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Gatorade settles over 'misleading' Usain Bolt water game Published duration 25 September 2017
image copyright Getty Images
Sports drink Gatorade has agreed to pay $300,000 (£220,000) to the state of California over an app called Bolt! which featured a character based on Olympic medallist Usain Bolt.
In the game Bolt had to drink Gatorade to enhance his performance while water slowed him down.
Attorney General Xavier Becerra said the game made "misleading statements" about water.
The app was released in 2012 and is no longer available to download.
It was only available on Apple's operating system and was downloaded 2.3 million times from 2012 to 2013.
It was briefly made available again in 2017.
Players were told to "keep your performance high by avoiding water" in a tutorial that accompanied the game, the Attorney General's office said.
In a statement Gatorade's parent company PepsiCo said the game was designed to "highlight the unique role and benefits of sports drinks in supporting athletic performance".
"We recognise the role water plays in overall health and wellness," it said, adding that it also markets bottled water brands.
Youth audience
Bolt! had an audience of mainly young people aged 13 to 24, the state added.
"Making misleading statements is a violation of California law. But making misleading statements aimed at our children is beyond unlawful, it's morally wrong and a betrayal of trust.
"It's what causes consumers to lose faith in the products they buy," said Mr Becerra.
Almost half the settlement ($120,000) will be used to fund research and education into water consumption and nutrition in young people.
PepsiCo said in a 2014 statement that it does not advertise in spaces where children aged under 12 make up more than 35% of the audience.
Analyst Jack Kent, from IHS Markit, told the BBC the app store market had moved away from "branded entertainment" and games connected to a particular ad campaign.
"Mobile is a primary channel for reaching a youth audience, and the rise of branded apps highlighted that, but now there is more focus on reaching users through existing mobile social, entertainment and media platforms rather than just through dedicated apps," he said. | {
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As reasonably anticipated yet still worth reporting, production on Season 8 of CBS’ The Big Bang Theory has been officially postponed, as the five leads wait to hammer out new contracts.
RELATED Fall Preview 2014: Your Handy Calendar of 99 Premieres
“Due to ongoing contract negotiations, production on The Big Bang Theory — which was originally scheduled to begin [Wednesday, July 30] — has been postponed,” reads a statement from Warner Bros. TV, which produces TV’s most watched, highest rated comedy.
Production has been pushed back one day for now, with the situation to be reassessed on a day-to-day basis.
RELATED Big Bang Theory Star to Host TV’s New Candid Camera
Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting reportedly are aiming to increase their per-episode salary from north of $300,000 (plus a quarter-of-a-point on the back end) to possibly a cool million, while Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar (currently fetching $125 and $75K per episode, respectively) also are seeking sizable raises.
Later-season additions Melissa Rauch and Mayim Bialik are on different contract cycles, and thus do have deals for the coming season.
Back in March, CBS renewed Big Bang for three more seasons — through May 2017 — contingent on the cast’s contracts staying current.
RELATED Regina King Books Big Bang Theory Encore
Earlier this month at the Television Critics Assoc. summer press tour, CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler said that she is “very confident” new deals will be struck in time to deliver the hour-long Sept. 22 premiere, which means negotiations theoretically could extend as late as Labor Day weekend. | {
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Two books from the Book of Lost Tales Series. Super stoked to read these I've been needing something new to bury my nose in!!! Thank you!!!! | {
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"There's no reason to manipulate your baby boy's body like that," Meghan King Edmonds said Monday on the debut episode of her Intimate Knowledge podcast
Meghan King Edmonds Says Sons' Circumcision Was 'Hard' for Her, Wonders If It Makes Men 'Aggressive'
If Meghan King Edmonds could go back to the day of her sons’ birth last summer, it’s possible she would’ve made a different decision as far as their anatomy is concerned.
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“I have two sons and I did it. My partner was a professional baseball player. He was like, ‘Well in the locker room, I don’t want him to get him made fun of.’ I was like, ‘Okay, well, you’re the dad. You do have 50 percent choice in this,’ ” said King Edmonds, 35.
But the reality star and mother of three also admitted it was “really hard for” her to have that be the decision, adding that she “was really upset by it.”
“I’m like, ‘We live in — 2018, at the time. We know how to clean ourselves, we have showers and hygiene. Why would I do this to my child? He’s a little baby,’ ” she said.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Image zoom Meghan King Edmonds/Instagram
“Also, there’s no kind of numbing except topically,” King Edmonds noted. “What type of long-term [psychological] effects does this possibly have on our kids growing up through the years? And then — I’m gonna get real deep, but is this why maybe men are more aggressive? I don’t know.”
Ahead of her sharing her story, Burke and King Edmonds’ co-host Lila Darville, a sex and intimacy coach, said she read that the rate of circumcision was going down in Canada.
“It’s actually going down in America, too,” offered Burke, 48.
“It should be,” said King Edmonds. “There’s no reason to manipulate your baby boy’s body like that. I don’t like it. It makes me sad.”
Image zoom Meghan King Edmonds and her kids Meghan King Edmonds/ Instagram
RELATED VIDEO: Meghan King Edmonds Reveals the Names of Her Newborn Twin Sons
King Edmonds recently responded to comments about her body, saying she’s working on regaining weight but asking for “grace” as she gets her life back together after the events of the last several months.
“For the record, I am naturally thin and I’ve always had a healthy relationship with food. But right now, I am too skinny,” she wrote in a blog post. “I don’t like it. I won’t weigh myself because I’m scared to see what the scale says. When my clothes don’t fit I pretend like they do anyway. But I’m not hungry. I know I should eat but I’m surviving on adrenaline but decaying on stress.” | {
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Review of the Nexus 5 display
Summary
Brightness, contrast and color reproduction of a Nexus 5 display were tested using a colorimeter:
Good brightness and good contrast allow for comfortable outdoor use.
Blacks should be blacker, but it is tolerable.
For nocturnal usage, the minimum brightness should be lower.
It is remarkably evenly lit.
Tints exist but are barely noticeable, most other displays are inferior in this regard.
Of the typical colors one comes across (for example when browsing) a very high percentage can be displayed.
Viewing angles were not measured. Subjectively, colors progressively become less saturated (washed out) at steeper angles. Blacks become brighter. The effect is easily noticeable but usually not strong enough to be distracting.
Setup for testing the Nexus 5 display
Equipment used
The screen of the Nexus 5
Size: 4.95"
Resolution: 1920×1080 (“Full HD”)
Pixel density: 445 ppi (pixels per inch)
Panel type: IPS
Glass: Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Manufacturer: unknown
Brightness and contrast
// Nexus 5, maximum brightness White level = 481.74 cd/m² Black level = 0.52 cd/m² Contrast ratio = 921:1 // Nexus 5, minimum brightness White level = 12.87 cd/m² Black level = 0.01 cd/m² Contrast ratio = 926:1
For comparison, here are the results for the iPhone 5s as measured by Notebookcheck:
// iPhone 5s, maximum brightness White level: 579 cd/m² Black level: 0.8 cd/m² Contrast ratio: 724:1
Brightness distribution
To measure the brightness distribution, I mentally divided the screen into nine equally sized areas and placed the colorimeter on each. As 4.95″ are only huge when holding a phone – not when placing a colorimeter upon it – I certainly did not hit each measuring point with perfect precision.
// Nexus 5, maximum brightness ––––– top ––––– | 461 461 464 | | | | 475 482 473 | | | | 461 462 466 | [cd/m²] –––– bottom ––– Maximum: 482 cd/m² Minimum: 461 cd/m² Average: 467 cd/m² Distribution: 96% // Nexus 5, minimum brightness ––––– top ––––– | 12 12 12 | | | | 13 13 13 | | | | 12 12 12 | [cd/m²] –––– bottom ––– Average: 12 cd/m² Maximum: 13 cd/m² Minimum: 12 cd/m² Distribution: 92%
The results for the iPhone 5s, again as measured by Notebookcheck:
// iPhone 5s, maximum brightness ––––– top ––––– | 525 556 536 | | | | 523 579 511 | | | | 534 568 514 | [cd/m²] –––– bottom ––– Maximum: 579 cd/m² Minimum: 511 cd/m² Average: 538 cd/m² Distribution: 88%
The brightness distribution is the smallest measurement divided by the largest in percent. This seems to be the common way to calculate it.
(Alternatively, I could have used a screen-sharing application and dispcalGUI’s option to measure display device uniformity which divides the screen automatically. Would that have been more precise? Even if I had been able to precisely place the colorimeter on each, I doubt the results would significantly differ.)
Colors
A slight blue tint was observed at maximum brightness (correlated color temperature: 7021K).
A slight green tint was observed at minimum brightness (correlated color temperature: 6844K).
Color correction
As far as I know, it is currently not possible to set a global color profile on Android.
Using Screen Adjuster, only small adjustments were needed to balance red, green and blue.
// Remove blue tint at // maximum brightness Red +13 Green +3 Blue +0 // Remove green tint at // minimum brightness Red +11 Green +0 Blue +5
While this is certainly no perfect solution, it succeeds to hide the blue or green tints.
Color profile
Calibration and profilation were done using the default settings of dispcalGUI’s Office & Web profile except I activated white and black level drift compensation.
// Nexus 5, maximum brightness Gamut coverage: 96.4% sRGB, 66.6% Adobe RGB Gamut volume: 96.7% sRGB, 66.6% Adobe RGB // Nexus 5, minimum brightness Gamut coverage: 96.6% sRGB, 67.0% Adobe RGB Gamut volume: 97.5% sRGB, 67.2% Adobe RGB
Maximum brightness gamut
Minimum brightness gamut
Maximum brightness tone response curves
Minimum brightness tone response curves
Maximum brightness calibration curves
Minimum brightness calibration curves
Precautions taken during measurements
The screen had been cleaned with a microfiber cloth before each measurement.
The screen had been turned on (warmed up) for at least 10 minutes at maximum brightness before taking any measurements. The measurements with maximum brightness were done first, then the brightness was reduced to the minimum and the remaining measurements taken.
Screen dimming had been set to 30 minutes (the maximum) and I made sure that it did not dim during any measurement.
Auto-brightness had obviously been disabled.
Screen standby had been disabled via Android’s developer options.
The Nexus 5 was plugged in during all measurements.
No screen filters were running during measurements.
Things to remember
Displays of a phone model can vary substantially.
Displays of a phone model might not even be the same display model.
I am not an expert in display technology, color calibration or anything closely related.
Calibration software output
For the technically inclined, here is the output of dispcalGUI.
Report on uncalibrated display device, run at maximum brightness:
// Nexus 5 Black level = 0.52 cd/m^2 50% level = 114.51 cd/m^2 White level = 481.74 cd/m^2 Aprox. gamma = 2.07 Contrast ratio = 921:1 White chromaticity coordinates 0.3043, 0.3247 White Correlated Color Temperature = 7021K, DE 2K to locus = 7.1 White Correlated Daylight Temperature = 7018K, DE 2K to locus = 3.2 White Visual Color Temperature = 6703K, DE 2K to locus = 6.8 White Visual Daylight Temperature = 6885K, DE 2K to locus = 3.0 Effective LUT entry depth seems to be 8 bits Black drift was 0.002789 DE White drift was 0.104574 DE
Report on uncalibrated display device, run at minimum brightness:
// Nexus 5 Black level = 0.01 cd/m^2 50% level = 3.25 cd/m^2 White level = 12.87 cd/m^2 Aprox. gamma = 1.99 Contrast ratio = 926:1 White chromaticity coordinates 0.3062, 0.3309 White Correlated Color Temperature = 6844K, DE 2K to locus = 9.4 White Correlated Daylight Temperature = 6840K, DE 2K to locus = 6.0 White Visual Color Temperature = 6449K, DE 2K to locus = 9.1 White Visual Daylight Temperature = 6605K, DE 2K to locus = 5.7 Effective LUT entry depth seems to be 8 bits Black drift was 0.033283 DE White drift was 0.616007 DE
Feedback
Did I mess anything up? Did you find any errors? Feedback?
Please send me an email. | {
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June 18, 2012, in Fuzhou City in China: A motorist hit two pedestrians and returns it to flee. | {
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Hi! With the elections coming up this November in Washington, you can’t help but see all the attacks on television(you would think we have enough infomercials already) . Both sides accusing the other of outsourcing jobs, letting the rich folks pay little to no tax at all while the rest of us cry every time we get our weekly checks and more importantly live from hand to mouth – as they say! In my view, we are headed in the wrong direction.
In light of the political upheaval, I find the fact that corporations and rich individuals can pump their millions into the campaigns just sickening. I mean, come on people, why on earth does a video game company have to spend millions of dollars helping Romney? Isn’t this corruption at best? The simplest thing you can say is, look, I will donate millions to you right now and when you get elected, you must do something good to me…kickback time baby.
Here is my point friends: In Lagos(Nigeria), or Nairobi(Kenya) for instance, whenever government officials participate in somewhat fishy activities, like taking advantage of a situation and making tons of money in return, they call that corruption (and the culprits hardly get to pay for their evil acts). On the other side of the world, for example in England or Washington, when big name companies spend millions of dollars in return for favoritism in the legislation, they say, well, lobbying is allowed. It is not satanic at all. Tell me where you stand here.
I understand that there is good lobbying and then of course there is the bad and rampant type. The problem is that it seems to me that everything politicians do today is go to Washington, run from one building to another looking for lobbying firms and once they secure jobs as lobbyist, the deal is done. That is it. What went wrong with being honest with the citizens? People pay taxes, from which the elected officials get paid hefty salaries and other non-expiring privileges. All they get is a slap in the face. Wasteful spending of the hard-earned cash. Lies.
Finally, as much as we might wish to draw a thick line between the C (corruption) word and the L (Lobbying – negative version) word, it might be reasonable to point out the fact that our leaders have and will always betray us by all means. They get bought by big oil companies, video game makers and of course Wall Street….what are we left with in the end? A corrupt system of corrupt leaders who have NOTHING to do with us. We end up paying heavily for their mistakes, we also pay for their healthcare costs for life, and so many other things we might never know! So unfortunate!
Please, if you understand the problems we are facing as a human race, regardless of your location, help stop this nonsense(unless your country is in perfect condition – call me). Do not elect politicians who are not interested in helping the nation. Vote wisely when time comes. Exercise your right, that is all I can say for now. Meanwhile, take care and see you soon!! Got comments? Let me know by leaving them below this post. | {
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If you don't check the subreddit it's from you're gonna have a bad time
172 shares | {
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} |
Federal authorities arrested a woman in a case involving two people suspected of producing child pornography in the San Fernando Valley more than 11 years ago, authorities announced Friday.
Letha Mae Montemayor, 52, was arrested outside her apartment complex in North Hills about 7:30 p.m. Thursday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and Los Angeles Police Department officers, according to a statement.
Montemayor was arrested fewer than 10 hours after authorities released photographs of a man and woman believed to be connected to the production of a widely circulated series of child pornography images. More than 14 photos depict a man and woman sexually assaulting a girl who appears to be about 13 years old, according to an affidavit.
About 2 p.m. Thursday, agents received the first call to a tip line regarding the woman’s identity.
Montemayor faces charges of conspiracy to produce child pornography and production of child pornography. Each count carries a minimum penalty of 15 years. Montemayor is expected to appear in federal court Friday afternoon.
Authorities are still searching for the male suspect in the case. He is believed to be 40 to 50 years old with a medium to heavy build with graying brown hair.
Authorities said the photos are connected to more than 275 child pornography investigations across the country. The images were made public as part of “Operation Sunflower,” an effort to identify and rescue individuals depicted in child pornography.
Since November, officials have identified 123 victims, including five under the age of 3, in the initiative.
ALSO:
Baker's giant thermometer is up for sale
Alleged maternity hotel in Chino Hills shuts down
LAPD officers allegedly forced women to have sex with them
-- Nicole Santa Cruz | {
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Colton Harris-Moore
The “Barefoot Bandit” became a modern day folk hero on Facebook, evading police across the United States for three years by stealing vehicles, boats and light aircraft before being captured in the Bahamas. But the lanky, 6-foot-5 teenager was no Robin Hood, leaving over $3 million in damages in his wake.
by Denise Noe
Ferry boat captain Freddie Grant and ferry service employee Stan Pennerman of the Eleuthera Island of The Bahamas were going about their morning routine on July 10, 2010 when they noticed that the ignition systems on three of the service’s boats had been damaged. The men recalled seeing a tall, white teenager either bathing or swimming in an inlet the previous evening and wondered if he might be connected to the harm. Grant and Pennerman reported the damaged ignition systems and the sighting of the teen to the police.
Police connected this report to others recently received that pointed to a fugitive from the United States, Colton Harris-Moore, often called “The Barefoot Bandit.” In an article for the HeraldNet entitled “After two years, one chapter of Colton Harris-Moore’s escape comes to a close,” Jackson Holtz wrote, “In the Bahamas, video surveillance cameras reportedly captured glimpses of him prowling through bars and restaurants in the sandy, sun-splashed resort islands off the Florida coast. Officials there turned up the heat, handing out wanted posters.”
According to “Barefoot Bandit caught in Bahamas” that was published in The Sydney Morning Herald, the authorities of The Bahamas had been on the lookout for Harris-Moore since “he allegedly crash-landed a stolen plane a week ago on nearby Great Abaco Island, where he was blamed for a string of at least seven break-ins.”
The Associated Press article by Megan Reynolds and Mike Melia entitled “Authorities Target ‘Barefoot Burglar’ in Bahamas,” reported that a surveillance video inside a bar and restaurant on Great Abaco caught Harris-Moore’s image before dawn on July 6, 2010. The article relates that restaurant owner Alistair McDonald “said the teen at one point looked directly into a security camera, then shone a flashlight into it to blur the image and turned all three security cameras to face the wall.” McDonald added, “He seemed pretty relaxed and at ease.” However, Harris-Moore left without actually stealing anything.
Two days prior, on the evening it is believed Harris-Moore crash-landed a plane into a Great Abaco marsh, a service station was burglarized. Reynolds and Melia reported, “The thief stole a Gatorade and two packets of potato chips, leaving a bundle of food and drinks on the counter – a sign he apparently left in a rush. Pinder told the Associated Press that the thief was so skilled that he didn’t even scratch the lock he picked.” Reynolds and Melia continue, “A nearby house was also burglarized, with the thief making off with a brown Chevrolet Tahoe that was later found abandoned in the town of Marsh Harbor.”
A thief burglarized the bar at the ferry landing at which Grant and Pennerman worked. He cut a screen to get in and then dismantled the security light. The manager of the bar, Denaldo Bain, commented on the burglar’s next actions, “He was watching television. He was just chilling.” This fit in with previous reports that Harris-Moore would often break into unoccupied residences and businesses just to hang out.
The timing of Harris-Moore’s arrival in The Bahamas may have been especially unfortunate for authorities because it coincided with an annual regatta that made it easy for him to blend in among the crowds of visiting tourists. “The Regatta Time in Abaco is an annual ritual for sailors, mostly from nearby South Florida. Organizer Kathy Ralph said some 50 boats are participating in races and the competition, the area’s biggest annual event, has drawn more than 2,000 spectators,” Reynolds and Melia reported.
Although the vast majority of offenses attributed to Harris-Moore were non-violent, a Royal Bahamian Police Force bulletin stated unequivocally that this fugitive should be regarded as “armed and dangerous.”
According to Reynolds and Melia, “National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest said local authorities were working with the FBI, which posted a $10,000 reward for information leading to Harris-Moore’s capture.” They also quote The Bahamas official as confidently stating, “If he is there to be caught our police will catch him.
On July 11, 2010, they did. Bahamas police spotted the fugitive aboard a light vessel. A high-speed boat chase followed. According to a police official, officers shot at the motor on the suspect’s stolen vessel. “There were reports that Harris-Moore held a gun to his head, and that police talking him out of harming himself, but that wasn’t immediately confirmed,” Holtz reported.
When Harris-Moore was caught, the brown-haired, green-eyed, dimple-chinned 18-year-old was shoeless. It seemed a fitting way for the cocky young criminal who had achieved worldwide fame as the “Barefoot Bandit” to be captured. Uncharacteristically for such an arrogant criminal, he hung his head down.
From broken toys to burglaries
According to Patrick Oppmann’s article in CNN Justice, court records reveal a troubled childhood for the future “barefoot bandit. Harris-Moore was raised by a single mother, Pamela Kohler, after his father left the home when Colton was between 4 and 5 years old. Kohler had a series of boyfriends in and out of the shabby trailer home that she and her young son shared. Kohler’s sister, Sandra Puttman, said that Kohler drank heavily and would often break her son’s toys as a form of discipline.
Oppmann’s article further reports, “State Child Protective Services responded to reports of incidents at the home on 12 different occasions, once removing Harris-Moore from his mother’s care for three days.” In a court record, Kohler said, “Colton tended to beat his head on the wall when he was a toddler.”
An article by Associated Press writer Gene Johnson disclosed that Harris-Moore often ignored teachers and started fights at school. The Sunday Times reports that he began escaping the turmoil at home for life in the wilderness at the age of 7. “He would break into holiday homes, steal blankets and food and vanish into the woods for days.” “America’s Most Wanted Teenage Bandit” by Tim McGirk in Time.com reveals that his name first appeared on a police blotter when he was accused of stealing a bicycle when he was 8 years old.
Oppmann’s article discloses that later he “was arrested with three other boys for breaking into the middle school he attended. Harris-Moore later pled guilty to using a butane torch lighter to burn a hole into a school window and then stealing a laptop and some blank CDs. He was sentenced to six months of supervision and 56 hours of community service.
In a handwritten letter kept in a court file, his mother wrote that the boy became very attached to her second husband, a heroin addict. She stated, “The boy has had many disappointments all his life. His stepfather died and our dog and this had severe effects on Colt and I.”
Harris-Moore’s father, Gordon Moore, occasionally visited his son but those visits were not always positive. Oppmann writes, “In a May 2003 incident, court records say that Colton Harris-Moore, then 12, called 911 after his father allegedly pushed him to the ground and gripped his hand around the boy’s throat. When police arrived, according to records, Colton’s father Gordon Moore ran into the woods . . . but they soon caught him. He was arrested and taken to jail.” Soon after that, his father stopped all contact with him and his mother.
A probation officer writing in 2004 stated, “Colton and his mother share a tumultuous relationship. Colton’s mother reported to me how he is violent at home on a near daily basis.” The report continued that during one of their altercations the boy broke the telephone so his mother could not call the police. She also alleged that he once bit her on the forearm and threatened her with a boat oar.
In 2007, Harris-Moore pled guilty to three burglary charges. He was sentenced to three years in a juvenile detention center in Renton, Washington. Good behavior at the center led to his transfer to a halfway house. He complained that the beds at the halfway house were too short for his 6 foot 5 inch body. One day, he shimmied out of an open window – and into a life of infamy.
Heisting cars, boats, and planes on the run sans shoes
Living primarily in forests, he traveled in stolen cars and burglarized residences and businesses across Washington State, occasionally dashing into Canada and Idaho. Although he usually wore shoes, he often committed his crimes barefoot and that led to the nicknames “The Barefoot Burglar” and “The Barefoot Bandit.”
Harris-Moore appeared to taunt police with his nickname as he is believed to have been the thief who broke into a grocery on Washington State’s San Juan Islands and left cartoon-like, chalk outlines of bare feet all over the floor. According to a Sunday Times article entitled “Colton Harris-Moore, the barefoot boy bandit, outfoxes sheriffs,” he soon won notoriety as the “agile 6ft 5in cat burglar who thanks his victims by leaving them notes and cheeky photographs of himself.” Some victims sold the pictures on eBay.
He graduated from stealing cars to taking speedboats. Although he had no training as a pilot, he apparently learned the rudiments of flying from manuals and video games. According to the Sunday Times, Harris-Moore traveled to Canada and then crossed the border into Idaho “where he stole a Cessna 182 and flew to Seattle. He crash-landed in a forest clearing and walked away with cuts and bruises.”
After that, he stole other light aircraft and flew to various points in the Puget Sound islands. One was another Cessna that he also crash-landed and walked away from. The disc jockey who owned the plane complained about Harris-Moore’s aviation skills on radio, saying, “He still doesn’t know how to land a plane in one piece.”
Once police chased Harris-Moore while he was speeding away in a stolen Mercedes-Benz. He deliberately crashed it into a roadside gas storage tank. The resulting explosion allowed him to escape into a nearby wooded area.
The Sunday Times article continues, “This was followed by the largest manhunt in recent memory. Three dozen sheriffs, aided by specialist armed units and an FBI helicopter, fanned out across Camano Island but failed to capture him.”
Although most of Harris-Moore’s known crimes are non-violent, Jackson Holtz’s article “Massive manhunt follows after shot fired at deputy,” that appeared in the HeraldNet, describes reports that Harris-Moore may have been the suspect who shot at sheriff’s deputies in Snohomish County, Washington State as they searched a wooded area for a burglar.
On May 30 or May 31, Harris-Moore left $100 in cash and a note at a veterinary clinic in Raymond, Washington. The note read, “Drove by, had some extra cash. Please use this money for the care of animals – Colton Harris-Moore (AKA: ‘The Barefoot Bandit’) Camano Island, WA.”
The note was authenticated when police dusted it for fingerprints and found Harris-Moore’s. According to the KIROTV.com article entitled “’Barefoot Bandit’ Leaves Note, $100 at Raymond Vet Clinic,” Warrenton, Oregon Police Chief Mathew Workman informed the Everett Herald that Harris-Moore “may be a suspect in connection with a boat theft, a car theft and the attempted theft of a plane on June 1, a day or two after the note was left in Raymond, Wash. ‘It stands to reason they would be related,’ he told the newspaper.” That same KIROTV.com piece reported, “Several Seattle bounty hunters have also been looking for [Harris-Moore] since June 2.”
A criminal’s troubling celebrity
The elusive fugitive soon acquired a cult following. The Sunday Times article was published in December 2009 and it reported, “Thousands subscribe to his Facebook page and his image appears on T-shirts with the logo “Fly, Colton, Fly!”. Local rock groups have penned songs about him. Hollywood producers have lodged lucrative film deals with his family and offered to pay for lawyers if he gives himself up.”
Holtz writes, “Seattle T-shirt artist Adin Stevens was inspired by the tale of the elusive teenager. He created a fan club shirt for friends that features the teen's photo, which Harris-Moore took of himself with a stolen camera, and the words, ‘Momma Tried,’ a reference to a Merle Haggard song.” That Merle Haggard song is sung from the viewpoint of a career criminal who says, “No one could steer me right but Mama tried, Mama tried/Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleading I denied/That leaves only me to blame ‘cos Mama tried.”
Stevens remarks about Colton, “He's pretty gangster. It's rad to see a kid his age going for it.”
The boyish face of the tall and lanky criminal has led many people to compare him to the character played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie Catch Me If You Can.
Harris-Moore’s mother, Pamela Kohler, has expressed a most peculiar pride in her son’s criminal exploits. Noting that her son had been able to fly without training, she commented, “I hope to hell he stole those airplanes. But put in there that I want him to wear a parachute next time.” The Sunday Times records that she remarked, “I was going to send him to flight school but I guess I don’t have to.” Reynolds and Melia quote her as giving flight safety instructions to her son. “Colt is not to be flying a single-engine plane,” she said, giving the potential for engine failure as the reason he should avoid stealing such aircraft. “The rules are he carries a parachute with him and he takes two-engine planes.”
While he was on the lam, she also stated that she hoped Colton would flee to a country that did not have an extradition treaty with the United States. When initially informed that authorities suspected that he was in the Bahamas, she commented, “The furthest he gets from the U.S., the better. I’m glad he’s able to enjoy beautiful islands but they extradite. It doesn’t help matters at all.”
Understandably, the elevation of this thief to folk hero does not sit well with either his victims or authorities. Washington State’s Island County Sheriff Mark Brown was quoted by Gene Johnson as complaining, “He is an adult felon!” After Harris-Moore’s capture in The Bahamas, Brown commented, “I am thankful that Colton Harris-Moore has been taken into custody by the Bahamian authorities. I pledge my commitment to seek accountability for the many crimes suffered by the citizens of Island County at the hands of this criminal.”
Indeed, Harris-Moore is no Robin Hood and his crimes have caused great harm to many people. The loss in theft damage done to the Homegrown Market and Gourmet Deli, at which he is believed to have drawn those chalk footprints, totaled about $6,500. The store’s owner, Kyle Ater told reporter Jackson Holtz that as many as 20 employees might have to be laid off as a result. Ater elaborated, “Hopefully he can pay for his crimes.”
Before he was apprehended, an official on Orcas Islands north of Seattle, an area in which Harris-Moore was suspected of several crimes, commented that people there were glad he was far away. Chamber of Commerce director Lance Evans stated, “Speaking on behalf of the business community, we’re thrilled. We’re hopeful that authorities anywhere he finds himself will catch him.”
After Harris-Moore was caught, Joni Fowler, the manager of a Washington State café of which he is accused of stealing as much as $1,500, derided those who make a hero out of him. “These people that support him, they’ve never been violated by having him break into their homes or businesses,” she observed. “Just knowing he has a huge following makes me really worry about the state of this country.”
A story in the Seattle Weekly Blog by Vernal Coleman that was published before his capture, was entitled “Camano Islanders Vent Frustration Over Colton Harris Moore . . . in Song.” Part of the lyrics read: Colton-Moore was a lad who turned out bad/He robbed the Tyee Store/He lived in our sheds and he slept in our beds/And they say he was rotten to the core.”
Bahamas Islanders also set up an anti-Colton Harris-Moore website to rival that of his fans. Vernal Coleman’s Seattle Weekly Blog piece called “Colton Harris-Moore Haters now have a Home on the Web” describes its creators as declaring, “This is a place for everyone who doesn’t want to join all the unthinking fan clubs that celebrate the ‘Barefoot Bandit’s’ crimes against the community.” They also set up a special section inviting those who despise this criminal to “ridicule your least favorite fugitive in style.” This article is illustrated by a photograph of T-shirt with Harris-Moore’s visage on it and the message, “I Support Safe Community Not Fake Heroes.” The word “Fake” is printed over “Folk” which has been pointedly crossed out.
Paying for the crime spree
In a Bahamian court, Harris-Moore pled guilty to illegally entering The Bahamas. He was fined $300. According to Associated Press reporter Curt Anderson, “Harris-Moore’s attorney in the Bahamas, Monique Gomez, said the U.S. Embassy there would pay the teenager’s $300 fine.” Questioned by Bahamian police about why he came to that country, Harris-Moore said he was attracted by its plethora of islands and their many airports and docks. He also said that he intended to travel to the Turks and Caicos Islands southeast of The Bahamas and from there go to Cuba, apparently following his mother’s hope that he would settle in a country that has no extradition treaty with the United States.
However, he was extradited to the United States on July 13, 2010, and placed in a Miami, Florida jail. Anderson’s article noted, “Harris-Moore is suspected in about 70 burglaries, thefts and other property crimes in eight states and British Columbia, including thefts of aircraft – one of which he allegedly flew from Indiana to the Bahamas.”
Harris-Moore’s first appearance in a U.S. courtroom since his arrest in The Bahamas was before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Dube. The now 19-year-old was attired in a tan jail jumpsuit. On his feet, he wore sandals and white socks.
Harris-Moore said he believed that his mother had hired an attorney. “I’d like to speak with my mom first,” he said. “She said that she hired one. I have not met with him yet.”
In fact, Pamela Kohler has asked Seattle lawyer John Henry Browne to be her son’s attorney.
On July 16, 2010, Harris-Moore was back in the Miami courtroom where he waived his right to an extradition hearing, thus agreeing to be transferred to Washington State. “Before the hearing, the young defendant appeared relaxed and even shared a few laughs with another detainee,” a CNN wire report stated.
Time will tell just what the justice system will ultimately demand of Colton Harris-Moore as payment for a crime spree that may have led to more than $3 million in property losses. It will also take time to find out if Harris-Moore will remain lawless and anti-social throughout his life or if he will put his considerable talents to positive use in the future.
Bibliography
Anderson, Curt. “Accused ‘Barefoot Bandit’ has US court appearance.” Associated Press. Published 7/14/10. Accessed 8/5/10. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hu6i6UTxAdDNf5f_TEtgSI9ewLGgD9GV0NFG1
“Barefoot bandit caught in Bahamas.” The Sydney Morning Herald. Published 7/12/10. Accessed 8/2/10. http://www.smh.com.au/world/barefoot-bandit-caught-in-bahamas-20100711-105s2.html
“’Barefoot Bandit’ Leaves Note, $100 At Raymond Vet Clinic.” KiroTV.com. Published 6/17/10. Accessed 8/7/10. http://www.kirotv.com/news/23939095/detail.html
CNN Wire Staff. “’Barefoot bandit’ suspect set for transfer to Washington.” Published 7/16/10. Accessed 8/7/10. http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/07/16/barefoot.bandit.case/index.html
Coleman, Vernal. “Camano Islanders Vent Frustration Over Colton Harris Moore . . . in Song.” Seattle Weekly Blogs. Published 5/6/10. Accessed 8/7/10. http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2010/05/camano_islanders_vent_frustrat.php
“Colton Harris-Moore, the barefoot boy bandit, outfoxes sheriffs.” The Sunday Times. Published 12/6/09. Accessed 8/4/10. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6946030.ece
Federal Bureau of Investigation Crime Alert – Colton A. Harris-Moore. Accessed 8/3/10. http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/alert/moore_ch.htm
Holtz, Jackson. “After two years, one chapter of Colton Harris-Moore’s escape comes to a close.” HeraldNet. Published 7/12/10. Accessed 8/3/10. http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20100712/NEWS01/707129947
Holtz, Jackson. “Massive manhunt follows after shot fired at deputy.” HeraldNet. Published 10/6/09. Accessed 8/5/10. http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20091006/NEWS01/710069923&news01ad=1
Johnson, Gene. “Teen burglar’s mom: ‘I hope he stole those planes.’” Associated Press. Published 10/6/09. Accessed 8/3/10. http://www.katu.com/news/local/63636867.html
Merle Haggard, Mama Tried lyrics. CowboyLyrics.com. Accessed 8/6/10. http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/haggard-merle/mama-tried-507.html
McCartney, Juan and Melia, Mike. “’Barefoot Bandit’ nabbed after 2 years as fugitive.” Associated Press. Published 7/11/10. Accessed 8/2/10. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g3ng0HuCqAC4S1vDdZDuEso6S73QD9GT6I100
McGirk, Tim. “America’s Most Wanted Teenage Bandit.” Time.com. Published 12/21/09. Accessed 8/3/10. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1946950,00.html
Momma Tried Colton Harris More Fan Club T-shirt << Colton Harris More Fan Club. http://www.coltonharrismoorefanclub.com/?p=201
Oppmann, Patrick. “Court records reveal troubled childhood of ‘barefoot bandit.’” CNN Justice. Published 7/22/10. Accessed 7/27/10. http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/07/22/barefoot.bandit.profile/index.html?hpt=C1
Reynolds, Megan and Melia, Mike. “Authorities target ‘barefoot burglar’ in Bahamas.” Associated Press. Published 7/8/10. Accessed 8/7/10. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38125382/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts | {
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MEGAPLEX MANAGER is a FREE simulation and strategy browser game where you manage the economy of a virtual cinema (movie theater). The gameplay is a mix between Box Office prediction and cinema tycoon.
You get to schedule movies based on hourly showtimes (per-theater averages), purchase screens or refill concession snacks to meet equilibrium in supply and demand. Will you become the next multiplex mogul? | {
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Was erwartet die Zuschauer in der Pause des 51. Super Bowl? Seit Lady Gaga (30) bekannt gab, dass sie der Act für die wohl bekannteste Halbzeit ist, wird wild spekuliert, was die Sängerin für ihren großen Auftritt plant – schließlich tritt die 30-Jährige in große Fußstapfen. Eins steht aber jetzt schon fest: Lady Gagas Auftritt wird der Teuerste in der Super Bowl-Geschichte!
Wie CNBC berichtet, soll die NFL (National Football League) unfassbare 10 Millionen Dollar als Budget für die Halbzeit-Show lockergemacht haben. Gerüchten zufolge plane Lady Gaga einige Stunts, wie beispielsweise ein Fall von der Decke des Stadions. Auch von Hutbändern und Seilen, die aus Strähnen von gebleichten Perückenhaaren gewebt seien, ist die Rede. Ob wohl auch ein Pferd Teil der krassen Performance wird? Vor ein paar Wochen heizte die mehrfache Grammy-Gewinnerin mit einem Bild, das sie auf einem Schimmel zeigte, die Gerüchteküche ordentlich an.
Die Proben für die Halbzeit-Show scheinen bereits in vollem Gange zu sein: Auf Instagram postete die Blondine einen Polaroid-Schnappschuss, der sie umgeben von Tänzern zeigt. "#SB51 10 Tage", schrieb sie zu dem Pic. Auch die Gaga scheint den 5. Februar kaum noch abwarten zu können! Dann steigt das mega Sport-Event in Amerika.
Wer schön sein will, muss bekanntlich leiden. Warum Lady Gaga ausgerechnet wegen Nasenhaaren Schmerzen hatte, erfahrt ihr im Video.
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Christopher Polk / Getty Images Lady Gagas Frisur bei den Grammy Awards 2018
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Christopher Polk/Getty Images for NARAS Lady Gaga bei den Grammy Awards 2018
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Getty Images Taylor Kinney und Lady Gaga bei der Vanity-Fair-Oscarparty 2016
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Tipps für Promiflash? Einfach E-Mail an: [email protected] | {
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- FBI agents temporarily deployed to Iraq received an average of about $45,000 in excessive overtime because they billed the government for 16 hours a day throughout their 90-day assignments, according to a Justice Department audit.
Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine released the audit on Thursday.
The audit, released Thursday by Inspector General Glenn Fine, found the agents routinely submitted the overtime with the blessing of their managers from 2003 through 2007. The report says the excessive overtime totaled $7.8 million.
"The FBI inappropriately permitted employees to regularly claim overtime for activities that are not compensable as work, such as time spent eating meals, exercising more than 3 hours per week, and socializing," the report said. The socializing included going to movies and cocktail parties.
The FBI promptly responded to the report, acknowledging the overtime policy was designed to encourage FBI employees to volunteer for Iraq duty, but should not have been used and has now been corrected.
The 88-page report documenting the overtime issues found the FBI had initially approved the policy of paying for 16-hour days because conditions were harsh, there were few recreational opportunities and employees were always "on call."
But the audit said that violates federal pay guidelines.
The FBI admitted that "a flawed system was allowed to develop and remain in place too long," but it also sought to explain how the practice started.
"Early in the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq FBI managers traveled to those war zones and saw first hand the challenges of a 24/7 threat environment. FBI employees lived with sniper attacks, mortar fire, and roadside bombs as part of their daily work environment. They attempted to adapt a long established domestic pay system for domestic law enforcement to unprecedented wartime assignments for FBI personnel."
FBI agents in Iraq perform a variety of duties, according to the bureau's Web site. Agents interview suspected terrorists captured by the military; gather intelligence; collect evidence from crime scenes like car bombs or mass graves; and investigate crimes committed by Americans against Iraqis, as well as those that Iraqis commit against their fellow citizens.
The inspector general's report said overtime pay was less excessive for FBI personnel in Afghanistan. The report also found that somewhat less excessive overtime was paid to agents from other Justice Department agencies who were sent to Iraq, including deputy marshals, and ATF and DEA agents.
All About Federal Bureau of Investigation • Iraq | {
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Image copyright PAcemaker Image caption The Boys' Model School is in the loyalist Ballysillan area of north Belfast
A teacher at a north Belfast school who became a target for sectarian online abuse is to leave the school.
Catherine Seeley is to move to another education board area.
In a joint statement, the board of governors at the Boys' Model School and the Belfast Education and Library Board (BELB) said they are supporting Ms Seeley in her decision.
She was subjected to abuse after she was recently co-opted as a Sinn Féin councillor in Craigavon, County Armagh.
Her employment at the school in the loyalist Ballysillan area was objected to by the Protestant Coalition group.
It said her role at the school should be looked at because of her political views.
Redeployment
The joint statement from the board of governors and BELB said: "During a series of meetings in recent days, the principal and board of governors of Belfast Boys' Model school has reinforced their support for Ms Seeley to facilitate her resumption of normal teaching duties at Belfast Boys' Model.
"This approach has also been endorsed and supported by the BELB.
"While acknowledging the support of the board, school staff and pupils, the teacher has decided not to return to her duties at Belfast Boys' Model.
"As a result of this decision, BELB had initially explored a redeployment option within the board area. In accordance with the teacher's wishes however, it is now actively seeking a teaching redeployment position within another board area."
Teachers' union, the Irish National Teachers Organisation, said no-one should have to put up with being threatened, and called on those responsible to lift the threats.
On Tuesday, Education Minister John O'Dowd paid tribute to pupils at the school who spoke up for Ms Seeley.
Mr O'Dowd, a Sinn Féin MLA, said the pupils who had backed her on social media sites had demonstrated "courage and vision". | {
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PARIS — Five ISIS operatives were planning a terrorist attack in France next week, officials said Friday.
The alleged plot involved an arsenal of weapons and guidance from a jihadi coordinator in the Middle East.
Four of the suspects were arrested in Strasbourg and the other in Marseille on Sunday, but details of the allegations were only revealed by Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins on Friday. The men were due to be charged before a judge later.
A soldier patrols a Christmas market near the cathedral in Strasbourg, France, on Friday. PATRICK HERTZOG / AFP - Getty Images
Their arrest "thwarted an imminent terrorist attack planned for Dec. 1 on French soil," Molins told a press conference.
The alleged plot would have come just over a year after a group of ISIS-directed jihadis killed 130 people in coordinated attacks across Paris.
The prosecutor didn't say what next week's alleged target was, but he revealed that French intelligence services had found "an arsenal of weapons" during the raid in Strasbourg, as well as encrypted mobile-app messages showing the group were "guided remotely" from a coordinator in the region of Syria and Iraq.
Screengrabs found on the suspects' computers showed a list of potential targets, according to the prosecutor, although he did not name any of the locations. On Thursday, a French security official told Reuters that the possible targets included an amusement park.
Related: Paris Attacks Inspire Huge Influx of Police Recruits
All of the suspects had attempted to travel to Syria, and handwritten notes were found during the Strasbourg raid showing the men had pledged allegiance to ISIS, the prosecutor added.
The Strasbourg suspects were identified as:
Yacine B., a French workshop instructor in his 30s who had no criminal record
Hichan M., a French warehouse worker in his 30s with six convictions on his criminal record
Samy B., a French-Tunisian grocery-store worker in his 30s with three kids and seven convictions on his criminal record
Zacharia M., also a French-Tunisian grocery-store worker in his 30s with no criminal record.
According to Molins, authorities found telephone messages that revealed the men had received specific instructions and GPS coordinates from their contact in the Middle East, telling them where to pick up the weapons and how to use them.
The suspect arrested in Marseilles was identified as a Moroccan named Micham M., who did not have a fixed address and was not previously known to police.
Officials found encrypted messages showing that he was about to receive a large sum of money to obtain weapons in the same manner as the Strasbourg group, Molins said.
The two groups were acting separately but in contact with the same person through messages sent through mobile apps, the prosecutor added.
He said that the men had downloaded the Periscope application just before they were arrested, suggesting they may have planned to live-stream the attack direct to social media.
France is still in a state of emergency after two terror attacks in January and November last year saw dozens of people killed by jihadi attackers.
A manhunt was also underway Friday after a female employee at a retirement home for elderly missionaries was fatally stabbed and another person was wounded. Authorities said there was nothing to connect the incident to Islamist terrorism. | {
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Conventional wisdom tells us that backhanded compliments are not cute — as a matter of fact, they are not compliments at all. They're nothing more than thinly disguised insults, and when it comes to marginalized groups, they're frequently microaggressions. By definition, a microaggression is a comment or action that expresses a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalized group.
I am a black transgender woman, and I face these microaggressions daily, while scrolling through Tinder or simply walking down a sidewalk minding my own business. Microaggressions surrounding my gender identity can come in the form of "I didn't know you were trans, you look just like a woman!" or "You're cute for a trans!" — lest we forget that the word transgender is not a noun or a verb and therefore should not be used with such incorrect and offensive grammar.
I am also a transgender woman with passing privilege and one who is garnered conventionally pretty. However, although these conventional privileges allow me safer access to spaces that others within my community may not be awarded, I am doubly marginalized as a black person and transgender woman. If I am not clocked as transgender, I still face the various microaggressions that come with being a black girl; expressions such as "you're pretty for a black girl" or "what are you mixed with?" or harassment such as touching my hair or questioning my intellect on a given subject.
These types of microaggressions aren't just situational to me but to the transgender community as a whole. Every day, cisgender people harass my community with these forms of microaggression — even if it's unintentional. With that in mind, I asked people in the transgender and nonconforming community to share microaggressions they have experienced at least once in their lifetimes in the hopes of educating everyone on what qualifies as a compliment — and what's downright offensive. | {
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When they look at us, what do we see?
Visit my Etsy shop to purchase 5×7″ and 8×10″ art prints of this design directly from me.
Visit my Redbubble shop to purchase this design as a t-shirt, sticker or gift item.
Visit my Society6 shop to purchase this design as a coffee mug, art print or home decor item.
Learn how to create this style of vector portrait by reading my tutorial: How to Create a Vector Portrait | {
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PowerShell Users and Membership – Part 2
Scenario:
PowerShell Users and Membership – Part 2
In part 1, I have shown you a simple script on how you are able to list all users or under a specific location along with their membership. The problem with that script is that you can only get the groups that the user is a direct member. If a user is a member of a group and that group is a member of another group, then due to inheritance the user is a member of that group also.
Changes:
Group Membership
I have made some changes in the script in order to get also the groups that the user is not directly member of. After the script will get the direct groups of the user, it will check each group if it is a member of another group. Those groups are added in the initial list of the groups. They are saved also in another array and the script will check each of the new groups if they are member of other groups. This process continues until no group is member of another group.
Code:
Foreach ($User in $Users){ $DirectGroups = Get-adprincipalgroupmembership $User.SamAccountName $UserName = $User.Name $AllGroups = @() $AllGroupsName = @() $UpperGroups = @() $GroupsTemp = @() $AllGroups += $DirectGroups.DistinguishedName $Groups = $DirectGroups.DistinguishedName do{ foreach ($Group in $Groups){ $UpperGroups = @() $UpperGroups = (Get-ADGroup $Group -Properties MemberOf).MemberOf if ($UpperGroups -ne ""){ $AllGroups += $UpperGroups $GroupsTemp += $UpperGroups } } $Groups = $GroupsTemp $GroupsTemp = @() }while ($Groups -ne "")
[adinserter name=”In Article”]
Groups value in email
In the previous script, it was not easy to distinguish one group from another as the whole list was part of the same cell in the email report. Now the groups will be separated by a comma ( , ) in email. It provides a better presentation than before.
Code:
foreach ($UserGroup in $AllGroups){ $GroupName = (Get-ADGroup -Identity $UserGroup).SamAccountName $AllGroupsName += $GroupName } $AllGroupsNameJoined = $AllGroupsName -join ' , ' $EmailTemp = @" <tr> <td class="colorm">$UserName</td> <td>$AllGroupsNameJoined</td> </tr> "@ $EmailResult = $EmailResult + "`r`n" + $EmailTemp
Email code
In the previous script, I was using back-tick to split the code for the email. As back-tick is difficult sometime to see it in a script and might be omitted, I have changed the code to use splatting in order to send the email reports with the results.
Code:
$EmailParams = @{ To = $To Subject = "Users and their Groups Report $(Get-Date -format dd/MM/yyyy)" Body = $Email BodyAsHtml = $True Priority = "High" UseSsl = $True Port = "587" SmtpServer = "smtp.office365.com" Credential = $EmailCredentials From = $From} send-mailmessage @EmailParams
Please note that the script takes a lot of time to run. This is related to the number of user and groups that you have in Active Directory. Making the script faster is one of the next improvements on the code.
You can download the script here or copy it from below. (Note that html code within the script might be wrong due to syntax highlighting.)
Hope you like it. If you have any questions or anything else please let me know in the comments below.
[adinserter name=”In Article”]
Related Links:
[adinserter name=”In Article”]
Solution / Script:
<# .SYNOPSIS Name: Get-UsersMembership.ps1 The purpose of this script is to retrieve all users and their current membership. .DESCRIPTION This is a script that will let you retrieve all users from Active Directory and then for each user it will get the membership including nested groups. At the end, it will provide the intended receipient/s with en email report with the results. If there is any error during run, a separate email will be send to the intended recipients including all the errors. .RELATED LINKS Home .NOTES Version: 1.1 Updated: 13-06-2018 - Now it retrieves nested groups also - Code improvements Release Date: 09-01-2018 Author: Stephanos Constantinou .EXAMPLE Run the Get-UserMembership script to retrieve the information. Get-UserMembership.ps1 #> import-module ActiveDirectory cd ad: $File = "C:\Scripts\Password.txt" $Key = (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32) $EmailUser = "[email protected]" $Password = Get-Content $File | ConvertTo-SecureString -Key $Key $EmailCredentials = New-Object -TypeName System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -ArgumentList $EmailUser,$Password $To = '[email protected]','[email protected]' $From = '[email protected]' $Users = Get-ADUser -Filter * -SearchBase "DC=domain,DC=com" $EmailResult = "" $ErrorEmailTemp = "" Foreach ($User in $Users){ $DirectGroups = Get-adprincipalgroupmembership $User.SamAccountName $UserName = $User.Name $AllGroups = @() $AllGroupsName = @() $UpperGroups = @() $GroupsTemp = @() $AllGroups += $DirectGroups.DistinguishedName $Groups = $DirectGroups.DistinguishedName do{ foreach ($Group in $Groups){ $UpperGroups = @() $UpperGroups = (Get-ADGroup $Group -Properties MemberOf).MemberOf if ($UpperGroups -ne ""){ $AllGroups += $UpperGroups $GroupsTemp += $UpperGroups } } $Groups = $GroupsTemp $GroupsTemp = @() }while ($Groups -ne "") $AllGroups = $AllGroups | select -Unique foreach ($UserGroup in $AllGroups){ $GroupName = (Get-ADGroup -Identity $UserGroup).SamAccountName $AllGroupsName += $GroupName } $AllGroupsNameJoined = $AllGroupsName -join ' , ' $EmailTemp = @" <tr> <td class="colorm">$UserName</td> <td>$AllGroupsNameJoined</td> </tr> "@ $EmailResult = $EmailResult + "`r`n" + $EmailTemp } $EmailUp = @" <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" data-wp-preserve="%3Cstyle%3E%0Abody%20%7Bfont-family%3ASegoe%2C%20%22Segoe%20UI%22%2C%20%22DejaVu%20Sans%22%2C%20%22Trebuchet%20MS%22%2C%20Verdana%2C%20sans-serif%20!important%3B%20color%3A%23434242%3B%7D%0ATABLE%20%7Bfont-family%3ASegoe%2C%20%22Segoe%20UI%22%2C%20%22DejaVu%20Sans%22%2C%20%22Trebuchet%20MS%22%2C%20Verdana%2C%20sans-serif%20!important%3B%20border-width%3A%201px%3Bborder-style%3A%20solid%3Bborder-color%3A%20black%3Bborder-collapse%3A%20collapse%3B%7D%0ATR%20%7Bborder-width%3A%201px%3Bpadding%3A%2010px%3Bborder-style%3A%20solid%3Bborder-color%3A%20white%3B%20%7D%0ATD%20%7Bfont-family%3ASegoe%2C%20%22Segoe%20UI%22%2C%20%22DejaVu%20Sans%22%2C%20%22Trebuchet%20MS%22%2C%20Verdana%2C%20sans-serif%20!important%3B%20border-width%3A%201px%3Bpadding%3A%2010px%3Bborder-style%3A%20solid%3Bborder-color%3A%20white%3B%20background-color%3A%23C3DDDB%3B%7D%0A.colorm%20%7Bbackground-color%3A%2358A09E%3B%20color%3Awhite%3B%7D%0Ah3%20%7Bcolor%3A%23BD3337%20!important%3B%7D%0A%3C%2Fstyle%3E" data-mce-resize="false" data-mce-placeholder="1" class="mce-object" width="20" height="20" alt="<style>" title="<style>" /> <body> <h3>Script has been completed successfully</h3> <h4>Users and their MemberOf Attribute have been exported.</h4> <table> <tr> <td class="colort">User</td> <td class="colort">Groups</td> </tr> "@ $EmailDown = @" </table> </body> "@ $Email = $EmailUp + $EmailResult + $EmailDown if ($EmailResult -ne ""){ $EmailParams = @{ To = $To Subject = "Users and their Groups Report $(Get-Date -format dd/MM/yyyy)" Body = $Email BodyAsHtml = $True Priority = "High" UseSsl = $True Port = "587" SmtpServer = "smtp.office365.com" Credential = $EmailCredentials From = $From} send-mailmessage @EmailParams } if ($error -ne $null){ foreach ($value in $error){ $ErrorEmailTemp = @" <tr> <td class="colorm">$value</td> </tr> "@ $ErrorEmailResult = $ErrorEmailResult + "`r`n" + $ErrorEmailTemp } $ErrorEmailUp = @" <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" 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Warner Bros Entertainment and Seibu Holdings plan to open a Harry Potter theme park in Tokyo, Japan by spring 2023. The attraction would be located on part of the land that currently houses Toshimaen.
According to Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun, Toshimaen operator Seibu Holdings is considering closing the amusement park in Nerima in stages, starting this year.
Seibu Holdings is in talks with US movie studio Warner Bros and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to finalise the Harry Potter attraction.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will buy the majority of the 22-hectare Toshimaen site from Seibu Group, with Warner Bros building a theme park on the remaining land.
Toshimaen rides and attractions to close in stages
The current rides, attractions and swimming facilities at Toshimaen will gradually close, and a decision on the Potter park is expected to be made in spring 2020.
It’s thought the theme park will be similar to Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter, in which visitors can tour the studio sets of Harry Potter.
The studio tour-style project will be different to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter areas at Universal Parks and Resorts, which include rides and attractions.
Earlier this year, the highly-themed and immersive Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure opened at Universal Orlando Resort.
Theme park will be like Warner Bros. Studio Tour London
It features rich sets, rare magical creatures, groundbreaking coaster technology and a captivating storyline.
Meanwhile, Harry Potter stores at Heathrow, Gatwick and King’s Cross generated more than $26m of revenue during a 15-month period across 2018 and 2019.
This follows news that Warner Bros is expanding its retail offering, opening the first official Harry Potter flagship store this summer in New York City. | {
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As self-driving cars slowly edge towards commercial reality, with companies such as Mercedes-Benz, Continental, Tesla, Denso, or Google getting in gear, regulatory action has already started at UNECE. Under the auspices of the World Forum for harmonization of vehicle regulations, the UNECE Working Party on Brakes and Running Gear will review, at its meeting on 16-20 February, proposals covering semi-automated driving functions, which will ultimately pave the way for more highly-automated vehicles.
The Working Party, the group of experts developing active safety regulations for vehicles, will review a proposal to amend existing regulations with a view to introduce technical provisions for self-steering systems. These systems will be used for Lane Keeping Assist Systems and Autopilot Systems in traffic jam conditions. Under specific driving circumstances, these systems will take over the control of the vehicle under the permanent supervision of the driver.
The Working Party will also review policies and guidance concerning self-parking functions (e.g. when the driver instructs the car to park while he/she is outside the car) and highway autopilots (e.g. when the vehicle would be self-driving at high speeds on highways). It will discuss and draft the corresponding regulatory provisions, which would be reviewed at future meetings. | {
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Four chemicals present both inside and outside homes might disrupt our endocrine systems at levels considered safe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to an analysis released today.
The chemicals—benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene—are ubiquitous: in the air outside and in many products inside homes and businesses. They have been linked to reproductive, respiratory and heart problems, as well as smaller babies. Now researchers from The Endocrine Disruption Exchange (TEDX) and the University of Colorado, Boulder, say that such health impacts may be due to the chemicals’ ability to interfere with people’s hormones at low exposure levels.
“There’s evidence of connection between the low level, everyday exposures and things like asthma, reduced fetal growth,” said Ashley Bolden, a research associate at TEDX and lead author of the study. “And for a lot of the health effects found, we think it’s disrupted endocrine-signaling pathways involved in these outcomes.”
Bolden and colleagues—including scientist, activist, author and TEDX founder Theo Colborn who passed away last December—pored over more than 40 studies on the health impacts of low exposure to the chemicals.
(Colborn also co-authored "Our Stolen Future" along with Dianne Dumanoski and Pete Myers, founder of Environmental Health News and chief scientist at Environmental Health Sciences.)
They looked at exposures lower than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s reference concentrations for the chemicals, which is the agency’s estimated inhalation exposure level that is not likely to cause health impacts during a person’s lifetime.
Many of the health problems—asthma, low birth weights, cardiovascular, disease, preterm births, abnormal sperm—can be rooted in early disruptions to the developing endocrine system, Bolden said.
The analysis doesn’t prove that exposure to low levels of the chemicals disrupt hormones. However, any potential problems with developing hormone systems are cause for concern.
“Hormones are how the body communicates with itself to get work done. Interrupt that, you can expect all sorts of negative health outcomes,” said Susan Nagel an associate professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health School of Medicine who was not involved in the study.
Cathy Milbourn, a spokesperson for the EPA, said in an emailed response that the agency will "review the study and incorporate the findings into our work as appropriate."
The "EPA is screening thousands of chemicals for potential risk of endocrine disruption," she said. "As potential risk of endocrine disruption is identified, these chemicals are assessed further.
The four chemicals are retrieved from the wellheads during crude oil and natural gas extraction and, after refining, are used as gasoline additives and in a wide variety of consumer products such as adhesives, detergents, degreasers, dyes, pesticides, polishes and solvents.
Ethylbenzene is one of the top ten chemicals used in children’s products such as toys and playground equipment, according to a 2013 EPA report. Toluene is in the top ten chemicals used in consumer products such as fuels and paints, the report found.
All four get into indoor and outdoor air via fossil fuel burning, vehicle emissions and by volatizing from products. Bolden said studies that measure the air in and around homes and businesses find the chemicals 90 to 95 percent of the time.
Katie Brown, spokeswoman for Energy in Depth, a program of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, said in an email that the study suggests “products deemed safe by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission are more dangerous than oil and gas development.“
Contrary to their intentions, what this report actually shows is that people should be no more afraid of oil and gas development than products in their home,” she said.
The Consumer Specialty Products Association, a trade group that represents companies that manufacturer consumer goods including cleaning products, pesticides, polishes, would not comment on the study but a spokesperson said that member groups typically don’t use the chemicals mentioned.
In several of the monitoring studies Bolden and colleagues examined, levels of the chemicals were higher in indoor air than in outdoor air, suggesting that people might be exposed within their homes.
“A lot of time indoor air is poorly circulated,” Bolden said.
Nagel cited a “huge need” to look at the impact of exposure to ambient levels of these chemicals. The study highlights “a whole lot we don’t know” about how these compounds may impact humans, she said.
Using human tissue cells, Nagel’s lab has previously shown that the chemicals can disrupt the androgen and estrogen hormones.
The authors said regulators should give air contaminants the same attention they’ve given greenhouse gas emissions recently.
“Tremendous efforts have led to the development of successful regulations focused on controlling greenhouse gases in an attempt to reduce global temperatures,” the authors wrote in the study published today in Environmental Science and Technology journal.
“Similar efforts need to be directed toward compounds that cause poor air quality both indoors and outdoors.”
This article originally ran at Environmental Health News, a news source published by Environmental Health Sciences, a nonprofit media company. | {
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By Grant Jacobs • 28/08/2015 • 1
The Holocaust remains a touchstone for strong feelings, as does trauma of any kind. Add epigenetics and questioning if a parent’s life influences their children’s lives and you have a whole bundle of emotive connections. Parents worry about how their lives might affects their children, of course.
This and other associations being attributed to epigenetics are making epigenetics a widely-known word.[1]
Not all the associations are sound, however.
Late last week the English newspaper The Guardian ran Study of Holocaust survivors finds trauma passed on to children’s genes.[2]
The Guardian article opens boldly and definitively,
Genetic changes stemming from the trauma suffered by Holocaust survivors are capable of being passed on to their children, the clearest sign yet that one person’s life experience can affect subsequent generations.
There’s a side link to an earlier article, Holocaust survivors’ grandchildren call for action over inherited trauma.
Over 1800 comments were submitted in response to the story and it was shared nearly 160,000 times. The number of readers will be many more times than those that shared the article with others. More than 5 or 10 million, perhaps?
Interest spread out to science sites, to those with connections to the Holocaust and to those touting new-age religious philosophies[3] (for example Deepak Chopra and his sidekick, Rudolph Tanzi).
Impressive statistics for science coverage, perhaps – if it weren’t for that the study the article reports isn’t the breakthrough that makes epigenetic inheritance in humans a reality as the title and opening paragraph imply.
With all this noise about epigenetics, how are readers to know what is sound and what not?
For the those able to make sense of the technical arguments involved, and are interested enough to make the time, there are scientists who have criticised the research work.[4] A few suggest that the standards need to be raised, with many papers on epigenetics currently so open to interpretation that they are neither here nor there. A few call for the hype over epigenetics to end.
What are those disinclined to read these to make of it all?[5] Certainly the comments following the Guardian piece are not encouraging! (Or for that matter what do journalists or editors make of it, particularly those that are not science specialists.)
What are good guidelines for non-scientists if they encounter something about ‘epigenetics’ or ‘epigenetic inheritance’ while reading newspapers, magazines, websites or wherever else?
Here are a few suggestions –
If it’s hot, wait. This one applies to all science stories: if something is hot of the presses, wait. Hold up for a bit. It’s what scientists do, too. There’s no rush with science, right? If a newspaper writes that some researchers have ‘just reported’ or ‘just announced’ some bold new claim – set it aside for several days (at least) and wait to hear what other scientists have to say about it. The judgement of research isn’t (just) in the peer review that accepts a piece of research for publication, but in the wider review by scientists after it is published. ‘Hot’ stories in the media get in before that.[6]
If it gets attention in media and there look to be concerns about the science, it’s common for ‘corrective’ stories to appear fairly quickly. They are mostly found at science writing forums like this one, not where the original stories are.
Ask here! Following the previous suggestion, readers here might try asking in the comments at Sciblogs for opinions on things that interest them. Don’t be shy, roll up! (Best to choose an appropriate person: try clicking on ‘Our blogs’ at the top and check out what each person covers.)
Be careful of small studies. Another that applies to all science: be wary of claims based on studies using only a small number of examples, particularly if the thing being tested for is complex.
How small is small? That’s not easy; for some things it’ll be surprisingly large! In the case of the Holocaust survivor study The Guardian ran, it is small – 32 Holocaust survivors, 22 (adult) offspring with just 8 and 9 ‘controls’ to these, respectively. A small sample size doesn’t make the data ‘wrong’, but it limits what can be usefully said about what was observed. If nothing can really be said (this may be more than ‘just statistical issues) the research becomes uninterpretable, as some suggest.
It may come as depressing news that many scientists may have excellent general knowledge of their topic, be very good at the data collecting techniques used in the studies, but not be as good at numerical analysis of the data generated.
Epigenetic inheritance in mammals. If you read a claim for epigenetic inheritance in mammals, and that includes us humans: be cautious.
Epigenetic[7] inheritance is idea that a change during the parent’s lifetime results in changes in their children in a way that is inherited without altering the DNA sequence itself.
Inheritance implies something that continues to be inherited. On-going inheritance is a very different beast to influencing the next generation – a one-shot thing. The outcome for the first generation might be similar, but how they happen will be different. Disconcerting which is which is not trivial, unfortunately. (Speaking for myself, I would prefer that scientists stop using ‘inheritance’ unless they mean it in the strict sense of on-going inheritance.)
A part of the caution is that the ‘markers’[8] for epigenetic features in DNA are mostly wiped out between generations – twice: once shortly after fertilisation and once when sex cells are made. Known as post-fertilisation and germline reprogramming, this is a bit like rebooting your computer back to start again with only the base operating system going and no applications running. (The full story is complex and like all analogies this one only partly works.)
Things that are evolutionarily useful are kept. Mammals have kept the machinery to ‘reset’ (almost all of) the epigenetic markers of each new generation. Epigenetic inheritance would have to work around this, or be an exception to the rule. To have confidence in a claim of epigenetic inheritance, we’d want to know how it got around this.
True inheritance would be on-going, generation after generation. As far as I’m aware there are no good examples of on-going epigenetic inheritance in mammals – and the Holocaust research study does not set an example, nor is the first to claim it might happen (a claim the newspaper later corrected in a footnote). There are examples of influencing later generations, however.
(Furthermore, the study the Holocaust survivor study has the children ‘inheriting’ the opposite of the epigenetic markers found in the parent.[9])
How many generations were looked at? Claims of on-going inheritance in mammals to need show inheritance on for at least two subsequent generations of males and/or three generations of females.[10] The Holocaust survivor study only looked at one generation.
Epigenetic inheritance implies that the change in epigenetic markers is passed on to generations that never experienced the exposure event.
A key problem here is that males have two generations of cells in them: theirs and (part of) the next generation’s in their germ line cells. Similarly, pregnant females have three generations: theirs, their infant’s and their infant’s precursor germ line cells. More than one generation can be affected by one ‘exposure’; inheritance occurs when it is passed on to one that wasn’t ‘exposed’.
Take a pregnant mother. Nutritional effects could act on the embryo’s developing germline, so that the mother’s grandchildren are affected directly, without any inheritance taking place. That’s interesting, but it’s not epigenetic inheritance.
The Holocaust survivor research argues the exposure occurred before conception, but even accepting this it is difficult to rule out other ways that children might be exposed to (say) stress that is a reflection of the parent’s experiences or other cultural or environmental factors. Again, these would be interesting, but they wouldn’t be epigenetic inheritance.
How mature is this area of science? You know the thing where something is reported on when in practice there isn’t enough certainty on the subject, never mind the particular incident? Many would say epigenetics, especially in mammals, is a bit like that right now. Science has it’s trends too, and epigenetics is a very popular one. There’s some basic ‘how do we do this stuff’ that needs sorting out.[5]
There are many more suggestions, but it’s enough to start with.
The idea that trauma from events like the Holocaust may effect children of those that experienced the events is interesting, but needs strong evidence as there are many factors to consider.
Footnotes
I’ve used two informal terms ‘inheritance’ and ‘influence’. In the scientific literature you’d find intragenerational inheritance and intergenerational inheritance. ‘Intra-’ means ‘within’ and ‘inter-’ between. I prefer the use of the word ‘inheritance’ to be restricted limited to ‘true’ inheritance as I feel the mixed use of the term has the effect of conflating two different concepts and processes, one limited to direct effects on a generation or two, the other to on-going affects, potentially ‘forever’.
1. Google Trends reports a steady, if unspectacular, increase in interest in the search term ‘epigenetics’ over the years. More interesting is to note that the regions with strongest interest in epigenetics are in North America, Australia and New Zealand, but less so in Europe and elsewhere in the world. (See map shown to the right.)
2. By journalist Helen Thomson, formerly a biomed editor at NewScientist magazine; also on twitter, @hvthomson.
3. One commenter at the Guardian described the new-age religious philosophy use of epigenetics as ‘hippygenetics’. It captures the essence of it well, I think: a sort of time-displaced fuzzy thinking with added ‘science’ words to give it an aura of credibility.
4. I’ve listed just a few of these below. There are many more general discussions of what epigenetics is and issues with analysing epigenetic studies, especially by and for scientists, but these would be more appropriate in another article focused on the science.
5. I’d add my thoughts here, but would prefer to tackle this in a later post. In particular, I’ve seen no-one comment on the main target of the paper, the gene regulatory sites that their work focuses on. Perhaps, if I have time, I may attempt giving a more detailed account – readers are welcome to express their interest or offer thoughts or suggestions.
6. Embargoes give journalists early access to science that the journal publishing it thinks might be of interest to media. In principle this early access gives journalists time to get the story right, for example to check it with other scientists. Reality being what it is, scientists may be too busy to respond before the journalists rush to their deadline or can offer at best a quick skim of the research – it takes quite a bit of time to read a research paper carefully. The challenges of each story will vary, but it’s fair to say that stories still get oversold despite the advance time offered by the embargo system. I have a lot of empathy with those covering these on deadlines; covering science carefully is hard work. (I ought to know!)
As for the embargo system itself, where shall I begin? I’ve been meaning to write on these for several years now – to suggest they want to be gone or, alternatively, that they allow scientist-communicators access to them. As one glimpse at the problem: if you are a scientist with an interest in writing about work in your field for general readers, you are denied access to the early release material. This gives to non-experts a guaranteed, effectively as of rights, privilege of getting copy to newspapers, magazines, etc., over someone with expertise who might want to cover it.
7. The term epigenetics means different things to different people. There are discussions about this in the scientific community. The current use of the term seems a bit of mess, to be polite about it. I’ll leave exploring that for another time—sorting that out it’s a bit more involved than this newspaper article deserves and we don’t actually need it to look at it for the idea of epigenetic inheritance that the Holocaust survivor work looks at.
8. DNA methylation. DNA bases can be ‘marked’ with a methyl group – a carbon with four hydrogens stuck to it – one hydrogen is displaced and that bond is replaced with one to the DNA base, sticking the methyl group onto the DNA. Other forms of chemical modification of DNA bases are known; there are also chemical modification of the proteins that DNA is packaged with which are considered epigenetic modifications.
9. Some criticism suggests this may be an issue with the statistics reporting an effect when in practice there may be none. They authors acknowledge in the research paper that they have no mechanism to explain how this might happen.
10. I’m generalising a little here.
Other related articles on Code for life:
(To be added later; a recent update to Sciblogs currently has images and videos in old posts not being displayed.) | {
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Saturday, 24th March, 2012
Legendary former France star Zinedine Zidane has revealed that it will only be a matter of time until he slips into the dugout as a coach.
Zidane currently works at Real Madrid as the Spanish club’s sporting director, but has long been tipped to become more involved with the game on the pitch by contributing as a coach.
And the former Juventus star has admitted that he is already thinking quite seriously about entering the pressure cooker of management as he seeks to continue to learn about the game he loves.
"Sooner or later I will get closer to the pitch", Zidane told radio station France Info.
"I will want to transmit my experience. I won’t invent something new, but that is what I know best and what I can do best."
However, the 39-year-old Zidane is determined to wait until the time is right, insisting he is not in a great rush to jump into a managerial post.
"But I have time. I am not in any hurry.
"I don’t have personal ambition, only the wish to learn things and that is the direction I want to take in order to develop.
"It is a natural development."
Zidane hung up his boots in 2006, ending a glittering career which had included spells with Cannes, Bordeaux, Juventus and Real Madrid.
The attacking midfielder led France to the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, picked up two Serie A titles, one La Liga title and one Champions League in addition to a whole host of individual accolades, including three FIFA World Player of the Year awards in a sparkling playing stint.
Don’t miss the latest news, features and interviews.
Like InsideFutbol.com on Facebook.
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Check out our new site Makeup Addiction
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I don't get Why this meme is so popular | {
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NOTE: I accidentally recorded this episode with my laptop mic, so the audio quality is much worse than usual. Hopefully it's not too bad for y'all!This week we have arrived at the most famous episode of all time; Electric Soldier Porygon. Also known as Computer Warrior Porygon and AI Warrior Porygon, this episode is infamous for causing many Japanese children to have seizures due to excessive flashing lights. the incident made Pokémon famous around the world before it had even left Japan and resulted in Porygon being banned from the anime. Will the "Pokémon Shock" episode live up to its hype?Make sure to check out my YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3KryRseiUsMXwHEVMwFwiA) too! Not only can you listen to the podcast there, but I also make videos essays and top 10 lists on a whole range of different Pokémon topics.SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/whos-that-pok%C3%A9mon-a-pok%C3%A9mon-anime-rewatch-podcast/id1484042247Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3wVfXPnTh8hhMjshLbD3ZeStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/wtp-productions/whos-that-pokemon-as-pokemon-anime-rewatch-podcastTuneIn: http://tun.in/pjABGYou can also follow the show on Twitter to keep up with the latest updates: https://twitter.com/WhosThatPKMNPod | {
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Eating foods rich in amino acids could be as good for your heart as stopping smoking or getting more exercise -- according to new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA).
A new study published today reveals that people who eat high levels of certain amino acids found in meat and plant-based protein have lower blood pressure and arterial stiffness.
And the magnitude of the association is similar to those previously reported for lifestyle risk factors including salt intake, physical activity, alcohol consumption and smoking.
Researchers investigated the effect of seven amino acids on cardiovascular health among almost 2,000 women with a healthy BMI. Data came from TwinsUK -- the biggest UK adult twin registry of 12,000 twins which is used to study the genetic and environmental causes of age related disease.
They studied their diet and compared it to clinical measures of blood pressure and blood vessel thickness and stiffness.
They found strong evidence that those who consumed the highest amounts of amino acids had lower measures of blood pressure and arterial stiffness.
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But they found that the food source was important -- with a higher intake of amino acids from plant-based sources associated with lower blood pressure, and a higher intake from animal sources associated with lower levels of arterial stiffness.
Lead researcher Dr Amy Jennings, from UEA's Norwich Medical School, said: "This research shows a protective effect of several amino acids on cardiovascular health.
"Increasing intake from protein-rich foods such as meat, fish, dairy produce, beans, lentils, broccoli and spinach could be an important and readily achievable way to reduce people's risk of cardiovascular disease.
"Results from previous studies have provided evidence that increased dietary protein may be associated with lower blood pressure. We wanted to know whether protein from animal sources or plant-based sources was more beneficial -- so we drilled down and looked at the different amino acids found in both meat and vegetables.
"We studied seven amino acids -- arginine, cysteine, glutamic acid, glycine, histidine, leucine, and tyrosine. Glutamic acid, leucine, and tyrosine are found in animal sources, and a higher intake was associated with lower levels of arterial stiffness.
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"All seven amino acids, and particularly those from plant-based sources, were associated with lower blood pressure.
"The really surprising thing that we found is that amino acid intake has as much of an effect on blood pressure as established lifestyle risk factors such as salt intake, physical activity and alcohol consumption. For arterial stiffness, the association was similar to the magnitude of change previously associated with not smoking.
"High blood pressure is one of the most potent risk factors for developing cardiovascular disease. A reduction in blood pressure leads to a reduction in mortality caused by stroke or coronary heart disease -- so changing your diet to include more meat, fish, dairy produce and pulses could help both prevent and treat the condition.
"Beneficial daily amounts equate to a 75g portion of steak, a 100g salmon fillet or a 500ml glass of skimmed milk," she added.
Prof Tim Spector from the department of Twin Research at King's college London said: "The finding that eating certain meat and plant proteins are linked to healthier blood pressure is an exciting finding. We need to understand the mechanism to see if it is direct or via our gut microbes." | {
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Employees at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission have deep ties to the industry they regulate, according to agency documents detailing their job negotiations and stock holdings.
Ethics records throughout 2014 show agency staff seeking employment with grid operators, law firms and utilities that the agency has jurisdiction over and often meets with as it sets new orders and rules. In addition, FERC employees have held stock in or remain part of pension plans from companies that can be affected by the agency's work. Greenwire obtained the 88 ethics documents under the Freedom of Information Act.
The disclosures reflect how FERC, which oversees the interstate transmission of electricity and permitting of gas infrastructure, is regulating an industry that many of its staffers are well-suited for and often courted to work in.
The documents show more than 40 instances last year when FERC employees entered into negotiations for jobs outside the agency. Those interested in hiring agency staff included Van Ness Feldman LLP, Dominion Resources Inc., Xcel Energy Inc., Crowell & Moring, General Electric Co., TransCanada Corp., Florida Power & Light Co., Steptoe & Johnson LLP, FirstEnergy Corp., and American Electric Power Company Inc..
FERC employees' job negotiations were disclosed because they had to give notice to the agency and recuse themselves from matters that could affect their future employers.
Called a "notice of disqualification," the document signed by the agency worker says he or she is "required to disqualify myself from participating personally and substantially in any particular matter that will directly and predictably affect the financial interests" of the company that the employee is talking to for a future job.
Previous employment at a company under FERC's purview can also trigger the requirement for agency staff to file such a notice.
"The purpose of a recusal is to prevent a conflict of interest," a FERC spokeswoman said in an email. "The fact that an employee is recused because he/she previously worked for a prohibited source or is seeking employment with one or is recused for some other reason does not bring into question the impartiality of FERC's work. The purpose of recusal is to ensure impartiality."
Public interest watchdogs, however, warn of closes ties between federal agencies and industries they oversee.
Michael Smallberg, an investigator at the Project on Government Oversight, said many federal employees do everything they can to act in the public's interest, but significant movement between a regulator and entities it regulates can damage public trust by creating the perception that the relationship is too "cozy." That, in turn, can cause the public to question the agency's integrity, he said.
Smallberg raised concerns with a large number of former federal workers moving to trade associations, lobbying shops and powerful, regulated companies -- as opposed to consumer advocacy groups -- that try to weaken government regulations, and questioned whether the ethics offices at federal agencies have time and funding to ensure employees are complying with the rules.
"There are concerns when people are going to work for the industry they used to regulate," he said. "It can mean their decisions as a current official might be biased toward that certain industry, or that they're in a position to provide strategy and context and special information to companies facing enforcement, seeking to influence regulations or interact with [FERC].
"Even if they didn't intend to curry favor, we worry the revolving door can shape how they view issues or affect the mindset of the agency," Smallberg added.
The FERC spokeswoman said the agency "has a robust ethics program" and that all of its staff undergo annual ethics training.
"The training provides explanations of what issues are likely to arise and where to go for assistance," she said. "Supervisors also are trained to help their staffs understand and follow ethics rules and regulations. Senior staff also file annual financial disclosure forms that are reviewed and approved by [General Administrative Law] staff."
'Here's the list I'm looking at right now'
The documents show intense interest by the private sector in hiring FERC staff, with several employees disclosing job talks with prominent energy companies and law firms.
One FERC employee, whose name was redacted in the document, gave notice that he or she was in negotiations with eight different entities.
"Here's the list I'm looking at right now. Please let me know if you have any questions," the person said in an email under the subject line "Recusal Letters," sent in January 2014.
Among those on that list were National Grid U.S., Northeast Utilities and Edison Mission Energy.
Mason Emnett, the deputy director of FERC's Office of Energy Policy and Innovation, also recused himself, according to the documents. He left the agency after almost eight years last May to take a position as a senior attorney for NextEra Energy Inc. Emnett, who declined to comment on the recusal, has served as a senior attorney of federal regulatory affairs at NextEra since June 2014, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Before joining FERC, he was an associate at the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP for eight years.
In January, Teresina Stasko, a FERC attorney, recused herself from decisions involving the North American Electric Reliability Corp., where she was seeking employment. Stasko is now the senior counsel and manager of enforcement actions at NERC.
Lauren O'Donnell also filed a recusal, which she wouldn't comment on. She spent 35 years at FERC and was the agency's director of its Division of Gas-Environment and Engineering before joining TRC Companies Inc. as its vice president for oil and gas last July.
Brett White filed a notice with FERC last June when he began negotiating with his new employer.
White currently represents electric utility and natural gas companies at the law firm Wright & Talisman PC before FERC and the federal courts.
Before joining the law firm in October, White worked more than two years at FERC advising the commission on issues critical to the power and gas sector, including federal audits and applications by power marketers for market-based rate authority, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Stocks and conflicts of interest
It isn't just job negotiations that would require FERC employees to file notices with their supervisors. Their stocks could trigger disclosures, too. Agency staff noted that they had holdings in Bank of America Corp., Exelon Corp. and PPL Corp., as well as Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
One FERC staffer was warned that if he or she purchased more shares in JPMorgan Chase & Co. or another prohibited company, the individual would be required to divest from those stocks.
"If you make future purchases of securities that are listed on the prohibited securities list, you will be required to divest those purchases," Charles Beamon, FERC's designated agency ethics official, wrote in a waiver for the employee on prohibited stocks, issued last May.
FERC employees also maintained ties to energy interests -- such as Pepco Holdings Inc., Consolidated Edison Inc. and the Tennessee Valley Authority -- through retirement and pension plans.
"I have an ongoing arrangement with a former employer, Pepco Holdings, Inc., in the form of a defined benefit pension plan," said one agency staffer, noting that "Pepco Holdings, Inc. is regulated by the Commission and regularly participates in Commission proceedings."
That led to the employee recusing him or herself from matters involving Pepco.
"In accordance 18 U.S.C. 208, I will not participate in any particular matter in which Pepco Holdings, Inc. is a party if the matter could result in the dissolution of Pepco Holdings, Inc. or render it unable or unwilling to pay my defined benefit pension."
There were several instances when agency employees gave no reason why they were recusing themselves from interacting with certain companies or groups.
"This is to confirm that I will not participate in any matter at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission involving Chevron or any affiliates thereof, either as applicant or intervenor," read one document.
Another notice said, "This is to confirm that I will not participate in any particular matter at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in which the Environmental Defense Fund is a party or represents a party."
The FERC spokeswoman said agency staff members only have to give notice when a conflict of interest arises, not provide the reason why, in the documents.
"Employees are only required to provide notice to avoid a conflict; frequently, employees have discussed the reason for their recusal with agency ethics staff or it is otherwise known to agency ethics staff even if it is not noted in their formal recusal," she said.
In addition, FERC staffers' names were often blacked out in the documents that Greenwire received under FOIA. The few names that were released were due to those employees ultimately accepting employment from the companies that they were in talks with; others had their names redacted in order to protect their privacy.
'Someone fresh out of FERC is extra valuable'
Former FERC employees, with their understanding of the agency, can be valuable assets for their new employers.
Although many government ethics rules prevent employees from contacting their former colleagues, Smallberg said workers in many cases can join firms and provide "behind-the-scenes" advice to help design lobbying strategies.
FERC could further enhance public confidence by posting their employees' recusals online, Smallberg added.
"Ideally, people shouldn't have to go through FOIA," he said.
But Travis Fisher, who worked as an economist at FERC from June 2006 to May 2013, said he has the impression that the commission took ethics issues very seriously.
Although Fisher never held stocks of companies the agency regulated, he said it was clear to employees that they needed to recuse themselves from specific cases if they did. Fisher said it was a "topic of conversation" at FERC and something workers cared about.
He also said former FERC staffers, with intimate knowledge of the agency's inner workings, are attractive to the private sector, noting that one of his former colleagues now works on FERC compliance issues for Exelon. Fisher now serves as an economist for the Institute for Energy Research, a free-market think tank based in Washington, D.C.
"It's a certain level of expertise, the sweet spot is somewhere in that four-to-five-year mark," he said. Fisher said he, like his former colleagues, gained a keen understanding of which draft orders would compel commissioners and what language would have to be scrapped or rewritten -- valuable insight for utilities seeking to comply with the FERC regulation.
"Your job at FERC was to read those pleadings, from the utility side you're writing those pleadings," Fisher said. "Someone fresh out of FERC is extra valuable because of their knowledge of the politics of the organization."
Click here to read FERC's ethics documents. | {
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Ferrari's new Portofino is the replacement — and upgrade — to the brand's bestselling California T, which debuted 10 years ago. The Portofino starts at $210,000.
Ferrari Portofino, replacement to the California T, which debuted 10 years ago and has since become Ferrari's all-time best-seller.
Faster, smaller and lighter than the California T, the Portofino (named after the seaside village on the Italian Riviera) has a twin-turbo V8 engine with speeds up to 591 horsepower, going from zero to 60 miles per hour in 3.2 seconds and zero to 124 miles per hour in 10 seconds. The top speed is 198 miles per hour.
The 2+2 (two front seats and two smaller rear seats) hardtop convertible car, with the retractable roof folding down in 14 seconds, is aerodynamic with surfaces that help conduct airflow through headlights, front intakes and fender vents. The car also has a new wind deflector that cuts air flow inside the cabin by 30 percent and reduces noise when the top is down.
The 18-way adjustable electric leather seats are built on a lightweight magnesium structure that allows a thin seatback.
The Portofino has an infotainment system with a high-definition, 10.2-inch central command screen with Apple CarPlay, voice command functionality and front- and rear-parking cameras. The temperature, audio and navigation systems can be controlled by the touch screen. There is a screen display above the glove box that provides performance data for passengers.
There are also some crazy upgrades available. For instance, Ferrari offers three alternate designs for the standard front grill, including a darker black chrome version that will set you back $1,687; or you can get colored floor mats with the Ferrari logo for $1,350.
The Portofino, which officially debuted in Italy in February 2018, began rolling out to U.S. dealerships in May 2018. | {
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Attractive boy shoves his enormous pecker up boyfriends tight ass
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Description: Attractive teenager shoves his massive pecker up boyfriends tight butt. these young men are all about twirling around while anally penetrated! Duration: 9min 52sec Viewed: 1 448 Added: 11 months ago by redass at GaysTubesTV
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CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- A guest speaker was removed from a high school assembly Monday morning after an inappropriate image appeared on a large screen at the beginning of his presentation, Midlothian High School principal Shawn Abel said in a message to parents.
The image was pornographic in nature, according to people who were in the room during the Career Pathways program assembly at Midlothian High School.
"The image came from the mobile drive provided by the outside speaker. The guest speaker was immediately removed from the assembly, and the remainder of the event went on as planned," Abel said. "Like you, I am very concerned that a distraction caused by an outside speaker would become the focus of an otherwise important conversation with our students. We will redouble our efforts when we coordinate events with outside speakers, including screening the presentations ahead of time."
The Career Pathways program assembly was attended by school's sophomore class.
Multiple students said after the inappropriate image appeared, the guest presenter threw up his hands and said, 'that’s not mine.'
CBS 6 spoke with one student who was in the assembly when the incident happened.
He said the room fell silent for a few seconds because no one could really tell what was going on.
“I looked at it again and I was still really confused. Then I was like ‘oh’ and they shut it off and took the guy out and that was basically it,” said Sophomore John Williams.
The teen also commended the school for their quick response.
“I think that the school did a really good job with the way that they handled it, by emailing the parents, instead of having them find out through us,” said Williams.
CBS 6 has confirmed that the guest speaker was employed with Bon Secours as a x-ray technician.
In a statement to CBS 6, Bon Secours apologized for the incident and noted that the employee has been placed on administrative leave while “we conduct a thorough investigation.”
Here’s the full statement.
“Bon Secours is a faith based organization, and as such we hold our employees to the highest ethical standards. We therefore offer our sincerest apology to the students, faculty, and parents of Midlothian High School for the incident today involving a Bon Secours employee. The incident was accidental, but unacceptable. We have placed the employee on administrative leave while we conduct a thorough investigation, and will take appropriate disciplinary action in accordance with the findings of the investigation. We will have no further comment until the investigation is complete.”
Witnesses can send news tips here. | {
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La policière Stéfanie Trudeau, alias Matricule 728, a été déclarée coupable de voies de fait pour son arrestation «brutale, illégale et sans motif» d'un musicien, le 2 octobre 2012.
C'est le verdict qu'a rendu le juge Daniel Bédard, au terme d'un long jugement qu'il a lu durant près de deux heures, jeudi après-midi.
Le magistrat estime que l'intervention musclée de «Matricule 728» à l'endroit de Serge Lavoie et de ses amis, ce soir-là, est «injustifiable» et «motivée par la rage, non pas par la nécessité».
Lavoie, un guitariste de 52 ans dont le père était policier, avait traité la constable Trudeau de «grosse vache» et de «grosse niaiseuse» alors que celle-ci passait les menottes à son ami Rudi Ochietti, face contre terre, pour avoir bu une bière sur la rue Papineau.
C'est après être entré dans l'atelier des amis de Serge Lavoie que la policière est ensuite allée l'appréhender «avec une force excessive et démesurée».
«Ce n'est pas la policière qui part à la poursuite d'un citoyen qui l'entrave, c'est Stéfanie Trudeau qui part corriger celui qui l'a insultée», a tranché le juge, estimant que Lavoie n'avait commis aucun crime. | {
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San Francisco-based startup Rare Bits has raised US$6 million in a Series A funding round for its online marketplace for unique crypto assets and collectibles. The round was led by Spark Capital with participation from First Round Capital, Craft Ventures, SV Angel, Twitch CEO Emmett Shear, Greenoaks MD Neil Mehta, Aditya Agarwal, Ruchi Sangvhi, Justin Kan and Avichal Garg.
The startup will use the capital injection to staff up and scale its efforts to expand the supply of crypto collectibles and rare crypto assets in its marketplace, Rare Bits co-founder Danny Lee told CoinJournal.
Crypto assets and crypto collectibles are non-fungible tokens running on the Ethereum network that are provably unique and scarce. These blockchain-based digital items rose to fame when Ethereum video game CryptoKitties went viral with digital kittens going for well over US$100,000. At some point, CryptoKitties became the largest decentralized application on the Ethereum protocol, accounting for more than 13% of the network’s transactions. The craze peaked to the point that initial coin offerings (ICOs) could not launch due to network congestions caused by the sale and trading of digital kittens on CryptoKitties.
CryptoKitties, a creation of Canadian venture-studio Axiom Zen, allows users to buy, sell and breed digital cats. The company raised US$12 million from a roster of prominent investors last month.
Since the launch of CryptoKitties in November 2017, a horde of similar blockchain-based virtual games have launched to tap into the mania. These include CryptoCelebrities, CryptoPuppies, CryptoPets, Cryptobots and CryptoBunnies by China’s smartphone maker Xiaomi.
But for Lee, the crypto collectible phenomenon triggered last year is unlikely to fade away, noting that the decentralized application is currently being used by more than 1,000 users daily, producing 8,000 transactions at trading volumes of 95 ETH or approximately US$48,000.
“That’s already a ton of traction,” Lee said. “The crypto asset market in gaming is already sizable and continues to grow.”
Rare Bits, a web-based app that works in pair with Ethereum web browser extension MetaMask, was founded earlier this year to tap into this thriving market and “become THE place to buy, sell and discover all crypto assets,” Lee said. And while digital games and pure collectibles are currently the beachhead category for crypto assets, the startup believes there will be many different types of digital property to emerge in the near future.
“Going forward, when there’s a lot more inventory spanning multiple categories (e.g. digital collectibles/art, software licenses, etc.), this can easily be 1000x bigger,” Lee said. | {
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Shailesh Patel says the night staff at his Mr. Sub restaurant on the west side of Saskatoon ask only one thing of customers.
Show your face.
Patel says that's not the only reason the restaurant has gone two years without a robbery, but that it's an important element.
The Mr. Sub is in a strip mall at Diefenbaker Drive and 22nd Street West. It's a remote location on the western edge of the city and it shares space with a gas station, a brew pub and offsale, a café and a specialty tea store.
The remote location makes it a tempting target for thieves. Police reported 12 armed robberies in the city over the past month. Four of them happened at the strip mall where Patel's Mr. Sub is located.
The strip mall's remote location makes it a tempting target. (Dan Zakreski/CBC)
Last year's crime stats show a 28 per cent drop overall in armed robberies when compared with 2017, but that's cold comfort for business owners in a mall where police sirens and gunshots are not uncommon.
Patel says the breaking point came two years ago, when his night staff were terrorized in back-to-back robberies.
"The first time, he comes with a gun," he said.
"Second time, it's two guys, one guy's coming with a big knife and one guy is coming with a big chain. Same thing, asking the money, he takes the money and go."
Patel invested in a remote lock system on the restaurant's second door. A customer comes through the first door into an anteroom. The night staff can see the customer, both in person and on camera. If their face is covered, they don't get in.
If they give off a vibe that unsettles the staffer, they don't get in.
Further, every corner inside the store is visible on the store's surveillance cameras.
Patel isn't certain what can be done to reduce the robbery rate for the strip mall overall. Bigger and brighter lighting in the parking lot could help, as would a regular police or security presence.
Until then, he's staying with what works.
"Open your face, we open the door." | {
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The mechanisms of action of the dietary components of the Mediterranean diet are reviewed in prevention of cardiovascular disease, stroke, age-associated cognitive decline and Alzheimer disease. A companion article provides a comprehensive review of extra-virgin olive oil. The benefits of consumption of long-chain ω-3 fatty acids are described. Fresh fish provides eicosapentaenoic acid while α-linolenic acid is found in canola and soybean oils, purslane and nuts. These ω-3 fatty acids interact metabolically with ω-6 fatty acids mainly linoleic acid from corn oil, sunflower oil and peanut oil. Diets rich in ω-6 fatty acids inhibit the formation of healthier ω-3 fatty acids. The deleterious effects on lipid metabolism of excessive intake of carbohydrates, in particular high-fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners, are explained. The critical role of the ω-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid in the developing and aging brain and in Alzheimer disease is addressed. Nutritional epidemiology studies, prospective population-based surveys, and clinical trials confirm the salutary effects of fish consumption on prevention of coronary artery disease, stroke and dementia. Recent recommendations on fish consumption by pregnant women and potential mercury toxicity are reviewed. The polyphenols and flavonoids of plant origin play a critical role in the Mediterranean diet, because of their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of benefit in type-2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, stroke and cancer prevention. Polyphenols from fruits and vegetables modulate tau hyperphosphorylation and beta amyloid aggregation in animal models of Alzheimer disease. From the public health viewpoint worldwide the daily consumption of fruits and vegetables has become the main tool for prevention of cardiovascular disease and stroke. We review the important dietary role of cereal grains in prevention of coronary disease and stroke. Polyphenols from grapes, wine and alcoholic beverages are discussed, in particular their effects on coagulation. The mechanisms of action of probiotics and vitamins are also included. | {
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UPDATE, 3:05 PM: The unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs had their fourth win in a row last night on but, with ratings and viewership down, the NFL and ESPN probably aren’t doing any dances in the end zone.
The final numbers are in and the Chiefs’ 29-20 victory over the Washington Redskins snared 11.9 million viewers and a 4.3 rating among adults 18-49.
Which means double-digit falls for MNF in both categories.
Compared to the September 25 Dallas Cowboys vs. Arizona Cardinals game, last night’s MNF was down 16% in the key demo to match a season low. Viewershipwise, the Chiefs’ win saw MNF take a 13% hit from last week.
Still, in a season that has seen rare ratings traction, ESPN did top both cable and broadcast TV thanks to MNF’s performance.
Related Story Seahawks' Blowout Win Sees 'Sunday Night Football' Ratings Down, Again
PREVIOUSLY, 6:51 AM: With declining ratings from last week and 2016, last night’s Monday Night Football match-up between the still unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs and the Washington Redskins started off with a moment of silence for those killed and injured in Sunday’s mass shooting in Las Vegas.
The ESPN broadcast was then followed by the national anthem that saw all of the DC team linking arms while Chiefs players Marcus Peters and Ukeme Eligwe sat on the bench.
With the remembrance and the controversial politics past, it was then time for football at Arrowhead Stadium and when Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker nailed a 43-yard field goal in his first game right at the end, KC’s winning streak continued to hold. The Chiefs won 29-20 on Monday over the Redskins.
Coming off last week’s Dallas Cowboys’ 28-17 win over the Arizona Cardinals, where the ratings actually went up for MNF, last night’s game was not a victory for the Disney-owned cable giant nor the NFL in the early numbers.
Against a packed Big 4 primetime, MNF snared an 8.4 in metered market numbers. That’s down 10% from the Cowboys and Cardinals game of September 25. Year-to-year, the Chiefs’ fourth straight win this season dipped 8% in the early numbers from the comparable Minnesota Vikings’ 24-10 win over the New York Giant on October 3, 2016 – a season of sliding ratings that the NFL wants to forget, but may repeat.
Last week’s MNF went on to score a 5.1 rating among adults 18-49, 13.7 million viewers and win the night among cable and broadcasters. Even with the decline of last night’s game, it is likely that MNF will prove No. 1 for ESPN once again.
We’ll update with more MNF ratings and others as we get them. In the meantime, last night’s tight game MNF peaked from with a 9.5 mm rating in the 9:45 – 10 PM. ET with a 9.5 metered market rating. | {
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Game of Thrones star and acting royalty Dame Diana Rigg will join the cast of Victoria series two, ITV have confirmed, as filming begins on the new eight-part series and Christmas special.
Rigg will play the Duchess of Buccleuch, Queen Victoria’s ‘outspoken’ advisor and Mistress of the Robes. She joins stars Jenna Coleman and Tom Hughes in the royal drama, airing on ITV later this year.
“In series one Victoria married the handsome prince, but in this series she and Albert get down to the serious business of living happily, sometimes stormily, ever after,” creator Daisy Goodwin said.
“Victoria is the only Queen Regnant to marry and give birth while on the throne and the challenges of being head of state as well as a wife and mother are legion. In many ways Victoria’s dilemma is a modern one – how do you have a successful marriage and a happy family when you are holding down an important job. Can you really have it all?”
The Christmas special, first revealed by RadioTimes.com, will run for two hours according to ITV.
Rigg’s character (full name Charlotte Anne Montagu Douglas Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry) served as Mistress of the Robes from 1841 to 1846. The Queen is said to have described her as “an agreeable, sensible, clever little person”, and later became a godmother to the Duchess’s daughter.
The series begins six weeks after the events of the first series, with Victoria (Coleman) and Prince Albert (Hughes) trying to adjust to life with a young child.
The creators confirm that much of the cast from series one will return, including Nigel Lindsay (Unforgotten) as Sir Robert Peel, Alex Jennings (The Lady In The Van) as King Leopold, Peter Bowles (To The Manor Born) as Duke of Wellington, David Oakes (The White Queen) as Ernest, Daniela Holtz (Circle Of Life) as Baroness Lehzen and Catherine Flemming (Tatort) as the Duchess of Kent.
Below stairs Nell Hudson (Outlander) returns as Skerrett, Ferdinand Kingsley (Borgia) as chef Francatelli and Adrian Schiller (The Secret Agent) as Penge.
Executive producer Damien Timmer said, “Series one of Victoria was a big success both at home and abroad, and it is a privilege to continue to tell the story of this fascinating woman at a particularly interesting point in her reign.
“Audiences will be intrigued by the meticulously researched stories Daisy has planned, brimming with scandal, romance and tragedy. At the centre of it is a beautifully nuanced study of a young marriage, and it’s a joy to watch Jenna and Tom find new layers to this iconic couple.”
The series is produced by Mammoth Screen for ITV, and is exec produced by Damien Timmer and Kate McKerrell. | {
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Trump’s unyielding stance and lack of an evident plan to broker an end to the 24-day impasse comes at a fragile moment for his presidency, following a weekend at the White House during which he lashed out at critics large and small on Twitter and faced deeper scrutiny of his relationship with Russian leaders.
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The standstill also underscored the dysfunction that has gripped Washington since divided government began this month. Overtures to Trump’s core voters have dominated the White House’s strategy as Democrats have looked on in confusion, after the last round of talks between Trump and congressional leaders collapsed last week when Trump walked out.
“This is a crisis of Trump’s creation,” Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) said as she returned to the Capitol on Monday. “I hope my colleagues think about all of the people living paycheck to paycheck.”
The political cost of the shutdown is mounting as more than 800,000 federal workers miss their paychecks and as a new nonpartisan poll shows that nearly 2 out of 3 American voters support reopening the government and do not back Trump’s hard-line demand of $5.7 billion for a portion of the border wall.
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Worries were on the rise Monday. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), for example, said he is concerned about the operation of fisheries in his state and is “focused on minimizing the impact of the shutdown” — a message that was echoed by other GOP senators as they returned to Washington.
The acrimony between Trump and congressional leaders prompted a bipartisan group of rank-and-file senators — including Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) — to meet late Monday afternoon in fresh pursuit of an agreement.
But allies of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) were skeptical about the group’s chances of crafting a deal that could win the president’s support and pass the GOP-controlled Senate. And they said McConnell does not yet feel pressure to break from Trump’s position, despite the growing cracks in Republican ranks, particularly among more centrist lawmakers.
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“He’s right where he has always been,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) said as he left a private lunch Monday with McConnell. “As soon as the president tells him there is something he’d be willing to sign, he’ll bring it to the floor. But the president’s signature isn’t a given on anything, and the leader isn’t going to go through with some futile act on something in the meantime .”
“Maybe this is all one big political game,” McConnell said of the Democrats’ position Monday in his floor remarks, which revealed no signs of progress in the standoff. “What’s happening here is that federal workers are paying for this far-left ideological crusade.”
A group led by Graham worked last week to stitch together a bipartisan immigration deal that would trade wall funding for protections for unauthorized immigrants brought to the United States as children. But the group disbanded after Vice President Pence announced that Trump wasn’t interested in such a deal.
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Graham, speaking later on “Fox News Sunday,” urged Trump to “open up the government for a short period of time, like three weeks before he pulls the plug, see if we can get a deal” on the wall.
Cornyn, who is up for reelection in 2020, said Monday that many Republicans are eager to see a truce emerge this week. He has proposed his own potential path forward: tying together a boost in funding for security projects at ports of entry with an updated version of the Secure Fence Act of 2006. That law, which was backed by several Senate Democrats, triggered the construction of barriers and fences along 548 miles of the border between 2007 and 2010.
“Both sides are going to have to have something they can show they got out of a deal,” Cornyn said. “The president, of course, takes his own counsel, and it’s going to be hard to convince him.”
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Other Senate Republicans floated their own plans to end the deadlock, but few won much attention as Trump traveled to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 100th Annual Convention in New Orleans.
“We do need to have a Plan B,” said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). “It looks like both sides are pretty well dug in. I don’t like the dysfunction in Washington, D.C., so I’m trying to alleviate that dysfunction.”
Johnson is one of many GOP senators straining to balance their alliance with Trump with their desire to end the impasse. His plan involves “opening up the essential parts of government and making sure that people who are working are being paid,” while keeping some agencies shut down.
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“Maybe doing this would force the Democrats to negotiate in good faith on border security,” he said.
Graham attended Monday’s meeting of the bipartisan negotiation group. Other attendees included Sens. Christopher A. Coons (D-Del.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Doug Jones (D-Ala.), Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.).
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After the meeting, Manchin offered a downbeat assessment: “I sat there for an hour and didn’t know what the hell it was about.”
White House officials said Monday that the president would invite some House Democrats to meet with him this week to discuss border security, in an attempt to see if any Democrats would be willing to work directly with him.
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But Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) joked in a closed-door meeting of top House Democrats on Monday that they were fine with Trump’s invites and did not expect their members to break away, according to an aide who was present.
Pelosi told Hoyer: “They can see what we’ve been dealing with. And they’ll want to make a citizen’s arrest,” according to the aide, who described a private discussion on the condition of anonymity.
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Democrats say they’re open to negotiating on border security, but only after Trump agrees to reopen the government. The House has spent the past two weeks passing spending bills to reopen portions of the government that have nothing to do with funding for a border wall, an effort that will continue this week.
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“Why won’t President Trump open the government while we continue to negotiate? Because he thinks it’s okay to use Americans’ lives, livelihoods, paychecks, and families as ‘leverage’ for his wall,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote on Twitter on Monday.
Leaders in both parties are watching to see whether moderate Republicans grow nervous about the shutdown this week and pressure McConnell to act. “Everyone’s eyes are on Mitch,” said one senior Democratic aide, who was not authorized to talk publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. “Will there be more Lisas or Susans?”
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Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) pleaded last Wednesday with Trump to reopen the government, according to lawmakers present at the president’s meeting with GOP senators, but so far their position is not widely shared within the Senate Republican conference.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said Monday that he was on a flight with a “fairly leading senior member of the House” who “made absolutely clear that he and others in the House, and most prominently Speaker Pelosi, have no intention of relenting.”
Recent polling shows that Trump and Republicans are in a more tenuous position as the shutdown drags on. A Quinnipiac University poll released Monday shows that 63 percent of American voters oppose shutting down the government to force funding for a border wall, with 56 percent saying Trump and Republicans are responsible for the shutdown, while 36 percent say Democrats are responsible. A majority of voters, the polling memo adds, remain opposed to a border wall.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll released Sunday also showed that more Americans blame Trump and Republicans in Congress than congressional Democrats for the shutdown, and most reject the president’s assertion that there is an illegal-immigration crisis on the border.
Trump’s weekend included a deluge of developments that have rattled his administration, bringing a rush of headlines related to the investigations of Russian interference in the 2016 campaign. The president has often been isolated in his residence in recent days and prone to flashes of frustration about his inability to get Democrats to buckle and provide him with funds, two Trump advisers said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe private exchanges.
“He isn’t in love with this shutdown, but he needs the wall,” one adviser said, describing his views.
The lack of wall funding, however, is only one item on a list of challenges facing the embattled president. On Friday, the New York Times first reported that an FBI investigation that was opened after Trump fired then-bureau Director James B. Comey in May 2017 included a component to determine whether the president was seeking to help Russia.
Then, on Saturday, The Washington Post reported that Trump had gone to extraordinary lengths to conceal details of his conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Those steps included at least one occasion, in 2017 in Hamburg, when Trump took possession of the notes of his own interpreter and instructed the linguist not to discuss what had happened with other administration officials.
As Trump departed for New Orleans on Monday, he faced questions about those stories as well as the shutdown, highlighting the political storms he is confronting at this juncture in his presidency.
Asked if he would be willing to share the interpreter’s notes, Trump did not directly answer, instead saying that “it was actually a very successful meeting” in which he and Putin discussed “many subjects.”
A national-emergency declaration had appeared a possible route to ending the shutdown last week, before Trump backed off the idea Friday.
“The Democrats should say: ‘We want border security. We have to build a wall, otherwise you can’t have border security.’ And we should get on with our lives,” Trump told reporters outside the White House on Monday.
Trump continued his pitch hours later in his speech in New Orleans.
“When it comes to keeping the American people safe, I will never ever back down,” he said. | {
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MQO Research spoke with 600 residents of Nova Scotia to gauge the political temperature in the province for the October edition of our quarterly political poll: Atlantic Matters.
Provincial Politics
According to the latest polling numbers, the governing Liberals now hold a slim lead. Among decided and leaning voters:
Current Liberal support edged down 3 percentage points to 42%.
PC Party support was up 5 percentage points to 36%.
NDP support was down 5 percentage points to 15%.
Support for the Green Party was relatively unchanged this quarter at 6%.
The undecided / no vote group was relatively unchanged at 42%.
“Liberal support in Halifax is the continued source of their political strength,” said Stephen Moore, Vice – President at MQO Research. “The Liberals are double the next closest party in Halifax while they trail the Tories in the rest of the province.”
“The NDP are at a two year low in terms of public support and they need to be worried,” noted Moore. “Weakened NDP support was one of the first steps toward the Green surges in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.”
Government Performance
The rating for the leadership of Premier Stephen McNeil edged up from a mean score of 4.7 last quarter to 5.0 in October (on a 10-point scale).
Provincial Outlook
The economic outlook for the province was relatively unchanged in October. 29% of Nova Scotians reported their outlook on the economy had worsened over the past three months (down marginally from 33% in July), while 52% indicated their outlook had stayed the same (trended up from 49%) and 17% felt things had gotten better (trended up from 14%).
The Atlantic Matters poll was conducted by telephone from October 18th to November 3rd, 2018 and included 600 randomly selected eligible voters from across the province. The margin of error for the total sample is ± 4.0 percentage points 19 times out of 20.
About MQO Research
MQO Research is one of Atlantic Canada’s leading market research firms, providing research insights to clients throughout the region and beyond. Our team includes experts in quantitative and qualitative methodologies and program evaluation. MQO subscribes to the highest standards of information gathering and research ethics in the industry in Canada.
For more information on Atlantic Matters or MQO Research, contact:
Stephen Moore – Vice-President
[email protected]
Click here to see the full report | {
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Messenger Loses US$30 000
A messenger employed by a company in Bulawayo got the shock of his life when thieves broke into his car and stole US$30 000 while he was buying lunch. The police did not disclose the name of the company where the hapless messenger is employed.
iHarare has learned that the messenger was given custody of the US$30 000 so that he could go deposit it at the bank. However, on his way there, the messenger decided to stop and grab a bite to eat.
As fate would have it, while he was getting his food from a retail shop, some thieves are reported to have broken into his car and stolen the US$30 000 which he had left in the dashboard. When the messenger returned 10 minutes later, the money was gone and he made a police report.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed the incident and said that it took place at a shopping centre located along 12th Avenue and Fife Street. Speaking to The Chronicle, Ncube said,
“The complainant returned to his car after about 10 minutes and discovered that an unknown person had used an unknown object to open the driver’s door stealing US$30 000 which was stashed in the dashboard. He made a report at Bulawayo Central Police Station and officers attended the scene,”
Inspector Ncube cautioned the public to be more cautious and to avoid enticing criminals.
“It is quite disturbing that members of the public continue to disregard the messages that we are sharing with them. We are always appealing to everyone to secure property especially when one intends to leave their vehicle. Residents should rather carry their money as opposed to leaving it in cars and risk losing it. We also implore the public to consider leaving their valuable property in the care of another person as the behaviour of leaving cash, laptops and handbags encourages criminality. We should not create a conducive environment for criminal activities lest we are also guilty of promoting theft from cars,”
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Congressional Democrat leaders of committees working to impeach President Trump were presented with information regarding crimes related to Obama’s Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and his Vice President Joe Biden. Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel and Elijah Cummings, the chairman of Oversight & Reform, have decided to ignore defy their oath and ignore the criminal acts!
Democrat lawmakers requested documents from the Pompeo State Department on Ukraine. So yesterday the State Department complied. But they weren’t what the Democrats were expecting!
The Trump administration sent over documents on Hillary Clinton’s collusion with Ukraine in the 2016 election and the Biden Family’s massive pay-for-play with the Ukrainian regime!
Rudy Giuliani discussed this on the Hannity Show last night on FOX – Via Hannity:
TRENDING: HERE SHE COMES! Judge Amy Coney Barrett Seen Leaving Her House with Her Seven Kids and Husband! -- Announcement at 5 PM ET
According to Bloomberg:
“The documents provided by the inspector general included a package of disinformation, debunked conspiracy theories, and baseless allegations” three Democratic House committee chairmen said in a statement released Wednesday night. Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel and Elijah Cummings, the chairman of Oversight & Reform, were among the lawmakers briefed by Linick [the State Department IG who delivered the documents]. The documents also contain notes that purport to be from interviews that took place at the office of Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani told CNN on Wednesday evening that some of the documents provided to Congress by the State Department’s inspector general had originated with him.
Each of these crooked politicians gave an oath at the beginning of the Congressional session to uphold the US Constitution. According to the Heritage Foundation [emphasis added]:
Under current law any individual elected or appointed to an office of honor or profit in the civil service or uniformed services, except the President, shall take the following oath: “I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter.” (33 U.S.C. § 3331.) By federal statute, all state officers shall take an oath in the simple form first promulgated in 1789. (4 U.S.C. § 101.)
The Democrats are politicizing a discussion involving the President of the United States that was classified and leaked while ignoring real crimes laid on their lap because these crimes involve a fellow Democrat!
The Federalist reported that the person who leaked the President’s classified phone call may not have protection under the whistleblower law:
Under federal law, whistleblowers within the intelligence community are required to report any allegations of wrongdoing to the Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) in order to receive statutory whistleblower protections for their disclosures. The law does not provide any protections to employees or contractors who bypass the process required by law and go directly to Congress, nor does it provide any avenue to disclose classified information to Congress without first going through the ICIG. If the complainant or a colleague leaked classified information to Schiff or his committee, those individuals could be subject to criminal liability for illegal and unauthorized disclosure of classified information.
Per Trending Politics the Federalist also states:
The communication between the whistleblower and House Democrats prior to the complaint’s filing also raises questions about whether Schiff and his committee staff coordinated with the ICIG regarding the watchdog’s whistleblower forms and guidance stating that first-hand information is required in order for the agency to properly investigate “urgent concern” complaints. The new revelations that Schiff and his staff coordinated with the anti-Trump complainant and his colleagues prior to a formal whistleblower complaint also suggest Schiff was less than truthful about his interactions with the whistleblower. On August 28, nearly two weeks before the ICIG formally informed Congress of a pending “urgent concern” whistleblower complaint from an intel operative, Schiff tweeted allegations from the complaint without disclosing their source.
These Democrat crooks have no intention of upholding the constitution. | {
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The world today is full of tragedies both man-made and natural. But how do we prepare for such situations? Well, I learned that Survival should always start with us. We need to ask ourselves if we are using the right methods to prepare for tough or stressful times. Such situations often bring out our hidden strengths. I discovered that in times of crisis, people are capable and willing to do amazing things. One crucial point of a perfect survival plan rests on how we plan and arrange our sleep routine.
One of the main reasons why I insist on this is because getting enough rest is essential in these trying situations. Sleep experts will tell you that sleep deprivation is not something you’ll want when fighting to survive. Of course, we can’t carry our beds everywhere we go, but instead, we can take an easy to carry, cozy and easy-to-pack mattress or pad!
Sleeping Pads
Here, you’ll find two types of products. First, are the dense roll mats and the self-inflating pads. Foam pads are a more economical choice. You’ll find that they are easy to carry and use. You can simply unroll it when you want to take a nap and roll it back when it’s time to get going.
I found that most self-inflating pads are made from nylon and vinyl. They are easy to carry and quite comfortable. Unlike the foam mats, they are warmer, cozier and all they need is a few breaths of air. I love that their packaging comes in a small size which makes it easier to move as you go from one place to another.
Air Mattresses
These are the most comfortable products you’ll want to carry with you in times of crisis. They provide amazing insulation and are thicker than the self-inflating or foam mats. Besides, they are quite warm and only occupy little space once deflated. This makes them easy and practical to move from place to place.
However, they can be slightly costly because of their rich quality. All in all, they are an excellent long-term investment and ensure that you get the rest you need even in times of crisis. I also saw that like other ‘normal’ mattresses; they give you just the right back support especially if you suffer from back problems.
What Will You Need To Consider?
Keep in mind that the thicker the mattress, the more comfort it will give you. I recommend that you get the latest products on the market as mattress technology keeps improving to provide more comfort for the user. Newer models are incredibly warm, luxurious and weigh less than even a pound. Another attractive thing about these models is that their manufacturers make them using no-fume materials. This makes sure that they are free from chemicals which may affect you as you sleep.
Airbeds are a fantastic option for you to include in your survival kit. Remember that you’ll probably be sleeping on a hard floor. In this case, a warm, luxurious and thick mattress or pad is all that you’ll need. Even so, you’ll have to be more careful not to damage your mat as it won’t be of any help later.
The best type of sleep is one that combines both the air-mattress and the foam pads. The pads protect the mattress from ground moisture and offer additional insulations together with some extra firmness. They’ll also prevent your mattress from sliding as you take a nap.
We often neglect our sleep when faced with disasters or calamities. However, getting a good night’s rest will help you to wake up re-energized and motivated as you try to look for a suitable solution. So, consider getting both yourself and your family a foam pad or air mattress. Lastly, remember to keep them properly stored and maintained, and they’ll help you to survive any doomsday events! | {
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A quick glance on the news can easily convince anyone that the world as we knew it is on the brink of self-destruction. Some even wait for its final collapse to build a brand new system on the rubble of the old one.
The most paranoids are preparing to face the Armageddon by stashing months worth of food and learning how to make a bow and arrow with a shoe string and the remains of a toilet seat (they’re called survivalists).
It’s tempting to feel helpless when global changes are occurring so fast, and seen from a posture of silent anticipation, our future as a species looks pretty grim. To make matters worse, the media love to bombard us with information on global warming, dirty bombs and creepy religious fundamentalism.
Global threats are part of part of reality, no question about that, but they only represent one corner of the big picture. This fresh millenium has a bright side that we can all enjoy, while contributing to the highest good of all.
As I write this post, growing tribes are changing their daily habits to live well and do good in the same time. Their creativity and enthusiasm might defeat the impending doom, not by engaging in political activism, but by tweaking their lifestyles smartly, one step at a time.
Let me list some areas where you can upgrade your life and make a difference without putting your career and family at risk.
Alternative homes
Sure, it’s still possible to commit 30 years of your life for a concrete house somewhere in the countryside, spending a fortune in commutes and hoping that your neighbors don’t end up shooting your dog during hunting season. There are other options though.
Eco-villages are spreading in western countries: they gather tribes of conscious earthlings living in zero impact houses, growing most of their food and reinventing social connections between the members of their community, regardless of their age.
My wife and I are currently exploring that sphere and I will report our first hand experience, we’re lucky enough to have friends who have made that step and are thrilled about it.
I’ve also discovered the concept of Earthship: an architectural design that allow you to build houses that are dirt cheap, sexy and off the grid ($100 bills yearly: water, heating, and electricity). I’m planning to investigate on that as well. If you’re curious, check: www.earthship.com.
Educating yourself
The internet provides instant access to knowledge. It’s a chance for us to catch up on our years of youth imbecility when we thought school was a pain in the ass, and a fast track to more exciting careers as well.
I’ve recently used coursera.org, most of their courses are free and given by university lecturers…and you can get them from home.
Another trick found on this post: Google University: go to Google.com , try searching “site:.edu ________” and fill in the space with what you’re looking for. Eg. If you want an online lecture on hinduism, search “site:.edu lecture hinduism.” This method of searching only goes through University websites and brings you high quality content.
Education used to be expensive, now it comes in unlimited quantity at the cost of an online connection, allowing us to trade our stiff opinions for knowledge, and low pay jobs for better positions.
Spending less
Don’t you get the feeling that money is your main blockage? I guess most of us do, and until last year I was pretty lousy at financial management. While the immediate solution that comes to mind is to earn more, consider saving a higher priority. Saving equals security and freedom at no cost. Cutting down on expense doesn’t mean living a depressing live, as long as you substitute expensive leisures with free activities (suggestions all along this post).
Follow the Minimalist movement, it’s a tribe that innovates on ways to simplify your life, reduce life expenses and focus on the essential. These guys are years ahead on the art of simplicity, they teach the skills of a mindful and eco-friendly approach by buying less and choosing long lasting products.
You might also want to visit www.mrmoneymustache.com if you plan to stop the bleeding and transform money into an powerful ally.
Abandoning the cubicle
Two years ago, my main obsession was to close the biggest sale for an IT company. I managed to do that successfully…But I had to sacrifice most of my time and the company eventually went bankrupt. I’m not the only one thinking that corporations are asking for more and more of your workforce for the “security” that they provide.
I chose to drop everything and start from scratch, but you don’t have to go to that extreme.
In fact, there’s an increasing number of people who learn to make their first 1k on the side, via freelance gigs or online businesses. Eventually leaving their full time jobs to enjoy working wherever they please. Although there’s a lot of bullshit claims from online marketers, the opportunities are real. If you’re interested in that path try Fizzle.co, their content is serious and documented (I don’t get a dime for recommending this site, nor any others on this post , BTW).
Eating right
Modifying your eating pattern involves deep transformations, that’s why it’s such an amazing field of discovery. I should probably put that one on top of my list. Eating different impacts everything: your budget, your moods, energy level and the planet. I’m not going to rant about animal cruelty and evangelize for veganism (I took the vegan challenge for a year), but seriously, even minor changes in that direction will make you feel like a new person.
Needless to say that cooking your own meals is cheap, fun and healthy, I find it a pretty awesome package.
I recommend: www.mynewroots.org and www.gluten-free-vegan-girl.com to start cooking colorful and healthy meals.
Reworking your body
A daily job doesn’t cost a dime and lifting weight in a fitness club represents a mere $30/month investment. Even if you’re not into taking exercise, hiking is by far the cheapest and easiest way to get back in touch with your body on a budget. That’s a safe and cheap substitute to cinema and restaurant, if you’ve decided to start saving next month.
Even more basic: breathing. Most of us don’t know how to breathe, we supply insufficient amounts of oxygen to our system, resulting in higher levels of stress, fatigue and even risks of developing cancers (google it for more evidence-based information). Quitting your smoking habit is a first step to take in that direction, but meditation and yoga are also your friends, as they teach you the art of feeding your cells more air, the number one requirement for life…
Consider working out as a free alternative to tranquilizers and expensive mind altering products.
Travelling differently
I receive an increasing number of emails from people who plan a trip to Nepal in order to visit monasteries and discover Buddhism, that’s only an example of how to spend enlightening vacation.
Other people chose fair tourism as an alternative to “all inclusive travelling” in order to learn from other cultures instead of leeching on their eco-systems in a big-ass resort.
You might also look into woofing, it’s gaining popularity for obvious reasons. Woofing gives you a chance to trade a few hours of your work a day in exchange of food and shelter in a farm, hundreds of beautiful places can visited for virtually nothing while enjoying the best of the country lifestyle.
The usual antagonism between bohemians, hipsters and overachievers are a thing of the past. In 2014, the question is no longer about finding a cool identity, but how to thrive in a toughening economy and growing as human beings without trashing the planet we live on.
There’s a wealth of solutions to make it possible, it’s a concept called Lifestyle Design and that’s what gr0wing.com is about.
Your ideas and discoveries are as usual more than welcome in the comments below :)
Photo under Creative Common License – theregeneration
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Pat Toomey (Campaign image via ToomeyForSenate.com)
Many GOP Senate candidates spent the campaign running from Donald Trump. In the end, Trump helped them to victory.
Republican Senate candidates spent most of the election season running away from Donald Trump, fearful that supporting him would sink their campaigns and cost their party the Senate majority. Arizona’s John McCain disavowed him. Ohio’s Rob Portman rejected him. New Hampshire’s Kelly Ayotte said she could not and would not “support a candidate who brags about degrading and assaulting women.”
And yet it was in part Trump’s shocking electoral-college victory against Hillary Clinton that helped Republicans hold the upper chamber against long odds. In the early hours of Wednesday morning, with Ayotte’s race still too close to call, it looked as though Senate Republicans might lose just one seat in a year when the map was stacked against them. It was the second biggest surprise of the night, after Trump’s win, and their victories in Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, Missouri, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin made Tuesday a depressing evening for Democrats, who will be consigned to minority status on Capitol Hill for several years, barring unforeseen developments.
In the end, while Republican Senate candidates had feared Trump would act as a weight on their electoral fortunes, their concerns were overwrought. The rural, working-class voters who turned out to support him helped boost them to victory in areas Republicans have struggled. But GOP Senate candidates ran ahead of Trump in urban areas from the St. Louis suburbs to Miami, Philadelphia, and Milwaukee, allowing them to run ahead of him in all but the most conservative states.
The Republican victory on Tuesday extended far and wide. It included renegades and moderates, new faces and old. Establishment insiders such as Missouri senator Roy Blunt and North Carolina senator Richard Burr, who ran lackluster campaigns and were outworked by their opponents, survived. In Indiana, Representative Todd Young helped the GOP hold onto retiring senator Dan Coats’s seat after former senator Evan Bayh’s surprise entry into the race had made it seem a sure thing for Democrats. Marco Rubio, who was clobbered by Trump in Florida’s Republican primary earlier this year, won reelection to his seat as Trump carried the Sunshine State’s critical 29 electoral votes.
In Pennsylvania, Senator Pat Toomey emerged victorious from one of the campaign season’s tightest contests partly because some of those who four years ago backed Barack Obama gave their support to Republicans on Tuesday. In Luzerne County near Scranton, which is older, whiter, and poorer than the national average, Obama defeated Romney by five points in 2012. Trump won Luzerne by 20 points, and Toomey reaped the benefits there, finishing eight points ahead of his Democratic challenger, Katie McGinty.
Toomey’s was the story of most Republicans this campaign season. He needed to carry voters such as those in Luzerne County while also winning enough of the moderate, Democratic-leaning voters in the Philadelphia area to carry the state. He touted his work on bipartisan gun-control legislation and advertised the praise he had garnered for it from Obama. And he got help from Clinton and McGinty, who underperformed Obama’s 2012 campaign in the urban areas where they needed to rack up votes. While Obama won 85 percent of the vote in the majority African-American county of Philadelphia, Clinton and McGinty managed just 82.4 and 81.7 percent respectively. The drop-off proved decisive in their respective losses — and in Toomey’s victory.
The Republican victory on Tuesday extended far and wide. It included renegades and moderates, new faces and old.
The same was true in Wisconsin, where Ron Johnson, written off for dead by the political cognoscenti months ago, won the most shocking down-ballot victory of the night. Trump defeated Clinton in Wisconsin, where Romney lost four years ago, by flipping several counties in the southwestern part of the state from blue to red. Among them was Grant County, which Obama carried by 14 points in 2012 but Trump carried by ten points this year. Johnson, a wealthy businessman with an everyman’s touch, won there by five points while racking up far greater margins than Trump in suburban Milwaukee, a historically conservative area. Meanwhile, turnout in Milwaukee proper — a Democratic stronghold — plummeted 25 percent between 2012 and 2016.
The lone exception to the good news for Republicans came in Nevada, where Senate minority leader Harry Reid managed to put his hand-picked successor, former state attorney general Catherine Cortez Masto, over the top. The strength of Reid’s turnout operation helped Cortez Masto defeat Republican congressman Joe Heck by a healthy three-point margin, with 81 percent of precincts reporting. In New Hampshire, Ayotte remained locked in a tight race against former Democratic governor Maggie Hassan late into the wee hours of Wednesday morning, but Republicans will maintain their majority in the upper chamber regardless of the result.
#related#Many of the candidates victorious on Tuesday were insurgents who came to office in the tea-party wave of 2010, which marked the first backlash against the Obama administration’s liberal policies. What was once a movement that found expression by lifting ideological conservatives to office has become a full-fledged populist backlash that sent a reality television star to the White House. In the presidential primary, Rubio derided Trump as a “con artist”; Toomey has called him a “badly flawed candidate.”
Back in Washington, the Republican Senate majority will now have to grapple with the transformation of the tea-party movement and the party that harnessed it, and the ideologues and the populists will have to find a way to work together. | {
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President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to sue "everyone" that took part in former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation and the prosecution of his longtime ally Roger Stone.
Trump addressed Stone's trial in a series of tweets Tuesday morning, saying that "these were Mueller prosecutors, and the whole Mueller investigation was illegally set up based on a phony and now fully discredited Fake Dossier, lying and forging documents to the FISA Court, and many other things."
The Department of Justice recently changed its sentencing recommendation for Stone, who was convicted on seven counts, including obstruction, lying to Congress, and witness tampering.
"Everything having to do with this fraudulent investigation is badly tainted and, in my opinion, should be thrown out. Even Mueller's statement to Congress that he did not see me to become the FBI Director (again), has been proven false," Trump added on Tuesday.
"The whole deal was a total SCAM. If I wasn't President, I'd be suing everyone all over the place," he concluded, adding, "BUT MAYBE I STILL WILL. WITCH HUNT!"
Since the change in sentencing recommendation, Attorney General William Barr has been accused by Democrats of having "deeply damaged the rule of law by withdrawing the DOJ's sentencing recommendation," according to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who described the change as an "act of interference" in a statement last week, according to NBC News.
Barr told ABC News last week that Trump's tweets about the DOJ make it "impossible for me to do my job." | {
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« Il ne s’est rien passé à Poitiers en 732, sinon une escarmouche avec les sarrasins comme il y en eut des dizaines d’autres » Antoine Moreau-Dusault
Déjà 50 000 exemplaires sortis en trois semaines et trois réimpressions… C’est incontestablement un petit événement, déclenché par un ouvrage qui a rassemblé 122 historiens. Histoire mondiale de la France (Seuil, 800 pages, 29 euros) s’est hissé dans les meilleures ventes d’essais dès son lancement, se classant même, le jour de sa parution, juste derrière la réédition en couleurs de Tintin au pays des Soviets dans les commandes d’Amazon.
Le directeur de l’ouvrage, Patrick Boucheron, professeur au Collège de France et chroniqueur au « Monde des livres », a placé le projet sous l’égide d’un illustre ancêtre, Jules Michelet : « Ce ne serait pas trop de l’histoire du monde pour expliquer la France. »
L’ouvrage déploie une histoire nationale d’un genre nouveau, montrant la lente formation de la France dans les ruptures et les discontinuités, insistant sur les hommes et les influences venus d’ailleurs ou partis d’ici, écornant quelques mythes à la vie dure.
Il ne s’est rien passé à Poitiers en 732, sinon une escarmouche avec les sarrasins comme il y en eut des dizaines d’autres (et d’ailleurs elle n’eut pas lieu à Poitiers) ; saint Martin, l’un des patrons de la Gaule chrétienne, venait de Hongrie ; et la France libre de Charles de Gaulle fut plus africaine que londonienne.
Article réservé à nos abonnés Lire aussi Un courant d’air frais souffle sur l’histoire de France
Le succès témoigne d’une aspiration au renouvellement de l’image de la France. Il manifeste aussi la réussite de l’offensive menée par les historiens de métier. Réunis le 14 janvier au Théâtre de la Colline, à Paris, ils étaient des dizaines à fêter la parution de l’ouvrage auquel ils avaient contribué. Si vous leur aviez dit, ce jour-là, qu’ils formaient un bataillon, ils auraient haussé les sourcils. Et peut-être même les auraient-ils froncés. L’heure, par cet après-midi d’hiver, est tout à la joie d’avoir fait œuvre collective.
Article réservé à nos abonnés Lire aussi L’histoire de France, un sujet compliqué
Face à des « conteurs peu scrupuleux »
Comment le récit d’une France ouverte sur le monde pourrait-il être un acte de guerre ? Patrick Boucheron, sur scène, raconte d’ailleurs le plaisir de se rassembler pour « construire un nous qui respire un peu mieux ». Mais il parle aussi de reconquête, d’une histoire de France longtemps laissée à des « conteurs peu scrupuleux ». On ne nomme personne mais, dans la salle, tout le monde comprend l’allusion.
Ces conteurs à succès, ce sont Lorànt Deutsch ou Jean Sévillia, Dimitri Casali ou Eric Zemmour. Certains de leurs livres, tel Métronome. L’histoire de France au rythme du métro parisien (Michel Lafon, 2009), du premier, se sont vendus par centaines de milliers. Ils y pratiquent une histoire à l’ancienne, à des fins de glorification d’une France éternelle dont ils chantent le génie, chérissent les batailles et les hommes providentiels.
Il vous reste 83.93% de cet article à lire. La suite est réservée aux abonnés. | {
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STANDS
Refreshment Zone/Skyline Pizza
Section 102/103 (Self-Serve/Appetize)
Candy (M&Ms, Sour Patch Kids)
Hot Dog (Sabrett All Beef)
Hot Dog (Value Meal – Chips, Soda)
Nachos with Cheese
Pizza (Personal Cheese)
Pizza (Personal Cheesesteak)
Pizza (Personal Pepperoni)
Popcorn (Fresh Popped)
Pretzel
Coffee
Hot Chocolate
Cup (Souvenir or Paper)
Red Bull Energy Drinks
Soft Drinks/Other (Fountain)
Water (Bottled - Evian)
Beer (Can)
Refreshment Zone/Skyline Pizza
Section 115 (Self- Serve)
Candy (M&Ms, Sour Patch Kids)
Hot Dog (Sabrett All Beef)
Hot Dog (Value Meal – Chips, Soda)
Nachos with Cheese
Pizza (Personal Cheese)
Pizza (Personal Cheesesteak)
Pizza (Personal Pepperoni)
Popcorn (Fresh Popped)
Pretzel
Coffee & Hot Chocolate
Cup (Souvenir or Paper)
Red Bull Energy Drinks
Soft Drinks/Other (Fountain)
Water (Bottled - Evian)
Beer (Can)
The Coop “Chicken & Fries”
Section 116/117 (Self-Serve)
Chicken Tenders (4 pc.) & Fries
French Fries (Jumbo)
Hot Dog (Sabrett All Beef)
Popcorn (Fresh Popped)
Cup (Souvenir or Paper)
Hot Chocolate
Red Bull Energy Drinks
Soft Drinks/Other (Fountain)
Water (Bottled - Evian)
Beer (Can)
Refreshment Zone
Section 119 (Self-Order Kiosks)
Soft Drinks/Other (Fountain)
Refreshment Zone/Fat Rooster/Beer Market
Section 124 (Self-Serve)
Chicken (Spicy - Fat Rooster) Sandwich
Chicken Tenders (4 pc.) & Fries
French Fries (Jumbo)
French Fries (Loaded w/ Beer Cheese, Bacon, Scallions)
Hot Dog (Sabrett All Beef)
Pretzel
Cup (Souvenir or Paper)
Hot Chocolate
Red Bull Energy Drinks
Soft Drinks/Other (Fountain)
Water (Bottled - Evian)
Beer (Can)
Hard Seltzer
The Boardwalk & Ice Cream
Section 126 (Self-Order Kiosks)
Brownie Bites (Deep Fried)
Chicken Tenders (4 pc.) & Fries
French Fry (Jumbo)
French Fries (Salchipapa - Hot Dogs, Sausage, Sauce, Pickled Onions)
Hot Dog (Sabrett All Beef)
Ice Cream Sundaes (Soft Serve Waffle Cone)
Peanuts in Shell
Pizza (Personal Cheese)
Pizza (Personal Pepperoni)
Popcorn (Fresh Popped)
Cup (Souvenir or Paper)
Coffee
Hot Chocolate
Red Bull Energy Drinks
Water (Bottled - Evian)
Beer (Can)
The Coop “Chicken & Fries”/Bar
Section 128 (Appetize & Self-Order Kiosks)
Chicken Tenders (4 pc.) & Fries
French Fries (Jumbo)
Hot Dog (Footlong)
Hot Dog (Sabrett All Beef)
Popcorn (Fresh Popped)
Coffee
Hot Chocolate
Cup (Souvenir or Paper)
Red Bull Energy Drinks
Soft Drinks/Other (Fountain)
Water (Bottled - Evian)
Beer (Can)
Cocktails
Frozen Drinks
Wine (Barefoot)
Refreshment Zone & Beer Market
Section 131
Cup (Souvenir or Paper)
Hot Chocolate
Red Bull Energy Drinks
Soft Drinks/Other (Fountain)
Water (Bottled - Evian)
Beer (Can)
Hard Seltzer
The Coop “Chicken & Fries”
Section 133 (Self-Order Kiosks)
Chicken Tenders (4 pc.) & Fries
French Fries (Jumbo)
Hot Dog (Sabrett All Beef)
Popcorn (Fresh Popped)
Cup (Souvenir or Paper)
Hot Chocolate
Red Bull Energy Drinks
Water (Bottled - Evian)
Beer (Can)
The Boardwalk
Section 226 (Self-Serve)
Brownie Bites (Deep Fried)
Chicken Tenders (4 pc.) & Fries
French Fry (Jumbo)
French Fries (Salchipapa - Hot Dogs, Sausage, Sauce, Pickled Onions)
Hot Dog (Sabrett All Beef)
Peanuts in Shell
Pizza (Personal Cheese)
Pizza (Personal Pepperoni)
Popcorn (Fresh Popped)
Coffee
Hot Chocolate
Cup (Souvenir or Paper)
Red Bull Energy Drinks
Soft Drinks/Other (Fountain)
Water (Bottled - Evian)
Beer (Can)
PORTABLES
Beer
Sections 101, 104, 105,117, 119, 127, 129, 224, 227 & Honda Gate
Peanuts in Shell (not Honda Gate)
Water (Bottled - Evian) (not Honda Gate)
Beer (Can)
Beer (Craft) (only 101)
Cider (Strongbow)* (105 and 119)
Wine (Babé - Rosé, Pinot or Red) (only 104)
Beer Market
Sections 114, 118, 125, 131, 225 & Gate C (Self-Serve at 114)
Candy (M&Ms, Sour Patch Kids) (not 118 nor 125)
Peanut Puffs (Bamba) (not 118 nor 125)
Peanuts in Shell
Water (Bottled - Evian)
Beer (Can)
Beer (Craft) (not 118 nor 125)
Cocktail in a Can (not 118 nor 125)
Hard Seltzer (not 118 nor 125)
Wine (Babé - Rosé, Pinot or Red) (not 118 nor 125)
Blue Point Dock
Section 128 (Self-Serve)
Peanuts in Shell
Water (Bottled - Evian)
Beer (Can)
Beer (Craft)
Brisas Empanadas
Section 126
Empanadas (Beef)
Empanadas (Chicken)
Empanadas (Vegetarian)
Ice Cream (Weather dependent)
Cup (Souvenir or Paper)
Jugo Natural (Juice – 3 varying flavors)
Red Bull Energy Drinks
Water (Bottled - Evian)
Dippin’ Dots
Sections 120, 127, 132 & 227
Dippin’ Dots
Frozen Lemonade Cup
Cup (Souvenir or Paper)
Red Bull Energy Drinks
Water (Bottled - Evian)
Frozen Drinks
Sections 102 & 116 (Self-Serve)
Peanuts in Shell
Water (Bottled - Evian)
Beer (Can)
Frozen Drinks
Wine (Barefoot)
Harrison Hot Dog Company
Section 125
(Self-Order Kiosks)
Hot Dog (Italian)
Potatoes (Fried)
Cup (Souvenir or Paper)
Red Bull Energy Drinks
Water (Bottled - Evian)
Beer (Can)
Heineken & Biergarten Cabana
Biergarten
Peanuts in Shell
Red Bull Energy Drinks
Water (Bottled - Evian)
Beer (Can) (Biergarten Cabana)
Cider (Strongbow)* (Heineken)
Heineken Star Bar
Sections 118, 125 & Gate C
Peanuts in Shell
Water (Bottled - Evian)
Beer (Can)
Cider (Strongbow)*
Horizon Healthy Goal
Section 124 (Self-Order Kiosks)
Chicken (Grilled) Sandwich
Fruit Cup
Salad (Chicken Caesar)
Salad (Garden)
Coconut Water
Cup (Souvenir or Paper)
Water (Bottled - Evian)
Liquor on Tap
Sections 103 & 118
Peanuts in Shell
Water (Bottled - Evian)
Beer (Can)
Vodka & Lemonade (Absolut)*
The Original Craft Burger Bar
Sections 120 & 132 (All Self-Order Kiosks)
Burgers (Fresh Ground Angus)
Cup (Souvenir or Paper)
Red Bull Energy Drinks
Water (Bottled - Evian)
Beer (Can)
Premio Sausage
Sections 104, 115, 121, 131 & 225 (All Self-Order Kiosks)
Sausage (Italian)
Cup (Souvenir or Paper) (not in Biergarten)
Red Bull Energy Drinks
Water (Bottled - Evian)
Beer (Can)
Red Bowl Noodles & Dumplings
Section 126 (Self-Order Kiosks)
Noodles (Asian - Chicken)
Noodles (Asian - Vegetarian)
Dumplings (Assorted)
Cup (Souvenir or Paper)
Red Bull Energy Drinks
Water (Bottled - Evian)
Beer (Can)
Red's Cheesesteaks
Sections 114 & 133 (All Self-Order Kiosks)
Cheesesteak
Cup (Souvenir or Paper)
Red Bull Energy Drinks
Water (Bottled - Evian)
Beer (Can)
Snack Carts
Sections 102, 116 & 123
Churros
Cookies
Dippin’ Dots (not 123)
Frozen Lemonade Cup
Popcorn (Cheetos Flavored)
Popcorn (Fresh Popped)
Pretzel
Cup (Souvenir or Paper)
Red Bull Energy Drinks
Water (Bottled - Evian)
Street Nacho
Sections 101, 105 & 121 (All Self-Order Kiosks)
Nachos (Street style)
Cup (Souvenir or Paper)
Red Bull Energy Drinks
Water (Bottled - Evian)
Beer (Can)
Beer (Craft)
Tacos Roqueros
Sections 118, 129 & 224 (All Self-Order Kiosks)
Tacos
Cup (Souvenir or Paper)
Red Bull Energy Drinks
Water (Bottled - Evian)
Beer (Can)
* signifies Gluten Free Alcohol Option (Strongbow Cider or Vodka & Lemonade Cocktail | {
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Face the Facts: We are All Headed for an "iDisorder"
It should come as no surprise that we are all hopelessly addicted to our devices, particularly our smartphones. Why shouldn't we be? We are now able to carry a powerful computer around 24/7 in our pocket or purse. The new "WWW" really means "Whatever, Wherever, Whenever." And we are all succumbing to its draw. Just look at any restaurant table and you will see phones sitting next to forks and knives. It is normal to see someone pick up a smartphone, tap tap tap and put it back down while in the middle of talking. Is this healthy or are we all headed down a slippery slope toward what I call an "iDisorder."
An iDisorder is where you exhibit signs and symptoms of a disorder such as , narcissism, or even , which are manifested through your use—or overuse—of technology. Whether our use of technology makes us exhibit these signs or simply exacerbates our natural tendencies is an open question, but the fact is we are all acting as though we are potentially diagnosable.
Several recent studies from my lab highlight some of these issues. In one anonymous online survey of more than 1,000 Americans we found that more than half of and young adults of the iGeneration (born in the 1990s) and the Net Generation (born in the 1980s) told us that they became if they couldn't check their text messages all day long. And text they do! According to the Nielsen Company the "typical" teen sends and receives 3,417 text messages per month. Teen girls top that with nearly 4,000 per month! If the teens sleep 8 hours a night (which is an hour less than recommended) that's between 7 and 8 text messages per waking hour.
The study also showed us that the majority of teens and young adults check their texts and Facebook several times a day. And most of that is on their mobile device, on the go. How about sleep? In one study of 300 high school students, the average teen slept only 6 hours per school night. They tried to make up for it by more than 10 hours each weekend night but it still all averaged out to only 7 hours per night leaving a weekly 14-hour sleep debt. Eight in 10 of those students told us that they rarely or never get a good night's sleep during the week. They must be studying so hard that they don't have time for sleep.
Well, yes and no.
They are studying but the number one activity in the last hour before sleep is surfing the Internet followed by studying, texting and . Are they simply glued to their laptops? Nope! It is their smartphone that is the cause of much of their sleep debt. Not only is it used instead of a computer, but most teens sleep with it on vibrate or tone and one in four are awakened at night by a text or email that they respond to before attempting to fall back asleep. And most of those activities are done either at the same time or by rapidly switching back and forth. We all multitask - well we are really task switching - and the younger generations do it more but we are all succumbing to the allure of clicking and switching.
It's not just the younger generations who are inundated by technology. One in three Gen Xers and one in six Baby Boomers check their devices all the time. They may not be texting as much but they are constantly checking in with websites, email and other cyberactivities.
Our most surprising study examined a thousand teens and adults to see whether technology use might be related to signs and symptoms of psychiatric disorders. The short answer is YES. For each generation, regardless of ethnic background, socioeconomic status, or , the more certain technologies are used the more likely it is that the person will exhibit these signs. Different technologies appear to be predictive of different signs. One of the major culprits is social networking, which is a predictor of many disorders.
Do we need to take a permanent holiday from our technology or is there an iCure for an iDisorder? The outlook is very positive if we recognize the signs and learn to take small steps to keep our brains healthy and sane. Here are sample strategies. More can be found in my new book, iDisorder: Understanding Our Obsession With Technology and Overcoming its Hold on Us.
Social networking can be all about "ME" and it can make us appear . I advocate using an "e-waiting" period between writing any post, email, text or comment and pressing the key that offers it to the world. Take a couple of minutes, do something else, and then come back and count the times you use the words "me" or "I" compared to the number of times you use the words "we," "us," "they" or other inclusive pronouns. One of the signs of narcissism is a focus on the self and our specialness. Sometimes it helps us break out of the me, me, me mode by focusing on other people in our lives and commenting about their posts and their photos. Remember, though, that although you may be feeling somewhat anonymous writing posts and comments behind a screen, there is a real person made of flesh and blookd at the other end and your words will have an impact on that person. Be gently and use your e-waiting period to let you reevaluate what you say in any electronic communication.
At the dinner table declare a "tech break" at the beginning of the meal and have everyone check their phones for a minute and then silence them and place them upside down on the table. Now talk for 15 minutes followed by someone declaring another "tech break." The upside down silent phone is a stimulus that says, "Don't worry - you can check me soon." This stops the brain from obsessing about every little e-communication.
Using technology evokes excessive mental activity so much so that our brains are all abuzz all day long. Your brain needs periodic resetting. This doesn't take a lot of time. Fifteen minutes of walking through nature (or even looking at a nature picture book), doing puzzles, or talking to someone about something fun and positive are just a few ways to reset your brain. Consider doing one of these activities every few hours to calm the brain and stop the potential iDisorder.
There is no turning back. We live in a connected world and we are better because of it. We know more than ever before and we are more social than ever before. But we have to learn to take care of our brains to avoid an iDisorder. Don't blame Steve Jobs for your compulsions. Take control and do something good for your brain. You will be a better person for it and have better relationships with those around you. | {
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One of the biggest unknowns in understanding the effects of climate change today is the melting rate of glacial ice in Antarctica. Scientists agree rising atmospheric and ocean temperatures could destabilize these ice sheets, but there is uncertainty about how fast they will lose ice.
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is of particular concern to scientists because it contains enough ice to raise global sea level by up to 16 feet, and its physical configuration makes it susceptible to melting by warm ocean water. Recent studies have suggested that the collapse of certain parts of the ice sheet is inevitable. But will that process take several decades or centuries?
Research by Caltech scientists now suggests that estimates of future rates of melt for the West Antarctic Ice Sheet—and, by extension, of future sea-level rise—have been too conservative. In a new study, published online on March 9 in the Journal of Glaciology, a team led by Victor Tsai, an assistant professor of geophysics, found that properly accounting for Coulomb friction—a type of friction generated by solid surfaces sliding against one another—in computer models significantly increases estimates of how sensitive the ice sheet is to temperature perturbations driven by climate change.
Unlike other ice sheets that are moored to land above the ocean, most of West Antarctica's ice sheet is grounded on a sloping rock bed that lies below sea level. In the past decade or so, scientists have focused on the coastal part of the ice sheet where the land ice meets the ocean, called the "grounding line," as vital for accurately determining the melting rate of ice in the southern continent.
"Our results show that the stability of the whole ice sheet and our ability to predict its future melting is extremely sensitive to what happens in a very small region right at the grounding line. It is crucial to accurately represent the physics here in numerical models," says study coauthor Andrew Thompson, an assistant professor of environmental science and engineering at Caltech.
Part of the seafloor on which the West Antarctic Ice Sheet rests slopes upward toward the ocean in what scientists call a "reverse slope gradient." The end of the ice sheet also floats on the ocean surface so that ocean currents can deliver warm water to its base and melt the ice from below. Scientists think this "basal melting" could cause the grounding line to retreat inland, where the ice sheet is thicker. Because ice thickness is a key factor in controlling ice discharge near the coast, scientists worry that the retreat of the grounding line could accelerate the rate of interior ice flow into the oceans. Grounding line recession also contributes to the thinning and melting away of the region's ice shelves—thick, floating extensions of the ice sheet that help reduce the flow of ice into the sea.
According to Tsai, many earlier models of ice sheet dynamics tried to simplify calculations by assuming that ice loss is controlled solely by viscous stresses, that is, forces that apply to "sticky fluids" such as honey—or in this case, flowing ice. The conventional models thus accounted for the flow of ice around obstacles but ignored friction. "Accounting for frictional stresses at the ice sheet bottom in addition to the viscous stresses changes the physical picture dramatically," Tsai says.
In their new study, Tsai's team used computer simulations to show that even though Coulomb friction affects only a relatively small zone on an ice sheet, it can have a big impact on ice stream flow and overall ice sheet stability.
In most previous models, the ice sheet sits firmly on the bed and generates a downward stress that helps keep it attached it to the seafloor. Furthermore, the models assumed that this stress remains constant up to the grounding line, where the ice sheet floats, at which point the stress disappears.
Tsai and his team argue that their model provides a more realistic representation—in which the stress on the bottom of the ice sheet gradually weakens as one approaches the coasts and grounding line, because the weight of the ice sheet is increasingly counteracted by water pressure at the glacier base. "Because a strong basal shear stress cannot occur in the Coulomb model, it completely changes how the forces balance at the grounding line," Thompson says.
Tsai says the idea of investigating the effects of Coulomb friction on ice sheet dynamics came to him after rereading a classic study on the topic by American metallurgist and glaciologist Johannes Weertman from Northwestern University. "I wondered how might the behavior of the ice sheet differ if one factored in this water-pressure effect from the ocean, which Weertman didn't know would be important when he published his paper in 1974," Tsai says.
Tsai thought about how this could be achieved and realized the answer might lie in another field in which he is actively involved: earthquake research. "In seismology, Coulomb friction is very important because earthquakes are thought to be the result of the edge of one tectonic plate sliding against the edge of another plate frictionally," Tsai said. "This ice sheet research came about partly because I'm working on both glaciology and earthquakes."
If the team's Coulomb model is correct, it could have important implications for predictions of ice loss in Antarctica as a result of climate change. Indeed, for any given increase in temperature, the model predicts a bigger change in the rate of ice loss than is forecasted in previous models. "We predict that the ice sheets are more sensitive to perturbations such as temperature," Tsai says.
Hilmar Gudmundsson, a glaciologist with the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, UK, called the team's results "highly significant." "Their work gives further weight to the idea that a marine ice sheet, such as the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, is indeed, or at least has the potential to become, unstable," says Gudmundsson, who was not involved in the study.
Glaciologist Richard Alley, of Pennsylvania State University, noted that historical studies have shown that ice sheets can remain stable for centuries or millennia and then switch to a different configuration suddenly.
"If another sudden switch happens in West Antarctica, sea level could rise a lot, so understanding what is going on at the grounding lines is essential," says Alley, who also did not participate in the research.
"Tsai and coauthors have taken another important step in solving this difficult problem," he says.
Along with Tsai and Thompson, Andrew Stewart, an assistant professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences at UCLA, was also a coauthor on the paper, "Marine ice sheet profiles and stability under Coulomb basal conditions." Funding support for the study was provided by Caltech's President's and Director's Fund program and the Stanback Discovery Fund for Global Environmental Science. | {
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Tokyo (CNN) Japan has upheld a law effectively requiring trans people seeking to legally change their gender to be sterilized.
Takakito Usui, a transgender man who wants to change the gender listed on his official documents, had appealed to the court seeking to overturn Law 111 , which requires applicants to "permanently lack functioning" reproductive parts to qualify for gender affirmation.
The Supreme Court unanimously rejected Usui's case Thursday, ruling the 2003 law constitutional -- though judges added it was invasive and encouraged the legislature to review it.
"It is unthinkable in this day and time that the law requires a sex-change operation to change gender," Usui's lawyer Tomoyasu Oyama told CNN.
"When the law was established 15 years ago, LGBT people had to make a bitter decision and swallow the conditions to pave a narrow way for official change of gender. With this decision, I hope lawmakers will change the law to support the wishes of the LGBT community."
Read More | {
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Men not wanting to marry. Wedded bliss is a little harder to come by these days.
Men not wanting to marry is a growing concern for women of all races in the United States. For example, up to 55% of black women never marry along with 25% of white women. There have been numerous studies done as to why these figures have been rising since 1982, when these figures were 30% black women never marrying and 10% white women also never tying the knot.
Let's take a look at some societal reasons marriage has been on the decline -- for all races. And what women on the whole can do to bring their marriage rates back up. The tips in this article are going to sound sexist to some, but you must remember that for men to desire marriage, there have to be old-fashioned practices in place that will make them feel that there is a benefit to them in tying the knot.
Men are less interested in marriage than ever before. Why?
Sex without commitment is getting to be the norm. This is one reason people used to marry young. In the days before free love, it was considered healthy to be in a monogamous relationship where a couple would get sexual relief safely and regularly. In addition, the woman received the security of commitment. But these days, most women feel sexual freedom is a good thing and exercise their rights.
This is one reason people used to marry young. In the days before free love, it was considered healthy to be in a monogamous relationship where a couple would get sexual relief safely and regularly. In addition, the woman received the security of commitment. But these days, most women feel sexual freedom is a good thing and exercise their rights. Women are less feminine than ever before. Men naturally want to wear the pants in a relationship, but feminism has taught women that fighting for their rights in a marriage and getting their way all the time is the way it's supposed to be. Men feel that getting involved in committed relationships and marriage equals stress rather than love and a balance of masculine and feminine.
Men naturally want to wear the pants in a relationship, but feminism has taught women that fighting for their rights in a marriage and getting their way all the time is the way it's supposed to be. Men feel that getting involved in committed relationships and marriage equals stress rather than love and a balance of masculine and feminine. Automation has eased traditional wifely tasks so that men can do them without help. TV dinners, takeout, and restaurant meals have replaced a great majority of the kitchen cooking from scratch women used to do at home as housewives. In addition, washers and dryers let anyone clean and dry their clothes with ease.
TV dinners, takeout, and restaurant meals have replaced a great majority of the kitchen cooking from scratch women used to do at home as housewives. In addition, washers and dryers let anyone clean and dry their clothes with ease. With a 50% chance of divorce, men can get screwed for life with paying alimony, which can take them to the poorhouse. Men often see the statistics and simply shun the idea of ever getting married.
What can women do to reverse the trend of men not wanting to marry?
Women need to shun pre-marital sex. For this to work, women collectively have to decide against it. Men by nature will have sex as soon as a woman allows it, but not knowing a man's intentions towards you can lead you down a bad road once intimacy has started. You might find it difficult to decipher who is genuinely interested in you versus only physically interested in you. Only allow men with good intentions into your life -- men who will stick around and want all of you.
For this to work, women collectively have to decide against it. Men by nature will have sex as soon as a woman allows it, but not knowing a man's intentions towards you can lead you down a bad road once intimacy has started. You might find it difficult to decipher who is genuinely interested in you versus only physically interested in you. Only allow men with good intentions into your life -- men who will stick around and want all of you. Women should embrace feminine behavior once again. This means no yelling or cursing just for the heck of it, especially not in public. This means crossing your legs, wearing skirts, smiling, flirting to get your way, being polite, and using your feminine charms to your advantage. Doesn't that sound so much easier than having to argue and fight your way through a relationship? It is. Men are much more willing to embrace commitment if they know they are dealing with a feminine woman and not just a man in a dress. This will help them take the plunge much more easily because an agreeable woman is much less likely to get divorced than a woman always at war with her husband.
Women should take up cooking again. Although automation has it so that men can eat conveniently made frozen and take-out meals, fast-food cannot hold a candle to a home-made meal, especially one cooked with love.
Gratitude and Grace Brings Out the Hero
Most men have the capacity of heroism in them -- a trait that not only helps the ones they save, but provides the men themselves with boosts of vigor and self-assuredness. There have been times I've needed help that men who didn't know me or only knew me casually went the extra mile to help me. And although women go through their share of hurt and heartbreak, remembering the good side of men garners an appreciation that keeps the cycle of goodwill with them going.
Even if you do not consider yourself to be a feminine woman, simply applying kindness to your relationship will bring goodwill back ten-fold from a man. You might look at a woman who appears to be a plain-Jane and wonder why she has a solid marriage but perhaps the traditionally beautiful woman does not yet have a husband.
Although many men will fall all over a beautiful woman and she will seem to have a lot of suitors, because she's used to getting what she wants men might not stick around because she's often high-maintenance. But the plain girl often has another tool: she's easy to get along with. She'll understand her boyfriend wants to go out to places on dates that he enjoys as well, not it just being about her wants all the time. She knows her husband needs to go into a man cave and enjoy some time alone before coming back to her. She knows his favorite foods and cooks them when he's had a hard day. She says thank you when he's helped her. Simple, easy things.
When a good man knows he has a woman in his life that is graceful and grateful for him, he will return the favor and be the hero his woman really wants him to be. When a man knows he is wanted and has a place to rest his weary soul after battling and surviving each day, he will stick with the woman that provides him this comfort. And most importantly, always keep the intimacy and passion alive between you.
When more men are able to experience this kind of relationship, the marriage count will no longer decline.
Men not wanting to marry is simply a symptom of the fact that the roles of men and women have gone askew and need help to get back into place. If women on the whole take the above steps, the trend towards marriage will be on an upswing again.
This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.
Questions & Answers
Question: Do you think men will turn to female robots?
Answer: Yes, I think some men will do so, I and most of my female friends are married, but I think it could get worse for each generation.
Question: Are there really feminine women, who commit to marriage?
Answer: Most definitely.
James Elijah on May 27, 2019:
This trend is impossible to reverse. Women have lost the sense to know the difference between good and evil. Feminism and the sexual revolution were the last beat of a tune that started with the French revolution in the 18th century. The tune was to abandon all morality in favor of 'liberty'. Licentiousness became the norm, the new 'good'. We are in the time of the end; the world is mostly evil and this cannot be reversed. Marriage as we once knew it is a relic of the past. The book of Isaiah predicts all of this. | {
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When 15-year-old Pinky Kumari refused to be married off to a 22-year-old widowed man, her story brought to light the ever-present issue of child marriage in India and the deep-seated problems of patriarchy, class, and caste norms that go with it.
Kumari, along with the help of 30 of her female schoolmates, traveled to a police station where they reported the illegal impending nuptials. This prompted Indian police officers to go to her village and convince her parents to cancel the wedding.
“It was heartening to learn that after being counselled by our officers, Kumari’s orthodox family voluntarily stalled the wedding and promised to wait for their daughter to attain the marriageable age,” said Garima Mallik, the superintendent for Gaya police. “The girl’s courage and resolve were laudable.”
Despite child marriage being outlawed by the Indian government with the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act of 2006, which outlines that girls must be at least 18 and boys must be at least 21 in order to be wed, the marriages can still be accepted as a traditional practice among certain villages throughout the country.
These early marriages are accepted because of the patriarchal norm of restricting a young woman’s role to that of a daughter, wife, and a mother who are seen as property, according to Girls Not Brides.
A pertinent problematic mindset among villages that still practice child marriage is the belief that unwed daughters are financial burdens and seen to be bringing dishonor to her family.
Strangely enough, another report showed that child marriages were rising in urban India and declining in rural India.
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Anti-child marriage efforts are continuously being drafted and implemented to combat the issue. Campaigns highlighting the importance of young women seeking higher education for a more financially stable future, awareness initiatives, and census analyses are trying to sway the traditional norm of certain villages.
“I knew this marriage is illegal,” Kumari said. “I want to study and complete my education. I tried to convince my parents but they ignored my pleas. I shared my plight with my friends and sought their help. They proved to be my saviour.”
With the inconsistency between anti-child-marriage legislation efforts and the fact that young girls under 18 are still being married off in cities when compared to rural areas, the question remains as to whether or not – if ever – young girls will have the power to dictate the direction their lives take. But rebel icons such as Kumari, who take a stand and refuse to be handed off from father to husband at such an early age, are sure signs that the attitude for this tradition is changing among the girls themselves.
Featured Image by Christopher Brown on Unsplash
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With their respective styles so far removed from one another, the uninitiated fan might not suspect that Eric Prydz once worked closely with Swedish House Mafia. In a recent interview, the progressive house virtuoso revealed that he does not regret having parted ways with the group prior to their meteoric rise.
In conversation with Prydz, Zane Lowe of Beats 1 referred to the Swedish DJ/producer as a founding member of the group. "Am I?" Prydz asked. He went on to explain:
"I was there at the start, but I think the Swedish House Mafia then was something totally different from what it became when Steve [Angello], Axwell and [Sebastian Ingrosso] decided to really take that project on. It was the four of us, we all grew up together in Stockholm, we were best friends, inseparable, all with studios in the same area making this new type of electro house - or whatever it was - and really pushing each other, and inspiring each other. I was definitely part of that, and the name Swedish House Mafia was there then. I do think that the best thing that could have happened was what happened, which was Eric was removed and moved to London, because my music and the way that I look at music was quite different from what they liked. I think I would have just held the whole thing back, and I'm so proud of them."
Prydz also told Lowe about the first time he tested out his hit single, "Pjanoo," on live audiences, recounting that it "fell flat" to Lowe's surprise. He also talked about when he met Depeche Mode after remixing several of their songs, citing it as one of the few times he has been starstruck.
Lowe's full interview with Prydz can be watched in its entirety below.
H/T: EDMTunes
FOLLOW ERIC PRYDZ:
Facebook: facebook.com/pg/EricPrydzOfficial
Twitter: twitter.com/ericprydz
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SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/eric-prydz
FOLLOW SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA:
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i guess you could say ken ham
was a-nye-hilated | {
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23 Ways ICON is Hyper-Connecting the World
1,534 reads
Why-Buy-This-Crypto Opinion
In Q32017, the Korean conglomerate, Dayli Financial Group, started a blockchain project, ICON, that would be soon coined as the “Korean Ethereum”. Dayli Financial Group also owns Yello Mobile, which is the largest mobile startup in Korea worth $4 billion, Kakao, which is the MOST popular application in Korea (equivalent to WhatsApp or WeChat in China), and The Loop, which is the company behind ICON’s blockchain technology. In essence, ICON has one of the largest Korean Conglomerates backing this project, this is as real as it gets. ICON’s central technology is called LoopChain, which is described as “a high-performance blockchain that can provide real-time transaction.” LoopChain is built for enterprises and provides smart contract functionality that can be customized, but most importantly, can be linked to other distributed ledger networks. Today, ICON trades at $8 a coin, however, since ICON is framing itself to become the master key that unlocks blockchain interoperability and connects requested services to every business and government sector, ICON can be trading at $70 per coin within the next 2 years.
Basics:
The ICON project started in 3Q2017 from Seoul, South Korea ICON is an interconnecting blockchain network and can connect to independent blockchains without the use of additional third-party intermediaries The ICON project offers established industries access to a blockchain solution that allows them to perform data and monetary transfers, verify identity, leverage smart contract environment (SCORE), and utilize a decentralized exchange The Loop, the company behind ICON, has already received several rounds of funding Ticker: ICON
Price: $8
Ranking by Market Cap (Token): 3
Market Capitalization: $3,063,911,421
Circulating Supply: 380,045,004 ICX
Max Supply: 400,230,000 ICX
Average Trading Volume: $83,249,600
Consensus: Ethereum consensus
Team:
The ICON project is lead by JH Kim, who is also the CEO of The Loop and part of the ICON Foundation Council. Mr. Kim has almost 20 years of experience in the information security field. KJ Eee is the CEO Dayli Intelligence and is also on the ICON Foundation Council. Previous to Dayli Intelligence, Mr. Eee developed ‘SUHOSHIN’, the first firewall in Korea The ICON team has an additional 15 blockchain managers and engineers Rounding out the ICON team are 5 AI developers and product managers, as well as 5 marketing professionals
Drivers of Growth:
The ICON project is the first blockchain network in Korea that is pushing the country towards widespread blockchain adoption The ICON team is setting up dozens of partnerships and side chains with the goal of connecting the entire ecosystem using their protocol ICON’s DEX will provide a safer, all-encompassing alternative to traditional exchanges. When ICON’s core wallet is released, users will be able to trade directly from their wallet The ICON platform utilizes a Smart Contract On Reliable Environment (SCORE). SCORE is designed to have high-performance contracts run directly in the node environment without the need of a separate virtual machine. This can be easily created for various applications because it runs separately from the underlying blockchain ICON platform offers flexibility within their ecosystem, giving other blockchains the ability to connect with the ICON network via their smart contracts To reiterate, the ICON platform was created by the parent group, DAYLI financial group, and DFG has a partnership with ripple The Loop is a member of the Korean Financial Investment Association that includes 27 financial firms in Korea. Some of these partners include Daishin Securities, which has close to a $1 Billion market cap and Kiwoom, which has a market cap is well over $1.5 Billion. The other partners also manage billions or hundreds of millions of dollars ICON signed an agreement with Woori (second largest bank in Korea) to create a Tether equivalent but for the Korean Won Dayli Financial Group (DFG) owns Coinone, the second largest crypto exchange in Korea DFG has a close partnership with multiple universities including Sogang University, which is currently developing a blockchain vending machine called U-Coin DFG has recently formed an insurance consortium with hospitals and insurance companies to help with ICON’s blockchain adoption Korea is ideal place for blockchain technology to accelerate because they are one of the largest leaders in cryptocurrency trading volume and supporters The ICON blockchain solution is already enterprise tested. Their platform is one of the world’s largest enterprise blockchain networks that includes 25 security firms, 6 hospitals, various universities and banks
Headwinds:
Since regulation will always trail innovation, the digital currency space can be subject to new regulations in the future
Summary:
The one aspect of ICX that sticks out to me the most is the lack of headwinds. Apart from regulations and the general challenges of the blockchain space, ICON does not have any serious competition within enterprise ready blockchain solutions in Korea. Plus, they already have a functioning product that enterprises, both in business and government are utilizing. Once you do the research, it becomes clear very quickly that ICON is backed by one of the largest conglomerates in Korea giving the project almost unlimited resources, manpower, and influence to execute their roadmap. This is why I see this coin touching $70 within the next 2 years.
To my dedicated readers, I am excited to announce that I have just launched my advisory service and fund, Masi Digital Ventures.
https://masidigitalventures.com/
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Murderous terror group ISIS have released a chilling new video calling on killers across the world the replicate the Nice atrocity .
The minute long footage, put together by the militants' propaganda team, asks the group's warped followers to slaughter innocent people in any way they can.
A total of 85 people were killed and dozens more injured when a lorry deliberately drove into crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, France, on July 14, 2016.
In the video, a spokesman for the maniacal extremists speaks over footage of the ISIS' previous massacres.
(Image: ISIS) (Image: ISIS)
He says: "So brothers, when you have any chance to kill one of those American of French infidels or any of those who support them, take it.
"You can smash his head with a stone, slaughter him, run him over by car, throw him off a roof, strangle him or even poison him.
"The important thing is not to hesitate or give up and let your goal be to kill this infidel or die trying."
A second voice then continues: "So, give yourself to Allah and ask him for his help.
(Image: ISIS) (Image: ISIS)
"And leave your passive life among those Western infidels behind you.
"Do not make it an excuse that you do not have access to a weapon.
"Instead, follow the lead of the Nice attacker, where he came up with an idea that was totally unexpected by those infidels with all their security and intelligence agencises.
"He decided to rent a truck and run those infidels while celebrating one of their pagan feasts." | {
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(Tunis) – Algerian authorities have increasingly clamped down on efforts to form independent unions and to organize and participate in peaceful protests and worker strikes. Authorities have blocked demonstrations, arbitrarily arrested trade unionists, and prosecuted some of them on criminal charges which appear to have little basis in fact or are based on the peaceful exercise of their union activities.
Most recently, on September 29, 2013, the police violently dispersed a peaceful protest organized by the Contractual Workers Union in front of the government compound in Algiers and arrested 20 people, then released them later in the day.
“Algeria claims to be on a path to political reform, but then it turns around and menaces independent unions that seek social justice and better job conditions,” said Joe Stork, acting Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Workers should not have to risk being fired or thrown in prison for participating in peaceful union activities.”
The result of the crackdown has been a climate of intimidation and fear that inhibits the development of independent trade unions alongside the existing state-supported unions, Human Rights Watch said. Human Rights Watch interviewed 20 union activists about the tactics the authorities use to curtail union activities during strikes, peaceful protests or indoor gatherings. Authorities have dismissed government workers after peaceful strikes and imprisoned union leaders on politically motivated charges. Algerian authorities should stop putting obstacles in the way of independent unions, Human Rights Watch said.
On April 25, Human Rights Watch sent a letter to the Algerian ministers of justice and interior requesting information about specific incidents and cases in which it appeared that authorities had violated the right of trade unionists and workers to engage in peaceful union activities. More than five months later, the ministers have not replied.
Algerian authorities engage in administrative maneuvers designed to withhold legal status from independent unions. The law on legalizing new unions requires these groups only to notify the authorities that they exist, not to get permission to form. But authorities sometimes refuse to issue a receipt proving they have been notified.
The Union of Higher Education Teachers in Solidarity (Syndicat des Enseignants du Supérieur Solidaires), for example, filed its papers on January 19, 2012. But it received no receipt at the time and has yet to receive an answer from the government, which means it cannot legally operate.
The National Autonomous Union of Postal Workers (Syndicat National Autonome des Postiers – SNAP) notified the authorities three times – on July 2, 2012, on September 13, 2012, and on March 3, 2013 – but the authorities never issued a receipt. The union still lacks legal status.
The rights to freedom of association, collective bargaining, and to strike are enshrined in International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions, to which Algeria is a party. Algeria also has obligations under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which guarantee the right to freedom of association and assembly, and under the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which protects specific rights related to freedom of association and trade union membership.
Article 2 of ILO Convention 87 on the right to freedom of association and protection of the right to organize, stipulates that workers and employers, without distinction, shall have the right to establish and, subject only to the rules of the organization concerned, to join organizations of their own choosing without previous authorization.
“Algeria’s largest workers’ union, the General Union of Algerian Workers, played a proud role in Algeria’s independence a half-century ago,” Stork said. “It is long past the time for Algeria to allow other unions to flourish too.”
Background
Since its independence from France in 1962 until the 1990s, Algeria had only one workers’ union, the General Union of Algerian Workers (Union Générale des travailleurs algériens, UGTA), which many historians describe as playing a crucial role during Algeria’s war of independence, from 1954 to 1962. Following widespread riots and protests in October 1988 that shook the government, Algeria adopted a new constitution, paving the way for legislation that ended the ruling National Liberation Front’s monopoly over political life, media, and organized labor, and allowing for greater freedom of expression, assembly, and association.
On June 2, 1990, Algeria adopted Law 90-14, allowing for the establishment of independent unions. Several autonomous unions were created in the public sector, such as the Autonomous National Union of Public Administration Personnel (Syndicat National Autonome des personnels de l’administration publique – SNAPAP), and the National Autonomous Union of Education and Training Workers (Syndicat autonome des travailleurs de l’éducation et de la formation – SATEF).
Law 90-14 requires new unions to register by sending the authorities a declaration announcing their establishment. The declaration must contain the list of the founding members and the administrative committee members of the union as well as their signatures, their personal status, their profession, and home address; and two certified copies of the bylaws of the union and the minutes of its founding general assembly. The law states that the governor or the labor minister must deliver a receipt (récépissé) acknowledging the constitution of the union within 30 days.
Restrictions on Establishing Unions
In practice, authorities have curtailed the right to form an independent union in various ways.
Refusal to deliver the receipt for the registration of the unions
Authorities often refused to deliver the receipt, thus depriving the union of legal recognition and the ability to operate legally.
In addition to the unions that have tried to register recently, with no response, the National Union of Vocational Training Workers submitted its founding papers in 2002 and heard nothing for years. It got its receipt only in 2011, after the ILO’s Committee on Freedom of Association made inquiries to the Algerian authorities about it.
Obstacles to forming federations and confederations
Article 2 of Law no. 90-14, says that workers and employers from the same professions, branches or sectors of activity have the right to form unions. Authorities have interpreted that provision as prohibiting the formation of confederations or federations that unite workers from different sectors.
Authorities used this argument to reject the request by the National Autonomous Union of Public Administration Staff (Syndicat National Autonome des personnels de l’administration publique – SNAPAP) in 2001 to form the National Autonomous Union of Algerian Workers (Syndicat national autonome des travailleurs algeriens).
In an opinion dated October 17, 2001, the ILO stated that Algerian legislation should not be interpreted to prevent unions from forming federations and confederations, and called on Algerian authorities to end restrictions and obstacles to their formation.
Other obstacles
Authorities also sometimes contend that the union’s bylaws don’t conform with the law. The Higher Education Teachers’ Union (SESS) said that the government replied to its January 2012 submission that “an examination of the trade union’s bylaws shows that they are inconsistent with the provisions of Act No. 90-14 of 2 June 1990” without providing further details.
Kaddour Chouicha, the union’s national coordinator, said that during meetings with the Labor Ministry, the ministry representatives asked the union representatives to change the bylaws. They did and resubmitted their papers, to no avail.
The National Autonomous Union of Workers of the SONELGAZ (Société Nationale de l'Electricité et du Gaz/National Society for Electricity and Gas), which submitted its founding papers on June 14, 2012, received the same reply, without elaboration.
The two organizations submitted complaints to the Freedom of Associations Committee of the ILO. The committee concluded that, “Generally speaking, recalling that the applications for registration were filed more than one year ago in one case, the committee can only express its concerns as regards what clearly constitutes lengthy delays to register trade unions and a violation of the right of workers to establish organizations of their own choosing.”
The committee recommended that Algerian authorities expedite registration of these unions, but the unions have still not received the receipts from the government, which keeps asking them to change their bylaws.
Arbitrary Interference with Union Activities
On February 20, 2013, the police arrested and expelled 10 non-Algerian members of associations of unemployed workers in other Maghreb countries who had traveled to Algiers to attend the first Maghreb Forum for the Fight Against Unemployment and Temporary Work (Forum maghrébin pour la lutte contre le chômage et le travail précaire) that was to take place on February 20 and 21 at the labor union center in the Bab Ezzouar neighborhood of Algiers. They were held at the Bab Ezzouar police station, then taken to the airport, where the five Tunisians and three Mauritanians among them were expelled on the same day and the two Moroccans on the following day.
Rachid Malaoui, the president of the public administration union, told Human Rights Watch that very early on February 20, the police surrounded the labor union center and blocked access to the meeting room. The police arrested Mourad Tchiko of the public administration union and Abdelkader Kherba of the National Committee for the Defense of Rights of Unemployed (Comité National de Défense des droits des Chômeurs – CNDDC), which is affiliated with the union, held them until that evening, then released them without charge.
Authorities had already summarily shut down an earlier public administration union headquarters in 2009. The union had rented the building in Bachdjarrah, a suburb of Algiers, from a private citizen and made it regularly available to organizations for events, turning it into a locus of civil society activities in greater Algiers.
The order to close the building down immediately came just before the union was to hold the North African Unions Forum (Forum Syndical Maghrebin) there, on May 14 and 15, 2009. The written order signed by the security chief (préfet) of the wilaya of Algiers listed the reasons for the closure as: holding gatherings and public meetings without first obtaining permission to do so; inviting foreigners to participate in gatherings without informing or seeking the necessary authorization from the relevant agencies; transforming the premises into a meeting place for young men and women coming from different regions of the country; and disturbances of the public order caused by persons on the premises.
Harassment and Intimidation of Union Leaders
Members of unions that consider themselves autonomous from the General Union of Algerian Workers (Union générale des travailleurs algériens – UGTA) told Human Rights Watch that the authorities have subjected them to judicial harassment and arbitrary arrests in reprisal for their peaceful union activities and demonstrations for labor rights.
The ILO’s Committee on Freedom of Association, which examines complaints about violations of freedom of association, has affirmed in its case law that the right to strike “is a right that workers and their organizations (trade unions, federations, and confederations) are entitled to enjoy,” that any restrictions on this right “should not be excessive,” and that the “legitimate exercise of the right to strike should not entail prejudicial penalties of any sort, which would imply acts of anti-union discrimination.”
Several union activists told Human Rights Watch that they faced retaliation for organizing or participating in strikes. They said they complied with laws outlining the steps that they must take before calling a strike. These include exhausting mechanisms for mediation and conciliation under Article 24 of the labor union law, notifying the employer eight days in advance and ensuring a minimum level of service during the strike. Article 33 of the law prohibits sanctions against workers for participating in a legal strike.
Tchiko, of the SNAPAP, described intimidation and judicial harassment against him, beginning in 2004. Tchiko, who lives in Algiers, belongs to the union’s national bureau and is a former vice president of the National Union of Civil Protection Personnel (Union nationale des agents de la protection civile).
On December 18, 2004, Tchiko organized and participated in a sit-in in front of the National Direction of Civil Protection in Algiers to demand an investigation of corruption in this administration and improvements in working conditions. Civil Protection suspended him from his job the same day. On February 12, 2005, a disciplinary commission ordered his reassignment to a Civil Protection job in another town outside of Algiers governorate because of his participation in the sit-in.
In April 2005, Tchiko said, the court of Bir Mourad Rais in Algiers charged him with “hampering the services of a public administration” and organizing an “unauthorized gathering.” Tchiko has been suspended from his job without pay, pending a verdict in the case. He said that authorities have not let him see his own judicial file. After eight years, the Court of Bir Mourad Rais decided on October 10, 2012 to acquit him from all charges. Tchiko has attempted since that date to reintegrate his previous work and sent a notification to his former administration informing them about the judicial decision. However, he is still suspended from his job.
Mourad Ghedia, president of the National Federation of Justice Sector Workers (Federation nationale des travailleurs du secteur de la justice, affiliated with SNAPAP), said that his federation decided to organize a strike in April 2012 to demand better working conditions for law clerks. But the administration imposed restrictions on the union leaders, and harassed and intimidated them. Ghedia said the federation had complied with the legislation on strikes and sent a strike notice to the authorities on March 31, 2012, for a strike set to begin on April 10.
Ghedia said that the administration sanctioned 17 of the striking court clerks for “dereliction of duties” and “lack of diligence in work” and reassigned them to other courts far from their homes. Immediately after the strike, authorities dismissed 57 law clerks, including six from the executive bureau of the federation, bypassing the usual mechanisms for initiating a disciplinary dismissal, Ghedia said. He said they cannot appeal their dismissal since they lack any formal notification and cannot return to work since the court administration physically bars them.
Saad Bourekba, a member of the National Federation of Justice Sector Workers, was one of the leaders of the April 2012 strike in Sétif. He worked as an information technician in the first instance court of that city. On July 1, 2012, Bourekba received a summons from the investigating judge of the Setif court, informing him that he was accused of disrupting the internet network of the court where he works. The judge also informed Bourekba that he was placing him under judicial supervision and that he had to sign in at a police station three times a week.
On October 16, the judge told Bourekba he was charged under Penal Code article 394bis with fraudulently accessing an automated data processing system. Bourekba denied the charge and said that the real motive was to punish him for was his union activities. Since July 1, 2012, Bourekba has been suspended from his job without pay. He was sentenced on June 17 to a year in prison, of which 10 months were suspended.
Yassine Zaid, a human rights and union activist, has faced intimidation and harassment since he became involved in the activities of independent unions, including the public administration union. Zaid said that on October 2, 2012, he was on a bus to Ouargla to meet with oil company workers. At a checkpoint 20 kilometers away, the police stopped the bus and checked the passengers’ papers.
Zaid said they took him off the bus and to a police station, where they slapped him in the face several times and then detained him for a week. On October 8, they took him before Ouargla’s Court of First Instance on charges of assaulting and insulting a police officer under articles 144 and 148 of the Penal Code. The court sentenced him to six months in prison, suspended. He appealed the decision on October 16 and is still awaiting the appeals trial.
Amine Sidhoum, Zaid’s lawyer, said that a witness to Zaid’s questioning by police told Sidhoum that three policemen questioned Zaïd for about two hours, striking him on the face and neck, while he was handcuffed. Zaid said he filed a complaint after his release before the public prosecutor of the First Instance Tribunal of Ouargla for mistreatment, but the prosecution office did not initiate any case against the police officers.
In one of the most recent examples of judicial harassment against union leaders, Abdelkader Kherba, a member of the National Committee to Defend the Rights of the Unemployed (Comité national pour la défense des droits des chômeurs – CNDDC) was sentenced on May 6, 2013 to two months in prison, and fined 20,000 dinars (approximately US$250).
The Appeal Court of the city of Médéa, about 80 kilometers southwest of Algiers, convicted Kherba under Law 12-06 relating to Associations, which came into force in January 2012. Article 46 subjects active members of unregistered associations to prison terms ranging from three to six months. Kherba was earlier prosecuted and sentenced to one year in prison, suspended, on charges of “direct incitement to an unarmed gathering” and “interfering with the work of an institution” because he was filming the sit-in of court clerks, who had been on strike for 10 days to demand better working conditions for court personnel. | {
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Protesters disrupted a vote Monday that made Donald Trump's election in Wisconsin official.
Wisconsin's Republican electors officially voted to certify Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes from November's presidential election.
Around 50 protestors marched outside the state Capitol in sub-zero wind chills, while dozens more marched inside.
As the members of the Wisconsin Electoral College made the announcement, a protestor began shouting "This is my America" and other slogans, and was quickly escorted outside by security.
Other protestors chanted "shame" at the Republican presidential electors during the meeting and as they were leaving.
Protests were planned Monday in several state capitals, but they're unlikely to persuade the Electoral College to dump Trump. An Associated Press survey of electors found very little appetite to vote for alternative candidates.
Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by 2.6 million votes. But Trump is poised to win 306 of the 538 electoral votes under the state-by-state distribution of electors used to choose presidents since 1789.
Be sure and try our new SNOWCAST APP! It is the "snow equivalent to STORM SHIELD" - a great new product that gives you high resolution snow forecasts for any part of the nation! It has just been introduced for iPhones, but we are working on the Android version! Just search SNOWCAST in the App Store or click here. | {
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Nobel Laureate Roger Tsien, PhD, UC San Diego School of Medicine professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, died August 24, 2016.
Roger Tsien, PhD, co-winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in chemistry and professor of pharmacology, chemistry and biochemistry at University of California San Diego School of Medicine for 27 years, died August 24 in Eugene, Ore. He was 64.
Tsien’s work literally illuminated science. With Osamu Shimomura, PhD, an emeritus professor at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass. and Martin Chalfie, PhD, a professor of biological sciences at Columbia University, Tsien helped scientists peer within living cells and organisms as never before, earning not just the 2008 Nobel Prize but scores of subsequent awards and accolades.
“Every honor was justly deserved, and always received with humility,” said Pradeep Khosla, chancellor of UC San Diego. “Roger was an extraordinary man: kind, generous, gracious, and always the consummate scientist pushing the limits of his work to expand the possibilities of science. He was a rare talent we cannot replace.”
Tsien, Shimomura and Chalfie collaborated to discover and develop green fluorescent protein (GFP), derived from the jellyfish Aequorea victoria, as a new and soon-indispensable research tool.
Shimomura identified the crucial jellyfish protein and revealed that it glowed bright green under ultraviolet light. Chalfie showed how it could be used as a biological marker. Combining his deep skills in chemistry and biology, Tsien found ways to make GFP glow more brightly and consistently; then he created a full palette of fluorescent proteins that scientists could use to track different cellular processes at the same time.
“I’ve always been attracted to colors,” Tsien told the San Diego Union-Tribune in 2008. “Color helps make the work more interesting and endurable. It helps when things aren’t going well. If I had been born color-blind, I probably never would have gone into this.”
GFPs have become a fundamental fixture in life sciences labs around the world, allowing researchers to look into cells or whole animals, to watch molecules interact in real-time and ask questions once thought impossible.
Cultured HeLa cancer cells depicted using fluorescent proteins to illustrate Golgi apparatus (orange) and microtubules (green), with DNA-carrying nuclei counterstained blue. Image courtesy of National Institutes of Health.
“Our work is often described as building and training molecular spies,” Tsien once said, “molecules that will enter a cell or organism and report back to us what the conditions are, what’s going on with the biochemistry, while the cell is still alive.”
Tsien was never content to rest upon his Nobel laurels. He wanted his research to be clinically relevant. Working with colleagues like Quyen T. Nguyen, MD, PhD, research collaborator and head and neck surgeon at UC San Diego Health, Tsien helped develop experimental injectable fluorescent peptides that cause hard-to-see peripheral nerves to glow, allowing surgeons to avoid them when removing damaged or cancerous tissues.
“The analogy I use is that when construction workers are excavating, they need a map showing where the existing underground cables are actually buried, not just old plans of questionable accuracy,” Tsien said. “Likewise when surgeons are taking out tumors, they need a live map showing where the nerves are actually located, not just a static diagram of where they usually lie in the average patient.”
As a distinguished Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, Tsien sought to better visualize cancer in other ways — or maybe treat it. He and colleagues have designed U-shaped peptides able to carry either imaging molecules or chemotherapy drugs to targeted cancer cells.
His lab created a new generation of fast-acting fluorescent dyes that optically highlight electrical activity in neuronal membranes, deciphering how brain cells function and interact. And using a modified plant protein, he and colleagues created a new type of genetic tag visible under an electron microscope (EM), allowing researchers to see life in unprecedented detail.
“The big advantage of EM is that it has always had much higher spatial resolution than light microscopy,” Tsien said. You can get up to a hundred-fold higher useful magnification from EM than from light microscopy.” The result is extraordinarily refined, three-dimensional images of microscopic objects at resolutions measuring in the tens of nanometers, tiny enough to meticulously render the internal anatomy of individual cells.
“Roger’s vision was vast and yet incredibly precise,” said David A. Brenner, MD, vice chancellor, UC San Diego Health Sciences and dean of UC San Diego School of Medicine. “He saw both the big picture, but also the incredible need to see and understand — in glorious color — all of the infinitesimal details that make it up, that make up life.”
“He was ahead of us all,” said Tsien’s wife, Wendy. “He was ever the adventurer, the pathfinder, the free and soaring spirit. Courage, determination, creativity and resourcefulness were hallmarks of his character. He accomplished much. He will not be forgotten.”
Biography in brief
Roger Yonchien Tsien was born February 1, 1952 in New York City, the third son of immigrant parents. He was a scientist from early childhood, sketching out chemistry experiments as an 8-year-old in a notebook now kept in the Nobel Museum in Stockholm, Sweden. His first Boy Scout merit badge was in chemistry.
In 1968 at the age of 16, he took first prize in the prestigious Westinghouse Science Talent Search for high school seniors. He attended Harvard College, graduating summa cum laude in chemistry and physics in 1972, then earned his doctorate in physiology in 1977 at the University of Cambridge in England.
Before coming to UC San Diego in 1989, he worked as a research assistant in Cambridge and then as a junior professor at UC Berkeley.
Tsien was a member of the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society of London. Among his awards: the Gairdner Foundation International Award, the American Chemical Society Award for Creative Invention, the Heineken Prize for Biochemistry and Biophysics, the Max Delbruck Medal in Molecular Medicine, the Wolf Prize and the Keio Medical Science Prize. | {
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CGhub's drawing jam #8: David vs Goliath:"the topic David vs Goliath isn't limited to the biblical story but more the idea of lil' underdog vs the (seemingly) stronger/bigger opponent"Massively fun to draw. Enjoy.I know it's not my usual stock, but I'm getting tired of seeing hairless monkeys in my gallery.Oh yea, and no one else commented on the apparent shallowness of the water, and the way that tail just comes out of it. Says my sister, the only person who noticed, "it must be part water creature part dune worm, to be able to burrow so deeply into the sand underneath the surface so easily". So. Just so you know. It's part water creature, part dune worm, part flying monster. *rofl*Higher resolution images will be available in real life (re: conventions), but won't be posted online. Sorry! : , the beastie shall be called the Gammaray - "just like gamma rays from space, it can effortlessly move through air, sea, and earth."-> OpenCanvas1.1 (plotting and sketching and initial color layout), Painter IX.5 (digital painting), and Photoshop CS2 (rendering and editting) | {
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AHORA LA VERDAD ESTÁ A TU ALCANCE POR MUY POCO. DESCÚBRALO!
Los detectives privados Madrid, en ocasiones son altamente requeridos por la gran dedicación que le imprimen a la realización de la actividad detectivesca, ello implica también el análisis por parte del cliente de todo un cúmulo de elementos que están directamente vinculados hacia la determinación de todos los aspectos que son hoy por hoy necesarios al momento de la contratación de una labor de investigación detectivesca.
Cuando hablamos de este tipo de investigaciones, también estamos abordando todo lo que tiene que ver con respecto a sus precios y honorarios, ya que las mismas se han permitido establecer un cúmulo de elementos que son propicios hacia la generación de una investigación de alto nivel.
LO MEJOR DE UNA INVESTIGACIÓN PRIVADA
Un detective privado es un recurso que permite obtener la mejor información en el momento indicado, esto es posible gracias a la comprensión sistémica con la que actúa un agente de campo de este tipo, el conocimiento y el desarrollo de distintas técnicas con las que el detective despliega su
labor, son los principales elementos característicos que lo ayudan a impulsarse en pro de satisfacer todos los requerimientos con sus clientes.
Un detective privado en el ejercicio de su profesión no se limita por los precios y honorarios que pueda recibir al momento de ejecutar cada caso, ya que como un buen detective, ante todo busca mantenerse en pie desarrollando lo que conoce y para lo que se ha formado a lo largo de toda su vida, ello sin duda alguna es la mejor garantía para ejecutar de forma óptima todos los elementos y aspectos que se encuentran ligados al desarrollo de su carrera profesional.
Desde Grupo Arga detectives, hemos establecido diferentes elementos que son proclives hacia la generación de una conducta ética que le permiten al agente conducirse con una gran experiencia y con un excelente sentido de diligencia en el campo.
Lo mejor que tienen nuestros detectives en este momento es que los mismos son recursos orientados hacia el logro de nuestros clientes, la satisfacción de los clientes para un detective privado es la mayor recompensa que recibe en su día a día, ya que esta es la mejor garantía para establecer un desarrollo óptimo de operaciones.
El detective que busque de alguna u otra forma rendir con eficiencia debe ser un elemento capaz de satisfacer con lo mejor a cada uno de los requerimientos que traza inicialmente con el cliente, ya que a través de ese plan conjunto, puede hacer la ejecución de diversos aspectos que sean capaces de garantizar el mejor de los desarrollos en una operación, ello es la suficiente garantía para ejecutar una labor de investigación exitosa.
Un detective privado establece precios y honorarios pero en algunas ocasiones conoce que sus clientes se encuentran limitados presupuestariamente, en este sentido el deber ser de su actuación lo llevan al análisis de diversos aspectos que debe revisar y que se encuentran contenidos más allá de cualquier aspecto financiero o económico, es allí en donde el detective debe ser más empático y consecuente con el momento que otros atraviesan en pro de generar el mayor sentido de respuestas a las necesidades de los clientes.
Un detective privado que se precie siempre busca generar la posibilidad de no dejar solo a su cliente ello le permite resolver y buscar cada interrogante planteada, lo mejor que ha podido hacer un investigador de Grupo Arga detectives en torno a la resolución de escenarios de este tipo se centra en la articulación de respuestas bajo el funcionamiento de diversos escenarios, los cuales son los únicos capaces de instrumentar un sentido de solución efectivo hacia el cliente.
Un detective que siempre se apoye en su organización para desarrollar el mejor escenario posible tomando en cuenta la disponibilidad presupuestaria del cliente es un funcionario probo capaz de establecer el mejor sentido de gestión y respuestas hacia todas las inquietudes que tengan los interesados en su contratación, tomando en cuenta sus limitaciones para establecer el mejor margen de maniobra posible.
El detective que desee ser un miembro de Grupo Arga, debe ante todo conocer que la carrera de la investigación privada, esta llena de múltiples requerimientos que nosotros debemos cumplir en pro de la excelencia y la mejor garantía para hacer este tipo de actividades reside en comprender totalmente a nuestros clientes, ya que eso nos hace más humanos y más empáticos.
NUESTROS DETECTIVES TIENEN UN GRAN COMPROMISO
Los detectives de Grupo Arga, son recursos que tienen en si mismos la posibilidad de actuar como aquellos canalizadores de información que pueden ser capaces de establecer las mejor de las respuestas a nuestros clientes, ello significa ser garantes de diversas gestiones en pro de servir hacia los contratantes de este servicio con lo mejor.
Grupo Arga detectives, es una organización que lleva más de 10 años trabajando en el campo de la pesquisa profesional en toda España, ello es muestra de nuestro compromiso y dedicación para satisfacer a nuestros clientes, nuestro ritmo y ánimo de innovación constante favorecen el esquema de funcionamiento que como desde grupo privado de investigaciones llevamos a cabo una labor de investigación de excelencia, con el objetivo de complementar una serie de funcionalidades al servicio de todos los interesados con los mejores precios y honorarios profesionales.
En Grupo Arga detectives la disciplina, entrega y disposición de nuestros agentes en lograr la ejecución de operativos exitosos resulta altamente eficiente, ya que nuestros procesos de formación encausan al funcionario de investigación al logro de sus objetivos.
Grupo Arga detectives es una organización que ha logrado generar una gran aceptación en todos los servicios que se ha propuesto desplegar en España, ello ha sido muestra del porcentaje de aceptación que ha tenido nuestra propuesta de valor al consultar nuestra base de clientes y al ser la misma superior a un 93%, cuestión que nos posicionan como una agencia líder en el ramo.
Adicionalmente Grupo Arga detectives, ha puesto a la orden de nuestros clientes todos sus canales de contacto por redes sociales y a través de nuestra web con el objetivo de extender una atención las 24 horas del día y los 365 días al año. ¡En Grupo Arga se encuentran los mejores!
EL VALOR DE UNA INVESTIGACIÓN PRIVADA.
Las tarifas de detective privado actualmente se ve modificada por distintos aspectos, pues principalmente esta variará de acuerdo a la agencia a la que se dirija el cliente, las cuales generalmente suelen tener costos elevados.
Así mismo, estas tarifas de detectives privados podrán variar de acuerdo al tipo de servicio que necesite y si se trata de un detective que trabaja por su parte. Teniendo en cuenta esto, podrá tener un presupuesto al momento de ubicar un detective que le ayude.
Aunque parezca difícil, actualmente es posible contar con los servicios de un detective privado que sea accesible económicamente, pues como comentamos, las tarifas de los detectives privados variarán de acuerdo a diversos aspectos.
Para esto deberá tener en cuenta el tipo de investigación o servicio que desea contratar por parte de estos detectives, así como la complejidad del caso, pues mientras más difícil resulte para estos profesionales, más costoso puede ser el servicio.
También se debe considerar dónde se debe llevar a cabo la investigación, pues muchas de estas pueden significar un traslado de región para el detective, teniendo que considerar así los gastos de dicho viaje.
A pesar de todo esto, debe tener en cuenta que, en sentido general, los costos de un detective privado podrán costar entre 40 o 70 euros la hora, así mismo, muchas de las agencias de detectives ofrecen la primera cita con el detective de forma gratuita.
En sentido más específicos, los costos de, por ejemplo, un barrido electrónico puede alcanzar hasta los 400 euros, así como puede encontrarse un servicio de localización de personas entre los 300 y los 400 euros.
Sin embargo, se debe destacar que las tarifas de detectives privados serán mayores o menores de acuerdo a la agencia, por lo que la recomendación es informarse acerca de las agencias que se encuentren cerca para determinar cuál se adapta mejor a nosotros.
LA TRANSPARENCIA EN PRECIOS Y TARIFAS.
Ante la cantidad de agencias de detectives privados que existe a lo largo del país, podemos decir que por años hemos destacado por nuestros excelentes profesionales y las tarifas de detectives privados que ofrecemos.
En grupo Arga detectives nos hemos ganado la confianza de nuestros clientes gracias a los precios que brindamos, siendo los más accesibles económicamente en comparación al resto de las agencias de las zonas.
Una vez contacte con nuestros detectives, se le brindará un presupuesto gratuito en base al servicio que necesita, así como nuestros detectives le atenderán de forma gratuita antes de comenzar la investigación.
Debe tener en cuenta también que los costos variarán de acuerdo al servicio que necesite, pero no hay de qué preocuparse porque estos seguirán siendo accesibles para su bolsillo, contando además con el asesoramiento gratuito de nuestros detectives.
Por estas y muchas otras razones nos hemos consolidado como la mejor agencia en cuanto a tarifas de detectives privados, por lo que le recomendamos ponerse en contacto con nosotros, pues nuestros detectives prestan múltiples servicios en todo el país.
LA ELECCIÓN ACERTADA CON PRECIOS JUSTOS.
En grupo Arga detectives contamos con años de experiencia en el mercado, siendo elegidos por muchas personas para ayudarles a iniciar una investigación, por lo que debe tener en cuenta las siguientes razones para preferirnos:
Tarifas accesibles
Como mencionamos anteriormente, en grupo Arga detectives nos hemos mantenido como una opción principal en diversas partes del país gracias a nuestras tarifas de detectives privados, en comparación a otras agencias, todos nuestros servicios son accesibles.
Detectives profesionales
Una característica que define a nuestros detectives es el profesionalismos con el que trabajan, pues se tratan de personas que se han formado en las mejores universidades para llevar a cabo esta labor de investigación que demandan nuestros clientes.
De igual forma, se trata de detectives cuya experiencia puede ser verificable por los clientes, de manera de que se encuentren en confianza y seguros de recibir el servicio que merecen, ayudándolos así a realizar una investigación de calidad.
Experiencia comprobable
Además de poder verificar la experiencia de los detectives y de la agencia en sí, nuestros clientes pueden contar con una cantidad de testimonios de parte de nuestros anteriores clientes, confirmando así el trabajo que se lleva a cabo.
Estos testimonios les servirán a nuestros clientes para comprobar que por años hemos sido una agencia de detectives respetable, no únicamente por nuestras tarifas de detectives privados, sino por el profesionalismo y la experiencia.
Asesoramiento
Entre los servicios que brindan nuestra agencia Arga de detectives podemos destacar el asesoramiento gratuito a los clientes que recurran a nuestras oficinas; con dicho asesoramiento los clientes sabrán cómo iniciar una investigación, entre otros aspectos.
Apoyo online
Además de lo ofrecido anteriormente por nuestro grupo de detectives, podemos destacar finalmente que como grupo de detectives contamos con nuestra propia pagina web donde se expresan todos los servicios con los que contamos.
Además de estos servicios, nuestros clientes podrán encontrar detalles de los mismos, a qué nos dedicamos y otro tipo de información importante para contar con nuestras tarifas de detectives privados.
Por todo lo anterior, no dude de ponerse en contacto con nuestros detectives, pues les garantizamos las mejores tarifas de detectives privados, así como la mejor atención posible, realizando una investigación profesional y rápida.
SERVICIOS DE INVESTIGACIÓN PRIVADA CON LOS MEJORES PRECIOS.
Como mencionamos, además de contar con las mejores tarifas de detectives privados, nuestro grupo de detectives ofrece una variedad de servicios acorde a las necesidades de nuestros clientes, destacando las siguientes:
Infidelidades
Este es uno de los servicios más demandados por los clientes donde nuestros detectives se encargan de realizar un seguimiento a la persona que indique el cliente y se encargan de recolectar pruebas en fotografía y videos para confirmar dicha infidelidad.
Informática
Este es un servicio brindado generalmente a las empresas donde se realizan tareas como barrido electrónico, análisis de teléfonos, recuperación de información perdida, mensajes eliminados, detección de programas espías, entre otros.
Familiares
El último servicio destacado es el de la familia donde se realizan tareas como la localización de familiares perdidos, divorcios, investigaciones de malos tratos o de violencia de género, custodias, entre otros. | {
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why choose FIRST CHOICE LIMO SERVICE?
The luxury fleet at First Choice Limo Service consists of late model Lincoln Town Cars, Luxury Sedans, Lincoln Town Car Limos, Passenger Vans, Party Buses, Hummer Limos, Cadillac Escalade Limos, Dodge Charger Limos as well as Chrysler 300 Limos. All of our vehicles are maintained in pristine condition and are available to provide you with simply the best Orlando transport experience imaginable. We thoroughly clean and regularly check all of our vehicles before meeting clients. With First Choice Limo Service, you can rest assured that your Orlando limo experience will not be tainted by an unkept vehicle.
We at First Choice Limo Service also provide outstanding 'Meet and Greet' service to each and everyone of our clients and aim to make your trip to Orlando a pleasant and memorable one. Planning your trips with First Choice Limo Service affords you the peace of mind for you, your family and your guests, thanks to our prompt pickup and timely drop-off, wherever your required destination may be. Our courteous and professional staff at First Choice Limo Service will gladly help you plan your Orlando vacation from start to finish. Along with providing quality Orlando transportation, our staff can help you decide which hotel to book and which sites are most requested for viewing in Orlando. Our Orlando limo service will go above and beyond your current expectation of what a limousine service is supposed to do for you. Are you looking for reliable Orlando Airport Limo Service? Rent our Orlando limousine for Orlando International Airport orlando Sanford International Airport transfers. Surprise your group of friends with a ride in one of our classy limousines or party buses. Going on a cruise? You can also reserve our limo service in Orlando to take you to Port Canaveral. We are a full service transportation company in Orange County. We offer corporate car, airport limousine, and hourly limousine services for all of Central Florida. We offer the utmost professional Orlando Limo Service that you expect. Our company understands the importance of conducting business on the highest level of service. For this reason we deliver complete customer satisfaction as our guarantee!
At First Choice Limo Service, we consistently take in repeat business from our long list of clients who visit Orlando. By constantly providing an excellent level of service, we have quickly built a loyal client base requesting us for all of their Orlando transportation needs. Don't be fooled by other Orlando limousine companies that advertise one price but charge a wildly different one at the end of your trip. At First Choice Limo Service, we are transparent about our rates and we don't hide behind hidden fees and surcharges. Booking with First Choice Limo Service means you get the best Orlando transportation service in town along with the peace of mind you won't get with many other limousine services. Based on our proven track record of providing quality Orlando transportation, we have observed countless repeat clients and we look forward to creating a lasting relationship with you as well. | {
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JAIPUR: A woman threw her two-year-old son into a well and then committed suicide by jumping in the well in Bhilwara's Pander police station area on Sunday. The woman took the extreme step due to frequent fights with her husband, who wanted her to care of his ailing mother. Several such suicides have been reported in the rural areas of the state over the past one year wherein mothers either threw their children in front of moving trains or into wells. Police said strained marital relationships were behind most of these incidents. According to the police, 28-year-old Seema Meena jumped into the well, about a kilometre from her in-laws' house at Laxmipura village near Pander, along with her son Ankit. "She had a fight with her husband Durgalal Meena , who is a farmer. The couple had a fight on Sunday. Durgalal wanted her to take proper care of his mother who suffers from a prolonged illness. She said she was doing her best. Durgalal left for work after the fight," said sub-inspector Lal Singh . The officer said Seema left for her parents' house around 8 am and jumped into the well after throwing Ankit into it. "Some villagers informed us about the suicide attempt. A team was rushed there. We fished their bodies out around afternoon. Their bodies were handed over to the family members after conducting the postmortem," said the officer. Similar cases of suicide have been reported in rural areas of Ajmer, Baran, Bhilwara, Churu, Jodhpur and Sikar districts. In most of these cases children have become the victims unnecessarily. | {
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Суд Генуи изменил украинскому экс-депутату Игорю Маркову меру пресечения и перевел его из тюрьмы под домашний арест.
Об этом сообщает итальянское издание Genova Post.
Как сообщает La Repubblica, Марков сможет выйти из тюрьмы только тогда, когда на него наденут электронный браслет.
фото Repubblica
Согласно информации, Марков будет проживать в номере одного из отелей.
Подсудимый не сможет покинуть помещение, однако будет иметь возможность встретиться с женой и детьми, а также адвокатом и сотрудниками посольства РФ.
Стоит заметить, что несмотря на то, что Марков является гражданином Украины, о праве встречи с украинским консулом не сообщается.
Как сообщают итальянские СМИ, свое согласие на изменение меры пресечения для Маркова дал прокурор Энрико Цукки.
Как известно, бывший народный депутат Игорь Марков был задержан в Италии 12 августа. Он пересек границу без визы и с аннулированным украинским диппаспортом, хотя и знал, что находится в международном розыске.
Суд Генуи 14 августа принял меру пресечения в отношении Игоря Маркова - содержание под стражей.
Марков во время слушания в апелляционном суде Генуи отказался от экстрадиции в Украину, поскольку, по его словам, там он является "жертвой политических преследований".
Напомним, ранее сообщалось, что Минюст передал Италии документы для экстрадиции Маркова.
Европейская правда | {
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A group of Penn State students combated the Willard Preacher‘s hateful rhetoric about sexuality and women by staging a flash mob of sorts to the tune of “Respect” by Aretha Franklin. The group of roughly 15-20 activists held signs asking the iconic campus proselytizer to respect the identities of those who don’t fit into the rigid Christian paradigm. What they truly lacked, however, was an argument. The display was nothing more than students dancing around and the Willard Preacher continuing to do his thing.
A crowd formed around the steps of the Willard building to watch what was going on. Some were enthused, joining in on the dancing and even shouting rebuttals to the preacher’s insistent narrative that sex isn’t for women, but the Natty light-buzzed bros who are doing the sexing. However, some were put off by the display and even went up to shake the Willard Preachers hand once the dust settled and the ground was littered with Sharpie signs.
What are your thoughts on today’s campus activism? Did the students miss the mark, or did they give the Willard Preacher a taste of his own medicine? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter. | {
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The Constitution Reform Group is delighted to announce that our long-awaited Act of Union Bill will be introduced in the House of Lords on Tuesday 9th October 2018 by Lord Lisvane, a member of the Group’s Steering Committee.
The Bill is the result of wide consultation over the last three years and it is the Group’s objective to stimulate further debate. All of the members of the Steering Committee and the Group’s wide circle of correspondents agree that, in spite of piecemeal constitutional changes over recent decades, our present constitutional arrangements are unsatisfactory and trigger questions which undermine the stability of the UK.
The Group believes that the case is a very urgent one, and the Bill as it has been drafted reflects the view that the UK needs a new constitutional settlement if the Union is to be preserved and strengthened. This is particularly important as the UK embarks on a new chapter of its history as it departs the EU in March 2019.
The Steering Committee of the Constitution Reform Group | {
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Republicans and Blacks
Recently former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice added her voice to those who have long been urging the Republican Party to reach out to black voters. Not only is that long overdue, what is also long overdue is putting some time — and, above all, some serious thought — into how to go about doing it.
Too many Republicans seem to think that the way to “reach out” is to offer blacks and other minorities what the Democrats are offering them. Some have even suggested that the channels to use are organizations like the NAACP and black “leaders” like Jesse Jackson — that is, people tied irrevocably to the Democrats.
Voters who want what the Democrats offer can get it from the Democrats. Why should they vote for Republicans who act like make-believe Democrats?
Trending: The 15 Best Conservative News Sites On The Internet
Yet there are issues where Republicans have a big advantage over Democrats — if they will use that advantage. But an advantage that you don’t use might as well not exist.
The issue on which Democrats are most vulnerable, and have the least room to maneuver, is school choice. Democrats are heavily in hock to the teachers’ unions, who see public schools as places to guarantee jobs for teachers, regardless of what that means for the education of students.
There are some charter schools and private schools that have low-income minority youngsters equaling or exceeding national norms, despite the many ghetto public schools where most students are nowhere close to meeting those norms. Because teachers’ unions oppose charter schools, most Democrats oppose them, including black Democrats up to and including President Barack Obama.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s recent cutback on funding for charter schools, and creating other obstacles for them, showed a calloused disregard for black youngsters, for whom a decent education is their one shot at a better life.
But did you hear any Republican say anything about it?
Minimum wage laws are another government-created disaster for minority young people.
Many people today would be surprised to learn that there were once years when the unemployment rate for black 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds was under 10 percent. But their unemployment rates have not been under 20 percent in more than half a century. In some years, their unemployment rate has been over 40 percent.
Why such great differences between earlier and later times? In the late 1940s, inflation had rendered meaningless the minimum wage set in 1938. Without that encumbrance, black teenagers found it a lot easier to get jobs than after the series of minimum wage escalations that began in the 1950s.
Young people need job experience, at least as much as they need a paycheck. And no neighborhood needs hordes of idle young men hanging around, getting into mischief, if not into crime.
Republicans have failed to explain why the minimum wage laws that Democrats support are counterproductive for blacks. Worse yet, during the 2012 election campaign Mitt Romney advocated indexing the minimum wage for inflation, which would not only guarantee its bad effects, but would put an end to discussing those bad effects.
Are issues like these going to switch the black vote as a whole over into the Republican column at the next election? Of course not. Nor will embracing the Democrats’ racial agenda.
But, if Republicans can reduce the 90 percent of the black vote that goes to Democrats to 80 percent, that can be enough to swing a couple of close Congressional elections — as a start.
Even to achieve that, however, will require targeting those particular segments of the black population that are not irrevocably committed to the Democrats. Parents who want their children to get a decent education are one obvious example. But if Republicans aim a one-size-fits-all message at all blacks they will fail to connect with the particular people they have some chance of reaching.
First of all, Republicans will need to know what they are talking about. There are books like “Race and Economics” by Walter Williams, which show that many well-meaning government programs have been counterproductive for minorities. And there are people like Shelby Steele and the Thernstroms with valuable insights.
But first Republicans have got to want to learn, and to be willing to do some thinking, in order to get their message across.
Also see,
A Tiger of a Book | {
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Airport lounges may be the travel industry's best-kept secret. These calm and secluded areas make traveling less torturous...and they're not just for jet-setters or elite frequent flyers. Here's how to get into an airport lounge and the reasons you might want to.
An Oasis in the Airport
Airports are hostile environments. After being herded through long security lines and patted down, travelers have to face noisy, crowded gate areas. That is, unless they head to an airport lounge. Yes, they still will cost you at least some money to get into, but the benefits may very well be worth the price even if you aren't rich or a frequent traveler—especially if you know a few tricks and insider information.
These areas, provided by the airlines and some third-parties, offer comfortable chairs and tables, food and drinks (including, usually, an open bar of alcoholic beverages), free newspapers and magazines, free Wi-Fi, and, most importantly, a quiet area to wait for your flight—whether you want to take a quick nap or get some work done. (Heck, you can even party for free in one.)
In addition to those perks, access to an airline lounge can prove invaluable, since it can get you better service in crazy times when your flight is delayed or cancelled. The agents in the lounge tend to be the most experienced customer service agents for the airline and can help you rebook—away from the crowd of outraged fellow passengers. At the airline lounge, service agents can also help with changing seat assignments, seeing if you can get an upgrade, and any other customer service needs.
The downside is that access to the lounges can be pricey (though not always), lounges aren't available at all airports, and the rules for getting into them vary.
How You Can Get Into a Lounge and How Much It Costs
There are a range of ways to get access to a lounge, but generally, you have four options:
Buy a first- or business-class ticket. This is the most obvious way to get into an airport lounge. Most airlines offer travelers in the premium cabins access to their lounges—if you're traveling internationally. (Outside the U.S., there are usually separate lounges for first- and business-class ticket holders at major hub airports.) If you're travelling domestically in the U.S., a first-class ticket doesn't always give you access to the lounge as you might expect; you'll have an easier time getting in if you have elite status with the airline. Dr. Credit Card overviews the rules:
International first class passengers have access to first class or business class lounges. You may bring one guest for free.
International business class passengers have access to business class lounges. No guest is allowed.
Domestic first class passengers on some carriers (all oneworld members except American Airlines, and certain Star Alliance members - United Airlines and US Airways are excluded) have access to first class or business class lounges. You may bring one guest for free.
Domestic business class passengers on some carriers (all oneworld members except American Airlines, and certain Star Alliance members - United Airlines and US Airways are excluded) have access to business class lounges. No guest is allowed.
Best for: If you're are travelling internationally anyway on first- or business-class, this is a no-brainer, because the lounge comes with your ticket. Otherwise, you'll have to weigh the cost of the ticket to see if it's worth it to you.
Tip: Depending on where you're flying to and from, you can get US domestic lounge access on certain airlines and for specific fare classes. See this list from The Points Guy
Become an elite flyer. If you have elite status with the airline (silver or gold, or the equivalent), you'll get prized access to the lounges. Note, though, that programs do vary—including if you can use a lounge from a partner airline in the same alliance, whether or not you can bring a guest with you, where you get access, and how many points you need to get to elite status. Dr. Credit Card has a thorough overview of the subject. See our guide to mastering airline loyalty programs for the best ways to get to elite status quickly, including using airline-branded credit cards for free/bonus miles.
Best for: Frequent travelers who usually only fly with airlines in the same program. The downside is it takes time to accumulate the number of miles needed, and you'll have to do it each year if you want to maintain your status.
Tip: If you fly United or another Star Alliance airline, you can get to Gold Status faster with this trick
Buy your way in. You can get an airline lounge membership, but the annual fees are hefty, usually around $450 (Alaska Airlines, Delta Sky Club, and US Airways) or $500 (American Admirals Club and United Club). This is probably the worst/most expensive way to get lounge access, but sometimes the airlines offer sales on the memberships. If you have membership for one of these, you'll usually get reciprocal access to the other airlines' lounges in the same alliance. You might also be able to pay for membership with frequent flyer miles.
Many airlines also let you buy a day pass, usually for $50 a visit. If your flight is cancelled or delayed or if you have hours until your red eye flight, this might be money well spent.
Best for: Frequent travelers who fly the same airline, don't have elite status, aren't flying in premium class, and aren't using one of the strategies below.
Tip: Buy membership in an independent lounge program, such as Priority Pass
Get a credit card that offers lounge access. Several travel-oriented credit cards give you access to airline lounges. Annual fees are typically $150 to $450, but you'll get other business- and travel-related perks with the credit card, so, in general, it's a better value than airline lounge membership. American Express Platinum, for example, offers access to US Airways Club and Delta Sky Club for you and your immediate family or up to two guests, plus a $200 credit for airline fees; the annual fee for the card is $450. Card Ratings highlights three other similar premium credit cards.
Best for: People who want a new rewards credit card and additional perks beyond just lounge access.
Tip: The premium credit cards are the most popular among frequent travelers, but several other cards offer lounge access but have lower annual fees. The PenFed Amex Chase Fairmont Visa Amex Hilton HHonors Surpass Chase Ink Bold
Score Airport Lounge Access for Less
Here are some tips for saving even more money on that coveted lounge access.
Buy a pass in advance. United day passes are $11 cheaper if you buy before you're at the lounge, and similarly US Airways day access is $29 versus $50 if you buy it with your ticket.
Buy cheaper lounge passes from other travelers. Check FlyerTalk forums or eBay/Craigslist to see if anyone's selling them. Be sure to check any restrictions, however, for the passes to make sure you can use them.
Head to alternative lounges. A bunch of independent lounges are popping up in airports around the world as less expensive options. These public pay-in lounges, such as reLAX Lounge and Airspace Lounge (in Baltimore-Washington International), are more comfortable than the gates and include complementary refreshments and other amenities, with hourly rates (reLAX for 1 hour is $15; all day for Airspace is $20).
Note that not all lounges are equal. Some are truly premium places complete with showers, spas, hair salons, pool tables, and even oxygen bars. Others are just rest stops. Check out reviews on SkyTrax or LoungeGuide before you buy. If you have an iOS device, previously mentioned Loungebuddy will direct you to the lounges you can get into.
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Many readers have asked for a primer summarizing the privacy and security issues at stake in the the dispute between Apple and the U.S. Justice Department, which last week convinced a judge in California to order Apple to unlock an iPhone used by one of assailants in the recent San Bernardino massacres. I don’t have much original reporting to contribute on this important debate, but I’m visiting it here because it’s a complex topic that deserves the broadest possible public scrutiny.
A federal magistrate in California approved an order (PDF) granting the FBI permission to access to the data on the iPhone 5c belonging to the late terror suspect Syed Rizwan Farook, one of two individuals responsible for a mass shooting in San Bernadino on Dec. 2, 2015 in which 14 people were killed and many others were injured.
Apple CEO Tim Cook released a letter to customers last week saying the company will appeal the order, citing customer privacy and security concerns.
Most experts seem to agree that Apple is technically capable of complying with the court order. Indeed, as National Public Radio notes in a segment this morning, Apple has agreed to unlock phones in approximately 70 other cases involving requests from the government. However, something unexpected emerged in one of those cases — an iPhone tied to a Brooklyn, NY drug dealer who pleaded guilty to selling methamphetamine last year.
NPR notes that Apple might have complied with that request as well, had something unusual not happened: Federal Magistrate Judge James Orenstein did not sign the order the government wanted, but instead went public and asked Apple if the company had any objections.
“The judge seemed particularly skeptical that the government relied in part on an 18th-century law called the All Writs Act,” reports NPR’s Joel Rose. “Prosecutors say it gives them authority to compel private companies to help carry out search warrants.”
Nevertheless, Apple is resisting this latest order, citing the precedent that complying might set, Apple’s CEO claims.
“We have great respect for the professionals at the FBI, and we believe their intentions are good,” Cook wrote. “Up to this point, we have done everything that is both within our power and within the law to help them. But now the U.S. government has asked us for something we simply do not have, and something we consider too dangerous to create. They have asked us to build a backdoor to the iPhone.”
Cook continued: “The government suggests this tool could only be used once, on one phone. But that’s simply not true. Once created, the technique could be used over and over again, on any number of devices. In the physical world, it would be the equivalent of a master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks — from restaurants and banks to stores and homes. No reasonable person would find that acceptable.”
In a letter posted to Lawfare.com and the FBI’s home page, FBI Director James Comey acknowledged that new technology creates serious tensions between privacy and safety, but said this tension should be resolved by the U.S. courts — not by the FBI or by Apple.
“We simply want the chance, with a search warrant, to try to guess the terrorist’s passcode without the phone essentially self-destructing and without it taking a decade to guess correctly,” Comey said. “That’s it. We don’t want to break anyone’s encryption or set a master key loose on the land. I hope thoughtful people will take the time to understand that. Maybe the phone holds the clue to finding more terrorists. Maybe it doesn’t. But we can’t look the survivors in the eye, or ourselves in the mirror, if we don’t follow this lead.”
According to the government, Apple has the capability to bypass the password on some of its devices, and can even disable an iPhone’s optional auto-erase function that is set to delete all data on the phone after some number of tries (the default is 10).
The iPhone at issue was an iPhone 5C, but it was running Apple’s latest operating system, iOS 9 (PDF), which prompts users to create six digit passcode for security. Since iOS 9 allows users to set a 4-digit, 6-digit or alphanumeric PIN, cracking the passcode on the assailant’s iPhone could take anywhere from a few hours to 5.5 years if the FBI used tools to “brute-force” the code and wasn’t hampered by the operating system’s auto-erase feature. That’s because the operating system builds in a tiny time delay between each guess, rendering large scale brute-force attacks rather time-consuming and potentially costly ventures.
In an op-ed that ran in The Washington Post on Feb. 18, noted security expert and cryptographer Bruce Schneier notes that the authority the U.S. government seeks is probably available to the FBI if the agency wants to spring for the funding to develop the capability itself, and that the FBI sees this as a privacy vs. security debate, while the tech community sees it as a security vs. surveillance debate.
“There’s nothing preventing the FBI from writing that hacked software itself, aside from budget and manpower issues,” Schneier wrote. “There’s every reason to believe, in fact, that such hacked software has been written by intelligence organizations around the world.”
Schneier said what the FBI wants to do would make us less secure, even though it’s in the name of keeping us safe from harm.
“The danger is that the court’s demands will pave the way to the FBI forcing Apple and others to reduce the security levels of their smart phones and computers, as well as the security of cars, medical devices, homes, and everything else that will soon be computerized,” Schneier wrote. “The FBI may be targeting the iPhone of the San Bernardino shooter, but its actions imperil us all.”
Nicholas Weaver, a senior researcher in networking and security for the International Computer Science Institute (ICSI), said the same logic behind what the FBI seeks could just as easily apply to a mandate forcing Microsoft, Google, Apple, and others to push malicious code to a device through automatic updates when the device isn’t yet in law enforcement’s hand.
“The request to Apple is accurately paraphrased as ‘Create malcode designed to subvert security protections, with additional forensic protections, customized for a particular target’s phone, cryptographically sign that malcode so the target’s phone accepts it as legitimate, and run that customized version through the update mechanism’,” Weaver wrote.
Apple appears ready to fight this all the way to the Supreme Court. If the courts decide in the government’s favor, the FBI won’t soon be alone in requesting this authority, Weaver warns.
“Almost immediately, the National Security Agency is going to secretly request the same authority through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC),” Weaver wrote. “How many honestly believe the FISC wouldn’t rule in the NSA’s favor after the FBI succeeds in getting the authority?”
This debate will almost certainly be decided in the courts, perhaps even by the U.S. Supreme Court. In the meantime, lawmakers in Washington, D.C. are already positioning themselves to…well, study the issue more.
In letters sent last week to Apple and the Justice Department, the House Energy & Commerce Committee invited leaders of both organizations to come testify on the issue in an upcoming hearing. In addition, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) say they plan to unveil legislation later this week to create a “Digital Security Commission” to investigate whether Congress has a bigger role to play here.
Twitter addicts can follow this lively debate at the hashtag #FBIvsApple, although to be fair the pro-Apple viewpoints appear to be far more represented so far. Where do you come down on this debate? Sound off in the comments below.
Recommended further reading: Jonathan Zdziarski’s take on why this case is different from previous requests from the FBI to Apple.
Tags: apple, Bruce Schneier, encryption, fbi, FISC, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, House Energy & Commerce Committee, ICSI, International Computer Science Institute, James Comey, Joel Rose, Nicholas Weaver, NPR, nsa, Rep. Michael McCaul, Sen. Mark Warner, Syed Rizwan Farook, Tim Cook | {
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FILE PHOTO: Logo of Saudi Aramco is seen at the 20th Middle East Oil & Gas Show and Conference (MOES 2017) in Manama, Bahrain, March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A Hong Kong listing by Saudi Aramco would help the oil giant secure huge Chinese demand for its $100 bln share sale, said the head of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing (HKEX) on Wednesday, as the world’s leading stock exchanges pitch for the business.
Saudi Aramco said in October that exchanges such as New York, London, Tokyo, and Hong Kong have all been looked at for the partial listing of the state company’s shares.
“It’s going to provide compelling benefit because they are able to use the listing to anchor very massive Chinese demand at the IPO,” Charles Li told Reuters in an interview in Singapore, where HKEX opened its first overseas office.
“It will become a great platform for the two major sovereigns to use as a potential platform for a broader level of financial or strategic investment decisions,” Li added, referring to China and Saudi Arabia.
“It is a compelling case that they are unlikely to ignore but they also have many other factors in the decision process,” he said, declining to share details of Aramco’s feedback.
Li also said that he expects companies with dual class shares to be listed on Hong Kong’s main board.
“We should basically in a few weeks, hopefully be able to announce a structure where we will have a chapter inside the main board that allows companies to list in Hong Kong, with weighted voting rights structures.”
The Asian financial hub's exchange operator is looking to attract more new economy companies in order to remain a global listings powerhouse.Hong Kong was the world's biggest initial public offering (IPO) venue in 2016 but has been struggling to attract new companies this year, with the bulk of those listing from property and financial sectors.HKEX 0388.HK had unveiled a proposal in June for a new board that would allow companies with share structures providing special voting rights, and those yet to make a profit, to list.Li said Hong Kong's financial secretary had indicated that Hong Kong was likely to take in applications under the new voting structure in the second half of next year."We are coming to a general agreement that this is the direction to go and we are ready to go," he said.Competition is heating up. In Singapore, the exchange's new regulatory unit is considering introducing dual class shares listing on SGX SGXL.SI but is yet to take a decision, months after a key advisory panel recommended the move. | {
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Prague is a city that incorporates different lifestyles with ease. It is the perfect backpacker destination with its lovely hostels and cheap food, but simultaneously, the city promises some of the most luxurious abodes that guarantee a stay to remember. Art, history, culture, and traditions collide in the stunning capital of the Czech Republic to give its visitors some of the most exciting sights in Europe. The city’s riverside location adds a whole new perspective to its elegance, adding a hint of drama and splendour to the surroundings. The most surprising part about Prague is that it manages to incorporate the ethos and sophistication of both Western and Eastern Europe in a cute little package that is hard to resist.
A luxurious visit to Prague is full of beautiful location, good food, and a lavish stay. Unlike some of the other metropolitan cities of the continent, Prague is relatively cheaper, and this makes splurging out a whole lot easier.
Stay
A city that is as charming as it is opulent, luxury hotel options in Prague are aplenty and each one as impressive as the other. For a luxury weekend in Prague, you can stay in a clock tower at the Augustine Hotel or wander the streets of the Old Town for a stylish stay in Hotel Josef. Hotel Josef is a beautiful boutique property where the simplicity of the rooms juxtaposes wonderfully with the old architecture of the city around it.
See
Prague, packed with attractive tourist spots, is a great place to walk around and discover. However, an exclusive way to see the city is by hiring a local, private guide for the day. Not only do they know more about Czech culture, but can also share hidden gems, such as the Manifesto Market and the Tesnov Graffiti Wall, in Prague that many people miss out during their visit. So, whether it is the Astronomical Clock, the Charles Bridge, or the Prague Castle you want to see, having a local by your side can make all the difference.
Play
There’s nothing more luxuriant than spending some time in a casino, and Prague has quite a few of them. It is for this reason that the city is considered one of the hottest gambling destinations with some of the finest European casinos. Among the most popular establishments in the town are Casino Banco, Viva, and Ambassador. Do remember that the casinos here take playing seriously and typically have a strict code which means you have to dress up nicely to play.
What’s the point of spending your well-earned money and not saving those memories in a more visual and physical form? Photography enthusiasts typically have a nice DSLR with them to take photos of themselves and their loved ones, but often that special moment is lost when fiddling around with the camera. Instead, hire a local photographer who can move around the city with you and click those oh-so-beautiful profile pictures that catch you in your most natural and smiling state. Moreover, local photographers are aware of the best spots and act as guides to some of the most Instagrammable places in Prague. | {
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Story highlights Online campaign launched to save bear sanctuary in Vietnam from closure
Sanctuary provides home for rescued Asiatic black bears
Bile from live bears extracted and used as traditional medicine
Appeal to Vietnam's prime minister to stop center's closure
Wildlife lobbyists are mounting an online campaign to urge Vietnam's prime minister to reprieve an animal sanctuary threatened with closure.
Comic actor Ricky Gervais and broadcaster Stephen Fry are among the many people who have used Twitter to call on Vietnam to lift the threat to shut the Bear Rescue Center, operated by Hong Kong-based charity Animals Asia.
The centre was set up to provide a safe home for bears previously captured and exploited by farmers as a source of bear bile -- regarded as a traditional medicine by many people in east Asian countries.
Bears in the illegal bile industry can be held for decades in cramped cages, having their bile regularly extracted direct from their abdomens in conditions described as barbaric by animal welfare campaigners.
Animals Asia says it's operating on land allocated by the government in 2005 for the purpose of a bear sanctuary, in Tam Dao National Park north of Hanoi. It now houses 104 rescued Asiatic black bears -- also know as moon bears, for their crescent-shaped chest markings.
The charity says it has been told the center has to leave the site after coming under pressure from the director of the national park. It claims he lobbied the Ministry of Defense to declare the area is of national defense significance -- a status the charity says is not justified. It alleges the true motive for reclaiming the land is to develop it for profit.
"We are desperate to ensure that the rescue center is not closed down and relocated," said Jill Robinson, the founder and chief executive of Animals Asia. The charity says it has invested $2 million of donors' money in the bear rehabilitation center, which will be lost if the centre closes. Robinson said it would also cost 77 local people their jobs, and added: "The welfare of 104 bears, who have already suffered enough, would be seriously compromised."
Now she and Animals Asia are pinning their hopes for a reprieve on an appeal to Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. They say he can override the eviction ruling, and are urging him to honor the original agreement to set land aside as a home for bears.
Stephen Fry this week joined the campaign to stop the sanctuary from being shut, tweeting to his 4.9 million followers: "Stop 104 rescued bears losing their home! Email Vietnam's PM to save Animals Asia's sanctuary #stoptheeviction ".
The government of Vietnam has so far not responded to CNN's requests for comment. | {
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The Centre is trying to facilitate the use of Coronavirus Rapid Test Kits across the country.
The Rajasthan government has stopped using the Rapid Testing Kits for coronavirus after they delivered inaccurate results. The Centre as well as the country's nodal testing organisation, the Indian Council of Medical Research, have been informed about the matter, the government said.
The rapid test kits had only 5.4 per cent accuracy, state health minister Raghu Sharma told reporters today.
The Indian Council Of Medical Research, the country's nodal body in the fight against coronavirus, has now asked all states not to use the new rapid antibody test for COVID-19 for two days.. The ICMR said it would investigate the issue of faulty rapid testing kits and would "definitely not ignore this defect".
Around 170 tests were conducted in the COVID-19 hotspots of Rajasthan, starting with Jaipur, since Friday, the minister said. The kits were also used for testing of patients who have already tested positive for coronavirus. But the rapid test kits found them negative, which raised questions about the credibility of these kits, the minister said.
"As per the advice of the committee, we have stopped testing from the rapid testing kits. We have written to the ICMR about it and their response is awaited," the minister said.
Rapid testing kits take roughly 15 minutes to deliver results, compared to the currently used RT-PCR tests, which are conducted in laboratories and take around 6 hours.
Since last month, after the ICMR issued tenders for the procurement of 5 lakh antibody test kits, scores of companies -- domestic and international – are queuing up to provide rapid testing kits to India.
The slow pace of the current testing system and inadequate number of laboratories have kept the rate of testing very slow in the country. Aggressive testing and subsequent quarantine is the only way to gain the upper hand over the virus, the World Health Organisation has said.
The ICMR has recommended that every resident in coronavirus hot-spots, or areas with a large number of cases, will be tested with a fast-track kit.
India has procured around 5 lakh rapid test kits, most of which are from China. | {
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Stop the presses! My Secret Santa (who chose to remain anonymous) won the Best Santa award for 2013. Sorry everybody else but you all lost.
It started on the day of the match with 1 month worth of Gold and a quick note letting me know that I should expect to be showered with gifts. It turned out this wasn't a shower but an avalanche of presents I'll always be grateful for. It literally took me a full week to bring everything home from my office! | {
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Finland has approved contracts worth $276 million for a sweeping improvement to its Hamina-class fast attack crafts. As part of the upgrade, a torpedo weapon system will be acquired from the Swedish company Saab.
The Finnish Defense Forces' Logistics Command has received a mandate from Defense Minister Jussi Niinistö to sign a contract with local arms manufacturer Patria Aviation as part of the naval development program.
The upgrade of the four Hamina-class fast attack craft, built between 1998 and 2006, will ensure sufficient combat readiness in the 2020s after the decommissioning of the Rauma-class vessels and before the next-generation Squadron 2020 corvettes have been put to use, Finnish national broadcaster Yle reported.
The goal of the upgrade program is to prolong the service life of Hamina-class vessels until 2035, extend their independent operating time and improve their anti-submarine capability as well as self-protection. The Hamina-class sub will be equipped with the same type of missile system chosen for surface-to-surface missile batteries and four Squadron 2020 coastal corvettes worth $1.4 billion.
The craft's lightweight torpedo system has been designed with an emphasis on the coastal conditions of Finland's Baltic Sea coast, which is exceptionally rich in islands and islets. It has been specifically coordinated with the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration (FMV), and deliveries from Sweden's Saab Dynamics are scheduled to take place in 2023-2025. Prior to that, a loan agreement on the torpedo systems will be concluded with the FMV for 2019-2022.
The Finnish Navy employs 1,400 people and trains about 3,200 conscripts each year. It has bases in Turku, Kirkkonummi, Raseborg and Helsinki and consists of four Hamina-class fast attack craft, two Hämenmaa-class minelayers, three Pansio-class minelayers, three Katanpää-class mine countermeasure vessels, three Kuha-class minesweepers and six Kiiski-class minesweepers.
After World War II, the Finnish Armed Forces were substantially limited by the Paris peace talks in 1947. For the Finnish Navy, this meant a limitation of no more than 10,000 tons and 4,500 men, as well as a ban on torpedoes, submarines, mines and missiles. The restrictions were eased somewhat in the 1960s and nullified by the breakup of the Soviet Union. However, the size of the Finnish Navy remains roughly the same as it was during the Cold War-era.
Finland's Hamina-class MLU includes torpedo re-introduction for Navy, for the 1st time since WWII https://t.co/Xnw1Dhctun By @IHS4DefRiskSec pic.twitter.com/RMaCO7eJVC — Naval Analyses (@D__Mitch) January 17, 2017
The next generation surface combatant unit known as the Multi-Purpose Vessel 2020 or Squadron 2020 is currently still at the pre-development stage. The four corvette-sized ships, which are intended to be slightly bigger and more capable of engaging in international cooperation, are stated to replace the Hämeenmaa minelayers and the already retired Rauma-class missile boats. The design stage is planned to continue until 2018 and the vessels will be built in 2019-2024. The projected cost of four vessels with a lifespan of at least 35 years is about $1.4 billion.
READ ALSO: NATO Boss Courting Finland by 'Friends-With-Benefits' Arrangement | {
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Recently the news has been full of the story of a Roman Catholic monsignor, Krzysztof Charamsa of Poland, the Adjunct Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Roman Catholic Church (shown in the photo with his boyfriend). The Reverend Charamsa was a former Vatican official, and he was stripped of his post recently after he publicly acknowledged that he was gay and also in a gay relationship with another man. He has written the Pope a long and heart-felt letter (some might describe it more as “histrionic” than “heart-felt”), denouncing the Roman Catholic Church as “violent”, “fanatical”, “incapable of dialogue with humanity”, “inhuman, insensitive, unjust and violent”, “Pharisaical and hypocritical, locked into its cold and inhuman doctrine without mercy or charity, a homophobic Church that knows only how to hate”. He also declared that the Church was also a “particularly hateful Church, which is presently led by pastors without hearts or brains”. In his letter he also denounced the Church’s official pronouncements on the issue of homosexuality as “violent and offensive”, “obscene”, and its clergy as “violently homophobic”. There is more, but you get the idea. His favourite word is “violent”, used eight times. (The full text can be read here.) In the penultimate paragraph (before he ends by saying of course that he will pray for the Pope and will do everything he can “to help homosexual people wake the Catholic Church from its inhuman sleep, which by now has reached bestial limits of intolerability”), he says that the Church must “apologize and then keep quiet forever”. Presumably such imposed silence also means that the Church must forget about its previously noble “dialogue with humanity”.
Apart from the fury, hatred, and the violence of the language, it is an extraordinary letter. Some have suggested that the fury and violence is evidence that the man is in pain. He is certainly upset about being stripped of his job at the Vatican because he has a gay boyfriend. But it is not so much a personal letter as a long and angry slamming of the office door on the way out after being given the papal pink slip. Despite his characterization of the Roman Catholic Church as “incapable of dialogue”, it seems clear that he himself is not in the mood for much dialogue. He asks from his church not dialogue, but simple capitulation to his own gay agenda and ideology—that is why his final demand is that the Church apologize and then shut up forever. I understand the nature of such demands. When it occurs in the school-yard, it is called “bullying”—though in this case the muscle is provided by not by violent shoving or hitting the other party with your lunch-box, but by violent language and self-righteous rhetoric. And, like I did in the school-yard when faced with such demands as a child, I decline to get into it with him. I would rather just walk away and eat my lunch safely and quietly somewhere else.
However, if I did choose to reply, I might say the following, for after all, Monsignor Charamsa has not simply written a personal letter, but issued a kind of public manifesto, and it is to the public manifesto that one can reply. Manifestos invite reply; that is the point of a manifesto.
In my reply, I would first of all say that the traditional Christian Church, be it Roman Catholic or Orthodox, should not heed impassioned demands that it shut up and say nothing when its central teachings are trampled, denied, and distorted. The Church has a divine duty to proclaim the truth to whoever wants to listen, and especially to its own members. St. Paul did not “keep quiet forever” about the false Christology proclaimed by the early Gnostics, or about the supposed necessity of circumcision demanded by the early Judaizers. It is true that both the Gnostics and the Judaizers would have been happier if he did, but such silence would have been spiritually criminal and a betrayal of Christ. Of course the World will not like it when opposed by the Church. No one likes being opposed and contradicted. It can be very irritating and infuriating. But being an adult involves being committed to non-violent dialogue when such disagreements occur, not screaming at the other party because they dare to contradict. It is easy to have a tantrum and to scream “shut up!”. It is harder to be an adult and go on debating calmly. No doubt the child having the tantrum is “in pain”. But such pain is no excuse for the tantrum.
Secondly, merely pronouncing that something is sinful is not of itself an act of violence, hatred, marginalization, stigmatization, or any of the other things of which the Reverend Charamsa accuses us. Saying that abortion is morally sinful, though irritating to abortionists and those using their services, does not “marginalize” those who abort. Rather it is simply declaring what forms of behaviour are compatible with a profession of the Christian Faith and which are not, and acting accordingly. If one chooses to abort one’s child, one cannot then claim that the Church somehow marginalizes you and tramples on you because it says you should not have done it and calls you to repentance. The Monsignor assumes with proving that homosexual activity is okay, and then becomes furious when the Church says that it is not. But he is the one who chose to engage in activities which placed him outside the bounds of the Church. If the teaching of Christ and His apostles about marriage and sexuality is true, what else can the Church do?
Finally we note the inherent absurdity of Monsignor’s position. The Church which he voluntarily joined, accepted ordination and promotion and money from, and remained in for all his forty-three years is one which has always declared that 1. homosexual acts are sinful, and 2. its clergy must remain celibate. This cannot have been a surprise to Charamsa. It is not as if the Catholic Church up until yesterday said that homosexual acts were just fine and that its clergy could be sexually active if they wanted to. Why the indignation now? That is like joining a group of committed vegetarians and then fulminating against them because they expel you from the group because you keep eating steak and saying that vegetarianism is too narrow. One may eat all the steak one likes, but then one cannot expect the group promoting vegetarianism to welcome you in the group as one of its leaders. It is difficult not to conclude that the real offense in the Monsignor’s eyes was not so much the position of the Catholic Church on homosexuality as the fact that their fired him for having a boyfriend. One may continue to debate the issue of homosexuality and the teaching of the Church if one likes, but let us at least be consistent. The issue here about Charamsa is not just that of his homosexuality, but of his basic integrity. | {
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PARIS (France), June 11, 2018, Author: Boyko Nikolov, Photo: dipl. eng. Tsvetana Donova
Only weeks after the end of the International Defence Equipment Exhibition “HEMUS 2018” in Bulgaria, Opticoelectron Group JSCo goes to Eurosatory in Paris with its best products, which it has designed and produced in the recent months.
These are the smallest night vision goggles Nirecon that weigh just 350 gr, SWIR lenses from the SWIRECON series, as well as the first prototype manufactured years ago.
“It is logical for us to show the best we have made in the recent months. Nirecon and Swirecon are only a small part of our product range. We have new products in the field of thermal vision optics, laser designator, day and night sights. We come to Paris already with several options for mobile systems for surveillance of large areas, and it will be the first time when we will present our ideas for stationary and semi-stationary surveillance posts,” commented Eng. Ivan Garchev, CEO of the Company.
Opticoelectron Group JSCo will exhibit its products at a stand in Hall 6 – C597 from 11th to 15th June.
“Besides continuing to develop and sell our products in the whole world, last year we have also made serious investments in the field of optical production for improving even more the quality of the offered by us optics. Just for reference, during the past 12 months, we have built, equipped and started a completely new infrared optics workshop. Our investments in the sphere of technological production in the past years are equal to millions of euros,” wound up Eng. Garchev.
It shall be reminded that only about two weeks ago the Ministry of Defence of France, the Ministry of Defence of Bulgaria and the president Radev personally were very impressed by the technological capabilities of Opticoelectron at the Hemus Exhibition in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. | {
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I’ve been wearing my Apple Watch for 28 days. This morning I was quite stoked when I got on the scale and saw that I was down 5 pounds since I bought it.
A day of activity:
Another day of activity:
I’ve met my Move Goal every day since my purchase. I set my Activity Goal to moderate at the Apple Store which initially put me at 760 calories daily, around 13,000 steps. After two weeks, the Watch offered to increase my goal to 990 calories per day when it calculated that I was walking more than my initial goal. That pushed me up to around 18,000 steps. That works out to be about 8.5 miles. On many days, I end up doing a bit more walking. However, on some busy days, I barely make it. On one occasion, I even paced around the house to burn my last 30 calories.
My 20 days of activity:
While walking is a great exercise, it does require a significant amount of time. I usually take two long walks every day, one in the morning and one in the evening. I’m going to keep up the pace for another month and see if I lose any additional weight. If not, I might start a Couch-to-5k program. This morning, at the start of a new week, I was bumped to 1090 move calories per day.
Weekly Summary:
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And 55 per cent of Canadians don’t think Canada should move forward with its carbon-pricing plan if it could impact Canadian competitiveness.
Canadians are realizing the policies are neither efficient nor economically benign
Canadians are right to be skeptical. As the Fraser Institute showed in a recent study, provinces are implementing carbon pricing in ways that fundamentally violate the three key principles of efficient and economically benign carbon pricing, which are: 1) the tax must displace existing regulations, not be atop them; 2) The tax must be fully rebated to the public as reductions in other distortionary taxes such as income and corporate taxes; and 3) the tax revenues must not be used to distort energy systems by supporting one form of production over another. No province in Canada (including British Columbia) meets all three of these principles. Most don’t meet any.
Consider Ontario’s cap-and-trade system instituted by Premier Kathleen Wynne, which her government estimated would bring in $2 billion in revenue per year. According to the Ontario auditor general, out of the $8 billion to be collected in four years, $1.32 billion is earmarked to help with residential and business electricity bills. The rest will be spent on the usual governmental preferences: transit, subsidies to renewable energy and dubious efficiency programs.
Alberta’s new carbon tax of $30 per tonne is expected to generate almost $5.4 billion from 2017 to 2020. Part of that (28 per cent) will be given to low- and middle-income Albertans, ostensibly to ease the pain of higher power bills, and the indirect impact of driving up costs of other goods and services in Alberta. The rest will be spent on government pet projects. | {
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MIAMI – The Miami Heat holds the 13th pick in Thursday night’s NBA draft. The Local 10 sports department answers some key questions on which direction Pat Riley may go with the pick. Will Manso and Clay Ferraro put their general manager caps on to discuss.
Should the Heat keep the pick or trade it?
Will: Listening to Riley at his end of season news conference made it pretty clear he wants to make a splash and believes he can do it this offseason. Unfortunately, the Heat will need to be creative to make big moves and hope they can entice other teams with the assets they have. The 13th pick happens to be one of those assets. I do think Riley and crew will be looking to move the pick if it can bring any kind of financial relief from some of the big contracts they have on board. It’s unlikely Miami can do that without trading the pick. Adding a 2nd round pick prior to the draft makes me think something is brewing. To me, moving some of the contracts on the roster is more valuable than the 13th pick, but actually finding a deal that works is easier said than done. Remember, while drafting a young player is nice, the Heat desperately needs to find a superstar, and that’s the true focus.
Clay: This is a nuanced question. Pat Riley told us months ago that a) they are not “stuck” with their current bad contracts and b) the most important factor in acquiring a star is having that star want to come to Miami. He’s right on “b.” Free agency has changed. It doesn’t only happen when contracts expire anymore. Trades for future free agents happen just as much as big free agent signings these days. That 13th pick could be a valuable chip if a star wants to come here. You also have a really good class of free agents this year. If a star free agent wants to come to Miami, that 13th pick *could* potentially be used in a sign-and-trade deal to get that player to Miami, despite their lack of cap space. So if I had my choice, I’d trade the pick. But that’s assuming a star wants to come here (it would also require some, um, creative dealing since technically free agents can’t meet with teams until June 30th. But that’s another story).
Can the Heat get an impactful player in the draft who can help right away?
Will: That’s an interesting question. I doubt Miami will get an instant star in this spot, though it’s not unheard of. Donovan Mitchell was taken 13th overall just a couple of years ago and has been the franchise player in Utah since his rookie year. More likely, the 13th pick will be a rotation player who can help but not be a go-to-player for Miami. The list of players who could help the Heat in this spot is long. Rui Hachimura, Brandon Clarke, Romeo Langford and PJ Washington are the kind of players who will likely have an instant role in Miami. Other players like Sekou Doumboya, Nassir Little, Bol Bol and Kevin Porter offer good upside but will likely take some patience in developing. Other players like Tyler Herro, Keldon Johnson and Cam Johnson are possibilities. The Heat are very particular in finding the right combination of talent and someone who they feel can fit the Heat culture. That’s a big reason they took Bam Adebayo a couple of years ago when John Collins was still on the board.
Clay: Only if a point guard unexpectedly falls. The Heat were lost when they didn’t have one of Justise Winslow or Goran Dragic on the floor last season. Winslow shined as a point forward, but Dragic just has one year left on his deal and the Heat need someone to pick up more ball handling responsibilities moving forward (and that’s assuming Dragic is even on the roster for camp). Unfortunately, the only three impactful point guards (Ja Morant, Darius Garland and Coby White) will likely be long gone when Miami picks. PJ Washington would be a nice rotational player that could help Miami a number of ways. He was Kentucky’s heart and soul this season. At 6-8, he may be a little small for the traditional power forward role, but he shot 42% from 3 point range last season and, if he builds on that, he could be a very versatile 4 in the new age NBA.
Who would you want for the Heat but likely won’t be there?
Will: Sekou Doumboya, Rui Hachimura.
Clay: Sekou Doumbouya, Coby White.
Who would you take at 13 who will likely be there?
Will: Brandon Clarke.
Clay: PJ Washington.
Who will the Heat take at 13, if they keep the pick?
Will: Romeo Langford.
Clay: PJ Washington.
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Some music I've worked on a little. Fun little tune maybe for some high action scene.
I've made this CC0 so that it can be used on iOS/Apple App store. Please leave the id3 tags intact though if you can. | {
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The name’s Durnan. I’m the owner of this fine establishment, the Yawning Portal.
I’ve seen many adventurers come through these doors, and not so many leave. So you think you’re ready for Undermountain? Well, I believe ya. But you might want to consider preparing yourself. I happen to have a little something stashed away to help new patrons of my bar. Care to take a look?
What’s In Durnan’s Stash!
Durnan’s collected some odds and ends throughout his career, and he’s put them all together into our new Delver’s Expedition Pack (Note: Pack is only available in-game in the Zen Market). This pack is filled full of necessary items for your trip into Undermountain, including a brand new mount to carve your way, Toothsome!
While this purple worm mount is going to take you far, there’s more that Durnan has stashed away for a rainy day.
Durnan’s saved up some Coalescent Wards (2) and a Bar Patron title, as well as coupons for VIP and a Refinement Pack; these are just the status symbols you’ll need to feel right at home in the Yawning Portal.
Now Wait Just a Tick!
If you think that’s all you are going to get from Durnan, you’re wrong. Besides all these great items that you will get right away from the Delver’s Expedition Pack, there is one extra item pack to be claimed once Module 16: Undermountain goes live! With the purchase of the Expedition Pack, the Delver's Kit will be yours to pick up free at the Reclaims Agent!
The Delver's Kit contains the new Myconid companion, a brightly colored fun guy that will follow you throughout your trip in Undermountain. The Kit also has two new Rank 15 Enchantments of your choice and 20 Lockbox keys!
Durnan’s been saving the last item on the list for someone truly worthy. The Mountaineer Weapon Set contains one of our new level 80 Artifact weapons. This pack contains both a Primary and Secondary weapon that is appropriate for the class that opens it. Notes: Weapon Pack is bind on account, weapons themselves will become bound to character when picked up. Only one weapon pack per account but weapons will be available at the Trade Bar store at a later date.
With all these items at your fingertips, you will be more than prepared to delve into the most epic dungeon in Faerûn!
If you are interested in becoming a Yawning Portal Bar Patron, please check out the Zen Store for this new pack that is available for purchase now on PC and at a later date on Console!
Chantelle Tatum
Systems Designer
Note: Pack can currently be purchased in the Zen Market at the early bird discount price of 15,000 Zen until the launch of Neverwinter: Undermountain. Base price after that date will be 20,000 Zen. | {
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Administration ‘Remains Firmly Committed’ to Protecting Rights of LGBT Students
The White House says it is “pleased” that a Tennessee bill targeting transgender students was pulled by its sponsor Monday, effectively killing it for the remainder of the year. Republican State Rep. Susan Lynn‘s bill,  HB 2414, would have banned transgender students from accessing restrooms and locker rooms that best correspond to their gender identity, and would have mandated that students’ gender be determined by their original birth certificates.
“Legislation that undermines the equal dignity of all students has no place in Tennessee, or anywhere else,” White House spokesperson Jeff Tiller said in an email to The New Civil Rights Movement.Â
“Like so many other business leaders, local officials and engaged citizens across the state, we had serious concerns about the legislation and are pleased to see the bill is not moving forward. We remain firmly committed to promoting and defending the equal rights of all Americans, including the rights of LGBT students across the country.”
The bill, had it become law, could have cost the state $1.2 billion in Title IX funding, but its sponsor said she withdrew it from further consideration after having “learned that our school districts are largely following what the bill says.” Rep. Lynn vowed to file it again next year.
Activists are still awaiting Gov. Bill Haslam’s decision on another bill targeting transgender people, including students. HB 1840, a “religious freedom” bill, would allow any counselor or therapist to deny service to any LGBT person, or to anyone in general, based on their “sincerely held principles.”
Â
Image via Wikimedia
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Liverpool full-back Connor Randall is set to join Hearts on a season-long loan - but Lazar Markovic’s proposed move to Fiorentina is unlikely to materialise.
The Reds are in advanced talks with the Scottish Premiership outfit over a temporary deal for Academy graduate Randall.
The 21-year-old defender made the last of his eight senior appearances for the Reds against Wolves in the FA Cup back in January and currently finds himself a long way down the pecking order.
Markovic, who along with Randall didn’t travel to the club’s pre-season training camp in Bavaria, has held discussions with Fiorentina this week after being told by Jurgen Klopp he needed to find a new club.
However, the Serie A outfit are currently unwilling to meet Liverpool’s £16million asking price.
(Image: (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images))
With Premier League clubs Watford and Leicester City having also registered their interest in the Serbian winger, the Reds aren’t prepared to reduce their valuation at this stage.
Markovic cost Liverpool £20million from Benfica three years ago but he made just 34 appearances for the club.
Show Player
(Image: 2017 Liverpool FC)
Sheyi Ojo is close to leaving the Reds on a season-long loan. Klopp believes a year of regular football in the Championship will aid his development.
The Reds winger is deciding whether to pick Derby County, Aston Villa, Middlesbrough or Fulham. All four clubs have agreed loan terms in principle with Liverpool. | {
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Heat 10 of the boys mile
impairment to his left leg, Tracht wears a prosthetic from his knee down to help him run, which falls under the T44 impairment classification . But that hasn't held him back in the slightest. Chris Tracht is just a freshman at Southlake Carroll High School, but he's already chasing world records. Born with a partial
Southlake Carroll head coach Justin Leonard said Tracht, who oftentimes competes in races at the varsity level, runs every workout in full with the team and has never wanted to be treated any differently.
This past weekend at the Texas A&M Indoor High School Classic, Tracht was just off the 1500m T44 world-record pace on his way to completing the full mile. His time of 4:57.19 converts to a 4:35.26 for 1500m and 4:55.47 for 1600m. The current world record is held by another Texan, James Roland Ortiz, who is the head coach at Giddings High School. Ortiz set the record time of 4:33.46 in Lawrence, Kansas, on April 19, 2013, while coaching at Colby Community College in Colby, Kansas . Ortiz, who had his right leg amputated in 2006 after a bicycle crash, is also the American record holder at 4:29.04.
Ortiz says he would love to see Tracht get his world and American record, whom Ortiz first saw compete in the 400 and 800m events in the U14 division at the Endeavor Games in Oklahoma back in 2012 .
"He's a stud," Ortiz said.
According to Ortiz, it might be tough for Tracht to get the official world record, but this isn't due to the level of talent he brings to the sport.
"Everything is a fight to get the [International Paralympic Committee] to recognize amputee distance runners due to 'lack of data,'" Ortiz said.
Soooo yeah. I just ran 4 seconds faster than my T44 1500 world record.@USParalympics pic.twitter.com/f808pUCNot -- James Ortiz (@jamesrortiz) April 11, 2015
Ortiz has been fighting for years to get P aralympic distance runners more recognition . Many times competitions will hold events for sprinters but not for distance runners. For Ortiz, the Kansas Relays was a sanctioned event, because it offered 100m and 200m distances for impaired athletes. However, he had to compete in an able-bodied 1500m race to hit the record. His U.S. record is a lower time, because there are not as many stipulations on achieving the American record than the world record.
After a long battle to get more recognition for the sport, Ortiz has gotten away from competing and runs more for the enjoyment of the sport. But he hopes for Tracht's sake that something changes.
"We just have to h ope and pray that the IPC gets it together and recognizes there are Paralympic distance runners," Ortiz said.
Ortiz said h e's already reached out to the USOC about Tracht's time being included as a record in the indoor mile, but the organization said that indoor records for any distance are still in the works. Ortiz said he might even jump in some races and help push Tracht to the record if he can.
According to Leonard, Tracht is hoping to make a run at the world and American record, official or not, sometime later this season. The big goal would be to hit it at the Texas Distance Festival in March in front of the home crowd, but if not there, then possibly at a pre-district meet.
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CIA denies claims it has been backing Jundullah, the Sunni separatist group which has claimed responsibility for the bombs
Iran is vowing to hunt down a Sunni separatist group which claimed responsibility for a double suicide bombing that killed 28 people at a mosque in the south-eastern city of Zahedan.
Jundullah – Arabic for "the soldiers of God" – said it carried out the twin attacks yesterday at Zahedan's grand mosque in retaliation for the execution of the group's captured leader. Provincial officials said a further 167 people were injured, some of them critically. Three days of mourning were declared. General Hossein Salami, deputy commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, claimed in Tehran today that the victims "were martyred by the hands of mercenaries of the US and UK". Ali Mohammad Azad, governor of Sistan-Baluchestan province, blamed "the intelligence services of arrogant powers."
The US and Britain – which are at odds with Iran over its controversial nuclear programme – issued statements condemning the attacks.
Shia worshippers were celebrating the birthday of the prophet Muhammad's grandson Hussein when the first bomb detonated, according to reports from the scene. A second explosion took place 15 minutes later as people rushed to help – a technique used by Sunni groups in Iraq to maximise casualties. The dead reportedly included several Revolutionary Guards.
Iranian media said the aim was to sow discord between Shias and Sunnis in the Sunni majority area, which borders on Pakistan. Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchestan, has seen several mass casualty attacks in recent years.
In a message sent to al-Arabiyya TV, Jundullah said its intention was to avenge the hanging of Abdulmalik Rigi, the group's leader, in June, after he was captured in Pakistan and extradited to Iran. Rigi's brother Abdelhamid was also executed. Jundullah's website showed pictures of two suicide bombers. They were identified as Mohammad and Mujahid Rigi, apparently members of the leader's clan.
Press-TV, Iran's English-language state broadcaster, alleged that "hardline Wahabis and Salafis trained by the CIA in Pakistan" were behind the bombings. Iran has claimed Rigi confessed that the US had assured him of unlimited aid and funding for the waging an insurgency against the Islamic republic. The US is reported to have a programme of covert operations inside Iran but the CIA has denied backing Jundullah. But Alaeddin Borujerdi, chairman of Iran's parliamentary commission on national security, immediately pointed the finger at the intelligence services of the US, Israel and other western countries. "Such terror operations will not deter Iranian's resolve in fighting against arrogant powers," he told the Irna news agency. Iran was "the main victim" of US-sponsored terrorism, said Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, another MP.
Official commentators suggested an effort to divert attention from the case of the Iranian scientist Sharhram Amiri, allegedly abducted by the CIA in its quest for the secrets of Iran's nuclear programme but who was allowed to return home on Thursday.
Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, condemned the explosions and expressed condolences to relatives of the victims. "This attack, along with the recent attacks in Uganda, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Algeria, underscores the global community's need to work together to combat terrorist organisations that threaten the lives of innocent civilians all around the world," she said.
Alistair Burt, the foreign office minister for the Middle East, also condemned the atrocity. "In targeting a busy mosque, the bombers claimed the lives of peaceful worshippers and passers by," he said. "Our thoughts are with the families of those who have lost their lives so far, and the many more injured." | {
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In the early hours of 7 July 1997, Federico Scotta and his wife were woken by an incessant ringing of their doorbell. Police had arrived at their home in Mirandola, a town in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region, with a search warrant.
Officers found nothing incriminating, but the couple and their three-year-old daughter and baby son were escorted to the police station. The children were taken away by social workers that day and a few months later a third child was taken from the delivery room. The couple never saw the children again.
The so-called “Satanic panic” phenomenon that had swept through the US and parts of the UK earlier that decade had reached Italy. Scotta and his wife were accused of belonging to a sprawling paedophile network that worshipped the devil and sacrificed children and animals in cemeteries at night.
As with cases beyond Italy, the outlandish claims were never substantiated but several people were convicted and 16 children were removed from their parents. The ramifications destroyed families. One mother killed herself while a priest, Giorgio Govoni, died of a heart attack in his lawyer’s office after learning that prosecutors wanted him jailed for 14 years.
Scotta’s wife was acquitted but he was jailed for more than eight years in a case labelled by the Italian press as “the devils of Lower Modena” in a reference to the area’s two embroiled towns, Mirandola and Massa Finalese.
More than 20 years later, a review of Scotta’s case began at Ancona’s appeals court this week after an investigation by an author and journalist, Pablo Trincia, claimed that children caught up in the sweep, who were all from deprived families living under the radar of social services, were manipulated by officials into making accusations.
“I have always proclaimed my innocence and need this sleazy and ugly stain of being called a paedophile to be removed,” Scotta told the Guardian.
Trincia’s research for his book about the case, Veleno, led him to the person who began the story, known as Dario. At the age of six, oscillating between his parents who were struggling to make ends meet and a foster family, Dario accused his parents, older brother and, indirectly, Scotta, of sexual abuse.
Govoni, a respected priest in Massa Finalese, was accused of gathering children and, dressed in a hooded white tunic, leading them to the local cemetery for satanic rituals. Govoni was acquitted postmortem.
“The first thing Dario said was: ‘I don’t know if I told the truth as there were all these social workers, they manipulate you,’” Trincia explained.
Dario’s allegations emerged a few months into meetings with a psychologist. “His background was troubled,” Trincia said. “Years later it was discovered that the names he was coming up with were names of his schoolmates, so he was mixing things up. But the psychologist and Modena prosecutor believed there must be a paedophile ring.”
As the psychologist probed further, she assumed that one of the people Dario was referring to was Scotta. “She made connections as these families were under social services,” Trincia said.
On the same night police visited Scotta they also searched the home of a neighbour, a single mother called Francesca. Her eight-year old daughter, Marta, was taken from her and sent to live in a home run by nuns. A few months into therapy with the same psychologist, Marta started to accuse Scotta of sexual abuse. Francesca, also implicated, killed herself after being put under house arrest when she went home to give her child a teddy bear.
Marta is a key witness in the new judicial process. “She said they made her accuse Scotta and say that her mother was evil,” said Trincia.
The only evidence that led to nine convictions were the children’s allegations made to the same psychologist and claims from one gynaecologist that they had been raped, despite other medics disputing this.
“This case has caused so much destruction and death,” said Patrizia Micai, the lawyer pursuing the review. “We need to establish the absolute truth. Social services have never taken responsibility, always maintaining that the courts were responsible.”
Giuliana Mazzoni, a psychology professor at Rome’s Sapienza University, said: “The children were taken at an early age and raised with the single idea that their parents abused them. As young adults it would be very difficult for them to switch to an alternative reality.”
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Immigrating To The U.S.? Get Ready For A New Gut Microbiome (And Maybe More Pounds)
Enlarge this image toggle caption Education Images/UIG via Getty Images Education Images/UIG via Getty Images
A lot changed for Minnesota-based chef Yia Vang's family when they fled persecution in Laos and, in 1988, resettled in the American Midwest. For one, "I think my parents realized they don't have to go out and kill one every time we want to eat chicken," Vang says. "So Tyson chicken tenders were always in the freezer."
But it's not just the way they lived and ate that changed — the bacteria that lived alongside and inside them probably changed as well.
Moving to the U.S. can seriously mess with immigrants' microbiomes, according to a new study that tracked the digestive health of refugees coming to Minnesota from Southeast Asia. "We found that when people come to the U.S.A., they almost immediately begin losing some of their native microbes," says Dan Knights, a quantitative biologist at the University of Minnesota and the study's senior author. Some of the strains they lose are ones that help them break down and glean nutrients from fibers found in Southeast Asian staples like wild greens, coconut and tamarind.
The study, published in the journal Cell on Thursday, is "the first evidence that moving to another country — especially to the States from a developing nation — does cause you to acquire more of an American microbiome," says Knights — one that tends to be less diverse, featuring fewer strains of bacteria. "And while we don't know whether this loss of diversity is causing obesity, we know that it's at least associated with more obesity."
Knights and his colleagues arrived at these insights by analyzing the intestinal bacteria of about 500 ethnically Hmong and Karen women living in Thailand and in the U.S., including first- and second-generation immigrants. (The researchers focused on women because more Hmong women than men resettled in the U.S.) The scientists then compared the immigrants' microbiomes with those of Caucasian Americans. The researchers also followed a group of 19 Karen refugees as they relocated from Thailand to America, tracking how their gut microbiomes changed during the transition.
Among that group of 19 refugees, researchers noticed that a Western bacteria strain called Bacteroides began to displace the non-Western strain Prevotella within their first six to nine months in the U.S. But they lost more microbes than they gained — "so the diversity in their microbial communities decreased," Knights says. "And some of the Prevotella bacteria they lost were the ones that helped them digest fiber from plants and greens."
Among all the immigrants, it became clear that the more time they spent in the U.S., the more their microbiomes diverged from those of ethnically similar people living in Thailand. Second-generation Hmong- and Karen-Americans — born in the U.S. to parents who moved from abroad — had microbiomes that were most similar to those of Caucasian Americans.
By tracking everyone's food logs, the researchers found that an Americanized diet — featuring less fiber and more processed sugars — played a role in disrupting immigrants' microbiomes. Some of the bacteria in our guts feed, and survive, on particular fibers found in grains and greens — and die off when they don't get enough.
But changes in diet didn't explain all — or even most — of the change in immigrants' microbiomes. "It could be that other factors, like exposure to different medications, especially antibiotics or changes in the quality of water they're drinking, are also affecting their microbiomes," says Pajau Vangay, a researcher at the University of Minnesota who co-authored the study. In any case, Vangay notes, researchers are still untangling the influence of diet and microbiome on obesity. Doing so could help explain why immigrants and especially refugees are particularly vulnerable to rapid, unhealthy weight gain.
"In speaking with community members, we also realized that for them, the biggest concern was obesity," says Vangay. "Because they had observed in themselves and their relatives and friends that when they moved to the U.S., they gained a lot of weight. And in some cases, they hadn't really changed too much about their diet."
This new study is a good first step in solving that mystery, says Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello, a microbiologist at Rutgers University in New Jersey who wasn't involved in the research.
"I strongly believe this whole topic needs to be studied more rigorously, in more immigrant groups and people all over the world," she says. "Because one thing is clear: Human populations are migrating, and they are increasingly Westernizing. We need to know how those changes are going to affect our health."
Further research could also reveal what immigrants — and all Americans — who are struggling with obesity can do to improve their health. In the future, perhaps researchers may be able to develop probiotics that immigrants could take to compensate for microbes they've lost, Dominguez-Bello suggests.
"For now, our study may not provide any obvious solutions for obesity," Vangay says. But rather than leaving the community members hanging, she's working with community leaders and local health care providers to educate people about the value of hanging onto traditional ways of cooking and eating.
Last year, she worked with chef Vang — who in his adulthood has laid off the frozen chicken tenders and embraced traditional Hmong cuisine at his pop-up restaurant Union Kitchen — to teach a series of nutrition and Hmong cooking classes.
"Growing up, like when I was in high school, me and my siblings we'd be like 'Mom, we really want spaghetti, we really want that that American food,' " Vang says. "Now, it's Hmong food like steamed fish or braised vegetables — that's the stuff that revives my soul; it's my comfort food."
But unlike a lot of American comfort foods, he says, "I know it's good for me. I don't feel heavy when I'm done." | {
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Over the past week, conservative think pieces about pornography may have surpassed porn itself as the most profuse stuff on the Internet. The debate began when my colleague Matt Walsh endorsed banning pornography and jailing pornographers, at which point classical liberals and right-leaning libertarians came to porn’s defense.
The Federalist’s Ben Domenech wondered, “Are the conservatives who think they can ban porn online purposefully ignoring the massive expansion of government this would require, or are they too stupid to realize it?” The Washington Examiner’s Casey Given warned a porn ban would turn “America into the Christian version of Saudi Arabia.” A young man’s right to watch high-res footage of strange men doing strange things to desperate women is as American as apple pie, they seemed to say. Who but a Wahhabi theocrat could object?
Never mind that obscenity laws have always existed in the United States and that the federal government used them to jail a hardcore pornographer just ten years ago. Never mind that you need to show an ID to buy a Playboy. All those laws and prosecutions simply misunderstand the true purpose of America: unfettered individual liberty to pursue whatever tickles our fancy.
The porn dispute dominated conservative commentary this week as the latest episode in a broader debate between traditionalists and libertarians over the chief purpose of government. When Sohrab Ahmari declared independence from “David French-ism,” he identified the recent phenomenon of “Drag Queen Story Hour” in public libraries as evidence that you-do-you liberalism had gone too far, and he called for “a public square re-ordered to the common good and ultimately the Highest Good.” David, an Evangelical Christian and accomplished religious liberty lawyer, dismissed Ahmari’s concerns.
“There are going to be Drag Queen Story Hours,” French explained. “They’re going to happen. And, by the way, the fact that a person can get a room in a library and hold a Drag Queen Story Hour and get people to come? That’s one of the blessings of liberty.” You might not like transvestites twerking for toddlers at taxpayer expense, but who are you to stop it?
For the past half century or so, despite all the partisan rancor, the Left and Right have accepted the same central premise about politics: namely, that the purpose of government is to maximize liberty. The Left has sought to expand social liberty by redefining marriage, decriminalizing prostitution—or “sex work“—and sacramentalizing abortion on demand. The Right has focused on expanding economic liberty through tax cuts, free trade, and deregulation. For decades the consensus has prevailed: the chief aim of American politics is to permit us all to follow our own appetites and desires, whatever they may be, with as little government interference as possible.
The Founders had a different idea. For starters, they distinguished between liberty and licentiousness. But more importantly, they understood that the chief purpose of government is justice, not liberty. James Madison, the Father of the Constitution, explained in Federalist 51, “Justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been and ever will be pursued until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit.” Liberty plays an important role in justice, and there can be no justice without liberty, which is the power to do what one wills. But government exists first and foremost for the purpose of justice, which inclines the will to give each and all their due.
Edmund Burke, the conservative philosopher and champion of the American Revolution, explained the difference:
Of all the loose terms in the world, liberty is the most indefinite. It is not solitary, unconnected, individual, selfish liberty, as if every man was to regulate the whole of his conduct by his own will. The liberty I mean is social freedom. It is that state of things in which liberty is secured by the equality of restraint. A constitution of things in which the liberty of no one man, and no body of men, and no number of men, can find means to trespass on the liberty of any person, or any description of persons, in the society. This kind of liberty is, indeed, but another name for justice; ascertained by wise laws, and secured by well-constructed institutions.
Conservatives who defend libertinism as liberty misunderstand what our Founding Fathers meant. We all love freedom. But freedom has a higher purpose, as should conservatives. | {
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LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - Protests broke out across Pakistan on Thursday after the rape and murder of a 7-year-old girl in a district south of Lahore, due to public anger at what is seen as the authorities’ failure to investigate such cases.
It is the 12th such murder in the town of Kasur in a year, and has raised concern that a serial killer may be on the loose.
Two people were killed on Wednesday when police fired at angry protesters in Kasur, and a local resident said schools, offices, and markets remained shut in the town on Thursday.
Demonstrations were held in all cities between Faisalabad in the northeast down to Pakistan’s southern metropolis of Karachi.
In Lahore, the provincial capital of the state where Kasur is located, protesters blocked a major road connecting the two, causing traffic between them to be suspended.
Police recovered the body of Zainab Ansari from a garbage dumpster in Kasur on Tuesday, four days after she was reported missing.
The chief minister of Punjab province, Shahbaz Sharif visited Ansari’s parents to assure them that the perpetrators would be apprehended soon, a provincial government spokesman said.
Slideshow ( 9 images )
“(Sharif) has announced Rs 10 million ($90,000) for anyone giving information about the kidnapper,” Punjab government spokesman Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan told Reuters. He said it could not be ruled out that the murders involved a serial killer.
A police official speaking on condition on anonymity said two of Ansari’s relatives had been interrogated and 26 locals are currently in custody and being questioned. He added that police are waiting for forensic evidence to be collected and analyzed.
Ansari’s family doubts justice will be done.
“We don’t have any expectations from police, as we gave proof to police including the CCTV footage, but they could do nothing,” her uncle Hafiz Muhammad Adnan told Reuters.
Adnan said the kidnapper waited to dump the body after search parties took a break after four days of looking.
“It appears as if the kidnapper is a local who developed familiarity with Zainab to take her along, probably telling her that he would take her to her parents,” he said.
A number of police officials have been transferred out of the region for failing to investigate complaints of missing children since 2015, when authorities uncovered what they said was a pedophile ring linked to a prominent local family.
At least two people have been convicted in connection with that case, in which authorities say hundreds of children in the district were abused.
($1 = 110.5000 Pakistani rupees) | {
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If you would like to see more articles like this please support our coverage of the space program by becoming a Spaceflight Now Member . If everyone who enjoys our website helps fund it, we can expand and improve our coverage further.
SpaceX has ordered additional inspections on a Falcon 9 rocket at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California set to launch 64 small satellites, a decision that is expected to keep the launcher grounded for several days until after the Thanksgiving holiday, officials said Saturday.
The Falcon 9 was supposed to take off Monday from Vandenberg — a military base around 140 miles northwest of Los Angeles — but SpaceX announced the postponement in a tweet Saturday.
“Standing down from Monday’s launch attempt of Spaceflight SSO-A: SmallSat Express to conduct additional pre-flight inspections,” SpaceX tweeted. “Once complete, we will confirm a new launch date.”
The Falcon 9 rocket will launch 64 satellites on a rideshare mission arranged by Spaceflight, a launch broker for smallsats based in Seattle. The 64 payloads, ranging in size from a Rubik’s cube to a refrigerator, are owned by a variety of U.S. and international operators, including the U.S. government, research institutions, and commercial companies.
The launch will set a record for the most satellites ever deployed in orbit on a U.S. rocket, but it will fall short of the global mark of 104 spacecraft launched on an Indian rocket last year.
The upcoming launch is also noteworthy because it will be SpaceX’s first flight to reuse the same Falcon 9 first stage booster a third time.
The booster assigned to Spaceflight’s SSO-A rideshare mission flew two times from Florida: On May 11 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center with the Bangladeshi Bangabandhu 1 communications satellite, and again Aug. 7 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station with the Indonesian Merah Putih telecom payload.
On both occasions, the first stage landed on SpaceX’s drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean and returned to port for inspections, some limited refurbishment and reuse.
SpaceX has re-launched a previously-flown first stage booster 17 times, most recently on Thursday’s launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida with Qatar’s Es’hail 2 communications satellite. But all of the first stages to date have only flown twice.
That changes with SpaceX’s next mission as the company aims to eventually reuse Falcon 9 boosters up to 10 times without refurbishment, and up to 100 times with periodic overhauls. The latest iteration of the Falcon 9 design, commonly known as the “Block 5” version, includes upgrades over earlier designs to make reusing the rockets easier.
SpaceX plans to recover the first stage again aboard its West Coast drone ship in the Pacific Ocean after Spaceflight’s multi-satellite launch.
Several people working with the payloads on the rideshare mission said the delay was ordered by SpaceX to resolve concerns with the rocket.
One official with a company that owns payloads set to ride to orbit on the Falcon 9 rocket said the launch will be delayed until after Thanksgiving, and another customer on the SSO-A launch said in a tweet that the flight will be delayed by five or six days.
“Unfortunately, the (Spaceflight SSO-A) launch is delayed by 5-6 days due to some additional inspections of the SpaceX rocket,” officials tweeted from an account associated with the MinXSS 2 CubeSat mission flying to orbit on the Falcon 9.
The satellites riding on the flight include 15 microsatellites and 49 CubeSats. Seven CubeSats were not ready in time for a November launch, and technicians replaced them with ballast that will stay aboard Spaceflight’s dual deployment modules, ensuring mass and balance calculations for the launch remain unaffected, according to Jeff Roberts, Spaceflight’s mission manager for the SSO-A mission.
The microsatellites and CubeSats come from 17 countries: the United States, Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, Finland, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Germany, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Poland, Canada, Brazil, and India.
Rockets typically launch with one or two primary satellites, and sometimes carry additional secondary payloads to fill unused capacity, but the SSO-A launch follows a different model.
There are no primary payloads on the SSO-A mission. Spaceflight purchased the full capacity of the Falcon 9 launch in 2015, and satellite owners booked their launch contracts with Spaceflight, not with SpaceX.
Spaceflight has brokered rideshare launches on rockets before, including India’s PSLV and Russia’s Soyuz, but those missions flew on launches carrying bigger satellites in the primary payload slot.
The rideshare arrangement allows satellite owners to divide the cost of a rocket launch, instead of paying for the entire mission.
SpaceX test-fired the Falcon 9 rocket Thursday night at Vandenberg in a customary pre-flight countdown test at Space Launch Complex 4-East. Technicians planned to return the rocket to a nearby hangar for attachment with the SSO-A payload stack, which was already encapsulated inside the Falcon 9’s nose fairing.
Spaceflight’s unique spacecraft carrier modules, named the upper and lower free flyers, will separate from the Falcon 9’s upper stage in a roughly 357-mile-high (575-kilometer) orbit after liftoff from Vandenberg.
“We refer to them as free flyers because that’s exactly what they are. There is no propulsion system on-board. They just simply hold all the avionics and the dispensers to command deployment,” Roberts said.
The upper free flyer is based on a commonly-used secondary payload adapter — known as an ESPA ring — built by Moog. The lower free flyer is Spaceflight’s own design, according to Roberts.
Four of the microsatellites launching on the SSO-A mission will separate directly from adapter plates on the Falcon 9 second stage after it arrives in orbit. The other 60 will deploy from the free flyers in a timed sequence over the next five hours.
The free flyer modules will unfurl drag sails after the satellite deployments to help bring the dispensers back into Earth’s atmosphere.
“Everyone is integrated, the entire structure has been encapsulated, and SpaceX has broken over (turned) the encapsulated structure horizontal in preparation for mating to the rocket,” Roberts told Spaceflight Now.
The total mass of the free flyers and payloads launching on the SSO-A mission is around 8,800 pounds, or 4 metric tons.
With all the satellites now aboard the free flyer modules, there are no plans to delay the launch if engineers detect a problem with one of the payloads. It’s a hands-off approach crafted to ensure a problem with one satellite does not affect the others.
“At this point, the train is still leaving the station,” Roberts said in an interview.
The launch window each day opens at 10:31:47 a.m. PST (1:31:47 p.m. EST; 1831:47 GMT) and runs nearly a half-hour. There’s a chance the liftoff time could be adjusted within the launch window based on calculations on the day of launch to avoid a chance one of the spacecraft could collide with an object already in space.
The launch caps a feverish two months of work installing the satellites on the dispensers at Spaceflight’s facility in Auburn, Washington, then shipping the modules by road to Vandenberg. Eleven microsatellites were shipped directly to Vandenberg by their manufacturers — and added to the payload stack there — because they could not be transported by road when fueled with propellant.
“I’m really excited, and that’s pretty much how the team feels, too,” Roberts said. “This is the culmination of almost three years of work by this team, and in the last 60 days, many people on this team have been working 12-to-16 hours per day, seven days per week, so they put a lot of effort to make this successful for us and for all of our customers.
“We’re excited to see this go on orbit and be successful.”
Email the author.
Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1. | {
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If you spot a sick, injured, or orphaned manatee, or a manatee being harassed, you should immediately report it. Please also report dead manatees or a manatee wearing a “tag” or tracking device.
How to Get Help for Manatees
Florida:
Call 1-888-404-FWCC (3922). You can also send a text message or email to [email protected] or use VHF Channel 16 on your marine radio. You can also download the free FWC Reporter app on your smartphone or tablet.
Maryland, North Carolina, or any eastern state north of Florida:
Click the following link to get information on how to report manatees to your local wildlife officials.
Alabama and Mississippi:
Call Dauphin Island Sea Lab’s Manatee Sighting Network at 1-866-493-5803.
Louisiana:
Call the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries at 1-800-442-2511.
Texas:
Call the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network at 1-800-9-MAMMAL (800-962-6625).
Please give dispatchers the exact location of the manatee.
If the manatee appears injured, please call right away. If injuries are not obvious, but you still suspect the manatee may be injured, try to determine the number of times the manatee surfaces to breathe during a five minute period before calling. Since manatees can stay submerged for up to 15 minutes at a time, frequent surfacing could be indicative of an injury. Please call: | {
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Re: Time To Buy BTC: Bitcoin Market Right Now On A Buy Signal Suggests Dan Morehead April 19, 2018, 09:34:00 AM #16 Quote from: dothebeats on April 18, 2018, 05:35:04 PM Personally, ever since the price hit $6000, it was already the time to buy (at least for me) since it might be a long time again before we see such levels. Currently, the price seem to have consolidated at $7800 and $8000 and have not went under that for 3 days. If this was a bull trap, it would be over in about a day or two but nope, it stayed there as if it was its home. Hopefully this would hold, because if this wouldn't, we might see a very tricky $6000 yet again or can even go under that.
I think the price is being stable enough not to go down again in the nearest future. It didn't go up too fast, so it seems like for now people are truly willing to pay such price for the coin. Thus, it is still good time to buy, because we might be on the way of growth at reasonable speed.
Quote from: Theb on April 19, 2018, 06:40:02 AM I wouldn't go in that way. Some people here when they see a person with a title of "CEO", "CFO", "Financial Adviser" or other influencial people predicting make them believe that there prediction is right, they are also blindsided when they hear what they want to hear.
But BTC not going down is not done yet as there is still a possibility that it is completing a rising wedge pattern which is a sign for a bearish reversal.
Authoritative opinion doesn't matter much in this sphere, that's true. Yet I think it has the influence in the oppisite direction. SUch people are not right, because they understand the market. However, by making good predictions they gain the trust of potential investors to cryptocurrencies, which stimulates the latter to buy some btc and, as a result, the prices do go up. I think the price is being stable enough not to go down again in the nearest future. It didn't go up too fast, so it seems like for now people are truly willing to pay such price for the coin. Thus, it is still good time to buy, because we might be on the way of growth at reasonable speed.Authoritative opinion doesn't matter much in this sphere, that's true. Yet I think it has the influence in the oppisite direction. SUch people are not right, because they understand the market. However, by making good predictions they gain the trust of potential investors to cryptocurrencies, which stimulates the latter to buy some btc and, as a result, the prices do go up. | {
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A woman was airlifted to the hospital in critical condition after she was bitten by an alligator in the Florida Everglades near Coral Springs Friday evening.
Rescue workers responded after the woman was bitten in a remote area of Willard's Fishing Camp, about a mile and a half west of Coral Springs, around 6:30 p.m.
Officials said they received a 911 call about a woman who had her hand bitten off by a gator.
The woman was airlifted to Broward North Hospital in Pompano Beach, where she was in critical condition.
Officials said the woman dropped a can in the water and when she reached for it she was bitten. She was with a group of seven or eight people.
"Several people that were there and witnessed this kept her from going in the water when the alligator bit her, they apparently tried to keep her from going into the water so she remained on the dock and did not fall in the water at all," Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue spokesman Mike Jachles said.
The woman's name wasn't released but officials said she is 49 years old and from central Florida.
This is a developing story; check back with NBC 6 for updates. | {
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Some large animals influence their surroundings more than others. Elephants are known as ecosystem engineers for their tendency to push over trees and stomp shrubby areas in the savannah into submission. This keeps forests at bay, which otherwise would overtake open grasslands. Wolves, on the other hand, are apex predators. They keep other species like deer in check, preventing herbivore populations from getting out of hand and eating all the plants into oblivion. Both elephants and wolves are keystone species, or ones that have a relatively large impact on their environment in relation to their actual population numbers.
African rhinos, it turns out, also seem to be a keystone species. According to a recent study published by Scandinavian and South African researchers in the Journal of Ecology, rhinos maintain the diverse African grasslands on which countless other species depend.
Surprisingly, prior to this study no one had looked closely rhinos’ roles in shaping the ecosystem. Most researchers focused on elephants instead. Suspecting that these large animals influence their environment, the authors took a close look at rhinos in Kruger National Park in South Africa.
Today, around 10,500 white rhino live in the park, but that was not always the case. In 1896, rhinos went extinct there due to overzealous trophy hunting. In the 1960s, conservationists began reintroducing the animals back into the park. The population rebounded over the decades, although the rhinos haven’t distributed themselves around the 7,500-square mile area equally. As a result, Kruger acts as a sort of “well-documented natural experiment,” the researchers write, showing what happens when an animal is excluded from and then put back into an environment.
The authors first examined a 30-year aerial survey record (beginning in 1980) of where the rhinos did and did not live around Kruger. This record also showed how rhino distributions varied over time as they slowly expanded into new areas. So, by studying these surveys, the researchers could identify and compare places where rhinos had inhabited the longest or the shortest.
After pinpointing high- and low-density sites, the authors went into the field and recorded the plant species found along 40 sections of the park, totaling just under 20 miles. They built a statistical model to analyze the results and controlled for factors such as soil content and the presence of other large grazers, including impala, warthog and wildebeest.
The places where the fewest rhinos lived, they found, had 60 to 80 percent less short grass cover than places where rhinos frequently hung out. "Short grass" is a catch-all metric commonly used to approximate plant diversity in grassy areas in Africa, referring to a number of munchable species. Rhino-inhabited areas also had about 20 times more grazing lawns, or patches where specific grass species grow that are prime eating for not only rhinos but also smaller grazing animals such as zebra, gazelle and antelope.
Based on these findings, the authors think that the rhinos are probably playing a role in controlling the make-up of the park’s grasslands. Rhinos, like other grazing species, selectively browse on certain grass species, which leaves room for others that otherwise could not compete to move in and promotes a diverse mosaic of edible plants. As a science writer for the University of Washington put it, "Think of them less as lawnmowers and more as...selective lawnmowers."
Rhinos have only been around the park for a relatively short amount of time, so future studies will have to confirm whether their presence leads to even more substantial ecosystem changes. Examining other places in Africa will also help confirm whether or not rhinos have the same influence wherever they go.
Rhinos are one of the few megaherbivores—plant-eaters that weigh more than 2,000 pounds—that still live in the world. Most others have long gone extinct, many of which were victims to human hunting and expansion. Rhinos' continued existence, however, is questionable. Poachers killed nearly 1,000 rhinos in South Africa alone last year—an almost 50 percent increase from 2012—so as things now stand, rhinos may very likely go the way of so many other species before them.
If the rhinos do disappear from Africa, the authors warn, the savannah will likely become a distinctly different place—in addition to an emptier one. | {
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So, i was trying to install custom firmware on my girlfriend's Toshiba Chromebook 2 CB-35 2015 (i3 processor), also known as "Gandof". Overall it's a very good machine | {
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EXCLUSIVE
Trump Tower -- the place Donald Trump calls home and work -- is being protected by a line of dump trucks all filled with sand ... and the endgame is to prevent terrorist attacks.
NYC Dept. of Sanitation vehicles showed up early Tuesday, forming a barrier to minimize an attack with explosive devices ... law enforcement tells TMZ.
A Dept. of Sanitation spokesperson tells us they've also got trucks set up at The Peninsula Hotel, Hilton Hotel and Javits Center for the same purpose. | {
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It's time to update my rookie rankings, as quite a bit has changed since the last installment was released prior to Week 1. This list will continue to change throughout the season, as we see more rookies given increased roles for their respective teams. Thus far, I've been very impressed with the rookie groups for the Jaguars, Giants and Packers. | {
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As Thanksgiving draws near, many of us are thinking about what we're thankful for — taking time to consider how best to appreciate what we have in our lives. This year, novelist and memoirist Anne Lamott has focused on using prayer to help express our thanks. Many of her books explore how individuals can transform their lives — how one moves from being troubled to feeling whole. In Lamott's case, she suffered from alcoholism and drug abuse; after hitting rock bottom, she found her faith.
Lamott has a new book out called Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers. Lamott speaks with NPR's Renee Montagne about asking for guidance, offering gratitude and expressing wonder.
Interview Highlights
On the first essential prayer, Help, and the common belief that a request for help marks the beginning and end of praying
"Well, I've heard people say that God is the gift of desperation, and there's a lot to be said for having really reached a bottom where you've run out of anymore good ideas, or plans for everybody else's behavior; or how to save and fix and rescue; or just get out of a huge mess, possibly of your own creation.
"And when you're done, you may take a long, quavering breath and say, 'Help.' People say 'help' without actually believing anything hears that. But it is the great prayer, and it is the hardest prayer, because you have to admit defeat — you have to surrender, which is the hardest thing any of us do, ever."
On the idea that many pray only when they need something
"A lot of the time we don't know when we're surrendering that we're actually, at the same time, maybe establishing connection ... to a power greater than ourselves — or something in the next concentric circle out whose name is not me. So, that to me is where help begins. You know, we're often ashamed of asking for so much help because it seems selfish or petty or narcissistic, but I think, if there's a God — and I believe there is — that God is there to help. That's what God's job is."
On the second prayer, Thanks
"Thanks is the prayer of relief that help was on the way. ... It can be [the] pettiest, dumbest thing, but it could also be that you get the phone call that the diagnosis was much, much, much better than you had been fearing. ... The full prayer, and its entirety, is: Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you. But for reasons of brevity, I just refer to it as Thanks.
"It's amazement and relief that you caught a break; that your family caught a break; that you didn't have any reason to believe that things were really going to be OK, and then they were and you just can't help but say thank you."
On the third prayer, Wow
"Wow is the praise prayer. The prayer where we're finally speechless — which in my case is saying something. ... When I don't know what else to do I go outside, and I see the sky and the trees and a bird flies by, and my mouth drops open again with wonder at the just sheer beauty of creation. And I say, 'Wow.' ... You say it when you see the fjords for the first time at dawn, or you say it when you first see the new baby, and you say, 'Wow. This is great.' Wow is the prayer of wonder."
On the way she thinks about prayer
"Prayer is not about saying, 'Oh, I think I'm going to pray now.' Or, 'Oh, I see I've made a notation here to pray at 2:15.' It's about getting outside of your own self and hooking into something greater than that very, very limited part of our experience here — the ticker tape of thoughts and solutions, and trying to figure out who to blame. ...
"It's sort of like blinking your eyes open. ... It's sort of like when the Wizard of Oz first — when Dorothy lands in Oz and the movie goes from black and white to color, and it's like having a new pair of glasses, and you say, 'Wow!' "
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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Copyright(c) 2020, NPR | {
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Bring up the fact that you scuba dive at a party the reaction is always the same. Some people will tell you that you are crazy to “risk your life like that”. A few will share anecdotes about the time they went on a snorkeling excursion. Many will relate stories about how their uncle’s cousin’s friend died in a freak accident. If you pay close attention, however, you will note a certain something in the eyes of a few members of your audience; a far away, wistful glance mixed with trepidation. The look tells you everything you need to know- these are the few that would love to try the sport but have been inundated with cautionary tales and have heard one too many myths about the dangers of scuba. In the following list, I have done my best to address some of the most popular myths and misconceptions about scuba in hopes that those with the look will overcome their fears and try the sport. So I present to you top 10 myths about scuba diving-
10 Myth #1: The water is a scary, scary place filled with scary, scary creatures that are dying to eat me.
Truth: Despite the Jaws inspired hysteria that spread across beaches in 1975 (thank you, Peter Benchley), there are not revenge bent, bloody thirsty great whites lurking beneath the surface of every body of water. In fact, most aquatic animals are pretty inclined toward self preservation and will flee at the very sight of a wetsuit clad alien blowing bubbles and making noise. Most animals are surprisingly delicate, so delicate that human contact can be fatal for them. Sure, you may encounter a shark on a dive but the truth is these encounters (unless you are on a shark dive or are in an area that is particularly well populated in which case you will expect them) are more rare than you might think. Many divers consider it a privilege to encounter a shark, and the bulk of the species commonly encountered by divers are not dangerous to humans. Same goes for large turtles, eels, and even barracuda. Keep your hands to yourself, do your best to stay neutrally buoyant so as not to crash into anything, never purposely agitate an animal, and be sure to listen to any species specific advice that your dive master or captain may give prior to entering the water.
9 Myth #2: I will get lost underwater and the dive boat will leave without me (at which point I will obviously be eaten by sharks)
Truth: This is not the movie Open Water. You will not be left to drift alone in the vast ocean. When divers prepare for their dives, one of the first tasks is to choose a buddy. This buddy is a partner with whom you check your oxygen levels, orient yourself to a landmark, and generally look out for one another. Commonly, novice divers are assigned a guide, and the dive boat captain or dive master does a head count before the group enters the water and also when the group comes back aboard. The boat never leaves the site without all of the divers on board. In addition to these safeguards, you will be taught to navigate using a compass during your training and also how to properly orient yourself should you ever be left alone (which you won’t.)
8 Myth #3: I will run out of air and suffocate or drown.
Truth: Regarding your oxygen supply, you will always know exactly how much air you have left in your tank by checking your depth and PSI gauge. As you learn to regulate your breathing, you will also learn the approximate rate at which you consume air. This will enable you to plan for your ascent and help to ensure you are never in a crisis situation due to a lack of air. Of course, there is always the chance that your equipment will fail. Your dive buddy is useful in this situation because he or she will accompany you in the event of an emergency ascent. Additionally, there are certain techniques that a student learns during training that will allow buddies to share air should one of them experience an equipment malfunction. Your dive buddy has another regulator hooked up to his air supply so that you can easily share, and you can also purchase a pony bottle which can serve as an alternate source should you have an equipment issue.
7 Myth #4: I will have to dive very deep in order to see anything interesting.
Truth: This is perhaps the most popular misconception of all. The reason that people want to scuba dive is to see animal live and explore sunken structures. It is estimated that water covers 71 percent of the earth’s surface; according to NASA.gov, 326 million trillion gallons of the stuff are waiting for us to jump on in and see what secrets are within. What many people do not realize is that the vast majority of the coral and wildlife that we are looking for can be found within 60 feet of the surface. The very idea of submerging ourselves is scary enough; it needn’t be reinforced by the notion that we need to descend into the leviathan in order to see anything worthwhile. While it is true that many wrecks are found at greater depths, there are plenty to explore near the 35 to 60 foot depth.
6 Myth #5: I do not have the time that it will take in order to become certified.
Truth: Many people are happily surprised when they learn how little time they need to invest in order to complete their certification requirements. The PADI website details the requirements and will help you locate classes local to your area. In most cases, the course is completed in four weekends. Classroom time generally takes place on a Saturday afternoon. This time is devoted to lectures, videos, quizzes, and homework assignments. When all of the chapters are completed, a certification exam is administered.
Sundays are usually reserved for the in water instruction, which is usually done at a local swim club or YMCA. In the pool, students are taught the basics. They are required to assemble and disassemble their equipment many times, to calibrate their instruments, and to achieve basic skills such as buoyancy and different entry strategies. An alternate schedule is sometimes used, with the in water training occurring in the morning directly preceding the classroom instruction.
The program can be completed in as little as a month and concludes with four open water certification dives. During these dives, the students’ skills are measured by an experienced and certified instructor. The checkout dives are usually done with the same dive shop that administered the course, although they may be done on a referral basis. When the dives are done on a referral basis, the originating dive shop provides the student with the name of a dive shop in a different area (the destination shop) so that the student can complete his or her checkout dives in a different location. The originating dive shop provides the student with the certification that he or she has passed the test and in return, the destination shop provides the originating shop with the certification that he or she has passed the checkout dives.
As an alternative to the traditional method of certification (classes first, water later), one may opt to take what is commonly referred to as a resort course. Sandals offers a resort course.This is an abbreviated version of the course, and many students opt to continue more classes after returning home in order to become fully certified. The advantage to the resort course is that it allows you to get your head under the water much faster. Some resorts offer the full certification course; personal preference and length of stay commonly dictate the type of course that a student may opt for.
5 Myth #6: Diving is only for rich people.
Truth: Sure, diving is a technical sport and requires specialized equipment. Then there are the added costs of the dive boat, and if you don’t live close to a dive site that is appealing to you, travel and lodging expenses. It may seem as though these elements would add up to an exorbitant fee and make diving cost prohibitive. The reality of the matter, however, is that most equipment is available for rent and dive shops run specials and promotions all the time. There are also specialized dive resorts that include the cost of your dives with your total vacation package. Here is a link to a popular dive resort on Islamorada, an island of the Florida Keys. You will undoubtedly want to purchase your own fins, snorkel and mask, but these items can be picked up fairly cheap and upgraded as funds allow. This site is a great resource, not only to purchase equipment but also to read about why and how to purchase equipment online.
4 Myth #7: I need to travel to a far and exotic locale in order to dive.
Truth: This is simply not true. Some of the best diving in the world can be found in the lower 48. The Florida Keys has some of the most beautiful and accessible diving for beginners. In fact, most if not all states have diving sites that are close to your back door. While we usually think of diving as a warm weather/warm water sport that is done in the oceans and gulfs only, there is quite a bit of quality diving to be experienced in lakes, rivers, and quarries. The Mississippi River is a popular destination for divers. Different bodies of water produce different conditions, and different temperatures require different training and equipment. This does not mean that these types of dives are inaccessible, however, and rental equipment is almost always available.
3 Myth #8: I am not an Olympian swimmer.
Truth: While I can’t address the validity of this statement as it applies to you specifically, I can confidently say that superhuman swimming abilities are not necessary. As far as physical fitness goes, there is some good and bad news.
First, the bad news: yes, you need to be a functional swimmer in order to scuba dive. I feel like that is extraneous information, however, as scuba diving takes place in the water and so a degree of swimming ability is absolutely essential. More bad news: there will be a swim test administered during the first in water instructional session. This swim test includes a 400 meter swim followed by 15 minutes of treading water. Now the good news: the 400 meter sounds far more daunting than it actually is. The swim can be completed using any stroke you are comfortable with, even the dog paddle. You can swim either above or below the water. You cannot stop during this test, but you can complete the 400 meters at your own pace. The goal is to be sure that you can actually swim yourself to safety in the event of an emergency. It is more of an endurance test than anything else, and that is why it is followed up by 15 minutes of treading water. More good news: since this test takes place in the pool, no hungry sea animals will be following your every move the way that they will be in the open water. (Just a little scuba humor there.)
2 Myth #9: I am not old/young enough to dive.
Truth: Scuba is a sport for all ages. Even the littlest aspiring divers can get started in their diving careers by taking a bubble-making class. This class readies little ones for diving by teaching them to be comfortable with the water and training them to become experts at blowing bubbles…which is a skill that comes in surprisingly handy later in training. Older divers commonly find that they are able to continue diving even after they have had to stop other sports- the buoyant qualities of water make diving quite accessible and in most cases, low impact. Everyone should consult with a doctor, of course, but many will find that age is a very small factor for diving.
1 Myth #10: Divers are an exclusionary and unfriendly bunch.
Truth: Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, you can dispel this popular misconception on your own simply by visiting your local dive shop and introducing yourself. Divers come from all walks of life and are always eager to share their experiences. Diving is the kind of sport that lends itself to sharing-whether it be pictures, anecdotes, or tips on how to maximize your enjoyment. So, while you are at your local shop signing up for your open water certification course, introduce yourself to a few people and ask them about their experiences. You are bound to find out exactly how friendly and social the dive community is, and who knows-you just might make some new friends and discover a whole new world. | {
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The NFL's regional programming rules are famously byzantine, but luckily the506.com cuts through the bullshit for you, providing weekly maps that allow us to answer the only question that really matters: Which fans are the most screwed this Sunday?
Week 12 winner: Peoria, Ill.
A weird Sunday for Week 12, as Thanksgiving Thursday pulls three pretty good matchups. Neither has a truly dismal slate this week, but Peoria narrowly beats out Orlando, Fla., on the "strength" of its Fox late game.
Places that get screwed tend to fall between two or more NFL markets. Peoria is split among three, though this doesn't translate into split allegiances. While the north-central Illinois city lies 180-200 miles from Chicago, Indianapolis, and St. Louis, Chicago has an extremely large media market and thus a solid claim on Peoria's fandom. NFL schedulers don't care about that, though, so for the CBS game Peoria gets stuck with Bills-Colts, a battle of two mediocre teams that show flashes of brilliance when they're not getting 50 points dropped on their heads. Chicago itself gets the also-flawed but superior Ravens-Chargers game, as CBS reminds us how frustrating the AFC is this year.
Peoria gets the Bears game. They're probably cool with that. Like I said, odd week in "Who's Getting Screwed?"
Last time the Rams and the Cardinals played each other, in Week 5, the teams were a combined 6-2. Since then they're 0-9-1.
Meanwhile, the rest of the country gets to watch 49ers-Saints. This matchup already would have been plenty juicy—the Saints have surged back into contention by winning five of six, scoring 29.5 points per game in that span—but it got a hell of a lot better when the boringly efficient 49ers found themselves with a real quarterback controversy on their hands. Right now it's looking like Colin Kaepernick will get the start against one of the league's worst secondaries.
There might be some Rams fans in Peoria; to these people I apologize. To the rest of you, the fact that you have the Rams game totally blows; my apologies to you as well. | {
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