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The Sims retro revisited : Bustin' Out
By: Melissa Simmed Up Magazine | Published on: Wednesday, 13 January 2021 Tuesday, 12 January 2021
In a community where many Simmers are familiar with the latest instalment of The Sims franchise, we often forget bout the previous games which made the current ones possible.
Hopefully, you'll have read part one in September's Issue of SimmedUp! Magazine, but if you didn't, here is a brief summary: The Sims Bustin' Out is a unique stand-alone game with rich, storyline-based gameplay that would put more recent games to shame.
Combined with decent graphics for its time and a banging soundtrack to fit, Bustin Out is a humorous addition to the franchise.
Picture this; it's a sunny Friday afternoon in 2005. Accompanied with a snack and plastic beaker of squash, I raced upstairs. Fridays were the best days for me because I was allowed to play on my PlayStation 2 for three days! I had a bloody curfew on my PlayStation on school days because I was a gobby little madam with a foul attitude, living up to my stereotypical flaming hair.
This curfew didn't always work, of course, as I'd either hide my good controller in my sock drawer and play late at night – until I was caught… Why was I caught? That obnoxiously loud and ominous song that played whenever a burglar turned up on the lot finally did me in. It was a truly traumatic experience for any child.
Previously, I discussed some of the iconic characters of the game, including the game's villain, Malcolm Landgraab, notorious for swiping objects like some fancy repo man.
He was an absolute prat. In fact, Malcolm's Mansion was the first lot I played as my cousin had already completed a few of the careers.
My first Sims interaction was firing the maid. I hoped, based on my experiences with Crash Bandicoot and Tomb Raider, that the maid would either get shot or burst into flames. (I didn't know what "fire" meant in this context.) Disappointingly, Brigit remained alive and quaking in her high-heels because she inadvertently got the sack. Whoops.
Another iconic location in the game is Goth Manor, a well-known Sims lot that varies with each new Sims iteration.
Goth Manor "will just scare you, Melissa," said my cousin. Yeah right. I was just fascinated by the lot's synthesiser. I wanted to play one so desperately that I did many years later in a museum in Cornwall, UK. (I sounded terrible.)
Goth Manor is a unique area in the game with frequent thunderstorms and wandering ghosts which add another special layer to the atmosphere that you just can't find in other base games upon release.
I also discovered in this game that you can kill off some premade (but I wouldn't advise it as there are goals which need to be completed alongside certain characters).
So I killed off Bella Goth in a fire in the dining hall; accidentally, of course. As this was probably the first-ever sim I killed off, I was so frightened by Bella's death that I turned off my Playstation and trembled beneath my duvet. If you've had the misfortune of hearing those deathly shrieks, I am so sorry.
Also, that medieval looking incubator situated in a greenhouse? Laboratory? Torture Chamber? It was, I think, an early model of a cowplant machine. Similarly, this ancestral plant ate sims too, so in a true Simmer fashion, I would put one by the front door to warn (or eat) cold callers (and the maid, of course).
The Sims Bustin' Out featured two more gaming modes: Online Weekend and Freeplay. Online Weekend saw players connect and interact with each other within a number of themed areas. Using a broadband connection and PS2 network adapter, the servers could include up to 30 players per lobby.
Players could chat using a keyboard or a headset connected via USB. It was an impressive little extra with little to no direction. Online Weekend's purpose was solely to allow social interactions between players. Simmers could trade items and show off the plethora of expensive objects in their decorated homes.
But alas, I was too young (and extremely cautious when it came to chatrooms) to even contemplate asking my dad to connect our Playstation 2 to the Internet, so I missed out. The servers were shut down in 2008. That same day, the servers for The Sims Online shut down too. So even when I was old enough to play it, I couldn't. Sad times.
However, Free Play was a sandbox game where you could create a household of four sims maximum, move them into a premade or empty lot, and start a life. Free Play provided two premade households: Tutti and Frutti. The producer was either a big fan of Little Richard, or fine Italian Desserts.
The Fruttis lived at 1 Free Street, a parallel lot to The Newbies lot in The Sims 1 (PC), and the Tuttis lived at 2 Free Street. I'd always had a superstition that it was haunted, so I always bulldozed it and started fresh. It cropped up in my nightmares too.
On one rare occasion, I actually played the Tutti household on their original lot with my younger brother, who will be horrified to know he's being included in an article about The Sims.
According to my mother, like every pyromaniac Simmer and after burning Bella Goth, I developed an obsession with setting the lot on fire and letting my sims burn. Oh the irony. To paraphrase she said, "Everytime I would walk in, your Sims would just be on fire and screaming." You can probably tell where this is going.
Some kids like to scare themselves silly. My brother and I thought it would be a good idea to throw multiple parties, cover the outer edge of the kitchen with crates, and have a low-skilled sim cook dinner.
Rinse and repeat until someone caught fire. During this madness, we randomly instructed a Sim from our household to, "take out the trash" from the trash compactor whilst his friend was meeting his demise.
We treated this torturous routine like a game and pushed the limits to see if all our Sims caught fire until we had no one left.
However, after a while, inviting sims over for a party was impossible – no one would turn up. The game wouldn't allow it; like it knew what we were doing to the Sims, and our rapidly growing graveyard suddenly stopped mid-development.
Nowadays, I can still mention this ordeal, and both my brother and I would reminisce in just how truly messed up this really was.
I do think the 7+ rating is a bit risky because some of the themes were a bit risque. I didn't know what "scoring" at a party meant. I didn't understand why sims enjoyed Strip Poker so much.
In fact, I didn't understand why sims would strip when "Pixel Booty", played on the synthesiser at Pixel Acres either. I was clearly too young and uncultured to appreciate these beautiful moments.
But as a fully functioning young adult, I can safely say that I completely understand it all now. Pixel Acres was a nudist colony that covered nude Sims with pixels. "Chase Skurtz" was a licentious euphemism, and "Ying Yangst" sounds like the complete opposite of the balanced, "yin and yang." Unless, of course, she is a deceptive character, presenting these balancing qualities on the surface but subliminal, "angst" underneath.
After researching the characters further, I found safer, Easter Eggs in the game. For example, located in the home-cinema of Tinsel Bluffs is the infamous, ""Love In Baghdad" Movie Poster" which features both Fanny Adore and Humphrey Hawks, who happen to reside at Tinsel Bluffs.
Fanny Adore portrays weapons manufacturer, Lisa Lender, "making questionable business deals" whilst Humphrey Hawks is Herbert Hawker, "plotting to overthrow the Pan-Arabist dictator". This poster was found in Buy Mode and unlike most items within the game, this poster appreciates in value over time, allowing the player to gain a few extra simoleons should they wish to sell it later on.
I'm biased, but there's no doubt that Bustin' Out deserves endless praise. However, I do need to include its downfalls, or this review wouldn't be fair.
First, this game was only made for console and Gameboy, along with its successor, The Urbz: Sims In The City. I'd imagine if a PC version were produced, then Bustin' Out could have enjoyed downloadable content such as gameplay enhancing add-ons or custom in-game content opportunities like its PC counterpart.PC availability would have rendered online sharing more user-friendly and accessible.
A PC version of Bustin' Out may have also saved some of us from that shambolic mafia-styled mess that was The Sims Online.
There are a lot of careers and goals in Bustin' Out, so completing this game can be time-consuming. But unlike the most recent games that feature similar storyline-based gameplay, there is no right order to play Bustin' Out. I know it's wishful thinking, but EA should really consider remastering the game for PC and console. Developers could also produce a sequel!
Overall, The Sims Bustin' Out will forever hold a special place in my Sims heart. It saw me through pre-GCSE, pre-A Level results, anxiety, grief, illness and many long rainy days during the summer holidays.
This article first appeared in the October edition of SimmedUp! Magazine.
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Categories The Sims Tags SimmedUp! Magazine //The Sims History Project
Melissa Simmed Up Magazine
Shwmae! I'm Melissa, also known as theflamingplumbob or theflamingmel, and I'm from Wales, UK (so yes I can speak a little Welsh but don't expect me to pronounce Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch correctly because I cannot). I started playing The Sims Bustin' Out a disgustingly long time ago and since then I've followed The Sims franchise up until the present day. Fortunately, this obsession with the franchise has allowed me to become part of the talented SimmedUp team, where I write about your favourite classics, as well as designs you'll see popping up on social media.
Sims 4 another new pack speculation: Farming…finally?
The Sims 4 will add a "Scared" emotion to the base game
The Sims 4: Paranormal Stuff Pack – a look at the first video trailer and screenshots
The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff Manifests on January 26th, 2021 [Official EA Blog]
Sims 4 new Paranormal Stuff Pack: Bonehilda returns, new career and more
Sims 4 new ghost pack live stream reveal details: A date with Guidry
How to add body hair to your game in The Sims 4
A Sims colour palette for the Goth family
MAC Cosmetics' response to Sims 4 palette faux pas
This mod gives The Sims 4 careers a realistic overhaul
Confirmed: The new ghost/haunted Sims 4 pack is a Stuff Pack
Sims 4 Haunted pack speculation: Paranormal career in other editions
New Sims 4 Haunted/Paranormal pack speculation: Possible features
Sims 4 new pack speculation: Happy Haunts the next DLC?
The latest MAC x The Sims partnership is not landing well
Sims 4 photographer career gets a full-time, semi-active option with this mod
Sims 4 save file with generational family trees for iconic families
Sims 4 Maxis Match CC: Vintage style clothes for male and female Sims
Sims 4 CC: Maxis Match and Alpha explained


The biophilia hypothesis, introduced by Edward O. Wilson in his 1984 book 'Biophilia', is defined as 'the urge to affiliate with other forms of life'.
A primary concern in urban areas, many spaces offer vast amounts of natural light however offer very little, or no elements of nature.
Environment psychologist Stephen Kaplan says that nature powerfully engages the mind with "involuntary fascination" which helps restore attention and focus. He also says that people can concentrate better after spending time in nature. In addition, people with a view of natural elements, such as trees, water or countryside, report greater levels of wellbeing than those looking over more urban settings, according to the Human Spaces Report.
The World Health Organisation expects stress related illness, such as mental health and cardio-vascular disease, to be the biggest contributor to disease by 2020.
It has been shown that incorporating elements of nature, either directly or indirectly, into the workplace can reduce stress, blood pressure and heart rate, as well as boost productivity and creativity. In fact, biophilic design in the workplace can increase productivity by 8%, and well-being by 13%, helping to reduce absenteeism.
How can biophilic design be integrated into the modern workplace?
There are many ways biophilic design can be incorporated into the workplace, with an array of options that are both obvious, such as greenery and materials, and less obvious, like textures and colours.
Plants are a good starting place for bringing nature into the office. Living walls, potted plants and trees are some of the most common examples. Elements of water can also be considered, as well as increased natural sunlight.
Use of curvature and avoiding 'sterile' straight lines, emulating natural forms in the shape and layout of space is also possible.
Interface Flooring, one of our suppliers, has created a unique range of biophilic flooring called 'Human Connections', designed to break down the barrier between the natural world and the buildings in which we work (pictured). It has created eight different styles that provide sensory and natural cues to engage the mind and boost focus. Its styles incorporate city streets, paving stones and natural greens.
One of our consulting partners, Greenleaf Designspace, creates bespoke planting displays for interior and exterior projects.
Libby Sprason, Creative Lead, explains the benefits of planting in the workplace: "The benefits of planting has been well recorded, most notably by NASA whose Clean Air Study identifies specific plant species and their undeniable air cleansing abilities. This is especially useful in newly-refurbished workplaces or new builds due to the many toxins present at this time coming from new paint, carpets and electrical equipment to name a few, all contributing to spreading harmful toxins in the air you, your visitors and your staff are breathing all day long. Plants will remove these and give us oxygen in exchange.
Tang Interiors provides turnkey fit out and refurbishment solutions.
To find out more about how we can help your business, contact me by email (carl.hubbard@tanginteriors.com) or call 0121 369 8000.


Health authorities recommend HIV-infected patients starting treatment as soon as posible after diagnosis, regardless of the level of immunosuppression (which are measured by the number of CD4, cells responsible for the immune response and which are infected by the virus) and viral load.
"The problem is the reality that we live in the healthcare" said Dr. Daniel Podzamczer, head of the HIV and STD Unit of the Infectious Diseases at the University Hospital of Bellvitge (HUB) and researcher at respiratory infections the immunocompromised host group of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL). "Patients often arrive severely immunocompromised, 66% of them with CD4 The study, published in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, was performed with patients in the cohort PISCES (with the collaboration of other hospitals and CEEISCAT) that includes more than 17,000 HIV-infected patients in several hospitals in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. It has monitored for five years 2,300 patients who had started treatment when CD4 levels very low, less than 200 cells per mm3.
What we have observed is that 78% of patients who do not respond to treatment and don't increase in CD4 and with a drop in viral load, progress to AIDS or die. However, if not recovered the immune response but their viral load is undetectable, mortality and progression to AIDS decreases to 35%. If an undetectable viral load is not achieved but the CD4 count rises above 200, the downward progression of disease in 18%. That is, the immune recovery is more important than virological response but it also plays a key role.
"Furthermore, if the patient has begun treatment in such harsh conditions but recuperates immunological levels above 200 cells per mm 3 and an undetectable viral load, disease progression to AIDS or death at 5 years of follow-up It is only 2%, said Dr. Elena Ferrer, first author of the study, medical Unit HIV and STDs, research group of respiratory infections in the immunocompromised host at IDIBELL and medical service of infectious diseases at HUB.
According to Dr. Podzamczer "Even in the worst case, you can fight the disease progression, but we must not forget that 30% of these patients failed to recover the immune response. And the recommendation has to be still diagnosed and treat the patient as soon as possible, so the task of prevention and information to society is needed. "


The Company proposes to add Auctioneers to the panel at various state capitals in India for conducting public auction of gold ornaments pledged by various borrowers and other related proceedings. The Company takes up auction proceedings only as a last resort and after intimating the respective borrowers by registered post.
Applications in prescribed form duly filled up are invited from established and reputed Auctioneers / Auctioning Agencies (such as advocates with at least 5 year experience).
Applications must be received by courier or registered post at the under mentioned address. Empanelled persons / firms shall be intimated as soon as possible. Empanelling alone does not confer any right to the applicants for assignment. They will be governed by the terms and conditions in the agreement to be signed with the company.
The Company reserves the right to accept or reject applications without assigning any reason and correspondence on the decision shall not be entertained.


Add a tiny nativity scene to your tree with this Holy Family Christmas ornament. Mary holds one of Jesus' tiny hands in hers while Joseph looks on. A donkey and lamb seem happy to be in the presence of Our King as well. Little details such as the straw of Jesus' manger, the wool of the lamb and the tie of Mary's garment add to the beauty of this ornament. It is made of resin and stands five inches tall.
Holy Family Christmas Ornament | Faux Knit Clothes | Dome | 5"
Holy Family Christmas Ornament | Cut-Out Design | Antiqued White | Resin | 3-1/2"
Holy Family Christmas Ornament | Heart | Frost & Clear Acrylic | 3-1/2"
Holy Family Christmas Ornament | Stable | Lamb | Resin | 3-3/4" x 4" x 1/2"


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1,866,341 people have helped raise more than $4,981,612 for 242 projects
Open projects | Funded projects | Completed projects | The issues
Projects for The Original Big 7 Cultural and Heritage
About this charity
The Original Big 7 Cultural and Heritage Division is an incorporated, non-profit organization, which is also an established community-based arts neighbourhood program centre, located in the 7th ward - one of New Orleans most challenging neighbourhoods.
Visit originalbig7.blogspot.com.au
Youth Empowerment & Education, New Orleans United States
To provide at-risk children in New Orleans with activities that help build their self-esteem and stability, and gives them a creative outlet while sustaining the cultural legacy of the Mardi Gras Indians.
Raised from 4,953 people
Footprints Fundraising Inc. (NSW) #INC9884228. Level 21, 680 George St, Sydney 2000 Australia, © 2005 - 2020 All rights reserved.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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afp americans for prosperity andrew ogles bus Koch brothers libertarians local control mass transit nashville pt we are all bozos on this bus tennessee the amp
Heroic Koch Brothers Save Nashville From Dystopian Nightmare Of Rapid Transit
Here's some welcome news! In addition to fighting to keep America safe from thenightmare of health insurance, sending out fishwives to scream at cute-milquetoast MSNBC hosts, and bringing rightwing lunacy to improvisational comedy, it would appear that the nice folks in the Koch Bros. squirrel factory have also managed to sponsor a bill aimed at killing a rapid-transit bus system in Nashville, Tennessee. Actually, the bill would prevent any city in the state from developing a rapid-transit bus system without state approval. You know, because local control is the best form of small government, except when it isn't.
Now, a person might well ask, why on earth would the Kochs give a damn about buses? Isn't their whole thing low taxes, free-market toxic sludge for all, and ignoring climate change? Ah, but you see, Americans For Prosperity is also about small government, whether the people being governed want it that small or not. And sorry, Nashville, but your locally designed $174 million bus-based rapid transit project, called "The Amp," was just another big-government socialist project that had to go. Oh, sure, it would have provided faster commutes on a major corridor, and it was supported by local businesses, supporters of transit, and the Chamber of Commerce. And in fact, the involvement of Americans For Prosperity in killing The Amp only came to light after the passage of the bill in the state Senate, when the head of StopAmp.org Inc, the local group that headed the opposition to the project, thanked AFP for all its help.
Slate's Jamelle Bouie explains why one city's transit project was worth the involvement of a national "libertarian" organization:
Treat this as a technocratic dispute, and it doesn't make any sense. If state lawmakers had a problem with The Amp, they could ask local officials to re-evaluate the proposal and look for ways to reduce costs and improve safety. It goes beyond overkill to block the project and preclude Nashville from considering mass transit.
But if you treat this as a local front in an unending, all-encompassing culture war, then it's easy to understand. To the right-wing, mass transit is just another liberal attempt to force Americans into a kind of brutalist conformity
As we all know, after all, liberals just want to control people's lives, and mass transit is just as much a part of the United Nations' Agenda 21 plan to destroy American freedom as bike lanes are -- frankly, we're surprised that Vicoria Jackson hasn't weighed in on this important example of creeping sharia. Besides, if you're trying to get people out of their cars and onto buses and trains, you probably think climate change is real, too.
So the Kochs really are thinking global while acting loco. The head of Americans for Prosperity-Tennessee, Andrew Ogles -- we swear we are not making that up -- says that calling the Amp a matter of local governance is a dirty lie, since it would have been funded with transportation grants from beyond Nashville:
"Some try to frame this issue as a local issue only, but it's state and federal dollars ... It's $175 million."
And since dirty federal money was involved, of course it's only fitting that AFP step in to stop it.
And here's the really beautiful part: Now that AFP's Tennessee affiliate, which only formed last year, has had such a stunning success, the national group is looking forward to building on that, since it's pretty good at finding willing state legislators to help it with its freedom agenda. Andrew Ogles suggests Tennessee is a perfect petri dish for AFP's future efforts:
"With supermajorities in both houses," he said, "Tennessee is a great state to pass model legislation that can be leveraged in other states."
Isn't that a charming vision? Nice locally designed project you got here. Pity it's too socialist...
[The Tennessean via Slate / The Tennessean again / Image: "The Slug" by Fightpunch]


The North Addington Soccer Association is a community initiative based in Cloyne, which provides an affordable sports opportunity for local children. The goals of the Association are to promote healthy active living and encourage teamwork, while teaching soccer skills and rules of the game.
N.A.S.A. was founded over twenty years ago, and was an annual success for many years. Unfortunately, the program was suspended in 2015. A group of dedicated individuals have chosen to revive the program for the 2019 season, and have received positive feedback from the community. This year, N.A.S.A. will have multiple teams and is encouraging children between the ages of 3 and 10 to participate in the league.
Financial support from local businesses in the area has enabled the Association to keep costs low. Registration fees are $20 per player, or $50 per family of three or more.
The 2019 season will run Monday nights at the Cloyne Soccer Field from August 19th through to September 30th.
Registration will take place at the NAEC Open House & Annual Fun Fair on Thursday, May 16th from 6:00pm-8:00pm.


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Why Buying A Car With High-Tech Safety Features Won't Make Your Auto Insurance Cheaper
Jim Gorzelany Senior Contributor
I write about how to maximize your automotive investment and more.
Photo credit: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
Vehicle safety continues to be a top concern among new-car buyers. Safety engineering has come a long way over the last half century, with the latest features able to help keep motorists from getting into accidents in the first place.
Some, like blind spot and lane departure warning systems, will warn a motorist to react to potential problems, while the best of the bunch, like forward auto-braking systems, can all but take the wheel out of a driver's hands to prevent hitting another vehicle, or even pedestrians and bicyclists in a vehicle's path. Rear-view cameras, which make for safer parking and backing out of garages and driveways, are now standard on all new vehicles.
There's little argument that the technology works as advertised. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety estimates that if installed on all vehicles, crash-avoidance technology could prevent more than 2.7 million crashes, 1.1 million injuries and nearly 9,500 deaths annually.
But while buying a new vehicle that's equipped with advanced accident-avoidance systems may one day save your life, don't expect them to save you any money on your auto insurance premiums. That's according to a report conducted by the insurance website TheZebra.com
"You'd think that since these technology advancements in car safety are proven by experts to be highly effective in reducing accidents, insurance companies would adjust their pricing accordingly to reward consumers with savings," says the website's director of market insights Alysssa Connolly."Unfortunately that's not the case because the sophisticated technology is more expensive to fix, and because humans driving these cars are often lulled into a false sense of security and can actually become more careless."
Of nine available auto safety systems, only one – electronic stability control – will trigger a lower rate. And that only amounts to an average discount of about $7 on an annual $1,247 premium. Plus, the fact that stability control has been federally mandated to be installed in all new vehicles since the 2012 model year makes the discount essentially in name only.
Meanwhile, insurers are generally offering no discounts whatsoever for having either forward collision protection, blind spot monitoring, driver alertness monitoring, lane-departure warning, a rear-view camera, a head-up display, night vision, or a park assist system. Motorists in only one state, Michigan, will see their rates drop for having advanced safety features, and that only amounts to a $7 reduction.
By contrast, TheZebra.com's study suggests you'll save more money on your car insurance by installing anti-theft devices. The website says the average driver will see a rate reduction of $9.60 for a passive vehicle disabling device, $7.53 for a tracking device, $5.38 for an active disabling device, and $5.04 for an alarm system.
Why are auto insurance providers stiffing drivers who've paid a bundle to equip their cars and trucks with advanced safety gear? A lot of it has to do with cost. The requisite sensors and cameras embedded into a vehicle's bumpers are expensive to replace. While repairing a smashed bumper on a typical car can run from $300 to $700, according to the study a damaged bumper that's fitted with safety-system sensors can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $2,500 to fix.
We'd argue that the added cost of repairs would be offset by a reduced likelihood that a car or truck with advanced safety gear would get into an accident. For their part, insurers maintain there's not enough actuarial data on hand for them to determine if such systems will actually lower the risk of a given motorist becoming involved in a crash.
There's also evidence that some drivers may be relying too heavily on advanced safety systems or are clueless with regard to their inherent limitations. Research from the AAA found that 80% of drivers over-estimate the capabilities of their vehicles' blind-spot monitoring systems. Around 25% said they rely solely on the technology and don't bother performing visual checks to spot oncoming traffic or pedestrians. Among motorists having forward collision warning or lane departure warning systems, nearly 25% report that having the technology makes them feel comfortable engaging in other tasks while driving.
You can read the full study here.
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
Also on Forbes:
Gallery: 10 Least-Expensive Vehicles To Insure
Jim Gorzelany
I'm a veteran Chicago-based consumer automotive journalist devoted to providing news, views, timely tips and reviews to help maximize your automotive investments. In ad


Usually after the Lord's Supper is complete a collection is taken. If you are visiting with us, please do not feel any pressure to put anything into the plate that will be passed to you. If you do choose to give, though, it is important to know why you give. It is not to pay the preacher or to support the church or to express grattitude for a job well done.You give because your heart is touched by the love of God.
We do not demand a "tithe" because God does not demand it. God has some simple instructions on giving. It should be done cheerfully. It should be done sacrifically; not from what is left over but a gift that shows trust and love for the Father. It is an expression of love and grattitude, not a duty.


Happy Independance Day Images । happy independence day hd images । happy independence day hd wallpapers ""
Happy independence day images and wishes are those that really bring us together. Despite religious diversity, we are all Indians one. Sending these images to each other gives us a chance to truly respect our nationality. In this world of the Internet, what is this app message that is used to express one's desire to each other. People usually upload these Independence Day images on their Facebook profiles and other social media platforms.
Happy Independence Day images are available for download for free. Independence Day HD images are best for print out. If you need such images for your school projects, you can probably download them for free here. These freedom images are equipped with inspirational quotes that add a bit more to the effect of the image.
On August 15th we call Independence Day. This Independence Day in India reflects 72th Independence anniversary of the country. Below are some of the best wishes and images you can send to your friends and family on this occasion.


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Beds, Herts & Bucks selected
Beds, Herts & Bucks
Milton Keynes police commander is sacked for misconduct
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-42361674
Image copyright Thames Valley Police
Image caption Local police commander Supt Gez Chiariello, 46, is alleged to have breached standards in relation to authority, respect and courtesy
A police superintendent who wanted to "cause trouble" for a witness in a case against him has been sacked.
Supt Gez Chiariello joined Thames Valley Police in 2007 and became Milton Keynes' area commander in 2014.
In 2016 he was investigated over claims of harassment and conspiring to pervert the course of justice and told not to contact people connected with the case.
However, he encouraged a third party to contact the employer of one of the witnesses, a conduct hearing was told.
Chief Constable Francis Habgood said: "It gives me no pleasure to see his fall from grace. He pressed his own self destruct button in this case."
The hearing, at Kidlington, Oxfordshire, was told of a string of text messages between 46-year-old Mr Chiarello and the third party, referred to in court as Miss B.
One message from Mr Chiarello to a woman, referred to at the hearing as Miss B, read: "Defo need to start causing her grief at work … Need a pay as u go sim for ur old phone".
'Trace of evidence'
When Miss B messaged him to say "so easy to cause trouble for her at a little business", Mr Chiarello replied: "I was thinking that and babe we certainly will."
He also warned Miss B on how to avoid detection when sending letters to the witness's employer, saying "be careful for fingerprints" and to "be very careful where there is a trace of evidence".
During interview, he denied any knowledge of the messages to Miss B.
Mr Chiarello denied his actions had amounted to gross misconduct.
Gerard Boyle QC, for Thames Valley Police, said Mr Chiariello's behaviour had been "despicable" and "deplorable", adding: "He lied to Thames Valley Police officers over and over."
John Beggs QC, for Mr Chiariello, said his client had had a "career without blemishes until these allegations."
The 2016 investigation into conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and harassment concluded with no further action being taken against Mr Chiarello and he was released without charge.
The Crown Prosecution Service had decided there was insufficient evidence to proceed, police said.
Milton Keynes Supt Gez Chiariello suspended for 'misconduct'
Beds, Herts & Bucks live reporting
Live BBC Beds, Herts & Bucks: Latest updates
Full article BBC Beds, Herts & Bucks: Latest updates


At the urging of Ed Balls, David Bell, the Permanent Secretary in the Department for Education has ordered a leak inquiry which has sent his department into semi-paralysis. First thing to realise is that the desks and personal effects of ministers are cleared before a new administration comes in. So the source can not be political if we accept at face value Balls is telling the truth that the last he saw of the documents was in his old office. We know better than to accept anything Balls says at face value.


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Edward John Frank Howe (Amersham, 29 de noviembre de 1977) es un exfutbolista y entrenador inglés que desde noviembre de 2021 dirige al Newcastle United F. C. de Inglaterra. Jugó como defensor. Como entrenador logró coronar campeón al Bournemouth de la Championship 2014-15, lo que le dio el ascenso a la Premier League 2015-16.

Trayectoria

Como futbolista
Howe nació en Amersham, Buckinghamshire. Cuando era muy joven se mudó a Verwood en Dorset, y luego comenzó su carrera futbolística con los equipos juveniles locales Rossgarth y Parley Sports antes de comenzar su carrera profesional en AFC Bournemouth. Hizo su debut con el primer equipo en diciembre de 1995 contra el Hull City. Howe se estableció como un jugador importante en la defensa del AFC Bournemouth y en 1998 fue seleccionado para el equipo de Inglaterra Sub-21 en el Torneo de Toulon.

En marzo de 2002, Portsmouth fichó a Howe por £ 400.000 libras convirtiéndolo en el primer fichaje del nuevo entrenador Harry Redknapp. Poco después de firmar, una lesión en la rodilla en su debut contra Preston North End puso fin a su temporada.

Regresó para el partido inaugural de la temporada 2002-03 contra Nottingham Forest, pero se lesionó la rodilla nuevamente después de solo nueve minutos  y fue descartado para toda la campaña. No volvió a estar en plena forma hasta enero de 2004 después de 18 meses de baja. Fue cedido a Swindon Town el día de la fecha límite de transferencia en marzo, aunque no se presentó para el club.

Portsmouth prestó a Howe de nuevo al AFC Bournemouth durante los primeros tres meses de la 2004-05. Demostró tener éxito en su regreso a su primer club después de dos temporadas devastadas por lesiones con el Portsmouth. Con el club en un estado financiero muy pobre, los seguidores se unieron para crear "Eddieshare" para financiar una tarifa de transferencia. A los pocos días de la creación, se recaudaron £ 21,000 libras que financiaron la tarifa de transferencia permanente requerida. Después de otras tres temporadas y más de 270 apariciones, las lesiones forzaron su retiro como jugador en 2007 y luego pasó a ser entrenador con el equipo de reserva.

Como entrenador
En el comienzo de la temporada 2008-09, el Bournemouth se encontraba en la League Two (cuarta división) y contaba con muchos problemas económicos. A causa de ello, el club fue sancionado con la reducción de 17 puntos y la prohibición de comprar jugadores durante dicha temporada. A finales del año 2008, el entrenador Jimmy Quinn fue despedido, y su lugar fue ocupado por Howe.

Tras ver truncada su carrera de jugador por una lesión, Howe asumió el cargo de entrenador del Bournemouth el 1 de enero de 2009. Así, con 31 años, se convirtió en el entrenador más joven de la Football League. En esa mitad de temporada, Howe logró que el equipo lograra llegar a los puestos seguros de la liga. En la temporada siguiente, 2009-10, ascendió al Bournemouth a la League One (tercera división).

Howe fue ofrecido por clubes como el Southampton, en aquel entonces se encontraba en tercera división, y el Peterborough United, los cuales rechazó. Sin embargo, aceptó una oferta del Burnley, y se convirtió en entrenador de dicho club el 16 de enero de 2011, equipo que disputaba la Championship. Tras un paso de sinsabores por este club, Howe volvió a dirigir al Bournemouth el 12 de octubre de 2012. Las cerezas seguían en tercera división pero, con la llegada de Howe, el club ascendió a la Championship.

En la temporada 2013-14, bajo el mando de Howe, el Bournemouth quedó ubicado en el puesto 10 de la tabla, pero en la temporada siguiente, el conjunto 'cherrie' se coronó campeón de dicho campeonato y consiguió el anhelado ascenso a la Premier League 2015-16, siendo la primera vez que el club disputaría la máxima categoría del fútbol inglés. En 2015 fue premiado como mejor manager de la década de la Football League, por lograr el ascenso del Bournemouth desde la League Two a la Premier League.

En la Premier League 2015-16, el Bournemouth consiguió su primera victoria en esta categoría tras vencer al West Ham 4-3 en condición de visitante.

El 1 de agosto de 2020, tras no lograr la permanencia en la Premier League, abandonó el club de mutuo acuerdo para pasar más tiempo con su familia.

El 8 de noviembre de 2021 fue confirmado como el nuevo entrenador del Newcastle United F. C. hasta el año 2024.

Clubes

Como jugador

Fuente: Ceroacero

Como entrenador

Estadísticas como entrenador

 Actualizado de acuerdo al último partido dirigido el .

Fuente: Transfermarkt - Ceroacero

Resumen por competiciones

 Actualizado de acuerdo al último partido dirigido el .

Palmarés

Como entrenador

Referencias

Enlaces externos
 Staff Profile - AFC Bournemouth
 Estadísticas de Eddie Howe en SoccerBase

Futbolistas de Inglaterra
Futbolistas del Athletic Football Club Bournemouth
Futbolistas del Portsmouth Football Club
Futbolistas del Swindon Town Football Club
Entrenadores de fútbol de Inglaterra
Entrenadores del Burnley Football Club
Entrenadores del Athletic Football Club Bournemouth
Entrenadores del Newcastle United Football Club

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
A New Epoch in Hearing History
Mar 14, 2008 | Components | 0 |
Just as "digital" was the consumer buzz word of the '80s and early '90s, when seemingly everything became digitalized, "wireless" is the consumer trend of the moment. Incorporating wireless technologies into hearing instruments, however, has, until recently, been an afterthought rather than the very basis for the design of the microchip at the heart of the instruments. Recently, Oticon introduced the RISE microchip platform, which uses near-field magnetic induction (NFMI) wireless technology in virtually all aspects of the circuit's performance.
Ideally, wireless technologies incorporated within hearing instruments should have extremely low power consumption and very small components. NFMI has these attributes and is a wireless technology uniquely suited to hearing instrument applications.
NEAR-FIELD MAGNETIC INDUCTION
NFMI wireless technology is rapidly expanding into applications such as two-way radios and hands-free mobile phone earpieces, and some hearing instruments.1 NFMI works on the principle of magnetic induction, which is somewhat similar to a telecoil. With NFMI, however, communication can be two-way and the signal can be encoded for security purposes. Two devices or components each generate a special magnetic field, and communication takes place via an interaction between the fields.
NFMI is ideal for incorporation within hearing instruments because the components are very small and the power needs are minuscule. When active, the NFMI circuit in the Oticon RISE platform increases the power consumption of the chip by only 10%. Additionally, the magnetic field of the system does not extend beyond approximately 3 feet, which ensures secure encoded communication with a greatly reduced susceptibility to interference.
Until recently, hearing aids only made limited use of NFMI technology for basic applications such as bilateral control of the volume or program settings. Recent developments in the technology have allowed the transfer of information at speeds 100 times faster than before.
Figure 1. The relationship between data-transfer speed and the domain being controlled.
The NFMI technology used in Oticon's RISE platform is called EarStream. Running at 120,000 bits per second, it is comparable to the speeds in entry-level ADSL and cable Internet modem connections commercially available today. EarStream makes many applications possible, including true binaural processing and real-time audio streaming to the hearing aids from external devices. (See Figure 1 above.)
When applied in Oticon's new Epoq hearing instrument, the technology essentially redefines the role of amplification. New binaural processing schemes enable the Epoq hearing instrument to restore rather than reduce important binaural sound cues used by the auditory system to facilitate localization and understanding in noise. The Epoq user experiences a richer and more natural soundscape, while the "costs" associated with certain technologies, such as compression and directionality, are reduced. This high-speed, binaural algorithm allows the dispenser to fit the auditory system as opposed to treating each ear individually. For the first time, hearing instruments can be truly fitted binaurally rather than just bilaterally.
SPATIAL SOUND
By using a paired set of detectors and analyzers, and implementing specific processing rules designed to enable two hearing aids to communicate with each other, EarStream makes a pair of instruments work as one to help maintain a proper interpretation of the location of various sounds in the environment—what we term "spatial sound." The instrument coordinates the action of the directional, noise-reduction, feedback-cancellation, and compression systems to provide the brain with a preserved set of cues enabling it to re-create the world of sound around the listener.
Figure 2. The interaural spectral differences for sounds arising from various azimuths to the right of the midline (adapted from Sensimetrics Corp, 2003). Positive values indicate higher levels in the right ear than the left.
As shown in Figure 2, the head creates spectral differences between the ears when sound does not arise from the midline.2 These spectral differences are essential for localization. The natural tendency of WDRC compression systems is to minimize these differences, because the gain applied to the signal is greater for lower-level input signals. A naturally occurring ear-to-ear difference of 10 dB can be reduced to 3 to 4 dB or less with the moderate amount of compression typical of WDRC fittings for moderate hearing loss.
The spatial sound feature of Epoq compares the inputs to the two hearing aids and adjusts the compression response to maintain precise spectral difference in the high frequencies. The effect is to provide the central auditory system a paired set of inputs that more accurately reflects the actual difference between the two ears.
In Epoq, the broadband binaural processing is also applied to other environmentally adaptive signal processing systems. When instruments act independently, the noise-reduction and directional systems constantly evaluate the environment and adjust the settings of the adaptive systems to the conditions experienced by the hearing aids.3 Since conditions can be different on either side of the head, hearing aids can make different decisions for each side.
Sometimes this makes sense, but it can also lead to different system responses in one ear versus the other, which can be confusing for the brain. It creates the impression of something different happening on one side as opposed to the other when the brain's job is to create a unified perception. On the other hand, there are certain listening environments (eg, driving a car with the window open) where coordination does not make sense.
The spatial sound system in a pair of Epoq hearing aids coordinates the response of these systems. This allows improved sound quality, because the instrument avoids situations where one aid lags behind the other in decision-making, resulting in poor sound quality due to uncoordinated mode shifts.4 In highly asymmetrical situations, an artificial intelligence–based technology ensures that the two hearing aids work separately.
Figure 3. The Streamer interface device can convert a Bluetooth signal to NFMI and transmit it to an associated pair of hearing instruments.
Binaural sharing of information also increases the robustness of the detector systems. For instance, the Epoq hearing instrument can determine if the wearer is speaking. Synchronizing this own-voice detection system between the two ears significantly reduces the chance of false own-voice detection, which can occur when another person whispers or talks close to the wearer's ear. Similarly, binaural synchronization is used to control the dynamic feedback-cancellation system in Epoq to minimize false positives and artifacts from external pure tone sources such as music.
In summary, broadband ear-to-ear communication helps ensure that the listener continues to benefit from the effects of advanced processing systems without experiencing reduced sound quality due to noncoordinated processing. Spatial sound (ie, coordinated compression) maintains the natural arrangement of sounds and natural contrasts and asymmetry in the sound scene.
MAKING THE CONNECTION
Wireless technologies—such as FM, where remote microphones with FM transmitters send a signal directly into a hearing aid—have long been associated with improving performance when background noise or distance is a problem. Widespread adoption of this technology within hearing aids has not occurred, however, partly due to the size, power consumption, and high cost associated with FM technology.
Bluetooth® technology is a type of shortwave radio signal developed to facilitate data and voice/audio transfer among devices, and it has become the de facto wireless standard commonly employed in everyday communication devices. Although much cheaper than FM, Bluetooth uses far too much power, and Bluetooth chips are too large to be built directly into hearing instruments in their current form. However, a gateway device can be used to bridge this gap and provide access to Bluetooth signals.
The EarStream feature creates a wireless zone, or "body area network," around each hearing aid. Introducing a gateway device into this zone enables the Epoq hearing aids to receive external signals from all manner of external devices. The small, body-worn gateway device used with Epoq hearing aids is called Streamer. (See Figure 3.)
Figure 4. With Streamer, the signal from a Bluetooth cell phone can be transmitted to a pair of hearing instruments wirelessly. The user's voice is also wirelessly transmitted back to the cell phone.
Streamer converts Bluetooth wireless signals (and hard-wired inputs) into an NFMI signal that can be received by the Epoq hearing instruments. This effectively transforms a pair of Epoq hearing aids into a pair of tiny cordless headsets. In doing so, Streamer overcomes the interference problems associated with using digital hearing aids and cell phones. The Epoq user can now hear the telephone in both ears at the same time—without feedback or interference. The built-in microphone in Streamer picks up the user's voice, enabling hands-free communication; the cell phone can remain in the user's pocket. In other words, the Epoq user (BTE and ITE wearers) has the equivalent of a hands-free Bluetooth headset on both ears at all times, without having to attach any devices to the ear and without any cables. (See Figure 4.)
Streamer can also connect the hearing aids to different audio sources for entertainment or information purposes. In addition to Bluetooth signals, Streamer accepts any audio signal that can be accessed via a direct wired connection, allowing for a direct audio connection to MP3 players, televisions, radios, etc. (See Figure 5.) Alternatively, inexpensive Bluetooth adaptors can be connected to these devices and used to transmit the signal to the Streamer wirelessly.
Figure 5. A diagram showing the possible connection of Epoq hearing aids via Streamer to various external sound sources.
GLIMPSING THE FUTURE
Wireless technology will become a dominant feature in hearing instrument technology over the next few years. This technology has great potential to improve the performance of binaurally fitted hearing instruments by providing wearers with better access to the localization cues employed by normal-hearing people. In addition, wireless technology will let people who are hearing impaired overcome the barriers they have faced with devices such as cell phones, MP3 players, navigation devices, and others.
Aura Communications. Near-field magnetic communication properties. Available at: www.auracomm.com/Downloads/webwireless.pdf. Accessed June 11, 2007.
Yost W. Fundamentals of Hearing: An Introduction. San Diego: Academic Press; 1994.
Schum D. Artificial intelligence: the new advanced technology in hearing aids. Audiol Online. 2004.
Keidser G, Rohrseitz K, Dillon H, et al. The effect of multi-channel wide dynamic compression, noise reduction, and the directional microphone on horizontal localization performance in hearing aid wearers. Int J Audiol. 2006;45:563-579.
Gordon Wilson, MBA, is vice president of marketing for Oticon Inc. Wilson has held a number of positions within Oticon since joining the company. George Lindley, PhD, AuD, is manager of Distance Learning for Oticon Inc. He is also an adjunct professor in the PCO School of Audiology. Don Schum, PhD, CCC-A, is vice president of Audiology and Professional Relations for Oticon Inc. Schum has more than 18 years of extensive background in clinical, educational, and research audiology. For more information, write to .
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FÁTIMA, Portugal, May 24, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Portugal Pro-lifers say they were bewildered on May 12 as they were expelled from the exterior area of the famous Marian shrine in Fátima by shrine personnel and were prohibited from collecting signatures to promote a national pro-life referendum.
Botelho, the leader of Portugal pro Vida, the country's only pro-life party, described the situation as "a scandal" and "absurd." He has resigned from his elected positions on May 13 in outrage over the incident.
"This small episode at the Marian shrine shows the mood of the times in Portugal, with a significant part of the Catholic hierarchy largely failing to support Christian groups carrying out pro-life activities," said Portugal pro Vida in a statement emailed to LifeSiteNews.
LifeSiteNews contacted the shine Rector, Fr. Carlos Cabecinhas, and local Bishop António Marto for comment but received no response. Pro-Referendo Vida has been campaigning to collect the necessarily 75,000 signatures if Portugal is to convene a referendum on the humanity of the unborn child. So far they have collected nearly half of what they need.
Abortion on-demand in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy was legalized in the largely Catholic country in April 2007 following a referendum where 59.2% of the voter turnout approved the "decriminalization of the voluntary interruption of pregnancy." According to the Portuguese Constitution, however, the results were not legally binding since only 43.6% of the registered voters turned out to vote. At that time, Prime Minister José Sócrates of the governing Socialist Party nevertheless decided to expand abortion in his country.
Pro-life activists from Pro-Referendo Vida who were collecting signatures that day at Fátima told LifeSiteNews how they experienced what they called a "dramatic showing of pro-abortion support or indifference to the pro-life cause" among the pilgrims visiting the world famous shrine where Mary the Mother of God was reported to have appeared to three peasant children in 1917.
The pro-life activists said they heard statements from visitors at the shrine such as "Abortion is each one's business," "I'm pro-choice and proud," and "Do you hear our Bishops condemning abortion? Why should we?".
The pro-life activists told LifeSiteNews they thought they were following Fr. Cabecinhas's directives by staying outside the shrine. Despite the opposition that countered their efforts, the group of 15 volunteers managed to gather 500 signatures in five hours beneath the blazing Portuguese sun.
"There could not have been a better day or a better place to raise awareness of the error committed by Portugal when it allowed abortion to be legalized," she said.


V.Group has appointed Junshan Zou to build, lead and drive V.Group's activities in China, including business development, ship management and marine services.
Junshan has more than 20 years' experience in maritime related businesses, building on his early academic and research career with the Shanghai Maritime University. He is the sole author of the book Port Economics and a co-author of two books – Transportation Economics and Management of China National Economy.
Junshan will be based in V.Group's new office in Shanghai's new shipping cluster – the Maritime & Finance Excellence Centre - which was formally opened in March by V.Group's CEO, Ian El-Mokadem.


text:
Print Testimony
Testimony of
Patrick Eddington,
Associate Director, Government Relations
Before the
Subcommittee on Health
House Committee on Veterans' Affairs
Lessons Learned from the Gulf War
Chairman Moran, Ranking Member Filner, and other distinguished members of the subcommittee, Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) is pleased to have this opportunity to provide testimony on "lessons learned" from the Gulf War and their impact on our current force health protection policy. I wish I could report to you that we believe the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs have actually learned the key lessons from the Gulf War. In fact, they have not. Our testimony today will catalogue a lengthy list of continuing problem areas. I'll start with the issue of basic force protection.
Environmental Threat Detection and Defense
Prior to the Gulf War, administration officials assured the public and the troops that American forces would employ the best nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) defense technology in the world. Only years after the war did the public learn that the standard American gas mask in use at the time—the M17A1/A2-series mask—had failure rates of 26-44%.[1] Moreover, the Marine Corps logistics system actually ran out of replacement gas mask filters only three days into Desert Storm.[2] The harsh desert environment wreaked havoc on the masks, suits, and gloves used by the troops. Had Iraqi forces used large quantities of chemical or biological agents on the battlefield, American and Coalition forces would not have been able to handle the resulting casualties, and the war's outcome could have been far different. Even without massive NBC agent use by Iraq, questions about the health implications of those sub-lethal exposures linger today.
In the years immediately after the war, when reports of Gulf War-related illnesses began to mount, veterans and members of Congress began to question DoD's assertions that no chemical agents had been detected during the war. As documentary evidence grew that multiple chemical agent detections had indeed occurred, Pentagon officials shifted their stance: all NBC alarms had been false, we were told. That canard was refuted by the Pentagon's own internal assessment (classified for years) that the Czechoslovak chemical units' agent detection claims were valid, though Defense Department officials continued to maintain that all of the American alarms had been false. All of this raises an obvious question: if the NBC detection equipment used by American forces during the war was so unreliable, why did the Pentagon continue to buy exactly the same kinds of equipment for years after the Gulf War?
To VVA's knowledge, neither Armed Services committee has addressed this issue in detail, which has direct relevance for this subcommittee as well. For if we are continuing to buy defective or inadequate NBC detection equipment for our forces, how can we be sure our troops are properly protected from the full-range of NBC threats? Conversely, if the equipment has worked as advertised, then DoD's claims of "all alarms false" is itself untrue. Pentagon officials cannot have it both ways. And if DoD has lied about the capabilities of the NBC defense equipment it has purchased, how can we believe DoD's claims that low-level chemical exposures will not have long-term adverse health effects?
The General Accounting Office (GAO) addressed the issue of low-level chemical exposures in a September 1998 report, in which DoD officials admitted that their NBC detection doctrine
does not address low-level exposures on the battlefield because there is no (1)
validated threat, (2) definition of low-level exposures, (3) or consensus on the
effects of such exposures. Moreover, if low-level exposures were to be addressed,
DoD officials said that the cost implications could be significant.[3]
In other words, it would be too expensive to protect American troops from such exposures, even though, as GAO pointed out,
Past research by DoD and others indicates that single and repeated low-level
exposures to some chemical warfare agents can result in adverse psychological,
physiological, behavioral, and performance effects that may have military
implications.[4]
During the 1990's, GAO repeatedly questioned the Pentagon's progress in addressing these and other major NBC equipment and training problems. While a November 2000 GAO report on individual unit NBC readiness found considerable improvement in the services' ability to properly equip forces for operating in an NBC environment[5], training and readiness reporting deficiencies remain. A more recent GAO report found that "In general, DoD has not successfully adapted its conventional medical planning to chemical/biological warfare."[6]
VVA has seen no evidence that the Pentagon is taking the potential health risks of low-level NBC exposures seriously, despite mounting scientific evidence that such exposures do indeed pose risks, as the 2000 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report Gulf War and Health, Volume One has suggested. Congress should carefully evaluate DoD's current NBC detection technology to determine if previous equipment acquisitions were made under false pretenses or whether DoD officials have engaged in a public relations disinformation campaign to discredit valid wartime chemical detections as a means of deligitimizing Gulf War illnesses. We believe any serious investigation will quite likely find the latter explanation to be the true one.
If the Defense Department's approach to NBC threat detection has been negligent, its approach to biomedical defense has been equally troubling.
Seeking a preemptive medical response to the Iraqi chemical warfare threat, in the fall of 1990 the Defense Department obtained an investigational new drug (IND) exemption from the Food and Drug Administration to use a drug, pyrodostigmine bromide (PB), as a chemical warfare prophylactic. Ostensibly, PB was intended to protect the troops from the effects of nerve gas exposure. During Desert Storm, at least 250,000 Army troops swallowed one or more of the little white pills. Taking PB was not optional; troops who refused faced punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
After years of denying there was a problem with PB, Bernard Rostker (the Pentagon's point man on Gulf War illnesses) told the Senate Veterans Affairs committee in 1998 that PB should never have been given to U.S. soldiers. Rostker admitted that DoD's "threat assessment" had been wrong, that Iraq had probably not in fact weaponzied the nerve agent soman, the effects of which PB was thought to be capable of countering. Given its potential effects on the brain's neurotransmission process, PB has long been suspected as a cause of the neurological problems reported by so many Gulf War veterans. Amazingly, PB is still in the Pentagon's NBC medical formulary, and Department officials have said they may still use PB in future conflicts, if the "threat assessment" so warrants.
In a similar vein, the Pentagon's infatuation with vaccine-based biological defense has already proved to be a costly military and public health failure.
Prior to Desert Storm the Pentagon sought to employ a 20-year old anthrax vaccine as a biological warfare prophylactic. Even though this vaccine had never been approved by the FDA for such a use, the Pentagon managed to secure FDA acquiescence and proceeded to inoculate an estimated 150,000 troops with one or more doses of the vaccine. Because use of the vaccine was classified at the time, medical record keeping in this area was compromised, and the true effects of the vaccine on the wartime recipients remains unknown.
Seven years after the end of the war, the Pentagon resumed the inoculations under the rubric of the force-wide Anthrax Vaccine Inoculation Program (AVIP). Shortly after the AVIP began, reports of severe system adverse reactions to the vaccine began to emerge in the press. Over the next three years, a number of key facts about the vaccine would emerge, data that would once again highlight the Pentagon's wanton disregard for both the truth and the health of servicemembers. Consider these facts:
At the beginning of the AVIP, DoD officials claimed the systemic adverse reaction rate for the vaccine was a mere .2%. During its investigation of the AVIP, GAO found data suggesting systemic adverse reaction rates in the range of 5-14%, dozens of times higher than Pentagon had claimed.[7]
A calendar year 2000 GAO survey of National Guard and Reserve forces found systemic adverse reaction rates being reported by almost one quarter of respondents.[8]
Only last week, the Army Times reported on the preliminary results of a Navy study that showed evidence of an increased incidence of birth defects in children born to mothers who had received the anthrax vaccine, compared to a control group of mothers who had not.[9]
The FDA has yet to certify that Bioport Corporation, the vaccine's manufacturer, has successfully corrected major problems discovered at the production plant three years ago.
Given the AVIP's abysmal track record, all of us should be deeply concerned about the Joint Vaccine Acquisition Program (JVAP), the $322 million cost-plus biowarfare vaccine program initiated in 1998 by the Pentagon's Joint Program Office for Biological Defense.
The JVAP calls for the Dynport Corporation to develop at least three, and possibly as many 12, additional biological warfare vaccines over the next decade. What happens when you give a human being a dozen or more BW vaccines? Nobody knows. Not DoD, NIH, CDC, the World Health Organization or any other medical or scientific body.
Will these vaccines actually work against a real threat? Again, nobody knows; no challenge or efficacy studies have been conducted in animals, so far as VVA is aware. This means that the JVAP is a giant biowarfare defense gamble; it assumes that our enemies will field weapons that our vaccines will defeat. As with so many other things, the Gulf War experience is instructive here.
Prior to the Gulf War, American intelligence agencies believed that Iraq had weaponized both anthrax and botulinum toxoid. Post-war United Nations inspections verified the estimate. Only in 1995 did the world learn that Iraq also had weaponized aflatoxin, an obscure but potentially deadly plant fungus. Had Saddam's late son-in-law Hussein Kamal not defected to Jordan and revealed it, Iraq's aflatoxin program would have remained hidden from the international community…despite the most intrusive arms control inspection effort in history.
Contrary to Pentagon claims that the AVIP and JVAP are based on "threat assessments," the reality is that American intelligence agencies will almost never be able to provide a truly accurate picture of a potential opponent's BW capabilities. Thus, our NBC biomedical force protection approach should be based on an honest approach to the uncertainties in this arena. We would offer the following prescriptions for change.
First, the Defense Department must field chemical-biological detection systems and protective masks that work. The Pentagon has for years failed to procure workable, reliable, real-time BW detection equipment, functional protective masks, and reliable chemical-biological protective suits. Had Saddam's forces used aflatoxin during the Gulf War, the attack would have gone undetected until the onset of symptoms months, or perhaps years, later. Providing proper protection up front is key to helping preclude death or debilitating injury, both at the time and for the life of the veteran.
Second, the Pentagon should abandon its self-defeating reliance on vaccine-based defense. Given the dozens of microorganisms and toxins available to rogue states, it is scientifically and fiscally impossible for the United States government to engineer vaccines against all such threats. Even if money were no impediment, there is no evidence the human body could successfully absorb the number of biowarfare vaccines Pentagon bureaucrats plan on foisting on the troops. Military planners should emphasize rapid detection, decontamination, and post-exposure medical evaluation and treatment in the event of a confirmed attack.
Finally, the Congress must end the FDA's double standard approach to civilian and military medicine, which at present represents a violation of basic scientific standards. Lawmakers must ensure that the FDA applies the same testing, monitoring, and enforcement standards for drugs and biologics used by the military that it applies to the civilian market. Anything less reduces America's military volunteers to the status of involuntary guinea pigs.
Force Health Protection
One of the principal impediments to determining the roots of Gulf War illnesses has been the lack of reliable data from the wartime period: data on the precise numbers and types of vaccines and drugs given to the troops; data on the number, duration, and concentration of various chemical exposures; data on the kinds of medical tests and examinations performed on troops before, during, and after the conflict. For VVA, this is a core issue and a long-time complaint about the DoD-VA approach to veteran health care. Neither agency is truly committed to creating what we call a "cradle-to-grave" military medical history. Without such an instrument, determining how a veteran became ill becomes next to impossible, as does filing a claim for service-connected disability compensation.
The IOM stated so explicitly in its 2000 report Protecting Those Who Serve: Strategies to Protect the Health of Deployed U.S. Forces. In reviewing the recommendations of the multitude of commissions and panels that had previously assessed DoD force health protection efforts during the 1990's, the IOM noted that
Many of the recommendations are restatements of recommendations that have
been made before, recommendations that have not been implemented. Further
delay could jeopardize the accomplishment of future missions. The committee
recognizes the critical importance of integrated health risk assessment, improved
medical surveillance, accurate troop location information, and exposure
monitoring to force health protection. Failure to move briskly on these fronts will
further erode the traditional trust between the service member and the leadership.[10]
In VVA's view, absolutely nothing has changed since the IOM issued this report more than a year ago. Perhaps the best way to illustrate this point is to peruse the medical examination forms currently in use by the Pentagon.
The pre- and post-deployment health assessment forms used by the Pentagon's Deployment Health Center at Walter Reed Army Medical Center contain no questions about the specific environmental hazards the servicemember may have encountered in theater. Moreover, even though the AVIP has been the most highly publicized DoD vaccination program in recent history, there is no space on this form specific to the anthrax vaccine, despite the fact that the anthrax vaccine is considered a mandatory inoculation for those heading to designated "high threat" areas such as the Persian Gulf and Korea.
Neither the pre- or post-deployment health assessment forms contain detailed questions about other shots received or pills taken by the service member while in theater. No space on either form is dedicated to mandatory lab tests to detect evidence of infection from diseases endemic to the theater(s) where the service member was deployed. Indeed, the DoD medical form used during examinations of service dogs is more comprehensive in tracking vaccinations than the one used to track shots given to the troops.
Section 765 of the 1998 National Defense Authorization Act (PL 105-85) requires the Defense Department to conduct both pre-and post-deployment health examinations (to include mental health screenings and the drawing of blood samples) to accurately record the medical condition of members before their deployment and any changes in their medical condition during the course of their deployment. VVA has seen no evidence whatsoever that any of these conditions are being met. On the basis of the IOM's report and DoD's failure to automatically collect and record environmental exposure and other data and record it in the service member's medical record, VVA would argue that DoD is in material breach of the law. As several member of the full House Veterans Affairs committee are also members of the Armed Services committee, VVA would respectfully suggest that those members call for immediate hearings to investigate DoD's failure to comply with the law and its potential long-term implications for American veterans.
In addition, any such investigation should examine why it is that we still do not have a single, easily transferable military medical record for servicemembers that moves seamlessly from the DoD health system to the VA once the servicemember leaves the force. Our understanding is that the DoD-VA interagency group responsible for managing this effort has yet to produce a working system, despite millions of dollars and years of development effort. Our view is that without stringent accountability mechanisms—in the form of fixed project milestones and severe financial penalties for failure to deliver a working product—no progress will be possible in this area. Congress should set these milestones and accountability mechanisms in place, then follow up to ensure the program achieves its goal of a single, seamless military medical record for life.
Gulf War Medical Research and Treatment Initiatives
Central to the pursuit of scientific truth is the assumption that bureaucratic political influences will not be allowed to shape—or quash—scientific inquiry. For years, Gulf War veterans and their supporters have had ample reason to believe that in the quest for the truth about Gulf War illnesses, bureaucratic protectionism and careerism—not scientific objectivity—has been the driving force behind the Pentagon's Office of the Special Assistant for Gulf War Illnesses (OSAGWI), now known as the Directorate for Deployment Health Services.
On August 28, 2000, Dr. Michael Kilpatrick, OSAGWI's "Medical Outreach and Issues" coordinator, dispatched a blistering letter to Rear Admiral Frederic G. Sandford, USN (ret.), Executive Director of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States. Kilpatrick expressed his "disappointment in the peer review process and editorial oversight of Military Medicine," the armed forces premiere medical journal published by Sanford. An article written by Desert Storm veteran Dr. Andras Koréyni-Both had been published in the May 2000 edition of the magazine. Koréyni-Both's central thesis—that the fine-grained sand of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Kuwait might have precipitated the veteran's illnesses by compromising their immune systems—had sent Kilpatrick into orbit.
Kilpatrick alleged that Koréyni-Both's "Al Eskan Disease" was based on "the author's repeated presentation of this theory rather than on medical data gathered on Gulf War veterans." In reality, Koréyni-Both cited autopsy results from 86 Desert Storm veterans presented in a National Institutes of Health report in 1994. The autopsies—performed at the Pentagon's Armed Forces Institute of Pathology—showed considerable sand contamination in the lungs of the deceased veterans.
In his letter to Rear Admiral Sanford, Kilpatrick also accused Koréyni-Both of using material "written by individuals convinced there is an efficient, effective government cover-up about 'dirty tricks' played on military members by sinister leadership in the Pentagon or 'the government." Kilpatrick alleged that "The authors appear to believe 'If I say this often enough, it becomes truth." That statement far more accurately describes the Pentagon's "There is no Gulf War illness" mantra.
For more than five years after the Gulf War ceasefire, Pentagon officials vehemently denied that American troops were exposed to chemical agents during or after Desert Storm…only to reverse themselves after declassified intelligence reports revealed American troops had inadvertently destroyed Iraqi chemical weapons at Khamisiyah, Iraq in March 1991. I note for the record that many of these documents were made public only as a result of lengthy and expensive FOIA litigation by veteran's advocates or intense media scrutiny of the Pentagon's response to the needs of sick Desert Storm veterans.
During the war, then-Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney and then-Joint Chiefs Chairman Colin Powell repeatedly assured the Congress, the public, and the troops that specialized biowarfare medications given to protect American troops were "safe and effective." All of these claims were ultimately proven false. The Pentagon's credibility has been destroyed not by alleged conspiracy theorists, but by the Pentagon itself.
Indeed, in his screed to Rear Admiral Sanford, Kilpatrick continued to repeat the falsehood that with regards to the Khamisiyah incident, "no reports of symptoms" were noted among American troops. In reality, American combat engineers had no idea they were destroying chemical weapons at the time; medical personnel were not poised to monitor the troops for any level of chemical exposure. Moreover, as the 2000 Institute of Medicine Gulf War and Health, Volume One report makes clear, there is a paucity of animal or other research on the effects of sustained low-level nerve agent exposure…and what data does exist supports the idea that even small exposures to these substances can be harmful. For Kilpatrick, this alleged lack of data represents a lack of evidence of adverse health effects for veterans…a scientifically bankrupt position at best.
OSAGWI's chief medical officer ended his diatribe by claiming Koréyni-Both's work was "more appropriate for an X-Files script, not a medical journal." Kilpatrick's derisive, paranoid tone speaks volumes about the mindset of Pentagon policymakers. Kilpatrick's attack on Koréyni-Both's research was clearly calculated to silence dissent within the Pentagon's medical establishment.
American troops continue to serve in the Gulf on a daily basis. Any medical data suggesting that long-term exposure to the tiny Arabian sand particles may be damaging to the immune system has clear implications for the health of active duty, Guard, and Reserve personnel deployed to the region…as well as for the nearly 200,000 Gulf War veterans who have sought compensation for service-connected ailments. Dismissing peer reviewed research that suggests further investigation is needed invites the charge of dereliction of duty.
VVA takes no position—pro or con—regarding Dr. Koreyni-Both's hypothesis. I have spent considerable time discussing this episode to help illustrate a key fact: efforts by Pentagon or VA officials to deny non-federal researchers the opportunity to have their theories on Gulf War illnesses put to the test through an open, unbiased peer-review process are real, not imaginary.
Indeed, through the use of the Freedom of Information Act, we have developed evidence that presents the definite appearance that senior OSAGWI officials were actively blocking the provision of information to VA clinicians regarding Project Shipboard Hazard and Defense (SHAD), the 1960's era Pentagon chemical and biological warfare testing program that involved the use of live chemical and biological warfare agents on American military personnel. My colleague from the National Gulf War Resource Center, Steve Robinson, can provide this committee with numerous, eyewitness examples of the efforts of senior OSAGWI officials to delay, deflect, or otherwise discredit efforts to link environmental exposures to Gulf War illnesses. Sergeant First Class (SFC) Robinson worked in OSAGWI for three years, and VVA would strongly suggest that the full House Veterans Affairs committee avail itself of SFC Robinson's experience and insight into the problems surrounding OSAGWI's handling of the Pentagon's Gulf War illness "investigations."
Because DoD and VA bureaucrats have politicized the medical research arena and monopolized control over research funding decisions, it is completely impossible for most non-federal researchers with unconventional or controversial theories about the origins of Gulf War illnesses to receive federal funding. Moreover, both DoD and VA have an inherent conflict of interest when it comes to investigating these kinds of issues.
Consider the following. When the Bridgestone/Firestone "exploding tire" scandal erupted, the Congress did not tell the manufacturer, "We trust you: go investigate yourself, make recommendations for change, then implement those changes…you have our blessing!" Congress held hearings and monitored the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration's investigation of Bridgestone/Firestone. The same model applies to airline crashes. Congress does not rely on the aircraft manufacturers crash report; it listens to the National Transportation Safety Board's investigators, who are independent of both the manufacturer and the aviation industry as a whole. Congress set up this system to ensure that no conflict of interest would compromise safety investigations, a wise and sensible approach to transportation safety policy.
Yet for the last decade, the Congress has allowed the agency that most likely created the Gulf War illness problem (DoD), and the agency charged with paying for the problem (i.e., the VA, through health care and disability payments to sick veterans), to both investigate Gulf War illnesses and their own role in responding to sick Desert Storm veterans. This is an obvious conflict of interest, one that has prolonged the suffering of the veterans, destroyed their trust in the federal government, and resulted in the waste of at least $150 million over the past five years through OSAGWI, as the Defense Department has "investigated" its own response to Gulf War illnesses. It is also how the Pentagon and the Air Force have managed to squander over $180 million on Agent Orange-related Ranch Hand research that has produced less than half-a-dozen peer-reviewed scientific papers over the last 15 years.
To end this conflict of interest and restore integrity to the process of investigating and treating veteran's medical conditions, last year VVA called for the creation of a National Institute of Veterans Health (NIVH) within NIH. This notional NIVH would not only eliminate the conflict of interest problem outlined above, it would provide a vehicle for establishing a medical research corporate culture focused on veteran health care, in contrast to the current VA medical corporate culture of "health care that happens to be for veterans."
VVA recognizes that the VA has established a reputation for providing advanced care for blinded veterans or those with severe ambulatory impairments. However, the VA has never truly developed a corporate culture focused on the diagnosis and treatment of the full range of environmental and occupational hazards that are unique to military service. This is especially true of the VA's Research and Development Office, where the overwhelming majority of VA-funded research programs are geared towards medical problems found in the general population, not those specific to the veteran patient population or those with military service.
By establishing a new NIVH with veteran advocates serving on the peer-review panels that make research funding decisions, the Congress would be creating a research institute that would be truly focused on the unique medical needs of veterans. Locating the NIVH within NIH would ensure that the full medical resources of the federal government and private sector could be marshaled in a rational, veteran-friendly environment, free of the politicizing and conflict-ridden influences that have for more than 20 years precluded effective research into the unique environmental and occupational hazards that have impacted the health of American veterans.
Additionally, this proposed NIVH must be supplemented by the creation of a Congressionally directed mandatory declassification review panel, whose purpose would be to screen (on both a historical and an ongoing basis) and declassify any operational or intelligence records for evidence of data that would have an impact on the health and welfare of American veterans. The need for such an entity—completely independent from the Pentagon and the U.S. intelligence community—is obvious.
Even today, thousands of pages of Gulf War-related records remain classified. In January 1998, the CIA admitted that its own internal review had identified over 1 million classified documents with potential relevance to Gulf War illnesses. Virtually no documents associated with the 1960's era SHAD program have been declassified, and DoD has thus far rebuffed VVA's FOIA requests that the documents be made public. Through the experience of the Kennedy Assassination Review Commission and the Nazi War Crimes Declassification Review panel, we have learned that such specialized declassification panels work well. If we are to be certain that all data that may effect the health of American veterans is to be available for the veterans and their physicians, the Congress must create such a standing declassification review panel immediately. Such a move would also help to restore trust and confidence among veterans in the federal government and its response to veteran's health issues.
VVA believes that the VA should remain in the veteran health care business, but only if there is a dramatic change in the corporate culture of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).
During his tenure as Undersecretary for Health, Dr. Thomas Garthwaite put forward a proposal known as the Veterans Health Initiative (VHI). The purpose of the VHI was to put veteran patient care at the core the VHA's corporate culture. As Dr. Garthwaite testified before this subcommittee last April,
The Veterans Health Initiative was established in September 1999 to recognize the
connection between certain health effects and military service, prepare health care
providers to better serve veteran patients, and to provide a data base for further study…
The components of the initiative will be a provider education program leading to
certification in veterans' health; a comprehensive military history that will be coded in
a registry and be available for education, outcomes analysis, and research; a database for
any veteran to register his military history and to automatically receive updated and
relevant information on issues of concern to him/her (only as requested); and a Web site
where any veteran or health care provider can access the latest scientific evidence on the
health effects of military service.[11]
VVA's experience has been that there is considerable resistance to this idea within VHA, particularly within the Office of Public Health and Environmental Hazards.
We note that to date, comprehensive clinical practice guidelines and continuing medical education courses in dealing with Gulf War illnesses have yet to be distributed throughout the VA medical system. Moreover, as the attached September 2000 email shows, senior officials in Public Health and Environmental Hazards resisted creating a registry for Vietnam era SHAD veterans. As many members of this committee may recall, there was tremendous resistance by VHA to the idea of creating a Gulf War registry in the early 1990's; it took an act of Congress to get that effort off the ground. Given this institutional resistance to identifying environmental hazards and their impact on the health of veterans from multiple eras, how can we trust these same individuals to implement Dr. Garthwaite's well-conceived vision for veterans' health care?
We have communicated these concerns to Secretary Principi, urging him to recognize that changing the existing VHA corporate culture immediately is imperative, and we look forward to working with him towards that end. VVA believes that this subcommittee, and the full committee as a whole, can play a key role in this process by concurrently encouraging Secretary Principi to take whatever measures are necessary to accomplish this objective.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my written statement. On behalf of our national president, Tom Corey, please accept my thanks for allowing VVA the opportunity to share our views on this very important topic.
[1] Marine Corps NBC Defense in Southwest Asia, Marine Corps Research Center, Research Paper # 92-0009, July 1991, p. 11. Obtained by the author via the Freedom of Information act in 1995.
[2] Message from the commanding general, First Fleet Services Support Group to CDRAMCCOM, Critical Deficiency, Gas Mask Components, 201458Z January 1991. Obtained by the author via the Freedom of Information act in 1995.
[3] Chemical Weapons: DoD Does Not Have a Strategy to Address Low-Level Exposures. GAO/NSIAD-98-228. September 1998, p. 5.
[4] Ibid., p. 4.
[5] Chemical and Biological Defense: Units Better Equipped, But Training and Readiness Reporting Problems Remain. GAO-01-27, October 2000.
[6] Chemical and Biological Defense: DoD Needs to Clarify Expectations for Medical Readiness. GAO-02-38, October 2001, p. 2.
[7] Medical Readiness: Safety and Efficacy of the Anthrax Vaccine. Testimony before the Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs, and International Relations, Committee on Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives. GAO/T-NSIAD-99-148, April 29, 1999, p. 4.
[8] Anthrax Vaccine: Changes to the Manufacturing Process. Testimony before the Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs, and International Relations, Committee on Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives. GAO-02-181T, October 23, 2001, p. 6.
[9] "CDC warns civilians anthrax vaccine may be linked to birth defects," Army Times, January 21, 2002, p. 22.
[10] Protecting Those Who Serve: Strategies to Protect the Health of Deployed U.S. Forces. National Academy Press (Washington: 2000), p. 2.
[11] Statement of Thomas L. Garthwaite, MD, Under Secretary for Health, Department of Veterans Affairs, Before the Subcommittee on Health, Committee on Veterans' Affairs, U. S. House of Representatives, April 3, 2001
Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) is a national non-profit veterans membership organization registered as a 501(c)(19) with the Internal Revenue Service. VVA is also appropriately registered with the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives in compliance with the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995. V
VVA is not currently in receipt of any federal grant or contract, other than the routine allocation of office space and associated resources in VA Regional Offices for outreach and direct services through its Veterans Benefits Program (Service Representatives). This is also true of the previous two fiscal years.
For Further Information, Contact: Director of Government Relations
(301) 585-4000, extension 127
Patrick G. Eddington
Patrick G. Eddington was an award-winning military analyst at the CIA's National Photographic Interpretation Center for almost nine years. He received numerous accolades for his analytical work, including letters of commendation from the Joint Special Operations Command, the Joint Warfare Analysis Center and the CIA's Office of Military Affairs.
During his tenure at CIA, Eddington worked a wide range of intelligence issues. His analytical assignments included monitoring the break-up of the former Soviet Union; providing military assessments to policy makers on Iraqi and Iranian conventional forces; and coordinating the CIA's military targeting support to NATO during Operation Deliberate Force in Bosnia in 1995.
Eddington received his undergraduate degree in International Affairs from Southwest Missouri State University in 1985 and master's degree in National Security Studies from Georgetown University in 1992. Eddington spent eleven years in the U.S. Army Reserve and the National Guard in both enlisted and commissioned service.
Currently, Eddington serves as Associate Director of Government Relations for Vietnam Veterans of America. His opinion pieces have appeared in a number of publications, including the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Washington Times, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and the Army Times, among others. Eddington is a frequent commentator on national security issues for the Fox News Channel, MSNBC, SKYNews, CNN, and other domestic and international television networks. His first book, Gassed in the Gulf, is a detailed examination of the Gulf War Syndrome controversy and its impact on Desert Storm veterans. Eddington is a member of the Authors Guild and Amnesty International. He and his wife Robin live in Alexandria, Virginia.
E-mail us at govtrelations@vva.org
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National Twenty20 Cup kicked off in Multan on Monday and most people obviously didn't even notice it.
Looks like Pakistan Super League (PSL) has overshadowed the National T20 Cup to such an extent a tournament which was once Pakistan's most-watched domestic competition is now completely ignored by the board as well as the viewers.
Remember the era of Sialkot Stallions and Rawalpindi Rams? Imran Nazir, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq and Shoaib Malik sending bowlers to the cleaners?
Well, the good times don't last long!
Now we have PSL… so neither does the board, nor our media gives the tournament the due importance which resultantly has made it just a formality.
There was hardly any advertisement for the tournament before the start, nor sufficient coverage on television screens.
This fact would give you a clear idea about the ignorance of the board that only one in top five local news outlets covered the updates from the first day of National T20 Cup.
If the media coverage ended, the fan-following would die and resultantly, there would be no point of bringing back the international cricket to Pakistan – because there'd be empty stands!
While some may say that the local T20 cup seems boring after the PSL, there's more to the local tournament then being a T20 league. This T20 competition is the grooming ground for new talent and an opportunity for experienced players to show their metal and make a case for selection into the PSL.
The tournament should logically be held just before the PSL drafts so that the top performers could be named in the PSL teams. This year's drafts were based on last year's domestic T20 performers or the recently concluded One-Day competition.
The board also needs to ensure that the big stars play in this tournament so that we can have the same level of competence that we see in the PSL.
At the very least, the tournament deserved a public announcement.
This way, not only will the tournament get a new life, but the media and audience will also take equal interest in the game.
Yeah agreed. We know PSL has more money, foreign players etc and is bigger than National t20 cup but national t20 cup deserved some attention.


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