Salsa Classes - Strictly Salsa 4 U presents - S A L S A !!
Salsa Classes - Our Salsa classes are designed for you to have fun. Through fun you will learn and improve your Salsa. New beginners from their first lesson will be able to dance Merengue, an easy to learn Salsa style.
"I Wish I had started Salsa earlier"
I've heard this from so many new beginners. We know learning Salsa for the first time can be extremely nerve-racking. Don't worry everybody is in the same position. So if your mate has let you down, don't worry turn up on your own. About 70% of the people who turn up came on their own. Once through the door you become part of a large Salsa family where everybody is welcome!!
Please ensure you arrive at least ten minutes before the classes starts. That way we can start on time. Wear something light and loose fitting. Trainers or flip flops should not be worn. They make dancing Salsa more difficult and can cause you an injury.
8.30 - 9.30pm - Intermediates with Don Kar.
1 x Class £7, 2 x Classes £10.
Wednesday - Latin Dance Classes @ KTM Rox!
7.00 - 8.00pm - Beginners/Improvers with Jeremy Wright.
8.00 - 9.00pm - Intermediates with Jeremy Wright.
9.00 - 10.00pm - Advanced Level with Jeremy Wright.
9-10pm Bachata/Kizomba on rotation .
Latin Dance Classes @ KTM Rox!


text:
Deadly Blasts Break Recent Calm In Iraq
April 15, 2008 / 5:31 AM / CBS/AP
Bombings blamed on al Qaeda in Iraq tore through market areas in Baghdad and outside the capital, killing nearly 60 people and shattering weeks of relative calm in Sunni-dominated areas.
The bloodshed - in four cities as far north as Mosul and as far west as Ramadi - struck directly at U.S. claims that the Sunni insurgency is waning and being replaced by Shiite militia violence as a major threat.
The deadliest blasts took place in Baqouba and Ramadi, two cities where the U.S. military has claimed varying degrees of success in getting Sunnis to turn against al Qaeda.
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In Baqouba, the Diyala provincial capital 35 miles northeast of the capital, a parked car exploded about 11:30 a.m. in front of a restaurant across the street from the central courthouse and other government offices.
Many of the victims were on their way to the court, at the restaurant or in cars passing through the area. A man identifying himself as Abu Sarmad had just ordered lunch.
"I heard a big explosion and hot wind threw me from my chair to outside the restaurant," he said from his hospital bed.
The force of the blast jolted the concrete barriers erected along the road to protect the courthouse, witnesses said.
At least 40 people were killed and 70 wounded, according to hospital officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information.
The U.S. military in northern Iraq gave a slightly lower toll, saying 35 Iraqi citizens were killed, including a policeman, and 66 wounded. It said the blast destroyed three buses and damaged 10 shops.
AP Television News footage showed many of the bodies covered in crisp white sheets and black plastic bags in a hospital courtyard while the emergency room inside was overwhelmed with the wounded.
It was the deadliest bombing in Iraq since March 6, when a twin bombing killed 68 people in a crowded shopping district in the central Baghdad district of Karradah. The attack was also the deadliest in Baqouba since The Associated Press began tracking Iraqi casualties in late April 2005.
The U.S. military said Tuesday that attacks in Baqouba have dropped noticeably since last June. But a series of assassinations and other high-profile attacks have occurred in and around the city this year, and American commanders have consistently warned that al Qaeda-led insurgents continue to pose a serious danger.
"Although attacks such as today's event are tragic, it is not indicative of the overall security situation in Baqouba," Maj. Mike Garcia, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Diyala province, said in a statement.
According to an AP count, at least 126 Iraqis have been killed in war-related violence in Baqouba so far in 2008; the majority, 65, were killed in 10 separate bombings. At least 818 Iraqis were killed in war-related violence in the city last year, up slightly from 793 the year before.
Baqouba and Ramadi were strongholds of al Qaeda in Iraq and saw some of the fiercest fighting of the U.S.-led war until local Sunni tribal leaders fed up with the terror network's brutal tactics joined forces with the U.S. military against it last year.
The Sunni revolt, an influx of some 30,000 American troops and a cease-fire by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr led to a decline in violence there as well as in Baghdad.
In particular, the U.S. military has touted Ramadi as a success story. The former al Qaeda stronghold, 70 miles west of Baghdad, is the capital of Anbar province and has largely been sealed off by checkpoints.
Tuesday's bombing in Ramadi came about an hour after the Baqouba attack.
A suicide attacker on a motorcycle drove up to a kebab restaurant, went inside and detonated his explosives vest, killing at least 13 people, including three off-duty policemen and two children, and wounding 20, according to police and hospital officials.
Ahmed al-Dulaimi, a 27-year-old mechanic, escaped injury because he was sitting at a back table. But he said his cousin, who owned the restaurant, was killed.
"Suddenly a motorcycle parked near the restaurant and a man came running in and then a huge explosion took place," al-Dulaimi said. "Pieces of flesh flew into the air and the roof fell over us."
The blast in central Baghdad also took place shortly after midday. A parked car bomb targeted a police patrol, killing four civilians who were passing by and wounding 15 other people, police said.
The U.S. military condemned the bombings in Baqouba, Ramadi and Baghdad and said they appeared to have been carried out by al Qaeda in Iraq.
The fourth bombing took place in Mosul, a city 225 miles northwest of Baghdad that the U.S. military has called the last urban stronghold for al Qaeda in Iraq.
At 3:45 p.m., a double car bombing wounded three Iraqi policemen and 15 civilians, the U.S. military said. Iraqi police Brig. Gen. Khalid Abdul-Satter said the attack killed one civilian was killed and wounded 16 others.
U.S.-allied Sunni fighters have found themselves increasingly targeted by violence and frustrated by a perceived lack of support by the Shiite-dominated government.
The purported leader of the al Qaeda umbrella group, the Islamic State of Iraq, called on those who switched sides to return to the insurgency. He made his statement in an Internet audiotape posted Tuesday on a militant Web site.
Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, whom the U.S. has described as a fictitious character used to give an Iraqi face to the organization, urged the Sunnis to direct their arms against "the Crusaders and those who support them," using typical militant rhetoric for the United States.
While the Sunni insurgency has recently appeared to wane, the U.S. military has increasingly pointed to Shiite militia violence as one of the greatest threats to Iraq's stability.
On Tuesday, Shiite extremists clashed again with U.S.-Iraqi forces in Baghdad and the oil-rich southern city of Basra.
U.S. soldiers backed by an airstrike killed six militants after a gunbattle broke out in the Sudayrah area, near Baghdad's main Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City, the military said. Iraqi police in the area claimed that two boys were among those killed in the airstrike, but the military said no civilian casualties were reported.
In southern Iraq, three aides to Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, escaped assassination in separate attacks Tuesday, although two of them were seriously wounded, police said.
The attacks came four days after a top al-Sadr aide was assassinated in Najaf.
In other developments:
The State Department is warning U.S. diplomats they may be forced to serve in Iraq next year and says it will soon start identifying prime candidates for jobs at the Baghdad embassy and outlying provinces.
The purported leader of al Qaeda's affiliate in Iraq called in a new Internet audiotape Tuesday on Sunni fighters who switched sides and joined the American push to pacify Sunni areas of the country, to return to the insurgency. In the recording, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, who allegedly heads the Islamic State of Iraq, called on Sunni unity and urged Sunnis in the Iraqi army, police and the so-called "Awakening Councils" to abandon fighting the mujahideen, and instead turn their guns toward the "Crusader" enemy - shorthand for U.S. troops in Iraq.
In northern Iraq, meanwhile, a parked car bomb exploded near an Iraqi army convoy west of Mosul, killing 12 Kurdish soldiers and wounding five, police chief Col. Mutlaq al-Shimmari said.
In Tal Afar, south of Mosul, a suicide bomber attacked a funeral for a Shiite family, killing five people and wounding 22, Mayor Najim Abdullah said.
First published on April 15, 2008 / 5:31 AM

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Not trying to sound rude, but just disable spawn scoring already until the proper fix can be deployed. Will stop the spawn point glitch issue in GA which is just trash at the moment (not sure if other modes are affected). I get that bugs make their way into the game, but it's pretty embarrassing that something as bad as this could happen.
Better yet, just get rid of spawn scoring altogether. You already gain points from doing anything else, spawning closer to battle is the actual reward, and it'll stop this problem from ever happening again.
It wasn't long ago you claimed BF17 was on the upswing. Now you're having a meltdown?
I am afraid we'll have to wait a whole week until the patch comes... If they could do it server side, they would have already done it by now.
I'm thinking this thread is kind of redundant as it relates to the other megathread right now. Feedback on squad points in future after that is sorted is very welcome.


text:
title: Prezentacja o Zarządzaniu obiektami w WSS/MOSS
author: Gutek
layout: post
permalink: /2008/12/11/prezentacja-o-zarzadzaniu-obiektami-w-wssmoss/
categories:
  - pro
tags:
  - community
  - prezentacja
---
Skopiuje prawie post %, z jednego podstawowego powodu :) Podobnie jak % tak jak i ja, miałem swoje "pierwsze koty za płoty". Mówiąc dosłownie, była to pierwsza prezentacja, którą dawałem publiczności, która:

1.  Nie była moja klasą/grupą ;) (nie licząc jednego przypadku;))
2.  Nie była moimi znajomymi z pracy (no nie licząc jednego przypadku;))

Więc ten post jest moją szczerą prośbą o szczerą opinie na temat prezentacji. Co było dobre, a co nie? Co należałoby waszym zdaniem zmienić a co poprawnić?

Rzeczy o których wiem, że powinny ulec poprawie oraz moim zdaniem poprawnie nie poszły:

1.  Bezpośrednie zgłaszanie się do publiczności na TY – choć to nie zawsze jest chyba złe, ale warto to kontrolować
2.  Zaznaczanie tekstu nie powoduje, że jest on bardziej widoczny :)
3.  Zbyt dużo materiału do pokazania (moja prezentacja chyba by nie przeszła testu windy)
4.  Elementy które miały być wprowadzeniem stały się głównym członem prezentacji (mowa o wytłumaczeniu jak działa pamięć)
5.  Tutaj mam punkt przeciwny do tego co Procent ;) chyba, zbytnio żywiołowo reagowałem na to, że coś wolno działało, to znaczy nie kontrolowałem niektórych słów wypływających z moich nieokrzesanych ust

Jeżeli byliście na spotkaniu, to proszę wyraźcie swoją opinię, dzięki temu następne prezentację będą jeszcze lepsze! Z góry dzięki za pomoc!

Niebawem jak tylko do końca wyzdrowienie materiały z prezentacji pojawią się na stronie PGS – zaktualizuje wtedy ten artykuł o linki.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


I've been having a blast in the studio recently working on a new CD. It's intended for national distribution in Canada. With the help of engineer and mixer extraordinaire Eric Legg, I put together a one-day intensive recording session last week. We used some of my favorite "A-list" musicians – collectively they have performed on CDs by Shania Twain, Kenny Chesney, Martina McBride, Reba McEntyre, Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, LeAnn Rimes, Lonestar, Gretchen Wilson, Alabama, Joe Nichols, Billy Currington, Chely Wright, Joe Diffie, Blake Shelton, George Jones, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Trace Adkins, Amy Grant, John Michael Montgomery, Hank Williams Jr., Phil Vassar, Sammy Kershaw, Randy Travis, Leanne Womack, and Pam Tillis just to name a few. Two of them have produced CDs (by Point of Grace and Trace Adkins), and one of them is even a performing member of the band Toto!
Anyhow, needless to say I have been keeping really busy. I've also continued to cowrite with Jessica Simpson (she's getting ready to start recording her album next week) and Julie Roberts (we've been writing some great songs together). Of course there are no guarantees, but hopefully some of these songs we're writing will find their way onto the artists' CDs. I'll keep you posted on that.


Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences.
2013 – present: Adjunct Professor, Department of Research Methodology, Measurement and Data Analysis. Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences, University of Twente.
2014 – present: Psychometrician, Cito (Psychometrisch Onderzoek en Kenniscentrum), Arnhem, The Netherlands.
2005 – 2007: Assistant Professor, Faculty of Behavioural Sciences. University of Twente.
1997 – 2001: PhD student at the University of Twente, Netherlands.
1996 – 1997: Statistician. I&O Research, The Netherlands.
2001 Doctorate University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands Title Thesis: "Multilevel IRT: A Bayesian perspective on estimating parameters and testing statistical hypotheses" supervisor Prof. Dr. C.A.W. Glas and Prof. Dr. W.J. van der Linden.
2015 Measurement invariance testing using Bayes factor. LSAC.
2014 Bayesian model testing in item response theory: Bayes factors (CTB/McGraw-Hill), Euro 61,077 ($84,830).
2013 Response time modelling and its applications (LSAC). Euro 165,308 ($228,059).
2007 NWO Vidi grant (452-07-003). Bayesian methodology for large-scale comparative research. Euro 599,057.
Sukaesi Marianti (2013 – 2016, UT). Contributions to the joint modeling of responses and response times.
Marieke van Geel (2011 – 2015, UT). The effects of a training data-based decision making for primary school teams.
Trynke Keuning (2011 – 2015, UT). The effects of a training in data-based decision making for primary school teams at schools with students at risk.
Rosalie Gorter (2010 – 2015, VUMC). Longitudinal data-analysis using IRT techniques.
Josine Verhagen (2008 – 2012). Modeling structural and measurement heterogeneity in large-scale survey research.
Marianna Avetisyan (2008 – 2012). Response bias and incomplete data in large-scale survey research.
Caroline Timmers (2007-2012). Computer-based formative assessments using feedback for learning.
Rinke H. Klein Entink (2005 – 2009). Simultaneous modeling of item response and time response data with background variables.
Joris Mulder (UU) (2006 – 2010). Applying Bayesian methodology to inequality constrained multivariate linear models.
Jonald Pimentel (2001 – 2005). Item response theory modeling with nonignorable missing data.
Irene Hendrawan (2000 – 2004). The effect of item response theory model violations on practical test applications.
2015–present Chair Examination Committee; Faculty of Behavioural Management and Social Sciences. (https://www.utwente.nl/bms/examboard/composition/).
2015-present Chair Examination Subcommittee; Behavioural Sciences.
2012-present Member, program committee, Research Master Methodology and Statistics for the Behavioural, Biomedical and Social Sciences (UT).
2013–present: Member ethics committee faculty Behavioral Sciences.
2012–present: UT-Program coordinator of the Research Master Methodology and Statistics for the Behavioural, Biomedical and Social Sciences.
2006–present: Co-organizer Meetings of SWS-VVS (Netherlands Statistical Society, Social Sciences Division).
2010-present: Associate Editor British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology.
2010-present: Associate Editor Journal of Educational and Behavioural Statistics.
2012-present: Member of De Jonge Akademie of the University of Twente, (JA@UT, www.utwente.nl/jongeakademie).
Co-organizer: Fall Meetings of SWS-VVS (Netherlands Statistical Society, Social Sciences Division).
Co-organizer: Spring Meeting of SWS-VVS (Netherlands Statistical Society, Social Sciences Division).
2006 – present Member of the Board of the social sciences section of the Netherlands Society for Statistics and Operations.
2008 – present Board of the Interuniversity Graduate School of Psychometrics and Sociometrics (IOPS).
39th GESIS Spring Seminar (Cologne). Bayesian Item Response Modeling. (February, 2010).
ICO (Interuniversity Centre for Educational Research). Multilevel analysis. (March, 2001, 2002).
Personal grant, VIDI, 2007-2012. (600 k€). An Innovational Research Incentives Scheme (Dutch: Vernieuwingsimpuls) from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).
Personal grant, VENI, 2004-2007. (200 k€). An Innovational Research Incentives Scheme (Dutch: Vernieuwingsimpuls) from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).
International Psychometric Society Dissertation Award, 2001.
First author of journal publications. Most influential publications are Fox and Glas (2001) with 315 and Fox (2010) with 184 citations.
Papers are available at www.Jean-PaulFox.com (Main menu item 'Publications').
Keuning, T., van Geel, M., Visscher, A., Fox, J.-P., and Molenaar, N. (in press). The transformation of schools' social networks during a Data-Based Decision-Making Reform. Teachers College Record.
Verhagen, A.J., Levy, R., Millsap, R.E., and Fox, J.-P. (2015). Evaluating evidence for invariant items: A Bayes factor applied to testing measurement invariance in IRT models. Journal of Mathematical Psychology.
Azevedo, C.L.N., Fox, J.-P. and Andrade, D.F. (2015). International Journal of Quantitative Research in Education, 2, 213-243.
Camilli, G., and Fox, J.-P. (2015). An aggregate IRT procedure for exploratory factor analysis. Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, 40 (4). DOI:10.3102/1076998615589185.
Gorter, R., Fox, J.-P., and Twisk, J.W.R. (2015). Why item response theory should be used for longitudinal questionnaire data analysis in medical research. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 15(1):55. DOI:10.1186/s12874-015-0050-x.
Van den Hout, A., Fox, J.-P., and Muniz-Terrera, G. (2015). Longitudinal mixed-effects models for latent cognitive function. Statistical Modelling, 15(4), 366-387. DOI:10.1177/1471082X14555607.
De Jong, M.G., J.-P. Fox, and Steenkamp, J.E.B.M. (2015). Quantifying under- and over-reporting in surveys through a dual questioning-technique design. Journal of Marketing Research.
Trompetter, H.R., Bohlmeijer, E.T., Fox, J.-P., Schreurs, K.M.G. (2015). Psychological flexibility and catastrophizing as associated change mechanisms during online Acceptance & Commitment Therapy for chronic pain. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 74:50-59. DOI:10.1016/j.brat.2015.09.001.
Gosselt, J., van Hoof, J., Gent, B., and Fox, J.-P. (2015). Violent frames. Analyzing Internet Movie Database reviewers' text descriptions of media violence and gender differences from 39 years of U.S. action, thriller, crime, and adventure movies. International Journal of Communication, 9, 547-567. (doi: 1932–8036/20150005).
Azevedo, C.L.N., Fox, J.-P., and Andrade, D.F. (2015). Bayesian longitudinal item response modeling with restricted covariance pattern structures. Statistics and Computing. (doi 10.1007/s11222-014-9518-5).
Marianti, S., Fox, J.-P., Avetisyan, M., Veldkamp, B.P., and Tijmstra, J. (2014). Journal of Educational and Behavioural Statistics, 39, 426-451.
Fox, J.-P., Klein Entink, R.H., Timmers, C. (2014). The joint multivariate modeling of multiple mixed response sources: Relating student performances with feedback behavior. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 49, 54-66, doi:10.1080/00273171.2013.843441.
Fox, J.-P., Klein Entink, R.H., Avetisyan, M. (2014). Compensatory and noncompensatory multidimensional randomized item response models. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 67, 133-152.
Fox, J.-P., Avetisyan, M., van der Palen, J. (2013). Mixture randomized item-response modeling: A smoking behavior validation study. Statistics in Medicine, 32(27). (doi: 10.1002/sim.5859).
Fox, J.-P. (2013). Multivariate zero-inflated modeling with latent predictors: Modeling feedback behavior. Computational Statistics and Data Analysis, 68, 361–374.
Verhagen, J.A. and Fox, J.-P. (2013). Longitudinal measurement in health-related surveys. A Bayesian joint growth model for multivariate ordinal responses. Statistics in Medicine, 32, 2988-3005.
Fledderus, M., Bohlmeijer, E.T., Fox, J.-P., Schreurs, K.M.G., and Spinhoven, P. (2013). The role of psychological flexibility in a self-help acceptance and commitment therapy intervention for psychological distress in a randomized controlled trial. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 51, 142-151.
Mulder, J. and Fox J.-P. (2013). Bayesian tests on components of the compound symmetry covariance matrix. Statistics and Computing, 23, 109-122.
Verhagen, J. and Fox, J.-P. (2013). Bayesian Tests of Measurement Invariance. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 66, 383-401.
Avetisyan, M. and Fox, J.-P. (2012). The Dirichet-Multinomial model for multivariate randomized Response data and small samples. Psicologica: International Journal of Methodology and Experimental Psychology, v33 n2, 362-390.
Azevedo, Caio L.N., Andrade, Dalton F. and Fox, J.-P. (2012). A Bayesian generalized multiple group IRT model with model-fit assessment tools. Computational Statistics and Data Analysis, 56, 4399-4412.
Van den Hout, A., Fox, J.-P., and Klein Entink, R.H. (2011). Bayesian inference for an illness-death model for stroke with cognition as a latent time-dependent risk factor. Statistical Methods in Medical Research. (online, doi: 10.1177/0962280211426359).
Klein Entink, R.H. Fox, J.-P., and van den Hout, A. (2011). A mixture model for the joint analysis of latent developmental trajectories and survival. Statistics in Medicine, 30, 2310-2325.
De Jong, M.G., Pieters, F.G.M., Fox, J.-P. (2010). Reducing social desirability bias through item randomized response: An application to measure underreported desires. Journal of Marketing Research, 47, 14-27.
Van der Linden, W.J., Klein Entink, R.H., Fox, J.-P. (2010). IRT parameter estimation with response times as collateral information. Applied Psychological Measurement, 34, 327-347.
Klein Entink, R.H., van der Linden, W.J., Fox, J.-P. (2009). A Box-Cox normal model for response times. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 62, 621-640.
Klein Entink, R.H., Kuhn, J.-T., Hornke, L.F., and Fox, J.-P. (2009). Evaluating cognitive theory: A joint modeling approach using responses and response times. Psychological Methods, 14, 54-75.
Klein Entink, R.H., Fox, J.-P., van der Linden, W.J. (2009). A multivariate multilevel approach to the modeling of accuracy and speed of test takers. Psychometrika, 74, 21-48.
Fox, J.-P. (2008). Bayesian item response models for complex survey data. Proceedings of the 23rd international workshop on Statistical Modelling. Eilers, P. (Ed.), 19-26.
Fox, J.-P., and Meijer, R.R. (2008). Using IRT to obtain individual information from randomized response data: An application using cheating data. Applied Psychological Measurement, 32, 595-610.
Fox, J.-P., and Wyrick, C.H. (2008). A mixed effects randomized item response model. Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, 33, 389-415.
Fox, J.-P. (2008). Beta-Binomial ANOVA for multivariate randomized response data. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 61, 453-470.
De Jong, M.G., Steenkamp, J.B.E.M., Fox, J.-P., and Baumgartner, H. (2008). Using item response theory to measure extreme response style in marketing research: A global investigation. Journal of Marketing Research, 45, 104-115.
De Jong, M.G., Steenkamp, J.B.E.M., and Fox, J.-P. (2007). Relaxing cross-national measurement invariance using a hierarchical IRT model. Journal of Consumer Research, 34, 260-278 .
Fox, J.-P. (2007). Multilevel IRT modeling in practice. Journal of Statistical Software, 20, issue 5.
Klein Entink, R.H., Fox, J.-P., Betlem, B.H.L., Roffel, B. (2007). Hierarchical process modeling: Describing within- and between-run variation. Journal of Process Control, 17, 349-361.
Fox, J.-P., Pimentel, J.L., Glas, C.A.W. (2006). Fixed effects IRT model. Behaviormetrika, 33, 27-42.
Fox, J.-P., & Glas, C.A.W. (2005). Bayesian modification indices for IRT models. Statistica Neerlandica, 59, 95-106.
Fox, J.-P. (2005). Randomized item response theory models. Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, 30, 189-212.
Fox, J.-P. (2005). Multilevel IRT using dichotomous and polytomous items. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 58, 145-172.
Fox, J.-P. (2004). Applications of multilevel IRT modeling. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 15, 261-280.
Fox, J.-P. (2004). Modeling response error in school effectiveness research. Statistica Neerlandica, 58, 138-160.
Fox, J.-P. (2003). Stochastic EM for Estimating the Parameters of a Multilevel IRT Model. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 56, 65-81.
Fox, J.-P., & Glas, C.A.W. (2003). Bayesian modeling of measurement error in predictor variables using item response theory. Psychometrika 68, 169-191.
MIXIS (2011). Klein Entink, R.H. and Fox, J.-P. Bayesian mixture growth modelling with latent covariates using item response theory.
Monograph. Fox, J.-P. (2010). Bayesian Item Response Modeling: Theory and Applications. New York: Springer.
Fox, J.-P. (2001). Multilevel IRT: A Bayesian perspective on estimating parameters and testing statistical hypotheses. University of Twente, Enschede, Netherlands.
(2001 Psychometric Society Dissertation Award).
2015 Van der Linden, W.J. and Fox, J.-P. Joint hierarchical modeling of responses and response times. In Handbook of Modern Item Response Theory, W.J van der Linden (Ed.), Vol 1, Chapter 29, Chapman and Hall/CRC Press.
2015 Fox, J.-P. Bayesian randomized item response theory models for sensitive measurement. In Handbook of Modern Item Response Theory, W.J van der Linden (Ed.), Vol 1, Chapter 28, Chapman and Hall/CRC Press.
2015 Fox, J.-P. and Glas C.A.W. Multilevel response models with covariates and multiple groups. In Handbook of Modern Item Response Theory, W.J van der Linden (Ed.), Vol. 1, Chapter 24, Chapman and Hall/CRC Press.
2015 Fox, J.-P. van den Berg, S.M., and Veldkamp, B.P. (to be published). Bayesian psychometric methods. In Handbook of Psychometric Testing, P. Irwing, T. Booth and D. Hughes. Wiley-Blackwell.
2010 Fox, J.-P., and A. J. Verhagen (2010). Random item effects modeling for cross-national survey data. In E. Davidov & P. Schmidt, and J. Billiet (Eds.), Cross-cultural Analysis: Methods and Applications (pp 461-482), London: Routeledge Academic. ISBN 1848728220.
2008 Fox, J.-P. (2008). Bayesian item response models for complex survey data. In Eilers, P. (Ed.), Proceedings of the 23rd international workshop on Statistical Modelling. pp. 19-26.
Latest talks (including invited and key-note talks).
For a more complete overview: www.Jean-PaulFox.com (Main menu item 'Presentations').
Does Time Pressure Induce Tunnel Vision? An examination with the Eriksen Flanker task. International Conference on Applied Physics, Simulation and Computers (APSAC 2015). Vienna, Austria.
Bayesian Model Testing in IRT. CTB-McGraw/Hill, R&D Symposium. Monterey, CA, 11 September, 2014.
Exploring feedback behavior: A multivariate multilevel modeling approach. 9th International Multilevel Conference, Utrecht, The Netherlands, March 27-28, 2013.
Advances in Bayesian Item Response Modeling (Joint modeling of feedback use and time data). NCME, 16 April 2012, Vancouver (Invited session Advances in Psychometrics).
Developments in Bayesian Item Response Modeling. The 75th Meeting of the Psychometric Society. July 7 – July 9, 2010. Athens, Georgia, USA. (Invited).
The Joint Modeling of Individual Cognitive Impairment and Survival Data. MTO Research Colloquium. June, 9, 2010. Tilburg University. (Invited).
Item Response Modeling of Neuropsychological Test Data. Seminar Biostatistics, School of Public Health University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. September 23, 2009. (Invited).
Bayesian Item Response Models For Complex Survey Data. Presentation at the 23rd International Workhop on Statistical Modelling. Utrecht. July, 8, 2008. (Invited).
Advanced Posterior Predictive Assessment. Presentation at the 73th Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society. Dover, NH, USA. July, 1, 2008.
National Science Foundation (NSF, USA).
The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMw).
The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). Selection committee Research Talent (2015).
Bayesian Item Response Modeling, Monograph, 2010, 184 citations.
Bayesian modeling of measurement error in predictor variables using item response theory, Psychometrika, 2003, 85 citations.


Downtown Manhattan replacement windows are central part of the updating of the Downtown Manhattan area. Downtown Manhattan is best known for its financial district and more specifically as the site of the World Trade Center. However, as a local, you know that it is much more than just that. This portion of Manhattan is also rapidly growing in both commerce and in residential expansion. And, if anyone knows anything about rebuilding and renovating, it is the people of Downtown Manhattan.
This portion of Manhattan has seen a great deal of construction and refurbishments since the tragic events of September 11. And, it is with diligence and pride that the residents have and will continue to make improvements and keep beautifying this area of the city. If you live in this iconic area of Manhattan, it may be time for you to consider doing some renovations to your property as well. One of those renovations could be investing in some Downtown Manhattan replacement windows. By doing this, you are doing your part to keep this important area alive and beautiful.
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Belize Property Agents is pleased to present for sale this nice house lot of Belize Real Estate in San Pedro, Belize.
San Pedro is a hour and a half boat ride from Belize City.
This house lot is located five houses away from the beautiful Caribbean Sea.
This property measures approximately 100 feet by 50 feet.
San Pedro is known for its very laidback life style, and its beautiful white sandy beaches.


Our environments are the outward manifestation of the inward "you." They reveal what excites and motivates us, what we delight in and what we hold dear. Our environments have the power to heal, move us from chaos to calm and nurture us as we move through the stages and stories of our lives.
Sanctuary Living Magazine is dedicated to telling the stories of people and their places—to uncovering the best of who we are, sharing what we live and long for, and inspiring us to rewrite our own stories through the consistent pursuit of growth and transformation in all forms, big and small.
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Think about the last time you did something with deliberation and conviction. Was it last month or even last year? Now think about the last time you felt agitated, stressed and over stimulated. In the last twenty-four hours? In the past fifteen minutes? Isn't it ironic that as full as our lives have become there's a communal sensing that something's missing? No matter what we do, it's not enough.
We are detached from our internal voice that is begging for self nurture, reflection and attention. We seek validation from the external and change our minds in the face of even the smallest seduction.
and how we speak—incessant, preoccupied text-messaging acronym versions of ourselves. We have dined so long on the superficial that we don't even know how to digest the real meal.
As our minds are invaded with "stuff" our substance is diminishing.
We are disconnected from those around us. Intimacy has been redefined as the distance between face and hand-held device. As Community, we are more closed-off and internalized than ever before. Within this disconnected space we have become suspicious, envious, and intensely lonely.
As we obsess with activities that require limited face-to-face interaction, we become increasingly HUNGRY FOR AUTHENTIC CONNECTION. This "soul starvation" has, in tangible and insidious ways, contributed to the outbreak of chronic dis-ease.
If you sense that something is missing in your life, chances are you could be right. But searching for it from the outside will never satisfy.


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UAE SMEs recognized for growth
UAE SMEs recognized for growth /node/1562081/corporate-news
The winners of the 8th Gulf Capital SME Awards 2019 were announced at a gala dinner hosted at The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Center.
Updated 30 September 2019
Gulf Capital has unveiled the winners of the 8th Gulf Capital SME Awards 2019 at a gala dinner hosted at The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Center. Seventeen SMEs across the technology, F&B and health care sectors were recognized for implementing innovative techniques and strategies that lead to business growth and rapid expansion.
This year, the awards, which recognize new and existing SME businesses, received a record number of 300 applications from companies and entrepreneurs across 17 categories.
Dr. Karim El-Solh, CEO of Gulf Capital, said: "SMEs are the driving force of the UAE's economy, as they constitute over 90 percent of all the organizations in the country. We are pleased to recognize and celebrate the achievements of the SMEs that continue to fuel the growth of the UAE economy and are displaying world-class capabilities by being champions of growth and innovation."
"Entrepreneurs and small companies are the drivers of the future success of this region," said MEED editorial director Richard Thompson. "Through these awards, MEED is supporting SMEs in the UAE by celebrating their finest achievements. And even if they have not won an award on the night, every company participating in the Gulf Capital SME Awards 2019 is a winner and should be applauded for the contribution it is making to the future of this region."
The UAE continues to be the preferred location for SMEs to flourish as the number of new companies entering the market has increased by 30 percent in the last decade, according to a recent report by Diligencia, Gulf Capital and MEED.
Movie time at Riyadh's Atyaf Mall with Vox /node/1615421/corporate-news
Movie time at Riyadh's Atyaf Mall with Vox
Atyaf Mall, in partnership with Majid Al-Futtaim's Vox Cinemas, launched a cinema facility of 11 screens and 650-seating capacity. The eighth branch of Vox Cinemas in Saudi Arabia was inaugurated by Mohamed Al-Hashemi, country manager of Majid Al-Futtaim Ventures, in the presence of Shehim Mohammed, director of LuLu Saudi Hypermarkets, and Dr. Mohammed Al-Rowaished, CEO of Hewar Al-Rabie Company.
The new cinema facility features seven standard cinemas, two VIP provisions, and two kids' movie houses. Apart from refreshment counter favorites like popcorn, snacks and beverages, Vox Cinemas in Atyaf Mall offers a Nutella Bar, and Kitchen 35, a bakeshop with artisan breads and pastries and fresh juices in one entertainment venue.
Mohammed, director of LuLu Saudi Hypermarkets, said: "We are proud to launch another entertainment venue for our dynamic customer base who considers Atyaf Mall as its home for lifestyle needs. We extend our biggest gratitude to our partners from Majid Al-Futtaim in making this project possible with innovative and customer-focused experiences and offerings on hand."
Managed by LuLu Properties, the shopping mall and property development team of LuLu Group, Atyaf Mall houses conducive places for shopping, dining and leisure, along with a lineup of global brands, and a 220,000-square-foot LuLu hypermarket. From Matalan to H&M, Saco, and Red Tag, the fashion collection is expected to highlight the latest clothing lines and footwear pieces every season, alongside a food court and seven new restaurants that will soon showcase global flavors.
"With these new concepts introduced in the mall, Atyaf Mall will continue to satisfy the evolving and adventurous lifestyle demands of the new age of Riyadh's growing market," Mohammed added.


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Huawei Ascend P7 live images leaked
By Jonathan Pereira	 On Apr 2, 2014 Last updated Apr 2, 2014
We were eagerly waiting for the Huawei Ascend P7 at the Mobile World Congress, but it never showed up. Now after a few weeks more live photos of the device have been leaked.
The live pictures of what seems to be the retail version of the Huawei Ascend P7 has been leaked, thus hinting that the phone could be released anytime soon. The phone is supposed to have a 5 inch full HD display. The device is supposedly powered by the company's own quad core Hi-Silicon processor clocked at 1.6 GHz.
The Huawei Ascend P7 has 2 GB of RAM on-board along with 16 GB of internal storage. The device is equipped with a rear facing 13 MP camera with LED flash. There is also a front facing 8 MP camera. The phone is said to run on the latest Android KitKat version with a layer of the Huawei Emotion UI. We hope that this device is announced soon.
Huawei Ascend P7 specs:
1920 x 1080 pixels resolution
1.6 GHz quad core Huawei Hi-Silicon processor
13 MP primary camera
8 MP front facing camera
Google Android v4.4.2 KitKat
Moto G Review: Pure Awesomeness
BBM for Android and iOS updated, brings stickers and more


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KU ScholarWorks
School of Business Scholarly Works
Order imbalance and stock returns: Evidence from China
orderimbalance_China.pdf (762.3Kb)
Shenoy, Catherine
We investigate the relation between daily order imbalance and return in the Chinese stock markets of Shenzhen and Shanghai. Prior studies have found that daily order imbalance is predictive of subsequent returns. On the Chinese exchanges we find autocorrelation in order imbalances is similar to that of the New York Stock Exchange as reported by Chordia and Subrahmanyam (2004). We also find a strong contemporaneous relation between daily order imbalances and return. However, we do not find evidence that order imbalances predict subsequent returns. We attribute the difference in predicative power to differences in trading mechanisms on the two exchanges and to differences in the share turnover rate.
School of Business Scholarly Works [205]
Center for East Asian Studies Scholarly Works [361]
Catherine Shenoy and Zhang, Ying Jenny, Order imbalance and stock returns: Evidence from China, The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance 47 (2007) 637-650.
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This page is dedicated so you can follow your favorite Jaguar alumni as they continue to play at the next level.
Camille joined the wrestling team after she hurt her ACL and was no longer able to play soccer.
Kiana played soccer for four years. She graduated with her BA in Psychology in May 2015.
Softball player Justice Borden became the first UP athlete to sign a letter of intent to play softball at a major university.
Please read the following article from the Daily Press for more information.


Training videos, books, Youtube channels, etc.
what photography related item did you buy this week?
What photography related item did you SELL this week (and why)?
tips for camera use by one armed lefties?
DDay tour: what kind of lenses?
Event Photography - am I expecting too much of myself/my gear?
Users with websites, do you embed from an image hosting service or do you host your own images?
Humble beginnings of a digital newbie.
Your three-lens lineup of choice right now?
What do you love about your camera/lens?
What camera body is it?
What new photographic technique have you learned this week?


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Congress Gets Ready to Smash Big Tech Monopolies
Boom. David Cicilline's investigation into big tech is about to yield big results.
Welcome to BIG, a newsletter about the politics of monopoly and finance. If you'd like to sign up, you can do so here. Or just read on…
Today I'm going to write about the remarkable and historic report from the House Antitrust Subcommittee, the culmination of a sixteen-month investigation into Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon.
First, some house-keeping. My organization is hosting a Zoom event today at noon, "Protecting Restaurants & Communities: The Case Against Dominant Food Delivery Apps." You can RSVP here. Also, I wrote a paper a year ago titled "Ad Tech and the News" on how invasive models of surveillance mesh with monopoly power to undermine the free press. There's a history of Google and Facebook in there, as well as the rise of surveillance based advertising inventory traded on stock market-like exchanges.
Finally, Axios reported on the enveloping scandal around cheerleading, "Bain Capital's Cheerleading Investment Gets Ugly," citing reporting from this newsletter. It's increasingly difficult to be a monopolist who engages in abusive and predatory activity.
The Cicilline Report Lands
Yesterday, the House Antitrust Subcommittee chaired by Congressman David Cicilline came out with its report on large technology platforms, the culmination of a 16 month investigation into Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple. Like Pujo hearings of (1912-1913), the Pecora Commission (1933-1934), the Temporary National Economic Committee (1938-1941), and Emanuel Celler's Anti-Monopoly Subcommittee hearings in the 1950s, this investigation and report is a prelude to major policy action reorganizing the economy and corporate America.
The report itself is over 400 page long; I've read a bunch of these reports from enforcers all over the world, this one is by far the clearest and most aggressive. The subcommittee staff went through 1.287 million documents and significant quantities of enforcement agency records, did hundreds of hours of interviews with "more than 240 market participants, former employees of the investigated platforms, and other individuals totaling thousands of hours," and had seven hearings, including questioning the richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos.
It's an extraordinary document, and it's worth noting that the investigation was set up to succeed. Cicilline fought tooth and nail to make sure the investigations were serious, and that the CEOs of the four companies at hand testified. The key staffer on the subcommittee, Lina Khan, is an experienced journalist, as well as the preeminent scholar of modern antitrust thinking; before coming to the investigation, she had published a legendary law review article, Amazon's Antitrust Paradox, which single-handedly undermined the intellectual structure of the current way lawyers and judges handle corporate power.
I spent much of yesterday reading the report. I'm going to explain what's in it, why it matters, and why the cynics about the possibility of progress are wrong.
Monopolies, Lies and Fear
The basic thesis of this report isn't a surprise, and consists of two basic elements. The subcommittee found that Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon are abusive monopolies. The report also noted that Obama and Trump era enforcers failed to uphold anti-monopoly laws, which allowed these corporations to amass their dominance.
What makes these platforms unusually dangerous is that they are gatekeepers with surveillance power, and they can thus wield "near-perfect market intelligence" to copy or undermine would-be rivals. For Apple the dominant facility is the App store, for Google it's the search engine, Maps, adtech, etc, for Facebook it's social media, and for Amazon it's the marketplace, AWS, Alexa, Fulfillment, and so forth. They exploit their gatekeeping and surveillance power to extract revenue, fortify their competitive barriers, and subsidize entry into new markets.
Over and over, the report just lays into the Federal Trade Commission and Antitrust Division for refusing to enforce monopolization laws and failing to stop mergers, even when they had evidence that such mergers were anti-competitive. The four companies bought more than 500 companies since 1998. However, "for most, if not all, of the acquisitions discussed in this Report," it says, "the FTC had advance notice of the deals, but did not attempt to block any of them." What were the priorities of the agencies? "Both agencies have targeted their enforcement efforts on relatively small players—including ice skating teachers and organists—raising questions about their enforcement priorities." Ouch.
But the subcommittee report is also a deeply political document, explicitly so. Cicilline attacks the way that these corporations finance think tanks and academics. "Through a combination of direct lobbying and funding think tanks and academics," it wrote, "the dominant platforms have expanded their sphere of influence, further shaping how they are governed and regulated." I got fired from my think tank after criticizing Google in 2017, so that section rings true to me. The platforms also engaged in routine attempts to deceive investigators, and the report is merciless about such attempts at deception. For instance, the committee asked Amazon for a list of its top ten competitors. The report authors noted that "Amazon identified 1,700 companies, including Eero (a company Amazon owns), a discount surgical supply distributor, and a beef jerky company." The report has multiple examples of such dissembling, from each company.
The report also notes the coercion they have imposed on commerce. It's one of the first things Cicilline articulated last year when starting the investigation as he started poking around, how scared businesspeople were to talk to the subcommittee. Investigators found "a prevalence of fear among market participants that depend on the dominant platforms, many of whom expressed unease that the success of their business and their economic livelihood depend on what they viewed as the platforms' unaccountable and arbitrary power."
The report is peppered with footnotes of interviews from anonymous customers and merchants who use the platforms. Said one source, "It would be commercial suicide to be in Amazon's crosshairs . . . If Amazon saw us criticizing, I have no doubt they would remove our access and destroy our business." One attorney representing app developers said they "fear retaliation by Apple" and are "worried that their private communications are being monitored, so they won't speak out against abusive and discriminatory behavior."
It's a sophisticated document, with sections analyzing industry dynamics among voice assistants and cloud computing, as well as presenting better data on the platforms themselves. Facebook, for instance, has over 200 million users in the U.S. just on its Facebook app, and is on 74% of mobile phones, which is new information. Amazon has in all likelihood over 50% of online sales, not 40% as eMarketer puts out. And I learned some new areas of anti-competitive activity, like Google requiring users of Maps APIs to have a Google Cloud Platform account, or credible allegations that Amazon Web Services engaged in "cross-business data sharing."
But the key finding was that "courts and enforcers have found the dominant platforms to engage in recidivism, repeatedly violating laws and court orders," which "raises questions about whether these firms view themselves as above the law, or whether they simply treat lawbreaking as a cost of business."
I put up a twitter thread yesterday with all the various nuggets I found interesting, but the bottom line is that the House Antitrust Subcommittee found, with lots of evidence, that these are aggressive and deceptive predatory monopolies.
Report Recommendations: Break 'Em Up
In terms of substance, what Chair David Cicilline was able to accomplish was to put out the most aggressive and important legislative document on corporate power and monopolies in decades, outpacing what enforcers all over the world have done (even my favorite, Rod Sims in Australia).
It will immediately empower regulators all over the world who have been waiting for the U.S. to legitimize real action against large technology platforms. The report also lays the foundation of a Biden administration's anti-monopoly framework, should Biden be elected. Most importantly, this report re-asserts Congress's role as the central policymaking body in America, seizing control from judges who have re-written case law in ridiculous ways, as well as slothful enforcers.
What does this report recommend, in terms of policy specifics?
Basically, Cicilline wants to fix the problem we have with big tech, make sure it doesn't recur by changing the laws that led to it, and make enforcement better by pressuring public officials and empowering ordinary citizens themselves to enforce anti-monopoly laws. So recommendations fall into four buckets: (1) a legislative break-up and restructuring of big tech platforms to restore competition online (2) a strengthening of laws against monopolies and mergers, (3) institutional reforms to fix and fund the Federal Trade Commission and DOJ Antitrust Division, and (4) restoring the ability of ordinary citizens to take monopolists to court on their own.
The premise of this report is that the tech sector is simply far too concentrated, and so Congress will have to affirmatively take steps to de-centralize power there. Cicilline recommends passing laws that would break up tech platforms, as well as imposing rules mandating that dominant platforms offer equal access to their facilities for rivals. The report notes that there are ample historical precedents, like the financial syndication rules that I wrote about last July that sustained Hollywood's creativity, or the Commodities Clause of the Hepburn Act for railroads, which blocked railroads from owning coal mines.
The report also suggests reinvigorating antitrust laws by reasserting Congress's role as the central policymaker when it comes to authoring laws, which the courts have gradually encroached on. Cicilline suggests writing statutes to overrule a host of Supreme Court precedents that have unreasonably crippled antitrust laws on things like pricing below cost or abusing one's dominant position as a platform, as well as making very clear rules on when mergers can go through and when they can't.
(WARNING - THIS PARAGRAPH IS WONKY - Areas of law to change include monopoly leveraging, predatory pricing, essential facilities doctrine, predatory design, ending special antitrust exemption for platforms (Amex), shifting the burden of proof on mergers for dominant platforms, imposing bright line market share rules for mergers, imposing a presumptive ban on future acquisitions by large platforms, imposing a presumption that vertical mergers by large platforms are unlawful, and ending arbitration clauses and re-empowering class action lawsuits)
The report also suggests more money and skepticism towards the FTC and DOJ, as well as reinvigorating the right of ordinary citizens to sue monopolists by changing a variety of legal standards and invalidating contracts that eliminate the right to sue.
Taken together, it's a big deal, and would reorient the American political economy so that small companies could once again compete and monopolization would once again be illegal.
So That's the Report. Does It Really Matter?
I've been overflowing with effusive rhetoric so far, but it's important to note that in terms of impact, the Cicilline Report is just a document with no intrinsic legal force on its own. It will require follow-on enforcement action at the agencies, or Congress to pass new laws. And cynics would argue, with what seems like a mountain of evidence, that the U.S. government is unable to do anything to constrain the powerful. In particular, Congress itself is nothing but a dysfunctional and corrupt mess. So in that sense, who cares? Wake me when Congress actually passes a law or does something beyond putting out a report, so goes this viewpoint.
I think this attitude of nihilism, while tempting, doesn't stand up to scrutiny. A little over a year ago, I wrote a piece on the Congressional investigation of the large technology firms titled "Big Tech Meets Its Pecora Commission: Why Google's Toughest Opponent Is Now Congress." I predicted two outcomes. The first was an antitrust case against Google, the second is a report from Congress calling for legislation to split up big tech platforms.
I can't tell you how many people have rolled their eyes at my optimistic outlook in this area, but they were, frankly speaking, wrong. They would scoff at the notion that Donald Trump's administration would bring a case against one of the most powerful corporation in America. And yet, a Google case is likely to be announced this week or next. My rationale here for making predictions was the same one as when I noted how the Obama administration would fail to constrain financial power, or in noting that the CARES Act would shift wealth and power upward. It's what policymakers, and perhaps voters, wanted.
Why do policymakers and voters want to break up monopolies now, when they didn't before? It's perhaps too simple to even be accepted as a reason, but it's actually quite simple. We the people changed our minds. To put it a different way, the norms have shifted, radically.
This happens sometimes in American history. Just twenty years ago, the idea of gay marriage was politically unthinkable, and Howard Dean was considered a lunatic for proposing civil unions. Today gay marriage is broadly accepted, and young people don't give it a second thought. As another example, in 1995, a majority of Americans didn't approve of interracial marriage, today that number is at 8%. Not only have our minds and attitudes changed, but people today who opposed either interracial or gay marriage don't admit or maybe don't even remember doing so. It just seems crazy to think that we might have thought that way. And policy changed, in line with attitude.
In some ways, that is how norms are shifting around monopoly and corporate power. Today, the anti-monopoly position increasingly seems to be the default. It isn't that everyone agrees, but that even opponents see anti-monopoly sentiment as the conventional wisdom.
But from 1980-2016, the idea of taking on monopolies was considered fringe. For instance, in the early 1980s, The Economist wrote a profile of Ronald Reagan's antitrust chief Bill Baxter, whose great accomplishment was to begin the shutting down of antitrust in America. Baxter fought the Supreme Court's 'wacko' decisions maintaining monopolization standards, refused to enforce anti-merger laws, and dropped the major antitrust case against IBM, signaling to Wall Street and corporate America that it was time for a historic merger wave. "John D. Rockefeller would have liked a trust-buster like Baxter," wrote the magazine.
What's astonishing about what Baxter did is not just what he did, but that he did it with virtually no opposition. When The Economist noted how Rockefeller would appreciate Baxter's way of doing antitrust, it wasn't a criticism, it was a compliment. And this pro-concentration philosophy continued, unchallenged, for decades.
Even into much of the Obama Presidency, virtually no one gave a second thought to monopoly power. It's almost impossible to remember the excitement of Facebook helping to launch Barack Obama in 2007, both progressive symbols of hope, change, and a better future, or the odes of tech platforms as they offered themselves as beacons of freedom during the Arab Spring in 2011. Many Obama alums went to work at Facebook or Google which, in their view, was continuing their good progressive work they had done at the White House. And it was pretty much taken for granted that Hillary Clinton would be appointing Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg as Treasury Secretary. This pro-monopoly conventional wisdom is impossible to remember because it's so embarrassing.
And this was not some elite plot among Democratic or Republican leaders, either, appreciation for monopoly power was widely held. During the Occupy Wall Street protests in 2011, for instance, hundreds of protesters at Zuccotti park offered a moment of silence to honor, upon his death, the iconic billionaire Steve Jobs (and yes, Jobs shows up as a monopolist in the Cicilline Report). There were an endless number of tweets and comments lauding the Apple co-founder, with lefty anarchist types explaining that Steve Jobs might be of the 1%, but he wasn't like the Wall Street types they disdained. Here's a sample tweet promoting Apple's branding campaign.
Sara Ackerman 🐺🗽 @saramikaila
"because the ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do" -Steve Jobs #OccupyWallStreet
2:42 PM ∙ Oct 6, 2011
I don't say this to criticize Occupy Wall Street or anyone who lauded Google or Facebook, but to show that five, ten, fifteen, twenty five years ago, most of us though very differently than we do today.
To pick a few data points from this month at random, Donald Trump, no great brainiac, attacked Bloomberg's monopoly publicly, and just tweeted that we should repeal Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Last week, hedge fund consultant Austin Goolsbee, a former top Obama advisor, wrote a New York Times piece with the title, Big Companies Are Starting to Swallow the World. Oh, and The Economist that lauded Baxter for killing antitrust? Today that magazine is attacking Joe Biden for being insufficiently aggressive on market power. That's today's conventional wisdom. In other words, it's hard to conceptualize just how radically our politics has changed from the slothful system and intellectual environment in which we have inhabited for forty years. The norms have shifted.
One consequence of a norm-shift is that old attitudes seem almost unreal. So we forget, and pretend we always knew better. In fact, many like Goolsbee, as well as Obama era enforcers, are protecting their own reputations. Last week, for instance, Bill Baer, who was the head of the Antitrust Division towards the end of the Obama administration and constantly bragged about how well he had done as an enforcer, was forced to admit in a Congressional hearing that he had failed as an enforcer. He explained that he was weak in his enforcement choices, but that's because "today's debate hadn't really begun." And he's not wrong about that, but if we recognized norm shifting, Baer would have to acknowledge that his expertise is largely in doing antitrust wrong.
Just as Baer comforts himself by pretending he always knew better even though he demonstrably did not, it's comfortable for all of us to wallow in powerlessness, to pretend that we can't act through our democracy, instead of recognizing that we just didn't realize monopolies were a problem until recently. To do otherwise means acknowledging that our political icons - Obama, Trump, Clinton, Reagan, etc - were actually not what we thought they were. Large numbers of political thinkers find it too painful to recognize that policymakers and voters made bad choices, so instead they comfort themselves with by pretending that they can't make any choices at all.
Of course it doesn't help that this stuff, though incredibly fun and interesting, is hard to learn. The language of structuring corporations and banks and markets is a political language, and it has been heavily confused and polluted by the Chicago School. It's easier to ignore political economy entirely, which is what most of our TV media does.
So recognizing such a shift is embarrassing and requires tossing away our political icons, as well as learning new political discourse. And yet, without doing so, the world makes no sense. A world where we imagine the government can't act will increasingly diverge from reality as the government does act. It's not just this report, or the Google antitrust suit. Last week, the Senate Commerce Committee subpoena'd the CEOs of Google, Facebook, and Twitter, with a unanimous vote, and the press barely noticed. Dislike of big tech's power has become the conventional wisdom, so much so that it's become boring.
The reality is that we live in a democratic society, where what the people think matters. The reason that we didn't constrain the powerful with the rule of law is that large swaths of the public and institutional players in business, academia, and politics - including and especially powerful Democratic leaders like Barack Obama - in fact did not believe in doing so. And now, as simple as it sounds, many of these people have changed their minds.
In other words, there has been a massive shift in norms, and one can only understand the massive forces at work if can see that shift clearly.
So now it's time for action, and this report is the beginning of real action. While the subcommittee was led by Democrats, in particular Chair David Cicilline, there is Republican support for addressing monopolies. Republican Ken Buck, a conservative from Colorado, released his own additional views to the report, in which he and a bloc of fellow Republicans agreed with Cicilline's diagnosis of the problem, though he suggested a milder set of remedies. Then there's the leader of Republicans on the committee, Jim Jordan, who dissented from the report (with a document probably financed and written by antitrust lawyers working for Google, Amazon, and Facebook), but even he called for changes to telecommunications law.
Having multiple competing points of view on a complex problem isn't unusual; in fact it's the norm throughout American history. And working through these different points of view is actually how the legislative and political process works. Cicilline has laid out a clear marker, and his report represents the most likely path for legislation and action over the next four years.
But you don't have to take my word for it. The Cowen Washington Research Group, which is a pretty orthodox investment analysis firm, has a similar view.
Our take: Given bipartisan concerns with Big Tech, we believe passage of a new antitrust statute in 2021 is quite realistic. If Democrats sweep in November, the odds of passage would rise and the specifics become more anti-platform because Democrats could well eliminate the Senate filibuster, which would reduce Republican blocking power. But even in an all-Democratic Washington, legislation to actually break up or structurally separate these American champion companies is likely to be a tougher sell. Finally, regardless of whether any legislation passes, we think the depth of this report – Congress' first in decades on antitrust – will become the Democrats' center of gravity on tech platforms if Biden wins. It also could provide cover (or pressure) for DOJ/FTC/state AGs to file tech antitrust lawsuits this year and next even under existing laws.
That's why in my view, it's hard to overstate the importance of what David Cicilline and the House Subcommittee just accomplished. This report, and the investigation upon which it sits, represent a radical shift in the American balance of power, moving back who governs from private monopolists to public institutions. It will be explosive abroad, because enforcers in other countries have been held back by American timidity. It's also a reassertion of Congress as the central policymaking body in America, retrieving that from unaccountable judges and flaccid and bloated executive branch. I suspect that over the next four years, large technology platforms will be broken up, and policymakers in the U.S. are going to restructure our economy.
It's hard to imagine this happening. I admit I have trouble recognizing the implications of the predictions I'm making. Then again, it was hard for most of us to imagine President Trump, until President Trump happened. The bottom line is that if we refuse to recognize the reality that norms in our society have shifted massively over the past four years, we are leaving out key political evidence that can help us understand the world we are entering.
Thanks for reading. Send me tips, stories I've missed, or comment by clicking on the title of this newsletter. And if you liked this issue of BIG, you can sign up here for more issues of BIG, a newsletter on how to restore fair commerce, innovation and democracy. If you really liked it, read my book, Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy.
P.S. Hey antitrust lawyers, here are some job options in the Department of Justice Antitrust division. Apply!
Trial Attorney (Digital Markets Counsel)
Trial Attorney (Appellate Division)
P.P.S. I got this super-sharp email from a high school student, based on the last issue I wrote where I mentioned the edtech software monopoly Clever.
I'm a high school student in North Carolina, and I always enjoy reading your newsletter. When I saw that you had mentioned Clever, I felt the urge to write to you about it. In my school district, we use both Clever and Google Apps for Education. In general, the educational space seems to be full of monopolies and duopolies. From what I can tell, almost all school districts contract with Microsoft or Google for their email and technology. This locks them into an ecosystem of Chromebooks or Surfaces and dictates most of the rest of their technological choices. That's all well known, but one problem that I experience and don't see discussed is how this facilitates the usage of too much software and disregard for student privacy. In any given week, I often have to use ten or fifteen different applications across my different classes. I sign into most of these through Clever or Google OAuth, and teachers do too. As a result, no one seems to stop and consider how many different companies have our data or what that means for students. I'm not sure whether that fits into anything broader you want to write about educational monopolies, but that's just how this one affects me, so I thought it might be helpful. You're probably aware of the various educational monopolies, but I'll list some because I imagine it can be difficult to find them all from the outside. The obvious ones are the College Board, the Common Application, and Pearson, who owns PowerSchool, a grade management platform, but I also see one in Naviance.
While I'm writing to you, I thought I'd also mention another monopoly I see. I don't know much about this one, but I also see a growing monopoly of government information in Municode, a vendor for municipal codification and code management applications. They don't yet hold a monopoly, but with the no-cost model and consistent growth, I see it coming.
I hope that some of this is of use to you.
Benjamin Knight
The kids are alright.
Oct 7, 2020Liked by Matt Stoller
The fact that Google Cloud Platform account is needed to get a google maps account is honestly not a super big deal from a bundling perspective, the map keys had previously been managed in their own weird dashboard that was hard to access, and you always wondered, why the hell isn't this managed the same way as all the other stuff you do in google?
No the thing that's monopolistic is the way they tie together all the various parts of the google maps API, specifically in web browsers and do not let you use them separately. The main parts are
1. A set of basemaps
2. A geocoding service for looking up addresses
3. A directions service for routing from point A to point B
4. A library for displaying maps on a web page.
You are not allowed to load the basemaps, or display results from the geocoding or directions service using any other library, which is often a problem since the google maps JavaScript API has stagnated and not kept up with the features of other map libraries or even with the features on the main google maps website.
The other thing they do is you are banned from saving the results of geocoding or directions queries. If you want to add lat longs to spread sheet of addresses you have, there is no amount of money google will take to let you do that.
That being said in the GIS world they are in many ways the scrappy upstart because the 1000 pound gorilla in the room is the company ESRI which has managed to roll up the governmental mapping space so tightly that many people use the term 'GIS' interchangeably with 'ArcGIS' to refer to their flagship desktop software. The company I work for used to be a business partner with them, until we started doing some google maps work and got ourselves kicked out of the program. When ended up probably being a blessing in disguise since ESRI started competing directly with their business partners for work.
Thanks for the great work in the monopoly sphere, understanding monopoly power has been a great way to expand my knowledge of the economy at large and I'm really glad to see your newsletter is reaching high school age people too!
I work in the advertising industry, specifically film production or content as its now called, video stock footage is a growing business as more and more companies use video as part of their marketing, stock footage can play a part by keeping costs down for small and medium sized enterprises. As someone who both creates the video content and buys it depending on a clients' budget I think it can be very useful.
However today I checked up on the largest name in the business: Shutterstock which provides photo and video content as well as a range of new services. I was considering putting some of our video archive onto Shutterstock in order to make some passive income so I checked the payment structure, to my shock it is volume weighted and extreme! As a content owner/creator you receive between 15% and 40% of the sale, Shutterstock gets between 85% - 60% of every sale - yes you read that correctly, the people that make the thing being sold get a pittance of the sale. In order to get the 40% you need to shift 25,000 clips per year first. Now I know from first hand experience that search-ability for videos is very important, but this price structure seems insane to me as the most work (VALUE) is on the content side. It made me think of the Uber mode and I immediately started to think it has to be a monopoly where content creators cannot go anywhere else. I hope this sparks an interest in you as I'd love to know more.
Devin Peters


text:
West elevation, Christ Church, Raleigh, North Carolina
Christ Church (Raleigh, N.C.)
Historic Architecture Research. Project Records (UA110.041)
Contact us about this resource
Gothic revival (Architecture)
Original Format:
Measured drawing
scale: undetermined; 483mm x 610mm
Item identifier:
bh022205201
Delineator:
Small, George Milton, III more info on Small, George Milton, III
Wilday, Peter Bennet more info on Wilday, Peter Bennet
Jenkins, Edward Lee, Jr. more info on Jenkins, Edward Lee, Jr.
Elevations (architectural drawings)
Raleigh (N.C.)
Digital Project:
Special Collections Research Center at NC State University Libraries
Historic Architecture Research. Project Records (UA110.041) held by Special Collections Research Center at NC State University Libraries
Note field:
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For questions regarding copyright or permissions, please refer to our Reproduction, Use, Citation, and Copyright page (http://d.lib.ncsu.edu/collections/about)
Digitization of this image was partially supported with federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds made possible through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources.
Building: Christ Church -- Christ Episcopal Church (Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina)
Upjohn, Richard, 1802-1878 more info on Upjohn, Richard, 1802-1878
Upjohn, Hobart Brown, 1876-1949 more info on Upjohn, Hobart Brown, 1876-1949
Carpenter:
Martindale, Justin, 1804- more info on Martindale, Justin, 1804-
Stonemason:
Findlater, Robert, circa 1808-1856 more info on Findlater, Robert, circa 1808-1856
Puttick, James, circa 1807-circa 1860 more info on Puttick, James, circa 1807-circa 1860
Whitelaw, John more info on Whitelaw, John, mason
Keller, H. P. S. (Harry P. S.), 1869-1938 more info on Keller, H. P. S. (Harry P. S.), 1869-1938
120 E. Edenton Street
Architectural note:
The cloister and the belltower were built in 1859 to 1861 as part of Richard Upjohn's original design. The chapel, parish house, stone altar, and reredos were added from 1914 to 1915 by Hobart Upjohn and H. P. S. Keller.
The church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and as a National Historical Landmark.
Latitude, Longitude:
Map: Christ Church (Raleigh, N.C.)
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Jesus said in Matthew 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations". Making disciples should be the number one priority of the body of Christ. Jesus also said in Luke 14:33, "So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple." Many leaders have disobeyed the command of Jesus Christ and have resorted to preaching a watered down, candy coated message in order to gain a larger congregation. In the book "Reveal: Where Are You?" by Greg Hawkins and Cally Parkinson published by the Willow Creek Association in 2007, Bill Hybels readily admits that "if you simply want a crowed, the 'seeker sensitive' model produces results. If you want solid, sincere, mature followers of Christ, it's a bust". However, any method or program we use that is not aimed at producing authentic disciples is in direct contradiction to our Lord Jesus Christ's commands, and does a disservice to the Lord and to His people. Jesus was more interested in making quality disciples than the quantity in attendance. Jesus wanted believers who were truly sold out, who were whole heartedly committed to Him, and who were loyal and faithful to Him alone. He wanted it then and still wants it today!
The present state and condition of the Church, the body of Christ, is in decline and according to statistics it will continue to do so. There are over 133,000 denominations in the world and many of them, along with many independent churches, make the Word of God of no effect by their traditions, just as the scribes and the Pharisees as stated by Jesus in Matthew 15:6b. They have opted for a seeker sensitive, candy coated, easy grace Christianity, giving people an institutionalized program based, "status quo" Christianity that fails to make disciples who truly know Jesus Christ intimately and have learned to be led by the Holy Spirit (Rom.8:14; Phil.3:8-11). This "status quo" Christianity allows a believer to continue to live a life with no change from the world; and it does not call or steer them into the intimate personal relationship with Jesus Christ, which is needed to become an authentic disciple of Christ. It teaches them why they should believe and may strengthen their "belief", but it does not grow them in the Christian walk, surrendered and "sold out" to Christ. Those who promote this type of "status quo" Christianity are being wilfully disobedient to the Lord and are doing a huge disservice to believers who listen.
Proof of the decline of the body of Christ is confirmed in a recent report by Barna Research Group as well as other reports by other organizations. The Barna Group report reveals that only 9% of Christian teenagers believe in moral absolutes ("Truth" with a capital "T"). The Assembly of God denomination estimates somewhere between 65% and 70% of their teenagers will depart from the faith by the time they leave high school. Even worse, the Southern Baptist Council on Family estimates 88% will depart from the faith by the time they leave high school. Jeremiah films reports that 80% of believers send their kids to public schools and that 75% of teenage Christian believers will depart from the faith their first year in college. We are losing our children, the next generation, because we are not teaching them how to be disciples.
True discipleship is about loving God and our neighbour or others as we learn to walk in obedience to the Lord. Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-40, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the prophets." Jesus also said in John 13:34-35, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." Discipleship is not about the number in attendance during "services," it is about teaching believers to live a surrendered life by developing an intimate relationship with the Lord that results in obedience to Him. 1 John 5:2-3 says, "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome." It is about dying to our self interests and our self-centred ways and choosing to live our life out of love and obedience to Him. Discipleship is all about learning to love God and others through our obedience to Him and His Word. As we do we begin to reflect His character in our lives as we are being transformed and conformed into His image.
Jesus said in the book of John 14:21, "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." Jesus tells us that those who truly love the Lord are those who keep His commandments and that those who keep His commandments will be loved by the Father. Jesus said that He would also love the one who keeps his commandments and will manifest Himself to him, but the promise is to those who obey Him by keeping His commandments. Authentic disciples who have forsaken all to follow Jesus Christ to love and obey Him will experience the abundant life full of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (John 10:10; Romans 14:17).
Ronald Reagan once said, "Status quo, you know, that is Latin for the mess we're in." Should we be leaving believers in their mess, or teaching them to live a life of surrender in obedience to the Lordship of Jesus Christ? Isn't it time the Church, the body of Christ, got back to making disciples!
Will you join the revolution of making disciples?


The oil is cloudy. Is it normal?
Yes, it is. The extra virgin olive oil is cloudy during the months after the harvesting. This cloudiness will disappear as time passed and a dark sediment could appear at the bottom of the bottle, which will stay there unless you don't shake the bottle. Anyway the cloudiness and the dark sediment are quality and naturalness signs.
How much time can the olive oil be preserved?
The olive oil can be preserved even for a year and half. Anyway is better to consume the oil within a year so that the product don't lose its organoleptic properties.
Where can I keep my oil?
The olive oil should be kept in a cool dry place and should not be exposed to excessive heat to avoid the oxidation. This is why Cuvea have chosen dark bottles for our extra virgin olive oil. In fact, the dark bottle protects the oil from the sunlight that can damage the olive oil organoleptic properties.
How can your website protect my personal data?
To protect your personal information our website use the SSL cryptographic protocol (Secure Sockets Layer) that provides communication security over the Internet. SSL encrypts the segments of network connections above the Transport Layer, using asymmetric cryptography for key exchange, symmetric encryption for privacy, and message authentication codes for message integrity. In this way the protection of your data is ensured from prowler's faking and interception.
Is safe buying on your website using my credit card?
Yes, is safe. When you buy on our shop online you enter your credit card data on a Paypal that is the most secure and popular online payment service in use today.
Do I need a Paypal account to buy on your website?
No, you don't need a Paypal account to buy on our website because, but you can choose your credit card: Visa, Visa Electron, Mastercard, Maestro, American Express, Direct Debit.
How much time does my order takes to arrive?
On average, our products take from 3 to 4 workings days to arrive at your home.
If my products are damaged what can I do?
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Here I am on September 23, 2007 getting ready for my first Open House Night during my very first year as an elementary school teacher. I was actually deemed a long term sub that year for two teachers on maternity leave. But the following year (2008), I finally had my own classroom to call my very own!
As a 4th/5th grade teacher, I always tried to find ways to integrate technology into my classroom and I would always be the first to volunteer when new technology was brought into the school. For example, I wasn't afraid to let my students use PowerPoint as a project tool when no one else would. I also didn't hesitate when the opportunity arose to try out a new SMART Interactive Whiteboard.
That was then, and this is now. Now, I am a Technology Coordinator. I still work at the same school, but instead of teaching a single class a variety of different subjects I teach my three grade levels my hobby, Technology! I've always had a fascination with Technology growing up. Would that make me a digital native? I remember our very first gaming console, the Atari 2600, and my first handheld gaming system, the Gameboy. As well as our very first family computer and the excitement of digging through bins at the electronics stores for cool new games. I can't remember the make or model of our family PC, but I remember what it looked like and YIKES! But, look how far we've come!
As I type this, I'm working on a brand new iMac, syncing my iTouch, and looking for a recipe to cook tonight on my iPad. Technology was amazing then and it's still amazing now!
I've been working as a Technology Coordinator for almost 2 years now and I love every minute of it! Well, maybe not every minute. I don't really enjoy having to go check on a teacher's printer issue, only to find that the teacher didn't turn the printer on. But, I do enjoy most of what I do! Especially the part when I get to teach my students and teachers new and exciting ways to use technology.
So this is partly why I've created this blog, Technocation. I want a venue for showcasing the projects and challenges that I face in my profession. I want to show the world what extraordinary things we are doing at my school with our students and our classrooms and I want to share our challenges as well. Because, let's face it, we're not perfect. We're not there yet when it comes to technology. Will we ever be there? Probably not.
So I hope you will check my blog every now and again to see what I've been up and feel free to leave a comment and connect with me through one of the many social networks I belong to.


text:
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Given China's belligerence, Indian Army should improve defences in Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir
India David Devadas Jul 01, 2017 13:47:42 IST
The army ought to beef up deployment in the Kishtwar area, to guard an arc from the Keylong pass on the Manali-Leh road to Padar and beyond. As things stand, most of the army deployment under the Northern Command is oriented to the Pakistan threat.
To be sure, the current government has upped the deployment on the eastern front in the area controlled by the Northern Command from one brigade to three. Tripling deployment sounds good, but even that barely adds up to a division — not the sort of force that would deter China's People's Liberation Army (PLA).
Representational image. PTI
The reason I point to Kishtwar is that the real 'great game' over Jammu and Kashmir is not over human rights or religious solidarity. Pakistani analysts have long acknowledged that water is the most vital geostrategic objective. And, of the three major rivers that flow through the state, the most strategically vital is the Chenab, which flows from Kishtwar.
On the one hand, whichever force were firmly entrenched in the mountainous and forested Kishtwar area would be tough to pry out. On the other hand, Kishtwar is an extraordinarily strategic location. It connects with Himachal, the Kashmir Valley, and Ladakh.
Of course, at this juncture, the priority that weighs heavy on China and Pakistan is to secure the Economic Corridor project, which passes through the state of Jammu and Kashmir. They would want to secure a legal title by placing India under maximum duress. In the bargain, both would wish to secure as much of the state's abundant water resources.
Extraordinary source
The Chenab is formed by the confluence of the Chandra and the Bhaga tributaries. The two rivulets are already quite strong by the time they meet a little above Kishtwar to form the powerful channel of the mighty Chenab.
It is over the various projects on the Chenab, mainly between Kishtwar and Ramban, that Pakistan has complained repeatedly. Pakistan views these projects as violating the Indus Water Treaty. More pertinent is the fact that the area around Kishtwar would offer intruders far safer hideouts and billets, and it would be tougher to expel intruders from there than from the environs of the state's other two major rivers — the Jhelum and the Indus.
The Chandra and the Bhaga meander through beautiful and thickly-forested mountains. Whichever power controls that neck of the woods holds great strategic advantage.
Those forests would provide extraordinary cover to any force that dug in. They also connect to Ladakh on the one hand, to the Kashmir Valley on another, and to Himachal in a third direction.
That last direction takes one to the lifeline of Ladakh, the Manali-Leh highway. It has become a far more vital link for the Leh district to connect with the rest of the country than the route through the Kashmir Valley.
On the other hand, it is through Kishtwar that the renowned Dogra general Zorawar Singh led his troops on through Padar and over the main Himalayan range to Ladakh. He conquered the vast areas beyond by leading his army from Padar to Padam and then on to Kargil and then Leh on the one hand and Skardu on another.
Less exposed
The state's other two major rivers are less strategically exposed than the Chenab. The source of the Indus is in any case in China, and there isn't much that India does with the water of the Indus as it flows through Ladakh until it crosses the Line of Control beyond Batalik.
The Jhelum rises gently at Verinag in the south of the Kashmir Valley and flows majestically north through the Valley. For the most part, it is placid until it passes Baramulla. For most of its course until then, it is flanked by relatively flat plains which do not pose a challenge for a defending army.
In any case, the Chenab is the southernmost of these three major rivers of the state. A foreign power would seek to control the Chenab if it wished to cut Indian forces off from the rest of the state — the Kashmir Valley and the vast expanses of Ladakh.
Kishtwar district itself is a vast area, the country's third largest district in area — after Leh and Kargil districts. The area of Kishtwar district alone is half that of the entire Kashmir Valley.
Updated Date: Jul 01, 2017 13:47:42 IST
Tags : Chenab, China, CriticalPoint, India, Jammu And Kashmir, Kishtwar, Ladakh, Pakistan, Terrorism, Valley, Water
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1Given China's belligerence, Indian Army should improve defences in Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir
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