text:
Two rebels killed in India-held Kashmir firefight
AFPPublished July 3, 2017
Police and protesters clash in Kashmir.— Reuters/File
Two suspected rebels were killed and a civilian was critically wounded in a shootout with government forces in India-held Kashmir on Monday, police said, as tensions in the disputed territory ran high.
A police officer was also critically wounded in a separate incident in the disputed Himalayan region, which has seen a spike in violence in recent months.
The two militants died in a firefight with soldiers and special police counterinsurgency forces who had cordoned off a neighbourhood in the south of the region early Monday.
Hundreds of villagers poured out onto the streets to try to help the trapped rebels escape, many throwing stones and shouting slogans against Indian rule.
One was injured when government forces fired into the crowd.
"Two militants were killed in the encounter. According to our input one more is still fighting," director general of police S. P. Vaid told AFP.
Another police officer speaking on condition of anonymity said all three fighters were locals.
In a separate incident further south in Anantnag town militants fired at a police party in the local bus stand and critically wounded an officer, Vaid said.
"We are evacuating him from the area," inspector general of police Muneer Ahmed Khan told AFP.
India-held Kashmir has seen a spike in violence since the start of Ramazan in late May, with 56 people killed in almost daily clashes.
Last week stone-throwing protesters clashed with government forces in the main city of Srinagar.
Less than two weeks ago, a senior police officer was beaten to death by a crowd outside one Srinagar mosque.
Rebel groups have for decades fought roughly 500,000 Indian soldiers deployed in the territory, demanding independence or a merger of the region with Pakistan.
The conflict has left tens of thousands dead since 1989, mostly civilians. Tensions are expected to escalate further ahead of the first anniversary on Saturday of the popular rebel leader Burhan Wani who was killed by security forces.
Officials say dozens of local youths have joined the rebel ranks since his death, and armed encounters have become more frequent.
The killing provoked a huge outpouring of public anger in India-held Kashmir that has drawn a growing number of civilians into the conflict, with entire communities coming out to help the rebels and attack government forces.
Kashmir Unrest


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10,000 years old stone tools discovered in Washington
ByStanley Maxx
Sep 23, 2015 stone tools, Washington
Some 10,000 year old stone tools – from a prehistoric bison when mammoths used to roam around – were found during an archaeological survey that was scheduled in order to clear the way for the construction of a mall, in western Washington. In that specific region there is only an additional handful of such tools which makes the discovery more impressive.
After a few chemical tests and analysis, one of the tools revealed traces of the food they were eating, including bison, deer, bear, sheep and salmon.
Robert Kopperl, the archaeologist who led the field investigation, told The Seattle Times: "We were pretty amazed. This is the oldest archaeological site in the Puget Sound lowland with stone tools." He then continued to add: "The site appears to have been occupied by small groups of people who were making and repairing stone tools. This was a very good place to have a camp. They could use it as a centralized location to go out and fish and hunt and gather and make stone tools. It's hard to find this kind of site west of the Cascades, because it's so heavily vegetated and the Puget Lobe of the big ice sheet really affected the landscape."
In more details, the people who made the discovery found some unremarkable artifacts at first, but soon reached deeper to a thick peat and some tools and fragments.
So it's clear that prehistoric people inhabited this place once but there is still a lot of mystery surrounding the area. There are no immediate plans to display the artifacts publicly, as that kind of processes are indeed time consuming and could take from a few months to a year.
Burning all fossil fuels will raise the ocean by 50 metres
Climate experts warns El Nino effects as next two years will be the hottest ever
By Stanley Maxx
Staff writer at Technology News Extra.
Staying Hydrated with the Smart Water Bottle
Mar 27, 2018 Renee Kreller
How Technology is Shaping the Key Ingredients of Biological Experimentation
Sep 21, 2017 Ben Prince
ESA's Warning: Space Debris May Prove Harmful In Future
Apr 17, 2017 Tushar Imade

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Cosmic VarianceBy Daniel HolzMarch 6, 2010 9:20 AM
The New York Times has an article about stand-up paddleboarding. I guess that means it's now officially mainstream? It's weird to have seen a sport arise completely from scratch, over a period of just a few years. Five years ago paddleboarders were basically freaks. Now every break is teeming with them, and there's a whole industry specifically for stand-up. Even the gray lady herself is in on the game. For the uninitiated: imagine an oversized longboard (over 10 feet long), with extra width and stability. You stand up on the board, and use a long-handled paddle to propel yourself through the water. Sort of like a canoe, only standing up. It's good exercise. It's also really fun. You can really cruise. And you can enjoy it even if it's totally flat (although the real fun is to take the big boards into the surf). The rapid rise in popularity is almost certainly due to the fact that the learning curve for stand-up paddleboarding is shallow. The average person can be up and going in about 10 minutes. And it's almost like they're surfing. After all, they're standing on a surfboard, moving through the water. However, this is a pale imitation. Until you actually get the board out in the surf, and feel the acceleration of a drop, and the exhilaration as you glide down a wall of water, you have no idea what it's all about. Good paddleboarders can go out in big surf. But that part of the learning curve is Jaws steep. I was in Maui this past January, and my favorite break (Kanaha) was overrun by paddleboards. At least half the people out there were doing stand-up. For a "conventional" surfer it's a bummer, since the paddleboards catch waves early, and there's no room to drop in, even if you wanted to. But if you can't beat 'em…. About a year ago I had my initiation, doing a down-winder from past Ho'okipa to Spreckelsville. It took a while to get the balance down, but eventually you figure out where to stand, and how to use the paddle for stability. And then you're cruising. You can paddle into reasonable breaking surf, since the board has a tendency to keep going and remain unperturbed. You cut right through waves that would have tossed a longboard. However, I can tell you from painful experience that it really sucks to get Maytagged while doing stand-up. I have a nice fin-shaped scar to prove it.


Posted on June 19, 2014 by Lisa B.
FREE $5 Gift Card wyb 3 OFF! Products Starting 6/22 | TotallyTarget.com.
Here are some more unadvertised Special deals that are new-to-me this week at Target. You can see links to other Special Deals that were new this week at the bottom of this post. I have added any matchups I could find, but please feel free to let me know if I've missed anything in the comments.
Amazon: LeapFrog LeapPad2 Explorer Kids' Tablet Monsters University Bundle Only $49.99 Shipped – Hip2Save.
WooHoo! Amazon is once again offering up this LeapFrog LeapPad2 Explorer Kids' Learning Tablet Monsters University Bundle for only $49.99 (reg. $99.99!). Included with the tablet is an Eye-mazing Gel Skin, Cleaning Cloth, a $20 Digital Download Card, 10 Apps (onboard and downloadable), 7 Wacky Wallpapers, and 2 Sticker Sheets. Plus, this set ships FREE with Super Saver Shipping or get FREE 2-day Shipping (no minimum!) with Amazon Prime.
New $1/1 John Frieda Sheer Blonde Product Coupon – Hip2Save.
Hop on over to Coupons.com to print a new coupon valid for $1/1 John Frieda Sheer Blonde Product (excludes trial/travel sizes, brushes and styling tools). This coupon ought to make for some nice deals when paired with a sale. And don't forget about the John Frieda Blonde with Benefits promo – snag free products with select John Frieda Sheer Blonde purchases (see below for more info).
Rite Aid: HOT Buy on Neutrogena Sunscreen – Hip2Save.
Target: Free $5 Target Gift Card with $15 Air Care Purchase Starting 6/22 + Awesome Scenario – Hip2Save.
Attention Target shoppers! 😀 Starting June 22nd, you'll be able to score a FREE $5 Target Gift Card with a $15 Air Care Purchase (located in the cleaning supplies department) when you use the Target mobile coupon obtained by texting AIRCARE to 827438 (OR this coupon will also be in the Target weekly ad, starting June 22nd). If you'd rather shop online, you will also be able to use this promotion for air care purchases at Target.com when you use the promo code AIRCARE5 at checkout.
Walgreens: HOT Better Than FREE Starbucks Beverages Starting 6/29 – Print Your Coupons NOW – Hip2Save.
Calling all you Starbucks lovers! Just a heads up that starting the week of June 29th, Walgreens will be offering up Starbucks Iced Coffee and Refreshers singles for only $1 AND when you purchase just one, you'll score a $1 Register Reward – which makes for a FREE beverage! 😀 Better yet, there are a couple of coupons available that you'll want to print now (as they may not last until the sale starts) to score better than FREE drinks! Check it out….


text:
@implementation RImage

+ (NSString *)inputFileExtension
{
    return @"xcassets";
}

- (void)parseResourceAtURL:(NSURL *)resourceURL
{
    // find imageset
    NSDirectoryEnumerator *enumerator = [[NSFileManager new] enumeratorAtURL:resourceURL
                                                  includingPropertiesForKeys:@[ NSURLNameKey ]
                                                                     options:0
                                                                errorHandler:NULL];
    for (NSURL *url in enumerator)
    {
        if ([url.pathExtension isEqualToString:@"imageset"])
        {
            NSString *imageSetName = [[url lastPathComponent] stringByDeletingPathExtension];
            NSString *methodName = [self methodNameForKey:imageSetName];

            NSString *interface =
                [NSString stringWithFormat:@"+ (UIImage *)%@Image;\n", methodName];
            @synchronized(self.interfaceContents)
            {
                [self.interfaceContents addObject:interface];
            }
            NSMutableString *implementation = [interface mutableCopy];
            [implementation appendString:@"{\n"];
            [implementation
                appendFormat:@"    return [UIImage imageNamed:@\"%@\"];\n", imageSetName];
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}

@end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


13 Apr	This entry was published on April 13, 2015 at 5:00 am and is filed under Tae's Projects.	Bookmark the permalink.	Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.
Can't beat nature for designs, can you?
So true. I always find myself looking to nature for inspiration.


A DAY IN THE KITCHEN | Small Kitchen. Big Ideas.
Egg drop soup seems to be a bit of a popular dish to order when dining out at a Chinese restaurant. But seriously, making it is so easy to make that you can have it any time at home! If you are someone who likes egg drop soup, you are going to love this recipe….


text:
Study Design and Data Source
Firearm Injuries in Children Younger than 12 Years of Age
Firearm Injuries Inflicted by Children Younger than 12 Years of Age
Association of Firearm Injuries With Firearm Acquisitions
Firearms Injuries Involving Young Children in the United States During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Joanna S. Cohen, MD;
Joanna S. Cohen, MD
aDivision of Emergency Medicine, Children's National Health System, Washington, District of Columbia
bDepartments of Pediatrics
cEmergency Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Katie Donnelly, MD, MPH;
Katie Donnelly, MD, MPH
Shilpa J. Patel, MD, MPH;
Shilpa J. Patel, MD, MPH
Gia M. Badolato, MPH;
Gia M. Badolato, MPH
Meleah D. Boyle, MPH;
Meleah D. Boyle, MPH
Robert McCarter, ScD;
Robert McCarter, ScD
dDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia
Monika K. Goyal, MD, MSCE
Address correspondence to Monika K. Goyal, MD, MSCE, Division of Emergency Medicine, Children's National Health System, 111 Michigan Ave NW, Washington, DC 20010. E-mail: mgoyal@childrensnational.org
FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE: The authors have indicated they have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.
Pediatrics (2021) 148 (1): e2020042697.
https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2020-042697
Joanna S. Cohen, Katie Donnelly, Shilpa J. Patel, Gia M. Badolato, Meleah D. Boyle, Robert McCarter, Monika K. Goyal; Firearms Injuries Involving Young Children in the United States During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Pediatrics July 2021; 148 (1): e2020042697. 10.1542/peds.2020-042697
Increased rates of firearm ownership, school closures, and a suspected decrease in supervision during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic place young children at increased risk of firearm injuries. We measured trends in firearm injuries in children and inflicted by children discharging a firearm during the pandemic and correlated these changes with a rise in firearm acquisition.
In this cross-sectional study with an interrupted time series analysis, we used multiyear data from the Gun Violence Archive. We compared trends in (1) firearm injuries in children younger than 12 years old and (2) firearm injuries inflicted by children younger than 12 years old during the pre-COVID-19 period (March to August in the years 2016–2019) and during the first 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020 to August 2020). Linear regression models were developed to evaluate the relationship between firearm injuries and new firearm acquisitions.
There was an increased risk of (1) firearm injuries in young children (relative risk = 1.90; 95% confidence interval 1.58 to 2.29) and (2) firearm injuries inflicted by young children (relative risk = 1.43; 95% confidence interval 1.14 to 1.80) during the first 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic as compared to the pre-COVID-19 study period. These increased incidents correlate with an increase in new firearm ownership (P < .03).
There has been a surge in firearm injuries in young children and inflicted by young children during the first 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is an urgent and critical need for enactment of interventions aimed at preventing firearm injuries and deaths involving children.
Firearms, Injury, Violence & Poison Prevention, Legislation
coronavirus pandemic, firearms, gunshot wounds
What's Known on This Subject:
Firearms are a leading cause of injury and death among youth. Increased rates of firearm ownership, school closures, and a suspected decrease in parental supervision during the COVID-19 pandemic may contribute to a surge in firearm injuries involving young children.
What This Study Adds:
The COVID-19 pandemic is associated with a surge in fatal and nonfatal firearm injuries both in young children and inflicted by young children, correlating with a rise in firearm acquisitions. Strategies to prevent further injuries are urgently needed.
In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a global pandemic.1 In the absence of vaccination, physical distancing has become the primary means of curtailing viral spread.2 Taking cues from previous influenza epidemics, widespread school and recreational facility closures intended to interrupt viral transmission have led to children being confined at home.3 In addition to increasingly recognized mental and physical health consequences of stay-at-home orders, children are also experiencing changes in home injury patterns.4–7
Unintentional injury is the number one cause of death in children younger than 12 years of age.8 Firearm injuries account for more than one-quarter of all unintentional deaths among children in the United States.8,9 The COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with dramatic increases in firearm purchases10 and rates of firearm-related urban and interpersonal violence.11,12 There is an association of firearm ownership with increased rates of firearm injury, which may account for some of the increased rates of firearm violence.10,11,13,14
People with children living in the home have been more likely to purchase firearms during the pandemic.15 Additionally, factors specific to children confined to the home, such as their natural curiosity and a suspected decrease in parental supervision during the pandemic, may also place young children at a heightened risk for firearm injuries. We hypothesized higher rates of firearm injury in young children and inflicted by young children discharging firearms during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to previous years. Furthermore, we hypothesized that these increases correlate with a rise in new firearm acquisitions.
In this multiyear cross-sectional study, we used data collected from the Gun Violence Archive (GVA). The GVA is a publicly available, real-time repository of firearm injuries and deaths in the United States with incidents collected from >7500 law enforcement, media, government, and commercial sources.16 We identified 2 distinct categories of injuries: (1) firearm injuries (both fatal and nonfatal) in children younger than 12 years of age and (2) firearm injuries (fatal and nonfatal) in any person inflicted by a child younger than 12 years of age from March to August in the years 2016–2020. Twelve years of age was used as an upper age limit to most accurately reflect accidental childhood injuries without including incidents during the adolescent years, when intentional firearm injuries and deaths may be more likely. The number of new background checks per 100 000 persons was used as a proxy for new firearm acquisitions.10 We used the Federal Bureau of Investigation's publicly available National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to determine the number of new background checks during the study period. In the United States, firearm dealers, manufacturers, or importers who hold a firearms license are required to undertake an NICS background check on prospective buyers before transferring a firearm. We used data from the US Bureau of Census for population estimates of children <12 years of age. This study was considered exempt from institutional review board review because of the use of publicly available data.
We identified all firearm injuries in aggregate and by outcome (fatal and nonfatal) and calculated population-level rates of injury per 1 000 000 US children by month from March to August in the years 2016–2020. We used the same months in each time period as comparatives to limit potential confounding from seasonal trends. We estimated firearm purchases over the same period on the basis of the number of background checks by month and year. We evaluated trends in (1) firearm injuries (fatal and nonfatal) in children younger than 12 years of age and (2) firearm injuries (fatal and nonfatal) in any person inflicted by a child younger than 12 years of age.
Poisson regression, typically used to model data counts, was used to estimate rates per million in the population, and linear regression, used to model the relationship between two variables, was used to relate background checks to injury rates generated by the Poisson models. Using Poisson regression models, we tabulated semiannual rates (SARs), rates of firearm injuries per million children in 6-month time intervals, from March to August for each study year in the years 2016–2020. We calculated the relative risk (RR) of firearm injuries during the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020 to August 2020) compared to the pre-COVID-19 period (March to August 2016–2019). We conducted an interrupted time series analysis (ITSA) using the ITSA procedure in Stata version 14.2 (Stata Corp, College Station, TX) to compare changes in the rates of firearm injuries from March to August in the pre-COVID-19 period with those during the first 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic.17 The ITSA procedure was used to define differences between the two time periods. The rates of gun injuries and deaths derived from the Poisson regression model were juxtaposed with the numbers of background checks in the same time periods, and linear regression models were developed to evaluate the relationship between firearm injuries and new firearm acquisitions over the same period. For these analyses, we do not differentiate between pre- and post-COVID-19 time periods but measure the relationship between the numbers of background checks and the rates of gun injuries and deaths. The proportion of the variance in firearm injuries explainable by firearm purchases is represented by the coefficient of determination (r2). All analyses were performed by using Stata version 14.2.
During the study period, there were 797 firearm injuries in children younger than 12 years, representing an overall rate of 16.43 firearm incidents per million US children. The majority of these incidents (525 [65.87%]) were nonfatal (10.82 per million US children), whereas 272 (5.61 per million children) were fatal.
In the pre-COVID-19 study period, there were 550 total firearm injuries in children younger than 12 years (average SAR = 2.8 per million). Of these, 183 were fatal (average SAR = 0.94 per million) and 367 were nonfatal (average SAR = 1.89 per million). During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, there were a total of 247 (SAR = 5.09 per million) firearm injuries in children younger than 12 years. Of these, 89 were fatal (SAR = 1.83 per million) and 158 were nonfatal (SAR = 3.26 per million). Young children had a higher risk of total firearm injuries (RR = 1.90; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.58 to 2.29), nonfatal firearm injuries (RR = 1.90; 95% CI 1.45 to 2.51), and fatal firearm injuries (RR = 1.89; 95% CI 1.41 to 2.55) during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the pre-COVID-19 years. Table 1 provides estimates of SARs during each pre-COVID-19 year (2016–2019) and during the 2020 pandemic. The rate of change estimates in Table 1 were produced by an ITSA analysis and show consistency between the estimated rates of change and actual rates per time period determined by the Poisson regression analysis.
Fatal and Nonfatal Firearm Injuries Involving Children in March to August Before and During COVID-19 Pandemic
Incidents .
Pre-COVID-19 Study Period .
COVID-19 Pandemic Study Period .
Pre- and Post-COVID-19, RR (95% CI) .
Rate of Change (95% CI) .
n .
SARa (95% CI) .
Fatal and nonfatal firearm injuries to children
Total injuries 130 2.68 (2.22 to 3.14) 155 3.19 (2.69 to 3.70) 134.0 2.76 (2.29 to 3.23) 131 2.70 (2.24 to 3.16) 0.001 (−0.005 to 0.007) 247 5.09 (4.46 to 5.73) 0.128 (0.092 to 0.164) 1.90 (1.58 to 2.29)
Nonfatal injuries 83 1.71 (1.34 to 2.08) 95 1.96 (1.56 to 2.35) 94 1.94 (1.55 to 2.33) 95 1.96 (1.56 to 2.35) 0.002 (−0.003 to 0.007) 158 3.26 (2.75 to 3.75) 0.093 (0.596 to 0.127) 1.90 (1.45 to 2.51)
Fatal injuries 47 0.97 (0.69 to 1.25) 60 1.24 (0.93 to 1.55) 40.0 0.82 (0.57 to 1.08) 36 0.74 (0.50 to 0.98) −0.001 (−0.006 to 0.003) 89 1.83 (1.45 to 2.22) 0.35 (−0.015 to 0.0848) 1.89 (1.41 to 2.55)
Fatal and nonfatal firearm injuries inflicted by children
Total injuries 74 1.53 (1.18 to 1.87) 82 1.69 (1.32 to 2.06) 68.0 1.40 (1.07 to 1.73) 63 1.29 (0.98 to 1.62) −0.002 (−0.005 to 0.001) 106 2.18 (1.77 to 2.60) 0.013 (−0.13 to 0.039) 1.43 (1.14 to 1.80)
Nonfatal injuries 45 0.93 (0.66 to 1.20) 49 1.01 (0.73 to 1.29) 42.0 0.87 (0.10 to 1.13) 41 0.84 (0.59 to 1.10) −0.001 (−0.003 to 0.001) 62 1.28 (0.96 to 1.60) 0.008 (−0.014 to 0.030) 1.38 (1.13 to 1.67)
Fatal injuries 29 0.60 (0.38 to 0.82) 33 0.68 (0.45 to 0.91) 26.0 0.54 (0.33 to 0.74) 22 0.45 (0.26 to 0.64) −0.001 (−0.003 to 0.001) 44 0.91 (0.64 to 1.17) 0.004 (−0.029 to 0.038) 1.51 (0.99 to 2.32)
SARs are based on 6-mo study period estimates per million population.
There was an increase in the rate of childhood firearms injuries during the first 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020 to August 2020) when compared to corresponding months in the pre-COVID-19 period (2016–2019). In the pre-COVID-19 period, the rates of firearm injuries in children younger than 12 years old ranged from 0.30 to 0.68 per million children monthly and remained stable from year to year (P = .79). From March 2020 to August 2020, the rates of firearm injuries in children younger than 12 years ranged from 0.52 to 1.20 per million children monthly. The rate of increase during the COVID-19 pandemic differed from the average pre-COVID-19 period rate of change per month in total firearm injuries in children (0.128 vs 0.001; P < .001) (Fig 1A).
Rates of firearm injuries in and inflicted by children before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A, Rates of firearm injuries per million US children younger than 12 years of age before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. B, Rates of firearm injuries per million inflicted by US children younger than 12 years of age before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the study period, there were 393 incidents of firearm injury inflicted by children <12 years of age, representing 8.09 firearm incidents per million US children. Of these, 239 were nonfatal (4.93 per million) and 154 were fatal (3.17 per million).
In the pre-COVID-19 study period, there were 287 total firearm injuries (average SAR 1.48 per million) inflicted by children, including 110 fatal injuries (average SAR = 0.57 per million) and 177 nonfatal injuries (average SAR = 0.91 per million). During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were 106 firearm injuries inflicted by children (SAR = 2.18 per million), including 44 fatal incidents (SAR = 0.91 per million) and 62 nonfatal incidents (SAR = 1.28 per million). There was a higher risk of firearm injuries inflicted by children during the COVID-19 pandemic (RR = 1.43; 95% CI 1.14 to 1.80) (Table 1).
There was an increase in the rate of firearms injuries inflicted by children <12 years old during the COVID-19 pandemic period as compared to the corresponding months in the pre-COVID-19 period. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the rate of increase of total injuries caused by children discharging a firearm increased by 0.013, compared with a decline (−0.002) in the rate of firearm injuries inflicted by children in the pre-COVID-19 period. However, this change was not statistically significant (Fig 1B).
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the average number of new firearm acquisitions in units of 100 000 increased from a mean of 21.28 before the pandemic to a mean of 33.12 during the COVID-19 pandemic, representing an increase in new firearm acquisitions of 11.84 (95% CI 5.36 to 18.32) per 100 000 (Fig 2). This increase in new firearm purchases correlates with the rise in firearm injuries in children younger than 12 years of age (r2 = 0.35; P = .001) and firearm injuries inflicted by children younger than 12 years of age (r2 = 0.16; P = .029) during the COVID-19 pandemic (Fig 3).
Numbers of background checks (in units of 100 000) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Relationship between rates of firearm injuries to and inflicted by children and background checks. A, Relationship between total firearm injuries in children younger than 12 years and number of background checks in units of 100 000. B, Relationship between total firearm injuries inflicted by children younger than 12 years and number of background checks in units of 100 000.
We found a dramatic increase in firearm incidents involving young children during the first 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the corresponding pre-COVID-19 periods. This alarming trend was found both for fatal and nonfatal firearm injuries in children and for total and nonfatal firearm injuries inflicted by children who discharged a firearm. Furthermore, these firearm injuries were correlated with increased firearm purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic period when compared to corresponding prepandemic months in 2016–2019.
The Council on Criminal Justice, a nonpartisan think tank, and many prominent news sources have reported an increase in gun violence and gun purchases during the pandemic. In addition, in a recent analysis of data from the GVA, the relationship between firearm ownership and interpersonal gun violence was measured, revealing an increase in overall gun violence during the pandemic that correlated with firearm purchasing.18 High levels of firearm ownership in the United States, coupled with a rise in firearm acquisitions, likely contribute to an increase in firearm violence. Furthermore, factors specific to the pandemic, such as financial strain, psychosocial stress, and anxiety, may exacerbate the recent surge in gun violence. Although previous studies have linked firearm availability to unintentional firearm deaths in children,14 to our knowledge, this is the first report to link the impact of increased firearm acquisitions on young children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although adolescent and adult firearm injuries are more likely to be intentional, firearm injuries and deaths in young children and inflicted by young children are often unintentional.12 Young children may be at particular risk for sustaining and inflicting unintentional injuries during the COVID-19 pandemic because of limited supervision. During the pandemic, there has been an overall decline in trauma rates; however, these effects have been either less pronounced or nonexistent in children.19,20 Some parents and guardians are working from home without the usual methods of child supervision, such as day care, in-person school, and organized recreation, and others who are required to be physically present at work may have no choice but to leave children at home without any supervision. In addition, increased parental and guardian substance use and addiction behaviors21 and distracting social stressors within the home, such as unemployment and illness, may contribute to a surge in pediatric home injuries.
New firearm acquisitions correlate with increased rates of firearm injury and death in children.22 First-time gun owners are encouraged to obtain firearm safety instructions regarding safe storage; however, stay-at-home orders likely limit access to firearm safety training. The lack of organized firearm safe storage training may result in more unsecured guns in homes, which are more easily accessible to poorly supervised children.23 Required safety training for new firearm purchases, partnering with ranges or gun shops to promote safe storage, and increased public awareness of firearm safety may help to prevent unintentional firearm-related incidents in the home.
Health care providers should ensure screening for firearm access and counsel families as well as provide tools for safe storage to restrict access to firearms for children.24 These interventions may be instrumental in preventing further unintentional firearm injuries and deaths in young children.25,26 Additionally, although the only studied mass media campaign promoting safe firearm storage did not find any statistically significant effects on improving safe storage practices,27 historically, public health messaging through media communication has been successfully employed to influence public health behaviors, such as smoking cessation and seatbelt use, and therefore should be considered as a potential strategy. States should strongly consider enacting policy focused on firearm injury prevention, firearm safety training, and safe storage. Further study of state-level firearm injury data, comparing states with and without stringent child access prevention laws, could help shed light on the efficacy of these laws in preventing firearm injuries involving children during the COVID-19 pandemic.28 Considering the immediate relevance, national policy makers should consider passing temporary firearm safety requirements amid other measures with specific relevance to the pandemic. Moreover, these findings should trigger further study into the impact of multiple real and perceived stresses imposed by the current pandemic on the health and safety of children, particularly how it relates to injuries in the home.
There are some limitations to this study that should be considered. First and foremost, our study is reliant on national public archiving of data, which may be incomplete and may be subject to reporting bias, particularly as it relates to differential news and media reporting by region. Therefore, our data likely underestimate the total number of firearm injuries, particularly regarding less severe firearm injuries and near misses without associated injuries. In addition, there are inherent limitations in the use of background checks reported to NICS as a proxy to estimate new firearm acquisitions. There is significant variation in state laws mandating background checks, with some states imposing new laws mandating background checks during the study period. This may have led to an overestimation of new firearm purchases. However, because background checks are only required for gun sales through licensed firearm dealers, the number of background checks as a proxy for new gun ownership does not account for gun sales through other dealers. Additionally, the correlation between background checks and firearm injuries at the national level provides limited information. This relationship is likely more nuanced, and further research, taking regional differences into account, is needed to advance knowledge and guide national and local priorities. Furthermore, additional covariates that may have changed appreciably in the periods just before and during the COVID-19 pandemic were not easily accessible in the GVA database. However, the variations presented here are major, and to substantially mitigate these results, potential confounders would not only have to have a strong association but would have also had to change in parallel with the onset of COVID-19. Finally, our study only demonstrates a correlation between firearm acquisitions and firearm injuries involving children and does not indicate causality.
During the first 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, we demonstrate a surge in fatal and nonfatal gun injuries in young children and in those inflicted by young children who discharged a firearm. These increased rates of injury were associated with a concurrent rise in firearm acquisitions. There is an urgent need for enactment of both interventions in the local health care setting and state- and federal-level legislation aimed at preventing firearm injuries and deaths involving children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr Cohen conceptualized and designed the study, collected data, participated in data interpretation, drafted the initial manuscript, and reviewed and revised the manuscript; Dr Goyal designed and conceptualized the study, oversaw the data analyses, and reviewed and revised the manuscript; Dr Donnelly substantially participated in conception and design of the study and data acquisition and reviewed and revised the manuscript for critically important intellectual content; Dr Patel made substantial contributions to conception and design and data interpretation and reviewed and revised the manuscript for critically important intellectual content; Ms Badolato substantially participated in conception and design of the study, designed the data collection instruments, substantially participated in data acquisition, analysis, and interpretation, and reviewed and revised the manuscript; Ms Boyle and Dr McCarter substantially participated in conception and design of the study and data analysis and interpretation and reviewed and revised the manuscript; and all authors approved the final manuscript as submitted and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
FUNDING: No external funding.
COMPANION PAPER: A companion to this article can be found online at www.pediatrics.org/cgi/doi/10.1542/peds.2020-049746.
ITSA
interrupted time series analysis
National Instant Criminal Background Check System
relative risk
semiannual rate
Cucinotta
Vanelli
WHO declares COVID-19 a pandemic
Acta Biomed
Wilder-Smith
Freedman
Isolation, quarantine, social distancing and community containment: pivotal role for old-style public health measures in the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak
J Travel Med
taaa020
Mangtani
Olowokure
Vynnycky
The effects of school closures on influenza outbreaks and pandemics: systematic review of simulation studies
Obeid
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Ocular trauma during COVID-19 stay-at-home orders: a comparative cohort study
Curr Opin Ophthalmol
Where have all the fractures gone? The epidemiology of pediatric fractures during the COVID-19 pandemic
J Pediatr Orthop
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Kawalec
The changes in the number of patients admissions due to burns in Paediatric Trauma Centre in Wroclaw (Poland) in March 2020
WISQARS™ — Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System
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The major causes of death in children and adolescents in the United States
N Engl J Med
National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)
Available at: https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/nics. Accessed August 3, 2020
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Am J Emerg Med
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Available at: https://www.gunviolencearchive.org. Accessed August 1, 2020
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Available at: www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/115/6/e654
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JAMA Pediatr
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Researching the Infamous Quotations Attributed to Zbigniew Brzezinski
Author: Richard Grove•May 1, 2013
Tags:ages, between, bin, brzezinski, collectivism, communism, control, cybernetics, era, laden, mujahideen, osama, social, soviet, technetronic, two, union, Zbigniew
Check Your Sources, Gentlemen!
The Problematic Brzezinski "Money Quotes"…
By Will Banyan
Copyright © 20 December 2008
In the rush to condemn President-elect Barack H. Obama as yet another tool of the New World Order conspirators, many analysts have been having great sport exploring the views of one of Obama's higher profile advisers, Trilateral Commission co-founder and former National Security Adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski. As evidence of Brzezinski's inclinations towards totalitarian world government many of these earnest analysts have presented what they are claim are quotes from Brzezinski's most notorious work, Between Two Ages: America's Role in the Technetronic Era (1970), the book which launched the trilateral concept and ultimately the Trilateral Commission.
The problem is that a number of these quotes do not appear to have come from Brzezinski's book; at least two are fabrications, while another is a misleading compilation of quotes, stripped of their actual context.
Our first example is in a recent article by the current President of the John Birch Society, John F. McManus, "Behind the Obama Agenda", which appeared in The New American (Nov. 26, 2008). Describing Brzezinski as "arguably President-elect Obama's most important adviser", McManus informs us about Brzezinski's pedigree:
The inspiration for [David] Rockefeller's Trilateral Commission had been Brzezinski's 1970 book, Between Two Ages, in which the Polish immigrant argued that "national sovereignty is no longer a viable concept."
I have a copy of Between Two Ages (Viking Press, 1970) and have searched in vain for these incriminating words supposedly written by Brzezinski – "national sovereignty is no longer a viable concept" – but alas, I cannot find it. Brezinski does make a number of statements about the decline of the nation-state: "the nation-state is gradually yielding its sovereignty" (p.56); "the fiction of sovereignty" (p.274); and "developing limitations on national sovereignty" (p.296); but the words "national sovereignty is no longer a viable concept" do not appear. It is possible that it may be in a later edition of Between Two Ages or even some other book or article by Brzezinski, but the ongoing failure of McManus, along with countless other authors, to accurately cite the page number where this statement supposedly appears in Between Two Ages calls into question the authenticity of this alleged quote.
Mr McManus may take some comfort that he is not alone in suggesting Between Two Ages is the source of this alleged statement: Jim Marrs makes a similar claim in Rule By Secrecy (1997, p.23) as does David Icke in And The Truth Will Set You Free (2004, p.158) and the David Icke Guide to the Global Conspiracy (2007, p.201), and James Perloff in The Shadows of Power (1988, p.154); along with hundreds of other trusting pundits on the web. But the fact that so many use this quote, when its true origins appear to be unknown, does much to reinforce the worst stereotypes of conspiracy theorists as unquestioning recyclers of bogus "factoids."
Our next few examples can be found in David Icke's recent 7000-word feature on Obama – "Barack Obama…The Naked Emperor" – where he describes Brzezinski as Obama's "mentor, svengali and main controller" and not to mention "co-founder, with David Rockefeller, of the Illuminati's Trilateral Commission." As evidence of Brzezinski's malfeasance Icke gives us three quotes, two of which he sources to Between Two Ages, the other has an unknown source.
The first of the Brzezinski quotes is introduced by Icke with the casual comment: "Here is one Brzezinski quote you might recognise and it was made before Obama ran for president." Icke offers to this quote as evidence that "'Obama's' policies come straight from Brzezinski's books", but he does not tell us which Brzezinski book this this statement comes from:
Needed social reassessment . . . can be encouraged by deliberate civic education that stresses the notion of service to a higher cause than oneself. As some have occasionally urged, a major step in that direction would be the adoption of an obligatory period of national service for every young adult, perhaps involving a variety of congressionally approved domestic or foreign good works.
It is a fascinating quote, but hardly one that we "might recognise", given a Google search on the quote brings up about forty hits, almost all of them referencing Icke's "Naked Emperor" article. The odd one out is the article "Beware The False Messiah", by "Steve" at the Our Future World blog, dated November 21, 2008. Steve includes the quote in his apparently "perceptive study" of Brzezinski's two recent books The Choice (2004) and Second Chance (2007). Unfortunately, Steve doesn't bother to indicate which book the specific quotes come from, let alone the page number, so we don't know its true source or if it is accurate; and judging by his coy introduction, nor does David Icke.
The next two quotes Icke does explicitly source to Between Two Ages. The first of these Icke suggests is evidence of the "global society that [Brzezinski] and the Illuminati seek to impose":
The technetronic era involves the gradual appearance of a more controlled society. Such a society would be dominated by an elite, unrestrained by traditional values. Soon it will be possible to assert almost continuous surveillance over every citizen and maintain up-to-date complete files containing even the most personal information about the citizen. These files will be subject to instantaneous retrieval by the authorities.
Unfortunately for Icke this entire quote does not come directly from Between Two Ages alone but is in fact a combination of two sources. The first of these is some selective quotes from the paragraph below – I have put the relevant phrases in bold – found in Between Two Ages. Here is what Brzezinski actually wrote:
Another threat, less overt but no less basic, confronts liberal democracy. More directly linked to the impact of technology, it involves the gradual appearance of a more controlled and directed society. Such a society would be dominated by an elite whose claim to political power would rest on allegedly superior scientific knowhow. Unhindered by the restraints of traditional liberal values, this elite would not hesitate to achieve its political ends by using the latest modern techniques for influencing public behavior and keeping society under close surveillance and control (Between Two Ages, pp.252-253).
The second source, less well known, is a Brezinski article "America in the Technetronic Age", that appeared in the now defunct journal Encounter (January 1968). What Brzezinski wrote, over forty years ago, (with the relevant sections again in bold), is this:
At the same time, the capacity to assert social and political control over the individual will vastly increase. As I have already noted, it will soon be possible to assert almost continuous surveillance over every citizen and to maintain up-to-date, complete files, containing even most personal information about the health or personal behaviour of the citizen, in addition to more customary data. These files will be subject to instantaneous retrieval by the authorities (p.21).
The paragraph used by Icke (and hundreds of others on the web), and claimed by him to be from Between Two Ages, is a clear fabrication. The original words may have been Brzezinski's, but they have been lifted from two separate sources and combined into a paragraph that he did not write and then deceitfully presented as though the entire statement was a direct quote from Between Two Ages, when it is nothing of the sort. Of course, had Icke actually consulted Between Two Ages – it appears in the bibliography to his latest book, The David Icke Guide to the Global Conspiracy, so presumably he has access to a copy – instead of trusting everything that he found on the web, he would have realised that this alleged quote was a fabrication.
Furthermore, from reading Between Two Ages and Brzezinski's other writings, he would have also known that Brzezinski was not giving us an "Illuminati" recommendation or plan of action, but describing a possible outcome of this emerging "technetronic society." Specifically, Brzezinski was observing: (a) how some governments might react to the social turmoil that could be caused by rapid technological change; and (b) how these new technologies might facilitate an authoritarian response. But more importantly, Icke would have known that Brzezinski did not believe this "technocratic dictatorship" was inevitable (Encounter, p.21). As Brzezinski had made clear in his Encounter article:
Thus, in the political sphere, the increased flow of information and more efficient techniques of co-ordination need not necessarily prompt greater concentration of power within some ominous control agency located at the governmental apex. Paradoxically, these developments also make possible greater devolution of authority and responsibility to the lower levels of government and society (p.21).
In Between Two Ages, Brzezinski was explicit in identifying a "more controlled and directed society" as a "threat" to "liberal democracy" (p.252). Moreover, Brzezinski considered such an outcome a "pessimistic" response to the changes facing America and held out the hope for "American redemption" (p.254). His solution was through "participatory pluralism" rather than "[m]ore centralized direction by the state"; this "new pattern" would involve "blurring distinctions between public and private bodies and encouraging more cross-participation in both by their employees and members" (p.261). In fact, Brzezinski seemed to believe the "long-range effect" of the "transition and its turmoils" he was documenting would be to "deepen and widen the scope of the democratic process in America" (p.265).
Icke's second Brzezinski quote is actually drawn from Between Two Ages, although it is not the single paragraph he presents, but is in fact a series of sentences culled from various parts of the book by persons unknown and strung together as though they came from the same page. I have added the relevant page numbers from Between Two Ages for the benefit of Mr Icke and other interested readers:
Today we are again witnessing the emergence of transnational elites … [Whose] ties cut across national boundaries … It is likely that before long the social elites of most of the more advanced countries will be highly internationalist or globalist in spirit and outlook …(p.59) The nation-state is gradually yielding its sovereignty …(p.56) [F]urther progress will require greater American sacrifices. More intensive efforts to shape a new world monetary structure will have to be undertaken, with some consequent risk to the present relatively favorable American position (p.300).
In his latest book, The David Icke Guide to the Global Conspiracy (2007), Icke has a whinge about the refusal of academia to consider whether a conspiracy theory is "supportable by the evidence" in preference for theories about the psyche of people who believe in conspiracies (p.375). It is therefore somewhat ironic that Icke should go out of his way to reinforce these apparently unacceptable academic prejudices by backing his theories with such slipshod "evidence."
There is much to say about the scope, intent and impact of Brzezinski's advice and influence over Obama, but not with fake quotes. The lesson is simple: to avoid both embarrassment and misleading readers, check your sources, gentlemen!


Planting, growing, harvesting, processing, recycling: with the WOOD LIFECYCLE exhibition, the natural material of wood will be given a central role at DOMOTEX 2019.
The WOOD LIFECYCLE exhibition puts wood in all its glory as a natural material on center stage at DOMOTEX 2019, the leading trade fair for floor coverings. Inspired by the trade fair's keynote theme, CREATE'N'CONNECT , leading Italian providers, including Tabu, Kerakoll, FE'S Alchemiclab and Celenit, are connecting with each other to stage a combined exhibition at the FRAMING TRENDS showcase that will highlight the strengths and potential of wood as a natural material. The overall exhibition is designed, developed and curated by Milan-based design firm Total Tool. The exhibition traces wood through its various lifecycle stages: from tree planting, growth and harvesting to timber processing and treatment to finished product and, finally, to recycled product. It focuses on the intrinsic value and versatility of wood as a natural material, and in doing so, uncovers innovative and inspiring new uses of wood for architects, interior architects and designers. Total Tool's creative director, Guilio Ceppi, is the design director and curator of the WOOD LIFECYCLE exhibition. His vision for the exhibition is to highlight and communicate the many connections that make up wood and which are fundamental to its future as a material. That is why he chose to showcase the entire wood lifecycle.


This image gallery named as Gray Kitchen Cabinets With White Countertops Kitchen And might be ideal solution for your decoration. As the author has insert this image into Grey Kitchen Cabinets With White Countertops post section, would ease you to find the perfect match of you decor desire.
Formica kitchen table such as in 50's or metallic chair sets like 60's styles are the examples of retro style. When you've got a house with entertaining and eccentric style, you may select retro design as your kitchen table and chair sets. It would seem great and amazing in the kitchen.
Kitchen chair seat cushions can create all of the gaps on your dining room comfort. Thus, it's important to choose the appropriate cushions for the kitchen seats. By choosing the most acceptable for your needs, your dining experience will definitely be enjoyable.


For those who have the ZTE Axon 7, you have a new update rolling out to you that brings a lot of improvements. The update has just been released so it will take a few days to get to everyone. Once you have it, you will have the August 2017 Android Security Update on your device along with multi user support amongst other improvements.
The multi user feature allows you to setup user profiles and those individuals can use the phone. This sounds very similar to the way native Android setups multiple users. You will also find that the Hiya app that ZTE uses for blocking spam calls has been moved to the Google Play Store for future updates.
Other improvements in this update to the ZTE Axon 7 includes a more refined control set for the night mode of the phone as well as improvements to battery efficiency and Google Daydream support.
There are several other minor tweaks to this update so it is well worth making sure you apply it once it is available to you. The update appears to be for all markets globally but as these things tend to go, updates are going out in phases to devices. It could be several days or weeks before your Axon 7 sees it. Patience is the key.


As a part of the iOS development team, I took part in developing a service that allows a user to upload photos and share them with other users of the service in various spheres of human activity with fewer resources needed.
For the images, a user should open a custom camera and take a few pictures. Also, a user can open his library and select some of the images from it. We needed to store a lot of images on the server, and give quick access to them. We have decided to upload images to Amazon S3, get image URLs and work with them. So we have used a described algorithm of taking, uploading and downloading images to get to that goal.
Starting from iOS 9, developers should use the Photos framework. This framework has a considerable advantage over the AssetsLibrary framework, but at the same time, it has disadvantages. The main problem we had with this framework was choosing a photo from the library. When you select an image the first time you need to download the full image from iCloud, which takes some time, but the framework immediately gives a preview image with a small size (200×200).
The Photos framework allows you to start an additional preload in the cache, so we decided to use it to optimize this process. When the user selects images in the array, we preload them, and when a user finishes selecting, photos with the original size are already downloaded from the cloud.
After receiving all the photos from the device/camera/cloud, we get their actual size in megabytes, their count, and make a request to the server to find out whether the user has enough space to upload those files, relative of his plan. If it is not enough space in the bucket, the server returns an error or creates Photo objects with an ID in the database and creation date.
After receiving the Photo objects, we begin to upload images to the server.
Uploading is processing as a background task so a user doesn't have to wait for uploading and can continue using the app.
When the uploading starts, we display selected photos at the user's photos list, but with "uploading" status and the status bar in percentage for each photo showed. When uploading is finished, we change status to "uploaded" and a user can work with uploaded files.
As for the other user, who will go into this folder from another device and have an account, he will see Photo objects, but without images, because they are not uploaded yet to the S3. They will have "in progress" status; that means that images are uploading and will be available soon. For MVP we decided to use the REST only, without a socket. So if we have Photo objects with "in progress" status, we are updating them from the server 10 or 30 seconds each (depending on the quality of the Internet), while all objects will have "uploaded" status and we can display images.
After receiving an array of images from the camera, we create an uploading images queue and add it to the global uploading manager to perform.
So, we have a global uploading manager with an array of queues. Each queue has an array of uploading tasks and a folder ID.
Using the folder ID we can easily get access to image uploads from anywhere from the app and display them to the user.
Queues also are not so simple at all. Each queue has an uploading status. If the application is closed and terminated, then all active queues are changing status to "pause"; after loading the application again, paused queues resume and continue uploading images.
We decided to upload up to five images at a time so as to not use a lot of memory and CPU power at one time. For example, if a user starts uploading 20 images they will be formed into four groups with five queued images and they will be uploaded one by one.
After implementation of uploading to S3 big-size images, we have an open question about thumbnail images, because loading big-size images from the server to display a small preview does not make sense. Uploading both large and small images does not make any sense either, because for one image we should create two upload requests to S3.
As a result of deep research, we have decided to use Amazon Lambda, which allows you to use an executable script on Java, Node.js, and Python. When we upload a big-size image, Amazon runs our script and it makes a small copy of an image and saves it into another bucket folder with the name of the static structure, like <imagename> _preview.jpeg. After creating and saving a small copy of our image we run our second script that notifies our server that images have been uploaded and saved. After that, our server changes status of the photo object to uploaded and the user can get images from S3.
Our script was developed on Node.js.
Also, we optimized client-side work with images. We should pay Amazon for each image download, and as we need two images of each photo it can add up to a lot of requests to Amazon S3. We decided to download an image once to the device, and after that store it on the device in the directory. We don't store images in the DB because one image can be up to eight megabytes and the DB will grow and in the end, it will become too large.
As a result, by a detailed workout of the upload and download architecture, we have minimized the resources used on both sides (on the device and on our server), on DO and Amazon S3.


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WIP presents its new study "Social Media: Advancing Women in Politics?" at the Mexican Senate
On November 23rd, the Women in Parliaments Global Forum (WIP) presented the WIP – Harvard – Facebook study: "Social Media: Advancing Women in Politics?" at the Mexican Senate. This is the third presentation of the new WIP study, which has also been discussed in the European Parliament and the Italian Senate.
The event was hosted and moderated by WIP Board Member and Senator Lucero Saldaña. Other speakers included President of WIP's Executive Board, Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir, Senator Martha Tagle, Senator Hilda Flores and Senator Rosa Adriana Díaz.
This study, produced by Harvard University, is the result of a partnership between WIP, the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, and Facebook. It is based on a survey that examined the use of social media by over 900 female Parliamentarians from 107 countries, including Mexico. The study confirms that social media are helping women break down traditional barriers to get on in politics.
At the round table discussion there was interesting dialogue about the report and its key findings. Senators shared and explained experiences in using social media and spoke to the ability to reach grater audiences. The intriguing discussion was a positive discussion about the power of social media. The risk of online harassment and the increasing online violence against women was also addressed.
Senator Lucero Saldaña said she believes that this study provides relevant information to be used so that female parliamentarians in Mexico and the entire world takes advantage of social media as a tool to shatter the glass ceiling and to see further advancement of women in politics.
Similarly, Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir, President of WIP's executive Board said that this study confirms that social media is an equalising political tool. She said that social media is a resource with great political impact that, unlike other political tools, comes with low economic cost.
Hilda Flores capitalised on the importance of social media, arguing that "Today there is no way of being a political figure without communicating with constituents via social media."
The presentation and debate were followed by a social media training by Diego Bassante, Facebook Political and Government Director for Latina American.
Pictures of the event: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wipglobalforum/albums/72157673253807113
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Launch of the new WIP Study "Social Media: Advancing Women in Politics?"
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Guest Commentary: Relevant issues in evaluating the Ticketmaster / Live Nation merger
Guest Commentary July 25, 2009 By James D. Hurwitz
Live Nation660 Ticketmaster727 Ticketmaster/LiveNation Merger Secondary52
The following is the text of a presentation given by attorney James D. Hurwitz at the recent Ticket Summit in Las Vegas. It is...
The following is the text of a presentation given by attorney James D. Hurwitz at the recent Ticket Summit in Las Vegas. It is being reprinted as a Guest Commentary with his permission, and with the permission of the American Antitrust Institute, of which Mr. Hurwitz is a research fellow.
Before proceeding, I'd like to emphasize that the following statements are my opinions, and I am not offering legal advice to or on behalf of anyone. Indeed, my analysis rests solely on publicly available information, whereas the Department of Justice relies on a great deal of non-public information as well.
The proposed merger of Ticketmaster Entertainment and Live Nation is currently undergoing in-depth, legal and economic analysis at the Department of Justice. If DOJ decides to challenge the merger, it will file a complaint in the district court seeking to enjoin the parties from consummating the transaction. As a rough guess, DOJ might decide by early fall whether to go to court. The merger is also being examined by some individual states and in the United Kingdom. Today, I will review some of the issues that DOJ officials will consider in evaluating this transaction. Significantly, it is these same issues will also guide the analysis of any future mergers or acquisitions in this industry.
A. Legal Standard. The controlling legal standard for mergers is drawn from the Clayton Act. This statute declares that mergers and acquisitions are unlawful if "the effect of such acquisition may be substantially to lessen competition or create a monopoly." (15 U.S.C. §18). In this matter, DOJ will be particularly concerned with whether the merger will make it easier for the new entity – Live Nation Entertainment – to raise prices and gain monopoly profits.
B. Affected Markets. This merger appears likely to affect as many as five of the live entertainment industry's main markets: talent management, event promotion, venue ownership or management, primary ticket sales, and secondary ticket sales. Although neither firm has a substantial presence in the market for booking, at least one ranks first or second in each of the other markets.
For each affected market, DOJ's lawyers and economists must determine precisely which products or services are involved and the market's geographic boundaries. For example, is the line between primary and secondary ticketing so blurred that they really are parts of the same market? Personally, I doubt it. Should primary ticket sales for sporting events and concerts be separated into individual markets, or should concerts at large venues be placed in a separate market from those at smaller ones? I would guess, "yes" to both of these, but I haven't done the detailed analysis. DOJ will resolve such questions by looking at how consumers' buying decisions would likely change if prices rose in one part of the market. In essence, where would consumers likely turn? For primary ticketing, DOJ will look not only at fees and service charges, but also at ticket face prices, to the extent that the parties have influence there as well. Only after properly defining the market will it be possible to determine which firms are in it and how much power each possesses.
C. Complex Transaction. This is a complex transaction. First, it affects horizontal competition – that is, head-to-head competition between active rivals – in the market for primary ticket sales services. Second, the transaction also is a vertical merger, since the parties are attempting to cobble together powerful positions in 5 distinct markets linking artists with concertgoers. And third, by joining Ticketmaster and Live Nation, the merger would remove each as a potential competitor for markets in which they have not already entered. I'll discuss each of these, in turn. Then I'll look at three factors – entry barriers, efficiencies, and re-structuring – that could influence DOJ's ultimate decision, one way or the other.
II. Horizontal Competition.
In my view, the most serious antitrust problem with this merger is its impact on horizontal competition in the market for primary ticket sales services. For years, Ticketmaster has been the overwhelmingly dominant firm in this market. At the beginning of this year, Live Nation seemed poised to challenge that dominance. Before this threat could mature, however, the companies announced their merger. DOJ might reasonably view this as Ticketmaster's effort to buy out its only viable competitor, or as Live Nation's attempt to find some means easier than competition to share in Ticketmaster's dominance. If you look at the rankings for primary ticket sellers posted on TicketNews.com, you will see that Ticketmaster, number 1, is several times stronger than Live Nation, number 2, and the two companies together dwarf many times over the market strengths of all their significant competitors combined. Although more factors need to be considered, these indicators suggest that the merger would enable the parties to effectively lock-up this market. Most of the mergers that DOJ challenges are of this sort, that is, where the merging parties compete horizontally in the same market.
III. Vertical Effects.
Vertical mergers – that is, mergers between firms in different markets within the same chain of production or distribution — can be procompetitive or anticompetitive. The conditions when a merger should be characterized as one or the other have long been a matter of controversy. Vertical mergers tend to be challenged less in conservative administrations than in more enforcement oriented ones.
The most common competitive concern regarding vertical mergers is that a vertically integrated firm might be able to chill entry by withholding from an entrant access to critical supplies, outlets, or customers. If so, the entrant might need to enter a second market just to be confident it can get what it needs to compete in its preferred one. This can be a costly and daunting, even forbidding prospect.
I am nearly as concerned about the vertical effects of this merger as I am about its horizontal impact. The new entity, Live Nation Entertainment, will have powerful positions not just in two or three vertically related markets, but five. A firm that wants to enter almost any of the industry's markets will have to compete with Live Nation Entertainment at that level yet need to deal with it at one or more other levels. DOJ analysts will therefore ask such questions as: will Live Nation Entertainment be able to frustrate a new promoter's efforts to find artists to perform or sufficient venues of the right size and location to put together a tour? Or, will Live Nation Entertainment control so many artists and venues and be able to lock them into ticketing arrangements such that there won't be a way for a new challenger to enter the ticketing business? DOJ should also consider whether Live Nation Entertainment would acquire through its ticketing services competitively sensitive information about rival promoters and venues owners.
IV. Potential Competition
It is harder to assess whether the merger might restrain potential competition. In antitrust terms, potential competitors are firms that are in a unique position to enter a concentrated market, and, by doing so, could de-concentrate it. Potential competitors can bolster competition in several ways.
First, if monopolists perceive the presence of a potential competitor, they might keep prices lower than otherwise in order to discourage entry and the heightened competition that might come with it.
Second, allowing a potential competitor to actually enter the market through a merger might remove the possibility that it could have entered in more pro-competitive ways. For example, if the firm enters on its own, the market will have an additional firm, become less concentrated and probably more competitive. This is how Live Nation entered the primary ticket sales market. Or the entrant could make a toehold acquisition that would provide greater rivalry, independence, and innovation than the smaller, acquired firm could have offered.
It is hard to know whether the parties might enter some new markets on their own if the proposed merger fails. Both firms have a history of expanding into related markets. Both appear capable of doing so again, possibly in ways that would promote competition. For most markets where only one of the parties is present, that party almost certainly perceives the other in the wings and wants to avoid conduct that might trigger its entry. The merger, of course, would remove the potential competitor's salutary presence.
V. Qualifying Factors
Several factors may make a merger more or less worrisome than would initially appear. I'll briefly look at three – entry barriers, efficiencies, and restructuring of the transaction to eliminate serious competitive concerns.
A. Entry Barriers. First, it is critical to any antitrust analysis whether there exist "barriers to entry or expansion." In the absence of such barriers, if a dominant firm raises the market price above competitive levels, new firms can enter, undercut the dominant firm's price, and gain market share until the dominant firm rescinds its price increase. Existing rivals could similarly compete for market share and expand.
With respect to entry, the situation in the primary ticketing market provides a marked contrast to that in secondary ticketing market, which has enjoyed frequent, and often innovative, entry. By contrast, a single firm has long dominated the primary ticket sales market, significant entry has been rare, and substantial barriers appear to be present. For example, Ticketmaster and Live Nation have locked up a huge number of venues with long-term, exclusive contracts. Even if an entrant or smaller rival has the skill, technology, and capacity to meaningfully compete and expand – and this is far from given — it is doubtful the rival could sign enough venues to make its challenge successful.
B. Efficiencies. I anticipate that the parties will attempt to make a spirited defense of their proposed merger on efficiency grounds. The burden rests with the parties to prove that the merger would be beneficial, on balance, not with DOJ to prove the opposite. I doubt they can meet it.
First, the parties' claims that the merger will increase investment and innovation appear to be speculative, at best. It is hard to foresee even what products this increased investment might yield, much less assess their benefits. In any event, both firms have a history of developing and revising product offerings on their own, suggesting that the merger is not necessary for this purpose. The merger also seems unnecessary to enable the parties to bring legal, promotional, booking, and other skills in-house. The parties can achieve this goal simply through selective hiring and strategic alliances. Even assuming some claimed efficiencies are real and demonstrable, the parties would need to show that the magnitude of these benefits outweighs the merger's competitive harm in every injured market.
C. Remedies.	The federal enforcement agencies often permit merging parties to restructure a proposed transaction to eliminate competitive concerns. I doubt restructuring will work here. For example, Live Nation could offer to sell its still-embryonic, primary ticketing business. That business, however, would probably be a far less viable enterprise in other hands, especially if it was sold without any guarantees about getting contracts with Live Nation's venues. Restructuring also would not ease the concerns created by the merger's vertical attributes. Although the parties might accept prohibitions on various kinds of anticompetitive conduct, effective strictures are notoriously difficult to define, monitor and enforce.
VI. The Impact on the Secondary Ticket Sellers
The secondary ticket sales market appears to be healthy. Ticketmaster and Live Nation apparently want to reap for themselves some of the secondary market's profits. Arguably, the most effective way for the parties to do this is to merge and coordinate their strategies. For example, the parties might auction off the most desirable primary tickets themselves, or charge extra fees for re-sellable tickets. They could also try to make primary tickets more difficult to re-sell, perhaps by providing the customer with only a non-transferable bar code rather than a paper ticket. If such efforts were merely vigorous competition, there would be no problem. But the post-merger situation might also be interpreted as a monopolist predatorily trying to starve out and take over a related market. With only one significant primary ticket seller remaining, not even the venues, which contract for the primary ticket sales and marketing services, would be in a position to object or threaten to go elsewhere.
Although I doubt that DOJ will view the merger's potential impact on the secondary market as a decisive factor in their decision, the situation still might carry some persuasive force. What secondary sellers can do at this stage is to make sure that their legislators and attorneys general, both state and federal, are aware of the merger's likely competitive harm to the secondary market and, even more important, to consumers.
It would be presumptuous for anyone to claim to know how DOJ will evaluate this merger. What I have done here is to highlight some of the issues that will be considered. But since lawyers do tend to be just a bit presumptuous at times, I will offer my own mini-prediction that DOJ will be troubled particularly by the horizontal and vertical aspects of this transaction and challenge it in court.
James D. Hurwitz, J.D. (University of California, Berkeley), LLM (University of London, London School of Economics and Political Science). The author is a research fellow for the American Antitrust Institute, for which he prepared a detailed analysis of the Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger, which is posted on the American Antitrust Institute Web site. James D. Hurwitz recently retired from the Federal Trade Commission where he specialized in matters of competition policy.


text:
Q: Creating custom schematics with mathematica I want to produce the following schematic

A starting code
Clear["Global`*"];
a1 = Graphics[{Arrowheads[0.025], Arrow[{{0, 0}, {2, 0}}]}];
a2 = Graphics[{Dashed, Line[{{0, 0}, {-2, 0}}]}];
a3 = Graphics[{Arrowheads[0.025], Arrow[{{0, 0}, {0, 2}}]}];
a4 = Graphics[{Arrowheads[0.025], Arrow[{{0, 0}, {-1.5, -1}}]}];
a5 = Graphics[{Dashed, Line[{{0, 0}, {1.5, 1}}]}];
p1 = ListPlot[{{-1.1, -0.72}},
     PlotStyle -> {GrayLevel[0.4], PointSize[0.045]}];
p2 = ListPlot[{{ 1.1, 0.72}},
     PlotStyle -> {GrayLevel[0.4], PointSize[0.045]}];
Show[{a1, a2, a3, a4, a5, p1, p2}, ImageSize -> 550]

I can also easily insert all the text. My problem is how to insert the twisted arrow around the z axis. Any ideas?

A: I've created this:
TwistArrow[pos_List, ab_List] :=
 Module[{ellipse, arrow, pos1 = pos[[1]], pos2 = pos[[2]],
   a = ab[[1]], b = ab[[2]]},
  ellipse =
   Graphics[
    Rotate[Circle[pos, {a, b}, {135 Degree, 405 Degree}], 0 Degree]];
  arrow = Graphics[{Arrowheads[0.015],
     Arrow[{{a Cos[45 Degree] + pos1,
        b Sin[45 Degree] + pos2}, {a Cos[45*Degree] + pos1 - 0.06,
        b Sin[45*Degree] + pos2 + 0.035}}]}];
  plot = Show[ellipse, arrow]
  ]

which gives (plot1 is the figure Showed in the question)
Show[plot1,TwistArrow[{0, 1}, 0.1 {2, 1}]]

pos_List={0,1} is the location of the center of the ellipse, and ab_List=0.1 {2,1} are the major and minor axis of the ellipse (or semi-axis?). The other parameters, i.e. all angles, size of the arrow (Arrowheads[0.015]) and the positioning (-0.06 and +0.035) were chosen for this particular problem. One can put them all as arguments of the function, but I think it's easiest to just fiddle with the parameters to find the right ones.

A: Have a look at SciDraw at http://scidraw.nd.edu/. Lots of support for many kinds of figures.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


9/5/2016 · Options Trading for Beginners India ICFM. Loading Unsubscribe from ICFM? Options trading for beginners in stock market in hindi. Call Options and Put Options.
Nifty, HDFC, Tata Motors, Reliance, and ICICI are some of the best options to trade. Trading options require a lot of knowledge about market movements and the risks accompanying it. Stock markets in India are very lucrative today, and all the more risky. They promise good profits in the long run, but reaching that level of consistency is difficult.
However in reality, options are very complex instrument to trade. That is because options pricing models are quite mathematical and complex. Conclusion. Before you start with Stock Options it is important to understand the key determinants since Options Trading carries a risk of unlimited loss.


Associated Press Dec. 17, 2013 Updated: Dec. 17, 2013 12:27 a.m.
DETROIT — Justin Tucker's career-long 61-yard field goal with 38 seconds left capped a 6 for 6 night and lifted the Baltimore Ravens to an 18-16 victory over the Detroit Lions at Ford Field in a Monday night matchup with major playoff implications.
Ravens rookie safety Matt Elam sealed the victory with an interception — Matthew Stafford's third of the night.
Stafford, who finished with 235 passing yards, threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Joseph Fauria with 2:21 left, putting Detroit ahead 16-15.
But the Lions were unable to make a 2-point conversion and couldn't prevent Baltimore from setting up the former Texas star and Austin Westlake grad for his sixth field goal of the game and 33rd in a row. He also had a 53-yarder.
The defending Super Bowl champion Ravens (8-6) are in control of an AFC wild card after their fourth straight win. Detroit (7-7) has hurt its playoff chances by losing four of its last five.


The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act for FL, better known as ObamaCare, will kick in for the over 19 Mil residents of the state on January 1, 2014. We have compiled the key points that effect Floridians.
• With few exceptions, all residents of Florida by law must purchase health insurance or pay a penalty. To read more about penalties for the uninsured or to see if you are among the exempt, please read the article Affordable Care Act: Penalties for the Uninsured.
• October 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014 is the initial enrollment period. 2015 and beyond, there is only an open enrollment period for 3 months. Contact 800-930-7956 extension 0 for assistance signing up.
• Because of the Affordable Care Act all people in Florida are eligible for healthcare regardless of preexisting conditions. To learn more about guaranteed coverage read the article ObamaCare: Guaranteed Issuance for Everyone.
• Thousands of residents of Florida will receive federal subsidies to help cover portions of their premiums. To learn if you are eligible for a federal subsidy read to the article Health Care Exchange Subsidies: Do You Qualify?
To learn more about Florida and the Health Care Exchange please call 800-930-7956 the number above or contact Medicoverage: Florida.


Victoria Police's honour roll in Melbourne is just a short walk from Federation Square and down St Kilda Road. It contains the list of all members who died on duty. Included are Michael Kennedy, Thomas Lonigan and Michael Scanlan, who were murdered at Stringybark Creek on October 18, 1878 by the Kelly Gang.
Kennedy, 36, Lonigan, 36, and Scanlan, 34, have suffered the fate of most victims of crime — they have been almost forgotten. Not so their murderer, Ned Kelly (1854-80), and his gang members — brother Dan Kelly, Joe Byrne and Steve Hart. Ned Kelly is one of the most famous Australians and the Kelly Gang lives on in our memory through books, films, songs and portraits, and in the surviving dramatic armour that they wore.
In October last year, Morrissey objected to Heritage Victoria's decision to spend $1 million restoring the house where Kelly was born to Ellen and John Kelly in Beveridge, Victoria.
Obviously, Birmingham cannot be held responsible for everything that appears on the "About Australia" website. Even so, Morrissey has done valuable work in demonstrating how a thuggish thief who became a police murderer can come to be described as a mere "flawed hero" on the website of a government that is responsible for the Australian Federal Police.
In fact, Kelly was born into a criminal family that preyed on their neighbours who had obtained selector (that is, small farming) slots in northeast Victoria. In the main, the Kellys did not steal from the rich squatters but rather from relatively poor selectors who were trying to make an honest living.
As with many a criminal gang, eventually the offenders come face-to-face with the police. And so it came to pass at Stringybark Creek in October 1878. The killing of the lightly armed Kennedy, Lonigan and Scanlan was brutal and cowardly; the murderers even stole from the bodies of their victims. Lonigan, a father of four, was killed, shot in the back, while attempting to find cover. Kennedy, a father of six, was cold-bloodedly shot by Ned Kelly as he lay wounded. A note Kennedy wrote to his wife was destroyed by the Kelly Gang.
The idea that the Kelly Gang was a revolutionary group intent on establishing an independent republic nation in northeast Victoria is but a myth that in recent years has been kicked along by the likes of Carey and FitzSimons. However, if the Kelly Gang was a nationalist movement then it was into terrorism.
Kelly's last stand occurred at the Victorian town of Glenrowan in June 1880. There the Kelly Gang kidnapped the town's occupants and held them against their will. Then Kelly and his gang attempted to derail the train headed for Glenrowan that contained police and civilians. If the Kelly Gang's intent was political, then this was an act of attempted political terrorism.
It is unreasonable to expect that the Kelly Gang be expunged from Australian history. But it is only proper that Kelly's crimes be accurately acknowledged at historic sites and on websites. This is all the more important as we await the publication of Grantlee Kieza's Mrs Kelly: The Astonishing Life of Ned Kelly's Mother next month, which may or may not perpetuate the Kelly myth. Ellen Kelly was also a convicted criminal.


Last year I knew someone who contracted salmonella poisoning. Part of the treatment included taking Cipro. After a week in the hospital and finishing her antibiotic prescription, she developed a C. diff infection to go along with the Salmonella that was still there. After another 2 rounds of taking multiple medications (including a new C. Diff medicine, Dificid) and then starting probiotics, she has been doing well. Another lady I know has a stubborn H. pylori infection. She has been taking multiple medications for a long time but still has some horrible symptoms. She started taking probiotics and, although she still has some symptoms, she is doing significantly better. This got me to start taking probiotics. I started taking it everyday for several weeks and now take it 1-3 times a week. That is what works for me. I know people who take it everyday. I favor the brand pictured, but I think important points are that it contain several different types of bacteria and that it is stored in a refrigerator. They are alive! Refrigeration helps to keep it that way.


Ride to the Memorial Day ceremony at NLR Veterans' Cemetery on Maryland at the north side of the airport. It begins at 10:00 am. They usually have a burger lunch and music at Woody's Sherwood Forest afterwards. We can go straight there, or loop around Kellogg Acres first.


You may have seen our Nottingham Deputy Centre Manager on This Morning with one of our rescue dogs, Max, who is looking for a new home.
We've been overwhelmed with the number of people who have contacted us and we'd like to say a huge thank you to all those that have got in touch. We have no doubt that Max will find his fantastic forever home thanks to the wonderful people on 'This Morning'. You can see Max's appearance on 'This Morning' with Phillip Schofield and Rochelle Humes.
We exist to provide a safe place for homeless dogs and to find new loving places for them to live and we have several dogs that need re-homing for lots of reasons and continue to be advocates of 'adopt don't shop'. If you are interested in re-homing any of our dogs you can find details on our adoption page.
If you are not looking to rehome a dog at present but would like to support our vital rescue mission, there are lots of ways to be involved. Have you considered sponsoring a Jerry Green Dog Just like Max? Or signing up to our membership scheme?
While you're here don't forget to Opt In so that we can keep you up to date with all the wonderful stories and events happening at Jerry Greens.


text:
Paperless Forms
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Dentrix Forms
Open Dental Forms
Team Messaging
Patient Reminders
OperaVR Digital Nitrous
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