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[WM]Beautiful 4 bedroom 2 bath Cape Cod style home located in the desirable Northwoods Park neighborhood. This home is within walking distance to neighborhood schools and is within a short commute to Camp Lejeune and New River Air Station. The first-floor features 2 bedrooms, full bathroom, laundry room and a cozy family room with built in shelving. While upstairs you'll find 2 large bedrooms and another full bath. Outside is a spacious fenced back yard that includes a concrete patio and a concrete storage building that is perfect to store lawn equipment and tools. |
[WM]A Houston-area mother and son are suing activist Quanell X, alleging he passed himself off as a lawyer and took money for legal services he never delivered.
The seeds of the dispute started last year, when Mahalia John paid Quanell - whose real name is Ralph Evans - $2,500 to get her son's criminal record expunged, according to court filings.
Quanell allegedly told the Johns they could get rid of their existing lawyer and let him take over. But then, the family says, Quanell never delivered.
"Mr. Evans wrongfully held himself himself out to be an attorney," the suit alleges. "Mr. Evans provided zero services to Ms. John at anytime, and specifically no services related to the contract and payment for services to him."
"At no time have I ever told anyone that I am an attorney or that I practice law," he said. "Whenever someone brings me onto a case, on the contract it clearly state in bold that I am not an attorney."
The lawsuit, filed in Harris County court Monday, is the second such claim against Quanell in as many months. In June, Latorsha and Wiley Smith filed a lawsuit claiming they'd paid $3,500 for legal representation and also received "zero services."
Attorney Drew Willey is handling both cases, and asking for a $10,000 penalty in addition to at least $100,000 in damages.
Earlier this year, the People's New Black Panther Party parted ways with Quanell amid ongoing allegations he'd failed to deliver services to families he was paid to represent.
"This has been going on for over a decade in the community," Yahcanon Ben Yah, the party's national chairman, said at the time. "He has been in this situation before and what we want to do now is come out and let the people know that we do not condone his actions. He is not a part of us. He is not our leader."
Quanell built a name for himself as an outspoken advocate for victims of police brutality and corruption, helping criminals turn themselves in and garnering media coverage in high-profile cases.
A former drug dealer and erstwhile minister, he found himself the subject of controversy in 2016 when a group of his detractors held a press conference to accuse him of bilking them on agreements.
"We welcome any member of the human family to reach out to us for help but when you do, please tell us the truth and don't leave out any important facts," Quanell said in a statement at the time. "Often, people come to us claiming racism and when we research and investigate the case, we learn that racism has nothing to do with the case. Just because you have retained my office to help you does not mean we will lie for you."
Quanell has not responded in court to either of the recent suits and said he had not yet formally been served. |
[WM]Cara Simmons, right, and her sister, Glori Nicholson, react to news that she now owns a Cleveland Heights home.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cara Simmons has never liked surprises. But surprises in her lifetime never included the keys and title to a freshly renovated house.
"I'm going to have to change my mind on surprises," she said.
Simmons, of Cleveland Heights, was the "victim" of a "Prank it Forward" prank perpetuated by DEFY media. She was sent by her employer, Maid Brite, to help prepare a client for a party and instead ended up tasting a gourmet meal, getting a new wardrobe and, the kicker, the house she was there to clean was actually hers to keep. Fully furnished and decorated.
Nearly 5 million have watched the episode on DEFY's break.com Web site. Simmons has become a media darling, appearing on "The Queen Latifah Show" among others.
Becoming an instant viral sensation came as a bit of a surprise to Simmons, too.
"I had no idea what was going on. It was the most amazing prank," said Simmons, 36, a Cleveland native and Shaw High School grad.
Her boss at Maid Brite, Mary Jo Dean, answered a query from a DEFY Media producer looking for a deserving prank "victim" in Cleveland. She provided info on all of her employees, asking them for information under the ruse that it was for the company Facebook page. It was narrowed down to three women, all single moms, and the producer recorded video of them, saying it was a company video.
Simmons' sister, Glori Nicholson, who was also in the video praising her and who was "pranked" with a trip with her sister to Mexico, also works at Maid Brite and was one of the finalists. They chose Cara Simmons because of her emotion and her story.
Dean said she didn't know the house was part of the prank until the last minute.
"I was in shock and stunned and crying," she said. "I was hoping for a car."
In the first "Prank it Forward" in April, an LA waitress got "tips" of cash, a trip, a new job offer and a car.
The video of Simmons' big day notes that she had had medical issues. They were severe. Simmons said she suffered from ulcerative colitis, which had gone undiagnosed.
"It's extremely painful and I was battling that and there were times when I had to be out of work without any income. I faced eviction a few times," she said. "I'm blessed to have people in my life to pull me through and hold my hand. It was tough. My kids stay with other people because I couldn't get up and get them to school."
Her condition was diagnosed at MetroHealth hospital and she is now taking medication to manage it.
DEFY agreed with Dean that Simmons was deserving of a prank and partnered with Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland to make it happen.
Lou Tisler, executive director of that organization, said it was imperative to find a home in Cleveland Heights, as Simmons' three children – Cierra-Mia, 17, Kiarah, 16 and St. Gavin, 6 – attend Cleveland Heights schools.
Tisler said Ocwen Financial Corporation donated the Cleveland Heights home and property, which had been in foreclosure. DEFY came up with $65,000 for rehab. Simmons will own the home in a land trust deal, meaning the property is owned by NHS but leased to her (99 years, renewable, no fee.) She can deed it over to her children. If she sells the house, the land-trust deal assures the house stays in the hands of low to moderate income buyers, Tisler said.
Simmons hasn't moved into the home yet. She's still in a rental a few miles away and working to prepare for home ownership.
"I'm kind of taking my time and making sure I understand everything," she said.
"We want to make sure she can actually afford it going forward. To know in Cleveland Heights, with the tax base, what it means to own a home with taxes and maintenance. We're really working with her on a deep level."
Simmons said it's been an education.
"They're doing an amazing job preparing me for the things I need to do and not do. They are walking me through it and holding my hand," she said.
Soon, certainly before Christmas, she'll move in and fulfill a dream.
"I have never owned a home. I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would ever be able to own a home. It was the same chance as walking on the moon, that's how I felt about it," she said.
"But I have always wanted to own a home and I remember being young and having a home with my family, and my parents got a divorce and it changed and we moved, but I remember the happiness there," she said. "I think my family will just create awesome memories in this house." |
[WM]Although the recently leaked audio of Hillary Clinton speaking to campaign donors back in February about her rival Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and his basement-dwelling millennial supporters is hardly as damning as some have suggested, it does serve as an important reminder of the sharp divisions that surfaced during the Democratic primaries between progressives and Democratic partisans, and why many Sanders supporters remain deeply skeptical of Clinton one month before the presidential election.
Clinton, who admits in one of the soundbites to occupying “the center-left to the center-right” of the political spectrum, comes across as mildly condescending — yet also sympathetic — to Sanders’ millennial base. None of what she says is at all surprising, and most of her commentary is accurate when it comes to understanding why so many millennials supported the democratic socialist.
Clinton, ever the realist, goes on to call Sanders’ entire campaign a “false promise,” and mockingly remarks that she is still trying to figure out what he means by a "political revolution."
Eight months later, many people continue to misconstrue what Sanders meant by calling for a political revolution, and assume — like Clinton — that the senator’s campaign was pie in the sky idealism at best, demagoguery at worst.
Of course, while Sanders had a historic run, he didn't win the nomination — and many of his younger supporters remain bitter about this fact (especially after it was revealed that the DNC has been pulling for Clinton behind the scenes). Recent polling shows that Clinton continues to be very unpopular with millennials, albeit not quite as unpopular as the Donald, whose blatant xenophobia and sexism are repellent to most people under 30. Millennial voters (18-29) dislike both Clinton and Trump so much that only 41 percent of them say that they are certain to vote in November, according to an ABC/Washington Post poll from last week. The survey also found that under-30 voters prefer Clinton over Trump by only 2 points, compared to a 30-point preference for President Obama over Mitt Romney in 2012.
So did the Sanders campaign simply bring about more disillusionment and cynicism among young voters? And was the senator making false promises that he knew he couldn’t keep?
This is essentially what Sanders meant by a political revolution, and it’s a message that has long been espoused by those on the left, from socialists and anarchists to unionists and civil rights activists. Put simply, political and social change is in the hands of the people, and no meaningful or radical reform will happen as long as the populace passively accepts the status quo and assumes that revolving-door bureaucrats and billionaire-backed politicians have their interests at heart.
Hillary Clinton takes more of a top-down approach to politics, and gladly stands in the political center (leaning more toward the left or right depending on who she’s talking to). The former secretary of state considers Sanders’ populism naive and unrealistic, and accepts the technocratic method that has dominated the Democratic Party for the past 30 years.
But what exactly has modern technocratic liberalism achieved? Some of the Democratic Party’s most important achievements — most notably the Affordable Care Act — are also some of the most jumbled, bureaucratic and corporate-friendly pieces of legislation in modern history (Bill Clinton slipped up a few days ago when he called Obamacare the "craziest thing in the world," which he has since walked back). A fine example of the technocratic liberal is MIT professor and Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber, who said in 2014 that "Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage,” and that “the stupidity of the American voter” was critical for ACA to pass.
Of course, this kind of convoluted legislation, watered down by special interest demands and intentionally opaque, is almost inevitable in the current political system. And this is exactly why Sanders was calling for a popular movement to combat the status quo. It is naive to think that revolving-door bureaucrats and politicians desperate for campaign cash would ever agree to radical reform without a popular movement demanding it from below. With this in mind, is it not more accurate to describe Sanders as a realist than a utopian? |
[WM]The Air Force Historical Support Division is part of the Air Force History and Museums Program and is located in Washington, DC at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling.
AFHSD is primarily the historical research and book writing element of the Air Force History program. Historians at AFHSD also provide historical information, analysis and perspective to Air Force leaders and their staffs to support planning, policy development and decision making.
See the TITLES listing above under "Books" for a full listing of our publications.
The US Air Force in Southeast Asia and the Vietnam War. A Narrative Chronology: Vol. I: The Early Years through 1959. By Kenneth H. Williams, 2019.
The USAAF inserts an OSS team into Vietnam in 1945 to work with the leadership of the Viet Minh, to prepare a guerrilla force to harass Japanese troops in the region. Picture includes Ho Chi Minh and Vo Nguyen Giap.
USAF C-119s taking off from a base in Vietnam in the Spring of 1954. The USAF planes were loaned to the French and had French markings, but were maintained by USAF mechanics.
A loaned USAF plane is being repainted with French markings for use of the French in 1954 Indochina war.
A USAF C-119 undergoes repairs in Vietnam during the Indochina War. The planes were loaned to the French, maintained by USAF personnel, and flown by the French and US civilians.
Principal USAF/VNAF airfields in Vietnam up to 1965.
The story of how the United States became entangled in Southeast Asia is a long and complicated one, and the U.S. Air Force (USAF) was a part of the equation at every step. The USAAF/USAF was flying in the region from 1942 through the collapse of the U.S.-supported government in Saigon in 1975. This chronology seeks to document, and to honor the service and sacrifice of, U.S. airmen for the full span of U.S. involvement. It ranges beyond strictly Air Force topics to provide a framework of context for why U.S. service members deployed to the region. Much of the context is not as far removed from the USAF as it might first appear, as any time senior leaders discussed potential U.S. military involvement in Southeast Asia throughout the 1950's, nearly all scenarios prominently featured air assets of the USAF and/or carrier-based U.S. Navy (USN) aircraft. |
[WM]Millions of American workers in their 50s and 60s want, or need, to keep working past the traditional retirement age of 65 — either part-time or full-time. But after attending Columbia University’s 2017 Age Boom Academy program for journalists, Exploring Inequities in Health, Work and Retirement, I’ve learned how difficult (if not impossible) that can be for many of them.
But I also learned from the international Age Boom Academy experts that there are a few things employers, the U.S. government and older workers could do to make staying employed for additional years of our longer lives a more likely reality. The time is right: By 2020, one in four American workers will be over 55.
But just imagine the payoffs if the nation made it easier for people who are physically and mentally able to continue working to do so.
For those staying in the workforce: better health (cognitive and physical) and finances, more social engagement and higher life satisfaction “Early retirement appears to have a significant negative impact on the cognitive ability of people in their early 60s,” wrote Age Boom Academy speakers Susann Rohwedder, associate director of the RAND Center for the Study of Aging and Robert J. Willis, a University of Michigan economics professor, in a 2010 academic article. And “complete retirement leads to a 23% to 29% increase in difficulties associated with mobility and daily activities,” according to a paper by Ursula Staudinger, founding director of the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center; Age Boom Academy director Ruth Finkelstein and other researchers.
The financial payoff — from additional years of salary and, ideally, retirement plan contributions — is obvious, if sometimes overlooked. “We too often frame the conversation about finding purpose in later life, rather than economic survival,” said Finkelstein, who is associate director of the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center.
Working longer, said Axel Börsch-Supan of the Munich Center for the Economics of Aging, also may make you happier. He cited research showing that people who retired early wish they’d retired 1.8 years later, on average. “People regret retiring too early,” he noted.
For the U.S. government: more income taxes, Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes and a stronger economy The longer people continue working, the more they provide tax revenues and the more they're likely to spend.
“We have longer lives, so let’s use them,” said Staudinger, a Columbia professor of sociomedical sciences and psychology.
What follows are a few things that would help Americans work longer and delay full-stop retirement, if they want and can, based on research and insights dispensed at Age Boom Academy. In coming weeks, you’ll see more about work, health and retirement from my Next Avenue colleagues Emily Gurnon, Kerry Hannon and Chris Farrell, who also attended the program.
Only 5% of U.S. companies offered a formal phased retirement program, according to the 2016 Society for Human Resource Management survey. Phased retirement is one of the 10 “age smart policies and practices” on Finkelstein’s list of them. “Flexibility” is another.
Make jobs less routine and more interesting for older workers. “Small changes in repetitive jobs can make a big effect in the cognitive health of older workers,” said Staudinger.
“It’s very important for employers to keep motivation up by giving workers interesting jobs. That makes you more productive as you age,” said Börsch-Supan. “Productivity declines for people with routine jobs, like opening letters.” Let the robots do those tasks; increasingly, they can. In Germany’s auto and insurance industries, Börsch-Supan said, employers intentionally retool their workers to keep them current and enthusiastic.
Make workspaces more amenable to older workers, especially blue-collar ones. BMW famously spent just $50,000 to overhaul one of its assembly lines in 2007 and make it more older-worker friendly (adding chairs, enlarging computer screen typefaces, that sort of thing). Productivity rose 7% and absenteeism dropped from 7% to 2%.
“Health and safety protections might make work less odious,” said Finkelstein. Staudinger cited a study where workers in physically strenuous settings were given 20 minutes of daily physical therapy exercises, which resulted in reduced sick days. “The benefit was way more than the investment,” she added.
Begin an end to the time-honored seniority pay structure. Granted, it would be highly controversial not to pay people more for each year they work at an employer. But it may be time to consider this switch, as has been happening in Japan. Perhaps the way to start would be on a pro-rata basis, with older employees who move from full-time to part-time work at their firms or nonprofits.
This change in thinking about pay could help prevent managers from getting rid of otherwise valuable full-time workers in their 50s and 60s merely because they cost more than those in their 20s, 30s and 40s.
Change the Medicare rules for people working after 65. Under current law, if an employer has 20 or more employees, its group health plan generally pays health benefits for workers 65 and older first and Medicare kicks in for coverage after that. That’s a strong disincentive for employers to retain or hire workers 65 or older. “I’m an expensive employee,” said Willis, 76, noting that the University of Michigan pays for his health insurance.
Pass age discrimination legislation to prevent employers from getting off the hook so easily. As Age Boom participant and ProPublica reporter Peter Gosselin has written zealously lately, a 2009 Supreme Court ruling (Gross v. FBL Financial Services) has made it near impossible to win an age-discrimination case. The Gross decision said an employee who thinks he was a victim of age discrimination must show he wouldn’t have suffered it “but for” his age.
“Age discrimination remains widespread and difficult to challenge, 50 years after the Age Discrimination in Employment Act,” said Ruth Milkman, a sociology professor at the City University of New York.
Gonzales and his colleagues have created a Workforce Age Discrimination Scale which determined that age discrimination is significantly related to an increased desire to retire among older workers.
Think more entrepreneurial. This doesn’t necessarily mean leaving your employer to start a business, although that could be worth considering. It’s more about reassessing what Staudinger calls your “competency profile” and finding the job that best matches it. |
[WM]Labour leader Joseph Muscat said this morning that former deputy leader Anglu Farrugia was still 'very relevant' to the PL and he could, if he wished, contest the next election.
Dr Farrugia resigned from PL deputy leader yesterday.
His resignation seems to have been forced on him after an article in The Times about his speech on Sunday revealed the name of a magistrate he accused of political bias.
Magistrate Audrey Demicoli had acquitted a man of vote rigging in the March 2008 election. Her judgment was overturned by an Appeals Court, which found the restaurateur in question guilty of threatening to sack one of his employees if she did not vote for the Nationalist Party. The restaurateur was fined €800.
In his two-page resignation letter (see pdf link below), which Dr Farrugia has now made public, he says that he has lost confidence in Dr Muscat.
He says his speech on Sunday had been well received by Dr Muscat and also the public but following the article in The Times which revealed the magistrate’s name, Dr Muscat contacted him abroad, where he was on a brief his holiday with his family and asked him to resign.
In his letter, Dr Farrugia tells Dr Muscat he felt he should resign as it did not seem that Dr Muscat had understood anything of what he wanted to say.
He also said he did not feel he should contest the next election but would remain an honest and true follower of the party.
Asked by timesofmalta.com about Dr Farrugia's statement that he (Dr Farrugia) had lost confidence in him, Dr Muscat said he understood that Dr Farrugia was hurt but he wanted to assure him that he was still relevant.
The PL's door, he said, remained open to Dr Farrugia and if he wanted, he was welcome to contest the next election.
In a clear jibe about how the PN handled Franco Debono, Dr Muscat said that he still considered Dr Farrugia as “a very relevant person” and “the Labour party’s door will always remain open to him”.
“If Farrugia wants to contest the next election the door is always open to him,” he said.
On who will take Dr Farrugia vacant post, Dr Muscat said that in the coming hours the party will show that it is able to make a good choice which will ensure a real change in the country’s direction.
Dr Farrugia's resignation letter can be read in the pdf link below. |
[WM]A waitress in Arizona – who is nine months pregnant and is expecting some big medical bills – was touched to the point of tears when she received a massive 1,468 percent tip from two unidentified customers.
Sarah Clark, a waitress at the Pita Jungle in Phoenix, received the $900 gratuity on a $61.30 tab on Dec. 17.
What do YOU think? Are you feeling the holiday spirit yet? Sound off in today’s WND poll!
Clark is expecting to have her baby girl Jan. 8. She says her fiancé, who also works in the restaurant industry and doesn’t receive paid time off, is injured and not working. He is scheduled to undergo surgery soon.
The Christmas gift came at the perfect time for the young mother, who said she would like to spend some time at home with her little bundle of joy. |
[WM]BURBANK — Granada Hills resident Bob Kalaba found a new best friend in a Labrador mix named Iggy, whom he adopted Saturday at the Burbank Animal Shelter.
Iggy playfully ran to Kalaba, tail wagging.
Kalaba and his family were the first group to adopt an adult dog at the shelter's Annual Summer Adoption Fair that runs until Thursday.
"I wanted to adopt one that was going to be euthanized if nobody took the dog," he said. "That to me is so sad."
Iggy's previous owner turned her over to the shelter because she was "not a good camping dog, so just go ahead and put her to sleep," Kalaba was told.
"We took her because she is a sweet dog, and as long as she likes to go for walks — that's all I want," he said.
Kalaba's children and wife researched and visited various shelters before settling on Burbank.
Adopting a pet Saturday also allowed some owners to take advantage of the Volunteers of the Burbank Animal Shelter's offer to pay 50% of adoption fees for all pets.
If an owner decided to adopt a second pet, the organization offered to pay the entire fee.
"That, to me, was a pretty good idea," Kabala said. "I wouldn't say that tipped the scales, but it is certainly nice."
The organization pays out about $3,000 to $4,000 during the annual adoption, said Molly Stretten, interim kitten foster program manager.
Potential owners began lining up about 9 a.m. for a round inside the shelter.
Officials said summer is the busiest adoption season of the year.
That morning, the shelter received a new litter of seven puppies, all of which were quickly snatched up.
"Most people who come here already know they are going to adopt," said Cecelia Martinez, the organization's kitty foster placement coordinator.
About 96 kittens were available for foster care, which require parents to provide care, food and shelter until the pets are ready for adoption.
"We are looking for someone who could provide a good home for our kittens," Martinez said. |
[WM]A look at Fremont9, the newest downtown residential project on Fremont Street and 9th Street, Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2018.
The Downtown Project’s quest to revitalize downtown Las Vegas has always been hampered by a lack of available housing.
Fremont9, a five-story mid-rise that offers 232 residential units and 15,000 square feet of retail space in downtown’s East Village District, could help change that. Amid construction and preparations for this weekend’s Life is Beautiful festival, a group of developers on Tuesday morning cut the ribbon on a new luxury apartment tower.
Rent at Fremont9 ranges from $845 per month for a 395-square-foot studio to $3,961 per month for a 1,330-square-foot three-bedroom apartment. Parking is extra, but residents who fully embrace the Fremont9 ethos won’t be driving that much anyway.
If it seems unusual to have a music festival going up across the street from a housing complex, that’s a feature not a bug of Fremont9. Every resident receives a free pass to the festival. Located at 901 Fremont Street, on the corner of Fremont Street and 9th Street, Fremont9 is built for residents who want to be surrounded by hip downtown bars and restaurants.
Fremont9 came about as a partnership between the Downtown Project, which owned the land, and real estate investors the Wolff Co., which took the lead on bringing the project to fruition. Construction costs were $43 million to $44 million, said Nate Carlson of the Wolff Co.
The roughly 15,000 square feet of retail space is ready and waiting to host those three Cs. On the day of ribbon cutting, expansive floor-to-ceiling windows on the ground floor revealed empty space inside, pure possibility.
“The space can be devised to accommodate different tenants. Currently, it is open so that they do not limit the tenants they can work with,” says Fremont9 spokesperson Megan Fazio, who notes that leasing is still in the early stages because the opening is so recent.
A grocery store would be an ideal tenant. Within walking distance, the Market on 611 Fremont Street has downsized its grocery options to make room for Bronze Cafe. The Family Food Mart on 1102 Fremont Street is also within walking distance, but it is no luxury bodega.
Meanwhile, established local retailers are thrilled about the planned influx of well-heeled residents. Cathy Brooks of Hydrant Club, a dog daycare on 109 N. 9th Street, says she has been eagerly awaiting Fremont9's opening since the groundbreaking. The property allows dogs under a certain weight.
One type of retail that won’t be found at Fremont9 is Airbnb. Just like subleasing, it’s forbidden by property management. This is in contrast with nearby condo tower The Ogden (150 N. Las Vegas Blvd.), which because it is owner-occupied has a variety of units available on Airbnb.
In line with the national trend of builders focusing on the high-end market, which includes the recently opened Lotus LV in Chinatown, Fremont9 offers a host of enviable amenities. There are stainless steel appliances, quartz countertops and built-in blackout shades to match the oversized windows. In addition to a pool and yoga room, the fitness room features a wooden floor reclaimed from a high school gym. Hand-painted murals add an artsy allure to common areas. The Wolff Co.’s Nate Carlson says that the edgy vibe was carefully curated to foster a sense of creativity that aligns with downtown.
Additional amenities include common rooms with a video wall, a music wall, billiards and a TopBrewer brand app-powered espresso machine. There’s an “entertainment kitchen” and “community dining space.” Interior courtyards have bocce ball, ping pong and barbecue grills. Bicycle storage and 24/7 on-demand parcel lockers complete the urban lifestyle.
So much luxury does not come cheap, and the central downtown location comes at an extra price. Luxury apartments elsewhere in the valley are significantly less expensive. A 1,440-sqare-foot unit at Elysian at The District rents for $2,522 per month, which is nearly $1,500 less than a comparable unit at Fremont9. Apartments at The Well in Henderson’s Union Village, which are also owned by The Wolff Group, range from $1,051 for 465 square feet to $1,977 for 1,201 square feet.
Urban living giveth and taketh away. The advantage of living downtown comes in the form of walkability. The disadvantage of high-density living is the loss of free parking. A parking space at Fremont9 will set residents back another $100-$250 per month, depending on whether they choose a garage or carport. Residents who prefer a more budget option are encouraged to rent a space from the nearby municipal “Llama Lot.” Or they can always try their luck finding a free space on the street.
Potential residents have not been deterred. Carlson says that in 30 days of being open, the property has become about 37 to 38 percent occupied.
Downtown Project executive vice president of operations Michael Downs is most proud of the location of Fremont9 and how the property is helping transform the area. In addition to new construction, Downs says that the Downtown Project is working to capitalize on demand for housing by renovating properties they already own.
About a block away from Fremont9 is the 10-unit Nolana, which Downs said became 100 percent occupied within a month of going on the market. DTP is also working on renovations of Fergusons and the Downtowner, which will become mixed-use spaces. The newly renovated Cassia, an 18-unit apartment complex on 9th street and Bridger, will open next week. |
[WM]A guy spends $1.94 on his prepaid VISA card and receives a bill for $23,148,855,308,184,500. VISA also charged him a $15 overdraft fee.
This tale of IT failure is so extreme as to be a joke, making it the perfect story for a mid-summer Friday.
A guy spends $1.94 on his prepaid VISA card and then receives a bill for $23,148,855,308,184,500. Making things worse, VISA also charged the poor fellow an additional $15 fee.
In a comment titled "Visa deserves glitchslapping?," an anonymous coward pointed out that the incorrect charges, which applied to purchases for cigarettes, gasoline, and sundry other items and services, came to exactly 2,314,885,530,818,450,000 cents, which when converted to binhex comes to 2020202020201250.
"It looks to me like somebody blank-filled a field, plopped the actual charged amount into the end (hex 1250, decimal 4688, likely amount $46.88), and then interpreted the entire field as a hex number," AC wrote. "If so, this is the kind of bug that would have been caught in even the most cursory testing, in which case the 'technical glitch' Visa talks about was not really in the software--bugs happen--but in their own shoddy procedures that allowed untested software to go live."
This still doesn't explain how 13,000 people could all be charged precisely the same amount for purchases whose real-world value were vastly different. Reg reader Stuart McConnachie, who also forwarded the binhex theory, guesses the identical overcharge is the result of a rounding error. When converting to a real number, only the first 15 digits were included, he said. The remainder were converted to zero.
Moral of the story. Check your bill carefully, I suppose. What do you think? |
[WM]This is great. The geniuses at People Magazine stitched together pictures of celebrities posing with younger versions of themselves. Think Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey was always such a fine actor? You must've forgot about his goofy haircut! Only remember Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale as superbly talented? They were once wide eyed boys too. And what about Jennifer Lawrence? Well, she's still so young so she just looks like she has a twin.
The photoshopping work is great, the younger version of the celebs all look like super excited fans of the hardened actors we know now. Except Meryl Streep, she always looked regal. See them all at People Magazine. |
[WM]The Fed raised interest rates for the third time this year on Wednesday.
Spot palladium rose 0.9 percent to $1,075.98 an ounce, a fresh eight-month high.
Gold prices edged higher on Thursday as investors largely discounted a U.S. interest rate hike, but gains were limited as the dollar rose following reports of a row in Italy's new government.
"The fact that the Fed didn't come out as overly hawkish meant there was some positivity felt through emerging market currencies. This may be playing in gold being gingerly bought," said Stephen Innes, APAC trading head at OANDA in Singapore.
"We are still big sellers towards $1,200 an ounce and buyers towards $1,190 ... Bargain hunting is definitely coming to the equation at the lower end of the scale."
MSCI's index for emerging market currencies edged up 0.2 percent on Thursday.
"The Fed statement did not have much of an impact on the dollar and so we would venture to guess that the greenback could resume a little lower over the course of the next week or two, possibly giving gold an element of support," INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir said in a note.
However, there is little evidence that gold's tight trading range will change anytime soon, Meir added.
The dollar index gained against a basket of six major currencies, supported by a dip in the euro after Italian daily La Stampa said Economy Minister Giovanni Tria "was ready to leave", before a spokeswoman for the ministry dismissed the report.
"There has been some physical demand below $1,200, which is supporting gold," said Peter Fung, head of dealing at Wing Fung Precious Metals in Hong Kong.
Among other precious metals, spot palladium rose 0.9 percent to $1,075.98 an ounce, a fresh eight-month high.
Silver climbed 0.8 percent to $14.40 an ounce and platinum gained 0.9 percent to $828.30 per ounce. |
[WM]Decision made by Agriculture Minister Ariel following Israeli ambassador expulsion from Turkey and Erdoğan statements.
Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel ordered freezing import of agricultural produce from Turkey to Israel this afternoon, following the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador from Turkey and statements made by President Erdoğan.
"President Erdoğan preaches to the entire world while he funds terrorist organizations like Hamas," said the Minister.
Earlier in the day, Turkey officially declared Israel's ambassador to Ankara Eitan Naeh persona non grata and expelled him from the country.
Turkey has thus stepped up its anti-Israeli moves after last night recalling its ambassadors from Israel and the United States for consultations following IDF fire on Gaza rioters and the US Embassy Jerusalem transfer.
President Erdoğan today tweeted "Netanyahu is the PM of an apartheid state that has occupied a defenseless people's lands for 60+ yrs in violation of UN resolutions.
"He has the blood of Palestinians on his hands and can't cover up crimes by attacking Turkey.
"Want a lesson in humanity? Read the 10 commandments." |
[WM]FRANKFURT (Reuters) - E.ON expects a planned British retail energy joint venture between Innogy’s npower and SSE to go ahead despite intensifying regulatory scrutiny, Chief Financial Officer Marc Spieker said.
Earlier, British regulators launched an in-depth investigation into the tie-up, saying it may reduce competition and increase prices for some households.
The deal bears significance for E.ON, which last month unveiled plans to acquire Innogy’s European customer businesses as part of a larger asset swap with Innogy’s parent RWE.
Spieker said that deal would be unaffected should regulators eventually decide to block the npower-SSE transaction. |
[WM]HELENA, Mont. — U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte is pinning his third campaign in two years on Montana residents being better off economically since President Donald Trump took office and that the voters will give him some of the credit.
Gianforte has tied his political fortunes to Trump as he seeks his first full term in Montana's only House seat. He won a special election last year to serve the remainder of Ryan Zinke's term after Zinke resigned to become Interior Department secretary.
Gianforte has had to fend off renewed criticism over his assault on Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs the day before that special election. His Democratic opponent, Kathleen Williams, has made it a campaign issue, and Trump praised him for it during a recent rally.
The entrepreneur-turned-politician initially gave a tepid endorsement of the president during a failed campaign for governor in the same 2016 Montana election that Trump won in a landslide, then found himself on the winning side in the 2017 special election when he became a full-throated Trump supporter.
"Thank God Donald Trump is our president," Gianforte said to cheers during a recent rally in East Helena. "You know why we're doing this. In America, we've always believed that if you work hard, follow the rules and persevere, you can make a better life for yourself. That's the American dream. "
Gianforte has centered his campaign on emphasizing his 16 months in office and telling voters that he's working hand in hand with the president.
He's cited his trips on Air Force One and visits to the Oval Office. His speeches are peppered with "we" and "us" when he talks about the economy, as in, "We've gotten the economy going," and "We now have more jobs open in the country than people looking for work," as he said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.
Williams, a former state lawmaker and water specialist for state government and a nonprofit organization, said she doesn't believe Gianforte's time in office gives him an advantage.
"He's hiding behind his incumbency. Well — he's barely an incumbent," she told the AP. "He hasn't done that much. So, I don't think it's a disadvantage at all."
Williams was the only woman running in a crowded Democratic primary in June, beating out two better-funded men in a year that has seen a record number of women running for office.
She is seeking to become the first Democrat to hold the House seat since Pat Williams left in 1997. She also would be the first woman to hold the office since Jeannette Rankin left in 1943.
Libertarian Elinor Swanson is also on the ballot.
Williams, 57, has centered her campaign on the themes of improving health care and access to it, along with protecting the environment and Montana's outdoor heritage. In a dig at Trump and Gianforte, she also says restoring civility and integrity to Congress and restoring America's place in the world are among her top priorities.
Gianforte, 57, is a technology entrepreneur who turned to politics after selling his software company, RightNow Technologies, to Oracle for $1.8 billion in 2011. He says his top issues are undoing Obama-era regulations in a bid to promote economic growth, improving community safety by addressing the methamphetamine crisis, protecting gun rights and increasing access to public lands.
Williams has steadily been attacking Gianforte's record. In October, she stepped up those attacks to include the assault against Jacobs last year.
Gianforte pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault for throwing the reporter to the ground when he tried to ask the candidate a question.
Williams released an ad with audio of the assault taken from Jacobs' recorder on the same day that Trump praised Gianforte for the attack, thrusting it back into the spotlight in the final weeks of the campaign.
It received additional attention when Jacobs' lawyer sent Gianforte's lawyer a letter accusing the congressman of lying about the attack and mischaracterizing the terms of a settlement.
Gianforte also ratcheted up his political attacks. His campaign has sent out daily statements that call Williams "extreme" on various issues and released an ad tying her to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, whom Williams said she wouldn't support if elected.
Gianforte says Williams has misrepresented his record, especially when accusing him of not meeting with constituents. He cites telephone conferences with them and regular radio appearances as examples of his accessibility.
"I think it's a false narrative being promoted by my opponent to try and create a wedge, and frankly, it's not true," he said.
Williams said Gianforte has distorted her positions, falsely saying she opposes gun rights, and that Montana voters will be able to see through him.
"Apparently, he's desperate for power," Williams said of the new attacks. "Montanans value truth and integrity and honesty. It's not happening in his campaign." |
[WM]Originally Published: August 13, 2015 8:02 p.m.
A few months ago, a customer asked if we had a book called "Six Who Came To Serve," which he said was about several people who came here to serve the Prescott community, but he did not know who had written it. Then another customer asked about the book. I couldn't find such a book through our normal distributors, but continued to pursue the search since not much has been written about that side of Prescott's history. I finally located the author, Prescott Daily Courier columnist Tom Cantlon, who was able to provide the books and to come to the store to talk about it and about his other book of columns, "Early Essays."
The six, Kathleen Murphy, Brad Newman, Max Bell, Gordon Glau, Don Ostendorf, and John Allen, all began work in the Prescott organizations they were to grow and direct for 30 years in the early 1960s. Cantlon weaves each of their stories together, beginning with their early histories and the effect that had in shaping their passionate desires to help the people in the Prescott community. Then he has each of them tell their stories, recounting just what they were able to accomplish and how they went about doing it.
According to Cantlon, for Brad Newman, putting his exceptional employees into immediate and practical work contributed greatly to success. John Allen, too, found success in putting his staff into immediate practical action, even if it entailed moving into a new building without heat in late November to get the job done. "Today you can't do that," Allen said.
For Kathleen Murphy, among other things, it took pluck, as when she gift-wrapped her dress as a consolation prize for a sexist high-up she had triumphed over.
Working well with other local agencies and innovation were other methods that brought success mentioned by Murphy as well as by Don Ostendorf, Greg Glau and Max Bell.
This review only touches on a few of the things it took for these six dedicated people to have such a profound impact on the Prescott community. Tom Cantlon can tell you about whole a lot more at 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 15, at the Peregrine Book Company. |
[WM]Paradise will see an influx of Beavers today for the Scouts Canada Eastern Avalon 2018 Beaveree.
Some 350 Beaver Scouts from across the region will meet at Paradise Park today for the Jamboree-style event designed for Beavers, boys and girls, ages 5 to 7.
This year’s event has an Olympic theme and Beavers will rotate through a series of activities as they challenge themselves to become Olympic champions.
The event takes place today at Paradise Park from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
[WM]Tributes have been paid to young Teesside mum Laura Hodgson who has lost her fight for life.
Laura, from Billingham , was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer last year.
The mum of two beautiful children died peacefully on Sunday with her "family by her side".
A Go Fund Me page set up to raise money for Laura's treatment raised almost £40,000 from hundreds of well-wishers.
Her family has praised the "overwhelming generosity" of everyone who donated to support Laura and said they planned to donate to the chemotherapy day unit at the University Hospital of North Tees and The Willow Trust.
Laura, who fought the aggressive disease until the end, was described as an "absolute warrior" by her family.
Her sister Michaela posted on social media: "It is with a heavy heart I am writing this.
"I would like to thank every person that donated, shared and supported our fight to support Laura.
"An angel grew its wings Sunday night after Laura had an infection which her body could not recover from.
"Laura died peacefully with her family by her side.
"Please respect this time for Laura's close family."
She continued: "With the overwhelming generosity of everyone who donated, as a family we would like to donate to the chemotherapy day unit at North Tees hospital and the Willow trust.
"Laura made a monthly donation to Cancer Research UK and I know would greatly appreciate some of the donations going towards finding a cure.
"We would like to use some of the money for a memorial to celebrate Laura's life.
"This is something her children, family and friends can treasure.
"If anyone has any objections to this, please request a refund through the gofundme website. Many Thanks, Michaela & Family."
Tributes have poured in for the keen sportswoman, including Laura's "netball family" who have said she will "never be forgotten".
South Durham and Cleveland Netball posted: "Deepest sympathies to all who knew her.
"Could we all please place a black heart and pink heart on our status to show our love and support to both the family and Harriers netball team, which Laura was a much loved member of." |
[WM]Sometime algorithms just don't cut it.
YouTube says it's hiring more people to help curb videos that violate its policies.
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki says "some bad actors are exploiting" the Google-owned service to "mislead, manipulate, harass or even harm."
She says Google will have more than 10,000 workers address the problem by next year, though her blog post Monday doesn't say how many the company already has.
Wojcicki says YouTube will also use technology to flag "problematic" videos or comments that show hate speech or harm to children. It's already used to remove violent extremist videos.
YouTube is also taking steps to try to reassure advertisers that their ads won't run next to gross videos.
There have been reports of creepy videos aimed at children and pedophiles posting comments on children's videos in recent weeks. |
[WM](entertainmentwise.com) - Beyonce and Jay-Z have reportedly hit a rocky patch in their four-month marriage - because the Bootylicious star wants to put her career before starting a family.The couple tied the knot in a hush-hush ceremony on April 4, amid rumours that Beyonce was already expecting."Jay Z is ready to have children. He [and Beyonce] dated for years, now they're married...and for him - it's time for children," a source close Jay-Z rapper told MediaTakeOut.But it seems that motherhood isn't part of the singer's immediate plans."Beyonce is very career focused. She has another album due this year and a couple of major film projects in the works," the source continues. "Her career is moving at 90 miles per hour and she's not trying to have it slowed down by a baby."[Jay Z and Beyonce] are best friends so it's not like they're fighting over it...but they both feel very strongly about [their positions] - if one of them doesn't relent, I think it could be a big problem." |
[WM]Robert Dacunto says the "American government is the biggest gangster in the world." Turns out he should know.
Dacunto, 48, is part of a core group of Staten Island Tea Party volunteers known as the "road crew." They organize rallies, confront politicians, fire off letters to editors.
In an interview, Dacunto trashed Social Security as a "massive Ponzi scheme" and said the Founding Fathers would be horrified to see the country they created.
"They'd be looking to cut taxes and entitlements and start a second American Revolution," he said.
What he didn't mention was his June 2000 arrest in a $3.1 million Mafia stock scam.
Federal prosecutors said Dacunto, as a licensed broker, took bribes to tout stock in worthless companies. Gangsters in on the caper sold their insider shares when the value peaked, leaving the victims - many of them senior citizens - penniless.
Prosecutors said he reported to a Genovese crime family associate and pocketed $112,000 in ill-gotten gains. He pleaded guilty to four counts of conspiracy in 2001.
Asked about his role in this swindle, Dacunto said, "I'm not going to tell you I'm an angel. It was the Wild West on Wall Street. I made stupid mistakes."
He spent 15 months in prison and, along with 60 co-defendants, was ordered to repay the $3.1 million stolen from the victims.
He repeatedly missed payments, records show, and in 2006, Manhattan Federal Judge Gerald Lynch threatened to toss him back in jail.
To date Dacunto has paid $2,171, records show. He's still fuming that the unsatisfied federal judgment tarnished his credit rating.
"It's affecting my life and my finances, and I'm about to sue the federal goverment," he said. "They cannot be allowed to get away with this."
Wave Chan, 42, a real estate agent on the lower East Side and the son of Chinese immigrants, sums up the movement's mantra: "I love my country," he said. "I fear my government."
Chan said he had never voted in his life - until rising anger over the humongous health care bill and bailouts that "robbed the needy to give to the greedy" led him to volunteer for Tea Party 365 in Manhattan.
He says he developed a rigorous work ethic laboring in his family's Chinese restaurant in Poughkeepsie: "I grew up washing dishes and peeling onions when I was 10 years old."
Like many in the movement, he carries a dog-eared copy of the U.S. Constitution at all times, as well as his birth certificate, photo ID and Social Security card.
"I do it to make a point," Chan said. "I don't care if President Obama was born in America or not - or if he was legally elected President or not. I just want to be able to prove I was born in America."
John Kenneth Press, 45, an administrator at an East Side hospital and president of the Brooklyn Tea Party, calls himself a champion of "culturism."
"It's the opposite of multi-culturalism," he explains. "It says we have a Western majority culture in this country - a European Judeo-Christian culture - and the right to protect and promote it."
He came east from L.A., where he taught history for eight years. His start-up Brooklyn chapter now has a Facebook page with 600 members.
After completing his doctorate in the history of education at New York University, Press worked as an adjunct professor at Vaughn College of Aeronautics in Flushing.
Asked where he wanted his picture taken, Press choose the iconic George Washington statue opposite the New York Stock Exchange. "He was one of the first culturists in the new republic," he said. |
[WM]A hoax Facebook virus is spreading rapidly across the social network.
Many users have been hoodwinked into forwarding an inaccurate warning about the spread of non-existent malware that claims a girl committed suicide over a post her father wrote on her Facebook wall.
No such tragedy has occurred but many are forwarding the wrong-headed message (extract below) creating confusion in the process.
People are passing on the warning in the mistaken belief they are helping Facebook friends to avoid a threat. In reality, they are spreading a hoax about a non-existent virus infection. The bogus warning is arguably causing more of a nuisance than a genuine malware infection, according to net security firm Sophos.
It adds that miscreants have exploited the confusion created by the warning by establishing Facebook pages that supposedly offer pictures from the fictitious girl's Facebook wall, but are really designed to make money by tricking surfers into wasting their time completing online surveys of dubious merit.
Malware hoaxes were part and parcel of net life long before the advent of social networking. Surfers are advised to check out warnings with reputable sources before spreading them along.
Internet rumours suggest a girl called Emma killed herself on Christmas Eve 2008 after being bullied on Facebook. However, supposed extracts of conversations that led up to this "tragic event" show "Like" buttons, a feature Facebook only introduced months later. |
[WM]Be the bearer of good - and delicious - tidings with these gifts.
7. Sweet Love. The Ritz-Carlton's new pastry chef Benjamin Siwek was inspired by his childhood in France to create this "Love" logcake which has dark chocolate mousse, blood orange biscuit, and gelee. The Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore, $78. |
[WM]Like the miniskirts and long hair that raised eyebrows in an earlier era, body piercing has emerged as a '90s symbol of teenage rebellion. Pierced cheeks, eyebrows, tongues, navels, and unmentionables are popping up on teenagers across the nation, and the trend shows no signs of ebbing anytime soon.
Parents have complained to lawmakers that they have no say in their fashion-conscious teenagers' decisions to get pierced. Others worry about health risks of piercing--most commonly, treatable skin infections, but also the remote possibility of contracting infectious diseases such as hepatitis or AIDS from unsterilized piercing instruments.
Spurred by these concerns, state legislatures are reining in the trend. More than half of the nation's states have provisions on the books regulating the body-piercing industry, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Florida, Georgia, Michigan, and Oregon, for example, require parental consent for minors seeking to get pierced. Several other states are debating the issue.
"This year was the year for body piercing and tattooing," said Lisa Speissegger, who covers health policy for the NCSL. As the trend spreads, she said, "I expect most legislatures will have looked into this."
Although it is under fire for allegedly misusing state money, the Lawrence, Mass., school district will have its entire $80 million budget for the 1997-1998 school year paid for by the state.
The payment arrangement is the result of the state's 1993 Education Reform Act, which gave a boost in state aid to poorer districts. Lawrence, the only district to be fully funded by the state, is Massachusetts' poorest.
But Education Commissioner Robert V. Antonucci has warned the district to watch its spending, or risk losing its underwriter.
Reports of the 11,650-student district's questionable spending surfaced last fall, and included revelations that reform dollars were being used for $3,000 laptop computers, cut flowers, and bagpipe lessons even as Lawrence High School was being stripped of its accreditation.
In February, Gov. William F. Weld appointed an audit board to investigate how Lawrence and the Bay State's 371 other districts are spending the $1.3 billion each year in additional aid made available by the 1993 law. The state auditor will release a report on school spending later this month. |
[WM]The latest lawsuit to target the proposed Clippers arena in Inglewood alleges two city-linked boards violated state laws governing open meetings and the environmental impact of construction projects in June when they approved disposing of land connected to the plan.
In a complaint filed Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the group Inglewood Residents Against Takings and Evictions asked for an injunction preventing the land’s transfer until the boards comply with the Brown Act and California’s Environmental Quality Act.
“The failure to adequately inform the public is consistent with and further evidence of the City of Inglewood’s deliberate attempts to obfuscate the true nature of actions taken to further the Clippers Arena Project,” the 27-page complaint said.
At least four other lawsuits related to the arena have been filed since the privately-financed project became public in June 2017. One of those lawsuits, also filed by the Hermosa Beach law firm Chatten-Brown & Carstens representing Inglewood Residents Against Takings and Evictions, is scheduled for a hearing in December.
The complaint last week accused the Successor Agency to the Inglewood Redevelopment Agency (composed of Butts and Inglewood’s four other City Council members) and the Oversight Board to the Successor Agency to the Inglewood Redevelopment Agency (on which Butts serves) of not informing the public that the disposition of 13 parcels of land was connected to the arena.
Neither meeting notice, required to be issued 72 hours before the gathering, noted the connection between the agenda items and the arena.
“The Oversight Board failed to inform the public that the properties are proposed to be disposed of pursuant to an agreement with extensive potential impacts on thousands of Inglewood residents and businesses,” the complaint said, adding that residents “could not have reasonably understood the nature of the action or the implications of the same” from the agenda language.
Most of the 13 parcels at issue, all vacant, are located along West Century Boulevard between South Prairie Avenue and South Yukon Avenue. Stan Kroenke’s 298-acre sports and entertainment complex that includes a stadium for the Rams and Chargers is under construction across the street.
The arena project is currently in an environmental review process that is expected to take 18 months. Eighty-four percent of the 23 acres that would include the arena, as well as a training facility, team offices, hotel and more, is owned by Inglewood or the two agencies.
Though the Clippers signed an exclusive negotiating agreement with Inglewood last year to explore building the arena, the team’s lease to play at Staples Center runs through 2024.
Developers are expected to release the first renderings for the arena this fall. |
[WM]Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. CETV, -0.25% said Monday its board has decided to review its strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company. The media and entertainment company operates in five Central and Eastern European markets with TV channels in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia. AT&T Inc. T, +0.25% the company's biggest shareholder, supports the review, the company said in a statement. U.S.-listed shares were halted premarket for the news, but have fallen 15% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.16% has gained 8%. |
[WM]Showing no signs of dilution in the rules governing the controversial National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Friday wrote to chief ministers (CMs) of 10 states to keep the issue above party politics.
Chidambaram in his letter to the CMs said that power to arrest and search was “bare minimum” essential for the anti-terror organisation. This provision has come under strong criticism from the non-Congress ruled states on the ground that it would infringe on the state’s rights.
Chidambaram, who has written identical letters to the CMs opposing this clause, said he has asked Home Secretary R K Singh to convene a meeting of state police chiefs and heads of anti-terror agencies.
Chidambaram, however, rejected the charge that NCTC infringed on the rights of the states and said the agency derives its powers from the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967 that was amended in 2008. “When the Bill was introduced in December 2008 to amend the Act, it was passed by both houses of Parliament. There was no demur or opposition,” he said in the letter.
Chief ministers of Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and West Bengal had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh charging that certain provisions of NCTC had trampled on the powers of the states.
Singh wrote back to them on Thursday saying he has asked the home minister to address their concerns. Chidambaram’s letter comes a day after the PM wrote to the agitated CMs.
“The powers conferred under Section 43(A) of the Act must be read with the duty under Section 43 (B) to produce the person or article without unnecessary delay before the nearest police station (which will be under the state government), and the SHO of the police station will take further action in accordance with the provisions of the CrPC,” he said. |
[WM]The owner of a Lexington Domino's says he expects to do three or four times his normal business on Super Bowl Sunday.
You might be done unwrapping gifts, but what if someone missed the mark?
Nearly two years since Donald Trump took office, signs are mounting the presidency has hit his company hard.
Musk spoke on CBS' show "60 Minutes," broadcast Sunday evening.
The company once dominated the American landscape, but whether a smaller Sears can be viable remains in question. |
[WM]The Financial Post’s Geoff Zochodne did a sweep of the big banks’ economists on Oct. 1 and found that the received wisdom now is that the Bank of Canada will quicken its march to a more normal policy setting.
Bank of Montreal promptly added an extra quarter-point lift to his outlook for 2019, predicting a benchmark rate of 2.5 per cent within the next 12 months or so, a full percentage point higher than the current setting. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce assumes the Bank of Canada will go ahead with an increase later this month and then follow that move with another one in January, earlier than its previous forecast. Derek Burleton of Toronto-Dominion Bank also said a hike on Oct. 24 was “virtually cemented” and that the smart money now is on three additional increases next year, rather than two.
The reason the professional forecasters pivoted so quickly was because logic was on their side. The central bank had identified trade uncertainty as a drag on business investment. With that anchor removed, Canada’s economy should be able to push through other headwinds with more vigour. Faster growth would spark faster inflation, leaving Canada’s central bank with little choice but to raise interest rates to constrain prices.
“We continue to expect the Bank of Canada to resume monetary policy tightening on Oct. 24 in a context where it is hard to justify keeping interest rates below inflation now that uncertainty surrounding U.S.-Canada trade has dissipated,” Matthieu Arseneau of National Bank Financial said on Oct. 5 after Statistics Canada’s latest hiring survey showed the unemployment rate dropped to 5.9 per cent in September, one of the lowest levels on record.
All that makes sense. Still, let’s pump the brakes a little. It’s too soon to predict with so much certainty that the new NAFTA will alter Canada’s interest-rate path. It’s possible Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s agreement with U.S. President Donald Trump hasn’t changed much of anything.
What was the surprise on Oct. 1? The introduction of a statute that would give Washington influence over Canada’s dealings with China came out of nowhere, that’s for sure. But most, including Stephen Poloz, the Bank of Canada governor, assumed the talks themselves would get sorted.
Before this week, the prevailing assumption was that failure to resolve NAFTA by the Sept. 30 deadline set by the Trump administration would have forced Poloz and his deputies to leave the benchmark rate unchanged on Oct. 24, like they did at the previous policy meeting in September.
Actually, that would have depended on market reaction and feedback from the central bank’s contacts in the real economy. Policymakers have stated explicitly that they intend to raise interest rates gradually, and the data since its pause on Sept. 5 have been fairly strong. The Bank of Canada estimates that a “normal” benchmark interest rate — one that neither encourages borrowing nor impedes it — is between 2.5 per cent and 3.5 per cent. That’s still a long way from where the benchmark rate is now, so policymakers might have been prepared to raise rates even if negotiations had collapsed.
The NAFTA talks were noise, not signal; the signal will be in indicators of business investment, and we don’t have those yet. The first good look will come when the Bank of Canada releases its next Business Outlook Survey, on Dec. 21. Policymakers put a lot of weight on that report, but it only reveals intentions. Poloz will want to see evidence of actual spending, too, and that will require patience. Consider: David Bensadoun, chief executive of ALDO Group Inc., told me in an interview last month that it would take six to nine months for him to simply shift from one supplier in Asia to another. It will be well into 2019 before the central bank decides if it can stop worrying about business investment.
Unlike most of their counterparts on Bay Street, the economists at RBC Capital Markets were unmoved by the week’s big trade story. Non-energy exports have been slow to catch fire despite a couple of years of strong global demand. Uncertainty is part of the problem, but a bigger one probably is that Canada has been muscled out of its traditional export markets by more aggressive competitors, according to RBC.
A new free-trade agreement that looks a lot like the old free-trade agreement won’t fix Canada’s competitiveness issues. One of the reasons the Bank of Canada has promised to raise interest rates gradually is because the country’s exporters need a crutch. That didn’t change overnight on Sept. 30. |
[WM]Cyrus Vance Jr. during the inaugural National Prosecutorial Summit, October 21, 2014.
For most of his eight years as Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr. has kept a low enough profile that politicos pause a second at the mention of his name, remembering that he isn’t his father, the Washington wise man who served as Jimmy Carter’s secretary of state. Junior’s biggest initiative has been effective but characteristically wonkish: applying data analysis to crime-fighting.
Cy Jr.’s name recognition certainly has skyrocketed in the past two weeks. He’s under fire as never before, accused of bad judgment and dubious ethics. First came news that he’d dropped a 2012 criminal investigation of Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. over their misleading statements to prospective condo buyers—after a conversation with Trump family lawyer Marc Kasowitz, one of the largest donors to Vance’s political campaigns (Vance has said that Kasowitz and the contributions “had no influence whatsoever on my decision-making in the case”). Then The New Yorker, as part of a devastating story by Ronan Farrow, released two minutes of audio, recorded in 2015 by the New York Police Department, in which Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, now accused by more than two dozen women of sexual harassment and assault, essentially admits to groping a 22-year-old Filipina-Italian model and actress, Ambra Battilana Gutierrez.
A spokeswoman for Vance said the Strauss-Kahn episode did not affect the office’s subsequent pursuit of sexual-assault cases “in the slightest,” and pointed to other high-profile defendants who have been successfully prosecuted, for similar offenses, by the district attorney. Yet with Weinstein’s piggishness finally exposed, Vance is enduring the harshest glare of his low-key tenure, with his competence and ethics questioned. Not that he’s in danger of losing his job anytime soon: he ran unopposed in New York’s Democratic primary in September, and next month, in the general election, Cyrus Vance Jr. will face only a long-shot write-in opponent. |
[WM]After the box leaked online earlier this week, Lego has officially taken the wraps off its Simpsons set.
The Lego Simpsons set is coming, officially confirmed by Lego: the house at 742 Evergreen Terrace has been turned into a massive 2325-piece set, with six minifigs: the five members of the Simpsons family and Ned Flanders.
The house itself is hinged, and the roof is removable, so that you can recreate some of your favourite Simpsons moments (except, perhaps, "various eggs"), with the rooms fully kitted out with furniture, appliances and accessories.
The set also includes a barbecue for Homer, a skateboard ramp for Bart and the pink Simpsons family car.
A lot of the pieces seem to have been custom-moulded for the set, too, including the minifigs themselves, Bart's skateboard and Homer's (well, Ned's) wheelbarrow.
Additionally, a Lego-themed Simpsons episode will air in May.
The set will go on sale on 1 February in the US and Europe, retailing for US$199.99. In Australia, it will be available online as of 1 February, and available in stores as of May 2014. Pricing has yet to be announced, but we estimate it will be somewhere in the realm of AU$300.
Meanwhile, you can check out more pics of the set here and here. |
[WM]School Shooters Are Rarely Female. What Does That Mean for Schools?
Police arrested a 12-year-old girl suspected of shooting two students in the classroom of Salvador Castro Middle School in Los Angeles Thursday morning. Later that evening, they said they believed the shooting was unintentional and that the student had been booked on charges of negligent discharge of a firearm, the Los Angeles Times reported.
But before police shared details of the shooting or the suspect's motive, her gender stood out in news reports.
School shooting suspects are almost always male. Why is that? And what does it mean for school safety?
For much of the day Thursday, the incident seemed like a typical school shooting, apart from the gender and young age of the suspected shooter.
A 15-year-old boy was in critical but stable condition with a gunshot wound to the head, and a 15-year-old girl was in fair condition after she was shot in the wrist, police said in a press conference Thursday afternoon. Three others, an adult and two students, suffered more minor abrasion injuries, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Police later said they believed the girl discharged the semiautomatic handgun unintentionally.
"Someone decided to bring a gun, I guess someone was accidentally playing around with it," a student told the Times. "They thought it was a fake gun."
Police arrested the suspect and evacuated students from the school before launching an investigation. Officials had not named the suspect by Thursday evening.
While it is rare, there have also been female suspects in intentional school shootings.
There's a common misconception that school attackers are all young, white, socially isolated men who play too many violent video games. But school safety experts have said that profile is far too narrow and that schools need to be responsive to the safety concerns and social and emotional needs presented by all students to create a safe environment.
But it is striking that most school shootings, and most mass shootings in general, are perpetrated by male suspects. An Education Week analysis of news reports found four incidents where at least one person was injured as the result of a shooting at a K-12 school or school-related event in 2018. Of those incidents, only the Los Angeles shooting involved a female suspect. The trend is even starker looking back through years of data collected by other organizations; only a handful of identified suspects are women or girls.
"Most violent crime is perpetrated by males," said Peter Langman, a psychologist who studies school shootings and has authored several books about them. "The fact that school shooters are typically male is part of the overall phenomenon of violence being a predominantly male phenomenon."
In the case of "rampage shootings," perpetrators often have a sense of "damaged masculinity," which Langman defines as a sense of failure or inadequacy in parts of their life that they have linked to male identity, like sexuality or physical strength, he said.
Some bullying researchers have also said concerns about heterosexual, masculine gender norms can feed bullying problems among male students. They've urged schools to adopt bullying policies that prohibit harassment on the basis of real or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity.
"There is actually no stereotype," Dewey Cornell, the director of the Youth Violence Project at the University of Virginia said in 2014. "There is a human tendency to look for predictive factors, but if we apply those to the general population, we will find many false positives."
"A 2002 report by the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center, prepared after the agency analyzed 37 school attacks that occurred between 1974 and 2000, concluded that "there is no accurate or useful 'profile' of students who engaged in targeted school violence."
Acts of school violence have been carried out by attackers of all races, ages, disciplinary histories, and family backgrounds. And, though perpetrators are typically male, women have also played roles in mass attacks, experts on such incidents say.
In the events analyzed, attackers fell all along the social spectrum, from popular students to "loners," the Secret Service report said.
While the agency didn't find common demographic threads, it did note some psychological trends among attackers: Many "felt bullied, persecuted, or injured by others prior to the attack," many had a history of suicide attempts or feelings of depression or desperation, and most had no history of criminal behavior.
And, in 31 of the 37 events studied by the Secret Service, shooters told at least one person about their plans beforehand, the report said. Threat-assessment experts say that such "leakage" is common, and that attackers often leave more subtle clues that they are distressed, even if they don't explicitly detail their plans in conversations."
So, while most shooters are male, schools should seek to be aware of the needs of all students, working to create a supportive environment and reduce social isolation, safety experts said. That's because school shooters don't usually "just snap," and often hint at their plans in advance. Addressing school climate concerns is important for the educational success of all students, even if they don't have a violent intent, researchers say.
Police provided very few details about the circumstances behind the Los Angeles shooting Thursday, and they did not say if the school had any previous concerns about the student they arrested, how she obtained the weapon, or how she came to fire it in school.
Cornell has worked to develop a threat-assessment model that schools can use to respond to such concerns. Education Week's Lisa Stark recently interviewed Cornell for this piece she did for the PBS Newshour about preventing school violence. |
[WM]‘Tis the season to eat, drink and be merry, but if your primary interest is in that second verb there, you’ll need a cache of cheery Yuletide cocktails. With nods to seasonal favorites (hello, Mr. Nutmeg), festive twists on old classics and quirky concoctions sure make you host(ess) of the year, you can’t go wrong with this compilation of “spirited” drinks.
Cranberries are a staple of the holiday season. In fact, according to Michigan State University, it’s likely the tart red fruit graced the first Thanksgiving table (but likely not in the jellied form often enjoyed today). Don’t stand by while those cranberries play second fiddle to turkey all season long. This festive martini from Cheers to the Host combines smooth Gentleman Jack with tart cranberry juice, then tops it all off with a splash of sweet ginger ale for a martini that’s anything but dirty.
With the pressure of hosting the perfect holiday soiree, you’ve got more to worry about than your beverage cart (although, to be honest, that’s likely what’s most important to your guests). This simple cocktail is easy on the grocery list and puts a sweet spotlight on a seasonal standard: ginger. Combine Gentleman Jack with either ginger ale or ginger beer (there’s a difference, as explained in the recipe), then top with a squeeze of fresh lime. It’s a crowd pleaser you’ll never have to sweat over.
It may be the season’s most divisive flavor, but those who love eggnog really love eggnog. But the same old cocktail year after year can get tired, so put a twist on (but not a twist in, because, gross) your eggnog this year by spiking it with something unexpected. This version from All Recipes adds whiskey to the traditional rum for an unexpected delight. Sprinkle with a little nutmeg and you’ll be sure to thrill your guests — well, the ones who like eggnog, anyway.
It’s the holiday season, so you can do things you usually don’t — like opt for an espresso cocktail rather than the same old espresso after dinner (or lunch, no judgment here). This luscious cocktail from Drink Me embraces everyone’s favorite vices: coffee, cream, vanilla and really good whiskey. Combine Gentleman Jack with vanilla sugar syrup, espresso and coffee cream liqueur for a good shake. Dust with chocolate shavings if your celebration calls for a little (more) indulgence.
The weather outside is frightful, so a hot cocktail is more than delightful — it’s practically required. Redbook calls this recipe one of the coziest cocktails for cold weekends. Bonus: It’s easy to make, with no shaker required! Combining whiskey, vermouth, taverna and maple syrup with hot water, this drink certainly goes down smooth. Stand by tradition and serve this in a canning jar, or get cozy with your favorite holiday mug. And feel free to make a little extra — there’s a long winter ahead.
If apples, oranges, cloves and cinnamon sticks don’t say “I’m never venturing out into the snow ever again,” then what does? These flavors will make you want to stay in all evening — especially if you opt for the warm version. This recipe from Mollie Stone’s Markets mixes the coziest flavors of the year — cinnamon, cloves and apple cider — with Gentleman Jack for a festive drink you can serve warm or cold. Just simmer the ingredients together and you’re ready to drink and be merry (the “eat” part is optional). |
[WM]An FBI agent issuing a search warrant for a man wanted for murder was shot in an apartment in Las Vegas on Tuesday evening, KTNV 13 reports.
The agent, who has not yet been identified, was wearing a protective vest and did not sustain serious injuries, the ABC affiliate reported.
The FBI was serving a warrant at the Sonoma Shadows Apartment complex when the suspect fired a gun from a window, striking the agent, according to KTNV 13.
The suspect was taken into custody following a standoff with authorities.
Posted: 5/22/13 at 9:39 AM under FBI, News Story. |
[WM]TOBYHANNA TOWNSHIP -- PennDOT is making an effort to improve safety conditions on two major highways in our area.
On Monday, crews began installing guide rails along Interstate 380 in Monroe County to prevent vehicles from crossing over the median and into oncoming traffic. PennDOT also plans to place them along Interstate 80 in Monroe and Carbon Counties.
PennDOT is placing the new guide rails along the interstates in an effort to prevent drivers from crossing over the medians and into the opposite lanes.
"I definitely think it's something that should have been done a long time ago, but as long as they're getting it done now, definitely,” said Jennifer Greeley from Tobyhanna.
“I drive down that road and cars are really crazy and like I said, you're a good driver, but you don't know good the other driver is, and next thing you know, there goes an accident,” said Diana Cruz from Tobyhanna.
The guide rails are going in after several crossover crashes resulted in deaths on those highways.
One horrific crash happened in June 2015 on Interstate 380 near the Tobyhanna exit. Investigators say a trailer tractor crossed over from the southbound lanes into the northbound lanes, causing a tour bus carrying tourists from Italy to hit the rig's trailer. The bus driver and two of his passengers died.
“It was a horrible, horrible accident, so I think it's a good thing. It's about time, don't you think?” said Mary Anne Katz from East Stroudsburg.
“That was terrible, the bus burned completely. That was horrible,” said Nathan Thomas from Tobyhanna.
Last November, two children and a man died after the man's box truck crossed into the opposite lanes, hitting the car with the children on Interstate 80 at the Tannersville exit.
“It's just sad. Every day in the newspaper or the news, it's just somebody from our community, somebody that the kids go to school with, somebody that you see in the supermarket,” said Greeley.
PennDOT says this is $2.1 million project, and it will be installing a mixture of concrete barriers, cable guide rails, and traditional guide rails.
Great job PENNDOT. Keep up the great work.
Would have been timely in May of 2015.
It’s always after the fact, isn’t it?
They can save money by putting up one barrier down the center of the median, instead of on both sides. |
[WM]News items related to DMD DataTrac Suite as issued by the Send2Press Newswire service on behalf of the noted news source.
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Del Mar DataTrac (DMD), the leading provider of affordable mortgage lending automation solutions, and an industry pioneer in business intelligence, paperless lending, and loan process workflow tools, has named John Aslanian vice president of sales. Aslanian has been DMD’s director of sales since 2007. |
[WM]McChord, who started the online security company Datto in 2007 in his father's basement, will step down as CEO.
McChord, who started the online security company in 2007 in his father's basement, will step down as CEO.
Austin McChord will step down as CEO of Datto, the computer data protection company he founded 11 years ago that has grown into a $1 billion industry giant.
McChord, 32, a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology, founded Total Data Protection Solutions, which later became Datto, as a college student in his father’s basement in 2007. The company provides data backup and disaster recovery services and products.
Since then, the company, which is headquartered in Connecticut, has grown to employ hundreds of employees and was one of Inc. 500 fastest growing companies for several years running.
It opened an office in Rochester in 2014, and currently employs 225 people in the area, and a total of more than 1,400 employees in 22 offices globally.
While McChord is stepping down as CEO in November and will have "much less of a role in the day-to-day business," he is going to remain on Datto’s board, he said Tuesday.
"The decision I made was a very personal one," he said. "I've basically done Datto my entire life. It's been a 24/7, 365 job. And a life that is just Datto is not a life well lived."
Datto was acquired almost exactly a year ago by Vista Equity Partners and merged with Autotask Corp. McChord became CEO of the new company.
Datto is in a strong place right now, said McChord, making it possible for him to step aside.
In the coming months and years, he plans to help lift up other early stage companies, potentially others coming out of RIT, he said.
"I basically want to help the next two or three Austin McChords build big, awesome, exciting things," he said.
Datto President and Chief Operations Officer Tim Weller will fill in as CEO in the interim, and is a candidate in a larger CEO search, said McChord.
McChord wrote a note to employees about the news, praising them for their work and dedication to Datto, and saying that the identity of the company lies with the employees.
McChord’s instincts in fostering his fledgling company in the early years helped grow Datto into what it is today. He earned a series of patents for innovations that enabled the company to ensure its customers would not lose their critical information. It promised to restore the data almost immediately if disaster struck.
That principle was put to the test in 2012 when Hurricane Sandy knocked one client offline, a high-frequency trading firm. McChord says Datto had them restored and back in business in a matter of minutes.
More: Who is Austin McChord?
He has won multiple awards and accolades during his time with Datto, including a spot on the Forbes “30 under 30” list in 2015.
He has been heavily involved at RIT as a speaker and benefactor — he donated $50 million to the university last year to help fund the school’s entrepreneurship, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence programs and facilities. That was the largest single donation in the school’s history.
“I would not be here if it were not for my time at RIT," said McChord at the time. "This is where I first had the idea of starting my company."
McCord hopes he will have more time now to build relationships with RIT staff and students, and help facilitate future business success stories out of the university, he said Tuesday.
Datto, was the region’s first START-UP NY company when it opened in downtown Rochester four years ago. The company recently unveiled a new space in The Metropolitan, complete with a slide and sleeping pods.
"I continue to be an enormous advocate in Rochester....and of course Datto continues to hire and grow in Rochester as well," he said. The space has the capacity for 350 to 400 employees, and there are about 120 positions open in Rochester right now, said McChord.
Weller echoed that sentiment, saying that Rochester has been a "phenomenal location for us."
"It's part of the fabric," Weller said.
Includes reporting from Sean Lahman and Meaghan McDermott. |
[WM]We are somewhere in the jungle, deep in the heart of the cinematic and moral darkness that the movie industry has made of Vietnam. We are in the land of "Rambo: First Blood II" (citywide). Ominous Jerry Goldsmith music throbs. The air reeks with sweat and tangled foliage. A squad of Soviets is searching for one man, one walking hunk of slaughter and vengeance: John Rambo--beside whom Superman is a wimp and James Bond a Piccadilly hairdresser.
Their tread is soft, their faces wary. Rambo, armed with nothing but a knife, and bow and arrow, has already wasted at least a hundred of their best. He is obviously no one to be trifled with.
One of the soldiers pauses by an embankment of pure mud. Suddenly, the mud stirs. The mud breathes. The mud glares angrily at the marauding Soviet. The mud reaches out with one tawny mud-arm, throttles the invader and sends a hunting knife deep into his chest. Blood and mud commingle, and at last we see: This is no ordinary mudbank, this is the indefatigable Rambo, in another of his multitudinous (if muddy) disguises--Rambo the mud-man, battalion of one.
The absurdity of this sequence should alert you to the movie surrounding it. "Rambo" is an inane sequel to a fairly good melodrama; another example of an attempt to repeat an earlier success that goes wildly out of scale.
In "First Blood," Sylvester Stallone's Rambo was a disconsolate Vietnam vet who, pushed too far in a small Northwestern town, battled to the death with its police, and nearly won.
Somehow--perhaps because of Stallone's taciturn charisma, perhaps care in the direction, perhaps sheer speed--this incredible tale was made plausible. But nothing on earth, not even narration by Walter Cronkite, could perform that miracle here.
Now, Rambo is not battling a mere town, a mere police force, a mere highway patrol. Now he is battling the combined Soviet and Vietnamese armies--and his own Washington superiors as well. And, from Stallone's glower when he asks Green Beret commander Richard Crenna, "Are they gonna let us win this time?" we see that only "they" could stop him. Hand this man a switchblade and he could carve off the U.S.S.R. with one stroke and hurl it into space.
That's the problem with the movie. If a character can seemingly do anything, it's hard to feel tension or concern about his fate. (At least, Superman had kryptonite.) We are left with nothing but detached aesthetic appreciation: watching Rambo race through several million dollars worth of explosions and aerial attacks, coruscant fireballs billowing everywhere and bodies flying hither and yon. Except for anyone irretrievably into violent power fantasies, this will probably soon pall.
There's more than an addled premise (Rambo alone rescuing America's MIAs). There's the sort of love interest you thought vanished with Debra Paget's old Indian robes: the alleged Vietnamese guide Co Bao (Julia Nickson), who wears mascara and guerrilla pantaloons, has light eyes and speaks dialogue of the "we go now, forget me never" variety.
One cannot call the film unprofessional. The cast is good, Jack Cardiff photographs Acapulco (disguised as Indochina) stunningly, Mark Goldblatt and Mark Helfrich edit with machine-gun crispness and a dozen stunt men and pilots continually raise the hair on your head. Director George Cosmatos ("The Cassandra Crossing") marshals these forces with the gusto of a Westmoreland, the warmth of a Patton, the wit of a Zhukov.
But "Rambo" is a movie with absolutely no inner life. It's a series of exhortations punctuated by bomb bursts. (The screenplay, co-written by Stallone and "The Terminator's" James Cameron, oddly combines Cameron's zingy paranoia with Stallone's muscle-flexing optimism.) At the end, when Rambo, asked what he wants out of life, screams hoarsely that America must recognize and accept Vietnam vets, it seems less a logical response from a fatigued (and mud-spattered) hero than Stallone yelling his guts out to audiences everywhere.
Wouldn't it be nobler testimonial to the men who suffered in Vietnam to recognize their non-combatant contributions and to help them in battling scourges like indifference and Agent Orange-related diseases, rather than dream up multimillion-dollar fantasies about winning a war that ended more than a decade ago?
'RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD II' A Tri-Star release. Producer Buzz Feitshans. Director George Cosmatos. Script Sylvester Stallone, James Cameron. Executive producers Mario Kassar, Andrew Vajna. Camera Jack Cardiff. Music Jerry Goldsmith. Editors Mark Goldblatt, Mark Helfrich. Production designer Bill Kenney. Costumes Tom Bronson. Helicopter unit director Peter MacDonald. With Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Charles Napier, Steven Berkoff, Julia Nickson, Martin Kove, George Kee Cheung. |
[WM]Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare said on Friday he will start a 'satyagraha' in New Delhi on the first day of winter session, for the passage of Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had assured to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill in the last monsoon session. But the central government did not present the bill in Rajya Sabha as assured, Hazare said at his Ralegan Siddhi village about 40 km from Ahmednagar.
"I will start a hunger strike at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi and the people must agitate in their tehsil, DM's offices, till we get a strong Jan Lokpal," said the activist, who is busy making micro plans for his forthcoming nationwide agitation for the anti-corruption Bill.
Hazare appealed to the nation and the youths to organise a non-violent 'satyagraha' along with him, similar to the one he took up on August 16, 2011.
The subsequent popular agitation had forced the government to convene a special meet of Parliament, which passed a resolution, agreeing with three of his crucial demands.
The septuagenarian demanded that the prime minister should urge the President to convene a special session of Parliament as the Bill is pending for close to two years after being passed in Lok Sabha.
After being passed in the Lok Sabha in December 2011, the nill was referred to a select committee of the Rajya Sabha, which is yet to submit its report.
The government lacks the will to stop corruption and bring in Jan Lokpal Bill, while it has passed lot of other bills like on food security, land, election reforms, pension, etc, Hazare lamented. The activist had earlier this year toured the country after the formation of Jantantra Morcha. |
[WM]The cryptocurrency craze is reaching frenzied levels as 2017 draws to a close.
Barely in the cents when trading was started at the beginning of this decade, the price of the signature currency - bitcoin - has jumped some twentyfold this year from nearly US$ 1,000 to surge past the US$20,000 mark.
While monetary authorities in various parts of the world are sounding the alarm about the intrinsic value of cryptocurrencies, there is a lesser-known danger posed by these "cryptos" (as they are sometimes known). Beneath the veneer of a fast buck, little attention is paid to the exact magnitude of energy that is required round the clock to churn out such currencies.
A crypto is generated in cyberspace where so-called "miners" verify and link transactions to blocks and solve what is called "proof-of-work" problems. These are complicated mathematical problems that get increasingly harder to solve. Miners thus have to demonstrate the work done to find a "hash" that is acceptable and this is shown through the amount of processing power used. In other words, the value of a crypto comes from the computations done.
Therein lies the problem. Computer processing in itself is energy intensive. To create cryptos, much electricity is needed to run the processors. In addition, these emit much heat when in operation. Huge fans are needed to cool the systems so that they do not break down, and this causes even more energy to be used.
The ongoing race is for the miners to have the fastest processors to solve problems of escalating difficulty. In the beginning, consumer-grade systems such as graphics processing units could be used to generate cryptos. But this is not possible now and professional miners currently deploy high-end application-specific integrated circuit chips which are solely dedicated for crypto-mining.
The race for cryptos has reached a stage where a whole new industry of cryptocurrency mining is being spawned.
China alone accounts for 58 per cent of the bitcoin mines. But the "dirty secret" is that many of these mines run on electricity from coal, which is a most environmentally unfriendly source of energy (in total, China gets 60 per cent of its electricity from coal). As an illustration, there is a mine in Inner Mongolia, a province of China, which has eight metal warehouses, each 100m long, with a total of 25,000 computers just to mine bitcoins. Interestingly, there are also clusters of mines in the provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan that tap the on-site sources of hydroelectricity.
Other countries are chasing the crypto trophy too. It is reported that the Russians are seriously keen on dominating crypto mining. We are facing a stage where massive amounts of energy will be consumed for the creation of cryptos. This goes beyond the bitcoin itself. In fact, there are now more than 1,300 types of cryptos and the number is increasing rapidly given the ongoing rage of ICOs - initial coin offerings.
So how much energy is actually utilised in the production of cryptocurrencies, particularly bitcoins? As a quick gauge, a single bitcoin transaction has been reported to use the same amount of energy to power nine homes in the United States for one day.
The total computing power amassed by the bitcoin network is some 100,000 times larger than the world's 500 fastest supercomputers put together.
In terms of energy amount, the bitcoin hardware taps some 31 terawatt-hours per year (1 terawatt is 1 trillion watts or 1 million million watts). This amount is greater than the energy usage of 150 countries or three-quarters of all countries in the world.
The even worse news is that the energy consumption of bitcoins is rising at an increasing rate per day. As of now, this rate is estimated to be 450 gigawatts per day (1 gigawatt is 1 billion watts).
As a related worry, there are even cases where cyber criminals are using "botnets" to exploit the processing power of their victims' computers through hidden software embedded in popular websites. There are probably about 220 such websites that carry these software with a global reach of some 500 million users. In other words, half a billion people may be unwittingly mining cryptos for other people who exploit free computing power for their illegitimate benefits.
But the greatest worry is what will happen if cryptos' ravenous appetite for power continues unchecked. According to one projection by Digiconomist, a cryptocurrency publication, more energy will be exhausted by bitcoins than the whole of the US by July 2019, and the entire world's energy consumption will be surpassed by the end of 2020.
Let's compare crypto transactions with those of traditional credit cards. Digiconomist estimated that the present Visa payment system uses the energy equivalent of 50,000 US households to run 350 million transactions, while bitcoin uses the energy equivalent of 2.8 million US households to run 350,000 transactions. In other words, bitcoin transactions are 56,000 times more energy hungry than Visa's.
So the whole crypto craze is not just about the rise and rise of prices. It is also about the fallout from crypto mining's massive and ever-increasing demand for energy. While some analysts disagree with Digiconomist's projection, there is no dispute over crypto mining's very serious - and rising - drain on energy resources.
With all the rhetoric and efforts expended to mitigate global warming and climate change, it seems quite out of place that we forget about the elephant in the room, namely bitcoin. While the miners and speculators are laughing all the way to the bank, the rest of us are paying the price for their free-riding on the environment.
the bitcoin hardware taps some 31 terawatt-hours per year. This amount is greater than the energy usage of 150 countries or three-quarters of all countries in the world.
Naturally, regulation is the solution for any problem that has an externality where costs are borne by others. This is indeed the case for pollution, as we see in carbon taxes or carbon trading schemes.
But cryptos are difficult to regulate as it is difficult to ring-fence the transactions. Tax, in particular, is not feasible. Buyers and sellers will find any jurisdiction that offers the best deal and, in cyberspace, locating such havens is not difficult.
A new global financial order is probably necessary for effective monitoring of crypto advancements before the planet experiences a burnout. That's probably a tall order given the transboundary nature of the problem, not to mention its virtual dimension.
Governments around the world can try to band together and outlaw cryptos altogether but that may not be possible given the inherent nature of the underlying technology. Indeed, cryptos riding on the so-called blockchain approach may have reached the point of no return.
Cryptos are here to stay. The damage their creation is likely to inflict on energy and environmental sustainability is real. We cannot stand by and watch while crypto-scrapers dig for profits at our expense. While they have their blockchains, we lose our food chains.
As individual consumers, we can probably do our bit to protect the world. So, before we buy that bitcoin, think again. •The writer is director of the Centre for Governance, Institutions and Organisations at NUS Business School, National University of Singapore. The centre conducts studies in corporate governance and sustainability. |
[WM]Ronald B. Lund, 64 years old, died suddenly in his home, July 22, 2013. He was bon in Taunton, son of the late Melvin and Natalie ( Hammond) Lund. He was the beloved husband of Cheryl (Belenger) Lund. Ron was retired from the TMLP where he was a Laboratory Group Supervisor. He was employed by the TMLP for 36 years. He was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed camping and fishing. Besides his wife, Cheryl, he is survived by his daughter Sherry A. Lund and her husband Michael Bagge of Berkley. He is the brother of Janis Mathieu of Taunton and he is also the uncle of several. Relatives and friends are invited to attend Visiting hours on Friday evening Aug. 2, 2013, from 6-8PM, in the Crapo-Hathaway Funeral Home, 350 Somerset Ave., ( Route 138 South) Taunton. To light a candle, get directions or to access the memorial register, go to www.hathawayfunerals.com.
Jose M. Vieira, husband of Ana M. (Dias) Vieira, died at his Taunton home on July 26, 2013. He was 75. Born and raised in St. Michael, Azores, he the son of the late Augusto and Maria Carmo (Dias) Vieira. He moved to the US in 1959, and later settled in Taunton in 1972. Employed by the former Copper Craft Guild for several years, Jose later worked as a gold melter for Stern & Leach of Attleboro, retiring in 2002. He was a communicant of Saint Anthony Church. A sports fan, Jose especially enjoyed soccer, wrestling and hockey. His favorite pastime was spending time with his family, especially his grandchildren. In addition to his wife of Taunton, he leaves two sons, George and Peter Vieira, both of Taunton; a daughter, Tina (Vieira) Bloom and her husband Matthew of Taunton; four grandchildren, Ashley Evans, Noah and Lucas Bloom, and Victoria Vieira; and several nieces and nephews. He was also the brother of the late Maria Leite, Fatima Cabral and Antonio Vieira. His funeral will be held from the Silva Funeral Home, 80 Broadway, Taunton on Wednesday, July 31st at 8 a.m. followed by a funeral mass at St. Anthony Church at 9 a.m. Burial will be at St. Joseph Cemetery. Relatives and friends are invited to attend. Calling Hours will be held at the funeral home on Tuesday July 30th from 5 to 8 p.m. www.silvafuneralhome.com. |
[WM]Rubber stamp likely in early 2015.
NBN Co expects to have reached a deal to resign its $11.2 billion definitive agreements with Telstra by the end of the year, with the network builder’s chief executive today revealing the two had reached material agreement on the new contract.
The Coalition Government had originally promised to have the historic renegotiation complete by mid-2014, but Telstra boss David Thodey recently said he expected the discussions to continue into 2015.
The signing of the new contract will be vital for the Coalition’s rollout of its new multi-technology mix NBN, which replaces the former predominantly FTTP-approach with a mixture of network technologies - including a larger focus on fibre-to-the-node using Telstra’s infrastructure.
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull in February said the deal would be done “certainly by the middle of the year”, but delays in negotiations relating to where the responsibility for certain issues lies; the regulatory issue of the TPG fibre-to-the-basement threat; and the technical guidelines for the MTM, such as who maintains the last leg of copper lines stretched the discussions out.
The ACCC has since ruled TPG’s rollout of FTTB in capital cities was not in breach of NBN anti-cherry picking provisions, while the federal government is planning to force telcos undertaking such efforts to functionally separate their wholesale and retail businesses and offer rival service providers regulated wholesale services.
At the network builder’s first quarter results briefing today, NBN Co chief executive Bill Morrow said the new agreement was “very close to being signed” and the issue now was more around specific language included in the contract rather than any material differences.
He said he expected the deal to be signed before the end of the year, and the following regulatory and government approvals to stretch into 2015.
NBN Co is also working to resign its $834 million (in today's value) contract with Optus for its HFC network, which Morrow expected would be completed at the same time as the new Telstra deal.
NBN Co reported revenue growth of 32 percent to $29 million for its first quarter of fiscal 2015, and a 16 percent boost in serviceable premises to 639,927 as at the end of September. End users with an active service came in 27 percent higher at 266,984.
When questioned on the discrepancy in the amount of serviceable premises compared to those taking up the service - especially given NBN Co’s goal of 70 percent penetration for the 8 million premises to be connected by 2020 - Morrow said the penetration rate within the 15 FSAMs to be switched off copper indicated the “signs were positive” that the company would reach that goal.
He also revealed NBN Co had integrated all its 121 points of interconnect, and expected the remainder of the transit network - which will link all the POIs with 54,000 kilometres of fibre - to be completed this year.
Morrow also trumpeted the company’s FTTN trial in the NSW suburb of Umina, claiming previously announced average peak download and upload speeds of 90Mbps and 36Mbps respectively.
However, NBN Co chief customer officer John Simon revealed those premises were located close to the node - between 300 and 500 metres away - and the speeds fell to around 50Mbps when the premise was located between 700 and 800 metres out.
He stressed it was an “early trial” on a limited number of customers, and NBN Co would be able to achieve a more accurate statistical sample when it commercialises the nodes later next year.
“Obviously as you go further away, the line rate on the copper drops,” Simon said.
Chief operating officer Greg Adcock emphasised that only four of the customers involved in the trial were receiving speeds under 50 Mbps.
“This is a trial and we are learning,” he said.
“We do have an obligation set by the Government that 90 percent of the fixed-line footprint will be at 50Mbps and no-one will be less than 25Mbps,” CEO Morrow said.
NBN Co reported capital expenditure of $677 million for the period - with a total of $6.3 million so far in the project - and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $252 million.
Operating expenses came in at $281 million, while the company received $997 million worth of Government funding, bringing its total of the allocated $29.5 billion so far to $9.4 billion.
Average revenue per use grew four percent to $39. |
[WM]This is the third directorial of photographer turned director, Shine.
The wait for Poomaram is not over. The film won’t come as expected on March 9. The latest post by lead actor Kalidas Jayaram on Facebook says the movie would be released in the same month, on a different date. This is his debut in Malayalam. “Due to come technical problems, release of Poomaram on March 9 has slightly been extended,” the post reads.
The Abrid Shine film has been in news and trolls since it has inordinately been delayed for reasons unknown. Poomaram started rolling in 2016. Two songs from the movie were out in the meantime and both were instant hits on YouTube and social media. After a long wait, Kalidas himself had announced in February that the movie is slated for a release on March 9, putting speculations to rest.
This is the third directorial of photographer turned director, Shine. Kalidas made his Kolly debut with Meen Kuzhambum Mann Paanaiyum in 2016. He has one more film, Oru Pakka Kathai, awaiting release. Poomaram also has Kunchacko Boban, Manju Warrier and Meera Jasmine on board. |
[WM]The total VR market will generate $5.1 billion this year, new report claims.
2016 is poised to be the year that virtual reality really gets going, as Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR, and HTC Vive are all scheduled to make their commercial debuts this year. Now, research group SuperData has put out a report (via IGN) that provides some predictions for how well the systems will sell this year.
According to the report, Europe will lead the way with $1.9 billion in VR sales (hardware, accessories, and software) during 2016. The North American market will hit the No. 2 spot with $1.5 billion, while Asia ($1.1 billion) and the rest of the world ($0.6 billion) will follow.
Put together, the VR industry will generate $5.1 billion in 2016, according to SuperData's report.
That's up from $660 million in 2015, when headsets were only available to developers. SuperData added that it expects the VR market to swell to $8.9 billion in 2017 and climb to $12.3 billion in 2018.
In terms of sales by model, SuperData predicts that "light" mobile VR experiences, such as Google Cardboard, will lead the charge with 27.1 million units sold in 2016. Oculus Rift and HTC Vive are estimated to sell a combined 6.6 million units, "Premium" mobile VR devices like Samsung Gear VR will move 2.5 million units, while Sony's PlayStation VR will come in last with 1.9 million.
By the end of 2016, there VR market will reach an install base of 55.8 million consumers, SuperData said.
"Looking at the consumer market in more detail, we observe that especially younger consumer groups show a strong interest in virtual reality," SuperData said in the report. "However, this consumer group does do not have the spending power necessary to support high-end devices. It is the more mature demographics that have the disposable income, with 18-54-year-olds saying they're willing to spend around $280 for hardware. Likewise, emerging markets like China are volume-reliant since average user revenue is low. Platform holders will initially heavily subsidize their hardware to build up significant market share."
The report also sheds some light on gamer interest by genre. Action leads the way, followed by Action-Adventure, Adventure, FPS, and RPG. Another slide from the report speaks to the level of interest people have in VR and how much money they'd be willing to spend on a device.
Take a look at both charts below to learn more.
The full report, "Virtual Reality Market Brief," is available as a free download here.
SuperData compiled its market estimates from a "consortium of providers," including developers, publishers, and payment service providers. The player behavior and sentiment information, meanwhile, was gathered from a survey of a 557 "qualified" US respondents in November and December 2015.
Oculus Rift preorders open later today. You can reserve a device without paying upfront--and doing so puts you at the front of the line to get an Oculus Touch controller when they ship later in the year. |
[WM]A man from Alsip has been charged with the fatal shooting of a 33-year-old man in the South Chicago neighborhood, police said.
Brandon Ewing, 24, of the 3700 block of West 119th Street in the south suburb, is accused of shooting Kevin Sanders around 11:10 p.m. Friday in a courtyard between buildings in the 8700 block of South Burley Avenue on the Far South Side, police said.
Sanders suffered several gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at Advocate Trinity Medical Center around midnight Saturday, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. His address was listed as 8900 block of South Mackinaw Avenue.
Prosecutors said that Ewing and Sanders had got into an argument inside the hallway. A witness tried to calm Ewing down, but a short time later the witness saw him with a weapon in his hand.
Sanders exited the building and began to walk towards Ewing who had placed the gun in his waistband. The two began to exchange words again and according to witnesses, Ewing pulled out a gun and fired several shots into Sanders' lower body, prosecutors said.
Sanders fell to the ground and then Ewing stood over him and fired more shots, prosecutors said.
The shooting drew a crowd of angry people out onto the street, where they loudly called for retribution against the man suspected of the killing. Some demanded Ewing to come out of the apartment where he was hiding, prosecutors said.
Police were called to the scene and found Ewing hiding under a bed in an apartment. A semi-automatic handgun was found in the stove of the same apartment, prosecutors said.
Ewing admitted to police that he fired the weapon more than once and that he was outside with Sanders, prosecutors said.
Today Ewing limped into court in a hospital gown and at one point lifted his leg to show Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil his bandaged right thigh. His attorney, Assistant Public Defender Marijane Placek said Ewing shot Sanders in self defense in what essentially was "a shootout."
"This is a case where it is better to be tried by 12 than to be carried by six," Placek told the judge.
Prosecutors said the location of the shell casings found at the scene did not corroborate Ewing's version of events. |
[WM]Would you kiss a dog?
Heart Breakfast - answering the big questions... like, "Would you kiss a dog?"
Charlie's Boyfriend loves a good snog... the problem is, it's not with her - it's with a dog!
Debra Ludlow-Wilson yeah they are so kissable.. all that fur and the lovely eyes.. plant a kiss right between their eyes!
Alice Trew It is disgusting Charlie!! I love my dog and I give them hugs but the moment they lick me I'm like Ewwwwwwww!!!!!!
Check out Charlie's fella getting off with a pooch!!
Seeing this, you guys decided to show us you kissing your furry friends!!
Chris says, "i've no problem with this.....it's a sign of love and affection...but you do need a flanel close by"
And meet Abbie, puckering up for her King Charles!! |
[WM]President Bidhya Devi Bhandari is leaving for New York tomorrow, leading a delegation to the High-Level Event on Women in Power being hosted by the President of the UN General Assembly Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces.
Bhandari will address the event on March 12 on the theme of ‘How Women Leaders Change the World’. In the evening of March 11, Bhandari will attend a welcome dinner to be hosted by Garces in honour of women heads of state/government.
On the sidelines of the high-level event, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Garces will call on Bhandari at the UN Secretariat. Bhandari will also hold bilateral meetings with the President of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid and the President of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic. On the same day, former prime minister of Ireland Mary Robinson will call on Bhandari, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Bhandari will visit the Permanent Mission of Nepal to the UN in New York on March 13. Ambassador of Nepal to the US Arjun Kumar Karki and Permanent Representative of Nepal to the UN Amrit Bahadur Rai will jointly host a reception in Bhandari’s honour.
The president’s delegation comprises Minister of Women, Children and Senior Citizens Tham Maya Thapa; Chairperson of the Parliamentary Women and Social Committee Niru Devi Pal; expert at the Office of the President Laxmi Kumari Karki; Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi; Secretary at the Office of the President Binod KC; Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies Yam Kumari Khatiwada; and other senior officials from the Office of the President, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens of the Government of Nepal.
President Bhandari will return home on March 14. |
[WM]DETROIT (WXYZ) — Thanks to your help, 7 Action News is celebrating Detroit's Most Wanted 1 00th Capture.
Week after week, our Ann Marie LaFlamme has teamed up with law enforcement to shine light on dangerous criminals. And with your help, the U.S. Marshals have put 100 fugitives in jail.
We invited the U.S. Marshals and members of the DFAT team to Broadcast House Thursday in honor of their efforts to take criminals off the streets and keep our neighborhoods and families safe.
Throughout the day, you'll hear from victims whose lives were changed forever. In 2018, Latisha Battle says her ex-boyfriend, Deron Davis , snuck into her bedroom in the middle of the night and tried to kill her while she was asleep in bed.
Davis was captured in Kansas after U.S. Marshals received a viewer tip.
"I'm strong again, that I can walk down the street knowing ain't nobody gonna touch me or harm me," Battle told Action News.
You'll also hear from local officials discussing the community impact and even revisit our quickest captures.
Stay with 7 Action News all day Thursday to celebrate Detroit's Most Wanted 100th Capture. |
[WM]Let’s be Brilliant in 2018!
Do you live & breathe travel? Do you want the freedom and flexibility of working from home? Do you want to build personal relationships with clients and become their very own personal travel agent? Are you ready to take the next step and make your career dreams a reality?
We are looking for enthusiastic travel professionals who are passionate about their clients and providing them with unrivalled customer service, to join our expanding homeworking division. Whether you are an existing homeworker or working elsewhere in the travel industry and looking for a career that offers you unlimited earnings, flexibility and a better work life balance, then we want to hear from you!
Ready to start your Brilliant Career?
Visit BrilliantTravel.co.uk or call 0800 033 4790. |
[WM]She's been flying back and forth between New York and South Africa every week as she films The Giver.
But the strain of the international travel appeared to have little to no affect on Katie Holmes as she took a break from shooting in Cape Town, on Friday, perhaps thanks to some well applied make-up.
The 34-year-old looked remarkably rested and relaxed as she checked her phone in-between scenes on set of the adaptation of the classic children's novel.
The actress sported a brown leather trench coat as she leaned against a building during her break.
Scrolling through her phone, Katie did belie a hint of fatigue while keeping warm in a pair of motorcycle boots.
Completing her costume was a pair of jeans as she wore her dark locks in a snug bun.
The star has been making the gruelling flight between the two continents - which takes a minimum of 18 hours - regularly so she can spend time with daughter Suri, seven, on the weekends but still be back to film her new movie during the week.
But it was only two days prior that Katie was spotted struggling to stifle a series of yawns as she emerged from hair and makeup on the Cape Town set on Wednesday.
While she was about to step in front of a camera, the Thank You For Smoking star seemed like she was having trouble just putting one foot in front of the other.
Chatting to the production crew, the actress looked over some additional lines as she shuffled along in a long white robe that she wore over a pair of grey pants and grey T-shirt.
The star certainly looked different from when she stepped off the plane the day before on Tuesday.
With not a spot of makeup on and with her locks hardly brushed, she looked like she was far from ready for her closeup.
Poorly fitting jeans and nondescript sweater didn't help elevate her appearance.
The dressed down look was a sharp contrast to the cover girl look she proudly showed off in Manhattan just three days earlier.
With groomed hair and nicely applied lip gloss and eye makeup, she sparkled, looking every bit the glamorous movie star that she is.
But the dedicated actress is clearly intent upon giving her all to The Giver, which is based on the controversial best-selling novel by Lois Lowry.
The book, and now the film, tells the story about a society which has gone to great - and sinister - extremes to make everything equal and peaceful.
The science fiction film is based around Jonas (played by Brenton Thwaites), who learns of the real world outside his idyllic life.
Katie plays his mother, while True Blood star Alexander Skarsgard portrays his father.
The children's novel initially created controversy with many criticising the inappropriateness of the subject matter for children.
The Giver is slated for release on August 15 2014. |
[WM]The women’s U.S. gymnastic team is expected to bring home the gold from the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro this summer, and apparently Tumblr users are taking on the task of reporting the sport where mainstream media has failed.
Another popular site actually titled The Gymternet was begun by Laura Hopkins, who had previously worked in a law firm and has now been hired by NBC as a gymnastics researcher for their digital broadcast team in Rio for the Games.
Anecdotes like Maroney’s about smiling through her pain are less and less acceptably relegated to the shadows: the audience for gymnastics coverage won’t settle for it. You can and should read the rest of Reeves article here. |
[WM]Edinburgh's Hogmanay kicks off very soon - here's everything you need to know about the end of year celebration.
When and where does the Torchlight Procession take place?
In recent years the Torchlight Procession has served as an opening ceremony of sorts for Edinburgh's world renowned New Year celebrations. This year the event takes place at 7pm on December 30.
The event has three starting points this year; St Giles Street, South Bridge and North Bridge and will culminate in a spectacular gathering at Holyrood Park, at which torchbearers will form the distinctive shape of Scotland.
14 wooden sculptures representing regions of Scotland and created by the nation's youth will also be set ablaze in a celebration of Scotland's Year of Young People.
Who is playing at the Concert in the Gardens?
The capital's garden party with a difference has boasted to-class talent from far and wide to celebrate previous Hogmanays.
And this year is no different with Glasgow Indie-rock legends Franz Ferdinand set to entertain revellers at this year's gig.
They will be supported by bands Metronomy and Free Love.
Tickets for the event cost between £65 and £75 - you can buy them here.
When does the Street Party kick off and who is playing?
The Street Part hosted by Johnnie Walker gets underway at £7.30pm on New Years Eve with stages set up on Castle Street, South St David Street and by Waverley Station.
With Gerry Cinnamon and DJ Judge Jules the standout acts performing this year.
Meute, Vistas, Elephant Sessions, Miracle Glass Company, Trendy Wendy and The Mac Twins will also be performing at the ticketed event.
Are there any Ceilidhs I can get involved with?
If you want to see the year off in style and enjoy a rousing rendition of Auld Lang Syne then there are a couple options.
The Ceilidh Under the Castle takes place in the West Street Gardens in the shadow of Edinburgh's most famous landmark, with several celebrated ceilidh bands taking part in the festivities. Tickets come in at £60.
Alternatively you can wait till New Year's Day and take part in the family-friendly First Footers Ceilidh at 12.30pm at McEwan's Hall. The event is free, but tickets must be ordered in advance.
Read more about the Ceilidh Under the Castle here and the First Footers Ceilidh here.
Young ones can enjoy the festivities and still be tucked up in bed before the bells at the Bairns Afore event.
And what about New Years Day?
The notorious annual Loony Dook will take place from 12.30pm, with 'Dookers' welcome to march the length of South Queensferry High Street before diving into the Forth.
Alternatively you can take in some traditional Scottish music at the McEwan Hall with Capercaille set to play from 4.30pm. Later in the day Galician multi-instrumentalist Carlos Nunez will be hosting a concert also at McEwan Hall, with tickets available from £28. |
[WM]Dietrich Bonhoeffer has always been one of my great heroes of the faith. Such appreciation, of course, hardly makes me distinct. Bonhoeffer, the German pastor-theologian who opposed the Nazis and was executed in a concentration camp, is passionately admired by millions of Christians.
One could even compare him to Athanasius, the defender of Christ's divinity whose brave stance also drew state persecution. The fourth-century bishop's unflinching willingness to defy even emperors and their armies was honored with the title "Athanasius contra mundum" (against the world).
Charles Marsh's welcome biography, Strange Glory: A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Knopf), paints a painstaking portrait of a faithful disciple every bit as resolute against Aryanism as Athanasius was against Arians. Marsh's exquisite eye for detail reveals the sheer unlikelihood of Bonhoeffer's emergence as the boldest opponent of efforts to Nazify the German church.
Athanasius was bishop of Alexandria, the most powerful ecclesiastical figure in the Eastern empire. He wielded so much influence that emperors were afraid of opposing him too forcefully, lest they provoke a popular uprising.
But what power did Bonhoeffer wield in 1933? He was 27 years old, financially dependent on his parents, and virtually bereft of experience in the working world. His sole professional appointment was an unpaid, non-tenure-track position as a voluntary lecturer. Adjunct professors don't normally stand athwart emperors.
May 2014, Vol. 58, No. 4, Pg 53, "The Human Bonhoeffer" |
[WM]The Michigan Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society had nearly 200 boats lined up in the Black River between Seventh and 10th streets. The previous record for an ACBS International Boat Show was 146.
It's unlikely they would ever see so many beautiful powerboats in one place again.
Tim and Colette Carlsen of St. Clair check out two 1959 Chris-Craft Silver Arrows during the Antique and Classic Boat Society International Boat Show on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018.
Claude Simpson came from Almont on Saturday "to look at the old Chris-Crafts.
"I think they're beautiful boats," he said. "I wish I was 20 years old — I'd buy one.
"It's a shame when you get enough money to buy one, you're too old to have one."
Tim and Colette Carlson, of St. Clair, were admiring not one, but twin 1959 Chris-Craft Silver Arrows. The boats have the same styling as passenger cars from the era, with wide tailfins and two-tone paint jobs.
"We just came to see the beautiful boats," Tim Carlsen said.
They were enjoying the diversity of watercraft at the Antique and Classic Boat Society International Boat Show.
"We were just talking about how extraordinary it is," Colette Carlsen said. "There are so many boats here we haven't seen before."
The Impulse gleams during the Antique and Classic Boat Society International Boat Show on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018.
Ken Bessey of Tawas and his family and friends got a ride in the Rum Runner, which started life as a 1949 Hacker-Craft triple cockpit, but was converted to a commuter-style boat in 2005.
"It was great," Bessey said about the experience. "It's a beautiful boat, and it runs great."
Nine-year-old Mason Halsey was enjoying a pop in the stern of the America, a 1961 Matthews cruiser owned by David Maize of Harsens Island.
"It's fun to ride in," Mason said. "It has a loud engine. That's what I like."
Mike Weber, of Marine City, and Ken Radjewski, of Harsens Island, both own antique boats, but they left them at home to come enjoy the Port Huron show.
Radjewski said he owns a 1956 Chris-Craft skiff.
"It was my Dad's, and when my Dad passed away, I took them over and bought the boathouse and the boat," he said. "It's just a hobby."
He said he hadn't seen such a display of antique boats before.
"I've been to them in Florida," Radjewski said. "I've been to them in Algonac, and I've been to them Up North.
"This is the biggest display I've ever seen."
Larry and Glenda Day came from Clarkston to look at the boats.
The Wave Trotter heads out with riders during the Antique and Classic Boat Society International Boat Show on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018.
"We both love the woodworking," Glenda Day said, "and this is an awesome display of that."
Michael and Chris Flood brought two boats up from Clay Township, a 1972 Chris-Craft Commander and a 1937 Hacker-Craft triple cockpit.
"It's incredible," Michael Flood said about the show. "I had no idea it would turn out so good."
Tim Butson, a custom boat builder from Bobcaygeon, Ontario, brought a Muskoka-style boat called Impulse to the show. He said the watercraft is modeled on a gentleman's Gold Cup raceboat from the late 1920s.
"It's a wonderful venue," he said. "We've been to a number of international shows before.
"(But) this one is extremely unique because of the amount of big boats in the show. It's something that is completely different from the normal boat show." |
[WM]Trump hugs a US flag at a rally in October.
One of the United States' most important defense alliances may be unraveled or reoriented by President-elect Donald Trump after he takes office, based on a review of his campaign statements, in a shake-up that would affect the country's longtime role as a global police officer.
It's a position that aligns closely with that of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose spokesman said on Thursday that Putin and Trump "set out the same main foreign policy principles, and that is incredible."
"It is phenomenal how close they are to one another when it comes to their conceptual approach to foreign policy," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in comments broadcast by Russian state TV's Channel One.
"And that is probably a good basis for our moderate optimism that they will at least be able to start a dialogue to start to clear out the Augean stables in our bilateral relations," he said.
Peskov's comments came after reports emerged Thursday morning that the Trump campaign had been in contact with the Kremlin before the election.
Trump has questioned the value of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization along the campaign trail. He has postulated that the US should not be obligated to come to the defense of its NATO allies if they "aren't paying their bills."
Notably, President Barack Obama has also criticized some NATO members in the past for not paying their fair share, and many foreign policy experts have argued that member countries should be pressured by the US to contribute more to the organization's operating costs.
An Abrams main battle tank for US troops deployed in the Baltics as part of NATO's Operation Atlantic Resolve.
But none has gone as far as to suggest, as Trump has, that the US disengage from the alliance completely because some of its members are not living up to various financial obligations.
As many experts say, the value of being allied with strategically positioned nations around the world — and being perceived as a global leader — far outweighs the financial losses that the US might incur from picking up some of the slack.
"Sooner or later, the mess created by a disengaged US will become a threat to the US itself, and the US will have to clean it up eventually to a much larger cost," Magnus Petersson, the head of the Centre for Transatlantic Studies at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, told NBC earlier this year.
Ian Bremmer, president of the political risk firm Eurasia Group, wrote in an article published Wednesday that a disengaged America and weakened NATO would lead to a strengthened Asian bloc capable of providing an alternative to "lower-tier allies" looking for protection.
Between May and July of this year, the Russians heightened their military posture throughout Europe and spurred talk of a renewed intervention in Ukraine.
The country stopped short of provoking an armed NATO response, but it warned Europe that it could find itself in Russia's "crosshairs" if NATO didn't back down from plans to conduct war games in the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
US Army soldiers guard as Air Force F-22 Raptor fighters are parked in the military air base in Siauliai, Lithuania.
"The newer members of NATO — and especially the Baltics — have reason to be very concerned," Stephen Biddle, an adjunct senior fellow for defense policy at the Council on Foreign Relations and professor of political science at George Washington University, told Business Insider on Wednesday.
"They're not rich enough or big enough to defend themselves against the Russians, and a Trump administration's willingness to help them is very unclear," he said.
It's more unclear given Trump's stated admiration for Putin, as well as his apparent desire to work more closely with Russia to fight terrorism once he takes office.
From threats about pulling out of NATO to altering the GOP's policy on Ukraine— which has long called for arming Ukrainian soldiers against pro-Russian rebels — Trump's rhetoric has consistently aligned with a narrative that continues to overwhelm the collective Russian psyche: namely, that the US is overly meddlesome and "globalist."
US-Russia relations are now at their lowest point since the end of the Cold War, largely because of two major Russian interventions, in Crimea and in Syria, since 2014.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg congratulated Trump on his election victory in a statement on Wednesday. But he reminded the president-elect of the "solemn" and "unconditioned" commitment all NATO members have to the organization.
"NATO's security guarantee is a treaty commitment," said Stoltenberg, who cautioned over the summer that NATO's security depends on US security, and vice versa.
"All allies have made a solemn commitment to defend each other," he said. 'This is something absolutely unconditioned." |
[WM]Christian formation is the lifelong process of growing in our relationship with God, self, others, and all creation. Every experience in our lives can provide us with the opportunity to express our faith; the challenge we face is recognizing these opportunities and learning ways to live a sometimes countercultural life in a secular world.
Convene, coordinate, and facilitate gatherings of young adult and campus ministry leaders and youth ministers for leadership development, networking, discernment and support.
Build and sustain relationships within the networks of leaders and possible partners.
We have offices in Minnesota, Massachusetts and at the Church Center in New York City. We travel frequently but have an extraordinary Team Associate, Valerie Harris ([email protected]), who always knows where we are, what we’re up to, and can often answer your questions and respond to your needs when we are unavailable. Please feel free to contact us any time via phone or email.
Where and How Do You Experience Community?
Time to Get Out and Play!
How Do You Share the Easter Story?
How Can Episcopal Faith Communities Help Address Issues Faced by Older Adults?
How do you Engage the Bible?
Lesson Plans Focus on the Life and Work of Martin Luther King Jr.
When do you notice the Holy Spirit working through you in your teaching?
What is on Your Fall Reading List?
What is on your summer reading list?
Are you entering the Making Your Mark video contest?
What Do You Know About the Older Adult Ministry Taskforce?
What is the changing ministry of grandparents?
Does Christianity foster intergenerational communities?
Who is Missing From Your Pews?
What Curricula Do You Use?
Easter was last Sunday - now what do we do?
Let us "examine our own cultural attitudes toward violence"
What are you doing for World Mission Sunday?
What Can You Do to Stop Human Trafficking?
Do adults dare to dream in courageous ways?
How do our children dream? |
[WM]CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian police on Sunday arrested the author of a book about Egypt's economy on charges of publishing false news, security sources and the author's wife said.
Abdul Khalik Farouk's detention came days after local media reported that draft copies of his book, "Is Egypt Really a Poor Country?", which includes criticism of the government's economic policies, were seized by authorities from a publisher.
A spokesman for Egypt's interior ministry could not immediately be reached for comment. Two security sources said Farouk was arrested on orders of the public prosecutor. The public prosecutor's office and the book's publisher could not immediately be reached for comment late on Sunday.
Farouk's wife told Reuters that three policemen who took him from their home in a Cairo suburb told her they were detaining him in connection with the book.
Since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power in 2014, Egypt has seen a crackdown on dissent that activists say is unprecedented in the country's modern history. |
[WM]As the car that practically spearheaded Toyota’s rise as the country’s best-selling automotive brand, the Toyota Vios needs little introduction. It’s the modern day ‘people’s car,’ attracting car shoppers with its affordability, easy maintenance, and of course, its Toyota badge. There was just one problem: its NZ engine, now more than a decade old, was starting to show its age. In terms of fuel economy, it wasn’t keeping up with the competition, and consumers were starting to notice. Toyota isn’t the country’s top automotive marque for nothing, however, and they’ve been keenly listening in to their costumers’ wants and needs. Their response comes in the form of the Vios’ new powertrain — Toyota’s Dual VVT-I 1NR-FE engine paired with a CVT transmission. Let’s take a deeper look to see what else has changed.
The Toyota Vios hasn’t changed its looks much since 2013, and that’s a testament to how well the design holds up over time. Its well-proportioned silhouette is complemented by a large grille, flanked by two chrome-plated foglamp housings. At the rear, the trunk’s chrome strip extends its design across the rear tail lights. It’s a nice touch and shows some attention to detail which you don’t normally see in entry level vehicles. A small spoiler highlights the rear, giving the Vios a touch of sporty attitude. It’s an easy design to play around with, though its looks would be much improved with wheels larger than the 15-inch alloys it comes with.
If you’ve got a keen eye, you’ll notice some slight changes with the interior. There are new silver highlights on the AVT touchscreen and shift knob, and brushed aluminum details on the dash and door panels. The soft-touch plastics and leather stitched-style treatment on the dash enhance the premium level of the cabin, to the point where you’ll almost forget you’re in a B-segment vehicle. Typical of Toyota, the interior build quality is remarkable to a car in this price category. Buttons and knobs feel solid to the touch, and the instrument cluster is clear and highly legible. There’s also ample space at the rear for three medium-sized adults, while two large adults will have nothing to complain about. The Vios’ steering wheel still doesn’t support telescopic adjustments, but getting into a comfortable driving position wasn’t a problem at all.
On paper, Toyota’s new NR engine seems like a step down from the old NZ power plant. At 108hp and 140Nm of torque, the new engine has slightly less torque than its predecessor. Whatever the specs are on paper, it’s a different story in the driver’s seat. The engine response is noticeably quicker at low speeds compared to the previous model. Where you once had to get the revs going to gain speed, acceleration happens at a more linear pace, and the Vios feels perfectly at home cruising at speeds of 100 km/h without any drama.
The CVT transmission does take a bit of driving excitement away, but is a sensible addition to the Vios, given its practical nature. The end goal is, after all, improved fuel economy. So how does it do? Thanks to the Dual VVT-I engine (which adjusts timings on both intake and exhaust camshafts) and CVT transmission, the Toyota Vios achieves an average of 10 kilometers per liter on mixed city and highway driving conditions. On pure highway conditions, 15 kilometers per liter is easily attainable. Goal achieved? We certainly think so.
Many have tried to take a slice of the B-segment pie away from the Vios, but Toyota now has all the bases covered and locked down. The Vios offers driver and passenger airbags, complete connectivity to Bluetooth and MirrorLink devices, as well as six speakers, which is a lot of value for a sub-P1M car. With improved fuel efficiency, trustworthy Toyota reliability, and a P902,000 price tag, practicality simply doesn’t get any better than this.
The Philippines sells 300,000 brand new vehicles a year without retiring the same number of older cars. That’s one of the reasons why we have traffic gridlock.
1.3 engine at 10km per liter?
Prado is 2.7 and consume the same.
This is what old engine is ma konsumo. |
[WM]Stephen Leone & Daniel Neumark, Attosecond Physics Laboratory, UC Berkeley.
he entire semiconductor industry, not to mention Silicon Valley, is built on the propensity of electrons in silicon to get kicked out of their atomic shells and become free. These mobile electrons are routed and switched though transistors, carrying the digital information that characterizes our age. An international team of physicists and chemists based at the University of California, Berkeley, has for the first time taken snapshots of this ephemeral event using attosecond pulses of soft x-ray light lasting only a few billionths of a billionth of a second.
While earlier femtosecond lasers were unable to resolve the jump from the valence shell of the silicon atom across the band-gap into the conduction electron region, the new experiments now show that this transition takes less than 450 attoseconds.
"Though this excitation step is too fast for traditional experiments, our novel technique allowed us to record individual snapshots that can be composed into a 'movie' revealing the timing sequence of the process," explains Stephen Leone, UC Berkeley professor of chemistry and physics.
Leone, his UC Berkeley colleagues and collaborators from the Ludwig-Maximilians Universität in Munich, Germany, the University of Tsukuba, Japan, and the Molecular Foundry at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory report their achievement in the Dec. 12 issue of the journal Science.
Leone notes that more than a century has elapsed since the discovery that light can make certain materials conductive. The first movie of this transition follows the excitation of electrons across the band-gap in silicon with the help of attosecond extreme ultraviolet (XUV) spectroscopy, developed in the Attosecond Physics Laboratory run by Leone and Daniel Neumark, UC Berkeley professor of chemistry.
In semiconducting materials, electrons are initially localized around the individual atoms forming the crystal and thus cannot move or contribute to electrical currents. When light hits these materials or a voltage is applied, some of the electrons absorb energy and get excited into mobile states in which the electrons can move through the material. The localized electrons take a "quantum jump" into the conduction band, tunneling through the barrier that normally keeps them bound to atoms.
These mobile electrons make the semiconductor material conductive so that an applied voltage results in a flowing current. This behavior allows engineers to make silicon switches, known as transistors, which have become the basis of all digital electronics.
The researchers used attosecond XUV spectroscopy like an attosecond stop watch to follow the electron's transition. They exposed a silicon crystal to ultrashort flashes of visible light emitted by a laser source. The subsequent illumination with x-ray-pulses of only a few tens of attoseconds (10-18 seconds) in duration allowed the researchers to take snapshots of the evolution of the excitation process triggered by the laser pulses.
Unambiguous interpretation of the experimental data was facilitated by a series of supercomputer simulations carried out by researchers at the University of Tsukuba and the Molecular Foundry. The simulations modeled both the excitation process and the subsequent interaction of x-ray pulses with the silicon crystal.
The excitation of a semiconductor with light is traditionally conceived as a process involving two distinct events. First, the electrons absorb light and get excited. Afterwards, the lattice, composed of the individual atoms in the crystal, rearranges in response to this redistribution of electrons, turning part of the absorbed energy into heat carried by vibrational waves called phonons.
In analyzing their data, the team found clear indications that this hypothesis is true. They showed that initially, only the electrons react to the impinging light while the atomic lattice remains unaffected. Long after the excitation laser pulse has left the sample -- some 60 femtoseconds later -- they observed the onset of a collective movement of the atoms, that is, phonons. This is near the 64 femtosecond period of the fastest lattice vibrations.
Based on current theory, the researchers calculated that the lattice spacing rebounded about 6 picometers (10-12 meters) as a result of the electron jump, consistent with other estimates.
"These results represent a clean example of attosecond science applied to a complex and fundamentally important system," Neumark says.
The unprecedented temporal resolution of this attosecond technology will allow scientists to resolve extremely brief electronic processes in solids that to date seemed too fast to be approached experimentally, says Martin Schultze, who was a guest researcher in Leone's lab last year, visiting from the Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München. This poses new challenges to the theory of light-matter interactions, including the excitation step, its timescale and the interpretation of experimental x-ray spectra.
"But here is also an advantage," Schultze adds. "With our ultrashort excitation and probing pulses, the atoms in the crystal can be considered frozen during the interaction. That eases the theoretical treatment a lot." |
[WM]of The Drew Carey Show at 8 p.m. and Whose Line Is It Anyway? at 8:30 p.m.
usual Monday-night comedy lineup and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
adults 18 through 49 and 18 through 34.
Adults 18 through 49: ABC 7.2/20, CBS 4.0/11, Fox 2.6/7 and NBC 2.3/6.
Adults 25 through 54: ABC 7.7/19; CBS 5.0/12; NBC and Fox 2.4/6.
Adults 18 through 34: ABC 6.8/21, Fox 2.7/9, CBS 2.7/8 and NBC 2.3/7. |
[WM]Oxford United Women have signed midfielder Lauren Haynes from Aston Villa ahead of the WSL 2 season.
Former Bristol Academy player Haynes made 15 appearances for Villa last season in their second-tier campaign.
The 20-year-old, from nearby Bicester, will combine playing with developing her coaching qualifications.
"The gap from the end of last season and start of this season seems way too long and I can't wait to get going again," Haynes told the club's website. |
[WM]Police say a Hopedale man made it very easy for an officer to arrest him Wednesday he handed paperwork to the traffic cop that said his license had been suspended.
Nykolas Karl Rosenberger, 20, was arrested after the 4:43 p.m. stop. He was originally pulled over for speeding, police spokesman Lt. Paul Shastany said.
Officer Keith Strange was on Click It or Ticket patrol when Rosenberger drove by him near Brigham Street and Warren Road. Police say Rosenberg's vehicle was traveling 41 mph in a 25 mph zone.
When Strange asked for Rosenberger's license and registration, Rosenberger said he had left his license at work.
"He said he had a letter from the Registry (of Motor Vehicles) in his glove compartment that proved who he was and had his license number," Shastany said.
The Registry letter showed that his license had been suspended for too many accidents subject to insurance surcharges.
"He basically gave the hammer and nails to the officer to seal his coffin," Shastany said.
Rosenberger, of 34 Inman St., was charged with driving with a suspended license and driving without a license. He was also cited for speeding.
Rosenberger was released without bail after his Framingham District Court arraignment yesterday and is due back in court June 27 for a pretrial conference. |
[WM]Los Angeles ABC O&O KABC-TV has launched a Tumblr page.
“We’ll give you some insight to the newsroom and give you the latest Southern California news, and turn to ABC7 for breaking news and weather forecasts,” the station says on its Tumblr page.
While many TV stations are firmly on board with social media services such as Twitter and Facebook, Tumblr hasn’t quite broken into the graces of TV newsrooms. |
[WM]LONDON (ICIS)--Italy-headquartered energy group Eni is readying its Ravenna plant for a 50% capacity expansion during maintenance in August, a company source said on Tuesday.
The Ravenna site on the Adriatic coast, between Venice and San Marino, can produce either methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) or ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE) and is currently geared to make the former.
Ravenna has a capacity of 140,000 tonnes, according to the ICIS Plants and Projects database, and so a 50% increase would lift this to around 210,000 tonnes.
Lasting for two and a half months, the expansion will allow the plant to more fully cater to Eni’s northern Italian refineries’ needs.
It is understood these currently require extra MTBE to be bought, beyond Ravenna’s current output.
Whether the plant will be run at full level once the expansion is complete will depend on the availability of the feedstock for MTBE, Raffinate-1, which is still uncertain, suggested the source.
This is a reference to a possible tightening availability of C4 streams thanks to a potential switch in the production process upstream which has previously taken place during the summer.
There has typically been a swap away from using naphtha cracking, and instead cracking the heating fuel liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) which is often cheaper during summer months because it is in less demand. This produces less crude C4, which is where Raffinate-1 comes from.
Availability of Raffinate-1 would therefore typically be down during the summer, as suggested by another MTBE seller in the past week.
However this seasonal swing is believed to have smoothed out in recent years, with crackers finding LPG to have consistently provided better margins throughout the whole of the year. |
[WM]There are the rivalries that infect the heart, never to be repeated. If you loved the Brooklyn Dodgers then you hated the Giants. And here, if you cheer for Magallanes, then you despise Caracas.
Edgardo Alfonzo, the Mets' rising star, is the third baseman for Magallanes, the team situated in this city, and for years, his older brother Edgar played for Caracas -- the big brother of all cities in Venezuela, the capital, a two-hour drive east of here. The Alfonzos competed ferociously in the winter league, feeding the feud.
In that crucible, Edgardo Alfonzo developed the skills that have turned him into a budding star in New York, the major market in the major leagues. He hit .315 last season, ranked second in the National League with a .417 batting average with runners in scoring position, and finished second in Gold Glove Award voting, behind San Diego's Ken Caminiti. Eligible for salary arbitration this winter, he is in a position to make a great deal of money. In large measure, he has Edgar and the rivalry with his brother to thank for that.
In one game between Magallanes and Caracas, Edgardo charged a slow grounder hit by his brother, fielded it near the mound and threw spectacularly to first for the out, glancing pointedly at Edgar afterward.
An inning or two later, Edgardo slammed a line drive destined for the left-field corner, until speared by Edgar Alfonzo, the Caracas diving third baseman.
Having restored order, Edgar grinned, and Caracas fans excitedly waved their flags and blew into noisemakers. They understood the feud: Caracas vs. Magallanes, Edgar vs. Edgardo. But they could not see all the layers in the dense relationship between rival siblings.
''It's something that's hard to put into words,'' said Edgardo, the youngest of four Alfonzo children, sitting last week in Villa Madrid, a restaurant here.
Edgar, the first-born, came along in 1967, the year after his parents met and married, in a case of love at first sight. Edgar Alfonzo Sr. was on a job when he met Mercedes Pino, and in spite of the objections of her mother, they married within four months. Edgar Sr. drove a truck for a medical supplier, keeping him away from home in the small town of Miranda (population: 1,000) until late at night, or a week or two at a time.
He casually followed the careers of the best Venezuelan baseball players, such as Luis Aparicio and Vic Davalillo, but he did not play the game. Rather, he played jacks, gambling for money as a teen-ager. Baseball, he thought, was something only tots should play, certainly not a prospective vocation.
For growing boys, baseball was a waste of valuable time, he thought, a lure away from school and the education that could prove pivotal in their lives. The children of Edgar and Mercedes would concentrate on their school and go to a university; he would see to that.
But Edgar Jr. could not forget about baseball, and when his father's job took him out of Miranda, the boy would sneak off to play. Mercedes Alfonzo knew what her oldest son was doing, but never told her husband. When Edgar Sr. returned from work, Edgar could only sit home and wince over the thought of his friends playing nearby.
But the periods of inactivity hardly dulled his skills. By the time he was 14, Edgar was playing baseball with young adults, 20 or 21 years old, and one afternoon, before an important game, a handful of them went to the Alfonzo house to speak with Edgar Sr. Your son is a very good player, one of them told the father, and you should come watch him play today.
Edgar Sr. agreed, and the boy, distracted by the presence of his father and feeling as if this was a one-day audition, struck out three times. He returned home crestfallen, certain that his father would be furious.
''I know you were nervous because I was there,'' Edgar Sr. told his son, and they made a deal: Edgar Jr. had one year to prove himself. If he could not, he would quit baseball for good and then concentrate on school. Attending a game shortly thereafter, Edgar Sr. found himself being pestered by a friend convinced of Edgar's greatness. His friend bet Edgar Sr. that the boy would hit a home run that day, and when Edgar did so, his father lost a six pack of beer. Happily.
Within three years, Edgar Jr. signed a contract to play for Caracas. The first time the skinny teen-ager appeared on television in Miranda, Edgardo could hear his neighbors yelling in their houses, shouting, laughing. Asked last week about the moment, their father paused, his eyes watering. ''My first son,'' he said in Spanish, before looking down.
Pride surged through Edgardo, then 11 years old, tempered by concern for his brother's success. ''I was hoping nobody would hit a ball to him,'' Edgardo recalled.
To Edgardo, who was still playing in the sandlots, his older brother was a hero, someone to emulate. They had always been close. On those rare moments they bickered, their father would admonish them. You must not fight, Edgar Sr. would say. You are brothers.
Edgar signed with the California Angels when he was 17, and his departure for the United States was traumatic, with all the Alfonzos gathered at the airport in Caracas. He called home three times his first day away, homesick, but, his father recalled, he sounded both sad and excited. Edgar was pursuing his dream.
He would return to Miranda every fall, sharing his used equipment and experience with his two brothers. Even when Edgardo was little, Edgar was sure his little brother would be a great player. He remembers watching Edgardo play a Little League game when he was 11. Twice Edgardo stopped grounders with a dive and rose to make wicked throws, and the line drives off his bat generated a peculiar sound.
Edgar gradually climbed through the minors, establishing himself as a useful utility player. But his batting average fluctuated, injuries hampered him, and he did not have the speed to steal bases or the power to hit home runs consistently. In 1990, he had 2 hits in 11 at-bats for Class AAA Edmonton, and thereafter, his career bogged down in the minor leagues.
His kid brother, Edgardo, playing shortstop and second base, turned 17 in 1990, and thought about signing with Caracas. Edgar, then 23, encouraged him to consider all his options. Another team would have more opportunity; Caracas had a logjam of older players. Edgardo signed to play with Magallanes in Venezuela, and with the Mets in the United States. Edgar bragged to his manager with Caracas, Phil Regan, that Edgardo would be a terrific player.
That summer, Tamargo said, it became apparent Edgardo would be a good major league player or better.
That summer, Edgar realized that his career might stall in the minor leagues or worse. He was playing for Class AA Bowie, in the Baltimore organization, in the same league as his brother. The first time Bowie played at Binghamton, Edgar went to Edgardo's small, shared apartment for dinner.
Edgar Alfonzo, now 30, lives with his wife and children in Texas, and departed Monday to play in Taiwan. After three major league seasons, Edgardo Alfonzo, now 24, is a celebrity in Venezuela, his stature approaching that of Andres Galarraga of the Atlanta Braves. The first time Alfonzo played for Magallanes this season, fans at Jose Bernardo Perez Stadium stood and cheered. At the Villa Madrid, patrons and waiters occasionally interrupt him as he discusses Edgar. |
[WM]— It’s not quite Eloise at the Plaza, but Olivia the Pig had a good thing going in the Village. The star of the children’s book (and now television) series, and her author Ian Falconer, had been living in a townhouse at 45 West 9th Street for the past three years, purchased for $4.6 million. According to city records, the house sold for $4.1 million back in May, though the deal was only filed yesterday. The original asking price, from Sept. 22 (one week after Lehman filed for bankruptcy, it should be noted) was $7.1 million. The buyer was Kirat Singh, a managing director at Bank of America, and Yue Chen. There hasn’t been a new Olivia book since Olivia Helps with Christmas in 2007, but Mr. Falconer’s new collaboration with David Sedaris, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary, should help make up for his loss on the house.
— Congrats to Elliman super-broker Dolly Lenz. Following yesterday’s big news that there’d been a split between her team and the storied-but-troubled Apthorp, Lenz finally sold a spectacularly remade limestone townhouse at 123 East 61st Street, according to city records. The house was purchased back in 2007 for $7.9 million, had a brand-new facade put on — “rich mahogany-clad bay windows and high ironwork entrance gate convey classic Upper East Side elegance,” according to Ms. Lenz’ listing — and was then put back on the market in February of last year for $17.5 million. That not being the best time for such a sale, the price was knocked down to $13.95 million in July 2009. The final price was $12.1 million, well below asking but still representing a handsome profit, even after renovations. There is one catch: The place still needs a full interior reno. |
[WM]Google's artificial-intelligence researchers at DeepMind have developed a new algorithm that improves its game-play capabilities.
After mastering dozens of 2D Atari games, and whopping humans at Go, Google's DeepMind artificial intelligence (AI) is now taking on new 3D navigation and puzzle-solving games.
One of these new games that DeepMind's AI agents are tackling is ant soccer, in which it's learned how to chase down a ball, dribble, and then score a goal.
What's impressive, DeepMind's David Silver explained in a blogpost, is that its AI is capable of solving the ant soccer challenge "without any prior knowledge of the dynamics", reflecting recent advances it's made in 'reinforcement learning' (RL), or learning through trial and error.
To get these results, DeepMind has combined RL with deep learning of neural networks and its Deep Q-Network (DQN), an algorithm that stores a bot's experiences and estimates rewards it can expect after taking a particular action.
It was this algorithm that allowed it to master dozens of 2D games on an Atari 2600, but Silver says it's now developed a far better version of the algorithm.
For example, it can now train a single neural network to learn multiple Atari games. The technique is also being used to power recommendations in Google.
"We have also built a massively distributed deep RL system, known as Gorila, that utilises the Google Cloud platform to speed up training time by an order of magnitude; this system has been applied to recommender systems within Google," Silver noted.
However, the ability to learn how to play soccer comes from DeepMind's newly developed 'asynchronous actor-critic algorithm, A3C', which the company set out in a revised paper last week, demonstrating that it could use standard multi-core CPUs to surpass GPU-based algorithms at solving motor-control problems and navigating random 3D mazes using visual input.
"It achieves state-of-the-art results, using a fraction of the training time of DQN and a fraction of the resource consumption of Gorila," Silver noted.
DeepMind is testing this against Labyrinth, "a challenging suite of 3D navigation and puzzle-solving environments". The agents only use visual cues to figure out the map to "discover and exploit" rewards, Silver said.
"Amazingly, the A3C algorithm achieves human-level performance, out of the box, on many Labyrinth tasks," he wrote. |
[WM]ORLANDO, Fla. -- While Lenny Wilkens was speaking with reporters outside of the Milk House Gym at Walt Disney World, New York Knicks president and head coach Isiah Thomas, the man who fired Wilkens two years ago, hugged the Hall of Fame coach and before a short conversation.
Perhaps Thomas was sharing with Wilkens the Knicks' interest in acquiring Rashard Lewis. According to NBA insiders, the Knicks could make the Sonics a sign-and-trade offer for Lewis that could include Seattle natives Nate Robinson and Jamal Crawford.
Crawford is owed $35 million over the next four seasons, and the Knicks could add Robinson's contract or that of Channing Frye to come within 75 percent of a new Lewis deal, per rules of the collective bargaining agreement.
Wilkens said Tuesday that the Sonics plan to sign Lewis, who opted out of his contract Friday and will be an unrestricted free agent July 1. To execute a sign-and-trade, the Sonics would have to sign Lewis to a new contract and then trade him.
The Sonics have the advantage in re-signing Lewis because they can offer him a six-year deal, compared with five for other clubs, and give Lewis 10.5 percent increases per season, compared with 8 percent for other clubs.
" He is a young player who was having a great year, and he wants to explore the market," Wilkens said. "Yes (there are plans to re-sign him). He is an asset for us. We still want him, and we're going to try everything we can get him signed."
The Knicks, however, have made Lewis a major priority. They sorely lack a scoring small forward but would have to unload one of their unwanted contracts -- Crawford, Jerome James, Quentin Richardson, Malik Rose -- to acquire a quality player.
It's uncertain whether the Sonics would be interested in Crawford because of his contract and history of erratic shooting. He averaged 17.6 points per game this season but shot just 40 percent.
WILLIAMS ABSENT: Former Roosevelt High standout Marcus Williams will not participate in the pre-draft camp and is not on the list of players set to take physicals. Williams, who has hired agent Rob Pelinka after two years at Arizona, is projected as the 23rd pick by Draftexpress. com and is not included in ESPN. com's first-round mock draft.
Williams' absence is curious considering he is trying to rebuild his image after an unceremonious exit from Arizona. Williams has been partially blamed for the Wildcats' chemistry issues last season, which resulted in a first-round NCAA Tournament exit. Washington's Spencer Hawes and Eastern Washington's Rodney Stuckey are on the list of "physicals only" players.
WORDS OF AIR: Dressed in baggy jeans, sporting headphones around his neck and a tan shirt, Michael Jordan, Charlotte Bobcats president and resident greatest player on Earth, left the Milk House Gym, walked past Wilkens and said, "Good luck, kiddo," before walking off. ... Draft prospects, who went through drills Tuesday evening, will start playing games Wednesday. Among those assigned to rosters are former Franklin High and Oregon point guard Aaron Brooks and former Garfield and Nevada guard Marcelus Kemp. |
[WM]Learning how to answer tough interview questions can help you get the job you want.
Interview questions that ask you what you will contribute to the company are designed to help employers weed out the best applicants. Your answer to this kind of question should demonstrate that you've done your homework on the company and understand its needs, and that you have the ability to think under pressure.
Research the company and the position you are applying for so you know how to formulate your answers. Read through the company's website to learn more about its culture, mission, strategic vision, management team and history. Try to find news or industry articles on the company that detail some of its recent growth initiatives as well as its strategy for winning market share from competitors. Find out what the company's current needs and priorities are and then use that information to answer the questions with confidence and without hesitation.
Provide specific examples from your past work experiences that demonstrate how you used your skills to benefit previous employers. For example, you might discuss a recent project you completed on time and under budget, or how you set up a new software program that helped the company improve its performance. Explain in detail any contributions that you made for previous employers that helped them reach their goals. Next, explain how these skills and experiences can benefit the company you're interviewing with, using your research on the company to help inform your answers. If you aren't afraid to work overtime, let the hiring manager know that you are willing to work until your job is done and not watch the clock.
When you are asked how you can contribute to the company, incorporate your own goals into what you can contribute to the company, then explain that you are looking for a career opportunity that leads to additional responsibilities. This will help highlight your drive and ambition and let the interviewer know that you are looking for something long-term. For example, if your personal goal is to bring in 10 new clients each month to exceed your own personal sales goals, this goal will also help increase your potential employer's sales and client base. You can also explain that you would like to increase your knowledge about the position by attending evening classes or learning a new software program. This goal will make you more valuable as a potential employee.
Before the interview, make a list of your strengths. Monster, an online career resource website, suggests that once you outline your strengths there should be at least three or four that match the job description. Provide specific examples of how your strengths align with the open position, and how they can help the company improve its performance. For example, if you are applying for a leadership position you might mention past teams you have led, what strengths you brought to the role, and what the teams accomplished.
Forbes: How To Ace the 50 Most Common Interview Questions?
Monster: What Are Your Greatest Strengths and Weaknesses?
CNN: How To Answer 10 Tough Interview Questions?
Dawn, Melody. "Interview Answer: How Can an Employee Contribute to a Company?" Work - Chron.com, http://work.chron.com/interview-answer-can-employee-contribute-company-27511.html. Accessed 25 April 2019. |
[WM]Aduro Biotech is laying off more than a third of its workforce in a restructuring intended to keep its focus on its cancer drugs now in clinical development.
The corporate shakeup will cut the headcount of Aduro (NASDAQ: ADRO) by 37 percent, the company announced Wednesday. At the end of the third quarter of last year, Aduro’s workforce totaled 155 full-time employees, including 117 in research and development, according to the Berkeley, CA, company’s quarterly report. Aduro says the remaining workers will turn their attention to the company’s lead programs.
Aduro develops immunotherapies, treatments that aim to coax the patient’s immune system to fight disease. The company’s lead therapeutic candidate focuses on activating the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) receptor in immune system cells, which is hoped can set off immune responses that tackle tumors. That drug, ADU-S100, is being developed in partnership with Novartis (NYSE: NVS), which committed $250 million up front to Aduro in 2015 to develop STING drugs. The Aduro STING drug is currently in Phase 1 testing in breast, head and neck, and renal cell cancers, as well as lymphoma and multiple myeloma. Last month, Aduro added Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) as a partner in an alliance targeting the STING pathway to treat autoimmune and inflammatory disorders. The deal calls for Lilly to provide Aduro with research funding.
Another partner, Merck (NYSE: MRK), has licensed an Aduro antibody that targets a molecule called CD27. The Aduro antibody at the center of that alliance, which was signed in 2015, is in preclinical development.
Not all of Aduro’s partnerships have worked out. In October, Aduro disclosed that Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) subsidiary Janssen Biotech would end its four-year alliance with the company and return rights to drugs that were being developed for lung and prostate cancers.
In addition to its STING drugs, Aduro says it will also focus on developing drugs that block a protein called APRIL, which is found in high levels in patients diagnosed with cancers such as multiple myeloma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and colorectal carcinoma. The APRIL-blocking antibody drug BION-1301 is currently being tested in a Phase 1/2 study in multiple myeloma.
Aduro did not say how much money it expects the restructuring will save. The company says it finished 2018 with $277.9 million in cash. Aduro added that it collected a $12 million upfront payment this month from its partnership with Eli Lilly. |
[WM]Abu Dhabi Police will enforce lower speed limits during hazardous weather conditions from this Sunday.
The force said reduced speed limits will be posted on electronic signboards on roads and sent out by SMS, the Arabic newspaper Al Bayan reported.
There was no mention of what the reduced speed limit would be, or whether it would vary depending on the severity of the weather conditions.
On March 17, Abu Dhabi police reduced the speed limit to 80kph due to severe sandstorms and winds that reached 50 kph in some places. Visibility was less than 2,000 metres on some roads.
The new policy has not been announced on the force's social media accounts.
Last November, Abu Dhabi's transport authority gave the green-light for a new safety scheme slashing speeds on roads during bad weather, such as heavy rain, sandstorms and thick fog.
The Department of Transport's traffic safety committee agreed a plan to cut speed limits to 80kph when visibility for drivers is reduced to 200 metres or less.
Motorists will be alerted to the reduced speed limits by notices on smart towers - structures displaying road messages - located on routes throughout the emirate.
The scheme will allow authorities to swiftly reduce limits and improve safety with quick effect during fog and dust storms.
A leading UAE road safety campaigner backed the initiative, but also called on motorists to use common sense and adapt to adverse conditions.
“It should go without saying that the speed limit has to go down and the distance between vehicles has to go up when visibility is poor,” said Thomas Edelmann, managing director of RoadSafetyUAE.
“The level of driver attention also has to go up as well. The main point is that speed should go down though.
“This is a great initiative and it is good to see authorities embracing technology to improve road safety and not just talking about it. |
[WM]Emigrated Cubans in the US city of Miami, Florida, are preparing today for a debate on August 26 about the new Constitution project of their native country.
That meeting, the first of three planned for the same purpose, is sponsored by the Alianza Martiana coalition, which brings together various organizations of these people.
According to a note from the Antonio Maceo Brigade, part of the aforementioned entity, this citizen exercise constitutes an unavoidable duty for Cubans.
The government's decision to summon Cubans living abroad to express their opinions, elaborate their considerations and present them to the relevant authorities through the Internet is an inclusive action of great importance that will strengthen the present and the future of the country, said the text.
In the opinion of Ernesto Soberón, director of Consular and Cuban Affairs Resident Abroad of the island's Chancellery, this is a very important decision based on the growing number of fellow citizens abroad and the magnitude of the proposal raised.
Those who live outside the greater Antillean region have the opportunity to contribute to the development of a socialist and democratic society, guided by premises such as humanism and solidarity, Soberón told reporters earlier this month in Havana.
He stressed that this step signifies an unequivocal demonstration of the will of the Cuban Government to continue moving forward in a process begun in 1978 to strengthen ties with residents abroad.
For the first time in history, all Cubans, regardless of their geographical location, may be part of the discussions to build the country's constitution.
According to the diplomat, the call is in line with the updating of the migration policy implemented in recent years.
It is also known that of the estimated one million 400 thousand Cubans living in some 120 countries, only a minority advocates the destruction of the Revolution and the return of capitalism that prevailed before 1959, he said.
The National Assembly approved on July 22 the draft new Constitution, which will be submitted to a popular consultation until November 15 after the beginning of that process on August 13.
For residents abroad, the opportunity to issue proposals on the text will begin in the first week of September, once the technical conditions for participation have been created.
Soberón explained that the contribution of criteria of people outside Cuba will be materialized through a section enabled on the website Nation and Emigration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (http://www.nacionyemigracion.cu). |
[WM]Tomorrow morning at 5AM Eastern Xbox.com will be going down. When it comes back, it'll have a fresh new look and some extra-added functionality. Let's take a look!
Major Nelson uploaded a set of pictures of the new Xbox.com website redesign this morning, giving users a look at how they'll be interfacing with Xbox Live via the web tomorrow morning. Xbox.com and the forums will go down at 5AM Eastern time, and when they come back up, this is what we'll be seeing.
New features introduced in the redesign include the ability to edit avatars via the website; a combined view for messages, friend requests, and game invites; improved account notification; family reports so you can keep tabs on your household; and the ability to play web games with friends via the website or Windows Phone 7. The Xbox.com Marketplace is also scoring a robust new search system, making it easier than ever to find the games you're looking for.
Check out the screens below to see what we'll be seeing once Xbox.com is reborn tomorrow morning. |
[WM]Tom Brokaw says he did not intend for this “rough draft” of a letter to be widely read.
Brokaw, the former anchor of “NBC Nightly News,” is one of the country’s best-known journalists. He is currently a special correspondent for NBC News. He feels his reputation is being besmirched. And he believes he is the real victim.
“She has unleashed a torrent of unsubstantiated criticism and attacks on me more than twenty years after I opened the door for her and a new job at Fox News,” Brokaw said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by CNNMoney.
“I was groped and assaulted by Tom Brokaw, then the anchor of ‘NBC Nightly News,'” Vester said in a video interview with Variety.
Brokaw’s Friday letter asserted that he played a key role in introducing Vester to Fox News boss Roger Ailes, who later hired her.
“When he got in trouble on sexual matters, not a peep from this woman,” Brokaw wrote. Ailes, who passed away last year, left Fox News in 2016 amid sexual harassment allegations that he repeatedly denied.
But he said he “did not verbally and physically attack her” as described in the interviews. |
[WM]Hassocks kicked off a new season and a new era at the Beacon by drawing 1-1 with Broadbridge Heath in their opening game of the Southern Combination League Premier Division season.
A crowd of 104 turned out to see Mark Dalgleish take sole charge of the Robins for the first time following Phil Wickwar's decision to sand down as joint manager.
It was one of those new signings, Liam Benson, who scored the Hassocks goal, tucking away a 70th minute penalty after Jack Wilkins had been felled in the box. That was cancelled out by Devon Fender's equaliser 10 minutes before time for Heath.
Both Benson and Alex Spinks have returned to the Beacon from Lancing while Alex Harris is back in goal after a short spell with Ringmer. The fourth new face to start was defender Dan Webster, formerly of Burgess Hill Town and signed from Horsham YMCA.
The Robins' most eye catching signing of the summer wasn't present here. Phil Johnson has also returned from YM after three goal-studded seasons at Gorings Mead since he left Hassocks in the summer of 2015.
Johnson was ruled out of this one through injury but the acquisition of him and Benson, both of whom featured in the Premier Division's golden boot chart last season, should help ensure that Hassocks manage more than the 38 goals they scored last time out which left them as the second lowest scorers in the division.
It was Heath who started the better of the two sides with Stuart Chester's pace and crossing ability and Fender's presence giving Harris and his back four of Harry Mills, Webster, Jordan Badger and Bradley Bant plenty to think about.
Fender had the first clear cut chance of the game when a lovely through ball from Lee Carney put him clear but he dragged his shot just wide of the post.
After weathering the storm, Spencer Slaughter and Matt Berridge began to give Hassocks some control in midfield and the impressive Jake Lindsey drew a save from Heath's new goalkeeper Mark Fox with a long range effort.
Spinks then found Benson with a visionary pass and Benson showed good strength to barge one-time Hassocks defender Glen Woodburn off the ball to leave himself one-on-one with Fox. Remarkably, referee Robert King awarded a free kick to Heath, much to the annoyance of everyone in red.
The last chance of the first half came when Hassocks failed to clear a corner with the ball eventually falling just outside the area to Marlon Maxwell but his brilliant connection was only rewarded with the shot flying just over the bar.
Neither side seemed to have played to their potential in the first half with the main talking point being not about any of the new signings on the pitch, but the addition of Dark Fruits cider to the bar which went down a treat with supporters.
Hassocks were quickest out the blocks in the second half with Wilkins causing trouble down the right flank, his pull back finding Spinks who drew another comfortable save from Fox.
Heath then had the best chance of the game, Ben Hands delivering a superb cross right onto the head of Fender but his powerful head was wonderfully kept out by the reflexes of Harris.
That save seemed to galvanise the Robins and Benson and the outstanding Berridge both went close to beat Fox before Spinks put the ball into the penalty area and just as Wilkins was about to pull the trigger, he was clumsily bundled over by Woodburn.
Mr King pointed straight to the spot and Benson made no mistake with the spot kick, beating Fox with ease to give the Robins the lead.
It was all Hassocks after that with Benson the centre of attention. He breezed his way into the box but instead of shooting, opted for the unselfish pass to Wilkins who was slightly off balance and as a result couldn't hit the target.
Heath equalised shortly after with a real sucker punch. Scott Weller delivered a defence splitting pass to Fender who used his strength and pace to blast through and smash home an equaliser for 1-1.
Hassocks made a double change in response as Dan Stokes and Harvey Blake, the fifth new face on the day having signed from Mid Sussex Premier Division side Sporting Lindfield, took to the field.
Blake had a lively cameo in his first 10 minutes in senior football. He was denied a debut goal by an excellent save from Fox after Wilkins had broken down the wing to cross and Blake then turned provider with a marauding run down the flank from which he found Benson but the Hassocks striker couldn't get the sort of connection he was looking for and it resulted in a comfortable save for Fox.
That was the final chance of the game with a draw just about the right result. There were certainly plenty of positives to take for the Robins ahead of a stern test against one of the title favourites, Chichester City on Tuesday night.
Hassocks: Alex Harris; Harry Mills, Jordan Badger, Dan Wesbter, Bradley Bant; Jack Wilkins, Spencer Slaughter, Matt Berridge, Jake Lindsey; Alex Spinks; Liam Benson.
Subs: Dan Stokes, Harvey Blake (used). |
[WM]Antarctica New Zealand welcomes the Government’s Antarctic initiatives in Budget 2017 to maintain New Zealand’s ongoing presence and scientific research programme in Antarctica.
Antarctic science drives our presence in Antarctica and underpins New Zealand’s strategic interests in the region. The announcement of a Strategic Science Investment Fund platform dedicated to Antarctic science provides assurance that New Zealand will remain at the forefront of Antarctic science, delivering highly credible Antarctic and Southern Ocean research on an ongoing basis.
Antarctica New Zealand shares logistics on a bilateral basis with the US Antarctic Program, the Italian Antarctic Programme and the Korean Antarctic Programme. This allows New Zealand to conduct an extensive annual programme of Antarctic research which would cost significantly more if it had to operate alone. Funding of $3.5 million over four years towards office and operational accommodation in Christchurch for these National Antarctic Programmes will support their continued economic commitment to New Zealand’s Antarctic Gateway city and enhance their collaborative logistics and science arrangements with Antarctica New Zealand.
New Zealand’s core facility in Antarctica, Scott Base, is reaching the end of its functional life and needs to be modernised and upgraded in order to maintain appropriate standards, and reduce risks. Funding of $6.1 million over two years will allow the preparation of a detailed business case that includes a robust building design, budget and project implementation plan to redevelop a fit for purpose Scott Base facility. The new dedicated funding for Antarctic science underpins the value of any future investment to redevelop Scott Base.
Science is a central theme of the Antarctic Treaty. Antarctica New Zealand’s Chief Executive and Chief Science Advisor are currently in Beijing as members of New Zealand’s delegation to the annual meeting of Antarctic Treaty parties.
Find more from Antarctica New Zealand on InfoPages. |
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[WM]Lloyd Hull, seen here in 2014 with a D-Day shell casing fired from the USS Laffey, was a beloved Greenwich resident. His family is paying tribute to him with a concert in his memory from the London Philharmonic.
GREENWICH — A local performance by the London Philharmonic will be dedicated to a Greenwich icon.
While in the area for concerts this month at Lincoln Center, the London Philharmonic Orchestra will also pay a visit to Stamford for gala performance at 8 p.m. April 16 at The Palace theater.
The Stamford concert, a benefit for the local Young Artists Philharmonic, will be performed in memory of Lloyd Hull, a longtime Greenwich resident, World War II veteran and dedicated town volunteer. The choice to honor his memory was made by his one of his daughters, Lady Victoria Robey, an officer of the order of the British Empire who is also chairman of the philharmonic.
She, along with a committee of family members and Greenwich residents, organized the one-night stop in Stamford for the the 100-piece London Philharmonic.
Hull, who died in January 2018 at the age of 95, was known for his love of music. Singing was not Hull’s forte, said Bea Crumbine, a longtime friend and the town’s ambassador at large. But his musical tastes ranged from patriotic songs and Gilbert and Sullivan to Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Handel and “anything big and bold,” she said.
What made Hull happiest, was hearing his wife, Mary, singing in the choir at church on Sundays, said Crumbine, who is part of the organizing committee.
Robey agreed, saying that bringing people together was of great importance to her father.
"I am touched and honored that a world-renowned orchestra would come to our area and perform in honor of my father," Weicker said. "I know Dad would have loved that some of the proceeds will benefit the Young Artists Philharmonic. It’s a great way to bring people together with music which is the universal language."
Tours by the London Philharmonic are planned years in advance, Robey said, so adding in a performance is not easy.
But when she saw the concerts lined up for Lincoln Center, Robey said it made sense to try to get the philharmonic to Connecticut. Chief executive and artistic director Tim Walker was open to the idea, she said, paving the way for the concert to come together.
The concert will open with Beethoven’s Egmont followed by Canadian violinist James Ehnes leading the way the Violin Concerto by Jean Sibelius. After the intermission, the orchestra will perform Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony.
Members of the Young Artists Philharmonic, based in Old Greenwich, will be part of a flute choir that will greet guests when they arrive at The Palace. That group will include eight students from Greenwich: Katharine Singer Jensen, Alexa Cervantes, Valeria Morales, Fiona Chen, Alondra Santana, Hannah Bang and Krishna Reddy.
The London Philharmonic’s work with the youth orchestra is part of its commitment to education. Robey said the orchestra works closely with London Music Masters, an organization called that teaches classical music in schools in England to children who might otherwise not have access to it.
Tickets are on sale at www.palacestamford.org. |
[WM]A judge wrote that Chicago has shown a ‘‘likelihood of success’’ in its arguments that Attorney General Jeff Sessions overstepped his authority with the requirements.
CHICAGO — Attorney General Jeff Sessions can’t follow through — at least for now — with his threat to withhold public safety grant money to Chicago and other so-called sanctuary cities for refusing to impose new tough immigration policies, a judge ruled Friday in a legal defeat for the Trump administration.
In what is at least a temporary victory for cities that have defied Sessions, US District Judge Harry Leinenweber ruled that the Justice Department could not impose the requirements.
He said the city had shown a ‘‘likelihood of success’’ in arguing that Sessions exceeded his authority with the new conditions. Among them are requirements that cities notify immigration agents when someone in the country illegally is about to be released from local jails and to allow agents access to the jails.
The city had asked the judge for a ‘‘nationwide’’ temporary injunction this week, asking the judge not to allow the Justice Department to impose the requirements until the city’s lawsuit against the department plays out in court.
Chicago has applied for $2.2 million in the federal grant money — $1.5 million for the city and the rest for Cook County and 10 other suburbs. But in a recent court hearing, attorneys representing the city said that more than 30 other jurisdictions across the United States filed court briefs supporting Chicago’s lawsuit and have up to $35 million in grants at stake. At least seven cities and counties, including Seattle and San Francisco, as well as the state of California, are refusing to cooperate with the new federal rules.
During a hearing, Ron Safer, an attorney representing the city, said that if the Justice Department prevailed, it could use the same argument to ‘‘seize’’ even more authority to tie grant money to doing what he wants. |
[WM]Every June, the Los Angeles-based Women In Film foundation throws a lavish awards ceremony to celebrate women who are at the forefront of the industry.
Founded in 1973 by Tichi Wilkerson Kassel – former editor in chief of The Hollywood Reporter – the Crystal & Lucy Awards recognise and promote talented female directors, actors, cinematographers, producers and critics, to help them break through the so-called “celluloid ceiling”.
Women in film still face plenty of obstacles, as seen in the recent Harvey Weinstein scandal and the resultant #TimesUp movement, as well as reports on the gender pay gap. A case in point: for the reshoots for 2017 film All the Money in the World, actor Mark Wahlberg earned US$2 million (Dh7.3m) for 10 days’ work, while his co-star Michelle Williams reportedly got paid $80 a day for the same period.
Fashion house Max Mara is a fervent supporter of Women In Film (WIF) – and this relationship began long before the topic of female empowerment became trendy, says MariaGiulia Prezioso Maramotti, Max Mara’s vice president for the United States and global brand ambassador. “Max Mara’s mission has been to empower women, by dressing them, for the past 67 years,” Maramotti explains. “It was just natural that we entered into a partnership with WIF as part of our way of communicating to our customers.
The Max Mara customer of which she speaks is, of course, female and drawn to the elegant, unfussy womenswear that the brand is famed for. Founded by Achille Maramotti in Italy in 1951, Max Mara’s aim was to blend high-end cuts and style with industrial tailoring techniques. In an era when most clothes were still handmade, this shift in approach was a game changer, offering garments that were still beautifully designed, but available at a far more affordable price.
Almost uniquely, the brand spoke to working women, creating smart, highly wearable solutions. The reaction was spectacular, with ladies flocking to snap up its creations. One piece in particular became an instant classic: the 101801 camel coat in supple wool and cashmere, which is still a bestseller. Coupling a quiet, under-the-radar aesthetic with smart yet practical dressing meant that by the time of his death in 2005, Achille Maramotti was the head of a company worth an estimated $1.2 billion. Today, the company is still owned and run by the Maramotti clan, with Achille’s granddaughter MariaGiulia representing the third generation of the family.
The brand’s partnership with WIF comes in the form of financial sponsorship, and led to the creation of the Max Mara Face of the Future Award, which every year selects one emerging actress deserving of special recognition. Past recipients including Kate Mara, Hailee Steinfeld, Zoe Saldana, Elizabeth Banks, Ginnifer Goodwin and Emily Blunt, showing that Max Mara is not only ahead of the game in terms of promoting equality, but has a pretty good eye for talent, too.
When not doling out accolades to up-and-coming talents, Max Mara runs a serious business trying to anticipate and cater to the needs of an ever-evolving audience. Its ability to weather the vagaries of consumer demand can perhaps be attributed to the brand’s internal stability, both in terms of the consistency of still being owned by the same family, and of having the same designer at its helm for 30 years. The British-born creative Ian Griffiths has fashioned collections for Max Mara for more than three decades, and yet far from being a household name, most people have never heard of him.
“The idea of a designer like Ian Griffiths being with the company for three decades means that he has grown with it, and there has been an intertwining between his vision and the one of the brand, which was obviously not revolutionary, yet evolved organically.
Far from being staid and predictable, however, Griffiths has been – quietly – challenging boundaries. Max Mara was one of the first big-name brands to put the hijab-wearing Halima Aden on the runway in 2017, kick-starting not only her career, but forcing other designers to start thinking about diversity. Following in the footsteps of founder Achille, Griffiths has worked hard behind the scenes to ensure that the label keeps apace with the lives of modern women. |
[WM]While field refs stuck with the old game plan of reviewing plays (when necessary) on typical SD screens, execs for the Pac-10 watched HD screens at the back of the same review room, according to the Los Angeles Times.
While viewers both HD and SD were more than preoccupied witnessing Oregon State's huge upset of top-ranked USC during ESPN HD's Sept. 25 broadcast from Corvallis, Ore., the Pacific 10 Conference was using that contest to test new equipment up in its instant-replay booth, which includes HD monitors.
While field refs stuck with the old game plan of reviewing plays (when necessary) on typical SD screens, execs for the Pac-10 watched HD screens at the back of the same review room, according to the Los Angeles Times. The set-up allow both groups to compare pictures—and notes—to determine what enhanced details could be seen with the higher-image format and how crucial it could be in future games.
On the pro level, in response to growing concerns in recent seasons that HD viewers at home could see contested plays better than the officials on the field reviewing them in SD, the NFL last year switched to HD replays.
In a somewhat condescending comment on the Pac-10 experiment that serious football fans might not appreciate, a conference official told the L.A. paper, "It's always easy to say the toy is fun and we should buy it. They'll decide if it's worthwhile for what they're looking at."
The National Football League has now begun its pre-season schedule and for the first time is authorizing use of HD-quality instant replay systems, supplied by Harris Corp., as more precise tech-tools for referees to review close calls.
Production switcher is at center of Westlake High School's new video facility.
BSI’s Ref Cam system features 1080i resolution and full remote-control capability, including iris and paint functions.
The University of Idaho’s Video Production Center is using six Hitachi Z-HD5000 HDTV studio/field production cameras to produce high-definition video during Idaho Vandals football games. |
[WM]Lincoln Chafee is running for the Democratic nomination for president in 2016. He served one four-year term as Rhode Island's governor, beginning on Jan. 4, 2011. He was the first Independent to be elected to that office. He subsequently became a Democrat. As a Republican, he served as mayor of Warwick from 1992 to 1999, when he was appointed to the U.S. Senate following the death of his father, Sen. John H. Chafee. He was elected to a full Senate term in 2000. He is married with three children. In April 2015 he formed an exploratory committee to consider running for President.
"I am very proud that over my almost 30 years of public service I have had no scandals."
"Although the governor doubled the beach fees . . . all the money, as we found out, is all going to an out-of-state company. The state isn't even getting the money for that."
Says Lincoln Chafee "settled a union strike by giving the teachers a 19-percent-raise."
Lincoln Chafee "voted with President George W. Bush and the conservative leadership 76% of the time."
"We had the biggest drop of the rate of unemployment (in) all but 4 states."
Rhode Island's legislature is "the strongest in the country."
The Democrats seeking to succeed Barack Obama went at it Tuesday in Las Vegas.
PolitiFact reviews their factual claims.
PolitiFact digs into how Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and the gang have fared so far on the Truth-O-Meter.
How have the Democratic candidates fared on the Truth-O-Meter?
The Democratics take the debate stage Oct. 13, 2015. Here's how Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and the gang have done so far on the Truth-O-Meter.
FOLLOW OUR LIVE FACT-CHECKING OF THE FIRST DEBATE STARTING AT 8:30 P.M.
So Lincoln Chafee — Rhode Island’s Republican-independent-Democrat — is running for President.
The former governor of the smallest — and at times quirkiest — state has a PolitiFact record that is as mixed as his political lineage. During the four years that the former Republican U.S. senator served as first the independent and then the Democratic governor of Rhode Island, only once did PolitiFact judge one of his statements Half True.
More often, the Truth-O-Meter swung back and forth from True to False as Chafee battled a stagnant economy and a hostile General Assembly.
Given Lincoln Chafee's record of being willing to buck the system and the Chafee family's reputation, Rhode Islanders were jarred to hear the independent gubernatorial candidate being accused of consorting with someone who might have ties to organized crime.
But that's what happened earlier this month when a local news website reported on Chafee's work at a foundation established by a Ukrainian billionaire.
We explored Chafee's role there, and got different opinions on the politics and intrigue swirling around the effort to set up a think tank in one of the world's fledgling democracies.
We've examined two claims made recently by gubernatorial candidates Frank Caprio and Lincoln Chafee.
Caprio attacked Chafee for his handling of a 1990s teachers' dispute in Warwick. We ruled Caprio's claim Half True.
Chafee said changing Rhode Island's official name would require amending the U.S. Constitution. We couldn't rule definitively on that, but decided to share our research anyway. |
[WM]BANGKOK – The preliminary rites of the coronation of the new King Vajiralongkorn of Thailand, who ascended to the throne in October 2017 after the death of his father King Bhumibo, kicked off on Saturday.
The new king’s proclamation is scheduled to take place between May 4-6.
The coronation will be consecrated by anointment, a ritual act of pouring aromatic oil over a person’s head or body, and crowning.
Officials in charge of the ritual, collected water for the purification ceremony of the coronation in a series of religious ceremonies that were broadcast live across the country.
The collection took place in more than 100 aquifers in Thailand between 11:52 am and 12:38 pm, timings that are considered auspicious by Thai astrologers.
The water, stored in traditional vases, will be blessed in Buddhist ceremonies in the most important temples in the country from April 8-9, before being combined in another consecration rite in Wat Suthat, one of the oldest temples in Bangkok, on the April 18.
Thailand also celebrated on Saturday the Chakri day in honor of the dynasty King Vajiralongkorn belongs to.
He will be named Rama X, as the 10th monarch of the Chakris.
The 66-year-old monarch will also have to recite several Buddhist verses during the coronation ceremonies.
Monarchy and Buddhism are two fundamental pillars of Thai society that see the king as a revered and almost divine figure.
However, Vajiralongkorn has lived a great part of his life abroad disconnected from the duties of the Crown and has not inherited the great popularity that his father enjoyed.
Since his ascension to the throne, Vajiralongkorn has strengthened his powers with the approval of several legal reforms that, among others, have placed the vast heritage of the Crown and several state agencies responsible for its security, under his sole authority.
Information on the Thai monarchy is a highly sensitive issue in the country due to the lèse-majesté law, which can impose three to 15 years in prison on those who criticize or make comments that are deemed insulting to the royal family. |
[WM]Fueled by her zeal for the ancient art of glassblowing, artisan Leigh Taylor Wyatt creates distinct glass works while simultaneously encouraging members of the community to take part in her time honored craft. Wyatt began blowing glass 23 years ago and has since cultivated an intuitive relationship with the material. She spends several hours a day honing her craft while creating colorful, dazzling works of art at Austin's East Side Glass Studio. The glass has become a constant in Wyatt's life, and she shares the lessons she has learned from it by teaching glassblowing classes to members of the community. The nature of the material continues to challenge and inspire her. |
[WM]It's a talented field and too close to call, but we're going to try.
To prepare for the 2019 Juno Awards, we're breaking down each of the four classical categories.
Having already analyzed the large ensemble category, we now turn our attention to classical album of the year: solo or chamber.
Note how this category is a showdown this year between Analekta Records (three nominations) and Hyperion Records (two nominations). Whereas a number of the albums nominated in the large ensemble category are live recordings, all five nominees in the solo/chamber category are studio recordings, and the sound quality is consistently high. Two of the nominees are first-timers (Wan and Pouliot), Richard-Hamelin is enjoying his second nomination, while Gryphon Trio, Hamelin and Hewitt are Juno veterans with 11, 16 and 17 nominations, respectively.
It's a deserving bunch. Who's missing?
If there were room for a couple more nominees, we'd have liked to see Eybler Quartet's Beethoven String Quartets, Op. 18, Nos. 1-3 on the list. With their adherence to Beethoven's controversial original metronome marks, the members of Eybler Quartet got us to hear those familiar pieces in a new way, which is always exciting. Another great listen was Lachrimae, a collection of music by John Dowland played by Nigel North (lute) and Les Voix humaines (viol consort). We surrendered ourselves to the undulating phrases of these pavanes and galliards, so seductively played.
Alas, there's only room for five. Here's our breakdown of this year's nominees, including predictions for who should win and who will win.
This September 2018 release marked the culmination of phase 1 of Wan and Richard-Hamelin's project to perform and record the complete cycle of Beethoven's 10 sonatas for violin and piano. Their partners in the endeavour are the Arte Musica Foundation, which presents the duo in concert at Montreal's Bourgie Hall, and Analekta Records, which holds recording sessions and produces the albums. It's a winning formula, as Vol. 1 of the series attests.
Here, they play the three sonatas Beethoven published in 1803 as his Op. 30, works poised on the cusp: No. 6 is the most classical of the three; No. 7 the most Romantic; No. 8 falls stylistically somewhere in the middle.
Richard-Hamelin applies a firm tone to the ominous piano opening of the seventh sonata, to which Wan replies with bite and assertive melodic leaps. Then, a translucent violin timbre draws you into the second movement's intimate tête-à-tête.
In Sonata No. 8, both musicians have fun with the frenzy of the first movement's churning compound meter before taking turns with the gracious melody of the second movement. A rustic dance, the third movement finds Richard-Hamelin setting the pace hurdy-gurdy-style while Wan fiddles away with abandon. It's a romp.
By contrast, the sixth sonata, which opens the album, is perfectly genteel. There's uncanny consensus on the phrasing in the outer movements, while the Adagio is the album's highlight with Wan providing nuanced colours and Richard-Hamelin transforming his piano part into a languorous Nocturne.
Wan and Richard-Hamelin form a winning duo. But will they win the Juno?
While her global Bach Odyssey is ongoing, Hewitt has also been toiling away on two other projects for Hyperion Records: she's eight albums into the complete Beethoven piano sonatas, and she has released a second volume in her exploration of the keyboard sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti, the latter of which got this Juno nod.
For this album, Hewitt was drawn to the sonatas with surprising elements, which she evidently enjoys accentuating. For instance, she leans deliciously on the bass line of K206, the longest piece on the album, to underscore an unusual shift from E major to E-flat minor. In K429, the absence of any melody to speak of does not deter her from making beautiful sense of this barcarolle, with its suspenseful pauses and descending runs. In K82, she treats us to one of the few Scarlatti sonatas that's written in fugal form. Of course, Hewitt knows fugues and she executes this one's 3/8 meter with characteristic clarity and elegance.
Are the tempos a bit cautious? Maybe, although as audiences we've come to expect breakneck speed in Scarlatti's sonatas, which doesn't necessarily cast them in the best light. The ones Hewitt has chosen for this album reveal how wide-ranging these pieces are, in fact.
Hewitt has been nominated in this category six times since her last win in 2005. Will this album turn the tide?
This goes down as one of the best debut albums we've heard in a long time, and it was just one accomplishment among many for Pouliot in 2018: he won the Women's Musical Club of Toronto's 2018 Career Development Award and the Virginia Parker Prize, and his loan of the Canada Council's 1729 Guarneri del Gesù violin, valued at $6 million, was renewed for another three-year term.
It's on that instrument that he recorded these works by Ravel and Debussy, alongside his associate from the Colburn School in Los Angeles, pianist Hsin-I Huang. Pouliot's effusive personality is well-suited to Ravel's Tzigane, which he plays with raffish slides and perfectly tuned double stops. He and Huang make Ravel's familiar G Major Sonata sound brand new, with technical brilliance and astute characterizations throughout.
Some violinists employ an austere tone for Debussy's moody Violin Sonata, his last completed work. Not Pouliot, whose rich, vibrant timbre brings greater intensity to its first movement and accentuates the impish nature of the second. He and Huang use the episodic structure of the third movement to tell a story so vivid it stays with you long after the music has ended.
Pouliot is on a roll. Will it continue with his first Juno Award?
Released in January 2018 to celebrate Gryphon Trio's 25th anniversary, this album pairs two works composed approximately 100 years ago: Maurice Ravel's famous Piano Trio in A Minor from 1914 and Clarke's Piano Trio, written in 1921. The album's title, The End of Flowers, refers to the devastation caused by World War I. "Completed within the early frenzy and aftermath of this bleak chapter in human history, these brilliant works were not intended as memorials but stand as a testament to the enduring power of life and art," writes Gryphon Trio cellist Roman Borys in the album's notes.
The album begins with Clarke's trio, the heavier of the two. Pianist Jamie Parker establishes a violent mood with the dissonant machine-gun theme that opens the work and ties its three movements together. Lyrical passages come as a relief — for instance, in the second movement, when the strings shift to harmonics for a delicate accompanying motif while the piano introduces a simple melody, it's like a ray of light. The musicians do a fine job expressing the third movement's conflicting ideas of optimism and regret, the latter intruding in the form of a mournful bugle call.
In Ravel's ingenious trio, the musicians display the full range of their artistry. Props to violinist Annalee Patipatanakoon for her heartfelt restraint while introducing the lovely second theme of the first movement. There are shades of La Valse in their performance of the sprightly second movement, and warmly spun lines in the Passacaille. The final movement turns the three musicians loose in a rollicking sonata form in which they revel in electrifying tremolos, bombastic piano chords and the bouncy ride of an irregular meter. It's quite a climax!
Gryphon Trio's 25th anniversary was a party. Will the celebrations extend to a Juno win?
Can you believe Hamelin made more than 75 albums for Hyperion Records without recording a note of music by Franz Schubert? It's a situation he amended in April with this highly anticipated record pairing Schubert's final piano sonata and his second set of Impromptus. "I could have done it before," Hamelin told us when the album came out. "It wasn't just a question of my developing a relationship with the work, it was also waiting until the trust of the public in what I do, in what I could do with it, would become greater and greater." It's safe to say he has earned that trust, and then some.
Hamelin, who's been playing the Sonata in B-flat Major in concert for decades, uses a remarkably restrained tempo for the opening movement, not only drawing attention to detail but also preparing the way for Schubert's varied treatment of the wistful main theme. Sensitive souls should proceed with caution in the second movement, whose A section Hamelin imbues with a feeling of inexorable regret — emotional stuff. A light touch and perfectly controlled dynamics make the third movement scherzo glow from within, and in the fourth movement, Hamelin unites the seemingly disparate ideas with intelligent timing and awesome technique.
In Schubert's Op. 142, which Hamelin says "is probably as close to a sonata as it could be without actually being one," he invites us to hear the four Impromptus as a unified work, one without the tragic overtones of the final sonata. He plays down the sturm und drang of the first Impromptu in favour of a more tender interpretation. In the second Impromptu, we love the silky homogeneity of the chords and the lilting effect of his agogic treatment of the main theme. The variations of the third have all the charm of a strophic Lied, while Hamelin turns the scherzo and trio of the fourth into a demonic dance seemingly summoned from the pages of Goethe.
Fans seized this album when it was released. Will Hamelin seize a Juno trophy?
We got swept up in the excitement surrounding rising violin star Pouliot. His debut album is a joy to listen to and we think it deserves the Juno.
The Juno jury will be understandably wowed by Hamelin's Schubert statement, and the award will go to him. |
[WM]Walter Chen is the founder and CEO of iDoneThis, the easiest way to share and celebrate what you get done at work, every day. On his downtime, he blogs about management, entrepreneurship, and happiness on the iDoneThis blog.
Getting rid of managers may seem like just another tech trend, but much of the skepticism around going “bossless” or flat is due to misleading terminology. We don’t quite have a good vocabulary for it yet — no managers doesn’t mean no management, and flat structure doesn’t mean everyone has equal sway.
Power, leadership, and even hierarchy still exist in these alternative structures, but instead of running along career ladders and hanging out in corner offices, they tend to be decentralized and dynamic rather than static and top-down.
At its heart, the move away from bosses is a reaction against command and control management. Bossy practices and overbearing pecking orders disconnect people from meaning and intrinsic motivation at work.
Talented people don’t go into startups to follow step-by-step directions and wait for approval at every turn. They want to move fast, break things, discover, and create — not be treated like children.
Your company doesn’t have to get rid of managers or implement some formal system to adopt practices that will help your employees flourish. You do, however, have to build a foundation of trust and set up ways to guide and enable your employees to be collaborative, peer-managing leaders.
Moving towards bosslessness, as with these three approaches, is a process of figuring out a better way for great employees to thrive and develop great companies.
Essentially, I try to create little mini-managers, each responsible for managing a single person: themselves.
At first this is mainly about teaching people how to figure out what to work on right now (prioritization). Then it’s more a matter of building their confidence both in themselves and their team to a point where they just do things they know is right without even talking to me (autonomy).
Rather than assigning and approving tasks at every turn, then, management is about keeping people in motion and getting out of their way.
When you equip people with the knowledge they need to move forward, you don’t have to keep telling them what to do. Freeing the flow of information from gatekeepers and bottlenecks increases agility and resourcefulness.
For the multibillion dollar games company, Supercell, that takes the form of daily morning emails with details from project progress and revenue figures to help orient not just some top circle but every employee. CEO Ilkka Paananen explains: “If you provide people with the key information, you don’t need to tell people what to do, they can figure it out for themselves.
Buzzfeed also makes work details transparent, inspired by a process started at Google called “Snippets”. Everyone sends in an email with what they get done and what they need help with to keep moving. Since people can subscribe to each other’s updates, Snippets provides an at-a-glance view of what’s happening in the company.
[T]hat means that instead of everyone being the same, you embrace that everyone is different, and you look at the strength of connections between people, the communication channels, and how information travels amongst them.
These connections and channels are an important, often overlooked source of motivation, support, and information. Bosses don’t always know best, but peers tend to be equipped with the most relevant knowledge to provide feedback and recognition. They know when someone is stepping up or slacking because they see and deal with it first-hand.
One study by Greg Stewart and Stephen Courtright even found that when peers in cohesive self-managing teams have some control over each other’s rewards — such as raises, bonuses, and promotions, which traditionally exist as top-down edicts — both individual and team performance improve.
Shopify’s internal tool Unicorn is one such peer-driven bonus system where employees can give public kudos for great work and support. This also furnishes managers with on-the-ground information about how to best help people succeed.
Shopify’s bonus system won’t work for every team or company. Managing people rather than tasks requires you to think about your particular culture and people to implement the best tools and processes.
What works for one organization’s culture may not for another, but the characteristics they share will be that people do great work together based on a sense of autonomy, trust, and shared accountability. |
[WM]Russia is not in talks with Syria about supplying the Assad regime with its S-300 advanced air defense system and does not think they are needed, Vladimir Kozhin, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, was quoted as saying on Friday in the Russian newspaper Izvestiya. Kozhin oversees military assistance to other countries.
The comments follow Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Moscow this week, in which he presented to Putin "Israel's obligation and right to defend itself against Iranian aggression, from Syrian territory."
The Syrian army has for years sought to obtain the S-300 system to counter Israeli air superiority, and Israel has in turn lobbied the Kremlin to refrain from supplying them. Iran received its first S-300 batteries in 2016, nearly a decade after Tehran paid for it.
Russia last month hinted it would supply the weapons to Assad, over Israeli objections, after Western military strikes on Syria. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the strikes had removed any moral obligation Russia had to withhold the missiles and Russia's Kommersant daily cited unnamed military sources as saying deliveries might begin imminently.
But Kozhin's comments, made so soon after Netanyahu's Moscow talks with Putin, suggest the Israeli leader's hard lobbying efforts have, for the time being, paid off.
"For now, we're not talking about any deliveries of new modern [air defense] systems," Izvestia cited Kozhin as saying when asked about the possibility of supplying Syria with S-300s. The Syrian military already had "everything it needed," Kozhin added.
On Thursday, Israel said it had attacked nearly all of Iran's military infrastructure in Syria after Iranian forces fired rockets at Israeli-held territory. S-300s could have significantly complicated the Israeli strikes.
The Israel Air Force said it destroyed five anti-aircraft batteries, all Russian-made models, in the attack. |
[WM]Dominic Óg McGlinchey: The most senior such republican to raise these questions with dissidents.
Senior republican Dominic Óg McGlinchey has called on dissident republicans to start “a conversation about the removal of the gun from Irish politics”. He is the son of Dominic and Mary McGlinchey, two leaders of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) and was present at their murders in Drogheda and Dundalk in 1994 and 1987.
“Republicanism is a very honourable thing if done in an honourable way. We shouldn’t be dishonouring it by the mindless use of violence,” Mr McGlinchey said in a wide-ranging interview with The Irish Times .
Senior dissidents are facing trial while hundreds of others have been prosecuted by the PSNI and Garda in recent years. “I haven’t said to anybody pack up and go home . . . what I am saying is that we should not be bound by the weapons. Just because they are there does not mean that they have to be used”.
In further conversation yesterday, he deplored the Good Friday murder of former Continuity IRA commander Tommy Crossan in Belfast, while sardonically adding that the killing had “little to do with the armed struggle”.
Mr McGlinchey, with a name and a pedigree that carries weight in dissident circles, is the most senior such republican to raise these questions with dissidents.
He resigned from Sinn Féin in 2007 in protest at the decision to support policing. He was also named in court as being the getaway driver in the 2009 dissident attack on Massereene British army base in Antrim in which British soldiers Patrick Azimkar and Mark Quinsey were murdered. He was interviewed by the PSNI about the attack. He denied any involvement.
He also claimed that his father, who was shot dead six months before the groundbreaking IRA ceasefire of 1994, was killed “to facilitate the peace process”.
Those responsible, he contended, were one of three groups: the IRA, British military intelligence or people acting for the Irish government. Mr McGlinchey’s comments about dissident republicans seriously considering ending their campaigns of violence come as the various groups face severe pressure from the PSNI, the Garda and MI5. |
[WM]Matt Dillon's character, Secret Service agent Ethan Burke will find a likeminded townie on Fox's limited series "Wayward Pines."
Juliette Lewis has been cast as Beverly, a local bartender who's also suspicious of "Wayward Pines," a Fox representative told TheWrap.
Beverly is described as "warm and approachable," though she doesn't mince words.
Lewis is best known for her many movie credits, including "What's Eating Gilbert Grape," "Natural Born Killers" and "From Dusk Till Dawn." But, she recently starred on the shortlived NBC series, "The Firm."
Aside from Dillon, she joins already announced cast members Shannyn Sossamon, Terrence Howard, Carla Gugino, Toby Jones and Melissa Leo on "Wayward Pines," which is based on Blake Crouch's novel series of the same the name.
The series, billed as "an intense, mind-bending thriller," follows Secret Service agent Ethan Burke (Dillon), who arrives in the bucolic town of Wayward Pines, Idaho, on a mission to find two missing federal agents. But instead of answers, Ethan’s investigation only turns up more questions.
M. Night Shyamalan directed the pilot and will executive produce the FX productions thriller along with writer/creator Chad Hodge, Donald De Line and Ashwin Rajan.
Lewis is represented by UTA, Troika and Untitled Entertainment. |
[WM]A car called the Excel is to go on sale in the United States for the first time Thursday morning. It is an unremarkable looking vehicle, resembling many of the small, efficient Japanese cars that have wrested a large share of the market from the domestic Big Three.
The Excel, though, is not from Japan. It is being imported from Korea, where its manufacturer, the Hyundai Corporation, is one of the nation's leading manufacturing groups. The Hyundai Excel is the first of what could be a torrent of small cars made in Korea and other Asian countries headed for American shores.
The 1970's saw the rise of the Japanese, aided by two gasoline supply scares that shifted consumer demand to small cars with high fuel economy. Last year imports, the vast majority of them Japanese, claimed 23.8 percent of the American car market.
Many Korean-made cars will arrive here bearing familiar domestic labels, as the American auto companies join industries such as shoes, textiles and consumer electronics in shifting production to developing nations to take advantage of low-cost labor. According to the United Automobile Workers union, wages and benefits for Korean auto workers average $2.16 an hour, compared with about $13 an hour in Japan and over $20 an hour in the United States.
In addition, Ford has an affiliate in Taiwan, Ford Lio Ho, that it says will produce a small car for sale in Canada within the next few years. The American Motors Corporation is assembling Jeep models with a Chinese partner in Peking, and A.M.C. officials are saying those vehicles may be shipped to the United States.
Hyundai clearly plans to use its labor cost advantage to help establish the brand name, pricing its bottom-of-the-line model at $4,995. But only 20 percent of its first-year sales will be of these stripped-down models. Most of the cars are expected to sell in the $5,500 to $6,500 range, still less than most comparably equipped Japanese or domestic models cost. And the increase in the value of the yen is putting upward pressure on Japanese car prices in this country.
Unlike the Yugo, an even lower priced Yugoslavian-made car that made its debut in the American market in the fall, and has gotten some unfavorable reviews for its features and quality, the Hyundai Excel has been glowingly praised by the automotive press.
Hyundai sales will be limited by the capacity of its sole assembly plant to 100,000 shipments in the first year, but most auto analysts expect the cars to be sold as fast as they arrive. The new brand, which is not subject to any import restraints, was given an unintended boost by the Japanese Government, which extended restraints on exports by that country's car producers for another year.
Most analysts and auto executives here expect the third world imports to eventually become an important factor in the American car market. Since demand is not expected to grow anywhere as quickly as supply, some existing producers are likely to lose market share, and possibly go out of business.
Hyundai officials say they have plans to bring in other, more expensive, car models into the American market if the Excel is successful.
Michael Luckey, an analyst with Shearson Lehman Brothers Inc., said, ''They're talking about 5 percent of the market by 1990.'' Five percent of an 11 million car market would be 550,000 units, or about what the No. 2 importer, the Nissan Motor Company, sold last year. The Toyota Motor Corporation is No. 1.
One reason Hyundai has been able to beat its Korean competitors to the American market is its ties to the Mitsubishi Motors Corporation of Japan. Mitsubishi provided the technology for the Excel's front-wheel-drive engine and transmission. In return, Mitsubishi will sell 30,000 of the 100,000 Excels bound for America. |
[WM]As India bans foreign surrogacy, clinics look towards Cambodia, but what will it mean for the rights of surrogates?
New Delhi, India - Rita* tucks hungrily into a plate of steaming white rice, daal (lentils), a mixed-vegetable curry, yoghurt and a green salad.
Her just-washed hair is gathered at the nape of her neck in a loose bun and the bold, flower print of her tunic stretches out over her heavily pregnant belly. She sits cross-legged on the bed in her sunny room in the yellow surrogate house, just off the main road on the outskirts of Gurgaon, a hub of domestic and international businesses and sparkling malls and eateries bordering New Delhi.
Rita is one of the last surrogates in India carrying a child for a foreign couple. In October last year, when Rita was around five months pregnant, the Indian Council for Medical Research sent a notification (PDF) to all fertility clinics, ordering them "not to entertain any foreigners for availing surrogacy services in India".
Earlier, in a written affidavit to the Supreme Court, the Indian government had confirmed it "does not support commercial surrogacy" and that the new law will have provisions to "prohibit and penalise commercial surrogacy services".
An Asian Age report says that as the government finds it a "contentious" issue, addressing it "is the need of the hour".
India has been criticised for its failure to regulate its surrogacy industry and seems determined to address surrogacy as a standalone issue: the much-discussed Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill, drafted in 2007 by the then Congress government, of which surrogacy was a part, has now been been narrowed down to deal with just surrogacy and will be renamed the Surrogacy Regulation Bill.
It is at present being discussed by a group of ministers headed by union health minister J P Nadda.
The Indian Council of Medical Research directive followed the release of draft legislation by India's health ministry prohibiting foreigners - except those with family origins in India - from employing Indian surrogates.
The new law is in its final stages and is expected to be passed soon, outlawing foreign surrogacy with the aim of protecting the rights of surrogate mothers.
Facing losses in what was a lucrative trade - India's surrogacy industry is estimated to be worth around $500m per year - Indian clinics have started moving out to Cambodia, a country with ambiguous surrogacy laws and a visa-on-arrival facility for Indian nationals. More than a dozen Thai and Indian clinics are already operating there.
"I am aware of a few Indian and Nepali clinics that have set up in Cambodia," says Sam Everingham, director of events and content for the Australia-based Families through Surrogacy. "The surrogates come from Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. Some may also come from India - that's not clear yet."
Non-Indian surrogates often charge anything from $15,000 upwards, and in the US, for example, where commercial surrogacy is allowed only in certain states, it can cost upwards of $150,000. In India, however, the costs are often well under $30,000.
"Prospective parents won't want to pay that amount, especially for a country where surrogacy laws are ambiguous," says Nepal-based Preeti Bista, cofounder of My Fertility Angel Cambodia.
These clinics will undoubtedly begin hiring Indian surrogates in Cambodia, Bista believes, simply because "they are cheaper".
And some surrogates do not seem averse to this. Hundreds of them had protested against the ban outside the ICMR offices when the ruling was passed.
"I was struggling to pay off a debt of $8,000," Rita says. "I left my home for nine months to stay in a new place. I am grateful I didn't have to travel, but I wouldn't mind if I had to."
That desperation isn't only shared by the surrogate mothers and their families. Surrogacy in India is also the last resort for many infertile couples in countries where surrogacy is either banned or prohibitively expensive.
"The difference between surrogacy costs in India and the US for most infertile couples is the difference between having the option to have a child or not," says New York-based hotelier Arnon Magal, who struggled with infertility for years and sought alternatives, including IVF treatments in Israel and Cyprus and two failed surrogacy pregnancies in India. He was hoping to again hire a surrogate in India this year.
But the ban comes after years of controversies that have plagued the industry, including accusations by rights groups of exploitation of surrogate mothers.
But Mark Henaghan, a New Zealand-based law professor, who follows the issue closely, believes that outlawing international surrogacy will only lead to more abuse of the surrogates.
"It is unlikely that the entire industry will cease now that it has been banned. It seems more likely that a black market or underground industry will spring up in its place, which will afford much less protection for everyone involved, especially the surrogates and the resulting children," says Henaghan.
This was the result when, in 2012, India banned single and gay-couple surrogacy. Neighbouring Nepal, which allowed surrogacy as long as the surrogate was not a Nepalese citizen, emerged as an offshore surrogacy hub with Indian clinics impregnating and then smuggling Indian surrogates across the border into Nepal for deliveries - a foreign country where the mothers' rights were not clearly defined.
It all came to a head in April last year when a massive earthquake hit Nepal and many Indian surrogates were stranded as Israel airlifted its own citizens and their babies, leaving the surrogates stranded in a quake-ravaged country. The country suspended commercial surrogacy the following August.
Bista was a coordinator for an international fertility agency that worked through an Indian clinic when the Nepal earthquake hit. She says they had to send surrogate mothers who were mid-term in their pregnancies back to India, while some others stayed behind in temporary shelters in Nepal to wait out their pregnancies.
"That was horrible," she says.
"Even before the earthquake, there were agencies in Nepal who kept surrogates in overcrowded surrogate houses with 10 or so in a room. Some of them had their children and husbands with them. There was no work for the husbands and it was a very harassing situation for them," she continues.
"I wouldn't deny it won't happen in Cambodia. The only way out is to regulate. When governments ban, people find other locations to continue. And in fact such bans make the surrogates more vulnerable in a third country," Bista says.
Investigations by various journalists and rights groups into the lives of surrogate mothers revealed mistreatment in the surrogate houses, a lack of nutritious food and poor hygiene. The surrogates were also often emotionally distressed.
"Most of the women said they are happy but their answers seemed rehearsed to me," says Janak Sapkota, a local journalist who covered the issue in the aftermath of the Nepal earthquake. "They missed home, their families and their villages."
Everingham, of Families through Surrogacy, visited Cambodia last year to assess the situation and found it far from ideal.
"There is no legislation protecting the rights of the surrogate, child or intended parents," he says. "The ban [in India] will push intended parents to engage in far riskier places like Cambodia, where there is a serious lack of medical support services, such as neonatal care units."
"There is a strong demand for surrogacy and for people to use surrogates to have their genetic child," Henaghan says.
"Where there is demand, it will always find a market." |
[WM]Acadiana has become known as the home of family friendly Mardi Gras — drawing crowds of more than 300,000 from around the nation and the world.
Mardi Gras in Lafayette may have started out as a small version of New Orleans’ giant party, but it’s grown into its own over the years.
Mardi Gras season, sometimes called Carnival season, begins Jan. 6, on the Christian feasts of the Epiphany and culminates on the day before Ash Wednesday, 47 days before Easter. The celebration dates back thousands of years to pagan spring and fertility rites. Over time, Christianity incorporated popular traditions, and the excess and debauchery of the Mardi Gras season eventually became a prelude to Lent.
This year, Fat Tuesday falls on March 5.
Acadiana has become known as the family friendly alternative to New Orleans Mardi Gras — drawing crowds of more than 300,000 from around the nation and the world.
So, if you are new to the area or one of thousands of visitors, welcome. Consider us your guide to all things Mardi Gras.
Lafayette's Mardi Gras parades begin dowtown at the junction of Simcoe, Surrey and Jefferson streets. The three-mile route winds through downtown and down Johnston to College, ending at Cajun Field.
In Lafayette, parade season traditionally kicks off with is the Krewe of Rio. This year, Rio will be pre-empted by Lafayette's first walking parade, the Krewe des Canailles, which takes place on Friday, Feb. 22.
In the society world, Mardi Gras is like the World Series of social events. Only it takes place over many, many weeks. The gowns, the tuxes, the royalty, the pageants — local Mardi Gras krewes prepare all year for their ball. They are grand affairs that follow time-honored traditions. Even if you don't belong to a krewe or you weren't lucky enough to get a ball invitation, you may want to consult the schedule. Traffic around party venues can be a bear during Mardi Gras.
QUIZ: How much do you know about Lafayette's krewes?
In many areas, king cake is associated with the festival of Epiphany at the end of the Christmas season. In South Louisiana, it is synonymous with Mardi Gras.
Like a traditional French king cake made of puff pastry and marzipan? Prefer a king cake that's braided, filled and fried up like a doughnut? How about a whole-wheat or a gluten-free one? In Acadiana, the king cake options are plenty.
In Cajun Country, Mardi Gras isn't just an event, it describes those dressed in rags and masks who — traditionally — go door to door for community feast ingredients.
The Courir de Mardi Gras, held in many small towns around Acadiana, features costumed men and women on horseback and trucks who travel the countryside to beg neighbors for ingredients to a gumbo, usually with a musical band and onlookers following behind. Once they back in town, a communal gumbo is traditionally cooked and enjoyed, sometimes accompanied by a fais do-do or community dance.
You can experience courirs in such communities as Church Point and Mamou. You can also get a taste of the tradition Feb. 24 at Courir de Mardi Gras at Vermilionville.
Bookmark this page; we will add photos from balls, parades and courirs as they occur. |
[WM]The European Commission wants new powers to oversee the way new cars are approved before they are sold, but it has never used a key scrutinising power it has had for more than eight years, the EUobserver has learned.
Under current rules, the commission can ask a member state to submit assessments of the test facilities that carry out certification tasks including emissions testing.
But this website learned from a freedom of information request that the commission has never asked for such a report, raising questions about its proposal in January that it should be given more powers.
In order to be allowed to sell a car on the European market, manufacturers need to obtain a certificate, a so-called type approval.
These are handed out by national authorities like the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) in the UK or the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA) in Germany.
However, most of the authorities outsource the actual testing to private companies.
These companies, designated as so-called technical services, have come under scrutiny in the past nine months since it emerged that they had been unable to detect Volkswagen Group (VW) using software to fool the emissions test.
Since these companies are paid directly by car makers, critics of the system are worried there is a conflict of interest.
According to a 2007 directive, national governments are in charge of making sure that the technical services have the proper skills and technical knowledge to do their job.
The directive required member states to demonstrate those skills by providing an assessment report, at least once every three years.
“The assessment report shall be communicated to the commission upon request,” the legislation said.
This website filed a freedom of information request with the commission on 12 April, and asked for all assessment reports the commission had so far received.
On Monday (30 May), the commission told this website that it never had received such documents.
“We regret to inform you that no documents were found that would correspond to the description given in your application,” the commission's directorate for industry said in a letter.
That's because the commission never asked for them.
"We have not had reason to question the technical capability of technical services," EU commission spokeswoman Lucia Caudet told this website.
"Our focus is on improving the testing methodology and the independence of testing.
"We are introducing robust tests to measure emissions in real driving conditions, and will keep refining and reviewing the tests to ensure the strictest emissions limits are really met.
"We have also tabled a full overhaul of the type approval system, including proposals to avoid potential conflicts of interest of technical services, more stringent performance criteria, and regular and independent audits."
If the proposal, which needs approval from member states and the EU parliament, is adopted, the commission would be granted the power “to suspend, restrict or withdraw the designation of technical services that are under-performing and too lax in applying the rules”. |
[WM]It’s been almost eight years since the last recession ended in June 2009, Steve Rick, CUNA Mutual Group chief economist, explained in an interview with HousingWire.
With economists predicting the next two years won’t bring a recession, that could put the economy on track for its longest period without a recession in modern history, Rick explained.
In fact, he explained that there are no major imbalances in the market at this point that could bring on a recession.
This week, the ADP National Employment Report predicted strong growth for January with the highest increase in jobs since June 2016. It’s predicted increase of 246,000 is significantly higher than previous months.
Rick’s forecast for Friday’s jobs report is a bit more modest at 225,000 jobs, but still significantly above the last several months. He explained that the jump in business optimism since the election of President Donald Trump pushed many employers to create new jobs.
In fact, Trump’s stimulus plans could even push the economy to 3% inflation, instead of the anticipated 2%, Rick said.
Earlier this week, the Federal Open Market Committee opted not to raise rates during its first meeting of the year, confirming economists’ expectations that they will take a more “wait and see” approach.
However, that was only the first of eight scheduled meetings for 2017.
But another economist insisted that even the projected three rate hikes is too many. Jason Obradovich, New American Funding executive vice president of capital markets, explained in an interview with HousingWire that for all its intentions, the Fed probably won’t be raising rates as much as it would like in 2017.
If the Fed does raise rates too fast, Rick explained that could bring an economic slowdown, or even a recession.
For now, however, the economy is currently enjoying its third longest period without a recession, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. The longest period was 10 years in the 1990s and the second was just under nine years in the 1960s. |
[WM]A legally blind Ormond Beach man was attempting to wash dishes Tuesday evening when his father yelled and spit at him for not cleaning them right because of his blindness, an official said.
A legally blind Ormond Beach man was attempting to wash dishes Tuesday evening when his father yelled and spit at him for not cleaning them the right way because of his blindness, an official said.
Harley Steedley Jr., 23, went to his room after his father, Harley Steedley Sr., 43, yelled at him for not doing the dishes correctly, according to a Volusia County sheriff's charging affidavit. Steedley Sr. tried to break his son's door by punching it, so Steedley Jr. went outside to get away, deputies said.
Steedley Jr.'s younger brother, who Steedley Jr. was going to stay with for the night, arrived at the home on Hibiscus Drive and heard Steedley Sr. say, "I think I'm going to jail," and admit to spitting in his son's face, according to the affidavit. When the deputy arrived on scene, Steedley Sr. claimed his son spit on him, but the 23-year-old said if he did it was not intentional and he couldn't have seen the spit anyway.
After Steedley Sr. was put in the back of the patrol car, he threatened he would give his son the beating he was arrested for upon getting out of jail, according to the affidavit. Steedley Sr. then said he was depressed and took two unknown pills before the fight.
When asked about the depression and pills, Steedley Sr. told the deputy "I just ate sweet tarts how about that," according to the affidavit. Steedley Sr. continued to be uncooperative, said he would refuse medical treatment and then claimed he took five cold pills.
Steedley Sr. is charged with battery and abuse of a disabled adult without great harm and is being held at the Volusia County Branch Jail, records show. He has no set bail. |
[WM]We learned last week that the radio show Brian Ward and I host on AM 1280 the Patriot is coming to an end. The station has sold our 12-1 hour on Saturdays to someone who is willing to pay for the privilege of broadcasting. They are working on selling the 11-12 hour and expect to do so within the next few weeks. Apparently the amount the station can command by filling the time slot with infomercials exceeds the advertising revenue for our show, even though our ratings have been good. Very good, if you take into account our zero budget and the station’s erratic signal, and add those who listen on the internet.
But that’s how it goes. Our relationship with WWTC has always been a marriage of convenience; no money ever changed hands. Because they didn’t pay us, the station never told us what to do. It’s been a remarkable thing, over the last five or six years, to be able to commandeer a radio station for two hours a week to do whatever we wanted. I’ve often said that everyone should have a radio show.
There is a great deal I will miss about being on the Patriot. Because of our involvement in local politics and connections made through this web site (along with a certain amount of chutzpah on our part) a remarkable succession of guests appeared on our program. The opportunity to interview authors, politicians and others was great, and I often podcasted those interviews as well. I will, of course, miss our annual appearances at the Minnesota State Fair.
The 12-1 hour is already gone, but this morning I will do a farewell show from 11 to 12, central time. Brian is too brokenhearted (or ticked off at the Patriot, I’m not sure which) to appear, but I will do a one-hour show to say goodbye to our listeners and leave them with some final thoughts.
There is an outside chance that the show might be reincarnated on another station. Most likely, though, it will be time to turn the page on this aspect of our civic involvement. |
[WM]NEW DELHI: Over fifteen years after the Concorde — the world’s first and only supersonic aircraft to be used commercially — retired, US aerospace major Boeing has announced it is working on the next-gen aircraft that will be able to go faster than the speed of sound.
Boeing has partnered with an American company, Aerion Supersonic, to build a business jet AS2 that can go upto Mach 1.4 or about 1,600 mph — that is up to 70% faster than today’s business jets. The AS2 will save about three hours on a trans-Atlantic flight and is slated for first flight in 2023.
Boeing announced Tuesday Aerion’s AS2 will be the first supersonic business jet to market, with the aircraft major providing financial, engineering and industrial resources. “As part of the agreement, Boeing made a significant investment in Aerion to accelerate technology development and aircraft design, and unlock supersonic air travel for new markets… Boeing will provide engineering, manufacturing and flight test resources, as well as strategic vertical content, to bring Aerion’s AS2 supersonic business jet to market,” Boeing said in a statement.
“Boeing is leading a mobility transformation that will safely and efficiently connect the world faster than ever before. This is a strategic and disciplined leading-edge investment in further maturing supersonic technology. Through this partnership that combines Aerion’s supersonic expertise with Boeing’s global industrial scale and commercial aviation experience, we have the right team to build the future of sustainable supersonic flight,” said Steve Nordlund, VP and GM of Boeing NeXT. Boeing NeXt is working on a “new mobility ecosystem” that include autonomous air vehicles and passenger-carrying hypersonic aircraft.
Founded in 2003 to develop new, more efficient aerodynamic technologies for supersonic aircraft, Aerion introduced its AS2 12-passenger business jet design in 2014. The company unveiled the AS2’s GE Affinity engine design in 2018.
“Aerion is the industry leader mapping out a successful, sustainable return to supersonic flight. The AS2 is the launch point for the future of regulatory-compliant and efficient supersonic flight. Together with Boeing, we’re creating a faster, more connected future with tremendous possibilities for enhancing humanity’s productivity and potential,” said Tom Vice, chairman, president and CEO of Aerion. |
[WM]The Court of Appeal yesterday upheld convictions levied against a former top aide of Senate President Chea Sim.
He was sentenced last year to a total of 36 years in prison by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court and Military Court on a raft of charges related to construction projects and land swaps.
Presiding judge Seng Sivutha upheld the sentence of Chhoeun Chanthan – who was also Chea Sim’s former chief body guard – as well as a $3 million repayment of stolen funds.
Chanthan was charged on nine counts in total, including breach of trust and embezzlement of state property – allegations repeatedly denied by Chantan.
Defence lawyer Put Theavy said he would be appealing the verdict, calling the outcome “highly unjust”.
Chanthan was arrested by military police in August 2011 during a raid in which they seized an Okano gun with three cases of bullets, five pistols, an AK-47 assault rifle, a machine gun and more than 1,400 bullets. |
[WM]BOSTON (AP) — An Amtrak employee suffered an apparent heart attack and later died after a train struck a piece of construction equipment near where he was working early Thursday morning, officials said.
The Albany, N.Y.-to-Boston train was traveling slightly below the 30 mph speed limit when it struck a forklift just before 2 a.m. a short distance from South Station, its final stop, Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole said.
Stephen M. Parker, 50, of Raynham, died after the crash, said Joe Pesaturo, a spokesman for the MBTA.
An Amtrak employee suffered an apparent heart attack and later died after a train struck a piece of construction equipment near where he was working early Thursday morning, officials said.
Parker had been working for Amtrak near the tracks as a flag man, which required him to communicate with contractors, Amtrak engineers and train personnel to ensure safety during construction projects.
None of the 23 passengers on the train were hurt. They were put on a MBTA train and taken to South Station. Commuter rail service was not affected.
There are multiple tracks in that stretch and Cole at first said the equipment was on a track it should not have been on. Later, though, he said that was uncertain and being investigated.
But Pesaturo said it was “indisputable” that the forklift was on a track where it was not authorized to be.
The MBTA owns the tracks, but Amtrak maintains them, he said.
The equipment belonged to Cashman Construction, a Massachusetts Turnpike Authority contractor working on the Washington Street bridge above the tracks, Pesaturo said.
Cashman Construction said a preliminary review indicated its crew “took all safety precautions as required by Amtrak and positioned equipment as directed by Amtrak.” It pledged to cooperate with authorities investigating the crash. |
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