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Renesas Electronics Develops New Flash Memory Technology Achieving Larger Capacities, Faster Read Operation, and OTA Support in Automotive Microcontrollers Based on Next-Generation 28nm Process
New Technology Achieves Industry's Largest Capacity of Embedded Flash Memory – 24 MB – and Industry's Fastest Random Access Operation of 240 MHz
Renesas Embedded Flash Memory Technology Based on 28nm Process
TOKYO, Japan ― Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723), a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced the development of a new flash memory technology that achieves larger memory capacities, higher readout speeds, and over-the-air (OTA) support for automotive microcontrollers (MCUs) using the next-generation 28nm process. This new technology achieves the industry's largest capacity of embedded flash memory on an MCU – 24 MB – and reaches 240 MHz random access read speeds, the industry's fastest for embedded flash memory. The technology also achieves low noise write operations when performing OTA wireless software updates, and high-speed and robust operation for OTA software updates.
Renesas presented these results on June 12 at the 2019 Symposia on VLSI Technology and Circuits in Kyoto, Japan, June 9-14, 2019.
Recently in leading-edge technologies used in car systems, such as autonomous driving and electric drive, there have been increasing demands for larger embedded flash memory capacities in the MCUs due to the increasing scale of the control software. The introduction of OTA technology accelerates the demand for larger capacities to assure adequate storage area for updated programs. Since it is necessary to assure real-time performance given the addition of new functions such as functional safety, faster random access read times from the flash memory are also strongly desired. Furthermore, regarding OTA, three things are now strongly desired. First is low-noise design so that the updated software can be stored reliably even when the car is operating. Second is reduced down time during the software switching. Third is robustness to avoid incorrect operations even if unintentional interruptions occur when updating or switching software.
The newly developed flash memory technology addresses these demands with:
24 MB on-chip flash memory – the industry's largest in an MCU
Renesas continues to adopt the high-speed, high-reliability SG-MONOS (note 1) technology for the embedded flash memory used in its MCUs. The memory cell size of the 28nm generation developed here is reduced by more than 15 percent, from the earlier 0.053 µm² to smaller than 0.045 µm². While suppressing increases in the chip size, this new technology allows the inclusion of 24 MB of code storage flash memory, the industry's largest capacity for embedded flash memory. Renesas has also included 1 MB of data storage flash memory in the test chip for parameters and other data.
240 MHz random access read speed – the industry's highest speeds for MCUs with embedded flash memory
Word line division is an effective method for increasing the speed of random access reads in embedded flash memory. However, this division increases the number of word line drivers and causes reliability degradation due to time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) of the transistors included in those drivers and word line supply voltage drops due to increased leakage current. Renesas resolved these issues using word line driver stress mitigation and distributed word line supply voltage drivers and has verified 240 MHz high speed random access, the industry's highest in a test chip, over a wide temperature range (junction temperatures from -40°C to 170°C).
Development of noise-reducing technology
By changing the write current applied to each memory cell between initial operation and later operation when programming the flash memory, Renesas has reduced the peak current consumption from the external power supply (Vcc) by 55 percent without reducing the throughput compared to earlier Renesas devices. This suppresses the adverse influence of supply voltage noise on the MCU itself during OTA operations when the car is running. Renesas has also applied the idea of varying the write current to high-speed write mode, in which the number of simultaneously programmed cells is increased. As a result, the new device achieves high-speed programming at 6.5 MB/s in this mode. This makes it possible to suppress the increased test times associated with the large memory capacity.
OTA capable of control software switching that is both robust and high speed
In this test chip, the code storage flash memory is divided into a storage area for software in use and a storage area for updated software. This makes it possible to switch the software in less than 1 ms (1/1000 of a second) at ignition off. Furthermore, the software switching settings are duplicated and new state flags were added to prevent incorrect operation in the event that the software updates or switching is unintentionally interrupted. This achieves, at the same time, the robust operation that allows executable control software to be selected reliably and a reduction of down time during which the car cannot be used.
The above technologies make it possible to support the increasing scales of automotive control software, high-speed real-time control, and advanced OTA. Moving forward, Renesas is committed to continued development of embedded flash memory and striving to achieve the higher capacities, higher speeds, and lower power consumption that will be required to support new applications.
(Note 1) MONOS: Metal oxide nitride oxide silicon. A technology that Renesas has achieved a substantial track record of over 20 years in EEPROM, secure MCU, and other products. The MONOS technology is used in the embedded flash memory used in Renesas MCUs.
(Note 2) A Renesas flash memory technology announced at the 2015 International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC 2015).
About Renesas Electronics Corporation
Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723) delivers trusted embedded design innovation with complete semiconductor solutions that enable billions of connected, intelligent devices to enhance the way people work and live. A global leader in microcontrollers, analog, power, and SoC products, Renesas provides comprehensive solutions for a broad range of automotive, industrial, home electronics, office automation, and information communication technology applications that help shape a limitless future. Learn more at renesas.com.
(Remarks) All registered trademarks or trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
The content in the press release, including, but not limited to, product prices and specifications, is based on the information as of the date indicated on the document, but may be subject to change without prior notice.
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Leaders Of CSTO Gather In Dushanbe
Leaders of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) are gathering in Tajikistan's capital for a summit.
The presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia are scheduled to arrive in Dushanbe on September 14.
The summit is scheduled for September 15, a day after the presidents hold separate meetings to discuss ties.
Tajik authorities have beefed up security in the capital as a special operation to locate and arrest former Deputy Defense Minister Abduhalim Nazarzoda and his followers continues.
Nazarzoda is wanted for allegedly masterminding attacks on police in and near Dushanbe earlier in September.
The summit's agenda includes the election of the organization's secretary-general and the head of its united headquarters.
Armenia is expected to take over the one-year presidency in the CSTO from Tajikistan.
Based on reporting by Interfax, RIA, and TASS
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RPAPL 1304 – Are Mortgagors “Borrowers”?
New York’s pre-RPAPL Section 1304 requires lenders to serve a notice to each “borrower” at least 90 days prior to the commencement of a foreclosure. Failure to do so will cause the foreclosure to be dismissed, as the requirement is considered to be a condition precedent to the commencement of the foreclosure. New York’s statute, however, does not define a “borrower” or distinguish between the parties who execute the note and those who execute the mortgage.
When lenders make a loan to only one partner in a marriage, usually based upon the income and credit of each, only that partner executes the note, while both must execute the mortgage (assuming they own the property together). Should they later default, the lender must decide whether to send the required 90-day notice to those who signed only the mortgage, in addition to those who signed the note.
In Aurora Loan Services v. Steven Weisblum, 85 AD 3rd 95, only the husband signed the note, while both husband and wife executed the mortgage. Since the bank sent the notice only to the husband and not to the wife, the Appellate Division determined that it had failed to comply with RPAPL 1304. Importantly, the court determined that the wife, Annie Weisblum, was considered a borrower, even though she did not sign the note, largely because the loan was later modified and a CEMA (Consolidation Extension and Modification Agreement) that expressly referred to her as “borrower” was executed by all parties. Thus, when the mortgage document, whether it be the original note or a subsequent CEMA, refers to a party as a borrower, the courts will require that this party is served with a proper 1304 notice.
Where there is no CEMA subsequently executed, however, a different conclusion may be reached.
Recently, in US Bank v. Hasan 2014 NY Slip Op 50115(U), decided on February 1, 2014, in Supreme Court, Kings County, Judge Noach Dear, one of the most pro-debtor judges in New York, held that the lender was not required to serve the 90-day notice on a party who executed the mortgage but did not sign the note, because the party was not a “borrower” within the meaning of 1304.
It is important to know that if you are facing a potential Statute of Limitations expiration, and a mortgagor has not been served with the 90-day notice, the statutory period within which one must commence the action to satisfy, the Statute of Limitations is tolled for 90 days as a result of the stay imposed by RPAPL 1304, so you will have the additional time needed to comply.
Please feel free to contact me with questions or comments at peter.roach@roachlawfirm.com.
Peter T. Roach & Associates, P.C.
peter.roach@roachlawfirm.com
By Peter T. Roach|2019-05-22T14:33:45+00:00January 26th, 2016|Default Mortgage Services|0 Comments
Prior Foreclosure Not An “Act of Acceleration”!
After Surrendering in Bankruptcy, Contesting Foreclosure is not Allowed
What is a Home Equity Loan and How Does It Work?
What It Means to Be “Judgement-Proof”
Payoff Letters: The Newest FDCPA Landmines
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Home / Business
Plans for New Covington Chocolate Shop Stalled
Plans to turn a once troubled bar into a new chocolate shop have stalled, The River City News has learned.
The property at 11 East Fifth Street in Downtown Covington once operated as Bottoms Up. Last September, the City of Covington sold the property to Red Mare Holdings which announced plans to renovate the historic structure with a residence on the second and third floors and a chocolate shop on the first.
Work had been under way for months but stopped several weeks ago for multiple reasons. When the time came for work to begin on the building's facade, it was discovered that a transformer atop a utility pole was too close to the structure for scaffolding to be placed, per the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
"We are still facing challenges," Assistant City Manager and City Solicitor Frank Warnock said of the project. "We've been communicating back and forth. We've run into some roadblocks."
One roadblock is that if the pole is to be moved it would take just an hour but if the transformer were turned off and the pole remained while work was done, power would be lost on the entire block for up to a few days, said Naashom Marx, business development manager at City Hall.
The City has been involved in the project from the beginning.
When the city commission approved the sale of the building in September, contingencies included that it would maintain possession of the first mortgage on the property (valued at the time at $17,500), and that that mortgage would be released when Red Mare remediates the mold, repairs, the roof, and opens the chocolate shop, which was to be called Fortvna (Fortuna, with a Latin-style "v" in place of the "u").
The City would also hold a long-term lease for three spaces in the adjacent city-owned parking lot. It was in that parking lot that William Poole and Loren Penton, the couple developing the building and planning to open the chocolate shop, discovered what they believe to be the cause of excessive water entering the property.
According to Marx, Poole (neither he nor Penton wanted to comment for this story) said that before the parking lot was put in a laundromat existed on the site and that an old sewer tank may be responsible for water entering the side of the building. The roof and windows had already been replaced or repaired on the building, which had also suffered the effects of a fire before the City purchased it, so no one knew for sure where the water was coming from.
The Fire Department investigated and could not figure out the precise cause, either, Marx said.
With the water and utility pole issue, Poole and Penton may have to move their plan somewhere else.
"Every development project is unique and you think you've got everything figured out but we were all stymied by the Duke Energy pole," Marx said.
A spokesperson for Duke Energy said, however, that the utility company is ready to move the pole whenever necessary.
"It's in the city's hands right now," said Duke's Sally Thelen. "It's in a holding pattern. We were asked to hold back. It's not Duke holding it up."
A meeting took place between the building's owners and representatives from the City and Duke. It was agreed at that meeting that more due diligence was necessary. "We are willing to do what is safe and as it was in the current case, it was not safe to operate scaffolding," Thelen said.
The hold-up may be how to pay for the move of the pole.
If the bill for the pole's move, which could be anywhere between $15,000 and $25,000 Marx said, there are a couple of options. The City could allocate the money from the current budget year which ends on June 30 or it waits for a state grant expected to be used for work on Electric Alley behind the Gateway Community & Technical College Urban Center, part of that school's urban metro campus plan. Marx said those funds could possibly be used for the pole.
When the time comes to move the pole, though, power would be lost for businesses on the block such as Odd Fellows Hall which houses offices during the week and receptions on the weekend. The blackout on the block could last two to three days.
Fortvna was an important piece of the City's plans for redeveloping the once predominantly blighted block and the area has seen an upswing. Blend coffeehouse opened a few months ago, the City purchased Floyd's bar, and the former Greyhound Bus station is currently undergoing a facelift as it waits for a buyer. Penton and Poole had previously operated a successful chocolate shop in Denver and were passionate about their plans in Covington.
For now, any light at the end of this tunnel may require turning off the lights on the block. More information on the issue may be known in the coming weeks.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story indicated that moving the pole would cost the block access to electricity for several days. The moving of the pole could take as short amount of time as an hour but turning off the transformer and leaving the pole while the facade work is done would cost the block power for a few days. The story has been updated to reflect that clarification.
Written by Michael Monks, editor & publisher of The River City News
Photo: 11 East Fifth Street/RCN file
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These are the Threats that Brought Additional Police to Scott High School
Tue, 04/25/2017 - 10:05 RCN Newsdesk
Taylor Mill Police are investigating after a series of social media threats against students at Scott High School and Woodland Middle School.
Extra law enforcement is present on the shared campus in Taylor Mill on Tuesday, and school leaders note that that is only as a precaution, as the threats are not viewed as credible.
Screen shot of one of the threats (via Snapchat)
The threats are primarily emerging on Snapchat, where a variety of personalities such as "Scott boys Exposed" have subjected students to harassment and threats, according to some students.
Though police don't think the threats are serious, they are investigating it, and some students stayed away from campus. The school canceled its ArtsWave Walk-a-Thon scheduled for Tuesday "until further notice".
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Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly finds success in…
Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly finds success in doing less
Dodgers relief pitcher Joe Kelly throws to the plate against the Atlanta Braves in the ninth inning of a MLB baseball game at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday, May 8, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)
By Bill Plunkett | bplunkett@scng.com | Orange County Register
PHOENIX — In the ninth inning of the Dodgers’ 9-0 win over the San Francisco Giants on June 18, Joe Kelly came in to pitch the ninth inning. He threw five four-seam fastballs to Buster Posey, missed the strike zone with three of them and walked Posey to start the inning.
Kelly hasn’t thrown a four-seam fastball since.
The veteran reliever has abandoned the four-seam fastball over his past three appearances and put his changeup on the shelf as well. Instead, he has thrown two-seam fastballs and curveballs exclusively.
“I can throw it for a strike. That’s it,” Kelly said of the move to a sinking fastball. “I feel I can throw it hard down the middle. I can’t throw anything else down the middle.
“I mean, the idea is to be able to throw strikes with the fastball. I guess it’s just throwing what’s most comfortable. … I haven’t thrown my four-seamer in awhile. I just can’t throw it over the plate. It’s not that I’m going to abandon it forever. But until it feels comfortable, I’m not going to use it very much.”
Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt probably didn’t expect to be working on a reclamation project so soon after Kelly signed as a free agent with the Dodgers. But Kelly has had to string together four scoreless appearances with his stream-lined pitch mix in order to get his ERA down to 6.15.
“Whether it’s just the feel, different arm slot right now, whatever … truthfully we just wanted him to think about fastball command,” Honeycutt said. “Two-seamer, four-seamer, whatever you’re able to control that day and then work from there.
“His stuff is filthy. It’s just about getting it in the (strike) zone. The curveball is unhittable when he puts it where he wants to. So basically we told him let’s stay away from the changeup right now and just concentrate on the fastball-curveball right now. The results have been pretty encouraging.”
Over those past four appearances, Kelly has held opposing hitters to a .176 average (3 for 17) with six strikeouts and two walks and hasn’t allowed a run.
“I think last year this happened in Boston. He was pitching out of the ‘pen like he was a starter,” Honeycutt said of Kelly, who spent his first four seasons in the majors primarily as a starter. “They had him two-seaming and they had him four-seaming. They had him throwing a slider. They had him throwing a curveball. They had him throwing a changeup.
“Out of the ‘pen … how are you going to command five pitches? You never get a chance to use all of them. You don’t get that opportunity in any game to really get work like that. So my understanding is what got him more efficient last year was – take away the two-seamer, take away the slider. So he went to four-seam, curveball, changeup. Obviously that helped him at that time. So right now, we’re going to define it a little more. The stuff is there. No matter what he throws it’s all electric. So it’s about the command.”
In order to clear a roster spot for Wednesday’s starter Tony Gonsolin, the Dodgers optioned catcher Will Smith back to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Smith has hit .269 (7 for 26) with three home runs (two walkoffs) in nine games with the Dodgers over two promotions.
“That was a tough one,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “We had to make a move. Obviously it wasn’t performance-based. Where he’s at in his career, just playing every day has value. And you can argue being in the big leagues certainly has value as well. For us right now, that just won out. But in the near future and going forward, he’s certainly a part of what we’re doing.”
At the same time, Smith was named to the Pacific Coast League All-Star team along with OKC reliever Kevin Quackenbush. The 30-year-old Quackenbush is a former big leaguer who spent parts of the past five seasons with the Padres and Reds. In 31 appearances at OKC this year, he is 1-2 with a 3.22 ERA and three saves.
The Triple-A All-Star Game is scheduled for July 10 in El Paso.
Left-hander Tony Cingrani was moved to the 60-day Injured List to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Gonsolin. Cingrani had shoulder surgery and is not expected to pitch this season.
ROTATION SHUFFLE
After getting an extra day off before his start Monday, Clayton Kershaw will start on regular rest Saturday in Colorado. Kenta Maeda will move back a day and start Sunday instead.
Walker Buehler and Hyun-Jin Ryu are scheduled to start the first two games of the four-game series.
Dodgers (RHP Walker Buehler 8-1, 2.96 ERA) at Rockies (RHP Peter Lambert 2-0, 5.85 ERA), 5:40 p.m. SportsNet LA (where available), AM 570
Redlands’ Orange Street Alley to get oyster bar, more changes
Long-shuttered Redlands Mall ‘under contract’ with new developer, mayor says
los-angeles-dodgers
Bill Plunkett
Bill Plunkett has covered everything from rodeo to Super Bowls to boxing (yeah, I was there the night Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield's ear off) during a career that started far too long ago to mention and eventually brought him to the OC some time last century (1999 actually). He has been covering Major League Baseball for the Orange County Register since 2003, spending time on both the Angels and Dodgers beats.
Follow Bill Plunkett @billplunkettocr
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You are here: Home > Personal Insolvency
Bankruptcy is the legal process whereby control may be taken over an individual’s financial affairs if he or she is insolvent.
Insolvency means that the person concerned has liabilities which exceed assets (other than on a temporary basis) and who as a result cannot pay their debts as and when they fall due.
How is a bankruptcy order made?
A bankruptcy order is made in a court at a hearing following the presentation of a bankruptcy petition. Most orders are made in the debtor’s local county court although Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise are subject to special rules which entitle them to present petitions in the High Court in London regardless of the location of the debtor.
The petition can be presented by the debtor (on payment of the fee of £345) or by a creditor (on payment of the fee of £415) who is owed at least £750. Sometimes, creditors group together so that there are supporting creditors in addition to the lead or petitioning creditor. In the vast majority of cases, the petition is heard by a District Judge. The procedure is relatively informal with most hearings taking place in chambers (rather than in a court room) and with no wigs or gowns. The judge will want to make sure that the information contained in the petition is correct and that the debt is still owed. In most cases, as long as the conditions for bankruptcy still exist, a bankruptcy order will be made there and then. The judge will make a note of the time and the bankruptcy will be effect from that moment. In some cases, the judge might permit a short adjournment, for example to allow the debtor to obtain legal advice or if there is a real prospect of funds being raised to clear the debt.
If is not necessary for the debtor to be present at court for a bankruptcy order to be made. All that the judge will want to ensure is that reasonable steps have been taken to bring the petition to the debtor’s attention. In most cases the petition will have been served on the debtor personally, often by a process server, but there are alternatives, particularly if it appears that a debtor is avoiding service, such as advertisement in a local newspaper.
How can I petition for my own bankruptcy?
Before you take any action to apply for your own bankruptcy, you should get your own legal or financial advice from a solicitor, accountant or licensed insolvency practitioner about bankruptcy and the other options which may be available to you.
To petition for your own bankruptcy you will need to complete the following forms:
The petition (Insolvency Rules 1986 form 6.27) – this form is your request to the court for you to be made bankrupt and includes the reasons for your request.
The statement of affairs (Insolvency Rules 1986 form 6.28) – this form shows all your assets (anything which belongs to you that may be used to pay your debts) and all your debts, including the names and addresses of the creditors and the amount you owe each one. The form contains a declaration of insolvency that you will need to swear on oath before an officer of the court or a solicitor. You may have to pay an extra fee for this.
The forms can be obtained, free of charge from a local court which deals with bankruptcy. The forms can also be completed on-line, or be printed off at The Insolvency Service’s website at www.insolvency.gov.uk
Following the making of a bankruptcy order, an Official Receiver is appointed. Each court which deals with bankruptcy cases has an Official Receiver appointed to receive bankruptcy cases when orders are made. The Official Receiver is an employee of the Department of Trade and Industry. His duties include investigation of the financial affairs of the bankrupt. He may report to the court and must produce a report for the creditors. In some cases, often at the request of a creditor or when the Secretary of State considers it appropriate, supervision of the bankruptcy is transferred from the Official Receiver to a trustee in bankruptcy. The Receiver or trustee can make an application to the court claiming any income that exceeds the amount needed to cover essential family living expenses. It is also the job of the Receiver or trustee to gather in any other assets which may be available in order to create a fund for payment of expenses incurred in the bankruptcy and, if possible, a distribution to creditors.
Who will deal with my case?
What does a bankrupt have to do?
Above all, a bankrupt must co-operate with the Official Receiver or any appointed trustee and must provide honest and full answers to any requests for information. Following the making of the bankruptcy order, the Official Receiver or one of his assistants will write to the bankrupt and ask him to attend for an appointment at his office. The bankrupt will be asked to complete a fairly detailed questionnaire including the details of all assets and liabilities. The bankrupt must hand over assets if requested to do so together with all books and records, bank statements and other documents relating to his financial affairs.
It is necessary to declare any assets received or any increase in income during the bankruptcy. If there is surplus income it is likely that an income payments order will be obtained requiring that income to be paid over.
The bankrupt must stop using any bank, building society of other money accounts right away and must not obtain credit to a total value of over £500. It is important to remember that credit includes hire purchase agreements and even a telephone account (if use of the account is likely to exceed the £500 limit).
It may also be necessary for a bankrupt to attend court and answer questions concerning the bankruptcy and the circumstances which have led to it. Failure to do so can result in the issue of an arrest warrant.
What difference does bankruptcy make?
With limited exceptions (mortgage and other payments secured against property, continuing utility bills, rent and other expenses following the bankruptcy order), following the making of the bankruptcy order it is no longer the responsibility of the bankrupt to make payments to individual creditors who were creditors at the time the order was made. Those claims are instead directed to the trustee and demands for payment should no longer be made direct to the bankrupt.
As for assets, they will be in the control of the trustee. If the bankrupt runs a business it is likely that it will have to be closed and employees will lose their jobs. Items which can be retained include tools and other equipment and perhaps vehicles which are necessary for use by the bankrupt in connection with his employment, business or vocation. Other items which can be retained include essential household items such as clothing, bedding, furniture and kitchen appliances.
Other assets will be gathered in by the trustee for disposal (including surplus income) and the funds realised as a result will be used to pay the expenses of the bankruptcy and, if possible, in making a distribution to creditors. The trustee may also seek to recover items which were transferred out of the bankrupt’s ownership prior to the bankruptcy in a way which was unfair to the creditors in general (such as gifts, transfers at undervalue and certain payments made to some creditors ahead of others).
What happens to the debts?
The bankrupt’s creditors will be notified of the making of the bankruptcy order and asked to submit claims for debts owed. The trustee will then administer the bankruptcy estate and report to the creditors. If there are no funds available, the bankruptcy will run its course and there will be no distribution to creditors. However, if there are funds available or recovered, the first thing to be paid out will be the expenses of the bankruptcy. After that, if funds permit, payments will be made to employees if there are any and next, if possible, there will be a pro rata distribution to the general creditors.
What happens to the bankrupts home?
Property owned by the bankrupt with sufficient equity to make a sale worthwhile will almost certainly be sold. The right to see the property nearly always vests in the trustee in bankruptcy from the time when he is appointed.
An alternative to losing the house is for the trustee’s interest to be bought out by someone such as the bankrupt’s wife or a family member. This is important because the trustee will otherwise retain the right to realise his interest in the property, even after the bankruptcy.
If there are children under 18 living at the house, then it is possible to put off the sale for up to a year.
If the house doesn’t sell, it is likely that the trustee will obtain a charge over the property for the total sum owed in the bankruptcy. This means that whenever the house is sold in the future, the trustee will be able to recover payment from the sale proceeds.
If the property is rented, the trustee will not be able to take possession. However, the landlord will probably be notified of the bankruptcy and the terms of the tenancy will often provide that the bankruptcy is a ground for terminating the tenancy agreement.
What is a bankruptcy restriction notice?
A bankruptcy restriction notice is an entry at the Land Registry against a property that is solely owned by a bankrupt. A restriction is automatically placed when a bankruptcy order is made. It puts on record that the bankrupt is no longer the legal owner of the property and does not have the ability to sell the property or enter into any other dealings in connection with the property – only the trustee can do this.
How will bankruptcy effect my bank account?
When a bankruptcy order is made, the bankrupt should immediately stop using your cheque books and bank cards and hand them over to the Official Receiver as soon as possible.
All the bank accounts are usually frozen by the bank when it becomes aware of the bankruptcy order. Bankrupts need to make alternative arrangements for receiving money into their account and for paying standing orders and direct debits etc. Bankrupts must not attempt to open a new bank account as this account will also be frozen.
Some banks may allow a bankrupt to keep using their existing bank account, however, even if the bank agrees to this, they will freeze the account when they first hear about the order.
Any money in the bank account at the date of the bankruptcy order is an asset in the bankruptcy so it will be claimed by the official receiver or the trustee. However, the official receiver or trustee may decide to release some money to the bankrupt for necessary domestic expenses.
If the bank account is in joint names, the official receiver or trustee will decide how much of the money to release to the joint account holder.
If the bank account is overdrawn, the amount it is overdrawn by becomes a debt in the bankruptcy. A bankrupt must not make any payments direct to the bank, unless it has a charge (a form of security to ensure payment of a debt, such as mortgage) on your home. If you bank account is in joint names, the bank can ask the joint account holder to pay all the money owed.
What must a bankrupt not do?
A bankrupt will commit a criminal offence if he:
Obtains credit of £500 or more without disclosing the fact of the bankruptcy.
Carries on business (directly or indirectly) in a different name without disclosing to all customers the name in which he was made bankrupt.
Is concerned (directly or indirectly) in the promotion, formation or management of a limited company (unless with the court’s permission).
Bankrupts cannot hold certain public offices.
A bank account may be opened as long as the fact of the bankruptcy is disclosed. If allowed, there are likely to be fairly stringent conditions.
How long will a bankruptcy last?
Generally, a bankruptcy will last for 12 months. Discharge can be postponed if the bankrupt fails to co-operate with his trustee of if there are tasks within the bankruptcy which remain to be completed.
If funds realised in the bankruptcy are sufficient to clear all the debts and expenses, it is normally possible to apply early to annul the bankruptcy.
What is ‘discharge from bankruptcy’?
This is a process which takes away the restrictions of bankruptcy and releases the bankrupt from most of the debts owed at the date the bankruptcy order was made.
A bankrupt will normally get his discharge automatically, even if no payments have been made to their creditors, they are still making contributions under an income payments order/agreement, for some of their assets have not been realised.
The official receiver can apply to court for a bankruptcy restrictions order, which will mean that the bankrupt will continue to be subject to restrictions after discharge for the period stated in that order. This will not affect the discharge of your debts.
How does a bankrupt get his discharge?
If a bankrupt is discharged automatically, they do not have to do anything to get their discharge.
A bankrupt may obtain a certificate of discharge if needed. This can be obtained by writing to the court which dealt with the bankruptcy after the discharge date. A certificate of discharge will be issued within about 4 weeks. A fee of £60 is payable to the court for issuing a certificate of discharge.
A bankrupt will not get their discharge automatically if:
The discharge period has been suspended, for example because they have failed to co-operate with the official receiver or trustee.
If the bankrupt were subject to a criminal bankruptcy order. Please contact the official receiver for more information.
What is the effect of the discharge?
Debts – it is on discharge that a bankrupt will be released (freed) from most debts that they incurred before the bankruptcy order.
The debts a bankrupt are not freed from include:
Any money owed under family court proceedings for example, for maintenance or CSA payments or arising from any personal injury claims against them, unless the court directs otherwise.
Any court fines or debts arising from fraud or certain other crimes.
Debts incurred after the bankruptcy order.
Since 1 September 2004, all outstanding student loans. If a bankruptcy order was made before 1 September 2004, a bankrupt may still have to repay their student loan. Clarification should be requested from the official receiver.
Mortgage Payments – please note that secured creditors (lenders who hold security such as a mortgage for the money owed) still have the right to enforce or recover their security if payments are not met.
Assets – any assets that the official receiver or the trustee held or claimed during a bankruptcy remain under the control of the official receiver or the trustee. They are not returned to the bankrupt on discharge. It may be some time after discharge before all the assets are dealt with. If a bankrupt’s home has not been dealt with in a certain period, usually 3 years from the date of the bankruptcy order, the bankrupts interest in it may be returned to them.
If payments under an income payments order or agreement are being made, these must continue even after the date of discharge.
Please note that, when a trustee makes a payment to creditors, he may place an advertisement about the bankruptcy in a newspaper asking creditors to submit their claims. If it takes the trustee a long time to deal with an asset, this advertisement may appear several years after the bankruptcy order.
Business – after discharge a bankrupt may carry on a business without the restrictions that applied during the bankruptcy. A discharged bankrupt can act as a director of a limited company or be involved in its management (unless they are subject of a separate disqualification order or bankruptcy restrictions order).
A discharged bankrupt will be able to obtain credit without having to mention their bankruptcy (unless specifically asked to do so, or subject to a bankruptcy restrictions order)
A discharged bankrupt must continue to assist the official receiver and/or their trustee, for example by providing any information requested, even after their discharge. If they do not, they may be held in contempt of court.
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Regulation of Industrial Hemp, CBD, and Medical Cannabis: What are Alabama's Current Cannabis Laws?
Due to the significant changes in both Alabama and federal law in recent months, keeping up with the current state of Alabama cannabis laws can be overwhelming. In September, the Alabama Department of Agriculture & Industries (ADAI) released regulations providing guidance for Alabama’s Industrial Hemp Pilot Program. In December, the 2018 Farm Bill defined industrial hemp as an agricultural commodity and removed it from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The ADAI began accepting applications from potential industrial hemp growers and processors in January and issued 218 hemp grower and processor licenses in April. Stores selling hemp and cannabidiol (CBD) products are opening up across the state, and the Alabama Attorney General issued a statement acknowledging that some CBD is legal and able to be produced and sold to the public in Alabama. Most recently, in a historic vote in May, the Alabama Senate passed the Compassion, Access, Research and Expansion Act (CARE Act), which, if passed by the Alabama House of Representatives and signed into law, would allow the sale and cultivation of medical grade cannabis in the state of Alabama. Navigating the federal and state laws and associated regulations can be challenging, but for those who want to be involved in this burgeoning industry, an understanding of the quickly changing rules and regulations is critical.
Cannabis Biology – What Do I Need to Know?
Before diving into the legal particulars of industrial hemp, CBD, and medical cannabis, a bit of background on the cannabis plant can be helpful. Cannabis sativa L. is the species of plant that is regulated, and in some instances, restricted, under state and federal laws. Both industrial hemp and what is legally defined as marijuana are strains of the plant Cannabis sativa L., and CBD is one of the chemical compounds found in the cannabis plant. Cannabis sativa L. also contains delta-9-tetrahydrocannibinol (THC), the chemical compound that can give the plant psychoactive properties. Different strains of Cannabis sativa L. can contain different levels of THC. Determining the concentration of THC in a cannabis strain is key to understanding which laws apply to the plant and CBD derived from the plant.
Industrial Hemp is genetically different from marijuana because it has much lower levels of THC. Industrial hemp is specifically defined as any one of the plant species Cannabis sativa L. that contains less than 0.3% THC on a dry weight basis. Under the 2018 Farm Bill, industrial hemp is removed from regulation under the CSA and is now considered under federal law to be an agricultural commodity. Growing, processing, and selling industrial hemp is now legal in the state of Alabama, although it is still highly regulated. Conversely, marijuana is legally defined as any part of the plant species Cannabis sativa L. with a concentration of more than 0.3% THC. Marijuana remains a Schedule 1 drug under the CSA and is currently not legal in the state of Alabama. CBD is derived from Cannabis sativa L., either from the industrial hemp or marijuana variety. While CBD itself does not contain THC, different laws can apply to CBD depending on whether it is derived from industrial hemp or marijuana, or whether it is combined with THC when sold as a product.
Industrial Hemp in Alabama
Industrial hemp may be used as a seed, a fiber, or a dual-purpose crop. This crop’s versatility gives farmers and processors a wide variety of options when growing and processing hemp. For example, the bast fibers are used in everything from diapers to automotive parts, the shives are used in things like printing paper and building materials, and the seeds are used for human food, oils, paints, and personal hygiene products like shampoo and soap. With such a wide variety of uses it becomes more apparent how hemp has the potential to disrupt the farming industry and become a large revenue source.
The Agricultural Act of 2014, commonly referred to as the 2014 Farm Bill, created a pilot program which allowed State Departments and institutions of higher education to grow and cultivate hemp. In 2016, Alabama created the Alabama Industrial Hemp Research Program for hemp research to be conducted in Alabama, and released regulations for implementation of the program in 2018. Currently, only those who are approved to participate in the Alabama Industrial Hemp Research Program are legally able to grow or process hemp within the state of Alabama.
With the recent passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, the production of hemp is now regulated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Although the 2018 Farm Bill is still in the implementation phase, it will soon pave the way for commercial growers to cultivate industrial hemp across the country. The USDA is currently developing regulations for monitoring and controlling the production of hemp, but under the 2018 Farm Bill, each state has the option of submitting its own proposal for regulating the production of hemp within its borders. The Alabama Legislature is set to soon vote on SB 225 to “require the Department of Agriculture and Industries, in consultation with the Governor and Attorney General, to develop a plan for monitoring and regulating the production of hemp, and submit the plan to the federal Secretary of Agriculture.” Passage of SB 225 would allow the state to start giving licenses to cultivate hemp under the 2018 Farm Bill, rather than the 2014 Farm Bill.
Cannabidiol (CBD) in Alabama
Forecasters have slated cannabidiol, or CBD, to be one of the biggest products of the industrial hemp market in the coming years. CBD is a non-psychoactive compound found within the cannabis plant which has been known to have many uses for treating various ailments such as epilepsy, post-traumatic stress disorder, nausea, and anxiety. CBD may be harvested from any cannabis species, but only CBD derived from hemp is currently legal within Alabama and the United States. Many CBD products also contain various amounts of THC, but currently only products containing less than 0.3% THC are considered legal to the general public in Alabama.
Alabama has passed some laws allowing narrow exceptions for the use of CBD containing more than 0.3% THC. Carly’s Law allows for the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to conduct research for the use of CBD in treating patients with debilitating epileptic conditions. Specifically, this law requires the THC content to be no more than 3%, a THC content level higher than the 0.3% limitation required for hemp. Carly’s Law provides for an affirmative and complete defense to the prosecution of a defendant who is arrested for possession or use of CBD so long as the person has a valid prescription from a UAB physician and has a debilitating epileptic condition or is a caretaker for someone who has a debilitating epileptic condition. Unfortunately, this law is set to expire on July 1, 2019.
Leni’s Law similarly allows for an affirmative and complete defense against prosecution for unlawful possession of CBD so long as the person has a debilitating medical condition or is the parent or guardian of a minor who has a debilitating medical condition. Just like Carly’s Law, Leni’s law requires the THC content to be less than 3%. Leni’s Law, however, has caused some confusion because it is not exactly clear whether the debilitating medical condition must include seizures as a symptom or if it may be interpreted more broadly.
In hopes of clarifying the confusion surrounding Leni’s Law and to extend the expiration date for Carly’s Law, the Alabama Legislature is set to vote on HB 243, which will modify and extend Carly’s Law until January 1, 2021, make substantive changes to Leni’s Law and set it for repeal on November 1, 2020, and create the Alabama CARE Act, discussed in more detail below.
Medical Cannabis in Alabama
There has been much discussion in the news over the past few years about medical marijuana and there are many proponents for allowing for some exceptions when it comes to using marijuana for medical purposes. CBD and THC contained in cannabis have been known to have medicinal qualities which help in the treatment of pain, seizures, and anxiety. Currently in Alabama, Carly’s Law and Leni’s Law provide the only two extremely narrow legal exceptions to using cannabis products with a THC content higher than 0.3%.
However, on May 9, 2019, the Alabama Senate passed the Alabama CARE Act, which will allow medical cannabis in the state of Alabama if passed by the House and signed into law. The CARE Act sets up a Medical Cannabis Commission, which will have primary regulatory authority over medical grade cannabis, which could contain more than 0.3% THC, prescribed for certain qualifying conditions in Alabama. Under the CARE Act, the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission would have authority to, among other things: approve health care providers to issue prescriptions for medical cannabis; issue medical cannabis cards to qualifying patients; issue licenses for the cultivation, processing, transportation, manufacturing, packaging, and dispensing and selling of medical cannabis; inspect licensed facilities; and develop a secure seed-to-sale tracking system for all medical cannabis. Currently, the CARE Act only applies and allows medical cannabis grown within the state of Alabama.
Understanding the various laws and regulations governing the growing, processing, and sale of cannabis can be a daunting task, and a detailed knowledge of the current and proposed laws is critical. Our attorneys are here to assist our clients navigating this new industry in Alabama so that they can make informed business decisions and stay in compliance with the law.
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Alabama's Derrick Henry wins Doak Walker Award
ATLANTA (AP) Alabama's Derrick Henry has won the Doak Walker Award as the nation's top running back.
Henry helped Alabama earn a spot in the College Football Playoff. He rushed for 1,986 yards to break Herschel Walker's Southeastern Conference single-season record. He ran for 189 yards and was picked as MVP in Alabama's SEC championship game win over Florida.
The only other Alabama running back to win the award was Trent Richardson in 2011.
Henry was selected over LSU's Leonard Fournette and Stanford's Christian McCaffrey.
The award was presented on Thursday night, when Henry also was a finalist for the Maxwell Award as the college player of the year.
Melvin Gordon of Wisconsin was the 2014 winner.
AP College Football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org
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Medical Editor: William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR
home > diseases, conditions and tests a-z list women's health article
Facts on women's health
Women's general health and wellness
Female anatomy
The female reproductive system
Female hormones
Diseases more common in women
Women's cosmetic concerns
Fertility, birth control, and infertility
The mature woman - post menopause
Women and men share many similar health problems, but women have their own health issues, which deserve special consideration.
Women's lives have changed over the centuries. Historically, life was particularly difficult for most women. Aside from the numerous dangers and diseases, women became wives and mothers often when they were just emerging from their own childhood. Many women had a large number of pregnancies which may or may not have been wanted. In the past, childbirth itself was risky and frequently, led to the death of the mother. Most women in the past did not live long enough to be concerned about menopause or old age.
In 1900, a woman's life span was about 50 years. Now, in the new millennium, average life expectancy for American women is 82 years of age, and it is continuing to rise. Not only are women living longer, but they also can anticipate the possibility of enjoying a better quality of life throughout their span of years. In order to accomplish this, it is essential that women take charge of their own bodies and that they comprehend how they can maximize their personal health and fitness. It is also helpful that men understand and are supportive of the health concerns of the women.
Gynecology is the primary branch of medical science concerned with women's health issues. The word "gynecology" is a word consisting of "gyneco," meaning "woman," and "logic," meaning "knowledge." Taken together, it is "woman knowledge."
It is important that every woman has access to knowledge related to the spectrum of women's health issues, not only about her reproductive system, but about all aspects of her body.
There is credible information available to women not only on such problems as eating disorders, stress, alcoholism, addictions, and depression, but also on basic topics such as good nutrition, heart health, and exercise. For example, it is beneficial that a woman maintain her optimum weight. If a woman's waist size measures more than 35 inches (89 cm), she is more likely to develop heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Eating sensible meals, eliminating after-dinner snacks, and making physical activity a part of daily life are significant ways to help control weight and lower the risk of a long list of health problems.
Smoking is detrimental to anyone's health, as well as the health of those around them. Unfortunately, women continue to smoke despite the known health risks. Even though the number of female smokers is declining, still about 16% of women in the U.S. continue to smoke. Women are smoking in spite of the well-publicized risks including cancer, heart disease, and innumerable other health issues.
Drinking an excessive amount of alcohol is also harmful to health. Although women typically begin drinking at a later age than men and tend to drink somewhat less, lower doses of alcohol are required for women to develop alcohol-related medical problems including alcohol toxicity, cirrhosis, and hepatitis.
Women should be aware that they metabolize a number of drugs differently than men. In some cases and for some medications, the rate of metabolism may be slower, and in other cases, faster. It is, therefore, essential that women are well informed about the kinds and correct dosages of any drugs they are taking.
There are major differences in anatomy between males and females that require consideration. As more women are now participating in sports, many anatomic differences are being identified, often because men and women athletes sustain different types of injuries. In females, the hamstrings (muscles behind the leg) are not as strong as in males. Women also have a wider hip-to-knee ratio than men. A woman's legs are relatively longer and her torso shorter than a man of comparable size. She has a lower center of gravity, less muscle mass, less dense bones, and higher percentage of body fat.
Anatomic differences between men and women go well beyond the reproductive and skeletal systems. For example, they involve the brain and the heart. In fact, heart disease is the leading cause of death among women in the United States. It is now described as an "equal opportunity killer." Over one in three adult women in the US has some form of cardiovascular disease.
Women tend to suffer their first heart attack 10 years later than men. For reasons that remain unclear (and require more research), the likelihood for a younger woman dying from a heart attack is significantly greater than that of a man. Moreover, the symptoms of an impending heart attack may be somewhat different in a woman than in a man. A woman is more likely to ignore the symptoms and fail to seek medical attention. Every woman needs to develop her own healthy heart program.
Since the female reproductive system plays such an important role throughout the life of a woman, it receives special consideration. A woman's reproductive system includes her uterus, Fallopian tubes, ovaries, cervix, and external genitalia. The breasts can also be included, even though, technically speaking, they are not part of the reproductive system. The breasts do play a major role in pregnancy and motherhood.
Picture of the female reproductive system
Although the primary function of the reproductive system is to conceive and bear children, a female's reproductive system makes a major contribution to her overall womanhood. Due to the complexity of her reproductive system, she can experience a number of problems ranging from yeast infections of the vagina to fibroids of the uterus or cysts of the ovary.
If a woman is to make informed choices about her health care, she must understand her reproductive system. In the U.S., a common major surgery performed on women who are not pregnant is a hysterectomy. A hysterectomy, the surgical removal of the uterus, ends menstruation and a woman's innate ability to become pregnant. A woman needs to comprehend her options before she can decide if a hysterectomy is the best solution for her particular medical condition.
Negative emotions are more powerful than positive emotions. See Answer
A hormone is a chemical substance secreted by an organ that travels by way of body fluids to affect another tissue in the body. In essence, hormones are "chemical messengers." Many hormones, especially those affecting growth and behavior, are present in both men and women. Nevertheless, women are more often portrayed as being under the influence of their hormones, as being subject to hormonal "tides" or "storms."
Some hormones are of special concern to women. The sex hormones produced by the ovaries are not only involved in the growth, maintenance, and the repair of the reproductive tissues, but they also influence other body tissues, including bone mass. This can be a problem for women who strive for lower body fat (for example, athletes, models, and ballerinas) and for women with eating disorders. Women with low body fat often do not produce sufficient amounts of sex hormones. They can, therefore, experience a cessation of menstruation, osteoporosis (thinning of the bones), fractures, and other conditions similar to those faced by many post- menopausal women.
After menopause, a woman's body produces less of the female hormones estrogen and progesterone. Symptoms of the menopausal transition can be troubling for some women. Many doctors prescribe hormone therapy (HT, HRT) to ease menopausal symptoms, although this therapy should be administered for a short duration due to increases in the frequency of heart attacks and a slightly increased risk of breast cancer.
Hormonal problems for women are not confined to those involving the sex hormones. For example, thyroid disease, including hyperthyroidism (over-activity of the thyroid gland) and hypothyroidism (under- activity of the thyroid), is far more common in women than in men.
Many diseases affect both women and men, but some diseases occur at a higher frequency in women. For example, gallstones are three to four times more common in women than in men. About 18% of women in the U.S. suffer migraine headaches compared with only 6% of men, a ratio of three to one females to males. Other conditions seen more often in women than in men include irritable bowel syndrome and urinary tract infections.
Urinary tract infections, including cystitis (bladder infection) and kidney infection (pyelonephritis) are significant health problems that more frequently affect women. Kidney disease is a leading cause of high blood pressure (hypertension). And, after age 50, hypertension is more common in women than in men.
Also more common in women than men are the autoimmune disorders (for example, multiple sclerosis, Sjögren's syndrome, and lupus). In these diseases, the immune system attacks the body's own tissues. Autoimmune disorders afflict at least 12 million Americans and 3/4 of them are women. One autoimmune disorder, rheumatoid arthritis, affects approximately 1.3 million Americans, with 2/3 of the sufferers being women.
Osteoporosis, a condition in which bone density decreases, occurs in both men and women. Overall, however, it is more of a major health concern for women. Some studies have reported that as many as one of every two women over 50 will suffer a fracture related to osteoporosis during her lifetime. By age 65, some women have lost half of their skeletal mass. A woman's doctor can assess her bone density and make recommendations as to how to prevent further bone loss.
Pelvic Pain: What's Causing Your Pelvic Pain? See Slideshow
Certain cancers are of specific concern to women. These include not only cancer of the female organs, such as the breast, cervix, womb (uterus), and ovary; but also of the pancreas, large bowel (colorectal cancer), and lung.
Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women. In the U.S., a woman has a 12.4% chance of developing breast cancer in her lifetime. Research studies show that the smaller the breast cancer is when it is detected, the greater the chance of survival. Currently, mammography and breast examinations serve as the recommended screening tests for breast cancer. The discovery of inherited gene mutations permits the identification of at least some women at increased risk for developing breast cancer.
Cancer involving the ovaries is also referred to as ovarian cancer. Because ovarian cancer is very difficult to detect in its early stages, it is often referred to as the "silent killer." Although ovarian cancer can occur at any age, a woman's risk gradually increases over time, and it is significantly higher if there is a history of ovarian cancer in the family. One in every 70 females in the U.S. develops ovarian cancer.
Colorectal cancer is cancer of the large intestine. Most cases of colorectal cancer occur in people over 50 years of age. A woman with a history of cancer of the breast, uterus, or ovary has an increased risk for colorectal cancer. Regular screening is recommended for all women over 50 years of age. Research studies show that eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, as well as supplementing the diet with antioxidants may help reduce a woman's risk of developing not only colorectal cancer, but a number of other cancers as well.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among women. As smoking is the primary cause of lung cancer, it should be obvious that abstinence from smoking is a significant way to avoid this dreaded disease. Smoking cessation is essential in minimizing the damage already caused by smoking and optimizing long-term health.
To many women, "cosmetic" means a make-up preparation for external use, such as lipstick or eye-shadow. "Cosmetic" can also mean a medical procedure done to correct defects or for the sake of appearance. It is probably an underestimate that more than 600,000 cosmetic procedures are performed in the U.S. each year. The variety of procedures and the number of women undergoing cosmetic surgery is continuing to increase.
There are very few areas of the body for which a cosmetic procedure has not been developed. There are processes to improve the texture and tone of skin such as dermabrasion and chemical peels. Collagen and Botox injections can modify unwanted wrinkles and creases. Birthmarks, moles, and varicose veins can be treated with a variety of techniques. Lasers can eliminate unwanted hair, whereas lack of hair (baldness or alopecia) can often be remedied with drugs or surgical implants.
Liposuction is the removal of fat under the skin. Body contouring to reshape or "sculpt" the body can be done using ultrasonic and tumescent liposuction techniques. Various "lifts" and plastic surgery remove skin and fat and reposition skin and tissue.
Millions of women have undergone breast augmentation or reduction over the years. These procedures remain both popular and controversial. Breast reconstruction, especially following breast cancer, is usually viewed in a different light. Because all of these cosmetic procedures are also medical in nature, it is important that a woman understand their risks and benefits.
For about 40 years of her life, a woman experiences a normal phenomenon called the menstrual cycle. Regular loss of blood and tissue from normal sloughing of the inner lining of the uterus (menstruation) occurs every 26 to 35 days (more or less monthly) in every normal non-pregnant woman prior to menopause. Each monthly cycle can be divided into a follicular phase (an egg develops), ovulation (egg release) at mid-month, and a luteal phase (during which the uterine lining readies itself to receive a fertilized egg). If the egg is not fertilized, the uterine lining is shed, and a woman has her menstrual period. Then, the entire sequence of events is repeated.
Most women do not have difficulties during the first half of their menstrual cycle, but once the egg has been released, there may be problems such as pelvic pain. During the second half of the cycle, a woman may experience premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and she may have menstrual cramps at the onset of her menstrual flow.
Approximately 70%-90% of women suffer from premenstrual syndrome. PMS symptoms include irritability, nervousness, cramps, bloating, and headaches. A particularly severe condition, premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), is even more troublesome than PMS.
Every step of a woman's menstrual cycle is controlled by hormones. The production of these hormones is dependent on the general good health of the woman. The loss of too much body weight can result in the cessation of menstruation. There are a number of disorders marked either by absent periods or by periods that are too long, heavy, irregular, or painful. Underlying conditions, which may include polycystic ovary syndrome and endometriosis, need to be medically evaluated.
Ironically, there is a medical condition in which affected women benefit from menstruation. The disease is hemochromatosis, which is characterized by too much iron in the blood. Menstruating women with hemochromatosis can lose enough blood during their menstrual periods that they may not need further treatment to remove the excess iron.
Sexuality deals with a woman's sexual attitudes and practices. During her lifetime, a woman goes through many changes, not only in her body, but perhaps also in attitude and lifestyle.
The sex hormones, such as estrogen and progesterone, have a profound influence on a woman's sex life. Women also produce testosterone, as it is required for sexual arousal. In humans, the sexual impulse is not tied to reproduction, and women will engage in sexual activity even when they are not fertile.
Little is known about what facilitates or inhibits feminine sexual arousal. It is estimated that 50 million American women have difficulty with sexual arousal. Problems include low sexual desire, sexual aversion, difficulty with sexual arousal (like impotence in men) and pain during intercourse (dyspareunia).
Physical exercise may increase sexual arousal whereas chronic illness, arthritis, cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, mental illness, and depression can inhibit sexual arousal. Alcohol and certain drugs such as tranquilizers can also inhibit the sexual response.
Following the success of sildenafil (Viagra) and other male impotence drugs, considerable research is now being conducted on drugs that improve blood flow to the vagina and the vaginal region which may improve female sexual arousal.
Fertility is the ability to bear children. Most women wish to restrict when and by whom they conceive. In the U.S., 94% of women age 15-44 use some method of birth control in order to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
Ideally, the use of birth control is the responsibility of both sexual partners. The choice of a birth control method should be a joint decision. In reality, the ultimate responsibility for birth control more often than not rests with the woman. Her choices include oral contraceptives, spermicides, diaphragms, cervical caps, rhythm methods, contraceptive implants, and intrauterine devices (IUDs). In general, longer-term protection (for example, oral contraceptives, implants, or IUDs) not requiring last minute decision-making provides better protection (a 0.1-3% "failure rate") than methods (for example, condoms or spermicides) used just before intercourse (5%-15% "failure rate").
Every woman who wishes to use birth control needs to decide which method is best suited for her. She must also determine which methods offer her the most protection against sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV infection and AIDS.
The opposite of fertility is, of course, infertility or the inability to bear children. Infertility affects one in five couples in the U.S. Female infertility tends to become more of a problem as a woman ages, especially after age 35. Regardless of age, a woman and her partner need to be medically evaluated by an infertility specialist to determine the cause for the infertility and, if possible, to correct the problem. The options currently available to infertile couples have been expanded. These include the advanced reproductive technologies, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), utilization of donor eggs and/or sperm, and maternal surrogacy. Adoption, as always, is another option for childless couples.
Optimally, all pregnancies would be planned well before conception. In the United States, it is currently estimated that 40% of all pregnancies are unplanned. This means that many women become pregnant before they are prepared.
The ideal time to start learning about pregnancy is not when a woman is already pregnant. In order for a future mother to maximize her chances of having a healthy baby, she should attempt to learn about what she can do before she conceives and what to do after she becomes pregnant.
For a woman, pregnancy planning means learning everything she can about how her own health and that of her baby can be optimized. For example:
The expectant mother needs to know about those diseases that can complicate a pregnancy by their existence or their treatment, such as depression, epilepsy, thyroid disease, asthma, lupus, or diabetes.
If the mother smokes, she must stop, because women who smoke have a higher incidence of miscarriages and stillbirths.
She needs to be aware of the dangers of alcohol consumption during pregnancy.
She must also know which drugs and medications she can continue to use safely and which ones she must avoid.
There are also a number of prenatal tests that can monitor the health and development of her baby.
Finally, she needs to plan ahead for the labor and delivery. Although pregnancy itself lasts only nine months, it is a period of time in which the maintenance of a woman's health is especially critical.
A woman who has children devotes a large proportion of her life to motherhood. Although a woman's fertility is limited roughly to a 40 year period, her maternal responsibilities may last considerably longer -- 60 years or so. Most mothers never cease being concerned about the health and welfare of their children (and grandchildren), no matter what their ages. In other words, a mother is a mother forever.
During the time of motherhood, a woman is responsible not only for the maintenance of her own health, but also that of her family. Roughly one-third of all children in this country live apart from their fathers, which means that society still relies on mothers to protect and nurture their children.
The term menopause is used to describe an event or a period of time in a woman's life. In some contexts, it is used to designate a period of a number of years, typically the time when a woman is in her 40's through the decade of her 50's and beyond. Strictly speaking, a woman is said to have experienced menopause when she has had 12 consecutive months without a menstrual period. On average, menopause occurs around 51 years of age. The premenopausal process, however, usually begins in the early 40's. Diminishing sex hormone levels can be measured in a woman as early as her mid-30's.
"Menopausal" women represent a major component of the population. An estimated 50 million women in the US have reached menopause. Most women can expect to spend around 1/3 of their lives after menopause has occurred.
Menopause has often been referred to as "the change of life" because it is a time in a woman's life when regular menstruation stops and she can no longer conceive. Symptoms of menopause may include:
hot flashes,
vaginal dryness,
diminished sexual desire,
forgetfulness,
trouble sleeping, and
urinary incontinence.
Until the 1950's, society's attitude was that menopause is a woman's fate and she should simply accept her destiny. Now there are many medical strategies to cope with the symptoms of menopause. Women are encouraged to think of menopause not as a cataclysmic event in life, but merely as a time of transition.
Before the 20th century, the average woman didn't live long enough to worry about the quality of her life after cessation of menses. Now, most women live for several decades beyond menopause.
This is not necessarily good news. Almost half of U.S. women over age 75 are living alone in relative social isolation. Most residents in nursing homes are women. Not only does the mature woman often have to deal with osteoporosis, cancer, and heart disease, but she is also confronted with other health problems including hearing loss, diminished vison, incontinence, arthritis, insomnia, memory loss, and sexual dysfunction.
The problems of a sedentary, isolated life style can be compounded by poor diet, smoking, and alcohol or drug abuse. Studies show that it is never too late to benefit from an improved diet, moderate exercise, cessation of cigarette smoking and drug usage, and decreasing alcohol consumption.
Disease, rather than normal aging, usually accounts for loss of function in the mature woman. Nothing can be done to prevent the passage of years, but a great deal can be accomplished during a woman's life to prevent and treat the diseases that keep her from maintaining her best possible state of health.
Women's Health Resources
How Well Are You Living With AS?
How Do You Know if It's Endometriosis?
Medically reviewed by Wayne Blocker, MD; Board Certified Obstetrics and Gynecology
CDC.gov. Adult Cigarette Smoking in the United States: Current Estimates.
Kasper, D.L., et al., eds. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 19th Ed. United States: McGraw-Hill Education, 2015.
National Cancer Institute. Breast Cancer Risk in American Women.
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Major In Media Studies
The College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) is the largest and most diverse college at the University of Idaho, with nearly 3,800 students in 11 departments and numerous special programs, we are the academic bedrock of the University.
Discover how film and media can change your life. In KU Film and Media Studies you’ll find a community that shares your passion for film and media and is dedicated to helping you succeed in today’s changing media landscape.
The Centre for Film and Media Studies offers a range of courses that equip graduates with theoretical knowledge, practical and creative skills to embark on industry careers, teaching, and research.
BZU and Al Quds University offer the only degree-granting M.A. programs in Israel Studies in the Arab World. Thus far,
Link to Departments website. The major in Accounting at UGA is designed to give students an understanding of the theory of accounting as it is used in our society: accounting standards, financial statement preparation, product costs, budgeting, taxation, auditing, risk assessment, and controls.
The media policy/media studies major at the Valenti School of Communication drives students to both understand how these messages are created and then.
The School of Journalism and Mass Communication along with the Undergraduate Council announced the creation of a new major in Digital Media Studies to address communication trends and issues relevant.
The University of Rochester will offer a new major in digital media studies in fall 2012 that will focus on the analysis and production of digital media, or new media, from two perspectives.
Once again it is sponsored by major technical and standards organizations within the broadcast industry — Audio Engineering Society (AES), Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), Advanced Media.
The career-focused majors, minors and specializations give students at Champlain College the ability to tailor their edcuational experience to their specific career goals. See the career-focused degree programs at Champlain College
Bachelor’s degree programs in media studies allow students to examine a variety of specialized fields in American and global media in a broader context, receiving training in written, oral and visual.
Students planning to declare a major in Media Studies are advised to read the Media Studies website in its entirety and then contact the student academic.
If you're looking for a major that's powerful, interactive, and relevant to the way the world works today, look no further than Media Studies. Media shapes our.
Social Sciences Liberty University social problems, multicultural competence, and substance abuse will give you the comprehensive framework you’ll need for the workplace or further study. With a Bachelor of Science in Human Services. Best Buy Scholar Of The First Sin Tobacco (another sin stock) is first with an operating margin of 43%. Tobacco is followed by some financial and
Clinical trial recruitment company, Clinical Trial Media, discusses more patient-centric. While many clinical trials aim to decrease telltale signs and major effects of certain diseases or.
Fans religiously attend them with an eagerness to fill their lives, and social media profiles, with knowledge and a sense of.
The BA in Communication Studies is a major in the College of Arts and Sciences for students interested in specializing in digital media studies as an area of expertise. The major helps students develop advanced skills in communications with an emphasis on digital media studies, including multimedia writing, video editing and production, web content strategy and design, and
Lee, Tong King. (2019). The Epistemological Dilemma Of Translating Otherness. Translation Studies In Canada Taking part in it were Catholic, Protestant and Jewish experts from Argentina, Austria, Canada, Colombia. to be “a Center of Higher Studies of the Sacred Scriptures in the City of Rome. Ontario Translation and Interpretation University Programs. Translation and Interpretation undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate advanced certificates and degrees available in Ontario.
The courses on the media studies programme have a strong focus on senders, recipients and media content. You learn about the history and legal framework of selected media.
Having suffered from anxiety and depression, the man known on Twitter as @NeverScaredB admits that his name on the social.
American College of Foot and Ankle Pediatrics is a podiatry organization that publishes a quarterly journal to educate the public and their colleagues on the importance of foot care for children with.
The Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies firmly grounded in the liberal arts, is designed for. (CMJ courses must obtain a C- or better to count toward the major ; WI.
Social Sciences Citation Index Mar 27, 2019. How to search the Social Sciences Citation Index effectively, including tips on using search operators and wildcard characters. Includes Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) and Arts & Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI). The Social Sciences Edition covers about 1,700 leading international social sciences journals from the ISI database
By emphasizing theory and practice, the media studies major challenges the student to analyze and practice the creation, dissemination, utilization, and.
Trump’s handicapping of the Democratic presidential race is one part of his much broader role as the country’s de facto.
Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of. Media studies also form a major part of the primary and junior secondary curriculum, and includes areas such as photography, print media and.
I'm an English and media studies double major, and though I always thought I wanted to major in media studies, taking Intro to Media Studies with Prof. Thomas.
The Department of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University. in the School of Professional and Continuing Studies (PCS), we offer a major in.
Communications and Media is a large field giving students many opportunities upon graduation. In this major you will study various forms of media including.
Best Buy Scholar Of The First Sin Tobacco (another sin stock) is first with an operating margin of 43%. Tobacco is followed by some financial and internet software stocks from positions 2 to 6, and the alcohol sector is in 7th place. I understand “nominal life-hacking” — which you view more positively — to be “trying to get back to normal” whereas
Within just a few days, they had 200,000 Snapchat views. Viewing social media as an ally rather than the enemy for suicide.
Digital Media Studies at VIU is an interdisciplinary communications program focusing on culture, mass media and digital production. This programs is your first step to becoming a multimedia artist.
Mar 26, 2019 · Department of Justice Studies. Justice Studies is committed to offering an interdisciplinary, intellectually challenging and vocationally relevant course of study for persons interested in academic or applied careers in justice studies at the community, national or global level.
Rate My Professor Usc Columbia I am an Associate Professor in the Electrical Engineering Department and an Affiliate in the Computer Science Department at Columbia University.I was previously the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Early Career Chair in the Computer Science Department at the University of Southern California, where I ran a networking and systems research group with my colleagues Ramesh
We educate you in the liberal arts tradition. The Communication major at UMass Amherst follows the liberal arts tradition, emphasizing the critical thinking, systematic analysis, and writing and speaking skills that make for engaged citizenship.
“Over the past two years, we have seen a decline in the volume of propaganda released by IS online as well as major losses in territory,” he. In 2015 ISIS supporters operated tens of thousands of.
Communications and media studies degrees are becoming increasingly popular as the industries they look at continue to grow. Read our guide to see if it is the.
The curriculum is tailored to focus on social media, infrastructure policymaking. their MA in National Security Studies – Cybersecurity Policy degree, graduates may have gained the leadership.
Academic Advisor; Account Executive; Actor; Admissions Counselor; Advertising Account Executive; Alumni Relations Coordinator; Announcer; Arbitrator.
Aug 11, 2016. Story by Nikki Kesaris. For most of us, media is front and center nearly every hour of the day. When you're not checking your social media feed,
A Mickey Mouse degree, or a means to understanding the cultural significance of Mickey Mouse? Media studies graduates often find themselves embroiled in discussions like this, usually as part of a.
Find out what you can do with your degree in media studies including job options , work experience, further study and skills.
SUNY Oneonta's Media Studies major (formerly Mass Communication) prepares students for careers in new media, film, television, audio production, and media.
2 days ago. The bulk of your major must be completed in the Media Studies Department. You are allowed to take any practice of media course on our list.
Classes in this major cover the gamut of media. You can spend your time in courses that focus on television news, journalism, or the movie industry.
As a student majoring in media studies, you will locate yourself within the media landscape through critical writing, experimentation, and creative projects.
Read our new blog – "What Can I Do with My Major?" – to learn about college majors and how to develop your career.You’ll discover useful resources, great advice and alumni careers that inspire you. Learn what you can do with your major >
The B.A. with a major in film & digital media and a concentration in media studies focuses on media literacy and intensive study of the history, critical theory, and.
Whether you picture yourself working for a record company, TV network, film studio, sports team or fashion magazine, majoring in communications/media studies.
Welcome to Film and Media Studies at Purchase. Get involved in the production and critique of film, media, and video art.
Congratulations to Media Studies Major Sami Feller, who has been selected as a Conference Player of the Year for her performance with Emory Softball. Congratulations to Film Studies major Wei Wei Chen on winning a Bobby Jones Scholarship to attend St. Andrews College in Scotland in 2018-2019 and for winning Emory’s Lucius Lamar McMullan Award, which recognizes Emory College graduates who.
The financial media tends to focus much of its attention. Key Forecast Research One of the first major studies providing.
Media and journalism education at Saint Michael’s has a strong reputation among working journalists, academics and employers familiar with our award-winning student publications, job-ready and technically savvy graduates, and innovative leadership on the latest story-telling technologies.
The new Film and Media Studies (FMS) major will be open to students this fall as an expansion of the Communications and Media Studies (CMS) minor. Faculty have been exploring the creation of a FMS.
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We would be honored to have you journey with us.
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St. Bridget Principal
Miss Jeanne McCoy
Miss Jeanne McCoy joined St. Bridget Parish School in 2017 as principal. Prior to coming to St. Bridget’s, she served as principal at St. Francis School, Ellsworth, WI (24 years), Seton Catholic Middle School, Menasha, WI, Sacred Heart School, Appleton, WI, and taught math and computer science at Xavier High School, Appleton, WI, and St. Mary’s School, New England, ND.
Miss McCoy received her bachelor’s degree in Math Education from Mount Mary University, Milwaukee, master’s degree in Private School Administration from the University of San Francisco, and master’s degree in Pastoral Ministry from the University of St. Thomas.
Jeanne’s interests as principal include working with teachers, students, and parents to create a caring, positive learning environment where children grow in faith and knowledge. Jeanne resides in Cannon Falls, MN. In her free time, she enjoys gardening, photography, fishing, and time with her family.
Jeanne is excited to be a part of the St. Bridget’s mission because of the tradition of excellence at St. Bridget’s, the dedication of teachers to their students, and example of Father Jerry Harris as servant leader.
Mrs. Hillary Gilles
Mrs. Gilles joined St. Bridget Parish School in 2012 as Office Assistant. Prior to working at St. Bridget, she was a stay-at-home mom, website designer, gallery assistant, and held numerous office positions. Mrs. Gilles received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art History and Fine Arts-Sculpture from UW-Milwaukee. She and her family reside in River Falls and are active members of St. Bridget Parish.
In her free time, she enjoys drinking coffee, cooking, reading, and playing board games with her family and friends. Mrs. Gilles is excited to be a part of the St. Bridget mission because she loves helping people and being part of a faith community.
Pre-K/Elementary Teachers
Mrs. Kim Langer - PreKindergarten
Mrs. Kim Langer joined the St. Bridget Parish School in 2013 teaching Pre-Kindergarten. Prior to coming to St. Bridget, she taught Pre School for 14 years in River Falls. Mrs. Langer received her degree in Elementary Education from the University of Wisconsin River Falls. Kim wants all children to love school so they all go on to be lifelong learners. She wants them to have a good relationship with their peers, teachers and Jesus. Kim resides with her husband in River Falls as all three children have graduated from college. In her free time she loves to garden and do mosaic art. She is excited to be part of the St. Bridget mission because children here can learn how to be a child of God.
Mrs. Dannell Nordstrom - PreKindergarten
Mrs. Dannell Nordstrom joined the St. Bridget Parish School family in 2002 as a student teacher in the first grade classroom. Mrs. Nordstrom has been teaching here ever since. During her time here Mrs. Nordstrom has taught in a K-1 multiage classroom, a Preschool classroom, and in a Pre-Kindergarten classroom. Mrs. Nordstrom currently team teaches with Mrs. Kim Langer in one of our full time Pre-Kindergarten classrooms. Prior to coming to St. Bridget, she attended UW-River Falls where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education. Dannell and her husband John live in Woodbury, Minnesota with their 4 children William, Lucas, Matthew and Liela. During their spare time they enjoy being together as a family at the cabin in Spooner, Wisconsin. Mrs. Nordstrom enjoys teaching hands on, hearts on, minds on learning activities that invite the students to learn and explore. She believes teaching the whole child is vital to Early Childhood Education. She is excited to be a part of the St. Bridget mission because she can continue to teach in a Christian family environment encouraging students grow spiritually, socially, emotionally, physically and intellectually.
Ms. Latischa Ferg - PreKindergarten
Latischa Ferg joined St. Bridget Parish School in 2018 as a PreK teacher. Prior to coming to St. Bridget, she worked in an eye clinic, and before that subbed in various school districts, grades K-12. Ms. Ferg received her bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education at UW-Stout. Latischa’s teaching interests include reading, hands-on experiences through play. Latischa resides in Roberts, WI. In her free time, she enjoys going up north, and reading. She is excited to be a part of the St. Bridget mission because the school focuses on the development of the whole child, spiritual and academic.
Mrs. Cathy Wunrow - Prekindergarten
Mrs. Cathy Wunrow joined St. Bridget Parish School in 2013 as a first grade teacher and is currently teaching PreK. Her prior teaching experiences include teaching kindergarten and third grade for the Baldwin-Woodville School District. She has also taught preschool in River Falls. Mrs. Wunrow received her BS degree in Elementary Education from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. She and her husband, Dan, live in River Falls and have 3 children. Mrs. Wunrow’s interests include reading, outdoor activities, and spending time with her family. Mrs. Wunrow enjoys teaching at St. Bridget Parish School because it is a family-like atmosphere where students, staff, and parents work hard to learn new things and share God’s love.
Mrs. Liz Parsons - Kindergarten
Mrs. Elizabeth Parsons joined St. Bridget Parish School in 2015 as a technology teacher. Mrs. Parsons currently teaches Kindergarten at the school. Prior to coming to St. Bridget Parish School, she was a substitute teacher for South Washington County and Hudson school districts. Mrs. Parsons received her bachelor’s degree in Sociology/Anthropology from Gustavus Adolphus College, then went on to receive her teaching certification from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. Elizabeth’s teaching interests include centers, math, and incorporating multiple subjects together. Elizabeth resides with her family in Cottage Grove, MN. In her spare time, she enjoys walking her dogs, going for hikes, and just hanging out with her family. She is excited to be a part of the St. Bridget mission because she loves to focus on the whole child, academically and spiritually.
Mrs. Therese Stacy - Kindergarten
Mrs. Therese joined St. Bridget Parish School in 2017 teaching Fifth Grade. In 2018 she began teaching Kindergarten. Prior to joining St. Bridget’s, Mrs. Stacy spent time substitute teaching in various school districts in the area, including a long-term PreK substitute position at St. Bridget’s. Mrs. Stacy received her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education, with a minor in Early Childhood at UW-Superior. She is looking forward to building a classroom community of engaged learners. Mrs. Stacy’s favorite subject to teach is reading, but is passionate about all subjects. She is excited to provide engaging, hands-on, authentic learning experiences for each of her students by employing each child’s strengths to help reach his/her full potential.
Therese and her husband, Andy, live in River Falls with their three sons: Bryce, Carson, and Avery James. Outside of school, she enjoys attending her children’s and husband’s sporting events, learning to play guitar, reading, cooking, and baking.
Mrs. Stacy is excited to be a part of the St. Bridget mission because she wants to provide a warm and welcoming environment for all students to learn and grow: spiritually, emotionally, and academically. She is pleased to be a part of the St. Bridget family.
Mrs. Mary Gribble - 1st Grade
Mrs. Mary Gribble joined St. Bridget Parish School in 2008 teaching first grade. Prior to coming to St. Bridget she taught second grade, coached at the middle and high school levels and was the Director/ Teacher of the Country Goose Preschool. Mrs. Gribble received her degree in Elementary Education from the University of Wisconsin River Falls. Mary loves to create an enriching classroom environment where all can succeed. Mary has 100+ hours in the multi-sensory Orton Gillingham reading method. Mrs. Gribble and her husband Phil have two children and reside in the River Falls area. In her free time she loves to run, read, cook and spend time with her family. She is excited to be a part of the St. Bridget mission because here at St. Bridget we are a family of learners, striving for the best in all, guided by our Catholic faith.
Mrs. Molly Hering - 2nd Grade
Mrs. Molly Hering joined St. Bridget Parish School in 2018 as the Second Grade teacher. Prior to coming to St. Bridget’s, she taught Second Grade, Third Grade, and Reading. Mrs. Hering received her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. Molly’s teaching interests include motivating students to improve their reading skills, as that will impact their confidence and academic achievement. She enjoys watching students grow and watching their excitement and love for learning. Molly resides with her husband in Hudson, WI. In her free time, she enjoys running, watching the Packers, Badgers, and Brewers, and ice fishing. She is excited to be a part of the St. Bridget mission and share her passion of learning with a focus on the Catholic faith.
Ms. Michele Jarosch - 3rd Grade
Ms. Michele Jarosch joined St. Bridget Parish School in 2014 as the 4th grade teacher. In 2016 she moved to middle school to teach math and science. This year she moves into teaching 3rd grade. Before coming to St. Bridget she worked at Hill and Cashman-Hill Funeral Home. During this time she was also attending undergraduate school at the University of Wisconsin - River Falls, where she received her degree in Education. She currently lives in River Falls, WI. When Michele is not at school she can be found at the parks, lakes, playing board and card games at home, playing make believe or building with Legos, or Pokemon Going with her son. She takes an annual family trip up to Two Harbors, Minnesota every year to camp. When she gets some down time, Michele enjoys reading. Michele is truly proud to teach at St. Bridget because of the amazing families and staff that we are blessed to work alongside, and because of the children whom we guide into amazing servants of Christ.
Mr. Vincent Pedavoli - 4th Grade
Mr. Vincent Pedavoli joined St. Bridget Parish School in 2018 as the Fourth Grade teacher. Prior to coming to St. Bridget’s he taught three years at St. Francis School, Ellsworth, WI in the Fifth Grade and nine years at Holy Trinity Catholic Middle School in Charlotte, NC. Mr. Pedavoli received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas – Tyler in History and English, and his teaching certification from Hamline University. Vincent’s teaching interests include history, German, and geography. Vincent resides with his family in River Falls. In his spare time, he works at the Winzer Stube, a German restaurant in Hudson, WI.
Mrs. Judy Youngblood-Bourn - 5th Grade
Mrs. Judy Youngblood-Bourn joined St. Bridget Parish School in 2018 as a Fifth Grade teacher. Prior to coming to St. Bridget’s, she was employed by St. Croix Central School District in a variety of long and short term substitute positions. Before that, Mrs. YB was employed by the Spring Valley School District as a Fifth and Third Grade teacher for 26 years. Judy was first employed by the School District of Dodge Center as a Consumer Education teacher for four years.
Mrs. YB has a bachelor’s degree in Consumer Economics from Mankato State University, bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, and a master’s degree in Education also from River Falls. Judy’s interest in teaching lies in all the subject areas, but her love of teaching is in science, art, and music.
Judy resides in Roberts, WI, with her husband, Tom, Gator and Coco, their dogs, and a cat named Wingnut.
In her spare time she loves to do decorating and has worked on several repos in the area. She loves watching and performing in the theater, and riding motorcycle.
She is excited to be a part of the St. Bridget mission because it feels like a family, not an institution.
Middle School Teachers
Ms. Melissa Musselman - Math/Science
Mr. Mike Leary - Social Studies/Religion
Mr. Michael Leary joined St. Bridget Parish School in 2003 as a part time middle school social studies teacher. He left St Bridget’s for a portion of two school years in 2006 to deploy with the Air Force to Saudi Arabia. He returned and began teaching full time by also teaching middle school religion.
Prior to coming to St. Bridget, Mr Leary joined the Air Force as a security and law enforcement specialist. He continued his service in the Air Force Reserve retiring with 26 years of service in 2008. He has worked construction and maintenance for Holiday Inn, and was a press operator for 3M. Upon completion of his degree in Geography, he traveled to Taiwan, ROC to finish his study of Mandarin Chinese. After receiving his teaching degree he worked at Meyer Middle School, leaving that position when he was activated for duty by the Air Force after 9/11.
Mr. Leary received his degree in Geography in 1989 and a degree in Secondary Education in 1999 from the University of Wisconsin – River Falls. Mr. Leary’s teaching interests include geography, history and theology. He also emphasizes research and speaking skills by incorporating them into his curriculum
Mr. Leary lives outside Roberts, Wi with his wife, Shirley and their children Timothy and Elizabeth. In addition, his family plays host to his parents, several chickens and their goofy black lab, Shadow.
Mr. Leary has a wide variety of interests including travelling to historic and interesting spots all over the world, historical board gaming, model railroading, reading and hobby farming. During the summer break, you can sometimes see him around town in his beekeeping suit as he maintains his beehives spread throughout the area.
He is excited to be a part of the St. Bridget mission because of the opportunity he has to share his life journey exploring his faith and the depth of our Christian heritage and theology. In addition, his passion for teaching history and geography with middle school student makes everyday exciting and fun. Not only is it rewarding watching his students become thoughtful and curious citizens, but he has made many great friends among the students and parents.
Art, Music, and Technology Teachers
Mrs. Rachel Culp - Physical Education
Mrs. Culp joined St. Bridget’s Parish in 2016 as a substitute teacher and is now the Physical Education teacher for grades Prek-8. Prior to coming to St. Bridget, she taught at All Saints Episcopal School in Lubbock, Texas. During her time there she taught multiple grades and was the Dean of Students. Mrs. Culp received her Masters of Education from Wayland Baptist University and her Bachelors of Science in Elementary Education and minor in Physical Education from Eastern New Mexico University. Rachel’s teaching interests include middle school science, middle school writing, and Physical Education/coaching. Rachel resides in River Falls. On her spare time she likes to cook, craft, and be with family. She is excited to be a part of the St. Bridget mission because she loves kids and loves learning.
Special Class Teachers
Mrs. Starla Dixen - GOAL
Mrs. Starla Dixen joined St. Bridget Parish School in 2013 as the GOAL Teacher. She has had the opportunity to grow the program from a part time position to a full time position and has been fortunate to have been part of the first 7th grade Wolf Ridge Environmental Education Retreat. Mrs. Dixen has choreographed some of the school spring shows as well as choreographed The Sound of Music for St. Bridget’s.
Prior to coming to St. Bridget, she had taught in the River Falls School District as a long term substitute most often at Greenwood Elementary School. She has started a dance program for children ages 3 – 103 and she has worked at many colleges and universities in Student/Greek Life/New Student Orientation. She is also a licensed massage therapist.
Mrs. Dixen received her Bachelor degree in Elementary Education from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and has her Masters in Educational Administration from Illinois State University. Starla’s teaching interests include Dyslexia, Orton-Gillingham methodology, and outdoor/environmental education. She has 100 plus hours in the multi-sensory Orton Gillingham reading method.
Starla resides with her family in Roberts, WI. In her free/spare time, she volunteers in the Young Women’s program at her church, teaches dance classes, reads and loves traveling.She is excited to be apart of the St. Bridget mission because she gets to be part of a family that cares about all of the students and their families. It’s a place that believes everyone can learn and sharing Christ’s love to her students is one of the best parts of her job.
Mr. John Johnson
Mr. John Johnson joined St. Bridget Parish School in 2017 as the head of the custodial/maintenance department. Prior to coming to St. Bridget he owned a commercial cleaning business for 12 years operating out of Ellsworth, WI. Mr. Johnson has been in the custodial field for nearly 20 years and is familiar with all the aspects of janitorial services as well as carpet cleaning and floor care. John is looking forward to bringing his knowledge of all the areas of commercial cleaning to St. Bridget School.
John resides with his wife Sheri in Ellsworth, WI. They have two sons, Abram and Drake, who both currently attend college at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. They also have two daughters, Josie and Kaley, who are both in high school.
In his free time John enjoys spending it with his family, their dog Molly and their cat Gracie. John also enjoys playing cards, golfing and playing softball with friends. He is excited to be a part of the St. Bridget team because of the values that are put on faith, family and friendship.
St. Bridget Catholic Church and School
Church || 211 E Division St, PO Box 86 | River Falls, WI | 54022 | (715) 425-1870
School || 135 E Division St | River Falls, WI | 54022 | (715) 425-1872
Map | Email
Church |
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SARASOTA MUSIC
The Randy Stephens Band
Randy Stephens
Posted On Sunday, 06 October 2013 12:01
The Randy Stephens Band, aka RSB, is creating quite the ‘buzz’ around Sarasota and Florida’s west coast music scene. RSB has been touring vigorously throughout Florida, the South, and as far away as Northern California during the past few years. The band formed in 2007 with the initial release of “Forging the Blues” recorded in Nashville at Sony/Tree studios and produced by John Palmieri. “I remember at that time Sony asking if I wanted to publish my music with them, I said no because I wanted all the rights and legal say about the music too”, Randy recalls. “In retrospect I may have made a mistake with that decision but I felt that was the right thing to do at the time and so I made that call”. Since then, RSB has been through many challenges, personnel changes, as well as personal issues.
Randy States, “being in a band presents itself with many obstacles. You have human beings in a band and they come with a myriad of problems, from commitment issues, to personality’s conflicts, different opinions etc. It’s rather like being in a family and all families can be dysfunctional at times. One of the hardest things I find to overcome is changes in personnel because it almost feels like you have to start over again. While you personally might know the music, you have to go through relearning the material with this new person patiently while they get caught up. With close to 110 cover songs in our repertoire, not to mention any original music, and as the band can tell you we don’t play cover songs like the record. We have added arrangements, and vamp sections from which even advanced players would surely suffer a learning curve.”
RSB has been working over a year on a new CD to be released in late 2013 titled “No Strings Attached.” When asked why it has taken so long Randy said, “This project has been difficult to say the least. We started recording drums at Carl’s house in the spring of 2011. I would bring scratch guitar and vocal and Carl would have to learn the songs arrangement and feel on the fly, and I give Carl a lot credit for his hard work. Not forgetting his wife Mary who endured hours of drum tracking all recorded on her dining room table. We did 3 hours average per song sometimes longer depending on if we had to re-mic the drum set and that happened frequently as our regular scheduled performances required Carl’s drum set be tore down and then set up again.” ‘
“No Strings Attached” for the most part is a blues album containing 10 tracks, 6 originals and 4 covers with special guest appearances by local blues favorite Lauren Mitchell on a duo with Randy and David C Johnson from the Aaron Neville quartet. “We needed keys on of the covers “I’m doing Fine”, Randy explains, “I remember I was talking with David Johnson during a break and he said he would like me to do some guitar work for him and that he wouldn’t mind trading for his skills. I took full advantage of this opportunity. If you have heard David play you would know what I am talking about!
When I say this man is unbelievable, he is unbelievable! David plays Bass, Keys, and even guitar extremely well; I would put him in the virtuoso class of performers. David sends me two files- one with a Wurlitzer and the other with Organ and they are perfect in every way. Then I lose my Bass player and am in need of bass tracks for another song. I decided to push my luck and I send David a copy of an original song I wrote 20 years ago titled “Aint no Lease”, David comes through again with this funky bass track that totally compliments this song. All I can say is thank you David you’re amazing. Next, I decided to try covering a song with a female duo part. I picked the song “Rocking Good Way,” a number 1 R&B song recorded by Brook Benton and Dinah Washington in 1960. The person I thought of immediately was Lauren Mitchell. I had heard her sing online and got a hold of her through Facebook. When I asked her she said yes she would love to sing this song. Lauren is a pro! She came in, took several passes, and that was it. Her smoky blues voice is perfect for this song!
“We are rising up out the ashes!” Randy exclaims. This band has got synergy and an awesome rhythm section! On drums we have Carl Grieco who has been with me since I came to Sarasota. Not only is Carl seriously committed to this band but he is an excellent drummer. He is solid, versatile and ‘in the pocket’. What I respect most about Carl is he is not afraid to speak his mind about the music, the direction of the band, and to what’s needed. I would say without a doubt Carl has become my right hand man. On my left, usually, (Randy Laughs) is the incredible Mr. Randy McCormick. This man is a Florida native from St Pete who has played Bass guitar for a living his whole life. Randy is one of the best Bass players I have had the privilege of working with. He is a “feel” player like me, and we really read each other very well, and that happened immediately upon auditioning him. I am very pleased to have him on board and anyone who has ever heard Randy play will tell you he is a Monster player and a super nice guy too.”
“We are excited about making music and proud to be a part of the Sarasota art community. As Carl reminds me all the time about the music, “It’s not what we do, but who we are.” I love that because it is truthfully the way I felt about music my whole life. We hope people will buy our CD but more importantly, that they will come see the band play live for them. We love to perform and to give back this gift called music. My favorite quote is from Tampa Florida’s southern rock band, the Outlaws: “Were just the player, you are the show.”
www.randystephens.com
article contributed to the Sarasota Post by Randy Stephens
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Home Grand Rapids Community College
Profiles of Students, Staff, Teachers
Seismic lessons from this rock star teacher
Gems of knowledge are everywhere
Professor Tari Mattox brings her experience in the field to her GRCC students
In geology professor Tari Mattox’s classroom, a pen etches a pattern that shows what’s going on inside the Earth, deep beneath your feet. Usually it’s a slow and steady scribe, in constant motion, but sometimes it jumps with excitement.
Mattox recently pulled up data on the screen connected to the seismograph. There’s a group of dramatic vertical lines on the screen dated Aug. 24, when a 7.1-magnitude earthquake shook Peru, causing the pen to jolt just 8.5 minutes after the quake hit nearly 4,000 miles away.
Rockstar Teachers: There’s just something about certain teachers that draws students to them in droves and keeps them checking in years, even decades later. Here, we highlight some of these rockstars of the classroom.
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“That’s the earthquake,” she said, her voice revealing both expertise and fascination. “That’s how fast seismic waves travel. It makes students realize how much energy an earthquake has. It blows their minds.”
When it comes to brain-shattering information, Mattox has a phenomenal amount of it. The bedrock of her teaching philosophy is that experiences with the planet’s most exciting landforms and processes need to be accessible. Mattox has stood in awe of the wonders of the geological world, studying erupting volcanoes, billowing lava fields, crystalline glaciers, often with her students in mind.
“My main focus is trying to bring real geology into the classroom,” she said.
The best part: gems of knowledge are everywhere.
“One of the reasons I love teaching geology is it is very easy to demonstrate the relevance in their lives,” she said. “You can use everyday experiences in almost every kid’s life to demonstrate geologic principles.”
Professor Tari Mattox looks up data on volcanoes
No Rock Left Unturned
Mattox is a volcano expert who joined the Grand Rapids Community College staff in 2002 after a career that traversed the rocky world, from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory where she monitored the Kilauea volcano, to Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, where she dug deep for 3-billion-year-old nickel deposits.
Mattox worked in Hawaii from 1989 to 1995 as a volcanologist with the first all-female geology team at the observatory, monitoring the activity of the volcano.
She recently served as a source for media outlets seeking an expert on the eruption at Kilauea, on Hawaii’s Big Island, contributing her knowledge about shield volcanoes in The Washington Post.
Rocks have long histories and give us information, Tari Mattox explains
Slow Science, Explosive Moments
The daughter of parents who had a strong sense of wanderlust, Mattox was born in Oregon, and as a child lived in California, Jamaica and Honduras. Her mother is from Hawaii. She received her bachelor’s degree in geology from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and began her professional career as a consulting geologist monitoring groundwater in Indiana. She continued her education at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, where she studied chemistry of volcanic rocks from the Central Volcanic Zone in Chile.
She explains her passion for geology like this: Geology is a slow science that result in change over the millennia, yet it’s punctuated by explosive moments that change the planet with sudden force. That’s exciting, she said.
“You can’t watch a continent tear apart and an ocean form in your lifetime, but there are some geologic processes that do happen where you can see changes in real time: glaciers and volcanoes,” she said. “We can actually watch volcanos erupt in real time; we can see lava and rock being formed before our eyes.”
“Being able to see it is fun.”
GRCC “Introduction to Geology” students say Mattox’s first-hand experience makes the class interesting.
“I really like her as a professor. She’s been one of my favorites… It sounds more real,” said student Kelly Garnet about Mattox’s expertise working up close with volcanoes, which has given her information about careers in the field. “You can actually get jobs in this.”
“It’s pretty cool that she give us those experiences,” said student Natali Gomez, as photos of Iceland were projected on the classroom wall. “The pictures and examples she shows really help us.”
Added student Cody Ketchum: “It’s exciting. She’s really passionate about it, so that makes us enthusiastic about rocks.”
Fossils are among artifacts students study in the GRCC geology department
New Dimensions for Student Learning
With her husband, Steve Mattox, a professor of geology and Integrated Science Program coordinator at Grand Valley State University, Mattox is applying for the National Science Foundation grant to fund a program for GRCC and GVSU students to go on a trip to Iceland. The couple spent last summer in the Nordic country collecting specimens and imagery for students to experience the volcanic rock, glassy fjords and breathtaking landscapes.
Obtaining a NSF grant is very competitive, she said, but bringing students there would mean exposing them to a whole new rocky world — “it’s geology crack,” Mattox quipped.
But she wants to make sure all students experience that level of geology wonder as much as possible. GRCC enrolls many non-traditional students who are working full-time, raising families or find travel difficult for other reasons. For them, Mattox is collaborating on a virtual reality field trip to bring 360-degree views and 3D worlds of geology to students. She is partnering on the project with Michael Coluzzi, a former GRCC student, who is now a senior at Ferris State University.
“Geology is very field-trip driven, and I want to be able to bring that to everyone,” Mattox said.
Professor Tari Mattox helps GRCC students Jessica Hoover, Emerald Timmer and Nadrichka Toledo
From left, Natali Gomex and Kelly Garnet check out the augmented reality sandbox
With topographic features in mind, Cody Ketchum studies the globe
Professor Tari Mattox lectures on topography in “Introduction to Geology, k”
Professor Tari Mattox creates a “lake” on a augmented reality sandbox
Students Jessica Hoover and Emerald Timmer locate a spot on the man
The world is full of things to learn
Professor Tari Mattox talks rocks
A seismograph constantly monitors movement beneath the Earth’s crust
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At High Enough CO2 Levels, Clouds Will Start to Physically Break Apart
JOEL ACHENBACH, THE WASHINGTON POST
Stratocumulus clouds are rather boring. They're not as elegant as cirrus clouds (those horsetail wisps high in the sky) or as majestic as cumulonimbus clouds (big, scary thunderheads).
But stratocumulus clouds, which hover low in the sky and create vast decks of cloud cover, have a supreme value in our warming world: Their white tops reflect lots of solar radiation back into space.
But Earth's broad portfolio of clouds in the year 2019 could potentially be altered by extreme climate change. Those stratocumulus cloud decks could vanish, further intensifying global warming.
That's the unsettling conclusion of a study published Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience, based on a computer model that provides a new warning that climate change could deliver surprises on top of the already existing and clearly predictable consequences.
The lead researcher, Tapio Schneider, a climate scientist at Caltech, hypothesized that very high levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide could suppress the formation of stratocumulus cloud decks. He and his colleagues modeled the formation of such clouds and, after two years of computer calculations, concluded that the steady rise in atmospheric CO2 could trigger a sudden spike in temperature associated with disappearing stratocumulus clouds.
The effect appeared intense if CO2 reached 1,200 parts per million - three times the current level, which is already much higher than the preindustrial level of carbon dioxide. If CO2 reached 1,300 parts per million, the new report states, the global atmospheric temperature would rise 8 degrees Celsius above whatever warming had already been produced from greenhouse gases.
"It's a dramatic effect," Schneider told The Washington Post. The stratocumulus cloud decks "break up altogether," he said.
"Once the stratocumulus decks have broken up, they only re-form once CO2 concentrations drop substantially below the level at which the instability first occurred," according to the study.
Kerry Emanuel, a professor of atmospheric science at MIT, said of Schneider's study: "What he's done is certainly plausible, but these clouds are really hard to simulate. . . . It provides a plausible, but not yet proven, route by which you could have a tipping point in the climate."
Climate scientists have long been confounded by clouds. A cloud can amplify global warming, or it can limit it, depending on what kind of cloud it is, and its size, location, thickness, duration, etc. But clouds are hard to pin down in a computer model.
They are remarkably insubstantial elements of the natural world. If you could bring all the clouds and water vapor in the atmosphere to the surface, it would form a liquid layer less than an inch deep, Schneider said, and clouds alone would create a layer no deeper than a coat of paint.
"You need to predict what small fraction of that water vapor will condense into clouds," Schneider said.
There is no easy way to test whether clouds would really behave this way in a world with such alarmingly high concentrations of carbon dioxide. What's certain is that a spike of 8 degrees C, in addition to warming already baked in the cake from greenhouse gas emissions, would presumably be catastrophic, not only for human civilization but for countless species and ecosystems jolted by the rapid climate change.
Since the start of the Industrial Revolution, when people began burning fossil fuels on a vast scale, global temperatures have risen about 1 degree Celsius, or about 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit, with the warming driven by the rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide, from about 280 ppm to more than 400 ppm, a level surpassed in 2013 for the first time in recorded history.
It is hard to imagine a world with anything near 1,300 ppm CO2.
Schneider, for one, does not think such extreme levels of CO2 will actually materialize, simply because he assumes that human civilization will find a way to avoid putting all that carbon into the atmosphere.
"I hope there's going to be sufficient technological progress that we're not going to get there. But it's not outside the realm of the possible," Schneider said.
Matt Huber, a Purdue climate scientist who has studied the effects of clouds on climate, offered a cautious assessment of the new paper.
"Whenever you see a surprising result in a climate model, you get concerned that the model is itself just too tippy, that there's something that should be stabilizing the model," he said.
But Huber noted that the Schneider paper offers a potential answer to a long-standing riddle. For decades, scientists have known that 55 million years ago, the Earth endured a strangely hot phase - called the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). That's the famous "crocodiles in the Arctic" period.
How did Earth get so sweltering? Carbon dioxide is an obvious element of the mystery, but climate models cannot seem to nudge the planet into such high temperatures without extraordinary levels of CO2, such as 4,000 ppm or higher. And the geological record does not show CO2 higher than 2,000 ppm.
So there must be another factor.
One possibility has been that a massive escape of methane from the ocean floor tipped the climate into a new hothouse regime. But the Schneider paper offers another conjecture: Vanishing cloud cover could lead to a climate tipping point.
Stratocumulus clouds are produced as warm air rises from the surface and cools, causing water vapor to condense. Such cloud decks are known in California as marine layers, and they are notorious for rolling into coastal cities and turning warm days cold.
These clouds cover large swaths of the tropical ocean.
The formation of the cloud decks depends on the cooling process at the top of the clouds. This occurs at a physical scale that traditional climate models cannot easily capture.
"They simply fall through the computational mesh," Schneider said.
He and his colleagues have developed a new model that uses what is known as a large eddy simulation. The model indicates that the cooling process necessary for these cloud decks will be suppressed if the planet gets too warm.
Editors note (28 Feb 2019): In an earlier version of this article we incorrectly converted a temperature change of 8 degrees Celsius into 46 degrees Fahrenheit. The error did not appear in the Washington Post original. This has now been amended.
2019 © The Washington Post
This article was originally published by The Washington Post.
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Simplifying soft robots
Eliminating complex, expensive and heavy external control systems in soft robots
By Leah Burrows
This new, simplified soft robot, powered by pressurized air, replaces multiple control systems with one input, reducing the number, weight and complexity of the components needed to power the device. (Image courtesy of the Bertoldi Lab/Harvard SEAS)
A soft robot developed by researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) could pave the way to fully untethered robots for space exploration, search and rescue systems, biomimetics, medical surgery, rehabilitation and more.
This new, simplified soft robot, powered by pressurized air, replaces multiple control systems with one input, reducing the number, weight and complexity of the components needed to power the device.
“Before this research, we couldn't build fluidic soft robots without independently controlling each actuator through separate input lines and pressure supplies and a complex actuation process,” said Nikolaos Vasios, a graduate student at SEAS and first author of the paper. “Now, we can embed the functionality of fluidic soft robots in their design, allowing for a substantial simplification in their actuation.”
The research was published in Soft Robotics.
To simplify the soft robots, the researchers harnessed the viscosity of fluid, which is a measure for the resistance of a fluid moving through an object. Imagine water moving through a straw — the thinner the straw, the more difficult it is for water to pass through. Using this principle, the researchers, led by Katia Bertoldi, the William and Ami Kuan Danoff Professor of Applied Mechanics at SEAS, carefully selected tubes of different sizes to control how quickly air moves through the device. A single input pumps the same amount of air through one of the tubes, but the size of the tubes determines how and where the air flows.
The team developed a framework that automatically determines how a soft robot should be made, how the tubes should be selected and how it should be actuated in order to achieve a target function, such as crawling or walking, with a single input line.
They demonstrated the approach on a four-legged, soft robot. The tubes, embedded in the top of the robot, directed the air to each leg in sequence, enabling the robot to crawl.
“Our work presents for the first time a strategy that can be used to make simply actuated fluidic soft robots, based on this well-known phenomenon of viscous flow,” said Bertoldi, who is also an Associate Faculty at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University. “With the strategy presented in our work, the actuation of fluidic soft robots will now be simpler and easier than ever, taking a major step towards fully untethered and simply actuated soft robots.”
The Harvard Office of Technology Development has protected the intellectual property relating to this project and is exploring commercialization opportunities.
The research was co-authored by Andrew J. Gross, Scott Soifer and Johannes T.B. Overvelde. It was supported by the National Science Foundation.
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SEAS Videos
Leah Burrows, (617) 496-1351
These images are made available to non-commercial entities, press, and the general public under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives license. You may not alter the images provided, other than to crop them to size. A credit line must be used when reproducing images; if one is not provided here, credit the images to “Harvard SEAS.”
Student profile: Connor Schoen, A.B. ’20
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Grad student profile: Matheus Fernandes
Artificial muscles for soft robots
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(Rule 13d-102)
INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED IN STATEMENTS FILED PURSUANT TO RULES 13d-1 (b),
(c) AND (d) AND AMENDMENTS THERETO FILED PURSUANT TO 13d-2 (b)
(Amendment No. 1)*
VIRTUSA CORPORATION
COMMON STOCK, PAR VALUE $0.01 PER SHARE
92827P102
Check the appropriate box to designate the rule pursuant to which this Schedule is filed:
Rule 13d-1(b)
Rule 13d-1(c)
Rule 13d-1(d)
*The remainder of this cover page shall be filled out for a reporting person's initial filing on this form with respect to the subject class of securities, and for any subsequent amendment containing information which would alter the disclosures provided in a prior cover page.
The information required in the remainder of this cover page shall not be deemed to be "filed" for the purpose of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Act") or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section of the Act but shall be subject to all other provisions of the Act (however, see the Notes).
CUSIP No. 411307 10 1
Names of Reporting Persons
Sigma Partners V, L.P. IRS # 94-3341484
Check the Appropriate Box if a Member of a Group (See Instructions)
SEC Use Only
Citizenship or Place of Organization
Delaware, United States of America
Beneficially
Person With
Sole Voting Power
Shared Voting Power
4,525,570 (2)
Sole Dispositive Power
Shared Dispositive Power
Aggregate Amount Beneficially Owned by Each Reporting Person
Check if the Aggregate Amount in Row (9) Excludes Certain Shares (See Instructions) o
Percent of Class Represented by Amount in Row (9)
Type of Reporting Person (See Instructions)
(1) This Schedule 13G is filed by Sigma Partners V, L.P. (SP V), Sigma Associates V, L.P. (SA V) and Sigma Investors V, L.P. (SI V) (collectively, the Sigma Entities). The Sigma Entities expressly disclaim status as a group for purposes of this Schedule 13G.
(2) Includes: (i) 3,533,396 shares held by SP V; (ii) 784,800 shares held by SA V; and (iii) 207,374 shares held by SI V. Sigma Management V, L.L.C. is the sole general partner of SP V, SA V and SI V and owns no shares of the issuer directly. Sigma Management V, L.L.C. holds voting and dispositive power over the shares held by the Sigma Entities; however, disclaims beneficial ownership of the shares held by these entities, except to the extent of its pecuniary interests therein.
(3) This percentage is calculated based upon 22,837,909 shares of the Issuers common stock outstanding, as of November 7, 2007, as set forth in the Issuers most recent 10-Q, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 7, 2007.
Sigma Associates V, L.P. IRS # 94-3341486
Sigma Investors V, L.P. IRS # 94-3341488
Sigma Management V, L.L.C. IRS # 94-3341483
Introductory Note: This Statement on Schedule 13G is filed on behalf of Sigma Partners V, L.P., a limited partnership organized under the laws of the State of Delaware (SP V), Sigma Associates V, L.P., a limited partnership organized under the laws of the State of Delaware (SA V), Sigma Investors V, L.P., a limited partnership organized under the laws of the State of Delaware (SI V) and Sigma Management V, L.L.C., a limited liability company organized under the laws of the State of Delaware (SM V) in respect of shares of Common Stock of Virtusa Corporation.
Name of Issuer
Address of Issuers Principal Executive Offices
200 West Park Drive
Westborough, Massachusetts 01581
Name of Person Filing
Sigma Partners V, L.P.
Sigma Associates V, L.P.
Sigma Investors V, L.P.
Sigma Management V, L.L.C.
Address of Principal Business Office or, if none, Residence
1600 El Camino Real, Suite 280
Each of SP V, SA V and SI V are limited partnerships organized in the State of Delaware. SM V is a limited liability company organized in the State of Delaware.
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CUSIP Number
If this statement is filed pursuant to §§240.13d-1(b) or 240.13d-2(b) or (c), check whether the person filing is a:
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Investment company registered under section 8 of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-8).
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An employee benefit plan or endowment fund in accordance with §240.13d-1(b)(1)(ii)(F);
A parent holding company or control person in accordance with §240.13d-1(b)(1)(ii)(G);
A savings association as defined in Section 3(b) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813);
A church plan that is excluded from the definition of an investment company under section 3(c)(14) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-3);
(j)
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Provide the following information regarding the aggregate number and percentage of the class of securities of the issuer identified in Item 1.
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of Class
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If this statement is being filed to report the fact that as of the date hereof the reporting person has ceased to be the beneficial owner of more than five percent of the class of securities, check the following o.
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Item 10.
After reasonable inquiry and to the best of my knowledge and belief, I certify that the information set forth in this Statement is true, complete and correct.
ITS:
/s/ Robert E. Davoli
Robert E. Davoli
EXHIBIT INDEX
Exhibit No.
Agreement pursuant to 13d-1(k)(1) among Sigma Partners V, L.P., Sigma Associates V, L.P., Sigma Investors V, L.P. and Sigma Management V, L.L.C.
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(Mark One)
x ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
¨ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934. FROM THE TRANSITION PERIOD FROM _____ TO _______.
For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018
Commission file number 000-53239
Cavitation Technologies, Inc.
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization) (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)
10019 CANOGA AVENUE, CHATSWORTH, CALIFORNIA 91311
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SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OF THE ACT:
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Common Stock, $0.001 par value Over the Counter (Bulletin Board)
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The registrant had 196,997,906 shares of common stock outstanding on September 30, 2018.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE:
FORM 10-K ANNUAL REPORT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2018
Item 1. Business 4
Item 1A. Risk Factors 8
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Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules 39
Item 16. Form 10-K Summary 40
This annual report on Form 10-K and the exhibits attached hereto contain “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements concern our anticipated results and developments in our operations in future periods, planned exploration and development of our properties, plans related to our business and matters that may occur in the future. These statements relate to analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. We use words like “expects,” “believes,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “targets,” “projects” or “estimates” in this annual report. When used, these words and other, similar words and phrases or statements that an event, action or result “will,” “may,” “could,” or “should” result, occur, be taken or be achieved, identify “forward-looking” statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown, and assumptions.
Management has included projections and estimates in this annual report, which are based primarily on management’s experience in the industry, assessments of our results of operations, discussions and negotiations with third parties and a review of information filed by our competitors with the Securities and Exchange Commission or otherwise publicly available. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. We disclaim any obligation subsequently to revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events, except as required by law. We qualify all of the forward-looking statements contained in this annual report by the foregoing cautionary statements.
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Cavitation Technologies, Inc. (referred to herein, unless otherwise indicated, as “the Company,” “CTi,” “we,” “us,” and “our”) is a Nevada corporation originally incorporated under the name Bio Energy, Inc. We are a process and product development firm that has developed, patented, and commercialized environmentally friendly technology-based systems that are designed to serve large, growing, global markets such as vegetable oil refining, renewable fuels, water treatment, wines and spirits enhancement, algae oil extraction, water-oil emulsions and crude oil yield improvement. Our systems are designed to process industrial liquids at a reduced processing time, lower operating cost, improved yield while operating in environmentally friendly manner. We have developed, patented, and commercialized our proprietary technology that can be used in multiple liquid processing applications. Our patented Nano Reactor® is the critical component of our CTi Nano Neutralization® System which has been shown to reduce operating costs and increase yields in refining vegetable oils.
Vegetable Oil Refining
Our first commercial application for our technology has been the CTi Nano Neutralization® System which has been utilized to improve edible vegetable oil refining process. Our environmentally friendly process has been shown to reduce refining costs, increase oil yield, and limit the amount of chemical additives used in chemical refining of vegetables oils. This patented process (US Patent # 7,762,715 and # 8,042,989) is designed to be incorporated into new and existing soybean, rapeseed, canola and palm vegetable oil refineries.
Our first pilot test of our CTi NANO Neutralization System was conducted in 2010 at Carolina Soya, a 200-metric ton/day crude soy oil refining plant in Estill, South Carolina. Our second system, which became operational in fiscal 2011, has been continuously utilized since 2011 at the plant that processes approximately 450 metric tons per day of soy oil. Further, we have successfully shipped over 30 systems both domestically and abroad. We also continuously focus on developing additional Nano Reactor® applications and managing the intellectual property issues associated with new processes and applications.
The global consumption of vegetable oils has grown consistently at a rate of about 5.5% p.a. from 84.5 million metric tons in 1999 to over 182 million metric tons in 2016-2017 (https://www.statista.com/statistics/263937/vegetable-oils-global-consumption/). It is also a highly competitive commodity market in which the lowest-cost producer has the advantage.
Desmet Ballestra Agreement
On May 14, 2012 we signed a global R and D, Marketing and Technology License Agreement with Desmet Ballestra Group s.a. (Desmet), a Belgian company that is actively marketing the NANO Neutralization System, the key component of which is our Nano Reactor® to soybean and other vegetable oil refiners. The Agreement provided Desmet (licensee) a limited, exclusive license and right to develop, design and supply our NANO Neutralization System which incorporates Nano Reactor® devices on a global basis tools and fats and oleo chemical applications Desmet provided, under certain conditions, limited monthly advance payments of $125,000 against future sales to us through May 2015. This Agreement was terminated in May 2015.
On January 22, 2016, we signed a similar three-year agreement with Desmet effective August 1, 2015. As part of the agreement, Desmet was to provide, under certain conditions, limited monthly advance payments of $50,000 against future sales to us. The agreement expires in August 2018 or may be terminated by Desmet every August 1 should Desmet and its affiliates fail to convert a minimum of six NANO Neutralization Systems to sold status during the period of June 1 to May 31. The agreement may also be terminated in case we were to lose our rights under the patents and patent applications being used in our CTi NANO Neutralization System.
The Agreement, which was extended to October 1, 2018, expired. However, we are currently in negotiations with Desmet for a new agreement with similar terms and conditions.
Desmet, together with its affiliates, is a global engineering and equipment supply firm engaged in the development, design and supply of process equipment for oils and fats processing facilities including vegetable oil refining, biofuel, oleo chemical, seed crushing, surfactant and detergent markets. Desmet supplies these markets with services based on the latest globally sourced technologies. Desmet has relationships with major refiners globally A significant portion of global vegetable oil refineries include major refiners such as Archer Daniels Midland Company, Cargill, Inc. and Bunge Limited. Desmet has more than 40 sales representatives selling in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. Since its founding in 1946, Desmet reports that it has built a global network that includes 1,300 employees, 17 global and 8 representative offices, and more than 5,700 lines in a variety of applications. Desmet operates a separate division for each of the above markets and the Desmet Oils & Fats division has supplied small and large plants to approximately 1,700 oil millers in 150 countries, covering over 6,000 process sections. We have developed a relationship with the North American arm of Desmet which operates in each of these markets and provides us with other potential opportunities such as palm oil refining.
We and Desmet have worked together to determine the appropriate sales approach and installation process. Our CTi Nano Neutralization System is designed to be used as an add-on process to an existing neutralization system within soybean and other vegetable oil refineries. Desmet’s recent focus has been on marketing our CTi’s Nano Neutralization® System to vegetable oil refiners to help them increase profits through cost savings and improved oil yields. Desmet purchases our CTi Nano Neutralization Reactor Systems from us and installs them at the refinery as part of an integrated neutralization system. Based on successful commercial implementations, Desmet guarantees minimum economic benefits to a facility that installs our CTi Nano Neutralization® Systems. We are therefore substantially dependent on Desmet to identify prospects, complete sales contracts, install the system and manage relationships with end-users.
GEA Westfalia Agreement
In August 2012, we entered into a Technology and Licensing Agreement with the GEA Group AG - Westfalia Separator Group (“GEA”) pursuant to which the companies agreed to jointly develop and patent new applications of our core technologies. As part of the Agreement, GEA Westfalia was to assemble a complete commercial test system comprising Nano Reactors®. This Agreement was terminated in January 2017.
In January 2017 we entered into a new global technology license, R&D and marketing agreement with GEA with respect to our patented Nano Reactor™ technology, processes and applications. Under the new agreement, GEA has been granted a worldwide exclusive license to integrate our patented technology into water treatment application, milk and juice pasteurization, and certain food related processes. The license agreement between us and GEA has a three-year term and provides for the payment of $300,000 per year in advanced license fees to us. As of June 30, 2018, the Company has received $427,000 in advances from GEA under this agreement.
GEA Westfalia Separator manufactures filtration and equipment such as separators, clarifiers, decanters and membrane filtration systems. This equipment is used for the purification of suspensions, the separation of fluid mixtures with simultaneous removal of solids, extraction and concentration or removal of liquids from solids. The technological dominance of the company is based on over one hundred fifteen years of innovation, first-class engineering solutions and comprehensive processing capabilities. The company was founded in 1893 in Oelde, Germany, and since 1994 has been a part of the GEA Group AG and is a business unit within the GEA Mechanical Equipment segment. In 1950, Westfalia Separator established US and Canadian corporations to serve as sales and marketing arms to compete in the burgeoning North American market for centrifuges. GEA is one of the largest suppliers for the food processing industry and a wide range of process industries that has reported consolidated revenues of approximately EUR 4.6 billion in 2015. As an international technology group, GEA focuses on process technology and components for sophisticated production processes in various end-user markets. The GEA Group AG generates more than 70 percent of its revenue in the food sector that enjoys long-term sustainable growth. As of December 31, 2016, GEA Group AG employed about 17,000 people worldwide. GEA is a market and technology leader in its business areas. GEA is listed on the German MDAX (G1A, WKN 660 200). In addition, GEA’s share is a constituent of the MSCI Global Sustainability Indexes.
Alchemy Beverages, Inc
In fiscal 2014, Roman Gordon, one of our shareholders and a former officer, formed a company, Cameo USA LLC (Cameo). Since its formation, Cameo has had no revenue, no operations, and has had no assets or liabilities. On June 4, 2018, Mr. Gordon contributed his 100% interest in Cameo to our company. As Mr. Gordon had no basis in his investment in Cameo, there was no value assigned to the contribution of Cameo.
On June 29, 2018, we agreed to sell Cameo to Alchemy Beverages Inc. (ABI). In addition, we entered into two licensing agreements with ABI. In consideration for the sale of Cameo and for entering into the licensing agreements, ABI agreed to issue 19.9% of ABI’s outstanding common shares to us (limited to 20 million shares of ABI). ABI is a private company and in the business of producing and selling alcoholic beverages, equipment, and home appliances. Prior to this agreement, ABI was independent of CTI and had no relation to us nor to our management. ABI purchased Cameo for the right to use its name in marketing a vodka spirit.
Pursuant to the licensing agreements, ABI will have the exclusive global distribution rights for our patented and patent pending technology for the processing of alcoholic beverages. We have agreed to assist in the installation and maintenance of the nano reactor systems for ABI and will receive royalty payments ranging from 1% to 3% on all net revenues, as defined, of ABI for the life of the applicable patents. In addition, we will receive leasing, consulting, and manufacturing fees as defined in the licensing agreement. In addition, on a future transaction involving the sale of ABI, we will receive approximately 10% of the transaction price (with a minimum of $5 million) and in the event ABI becomes a public entity, we will receive approximately 10% of ABI’s shares.
We anticipate to start recognizing revenue from the ABI transaction in fiscal 2019, although there can be no assurance that we will recognize any revenue from ABI.
Customers Dependence
We continue to sell our CTi Nano Reactor® and Nano Reactor® Systems and technology only to two licensees, Desmet and GEA, and they are responsible for installing and servicing the systems. Almost all of our revenue for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018 and 2017 was derived from sales of products to Desmet.
Sources and availability of raw materials and the names of principal suppliers
We have historically sourced reactor components from various domestic and international suppliers. We do not have any long-term contracts, agreements, or commitments with any supplier. We believe it would take approximately 30 days to find a new supplier, if necessary.
Our competitors who sell equipment and engineering services for the vegetable oil refining business are a myriad of companies both large and small that provide equipment and technology to oil refiners. These include known companies that have longer operating histories, more experience, and stronger financial capabilities. Competitors include Alfa Laval, and Crown Iron Works as well as many firms that provide advice and services to small and regional firms. In addition, Arisdyne Systems, a designer of cavitation devices, is marketing a system using similar technology. The vegetable oil refining business is a highly competitive commodity market in which the lowest-cost producer has the advantage. We intend to compete by offering solutions that help our clients remain or become a low-cost producer. Because the industry in which we compete has had limited new technology introduced in the last 50 years, we believe our CTi Nano Neutralization® Systems provide a unique opportunity for refiners to increase margins. We seek to differentiate ourselves by offering solutions based on our proprietary and patented designs, processes, and applications to help our clients described in our issued and patent pending applications. We compete by offering solutions that we believe can reduce operating expenses and increase oil yield vs currently applied technologies.
Our Cavitation Generator patent was issued during fiscal 2011. In addition, we have a patent for our Multi-Stage Cavitation Device that was issued on October 25, 2011. In the fiscal 2014 we received approvals for another apparatus patent and 2 additional process patents in the US. At June 30, 2018, our portfolio of patents included 16 issued patents in the United States and 6 issued patents internationally. Our patents cover multiple process and applications of our technology in vegetable oil refining, production of biodiesel, treatment of process and industrial water, upgrade of hydrocarbons and enhancing of alcoholic beverages. We continuously develop new technologies and applications, as we have filed a new patent application for Low Pressure Nano-Reactors, (LPN). LPN is a highly efficient homogenizer and emulsifier that can be utilized in multiple fluids processing applications. Recently, we have filed a patent application for a small home appliance. This new product is designed directly with consumer in mind and the first step for our company to introduce products outside of the industrial sector where we typically sell our products.
US Cavitation Generator 7,762,715
US Multi-Stage Cavitation Device 8,042,989
US Process for Producing Biodiesel Through Lower Molecular Weight Alcohol-Targeted Cavitation 8,603,198
US High-Throughput Cavitation and Electro Coagulation Apparatus 8,673,129
US Extraction of Oil from Algae by Hydrodynamic Cavitation for Biodiesel Production 8,709,750
US Flow-Through Cavitation-Assisted Rapid Modification of Crude Oil 8,894,273
US Method for Cavitation-Assisted Refining, Degumming and Dewaxing of Oil and Fat 8,911,808
US Process to Remove Impurities from Triacylglycerol Oil 8,945,644
US Process for Removing Waxes and Phospholipids from Vegetable Oils and Increasing Production of Food Grade Lecithin Therefrom 9,357,790
US Method and Flow Through Hydrodynamic Cavitational Apparatus for Alterations of Beverages 9,474,301
US Process for Extracting Carbohydrates from Biomass and Converting the Carbohydrates into Biofuels 9,611,496
US Processes for Increasing Bioalcohol Yield from Biomass 9,944,964
Int’l Process to Remove Impurities from Triacylglycerol Oil Argentina AR083000B1
Int’l Cavitation Generator Brazil - PI0919602-1
Int’l Process to Remove Impurities from Triacylglycerol Oil Canada - 2,809,236
Int’l Process to Remove Impurities from Triacylglycerol Oil Malaysia MY164311A
Int’l Process to Remove Impurities from Triacylglycerol Oil Mexico - 343518
Int’l Process to Remove Impurities from Triacylglycerol Oil Singapore P187241
US Variable Flow Through Cavitation Device
US Processes for Extracting Carbohydrates from Biomass and Converting the Carbohydrates into Biofuels
US System and Method for Purification of Drinking Water, Ethanol and Alcohol Beverages of Impurities
Brazil Method for Cavitation-Assisted Refining, Degumming and Dewaxing of Oil and Fat
Brazil Process to Remove Impurities from Triacylglycerol Oil
Europe Process to Remove Impurities from Triacylglycerol Oil
Mexico Process to Remove Impurities from Triacylglycerol Oil
We plan to continue to invest in research and development and file for new and improved patents.
Royalty Agreements
On July 1, 2008, our wholly owned subsidiary entered into Patent Assignment Agreements with two parties, our President as well as our former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who currently serves as our Technology Senior Manager, where certain devices and methods involved in our hydrodynamic cavitation processes invented by the President and former CEO/current Technology Senior Manager have been assigned to the subsidiary. In exchange, that subsidiary agreed to pay a royalty of 5% of gross revenues to each of the President and former CEO/current Technology Senior Manager for licensing of the technology and leasing of the related equipment embodying the technology. These agreements were subsequently assumed by us on May 13, 2010 from our subsidiary. Our former CEO/current Technology Senior Manager and President both waived their rights to receive royalty payments that have accrued, or that may accrue, on any gross revenue generated through June 30, 2018.
On April 30, 2008 and as amended on November 22, 2010, our wholly owned subsidiary entered into an employment agreement with its former Director of Chemical and Analytical Department (the “Inventor”) to pay, in the first year, an amount equal to 5% of actual gross revenue received by us on any patent for which the Inventor was a legally named inventor, and, in each subsequent year, 3% of actual gross revenue received by us on any such patent. Since entering into that employment agreement, and during the term of this employment agreement, we have not received any revenue on any patents for which the Inventor was a legally named inventor.
Governmental Approval and Regulations and Environmental Compliance
Due to the nature of our products, we have incurred no costs with respect to environmental compliance with federal, state, and local laws. To our knowledge, our products do not require governmental approval, and we do not foresee that governmental regulations will have a material impact on our business.
On June 30, 2018 we had five full-time employees and had engaged several consultants and independent contractors over the past year. Members of our staff and technical team are comprised of experienced professionals who are chemists, civil, chemical, and mechanical engineers with expertise in hydrodynamic cavitation, nano technology and water treatment. These individuals hold degrees in Civil, Chemical, and Mechanical Engineering.
Research and Development Expenditures
During the fiscal years ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, we spent $25,000 and $27,000, respectively, on research and development activities.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Not applicable for smaller reporting companies.
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
Our corporate headquarter is located in Chatsworth, California, with an area of approximately 5,000 square foot facility, which includes office space and an area to conduct research and development. Our lease agreement for this space will end in February 2019. Our monthly rent payments approximate $5,000. We do not anticipate any material difficulties with the renewal of our rental agreement when it expires or in securing replacement facilities on commercially reasonable terms.
The Company may be involved in certain legal proceedings that arise from time to time in the ordinary course of its business. Except for income tax contingencies (commencing April 1, 2009), the Company records accruals for contingencies to the extent that management concludes that the occurrence is probable and that the related amounts of loss can be reasonably estimated. Legal expenses associated with the contingency are expensed as incurred.
In August 2014, a former employee and former Director (Plaintiff) filed an administrative Complaint for approximately $179,000 in unpaid wages, plus penalties and interest, with the California Labor Commissioner’s Office (CLCO). In January 2016, the CLCO ruled in favor of the Company and dismissed the case. As a result of this ruling, the Company’s obligation to the Plaintiff only amounted to approximately $134,000 which was already accrued in prior periods and included as part of Accrued Payroll and payroll taxes due to officers in the accompanying balance sheet.
In February 2016, the Plaintiff appealed this ruling to the Los Angeles County Superior Court. In addition to defending itself, the Company also has filed a cross-complaint against the Plaintiff for breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty as a Director. In August 2017, the Plaintiff filed a notice of appeal of the trial court’s ruling granting the Company’s anti-SLAPP motion. The Court of Appeal has dismissed Plaintiff’s appeal for failing to timely to designate the record on appeal.
In March 2018, the Company has reached a settlement agreement with the Plaintiff, resulting in removal of all claims by both parties. As a result of this settlement, the Company has recorded a gain of $101,000 to extinguish accrued salary.
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Our Common Stock is traded on the OTCQB Market under the symbol CVAT. The following table sets forth the high and low price per share based on the closing price of our Common Stock for the periods indicated.
Fiscal 2017 First Quarter $ 0.03 $ 0.02
Second Quarter 0.04 0.02
Third Quarter 0.04 0.02
Fourth Quarter 0.04 0.03
Fiscal 2019 First Quarter 0.05 0.03
We became a public company through a share exchange that was affected in October 2008. The first day of public trading of our stock was November 11, 2008. Since our fiscal year end was changed to June 30, public trading of our stock began in the second quarter of fiscal 2009. As of September 10, 2018, there were approximately 1,200 holders of record of our Common Stock. This does not reflect the number of persons or entities who hold stock in nominee or “street” name through various brokerage firms. The closing price of our common stock on October 12, 2018 was 0.02.
We have neither declared nor paid any dividends on our Common Stock in the preceding two fiscal years. We currently intend to retain future earnings, if any, to fund ongoing operations and finance the growth and development of our business and, therefore, do not anticipate declaring or paying cash dividends on our Common Stock for the foreseeable future. Any future decision to declare or pay dividends will be at the discretion of the Board of Directors and will be dependent upon our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, and such other factors as the Board of Directors deems relevant.
Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans
Recent Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds
During the year ended June 30, 2018 the Company issued 400,000 shares of common stock with fair value of $16,000 for services rendered. These shares were valued at fair value at the date of issuance. We did not sell any equity securities during the year ended June 30, 2018 in transactions that were not registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, other than as previously disclosed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with our financial statements and the related notes. This discussion contains forward-looking statements based upon current expectations that involve risks and uncertainties, such as its plans, objectives, expectations and intentions. Its actual results and the timing of certain events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements.
Overview of Our Business
We are a Nevada corporation originally incorporated under the name Bio Energy, Inc. On January 29, 2007, we incorporated a wholly owned subsidiary, Hydrodynamic Technology, Inc. as a California corporation.
We have developed, patented, and commercialized proprietary technology that can be used for processing of various industrial and consumer-oriented fluids. Our patented Nano Reactor® is the critical components of the CTi Nano Neutralization® System which has been shown to reduce operating costs and increase yields in processing oils and fats. CTi holds and applied for numerous patents covering technology and various processes in US and Internationally, covering vegetable and crude oil refining, waste water treatment, algae oil extraction, and alcoholic beverage enhancement. During our Fiscal 2018, we have developed additional technologies and products, such as, LPN (low pressure nano reactor and system). LPN is designed to become a highly efficient mixer and homogenizer. We believe that LPN has a great commercial utilization opportunity by providing efficient and cost-effective solution in multiple fluid processing industries. LPN has a number of advantages over current mechanically operated mixers and homogenizers.
During the year ended June 30, 2018, we recorded revenue of $1,303,000. Our loss from operations for the year ended June 30, 2018 was $351,000.
Management’s Plan of Operation
At June 30, 2018 we are continuously engaged in manufacturing our Nano Reactor® and Nano Neutralization Systems which are designed to help refine vegetable oils such as soybean, canola and rapeseed. Additionally, our near-term goal is to develop strategic and marketing tools to apply our technologies that can be commercially accepted in enhancement of wines and spirits, industrial water treatment and consumer related products.
We have a working capital deficiency of $645,000 and a stockholders’ deficit of $545,000 as of June 30, 2018. The accompanying financial statements have been prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles which contemplate continuation of the Company as a going concern.
Management’s plan is to generate income from operations by licensing our technology globally through our licensees, Desmet Ballestra Group (Desmet) and GEA Westfalia Group (GEA). In January 2016, we signed a three-year global R and D, Marketing and Technology License Agreement with Desmet for the sale and licensing of our reactors. The agreement originally expired in August 2018 but was extended up to October 2018. As part of the agreement, Desmet was also obligated to provide us with monthly advances of $50,000 against future sales. During the year ended June 30, 2018, advances received and applied to sales from Desmet amounted to $700,000. These funds service operational expenses on a monthly basis. The Company is currently in negotiations with Desmet for a new licensing agreement.
In January 2017, we signed a three-year global R&D, Marketing and Technology License Agreement with GEA Group, (GEA) covering certain processes and patented applications. This agreement provides us with $25,000 monthly advances against future sales. This agreement may be terminated by either party on each anniversary date. As of June 30, 2018, we received advances from GEA in the amount of $427,000 under this agreement.
In addition to these advances, we anticipate that we may need additional funding, and we may attempt to raise additional debt and/or equity financing to fund operations and to provide additional working capital. However, there is no assurance that such financing will be consummated or obtained in sufficient amounts necessary to meet our needs, or that we will be able to meet our future contractual obligations. Should management fail to obtain such financing, we may curtail its operations. Management estimates that cash on hand together with advances from Desmet and GEA will allow us to operate beyond fiscal 2019.
The accompanying consolidated financial statements do not include adjustments to reflect the possible future effects on the recoverability and classification of assets or the amounts and classification of liabilities that may result from our inability to continue as a going concern. As a result of the aforementioned factors, our independent auditors, in their report on our audited consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended June 30, 2018, expressed substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.
Critical Accounting Policies and Revenue Recognition
Our discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based upon our consolidated financial statements which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires management to make certain estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses. The accounting policies and estimates described below are those we consider most critical in preparing its consolidated financial statements. The following is a review of the accounting policies and estimates that include significant judgments made by management using information available at the time the estimates are made. However, these estimates could change materially if different information or assumptions were used instead.
Note 1 of the accompanying consolidated financial statements includes a summary of significant accounting policies, estimates, and methods used in the preparation of our financial statements. Accounting estimates are an integral part of the preparation of financial statements and are based on judgments by management using its knowledge and experience about the past and current events and assumptions regarding future events, all of which we consider to be reasonable. These judgments and estimates reflect the effects of matters that are inherently uncertain and that affect the carrying value of our assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent liabilities and reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period.
Through June 30, 2017, revenue from the sale of our Nano Reactor® systems was recognized when persuasive evidence of an agreement exists; shipment has occurred, including transfer of title and risk of loss for product sales, services have been rendered for service revenues; the price to the buyer is fixed or determinable; and collectability was reasonably assured. We are also entitled to a profit share from our distributor upon their ultimate sale of the reactors to their customers. Pursuant to the January 2016 agreement with the Company’s distributor, the profit share is not fixed at the time of delivery, and as such, revenue was recognized when the profit share was fixed and determinable, which was generally be upon delivery and installation of the NANO Neutralization System by the distributor to its customer.
On July 1, 2017, we adopted the new accounting standard ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers and all the related amendments (“new revenue standard”) to all contracts. Sales revenue from the sale of our Nano Reactors continues to be recognized when products are shipped from our manufacturing facilities as this is our sole performance obligation under these contracts and we have no continuing obligation to the customer. Accordingly, we now estimate and recognize the corresponding gross profit at the time of shipment of the Nano reactor hardware, subject to variable consideration constraints, in accordance to ASC 606.
Specifically, we have determined that the gross profit to be earned from our distributor is a variable consideration that requires estimation in determining the transaction price, and as such all or a portion can be recognized using the most likely amount approach (subject to the variable consideration constraint). Estimates are available from Desmet which are considered in the determination of the most likely amount. However, given the lack of control over the sale to the end customer and the lack of history of prior sales, we considered these as a variable revenue constraint that required consideration and as such, the amount of revenue recognized is being limited to the actual amount of cash received under the contract which the Company has determined as not refundable and has concluded that future revenue reversal of such amount is not probable.
The adoption of this standard resulted in a material impact on our previously reported statement of operations and balance sheet as of and for the year ended June 30, 2017. Pursuant to the transition requirements of ASC 606, the Company adopted the full retrospective method and retrospectively applied the new revenue standard to all period presented as if the new revenue standards had been applied to all prior period.
Recoverability of Long-Lived Assets
Management believes that the accounting estimate related to the recoverability of its long-lived assets is a “critical accounting estimate” because significant changes in the assumptions used to develop the estimates could materially affect key financial measures, including net income and non-current assets.
Testing of long-lived assets for impairment involves a high degree of judgment due to the assumptions that underlie the undiscounted cash flows analysis. We evaluate long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the net book value may not be recoverable. When such factors and circumstances exist, we compare the projected undiscounted future cash flows associated with the related asset or group of assets over their estimated useful lives against their respective carrying amount. Impairment, if any, is based on the excess of the carrying amount over the fair value based on market value when available or discounted expected cash flows of those assets and is recorded in the period in which the determination is made. Management believes there is no impairment of its long-lived assets. There can be no assurance, however, that market conditions will not change or demand for our products under development will continue. Either of these could result in future impairment of long-lived assets.
Share-Based Compensation
We periodically issue stock options and warrants to employees and non-employees in non-capital raising transactions for services and for financing costs. We account for stock option and warrant grants issued and vesting to employees based on the authoritative guidance provided by the Financial Accounting Standards Board whereas the value of the award is measured on the date of grant and recognized over the vesting period. We account for stock option and warrant grants issued and vesting to non- employees in accordance with the authoritative guidance of the Financial Accounting Standards Board whereas the value of the stock compensation is based upon the measurement date as determined at either a) the date at which a performance commitment is reached, or b) at the date at which the necessary performance to earn the equity instruments is complete. Non-employee stock-based compensation charges generally are amortized over the vesting period on a straight-line basis. In certain circumstances where there are no future performance requirements by the non-employee, option grants are immediately vested and the total stock-based compensation charge is recorded in the period of the measurement date.
Determining the fair value of share-based awards at the measurement date requires judgment, including estimating the expected term that stock options and warrants will be outstanding prior to exercise, the associated volatility, and the expected dividends. We estimate the fair value of options granted using the Black-Scholes valuation model. The expected life of the options used in this calculation is the period the options are expected to be outstanding and has been determined based on historical exercise experience. Expected stock price volatility is based on the historical volatility of our stock for a period approximating the expected life, and the risk-free interest rate is based on the implied yield available on US Treasury zero-coupon issues approximating the expected life. Judgment is also required in estimating the number of share-based awards that will be forfeited prior to vesting. We believe that these assumptions are “critical accounting estimates” because significant changes in the assumptions used to develop the estimates could materially affect key financial measures including net income (loss).
See Note 1 of the financial statements for discussion of recent accounting pronouncements.
Results of Operations
Below is summary comparing fiscal 2018 and fiscal 2017.
For the Years Ended
2018 2017 $ Change % Change
Revenue $ 1,303,000 $ 1,897,000 $ (594,000 ) (31 )%
Cost of revenue 122,000 97,000 25,000 26 %
Gross profit 1,181,000 1,800,000 $ (619,000 ) (34 )%
General and administrative expenses 1,507,000 2,005,000 $ (498,000 ) (25 )%
Research and development expenses 25,000 27,000 (2,000 ) (7 )%
Total operating expenses 1,532,000 2,032,000 (500,000 ) (25 )%
Loss from Operations $ (351,000 ) $ (232,000 ) $ (119,000 ) (51 )%
During the year ended June 30, 2018 revenue decreased by 31% to $1,303,000 and was derived from the sale of our CTi Nano Neutralization Systems through Desmet Ballestra and GEA of $603,000 pursuant to eight purchase orders and corresponding share in gross profit of $700,000. During the year ended June 30, 2017, revenue of $1,897,000 was derived from the sale of our CTi Nano Neutralization Systems through Desmet Ballestra of $895,000 pursuant to nine purchase orders and corresponding share in gross profit of $1,002,000.
Operating expenses for fiscal 2018 amounted to $1,532,000 versus $2,032,000 in fiscal 2017, a decrease of $500,000 or 25 %. The decrease in operating expenses was attributed to lower general and administrative expenses and decrease in stock-based compensation of $549,000. Non-cash expense items such as amortization and depreciation expense of $50,000, primarily amounted to a small proportion of operating expenses, with major expense categories being salaries and payroll taxes of approximately $643,000, legal and professional fees of approximately $208,000, various insurance policies amounting to $185,000 and travel, insurance and marketing services fees. Research and development (R&D) expense decreased by approximately $2,000 or 7% for the year ended June 30, 2018.
Operating expenses for fiscal 2017 amounted to $2,032,000. Non-cash expense items such as amortization and depreciation expense of $51,000 among others, amounted to a small proportion of operating expenses, with major expense categories being salaries and payroll taxes of approximately $643,000, legal and professional fees of approximately $376,000, various insurance policies, travel and marketing services amounting to $115,000.
During the year ended June 30, 2018, accrued salary of $131,000 due to a former director was settled for a payment of $30,000, resulting in a gain on settlement of $101,000. There was no such transaction during the year ended June 30, 2017.
Our reported Net Loss in fiscal 2018 was $250,000 compared to Net Loss in fiscal 2017 of $233,000.
During the fiscal year ended on June 30, 2018, we recognized revenues from Desmet Ballestra Group (Desmet) and received advances from GEA Group, (GEA) which covered all our operating expenses, which resulted in our increased cash position by $396,000.
During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017, cash used in operating activities was $52,000 and cash used in investing activities was $56,000 resulting from the purchase of equipment which was financed with cash reserves and proceeds from reactor sales from our partner, Desmet Ballestra, resulted in net decrease in cash of $108,000.
The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles which contemplate continuation of the Company as a going concern. During the year ended June 30, 2018, we recorded net loss of $250,000. As of June 30, 2018, we had a working capital deficiency of $645,000, and stockholders’ deficit of $545,000. We have also been dependent on certain aspects of our funding from a technology agreement with a distributor. These factors, among others, raise certain doubts about our ability to continue as a going concern.
The accompanying consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments to reflect the possible future effects on the recoverability and classification of assets or the amounts and classification of liabilities that may result from an inability of us to continue as a going concern. In addition, our independent registered public accounting firm, in its report on our June 30, 2018 consolidated financial statements, has raised substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plan is to generate income from operations by continuing to license our technology globally through our strategic partner with the Desmet. Pursuant to a R&D, Marketing and Technology License agreement with Desmet that was signed in January 2016, Desmet has provided us monthly advances of $50,000 which started in January of 2016 and are expected to continue up to the expiration of the agreement originally in August 2018 but was extended through October 2018, but can be terminated on each August 1 under certain circumstances. These advances will be applied against future sales to Desmet. During the year ended June 30, 2018 advances received from Desmet and applied to sales amounted to $700,000.
In January 2017, we signed a three-year global R&D, Marketing and Technology License Agreement with GEA covering certain processes and patented applications. This agreement provides the company with $25,000 monthly advances against future sales. This agreement may be terminated by either party on each anniversary date. As of June 30, 2018, the Company has received $427,000 in advances from GEA under this agreement.
We may also attempt to raise additional debt and/or equity financing to fund operations and to provide additional working capital. There is no assurance that such financing will be available in the future or obtained in sufficient amounts necessary to meet our needs, that we will be able to achieve profitable operations or that we will be able to meet our future contractual obligations. Should management fail to obtain such financing, we may curtail its operations.
Sources and Uses of Cash
During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018, we have received advances from Desmet and GEA, also we have generated revenue from sales of our Nano Neutralization® Systems and corresponding shares in gross profit which resulted in our cash position totaling $945,000, an increase over fiscal 2017 of $396,000. During the year ended June 30, 2018 we received sale proceeds totaling $1,303,000 from Desmet Ballestra and GEA.
During fiscal 2017, net cash used in operating activities amounted to $52,000 and we received gross proceeds of $1,897,000 from the sale of the reactors and share in gross profit from our Desmet Ballestra.
We have no off-balance sheet arrangements that have or are reasonably likely to have a current or future effect on its financial condition, revenues or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources.
ITEM 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk.
ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Stockholders and Board of Directors
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Cavitation Technologies, Inc. and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of June 30, 2018 and 2017, the related consolidated statements of operations, stockholders’ deficit, and cash flows for the years then ended and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of the Company as of June 30, 2018 and 2017, and the consolidated results of its operations and its cash flows for the years then ended in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Going Concern
The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company has suffered recurring losses and at June 30, 2018, has a stockholders’ deficit. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Change in Accounting Principles
As discussed in Note 2 to the financial statements, the Company has changed its method of accounting for revenue from contracts with customers in fiscal year 2018 due to the adoption of the new revenue standard. The Company adopted the new revenue standard using the full retrospective approach.
Basis for Opinion
These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement, whether due to error fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Weinberg & Company, P.A.
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2013
(as adjusted)
Accounts receivable - 85,000
Inventory, net 34,000 143,000
Property and equipment, net 90,000 141,000
Total assets $ 1,079,000 $ 930,000
Accrued payroll and payroll taxes 889,000 994,000
Related party payable 1,000 1,000
Advances from distributor 427,000 -
Stockholders' deficit:
Preferred stock, $0.001 par value, 10,000,000 shares authorized, no shares issued and outstanding as of June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively - -
Common stock, $0.001 par value, 1,000,000,000 shares authorized, 196,997,906 and 196,797,906 shares issued and outstanding as of June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively 196,998 196,798
Additional paid-in capital 22,641,002 22,625,202
Accumulated deficit (23,383,000 ) (23,133,000 )
Total stockholders' deficit (545,000 ) (311,000 )
Total liabilities and stockholders' deficit $ 1,079,000 $ 930,000
See accompanying notes, which are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements
Revenue $ 1,303,000 $ 1,897,000
Cost of revenue 122,000 97,000
Gross profit 1,181,000 1,800,000
General and administrative expenses 1,507,000 2,005,000
Research and development expenses 25,000 27,000
Total operating expenses 1,532,000 2,032,000
Loss from operations (351,000 ) (232,000 )
Gain on settlement of accrued payroll 101,000 -
Other expense, net - (1,000 )
Other income (expense) 101,000 (1,000 )
Net loss per share,
Basic and Diluted $ (0.00 ) $ (0.00 )
Weighted average shares outstanding,
Basic and diluted 197,148,043 195,053,401
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
YEARS ENDED JUNE 30, 2018 AND 2017 (as adjusted)
Stock Additional
Paid- Accumulated
Shares Amount in Capital Deficit Total
Balance at June 30, 2016 193,997,906 $ 193,998 $ 22,063,002 $ (22,900,000 ) $ (643,000 )
Issuance of common stock for services 2,800,000 2,800 109,200 112,000
Fair value of warrants issued for services 453,000 453,000
Net loss (233,000 ) (233,000 )
Balance at June 30, 2017 196,797,906 196,798 22,625,202 (23,133,000 ) (311,000 )
Issuance of common stock for services 400,000 400 15,600 16,000
Cancellation of common stock granted to Director (200,000 ) (200 ) 200 - -
Years Ended June 30,
Fair value of common stock issued for services 16,000 112,000
Fair value of vested warrants - 453,000
Gain on settlement of accrued payroll (101,000 ) -
Effect of changes in:
Inventory 109,000 11,000
Other assets 2,000 -
Accounts payable and accrued expenses 61,000 74,000
Accrued payroll and payroll taxes due to officers (4,000 ) -
Advances from distributor 427,000 (436,000 )
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities 396,000 (52,000 )
Purchase of property and equipment - (56,000 )
Net cash used in investing activities - (56,000 )
Net change in cash 396,000 (108,000 )
Cash, beginning of period 549,000 657,000
Cash, end of period $ 945,000 $ 549,000
Supplemental disclosures of cash flow information:
Cash paid for interest $ - $ -
Cash paid for income taxes $ 2,000 $ 2,000
YEARS ENDED JUNE 30, 2018 AND 2017
Note 1 – Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Cavitation Technologies, Inc. (referred to herein, unless otherwise indicated, as “the Company,” “CTi,” “we,” “us,” and “our”) is a Nevada corporation originally incorporated under the name Bio Energy, Inc. CTi has developed, patented, and commercialized proprietary technology that may be used in liquid processing applications. CTi’s patented Nano Reactor® is the critical component of CTi Nano Neutralization® System which has commercially been shown to reduce operating costs and increase yields in refining vegetable oils. We have four US and one international patented systems, as well as twelve US approved patents for various processes, and have filed another seven US and international patents to employ our proprietary technology in applications including vegetable and oil refining, waste water treatment, algae oil extraction, and alcoholic beverage enhancement.
In addition, we have commercialized our CTi Nano Neutralization® System in the refining process of certain vegetable oils which has proven to reduce costs and increase yields for our customers.
The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles which contemplate continuation of the Company as a going concern. During the year ended June 30, 2018, the Company incurred a net loss of $250,000 and at June 30, 2018, the Company had a stockholders’ deficit of $545,000. The Company has also been dependent on certain aspects of its funding from a technology and license agreement with its distributors, GEA Westfalia (GEA) and Desmet Ballestra (Desmet), whose agreement expired in August 2018. Desmet and CTi have extended their current license agreement until October 1, 2018, while a new three-year license agreement is under negotiations. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.
The accompanying consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments to reflect the possible future effects on the recoverability and classification of assets or the amounts and classification of liabilities that may result from an inability of the Company to continue as a going concern. Management’s plan is to generate income from operations by continuing to license its technology globally through our strategic partner with the Desmet Ballestra Group (Desmet). Pursuant to a R&D, Marketing and Technology License agreement with Desmet that was signed in January 2016, Desmet has provided the Company with monthly advances of $50,000 which started in January of 2016 and continued through expiration of the technology and license agreement in August 2018. These advances were applied against sales to Desmet. During the year ended June 30, 2018 advances received from Desmet that were applied against sales amounted to $700,000.
In January 2017, the Company signed a three-year global R&D, Marketing and Technology License Agreement with GEA Group, (GEA) covering certain processes and patented applications. This agreement provides the Company with $25,000 monthly advances against future sales. This agreement may be terminated by either party on each anniversary date. As of June 30, 2018, the Company has received $427,000 in advances from GEA and recorded approximately $13,000 in revenues under this agreement.
The Company may also attempt to raise additional debt and/or equity financing to fund operations and to provide additional working capital. There is no assurance that such financing will be available in the future or obtained in sufficient amounts necessary to meet the Company’s needs, that the Company will be able to achieve profitable operations or that the Company will be able to meet its future contractual obligations. Should management fail to obtain such financing, the Company may curtail its operations.
Principles of Consolidation
The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Cavitation Technologies, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary Hydrodynamic Technology, Inc. Intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation.
Fair Value Measurement
FASB Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 820-10 requires entities to disclose the fair value of financial instruments, both assets and liabilities recognized and not recognized on the balance sheet for which it is practicable to estimate fair value. ASC 820-10 defines the fair value of a financial instrument as the amount at which the instrument could be exchanged in a current transaction between willing parties.
In addition to defining fair value, the standard expands the disclosure requirements around fair value and establishes a fair value hierarchy for valuation inputs. The hierarchy prioritizes the inputs into three levels based on the extent to which inputs used in measuring fair value are observable in the market. Each fair value measurement is reported in one of the three levels which are determined by the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement in its entirety. These levels are:
Level 1 - inputs are based upon unadjusted quoted prices for identical instruments traded in active markets.
Level 2 - inputs are based upon significant observable inputs other than quoted prices included in Level 1, such as quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active, and model-based valuation techniques for which all significant assumptions are observable in the market or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities.
Level 3 - inputs are generally unobservable and typically reflect management’s estimates of assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability. The fair values are therefore determined using model-based techniques that include option pricing models, discounted cash flow models, and similar techniques.
As of June 30, 2018, and 2017, the carrying value of certain accounts such as inventory, accounts payable, accrued expenses and accrued payroll approximates their fair value due to the short-term nature of such instruments.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of the consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the financial statement date, and reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Significant estimates are used in reserves for inventory obsolescence, valuing our stock options, stock warrants and common stock issued for services and realization of our deferred tax asset, among other items. Actual results could differ from these estimates.
On July 1, 2017, we adopted the new accounting standard ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers and all the related amendments (“new revenue standard”) to all contracts. Sales revenue from the sale of our Nano Reactors continues to be recognized when products are shipped from our manufacturing facilities as this is our sole performance obligation under these contracts and we have no continuing obligation to the customer. Accordingly, the Company now estimates and recognizes the corresponding gross profit at the time of shipment of the Nano reactor hardware, subject to variable consideration constraints, in accordance to ASC 606.
Specifically, the Company has determined that the gross profit to be earned from its distributor as a variable consideration that requires estimation in determining the transaction price, and as such all or a portion can be recognized using the most likely amount approach (subject to the variable consideration constraint). Estimates are available from our distributor which are considered in the determination of the most likely amount. However, given the lack of control over the sale to the end customer and the lack of history of prior sales, the Company considered these as a variable revenue constraint that required consideration and as such, the amount of revenue recognized is being limited to the actual amount of cash received under the contract which the Company has determined as not refundable and has concluded that future revenue reversal of such amount is not probable.
The adoption of this standard resulted in a material impact on our previously reported statement of operations and balance sheet as of and for the year ended June 30, 2017. Pursuant to the transition requirements of ASC 606, the Company adopted the full retrospective method and retrospectively applied the new revenue standard to all periods presented as if the new revenue standards had been applied to all prior periods (see Note 2).
The Company considers highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less to be cash equivalents. Cash equivalents are carried at cost which approximates market value.
The Company maintains its cash with one domestic financial institution. From time to time, cash balance in this domestic bank may exceed federally insured limits provided by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) of up to $250,000. As of June 30, 2018, and 2017, Company had approximately $945,000 and $549,000 respectively, on deposit with one bank. The Company believes that no significant concentration of credit risk exists with respect to this cash balances because of its assessment of the creditworthiness and financial viability of this financial institution.
The Company evaluates the collectability of our trade accounts receivable based on a number of factors. In circumstances where it becomes aware of a specific customer’s inability to meet its financial obligations to us, a specific reserve for bad debts is estimated and recorded which reduces the recognized receivable to the estimated amount that management believes will ultimately be collected. In addition to specific customer identification of potential bad debts, bad debt charges are recorded based on our historical losses and an overall assessment of past due trade accounts receivable outstanding. Accounts receivable as of June 30, 2017 of $85,000 were subsequently collected in fiscal 2018. There were no account receivables outstanding as of June 30, 2018.
Inventory, net of an allowance for excess quantities and obsolescence, is stated at the lower of cost or market. Cost is determined on a specific item basis. Inventory is composed of finished goods and represents costs incurred to manufacture the Company’s Nano Reactor® systems.
Property and Equipment
Property and equipment is presented at cost less accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is provided using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets. Betterments, renewals, and extraordinary repairs that extend the life of the assets are capitalized; other repairs and maintenance charges are expensed as incurred. The cost and related accumulated depreciation applicable to retired assets are removed from the Company’s accounts, and the gain or loss on dispositions, if any, is recognized in the consolidated statements of operations.
Property and equipment are recorded at cost and depreciated using the straight-line method over the following estimated useful lives.
Leasehold improvements Shorter of life of asset or lease
Furniture 5-7 Years
Office equipment 5 Years
Lab equipment 4 Years
Skid systems 4 Years
Management assesses the carrying value of property and equipment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. If there is indication of impairment, management prepares an estimate of future cash flows expected to result from the use of the asset and its eventual disposition. If these cash flows are less than the carrying amount of the asset, an impairment loss is recognized to write down the asset to its estimated fair value. For the years ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, the Company did not recognize any impairment for its property and equipment.
The Company periodically issues stock options and warrants to employees and non-employees in non-capital raising transactions for services and for financing costs. The Company accounts for stock option and warrant grants issued and vesting to employees based on the authoritative guidance provided by the Financial Accounting Standards Board whereas the value of the award is measured on the date of grant and recognized over the vesting period. The Company accounts for stock option and warrant grants issued and vesting to non-employees in accordance with the authoritative guidance of the Financial Accounting Standards Board whereas the value of the stock compensation is based upon the measurement date as determined at either a) the date at which a performance commitment is reached, or b) at the date at which the necessary performance to earn the equity instruments is complete. Non-employee stock-based compensation charges generally are amortized over the vesting period on a straight-line basis. In certain circumstances where there are no future performance requirements by the non-employee, option grants are immediately vested and the total stock-based compensation charge is recorded in the period of the measurement date.
The fair value of the Company’s common stock option and warrant grants is estimated using the Black-Scholes option pricing model, which uses certain assumptions related to risk-free interest rates, expected volatility, expected life of the options and warrants, and future dividends. Compensation expense is recorded based upon the value derived from the Black-Scholes option pricing model, and based on actual experience. The assumptions used in the Black-Scholes option pricing model could materially affect compensation expense recorded in future periods.
The Company accounts for income taxes in accordance with ASC 740-10, Income Taxes. The Company recognizes deferred tax assets and liabilities to reflect the estimated future tax effects, calculated at anticipated future tax rates, of future deductible or taxable amounts attributable to events that have been recognized on a cumulative basis in the financial statements. A valuation allowance related to a deferred tax asset is recorded when it is more likely than not that some portion of the deferred tax asset will not be realized. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are adjusted for the effects of the changes in tax laws and rates of the date of enactment.
ASC 740-10 prescribes a recognition threshold that a tax position is required to meet before being recognized in the financial statements and provides guidance on recognition, measurement, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim periods, disclosure and transition issues. The Company classifies interest and penalties as a component of interest and other expenses. To date, there have been no interest or penalties assessed or paid.
The Company measures and records uncertain tax positions by establishing a threshold for the financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. Only tax positions meeting the more-likely-than-not recognition threshold at the effective date may be recognized or continue to be recognized.
Advertising Costs
Advertising costs, including marketing expense, incurred in the normal course of operations are expensed as incurred. Advertising expenses amounted to $23,000 and $31,000 for the years ended June 30, 2018 and 2017 respectively and was reported as part of General and administrative expenses in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Operations.
Research and Development Costs
Research and development expenses relate primarily to the development, design, testing of preproduction prototypes and models, compensation, and consulting fees, and are expensed as incurred. Total research and development costs recorded during the years ended June 30, 2018 and 2017 amounted to $25,000 and $27,000, respectively.
The Company provides a limited warranty with every set of reactors sold, typically 2 to 5 years. The Company has not experienced significant claims under its warranty policy, and management determined no accrual for warranty reserve was necessary at June 30, 2018 and 2017.
Net Loss Per Share
The Company’s computation of loss per share (“EPS”) includes basic and diluted EPS. Basic EPS is measured as the income available to common stockholders divided by the weighted average common shares outstanding for the period. Diluted income per share reflects the potential dilution, using the treasury stock method, that could occur if securities or other contracts to issue common stock were exercised or converted into common stock or resulted in the issuance of common stock that then shared in the income of the Company as if they had been converted at the beginning of the periods presented, or issuance date, if later. In computing diluted income per share, the treasury stock method assumes that outstanding options and warrants are exercised and the proceeds are used to purchase common stock at the average market price during the period. Options and warrants may have a dilutive effect under the treasury stock method only when the average market price of the common stock during the period exceeds the exercise price of the options and warrants. Potential common shares that have an anti-dilutive effect (i.e., those that increase income per share or decrease loss per share) are excluded from the calculation of diluted EPS.
The following table sets forth the computation of basic and diluted loss per common share.
Weighted average common shares – basic 197,148,043 195,053,401
Dilutive effect of outstanding stock options and warrants -
Weighted average shares – diluted 197,148,043 195,053,401
Net loss per common share:
There were no adjustments to net loss required for purposes of computing diluted earnings per share. At June 30, 2018 and 2017, the Company excluded the outstanding securities summarized below, which entitle the holders thereof to acquire shares of common stock, from its calculation of its diluted earnings per share, as their effect would have been anti-dilutive.
Options 11,378,754 11,685,852
Warrants 75,926,510 75,926,510
In February 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-02, Leases. ASU 2016-02 requires a lessee to record a right of use asset and a corresponding lease liability on the balance sheet for all leases with terms longer than 12 months. ASU 2016-02 is effective for all interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018. Early adoption is permitted. A modified retrospective transition approach is required for lessees for capital and operating leases existing at, or entered into after, the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented in the financial statements, with certain practical expedients available. The Company is in the process of evaluating the impact of ASU 2016-02 on the Company’s financial statements and disclosures.
In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-01, Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities (ASU 2016-01), which requires equity investments that are not accounted for under the equity method of accounting to be measured at fair value with changes recognized in net income and updates certain presentation and disclosure requirements. ASU 2016-01 is effective beginning after December 15, 2017. The Company will adopt this guidance on July 1, 2018 and is currently evaluating the impact ASU 2016-01 will have on its consolidated financial statements and associated disclosures.
Other recent accounting pronouncements issued by the FASB, including its Emerging Issues Task Force, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the Securities and Exchange Commission did not or are not believed by management to have a material impact on the Company’s present or future consolidated financial statements.
Dependence on Desmet Ballestra
The Company’s revenue is entirely dependent on Desmet Ballestra who is its distribution agent with regard to the CTi Nano Neutralization® System for edible oils. During the year ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, almost all of the Company’s revenue was derived from Desmet (see Note 3).
An amount of $28,000 related to write-off of inventory reflected in prior years as general and administrative expenses has been reclassified to cost of revenue to conform to the current year presentation. Such reclassification did not change the reported net loss during those periods.
Note 2 – Adoption of ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers
The Company has developed, patented, and commercialized proprietary technology called Nano Reactor® that may be used in liquid processing applications. The Company generates revenues from the sale of the Nano Reactor® to customers/distributor as well as share in gross profit from the sale of such reactors by our distributors to their customers.
Through June 30, 2017, revenue from the sale of our Nano Reactor® systems was recognized when persuasive evidence of an agreement exists; shipment has occurred, including transfer of title and risk of loss for product sales, services have been rendered for service revenues; the price to the buyer is fixed or determinable; and collectability was reasonably assured. The Company is also entitled to a gross profit share from our distributor from the sale of the reactors to their customers. Such gross profit share was not fixed at the time of delivery, and as such, revenue was recognized when the profit share was fixed and determinable, which was generally be upon delivery and installation of the NANO Neutralization System by the distributor to its customer.
On July 1, 2017, The Company adopted the new accounting standard ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers and all the related amendments (“new revenue standard”) to all contracts. Sales revenue from the sale of our Nano Reactors continues to be recognized when products are shipped from our manufacturing facilities as this is our sole performance obligation under these contracts and we have no continuing obligation to the customer. Accordingly, the Company now estimates and recognizes the corresponding gross profit at the time of shipment of the Nano reactor hardware, subject to variable consideration constraints, in accordance to ASC 606.
Specifically, the Company has determined that the gross profit to be earned from its distributor is a variable consideration that requires estimation in determining the transaction price, and as such all or a portion can be recognized using the most likely amount approach (subject to the variable consideration constraint). Estimates are available from our distributor which are considered in the determination of the most likely amount. However, given the lack of control over the sale to the end customer and the lack of history of prior sales, the Company considered these as a variable revenue constraint that required consideration and as such, the amount of revenue recognized is being limited to the actual amount of cash received under the contract which the Company has determined as not refundable and has concluded that future revenue reversal of such amount is not probable.
Pursuant to the transition requirements of ASC 606, the Company adopted the full retrospective method. Under the full retrospective method, the Company is required to retrospectively apply the new revenue standard to all period presented as if the new revenue standards had been applied to all prior period.
The effect of the changes made to our previously reported consolidated June 30, 2017 balance sheet for the adoption of ASC 606, were as follows:
Balance as
reported at Adjustments due
to adoption of Balance as
Balance Sheet June 30, 2017 ASC 606 June 30, 2017
Accounts receivable $ - $ 85,000 (A) $ 85,000
Advances from distributor, net 749,000 (749,000 )(A),(B) -
Accumulated deficit $ (23,967,000 ) 834,000 (B) $ (23,133,000 )
reported for the
year ended Adjustments due
adjusted for the
Statement of operations June 30, 2017 ASC 606 June 30, 2017
Revenue $ 1,063,000 $ 834,000 (B) $ 1,897,000
Net loss (1,067,000 ) 834,000 (B) (233,000 )
Net loss per share-basic and diluted $ 0.00 $ 0.00
A – To record accounts receivable as of June 30, 2017 from the sale of Nano reactors to a distributor. For financial reporting purposes, this amount was deducted from the outstanding advances totaling $834,000 as of June 30, 2017, also received from the same distributor.
B – To record gross profit revenues amounting to $834,000 in accordance with the new revenue standards.
Note 3 - Agreement with Distributors
On January 22, 2016, the Company signed a three-year global Research and Development, Marketing and Technology License Agreement with the n.v. Desmet Ballestra Group s.a. (Desmet), a Belgian company that is actively marketing the NANO Neutralization System, the key component of which is the Company’s reactor to soybean and other vegetable oil refiners. The agreement provided Desmet (licensee) a limited, exclusive license and right to develop, design and supply Nano Reactor® systems which incorporate Nano Reactor® devices on a global basis but is limited to oils and fats and oleo chemical applications. The Company (licensor) remains owner of the current patents and patent applications but Desmet will be co-owner of any new process patent applications jointly developed. Desmet provided, under certain conditions, limited monthly advance payments of $50,000 to be applied against gross profit share earned by the Company on installation of the nano reactors by Desmet to its customers. The agreement expired in August 2018. Desmet and CTi have extended current license agreement until October 1, 2018, while a new three-year license agreement is still under the negotiations.
Through June 30, 2017, revenue from the sale of our Nano Reactor® systems was recognized when persuasive evidence of an agreement exists; shipment has occurred, including transfer of title and risk of loss for product sales, services have been rendered for service revenues; the price to the buyer is fixed or determinable; and collectability was reasonably assured. The Company is also entitled to a profit share from our distributor upon their ultimate sale of the reactors to their customers. Pursuant to the January 2016 agreement with the Company’s distributor, the profit share is not fixed at the time of delivery, and as such, revenue was recognized when the profit share was fixed and determinable, which was generally be upon delivery and installation of the NANO Neutralization System by the distributor to its customer.
Specifically, the Company has determined that the gross profit to be earned from its distributor as a variable consideration that requires estimation in determining the transaction price, and as such all or a portion can be recognized using the most likely amount approach (subject to the variable consideration constraint). Estimates are available from Desmet which are considered in the determination of the most likely amount. However, given the lack of control over the sale to the end customer and the lack of history of prior sales, the Company considered these as a variable revenue constraint that required consideration and as such, the amount of revenue recognized is being limited to the actual amount of cash received under the contract which the Company has determined as not refundable and has concluded that future revenue reversal of such amount is not probable.
During the year ended June 30, 2017, the Company recorded revenues of $895,000 from reactor sales and $1,002,000 from gross profit share for a total of $1,897,000. As of June 30, 2017, $85,000 of the recorded revenues was outstanding and was collected in fiscal 2018.
During the year ended June 30, 2018, the Company recorded revenues of $590,000 from reactor sales and $700,000 from gross profit share for a total of $1,290,000.
In January 2017 the Company entered into a global technology license, R&D and marketing agreement with GEA Westfalia (GEA) with respect to our patented Nano Reactor™ technology, processes and applications. Under the agreement, GEA has been granted a worldwide exclusive license to integrate our patented technology into water treatment application, milk and juice pasteurization, and certain food related processes. The license agreement between us and GEA has a three-year term and provides for the payment of $300,000 per year in advanced license fees or share in gross profit to us.
GEA Westfalia Separator manufactures filtration and equipment such as separators, clarifiers, decanters and membrane filtration systems. This equipment is used for the purification of suspensions, the separation of fluid mixtures with simultaneous removal of solids, extraction and concentration or removal of liquids from solids. The technological dominance of the company is based on over one hundred fifteen years of innovation, first-class engineering solutions and comprehensive processing capabilities. The company was founded in 1893 in Oelde, Germany, and since 1994 has been a part of the GEA Group AG and is a business unit within the GEA Mechanical Equipment segment. In 1950, Westfalia Separator established US and Canadian corporations to serve as sales and marketing arms to compete in the North American market for centrifuges.
As of June 30, 2018, the Company received $427,000 in advances from GEA and has recorded such amount as deferred revenue as the reactors have not been delivered. In addition, the Company also recorded revenues of $13,000 from reactor sales. There were no advances received or revenues recorded in fiscal 2017.
Note 4 - Property and Equipment
Property and equipment consist of the following as of June 30, 2018 and 2017:
June 30, June 30,
Leasehold improvement $ 2,000 $ 2,000
Furniture 27,000 27,000
Office equipment 2,000 2,000
Equipment 290,000 290,000
Systems 187,000 187,000
Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization (418,000 ) (367,000 )
Property and equipment, net $ 90,000 $ 141,000
Depreciation expense for the years ended June 30, 2018 and 2017 amounted to $51,000 and $38,000, respectively and was recorded as part of General and Administrative expenses in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Operations.
Note 5 - Accrued Payroll and Payroll Taxes
As of June 30, 2018, and 2017, the Company had accrued unpaid salaries to officers and former officers amounting to $889,000 and $994,000 respectively. During the year ended June 30, 2018, accrued salary of $131,000 due to a former director was settled for a payment of $30,000 resulting in a gain on settlement of $101,000 (see Note 8).
Note 6 - Stockholders’ Deficit
On March 17, 2009, the Company filed an Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation and created two new series of preferred stock, the first of which is designated Series A Preferred Stock and the second of which is designated as Series B Preferred Stock. The total number of shares of Common Stock which this corporation has authority to issue is 1,000,000,000 shares of Common Stock and 10,000,000 shares of Preferred Stock of which 5,000,000 shares are designated as Series A Preferred Stock, and 5,000,000 shares are designated as Series B Preferred Stock, with the rights, preferences and privileges of the Series B Preferred Stock to be designated by the Board of Directors. Each share of Common Stock and Preferred Stock has a par value of $0.001. As of June 30, 2018, and 2017, there are no shares of Series A or Series B Preferred Stock issued and outstanding.
Year ended June 30, 2018
During the year ended June 30, 2018 the Company issued 400,000 shares of common stock with fair value of $16,000 for services rendered. These shares were valued at fair value at the date of issuance.
During the year ended June 30, 2018 the Company cancelled 200,000 shares of common stock issued to a member of the Company’s Board of Director in prior period.
During the year ended June 30, 2017 the Company issued 2,800,000 shares of common stock valued at $112,000 to service providers and a director for services rendered. These shares were valued at fair value at the date of issuance.
The Company has not adopted a formal stock option plan. However, it has assumed outstanding stock options resulting from the acquisition of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Hydrodynamic Technology, Inc. In addition, the Company has made periodic non-plan grants. A summary of the stock option activity from June 30, 2018 and 2017 is as follows:
Weighted-
Weighted- Remaining
Average Contractual
Exercise Life
Options Price (Years)
Outstanding at June 30, 2016 12,595,992 $ 0.44 4.96
- Granted - - -
- Forfeited - - -
- Exercised - - -
- Expired (910,140 ) - -
As of June 30, 2018, and 2017, all outstanding options were fully vested and exercisable. The intrinsic value of the outstanding options as of June 30, 2018 was $55,000. The following table summarizes additional information concerning options outstanding and exercisable at June 30, 2018.
Options Outstanding Options Exercisable
Weighted Weighted Weighted
Average Average Average
Exercise Number Remaining Exercise Number Remaining
Price of Shares Life (Years) Price of Shares Life (Years)
$ 0.03 11,000,000 4.36 $ 0.03 11,000,000 4.36
$ 0.33 71,656 0.09 $ 0.33 71,656 0.09
$ 0.67 307,098 0.09 $ 0.67 307,098 0.09
A summary of the Company’s warrant activity and related information from as of June 30, 2018 and 2017 is as follows.
Warrants Price (Years)
Granted 11,600,000 0.03 7.5
Exercised -
Expired -
Outstanding at June 30, 2017 75,926,510 0.06 4.81
Granted -
As of June 30, 2018, and 2017, all outstanding warrants were fully vested and exercisable. The intrinsic value of the outstanding warrants as of June 30, 2018 was $58,000. The following table summarizes additional information concerning warrants outstanding and exercisable at June 30, 2018.
Warrants Outstanding Warrants Exercisable
Exercise Number Remaining Exercise Number Exercise
Price of Shares Life (Years) Price of Shares Price
$0.03 - 0.08 55,599,851 6.75 $ 0.05 55,599,851 $ 0.05
$0.12 20,326,659 1.03 $ 0.12 20,326,659 $ 0.12
Note 7 - Income Taxes
At June 30, 2018 and 2017, the Company had available Federal net operating loss (NOL) carryforwards to reduce future taxable income. The amounts available were approximately $9.3 million and $9.1 million for Federal purposes, respectively. The Federal carryforward expires in 2036. The NOL is also subject to statutory limitations under Internal Revenue Code Section 382 regarding substantial changes in ownership of companies with loss carry forwards.
ASC 740 requires the consideration of a valuation allowance to reflect the likelihood of realization of deferred tax assets. Significant management judgment is required in determining any valuation allowance recorded against deferred tax assets. In evaluating the ability to recover deferred tax assets, the Company considered available positive and negative evidence, giving greater weight to its recent cumulative losses and its ability to carry-back losses against prior taxable income and lesser weight to its projected financial results due to the challenges of forecasting future periods. The Company also considered, commensurate with its objective verifiability, the forecast of future taxable income including the reversal of temporary differences.
During the year ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, management has determined that it is more likely than not that the Company will not be able to realize the tax benefit of the carryforwards due to recurring operating losses. Based on their evaluation, the Company determined that the net deferred tax assets, do not meet the requirements to realize, and as such, the Company has provided a full valuation allowance against them.
The Company has no provision for current income taxes during the year ended June 30, 2018 and 2017 due to net loss incurred. Deferred income taxes result from temporary differences in the recognition of income and expenses for the financial reporting purposes and for tax purposes. The components of deferred tax assets are comprised of the following:
Net Operating loss carryforwards $ 2,607,000 $ 4,118,000
Stock compensation expense 658,000 957,000
Amortization of patents 48,000 69,000
Reserve for obsolete inventory 46,000 68,000
Total net deferred tax assets 3,359,000
Less valuation discount (3,359,000 ) (5,212,000 )
Net deferred tax assets $ - $ -
A reconciliation of the difference between the expense and income taxes as the statutory US federal income tax are as follows:
Federal statutory rate (28 )% 34 %
State income taxes (7 )% 7 %
Net operating loss/carryforward 35 % (41 )%
Income tax provision - -
On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “TCJ Act”) was enacted into law. The TCJ Act provides for significant changes to the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), that impact corporate taxation requirements, such as the reduction of the federal tax rate for corporations from 35% to 21% and changes or limitations to certain tax deductions.
The following summarizes the open tax years for each major jurisdiction:
Jurisdiction Open Tax Years
Federal 2014 – 2018
California 2014 – 2018
The Company’s net operating loss carry forwards are subject to IRS examination until they are utilized and such tax years are closed.
Note 8 – Commitments and Contingencies
The Company leases approximately 5,000 square feet of office and warehouse space under a non-cancellable operating lease agreement through February 1, 2019. Monthly payments are approximately $5,200 per month.
Total rent expense was $67,000 and $65,000 for the years ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and was reported as part of General and administrative expenses in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Operations,
On July 1, 2008, the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary entered into Patent Assignment Agreements with two parties, its President as well as its former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and current Technology Senior Manager, where certain devices and methods involved in the hydrodynamic cavitation processes invented by the President and former CEO/ current Technology Senior Manager have been assigned to the Company. In exchange, the Company agreed to pay a royalty of 5% of gross revenues to each of the President and former CEO/ current Technology Senior Manager for licensing of the technology and leasing of the related equipment embodying the technology. These agreements were subsequently assigned to Cavitation Technologies on May 13, 2010. The Company’s former CEO/ current Technology Senior Manager and President both waived their rights to receive royalty payments that have accrued, or that may accrue, on any gross revenue generated through June 30, 2018 and 2017.
On April 30, 2008 (as amended November 22, 2010), the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary entered into an employment agreement with the Director of Chemical and Analytical Department (the “Inventor”) providing that the Inventor shall receive an amount equal to 5% of actual gross royalties received from the royalty stream in the first year in which the Company receives royalty payments from the patent which the Inventor was the legally named inventor, and 3% of actual gross royalties received by the Company resulting from the patent in each subsequent year. As of June 30, 2018, and 2017, no patents have been granted in which this person is the legally named inventor.
Note 9 – Agreement with Alchemy Beverages, Inc.
In fiscal 2014, Roman Gordon, one of the Company’s shareholders and a former officer, formed a company, Cameo USA LLC (Cameo). Since its formation, Cameo has had no revenue, no operations, and has had no assets or liabilities. On June 4, 2018, Mr. Gordon contributed his 100% interest in Cameo to the Company. As Mr. Gordon had no basis in his investment in Cameo, there was no value assigned to the contribution of Cameo.
On June 29, 2018, the Company agreed to sell Cameo to Alchemy Beverages Inc. (ABI). In addition, the Company entered into two licensing agreements with ABI. In consideration for the sale of Cameo and for entering into the licensing agreements, ABI agreed to issue 19.9% of ABI’s outstanding common shares to the Company (limited to 20 million shares of ABI). ABI is a private company and in the business of producing and selling alcoholic beverages, equipment, and home appliances. Prior to this agreement, ABI was independent of CTI and had no relation to the Company nor to the Company’s management. ABI purchased Cameo for the right to use its name in marketing a vodka spirit.
Pursuant to the licensing agreements, ABI has the exclusive global distribution rights for the Company’s patented and patent pending technology for the processing of alcoholic beverages. The Company has agreed to assist in the installation and maintenance of the nano reactor systems for ABI and will receive royalty payments ranging from 1% to 3% on all net revenues, as defined, of ABI for the life of the applicable patents. In addition, the Company will receive leasing, consulting, and manufacturing fees as defined. In addition, on a future transaction involving the sale of ABI, the Company will receive approximately 10% of the transaction price (with a minimum of $5 million) and in the event ABI becomes a public entity, the Company will receive approximately 10% of ABI’s shares.
Pursuant to current accounting guidelines the Company accounted for its investment in the 19.9% share of the outstanding capital of ABI based on a cost method of accounting. Under the cost method, investments are recorded at cost and adjusted for additional contributions or distributions, and for other-than temporary impairments, if any. The Company determined that although it owns 19.9% of ABI, it does not have any control over the operations and financial policies of the ABI, and does not have the ability to exercise significant influence over ABI. As the Company had no basis in its investment in ABI, there is no value assigned at June 30, 2018.
ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE
ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Disclosure Controls and Procedures
In accordance with rule 13a-15(a), our management must maintain disclosure controls and procedures as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, or the Exchange Act, to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed by us in reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission rules and forms, and accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
In accordance with Rule 13a-15(b) and (c), management must also evaluate the effectiveness of these disclosure control and procedures at the end of each fiscal year. As of June 30, 2018, we carried out an evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures. Based upon that evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer concluded that these disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of June 30, 2018.
Report of Management on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act. Our internal control over financial reporting is designed under the supervision of our principal executive and principal financial officer, and effected by our board of directors, management and other personnel, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and includes those policies and procedures that:
(i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of our assets;
(ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and directors; and
(iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal controls and procedures, (as defined under Rule 13a-15(e) and Rule 15d-15(e) promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (Exchange Act)) as of the year ended June 30, 2018. Management conducted as assessment of our internal control over financial reporting based on the framework and criteria established by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”) in Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013). Based on this evaluation, our Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer concluded that our internal controls over financial reporting are ineffective. Our management discovered certain conditions that we deemed to be material weaknesses and significant deficiencies in our internal controls, as follows:
A lack of accounting and finance resources as well as effective oversight by those in charge of governance resulted in insufficient controls over timely financial statement preparation and review as well as the preparation and review around accounting for certain complex transactions.
The design of monitoring controls used to assess the design and operating effectiveness of our internal controls is inadequate. We also do not have an adequate internal process to report deficiencies in internal control to management on a timely basis.
We are in the continuous process of improving our internal control over financial reporting in an effort to eliminate these material weaknesses through improved supervision and training of our staff, but additional effort is needed to fully remedy these deficiencies. We intend to hire the necessary staff to address the weaknesses once additional capital is obtained which will allow full operations to commence. Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Therefore, even those systems determined to be effective can provide only reasonable assurance with respect to financial statement preparation and presentation.
We have taken numerous steps to address the underlying causes of the internal control deficiencies, primarily through the development and implementation of policies, improved processes and documented procedures, the retention of third-party experts and contractors, and the hiring of additional accounting personnel with technical accounting and inventory accounting experience.
There have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the quarter ended June 30, 2018 that materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
Pursuant to Item 308(b) of Regulation S-K, as amended by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Wall Street Reform Act), this report does not include an attestation report of the Company’s registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting. The Wall Street Reform Act permanently exempts small public companies from the requirement to obtain an external audit on the effectiveness of internal financial reporting controls.
ITEM 9B. Other Information
ITEM 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.
Person Age Position
Igor Gorodnitsky 58 President, PEO, Secretary and Director
Naum Voloshin 55 Principal Accounting Officer
James Fuller 78 Director
Audit committee standing members consisted of Igor Gorodnitsky and James Fuller as of June 30, 2018. We anticipate forming compensation, governance, and other committees as necessary.
Igor Gorodnitsky. Mr. Gorodnitsky has been our President and member of the Board of Directors since September 26, 2008, and he became the Company's Secretary and Principal Executive Officer in November of 2012. Mr. Gorodnitsky developed expertise in handling and processing hazardous waste material. As a Senior Haz-Mat Specialist, he coordinated and successfully completed more than 500 emergency response Haz-mat clean-ups over the past 20 years. He coordinated and supervised Haz Mat projects, emergency and routine spill clean-ups, and confined space entry tasks. He coordinated and scheduled manpower and purchased and scheduled equipment and materials for containment and treatment of spills. He successfully managed, coordinated and supervised projects including Hazscanning, sampling, lab-packing, manifesting, profiling, labeling, and other special procedures for a variety of commercial clients and municipalities. He is a chemist by training and holds numerous certifications and licenses including Hazwoper Training Program, Confined Space Entry and Gas Vapour HazCating, Certified Uniform Waste Manifest Training, Basic and Intermediate HazCating, On-Scene Incident Commander Emergency, Site Remediation Methods, Underground Storage Tank Removal, Health & Safety Supervisor Certification, Hazardous Certification, and Tosco Refinery Safety. Mr. Gorodnitsky was president of Express Environmental Corp. since its inception in 1980 until he sold his interest in January 2009. Based on his significant industry experience and management skills it was determined that Mr. Gorodnitsky should serve on the Company’s Board.
James Fuller. Mr. Fuller is an independent director, and has been Chairman of our Audit Committee and Independent Financial Expert since February 2010. He was formerly a Vice President of the New York Stock Exchange and director of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. In addition to his over 30 years of experience in the securities markets, Mr. Fuller sat on the Board of Trustees of the University of California, Santa Cruz and previously served as Chairman of their Audit Committee and Independent Financial Expert. Jim is a partner at Baytree Capital Associates, LLC. He received his BS in Political Science from San Jose State University and his MBA from California State University - Fresno. Mr. Fuller also served as a Director of Propell Technologies Group, Inc (OTCQB: Propell), a public company engaged in oil and gas exploration from October 14, 2011 until February 17, 2015. Based on Mr. Fuller’s extensive experience in finance as well as his prior public company experience it was determined that Mr. Fuller should serve on the Company’s Board.
Naum Voloshin. Mr. Voloshin has over 20 years of experience in investment banking, business operations and marketing. Prior to joining CTi, Mr. Voloshin has worked for several developmental stage companies in US, Europe and Asia. The scope of his duties was to provide management, supervision, business experience and marketing skills.
Roman Gordon is a founder and current Global Technology Manger of the Company. He was a former member of the Company’s Board of Directors and Chief Technology Officer up to July 15, 2016. He is also the brother of Mr. Igor Gorodnitsky, President, Principal Executive Officer and member of the Company’s Board of Directors.
Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance
Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, requires our executive officers, directors, persons who own more than 10% of our common stock, and immediate family members living in the same household to file an Initial Statement of Beneficial Ownership on Form 3 and changes in ownership on Form 4 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). Such "insiders" are required by SEC rules to furnish us with copies of all Section 16(a) forms they file.
Based on a review of Forms 3, 4, and 5 and amendments thereto furnished to us during fiscal 2017 ended June 30, 2018, there were no delinquent forms filed during the year.
Director Independence
Although our common stock is not listed on a national securities exchange, for purposes of independence we use the definition of independence applied by the NASDAQ stock market. The Board has determined that Mr. Fuller is an” independent” in accordance with such definition. Mr. Gorodnitsky is not independent due to his current positions with the Company.
We have adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics that applies to all officers, directors and employees. A copy may also be obtained free of charge by mailing a request in writing to: Cavitation Technologies, Inc., 10019 Canoga Ave., Chatsworth, CA 91311 USA. If we make any substantive amendments to the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics or grant any waiver from a provision of the Code to any executive officer or director, we will promptly disclose the nature of the amendment or waiver in a current report on Form 8-K.
ITEM 11. Executive Compensation.
Summary Compensation Table
The following table sets forth a summary of cash and non-cash compensation awarded, earned or paid for services rendered to us during the years ended June 30, 2018 and 2017 by our “named executive officers,” consisting of (i) each individual serving as principal executive officer, and (ii) our Chief Financial Officer/Chief Operating Officer, our other executive officer.
Changes in
Value and
Non-Equity Non-Qualified All
Stock Warrant Incentive Plan Deferred Other
Year Salary Bonus Awards (1) Awards Compensation Compensation Compensation Totals
Igor Gorodnitsky 2018 $ 169,000 (i) $ - - $ - $ - $ - $ - $ 169,000
President, Principal Executive Officer 2017 $ 169,000 (i) $ - - $ 120,000 $ - $ - $ - $ 289,000
Naum Voloshin 2018 $ 169,000 (ii) $ - - $ - $ - $ - $ 6,500 $ 175,500
Principal Accounting Officer 2017 $ 156,000 (ii) $ - - $ 120,000 $ - $ - $ - $ 276,000
Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End
The table below reflects all outstanding equity awards made to each of the named executive officers that are outstanding as of June 30, 2018.
Option Awards
Number Number
of securities of securities
Underlying Underlying
Option/warrant Unexercised Unexercised Option/warrant Option/warrant
grant Options/warrants Options/warrants Exercise expiration
Name date # Exercisable # Unexercisable Price date
Igor Gorodnitsky 12/18/2012 4,250,000 - $ 0.05 12/18/2022
President and 3/20/2013 5,000,000 - $ 0.04 3/20/2023
Principal Executive Officer 1/13/2017 3,000,000 - $ 0.03 1/13/2027
Naum Voloshin 10/10/2013 3,000,000 - $ 0.04 10/10/2023
Principal Accounting Officer 1/13/2017 3,000,000 - $ 0.03 1/13/2027
The fair value of each option grant is estimated at the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. Expected volatility is calculated based on the historical volatility of the Company’s stock. The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury yield for a term equal to the expected life of the options at the time of grant.
Our executive officers work as at-will employees.
Code Section 162(m) Provisions
Section 162(m) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, or the Code, generally disallows a tax deduction to public companies for compensation in excess of $1 million paid to the Chief Executive Officer or any of the four most highly compensated officers. Performance-based compensation arrangements may qualify for an exemption from the deduction limit if they satisfy various requirements under Section 162(m). Although we consider the impact of this rule when developing and implementing our executive compensation programs, we believe it is important to preserve flexibility in designing compensation programs. Accordingly, we have not adopted a policy that all compensation must qualify as deductible under Section 162(m) of the Code. While our stock options are intended to qualify as “performance-based compensation” (as defined by the Code), amounts paid under our other compensation programs may not qualify as such.
2018 Director Compensation
The following table sets forth information for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018 regarding the compensation of our directors who at June 30, 2018 were not also named executive officers.
Fees Non-equity
Earned inventive Non-qualified
or paid Stock Option plan deferred All other
in cash Awards Awards compensation compensation compensation Total
Name ($) ($) ($) ($) Earnings ($) ($)
James Fuller (1) $ - $ $ $ - $ - $ - $
$ - $ - $ $ - $ - $ - $
As of June 30, 2018, the following table sets forth the number of aggregate outstanding option awards held by each of our directors who were not also named executive officers:
ITEM 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management
The following table provides information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of October 18, 2018, (the “Evaluation Date”) by: (i) each of our current directors, (ii) each of our named executive officers, and (iii) all such directors and executive officers as a group. We know of no other person or group of affiliated persons who beneficially own more than five percent of our common stock. The table is based upon information supplied by our officers, directors and principal stockholders and a review of Schedules 13D and 13G, if any, filed with the SEC. Unless otherwise indicated in the footnotes to the table and subject to community property laws where applicable, we believe that each of the stockholders named in the table has sole voting and investment power with respect to the shares indicated as beneficially owned.
Applicable percentages are based on 197,997,906 shares outstanding as of the Evaluation Date, adjusted as required by rules promulgated by the SEC. These rules generally attribute beneficial ownership of securities to persons who possess sole or shared voting power or investment power with respect to those securities. In addition, the rules include shares of our common stock issuable pursuant to the exercise of stock options or warrants that are either immediately exercisable or exercisable within 60 days of the Evaluation Date. These shares are deemed to be outstanding and beneficially owned by the person holding those options for the purpose of computing the percentage ownership of that person, but they are not treated as outstanding for the purpose of computing the percentage ownership of any other person.
Amount and
Title of Beneficial Percent of
Name of Beneficial Owner Class Ownership Class (1)
Igor Gorodnitsky (2) Common Stock 17,250,000 8.75 %
President, Principal Executive Officer, Director
James Fuller (2) Common Stock 2,837,500 1.44 %
Chairman of Audit Committee, Director
Naum Voloshin (2) Common Stock 6,000,0000 3 %
Principal Accounting Officer
Directors and Officers Common Stock 26,087,500 13.9 %
(as a group, three individuals)
Unless otherwise set forth below, the mailing address of Executive Officers, Directors and 5% or greater holders is in care of the Company,
Igor Gorodnitsky
James Fuller
Jon Gruber >5%
ITEM 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions
Certain Related Party Transactions
Since the beginning of our last fiscal year , there has not been, and there is not currently proposed, any transaction or series of similar transactions to which we were or will be a party in which the amount involved exceeded or will exceed the lesser of $120,000 or one percent of the average of our total assets at year-end for the last two completed fiscal years and in which any of our directors, executive officers, holders of more than five percent of any class of our voting securities or any member of the immediate family of the foregoing persons had or will have a direct or indirect material interest.
Accrued Payroll and Payroll Taxes
As of June 30, 2018, and 2017, the Company had accrued unpaid salaries to officers and former officers amounting to $889,000 and $994,000 respectively. During the year ended June 30, 2018, accrued salary of $131,000 due to a former director was settled for a payment of $30,000.
Cameo USA LLC
In fiscal 2014, Roman Gordon, one of the Company’s shareholders and a former officer, formed a company called Cameo USA LLC (Cameo). Since its formation, Cameo has had no revenue, no operations, and has had no assets or liabilities. On June 4, 2018, Mr. Gordon contributed his 100% interest in Cameo to the Company. As Mr. Gordon had no basis in his investment in Cameo, there was no value assigned to the contribution of Cameo. Subsequent to the contribution of Cameo to the Company, Cameo was sold to Alchemy Beverages Inc.
As our common stock is currently traded on the OTC Bulletin Board, we are not subject to the rules of any national securities exchange which require that a majority of a listed company's directors and specified committees of the board of directors meet independence standards prescribed by such rules. For the purpose of preparing the disclosures in this Report on Form 10-K regarding director independence, we have used the definition of "independent director" set forth in the Marketplace Rules of The NASDAQ, which defines an "independent director" generally as a person other than an executive officer or employee of the Company or any other individual having a relationship which, in the opinion of the Company's board of directors, would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. Consistent with these standards, we believe that James Fuller is an Independent Financial Expert.
ITEM 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services
Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm’s Fee Summary
The following table provides information regarding the fees billed to us by Weinberg & Company, P.A. for the years ended June 30, 2018 and 2017. All fees described below were approved by the Board:
Audit Fees and Expenses (1) $ 83,000 $ 68,000
Audit Related Fees (2) - -
All Other Fees $ 13,000 $ 19,000
(1) Audit fees and expenses were for professional services rendered for the audit and reviews of the consolidated financial statements of the Company, professional services rendered for issuance of consents and assistance with review of documents filed with the SEC.
(2) The audit related fees were for professional services rendered for additional filing for registration statements and forms with the SEC.
Pre-Approval Policies and Procedures
Consistent with SEC policies regarding auditor independence, the Audit Committee has responsibility for appointing, setting compensation and overseeing the work of the independent registered public accounting firm. In recognition of this responsibility, the Audit Committee has established a policy to pre-approve all audit and permissible non-audit services provided by the independent registered public accounting firm.
Prior to the engagement of the independent registered public accounting firm for the next year’s audit, management will submit a list of services and related fees expected to be rendered during that year for audit services, audit-related services, tax services and other fees to the Audit Committee for approval.
ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
(a) The following documents are filed as part of this annual report on Form 10-K:
The financial statements are filed as part of this report under Item 8 “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data”.
2. Financial Statement Schedules
All other schedules are omitted because they are not applicable or the required information is presented in the financial statements and notes thereto.
3. Exhibits
The exhibits required by Item 601 of Regulation S-K are included in Item 15(b) below.
(b) - Exhibits.
Exhibit Filed Incorporated by Reference
Number Exhibit Description Herewith Form Period Ended Exhibit Filing Date
3(i)(a) Articles of Incorporation - original name of Bioenergy, Inc. SB-2 N/A 3.1 October 19, 2006
3(i)(b) Articles of Incorporation - Amended and Restated 10-Q December 31, 2008 3-1 February 17, 2009
3(i)(c) Articles of Incorporation - Amended and Restated 10-Q June 30, 2009 3-1 May 14, 2009
3(i)(d) Articles of Incorporation - Amended; increase in authorized shares 8-K N/A N/A October 29, 2009
3(i)(e) Articles of Incorporation - Certificate of Amendment; forward split 10-Q September 30, 2009 3-1 November 16, 2009
10.1 Patent Assignment Agreement between the Company and Roman Gordon dated July 1, 2008. 8-K June 30, 2009 10.1 May 18, 2010
10.2 Patent Assignment Agreement between the Company and Igor Gorodnitsky dated July 1, 2008. 8-K June 30, 2009 10.2 May 18, 2010
10.3 Assignment of Patent Assignment Agreement between the Company and Roman Gordon 8-K June 30, 2009 10.3 May 18, 2010
10.4 Assignment of Patent Assignment Agreement between the Company and Igor Gorodnitsky 8-K June 30, 2009 10.4 May 18, 2010
10.5 Employment Agreement between the Company and Roman Gordon date March 17, 2008 10-K/A June 30, 2009 10.3 October 20, 2011
10.6 Employment Agreement between the Company and Igor Gorodnitsky dated March 17, 2008 10-K/A June 30, 2009 10.4 October 20, 2011
10.7 Employment Agreement with R.L. Hartshorn dated Sept. 22, 2009 10-Q December 31, 2011 10.70 February 10, 2012
10.8 Employment and Confidentiality and Invention Assignment Agreement between the Company and Varvara Grichko dated April 30, 2008 10-Q December 31, 2010 10.3 February 11, 2011
10.9 Board of Director Agreement - James Fuller 10-Q December 31, 2011 10.12 October 20, 2011
10.10 Technology and License Agreement with Desmet Ballestra dated May 14, 2012 10-K June 30, 2012 10.10 October 12, 2012
10.11 Convertible Note Payable - Prolific Group LLC - $25,000 10-Q December 31, 2011 10.40 February 10, 2012
10.12 Convertible Note Payable - Tripod Group LLC - $30,000 10-Q December 31, 2011 10.41 February 10, 2012
14.1 Code of Business Conduct and Ethics* 10-K June 30, 2011 14.1 September 28, 2011
31.1 Certificate of Principal Executive Officer pursuant to Section 302 of Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 X
31.2 Certificate of Principal Financial Officer pursuant to Section 302 of Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 X
32.1 Certification of Principal Executive Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. X
32.2 Certification of Principal Financial Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. X
99.1 Loan Agreement - Desmet Ballestra - Oct. 26, 2010 10-Q September 30, 2010 99.1 November 12, 2010
101.INS XBRL Instance Document X
101.SCH XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema X
101.CAL XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase X
101.DEF XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase X
101.LAB XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase X
101.PRE XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase X
* In accordance with Regulation S-K 406 of the Securities Act of 1934, we undertake to provide to any person without charge, upon request, a copy of our “Code of Business Conduct and Ethics”. A copy may be requested by sending an email to info@cavitationtechnologies.com.
(c) - Financial Statement Schedules
See Item (a) 2 above.
ITEM 16. SUMMARY. FORM 10-K SUMMARY
PURSUANT TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934, THIS REPORT HAS BEEN SIGNED BELOW BY THE FOLLOWING PERSONS ON BEHALF OF THE REGISTRANT AND IN THE CAPACITIES AND ON THE DATES INDICATED
SIGNATURE TITLE DATE
/s/ Igor Gorodnitsky President; Member of Board of Directors October 15, 2018
Igor Gorodnitsky (Principal Executive Officer)
/s/ N. Voloshin Chief Financial Officer October 15, 2018
N. Voloshin (Principal Financial Officer)
/s/ James Fuller Audit Committee Chairman, October 15, 2018
James Fuller Independent Financial Expert
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Culture|June 9, 2017|
By Lindsey Lanquist
The Anti-Abortion Law Texas Just Passed Is Horrifying
This week in women's health care: Hawaii commits to the Paris Agreement, NYC ensures high-quality health care for LBGTQ individuals, and more.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Getty Images
Texas Governor Greg Abbott
Welcome to This Week in Women's Health Care—the round-up for women who care about what's going on in Washington and around the country and how it affects their rights. Once a week, we'll bring you the latest news from the world of women's health care policy and explain how it impacts you. Let's get to it!
Here's what's up…
Betsy DeVos wouldn't say whether the Department of Education would punish private schools for discriminating against LGBTQ students.
At a recent Senate hearing, DeVos wouldn't confirm whether private schools that receive government funding would be punished for discriminating against LGBTQ students. To be fair, DeVos promised to adhere to federal anti-discrimination laws—that's a positive. But as Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley pointed out, federal anti-discrimination laws regarding schools are "somewhat foggy"—making DeVos' apparent lack of concern for marginalized students, well, concerning. (And if you were wondering, yes, DeVos is the same education secretary who proposed that schools arm themselves with guns to protect students from "potential grizzlies.")
Hawaii became the first state to defy President Donald Trump and pass a law committing to the Paris Agreement.
As I'm sure you know by now, President Trump decided to pull out of the Paris climate accord—a pact the United States (and nearly 200 other countries) signed in 2015 as a promise to combat climate change. Hawaii didn't like this decision very much, so the state's governor passed two laws that commit to the goals of the Paris Agreement. Hawaii is the first state to take this kind of official action, but several mayors, governors, and university officials have considered doing something similar.
Also: An informal Washington Post-ABC poll shows that nearly 6 in 10 Americans oppose Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. Though the poll, which was a national sample of 527 adults, wasn't taken on a large scale, it suggests that governors, mayors, and other high-level officials aren't the only ones upset by Trump's recent move.
New York City just published an LGBTQ Health Care Bill of Rights, and that's awesome.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio honored Pride Month (June) by signing the city's first LGBTQ Health Care Bill of Rights. The idea behind the bill is to protect LGBTQ individuals and ensure that they have access to high-quality health care. "That means working with providers who affirm who they are and incorporate their sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression into care," the bill states. The NYC Health Department also published an interactive map residents can use to locate LGBTQ-knowledgeable providers, and launched a "Bare It All" campaign encouraging patients to be honest with their doctors about things like sexual history and past drug use.
Not-so-fun fact: Former president Barack Obama deemed June Pride Month in 2011. His administration honored the month every year after that, too—but the Trump administration doesn't seem too keen on following that precedent and hasn't recognized June as Pride Month at all.
A Walgreens pharmacist reportedly refused to fill a girl’s birth control prescription due to his personal beliefs.
In August 2016, a 15-year-old from New Mexico headed to a local pharmacy to pick up three prescriptions. Her doctor had prescribed her with a pain reliever, an anti-anxiety medication, and misoprostol (which can soften the cervix before an IUD insertion or can be used for medical abortions). Her pharmacist allegedly refused to fill her prescriptions. The teen's mother reportedly argued that the pharmacist didn't know about anything her daughter's medical history or why she needed the medication. He reportedly responded, "Oh, I have a pretty good idea." Within the last week, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico and Southwest Women's Law Center have both filed sex-based discrimination complaints about the incident.
Texas just passed one of the strictest abortion laws in the country.
Quick recap: Last week, we talked about the Texas legislature moving forward with an incredibly restrictive anti-abortion law called Senate Bill 8. SB8 would require health care centers to hold burials or cremations for embryonic and fetal tissue from abortion, it would ban donations of fetal and embryonic tissue, and it would prohibit dilation and evacuation abortions, which are the safest and most common way for a woman in her second trimester to terminate a pregnancy. When we last spoke, the bill had just landed on Governor Greg Abbott's desk. And Wednesday, Abbott passed the terrifying law.
Delaware is working to protect abortion access—even if Roe v. Wade gets overturned.
The Delaware legislature has approved a bill that would keep abortion legal in Delaware, even if the Supreme Court decides to overturn Roe v. Wade. As you may already know, Roe v. Wade is the landmark Supreme Court decision that upheld abortion access as a fundamental constitutional right. It's the thing that keeps states from outlawing abortion entirely (even though some of them try to do that anyway by passing extremely restrictive laws—looking at you, Texas). If the Supreme Court ever decides to overturn this decision, the legality of abortion access will fall to the states—which is why Delaware's interested in a law like this. Now that this bill has passed the Delaware legislature, it's up to Governor John Carney, Jr., to sign it into law.
You might also like: I Have a Pre-Existing Condition: Real People Share Their Health Conditions
news, women's health, donald trump, abortion, health news, this week in womens health
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Simone Thair
Vasopressin compared with norepinephrine augments the decline of plasma cytokine levels in septic shock.
James A Russell, Chris Fjell, +6 authors Keith R. Walley
American journal of respiratory and critical care…
RATIONALE Changes in plasma cytokine levels may predict mortality, and therapies (vasopressin versus norepinephrine) could change plasma cytokine levels in early septic shock. OBJECTIVES Our… (More)
Analytical and clinical validation of a microbial cell-free DNA sequencing test for infectious disease
Timothy A Blauwkamp, Simone Thair, +20 authors Stephanie Yang
Nature Microbiology
Thousands of pathogens are known to infect humans, but only a fraction are readily identifiable using current diagnostic methods. Microbial cell-free DNA sequencing offers the potential to… (More)
Exploiting the therapeutic potential of microRNAs in viral diseases: expectations and limitations.
Maged Gomaa Hemida, Xin Cynthia Ye, Simone Thair, Decheng Yang
Molecular diagnosis & therapy
New therapeutic approaches are urgently needed for serious diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, viral infections, and others. A recent direction in drug development is the utilization… (More)
Microbial Typing by Machine Learned DNA Melt Signatures
Nadya Andini, Bo Wang, +13 authors Samuel J. Yang
There is still an ongoing demand for a simple broad-spectrum molecular diagnostic assay for pathogenic bacteria. For this purpose, we developed a single-plex High Resolution Melt (HRM) assay that… (More)
Exploiting the Therapeutic Potential of MicroRNAs in Viral Diseases
Maged Gomaa Hemida, Xin Cynthia Ye, Simone Thair, Professor Decheng Yang
The SEP-SEQ Trial: Clinical Validation of the Karius Plasma Next-Generation Sequencing Test for Pathogen Detection in Sepsis
Simone Thair, Hon Seng, +7 authors Samuel J. Yang
The discovery of functional single nucleotide polymorphisms and novel gene mechanisms that may explain mortality and organ dysfunction in septic shock
.................................................................................................................................. ii Preface… (More)
Integration of Next–Generation Sequencing, Viral Sequencing, and Host-Response Profiling for the Diagnosis of Acute Infections
Henry Kam-Hong Cheng, Fiona Rosalind Strouts, +15 authors David A. Relman
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S.L.A.A. Women's Phone Meeting Group
We Are Not Alone
What is Sex & Love Addiction?
Join Our Meetings
Self-Diagnosis Questions
Characteristics List
Anorexia in S.L.A.A.
Dialing Issues
Meeting Guidelines
The 12 Traditions
Signs of Recovery
Bottom Lines
The Blessings
Be a Meeting Co-Chair
Intergroup News & Information
Intergroup Elections
S.L.A.A. Events
S.L.A.A. Worldwide
Write for the Journal
What is F.W.S.?
Welcome to WANA
New to the SLAA Women's "We Are Not Alone (WANA) Phone Meeting Group?
Learn how to join our meetings
Our group brings together women from around the world. Together we find recovery in S.L.A.A.
We hold many different types of meetings, every day of the week. All are open to those who need it.
Our Intergroup
All of our meetings are connected together. This connection is called an Intergroup. Everyone is welcome to attend..
Get news about SLAA WANA and SLAA as a whole. If you're a meeting Co-Chair, you can share this info at your meetings.
What is Sex and Love Addiction? How do I know if I’m a Sex and Love Addict? Do I Belong Here? If you are new, welcome, and keep coming back.
How do I get started? What is the program like? How do I know when I am in recovery? If you are ready, we can help you get started.
What are the meetings like? How do I get the phone number? Can I start a new meeting? If you meet the requirements, we invite you to attend.
We are supported entirely through member contributions.
Our Intergroup expenses include this website, outreach efforts, and other service.
40 Questions for Self-Diagnosis
The following questions are designed to be used as guidelines for identifying possible signposts of sex and love addiction. Many sex and love addicts have varying patterns which can result in very different ways of approaching and answering these questions.
The S.L.A.A. Women’s “We Are Not Alone” Phone Meeting Group was started by one S.L.A.A. sponsor. One of her long distance sponsees was living in an isolated rural area. There was no access to S.L.A.A. recovery resources other than a working telephone.
Excerpts from the Basic Text
What came to pass is that as we refrained from seeking to escape from ourselves through acting out on our sex and love addiction, we began to become intimate to ourselves ... essentially we were inaugurating a new, inner relationship ... This very energy, now back within us, was helping us to become whole people.
The truth is, we feel we are "on to" something big. ... If all we are capable of doing here is to convey to you our sense of hope, and our conviction that a new life of fulfillment, richness and mystery surely awaits you as you move into sobriety, then we are meeting our task.
p. 159 Basic Text
Service keeps us coming back and helps us to remain sober. How? You can be of service at a recovery or businesss meeting - at Intergroup - reaching out to newcomers - worldwide with F.W.S. - even being a sponsor or a sponsee.
Order Online or by Mail
Order by Phone – (210) 828-7900
Tuesday-Friday, 9:00am-4:30pm CST
Need a Meeting Today?
The Meeting Directory on the F.W.S. website lists all registered S.L.A.A. Intergroups, groups and meetings worldwide,
Includes a list of in-person, online, and telephone meetings with publicly posted information available.
F.W.S. Newsletter
The F.W.S. Newsletter is a quarterly newsletter containing information on S.L.A.A. business and events.
Includes items related to the Steps and Traditions, reports from the Board of Trustees and the F.W.S. Office, and upcoming events.
Please visit our Contact page for direct links to all of our service members.
Phone: (641) 715-3900 Ext. 738921
Website: www.slaawomensgroup.org
© 2010-2017 S.L.A.A. Women's Phone Meeting Group #40043686. Our group does not speak for all of S.L.A.A. This website is not the official S.L.A.A. Fellowship-Wide Services (F.W.S.) We are autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or S.L.A.A. as a whole.
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The ‘Hellboy’ Reboot’s Official Title is Confirmed to Be… ‘Hellboy’
Posted on Thursday, August 10th, 2017 by Hoai-Tran Bui
After the news broke that Milla Jovovich was cast in the Hellboy reboot as the Blood Queen, everyone started to notice Neil Marshall‘s take on the demonic superhero was no longer being called Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen. It turns out that the Hellboy reboot title is officially…Hellboy. Just Hellboy. As sweet and simple as you can get.
A Lionsgate representative confirmed to MovieWeb that the title for Neil Marshall’s upcoming reboot, starring David Harbour as the titular character, is simply Hellboy.
“The official title is just Hellboy. The film is considered a reboot of the 2004 Hellboy, and is going by the same name.”
Lionsgate’s statement reaffirms the common knowledge that Marshall’s take on Hellboy will be as far removed from Guillermo del Toro’s lush, dark fantasies depicted in 2004’s Hellboy and its 2008 sequel Hellboy II: The Golden Army.
Hellboy creator Mike Mignola reportedly wanted to connect the new Hellboy film, which he had been working on with screenwriter Andrew Cosby for the last three years, to del Toro’s movies. However, Mignola said that the Crimson Peak director wasn’t interested in Mignola and Cosby’s vision for “a darker, more gruesome version of Hellboy,” despite del Toro’s years-long campaign to bring his Hellboy III to the big screen. Without del Toro’s support, Mignola and Cosby lost original Hellboy star Ron Perlman as well.
Marshall will instead be spearheading Mignola and Cosby’s R-rated take on Hellboy, now completely unrelated to del Toro’s universe. Harbour is set to appear in the lead role of Helboy, with Jovovich as the villainous Blood Queen, and Ian McShane as Hellboy’s foster father, Professor Broom.
No other plot details have surfaced about the reboot, though Jovovich’s Blood Queen does hint that Hellboy will be clashing with the Queen of Blood, or Nimue, a powerful witch and one of his most important adversaries.
Hellboy is set to start production before the end of this year.
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Comic Book/Superhero, Horror, Lionsgate Films, David Harbour, Hellboy, Mike-Mignola, Milla-Jovovich, Neil-Marshall, Reboot
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EMAIL US Editor@SmartRailWorld.com
/ CALL US + 44 (0) 20 7045 0900
Overhaul ticketing to reflect differing passenger needs – Rail Delivery Group.
Posted by Dave Songer on May 16, 2018
"We want to work in partnership to drive root and branch reform of well-meaning but out-dated fares regulation."
The UK rail industry’s fare structure needs to be more transparent and predictable, integrated properly with other forms of transport and should also offer more personalised options that work alongside modern technology and working practices. Those are just some of the principles that the organisation representing UK rail operators, the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), has said are needed to form the framework of a fare structure that is “fit for the future” and which better serves the passengers using it.
The guidelines came following the first of two public consultations by KPMG that laid bare the lack of confidence that exists among some passengers. In the first consultation, KPMG said that just 34% of those passengers polled were confident they’d bought the best value ticket, with only 29% satisfied with the experience of buying their ticket.
The RDG has commissioned KPMG to complete another consultation and have asked the auditing company to include principles that offer a system that enables “growth, innovation, efficiency and choice” and which provides funding for investment and avoids the need for further taxpayer subsidy. According to the Office of Rail and Road, the UK economic regulator for rail, the UK government provided the rail industry with £4.2bn of funding in 2016/17, down from a peak of around £8bn in 2005/06.
On the restructuring of the UK rail fare’s structure, the RDG said the industry as a whole was looking for a total overhaul of a system that was no longer fit for purpose and which was saddled with long-standing anomalies left over from past franchise agreements. “As part of the industry’s plan for change, we want to work in partnership to drive root and branch reform of well-meaning but out-dated fares regulation,” said Paul Plummer, chief executive of the RDG, who added he wanted to enhance trust in the system.
“Unpicking the regulation of a £10bn-a-year fares system that underpins such a vital public service means there are no quick-and-easy solutions. The change that’s needed won’t be easy and the industry doesn’t have all the answers, which is why we want to hear views from passengers, communities and businesses in all parts of the country,” he said.
One of the key areas where the industry has failed to keep up with the modern world in terms of ticketing is the very different ways in which the public now works, with a great many more working from home or on part-time or zero hours contracts. A change recognised by Anthony Smith, chief executive of Transport Focus, the independent watchdog that is also included in the ticketing overhaul, who said: “Rail passengers want a simpler, more understandable and modern fares system which matches the way we now travel. Opening up the debate and looking at the pros and cons of various reform options is welcome.”
You may also like this from SmartRail World…
Read: 5 Minutes With… Laura Wright, head of international policy at the Rail Delivery Group.
Read: European Commission, increase sustainable transport funding in post-Brexit budget – UITP.
Read: Five remarkable technologies breaking down the barriers of transport ticketing.
Download: Understanding the key threats and trends in transport safety and security.
Read: The future of transport ticketing - BYOT, Mobile, Gate Retrofitting, Account Based and SDKs.
Topics: Ticketing
Written by Dave Songer
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Baby Monkeys Receive Survival Signals through Their Mother’s Breast Milk
Signals Affect Babies’ Behavior and Temperament
Among rhesus macaque monkeys, mothers who weigh more and have had previous pregnancies produce more and better breast milk for their babies than mothers who weigh less and are less experienced. Scientists from the Smithsonian Institution and the University of California at Davis are using this natural variation in breast milk quality and quantity to show that a mother’s milk sends a reliable signal to infants about their environment. This signal may program the infant’s behavior and temperament according to expectations of available resources and discourages temperaments that prove risky when food is scarce. The study was published in the American Journal of Primatology Feb. 16.
Researchers used large groups of rhesus macaques living in an outdoor enclosure at the California National Primate Research Center at UC Davis. Researchers collected milk two different times from 59 mothers: once when their infants were 1 month old and again when the infants were 3 1/2 months old. They recorded the quantity of milk produced by each mother, and the energy value of each one’s milk was analyzed for its content of sugars, proteins and fat. These figures were combined to calculate the available milk energy generated by each mother.
Although all of the monkeys in the study were fed the same diet, the researchers found natural variation in the quantity and richness of the milk generated by the 59 mothers. Milk from mothers who weighed more and had had previous pregnancies contained higher available energy when their infants were 1 month old than the milk of lighter, less experienced mothers.
“This is the first study for any mammal that presents evidence that natural variation in available milk energy from the mother is associated with later variation in infant behavior and temperament,” said Katie Hinde, the study’s lead author and anthropologist at the California National Primate Research Center and the nutrition laboratory at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. “Our results suggest that the milk energy available soon after birth may be a nutritional cue that calibrates the infant’s behavior to environmental or maternal conditions.”
At 3 to 4 months old, each infant was temporarily separated from its mother and assessed according to its behavior and temperament. The study found that infants whose mothers had higher levels of milk energy soon after their birth coped more effectively (moved around more, explored more, ate and drank) and showed greater confidence (were more playful, curious and active). Infants whose mothers had lower milk energy had lower activity levels and were less confident when separated from their mother. Mothers and infants were reunited immediately after the experiment.
Rhesus macaques are found throughout mainland Asia: from Afghanistan to India and from Thailand to southern China. A free-ranging colony of rhesus macaques was established in 1938 on Cayo Santiago—a small island off of the east coast of Puerto Rico. The only primates with a broader geographic distribution than rhesus macaques are humans.
Smithsonian’s National Zoo
Media Only (202) 633-3055
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Situated in the Himalayan foothills between the rivers Mahananda and Teesta, the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary is a true vision of beauty with its immense biodiversity, lush greenery and fantastic views of the Teesta River. It is spread over a varied terrain where the altitude is around 500ft. in the south near Sukna and rises to 4,300 ft in its northern limit near Latpanchar. Placed in the Darjeeling district, West Bengal, the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary can be reached from the city of Siliguri within 30 minutes. In fact, Sukna which is the sanctuary gateway is at a distance of only 13 km from Siliguri.
Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary near Siliguri
The Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary stretches over 159 sq. km of reserve forest in the Darjeeling Wildlife division. It was established in 1955 as a game sanctuary for children. Later it became a sanctuary primarily to protect its population of Royal Bengal Tiger and the Indian bison both of which have been categorized as endangered species.
Flora and Fauna in Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary near Siliguri
Rufous necked hornbill in Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary
The vegetation in the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary near Siliguri varies with the altitude. For example, it has riverine forests of Khayer-Sissoo in the lower altitude and changes to dense mixed and wet forests near the “Latpanchar” area situated in Kurseong hills. The forest area is stretched along Kalijhora, Punding, Latpanchor, Gulma, Sukna, Toribari, Sevoke, Latlong and Seventh Mile. There are about 330 plant species which have been found in the sanctuary and some of the common forest types are Khair, simul, sissoo and sal forests. Large grasslands is another common feature within the sanctuary.
The varied altitude also accounts for a diverse animal species especially the mammals. Some of them include Indian elephants, Royal Bengal Tiger, Indian bison, barking deer, spotted deer, sambar, Rhesus monkey etc. Other animals which are seen here are the lesser cat species including jungle cat, fishing cat, Himalayan black bear, leopards and clouded leopards, Smaller animals like porcupines, rare mountain goat and snakes are also found in the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary.
The sanctuary is also notable for its extraordinary bird species. There are about 243 avian species found here including the Himalayan pied hornbill, peacock, peafowl, fouls, king fisher, drongo, robin, fly catchers, woodpeckers and others . It is also a haven for the migratory birds which arrive here from the Central Asia.
Jeep safaris are the best way to view the exotic flora and fauna of the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary with well laid forest roads covering 50 km inside the forest stretch. Watch towers near the Gulma railway station or in Laltong on the river Teesta are another option for both watching wildlife and bird watching.
Best Time to Visit the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary near Siliguri
The best time to visit the sanctuary is October to April since the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary remains closed during monsoons from mid June to mid September.
How to reach Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary near Siliguri
It will take about 13 km from Siliguri along Hill Cart Road to reach Sukna which is the entrance to the place. There is also a toy train station in Sukna. If you are coming from Darjeeling it will take about two and a half hours along the Hill Cart Road.
Accommodation near Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary
Latpanchar Forest Bungalow near Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary
Latpanchar, a small hamlet at an altitude of 4,200 ft. with wonderful scenic beauty is the highest and northern most area of the sanctuary. Here the tourist can avail a forest rest house as well as private home stay accommodations which are equipped with all the basic facilities.
There are also two forest lodges in the Sukna region of the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary and can be used with permission from the forest department.
Comments / Discussion Board - Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary Siliguri
SANDIP BOSE from Howrah 634 Days ago
Please confirm rate... for 2 room 2 bad on 9th Dec'17
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Authors & Presenters
Jacie Maslyk
Jacie Maslyk, EdD has more than two decades of experience in education. She has previously served as a teacher, reading specialist, elementary principal, and assistant superintendent.
Request availability for Jacie Maslyk
Dr. Maslyk has presented throughout the United States and Canada on topics ranging from leadership and literacy to creativity and maker education. She has published numerous articles on topics such as principal leadership, designing effective interventions, and leading STEAM and making in schools. She is the author of three books, including Remaking Literacy: Innovative Instructional Strategies for Maker Learning, Grades K–5 and is also a featured blogger with Demco and Defined STEM.
Dr. Maslyk is a member of a number of educational organizations, including the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), the International Literacy Association (ILA), and the American Association of School Administrators (AASA). She is also a longtime member of the Pennsylvania Principals Association, which awarded her the Frank S. Manchester Award for Excellence in Journalism in 2015. In addition, Dr. Maslyk was honored as a National Distinguished Principal (NDP) in Pennsylvania in 2013 and 2014.
Dr. Maslyk earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), her master’s degree in instructional leadership from Robert Morris University, and her doctorate in curriculum and instruction from IUP.
Remaking Literacy
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7 Korean Webtoons That Will Have You Glued To Your Phone
by seheee
For those of you who may be unfamiliar with them, webtoons are digital comics that are primarily read on smartphones. What makes them special compared to other types of comics is that each episode is made up of a long vertical strip that creates an infinite canvas, as opposed to the traditional book format. Most of them are also in full color and may even include music or animations. Over the past few years, Korean webtoons have gained significant popularity internationally, and if you read any of the webtoons below, you’ll quickly come to understand why.
They. Are. Addicting!
All the webtoons mentioned in this article are available for free, translated into English, via Naver’s LINE WEBTOON app and website.
We all have our secrets, but some of us have secrets that are (literally) bigger than others. What secret is Ryan hiding from his childhood friend Emma? Oh, you know, just the fact that he’s actually a giant werewolf disguised as a human. Even so, nothing can stand between overprotective Ryan and dense but utterly sweet Emma. Until another boy shows up, that is. What will happen when Emma gets her first boyfriend, who just might be harboring a major secret of his own? “Super Secret” is one of my favorite webtoons, and it definitely makes me want a Ryan in my life too!
LINE WEBTOON
It’s BTS Universe canon — need I say more? “Save Me,” which expands upon the story told throughout HYYH (“The Most Beautiful Moment in Life”), features stunning artwork that will take you back to the original music videos while also presenting many never-before-seen moments. There are only a handful of episodes out so far, but I personally can already say I’m in love with this webtoon and cannot wait to see what happens next.
Warning: “Sweet Home” is anything but sweet. Also, you might want to leave the lights on when you read this one if you’re faint of heart. This webtoon will give you chills as you watch a band of reluctant heroes take on monsters who are trying to wipe out humanity. That said, it isn’t scary enough to give you nightmares… Probably. “Sweet Home” is by the same author as “Bastard,” so if you enjoyed that one, then you definitely won’t be able to put this one down either!
A Good Day To Be A Dog
What’s worse than getting blackout drunk and accidentally kissing your coworker? Turning into a dog every night until you can get him to kiss your tiny doggy lips again. Having set her family’s curse into action after drunkenly forcing a kiss on her coworker Mr. Jin, Hana must now find a way to get her second kiss from him while in dog form. To make an already difficult task even harder, Mr. Jin is deathly afraid of dogs and avoids them at all costs. Will Hana wind up spending her nights as a lapdog for the rest of her life? “A Good Day To Be A Dog” is as comedic as it is romantic and is one of my favorites these days, so be sure to check it out for yourself!
Odd Girl Out
Have you ever had that one gorgeous friend who not only attracts everyone else’s attention, but also makes you look like a plain Jane at best in comparison? Well, Nari has three friends like this, making her the odd girl out. But, as it turns out, all of them have experienced their own hardships and have their own complicated stories to tell. Maybe Nari’s beautiful, goddess-like friends are just regular girls too. This webtoon is bound to break your heart, but it will also put it back together while making you laugh all along the way.
This story is part Ugly Duckling and part… a lot of other things. While the concept of physical attractiveness is certainly central to this webtoon, “Lookism” goes above and beyond to tell a story that’s about so much more than just that. Friendship, family, loyalty, bullying, jealousy, love — you name it, “Lookism” covers it. Read on as protagonist Daniel Park experiences the miracle of his life: being mysteriously granted a second body that could quite simply be called perfect. This webtoon will have you laughing, cringing, screaming, and more in no time, making it an absolute must-read. Oh, and be on the lookout for the occasional K-pop reference!
Ghost Wife
Forget arranged marriages or blind dates. This demon has come to snatch your girl’s heart — or at least her hand in marriage — whether she likes it or not. And as luck would have it, he’s not the only demon interested in high school student Liz Kim; the thing is, while he wants to make her his wife, the rest of them want to make her their dinner. What’s a teenage girl to do?! Although the demons and ghosts might seem creepy at first, it won’t be long before you’re shipping Liz and her new hubby.
Let me know which webtoons you’re reading now, or which one is your favorite, down below. I’m always looking for new ones to read!
seheee is a software engineer by day and an avid K-pop concert goer by night. You can find her on Twitter @_seheee.
Soompi Spotlight
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What our students think
mjt@soton.ac.uk
Professor Matthew J Terry BSc, PhD
Deputy Head of school (Research & Enterprise), Professor of Molecular Plant Biology,Principal Investigator: Chloroplast development and function
Matthew J Terry is Professor of Molecular Plant Biology within Biological Sciences at the University of Southampton.
2018-present: Deputy Head of School (Research and Enterprise). University of Southampton, UK.
2013-present: Professor of Molecular Plant Biology. University of Southampton, UK.
2009-2013: Reader in Molecular Plant Biology. University of Southampton, UK.
2005-2009: Senior Lecturer in Molecular Plant Biology. University of Southampton, UK.
2002-2005: Lecturer in Molecular Plant Biology. University of Southampton, UK.
1995-2002: Royal Society University Research Fellow. University of Southampton, UK.
1993-1995: Frontier Researcher. Laboratory for Photoperception and Signal Transduction, RIKEN, Japan.
1990-1993: Post-doctoral Research Fellow. University of California, Davis, USA.
1990: PhD Biology. University of Southampton, UK.
1985: BSc Biochemistry. University of Southampton, UK.
2016: Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology
2003: Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Photosynthesis provides the only significant source of new, utilisable energy to the planet. For land plants and all algae photosynthesis takes place in a specialised organelle called a chloroplast. My primary research area is focused on determining how the development and function of chloroplasts is regulated, with a particular interest in retrograde signalling between the chloroplast and nucleus. Work on fundamental research questions is primarily undertaken in the model plant Arabidopsis and we are applying our knowledge to understanding chloroplast function in marine algal biofuel systems.
PhD Supervision
Sylwia Kacprzak
Bethany Ellis
Ben Sibbett
Harry Jackson (OES)
Adam Dorey
Ellie Kirby
Tania Garcia-Becerra
Plants and Food Security
Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, Institute for Life Sciences (IfLS)
Improving solar conversion efficiency in marine microalgae
Solar energy conversion efficiency during photosynthesis has been identified as a critical factor in determining productivity in mass algal cultures. This project aims to improve this efficiency by manipulation of light-harvesting antenna size using a range of molecular genetic approaches applied to marine algae.
Plastid-to-nucleus signalling in plants
Plastid-to-nucleus (retrograde) signalling provides critical information to the nucleus on the developmental state of the chloroplast (plastid) during chloroplast biogenesis. We are trying to uncover the nature of these signals and determine the role of tetrapyrroles in this signalling pathway.
Light regulation of chloroplast development and tetrapyrrole synthesis
This projects aims to understand the signalling pathways regulating chloroplast development with a focus on the synthesis of the tetrapyrrole, chlorophyll. Current work is examining phytochrome and gibberellin signalling in the model plant Arabidopsis and wheat, a major crop plant.
Physiological function of the GTG/GPHRs, a highly conserved family of eukaryotic membrane proteins
Is there a conserved function for the GTG/GPHR family of membrane proteins?
Are GTGs a new class of plant anion channels regulating pH in the endomembrane system?
Given the significant sequence similarity between members of the GTG/GPHR family, we are testing whether the GTG/GPHR family has a conserved physiological function in diverse organisms.
Elucidating the mode of action of a novel nematicide on plant parasitic nematodes
Jackson, H. O., Berepiki, A., Baylay, A. J., Terry, M. J., Moore, C. M., & Bibby, T. S. (2019). An inducible expression system in the alga Nannochloropsis gaditana controlled by the nitrate reductase promoter. Journal of Applied Phycology, 31, 269–279. DOI: 10.1007/s10811-018-1510-6
Shimizu, T., Mochizuki, N., Nagatani, A., Watanabe, S., Shimada, T., Tanaka, K., ... Masuda, T. (2019). GUN1 regulates tetrapyrrole biosynthesis. bioRxiv. DOI: 10.1101/532036
Kacprzak, S. M., Mochizuki, N., Naranjo, B., Xu, D., Leister, D., Kleine, T., ... Terry, M. J. (2019). Plastid-to-nucleus retrograde signalling during chloroplast biogenesis does not require ABI4. Plant Physiology, 179(1), 18-23. DOI: 10.1104/pp.18.01047
Page, M. T., Kacprzak, S. M., Mochizuki, N., Okamoto, H., Smith, A. G., & Terry, M. J. (2017). Seedlings lacking the PTM protein do not show a genomes uncoupled (gun) mutant phenotype. Plant Physiology, 174(1), 21-26. [01930]. DOI: 10.1104/pp.16.01930
Page, M. T., McCormac, A. C., Smith, A. G., & Terry, M. J. (2017). Singlet oxygen initiates a plastid signal controlling photosynthetic gene expression. New Phytologist, 213(3), 1168-1180. DOI: 10.1111/nph.14223
Hu, X., Page, M. T., Sumida, A., Tanaka, A., Terry, M. J., & Tanaka, R. (2017). The iron-sulfur cluster biosynthesis protein SUFB is required for chlorophyll synthesis, but not phytochrome signaling. The Plant Journal, 89(6), 1184–1194 . DOI: 10.1111/tpj.13455
Tamiru, M., Takagi, H., Abe, A., Yokota, T., Kanzaki, H., Okamoto, H., ... Terauchi, R. (2016). A chloroplast-localized protein LESION AND LAMINA BENDING affects defence and growth responses in rice. New Phytologist, 210, 1282-1297. DOI: 10.1111/nph.13864
Burgess, S. J., Granero-Moya, I., Grangé-Guermente, M. J., Boursnell, C., Terry, M. J., & Hibberd, J. M. (2016). Ancestral light and chloroplast regulation form the foundations for C4 gene expression. Nature Plants, 2(16161). DOI: 10.1038/nplants.2016.161
Terry, M., & Franklin, K. (2014). Preface to Special Issue on Plant Photobiology. Journal of Experimental Botany, 65(11), 2813. DOI: 10.1093/jxb/eru244
Tamiru, M., Abe, A., Utsushi, H., Yoshida, K., Takagi, H., Fujisaki, K., ... Terauchi, R. (2014). The tillering phenotype of the rice plastid terminal oxidase (PTOX) loss-of-function mutant is associated with strigolactone deficiency. New Phytologist, 202(1), 116-131. DOI: 10.1111/nph.12630
Terry, M. J., & Smith, A. G. (2013). A model for tetrapyrrole synthesis as the primary mechanism for plastid-to-nucleus signaling during chloroplast biogenesis. Frontiers in Plant Science, 4(14). DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2013.00014
Jaffe, F. W., Freschet, G-E. C., Valdes, B. M., Runions, J., Terry, M. J., & Williams, L. E. (2012). G protein-coupled receptor-type G proteins are required for light-dependent seedling growth and fertility in Arabidopsis. The Plant Cell, 24(9), 3649-3668. DOI: 10.1105/tpc.112.098681
Cheminant, S., Wild, M., Bouvier, F., Pelletier, S., Renou, J-P., Erhardt, M., ... Achard, P. (2011). DELLAs regulate chlorophyll and carotenoid biosynthesis to prevent photooxidative damage during seedling deetiolation in Arabidopsis. The Plant Cell, 23(5), 1849-1860. DOI: 10.1105/tpc.111.085233
Stephenson, P. G., Moore, C. M., Terry, M. J., Zubkov, M. V., & Bibby, T. S. (2011). Improving photosynthesis for algal biofuels - toward a green revolution. Trends in Biotechnology, 29(12), 615-623. DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2011.06.005
Mochizuki, N., Tanaka, R., Grimm, B., Masuda, T., Moulin, M., Smith, A. G., ... Terry, M. J. (2010). The cell biology of tetrapyrroles: a life and death struggle. Trends in Plant Science, 15(9), 488-498. DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2010.05.012
Stephenson, P. G., Fankhauser, C., & Terry, M. J. (2009). PIF3 is a repressor of chloroplast development. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106(18), 7654-9. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0811684106
Mary, I., Garczarek, L., Tarran, G. A., Kolowrat, C., Terry, M. J., Scanlan, D. J., ... Zubkov, M. V. (2008). Diel rhythmicity in amino acid uptake by Prochlorococcus. Environmental Microbiology, 10(8), 2124-2131. DOI: 10.1111/j.1462-2920.2008.01633.x
Mary, I., Tarran, G. A., Warwick, P. E., Terry, M. J., Scanlan, D. J., Burkill, P. H., & Zubkov, M. V. (2008). Light enhanced amino acid uptake by dominant bacterioplankton groups in surface waters of the Atlantic Ocean. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 63(1), 36-45. DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-6941.2007.00414.x
Stephenson, P. G., & Terry, M. J. (2008). Light signalling pathways regulating the Mg-chelatase branchpoint of chlorophyll synthesis during de-etiolation in arabidopsis thaliana. Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences, 7(10), 1243-1252. DOI: 10.1039/b802596g
Moulin, M., McCormac, A. C., Terry, M. J., & Smith, A. G. (2008). Tetrapyrrole profiling in Arabidopsis seedlings reveals that retrograde plastid nuclear signaling is not due to Mg-protoporphyrin IX accumulation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105(39), 15178-83. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0803054105
Stephenson, P., Connor, D., & Terry, M. (2007). Light regulation of tetrapyrrole biosynthesis in Arabidopsis. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology, 146(4, Supplement 1), p.S233. DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2007.01.519
Devlin, P. F., Christie, J. M., & Terry, M. J. (2007). Many hands make light work. Journal of Experimental Botany, 58(12), 3071-3077. DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erm251
Linley, P. J., Landsberger, M., Kohchi, T., Cooper, J. B., & Terry, M. J. (2006). The molecular basis of heme oxygenase deficiency in the pcd1 mutant of pea. Febs Journal, 273, 2594-2606. DOI: 10.1111/j.1742-4658.2006.05264.x
Muramoto, T., Kanamoto, H., Terry, M. J., & Kohchi, T. (2005). Functional analysis of arabidopsis expressing phycoerythrobilin. Plant and Cell Physiology, 46(Supplement), S166-S166.
Sawers, R. J. H., Linley, P. J., Gutierrez-Marcos, J. F., Delli-Bovi, T., Farmer, P. R., Kohchi, T., ... Brutnell, T. P. (2004). The Elm1 (ZmHy2) gene of maize encodes a phytochromobilin synthase. Plant Physiology, 136(1), 2771-2781. DOI: 10.1104/pp.104.046417
McCormac, A. C., & Terry, M. J. (2004). The nuclear genes Lhcb and HEMA1 are differentially sensitive to plastid signals and suggest distinct roles for the GUN1 and GUN5 plastid-signalling pathways during de-etiolation. The Plant Journal, 40(5), 672-685. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-313X.2004.02243.x
Cornah, J. E., Terry, M. J., & Smith, A. G. (2003). Green or red: what stops the traffic in the tetrapyrrole pathway? Trends in Plant Science, 8(5), 224-230. DOI: 10.1016/S1360-1385(03)00064-5
Franklin, K. A., Linley, P. J., Montgomery, B. L., Lagarias, J. C., Thomas, B., Jackson, S. D., & Terry, M. J. (2003). Misregulation of tetrapyrrole biosynthesis in transgenic tobacco seedlings expressing mammalian biliverdin reductase. The Plant Journal, 35(6), 717-728. DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-313X.2003.01840.x
Ryberg, M., & Terry, M. J. (2002). Analysis of protochlorophyllide reaccumulation in the phytochrome chromophore-deficient aurea and yg-2 mutants of tomato by in vivo fluorescence spectroscopy. Photosynthesis Research, 74(2), 195-203. DOI: 10.1023/A:1020911727791
Ujwal, M. L., McCormac, A. C., Goulding, A., Kumar, A. M., Soll, D., & Terry, M. J. (2002). Divergent regulation of the HEMA gene family encoding glutamyl-tRNA reductase in Arabidopsis thaliana: expression of HEMA2 is regulated by sugars, but is independent of light and plastid signalling. Plant Molecular Biology, 50(1), 83-91. DOI: 10.1023/A:1016081114758
Sawers, R. J. H., Linley, P. J., Farmer, P. R., Hanley, N. P., Costich, D. E., Terry, M. J., & Brutnell, T. P. (2002). elongated mesocotyl1, a phytochrome-deficient mutant of maize. Plant Physiology, 130(1), 155-163. DOI: 10.1104/pp.006411
Muramoto, T., Tsurui, N., Terry, M. J., Yokota, A., & Kohchi, T. (2002). Expression and biochemical properties of a ferredoxin-dependent heme oxygenase required for phytochrome chromophore synthesis. Plant Physiology, 130(4), 1958-1966. DOI: 10.1104/pp.008128
McCormac, A. C., & Terry, M. J. (2002). Light-signalling pathways leading to the co-ordinated expression of HEMA1 and Lhcb during chloroplast development in Arabidopsis thaliana. The Plant Journal, 32(4), 549-559. DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-313X.2002.01443.x
McCormac, A. C., & Terry, M. J. (2002). Loss of nuclear gene expression during the phytochrome A-mediated far-red block of greening response. Plant Physiology, 130(1), 402-414. DOI: 10.1104/pp.003806
Terry, M. J., Linley, P. J., & Kohchi, T. (2002). Making light of it: the role of plant haem oxygenases in phytochrome chromophore synthesis. Biochemical Society Transactions, 30, 604-609.
Terry, M. J., Ryberg, M., Raitt, C. E., & Page, A. M. (2001). Altered etioplast development in phytochrome chromophore-deficient mutants. Planta, 214(2), 314-325. DOI: 10.1007/s004250100624
Montgomery, B. L., Franklin, K. A., Terry, M. J., Thomas, B., Jackson, S. D., Crepeau, M. W., & Lagarias, J. C. (2001). Biliverdin reductase-induced phytochrome chromophore deficiency in transgenic tobacco. Plant Physiology, 125(1), 266-277.
McCormac, A. C., Fischer, A., Kumar, A. M., Soll, D., & Terry, M. J. (2001). Regulation of HEMA1 expression by phytochrome and a plastid signal during de-etiolation in Arabidopsis thaliana. The Plant Journal, 25(5), 549-561. DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-313x.2001.00986.x
Terry, M. J., & Kendrick, R. E. (1999). Feedback inhibition of chlorophyll synthesis in the phytochrome chromophore-deficient aurea and yellow-green-2 mutants of tomato. Plant Physiology, 119(1), 143-152. DOI: 10.1104/pp.119.1.143
Terry, M. J. (1997). Phytochrome chromophore-deficient mutants. Plant, Cell and Environment, 20(6), 740-745. DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-3040.1997.d01-102.x
Weller, J. L., Terry, M. J., Reid, J. B., & Kendrick, R. E. (1997). The phytochrome-deficient pcd2 mutant of pea is unable to convert biliverdin IXalpha to 3(Z)-phytochromobilin. The Plant Journal, 11(6), 1177-1186. DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-313X.1997.11061177.x
Terry, M. J., & Kendrick, R. E. (1996). The aurea and yellow-green-2 mutants of tomato are deficient in phytochrome chromophore synthesis. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 271(35), 21681-21686. DOI: 10.1074/jbc.271.35.21681
Weller, J. L., Terry, M. J., Rameau, C., Read, J. B., & Kendrick, R. E. (1996). The phytochrome-deficient pcd1 mutant of pea is unable to convert heme to biliverdin IX[alpha]. The Plant Cell, 8(1), 55-67. DOI: 10.1105/tpc.8.1.55
Weller, J. L., Terry, M. J., Rameau, C., Reid, J. B., & Kendrick, R. E. (1996). The phytochrome-deficient pcd1 mutant of pea is unable to convert heme to biliverdin IXα. Plant Cell, 8(1), 55-67.
Terry, M. J., McDowell, M. T., & Lagarias, J. C. (1995). (3Z)- and (3E)-phytochromobilin are intermediates in the biosynthesis of the phytochrome chromophore. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 270(19), 11111-11118.
Kendrick, R. E., Kerckhoffs, L. H. J., Pundsnes, A. S., Van Tuinen, A., Koorneef, M., Nagatani, A., ... Pratt, L. H. (1994). Photomorphogenic mutants of tomato. Euphytica, 79(3), 227-234. DOI: 10.1007/BF00022523
Terry, M. J., Wahleithner, J. A., & Lagarias, J. C. (1993). Biosynthesis of the plant photoreceptor phytochrome. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 306(1), 1-15. DOI: 10.1006/abbi.1993.1473
Terry, M. J., Maines, M. D., & Lagarias, J. C. (1993). Inactivation of phytochrome- and phycobiliprotein-chromophore precursors by rat liver biliverdin reductase. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 268(35), 26099-106.
Terry, M. J., Thomas, B., & Hall, J. L. (1992). Lack of effect of light on plasma membrane ATPase activity from wheat leaves. Journal of Plant Physiology, 140(6), 761-764. DOI: 10.1016/S0176-1617(11)81035-7
Cornejo, J., Beale, S. I., Terry, M. J., & Lagarias, J. C. (1992). Phytochrome assembly. The structure and biological activity of 2(R),3(E)-phytochromobilin derived from phycobiliproteins. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 267(21), 14790-14798.
Terry, M. J., Hall, J. L., & Thomas, B. (1992). The association of type I phytochrome with wheat leaf plasma membranes. Journal of Plant Physiology, 140(6), 691-698. DOI: 10.1016/S0176-1617(11)81025-4
Terry, M. J., & Lagarias, J. C. (1991). Holophytochrome assembly. Coupled assay for phytochromobilin synthase in organello. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 266(33), 22215-2221.
Terry, M. J., Hall, J. L., & Thomas, B. (1989). Purification of plasma membrane from wheat leaves and characterization of the associated vanadate-sensitive Mg2+ -ATPase activity. Journal of Plant Physiology, 134(6), 756-761. DOI: 10.1016/S0176-1617(89)80040-9
Terry, M. J., & McCormac, A. C. (2009). Phytochromes: bilin-linked photoreceptors in bacteria and plants. In M. J. Warren, & A. G. Smith (Eds.), Tetrapyrroles: Birth, Life and Death (pp. 221-234). Austin, USA: Landes Bioscience.
Terry, M. J., & Smith, A. G. (2009). Regulation of tetrapyrrole synthesis in higher plants. In M. J. Warren, & A. G. Smith (Eds.), Tetrapyrroles: Birth, Life and Death (pp. 250-262). Austin, USA: Landes Bioscience.
Frankenberg-Dinkel, N., & Terry, M. J. (2009). Synthesis and role of bilins in photosynthetic organisms. In M. J. Warren, & A. G. Smith (Eds.), Tetrapyrroles: Birth, Life and Death (pp. 208-220). Austin, USA: Landes Bioscience.
Terry, M. J. (2002). Biosynthesis and analysis of bilins. In A. G. Smith , & M. Witty (Eds.), Heme, Chlorophyll, and Bilins: Methods and Protocols (pp. 250-262). Totowa, USA: Humana Press.
Terry, M. J., & Williams, L. E. (2002). Fractionation of plant tissue for biochemical analyses. In P. M. Gilmartin, & C. Bowler (Eds.), Molecular Plant Biology Vol. 2: A Practical Approach (pp. 147-171). (Practical Approach Series; No. 259). Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press.
Terry, M. J., Weller, J. L., & Taylor, I. B. (1998). Analysis of phytochrome chromophore-deficient mutants. In H. Hönigsmann, R. M. Knobler, F. Trautinger, & G. Jori (Eds.), Landmarks in Photobiology: Proceedings of the 12th International Congress on Photobiology (pp. 87-91). Milan, Italy: OEMF SPA.
Dorey, A., Adam, I., Wong, N., O'kelly, I., de Planque, M. R. R., Terry, M. J., & Williams, L. E. (2018). Arabidopsis GTG1 functions as an anion channel regulating endomembrane pH. Poster session presented at Plant Biology 2018, Montreal, Canada.
Letter/Editorial
Terry, M. J., Maines, M. D., & Lagarias, J. C. (1994). Erratum: Inactivation of phytochrome- and phycobiliprotein-chromophore precursors by rat liver biliverdin reductase (Journal of Biological Chemistry (1993) 268 (26099-26106)). Journal of Biological Chemistry, 269(14).
Terry, M. (1990). Purification of wheat leaf plasma membranes and characterization of plasma membrane Atpase activity and phytchrome binding Southampton: University of Southampton
Module Co-ordinator
BIOL2002 Cell Biology
BIOL2007 Plant Development and function
BIOL3003 Plant Cell Biology
BIOL3051 Applied Plant Biology
BIOL3058 Bioscience Business
BIOL3060 Science Communication
BIOL6013 Advanced Research Project
Professional Contributions
Deputy Chair, Plant Section Committee, Society for Experimental Biology.
Member of BBSRC Pool of Experts
Member of the Royal Society International Exchanges Committee.
Member of the Royal Society Newton Advanced Fellowship Committee
Editorial Board member for Scientific Reports.
Sainsbury Undergraduate Mentor for Gatsby Charitable Foundation
Professor Matthew J Terry
Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences
Life Sciences Building 85
Highfield Campus
Room Number: 85/6057
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Spa Fine Art
Saratoga Springs, NY, 12866
Feature Race, 30x40
Perks, 14x11
Under the Lights, 16x20
Blankets, 14x11
Comrades, 11x14
Gazing, 11x14
About Sharon Crute
Equine artist Sharon Crute has been involved in the horse business for more than 30 years. Her wealth of industry experience—which runs the spectrum from hotwalker to racing official and assistant trainer—combined with a genuine and deep-rooted respect for the equine athlete is reflected in every brush stroke of the dynamic work she creates. Crute captures the spirited movement, grace and exhilarating speed of horses like few others. Vivid color and directional brushstrokes help to convey the explosive scenes.
Being involved in the horse racing industry for over thirty years has provided Sharon the experience of an insider. She’s labored the gamut from hotwalker to racing official. Because of her extensive involvement in all aspects of racing, she feels her artwork is straight "from the trenches". She endeavors to "express the subtle with an undercurrent of volatility" resulting from intimate knowledge of the emotional anguish and exhilaration shared by all those who love horse racing.
Sharon’s artwork has also made it’s way to the galleries of funky art town Hot Springs, Arkansas and the Horse Capital of the World: Lexington, Kentucky. On her to do list, Sharon would like to cross the pond to visit her paintings that have traveled their way to England, Ireland and Italy.
Providence, R.I. is the birthplace of the artist but no moss grew on this rolling stone. After receiving a B.F.A. in painting from Swain School of Design in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Sharon met and married thoroughbred trainer Michael Bray and then it was off to the races! The couple then traveled the racing circuit from New Hampshire to Florida. Taking a two-week vacation to the Bay Area of Northern California, the couple decided to stay – for ten years!
Sharon currently lives and works with her husband in Saratoga Springs, New York, where she is a participating member of the Artist's Village at the Saratoga Race Track during the entire race meet.
376 Broadway, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
spafineart@aol.com
© 2019 Spa Fine Art
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MLB free agent rumors: Greg Holland, Cardinals finalizing deal
Written By Kirstie Chiappelli
(Getty Images) https://images.performgroup.com/di/library/omnisport/0/c6/greg-holland_1fwpjktbnk8qy18uahaow4phw1.jpg?t=1916703930&w=500&quality=80
Greg Holland is heading to St. Louis.
The Cardinals are finalizing a deal to add the right-handed veteran to their roster, FanRag Sports first reported Thursday.
According to the report, Holland will sign a one-year contract worth $14 million. The Athletic noted the move is complete pending a physical.
The Mets had recently discussed acquiring Holland, who has remained available after turning down a $17.4 million qualifying offer from the Rockies in November, though a deal could not be reached with the free-agent reliever.
Holland missed the entire 2016 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery and put on an impressive comeback performance during his lone season in Colorado.
The 32-year-old is coming off an All-Star campaign in which he converted all but four of his save opportunities while going 3-6 with a 3.61 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 57 1/3 innings.
The Cardinals are scheudled to open the regular season Thursday when they visit the Mets at 1:10 p.m. ET, though it remains unknown when Holland will join the team.
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Researchers Break Efficiency Record for Data Transfer
If you are making an overseas phone call or using cloud computing, there is a 99 percent chance an undersea fiber optic cable is being utilized.
Now, new work with lasers shows promise for squeezing more data through these cables, to help meet the growing demand for data flow between computers in North America and Europe. The method could increase network capacity without requiring new cables, which can cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build.
Conventional carriers (left) operate as a continuous band of optical spectrum. A subcarrier implementation (right) uses the functions of an advanced transmission circuit to digitally separate the light from each laser into multiple subcarriers, in this case four. Subcarrier are a key contributor to the record breaking reach achieved in the MAREA trial. Credit: Infinera
A team of researchers from Infinera has achieved new benchmarks for efficiency for transatlantic fiber optic cables. Testing an emerging approach for how the light signals are transmitted -- called 16QAM modulation -- the group smashed through efficiency records for data transfer, nearly doubling data capacity and approaching the theoretical limit for such a transfer. They will present their research at the upcoming Optical Fiber Conference and Exposition, held 3-7 March in San Diego, Calif., U.S.A.
“In an optical fiber, it’s desirable to carry more data per second, which we call the fiber capacity, and also to be able to send the signal over longer distances, which we call the optical reach,” said Dr. Pierre Mertz, an author on the study. “In simple terms, if you try to push the limits of fiber capacity you will reduce the reach.”
The team managed to extend record-setting capacity for a given reach -- across the Atlantic Ocean -- using the MAREA transatlantic cable, which spans 6,605 kilometers from Bilbao, Spain, to Virginia Beach, Va., U.S.A. Funded in part by Microsoft and Facebook, MAREA currently holds the record for the highest-capacity cable crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
The MAREA cable came online last year and is made of eight pairs of optic fibers, with each pair designed to carry 20 Terabits per second -- each one enough to stream more than 4 million HD videos at once.
Demand for new and better cables has risen ever since the first undersea trans-Atlantic communications cable was laid in 1858. That demand has skyrocketed over the last decade, thanks to the shift to cloud-based computing.
Indeed, Virginia and North Carolina have become hotbeds for building data centers, especially since the MAREA cable went live in February 2018. The recent construction includes four data centers for Microsoft alone.
Not only does the new experiment mark the first time PM-16QAM signals were sent such distances, Mertz said, the feat was achieved with equipment readily available to the industry.
Information was sent through the MAREA cable via high-speed lasers. Using their own high-tech toolkit to modulate the lasers, Infinera generated signal speeds topping out at 26.2 terabits per second, a 20 percent increase over what the cable designers originally thought feasible. By comparison, the most common way signals are modulated for MAREA today only reaches 9.5 terabits per second.
The biggest challenge is that the system was operating very close to the Shannon Limit, or the theoretical maximum information transfer rate for a communications channel, according to Mertz. "That means that every gain we make becomes harder and harder,” he said.
This result is already delivering comparable capacity to next-generation chipsets from other vendors that employ a technique called probabilistic constellation shaping (PCS). The good news for service providers demanding ever more capacity, Mertz said, is as the industry moves toward higher-performance systems, their technique can be combined with PCS for even faster speeds in the future.
Additional research results will be presented onsite at OFC 2019.
Hear from the research team: “Real-time 16QAM Transatlantic Record Spectral Efficiency of 6.21 b/s/Hz Enabling 26.2 Tbps Capacity” by Stephen Grubb, Pierre Mertz, Ales Kumpera, Lee Dardis, Jeffrey Rahn, James O’Connor, Matthew Mitchell, will take place at 12:15 p.m. Monday, 4 March in Room 6D of the San Diego Convention Center.
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Thai artist makes lifelike sculptures of King Maha Vajiralongkorn
May 1, 2019 Arts, Culture
By AGENCY
Equipped with glasses, an illuminated magnifier and a set of blades and shapers, 47-year-old Thai artist Morakot Phaophong is busy with her life’s work: making lifelike sculptures of Thailand’s Kings.
Getting each detail right can be tedious and time-consuming, but Morakot says every touch is a heartfelt dedication to the monarchs.
Having mostly been working on sculptures of late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Morakot started to craft models of King Maha Vajiralongkorn in 2016 when he succeeded to the throne following his father’s death.
Each piece made from clay takes up to a month to complete. “I felt there’s no time to waste but to start carving King Vajiralongkorn’s sculptures as a gift for the people, to lift their spirit,” she said.
Most of Morakot sculptures, featuring the two kings and Buddhist monks, are commissioned work for customers, and for her own exhibition.
The elaborate coronation for King Vajiralongkorn will take place over three days from May 4-6 in the capital Bangkok. Reverence for the monarch, who is also the sworn patron of Buddhism in Thailand, is central to Thai culture.
“As a Thai, I am excited to be able to witness the coronation. It is going to be the most important and grandest ceremony in Thai history for us to witness together,” said Morakot. – Reuters
Morakot worked on sculptures of late King Bhumibol Adulyadej before she started to craft models of King Maha Vajiralongkorn in 2016 when he succeeded to the throne following his father’s death. Photo: Reuters
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Becoming a better listener doesn’t just happen
Are you listening? Becoming a better listener doesn’t just happen Check out this story on statesmanjournal.com: http://stjr.nl/1gRWray
Ruben Navarrette Jr. Published 10:20 p.m. PT May 31, 2014
Columnist Ruben Navarrette (Photo: Washington Post Writers Group )
SAN DIEGO -- You may remember Mateo Beltran, the 3-year-old who wanted a cupcake even though his mother, Linda, refused to give him one. In a YouTube video that has now been viewed 14 million times, Mateo pleaded: “Listen Linda, listen.”
According to communications experts, not everyone is equally skilled at listening.
Several years ago, I was on a flight next to a man who worked as a private golf instructor. I asked him which students were most likely to heed his advice.
“The best listeners are actors and athletes,” he said. “They’re used to taking direction and being coached.”
The worst students?
“Retired high-ranking military officers, surgeons, CEOs -- people not used to taking orders,” he said. “They’re nearly impossible to teach. They don’t listen.”
A few months ago, when my son started Little League, I told him that I expected two things -- that he have fun, and that he listen to the coaches so he could learn the game. At the end of the season, the coaches commended him for being a good listener. This wasn’t true of all of his teammates.
Some people don’t listen because they don’t want to. Others, because they can’t. Many people -- me included -- would like to be better listeners, especially around family and friends. Often, we’re not sure how to get better.
Sometimes, you need to be embarrassed. About a decade ago, my mother-in-law was telling me a story and I wasn’t paying attention. So she quizzed me: “What did I just say?” I had no idea, but I stammered through a response. Now I make sure to pay attention, and my mother-in-law says I’m one of the best listeners in the family.
Actually, I consider myself a listener-in-training. If I’m getting better at listening, it might come from conducting so many interviews, although I have a habit of sometimes rushing to the next question before fully digesting the answer to the previous one. I also think it helps that I host radio shows; I hear voices in my headphones, from callers and producers, but I don’t see a face. Without the visual distraction, I’m forced to concentrate solely on the voice.
I made a point of listening carefully to Lisa Orick-Martinez. She is a communications professor at Central New Mexico Community College in Albuquerque and an internationally certified listening professional. She is also the former executive director of the International Listening Association, a professional organization that promotes learning about listening and the impact it has on our lives. Members include entrepreneurs, teachers, professors, life coaches and sales executives -- anyone who has to deal with the public.
My first question was whether there is a difference between simply hearing something and really listening to it.
“Hearing and listening are the same until the words get to the brain,” Orick-Martinez said. “That’s where we process it. And some people have better processing abilities than others.”
She explained the six basic elements of listening: hearing, understanding, remembering, interpreting, evaluating and responding. To communicate effectively, you need all six.
In what occupations, I asked, is listening especially important? She rattled off a list: lawyers, doctors, police officers, teachers, consultants, etc.
Are there any occupations that have more than their share of bad listeners?
“Politics,” she said immediately. “It’s mutual. A lot of people don’t listen to politicians because we think they’re all lying. And politicians don’t listen to the public because they don’t think our concerns or opinions are worthy of their attention.”
Given that siblings raised in the same household can have different levels of listening ability, I asked whether some people are natural listeners or whether they develop that skill over time.
Orick-Martinez insisted that upbringing plays a role. She cited the examples of parents who don’t listen to their children, and those who answer questions for them so the kids don’t learn to listen.
Other dangers include short attention spans, our tendency to multitask, our failure to be mindful of the moment we’re living in, and -- what the professor considers the most challenging obstacle to good listening -- those omnipresent electronic gadgets that distract us.
Becoming a better listener doesn’t just happen organically.
“It’s work,” Orick-Martinez said. “It can be quite laborious. You have to be present, aware and mindful to be good at listening.”
I never gave this subject much thought, but there is a lot here. A whole new world has opened up. It was screaming out. All I had to do was listen.
Ruben Navarrette Jr. writes for the Washington Post Writers Group, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, DC 20071. Send email to ruben@rubennavarrette.com.
Read or Share this story: http://stjr.nl/1gRWray
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U.S. C-store unit sales of sports drinks 2018, by brand
Sports drink unit sales in U.S. convenience stores (C-stores) in 2018, by brand (in millions)
by Jan Conway, last edited May 3, 2019
This statistic shows the unit sales of sports drinks in U.S. convenience stores (C-stores) in 2018, by brand. For the 52 weeks ended on December 30, 2018, C-stores sold approximately 320 million units of Gatorade Perform in the United States.
Sports drinks are defined as functional beverages which are intended to serve as water or an energy provider during physical exercise. They usually contain a mix of water and carbohydrates and are fortified with electrolytes. In some cases, vitamins and micronutrients are added. As it is important for athletes to stay hydrated during active training, sports drink manufacturers recommend drinking their beverages during or after a demanding work out in order to improve athletic performance and replenish electrolytes lost in sweat. The functional beverage is promoted as a smart alternative to water and claims to maximize endurance and build lean muscle during prolonged physical activity.
The market for sports beverages in the United States is highly concentrated. The leading sports drinks brands were manufactured by PepsiCo and The Coca-Cola Company. PepsiCo manufactures the well-known brand Gatorade and Coca-Cola produces PepsiCo’s biggest rival Powerade.
Recent developments show that the traditional sports drink category also competes with beverages such as bottled water, enhanced water, coconut water and even chocolate milk for the largest piece of the post workout/rehydration pie.
Sales in millions
52 weeks ended December 30, 2018
Brand value of the most valuable soft drink brands worldwide 2018
Market share of leading sports/energy drinks companies worldwide 2015
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Sales of the leading non-aseptic sport drink brands in the U.S. 2017/18
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Leading most valuable soft drink brands worldwide in 2018, based on brand value (in million U.S. dollars)Brand value of the most valuable soft drink brands worldwide 2018
Market share of sports/energy drinks worldwide as of 2015, by companyMarket share of leading sports/energy drinks companies worldwide 2015
Market share of the leading non-aseptic sport drink brands in the United States in 2018, based on dollar salesMarket share of the leading non-aseptic sport drink brands in the U.S. 2018
Volume sales of liquid refreshment beverages (LRB) worldwide in 2017, by category (in billion cases)Global volume sales of liquid refreshment beverages (LRB) 2017, by category
Volume sales share of liquid refreshment beverages (LRB) worldwide in 2017, by categoryGlobal volume sales share of liquid refreshment beverages (LRB) 2017, by category
Market share of sports drinks of the non-carbonated soft drink segment in the United States from 2012 to 2017, based on retail dollar salesU.S. market share of sports drinks 2012-2017, based on retail sales
Market share of sports drinks of the non-carbonated soft drink segment in the United States from 2012 to 2017, based on volume salesU.S. market share of sports drinks 2012-2017, based on volume sales
Retail sales of sports and energy drinks in the United States from 2009 to 2014 (in billion U.S. dollars)U.S. sports and energy drink retail sales 2009-2014
Retail dollar sales of sports drinks in the United States from 2012 to 2017 (in million U.S. dollars)U.S. dollar sales of sports drinks 2012-2017
Volume sales of sports drinks in the United States from 2012 to 2017 (in million 192-oz. cases)Volume sales of sports drinks in the U.S. 2012-2017
Retail price of sports drinks in the United States from 2012 to 2017 (in U.S. dollars per case)U.S. retail price of sports drinks 2012-2017
Sports drink dollar sales in U.S. supermarkets in 2014 and 2015 (in million U.S. dollars)U.S. supermarkets: sports drink dollar sales 2014-2015
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Sales of the leading non-aseptic sport drink brands in the United States in 2017/18 (in million U.S. dollars)Sales of the leading non-aseptic sport drink brands in the U.S. 2017/18
Consumption share of beverages in the United States in 2017, by segment*U.S. consumption share of beverages 2017, by segment
Per capita consumption of sports drinks in the United States from 2010 to 2017 (in gallons)U.S. per capita consumption of sports drinks 2010-2017
Purchase frequency of ready-to-drink (RTD) sports shakes in the United States in 2015, by number of timesU.S. purchase frequency of RTD sports shakes 2015, by number of times
Best-selling table wine brands in U.S. C-stores based on unit sales 2014
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Best-selling beer brands in U.S. C-stores based on case sales 2013
Best-selling table wine brands in U.S. C-stores based on dollar sales 2014
Best-selling sparkling wine brands in U.S. C-stores based on dollar sales 2014
Best-selling sparkling wine brands in U.S. C-stores based on unit sales 2014
Consumers' likelihood of choosing sports & energy drinks in the UK 2012
U.S. dollar sales growth of sports drinks 2011-2018
Sports and energy drinks consumed per person in the United Kingdom 2006-2014
Soft drinks: Sports drinks consumption volume in the United Kingdom (UK) 2011-2016
Sports drinks consumed per person in the United Kingdom 2006-2014
Soft drinks: Sports drink consumption in the United Kingdom 2006-2014
Brazil: annual sales volume of energy drinks 2012-2017
U.S. convenience stores: dollar sales of packed beverages by region 2014
Market volume of energy drinks in ASEAN by country 2015/2020
Seven & i Holdings' total assets 2009-2018
France: trust in creatine products to enhance performance at fatigue threshold 2015
Europe: distribution of sports drink consumers 2015, by reasons behind consumption
Sports nutrition: European market turnover 2014
UK: distribution of sports drink retail channels 2015
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Carbonated soft drinks in the UK
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Sports food and drink sales worldwide in 2013, by category (in billion U.S. dollars)
Leading most valuable soft drink brands worldwide in 2018, based on brand value (in million U.S. dollars)
Market share of sports/energy drinks worldwide as of 2015, by company
Market share of the leading non-aseptic sport drink brands in the United States in 2018, based on dollar sales
Volume sales of liquid refreshment beverages (LRB) worldwide in 2017, by category (in billion cases)
Volume sales share of liquid refreshment beverages (LRB) worldwide in 2017, by category
Market share of sports drinks of the non-carbonated soft drink segment in the United States from 2012 to 2017, based on retail dollar sales
Market share of sports drinks of the non-carbonated soft drink segment in the United States from 2012 to 2017, based on volume sales
Retail sales of sports and energy drinks in the United States from 2009 to 2014 (in billion U.S. dollars)
Retail dollar sales of sports drinks in the United States from 2012 to 2017 (in million U.S. dollars)
Volume sales of sports drinks in the United States from 2012 to 2017 (in million 192-oz. cases)
Retail price of sports drinks in the United States from 2012 to 2017 (in U.S. dollars per case)
Sports drink dollar sales in U.S. supermarkets in 2014 and 2015 (in million U.S. dollars)
Sports drink unit sales in U.S. supermarkets in 2014 and 2015 (in million units)
Sales of the leading non-aseptic sport drink brands in the United States in 2017/18 (in million U.S. dollars)
Sports drink sales in U.S. convenience stores (C-stores) in 2018, by brand (in million U.S. dollars)
Sales of the leading sports drink mixes brands in the United States in 2018 (in million U.S. dollars)
Consumption share of beverages in the United States in 2017, by segment*
Per capita consumption of sports drinks in the United States from 2010 to 2017 (in gallons)
Purchase frequency of ready-to-drink (RTD) sports shakes in the United States in 2015, by number of times
Table wine unit sales in U.S. convenience stores (C-stores) in 2014, by brand (in millions)
Beer dollar sales in U.S. convenience stores (C-stores) in 2013, by brand (in million U.S. dollars)
Beer case sales in U.S. convenience stores (C-stores) in 2013, by brand (in millions)
Table wine dollar sales in U.S. convenience stores (C-stores) in 2014, by brand (in million U.S. dollars)
Sparkling wine dollar sales in U.S. convenience stores (C-stores) in 2014, by brand (in million U.S. dollars)
Sparkling wine unit sales in U.S. convenience stores (C-stores) in 2014, by brand (in millions)
Consumers' likelihood of choosing sports and energy drinks in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2012, indexed against all consumers*
Dollar sales growth of sports drinks in the United States from 2011 to 2018 (change to prior year)
Average consumption of sports and energy drinks per person in the United Kingdom from 2006 to 2014 (in litres)
Volume of sports drinks consumed in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2011 to 2016 (in million litres)
Average consumption of sports drinks per person in the United Kingdom from 2006 to 2014 (in litres)
Total consumption of sports drinks in the United Kingdom from 2006 to 2014 (in million litres)
Annual sales volume of energy and sports drinks in Brazil from 2012 to 2017 (in million liters)
Dollar sales of packed beverages in U.S. convenience stores in 2014, by region (in million U.S. dollars)
Total volume of the sports and energy drinks market in Southeast Asia in 2015 and 2020, by country (in million liters)
Total assets of Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. from 2009 to 2018 (in trillion Japanese yen)
Distribution of how much people trust in the labeling of creatine products to enhance physical working capacity at fatigue threshold in France in 2015
Distribution of the sports drink consumers in Europe in 2015, by reasons behind consumption
Sales of the main sports food and beverage markets in Europe in 2014 (in million euros)
Distribution of sports drink retail channels in the United Kingdom 2015
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Cerebral Salt Wasting Syndrome
Steven Tenny
William Thorell
Cerebral salt wasting (CSW) is a potential cause of hyponatremia in the setting of disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Cerebral salt wasting is characterized by hyponatremia with elevated urine sodium and hypovolemia. In the current literature, professionals debate if cerebral salt wasting is a distinct condition or a special form of the syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH). It is important to distinguish between cerebral salt wasting and SIADH as the 2 are treated with opposite treatment strategies. For cerebral salt wasting the patient is given fluids and sodium supplementation. For SIADH the patient is fluid restricted. Cerebral salt wasting tends to resolve within weeks to months after onset but can remain a chronic issue. Leading theories for the pathophysiology of cerebral salt wasting include the release of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) or damage to the hypothalamus with subsequent disorder sympathetics.[1]
The etiology of cerebral salt wasting (CSW) is not completely understood. Cerebral salt wasting is most commonly seen after a central nervous system insult. The most commonly described precipitating insult is aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Why cerebral salt wasting occurs more frequently after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage versus traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage or other CNS insult is not well defined. Why cerebral salt wasting is uncommon after other injuries or diseases is also not well defined.
Since cerebral salt wasting (CSW) is still a debated condition, its exact incidence and prevalence may be hard to pin down. Cerebral salt wasting is most commonly seen after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage but can be seen after other insults to the central nervous system. Other conditions in which cerebral salt wasting has been reported include: after surgery for pituitary tumor or acoustic neuroma or calvarial remodeling, glioma, infections including tuberculous meningitis and viral meningitis, metastatic carcinoma, and cranial trauma.
Some have calculated that cerebral salt wasting accounts for up to one-quarter of severe hyponatremia after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. The incidence of cerebral salt wasting for other CNS insults is mostly reported as case reports. The incidence and prevalence of cerebral salt wasting outside of patients with CNS insult is not reliably reported.
The true etiology of cerebral salt wasting (CSW) remains an area of debate and research. As noted, some argue cerebral salt wasting does not exist and is a form of SIADH.
There are 2 current theories for the etiology of cerebral salt wasting: effect of a circulating factor or sympathetic nervous system dysfunction.
Some research points to the brain releasing brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) after injury which then enters systemic circulation through a disrupted blood-brain barrier. The BNP acts on the collecting ducts of the renal tubules to inhibit sodium reabsorption as well as decrease the release of renin.
The second theory suggests that an injured sympathetic nervous system can no longer promote sodium reabsorption and stimulate renin release due to injury to the hypothalamus. The exact mechanism of cerebral salt wasting remains open to debate.
History and Physical
The most common presenting story for cerebral salt wasting is hyponatremia after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.[2] A few days after the hemorrhage the patient’s serum sodium begins to drop while the urine sodium increases. The patient’s fluid status also decreases, and the patient becomes hyponatremia and hypovolemic. With treatment, the cerebral salt wasting resolves within a few weeks to months, and long-term treatment is not commonly required.
Cerebral salt wasting has also been reported after surgery of the central nervous system including pituitary surgery, vestibular schwannoma resection, and calvarial remodeling. Additionally, cerebral salt wasting has been seen after a head injury, intracranial malignancy, and central nervous system (CNS) infections.
It is critically important to distinguish cerebral salt wasting (CSW) from the syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic of hormone (SIADH) as the treatments are opposite. Evaluation for cerebral salt wasting begins with a basic metabolic panel (BMP) to identify the hyponatremia (serum sodium less than 135 meq/L). Urine studies are commonly checked for urine sodium and osmolality. Urine sodium is typically elevated above 40 meq/L. Urine osmolality is elevated above 100 mosmol/kg. The patient must also have signs or symptoms of hypovolemia such as hypotension, decreased central venous pressure, lack of skin turgor, or elevated hematocrit.
Syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic of hormone (SIADH) will have a similar laboratory picture as cerebral salt wasting with hyponatremia and increased urine sodium. However, with SIADH, the patient is euvolemic to hypervolemic from the retained free water as compared to the hypovolemic picture of cerebral salt wasting.[3][4]
Other potential causes of hyponatremia should also be sought including polydipsia, renal disease, use of diuretics, heart failure, hypothyroidism, heart failure, malignancies, hormone deficiency, and pseudo-hyponatremia. Many times cerebral salt wasting becomes a diagnosis of exclusion after labs reveal serum hyponatremia with increased urine sodium level.
Treatment / Management
The treatment of cerebral salt wasting (CSW) and syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic of hormone (SIADH) are very different, so it is critical to have the correct diagnosis prior to initiating treatment.
As cerebral salt wasting typically occurs after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, the first treatment strategies are targeted at treating the underlying subarachnoid hemorrhage and aneurysm or another CNS insult. Secondly, the patient must be volume repleted while treating the hyponatremia. Typically, the patient is started on isotonic saline for mild to moderate cases of hyponatremia of cerebral salt wasting. The isotonic fluid provides the fluid for the hypovolemic patient as well as helps to restore the body sodium stores. For moderate to severe cases of hyponatremia, more aggressive sodium replenishment may be required with either hypertonic saline such as 3% hypertonic saline and/or salt tabs (1 to 2 grams up to three times daily) as well as limiting free water intake. Some have advocated for the use of fludrocortisone as well for treatment of cerebral salt wasting.[4]
When correcting the hyponatremia, the serum sodium should be monitored frequently. Overcorrection of the serum sodium can lead to hypernatremia which can cause muscle twitching, lethargy, seizure, and death. Additionally, the hyponatremia should not be corrected too quickly. There is the risk of central pontine myelinolysis if the hyponatremia is corrected too quickly, especially for long standing hyponatremia. Most experts recommend correcting no more than 10 meq/L/24 hours or 1 meq/L every 2 hours.
The most important issue is to distinguish between cerebral salt wasting and syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic of hormone (SIADH) as they are treated with opposite approaches. In cases of SIADH, the treatment is typically fluid restriction, hypertonic saline, demeclocycline and/or furosemide. If the patient truly has cerebral salt wasting, they are hypovolemic, and the SIADH treatment modalities would be detrimental by exacerbating the hypovolemia.[5][6][7]
It is critical to distinguish between cerebral salt wasting and syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic of hormone (SIADH). Both conditions are characterized by hyponatremia with elevated urine sodium, concentrated urine, and no edema. The key distinguishing factor is that in cerebral salt wasting the patient is hypovolemic versus in SIADH the patient is euvolemic to hypervolemic.[3]
Cerebral salt wasting often occurs after significant CNS pathology such as aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Care for such patients must be coordinated between multiple specialties as the treatment of cerebral salt wasting may include additional fluid volume which can exacerbate issues including cerebral edema, pulmonary edema, heart failure, and renal dysfunction. Additional attention should be paid to the carrier fluids for the other medications and to avoid too much free water to the patient. Patients can require continued management of their hyponatremia for weeks to months or more after the original insult. During treatment, the patient's GCS and neurological exam must be continually assessed. The outcomes for most patients with cerebral salt wasting not due to a subarachnoid hemorrhage are good. However, some patients may continue to have mild neurological deficits despite optimal treatment.[8][9]
[1] Leonard J,Garrett RE,Salottolo K,Slone DS,Mains CW,Carrick MM,Bar-Or D, Cerebral salt wasting after traumatic brain injury: a review of the literature. Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine. 2015 Nov 11 [PubMed PMID: 26561391]
[2] Cerdà-Esteve M,Cuadrado-Godia E,Chillaron JJ,Pont-Sunyer C,Cucurella G,Fernández M,Goday A,Cano-Pérez JF,Rodríguez-Campello A,Roquer J, Cerebral salt wasting syndrome: review. European journal of internal medicine. 2008 Jun [PubMed PMID: 18471672]
[3] Oh JY,Shin JI, Syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion and cerebral/renal salt wasting syndrome: similarities and differences. Frontiers in pediatrics. 2014 [PubMed PMID: 25657991]
[4] Yee AH,Burns JD,Wijdicks EF, Cerebral salt wasting: pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment. Neurosurgery clinics of North America. 2010 Apr [PubMed PMID: 20380974]
[5] Jin S,Long Z,Wang W,Jiang B, Hyponatremia in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders: Literature review. Acta neurologica Scandinavica. 2018 Jul [PubMed PMID: 29654708]
[6] Moritz ML, Syndrome of Inappropriate Antidiuresis. Pediatric clinics of North America. 2019 Feb [PubMed PMID: 30454744]
[7] Maesaka JK,Imbriano LJ,Miyawaki N, High Prevalence of Renal Salt Wasting Without Cerebral Disease as Cause of Hyponatremia in General Medical Wards. The American journal of the medical sciences. 2018 Jul [PubMed PMID: 30049325]
[8] John CA,Day MW, Central neurogenic diabetes insipidus, syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone, and cerebral salt-wasting syndrome in traumatic brain injury. Critical care nurse. 2012 Apr [PubMed PMID: 22467619]
[9] Rahman M,Friedman WA, Hyponatremia in neurosurgical patients: clinical guidelines development. Neurosurgery. 2009 Nov [PubMed PMID: 19834406]
Take 5 Question Quiz on Cerebral Salt Wasting Syndrome
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EU Energy Policy: A late awakening
A mutualisation of energy governance needed
22 August 2007 , by Translated by Simona Vieru, Lionel Luttenbacher
All the versions of this article: [English] [français]
The world-wide high demand of electrical power risks to explode in the following years, whereas it is not sure that the offer could be carried out. The increase of price, that is the supply rupture, threatens the independence of national electrical power and we can only imagine the economic and social consequences. Well aware if this issue, France has adopted a policy aiming at keeping down the damaging effects of this situation.
Meanwhile, the two issues concerning the future of the electrical power in France (i.e. the supply security and the energy-supply independence) need cooperation between states as well as an international policy meant to promote stability in the energy field.
The supply security
Despite the existence of high standards regarding the energy efficiency and given the real need for gas in supplying electricity and oil for means of transport, oil and gas will still represent more than half of the European Union’s electrical power needs.
The European Union maintains highly privileged relations with gas suppliers such as Norway, Algeria, and Russia. The European Commission advises European countries, in “An Energy Policy for Europe” [1] to strengthen these ties and search in the same time a way to vary their supply source so as to reduce their dependency.
The Commission also suggests the forming of gas platforms in Central Europe and the Baltic states in order to strengthen the national production. In the same time, it proposes the improvement of ways of stocking gas and oil.
The importance of relations with Russia
The partnership European Union-Russia is very important for France, at this precise moment. Russia is at the moment the main EU gas provider through the Gazprom group. The energy question bears a crucial dimension to the relations between the Union and its important Eastern neighbour.
In October 2000, the two partners have engaged in a dialogue that might end up in a new agreement replacing the partnership and cooperation agreement existing for about ten years. The Europeans notably demand from the Russians to adopt clear juridical norms so as to secure their investments and have a transparent beginning.
The negotiations could have started on the occasion of the Helsinki summit, in November 2006, but the representatives of the European Union were not able to settle an agreement because of Poland’s opposition. “It is very important that the EU and Russia have a clear and common understanding of their mutual needs in the energy field” declared Commission President José Manuel Barroso. “We have interdependent interests and the cooperation between us will be beneficial to both partners,” Barroso added.
The Commission and “energy diplomacy”
For the Commission, “energy must become an important factor of all the European Union’s external relations. If the EU wants to comply with world-wide objectives concerning the diminishing of the greenhouse effect and the supply security, then it has to properly negotiate with its partners.
Commission invites EU member states to establish a real “energy diplomacy”
For the next three years, the Commission emits, in its above mentioned paper “An Energy Policy for Europe”, some priority axes of a future European “energy diplomacy”:
play an important role in concluding international agreements on climate change, especially in light of the perspectives of the after-Kyoto period;
to create at the European borders (Ukraine, Turkey, the Maghreb) a link between countries so as to share common rules and principle drawn from the energy European policy and mutual profits between Europe and its eventual partners, either through the European Neighbourhood Policy or the Barcelona process;
to improve the relations with our external suppliers through transparency and reciprocity; the Commission demands the closing of a framework-agreement with Russia;
to help the new developing countries acquire new energetic objectives, mainly through technological transfers. The Commission invites the Council to establish an Africa-Europe partnership as soon as possible so as to diminish the recent Chinese aggressive strategy in the energy field;
to facilitate the creation of rival organizations of the traditional alliances existing between the producing countries (e.g. OPEC) in order to increase competition and thus diminish prices;
to set up an Assembly, which includes the most important energy consumers (USA, China and India).
The Commission invites EU member states to establish a real “energy diplomacy” in order to assure a secure supplying-method and to have a common voice in global negotiations on climate change.
Independent energy policy
A European energy policy is a must both from a political and social point of view. It is important from a geopolitical point of view because it is all about the economic and political survival of the EU in front of other great powers already using energy as a political and economic weapon; from a social point of view due to its impact on the survival of the species and quality of life in the EU. This policy must reach a satisfactory degree of independence, which must be determined by European leaders. In order to do so, the Commission proposes certain number of recommendations.
First of all, the regional cooperation must encourage the difficult coexistence between a European energy policy and a national one. Thus, the “regional” echelon grouping together the Member States seems relevant from the point of view of efficiency and quick solving of all these actions. One first example is the implementation of the so-called market coupling, which allowed the optimization of the Franco-Belgian-Dutch interrelations since November 2006.
Second, the Commission foresees the improvement of the CO2 market. In this respect, it is advisable to diminish the quotas pertaining to the manufacturers. There must be an expansion of the targets of quota markets of all activities, of all fields, making reference moreover to the lodging and transport field; and this triggers for example taxes on trucks’ tonnage, airplane transport and/or the introduction of a green vignette.
Furthermore, this research must meet the efforts of Member States. In fact, at the European level this research and the innovation are great stakes. For example, France is innovating in the technological and bioplastics fields while Spain tries its innovating skills in the solar photovoltaic field. The cooperation between Universities and the industrial field must also be strengthened both on the European and national level by creating networks animated by an organism.
Finally, the energy efficiency must be strengthened. There must be strict norms regarding the energy supply and some could be applied as soon as possible (surveillance of electrical devices, vehicles…)
In conclusion, as demonstrated above, the necessity of a mutualisation of our energy governance is an absolute priority which can be really effective only through an impulse given by a single political entity and not by 27 different states in an intergovernmental framework subjected to the rule of unanimity.
The last developments in energy relations with Russia and Russia’s blackmail reveal a Europe lacking political unity, especially in the energy supply issue.
Image taken from the multimedia library of the European Commission
Lionel Luttenbacher
Etudiant en droit, membre des Jeunes Européens Strasbourg.
[1] Communication from the Commission to the European Council and the European Parliament of 10 January 2007, click here to read the summary
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Garden & Garage
Streaming Hardware
Sony Announces New Smart TVs, 3D TVs for 2011
By Patrick Miller
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Sony is bringing the heat this year, with a whole host of shiny new 3D TVs with Internet-connected features. Check out what they've got planned for 2011.
Sony's Smart TVs
[ Further reading: How to calibrate your TV ]
Between their mid-range and high-end models, Sony is bringing 22 "Smart TVs" to market in total. Each of these HDTVs comes equipped with Sony's Bravia Internet Video service, which includes support for standard Internet streaming sites like Netflix, HuluPlus, and Amazon Video On Demand as well Sony-only services like Sony's Video on Demand and Music Unlimited (powered by Qriocity).
Other Internet-connected features include Skype support for video chat in 720p (although you'll need to purchase a separate camera and mic for that), and Track ID, which lets your TV check the Gracenote database to find the song name, artist, and album information for whatever song is playing on the TV at the moment. Buy a Sony TV, and you'll never wonder what that song was playing during the ad break was ever again.
Interestingly enough, there has been no word on further Google TV-powered Sony TVs.
3D TVs: Active Shutter or Bust
While LG has announced their "Cinema 3D" line of polarized-lens 3D TVs, and Vizio's entire 2011 lineup will include their similar "Theater 3D" polarized-lens 3D capability, Sony is sticking to the classic active-shutter lens 3D in a big way, with 16 new 3D TVs coming between now and August.
That doesn't mean they're resting on their laurels, however. Sony's new line of 3D TVs will have built-in IR emitters (instead of the dongle-attached external emitters that their 2010 line had) and can display 3D images taken from the new line of Cyber-shot cameras. Also, there are a few improvements behind the scenes: Sony has implemented some proprietary panel drive enhancements that should reduce the TV's response time, reducing crosstalk--which means less ghosting and eye fatigue during 3D movies, as well as a 5:5 pulldown feature so your TV can match the frame rate of movies without any judder problems.
Enhanced Image Processing
A TV's image processing functions are a standard part of any modern TV manufacturer's bag of tricks, and Sony is stepping up their game considerably. While Sony's 2010 TVs seemed rather modest compared to, say, Samsung or LG's in terms of aggressive image enhancement, Sony's new TVs look like they mean business.
Their high-end TVs will include a dual-chip image processing system called the X-Reality PRO Engine, which compares incoming video signals with their "ideal" scenes--as determined from a vast video and film library--and enhances the image accordingly. The X-Reality PRO Engine can work on anything from full HD signals and compressed HD signals to SD TV video or even low-res Internet streaming video, so you can expect pretty much everything to look a bit better.
The lower-end models will stick to the single-chip X-Reality Engine, which uses a feature Sony is calling "Intelligent Image Enhancer". This separates an incoming video signal into three component parts--the outline, the texture, and the color/contrast--then enhances each part, reduces noise, and displays the image.
The New Class
Here's the breakdown of Sony's upcoming TV releases, model line by model line.
The XBR-HX929 series is a full-array LED back-lit LCD TV with MotionFlow XR 960 (Sony's proprietary refresh rate tech), and it comes in 46-inch, 55-inch, and 65-inch sizes. This TV series has Intelligent Peak local LED dimming, Sony Bravia Internet Video, the X-Reality PRO processor, built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi, and 3D. The 46-inch and 55-inch models will be available in April, while the 65-inch model will debut in August.
The HX820 series is an edge-lit LED line with MotionFlow XR 480, and it comes in a 46-inch and 55-inch size, both of which will be available in May. The HX820 TVs have the X-Reality PRO engine, Sony Bravia Internet Video, built-in Wi-Fi, and 3D. The similarly-equipped HX720 series will also be available in May, and comes in a 46-inch, 55-inch, and 65-inch model.
Next up is the NX720 series, an edge-lit LED line with MotionFlow XR 240, the X-Reality Engine, Sony Bravia Internet Video, 3D, and built-in Wi-Fi. The NX720 TVs will be available in 46-inch, 55-inch, and 60-inch models in May.
The last of the 3D lineup is the edge-lit LED EX720 series, with the X-Reality Engine, MotionFlow XR 240, and Sony Bravia Internet Video. Unlike the others, Wi-Fi isn't built-in, though you can buy a USB dongle separately. These sets will start at 32 inches and go all the way up to a 60-inch model, though the 60-inch model won't be available until April (the rest debut in February).
On the lower end are their EX620 and EX 520 series edge-lit LED sets, the former with MotionFlow 120 and the latter with a 60hz refresh rate. Both of them support Sony Bravia Internet Video, though they require the separate USB dongle for Wi-Fi, and neither of them have 3D capability. The EX620 series comes in a 40-inch, 46-inch, and 55-inch model, while the EX520 comes in 32-inch, 40-inch, and 46-inch sizes. Both will be available in February.
Finally, Sony is releasing two low-end CCFL back-lit LCD TVs, neither of which have 3D or Internet-connected features: The BX420 series comes in 32-inch, 40-inch, and 46-inch models, while the 720p BX320 series only has a 22-inch and 32-inch model.
Check out PCWorld's complete coverage of CES 2011.
This story, "Sony Announces New Smart TVs, 3D TVs for 2011" was originally published by PCWorld.
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A Boat is Not a Car (1973)
Bill Gaston Boats & Motors dealership at Research Boulevard and Mopac, new at the time of filming
Texas Actor Guich Koock who began his career in Spielberg’s “The Sugarland Express” and starred in TV series “Carter Country.” Koock also once owned the town of Luckenbach, Texas. Learn more about this fascinating Texan’s life in the tab below!
John H. Reagan State Office Building
Texas Parks and Wildlife Texas Parks and Wildlife
Guich Koock Guich Koock
This educational film demonstrates boat safety rules and practice by following a couple as they buy a boat and required equipment, register it with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and take it out on the lake for the first time. On the lake, the couple learns all the ways a boat is not a car as they discover the ins and outs of getting the boat out on the water, learn traffic rules for the water, and the woman learns to drive the boat! A State Game Warden also stops to help the couple when they’re stuck in a shallow area and perform a routine check of their boat’s required equipment and engine.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department provides outdoor recreational opportunities by managing and protecting wildlife and wildlife habitat and acquiring and managing parklands and historic areas. It has inherited the functions of many state entities created to protect Texas' natural resources. In 1895 the legislature created the Fish and Oyster Commission to regulate fishing. The Game Department was added to the commission in 1907. The State Parks Board was created as a separate entity in 1923. In the 1930s, projects of the federal Civilian Conservation Corps added substantially to the state's parklands. In 1951, the term oyster was dropped from the wildlife agency's name, and in 1963, the State Parks Board and the Game and Fish Commission were merged to form the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department under the administration of Governor John B. Connally. The legislature placed authority for managing fish and wildlife resources in all Texas counties with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department when it passed the Wildlife Conservation Act in 1983. Previously, commissioners courts had set game and fish laws in many counties, and other counties had veto power over department regulations. Currently, TPWD operates 114 state parks and historical sites, 51 wildlife management areas, and eight fish hatcheries.
(from the TWPD website.)
Guich Koock, born William Faulk Koock, is a sixth generation Texan whose mother was Mary Faulk, sister of Texan author and famously blacklisted radio entertainer, John Henry Faulk. Koock grew up on 23 acres in a Victoria home just south of Austin, which his mother turned into the well-known Green Pastures restaurant in 1946. Consistent with the Faulk family's progressive values, Green Pastures was open to all races beginning on its opening day, 18 years before the Civil Rights Act. The Koock family lived above the restaurant, enjoying constant visits from friends and extended family and an ideal combination of urban and rural life as they raised animals on their 23 acre property.
In high school, Koock worked as author and folklorist J. Frank Dobie's driver. His access to Dobie influenced his intellectual interests and led to his acquaintance with many prominent Texans, including Tex Robertson, who hired him to work at Camp Longhorn. At Camp Longhorn, he befriended Cactus Pryor and Hondo Crouch, with whom he remained friends into adulthood. Koock studied history and English at Texas A&M. His Master's thesis was a history of slavery in East Texas, compiled by Koock from an extensive series of interviews with the children of former slaves in the region. Koock was later awarded a Lomax Fellowship from the University of Texas to collect Texas folklore from South Texas ranches.
In 1970, Koock teamed up with Hondo Crouch to buy the town of Luckenbach, Texas. With the help of its owners, Luckenbach became a major tourist attraction in Texas and hosted five World's Fair celebrations. It was in Luckenbach that Steven Spielberg's casting director spotted Koock and recruited him for a supporting role in The Sugarland Express (1974).
Koock spent the next two decades traveling between Texas and Los Angeles, where he perfected the part of the "good ol’ boy" in movies such as Piranha (1978) North Dallas Forty (1979), American Ninja (1985), and Square Dance (1987) and television shows such as "Carter Country" (1977-79), "Lewis & Clark" (1981-82), and "She's the Sheriff" (1987-89). He also made recurring appearances on "Good Morning America," "The Tonight Show," and "The Merv Griffin Show."
Koock has 3 children, Travis, Dobie, and Jennifer. He continues to occasionally appear onscreen and is currently working in green technology development with his partners.
TPWD
life preservers
Texas Water Safety Act
boat safety
Texas Skippers Course
Guich Koock
Koock, Guich
William Faulk Koock
Koock, William Faulk
Categories: 1970s | Educational Films | Boats | Texas Parks and Wildlife Department | Guich Koock
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Unpacking Randal Rauser's claim that "testimony is properly basic belief"
I have to confess that when I first came across Randal Rauser's claim that testimony is properly basic, my gut reaction was that it was one of the most ridiculous apologetic arguments I'd ever heard. Surely, I thought, he cannot actually be arguing what I think he is. Surely there is some sophisticated aspect to the argument I'm overlooking or failing to properly comprehend. Recently the debate was rekindled after I pointed out the research which shows eyewitness testimony to be of fairly dubious reliability. Spurred by the debate, I decided to revisit Randal's original post and see what I might have overlooked. Is it really as stupid an argument as I think it is, or am I totally failing to comprehend an incisive philosophical argument that helps substantiate (among other things) the Resurrection of Christ and modern-day miracles?
In fairness to Randal, I'll reprint his summary of his original argument:
It is true that you can think of testimony as evidence just like you can think of sense perception and rational intuition as evidence. But so long as there are no defeaters present, we also find that each of these sources of rational belief can provide a stopping point to the regress of justification and thus each provides a means of prima facie proper basicality. Not only that, but sufficiently strong testimony can also withstand the assault of formidable defeaters. Consequently, just as rational intuition can provide us with properly basic belief that 7+5=12, and sense perception can provide us with properly basic belief that “The banana is on the counter”, so testimony can provide us with properly basic belief that “Common descent is true” or “Jesus rose from the dead.”
The terms of engagement
First, I think it's helpful to define the terms being used. The word "testimony" is generally used in a legal or religious context, but in philosophy it can simply be synonymous with an assertion or claim. From the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
The primary speech-act of testimony is a speaker's saying, telling, or asserting something (Searle 1969). Assertion puts forth a proposition that the speaker represents as true (see the entry on assertion, on norms of assertion, Rescorla 2009)
"Properly basic belief" is a term that's not used much outside of theologians referencing Alvin Plantinga (more on that later). The term "basic belief" derives from Foundationalism and its various derivatives. A basic belief is essentially one that needs no other justification – one that's actually irrational to question.
The most obvious example of a basic belief is "I exist". The assumption of one's own existence is not only a necessary starting point for any epistemological framework, but it's irrational to be skeptical of one's own existence: the statement "I am skeptical of my own existence" assumes the existence of an "I" that is capable of skepticism!
Randal mentions sense perception as a basic belief ("The banana is on the counter"), but I'd be more specific than that. It's entirely possible that there is no banana, that his senses are being deceived – like a thirsty desert wanderer mistaking the reflection of the sun against the sand for an oasis. As optical illusions show, our senses can and do deceive us. But we must operate on the assumption that our senses are at least sometimes reliable, otherwise we've painted ourselves into an epistemological corner.
Now on a personal note, I very much dislike the term "basic belief", because the word "belief" generally refers to assumptions or convictions that we consciously hold, and which can be amended with the introduction of new evidence. Just like skepticism of one's own existence, belief in one's own existence is paradoxical – or at least redundant: "I believe in my own existence" already assumes the existence of an "I" capable of belief. So rather than the term "basic belief", I prefer terms like "foundational assumption" or "necessary assumption". We don't consciously worry about our own existence when thinking about knowledge and epistemology. But that's just a personal quirk, and I'll continue to use the term "basic belief" to be consistent with Randal's use of the term.
Why it's ridiculous
My gut reaction upon reading Randal's argument was that it's incredibly ridiculous, for reasons that seem so obvious that they shouldn't even need mentioning.
While it's clearly irrational to be skeptical of our own existence or the entirety of our sensory perception, there are many, many reasons to be skeptical of assertions made by others. A litany of cognitive biases color our perception of events – confirmation bias, groupthink, attribution bias, clustering illusion, causal fallacies, and many, many more. Worse, our memories themselves often deceive us. It's a common error among those unfamiliar with cognitive psychology to assume that our memories work like video cameras, capturing external information and storing it just as it happened. The reality is that memory generation is an active process whereby the brain takes bits and pieces of sensory data and fills in the gaps retroactively to make the events coherent – this is known as reconstructive memory. In fact, research indicates that it may be impossible for us to remember an event without altering it in some way [1], [2]. And that's just when you're dealing with the testimony of one person. Every time testimony is passed from one person to the next, bits of information are omitted, added, or altered as each person's recall distorts the original memory.
That's the science, and it's pretty damning to Randal's case. If the fallibility of human cognition and memory renders testimony inaccurate and unreliable, then how can it be considered a properly basic belief? But even if one is unaware of the research showing just how depressingly unreliable our perception and memories actually are, it ought to be common sense that people's testimony can be and often is mistaken. But wait a second here... have we thrown the baby out with the bathwater? Because obviously lots of information we know about the world comes through the testimony of others. Does our unreliable cognition and memory mean that it's never rational to trust testimony?
Where was I supposed to turn, again?
In the latest discussion/debate on the matter, Randal used the example of getting directions from a stranger as a counter-argument to my skepticism:
Randal overlooks several important things here, and his example ends up making my own argument for me. Remember, the question is not whether testimony can ever be trusted at all, but whether it can be considered a properly basic belief along with things like sense perception and self-existence.
Firstly, our general trust of others comes from experiential evidence. We know, from experience, that people tend not to lie to us without some vested interest in doing so, and it's unlikely that someone is going to give us false or misleading directions just to mess with us. We acknowledge that this is a remote possibility, but our experience tells us that strangers are generally kind in such circumstances. Note, for example, that Randal describes the witnesses in the above example as "intelligent looking people". That statement alone is predicated on a litany of evidence-based assumptions (which can be and often are wrong) about which types of people are trustworthy and/or reliable, and which are not.
Secondly, whenever we get directions from someone we implicitly acknowledge that their directions may in fact be incorrect. It's not that we think they intentionally deceived us, but that we know people's recall is fallible. And the more detailed directions we require, the higher the probability of error.
Both of these facts demonstrate that it is rational to have some degree – if only a small degree – of skepticism regarding the accuracy of directions given to us by others. Note that this contrasts with true properly basic beliefs which are irrational to hold any skepticism toward at all.
Randal then gives another bad example regarding reports of a rare bird:
There's a field of pseudoscience called cryptozoology that deals with mythical creatures like bigfoot, yeti, and the chupacabra. Often, belief in the existence of such animals is buttressed by the eyewitness testimonies of indigenous peoples who claim to have encountered the beasts. But whenever independently verifiable empirical evidence of such creatures is sought, the creatures turn out to be either entirely mythical or simply rare cases of mistaken identity.
The point is that testimony is not, and should not, be taken at face value precisely because we humans often perceive and remember events inaccurately.
Multiple attestations
One of Randal's rebuttals here implies that I ought to reject scientific research as well, because my knowledge of it relies on testimonial evidence. But again, the question is not whether testimony is ever reliable, but whether it can be considered a properly basic belief that needs no other evidential justification.
Multiple eyewitnesses to a crime is generally considered to be stronger evidence than a single eyewitness. That's because we recognize that as more people are involved who can independently corroborate an event, the probability that our judgements will succumb to the errors of a single individual decreases.
Even if I know nothing at all about the science of common ancestry, it's rational for me to accept it on the basis of the fact that an overwhelming majority – virtually the entirety, in fact – of biological scientists all over the world, comprising millions of people and 150 years of research, have corroborated its veracity as a fact. Moreover, they have extensively documented their research and made it accessible to almost anyone, and if I want to contribute to the field I had better be prepared to base my hypotheses on independently verifiable empirical evidence. Clearly, "testimonial evidence" in this regard should never be conflated with a single person, or even a small group of people, who claim to have witness a "miracle" or other supernatural event. This not merely the testimony of others being taken at face value, but testimony that is corroborated with independently verifiable empirical evidence to which I, and others, have access.
Randal's biggest blunder
Remember that Randal's argument here is that someone's testimony is unto itself a rational reason to affirm the truth of an assertion: "It is true that you can think of testimony as evidence just like you can think of sense perception and rational intuition as evidence. But so long as there are no defeaters present, we also find that each of these sources of rational belief can provide a stopping point to the regress of justification and thus each provides a means of prima facie proper basicality."
Where Randal really slips into nonsensical territory is with his statements about "defeaters". In epistemology, a "defeater" is just something which causes a belief to lose some degree of positive epistemic status. A true properly basic belief cannot have a defeater, because to be skeptical of it is irrational (as mentioned earlier). But the fallibility of human cognition clearly gives us a rational reason (or rather, a set of reasons) to be skeptical of testimony.
Randal seems to think that unless a belief he holds can be shown to be false, he is justified in believing it. But that is, as the saying goes, back-asswards. Beliefs do not fall into neatly divided categories of demonstrably valid and demonstrably invalid. They may also be indeterminate.
So, let's imagine that someone tells us that they've witnessed a good old-fashioned Christian miracle. If we say, "I don't believe you", that is not the same thing as saying "I can demonstrate your assertion to be false"; rather, it's simply saying, "Your assertion alone is not sufficient reason for me to affirm your claim – it's possible that you may be mistaken".
If we take the position that we are justified in believing something unless it can be shown to be false, invalid, or unreliable, then we've given ourselves epistemic license to believe just about anything we want – because there are an infinite number of assertions or beliefs which are not demonstrably false. Let's just re-word the last few lines of Randal's original argument to drive the point home. Note that even as the assertions themselves can be changed into virtually any arbitrary claim, the argument itself remains unchanged:
Consequently, just as rational intuition can provide us with properly basic belief that 7+5=12, and sense perception can provide us with properly basic belief that “The banana is on the counter”, so testimony can provide us with properly basic belief that “Buddha performed eight miracles” or “Superintelligent aliens exist beyond the horizon of the observable universe”.
Consequently, just as rational intuition can provide us with properly basic belief that 7+5=12, and sense perception can provide us with properly basic belief that “The banana is on the counter”, so testimony can provide us with properly basic belief that "Satan is our overlord” or “Jesus is a mythical figure”.
[On a side note, I think Randal's wrong about rational intuition being the basis for mathematics – mathematical axioms are based on set theory, which is derived from observational evidence (the existence of discrete objects that can be grouped into sets). I highly recommend Where Mathematics Come From by Lakoff and Nunez.]
All is not lost here, for Randal's part, as he actually inserts a little something that's sensible:
Think about it. Sense perception has also shown to be “horribly, horribly unreliable”. But the answer is not to blind your eyes and deafen your ears. Rather, it is to proceed with a skeptical caution and take the deliverances of sense perception as fallible and provisional.
He's right, of course, but the nuance here is that he erred in his original post on the topic in claiming that sensory perception itself is properly basic, rather than the assumption that senses are reliable to some degree. A true properly basic belief, such as the assumption of my own existence or that my senses are sometimes reliable, is neither fallible nor provisional; Randal makes the mistake of confusing axioms demonstrated to be reliable through induction with foundational assumptions that are required in order for me to develop any further epistemological framework.
So despite Randal's protests, I'm forced to conclude that his argument that testimony is properly basic is just as absurd as I had originally considered it to be. To call testimony "properly basic" is to dilute the term so radically as to void it of all relevance, and it's surely not a principle Randal himself consistently applies unless, like Edward Current, he's converting to every religion.
Addendum: A mainstream view?
In threads that have since been deleted, Randal accused me of being ignorant of philosophy in part because of my apparent lack of awareness that the view of testimony as properly basic was a pretty common view among academic philosophers. Not content to simply take Randal's testimony at face value (see what I did there?), I did a few searches across the interwebs. I searched for "properly basic belief" at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, and got this:
Hmmm. Okay. Well, a search for "testimony AND 'basic belief'" gave up a single entry on epistemology, which has a subsection on testimony. Nothing therein refers to it as a "basic belief".
A similar search through the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy was slightly more fruitful....
... but on clicking the links and searching through the articles, not even the articles on religious epistemology or the epistemology of testimony had anything about testimony as properly basic.
Finally, a search through Google Scholar proved the most fruitful. But virtually all the links were to papers by theologians, not academic philosophers in general. Many, of course, referenced (and criticized) Alvin Plantinga and his reformed epistemology. Nowhere could I find any evidence that the notion of testimony as properly basic was a widely held view.
Finally, since the very concept of "basic beliefs" derives from the philosophy of Foundationalism, I decided to peruse the PhilPaper surveys and see what percentage of philosophers subscribed to the view. Well... it wasn't even mentioned in either the survey or the metasurvey. The closest and most relevant to the epistemology of testimony was internalism versus externalism, and there was nothing resembling a consensus on the matter:
Now, I'm willing to accept that there may be some evidence I'm overlooking. But based on the evidence I've been able to ascertain so far, the notion of testimony as properly basic seems to be extremely fringe and not even particularly common among theologians, much less mainstream philosophy.
I'm taking a hiatus
Unpacking Randal Rauser's claim that "testimony is...
The conservative reaction to the Duck Dynasty fias...
Religion continues to lose ground
Life as a blogger
I get mail
I'm a music snob (and you should be one, too!)
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April 15th, 2019 - By Teresa Graham - Comments Off on Western Digital (WDC) Upgraded to “Buy” at Deutsche Bank
Filed Under: Analyst Articles - US - Finance
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) was upgraded by stock analysts at Deutsche Bank from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday, The Fly reports.
WDC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $60.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 25th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 31st. BidaskClub lowered shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 18th. Finally, ValuEngine lowered shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.00.
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Shares of NASDAQ WDC traded up $0.03 during trading on Monday, hitting $51.86. 4,566,671 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,178,522. Western Digital has a fifty-two week low of $33.83 and a fifty-two week high of $92.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.18. Western Digital had a net margin of 4.34% and a return on equity of 28.88%. The company had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 4.64 EPS for the current year.
In other news, insider Mark P. Long sold 17,623 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $881,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 158,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,937,200. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sciencast Management LP bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $258,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 135,433 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $6,509,000 after acquiring an additional 1,071 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 15,400 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $254,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $614,000. 85.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Western Digital
Western Digital Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells data storage devices and solutions worldwide. It offers client devices, including hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs) for computing devices, such as desktop and notebook PCs, security surveillance systems, gaming consoles, and set top boxes; flash-based embedded storage products for mobile phones, tablets, notebook PCs, and other portable and wearable devices, as well as automotive, IoT, industrial, and connected home applications; flash-based memory wafers; and embedded storage solutions and iNAND embedded flash products, such as multi-chip package solutions.
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The V/Line service to Ballarat in June was its most punctual so far this year, according to figures just released by the Victorian Department of Transport. The Ballarat line's punctuality increased significantly from 83.8 per cent on time in May to 88.3 per cent in June, although this latter figure is still some way short of the target of 92 per cent punctuality. The last time the Ballarat line services ran above that level was November 2016 when they had a 93.3 per cent punctuality rate. The Ballarat line counts as a commuter service with punctuality judged on pulling into a station within five minutes and 59 seconds of the scheduled arrival time. Long distance services are measured on being within 10 minutes and 59 seconds of schedule. Of the services due to run on the Ballarat line, 97.9 per cent went ahead as planned. Of those services, there were 23 cancellations in total. The Geelong line suffered a considerably higher level of cancellations at 4.8 per cent, but more of its services were punctual with 90.9 per cent of trains reaching their destination on time. The Warrnambool line also showed a sharp increase in punctuality, jumping from 87.2 per cent to 92.5 per cent. Ballarat line commuters were disrupted during the month with several days of scheduled works. Evening V/Line services were cancelled for three days from June 16 to 18, while there was a 14-day stoppage between June 24 and July 7, which included the first week of the school holidays. Replacement buses operated for that fortnight, allowing works to take place for overpasses at stations between Ballan and Melton, part of the $500 million Ballarat line upgrade. Punctuality is only measured for the train services. Have you signed up to The Courier's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.
https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/jolyon.attwooll/03935e15-e94a-4f28-84af-f499c35e1e4c.JPG/r12_252_4916_3023_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg
Ballarat V/Line records most punctual month this year
Trains have been more punctual from Ballarat in June than previously this year. Photo: Adam Trafford
The V/Line service to Ballarat in June was its most punctual so far this year, according to figures just released by the Victorian Department of Transport.
The Ballarat line's punctuality increased significantly from 83.8 per cent on time in May to 88.3 per cent in June, although this latter figure is still some way short of the target of 92 per cent punctuality.
The last time the Ballarat line services ran above that level was November 2016 when they had a 93.3 per cent punctuality rate.
The Ballarat line counts as a commuter service with punctuality judged on pulling into a station within five minutes and 59 seconds of the scheduled arrival time.
Long distance services are measured on being within 10 minutes and 59 seconds of schedule.
Of the services due to run on the Ballarat line, 97.9 per cent went ahead as planned. Of those services, there were 23 cancellations in total.
The Geelong line suffered a considerably higher level of cancellations at 4.8 per cent, but more of its services were punctual with 90.9 per cent of trains reaching their destination on time.
The Warrnambool line also showed a sharp increase in punctuality, jumping from 87.2 per cent to 92.5 per cent.
Ballarat line commuters were disrupted during the month with several days of scheduled works.
Commuters have had to endure a fortnight of coach replacement services
Evening V/Line services were cancelled for three days from June 16 to 18, while there was a 14-day stoppage between June 24 and July 7, which included the first week of the school holidays.
Replacement buses operated for that fortnight, allowing works to take place for overpasses at stations between Ballan and Melton, part of the $500 million Ballarat line upgrade.
Punctuality is only measured for the train services.
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The idea that everybody deserves a chance is at the heart of Horace Mann’s revolutionary belief that education is “the great equalizer.” U.S. schools—and national education systems around the world—today reflect the ideals that Mann was among the first to promote, including universal enrollment, compulsory attendance, and public funding.
Mann’s blueprint for mass education in America has since been followed across the globe—yet international student assessments show that achievement among countries varies sharply, with the United States and much of Europe typically scoring average, at best. Furthermore, educators, business leaders, and government officials cite a growing disconnect between what schools teach and the needs of a rapidly changing market.
This state of affairs has sparked anxieties about an educational crisis, yet the problem, if there is one, is highly complex. The key to making sense of this disparity and “fixing” education lies in taking a meaningful look at what’s happening internationally. Seeing what education looks like in other countries and contexts—how the model America innovated has been adapted and implemented elsewhere—helps us understand how other systems create success. Go on an educational trek around the world to better understand how other countries approach the same challenges we face, and grasp how culture and context shape local circumstances. For example:
In Japan, students remain in the same classroom all day, working in groups, while the teachers move around from class to class. Japanese schooling is characterized by strong institutional ties between schools and employers.
Finland does not have a formal evaluation process for teachers, merit pay, census-based standardized tests, or ranking of schools. Finnish teachers do have relative professional autonomy, competitive salaries, and less classroom time, with more time for reflection and preparation. From preschool through university, education is free of charge.
Indonesia is in the process of moving approximately five million secondary school children into vocational-education programs to help them prepare for jobs that government leaders hope will grow their economy.
Poland improved its average performance on international tests by targeting competency development, focusing particularly on girls and on the lowest-performing students.
Saudi Arabia mandates a religious curricular requirement, while China includes moral education as a required part of the curriculum.
In How the World Learns: Comparative Educational Systems, you’ll delve deeply into each of these cultures and more, led by Alexander W. Wiseman, Associate Professor of Comparative and International Education at Lehigh University. In each of these 24 thought-provoking lectures, you’ll engage in a detailed comparison of teaching methods and student achievement in both primary and secondary schools, from the focus on STEM instruction and the intent of morals education to the role of preschool and the importance of creativity. You’ll discover why Finland and South Korea consistently rank as the two best educational systems despite having diametrically opposed approaches, and consider the unique cultural challenges facing schools from America to South Africa. As you embark on this educational odyssey around the world, you’ll examine schools as close as Tulsa, Oklahoma and as far-flung as Ghana, Japan, and Myanmar. You may be surprised to learn that for all their differences, approaches to teaching don’t vary as widely as one might expect.
With Professor Wiseman’s guidance, you’ll use internationally comparative data to identify strengths and weaknesses and to see how this information is used—and sometimes misused—to enact policies that shape what happens in classrooms. The data and systems are not studied in a vacuum, however. Instead, you’ll explore how cultural, religious, socioeconomic, and historical contexts may influence these methods, and whether one nation’s best practice could backfire in another.
The Big Three: Singapore, South Korea, and Finland
Singapore, South Korea, and Finland have each become famous for their educational systems, which policymakers, educational reformers, and media worldwide applaud. Intriguingly, Finland and South Korea have very different takes on schooling: Finnish children spend about the least amount of time in school and enjoy a relaxed atmosphere, while South Korean students endure long days and rigid pedagogical methods. All three systems, however, focus students on fewer topics more deeply, rather than skimming through many topics superficially.
How the World Learns analyzes these characteristics and the contexts in which they operate, and presents examples of attempts to replicate the success of Finland elsewhere—as in Abu Dhabi, where education officials imported 50 Finnish teachers to establish Finnish-style primary schools.
You’ll also gain insight into other highly ranked countries such as China and Japan, which use high-stakes testing to create a culture of fact-based achievement, yet produce students who struggle with unscripted problems and solutions.
Study the Role of Teachers and Schools Around the Globe
Along the way, you’ll contemplate a number of important questions about the goals of education and the ways teachers may help students reach them:
Are teachers responsible for academic content only, or are they also caregivers and counselors?
Is low student performance the fault of teachers?
Which is more important: gaining knowledge or learning new skills?
Is standardized testing the best way to measure what a person knows or is capable of?
Is the point of school to prepare kids for college or for a job?
Should there be a strong socialization component to school, with the goal of creating better citizens?
These lectures examine the topic of education in a multifaceted way, from the degree to which a country’s teachers regularly collaborate to parental involvement’s impact on achievement. As you investigate gender equity across cultures, you’ll consider the gender-segregated schools of Saudi Arabia, which are being embraced as a new way to create access and opportunity for girls where none may have previously existed.
The complex subject of technology in the developing world is viewed through an unflinching lens, with realistic discussion of its sustainability. The news is not all bad on this front, however, as you’ll witness in a remarkable story of children in an impoverished area of New Delhi who taught themselves to use a computer.
While this is an inquiry into schools the world over, this course also devotes significant attention to education in America. Yet rather than looking at the U.S. system as a monolith, it’s examined for what it truly is: an enormous entity comprised of 50 individual states with widely different educational systems, from the conservative to the experimental.
Learn from a Teacher Who’s Been There
Far from an ivory-tower academic, Professor Wiseman brings real-world classroom experience to this endeavor. Having been a teacher in America and Japan—where he taught English using Beatles lyrics—his practical understanding of the shared experience of teachers and his deep knowledge of international educational systems come across in every lecture.
Educators in particular will appreciate the professor’s ability to balance optimism with pragmatism. He makes clear that there is no magic bullet when it comes to education, and what works in one country may not be realistic for another.
How the World Learns goes beyond the rhetoric of crisis and prescriptions for quick fixes to reveal the fullest picture possible of the practices that produce results (or don’t), the external factors over which schools have little control, and the potential for success.
The Global Challenge to Educate
Borrowing or benchmarking one national education system against another is not necessarily a remedy or the most useful analytical tool for educational reform, yet these are among the most common approaches. Begin to understand why this approach falls short as Professor Wiseman lays out his general thesis for the course. x
Sputnik Launches the Science-Math Race
Dating back to Sputnik in the 1950s, education culture has been driven by anxiety. Learn about the history of "crisis" in U.S. education before investigating how America's educational system compares with schools and students in other countries. Focus on TIMSS in particular, which tracks mathematics and science achievement in about 70 countries. x
Education Is Life
Which is more important - gaining knowledge or new skills? Is standardized testing the best measure of what someone knows? What is the purpose of going to school - to prepare for college or a career? Address such questions as you probe Americans' views on education and how it can be improved using internationally comparable information. x
Evidence-Based Policy Making in Education
Delve into the question of why evidence-based educational policymaking has become a global phenomenon by looking at the way data is used to shape what teachers and students do in the classroom. See how governing bodies can bureaucratize the ways data is collected, presented, and interpreted - or manipulated. x
What Should We Compare about Education?
Do the achievement rankings paint an accurate picture of what's happening in schools, or is the crisis politically manufactured? Get answers as you analyze common criticisms of national education systems through the lens of three recurring phenomena - achievement envy, the accountability expectation, and access entitlement - and look at approaches to shifting school culture. x
The World Learns from Horace Mann
Trace how the ideologies of mass education emerged in the U.S. and became central tenets of education around the world. Survey the ideas of key educational thinkers such as Horace Mann and James Bryant Conant, then consider why, despite its strengths, the U.S. might be ranked low relative to international standards. x
When Culture Invades the Classroom
Investigate the idea that "non-school factors" such as student poverty are among the strongest predictors of learning. Examine how two of the largest of these factors - culture and economics - play out in South Africa, which is experiencing an HIV/AIDS crisis, and in China, where test scores and national economics are thought to go hand-in-hand. x
Germany and Japan's Shattered Expectations
Thanks to the PISA and other internationally comparative data, each nation's policymakers, educators, and the public know exactly how well their students perform compared to their peers. Consider why Finland sits at the top of these rankings, and examine reforms countries such as Indonesia and Japan have implemented in response to their results x
Borrowing Foreign School Cultures
Why are educational comparisons so popular? Should educational reform be driven by economic competition? Think critically about these questions as you examine which countries and cultures are and aren't comparable, and consider the United Arab Emirates' unique strategy of importing 50 Finnish teachers to reform two schools based on the Finnish model. x
The Value in Linking School to Jobs
Many business and industry leaders say there is no connection between formal school education - which teaches information, but not skills - and what is needed in the world of work. Investigate renewed global efforts to test whether vocational training can better prepare youth to participate in the emerging technology-driven knowledge economy. x
Why Blame the Teacher?
Is low student performance the fault of teachers? Consider this question as you study characteristics of students, teachers, curriculum, and culture in the "model" educational systems to see what makes them different (or not) from the U.S. and other middle- or low-performing countries. Look at the elusiveness of quality teachers in the Gulf region. x
Gender Pipeline Lifts Equality Dream
The U.S. and other countries may not be able to replicate Finland's educational system, but they can level the playing field by making adjustments that contribute to equity in policies, curricula, and pedagogy. Focus on gender-based equity, looking at areas where real progress is being made as well as institutionalized gender inequalities masked by egalitarian values. x
Gulf Schools: The Non-National Advantage
Look at the "insider" versus the "outsider" in national education systems such as Saudi Arabia to see how education bridges political citizenship, academic performance, and economic productivity. Examine how education is a means for producing citizens who reflect the desired image of a nation's population and its government. x
Who Is Accountable for Education?
Accountability culture varies from country to country and region to region, but three common elements appear in most educational systems. Compare and contrast how access, achievement, and a combination of standards and assessments play out in the U.S. and Finland, and look at one notable exception - the consensus culture of Japan. x
How Parents Shape Student Outcomes
Explore how parental involvement aligns with socioeconomic status and influences student achievement and education worldwide. See the role cram schools" in Korea and other private tutoring play in education and the importance of early childhood education on child literacy. Finally, learn how the Japanese system fosters ties between schools and employers. " x
Reading, Writing, and Religion
Think about how educators and students in systems around the world decide what to teach and learn, and consider how this decision is largely a product of context. Start with an examination of national curricula around the world, where you'll find commonalities in content matter and cognitive skills, as well as key differences. x
International Test Scores: All and Nothing
Most educational systems around the world have four general goals. Explore each of them here as you get a framework for finding what works to improve student achievement on standardized tests in countries worldwide. Also, look closely at some of the chief concerns regarding these tests. x
Turning a Good Teacher into a Great One
Think about what constitutes good teaching, and look at the ways teachers teach in the U.S., Finland, Saudi Arabia, and Japan. Begin your comparison by looking at some of the school factors that influence teaching, including how teachers are trained and the degree to which they routinely collaborate. x
The Foundations of Civil Society
Think critically about political socialization and why it plays such a large part in education worldwide by looking closely at the various ways students are politically socialized, the results of these efforts, and who realistically - rather than ideally - benefits. x
From National Student to Global Citizen
Explore how education in countries around the world develops global citizens by imparting a combination of identity, knowledge, skills, and action - both explicitly and implicitly - to engender concern for making the world a better place. Examine curricula designed to focus on global citizenry, including the International Baccalaureate and instruction created by Oxfam. x
The Problem with Teaching's Best Practices
Explore ways that teachers and students behave in classrooms across the globe, focusing on what seems to work in a few key systems. Discover why practices that produce a great outcome in one place - such as lengthening the school year - don't necessarily lead to success in another. x
A School inside Your Phone?
New technologies are being implemented as teaching tools, combining traditional teaching methods with more self-directed learning. Consider efforts such as the One Laptop per Child organization, and see why even when such technology does exist, its use is not always sustainable. x
The Rich-and-Poor Learning Cycle
How should we measure academic success? By standardized tests and school grades? By transition and mobility within an education system? See how true success in education is a delicate balance between school factors and non-school factors, which can look quite different depending on the context. x
How to Fix Education: Heart, Head, Hands
Assuming something is "wrong" with schools, how might they be fixed? Analyze how the larger forces of imposition, invitation, and innovation can lead to change through examples from Saudi Arabia, the U.S., and Myanmar, where Buddhist monks have established non-religious schools at their monasteries to remedy the poor quality of government-provided education. x
Instant Audio Includes:
Download 24 audio lectures to your computer or mobile app
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Photos & illustrations
Alexander W. Wiseman, Ph.D.
Professor Alexander W. Wiseman is an Associate Professor of Comparative and International Education at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. He received his Ph.D. in both Comparative and International Education and Educational Theory and Policy from The Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Wiseman has more than 19 years of professional experience, working worldwide with government education departments, university-based...
(Set) How the World Learns & Art of Teaching
(Set) How the World Learns & How to Become a SuperStar Student, 2nd Edition
Set How the World Learns & Scientific Secrets for Raising Kids Who Thrive
(Set) How the World Learns & Cultural Literacy for Religion
(Set) How the World Learns & How We Learn
How the World Learns: Comparative Educational Systems is rated 2.9 out of 5 by 10.
Rated 2 out of 5 by MN learner from Good topic, less informative than hoped This course was the most disappointing of the few dozen that I have done so far, although it is a topic I am keenly interested in. The overarching theme was: Everything depends on the cultural context... Therefore we cannot share best practices across cultures, or say some educational systems or practices are more effective than others. In addition, the professor spoke like too many of my long ago college professors: why use 2 good descriptive words when you could use 5 and be more thorough? The result is the message gets lost in the muddle.
Rated 4 out of 5 by Screaming Eagles from Interesting comparison of education around world I found it gave a good history of educational goals in USA. It looked at how the school system interacts with the different cultures. It gave a good introduction to school factors and non-school factors affecting whether students learn or not. In the later lectures, I found it troubling that Wiseman emphasized social justice and Oxfam standards for globalization. I don't believe valid research supports what he recommends regarding social justice and globalization There is a vast corpus of research on gender differences which are not considered the so called disciplines of sociology, history, women's studies. See Passing on the Right The Oxfam guidelines are defective because they don't consider the latest research on the evolutionary basis for moral values. See Professor Jonathan Haidt The Righteous Mind. Also see William Easterly The Tyranny of Experts.
Rated 5 out of 5 by nnet70 from Great course Loved the course. Although some concepts are contested in literature, the professor was great at both delivery and presenting the case. It is particularly US based, but still an enjoyable course.
Rated 3 out of 5 by Lynne from Too academic for non-educators This course would be quite valuable to Educators of all levels. There is a lot of information that would help these people develop programs on how to teach, how to train teachers, and the value of, and interpretation testing. For the layperson and grandparents, there is too much depth and vocabulary for us to adequately follow the lectures. Because of this, we quit watching after about half way through the course.
Rated 1 out of 5 by seniorstudent from Well below Great Courses usual standard Regrettably, I have to say that this is one of the most unsatisfactory of the Great Courses that I have taken. The problem is in the course content. Professor Wiseman’s delivery is clear, if a little dull, but it cannot compensate for the paucity of what he has to say. The course is about K through 12 education in public schools. Post high-school education is not mentioned, nor are private schools, both of which seem to me to be major omissions when studying national educational systems. The course has little or no structure, thread or theme. It is a haphazard jumble of disconnected lectures with interminable repetitions. It contains little meaningful data and few logical arguments. There are many words in these lectures but very few insights. The second half of the course is better than the first, but it takes some determination to get to the half-way point. Professor Wiseman refers to two international tests: TIMSS and PISA. He does not explain how the tests are conducted or give examples of test questions. Nor does he quote any numerical scores. However, it is clear that he does not believe what the scores tell us. Much of the course comes across as an apologia for the mediocre performance of U.S. students on international tests and for the U.S. school system itself. He constantly reminds us of the importance of what he calls non-school factors, by which he means impacts on student performance that are not under the control of the education system, such as poverty or family issues. Because of this, he largely dismisses the significance of rankings on TIMSS and PISA. This seems to me to be a mistake: The rankings are a real measure of the relative performances, on these tests, of students from different countries; the results should be taken seriously regardless of whether they are determined in the educational system or not. Conversely, he gives us relatively little information on “school factors” and which of them are most significant in determining student performance. Nor does he present a cogent argument, one way or the other, about the value of standardized tests. It is hard to say who Professor Wiseman imagines to be in his audience: Fellow social scientists? Educational policy makers (who are referred to repeatedly)? Personally, I learned very little of value from this course.
Rated 1 out of 5 by Columelle from It was so promissing... I expected a lot of this course! I was sure from all the lessons' titles that it would be a travel around the world, learning the best and the worst ways of teaching! In fact, most of the time, the content didn't correspond to the lessons' titles. The teacher had a flat tone, speaking without passion, that didn't promote learning! Attending such lectures was like listening a civil servant or even worst, a technocrat.
Rated 3 out of 5 by CBinDetroit from Great Presentation But Lacked Depth Let me begin by saying that I am not an educator and I don't have children, so my involvement in the world of education is very limited. I do consider myself to have a stake in current education just as a citizen of the world, though, so I was interested in the subject matter. Overall, I felt that the course was limited in depth. The main point I heard over and over was that both school factors (curriculum, teacher training, length of school day, instructional materials, etc# and non-school factors #home life, community factors# affected students' performance on tests. Well... duh. Obviously that is true. I would have been more interested in learning specifically which school factors had the most influence on affecting test scores, and while occasionally there would be a brief discussion of one of those factors -- I specifically remember teacher training being one -- it was not a focus of the course. One issue that was discussed at length and was at least moderately interesting was what an "average" test score #where U.S. students tend to be in international testing distributions# really means. It was an interesting point that an average test score does not mean most students are average; it means that there are many high-scoring students and many low-scoring students. Also, aside from the few countries whose students consistently score at the highest end of the scale and those whose students consistently score at the lowest end, most countries are average and it is difficult to make meaningful comparisons among the large group of "average" countries. Another somewhat obvious point -- but still worth articulating -- was that when assessing the impact of school factors on test performance, it is necessary to make sure that you are comparing cultures that are similar in non-school factors as well. So you cannot take a system that works in, for example, an affluent, ethnically homogenous community and expect it to work as well in a low-income, mixed community. School systems discussed most frequently in these lectures included the U.S., Japan, Finland, and Saudi Arabia. I had no idea Finland was such a top-scoring country, and the differences between the educational system in Finland and that in the also-top-scoring Asian countries, including Japan, were interesting. The presentation was so great it almost made up for the lack of substantial information. The professor is highly engaging and articulate, and has vast amounts of experience in education. This course was overall just okay. I got it at a good price and it was the second Great Course that I have taken. I probably would not buy it again although I did get it at a good price, so I don't feel like I got gipped or anything; I just feel like I could have learned more elsewhere.
Rated 2 out of 5 by HappyCurmudgeon from Course Grade: Incomplete Professor Wiseman intends to give us insight into how different educational systems around the world compare with each other primarily in terms of student achievement. His analysis is very much part of the conventional mainstream thought among educators today - which is to say that it is incomplete. His emphasis on school and non-school variables that contribute to high achievement is sound enough, but he does not include a discussion of the most important non-school variable of all, cognitive ability. When we give an achievement test like the PISA exam to a sample of (about) 15-year-old students around the world, a wide range of scores is obtained. About 70% of this score range is attributable to differences in academic ability among the students taking the exam. All the other school and non-school factors discussed by Professor Wiseman contribute about 30% to the observed differences in achievement. Therefore, until achievement test scores are corrected for differences in the cognitive abilities of the test takers, the results are largely uninterpretable. Unfortunately, these data are not available so the current efforts to compare students from different countries is not possible at this time. That is why this lecture series gets a course grade of incomplete. At the present time we have no sound basis for making comparisons among educational systems around the world. This could rather easily be remedied by adding about 30 minutes worth of additional survey questions to any international test (like the PISA exam) which would then provide a reasonable estimate of the cognitive ability of each test taker. However, it's not clear that this need is even currently recognized - I'm not expecting improvement any time soon. So if you want a conventional view of how world educational systems compare rather than an accurate one, this course could be for you. If you're interested in learning more about these issues, I recommend the excellent book by Kathryn Asbury and Robert Plomin, G is for Genes.
How the World Learns: Comparative Educational Systems Reviews - page 2
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Building a Better Vocabulary
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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Techniques for Retraining Your Brain
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Death, Dying, and the Afterlife: Lessons from World Cultures
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Gifthorse bolts
Warwick University has run the government's gifted and talented programme for five years, with great success. So why has the contract now gone elsewhere? By John Crace
John Crace
@JohnJCrace
Tue 28 Aug 2007 18.42 EDT
It's always been a political minefield. Few issues divide the educational world as deeply as "gifted and talented". For its supporters, it's a lifeline - a programme that ensures the most able children are properly extended and supported. For its detractors, it's just a distraction - a sop to pushy, middle-class parents that diverts resources away from those who really need it.
Yet even among its supporters, there's little agreement on the numbers who should qualify as being gifted and talented. The government wants every school to weed out its top 10% of pupils and sign them up as gifted and talented, regardless of any national standard. The National Academy of Gifted and Talented Youth (Nagty) works to a yardstick of the top 5%, while the National Association for Gifted Children narrows the spectrum still further to the top 2%, arguing that there is as wide a difference in ability between the top 2% and the next 8% as there is between the top 10% and the other 90%.
Even so, the various factions have always managed to rub along well, united in a common purpose while pursuing their own agendas. Until now. For five years, the University of Warwick has held the contract to run the Nagty programme and, by most objective standards, it has been very successful. Set an original target of enrolling 20,000 students, it now has more than 140,000. It has run summer schools, conferences and outreach programmes for both pupils and educators, and has achieved international recognition for the quality of the management and delivery of its gifted and talented services.
Conspicuous absence
Warwick was regarded by most in the field as a shoo-in to win the new five-year contract when it came up for renewal. And, indeed, the university did submit an expression of interest when the contract was put out for tender. But when the final deadline passed, Warwick was conspicuous by its absence. So from the end of this week, Nagty's services will instead be run by the CfBT educational trust.
A spokesperson for the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), which drew up and decided the winner of the contract, says this is very straightforward. "The contract with Warwick University was always due to end in August 2007. Following a competitive tendering process, which Warwick did not choose to submit a bid for, it was decided that CfBT offered the best opportunities for our brightest children. There will be no change in the services for current Nagty members as a result of this change."
Warwick's explanation is diplomatic, but rather more revealing. "The government decided to separate responsibility for managing its national provision for gifted and talented education from the delivery of services for G&T learners and educators," says a university spokesman. "The University of Warwick decided not to bid to lead the government's new arrangements for gifted and talented young people and their teachers in the UK.
"The proposed arrangements separate the management and contracting of gifted and talented education from the delivery of education, support and research for gifted and talented young people and education professionals. Given the focus on contract management, and as one of the UK's leading research-led universities, we do not feel that this is a model that best utilises the expertise we have developed in this area over the last five years."
You can interpret this statement in two ways. You could see it as the unwillingness of one of Britain's top universities to surrender its independence to central government. And who could really blame Warwick for that? It has been running a successful programme for five years without excessive interference, so why should it have to start now?
Shift in direction
But it could also be read as the university's reluctance to get involved in what some perceive as a shift in direction. The government has so far been less than thrilled by many schools' refusal to take part in its G&T initiative, a programme it sees as central to its mission to drive up standards. Despite every school being required to keep a register of its top 10% G&T pupils, roughly 30% have not done so - and nor do they appear to have any intention of doing so.
This inactivity might partly be explained by indifference - G&T carries no extra funding and is sometimes looked on by schools as just another administrative chore - but in many cases it is driven by hostility towards a scheme some teachers regard as divisive. Many G&T educators can cite cases where teachers have included less able students on the programme, either to deliberately disrupt the course or to get extra help for those they consider to be truly deserving of the extra resources.
But with no financial sanctions, the worst that can happen to a school that does not take part is a poor mark from Ofsted for its G&T provision.
Understandably, the government has become frustrated by this impasse and the conditions of the new contract suggest it wants a much more hands-on, managerial approach.
Under the old contract, Warwick had little involvement with the government's official 10% G&T target beyond monitoring the statistics; its Nagty programmes were aimed at the top 5%. And while these Nagty schemes will continue under CfBT on the same lines as before, it is clear that the government wants to work harder to extend the scheme and to enforce the 10% message in schools.
CfBT is an educational trust that has been around for 40 years, supporting government reform programmes by selling its services at classroom level in schools and young offenders' institutions, and providing training for educators. Its chief executive, Neil McIntosh, is under no illusions about what is expected under the new contract.
"The new bid does separate management from services," he acknowledges, "and it does make it much more explicit than before that we are answerable to the DCSF. It's a change of emphasis that does not necessarily play to a university's strengths, so I can understand why Warwick might have chosen to withdraw from the process.
Work in schools
"Warwick has done some fantastically good work, but our aim will be to extend that to include a much wider group of children. By definition, a summer school can only reach a finite number of students, and we want to work more in schools and create online communities. We will also be branching out to include primary as well as secondary schools, in order to catch and develop children before they've had a chance to become disaffected."
McIntosh is aware he is entering another danger area here. Children develop at different ages and different rates. "There will be a certain amount of flexibility," he says, "as children will be joining the scheme at different ages." What he can't say for sure is whether that will mean some children leaving the programme. After all, if the government's 10% target is set in stone, if some children join the scheme late, some are surely going to have to drop out - an unthinkable scenario for many educators.
McIntosh is keen to point out that some of the details are still to be resolved. At present, there is an ongoing debate within the DCSF over G&T funding. Should, as some argue, each G&T student be allocated funding that he or she can use to buy extra resources, or should every student, regardless of ability, have access to the same funds? And if the latter, then how can this be afforded? All McIntosh can say is that, if and when the DCSF comes to a decision, CfBT will be piloting schemes in order to assess it.
For the time being, McIntosh hopes to steer a middle course. "There are intense, almost theological, debates, around G&T issues," he says, "but our aim is to be removed from the politics. We're here to deliver a programme. The government wants to extend G&T services and we will be working with schools and educators to make sure as many people as possible can benefit.
"I know we will meet with resistance in some quarters, but we hope that, despite what some teachers and schools might privately think, everyone will come to realise they have more to gain by participating."
It won't be easy. The divisions within the G&T world are significant, and everyone - not least Warwick, which is currently setting up its own international gifted and talented programme - will be looking on carefully to see how things pan out.
· Send your views to education.letters@theguardian.com
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Saturday interview
Alexei Navalny on Putin's Russia: 'All autocratic regimes come to an end'
Shaun Walker
Vladimir Putin is riding high, expecting a fourth term as president and allegedly influencing elections from the US to France – but Alexei Navalny is determined to stop him
Sat 29 Apr 2017 02.30 EDT Last modified on Mon 27 Nov 2017 20.06 EST
‘The cops who arrest me always say: ‘We support you, you’re a good guy, but Putin’s foreign policy is great’’ … Alexei Navalny. Photograph: Oleg Nikishin/Epsilon photos
Alexei Navalny is in good spirits for a man who can hardly step outside without being insulted, assaulted or arrested. Earlier this month he was released from a 15-day stint in a Russian jail. And on Thursday, in Moscow, unknown assailants threw green dye in his face, the second such attack in recent months. But his habitual half-smirk never seems to waver.
Perhaps it is because, as Vladimir Putin prepares to stand for yet another presidential term in elections next March, Navalny is threatening to bring some life to the arid landscape that is Russian politics. Navalny was imprisoned because of a protest he called for on 26 March. It surprised everyone with its size. In Moscow alone, police detained more than 1,000 people, and jailed dozens. Although the numbers were small in absolute terms, people protested in dozens of towns across Russia, marking a worrying new development for the Kremlin.
For Navalny, the fortnight behind bars seems to have been an energising rather than a demoralising experience. “There were some others in the jail, and for all of them it was their first protest in their lives,” says Navalny when I meet him in his office in a Moscow business centre. “When they saw me walking past, they were calling out, ‘When’s the next protest?’ They weren’t asking if there would be one, they wanted to know when.”
Navalny, 40, is a lawyer-turned- campaigner whose Anti-Corruption Foundation carries out investigations into the wealth of Putin’s inner circle. After some years when he was on the fringes of liberal politics but known for his Russian nationalist views, Navalny emerged as the main opposition leader in the wave of protests that accompanied the build-up to the last Russian presidential election, in 2012.
The day he was arrested, security agents showed up at his office, packed up all the electronics and walked off with them. When I visit, nothing has yet been returned. He is working on a MacBook with a sticker on it bearing the three-letter Russian word “VOR”, meaning “thief”. A grotesque caricature of Putin’s face peers at me through the O.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov looks down at us from a calendar released by the foundation, listing its key investigations. In 2015, Navalny alleged that Peskov had spent his honeymoon on one of the world’s most expensive sailing boats, and spotted him wearing a limited-edition watch worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. (Peskov denied the boat trip and said the watch was a wedding gift.) Navalny has also accused deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov’s wife of using a private jet to fly her pet corgis around Europe, and obtained drone footage of the palatial residences of other ministers and top officials.
Navalny’s most recent investigation was into the prime minister and one-time placeholder president, Dmitry Medvedev, alleging that the man who was once heralded as the beginning of a new liberal era for Russia in fact controlled an empire of luxury residences, vineyards and yachts. “It really pissed people off,” says Navalny. It was the Medvedev investigation that brought people to the streets in March. “Everyone already thought Medvedev was pathetic and pointless, but it turns out he’s pathetic, pointless and a billionaire.”
Navalny in court after his arrest during a protest rally in Moscow last month. Photograph: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images
Medvedev dismissed the allegations as “lies” from a “political imposter”. But even though state television has ignored the allegations, nearly 20 million people have viewed Navalny’s YouTube video. Navalny believes that as poverty continues to blight large swaths of Russia’s population, the mood of protest will only grow. Even the police are angry about government corruption, Navalny claims.
“The cops who arrest me” – Navalny has been detained or arrested multiple times – “always say: ‘We support you, you’re a good guy, we’ve seen the films, Medvedev is taking the fucking piss, but Putin’s foreign policy is great. Of course, the internal policies aren’t so good.’” This chimes with what I have heard on my trips around Russia: people are miserable about their own situations, but believe Putin’s interventions in Ukraine and Syria have saved the world from US hegemony.
And these days it’s not just in Russia that Putin is seen as all-powerful. I ask Navalny about the current alarm over Kremlin interference in the west. He chuckles at the idea that Donald Trump is somehow a “Russian agent” and thinks the west has become hysterical about Russia, but he also says it’s clear the Kremlin will attempt to buy influence where it can, and thinks western politicians come surprisingly cheap.
“For these guys, a billion dollars is nothing,” he says, cocking his head towards the calendar featuring Putin’s inner circle. “And for just a billion dollars you can buy up all the small parties of Europe.”
Navalny says he does his best to counter TV propaganda about renewed Russian influence when campaigning in the regions. “I tell them: ‘OK great, so Putin is promising to rebuild Palmyra, but why don’t you look at the roads in your city? What do you think the priority should be? Fixing the roads in Voronezh or Stavropol or rebuilding Palmyra? The Americans are loaded. Let them fix Palmyra, and we should concentrate on our own problems.’”
A few days later, I meet Navalny again in Chelyabinsk, a two-hour flight east of Moscow. It is one stop on a tour of dozens of cities that he has undertaken ahead of standing in the March presidential 2018 election. An industrial city with a population of just over a million, Chelyabinsk is filled with decaying, Soviet-era factories that emit so much pollution that when you inhale, the air stings the back of the nostrils like wasabi. It’s a Putin heartland, but also the kind of place where the economic hardships of the last few years have been felt most acutely. Navalny and his team arrive late at night, after a bone-crunching six-hour drive from Tyumen, where he opened a campaign headquarters the day before.
In other towns on the campaign trail, he has been assaulted or insulted as he tries to meet with locals. Bomb threats are phoned into venues where he is speaking, leading to the police evacuating them. In Chelyabinsk, the day passes relatively peacefully. In the morning, he speaks to young locals who want to volunteer to help get his presidential campaign underway. There are a couple of hundred people there, many from the city’s nascent hipster class. It’s an impressive turnout, but these people are Navalny’s natural support base. More interesting is how his message goes down later in the day, when he speaks at an environmental protest, against the construction of a new mining and processing plant that will pollute the atmosphere even more.
The local authorities take no chances with their inconvenient guest from the capital. The children’s playground where the rally takes place is surrounded by five police buses, a detachment of riot police in cosmonaut helmets, a bevy of Cossacks who look ready for a fight, and some brawny youths who have shown up, almost certainly on the orders of the authorities, to disrupt proceedings.
“This is an environmental gathering, please behave in a dignified manner,” pleads the frazzled organiser, as 50 or so people begin chants of “Go away!” and “Shame!” the minute Navalny’s name is mentioned.
Navalny after having green dye thrown in his face, the second such attack he has suffered this year. Photograph: Twitter
He takes the stage with a grin. “Let me explain something to you – I’ve got a microphone and you haven’t, so this is all a bit pointless,” he shouts jovially, as the young men keep chanting. “But look, if you don’t like me, don’t vote for me. I’ve come today, and I’ll be leaving this evening. But the plant will stay here, and it’s going to poison you, and your families. Is that what you want? Keep chanting if that’s what you really want.” The provocateurs, extraordinarily, pipe down. Some of them even look a bit ashamed, and listen as Navalny launches into a characteristic rant about Putin’s “crooks and thieves” who are stealing their money and poisoning their cities.
Russia is a country where politicians rarely have to do anything as risky as meeting with real people, and when it does happen by accident, it tends to end in disaster – witness the hapless Medvedev, on a visit to Crimea, telling a group of elderly women distraught about their low pensions that “there’s no money, but all the best, good health to you, bye!” before sauntering off. Many in the opposition also seem hopelessly detached from the masses – the curse of the Russian liberals since tsarist times. But whether they love him or hate him, most Russian observers agree that Navalny has remarkable political instincts and a powerful charismatic streak. His fiery cocktail of liberalism, nationalism and populism resonates with many.
“People say he’s a provocateur, that’s he’s paid from abroad,” says 62-year-old Nadezhda, listening on in Chelyabinsk. “Is that true? I don’t know. But at least he’s come to speak to us, at least he says the right things. Nothing ever gets done here, nobody ever listens.”
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In Russia, where no conspiracy is too outlandish to be considered, some see Navalny as a puppet of the rapacious west, while others suspect him of having a Kremlin backer, perhaps even Putin, using him to pour dirt on inconvenient members of the elite. “I’d find him much more trustworthy if he was dead,” one liberal Muscovite said to me, only half-jokingly, a few days before the interview. “How can he be doing what he’s doing and still be alive? He must have a powerful backer.”
I put this question to Navalny, with a parenthesised apology attached. “Fucking morons,” he says, irritably. “‘Why haven’t they killed you, why haven’t they locked you up?’ People are always asking me this. Look, I have no answer to that question. I suppose the most likely is that they didn’t manage to lock me up when they could have done easily, and then after a certain point it became more difficult.”
It is probable that many of the tip-offs for his various investigations do come from Kremlin insiders; underneath the surface loyalty, a brutal battle for power and influence goes on inside the Russian elite. But even if they have occasional uses for him, Putin’s men have long grappled with the issue of how to deal with Navalny.
The Kremlin has tried different strategies: launching court cases, keeping him under house arrest and even jailing his brother in an apparent attempt to put pressure on him. Sometimes they even tried to crush him honestly: he was allowed to run for mayor of Moscow in 2013. But despite having no access to state television, he won 27% of the vote, which alarmed the Kremlin, and in 2014 he was placed under house arrest while awaiting a new, politicised trial.
I visited him then, at his modest apartment in an unglamorous suburb of Moscow, where he still lives with his wife, Yulia, and their two children. He was as defiant as ever, but seemed sidelined in the newly patriotic atmosphere after the annexation of Crimea. Hardly anyone seemed to notice his absence from the political scene as he spent months banned from speaking with the media or leaving his flat.
Navalny at the opening of his election campaign office in the city of Ivanovo earlier this month. Photograph: Vladimir Smirnov/TASS
Now, as the “Crimea effect” wanes and economic difficulties continue, the Kremlin is finding it harder to mobilise the population ahead of next year’s vote. The presidential administration is on the hunt for someone who could provide token opposition to Putin, but it is not likely to be Navalny. “Too much unpleasant noise,” a source close to the Kremlin told me. “They want someone who will give off the impression of competition, but will not actually attack Putin and the inner circle. They need someone who understands the limits, and Navalny does not recognise any limits.”
Instead, the Kremlin has gone into attack mode. Last week, Russian news outlets reported a secret Kremlin directive to “blacken” Navalny, and sure enough, a video soon appeared on YouTube comparing him to Hitler, complete with photoshopped images of Navalny sieg heiling, wearing a swastika armband. There were reports that university students had been shown the video as part of “educational events” designed to stop them from protesting.
The video was a hamfisted smear attempt, but Navalny does have questions to answer about his nationalist views. Several years ago, he released a number of disturbing videos, including one in which he is dressed as a dentist, complaining that tooth cavities ruin healthy teeth, as clips of migrant workers are shown. In another video, he speaks out in favour of relaxing gun controls, in a monologue that appears to compare migrants to cockroaches.
I ask him if he regrets those videos now, and he’s unapologetic. He sees it as a strength that he can speak to both liberals and nationalists. But comparing migrants to cockroaches? “That was artistic license,” he says. So there’s nothing at all from those videos or that period that he regrets? “No,” he says again, firmly.
Perhaps he has a cynical belief that, with the support of the liberal elite sewn up, the anti-migrant rhetoric can potentially help him appeal to a broader audience. Certainly, most opposition politicians, even if they don’t like Navalny much, are aware that he is the best hope for swelling anti-Putin sentiment.
Navalny has announced another Russia-wide protest on 12 June. The turnout that day will be a good indicator of whether last month’s protest was a flash in the pan, or the start of something seriously threatening for the Kremlin. “You can arrest 100 people and jail them for 15 days. OK, you can jail 1,000 people across the country. But then what?” Before then, he plans dozens more trips across Russia to drum up volunteers to help launch his presidential bid.
Why have I been arrested? Maybe you killed Kennedy, the Russian officer said
After a long day in Chelyabinsk, he looks exhausted, but happily signs autographs for people who approach our table in the airport cafe. I notice that it’s 100 years to the day since Vladimir Lenin arrived at St Petersburg’s Finland Station, in April 1917, spewing radical theses that few took seriously – at least initially. Most Russians, given a combination of very real historical tragedy and careful Kremlin messaging, are wary of revolution or upheaval.
Is there a danger, I ask Navalny, that Putin’s actions over the past years have turned the Kremlin insistence that any political change would be disastrous for Russia into a self-fulfilling prophecy? There’s no outlet for healthy opposition, and any revolutionary uprising would surely be brutally crushed. He sighs, like a teacher irritated with a particularly slow pupil.
“Look, of course the regime will fight back. But all autocratic regimes come to an end. Who would have thought in 1985 that the Soviet Union would all come to an end before long? Nobody. Who would have guessed, in 2010, that the Arab regimes would be over in three months? In 2012, I said the regime would last two more years, and I was wrong, so I’ve stopped making predictions. But sooner or later, it will all come to an end.”
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Published: 8 Jan 2019
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny detained again
Putin's East German identity card found in Stasi archives – report
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This article is more than 1 year old
Fury as Argentina blacklists WTO attendees over 'calls for violence'
President Macri under fire for revoking accreditations for officials ‘who had made explicit calls for violence on social media’ – a charge those affected reject
Uki Goñi in Buenos Aires
Mon 11 Dec 2017 13.55 EST Last modified on Tue 12 Dec 2017 10.14 EST
Argentinian president Mauricio Macri arrives at the opening ceremony of the 11th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization in Buenos Aires. Photograph: Eitan Abramovich/AFP/Getty Images
Argentina’s centre-right president Mauricio Macri has come under heavy criticism for banning representatives of 26 international NGOs from attending a World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial conference in Buenos Aires because of their postings on social media.
The Argentinian government revoked accreditation for around 60 people, and over the weekend deported two delegates who attempted to the enter the country for the biennial meeting. The activists represented 20 different groups, including Friends of the Earth International and Global Justice Now.
“The legitimacy of this WTO meeting is affected by this unilateral act by the Macri administration,” said Petter Titland of the Norwegian NGO Attac Norge, who returned to Buenos Aires on Monday after initially being forced to board a flight to neighbouring Brazil.
According to Titland, Argentinian officials said he had been expelled because of his social media postings.
Argentina deports British journalist ahead of WTO conference
In a statement explaining its decision, Argentina’s foreign ministry said it had blacklisted NGO officials “who had made explicit calls for manifestations of violence through social media, expressing the intent to generate schemes of intimidation and chaos”.
The charge was roundly denied by Sally Burch, a British journalist and NGO representative resident in Ecuador, who was turned back when she arrived in Buenos Aires on Friday.
“Nothing is further from the truth,” Burch told the Guardian in a phone interview after returning to Quito. “None of the blacklisted NGOs have been advocating violent protest. That would be against their principles and it would be against mine as well.”
According to the Financial Times, Argentina at first refused to reverse its decision even under pressure from the WTO itself, but it finally relented in the case of Titland, three French citizens and one Belgian NGO representative.
All three countries had moved at a ministerial level on behalf of the NGO representatives to “provide guarantees of their behaviour and their organizations,” Argentina’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
In the case of Titland, Norway’s foreign minister Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide provided assurances “he was not involved in violent actions or incited others to commit them either”, Argentina’s foreign ministry said.
Belgian NGO representative Michel Cermak was also only admitted after “receiving assurances from Belgium’s deputy prime minister and the ministry of foreign affairs of that country”, Argentina’s foreign ministry added.
In a tweet on Sunday, the Norwegian foreign ministry seemed to chide Argentina for its ban.
“Glad that the Argentinian authorities will allow Petter Titland to attend WTO meeting after we have raised the matter on several levels. Participation & openness important,” the Norwegian foreign ministry said.
But the effected delegates blasted Argentina’s request for assurances of good behaviour from their respective governments.
“The only cases that have been resolved are those that were pressured at the ministerial level,” said Titland. “Requiring the foreign ministries of countries such as Norway to spend a lot of time and effort on this is outrageous. Macri’s people having been acting very unprofessional in this case.”
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When The Mediation Group incorporated in 1985, it did so as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. This decision reflects the longstanding commitment to public service of the three founding principals. For the past 30 years, TMG has been committed to:
Bringing dispute resolution processes and techniques -- mediation, arbitration, facilitation, collaborative problem solving -- to a wide range of fields;
Improving the practice of ADR and the skills of practitioners, and
Designing quality dispute resolution systems for courts, administrative agencies and private organizations.
Court-based programs
The Mediation Group was hired, in partnership with what was then the Massachusetts Office of Dispute Resolution (now the Mass. Office of Public Collaboration), to provide the initial design and implementation of mediation programs for the Massachusetts Superior Courts in Suffolk and Norfolk Counties as well as at the Middlesex Multi-Door Courthouse. This long-term endeavor entailed the creation of the first mediation program used in the Massachusetts Superior Court, and served as the basis for later development of a robust model of court-based dispute resolution programs.
Much of The Mediation Group’s public service work has focused on supporting collaborative dispute resolution in health care. In 2001, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health formally recognized TMG’s “valuable contribution to the development of the Health Insurance Consumer Protection Regulations for the Office of Patient Protection.”
As a non-profit, TMG has been the recipient of several foundation grants to support public service projects.
TMG received two grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to develop and implement a protocol to assess conflict in health care plans.
TMG participated in a hospital-based training on disclosure of medical errors under a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts.
TMG facilitators worked with colleagues from the UMass Medical Center on a study funded by the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute to investigate the inclusion of patients’ perspectives in the development of clinical practice guidelines for controversial medical treatments.
The Mediation Group’s professionals regularly conduct trainings of mediators through the Community Dispute Settlement Center (CDSC) and Mass Continuing Legal Education, Inc. (MCLE) as well as speaking and conducting classes at law schools including Emerson, Harvard, Northeastern & Roger Williams. To further support the goal of high quality training for emerging mediation practitioners, TMG is launching a Fellowship program which will provide mentoring, coaching and a supervised mediation experience for a new mediator who will work closely with TMG over a one year period.
Mediation Fellowship program
In his experience as an educator one of TMG’s principals, David Matz, found that there was a gap in the professional mediator’s career ladder. Newcomers were finding it difficult to gain experience with significant mediation cases outside of small claims court. What the mediation field needs is a new, extensive training structure with in depth practice and supervision. Find a copy of David's article, "No Career Ladder for Mediators," here.
This need led to the development of the TMG Mediation Fellowship program. The program offers the upcoming generation of mediators the opportunity to build professional competence and gain experience with substantial mediation cases. Through the Fellowship program the new mediator is able observe a variety of mediations and arbitrations with senior TMG staff and develop his or her skills. Please contact us at agordon@themediationgroup.org for more information.
Current 2018 fellows include:
Charles (Chuck) Ferrara
Our 2015 inaugural fellow was Hema Patel. She has since moved to New York where she is working as an attorney representing unaccompanied minors at Catholic Charities Communities Services. Our 2016 fellow, Amin Danai, is back working at Ropes and Gray in the corporate department and as part of their asset management team. We look forward to seeing him grow his mediation career. For the summer of 2017, we have Ruslan Mirzayev joining us as a fellow all the way from Azerbaijan. Ruslan hopes to learn the ins and outs of the mediation process so he can increase the use of mediation in his home country and open a firm of his own. Adriana Sanchez Correa joined us in the fall of 2017. She was a great addition to our group and might hold the record for the highest number of mediations observed!
In recent years, TMG has also been involved in efforts to promote the use of dispute resolution processes and techniques in a number of overseas locations including China, the Middle East, Nigeria and a January 2015 trip to Cuba – for more detail on our International projects, please click here.
Peace Building (1)
Assessment & Design (2)
Case Evaluation (2)
Diversity and Inclusion (2)
Facilitation (4)
Couples and Family (10)
Org Development (19)
Dispute System Assessment and Design
Special Master
I never expected it to settle; somehow you worked the miracle.
— Mediation Client
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Today's no sh*t Sherlock news: 'Northern Ireland not well prepared for no deal'
PUBLISHED: 00:01 26 October 2018
Matt Withers
Who could have possibly guessed
$image.copyright
Auditors have shocked absolutely no-one by reporting Northern Ireland is not well prepared for a no-deal Brexit in areas such as trade and customs.
The ability to plan is also "severely constrained" amid uncertainty surrounding the Irish border, migration and the repatriation of powers from Brussels, comptroller and auditor general of the Northern Ireland Audit Office Kieran Donnelly said.
Those responsibilities fall to Westminster in the form of "reserved" powers which were never devolved to Stormont.
Extensive preparations have been made by Northern Irish civil servants in areas which did come under the remit of the former powersharing government at Stormont, such as agriculture, the review said.
It warned: "In respect of those areas where policy is reserved, Northern Ireland is not well prepared for leaving the EU without a deal.
"The civil service remains engaged with the UK government to ensure that Northern Ireland's interests are recognised in the negotiations, although without a functioning executive its influence has undoubtedly been limited."
Planning to manage the risks in areas where powers are devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly is ongoing through civil servants.
The spending watchdog added: "Negotiations between the EU and the UK are on-going and in the absence of an agreed exit deal, the way ahead on the key issues is far from clear.
"The UK government's position remains that it will achieve a deal that will mitigate these risks as far as is possible. However, time is running short.
"The lack of clarity so far on the shape of an exit deal and a clear way forward inevitably means that Northern Ireland is limited in terms of the practical preparations it can make.
"It is not fully ready, in operational terms, for a no-deal exit.
"There are also concerns that whatever the outcome, Northern Ireland's capacity to implement any changes necessary may be constrained given the short time available."
In response, a UK government spokeswoman insisted it was "resolute in our commitments to Northern Ireland".
She said: "This includes no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland and any physical infrastructure or related checks and controls.
"It remains the responsibility of the government to continue preparations for the full range of potential outcomes, including no deal.
"As we do, and as decisions are made, we will take full account of the unique circumstances of Northern Ireland."
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Thursday | October 15th, 2015
Contract Negotiations – 6 steps to making sure the deal works
Everyone is born with the ability to negotiate, slowly losing the skill as they grow older, according to Jed R. Mandel of Chicago Law Partners, LLC. Anything is negotiable and one cannot get what they want without asking. “Your kids understand that,” Mandel told attendees of the 2015 Risk Summit during his workshop, “All That Jazz: Everything You Wanted To Know About Contracts But Were Afraid To Ask.”
During his presentation Mandel emphasized the importance of putting deals in writing, understanding the organizational authority of the party one is speaking with and framing negotiations such as employment contracts in comparison to what is, not what is being requested. The nonprofit-focused lawyer also provided considerations for six common elements of contracts:
• Termination. Contracts should have some sort of timeline spelled out, whether it is a specific date or when a project is completed. If a contract is defined by the completion of a project, how complete is defined should be agreed upon by both parties, Mandel said. Force majeure, the improbability or impracticality of executing a contract under unforeseen circumstances should also be considered, Mandel said. For example, a fire or airline shutdown could impact a contract between an organization and convention center.
• Indemnification. It is not unusual for one party to indemnify, or secure from legal responsibility, the other in a contract in the event of wrongdoing by the former. It is important, however, to only indemnify the other party in the case of one’s own wrongdoing, Mandel said. At times, should agreeing over indemnifications become too complicated, it is not necessary to include them in a contract, Mandel said.
• Restrictive covenants. Non-competing restrictions are more enforceable with reasonable, set terms, Mandel said. Indefinitely preventing a past employee from working in a similar role for another organization anywhere in a given region is not enforceable. Stating in a contract that the employee many not seek similar work for six or 12 months after leaving or within 30 miles of the organization’s headquarters is more realistic, Mandel said.
• Predicting the future. Placing agreements to agree in contracts is “dreadful,” according to Mandel. Instead, consider basing yet-to-be-resolved issues such as cost by definable means such as the rate of inflation or the Consumer Price Index. When drafting a contract consider set measurables that will define whether or not you are satisfied with how a contract is being met. Without defined measurables, it is difficult to illustrate a breach, Mandel said.
• Intellectual property. Be careful how your name and logo are used. If you own your own trademark, be mindful of how you limit its use with others in contracts, specify each way it can be used and do the same when entering into a contract in which you will be using another party’s trademark. Be mindful of who owns copyrights to certain materials. If an organization brings on a third party to design a promotional piece, the third party owns the copyright unless he or she signs a work made for hire agreement with the organization, Mandel said. Organizations own, within reasonable limits, work created by employees, but it may be wise to put specifications in employee manuals to avoid gray areas, Mandel advised.
• Dispute resolution. In the event of a disagreement, there is value in setting the rules and venue in the contract, Mandel said. In the case of two parties from different states entering into a contract, a party may wish to define which state’s law would apply in the event of a disagreement and where legal proceedings would take place, Mandel said. NPT
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Telefundraising Is Most Likely Target of Attorneys General »
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Home » Copyright/Intellectual Property, The Business of Writing, Video » Yesterday
Not much to do with writing, but perhaps a writing prompt.
The premise for a new movie PG just stumbled upon, Yesterday, is that due to some cosmic occurrence a small-time struggling musician is the only person on the earth who remembers The Beatles and their songs. For everyone else, The Beatles never existed.
Here’s a trailer:
From The Wall Street Journal:
How much is an idea worth? In show business it often depends on who came up with it.
In the surreal comedy “Yesterday,” a struggling musician catapults to fame by singing Beatles tunes as if they were his own, following a freak occurrence that erases the band from the world’s collective awareness.
The real-life story behind the movie, in theaters Friday, tracks nearly the opposite trajectory: A struggling screenwriter comes up with an original idea, but can’t get the project made until he passes the torch onto someone much more famous.
Moderately successful TV writer Jack Barth had spent many a hard day’s night trying to write for the big screen, penning more than 20 scripts over the course of his career—none of which he had ever managed to sell. Then, inspired partly by his own failures, the 62-year-old Mr. Barth had the idea for “Yesterday,” and spent a few years trying to get his script made into a movie. But it wasn’t until Richard Curtis—the acclaimed writer and director of “Four Weddings and a Funeral” and “Love Actually”—heard Mr. Barth’s idea that the dream started to become a reality.
Although Mr. Curtis had experience adapting other people’s ideas—most notably with Helen Fielding’s novel “Bridget Jones’s Diary”—in this case he preferred to write his own version of the story. Mr. Barth, selling his idea for what he calls “a fair price,” hoped for the best, knowing he no longer controlled the film’s fate. He didn’t reveal the price.
Mr. Barth credits Mr. Curtis with writing a charming movie, even though their respective scripts take different turns; in Mr. Barth’s more cynical version, the film’s protagonist, also named Jack, fails to attain stardom.
“My view was, even if I woke up and I was the only person to know “Star Wars” or Harry Potter, I probably wouldn’t be very successful with it, because that’s kind of the way things have gone for me,” Mr. Barth says.
“When I wrote my version I hadn’t actually read Jack’s; that was the deal,” Mr. Curtis says. “So I guess it was my natural instinct that went for a more optimistic version.”
Because of his decision to sell the script, Mr. Barth can’t take credit for writing the movie and isn’t accorded the coveted “Screenplay By” credit. Instead, he shares the less prestigious “Story By” credit with Mr. Curtis, which means he is also ineligible to receive major awards.
Link to the rest at The Wall Street Journal (Sorry if you encounter a paywall)
Copyright/Intellectual Property, The Business of Writing, Video
3 Comments to “Yesterday”
Elaine TJune 25, 2019 at 1:06 PM
I guess this is yet another example that it isn’t ideas alone that are valuable, but follow through and execution.
ScottJune 25, 2019 at 9:37 PM
That’s true, because I actually had this exact same idea back in the 1990s, but I never did anything with it. Beatles and everything. Not claiming he stole my idea or anything, because I never told anyone about it or wrote it down. I suspect a lot of people come up with very similar ideas all the time, but only a few actually bring those ideas to life.
AnonJune 25, 2019 at 10:00 PM
I remember reading a few months ago on the passive voice that there was a self published author who claimed that his book plot was similar to the film
https://www.thepassivevoice.com/australian-author-sees-similar-plot-to-his-in-trailer-for-new-danny-boyle-film/
‘Restoring the Promise’ Review: High Cost, Low Yield The Land Where the Internet Ends
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Remove This Item Size: 26 in
Nuggets (1)
Blue Turquoise Layers Necklace
Two Layer Turquoise Nuggets Necklace
Natural Turquoise Heishi Beaded Necklace
10 Layered Strands of Turquoise Necklace
History of Turquoise
One of the most popular gemstones, turquoise has been world renowned for thousands of years for its beauty, and its color. From prehistoric times until modern day, the turquoise stone has been a symbol of good fortune, and a timeless display of natural beauty. With a gemstone that's been revered for as long as turquoise has, you will absolutely never have to worry about it going out of style. Whether you prefer a natural chunk pendant or a more refined modern necklace, we have what you're looking for when you're ready to buy turquoise jewelries!
Turquoise jewelry comes in different shades of blue and green and can be completely solid in color or it can have "veins" (also called spider-webs; these are the lines that naturally occur throughout certain types of turquoise). With many different hues of turquoise, it can be fairly easy (and fun) to buy multiple turquoise pieces for one jewelry box.
The beautiful turquoise that we sell is called Stabilized Turquoise, which is nearly the best quality turquoise you can buy. The first and best turquoise out there is called Gem Turquoise, which is so very rare that it is incredibly expensive. (Then there is the least expensive, low quality turquoise called Reconstructed Turquoise).
No matter which turquoise jewelry item you pick out, you can enjoy knowing that according to the metaphysical world, turquoise can promote the following: Overall Happiness, Good fortune in love, Financial prosperity, Creativity, Intuition, Meditative states, Peace of mind, and Comfort in unknown or new situations.
There is so much information and lore encompassing turquoise. Why not learn a little bit more about this amazing stone we call turquoise?
Turquoise is perhaps the oldest gemstone in the world. Evidence shows that its mining started some 9,000 years ago! The oldest turquoise jewelry found to date is a strand of beads from ancient Mesopotamia (modern territory of Iraq) dating to approximately 5000 B.C.
Turquoise is completely different from the other kinds of popular jewelry which is mostly transparent, or at least semi-transparent. In fact, turquoise solid color is its main selling point. Its color varies from blue to lime green, but whatever shade it has, it will surely help you stand out in a crowd.
Legends and myths about turquoise
In the ancient world, people believed in the metaphysical properties of this beautiful gemstone. It was a symbol of wisdom and nobility. People wore turquoise in order to gain power, luck, and protection from evil. Ancient Egyptians believed that turquoise connected the physical and the spiritual worlds, so they used it to adorn the burial masks of their pharaohs.
In Tibet, turquoise was worshipped as an embodiment of deity. It was considered more precious than diamonds. People even came up with special “turquoise last names” that were supposed to bring them good fortune and prosperity.
The first Koran was supposedly given to prophet Mohammed engraved on a piece of turquoise. It seems impossible, but nothing seems impossible to those who believe in the magical properties of turquoise.
Turquoise was considered a stone of love. In the East, people who are in love with each other still give each other rings with turquoise. According to the legend, the stone in the ring will fade if the love ceases.
The structure and color of turquoise
Turquoise is a combination of copper, aluminum, and phosphate. Turquoise rocks are found in arid dry regions. The percentages of the composition vary, so every stone is unique in color and structure. The higher the iron to aluminum ratio, the greener the stone will be. In ancient times, blue turquoise was the most popular and the most expensive kind. However, now the green variety is gaining popularity due to its rarity compared to the blue variety.
The most valuable turquoise has an evenly distributed “robin’s egg” blue color without traces of matrix. However, the turquoise with the “spider web” matrix is also very popular. The spider webs may be different in color (black, brown or red). They criss cross covering the whole stone, thus creating exquisite patterns which enhance its natural charm. The spider webbing has become a main selling point in some of our turquoise.
What kind of turquoise jewelry does the Russian Store sell?
The Russian Store mainly sells stabilized turquoise. In the process of stabilization, the soft and porous stone is soaked in the epoxy resin, which preserves its structure and makes it hard enough to be cut and polished. It’s the most popular kind of turquoise in the market right now.
American versus the Persian turquois
Up until recently, Persian turquoise was a synonym of the highest quality of the gemstone. The most expensive turquoise in the world came from the mountainous range near the district of Nichapur, Iran. The turquoise from this area was exported to Russia and India. Until World War I, turquoise was Iran’s most important industry. There were over one hundred turquoise mines in the country! Sadly, the output declined after World War II and finally ceased after the revolution.
In the United States, the turquoise is mainly found in the Southwest, including Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, and California. Most turquoise today comes from Arizona. By the way, collectors have been recently claiming that the turquoise from the southwest of the USA is just as good as the Persian variety.
When Amber Meets Turquoise
Does Turquoise have different types?
Transcendental Turquoise
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Western Cape expecting population to grow by 700 000 in five years
Having one of the lowest unemployment rates in South Africa makes the Western Cape an attractive proposition as a place for people to move.
The Western Cape Department of Social Development’s population projections for the province indicates it will grow by 700 000 people over the next five years.
Western Cape Provincial Population Unit
The comprehensive data was collected by Western Cape Provincial Population Unit, which is housed within the Province’s Department of Social Development. Its key function is to assist government departments and municipalities to integrate population variables into development planning and to inform policymaking and programme design.
On top of the population increase, the unit’s latest report shows more than 65 percent of people in the Province, or 4.43 million, reside in the City of Cape Town.
“The Western Cape is the third largest province in South Africa with an estimated 6.76 million people – 11.5% of South Africa’s total population – and 1.9 million households with an average household size of 3.6 people in 2019,” a statement from the Western Cape Department of Social Development read.
“The estimated number of children (0-17 years old) are 30.3% (2.05 million) of the population, the youth (18-34 years old) make up 29.6% (2 million) of the province, and the elderly (65+ years old) 6.1% (414,774) of the population.
Factors in expected growth
The report found that the Western Cape receives the second most people incoming from other provinces and countries after only Gauteng.
“Migration from Gauteng and from outside South Africa to the Western Cape is expected to increase in the next decade. Although the younger population still makes up the largest part of the total dependent population, the rise in old aged dependency, those 65 years and older are visible,” the statement continued.
The official unemployment rate in the province is also one of the lowest in the country, which likely plays a huge role in anyone’s decision to move there. Especially in a country that struggles with joblessness as much as South Africa does.
“Under the leadership of Minister Fernandez, the Western Cape Department of Social Development remains dedicated to helping those in need of social services, in particularly, those who are poor and vulnerable people who have been affected by socio-economic and structural challenges; combined with social ills such as escalating crime trends, violence particularly high rates of sexual violence, issues around child protection and family structure, and substance abuse,” the statement concluded.
Tags: growthWestern CapeWorld Population Day
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Rich List 2015: if you’re worth £100 million, join our club
You need £100m to join the country’s 1,000 richest people, who now include a record 117 billionaires — more per head than any other leading economy. John Arlidge reports on how Britain tops the global wealth league
John Arlidge
Britain is emerging from economic gloom but some people are emerging faster than others. The super-rich are far wealthier than many of them dared to hope seven years ago, when the credit crunch hit. The total wealth of the top 1,000 people based in Britain has risen by 5.4% over the past year to reach a record £547.126bn, The Sunday Times Rich List 2015 reveals.
You need £100m today to join our list, up from £85m last year. Go back 10 years, and the rise in wealth of the top 1% is even more dramatic. They are more than 100% better off — with collective wealth up from £249.615bn. By contrast, the “average” Briton is only as well or just better off than they were before…
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New ‘Spider-Man’ Tom Holland Joins Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson in ‘Lost City of Z’
Sienna Miller co-stars in the movie, which is being directed by James Gray
Jeff Sneider | August 19, 2015 @ 10:55 AM Last Updated: August 19, 2015 @ 1:02 PM
Tom Holland, the young actor who was recently cast as the new Spider-Man, has signed on to join Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson and Sienna Miller in James Gray’s “Lost City of Z,” which just started filming in Belfast.
“Lost City of Z” follows Percy Fawcett (Hunnam), a conscripted soldier and born explorer who disappeared in the 1920s while searching for a mythical city in the Amazon jungles of Brazil that he believed he discovered on a prior expedition.
Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner are producing via Plan B Entertainment along with Anthony Katagas and Dale Johnson.
Also Read: Marisa Tomei in Final Negotiations to Play Aunt May in 'Spider-Man' Reboot
MICA Entertainment is financing the film, which is based on David Grann’s bestselling book.
MadRiver Pictures’ Marc Butan is executive producing, as are MICA Entertainment’s Julie B. May and Glenn Murray. Sierra/Affinity is representing international sales of the title, with CAA overseeing domestic rights to the film.
After five weeks in Belfast, production will continue in Colombia throughout September and October.
Holland has been busy filming “Captain America: Civil War,” and he’ll soon be seen in Ron Howard’s whale tale “In the Heart of the Sea.”
Deal Central
Deal Central gives you the latest on Hollywood casting, script buys, greenlights and negotiations in the entertainment industry.
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Ferguson Effect Spikes Murder Rate in Kansas City
“Out of sheer self-survival they abandon their duties in black neighborhoods... so gangs and criminal elements take over... and violence explodes.”
Mark Tapson
A Kansas City political science professor points out that the local homicide rate for 2016 was fully twice as high as that of the first eight months of 2014, prior to the shooting by a white officer of a black man in Ferguson, Missouri. He attributes this largely to what is called “the Ferguson effect” -- the police withdrawal from dangerous black neighborhoods in order to avoid a similar racial conflagration.
The Kansas City Sentinel reports that professor Ernest Evans calculated 41 homicides in Kansas City, Missouri, in the first eight months of 2014 and 41 more in the last four months after the Ferguson shooting. But in 2015 homicides spiked nearly 28 percent to 112, and the total rose again in 2016 to 125.
According to Evans, blacks accounted for 62 percent -- 51 -- of those homicide victims in 2014, as opposed to 31 for other races. In 2015 blacks accounted for 81 of the 112 homicide victims, and in 2016 there were 99 black homicide victims -- 79 percent of the total in a city that is 30 percent black.
As the Sentinel notes, "This trend resulted in 48 more black homicide deaths in 2016 than in 2014."
Why? “In contemporary American society,” Evans explains, “police officers are required to do, on a daily basis, a most un-PC thing: Use force against black people. And, as any veteran cop can tell you, there is no such thing as a “nice take down” – they all look terrible on camera.”
If police officers are to do their jobs conscientiously, Evans concludes, they must have confidence that the media and the authorities will not betray their trust as they did white officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson.
“When they lack such confidence,” says Evans, “out of sheer self-survival they abandon their duties in black neighborhoods. Nature abhors a vacuum–so the gangs and the criminal elements take over the streets in these neighborhoods and violence explodes.”
WATCH: Black Mom Destroys 'Black Lives Matter' for Ignoring Black-On-Black Crime Epidemic
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The city of Tomsk, with more than four centuries of history, could be called the “Siberian Athens”. The city began to develop a special spiritual atmosphere early in the 19th century. Tomsk became the site of the first higher educational and cultural establishments east of the Urals: the City Theater (1850), the Public Library (1871), the Book Shop (1873), the Imperial University (1888), the Technological Institute (1900), the Commercial College (1901), and the Teachers’ Institute (1902). Almost all Siberian institutes of higher learning and academic trends found their origins in Tomsk. The city of Tomsk acknowledged as the center of culture, education, and science in Siberia
The fates of Tomsk’s institutes of higher education are closely interconnected, with the separate schools uniting to form a scientific-educational complex. Tomsk State Pedagogical University has a special place in the structure of Tomsk’s higher learning institutes. As the historical successor to the Teachers’ Institute, the Pedagogical University combines the best professional traditions with modern and innovative educational methodologies.
Tomsk State Pedagogical University (TSPU) was founded at the Royal Command of His Majesty Emperor Nicholas II as the “Teachers’ Institute” on July 1, 1902. It was the first institute of the pedagogical type in the Asian part of Russia. At first, it was situated in a small wooden house, but by the summer of 1905 a special building for Tomsk Teachers’ Institute was built. The building is constructed in a modern style and is one of the finest designs of the famous Siberian architects, F.F. Gut.
The Tomsk Teachers’ Institute was famous in Russia for its progressive pedagogical ideas and creative traditions. At first, the Teachers’ Institute was an all-male educational institution for whose students were trained in all subjects. After the February Revolution of 1917 in Russia, 13 women were accepted to the Institute for the first time, and the Institute was pided into three departments: historical and philological, physical and mathematical, natural and geographical.
The revolutionary civil war and the introduction of Soviet Power brought changes to the entire structure of Russian education. The operation of the Tomsk Teachers’ Institute was temporarily suspended in 1920 and resumed only a decade later in the year 1930. In August 1931, the Institute was re-established as “Tomsk State Pedagogical Institute”.
On the eve of World War II the Institute had respectable pedagogical personnel as staff members and more than 30 professors working on a part-time basis. The Institute was expanded in the 1940s with the creation of the School of Scientific Linguistics, and again in the 1970s with the School of Theoretical Physics. Since the 1990s, the School of Methods of Teaching Mathematics has been continually developing. The Institute’s reputation as an international authority in the field of pedagogy has been bolstered by the active academic research of its employees and its foreign contacts with academic institutions in the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, France, Hungary, Poland, Japan and other countries.
On June 26, 1995 the Tomsk State Pedagogical Institute receives the status of University.
In the 100-year history of TSPU, it has trained over 40,000 highly qualified specialists for the public educational system. Currently, more than 11,000 students are enrolled in the university’s graduate courses, and over 200 postgraduate students are preparing their thesis here at Siberia’s oldest pedagogical university.
The University provides all necessary logistical resources for the students and post-graduates. There are three dormitories for two thousand students. The Faculty of Foreign Languages is equipped with modern technical language-instruction facilities. For the students of the Physical Training Faculty there is a sport complex that includes two sports practice halls and a stadium. The workshops of the Institute of Sociology and Economics are equipped with modern equipment. The students of Bio-Chemical and Historical Faculties conduct field practical work in the Altai Region at Gornaja Shoria and educational practice at the TSPU agro-biostation.
The Pedagogical University is also equipped with modern audio and video facilities. The development of inpidual student physical and creative potential are emphasized, and the University features numerous sporting events, vocal and musical groups, dance and theater studios, and a student theater.
TSPU has wide international relations. Partner relationship is established with prominent international organizations such as Department of Education of Council of Europe, United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), DAAD, Goethe Institute, IREX, Alliance Francaise, British Council, Fulbright, American Councils for International Education, the Netherlands Institute, Carnegie Foundation and more then 20 universities all over the globe. One of the primary international activity of the University is an academic exchange of students and faculty with foreign universities. Graduate and postgraduate students of TSPU study for one or two semesters in universities of Austria, Poland, Japan, Norway, the USA, German, Spain, Italy and Turkey.
For students who need intensive Russian language preparation in order to be admitted, TSPU offers preparatory courses of various duration and content.
Training is provided by highly qualified professors, researchers and teachers. The academic staff of TSPU counts about 400 faculty members, 300 of them have a scientific degree and/or academic title. TSPU employs 63 professors, two members of the Russian Academy of Science, five members of the Russian Academy of Education and one member of the Russian Academy of Agriculture. TSPU offers 35 postgraduate and advanced scientific degrees in 34 programmes. There are two doctoral councils and one joint doctoral council licensed to award Ph. D. and D. Sc degrees.
According to Russian and international university rankings TSPU is one of the top universities in Russia.
Subject of ranking
Ranking institution
2 Pedagogical and linguistics universities of Russia (2010)
“Interfax” Group
http://unirating.ru/rating_branch.asp?br=13
12 Scientific activity of Russian universities: h-index (2009)
Independent Agency “ReitOR”
http://www.edu.ru/abitur/act.9/index.php?rating/Rating_RusHEE_Scientific_Reachings_2009.htm
13 Scientific and publication activity of Russian universities (2010)
Higher School of Economics, Moscow
http://www.hse.ru/org/hse/sc/interg
26 Webometrics Ranking of World's Universities, country rank (2011)
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cient?ficas (CSIC), Spain
http://www.webometrics.info/details.asp?univ=tspu.edu.ru
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Wire Magazine Book Review – Dancing In Odessa by Ilya Kaminsky
Wire Magazine
Book Review of Dancing In Odessa
by Patricia Fargnoli
Once in a rare while, if you are terribly lucky, you read a poet whose poems are so numinous, so breathtaking, hose rhythms are so full of music that you wish they could enter your body, could breathe with the lift and fall of your own breath — whose images, no matter how foreign to your own experience, enter your mind and are fixed there, changing forever your perception of the world. Ilya Kaminsky is such a poet and his first book, Dancing in Odessa, bursts with such poems.
Kaminsky, deaf since he was four, was born in Odessa, in the former Soviet Union in 1977. He emigrated to the United States in 1993. That he is still very young, writing in a language that is not his soul language, a language whose rhythms he cannot hear, makes this work all the more wondrous.
And how does he construct this magic? Dancing in Odessa is composed of five sections of free verse and prose poems: memories of the poet’s youth in Russia; a long elegiac sequence to the poet Osip Mandelstam who died in a Russian prison; love poems to a woman he names “Natalia”; a sequence of poems to his “masters”…those forebears that serve as his mentors; and a final long sequence aptly entitled: “Praise”.
But a simple description of the book’s tight cohesive structure hardly does justice to the poems themselves. Here are fragments of memory: the Odessa of his youth… laundry in the windows, street musicians, doves and crows, the mother, the father, dancing as “the darkness speaks behind them”, the aunt, in a soldier’s uniform, in wooden shoes, the grandfather “running after a train with tomatoes in his coat”. And here, too, is the love who “dances without a shirt, covering what she could,” whom he “kisses / on the floor, among the peels of lemon;” for whose sake he can exclaim: “how magical it is to live!” (and we, reading this, nod, knowing it to be true!).
And here, also, is homage to Osip, the martyred poet who “puts his fingers in the fire,” to Celan, to Brodsky, to Tsvetaeva, to Babel, a farewell to them each — and gratitude for their legacy: “I write,” (he says of them) “as the pages turn/ to the shuffle of your steps across the room.”
And here are poems of metaphors so original, so sensuous and accurate that they seem to leap off the page: “memory” is “an old flautist,/ (who) plays in the rain…;” “time” is the “twin” who takes him “by the hand through the streets of (its) city;” the “past” is “figures coming to the water’s edge, carrying lamps;” love itself is: a one-legged bird bought for forty cents as a child… and released.
These are poems of dancing in spite of the darkness behind us; of bright fruit, oranges, apples, lemons, tomatoes, nurturing the spirit. In these poems, “to live” is the sacrament, the most important thing, the need above all needs. “Lord” he cries out, “Give us what you have already given.”
I have nothing but praise for Dancing in Odessa. This book touches what is most deep in me — the urgency of these words, their forward rolling, makes me want to go write my own, no, more than that — makes me want to change the way I live. There are poems here, many of them, that are almost unbearable in their beauty, places in the book where I can’t bear to read longer because I want to stall in the moment the words have given me, to put down the book, to rest in the strength of the words. Words such as these:
This is how we live on earth, a flock of sparrows.
The darkness, a magician, finds quarters
behind our ears. We don’t know what life is,
who makes it, the reality is thick
with longing. We put it up to our lips
and drink.
When you pick up this book, you will read straight through, then read it again. You will keep it on your night-table for those moments when you need something to cherish, something to hold on to, words that face the darkness, unflinching, that give you solace in this troubling world.
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HomeThe Weekly With Charlie Pickering: Go Away
The Weekly With Charlie Pickering: Go Away
The Weekly With Charlie Pickering: Go Away is a TV show on Australian national television from ABC Comedy with an average rating of 3.7 stars by TVCatchUpAustralia.com's visitors. We have 3 episodes of The Weekly With Charlie Pickering: Go Away in our archive. The first episode of The Weekly With Charlie Pickering: Go Away was broadcast in November, 2018. Did you miss an episode of The Weekly With Charlie Pickering: Go Away but don't you wan't that to happen in the future? Please set an alarm and add The Weekly With Charlie Pickering: Go Away to your favourites, so we can remind you by email when there's a new episode available to watch. Completely free: handy!
05:00Season 1, Episode 1 (Go Away - Launceston)21/11/2018
05:00Season 1, Episode 2 (Go Away - Cairns)14/11/2018
05:00Season 1, Episode 3 (Go Away - Melbourne)07/11/2018
Spicks And SpecksCatch up TV on Spicks And Specks. Watch the latest and all other episodes of Spicks And Specks now online, broadcasted on ABC1. Catch up on your favorite ABC1 TV show: Spicks And Specks.
CommunityCatch up on Community and watch online. Find the latest episodes of Community, broadcast by ABC Comedy.
ABC News UpdateCatch up on ABC News Update and watch online. Find the latest episodes of ABC News Update, broadcast by ABC Comedy.
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Home » About us » News
WAVE Micro-Power-Plant that Supplies Electricity as Well as Heat Is Approaching the Market
The WAVE micro-power-plant has been proven effective in production and it approaches the market. The first place to try it was in Mikolajice near Opava where it supplies the municipal office, store and fire station with heat and electricity. The power plant uses wooden pellets as fuel but it can also use woodchips of lower quality after modifications. The device that achieves the heat output up to 50 kW can work independently of the distribution network, too.
“This is the first device of its kind in the world. The development took more than 10 years and the results of pilot testing fulfilled our expectations. The micro-power-plant achieves the boundary of 80% of total operational efficiency. Authorized measuring of emissions has confirmed the reaching of limits that fulfill the requirements of the Ekodesign standard which all marketed boilers have to fulfill from January 1, 2020 at latest. It is also possible to receive boiler grants for devices that satisfy the Ekodesign standard as early as now,” said Ing. Jakub Maščuch, Ph.D., the leader of the deployment team of the micro-power-plant.
The idea of building a device with low demands on space that will produce heat and electricity with the possibility of independence of other energy sources was originally the basis of the dissertation thesis of Ing. Maščuch. After ten years of research and development for which the University Centre for Energy-Efficient Buildings of the Czech Technical University is responsible, the micro-power-plant is fully working and ready for operation in various conditions. The power plant is equipped with a number of automated features and it is virtually maintenance-free.
“As one of the main advantages of the micro-power-plant, I consider the fact that we were able to decrease the need of presence of an operator almost to zero thanks to automation. Moreover, it is a self-contained system that is not dependent on electricity supplies from the distribution network. This is accepted in a positive way especially by the firefighter troop that is independent of electricity and heat supplies from other sources this way. Another important effect is the minimization of emissions which contributes to improving the quality of the air in the municipality in winter,” adds Martin Krupa, mayor of Mikolajice.
As the next step, the authors plan to start small-batch production of the device that will achieve 120 kW of heat output and 6 kW of electric output. The reason of the development of a power plant with higher output parameters is significantly higher economic efficiency. It will be introduced to the market by the Damgaard Consulting company. According to Jakub Maščuch, the return of the whole investment corresponds (at current prices of energy) to the lifetime of the device.
“As compared to other boilers, the WAVE micro-power-plant is the only device that brings its price back thanks to energy savings during the time of its use. As the final result, the users get heat only for the price of the fuel,” adds Maščuch.
Application of this modern energy source with the heat output of 120 kW will be possible e.g. in boarding houses, in hotels, on farms, in blocks of flats or in wellness centers. The micro-power-plant can be adjusted so that it is absolutely independent of the distribution network; thanks to this possibility, it can be operated virtually anywhere. This type of device can also become a very good technological base for the expansion of the Smart Grid solutions which are power electric as well as communication networks that allow for controlling the consumption and production of energy in real time. Three years ago, the device was also recognized by the expert jury in the E.ON Energy Globe contest. Moreover, E.ON supported the project with 300,000 CZK and helped with its development and promotion in media.
The very intent of installing WAVE in the municipality of Mikolajice came from the YOUNG4ENERGY start-up which provided overall preparation of the project including necessary project documentation, official permission and grant management for the municipality.
Author of photo: Tomáš Kejha.
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all news ›
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Ukraine’s foreign minister to visit Ireland on June 27-28
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin will be on an official visit to Ireland on June 27-28.
"The visit will take place after a 12-year break since the last visit of the Ukrainian foreign minister to Ireland," the press service of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine reported.
The program of Klimkin's stay in Dublin provides for negotiations with Vice Prime Minister - Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Ireland Simon Coveney and Chairman of the Lower House of the Parliament of Ireland Seán Ó Fearghaíl. Klimkin will speak at the Joint Committee for Foreign Affairs, Trade and Defense of the Parliament of Ireland and at the Institute of International and European Affairs of Ireland.
In addition, the minister will hold a meeting with the Ukrainian community of Ireland.
New German ambassador begins diplomatic mission in Ukraine
Zelensky fires 11 Ukrainian ambassadors
New ambassador of Slovenia begins diplomatic mission in Ukraine
Servant of the People may form coalition with Batkivshchyna, Holos - Shefir
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2015 Kupiškis ETU Triathlon Junior European Cup
Results: 2015 Kupiškis ETU Triathlon Junior European Cup | Junior Men
Kupiskis, Lithuania • 06 Jun, 2015
Junior Men Junior Women
1 Omri Bahat 1998 ISR 1 00:58:33 00:08:57 00:00:24 00:31:35 00:00:10 00:17:25
2 Mikita Katsianeu 1996 BLR 2 00:59:09 00:09:03 00:00:30 00:33:13 00:00:15 00:16:06
3 Ran Sagiv 1997 ISR 4 00:59:32 00:09:12 00:00:25 00:33:10 00:00:20 00:16:23
4 Michał Oliwa 1997 POL 5 00:59:44 00:08:56 00:00:30 00:33:20 00:00:20 00:16:35
5 Jeremy Obrand 1996 CAN 9 00:59:54 00:09:32 00:00:28 00:32:48 00:00:20 00:16:44
6 Tadeas Fazekas 1996 SVK 3 01:00:06 00:09:28 00:00:26 00:32:51 00:00:16 00:17:03
7 Kamil Damentka 1998 POL 27 01:00:21 00:09:18 00:00:28 00:33:03 00:00:19 00:17:11
8 Henry Räppo 1998 EST 28 01:01:08 00:09:31 00:00:30 00:32:48 00:00:20 00:17:57
9 Noam Ronen 1997 ISR 25 01:01:15 00:09:50 00:00:26 00:33:53 00:00:18 00:16:46
10 Arturs Sprukts 1996 LAT 42 01:01:28 00:09:40 00:00:25 00:32:44 00:00:17 00:18:19
11 Luka Paliska 1997 CRO 10 01:01:31 00:09:27 00:00:44 00:33:59 00:00:24 00:16:55
12 Kutluhan Konuk 1997 TUR 8 01:01:34 00:09:24 00:00:27 00:32:56 00:00:22 00:18:23
13 Gültigin Er 1997 TUR 14 01:01:40 00:09:01 00:00:32 00:33:17 00:00:29 00:18:20
14 Savelijs Suharževskis 1999 LAT 16 01:02:07 00:09:30 00:00:32 00:32:47 00:00:26 00:18:50
15 Vadzim Hurchanka 1999 BLR 15 01:02:39 00:10:24 00:00:26 00:33:21 00:00:20 00:18:05
16 Kevin Vabaorg 1998 EST 19 01:02:42 00:09:21 00:00:43 00:32:46 00:00:20 00:19:30
17 Josip Živković 1998 CRO 43 01:02:47 00:09:16 00:00:31 00:33:01 00:00:17 00:19:39
18 Antonin Salamin 1998 SUI 32 01:03:00 00:09:33 00:00:32 00:32:42 00:00:20 00:19:51
19 Rom Reuveni 1998 ISR 34 01:03:47 00:10:32 00:00:27 00:34:41 00:00:15 00:17:50
20 Denis Dudko 1998 BLR 31 01:03:54 00:09:25 00:00:28 00:32:51 00:00:20 00:20:47
21 Andrei Ivanou 1999 BLR 40 01:04:56 00:10:23 00:00:30 00:33:17 00:00:23 00:20:20
22 Omer Michaely 1998 ISR 21 01:05:16 00:10:31 00:00:34 00:34:33 00:00:19 00:19:16
23 Titas Pumputis 1997 LTU 12 01:05:21 00:10:33 00:00:28 00:34:35 00:00:21 00:19:21
24 Konstantin Malnev 1999 BLR 35 01:06:06 00:09:57 00:00:33 00:35:09 00:00:23 00:20:02
25 Andrei Sergiu Chis 1999 ROU 23 01:06:10 00:10:30 00:00:54 00:35:33 00:00:24 00:18:48
26 Denis Plese 1998 CRO 39 01:06:27 00:11:36 00:00:31 00:34:48 00:00:21 00:19:07
27 Matyas Lokodi 1998 ROU 26 01:06:32 00:11:40 00:00:35 00:34:39 00:00:26 00:19:11
28 Timurs Mamedovs 1997 LAT 7 01:07:27 00:10:51 00:00:55 00:35:09 00:00:20 00:20:10
29 Gilad Putievski 1998 ISR 45 01:07:28 00:09:36 00:00:33 00:36:23 00:00:23 00:20:31
30 Jaunius Strazdas 1996 LTU 17 01:08:12 00:13:21 00:00:47 00:35:27 00:00:19 00:18:16
31 Andrei Mircea Balica 1999 ROU 41 01:08:14 00:09:59 00:00:28 00:36:30 00:00:22 00:20:53
32 Balazs Daroczi 1997 ROU 20 01:08:54 00:10:45 00:00:54 00:36:35 00:00:39 00:19:59
33 Idan Apsimon 1997 ISR 37 01:09:09 00:09:29 00:00:29 00:39:57 00:00:23 00:18:48
34 Aliaksandr Hurinovich 1996 BLR 18 01:10:25 00:10:45 00:00:34 00:35:36 00:00:28 00:23:00
35 Tadas Cesevicius 1999 LTU 33 01:14:30 00:10:47 00:01:24 00:40:19 00:00:25 00:21:33
36 Justinas Narkunas 1999 LTU 11 01:14:56 00:11:42 00:00:55 00:38:53 00:00:25 00:22:59
37 Povilas Gokas 1999 LTU 24 01:21:55 00:14:26 00:00:33 00:39:24 00:00:23 00:27:06
38 Aurimas Capyga 1997 LTU 38 01:26:27 00:13:09 00:01:31 00:44:39 00:00:42 00:26:24
DSQ Marek Strachota 1997 POL 6 DSQ 00:09:13 00:00:36 00:32:59 00:00:31 00:18:31
DSQ Rimantas Kanaverskis 1997 LTU 29 DSQ 00:13:47 00:01:00 00:37:08 00:00:33 00:24:02
DNF Niel Emerald 1998 ISR 22 DNF 00:00:10 00:00:01 00:00:07 00:00:00 00:00:00
Distances: Swim 750 m, Bike 20 km (5 laps), Run 5 km (2 laps) Water temperature 16.5º C, Air temperature 25º C, Wetsuit swim, Technical Delegate:Howard Vine/GBR. Race Referee:Jane Vine/GBR. Competition Jury: Howard Vine/GBR, Laurynas Urbsys/LTU, Darius Borisas/LTU. Athletes #6 Strachota/POL and #29 Kanaverskis7ltu were DSQ for ignoring the TOs instructions .
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Songs About Cleveland and Northeast Ohio
United States Ohio Cleveland
By Sandy Mitchell
We may not have romantic ballads like "I left my heart in San Francisco" or iconic anthems like "New York New York," but Cleveland has had plenty of songs written about her. Below are just a few.
"Cleveland Rocks" by Ian Hunter
Released in 1979 as part of Ian Hunter's "You're Never Alone with a Schizophrenic" album, "Cleveland Rocks" has become the city's anthem. WMMS used to play it in the radio station's heyday, and you'll hear it after Cleveland Indians and Cleveland Cavaliers victories.
Numerous artists have covered the song, most notably the Presidents of the United States in 1997 for the opening song for "The Drew Carey Show."
Listen to the video
"Youngstown" by Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen penned "Youngstown" in 1995, as part of his "The Ghost of Tom Joad" album. The nearly four-minute song tells the story of Youngstown, from the discovery of iron ore to the fall of the steel mills.
"My City Was Gone" by The Pretenders
This anthem about urban decay was written by Akron native Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders in 1982 about her hometown. The song appeared on the group's "Learning to Crawl" album.
"Cuyahoga" by REM
The Atlanta-based group R.E.M. recorded the song "Cuyahoga" on their "Life's Rich Pageant" album in 1986. It tells the story of the burning river.
"My Town" by Michael Stanley
Cleveland's hometown rocker, Michael Stanley wrote about the city with "My Town" in 1983, a part of the Michael Stanley Band's "You Can't Fight Fashion" album. The song rose to #39 on the US Billboard chart.
"Ohio" by Neil Young
"Ohio" is Neil Young's (then with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young) reaction to the Kent State shooting on May 4, 1970. Released in June of 1970, the song protests the soldiers and government involvement that tragic day. It was released as a single and later appeared on the group's "So Far" album in 1974 and Young's 1977 "Decade" album.
"Skinny Little Kid" by Alex Bevan
Little Fish Records
Northeast Ohio folk rocker, Alex Bevan released "Skinny Little Kid" in 1976 as part of his "Springboard" album. It was to become his most popular song and a tribute to growing up on the North Coast.
"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot
This 1976 folk ballad tells the story of Great Lakes ore freighter, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, which sank with all the crew aboard on November 10, 1975 in Lake Superior. The ship was a frequent visitor to northern Ohio's Lake Erie ports and headed to Cleveland that November. Seven members of the ill-fated crew were from Northeast Ohio.
Canadian, Gordon Lightfoot recorded the song as part of his "Summertime Dream" album. The single rose to #1 in Canada and #2 in the United States.
"Burn On" by Randy Newman
Released in 1972, "Burn On" is singer/songwriter, Randy Newman's satirical look at the Cuyahoga River's catching fire in 1969. The song, part of Newman's "Sail Away" album, appeared in the film, "Major League."
"The Heart of Rock and Roll" by Huey Lewis and the News
Capital Records
Huey Lewis and the News acknowledge Cleveland's contribution to rock and roll in their 1984 hit, "The Heart of Rock and Roll," a part of their "Workin' for a Livin'" album. The single rose to # 6 in the US.
"Look Out Cleveland" by The Band
This 1969 song by The Band's Robbie Robertson was a part of the group's self-titled album that same year. It was also featured in the movie, "A Home at the End of the World."
Cleveland's Most Iconic Musicians
Where to look for Cleveland dating sites
GRAMMY Walk of Fame
Find Out How and Where to Apply for a Passport in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland Ohio Visitors Guide
Malley's--Cleveland's Favorite Chocolate Company
Look Here for Zips Codes in the Cleveland Area
Check Out Cleveland's Live Webcams
Cleveland Area Museum Memberships Make Great Gifts
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Top Movies Filmed in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio
Meet the Best Coffee Houses in Cleveland
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What's Happening on Father's Day in Cleveland
Learning about Northeast Ohio's Honey Industry
Listen to The Top Songs About London
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Vault by Vans and Disney Celebrate Mickey Mouse’s 90thAnniversary Through the Lens of Four Iconic Artists
TRUE ORIGINALS OF THE ART WORLD
Deep Southern California roots bring Vans and Disney back together again, this time, to celebrate 90 years of Mickey Mouse. Honoring the optimistic attitude and loveable nature of Mickey Mouse on his birthday, Vault by Vans and Disney collaborate with four iconic artists – John Van Hamersveld, Mister Cartoon, Geoff McFetridge and Taka Hayashi, to create one-of-a-kind artwork featuring the beloved Disney “True Original.”
In a unique, well-rounded collection, each of the artist’s custom Mickey Mouse rendition is featured on Vans’ iconic silhouette, the OG Sk8-Hi LX, as well as a short-sleeved tee to present a well-rounded offering.
With a mutual passion for California culture, renowned illustrator and graphic designer
, John Van Hamersveld is continuously recognized for his influential graphics and images that are quintessential markers of Southern California culture. Best known for his psychedelic patterns and vibrant color schemes, he is a pioneer in the worlds of art, music, and surf—blending these genres perfectly into his extensive repertoire. For this collection, Van Hamersveld produces bright, punchy graphics featuring the one and only Mickey Mouse.
Legendary tattoo artist Mark Machado, more famously known as Mister Cartoon, is a Mexican-American artist born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Mister Cartoon is recognized and sought after for his richly detailed hand-rendered style of fine line tattooing—a technique that uses diluted black ink to create shadows and depth. What sets his work apart is the textural intricacy and stunning details of his three-dimensional- appearing works. His contribution to the collection depicts a black and grey illustration of the iconic “True Original” mouse driving a vintage car.
To bring a minimalistic and surreal illustrative style to the collection, Vault by Vans and Disney worked with Geoff McFetridge, Canadian designer, illustrator, and animator based in Los Angeles. McFetridge’s work intuitively ignores creative boundaries and spans a broad range of art media. The versatility and simplicity in his work is balanced by the use of elegant line drawings and paintings. His design captures Mickey Mouse in a unique pattern, highlighting his iconic colors – black, red and yellow.
Vault by Vans mainstay, Taka Hayashi, completes the collection with his commitment to detailed craftsmanship and unique design approach. Hayashi’s design features an unexpected hit of pink, conveying a Mickey Mouse inspired hot air balloon.
The Disney x Vans collaboration launches globally on August 25, 2018 at select Vault by Vans accounts.
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Robert Westphal
Robert Westphal is a passionate historian and spent much time researching his ancestry for this novel. He is a descendant of the Foster and O’Neil families.
By day, Robert works as a non-executive director of a major Sydney-based investment firm, and an avid coffee roaster and distributor. He was previously a partner at Ernst and Young for 25 years.
He currently lives in Mosman with his wife, and has two daughters and four grandchildren. The Tailor and the Shipwright is his first novel.
Robert Westphal is a passionate historian and spent much time researching his ancestry for this novel. He is a descendant of the Foster and O’Neil families. By day, Robert works as a non-executive director of a major Sydney-based investment firm, and an avid coffee roaster and distributor. He was previously a partner at Ernst and Young for 25 years. He currently lives in Mosman with his wife, and has two daughters and four grandchildren. The Tailor and the Shipwright is his first novel.
Titles by Robert Westphal
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Updated Feb. 24, 2019 at 2:03 PM
767 cargo jet crashes into bay near Houston; 3 presumed dead
Allen Cone and Sam Howard
An Atlas Air cargo jet, similar to the one pictured here, has crashed into Trinity Bay near Houston, the FAA said Saturday. Photo courtesy Atlas Air
Feb. 23 (UPI) -- A Boeing 767 cargo jet, operating for Amazon Prime Air, crashed into Trinity Bay near Houston on Saturday afternoon, with all three onboard presumed dead, officials said.
It was the first time since 1999 a 767, which went into service 37 years ago, has crashed in the United States, not including two planes that were hijacked and hit the World Trade Center in 2001.
Atlas Air Flight 3591 went down at about 12:45 p.m. about 30 miles southeast of Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
One body has been recovered.
"We're just confirming remains," Chambers County Sheriff Brian C. Hawthorne said, according to KHOU-TV. "What I will tell you is I don't believe that there is any way that anybody could have survived. We're still trying to let the NTSB identify how many pilots and passengers were actually in the airplane."
He said "it looks like total devastation from the aircraft part," according to KPRC-TV. Debris included women's clothing, bed sheets, carboard boxes, he said.
Atlas Air, with headquarters in Puchase, N.Y., confirmed three people were aboard the Boeing 767-300 jet.
"Those people and their family members are our top priority at this time," the company said in a statement.
The aircraft took off from Miami International Airport, the FAA said, and crashed into Jack's Pocket, the north end of Trinity Bay. During the past 24 hours, the plane also flew from Hawaii to California to Miami.
The 26-year-old plane was operating for Amazon Prime Air, one of 30 767's in Amazon's fleet, based on the tail number.
"I saw a plane going straight down and I told my mom and I told my mom, 'There's a plane going down and it's going to crash,'" Jose Chavez,who said he was in the car with his mother, told KHOU-TV.
Hawthorne said witnesses told authorities they heard what sounded like lightning before the plane went down. It went into a nose dive, then into the water nose-first, according to witnesses,
The sheriff said it took about 20 to 30 minutes for the first responders to arrive because of the location. The depth of the water where the plane crashed is up to 5 feet.
The FAA issued an alert status after losing radar and radio contact with the plane.
National Transportation Safety Board and FAA investigators were sent to the scene.
Dive teams are searching for the black box.
FBI Houston said it is assisting other agencies, including the Coast Guard, Houston police, the Chambers County Fire Department, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Texas Department of Public Safety and Baytown police.
The 767, which has a payload of 115,700 pounds and a range of 3,255 miles, is used by Federal Express, UPS, DHL, according to Boeing.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the flight crew, their families and friends along with the entire team at Atlas Air during this terrible tragedy," Dave Clark, Amazon's senior vice president of worldwide operations at Amazon, said in a statement to KHOU-TV.
An Airbus A300 jet operated by UPS was the last major cargo plane to crash in the United States in August 2013, according to The Wall Street Journal. It went down short of the runway in Birmingham, Ala., killing the two pilots.
The original 767-200 entered service in 1982. Other versions are the 767-200ER, 767-300, 767-300ER and the 767-400ER. Configured as a passenger plane, the 767 can carry from 200 to 300-plus passengers, according to Boeing.
Previously, the Boeing 767 had three fatal non-hijackng crashes, killing 806 people, according to AirSafe.com.
On May 26, 1991, 223 aboard Lauda Air Flight 004 died when it crashed near Bangkok, Thailand, on May 26, 1991. The in-flight left engine thrust reverser deployed.
On October 31, 1999, all 217 people on board EgyptAir Flight 990, a 767-300ER, crashed off Nantucket Island, Mass., in international water. The NTSB determined the probable cause to be due to a deliberate action by the first officer.
On April 15, 2002, 129 of 166 people aboard Air China Flight 129, a 767-200ER, died when it crashed into a hill amid inclement weather while trying to land at Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea. The cause was attributed to pilot error.
It has been 10 years since the last fatalities in a crash of a passenger airline. Colgan Air Flight 3407, crashed on approach to Buffalo, N.Y., on Feb. 12, 2009, with 49 people on board and a man on the ground killed.
This week in Washington
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Islamic State claims responsibility for Tunisian resort attack
TUNIS, Tunisia — A lone gunman hiding a Kalashnikov under his umbrella opened fire on a Tunisian beach resort, killing 39 people, mostly tourists — one of three deadly attacks Friday from Europe to the Middle East.
Islamic State claims responsibility for Tunisian resort attack TUNIS, Tunisia — A lone gunman hiding a Kalashnikov under his umbrella opened fire on a Tunisian beach resort, killing 39 people, mostly tourists — one of three deadly attacks Friday from Europe to the Middle East. Check out this story on USATODAY.com: http://usat.ly/1NiylRK
Doug Stanglin and Moenes Sboui , USA TODAY Published 8:02 a.m. ET June 26, 2015 | Updated 3:30 a.m. ET June 27, 2015
Dozens of people, mostly tourists, were killed when a lone gunman stormed a resort in Tunisia and opened fire. He was shot dead by security forces. Wochit
Medics help an injured man in Sousse, Tunisia, on June 26, 2015 after gunmen opened fire on a resort beach.(Photo: epa)
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack at the Imperial Marhaba hotel, according to SITE Intelligence Group, a U.S.-based organization that monitors terrorists' activity online.
At least 36 people were wounded in the nation's deadliest onslaught before the shooter was killed by security forces. The gunman was identified by the Islamic State as Abu Yahya al-Qayrawani, according to SITE.
"Tunisia is in a constant war against terrorism," said President Beji Caid Essebsi, vowing to crack down on terrorism in his country. "Tunisian state is concerned about this issue, and it will take its responsibilities and take measures that could be painful but necessary."
The president said he would revoke the right of political parties and groups to assemble, if necessary, if they advocated militancy or expressed solidarity with the Islamic State.
Witnesses at the resort town of Sousse said bodies were strewn in the sand alongside beach chairs as the gunman opened fire on sunbathers.
The interior ministry initially said at least two gunmen were involved, but revised its report as investigators examined the chaotic scene and decided there was a single shooter.
"A terrorist infiltrated the buildings from the back before opening fire on the residents of the hotel, including foreigners and Tunisians," Ministry of the Interior spokesman Mohamed Ali Laroui said.
Tunisia beach attack threatens economy, secular rule
Gunmen kill scores of tourists at Tunisia beach resorts
Tourists comfort one and other at the Imperial Marhaba Hotel in the resort after unknown assailants detonated at least one bomb then opened fire on tourists at two hotels, killing more than 20, including Germans, Brits and Belgians and wounding several others - some while they were sunbathing. Mohamed Messara, epa
A glass door shattered by a bullet at Imperial Marhaba Hotel in the resort in al-Sousse,Tunisia. Mohamed Messara, epa
In the wake of today's shootings the pool and deck chairs at the Imperial Marhaba Hotel are deserted. Mohamed Messara, epa
Medics help an injured man in al-Sousse, Tunisia. According to local reports unknown assailants detonated at least one bomb then opened fire on tourists at two hotels, killing at least 27, mostly foreigners, and wounding several others, some while they were sunbathing. epa
A tourist walks past blood stains on the ground at the Imperial Marhaba Hotel in the resort town of al-Sousse, a popular tourist destination in Tunisia. Mohamed Messara, epa
In this screen grab taken from video provided by Tunisia TV1, injured people are treated on a Tunisian beach after two gunmen rushed from the beach into a hotel in the Tunisian resort town of Sousse. Tunisia TV1 via , ap
Injured people are treated on a Tunisian beach in the resort town of Sousse. Tunisia TV1 via AP
An Instagram photo from one of the resort properties in Sousse, Tunisia where gunmen killed at least 27 people, mostly tourists. vracarics, via Instagram
Security tries to control the scene as people gather on the streets in al-Sousse near the resorts where gunmen killed more than 25 people. epa
A victim lies on a beach in al-Sousse, Tunisia. At least 27 people, mostly foreigners, are reported dead. While many others have been wounded. epa
Members of the Tunisian security forces escort a man through a street in al-Sousse, Tunisia after assailants detonated at least one bomb then opened fire on tourists at two hotels. epa
An Instagram photo from one of the resort properties in Sousse, Tunisia where gunmen killed at least 27 people, mostly tourists. truemvp, via Instagram
Sousse, a popular vacation spot for European tourists, is about 90 miles southeast of the capital Tunis.
Earlier Friday, Tunisia media outlets identified the gunman as Seif Eddine Rezgui, 23. Radio Mosaique reported Rezgui was radicalized at mosques in Kairouan — about 40 miles west of Sousse — where he earned his degree in electronics and enrolled in a master's program at a local sciences and technology university.
Tunisian security forces have been on alert since March when two Tunisian gunmen opened fire on the Bardo museum in Tunis, killing 22 people, mostly tourists. Two gunmen were killed in that attack, for which the Islamic State also claimed credit.
The scene of the massacre Friday was one of utter chaos, witnesses said. The gunman began his carnage on the beach before moving to the pool area and then into the hotel itself.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said at least five Britons were among the dead.
"There was a mass exodus off the beach," British tourist Gary Pine told Sky News. He said guests at his hotel were first told to lock themselves in their rooms, and later to gather in the lobby.
Timeline: Attacks on tourists over the past 30 years
Elizabeth O'Brien, a tourist from Dublin, told Ireland's RTE News At One that at first she thought she heard fireworks going off, then realized the sound was gunfire.
"I ran to the sea to my children and grabbed our things and, as I was running toward the hotel, the waiters and the security on the beach started shouting 'Run, run, run,'" she said.
"We ran to our room, which is like a little bungalow, so we are actually trapped in our room, because we have no contact the phone here doesn't work to call reception."
The Imperial Marhaba hotel is owned by Spain's RIU Hotels & Resorts, which has more than 100 hotels in 19 countries. The company offered its condolences to the victims and their families.
Spainish Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz raised his country's terror alert level to 4 on a scale from 1 to 5.
A British tourist, Alan Callaghan, told the BBC guests at his hotel were taking shelter in the quarters of the hotel's staff and were being told to wait for an all-clear. Another British tourist told Sky News he was by the swimming pool when he heard "quite a large explosion," and guests began running back toward the hotel from the beach.
The two other attacks that occurred Friday were in Kuwait and France, but it was unknown yet if the incidents were related. In Kuwait City, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque during Friday prayers that killed more than two dozen people. In France, near Lyon, a driver rammed his truck into a U.S.-owned gas factory, triggering an explosion. A decapitated body was found at the scene with the head hanging at the factory entrance.
Stanglin reported from McLean, Va.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1NiylRK
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Quiet Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Hosted by Cheryl Jones
Milck
Sometimes a moment comes when we can no longer stay silent about what we have been through. Then it's time to speak out and claim our own courage and resiliency! Such a moment came for Milck, a musician who had experienced physical and sexual abuse and pressures to meet commodified standards of beauty, especially for her music career. Finding her unique voice led to her song Quiet, an anthem for breaking out of our silence. Then, after the 11/16 election, she felt moved to gather a flash mob and perform the song at the Women's March. In a serendipitous twist of fate, filmmaker Alma Har’el captured one of the performances, propelling the song into a viral explosion! Now, Milck has created www.icantkeepquiet.org, to collect stories and create a movement while supporting the work of Step Up, which serves at risk girls.
Good Grief with Cheryl Jones
Wednesday at 2 PM Pacific Time on VoiceAmerica Health and Wellness Channel
On Good Grief we explore the losses that define our lives. Each week, we talk with people who have transformed themselves through the profound act of grieving. Why settle for surviving? Say yes to the many experiences that embody loss! Grief can teach you where your strengths are, and ignite your courage. It can heighten your awareness of what is important to you and help you let go of what is not.
On Good Grief, we are inspired by people who have made something miraculous out of their deepest heartaches! We listen as they share how they have walked through their own exquisite pain and what they have gained as a result. We come away ready to follow our own dreams to a deeper, more meaningful time on this beautiful earth! Listen for Good Grief, broadcast live every Wednesday at 2 PM Pacific Time on the VoiceAmerica Health and Wellness Channel.
Cheryl Jones
Cheryl Jones is a grief counselor. During her education as a Marriage and Family Therapist, her first wife was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, which was at the time a uniformly terminal illness with a six month to one year prognosis. In the eight years that followed, Cheryl engaged daily in the work of preparing for her death. She received training during this period from Stephen and Ondrea Levine (Who Dies and Grieving Into Life and Death) and Richard Olney (founder of Self-Acceptance Training). After her wife’s death, Cheryl immersed herself in her own multifaceted grief, surprised by frequent moments of joy.
Cheryl is a consultant and group leader at the Free Therapy Program of the Women’s Cancer Resource Center. She has trained extensively with Erving Polster, leader in the field of gestalt therapy and author of Everybody’s Life is worth a Novel. She was Clinical Director at the Alternative Family Project, which served the therapeutic needs of LGBTQ families in San Francisco. She also wrote a column called Motherlines for the San Francisco Bay Times and ran Considering Parenthood groups for the LGBT community.
Before becoming a therapist, Cheryl enjoyed careers as a musician, a restaurant owner and a carpenter. She still enjoys singing with the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, eating food in outstanding Bay Area locations and remodeling her Craftsman. She lives with her wife in Oakland, California and especially savors time with her family and friends.
Cheryl’s Website
Cheryl Jones on Pinterest
Like the theme music? Click here!
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Goodwood Festival of Speed 2015
July 3, 2015 by: Virtual Motorpix | 1 Comment
Spectacular Red Arrows Display again at this year’s Goodwood FOS
Now in its 23rd year, the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2015 (FoS) has grown exponentially over the years, and is now held over four days compared with just one day back in 1993. In late June each year, Lord March opens the grounds of the Goodwood Estate to the multitude of motoring enthusiasts and associated family members, who duly trample his front lawn into submission, creating a dustbowl or a quagmire, depending on the weather.
#70, Porsche 935, driven by Brian Redman, Goodwood Festival of Speed 2015
A fully international event, the FoS offers what no other motoring event can, a selection of both road and racing cars, and motor bikes from around the world in a location one would normally only find on a chocolate box. Speaking to owners, drivers and the public, the overwhelming response is that the quality, variety and depth of the cars on show is fantastic.
#19 Porsche 919 Hybrid, 2015 Le Mans 24H winner, was just one of the highlights for the visitors
As a journalist, the event has always offered a number of very good reasons for me to attend, as apart from the juiciest race cars from across the decades to photograph, there are many racing greats to interview. Of course the drivers are constantly being called for their next ride up the hill, so interviews are short and to the point, but this is a valuable opportunity to get the inside story from the driver’s seat. And then just as you think, ‘Yes!’ I have got my long awaited interview with a certain driver, a Tornado fighter jet decides to do its fly-over and aerobatics and all you can hear on your tape recorder is noise!
#1 Porsche 997 GT3 RSR MR with driver Olaf Manthey racing up the hill on 28 June 2015
But let’s face it, the FoS is all about entertaining the spectators, and so attention turns to the hill climb. The route is quite simple, start at point A at the bottom of the hill, and drive as quickly as you can to point B at the top of the hill, without hitting anything. Run to a tight schedule, the activities on the Saturday are roughly repeated again on the Sunday, but with some variation due to the odd hiccup in proceedings or the inevitable contretemps with some rather sturdy hay bales. Saturday’s events saw no less than five altercations with the hay bales, most of which occurred on the outside of Molecomb Corner where the camber dips away catching out many drivers who go straight on into the hay.
Porsche 911 GT3 RS at the Goodwood FOS on 28 June 2015
There is so much else to see at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2015, but top of my agenda was to get to see the dazzling line-up of Porsches from a wide spectrum of eras. From the 1965 Porsche 904/8 Bergspyder (driven by Emanuele Pirro) which was built to compete in the European Hill Climb Championships, to the brand new 991 GT3 RS, there were no less than 23 Porsches in many different classes at Goodwood.
Porsche 908/3, driver: Emanuele Pirro at the Goodwood FOS on 28 June 2015
Possibly the highest number of Porsches were fielded in the Derek Bell Celebration class, which included cars that Derek had driven from the Stuttgart manufacturer. These included the 4.5-litre Gulf 917K, the 908/3 ‘Flunder’ which he competed in at the Nurburgring in 1971, the 936/81 in which he won the Le Mans 24-Hour with Jacky Ickx in 1981, the legendary #2 Rothmans 956 which gave Derek his third Le Mans title, and the Kremer-Porsche K8 Spyder in which he finished sixth at Le Mans in 1994.
#2 Porsche 917K Gulf, driver: Mark Finburgh at the Goodwood FOS on 28 June 2015
In the Sports Racers’ class, for cars built between 1968-1981, we were treated to another 917K which was driven to victory by Helmut Marko and Gijs van Lennop in the 1971 Le Mans 24-Hours setting a distance record that stood for 39 years. The awesomely powerful Sunoco 917/30 with which Mark Donohue dominated the Can-Am series in America, and the evergreen 935 driven at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2015 by the equally evergreen Brian Redman. In period this car finished second in the 1979 Le Mans in the hands of Paul Newman/Dick Barbour/Rolf Stommelen, and also scored wins at Daytona in ’81 and Sebring in ’83.
#1, Porsche 962 at the Goodwood FOS on 28 June 2015
The Porsche 962 of Jochen Mass/Jacky Ickx has a significant race history, while the Porsche factory brought its victorious 919 Hybrid complete with all of its Le Mans-winning grime from two weeks back. Making a rare and memorable appearance was the 911 GT1 Evo from 1997, and the highly successful 997 GT3 RSR NR (driven by Olaf Manthey), the 2007 Nurburgring 24-Hour race winner. Participating in the Michelin Supercar parade, were the 2015 versions of the much-anticipated 911 GT3 RS, 918 Spyder, and the Cayman GT4.
Brian Redman at the FoS
Most of Saturday was spent photographing cars both on the track and in the paddock, and so at around 19h30 it was time to head back to my Snoozebox hotel room to rest my weary bones. The forecast for Sunday looked to be wet, but we were greeted with blue skies first thing, and so an early start was planned to shoot the delicious bodies in the Cartier Style et Luxe, before the crowds arrived. My first interview was set for 11h00 with Brian Redman, and so I made my way back to the media centre via the paddock where I bumped into the team manager from the Porsche GTE works team. What a win for me, as neither of us were under any immediate pressure, an unknown luxury when I have managed to interview him in the past at the WEC races at Silverstone or Le Mans. We had an interesting moment when one enthusiast pushed past us to ogle at the Porsche toolbox – well some guys do find that attractive obviously! Before we knew it, 45 minutes had flown by.
Derek Bell getting ready for his next run up the hill
Later in the day I was able to briefly interview both Derek Bell and Olaf Manthey in the paddock, which was super, apart from the inevitable and rather noisy engine revving close by. As with all these major motoring and motor sport events, the time is over before you know it and inevitably you haven’t done everything you wanted to get done, but one just has to be satisfied with what’s in the bag. So with camera gear packed away, I made my way to the trusty wagon, loaded up and set a course for home…six hours away!
Talbot-Lago T150-C SS ‘Goutte d’Eau’ (1937) at the Cartier Style et Luxe
Check out our website for more photos from the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2015 and don’t forget the Goodwood Revival dates: 11-13 September, 2015.
Written by: Glen Smale
Categories: Car Racing, Featured Articles, Motor Shows & Car Events Tags: Brian Redman, Daytona, Derek Bell, Goodwood Festival of Speed, Kremer Porsche, Le Mans 24H, Mazda, Nurburgring, Porsche
Pim van der Veer says
A must for Porsche cognoscenti.
Excellent inside view of Goodwood FoS.
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Ruth Marcus: Alan Gross, left behind in Cuba
By Ruth Marcus
Ruth Marcus
Overseeing Washington Post signed opinion content and writing on domestic politics and policy
The fourth Thanksgiving. The fourth Hanukkah. This is a hard season for Judy Gross, even harder for her husband, Alan, who on Tuesday began his fifth year of captivity in a Cuban prison.
Eleven more years stretch ahead on the sentence for Gross, who spends 23 hours a day in his cell. Gross, now 64, was convicted of “acts against the . . . territorial integrity of the state” — bringing cellphones, personal computers and networking devices to help connect Cuba’s tiny Jewish population to the Internet.
All this — and here is the part that is both tragic and galling — not as some kind of cowboy do-gooder but as a contractor for the State Department’s U.S. Agency for International Development, which runs programs to promote democracy in Cuba.
“It brings up thoughts of how many more years,” Judy Gross told me. “Are we going to be doing this again on the fifth anniversary or on the sixth?”
The Obama administration says it has been doing its utmost to secure Gross’s release, enlisting everyone from the pope to Latin American leaders. The Gross family begs to differ. In a letter to President Obama released Tuesday, Alan Gross outlined his ordeal and described his sense of being “abandoned” by the government he served.
The best editorial cartoons of 2013 (so far)
A collection of cartoons from around the country.
Rob Rogers/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“I have lost almost everything in the last four years, most of all time with my family,” Gross wrote. “I have had to ask my daughters not to visit because I cannot bear them seeing me like this, a shadow of my former self, surrounded by men with machine guns.”
During his imprisonment, Gross’ older daughter battled breast cancer, then walked down the aisle for her wedding without her father.
“I still want to believe that my government values my life and my service, and that a U.S. passport means something,” Gross wrote. “I refuse to accept that my country would leave me behind.”
Buttressing Gross’s plea, 66 senators, led by Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy, wrote to Obama last month to urge that he take “whatever steps are in the national interest to obtain his release.”
The national interest — that deliberately obscure phrase. Gross is, first and foremost, a victim of the repressive Cuban regime. But he is also a casualty of Cuban-American politics, and Cuban-American politicians. He has not been so much abandoned by the Obama administration as assigned a lower priority.
The administration has been demanding Gross’s unconditional release, which would be nice but is not happening. Instead, Cuban officials have made clear that their price for a deal centers on a group called the Cuban Five — Cuban intelligence officers convicted in Miami in 2001 of being foreign agents and related offenses. One of the five has served his sentence and returned to Cuba; another is eligible for parole in February.
The Obama administration has insisted that the Cuban Five cannot be part of any Gross-related deal; such a linkage, the administration argues, would create a false equivalence between the five (acknowledged spies, although Cuba insists their activities were directed at Cuban exiles) and Gross (a contractor, not a spy, although that nicety might be lost on the Cuban government, given that the U.S. goal is regime change). One problem with the no-false-equivalence stance is that it leaves Gross in the ironic position that he would have been a better candidate for a trade had he been a spy. Another is that it ignores a rich history of swaps, not all spy-for-spy.
Finally, it fails to consider the tangled history of the Cuban Five. They are not the heroes of Cuban lore; one was convicted of conspiracy to murder involving Cuba’s shooting down of two Brothers to the Rescue planes, resulting in four deaths.
But the circumstances of their trial in the heated atmosphere of post-Elian Gonzalez Miami were questionable — an appeals court, later overturned, vacated their convictions on the ground they could not receive a fair trial — and their sentences were uncommonly long. If Israel can release murderers to obtain the return of its citizens, can’t the U.S. government discuss leniency for some of the remaining five?
The State Department, I am reliably told, supports such talks. The White House has balked. The most obvious explanation is that it would infuriate powerful Cuban-American lawmakers, most prominently New Jersey Democrat Robert Menendez, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and is adamantly opposed to any such negotiations.
Like I said, Gross hasn’t been abandoned, just prioritized. Not much comfort for his family, or for him.
Read more from Ruth Marcus’s archive, follow her on Twitter or subscribe to her updates on Facebook.
Read more about this topic:
Stephen Kimber: The Cuban Five were fighting terrorism. Why did we put them in jail?
Jackson Diehl: Who will stand up for Oswaldo Payá?
Charles Lane: Cuba’s hard truths exposed
Ruth Marcus Ruth Marcus is deputy editorial page editor for The Post. She also writes a weekly column. Follow
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To fight Trump’s national emergency, Democrats will rely on a 67-year-old legal precedent
(Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
By Deanna Paul
Deanna Paul
Reporter covering national and breaking news
True to his word, President Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border on Friday, a move that will allow him to divert federal funds from the Defense Department toward building a border wall.
During his news conference Friday, he anticipated a flood of litigation against the Justice Department.
“Sadly, we’ll be sued, and, sadly, it will go through a process,” Trump said, predicting that lower courts (particularly the often-liberal Ninth Circuit) would rule against him. “Then we’ll end up in the Supreme Court and hopefully we’ll get a fair shake.”
Trump forecast a win for the administration: “I think we will be very successful in court. I think it’s very clear.”
On some points, Trump was correct.
Rarely has a president’s national emergency declaration been challenged in court. Only once has such a lawsuit prevailed at the U.S. Supreme Court: the case of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, ruled on in 1952, which overturned President Harry S. Truman’s national emergency.
Truman signed the emergency declaration and seized privately owned steel mills to preempt a national steelworker strike during the Korean War. Truman argued that continued operation of the mills was necessary for the country’s defense. The Supreme Court disagreed, ruling that he did not have the authority to seize private property just because he was the president.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black, writing for the court, said, “In the framework of our Constitution, the President’s power to see that the laws are faithfully executed refutes the idea that he is to be a lawmaker.”
The Truman and Trump scenarios may seem similar, but there is a key difference: In 1976, Congress passed the National Emergencies Act, a law that gave the president unfettered authority to make a national emergency declaration and use specific statutory powers.
Before that, presidents, including Truman, relied on the authority inherent in the U.S. Constitution. As a result, the Youngstown analysis began with the fact that Congress never gave Truman the power to declare a national emergency. Trump, however, is using a specific statutory power created by Congress for the president.
From the outset, Truman’s action is different from Trump’s, said Jonathan Turley, constitutional law professor at George Washington University, in a phone interview with The Washington Post. Trump is acting under a congressional grant of authority.
“This falls into the category of a self-inflicted wound. Courts don’t protect Congress from itself,” he said. “Congress removed the long-standing barrier for presidents, then continued giving billions of dollars with virtually no limitations on the use of the money. Now, those chickens have come back to roost.”
[Trump may declare a national emergency in the border wall battle. Here’s what that means.]
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), in an interview with The Post’s Mike DeBonis, confirmed that the House plans to lean on the Youngstown precedent in court.
"They’re about to make the steel seizure decision the most famous Supreme Court case in Washington for the next couple months. The steel seizure case closes the door on what they’re trying to do,” Raskin said.
Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) implied the same, noting, “If Harry Truman couldn’t nationalize the steel industry during wartime, this president doesn’t have the power to declare an emergency and build a multibillion-dollar wall on the border.”
If the odds heavily favor the president, Democrats should also keep the calendar in mind, Turley warned, adding that they may be handing Trump a major court victory that could come down right before the 2020 election.
“This could end up being a serious — political and legal — blunder by the Democrats,” he said.
[Trump said conservative pundits don’t decide policy — then praised his favorite talk-show hosts]
Youngstown may be the case, but that does not mean it’s a home-run case.
It does not provide guidance on the president’s power to take action in the face of congressional prohibition, according to Gerald S. Dickinson, assistant professor of law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
“Congress has opposed the wall being built based off of its unwillingness to enact legislation or divert money to build a wall,” he said. “We know that the intent behind the National Emergencies Act was not to allow a president to use it for frivolous or partisan purposes,” but legislative intent does not offer a full picture of what is constitutionally permitted.
[Trump’s national emergency and its massive unintended consequences]
Elizabeth Goitein, co-director of the Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security Program, agreed that Youngstown “is not completely on point.” For that reason, Goitein believes the legal arguments should focus less on Youngstown and more on whether congressionally conferred powers can be used pretextually to subvert the role of Congress.
“Congress didn’t expect the president to abuse the powers they were giving him. They expected the president to act constitutionally and in good faith,” she said.
Perhaps the lesson is that’s not an assumption Congress should make going forward.
“Fool me once,” Goitein said. Now Congress realizes how these powers can be abused. If it doesn’t act to revise emergency powers, it will be on Congress the next time this happens.
The National Emergencies Act was never meant for something like Trump’s wall
Trump’s tweets could be used against him in court if he declares a national emergency
Trump’s wall needs private property. But some Texans won’t give up their land without a fight.
Trump’s most hypocritical quotes on unilateral executive action
It’s Biden v. Harris Part 2 at next Democratic presidential debate
Analysis Trump’s denial of knowing about the Stormy Daniels payment suffers another blow
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REDWOOD ESTATES, CALIFORNIA
Home > North America > United States > California
Elevation: 2420 feet Latitude: 37 11N Longitude: 122 02W
Köppen Classification: Mediterran Climate
Under the Köppen Climate Classification climate classification, "dry-summer subtropical" climates are often referred to as "Mediterranean". This climate zone has an an average temperature above 10°C (50°F) in their warmest months, and an average in the coldest between 18 to -3°C (64 to 27°F). Summers tend to be dry with less than one-third that of the wettest winter month, and with less than 30mm (1.18 in) of precipitation in a summer month. SMany of the regions with Mediterranean climates have relatively mild winters and very warm summers.
The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Csb". (Mediterran Climate).
The average amount of precipitation for the year in Redwood Estates is 46.4" (1178.6 mm). The month with the most precipitation on average is January with 9.4" (238.8 mm) of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is July with an average of 0.1" (2.5 mm). There are an average of 61.0 days of precipitation, with the most precipitation occurring in February with 10.0 days and the least precipitation occurring in July with 0.0 days.
In Redwood Estates, there's an average of 0.7" of snow (0 cm). The month with the most snow is March, with 0.5" of snow (1.3 cm).
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Sleep, Memory, and Learning
Sleep is thought to consolidate changes in synaptic strength, but the underlying mechanisms are unknown. We investigated the cellular events involved in this process during ocular dominance plasticity (ODP)a canonical form of invivo cortical plasticity triggered by monocular deprivation (MD) and consolidated by sleep via undetermined, activity-dependent mechanisms. We find that sleep consolidates ODP primarily by strengthening cortical responses to nondeprived eye stimulation. Consolidation is inhibited by reversible, intracortical antagonism of NMDA receptors (NMDARs) or cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) during post-MD sleep. Consolidation is also associated with sleep-dependent increases in the activity of remodeling neurons and in the phosphorylation of proteins required for potentiation of glutamatergic synapses. These findings demonstrate that synaptic strengthening via NMDAR and PKA activity is a key step in sleep-dependent consolidation of ODP.
From press release:
If you ever argued with your mother when she told you to get some sleep after studying for an exam instead of pulling an all-nighter, you owe her an apology, because it turns out she's right. And now, scientists are beginning to understand why.
In research published recently in Neuron, Marcos Frank, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neuroscience, at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, postdoctoral researcher Sara Aton, PhD, and colleagues describe for the first time how cellular changes in the sleeping brain promote the formation of memories.
"This is the first real direct insight into how the brain, on a cellular level, changes the strength of its connections during sleep," Frank says.
The findings, says Frank, reveal that the brain during sleep is fundamentally different from the brain during wakefulness.
"We find that the biochemical changes are simply not happening in the neurons of animals that are awake," Frank says. "And when the animal goes to sleep it's like you’ve thrown a switch, and all of a sudden, everything is turned on that's necessary for making synaptic changes that form the basis of memory formation. It's very striking."
The team used an experimental model of cortical plasticity – the rearrangement of neural connections in response to life experiences. "That's fundamentally what we think the machinery of memory is, the actual making and breaking of connections between neurons,” Frank explains
In this case, the experience Frank and his team used was visual stimulation. Animals that were young enough to still be establishing neural networks in response to visual cues were deprived of stimulation through one eye by covering that eye with a patch. The team then compared the electrophysiological and molecular changes that resulted with control animals whose eyes were not covered. Some animals were studied immediately following the visual block, while others were allowed to sleep first.
From earlier work, Frank's team already knew that sleep induced a stronger reorganization of the visual cortex in animals that had an eye patch versus those that were not allowed to sleep. Now they know why.
A molecular explanation is emerging. The key cellular player in this process is a molecule called N-methyl D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR), which acts like a combination listening post and gate-keeper. It both receives extracellular signals in the form of glutamate and regulates the flow of calcium ions into cells.
Essentially, once the brain is triggered to reorganize its neural networks in wakefulness (by visual deprivation, for instance), intra- and intercellular communication pathways engage, setting a series of enzymes into action within the reorganizing neurons during sleep.
To start the process, NMDAR is primed to open its ion channel after the neuron has been excited. The ion channel then opens when glutamate binds to the receptor, allowing calcium into the cell. In turn, calcium, an intracellular signaling molecule, turns other downstream enzymes on and off.
Some neural connections are strengthened as a result of this process, and the result is a reorganized visual cortex. And, this only happens during sleep.
“To our amazement, we found that these enzymes never really turned on until the animal had a chance to sleep," Frank explains, "As soon as the animal had a chance to sleep, we saw all the machinery of memory start to engage." Equally important was the demonstration that inhibition of these enzymes in the sleeping brain completely prevented the normal reorganization of the cortex.
Frank stresses that this study did not examine recalling memories. For example, these animals were not being asked to remember the location of their food bowl. "It's a mechanism that we think underlies the formation of memory.” And not only memory; the same mechanism could play a role in all neurological plasticity processes.
As a result, this study could pave the way to understanding, on a molecular level, why humans need sleep, and why they are so affected by the lack of it. It could also conceivably lead to novel therapeutics that could compensate for the lack of sleep, by mimicking the molecular events that occur during sleep.
Finally, the study could lead to a deeper understanding of human memory. Though how and even where humans store long-lasting memories remains a mystery, Frank says, "we do know that changes in cortical connections is at the heart of the mystery. By understanding that in animal models, it will bring us close to understanding how it works in humans."
Sara J. Aton, Julie Seibt, Michelle Dumoulin, Sushil K. Jha, Nicholas Steinmetz, Tammi Coleman, Nirinjini Naidoo, Marcos G. Frank.
Mechanisms of Sleep-Dependent Consolidation of Cortical Plasticity
Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
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Learning / Secondary Schools / Question Time 2019
Debate current issues with a panel of distinguished speakers in St Margaret's Church, commonly called "the parish church of the House of Commons" - and a place which has witnessed many important events in the life of this country.
To register your interest in this event, contact our Learning team: [email protected].
Samira Ahmed
Award-winning journalist and broadcaster Samira Ahmed presents Front Row on Radio 4 and Newswatch on BBC1. She began her career as a BBC graduate news trainee, working as a news correspondent, reporter for BBC News, Newsnight, the Today programme and as a news anchor for World Service TV and Deutsche Welle TV in Berlin. She covered the OJ Simpson civil trial while the BBC's LA Correspondent. Samira won the Stonewall broadcast of the year award during her 11 years at Channel 4 News, for a special report on so-called "corrective" rape in South Africa. Her articles and radio documentaries explore the intersection of culture, politics and social change. They have covered such topics as David Bowie, the wife of Oliver Cromwell, the invention of the atomic bomb and Laura Ingalls Wilder. Samira is a visiting professor of journalism at Kingston University and an honorary fellow of St Edmund Hall, Oxford.
Imam Qari Asim MBE
Qari Asim MBE is a senior Imam at Makkah Mosque in Leeds and Legal Director at global law firm, DLA Piper. Qari is passionate about fostering relations between communities and is a trustee of Christian Muslim Forum. He is an executive board member of National Council of Imams & Rabbis, deputy chair of Government’s Anti-Muslim Hatred/ Islamophobia Working Group and a faith advisor to the Near Neighbours programme. He also acts as a consultant to a number of mosques, institutions, public bodies and agencies, including Mosaic, founded by HRH Prince of Wales, to inspire young people to realise their talents and potential. He is interested in issues related to government policy, education, business, leadership, youth empowerment, gender equity, environment and social welfare. He is a blogger and columns or comments from him appear in The Times, The Telegraph, The Independent, The Guardian, Yorkshire Post and Huffington Post.
The Reverend Laura Jørgensen
The Reverend Laura Jørgensen is the Rector of St Botolph without Aldgate, a Church of England parish church at the eastern boundary of the City of London, looking west towards the financial heart of the country, and east to Petticoat Lane and Brick Lane markets. In addition to leading the worshipping community there, she is also active in the local resident and business community, and is a trustee of a number of charities, mainly with an educational focus. She is a co-opted member of the City of London Corporation’s Community and Children’s Services Committee. St Botolph’s is an inclusive church, particularly known for its welcome to LGBT people and Laura is passionate in advocating for change in the church on issues relating to sexuality. Prior to her current role, she was a Minor Canon at St Paul’s Cathedral responsible for ensuring the day-to-day services ran smoothly, and for organising larger scale services. Laura has rhyming degrees: Geology, which she read for at Imperial College, and Theology, which she undertook as part of her training for ministry.
Agamemnon Otero MBE
Agamemnon Otero MBE is a co-founding director of Repowering. He is also a director of marine transport infrastructure company Hydra and the Repowering projects Energy Garden and Brixton Energy Solar 1, 2 & 3. He co-founded industry advocacy body Community Energy England and sat on the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Office’s Community Energy Contact Group. He has a Master’s degree in Architecture: Advanced Environment and Energy and previously worked as the director for Renewable Energy Project Finance and Social Responsibility at a financial institution. In 2014 was made a London Leader, in 2016 he was awarded an MBE for services to community energy and in 2017 was named one of the 51 Most Impactful Green Leaders globally by CSR Congress.
Angela Rayner MP
Angela Rayner MP is not an Oxbridge-educated, former Special Adviser, professional politician. She did not have a privileged upbringing and never went to public school or university. She was brought up on a council estate and left her local comprehensive at 16 with no qualifications and a baby already on the way, after being told she would 'never amount to anything'. Angela has spoken about how Labour's Sure Start centres gave her, and her friends, the support they needed to become better parents and to grow and develop as young adults.
After a spell at the local FE College, Angela started working as a care worker for Stockport Council where she gained experience at the sharp end of public services, providing one-to-one care to elderly people in their own homes. She was soon put forward by her women work-mates to speak for them as a union rep with UNISON. “I was mouthy,” she says, ‘and I would take no messing from management.” She rose through the ranks of the trade union movement with her direct experience of low pay, long hours and zero hours contracts, to become the most senior elected official of UNISON in the North West of England.
In 2015, Angela Rayner became the first woman MP in the 180-year history of her Ashton-under-Lyne constituency. She was soon promoted to the shadow whip's office by the new Labour Leader, Jeremy Corbyn, and went on to hold the position of Shadow Pensions Minister, before becoming a member of the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Education.
The Rt Hon. Lord Willetts FRS
The Rt Hon. Lord Willetts FRS is the Executive Chair of the Resolution Foundation. He served as the Member of Parliament for Havant (1992-2015), as Minister for Universities and Science (2010-2014) and previously worked at HM Treasury and the No. 10 Policy Unit.
Lord Willetts is a visiting Professor at King’s College London, a Board member of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), a Board member of Surrey Satellites and of the Biotech Growth Trust. He is the Chair of the Sanger Institute and the Chair of Foundation for Science and Technology. He is an Honorary Fellow of Nuffield College, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society and the Chancellor of the University of Leicester.
Lord Willetts has written widely on economic and social policy. His book ‘The Pinch’ about fairness between the generations was published in 2010. His latest book “A University Education” is published by Oxford University Press.
You are surrounded by history at the Abbey, not like a museum where it’s just displayed, but here you are standing where history has happened.
Gerlinde - Abbey Marshal
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Wired 2013
Founders to young entrepreneurs: 'find a gap in the market and own that problem'
By Liat Clark
Nate Lanxon / Canon 5D MkIII
Speaking at Wired Next Generation, founders Nick D'Alosio, Emily Brooke and Jamal Edwards urged the young business leaders of tomorrow to seek out gaps in the market, find out everything they can about that gap and own it. Young people, they said, are uniquely positioned to solve the problems of tomorrow, having grown up in the technological revolution.
Explaining that your age simply does not matter if you have a great idea, D'Alosio -- founder of Summly, the service acquired by Yahoo! -- described what it was like to get a phone call from one of the richest man in Asia, aged 15.
We've grown up with internet. We're able to see things and gaps in markets that others may not be able to
Nick D'Aloisio
"After a few tech blogs wrote about my business idea, I got a call from his team. They reached out to me, thinking I was a proper CEO. They said they were interested in investing. The phone call was in the summer holidays and I tried to put on a deep voice and drop every bit of jargon I could, but then at the end I thought I may as well confess: 'I'm 15'. But they were so excited. We've grown up with internet. We're able to see things and gaps in markets that others may not be able to."
A meeting of minds: the people who made Wired 2013
By Stephen Armstrong
D'Alosio's summarisation app reached a million users last December, just one month after its official launch, and by March the company was purchases. It proves, said D'Alosio, that there is still work to be done in even the most seemingly traditional of sectors. "There's still room for innovation even in the most simple sectors, like text. There are so many gaps to disrupt, and those ideas will come from people who are young and use a company's products and engage with them."
'The key is to find your problem'
This point was reiterated by Brooke, whose company Blaze specialises in developing products for the urban cyclist. She had never planned or wanted to be an entrepreneur, but a love of cycling unexpecedlty led her down that path. "I got the cycling bug and in my final year when I had to design a product from start to finish, I decided to look at the challenges facing urban cyclists," she said.
Only build something valuable if you're solving a problem you know better than anyone else
Emily Brooke
Björk: how Android is helping us take Biophilia to the masses | Wired 2013 video
"The key is to find your problem, understand your problem and only build something valuable if you're solving a problem you know better than anyone else." Brooke spent time speaking to bus drivers, the council and experts in road safety, before discovering the biggest threat to cyclists was vehicles not seeing them and crossing their path. "I knew exactly what problem I wanted to solve." "Find a problem that you really are obsessed with and understand it better than anyone else, that's the only way to find a valuable answer. And do what you love, you'll do it and you'll love doing it and you'll be happy."
Like Brooke, D'Alosio spent time getting to grips finding out everything he could about the technology that would support his idea. That began with Google, books and online tutorials. But by the time his beta version was out, he was speaking to MIT and the Stanford Research Institute. "I had the idea," he said, "but I would never be as good as someone who did it for 20 years."
'Look after your three Bs'
Trusting your idea with experts in the field is vital, agrees SBTV founder Edwards. Having just secured his first round of funding he has decided to hire a managing director and business development manager. "Then I can focus on the creative side," he said. "I'm really on the business side at the moment, but it's important to focus on the creative side and have people with ten to 15 years experience to back you up."
Edwards said some of the best advice he's received over the years, was from none other than rapper and producer Dr Dre. "He told me to look after the three Bs," said Edwards. "Your base, that's your friends and family; your business; and your body.
That moment inspired me to get to gym, because I realised I was so focussed on the business, I wasn't looking after myself and getting sleep."
Brooke pointed out that your relationships can suffer when you're a founder, so Dre's advice to Edwards seems very on point -- do what makes you happy, but we all need that support system around us to be able to continue. "I've potentially not been the best friend, because you have to be focused and completely obsessed night and day," said Brooke. "My family have been supportive, but I've not been the most present daughter or sister. On the other hand I get up everyday and I'm building my own project and future, I'm in control of that. It's scary to be responsible for a team, but you own it and I'm buzzing and feel really lucky everyday. I'm figuring it out as I go, and am lucky to get up each day and be able to learn so much."
One final key piece of advice divulged by the trio was to refine your design to the point you are ready to show it -- don't feel pressured by the competition. If you have a great idea, get it to the point where you're proud to show it to people and just concentrate on that. "Chase your dreams not the competition," said Edwards. "I used to look at MTV a lot, and think my videos are not as nice as theirs. But I had something good and unique, and you can always look at other people. There might be thousands of others, but how are you going to stand out from there?" "The app market is over saturated so you need a lot of focus on design," adds D'Alosio. "Big companies have huge technical resources, but as an individual if you have a good idea and marry that with interesting design it will stand out from the crowd. "Apple will feature a new take on something innovative -- and with great idea things will happen."
Read more from Wired 2013 and Wired Next Generation's incredible spread speakers, thinkers, innovators and thought-leaders in our Wired 2013 hub.
WIRED Next Generation
Here are the gender pay gaps at Apple, Facebook and Google
Unreasonable Impact is supporting startups solving the world's biggest social problems
In partnership with Barclays
Barclays Unreasonable Impact
The BBC has a gender pay gap problem. Here's how to fix it
How to dress like a startup founder in Silicon Valley, London and Berlin
By Edwin Smith
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12-acre solar farm operational on Fidelity campus in Merrimack
Solar panels generate significant portion of building's energy needs
Mike Cherry
Anchor/Reporter
A TIME. MIKE C: THE POWER FROM THESE SOLAR PANELS CAN DRAW ENOUGH ENERGY TO SUPPORT A SMALL TOWN WHEN YOUR BUSINESS SINCE ON 500 ACRES OF LAND AND EMPLOYS MORE THAN 5000 PEOPLE, SUPPLYING POWER TO A WORKFORCE LARGER THAN THE POPULATION OF HALF OF NEW HAMPSHIRE’S TOWNS IS NO SMALL TASK. >> IT’S INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT TO SPREAD OUT THE WAY WE GATHER OUR ENERGY. MIKE C: THIS SOLAR FARM DIDN’T BLOOM OUT OF NOWHERE. IT’S PART OF A SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVE BY FIDELITY INVESTMENTS IN MERRIMACK. >> AS FAR AS WE KNOW, IT IS THE LARGEST SOLAR FARM IN THE STATE, AND IT IS GENERATING 16% OF THE POWER TO ONE OF OUR BUILDINGS. MIKE C: MORE THAN 8600 PANELS SIT ON FIDELITY’S 12 ACRE SOLAR PANEL FARM, HARNESSING THE POWER OF THE SUN. THE 3.1 MEGAWATT FARM IS PROJECTED TO PRODUCE JUST UNDER 4 MILLION KILOWATT HOURS OF CLEAN ENERGY ANNUALLY. >> THE BUILDING THAT POWER IS GOING TO IS ABOUT HALF A MILLION SQUARE FEET, SO THAT IS A REALLY SIGNIFICANT IMPACT. MIKE C: IN ORDER TO MINIMIZE THE IMPACT OF ITS CARBON FOOT RENT, THE COMPANY HAS LAUNCHED A 13-POINT SUSTAINABILITY EFFORT. IT INCLUDES CARING FOR A POND FULL OF NATIVE SPECIES AND EMPLOYING A BEE FARMER FOR ITS ON-SIGHT BEE FARM. >> IS PART OF AN OVERALL EFFORT TO MAKE THE WORKPLACE A PLACE THAT PEOPLE WANT TO BE AT. MIKE C: THE COMPANY SAYS IT WILL ADD A GARDEN OF NATIVE PLANTS AND CONTINUE TO GR
Covering more than 12 acres of land, New Hampshire's largest solar farm is up and running in New Hampshire.The solar farm is part of Fidelity Investments' sustainability initiative."As far as we know, it's the largest solar farm in the state, and it's generating 16 percent of power to one of our buildings," said Joe Murray, of Fidelity Investments.Fidelity's offices in Merrimack sit on 500 acres of land, and with more than 5,000 employees, it needs to supply power to a workforce larger than the population of half the towns in New Hampshire."It's increasingly important to spread out the way that we gather our energy," Murray said.'More than 8,600 panels sit on the solar farm. The 3.1-megawatt farm is projected to produce just under 4 million kilowatt hours of clean energy annually."That building that the power is going to is half-a-million square feet, so it's a really significant impact," Murray said.The company has launched a 13-point sustainability effort that includes caring for a pond full of native species and employing a bee farmer for its onsite apiary."It's part of an overall effort to make the workplace a place where people want to be at," Murray said.The company said it will add a garden of native plants and continue to grow its green initiative in Merrimack. Company officials said they hope other large businesses follow suit.
MERRIMACK, N.H. —
Covering more than 12 acres of land, New Hampshire's largest solar farm is up and running in New Hampshire.
The solar farm is part of Fidelity Investments' sustainability initiative.
"As far as we know, it's the largest solar farm in the state, and it's generating 16 percent of power to one of our buildings," said Joe Murray, of Fidelity Investments.
Fidelity's offices in Merrimack sit on 500 acres of land, and with more than 5,000 employees, it needs to supply power to a workforce larger than the population of half the towns in New Hampshire.
"It's increasingly important to spread out the way that we gather our energy," Murray said.'
More than 8,600 panels sit on the solar farm. The 3.1-megawatt farm is projected to produce just under 4 million kilowatt hours of clean energy annually.
"That building that the power is going to is half-a-million square feet, so it's a really significant impact," Murray said.
The company has launched a 13-point sustainability effort that includes caring for a pond full of native species and employing a bee farmer for its onsite apiary.
"It's part of an overall effort to make the workplace a place where people want to be at," Murray said.
The company said it will add a garden of native plants and continue to grow its green initiative in Merrimack. Company officials said they hope other large businesses follow suit.
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Ex-slugger David Ortiz had counted on fans to protect him
Beloved in his hometown, former Boston Red Sox player David Ortíz traveled the dangerous streets of Santo Domingo with little or no security, trusting in his fans to protect him.
Big Papi’s guard was down even at hotspots like the Dial Bar and Lounge, where the Dominican business and entertainment elite can cross paths with shadier figures in a country where fortunes are often made in drug smuggling and money laundering.
As the former Red Sox slugger lies in intensive care in Boston, recovering from the bullet fired into his back at the Dial on Sunday night, police are investigating what aspect of the national hero’s life made him the target of what appeared to be an assassination attempt.
Ortíz was so relaxed at the open-air hotspot Sunday that he had his back to the sidewalk as a gunman — a passenger on a motorcycle — got off the bike just before 9 p.m., approached the 43-year-old retired athlete and fired a single shot at close range before escaping.
Enraged fans captured the 25-year-old motorcyclist and beat him bloody before handing him over to police, but the gunman was still at large Tuesday. Dominican authorities reported a second arrest in the case Tuesday night, but there was no public indication the man was suspected of being the shooter.
Doctors in Santo Domingo removed Ortiz’s gallbladder and part of his intestines, and the former ballplayer was then flown to Boston for further treatment Monday night, undergoing two hours of exploratory surgery.
Ortiz’s wife, Tiffany, said in a statement that he was “stable, awake and resting comfortably” at Massachusetts General Hospital and was expected to remain there for several days.
The motorcyclist, Eddy Vladimir Féliz Garcia, who had a 2017 arrest for drug possession, was one of several people in custody as of Tuesday afternoon, a law-enforcement official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to release details of the investigation.
A police car carrying Féliz Garcia drove up to a shipping container serving as a makeshift courtroom on Tuesday evening, and sat there for about a half-hour before driving off again. Court officials said the hearing had been delayed because Féliz Garcia’s charging documents had not arrived in time. He was brought back about 10 p.m. for charging.
A spokesman for prosecutors, Erick Montilla, said Féliz Garcia was charged as an accomplice to an attempted murder.
His lawyer, Deivi Solano, said Féliz Garcia had no idea who he’d picked up and what was about to happen when he stopped to take a fare.
“He didn’t know what they were going to do. He’s a fan of David’s,” Solano said.
Later, Julieta Tejeda, spokeswoman for the national prosecutor’s office, told reporters via WhatsApp that a second arrest had been made in the investigation. She declined to provide further details.
Ortíz has a six-bedroom, $6 million home in the wealthy Boston suburb of Weston, Massachusetts, that he shared with his wife and three children but has put the place up for sale. He visits his father and sister in Santo Domingo about six times a year, according to a close friend who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
Ortíz stayed at his father’s apartment and was active on the social scene in the capital, hitting nightspots with a small group of friends that included TV personalities and Dominican reggaeton musicians, whom Ortiz would help by connecting them with established artists in the genre.
Ortíz couldn’t avoid running across unsavory characters on the Santo Domingo social scene but kept his distance once he was warned about their shady backgrounds, the friend said.
“He may have spoken with them, but he didn’t know who they were,” the friend said. “He really kept away from that world.”
Police are investigating, however, whether some brief relationship formed in Santo Domingo set in motion a chain of events that led to the shooting, a second law enforcement official told the AP.
The official declined to provide further details about the type of relationship or other aspects of the rapidly developing investigation.
Ortíz felt completely secure in his hometown, the friend said, with adoring fans greeting him wherever he went.
“He felt protected by the people,” the friend said. “He is one of the most loved people in the Dominican Republic. He felt no fear despite the fact that there’s street crime here. Even the guys in the dangerous neighborhoods respected him.”
Ortíz flew from Boston to Santo Domingo on May 5 to enroll his teenage son, a promising baseball talent, in one of the island’s grueling “academies” for future stars, the friend said. He also wanted to check on his foundation, which sponsors surgery for sick children, and sign a cigar-promotion deal.
On Sunday night, he went out with the reggaeton singer known as El Sujeto and baseball announcer and TV personality Jhoel Lopez to Dial, a bar and cafe that started as an arm of a luxury auto-detailing business across the street.
In recent years, Dial turned from a site where people relaxed as their cars were cleaned to a hotspot where Dominican celebrities eat and drink, often alongside people with fortunes of dubious origin.
Dial sits in a wealthy and relatively safe section of Santo Domingo, but the Dominican Republic is one of the world’s most dangerous countries.
The murder rate stands at 12.5 killings per 100,000 people, placing the Dominican Republic in the top 10 to 15% of the most violent countries in the world, according to the U.S. State Department.
There were 1,353 reported killings in 2018, compared with 1,561 in 2017 and 1,616 in 2016, the department said.
Last year, 2,145 people were wounded with guns, a slight decrease from 2017, according to the Dominican Republic’s Citizen Security Observatory.
An OSAC report said the Dominican Republic also faces serious problems with drug trafficking and money laundering, adding: “This situation is worse due to a lack of law enforcement resources, poorly paid and trained police officers and rampant corruption.”
This year, the government increased the maximum penalty to 40 years for those found guilty of kidnapping someone while brandishing an illegal weapon or killing someone while committing another crime.
Associated Press writers Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Jimmy Golen in Boston contributed to this story.
HONOLULU (AP) — Scientists are expected to explore fundamental questions about the universe when they use a giant new telescope planned for the summit of Hawaii's tallest mountain.
Among them are whether there's life outside our solar system and how stars and galaxies formed.
by Clarissa Bustamante / Jul 19, 2019
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS (KNWA) — Social media: It’s the resource we hate to love and love to hate. But, research shows we can’t stop scrolling.
In 2013, the average internet user had about four social media accounts. Fast forward to now, and we’re looking at an average of seven per person.
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Do You Know How Many International Airports Nigeria Has?
Linda Patrick Friday, 26 April 2019 Edit this post
International airports in Nigeria The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) manages five functioning international airports throughout...
International airports in Nigeria The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) manages five functioning international airports throughout the country.
1. Murtala Muhammed International Airport
Brief information: Murtala Muhammed Airport Lagos is one of the busiest airports in Nigeria. There are two terminals in the airport, namely the International and Cargo terminals. The international terminal works around the clock every day, and the national terminal works only 16 hours per day.
Since 1970, the buildings of the terminals were renovated many times. But the most significant renovation was in 2013 what was concerned with the start of the Remodelling/Rehabilitation Programme for the airport across the whole of Nigeria.
Thanks to this programme, the airport got the most apparent change, that was the sizeable expanding of the lounge area new passenger handling conveyor systems that now were capable of handling more than one thousand customers per hour.
Annually, Muhammed Murtala International airport serves about 5 and 3 million passengers through international and national terminals respectively.s just the Lagos International Airport. The airport's name was changed to the contemporary one in honor of General Murtala Muhammed, who governed Nigeria in 1975-1976.
2. Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport
Brief information: NAIA was instituted in the early 2000 and launched in 2002. This is the airport located in the federal capital of Nigeria, the city of Abuja. Official website: https://abuja.airport-authority.com/ The airport was named in honor of Dr. Nnandi Azikiwe, a leading nationalist and one of Nigeria's establishers. When it comes to official visits of authorities representatives and family vacations, NAIA is the place of their final destination to meet Nigeria for the first time. There are two terminals in the airport. There is also a design to open the second runway at the airport so that it will overcome the substantial air traffic on the only existing runway. Today, the NAIA serves more than three million tourists annually.
3. Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport
Brief information: The Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport was renovated and approved on the 15th of March, in 2015 by HRH, Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido. MAKIA's place of location is an old city of Kano, which is in the North part of Nigeria. The airport was named in honor of an outstanding Nigerian politician, who was born in Kano, Mallam Aminu Kano, who was a nationalist, statesman, and resolute opponent of the poverty in Nigeria MAKIA is among the Nigerian international airports that were built long ago. In addition, it is an important transition spot for the annual flights of Muslims from Haji to Mecca. Source of photo: thewillnigeria.com
4. Port Harcourt International Airport
Brief information: The Port Harcourt International Airport is considered to be the best solution for traveling to any spot of the world from Nigeria. It is especially convenient when it comes to flying to western countries. The Port Harcourt International Airport contributes a lot to the financial and economic aspects of Nigeria. And this is due to its advantageous location in Port Harcourt, which is the heart of Nigeria’s oil and gas enterprise. The Port Harcourt International Airport provides straightforward air connections between the country and essential points across the planet, particularly to and from the Western part of the world. Today, renovations are going in the old terminal of the airport. Anyway, it does not hinder the terminal from being active and serving passengers.
5. Akanu Ibiam International Airport
Brief information: Akanu Ibiam International Airport is one of the five Nigerian international airports. It is administered by FAAN, upon the recommendation of the Federal Government. The location of Akanu Ibiam International Airport is the city of Enugu, best known for its coal industry, that alludes to the past times when it was the core of a successful coal mining industry. Consequently, AIIA is strategically located in Enugu to serve this part of the country. The airport has been established in Enugu city with the strategical precision in order to achieve particular purposes and to get the most profit of it.
Now you the answer to the question -how many international airports does Nigeria have? You can find more information on FAAN website.
6. Maiduguri International Airport
Brief information: Maiduguri International Airport was established in the 1950 with a runway capacity of 1000 x 28M (Airstrip) at the present Nigerian Air Force Headquarters, Borno State. The Airport serves as both domestic and international operations during Hajj operations. The Airport is located in Maiduguri and it is also surrounded by Bulunkutu, Shiwari, Shelmari and Muronti communities.
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Hotels in Toulouse
World Travel Guide > Guides > Europe > France > Toulouse
Toulouse Weather
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Introducing Toulouse
About Toulouse
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Travel to Toulouse
About France
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Places in Toulouse
Toulouse Travel Guide
Feisty and full of history, the southwestern metropolis of Toulouse is one of the most enjoyable cities in France.
It draws nothing like the attention enjoyed by Paris, Marseille and Lyon (the only three French cities which are larger), but it's not always obvious why. Known as La Ville Rose, thanks to the pinkish bricks that dominate much of its older architecture, it's a city with medieval heritage, a world-class aerospace industry and an indelibly proud identity.
This regional pride is partly rooted in the rugby team, one of the most successful in Europe, but it's also shaped by the local cuisine and a roaring cultural scene. It has one of the most sizeable universities in the country, which helps imbue the place with a youthful feel, but the city still clings closely to its past, with bilingual street signs (the Occitan language has its roots in the area), cobbled streets and numerous merchants' towers dating back to the era when Toulouse was made rich by woad production.
Some of the buildings and public spaces around the centre are beautiful. The large Place du Capitole has a striking old town hall and theatre complex with eight columns of marble. Close by, the Saint Sernin Basilica is a soaring example of Romanesque architecture and inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List. The city's famous pink bricks, incidentally, are said to originate from the mud of the Garonne River, which flows west of the city centre. The Canal du Midi also cuts through the city.
The Space Museum gives a more cutting-edge flavour to the city's visitor attractions, as does the vast Airbus Factory. But this is still somewhere that prides itself on its traditions, and in a manner typical of the southwest, enjoying life is seen as a priority. Meals tend to be long and hearty, so be sure to sample the local cassoulet, preferably complemented by a glass or two of Cahors wine.
438000 (2006)
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AP Top Georgia Headlines at 7:11 a.m. EDT
Sheryl Crow says 2008 fire destroyed all her master tapes
LONDON (AP) - Singer Sheryl Crow says the original tapes of albums such as "Tuesday Night Music Club" and the track "All I Wanna Do" perished in a 2008 fire at Universal Music Group.
Crow told the BBC Wednesday that her master tapes and back-ups were destroyed in the blaze and that she only discovered the loss after a New York Times report revealed the extent of the damage.
Crow says the fire "feels a little apocalyptic" and that she didn't "understand the cover-up."
A group of artists, including Soundgarden and estates representing Tupac Shakur and Tom Petty, have sued. The artists allege that Universal failed to protect music ruined in the fire and inform them of the extent of its impact.
Universal did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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The Mountain West News Bureau
Last Resorts: The West's Rural Outdoor Paradises Are Getting Richer
By Nate Hegyi • Jun 21, 2019
Renee Bright / KUER
Originally published on July 3, 2019 11:07 am
HEBER CITY — Tucked below the jagged, snowy Wasatch range 20 miles south of Park City, the Heber Valley looks like a miniature Switzerland. Dairy cows graze in bright green pastures and a small farm sells artisan cheeses and milk.
But the valley’s days as a bucolic farmland may be numbered. Over the past decade, it has become a maze of subdivisions and massive homes, all built to house a growing number of wealthy retirees and stock market investors who have flocked here for its pastoral setting and its proximity to Utah’s world-class ski areas.
In 2015 retirees Sue and Rick Nathanson moved to Heber Valley, in part, to get closer to Deer Valley Resort.
“Best groomed skiing in all of America,” Sue said. “We came down here and [Rick] had never skied it. We bought a house anyways.”
They now own a house in the luxury subdivision of Red Ledges in Heber City. It is the Nathanson’s second home — their other is in Palm Springs, California.
Ever since the end of the last recession, wealthier Americans such as the Nathansons have been moving to small, recreation-focused communities across the West, according to a recent report from the nonprofit organization Headwaters Economics. The influx of new money is transforming once-sleepy logging or ranching towns in ways that are both good and bad — revitalizing communities but driving housing costs beyond what’s affordable for many residents.
“Who is benefiting from these booms in recreation communities?” asked Megan Lawson, an economist at Headwaters and author of the study. “Who is not?”
Rural Growth
Empty storefronts, tired cafes and boarded-up gas stations have long identified many small towns in the rural West.
“These are places that are struggling to hold onto residents,” Lawson said. “They’re dealing with population loss and people moving away.”
The report found that since the Great Recession rural and semi-rural Western counties with a lot of recreation opportunities — hiking, biking, snowmobiling and skiing — have grown while rural counties without those amenities continue to shrink.
The transplants who are moving to these recreation meccas are often wealthier than those moving to counties without those opportunities.
“This validates outdoor recreation as an economic development strategy that can bring decent jobs,” Lawson said. “It can bring new residents to the community — not just tourists.”
The transformation is visible in Heber Valley, where new bakeries and restaurants are popping up and Wasatch County’s first microbrewery is planning to open this summer. But for Heber Valley and some other recreation paradises in the West, all this growth comes at a cost.
Unaffordable Housing
Heber City Police Chief Dave Booth has lived in the valley for two decades and has witnessed its recent transformation.
From his office window, he can see traffic pass by on Main Street. For every rusted Honda or muddy, ranch-style pickup truck, there’s a Porsche or a Mercedes-Benz hauling mountain bikes. Booth said the influx of wealthy residents means more expensive housing.
“Rents have just skyrocketed,” he said.
According to data from Headwaters Economics, almost half of all renters in Wasatch County are paying rent that is more than 30% of their income, which is considered unaffordable. The median listing price for a home has doubled over the past decade. As of May, 2019, it hovered around $632,000, or nine times the median income of a family living in the valley.
Booth worried that wealthier transplants are pushing out Heber’s school teachers and police officers — the people who make a town a community.
“Everybody would like to have a home with a yard and a neighborhood to raise a family,” he said. “Why should it be said, ‘Hey, if you’re a cop in Heber City, you shouldn't be able to have this.’ If that day comes, then the cops are going to have to live somewhere else. I think that’s a shame.”
Retirees Sue and Rick Nathanson said they were well aware of the housing crisis unfolding in the Heber Valley. They also acknowledged that they are somewhat to blame.
“Absolutely we are part of the problem,” Sue Nathanson said.
But it’s a problem that is pushing out more than just the valley’s school teachers and police officers. The quaint dairy farms that the Nathansons fell in love with when they first moved to the Heber Valley are quickly turning into dirt construction sites after being sold off to real estate developers.
Eventually, the Nathansons said, they too will move away.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUER in Salt Lake City, KUNR in Nevada, and KRCC and KUNC in Colorado.
Copyright 2019 KUER 90.1. To see more, visit KUER 90.1.
Number Of Women-Owned Businesses Growing Slowly In Wyoming
By Kamila Kudelska • Aug 29, 2018
The 2018 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report commissioned by American Express
Wyoming is ranked 42nd in the nation for growth of women-owned businesses since 2007, with a 22 percent increase in that time. That’s compared to a 58 percent increase of women-owned businesses nationwide. But Wyoming still ranks in the top ten for women’s businesses that employ large numbers of people.
More Women Breadwinners Moving Families To Cody
It's a windy and freezing afternoon in Cody. A bunch of women are gathered around a table at the Chamberlin Inn in Cody, chatting about the dynamic of their relationships.
Future Of Cody Labs Uncertain
By Kamila Kudelska • Jun 21, 2019
Cody Labs
Last week, the Philadelphia-based Lannette Company, which owns Cody Labs, announced it will close all operations in Cody. Cody Labs produces generic prescription pain medications. But the actions of some in Cody may indicate workers and officials there are not giving up hope.
Outdoor Industry Says China Tariffs Are Hurting Their Industry
By Amanda Peacher • Jun 18, 2019
If you’re in the market for a new tent or fleece jacket, you could see prices for those products go up. The Trump Administration is proposing new tariffs on items like these that are produced in China.
Click 'play' to hear the audio version of this story.
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Asbestos Mine in Canada Doubles as Mars for Space Experiments
The Jeffrey Mine in Asbestos, Quebec, Canada is the last functional asbestos mine in the country. Over the summer, mine operators asked the provincial government for $58 million to renovate aging structures on the site. This request was not honored, but the ageing mine may have a new lease on life as a training ground for future Mars rover missions.
Scientists from the Canadian Space Agency, along with a number of noted scholars, have determined that the Jeffrey mine may be a good training ground for future rover missions which will determine the presence of methane on the planet.
The mine is an ideal location for this kind of training and for testing and gathering methane gas because methane is found in high quantities on the site. Rover tests seeking methane on Mars are an important step in learning whether the planet could support life, as water and methane are two classic signs of life.
To date, the Jeffrey mine has brought in more than $75 million for its use as a test site. Additional tests are in the plans for the mine, as well.
Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral that is valued for its heat resistance, strength, and low cost. Asbestos is also the only known cause of the deadly cancer mesothelioma, which strikes roughly 3,000 Americans each year.
DIY Renovations Leave Individuals Susceptible to Asbestos Exposure
Is Asbestos In Alcoholic Beverages?
The Presence of Asbestos in Talc
Are Recent Army Veterans At Risk for Asbestos Exposure?
Where Is Asbestos Commonly Found?
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We at Oblong Industries are beyond pleased, honored, and thrilled to announce that our CEO John Underkoffler has won the 2015 Cooper Hewitt National Design Award in the category of Interaction Design. In working with him on a daily basis we always knew he was exceptional, but there’s nothing like a little external validation to really make your day. As this is indeed the nation’s highest honor recognizing design excellence, we couldn’t be more proud.
The National Design Awards were conceived by Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum to acknowledge lasting achievement in American design, and are “bestowed in recognition of excellence, innovation, and enhancement of the quality of life”. First launched at the White House in 2000 as an official project of the White House Millennium Council, the annual Awards program celebrates design as a vital humanistic tool in shaping the world, and seeks to increase national awareness of the impact of design through education initiatives.
We join this program with absolute enthusiasm — design currents run deep at Oblong Industries. Our work builds on John’s conviction that the most powerful digital systems in the 21st century will emerge from a vigorous design-centered evolution of the human-machine interface (HMI), a theme he’s been pursuing for twenty-five years. Of course, actually getting there requires hard and sustained effort, a real commitment to human-first design, and an ardor for working at the boundaries of the built environment, both physical and digital. Customers engaging with our Client Solutions team on custom g-speak projects, along with those whose collaborative work practices are supercharged by our flagship product Mezzanine, experience first hand John’s leadership in next-gen HMI thinking.
It’s our mission to “provision the world with new computing forms of genuine value and durable worth, forms profoundly capable, human, beautiful and exhilarating”. We’re delighted that our co-founder and CEO has been recognized for his body of work in interaction design and computer science.
AwardsCooper Hewitt, g-speak, Mezzanine, Solutions
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The price of oil, again
I predicted before the last American Presidential election that Bush would have to reduce the price of gasoline or he would lose. He didn’t force the price of gasoline down and, of course, he did lose. He ‘won’ only because of electoral crookedness (which appears to be the strategy for the upcoming election cycle in November). There is only so far that you can rig the computer voting machines before everybody notices and the hue and cry for reform removes the crooked machines permanently, thus making it difficult for Giuliani to win the next Presidential election, so Rove has apparently decided it will be necessary to temporarily reduce the price of gas until the elections are over. We are seeing this now at the pumps (stock up before November!). You might think this would be tricky to do, but the way that commodities are priced makes it surprisingly easy to manipulate the price of gas. Undernews quotes the goldbug site Le Metropole Cafe:
“In yesterday's WSJ in Section C there is a very, very interesting item in the article, Some Investors Lose Their Zest For Commodities. The article notes that over that past few months, commodity funds have been liquidating commodity holdings. But here's the stunner: ‘Consider the Goldman Sachs commodity index, one of the most popular vehicles for betting on raw materials. In July, Goldman Sachs tweaked the index's content by cutting its exposure to gasoline. Investors tracking the index had to adjust their portfolios accordingly ‘which sent gasoline futures prices tumbling.’
Prior to Goldman's July GSCI revision, unleaded gas accounted for 8.45% of the GSCI. Now unleaded gas is only 2.30%. This means commodity funds had to sell 73% of its gasoline futures to conform to the reformulated GSCI. . .
Here we have Goldman, qua keeper of the commodities index, manipulating markets simply by adjusting index components. It is noteworthy in several respects. First, we are used to the notion of them front running market sensitive information announced by third parties, but here a glorified hedge fund - albeit one dominating central banks and finance ministries worldwide - maintains market-moving indices itself. . . . Second, it lends credence to the theory that the current well-publicized commodities decline is just a well-timed, well-orchestrated head fake to benefit the incumbents in the run up to the midterm elections - someone noted recently that Bush's ratings vary inversely with gas prices. . .”
As Undernews notes in its headline, the American Treasury Secretary moved to his current job directly from being Chairman and CEO of the Goldman Sachs Group. He took a $38 million pay cut to change jobs. John Bolton was instrumental in convincing him to do so. He replaced John Snow, who committed the unpardonable sin of being more interested in the health of the American economy than being completely loyal to the Bush regime.
at 9/27/2006 01:37:00 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Is anthrax the October surprise?
You can get anthrax from bullshit, and the FBI is now proving you can get bullshit from anthrax. They have announced that the anthrax samples from the 2001 attacks were in fact not weaponized grade from a military biolab, but just garden-variety anthrax which could have been made by any careful expert with the proper equipment. Douglas J. Beecher, a scientist in the FBI laboratory's Hazardous Materials Response Unit, and a man whom the FBI would not allow to be interviewed, wrote:
“A widely circulated misconception is that the spores were produced using additives and sophisticated engineering supposedly akin to military weapons production.”
Of course, it was the FBI itself which widely circulated this ‘misconception’. Just how stupid do they think we are? They could have, and did, determine the quality of anthrax at the time. This 180 degree change of story, coupled with the obviously intentionally bungled investigation of the attacks (mostly centered on their persecution of patsy Steven Hatfill), simply confirms that they are protecting highly-placed interests in the American military.
The timing of this announcement is curious. The anthrax attacks aren’t a live issue in American politics. You have to wonder if they are preparing for another attack, and feel the need to preemptively clear the American military by cleaning up lingering pointers to the real culprit from the last set of attacks.
Another Israeli catch and release
As part of the never-ending pattern, yet another Israeli national, another young male in a van, has been caught surveilling a possible terrorist target, and, needless to say, quickly released (had it been an American citizen who happened to be Muslim, he would have been in jail for months, if not forever). This time it was the Fort McHenry Tunnel in Baltimore. Police actually had to chase him to apprehend him (and he did not immediately produce his international license, as if he was hoping not to have to blow his identity), and found a laptop computer and a digital camera, but, unusual for an Israeli van (are vans required equipment for Israeli spies?), no evidence of explosives. He went through the tunnel at least twice, as the person who reported him to the police saw him going through the tunnel and again as he returned in the opposite direction back towards the tunnel (his efforts at photography must have been obvious to have attracted the attention of the witness). Although he said he was visiting friends in the Washington area, the van had Connecticut license plates (the owner confirmed he was authorized to use the van). There is no indication that there was any investigation of the owner of the van or his ‘friends’ near Washington. He was released after the local police had talked to “all the appropriate agencies” about him, when they no doubt received the orders from on high to let him go.
Remote-controlled peace activist crushers
Caterpillar Inc. is working on robotic machinery, a development which will no doubt cause a great deal of joy in Israel. Israelis will soon be able to crush peace activists, or knock down walls on top of grandmothers, all with the luxury of remote control.
Spanish nutty conspiracy theory
The latest fun out of Spain concerning the Madrid bombings is a right-wing conspiracy theory from one of the accused, a Spaniard named Jose Emilio Suarez, who allegedly supplied much of the explosive material. He is now saying the attack was actually a Socialist coup d’etat. Apparently the Socialists knew that the Conservatives would attempt to exploit the attacks as a political tactic, and, in the face of all evidence to the contrary, persist in blaming it on the ETA, and appear to be more concerned with winning the election using the ‘war on terror’ trick than actually protecting the Spanish people, thus angering the Spanish voters and sweeping the Socialists to victory. I just wish the socialists around here were half as smart.
Jose Emilio Suarez is one in a long line of police informants who have played major roles in the most notable conspiracies of the past fifty years.
The Golden Age of Anti-Semitism
Here is some rare common sense, a comment by Martin Woollacott, on the prospects for war with Iran. We are yet again in a period where everyone is screaming that an attack in Iran is imminent. What nonsense! I can’t comment on Israel, as Israeli sanity has been put into severe question by its recent Lebanon adventure, but, as I have been repeating for months as we pass each successive deadline that pundits predict as the certain date of the American attack on Iran, there is absolutely no chance that the United States will attack Iran, for the same reasons as always. Iran is geographically located such that it can block much of the world’s oil, causing a catastrophic rise in prices, and a massive world recession. Iran can also cause huge amounts of retaliatory mischief, in Iraq, the Middle East, and around the world. There is no prospect of removing the current Iranian leadership, which will only be strengthened by an attempt to do so. Any attack on Iran is simply not possible.
This is such a serious issue that the unthinkable, that the United States might stand up and stop Israel from an attack, even using military means to do so, is possible. The ‘Establishment’ – you know, the shadowy group that Chomsky circularly claims is responsible for all the evil in the world, including that evil done by Israel and its American agents in the Bush Administration – will wake up and save itself. We have seen a small amount of evidence of that awakening during the attack on Lebanon, where Rice was sent to talk Establishment common sense with the Israelis. Israel’s answer was to bomb Qana, a slap in the face to Rice and the Establishment which will not be forgotten (and which was immediately regretted in Israel, which explains much of the systematic lying over Qana).
If any attack were to take place, the usual Zionist gatekeepers like Chomsky and Zune won’t be able to hide the truth any longer: everybody will know who was behind it. We will enter the Golden Age of Anti-Semitism. With hundreds of thousands – even millions – of people newly laid off in the United States, you’ll be able to go into American gun shops and buy ammo specifically made for Jew hunting. It won’t be pretty. Fortunately for everybody, the chances of an attack on Iran by anybody are close to zero.
I know those warning about war mean well, but there is a serious danger that unnecessary alarm plays into the hands of the neocons. The constant talk of war follows along the neocon class of civilizations road, and makes it even more difficult to deal with the Iranians, and the entire Middle East, in a reasonable manner. Just like with Iraq, the neocon plan is to keep the drums of war beating, and then hope for a spot of good luck – and sometimes, as with September 11, you make your own luck! – to trick the American people into doing something stupid.
Probation for Karr
John Mark Karr is being offered a plea agreement of probation for his alleged possession of child pron as the local sheriff’s department ‘lost’ the evidence, Karr’s computer. I could see this coming. Authorities were vague about the nature of the photographs, as if they weren’t really sure that there was anything illegal about them. Sonoma County officials were no doubt embarrassed by the ‘help’ they received from Boulder, which tried to relieve its embarrassment by pawning him off on Sonoma County (“well, at least we dragged him back from Thailand for something”). The bottom line is that we have not the slightest evidence that Karr was even a pedophile. Weird maybe, but in no way a criminal.
Count Folke Bernadotte
Lawrence of Cyberia commemorates the death of Swedish diplomat Count Folke Bernadotte, assassinated by the Zionists of the Stern Gang – with the approval of future Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, still alive but quite demented – on September 17, 1948, the day after he submitted a progress report to the United Nations advocating, amongst other things, the Palestinian right of return. The new State of Israel went through the motions of investigating the crime, but, needless to say, not one person was ever charged with the murder (although efforts were made to wind up the Stern Gang). Count Bernadotte had saved a considerable number of Jews from the Nazis during the Second World War, which should tell us something about the nature of Zionism.
Philip Melanson, RIP
One of the greatest of all conspiracy researchers, Philip Melanson, has passed away. To see how conspiracy theory should be done, read his great book on the MLK assassination, “The Murkin Conspiracy”.
Israelis in Iraqi Kurdistan
The presence of Israelis in Iraqi Kurdistan, first revealed by Seymour Hersh, has now been confirmed by the BBC. The Israelis have been giving military training to the Kurds, as part of the Yinon plan to break Iraq up into small parts by forcing a violent secession of Kurdistan. The wildest conspiracy theory has now becoming mainstream. Check this out from the BBC report:
“The BBC report will be like the smoking gun the Arab media has spent years looking for.
Ever since the US-led invasion of Iraq began over three years ago, Arab journalists have been speaking of Israelis operating inside the autonomous region of Kurdistan.
They said this was evidence that toppling Saddam Hussein was only the first chapter in a wider American-Israeli conspiracy to eliminate threats to their strategic interests and re-draw the map of the Middle East.
Syria and Iran, which have common borders with Kurdish areas, are believed to be the primary target.”
Don’t forget the rest of Iraq, not to mention Turkey.
William Arkin throws it all away
Read these two amazing articles by William Arkin on how Israel’s attack on Lebanon was moral and Lebanese attempts to defend itself were immoral (each one chock-a-block with easily demonstrable lies, although the second one is a slight attempt to mitigate the outrageousness of the first), and then read this article on cluster bombs by Patrick Cockburn. Then answer the following skill-testing question: William Arkin is:
a liar;
out of his mind;
a Zionist; or
Arkin used to have a bit of a reputation for credibility, but has decided to throw it all away for Zionism. You never get your reputation back. Pity. The only thing you can do about people like this is to simply stop reading them. If he is prepared to lie like this when the lies are so obvious, how can you trust anything he writes?
The proposed attack on the people of Sudan, posing as humanitarianism
jews sans frontieres refers to a rare moment of sense on proposed intervention in Sudan, an article by Jonathan Steele, and makes the connection of the campaign against Sudan to International Zionism (see my earlier posting). I can predict, with one hundred percent certainty, that any Western involvement in Sudan, other than sending food and medical aid, will result in all the people of Sudan being much worse off. Much worse off. One hundred percent certainty. In a world with interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, how can anybody even consider the nonsense of doing the same thing to yet another country?
Canadians against Haitians
The complicity (or worse) of Canada in the campaign of violence against the people of Haiti is particularly striking when you consider that the current Governor General of Canada is Haitian. Although the Canadian role in murdering innocent civilians in Afghanistan is big news in Canada, Haiti has fallen completely beneath the radar. Some of the deep political background can be found here and here and here and here. It is still possible in Canada to scare politicians into doing the right thing (Pierre Pettigrew, the Liberal minister behind Canada’s position on Haiti and a guy who has an interesting history with one of the authors of the first article cited in this posting, lost his seat in the last election due to his attacks against the people of Haiti, yet another example of how ‘first past the post’ works and why there is so much pressure to scrap it in favor of anti-democratic alternatives). There are protest sites against Canada’s immoral role in Haiti.
Thinking like a conspiracy planner
If we accept the fact that the American military had to be behind the September 11 attacks, at least to the extent of arranging not to shoot down any of the attacking planes, we have to assume that somebody associated with the Pentagon was involved in the creation of the conspiracy. The planning of American conspiracies tends to be meticulous, with the problems arising in the execution of the plans (the kind of people you have to hire to do these things aren’t good at following orders). Conspiracy planners have two issues:
Create a plan that will accomplish the goals of the conspirators; and
Don’t get caught.
In this case, the goal was to create a casus belli for a series of wars which would benefit the Pentagon generals (who thrive in wartime), materially benefit the military-industrial complex, ensure the reelection of Republicans, involve the United States in Netanyahu’s Zionist trick called the ‘war on terror’, and satisfy the strategic goals of the extreme Israeli right and its traitorous agents in the American government (in particular, to fulfill Wurmser’s Zionist Plan for the Middle East). Such an ambitious project required a significant apparent attack on the symbols of power of the American Empire, in order to create the psychological climate of fear and rage which would allow the American public to be bamboozled into consenting to their government taking actions that were clearly against the interests of the United States. To create the preconditions for war, it was decided to attack the World Trade Center, as a symbol of American economic power, and the Pentagon, as a symbol of American military power.
Attacking the WTC would have been enough had the planners been able to predict that the towers would have come crashing down. Unfortunately, there was no way to know if the planes would cause the collapse of the towers, or merely cause a couple hundred deaths on the floors where the planes hit. There was a perfectly good reason to arrange to use explosives to bring down the towers, as that would guarantee that there was enough damage to lead to the long-term plans of the conspirators. In fact, the uncertainty over the fate of the towers probably lead to the necessity of staging an attack against the Pentagon, merely to ensure that at the end of the day there was enough physical and human damage to bear the weight of all the war plans. Using explosives in the towers was impossible due to the fact that tons of explosives would have had to be planted in hundreds of places in a fully-occupied building (the one guy who nobody has ever heard of who claims the power to a tower was shut down over the weekend – anyone who has ever worked in such a building knows that the power is never completely shut down as the tenants of such buildings are paying for functional access 24/7, 365 days of the year – is not even worth responding to, but the fact somebody has concocted this lie shows that the controlled demolition buffs feel the need to explain how the explosives were planted). On top of that, the perfection required in the setting off of the charges could not be guaranteed in buildings which had suffered damage after being hit by airplanes. It would have been a disaster to the conspirators if a tower had remained standing full of explosive charges ready to be discovered by fire investigators. Planting charges is a gross breach of the second conspiracy planner’s issue, don’t get caught, and no meticulous planner would even consider taking such a risk.
The attack on the Pentagon would have been handled in the same careful way, ensuring that the goals of the conspirators were met while minimizing the risk to the conspirators. In the case of an attack on the Pentagon, the risk was two-fold: don’t get caught, and don’t get killed. We can respond to some questions raised by conspiracy critics. Diana Johnstone writes:
“But the real argument against the Pentagon hypothesis is that it makes no sense politically or practically. Why get rid of an entire airliner full of people, in order to make way for a missile to do the job attributed to the airliner? What is the point? I suppose somebody can come up with an answer, but does it make any sense? An airliner couldn't hit the Pentagon, so a missile was required? But the Pentagon is a very large target, visible in an open space. It is sturdier than the Twin Towers, having been built to withstand military attack, so destroying it was harder, but hitting it was not such an extraordinary feat.”
From What Really Happened (September 16):
“This 'no plane' nonsense is a government disinfo plant. Every media attack on those who doubt the official 9-11 story inevitably uses this hoax to make the 9-11 truth movement look silly.
The claim that there was no plane at the Pentagon makes no sense. If the 9-11 perps have to get rid of the plane and passengers anyway, why not crash them into the Pentagon? Why add complexity to an already complex issue to save the plane and passengers when you have to get rid of them afterwards anyway?
Why would the 9-11 perps even bother with such a hoax to substitute some other aircraft for the passenger jet, then have to destroy the passenger jet and the passengers somewhere else, THEN get rid of that wreckage so it would never be found?
Finally, hundreds of witnesses saw the passenger jet flying towards the Pentagon. Not one person reported seeing it flying away, and with the WTC already destroyed everyone was very sensitive to nearby aircraft. People were looking very carefully at anything with wings. Hundreds saw the passenger jet head towards the Pentagon. None saw it fly away. What do the ‘Pod people’ imagine, that Mr. Spock beamed the passenger jet up to the Enterprise at the last second?
The 'no plane' theory does not make any sense. It never has. It exists solely to give the mainstream media an easy-to-use handle to ridicule those who doubt the official story."
Leaving aside the rather obvious point that these arguments beg the question by assuming that there was an airliner attack, and the point that the Pentagon, with unlimited resources, would not have the slightest problem with disposing of an airplane, we can answer the questions by thinking like a conspiracy planner. Why use a missile or explosives rather than Flight 77? It’s obvious, isn’t it? The Pentagon was full of generals, not to mention Donald Rumsfeld. The attack was meant to be symbolic, not real. Only one general, Lt. Gen. Timothy J. Maude, died. Hani Hanjour, on all accounts a complete goofball and a guy whose last known flying lesson had to be taken with the instructors in the plane, a single-engine Cessna, because they didn’t feel he was competent enough in flying to trust him to take the plane up by himself, was supposed to make a 270 degree flight all around the Pentagon, missing the four sides with generals in them, and hitting the farthest side which was being renovated. What if he had flubbed the hardest part for the pilot, which was bringing the plane down, overshot the wall, and hit the other side of the building. No conspiracy planner could possibly take that risk. Thus the necessity for alternate arrangements, and the complete lack of any evidence that Flight 77 hit the Pentagon.
Eyewitness testimony, particularly eyewitness testimony that has been prepped by being immersed in the Official Story of what happened (not to mention eyewitnesses that have been salted with ringers who parrot the Official Story), is useless, a fact that has been consistently proven when the issue is studied by psychologists. Nobody was ready for this, nobody had ever seen anything like it, it literally happened in a flash, and everybody knew what was supposed to have happened before they were questioned. I’m amazed that any credibility is put in this testimony at all. In these circumstances, the only credible eyewitness testimony is from those brave souls who dare come up with something other than the Official Story.
If you believe the Pentagon was involved in the conspiracy based on the fact that the Pentagon stood the planes down, you have to follow through on the logic and think like a Pentagon conspiracy planner. A Pentagon conspiracy planner wouldn’t take the risk of planting explosives in the towers because he couldn’t take the risk of being caught. The uncertainty whether the towers would fall, and thus the uncertainty whether the attack would cause enough damage to lead to the Pentagon’s plans, meant that a staged attack on the Pentagon was required. The fact that the Pentagon was full of generals meant that an attack by Flight 77 was too dangerous, and something more under the control of the conspirators was required. Just as profilers solve crimes by getting in the mind of the criminals, you have to think like a conspiracy planner in order to understand the conspiracy.
Pirates of the Beltway
From JewishJournal.com:
“. . . tales of Jewish piracy, which stretch back thousands of years, aren't in the public's consciousness, and Hollywood even has been known to remove a pirate's Jewish background. As a result, we're stuck with portrayals of pirates as wayward English seamen on a murderous rampage.
But now a forthcoming book hopes to change that image by focusing on Ladino-speaking Jews whose piracy grew out of the Inquisition. ‘The Jewish pirates were Sephardic. Once they were kicked out of Spain [in 1492], the more adventurous Jews went to the New World,’ said Ed Kritzler, whose yet-untitled book on Jewish pirates will be published by Doubleday in spring 2007.”
and (my emphasis in red):
“While some Jews, like Samuel Pallache, took up piracy in part to help make a better life for expelled Spanish Jews, Kritzler said others were motivated by revenge for the Inquisition.
One such pirate was Moses Cohen Henriques, who helped plan one of history's largest heists against Spain. In 1628, Henriques set sail with Dutch West India Co. Admiral Piet Hein, whose own hatred of Spain was fueled by four years spent as a galley slave aboard a Spanish ship. Henriques and Hein boarded Spanish ships off Cuba and seized shipments of New World gold and silver worth in today's dollars about the same as Disney's total box office for ‘Dead Man's Chest.’”
Should we be looking at the Washington neocons as pirates, motivated by real and imagined injustices against the Jewish people, and thus completely unconcerned about issues of morality towards their many victims? The necessity to conceal their murderous revenge fantasies would also explain why various gatekeepers such as Chomsky find it necessary to hide the neocon crimes behind supposed motives of the ‘Establishment’.
Fit Olmert up for his war crimes cell
Via Lenin’s Tomb, which found it via a Patrick Cockburn column (found here or here), Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, on being taken to task because his attack on Lebanon was a ‘complete failure’, responded to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee with a rather stunning admission (my emphasis):
“What did you think, that there would be a war and nothing would happen to our soldiers? The claim that we lost is unfounded. Half of Lebanon is destroyed; is that a loss?"
Needless to say, it is anti-Semitic to suggest that one of the goals of the attack was to destroy Lebanon, and therefore I suppose anti-Semitic to quote the admission of the Prime Minister of Israel that the entire attack was a success because half of a non-threatening sovereign nation was destroyed.
The next President of the United States
The Israelis are actually ranking American Presidential candidates to determine which one would be the best for Israel. I can therefore predict with a great deal of certainty who the next American president will be. Ladies and Gentlemen, the next President of the United States, Rudy Giuliani (of course, you have to prove your loyalty before they let you run the United States). If you have any doubts, just remember:
In the United States, Israel usually gets what it wants.
The Christian Zionists control all the computer voting machines.
It is notable that all the potential plausible candidates are ridiculously slavish to the far right in Israel.
Does religious conversion make you angry?
Ramzy Baroud raises questions about the kidnapping of the two Fox journalists in Gaza (although he has the names of both of them wrong: they are Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig). The shadowy and hitherto unknown group which took responsibility for the incident, the over-the-top demand for the release of all Muslims imprisoned by the U.S. (hardly the most pressing issue in Gaza!), and the bizarre forced ‘conversion’ to Islam, all stand out. It is notable that the journalists involved, although employees of Fox, were real journalists sympathetic to the Palestinians, who attempted non-propaganda reporting in Gaza, unheard of for Fox (this follows the examples we’ve seen in Iraq, where the Western kidnap victims are almost always obviously friendly to the Iraqi people). They were originally handcuffed using plastic ties, which sounds like something used by a professional police or military force, not a rag-tag unknown insurgent group.
The conversion angle is guaranteed to make right-wing American Christians angry, and is paralleled by the recent tape of fake al Qaeda Adam Gadahn, who, with all the outrages against Islam he could have discussed, decided to focus on conversion of Christians to Islam. The Zionists seem to have picked conversion as the hot button to push to keep the Christian Zionists on the reservation. I’ve been listening to the shortwave radio, and note that a lot of the Christian Zionists are phoning talk shows reporting themselves ‘confused’ on what happened in Lebanon, as Biblical prophesy tells them that Israel can never lose. Manipulating Christian Zionists to support Israeli colonialism is a tricky business, like trying to herd cats.
Retalix and the Israeli Dallas spy cell
Postman Patel excerpts a part from the DEA report on the pre-9–11 actions of the Israeli spy ring, showing how members of the Dallas cell purported to be connected to an Israeli firm named Retalix, which makes product scanners for retail outlets. Postman Patel notes that Retalix is working with a company called Pay By Touch to develop biometrics to replace cash and credit cards for retail payments. If Retalix was a willing front for Israeli spying (of course, it might have been unaware that the spies were using its name, but you have to wonder why they chose that particular name, and whether Retalix would have vouched for them), we have to be open to the fact that once biometics is fully in place for retail payments, the Mossad could have access to all information on such payments, with the accompanying possibilities for blackmail and other shenanigans (including financing itself by lifting money from bank accounts).
It is interesting how often Israeli firms connected with security come up when we dig even a little into the story of September 11. In fact, it appears that all the security connected with September 11 was being run by firms connected with Israel. It must be a coincidence.
Some recent DOE Network entries
Some recent DOE Network entries:
Edward Andrews
Annie Laurie Swaim Hearin
Cynthia May Hernandez
Lord Lucan
Unidentified White Female located in Caledonia, Livingston County, New York
Johnny Gosch (on recent developments, see the thread at Zodiackiller.com, especially the debunking comments of ‘Johno’)
Unidentified White Female located in the Nation River near Casselman, Ontario
Unidentified Female, possibly a spy, located in Isdalen, Norway
Melissa Suzanne Highsmith (practically the folk-tale stranger abduction)
Anne Marie Fahey
Georg Weber, et al.
Corn on Plame
David Corn regurgitates the official CIA position on the importance of Plame, and the blogs fall into line because they have decided they like the CIA over the Bush Administration in the ongoing CIA/Cheney turf war being played out over the Plame matter. Corn has written a biography of Ted Shackley, with the assistance of the CIA and Shackley himself. However much he denies it, it is impossible that Corn was allowed this access unless he was/is an asset (the media asset problem is huge, and you have to wonder whether Cooper’s surprisingly negative coverage of the Bush response to Katrina was just another part of the turf war). Corn’s new book – written with no less than freakin’ Michael Isikoff! – follows the same CIA path. Believe him if you want – I wouldn’t, and Corn is definitely no friend of truthseekers – but the nature of his attack on the Bush Administration will convince nobody except those already convinced.
I note that Corn doesn’t deal with the allegation that Plame’s cover had already been blown at the time the Bush Administration started to throw her name around. Even if he disputes this, he has an obligation to deal with it (I haven’t read the book, and can’t comment on whether he deals with this important issue there).
at 9/06/2006 08:44:00 PM 0 comments Links to this post
The Hasbara and public support for israel
Don’t believe any poles you read about public support for Israel. They are jobbed. An e-mailer justifiably chided me for not dealing with the Hasbara, the international conspiracy to fool us about Israel and Zionism.
Time and NIST
From an article – one in the inevitable series in the MSM - in Time on September 11 conspiracy theories (I don’t know what happened to the missing ‘)’!):
“But there's a big problem with Loose Change and with most other conspiracy theories. The more you think about them, the more you realize how much they depend on circumstantial evidence, facts without analysis or documentation, quotes taken out of context and the scattered testimony of traumatized eyewitnesses. (For what it's worth, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has published a fact sheet responding to some of the conspiracy theorists' ideas on its website, www.nist.gov. The theories prompt small, reasonable questions that demand answers that are just too large and unreasonable to swallow. Granted, the Pentagon crash site looks odd in photographs. But if the Pentagon was hit by a cruise missile, then what happened to American Airlines Flight 77? Where did all the real, documented people on it go? Assassinated? Relocated? What about eyewitnesses who saw a plane, not a missile? And what are the chances that an operation of such size – it would surely have involved hundreds of military and civilian personnel – could be carried out without a single leak? Without leaving behind a single piece of evidence hard enough to stand up to scrutiny in a court? People, the feds just aren't that slick. Nobody is.”
Note the trick: NIST deals extensively with the attack on the two towers. It only mentions the Pentagon attack in passing. Reading Time, you’d assume that NIST had refuted all the good questions raised in the paragraph. That is not true. NIST demolishes the controlled demolition theory of the WTC, but is too smart to touch the real issues, the Pentagon and WTC7.
By the way, why is it such a big issue with Pentagon conspiracy debunkers that we can’t explain what happened to the plane? We’re supposed to believe on some accounts of the WTC collapse that they planted tons of explosives in hundreds of places in a fully occupied building, but the conspirators are supposed to be stumped in getting rid of one airplane?
NIST on 911 WTC
This National Institute of Standards and Technology “Answers to Frequently Asked Questions” on the WTC collapses (found via Cryptome) is excellent, all the way from explaining why thermite didn’t do it, to dealing with the melting steel and rate of collapse errors, to parrying the real mystery of WTC 7.
The personal moral culpability of the Israeli people
Amira Hass writes about the see-no-evil attitude of the average Israeli. It is difficult to avoid the comparison with the German people during the Nazi period (I’m still not using the H-word except to refer to what is going on today), but the comparison is obscene. Germans lived during a period of almost total press censorship, and in a violent police state where even asking questions might result in death. It is fair to say that many if not most Germans really were unaware of the details of what was going on, although it is more difficult to excuse them for being unaware that something evil was happening. On the other hand, Israelis are completely aware of every detail of what the state of Israel is doing in their name, and their complete silence is proof of complicity.
The usual suspects will immediately jump in to claim that Israel can’t be compared to Nazi Germany. Really? The IDF dropped 90% of the cluster bombs that now litter Lebanon during the last 72 hours of the Israeli attack, at a time when the Israeli government knew that a ceasefire was imminent. These bombs were thus clearly intended to be left for Lebanese civilians. The Nazis did some awful stuff, but it is completely fair to day they did no worse than this. Israeli misuse of cluster bombs was so notorious that the State Department actually delayed sending (or here) the latest American model of cluster bomb to Israel for fear that it would be used against civilians. The IDF apparently – there is some question whether these bombs were delivered anyway – had to make do with the American cluster bombs it already had on hand. Given the immense power of the Lobby, as again conclusively demonstrated in the last month, somebody in the State Department has large ones. To turn down an Israeli request for arms is almost unheard of, the last time being as a result of Israeli misuse of cluster bombs against civilians in Lebanon in 1982. Needless to say, the average Israeli, not to mention the average North American Jew, will simply dismiss such complaints as anti-Semitism.
The proposed attack on the people of Sudan, posing...
The personal moral culpability of the Israeli peop...
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9 iconiс superyachts designed by Espen Oeino
March 22, 2019 4965
Espen Oeino was born and brought up in Norway. Completing naval architecture studies in Normandy, he further worked his way from employment with UK designer Martin Francisto to building his own renowned design company based in Monaco. Espen Oeinio is nowadays considered one of the most influential exterior designers in the yachting world, with his project REV, the largest vessel ever, currently being built in Norway. Yacht Harbour takes a look over some of his most legendary works.
#1. Ocean Victory
Length: 140 m
Builder: Fincantieri
Ocean Victory was built for Russian billionaire steel magnate, Victor Rashnikov and delivered in 2014. At the time of delivery, she was the largest superyacht constructed in Italy and the 9th largest yacht in the world.
This seven-deck vessel is packed with such alluring features as 6 pools spread out over her 7 decks, an internal foldable dock hosting a 14-metre tender, a helideck with lifting platform and internal helicopter hangar and a spacious (over 300 m2) spa zone. As to accommodation capacity, she can house up to 36 guests on-board.
#2. Dilbar
Builder: Lurssen
Currently the world's largest yacht by gross tonnage with 15,917 GT of interior volume, Dilbar has once redefined the notion of space in yachting. She became Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov's, valued by Forbes at $16 billion, third yacht and the third yacht to bear the same name, after the businessman's mother.
With the yacht’s beam of 23 meters and a deep draft of 6 meters, cabling used on board stretches over 1,100 km with guests and owner's spaces totally combined to 3,800 square meters of living space. What is more, Dilbar was the largest yacht, featuring a diesel electric power plant from an engineering standpoint.
Ever since her delivery in 2016, Dilbar has been drawing great attention of press as well as social media users around the globe. Her travels throughout the Mediterranean have been essentially documented, with photos of her taken from almost every possible angle.
#3. REV
Length: 182,9m
Builder: VARD
Nothing less than the largest superyacht in the world once completed, this is one of the recent ambitious projects designed by Oeinio. REV is currently taking shape at the VARD shipyard in Tulcea, Romania.
Built for environmental research missions in partnership with WWF Norway, the Research Expedition Vessel (REV) will also be available for charter for recreational purposes and expeditions.
By virtue of her purpose, REV is designed for long-term operation in remote and harsh waters without external support, able to operate autonomously for up to 114 days. The ship will be equipped with laboratories and hi-tech instruments for exploration of the entire marine ecosystem, able to analyse, document and collect.
REV’s robust exterior lines and modern features ensure she is able to cruise in both arctic and tropical areas alike, with her hull built to ICE PC 6 for navigation in ice. The yacht will also deploy mini-submarines and actual submarines, drones and helicopter, while overhead cranes can lift and launch equipment weighing up to 20 T over the side.
With a beam of 22 metres, REV will also become the largest yacht in the world by gross tonnage of 16,000GT, reportedly overtaking Alisher Usmanov's Dilbar by 100 GT. When in expedition, the vessel will be able to accommodate up to 90 people including the crew.
#4. DreAMBoat
Builder: Oceanco
According to the information from social media, DreAMBoat was built for US billionaire and owner of the Atlanta Falcons NFL team Arthur Blank, who is valued at $4.7 billion by Forbes. Her delivery is scheduled to summer 2019.
DreAMBoat is trademarked with generous overhangs from the superstructure and cut outs in the bulwarks lending her classic and strong appearance. The vessel’s exterior features numerous large windows offering panoramic views. Swimming pool aft at the main deck, a partially closed sundeck with Jacuzzi and plenty of seating and entertainment zones and a private Jacuzzi at the Owner’s deck
Her impressive interior volume of 2,950 GT allows accommodation for 23 guests on-board, along with up to 33 crew members.
#5. Silver Fast
Builder: Silver Yachts
The vessel represents one of the most advanced and eco-fuel efficient vessels built by Silver Yachts. She is one of the world's largest and fastest aluminium motor yacht with conventional propulsion in terms of length to speed ratio. Silver Fast is capable of crossing the Atlantic at approximately 22 knots cruising speed.
Silver Fast’ alluring amenities include a winter garden, helipad, outdoor cinema, Jacuzzi with capacity for 8 people, a spa area fitted with sauna, steam room, beauty salon and a gym. She can accommodate up to 18 guests in 8 cabins on-board.
#6. Solandge
Length: 85,1m
The yacht that won the Monaco Yacht Show Award for Best Exterior Design in 2014. Espen Oeino has created harmonious lines and balanced proportions for the yacht, encasing a vast selection of outdoor living, dining and entertainments zones.
Solandge’ panoramic top deck plays host to a beach club area with customised dance floor, Jacuzzi and a bar while the bridge deck is ideal for relaxation and casual al fresco dining with a spacious seating area. On the bridge deck, there is also a fully-equipped health spa featuring massage room, sauna and gymnasium leading out onto a glass-edged plunge pool.
The yacht can accommodate up to 12 guests in 7 staterooms on-board, including a panoramic master deck featuring 180 degree windows, and a private deck with spa pool.
At the moment of sale in 2017, Solandge was asking €155,000,000.
#7. Flying FOX
Length: 130m
Delivered in March, 2019, Flying Fox is the world’s 14th largest yacht at the moment of writing. Nonetheless, she boasts the most elegant and graceful exterior design, maintaining striking looks despite her massive volume of 9,100 GT.
This superyacht’s key features include two helipads, capable of hosting the largest helicopters. Another highlight of the vessel is the large swimming pool located aft of the main deck. Flying Fox also boasts vast sea terraces, swim platforms for watersports.
#8. Kismet
This superyacht is owned by Shadid Khan, Pakistani-American billionaire and business tycoon, who is also the owner of the Fulham FC and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Kismet is stretching over five decks, designed with corporate entertainment and charter in mind, thus suitable for parties of up to 270 guests. As an innovative feature, Kismet boasts video walls, extending up to two decks high, able to show regular television but programmed to display high-definition moving artwork.
A large swimming pool and Jacuzzi area, spa zone, movie theatre, an outdoor fireplace and winter garden can be found among the yacht’s luxury amenities.
The yacht’s entertainment and design characteristics have been attracting top artists and events on-board. For example, Jay-Z and Beyonce were spotted on-board last year, while Netflix filmed Kismet in party scene from its biggest production so far, "Six Underground".
#9. Octopus
At the time of writing, Octopus remains the largest explorer yacht in the world, not surpassed in 16 years from her launch. She belonged to Paul Allen, one of Microsoft founders, who passed away in late 2018. Allen once described his yacht: "Octopus is less a Bentley than a Range Rover".
As part of this, the yacht is fitted with two submarines, one of which can dive for up to 8 hours with 10 people on it; the second submarine can be remotely controlled. Octopus is capable of accommodating 26 guests in total, with up to 57 crew members. Other amenities found on-board include a second helipad, a swimming pool and a music studio as well as a courtyard-like set up on the third deck of Octopus occupied by guest space.
Despite her expedition nature, the yacht has been much favoured by the world’s first-class celebrities, with Mick Jagger recording an album in on-board studio in 2011 and Usher, U2 and Johnny Cash listed among other performers.
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Hong Kong /
Is Hong Kong doing enough to tackle its underage drinking problem?
News - Hong Kong
Hong Kong students as young as 10 years old are already drinking, Poly U survey finds
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Flavoured water an unnecessary gimmick or a genius idea to keep us hydrated?
Talking Points: should teenagers be allowed to buy alcohol?
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Flammable items to look out for at home
Wellness worker and former teen addict talks about her struggles and dark tales of going ‘off the rails’, as well as accessibility of booze to young
South China Morning Post January 07, 2019
underage_1.jpg
Advocates are calling for more awareness and education on the effects and dangers of alcohol, especially among youth.
Photo: SCMP
On the rooftop of a Hong Kong shopping mall, 12-year-old Alice (not her real name) took her first shot of vodka, with her 15-year-old schoolmates egging her on.
“I felt cool, pretty and attractive,” she recalls. “I felt amazing.”
Now 26, Alice admits she did it so her older friends would think she was “cool” like them. Booze fuelled the weekends that followed. Alice would tell her parents she was sleeping over at a friend’s home, where they would secretly get drunk on liquor stolen from her friend’s father.
“I hated being sober because it was slow and boring, and I didn’t think I was smart, pretty or cool enough.”
At 15, Alice needed rehabilitation. By then, she had also begun using hashish and smoking crystal meth.
Alice says it is easy to get drunk and high in Hong Kong. “Alcohol and drugs are relatively cheap and accessible,” she says. “The police are also lenient – I’ve been in clubs that were raided, but never had my ID checked even though I was clearly underage.”
25 per cent of Hong Kong teenagers binge drink - what needs to change?
Last November, the government introduced a new law that prohibits the sale and supply of intoxicating liquor to anyone under 18. This includes serving alcohol to minors at fairs and events. While many say this is a step in the right direction, others want the government and educators to do more to raise awareness of the dangers of alcohol and to help teenagers cope with stress.
Dr Mak Sin-ping, convenor for the Hong Kong Alliance for Advocacy Against Alcohol.
Photo: Dickson Lee/SCMP
Dr Mak Sin-ping, convenor for the Hong Kong Alliance for Advocacy Against Alcohol, says the ban is an important first step, but more is needed to educate the public about the dangers of drinking.
Alcohol is known to affect the central nervous system, which can cloud judgment and worsen existing illnesses and psychological problems.
“Contrary to the popular belief of drowning your sorrows, alcohol actually makes you more depressed. It could also cause irreversible damage to the brain as it acts on the nerve cells,” says Mak, a specialist in community medicine.
In adolescents whose brains are still developing, Mak says, alcohol can affect concentration in school and make drinkers more accident-prone or willing to engage in risky behaviour, such as unsafe sex and violence.
Letters from the Dorm: Getting drunk doesn't automatically make you "cool"
Worldwide, the harmful use of alcohol accounts for more than 5 per cent of deaths every year.
A 2014-15 survey by the Security Bureau found more than half of 146,207 upper primary to post-secondary school students polled had tried alcohol. Almost 40 per cent were aged 12 or below, and more than one-fifth were aged 10 or below.
Ernest Ngan Chi-sing, an addiction counsellor with the Alcohol Abuse Prevention and Treatment Service run by the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, says most of his clients started drinking before 18 – many in their early teens.
How legalising drugs can benefit HK
“A lot of them were given their first drink by older family members during family gatherings, which often makes them associate alcohol with special occasions and festivities. This lowers their guard towards the potential dangers of alcohol,” he said.
Toxic friends, toxic environment
Alice had her first sip of beer at family gatherings before she started drinking with friends. She was introduced to drugs by friends.
“I smoked hash before boarding the ferry to school. I smoked hash after school,” Alice recalls. When she ran out of money for drugs, she drank.
In a 2014 study of how peer pressure affects the risky behaviours of Secondary Three students in Hong Kong, researchers from Polytechnic University found that those with friends who engaged in such activities, including drug-taking and drinking, were up to 92 times more prone to these behaviours than those who did not.
Peer pressure is difficult to handle so we asked a psychologist for expert advice on how to deal with it
“When you’re a teenager, you’re constantly exploring your identity and trying to find where you fit in friendship groups. A lot of kids drink because of peer pressure,” says Cindy Ng Tsz-man, assistant programme manager at KELY Support Group, an NGO which promotes positive youth development.
Cindy Ng from NGO KELY Support Group.
Photo: Nora Tam/SCMP
Alice refers to her companions as her “using friends” – those with whom she used substances, but did not share meaningful conversations with.
With rehab, she eventually kicked her drug habit, but stayed with the same group of friends because it was hard to make new ones. When she left school at 19, she began drinking again so that her new boyfriend would think she was “cool”.
During her gap year before university, she would party until 3am at least once a week.
“I just sat in bars and got drunk,” recalls Alice, who says she needed to escape from a “boring” life at home with her traditional Asian mother and strict father, a military man.
Fire! Flammable products you have at home that you didn't realise were dangerous
That was the start of a three-year downward spiral. “I convinced myself I wasn’t an addict because I wasn’t doing drugs – I was just drinking.”
At 20, Alice left Hong Kong for university in Britain where she continued drinking, though she insists that it was only when she returned to Hong Kong for holidays that she “went off the rails”.
The safety and easy access to alcohol made Hong Kong toxic for her.
How to spot signs of drug abuse and how to offer help in a supportive way
“Even as a 16-year-old girl, wearing barely anything, stumbling around Lan Kwai Fong, drunk, you can get home absolutely fine,” she says. “I’ve fallen asleep in taxis and the drivers just woke me up when I got to my destination.”
Mak points to 2008, when Hong Kong abolished the 40 per cent wine tax to promote the city as a global wine-trading hub.
Warning signs next to bottles of wine for sale at a convenience store.
“That was a retrograde step and one of the most devastating anti-public health measures,” she says. “Alcohol is a proven carcinogen and causes over 200 chronic illnesses, including heart problems and cirrhosis. The more you’re exposed to it, the higher the risk of suffering its health consequences.”
Jessica Chan Kit-wah, assistant supervisor of the Tung Wah alcohol prevention service, says people who start drinking from a young age are likely to continue drinking into adulthood.
Dealing with pressure, stress, exams, self-confidence, self-worth and bullying in secondary school
In 2015, the Department of Health surveyed 2,500 adults aged 18 to 64, and found that around 65 per cent of those who drank more than three times a week had their first sip before 18.
Alice knows she was lucky alcohol did not damage her health permanently, but says it prevented her from addressing problems in a healthy manner, and caused her to make poor decisions.
“I was moody, egotistic and judgmental, but would cover up my negative emotions by pretending I was nice,” she said. “I would let these emotions build up, then quash them with alcohol.”
Former GSIS and Sha Tin College students on how anxiety and depression led to drug addiction, and urge more help for teens
“I was troubled by the fact that I couldn’t do anything to help him, and so drank even more,” she says, adding that she lost all willpower during that period.
She broke up with her boyfriend but one night, while drunk, she told him she was going to kill herself.
“I woke up the next morning feeling really bad because his best friend had killed himself, but it was too late to backtrack. It was the lowest point of my life,” she says.
LGBT teens, just be yourself; everyone else is already taken
She drank through that day, before turning to her father for help. She subsequently checked into rehab again.
About life and death
While Alice has stayed alcohol-free since then, some of her acquaintances were not as lucky. She claims to know at least three people who died in alcohol-related incidents, including suicide.
Social worker Ngan says young adults in their 20s and 30s are now seeking help more than ever before for drinking problems, including binge drinking.
Coolminds programme, led by Mind HK and KELY Support Group, aims to help teenagers get the mental health support they need
Binge drinking is defined as having at least five alcoholic beverages in a row within several hours. In 2016, the Department of Health found that 6.6 per cent of 18- to 24-year-old Hongkongers binge drink at least once a month, while almost 10 per cent of 25- to 34-year-olds have the same habit.
On the education front, the KELY Support Group holds workshops at more than 80 secondary schools every year. Senior manager Rosanna Yim Wai-tze says: “Our workshops are entirely optional and often occur only once during the academic year, but with alcohol and other substances being so accessible to kids here, it would be more helpful if awareness education could be integrated into the curriculum.”
LGBT teenagers exhibit higher levels of depression, says British study
Tung Wah Group of Hospitals’ Alcohol Abuse Prevention and Treatment Service also provides workshops and seminars at secondary schools and universities, but Ngan says: “When we’re given only 40 minutes, it’s only enough time to give basic information on the possible dangers and why alcohol should be used with caution.”
Besides, he adds, young people do not like being told what to do.
“We should look at the bigger picture and explore how we can help young people cope with stress and mental issues without relying on substances,” he says.
Group chats on WhatsApp and WeChat are ‘the key to happiness’, HKU survey shows
Meanwhile, Mak says authority figures such as parents and the government should lead by example.
“Parents giving their children drinks to ‘build’ their tolerance to alcohol sends the wrong message that drinking is OK,” she says. “And the positive promotion of alcohol on the part of the government, such as the annual Wine and Dine Festival, should also be reduced.”
Alice, who has been five years sober and now works in the wellness industry, believes she might have benefited from earlier intervention and greater emotional support in school.
“We would have talks occasionally about the dangers of alcohol, but instead of learning from the speakers’ mistakes, I would think, ‘That’s the kind of dramatic, messed up and cool life I want.’ I was too far gone to realise it was about life and death,” she says.
underage drinking,
underage,
binge drinking,
drugs,
drug abuse,
Kely Support Group,
Hong Kong Alliance for Advocacy Against Alcohol,
Young people has to be
Young people has to be careful, and limit the age for shopping alcohol of any kind , wine, etc...
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Japan Resumes Commercial Whaling; Cites Culture And Historical Practices
Reysel Montero
Japan Whaling Ship. Photo: Global Panorama | Flickr | CC BY-SA 2.0
After 31 years, Japan has officially reopened its commercial whaling last July 1. This move follows the country’s decision to leave the International Whaling Commission ( IWC) last September.
IWC is in charge of conserving whale populations worldwide. The institution banned commercial whale hunting in 1986 due to some species are closed to extinction.
Japan decided to leave the union since the organization voted down its plan to recommence commercial whaling for species labeled by Japanese officials as “recovered.” The country officially left the organization last June 30.
Whaling is the “practice of killing and hunting whales mostly for human consumption.”
“Whaling will be conducted in accordance with international law and within the catch limits calculated in accordance with the method adopted by the IWC to avoid negative impact on cetacean resources,” says Yoshihide Suga, the Chief Cabinet Secretary.
Aside from a smaller limit of whales, other citizens pointed out that this expedition is cheaper since now they won’t travel to Antartica.
This time, the country’s quota is to kill a total of 227 whales a year — 52 minke whales, 25 sei whales, and 150 Bryde’s whales — as stated by a fisheries agency. All towns with a history of whaling could participate in the hunt within Japanese waters, or particularly in its 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
By dropping the pretense of whaling for the love of scientific research, the country hopes to escape criticism, diplomatic difficulties, and international interference.
For decades, Japanese whalers are known for exploiting a loophole in IWC’s laws, conducting so-called “scientific” whale hunts in Antartica and the North Pacific. But in 2014, the International Court of Justice discovered that whale meat is being sold in the open market and, therefore, is illegal under the Moratorium.
Japan’s history of whaling
Whale Meat became popular and was known to be the most significant source of meat after World War II, especially during the 1960s where the country suffered starvation due to food shortage, particularly on animal protein.
From the 1960s until 2019, Japanese whalers hunted minke and sei whales in the Antartica, which continues until the North Pacific waters.
The Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) reported that from 2017 to 2018, 85 minke whales were killed in Japanese waters. Meanwhile, 134 sei and 43 minke whales were slaughtered in the North Pacific. On the other hand, from 2018 to 2019, Japanese whalers took 333 minke whales from the Southern Ocean.
The country allocates an annual research quota of 127 minke whales when hunting in Japanese waters, together with 134 sei and 43 minke whales in North Pacific hunts.
The country is known to hunt 1200 whales yearly, according to IWC. Aside from hunting whales, Japan also kill dolphins, particularly in the town of Taiji.
The first catch
Monday morning, Japan officially kickstarted operations with five vessels leaving to Northern Japan (specifically in Kushiro), and three ships set course to the country’s Southwestern region.
After a few hours, the first catch was two minke whales. As part of the traditional ceremony of purification and to celebrate, the whalers poured sake over its body.
Japanese workers pour sake over dead minke whale. Photo Credits: metro.co.uk
Despite international protests and oppositions from the country’s shrinking market and a large number of anti-whaling countries, the Japanese government obviously and repeatedly stated that they want to return to commercial whaling.
Most of the Japanese citizens, such as the whaling officials, are in a celebratory mood. Some Japanese fishermen and government officials from the remote village of Ayukawa believe that commercial whaling will help them improve their local economy.
One of the fisherman and whale hunter, Masaaki Sato shared that “people here have hunted whales for a long time, so we thought it was only natural for Japan to leave the IWC and start hunting commercially again.”
For hundreds of years, the country has been hunting whales, and the Japanese government believes that eating whale meat is an integral part of their culture.
According to some experts, the move to resume commercial whaling is politically driven by its pro-whaling government officials such as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. But the country’s overall demand for whale meat is low.
Government data revealed that whale meat consumption is estimated to be 200,000 tonnes yearly. In recent years, it tremendously decreased to less than 5,000 tonnes annually.
British Airways Receives Highest Penalty Due To 2018 Data Breach
Thousands Of ‘Jim Beam’ Barrels Destroyed In Warehouse Blaze
I've been contributing news since 2010, both online and print. Aside from Z6Mag, I manage independent news blogs that provide awareness on a diverse list of topics to every reader.
Fans call for support and help via the hashtag #HelpKyoAniHeal.
Lorey de Guzman
A photo of Kyoto Animation Co., Ltd.'s building entrance. Photo: Thibaut120094 | Flickr.com | CC BY 2.0
A fire broke out in Kyoto Animation Co., Ltd.’s headquarters in Fushimi-ku district, Kyoto at 8:35 PM (CT), which resulted in at least 33 people dead and dozens injured.
The fire was successfully put out after five hours. Since the company’s studios are located in a residential area, neighboring establishments and private spaces were the ones who called the firefighters after hearing a loud explosion, followed by smoke rising from the building shortly. Local authorities investigated and concluded that the fire was brought upon by arson.
A 41-year-old man, who was identified by multiple witnesses as the suspect, is being treated at the hospital. The police apprehended him before being rushed to the hospital.
The motive of the crime is not yet determined since the police cannot interrogate the suspect due to his extensive injuries. Based on the suspect’s records, there is no direct connection between him and the animation studios. A witness informed authorities that the man shouted “Die!” repeatedly as he carried out his attack.
Reports have shared that the man brought 40 liters of petrol in two containers into the building. He proceeded to douse the lobby of the 1st Studio building using the gasoline he purchased at a nearby gas station.
Aside from petrol, the suspect carried several knives, which were found in the backpack discarded in the aftermath.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent via Twitter his condolences to all casualties and wished those that were injured a speedy recovery. He also stated that the crime has rendered him speechless.
The studio’s president and co-founder Hatta Hideaki spoke to reporters later in the day, in front of the studios’ burned building. He has expressed his disappointment and frustration over the incident. He said, “This has just broken our hearts.”
Kyoto Animation Co., Ltd., also known as KyoAni, estimates that there were 70 people already in the building when the suspect launched his attack. Several members are still in the hospital in critical condition.
Worldwide Response
Fans worldwide mourn with grief upon hearing the news of the incident.
Fans posted on Twitter with #PrayForKyoAni, expressing their grief and support to the affected. Most of the Twitter users posted artworks from KyoAni’s anime series and movies and shared how much the company’s art has touched them.
Others called for support by asking fans to purchase merchandise from the company’s site to help KyoAni financially. Another hashtag, #HelpKyoAniHeal, is trending on Twitter.
Sentai Filmworks, an American licensing company that brings Japanese animation and film into the American Market, has set up a GoFundMe account, titled as Help KyoAni Heal, as a response to the incident. GoFundMe’s target goal is $750,000. Within 10 hours, the fundraiser has already raised $724,000.
The President of Sentai Filmworks, John Ledford, shared his thoughts about the incident in the GoFundMe page’s website. He wrote, “Although the situation is still developing, it is clear that our friends at Kyoto Animation (KyoAni) have suffered greatly. In addition to the loss of life, many lives will be forever changed. Like all of you, we wanted to take action to help; however, we can.”
Ledford goes on, stating that many of KyoAni’s works have “inspired, influenced, and entertained us over the years.” Sentai Filmworks is already coordinating with their counterparts in the Japanese anime industry to ensure that the funds they have collected will reach KyoAni and its employees.
KyoAni was founded by couple Yoko and Hideaki Hatta in 1981. Instead of establishing a studio in Tokyo, as most animation studios do, the couple made Kyoto their business’ home.
The company is considered one of the highly-competitive and employee-friendly animation studios. Unlike others, the studio does not pay its animators per frame, but rather as an employee with a monthly salary. KyoAni has indeed embodied its philosophy, such as “Keep our corporation a humanitarian one” and “Do our best.”
Fans have known KyoAni for their high-quality animation pieces. The studio has brought life to A Silent Voice: The Movie and Violet Evergarden. The latter can be streamed on Netflix. Other works, such as K-On!, Sound! Euphonium, and Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu gained popularity and have reached worldwide success.
Fans also noted that KyoAni’s films and TV series often spread the message of love, helpfulness, and hope. In KyoAni’s time of need, many have responded to give back to the beloved animation studio.
President Trump VS ‘the Squad’: Here’s What Both Sides Are Saying
Both sides have aired their responses on Twitter and press conferences.
Photo: Michael Vadon | CC BY 2.0
Political figures and celebrities are weighing on President Donald Trump’s tweets over the weekend.
President Trump tweeted a comment about “Democrat Progressive Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe.” He goes on, suggesting that these Congresswomen should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came.”
So interesting to see “Progressive” Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly……
….it is done. These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough. I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!
The tweet, which was posted last Sunday, drew both positive and negative criticisms.
Though no names were included in President Trump’s post, the public has identified that his statements were directed to Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (New York), Ilhan Omar (Minneapolis), Rashida Tlaib (Michigan), and Ayanna Pressley (Massachusetts).
The following Congresswomen have responded to the President’s tweets on their Twitter accounts as well.
Which is why we are fighting to protect it from the worst, most corrupt and inept president we have ever seen. https://t.co/FBygHa2QTt
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) July 14, 2019
THIS is what racism looks like. WE are what democracy looks like. And we’re not going anywhere. Except back to DC to fight for the families you marginalize and vilify everyday. pic.twitter.com/vYzoxCgN0X
— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) July 14, 2019
Yo @realDonaldTrump, I am fighting corruption in OUR country. I do it every day when I hold your admin accountable as a U.S. Congresswoman. Detroit taught me how to fight for the communities you continue to degrade & attack. Keep talking, you’ll be out of the WH soon. #TickTock
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) July 14, 2019
Mr. President, the country I “come from,” & the country we all swear to, is the United States.
But given how you’ve destroyed our border with inhumane camps, all at a benefit to you & the corps who profit off them, you are absolutely right about the corruption laid at your feet. https://t.co/HLKQCotR8T
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 14, 2019
The Congresswomen were united in calling out the President’s tweet as “racist.” Reps. Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib, and Pressley were born in America; while Rep. Omar had gained citizenship when she came to America during her childhood.
Officially, the women responded to the President via a press conference yesterday.
Rep. Pressley asked the public to “not take the bait” to steer the conversation away from the current issues at hand. “This is a disruptive distraction from the issues of care, concern, and consequence to the American people that we were sent here with a decisive mandate from our constituents to work on,” Rep. Pressley said.
Rep. Omar stated that the President is dividing the country. “He would love nothing more than to divide our country based on race, religion, gender, orientation or immigration status because this is the only way he knows he can prevent the solidarity of us working together,” she continues.
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’s message was directed for children of the US. She shared an anecdote from her childhood memory when her father reminded her that this is her country. The representative goes on to highlight the agenda of Congress to bringing service to the public, especially the children. She reiterates, “No matter what the president says, this country belongs to you.”
Rep. Tlaib echoed the sentiments shared by the others. “We cannot allow this hateful actions, by the President, to distract us from the critical work to hold this Administration accountable to the inhumane conditions at the border,” she emphasized.
All Congresswomen reminded the public about the issues on immigration needs additional focus, more than ever.
President Trump Clarified his Tweets
President Trump addresses the issue in a Made in America showcase on Monday. Reporters asked the President about his statements during the events’ Q&A portion.
The President pointed out that if the Congresswomen are not happy with the country, the lawmakers can leave. “If you’re not happy in the U.S., if you’re complaining all the time, very simply, you can leave. You can leave right now. Come back if you want, don’t come back, it’s OK too. But if you’re not happy, you can leave,” President Trump clarifies.
From the President’s perspective, the lawmakers do not love their country based on the statements the women released. “I’m sure that they’ll be many people that won’t miss them, but they have to love our country. They’re Congresspeople,” the President further adds.
The President also reiterated that he didn’t use any names in his tweets.
Positive and Negative Reaction to the Tweet
Political figures such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and some Republicans spoke against the President’s Tweets.
Schwarzenegger, the former California governor, issued a statement urging the President to rise above his personal attacks to do his job as America’s leader. “At some point, you have to dial down Donald and dial-up President Trump,” Schwarzenegger wrote. “I know it isn’t easy, but the job you hold is bigger than you. It is bigger than any man or woman. The American people put great trust in you to serve, and it is time to rise to their trust instead of dragging them down and tearing them apart.”
House Speaker Pelosi shared her opinions via a Dear Colleague letter to House Democrats. The Speaker urged his fellow lawmakers to join in “condemning the President’s xenophobic Tweets.
Republicans also shared their disappointment regarding President Trump’s tweets. Senator Lisa Murkowski shared that the comments were “spiteful.” Senator Pat Toomey (Pennsylvania) commented that “We should defeat their ideas on the merits, not on the basis of their ancestry.”
Celebrities like Susan Sarandon, Chris Evans, Janelle Monáe, and Stephen King also tweeted support for the Congresswomen.
Meanwhile, other politicians also came out to defend President Trump’s tweets. Marc Short, Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, reiterated to reporters that the President is “not racist.” He further cited that the President appointed an Asian woman of color in his cabinet, referring to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.
Representative Andy Harris (Maryland) emphasized that the President’s message were not racist. “They’re obviously not racist. When anyone disagrees with anyone now the default is to call them a racist and this is no exception,” Harris repeats.
[Breaking] Democrats Move To Ban Big Techs From Issuing Digital Money
The bill is bluntly named as “Keep Big Tech Out Of Finance Act”
Photo: Christoph Scholz | Flickr | CC BY 2.0
Facebook’s announcement of its biggest financial venture called Libra has prompted multisectoral discussion among tech companies, banking, and financial ecosystem, as well as government and regulatory official regarding the effect of cryptocurrency and digital money on the global economy.
The polarized discussion has seen lawmakers and executives on the opposite side of the poles arguing the harms of allowing tech giants like Facebook to issue currencies that have the potential of disrupting banking systems around the world.
Some say that it is on its way to a full-blown legal and social battle between regulators and the tech stratosphere. Some even suggest that this war has already begun.
A new draft proposal for the bill, bluntly named as “Keep Big Tech Out Of Finance Act,” that circulates among Democrats majority that leads the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, proves that the US government is not joking about its position against Libra and other similar ventures in the future.
According to the proposed bill, no tech company should be allowed to issue any form of financial services. “A large platform utility may not establish, maintain, or operate a digital asset that is intended to be widely used as a medium of exchange, unit of account, store of value, or any other similar function, as defined by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System,” reads a copy of the bill obtained by Z6Mag.
Furthermore, while the bill does not specify any company, it clearly refers to Facebook, and it’s planned blockchain-based currency, Libra. The “large platform utility” is defined as a technology company with “an annual global revenue of $25,000,000,000 or more” and one that is “predominately engaged in the business of offering to the public an online marketplace, an exchange, or a platform for connecting third parties.” This definition seems to be crafted to include Facebook rather than exclude other companies.
It is also worth noting that the proposed legislation also prohibits “large platform utilities” from affiliation with “persons who are a financial institution.” This further includes Facebook’s proactive workaround against possible future laws that may prohibit them from owning Libra.
Libra is actually not owned by Facebook. Instead, it is governed by a group of companies that are based in Switzerland called the Libra Association with Facebook as one of its founding members.
Nonetheless, the bill is still on its earliest phase yet, and many could happen to move forward. For it to become a law, it still has to withstand the possible opposition by Republicans in both the House and the Senate.
But it seems like the bill has an unlikely ally in the person of Donald Trump as the new proposal came out after Trump criticized cryptocurrencies.
In a series of tweets on Thursday, the POTUS said that he is not a “fan” of cryptocurrencies, asserted that America has only one currency, criticized bitcoin, as well as told Facebook that they need a banking charter if they want to launch their newly announced crypto-based money called Libra.
Trump said cryptocurrencies are not money, and “Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity.”
“If Facebook and other companies want to become a bank, they must seek a new Banking Charter and become subject to all Banking Regulations,” said the president.
According to the President, the dollar is the only currency in America, and Libra, among other cryptocurrencies, are not “real money.”
“We have only one real currency in the USA, and it is stronger than ever, both dependable and reliable. It is by far the most dominant currency anywhere in the World, and it will always stay that way. It is called the United States Dollar!” Trump said in a tweet.
Trump’s sentiments echoed similar apprehensions from cryptocurrency critics who have been advocating against the growth of the “volatile” blockchain technology and crypto money. Many argue that those attributes count against the wider adoption of digital currencies.
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