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Gains made in the fight against tuberculosis (TB) could be eroded, if they were not sustained, Professor Abraham Kwabena Anang, | Director of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), has said.
He explained that the TB bacteria (mycobacterium tuberculosis organisms) were developing resistance to the first line drugs used in fighting the disease.
Prof. Anang said the TB situation in the country was under control but Ghana has to be careful and active in conducting surveillance as well as ensuring a rigorous screening of patients.
He said this at the opening ceremony of a three-day retreat organised by the West African Network for TB, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome(AIDS) and Malaria (WANETAM) at the NMIMR in Accra on Monday.
The retreat, themed: "Empowering African research Institutions through capacity building, partnership and networking," brought together participants from Ghana and other African countries.
"We are beginning to have extremely drug resistance tuberculosis which we have identified one of them. Those kinds of organisms are very difficult to treat and |
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) is an association of oil-producing nations set up in 1960 with the express purpose of influencing | oil prices by controlling supply.
Things have changed a great deal for the cartel in recent years.
In 2000, it adopted a price band of between $22 and $28 a barrel, levels a world away from current prices.
If the price went below $22 a barrel, production quotas would be cut. If it went above $28 a barrel, production would be raised.
Opec abandoned the price band in 2005 and now has no official price target.
When its members meet, they try to co-ordinate future production with their predictions for demand.
While there have been increases in production recently, the price of oil has continued to soar.
Opec's official position is that there is plenty of supply in the market. It says rising prices are the fault of investors in the financial sector, who are buying oil contracts in order to sell them on without ever planning to take delivery.
Clearly there are limits to the amount production can be raised, and Opec also |
Iraqi forces have captured a key airbase from the Islamic State group that can serve as a launchpad for retaking the jihadist-held city | of Mosul, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Saturday.
The Qayyarah airbase in the Tigris valley 60 kilometres (35 miles) south of Mosul would be "an important base for the liberation of Mosul," Abadi said in a statement.
He called for the people of Iraq's northwestern Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital, to "prepare for the liberation of their cities."
Iraq's Joint Operations Command said two army divisions and members of the country's counter-terrorism forces took the base with air support from a US-led international coalition.
Security sources said jihadists had fled towards Mosul after the base was taken.
An officer taking part in the operation said bomb disposal teams were removing booby traps and mines left behind by IS fighters.
No further details were immediately available on the scale of fighting for the base.
At the end of last month, Iraqi forces recaptured Fallujah, a city 50 kilometres (30 miles |
A landmark deal was signed on Nov. 9 for the mass production of Turkey’s first domestically made main battle tank, Altay.
| The state Defense Industries Presidency (SSB) and armored vehicle maker BMC signed a contract for the Altay, a next-generation battle tank in Ankara. The financial value of the agreement was not revealed.
The contract includes the mass production and life-cycle logistical support for 250 units.
The first Altay tank will roll off the assembly line within 18 months and will be delivered to the Turkish Land Forces, SSB President İsmail Demir said.
“BMC won this tender with a competitive price. The tender was concluded after the prices were renewed in a competitive manner,” he added.
Regarding the engine of the tank, Demir said Turkey’s main aim was to maximize the local production rate in such defense projects.
“We need to overcome obstacles that obstruct Turkey to move independently. We are, of course, closing the doors to foreign partners. Our doors remain open to any firms which want to cooperate with us. However, we |
Unlike temporary Obama-era deficits due largely to recession, Trump's are permanent and will grow if he gets a Space Force and other expensive programs. |
Though no one in Washington will admit it, our nation's finances are in deep trouble. Spending is up, revenue is down, and this will only get worse.
It became very clear this month that neither the Trump White House nor its allies on Capitol Hill want you to know that the federal budget is already in very bad shape... and getting worse.
It happened when the Treasury, the official keeper of Washington’s financial results, issued its monthly statement for the first 10 months of fiscal 2018 about federal revenue, spending and, therefore, the budget deficit.
Treasury showed what no president ever wants to admit: The deficit is spiking. The federal government’s red ink this year is already 21 percent above what it was in 2017, and there are few prospects that the bottom line will improve anytime soon.
Except with infrequent and unsubstantiated platitudes about how the situation is going to get better, the Trump White House and Republicans in Congress have been doing |
And report about a contest for a September eleventh memorial in New York City.
Officials in New York City have announced an international competition to design | a memorial to honor those who died at the World Trade Center. The memorial is part of a larger plan for the rebuilding of the area. Shas more.
The seven buildings known as the World Trade Center complex in New York City were built between nineteen-sixty-two and nineteen-seventy-three. The buildings known as the Twin Towers were the tallest in the world at the time they were finished.
On February twenty-sixth, nineteen-ninety-three, a terrorist bomb exploded in the parking area below the World Trade Center. Six people were killed. Thousands were injured. The bomb damaged the buildings but people were able to return to work three weeks later.
On September eleventh, two-thousand-one, hijackers flew two passenger airplanes into the Twin Towers. The attacks caused huge explosions that started fires in the buildings. Pieces fell all over the area. The Twin Towers fell down.
Five other buildings in the World Trade Center were also |
A charity has said it is faced with closure after its Arts Council (ACNI) funding was completely cut.
Planning Landscape Architecture Community | Environment (PLACE) has an office in Belfast city centre.
It was one of a number of groups to have its annual funding withdrawn by the ACNI this year.
ACNI said it had to make "difficult strategic funding decisions" due to decreasing income from the National Lottery.
PLACE has been in existence for 15 years and runs a programme of tours, talks, exhibitions and festivals on architecture and the built environment in Northern Ireland.
It also works with community groups and public bodies to advise on urban planning.
In 2018-19 PLACE received £86,626 through ACNI's annual funding programme.
ACNI was its main source of income for its office, running costs and three full-time staff.
However, it has now been told that it will not receive any annual funding in 2019-20.
A spokesperson for PLACE said the cut was "shocking and disappointing".
The vast majority of arts organisations here would not exist without some |
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A former top aide to a Republican president and a left-wing senator have both blasted the White House for its | response to the feud between Canada and Saudi Arabia, calling it weak and evidence of President Donald Trump’s affinity for autocrats.
In an article earlier this week, Elliott Abrams, who was deputy national security adviser to George W. Bush, said the Saudis’ aggressive response to human rights criticism from Canada was “an unforced error,” and the lack of U.S. back-up for the Canadians indefensible.
From the other side of the political spectrum, Sen. Bernie Sanders told the National Post Trump himself should have defended Canada and echoed its criticism of the Saudis.
The States’ strategic alliance with the Arab power is no reason to go easy on its human rights transgressions, he said.
“What the United States government should have done is joined Canada in telling Saudi Arabia that it is not acceptable in a country that has received huge amounts of support and military arms from the United States to be imprisoning human rights activists,” he |
I live in the Broom Hill area of Ingleby Barwick and have no problem getting out of the estate as I am on the doorstep | of the new bypass.
I live in the Broom Hill area of Ingleby Barwick and have no problem getting out of the estate as I am on the doorstep of the new bypass. When I use the other exits, however, it's a different story.
It all seems to be caused by vehicles trying to get access to the A19.
The traffic backlog on Sober Hall and the main traditional entrance to Ingleby via the Teesside Industrial estate is clogged because of the incompatible road system that runs past the Total Garage and gives access to the strip of Tarmac which takes you to the A19/ Parkway roundabout.
Traffic queuing here is the root cause of those exits being blocked.
There is no hold up on the new bypass, its dual carriageway up to the A66, no potential bottlenecks.
Ingleby Barwick needs a new and fast way of hitting the A19 |
There are many Americans in this day and age that have no clue about history, nor do they understand the realities that have shaped American history.
| Some of these individuals, even as the Confederate flag was being removed from the South Carolina Statehouse grounds, do not recognize that the African-American community and other communities of color view the Confederate Flag as a racist symbol that has historically been used to promote hate.
On Friday, Roland Martin, Activist/Filmmaker Bree Newsome, and the NewsOne Now panel featuring Catalina Byrd, Media Consultant & Host, WEAA 88.9FM Baltimore, Dr. Wilmer Leon, Political Scientist/Syndicated Columnist, SiriusXM Radio, and Daniella Gibbs Léger, Senior VP, Communications & Strategy, Center For American Progress, discussed the history of the Confederacy, the Confederate flag, and America’s denial of the history of hate associated with it.
She added, “I think we really need to take a look at what is being taught in schools.” Newsome explained that people still do not understand what the Civil War was fought |
The Small Business Administration is putting together a plan to temporarily assemble enough acquisition employees to carry out the agency's usual contracting work as well as spending its | Recovery Act work, according to a new memo.
SBA intends to add five extra private-sector employees to support its acquisition staff, with two of them dealing solely with Recovery Act contracting, Darryl Hairston, associate administrator of SBA’s Office of Management and Administration, wrote in a memo posted online April 13.
“Ensuring the proper oversight of the acquisition activity and its personnel is a critical function,” Hairston wrote.
Hairston wrote in response to the SBA inspector general’s concerns about overseeing acquisition work, specifically the demands on overseeing Recovery Act spending.
Debra Ritt, SBA’s associate inspector general for auditing, raised concerns in an April 9 memo about the number of SBA’s contracting employees handling a greatly increased workload due to Recovery Act contracts. Ritt’s concerns align with a theme resonating among the federal watchdog community.
SBA’s contracting |
(Left) Antioch Foot & Ankle Group Team displaying comfortable work shoes and foot care products to below wing (orange vest) and above wing ( | white shirt) Delta Employees.
Antioch Foot & Ankle Group continues its commitment to give back to Savannah and the Low Country. Antioch was on hand at the Savanah/Hilton Head International Airport, with other healthcare providers, at the Delta Air Lines FIT/Health and Wellness Event. Delta’s Frontline Involvement Team (FIT) is an avenue for frontline employees to get the latest information affecting them as Delta employees every day—from leaders to events, to new initiatives and best practices. FIT is working hard to make sure Delta Air Lines stays on its course as a leader and takes care of its employees. The Health and Wellness event was just one of the initiatives of the program. Antioch specializes in diabetic foot care and has a shoe shop, Sole to Soul Solutions Shoe Store, located in their office. Jacqueline Tomlin and Denise Johnson from Antioch talked to airline workers, and customers educating them about diabetes, foot complications associated with diabetes and |
The only problem, at least for those who were once overjoyed by his decision 3½ years ago to become a Terp, is that | quarterback Dwayne Haskins Jr. will arrive for Saturday’s game with the rest of his Ohio State teammates.
Yet Haskins is certain to be reminded by the Maryland fans who show up for the team’s senior day about what happened after then-coach Randy Edsall was fired during the 2015 season and offensive coordinator Mike Locksley didn’t get the job.
And given the season the redshirt sophomore is having for the No. 10 Buckeyes, the Terps and their fans will likely be reminded of what might have been had the former Bullis School star followed through with his commitment to play at Maryland.
After eight games in which the outcome was not in doubt at the end — four blowout wins and four blowout losses — the Maryland football team finally had a close game Saturday in a 34-32 defeat to Indiana at Memorial Stadium.
For his part, Haskins told reporters he isn’t thinking much about |
The DOT is inviting truckers to participate in the first truck size-and-weight listening session on May 29. If you can’t | get there in person, make plans to participate online.
The U.S. Department of Transportation is conducting the listening session as part of a congressional mandate to study the effects of truck size and weight on the nation’s infrastructure, highway safety, crash rates, freight patterns and cost.
Congress mandated the Comprehensive Truck Size and Weight Study in the current highway bill, MAP-21, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century.
The American Trucking Associations, large shippers, receivers and manufacturers are pushing Congress to increase truck size and weights to 97,000 pounds on six axles on interstates. The current standard, with some exemptions by state, requires permits for trucks to weigh more than 80,000 pounds on five axles.
OOIDA supports the current freeze that has been in place since 1982.
Congressional committees are currently considering bills both for and against truck size-and-weight increases. That’s why it’s important for truck |
Lyft(DENVER) — Ride share company Lyft is entering the scooter arms race, marked by launching its scooter rental program in Denver | on Thursday.
The company, which tries to differentiate itself from its competitors by stressing sustainability and social justice issues, is launching its two-wheeled vehicles later than its competitors. Early entrants into the scooter market moved stealthily into markets like San Francisco and Santa Monica, often before municipalities could craft regulation. As a result, cities like San Francisco responded with a ban, while making companies apply for permits for a pilot program.
This was not lost on Lyft.
Multi-modal trips involve more than one kind of transportation.
Denver was an ideal launch city because of its buses and light rail system already available as public transit, Samponaro said. Riders of either of those systems can get a discount on scooter and bike shares.
Lyft co-founders John Zimmer and Logan Green detailed their ambitions in a Medium post on July 16, stressing transportation equity and sustainability.
“Lyft Bikes and Scooters will be our most affordable transportation options, and will |
Anti-racism campaigners Kick It Out have released a statement saying they are concerned by reports Brighton defender Gaetan Bong was booed by | Burnley fans for raising an alleged incident of racism.
Bong was booed throughout the Seagulls' 0-0 draw at Turf Moor after he reported an alleged incident of racism against Burnley-born and former Clarets striker Jay Rodriguez earlier this year.
The FA found after a hearing that Rodriguez was 'not proven' to have used discriminatory language against Bong but part of the statement read: "The FA wishes to stress that there has been no suggestion by any party involved in this case that this was a malicious or fabricated complaint. The FA is completely satisfied that this was a complaint made in absolute good faith."
In a statement today, Kick It Out said: “Kick It Out is concerned at reports that Gaetan Bong was booed on Saturday for raising an alleged incident of racism with The Football Association.
“Kick It Out believes all allegations of discrimination must follow a fair and transparent process for all parties involved and the organisation accepts the � |
Sunday 3-5:30pm: $5 house wine glass, $11 Ravenswood merlot carafe, $6 Estancia | glass, $4 Coors pint, $8 Coors pitcher, $6 draft beer pint, $14 draft beer pitchers. $5 plates: buffalo wings, bruschetta, mozzarella sticks, small torpedo, cannoli, pizza fries. $8.50 sampler platter, choose two of buffalo wings (5), bruschetta, mozzarella sticks, small torpedo, cannoli, pizza fries.
Monday 3-5:30pm: $5 house wine glass, $11 Ravenswood merlot carafe, $6 Estancia glass, $4 Coors pint, $8 Coors pitcher, $6 draft beer pint, $14 draft beer pitchers. $5 plates: buffalo wings, bruschetta, mozzarella sticks, small torpedo, cannoli, pizza fries. $8.50 sampler platter, choose two of buffalo wings (5), bruschetta, mozzarella sticks, small torpedo, |
Update: The 16-year-old girl who was wanted in connection with a shooting in early October has been taken into custody.
Saiday | ah Kirk was arrested by the Davenport Police Department, according to a Moline Detective Michael Griffin. Kirk was expected to be taken to the Scott County Juvenile Detention center.
Original: MOLINE, Illinois -- A 16-year-old girl shot her 18-year-old boyfriend in the stomach, according to the Moline Police Department.
The incident happened around 9 p.m. Sunday, October 7, 2018. Police got a call from someone saying their nephew had been shot on 31st Street A near Avenue of the Cities.
According to Moline Detective Michael Griffin, the 18-year-old who was shot had surgery and is expected to make a full recovery.
Police continue to search for the 16-year-old girl, identified as Saidayah Lynn Kirk from Davenport. On Monday afternoon, police issued an arrest warrant for Kirk for aggravated battery with a firearm. Her bond was set at $1 million.
Police said Kirk was considered |
Wed., Dec. 28, 2016, 7:30 a.m.
The mayhem that has rippled through malls in more than a | dozen states continued Tuesday evening, when about 200 rowdy teenagers showed up en masse at a Philadelphia mall in a gathering planned on Snapchat, officials said.
Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small told ABC affiliate WPVI that police responded to a report of a disturbance at the Philadelphia Mills Mall at about 6:45 p.m. The large group arrived by bus, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported, but only about 30 or 40 were able to get inside.
“They went to the food court area and that’s when they started running around, yelling and screaming and acting disorderly,” Small told WPVI.
At least three teenage boys were arrested. This is the second time that a group of juveniles caused a disturbance at the same Philadelphia mall, according to the Inquirer.
Post-Christmas brawls swept around the country and sent shoppers scrambling toward the exits Monday. Much like the most recent Philadelphia incident, almost all were started by juveniles. Many were scuff |
President Jimmy Morales' top diplomat defended his decision to move Guatemala's embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, rejecting on Tuesday international and domestic criticism after he followed | Washington's lead in announcing a switch.
Foreign Minister Sandra Jovel said the change amounts to "a foreign policy decision, therefore sovereign," and there is no intention to reverse it.
Morales announced the change Christmas Eve, becoming the first to follow U.S. President Donald Trump on switching from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital, while the Palestinians claim the city's eastern sector, which was captured by Israel in 1967 and is home to sensitive Jewish, Muslim and Christian religious sites. Many governments have long said the fate of Jerusalem must be resolved through negotiations.
Israel welcomed Guatemala's announcement, while Palestinian authorities criticized it.
Guatemala's government has given no timeline for a move, and Trump has also not said when a U.S. switch might be made.
Jovel played down a possible fallout for Guatemala's cardamom trade, for which Arab and Islamic nations are the largest buyers. She noted it represents just 0.37 |
SLOVAKIA’s budget deficit by the end of August 2015 decreased by 55.3 percent year-on-year to €1 | .08 billion.
State budget revenues until the end of August rose by €2.104 billion (29.2 percent) y-o-y and amounted to €9.318 billion. Expenditures increased by €765 million (7.9 percent) to €10.399 billion, the Finance Ministry informed the TASR newswire on September 2.
The annual increase in tax revenues amounted to €1.046 billion (18.1 percent).
“One positive development was recorded in legal entities’ income taxes amounting to €525.6 million; value-added tax amounting to €510 million and consumption tax of €51.5 million,” the ministry informed. A y-o-y decline of €12.6 million was recorded in withholding tax, while international trade and transactions fell by €2 million y-o-y.
Positive developments were seen in revenues from the EU budget – with a €1.2-billion |
Spain holds its third general election in four years on 28 April, in a battle between the established parties, Catalan and Basque nationalists, and a | rising far-right.
Support for the previous winner, the conservative People's Party (PP), has collapsed amid a corruption scandal. Its main opponent, the Socialist party, has rocketed to the top of the polls after seizing the prime minister's job last year.
One recent poll showed almost half of voters - 40% - had yet to make up their minds.
The Socialist and Podemos alliance of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's existing government needed the Basque and Catalan nationalists to support it.
But the Catalan pro-independence parties were partly responsible for the government's collapse after they pulled their support in February; and the crisis over the failed Catalan independence bid has made the nationalists hugely unpopular in much of Spain - making negotiations with them tricky.
The PP (led by Pablo Casado) and Ciudadanos (Albert Rivera) will probably need the support of Vox - but this is seen as unlikely.
Voters for Ciudadanos are largely opposed |
Orange Is the New Black Season 5: Just How Much Can Happen in 3 Days?
How Much Can Happen in 3 Days on " | OITNB"?
Orange Is the New Black season five takes place over the span of just three days. Just how much can happen in a prison in that time?
"You got to see it to believe it," Taylor Schilling, Piper on the series, told E! News. "I mean, wow."
Remember, it's not just any prison, it's Litchfield and when viewers last checked in on their favorite inmates a riot was brewing.
"The scope of the show is huge—sweeping," Natasha Lyonne, Nicky on OITNB, said. "I think it's a lot of story and a lot of worlds—a lot happens these three days."
Season four of Orange Is the New Black ended with Daya (Dascha Polanco) with a gun to a guard's head. The very gun the guard smuggled in, as all factions of the prison gathered to send a message to the administration after the death of Pous |
Joshua did not give full details of the accident, believed to have resulted in the deaths of at least 84 South Africans so far.
He focused | instead on a plane repeatedly flying low above the building an hour before its collapse and read out a message from a supposed Boko Haram would-be bomber seeking conversion. Joshua, famous for performing ritualistic “miracle” healings, attracts a large South African following that has included visits from South African politicians such as Winnie Madkizela-Mandela and Julius Malema, to sports stars such as Ruben Kruger and the late Wium Basson.
In July this year, an article in The Economist declared that Pentecostal church attendance in Britain grew by 25% between 2008 and 2013, with some 430 000 people attending West African and Brazilian Pentecostal churches. The Redeemed Christian Church of God run by Nigerian Enoch Adeboye has 670 churches in Britain, and claims branches in over 100 countries. These, to some extent, have altered practices by traditional churches, The Economist writes, with the Anglican Church in England (under Ugandan |
AUGUSTA — Fourteen community college students were named to the All-Maine Academic Team for two-year colleges at a ceremony held | last night at the Senator Inn in Augusta. The event was hosted by the Maine Community College System Board of Trustees.
The students named to the All-Maine Academic Team each received a $500 scholarship. Among the 14 honorees were two local students: Rebecca DeSimone of Springvaile who attends York County Community College in Wells and Diane Griffin of Wells who also attends YCCC.
DeSimone is majoring in Liberal Studies and some of her achievements include Phi Theta Kappa member and Thanksgiving Food Drive Initiative volunteer.
Griffin is majoring in Medical Assisting and some of her achievements include Phi Theta Kappa member, Presidential List Award, YCCC Presidential Search and Review Committee volunteer, Student Senate member, New Student Tour volunteer, Community Garden volunteer, Toys for Tots volunteer, and Partners for a Hunger-Free York County volunteer.
The All-Maine Academic Team is part of the national Phi Theta Kappa program, an international honor society for two- |
Google is one of the biggest companies in the world. Founded in 1998 by Sergey Brin and Larry Page, it has since become one of | the most successful businesses. In terms of its value, it is presently estimated to be bigger than Apple. As of May 2016, the company was valued at about $498 billion, according to CNN. At the time, Apple was worth approximately $495 billion.
Google currently specializes in online services, which range from advertising to computing software and hardware. It was started by two Stanford University Ph.D. students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in 1998. The two were close friends, and it was Brin’s data mining program that helped start the search engine.
They started out small, using numerous cheap computers crammed in their dorm. Their search engine quickly became popular in the institution and within a short period, the two had to defer their studies to focus on their new venture. In September the same year, Google was incorporated as a privately-held company.
An Initial Public Offering of the corporation was undertaken in 2004. Presently, the search engine holds a 79 |
A cat shoe rack, yogi garden dogs, bean bags, an LED bonsai tree, and more!
1. A bean bag | chair that unfolds into a cushiony lounger.
2. An 11-piece cookware set that'll inspire every kid's inner chef.
3. An owl lamp that can't hoot but still knows how to look cute.
4. A bonsai tree with LED blossoms that imbue magic into the air (indoors or outdoors).
5. A smiling cow that's perfectly content being a bean bag chair.
6. A model-worthy cat scratch post tree.
7. A satisfying array of mixing utensils that snap together for convenient storage.
8. A shoe rack that reminds kids to take off their shoes and place them under the care of a friendly cat.
Comes with three adjustable tiers.
9. A buzzing play tent that definitely won't sting your child.
10. A zebra-print heated throw that you'll want to snuggle with indefinitely.
11. A set of flannel sheets that's |
Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska and new queen of gall, used the occasion of the birth of Martin Luther King to demand that President Obama — | at long last — stop being so racist.
Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska and new queen of gall, used the occasion of Martin Luther King Day to demand that President Obama — at long last — stop being so racist.
As we all know, the election of Obama in 2008 marked the end of racism in the United States. It had been dead for about a decade prior, as fans of Dinesh D'Souza's The End of Racism know, but on January 20, 2009, that became common knowledge. Here's how use of the term "post-racial" has trended on Google since 2005.
See? We're post-race now. Racism doesn't exist.
Palin, who has embraced post-racial America, is calling on the president to end one of the only remaining outposts of racial animus, Democrats' using race as an excuse to win political arguments. So she hammered to the door of Facebook a challenge in the |
PARIS (Reuters) - A carbon price corridor mechanism with floor and ceiling prices, and an auction system, could help fix the European Emissions | Trading System (ETS), in which prices have tumbled due to a glut of permits, according to a proposal by a French committee.
The mechanism is one of several that is expected to be put forward by the government-appointed committee headed by Engie's Chairman and former Chief Executive Officer Gerard Mestrallet, to review European carbon pricing.
France, which currently chairs the United Nations climate negotiations COP21, said in April it would unilaterally set a carbon price floor in the absence of a broader European initiative to strengthen carbon pricing.
World leaders, businesses and international finance institutions have also urged more countries to launch schemes that put a price on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
Mestrallet will present the committee's pre-findings during a high-level forum on carbon pricing in Paris on Friday.
Mestrallet said his committee, appointed by French Environment Minister Segolene Royal in March, had studied carbon price mechanisms in several countries and also held discussions with |
Yahoo! Search Marketing late last week notified search marketers that text ads would be limited to 70 characters--which also is the maximum size of Google | AdWords ads. Previously, Yahoo! allowed marketers to include up to 190 characters in their ads.
Yahoo! framed the move as an attempt to make ads easier for users to read, but some search marketers say the decision also seems designed to court advertisers. Josh Stylman, a managing partner at Reprise Media, said it's likely that Yahoo! believes it will be easier for advertisers to run campaigns on both Yahoo! and Google if they can use the same creative text. "It's interesting that Yahoo! is moving in line with Google. It would obviously make it easier for Google clients to test Yahoo!," Stylman said.
He added that Yahoo! is playing catch-up with Google. "Yahoo!'s clearly got many fewer advertisers than Google at this stage," he said.
Another rationale behind the move could also be to free up advertising space on the Yahoo! Publishing Network--Yahoo!'s answer to Google's AdSense. The move "should |
The United Nations owes India USD 38 million, the highest it has to pay to any country, for the peacekeeping operation.
United Nations: | The United Nations owes India USD 38 million, the highest it has to pay to any country, for the peacekeeping operations as of March 2019, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said as he voiced concern over the world body's deteriorating financial health.
In his report on improving the financial situation of the world body, he said, as of March 31, 2019, the total amount payable to troop- and police-contributing countries with respect to active peacekeeping missions was USD 265 million.
Of this, the UN owes USD 38 million to India, followed by Rwanda (USD 31 million), Pakistan (USD 28 million), Bangladesh (USD 25 million) and Nepal (USD 23 million), Antonio Guterres said in his report.
He said the arrears to troop and police contributing countries (TCCs/PCCs) could increase to USD 588 million by June 2019 "in the worst-case scenario".
"That has created a paradox. The United |
The first mammals emerged during the reign of the dinosaurs, adopting a nocturnal lifestyle to stay safe. It was only until the dinosaurs were wiped | off the face of the planet that certain mammals began to assert themselves during the daylight hours, according to new research.
New evidence published in Nature Ecology & Evolution suggests that the first diurnal (daytime) mammals emerged at some point between 52 to 33 million years ago. The timing would suggest that mammals had been “stuck” in a nocturnal mode of existence during the reign of the dinosaurs, which ended some 66 million years ago, and that the sudden disappearance of dinos allowed mammals to assert themselves during the day. The new study improves our understanding of mammalian evolution, but other researchers say more evidence is required for us to be absolutely certain about the timing of this important transition.
Mammalian fossils dating back to this period are hard to come by, but even if paleontologists and evolutionary biologists had tons of fossils, it would still be hard to discern an animal’s behavior from a pile of bones—including whether or not an animal was active during the |
WASHINGTON--U.S. housing starts decreased for the third consecutive month in May, a sign home builders are struggling to meet buyer demand.
| Housing starts dropped 5.5% in May from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.092 million, the Commerce Department said Friday. This figure carries a margin of error of 11.9%.
Residential building permits, an indication of how much construction is in the pipeline, fell 4.9% to an annual pace of 1.168 million last month, the agency said.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected a 3.4% increase for starts and a 0.8% rise for permits.
Starts fell in May for single-family and multifamily construction. Permits last month were down 10.4% for buildings with multiple units and down 1.9% for single-family homes.
Data on housing starts tend to be volatile from month to month and can be subject to sharp revisions. Looking past month-to-month fluctuations, starts in the first five months of the year were up 3.2%. |
Come September, "Groundhog Day: The Musical" will officially end its time loop.
Producers of the award-winning musical announced Tuesday | that the show will end its Broadway run Sept. 17, after 176 performances, seven Tony nominations and one gnarly knee injury.
"It's been a joy to share 'Groundhog Day' over and over again with Broadway audiences," the show's producers said in a statement. "We could not have asked for a more magnificent, devoted company to bring Danny Rubin's heartfelt words, Tim Minchin's dynamic score and Matthew Warchus's ingenious direction to the August Wilson Theatre stage every night."
"Groundhog Day," about an arrogant TV weatherman stuck in a time loop, opened in April at the August Wilson Theatre. Andy Karl starred as Phil Connors, a role originally made famous by Bill Murray in the hit 1993 movie of the same name.
Karl busted his knee onstage in the spring just three days before the show was set to debut, but made a triumphant return in time for the official opening.
Following its exit from the Great White Way, the show — |
The BBC recently found that employees at a U.K.-based Amazon warehouse are working under conditions that a stress expert said could cause "mental and | physical illness."
Billy Joel once sang that working too hard can give you a heart attack. And according to a BBC investigation into a U.K.-based Amazon warehouse, that just might be the case.
The news agency this week alleged that employees at the warehouse are working under conditions that a stress expert said could cause "mental and physical illness."
Based on video footage collected by undercover reporter Adam Littler, working as a "picker" who collects orders from 800,000 square feet of storage, the BBC reported rough conditions at the Amazon fulfillment center. During one night shift, Littler was expected to walk about 11 miles in total and collect orders every 33 seconds. When he took too long, a handset he carried would beep.
"We are machines, we are robots, we plug our scanner in, we're holding it, but we might as well be plugging it into ourselves," Littler said in the BBC report. "We don't think |
SONY has confirmed a major change to the way it refunds games to PSN users, but the news has been met with mixed emotions due to | some flawed features.
Sony seems to spend half their time ignoring what fans want (crossplay, free money, a nice house) and the other half granting their wishes using a monkeys’ paw. Every single wish they grant has some horrible drawback. This isn’t an RPG, you can in fact just give us nice things.
For example, while we can now change our PSN IDs it doesn’t work across the board and can actively mess up some games that have online functionality (all games have online functionality).
This time it comes with a new refund policy. While the old refund policy may not have been what everyone wanted, this one seems actively antagonistic by comparison. Everything you download is now no longer refundable.
Aside from a few small subscription services on PSN, everything that enters your PS4’s hard drive is no longer an option for a refund. If that seems utterly absurd to you then that’s because it is. |
Discussions have been taking place at St. Marys Cement Plant in Charlevoix Township of producing wind-generated electricity at the facility | .
"We have a desire, it's a good thing to do," said Courtney Schmidt, St. Marys environmental director.
Wind-generated electricity requires the use of windmills or "wind turbines." Wind turbines use wind forces to spin the rotor of the turbine and drive the shaft of an electric generator.
Schmidt said moving forward with the project would require using an anemometer to study the velocity of wind on the property. Preliminary plans are in the works for a wind study.
"We're pursuing the next logical step in the process," Schmidt said. "We'd like to do one, we have not solicited quotes to do one."
Schmidt said he is acknowledging community concerns of noise and light flicker that can be generated from wind turbines that are improperly designed.
"We're cognizant of the fact that there are some issues associated with it," Schmidt said. "We have to talk to the community to make sure what we're |
The PGA Tour returns to Paramus this week for the first time since 2014. And Tiger Woods returns to Jersey for the first time since 2013 | .
PARAMUS — The eyes of the golf world will turn to North Jersey this week, as the PGA Tour returns to Ridgewood Country Club for The Northern Trust.
The best golfers in the world, and most of the biggest names, will be playing in one of the lucrative events on the PGA Tour.
So what should you expect? Here are five big storylines to follow during The Northern Trust.
Expect the crowds to be out in full force to see Tiger Woods. And for good reason. First of all, he’s coming off impressive performances in each of the last two majors. Less than two weeks ago, at the PGA Championship, Woods shot a final-round 64, his lowest-ever final round in a major to finish in second — his best finish at a major in 10 years.
Woods has had some success the last few times he’s played in New Jersey. He finished tied tied for 12th at |
Trade ministers from 142 countries have agreed a deal to launch an ambitious new trade round at talks in the Gulf Arab state of Doha. BBC News | Online explains why it matters for all of us.
Why does the deal matter?
World trade has been the fastest way to boost economic growth over the last 50 years, raising the standard of living of many countries.
Part of the reason has been the steady reduction in trade barriers which make it cheaper to sell goods around the world.
But plans to extend trade liberalisation stalled following demonstrations in Seattle in 1999.
World leaders hope, that with a dramatic slowdown in the world economy underway, made worse by the events of 11 September, starting a new round of trade talks will boost economic confidence.
Not really. The current deal in Doha is about the agenda for a new set of trade talks, which will now begin in January 2002.
But the plan is for an expanded range of issues to be considered by trade ministers, covering such areas as trade and environment, trade and investment, and the traditional areas like trade in manufacturing products and agricultural goods.
Eventually, the deal could |
Dubbed PhoneSnoop by creator Sheran Gunasekera, the software sits quietly on a targeted BlackBerry and monitors the phone number of | each incoming call. When it detects a number set up in the program's preferences section, it silently turns on the speakerphone, allowing an attacker to monitor all conversations within earshot of the device.
Although programs such as FlexiSPY have long claimed to do much the same thing, Gunasekera said he believes PhoneSnoop is the first software to bring those capabilities to the BlackBerry free of charge.
"What I wanted to do was bring some awareness to this problem, so I'm releasing it pretty much for free and trying to show them that this can be done," said Gunasekera, who is director of security for Hermis Consulting in Jakarta, Indonesia. "It's not well known that these threats exist."
Gunasekera said he was inspired to write PhoneSnoop after witnessing an attempt in July by United Arab Emirates mobile operator Etisalat to sneak snooping software onto customers' Blackberry handsets. Subscribers reported |
This tuition bill is really outrageous! Especially given my GPA.
Families and taxpayers can’t just keep paying more and more and | more into an undisciplined system where costs just keep on going up and up and up. We’ll never have enough loan money, we’ll never have enough grant money to keep up with costs that are going up five, six, seven percent a year. We’ve got to get more out of what we pay for.
Obama pledged to unveil most of the details in a subsequent speech. Some elements will probably involve executive action, including encouraging colleges to take steps on their own. (Obama promised to “call college presidents.”) The ultimate solution is probably going to require some kind of legislation, and David Wessel previews some good ideas along these lines.
But this agenda is also likely to create even deeper fissures within the Democratic agenda than cost control did. After all, there isn’t a much more loyal Democratic constituency than people who work in higher education.
Jonathan Rees’s polemic in Slate against MOOC |
If Adam Stockhausen does the job well, you won’t notice — and he’ll have made Steven Spielberg, Wes Anderson | , Steve McQueen, and Noah Baumbach happy. The production designer’s CV is among the most enviable and, per the Academy, acclaimed in contemporary film, but this year is an especially notable month, seeing as it does the release of Anderson’s Isle of Dogs and Spielberg’s Ready Player One. Having seen one and seen material from the other, surely there’d be a lot to ask… except for the fact that this interview was conducted at Camerimage in November, months before either even screened. But more than a good overview of how those directors do what they do so well, the following details his alternately painstaking, exhausting, and, sometimes, invisible contributions to the art.
The Film Stage: Do you have a “production design” eye for everywhere?
Adam Stockhausen: You’re kind of looking. It’s either in terms of how the place is either really interesting or, in this case |
A leading contender for the vacant United Nations Ambassador role made a not so subtle pitch for the job in a Fox News interview on Wednesday.
John | James, a former Michigan Republican Senate candidate, said "of course" he wants to be the next US ambassador to the UN, during the interview. The Iraq War veteran emphasized his military experience and business background and called it an "honor" to be considered for the position.
But he's not the only figure in the running as President Donald Trump considers candidates to replace Nikki Haley after his initial pick, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert, withdrew her candidacy on Saturday.
Earlier this week, CNN reported that Trump has mentioned James as a leading contender for role, according to a source close to the White House. US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, US Ambassador to France Jamie McCourt, US Ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft and former National Security Council official Dina Powell are also being considered.
While James made his interest known on Trump's favorite TV station, Grenell will be stopping in Washington for unplanned meetings at the White House later this week.
Grenell, who is |
The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am usually isn’t a haven for equipment changing, but Phil Mickelson, Tommy Fleetwood | and others made significant changes for the week. Though most were likely focused on the celebrities or the beautiful views of the Monterey Peninsula, we focused on the equipment scene. Here’s what we found.
Phil Mickelson earned his fifth AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am title as play concluded Monday, adding to his impressive resume on Monterey Peninsula, where he also has two seconds and two thirds in 22 prior starts. As familiar as he is at Pebble Beach, with his grandfather being one of the original caddies at the legendary links, it probably shouldn’t be a surprise that he went back to a familiar driver for this week, using the low-spinning Callaway Rogue Sub Zero he used most of last season. Lefty also added a new 3-wood for the week, putting Callaway’s new Epic Flash in play. During an opening-round 65 Mickelson hit 13 of 13 fairways off the tee, the first time since |
Yahoo took a big step toward making its mobile experience better by acquiring location discovery app Alike today.
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has | indicated that she would focus more efforts on mobile and wouldn’t hesitate to acquire companies to help with that aim. Yahoo acquired Snip.it in January and acquired the team behind video platform OnTheAir in December. Yahoo has also boosted its mail apps on mobile with new iPhone, Android, and Windows 8 apps.
Alike offered consumers ways to find nearby places that your friends also like and that you might like based on your interests. It will shut down its iPhone and web applications and join Yahoo’s mobile team.
At Alike, we’ve spent the last couple of years working hard to build amazing mobile experiences to delight our customers, which is why we’re thrilled to announce some big news: we’re joining Yahoo! Mobile. We’ve always been passionate about the growing power of intelligent mobile experiences. We believe that distilled information, deeply personalized and made accessible anytime and anywhere, is what makes mobile experiences a part of our customers� |
Waterford boss Davy Fitzgerald is a hero once again after his team’s big All-Ireland quarterfinal 2-23 to 2- | 13 win over Galway on Sunday, just two weeks after he received hate calls in the wake of the heavy Munster final loss to Tipperary.
Fitzgerald was emotional after his team’s demolition job on Galway put that Tipp memory to rest.
Fitzgerald said, “It has been a difficult two weeks. There were a lot of things said and I suppose we deserved some of them.
“We had two weeks to make up for it and get back. We worked very hard and we didn’t do ourselves justice in the Munster final.
“All of them mysterious calls in the middle of the night I enjoy them, keep them coming! I’m not going into it, they are not worth even talking to. They can keep ringing, that’s all I’ll say to you.
“There are people close to me who doubted me and gave me stick. I never doubt |
This white paper features insight from about the issues facing companies that need an adaptable financial system but not necessarily a full-blown enterprise resource planning ( | ERP) solution.
"Managing your company's financials is the backbone of your business and is vital to the long-term health and viability of your company. To continue applying the necessary financial rigor to support rapid growth, you need the right tools to most efficiently achieve this. Read this white paper to understand the 10 essentials of a complete financial management system and how the right solution can help you keep up with the rapidly changing business world.
Technology plays an integral role in enabling businesses to have access to insightful analytics. By providing metrics on core workforce facts, workforce financials, productivity and performance, talent development and succession and human capital risk, companies are able to identify those 10- 15 metrics most important to business goals. This will enable them to present the Board of Directors with a comprehensive and concise story of workforce capabilities. The best place, we suggest, is with expert, practical guidance. Download this informative resource.
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Is your Facebook NewsFeed cluttered with outraged links to disgusting websites peddling sexist, racist nonsense? Time for a little spring cleaning, ladies! |
The blog TL;DR points out that Facebook now allows you to block a big chunk of content from websites that consistently drive you up the wall. (It's not a brand new feature, but it hasn't been very well publicized, either.) The next time you see something from the objectionable site, just click on the upper right-hand corner, select "Hide all from X." Your nemesis is now out of your NewsFeed—kinda. I tested this out with the omnipresent BuzzFeed, and at least one headline still slipped through—it might be that it's simply blocking content shared through the site's Facebook page. Still, it made a big, big dent.
TL;DR offers the example of Upworthy, whose O M G headlines are the bane of many journalists' existence. However, the ideal use case for Jezebel's readers is likely Return of Kings, a steaming cow patty that deserves to be ignored until it disappears into the earth. |
BRITAIN’s financial watchdog is looking into whether cancer patients get a fair deal when it comes to travel insurance.
The Financial Conduct | Authority (FCA) is asking firms for feedback to better understand the difficulties faced by consumers who have, or have had, cancer when trying to find appropriate insurance.
The watchdog is also looking at the reasons for pricing difference in the premiums quoted by insurers.
The move is part of a wider focus by the FCA on the challenges people can face when trying to find insurance that meets their needs.
Lynda Thomas, chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support, said the charity hears from people having trouble accessing travel insurance on an every day basis.
"They may have been quoted sky-high prices, had their cancer excluded from cover or had to deal with endless phone calls or mountains of paperwork in order to apply for a policy," she said.
"We want insurers to give clearer explanations about how quotes have been calculated. Travel insurance policies should be clear and fairly priced for everyone, including people with cancer,” she added.
Christopher Woolard, from the FCA |
The U.S. derivatives regulator published a long-awaited discussion paper on computerized trading, a first step to what could become new rules for | a sector often blamed for market disruptions.
Seeking public comment on more than 100 topics, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is working closely with the industry as it looks to adapt its rule-book to new technologies such as ultra-fast trading.
"Traditional risk controls and safeguards that relied on human judgment and speeds must be reevaluated in light of new market structures," the agency said on Monday.
A raft of glitches have plagued financial markets in the past few weeks, most notably when thousands of stocks listed on Nasdaq OMX Group's were paralyzed for three hours last month because of a technological problem.
The CFTC's Technology Advisory Committee, which groups together regulators and industry participants, will discuss the report at a meeting on September 12.
High-frequency trading uses so-called algorithmic software that can post orders in fractions of a second without human intervention, and is a favored tool of hedge funds and other institutional traders. |
A Hampton Bays woman was arrested for allegedly driving while high on drugs, drifting into oncoming traffic and causing a crash that killed her 80- | year-old father on Thursday, Southampton Town police said.
Claudette Sephens, 53, was driving a Nissan Quest minivan eastbound on Flanders Road when she drifted into the opposite lane of traffic and crashed head-on into a westbound Honda near Long Neck Boulevard in Flanders at 4:52 p.m., police said.
Stephens and her 16-year-old son were taken to Peconic Bay Medical center for treatment of their injuries. Her father, John Loetscher, of Hampton Bays, who was in the seated in the rear of the Nissan, was pronounced dead several hours later.
The other driver, a 33-year-old Riverhead woman, was taken to the same hospital, where she is listed in stable condition.
Stephens was charged her with driving while ability impaired by drugs and endangering the welfare of a child.
Southampton Town Detectives are continuing the investigation and ask anyone who may have witnesses the crash |
The Irish squad for the November Test window will be unveiled on Wednesday and Simon Zebo would not be human if he didn’t feel | a twinge of sadness when his name is not included. But he also knew the fairly inevitable consequences of his move to Racing 92, and Saturday’s 44-12 win over Ulster also demonstrated the flipside of the coin.
Watching him dovetail ‘live’ with his kindred spirits, especially Finn Russell, made you appreciate that if Zebo could have handpicked an alternative home for the way he likes to play rugby, it would probably have been Racing 92. At the Arena where it never rains, they are given full rein to put on a show where the premium is very much on entertainment, however it is dressed up or blasted out in a venue without natural grass, light or – pretty much – noise.
He, his partner Elvira, and children Jacob and Sofia are happy out with their new life, and so is he with his nouveau rugby experience.
Nor is it just the rugby Zebo is enjoying in the French |
Thank you, Chairman Dunford, for that tribute to the President and the First Lady’s commitment to our troops and their families.
| Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, Department of Defense leadership, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – welcome, as the Department honors our Commander-in-Chief of eight critical years one last time. This afternoon, I’d like to do so by speaking of those aspects of his service and commitment to our national defense that have been so striking and that will be so memorable, each one a constant throughout his tenure as our President: his focused strategic leadership around the world; his steps to strengthen our force, both in its people as well as its capabilities; and his decision-making.
Through it all, President Obama has led our military with an appreciation that America’s defense is so vital that we, to whom it is entrusted, must ensure its continuity and excellence across the years and across the domains of armed conflict – not just air, land, and sea, but also space, and cyberspace – across parties, across government agencies, from strategic era to strategic era |
Scott's Mayfair: A favourite among celebrities | HELLO!
Scott's restaurant is situated opportunely in swanky Mayfair surrounded | by the capital's finest hotels including Claridge's and The Connaught.
So it's no wonder that one of London's most legendary seafood spots, owned by Caprice Holdings, whose portfolio includes other gastronomic havens such as The Ivy, Le Caprive and J. Sheekey, draws plenty of famous faces every week.
Formula 1 heiress Tamara Ecclestone, Ronny Wood and wife Sally Humphreys, Tom Hanks and Milla Jovovich are just a few celebrities to have dined there recently.
The incident that unravelled Charles Saatchi and Nigella Lawson's marriage also took place at Charles' favourite table outside Scott's in June last year, but it did little to tarnish the restaurant's impeccable reputation.
In fact, Charles has returned to his favourite terrace table several times since, with new love interest Trinny Woodall.
Scott's has been delighting A-lister's palates since opening |
Thursday evening, the four children of a deported Owensboro man arrived in Mexico, seeing their father for the first time in months.
VERAC | RUZ, Mexico – As his four children were boarding their first plane in Indianapolis Thursday morning, Antonio Cuahua paced the floors of his small Mexican home.
Antonio’s voice trailed off. The last time he saw his children was the morning he was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers near his home in Owensboro, Kentucky.
Antonio immigrated illegally to the United States when he was 16. Now 33, he lived and worked in Kentucky for 17 years. He was also the sole caregiver for his American-born children there.
After he was deported, his children had few options – immigrate to Mexico or enter American foster care. Neither Antonio nor his friends and family in Owensboro had money to pay for the children’s immigration process until a story about the family’s situation appeared on courierpress.com, prompting dozens of people to donate money so the family could be reunited.
Thursday morning, the |
As more money flows to advertising startups chasing virtual reality and brands start creating custom content, publishers want in on the VR craze, too.
| John Solomon, chief creative officer at Circa/Sinclair Broadcasting—the former exec from The Washington Times hired in December to revive the defunct news app—announced an ambitious VR news project for his fledging company during an Advertising Week panel on Wednesday.
Since launching 10 weeks ago as a news and entertainment site, Sinclair-owned Circa claims to reach 350 million people and accumulated 140 million video views, with two million of those views coming from VR clips.
The new effort, dubbed Circa 360, will produce two weekly ad-supported VR pieces with production company MomentumXR. Solomon did not name any initial advertisers, but said that brands can run VR-shot pre-roll ads before clips. The web clips can also be used by 173 of parent company Sinclair Broadcast Group's local TV stations.
"It will take our consumers to places that journalists get to go but the public very seldom gets to go, maybe backstage at a debate, backstage at Hamilton across the country," Solomon |
CHELSEA have reportedly been knocked back in their pursuit of Belgium star Axel Witsel.
The 27-year-old will enter the final | six months of his Zenit St-Petersburg contract in January.
And that situation means he will soon be able to negotiate a free transfer switch ahead of next summer's transfer window.
A host of Europe's top clubs were said to be tracking the midfielder after an impressive Euro 2016 campaign, including interest from Merseyside duo Liverpool and Everton.
And, according to Italian outlet Tuttosport, Chelsea are one of the teams who remain keen on securing his services.
However, the newspaper now claim Witsel has decided to reject the chance to link up with Antonio Conte at Stamford Bridge.
And he has apparently informed the Premier League leaders that he only has eyes for Juventus.
The late nature of Paul Pogba's world-record £89m move to Manchester United meant the Serie A giants were unable to land the former Benfica ace in August.
But they now look set to snap him up in a bosman deal after a five-year stint |
When is a state not a state? When it’s Palestinian.
This afternoon, President Bush outlined his long-awaited plan for resolving | the Middle East conflict. He gratified Israelis and dismayed Palestinians by demanding, as a condition of Palestinian statehood, a complete overhaul of the Palestinian leadership. But that’s just the most obvious caveat in Bush’s proposal. The raw deal for Palestinians isn’t the hoops they’ll have to jump through to get their prize. It’s the dubiousness of the prize.
Bush repeatedly described the state he envisions as “provisional.” White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer and Secretary of State Colin Powell have also called it a “potential” or “interim” state. (Fleischer has a curious habit of saying that a Middle East settlement must offer “security” to Israelis and “hope” to Palestinians, as though hope were the equivalent rather than the opposite of security.) Bush’s aides see no need to apologize for not proposing an actual state. They figure |
Cemetery in Quebec. Photo by Sue Frause.
Langley Mystery Weekend has come and gone.
Since I’m still | on the road, I missed the whole thing.
But last week I sat down and had a chat with longtime Langley resident Chris Crotty, who wrote the mystery for ten years.
Chris said the game started as a way to get people to come to Langley during February — traditionally a slow month for business in the seaside town. It was the brainchild of Mo Black and Marjiann Moss, both with the Langley Chamber of Commerce at the time.
The first mystery, written by Jeff Handley 23 years ago, involved then Mayor of Langley Dolores Cobb and local dentist Dr. Ric Prael.
“Everybody got into the act,” said Chris. Even Jiggers the liquor store cat.
They switched to fictitious people and that’s when the fun began.
Chris says her favorite mystery was the one that included a Miss Langley Pageant; a cat show; Real Hair For Real People; and the men’ |
Fast acting Houston-area BMW enthusiast Cody W. Crochet was able to save all his cars from the floods brought by Hurricane Harvey using landscaping | bricks to raise his garaged red E36 M3 up out of rising waters. Here’s how he carefully lowered that car back down—brick by brick, corner by corner.
In case you were wondering how you get a car back down after you improvised the ultimate last-minute home lift out of stock BMW jacks, jack stands and garden bricks, this time lapse should show you how: very, very carefully.
Crochet and a friend moved an OEM E36 jack atop a its own stack of bricks to each side of the car on one axle to lift the car up, take a brick off the stack, and then lift the car back down. Wash, rinse and repeat on each axle one by one until it’s all back down to earth.
Crochet left it on just one set of jackstands as he has projects already waiting for the car, as one always does with a project/track car.
Unfortunately, the rest of Cro |
Mazdack Rassi, founder and creative director of Milk Studios, talks about Milk's big plans for expansion on the West Coast. The | new studios will open on May 1, with soft openings between May and June. The facility will be fully operational in June.
When did you hit it big with Milk?
We came up with it ten years ago. We started as a basically as a rental facility, and over the last five years, we expanded more into a proper media company where we do more creative things, create more content, and are more involved in the creative process. Our goal was never to sort of be a space that was for rent or a rental mentality, but more of like to create a creative space and a crossroads for film, fashion, television, and art. We’re about seven divisions now.
Why the need for another huge Milk Studios in Los Angeles?
In the last three to four years, there’s been a big trend in our business in New York where we’re working more with celebrities than with models. The main reason is because they’ve sort |
StyleCaster: When did you join Pinterest, and what exactly made you originally decide to join Pinterest?
Sarah Dobson: I believe I | joined soon after it launched – in the fall of 2010 (ish). I had seen a fellow Canadian I met while interning at Wish magazine (now folded) using it on her blog and asked her for an invitation. It seemed like the perfect thing to replace my collection of physical tear-sheets (a habit I picked up from interning in the art departments of Wish and Teen Vogue).
SC: Please describe your blog/site and how this interacts/overlaps with your Pinterest page.
SD: I have all but abandoned my tumblr. It used to serve the same purpose as my Pinterest: keeping track of images, links articles and what not that I liked and wanted to remember. My online portfolio of graphic design work desperately needs updating – sarahcdobson.com. As soon as I find the time, I’m going to develop a new site for freelance design and creative consulting.
SC: What area(s) on Pinterest would you say is |
The Duchess of Sussex is eagerly awaiting the birth of her first child, but eagle-eyed royal fans are convinced that, rather than putting her feet | up, Meghan is busy on social media.
Royal watchers have gone into a frenzy after spotting captions on the new @SussexRoyal Instagram account that they believe have been written by Meghan.
Fans fans have been quick to spot Americanised spellings, as well as dollar signs and American English in the captions, and claim this points to a US native writing them.
Meghan, 37, and Prince Harry, 34, recently thanked fans for donating to their chosen charities in honour of Baby Sussex, and one post about Baby2Baby contains references to 'cribs' and 'diapers'.
Several posts use the US spelling 'organization', rather than 'organisation' and 'programs' rather than 'programmes'.
Before she was the Duchess of Sussex and began dating Prince Harry, Meghan amassed millions of followers on social media, and loved interacting with her fans.
The former Suits star often posted on pictures of her doing yoga, |
The South Texas Project nuclear power plant near Bay City, Texas is shown under construction in Oct. 2009. Expansion plans would make the plant the largest | in the U.S., doubling the number of reactors to four and marks the first nuclear plant license application in nearly 30 years.
In 2005, environmental groups mounted a fierce campaign against nuclear provisions included in the climate bill sponsored by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).
Then came an energy crisis, skyrocketing gas prices, a hard-fought presidential campaign, a recession and ballooning unemployment. Four years later, in an example of how quickly politics and minds can change in Washington, it seems the Senate now is ready to go nuclear when a climate bill hits Congress.
“Everyone who can count noses knows that nuclear is going to be in the bill somewhere,” said Frank O’Donnell, head of the environmental advocacy group Clean Air Watch.
Republicans have long pushed nuclear power as a significant part of their energy platform; the party’s energy plan released in July advocates bringing 100 new nuclear reactors on line |
Rey... with a lightsaber!
Disney released behind-the-scenes footage for "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" at D23 Expo | .
The new footage is seriously cool.
It teases everything from Benicio del Toro's mysterious role to footage of Mark Hamill with the late Carrie Fisher during filming.
It's not a trailer, but we'll take it! As Disney shows off footage for its upcoming live-action movies to fans at its bi-annual D23 Expo, the studio released a behind-the-scenes look at the next "Star Wars" movie.
"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" director Rian Johnson debuted the clip along with cast members Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley John Boyega, Gwendoline Christie, Kelly Marie Tran, Laura Dern, and Benicio Del Toro.
There's so much good stuff in here, from teases of del Toro's mysterious role to footage of Mark Hamill with the late Carrie Fisher during filming.
Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, and Lupita Nyong'o will reprise their |
I collect animal stories the way other people collect postage stamps, and one of my favourites is the one Jennifer told me about her father, Mr. | Russell, when he was in the Indian Police.
One such elephant had run amok in Bhopal and killed his keeper. He then ran into the jungles on the outskirts of a cluster of small villages, where he terrorized the villagers by stampeding every time one of then emerged. He would not allow them to work in the fields in the day, and at night he trampled and uprooted the young crops. Something had to be done, and the decision to shoot an animal that is a protected species was taken at the highest level.
So Commandant Russell was called in and ordered to take a squad of the Special Armed Force and go out and shoot the elephant.
''But he killed a man -- his keeper!'' the inspector general said.
The inspector general heaved a sigh of relief. Russell was one of their very best men. It would have been extremely awkward to charge him with something like indiscipline.
Russell and the armed squad left and everyone |
Retired NBA star Alonzo Mourning has flown to Haiti to assist relief workers in earthquake-ravaged Port-au-Prince, while | he and former Miami Heat teammate Dwyane Wade are trying to recruit other pro athletes in an effort to raise funds for the recovery.
Mourning arrived in the devastated capital Friday morning on a plane with Project Medishare, a Miami-based nonprofit agency that has worked since 1995 to provide quality health care in Haiti. In a statement first released to The Associated Press, Mourning said he is confident athletes can "make a difference" for those affected by the earthquake and its aftershocks.
He and Wade are calling their venture the "Athletes Relief Fund for Haiti."
"The Haitian community has deep roots in Miami, a city which I have personally claimed as my own home for 15 years," Mourning said. "As a longtime resident, I feel a profound sense of sadness for my many affected friends and neighbors. However, I am confident we can work together to make a difference."
Mourning could not immediately be reached in Haiti, where cell phone service remains problematic |
Embattled Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Leader Prophet Walter Magaya has alleged that he is a Trillionaire.
In a wide circulating Interview | , Magaya is asked how many cars he has. In response He says, "Just a few rign now I have got 3. I had four but I gave away the latest one that I had just last week to charity. It was not expensive it was just worth about US$ 65 000 and I gave it away."
When the interviewer interjected and said, "one would assume that you are a millionaire." Magaya responds, "I am a trillionaire actually."
However a scroll over the internet revealed that there is no trillionaire who is alive yet on earth with speculations that the Amazon Leader Jeff Bezos who is the richest man in the world might be the first person to reach a trillion as his Amazon entity is now a trillion worth.
Magaya is embroiled in a messy court case after being accused of unlawful distributing immune boosters which he tried to crush and flush when police were investigating him.
"Circumstances are that on 31 October 2018, the accused known |
An environmental group's report on the benefits of off-shore wind power made a couple of interesting findings. <br /><br /> One is | that even if only partially exploited, strong winds off the Atlantic Ocean could generate much of the electricity needed for the population centers of the East Coast. <br /><br /> Another was that the list of 11 states with the best potential for off-shore wind does not include Maine.
An environmental group’s report on the benefits of off-shore wind power made a couple of interesting findings.
One is that even if only partially exploited, strong winds off the Atlantic Ocean could generate much of the electricity needed for the population centers of the East Coast.
Another was that the list of 11 states with the best potential for off-shore wind does not include Maine.
This comes as some surprise, given the amount of attention and public investment Maine’s off-shore wind resources have received in recent years. But a look inside the report issued by the environmental group Oceana reveals why Maine isn’t there.
It’s not because the wind doesn� |
DALLAS — Stephen Curry served as the ringleader of a surprise celebration for Steve Kerr, who set an NBA record for most wins by a | rookie coach and emerged from the locker room all wet.
The Warriors, with a 123-110 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday, not only clinched home-court advantage throughout the playoffs but also made it their 63rd win to prompt a sneak attack on Kerr.
It was Curry who also presented Kerr the game ball after the Warriors improved to 63-13 and secured the tiebreaker on Atlanta, which trails them by six games with as many games left in the regular season.
“How lucky am I to coach these guys in my first year?” Kerr said.
The Warriors captured their 12th straight victory, continuing to rack up wins at a time when the team’s priority is its health. Kerr said he didn’t prefer facing one Western Conference playoff opponent over another.
Klay Thompson scored a game-high 21 points as the Warriors opened their final regular season trip by devouring a playoff appetizer in Dallas, which is expected to end |
President Obama's top counterterrorism advisor faced the Senate Intelligence Committee today.
President Obama's top counterterrorism advisor is facing the Senate Intelligence Committee today and you | can watch live below. As you should know by now, if you've been following our previous coverage of John Brennan's confirmation fight to become the next CIA director, the session is expected to focus his oversight of the U.S. government's unmanned drone program, and its operations to assassinate terrorists around the globe.
In particular, there will be many questions about the stories that have leaked this week involving administration legal opinions on the Constitutionality of killing American citizens overseas without a trial. As a former CIA officer and the President's closest advisor on the subject, he's become the most important figure involved in this controversial policy and many of the Senators, both Republicans and Democrats, are eager to question him about it. If his pre-hearing questionnaire is any indication, there will also be talk of leaks, government oversight, and the "militarization" of the agency.
Update: After Code Pink protestors disrupted the hearing, Brennan walked the line on torture.
You can allow follow |
(CNN) As many as 4,600 Medicaid recipients in Arkansas have lost their benefits for the rest of this year after failing to meet the state | 's new work requirements.
Arkansas became the first state ever to implement work requirements, after gaining approval from the Trump administration earlier this year. Under the new rules, which took effect in June, recipients must work, go to school, volunteer or search for jobs for at least 80 hours a month or be stripped of their coverage until the following year.
The affected beneficiaries, mainly non-disabled adults in their 30s and 40s who don't have dependent children, failed to report any work activity for three months. This prompted the state to drop them from the rolls. A final tally will be available next week.
State officials said they made many efforts to contact those subject to the new requirement, including sending letters and emails, making phone calls and videos, working with community organizations and setting up a call center to answer questions. Those who could not find employment were offered training. Recipients had to log their hours online, but could designate certain others -- such as their Medicaid insurer or |
Following aggressive stock buybacks by Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), billionaire investor Carl Icahn announced plans on Monday to drop his non- | binding proposal to persuade the iPhone maker to repurchase $50 billion of its own stock.
The decision to abandon the campaign comes after a pair of influential proxy firms urged investors to vote down Icahn’s proposal on February 28.
But it also comes just days after Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed the consumer electronics giant repurchased $14 billion of its shares following a post-earnings slump last month.
Taking into account the $14 billion of buybacks Cook announced, proxy firm Institutional Shareholder Services noted over the weekend Apple is now on track to repurchase at least $32 billion in 2014. That means Icahn’s proposal only asks the board to spend another $18 billion than it was already on pace for.
“In light of these actions, and ISS’s recommendation, we see no reason to persist with our non-binding proposal, especially when the company is already so close to fulfilling our requested repurchase target,” Icahn |
With his role on the popular tweener TV show �Hannah Montana� and appearance on �Dancing With the Stars,� some may have | forgotten that Billy Ray Cyrus started out as a country singer.
Cyrus reminded people where he came from when �Ready, Set, Don�t Go,� his duet with daughter Miley Cyrus (the Hannah of �Hannah Montana� fame) put the 46-year-old crooner back onto the upper steps of the record charts for the first time in a decade. The hit came off the album �Home at Last,� a record that reinvigorated the musical interest in the man who two-stepped his way onto the scene with �Achy Breaky Heart� in 1992.
Watch for Cyrus to be the host of the NBC-TV show �Nashville Star� and to share hosting duties of the CMT Awards on April 14 with Miley.
Before all that, though, Cyrus will be performing at 8 p.m. tomorrow at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts in Worcester. Tickets are $50, $45 and |
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian woman jailed for spying in Iran, is back in prison after the judiciary | rejected a request to extend her three-day temporary release.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe was released on Thursday after more than two years in jail, in a move that took her and her family by surprise. She returned to Tehran’s Evin prison on Sunday evening local time to continue serving her five-year term.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe reacted with incredulity, insisting she was innocent, according to her husband, who remains in the UK. She was described as shivering, shaking and crying when the deputy prosecutor told her earlier in the day that she had to be separated from her daughter again.
“This feels a dark world. I used to pray, but these past two years I’ve lost much of my faith. Who would take a child from their mother?” she said on the phone to her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, before going back to prison.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe was told earlier in the day that |
Police are seeking a Denver Justice High School student who brought a loaded weapon to school on Monday and then fled after administrators confronted him.
After a | routine inspection found bullets in the student’s locker, administrators brought the student to the office and discovered the handgun in his backpack, Jones said. The boy quickly left the building, before police and DPS security personnel arrived on scene.
After administrators found bullets in the boy’s locker, during a routine check, they brought the student to the office and that’s when they discovered the gun in his backpack, said Will Jones, a Denver Public Schools spokesman. The boy quickly left the building, before police and DPS security personnel arrived on scene.
The student quickly left the building at 300 9th Ave., leaving the backpack and gun behind, Jones said.
“So as a precaution they put the school on lockout while police and our department of safety went to find this young man,”he said.
The lockout, which requires doors to be locked so no one can enter, began at 1:55 p.m. and it ended at about 3 p |
Chemical in for city banking; who's out?
The move of Midland-based Chemical Bank's headquarters to Detroit — and the news | that the city government would move bank accounts to Chemical — brought up some memories last week of another headquarters move.
In one of the biggest corporate recruitment victories for the city in recent memory, Chemical Bank (NASDAQ: CHFC), currently based in Midland, plans to move more than 500 executives and other employees into a new high-rise at Woodward Avenue and Elizabeth Street in downtown Detroit. The building would be next to the Ilitch family's new Little Caesars Global Resource Center.
Flash back to 2007: Comerica Inc. stunned its hometown when the bank announced it would move its headquarters to Dallas.
In response, then-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick decided it would be a good time to start shopping around for a better banking deal, according to his memoir. The city wound up moving about $90 million in accounts from Comerica to Detroit-based First Independence Bank.
However, the city still kept a substantial share of its accounts at Comerica.
|
Airbus chief executive Tom Enders ratcheted up his criticism of the UK government over its handling of Brexit talks as Prime Minister Theresa May prepares | to hold a key meeting of ministers aimed at thrashing out a common position on the issue.
May’s administration has “no clue or consensus on how to execute Brexit without severe harm,” Enders said at a briefing in London on Friday. The confusion has wasted months of negotiating time and created “a discomforting situation” for the planemaker, he added.
The broadside comes after Airbus last month delivered the starkest warning yet from a major company about the perils of Britain leaving the European Union’s single market and customs union without a transition deal. The group warned of “severe disruption” to UK production that would force it reconsider its investments and long-term presence in the country.
Enders said in his latest comments that the UK should at least stay in the customs union and various regulatory bodies and agree to abide by European Court of Justice decisions.
Enders said a particular worry is that if the UK is no longer |
The 6th annual Women In Film and Television Film Festival kicked off in Vancouver at the Vancity Theatre on March 4th. The Reel | Women series showcased the diversity of the female perspective with nine unique short films.
The first, Mere Terre, Taire, a film with French roots by multi-disciplinary artist Collette Balcaen, explores the complicated relationship between Mother Nature and humanity’s perpetual growth. The story is told from the perspective of Collette and her mother, who have both seen the incredible changes to the family farmstead over generations of lost traditions.
Adapted from a popular Portuguese novel, Oriana is a wonderful animated tale from director Kara Miranda Lawrence. Oriana is a beautiful fairy who has been entrusted to tend to the forests of Azorean. When she is tricked into becoming transfixed by her reflection, the forest withers and suffers from her neglect. This is a simple tale that pinpoints society’s insatiable self-obsession and the subsequent destruction of the planet. The film won Best Animated Film at this year's festival award ceremony.
One of the longer |
Kelowna's Rotary Centre for the Arts is withdrawing a job offer to former Art Gallery of Calgary CEO Valerie Cooper after learning she is | being sued for allegedly misappropriating nearly $500,000.
According to a civil claim filed in Alberta Court of Queen's Bench, the Calgary gallery put Cooper on paid administrative leave on March 13 after its board was notified Calgary police were investigating Cooper for the misappropriation of gallery funds.
Cooper then applied for the position of general manager at Kelowna's Rotary Centre for the Arts, after the centre's former executive director Tracie Ward died of cancer in April.
$185,129 - Reimbursed to Cooper's expense account after allegedly falsely invoicing the board for art or services from other galleries. Those galleries say the art was personally purchased by Cooper, and any invoiced services were never rendered.
$124,000 - Personal loan allegedly made from Cooper to Art Gallery of Calgary. Loaned money was not received by the gallery, but repaid to Cooper.
$89,250 - Board falsely invoiced for an exhibition development, paid |
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Joey Gallo homered and grounded a tiebreaking single to the vacant spot at shortstop against the shift | , helping the Texas Rangers beat the Angels 12-7 on Monday night in Mike Trout's return after the Los Angeles star missed three games with a groin injury.
Gallo stopped an 0-for-16 slump by lining his fifth homer into the porch in right field. The left-handed slugger, who has faced four infielders on the right side and four outfielders among various alignments, hit a sharp grounder to left to spark a four-run fifth that broke a 4-all tie. Gallo's third hit was a double in the eighth.
Cam Bedrosian (1-1) allowed five of the seven hitters he faced to reach, starting with Elvis Andrus' leadoff double in the fifth. Two runs scored on Isiah Kiner-Falefa's RBI single when right fielder Kole Calhoun's throw home skipped past Kevan Smith, allowing Gallo to score.
Some LA sloppiness that didn't result in an error helped |
What is the Future of Sequencing a Patient's Genome for Precision Medical Care?
What is the Future of Sequencing a Patient’ | s Genome for Precision Medical Care?
Back in 2003, Nobel Prize laureate James D. Watson announced that a six-country consortium has successfully drawn up a complete map of the human genome, completing one of the most ambitious scientific projects ever and offering a major opportunity for medical advances.
Genome sequencing will help us create narrower subcategories of disease.
Please note that I do not use the word “individualized” to describe this process, as I think its use essentially creates a misconception. I’ll explain by taking you through a simplified look at the progression of medicine through the lens of cancer.
Many years ago: We first encounter cancer; we have no idea what on earth it is. We may see growths or maybe even cut into a few, but it is an astonishingly foreign disease entity because we don’t understand the science behind it—all we know is that this “tumor” is often incompatible with life, and |
The Ventura County Community Development Corp. has created an assistance program for people affected by the Thomas Fire and/or Montecito mudslides. |
The Ventura County Community Development Corp. has created an assistance program for residents of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties affected by the Thomas Fire and/or Montecito mudslides.
The nonprofit community economic development organization said the funds come from an $800,000 commitment made by Wells Fargo to assist with economic recovery for those affected by the related disasters.
How can California wildfire warnings, evacuations be improved?
The initial $300,000 in grant funds was awarded to five local nonprofits, including VCCDC, Women’s Economic Ventures, the Ventura County Community Foundation, the Red Cross and FOOD Share. The remaining $500,000 will be distributed to nonprofits in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties over the course of the year as plans and programs are developed to address current and emerging community needs.
VCCDC plans to use the funds it was awarded to provide individual grants of up to $1,000 for households affected by the disasters. Applicants must be residents of Ventura |
Just a few weeks back, Valve moved into Discord’s turf a bit with a dramatic overhaul of Steam’s chat system.
| Today, Discord is returning the favor by playing with the idea of selling games through its namesake chat platform.
The company says it’ll launch a beta of the game store later today, though it’ll initially be limited to a small slice of its user base (which now sits at 150 million users). More specifically, the beta will roll out to just 50,000 users from Canada at first.
It’ll be dabbling in game sales on two fronts: they’ll directly sell some games, while other games will be added perks for its Discord Nitro subscription service.
Whereas Valve has massively increased the number of games on Steam over the last few years by opening up to third parties through things like Steam Greenlight or (more recently) Steam Direct, Discord is pitching this as a more “curated” offering with a slimmer number of options. At least at first, they say they’re aiming for something that feels more like � |
At Pa. School, Teens Build Empathy By Confiding In A Crowd Kids can act out when they're feeling isolated, so one Philadelphia | school encourages students to take the mic and reveal their deepest fears in front of their peers. The result? Honesty and kindness.
Lavita, Sierra and Tyshierra are Freire Charter School students who stood up and told stories that made them vulnerable in front of their classmates. Lavita says now she feels "like anything is possible."
Imagine this: a high school assembly where students share their deepest, most painful secrets — and instead of judgment from their peers, they get applause.
That's the approach Philadelphia's Freire Charter School has taken in its effort to prevent the next violent outburst or the next tragedy on campus. Instead of turning to guards or metal detectors, the school is making empathy part of its curriculum.
For the students, it starts with a simple prompt: If you really knew me, this is what you'd know. At a recent assembly, about two dozen Freire students stood before 500 peers and revealed their greatest fears, frustrations and insecurities |
In ''Rostenkowski Plan: A G.O.P. Triumph'' (Op-Ed, March 15), Paul Craig Roberts again | rejects sound economic science with his denial that budget deficits affect interest rates -specifically, in denying that balancing the United States budget would reduce interest rates.
In rebuttal to this virtually self-evident thesis, he asks: ''Why do West Germany, with its trade surplus, and Britain, with its budget surplus,'' have higher interest rates than the United States?
The simple answer is that interest-rate determinants are complex. Real inflation in Britain and feared inflation in inflation-phobic West Germany explain their higher interest rates. Since each national economy carries its own economic configurations, the scientific question is this: What happens, other factors assumed equal, to Britain's, or Germany's or America's, interest rates when budget deficits rise?
Economic logic decrees that, in strict accordance with the law of supply and demand, interest rates rise when budget deficits rise. This virtually axiomatic truth can be demonstrated by linear regression analyses of United States interest rates. Such analyses show definite correlations |
Marble tile on cement board is a very strong installation.
Cement board is a relatively new technology that combines fiberglass mesh with cement to | create panels that can be cut and installed like drywall or plywood, but it is impervious to water. Laying marble tiles on cement board creates a very strong and waterproof installation if done correctly.
Establish a starting point for the marble. If the surface you are tiling from (floor, tub, counter) is not level, draw a line using the level approximately one and a half tiles above the surface. If you get lucky and the bottom surface is level, just use tile spacers to hold the marble one joint width off the bottom.
Mix thin-set in a bucket according to package directions. Allow it to sit for a few minutes and then remix. This allows the product to “slake,” meaning it absorbs some of the water and stiffens up. This will make it easier to spread.
Begin spreading the thin-set from the bottom up. Spread only enough for a couple of rows of tile. First, use the back, flat |
The word democracy has its origin in two Greek words which together mean ‘people power’ (demos = people; kratos = | power). Democracy is the most common form of government today and is promoted as the most desirable. Perhaps owing to its popularity, democracy had been defined in many ways at different places and times. It has become necessary to make a distinction between governments only formed on the basis of democracy and governments which operate as democracies.
In the first instance, the principles of democracy are applied only to the formation of a government in that an electorate is empowered to choose from among itself suitable persons to form a government. Proportional and geographic representation, gender and age balance and the right to vote are all important considerations for democratically formed governments. In the latter case, the principles of democracy are applied to the operations of government, and the electorate plays a real role in the political affairs of the nation. This is referred to as functional democracy.
Political scientists do not only agree that there are no good examples of functional democracy, but also that the concept is not utopian; several countries have realised notable levels functional democracy. One |
Towns has thrown himself into acclimating himself to the area with same enthusiasm he has to making the transition to the NBA, sampling local restaurants | and hitting the Mall of America with friends just as most 20-year-olds do.
The former University of Kentucky star is averaging 15.7 points and 9.4 rebounds as the Timberwolves near the halfway point of the season, solidifying himself as a favorite for the league’s rookie of the year award. And he’s already leaving quite an impression on those in the league.
“He’s a future Hall of Famer,” Oklahoma City star Kevin Durant said.
Towns has also been active in the community, organizing a shoe drive to provide footwear for those in need, participating in a pair of shopping sprees for children before Christmas and this month he launched a “My Brother’s Keeper” campaign with the NBA and the White House to promote the importance of mentoring.
Towns has been active in charitable endeavors for years because it was encouraged by his parents at home. There was never a lot of money to |
St. Anthony Summit Medical Center in Frisco recently named its annual Nurse of the Year award recipients. They are (from left to right): Kathy | Black, Trixie VanderSchaaff, Jackie Macy and (not pictured) Stephanie Seabrook.
As part of National Nurses Week and Florence Nightingale’s birthday, St. Anthony Summit Medical Center in Frisco honors their nurses for their commitment to delivering high-level care to the community.
This year, based on the criteria of stewardship, excellence, imagination and compassion, four nurses were selected as the Nurses of the Year: Kathy Black, Trixie VanderSchaaff, Jackie Macy and Stephanie Seabrook.
Kathy Black was chosen because of her stewardship. The long-standing registered nurse works in the operating room of the hospital. She is known for cultivating a spirit of excellence among her coworkers by being the first to accept additional assignments. According to hospital personnel, her commitment to mentoring new employees and improving the health-care team at the hospital is unquestioned.
Trixie VanderShcaaff was |
TUPPER LAKE — Starting today, the state Department of Transportation will undertake replacing a culvert under state Route 30 between Long Lake and Tu | pper Lake, and plans to reroute traffic onto a side road while the work shuts down the main artery for the next month.
But some wildlife advocates say the plan has not faced any public scrutiny and puts wildlife and tourism-related businesses at risk. The Northern New York Audubon Society says such a move puts rare birds and wildlife in danger from increased traffic. Other people, especially residents of the small hamlet of Long Lake, say the detour will be a danger and a hassle as they commute to and from work and errands.
Construction will start today and is expected to end before Memorial Day weekend. According to DOT spokesperson Jim Piccola, the contractor, Slate Hill Constructors of Warners, will work 12-hour days, seven days a week to end the project as soon as possible.
DOT plans to replace a 42-inch culvert, and traffic will be routed onto Sabattis Circle Road, which leads to Little Tupper Lake and the William |
Former Congressman Mark Foley says he has not made a final decision about running for mayor of West Palm Beach but don’t buy it. Foley | is acting like a candidate and he says he will wait until the last day of qualifying on Dec. 27 to decide. It would be a major comeback for Foley, who was thought to be a respected conservative, family-values member of Congress in 2006 when scandal erupted around him. Foley, who had been rumored to be gay, was caught sending explicit text messages to an underage male Congressional page. He was forced to resign and then was targeted in investigations conducted by the FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement over his conduct. No charges were brought.
Palm Beach Gardens police officer Withfield Merrick, 35, was charged with sexual battery for alleged inappropriate touching of a woman during a search for drugs. According to the arrest affidavit, Merrick arrested the woman on an outstanding warrant and, while transporting her to jail, he asked her if she had any weapons or drugs. When woman stated she had Xanax pills and marijuana, he pulled into a dark area and began to conduct a body cavity |
If you're old enough, the pictures of Soviet ICBM missiles presented to the United Nations during the Cuban missile crisis left an indelible mark | in your cortex.
US Ambassador to the United Nations, Adlai Stevenson, placed a series of photos on an easel to answer Soviet charges that the US had no proof that the Soviets had placed missiles in the island state and that the Soviets were just helping Cuba develop.
Stevenson told the Soviets that, "we do have the evidence. We have it, and it is clear and it is incontrovertible." And it was. The first pictures were of an area north of the village of Candelaria, southwest of Havana. The first photograph was taken in late August 1962 and it simply showed undeveloped countryside. The next picture showed a few tents and vehicles and several new roads. The next picture, taken 24 hours later, revealed tents for up to 500 men and seven ICBM missile trailers. But the jackpot wasn't hit until mid-October when a U-2 aircraft photographed the area of San Cristobal.
"In only six minutes, US |
The Portland Generating Station in Upper Mount Bethel Township, a coal-fired plant whose decades-old infrastructure and heavy pollution made it a target | of environmentalists, will shut down in 2015.
In a statement released Wednesday, Houston power company GenOn Energy announced plans to close the plant and seven others between 2012 and 2015, saying new federal environmental laws will make them unprofitable.
The other affected plants are in Berks County, western Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Jersey. The Upper Mount Bethel facility will close in January 2015.
"It's not something that we'd like to do. We're not in the business to shut down power plants," said Steve Davies, a vice president at GenOn who oversees the Portland plant. "But you do what you have to do."
GenOn operates more than 40 power plants in 11 states. The closings will slash 13 percent of the company's generating power.
In Upper Mount Bethel, the power plant lauded for providing 70 jobs became better known in recent years for chart-topping emissions of sulfur dioxide and other airborne toxins, which have been linked to increased asthma rates in |
Shawn Grate wants everyone to know that he has killed five women.
But it sounds like he is not quite sure there weren’ | t more.
“Let me see,” he replies, looking at a list she presses against the glass of the visitor’s room at the Ashland County jail.
That’s what he said in a letter to another reporter, apologizing, not for the murders but his sloppy handwriting, which he blames on having only a golf pencil to write with, in accordance with jail rules.
Shawn Grate, as is apparent, is not a normal person.
Though formally accused of two murders — for the moment, of Elizabeth Griffith and Stacey Stanley — he has confessed to five slayings. He is not a normal defendant, either. He has confessed but has pleaded not guilty and he has suggested he did so at the insistence of his lawyers.
And rather than keeping quiet, as lawyers insist that defendants do, he has been confessing to all who ask.
“I admitted it,” he told the interviewer for WOIO Cleveland |
Slate’s Culture Gabfest on HBO’s Getting On, the hoaxy saga of Elan Gale and Diane in 7A | , and the 100th anniversary of the crossword puzzle with guest Will Shortz.
Slate’s Culture Gabfest on HBO’s Getting On, the saga of “Diane in 7A,” and the crossword puzzles with Will Shortz.
Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 272 with Stephen Metcalf, John Swansburg, and Julia Turner with the audio player below.
The sponsors of this week’s show are Stamps.com and Audible. Go to Stamps.com and use the promo code “CULTUREFEST” for your no-risk free trial and bonus offer. Get a free audiobook from Audible’s collection of more than 100,000 titles and a subscription to a daily audio digest when you sign up for a 30-day free trial at www.audiblepodcast.com/culturefest.
On this week’s episode, the critics discuss Getting On |
We've heard from multiple sources today that LucasArts has laid off approximately 50-100 of its employees, including a handful of higher profile names | like VP of Product Development Peter Hirschmann. The move comes just a few days after the publisher and developer released LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures on multiple platforms and four months after the departure of LucasArts president Jim Ward.
When Ward resigned, the company cited "personal reasons," but an alleged and anonymous LucasArts employee later suggested in a post on Gamasutra that Ward may have been pressured to leave, pointing to differing philosophies within the company.
That anonymous poster wrote "There are some that believe that more money can be made by licensing the SW and Indiana Jones IP to third party developers than through in-house development," hinting that the change in leadership "could spell trouble for the LucasArts division."
Ward was replaced by interim president Howard Roffman until former EA COO Darrell Rodriguez was named president in April. Whether the rumored layoffs are part of a plan to reorganize LucasArts development is unknown.
We've contacted LucasArts for clarification |
July 4th falls on a Friday this year, and you know what that means... We get an entire three-day weekend jam packed with entertainment | options, woo hoo! We suggest you stay local on Friday for Philly's Party on the Parkway and 4th of July Jam and Fireworks Finale. For the road warriors itching to get out of dodge, here's an option for your Saturday.
Head down to Maryland for a free “Salute to Independence” Concert at the Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg (near Hagerstown). Every year on the first Saturday in July, the Maryland Symphony Orchestra (MSO) puts on one heck of a patriotic show at the battlefield, culminating in one of the largest, most spectacular fireworks displays in the state.
Count on hearing heart-swelling favorites like the National Anthem, Armed Forces Salute, Stars and Stripes Forever, Fanfare for the Common Man, American Salute, the 1812 Overture and more.
For more information, visit the Maryland Symphony Orchestra website.
Antietam National Battlefield is one of America’s National Parks |
It was a rare moment in Congress this week when a purely political maneuver to halt the wind farm off Cape Cod was stopped.
This was a | bipartisan power play involving Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and Republican Governor Mitt Romney. The plan, included in a Coast Guard appropriation bill and never discussed in public - as befits such back-door dealing - would have given the governor veto power over a wind farm. And Romney would have used it.
But powerful senators from the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee were joined last month by the Bush administration in opposing the move, on grounds it would likely stall future alternative energy projects. They were right, and this week a compromise emerged, giving the Coast Guard the final word on offshore wind turbines and their effect on navigation.
The Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound, which envisions 130 wind turbines, is the most controversial wind farm under consideration, in large part because of the firepower of the opposition. However, for five years, the proposal has passed each governmental review it’s been subjected to.
Read the rest of today's Patriot Ledger Editorial here, and comment below |
MARTINSBURG — A Martinsburg man arrested by police Thursday morning on outstanding drug distribution warrants allegedly confessed to a shooting on South | Raleigh Street over the weekend, according to a press release from the Martinsburg Police Department.
Alvin Gilbert, 27, will be arraigned today on the felony charge of first-degree murder, police said. Gilbert was booked at the Eastern Regional Jail at 2:52 a.m. today to await arraignment, according to jail records.
The MPD and the Martinsburg Fire Department responded at approximately 4:03 p.m. Sunday to 405 S. Raleigh Street for a call of a male shot in the chest.
Corey Barkhamer, 26, was located inside the home with multiple gunshot wounds, police said. Officers and medics rendered aid and Barkhamer was transported to Berkeley Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries.
MPD detectives conducted an investigation and determined involvement in the murder by Gilbert, the press release said. During the investigation, it was determined that Barkhamer is a resident of 405 S. Raleigh St., and he |
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