 and whose mothers were prescribed either macrolides or penicillin during pregnancy, CNN reported. The rate of major birth defects among women who took macrolides during the first three months of pregnancy was 28 per 1,000 births, compared with 18 per 1,000 births among those who took penicillin. Specifically, the risk of heart defects was higher in women who took macrolides, but they did not have a higher risk of neurodevelopmental birth defects than those who took penicillin, CNN reported. There was no increased risk of birth defects among women who took macrolides before pregnancy, according to the study published Feb. 19 in the journal BMJ. Macrolides — which include erythromycin, clarithromycin and azithromycin — are often prescribed for patients who are allergic to penicillin. They are among the most widely used antibiotics in Western countries, the researchers noted. Based on the findings, pregnant women and their doctors should consider using alternatives to […]
First Baby Born From Use of Lab-Matured Frozen Egg
Latest Pregnancy News WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) — In what doctors call a breakthrough, a cancer patient in France gave birth to the first baby conceived from an immature egg that was matured in the laboratory, frozen, then later thawed and fertilized. “We were delighted that the patient became pregnant without any difficulty and successfully delivered a healthy baby at term,” said team leader Michaël Grynberg, head of reproductive medicine and fertility preservation at Antoine Béclère University Hospital, near Paris. Loss of fertility is always a potential hazard after chemotherapy and radiation treatments for younger female cancer patients. In such cases, doctors typically induce “ovarian stimulation” to produce and harvest mature eggs from ovaries so that they can be frozen for potential future use. “However, for some patients, ovarian stimulation isn’t feasible due to the need for urgent cancer treatment or some other contraindication,” Grynberg said in a news release from the journal Annals of Oncology, which published the report Feb. 19. The French team hoped that in these cases, a technique called in vitro maturation (IVM), where the egg maturation process is induced in the laboratory, might work. “My team and I trusted that IVM could work […]
Skiers Study Suggests Fitness May Stave Off Parkinson’s
Latest Neurology News By Serena GordonHealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, Feb. 20, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Love to cross-country ski? Well, all those days spent striding across the snow-covered wilderness may do more than keep you in great physical shape. Swedish researchers report that very fit long-distance skiers were about 30% less likely to develop Parkinson’s disease during their 20-year study. The research suggests that any activity that keeps you fit might buffer the brain against disease. “Our study highlights the importance of staying physically active throughout life, in order to have a reserve to better cope when the frailties and diseases of old age inevitably arrive,” said study senior author Tomas Deierborg. He’s an associate professor in neuroscience at Lund University in Sweden. Deierborg said the researchers believe these very fit athletes have built up a greater “motor reserve” that slows any brain damage from Parkinson’s disease. He said it’s similar to the idea of “cognitive reserve” in people with dementia that suggests someone who is well-educated can sustain more brain damage from dementia before symptoms of the disorder become obvious. However, not everyone is convinced that motor reserve is playing a role in this study’s findings. Dr. Michael Okun, national […]
As Prices Rise for Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s Meds, Patients Go Without
Latest Neurology News By Dennis ThompsonHealthDay Reporter WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Rising drug costs are hampering the care of patients with debilitating neurological disorders like Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s, a new study finds. Patients are less likely to fill necessary prescriptions as out-of-pocket costs increase, said senior researcher Dr. Brian Callaghan, a neurologist with the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. “It’s a pretty predictable 5% to 10% drop for every $50 increase in cost,” Callaghan said. For patients with Parkinson’s disease, not taking medications as prescribed can severely impact their quality of life, he noted. “The Parkinson’s medicines are supposed to help make their tremors better, help them walk faster better. Theoretically, it could prevent falls and hospitalizations,” Callaghan said. “It’s not really preventing people from dying. It’s enabling people to live better and have better symptom control.” Previous studies have shown that out-of-pocket drug costs are rising for neurologic medications, Callaghan said. To see how these higher prices affect patient care, Callaghan and his colleagues singled out three neurologic diseases for which there are effective drugs available at a wide variety of prices: The researchers used a private insurance claims database to track more than […]
Latest Neurology News By Alan MozesHealthDay Reporter WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Young boys whose mothers were exposed to chemicals known as phthalates while pregnant may face an increased risk for developing behaviors associated with autism, a new study warns. Phthalates are chemicals found in many household products, including cosmetics and plastics. The study didn’t identify a heightened risk for autism per se among boys, but rather a “small” increase in the chance for developing certain autism-related traits by age 3 or 4. These include social impairment, repetitive behaviors and restricted interests, said study lead author Youssef Oulhote. This elevated risk was not seen in girls. But it appears that folic acid supplements while pregnant offer protection against this risk, said Oulhote, an assistant professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. “The main finding of this study is not just that phthalates are associated with more autistic traits, but mainly how adequate folic acid supplementation in pregnancy may offset these effects and protect from potential harmful chemicals. This is an important finding,” he added. Phthalates have long been the subject of controversy. Research has suggested they could disrupt hormones in developing children. Despite their […]
New China Coronavirus Cases Decline, 2 Passengers From Affected Cruise Ship Die
Latest Infectious Disease News THURSDAY, Feb. 20, 2020 (HealthDay News) — The number of new COVID-19 coronavirus cases in China dropped Thursday, but the decline might just be due to new methods in how case numbers are tallied. Also on Thursday, two infected passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship that had been quarantined in Japan died. The decline in Chinese cases was due in part to Chinese health officials again changing how they tally infections. Now, they are discounting patients whose lab tests come back negative and they are refining how they first assess sick patients, the Associated Press reported. Under the new system, 394 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed Thursday while 279 were discounted, the wire service said. There have now been a total of 74,576 cases and 2,118 deaths in mainland China. The two cruise ship passengers who died were an elderly Japanese couple who had been hospitalized during the quarantine, the AP reported. The ship’s quarantine ended Wednesday. Among the 400 Americans who were on board that same cruise ship, roughly 300 Americans were evacuated over the weekend and are under quarantine in the United States. At least 14 of those evacuees have tested positive […]
The Power of a Number: How Your Birthday Could Influence Your Care
Latest Heart News By Amy NortonHealthDay Reporter WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) — There may be something about a patient’s age of 80 that makes doctors alter their heart attack treatment decisions — consciously or not, new research suggests. In a study of U.S. heart attack patients, researchers found that just one month in age made a difference in whether doctors performed bypass surgery — one of the treatments for the artery blockages that cause heart attacks. Among patients who had turned 80 within the past two weeks, just over 5% received bypass surgery. In contrast, the rate was 7% among patients who were about to turn 80 in the next couple weeks. Researchers said the finding points to a “left-digit bias” — where doctors may be more concerned about surgery complications just because a patient’s age starts with an 8 rather than a 7. “These patients were really all the same age, with just a few weeks separating them,” said lead researcher Dr. Anupam Jena, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School. “But this study suggests doctors were seeing them differently.” Coronary bypass surgery involves taking a healthy blood vessel from a patient’s leg, arm or chest, and […]
Latest Heart News WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) — An expandable artificial heart valve could save children with congenital heart disease from repeated open heart surgeries as they grow up, researchers report. Current artificial heart valves are fixed in size, meaning children need to get larger ones as they grow. Children who receive their first artificial valve before age 2 will require up to five open-heart operations before they become adults. This new design means children could keep the same artificial heart valve until adulthood, and it could also benefit adults with heart valve defects, according to the Boston Children’s Hospital team. Current artificial heart valves have three leaflets, tiny flaps that provide a one-way inlet or outlet for blood to keep it flowing in the right direction. This new valve has two leaflets and as a patient grows it can be expanded through a minimally invasive balloon catheter procedure. Lab tests, computer simulations and extensive testing in animals show that the new artificial valve works across a wide range of sizes, and remains functional when expanded, according to a study published online Feb. 19 in the journal Science Translational Medicine. “We hope to bring this new device into […]
AHA News: Swings in Daily Temperature May Affect Stroke Severity
Latest Heart News WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (American Heart Association News) — The highs and lows of the daily weather could signal something more important than which outfit to wear: A study from South Korea suggests the more temperatures fluctuate during the summer, the more severe strokes become. Connections between the weather and risk of stroke have been examined for years. To expand on that, researchers at Seoul National University Hospital focused on the effect of diurnal temperature range – that’s the difference between the day’s high and low – and the severity of ischemic stroke, the most common kind. Researchers analyzed data from 9,249 patients in a hospital-based nationwide stroke registry. The seriousness of their strokes was compared with weather information gathered during the summers of 2016, 2017 and 2018. For every 9-degree Fahrenheit increase in average temperature range over three days, the severity of strokes increased by about 67%. And for every 9-degree increase in the temperature range on the day of a person’s stroke, the severity increased about 9%. The more days of temperature fluctuations, the more the severity appeared to increase. The preliminary research was presented Wednesday at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference in […]
AHA News: What Women Need to Know About Breast Cancer and Heart Disease
Latest Heart News WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (American Heart Association News) — Red dresses and pink ribbons have helped millions of Americans become aware of the separate tolls heart disease and breast cancer take on women. But not everyone is aware of how the illnesses can intersect. Heart disease – the No. 1 killer of women – can sometimes be a complication of breast cancer treatment. Older women who survive breast cancer are more likely to die of heart disease than a cancer recurrence. Dr. Laxmi Mehta, who led the writing of a wide-ranging 2018 report from the American Heart Association on the two diseases, said the overlap exists on a spectrum. Sometimes, cancer directly causes heart problems, such as when it causes fluid buildup around the heart. Much of the time, though, the problem comes from treatments targeting cancer. Radiation therapy for breast cancer can lead to blocked heart arteries, heart valve issues and abnormal heart rhythms in some patients, Mehta said. She is professor of cardiovascular medicine and director of preventive cardiology and women’s cardiovascular health at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. Chemotherapy and other cancer treatments can weaken the heart and lead to […]
Exercise Surprise: Lifting Less Gets Better Results
Latest Exercise & Fitness News WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Changing up the amount of weight they lift could help weightlifters get stronger with less effort, a new study suggests. In traditional weight training — called one rep max — the maximum weight an athlete can lift dictates the weight load for all sessions. This study compared one rep max with an approach called load velocity profile, in which athletes lift varying weights from session to session. Over six weeks, athletes who used the load velocity profile became stronger than those who used one rep max, despite lifting less overall, according to sports scientists at the University of Lincoln, in the U.K. The study, published recently in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research included 16 men, ages 18 to 29, with at least two years’ weight training experience. The authors said their findings could help improve lifters’ muscle strength and power and make it easier to manage fatigue during training. “There are a lot of factors which can contribute to an athlete’s performance on a particular day, such as how much sleep they have had, nutrition or motivational factors, but with traditional percentage-based methods we would have […]
Healthy ‘Mediterranean Diet’ Is Good for Your Microbiome
Latest Diet & Weight Management News WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) — The so-called Mediterranean diet is already considered one of the healthiest for your heart, and now scientists say it may give your gut bacteria a boost, too. The diet is typically high in fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, olive oil and fish, and low in red meat and saturated fats. The new study finds that older adults who eat a Mediterranean diet tend to have more types of gut bacteria linked with healthy aging. One nutritionist wasn’t surprised, and believes that the diet‘s reliance on vegetables could be key to the effect. “Dark green leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds all have multifold benefits in enhancing our gut microbiome,” said Sharon Zarabi, a registered dietitian who directs the bariatric program at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. She wasn’t involved in the new research, which was led by Dr. Paul O’Toole, a microbiologist at University College Cork, in Ireland. According to O’Toole’s team, prior research has suggested that a poor diet can have a negative impact on an older person’s strength and stamina, as well as their microbiome — the trillions of bacteria living in the human digestive […]
Bone Marrow Transplant Risks and Survival Rate
What is the life expectancy after a bone marrow transplant? Pictured is an illustration of a healthy bone marrow cell — the kind doctors harvest from donors to use in bone marrow transplantation. The life expectancy, survival rate and quality of life after a bone marrow transplant have improved considerably with more accurate genetic matching with donors, following up transplantation with an antibiotic regimen to control infections, and improved post-transplant care, in general. Cancer and other diseases of the blood and bone marrow, which is responsible for manufacturing blood cells, may require a bone marrow transplant from a healthy, genetically compatible donor. Ideally, the donor marrow replaces diseased cells to allow the body to maintain healthy levels of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. How long can you live after a bone marrow transplant? Understandably, transplants for patients with nonmalignant diseases have a much better success rate with 70% to 90 % survival with a matched sibling donor and 36% to 65% with unrelated donors. The survival rates after transplant for patients with acute leukemia in remission are 55% to 68% with related donors and 26% to 50% if the donor is unrelated. Transplanting the patient’s own bone […]
What Conditions Do You Need a Bone Marrow Transplant for?
What is a bone marrow transplant? Doctors use special tools to extract bone marrow for bone marrow transplantation. Bone marrow consists of the cells that populate the internal space of your bones. The marrow manufactures three types of blood cells – red blood cells that transport oxygen, platelets that help your blood clot, and white blood cells that fight off infection. Diseases of the marrow and blood can be debilitating or fatal, but for certain diseases, a treatment method is to implant some healthy bone marrow from a genetically compatible donor into a patient in the hope it will grow and replace the diseased marrow. Often, the patient’s own cancerous marrow is destroyed prior to restoring the patient’s marrow with the new healthy donor cells. Bone marrow transplantation discovery and development The fear of nuclear warfare after the World War II initiated study of radiation effects on the human body. Initial studies on animals showed radiation had some of the most damaging effects on the bone marrow, and researchers then tested bone marrow transplants on these irradiated animals. From the 1950s through 1960s, doctors performed several bone marrow transplants between genetically similar donors and leukemia patients (called “allogenic” transplants), without […]
Does Sexual Orientation Play a Role in Skin Cancer Risk?
Latest Cancer News WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Gay and bisexual men in the United States have higher skin cancer rates than heterosexual men, while bisexual women have lower rates than heterosexual women, according to a new study. Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston analyzed data culled from national surveys conducted from 2014 to 2018 and found that skin cancer rates were 8.1% among gay men, 8.4% among bisexual men, and 6.7% among heterosexual men. Rates were 4.7% among bisexual women, 5.9% among lesbian women, and 6.6% among heterosexual women. The difference in rates between lesbian women and heterosexual women was not statistically significant, according to the researchers. These findings could be important for patient education and community outreach programs to reduce skin cancer risk, the study authors said. “It’s absolutely critical that we ask about sexual orientation and gender identity in national health surveys; if we never ask the question, we’d never know that these differences exist,” said study author Dr. Arash Mostaghimi, director of dermatology inpatient service at Brigham and Women’s. “This information helps inform the nation about how to allocate health resources and how to train providers and leaders,” he said in a […]
Woman Plays Violin During Brain Surgery
Latest Cancer News THURSDAY, Feb. 20, 2020 (HealthDay News) — A U.K. woman played her violin during her brain tumor surgery. Dagmar Turner, 53, is a violinist with the Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra and a number of choral societies. Before her surgery, doctors at King’s College Hospital in London mapped her brain to pinpoint areas that are active when she plays the violin and those that control language and movement, the Associated Press reported. Midway through the surgery, Turner was wakened and asked to her play her violin to “ensure the surgeons did not damage any crucial areas of the brain that controlled Dagmar’s delicate hand movements,″ according to the hospital. “We knew how important the violin is to Dagmar, so it was vital that we preserved function in the delicate areas of her brain that allowed her to play,″ Prof. Keyoumars Ashkan, Turner’s neurosurgeon, said, the AP reported. “We managed to remove over 90% of the tumor, including all the areas suspicious of aggressive activity, while retaining full function in her left hand,” Ashkan said. Turner left the hospital three days after her surgery and hopes to make a quick return to her orchestra, the AP reported. Copyright […]
FDA Approves Voltaren Arthritis Pain, Pataday for OTC Use
Latest Arthritis News WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved three drugs for nonprescription, over-the-counter use — Voltaren Arthritis Pain (diclofenac sodium topical gel, 1 percent), Pataday Twice Daily Relief (olopatadine HCl ophthalmic solution/drops, 0.1 percent), and Pataday Once Daily Relief (olopatadine HCl ophthalmic solution/drops, 0.2 percent) — the agency announced Friday. All three products will now be marketed as nonprescription drugs and will no longer be available as prescription drugs. For the drugs to switch to nonprescription status, data had to demonstrate the drugs’ safety and efficacy for self-medication use as directed in proposed labeling, according to the FDA. The nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug Voltaren Arthritis Pain, previously Voltaren Gel 1 percent, was first approved in 2007 as a prescription drug indicated to relieve pain from osteoarthritis of the joints, particularly joints of the hands, knees, and feet. The FDA noted that it may take up to seven days for Voltaren Arthritis Pain to work, and patients should stop using it if their pain does not improve in seven days or they need to use the product for more than 21 days. Diclofenac may cause severe allergic reactions, especially for people allergic to […]
‘Couch Potato’ Lifestyle Poses Danger to Women’s Hearts
Latest Women’s Health News By Dennis ThompsonHealthDay Reporter TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Most folks know that being a couch potato is bad for their health, but new research suggests that women who spend hours in their chairs and sofas might face greater risks than believed. Sitting for long periods of time can increase risk factors for heart disease and diabetes, particularly if those bouts of sitting aren’t broken up by occasionally getting up and stretching, the study found. Each additional hour of total sitting time per day is linked to a 6% increase in insulin levels and a 7% increase in insulin resistance, the study showed. Further, each additional 15 minutes of uninterrupted sitting is associated with 7% higher insulin levels and an almost 9% increase in insulin resistance. Long periods of sitting were also associated with excess weight, a wider waist and increased triglyceride levels, said senior researcher Dorothy Sears. She’s a professor of nutrition at the Arizona State University College of Health Solutions, in Phoenix. “People need to think about trying to break up their sitting time,” Sears said. “Clinicians focus on getting people to exercise, but we also need to get people to think […]
AHA News: Domestic Abuse May Do Long-Term Damage to Women’s Health
Latest Women’s Health News TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2020 (American Heart Association News) — Women who experience domestic abuse may be more likely to develop heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes, new research suggests. The British study, published this week in the Journal of the American Heart Association, sought to fill in gaps in what is known about the link between domestic abuse and cardiovascular disease – the leading cause of death in women globally. One in 4 women in the U.S. has experienced domestic abuse severe enough that it resulted in injury, the need for medical help or symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. A 2019 Canadian study found women who experienced domestic abuse had above-average risk factors for heart disease, but comprehensive research on the topic is sparse. The new study looked at data from 18,547 women over age 18 who had experienced domestic abuse and compared them to 72,231 women of a similar age who had lifestyle risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Researchers looked to see which women developed diabetes, high blood pressure and various types of cardiovascular disease, including coronary artery disease, stroke, heart failure and peripheral vascular disease. The study found women exposed to domestic abuse […]
Is High Blood Pressure in First Pregnancy a Harbinger of Heart Trouble?
Latest Pregnancy News TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Having high blood pressure in a first pregnancy quadruples a woman’s risk of heart attack or death from heart disease, a new study finds. About 2% to 8% of pregnant women with previously normal blood pressure develop a condition called preeclampsia, which includes high blood pressure that usually begins after 20 weeks of pregnancy. In this study, Rutgers University researchers analyzed heart disease in 6,360 women in New Jersey, aged 18 to 54, who were diagnosed with preeclampsia during their first pregnancy between 1999 and 2013. These women were compared to pregnant women without preeclampsia. Women with preeclampsia were four times more likely to suffer a heart attack or heart disease-related death, and more than two times more likely to die from other causes during the 15-year study period. The findings were published online recently in the Journal of Women’s Health. “Women who were diagnosed with preeclampsia tended also to have a history of chronic high blood pressure, gestational diabetes and kidney disease, and other medical conditions,” said study author Mary Downes Gastrich. She’s an associate professor at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and a member of the Cardiovascular […]
Shotguns Often Play Tragic Role in Rural Teens’ Suicides: Study
Latest Mental Health News TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Could stricter safety rules for rifles and shotguns help prevent suicide? Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore analyzed nearly 4,000 firearm suicides and found that long guns, not handguns, are more often the method of choice for youths and people in rural areas. Their analysis of Maryland data for 2003 to 2018 revealed that about 45% of children and teens used long guns such as rifles and shotguns to kill themselves, compared to 20% of seniors. “It’s concerning to see that it’s not just handguns, but long guns that are used commonly in youth suicide,” said study author Dr. Paul Nestadt, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. “Many of the safety protections that we have in place around the country typically don’t apply to long guns, and the data suggest that our strategy needs to be modified.” Long guns were used in 52% of rural firearm suicides, compared to 17% in urban counties, the study found. Suicide by rifle rose 60% during hunting season, when rifles may be easier to come by. “In the midst of a suicidal impulse, a person will use what they have. […]
Texting Trauma: Many Teens Suffer ‘Digital Dating Abuse’
Latest Healthy Kids News By Amy NortonHealthDay Reporter WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Many U.S. teenagers may be using their smartphones to harass, humiliate or otherwise abuse their dating partners. That’s according to a recent national survey of teens who’d been in a romantic relationship in the past year. Researchers found that 28% had been victims of “digital dating abuse” — surprisingly, with boys being targets more often than girls. While teen dating abuse has long been a problem, digital technology has opened up new ways for it to happen, according to lead researcher Sameer Hinduja, co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center and a professor of criminology at Florida Atlantic University. Teens might send threats by text; make embarrassing posts on social media; publicly share private, sometimes sexual, pictures; or secretly look through a partner’s device to monitor him or her. The new findings, from a nationally representative survey, give a better sense of how common the problem is among U.S. teens, Hinduja said. “This helps clarify what’s going on with youth who are in romantic relationships,” he said. “Many teenagers,” Hinduja said, “really don’t know what they’re doing when it comes to building healthy relationships.” Digital dating […]
Small Babies Have High Risk for Heart-Lung Weakness as Adults: Study
Latest Healthy Kids News TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Being small at birth after a full-term pregnancy could leave you gasping for breath later on in life. Swedish researchers report that babies with low birth weights are more likely to have poor heart-lung (cardiorespiratory) fitness when they reach adulthood. Cardiorespiratory fitness — the ability to supply oxygen to muscles during prolonged physical activity — is key for good health and can lower the risk of disease and early death. Previous research has linked preterm delivery and related low birth weight with poorer cardiorespiratory fitness later in life. In this study, researchers at the Karolinska Institute investigated how low birth weight affects cardiorespiratory fitness in people who were born after a full-term pregnancy of 37 to 41 weeks. They followed more than 280,000 males from birth to entry in the Swedish army at 17 to 24 years of age. At that time, the men had a physical exam that included a fitness test on a stationary bicycle. Those who weighed more at birth performed significantly better on the test than those who had low birth weights. In those who were born at 40 weeks, every 450 grams (about 1 […]
U.S. Scientists Take Key Step Towards Towards Coronavirus Vaccine
Latest Infectious Disease News WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) — There’s been a crucial move forward in efforts to develop vaccines and treatments against the new COVID-19 coronavirus, U.S. researchers say. As of Wednesday, cases of infection with the virus have topped 74,000 (the vast majority in China), including more than 2,000 deaths. Therefore, a quick path to a vaccine and effective antiviral treatment is being sought by scientists worldwide. Now, researchers from the University of Texas at Austin and the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) say they’ve created the first 3D atomic scale map of a crucial part of the virus called the spike protein. It’s this piece of viral anatomy that attaches to and infects human cells. Mapping this part of the virus is an essential step in any effort to create vaccines and antiviral drugs that would effectively fight COVID-19, according to the paper published Feb. 19 in the journal Science. The research is being led by Jason McLellan, associate professor of molecular biosciences at UT Austin. Speaking in a university news release, he said his team has spent years studying other coronaviruses, including the SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV that were behind earlier, smaller outbreaks. McLellan […]
Japanese Couple on Delta Flight From Hawaii Diagnosed With Coronavirus
Latest Infectious Disease News WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Delta Airlines is notifying passengers who were on a Feb. 6 flight from Hawaii to Japan that a Japanese couple on the flight tested positive for novel coronavirus after they returned home. Delta Flight 611 departed Honolulu and landed in Nagoya after a flight of about 10 hours, CNN reported. “We are proactively reaching out to customers who were onboard that flight as well as taking the necessary steps to ensure the safety of our customers and crew,” Delta said Monday. Hawaiian officials have been tracking the couple’s activities in Hawaii and are trying to identify people who may have had close contact with the man and woman, CNN reported. They were on Maui from January 28 to February 3, and on Oahu from February 3 until their Delta flight home, according to Hawaiian health officials. Last Friday — eight days after the couple left Hawaii — Hawaiian health officials said that the man had tested positive for coronavirus in Japan and was being treated at a hospital there, CNN reported. On the weekend, the Japan Times reported that the man’s wife had also been diagnosed with coronavirus. People […]
Quarantine Ends on Cruise Ship in Japan as Coronavirus Cases Near 75,000
Latest Infectious Disease News WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) — As the number of coronavirus cases reached 75,000 and deaths topped 2,000, a two-week quarantine of a cruise ship docked in Japan ended Wednesday. About 300 Americans were recently evacuated from the Diamond Princess over the weekend and are already under quarantine in the United States. Fourteen of those evacuees have tested positive for the new COVID-19 virus. More than 100 American passengers still remain in Japan, however, and U.S. health officials announced Tuesday that they will not be allowed to return home for at least two more weeks. According to a statement from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, containment measures that were taken on the ship “may not have been sufficient to prevent transmission. [The] CDC believes the rate of new infections on board, especially among those without symptoms, represents an ongoing risk.” Passengers who stayed on the ship will not be allowed to return to the United States until they have been off the ship for 14 days, without any symptoms or a positive test for the virus, the agency added. The ruling also applies to Americans who are hospitalized in Japan. In some […]
Measles Complications Can Affect Every Organ: Study
Latest Infectious Disease News TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Hepatitis, appendicitis and viral meningitis are among the serious complications that can occur when you get the measles, doctors warn in a new report. The study — which outlines cases involving three adults who developed major complications — is also a reminder of the importance of vaccination against the illness. Measles is highly contagious, but it’s also easily prevented by getting a vaccine, experts note. However, unfounded fears about vaccination have resulted in reemergence of measles as a global health problem, the authors of the new study said. Measles was once thought to be almost eliminated in the United States, but cases have been increasing as pockets of “anti-vaxxers” proliferate. In 2019, nearly 1,300 cases were reported — the most since 1992, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Measles can also become a serious health threat, as the three cases outlined in the new European report show. The research was led by Dr. Thelma Xerri, from the Departments of Medicine and Infectious Disease at Mater Dei Hospital in Msida, Malta. While typical symptoms include fever, cough, pink eye and an extensive rash, measles suppresses the […]
Recommended Diuretic Drug Tied to Harmful Side Effects
Latest High Blood Pressure News By Steven ReinbergHealthDay Reporter TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Patients taking a common diuretic to help lower blood pressure may be better off with a similarly effective but safer one, a new study suggests. Current guidelines recommend the drug chlorthalidone (Thalitone) as the first-line diuretic. But it can have serious side effects that can be avoided with another diuretic, hydrochlorothiazide (Hydrodiuril), researchers say. “Diuretics are recognized as among the best drugs to treat hypertension, but there are no randomized studies to help decide which diuretic is best,” said lead author Dr. George Hripcsak, head of biomedical informatics at Columbia University in New York City. Hydrochlorothiazide is the world’s most-used diuretic, but chlorthalidone is gaining favor because it is longer acting and, therefore, might be more effective, Hripcsak said. Guidelines from both the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association recommend chlorthalidone for that reason. But the new study found that patients taking chlorthalidone were three times more likely than those taking hydrochlorothiazide to have dangerously low levels of potassium and other electrolyte imbalances, as well as kidney problems. Six percent of patients taking chlorthalidone had low potassium, compared with 2% of those […]
AHA News: Father’s Fatal Stroke a ‘Wake-Up Call’ for Sons
Latest Heart News TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2020 (American Heart Association News) — One Sunday in 2016, Dwight Tschetter felt lightheaded and lost consciousness. Paramedics rushed him to the hospital. At 67, he had a stroke that paralyzed his whole body. “It was a really difficult situation,” said his son, Jason Tschetter. “We were torn on what Dad would want to do. … We watched him slip away over several days. It was a wake-up call for all of us.” Eventually, this tragic time would become a gift from father to son and grandsons. Jason, who was in his early 40s, had been experiencing headaches. After his father died, he went to his family doctor, who agreed what happened to his father warranted further testing. An MRI revealed unusual vascular structures in his head, similar to what was seen in his father after his stroke. A CT scan later identified a life-threatening aortic aneurysm. Jason, who lives in the Minneapolis area, traveled in April 2018 to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where cardiologist Dr. Heidi Connolly warned that he needed immediate surgery. His aorta – the main artery that carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body […]
AHA News: Race and Gender May Tip the Scales on Traditional Stroke Risk Factors
Latest Heart News TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2020 (American Heart Association News) — Traditional stroke risk factors, such as high blood pressure, smoking and diabetes, impact people of various races and genders differently, new research shows. “The biggest thing we found was that hypertension has a bigger effect on stroke among African American men than it does on (white people) or African American women, even in young adulthood,” said lead investigator Elizabeth Aradine, a vascular neurology fellow at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. Aradine will present the preliminary findings Wednesday at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference in Los Angeles. The study of more than 2,100 adults ages 18-49 in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., region found the proportion of stroke incidence due to high blood pressure, also called hypertension, was 45.8% for African American men, compared to 26.4% for African American women. Among their white peers, it was 17.2% for men and 19.3% for women. Among smokers, white women had the highest chance of having a stroke. The incidence of stroke attributable to smoking was 32.5% for white women, compared to 23.8% for black women, 19.7% for white men and 10.1% for black men. Diabetes had a […]
Roll Up Your Sleeve and Donate Blood for Cancer Patients
Latest Cancer News TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Many people don’t realize that cancer patients are in constant need of blood supplies. Chemotherapy and radiation treatments for cancer can damage the body’s ability to produce healthy blood cells and cause potentially life-threatening conditions. Blood transfusions help provide critical clotting factors, proteins and antibodies. Now, the American Red Cross and the American Cancer Society want to remind the public to give blood for this vulnerable group of patients. “The Give Blood to Give Time partnership is a wonderful opportunity to harness the unique strengths of both organizations and provide a way for people to help give patients and their families the resources they need to fight back,” said Gail McGovern, president and chief executive officer of the American Red Cross. “I know from experience that a loved one’s diagnosis can make family and friends feel helpless,” she added in a joint news release. “They often don’t realize that individuals can make a difference by giving blood and platelets.” Nearly a quarter of the nation’s blood supply is needed for cancer patients. “The need for blood in cancer treatments is an important and untold story,” said Gary Reedy, chief executive […]
Study Probes Side Effects of Methotrexate, Used for Psoriasis, Rheumatoid Arthritis
Latest Arthritis News TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Many Americans battling autoimmune illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis or psoriasis turn to a long-used drug, methotrexate, for relief. But until now there’s been little comprehensive research on side effects tied to the drug. A new study funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health may fill that gap. It finds that patients who take methotrexate do have a slight-to-moderate increased risk of certain types of side effects. “Methotrexate is a cornerstone drug for a variety of inflammatory diseases, especially for rheumatoid arthritis,” Dr. Daniel Solomon, a rheumatologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said in a hospital news release. His team noted that the medicine has been in use for 40 years. To learn more about side effects, the researchers analyzed data gathered on nearly 4,800 people. All had participated in a study focused on cardiovascular inflammation, and they took either a “dummy” placebo or low-dose methotrexate combined with folate. Of the nearly 2,400 participants who took methotrexate, 87% had a notable side effect, compared with 81.5% of those who took a placebo, the study found. People who took methotrexate had small-to-moderate increases in risks for skin cancer, […]
Babies’ Exposure to Household Cleaning Products Tied to Later Asthma Risk
Latest Healthy Kids News TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) — A key to your baby’s asthma risk may be as close as your laundry room. Canadian research shows that an infant’s exposure to household cleaning products in the first few months of life is tied to heightened odds for asthma by age 3. Babies may be especially vulnerable because they “typically spend 80% to 90% of their time indoors, and are especially vulnerable to chemical exposures through the lungs and skin due to their higher respiration rates and regular contact with household surfaces,” according to study lead researcher Tim Takaro. He’s a physician-scientist in the faculty of health sciences at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia. In their research, Takaro’s group examined questionnaires completed by parents of more than 2,000 children who were exposed to household cleaning products from birth up to 4 months of age. The children were assessed at 3 years of age for asthma, recurrent wheeze and “allergic sensitization.” The study couldn’t prove cause and effect, but the researchers reported that babies with the highest levels of exposure to cleaning products had a 37% rise in their risk of being diagnosed with asthma by 3 […]
Latest Healthy Kids News By Amy NortonHealthDay Reporter TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Little ones who stay up late may have a higher risk of becoming overweight by the time they are school-age, a new study suggests. Researchers found that young children who routinely got to sleep after 9 p.m. tended to gain more body fat between the ages of 2 and 6. Compared with kids who had earlier bedtimes, they had bigger increases in both waist size and body mass index (BMI) — an estimate of body fat based on height and weight. The findings do not prove that later bedtimes cause excess weight gain, said Dr. Nicole Glaser, who wrote a commentary accompanying the study, which was published online Feb. 18 in Pediatrics. But the report adds to evidence linking sleep habits to kids’ weight, according to Glaser, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of California, Davis. Specifically, studies have found higher rates of obesity among kids who either get too little sleep or have trouble falling or staying asleep. “At this point, I think it’s clear that there is a relationship between [sleep quality and obesity risk],” Glaser said. “The big question is whether the […]
14 Americans From Cruise Ship Hit By Coronavirus Test Positive for Infection
Latest Infectious Disease News MONDAY, Feb. 17, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Fourteen of the more than 300 U.S. passengers evacuated from a cruise ship hit by the coronavirus outbreak have tested positive for infection during their flights home, U.S. health officials said Monday. The news comes from a joint statement from the Departments of State and Health and Human Services, CNN reported. The 14 passengers aboard the Diamond Princess, docked in Yokohama, Japan, tested positive for the new COVID-19 virus during the disembarkation process, officials said. They were part of an evacuation process involving two flights back to military bases in the United States. “After consultation with HHS officials, including experts from the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, the State Department made the decision to allow the 14 individuals, who were in isolation, separated from other passengers, and continued to be asymptomatic, to remain on the aircraft to complete the evacuation process,” the agencies said in the news release. One of the flights landed at Travis Air Force Base near Fairfield, California, around 11:28 p.m. local time Sunday, while the other arrived at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in San Antonio, Texas at 3:56 a.m. local […]
Could 9 in 10 Cases of Dengue Be Prevented?
Latest Infectious Disease News THURSDAY, Feb. 13, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Scientists say that 90% of dengue cases could be slashed by artificially infecting mosquitoes. Dengue viruses are spread to people by infected mosquitoes. But infecting the insects with Wolbachia bacteria blocks the dengue virus from replicating in mosquitoes and being transmitted between people, the international researchers said in a new study. Wolbachia is found naturally in about 60% of insect species, including some mosquitoes, butterflies and moths. “Dengue is a leading cause of illness and death among children across the globe,” said study lead author Lorenzo Cattarino, of MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis at Imperial College London. The team of scientists created the first worldwide map of dengue transmission intensity — a measure of how easily dengue is transmitted to people. Using this map, they predicted the effectiveness of two methods of combating dengue, vaccination and the release of mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia. In trials, scientists are infecting the mosquito species (Aedes aegypti) that carry dengue with Wolbachia and releasing them into areas where dengue is prevalent. The trials suggest the bacteria doesn’t pose a threat to animals or people. Using available data and their new transmission […]
Coronavirus Spreads Most Easily When Patients Are Sickest: CDC
Latest Infectious Disease News FRIDAY, Feb. 14, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Coronavirus is most infectious when patients are the peak of their illness, U.S. health officials said Friday. “Based on what we know now, we believe this virus spreads mainly from person to person among close contacts, which is defined as about six feet, through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said during a media briefing on Friday. “People are thought to be the most contagious when they are most symptomatic, that is when they are the sickest,” she added. “Some spread may happen by touching contaminated surfaces and then touching the eyes, nose and mouth,” she added. “But remember, we believe this virus does not last long on surfaces. Some spread may happen before people show symptoms. There have been a few reports of this with the new coronavirus, and it is compatible with what we know about other respiratory viruses, including seasonal flu. But right now, we don’t believe these last two forms of transmission are the main driver of spread.” Messonnier also noted that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control […]
Antiviral Drug, Plasma Transfusions Show Promise in Treating Coronavirus
Latest Infectious Disease News FRIDAY, Feb. 14, 2020 (HealthDay News) — The race is on to find effective treatments against the new COVID-19 coronavirus spreading through China, and two new therapies show real promise, researchers say. One is an experimental antiviral medicine that already being used by Chinese doctors on a “compassionate” basis in coronavirus patients and has shown effectiveness in monkey trials. The other involves transfusing the plasma of people who’ve survived COVID-19 into patients still battling the illness, in hopes of boosting the recipient’s immune defenses. The antiviral is a drug called remdesivir. It’s so new that it’s not yet approved for use by any drug regulator in the world. However, earlier this week the drug’s maker Gilead announced that remdesivir is being given to Chinese patients infected with the new coronavirus because there are no approved treatments. And in a study published Thursday in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, researchers found that remdesivir prevented disease in monkeys infected with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Good results in monkeys and people An outbreak of MERS first arose in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and caused worldwide concern before it was brought under control. Importantly, the […]
Is Sunny Outlook the Best Rx for Stroke Recovery?
Latest Heart News THURSDAY, Feb. 13, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Optimism might be powerful medicine when recovering from a stroke, a new study suggests. Stroke survivors who had positive outlooks showed lower levels of inflammation, reduced stroke severity and fewer physical impairments after three months compared to more pessimistic stroke survivors, the researchers found. “Our results suggest that optimistic people have a better disease outcome, thus, boosting morale may be an ideal way to improve mental health and recovery after a stroke,” study first author Yun-Ju Lai said in an American Heart Association (AHA) news release. The research was funded by the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the AHA. Lai is a postdoctoral fellow in the neurology department at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. The study involved a group of 49 stroke survivors. Researchers analyzed the connections between optimism, inflammation, stroke severity and physical disability. They found that as optimism increased, levels of inflammatory markers such as interlukin-6 and C-reactive protein decreased. Getting a better understanding of the relationship between these elements could help develop new strategies for stroke recovery, Lai and her colleagues said. Experiencing inflammation after a stroke can damage […]
Bedbugs (Bed Bugs) vs. Lice
What are bedbugs and lice? What are their main differences? Symptoms of bedbug bites include red, itchy bite marks on the face, neck, shoulders, arms, hands, and back. What are bedbugs? The common bed bug (Cimex lectularius) is considered a public health pest, but bedbugs do not transmit or spread disease. bedbugs are small, brown, oval-shaped insects that feed on blood, and their bites cause itching and irritation in humans. Bedbugs do not spread disease. Bedbugs often come into a home undetected through: Clothing Luggage Used beds and couches Other household items Usually bedbugs live in mattresses, box springs, bed frames, and headboards and bite people during the night. Bedbugs are a problem worldwide, are resurging so they may become a serious problem. What are lice? Lice are parasitic insects that feed on human blood can be found on people’s bodies. Lice found on different areas of the body differ from each other. There are three types of lice that live on humans: Pediculus humanus capitis (head louse) Pediculus humanus corporis (body louse, clothes louse) Pthirus pubis (“crab” louse, pubic louse) Body lice is the only type of lice known to spread disease. “Sea lice” is not the same as […]
Traumatic Brain Injuries Raise Risk of Psychiatric Ills in Soldiers
Latest Neurology News FRIDAY, Feb. 14, 2020 (HealthDay News) — U.S. soldiers who suffer a moderate or severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) are more likely to suffer other mental health woes than those with other serious injuries, a new study finds. It also showed that the rate of mental health disorders among seriously injured soldiers is much higher than previously reported. “A central takeaway is that severe TBI is associated with a greater risk of mental health conditions — not just PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder],” said lead investigator David Chin, an assistant professor of health policy and management at University of Massachusetts Amherst. “Our findings suggest that patients who are critically injured in combat and sustain severe TBIs have particularly high rates of mental health disorders,” Chin said in a university news release. He and his colleagues analyzed the records of nearly 5,000 U.S. military members — mostly from the Army or Marines — who were severely injured during combat in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2002 and 2011. Nearly a third suffered moderate or severe TBIs. Overall, 71% of the severely injured soldiers in the study were later diagnosed with at least one of five mental health conditions: post-traumatic stress […]
Use of Club Drug ‘Special K’ Could Be Underreported
Latest Mental Health News THURSDAY, Feb. 13, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Ketamine use among electronic dance music party-goers is much higher than previously thought. And unintentional use appears to play a role, a new study finds. Ketamine is known as Special K on the party scene. The operating room anesthetic was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2019 as a treatment for depression. But it has long been used as a club drug. “Intentional underreporting of drug use is common, but the underreporting we found here is higher than expected, considering that many party attendees reported use of other synthetic drugs,” said lead study author Joseph Palamar. He’s an associate professor of population health at New York University in New York City. “Since it is unlikely that someone would disclose the use of drugs such as ecstasy and intentionally not report using ketamine, we believe many cases of positive detection may be due to unknown exposure through the use of adulterated drugs,” Palamar said in a university news release. For the study, researchers surveyed hundreds of adults entering electronic dance music parties in New York City about their past-year drug use. More than 200 provided hair samples […]
‘Tough Guys’ May Be at Especially High Risk for Suicide
Latest Mental Health News By Amy NortonHealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, Feb. 13, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Young men who believe that “real men don’t cry” may be more prone to suicide, a new study suggests. It has long been known that men are more likely than women to end their own lives: In the United States, the suicide death rate among men is about 3.5 times that of women, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The statistics raise the question of whether traditional norms about masculinity could play some role, said lead researcher Daniel Coleman. On the face of it, he explained, it makes sense that those expectations of “manly” men — which include denying emotions, not reaching out for help, and aggressiveness — could contribute to suicide risk. But it’s also a challenging subject to study, said Coleman, an associate professor in the Graduate School of Social Services at Fordham University in New York City. To start to dig into it, his team used data from a health study that began tracking over 20,700 U.S. teenagers back in 1995. By 2014, 22 of them had died by suicide — all but one of whom were men. […]
Latest Healthy Kids News MONDAY, Feb. 17, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Grandparents can be a bad influence on kids’ weight, researchers say. That’s the upshot of an analysis of 23 studies conducted in the United States and eight other countries by a team from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. The study found that kids who were cared for by grandparents had nearly 30% higher odds for being overweight or obese. While Grandma and Grandpa may mean well, they can affect their grandchildren’s weight in various ways, including eating habits, physical activity and perceptions of what represents a healthy lifestyle, according to the researchers. “Through offering wisdom, teaching traditions, providing guidance and making memories, grandparents are often able to leave behind a legacy that their grandchildren will cherish and benefit lifelong,” said lead author Ruopeng An, an assistant professor. “However, some negative influences from grandparental care may also be present and cannot be overlooked,” he added in a university news release. One of those negative influences affects a child’s diet and exercise habits. “The notion of ‘the bigger the healthier’ is still relevant,” An said. Some grandparents may urge their grandkids to eat bigger and more frequent […]
Latest Healthy Kids News By Alan MozesHealthDay Reporter MONDAY, Feb. 17, 2020 (HealthDay News) — More than a quarter of all opioid overdoses in the United States involve teenagers, and a full fifth of those cases were likely suicide attempts, new research shows. The findings follow an in-depth analysis of nearly 754,000 American opioid poisoning cases that occurred between 2005 and 2018. All had been reported to the U.S. National Poison Data System. And almost 208,000 of those cases involved children 18 years old or younger. During the 13-year study period, the pediatric overdose landscape has taken a turn for the worse, said study author Dr. Megan Land, a pediatric critical care fellow at Emory University’s School of Medicine in Atlanta. Most significantly, said Land, “the proportion of children with suspected suicide due to an opioid poisoning increased dramatically over our study period,” rising from just under 14% in 2005 to more than 21% by 2018. That increase, she said, “echoes findings in recent studies demonstrating that the incidence and rate of pediatric suicide attempts by [opioid] poisonings has been rising since 2011.” The study also found that during the same period, the percentage of young patients admitted to a […]
Latest Healthy Kids News SATURDAY, Feb. 15, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Sledding, skiing and ice skating are big fun in the winter, but can lead to big injuries, too. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) reminds parents to take steps to help their kids avoid injury and make sure they’re dressed appropriately for the cold weather. “This is the time of year when we see people return from winter break vacations with knee injuries from skiing, and hand or wrist injuries from snowboarding. We also see concussions from both these sports,” said Dr. Rebecca Carl of the AAP Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness. “Helmets are important for skiing and snowboarding,” Carl said in an academy news release. “Gloves with wrist guards are important for snowboarding.” The AAP offers this advice for outdoor winter play: Dress children in thin layers with a wicking layer beneath to keep kids’ skin dry. Make sure they wear a hat, gloves and boots. Set time limits for outdoor play to avoid hypothermia and frostbite. Remind children to come inside every so often to warm up. Only let your child skate on approved surfaces. Make sure they skate in the same direction as the crowd. […]
Are Coronavirus Tests Accurate?
Latest Infectious Disease News New cases of the novel coronavirus continue to increase worldwide, with 73,332 confirmed global cases of COVID-19 as of today, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). That includes 72,528 cases in China and 804 cases in 25 countries outside of China. Some have questioned the accuracy of the statistics released by the Chinese government regarding the reported number of cases and deaths due to the outbreak. Now there are concerns about the accuracy of the laboratory tests used to confirm diagnoses. Reports suggest some people test negative up to six times even though they are infected with the virus, according to the BBC and Chinese media. Such was the case with Dr. Li Wenliang, the ophthalmologist who first identified the outbreak and was reprimanded by Chinese authorities when he tried to warn others. Dr. Wenliang developed a cough and fever after unknowingly treating an infected patient. He was hospitalized, testing negative for coronavirus several times before eventually receiving a positive result. On Jan. 30 the doctor posted: “Today nucleic acid testing came back with a positive result, the dust has settled, finally diagnosed,” according to the BBC. Dr. Wenliang passed away on February 7 in […]
Women Patients Still Missing in Heart Research
Latest Heart News TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Women remain underrepresented in heart disease research, even though it’s the leading cause of death among women worldwide, researchers say. Women accounted for less than 40% of all people enrolled in cardiovascular clinical trials from 2010 through 2017, according to a study published Feb. 17 in the journal Circulation. “One woman dies from cardiovascular disease every 80 seconds. It’s the leading killer of all women around the globe, claiming the lives of one in every three women, yet disparities continue to persist when it comes to symptom recognition, treatment times and methodologies, and even lifesaving support measures,” said journal editor-in-chief Dr. Joseph Hill, chief of cardiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. For the study, Lijing Yan of the Global Heath Research Center at Duke Kunshan University, in China, and colleagues analyzed 740 completed cardiovascular clinical trials. Those trials were reported between 2010 and the beginning of 2018 on ClinicalTrials.gov, a U.S. government site that’s one of the largest trial registries in the world. The clinical trials included a total of nearly 863,000 adults, aged 25 to 89, with an average age of 61. Overall, only […]
AHA News: Diabetes, Alzheimer’s Together Might Increase Stroke Severity
Latest Heart News MONDAY, Feb. 17, 2020 (American Heart Association News) — Bleeding strokes are the deadliest type of stroke and the hardest to treat. What might make matters worse is having both diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease versus either condition alone, new research shows. The study looked at 2,071 adults in the Kentucky Appalachian Stroke Registry who had a hemorrhagic stroke. The researchers reviewed each patient’s health records to look for a previous diagnosis of diabetes or Alzheimer’s disease. They found 75% of those with both conditions had died or needed hospice or long-term care after their stroke compared to 39% with neither condition, 42% with diabetes alone, and 62% with Alzheimer’s disease alone. This stroke registry gave us “the opportunity to think about how having more than one (health condition), like diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease, could influence outcomes compared to having just one,” said the study’s lead researcher Amanda L. Trout, a scientist at the Center for Advanced Translational Stroke Science at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. Trout will present the preliminary study Wednesday at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference in Los Angeles. Diabetes occurs when a person’s blood sugar is too high. The condition increases […]
Latest Heart News By Serena GordonHealthDay Reporter FRIDAY, Feb. 14, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Could hot chocolate deliver relief to those suffering from the painful condition known as peripheral artery disease (PAD)? A small, new study says it’s entirely possible. Though you may be picturing a steaming cup of hot milk chocolate with tiny marshmallows bobbing on the top, the concoction the study volunteers drank was made from dark chocolate, and had a less sweet taste. “A food-derived, nutritional therapy that is accessible, inexpensive and safe may meaningfully improve walking ability in people with peripheral artery disease,” said study author Dr. Mary McDermott. She’s a professor in the departments of medicine and preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, in Chicago. “Peripheral artery disease is common and underdiagnosed,” she said, adding that it’s a major cause of disability in people over 55. PAD causes narrowing in the blood vessels that supply blood to the legs from the heart. Common symptoms include pain, particularly when walking, cramping and weakness in the leg muscles. McDermott noted that “these findings are particularly important because currently few therapies have been identified to help patients with PAD.” However, the study was a preliminary […]
Price Hikes Have Patients Turning to Craigslist for Insulin, Asthma Inhalers
Latest Diabetes News By Serena GordonHealthDay Reporter TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Maybe you’ve gone to Craigslist to find a used car or a secondhand couch, but imagine having to turn to the internet to pay for lifesaving drugs. It’s already happening: A new study found that hundreds of ads were placed on Craigslist for insulin and asthma inhalers during a 12-day period in June 2019. “This study shines a light on how deeply some patients are struggling to afford lifesaving medications. Patients should not have to go to Craigslist to try to find affordable insulin and inhalers,” said study senior author Dr. Jennifer Goldstein, a research scientist with The Value Institute at ChristianaCare, in Newark, Del. People with type 1 diabetes can’t survive without a steady supply of insulin, which has to be injected. Those with type 2 diabetes who need insulin face a higher risk of serious diabetes complications if they can’t get the insulin they need. But it’s gotten increasingly harder to afford. The American Diabetes Association says the average cost of insulin in the United States nearly tripled between 2002 and 2013. The cost of asthma medications has also risen significantly in a similar […]
Melanoma Cases Rising in U.S.
Latest Cancer News TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Cases of melanoma in the United States increased 2% a year between 2005 and 2015, and will likely rise from 96,000 cases in 2019 to 151,000 cases in 2030 if the trend continues, a new study says. The researchers noted that most cases of melanoma — the deadliest type of skin cancer — in the United States are linked with ultraviolet radiation exposure from “excessive sun exposure and indoor tanning,” CNN reported. UV exposure accounted for 91% of all melanoma cases diagnosed in the United States from 2011 to 2015, and 94% of melanoma cases occurred in non-Hispanic whites, according to the study. “High indoor tanning prevalence among teen girls in the late 1990s is likely a contributing factor,” to the rising number of melanoma cases, said study author Dr. Farhad Islami, a cancer epidemiologist with the American Cancer Society, CNN reported. States with the highest UV-attributable incidence rates among all residents were: Utah, 36.3 cases per 100,000; Vermont, 31.1 per 100,000; Delaware, 28.2 per 100,000; Minnesota, 27.6 per 100,000; New Hampshire, 27.2 per 100,000; Oregon, 25.5 per 100,000; Idaho, 25.4 per 100,000; Georgia, 24.2 per 100,000; Washington, 23.9 per […]
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1144
|
__label__cc
| 0.749087
| 0.250913
|
Perspective > Medscape Cardiology > Black on Cardiology > American College of Cardiology (ACC) 2013 Scientific Sessions
The Mediterranean Diet Study: Just Say ‘Nuts!’ to the Low-Fat Diet?
Henry R. Black, MD
Hi. I'm Dr. Henry Black, Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine at the New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City and former President of the American Society of Hypertension.
A very interesting study about the Mediterranean diet was recently published.[1] The news media loved it and patients loved it. It is a very important study for many reasons. It was large, including about 7400 individuals from the Mediterranean area, primarily from Spain. The investigators compared 2 so-called Mediterranean diets (one supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil and one supplemented with nuts) with a low-fat diet, which we tend to consider appropriate for heart disease and stroke prevention.
The interesting thing about this study is that the participants were very high-risk people. More than 80% of patients were hypertensive, about 40% had diabetes, and they were on multiple medications. Usually we start with the diet as a platform and add medicines rather than start with the medicines and change the diet. The problem with all nutritional studies thus far, with 1 or 2 exceptions, is that they were very small. They used surrogate endpoints, they didn't have outcomes, and people got very confused. One day a certain diet was recommended and the next day another diet was recommended. What do we do?
The important thing about this Mediterranean diet was that there was a 30% reduction in the primary endpoint, which was a combination of stroke, myocardial infarction, and death. The only one that was individually significant was stroke. Considering that weight loss was not recommended, exercise was not necessarily recommended. Participants who were on the Mediterranean diet got extra sessions at the beginning, which was not seen for the control diet (the low-fat diet) initially, but it was added later.
The study was stopped early because the Mediterranean diet was successful. They also looked at whether adding walnuts was better than adding extra-virgin olive oil. Both resulted in pretty much the same reduction in the primary endpoint.
One of the things that we have heard is that there are no outcomes studies using a nutritional intervention. That is no longer the case. This became so important that when I went to my local Trader Joe's, I couldn't get walnuts. A lot of people have heard about it and I think this is a good way to eat.
Medscape Cardiology © 2013 WebMD, LLC
Cite this: The Mediterranean Diet Study: Just Say ‘Nuts!’ to the Low-Fat Diet? - Medscape - Mar 14, 2013.
Henry Black, MD
Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine, New York University School of Medicine; Director, Hypertension Research, Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York
Disclosure: Henry R. Black, MD, has disclosed the following relevant financial relationships:
Served as a director, officer, partner, employee, advisor, consultant, or trustee for: Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, L.L.C.; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Pfizer Inc.; PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Biosante Pharmaceuticals; SERVIER; XOMA US LLC; Affymax, Inc.; Mitsubishi
Received research grant from: Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality
Topol: 'Evidence Is Compelling' on Mediterranean Diet
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1145
|
__label__cc
| 0.722655
| 0.277345
|
For this position statement, an experienced reference librarian searched five multidisciplinary databases using appropriate keywords. The types of nonhormonal therapies included in the search were identified from the previous position statement as well as review articles. (For examples, see reviews by Nedrow and colleagues[9] and Nelson and colleagues.[10]) The databases searched were Academic Search Premier, Embase, Family and Society Studies Worldwide, PsychInfo, and PubMed. These databases were identified for searching on the basis of their medical, psychological, and sociological content, which were all pertinent to the subject. The searches were split into three sections to differentiate the results for easier review: pharmaceuticals,supplements, and nonprescription and nonsupplemental therapies.
After searching each treatment type, 2,919 results were returned from all five databases. After removing articles not in English, duplicate articles across databases, and consumer publications, 1,428 citations remained. Articles including men, hormonal therapy, or narrative reviews were eliminated. Further review by the position statement panel distilled the results for review to 340 original research articles and 105 systematic reviews. Of these, 83% of the research articles and 88% of the systematic reviews were published between 2005 and 2015, or after the previous NAMS position statement was published, illustrating the growth in the literature that needed to be incorporated into this new position statement.
Individual panel members reviewed the evidence on the different therapies for which they had special expertise and made treatment recommendations. Members evaluated the evidence for various nonhormonal therapies with the knowledge that nonhormonal VMS trials have a placebo improvement rate of 20% to 60%, with more anxious women showing higher response to placebo.[11]
Levels of evidence were assigned on the basis of the following categories: Level I—high-quality randomized trials; systematic reviews of level I studies. Level II— lesser-quality randomized, controlled trials (RCTs), systematic reviews of level II studies, or level I studies with inconsistent results. We included trials using poorly validated measures (eg, Kupperman Index) in this category. Level III— uncontrolled trials, case-control studies, systematic reviews of level III studies. Level IV—case series, case-control studies. Level V—expert opinion. Citations refer primarily to RCTs and higher-quality reviews (eg, meta-analyses, Cochrane reviews), with no attempts made to cite all available reviews.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1146
|
__label__wiki
| 0.644405
| 0.644405
|
Memphis Union Mission
Men's Programs
Iron-on-Iron Recovery
Re-Entry Program
Women's Program
Scott's Blog
Legacy of Hope
Donate Now Menu
"From dark to daylight!"
Phillip's Story
It started with a toothache. The doctor prescribed pain medication, “and one pill led to two… and two led to 30,” Phillip says. It wasn’t long before Phillip was relying on them to simply function. That came with a financial obligation and he sometimes resorted to stealing from family and friends. Then he began allowing drugs to be manufactured in his home… and he was arrested.
Facing a 10-year prison sentence, Phillip was offered an alternative: join the Mission’s Iron-on-Iron recovery program. He was pleased to learn of our Christ-centered foundation.
Phillip had grown up in church but had strayed away from God as he battled his 15-year addiction. He was eager to rekindle his relationship with the Lord. “I knew in my heart that’s where I wanted to keep my focus,” he says.
His assignment in the kitchen, where he prepared daily meals for the homeless and hungry people who come through our doors, gave him an opportunity to share God’s love with others. “It made my heart feel good to know I was doing something good for them,” he says.
During his time in our long-term recovery program, Phillip earned his GED. When he graduated from the program, he continued his education at a local trade school and graduated this summer. He’s since moved into a place of his own, but he continues to read the Bible and seek the support of Christian fellowship.
“From dark to daylight!” is the phrase Phillip uses to describe the change in his life since coming to the Mission. “I’m able to sit back, relax and enjoy a normal life, free of addiction.” Today, with a heart of thanksgiving, he shares these words with friends like you who have made his transformation possible: “I’m so grateful to the Mission for taking me in at my worst moment. There is light at the end of the tunnel and you just have to take that first step.”
Help other people like Phillip…
Phillip’s story of hope and healing is inspiring. Our long-term recovery programs exist to help other men, women and children in the Mid-South find healing.
Will you help provide this help to others?
A Life Transformed
A Weary Heart Rejoices
Will you help today?
Donate Now Volunteer
Get Directions Email Us
(901) 526-8403Main Office
(901) 526-8434Shelter
(901) 357-9641Calvary Colony
© 2015 — 2021 Memphis Union Mission is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt charitable organization (TIN 62-0541811)
Sitemap | Site by JG
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1148
|
__label__wiki
| 0.947786
| 0.947786
|
The 20 Best Horror Movies of All Time
BY Rebecca Pahle
(Updated: October 8, 2020)
Daniel Kaluuya stars in Get Out (2017).
From haunted house capers to gory slasher films, horror movies been giving people the willies since the dawn of moviemaking. If you're looking for a guaranteed horror classic to watch this Halloween, you can't go wrong with any of the flicks below—which are our personal picks for the best horror films of all time (in chronological order). If you’re bemoaning the lack of, say, Alien or The Fly, check out our list of the Best Sci-Fi Movies of All Time first (there are just too many excellent films to justify any duplicate entries.)
1. Freaks (1932)
Director Tod Browning’s best-known work of horror is doubtless Dracula—but his best is Freaks, about a group of sideshow performers who vow vengeance on the beautiful trapeze artist who’s married to one of their own for his money. The film was controversial upon its release, due in large part to Browning’s casting of actual “freaks”(credited in the film as “Siamese Twin,” “Half Woman-Half Man,” “Human Skeleton,” “The Living Torso,” “Human Skeleton” etc). MGM demanded extensive cuts to the film, which were insufficient to keep it from being banned in the U.K. until 1963. According to Freaks’s production manager, a woman “tried to sue the studio, claiming the film had induced a miscarriage.”
2. The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Universal, under the guidance of producer Carl Laemmle Jr., had a whole raft of brilliant horror films in the 1930s: Dracula, Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, The Mummy, The Old Dark House. The list goes on. But raised high up above its companions—as high as its eponymous character’s hair—is James Whale’s The Bride of Frankenstein. Whale was initially reluctant to direct a sequel to his blockbuster success but was convinced by the promise of increased creative freedom. It was a good thing, too; if Whale hadn’t been able to tell his superiors at Universal what was what, we may have ended up with something like an early treatment for the film, where Dr. Frankenstein and his wife Elizabeth literally run off and join the circus. Frankenstein’s Monster finds them, demands a bride, and is later eaten by circus lions.
3. Cat People (1942)
Producer Val Lewton, who worked at RKO throughout the 1940s, is famed for a style of horror film that prizes atmosphere over spectacle. You rarely see the monsters in films like The Leopard Man or Isle of the Dead, because Lewton just plain didn’t have the budget for it. The first—and best—of the films Lewton produced is director Jacques Tourneur’s Cat People, in which a woman (Simone Simon) is subject to a family curse where strong feelings of anger or sexual arousal turn her into, well, a Cat Person. A classy and subtle (as per Lewton’s style) look at the way society villainizes female sexuality, the film was remade in 1982 by Paul Schrader, who abandoned the previous film’s nuance for BDSM, incest, and a scenery-chewing Malcolm McDowell.
4. Diabolique (1955)
Psycho is to showers as Henri-Georges Clouzot’s masterpiece Diabolique is to bathtubs. The film, about the goings-on in a rundown French boarding school, is widely cited as having influenced Hitchcock’s Psycho. Certainly, Psycho’s “no late admittance” policy—unusual at the time—had been applied to Diabolique years before. In addition, Hitchcock tried to get his hands on the rights to Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac’s Celle Qui n’etait Plus (She Who Was No More), which would become Diabolique, but Clouzot beat them to the punch and proceeded to “[block] those rights for a year, thus effectively preventing Alfred Hitchcock from getting his hands on the story.” Hitchcock instead acquired the rights to later novel by the pair, D’entre les morts (From the Dead), which would become Vertigo.
5. Psycho (1960)
With Psycho, Hitchcock broke new ground in a lot of ways. For one, he changed the way film was exhibited. Prior to Psycho, it was a generally accepted practice that moviegoers could enter a theater at any point during a screening. Hitch, determined that people wouldn’t wander in halfway into the movie and wonder where mega-star Janet Leigh (killed off in the famous shower sequence in the film’s first third) was, had theaters put up notices to the effect that late admittance was not allowed. And speaking of: In Alexandre O. Philippe’s doc 78/52, which is all about Psycho’s shower scene, horror director Richard Stanley posits that the film “might have also started the rather negative trend of victims undressing before they’re butchered, which is something that’s haunted slasher cinema throughout the '70s.”
6. Black Sunday (1960)
Icon of the Italian giallo movement Mario Bava made his official feature debut (he’d done uncredited work saving other people’s pictures before) with Black Sunday, loosely based on Nikolai Gogol’s short story Viy. Barbara Steele starred in two roles: Asa, a witch killed in the 17th century, and her descendent Katia, whose life Aja plans to take for herself from beyond the grave. Following her work on Black Sunday, Steele made other horror films and became an icon of the genre … which got her some pretty wicked admirers.
Per a Diabolique Magazine profile, “When she was at the height of her fame in Italy an invitation arrived by messenger from the newly appointed dictator of Libya, Muammar Gaddafi to join him for an informal brunch. Barbara recalled that the entire affair was lavish but a bit off-putting since each chair had an armed guard stationed by it fully equipped with submachine guns.” Years later, she received a request for a signed photograph (which she consented to) from a young man named Jeffrey Dahmer.
7. Eyes Without a Face (1960)
Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac, who penned the books upon which Diabolique and Vertigo are based, were hired by director Georges Franju to adapt a novel by Jean Redon for the big screen. The film was developed by producer Jules Borkon specifically as a way to get into the horror genre that French audiences liked so much when it was American films—specifically, the Gothic horror films of the late ‘50s—being imported. A practical man, Borkon advised Franju to avoid excessive blood and animal torture, which the English and French censors, respectively, did not like. Ditto mad scientists, because, wrote David Kalat in his Criterion Collection essay on the film, “the Germans are touchy on about the whole Nazi doctor thing. This Borkon said while handing Franju a project about a mad doctor who tortures animals while cutting off women’s faces.”
Boileau and Narcejac got around this potentially very thorny (and bloody) problem by focusing the story on the mad doctor’s daughter, Christiane—though a moment near the end of the film was still shocking enough that it reportedly caused seven viewers at the Edinburgh Film Festival to faint and many others to leave the theater early. (Franju’s response: “Now I know why Scotsmen wear skirts.”)
In the United States, Eyes Without a Face was given the campy title The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus and paired in a double bill with The Manster (“Half Man – Half Monster – All Terror!”), which might explain why it took several years for American audiences to discover it for the haunting arthouse horror masterpiece it is.
8. The Haunting (1963)
The gold standard in haunted house movies, Robert Wise’s The Haunting is based on Shirley Jackson’s 1959 novel The Haunting of Hill House, in which a paranormal investigator enlists a team of strangers to document their experiences living in a purportedly haunted mansion. (Not to be confused with the Vincent Price-starring House on Haunted Hill.) The favorite horror film of no less than Martin Scorsese, The Haunting adopts the show-don’t-tell ethos of Wise’s mentor, Val Lewton, who was famous for his highly atmospheric, low-budget horror movies where you frequently don’t see the monster in question. To that end, the supernatural forces in The Haunting are rarely visualized, with the emphasis more on the deteriorating mental state of the fragile, frazzled Eleanor (Julie Harris). Harris suffered from depression on-set and isolated herself from her co-stars, the result of not feeling that they took the film as seriously as she did. Wise followed up The Haunting with a decidedly more peppy film: 1965’s The Sound of Music.
9. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
One of the reasons that George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead became such a touchstone of the horror genre is, well, it’s a damn good movie. But a more minor reason has to do with a copyright fluke that put the film in the public domain. (The theatrical distributor changed the title prior to the film’s release, but when they updated the title card, they forgot to add the required copyright notice.) No copyright means no royalty fees, which in turn meant that Night of the Living Dead got more play on TV and a larger home video release than it would have had otherwise. It also meant that other filmmakers could create their own twists on Romero’s zombie classic without having to pay the man for the privilege, helping to give rise to the robust zombie sub-genre that’s been eating brains ever since.
10. Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Though directed by one film legend, Roman Polanski, Rosemary’s Baby was at one point going to be helmed by a director of a different sort: William Castle. An icon of B-movie, gimmick-heavy horror—his most famous film is House on Haunted Hill, in which Vincent Price kills someone using an elaborate skeleton puppet, and for another of his movies, The Tingler, buzzers were installed in theater seats to gently zap moviegoers—Castle bought the rights to Ira Levin’s unpublished novel with an eye toward rehabilitating his image. (“We used to sit around our dining room table at night and instead of saying grace, my father would practice his Academy Award acceptance speech,” his daughter, Terry Castle, remembered.) Alas, it was not to be: Paramount, which co-financed Rosemary’s Baby with Castle, insisted that the film be directed by the more respectable Polanski, who was fresh off the success of his Euro horror hit Repulsion.
Though he initially found Polanski “cocky and vain,” Castle was won over by the younger director’s vision for the film, which basically boiled down to “Do it exactly like the book. Barely change anything.” Paramount won the fight, and Polanski signed on as Rosemary’s Baby’s director, with Castle producing. Some other Hollywood icons were involved behind the scenes, as well; Tony Curtis has an uncredited cameo as the voice of Donald Baumgart, and a cameo with Joan Crawford and Van Johnson playing themselves was filmed but later cut. (Johnson calling Polanski “Pinocchio” probably didn’t help.)
11. The Exorcist (1973)
The Silence of the Lambs’s route to Oscar success was paved by William Friedkin’s The Exorcist, which was the first horror film to be nominated for Best Picture. It received nine other nominations, too, including one for teenaged Linda Blair, playing the possessed Regan MacNeil. The nomination was met with controversy at the time, given the fact that Regan’s “possessed” voice was actually another actress: Mercedes McCambridge, who had to fight to receive on-screen credit. The Exorcist eventually won two Oscars: Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound.
12. Carrie (1976)
Between film and TV, there have been over 100 adaptations of the work of Stephen King—but Carrie, directed by Brian De Palma, was the first. Sissy Spacek got a rare-for-horror Oscar nomination for playing the title character, a telekinetic teen bullied by her fellow students and her mother. De Palma initially thought that Spacek, at 25, was too old to play the teenage Carrie, even going so far as to encourage her to skip her final screen test in favor of a big commercial she had booked. Thankfully, Spacek ignored the director’s advice; she showed up to the screen test with Vaseline rubbed into her hair “to make it all greasy and yucky. I didn’t brush my teeth … I had a little dress since junior high school that was all ratty and old, and when the hair and make up people saw me coming, they raced to me to fix me up and I was like, ‘No! Stay away!’ Then I raced over to a corner and sulked and got ready for my screen test." Recalled De Palma: “she made everyone else look silly.”
13. House (1977)
In the 1970s, the Japanese movie market was being overtaken by fun, action-heavy Hollywood imports. Wanting a piece of the action themselves, Toho Studios hired Nobuhiko Ôbayashi, who had directed a series of experimental shorts and television commercials, to come up with a Japanese answer to Jaws. What they got was … er … not that. There wasn’t a human-eating piano in Jaws, or a demon cat, or a teenage girl who’s attacked by a bunch of futon mattresses. Ôbayashi’s psychedelic, bizarre horror comedy—about a group of seven teenage girls who go on vacation to one of the girl’s aunt’s house, only to realize the aunt is a witch and the house likes to eat people—proved a success among Japanese youth. It achieved cult status and was finally released in the United States in 2010.
14. Suspiria (1977)
A surreal, gory, Technicolor extravaganza of witches, ballet, and murder, Dario Argento’s Suspiria is generally considered one of the finest examples—if not the finest example—of Italian horror. But one party involved in Suspiria wasn’t too keen on being associated with it: American distributor 20th Century Fox, which released the film under little-known subsidiary International Classics Inc. so as to avoid having its name attached to the film. Per Alexandra Heller-Nicholas’ Suspiria, there were “concerns about the impact [Suspiria] might have to its recently boosted industry reputation on the back of the success of George Lucas’ Star Wars.”
15. Halloween (1978)
John Carpenter’s Halloween, which begins with a six-year-old Michael Myers stabbing his nude sister, remains the only slasher film to date on the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry. Upon its 2006 induction, the Library of Congress’s Steve Leggett noted that the film “launched Carpenter’s career and started the slasher genre.”
Despite its status as the godfather of a particularly gory genre, Halloween is a film without any (literal) blood. That was intentional; writes David Konow in his book Reel Terror, it was Halloween cinematographer Dean Cundey’s belief that “even before the mad slasher craze, the feeling was that too much gore and special effects can call too much attention to itself, take the audience out of the movie, and make the story less realistic. ‘We actually spoke specifically about it,’ [said] Cundey. ‘I think part of what was so effective about Halloween is you could say any of this could happen.’”
16. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
John Landis's horror-comedy An American Werewolf in London is a groundbreaking bit of filmmaking for, among other things, its werewolf makeup effects. Practical FX guru Rick Baker won the first-ever Best Makeup Oscar for his work on the film; he was subsequently nominated for 10 Best Makeup Oscars and won seven. Baker’s work on American Werewolf particularly impressed Michael Jackson who, after seeing the film, contacted Landis and Baker to direct and do makeup design, respectively, for the music video for “Thriller.”
17. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences loves its biopics and its period dramas ... but horror movies? Not so much. Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs is to date the only horror film to win the Best Picture Oscar. And it won a lot more than that: it’s only the third film in Oscar history to take home wins in the Big Five categories, a.k.a. Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay (Adapted Screenplay, in Silence’s case), Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins), and Best Actress (Jodie Foster.) The other two Big Five victors are It Happened One Night (1934) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975).
18. Scream (1996)
Where Halloween invented the slasher genre, Scream reinvented it for a new generation, combining horror with meta comedy that skewers years of slasher movie tropes. Scream also revitalized the career of Wes Craven, a founding father of horror who made a name for himself with films like The Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes, and A Nightmare on Elm Street. Still, in the mid-‘90s Craven was trying to move away from the dark, violent cinema he was associated with in an effort to avoid being pigeonholed. As such, he initially turned Scream down.
“The turning point was when a kid came up to me at a film conference or a panel I was on,” Craven later recalled. “The kid said, ‘You know, you should really do a movie like The Last House on the Left again. You really kicked ass back then, and you haven’t done it since.’ I went home and I thought, ‘Am I getting soft?’ I’ve always had this ambivalence about doing violent films, and I’ve also had this other side that says, ‘This is your voice, this is what comes naturally to you. You do it really well, go do it.’ So I called Bob [Weinstein, producer] and off we went.”
19. Ringu (1998)
One of the most influential international horror films of all time, the success of Hideo Nakata’s Ringu helped Japanese horror “[break] out of its cult status” in the West, subsequently kicking off a wave of American remakes of Japanese horror films. Ringu was remade in 2002 by Gore Verbinski as The Ring, which made more money in Japan than its source material—though not much more; Ringu made approximately $13 million in Japan, compared to The Ring’s $14.1 million. Subsequent American remakes of Asian horror hits included The Grudge (originally Ju-On), Dark Water, and Pulse.
20. Get Out (2017)
The most recent entry on this list, Get Out has already knocked out a few milestones. Two other horror films on this list, The Silence of the Lambs and The Exorcist, won the Oscar for Best Adapted screenplay, but Get Out is the only horror film to win for Best Original Screenplay; on top of that, writer/director Jordan Peele is to date the only Black writer to win that award. Other Oscar noms for this scrappy horror underdog are Best Director (Peele), Best Lead Actor (Daniel Kaluuya), and Best Film.
This story has been updated for 2020.
entertainment halloween horror Lists Movies News Pop Culture
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1149
|
__label__wiki
| 0.67804
| 0.67804
|
Home Latest News Malaysian Group Gambling Company Applies For Remote Bookmaker’s License In UK
Malaysian Group Gambling Company Applies For Remote Bookmaker’s License In UK
Categories: Casino News, Latest News | Published by: Evelyn Powell
Malaysian group Genting Berhad’s property, Genting, is applying for an offshore bookmaker’s license to the Minister of Justice and Equality in Europe. The company currently owns 37 casinos in the British Territory.
Many companies are rushing to expand to Europe because it provides the biggest gambling market in the world. European countries started to relax their gambling regulations, paving the way for the success of many casinos and sportsbooks. Europe has a long history of gambling, as shown by the swarm of people who visited casinos during the reopening.
During the lockdowns, Many Europeans subscribed to online sportsbooks and casinos in the absence of bricks and mortar casinos. When government restrictions started to relax, operators started the reopening, welcoming back their patrons. The reopening of the casinos showed success, encouraging more operators to expand their operations.
Genting’s application for a certificate of personal fitness
Genting’s application for license showed how investors see the future of gambling in the region. Genting Berhad was based in Kuala Lumpur with a reported income of RM21.6bn last year. The company, which owns oil and gas subsidiary, have casino operations in Malaysia, the UK and the US.
The company is listed in the Bursa stock exchange in Kuala Lumpur, with a market value of around RM23.3bn last year. The company plans to operate a remote bookmaker in the UK to allow gamblers in the region to place bets on games in casinos and sports events in other countries through the internet and telephone.
Operators who applied for remote bookmaker’s license operated online betting sites. The company plans to offer its GentingBet brand in the UK. The brand provides sportsbook, live casinos, and online slots.
The company’s website said gamblers from Ireland are not allowed to gamble in GentingBet. The company applied on June 4 from its Base in Malta.
Genting reopens casinos in Malaysia
Genting Malaysia reopens its two casinos following relaxed government measures. On June 18, the company announced to resume the operation of four Malaysian hotel resorts. The group’s website said it’s biggest properties will remain closed. The Malaysian Prime Minister announced the country’s Recovery Movement Control Order, which will open the country’s businesses until August 31, 2020.
Resorts World Genting said they’d restructured their process and provided a safety plan in line with the government’s protocols during the reopening. Genting casinos resumed operations following social distancing protocols.
Employees and guests were required to wear masks and tested for temperature before entry to the casinos.
The casino ensured to deploy service ambassadors trained to face their patrons. The employees will guide and assist guests in ensuring that the enhanced safety measures are followed. The casinos also installed sanitation stations to secure the safety and health of clients.
The company also announced the reopening of its Resorts World Awana on Friday. They plan to operate its Awana Skyway cable car and express buses.
Genting Malaysia resumed operations of retail shopping outlets at its property in England. The operator prepared its properties for the reopening, which will start on July 4 in the UK, as approved by the industry regulators.
Genesis Casino Ready to Accept Spanish Players, Gives a Bonus
The latest development for the Genesis casino, in particular, is the expansion of its operations.…
Genesis Global Limited Offers Even More Bonuses & Fun at FunBet
They’ve released several gambling brands since the start of 2020, with great new gambling opportunities…
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1150
|
__label__wiki
| 0.620884
| 0.620884
|
Young entrepreneurs on display at Linden High School exhibition
Jake Nisse
Editorial Intern
LINDEN — Linden High School’s Entrepreneurial Management Achievement Program (EMAP) is currently hosting a free exhibition at the school’s library, open to the public.
The exhibition showcases the work that students have done within the program, as drawings and models of their product ideas are displayed throughout the room.
“It’s pretty exciting stuff if you think about the garbage that’s outside,” said Sy Mayerson, founder, chairman and CEO of EMAP. “This is coming from high school students? It’s insane.”
READ: Linden H.S. 2012 grad's murder remains unsolved
READ: Linden's controversial garbage tax to be thrown out
READ: Foul play not suspected in death of man found in Linden
Now in its 10th year with Linden High School, EMAP focuses on giving students hands-on experience that they can bring to the business world in the future. Students enrolled in the program use inspiration from the engineering, design and art sectors to develop a realistic business plan and products.
“We also found that over the years … that high school students were not getting reality education,” said Mayerson, who has previously worked with the Parsons School of Design. “The focus was on sports, the focus was on STEM — science, technology and so forth — but there wasn’t enough (focus), in our opinion, on developing character.”
While Mayerson recognizes the business acumen that students pick up from his program, which graduates around 20 or 30 students every year, he’s also keen to help students find their interests — a skill that he believes is essential during the formative years of one’s life.
“The most important thing EMAP is about: we feel we are matchmakers … only we introduce people to themselves,” Mayerson said. “That’s the years that people are introduced to themselves — during the teenage years.
In its 10 years at Linden High School, EMAP has steadily grown its profile and competiveness. Students now must apply and be interviewed to become an “EMAP colleague.”
The exhibition showcases a wide range of student creations, including the company “You’re Inspirations,” which tailors to the needs of young children, blind people and more to form a wide range of products.
Mayerson said the exhibition would likely run through the first week of August, and that visitors are welcome to write down their comments or take the cards of students if they wish to contact them.
“If they wanna see something that’s outstanding — not by people in Europe, not by people all over this country, but right here in Linden, New Jersey — to see extraordinary, talented teenagers and entrepreneur artists, they don’t have to go far, they just go to the beautiful museum,” the program’s leader said.
The EMAP exhibition is open from 9 am to 5 pm on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Aditionally, it is open from 9 am to 9 pm on Monday and Wednesday.
For more information on Linden High School, visit http://www.linden.k12.nj.us/.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1151
|
__label__wiki
| 0.84752
| 0.84752
|
EDITORIAL: Choose one: Trump or N.J.
Gov. Chris Christie not only has “no-show” job problem, but a super-sized credibility problem.
Unable, apparently, to break off his bromance with Donald Trump, Christie appeared with him again in North Carolina on Monday, interviewing him, one on one, in a gag-worthy performance at a rally in Hickory, N.C., portions of which were aired live on CNN.
The interview consisted mostly of Christie lobbing softball questions at Trump, who returned them with his trademark long-winded, empty-calorie responses while the governor sat in his chair nodding in agreement. It was a pathetic sight. And the spectacle was even more pathetic in light of Trump’s inflammatory responses to the protests at his rallies over the weekend.
Christie’s association with Trump is beyond the pale. We again call on Christie to step down for the good of the people he was elected to represent. And we urge members of his own party, most of whom have been publicly silent about his failure to tend to New Jersey business, to offer their own ultimatum.
After the Press and its five sister Gannett NJ newspapers called on Christie to resign, mostly for neglecting his duties by spending all or part of 261 days last year out of state and about two of every three days this year, he called a press conference to assure residents and disgruntled members of his own party that he was ready to resume his duties full time in New Jersey. That included dialing back on his stumping for Trump.
He apparently weakened over the weekend. He had said Friday that he had no immediate plans to campaign for Trump. But on Monday, there he was, working on Trump’s behalf.
During Christie’s “I’m back” press conference, he announced he would be taking a few days off to celebrate his 30th wedding anniversary with wife Mary Pat. He wouldn’t say where. Now we know why. He was in Florida, where Trump was campaigning for Tuesday’s upcoming primary. The press found that out when Trump said at a campaign rally that Christie was with him, something Christie’s handlers implausibly denied.
As a private citizen, Christie has a perfect right to support whoever he chooses for president. But as the elected governor of this state, he has an obligation to dedicate himself fully to representing his constituents in New Jersey.
He has not been doing that. He has largely abandoned his state over the past two years. His repeated appearances with Trump show no respect for the citizens he was elected to represent, no respect for his Republican colleagues in Trenton —many of whom are appalled by Trump’s views, conduct and bombast — and no respect for the governorship itself.
It’s time for Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean Jr., Assembly Republican Leader Jon Bramnick and other Republican members of the Legislature to tell Christie to choose: New Jersey or Trump.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1152
|
__label__wiki
| 0.964752
| 0.964752
|
Killzone Battletech Michael Myers Angry Birds Survival Multiplayer Retro Space Combat Sim... Christmas Hellboy Nightmare on Elm...
Full List of Available Tags
Top Games Wallpapers
More Top Games Wallpapers
Games Wallpapers:
topnewabc
Free Games Digital Wallpapers galleries for download: Videogames, Computer Games, Playstation, Xbox, Gamecube and more.
All wallpapers are on 1024x768 resolution.
Medal of Honor - Airborne
World of Warcraft - The Burning Crusade
Kingdom Hearts II
Jak 2
Knights of Honor - Trebuchets
Lumines 2
World of Warcraft - Black Temple
Castlevania - Curse of Darkness
Silent Hill 3
Zelda - The Windwaker
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic - Knight
Games Wallpapers:Newest | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 100 | 101 | 102 | 103 | 104 | 105 | 106 | 107 | 108 | 109 | 110 | 111 | 112 | 113 |
Right-click on the image on your left.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1154
|
__label__wiki
| 0.998439
| 0.998439
|
Mishti Chakraborty on her role being cut down in Kangana Ranaut's Manikarnika: I was hurt
Bangalore, First Published Feb 1, 2019, 4:00 PM IST
Mishti Chakraborty played the role of Kashibai in the period-drama film that has minted over Rs 50 crore at the box office.
Mishti Chakraborty, who was seen in Kangana Ranaut-starrer "Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi", Thursday said she was hurt after watching the film as her role was cut down.
Mishti played the role of Kashibai in the period-drama film that has minted over Rs 50 crore at the box office.
In a recent interview to a portal, Mishti had slammed Kangana, who took over the direction from Krishna Jagarlamudi that has led to a controversy over credits, for chopping of her role.
"I was hurt. Whenever you sign a film, you are told this is what you would be doing in the film. But you realise you are not doing anything. This is a lie and that too someone tricks you into giving them extra dates so that they can cut the previously shot scenes. That's very wrong," Mishti said at an event here.
The actor said she had signed on the dotted line when Jagarlamudi, also known as Krish, was involved with the film but things changed after Kangana took over.
Mishti said artistes are known to be narcissists but a director should be neutral.
"... A director should always be neutral, he or she cannot be biased about anything and for him or her, every aspect is important. A real director can never be self- obsessed. The director has to be fair to everyone," she said at the launch of her single "Hone De Ishq Shuru".
"There are times when we shoot for over 100 days but not all is retained. So, obviously a little bit would be cut. But if you unnecessarily, just to glorify yourself, diminish other people's characters, that's very wrong. No sensible artiste would do that," she added.
Mishti, who has not spoken to Kangana over the issue, said she came to know about her role being cut down only after the screening of the film.
Kangana has maintained that she stepped in to save the film after director Krish left it midway, a claim denied by the director.
Krish has said that he had almost completed the film and only patchwork was left when Kangana became involved and wrongly claimed the credit as the main director.
Mishti said Krish and other team members have started speaking about it after the release because they did not want to hurt the film's chances at the box office.
"The director was earlier quiet to not let anything affect the film. The same thing was followed by other people in the film," she added.
According to Mishti, Krish has been getting calls from everywhere so he decided to speak up now.
"The truth, which I know and I believe 90 per cent of the people know, is that the director completed the film. I was there till the end so I know who shot how much.
"The whole film was completed and then he told Kangana and producers that he needed to sign a film in South, which was NTR biopic, and after he would be done shooting that he would come back for patchwork, whatever was left."
As per Mishti, the director wanted to come back and complete the patchwork on "Manikarnika..." but then it was decided that the film would be presented in a different way and he "wasn't welcomed back".
"I am neither blaming anyone, nor commenting on someone's ego. I am just telling everyone what transpired. Whatever you guys have known so far, a lot in it is wrong," she said.
Last Updated Feb 1, 2019, 4:11 PM IST
Mishti Chakraborty
Kashibai
Manikarnika
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1157
|
__label__wiki
| 0.896935
| 0.896935
|
Jeopardy! card game add trivia to your commute
PAWTUCKET, R.I. (CNN) — Fans of the game show “Jeopardy” will now be able to test their own knowledge while they sit in traffic.
The show is releasing a hands-free, voice-based app hosted by Alex Trebek himself. It will features questions from actual Jeopardy! games over the show’s past 35 seasons.
You can play a free trial game when you download the “drivetime” app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
The new game comes out just in time for the start of the 36th season of Jeopardy! – which airs right here on WPRI 12 weeknights at 7:30 p.m.
The season kicked off Monday, just a few days after Trebek announced he finished treatment for pancreatic cancer.
More Tech News Stories
State grants millions to restaurants for COVID-19 safety measures
New York State (NEWS10) - Empire State Development announced that more than $3 million would be going to restaurants in New York State during the COVID-19 pandemic. The “Raising the Bar” Restaurant Recovery Fund will give eligible restaurants up to $5,000 to assist with COVID-19 safety measures.
The funding will be used for COVID-19-related improvements and equipment so that businesses can comply with state COVID-19 requirements. Additionally, the funding can be used for essentials like PPE and sanitation supplies.
Adobe Flash ends Thursday and you need to uninstall for security reasons
by Michael Geheren / Jan 1, 2021
SAN JOSE, Calif. (NewsNation Now) — It's the end of an era on the internet. Adobe will stop supporting its Flash player on Dec. 31, 2020.
Most people won't notice the change. Apple got rid of supporting Flash on most platforms a decade ago.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1158
|
__label__wiki
| 0.876766
| 0.876766
|
HomeEntertainmentLongstanding New York Variety Show Stakes Claim in Nashville
Longstanding New York Variety Show Stakes Claim in Nashville
October 17, 2012 Amanda Entertainment, News 0
www.loserslounge.com
THE LOSERS LOUNGE- Nashville Debut : David Bowie
Third & Lindsley Nov 9
Joey Ramone, Debbie Harry, Ronnie Spector, Santigold, Cyndi Lauper, Fred Armisen and Moby are just some of the special guests who have been selling-out the New York-based “Losers Lounge” for over 16 years. Now, the popular variety show is ready to make its Nashville debut – Friday November 9th at Third & Lindsley.
It works like this: one core backing band performs the full show with an eclectic and entertaining parade of guest singers from the musical, comedy and theatrical worlds, each performing one song. Shows feature music from a different classic catalogue, apotheosizing music artists from previous decades in a unique way. Nashville’s debut of The Losers Lounge series will honor the music of David Bowie. To date, Sam Bush, Roy “Future Man” Wooten, and Kim Collins are confirmed to perform, with many more special guests confirming daily. The full line up will be announced soon, and the official facebook page will be updated often.
“We’ve always had a love affair with Nashville, and as a city there is such a diverse creative community here. One of the Losers Lounge’s founding members Kris Woolsey has lived in Nashville for years and it just made sense to bring the show to Music City. We are all very excited!”
Says Joe McGinty, the founder of The Losers Lounge series, and former Psychedelic Furs keyboard player. The Loser’s Lounge is famous for combining sincere performances with comedic, theatrical and the unusual. “From Abba to the Zombies” as The New York Times has said, The Losers Lounge is in the business of redemption; honoring pop stars from these eras and validating the zeal of music fans. From well known composers like Neil Diamond and David Bowie to more obscure artists like Serge Gainsbourg and Harry Nilsson, The Losers Lounge walks the line between sincerity and irreverence to recreate the meticulous arrangements of the classic song books that you love, live.
Losers Lounge’s performances have been featured on NBC’s Last Call With Carson Daly, Comedy Central’s The Daily Show and Night Of Too Many Stars TV Special, ABC’s My Kind Of Town, radio stations NPR, WFUV, WBAI, WFMU, and in press including The New York Times, The New Yorker, The New York Post, The Village Voice, New York Magazine, Rolling Stone online, Spin Magazine online, and Time Out New York who have dubbed The Losers Lounge “Essential New York.” The Losers Lounge is the subject of a feature length documentary film currently being made by Jojo Pennebaker. You never know who you might see at The Losers Lounge.
cyndi Lauder
nashville music venues
The losers lounge
third and lindsley
NASHVILLE SINGER/SONGWRITER/MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST BRIAN FUENTE RELEASES HIS DEBUT EP ‘1983’
Eric Church’s ‘Blood, Sweat and Beers’ Tour Hits the Road Showcasing Special Effects from Strictly FX
Screen Play Nashville Thrives in Music Merch Business
April 6, 2011 Amanda Music Row, News 0
It’s estimated that some 25,000 people in Nashville earn their paychecks through the music business, and many folks outside Nashville don’t understand how that figure […]
Dierks Bentley Celebrates Eighth No. One Hit with “Am I The Only One”
August 22, 2011 Amanda News 0
Platinum singer/songwriter Dierks Bentley’s “Am I The Only One” takes the No. one position on both the Billboard Country Singles and the Country Aircheck/Mediabase charts this week. The fan-favorie track also spent last week in the top spot on the Billboard Canada […]
NMG Set to Expand Beyond State, National Borders into Texas and Canada
January 18, 2011 Amanda Music Row, News 6
For 15 years, the Nashville Music Guide has provided outstanding service to the Music City community of musicians and writers… […]
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1159
|
__label__cc
| 0.71255
| 0.28745
|
The NATIONAL CULTURAL HERITAGE INITIATIVE was initiated as a catalyst for the development of the Culture and Heritage tourism market sector that services International travelers and Americans of African Descent. The National Cultural Heritage Initiative was developed by the Florida Black Chamber of Commerce.
CULTURAL HERITAGE TOURISM
In many states and countries, tourism is the number one industry. In almost all countries and states, tourism is a major contributor to economic viability. Tourism has associated with it, millions of jobs and an untold number of businesses. Tourism is an economic engine that is a generator for business growth and relocation. Most minority businesses can benefit from the cultural needs of business and tourist travelers.
Unfortunately, there is no marketing infrastructure in place to support people of color in their search for ethnic products and services. Minority businesses are dependent on mainstream marketing, advertisement and promotional mediums have proven to be ineffective and too costly. This has created a cultural informational void. Business and tourism travelers are not aware of the products, services and special events cultural and minority businesses and communities have available; and communities, their cultural attractions, and most importantly, our minority businesses suffer, and remain invisible to the mainstream market. To address these and other problem areas, the National Cultural Heritage Tourism Center developed the following objectives:
NATIONAL CULTURAL HERITAGE INITIATIVE OBJECTIVES
°To market cultural heritage destinations, in support of our culture and heritage; nationally and internationally.
°Establish a marketing and support network throughout the U.S. and in support of the Black Diaspora; in the U.S., Caribbean, Africa, Latin America and Europe.
°To actively engage in promotion and advertising activities in support of Cultural Heritage Tourism Development.
°To support the arts, entertainment, tourism and hospitality industry, by providing advertisement targeting the cultural heritage traveler.
°To support tourism, by providing cultural and historical information in support of Black Conferences, Family Reunions, and Conventions.
* …And ultimately; to encourage Black radio, newspapers and other media entities to join us in our promotion and marketing of our culture as equal partners.
Florida: “We are Pan African-American!”
Florida was chosen for development because of the state’s ‘Multi-Cultural and Ethnic Diversity’. Florida’s population is a rich cultural mixture of residents with diverse African Heritage, composed of multiple national and ethnic backgrounds. Florida truly represents the ‘World’ in its makeup and history. The state is not just Old South, Beaches, and Theme Parks, but has a population that is European, Latin American, Hispanic, Caribbean, African, and Asian ancestry and culture. ‘All’ are “Proud Americans”, with one common bond, an appreciation of their individual heritages and cultures, intertwined with an appreciation for the international influence and with a flavor that is unique, but -Afro-Centric in its appearance. The uniqueness has proven to be a major contributor and economic bonus to the state’s tourism industry; and has allowed Florida to become one of the top tourism destinations in the world due to the successful marketing of its cultural diversity, including the diverse Afro-Centric cultures.
Unfortunately, still too little is known about American Black Heritage and Culture. Although, several cities and states, including the States of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, have endeavored to correct this oversight, by publishing and marketing several critically acclaimed publications, including the Florida Black Heritage Trail publication. But there has never been an organized attempt to market and showcase the African American and Black Culture as a platform to the world, most importantly, to the Global Black Diaspora. The National Cultural Heritage Initiative’s primary goal is to answer age-old cultural questions of Black travelers to unknown cities, “Where are the Black Folks?” and “Where to GO?” This led to the development of the National Cultural Heritage Tourism Center and the research component, the Pan African Cultural Heritage Institute.
An additional task assigned to the National Cultural Heritage Institute and the Pan African Cultural Heritage Institute was to develop a concept that focused on building sustainable communities, using cultural heritage tourism and the arts, with a directive that an e-commerce infrastructure and network be created to market and promote local minority owned businesses, at an affordable price to the huge global travel market. The system/network, conceptually must assist in increasing the visibility of participating businesses and guarantee an increase in their customer base and profit. This increase would come from business travelers and tourists seeking their service via the internet.
To accomplish this, the Florida Black Chamber led the development of a marketing network and distribution system that insures the widest possible dissemination of information and advertisement through the creation of Pan African Cultural Heritage Alliance, an e-commerce marketing system, in partnership with major tourism and marketing agencies. The Florida Black Chamber created the National Cultural Heritage Tourism Center, Inc., the Pan African Cultural Heritage Institute, Inc., the Pan African American Cultural Heritage Market Place, the National Black Tourism Marketing Corporation, and partnered with the National Black Business Support Corporation, ONYX Magazine, African Television Network, and the Collective Empowerment Group.
Note, it is understood that cultural heritage tourism development entails much more than development of the arts and handicrafts for tourists. Cultural heritage tourism must be founded on individual development through recognizable patterns expressed by what is produced, what is shared, and what is communicated. Such a perspective necessitates the involvement of the entire community, to be successful. Nevertheless, cultural heritage tourism is perhaps the quickest and most effective means of generating wealth in those communities that are individually rich and organizationally poor.
The new marketplace is said to be knowledge-based. Some have said it is both knowledge-based and information-based. Those regions exist in the U.S. and across the Diaspora; and countless research proves the need, the viability and merit of this endeavor. There are millions of African American businesses and countless Black communities that have been neglected. Yet, in terms of cultural heritage tourism products and services, there is a definite lack of involvement by African Americans. Studies indicate that African Americans have much to offer culturally, but they lack the organizational infrastructure to develop this resource properly.
To understand the value of cultural heritage tourism, it is important to understand that African Americans, Whites, Hispanics, etc., are all ethnic groups. They all use culture to develop the patterns we distinguish as ethnic. All ethnic groups have in common the desire to develop as individuals through organization into community. This is the process that creates the cultural patterns that identify them as an ethnic group. It is the basis of culture everywhere. Faith beliefs are also an indicator.
One of the greatest economic resources America, Africa, the Caribbean, and Europe have that could be mutually beneficial, is cultural heritage tourism. The ability to create, package and sell these constructive human experiences determines the success of cultural heritage tourism. As it relates to The National Cultural Heritage Initiative, this activity should not prove too difficult, because it is the same activity we call individual, organizational and community development. Cultural Heritage Tourism involves community residents creating, packaging and selling products and services, relevant to their individual, organizational and community development, so that their guests and visitors may discover finer, grander and more enjoyable concepts of their customs and traditions. Thus, the National Cultural Heritage Initiative’s focus is community-based tourism; forming cultural tourism cooperatives among community members to generate and spread wealth as rapidly as possible
The following provides general descriptions of services to be performed by the Pan African Alliance in support of the National Cultural Heritage and the Pan African Cultural Heritage Initiative:
1. Inventory of historic and cultural business and sites for public marketing by linking websites and publishing diversity sensitive advertisement, as it relates to each state and country targeted for promotion
2. Identifying culturally important venues to promote community based tourism
3. Planning -conceiving the cultural tourism vision, objectives and actions with high levels of buy-in from tourism industry stakeholders
4. Establishing an organizational system to market ongoing revitalization efforts
5. Ensuring the organization secures the commitment of the key groups and organizations that might be involved in the revitalization efforts
6. Fostering the environment to allow open dialogue among tourism industry stakeholders at the national and international level
7. Creating strategic public/private partnerships for project implementation
8. Committing to principles of economic and social development, and historic preservation
9. Researching market needs and assessing state community based tourism activities and services
10. Assessing the willingness of tourism operators to partner
11. Supportive national and regional policies,
12. Reinvestment of tourism revenues into conservation,
13. Equitable distribution of tourism benefits and opportunities,
14. Organizational capacity building and skill-based training,
15. Awareness-raising of all stakeholders,
16. Accessing sources of stable and sustainable local, regional, national and international funding, grants, loans, trust funds and investments, and micro-enterprises to assist community based tourism partners
17. Connecting the African Diaspora via a relationship of cooperation in support of Cultural Heritage Tourism development, marketing, advertisement, promotion, and sales.
The PAN AFRICAN CULTURAL HERITAGE INITIATIVE
Sharing “Our Cultural Knowledge and Experiences” in the areas of Commerce, Culture, Community, Education, Influence, Knowledge, and Faith; via established business, educational, social and tourism networks. The ultimate goal being: to “Rebuild and Connect” the global people of PAN AFRICA, via the technology platforms of the internet and to use proven Cultural Economics and Heritage Tourism programs to develop Forgotten Communities, foster prosperity through business growth and job creation; and to facilitate cultural exchanges and services with other members of the African Diaspora, in partnership with the Pan African Cultural Heritage Alliance.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1160
|
__label__cc
| 0.584348
| 0.415652
|
Steve Doocy Is Upset That Atheists Are 'Co-Opting' National Day Of Prayer
Posted by Priscilla -25.80pc on May 02, 2013 · Flag
As part of its patented meme about a "War on Christianity," Fox News is now pimping "The Fight for Faith." Seriously, that was the opening visual on this morning's Fox & Friends during which Jesus BFF, Steve Doocy, hosted a segment to attack those who want to celebrate a national day of reason as an alternative to the "National Day of Prayer" which, for right wing Christians, is almost as sacred as Christmas which, we know, is being attacked by those evil atheists. Although the piece was primarily an affirmation of the need for faith, from the very faithful Penny Nance, it was also a thinly veiled attack on a Democratic politician who has been nominated for the post of Secretary of Transportation - the message being that the godless Obama is putting godless people in his cabinet and that of course makes Jesus weep.
After saying "forget the National Day of Prayer," Steve Doocy reported that Anthony Foxx, the mayor or Charlotte and "newly minted Obama cabinet member" has proclaimed today a national day of reason for Charlotte because reason has provided more "hope for survival" than "other means." (On Fox, a heretical view!) He introduced his guest, Penny Nance, Christian right wing wingnut head of the very Christian and very right wing Concerned Women for America.
Making strange mouth motions, Doocy again mentioned that today is the National Day of Prayer and "yet this Mr. Foxx guy is calling it a national day of reason." Sweet lil Penny noted that North Carolina has the seventh highest church attendance in the country so Foxx isn't concerned about re-election because of he's being considered for a national cabinet post. While a photo of Foxx, an African-American was shown, Penny quoted GK Chesteron (not a clergy member) about how the doctrine of "original sin" is backed up by "3,000 years of empirical evidence." (Penny obviously doesn't know that the doctrine of "original sin" is a Christian concept, not accepted by Judaism, that was developed by St. Augustine.) She claimed that "we need faith...and it's silly for us to say otherwise." (Really?)
Nance, not a historian, claimed that the Age of Enlightenment "gave way to moral relativism" which - ready for it - led to the Holocaust. (Traditional Christian anti-Semitism didn't?) And in another amazingly idiotic statement, she claimed that we have "dark periods of history when we leave God out of the equation." (Of course some of the darkest periods of history - Crusades, the Inquisition, religious wars were done in the name of Penny's "God" so go figure.)
Doocy added that the National Day of Reason was created by an atheist organization. In an iteration of the patented Fox "some say," he noted "what's troubling to some is that they would take the National Day of Prayer" and co-opt it to get publicity "to get us talking about it." Nance replied that even though they succeeded, it's a great opportunity to talk about the awesomeness of faith. She quoted John Adams who "said that our Constitution depends on a moral and religious people." (Does Penny know that Adams, a Unitarian, also said that The question before the human race is, whether the God of nature shall govern the world by his own laws, or whether priests and kings shall rule it by fictitious miracles?") She continued to preach about how "we must have faith in God "to contend for their beliefs," which she supports, but Christians have "better ideas."
That Fox News is preaching to the Christian right is underscored by Doocy's reverence for the National Day of Prayer which is closely connected to Shirley Dobson, wife of Focus on the Family founder, Dr. Pat Dobson. Last year the National Day of Prayer Task Force prayed for the defeat of Pres. Obama. (How'd that work out for ya!). The volunteers are required to sign an oath that they believe Jesus is the only path to salvation. But beyond the promotion of Fox's patented Christianity, Doocy's piece was a way to bash an Obama nominee. What Doocy didn't mention is that the National Day of Reason was started in 2003 and "has expanded to more than a dozen cities, where it's observed with blood drives, training on pro-secular policy lobbying and voter registration drives, as well as social events." So it's just not Mr. Foxx.
But if you're talking about reason, you're not talking about Steve Doocy!
NewsHounds posted about Steve Doocy Is Upset That Atheists Are 'Co-Opting' National Day Of Prayer on NewsHounds' Facebook page 2013-05-02 13:24:07 -0400
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1167
|
__label__wiki
| 0.929574
| 0.929574
|
Oklahoma astronaut remembered
Saturday, October 16th 2004, 12:04 pm
HOUSTON (AP) _ One of NASA's first astronauts, Oklahoma native L. Gordon Cooper Jr., was remembered at the Johnson Space Center as ``not too bad of a water skier, not too bad of a pilot, but a heck of a good astronaut.''
Cooper died of natural causes Oct. 4 at his home in Ventura, Calif. He was 77.
NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe, former astronaut John Glenn and the two other surviving Mercury astronauts remembered Cooper on Friday with humorous stories and memories of his accomplishments.
Glenn told how Cooper once returned from a fishing trip near Cape Canaveral. He told his fellow astronauts how he saw the largest bullfrogs he had ever seen while wading waist deep in a pond for 45 minutes.
Someone informed Cooper ``they weren't frogs, but instead alligators,'' Glenn said, adding that Cooper never fished there again.
After a video tribute to Cooper, a tree was planted in honor of Cooper at a memorial tree grove. His tree isn't far from that of fellow Mercury astronaut Virgil ``Gus'' Grissom, who died in the 1967 Apollo 1 fire.
``Time has diminished our numbers. We are no longer seven. We are three,'' said Cmdr. Scott Carpenter, another original Mercury astronaut.
Carpenter, Glenn and Walter M. Schirra are the last living Mercury astronauts.
Cooper, born March 6, 1927, in Shawnee, Okla., joined the Marines during World War II and transferred to the Air Force in 1949. He earned a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1956.
He then flew numerous flights as a test pilot in the Flight Test Division at Edwards Air Force Base near Los Angeles. Cooper was selected as a Mercury astronaut in 1959.
News On 6 HOUSTON (AP) _ One of NASA's first astronauts, Oklahoma native L. Gordon Cooper Jr., was remembered at the Johnson Space Center as ``not too bad of a water skier, not too bad of a pilot, but a heck
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1168
|
__label__wiki
| 0.744707
| 0.744707
|
New Research Suggests Link Between Vaccine Ingredients and Autism, ADHD
3-Feb-2004 8:20 AM EST, by Northeastern University
Newswise — According to new research from Northeastern University pharmacy professor Richard Deth and colleagues from the University of Nebraska, Tufts, and Johns Hopkins University, there is an apparent link between exposure to certain neurodevelopmental toxins and an increased possibility of developing neurological disorders including autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. The research " the first to offer an explanation for possible causes of two increasingly common childhood neurological disorders " is published today in the April 2004 issue of the journal Molecular Psychiatry.
Though some speculation exists regarding this link, Deth and his colleagues found that exposure to toxins, such as ethanol and heavy metals (including lead, aluminum and the ethylmercury-containing preservative thimerosal) potently interrupt growth factor signaling, causing adverse effects on methylation reactions (i.e. the transfer of carbon atoms). Methylation, in turn, plays a significant role in regulating normal DNA function and gene expression, and is critical to proper neurological development in infants and children. Scientists and practitioners have identified an increase in diagnoses of autism and ADHD in particular, though the reasons why are largely unknown.
In their work, the scientists found that insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and the neurotransmitter dopamine both stimulated folate-dependent methylation pathways in neuronal cells. At the same time they noted that compounds like thimerosal, ethanol and metals (like lead and mercury) effectively inhibited these same biochemical pathways at concentrations that are typically found following vaccination or other sources of exposure. By better understanding what happens when infants and children are exposed to these materials, the work of Deth and his colleagues helps to explain how environmental contact with metals and administration of certain vaccines may lead to serious disorders that manifest themselves during childhood, including autism and ADHD.
"Scientists certainly acknowledge that exposure to neurotoxins like ethanol and heavy metals can cause developmental disorders, but until now, the precise mechanisms underlying their toxicity have not been known," said Deth. "The recent increase in the incidence of autism led us to speculate that environmental exposures, including vaccine additives might contribute to the triggering of this disorder."
Thimerosal, which was largely phased out in the U.S. and in Europe starting in 2000,was often used for its preservative abilities in multi-dose units of vaccines for diseases like hepatitis, whooping cough, tetanus and diptheria. Today, most vaccines carry only trace amounts of it, according to the CDC. But in larger, multi-dose vials of these vaccines, often shipped to and used in third world countries, thimerosal is still very common. Multi-dose flu vaccines still contain thimerosal.
Additionally, the scientists recently obtained more insight into the mechanism by which thimerosal interferes with folate-dependent methylation. It acts by inhibiting the biosynthesis of the active form of vitamin B12 (methylcobalamin), which is of particular interest because doctors treating autistic kids are having good success with the administration of methycobalamin.
Northeastern University, a private research institution located in Boston, Massachusetts, is a world leader in practice-oriented education. Building on its flagship cooperative education program, Northeastern links classroom learning with workplace experience and integrates professional preparation with study in the liberal arts and sciences. U.S. News & World Report, in its annual guide America's Best Colleges, 2003, ranked Northeastern University number one in the country among programs that "require or encourage students to apply what they're learning in the classroom out in the real world." In addition, Northeastern's career services was top ranked by Kaplan Newsweek's "Unofficial Insiders Guide to the 320 Most Interesting Colleges and Universities," 2003 edition. For more information, please visit http://www.northeastern.edu.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1170
|
__label__wiki
| 0.928029
| 0.928029
|
Two Beds and the Burdens of Feminism
By Rebecca Mead
When it was first made in 1998, Tracey Emin’s “My Bed” conveyed not just the specificity of her own experience but also spoke to that of any woman who came of age in a similar cultural climate.PHOTOGRAPH BY NIKLAS HALLE'N / AFP / GETTY
Last week, “My Bed,” a 1998 work by Tracey Emin, the British artist, went on display at the Tate Britain gallery, in London. Consisting of a rumpled, unmade bed surrounded by very personal detritus—newspapers, a half-squeezed tube of K-Y Jelly, a used tampon, soiled tissues, empty vodka bottles, cigarette cartons, underwear stained with menstrual blood—“My Bed” caused an uproar, critical and popular, when it was first exhibited at the Tate after being nominated for the prestigious Turner Prize, in 1999. Its reinstallation at the Tate after a fifteen-year interval confirms its status as a landmark work of contemporary British art; it has been loaned to the gallery for at least the next decade by Count Christian Duerckheim, who paid £2.5 million—about $3.7 million—for it at auction last summer.
In 1999, “My Bed” was shocking to reviewers and gallery visitors, whom it helped to draw in record numbers to the Tate, not just because it presented what was an incontestably squalid mise-en-scène_.__ _In contrast to other women’s beds as represented in the Western artistic tradition—such as that of Titian’s Venus, with its suggestively mussed sheets—Emin’s bed bore the marks of blood, sweat, and, most likely, tears. The bed could certainly be interpreted as having served as a site of pleasure, but it was also suggestive of a psyche steeped in doubt, self-neglect, and shame. The bed looked like the residuum of a lost weekend, yet it also intimated that the bed’s occupant felt herself to be lost, too.
By the time Emin created “My Bed,” she had become well known for blending the conceptual and the confessional. Her first show, at the White Cube gallery, in 1993, was called “My Major Retrospective”; in it, she covered one wall with diary entries from her childhood, which had been spent in the working-class seaside town of Margate, as well as letters to family and friends, including one sent to her twin brother while he was in prison. In 1994, Emin published a limited-edition book, “Exploration of the Soul,” in which she recounted her life from conception to the loss of her virginity, through rape, at the age of thirteen. Emin’s contribution to the notorious “Sensation” show at the Royal Academy, in 1997, was “Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995”: a tent embroidered with names of friends, lovers, and her grandmother, as well as Fetus Number One and Fetus Number Two, signifying her abortions. In interviews given in advance of the 1999 Turner Prize—which was won that year not by Emin but by Steve McQueen—Emin said that “My Bed” actually was her bed; it was in a state that resulted when, sunk in depression, and at the end of a relationship, she didn’t leave it for several days. “I got up and took a bath and looked at the bed and thought, ‘Christ, I made that,’ ” she told one interviewer at the time. A bed without a body, it was nonetheless a naked self-portrait.
Emma Sulkowicz, a senior at Columbia University, has since last fall been engaged in an art project also built around a bed. In “Mattress Performance: Carry That Weight,” Sulkowicz has committed herself to carrying a twin mattress with her whenever she is on campus. The work, which Sulkowicz, a visual-arts major, is submitting as her thesis project, includes several “rules of engagement,” among them Sulkowicz’s determination that, whenever she is inside a building owned by Columbia, the mattress must be inside, too, and that, whenever she leaves campus, she must find a safe place to stow the mattress.
Like Emin’s bed, Sulkowicz’s project is, she has explained, based upon a very specific experience: that of being raped by a male student, a friend, in her dorm room, which was equipped with a mattress very like the one she is now carrying. Several months later, Sulkowicz filed a complaint against the student with campus authorities, but the subsequent hearing found him not responsible, and no disciplinary action was taken against him. Sulkowicz ultimately decided against filing police charges, but she conceived of the art project as a protest against the university’s position. She has committed to carrying the mattress for as long as the student in question remains on the same campus. (The accused student has publicly denied the rape charge.)
“Mattress Project: Carry That Weight” has garnered important critical accolades: writing in the Times, Roberta Smith called it “succinct and powerful,” while Jerry Saltz, in New York magazine, described it as “pure radical vulnerability,” a work that not only spoke to Sulkowicz’s own experience but demanded a reckoning with the issue of sexual violence on campus, and with the responsibility of academic institutions to confront it. As a political gesture, the project also has drawn considerable attention. Sulkowicz was Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s guest at the State of the Union address in January.
One of Sulkowicz’s rules of engagement is that she may not ask for help in carrying her mattress, which weighs fifty pounds, but she is allowed to accept help from anyone who offers it. This has given the work a powerfully generative force: offering to help Sulkowicz with her burden is not just a gesture of simple human empathy, like helping a mother struggling with a stroller on the subway stairs, but has become a means of protesting sexual violence and expressing solidarity with those who have experienced it. Supporters have organized “collective carries,” in which groups have rallied to help to bear Sulkowicz’s mattress aloft. And on campuses other than Columbia, students protesting sexual violence, or institutional tolerance of it, have incorporated mattresses into their demonstrations. Carrying the Weight Together, an alliance of activist groups, has called for a national day of action on April 13th, to demand policies “to end gender-based violence and rape culture at our schools”; participants are encouraged to carry a mattress or, failing that, a pillow, around with them all day.
Last month, students at Northwestern University held a mattress protest against an individual who, at first glance, would appear to be an unlikely target: Laura Kipnis, a professor in the film department and a feminist cultural critic. The protest was prompted by an essay Kipnis had written for the Chronicle of Higher Education_ _concerning regulations limiting romantic or sexual relationships between students and faculty at her university. She made reference to a case at Northwestern in which a professor had been accused of engaging in “unwelcome and inappropriate sexual advances.” (I reviewed Kipnis’s anti-monogamy polemic, “Against Love,” in 2003; thereafter, we became friends.) Kipnis makes it clear that she is not defending perpetrators of unwanted sexual advances, or worse: “For the record, I strongly believe that bona fide harassers should be chemically castrated, stripped of their property, and hung up by their thumbs in the nearest public square,” she wrote, in a rhetorical gesture of overstatement. But she did seek to question the response of some contemporary campus feminists to the issue of sexual harassment. In the essay, she wrote that the feminism with which she had identified as a student stressed independence and resilience, and she suggested that contemporary modes of feminism—relationship codes such as that at Northwestern, and the increasing use of “trigger warnings” to alert students that material being studied in class might contain representations of rape or other forms of violence—rendered students less powerful, not more. “What do we expect will become of students, successfully cocooned from uncomfortable feelings, once they leave the sanctuary of academe for the boorish badlands of real life?” she asked. “What becomes of students so committed to their vulnerability, conditioned to imagine they have no agency?” The students who marched in protest against her called upon the administration to do something about the “violence expressed by Kipnis’s message.”
Kipnis, who went to art school in the late seventies and early eighties, belongs to a generation whose members grew up expecting that consensual sexual relationships, and the power dynamics they involve, would often be as messy as an unmade bed. (“Sex, even when not so great or when people got their feelings hurt, fell under the category of life experience. It’s not that I didn’t make my share of mistakes, or act stupidly and inchoately, but it was embarrassing, not traumatizing,” Kipnis wrote in her Chronicle essay.) Emin, who is now fifty-one, belongs to the same generation. “My Bed,” when it was first made, conveyed not just the specificity of Emin’s own experience of depression, but also spoke to the experience of any woman who came of age in a similar cultural climate. Its implied occupant was an autonomous sexual actor—Emin’s birth-control pills were part of the installation—as well as someone who risked emotional pain with every relationship willingly entered upon, and who knew to expect external and internal judgment. We’d made our beds; we’d have to lie in them.
Emin’s bed was an interior, self-critical work, but it also enabled its creator to assert her power and self-reliance. “By realizing how separate I was from it, I separated myself from the bed. I wasn’t there any more,” Emin explained at the time. Sulkowicz has not separated herself from her bed. Rather, she has taken it on as a visible burden. She has devoted her strength, in a very literal way, to bearing it publicly, and, by permitting others to help her bear its weight, she has suggested that the threat of sexual violence might itself be alleviated through a shared, lifted consciousness. If “My Bed” turned blame and responsibility inward, “Mattress Project: Carry That Weight” directs them outward. For all the parallels that may be drawn between the two works, they do not derive from identical experiences: Sulkowicz’s unadorned mattress signifies a rape, a stark violation, while Emin’s bed suggests a multiplicity of more ambiguous stories. At the same time, Sulkowicz’s project is a far more idealistic work than Emin’s: it demands a social and political response. Sulkowicz’s mattress, in its plain blue cover, is a sanctuary restored. Emin’s lived-in bed is consecrated by hard-won knowledge.
Emin was interviewed recently about “My Bed,” and she spoke affectionately of it, explaining that she regards the work as “a portrait of a young woman, and how time affects all of us.” Last fall, Emin showed her latest work at White Cube: a collection of paintings and bronzes representing the curves and lines of a female body, her own. She told one interviewer that the work constituted an attempt to understand what had happened to her between the ages of thirty-five—the era of “My Bed”—and fifty. “As you get older, life feels heavier, more cumbersome,” she said. “Things get harder to carry around, literally and spiritually.” Perhaps women of Sulkowicz’s generation, having grown up with a form of feminism that nurtures mutual protection through community more than it stresses individual self-reliance, will find themselves better-equipped than Emin and her peers to bear the accrued burdens of age and experience. Or perhaps they will, after all, discover that the muscles they have developed are still insufficient to the weight of the world.
Rebecca Mead joined The New Yorker as a staff writer in 1997. She is the author of, most recently, “My Life in Middlemarch.”
More:ArtFeminismRapeSexual AssaultTracey Emin
Trial by Twitter
After high-school football stars were accused of rape, online vigilantes demanded that justice be served. Was it?
By Ariel Levy
American Chronicles
Is There a Smarter Way to Think About Sexual Assault on Campus?
A team of researchers at Columbia believes that small changes to college life could make campuses safer.
By Jia Tolentino
The Trouble with Teaching Rape Law
By Jeannie Suk Gersen
Reporting on Rape
By Margaret Talbot
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1171
|
__label__wiki
| 0.986477
| 0.986477
|
Theatre of Terror anthology at Loew's
Updated Jan 29, 2019; Posted Jan 11, 2019
Theatre of Terror's eponymous anthology film of horror shorts premieres at the Landmark Loew's Jersey Theater tomorrow. (Courtesy Theatre of Terror)
By David Menzies | The Jersey Journal
In the two years it's taken for production company Theatre of Terror to toil away on their eponymous anthology feature, anthology horror has continued a resurgence that makes the film's premiere tomorrow at the historic Loew's Theater in Jersey City perfect timing.
In a vein reminiscent of the "Twilight Zone," the "Theatre of Terror" features four short films directed by local filmmaker Tom Ryan. Influenced by horror TV that also includes "The Outer Limits" and "Tales from the Dark Side," Ryan is careful to point out that, while this anthology's four films have a degree of social commentary, "Theatre of Terror" is mostly in the character-study mold of those shows. "I think we focus on that a lot more than making a broader statement," Ryan said.
The four films consist of "The Gift," about a scorned mother who meets a stranger willing to do whatever it takes to be reunited with the family she's estranged from; "The Bookworm" is the story of a young man getting more than he bargained for when he purchases an old library with his inheritance; "Abducted" is a country bumpkin's obsession with an alien encounter changing his life forever; and in "Endangered," three radical activists trying to save endangered wolves find themselves facing something much more dangerous.
The Bloomfield-based production company made sure all four films were shot in the state. "I was born and raised in Jersey City," Ryan said. "I've been living in Bloomfield for maybe the past 15 years or so, but I still work with Jersey City actors and locations, and we actually shot part of our film at the Loew's. I premiered a feature film I did called 'Faces' in 2014 (there). That film was shot all over Jersey City, so I like to return to the town where I grew up."
Ryan said he didn't want to write scripts for something that was beyond the capability of the Theatre of Terror team to shoot, "so we basically tried to keep the story within reach of a lot of the locations, and we actually got some really fantastic locations for these "100 percent Jersey-shot" stories.
"As far as the first film, we needed an antique shop, and that was a place that we shot in Bloomfield: a small ma and pa antique shop that was just perfect and creepy. ... For our second film, we needed a mansion and we needed a library. I reached out to the town of Bloomfield, and there was a mansion called the Oakside Manor, and it's an old colonial that was beautiful and perfect. I told them I was a local filmmaker, and they were great about working with me and letting me shoot in there."
"I also shot in the Glen Ridge Public Library," Ryan said. "I scouted six or seven libraries, and it was the only one that still had kind of a classical wooden shelf, rows, staircase, wooden trims and everything, as opposed to these more updated libraries which are a lot of metal racks and they're not as comfortable and as picturesque as Glen Ridge was."
Friends of the production team happened to have a house out in the woods that fit the third film, said Ryan. He found everything he needed for the fourth film in Branchville. "I found this picturesque diner, and I reached out to the owner, and she let us shoot on her property. And I wound up meeting Mayor Anthony Frato, and he got some locals out, and they wound up being in the film."
Theatre of Terror team-members Louis Libitz and Michael Beck grew up in Jersey City and still live there. Ryan said they all went to the Loew's Theatre when it was still fully functioning, and he loves to share his work among the historic architecture the Friends of the Loew's have renovated.
Doors open at 7 p.m. tomorrow for the 8 p.m. screening of "Theatre of Terror" at the Loew's Jersey Theatre, 54 Journal Square, in Jersey City. The first 100 people in the door get a free movie poster. Purchasing tickets online gets the buyer a chance to win a copy of "Theatre of Terror" on Blu-Ray.
Check out Theatre of Terror's Facebook page to learn more about the company's troupe who are on and off the screen, and check out Ryan's film "Faces" on Amazon Prime Video.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1177
|
__label__wiki
| 0.971195
| 0.971195
|
After the failures, the accusations
1 Feb, 2013 04:30 PM 6 minutes to read
Former directors of the failed Dominion Finance Group are facing charges brought by the Serious Fraud Office and the Financial Markets Authority. Photo / NZPA
Financial watchdogs bring their charges against top officials of finance companies to the courts.
The wash-up from the wave of finance companies which collapsed during the global financial crisis continues this year as numerous Financial Markets Authority and Serious Fraud Office prosecutions work their way through the court system.
With branches of the High Court around the country due to begin hearing sessions on Monday, the Weekend Herald looks at the cases likely to make the headlines this year.
Five Star group
The prosecution of those associated with the failed Five Star group has been going on for more than two years.
Five Star marketed itself as a low or modest-risk finance entity which made small consumer loans for household purchases such as fridges.
Instead, it was allegedly investing large sums in complex commercial and related-party loans totalling more than $50 million.
In 2007, Five Star Consumer Finance collapsed with losses of $42 million. Five Star Finance and Five Star Debenture Nominee owe a further $43 million.
Two of the firm's directors, Marcus MacDonald and Nicholas Kirk, pleaded guilty in 2010 in the Auckland District Court to charges brought by the SFO of theft by a person in a special relationship. They also pleaded guilty to Securities Act charges.
They were sentenced to more than two years in jail in late 2010, and have since been released on parole.
Another director, Anthony Bowden, was sentenced to a total of 18 months' home detention after pleading guilty to Crimes Act and Securities Act charges.
Diligent rules breach over stock options payouts
Diligent cancels stock options given to executives after exceeding awards caps
Terminally ill developer may face action
Mary Holm: KiwiSaver not just a work-based scheme
His associate Neill Williams, who the Crown claims was a de facto Five Star director, also faces criminal charges.
Williams originally pleaded guilty to Securities Act charges but made two attempts to change his plea.
HIs application to vacate the guilty plea was rejected for a second time last year, and Williams now wants the decision reviewed in the High Court.
If this is unsuccessful, he will be sentenced in the Auckland District Court after a disputed facts hearing this month.
Williams is also due to go to trial for charges alleging theft by a person in a special relationship. This case is due to be heard in the High Court in June.
Capital + Merchant
FinanceThe SFO called its 2012 prosecution of former Capital + Merchant Finance directors one of the most important commercial fraud cases in recent years.
After two separate trials - one in which the defendants were acquitted - former C+M directors Neal Nicholls, Wayne Douglas and Owen Tallentire were sentenced in August to jail terms.
Nicholls and Douglas, the beneficial owners of the company, were each sentenced to 7 years in jail, and Tallentire was jailed for five years.
The three men's appeals against their convictions and sentences were rejected in December.
Nicholls and Douglas are due back in the High Court this month in a separate case brought by the FMA.
They will be prosecuted alongside former directors Colin Ryan and Robert Sutherland.
The FMA alleges the men made untrue statements in the company's offer documents and also claims Nicholls and Ryan knowingly misled the market watchdog.
Tallentire was facing charges in this case, but pleaded guilty this week and will be sentenced next month.
Dominion Finance
Dominion Finance Group and North South Finance were operating subsidiaries of the NZX-listed Dominion Finance Holdings. Both offered property and commercial loans.
DFG went into receivership in September 2008, and NSF went into receivership in July 2010. DFH entered voluntary administration in October 2008 and was placed in liquidation in February 2009. It is estimated the group owes creditors $400 million.
In a case brought by the SFO, former Dominion Finance director Robert Barry Whale and former chief executive Paul William Cropp and an accused with name suppression face charges of theft by a person in a special relationship.
The case is to begin this month in the High Court at Auckland and is expected to last four weeks.
Former Dominion director Terence Butler was to have stood trial with the other defendants, but was excused in late November because he has cancer.
However,Butler is due in court in June for the hearing of an FMA case against him and five other former directors of the failed finance company.
The FMA alleges Terence and Ann Butler, Richard Bettle, Vance Arkinstall, Paul Forsyth and Robert Barry Whale misled investors by misrepresenting investment risks and made false statements in the group's registered prospectuses.
Belgrave Finance
Investors in Belgrave Finance were owed about $20 million when the company collapsed in May 2008, and receivers expect they will get back only about 21c in the dollar.
The SFO and FMA have charged four men associated with the company. Shane Buckley pleaded guilty in May to 19 charges of theft by a person in a special relationship, and four of making a false statement as a promoter under the Crimes Act.
He also pleaded guilty to one Securities Act charge of making an untrue statement and one Companies Act charge of making a false statement to a trustee. He was sentenced to three years in prison in August.
Stephen Smith and Raymond Schofield also faced Crimes Act, Securities Act and Companies Act charges but Schofield was granted a conditional stay of proceedings by the High Court in December because he has a terminal illness.
Smith's trial is due to start in April.
Belgrave's legal adviser, Hugh Hamilton, was charged in November on similar counts to the other men. His trial date has not been set.
The FMA is taking civil action against former Hanover directors and promoters Mark Hotchin, Eric Watson, Greg Muir, Bruce Gordon, Sir Tipene O'Regan and Dennis Broit over allegedly misleading or untrue statements made in offer documents.
The FMA is seeking compensation for investors who put $35 million into Hanover Finance, Hanover Capital and United Finance between December 2007 and July 22, 2008.
It is is also seeking penalty orders against the defendants, and if the claim is successful, the former directors and promoters could each face fines of up to $5 million.
Hotchin said last August that the FMA's case was ill-conceived, and relied on incorrect information in a forensic accounting report.
A trial date is yet to be set.
The SFO investigation into Hanover has been open for more than two years but no charges have been laid.
According to a Court of Appeal judgment, Hanover failed in mid-2008 causing substantial losses to depositors.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1178
|
__label__wiki
| 0.746675
| 0.746675
|
Final stage of Baypark to Bayfair to start next month
21 April 2017 12:36 pm | NZ Transport Agency
The final stage of Tauranga’s Baypark to Bayfair Link Upgrade will get underway in May, the NZ Transport Agency says.
CPB Contractors have been awarded the contract to build the second, and final, phase of the project, which includes two flyovers.
One flyover will take State Highway 29A traffic over the railway line and the Te Maunga intersection, and the other will take State Highway 2 traffic up and over the Maunganui-Girven roundabout.
Transport Agency Bay of Plenty Highways Manager, Niclas Johansson, says the contractors are likely to be onsite from mid-May and people will start to notice changes over the coming months.
“The Design and Construct team will now begin developing the final design, and we can expect to see site offices established and relocation of existing services to begin relatively soon, with major earthworks commencing later in the year when weather conditions typically improve.”
The Baypark to Bayfair Link Upgrade is designed to reduce congestion and improve safety by separating local and state highway traffic. It will also support economic growth in the region by improving the route to the Port of Tauranga.
Mr Johansson says stage one went well since it got underway in December 2015.
“Stage one, which involved enabling works, major earthworks, and the relocation of the East Coast Main Trunk Line railway line, was completed in December 2016,” he says.
“All going to plan we expect to have traffic using the new flyovers by 2020. Once it is finished it will make a real difference to commuters.”
As part of the contract the existing Maunganui-Girven Road intersection will also be upgraded, the Te Maunga roundabout replaced with an elevated interchange, and walking and cycling connections will be improved between Baypark and Bayfair.
The proposed walking and cycling facilities are currently being reviewed during the final design phase. The Transport Agency hopes to complete the review and identify any potential improvements to the current design before work starts.
The $120 million Baypark to Bayfair Link Upgrade will connect to the Tauranga Eastern Link, completing the Eastern Corridor for the Bay of Plenty.
The Eastern Corridor provides an efficient and safe route to the Port of Tauranga, encouraging economic growth and productivity in line with the strategic direction set by the 2015 Government Policy Statement (GPS) on land transport.
Stay up to date on what is happening by signing up to the database at www.nzta.govt.nz/b2b
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1179
|
__label__wiki
| 0.889538
| 0.889538
|
Dallas Cowboys Season Preview
Looking at the Dallas Cowboys chances in the upcoming season
Simon Chester
NFC East - Dallas Cowboys
2019 Odds:
You can back the Cowboys to win Super Bowl XIV here.
Draft Performance:
Round 2 – Defensive tackle, Trysten Hill, UCF
Round 3 – Offensive line, Connor McGovern, Penn State
A trade with the Oakland Raiders for wide receiver Amari Cooper last October cost the Dallas Cowboys their top pick in 2019 leaving them watching the draft from the side lines during round one. When they finally make their first selection, defensive tackle Trysten Hill was something of a surprise selection in round two given his disappointing Junior season at UCF that saw him reduced to a reserve role.
Thanks to his impressive strength and quickness, Hill has the potential to be a force as a run defender and he should see snaps in the defensive line rotation as a rookie. Questions about his character and work ethic surfaced after a coaching change and Hill’s playing time would suffer as a consequence. How much that was a reflection of the player or the new coaching staff remains to be seen, but it is worth noting that Hill had no issues with the previous regime that recruited him and made him a starter as freshman and a sophomore. The young prospect still has much to learn and his potential as a pass rusher may be limited, but he put enough plays on tape at college to suggest he could at least develop into a solid backup.
At 6-foot-5 and over 300 pounds, Connor McGovern has great size for his position and is blessed with the athleticism to function as an effective pulling guard or center. While scouts rave about his talents as a run blocker, there appears to universal agreement that McGovern has work to do as a pass blocker. The former Penn State product is unlikely to see extensive playing time as a rookie behind a strong group of starters but has the look of a future starter who could be a serviceable option if pressed into service as a rookie.
Offseason transactions:
With a number of high-profile names looking for contract extensions this offseason, the focus for the Cowboys has been retaining their own talent in 2019, with defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence and linebacker Jaylon Smith the big financial winners so far. A new deal for running back Ezekiel Elliot is expected to be announced very soon and negotiations with quarterback Dak Prescott are still ongoing after he reportedly rejected a deal worth over $30 million a year earlier in this month.
The return of formerly retired tight end Jason Witten might excite Cowboys fans who still own his jersey, but his production on the filed is unlikely to be any better than his last season in Dallas when he recorded 560 yards and five touchdowns. Former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Randall Cobb was the team’s most expensive free agent signing on offense and should more than make up for the loss of Cole Beasley to the Buffalo Bills.
Veteran defensive end Robert Quinn was a notable acquisition via trade from the Miami Dolphins and he will be joined by Christian Covington from the Houston Texans and Kerry Hyder of the Detroit Lions to help provide depth on defense. Quinn will miss the first two game of the season after receiving a suspension relating to his use of performance-enhancing drugs. Former Minnesota Vikings safety George Iloka could take over at strong safety from incumbent Jeff Heath.
Star players:
As one of the top three running backs in the NFL, Elliott is the clear star player on offense, closely followed by Pro Bowl center Travis Frederick, guard Zach Martin and tackle Tyron Smith. Together they form one of the best offensive lines in the league with La’el Collins an emerging talent at right tackle.
Prescott could be a star of the future at quarterback, but it is far too early to rank him among the elites at this stage of career. The same could be said of Cooper who still has plenty to prove before he can be viewed as one of the great receivers.
Lawrence is the star along the defensive line with a contract to match at $105 million over the next five years, while Smith is quickly becoming a star at linebacker along with Leighton Vander Esch. Pro Bowl cornerback Byron Jones had something of a breakout year after moving over from safety but will need to repeat those efforts in 2019 if he wants to make a claim to be considered as one the best in the NFL.
Season expectations:
While the Cowboys will be looking to improve on a 2018 season that saw them fall to the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional round of the playoffs, they are likely to be thwarted in their quest to repeat as NFC East champions by a superior Philadelphia Eagles team. It is also worth noting that Dallas has not recorded back-to-back playoff appearances since 2006/07 or successive double-digit win seasons since 1995/96.
Jason Garrett inexplicably remains in charge of the team for his ninth full year despite only four winning seasons and two playoff victories on his resume. With him in control of the team, it is difficult to be confident about their chances against quality opposition and impossible to have any faith in them as a potential Super Bowl candidate.
Dallas has the talent on offense to compete with most teams thanks to their strong running game and powerful offensive line. However, if forced to come from behind, the struggles in the passing game that were evident last year will doom this franchise if they persist again in 2019. It is a similar story on defense with a front seven capable of stopping most teams and a secondary that any good quarterback will be more than happy to face.
Ultimately, the greatest obstacle to success for the Cowboys could be the contract of their star running back, a deal that has yet to be finalized at the time of writing. Elliot has been engaged in a holdout since training camp began and has vowed to sit out the season if an agreement cannot be reached. Without Elliot, the chances of a playoff victory for Dallas are slim.
Sportsbook view:
Oddschecker spokesperson Pete Watt: ““The big narrative of this season for the Cowboys will be whether – and how much – the team are prepared to pay Dak Prescott.”
“It seems certain that their signal-caller will receive huge money, but will it be enough to make him the NFL’s highest-paid star?”
Based on the 2018 record of their opponents, Dallas will theoretically have the 14th ranked schedule in terms of difficulty heading into 2019. They will face teams that accumulated a combined record of 128-126-2 last season for a winning percentage of .504.
Opening the season with matchups against the New York Giants, Washington Redskins and Miami Dolphins is a nice way to ease into the regular season and the Cowboys should be grateful for a soft start to a year. However, a stretch of games between Week 12 through Week 16 that features only one weak opponent means that Dallas will need to start fast in 2019 if they have any hope of being in contention for the division title come Week 17.
Back the Cowboys now.
By Simon Chester
20190828 Dallas Cowboys Season Preview
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1180
|
__label__wiki
| 0.501711
| 0.501711
|
Saturday Racing Picks: Gulfstream Park
Racing expert Sweet Lou Monaco's picks for the Pegasus World Cup Dirt Invitational Stakes at Gulfstream Park
Lou Monaco
Sat, January 25, 9:49 AM
The first biggest day on the 2020 horse racing calendar takes place today at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida, highlighted by the $3 million dollar Pegasus World Cup Dirt Invitational Stakes for 4-year-olds and up over 1 1/8 miles.
The field of 10 will go to gate for race 12 on the huge 12-race card with an approximate post time of 5:34 p.m. ET.
#6, Higher Power, Flavien Prat, 6-1
When you finish in-the-money 12 out of 14 career starts, including five straight, you must be doing something right. With the defections of morning-line favorite Omaha Beach and second choice Spun To Run, I think Higher Power has an excellent shot here to grab his first win since the Grade 1 TVG Pacific Classic Stakes at Del Mar on Aug. 17. He has posted back-to-back third-place finishes in the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes (9/28) and the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (11/2), both at Santa Anita. This will be his first start at Gulfstream Park. Flavien Prat brings his talents from the West Coast to ride for trainer John Sadler. The pick.
#10, Mucho Gusto, Irad Ortiz, Jr., 9-2
Mucho Gusto is looking to get back to his old form after winning two straight, three of four, and four of six races capped off by a win in the Grade 3 Affirmed Stakes at Santa Anita on June 16. Since then, he has finished second in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational (Monmouth Park), third in the Grade 1 Travers Stakes (Saratoga) and a fourth-place finish in his last at the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby (Remington Park) on 9/29. Irad Ortiz, Jr. has the mount for trainer Bob Baffert, who won the inaugural PWC with Arrogate in 2017. This will be his 10th straight graded stakes races. He has had some pretty solid workouts leading up to this, so we shall see if an improve is in order. Runner-up.
#2, Tax, Jose Ortiz, 12-1
The last three starts for Tax has been a whirlwind. His last win was in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga (7/27). He followed that up with a disappointing seventh-place finish at the Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga (8/24) and in his last start, finished runner-up in the Grade 3 Discovery Stakes at Aqueduct (11/30), losing to Performer by 1 ¼ lengths. I think he might have found something in that race and Jose Ortiz, who is aboard for trainer Danny Gargan, will have to take advantage of that. Contender.
#4, Seeking the Soul, John Velazquez, 30-1
Seeking the Soul will be making his 32nd career start (7-6-7), but in his last four starts has finished out of the money with back-to-back sixth-place finishes, a fourth and a seventh. He is looking for his first win since the Grade 2 Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs on June 15. Last year, he finished runner-up in this race at 34-1 odds. John Velazquez is seeking to change the fortune of Seeking the Soul’s previous starts for trainer Dallas Stewart. Let’s see if the seven-year-old has one more in him. In the mix.
PICKS: 6-10-2-4
By Lou Monaco
loumonaco
Sweet Lou is a sportswriter with a passion and skill for picking winners on the track. Lou always knows when there's a horse you should be backing, whether it's the favorite or a longshot.
25/01/20 Saturday Racing Picks: Gulfstream Park
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1181
|
__label__wiki
| 0.683961
| 0.683961
|
Cadre of Shaker seniors “graduate” twice this year
judy.frost | June 15, 2016
As the National Park Service’s “adopted Class of 2016,” a handful of Shaker High School seniors celebrated a graduation of a different kind earlier this year commemorating their participation in a special program called “A Call to Action.” The multi-year program, which launched in 2011, winds down in 2016 – marking the National Park Service’s centennial year.
Shaker High School seniors stand with their Call to Action program advisers on the grounds of the Roosevelt National Historic Site in Hyde Park.
Through the Call to Action program, a group of students from Shaker Junior and Senior High Schools has forged a partnership with National Park Service at the Roosevelt-Vanderbilt National Historic Sites in New York’s mid-Hudson Valley region, where they participate in hands-on learning experiences and activities designed to help younger generations develop a deep understanding of park resources and appreciation of this country’s national treasures.
In late March, the Shaker seniors who have been involved with A Call to Action since the eighth grade were recognized for their commitment and their accomplishments over the past several years to help preserve and promote the resources of the neighboring historic sites in Hyde Park, which include President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Estate (Springwood) and Presidential Library and Museum and the Vanderbilt Mansion.
Students respond to A Call to Action
Shaker Junior High School social studies teacher Kathryn Peterson’s enthusiasm for history, and especially for all things Roosevelt, is contagious. She has visited the FDR estate often – taking her classes on at least one, sometimes two, field trips there per year. When approached by Susanne Norris, an environmental education and natural resource specialist at the FDR historic site, about participating in the Call to Action program, Peterson enthusiastically agreed.
“The opportunity for my students to work exclusively with the park service on thematic projects based on goals every year was one that I could not pass up,” she said. “The experience exposed students to a number of different occupations that exist and are provided through the national parks service, jobs they may not know about, or could have an interest in.”
Recognizing the scope and commitment required of this five-year project, Peterson recruited SJHS Library Media Specialist Judi Stott, also a history buff, for help coordinating the program.
Shaker High School seniors take a selfie with social studies teacher Kathryn Peterson and the director of the National Park Service Jonathan Jarvis at the FDR Estate.
For their first project, Shaker students created podcasts for students like themselves who visit the Roosevelt Estate and the Vanderbilt Mansion on school field trips. In all, they researched, wrote and recorded 23 podcasts corresponding to the various trail markers that dot the grounds of the FDR estate. Their goal, Peterson said, was to provide student-friendly podcasts that are interesting, have historical value and are easy to understand, as well. The project required significant research, including many conversations with those most familiar with the estate and its history. The students also hiked the trails many times over to gain firsthand knowledge of the estate and its topography.
The following year, students completed another series of podcasts for the Vanderbilt Mansion site. This offered students an opportunity to get behind-the-scenes access to the mansion, including servants’ quarters, giving them the perspective of the two worlds living under one roof. The podcasts for both national historic sites are available online for visitors to download to their own devices or to listen to via the website. Go to podcasts on National Park Service website
Peterson said an extraordinary opportunity for her students involved an off-site visit to the storage facility where the entire Roosevelt collection is warehoused. This hands-on project allowed students to learn the full artifact preservation process from professional archivists, including how to clean, label and store artifacts, and the system for keeping track of them.
“I would say that was one of the best experiences students have had because we were given the opportunity to see materials most people don’t get to see, and handle items that you normally wouldn’t,” she said. “It’s just been a phenomenal experience overall. I can’t say enough about the program and the opportunities it has provided my students.”
A student tends to the hydroponic garden in the Shaker Junior High School library.
Last year, students researched the historic gardens at the Val-Kill (First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt made this her permanent home after FDR’s death) and Springwood estates. Then with assistance from Stott, Peterson and the SJHS technology education department, students built a hydroponic garden that is housed in the school library. (A hydroponic garden uses mineral nutrient solutions in water, without soil, to grow plants.) Currently, cilantro, lettuces and other vegetables are grown for use by home and careers classes. Read about SJHS hydroponic garden
Other opportunities became available throughout the program, as well. For example, after learning about Mrs. Roosevelt’s passion for human rights, students created projects on the subject that they later presented at the Henry A. Wallace Visitor and Education Center on the grounds of the FDR Presidential Library & Home. Another time, they met African dignitaries who were visiting the historic site and heard the Minister of Education of Ghana speak. While visiting Valkill, they met an elderly woman who had long ago been employed by Mrs. Roosevelt and shared her memories of working with the First Lady. The students also met descendants of the Roosevelt family, including Mrs. Roosevelt’s granddaughter.
For their final project of the program, the seniors created a video tribute to various national parks across the U.S. and to the people responsible for supporting and preserving these historic sites and natural wonders. The video, which of course featured the FDR Estate and Val Kill, was a collaborative effort involving all students at Shaker High School, with assistance from Peterson and Stott. It was screened during the centennial celebration at Hyde Park.
Reflecting on the program and its impact
Shaker students became deeply committed to the program, as senior Rebekeh Depue explained in her reflection on A Call to Action that she shared during the March ceremony:
“We joined this program as 8th graders when it first started up in 2011. We had no idea what would become of our involvement or how important the history of Springwood and Val Kill would become to us. It’s amazing to think back on the connections we have made and the opportunities we were given to explore facets of the Roosevelts. Learning from their home and the grounds has given us a love for this park that will last a lifetime. Each year brought a new experience and theme that allowed us to learn hands-on and to take an active part in research for the corresponding year’s project.” Read student reflection
Peterson said that a few of the seniors involved in the program have decided to pursue careers related to human rights after learning about Mrs. Roosevelt’s work in that area. She also mentioned that at least two seniors referenced Eleanor Roosevelt in their college admissions essays.
“Angelica, another of my students who is graduating this year, said that everything she learned about Mrs. Roosevelt’s work in human rights has really helped shape her decision to major in psychology and further study human rights in college,” said Peterson.
Peterson added that another student who is interested in a law enforcement career was able to connect with a park ranger from the National Parks Service whose job involves police work.
SJHS Hall Principal Jan Zadoorian accompanied the group to Hyde Park for the first time in March and observed what he called a truly authentic learning experience.
“This program has been a multi-year commitment and what I saw from students was excitement about learning, pride in what they have accomplished, a real passion for the national parks and Hyde Park, itself,” he said. “Many talked on the bus ride down and while we were there about how often they have visited in the summer with family and friends on their own, outside of their school commitment. So this goes beyond a field trip or visit that is lost or forgotten once it’s over – it’s a real passion for students.”
Hoping to repeat history
As the National Park Service marks its centennial, it looks toward the future with an enduring goal to prepare younger generations for a second century of stewardship and engagement in the park system.
Students seated with statues of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt at the FDR Estate.
Peterson and her students want to help meet that goal by continuing the relationship with the National Parks Service at the FDR Estate next year. Plans are underway for a project this fall when students will participate in a re-enactment of the Torchlight Parade of FDR’s 1940 presidential campaign. These parades occurred during the election years throughout FDR’s presidency where people would march through town to the front door of the Roosevelt home. He and Eleanor along with their Scottish terrier Fala would greet the crowd, and President Roosevelt would then address them.
“During presidential elections years, the Park Service hosts a reenactment representing one of the four times President Roosevelt was elected,” Peterson explained. “We have been researching election campaign materials for 1940 and are recreating them for this year’s Torchlight Parade in October.”
Peterson and Stott thank the North Colonie School District administration for its support of the program and Park Ranger Norris and the many other NPS staff for this unique and inspiring opportunity to learn and live history.
“It’s just been an extremely positive experience for us and for the historic site staff. It’s exciting to know that they would want to continue working with us and we definitely want to keep working with them,” Peterson said. “If we create more history lovers in the process – that would be great, too.”
« June Jamboree
Shaker teams net three awards in 2016 NYS High School Business Plan Competition »
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1184
|
__label__wiki
| 0.83653
| 0.83653
|
The biggest star you’ve never heard of
Bergen DJ Kygo has vaulted from remixes to international fame in a mere three years
Photo: Tom Øverlie / NRK
This star’s 26th birthday is next week; with all his success he has much to celebrate!
Staff Compilation
If you have not heard of Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll, you might know him by his iconic stage name Kygo or recognize his unique sound on the radio. This young Norwegian DJ and music producer with origins from Bergen is a well-known and acclaimed Electronic Dance Music (EDM) star who quickly rose to fame both at home and abroad.
His rise to fame is breaking records. In 2015, he became the fastest artist to hit one billion streams (listens) on Spotify, a popular music streaming platform. He achieved this within just one year of releasing his first single.
Kygo and his rapid rise to stardom started with remixes made in the family home in the Bergen area. He released his first single, “Firestone,” featuring Conrad Sewell at the end of 2014. “Firestone” garnered attention internationally and led to his debut on worldwide charts. This young man in his mid-20s can now boast of his music reaching billions of streams across online platforms. Currently, his top hit is “It Ain’t Me,” which made it to the top 10 on the U.S. Billboard chart and has over 500 million streams on Spotify alone.
Kygo wears many hats, as he is a songwriter, musician, DJ, and record producer. He is credited with creating a new music genre called tropical house, but his music can also be characterized as EDM or deep house, and he is now making his way into the pop-scene with his latest singles “It Ain’t Me” with Selena Gomez and “First Time” with Ellie Goulding. Last year, Kygo launched his new lifestyle brand called Kygo Life, which includes merchandise, clothing collections, headphones, and snapbacks.
How can an artist be so huge and yet so relatively unknown? As Amos Barshad wrote in a Billboard cover story in 2016, “You may have never heard of Kygo. You may have never heard the term for the sound he invented: tropical house. But you know it. The kid born Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll popularized the effervescent congas and pan flutes that set apart, most prominently, Justin Bieber’s career-revitalizing, first No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 single, ‘What Do You Mean?,’ and Felix Jaehn’s remix of OMI’s ‘Cheerleader’ (another 2015 No. 1 smash).”
Kygo has several notable performances under his belt, such as the EDM festival TomorrowWorld in Atlanta, the Ellen DeGeneres Show, and more high-profile venues such as the Nobel Peace Prize Concert and the Closing Ceremonies at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. In 2015, Kygo won the Spellemann award at the Norwegian Grammy Awards.
Signed with Sony Music/Ultra, Kygo released his debut studio album titled Cloud Nine, which features several well-known artists and collaborators, including Foxes, Angus & Julia Stone, and John Lennon. He is on track to release a new album this fall. Kygo has enjoyed great Norwegian and international success with his own hits “Firestone,” “Stole the Show,” “Nothing Left,” and “Here For You,” which you can find online on iTunes, Spotify, and other platforms.
What do you think of Kygo’s relaxed and melodic electronic house style?
Further reading / viewing / listening:
• “Kygo on His Rise to Fame—‘I Have to Enjoy It While It Lasts,’” Billboard, link: www.billboard.com/articles/news/cover-story/6882495/billboard-cover-kygo-rise-fame-dance
• Kygo: Stole the Show, documentary available on iTunes, link: itunes.apple.com/us/music-movie/kygo-stole-the-show/id1259108856?app=music&gclid=Cj0KCQjwwevLBRCGARIsAKnAJvfvLrxHEsVnsEzjSgsbQPVS7l7TrikLpVMhNcbfszOi0d3krHwGEskaAifAEALw_wcB
• Key to Success, NRK documentary, link: tv.nrk.no/serie/noekkelen-til-suksess/MKMF40000415/sesong-1/episode-4 (in Norwegian)
• “Firestone” music video, link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Sc-ir2UwGU
• “It Ain’t Me” music video, link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3VTKvdAuIY
“Einar” coming to a theatre near you
by The Norwegian American · Published October 16, 2015 · Last modified October 14, 2015
Book review: “Mari’s Hope”
by The Norwegian American · Published November 16, 2017 · Last modified December 12, 2017
Leif Ove Andsnes conquers Chicago
by Lori Ann Reinhall · Published September 29, 2019 · Last modified December 25, 2020
Next Norwegian 101: The accordion
Previous A musical journey: Leif & Sunnie bring a favorite song home
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1186
|
__label__wiki
| 0.864442
| 0.864442
|
Watch the First Sherlock Holmes Movie (1900), the Arrival of the Most Popular Character in Cinema
in Film, Literature | May 13th, 2016 1 Comment
According to Guinness World Records, the human literary character who pops up most often on screens big and small is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle‘s best known creation, Sherlock Holmes. (Hamlet is a distant second.)
The list of actors who’ve had a go include Benedict Cumberbatch, Robert Downey, Jr., Ian McKellen, Michael Caine, and Basil Rathbone.
John Cleese spoofed him on Comedy Playhouse.
John Gielgud’s celebrated voice brought Holmes to life opposite Ralph Richardson’s Dr. Watson in a 1954 radio series.
The fictional detective time warped onto Fantasy Island and the holodeck of the Starship Enterprise, in the respective form of Peter Lawford and Brett “Data” Spiner.
Although Holmes maintained that “the fair sex was (Watson’s) department,” the Soviet Union’s My Tenderly Loved Detective featured actress Yekaterina Vasilyeva as a female Sherlock named Shirley.
But no one has solved the mystery of 1900’s Sherlock Holmes Baffled, above, the very first filmed entertainment to feature the character. The director and cinematographer was Arthur W. Marvin, who went on to serve as cameraman for D. W. Griffith’s early silent films. The identity of his starring actor has unfortunately been lost to the ages.
The film itself was believed lost, too, until Michael Pointer, a historian specializing in Sherlock Holmesiana, unearthed a paper copy in a Library of Congress archive. A series of individual cards, it was intended to be viewed by Mutoscope, a single viewer, crank-operated peep show device, common in turn-of-the-century arcades.
No doubt audiences who paid a penny to watch this fairly plotless 30-second adventure were more impressed by the special effects than the anonymous actor playing the iconic detective.
To see how this mystery man’s performance measures up against other cinematic Sherlocks, check out these Holmes films found on the web. And find other great films in our collection, 1,150 Free Movies Online: Great Classics, Indies, Noir, Westerns, etc.:
• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Free – The film is adapted from the 1899 play “Sherlock Holmes” by William Gillette, and stars Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Ida Lupino, George Zucco and Alan Marshal. (1939)
• Dressed to Kill – Free – The last of 14 films starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Doctor Watson. (1941)
• Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon – Free – Sherlock Holmes rescues an inventor of a new bomb site before the Nazis can get him. (1943)
• The Woman in Green – Free – Sherlock Holmes investigates when young women around London turn up murdered, each with a finger severed off. Scotland Yard suspects a madman, but Holmes believes the killings to be part of a diabolical plot. Stars Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson. (1945)
• Terror by Night – Free – Sherlock Holmes film, the thirteenth to star Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce and was directed by Roy William Neill. The story revolves around the theft of a famous diamond aboard a train. (1946)
Read the Lost Sherlock Holmes Story That Was Just Discovered in an Attic in Scotland
Hear The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, the Vintage Radio Drama Starring John Gielgud, Orson Welles & Ralph Richardson
Arthur Conan Doyle Names His 19 Favorite Sherlock Holmes Stories
Download the Complete Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle’s Masterpiece
Ayun Halliday is an author, illustrator, and Chief Primatologist of the East Village Inky zine. Follow her @AyunHalliday.
by Ayun Halliday | Permalink | Comments (1) |
I just missed Jonny Lee Miller in the list
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1193
|
__label__wiki
| 0.704039
| 0.704039
|
This week's window on the Middle East - December 17, 2012
Arab Awakening's columnists offer their weekly perspective on what is happening on the ground in the Middle East. Leading the week: Fixing the rules of the game
Arab Awakening
Fixing the rules of the game
Egyptian implications of an enforced constitution
Libya taxi talk: experiences and expectations of democracy
Tunisian graffiti artists targeted by law
Winter: is it coming to Jordan?
Remembering Mohamed Abdel-Salam in Medani, Sudan
By Nader Bakkar
I dare say that last Saturday represented a major shift in the Egyptian political scene. But if we want to have realistic solutions for our cascading crises we must focus on the “final product” rather than resorting to endless debates about who joined in and who didn’t. Every time we enter this fruitless debate it ends up by incriminating the opposition front first and foremost. It is highly unreasonable to refuse dialogue and then to sit singing the tune “the president is talking with himself!”
One of the most important features of the final outcome is that the presidential institution benefited a lot by expanding its circle of consultations and various kinds of legal expertise from outside the conventional frame it had shrouded itself in throughout the previous period. Add to this the notable flexibility in adopting the decision of this extensive advisory body. All of this is to be commended and we confirm the need to continue with the same approach in the future.
Another advance that we have taken major advantage of is the fact that the ball is now in the peoples’ court; so it is not the opposition and it is not the ruling party who will decide the fate of this country any more. We are now resorting to the polls for the fourth time in a row since the revolution. It is now the people who will decide how to end this crisis through free and direct elections. Now the roadmap is clear for both paths – the yes-path and the no-path – which was something we distinctly and clearly missed before the dialogue that took place last Saturday.
No need to take this as intransigence or favoring one opinion over the other; it’s true that the word “compatibility” has this nice ring to it - since it expresses the idea of satisfying everyone at large. But we can never overrule the inevitability of differences: it just matters how we handle and regularise such differences. But does compatibility mean convincing me of your viewpoint? If this was true, why then did they invent voting?
I never thought the day would come when I would have to explain the meaning of “majority vote”. But some of our friends are fooling the Egyptian people by telling them that what we have is unmatched in the whole world! In fact, we are surrounded by constitutions that are either written by constituent assemblies that directly “acknowledge” a constitution, provided that it is approved by either two-thirds of its members, or by the simple majority vote (50+1), after which it is put for public referendum. But to combine both methods is something really strange!
One of the notable consequences of the dialogue of last Saturday was the huge inconsistency exposed in the attitude of the opposition after the noted division in the conference held by the National Salvation Front to determine their position from the results of the dialogue. Some supported moving forward in imposing their own vision in defiance of an actually-existing legitimate status quo in the country; while others became convinced that a major part of the problem has already vanished and hence they tried to narrow the gap. From all that was said in this conference I stopped so long in front of the words expressed by Dr. Osama Al-Ghazaly with unmatched courage and sincerity, when he argued that the issue is not about an edict or no edict, the issue is whether, “… this is a revolution to overthrow the rule of the FJP just as the first revolution overthrew the NDP!” So it all boils down to the fact that this is not any rational political opposition as much as it is related to the battle of existence or exclusion!
This is precisely my major fear and concern! That our differences, no matter how deep they go, can end up in division. That political competition can end up with something like, “if you’re not with us you’re against us!” For this particular reason I have tried to indicate repeatedly that we need to agree on some rules of the game to be shared between all the competitors in the political arena.
If we are talking about a democratic framework that everyone has agreed to follow starting with the parliamentary elections (with both its entities) and ending with the presidential elections, then we have to know that this framework has guidelines that govern everyone and standards to which all teams must aspire. These standards will surely criminalize surrounding the presidential palace and besieging the Constitutional Court. These standards will not allow burning the headquarters of political parties and will not give to individual citizens the power to detain other citizens or interrogate them and possibly even sentence them as well!
By Dina El Sharnouby
The very preliminary results of the Constitutional Referendum showed 43% voting against it and 57% for it. It is no surprise that over 50% voted against the Constitution in Cairo and Alexandria but these results have significant political implications. After much debate around what percentage of votes for the constitution would constitute an absolute majority, eventually is seems the Egyptian constitution will be passed if it secures 50% plus one vote. The strong argument that either over 65% or two thirds of the population needed to vote for the constitution for it to pass was ignored. So many Egyptians now assume that the constitution will be secured, but what implications does this outcome have on the Egyptian streets?
Belal Fadl, a political activist and writer, stated openly in an interview on ON TV that a constitution can never be enforced on its people. This rather bold statement has a lot of resonance at the moment if you take in the political scene in Egypt. The enforcement of voting on a constitution in a process of formation hotly contested by the opposition, one which bypasses a fulsome national dialogue, and one which is frankly imposed on the population, carries much tension in its wake.
Since the fall of the Mubarak regime, the opposition to those in power have demonstrated little tolerance for elections results that prove to have involved a measure of enforcement in some form, or some obvious injustice. The Mohamed Mahmoud clashes in November 2011, for example, started with the opposition disagreeing with the rights the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces wanted to impose on the constitution in relation to securing their economic gains and maintaining secrecy about their budgets. Though a minority of the 80 million Egyptians stood on Mohamed Mahmoud, once some died, the clashes did not end until acting President Sharaf left his post and the amendments were put on hold. An active minority that is willing to die for a cause have also been successful in getting their demands included in the process of change. If my reading of the political scene is at all accurate, then the enforced passing of this constitution could be disastrous.
In contrast to all the previous protests that have taken place in Egypt against the ruling regimes from President Mubarak to the SCAF, the opposition is no longer taking to the streets against institutions such as the SCAF or the police force. The devastating events two weeks ago surrounding the presidency have triggered escalating clashes and street fights between Islamists and the liberals who want a secular state. Each group of citizens has a passionate cause to fight for, some supporting President Morsi’s actions which others diametrically oppose. A possibility that was not present until recently, of civilians fighting each other, could lead to dramatic implications if the coming period of ideological division is not managed wisely. A ‘yes’ vote on the constitution will not automatically bring stability to the country as many believe. The exclusion of activists who could be the minority but loud on the streets and willing to die for their cause are an important sector in any society. They need to be involved in some form. What will the activists in Tahrir Square demand next, once the constitution is passed? Is it expected that they will simply get up and leave after having been at Tahrir Square for almost one month?
A Constitution cannot be enforced. It is a guidebook that will regulate the living conditions of the population at large. The threshold for tolerance among the population at large is stretched to its limit. Many frustrated Egyptians especially from the lower middle class have already suffered under the Mubarak regime, and are fed up with the uncertainties and instability of the current situation. The opposition is truly wedded to their demands for a more inclusive process of socio-political change. They do not look likely to compromise on that soon. Islamists on the other hand seem to have forgotten what they are calling for, other than knee-jerk support for President Morsi in opposition to the liberals. They seem quite content to enforce their powers including showing their muscle on the streets if necessary.
The decision to pass a constitution which secures 50% of the electorate plus one vote, ignoring the demands and activism of an active opposition, could prove to be a terrible mistake in the longer term. I strongly hope that President Morsi will soon find the means for productive dialogue with the opposition which leads to some form of political inclusion. Should the government, with the help of the Islamists, as their main active supporters, simply assume that the Sanadeeq, the ballot boxes, have spoken for the people, seizing this as an opportunity for propagating their own ideologies while taking for granted the people’s support - Egypt will be consigned to a new era of suffering led by blindness and ignorance.
By Rhiannon Smith
As someone who frequently takes taxis in Libya’s capital Tripoli, I have come to appreciate that ‘taxi talk’ functions as a valuable barometer for the current state of affairs in this country. Over the last few weeks, the three main issues which have come up time and again during my taxi journeys are the constitution, the integrity commission and of course the perennial problem of ‘zahma’ (traffic).
Although at first glance it may seem that these are all separate issues of varying importance, I would argue that in fact they are all equally significant indicators of a broader theme within Libya’s post revolution society; that is an increasing awareness of democratic principles characterized by a growing gap between the expectations of the public and the capacity of the current authorities to deliver.
Drafting a new Libyan constitution is a crucial phase in Libya’s transition, yet so far the Constitutional Committee tasked with writing it has yet to be formed. Debates about the constitution are raging in Congress and in various public forums, yet the topic of discussion is not what should be included in the constitution but how the drafting committee should be formed. The Constitutional Declaration of August 2011 stated that the committee should be made up of experts appointed by the GNC, however two days prior to the July 2012 elections the NTC amended this in favour of a publicly elected committee. The end result has been a stalling of the drafting process, eating into precious time which would be better utilized engaging the public on the contents of the new constitution.
There are strong opinions on both sides of the debate, but given the current Egyptian debacle and the fact that the Libyan process is already several months behind target, there is growing pressure from media, civil society and citizens themselves for a decision to be made so that the truly critical work can begin.
Many are questioning why the congress appear to be doing nothing, while for their part parliamentarians seem reluctant to make the necessary decisions for fear of making the wrong ones. There is an expectation from the public that, as elected politicians, congress members should have the knowledge and confidence to make such important decisions. However, while in theory this is true, a lack of experience, support and democratic institutions means this is not as straightforward as many believe it to be.
The second issue concerns controversy regarding recent decisions by the Integrity Commission to disbar certain Ministers and state officials. The Commission is charged with investigating those seeking high office for having ties with the Gaddafi regime, yet it has drawn criticism from international organizations such as Human Rights Watch for its lack of transparency, as well as sparking several large protests across Libya both for and against its rulings.
The commission was set up as a mechanism to try and ensure members of the previous regime, and therefore their practices, did not infiltrate new Libya. However the process by which the commission makes its decisions and the evidence it uses is shrouded in secrecy, spawning rumours that the commission is being used by foreign powers such as Qatar to influence Libyan politics. Undoubtedly this screening mechanism was set up in the interest of new Libya, but in employing the same opaque tactics as the previous regime it has engendered more suspicion than reassurance and is an example of just how difficult it is to overhaul deeply institutionalized ways of working, despite best intentions.
The final issue of ‘zahma’ is nothing new or unusual in Tripoli, yet its dimensions have changed subtly in recent weeks and months. Pre-revolution people complained about the traffic frequently, but offered little in the way of cause or solution. Now the issue has been upgraded to something which merits serious discussion, analysis and finger-pointing, which often results in questions being asked of the government as to why they haven’t done anything to improve the mess that Gaddafi left behind.
On the one hand this shows the strides forward being made in Libyan society whereby people can now say what they think without fear of recrimination, yet on the other it illustrates the overwhelming pressure the authorities are under to perform despite in most cases lacking the necessary expertise, resources and institutions to do so. Of course the electorate has the right to demand better public services from their representatives, but where politicians are unable to deliver immediately there is a tendency to dismiss them as inefficient, incompetent or closet Gaddafi supporters - which is unfair given the enormity of the tasks ahead of them.
The open discussion and debate around these three issues represents the seedling of democracy which took root in Libya’s Arab Spring and which is now starting to push its way to the surface. However while there is growing public pressure on the congress and government to act on a whole host of issues, few Libyans seem to appreciate the obstacles which their newly elected politicians face and their limited capacity to act efficiently at this early stage in Libya’s transition. That said, drafting Libya’s constitution cannot happen soon enough and those in power must show they have what it takes to lead their country forward to a new era of constitutional democracy, stability and freedom.
By Sana Ajmi
Two graffiti artists were arrested last month for drawing graffiti in Tunisia’s South East region of Gabes. The young artists face charges of breaching the state of emergency, writing on public property and publishing messages that disturbed the public order. Supporters have argued that this act puts into question the status of freedom of expression in post-revolution Tunisia.
Chahine Berriche, 22 years old has just finished his studies at the Institute of Arts and Multimedia in Tunis and Oussama Bouagila, 25 years old, is completing his masters.
Berriche and Bouagila were arrested November 3 for writing on the wall of a university: “the people want rights for the poor” and “the poor are the living-dead in Tunisia.” The young artists are members of the activist street-art community ‘Zwelwa’ (the poor in Tunisian dialect) known for its use of graffiti to address social problems of the marginalized people of Tunisia.
The trial of the two students was postponed from December 5 to January 23, 2013. Attorney Bochra Belhaj Hmida said that if convicted, the two artists (who remain free) could face up to five years in prison.
“I can’t believe this is happening in post-revolution Tunisia. If the judge finds them guilty, I believe freedoms in Tunisia will be violated,” said Hmida.
The impoverished region of Gabes was severely marginalized during the former ruling regime. The residents of the region have suffered from a terrible economic situation and harsh living conditions, the same reasons that fueled Tunisia’s revolution two years ago.
The Zwewla case has quickly circulated on social networks and many people and civil society groups have expressed their support for the young people. Some civil society activists have now launched an online campaign called “Graffiti is not a crime”. The group, which has more than 3,500 fans on Facebook, expressed their support to their members. On twitter, under the hashtag “freezwewla”, a number of activists and artists have called for the charges to be dropped. During the week of the Carthage film festival, a support rally was organized to make people aware of their plight.
“I’m in solidarity with them,” said Radhia Nasraoui, a lawyer and head of the anti-torture association.
In fact, the trial of the two students is not the first time that art has been attacked in Tunisia after the revolution. The display “Printemps Des Arts Fair” at the Palais Abdellia in the Tunis suburb of La Marsa, infuriated some ultra-conservative groups who accused the exhibited works of being morally offensive. The exhibition sparked riots last June resulting in the death of a 22 year old man and hundreds of other people injured. This targeted gallery had several works of art destroyed and an overnight curfew was declared in several Tunisian cities.
By Munir Atalla
Not one week ago, a rare public debate was held in Amman. The audience was made up of 550 people, among them - student activists, former and current ministers, and diplomats representing a wide range of opinions and experiences.
The event was orchestrated by a project called the “New Arab Debates”, launched by English television journalist Tim Sebastian in 2011. The format is as follows: a resolution is chosen. Two speakers are brought in, one is affirming the resolution, and the other has the task of negating it. They debate one full round, and then the discussion is moved out to the audience. At the end of the discussion, the audience is asked to vote on the resolution.
On December 10, a resolution that read, ‘This House believes Jordan is on the brink of serious political turmoil and unrest’, was passed by a narrow majority of 54%. Past debates have dealt with other sensitive issues, among them Islamism in Tunisia, democracy - or lack thereof - in Egypt, and peace treaties with Israel.
Hassan Barrari, a political scientist at the University of Jordan spoke for the motion, and did not mince words. He accused the King of changing governments, “as fast as he changes his knickers,” and said that the same official were being recycled, “like musical chairs.” Barrari warned that Jordan is “ going to elections as a society divided on key issues and this will trigger the political crisis in Jordan."
While Barrari was the democratic vitor, the other narrative came astoundingly close. Argued for by former senator and Minister of Justice, Trade and Foreign Affairs, Salaheddin al-Bashir, the negative team tried to quell the fears of the audience. "Jordan's state institutions and socio-political features are robust and we are gradually and surely responding to those challenges in a way that will get us out of the turbulence," he reassured. But the majority of listeners didn’t buy it.
The answer to the resolution will be discovered in a matter of weeks, as Parliamentary elections are scheduled for January. Some parties have already hinted at a possible boycott.
True, there is a human bias towards sensationalism. More often than not in the past few years Jordan has seemed like a freight train tearing through the last stretch of tracks towards a gaping cliff. But things always have a way of working themselves out. There is always too little water, too many Palestinians, Iraqis or Syrians, and too many new governments in too short a time. Yet, Jordan soldiers on.
The debate was recorded at the Landmark Hotel and is just that. Several of the attendees interviewed remarked that this sort of critical debate was usually reserved for private gatherings or, more recently, the internet. The Jordanian public sphere has been bubbling to the surface as of late, and in such a setting, it would be nearly impossible to crackdown on it. The debate will be televised on December 19 and accessible online in both English and Arabic shortly afterwards.
By Reem Abbas
On August 3, 1998, a law student at the University of Khartoum called Mohamed Abdelsalam, was detained by security forces after taking part in protests against the rise in accommodation and education fees.
The next day, Mohamed Abdelsalam's parents were told that their son died during clashes between the police and students. An autopsy, however showed that the cause of death is, "brain haemorrhage" due to repeated beatings about the head and Abdelsalam's parents, tragically, saw their son's body covered with bruises.
Abdelsalam was from Medani and I thought about him on the way to Medani last Friday after hearing news of two students who died in security custody shortly after they were detained. And his face with the classic glasses, a face I only saw in pictures, came to my mind a few times even after coming back from Medani.
Abdelsalam and two others were detained after going to the storage room of the Student Fund and distributing mattresses, lamps and used fans that the fund was not giving to poor students who have come from all parts of Sudan to study.
He just didn't want his fellow students to sleep on the floor and not have a lamp in their rooms if they wanted to study at night.
In Medani, fourteen years later, two students were found dead in a pond on Friday after taking part in protests and participating in a forum against the university's decision to make Darfuri students pay fees.
Students for Darfur have been exempted from fees since 2006 and in the 2011 Darfur peace agreement signed in Qatar, article 14 states that students whose families are in internally displaced person (IDPs) camps or are refugees are in turn exempted from fees
Sadly, due to an administrative problem they have no hand in, the students could not prove they qualify, they did not have the right documents.
Two students were lying in the morgue when I reached Medani and by Sunday, four students were dead. Their colleagues accuse the security force of torturing them to death as they went missing in their custody.
The police and the university issued a statement detailing how the students drowned in the sewage pond their bodies were found in. Their colleagues say that the pond is 1 meter deep making it impossible for them to drown.
Yesterday in a public forum, a student activist said what will forever be remembered by the attendees," We enter the university with pens and notepads, but from now on we will enter with machetes to protect ourselves."
The machetes are a clear reference to the security agents who attacked students in a university in Khartoum state a few days ago.
Abdelsalam was not the first student to be killed by security agents for standing up for student rights and the four students killed last week will probably not be the last.
Published in: Home
Written by: Nader Bakkar All articles by: Nader Bakkar
Written by: Dina El Sharnouby All articles by: Dina El Sharnouby
Written by: Rhiannon Smith All articles by: Rhiannon Smith
Written by: Sana Ajmi All articles by: Sana Ajmi
Written by: Munir Atalla All articles by: Munir Atalla
Written by: Reem Abbas All articles by: Reem Abbas
Democracy and government
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1194
|
__label__wiki
| 0.935041
| 0.935041
|
In the summer of 1940, the Marine Corps embarks on a critical mission: to find a site for a new base. The criteria are straightforward: It must be big enough
The Devil Dogs Find a Home
As war tensions ratchet up, the Marine Corps needs a training ground on the East Coast, and the military finds what it’s looking for near Jacksonville.
In the summer of 1940, the Marine Corps embarks on a critical mission: to find a site for a new base. The criteria are straightforward: It must be big enough to accommodate a sizable force, isolated enough to practice maneuvers and live firing of heavy weapons, and, above all, it must have extensive beaches on which to perfect the dangerous mission of amphibious assault.
For the search, the commandant of the Marines, Maj. Gen. Thomas Holcomb, sends Maj. John C. McQueen and a pilot to conduct aerial reconnaissance from Norfolk, Virginia, clear down the Atlantic Coast and along the Gulf Coast as far as Corpus Christi, Texas. At Onslow Bay on the New River, they survey 14 miles of undeveloped beaches and a large expanse of coastal pine forest and swampy wetlands, near what would become the Marine Corps Air Station at Cherry Point. Marines must train in tangled thickets, wade through mucky swamps, and contend with mosquitoes, bears, alligators, and several species of venomous snakes.
It turns out to be the perfect proving ground for both amphibious assault and jungle fighting.
The new base encompasses 174 square miles — but it’s not quite as empty as it looks from the air. Just as families have been removed from the Little Tennessee River Valley to make way for Fontana Dam and Lake, and from the countryside around Fayetteville to form Fort Bragg, some 2,400 people are displaced to make way for the Marines. By April 1941, construction gets underway — 8,000 civilian workers labor in the humid heat to build what is first called simply Marine Barracks New River.
The base commander, Lt. Col. W.P.T. Hill, sets up headquarters at the Gurganus Farmhouse, a two-story clapboard structure. A tobacco barn serves as a warehouse. An advance detail from the 1st Marine Regiment settles into a hotel and cottages on Paradise Point.
In less than two months, workers lay eight miles of railroad tracks to connect the base with the Atlantic Coast Line in Jacksonville. Equipment, supplies, and construction materials now flow into the base, and soon combat-ready Marines will ship out for war on trains bound for Wilmington and ports of embarkation on the West Coast. In September, the First Marine Division under Brig. Gen. Philip H. Torrey moves into a tent camp.
The base takes shape in four phases: In phase one, the tent camp is laid out and the naval hospital at Hadnot Point is built, along with the Division Training Area. In phase two, engineers dredge channels in the New River and add piers, roads, and athletic and recreational facilities. In phase three, barracks are added for the Montford Point Marines and the Women’s Reserves. By the end of phase four — which continues the addition of buildings and the expansion of training grounds — the base can accommodate more than 40,000 Marines.
From the start, New River is used for advanced infantry training for Marines who have completed seven weeks of rigorous basic training at Parris Island, South Carolina, or San Diego. By 1943, engineering and field medical schools are on site.
Alone among all Marine bases, it provides training for Marine Corps Women’s Reserves — nearly 19,000 of them during the course of the war. They arrive in Wilmington as civilians, 500 at a time on troop trains. From there, they ride the Atlantic Coast Line to Camp Lejeune, where buses carry them to spartan brick barracks. They sleep on rows of bunks in open “squad bays” and use communal showers, then are roused by reveille at 0545 hours for an intensive training program of close-order drill, physical conditioning, classroom instruction, and demonstrations of gunnery, hand-to-hand combat, heavy weapons, and landing craft. Specialist schools train the women as radio operators, drivers, mechanics, clerks, and quartermasters. Initially, some of the male drill instructors deride them, but soon, the women’s determination and competence win them the respect of many.
New River joins Fort Bragg and Camp Mackall (airborne troops), Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point (fighter and bomber crews), Camp Davis (anti-aircraft artillery crews), Seymour Johnson Field (fighter and bomber crews), Laurinburg-Maxton Army Air Base (transport and glider pilots), Camp Butner (infantry), and Camp Sutton (combat engineers) — altogether more than 50 installations representing all branches of the service. North Carolina earns the distinction of training more troops for war than any other state in the Union.
For more than a century and a half after its founding in 1775, the U.S. Marine Corps’ mission was to provide security aboard Navy ships, to seize and defend advanced naval stations, and to fight as an agile expeditionary force in hot spots around the world: China, Nicaragua, Haiti, the Philippines.
In the Great War, Marines fought in several massive pitched battles, most famously at Belleau Wood. There, they stopped the German advance 30 miles from Paris at a cost of almost 10,000 casualties — more than the Corps had suffered in its entire history to that point. Some said the Germans called them teufel hunden — Devil Dogs. The name stuck.
By the 1920s, war planners focused the Marines’ mission on the far-flung island stations in the Pacific — naval fueling depots and, later, airfields that would become crucial in any campaign against the Japanese. And with this new focus comes another: amphibious assault.
The problem of getting troops ashore alive and in fighting shape in the face of a fortified enemy has long proved a conundrum. In the landing at Daiquiri during the Cuban campaign of 1898, facing no resistance ashore, soldiers and mules drowned simply trying to get to the landing quays. At Gallipoli in 1915, Australian and New Zealand troops attempting to land were slaughtered in the face of Turkish guns.
This is the problem that a few visionary Marines set out to solve — led by Maj. Gen. John Archer Lejeune, commandant of the Marine Corps during the interwar period between 1920 and 1929 — as lessons learned in the Great War combine with new technology and the emerging role of aviators. Ships can fight with their multiple-caliber guns. Marines ashore can maneuver and fight using all the weapons in their arsenal. But Marines in transit from ship to shore are vulnerable to long-range fire, artillery, underwater mines, and aerial attacks — all from an enemy they cannot readily fight. The mission is to get as many of them ashore as quickly as possible — alive and well-equipped — to join the battle.
General Lejeune now defines the Marines first and foremost as an amphibious force. With a cadre of like-minded officers, he sets about testing landing craft and devising methods by which Marines work in conjunction with naval beach parties in charge of the landing boats, coordinating their assaults with covering fire from the air or naval ships stationed offshore to soften up the landing zone. Once ashore, Marine shore parties take over to unload supplies from landing craft and move them off the beach, round up stragglers, and secure prisoners.
The tactics are not perfect — assaulting Marines are still at the mercy of weather and tides, unseen underwater obstructions such as coral reefs, errors in planning, and, always, enemy fire.
In November 1942, General Lejeune dies — and the base is named in his honor a month later: Marine Barracks Camp Lejeune. For some years, there is debate about how to pronounce the name correctly. In 1950, Miss Eugenia D. Lejeune, daughter of the late Lieutenant General Lejeune and a veteran of the Women’s Reserve, settles the matter: She explains to a local newspaper that the name is not pronounced “Le June” but “Lerzhern.”
By the time Pearl Harbor is attacked, inspiring 18,000 new recruits, the active-duty Corps numbers some 66,000 Marines — all white. By war’s end, it will include almost 10 times that number. The much larger Army maintains segregated units for black soldiers, the Navy restricts their duty to the mess hall, and the Marines do not enlist them at all. But in the face of early Japanese victories in the Pacific, every branch of the service needs more men.
In February 1942, the General Board of the Navy directs General Holcomb to determine which assignments could be carried out by black Marines. In April 1942, President Roosevelt directs Secretary of the Navy W. Frank Knox to enlist blacks in every branch of the naval service.
Under pressure from the General Board, headquarters organizes the 51st Defense Battalion (Composite) of infantry, coastal artillery, anti-aircraft, armored, and maintenance personnel. By summer, 900 black Marines, ages 17 to 29, from California to the Carolinas, are recruited for training at a segregated facility attached to New River Barracks, on a peninsula jutting into the New River called Montford Point.
There, they complete basic training, then learn marksmanship, gunnery with heavy weapons, how to deploy and operate tanks and artillery, and a variety of other supporting skills. As a defense battalion, the 51st will be expected to operate independently, holding remote island airfields against Japanese attack, and its mission requires that it be self-contained and flexible, able to cover any contingency of assault from the air, land, or sea. Specialist support units — such as ammunition companies — can also expect to serve attached to assault forces.
Their officers are all white, as are their drill instructors (DI). But by 1943, black DIs rise through the ranks and take charge of training. Recruits thought that would be good, but they find that black DIs are tougher because they were determined to make the young Marines successful, to be even better than their white counterparts.
Soon, a second battalion is added, the 52nd, and in 1944, both units find themselves deployed to the Pacific Theater.
The First Marine Division ships out in the summer of 1942 for combat on Guadalcanal, Peleliu, and Okinawa — three of the fiercest battles of the war. At Peleliu alone, in six weeks of sustained combat, more than 1,200 Marines are killed in action — including men from two companies of Montford Point Marines. After the war, the First Division moves to Camp Pendleton, California.
The 51st deploys first to the Ellice Islands and then farther north to the Marshall Islands, to guard airfields and staging bases. Four companies from Montford Point hit the beach at Iwo Jima with the first assault waves and are pinned down for hours under withering fire before advancing inland.
The 52nd is deployed to Guam for patrol action, where it remains until the Japanese surrender.
More than 2,000 Montford Point Marines take part in the Battle of Okinawa, just 400 miles south of the Japanese home islands. After the surrender, nine companies of black Marines deploy to Sasebo naval base, just north of Nagasaki, to help clear the monumental scorched wreckage left in the wake of the second atomic bomb. Soon afterward, the companies of the 51st and 52nd are deactivated one by one until, by the end of 1947, the last are gone. A year later, President Harry Truman orders the services desegregated. In 1949, Montford Point is decommissioned. From now on, black recruits will train at Parris Island or San Diego, with whites.
The Women’s Reserves deploy to bases at home and abroad, playing vital roles in quartermaster depots, offices, and repair shops, and running motor transportation sections at Pearl Harbor and other installations, freeing male Marines for combat duty.
The Second Marine Division fights on Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Tinian, and Okinawa — all crucial, savage battles to seize air and sea bases for the eventual assault on Japan. The Second Division joins the occupation forces in Japan for a short stint before returning home. From now on, its permanent base will be Camp Lejeune.
The base becomes an anchor for the Jacksonville community, a key part of its identity, and, unlike many other installations established in wartime haste and just as hastily decommissioned, Camp Lejeune endures as the “Home of Expeditionary Forces in Readiness.”
This story was published on Nov 27, 2018
Philip Gerard
Philip Gerard is the author of 13 books, including The Last Battleground: The Civil War Comes to North Carolina. Gerard was the author of Our State’s Civil War series. He currently teaches in the department of creative writing at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He received the 2019 North Carolina Award for Literature.
1 The 1970s: The Decade of Disruption in North Carolina
2 The 1960s: North Carolina’s First Professional Basketball Team Mounts a Full-Court Press
3 The Great Blizzard of 1960
4 The 1960s: A Dynamic Decade
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1203
|
__label__wiki
| 0.834715
| 0.834715
|
Ancient Greece and Hellenistic States (1)
1000–300 BCE (1)
Astrology in medieval art
Sophie Page
Astrology is the art of predicting events on earth as well as human character and disposition from the movements of the planets and fixed stars. Medieval astrology encompassed both general concepts of celestial influence, and the technical art of making predictions with horoscopes, symbolic maps of the heavens at particular moments and places constructed from astronomical information. The scientific foundations of the art were developed in ancient Greece, largely lost in early medieval Europe and recovered by the Latin West from Arabic sources in the 12th and 13th centuries. Late medieval astrological images were successfully Christianized and were adapted to particular contexts, acquired local meanings and changed over time.
Astrology developed into a scientific branch of learning in ancient Greece, but because of the opposition of the Church Fathers it was transmitted to early medieval Europe in only fragmentary form in technically unsophisticated textbooks and popular divinatory genres. Literary and scientific texts provided more general ideas about the nature and attributes of the planets which were influential on later iconography. The first significant astrological images appear in 11th-century illustrated astronomical texts (e.g. London, BL, Cotton MS. Tiberius BV), which were acquired and produced by monasteries to aid with time-keeping and the construction of the Christian calendar....
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1205
|
__label__wiki
| 0.615574
| 0.615574
|
AllAuthorsArticle TitleHeadingsBibliographyWorks Lists and EditionsImage CaptionAbbreviation
Compositional Practice and Technique (1)
Open Section Music Business, Institutions and Organizations (1)
Publishing and Recording Industry (1)
Scholarly and Professional Societies (1)
Music Education and Pedagogy (1)
Open Section Musical Concepts, Genres, and Terms (1)
Art Music (1)
Electronic Instruments (1)
20th c. (1900-2000) (1)
Type Published OnlinePublished in Print
From 2020201920182016201520142013201220112010200920082006200520042003200220011992
To 2020201920182016201520142013201220112010200920082006200520042003200220011992
Single year 2020201920182016201520142013201220112010200920082006200520042003200220011992
Art Music x
Audio Engineering x
Sort by Title - A to ZTitle - Z to AAuthor/Editor - A to ZAuthor/Editor - Z to APublished In Print Date - Oldest FirstPublished In Print Date - Newest FirstPublished Online Date - Oldest FirstPublished Online Date - Newest First
San Francisco Tape Music Center
Marc Battier
Music studio and composer’s collective. It was established in San Francisco in 1961 by Ramon Sender and Pauline Oliveros, and was soon joined by Morton Subotnick. Its first location was on Jones Street, but after the building accidentally burned down, the center relocated to a large building on Divisadero Street. It was not only the first electronic music studio on the West Coast but also became a hub of artistic activities and technological research. In addition to offering light shows designed by Anthony Martin, it hosted many composers, poets and artists, and programmed various concerts: the Sonics series, regular programming featuring avant-garde music from the Americas, Asia, and Europe, the three Tudorfest festivals, and other events. This is where in 1964 Terry Riley’s In C was first performed and in 1965 Steve Reich first played his It’s gonna rain. The center was the site of a number of technological developments with Bill Maginnis, also a composer, and, in ...
Printed from Oxford Music Online. Grove is a registered trademark. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice).
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1207
|
__label__wiki
| 0.75115
| 0.75115
|
Julian Onderdonk
Jul 30, 1882 - Oct 27, 1922
Bluebonnets at Late Afternoon - Julian Onderdonk was a Texan Impressionist painter, best known for his impressionist landscapes and bluebonnet paintings and showed a remarkable talent from his childhood, often called "the father of Texas painting.". Onderdonk's legacy is his hauntingly beautiful paintings of the Texas landscape, in particular his indelible images of bluebonnet flowers.
Home > All Categories > Shop by Artist > Julian Onderdonk Paintings
Bluebonnets at Late Afternoon
Add Bluebonnets at Late Afternoon to
Other paintings by Julian Onderdonk:
Bluebonnets at Dusk
Bluebonnets at Late Afternoon, near La Grange
Bluebonnets at Sunrise
Julian Onderdonk, was best known for his impressionist landscapes and bluebonnet paintings and showed a remarkable talent from his childhood.
He received his early training form his father, Robert Jenkins Onderdonk and at the age of seventeen he moved to New York and studied at the Art Students League, where he studied landscape painting under William Merritt Chase, Du Mond and Robert Henri, winning recognition and always expressing individuality in his work.
The work of Julian Onderdonk is divided into periods. His style changed somewhat in his later years, but regardless of the period in which they were done, all his pictures had "Roots deep in the soil of his native State". The divine spark urged him to express his emotional reactions to nature and fired him with an undying enthusiasm.
Onderdonk married at an early age. Living in New York and sometimes working at his art day and night to support his family.
He returned to San Antonio in 1909 and painted only what he loved and wanted to paint. The bigness of Texas with it's characteristic subjects; Hillsides covered with bluebonnets & dusty roads, which captured the atmospheric conditions of misty mornings in the bluebonnets with the full character of the twisting native oak trees & headwaters of different streams, where he found the colors wonderful in varying lights. These are the subjects Julian Onderdonk loved and longed to put on canvas.
Julain Onderdonk refused to follow his fathers vocation as a teacher, but always gave his time and influence to art interests and activities at the San Antonio Art League.
Julian Onderdonk died October 27, 1922, after a brief illness. At the time of his death, five of his pictures were on the way to New York to be exhibited at the Howard Young Galleries. He also had orders ahead for $20,000 worth of work. (A tremendous amount for 1922).
Mrs. Drought, President of the San Antonio Art League was in New York shortly after his death and saw his picture "Dawn of the Hills" exhibited at The National Academy of Design.
Onderdonk was a member of Allied Artists of America; The Salmagundi Club of New York; San Antonio Art League and Nation Academy of Design.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1209
|
__label__wiki
| 0.50695
| 0.50695
|
RecruiterNetworks.com is proud to be the exclusive sponsor of the 2021 ILW.com PERM webinar series.
Link to ILW.com here; https://www.ilw.com/seminars/202101.shtmILW.com PERM webinars
2021 PERM Update
Zoom Webinars: Fridays January 22, February 12 & March 5, 2021
2pm to 3:30pm (Eastern Time)Speakers: Joel Stewart (Discussion Leader), David J. Bier, Rami Fakhoury, Matthew Morse, Michael Piston, Harry Sheinfeld, Jason Susser, Nathan Waxman and many more to be announced
We are applying for California MCLE for these seminars which will be valid through reciprocity in many states.DISCOUNTED PRICE
Webinar Outline Speaker Bios REGISTER NOW!
Each call features an hour of analysis, strategy and practice tips, followed by questions and answers from participants.
FIRST Zoom Session on January 22:
Prevailing Wage Update
Acronyms Decoded: DOL, ETA, OFLC, BLS, OES, SOC, O*NET, OES, OWL, & NPWHC
Forms Analysis: Temporary and Permanent Labor Certification
Practice Tips, Methodology, Challenges
View from Silicon Valley
SECOND Zoom Session on February 12:
New PERM Form 9089
Point by Point Analysis of 9089
Managing Data Merge: Forms 9141 & 9089
Important Tips for Best SOC Determinations
High Tech Occupation Update
THIRD Zoom Session on March 5:
Audits, Reconsideration, and BALCA Review
Paperless PERM & Electronic Filings
Analysis & Preparation of Audits
Crafting Requests for Reconsideration
Important New BALCA Rulings
Joel Stewart (Discussion Leader) practices exclusively in the area of immigration law. He specialized in Romance and Slavic Linguistics before receiving a J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law, and is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Russian. He is Past President of the South Florida Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and is a nationally recognized authority on employment-based immigration matters as well as a popular speaker at for national and local bar associations throughout the United States. Mr. Stewart is the editor of The Perm Book, the definitive authority on the subject of PERM processing of labor certifications, and has been writing the BALCA Case Summaries since 1987. Mr. Stewart is also General Counsel to the Brazilian Consulate in Miami and Honorary Consul of Brazil in Florida.
David J. Bier is an immigration policy analyst at the Cato Institute’s Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity. He is an expert on legal immigration, border security, and interior enforcement, and his work has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, and many other print and online publications. The United States Supreme Court and multiple federal appeals courts have cited his research and writing. From 2013 to 2015, Mr. Bier drafted immigration legislation as senior policy advisor for Congressman Raúl Labrador, a then member and later chairman of the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security.
Rami Fakhoury is the founder and Managing Director of Fakhoury Global Immigration, USA PC (FGI), one of the largest independently owned business-based immigration law firms in the United States and a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rated firm. FGI embodies Rami’s life-long belief in the vital contributions that immigrants make to America’s economy and society, advances his goal of helping businesses and organizations to meet their talent mobility needs, and assists talented and ambitious individuals in realizing their career aspirations. Rami’s publications comprise several immigration law books including, as editor, The Consular Posts Book, 2015-2016 ed. (ILW.com: 2016) and USCIS Immigration Procedures and US State Department Consular Processes (ILW.com: 2009); and, as author, The Immigration Practitioner’s Guide to U.S. Export Control Regulations (ILW.com: 2011) and The PERM Book, 3rd ed. (ILW.com, 2018). He has also written a regular column on global IT and US immigration law for the Financial Times of India, authored numerous policy articles and white papers, contributed articles to Lexology, Mondaq, and Crain’s Detroit Business, among others, and is a frequent presenter at immigration and trade group conferences. Rami has organized informational sessions and webinars for businesses, universities, and other stakeholders worldwide, and has presented to the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) on several occasions.
Matthew Morse Matt Morse has been practicing employment-based immigration law for over 20 years. He has experience with many areas of Green Card processing, including PERM labor applications, immigrant visa petitions, and Adjustment of Status applications. He has experience with Naturalization issues, and family-based immigration matters, and has extensive experience with many nonimmigrant visa categories, including the B, E, F, H, K, L, O, R, and TN categories, as well as consular processing matters. He has strong knowledge of federal immigration statutes and regulations. As a Partner at Fakhoury Global Immigration, Matt’s experience includes Extraordinary Ability Alien cases, National Interest Waiver cases, Outstanding Professor/Researcher cases, Multi-National Manager and Executive cases, as well as health care worker immigration cases. Matt earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and his J.D. from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School. He is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the Michigan Bar Association.
Michael Piston is the senior partner at Piston & Carpenter P.C. He has practiced immigration law exclusively for over 20 years and has spoken at numerous American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and ILW conferences and workshops. He has also written several articles for the AILA Annual Conference Handbooks and ILW PERM Handbooks.
Harry Sheinfeld retired after over 40 years of service with the US Department of Labor. He served for 33 years as Counsel for Litigation, Division of Employment and Training Legal Services, in the Department’s Solicitor’s Office, where he was responsible for non-enforcement immigration litigation. He has been employed by the Department of Labor since 1974 and has been handling immigration matters since 1978. He retired from the Solicitor’s Office in 2015 and spent two years working at the BALCA. Since 2017 he has been during private consulting on PERM matters and writes BALCA decision summaries for AILA. Mr. Sheinfeld received his A.B. from Boston University and his J.D. from New York University School of Law.
Jason Susser is an attorney in the Memphis office of Siskind Susser PC, where his practice focuses exclusively on immigration and nationality law. Mr. Susser represents businesses and individuals in several areas of immigration law including employment-based immigration, family-based immigration, naturalization, and humanitarian cases. Mr. Susser graduated from the University of Memphis with a focus on Accounting and Religious Studies. While in college, he spent two years working as a full-time paralegal at Siskind Susser’s Memphis office where he assisted attorneys in filing Labor Certifications, H-1B visas for specialty occupation professionals, H-2B visas for Temporary Non-Agricultural Workers, L-1 visas for intra-company transfers, and EB-5 Investor Visas. Mr. Susser went on to earn his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Memphis, Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. During law school, he worked at the firm on a part-time basis focusing on EB-1 petitions for foreign nationals of extraordinary ability, EB-2 national interest waiver petitions, and O-1 visas for foreign nationals of extraordinary ability. While in law school, he also assisted in pro bono cases involving U-visas for victims of crimes and humanitarian cases. He is licensed and admitted to practice law in Tennessee.
Nathan Waxman has written more than 20 professional journal articles and book chapters on aspects of immigration law. He has lectured at AILA national conferences since the 1990s, with particular regard to NIW, H1B, and AC21. He has successfully represented businesses ranging from Fortune 500 corporations to universities to nonprofit foundations, family-owned businesses, and self-employed musicians, artists, physicians and alternative medicine practitioners. He has participated actively in the evolution of the labor certification process for the past 25 years. He contributed to AILA’s comment on PERM regulations proposed in 2004, specifically with regard to the critical issue of preserving an employer’s ability to qualify an employee for labor certification through experience gained with that employer in an alternative occupation, to the benefit of employers and intending immigrants throughout the country. He is acknowledged by his peers in business and employment-based immigration as a national figure, as manifested by his selection as a New York Super Lawyer, and his inclusion in the Who’s Who of International Business Law, and in Best Lawyers in America.
More speakers to be added
Cancellation/Return/Shipping Policy
Three Webinars3 Webinars “2021 PERM Update”January 22, February 12 & March 5Discounted PriceRegular Price $249 Register Now for $199Price will increase; don’t wait–Buy NowRegister Now
Note: Each purchase enables participation in the webinar through a single Zoom login from a single computer.
Disclaimer: participation in this seminar does not create an attorney-client relationship with the speakers
Sponsored by RecruiterNetworks
THE H1B GUY PRESENTS LIVE: Interview of Richard Alman, Owner and Operator of RecruiterNetworks.com
LINK TO VIDEO; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C1v_wX7gSM
The H1B Guy presents live, Richard B. Alman, Founder, President and Publisher of RecruiterNetworks.com the smart solution for digital perm ads since 2001. RecruiterNetworks.com https://www.recruiternetworks.com/ Connect with Richard on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-b… Richard on GMI Rocket Show with Roman! https://youtu.be/NhvxPkWHamI
The H1B Guy News – 12/4/2020
Link to video; Richard B. Alman & RecruiterNetworks.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLoQkuI1UOs&feature=youtu.be
The H1B Guy News – 12/4/2020 | H1B, OPT, & Facebook Lawsuits and S386 & Wage Rule Updates!
The H1B Guy is now sponsored by RecruiterNetworks.com
Who is RecruiterNetworks.com you may ask?
RecruiterNetworks.com is THE SMART SOLUTION FOR DIGITAL PERM ADS since 2001. This national job board network provides recruitment websites in 1,024 major US metro areas.
Each local job board is its own portal and is a low-cost resource for immigration recruitment ads for all industries and professions with a flat price of $225 per ad regardless of which city you choose. RecruiterNetworks.com has been the number one place for immigration attorneys, immigration ad agencies and employers to meet the DOL requirements for the digital portion of the perm advertisement rules.
RecruiterNetworks.com
Several months ago I was introduced to Richard Alman the owner and operator of RecruiterNetworks.com. This partnership with The H1B Guy makes a lot of sense as RecruitNetworks.com wants to save you and your employer time and money when it comes to your external perm and other job advertising needs.
Richard will be on with me next Wednesday at 1 pm ET to tell us more so stay tuned!
The week after Thanksgiving 2020 was a week to remember for Employment Based Immigration. Not only here in the US but in the UK as well.
Which announced on December 1st that the UK’s new Merit Points Based System was open for business.
Adding them to the growing list of countries including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
One can only dream that one day we’ll see something similar here in the US.
Now the news!
GMI Rocket Immigration Tech Show; Video Interview with Richard B. Alman, Founder of RecruiterNetworks.com & Recruiter Media Corporation
Link to video; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhvxPkWHamI
Join my discussion today with Richard B. Alman, Founder of immigration media & tech company Recruiter Media Corporation & RecruiterNetworks.com (https://www.recruiternetworks.com/) Richard is a serial entrepreneur who has experience ranging from Fortune 500 to real estate to immigration technology, and we’ll be chatting about how his experiences shaped his entrepreneurial success, particularly in the immigration industry. We’ll be talking about: 🔹Richard’s early days and studying business at Duquesne University and later at Harvard Business School🔹Richard’s experience working for multiple Fortune 500 companies and how that helped him become a business founder 🔹Richard’s experience working in entertainment, manufacturing and real estate / investing 🔹How Richard stumbled upon PERM and what inspired him to launch Recruiter Media 🔹How Richard’s platform helps immigration lawyers and employers 🔹Where Richard sees the future of his company and immigration tech in generalVideo Interview
RecruiterNetworks.com Introduces the First National, City-Focused, Job Platform Free for Job Seekers Containing Almost 10 Million Jobs in Over 1,000 Cities in the USA
RecruiterNetworks.com has re-engineered the difficult and time-consuming structure of job websites to provide a better, easier, and more comfortable solution. The RecruiterNetworks.com platform provides each city with its own unique portal: www.BostonRecruiter.com, www.NewYorkRecruiter.com, www.MiamiRecruiter.com, www.AtlantaRecruiter.com, etc. Users now have a one-of-a-kind resource which will enable them to easily find jobs in over 1,000 top US cities.
Miami Lakes, FL, February 04, 2020–(PR.com)– RecruiterNetworks.com, the largest owner of career websites, has launched the only city specific digital job platform with the goal of eliminating the high level of clutter and frustration that presently confronts job seekers when using the job websites presently available. Today’s career websites typically encompass all jobs available in every city in the USA presented in one giant pile that the job seeker must dig through to find the jobs in their city.
RecruiterNetworks.com has re-engineered that difficult and time-consuming structure to provide a better, easier, and more comfortable solution. The RecruiterNetworks.com platform provides each city with its own unique portal: www.BostonRecruiter.com, www.NewYorkRecruiter.com, www.MiamiRecruiter.com, www.AtlantaRecruiter.com, etc. Users now have a one-of-a-kind resource which will enable them to easily find jobs in over 1,000 top USA cities. Users of RecruiterNetworks.com platform simply select their city of interest and then browse jobs only in that city. The entire network currently contains almost 7 million jobs nationwide.
Today job seekers of all ages want a fast and efficient method of finding the jobs available in the city in which they live. The RecruiterNetworks.com state-of-the-art system delivers on that hope while meeting the additional criteria of allowing the job seeker to select from over 75 different job categories to narrow down his or her search and target the types of jobs that matter most to them. Additionally, the platform allows the job seeker to set-up job alerts which allow for new jobs listed on the platform, which are pre-screened to meet the preset criteria, to be sent to the job seeker’s computer, phone or tablet. Once the job alerts are reviewed, the job seeker may automatically apply to a selected job instantly from his phone or other device. To accommodate any non-English speaking job seekers, the platform handles over 100 different language choices, so any person may easily read and apply to jobs on the platform. RecruiterNetworks.com has been serving job seekers, employers, recruiters and immigration attorneys since 2001. All job seekers’ features are free. There is no cost to register, browse and apply for jobs while using RecruiterNetworks.com in over 1,000 cities. The initial response of the www.RecruiterNetworks.com digital platform has been overwhelmingly positive. The company has gained a tremendous number of new users who are seeking a better method of allowing them to focus on their city and is easy to use.
RecruiterNetworks.com Introduces the First of a Kind Affordable, Unlimited Recruiting and Job Posting Platform for Small Companies in Over 1,000 Cities
Miami Lakes, FL, February 04, 2020 –(PR.com)– RecruiterNetworks.com was determined to even the playing field in the highly competitive recruiting process. In one of tightest labor markets in decades, large and small companies are desperately competing for a small pool of applicants. Local businesses, franchises and family run companies typically don’t have the budget needed to compete with larger companies for expensive recruitment advertising normally used to attract the best candidates.
With the launch of this program, www.RecruiterNetworks.com is offering an affordable monthly recruiting package which will cost any size company about $2/day for unlimited recruiting ads in their particular city of choice on the RecruiterNetworks.com platform. Now any size firm can benefit from significant savings with their job postings published on the RecruiterNetworks.com exclusive digital national publication network of over 1,000 leading cities in the USA.
RecruiterNetworks.com has launched the first national digital publication with a cost saving package geared especially to allow small companies to advertise for a flat fee of $62/month with an annual subscription for an unlimited amount of 30-day job postings in any of the one of the specific cities served. Companies of any size now have a one-of-a-kind resource which will enable them to post jobs in over 1,000 top USA cities with their exceptionally well priced package to allow hiring to be affordable again.
The RecruiterNetworks.com platform offers small sized companies the exclusive ability to post unlimited job openings for their various open positions on-line in over 75 different job categories for only $750 flat annual fee on any of the 1,000 plus cities served since 2001. RecruiterNetworks.com is built to work in tandem with any employment advertising firms the company’s already may be using.
The initial response to the www.RecruiterNetworks.com monthly unlimited package for job postings on their digital platform has been overwhelmingly positive. The company has gained a tremendous number of new clients who are seeking better economics and ease of use. RecruiterNetworks.com has a long history of serving leading firms of all sizes, as well as professional recruiters, and employment ad agencies since 2001.
Immigration Attorneys, Immigration Specialists & Immigration Ad Agencies save hundreds of $$ on each PERM VISA Advertisement since 2001.
LEADING IMMIGRATION LAW FIRMS & IMMIGRATION SPECIALISTS SAVE HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS ON EACH PERM VISA AD PUBLISHED ON OUR DIGITAL NETWORK OF OVER 1,000 CITIES SINCE 2001.
RecruiterNetworks.com is the leading online digital publisher for attorneys and immigration professionals to Advertise/Publish PERM VISA advertisements for ONLY $150 per 30 day posting on a specific city, and post jobs in over 1,000 top USA cities in relation to legal services and immigration matters with clients including the preparation of non-immigrant visa petitions such as B-1, B-2, E1, E2, E3, F-1, H-1-B, H1-C, H-2A, H-2B, H-3, L-1, O, P, TD and TN. www.RecruiterNetworks.com meets the legal requirement for all immigration visa job posting advertising including immigrant visa applications such as PERM (EB-1 to EB-3) I-140, I-130, and adjustment of status.
We offer PERM VISA Publication for only $150 flat fee on each PERM VISA in any of our 1,000 plus cities served since 2001. We work with any advertising firms you already may be using. We are the actual publisher not an ad firm.
RecruiterNetworks.com partners with BlueDot.
RecruiterNetworks.com is happy to announce that our leading online digital PERM Ad platform is integrating with BlueDot.pro immigration case management software. The launch is expected Q1 2021.
ZoomPower 2019 – INSZoom
We are excited to be exhibiting at the ZoomPower 2019 conference, INSZoom’s annual user conference. Stop by our booth on October 17-18 in Las Vegas, NV.
Meet Recruiter Networks at AILA Orlando, booth #525
We will be at 2019 AILA Annual Conference on Immigration Law, Orlando from June 19 to June 22 at booth #525.
Recruiter Media launches SmartHire on-demand candidate sourcing with a 100% guarantee.
Recruiter Media signs deal to conduct full SEO analysis for RightBrainResource.com.
2000 resumes per day
Recruiter Media adding 2000 resumes per day to job board network.
PeopleFlip
Recruiter Media launches PeopleFlip. Advertise yourself at PeopleFlip.com
Welcome to Recruiter Media!
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1210
|
__label__wiki
| 0.544945
| 0.544945
|
Remote Internship
TRAINEESHIP PROGRAMS
Partnership International
CULTURAL LINGUISTIC ACTIVITIES
Remote Internship Host Companies
Host Companies
Erasmus+ Mobility Coordinators
Accommodation Partner
Schools/Universities
The top 5 oldest pubs in Cork City
We probably know all, Cork is a city full of rich monastic history, and the Irish people have quite a serious reputation when it comes to drinking alcohol. So, is there a better way to get to know Ireland than by joining a digital pub crawl through some of the oldest pubs in Cork? Still open to this day these pubs are some of the best spots in the city to grab a pint and get to know the locals while you are doing an internship abroad.
According to tradition Cork was founded by St Finbarr who built an abbey in the 7th century where now Cork City is situated. Viking raids, the settlement of monks, the invasion of England and the arrival of French protestants are just a few events of Cork’s thrilling history. During the early 19th century the population of Cork exploded and brewing as well as distilling became popular industries. With that happening also pubs became an important part of the city’s history.
The Mutton Lane Inn
This pub is situated off St. Patrick’s Street right in the city centre outside of the North/ South Main Street axis and it is believed to be one of the oldest drinking spots in Cork. The establishment was built in 1845 and is an interesting part of the architectural heritage of the city. It is located on a narrow alleyway that leads into the Old English Market and used to be where live sheep were brought into the market.
This inviting pub and its venture are dark inside, wooden furnished and candlelit. Bar stools are often found outside in the laneway when the bar gets packed on the weekends. The Mutton Lane Inn offers always good music and friendly staff. It is the perfect meet-up spot for both locals and guests from out of town. The entrepreneur of The Mutton Lane Inn also owns the Sin E and The Oval.
Address: 3 St Patrick’s St, Mutton Ln, Centre, Cork, T12 RV07, Ireland
Mo – Th: 10:30am – 11:30pm
Fri, Sa: 10:30am – 12:30pm
Sun: 02:00pm – 11:00pm
Barry’s of Douglas Bar and Restaurant
This bar was built 245 years ago in 1771 in Douglas at the edge of Cork City and was the mid-way stop of the tram which ran from Crosshaven to Cork. Food and beverages were mostly served to travellers. In 1931 the tram line was closed, but Barry’s remained the centre of life in Douglas.
The building has been renovated to give it all the modern comforts and yet maintains a character. It is the perfect place to meet up with your friends and enjoy a pint. By night Barry’s becomes a vibrant establishment with a variety of great music with live acts and Dj’s.
Address: Douglas East, Cork, T12 YV08
Fri, Sa: 10:30am – 02:00am
Sun: 12:00am – 11:00pm
The Long Valley
The Long Valley, also known as An Gleann Fada, was established as far back as 1842 and run by three generations of the Moynihan family. It is located in Winthrop Street in the heart of Cork City. The building was originally used as a stable for horses. The façade of this building is enhanced by the decorative panels that were executed by skilled craftsmen. Near its entrance, a glass window is displaying exotic beverages, as well as small, cut-crystal glasses.
It provides its guest with tempting food, service, and genial staff as well as more than authentic furnishing. The barmen wear white butchers’ coats and offer a constant supply of drinks.
Address: 10 Winthrop St, Centre, Cork, T12 NW64
Mo – Sun: 10:00am – 00:30am
Crane Lane Theatre
Located in the remains of an old Gentleman’s Club in the centre of Cork City, Crane Lane Theatre is one of the most favoured Beer Gardens and oldest pubs in Cork, built in 1810. The décor and design elements take its inspiration from the 20s, 30s and 40s, as well as the 4 floors, make the Crane Lane Theatre truly a special venue. It has 3 bars – the country pub, ballroom, and burlesque cabaret.
You can expect live music 7 days a week until 2 am. Music includes jazz and blues, country and fold, as well as DJs spinning favourites between different sets. Theatre acts and burlesque performances are other special events that are hosted at this charming venue.
Address: Phoenix St, Centre, Cork
Sun – We: 02:00pm – 02:00am
Th – Sa: 02:00pm – 02:30am
On the list of the oldest pubs in Cork is also The Oval – a pub designed by an Edinburgh-based architects on the behalf of the Beamish and Crawford brewery in 1759. It is located on the corner of South Main and Tuckey Streets and gets its name from its oval ceiling. This venue is still in its original condition and can be found on a list of important 20th Century buildings. It is next to the old City Walls which adds to the building’s significance.
It has the reputation to be haunted on the back of numerous sightings of a soldier in ragged uniforms over the years. This prominent pub offers a variety of music to entertain its guests while sitting next to an open-pit fire. Even though it is listing on the Cork Heritage Pubs Trail, it remains relatively untouched by the tourism invasion.
Address: 25 S Main St, Centre, Cork, T12 Y15D
Mo – Th: 03:00pm – 11:30pm
Fri, Sa: 03:00pm– 00:30am
There you have it – five of the oldest pubs in Cork. Now you just need a reason to go to Cork. What about an internship or a language course? Check out our programmes and get inspired.
Cork, Partnership International Blog Tags: cork, Cork City, Ireland, Irish pubs, oldest pubs, pubs, pubs in Cork
Partnership International Blog
Type in the letters from above!
Why You Should Do A Traineeship In Spain
How to have a Dynamic Life in Valencia
4 Beautiful Places to Visit in Valencia
Benefits of Remote Internships
Internship in English
Internships Ireland
Training Internships
Discovering Ireland
Au Pair Program
Family Language Stay
Trade Visits
Cultural Programmes
2nd Floor, 19 South Mall,
Cork City, Ireland.
e: info@partnershipinternational.ie
©Copyright 2016 Partnership International Ltd Privacy Policy | Terms of Use| Website by Doodle
We promise we won’t spam you :)
WHILE WE ARE UPDATING OUR WEBSITE, PLEASE CONTACT US ON info@partnershipinternational.ie
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1212
|
__label__wiki
| 0.692111
| 0.692111
|
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History
Benson Lossing, Ed.
Hide browse bar Your current position in the text is marked in blue. Click anywhere in the line to jump to another position:
alphabetic letter:
A. B. C. D. E. F. G. H. I. J. K. L. M. N. O. P. Q. R. S. T. U. V. W. X. Y. Z.
entry group:
Cabell , James Laurence 1813 - - Campbell , William 1745 - Campbell , William , Lord - Carroll , John 1735 - Carson , Christopher 1809 - 1868 - Chalmers , George 1742 - 1825 Chalmette plantation, La. - Chester , Joseph Lemuel 1821 - 1882 Chestnut , James , Jr. - Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints. Church , Protestant Episcopal - Clarke , James Freeman 1810 - 1888 Clarke , or Clerke , Jeremy - Cochrane , Sir Alexander forester Inglis Cockburn , Sir George 1772 - 1853 - Columbia University , Columbiad. - Conservatives. Conspiracy. - Cornplanter , or Garyan-Wah-Gah Cornwaleys , or Cormwaleys , Thomas - Craven , Thomas Tingley 1808 - 1887 Craven , Tunis Augustus MacDONOUGHonough 1813 - - Culpeper , Thomas , Lord 1673 - 1719 Cumberland . - Cuyler , Theodore Ledyard 1822 -
Chestnut , James , Jr. Chevalier , Michel 1806 - Cheves , Langdon 1776 - 1857 Chew , Benjamin 1722 - Cheyenne Indians Chicago , Chickahominy , battles on the Chickamauga , battle of Chickamauga National Park Chickasaw Bayou , battle of Chickasaw Indians , Chickering , Jesse 1797 - 1855 Child , David Lee 1794 - 1874 Child , Lydia Maria 1802 - 1880 Children's day , Chile . China . China and the powers. Chinese -American reciprocity. Chinese exclusion acts. Chinese exclusion bill , veto of Chinook Indians , Chippewa , battle of Chippewa Indians , Chisolm , William Wallace 1830 - Chittenden , Thomas 1730 - 1797 Choate , Joseph Hodges 1832 - Choate , Rufus 1799 - 1859 Choctaw Indians , Choiseul , ÉTienne Francois , Duc De - 1785 Choisi , Claude Gabriel de 1741 - Cholera , Asiatic Chouteau , Pierre 1749 - 1849 Christ , Disciples of Christian associations , young men's Christian associations , young women's Christian commission , United States Christian connection. Christian endeavor , young people's Society of Christians , Christian Science , Chrysler's field , battle of Church , Benjamin 1639 - 1718 Church , advent Church , Baptist Church , Congregational Church , Methodist Episcopal Church , Methodist Episcopal, South Church , Moravian Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints.
This text is part of:
19th-Century American
View text chunked by:
first letter : entry
Cabell , James Laurence 1813 - - Campbell , William 1745 -
Campbell , William , Lord - Carroll , John 1735 -
Carson , Christopher 1809 - 1868 - Chalmers , George 1742 - 1825
Chalmette plantation, La. - Chester , Joseph Lemuel 1821 - 1882
Chestnut , James , Jr. - Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints.
Chestnut , James , Jr.
Chevalier , Michel 1806 -
Cheves , Langdon 1776 - 1857
Chew , Benjamin 1722 -
Cheyenne Indians
Chickahominy , battles on the
Chickamauga , battle of
Chickamauga National Park
Chickasaw Bayou , battle of
Chickasaw Indians ,
Chickering , Jesse 1797 - 1855
Child , David Lee 1794 - 1874
Child , Lydia Maria 1802 - 1880
Children's day ,
Chile .
China .
China and the powers.
Chinese -American reciprocity.
Chinese exclusion acts.
Chinese exclusion bill , veto of
Chinook Indians ,
Chippewa , battle of
Chippewa Indians ,
Chisolm , William Wallace 1830 -
Chittenden , Thomas 1730 - 1797
Choate , Joseph Hodges 1832 -
Choate , Rufus 1799 - 1859
Choctaw Indians ,
Choiseul , ÉTienne Francois , Duc De - 1785
Choisi , Claude Gabriel de 1741 -
Cholera , Asiatic
Chouteau , Pierre 1749 - 1849
Christ , Disciples of
Christian associations , young men's
Christian associations , young women's
Christian commission , United States
Christian connection.
Christian endeavor , young people's Society of
Christians ,
Christian Science ,
Chrysler's field , battle of
Church , Benjamin 1639 - 1718
Church , advent
Church , Baptist
Church , Congregational
Church , Methodist Episcopal
Church , Methodist Episcopal, South
Church , Moravian
Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints.
Church , Protestant Episcopal - Clarke , James Freeman 1810 - 1888
Clarke , or Clerke , Jeremy - Cochrane , Sir Alexander forester Inglis
Cockburn , Sir George 1772 - 1853 - Columbia University ,
Columbiad. - Conservatives.
Conspiracy. - Cornplanter , or Garyan-Wah-Gah
Cornwaleys , or Cormwaleys , Thomas - Craven , Thomas Tingley 1808 - 1887
Craven , Tunis Augustus MacDONOUGHonough 1813 - - Culpeper , Thomas , Lord 1673 - 1719
Cumberland . - Cuyler , Theodore Ledyard 1822 -
Current location in this text. Enter a Perseus citation to go to another section or work. Full search options are on the right side and top of the page.
From time to time, during the latter part of 1899 and the early part of 1900, came disturbing reports, from missionaries and the representatives of the United States and the European powers stationed in the northern provinces of China, of the rapid spread and threatening attitude of the Boxers, a secret organization having for its purpose the extermination of all foreigners and the [127] abolition of all foreign influence from Chinese territory. The native name of this society is I-ho-ch'uan, “Combination of righteous harmony Fists” ; it had for its leader Prince Tuan, the father of the heir-presumptive to the Chinese throne; and had its origin in the intense antiforeign sentiment excited by the occupation by the European powers of Chinese territory under various cessions in the years immediately following the Chino-Japanese War (1895), the superstitions of the ignorant classes, and the hatred, in certain districts, of the missionaries, who, in their zeal for converts, had entered under treaty rights into every part of the empire.
Conditions grew more critical and the threatening of the missionaries increased in extent and intensity until, on May 19, 1900, the Christian village of Lai-Shun, 70 miles from Peking, was destroyed, and seventy-three native converts massacred. The representatives of the foreign powers, on May 21, addressed a joint note to the Tsung-LI-Yamen, the foreign office of the Chinese government, calling for the suppression of the Boxers, and the restoration of order. This and all further attempts on the part of the ministers met with little or no response, the Court itself openly encouraging the anti-foreign sentiment, and the young Emperor, Kwang-Su, being entirely under the influence of the Empress Dowager, notorious for her hatred of and opposition to the reformation policy. Upon the report of United States minister Edwin H. Conger (q. v.), that the Boxers were operating within a few miles of Peking, and of the great danger to the property and lives of the Americans in that part of the world, the United States government ordered rear-Admiral Louis Kempff (q. v.) to proceed at once with the flag-ship Newark to Taku, at the mouth of the Peiho River, the harbor for Tientsin and Peking. Here gathered, within a few days, the available war-ships of Great Britain, Russia, France, Germany, and Italy. Captain McCalla, with 100 men from the Newark, landed and proceeded to Tientsin, and on May 31, a small international force, including seven officers and fifty-six men of the American marine corps, were despatched to Peking, as a guard for the legations, and were admitted to the city.
On June 2, Mr. H. V. Norman, an English missionary, was murdered by the Boxers at Yung Ching, a few miles from Peking, and during the following days the rioting and destruction of property seemed to break out on every side with renewed violence. The imperial decrees against the rioters were only half-hearted, and it was responsibly reported that, in spite of the representations of the Chinese government of heavy engagements in their efforts to put down the uprising, a large number of the imperial forces were fighting with the Boxers. Fifty miles of the Luban Railway had been destroyed by the anti-foreign mob, with many stores and supplies for the new lines then under construction. Chapels and mission settlements in Shantung and Pechili provinces were looted and burned and hundreds of native Christians massacred. Finally the railway from Tientsin to Peking was cut.
On June 10, the British Admiral Seymour, with 2,000 men, drawn from the international forces in Tientsin, set out to repair the railway, and found it so badly damaged that in two days he had advanced only 35 miles. Then came the news that he had been surrounded by countless hordes of Chinese, imperial soldiers and Boxers, and that all communication with Tientsin and Peking was closed. Not until June 26 was he able, after receiving reinforcements, to cut his way back into Tientsin. He had lost 374 men, and had not been able to get within 25 miles of Peking, his whole command barely escaping annihilation. In this unfortunate advance and retreat, Captain McCalla, who was the leader of the American contingent, was highly commended for his bravery and resourcefulness.
On June 17, the Chinese forts at Taku opened fire upon the warships of the allied forces, and those of Germany, Russia, Great Britain, France, and Japan immediately returned the bombardment. The fortifications were finally captured at the point of the bayonet by soldiers landed at a point enabling them to assault in the rear. Over 100 Europeans were killed and wounded in this engagement; the Chinese loss was estimated at 700. The American Admiral Kempff did not participate in the attack, taking the ground that the United States was not at war with China, and [128] that such hostile action would merely serve to unite the Chinese against the foreigners.
On June 18, the United States government ordered the battle-ship Oregon and the gunboats Yorktown, Nashville, and Monocacy, and the 9th Regiment, 1,400 men, under Col. Emerson H. Liscum, from Manila to Taku, and other United States forces were held in readiness for service in China. While on the way, June 28, the Oregon ran aground in the Gulf of
American troops entering Peking.
Pechili, in a fog. One week later she was floated, without having suffered serious damage, and through the courtesy of the Japanese government sent to the national docks at Kure for repairs. On June 24, rear-Admiral George C. Remey (q. v.) proceeded with the flag-ship Brooklyn from Manila to succeed Admiral Kempff in the command of the American fleet. On June 26, Gen. Adna R. Chaffee (q. v.) was appointed to the command of the American army in China, and 6,300 troops, infantry and cavalry, intended for the Philippines, proceeded to China, and the United States government announced that it would, if necessary, increase the American army of occupation to 16,000. On July 4, Secretary of State John Hay, in a note to the European powers, declared the attitude of the United States towards the Chinese troubles.
On June 21-23 the allies had forced their way, by the aid of fire from the fleet, into the foreign quarter at Tientsin, and had united with the Europeans there besieged by the Chinese Boxers and imperial soldiers; for many days hard fighting was carried on against this enemy, sheltered in the native portion of the city and on the walls. On July 2, the women and children, at great risk, were sent down the Peiho to Taku, and for the following ten days the Chinese bombarded the foreign city. On June 9, 11, and 13, attempts were made by the allies to capture the native city. On the 13th Colonel Liscum was [129] killed while leading his men. On July 14, the forts were captured, and the Chinese driven out with great loss. The casualties of the allies were 875, of whom 215 were Americans.
The temporary success of the Chinese at Tientsin, the siege of the legations in Peking, and the murder, June 12, of the Japanese chancellor of legation, and, June 20, of Baron von Ketteler, the German minister, seemed to inspire them with new fury, and the Boxer craze spread with fearful rapidity over all the northern districts, while in the south much uneasiness was shown. On July 15, a Chinese force invaded Russia, and the latter government immediately declared the Amur district in a state of war. July 23, President McKinley, in answer to the request of the Chinese Emperor for the good offices of the United States in bringing about peace, demanded that the imperial government should first make known to the world whether the representatives of the foreign powers in Peking were alive; and that it co-operate with the allied army gathering for their relief.
The fate of the foreign ministers and their families and attaches, the legation guards, and the missionaries and their native converts, who had flocked to them for protection, was unknown. On July 20, a message, purporting to have been sent by Minister Conger about July 18, was received through Minister Wu at Washington, and was accepted as authentic by the United States government, and subsequently by the European powers. But for the most part the reports were of the most fearful character. The stories of massacres and outrages committed upon the besieged filled the world with horror.
By the latter part of July the international force numbered 30,000 men, and was deemed sufficiently large to begin the advance upon Peking. On Aug. 4, a relief column 16,000 strong left Tientsin and met its first determined resistance at Peitsang, Aug. 5, which it captured after a hard fight, with a loss of about 200 killed and wounded. With a considerable loss, Yangtsun, Aug. 7, and Tung Chow, Aug. 12, were occupied, and on Aug. 14, the relief forces entered Peking. The Emperor and the Empress Dowager had fled and the Chinese troops were surrounded in the inner city. Fighting in the streets continued till Aug. 28, when the allied troops marched in force through the Forbidden City.
The relief of the besieged foreigners was most timely. For forty-five days, 3,000 souls, including 2,200 native converts, had been shut up in the compound of the British Legation, where all had gathered for mutual defence, after the other legations had been destroyed, subjected to the artillery and rifle fire of 50,000 troops under Prince Tuan. In the general attack, June 20-25, the Chinese were driven back with great loss; but with the exception of a truce of twelve days after the fall of Tientsin, July 17, the bombardment scarcely ceased day or night. Provisions and ammunition were very short, and the exposure and constant labor were telling severely on the besieged. Many efforts were made on the part of the Chinese to induce the besieged to proceed to Tientsin under promise of safe escort, but were promptly refused. The missionaries were in many cases less fortunate. A few made their way into Peking, one party escaped across the Gobi Desert and reached the friendly borders of Russia, and some succeeded in making their way to the more tolerant southern provinces; but in the inland cities many perished at their posts, often subjected to the most brutal assault and mutilation. At Pao-ting-fu, 80 miles southwest of Peking, fourteen persons, including women and children, were butchered by order of the authorities.
Military operations ceased with the occupation of Peking, with the exception of punitive expeditions sent to Pao-ting-fu and the more disturbed districts. On Aug. 10, Count von Waldersee, field-marshal of the German army, was unanimously approved as commander of the allied forces. He arrived in Shanghai Sept. 21. On Oct. 3, the withdrawal of the United States troops was begun. Oct. 1, LI Hung Chang reached Peking, and the Chinese Peace Commission, consisting of LI Hung Chang, Yung Lu, Hsu Tung, and Prince Ching, was announced. Negotiations were begun at once, and on Dec. 22 the allied powers having come to an agreement as to the demands upon China, [130] the following note was addressed to the imperial government:
During the months of May, June, July, and August of the current year serious disturbances broke out in the Northern provinces of China, in which atrocious crimes unparalleled in history and outrages against the law of nations, against the laws of humanity, and against civilization were committed under particularly odious circumstances. The principal of these crimes were the following:
First—On June 20 his Excellency Baron von Ketteler, while on his way to the Tsungli-Yamen, in the performance of his official functions, was murdered by soldiers of the regular army, acting under orders of their chiefs.
Second-On the same day the foreign legations were attacked and besieged. The attacks continued without intermission until Aug. 14, on which date the arrival of the foreign forces put an end to them. These attacks were made by the regular troops, who joined the Boxers, and who obeyed the orders of the Court emanating from the imperial palace. At the same time the Chinese government officially declared, by its representatives abroad, that it guaranteed the security of the legations.
Third—On June 11 Mr. Sujyama, chancellor of the legation of Japan, while in the discharge of an official mission, was killed by regulars at the gates of the city. In Peking and in several provinces foreigners were murdered, tortured, or attacked by the Boxers and the regular troops, and such as escaped death owed their salvation solely to their own determined resistance. Their establishments were looted and destroyed.
Fourth—Foreign cemeteries, at Peking especially, were desecrated, the graves opened, and the remains scattered abroad.
These occurrences necessarily led the foreign powers to despatch their troops to China to the end of protecting the lives of their representatives and nationals and restoring order. During their march to Peking the allied forces met with resistance from the Chinese army and had to overcome it by force.
Inasmuch as China has recognized her responsibility, expressed great regret, and evinced a desire to see an end put to the situation created by the aforesaid disturbances, the powers have determined to accede to her request upon the irrevocable conditions enumerated below, which they deem indispensable to expiate the crimes committed and to prevent their recurrence:
A. The despatch to Berlin of an extraordinary mission headed by an imperial prince, in order to express the regrets of his Majesty the Emperor of China and of the Chinese government for the assassination of his Excellency the late Baron von Ketteler, minister of Germany.
B. The erection on the spot of the assassination of a commemorative monument befitting the rank of the deceased, bearing an inscription in the Latin, German, and Chinese languages, expressing the regrets of the Emperor of China for the murder.
A. The severest punishment of the persons designated in the imperial decree of Sept. 25, 1900, and for those who the representatives of the powers shall subsequently designate.
B. The suspension for five years of all official examinations in all the cities where foreigners have been massacred or have been subjected to cruel treatment.
Honorable reparation to be made by the Chinese government to the Japanese government for the murder of Mr. Sujyama.
An expiatory monument to be erected by the imperial Chinese government in every foreign or international cemetery which has been desecrated or in which the graves have been destroyed.
The maintenance under conditions to be determined by the powers, of the interdiction against the importation of arms as well as of materials employed exclusively for the manufacture of arms and ammunition.
Equitable indemnities for the governments, societies, companies, and individuals, as well as for Chinese who during the late occurrences have suffered in person or in property in consequence of their being in the service of foreigners. China to adopt financial measures acceptable to the powers for the purpose of guaranteeing the payment of the said indemnities and the interest and amortization of the loans.
The right for each power to maintain a permanent guard for its legation, and to put the diplomatic quarter in a defensible condition, the Chinese having no right to reside in that quarter.
The destruction of the forts which might obstruct free communication between Peking and the sea.
The right to the military occupation of certain points, to be determined by an understanding among the powers, in order to maintain open communication between the capital and the sea.
The Chinese government to cause to be published during two years in all the subprefectures an imperial decree—
A. Embodying a perpetual prohibition under penalty of death of membership in any anti-foreign society. [131]
B. Enumerating the punishments that shall have been inflicted on the guilty, together with the suspension of all official examinations in the cities where foreigners have been murdered or have been subjected to cruel treatment; and
C. Furthermore, an imperial decree to be issued and published throughout the empire ordering that the governors-general (viceroys), governors, and all provincial or local officials, shall be held responsible for the maintenance of order within their respective jurisdiction, and that in the event of renewed anti-foreign disturbances or any other infraction of treaty occurring, and which shall not forthwith be suppressed and the guilty persons punished, they, the said officials, shall be immediately removed and forever disqualified from holding any office or honors.
The Chinese government to undertake to negotiate amendments to the treaties of commerce and navigation considered useful by the foreign powers, and upon other matters pertaining to their commercial relations, with the object of facilitating them.
The Chinese government to determine in what manner to reform the department of foreign affairs and to modify the Court ceremonials concerning the reception of foreign representatives, in the manner to be indicated by the powers.
Until the Chinese government has complied with the above conditions to the satisfaction of the powers, the undersigned can hold out no expectation that the occupation of Peking and the provinces of Chi-LI by the general forces can be brought to a conclusion.
On Dec. 30, the Emperor, through his commissioners, asserted his willingness to accede to these demands, and an armistice was proclaimed pending the signing of the note. After much opposition by the Empress Dowager and the Chinese Court this joint note was signed and delivered to the ministers of the powers on Jan. 16, 1901. The Chinese commissioners handed to the foreign envoys with the signed protocols a despatch from Emperor Kwang Su, asking a foreign occupation instead of the destruction of the Taku forts. The Emperor's despatch asked also for the fixing of a definite period for the prohibition of the importation of arms, and requested that the punitive expeditions be stopped.
In addition to this the Emperor instructed the Chinese commissioners to get particulars as to the amount of land to be retained for the legations, the number of legation guards, the probable cost of the military operations, and the date when the foreigners propose to restore the public offices and records in Peking to the Chinese. The Emperor does not mention the demand of the powers for the punishment of the principal offenders. To these demands the ministers replied that they saw no reason for making any modifications whatever in the demands set forth in the protocol.
On Feb. 5 negotiations began between the envoys of the powers and LI Hung Chang and Prince Ching, and continued through several months, the different sections of the joint note being taken up in turn.
On Feb. 6 a formal indictment against the twelve officials whose punishment had been demanded by the powers was read. Kang Yi and LI Ping Heng are dead, but their names were included on account of the moral effect that it would have on the Chinese. The officials whose punishment was demanded are the following:
Prince Chuang, commander-in-chief of the Boxers, who had a large share in the responsibility for promises of rewards of 50 taels for the capture of foreigners and the death of persons protecting them.
Prince Tuan, the principal instigator of the troubles into which he dragged the Chinese government; who was appointed president of the Tsung-LI-Yamen, after giving advice to the Chinese government; who was responsible for the edicts against foreigners issued between June 20 and Aug. 16, and was mainly responsible for the massacres in the provinces, especially Shan-Si; who ordered the troops to attack the legations in opposition to the advice of high mandarins who were looking to a cessation of hostilities; who secured the execution of members of the Tsung-LI-Yamen who were favorable to foreigners; who is the recognized author of the ultimatum of June 19, directing the diplomatic corps to leave Peking within twenty-four hours, and who ordered, before the expiration of this delay, firing upon all foreigners found upon the streets of the capital, and who was practically the author of the assassination of Baron von Ketteler, the German minister.
Duke Lan, vice-president of the police, who was accessory to the giving of orders for the capture of foreigners, and was [132] the first to open the gates of the city to the Boxers.
Ying Nien, who was the criminal accomplice of Prince Chuang and Duke Lan in their machinations.
Kang Yi, one of the instigators and counsellors of the Boxers, who always
The Chinese Emperor.
protected them, and was most hostile to any understanding looking to the re-establishment of peaceful relations with the foreigners; who was sent at the beginning of June to meet the Boxers, and endeavor to deter them from entering the city, but who, on the contrary, encouraged them to follow the work of destruction, and who signed with Prince Tuan and Ying Nien their principal notices, and prepared the plan for the expulsion and annihilation of foreigners in the provinces of the empire.
Chao Su Kiam, a member of the grand council, and also minister of justice, who was one of the leaders against the foreigners and mainly responsible for the execution of the officials killed during the siege for having tried to stop the attack against the legations, and who tendered the Boxers every encouragement.
Yu Hsien, who reorganized the Boxers, was the author of the massacres in the Shan-Si province, and assassinated with his own hand foreigners and missionaries, and who was noted for cruelty, which smeared with blood the whole country over which he was governor.
Gen. Tung Fu Siang, who, with Prince Tuan, carried out in Peking the plans against the foreigners, and who commanded the attacks on the legations, and the soldiers who assassinated the Japanese chancellor.
LI Ping Heng, who used his influence to have the Boxers recognized as loyal and patriotic men, and who led the government to use them with the object of the extermination of foreigners.
Hsu Tung, who has always been one of the officials most hostile to foreigners, who praised the Boxers, of whom he was an accomplice, who used all his influence with high persons in the empire, being tutor to the heir-apparent.
Hsu Cheng Yu, who has the same responsibility.
Kih Sin, one of the officials most hostile to foreigners, and the minister at the rites of service of the Boxers.
The ministers insisted that the sentences must be inflicted on the living, except in the cases of Prince Tuan and Duke Lan, whose sentences might be commuted to banishment to Turkestan.
Feb. 12 the Chinese plenipotentiaries received telegraphic instructions from the Court to notify the ministers of the powers that an edict had been issued regarding the punishments of Chinese officials, in conformity with the demands made by the ministers, as follows:
Gen. Tung Fu Siang, to be degraded and deprived of his rank.
Prince Tuan and Duke Lan, to be disgraced and exiled.
Prince Chuang, Ying Nien, and Chao Su Kiam, to commit suicide.
Hsu Cheng Yu, Yu Hsien, and Kih Sin, to be beheaded.
This was not exactly what the ministers demanded, but it was considered advisable to agree to it, as the lives of those demanded had been agreed to, except in the case of Gen. Tung Fu Siang, whom the Court was powerless to molest. There was a private understanding that his life would be confiscated when it was possible.
On Feb. 26 Kih Sin and Hsu Cheng Yu were publicly beheaded in the streets of Peking. [133]
During the early part of March the relations between Russia and England drew almost to a crisis on account of Russia's attitude towards Manchuria, and for a time seemed to threaten a serious interruption of the pending negotiations. But on April 3, on account of the attitude of the other powers towards the Russian occupation of Manchuria, the Chinese government notified Russia of her refusal to sign the Manchurian convention, and the difficulties growing out of the railway concessions having been amicably settled, this was averted.
On April 26 it was announced that the Empress Dowager had appointed a board of national administration to relieve her of her public functions, and to inquire into the subject of reforms. Throughout the entire affair the attitude of the United States government was that of dignified conservatism, insisting upon the preservation of the integrity of the Chinese Empire, the modification of unreasonable demands, and such policy as might insure permanent safety and peace to China.
Harper and Brothers Publishers. . New York. 1902.
Tufts University provided support for entering this text.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.
show Browse Bar
hide Places (automatically extracted)
View a map of the most frequently mentioned places in this document.
Sort places alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a place to search for it in this document.
Peking (China) (26)
China (China) (26)
Tientsin (China) (11)
Russia (Russia) (7)
United States (United States) (5)
Taku (Japan) (4)
England (United Kingdom) (3)
Manila (Philippines) (2)
Japan (Japan) (2)
France (France) (2)
Shanghai (China) (1)
Berlin (Berlin, Germany) (1)
Download Pleiades ancient places geospacial dataset for this text.
hide People (automatically extracted)
Sort people alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a person to search for him/her in this document.
Hsu Cheng Yu (3)
Tung Fu Siang (3)
Baron Von Ketteler (3)
Louis Kempff (3)
Hsu Tung (2)
Sujyama (2)
Bowman Hendry McCalla (2)
Emerson H. Liscum (2)
Chao Su Kiam (2)
Wu (1)
Mary Esther Countess Waldersee (1)
Kwang Su (1)
Shan (1)
Truman Seymour (1)
George Collier Remey (1)
H. V. Norman (1)
William McKinley (1)
Baron Ketteler (1)
John Hay (1)
C. Furthermore (1)
B. Enumerating (1)
A. Embodying (1)
Edwin Hurd Conger (1)
Edwin H. Conger (1)
Yung Ching (1)
Cochin China (1)
Adna Romanza Chaffee (1)
hide Dates (automatically extracted)
Sort dates alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a date to search for it in this document.
June 20th (4)
January 16th, 1901 AD (1)
September 25th, 1900 AD (1)
May 19th, 1900 AD (1)
1900 AD (1)
December 30th (1)
December 22nd (1)
October 3rd (1)
October 1st (1)
September 21st (1)
August 7th (1)
July 23rd (1)
July 2nd (1)
June 23rd (1)
June 21st (1)
June 2nd (1)
May 31st (1)
April 3rd (1)
February 26th (1)
February 6th (1)
Searching in English. More search options
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (this document)
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display: Unicode (precombined) Unicode (combining diacriticals) Beta Code SPIonic SGreek GreekKeys Latin transliteration
Arabic Display: Unicode Buckwalter transliteration
View by Default: Original Language Translation
Browse Bar: Show by default Hide by default
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1218
|
__label__cc
| 0.570853
| 0.429147
|
Jaypee Belarmino
Jaypee Belarmino is a Freemason, a World Poet, an abstract painter and an amateur photographer. His background though is very far from his artistic and literary pursuits. He earned a degree in B.S. Agricultural Economics from the University of the Philippines Los Banos. Inspired by his family’s active involvement in Philippine politics, he entered the University of Nueva Caceres School of Law to continue his father’s advocacy to empower the masses. Disillusioned by the political unrest in his country, he gave up law school and left the country to pursue a peaceful and simple life as a dairy farmer in New Zealand. He is currently working as an assistant manager in a dairy farm company in Invercargill City, the coldest and southernmost city in New Zealand.
Jaypee has wide array of interests that include writing prose and poetry, photography, abstract painting, mixed media art and multimedia art and has been getting rave reviews on all of his works from the international community. It is his desire to express the contradicting and esoteric nature of life that has led him to these fields. Basically self-taught in all of these art and literary disciplines, his unrelenting passion to capture the essences of life's beauty distinctly manifests in his works. A proud father and a free soul, he dedicates every art and literary piece that he makes to his deepest inspiration, his lovely daughter, Sofia Gabrielle.
Jaypee is a member of the World Poetry International, the Writers International Network, the New Zealand Poetry Society and the Axlepin Publishing Organization. His works, both as an artist and a writer have appeared on several online art and literary sites that include The Book Times, The Authors Den, The Poem Hunter, The Hubpages, The Flash Frontier, Pixoto, The World Poetry Reading Series, the Blogspot and the Summum Bonum Series of Publication by the Axlepin Publishing Organization. His poems had been aired live twice in internet-based television in the U.S., OTUSA.TV.
Jaypee's background as a member of the University of the Philippines’ most famous fraternity, the Alpha Phi Omega International Collegiate Service Fraternity, keeps activism alive in his creations while his strong Jesuit education from the Ateneo de Naga University emboldens him to persist revolutionizing his artistry with unrelenting drive for excellence.
1. My October
My October
let me deliquesce
within the moonlight
on your lips
2. I Long For You Where I Found You
i long for you
where i found you
as you were in the middle
of a savanna green.
3. You Have Found Me
from the central quietude
of my dream
you have found me,
4. Of Hopes And Dreams
correct me, i am not much of a poet,
and so i write humbly with the rhythm of pure human existence,
the essence of which transcends the level beyond one's understanding….
5. Senses Of The Heart
i shall taste
the shades of purple
or the velvety fur in blue,
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1222
|
__label__wiki
| 0.667562
| 0.667562
|
Tropical storms are devastating in Haiti
Tropical Storm/Hurricane Earl Hits Haiti! Extensive Damage In Rantlamouaie
A severe tropical storm affected the Dominican Republic on July 31 and August 1, 2016, causing floods in several locations, and damage to houses and roads. The tropical storm then moved towards Haiti, a country extremely vulnerable to floods.
Several neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, are still suffering the effects of a previous storm earlier in July. Due to the intense rain, river and canals in Cité Soleil community overflowed, filling with water, garbage and human waste in one of the poorest areas in the country. According to local news, the situation has not yet improved, and as many as 6,000 families are living in precarious conditions in inundated areas prone to contamination.
Haiti and Dominican Republic suffered several major flood events between February and May this year. Dozens of people have died and thousands forced from their homes after a series of storms brought torrential rain across the island of Hispaniola.
Even though Earl has moved on just like Tomas, Ike, Hanna, Gustov, Fay, Dennis and many others (not to mention the earthquake) the people are left to rebuild yet again.
To Love a Child, a non-profit organization that does work in Haiti and Zimabawe and is affiliated with the Diocese of Albany, reports the loss of all the classroom roofs in Rantlamouaie and severe flooding and roof damage at an orphanage in Port au Prince.
Information for this article comes from the website Floodlist <http://floodlist.com/> and the To Love a Child newsletter.
http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?m=1105037637662&ca=3001ebac-b2a8-49de-b75c-236cef1664ed.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1226
|
__label__wiki
| 0.707201
| 0.707201
|
Harvey, Kerstetter Essays Chosen for Reprint in Best American Essays 2013
By Dan Lehman
Two essays first published in River Teeth: A Journal of Nonfiction Narrative Volume 13, Number 2 will be featured in Best American Essays 2013, the long-running series published by Houghton Mifflin Books and edited by Robert Atwan. Steven Harvey's essay, "The Book of Knowledge" and Jon Kerstetter's essay, "Triage" will appear in BAE 2013, scheduled for an October 2013 release.
Bestselling author Cheryl Strayed (Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail), the guest editor of the 2013 Best American Essays, chose Harvey's and Kerstetter's work from among the many hundreds of entries that Atwan and she reviewed this year.
That River Teeth: A Journal of Nonfiction Narrative contributed two of only twenty-five pieces published in Best American Essays 2013 cements the journal's reputation at the forefront of literary magazines published in the United States.
Steven Harvey's essay, "The Book of Knowledge," is the opening chapter of his memoir in progress, The Book of Knowledge and Wonder, which concerns the suicide of his mother in 1961, when Harvey was 11 years old. The Young Harris College and Ashland University MFA faculty member subsequently discovered 406 letters his mother had left behind and embarked on a writing project that he says "has the feel of a detective story. Before I read the letters, my mother had become little more than her death to me, but while writing her story I discovered a woman who, despite her vulnerability to depression, had a large capacity for wonder and a love of familiar things, legacies that she passed on to me."
Jon Kerstetter's "Triage" concerns his experience as a combat physician in Iraq on the day that Major General Jon Gallinetti, U.S. Marine Corps, accompanied him on late-night clinical rounds. "The general laid his hand on the expectant soldier’s leg—the leg whose strength I imagined was drifting like a shape-shifting cloud moving against a dark umber sky—strength retreating into a time before it carried a soldier," Kerstetter writes. "And I watched the drifting of a man back into the womb of his mother, toward a time when a leg was not a leg, a body not a body, toward a time when a soldier was only the laughing between two young lovers—a man and a woman who could never imagine that a leg-body-man-soldier would one day lie expectant and that that soldier would be their son." Jon is a 2011 graduate of the Ashland University MFA Program, home of River Teeth.
Congratulations to both Jon Kerstetter and Steven Harvey!
Keywords: 13-2, best american essays, cheryl strayed, jon kerstetter, steven harvey
best american essays (9)
cheryl strayed (4)
jon kerstetter (2)
steven harvey (7)
comments powered by Disqus « Back to News
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1230
|
__label__wiki
| 0.97187
| 0.97187
|
Dame Val helps put little sister on the podium
The story was originally published on the Newsroom website.
By Sarah Cowley Ross
Two years ago, Lisa Adams was given the chance to overhaul her life, when she was handed a shot put and urged to give it a go.
Lisa Adams (right) with her older sister Dame Valerie Adams. Photo: Photosport
"When I first started, I was a smoker, a bad eater and I was running on about four hours sleep a night," Adams admits.
Now the 28-year-old, who was born with cerebral palsy, is a Para athletics world record holder, aiming for gold at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.
She's training five days a week, and is coached by her older sister - double Olympic champion and four times world champion Dame Valerie Adams.
"Shot put and athletics were always Val's thing. But I was given an opportunity and I have to take it," Lisa Adams said.
The opportunity came about when Raylene Bates, New Zealand's lead Para athletics coach, spotted a newspaper article on Adams in her first year playing rugby. The 1.87m tall lock helped the Waikite women win the 2017 Rotorua local championship.
Although Adams has hemiplegia, a form of cerebral palsy affecting the limbs on the left side of her body, it had never stopped her from playing netball and basketball.
When Bates saw the story, she thought: "If she's an Adams, she's going to be tall and have amazing levers".
Bates made a call to Adam's big sister Val to sound her out about offering Lisa a chance to try throwing. They knew each other well, from Bates' time as the Athletics New Zealand team manager from 2006 to 2012.
Dame Val was immediately supportive of her sister, Bates said, recognising some of the opportunities Lisa would be afforded in high performance sport.
New Zealand's Valerie Adams won silver in the women's shot at the Rio Olymics. Photo: Photosport
A few months after the initial call, Adams was classified as a T37 athlete, with two limbs affected by her cerebral palsy. Her disability, she explains, affects her strength, range of motion and speed of movement on her left side.
"I went down to Hastings to get classified and then they gave me a shot put and discus and said 'try this'. I threw, and then I asked the classifier and the team physiotherapist, Jarrod Scott: 'Am I shit'?" she said.
Adams simply didn't want to go all in, if there was no hope for her as she knew it would be a huge commitment.
Their answer was a definite 'no'.
"It was very obvious when she first picked up the shot that she had the potential to go a long way," Bates said.
A few months later, in March 2018, Adams won her first national shot put title in Hamilton. She then broke the world record in her class at the national championships in Christchurch earlier this year.
"I was so emotional, breaking the world record in Christchurch. I ran over to Val to give her a hug and realised I was crying," Adams said.
She's broken the record several times since, and most recently set a new personal best of 15.21m to win the Oceania area championships in Townsville in July.
Adams' motivation lies with her six-year-old son, Hikairo. She wants to show him that he too can give something a go and work hard to achieve his goals.
"We train hard. Val's hard on me, but I like it. We're pretty honest with each other and she's just been amazing," Adams said.
Family is hugely important to the Adams family and Lisa admits she can't imagine being coached by anyone else.
For Dame Val, seeing her sister exposed to the sport that has provided so much in her own life has been a blessing.
"I'm so proud of Lisa - the amount of training she's doing, the choices that she's making and how organised she is. This has been life-changing for her - she's done a 180 on her life," Dame Val said.
Coaching her sister has been great for their relationship, too. As a coach, Val has had to be more adaptable to meet her sister's needs as a Para athlete, at times modifying exercises.
"I love the fact that she's so driven. At training we have a coach/athlete relationship, but when we're not at training we're just two sisters. It's awesome," Dame Val said.
The Adams family have never treated Lisa differently because of her cerebral palsy - she played able-bodied sport growing up and was never given an easier option.
"My Dad made her do everything we all did. She's had to fend for herself to keep up, and she has kept up," Dame Val said.
Together the sisters are a "package deal", said Bates. The fact they are both mothers juggling a lot means they "get each other" and understand the level of organisation required to balance training, work and their families.
"Lisa has become a high performance athlete and to see her grow as a person has been amazing," admits Bates. "It's also been awesome to see Val blossom as a coach. They're a great team."
The pair are now preparing for the Para athletics world championships in Dubai, in November.
Lisa Adams commutes between Auckland - training at AUT Millennium - and her home in Rotorua, where her old school, Rotorua Lakes High, has installed a shot put stop board for her to train on.
She hopes the choices she's made to be a better athlete, powered by the motivation to help her son, will take her to the top of the podium in Dubai and Tokyo.
"I'm 28," she said. "If I'm not going to do this now, I'll probably never do it."
Making it in Japan: Takai Palei
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1233
|
__label__wiki
| 0.663148
| 0.663148
|
Hsing-ay Hsu
APS Faculty (Session 2 only)
Instruments: Piano
Education: M.M., Yale; B.M., Juilliard
Currently Teaching: Summer Programs
Since making her stage debut at age 4, Chinese pianist Hsing-ay Hsu (“Sing-I Shoo”) has performed at such notable venues as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, and abroad in Asia and Europe. A Steinway Artist, Ms. Hsu is winner of the William Kapell International Piano Competition Silver Medal, the Ima Hogg National Competition Gold Medal, The Juilliard School’s highest honor for a pianist- the William Petschek Recital Award, a McCrane Foundation Artist Grant, a Paul & Daisy Soros Graduate Fellowship Award, and a Gilmore Young Artist Award, among others. She was also named a US Presidential Scholar of the Arts by President Clinton at the White House, and a “2011 Pathmaker” by the Denver Post.
A versatile concerto soloist performing Bach to Barber, she is described by the Washington Post as full of “power, authority, and self-assurance.” Concerto collaborations include the Houston Symphony Orchestra as first-prizewinner of the Ima Hogg National Competition, the Baltimore Symphony, the Colorado Symphony, Pacific Symphony (CA), Colorado Springs, Florida West Coast, Fort Collins, New Jersey, Waterbury(CT), China National, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Xiamen orchestras. Television and radio feature broadcasts include Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion Live from Tanglewood (for a 10,000+ live audience members and 3.9 million broadcast audience), NPR’s Performance Today with Martin Goldsmith, TCI cablevision’s Grand Piano Recital (CA), CPR’s Colorado Spotlight, China Central National TV, Hong Kong Phoenix TV, and Danish National Radio. She has recorded CD/DVD’s for Pacific Records, Albany Records, and Nutmeg Press labels.
An advocate of new music, she has given numerous world premieresincluding Ezra Laderman’s Piano Sonata No.3 and Beshert; Ned Rorem’s Aftermath (2002) for baritone and piano trio; Daniel Kellogg’s scarlet thread at the Guggenheim Museum in New York and his Momentum, which she commissioned for the 1998 Gilmore International Keyboard Festival; as well as Du MingXin’s Piano Concerto No.3 at the Gulangyu International Piano Festival and National Tour. Chamber music appearances include Carnegie Weill Hall, Bargemusic in New York, the Aspen Music Festival, Tanglewood, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, the Gardner Museum in Boston, the Detroit Art Museum, Denmark’s Viborg Hall, Taiwan’s Novel Hall, and a 2007 all-stars gala in Hong Kong for the 10th anniversary of the reunification. Recent projects include the ongoing multi-media recital China through the Lens of Piano Music, co-directing/performing in the George Crumb at 80 Music Festival, and producing/performing the Olivier Messiaen Centennial series.
Born in Beijing, Hsu studied piano with her parents and her uncle Fei-Ping Hsu, and later with Herbert Stessin at Juilliard and Claude Frank at Yale. She also trained in the fellowship programs at the Tanglewood Music Center, Ravinia Festival’s Steans Institute, the Aldeburgh Britten-Pears Programme (UK), the Aspen Music Festival, and abroad.
Until recently, Ms. Hsu was the Artistic Director for Pendulum New Music Series at the University of Colorado in Boulder. She has taught piano for numerous universities including the University of Colorado in Boulder and Ohio University, and has lectured for University of Denver Enrichment, the Denver Art Museum, the Friends of Chamber Music Denver salon series, the MTNA national conference, and the DAMTA Lecture Series. She created the Conscious Listening method to give audiences and pianists a broader perspective on the art of performance. An educator, adjudicator, teacher of prize-winning students, and CSMTA’s College Faculty Chair, her teaching honors include the NFMC Ouida Keck Award.
Ms. Hsu resides in New York City with her husband, composer and Young Concert Artists president Daniel Kellogg, and one daughter. Her favorite pastimes are dance and improv theater. Her concert and seminar schedule and recordings are available at hsingayhsu.com.
Check out Ms. Hsu’s most recent virtual seminar: Hear That?, a 6-week tonal analysis intensive for lifelong learners, music teachers, and performers of any instrument!
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1234
|
__label__wiki
| 0.991023
| 0.991023
|
Jul 06, 2009 — 20:02 PM
Rodney Featured in the Leader-Post!
Leader-Post
Finding success outside the box
By: Jeff Dedekker
In 2006 Rodney Atkins struck gold with If You're Going Through Hell, a No. 1 album that spawned four No. 1 singles. For most country music fans, it appeared Atkins rocketed to superstar status overnight.
But the reality was that Atkins paid his dues -- he signed his first record contract in 1997 and it took almost 10 years of hard work before the native of Knoxville, Tenn., realized his dream of country success.
Atkins admits that even he was surprised that it took that long.
"Perception is everything," Atkins explained in a recent telephone interview from his home in Cumberland Gap, Tenn.
"I can remember watching TV one time when I was in high school and Randy Travis was on. He was talking about how from the time he moved to Nashville it took him 10 years to have his first hit. At the time I was thinking about making the move, should I or shouldn't I chase that crazy dream, and this crossed my mind later when I finally did make the move. I thought, 'That's not going to happen to me. It won't take me that long.'
"Yeah, it took longer."
Atkins, who turned 40 on March 28, signed with Curb Records in 1997 and although he released a single, "In A Heartbeat," his debut album was never released by the label. Honesty was released in 2003 with the title track peaking at No. 4 on the charts.
Then came If You're Going Through Hell, which was released in 2006. The title track was the first No. 1 single for Atkins and the three following singles -- "Watching You," "These Are My People" and "Cleaning This Gun (Come On In Boy)" -- also topped the charts.
The success of If You're Going Through Hell can be attributed to one vital decision made by Atkins.
"I quit trying to fit into the mould that had been established for other artists. It's 'You wear this, you look like this, you sing this,' " Atkins said.
"We just kind of came back to being myself and having the music match that."
Atkins also found that huge success brings huge expectations. He faced a great deal of pressure when he returned to the studio to record the followup to If You're Going Through Hell.
Matching or surpassing an album with four No. 1 hits is a difficult task and it took Atkins a while to find his way with the new album, It's America, which was released on March 31.
"Obviously, it had to be great songs," said Atkins. "It was hard for us to define what album we were trying to make, what the music was, what we were trying to say -- songs about real life. We wanted to steer away from songs that just blow by you. Songs can be hits, they can go to No. 1 and two weeks later you can't remember them or what they were.
"I want songs that are timeless, that will hopefully be around forever. I want songs that are about real life -- good, bad, funny, sad, whatever. Finally, when we got the album together, it made sense."
It appears Atkins made the right decisions with the new disc. The title track reached No. 1 on May 2 and the second single, "15 Minutes," has worked its way into the Top 20 and has the potential to break into the Top 10.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1235
|
__label__wiki
| 0.601847
| 0.601847
|
March 23, 2009 | Vancouver, BC
Sandstorm Appoints New Director
Vancouver, British Columbia, March 23, 2009 - Sandstorm Resources Ltd. ("Sandstorm") (TSX-V: SSL) announces that it has appointed Andy Swarthout as a director of Sandstorm to replace Marcel de Groot who resigned from its Board of Directors effective after the close of market on March 20, 2009. Mr. Swarthout is currently the President and a director of Bear Creek Mining Corporation (TSX-V: BCM) and, prior thereto, was the Vice-President of Exploration for Southern Peru Copper Corporation (now Southern Copper Corporation).
Nolan Watson,
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1236
|
__label__wiki
| 0.844517
| 0.844517
|
Satoko Silverberg is an author, journalist, and educator residing in South Florida. Her debut novel, Dillon, was published in summer 2019. She has two other novels, Surviving Solomon and Driving Messiah, due for publication in late 2019 and early 2020.
“My writing muse was brought to life after a particularly intense dream, in which the scenes and dialogue were so vivid, as if from a movie, that I knew I had to compose a screenplay.”
Satoko began storytelling after a particularly intense dream about a Russian orphan enlisted as a government agent during the height of glasnost in the Soviet Union––which became the basis for her first screenplay. After writing a second screenplay and quickly realizing that the gates to Hollywood were difficult to pry open for unknown creatives like herself, Satoko decided to explore novel-writing.
Many of Satoko’s stories feature in New York, and New Yorkers will recognize the cadence of her characters’ wit and charm. Drawing on her rich personal experience, and with more than a dab of comedy, Satoko breathes life into her unlikely protagonists––the seductive and wealthy widow, the unpublished author and his bohemian father, the callow limousine driver thrust into the city’s underbelly. Her stories are by turns funny, sad, heartwarming, and preternatural.
“As a child, I’d always wanted to live in America. At age four, I was set on marrying someone from this mythic land of freedom and opportunity. And I did. “
Satoko was born and raised in Tokyo, attending a prominent all-girls’ Catholic school. From an early age she drifted through constraining privilege, surrounded by milk and honey yet bullied and ostracized at school and unable to make friends in a cloistered environment that prized conformity and restraint. Satoko suffered her schoolyard reputation as a quiet, unsociable misfit––a black sheep of her clan––in silence. Even her father, with whom she was close, only learned about the extent of her loneliness later in life. It was during this time that Satoko secretly began yearning to explore America, a mythic land of freedom and opportunity to her adolescent eyes.
“I miss New York in the 1980s. The city then was dangerous and squalid yet lively and inspirational––reminiscent of noir cinema. This unique energy is gone forever.”
After a postgraduate stint at a leading industrial company in Tokyo, Satoko founded a marketing company in New York City where, during Japan’s economic heyday in the 1980s, she worked with major Japanese advertising, media, trading, and fashion houses to scout growth investments in the United States. As a Japanese-English bilingual, Satoko introduced numerous American products and ideas to Japanese marketers and consumers. Satoko also covered the New York fashion scene as a correspondent and columnist for several prominent Japanese fashion magazines including Gap Japan, Cosmopolitan Japan, and Non-no, interviewing world-famous designers and discussing international social and cultural issues for a Japanese audience.
“Life in New York was a dream come true, but I had to move on.”
Satoko then moved to Washington, D.C. to attend the Master of Science in Foreign Service (MSFS) program in international relations at Georgetown University. Later, she and her husband started an online education program.
“When I first began writing fiction in a Starbucks, I sometimes cried, absorbed as I was in the drama of my stories. To the baristas then, I owe so much.”
Currently Satoko lives with her husband, Ken, in South Florida, where her quiet subtropical surroundings allow her to focus more on storytelling.
“Home, instead of Starbucks, has become a place where I can be imaginative as a writer, this time not with a whiff of java but with culinary vegan magic prepared by Ken.”
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1237
|
__label__wiki
| 0.71645
| 0.71645
|
Big Soviet construction: How all the nation literally built a new country
Under Stalin (ruled 1922-1953), the USSR developed at a lightning pace: new large-scale projects such as hydroelectric stations, canals and railways were built in record time. But what was really fantastic was that the after-war generation took part in the nationwide building process, constructing big apartment blocks for new families living in a new communist country!
Russianphoto.ru
In this picture, top stonemasons are building an apartment block in the city of Cherepovets, 480 kilometers north of Moscow. All the people were invited to take part in the construction process, and those who achieved the best results were rewarded by the Communist Party, sometimes with some extra money and a holiday.
This building now stands in the new district of Khoroshevo-Mnevniki in Moscow. So as not to live in communal apartments, people were ready to build houses for their families. Having your own apartment, even a very small one, was an indescribable joy.
Interestingly, even when Stalin's Seven Sisters skyscrapers were built, most of the districts on the edge of Moscow looked like villages, so it's not an uncommon sight to see a wooden house, an apartment block and a Moscow University building (like here) in the background.
Most of the apartment blocks were built under the same project. There is even a popular Soviet movie ironizing this: The Irony of Fate, where a drunk Muscovite turns up by accident in St. Petersburg and enters the same block and the apartment number as his own in Moscow (even the door keys are the same).
One of the most popular images of Soviet construction is of beautiful female communists, who had equal rights with men and worked alongside them on building sites.
There is a 1957 Soviet movie glorifying the job of high riggers who took part in major communist construction projects. Called The Height, the movie features Soviet sex-symbol Nikolai Rybnikov. One line is particularly memorable: "We are neither stokers, nor carpenters; we are high riggers and send our greetings to you from on high!"
According to the mindset of Soviet youth, it was not only honorable to take part in such projects, but also a happy and cheerful thing and, of course, a place to find a future spouse. On this photo is pictured a concert arranged for the workers just on the building place.
Just look at another beautiful young face of a woman taking a rest in the midst of building. Women in the Soviet Union were more than feminists; as mentioned, they worked no different from men and even held more managerial positions than today.
Incidentally, in Soviet times people were given long-term occupancy of apartments, not ownership. First in line to receive a private living space were industry and production leaders, and beneficiaries of different types (war veterans, party workers). The 1980s saw the establishment of a program for young families, and getting an apartment became an easier process.
Soviet people probably didn’t know that communism in its pure meaning was never built in the Soviet Union, but most of them were happy with all the collective work, social property and building a new country at breakneck speed. Pictured: Students of Moscow State University on a summer building works at Solovki islands.
Moscow Russian architecture Soviet Union
Can you believe less than 50 years ago Moscow looked like a village?
How Soviet children struggled with the symbol of totalitarism - school uniform
Breathtaking Russian log houses that everyone should experience
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1245
|
__label__wiki
| 0.79657
| 0.79657
|
Clarity or Confusion: The 2005 Amendment to Section 271 of the Delaware General Corporation Law
November 1, 2005, Mark A. Morton, Michael K. Reilly
Although Delaware courts have recognized the separate corporate existence of parent and subsidiary corporations, the close relationship between those entities sometimes raises questions about the proper application of Delaware law. For example, many practitioners have struggled with how Section 271 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (“Section 271”), which requires a stockholder vote if a corporation intends to sell, lease or exchange all or substantially all of its assets, should operate in the parent/subsidiary context. In particular, some have questioned whether a vote of a parent corporation’s stockholders should be required in transactions involving a drop down of assets to a subsidiary, or a sale of assets by a subsidiary. Nevertheless, over the years, some practitioners developed a reasoned analysis for determining when a stockholder vote under Section 271 would be required in those circumstances.
That reasoned analysis was challenged when the Court of Chancery issued its decision in Hollinger International, Inc. v. Black.[2] In that lengthy decision, the Court of Chancery rejected an argument that the vote of a parent corporation’s stockholders was not required to approve a sale of assets owned by its indirect, wholly owned, non-Delaware subsidiary. The Court’s apparent willingness to collapse the corporate existence of the parent and subsidiary corporations in Hollinger for purposes of Section 271 prompted many to consider what effect the decision would have on the reasoned analysis many had offered before when addressing dispositions of assets in the parent/subsidiary context.
Following on the heels of the Hollinger decision, the Delaware General Assembly recently amended Section 271[3] to specifically provide that the assets of a wholly owned and controlled subsidiary will be considered the assets of its parent corporation for purposes of Section 271. While new Section 271(c) clarifies when a stockholder vote is required for certain asset dispositions under Delaware law, the amendment also raises a host of interesting questions.
I. The Understanding of the Law Prior to Hollinger.
Section 271 is a Delaware statutory provision that requires a stockholder vote for any sale, lease or exchange of “all or substantially all” of a corporation’s assets. Section 271(a) provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
Every corporation may at any meeting of its board of directors or governing body sell, lease or exchange all or substantially all of its property and assets, including its goodwill and its corporate franchises, upon such terms and conditions and for such consideration, which may consist in whole or in part of money or other property, including shares of stock in, and/or other securities of, and other corporation or corporations, as the board of directors of governing body deems expedient and for the best interests of the corporation, when and as authorized by a resolution adopted by the holders of a majority of the outstanding stock of the corporation entitled to vote thereon…., at a meeting duly called upon 20 days notice….[4]
Prior to the amendment to Section 271, it was unclear how Section 271 applied in the parent/subsidiary context. For example, it was not clear if the drop down of a corporation’s assets to a wholly owned subsidiary triggered a stockholder vote under Section 271. In addition, it was not clear whether a vote of a parent corporation’s stockholders would be required to approve a sale by its wholly owned subsidiary of assets that would constitute (on a consolidated basis) all or substantially all of the assets of the parent corporation.
A. Drop Down of Assets by Parent to Subsidiary.
Prior to Section 271(c), the drop down of assets by a parent corporation to its wholly owned subsidiary raised interpretational issues under Section 271 because it was not clear that the parent was disposing of its assets in a manner that should have required a stockholder vote under that statutory provision. On the one hand, one could view a drop down of assets to a wholly owned subsidiary as a non-event for the stockholders of the parent corporation because the parent corporation retains ownership of the assets, albeit indirectly. As evidence of that fact, it is likely that the assets of the subsidiary would be consolidated with the assets of the parent corporation for accounting purposes. In addition, to the extent the assets were transferred to the subsidiary as a capital contribution (and not in exchange for the issuance of additional shares of the subsidiary) one could argue that there was a transfer, but not a sale, lease or exchange, of assets of the parent. Thus, it is arguable that no vote of the parent corporation’s stockholders should be required for that drop down.
On the other hand, Delaware law generally recognizes the separate corporate existence of entities.[5] If the separate corporate existence of parent and subsidiary is recognized, then it might be difficult to conclude that the assets, after the drop down, remain the assets of the parent corporation. If so, then the subsidiary, as a separate corporate entity, should be entitled to dispose of the assets without a vote of the stockholders of the parent corporation. The concern raised by the result is another basis for arguing that a drop down of assets should require a vote of the parent’s stockholders under Section 271.
In view of that tension, it has often been difficult to provide advice on the issue of whether a stockholder vote is required for a drop down of assets. Some practitioners have been able to conclude that no stockholder vote should be required for a drop down of assets under certain circumstances. For example, if the drop down is structured as something other than a sale, lease or exchange of assets, some practitioners have argued that no stockholder vote would be required. Often, that conclusion accompanied advice that any sale of those assets by the subsidiary, at least in the near term, might require a vote of the parent corporation’s stockholders.
B. Sale of Assets by Subsidiary.
Prior to Section 271(c), it also was unclear whether a vote of a parent corporation’s stockholders was required if a wholly owned subsidiary intended to dispose of assets that constituted all or substantially all of the assets of the parent corporation on a consolidated basis. Similar to the drop down issue, the interpretational difficulty existed because it simply was not clear whether the assets of the subsidiary should also be deemed to be assets of the parent corporation. If the assets are deemed to be held by both the parent and its subsidiary, no stockholder vote should be required for a drop down, but a vote should be required for a sale of those assets by the subsidiary. On the other hand, if the assets are deemed to be assets of the subsidiary, but not the assets of the parent corporation, a vote of the parent corporation’s stockholders should be required for a drop down, but not for a sale by the subsidiary of those assets.
Prior to Hollinger, some argued that no vote of a parent corporation’s stockholders would be required for a sale of assets by a subsidiary. As a general matter, that conclusion was based on the assumption that the assets were not dropped down to the subsidiary for the purposes of avoiding a vote under Section 271. Therefore, so long as the assets were either never owned directly by the parent corporation, or had been held at the subsidiary level for a significant period of time, it was possible to conclude that no vote would be required. In addition, the conclusion also was based on facts demonstrating an absence of fraud or any reason to pierce the corporate veil and collapse the corporate existence of the parent and subsidiary corporations.[6]
II. The Hollinger Decision.
In Hollinger, Hollinger International, Inc. (the “Parent”) had entered into an agreement to sell the assets (the “Telegraph Group”) of its indirect, wholly owned subsidiary, Telegraph Group Ltd. (England) (the “Subsidiary”). Among other things, Subsidiary published the Telegraph, a leading newspaper in the United Kingdom in terms of both circulation and journalistic reputation. Hollinger, Inc., an entity indirectly controlled by Conrad Black and the controlling stockholder of Parent, commenced a suit in the Court of Chancery seeking to enjoin the sale on the grounds that the stockholders of Parent had the right to vote on the sale because, although held by a subsidiary, the Telegraph Group constituted all or substantially all of the assets of Parent. Parent argued that the Telegraph Group did not constitute all or substantially all of its assets on a consolidated basis, and, even if it did, that no vote of the stockholders of Parent was necessary because the sale involved assets owned by Subsidiary and not Parent.
The Court refused to decide the matter on the latter “technical statutory defense,” and instead treated the assets of Subsidiary as if such assets were owned directly by Parent.[7] Having decided to treat the assets as those of Parent, the Court ultimately concluded that the Telegraph Group did not constitute all or substantially all of the assets of Parent, and thus no vote of Parent’s stockholders was required.
Contrary to the prior dicta on the issue, the Court in Hollinger expressed skepticism with respect to the technical statutory argument that a vote of the stockholders of Parent was unnecessary under the facts of the case. Without addressing at length the literal language of the statute, the Court decided to treat the Telegraph Group as if it was owned directly by Parent in light of the fact that, “as a matter of obvious reality,” the sale process was directed and controlled by Parent.[8]
In reaching that conclusion, the Court noted that none of the subsidiaries, including the Subsidiary, engaged independent financial or legal advisors. Moreover, all of the directors of the subsidiaries were officers of Parent, and those directors had a role in the sale, in their capacity as directors, only after the terms of the sale were completed.[9] In addition, the terms of the relevant contract evidenced the fact that Parent directed the sale process. Not only was Parent a signatory to the contract, but its legal advisors negotiated the terms of the contract. Pursuant to those terms, Parent agreed to cause Subsidiary to perform its obligations under the contract, guaranteed the payment of any breach of warranty claims brought against Subsidiary by the purchaser, and was entitled to receive payments from claims belonging to its subsidiaries.
With those facts in mind, the Court considered the policy implications of determining whether a vote of the stockholders of Parent was required in such circumstances. The Court noted that the technical statutory argument that a stockholder vote was not required had policy arguments in its favor because that argument “has virtues that accompany all bright-line tests, which are considerable, in that they provide clear guidance to transactional planners and limit litigation.”[10] The Court continued as follows:
That approach also adheres to the director-centered nature of our law, which leaves directors with wide managerial freedom subject to the strictures of equity, including entire fairness review of interested transactions. It is through this centralized management that stockholder wealth is largely created, or so much thinking goes.[11]
However, the Court also found that a conclusion in favor of requiring a stockholder vote in the circumstances had policy arguments in its favor. In particular, the Court noted that accepting the technical statutory argument would render Section 271 “largely hortatory – reduced to an easily side-stepped gesture, but little more, towards the idea that transactions that dispose of substantially all of a corporation’s economic value need stockholders’ assent to become effective.”[12] The Court noted such a conclusion would allow a corporation to sell all of its assets through its subsidiaries, that “would, taken together, result in a de facto liquidation of the firm’s operating assets into a pool of cash, a result akin to a sale of the entire company for cash or liquidation.”[13] The Court reasoned that, although the law recognizes the separate existence of wholly owned subsidiaries for purposes of minimizing liability to third parties and tax liability, it does not necessarily mean that the law should recognize their separate existence for all purposes.
Ultimately, the Court declined to rule on the issue and instead assumed, without deciding, that the Telegraph Group was held directly by Parent. Nevertheless, to most practitioners, the Court’s analysis was read as a strong indication of the Court’s willingness, under the appropriate circumstances, to ignore the legal distinction between parent and subsidiary corporations at least for purposes of analyzing whether a stockholder vote was required under Section 271.[14]
III. The Amendment to Section 271.
Effective August 1, 2005, the Delaware General Assembly amended Section 271 to add a new subparagraph (c). Section 271(c) of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “Amendment”) provides as follows:
(c) For purposes of this section only, the property and assets of the corporation include the property and assets of any subsidiary of the corporation. As used in this subsection, “subsidiary” means any entity wholly owned and controlled, directly or indirectly, by the corporation and includes, without limitation, corporations, partnerships, limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships, limited liability companies, and/or statutory trusts. Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, except to the extent the certificate of incorporation otherwise provides, no resolution by stockholders or members shall be required for a sale, lease or exchange of property and assets of the corporation to a subsidiary.[15]
In the synopsis relating to the Amendment, the Delaware General Assembly described the purpose of the amendment as follows:
Section 271 has been amended to add new subsection (c). The purpose of subsection (c) is to provide that (i) no stockholder vote is required for a sale, lease or exchange of assets to or with a direct or indirect wholly owned and controlled subsidiary, and (ii) the assets of such a subsidiary are to be treated as assets of its ultimate parent for purposes of applying, at the parent level, the requirements set forth in subsection (a). The amendment is not intended to address the application of subsection (a) to a sale, lease or exchange of assets by, or to or with, a subsidiary that is not wholly owned and controlled, directly or indirectly, by the ultimate parent.[16]
As a result of the Amendment, it is now clear under Delaware law that a vote of a parent corporation’s stockholders is not required to authorize the drop down of all or substantially all of the assets of that parent corporation to a wholly owned and controlled subsidiary. The Amendment also makes it clear that a vote of the parent corporation’s stockholders would be required before its wholly owned and controlled subsidiary sells, leases or exchanges assets that (on a consolidated basis) constitute all or substantially all of the assets of the parent corporation.
It is worth noting, however, that the reasoning of Hollinger still applies to an asset sale by a subsidiary that is not wholly owned or controlled. As a result, a vote of the parent corporation’s stockholder might be required if the parent corporation directed and controlled the disposition and the assets constituted all or substantially all of the parent’s assets (on a consolidated basis).
IV. Practical Questions.
Although the Amendment appears to be straightforward, several questions arise when one considers how the Amendment operates in the real world. In order to explore certain of those questions, we consider a hypothetical scenario involving a Delaware corporation named Conglomerate, Inc.
Conglomerate, Inc. (“Conglomerate”) was incorporated in Delaware in 1985 as a simple company engaged in the manufacture of widgets. Since the time of its incorporation, Conglomerate has directly owned all of its widget manufacturing assets. As luck would have it, widgets became a highly valuable product during the late 1980s and, bolstered by an optimistic future outlook, Conglomerate became a public company in 1990.
As Conglomerate grew in size, it began to seek to diversify its operations. In its search for new opportunities, Conglomerate learned of a Romanian company named Grommet Co. (“GrommetCo”) that manufactured grommets. Realizing the growth potential in the grommet manufacturing industry, Conglomerate purchased all of the shares of stock held by the stockholders of GrommetCo. As a result of the stock purchase, GrommetCo became a wholly owned subsidiary of Conglomerate in 1995. Although GrommetCo has tremendous growth potential, the widget manufacturing business remains the core asset of Conglomerate and currently constitutes more than 75% of Conglomerate’s total income, profit and assets (on a fair market value basis).
On August 1, 2005, Conglomerate decided to drop down its widget manufacturing assets into WidgetCo, a newly-incorporated, wholly owned subsidiary. On August 2, 2005, a buyer approached GrommetCo’s board and expressed an interest in acquiring that business. In connection therewith, Conglomerate’s general counsel contacted outside counsel and has asked what approvals were necessary to drop the assets down to WidgetCo and to effect a sale of GrommetCo.
A. Is a Stockholder Vote Required for the Drop Down?
Although more due diligence would be required to reach a definitive conclusion, it is likely that the widget assets would constitute all or substantially all of the assets of Conglomerate. Nevertheless, the Amendment now makes it possible for a Delaware practitioner to conclude that no vote of Conglomerate’s stockholders is necessary to drop down the widget assets into WidgetCo.
B. What Does “Control” Mean?
In structuring the drop down, the sole ownership requirement is easily satisfied. A more difficult issue arises when one considers whether Conglomerate will control WidgetCo. The Amendment defines a “subsidiary” as “any entity wholly owned and controlled, directly or indirectly, by the corporation.” However, the Amendment fails to provide a definition for “control.” One must, therefore, consider whether WidgetCo would be deemed to be controlled by Conglomerate through ownership alone, or whether other facts must be present to demonstrate Conglomerate’s control over WidgetCo.
Delaware case law does not provide a fixed legal meaning for concept of “control.”[17] Rather, “its definition varies according to the context in which it is being considered, e.g., fiduciary responsibility, tort liability, filing consolidated tax returns, sale of control.”[18] In determining how “control” would be interpreted in the Amendment, it is useful to examine other provisions in the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware that include that term.
For example, the Delaware General Assembly recently amended Section 220 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (“Section 220”) to provide that a stockholder of a corporation may, in certain circumstances, demand to inspect the books and records of a subsidiary of that corporation. Section 220 defines a subsidiary as “any entity directly or indirectly owned, in whole or in part, by the corporation of which the stockholder is a stockholder and over the affairs of which the corporation directly or indirectly exercises control….”[19] Like the Amendment, Section 220 does not contain a definition of “control.”
The Delaware Supreme Court recently had the opportunity to consider the meaning of “control” in the subsidiary definition set forth in Section 220.[20] In interpreting the meaning of “control” in that definition, the Delaware Supreme Court concluded that a parent will be deemed to control a subsidiary for purposes of the definition if the parent has “the power to control the affairs of [the subsidiary] (as distinguished from actually exercising that power).”[21]
The definition of subsidiary in Section 220, however, is different than the definition in Section 271. In particular, the definition in Section 220 includes less than wholly owned subsidiaries. The need for the concept of “control” and its meaning in that context is, therefore, more clear. Because the definition in the Amendment includes wholly owned subsidiaries, one could argue that “control” must mean something more than merely the power to control through ownership. Otherwise, the word “control” would be mere surplusage.[22] It is possible, therefore, that a Delaware court may construe “control” as requiring a showing of the actual exercise of control over the subsidiary. Until the Delaware courts have an opportunity to address this issue, it is unclear how a Delaware court will construe the concept of “control”.
The interpretational issue concerning the definition of “control” has practical consequences. If Conglomerate does not “control” WidgetCo, a vote of Conglomerate’s stockholders may be required before the assets could be dropped down to WidgetCo. It is, therefore, important for practitioners to consider whether a parent corporation controls its wholly owned subsidiary before dropping assets down to that subsidiary.[23]
C. Should Conglomerate Take Steps to Ensure the Retention of Ownership and Control of the Subsidiary?
In light of the interpretational issues relating to the concept of “control,” one should consider whether Conglomerate’s sole ownership of WidgetCo on the day of the drop down is sufficient, or whether additional steps should be taken to demonstrate Conglomerate’s “control” over WidgetCo. One way to demonstrate Conglomerate’s “control” might be to take steps at the time of the drop down to prevent Conglomerate from losing sole ownership and control of WidgetCo in the future. One could argue that the failure to take steps in advance to prevent the subsequent loss of ownership and control might support a conclusion that Conglomerate did not in fact control WidgetCo on the day of the drop down, and thus a vote of Conglomerate’s stockholders was required for the drop down.
A number of techniques could be employed to ensure that WidgetCo remains wholly owned and controlled by Conglomerate. For example, if WidgetCo issues all of its authorized stock to Conglomerate, then WidgetCo would not be able to issue any additional shares unless it amended its charter to increase the authorized number of shares. Since a charter amendment by WidgetCo would require the approval of Conglomerate (as the sole stockholder of the subsidiary), WidgetCo would not be able to issue shares to a third party without Conglomerate’s consent. As an alternative, WidgetCo’s charter could be drafted so as to require a vote of Conglomerate (as the common stockholder) before the subsidiary could take an action (e.g., the issuance of voting debt or stock options) that would threaten Conglomerate’s sole ownership and control of WidgetCo.
Unless the documents are drafted in this manner, the WidgetCo board of directors, from and after the time of the drop down of assets by Conglomerate, retains the power to cause the subsidiary to no longer be “wholly owned” or “controlled” by Conglomerate. The existence of WidgetCo’s ability, ab initio, raises an interesting interpretational question – can Conglomerate be said to “control” WidgetCo for purposes of Section 271(c) in the absence of specific structure protections in the charter of WidgetCo? If one answers that question “no,” then WidgetCo’s assets should not be deemed to be the assets of Conglomerate for purposes of the Amendment. In that case, the Conglomerate board of directors is left to answer a simple question – was the approval of Conglomerate’s stockholders required under Section 271 to effect the drop down of assets to WidgetCo? This question raises one final problem for the Conglomerate board — since Hollinger suggests that there may be circumstances where a vote of a parent corporation’s stockholder would not be required for a subsequent disposition of assets by the subsidiary (for example, when a parent corporation does not direct or control the disposition), could Conglomerate’s failure to have and maintain control of WidgetCo end up depriving the stockholders of Conglomerate of their right to vote on a future disposition of assets by WidgetCo?
However, while it may be tempting to conclude that the Amendment has opened a Pandora’s Box of legal issues, several countervailing considerations should be raised. First, since it will be the rare case where directors of a wholly owned subsidiary would act to divest the parent of its sole ownership and control of the subsidiary, is it really necessary to incorporate in WidgetCo’s organizational documents the type of structural safeguards suggested above? Indeed, since the directors of a wholly owned subsidiary “are obligated only to manage the affairs of the subsidiary in the best interests of the parent and its shareholders,”[24] would the Delaware courts permit the WidgetCo board of directors to erode Conglomerate’s ownership or control of WidgetCo without the full support of Conglomerate?
In that connection, we note that a recent decision of the Court of Chancery concluded that advance notice must be given to a director, who also either is a controlling stockholder or represents a controlling stockholder, before the board of directors of that corporation can authorize a transaction resulting in the loss of the stockholder’s control over the corporation.[25] Accordingly, even if a board of directors of a subsidiary decides to authorize such a transaction, notice of that intent likely must be given to Conglomerate. Conglomerate, upon receiving notice through its directors, would be able to exercise its control over the subsidiary to remove the directors and replace them with new directors who would not take that action. Ultimately, however, the courts will have to weigh in to determine the meaning of “control” in the Amendment and whether it is necessary for a parent corporation to take steps to ensure that sole ownership and “control” is maintained by a parent corporation.
D. When Acquiring a New Business (GrommetCo), Should Conglomerate Take Steps to Ensure That It Falls Outside Section 271(c)?
Unlike a pure “drop down” transaction (for example, the contribution of assets to WidgetCo), an acquisition of a new business that will be held within a subsidiary poses different questions and, potentially, different opportunities for a parent corporation. The hypothetical scenario set forth above illustrates some of those differences.
GrommetCo (the recently acquired business) currently accounts for only 25% of Conglomerate’s assets. As such, if Conglomerate sold GrommetCo (or if GrommetCo directly sold its assets on its own) that sale would not trigger a stockholder vote because it would not involve a sale of substantially all of Conglomerate’s assets. However, since the grommet business is growing rapidly, it is possible that those assets might one day constitute (on a consolidated basis) all or substantially all of the assets of Conglomerate. Thus, the question may be asked whether Conglomerate should want to “control” its wholly owned subsidiary, GrommetCo, for purposes of Section 271(c). If it does control GrommetCo, then a sale by GrommetCo (once it has grown to the point where it represents substantially all the assets of Conglomerate) will trigger a vote of Conglomerate’s stockholders under Section 271(c). In contrast, if Conglomerate structures GrommetCo so that it is either not wholly owned or not controlled by Conglomerate, then the Amendment no longer applies. In that case, the rationale of Hollinger (discussed above) suggests that GrommetCo may be able to effect the sale of its assets in the future without seeking the approval of Conglomerate’s stockholders, provided that (among other things) Conglomerate does not direct or control the sales process for its subsidiary.
E. Can GrommetCo (or its Assets) Be Sold in the Future Without a Vote Under Section 271(c)?
Another issue raised by the Amendment is the possibility to structure a transaction – with the support of Conglomerate - between GrommetCo and a buyer that does not trigger a stockholder vote under Section 271. As noted above, the Amendment does not address a scenario in which a parent corporation loses sole ownership or control of a subsidiary after a drop down of assets to that subsidiary. So, for example, if one assumes that the GrommetCo charter authorizes the issuance of 1000 shares of Common Stock and that GrommetCo only has 100 shares outstanding (all held by Conglomerate), then the GrommetCo board of directors would be permitted to issue and sell 900 additional shares. Under Delaware law, the issuance of such shares may be accomplished without stockholder approval (in the absence of any charter provision to the contrary). Once the buyer has purchased 90% of GrommetCo’s common stock, the buyer may effect a short form merger with GrommetCo pursuant to Section 253 of the Delaware General Corporation Law without any additional action by the GrommetCo board or the other GrommetCo stockholder (Conglomerate). While one may argue that this approach requires the tacit approval of Conglomerate, it is not clear whether that would be sufficient to trigger a stockholder vote of Conglomerate under the rationale of Hollinger.
In the event that the foregoing structure was unavailable (because of insufficient authorized common stock or because the buyer and GrommetCo did not wish to undertake that approach), a transaction structure still may be available that does not trigger a stockholder vote of Conglomerate’s stockholders. If the buyer agreed to merge GrommetCo with a subsidiary of buyer, then GrommetCo (and Conglomerate) could argue, based on Delaware’s doctrine of independent legal significance, that the only stockholder vote required for the transaction is the vote required by the merger statute (in this case, the vote of Conglomerate, as the stockholder of GrommetCo, but not the vote of Conglomerate’s stockholders).[26]
While one may argue why both of these approaches should, in the right circumstance, avoid a vote under Section 271, it is not clear how a Delaware court would react to such transactional planning.[27] Until the Delaware courts (or legislature) offers more guidance in this area, there remains an appreciable risk that a Delaware court would conclude that both structures trigger a vote of Conglomerate’s stockholders because both require Conglomerate to relinquish its control of the subsidiary (either by failing to remove the subsidiary board before it issues shares to the buyer or by affirmatively supporting the planned sale by voting, as a stockholder of GrommetCo, to approve the merger) in order for the transaction to be effected.
F. How Would a Delaware Court Enforce Section 271 Against a Non-Delaware Subsidiary?
Assuming that the assets of GrommetCo eventually grow to constitute all or substantially all of the assets of Conglomerate, a question arises concerning how (and whether) a Delaware court would be able to enforce Section 271 against that Romanian entity if it chose to issue one share of stock to a third party and then dispose of its assets without a vote of Conglomerate’s stockholders. Although we do not endeavor to answer that question in detail, we note that Conglomerate’s stockholders could seek to enjoin the transaction by filing an action in the Court of Chancery.[28]
If a Delaware court issued an injunction in these circumstances, it is likely that the Court would seek to enforce the injunction by holding Conglomerate responsible if the sale moved forward. In that event, Conglomerate’s willingness (and ability) to prevent GrommetCo from effecting the transaction would be tested. Does Conglomerate have control of GrommetCo and therefore the practical ability to prevent the consummation of the transaction?
On the other hand, if GrommetCo consummates the sale before stockholders of Conglomerate object, then it may be more difficult to fashion an appropriate remedy. It is not clear, for example, how a Delaware court could enforce a judgment to unwind a transaction entered into by a non-Delaware entity. The stockholder plaintiffs might consider bringing a fiduciary duty claim against Conglomerate’s Board of Directors alleging that they breached their fiduciary duties by failing to exercise control over the subsidiary, e.g., by replacing the board of directors of GrommetCo, and prevent the disposition. In that case, however, it is not immediately clear whether such a claim would be framed as a breach of the duty of care or as a breach of the duty of good faith. However, since most Delaware corporations’ directors are exculpated from liabilities for due care violations,[29] such a claim would be subject to a motion to dismiss. Therefore, unless the plaintiff could craft the complaint as a breach of the duty of good faith, the plaintiff may be left with little chance of recovering damages or rescinding the transaction.
The Amendment provides clarity with respect to when a vote of a parent corporation’s stockholders is required in connection with the drop down of assets to, and the sale of assets by, a wholly owned and controlled subsidiary. However, a myriad of questions remains concerning the implications of the Amendment for subsidiaries that are not controlled or wholly owned by a parent corporation. In light of those questions, corporate counsel should exercise caution in advising corporations in this context pending future judicial exploration of these issues.
1 Mark A. Morton is a partner and Michael K. Reilly is an associate in the Wilmington, Delaware law firm of Potter Anderson & Corroon LLP. The views expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the firm or its clients.
2 858 A.2d 342 (Del. Ch.), appeal denied, 871 A.2d 1128 (Del. 2004) (TABLE).
3 The amendment to Section 271 was effective August 1, 2005.
4 8 Del. C. § 271(a).
5 See, Leslie v. Telephonics Office Techs., Inc., C.A. No. 13045, 1993 WL 547188, Allen, C. (Del. Ch. Dec. 30, 1993). Cf. Landgarten v. York Research Corporation, C.A. No. 8417, 1988 WL 7392, at *4, Berger, V.C. (Feb. 3, 1988) (stating in a § 220 action that “[n]ormally, the separate corporate existence of a subsidiary will not be disregarded.... Rather, there must be a showing of fraud or that the subsidiary is the ‘alter ego’ of the parent”); S.B. No. 127, 142d General Assembly, 74 Del. Laws Ch. 84 (2003) (stating in the synopsis that the amendments to Section 220 were “not intended to affect existing legal doctrine that, as a general matter, respects the corporate existence of subsidiaries in relation to liability of stockholders to third parties, personal jurisdiction over subsidiaries of Delaware corporations, and discovery in litigation other than under Section 220”).
6 The view that no vote of the parent corporation’s stockholders should be required was based on two main components: (i) the plain language of Section 271; and (ii) the dicta of various decisions of the Delaware Court of Chancery. In particular, by its express terms, Section 271 applies only to the sale, lease or exchange by a corporation of “its” assets. Accordingly, one could argue that the only stockholder vote required by Section 271 was the vote of the stockholders of the corporation whose assets are being sold. In the parent/subsidiary context, that meant that only the sole stockholder of the subsidiary should vote on an asset sale by the subsidiary. In addition, dicta in certain decisions of the Court of Chancery suggest that in most cases no vote of the parent corporation’s stockholders should be required. See Leslie v. Telephonics Office Techs., Inc., C.A. No. 13045, 1993 WL 547188, Allen, C. (Del. Ch. Dec. 30, 1993) (suggesting that separate corporate identities will not lightly be disregarded in the context of a sale by a subsidiary of its assets and, more specifically, that absent fraud or a showing of facts that would justify piercing the corporate veil, no vote of a parent corporation’s stockholders is required by Section 271 for the sale, lease, or exchange of the assets of a subsidiary, even if such assets constitute all or substantially all of the assets of the parent and its subsidiaries on a consolidated basis); J.P. Griffin Holding Corp. v. Mediatrics, Inc., C.A. No. 4056, 1973 WL 651, Marvel, V.C. (Del. Ch. Jan. 30, 1973) (“[I]n as much as defendant is the record holder of all of the shares of its subsidiary ... and has voted all of said shares in favor of such a sale, the provisions of 8 Del. C. § 271 would appear to have been met.”).
7 Hollinger, 858 A.2d at 348.
8 Id. at 372. The Court reasoned that a ruling on the technical statutory defense would “render § 271 an illusory check on unilateral board power at most public companies.” Id. at 348. While acknowledging that a “technical” statutory defense would “involve a rational reading of § 271,” the Court noted that it did not represent the only possible interpretation of that statute. Id.
9 At that time, the directors of the subsidiaries were brought into a meeting so that they could hear the presentation of Parent’s financial advisor and the final discussion about selling the assets of Subsidiary. After hearing the presentations, the directors of each of the subsidiaries, including Subsidiary, approved the sale at meetings that lasted approximately five minutes each. Id. at 372.
10 Id. at 374.
11 Id.
14 The Court suggests that this distinction may be ignored without harming the utility of a holding company structure: “At first blush, it is not apparent why the distinctive considerations that apply to the relationship between stockholders and corporations within the corporate family cannot be recognized without doing violence to the wealth-creating value of limiting the ability of third parties who deal with wholly owned subsidiaries to seek recourse against parent corporations.” Id. at 375.
15 8 Del. C. § 271.
16 H.B. No. 150, 143rd General Assembly, 75 Del. Laws Ch. 30 (2005) (synopsis).
17 Weinstein Enterprises, Inc. v. Orloff, 870 A.2d 499, 506 (Del. 2005).
20 Weinstein, 870 A.2d at 506.
21 Id. at 508. Compare VonFeldt v. Stifel Financial Corp., 714 A.2d 79, 83-85 (Del. 1998) (finding that a director elected to serve on the board of a wholly owned subsidiary is deemed to be "serving at the request of" the parent corporation for purposes of Section 145 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware), with Cochran v. Stifel Financial Corp., C.A. 17350, 2000 WL 286722, at *14, Strine, V.C. (Del. Ch. Mar. 8, 2000) (interpreting Section 145 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware and finding that "the General Assembly took a formalistic approach to the relationship between a parent corporation and the director of a subsidiary the parent elected, and did not assume that corporate parents invariably direct and control the directors of their subsidiaries," and noting that "a showing that the director merely ‘served [at] the request of’ the parent is insufficient under [Section] 145 to prove ‘agency’ status; the director must go farther and demonstrate that he was the parent’s agent under the traditional agency definition"), aff’d in part, rev’d in part, 809 A.2d 555 (Del. 2002).
22 Grimes v. Alteon Inc., 804 A.2d 256, 264 (Del. 2002) (stating that the Delaware Supreme Court “will avoid interpreting terms [in a statute] as mere surplusage”).
23 Section 203 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware also includes a definition of “control’ for purposes of that statutory provision. In particular, “control” is defined as follows:
[T]he possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of a person, whether through the ownership of voting stock, by contract or otherwise. A person who is the owner of 20% or more of the outstanding voting stock of any corporation, partnership, unincorporated association or other entity shall be presumed to have control of such entity, in the absence of proof by a preponderance of the evidence to the contrary; Notwithstanding the foregoing, a presumption of control shall not apply where such person holds voting stock, in good faith and not for the purpose of circumventing this section, as an agent, bank, broker, nominee, custodian or trustee for 1 or more owners who do not individually or as a group have control of such entity.
24 Anadarko Petroleum Corp. v. Panhandle Eastern Corp., 545 A.2d 1171, 1174 (Del. 1988).
25 Adlerstein v. Wertheimer, C.A. No. 19101, 2002 WL 205684, at *9, n.28, Lamb, V.C. (Del. Ch. Jan. 25, 2002) (invalidating a transaction divesting a controlling stockholder, who was also a director, of control of a corporation because the controlling stockholder/director was not given advance notice of the purpose of the meeting and noting that although advance notice of the purpose was not technically required by the bylaws, “when a director either is the controlling stockholder or represents the controlling stockholder, our law takes a different view of the matter where the decision to withhold advance notice is done for the purpose of preventing the controlling stockholder/director from exercising his or her contractual right to put a halt to the other directors’ schemes”).
26 But see, Bacine v. Scharffenberger, C.A. Nos. 7862, 7866, 1984 WL 21128, Brown, C. (Del. Ch. Dec. 11, 1984) (suggesting, but not deciding, that authorization by stockholders of parent corporation would be required under Section 271 to approve merger of wholly owned subsidiary with and into another corporation if parent corporation’s stock in such subsidiary constituted “all or substantially all” of parent’s assets and was converted into another form of property in the merger).
27 Schnell v. Chris-Craft Indus., Inc., 285 A.2d 437, 439 (Del. 1971) (stating that “inequitable action does not become permissible simply because it is legally possible”).
28 In fact, that scenario would closely parallel the circumstances presented in Hollinger, where the plaintiff stockholder sought an injunction against a Delaware parent corporation to prevent the sale of assets by a 6th tier U.K. subsidiary. Hollinger, 858 A.2d at 372.
29 See 8 Del. C. § 102(b)(7).
Michael Reilly
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1248
|
__label__wiki
| 0.619167
| 0.619167
|
Stephen C. Norman
snorman@potteranderson.com
People Main
Stephen C. Norman practices primarily in the areas of corporate and commercial litigation. Steve has substantial experience in litigating corporate and commercial disputes in the Court of Chancery and the District Court of Delaware, including stockholder class and derivative actions, takeovers and various proceedings under the Delaware General Corporation Law. He frequently counsels stockholders, officers and directors, and Delaware corporations regarding various matters of Delaware corporate and partnership law.
Steve has served as a speaker on Delaware corporate law issues for a number of national and regional law firms as part of their internal continuing education programs. He has written extensively in the areas of corporate and commercial litigation. His credits include the following: Co-author: The Failing Corporation - Directors’ Duties and Creditors’ Rights; Co-author: Directors’ Duties Under Dissolution; Co-author: Directors’ Duties to the Holders of Preferred Stock, Warrants and Debentures; Co-author: The Injunction Roller Coaster, Litigation (Winter 1995).
A longtime participant in firm committees and management, Steve is the former practice leader of the firm's Corporate Group.
Defense and settlement of several stockholder class actions, including actions against AIG, Nationwide, Pepsi, Anheuser-Busch, Citrix, Intel, Ameritrade, The Walt Disney Company, Hallwood Realty Partners, Liquid Audio, Inc., TLC Beatrice International Holdings, Inc. and Marriott Corporation
Defense of various companies, including Wal-Mart, Hewlett-Packard Company, Google, AON, JPMorgan/Chase, National City Bank Corporation, CIBC and Wallace Computer Services, Inc.
Special committee investigations for Citigroup, Newmont Mining Corporation, Lucent Technologies and Rockefeller Center.
Participated as counsel in many of the more significant Delaware corporate decisions over the past twenty years, including:
Espinoza v. Hewlett-Packard Co., 2011 WL 941464 (Del. Ch.), aff'd sub nom. Hurd v. Espinoza, 34 A.3d 1084 (Del. 2011)
Zucker v. Andreessen (Hewlett-Packard Co.), 2012 WL 2366448 (Del. Ch.)
In re Intel Corp. Derivative Litigation, 621 F. Supp. 2d 165 (D. Del. 2009)
Hexion Specialty Chemicals, Inc. v. Huntsman Corp., 959 A.2d 47 (Del. Ch. 2008)
In re Walt Disney Co. Derivative Litig., 906 A.2d 27 (Del. 2006)
In re Walt Disney Company Derivative Litigation, 2005 WL 2056651 (Del. Ch.)
Perlegos v. Atmel Corp., 2007 WL 475453 (Del. Ch.)
Levitt Corp. v. Office Depot, Inc.; 2008 WL 1724244 (Del. Ch.)
Gotham Partners, L.P. v. Hallwood Realty Partners, L.P., 2003 WL 22998803 (Del)
Gotham Partners, L.P. v. Hallwood Realty Partners, L.P., 855 A.2d 1059 (Del. Ch. 2003)
Mercier v. Inter-Tel (Delaware), Inc., 929 A.2d 786 (Del. Ch. 2007)
Moore Corp. Ltd. v. Wallace Computer Services, Inc., 907 F. Supp. 1545 (D. Del. 1995)
Ivanhoe Partners v. Newmont Mining Corp., 535 A.2d 1334 (Del. 1987)
Hewlett v. Hewlett-Packard Co., 2002 WL 549137 (Del. Ch.)
Hewlett v. Hewlett-Packard Co., 2002 WL 818091 (Del Ch.)
Pfizer v. Warner-Lambert Co., 1999 WL 33236240 (Del. Ch.)
Disney v. Walt Disney Co., 2004 WL 1776688 (Del. Ch.)
Hubbard v. Hollywood Park Realty Enterprises, 1991 WL 3151 (Del. Ch.)
Berlin v. Emerald Partners, 552 A.2d 482 (Del. 1988)
Citron v. Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corp., 569 A.2d 53 (Del. 1989)
Carlton Inv. v. TLC Beatrice Intern. Holdings, Inc., 1996 WL 189435 (Del. Ch.).
Delaware Court Clarifies Judicial Standard of Review for Evaluating Director Actions Affecting a Stockholder Vote
Books and Records Litigation: The Precursor to Derivative and Class Actions
41 Potter Anderson Lawyers Recognized in Best Lawyers in America 2021
Chambers USA 2020 Names 20 Potter Anderson Attorneys and 5 Practices Among the Best in Delaware
33 Potter Anderson Attorneys Named to the 2020 Best Lawyers® List
22 Potter Anderson Attorneys Named as "The Best Lawyers in America" for 2018
Three Potter Anderson Attorneys Named “Lawyers of the Year” and 21 Attorneys Named as "the Best Lawyers in America" for 2017
Norman Presents on Emerging Trends in Corporate Books and Records Litigation
Hofstra School of Law, 1985, J.D., With Distinction; Hofstra Law Review, 1984-1985; Member, Notes and Comments Editor, 1983-1984
Law Clerk, The Honorable William W. Caldwell, United States District Judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, 1985-1987
Indiana University of PA, B.A., summa cum laude, 1982
Pennsylvania, 1985
Delaware, 1988
Professional Activities and Honors
Recognized by Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business as a leading practitioner in the area of Chancery litigation
Recognized by The Best Lawyers in America for Commercial Litigation, Corporate Law and Litigation – Mergers & Acquisitions, most recently in the 2021 edition
American Bar Association – former co-chair of the Litigation Section's Corporate Counsel Committee, former co-editor of the Newsletter for the Corporate Counsel Committee
Catholic Leadership Institute – former director and former member of the development committee
Delaware State Bar Association
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0041.json.gz/line1249
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.