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[WM]Cluster comprises IBM's Opteron-based eServer 325 server and systems management software and storage devices that can run Linux and Windows operating systems.
IBM on Tuesday announced a prepackaged and pretested cluster that is powered by Advanced Micro Devices Inc.s 64-bit Opteron processor.
IBM, of Armonk, N.Y., is combining its Opteron-based eServer 325 server—which targets scientific and technical computing users—with systems management software and storage devices to offer a bundled package that can run Linux and Windows operating systems.
The new offering, which will be available later this month or in early December, is part of IBMs eServer Cluster 1350, which also includes bundles based on the companys BladeCenter blade servers and two-processor x335 and x345 systems using Intel Corp.s 32-bit Xeon chips.
Clusters comprise multiple servers tied together to create a supercomputing environment for users. In a related move, IBM last week announced that it was teaming with Corning Inc., the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration to develop high-speed, optically switched interconnects for supercomputers. The $20 million, two-and-a-half-year project is aimed at increasing network bandwidth by 50 times while at the same time cutting the costs of supercomputers.
IBMs 325 systems, powered by 2GHz Opterons, give users a chance to run both their 32-bit and 64-bit applications on a single platform, which is important for mixed-use environments, said David Turek, vice president of IBMs Deep Computing unit.
"For many of these users, who have been left with a stark choice—you either run 32-bit or 64-bit—Opteron is an interesting bridge between the two," Turek said. "Its an attractive proposition."
AMD, of Sunnyvale, Calif., has pushed Opterons ability to run 32-bit applications as well as it does 64-bit applications as a key differentiator between it and Intels Itanium architecture. The 64-bit Itanium chip maintains a limited amount of backward compatibility, which means that it does not run the 32-bit applications as well as it does the 64-bit software.
With the latest Itanium 2 released this summer, officials with Intel, of Santa Clara, Calif., were promoting the companys IA-32 Execution Layer, designed to bridge that performance gap. Intel, which has pushed Xeon-based systems for 32-bit applications and Itanium for 64-bit computing, views the execution layer as a way of helping customers who want to move to 64-bit computing but still have older 32-bit applications running.
On Monday, Intel officials said that a software update from Microsoft Corp. that includes the execution layer for Windows applications has been delayed until the second half of next year. However, they said that Linux vendors, including Red Hat Inc. and SuSE Linux AG, both are incorporating the execution layer code in their offerings.
/zimages/3/28571.gifRead "MS Delay Hinders Itanium Software Upgrade."
Gordon Haff, an analyst with Illuminata Inc., said Opterons adoption path is mirroring that of the older Itanium technology.
"Theres a lot of interest in Opteron in [the high-performance computing space]; its nearly exclusively in HPC," said Haff, in Nashua, N.H. "Its a good performing chip, and thats pretty much what HPC [customers are] looking for."
While backward compatibility with 32-bit applications may make Opteron more attractive in the commercial space, HPC users are more interested in performance, he said.
Turek agreed. "The Intel name carries a lot of weight in the industry," he said. That said, HPC and technical computing customers tend to be among the early adopters of new technology.
"Theyre searching for the best technology without so much regard for the brand," he said.
The Opteron cluster offering includes IBM Cluster Management Software, which aims to avoid problems and speed up the resolution of problems that do occur by automating repetitive tasks and error detection.
Also included in the cluster package is a new Linux Cluster Install Tool, which automates much of the installation work, IBM officials said.
In the supercomputing interconnect project, Cornings Science & Technology Division, in Corning, N.Y., will create a prototype for an optically switched interconnect. IBM Research Labs in the United States and Switzerland will build the systems electronic control and monitoring circuitry. |
[WM]Belying expectations, Prasar Bharti has earned only Rs 58.19 crore (Rs 581.9 million) as revenue during the Commonwealth Games last month.
The gross revenue earned by PB on account of telecasting/broadcasting of advertisements on Doordarshan channel and All India Radio during coverage of the Commonwealth Games is Rs 58.17 crore, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting S Jagathrakshakan informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
While AIR earned Rs 2.18 crore (Rs 21.8 million), Doordarshan garnered Rs 55.99 crore (Rs 559.9 million) as revenue, he said. Prasar Bharati had earlier said it knew in advance that the recently concluded Commonwealth Games, for which Doordarshan was the official broadcaster, would not bring in huge advertising revenues.
as a result of luke warm response from advertisers.
Notably, DD was not allowed to air advertisements during the closing ceremony of the CWG Games following complaints that the opening ceremony had been shown deferred live to accommodate advertisements.
After a successful opening ceremony, DD had hiked ad spot rates for the closing ceremony to Rs 2.5 lakh for a ten second spot as compared with Rs 90,000 for the same in the opening of the CWG. |
[WM]Marketers are employed in the public sector as well as the private sector.
Most people think of marketing as a strictly private sector activity, but the reality is people with sales and marketing backgrounds are hired by government agencies in a number of capacities. Government agencies at the local, state and federal level all employ marketing professionals in areas including, but not limited to, public relations, property disposal, bond sales and purchasing.
Almost all major government agencies have their own public-relations staff, and in many cases it is a stand-alone department with a public relations or media director and several support staff. Government agency PR departments are responsible for producing news releases, holding press conferences, and generally promoting activities of the agency, such as tourism or encouraging new businesses to move into the area.
Government agencies are constantly buying supplies, equipment and other property and selling off old equipment and property. The departments tasked with disposing of this government property often hire individuals with a background in marketing. Their job is to assist the agency in coming up with creative ways to sell or otherwise dispose of obsolete government property.
Most government agencies have to follow complicated regulations for purchasing supplies and equipment. In many cases, agencies can only buy from certain suppliers or can only buy goods within specific price ranges. Agencies often hire purchasing agents with marketing backgrounds to help them manage their purchases, including setting criteria for suppliers and establishing price ranges. Government purchasing agents must be very familiar with current purchasing regulations at their agency.
Local, state and federal agencies sometimes sell bonds to finance capital improvement projects in their jurisdictions. These agencies hire bond and securities marketing specialists to prepare bond prospectuses for investors, which detail the terms of the bond, and to organize marketing campaigns to sell the bonds. Bond marketing specialists also typically manage media relations for bond campaigns.
Browne, Clayton. "Are There Marketing Jobs in the Government?" Work - Chron.com, http://work.chron.com/there-marketing-jobs-government-22921.html. Accessed 24 April 2019.
What Is the Role of the Owner of the Supermarket?
What Does a Beer Rep Do? |
[WM]MIDDLETOWN, NJ - The Middletown Township Public Library and the Township of Middletown are pleased to announce the appointment of Kim Rinaldi as Provisional Library Director, beginning on February 24, 2014. Ms. Rinaldi will earn a salary of $95,000.00 per year.
Ms. Rinaldi comes to the Middletown Township Public Library after having served as the Library Director of the Margaret E. Heggen Free Public Library in Washington Township, New Jersey. During her tenure in Washington Township, Ms. Rinaldi managed 26 employees and a $2.5 million annual budget. Ms. Rinaldi has also served as the Director of the Brielle Public Library and as a Senior Librarian at the Ocean County Library, Long Beach Island Branch in Surf City, New Jersey.
Ms. Rinaldi holds a Masters in Library and Information Science from Texas Women’s College and has extensive experience in library administration, budgeting and project management. Ms. Rinaldi is credited with outsourcing material cataloging and processing at the Margaret E. Heggan Free Public Library, reducing annual operating costs by $150,000.00. Ms. Rinaldi also managed a successful $2 million library building project.
Ms. Rinaldi is excited to begin her new position as Provisional Library Director and looks forward to working with the Board of Trustees, staff and residents to continue to make the Middletown Township Public Library a premier resource and destination of choice for the residents of the Township. |
[WM]An eagerly awaited report from the World Health Organization (WHO) states that processed meats such as bacon and sausages cause cancer, and red meat likely does so too.
The France-based International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the WHO, put processed meats on the top of their “things that cause cancer list”, grouping them alongside tobacco, asbestos and diesel fumes, for which there is “sufficient evidence” of cancer links.
Along the years, there have been many studies that linked processed and red meats with cancer (especially bowel cancer), but there were always some doubts floating about. Now, the 22-member panel analyzed animal experiments, studies of human diet and health, and cell mechanisms that could lead from these meats to cancer.
“These findings further support current public health recommendations to limit intake of meat,” Dr. Christopher Wild, who directs IARC, said in a statement.
The decision wasn’t unanimous though, and a “probably” still crept in to the report. Many studies show the links, both in populations of people and in tests that show how eating these foods can cause cancer, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said in its report, released in the Lancet medical journal.
This could give you cancer. Photo by Niklas Rhose.
Most reports on the links between meat and cancer have been softened with some element of doubt, but the IARC uses clear and direct language in saying processed meat causes cancer. There are no phrases such as “may cause” in the report.
“Overall, the Working Group classified consumption of processed meat as ‘carcinogenic to humans’ on the basis of sufficient evidence for colorectal cancer,” the report reads. “Additionally, a positive association with the consumption of processed meat was found for stomach cancer. The Working Group classified consumption of red meat as ‘probably carcinogenic to humans’,” it added.
“The experts concluded that each 50 gram portion of processed meat eaten daily increases the risk of colorectal cancer by 18 percent,” the IARC said. “For an individual, the risk of developing colorectal cancer because of their consumption of processed meat remains small, but this risk increases with the amount of meat consumed,” said IARC’s Dr. Kurt Straif.
“Red meat refers to unprocessed mammalian muscle meat—for example, beef, veal, pork, lamb, mutton, horse, or goat meat—including minced or frozen meat; it is usually consumed cooked,” the IARC said in its report.
Red meat was included in a lower category, which means that while there is evidence for it causing cancer, there is still quite a lot of room for debate. But while processed meat seems to be decidedly bad for your health, not everybody is convinced about red meat.
The $95 billion U.S. beef industry has been preparing a retaliation for months, and they’ve been rallying numerous scientists to their cause – even some unafililiated with the meat industry.
“We simply don’t think the evidence support any causal link between any red meat and any type of cancer,” said Shalene McNeill, executive director of human nutrition at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.
For now, the takeaway seems to be this: you need to stop eating processed meat. They have a number of damaging effects, including elevating stroke risk, raising cholesterol and, of course – cancer. If you absolutely can’t give it up, then reduce it. Quantity does matter, and less is, while not ideal, better than more. The same goes for red meat – if you must have it, don’t have it every day. It’s not sustainable, it’s bad for the animals, and it’s bad for you.
We’re getting to a point where science is starting to understand what’s good for us and what’s not. Let’s make the science count, shall we? |
[WM]Google has announced that it will be shutting down its smart-messaging service Allo which it launched just over two years ago.
The decision comes after the company “paused investment in Allo” earlier this year, and brought its features to Messages — Google’s SMS-based messaging service for Android.
“Given Messages’ continued momentum, we’ve decided to stop supporting Allo to focus on Messages,” the company explained in the announcement.
Features such as desktop support, GIFs and Smart Reply have already moved from Allo to Messages.
“We’ve learned a lot from Allo, particularly what’s possible when you incorporate machine learning features, like the Google Assistant, into messaging,” Google also noted.
Allo will officially stop running in March 2019.
In the meantime, users are being encouraged to export their conversations and save their media before the app shuts down.
March 2019 is significant for another Google app. Inbox, the company’s smart email app, will also cease to function. |
[WM]Was it a surprise to you that you were given the arts and culture position?
No, there is no surprise when you are a cadre of the ANC because you are deployed anywhere. You are given a five-year contract to do a portfolio and when you are finished, you wait for another one. At no stage do you have a say.
What qualities do you bring to the position?
People say to me you are a minister here but you can’t sing; how can you survive in the sector? It’s not about that.
If you attend some of the meetings of the ANC, you will see that I lead revolutionary songs. I know I can command a revolutionary song.
I will be working with stakeholders and cultural activists and we will be going on a journey together. We will bring our understanding and our connection with young people.
This is an area that is, by and large, filled with practitioners who are young, with hopes for the future and dreams.
What would be important would be to bring that strategic leadership to the sector, primarily to co-ordinate the endeavours that have been started by my predecessors.
What are the first things you will tackle?
On my first day I had a briefing on what has happened in the department and what we need to do. I immediately raised the issue that we are writing the true history of South Africa through the voices of its people, rather than through colonialists.
We need a single national monument where everybody who comes to South Africa will be able to understand our history. It has to be brand- new. No nation has come through what we have come through without that kind of recognition and national monument.
South Africa has a very rich history that needs to be taught properly. Things such as the Anglo-Boer War need to be taught fully, so that we would see that it was a South African war where everyone had a role. There is this strong feeling I have that it is important that we acknowledge all our history.
One thing we have to do is measure the contribution of arts to the big picture. Take for instance the yearly jazz festival in Cape Town. When people go there they talk about one aspect, which is tourism, but they forget that at the core it is arts and culture. They go there to connect spiritually with their needs. It is very important. I also want more people coming here to produce movies.
I see arts as helping a young democracy that is competing with old democracies. We are still finding our way. I want to see South Africans being given an opportunity to reflect on themselves on a yearly basis. Heritage is very important because this is where we are grooming our people to understand [our cultural history]. By identifying young people and giving them a chance to study, we are creating a reservoir for the future.
We must also find a way of promoting all our languages. Some of them are seen as being inferior, which is a mistake. We also have to develop our unofficial languages, such as that of the amaPondo. When we develop them we are saying: ‘We understand your culture, we know who you are and we want to see you prospering.’ It is a huge task.
Who do you listen to?
I do not have a favourite because my point of view is that of an internationalist, where I listen to music from around Africa – Senegalese and Congolese music – and the world. I particularly enjoy jazz and soul. When I sit down to reflect and take stock I listen to jazz, and on a really bad day it is soul music. I like Richard Nwamba’s African Connection [programme on SAfm]because it brings that music from across the continent. It’s a pity that it is only once a week; I would like to have it during the week too.
We need to take better care of our artists. They entertain us and they become our celebrities, but in the end they die in very difficult circumstances. We need to improve their lives. They helped us to attain freedom and they are creating a new South Africa. Look at kwaito, which was an initiative of young people without anyone guiding them.
Do the arts get enough financial support?
I still have to see the fullness of the sector, but I would probably want arts to have more concentration in the sector. I am not sure it would only be financial. If you go to other countries, arts and culture are the things that unite people. They play a big role, like with sports and recreation.
I am excited because of the potential that I feel we can unearth here. This is a junior department to others, but what can be more senior than leading a nation to identify itself? A nation that does not understand its soul is not worthy to be called a nation.
Are there limits to freedom of expression? What about The Spear painting?
One area that we really fought for very hard is what is contained in the Bill of Rights: people have to express themselves. When you do that, you would be responsible and not express yourself to incite violence. When it comes to The Spear I can’t say it is up to the minister to say what people must express. Whatever we do as a nascent demo-cracy, we must respect others.
I’m taking my point of view from the values of ubuntu, with the caring and sharing of Africans.
But other people have their own views.
Are you going to any shows this weekend?
I am going to the office as we speak for consultations, and I will still be doing that this weekend. Obviously I will be going to any events that I can, because you can’t be something that you do not understand fully. It is one of the perks.
We have become a crass, materialistic society to the detriment of our most important needs – our spirits and our emotions. We cannot continue that way, because we are missing that sense of belonging. |
[WM]WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Sunday warned Congress against manufacturing a crisis over federal spending in the months ahead, as looming deadlines set the stage for a repeat of the political deadlock which two years ago triggered worldwide financial market turmoil.
In coming negotiations with Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, Democratic President Barack Obama will focus on ways to create economic gains for the middle class over spending cuts, Lew said.
“We have already done a lot of deficit reduction,” he said in an interview on NBC. Lew spoke on four TV talk shows, setting out Obama’s priorities ahead of an expected showdown this fall.
By early November, Congress must raise the legal limit on the country’s borrowing authority or risk an unprecedented default on the government’s debt.
A debt ceiling showdown in August 2011 between Obama and congressional Republicans sparked wild stock market swings and cost the United States its top-tier AAA credit rating.
“We need to get the debt limit extended in a way that doesn’t create a crisis,” Lew said.
Republicans see the debt ceiling as the their best leverage in winning a deal with Obama that would cut federal government spending to lower the deficit.
Lew, who was Obama’s budget director in 2011, reiterated the president’s stance that he would not consider short-term spending cuts, nor would he offset defense spending cuts with reductions in other government programs.
“The president has made crystal clear, he’s not going to negotiate over the debt limit,” Lew said in an interview on ABC.
The debt ceiling is one of two fiscal deadlines facing Obama and Congress. By October 1, they must agree on a stop-gap measure to keep the government funded or face a shutdown.
Republicans have eyed this budget deadline as a way to roll back steep spending cuts for defense programs. But that is not an option, Lew said.
Congress is scheduled to leave town August 2 for a five-week recess.
Asked about the possibility of a federal response to Detroit’s recent bankruptcy declaration, Lew threw cold water on any chances the struggling city will get federal aid.
“Detroit is going to have to work with its creditors on this,” Lew told ABC. |
[WM]Im definetely with some of the above posts when saying that they left the serious open ended. I knew up until then that this was supposed to be the final season but after seeing the last episode, I could see another see another season.
So lame that the show was cancelled…..I had so much fun copying the ideas of the shows writers for all the parties!
I am going to miss the Pakistani chick. What a body. Sweet dream!
I had NO idea the series was canceled!!! This blows!!!! Why do they cancel the good shows and keep the worst!?!?!?!?
So sad to see these characters say goodbye to these characters, this show had room to grow and to introduce more great actors.
Depressing I find out having to google this while watching the show, realizing this didn’t seem like a season finale…more like a forever good-bye.
This show is one of the Best they have made in a long time. It was a great ending,except that KT was ton down it made me cry. Couldn’t they just have remodled it honestly why do that and not give us a next season its messed up. UGH just sad to see it go. WE ALL LOVE YOU GREEK CAST!!!!
“Greek” was probably the most realistic portrayal of Greek life on college campus that I have ever seen. Those were the best years of my life and a lot of the stuff on the show paralleled my own experiences. But I guess ABCFamily is more interested in bitchy little teenagers and all their drama. “Greek” will be missed.
My wife and I made it a ritual to watch Greek together every week. We generally have different tastes when it comes to TV, but this was a great show that we both liked. The final episode was great, and they were wrong to cancel it. However, I have seen what happens when you take a show about school and take it to far (Saved by the Bell: The College Years). I guess it is good they didn’t go out like that. KT FOREVER!
I loved this show, Greek was one of my absolute favorite shows. I am really sad they decided to cancel it and I have no idea why. I hope the cast move on to other things that I will enjoy in the future.
I agree, as they could still show cappie and cassie..have them make visits etc…I think thye should continue it..
I thought it was a good ending saying goodbye.
I had suspected this was the final season when they said “The Final Semester” and that their was only 10 episodes instead of 20 this season.
Hi I just watched the series finale!
I lost Ugly Betty and that had some good times! |
[WM]In case you missed it, the initials ICYMI stand for the first five words of this sentence. In the event you have, indeed, missed it (ITEYH, I, MI has not taken off yet for some reason), it’s most likely because you’re not on the Internet much, particularly Twitter, where individuals and outlets deploy it every few seconds to bring links to the attention of others who may not have seen them. The New York Times now even has a section at the bottom of its app called “In Case You Missed It” with articles from previous days.
While the extended phrase has been used in conversation for a long time, the shorthand betrays an anxiety central to the Internet epoch. There is simply too much readable, viewable and listenable data for anyone to stay abreast of, as a humor piece, “I’m All Caught Up!” by Nick Mickowski in McSweeney’s, playfully suggested.
We used to receive media cyclically. Newspapers were published once (or sometimes twice) a day, magazines weekly or monthly. Nightly news was broadcast, well, each night. Television programs were broadcast on one of the major networks one night a week at a specific time, never to return until a rerun or syndication. Movies were shown first in theaters and on video much later (or, before the advent of VCRs, not until a revival). There were not many interstices, just discrete units — and a smaller number of them.
Now we’re in the midst of the streaming era, when the news industry distributes material on a 24-hour cycle, entire seasons of TV shows are dumped on viewers instantaneously, most movies are available at any time and the flow of the Internet and social media is ceaseless. We are nearly all interstitial space, with comparatively few singularities.
The cumulative effect is overwhelming for both producers of content and its consumers. Those who put out work, understandably, want to make sure it’s not lost on whatever site is hosting it, let alone in the social media blizzard of “must read” links, one-off jokes and other self-promotion. When the home page of a website refreshes every couple of hours (or minutes), there aren’t a lot of conspicuous ways to showcase older material except through the referrals of Twitter, Facebook and the like.
Pre-Internet, we accepted that media had a mayfly’s life span: Yesterday’s news was yesterday’s news, and that was it. If you were the creator of it, you made peace with the notion that people either saw it or didn’t when it appeared, and you moved on; there was no alternative.
If it lingered in the public consciousness, it was because of its durability, not repeated reminders. Content had finite endings and deaths, not asymptotic approaches and long-term vegetative states from which resuscitation is always an option.
Now, with just about every airing of a much greater number of shows obtainable at any moment, there is no excuse for missing one — and, therefore, a more urgent compulsion to catch up, in case you missed it.
Today, both the outlets and the individuals who are responsible for the work are aware that they have a limited window in which their content can go viral and outlive its short stay on a home page. When it fails to do so, as, by definition, almost everything must, it may seem to them like a disheartening screen-age Zen koan: If an article about deforestation is published but no one clicks on it, did it actually exist?
Hence ICYMI. In an earlier time, the full verbal formulation meant that the recipient was supposed to see something of a certain degree of importance (a note, an email), and the sender was gently reminding you of its oversight.
Now, the very shortening of the phrase is a byproduct and acknowledgment of the velocity of information against which its attached link is racing. The implication is that you probably have not seen it, and it’s not necessary to your existence, but the sender would like to bring it to your attention anyway, please. It serves as a call of desperation as much as an announcement: Can you hear my whisper in these howling winds? In fact, ICYMI is often used as the second or third attempt to link to something (which suggests the content is not taking off organically) as a means of excusing the repetitive promotion.
Even the Twitter account for President Obama, one of the few people who can assume that his actions are never missed by the world, occasionally uses ICYMI, especially to highlight achievements the White House may think are undervalued by the public, such as job growth and the Affordable Care Act.
Elissa Strauss, a columnist for TheWeek.com and a freelancer for a number of other Web publications, said that a financial incentive also drives Internet content creators who post their work multiple times (she said she typically “triple tweets” each of her articles).
Given the near-infinite accessibility of digital media, it suggests that what Walter Benjamin called the unique, mystical “aura” of an object of art in his seminal 1936 essay, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” greatly diminished by the reproductive technologies of his time, is completely eradicated by ours.
Live performances may be the last place to locate any sense of aura. Mr. Benjamin saw various reasons for optimism in the diminution of the aura. Reproduction, he posited, could emancipate us from cultlike reverence toward art and make us keener, more politicized critics. But nowadays it’s passé to note that, during live events, people are often staring into their reproduction-friendly phones, perhaps a redirected form of ritual obeisance.
At least they can probably find a video or photo (maybe one they shot themselves) of what they were at later, in case they missed it.
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[WM]Widow Of Pulse Nightclub Gunman AcquittedNoor Salman was found not guilty of charges of obstruction and providing material support to a terrorist organization.
'It Still Hurts, It's Still Very Raw': Ceremonies Mark One Year Since Massacre At Orlando's Pulse Nightclub, Worst Mass Shooting In U.S. HistoryA rally was held near the historic Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village Monday night to honor the victims of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando a year ago.
Sheriff: Disgruntled Former Employee Kills 5 In Orlando Workplace ShootingOrange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said police received a call about an active shooter around 8:03 a.m. at Fiamma Inc., a business that makes awnings for recreational vehicles.
Fugitive Wanted In Fatal Shooting Of Orlando Police Sgt. CaughtThe Orlando Police Department tweeted Tuesday night that 41-year-old Markeith Loyd is in custody.
$60,000 Reward Offered For Suspect In Fatal Shooting Of Orlando OfficerA massive manhunt is underway for 41-year-old Markeith Loyd, who police say is wanted in the shooting death of Master Sgt. Debra Clayton.
Knicks Lose Porzingis Late, But Beat Magic 106-95Derrick Rose tossed in 19 points and reserve center Willy Hernangomez added 15 points to lead the New York Knicks to a 106-95 win over the Orlando Magic at Madison Square Garden on Thursday. |
[WM]NEW YORK — Television retailer QVC has made aggressive plans to keep shoppers watching — instead of mall-hopping — on Black Friday, an event it has traditionally ignored.
The leading network for TV shoppers promises special deals and a healthy dose of new items for sale starting on Thanksgiving night. Program host Dave James plans to stay awake for 28 hours of telethon-like coverage.
The day after Thanksgiving is traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year, called “Black Friday” because it’s key for many businesses to go in the black, or turn a profit. QVC, which competes with ShopNBC and the HSN home shopping network, has not wanted to get caught up in the frenzy and has always treated it as just another day for its sales pitches, said Doug Rose, the network’s vice president of programming and marketing.
“This year, and we’ve been planning on this for many months, we really expect to join the fray with the other retailers,” Rose said.
QVC is hoping for a “Black Friday” of its own. Hurt by the same recession that affected other retailers last year, QVC’s fourth quarter revenue in 2008 was down 8 percent from the previous year. So far this year revenue has been essentially flat, although the value of the items that QVC is selling is down slightly.
The network generally offers one “special value” item to customers each day. For “Black Friday” coverage, which starts at 8 p.m. EST on Thanksgiving, there will be three.
Every hour, there will be a specially priced offer, and there will be five hours of gifts that have never been available before on the network, QVC said.
Rival HSN, which has also been flat in sales this year, mailed one million gift guides for the first time to people who have bought things through the network in the past. It is also offering specially-priced items over the Thanksgiving weekend, although that’s not a shift from what it has done in the past.
HSN also had a “Get Ready for the Holidays” programming theme for the first week of November, for people who wanted advice on cooking and decorating. HSN has a little more than half QVC’s sales domestically.
James, a former radio disc jockey, said the closest thing he’s come to his upcoming 28-hour marathon is hosting radiothons for about half the time. He said he’s working with a nutritionist to prepare him for the ordeal.
He’s convinced his family to have an early Thanksgiving dinner and hopes the turkey will let him have a long nap before he goes to QVC’s Pennsylvania studio.
“There’s going to be coffee — a lot of coffee,” he said. |
[WM]She was academically brilliant, the shining light of a community that has seen many potentially intelligent girls given no sniff at education and many dropping out along the way.
Then she got a lifeline. UCC had only ten successful applicants for their Bachelor of Science (BSc.) in Chemistry program. To get more students, a special entry process was initiated. She applied, passed the exams and gained admission.
But for UCC’s inability to meet their required number of intake, an educational system that recognises only students who come out with flying colours in exams would have deprived Ghana and the world such a gem.
With this story and painful experience, she lived everyday longing for the opportunity to be part of an educational system with no barriers and one that is patient enough to bring the worse of student to the level of academic excellence their potentials and desire can get them to.
This is the story and vision that gave birth to Ghana’s first and West Africa’s second Open University- Laweh Open University.
The University was established in the year 2014 as an open supported learning institution to offer certificates, diplomas, degrees and postgraduate Programmes. LAWEH is a global partner of Franklin University and Open University of Tanzania.
Speaking at the inauguration of the school’s 11 Member Governing Council, Prof Goski Alabi who is a member of the Counsel indicated that education should be the right of every individual and failure to pass exams at one stage should in no way be the end of the road for people who desire to move further.
According to her, all over the world, the Open University System has been adopted as the way to removing the barriers to education, give people the freedom to learn at their own pace and convenience and come up better equipped to compete in this competitive world.
She indicated that the days of writing remedial exams over and over are over. She urged student to take advantage of the Open University because structures have been put in place to ensure that even the student with the worse result comes out of the institution prepared and equipped to succeed.
The 11-member Governing Council is chaired by Dr. Kingsley Fletcher (HRM Nene Drolor Bosso Adamtey I). The members are Professor Vincent Ado Tenebe- Former Vice-Chancellor, National Open University of Nigeria, Professor J. S. Y. Kuma – Vice Chancellor of University of Mines and Technology Tarkwa, Professor Con. Eng, Tolly S.A Mbwette, Former Vice Chancellor, Open University Tanzania, Professor Joshua Alabi- Former Vice-Chancellor UPSA , Professor Goski Alabi- Dean of centre for International Education and Collaboration UPSA.
Others are Ms. Mavis Ekua E. Kwainoe- Legal Practitioner and Lecturer, UPSA, Professor Jemison Kurasha- Dean of Business school, Open University of Zimbabwe, Dr. Joshua Mallet- Director of Centre for Distance Learning and Open Schooling (CENDLOS), and Professor Jonathan Mbah- Director of Research and Planning- AUU. |
[WM]Occasional diarrhea is a common occurrence. Most people will experience an episode of diarrhea at least once or twice a year that will disappear in a couple of days.
Luckily, there are many foods to eat that may help a person reduce the symptoms of diarrhea. There are also some foods to avoid when dealing with a bout of diarrhea, and some additional home care tips to consider.
Anyone who is experiencing persistent diarrhea should see a doctor, as a person may become dehydrated over time.
Diarrhea is a bowel movement that is more liquid than solid or has a loose texture. It is a common problem and may occur a couple of times each year. Diarrhea will usually last no more than 3 days.
Soft, bland foods, such as toast, will help to absorb excess water and ease the symptoms of diarrhea.
People with chronic digestive conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or Crohn's disease, may experience diarrhea more regularly.
A person's diet is crucial if they are experiencing diarrhea. Some foods might help relieve symptoms of diarrhea while eating other foods can make diarrhea worse.
While recovering from diarrhea, a person should eat bland, simple foods that are easy to digest and will help absorb some water from the stool.
These foods may be especially helpful on the first day of dealing with diarrhea. Eating many small meals throughout the day can help keep the digestive system from becoming overworked.
Probiotic foods, such as yogurt and kefir, may help in some cases, but in others, probiotics may irritate the digestive system even more.
Probiotics aid digestion by improving the balance of good and bad bacteria in the gut. However, dairy products can irritate the digestive system, so a person may wish to try non-dairy sources of probiotics, such as miso or sauerkraut.
Liquids are also vital to recovery. People with diarrhea must drink plenty of water throughout the day and should drink an additional cup of water after every loose bowel movement.
Drinking plenty of water helps prevent dehydration and flush any toxins out of the body.
Soup broth will help to replace minerals and electrolytes lost because of diarrhea.
Spicy ingredients can act as irritants in the digestive system. This is why people dealing with diarrhea should stick to bland foods, as they pose the least risk of agitating the digestive system.
It is not advisable to eat foods high in fat or oil when recovering from diarrhea. Added fats and oils from frying can be difficult for the sensitive digestive system to process and will likely make symptoms worse.
A person can try eating boiled or steam vegetables and lean proteins instead.
Sugars that pass into the colon may disrupt the already sensitive bacteria there, making diarrhea worse. This includes fruit juices and high-sugar fruits.
People with diarrhea should also avoid artificial sweeteners, as some can have a laxative effect.
It may also help to avoid too much fiber. Fiber helps keep the digestive system active. Usually, this is a good thing, but when the body is trying to recover from diarrhea, fiber may make symptoms worse.
Soluble fibers, such as the pectin found in apples and bananas, can actually help a person recover from diarrhea, but a person should still try to limit their intake at least for the first day of symptoms.
Many people experience diarrhea after drinking alcohol. Furthermore, some types of alcohol can be more likely to cause diarrhea than others. Learn more.
Carbonated or fizzy drinks should be avoided, as they can irritate the digestive system and make the symptoms of diarrhea worse.
Caffeinated beverages, such as coffee, tea, and soda, may overstimulate the digestive system and make symptoms worse.
Carbonated drinks may also irritate or contribute to other symptoms, such as bloating and cramps. People should also avoid alcohol while dealing with diarrhea.
While many sports drinks contain electrolytes that may help with dehydration, they often contain added sugars or artificial sweeteners. Coconut water or electrolyte-enhanced water are good alternatives.
In addition to following a diet that will help relieve diarrhea, there are several other remedies a person can take to make a swift recovery.
Other diarrhea treatments include bismuth subsalicylate (Pepto Bismol) and Ioperamide (Imodium). These drugs can help relieve occasional cases of diarrhea and may be helpful to have on hand in a medicine cupboard.
Pepto Bismol and Imodium are available for purchase over-the-counter or online.
People with diarrhea should also ensure they get enough rest, as putting the body in stressful situations while dealing with diarrhea may make matters worse.
Limit physical activity while diarrhea symptoms are presenting, as strenuous activity may put the body at a greater risk of dehydration.
Hydration is also vital when managing diarrhea. Drink plenty of water throughout the day.
Click here to learn more about treating diarrhea.
Blood or mucus may appear in the stool in more serious cases of diarrhea. This is often accompanied by a fever and requires a visit to the doctor as soon as possible.
Untreated diarrhea can also lead to serious complications, including dehydration. A person with severe diarrhea may require hospitalization and intravenous electrolytes.
Anyone experiencing a fever of higher than 102°F or severe abdominal pains should visit a doctor.
Parents or guardians should carefully monitor any children with diarrhea. If symptoms do not clear up with 24 hours, they should call the doctor for guidance.
Any additional symptoms should be reported to a doctor as soon as possible for diagnosis and treatment.
Many cases of diarrhea last only a few days and respond well to home treatments. Eating a simple diet, increasing fluid intake, and using over-the-counter medications as necessary can help reduce symptoms quickly.
In cases where the body does not respond to these treatments after 2 or 3 days, a person should visit their doctor for diagnosis and treatment.
Johnson, Jon. "What foods to eat if you have diarrhea." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 19 Nov. 2018. Web. |
[WM]NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- As previously announced, WebMD Health Corp. (NASDAQ: WBMD) will be holding its Annual Meeting of Stockholders on Thursday, October 1, 2015. At that meeting, WebMD is seeking stockholder approval of, among other things, a 1,700,000 increase in the number of shares available for grant under its 2005 Long-Term Incentive Plan. In connection with seeking such approval, WebMD announced today that it is making a commitment that none of the 1,700,000 additional shares will be used for grants to members of WebMD's Board of Directors or to WebMD's executive officers (as defined under SEC rules), except in the case of a new hire who joins WebMD as an executive officer.
Investors can access a live audio webcast of the Annual Meeting at www.wbmd.com (in the Investor Relations section) beginning at 9:30 a.m. (ET) on Thursday, October 1, 2015. A replay of the webcast will be available at the same web address.
All statements contained in this press release and the related presentation at WebMD's Annual Meeting of Stockholders, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements, These statements speak only as of the date of this press release, are based on our current plans and expectations, and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual future events or results to be different than those described in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Information about these matters can be found in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings and this press release is intended to be read in conjunction with information contained in those filings. Except as required by applicable law or regulation, we do not undertake any obligation to update our forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances. |
[WM]SocialDevCamp Chicago is a weekend long conference and hackathon about the social web. It’s the event for social app developers, mobile developers and designers. SocialDevCamp is a weekend of discussions on social platforms, apps, APIs, mobile experiences, and new media.
This starting on Friday, August 26th, and is taking place at the DePaul University Main Auditorium, located at the DePaul University Student Center 225o N. Sheffield Ave. Check here for a map and this event is part of a paid registration, for look at the details here.
Speakers at SocialDevCamp include Keynote and Featured speakers such as Peng Ying, Developer Programs Manager, Google, Matt Wilbanks, Social Media Specialist at Rackspace Hosting, Dan Sinker, Head of Knight-Mozilla News Technology Partnership, Chris Courtney, Mobile Product Manager, at Tribune Media Group, Alexis Ohanian, Co-Founder of Reddit, and Brett Keintz, Product Manager at Groupon.
There is also another "unconference" portion of SocialDevCamp where attendees can actually vote on which ones they want to see at certain times based on a lineup of potential speakers and professionals in their given field.
There is also a hackathon party taking place as part of Social Dev Camp which starts the competition at Noble Tree Coffee and Tea on Friday, August 26th at 7:00pm. Developers and Designers are welcome to compete to build a social related app in 36 hours using the tools of their choice and possibly win big prizes.
From the SocialDevCamp Web site it seems that there is quite a lineup of activites taking place, including announcing the winner of the best application using public transportation data, a competiton called "Apps 4 Metro Chicago", which uses city data for the app in a partnership with the Metropolitan Information Center of Chicago.
As described on SocialDevCamp Web site, "the collaborative is working with community organizations and local businesses to offer 200+ data sets and $50,000 in prizes during the coming months for the creation of applications improving the lives of millions of residents". Find out more about Apps 4 Metro Chicago here.
Another event for mobile developers to develop and learn about new technologies and compete for prizes across different categories is the AT&T Mobile App Hackathon.
Competition categories are based in the language you feel most comfortable. There will also be developer support from Sencha, Apigee, RedFoundry, PhoneGap, AppMobi, and Microsoft's Windows Phone 7. There will also be several speakers and discussions offered during the course of this event.
This AT&T Mobile App Hackathon takes place in the Morningstar building in Chicago, so be sure to RSVP and register for a team here. |
[WM]Record low and negative interest rates in developed economies are fueling a ravenous search for yield that is forcing pension funds and other conservative institutional investors out of their comfort zones and into risky emerging markets, according to fund managers and analysts.
The reason for this has little to do with the attractiveness of EM investments. On the contrary, EM economic growth is at its lowest level since the 2008/09 financial crisis while the prospect of a U.S. monetary tightening creates the potential for financial turbulence.
The force propelling pension funds and insurance companies into unfamiliar EM investments is simple. If they stay at home, their investment returns are at risk of falling short of their liabilities.
"If you require, say, 5 percent a year in order to cover your insurance or pension liabilities, that is not available from developed market (debt) obviously," said Colm McDonagh, head of emerging market fixed income at Insight Investment.
Brett Diment, head of emerging market debt at Aberdeen Asset Management, also sees a diversification into EM debt by pension and insurance companies. "We are seeing a broader group of investors looking at the emerging market debt asset class, including some insurers and pension funds that have not looked before."
Much of this search for yield takes place behind the scenes, but it is not restricted to developed markets, where an estimated $1.7 trillion in bonds were offering negative yields last month. South Korea's state-run National Pension Service (NPS) announced this week that it would pour more than $40 billion into overseas equities and bonds over the next five years.
The NPS, which manages $483 billion and is the biggest investor in the Seoul market, had "no choice" but to look abroad for returns, according to the Korea Times, because domestic interest rates are low and set to fall further.
Paolo Batori, global head of EM fixed income strategy at Morgan Stanley, foresees a fundamental shift in market dynamics. He said about 5 percent, or $80 billion, invested by insurance companies and pension funds in European government bonds would be switched into EM fixed income. Such an increase would roughly double the current exposure of such companies to emerging markets.
Mr. Batori uses the experience of Japanese life insurance companies after Japanese government bond yields declined in the aftermath of the financial crisis to reinforce his forecast. From the first quarter of 2009 to the third quarter of last year, Japanese life insurance companies increased their investments in foreign assets from just over 15 trillion yen to nearly 35 trillion yen as their search for yield intensified.
But where in EM should yield refugees from Europe go? In one sense, there is plenty of potential; emerging market countries account for around 40 percent of global GDP but only 14 percent of the global government bond market by value. And differences in yield are stark.
"In aggregate, (local currency emerging market debt) yields 6.5 percent — just above the average for the last five years, and a full 1.25 percentage points above the level preceding the May 2013 taper tantrum," said Denise Prime, an investment manager at GAM.
"With former safe havens looking so unappealing, local-currency emerging market debt is an attractive option for fixed-income investors," she added.
But, of course, yields such as these do not come without risk. One of the biggest concerns is that when the U.S. Federal Reserve tightens its monetary policy — though the timing for this is uncertain — funds could exit EM assets in favor of enhanced returns in the U.S.
The most vulnerable EM countries in such a scenario would be those that run hefty current account deficits and are therefore reliant on external financing. Such risks have been so well telegraphed that fund managers generally pursue a highly selective approach to EM assets.
One of the strategies deployed by investors to mitigate the risks of a strong dollar is to fund investments not by borrowing U.S. dollars but euro, which has depreciated or stayed steady against many EM currencies. In 2014, local EM currency bonds returned an average 7 percent against the euro and have returned 7.3 percent this year so far, according to Ms. Prime.
In a separate category, a large but relatively untapped opportunity lies in China. Some $1.5 trillion of the $4 trillion global market for EM local currency bonds is located within China's domestic market, accessible to foreign investors only through a tightly controlled quota system.
But for those investors able to access allocations, the returns can be attractive because of the higher interest rate environment in mainland China. The China Universal Enhanced Bond Fund, for example, returned 13.12 percent in 2014, according to China Universal, a Chinese asset manager.
"We are definitely seeing increasing interest from European investors, both retail and institutional, who are hunting for yield in a world that is not really delivering their return targets," said Christopher Gunns, a managing director at China Universal.
But, he notes that Chinese domestic debt stretches the comfort zone for some European investors. "Among the institutional investors there are two things at play; a conservative risk budget competing with a need to generate returns." |
[WM]Two bedrooms home on a corner lot. Two car detached garage. Nice covered front porch. Seller will not complete any repairs to the subject property, either lender or buyer requested. The property is sold in AS IS condition. Offer must have earnest money as a Cashiers Check to the Listing Agency with buyer name as the remitter. Need pre-approval or proof of funds documentation with initial offer. No exceptions. This property is eligible for the Freddie Mac FIRST LOOK Initiative through 4/8/2019 . Homestead Exemption and Assessments unknown. |
[WM]"When it comes to fantasy sports and betting on NASCAR races, there's nothing wrong with it," Gaughan said.
"I wanted to go all in on gambling last year," NASCAR executive Steve O'Donnell said.
"We have so many people that are linked to the cars. I think the integrity is a big piece to it," O'Donnell said.
Nevada's effective monopoly on sports betting ended last spring, when the Supreme Court ruled the ban should be lifted. Casinos in seven other states — Rhode Island, Delaware, Mississippi, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New Mexico — now accept wagers on sports. The list is expected to grow by next year with numerous states considering bills.
And there's already a hitch that could slow bets: NASCAR this season has decided for the first time to strip drivers of victories if their cars are deemed illegal. There will be a roughly 90-minute inspection after the race and the winner will not be deemed official until the process is completed. Will fans really want to linger around the pay window another couple of hours just to cash in a ticket?
"The state's risk manager will delay any payout until NASCAR releases the official order of finish," Kirk said. "Our casinos will receive an email reminding them of NASCAR's new procedures the week of Daytona."
The betting lines supplied by William Hill are set: Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch are 5-1 favorites to win the 2019 Cup series championship. 2018 champ Joey Logano checks in at 7-1. For Sunday's Daytona 500, Harvick has 15-2 odds, Logano is at 8-1 and Brad Keselowski is also at 8-1 to win "The Great American Race."
"The rules are in place," Hensley said, "but you can't legislate human behavior." |
[WM]The day Jeff Deardorff has been waiting a lifetime for has arrived.
Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft begins today and, by all expectations, Deardorff shouldn't have to wait long for his phone to ring.
The most pessimistic of scenarios would have him being taken in the fifth round. The most optimistic is a first round selection. Most likely, though, the call could come sometime during the second or third rounds.
Baseball America has projected Deardorff, who graduated from South Lake High School Friday, as the 54th overall pick, which would make him a second round choice.
Deardorff, though, isn't getting into guessing games about where, or even if, he is going to be taken.
"I have no idea," he said, about where he would be drafted. "People have said a lot of things, but I don't want to say anything in case it doesn't happen."
South Lake baseball coach Mike Crawford, though, thinks Deardorff will reach his long-time goal.
"His goal in life is to play pro ball," Crawford said. "The team that gets him will be extremely fortunate. They will be getting a kid with a great work ethic and a love of the game.
"He is not going to give 110 percent, he is going to give 120 percent. He is a kid who not only can beat you with his bat, but with his speed and with his glove."
Deardorff, who played third base for South Lake High School this year and was an outfielder before that, has been the object of desire by pro scouts this spring. Early this year, more than 20 scouts were showing up at games and practices to watch Deardorff's skill at the plate, his smooth fielding ability and his strong arm.
Deardorff, who played for the U.S. Junior Olympic team last summer, finished this season with a .463 batting average, 8 home runs, 31 RBIs, 31 runs scored and 22 stolen bases.
He starred this weekend at the Florida Athletic Coaches Association's All-Star Games, and also has attended three or four workouts recently, including ones with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and New York Yankees.
The Montreal Expos, who have eight of the first 52 picks in the draft, also have shown a lot of interest as have the Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros, Chicago White Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks.
"I saw where he is being projected between the first and fifth rounds. That is great when you consider all the collegiate players like (FSU's) J.D. Drew are also in there. I think he is going to go reasonably high. I think he will definitely go before the fifth round," said Crawford.
Deardorff, who is an early baseball signee with the University of Miami, is just thankful that the day finally has arrived.
"It's a little bit of a relief," he said. "I can get all of this out of the way and go out and play for a job." |
[WM]Aylesbury’s new deputy area commander has been getting stuck in to his new role and says he’s determined to make himself ‘approachable’.
Chief inspector Neil Kentish joined Thames Valley Police less than a month ago after serving in the Metropolitan police force for 14 years.
And though the role is still very new to him, he has praised his team and says he wants to find out what issues matter to people in Aylesbury.
He said: “I have a very positive team and they genuinely care about what they do.
“The people of Aylesbury already have confidence in the force so it’s about maintaining that confidence, tackling anti-social behaviour, understanding the local community and alleviating people’s concerns.
During his time with the Met, chief insp Kentish – who lives in Milton Keynes with his wife and children – was one of the first neighbourhood officers to patrol White Hart Lane in Tottenham, London.
He says one of the reasons behind the move to Thames Valley was that he wanted a ‘challenge’.
And he’s already noticed a ‘refreshing’ difference with how things are here in Bucks.
He said: “I was sat in a coffee shop in the town centre the other day in my uniform, and people were coming up to speak to me and engage with me. It makes a refreshing change! |
[WM]Two UAE orders for military helicopters and guided bombs capped a remarkable year for procurement in which the Emirates became the largest foreign purchaser of US defence equipment, a Pentagon agency said.
The UAE, which has peacekeepers in Afghanistan, awarded Sikorksy Aircraft a US$171 million (Dh628m) contract for 14 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, which are used for tactical transport.
Separately, the US defence security co-operation agency, a unit of the Pentagon, said last week it had notified Congress of a potential sale of enhanced guided bomb units, parts, training and support to the UAE for about $290m.
The same agency said in November that in the last fiscal year the UAE became the largest foreign purchaser of US defence equipment with sales of $7.9bn, ahead of Afghanistan ($5.4bn), Saudi Arabia ($3.3bn) and Taiwan ($3.2bn).
The spending included orders for munitions for the UAE’s F-16 fighter jets as well as a new Patriot defensive missile system and a fleet of corvettes for the navy.
The UAE purchases have been fuelled by a quadrupling of oil prices in the past decade and by continuing regional tensions, including those involving Iran, the US and Israel over the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme.
The helicopter deal will require Sikorsky to configure the aircraft to UAE specifications and should be completed by the end of 2012.
The main contractors for the second deal announced last week are Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, the Pentagon agency said.
A number of deals could be announced this year as the UAE fills gaps in its defence system.
“The Government is still very active and there are a few things it needs to close here,” Mr Kahwaji said. Those include contracts for C-17 and C-130 military transport aeroplanes, advanced trainer jets and the French Rafale fighter jet.
The advanced trainer jet contract with Alenia Aermacchi of Italy was expected to be announced at the Dubai Airshow in November but was postponed because of unresolved issues surrounding the production of parts in the UAE, Mr Kahwaji said. “There are a lot of technical issues that go into these contracts and they can get very complicated,” he said. |
[WM]WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic lawmakers must soon decide whether President Barack Obama is leading them toward statesmanlike courage or political folly.
Obama used his first State of the Union speech Wednesday to push nervous Democrats to forge ahead on health care, despite voters' worries and opposition from newly strengthened Republicans. Sharpening his focus on the economy, he offered a hodgepodge of tax breaks and other incentives to create new jobs.
For Republicans, Obama blended a mix of overtures and digs. But he mainly addressed fellow Democrats, who still can enact his agenda if they overcome fears fueled by events such as last week's stunning GOP victory in the Massachusetts Senate race.
That setback may have cost Democrats their filibuster-proof Senate majority, Obama said, but "we still have the largest majority in decades, and the people expect us to solve some problems, not run for the hills."
He accepted partial blame for the deep troubles facing his health care push, but he implored lawmakers to finish the task rather than yield to public opposition.
"The longer it was debated, the more skeptical people became," Obama told the joint session of Congress and a nationwide TV audience. But health care problems will continue for millions, he said, and "I will not walk away from these Americans, and neither should the people in this chamber."
House and Senate Democratic leaders are scrambling to see if they can salvage the ambitious health care package, which Republicans almost universally oppose. Obama's pep talk was a call to arms, but he offered no new strategies for overcoming the steep parliamentary and political hurdles they face.
The president devoted most of his 65-minute speech to job-creation proposals, such as eliminating capital gains taxes on small business investment and extending tax breaks for businesses to invest in new plants and equipment. But those proposals also face uncertainty in Congress, where Senate Democrats say they may need a selective, piecemeal approach to win enough votes.
Obama said Republicans share a responsibility for governing, and he proposed meeting with their House and Senate leaders monthly. But his olive branch seemed brittle at times.
Without naming George W. Bush, he pointedly noted that the previous administration left him a big deficit and a deeply troubled economy. For good measure, Obama said the United States killed more al-Qaida terrorists in 2009 than in 2008.
Obama rebuked the Supreme Court for a recent decision that "reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests" and foreign corporations to make unlimited campaign contributions. At that, conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito made a dismissive face, shook his head in disagreement and seemed to mouth the words "not true" as the president spoke.
Republicans in the House chamber generally greeted such remarks with stony gazes and smirks. The statements they issued as soon as Obama finished — or even before he finished, in some cases — were equally icy.
"We had hoped to hear a new commitment to keep his promises to govern from the center, change the tone in Washington, and work with both parties in a bipartisan way to help small businesses create jobs and get our economy moving again," said House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio. "Unfortunately, the president and the Democrats in charge of Congress still aren't listening to the American people."
Vice President Joe Biden, appearing in an interview Thursday morning on NBC's "Today" show, described Obama as upset with the way his program has been handled in Congress.
"One of the things that's most frustrating to him," Biden said, "is the obstructionist ways of the United States Senate, on the part of the Republicans, requiring 60 votes, a supermajority, for virtually every single, solitary initiative we've had. Now that we have 59 votes, it's time for everybody to start taking responsibility."
Obama has the luxury of waiting until 2012 to seek re-election, while all 435 House seats and a third of the Senate seats are up for grabs this November. Some Democrats most nervous about the election are urging the administration to slow down, especially on the health care issue that has dominated Congress's attention for months.
Obama gave them no comfort. "Change has not come fast enough" for millions of Americans, he said. "We must answer history's call."
At the same time, however, the president tried to give Democrats some political cover on other sensitive issues, such as the bank bailouts that angered many voters.
"We all hated the bank bailout," he said. "I hated it. You hated it. It was about as popular as a root canal."
The president also tried to chip away at GOP talking points.
"Let me repeat, we cut taxes," he said, citing his administration's tax cuts "for 95 percent of working families."
Republicans are quick to note that the deficit has soared during Obama's year in office, and proposals such as the health care overhaul would impose new taxes on high-end medical insurance policies, among other things.
In their post-speech commentaries, several Democrats ignored nearly all of Obama's remarks except those aimed at creating jobs, the biggest issue on voters' minds.
"His focus was right where it belongs: on jobs and the economy, and on reforming the financial sector," said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. "He acknowledged his own mistakes, and he avoided pointing partisan fingers."
Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, was less charitable.
If Obama is serious about improving the economy, Steele said, "he will give Republicans a seat at the table. If not, then we know that this is just more spin, arrogance and a refusal to listen to the American people." |
[WM]Hi. Does Asus ever plan to update the intel and nvidia display drivers on the UL30VT laptop? The only downloadable drivers from the Asus website are at least 3 years behind and new features for both graphics chips have been released since then. I sent a message to Asus but no response was given.
Intel and Nvidia will not allow the user to download the new drivers directly.
problem is the drivers won't install. states something about your notebook needs custom drivers from the manufacturer due to customized this that or the other. |
[WM]Do you remember the game from this fragment of box art? Leave your answer in the comments! For those curious as to what last Friday's Remember This game was, it was Afro Samurai. Pow!
"...it was Afro Samurai. Pow!"
Damn you Lien. DAMN YOU.
Oh wait, I know! The blue ending to Mass Effect 3!
FIFA World Cup South Africa?
Seeing as it hasn't been added yet... The Dig?
For an actual guess: Lost Planet?
One of the SSX games?
One of Dynasty Warriors Gundam games?
I wanna say Mirror's Edge. |
[WM]COUNCIL BLUFFS — The Marshalltown Community College baseball team built a nine-run lead and held on to salvage a split against NJCAA Division I No. 12 Iowa Western in Saturday’s Iowa Community College Athletic Conference doubleheader.
MCC won the nightcap 12-10 after Iowa Western claimed the opener 8-4.
The Tigers (19-29, 8-14) scored seven runs in the first inning of game two, sending 13 batters to the plate. The frame was highlighted by a Snayder Ruiz two-run single, and a Kaleb Hanks two-run triple. Ruiz finished game two with three RBIs while Hanks and Diogen Ceballos each drove in two. Jose Mieses, Ceballos and Adam Barrett had two hits apiece, both doubles for Ceballos, as the Tigers rapped out 12 hits in the victory.
The Reivers (40-14, 19-3) got seven runs back between the fourth and fifth innings to pull within two, but MCC came back with three in the sixth. The Tigers needed them all, as Iowa Western plated three in the bottom of the seventh.
Barrett tossed 3 1/3 innings on the mound, giving up five runs (two earned) on six hits, three walks and two strikeouts to earn the win. Greg Glass struck out the only batter he faced for the save.
Luis Duran was the only Tiger with multiple hits in game one, as John Magnuson drove in two runs. Juan Carlos Gonzalez took the loss on the bump, giving up eight runs (four earned) in five innings pitched on six hits, walked another five and fanned three.
Both teams close out the regular season today with another doubleheader. First pitch between the Tigers and Reivers is slated for noon. |
[WM]4 NICE LOTS READY TO BUILD YOUR DREAM HOME or MULTI UNITS. INCLUDES LOTS 5, 6, 7, & 8. EACH LOT CAN BE SOLD SEPARATELY OR CAN BE SOLD AS A PACKAGE WITH ALL 4 LOTS. DEVELOPERS, THIS IS A WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY TO SELL YOUR HOMES! LOTS ARE IN FRONT OF NICELY MAINTAINED HOMES. BUYER AND BUYERS AGENT TO VERIFY ALL PERTINENT INFORMATION. |
[WM]Sponsored by Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) of 2019 would reauthorize the program at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through 2024 to assist firms with rebuilding or retrofitting diesel engines. The objective is for those updated engines to be able to comply with pollution standards.
The Environment and Public Works panel advanced the measure to the floor of the Senate by voice vote. Carper, the panel’s ranking Democrat, had initially authored the bill more than a decade ago with former Ohio Sen. George Voinovich (R).
“With today’s vote, we’re one step closer to making sure this bipartisan tradition, imagined and incepted by my dear friend Sen. Voinovich, will continue to boost economic growth and encourage environmental progress,” Carper added. Voinovich died in 2016.
Co-sponsors of the bill include committee Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), as well as Republican Sens. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, along with Democratic Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Cory Booker of New Jersey, and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.
Senate floor managers have yet to schedule a floor vote for the bill. In March, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers unveiled their version.
“This is a critical piece of legislation that helps address the climate crisis and makes our diesel cars and trucks more fuel efficient,” said Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, sponsoring the House version.
EPA is tasked with distributing DERA grants. It announced that it anticipates awarding about $40 million in competitive grants for its clean diesel funding assistance program. The agency cautions that older diesel engines emit higher amounts of pollution. |
[WM]"The Echo" (2008) She landed another small role in this Jesse Bradford horror movie about a cursed apartment building.
"Cold Case" (2009) In an episode of the CBS procedural, Linton plays a female pilot in WWII in flashbacks (with Michael Learned playing the character in modern times).
"A Smile as Big as the Moon" (2012) This ABC "Hallmark Hall of Fame" movie stars John Corbett as a special-ed teacher.
"Serial Daters Anonymous" (2014) Linton played a fashion columnist who jilts her cheating fiancé at the altar and then embarks on a vengeful dating spree to out other cads.
"Cabin Fever" (2016) Linton teamed with writer-director Travis Z to play shades-wearing Deputy Winston in a remake of the Eli Roth horror film.
"Intruder" (2016) Linton scored a rare starring role in Travis Z's thriller about a cellist under siege by a home invasion.
"Rules Don't Apply" (2016) Linton nabbed another small role as an aspiring starlet in Warren Beatty's film about the chauffeur of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes. It probably didn't hurt that one of the movie's producers was billionaire former banker Steven Mnuchin.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Linton married in a small ceremony on June 24, 2017 at Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump were in attendance. |
[WM]'When Travis hollered, I was definitely flattered,' Kanye West's DJ says of getting the drummer's call.
It's been nearly a year since Travis Barker performed with a DJ, but now, he's getting ready to hit the road again, this time with Kanye West's main man behind the decks.
Barker will be teaming up with turntablist A-Trak — West's touring DJ — for a run of shows, scheduled to kick off March 9-10 at Hollywood's Roxy Theatre. The gigs will mark the first time he's performed live with a DJ since the death of his partner DJ AM in August. But, as Barker told MTV News earlier this month, he had always considered working with Trak on a project of some sort. And after the two jammed a bit last year, both men knew they had to take their show to the stage.
"I had met A-Trak last year at Coachella, but I had seen a set of his at Avalon in Los Angeles maybe four years ago, with AM," Barker told MTV News. "He was a guy who I always wanted to work with in some way. So I gave him a call."
"When Travis hollered, I was definitely flattered. We started by jamming once, back in the fall, just came over to the studio, and we did, like, one hour of jamming, which we thought was maybe a half an hour," A-Trak added. "I just started playing records and scratching, and he was playing on top, and it went really, really naturally. It was very fluid. And we stopped and looked at the watch, and it was like, 'Oh, we've been playing for an hour and didn't even realize it.' And I think that solidified for both of us in our minds that we could do this pretty easily."
The duo will perform versions of each other's remixes (they've reworked tracks for everyone from Eminem and Soulja Boy Tell'em to MSTRKRFT and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs), plus new material they've been working on in Barker's Los Angeles studio. Or, at least, that's the plan right now.
"It's going to be a mix of everything," A-Trak said. "We're still kind of rehearsing it, but I think it's going to be some songs people recognize, some of the remixes Travis has done, some of my remixes. Just kind of mix it up."
Barker said the duo plan to start small, with the pair of shows at Hollywood's Roxy Theatre, before taking the show wide. Additional shows will follow later in March in Las Vegas, Austin's South by Southwest and Miami.
"Our first shows are at the Roxy, and then South by Southwest will probably be a little bit bigger," Barker said. "The Winter Music Conference in Miami will probably be a little bit bigger. But the first ones will be really intimate."
"We might do a run of side shows in health clubs and saunas," A-Trak laughed. "Just set up in the steam bath and play. It was an idea we had yesterday."
Tickets go on sale Thursday. The show will kick off with Rob Roy and Kid Sister before Barker and A-Trak take the stage. |
[WM]Graciousness might not seem like the most important thing in defining the success of a nation, but it is paramount for Mr Lim Siong Guan, the Institute of Policy Studies' fourth S R Nathan Fellow for the Study of Singapore.
Having served 37 years in the civil service, five of which as its head, Mr Lim said that based on his experience, there are four words to describe what Singapore needs in order to be a successful and sustainable nation state - "gracious society, Smart Nation".
He said: "We are a First World economy, but I don't think we can say that we are a First World society.
"We need to think about how to not just do good for ourselves, but also for future generations.
"We need to think about what kind of society we aspire to be."
He was speaking yesterday at the launch of his book, Can Singapore Fall? Making The Future For Singapore, which is a compilation of three lectures he delivered between September and November last year.
Mr Lim said that while thinking about the lectures, he came to the conclusion that to succeed and avoid "social decay", Singaporeans needed to think about the kind of society they aspired to be.
"You might not agree with me or my conclusions but my real desire is to get Singaporeans talking and debating," he said.
The aim of the lectures and the new book was simply "to get Singaporeans to think", he added.
"It is about thinking why we do things. We might all stand on the left when on the escalators, but are we doing it because we are afraid of being punished, or do we do it because we want to make moving easier for others," Mr Lim said.
He urged Singaporeans to create a gracious society and to build a culture of innovation, excellence and outwardness.
Education Minister Ong Ye Kung, who helped launch the book at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, said Mr Lim was his mentor.
"Everywhere I look in public service, Mr Lim has left an indelible mark," Mr Ong said.
Mr Janadas Devan, director of the Institute of Policy Studies, said the lectures by Mr Lim last year had the highest number of attendees among all lectures delivered by S R Nathan Fellows. |
[WM]Bob "Bus Bob" Krause, 59, of Waikiki, an Oahu Transit System bus driver, died at home. He was born in Bremen, Germany. He is survived by parents Hans Krause and Sonja Aiwohi, brother Ralph and sisters Lorraine Kinnamon and Charmaine Moniz. Celebration of life: 2 p.m. Friday at Outrigger Canoe Club Waikiki. Additional celebration of life: 4:30 p.m. on weekend of May 4 and 5 at Kaneohe Yacht Club. Call 831-345-3628 for information. Updated service information for an obituary published April 20. |
[WM]Robert E. Gates, 65, Altoona, passed away Friday at UPMC Altoona.
Known as Flip, he was born in Massachusetts, son of the late Patricia Gates. He married Cindy Thompson.
Surviving are his wife; two daughters: Heather Cramer (Laramy) of Coalport and Jessica Gates of Altoona; two sisters: Cheryl McKeen in Florida and Carol Martin of Indiana, Pa.; his mother-in-law, Joan Thompson; an aunt, Sandy Martin in Tennessee; and a granddaughter, Anna Cramer.
Bob served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a lance corporal. He retired from the Altoona Hospital Police Department with 38 years of service and also worked part-time for the Williamsburg Police Department. He was a member of Wehnwood United Methodist Church.
Friends will be received from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, Feb. 11, 2019, in the Leslie E. Axe Funeral Home, 1520 Fourth St., Altoona, and from 10 to 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019, at the Wehnwood United Methodist Church. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019, at the church, with full military honors. Interment will be at Canoe Creek Cemetery.
In memory of Bob, memorial contributions may be made to the Central Pennsylvania Humane Society, 1837 E. Pleasant Valley Blvd., Altoona, PA 16602. |
[WM]At a “Street Speakout Against U.S. War & Racism,” organizations representing struggles against U.S. imperialism on the Korean peninsula, the Philippines, Iran, and Central and South America, as well as here in the U.S., gathered on the United National Antiwar Coalition’s national days of action. These marked the 16th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan on Oct. 7.
Organizers from the International Action Center, BAYAN-USA and Anakbayan — all members of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle and UNAC — initiated this rally at a metro stop at Vermont and Wilshire. They gathered names for petitions and invited rail riders to join the fight to end all U.S. wars feeding racism, poverty and repression both here and abroad. |
[WM]UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen's hot streak continued on Saturday, as he threw for 329 yards and five touchdowns in a 56-23 win over Hawaii at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
Since trailing 38-10 at halftime against Texas A&M in the season opener on Sept. 3, Rosen has looked like one of the nation's best quarterbacks.
Over his past six quarters, Rosen has thrown for 710 yards and all nine of his touchdowns. The junior has yet to throw an interception in 84 pass attempts.
Per ESPN Stats & Info, Rosen became the first Pac-12 quarterback to have a game with at least 300 passing yards, five touchdowns and a completion percentage of at least 85 percent in 20 years.
It's felt like just a matter of time before Rosen has his breakout season for the Bruins. He came to UCLA with otherworldly hype as a 5-star recruit and top-ranked pro-style quarterback in the 2015 recruiting class, per Scout.com.
A shoulder injury limited Rosen to just six games in 2016, but he's shown no lingering effects through two starts this season. |
[WM]Super Bowl LIII will be played between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. The Super Bowl will start at 3:30 p.m. PST.
The Rams advanced to the Super Bowl following a thrilling, 26-23 overtime win against the New Orleans Saints. It marks the franchise’s fourth trip to the Super Bowl and its first since the 2001 season when it lost to the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI.
The Patriots are making their third straight Super Bowl appearance. They defeated the Atlanta Falcons two years ago in Super Bowl LI, but fell to the Philadelphia Eagles last year. They defeated the Kansas City Chiefs, 37-31, in overtime of the AFC championship game to play in the Super Bowl this year.
The game marks Tom Brady’s ninth Super Bowl appearance. The Patriots quarterback has led the franchise to five Super Bowl wins during his 19-year career in New England. |
[WM]Lynn Blake, left, teaches two hospital employees CPR at the VVMC Safety Fair. Blakeâs passion for educating Eagle County residents came from her own Sudden Cardiac Arrest, which a bystander provided CPR and saved her life. She was just 27 at the time.
On Valentine’s Day 2007, Lynn Blake was embarking on a new job in Vail Village when she had a rude awakening. The 27-year-old suffered sudden cardiac arrest. Fortunately for her, someone trained in CPR stepped forward and kept her heart beating until emergency personnel arrived with a defibrillator. If someone dropped in front of you unconscious, with no notable pulse, would you know what to do? Some 325,000 people die every year of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) in the United States. And, contrary to popular belief, it strikes people of all ages. “I did not know a thing about cardiac arrest. I didn’t know what it was,” Blake said. Now she knows firsthand about sudden cardiac arrest. The more she found out, the more she wondered why more people weren’t educated about SCA, the leading causes of death in the U.S. Just a few months after Blake’s sudden cardiac arrest, area pro biker Mike Janelle, in the prime of his life, died of SCA.”It’s a lot more common than people realize,” Blake said. Yet, she found, “no one’s really educating people about cardiac arrest.” That’s why she founded the Starting Hearts Foundation, partnering with the Vail Valley Medical Center and area emergency services. Starting Hearts is a non-profit dedicated to saving the lives of SCA victims, through communitywide CPR and AED (Automated External Defibrillation) education and access. “Vail Valley Medical Center embraces Lynn’s mission,” said Doris Kirchner, CEO and president of Vail Valley Medical Center. “VVMC is in the business of saving lives, and Starting Hearts can have a direct impact on that mission by engaging the community to help recognize and react to SCA appropriately.” Community key to saving lives Nearly 60 percent of cardiac arrests are witnessed. Most people know to call 911. But if that’s all you know about saving someone from SCA, the victim’s chance of surviving is slim. It is estimated 95 percent of cardiac arrest victims die before reaching a hospital if they do not receive shock treatment, such as from a defibrillator. That is why the response of bystanders is so critical to saving lives. Yet, Blake found the vast majority of people aren’t trained in CPR or using an AED. CPR classes tend to be taken only by those in jobs that demand the skill. Even if a layperson struggles to find a nearby course, it is difficult, Blake explains. Finding an AED is no easy task either. To address these issues, Starting Hearts acquired a decommissioned bus, and created the HeartRod, a mobile CPR/AED training unit, sponsored by Vail Valley Medical Center. Now, Blake, a certified instructor, travels to community events, Eagle County Schools and businesses teaching CPR and AED classes. “People aren’t going to come to me; I need to be able to go to them,” Blake said.Blake also created the event “All You Need is Heart,” which will take place on Feb. 14 at The Sebastian in Vail. The event focuses on personal heart health, including more than $1,200 worth of heart screens such as EKG’s, ultrasounds and cholesterols test. There are also feature presentations on endurance sports and the affects of high altitude, overcoming life’s challenges and savings lives in Eagle County. The event is $150 per person and is a fundraiser for Starting Hearts Foundation. Save more livesStarting Hearts will launch the ambitious “Save More Lives” campaign. “Our goal is to annually educate 25,000 people in Eagle County,” in CPR and AED, Blake said. As part of the campaign, Blake decided to apply the type of lessons every child has grasped. “If you ask anyone what to do if they catch on fire, they’d respond, ‘stop, drop and roll.’ Starting Hearts came up with a similar unforgettable message for SCA: ‘Call, push and shock.'” Dr. Lawrence Gaul is the Starting Hearts medical director. He was the cardiologist who treated Blake when she came into the Vail Valley Medical Center during her cardiac arrest episode. “It’s simple,” Gaul said, explaining Call, push and shock. “Call 911. Do rapid compressions in the middle of the chest and shock the person. When someone has a cardiac arrest the most important thing needed is shock.” That’s why, over the next year, the Save More Lives campaign will focus during on placing portable AEDs in strategic public places around Eagle County so anyone can find the nearest AED in emergencies.When Dr. Gaul traveled to Monaco for a medical conference, he was surprised to see this tiny country filled with street signs everywhere pointing to the nearest AED. By 2015, when the World Cup arrives in the Vail Valley, Dr. Gaul and Starting Hearts hope to have AEDs similarly available.To Blake, it is most rewarding when someone comes and tells her one of the classes she taught made a difference. There was the lady who took her class and was able to remove an object stuck in the throat of her choking grandchild through CPR. And the little girl who took one of her courses through the Youth Foundation and went home and practiced CPR with her family. “I encourage everyone in this community to get involved and participate in the Save More Lives campaign,” Blake said. “If everyone gets involved, we really can do it.”To participate in Save More Lives, find out about CPR and AED classes or to donate, contact Starting Hearts by emailing [email protected] or calling 970-331-3983. |
[WM]Sports Academy has found “The Mamba Mentality.” The 96,000-square-foot training facility in Thousand Oaks announced a partnership with Kobe Bryant.
The 96,000-square-foot holistic athletic training facility in Thousand Oaks announced a partnership with former Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant on Monday morning.
The deal includes rebranding the 2-year-old facility MAMBA Sports Academy and a new logo.
The deal was announced Monday with a minute-long video in which Bryant described Sports Academy as a place "where we evolve and have fun."
"This is where we become better members of our team, our family and our community," Bryant said, "and ultimately, the best version of ourselves."
With the Conejo Valley Unified School District closed last month due to the Hill and Woolsey fires, Sports Academy opened its doors to the community, providing a "safe haven" for displaced children.
Opened in 2016 by Chad Faulkner, Sports Academy has everything from basketball and volleyball courts to a sports medicine practice to an Esports training ground and yoga studio on its six-center facility off of Ventu Park Road.
Everyone from local children on a break from school to Los Angeles Rams players like Todd Gurley have used the facility in its short history.
Before he was a Los Angeles Laker, Lebron James joined Kevin Durant and Paul George to watch a youth basketball event at Sports Academy last year.
Bryant, who lives in the Orange County, was also introduced to the facility through youth basketball.
Bryant published a coffee table book, “Mamba Mentality: How I Play,” earlier this fall.
The five-time NBA champion retired in 2016 as the NBA’s third all-time leading scorer. The Lakers retired his Nos. 8 and 24 last year.
Bryant won an Academy Award earlier this year for his “Kobe Bryant’s Muse” documentary film. He also has other projects on the new ESPN+ platform. |
[WM]It's our longest ever edition of Football Weekly - but you know what they say, size ain't everything.
AC Jimbo has Barry Glendenning, Sean Ingle and Philippe Auclair in the pod to discuss a stonking weekend of football, as Manchester United claimed their 19th league title, Manchester City won the FA Cup and West Ham said goodbye to Avram Grant as they were relegated from the Premier League.
Abroad, we hear from Sid Lowe about Uefa's decision to not charge Sergio Busquets with racism or any other naughtiness, while James Horncastle tells us about poor Sampdoria's fall from grace.
We also get up to date with Lille's attempts to seal the French Double and salute all of those kindly ex-pros who flew to Chechnya to play a friendly after Craig David had warmed up the crowd.
Plump up a cushion, have a listen, and post your feedback on the blog below. |
[WM]You cannot overestimate the mood of paranoia, hilarity and madness that pervades Westminster. Normal looking MPs seem to have messages branded on their foreheads: "tennis court repairs", "wife's tampons", like Hawthorne's scarlet letter.
I bumped into a Labour member. "I'm forming a support group called MPs Anonymous," he said. "We'll stand round in a circle and say: 'I'm an MP, but I am determined not to relapse.' "
In the chamber, members still went through the bowing and scraping, "with your permission, Mr Speaker" routine, as if he mattered. I haven't found an MP who doesn't think Michael Martin should go, but Labour doesn't want a byelection and the Tories don't want the next Speaker elected by a Labour majority.
MacKay made his way down Millbank, the latter-day Via Dolorosa that leads to the 24-hour news studios. With his weird complexion and bulging eyes, the poor fellow looked like a kipper that had been smoked before it was dead. "I was advised to do it [by the fees office]," he said. The fees office, which approved so many of these bizarre claims, seems to have been run on the lines of an East End used car dealership. "If you got cash, I can knock the VAT off, mate ... Now this is a lovely motor. Don't worry about the blood on the back seat, we can clean that up for you."
MacKay's interviewer seemed puzzled. "You said that you had a friendly conversation [with Cameron]. But he's told the media that he is very angry."
MacKay: "Well, it was friendly within limits." What a fabulous euphemism for gibbering rage and hatred!
In the chamber things were even more lunatic. Up for debate was discrimination against transgender people and whether they would be protected as well as transexuals. No, I don't know either. But Vera Baird (she tried to claim Xmas decorations) took it seriously. The voice of Sir Patrick Cormack thundered out: "God preserve us!"
Up in Derbyshire, Gordon Brown was trying to launch an election campaign. He still doesn't realise how dreadful things are. He is in denial. To misquote Pam Tillis's country hit: "You can call him Tutankhamun, the king of denial." He finally announced that Elliot Morley – £16,800 over 20 months for the phantom mortgage – had been drummed out of the Brownies. But what was hypnotic was the grin – like Dracula's chilling smile, it is back. It will never go away! |
[WM]Virtuoso’s Luxe Report surveyed 1,071 of its advisors and found travelers are increasingly looking to personalize their trips with staged photo shoots, private helicopter transfers and more.
The hotel offers 276 rooms, five distinct dining experiences, 14 venues for meetings and events, and more. Check it out.
New legislation following the death of a puppy onboard a United Airlines flight and a number of new flights lead this week’s air travel news agents should keep on their radar. Take a look. |
[WM]General Government Structural Balance (% Potential GDP) for Israel in year 2015 is -2.845 %. Data are on a national income accounts basis. The structural budget position is defined as the actual budget deficit (or surplus) less the effects of cyclical deviations of output from potential output. Because of the margin of uncertainty that attaches to estimates of cyclical gaps and to tax and expenditure elasticities with respect to national income, indicators of structural budget positions should be interpreted as broad orders of magnitude.
This makes Israel No. 49 in world rankings according to General Government Structural Balance (% Potential GDP) in year 2015. The world's average General Government Structural Balance (% Potential GDP) value is -0.89 %; Israel is 1.96 less than the average.
In the previous year, 2014, General Government Structural Balance (% Potential GDP) for Israel was -3.52 % General Government Structural Balance (% Potential GDP) for Israel in 2015 was or will be 19.18% less than it was or will be in 2014.
In the following or forecasted year, 2016, General Government Structural Balance (% Potential GDP) for Israel was or will be -3.59 %, which is 26.29% more than the 2015 figure. |
[WM]After competing many times, local artist Ann Iungerich and her husband, David, decided to share some lessons learned Saturday in an ice-sculpting workshop.
The concept was more sculptors might make for a better competition.
"We've done a lot of research and tried to figure out what's what. That was why we decided to have a workshop - what few little secrets we know, we're willing to share that with others," Ann explained.
Ann and David Iungerich taught the half dozen participants how to chop away at the ice, just using wood chisels.
"Over the years, we've learned that just wood chisels work the best for us," Ann said. "We don't bring any power tools. We just have different various sharp chisels and that's what we use."
There's typically six to eight teams each year, and the Iungerichs are hoping this workshop will expand involvement and break down the barrier for people who may be interested in competing themselves.
Although she is an artist in many other mediums herself, Ann says she had never sculpted ice before her first year. After a friend suggested she try it, Ann said, "Sure!"
"I'm always up for a new adventure," Ann said.
But even as an artist herself, she said it was a little scary to start.
"It was a little bit intimidating, because we didn't know exactly how to do what we were doing, and yet it was exhilarating to watch, to take the blocks from nothing," she said.
Ann says she competed that first year with her husband and her son. David said he was skeptical at first.
"I initially said no. She talked me into it, 'cause I had no clue, I'm not very artsy," he said. "After that, we got hooked. It's a blast."
Alex Vance, a fan of Iungerich's, decided to come to the workshop because she loves her work.
"I'm an Ann Iungerich fan, so I follow her," Vance said. "Then she said: 'Here! Try it!' And now my hands are cold and I don't know what i'm doing. But it's fun!"
For those intimidated by the ice and the chisel, Ann Iungerich has some advice: "Sometimes I feel like we let fear rule our lives. Just jump in and try it. What's the worst that could happen? You could fail! Big deal, so what. It's just for fun. Just be part of a team and enjoy it."
For those who could not attend, a Facebook live of the event was filmed and Iungerich said they may upload it to YouTube. Iungerich also advised: "Google ice sculpting or search YouTube and look at videos, how other people do it."
For her and her now-skilled family of ice sculptors, "we just kind of, by trial-and-error, figured something out," she explained.
The Media Logic Radio's Ice Sculpting Competition will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in downtown Fort Morgan. Iungerich said they usually provide the theme several days in advance, and encouraged anyone interested to get involved. |
[WM]Why are American women dying in childbirth?
Maternal mortality rates are falling in every industrialised nation - except for the United States.
The United States is not the first place that springs to mind when considering women dying in childbirth. So the fact that two American women die of pregnancy-related causes every day may come as a surprise.
According to the World Bank, The US ranks 50th in maternal mortality globally - falling behind every other industrialised nation. A woman in the US is as likely to suffer a maternal death as a woman in sanctions-hit Iran, and four times as likely as a woman in Germany.
"It is a preventable health issue," said Amnesty International's Rachel Ward. "It isn't something that we're waiting for a cure for. We’re waiting for political will."
What's worse is that US maternal mortality rates may actually be on the rise. Eugene Declercq, of Boston University's School of Public Health, produced a short film named Birth by the numbers, discussing maternal mortality in the US. In a 2013 follow-up report, he noted how mortality rates in other industrialised nations had declined - but in the US, it increased by 30 percent in the first decade of the new millennium.
Another 2013 report, this one by Truven Health Analytics, says the US spends more than any other country on costs associated with maternal healthcare. So why are American mothers still dying of pregnancy related deaths?
The answer is complex and belies simple solutions.
"There is sadly no magic bullet that explains what is behind the high levels of maternal mortality in the United States," Amnesty's Rachel Ward said. "It's a combination of factors that speak to the systemic problems of failing to provide affordable, accessible, quality health services to all women in the United States."
One of these factors is likely the demographics of new mothers in the US.
"Our women are older. Our main maternal age has risen," said Dr Sarah Kilpatrick of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. "We have a lot more women in their late 30s and 40s, when you have a higher chance of having other health issues such as cardiac disease." Obesity is also on the rise in the country, which also increases the chances of birthing complications.
Many believe that the US healthcare system is in crisis. The Henry J Kaiser Family Foundation reported that 47 million non-elderly US residents had no health insurance in 2012.
Uninsured pregnant women are eligible for Medicaid. But, according to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, they receive fewer prenatal care services, are more likely to enter pregnancy with health problems, and are more likely to have adverse maternal health outcomes.
It is a preventable health issue. It isn't something that we're waiting for a cure for. We’re waiting for political will.
Poor women and women of colour are by far the hardest hit by this crisis. In 2012, 23 percent of African-American women and 36 percent of Hispanic women had no health insurance.
A 2013 report by the New York Women's Foundation found that black women in New York City had a maternal mortality rate of 79 deaths per 100,000 live births - compared with 10 per 100,000 live births for white women. That means black women in New York have worse maternal mortality rates than women in either Syria or Iraq.
Those numbers reflect a trend also cited in an Amnesty International 2011 follow up to its report, Deadly Delivery, which found that women in low-income areas were twice as likely to die a maternal death than women in high-income areas, and black women were four times as likely as white women to die while giving birth to a child.
Open Arms Perinatal Services in Seattle is one organisation trying to fill the gaps women are slipping through. Open Arms provides doula care, non-medical social and emotional support to low-income mothers.
"When Martin Luther King Jr was born, his mother did not have access to the local hospital because she was black, so we have this history of separating care," Open Arms Executive Director Sheila Capestany told Al Jazeera. "So you build things into your systems that are really hard to undo, and you have to undo them intentionally, you can't just expect they're going to go away."
She believes that these community-based solutions are a crucial part of undoing the historical injustices that continue to resonate today.
Focusing only on access to care obscures a more fundamental problem - whether that care is of a decent quality, even for those who can afford it.
White women, the demographic most likely to have positive birth outcomes, and more likely to have health insurance, still have worse indicators than their counterparts in 24 other industrialised countries.
In the United States, if you define all births as 'potentially dangerous', then you would make the argument that you need a specialist for every birth. That perspective has persisted, and, given that, we've got a problem.
In almost every other industrialised nation, comprehensive maternal healthcare is inexpensive or even free. In Britain, midwives usually visit mothers at home two weeks after birth. In the Netherlands, more than 16 percent of births occur at home under the care of a midwife and are covered by insurance. In France, coverage includes a week's stay in the hospital, during which women also receive training in caring for her newborn.
Most US insurance companies cover only what is considered medically necessary - and that usually means discharging women a day or two after birth with a single post-natal check-up six weeks after delivery. Ward, the managing director of Amnesty International's US programme told Al Jazeera this six weeks is a critical time period.
"Tameka McFarquhar, she was 22, she bled to death in her apartment in New York after giving birth," Ward said of one of the women featured in her research. "She was alone, a home visit could have saved her life."
Any area of neglect represents risks to maternal health, but with the right research and investment applied, such problems present opportunities to those working to reverse the numbers.
"Maternal death is not solved yet, but I think we’re making huge strides to reduce it," said Kilpatrick, the chair of the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at Cedars-Sinai.
US President Barack Obama's signature healthcare programme, the Affordable Care Act, which Republicans have tried to change or repeal a number of times, aims to increase the number of Americans with health insurance. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists believes this could decrease the chances that women may become pregnant while already having potentially life threatening health problems.
One low-cost solution is the increased use of midwives. The majority of births around the world are attended to by midwives. In Britain, that includes 57 percent of births.
Stateside, fewer than eight percent of births are assisted by midwives. Most births are attended to by doctors, part of what makes maternal healthcare in the US so expensive.
"In the United States, if you define all births as 'potentially dangerous', then you would make the argument that you need a specialist for every birth. That perspective has persisted, and, given that, we've got a problem,” said Boston University's Declercq.
The problem is financial but it also may be medical. The rate of caesarean sections in the US is more than 30 percent - more than double the World Health Organisation's recommendation.
Exposing mothers to interventions such as caesarean sections when they are not necessary also exposes them to potential risks, say experts.
The American Congress of Obstetricians and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine recently released guidelines recommending that unnecessary caesarean sections should be reduced.
"In my mind, there is no doubt that our C-section rate is too high in the United States," said Kilpatrick of Cedars-Sinai. "The good news is that it has plateaued. It's been the same for two to three years now."
Amid the variety of medical and governmental changes that are being made, Capestany from Open Arms believes that there is also a basic social change that needs to be made in the way Americans understand childbirth.
"It's not intuitive in the United States that, in fact, childbirth is more than just a medical event. It is a physical event that requires medical attention, social attention, and emotional attention," Capestany told Al Jazeera.
"Until we acknowledge that, we're not going to be able to get the best care." |
[WM]MOVE Systems: redesigning NYC's 1970s-era food trucks for an eco-friendly future.
Making the less-noxious food cart into an art.
There are 5,000 licensed food carts in New York, and they’re as much of an urban icon as the MTA’s subway signage or the Chrysler building. Too bad they’re killing the planet.
It’s not the food—the grub is OK, if not exactly slimming; it’s the gas generators powering the carts. Most food carts run off a diesel generator that’s designed to run only a few hours. Vendors run them for stretches of up to 14 hours, leading to a high output of greenhouse-gas emissions such as carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, and particulate matter. You can see the smoke with the naked eye, but the hard facts are even more frightening: The research and consulting firm Energy Vision found that each cart produces the same amount of nitrous oxide as 186 cars on the road.
A new pilot program between the city and a Queens-based company called MOVE Systems aims to cut down on that pollution by at least 60 percent. For the past year, MOVE has been fine-tuning a new kind of food cart—called the MRV100—that’s powered by a mix of battery-generated electricity and solar energy, instead of dirty gas. The plan calls for getting a fleet of 500 new carts up and running by the summer of 2016, with the first 100 slated to roll out this summer.
For a 40-or-so-year-old design, the typical food cart is actually pretty sturdy and resilient. “The quality is surprisingly good,” says Michael Dubrovsky, a co-founder of Simply Grid, which merged with Mobile Vending Natural Gas a year ago to form MOVE Systems. It’s good enough that MOVE initially planned to retrofit existing food carts with products akin to electric vehicle chargers, rather than manufacturing an entirely new line of carts. Then they took a closer look under the hood to discover that none of these carts has the same design. “Each one is made artisanally in Queens and Brooklyn, at what we call chop shops,” Dubrovsky says. “Each one has different compartments, the plumbing is not up to code, so by the time you rip all that out, all of a sudden you’ve put liability on yourself.” So MOVE had to scrap the magpie carts and start from scratch.
One hundred of the first carts will be funded by MOVE and reserved for disabled veterans, and the remaining 400 will go to vendors who sign up—at no cost to them, because the pilot program will be sponsored. (MOVE says they are still reviewing sponsors and advertisers and have yet to make a selection.) Vendors will still have to shoulder the costs of the compressed natural gas fuel (but not Internet connectivity), but Energy Vision’s report also suggests that running a food cart on grid power could save $5,200 a year in energy charges. |
[WM]President Trump’s decision Monday to revive plans to freeze federal employee pay in 2020 and to institute a series of cuts to federal employee retirement programs was met with great consternation from stakeholder groups, although the ideas stand little chance of becoming law.
Increasing employee contributions toward federal defined benefit annuity programs by 1 percent per year until those payments reach 50 percent of the total cost.
Eliminating cost of living adjustments for FERS retirees, and reducing CSRS cost of living adjustments by 0.5 percent.
Eliminating the FERS supplement for employees forced to retire before Social Security kicks in at age 62.
Changing annuity calculations for federal workers' retirement to be based on the average of their highest five years of salary, rather than the current highest three years.
Reducing the interest rate of the Thrift Savings Plan’s government securities (G) fund, basing it on the yield of either the three-month or four-week U.S. Treasury bill, rather than a weighted average of all Treasury investments.
The administration will not reveal the precise details of these proposals until next week. But each idea has been floated in some form in both 2017 and 2018, and Congress has not implemented any. The likelihood of any of these proposals being included in a final appropriations bill seems even slimmer now, with Democrats now in control of the House.
Management groups also criticized the White House’s approach to federal employee compensation. Although the Senior Executives Association was less overtly critical in its reaction, SEA President Bill Valdez said that the more positive elements of the fiscal roadmap would be undermined in practice by the decision to disinvest in the workforce.
“Even as the budget proposal suggests that our national and homeland security requires additional staffing in the military and along our borders, the budget reiterates penny-wise and pound-foolish proposals to enact federal pay freezes and benefit and retirement cuts, thus implicitly assuring applicants interested in those posts that working for the federal government would mean enduring instability and ceaseless attacks surrounding even their most basic compensation,” Valdez said. |
[WM]CHARLOTTE (AP) � Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks defense were too much for Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers to overcome.
Wilson threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Golden Tate with 35 seconds left in the third quarter to help the Seahawks beat the Panthers 16-12 on Sunday.
CHARLOTTE (AP) � Bruce Irvin raced by an offensive lineman and chopped down on Cam Newton�s arm as the quarterback loaded up to throw downfield.
The ball popped free and into the hands of a teammate, capping the latest strong performance by a Seattle Seahawks defense that made life miserable for Newton and the Carolina Panthers.
Rookie quarterback Russell Wilson threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Golden Tate with 35 seconds left in the third quarter, while the defense kept the Panthers� offense out of the end zone in a 16-12 win Sunday.
Wilson shook off two third-quarter interceptions � including one returned for a touchdown � and outperformed Newton on a struggle-filled day for the Carolina offense, which finished with only 190 yards.
That included forcing Newton into an incompletion on a fourth-and-goal from the 1 with 3:47 left.
�It wasn�t easy; it might have looked like it was, but it wasn�t easy because of all the stuff they do,� Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. �And they tried all their options and stuff, and we were able to stay in sync with it, so it�s a fantastic job defensively.
Wilson threw for 221 yards, while Marshawn Lynch ran for 85 yards for the Seahawks (3-2) in their first road win.
Newton threw for a career-low 141 yards on 12-for-29 passing and he was sacked four times. He also ran for 42 yards.
�When you know what guys are doing and you still can�t beat them, they�re just good at what they do,� said Newton, last year�s No. 1 overall draft pick .
The Panthers� only touchdown came on Captain Munnerlyn�s 33-yard interception return early in the third quarter.
Carolina started the season with plenty of optimism with the return of Newton to lead a high-scoring offense, but the Panthers (1-4) couldn�t rebound a week after losing 30-28 to the Falcons on Matt Bryant�s field goal with 5 seconds left.
The offense never found a rhythm while Newton was frequently off target, completing just 3 of 15 passes for 40 yards in the first half.
Carolina had two chances to take the lead in the final minutes Sunday only to come away empty each time.
After driving the Panthers to the 1 for the fourth down play, Newton rolled to his right and spotted Ben Hartsock open in the end zone, but he threw a one-hopper on the short pass.
Then, after the Seahawks took an intentional safety, Carolina got the ball back at its own 31 with 54 seconds left and no timeouts. That�s when Irvin, a rookie, stripped Newton for his second sack. Defensive tackle Alan Branch fell on the loose ball to seal the win.
The game marked a homecoming of sorts for Wilson, who first gained acclaim as a quarterback at North Carolina State. He also played minor league baseball in Asheville and Gastonia before returning to college football and finishing up at Wisconsin.
The rookie hadn�t thrown for more than 160 yards in a game until Sunday, but didn�t panic when he threw the two interceptions and bought time with his mobility on several plays.
After Brandon Browner ripped the ball away from DeAngelo Williams and recovered the fumble to give Seattle a short field, Wilson moved the Seahawks to the Carolina 13 then found Tate over the middle. Tate spun off a hit from Thomas Davis around the 4 and into the end zone for the 13-10 lead.
Steven Hauschka added his third field goal to make it 16-10 with about 10� minutes left.
Notes: The Panthers played without three starters; cornerback Chris Gamble, linebacker Jon Beason and offensive lineman due to injuries. ... Newton targeted receiver Steve Smith a season-high 13 times. The previous high was 11 in the opener at Tampa Bay. ... Seattle tight end Zach Miller had three catches for a season-high 59 yards, including a season-long 30-yard catch. ... Seattle�s Sidney Rice had five catches for 67 yards. |
[WM]If you want to succeed, don’t look back.
skills in drawing and painting, I took notice.
game, is the utter lack of compromise to the vision they are pursuing.
eyes pinned to the end goal and stick with their strategic direction.
sliding on your own pool of sweat.
out your dream, killing your prey?
Do you think that you chose art or that art chose you?
“To tell you the truth, I think that I chose art for the simple fact that my last real corporate job was at Kinko’s.
oh-so-comfortable life. Do it now. |
[WM]CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) SpaceX has launched a used supply ship on a used rocket to the International Space Station.
It’s the second trip to the orbiting lab for this particular Dragon, recycled following a visit two years ago. The Falcon’s first-stage booster also flew before last summer. |
[WM]Nike Inc enjoyed big sales in gains in North America and Europe last quarter and benefited from fewer markdowns, helping the maker of sports clothes and shoes report a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit.
Total revenue rose 7.7 percent to $6.97 billion, and global orders for delivery later this year, which the company calls "futures orders," rose 10 percent excluding currency impact, suggesting Nike's hot streak will continue.
Nike shares rose 5.7 percent to $74.35 in after-hours trading. Including those gains, shares are up 13.7 percent since the announcement earlier this month that Nike would join the Dow Jones industrial average.
Nike revenue in North America rose 9 percent, and in Western Europe, where many retailers have struggled with a pullback by consumers, sales grew 8 percent.
The company earned $780 million, or 86 cents a share, in its fiscal first quarter, ended August 31, compared with $567 million, or 63 cents a share, last year. Analysts expected a profit of 78 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Nike's gross margin rose 1.2 points to 44.9 percent of sales, helped by lower cotton costs and fewer markdowns. The company had forecast gross margin to be unchanged.
Futures orders for delivery between this month and January 2014 rose 12 percent in both Europe and North America.
In China, where Nike is grappling with excess inventory and intense competition from price-cutting rivals, sales fell 3 percent, but futures orders rose 2 percent. |
[WM]Passengers on an ICE travelling from Berlin to Saarbrücken were shocked after windows were shattered by what they believe were bullets.
Police are investigating after windows on the ICE high-speed train were shattered during the journey from the German capital to Saarbrücken in Saarland.
Some passengers said that they believed the train had been shot at by a weapon. This passenger's photos posted on Twitter show the damage to the windows.
No-one was injured in the incident which happened around 10.50pm on Thursday near the city of Ladenburg near Mannheim in Baden-Württemberg.
Another passenger said that it looked like four shots had caused damage.
According to the police in Karlsruhe, there was damage to doors, windows and the outside of the train. The 150 passengers aboard were taken off the train at Mannheim. They were advised they could travel on other trains or be accommodated in hotels for the night.
Police said no objects had entered the interior of the train, only damaging the outside.
Baden-Württemberg police said officers were investigating for "dangerous interference with rail traffic" and have urged any witnesses to come forward.
The train has been sealed off and is currently in Frankfurt. Special police and rail investigators are probing the incident to establish what happened.
So where are the pics? |
[WM]The amount is part of the N8.8tn tax revenue needed by the government to finance the 2019 budget.
Details of how the revenue would be generated are contained in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework Tax Revenue Projections for 2019-2021.
The document, which was submitted to the National Assembly by the Executive Chairman of FIRS, Mr Tunde Fowler, was obtained on Friday by our correspondent.
In the document, the FIRS said the N8.8tn would be realised through two major tax revenue components. They are oil tax revenue, where N4.3tn would be collected and non-oil tax revenue where the service had proposed to generate N4.5tn for the government.
Further breakdown of the oil tax revenue showed that the entire N4.3tn is expected to come from petroleum profit tax.
For the non oil tax revenue, an analysis of the document shows that N1.7tn is expected to be earned from company income tax, while gas income, capital gains tax and stamp duty are expected to earn N685.63bn, N6.27bn and N17.64bn, respectively for the government.
Also, Value Added Tax is expected to contribute N1.7tn; education tax, N275.39bn; consolidated account, N99.78bn and Nigeria Information Technology Development Fund, N20.01bn.
The FIRS in the document stated that the tax revenue target for 2019 was based on the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan of the Federal Government.
It said that to boost tax revenue, a lot of initiatives would be implemented with support from the government.
Some of them are the expansion of Tax Identification database to cover federal, states and local government to establish a reliable VAT tax base across the country.
While engaging relevant stakeholders, the service said it would develop and propose tax laws targeted at emerging sectors of the economy such as digital economies.
It said a review of existing tax laws to close the legal loopholes for taxes by adopting a sectoral, rules-based approach would be implemented.
The FIRS also stated that it would develop a strategy for revenue campaigns targeted at the informal sector of the economy, noting that a unified nationwide tax payer database would be developed.
It said a strong incentive programme aimed at encouraging tax payment by Nigerians would be designed.
The incentive, it noted, could involve tying government projects to tax revenue collected. |
[WM]WHEN predicting which planets beyond Earth could support life, astronomers usually follow the water. Exoplanets with rocky surfaces are declared habitable if they orbit far enough from their star to potentially host oceans.
But as our planetary collection grows, and telescopes for studying them improve, some astrobiologists say it is time to narrow the hunt. Christopher McKay at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California has come up with an expanded “checklist” for habitability, which also considers factors like a planet’s light levels, radiation exposure and atmospheric composition (PNAS, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1304212111).
Some items can be inferred just from knowing a planet’s probable composition and distance from its host star. Others will require photographing the planets and examining their atmospheres. Spacecraft with those capabilities are now being developed.
“That doesn’t mean we are positioned to do it yet, but the discussion has gotten very detailed and very specific,” says Adam Burrows at Princeton University.
The list may one day pinpoint worlds that can be home to life even if conditions there would kill humans outright. For instance, McKay points to Chlamydomonas nivalis, or watermelon snow, a red-coloured alga that only grows in freezing water. And researchers have grown microbes in the lab at temperatures as high as 122 °C.
Even planets with barely any water could host life, says McKay. Cyanobacteria, for example, live on rocks in the Atacama desert in Chile, which gets only a few days of rain and fog each year.
Any life on another world would need sufficient light or geothermal energy to drive its vital processes. But this may not be a lot – deep-sea plants called red macroalgae can grow while receiving just 1 per cent of the sunlight hitting the ocean’s surface.
And while high levels of ultraviolet radiation may be a worry for complex life, microbes are much hardier. The most extreme example is Deinococcus radiodurans, which can survive in the sort of conditions you might find inside a nuclear reactor.
However, we know of one place that could rewrite McKay’s list. Saturn’s moon Titan has liquids on its surface and an atmosphere. Its seas are filled with methane and ethane, and its atmosphere is a choking haze of nitrogen and methane. That doesn’t seem so hospitable, but Titan has shown evidence of complex molecules that may be building blocks for life.
When this article was first published, it described Chlamydomonas nivalis as a red alga. It is in fact a green alga with a red pigment. |
[WM]Terrorist attacks using vehicles such as in Barcelona are 'becoming a new reality for Europeans' according to experts.
The latest attacks in Barcelona and the seaside resort of Cambrils on Thursday has left at least 14 dead and 100 injured.
Goulet, the French senator, sits on a parliamentary panel tasked with analysing jihadist groups.
She says that one of IS's goals is turning the western world against Muslim minorities in their countries and using anti-Muslim rhetoric is playing into their hands.
Paris, Berlin, Nice, London and Stockholm have already seen extremists drive vehicles into crowds.
Experts say that these such attacks are now a new reality for Europeans.
Following the terror attacks in London, police have ramped up security with extra protection for pedestrians on bridges in the capital.
While following the Manchester attacks, more armed police were put on patrol at events such as Wimbledon, Ascot and international football and rugby matches at Wembley and Twickenham.
However Gallois says citizens' safety cannot be guaranteed 100 percent. Even if security services managed to protect symbolic sites and the most popular areas around cities, nearby streets or neighbourhoods would still be vulnerable, he says.
Both IS and Al-Qaeda have urged their followers to use whatever means at their disposal, including vehicles, as part of a strategy of 'death by a thousand cuts' aimed at destroying the west.
The Radicalization Awareness Network, an EU research body, warned last month that 1,200-3,000 jihadists risked returning to Europe after fighting in Iraq and Syria - out of an estimated 5,000 who joined the terror groups there. |
[WM]Director Patty Jenkins has revealed details about the upcoming sequel.
If we've learned anything from our era of superhero movies, it's that no one is actually really dead. At the end of Wonder Woman, Chris Pine's Steve Trevor heroically sacrifices himself to save everyone else. It marked the death of some great on-screen chemistry between Pine and Gal Gadot.
But today, director Patty Jenkins has revealed the first details about the upcoming sequel, Wonder Woman 1984. It takes place in, well, 1984, and somehow marks the return of Pine's Steve Trevor. Jenkins tweeted a photo of Pine on set for the film, and he's got a great fit with a Member's Only jacket and a vintage Casio watch. He also looks pretty damn good for being either dead or at least 90 years old. Considering this is a superhero movie there are any number of reasons why Trevor would still be alive.
This sequel has Wonder Woman squaring off against The Cheetah, played by Kristin Wiig. While there have been a few versions of The Cheetah, all the characters have roughly the same powers, which "consists of enhanced strength and speed well beyond that of the most powerful felines, as well as heightened senses of smell and hearing for hunts and night-vision for stealth. Their reflexes and agility are similarly augmented, allowing them superior gymnastic and parkour feats for inhuman mobility. These superhuman traits allow them to challenge Wonder Woman in physical battles. Additionally, their fangs and claws are preternaturally sharp and strong."
Anyway, we'll know for sure when the movie is out on November 1, 2019.
Can 'Wonder Woman' Get a Best Picture Nomination? |
[WM]This data layer shows post-Delimitation Assembly state Legislative Assembly constituency boundaries and data relating to the 2009 Assembly elections for the State of Maharashtra, India. Includes attribute data on election parties, candidates, voters, and results. Map includes data for 288 constituencies. This layer is part of the Poll Map of India which includes parliamentary constituency boundaries for India, Assembly constituency boundaries for all states, and data relating to the past national elections for each State of India.This data can be used for election analysis, forecasting, and mapping: Enables profiling of individual constituencies, permits historical analysis of the data, and helps predictive estimate of the impact of regional and state-wise electorate swings on the performance of political parties. These data are intended for researchers, students, and policy makers for reference and mapping purposes, and may be used for basic applications such as viewing, querying, and map output production. |
[WM]Mattel's Future: Happily Ever After?
Mattel has a plan for the rest of the year, but it seems to be playing a shorter game.
According to its most recent earnings release, Mattel (NASDAQ:MAT) seems to have become a victim of its own success. The company reported a 12% drop in revenue from its Barbie brand, while other girls' toys ate up market share. The American Girl and Monster High lines did particularly well, but the cost was high. As the newer lines continue to succeed, the questions around Barbie's future grow.
Monster High is leading the way at Mattel, and analysts now believe that the business may be worth up to $500 million annually. That success has helped steer Mattel toward new opportunities, including a variation on Monster High -- which is a line of monsters in high school -- called Ever After High. The new line is going to hit stores in the second half of the year, and focuses on classic fairytale characters while they're in high school.
When I say "classic fairytale characters," I, of course, mean slightly rebranded Disney (NYSE:DIS) princesses. The list includes Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella-style characters, along with some princes, and Alice-in-Wonderland themed dolls.
The move makes an incredible amount of sense for Mattel, as Disney has had runaway success with its rebranding of the princesses as a separate line. According to analyst studies, the Princess line is generating $3 billion in annual global sales. That's six times what Monster High is pulling in, and highlights the value available in the marketplace. Since Mattel is only spending $10 million to $20 million to develop the spin-off lines , the payback is almost immediate.
The stock suffered a 7% drop yesterday in light of the shortfall from Mattel. Overall, the company managed a 1% increase in global sales, but it had a 25% drop in earnings per share . The long game for Mattel looks increasingly like an ever evolving line of girls' toys. While the company has had success with boys' lines, its real core lies in girls.
On the competitive side, Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) seems to have boys' toys locked down. The company is generating more than twice as much from its boys' toys as it does from girls' toys. That success is resting on the strength of Marvel-branded toys, G.I Joe, and NERF. Mattel is a much larger company, and Hasbro has to be content to simply succeed where it can.
For Mattel, the most interesting thing to come over the next year may be the conflict that arises between Mattel and Disney, if its Ever After brand takes off. Right now, Mattel produces a number of toys with the Disney branding, and it relies on a good relationship with the media company. Disney may start to see some encroachment on its territory, which could lead to a confrontation. But first, Ever After has to succeed. |
[WM]Harry Connolly's Twenty Palaces series is one of my favorite new storylines in science fiction. After a several year hiatus Harry has brought back Ray Lilly, and all the magic in The Twisted Path.
The Twenty Palaces series tells the tale of Ray Lilly, a former convict turned into a magician's decoy, or Wooden Man. It is Lilly's job to distract evil creatures from the deep and dark, while his master Annalise burns them with primal green fire. They keep on saving the world from some pretty nasty demons that have crossed over.
Wooden Men aren't supposed to last more than one mission, but somehow Ray keeps on surviving. The Twenty Palaces Society has taken notice and calls Ray and Annalise to Europe, this does not bode well.
Connolly's Lovecraft-ian/Geiger-style lore and world building is amazing. I have enjoyed all of his novels and novellas, but none have been as anticipated as The Twisted Path. If you are new to this series, I highly recommend starting with Child of Fire, the which was also Harry's debut novel.
Ray and Annalise' return is every bit as exciting as I'd hoped. |
[WM]Most gardeners think of diascias as low-growing bedding plants suited to a summer container or the front of a sunny border.
However Diascia personata breaks the mould and produces stiff stems that grow 3ft tall. The substantial bright green foliage supports dusky pink flowers and these appear in profusion from early May to November.
Handsome, upright and show-stopping, it first came to my attention when Fergus Garrett of Great Dixter in East Sussex brought it to a Perennial Plant Day at RHS Wisley in June last year.
Having never seen it before I then spotted it two days later on a Hopleys' stand (see details below) and snapped it up.
Although the form I acquired was labelled 'Hopleys', it is the same plant grown at Great Dixter.
Diascias are found on the eastern side of southern Africa. There are 70 species in all and most are annual, but there are a few perennials.
They are members of the Scrophularia or figwort family, together with verbascum and buddleia, although the whole tribe has recently been reclassified.
The common name of diascia is "twinspur" and this refers to two spurs found at the back of the flower. The closely related genera Alonsoa and Nemesia look similar, but have more spurs - often these are longer.
Although diascias flower for months in Britain they have a much shorter flowering season in their native land because they are pollinated by a different species of bee: Bees from the genus Rediviva (native to southern Africa) have extra long forelegs, and this allows them to reach the spurs of the flowers in order to collect a fatty oil produced by the glands.
The legs of the bee soak up the oil, rather like a sponge, and pollen is transferred to the body of the bee during this process. The flowers are then pollinated and fade. Our native bees have shorter legs and so fail to pollinate the flowers.
In the wild, different species of diascia growing together evolve and produce stamens of varying lengths, or in varying positions, so that any pollen deposited sticks to different parts of the bee's body.
This system prevents cross-pollination. But if the necessary species of bee is absent, the flowers are not pollinated, so flower longer.
The late plant breeder and hobbyist, Hector Harrison, of Appleby, in South Humberside, found out about diascia's pollination needs and began hand-pollinating three species about 1978. His first hybrids flowered in the mid-Eighties and he generously gave them to nurseries and enthusiasts.
Harrison hybrids include 'Appleby Apricot', 'Iceberg', 'Salmon Supreme' and 'Lilac Belle'. White, lilac, various pinks and apricot diascias are all available.
Some of these hybrids may be sterile even if they encounter the long-legged bees required for pollination: sterility often occurs when two closely related species hybridise.
Harrison was, however, unaware of the first British-raised diascia. The late John Kelly, once curator at Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens, applied the pollen from D. cordata to D. barberae. He grew nine seeds and named the best red-pink 'Ruby Field' after a lady who sometimes worked on the nursery.
It is now listed under D. barberae in the RHS Plant Finder so may not even be a hybrid. The diascia gene pool was further expanded when new species were collected in the Seventies for the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens.
Diascia personata is a perennial from the Eastern Cape and hardier than the annual forms. It will survive most winters given a sunny position and well-drained soil.
Its hardiness equates roughly to the dahlia in my opinion and "insurance" cuttings should be taken in early summer, in case of a hard winter.
Sometimes another plant, the similarly upright D. rigescens, is mistaken for D. personata and the flowers are a similar colour.
They are, however, significantly different: D. rigescens is shorter, between 1-2ft and the foliage a duller blue-green. It has less stature. I have successfully over wintered both of these, but last winter saw them off.
Diascias are sun-loving plants, but enjoy fertile rather than dry, poor soil. The cushion-forming types can get straggly so cut them back in late April and late August to keep them compact.
Hardiness can be a problem, but many will survive winter in well-drained soil.
Cuttings can be taken between May and September. However, if you want to keep cuttings through the winter take them in the first half of summer so that a good root system is developed.
Look for new growth that has started to harden slightly, preferably without flower buds. Cut off just below the node (the bumpy part where leaves are attached) so that your cutting measures roughly 4in long. Trim the cutting just below the bumpy node and strip any lower leaves.
Plunge into a suitable rooting matter. This could be a mixture of compost and horticultural sand. I prefill small seed trays with damp horticultural sand and plunge cuttings in as I take them. No rooting compost or special equipment is needed.
You can containerise Diascia personata, but it has to be a substantial pot to balance the height of the plant. The ruby-pink flowers are excellent with dark blue agapanthus, purple dahlias or fluffy pennisetums.
At Great Dixter they use D. personata with the green and cream vertically striped grass, Miscanthus sinensis var. condensatus 'Cosmopolitan' to great effect. Graham Gough, of Marchants Plants, also uses it in his grass-led garden and he describes it as "remarkable and lofty". |
[WM]After the wonderful welcome from Julian Clary's dog Valerie, the first thing you notice about his living room is the chickens. There are lots – pictures on the walls, ornaments, even a chicken cushion. "Yes, there's a slight obsession with chickens," he says, looking around. "It must have happened when I became a rustic person." His favourite is the chicken on the mantelpiece, from his mother Brenda. It's near the sherry decanter, which is from director Neil Bartlett (they worked together on the 1995 adaptation of the play Splendid's).
There are a lot of things Julian's bought with his mother. He wonders if the antique bucket in the corner, which he picked up when they were "talked into" doing a celebrity version of Bargain Hunt, is too rustic. "It certainly wasn't my idea to do the show," he remembers, "but she fancied it. They took us to what they said was an antiques fair, although it looked like a jumble sale to me. Shall we get some flowers to pop in it, or is that too much?"
His house in Ashford, Kent, which dates from the 1500s, is more to his taste, having previously been owned by Noël Coward in the 1920s. "He's always been a great influence. I know my writing is seen as trivial [his latest novel is called Briefs Encountered], but so was Noël's in a way. And the taboos he faced… It's not a gay thing, but I've always felt connected to him, so I decided to imagine his story and his house in my new book." He props a copy on a stool. "It was about time this house paid for its keep!"
The hand-painted lamp, bought from a junk shop during his days as a student in New Cross, London, holds particular memories of his early days doing stand-up comedy. In the autumn he'll be returning to his roots with a new tour, for which he's currently writing two hours' worth of material.
Having had stints on stage with the likes of Joan Collins and Nigel Havers – photographed with him two years ago in panto – he's never lost his enthusiasm. "I was in a double act with my friend Linda to start with," he remembers. "She grew out of it, but I never did!" |
[WM]The bill has triggered series of protest in Assam, All Assam Students Union and several other organisations have announced fresh agitation against the bill on November 4.
BJP legislator and party spokesperson Numal Momin said that the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2016 will help in arresting influx of migrants from the neighbouring country.
GUWAHATI: Supporting the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2016, BJP on Wednesday said that once the bill is implemented not a single non-national even if a Hindu who came to India after December 31, 2014 will be allowed stay in India.
He said, “Unnecessary controversy is created, the proposed legislation once it becomes law will help in curbing illegal influx. Once the bill is passed, not a single person who entered India after December 31, 2014 will be allowed to stay in the country, either a Hindu or a Muslim,” Momin said.
He said that the bill will end the congress politics of vote bank.
Congress is opposing the bill for this is against Assam accord. In 1985 Assam accord was signed following which it was decided that for Assam the date of detection and deportation of foreigner will be March 25, 1971 irrespective of religious affiliation.
Recently BJP Assam unit president Ranjeet Kumar Dass said, “If a single non-national is found in the state after the bill becomes a legislation, we will go for scrapping the law as it was done in the case of Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal ) IMDT Act in 2005."
BJP’s ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has threatened to quit the alliance if the bill is passed by the parliament. The bill aimed at making minority communities such as Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan eligible for applying for Indiancitizenship is under the consideration of Joint parliamentary committee of both the Houses. |
[WM]The Airline Vikings were playing for the state football championship in 1972 against Neville on a bad night for football in Monroe.
But after the team had gathered itself, head coach Jack Gray called his seniors together.
Gray, who coached the 1967 Airline team to the state title, passed away Thursday and services are set for Saturday at 3 p.m. in Marshall, Texas, where he lived. Visitation is Friday from 5 to 7 p.m.
Gray’s niece, Becky Gray, is the assistant principal at Parkway and his brother lives in Bossier City. He is survived by his wife, Mimi, and a son, Gary who lives in Farmerville.
Slack said Gray was the kind of coach any teenager would love to have.
“He was caring, loving and gentle, but he always expected the best out of you,” Slack said.
In 1971, Slack said it was well known that Gray, a native of Shelbyville, Texas, went to Marshall to interview for the head coaching job there.
When the Vikings played at Texarkana, Arkansas, as juniors, the team had a huge defensive end named Ronald Johnson, the brother of NFL All-Pro Gary “Big Hands” Johnson.
“Ronald had a forearm that would knock you out and he injured a couple of the Texarkana players. They were the top team in Arkansas and we beat them,” Slack said. “The next year when we play them, they’re out to get Ronald and it started a huge fight at the end of the game, which was never finished. They were chasing Ronald all over the field, so he finally ran to our sideline and picked up one of the downs markers and started swinging it at them.
Gray was originally hired at Airline by John Ropp not long after Airline opened in 1964. He also coached at Ruston High and then later at Marshall, where he was also athletic director and an administrator.
After retirement, Gray and his wife were active in delivering “Meals on Wheels” and working with the Humane Society. He was a member of the Trinity Episcopal Church in Marshall, where his service will be held. |
[WM]In the summer of 1993, I had one of those experiences that stay with me for the rest of my life.
I spent 10 weeks in Europe, beginning with a six-week law-school summer session at Charles University in Prague.
Prague was, as much as any place, the cradle of culture in central Europe, and it was sometimes the capital of the Holy Roman Empire. Its ancient center was architecturally and many other ways romantic and gorgeous. Because it was subject only to rather minor bombing, Prague’s charm and beauty were nearly unscathed by World War II.
But 45 years of socialist “compassion” under a Soviet Union puppet regime had turned everything soot gray and ugly before eastern and central Europe was liberated in 1989.
When I arrived, you could walk down the winding cobblestone streets of the Old Town near its famous castle amid five-story ancient residential buildings standing shoulder-to-shoulder against narrow sidewalks on both sides. Buildings that had once been vibrant with color, exquisite in their features and soaring to the sky were now soot-gray dingy, decaying and seemingly drooping in shame.
Then, out of nowhere, came one that was a brilliant pastel lime-green, fully restored and bursting with light and life. Then soot-gray, soot-gray and suddenly another one, bright pink, restored to its original glory. Soot-gray, soot-gray, soot-gray. And another beauty reclaimed in rich mustard yellow.
And then, across the street, amid more weeping soot-gray ghosts, a sight that explained everything: One of the old wrecks with its entire face covered with … scaffolding. The secret of a second Prague Spring was revealed as people liberated from the yoke of coercive collectivism and soaring in restored liberty were scrubbing away the toxic dirt of statist oppression, rebuilding the decorative art that was their heritage, and baptizing it all with lovely color.
It was especially moving because in 1968 I had been an ardent fan of the (first) Prague Spring, led by a Czechoslovakian freedom movement that was brutally crushed in the city’s main square by Soviet tank squads.
This month we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the stunning 1989 collapse of the Soviet and Eastern Block, highlighted by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the liberation of Prague and eastern and central Europe.
Growing up in the 1950s with basement bomb shelters, air-raid sirens and duck-and-cover drills in response to threats from that truly Evil Empire created even in children an abiding sense of unease — an understanding that serious threats were afoot in the world. As the Cold War became normalcy, there was vague despair for three more decades at a world locked in continuing tension due to the menace we thought was permanent because its evil controlled the world’s second most powerful nation and others. With all that exacerbated by the rise of Red China, it seemed like a nightmare that would never end.
Then, of a sudden, there was light in the world as the Evil Empire simply crumbled, being unable to keep up with the West’s prosperity brought by the renewed commitment to freedom of Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and others. The unimaginable happened: The bad guys simply folded and communism collapsed due to its own “internal contradictions”.
Today, we face domestic challenges from progressivism, socialism’s close cousin. We face serious international challenges from terrorism, much of it ideological or religion-based and some of it just insane. I don’t minimize these challenges. However, whenever I feel daunted by them, I remember the second Prague Spring and the collapse of something even bigger and worse that we thought would never end, and I’m hopeful.
Ron Knecht is an economist, law-school graduate, higher education regent and Nevada controller-elect. |
[WM]Well, it looks like the Golden State Warriors will just have to make due with four All-Stars on their team and not potentially five.
Portland Trail Blazers' All-Star point guard Damian Lillard was asked on Twitter on Wednesday if he would consider playing for his hometown Warriors someday. The Oakland native a pretty definitive answer.
The Warriors already have Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, forming a big four the likes of which the NBA arguably has never seen. Lillard, 25, signed a five-year, $120 million extension last summer, so he wouldn't be hitting the free-agent market for some time.
But maybe Durant's move to the Bay Area has created a backlash among NBA stars, pushing them to compete against each other instead of join forces. We'll have to wait until next summer to see where the next crop of NBA superstars lands. |
[WM]SANTA FE SPRINGS – A 17-year-old boy died and two men were wounded but expected to survive after a car-to-car shooting on the 5 Freeway late Wednesday, authorities said.
Coroner’s officials did not release the dead teenager’s name Thursday afternoon, deferring all questions to sheriff’s investigators. Sheriff’s officials also did not identify him.
The three shooting victims had been riding in a minivan. They flagged down an ambulance crew just after 9:40 p.m. at Rosecrans Boulevard and Marquardt Avenue, Lt. Dave Dolson of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau said.
“The information that we have is that it happened on the freeway,” he said.
The attack was believed to have taken place on a three-quarter-mile stretch of the northbound 5 Freeway, between Carmenita Road and Rosecrans Boulevard, investigators said.
After being wounded, the men exited the freeway at Rosecrans Boulevard and drove east about a mile until they spotted an ambulance and sought help, officials said.
No description of the vehicle that contained the shooter or shooters was available, Dolson said. A motive was not clear.
The teenage victim, who was a passenger in the minivan, was pronounced dead shortly after the shooting at UCI Medical Center in Orange County, officials said.
The two other men who were wounded in the minivan were in their 20s and 30s, Dolson said. They were hospitalized in stable condition.
California Highway Patrol officials shut down all northbound lanes of the freeway during the investigation, CHP Officer Francisco Villalobos said. Traffic was diverted off the freeway at Valley View Avenue.
The left lane of the northbound 5 Freeway was reopened at midnight, he said, and the remaining traffic lanes were opened shortly after 4 a.m. |
[WM]Activities, games and puzzles are waiting to be explored by your inquisitive toddler.
If you haven’t been to your local library in a while, perhaps it’s time for a visit. Not only can you find there just about any book that you might seek, you will also find magazines, newspapers, books on CD, DVDs, music CDs and so much more.
Libraries have various displays and programs, which may rotate among libraries, pertaining to current events or other local items of interest and each library hosts a variety of speakers on various topics each month. Libraries on occasion host book sales, where participants can find used books at great prices.
Currently at the Incline Village Library, you will find a rock display containing specimens of rocks found in the area. Also at the Incline Village Library, in the “Studio” room, for the next two months is “Grow It!”, an opportunity to try your hand at seed planting and growing with the help of library staff.
The Kings Beach Library offers an online book club. Each month, library staff choose a book. Participants have one month to read the book and post comments online.
This library also hosts technology classes on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Thursday of the month from 3-4 p.m., no reservation required. On the second Thursday, one hour is offered as an open Q-and-A forum, fielding technology questions answered by a tech expert.
For the third Thursday, learn iPhone basics. The fourth Thursday has a changing topic so do check the schedule at placer.ca.gov/departments/library for this and more information.
At the El Dorado County Library in South Lake Tahoe, check out a microscope or explore the difference between igneous and metamorphic rock by checking out one of the Beyond School Center science kits. Some items need to be requested from other branches, which means it will take a day or two to get it at your branch.
In an average year in El Dorado County, volunteers contribute 16,000 hours of service at the library, staff answer 17,000 reference questions, 1,900 programs take place at all of the county’s libraries with 38,000 people attending.
Libraries offer a variety of teen and toddler programs, such as Inventor’s Club, Toddler Story Time and poetry slams. El Dorado County hosts a monthly LEGO block party and also has a variety of family games that patrons can borrow.
Drop into the Zephyr Cove Library, as at all the libraries around the lake, to hook up to Wi-Fi, make photocopies, send faxes or scan documents. Children’s computers are available, ready with learning games and programs.
All the libraries have meeting rooms that can be reserved by the public on a first-come basis. Meeting rooms have tables, chairs, projection equipment and Wi-Fi, a coffee maker, microwave and refrigerator. Some rooms require a minimal fee, others are offered for free.
Wander into your local library to find a quiet nook to work or study, write your first novel, browse the internet, or just relax with a good book. Libraries have comfortable seating, televisions with DVD players, desks and tables.
The staff at your library are excited about the programs they offer and happy to help patrons find whatever they might be looking for, whether it be an enjoyable novel, research material on virtually any topic, or perhaps a specific periodical.
Incline Village Library offers a place for local artists to display their work. In return, the artist is asked to give a scheduled presentation to the public regarding the composing process, what inspires them to create and perhaps to offer tips to other budding artists.
Visit your library to attend a class on memoir writing, get job training or to join courses in learning a language, where you work at your own pace.
For those who enjoy perusing computers for information, all libraries have a vast digital presence. Search your county’s library system to tap into this resource. To take full advantage of online materials, information seekers need to have a valid library card.
To get your library card, you can sign up for one online but you will need to visit your library in person with a valid state-issued ID to get the card and all the benefits the card provides. Truckee/Tahoe residents are welcome to obtain a library card at any or all branches around the lake.
Anyone interested in learning, conducting research or simply reading for pleasure can benefit from a visit to the library. Library hours vary so check your county’s website for complete information and start exploring.
Toree Warfield is an avid nature lover, and writes this column to teach and stimulate interest in the marvels that surround us. Visit saveourplanetearth.com to read columns and to find links to bird song recordings, additional photos and other content. |
[WM]Ukraine has started siphoning off Russian gas bound for European customers. This follows the cutoff of gas supplies to Ukraine on January 1, after the two countries’ gas companies failed to agree on a price for 2009.
Gazprom deputy CEO Aleksandr Medvedev is in Prague to inform the EU about the on-going gas conflict with Ukraine, blaming Ukraine for the reduction in supplies.
Gazprom's board has held an emergency meeting in Moscow where they were discussing Ukraine's siphoning of gas.
“Ukraine has cynically announced it's siphoning off gas from the export pipe. Dispatchers in the Balkans say the region is already suffering from Ukarine's actions. Gazprom believes the Balkan states need to use the Energy Charter signed by Ukraine to protect themselves. This charter says no contract disputes should affect supplies provided by a transit country,” stated Gazprom’s Deputy CEO Aleksandr Medvedev.
Earlier on Friday the company’s spokesman Sergey Kuriyanov said that Ukraine is avoiding negotiations with Gazprom. He noted that Ukraine’s Naftogaz has promised to pay $US 1.5 billion by January 11.
“But there will still be an outstanding debt of $US 614 million. Therefore, we plan to increase the transit level of gas through Belarus,” Kupriyanov said.
Ukraine, however, has denied it is siphoning off gas from transit pipes.
Also, according to Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko, Russia has asked the EU parliament to hold a special meeting to discuss the issue of Russian gas transits via Ukraine.
“Gazprom representatives are ready to head to Brussels, and all European countries, to fully inform them about the dispute between Gazprom and Ukraine's Naftogaz,” he said.
Earlier Gazprom spokesman Sergey Kupriyanov said that independent auditors are being blocked from checking whether gas supplies to Europe are being hindered.
“We don't have an effective gas delivery contract with Naftogaz now. Naftogaz is currently obstructing the operators of RosUkrEnergo and is not letting them extract the gas from underground facilities which they have,” said Kupriyanov.
There is still no contract signed between the two countries and debts must be paid in full before another can be signed. The Russian energy company has also calculated over $US 600 million in penalties Ukraine owes.
Gazprom’s overall supply reduction amounted to 90 million cubic metres a day, which is roughly Ukraine’s consumption.
Both Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko have appealed to Russia not to cut gas supplies to the country and to continue talks. They've also named the price their country is prepared to pay for the gas: $US 201 per 1,000 cubic metres.
Gazprom, though, wanted a higher price – $US 250 per 1,000 cubic metres – which is almost half the market price. Ukraine turned down this offer. A statement by Gazprom followed that it would now sell gas to Ukraine at the market price of $US 418.
As Europe depends on Russia for about a quarter of its gas supplies, and the fact that 80% of their supplies pass through Ukrainian pipelines, it is watching the ongoing conflict closely.
After Russia had announced a new gas price for Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko said it would be “logical” that transit costs should go up too. The Ukrainian leader said that talks with Russia are to be resumed shortly with the final agreement to be reached by the time of the Orthodox Christmas, January 7.
A Ukrainian delegation has set off on a tour of Europe, which aims at informing the European Union about the gas situation and to provide guarantees that the gas will be transported across Ukraine as normal. Also, Ukraine's president Yushchenko has sent letters to the leaders of eight countries and to the European Commission to explain his reasons of the gas dispute.
Earlier Ukraine had threatened to confiscate Russian gas passing through the country, refusing to guarantee supplies to Europe as Russia promises to stop gas supplies to Ukraine due to debts. Gazprom called Ukraine’s reaction ‘blackmail’.
As Gazprom has vowed to maintain supplies to Europe in full, its gas will be entering Ukraine for the foreseeable future, at least until the Nord or South Stream is opened.
One major pipeline – bringing gas to Ukraine – passes through the town of Kursk, while a larger one – taking gas to Europe – operates in Voronezh (see picture).
Meanwhile, German gas company E.ON Ruhrgas has taken precautions in case supplies of Russian gas are hampered. Its press secretary Helmut Roloff said that the company has agreed on additional gas supplies from Norway in case of emergency. Nevertheless, on Friday, they received all the gas they had ordered. |
[WM]Finland faces heightened risks from links between radical Islam and terrorism, according to a fresh report by Finland’s security and intelligence police unit Supo. The unit points to the ongoing Syrian conflict as a source of the increased threat.
According to the Supo assessment, in spite of the increased risk of radical Islam fomenting terrorism, Finland is still not a primary target for terrorist organisations.
The security police add that the risk of al-Qaeda-led attacks against Finland or Finns is still low, even though around 40 people have travelled from Finland to Syria to join Islamist groups there.
According to Tuomas Portaankorva of Supo there is an ongoing traffic of fighters between Finland and Syria, with some returning from the war and others going back to Syria after a break in Finland.
"They can take on a more radical world view than before," said Supo head Antti Pelttari.
The evaluation of an increased threat refers to violence that may be perpetrated within local borders without external guidance. Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen says that Finland has around 200 higher-risk individuals.
"We have more of those high risk individuals, they have more contact to extremist ideologies and extremist actions," said Räsänen. "They have been there, received training. That's why this threat level has been raised."
Supo said that there are more people in Finland with links to terrorist organisations. They unit reports increased numbers of people travelling to conflict areas in Syria as well as those who have returned from engaging in war tourism.
According to Supo it has no information about concrete terrorism operations targeting Finland. However the intelligence organization has warned that the operations of networks with links to Syria and the activities of private individuals are unpredictable and difficult to anticipate. |
[WM]1. Drew Griffin, the CNN investigative correspondent whose reporting made VA health care delays a national news story, told me that the VA ignored questions from reporters at their peril.
His first attempt to reach VA secretary Eric Shinseki - who resigned under pressure on Friday - was way back in November. "Basically, they have tried to shut down our reporting by refusing to talk to us," Griffin said. Here's the rest of the conversation.
"These are performances and if there's no one to perform to, if there's no audience, there's no reason to perform," Cullen said. He said the media should seek ways to "take away part of the stage."
Greenfield said he understood the impulse - "I think it's an effort somehow to take away from these killers what we think they might want" - but called it "ultimately futile because in this day and age, unlike 40 years ago, there are no gatekeepers."
I also talked with Cosmopolitan editor in chief Joanna Coles about the #YesAllWomen hashtag movement.
3. Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg - whom Edward Snowden has called an "inspiration" - said Snowden has been an inspiration to him, too.
4. "It's planned with a kind of Normandy-level precision," Mark Leibovich, author of "This Town," said of the roll-out of Hillary Clinton's memoir "Hard Choices."
He said the press should be treating the book roll-out as if it is the start of a Clinton presidential campaign, "because the Clinton people are."
Carl Bernstein, author of "A Woman In Charge," said his "Normandy" reference was spot-on: "The presidential campaign is like a war. It's fought on a huge battlefield with great dangers everywhere and all kinds of strategy required."
5. Bernstein also said this, when I brought up the fact that Clinton will be interviewed by Fox News hosts Bret Baier and Greta Van Susteren in mid-June: "It's not just reach out to people who will need some persuading. It's the publicity that will be generated by the Fox interview and the expectation - by people in the Clinton retinue - that she is going to be able to run some circles around her interviewers. And I suspect - you never know - that that might well be the case."
6. I interviewed Ta-Nehisi Coates (above) about his Atlantic cover story, "The Race for Reparations," and about how racial injustices are covered by the media.
"I think race is covered in a way that we cover most things in the media, and that is that there is a bias towards spectacle," he said.
"Like, when Donald Sterling says something, that means something. When Cliven Bundy, this spectacle, says something, that means something. And this presents great difficulty for those of us who are concerned about the force of racism in American life, because much of it is not spectacle.
He added, "But I think that is the challenger of any storyteller. You have to find some way to bring that to life and get across to people what's actually happening."
Here's the video of our conversation.
Let me know what you thought of the show. See you next Sunday at 11 a.m.! |
[WM]How it feels when J.K. Rowling gives us more "Harry Potter" information.
J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" universe is enormous. And since closing the book on the main series in 2007, she keeps adding to it. There are spinoff books, movies, and a play in the franchise — many of which reveal new insight about Harry, Ron, Hermione, and other characters from the original series.
The wealth of "Harry Potter" material also means that there's a wealth of behind-the-scenes information that yields new details of how J.K. Rowling thought up the books, how the filmmakers made the movies, and a ton of other information about the "Harry Potter" universe. Rowling even launched Pottermore, which has become a sort of ever-evolving encyclopedia of trivia and back-stories from her world.
It's a lot to keep up with. But for "Harry Potter" fans, all of it is fascinating.
Harry Potter is rich, because his ancestor was a pharmaceutical tycoon.
Harry Potter finding out he's loaded in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."
One of the first things Harry does when he finds out he's a wizard way back in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," is visit the Gringotts wizarding bank in Diagon Alley. After all, he'll need some cash to buy school supplies for Hogwarts.
In his vault, he finds out that he has piles and piles of gold galleons. Harry's rich! Way more rich than most of his friends. Why? The books don't really explain. But Rowling addressed the issue on Pottermore.
In the 12th century, Harry's ancestor Linfred of Stinchcombe developed pharmaceutical remedies that were the basis for Skele-gro and Pepperup Potion. He built a business out of it, and the Potter family maintained the fortune for generations. Some time later, Harry's grandfather Fleamont Potter — the son of the "original" Harry Potter — quadrupled the family fortune with hair potion. The hair potion is even advertised in a stray newspaper in "Fantastic Beasts."
Gringotts does exchanges between magical and muggle money.
A Gringotts goblin from "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."
As J.K. Rowling pointed out, it's the only way Muggle-born wizards and witches could buy wands, since Ollivanders only takes galleons, knuts, and sickles — not pounds or euros.
There's one character from the books who existed in real life.
An engraved portrait of Nicolas Flamel.
In Rowling's series, Nicolas Flamel is the alchemist who created the Philosopher's Stone, the magical object at the center of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" that can grant a person immortality.
In real life, Flamel was a French scholar and bookseller who lived in the 14th and early 15th centuries. After his death, he got a reputation as an alchemist who secretly achieved immortality. Rowling wrote about the inspiration on Pottermore, where she said Flamel attended the French wizarding school Beauxbatons in her version of his life.
Green gloves were used to make the books fly around in the Hogwarts library.
Emma Watson as Hermione in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."
For the movies — particularly a scene in "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince"— the books in the Hogwarts library have a knack for organizing themselves on shelves. The secret behind the magic is that green gloves were used. They worked the same way green screen does, and were wiped away in post-production so it looked like the books floated on their own.
There were two Harry Potters.
The Mirror of Erised scene in "Sorcerer's Stone."
"Henry Potter (Harry to his intimates), was a direct descendant of Hardwin and Iolanthe, and served on the Wizengamot from 1913 - 1921. Henry caused a minor stir when he publicly condemned then Minister for Magic, Archer Evermonde, who had forbidden the magical community to help Muggles waging the First World War. His outspokenness on the behalf of the Muggle community was also a strong contributing factor in the family's exclusion from the 'Sacred Twenty-Eight.'"
The original Harry Potter didn't show up in the books, but he lived around the time of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." So don't rule him out for a surprise appearance in the movie series.
The film designers have been hiding a secret character in the movies' fake newspapers.
What does Harry know about the Ginger Witch?
The Fourth Estate is an important part of Rowling's universe. The Daily Prophet covers magic in Britain and The New York Ghost covers the same in the United States.
In almost every "Harry Potter" movie, it was the design firm MinaLima that put together the fake newspaper props for different scenes. They had fun with it. Throughout the series, you can spot stories about "The Ginger Witch." She's a hooligan with a multinational criminal past spanning decades.
"We know now that things do get seen," designer Miraphora Mina told INSIDER. "In the past, we didn't realize how much these would be scrutinized by fans."
Read about all of the Ginger Witch's exploits here.
There's a perfume company that exists in the background of both the "Harry Potter" and "Fantastic Beasts" movies.
Dumbledore in front of a Divine Magic poster in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" and a poster for the same brand featured in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."
Another one of MinaLima's inventions is the Divine Magic perfume company. We first see it in a poster behind Albus Dumbledore in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" when he meets with Harry at the beginning of the film. In "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," there's a street poster advertising the same brand more than half a century earlier.
Before becoming headmaster, Dumbledore was a Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts.
Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore.
Dumbledore is an academic and something of a magical genius. As his chocolate frog card attests, he's "particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel." So it makes sense that he was a teacher at the wizarding school, not just the administrator.
It was while Dumbledore was a Transfiguration teacher that Tom Riddle — later to become Lord Voldemort — attended Hogwarts. He also taught Newt Scamander, the main character in "Fantastic Beasts," with whom he has a close bond. An issue of the publication "Transfiguration Today" in the movie has an article featuring his work. Jude Law is slated to play Dumbledore in the forthcoming "Fantastic Beasts" movies, which will be about taking down his rival Gellert Grindelwald.
Newt Scamander was a Hufflepuff.
Scamander's scarf gives it away.
Speaking of Newt Scamander and Hogwarts, the character — played in "Fantastic Beasts" by Eddie Redmayne — was sorted into the Hufflepuff house. You might have spotted his canary-and-black scarf throughout the movie, signaling Hufflepuff's colors.
J.K. Rowling wanted "The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore" to look like "a trashy airport novel."
The cover of "The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore."
"The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore" was a biography written by Rita Skeeter, a gossip columnist hell-bent on destroying his reputation. For the movies, Rowling wanted to reflect the poor, salacious quality of the book. So she told MinaLima to make it overwrought like "a trashy airport novel."
MACUSA president Seraphina Picquery has a big throne that looks like Dumbledore's from Hogwarts.
Her golden throne in "Fantastic Beasts" was intentionally made to be a visual reference to Dumbledore's in Hogwarts's Great Hall.
"There were props designed to connect the film back to the 'Harry Potter' series,"supervising modeller Pierre Bohanna wrote in "Inside the Magic: The Making of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."
Colin Farrell didn't read a single page of "Harry Potter" before reading J.K. Rowling's script for "Fantastic Beasts."
He watched the movies, though.
Farrell told SFX Magazine earlier this year that he was a big fan of the "Harry Potter" movies, but he didn't read any of J.K. Rowling's work before reading her script. He wanted to play the role of auror Percival Graves based on that screenplay alone.
There's a good reason the Horcrux inside Harry wasn't destroyed in "Chamber of Secrets."
Harry getting bitten by the basilisk in "Chamber of Secrets."
For years, "Harry Potter" fans wondered what, exactly, was going on with the portion of Voldemort's soul that was inside Harry. When Voldemort tried and failed to kill Harry himself, he ended up inadvertently leaving a Horcrux inside him.
But if that's the case, why wasn't it destroyed when the Basilisk in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" bit Harry, just as its poison-infused fang destroyed the horcrux that was in Tom Riddle's diary?
"A Horcrux can only be destroyed if its container is damaged beyond repair," Rowling explained. "Harry was healed by Fawkes. Had he died, the Horcrux would indeed have been destroyed."
Many of the spells are derived from Latin roots.
When coming up with magical spells, Rowling clearly worked her studies of Classical language and mythology at the University of Exeter. Many of them are based in the Latin language. "Accio," for example, sounds like "accerso," which means "to summon or fetch." "Wingardium Leviosa," the summoning charm, from from the word "wing" (referring to flight); "ard" (from the Latin "aardus," which can mean "elevated"); and "levi" (which means "to lift").
J.K. Rowling wrote a "Harry Potter" prequel short story — and the original copy was stolen.
In 2008, Rowling hand wrote an 800-page story about James and Sirius Potter noodling around on magical motorcycles and escaping some muggle cops. You can read it here. She auctioned it off for charity, but in April of 2017, that handwritten draft was stolen and it hasn't been found to this day.
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore has a specific meaning for each of his names.
Yes, that's his full name.
Rowling is famous for her memorable, magical character names. She's put a lot of thought into them, and a lot of the names refer to some deeper meaning for each character. Dumbledore, as the character with the most names, might be the best example.
"Albus" is Latin for "white," which could be symbolic or just refer to his beard. "Percival" was one of King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table, who went in search for the lost grail. "Wulfric" may be a reference to the 12th-century British figure Wulfric of Haselbury, who was known as a miracle worker. And "Brian" is often thought to be derived from an Old Celtic word that roughly means "noble."
"Dumbledore" is one name that Rowling has discussed explicitly. It's an Old English word for "bumblebee."
"Because Albus Dumbledore is very fond of music, I always imagined him as sort of humming to himself a lot," Rowling said in a 1999 interview.
Some of the food in the movies was real.
One of the highlights of the "Harry Potter" movies and books are the feasts in the Hogwarts Great Hall. Shepherd's pie, Yorkshire pudding, and pumpkin juice seem to be served at every meal. During the epic feast scene in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," many of the dishes were actually cooked up for a more realistic effect. In general, the food was fake and made with resin.
The glass bottles in Snape's potions classroom was filled with really weird stuff.
There's probably gross stuff in there.
The movie's set designer found things like tufts of hair and unwanted guts and bones from local butchers for the potion ingredient vials. The room itself also expanded between movies, making room for more extras in later entries in the series.
Four different owls played Hedwig, Harry's owl, in the movies.
More than 12 rats played Scabbers, Ron's pet rat, four cats played Hermione's pet Crookshanks, and nine Neapolitan Mastiffs played Hagrid's dog, Fang.
Movie producers stood in for the Hogwarts moving portraits.
The portraits that line the walls of Hogwarts castle in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios, Orlando.
One of the magical castle's features is that it has paintings that move. Some of them had plot significance, like the Fat Lady in "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," who was played by comedian Dawn French. Others, though, were played by the movie's producers, who wanted to immortalize themselves in some way on screen.
15,000 glass orbs were made for the Room of Prophecy scene in "Order of the Phoenix." None of them were used.
You can still see the orbs on the Warner Bros. studio tour in London.
In the end, the producers decided to digitize the whole thing and none of the orbs made it to the movies.
The Black family tree wasn't canonized until the "Order of the Phoenix" movie.
The Black family is one of the oldest and most important in the wizarding community. There's Harry's godfather, Sirius Black, who's cousins with Voldemort's right-hand woman, Bellatrix Lestrange, and there's also Regulus Arcturus Black, who tried to destroy one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, and Phineas Nigellus Black, a former headmaster of Hogwarts.
It's confusing, and the books refer to a big tapestry in 12 Grimmauld Place, Sirius's family home, that features a family tree that lays it all out. But the actual content of that tapestry isn't entirely included in the books, so there are some gaps.
For the "Order of the Phoenix" movie, designer Miraphora Mina needed to include the tapestry in one of the scenes. So she called up J.K. Rowling, who mapped out the entire Black family for her. It's only from the movie that we have all of the relationships specified.
It took six months to design the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes scene in "Half-Blood Prince."
A display of packaging from Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes.
The joke shop — which Harry, Ron, and Hermione go to at the beginning of the movie — is filled with whizzing magical pranks, bubbling potions, and everything from Anti Gravity Hats to Self-propelling Custard Pies. It's a feat of imagination and hard work from Fred and George Weasley, and it all had to be re-created for the movie.
MinaLima made the boxes and labeling for every single item. Everything in the shop had to look like it was manufactured and sold by the Weasley twins, and have a bit of backstory to it.
"It was a bit of a dream, really, to have six months to design a load of crazy packaging," Mina told INSIDER. |
[WM]The Eagles, after trading LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills, might have found his replacement.
A person with knowledge of the situation, who requested anonymity, told NJ Advance Media that the Eagles have expressed interest in free-agent running back Frank Gore.
That person said a deal with the San Francisco 49ers star could get done as early as Tuesday, the first day free agents can sign with another team.
At this point, teams are not allowed to offer contracts to free agents. It is not clear how much it might cost the Eagles to sign Gore.
Gore, 31, finished last season with 1,106 yards on 255 carries and four touchdowns. One of 13 running backs to gain more than 1,000 yards last season, he ranked 10th among backs in the NFL.
Gore ran behind one of the top offensive lines in the NFL. ProFootball Focus ranked the Niners' as the ninth-best unit in the league last season. The Eagles finished second overall on the list.
His 4.3 yards per carry average was nearly identical to McCoy's 4.2 yards per carry.
Gore had a season high 119 rushing yards and a 55-yard touchdown reception in the 49ers' Week 4 win over Eagles last season.
How much of the workload Gore will get next season remains to be seen. If he joins the team, it's likely he will be the most experienced player on the roster.
The Eagles' need for a running back increased when they traded McCoy last week. They have Chris Polk (who they tendered as an unrestriced free agent), Darren Sproles, Kenjon Barner and Matthew Tucker on the roster.
There were rumblings on Saturday that the team might be interested in New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram, but Ingram re-signed before being able to accept other offers.
The free agency period is expected to be a busy one for the Eagles, who have approximately $46 million in salary-cap space. |
[WM]GENEVA, Mar 18 2013 (IPS) - The current growth model is not sustainable. Neither the green economy nor alternative sources of energy can prevent global warming. Solutions will come from concerted actions at the local and national levels, from the adoption of instruments and practices borrowed from other disciplines like peacebuilding, and from the move to a “no-waste economy”, according to experts here.
In its milestone report, “The Limits to Growth”, published in 1972, the Club of Rome warned that the human ecological footprint had grown dangerously quickly from 1900 to 1972. Shortly thereafter, the warning proved to be prophetic: by 1986 the human ecological footprint had overshot the carrying capacity of the Earth. At current production and consumption levels, we need 1.5 planets to survive; if everyone lived like a U.S. citizen, we would need five planets.
Land, water and biodiversity continue to decline. Global CO2 emissions are on the rise. The oceans are warming and the sea level is rising continuously. Forest cover has decreased by 300 million hectares since 1990.
In his new book, “The Crisis of Global Sustainability”, presented in Geneva on Mar. 15, Tapio Kanninen, co-director of a project on sustainable global governance at the City University of New York and member of the Club of Rome, warms that we cannot continue with the current model of economic growth whilst limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius.
Technology cannot help us – it would be environmentally damaging and too costly, he says. We cannot move to alternative sources of energy – the present alternatives like solar, nuclear and wind contribute relatively little of global energy needs and they are unlikely to replace fossil fuel completely. In short: humanity has reached a stalemate.
“Many U.N. summits after the (1987) Brundtland Commission have avoided concrete action,” Kanninen said at the book launch Friday.
The recent Rio+20 Earth Summit held in Brazil this past June is just one example of the limitations of these international gatherings. Though thousands of participants had hoped the conference would generate concrete solutions and commitments to reducing global warning, the concluding document made no mention of the 30-billion-dollar fund need to transition to a green economy, nor did it outline a blueprint for sustainable development post 2015.
Most of these summits draw very high-level attendance, but in the end industrialised countries’ national interests dominate the bargaining universe. The global North wants to safeguard its neoliberal economic targets, while the South continues to defend its development goals.
Kanninen advocates for a second review conference of the U.N. charter and a complete paradigm shift.
Kanninen advocates abandoning the old approach of viewing sustainable development as a battlefield and adopting instead instruments from peace-building processes.
Yves Lador, consultant and representative of the U.S.-based Earthjustice at the U.N. in Geneva, told IPS on the sidelines of the book launch that this was an interesting approach.
“Particularly (with regards) to climate change, we need some trust building measures inspired by the disarmament agreements”, through which governments allow outsiders to monitor their progress. He added that cross verification between different independent monitors could bolster the exercise.
“This would be very useful because we don’t know the reality of various countries’ emissions. China, for example, does not make this data readily available. India has problems in data collection, but welcomes outside advice on how to share this data with the public.
He cited growing awareness of the link between climate change and human rights as a salient example of the right to information – namely, the right of the public to know the extent and impacts of climate change and to participate in decision-making.
A circular economy is, by definition, a restorative economy: products should be designed for longer use and materials reused and recycled, which would increase the demand for maintenance and repairs. The concept has been around since the 1970s but it has gained momentum again due to the activities of the U.S.-based Ellen MacArthur Foundation and to “Bankrupting Nature”, a recent report authored by Ander Wijkman and Johan Rockström, co-president of the Club of Rome.
He believes an increase in services like leasing would compensate for the loss of jobs resulting from the decrease in production. Other major companies like Caterpillar have stopped selling huge trucks, and have begun to lease them. |
[WM]Google Music hasn’t been making a lot of noise lately and is, in some ways, in danger of being overshadowed by other cloud music sites. But the Internet giant has roared back with the addition of a key backup feature for users.
Starting immediately, Google Music users are able to instantly restore their music collection with a single click. That applies to both purchased music and any songs they’ve added from their own library.
It is, of course, a direct response to Apple’s iCloud, which automatically backs up App Store purchases, but also lets users backup music from other sources on their hard drive – for a price.
Google Music’s new features don’t appear to carry any charge – and they’re being targeted at the Android audience, though PC users will able to use them as well. The only catch? Users are restricted to two downloads each via the Web interface. |
[WM]... as the iPhone chips away at RIM dominance | City A.M.
STANDARD Chartered is replacing the BlackBerry, currently its standard corporate communications device, with the iPhone, a move that could eventually result in thousands of bankers switching to the Apple device for business communication on the go.
Standard Chartered bankers said the London-based lender was giving its corporate BlackBerry users the option of switching to the iPhone, with the company agreeing to continue to pay monthly billing for business-related telephone and data services.
The process of switching email services started about a month ago. It is not yet clear how many of the Asia-focused bank’s 75,000 employees used company-issued BlackBerries or when the switchover could be completed.
Bankers at other financial institutions such as HSBC and Morgan Stanley have so far been restricted to the BlackBerry as the standard device issued by their firms for business communications. |
[WM]TURLOCK , Calif.--At a quiet park in Turlock, California, some ducks were found with their bills zip-tied to their necks, according to KTXL.
Donnelly Park is a peaceful park in the middle of town. It's popular with families looking to spend some time by the water, under the trees.
The park is also home to several ducks.
But Sunday night, the ducks had something around their necks and Elizabeth Stevens took some pictures.
"I'm pretty sure someone did it to them, just how tight they were and how they were literally cut off as if someone tightened then and then cut it," Stevens said.
The zip ties were wrapped around the duck's neck, pinning its lower beak to its neck, its mouth open. Two of the animals had been bound in that same way.
"I thought it was pretty messed up. I don't understand why people would do that," Turlock resident Tyler White said.
So the group cut the ducks free.
"I couldn't catch them, she's the one who caught them," White said.
The story of the rescue has spread on social media, and while the friends are gratified by the support they've gotten, what's also clear is that it has restored a little of the faith they lost that night.
"So many people just saying 'thank you, you guys are good people.' And honestly, it's pretty heart-warming to know there's people that actually care," Stevens said. |
[WM]The federal government is accelerating Canada’s transition to a lower-carbon economy, even as conservative politicians in the provinces vow to scuttle key measures that would support that effort.
Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr endorsed an advisory council report Thursday that spells out an ambitious agenda of increasing energy efficiency, switching off fossil fuels and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the country’s oil and gas industry.
The Generation Energy report was produced by an advisory committee appointed by Mr. Carr after he hosted a conference last year on the need for a new Canadian energy strategy. The committee included representatives from the oil and gas industry and the electricity sector, as well as from clean energy and Indigenous organizations.
The panel declared that climate change is a growing danger, and that Canada must be part of a global transition to lower-carbon energy needed to avert the most catastrophic impacts.
However, there is considerable political opposition to the Liberal government’s climate-change approach. Conservative politicians argue that Ottawa and its allies among provincial governments are driving up energy costs for Canadians with carbon taxes while undermining the competitiveness of the domestic oil industry with levies and new regulations.
Doug Ford will be sworn in as Ontario premier on Friday and has already said he will scrap the province’s cap-and-trade system that not only puts a levy on carbon emissions but finances programs to help homeowners and businesses reduce their energy use. Alberta’s United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney says he will move in a similar direction should he win an election scheduled for next spring.
The Generation Energy report is hardly a radical document; the panel’s co-chairs are Merran Smith, president of the advocacy group Clean Energy Canada, and Linda Coady, chief sustainability officer for pipeline and natural gas giant Enbridge Inc.
The report includes no call for Canada to rely solely on renewable energy by a certain date; there is no direct attack on the oil sands industry nor opposition to industry’s plan for three pipeline expansion projects that would increase volumes of Canadian crude to U.S. and offshore markets.
However, it does lay out a daunting challenge for the country’s oil and gas sector, which suffered from the global price collapse of 2014-15 and is recovering far more slowly than some international competitors.
The goal, it said, is for the Canadian oil industry to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions on a per-barrel basis below that of major competitors, while also reducing costs. To get there, the industry will have to make massive investments in new technology and innovation.
That’s a tall order for oil sands companies whose production is among the most carbon intensive in the world, and whose cost structure is high. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers complained recently that climate and other environmental policies are placing an increasing burden on its members that make it difficult to attract investment.
In an interview, Mr. Carr said the Generation Energy panel’s conclusion are consistent with the Liberal government’s approach, which emphasizes action on climate change and providing incentives for Canadians to use less energy and lower-carbon energy, while supporting the traditional fossil fuel sector.
Conservative MP Ed Fast slammed the Liberals for undermining the oil and gas industry as it pursues its environmental agenda. “I find it appalling that the Liberals are taking reckless action that will only speed up the decline of the Canadian economy,” the Conservative environment critic said. |
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