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Weekly Cannabis News
EP91 Plain Jane Hemp
Evan from Plain Jane Hemp - "Plain Jane is a cannabis company focused on making the smoothest, cleanest, most odorless cannabis products on the market. Their hemp rolls were designed to be an alternative to tobacco, allowing them to be sold and consumed everywhere that cigarettes are currently. They process their hemp to remove terpenes and toxins from the plant to give you a low-smell, smooth product that you can feel comfortable smoking just about anywhere.
//CANNABIS NEWS// May 13 - May 20, 2019
//HEADLINES//
The last few of weeks in the Oregon cannabis industry have been filled with confusion, accusations, and pain over announcements made by Phylos Bioscience. Last week, news broke that in relation to that situation, the Open Cannabis Project (OCP) is shutting down on May 31. The Open Cannabis Project was dedicated to charting the chemical and genetic characteristics of different strains, in the hopes of creating an open-source archival record of strains, which could benefit science and prevent corporations from patenting strains that have already been in existence. "Through it all, and despite our best efforts, we've been called a fraud, a scam and a cover for some kind of secret plot. At first, we thought it was simply a technical misunderstanding of the subject matter. Now we know that there is truth to some of these fears. For those of us who were brought into OCP as it separated from Phylos, we came on board because we sincerely believe in protecting small growers and breeders during this crucial transition to a legal market. We also feel we have been deceived. As a result, no matter what we do as an organization going forward, Open Cannabis Project will never escape this deception." The "deception" is something she attributes to a recently released video of Phylos CEO Mowgli Holmes speaking at an investor conference in February in Florida (because of course it would be Florida). As Schechter writes, "According to Dr. Holmes, Phylos now considers itself a 'legacy data company' and the genetic sequencing and sex test services they provide growers and breeders only exist to support the breeding project. Some of the statements Dr. Holmes made dismiss the work of the very breeders who contributed to their research and suggest that their breeding project will create 'outrageous new strains' to replace them. Dr. Holmes's presentation to investors confirms many of the fears the community has had about Phylos' intentions for years."
The head of the White House's drug policy office was asked about marijuana, CBD and racial inequities in treatment access during a congressional appearance on Thursday. Rep. Jim Jorden (R-OH) kicked off the cannabis questioning during the House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing on the opioid crisis by asking both Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Director James Carroll and a Florida sheriff about their positions on "liberalizing marijuana laws" in the country. The sheriff flatly said he was "1,000 percent" against it and peddled a gateway drug theory . . . Carroll's response was only somewhat less alarmist. "What we've seen is that the marijuana we have today is nothing like what it was when I was a kid, when I was in high school," he said. "Back then the THC, the ingredient in marijuana that makes you high, was in the teens in terms of the percentage. Now what we're seeing is twice that, three times that, in the plant." He added that edible marijuana can have THC levels as high as 90 percent and said that, at this point, the government doesn't understand how such products impact health. "We're doing more research," he said. "[The Drug Enforcement Administration] is working hard, [the Department of Health and Human Services] is working hard, to make sure that we understand the impact of legalization of marijuana on the body."
The Oregon Senate voted to legalize interstate marijuana imports and exports. A change in federal policy is required for the legislation's provisions to take effect, but the vote itself is a first for any state. The Oregon Senate passed a landmark bill on Wednesday that would let the governor make agreements with other states to provide for the exportation and importation of marijuana products across state lines—but it will only go into effect if the federal government changes its own policies to allow such activity. Oregon senators approved the legislation in a 19 to 9 vote, and it now heads to the House. Producers, wholesalers and researchers would be able to take cannabis across state lines if the government forges an agreement with the receiving state. There would also be requirements related to the health, safety and labeling standards, and the products would have to be tracked. Any marijuana coming into Oregon would have to be tested and meet the state's quality control standards. However, the Oregon bill to legalize marijuana social use areas is reportedly dead.
//Politics//
Cheddar— Former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld told Cheddar Friday he will stay on the board of medical cannabis company Acreage Holdings while on the campaign trail toward a long-shot effort to oust President Trump in the 2020 presidential election. "Until being elected," Weld told Cheddar. "Once you get elected, I don't think that's such a good idea. But I'll stay on the board during the campaign. I enjoy that a lot." Another familiar face out of Washington ー and "pal" of Weld's ー former Speaker of the House John Boehner also sits on the board at Acreage. "[Boehner] had been implacably opposed to legalization of marijuana when he was Speaker of the House. And he changed his mind when his constituents changed their mind," Weld said.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) reintroduced a bill aimed at solving border issues faced by marijuana industry participants, and to prevent immigrants from being deported over state-legal cannabis use.
//Medical, Health & Research//
A review conducted by Leafly concluded that "Crime near licensed dispensaries has generally stayed flat or decreased, teen cannabis use in legal states has fallen since legalization, and property values near cannabis outlets generally are not affected or, in some cases, experience a greater value increase than comparable properties not near a cannabis outlet."
A study found that "dogs in the CBD group had a significant reduction in seizure frequency, compared with the placebo group" but that "the proportion of dogs considered responders to treatment was similar between groups."
A study found that Italy's legalization of sales of low-THC "light cannabis" led to "a reduction in dispensed packets of opioids, anxiolytics, sedatives, anti-migraines, antiepileptics, anti-depressives and anti-psychotics." The researchers cited the "relaxant properties of CBD" as one reason.
A study comparing the harms of various substances found that "alcohol was the most harmful drug when harm to users and harm to others was combined."
A study concluded that "recreational cannabis legalisation is associated with neutral effects on healthcare utilisation" and "is linked to an increase in motor vehicle accidents, alcohol abuse, overdose injuries and a decrease in chronic pain admissions."
A study found that "black males had a 2.2% point decrease in the relative probability of college enrollment after the passage of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986."
A study found that states see significant reductions in the severity of injuries stemming from domestic violence after the enactment of marijuana decriminalization, although there is not a drop in overall domestic violence incidents.
//Industry, Business & Financial//
The National Association of State Budget Officers published an overview of issues that states face when implementing marijuana legalization.
A survey found that 82% of banking executives want the federal government to allow financial services providers to do business with the marijuana industry.
//Legal//
NAACP, ACLU and criminal justice groups are calling to suspend the Drug Enforcement Administration's enforcement activities until greater congressional oversight is exercised. "Its approach is heavy-handed, ineffective, unscientific, and deeply damaging to communities in this country, particular communities of color who bear the negative impact of the drug war more than others do."
Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said he has a lot of concerns about marijuana legalization but that he thinks "the federal government at some point is going to have to contemplate a federal scheme" to "put the federal government back into some kind of harmony with the states where there's some kind of federal regulation."
The Drug Enforcement Administration's Los Angeles office tweeted, "#DEA is targeting #cannabis and you will land in federal prison."
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) issued pardons for people convicted of marijuana and other drug offenses.
A 2020 Department of Justice spending bill released by a House subcommittee includes state medical cannabis protections but not a broader rider shielding adult-use marijuana laws from federal interference.
//Hemp//
FDA's 'March Assault'. The game forever changed on March 28, when, teamed with the FTC, the FDA issued warning letters to three CBD product sellers alleging false, unfounded, unsubstantiated and egregious health claims about their products' ability to limit, treat or cure without sufficient evidence or FDA approval and threatening product seizures, injunctions and sales proceeds reimbursement. The targets—Advanced Spine and Pain/Relievus (a South Jersey and Pennsylvania pain clinic chain), Nutra Pure (a Washington CBDPure brand soft caps and oils manufacturer and seller), and PotNetwork Holdings (a Florida Liquid Gold Gummies manufacturer and seller)—advertised a range of CBD-containing supplements boasting the ability to effectively treat diseases (including cancer, Alzheimer's and fibromyalgia) and "neuropsychiatric disorders" in both humans and animals. The warning letter apprises Relievus that its website's claims establish that Relievus products are drugs under Section 201(g) of the FDA Act because they are "intended for use in the cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of disease" although the products are:
Not generally recognized as safe and effective for these uses and, therefore, rendered "new drugs" under Section 201(p) of the FDA Act that are barred from being introduced into interstate commerce without prior FDA approval (which is solely provided on the basis of scientific data and information demonstrating that drug is safe and effective);
Misbranded under Section 502(f)(1) of the FDA Act for failing to bear adequate "intended use(s) directions" defined as "directions under which a layperson can use a drug safely and for the {intended} purposes" or as "prescription drugs" which "can only be used safely at the direction, and under the supervision, of a licensed practitioner"; and
Intended for treatment of one or more diseases that are not amenable to self-diagnosis or treatment without a licensed practitioner's supervision" and for which it is "impossible to write adequate directions for a layperson to use your products safely for their intended purposes."
Relievus' warning letter also apprises that it is unlawful under the FTC Act "to advertise that a product can prevent, treat or cure human disease" unless possessing competent and reliable scientific evidence (including well-controlled human clinical studies, substantiating that claims are true at the time of making) and of the FTC's concern that Relievus' efficacy claims are not substantiated by competent and reliable scientific evidence. The warning letters instruct Relievus, Nutra Pure and PotNetwork to notify the FDA and FTC within 15 days of specific actions taken to address these concerns and threaten legal action including product seizures, injunctions and reimbursement of all sales proceeds.
Top executives from Target, Walmart, Kroger and Safeway are reportedly meeting with CBD companies about potentially selling their products.
Saks Fifth Avenue is selling CBD products.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed an industrial hemp bill into law. The bill allows licensed growers to cultivate the crop on up to 40 acres (161874.4 sq. meters) but before that can begin the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship must develop a plan and submit it for approval of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA must still release its own regulations this fall and hopes to have things in place for farmers to begin hemp growing during the 2020 planting season.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is pushing to include provisions clarifying that hemp is eligible for federal crop insurance in a disaster relief funding bill.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) signed a bill allowing the sale of hemp-derived CBD products.
//Culture & Lifestyle//
On at least three occasions over the past month or so, Jeopardy quizzed participants about their knowledge of marijuana and psychedelic drugs. And one man, James Holzhauer got all three questions right.
BIlly Ray Cyrus has a new marijuana-themed music video.
The New York Times is asking people to share stories about how Colorado's marijuana legalization law has affected them.
The latest episode of American Dad featured a Wonka-style marijuana factory, with Snoop Dogg voicing a character name Tommie Tokes.
//International//
Switzerland moves closer to legalization. Just as the European market could not get any more interesting, the Swiss Federal Commission for Addiction Issues has called for cannabis to be decriminalized and the market to finally be regulated. This recommendation comes on the heels of pharmacies kicking of a lobbying effort to dispense cannabis and a parliamentary proposal to start a pilot project allowing 5,000 Swiss citizens to legally use cannabis.
Italy's interior minister is threatening to close the country's low-THC cannabis shops. In a move seen as more bluster than substance, an Italian official vowed to close all "cannabis light" shops in the country.
"A war starts today, street by street, shop by shop, district by district, city by city," Italy's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Matteo Salvini said while addressing a meeting of representatives from drug recovery organizations.
"Cannabis light" – defined as cannabis with THC levels below 0.2% – was approved in Italy in 2017.
The United Nations has announced the new member state roster for the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, which is set to vote next March on rescheduling marijuana and its components under international drug treaties.
A Nigerian governor is touring cannabis operations in Thailand to inform plans for his state to grow marijuana.
The Ukrainian Parliament's Human Rights, National Minorities and Interethnic Relations Committee filed a medical cannabis bill in response to a citizen petition.
Israel's health ministry is removing marijuana from the country's list of dangerous drugs, which will allow its sales in pharmacies.
Brazil's Senate approved legislation to increase penalties for selling drugs and force consumers to enter treatment.
Mexico's interior secretary said the country "has marijuana of the highest quality" and "our ancestors used it in their rituals."
//Northeast//
New York City's ban on most pre-employment marijuana testing was enacted into law without the signature of Mayor Bill de Blasio (D), despite the fact that he said last month he "will sign that bill."
Medical Marijuana Oils Pulled from Shelves at 13 Out of 15 Dispensaries in Ohio. The oils were pulled from the shelves this week after a labeling error was discovered by the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy.
//The Southeast//
Louisiana House Backs Legal Hemp and CBD. House Bill 491 as amended would clarify the law and allow CBD to be sold legally in Louisiana as long as it is not smoked or included in food or beverages.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed a hemp bill into law. It authorizes certain academic research of hemp and provides for licensing and permit requirements for hemp growers and hemp processors,
Arkansas medical cannabis sales began. The prices will be high and the waits may be long, but David Couch, the Little Rock attorney who drafted the constitutional amendment that made Arkansas the 33rd state to legalize medical marijuana, said the first day of sales will be a significant one. He noted that it has been more than 900 days since Arkansans voted to legalize the drug in November 2016, when they approved Amendment 98 to the Arkansas Constitution.
//The Midwest//
Illinois' New Adult-Use Cannabis Legalization Bill Focuses on Social Justice. The legislation outlines an expungement process, as well as benefits for business license applicants most directly impacted by prohibition.
Colorado retailers sold more than $142 million in marijuana products in March, a new monthly record.
//The West & West Coast//
California is paying a price for the shaky rollout of its legal marijuana market. State budget documents released Thursday show the Newsom administration is sharply scaling back what it expects to collect in cannabis tax revenue through June 2020 — a $223-million cut from projections just four months ago. Read More
Marijuana Moment — The discovery of illegal marijuana grow sites in national forests spanning Oregon and Washington declined after each state legalized recreational cannabis, a new study reports. But while legalization appears to have been a driving factor for decreased illicit cultivation in Oregon, that doesn't seem to be the case in Washington. The difference, it seems, may have to do with the way each state wrote its marijuana laws. "Given the decrease in abundance of marijuana grow sites in Oregon national forests…this study suggests that liberalized marijuana policies in Oregon have contributed to a decrease in ecological damage in national forests resulting from illegal marijuana cultivation," the authors wrote.
//Oregon//
As you may recall, ODA Director Taylor sent a letter of intent to the USDA Secretary Perdue in early March. The letter urged the USDA to implement rules as soon as possible due to Oregon's hemp industry experiencing unnecessary transportation and commerce restrictions. ODA received a response from Secretary Perdue late April. The letter is available on ODA's hemp webpage. Response to letter of intent from Director Alexis Taylor // ODA Hemp webpage
ODA adopted new permanent hemp rules on May 15, 2019. The rules make permanent temporary rules that were filed in early March and proposed rules filed late March. Visit the link below for the full rules. ODA Hemp Homepage

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


A simple pomodoro app designed for Elementary OS.
YAPA, Yet Another Pomodoro Application, is minimalistic desktop timer app for Pomodoro Technique users.
Tomatoes is a "pomodoro tracker", a Pomodoro technique® driven time tracker.
Pomello turns your Trello cards into Pomodoro® tasks. It stays on top of your windows to help you stay focused on the task at hand.
Use pomodoro-style work sessions to focus for specific periods of time.
Persevy helps you achieve your goals by delimiting them into manageable time-periods so you can create positive habits.
TeamViz Lite (ex-PomodoroApp) is a free tool for you to improve personal productivity using the Pomodoro Technique.


Where can I find the Master Subscription Agreement?
Where Can I Find the Webinar Schedule?
What forms of payment does SetSchedule accept for the referral fee?
Does SetSchedule have a W9 for referral?
How Do I Report a Transaction?
How Do I Collect My Co-op Marketing Budget?
If I Represent a Seller and They Purchase a Property With Me, Do I Pay the Referral on that as well?
What is the Pro Membership?


I have recently started making papier mache bowls and I enjoy the actual making of them - but the decoration is more of a challenge. I'm using acrylic paints and decoupage, over two coats of Gesso. I like the effects I have achieved so far (although I'm still learning, so they're not very sophisticated) but I don't know how best to "finish" my work.
I tried a coating of diluted PVA, to seal the acrylic paint, and it seemed to work well. It looked nice and had a gentle shine BUT just touching it with a damp finger (two weeks after it dried) made it go odd and even lifted it a bit. So now I'm trying Mod Podge Hard Coat... But THAT is a bit too matt for my liking.
Any recommendations for a fairly glossy varnish that is somewhat water resistant? I'm not expecting the bowls to hold water, just withstand some splashes long enough to be wiped. I've seen descriptions of lots of wood varnishes, paper varnishes, sprays etc, but I'm confused and would love some experienced input please.
Lovely to see you posting and welcome to the forum, however, unfortunately I can't help you on this one. I do hope someone has an answer for you.
I cannot help either I am afraid, but like Lynn I would like to say a big hello and welcome you to our family. I too hope someone can help. I think we would all love to see some photos and if you need help re-sizing them and loading them, then do give one of the admin team a shout.
Thanks everyone! I think I will find uses for the Mod Podge Hard Coat (I'd better, it was £10!) and I'll certainly look into the other suggestions. Like I said, I definitely want something more glossy as well.
Thanks for the welcome too! My pots aren't exactly great at the moment but I'll put up pictures soonish, to give everyone an idea of what I'm up to. Busy taking my youngest to his new Uni tomorrow but I will get around to it, when I stop crying.
We have used DIY shop varnish with good effect.
Yacht varnish is very weather proof, so you probably don't need anything that durable.
Be warned, some varnishes, even 'clear' ones do take on a faint brown tinge over time, especially if in the light. I have white roses inside and out of my boat. The indoor ones are slightly cream now, the outside ones are a pale orangey brown. Same product, but over 7 or 8 years.
Hello and welcome. Did you know you can get all sorts of Mod Podge? There is a 'super glossy' one as well as some with a shimmer finish, and matt finish also.


It usually begins innocently. A young female athlete pushes harder than usual and trains intensely to gain that competitive edge. This increased output consumes naturally more calories to meet the demands of this kind of training in recovery all the while not to mention growth and development. Her diet though typically doesn't change and this can lead to a condition known as relative energy deficiency and support or RED-S.
This term was coined by an expert panel at the Olympic committee and is now a comprehensive term that builds on the condition known as the female athlete triad. This describes an energy deficiency gap that results when energy intake is insufficient to support the activities of all that is needed in health and functioning. The syndrome affects bone health, menstrual function, metabolic rate, immune system function, protein synthesis and cardiovascular health and psychological health. It is also been shown to affect young male athletes.
RED-S develops and there is pressure to change eating habits but also emphasis on appearance and low body weight and endurance. Many young girls are exposed to dieting and that is perceived as healthy but is inappropriately applied to those who are growing and training. The desire to eat healthier lose weight in hopes of improving athletic performance can lead to willful food restriction and rigid dieting.
Many girls just don't understand that their energy needs translate into daily food choices. An eating disorder doesn't always precede the development of RED-S although there are some psychological factors that are present. Serious short and long-term health can occur in these young females who develop RED-S.
Bone health is of major concern as many girls build 60 to 80% of their lifetime bone mass by 18. Preteen and teenage girls who restrict their eating can shut down their bone growth. Any restricted diet is low in calcium and vitamin D and contributes to poor bone formation. This can lead to stress fractures and osteoporosis in which bones are fragile and more likely to break.
Another concern is a reproductive development. Their low estrogen levels that delay menstruation or irregular missed cycles.
There is increased risk of injury and decreased endurance and muscle strength as a result of training. All this impairs the judgment and increases irritability and depression none of which any athlete wants to have happen.
Parents should play a significant role in preventing RED-S. Educate your daughters on the energy demands of their training and proper nutrition etc. Keep an eye out for weight loss and changes in menstruation and mood.
Create a supportive environment where girls can consume three meals and one to three snacks per day. Missing a meal and a regular basis can result in an energy deficit. Make sure your child is a regular breakfast impacts or eats a full lunch at school. For those girls who train after school give them an easily digested snack prior to practice which gives energy for training. Choose an energy bar, cereal, crackers, banana, fruit or fruit juice pretzels and peanut butter.


Tuesday 3 February 2015: The Pensions Authority has today obtained an Order of the High Court directing the removal of Source Pensions Administration and Trustee Company Limited as trustee of a number of occupational pension schemes. A new trustee, Trustee Principles Limited, has been appointed in its place by the same Order.
The Authority confirmed that its investigation into the activities of Source Pensions Administration and Trustee Company Limited is ongoing.
The Authority is working to complete its investigation and to resolve any outstanding issues as soon as possible.


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Q: numpy 3d to 2d transformation based on 2d mask array If I have an ndarray like this:
>>> a = np.arange(27).reshape(3,3,3)
>>> a
array([[[ 0,  1,  2],
        [ 3,  4,  5],
        [ 6,  7,  8]],

       [[ 9, 10, 11],
        [12, 13, 14],
        [15, 16, 17]],

       [[18, 19, 20],
        [21, 22, 23],
        [24, 25, 26]]])

I know I can get the maximum along a certain axis using np.max(axis=...):
>>> a.max(axis=2)
array([[ 2,  5,  8],
       [11, 14, 17],
       [20, 23, 26]])

Alternatively, I could get the indices along that axis which correspond to the maximum values from:
>>> indices = a.argmax(axis=2)
>>> indices
array([[2, 2, 2],
       [2, 2, 2],
       [2, 2, 2]])

My question -- Given the array indices and the array a, is there an elegant way to reproduce the array the array returned by a.max(axis=2)?
This would probably work:
import itertools as it
import numpy as np
def apply_mask(field,indices):
    data = np.empty(indices.shape)

    #It seems highly likely that there is a more numpy-approved way to do this.
    idx = [range(i) for i in indices.shape]
    for idx_tup,zidx in zip(it.product(*idx),indices.flat):
        data[idx_tup] = field[idx_tup+(zidx,)]
    return data

But, it seems pretty hacky/inefficient.  It also doesn't allow for me to use this with any axis other than the "last" axis.  Is there a numpy function (or some use of magical numpy indexing) to make this work?  The naive a[:,:,a.argmax(axis=2)] doesn't work.
UPDATE:
It seems the following also works (and is a little nicer):
import numpy as np
def apply_mask(field,indices):
    data = np.empty(indices.shape)

    for idx_tup,zidx in np.ndenumerate(indices):
        data[idx_tup] = field[idx_tup+(zidx,)]

    return data

I would like to do this because I would like to extract the indices based on the data in 1 array (typically using argmax(axis=...)) and use those indices to pull data out of a bunch of other (equivalently shaped) arrays.  I'm open to alternative ways to accomplish this (e.g. using boolean masked arrays).  However, I like the "safety" that I get using these "index" arrays.  With this I am guaranteed to have the right number of elements to create a new array which looks like a 2d "slice" through the 3d field.

A: Here is some magic numpy indexing that will do what you want, but unfortunately it's pretty unreadable.
def apply_mask(a, indices, axis):
    magic_index = [np.arange(i) for i in indices.shape]
    magic_index = np.ix_(*magic_index)
    magic_index = magic_index[:axis] + (indices,) + magic_index[axis:]
    return a[magic_index]

or equally unreadable:
def apply_mask(a, indices, axis):
    magic_index = np.ogrid[tuple(slice(i) for i in indices.shape)]
    magic_index.insert(axis, indices)
    return a[magic_index]

A: I use index_at() to create the full index:
import numpy as np

def index_at(idx, shape, axis=-1):
    if axis<0:
        axis += len(shape)
    shape = shape[:axis] + shape[axis+1:]
    index = list(np.ix_(*[np.arange(n) for n in shape]))
    index.insert(axis, idx)
    return tuple(index)

a = np.random.randint(0, 10, (3, 4, 5))

axis = 1
idx = np.argmax(a, axis=axis)
print a[index_at(idx, a.shape, axis=axis)]
print np.max(a, axis=axis)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


THE FOSTER PORTFOLIO Is A Masterpiece Of Cinematography And Script Which Had Its World Premiere At The Prestigious Tribeca Film Festival 2017.
What stands out the most in this short film is its very artistic cinematography. Everything in the frame, from the characters to the objects placed have all been given special treatment. The director has a great eye for composition. The other factor that stands out is the script, which of course is the back bone of every film. I personally have not read the short story, but the way the short film has been made makes a lot of sense as it conveys the message the film is trying to give.
The performances by Roe Hartrampf, Joel Nagle and Rebecca Watson are very good, the music is of course quite exceptional, as it is Jazz and the transformation of the short story onto film is quite interesting.


Vedolizumab (VDZ) a humanised monoclonal antibody against α4β7 integrin is used in Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). It is still unclear whether biologic-naive patients will respond better to VDZ than TNF-pre-treated patients in a real life setting. Our study aimed to determine the efficacy of VDZ among TNF-pre-treated compared with TNF-naive patients.
In total, 265 patients of the Swiss IBD cohort study were analysed, 17 patients were excluded due to incomplete data. Of the remaining 248 patients 130 suffered from CD and 118 patients from UC. Remission was defined as calprotectin < 200 mg/kg in faecal samples and/or mucosal healing determined by endoscopy. Endpoints were determined between month 4 and 8 and between month 12 and 16 after VDZ induction.
In total, 112 patients (45%) (43% CD and 48% UC) achieved remission between month 4 and 8 and 130 patients (52%) at month 12 and 16. In patients with UC, significantly more TNF-naïve patients (60%) achieved remission compared with TNF-pre-treated patients (33%) (p = 0.01, OR 0.24, CI 0.09–0.65). In patients with CD however, we observed no significant difference between TNF-pre-treated and TNF-naive patients. Almost a third of all patients discontinued VDZ treatment (29.8%), the most frequent reason was non-response to VDZ (20%), followed by adverse events (6%) and exacerbation of extraintestinal manifestations (3%).
A significant proportion of patients TNF-naïve and TNF-pre-treated patients achieved remission. Previous anti-TNF failure was associated with a lower efficacy of VDZ in UC patients between month 4 and 8, whereas remission rates in anti-TNF–naïve vs. experienced CD patients were similar.


text:
Rising Seas Could Submerge the Jamestown Settlement
Dick Eastman	· December 1, 2017 · Current Affairs	· 13 Comments
Sea-level rise this century may threaten Jamestown in Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas; the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which launches all of NASA's human spaceflight missions; and the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in North Carolina, the tallest brick lighthouse in the United States, a new study finds.
These iconic locales are some of the more than 13,000 archaeological and historical sites on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the southeastern United States that rising sea levels will endanger this century, researchers in the new study said.
Details may be found in an article by Charles Q. Choi published in the LiveScience web site at http://bit.ly/2zIFlac.
Glenn December 1, 2017 at 11:13 am
These so called experts seem to be confusing mm with inches. NOAA reports that sea levels are rising 3-4 mm a year, thickness of a penny, for the past 100 yeas. To match these experts it would have to be 3-4 inches a year. I do not see the east coast ports building to`gl match this rise.
Graeme December 2, 2017 at 7:10 am
Yep, they got their maths wrong. 0.125 inch per year for 100 years = only 12.5 inches.
njmcmiller December 2, 2017 at 5:37 pm
OTOH, the United States military is preparing its coastal installations for sea level rise. They have the resources to use good science, and the motivation to remain operational.
Carol Menges December 1, 2017 at 3:33 pm
Sorry Dick. That's just plain silly.
James December 2, 2017 at 7:57 am
Please, Dear God, can this brief moment of my day be non-political? Just about everything else has been marred and in genealogy I find moments that take me away and transport me back in time. I've left blogs, groups, and given up the NFL. Can I please have a great, non-political genealogy newsletter?
Dick Eastman December 2, 2017 at 10:12 am
—> Can I please have a great, non-political genealogy newsletter?
I ignore the politics. Instead, I try to report any news that has a potential to impact anything of genealogical significance as well as anything that has an impact to historical information and sites concerning where our ancestors lived. Sometimes I agree with the articles. Sometimes I don't. But if an article is important enough, I believe that every genealogist should be aware of the article and then make up his or her own mind. My intent is to be as neutral as possible.
Thanks for sharing the article, Dick. I agree with you, that it's interesting from a genealogical point of view. It has nothing to do with politics. As for NOAA's prediction, it was, at least a coupla years ago, "very high confidence that global mean sea level will rise at least 8 inches but no more than 6.6 feet by 2100." Even with what seems like the smallest amt (8″), we have to take into account things like tides and storms which will be magnified by higher sea levels. I think it's wise to prepare some of these treasured sites – and other infrastructure as well – for those challenges.
Pat December 2, 2017 at 11:35 am
Understand about genealogical significance, but there are other areas where that may be more critical in the more recent future. Global warming has not been proven to be valid by some key Scientists–it HAS become politicized and really needs to stay out of the Genealogical arena. Maybe a better title could have been "What's the future of the US coastal areas?" — that may then not be so likely to be included in this newsletter, but we do have Freedom of Speech (theoretically) and we can make our own choices and luckily we have these comments to air problems in the articles–be it technical, political, philosophical or otherwise.
Richard Prouty December 2, 2017 at 11:43 am
Sorry Dick, but sometimes the source of the information is much more important than the action opinion expressed in the story because of bias. This story, when reviewed in light of "current science discussions," doesn't make the grade and should have been left out.
Nancy Miller December 2, 2017 at 5:33 pm
FYI, the United States military is preparing for sea level rise. They've got the resources to do some pretty good science, and surely the motivation to keep themselves operational. I'd take that kind of talk seriously.
Richard Prouty December 2, 2017 at 7:55 pm
The US Military is driven by politics, so is the climate change agenda. The military is often forced by DC to spend money carelessly. This is an example. Sorry.
Marci Bowman December 3, 2017 at 12:08 am
Thanks for an informative article. Global climate change is very real and, to our great embarrassment, the United States is the only major power not accepting this unfortunate reality. This has nothing to do with politics per se, and everything to do with the very powerful and wealthy lobby for the extractive industries. Our descendants with not thank us for our inaction.
Pat December 7, 2017 at 2:23 pm
This should end the discussion:
Alarmist scientists have been caught red-handed tampering with raw data in order to exaggerate sea level rise.
The raw (unadjusted) data from three Indian Ocean gauges – Aden, Karachi and Mumbai – showed that local sea level trends in the last 140 years had been very gently rising, neutral or negative (ie sea levels had fallen).
But after the evidence had been adjusted by tidal records gatekeepers at the global databank Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL) it suddenly showed a sharp and dramatic rise.
The whistle was blown by two Australian scientists Dr. Albert Parker and Dr. Clifford Ollier in a paper for Earth Systems and Environment.
The paper – Is the Sea Level Stable at Aden, Yemen? – examines the discrepancies between raw and adjusted sea level data in Aden, Karachi and Mumbai.
Kenneth Richard at No Tricks Zone reports:
The authors expose how PSMSL data-adjusters make it appear that stable sea levels can be rendered to look like they are nonetheless rising at an accelerated pace.
The data-adjusters take misaligned and incomplete sea level data from tide gauges that show no sea level rise (or even a falling trend). Then, they subjectively and arbitrarily cobble them together, or realign them. In each case assessed, PSMSL data-adjusters lower the earlier misaligned rates and raise the more recent measurements. By doing so, they concoct a new linearly-rising trend.
Here is a before/after from Karachi:
The authors do not mince their words. They refer to these adjustments as "highly questionable" and "suspicious."
That's because they can find no plausible scientific explanation for the adjustments.
As they explain at the beginning of their paper, it is hard to put together consistent sea level records covering a long time period. This is because tide gauges are often the result of multiple sets of data, taken over different time periods using different instruments, which are then spliced together.
What is proposed as a single record in databases such as the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL) (PSMSL 2017a) is often the composition of data collected by different instruments, sometimes in different locations or over different time windows, with significant gaps in between one measurement and the others. This is the case of the Aden, Yemen tide gauge that is the only tidal location of the Arabian Peninsula spanning a time window long enough to infer a trend and acceleration of the relative sea level (assuming there was continuous measurement and no quality issue). In Aden, similar to Karachi and Mumbai and other tide gauges of the area, a single-tide gauge record is the result of multiple sets of data subjectively coupled together. While a new tide gauge is recording since about 2007, the alignment of the previous data is continuously changing.
So there is nothing per se wrong with PSMSL making adjustments in order to make the different datasets align.
What is wrong is the way that the scientists at PSMSL have adjusted them. In every case, they have revised them in order to make them produce a sharp upward trend in sea level rise – despite the fact that global records do not support this.
The truth, Parker and Ollier conclude in their paper, is that sea level has changed very little in the three sites examined:
The reconstructed tide gauge records of Aden, Mumbai and Karachi are perfectly consistent with multiple lines of evidence from other key sites of the Indian Ocean including Qatar, Maldives, Bangladesh and Visakhapatnam. The sea levels have been stable since the start of the twentieth century in Aden similar to Karachi and Mumbai.
But the official PSMSL data – as used by other global data-keeping bodies such as NOAA – claims that there has been a sharp increase.
In Aden, for example, the alarmists have turned a modest 1.21 mm/year rise into a 3.02 mm/year rise.
In Aden, with data 1880–1969, the trend was + 1.21 mm/year.
Per the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Centre for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (NOAA 2017a), with data from an intermediate version of a single-tide gauge record by PSMSL we may call (n-1), the sea-level trend in Aden is + 3.02 mm/year based on the monthly average mean sea-level (MSL) results 1879–2011, Fig. 6a (image from NOAA(2017b) downloaded on September 13, 2017).
Using the online analysis tool of Burton's sealevel.info (Sealevel.info 2017a), with data from the latest update of the PSMSL database that we may call version n, with 2 more years of data, but also with some other corrections, see the data before the year 1900 shifted up, the sea-level trend in Aden is + 1.35 mm/year based on the MSL results 1879–2013, Fig. 6b (image from Sealevel.info (2017b) downloaded on September 13, 2017). Worthy of note, the acceleration is now large and positive.
Again, there is no plausible scientific explanation for these adjustments.
As the authors put it:
"It is always highly questionable to shift data collected in the far past without any proven new supporting material."
Indeed, but it is perfectly consistent with the behavior of alarmist scientists in other fields, notably those concerning surface temperature data records. As we have reported here before, there is copious evidence to suggest that the gatekeepers of global warming have consistently and shamelessly cooked the books and rigged the data in order to give the impression that "climate change" is a major and unprecedented phenomenon.
A major part of the global warming scare narrative is that melting ice caps will cause sea levels to rise at a dangerous and unprecedented rate, enveloping low-lying Pacific islands, flooding vulnerable countries like Bangladesh and perhaps one day drowning even places like Manhattan.
There is little if any scientific evidence that this is actually happening.
What's extraordinary is the desperation of scientists at what ought to be impeccably neutral and trustworthy institutions such as NASA, NOAA and PSMSL to pretend that it is.
When alarmists in charge of surface temperature datasets make dishonest adjustments to exaggerate the appearance of global warming, it looks like corruption.
When alarmists in the entirely separate field of sea level measurement make precisely the same sort of dishonest adjustments in order to accord with the same global warming narrative, it starts to look like a conspiracy.
Registration Opens for the National Genealogical Society's 2018 Family History Conference


Korč founded the Frýdek-Místek film club and co-founded the Sweetsen festival. "He was in charge of both ACFC and SFS at the time of their deepest crisis. He really helped us survive," said Radana Korená, the current festival and ACFC director.
Jan Jílek, the main SFS programmer, then introduced a new film distributed by ACFC – On Chesil Beach – that tells the story of virgin newlyweds starring Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle. The film will be released in the Czech Republic on 18 October2018.


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Vietnam sole Asian country in WEF global healthcare initiative
By Phan Anh &nbspNovember 19, 2020 | 08:58 am GMT+7
Medical workers handle Covid-19 samples in Quang Ngai Province, central Vietnam, August 1, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Van Phong.
Vietnam is the only Asian country selected by the World Economic Forum for a global healthcare partnership that will seek to improve responses to health crises.
The Partnership for Global Health System Sustainability and Resilience (PHSSR), founded by the WEF, the London School of Economics and biopharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca, aims to help health systems foresee, prevent, and adapt to global health challenges by initiating broad, multi-sector efforts, according to a press release issued by the U.K. embassy in Vietnam.
The partnership was launched in Hanoi on Tuesday night, it added.
In its pilot phase, expected to run until January next year, the PHSSR would be implemented in eight countries, the other seven being France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia, Spain and the U.K.
Vietnam was chosen for its "unique health system experiences and expertise, including its effective Covid-19 response," the release said.
The Vietnam team, led by Tran Thi Mai Oanh, director of Health Strategy and Policy Institute, will apply a framework developed by the London school to conduct a review of the country's health system sustainability and resilience, and identify practical solutions to strengthen them.
Vietnam would conduct two case studies regarding the country's medical system, focusing on hospital quality management during Covid-19 and healthcare provision at the grassroots level, according to Oanh.
The studies would help highlight lessons and experience from Vietnam and help share them with other countries. They would also help to identify gaps where there could be room for improvement. Based on the studies' results, policy recommendations could be made, Oanh said.
"Difficult though it might be to imagine now, the day will arrive when Covid-19 will no longer be the world's principal health concern. Instead of focusing exclusively on bringing the pandemic under control, we need to build systems that are capable of responding to routine as well as unexpected challenges," representatives of the partnership's founding partners said, as cited in the release.
"We want to do this by breaking down the traditional barriers between academia, business and the public sector and creating a platform to disseminate breakthrough insights, and enable health systems to act upon them."
Vietnam has had 1,300 Covid-19 cases so far, 138 still active. Thirty five have died of the disease, many of them elderly patients with underlying conditions like diabetes and kidney failure.
PHSSR
Reading: Vietnam sole Asian country in WEF global healthcare initiative


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Q: 2D Integral of inverse of product of absolute values. I am interested in evaluating integrals of the following form:
$$ \int_\mathbb{C}\frac{1}{|z-z_1| \dots |z-z_6|}\mathrm|{d}z|^2$$
where $|\mathrm{d}z|^2$ is the standard area form on $\mathbb C$ and the $z_j$ are pairwise distinct complex numbers. As the integrand is $o(|z|^{-6})$ for $ |z| \to \infty$ and $o(|z-z_j|^{-1})$ for $z \to z_j$, we know that this integral is finite.
One may rewrite it as a double integral as
$$\int_\mathbb{R} \int_\mathbb{R} \frac{1}{\sqrt{((x-x_1)^2+(y-y_1)^2)\dots ((x-x_6)^2+(y-y_6)^2)}}\mathrm{d}x\mathrm{d}y,$$
where $z_j = x_j + y_j\mathrm{i}$.
Is there any literature on these types of integrals or any elementary approach to calculate these? I've tried doing it numerically (for $z_j = j$) but got no results. For context, these integrals arise when computing the special Kähler structure on the moduli space of Higgs-bundles on a five-punctured $\mathbb{CP}^1$. So the $z_1, \dots, z_5$ are the punctures, while the $|z-z_6|$-term stems from a point in the moduli space. In fact, using a Mobius transform, we may assume that $z_1,z_2, z_3$ are fixed, for example to $0,1,2$ or whatever makes the evaluation of the integral easiest.

A: Feynman parametrization allows us to write:
$$\frac{1}{\sqrt{A_{1}(x,y)\cdots A_{n}(x,y)}}=\frac{\Gamma(\frac{n}{2})}{\Gamma\left(\frac{1}{2}\right)^{n}}\int_{0}^{1}\prod(du_{i}u_{i}^{-\frac{1}{2}})\frac{\delta(1-\sum u_{i})}{(\sum u_{i}A_{i})^{\frac{n}{2}}}$$
with
$A_{i}(x,y)=(x-x_{i})^{2}+(y-y_{i})^{2}=x^{2}+y^{2}-2xx_{i}-2yy_{i}+x_{i}^{2}+y_{i}^{2}$
expanding the denominator and noting that $\left(\sum u_{i}\right)=1$ due to the constraint in the integration:
$$\sum u_{i}A_{i}=\left(\sum u_{i}\right)(x^{2}+y^{2})-2\left(\sum u_{i}x_{i}\right)x-2\left(\sum u_{i}y_{i}\right)y+\sum u_{i}(x_{i}^{2}+y_{i}^{2})$$ $$\equiv (x^{2}+y^{2})-X(u)x-Y(u)y+Z(u)$$
so the $x,y$ integration is over
$$1\over ((x^{2}+y^{2})-X(u)x-Y(u)y+Z(u))^{n\over2} .$$
Since the integration is over all space, we can shift $(x^2-Xx)=(x-{1\over 2} X)^2 - {X^2\over 4}$ etc to write
$$1\over ((x'^{2}+y'^{2})+{4Z(u)-X(u)^2-Y(u)^2 \over 4})^{n\over2} .$$
The $x',y'$ integral can be massaged into the form (up to prefactors):
$$\int \int{dx' dy' \over ((x'^{2}+y'^{2})+{4Z(u)-X(u)^2-Y(u)^2 \over 4})^{n\over2}}\rightarrow \int_0^{\infty} {dp \over (p+{4Z(u)-X(u)^2-Y(u)^2 \over 4})^{n\over2}}$$ and eventually
$$({4Z(u)-X(u)^2-Y(u)^2 \over 4})^{1-{n\over2}}\int_0^{\infty} {dp \over (p + 1)^{n\over2}}$$
The $p$ integral again is just a prefactor and we are left with
a power of $4Z(u)-X(u)^2-Y(u)^2$, however this final, multiple integral seems just as involved:
$$ \int_{0}^{1}\prod(du_{i}u_{i}^{-\frac{1}{2}})\delta(1-\sum u_{i})({4Z(u)-X(u)^2-Y(u)^2 \over 4})^{1-{n\over2}}$$


In the age of the internet, security is often in the spotlight when high profile breaches leave vast volumes of private data exposed. And even with the efforts of industry experts, the threats of cybercrime continue to grow.
So what challenges face the sector today and how will they evolve over the coming years? Here are a few points to consider.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a nebulous group of web-enabled devices consisting of everything from smart TVs to IP security cameras and beyond. And with the right malware, they can be hijacked by hackers and used to form botnets with vast amounts of disruptive power.
Back in 2016 the Mirai malware outbreak proved that IoT tech could be exploited on a massive scale, with distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks impacting major telecoms firms in several countries.
In 2018 security specialists like Andrew Mabbitt of Fidusinfosec.com have identified new threats with similar capabilities, including the Reaper and IoTroop botnets. And like Mirai, the aim is simple; exploit software weaknesses to infect devices and increase the reach of cybercriminal activities.
What makes this problem even more challenging is the fact that with each new outbreak and attack, the crooks are harvesting useful data about which tactics are the most effective. So even if vulnerabilities are patched, the next generation of IoT-focused malware will be leaner, meaner and more efficient.
This is symptomatic of the security arms race which is raging at the moment. It is well known that cybercrime generates huge profits for participants, so perpetrators can afford to invest in constantly enhancing their techniques. Meanwhile businesses are having to put up with an annual increase in security costs of 22.7 percent, which is not sustainable in the long term.
With pressure coming from cyber criminals on one side, businesses are also facing up to the reality of stricter rules on how they handle customer information with the rollout of the GDPR in Europe.
Landing on the 25th of May this year, this wide ranging bill could see fines of €20 million (£17.5 million) levelled against organisations that fall short of expectations when it comes to protecting data.
A failure to comply will not only hit businesses financially, but will leave their reputation damaged. And the cost of preparing for the GDPR, as well as maintaining compliance in the long term, will also be an obstacle to overcome in 2018 and for the foreseeable future.
This is not just about changing security systems and automated data handling services, but also about employee education. It will be necessary to retrain staff so that they can operate with the GDPR in mind, rather than falling foul of the tougher stance it takes on privacy.
Of course from a consumer perspective this is a very positive step, but it is ushering in a period of transition which will no doubt cause difficulties for some firms.
AI has been a pipe dream for decades, but the arrival of machine learning algorithms in recent years has brought about rapid change in this area. Within a few years, software will become even more powerful and autonomous in its operational abilities.
From a security perspective, this is a double edged sword. On the one hand, AI will make it easier to predict and counteract potential attacks without requiring vast resources and lots of people power to get the job done. On the other, it is certain that cybercriminals will also harness AI for their own nefarious purposes, which will present its own obvious hazards for the industry as a whole.
Locking businesses out from their data with ransomware is still something that cybercriminals are doing to earn easy money. And because a lot of these campaigns involve phishing or social engineering tactics, the weak link is still human employees, which means that investing in better security can only go so far to curb this issue.
Education and training are once again the best answers, because if staff are informed and have the right skills, then ransomware can never take hold.
There are sure to be other security threats that appear in the future, and the industry will need to react to them quickly to limit the damage that they can do.


My children back in the UK have been totally obsessed with this film, THE GREATEST SHOWMAN, since it first came out over a year ago. They know all the songs and almost know all the dialogues by heart.
It is indeed a beautiful film with an enchanting soundtrack and if you have not seen it I highly recommend that you watch it.
However: what has this got to do with women, entrepreneurship, technology and Travel & Tourism?
Well, for once the Greatest Showman tells the story of somebody who from very humble beginning and through huge amount of struggle manage to realise their entrepreneurial dream.
This struggle is very much part of a common story to the majority of wannabees entrepreneurs.
On top of that – it is also a story about diversity, inclusion and the search for meaning.
This is where we are beginning to get closer to the female side of entrepreneurs.
businesses in 74 economies around the world.
In the UK – an eye watering LOW level of businesses are owned by women [18 PERCENT] and yet RBS has calculated that boosting female entrepreneurship could deliver approximately £60bn extra to the UK economy. (Anne McPherson, MD Diversity in Business, RBS, in the Guardian 10 April 2013).
Women are undoubtedly beginning to make their mark in entrepreneurship – whether by needs or by opportunity – but those who are driven by opportunity to start their own business are more likely to be innovative, use and access technology and also work with research institutions and academia.
Outside TRADITIONAL FOR PROFIT entrepreneurship, in the world of social entrepreneurship – of which the business I founded called Women in Travel is an example – the world in which individuals seek purpose as well as profit, women entrepreneurs globally have been making much better stride.
British Council research shows that social entrepreneurship is in fact a key channel for women empowerment and the equality agenda.
In most countries, women are more likely to head a social enterprise, because this type of structures enables them to combine their passion for business with a passion for social good and positive impact.
Now this is where the parallel with the Greatest Showman stop – at least for the moment.
I want to try and spend a little time delving a little deeper into female Travel & Tourism entrepreneurship and also technology.
The problem is, hardly anything has been researched and investigated on Female Entrepreneurship in Travel & Tourism.
OVERALL there is very little out there as a way of research around this topic, and nothing as far as I know that truly and coherently depicts and explains the female travel and tourism entrepreneurship landscape internationally.
So here is my call for action to any academics reading this: PLEASE DISCUSS WITH YOUR PhD STUDENTS AND WITH YOUR FOUNDERS WHETHER THEY WOULD CONSIDER RESEARCH into FEMALE ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN TTH. Women in Travel would be very happy to consider partnerships.
What I am going to tell you over the next few minutes or so is based on anecdotal evidence, knowledge assembled over time through tens of meetings, gathering and discussions with women entrepreneurs or aspiring entrepreneurs world-wide. We have also in the last month undertaken our own little research and I will share more about this a little bit later.
Over the years I have spoken to hundreds of women from London, to India, to South Africa to Brazil via Greece and Portugal and asked them about their dreams, aspirations, challenges and opportunities around Entrepreneurship.
I am already running a company but I struggle to access technology, funding and sometimes good people.
SO WIT is hoping to help address some of these struggles by providing a good mix of education, skills but most of all a supportive network of women who can meet and network on and off line.
One of the things that has really been impressed upon me by these women, in a way one of the key lessons when it comes to female entrepreneurship though is that ENTREPRENEURSHIP is globally far more within reach for WOMEN that possibly EMPLOYMENT will ever be.
Given all barriers and self-doubts that I have mentioned above you may think this is strange or counterintuitive, but actually it is not and I tell you WHY.
Because IN PRINCIPLE even in those countries where CULTURALLY women struggle to go out and find employment in travel and tourism, because this may mean mixing with men and foreigners or getting involved in places and situations that are deemed inappropriate for women, WOMEN ARE NOT PREVENTED FROM EARNING provided this can be done in a safe place, away from those riskier situations and indeed provided they still complete all the other chores, such as child care, cooking, cleaning and the likes.
But of course, none of this could happen and could have quite happened to the same extent WITHOUT TECHNOLOGY.
The arrival of lap-top, INTERNET, Wi-Fi, mobile technology and the contemporary creation of the so called gig-economy has suddenly provided a huge number of opportunities to women who can now work from their kitchen table, selling tours, providing catering, writing blogs, promoting places whilst at the same time fulfilling all other obligations.
WiFi connection and a laptop – sometimes in fact as little as a mobile phone – have created unexpected opportunities that women have been able to grab with both hands in ever growing numbers world-wide.
Most of these businesses remain small and they may never grow beyond SOLO-PRENEURSHIP.
A very small number may well grow and develop – sometimes accidentally.
So what about Women in Travel's own little research?
What we did is to send out a short survey and also have some focussed one to one conversation with Women entrepreneurs. It was undoubtedly a small sample but it has provided me with some really interesting insights into what TECHNOLOGY MEANS FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS.
What must happen for technology to make an even greater impact on women?
To conclude, technology has made an immense impact on women intending to launch their own business, across all geography. Technology does not need to be particularly complicated: as a matter of fact, a lap top and wi-fi are often enough. However increasingly, education and costs will become more important.


Earlier in the day Tuesday, rumors surfaced that, after neither showed up for practice, two LSU quarterbacks, Justin McMillan and Lowell Narcisse, were considering transfers from the Tigers. Tuesday night, Narcisse announced on his personal Twitter account that he has indeed pulled the trigger on a transfer.
Just over 13 hours later, McMillan took to the same social media website to announce the same decision. McMillan pulled the trigger on a transfer after meeting with the Tigers' coaching staff Wednesday morning.
With the departures of McMillan and Narcisse, LSU is left with just two scholarship quarterbacks on the roster — presumptive front-runner to start and Ohio State transfer Joey Burrow; and four-star 2017 signee and last year's primary backup Myles Brennan. There are two other quarterbacks currently listed on the Tigers' roster — Tennessee Tech transfer sophomore Andre Sale and true freshman Jordan Loving.
There is some level of good news in the seemingly dire depth at the position as, if something were to happen to Burrow and Brennan, Sale started seven games for his former FCS school before transferring to the Tigers in January of this year. So the quarterback room has that going for them, which is nice.
As for the first of the two departed ones, Narcisse, the St. James, LA, product was a four-star member of LSU's 2017 recruiting class. He took a redshirt last season after enrolling early as he continued to rehab significant knee injuries he sustained in high school.
McMillan, meanwhile, has already graduated from LSU. He's thrown exactly one more pass in his collegiate career than I have, but would be eligible to play immediately at another FBS school if that's the tack he takes.


"I have to confess that the adaption process has not been easy during my first six months in Japan, in sporting and in family terms," he wrote in Esquire ahead of the new J-League season. "We arrived here after the World Cup, so we had hardly any time to organise ourselves.
"We have spent our time getting used to the differences between the two cultures. Japanese customs are radically different to ours [in Spain] but, finally, we feel adapted. Now it's time to enjoy being here."
"After a run of six or seven defeats when I first got here, I was surprised how well the fans took the bad results," he said. "The Japanese take losing in a very different way to how we do in Spain.
"I've found it hard to adapt to that philosophy. I have always been very competitive. I have never liked losing. Now, I have to learn from them and see it from another point of view. They're competitive, but they extract other conclusions from defeats.
"But my time here has been infinitely more relaxed than my spell at Barca. I was completely empty [in Spain]. I had nothing left. The pressure at a club like Barca is huge. Coming to Kobe has released me from that tension."
Iniesta is having Japanese lessons twice a week but said he relies on a translator -- "my lifesaver" -- to communicate in depth with his teammates and people at the club.


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Athletics: IAAF attacks 'naive' doping experts
8 August 2015, 9:55 am
Athletics federation attacks 'naive' doping experts
Paris (AFP) - World athletics' ruling body the IAAF on Saturday condemned as 'naive' the two blood experts at the centre of mass doping allegations.
Australian scientists Michael Ashenden and Robin Parisotto have claimed hundreds of athletes had returned "suspicious" doping test results.
Their allegation was based on the examination of a leaked database provided to them by Britain's Sunday Times newspaper and German broadcaster ARD containing more than 12,000 blood tests from 5,000 athletes between 2001 and 2012.
This week the IAAF robustly denied any negligence in its testing procedure in an affair that has marred the build-up to this month's world championships in Beijing.
And in their latest defence world athletics' rulers accused Ashenden and Parisotto of arriving at "seriously incorrect assertions".
"Of most concern to us is that the two scientists continue to defend their statements that the IAAF did nothing to act on "suspicious profiles".
"And that the scientists also continue to believe that they were in a position to make this analysis based on their background and involvement in a number of Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) cases related to the sport of athletics," the IAAF contended.
According to the IAAF, Ashenden and Parisotto "also conveniently ignore the fact that more than 60 athletes have been sanctioned on the basis of abnormal blood values collected after 2009."
And the organisation added: "The two scientists were not, and still are not, in a position to know which cases have been sent to the independent panel for review, nor to know which cases are currently under review or under appeal.
"More importantly, they do not have access to the IAAF testing records and are therefore not able to know whether proper testing follow-up was conducted by the IAAF.
"On this basis, how can these experts claim that no action was taken by the IAAF without checking which athletes were sanctioned, and without any possible access to the IAAF's extensive out-of-competition targeted testing information?"
The IAAF "condemn the fact that two experienced scientists were naive enough to place themselves in a situation where their analysis of incomplete data is being used against athletes in the public domain."
- 'IAAF criticised unfairly' -
It called for the two men to supply the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) with any evidence they have of doping.
"If they do not have evidence, then we urge that they refrain from making assertions of wrong-doing."
Later, Arne Ljungqvist, a former kingpin in the Olympic's fight against doping cheats, gave his full support to the IAAF's efforts to root out dopers.
"The IAAF has historically been at the forefront of all important developments in the fight against doping and has always taken its responsibilities seriously when it comes to catching cheats and protecting the integrity of its sport,? said Ljungqvist.
"The IAAF did more than others, before the others, but is now criticized by people, who have no insight into the work of IAAF, for not having done enough," added the chairman of the IOC's medical commission between 2003-2014.
Saturday's latest interventions in the debate follows Friday's WADA announcement of "an urgent" probe into suggestions of widespread cheating.
This week, IAAF presidential candidate Sebastien Coe called the allegations "a declaration of war" on the sport.
Both Russia and Kenya, singled out in the ARD documentary for a particularly poor record, have also questioned the allegations of cheating in athletics.
'A huge mess': Trump supporters' 'online chatter' sparks tense scenes


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Posted on November 23, 2022 by Chad Jones
ABOVE: Leah Brotherhead is Catherine and Liam Tamne is Heathcliff in the West Coast premiere of Wise Children's Wuthering Heights at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. BELOW: (from left) Brotherhead is Catherine, Jordan Laviniere is the Leader of the Yorkshire Moors, Katy Ellis is Isabella Linton and Sam Archer is Edgar Linton. Photo by Kevin Berne.
Photos by Kevin Berne.
Judging from Kate Bush's thrilling song "Wuthering Heights," my only reference to the Emily Brontë book of the same name, I thought the subject matter at hand was a ghostly love story. "Heathcliff, it's me. I'm Cathy. I've come home. I'm so cold. Let me in your window." I could just imagine the lovelorn ghost tapping on the window in the West Yorkshire moors and shivered those good tragic romance shivers.
When I finally got around to reading the 1847 novel (which was much later than it should have been), I discovered that there was a ghostly romance aspect to the book, but it was much darker, creepier and more violent than I had imagined. Revenge, cruelty and madness pervade the story. The cycles of abuse and racism that Brontë describes feel, sadly, very 21st century.
There have been many adaptations of Wuthering Heights – movies, series, literary take-offs – and now we have the West Coast premiere of a new stage version from the mind of the brilliant Emma Rice, whose previous work as a writer/director in the Bay Area includes Brief Encounter at American Conservatory Theater and The Wild Bride at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Rice's theater tends to be incredibly dynamic and raw – exuberant, striking and beautiful.
Her Wuthering Heights, now at Berkeley Rep after runs in London and New York, is all of the above. This is not a romantic take on this story, although there are several love stories. Rather, Rice concentrates on bigger issues like the oft-repeated refrain, "Be careful what you seed," meaning the hatred and violence you perpetrate now will have repercussions for years to come in the form of death, division and more violence, among other awful things.
Watching this three-hour epic, I was struck over and over again by how this story and Romeo and Juliet are really about breaking that cycle.
It all starts with what seems an act of kindness when Mr. Earnshaw (Lloyd Gorman rescues a boy (of unknown origin, but darker and more foreign than people in the North of England) from the streets of Liverpool and brings him home to meet his children, Catherine (Leah Brotherhead) and Hindley (Tama Phethean). The Earnshaw children have different reactions to the newly christened Heathcliff (Liam Tamne), their new sibling. Catherine immediately adores him (and he, her), but Hindley resents his father's new son and embarks on what wil be years of abuse and degradation.
There's a wildness to the personalities of these moor-dwelling folk, and when more proper society intrudes (as it does with the Linton family), it tends to feel silly and out of place. These moors are distinctive in many ways, and Rice actually brings them to life in the form of a Greek chorus headed by the dynamic Jordan Laviniere. There's also a giant screen at the back of the Roda Theatre stage that exists to show us the Yorkshire skies, most often brooding and stormy, with flocks of silhouetted birds often fluttering by (set by Vicki Mortimer, video design by Simon Baker).
Rice's storytelling is rough and tumble in the best way. Houses are represented by windows and doors on wheels. Piles of chairs represent various furnishings, and books on the ends of sticks are birds. It all feels very contemporary and period at the same time, which is difficult to do. When a punk-fueled Catherine grabs a microphone to offer a song of rage before being forced to reject Heathcliff and marry someone else, it feels exactly right.
The three-member on-stage band, often augmented by members of the cast (like the cello-playing doctor, and the many songs (most folk-y and tender) add an element of energy and life that help counter just how bleak this story is.
Rice's troupe tackles the story with gusto, and it's quite amusing how often they acknowledge just how confusing the characters can be because there are so many repeated names from generation to generation. Rice calls Catherine, Heathcliff and Hareton (the son of Hindley, played by the same actor) forces of Chaos, Revenge and Hope, and the actors Brotherhead, Tamne and Phethean are all phenomenal as they embody and enliven those messy human elements.
There's not exactly a happy ending here, but there is a glimmer of hope. It's well earned and powerful – the kind of thrill that only superb live theater can create and make feel 100% real.
Wise Children's Wuthering Heights, adapted and directed by Emma Rice from Emily Brontë's novel, continues through Jan. 1 at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, 2015 Addison St., Berkeley. Running Time: Three hours (including intermission). Tickets are $19.50-$124. Call 510-647-2949 or visit berkeleyrep.org
This entry was posted in Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Emma Rice, plays, theater news, theater review by Chad Jones. Bookmark the permalink.


text:
static void *new_driver(termkey_t *tk, const char *term)
{
  return NULL;
}

static int start_driver(termkey_t *tk, void *info)
{
  // This is optional
  return 1;
}

static int stop_driver(termkey_t *tk, void *info)
{
  // This is optional
  return 1;
}

static void free_driver(void *info)
{
}

static termkey_result getkey(termkey_t *tk, void *info, termkey_key *key, int force)
{
  return TERMKEY_RES_NONE;
}

struct termkey_driver termkey_driver_null = {
  .new_driver  = new_driver,
  .free_driver = free_driver,

  .start_driver = start_driver,
  .stop_driver  = stop_driver,

  .getkey = getkey,
};

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
King 2 Hearts Ends with a Bang, Not a Whimper
As this week draws to a close, so does King 2 Hearts, the first 2012 drama that has truly sucked me in and deprived me of a social life on the weekends for the last two months. After shedding tears of joy, rage, and sadness over this twenty-episode long monster of an emotional rollercoaster, it's hard to believe that it's truly over. While it's disappointing that my weekends will no longer be filled with hours upon hours of shrieking at Bong-gu in anger, laughing at Jae-ha's never-ending antics as a mischievous, yet skilled king, "aw"ing at all the adorable Shi-kyung and Jae-shin moments (sob), and sitting in awe of Hang-ah's badass North Korean officer moves, I was content, for the most part, anyways, with the ending of King 2 Hearts as I could have possibly been. Beware, if you have yet to see the last two episodes of this drama, there are spoilers ahead.
As much as I love the two main characters, Shi-kyung pretty much became my favorite character in the entire drama by the end. His personality and just the way that he was depicted was spot-on throughout the storyline — his seriousness about his job, the way that he helped Jae-shin overcome the obstacles she struggled with, and of course, his bromance with Jae-ha captured my attention and had me rooting for him every second of each episode. However, as much as I hate to admit it, his death was not something that could have been avoided by the drama. Shi-kyung and Bong-gu are on such opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of ideologies that in order for Jae-ha to bring Bong-gu down, he had to suffer some kind of loss as well. Even though the death of Jae-kang had already hit Jae-ha hard, that only signaled the beginning of Jae-ha's determination to bring Bong-gu down. Obviously, it wouldn't make any sense for the writers to have Hang-ah die, so the only other person important enough in the drama to really make an impact by dying would be Shi-kyung.
It was disappointing that the last two episodes had so much material in them that the characters didn't even get to really grieve over Shi-kyung's death. He played such a big part in helping our main characters step into their roles, especially Jae-shin, and we barely get anything from Jae-ha and excluding a gorgeously executed video sequence when Shi-kyung admits his love for her via video, nothing from Jae-shin. While it's understandable that the main focus of the last few episodes were on the never-ending Bong-gu/Jae-ha conflict as well as the potential for war between North and South Korea, a little bit more sentimentality from our main cast for Shi-kyung would have been nice. Eventually all this nothingness led me to feel a little frustrated with the possibility that Shi-kyung had died for nothing. His death could have been executed a little more strategically and not rushed as much as it had been. I have to admit that the death of creepy assassin (Bon Bon or Mia, take your pick) was pretty satisfying. She was honestly the scariest killer in the history of K-dramas.
King 2 Hearts had been building up the conflict between North and South Korea for a while now, so the sudden introduction of a potential war between the two countries was not much of a surprise. It also felt a little rushed — there didn't seem to be enough time for the gravity of the situation to sink in for us viewers until Hang-ah was pointing a gun at Jae-ha's head (whoa, there!). There was a great moment, however, when Hang-ah was about to leave for North Korea with her father at the beginning of the final episode when you could really see Ha Ji-won's acting chops really kick in. Being forced to pick between the man she loves and her father who brought her up ever since she was a tiny kid could not have been easy, and Ha Ji-won easily channeled the conflicting emotions her character was feeling during that moment. Although Lee Seung-gi's acting had been a little questionable (to me, at least) in the past, his solid performance during this drama, especially during the last two episodes, has convinced me of his acting talent.
Perhaps the most satisfying part of this drama was watching Jae-ha transform from a bratty teenager-esque prince to a capable king. The romance between Hang-ah and Jae-ha didn't necessarily take the backseat, but instead it contributed to the big picture — Jae-ha's overall character development. Both the characters of Hang-ah and Jae-ha had been played out so successfully that by the end, you can truly feel the satisfaction from watching them get together and knowing that they are right for each other. However, there was something missing from the ending of King 2 Hearts that kept it from being as satisfying as it could have been. Maybe it was because the ending was rushed and most of the scenes went a little faster and choppier than they were supposed to go because there was so much material that had to be crammed into the last two hours of the drama, but it definitely could have been wrapped up a little neater. I did appreciate the epilogue at the end of episode twenty though — the fact that Hang-ah and Jae-ha had a kid (who was adorable, by the way) made me breathe a sigh of relief after all that miscarriage drama earlier on in the drama. One thing they should have added was a back story for Bong-gu, though, but right now, we're just going to have to assume that he was born power-hungry and channeled that into craziness.
Something else that King 2 Hearts lacked was good foreign actors and actresses. If not for the makeup that Bong-gu's assassin wore and her strange chocolate-eating habits, I would have laughed at her acting. The Americans from the last episode weren't much better — they just were not convincing enough. However, because this drama is one of the only ones I've seen that features foreign actors on a regular basis (seriously, the appearance of Africans during the kidnapping scene was pretty surprising), it's not something to be that nitpicky about. The international aspect of King 2 Hearts was something that should be really appreciated. As a politically-focused drama, it did a really great job of bringing other countries and nationalities into the plot.
Out of all the dramas that have aired in the past few years, King 2 Hearts is a memorable one. Even though it is extremely political (which can get a bit hard to follow at times), the solid plot and awesome cast make it worth a watch. The hero and heroine are worth cheering for (also, the lack of lead-girl drama was a breath of fresh air), the villain is actually creepy and not useless, the humor dark and biting, and the cinematography aesthetically pleasing. With the exception of a few plot holes and a slightly rushed ending, King 2 Hearts really hits the spot as a Korean drama with its plot twists and convincing performances from the cast.
Now that this bad boy of a drama is over, who else is going to be suffering from K-drama withdrawal for the next month?
(MBC)
Tags: Drama Review, King 2 Hearts
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tattoo Interview with Piotr Deadi Dedel | london, Uk 16/02/2012
Q: What made you to become a tattoo artist?
A: A few things had an influence on that decision paralelly. First of all, I have always been drawing, as a young boy I liked to watch horror movies, I was waiting for them till late hours when they were broadcasted on TV, pissing off my parents by that as well... After that, I was drawing characters from those movies - in secret, because my mom forbade me to do it. She thought, maybe she was right, that there was something wrong with my mind haha. Later on, a teenage inspiration in punk music and psycho-social philosophy connected with it joined my interests, which developed in me a will of passing a message in my drawings. And that's how ambitious drawing began. Everything I did must have had an artistic meaning, gave some thoughts to think of. I didn't feel satisfied with the path I'd chosen at the beginning when I was trying to become an architect... But things started to go in good direction on their own, I gave up studying at the university and bought my first tattoo machine. So everything happened by itself, I've always felt inside of me that I'm destined to be making tattoos.
Q: How long have you been tattooing?
A: I've been tattooing since 2006.
Q: What kind of tattoos you used to like the most?
A: At the time I liked black and white tattoos only, I had never used any other colors than these... I have started to use other colors after 2 years of tattooing, so it was 4 years ago.
Q: What was the most inspiring (thing or person) for you in the beginnings?
A: At the beginning, I knew nobody who could take me off with his tattoos. I liked only few tattoo artists. More inspiration I saw in paintings of artists like Beksinski, Lempicka or Salvador Dali. My friends from the band I was in also were inspiring me, they were supporting me to grab a machine, and it was them who awoke a hope in me, that someday I will be able to put on people's skins things that I've been doing on a piece of paper. After 3 years of working at home, surprisingly I started a cooperation with Victor Portugal, who I had been working 1,5 year in one studio with. A very important person in my career was also Tofi, who tattoos me and opened my eyes in many issues.
Q: Some people say that it is possible to be self though artist. What are your thoughts about this? How did you learn to tattoo?
A: I can't say that somebody helped my in developing my skills at the beginning... Actually, I discovered everything all by myself by trail-end-error method, artists that I was asking to give me some tips were mostly closed to help me. The most important to me was to master my skill, so the ink is precisely put in the skin and heals well.
Q: What is your favorite tattoo style?
A: I have no idea how to name my style, I think it has the most in common with surrealism, or saturated realism. Everything I do I do it automatically, there is a lot of improvisation in it.
Q: Seems like all of your works are custom. We can see a lot of fantasy motives in every tattoo. How do you cope your ideas with your clients? What's the inspiration?
A: Cooperation with a client relies basically on consultations with him. I present my vision of his idea, usually it is the client who
decides on the subject of his tattoo. I don't like when I have to decide on everything on my own, at least I want to know what basically a person wants to have tattooed on his skin. I decide on the rest, additional features (which, along with the client's idea, tell some story), and technical site, which means the composition, colors and all the other details.
Q: What would your "dream piece" be to work on if someone completely let you choose the design?
A: I would like somebody to give his (or her) whole body to my disposal haha. Subjectively almost all my works are my "dream piece" because my clients in majority are open-minded people who trust me, so I usually do what I want.
Q: Your drawings are awesome! Seems like you are very inspired by Giger's art, right? Many of your compositions features dark motives. What is their significance? Is there any message?
A: It's untrue that I'm inspired by Giger, honestly, I like his works but they have no significant influence on my drawings. I treat my work very personally, these are usually reflections of my fears connected with my life, but also with life of human in general. I try to present what emotions, nature of good and evil, and brutal random casualness means to me. That is why I feel very happy when somebody says that he identifies himself with what I have drawn, because all those things are common to all of us, universal indeed.
Q: Do you get caught up in the meaning of your paintings or tattoos, or you keep that separate?
A: Of course the more meaning, the better! Although, in reality I have more freedom in my drawings and I can allow myself for bigger chaos. In the case of tattoos everything has to be done perfectly and much more aesthetically - the composition must be more fluent and fit the body. Moreover, in tattoos I like colors more, in paintings - opposite.
Q: Art could be a great influence on someone's personality. What is the best lesson that you've learned from your art journey?
A: Through art I have understood, that the whole life depends on ourselves and our attitude to it. A painting doesn't paint itself, and to start it some self-discipline is needed. I have also understood that depending on an intuition is very important, listening and taking into consideration an internal voice which helps us to choose the right solutions. Sometimes improvisation is necessary, giving up schemes, and creating new and unknown paths. To be honest, I can't imagine my life without art, to me it is all that makes life exciting and deep in meaning.
Q: What's your motivational lesson for the new artists?
A: Trust your intuition, be courageous and ask questions.
Q: What are your goals for the upcoming year? Please feel free to share your website.
A: I don't want to sit in one spot, though travelling with my girlfriend I am searching for a new place for me. I like Switzerland very much where I'm now taking part in a longer guestspot, but I have fewer more European conventions planned (England, Belgium, Poland...). Later on, a guestspot in London and a trip to China. I think this would be it, because no one knows what 2012 will bring us. You can contact me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/deaditattoo
tattoo girl


text:
New soundproof BMW allows dead-inside sales execs to scream into void undisturbed
by Lucas Wilde 4 years ago
You can now embrace the full catharsis of a good, hard scream from the comfort of your own car.
BMW has released the new BMW Shriek, which comes with the latest in soundproofing technology, giving you the opportunity for a good scream, howl or cry in the car park at lunch.
"It's an amazing machine," said Simon Williams, a sales executive who wanted to be an astronaut when he was a boy and whose soul has been missing since joining Homesworth & Bastard Office Supplies in 2014.
"Previously, if I wanted to scream or cry to vent the sheer infinity of hopeless despair that is this stupid job that makes no difference to the world, I'd have to pop home and yell into a pillow until my throat dried out.
"Now I can just walk out the office, giving a cheery 'hullo' to the receptionist on the way past, before lying down in the back seat of my BMW Shriek, closing the door and howling into space while thinking about the things I could have done in my formative years to prevent the utterly pointless existence which I now lead.
"There's also enough room for child seats, which is nice."


text:
Q: GAE backend / task queue - how to pass user credentials in parameter? In our GAE application we process user`s documents in google drive and as this process takes sometimes more then 30seconds we are getting deadline exception as it is GAE frontend instance.
we would like to use backend instance. Problem is how to pass credentials (com.google.api.client.auth.oauth2.Credentials) to be able to initialize Google drive API.
How to pass user credentials into GAE task queue and then to backend instance to be able to use them later when task will be running ?
com.google.api.client.auth.oauth2.Credentials is not serializable ...

Is there any way ?

A: You'll need to keep the inputs to the credential so you can re-create it in the backend handler.
This is either an authorization code, or the access token and refresh token that you got in exchange for the authorization code. They're all strings so should serialize readily.
If all that sounds unfamiliar, I'd be curious to understand how you got the Credential in the first place. Links to useful documentation below:

*

*Exchange the authorization code for a refresh and access token

*Retrieve and Use OAuth 2.0 Credentials
Notably, sample code in that last link specifically includes a method that you're expected to implement to squirrel away the access/refresh tokens:
/**
 * Retrieved stored credentials for the provided user ID.
 *
 * @param userId User's ID.
 * @return Stored Credential if found, {@code null} otherwise.
 */
static Credential getStoredCredentials(String userId) {
  // TODO: Implement this method to work with your database. Instantiate a new
  // Credential instance with stored accessToken and refreshToken.
  throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
}

A: I'd suggest using AppEngineCredentialStore to store the access and refresh tokens.  Please take a look at calendar-appengine-sample as an example usage.  Here's an example code snippet from Utils.java:
  static GoogleAuthorizationCodeFlow newFlow() throws IOException {
    return new GoogleAuthorizationCodeFlow.Builder(
        HTTP_TRANSPORT,
        JSON_FACTORY,
        getClientCredential(),
        Collections.singleton(CalendarScopes.CALENDAR))
        .setCredentialStore(new AppEngineCredentialStore())
        .setAccessType("offline")
        .build();
  }

NOTE: I'm an owner of the google-api-java-client project.


While US sanctions technically permit Iran to import medicines, it is actually just a ruse to make it look like US officials are kind, compassionate, and benevolent. In actuality, the way the sanctions work will mean that the Iranian people will inevitably be deprived of much-needed medicines. That's because the US extends its sanctions system to banks that process payments to Iran, which is likely to inhibit the importation of medicines into Iran.
But that's the point behind the sanctions: to kill as many Iranians as possible in the hope that they will rise up in a violent revolution, oust Iran's anti-US regime from power, and install another pro-US regime, like that of the Shah of Iran, who the CIA installed into power in its 1953 coup that destroyed Iran's experiment with democracy.
Never mind that the Iranians, who live in a country that has strict gun control, lack the means to violently overthrow their government. And never mind that hundreds of thousands of Iranians would likely die in such a revolution, just like what has happened in the US-supported revolution in Syria.
Those deaths wouldn't matter to US officials. They would be considered "worth it," especially if they brought a pro-US regime into power in Iran.
Recall that those were the words that US Ambassador to the United Nations used back in 1996, when the US government was enforcing sanctions against Iraq.
The Iraq sanctions had already killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children. The idea was that if Iraqi parents became sufficiently upset with their children dying, they would oust their dictator, Saddam Hussein, from power and replace him with a pro-US dictator.
After some six years of deaths of Iraqi children, however, the sanctions had still not produced the desired result. Saddam was still in power. The CBS news program "Sixty Minutes" asked Albright if the sanctions were worth it. She replied that the sanctions were, in fact, worth it. She was expressing the official position of the Clinton administration. That's because killing those Iraqi children was viewed in the same way as killing Iranians today: as a means by which a pro-US regime could be installed into power.
Why was the US government partnering in the 1980s with Saddam, the man they would try to oust from power in the 1990s by killing Iraqi children? They were helping him kill Iranians in the war that he had started against Iran. US officials were so angry that the Iranian people had ousted the CIA-installed Shah in their 1979 revolution that they decided to use Saddam in the 1980s to exact their revenge by helping him to kill Iranians.
What US officials did to an American man named Bert Sacks serves as a valuable lesson for anyone, including banks who process payments, who tries to help the Iranian people. Sachs believed that the sanctions were a moral abomination. He wasn't the only one. Three high officials in the United Nations resigned their positions in a crisis of conscience against what was considered by some to be a US genocide against Iraqi children.
It's no different, of course, with the US sanctions on North Korea and the decades-old, Cold War-era US embargo on Cuba. The idea is the kill as many North Koreans and Cubans as possible in the hopes that they will finally rise up in a violent revolution and oust their dictatorial regimes from power. No number of deaths is considered too high. They are all considered worth it.
Meanwhile, many sanctions supporters continue to go to church on Sundays and pat themselves on the back for living in a country whose government is kind, compassionate, and benevolent.


text:
Only A Game
Listen Live: Radio Boston
For Women's Hockey, Progress With Room To Grow04:20
<iframe width="100%" height="124" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://player.wbur.org/onlyagame/2014/05/17/digit-murphy-meghan-duggan-womens-hockey"></iframe>
Bill Littlefield talks with pioneering women's hockey coach Digit Murphy and U.S national team captain Meghan Duggan about the evolution of their sport. (Robin Lubbock/Only A Game)
One of the things that has made Only A Game unique during it's 20-year run is our coverage of women's sports. And one of the female sports that has changed dramatically in our time on the air is ice hockey. For the OAG 20th Anniversary Live Show, we invited two prominent women in the game today to join Bill Littlefield on stage at the Somerville Theatre in Somerville, Mass.
While at Brown University, Digit Murphy became the most successful women's coach in the country and helped develop players for the U.S. national team that won world championships and Olympic gold. She's now the head coach of the Boston Blades of the Canadian Women's Hockey League.
Meghan Duggan is captain of the U.S. national team. She is also a forward for the Boston Blades. Duggan helped bring home two gold medals and one silver at the World Championships, as well as a silver from the 2010 Winter Olympics and another in 2014.
Highlights From Our Interview With Digit Murphy And Meghan Duggan
BL: Digit, you played your college hockey at Cornell. You coached some spectacularly successful teams at Brown. You've worked with the National Team in various capacities. Now you head the Boston Blades. Tell us a little about how the women's game has grown over the past couple of decades.
DM: The biggest thing that's changed is the resources, the amount of resources that have been actually given to the women athletes. I remember back in the Cornell days we traveled in like vans if we were lucky. We had a part-time coach who actually was a painter on the side, so when we got into his van, literally, we had paint in the van.
But, you know, as the game evolved, many more resources, the skill is phenomenal. I would have given my right arm to play on an Olympic team [women's hockey made its Olympic debut in 1998 when Murphy was already coaching] and to get what these [current players] get.
BL: The world championship of women's hockey is always decided by the U.S. and Canada. They are two excellent teams, but it is a good thing that there aren't eight excellent teams?
MD: There have been a lot of teams making a great punch in the last little bit. I know Finland's given us a hard time. And even Switzerland capturing a bronze, Russia capturing a bronze recently. I think they're all on the ups. I think those countries will continue to grow and get better.
BL: Soon?
DM: Yeah, I think it's going to be soon. I also think that people forget how long it took the U.S. men to get to where they are. It took 100 years. There were the Russians that were No. 1, the Canadians were No. 1, so it's gonna take a little while. But I will say that I think women's sports is a little more cooperative and we need each other to grow the game. I think that at the end of the day, the [U.S. - Canada] rivalry's great, but it's still something that we need to continue to work at together as athletes, as women athletes.
This segment aired on May 17, 2014.
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