text:
IPC European Championships Close Out With 28 World Records
The world record count at the 2016 IPC Swimming European Open Championships rose to 28 on Saturday (7 May), as marks fell to Uraine's Oksana Khrul and Russia's Valeriia Shabalina on the closing night of competition in Funchal, Portugal. Current photo via IPC Swimming/Pedro Vasconcales
2016 IPC Swimming European Open Swimming Championships
Event PageMeet Site Results
More 2016 IPC Swimming European Open Swimming Championships
Belarus' Boki En Route To 200 IM Gold In IPC Euros Day 7 Prelims
Belarusian Ihar Boki is the firm favourite to leave the 2016 IPC Swimming European Open Championships as the most decorated swimmer after winning his men's 200m individual medley SM13 heat on the final day of competition (7 May) in Funchal, Portugal.
IPC European Championships: Day 7 Preview
The concluding day of competition at the 2016 IPC Swimming European Open Championships in Funchal, Portugal, will see home favourite David Grachat swim for glory in the much anticipated men's 400m freestyle S9.
Mereshko Reclaims S6 400 Free WR in IPC Euros Day 6 Finals
On Friday Mereshko pushed herself once again, shaving exactly four seconds off the world best, touching in at 5:14.69 to add another chapter to the gripping rivalry.
Belarus, Ukraine Vying For Gold In IPC Euros Day 6 Prelims
Belarusian Ihar Boki and Ukraine's Dmytro Vynohradets headlined the heats at the IPC Swimming European Open Championships on Friday (6 May), placing themselves in pole position to take their fifth and sixth golds respectively in Funchal, Portugal.
With just two days remaining of the 2016 IPC Swimming European Open Championships, the last major event ahead of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, swimmers will be looking to secure their places in the record books.
Brazil's Dias Takes S5 50 Back World Record In IPC Euros Day 5 Finals
Brazil's 10-time Paralympic champion Daniel Dias broke his own 50m backstroke S5 world record at the 2016 IPC Swimming European Open Championships on Thursday (5 May), showing the world that he is still the man to beat at his home Paralympic Games this Septembd
Ukraine's Savtsova Breaks S6 50 Free World Record During IPC Euros Day 5 Prelims
Ukraine's Viktoriia Savtsova was in world record breaking form in the women's 50m freestyle S6 heats on Thursday (5 May), lowering the best of her world and European champion teammate Yelyzaveta Mereshko in Funchal, Portugal.
2016 IPC European Championships: Day 5 Preview
More than halfway through the 2016 IPC Swimming European Open Championships, day five (5 May) will see a mix of young and experienced athletes race.
Stephen Parsons
by Stephen Parsons 0
May 07th, 2016 Europe, European Championships, International, News, Paralympic & IPC Swimming, Previews & Recaps, Records
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2016 IPC SWIMMING EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Prelims: 9:00am/Finals: 5:00pm (West European) – (4:00am/12:00pm U.S Eastern)
Sunday, May 1 – Saturday, May 7, 2016
The world record count at the 2016 IPC Swimming European Open Championships rose to 28 on Saturday (7 May), as marks fell to Uraine's Oksana Khrul and Russia's Valeriia Shabalina on the closing night of competition in Funchal, Portugal.
Shabalina and Great Britain's Bethany Firth relished the challenge of taking each other on in the women's 200m individual medley SM14, with both women incredibly swimming inside the world record.
The pair were neck and neck at 150m but it was European and world champion Shabalina (2:18.37) who shaved nearly three seconds of her own previous world best time of 2:21.33 to take the gold. Firth swam a 2:21.24 to secure the silver ahead of her teammate Jessica-Jane Applegate (2:26.49).
Khrul (35.48) stripped more than half a second off her own world record from the London 2012 Paralympic Games in the women's 50m butterfly S6. The 21-year-old was pushed all the way by Great Britain's Eleanor Robinson (35.66) who also went under the world record time. Ireland's rising star Nicole Turner (38.17) secuared her third medal of the week with bronze.
Belarusian world and Paralympic champion Ihar Boki (2:05.43) became the most decorated athlete of the Championships, with his sixth gold in the men's 200m individual medley SM13. Ukraine's Iaroslav Denysenko (2:11.30) tried all week to top the five-time Paralympic champion but settled for a fifth silver. Azerbaijan's Dzmitry Salei (2:12.90) took bronze.
Uzbekistan's Shokshsanamkhon Toshpulatova (2:26.59) got the gold medal she had been fighting for all week, taking the Open crown in the women's 200m individual SM13. The 19-year-old set an incredible 11th Asian record to beat Ukraine's Anna Stetsenko (2:28.54) who claimed the European gold also with a new regional record. Russia's former European champion Darya Stukalova (2:30.20) got the European silver and Spain's Ariadna Edo Beltran (2:35.31) the regional bronze.
Italy's Federico Morlacchi (4:19.28) successfully defended his gold medal from 2014 in the men's 400m freestyle S9, for his fifth title of the week. Croatia's Kristjian Vincetic (4:22.95) was second.
"I want to go and relax for a few days and then come back and train harder and harder for Rio," Morlacchi said. "I love sport because you can lose, you can win, it's not important."
The hosts got their second medal courtesy of David Grachat (4:28.26) with bronze.
"I'm very proud of all these people who push for us [in organising the Championships], it was very, very good fun," Grachat said. "I'm going to train hard so I can maybe win a medal [in Rio]."
A further two golds went to Italy on Saturday evening.
European and Paralympic champion Cecilia Camellini (1:09.20) secured gold in the women's 100m freestyle S11. Sweden's Maja Reichard was close behind in 1:09.74, showing that the close rivalry between the pair has a way to run yet.
The Netherland's Liesette Bruinsma (1:09.85) was delighted with her fifth medal of the week in bronze.
Arjola Trimi (41.12) rounded off the trio of Italian swimmers to leave with gold, in the women's 50m freestyle S4. The Ukrainian duo of Mariia Lafina (47.74) and Maryna Verbova (52.48) grabbed silver and bronze respectively.
Hungary's Bianka Pap (1:09.11) showed why she will be a face to look out for at Rio 2016 with her first major international title in the women's 100m backstroke S10.
Nina Ryabova (1:09.29) took silver and France's Anna Roulet, with her first major international medal since 2011, was third.
Great Britain added four more golds to their tally, securing their third place in the medals table with 20 gold, 14 silver and 12 bronze.
Stephanie Millward (4:45.71) dominated for most of the women's 400m freestyle S9 on the way to her second consecutive European gold in the event. Spain's Nuria Marques Soto (4:53.77) also finished her Championships on the podium yet again, after winning seven medals in total. Hungary's Zsofia Konkoly (4:54.84) was third.
European champion Susannah Rodgers (33.80) kept her gold in the women's 50m freestyle S7. Germany's Denise Grahl (34.25) took silver and Israel's Erel Halevi (37.77) the bronze.
Stephanie Slater (30.57), the title holder from 2014, claimed gold in the women's 50m freestyle S8. Ukraine's Kateryna Istomina (31.76) sealed silver and Russia's Olesia Vladykina (31.84) bronze.
Millward and Rodgers were also part of the gold-medal winning women's 4x100m medley relay 34 points team, featuring Harriet Lee and Claire Cashmore, who took the title in 4:35.15. Russia were second in 4:58.79 whilst Hungary (5:15.11) just pipped Spain to the wall for bronze.
Ukraine's title holder Yevheniy Bohodayko (28.23) won his fourth gold of the Championships in the men's 50m freestyle S7. A very close race saw him triumph over Russia's Sergey Sukharev (28.52) and Germany's Tobias Pollap (28.98) in second and third respectively.
Dutch European champion Marc Evers swam expertly to his second gold in the men's 200m individual medley SM14, pulling away from the field during the freestyle leg to finish in 2:11.67.
"It was good swimming after the bad day in the breaststroke, but sometimes you learn from something and that can sometimes happen," Evers said. "It was slow though, but the 2:11 is ok for now and I want to be faster in Rio."
Russia's Mikhail Kuliabin (2:14.21) sealed silver and Great Britain's Thomas Hamer (2:15.94) was third.
Teresa Perales (38.01) took her fourth, and Spain's 11th, gold of the Championships in the women's 50m freestyle S5. Brazil's Joana Maria Silva (38.16) pushed her to the wall but just missed out on the gold, securing Open silver. The Czech Republic's Bela Treboniva (38.62) left with European silver. France's Anita Fatis took the European bronze.
The men's 50m freestyle S4 was an emotional affair, as it saw the final international race of Spain's six-time Paralympian, Sydney 2000 gold medallist and European champion Richard Oribe.
Russia's Roman Zhdanov (39.57) took the baton from the Spaniard, leaving France's David Smetanine (40.13) with silver and Ukraine's Andrii Derevinskyi (41.23) in bronze.
Paralympic, world and European champion Denis Tarasov (26.21) made sure he left with five gold medals for Russia in the men's 50 freestyle S8. Ukrainian teammates Bohdan Hrynenko (26.92) and Iurii Bozhynskyi (27.20) claimed silver and bronze respectively.
Brazilian world champion Andre Brasil (1:01.34) survived a late charge from Estonia's Kardu Ploomipuu (1:01.69) in the men's 100m backstroke S10 to take Open gold. Ploompiuu took European gold and Open silver ahead of Italy's Riccardo Menciotti (1:02.62) with European silver. Ukraine's Denys Dubrov (1:03.03) was third on the regional podium.
"This has been a good test for Rio. Like here, we will swim in a lot of events," Brasil said. "The Paralympic Games will be completely different. The Brazilian people will see how the sport has grown and how much Paralympic sport has improved."
Vietnam's Thanh Tung Vo (34.43) set a new Asian record on his way to Open gold in the men's 50m freestyle S5. Spain's Sebastian Rodriguez (34.60) just edged Great Britain's Andrew Mullen (35.41).
Brazil's World Championships silver medallist teammate Matheus Sousa (59.72) was the victor in the men's 100m freestyle S11. He beat South Africa's Hendri Herbst (1:01.17) to the wall for Open silver.
"I am really happy, although I want to do 58.00," Sousa said. "It's a great result and I'm going back to Brazil with a big smile on my face, because it's a big year."
Ukraine's Oleksandr Maschenko (1:01.41) took Open bronze and European gold in front of Belarusian Hryhory Zudzilau (1:02.21) with European silver. Poland's Wojciech Artur Makowski (1:03.13) completed the European podium in third.
Colombia's Nelson Crispin (31.51) secured his fourth Open gold of the Championships in the men's 50m butterfly S6. Russia's Sergey Klyagin (33.66) and Spain's Alejandro Yared Rojas Cabrera (36.31) were second and third respectively.
Ukraine left the 2016 IPC Swimming European Open Championships at the top of the medals table with 37 golds, 36 silver and 25 bronze.
Russia were second with 30 golds, 31 silver and 25 bronze.
The 2016 IPC Swimming European Open Championships have featured 450 swimmers from 51 countries.
Swimming news courtesy of IPC Swimming.
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About Stephen Parsons
Stephen's swimming journey has taken him all across the Southeastern United States. Starting out at the Flowood, MS based Sunkist Swim Team, he made the transition to Auburn, AL where he competed the remainder of his high school years with Auburn Aquatics. His college career began at Daytona State College under the …
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This entry was posted on September 23, 2013 at 8:30 am and is filed under News.	You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


text:
CHEERS DON
Trump's 'dirty trickster' pal Roger Stone thanks 'brave' President for pardoning him and 28 others
Jessica Kwong
Published: 22:24 ET, Dec 23 2020
Updated: 3:26 ET, Dec 24 2020
ROGER Stone thanked President Donald Trump for pardoning him along with 28 others – claiming it took "courage" to clear his record.
Stone, Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner's father, were among multiple pardons and three commutations from Trump, bringing the total number of people he has granted clemency to in the past two days up to 49.
President Donald Trump issued more than two dozen pardons on Wednesday eveningCredit: Splash News
Roger Stone, a longtime ally of Trump, was pardoned on WednesdayCredit: Fox News
Stone, who calls himself the "dirty trickster", told Fox News: "I have an enormous debt of gratitude to God Almighty for giving the president the strength and the courage to recognize that my prosecution was a completely politically-motivated witch hunt."
Trump also pardoned Manafort, his former campaign chairman, and Stone, his longtime informal adviser, the White House revealed on Wednesday.
As noted by The New York Times, both men refused to cooperate with prosecutors in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe.
Manafort lied to prosecutors after initially agreeing to cooperate with Mueller, and served nearly two years in prison for tax and bank fraud, witness tampering conspiracies, and illegal foreign lobbying.
The pardons were announced on Wednesday night as Trump and First Lady Melania traveled to Palm Beach, Florida, for ChristmasCredit: AFP or licensors
Trump also pardoned his former campaign chairman, Paul ManafortCredit: EPA
Meanwhile, Stone lied to Congress to protect Trump and did not cooperate in Mueller's probe.
Earlier this year, Trump commuted Stone's sentence for obstruction of Congress and threatening a witness.
Trump also pardoned Charles Kushner, who in the early 2000s was prosecuted by then-NJ Attorney General Chris Christie for tax evasion, illegal campaign contributions, and witness tampering.
Jared Kushner's father pleaded guilty to 16 counts of tax evasion, one count of lying to the Federal Election Commission, and one count of retaliating against his brother-in-law who was a federal witness.
Charles Kushner, the father of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, was pardoned on WednesdayCredit: Getty Images - Getty
Charles Kushner was was prosecuted by then-NJ Attorney General Chris Christie in the early 2000sCredit: AP:Associated Press
Trump and the elder Kushner got to know each other personally when their children, Jared and Ivanka Trump, got married in 2009, as well as from working in real estate.
The White House announced Trump's 26 pardons and three commutations as Trump flew with First Lady Melania Trump to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, for the Christmas holiday.
Trump's list of pardons also included Margaret Hunter, the estranged wife of former Republican Representative Duncan Hunter.
Margaret Hunter – pardoned the day after Trump did the same for her husband – pleaded guilty to "knowingly and willingly" conspiring to use campaign funds for personal purposes.
Both Stone and Manafort refused to cooperate with prosecutors in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe
The White House announced Trump's pardons on Wednesday as he and the first lady flew to Mar-a-LagoCredit: Getty Images - Getty
The first couple will spend their last White House Christmas in Florida Credit: Alamy Live News
The list of pardons included more than 20 lower-profile individuals who pleaded guilty to mail fraud, firearm possession, and cyber crimes.
Trump's actions display his inclination to use his presidential powers to override prosecutors, courts, and juries in order to aid his allies.
With the new pardons for Manafort and Stone, Trump has granted clemency to four individuals convicted in the Russia investigation, including former national security adviser Michael Flynn and campaign advisor George Papadopoulos, who admitted to lying to the FBI.
Former Republican Representatives Chris Collins, of New York, and Steve Stockman, of Texas, were also pardoned.
Trump had commuted Stone's sentence earlier this yearCredit: AP:Associated Press
Trump also pardoned Alex van der Zwaan, a Dutch lawyer who was sentenced to 30 days in prison for lying to investigators during Mueller's investigation.
It was also announced on Tuesday night that Trump pardoned four former government contractors – Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, and Dustin Heard – convicted in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad.
Manafort thanked Trump in a series of tweets on Wednesday night.
"Words cannot fully convey how grateful we are," Manafort tweeted, speaking for himself and his family.
Former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos was pardoned by the president
Former California Representative Hunter Duncan, right, was pardoned
"History will record that your Presidency accomplished more in 4 years than any of your modern-day predecessors."
Since Trump lost the election to Joe Biden, it's been widely speculated that Trump could pardon his closest allies before leaving office.
Politico had reported that those up for the possible pardons included Rudy Guiliani and Jared Kushner, along with Ivanka, Eric, and Donald Jr Trump.
Others touted for Trump to pardon reportedly include Tiger King Joe Exotic, Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort, and former White House adviser Steve Bannon, according to a New York Times report.
From left to right: Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty, Nicholas Slatten, and Paul Slough were among those pardoned on Tuesday
Eerie Walmart signs warn shoppers are constantly being watched
There's even speculation that Trump might try to pardon himself.
It's not unusual for presidents to grant clemency on their way out of the White House.
However, Trump has made it clear that he has no issues about intervening in the cases of friends and allies whom he believes have been treated unfairly.
Trump rails against 'theft of the election' for Biden in latest bid to cling to power

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
<?php namespace Anomaly\Streams\Platform\Ui\Form\Component\Field;

use Anomaly\Streams\Platform\Ui\Form\Component\Field\Guesser\DisabledGuesser;
use Anomaly\Streams\Platform\Ui\Form\Component\Field\Guesser\EnabledGuesser;
use Anomaly\Streams\Platform\Ui\Form\Component\Field\Guesser\InstructionsGuesser;
use Anomaly\Streams\Platform\Ui\Form\Component\Field\Guesser\LabelsGuesser;
use Anomaly\Streams\Platform\Ui\Form\Component\Field\Guesser\PlaceholdersGuesser;
use Anomaly\Streams\Platform\Ui\Form\Component\Field\Guesser\PrefixesGuesser;
use Anomaly\Streams\Platform\Ui\Form\Component\Field\Guesser\ReadOnlyGuesser;
use Anomaly\Streams\Platform\Ui\Form\Component\Field\Guesser\RequiredGuesser;
use Anomaly\Streams\Platform\Ui\Form\Component\Field\Guesser\TranslatableGuesser;
use Anomaly\Streams\Platform\Ui\Form\Component\Field\Guesser\UniqueGuesser;
use Anomaly\Streams\Platform\Ui\Form\Component\Field\Guesser\WarningsGuesser;
use Anomaly\Streams\Platform\Ui\Form\Component\Field\Guesser\NullableGuesser;
use Anomaly\Streams\Platform\Ui\Form\FormBuilder;

class FieldGuesser
{

    /**
     * The labels guesser.
     *
     * @var LabelsGuesser
     */
    protected $labels;

    /**
     * The unique guesser.
     *
     * @var UniqueGuesser
     */
    protected $unique;

    /**
     * The enabled guesser.
     *
     * @var EnabledGuesser
     */
    protected $enabled;

    /**
     * The warnings guesser.
     *
     * @var WarningsGuesser
     */
    protected $warnings;

    /**
     * The nullable guesser.
     *
     * @var NullableGuesser
     */
    protected $nullable;

    /**
     * The prefixes guesser.
     *
     * @var PrefixesGuesser
     */
    protected $prefixes;

    /**
     * The read only guesser.
     *
     * @var ReadOnlyGuesser
     */
    protected $readOnly;

    /**
     * The required guesser.
     *
     * @var RequiredGuesser
     */
    protected $required;

    /**
     * The disabled guesser.
     *
     * @var DisabledGuesser
     */
    protected $disabled;

    /**
     * The translatable guesser.
     *
     * @var TranslatableGuesser
     */
    protected $translatable;

    /**
     * The instructions guesser.
     *
     * @var InstructionsGuesser
     */
    protected $instructions;

    /**
     * The placeholders guesser.
     *
     * @var PlaceholdersGuesser
     */
    protected $placeholders;

    /**
     * Create a new HeadingGuesser instance.
     *
     * @param LabelsGuesser       $labels
     * @param UniqueGuesser       $unique
     * @param EnabledGuesser      $enabled
     * @param WarningsGuesser     $warnings
     * @param NullableGuesser     $nullable
     * @param PrefixesGuesser     $prefixes
     * @param RequiredGuesser     $required
     * @param DisabledGuesser     $disabled
     * @param ReadOnlyGuesser     $readOnly
     * @param TranslatableGuesser $translatable
     * @param InstructionsGuesser $instructions
     * @param PlaceholdersGuesser $placeholders
     */
    public function __construct(
        LabelsGuesser $labels,
        UniqueGuesser $unique,
        EnabledGuesser $enabled,
        WarningsGuesser $warnings,
        NullableGuesser $nullable,
        PrefixesGuesser $prefixes,
        RequiredGuesser $required,
        DisabledGuesser $disabled,
        ReadOnlyGuesser $readOnly,
        TranslatableGuesser $translatable,
        InstructionsGuesser $instructions,
        PlaceholdersGuesser $placeholders
    ) {
        $this->labels       = $labels;
        $this->unique       = $unique;
        $this->enabled      = $enabled;
        $this->warnings     = $warnings;
        $this->nullable     = $nullable;
        $this->prefixes     = $prefixes;
        $this->required     = $required;
        $this->disabled     = $disabled;
        $this->readOnly     = $readOnly;
        $this->translatable = $translatable;
        $this->instructions = $instructions;
        $this->placeholders = $placeholders;
    }

    /**
     * Guess field input.
     *
     * @param FormBuilder $builder
     */
    public function guess(FormBuilder $builder)
    {
        $this->labels->guess($builder);
        $this->unique->guess($builder);
        $this->enabled->guess($builder);
        $this->warnings->guess($builder);
        $this->prefixes->guess($builder);
        $this->required->guess($builder);
        $this->nullable->guess($builder);
        $this->disabled->guess($builder);
        $this->readOnly->guess($builder);
        $this->translatable->guess($builder);
        $this->instructions->guess($builder);
        $this->placeholders->guess($builder);
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Q: PHP for each - return results "live" not when the array is completed I can't remember how I did this before, but there had been a way that I used a while loop and it returned the result after each loop, not after the entire array was looped through.
I am now using for each though, but I assume the same practice should be able to be applied to for each.
I have a multiple photo uploader that I want the photos to return as soon as each one is finished, not when all of them are done.

A: Are you searching for ob_flush ?
Will output the contents of the output buffer and can be controled in your for each array.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: How to run concurrently NUnit tests? I have a set of integration test written in C# and NUnit and I want to run them in parallel on a build-machine. How do I do that? In a similar question the accepted solution was:

*

*Create your own test runner

*Move to MBUnit

There is also a project NUnit.MultiCore but it is in Alpha version, which will be scary to use in production... Or run several standard NUnit runners in parallel using the build machine's capabilities, which is a workaround really rather than a durable solution.
Has anything changed so far? I would like to stay with NUnit and I am not too sure how easy it is to build my own test runner.

A: Since NUnit 2.5, NUnit has shipped with PNUnit -- a runner that can run NUnit tests in parallel. To my understanding PNUnit will be integrated into the long planned NUnit 3.0.
There's a pretty good overview how to use it here.

A: Starting with version 3, the NUnit framework itself supports parallel test execution. You may choose whether you want parallelism to be at test case level or fixture level.
More details are on NUnit3 wiki at GitHub

A: What had good expieriences with a tool called ALPACA (see homepage). This analyzes the code and gives hints for data races and deadlocks. It's not perfect, but was very helpful.


Internet connectivity for connecting to EC2 images.
Standard Fedora repositories must be available.
Fedora EC2 images for test day are publicly accessible, but not broadly advertised. To launch an instance, log into the AWS Management Console.
In the left pane, select the US-East-1 region.
In the main window, select launch instance.
Click on the "Community AMIs" tab.
Launch one of the mentioned AMIs on EC2.
If you are unsure about exactly how to file the report or what other information to include, just ask on IRC and we will help you. Once you have completed the tests, add your results to the Results table below, following the example results from the first line as a template. The first column should be your name with a link to your User page in the Wiki if you have one, and the second should be a link to the Smolt profile of the system you tested. For each test case, use the result template to enter your result, as shown in the example result line.
If you have problems with any of the tests, report a bug to Bugzilla.
Use the following table to record tests completed.
This page was last edited on 26 December 2014, at 06:24.


text:
Man charged in connection to disappearance of Gallatin child with autism
Posted: Oct 15, 2019 / 10:57 AM CDT / Updated: Oct 15, 2019 / 05:21 PM CDT
GALLATIN, Tenn. (WKRN) — A 20-year-old man has been arrested in connection with Monday's disappearance of a 12-year-old Gallatin boy with autism who was eventually found safe after an hours-long search.
Kevin Cortes was booked into the Sumner County jail Tuesday on a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, Gallatin police said. Investigators did not elaborate on the origin of the charge.
In addition to the charges, Cortes reportedly also had an active warrant for failure to appear.
Kevin Cortes (Photo: Sumner County jail)
According to police, the family of Sean Cummings reported him missing around 7 a.m. Monday after his sister went to wake him up for school at approximately 5:30 a.m. The family told police they had last seen the 12-year-old at their home in Stoneridge Farms at the Hunt Club Apartments around 11 p.m. Sunday.
Hours of searching Monday morning with no results led the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to issue an Endangered Child Alert for Sean. He was located safe that afternoon in the spot where he had last been seen the night before, police said.
Cortes reportedly dropped the boy off near his home.
According to an arrest affidavit, Cortes allegedly told investigators that he saw the runaway juvenile walking down the road at 4:30 a.m. Monday.
He picked Cummings up, and that's when the juvenile told Cortes that he had run away from home 'because his dad didn't want him there anymore.'
Cortes later told police that he took the child to his home and let him sleep in his bed, fed him, and allowed him to take a shower.
He dropped the boy off at the Stoneridge Apartments Monday afternoon.
Cortes was booked into jail on a $5,000 bond. He's due in court on November 4.
This is a developing story. Stay with News 2 and WKRN.com for updates.
Police: Felony suspect in custody after crashing in Franklin
FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WKRN) - A felony suspect that fled from Metro Police Wednesday afternoon was later captured in Franklin, according to a release from Franklin Police.
The release states the driver originally fled from Metro Police before also trying to evade Franklin officers who tried to pull him over near downtown.
by Stephanie Langston / Jan 20, 2021
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Middle Tennessee man received his second pardon Wednesday. Robert Sherrill was one of 73 granted pardons on President Trump's last day in office.
Sherrill grew up in the streets of North Nashville, he says selling drugs was all he knew.
Suspect wanted for stealing from Franklin Publix Supermarket


Hello there! This is my first parkour map. I hope you will like it.
It is all about climbing upwards in a tower using your Minecraft parkour skills. There are five different levels to climb in total, each with it's own theme.


text:
Posts Tagged 'Art School'
Anton Petrov's Tribute to Veteran Cosmonaut and Space Artist, Alexei Leonov
Last Friday, 11th October 2019, Alexei Leonov passed away, aged 85. Born on 30th May 1934, Leonov was one of the first Russian cosmonauts and the first man to walk in space. His obituary in yesterday's I, written by Nataliya Vasilyeva, ran
Alexei Leonov, the legendary Soviet cosmonaut who became the first human to walk in space 54 years ago – and who nearly did not make it back into his space capsule – has died in Moscow aged 85.
Leonov, described by the Russian Space Agency as Cosmonaut No 11, was an icon both in his country as well as in the US. He was such a legend that the late science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke named a Soviet spaceship after him in his sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey, the 1982 novel 2010: Odyssey Two.
Leonov staked his place in space history on 18 March 1965, when he became the first person to walk in space. Secured by a tether, he exited his Voskhod 2 space capsule. "I stepped into that void and I didn't fall in," he recalled later. "I was mesmerised by the stars. They were everywhere – up above, down below, to the left, to the right. I can still hear my breath and my heartbeat in that silence."
Spacewalking always carries a high risk but Leonov's pioneering venture was particularly nerve-racking, according to details that only became public decades later. His spacesuit had inflated so much in the vacuum of space that he could not get back into the spacecraft. He had to open a valve to release oxygen from his suit to be able to fit through the hatch. Leonov's 12-minute spacewalk preceded the first American spacewalk, by Ed White, by less than three months.
Leonov was born in 1934 into a large peasant family in western Siberia. Like countless Soviet peasants, his father was arrested and shipped off to Gulag prison camps under Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, but he managed to survive and reunite with his family.
The future cosmonaut had a strong artistic bent and even thought about going to art school before he enrolled in a pilot training course and, later, an aviation college. Leonov did not give up sketching even in space, and took coloured pencils with him on the Apollo-Soyuz flight in 1975.
That mission was the first between the Soviet Union and the US, carried out at the height of the Cold War. Apollo-Soyuz 19 was a prelude to the international co-operation aboard the current international Space Station.
Nasa offered its sympathies to Leonov's family, saying it was saddened by his death. "His venture into the vacuum of space began the history of extra-vehicular activity that makes today's Space Station maintenance possible", it said in a statement.
"One of the finest people I have ever known," the Canadian retired astronaut Chris Hadfield wrote. "Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov, artist, leader, spacewalker and friend, I salute you."
Russian space fans have been laying flowers at his monument on the memorial alley in Moscow that honours Russia's cosmonauts. Leonov, who will be buried today at a military memorial cemetery outside the Russian capital, is survived by his wife, a daughter and two grandchildren.
Anton Petrov put up his own personal tribute to the great cosmonaut on YouTube yesterday, 15th October 2019, at his vlog, What Da Math. Petrov posts about astronomy and space, and his video yesterday placed Leonov in his context as one of a series of great Soviet science popularisers before Neil deGrasse Tyson, Brian Greene or Carl Sagan. Petrov shows the stunning paintings done by Leonov with his friend, the science artist Andrei Sokolov. He describes how Leonov's spacesuit expanded so that he couldn't enter the capsule, and was forced to let some of the oxygen out. As a result, he nearly lost consciousness. This showed both the Russians and Americans that spacesuits had to be built differently. He also describes how Leonov, during his 12 minutes in space, was profoundly struck by the profound silence. It was so deep he could hear his heart pumping, the blood coursing through his veins, even the sound of his muscles moving over each other.
Petrov states that the Russian cosmonauts did not enjoy the same celebrity status as their American counterparts, who could live off book signings. Many had to support their families with other work. In Leonov's case, it was painting. He illustrated a number of books, some with his friend Sokolov. These are paintings Petrov uses for the visuals in his video. He considers these books the equivalent to works by modern science educators like Carl Sagan. They were meant to encourage, inspire and educate. Sokolov's and Leonov's art was not just beautiful, but very accurate scientifically and included some SF elements. Some of these elements were borrowed by other science fiction writers. the opening shot of Stanley Kubrick's 2001 is somewhat similar to one of Sokolov's and Leonov's paintings. This became a joke between the two, with Leonov creating a miniature version for the great American director to keep. Kubrick also borrowed many of the ideas for the movie from the Russian film director, Pavel Kushentsev. An extremely talented cameraman, Kushentsev made films about the first Moon landing, the first space station and the first man in space decades and years before they became reality. And all of his movies were scientifically accurate. Some of his movies are on YouTube, and Petrov gives the links at his site there for this video.
Petrov explains that he is talking about these men because their era has ended with Leonov's death. Leonov was the last of the five astronauts on the Voskhod programme, and so all the men who inspired youngsters with amazing paintings and film are now gone. He considers it unfortunate that some of their experiences in the last days of their lives were not very happy. They did not live to see the future they depicted, and their paintings were not appreciated by the modern generation. Kushentsev said before his death,
Popular science is dying, because there is no money. No demand. Nobody wants to educate. Everyone just wants to make money everywhere possible. But one mustn't live like this. This is how animals live. Men have reached the level of animals – all they want to do is eat and sleep. There is no understand that this humanity has passed a certain phase of evolution. We must understand the direction of this evolution. For this, we need culture, we need knowledge.
Petrov believes Kushentsev's criticism of modern Russian society also applies more broadly to the modern generation in the West, to all of us as well. We are all doing what he said we shouldn't – just living for the money, to eat and sleep. Unfortunately, according to Petrov, nothing has changed in the 20 years since his death. But there are people out there in the world working to change this, to produce culture, to inspire and share knowledge. But sometimes the world crushes them, simply because it can. But Petrov says that, like those Soviet men before him, despite not being a famous astronaut or talented artist, or even someone who has very good diction, he will continue doing his part of sealing the hope for humanity, continue the work of these great men and inspire new generations to do things, believe in science and create a better world. Because as Leonov once said,
the Earth was small, light blue and so touchingly alone. Our home that must be defended like a holy relic. The Earth was absolutely round. I believe I never knew what the word 'round' meant until I saw the Earth from space.
Petrov concludes 'Goodbye, comrade, and thank you for all the paintings.
This is the first of two videos about Russian art from that era of space exploration. I'll post the other up shortly.
I don't feel quite as pessimistic as Kushentsev. Brian Cox, who's now taken Sagan's place as the chief space broadcaster on British television, has attracted record audiences for his stage presentation about science and the universe. There is a massive interest among the public in space and space exploration. At the same time, there are a number of really great science vlogs and channels on YouTube. Petrov's is one, but I also recommend John Michael Godier and the Science and Futurism channel, presented by Isaac Arthur.
Sokolov's and Leonov's paintings, they are of a universe of rich, vibrant colour. Spacesuited figures explores strange, new worlds, tending vast machines. They stand in front of planetary landers somewhat resembling the American lunar module. Or crawl across the landscape in rovers, gazing at horizons above which hang alien, often multiple, suns. The best space art shows worlds you'd like to visit, to see realised. These paintings have this effect. It's a pity that on the blurb for this video over at YouTube, Petrov says that these paintings come from old postcards, which are difficult to come by. It's a pity, as they still have the power to provoke wonder and inspire.
I'm not sure Leonov himself was quite so pessimistic. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the main space museum was closed, and many of its exhibits sold off. Before it finally closed its doors to the public, they held a rave in it. I think Leonov was in attendance, sitting at the back with his wife. Someone asked him what he thought of it all. The old space traveler replied that they had found graffiti on the walls on Babylon complaining about the behaviour of the younger generation. 'It is,' he said, 'the young man's world'. It is indeed, and may cosmonauts, space pioneers, scientists and artists like Leonov, Sokolov, Kushentsev and Kubrick continue to inspire the young men and women of the future to take their strides in the High Frontier.
Tags:'2010: Odyssey Two', 'I' Newspaper, 'Science and Futurism', 'What Da Math', 2001: A Space Odyssey, Alexei Leonov, Andrei Sokolov, Anton Petrov, Apollo, Art School, Arthur C Clarke, Babylon, Brian Cox, Brian Greene, carl sagan, Ed White, Gulags, Isaac Arthur, John Michael Godier, Moon, Moon Landings, Moscow, Museums, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Pavel Kushentsev, Peasants, Rockets, Soyuz, Space Travel, Spacesuits, Spacewalk, stalin, Stanley Kubrick, Video, Voskhod, Youtube
Posted in Agriculture, America, Archaeology, Art, Astronomy, communism, Education, Film, History, LIterature, Persecution, Politics, Russia, Science, Space, Stage, Technology, Television, The Press | 1 Comment »
Tories' Karen Bradley Insults Innocent Victims of the British Army in Northern Ireland
Yesterday Mike also put up a piece about Karen Bradley, the current Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, who seems determined to wreck the Tories' chances of retaining any support in Ulster. They are supposed to be the Conservative and Unionist Party, but you wouldn't know it, considering the contempt she appeared to show the innocents killed by the British army during the Troubles. Bradley declared that the people killed by the army were not crimes, constituted only 10 per cent of the deaths during the Troubles, and that the police and military fulfilled their duties in a dignified and appropriate way. This naturally caused outrage, as there is plentiful evidence that they didn't. She then made matters worse by trying to clarify her comments by saying that where there is evidence of wrongdoing, it should be investigated. This appears to contradict her earlier comments, which suggests that there is no such evidence.
Mike therefore put up a series of tweets by Clare Allan, which list some of the unarmed protesters gunned down by the army during Bloody Sunday. Mike makes the point that he doesn't know the details behind each incident and so is not saying it should be given legal weight. But it is clear that Allan herself believes they were killed illegally, and this shows the reason for the outrage Bradley's comments have caused.
https://voxpoliticalonline.com/2019/03/08/supporters-of-the-jewish-labour-movement-respond-to-this-sites-critique-with-abuse/
Bloody Sunday is one of the most infamous events in the Troubles. It was when the British army shot an unarmed Roman Catholic civil rights demonstration. The army has claimed in its defence that it believed that IRA terrorists were hiding amongst the demonstrators and were preparing an attack. This might be true, but it seems that many of those shot were unarmed, non-violent demonstrators. And it has left a long and bitter memory. Nearly two decades ago I went to an art exhibition in one of the pubs in Cheltenham, showing the works by some of the students and graduates of the art school there. It was avant-garde, conceptualist stuff. One of the pieces consisted of the portraits of seven demonstrators killed at Bloody Sunday covered in lead as a comment on their deaths.
As for the police, the army was originally sent in because the RUC, dominated by Protestant loyalists, was too brutal. There is also evidence that the British government embedded SAS troopers in with regular soldiers, who then acted as death squads against Republicans. I have also heard stories from non-sectarian relatives, who grew up in Ulster, that some of the squaddies' attitude to ordinary Roman Catholics was less than 'dignified' and 'appropriate'. But people there felt they could not speak out, because if they did, they'd be put in the Maze as a 'Fenian'.
I am very much aware that the police and armed services risked their lives to maintain peace in the province, and that if they had been removed without a peace agreement, the violence and bloodshed between Nationalist and Loyalist would have been even more horrific. But this does not alter the fact that there are serious questions still to be answered about the conduct of the police and British army during the Troubles. And as we've also seen, the recent car bomb in Londonderry shows and the uncertainty about the Irish backstop and Brexit shows that the peace is still very delicate. Mo Mowlam and Jeremy Corbyn performed a considerable achievement in bringing about peace in the Six Counties. A piece Bradley and the Tories seem willing to destroy with their tactless and ill-considered remarks.
Tags:Art School, Bombings, British Army, Cheltenham, Clare Allan, Conservatives, Death Squads, Demonstrations, Irish Backstop, Irish Nationalism, Jeremy Corbyn, Karen Bradley, Londonderry, Mo Mowlam, Northern Ireland, Police, SAS, Shootings, Ulster Loyalists, Vox Political
Posted in Art, Democracy, Education, European Union, Ireland, Politics, Roman Catholicism, Terrorism | Leave a Comment »
Xelasoma on his Favourite Artists of the Fantastic
And now, as Monty Python once said, for something completely different. At least from politics. I found these two videos from the artist Xelasoma on YouTube, in which he discusses six masters of fantasy art and how they have influenced him. They are Roger Dean, Patrick Woodroffe, and Rodney Matthews in video 1, and Jean 'Moebius' Giraud, Philippe Druillet and Ian Miller in video 2.
Roger Dean will be remembered by fans of '70's prog rock for his amazing album covers for the bands Yes and Asia. Woodroffe and Matthews are also artists, who've produced record covers as well as book illustrations. Moebius and Druillet are two of the geniuses in modern French SF comics. Moebius was one of the 'Humanoides Associes' behind the French SF comic, Metal Hurlant. Among his numerous other works was Arzach, a comic, whose hero flew across a strange fantastic landscape atop a strange, pterodactyl creature. As Xelasoma himself points out here, it's a completely visual strip. There's no language at all. It was also Moebius who designed the spacesuits for Ridley Scott's classic Alien. Xelasoma describes how, after he left art school, Moebius spent some time in Mexico with a relative. This was his mother, who'd married a Mexican, and the empty, desert landscape south of the border is a clear influence on the alien environments he drew in his strips. Xelasoma also considers him a master of perspective for the way he frequent draws scenes as viewed looking down from above. And one of the pictures illustrating this is of a figure in an alien planet looking down a cliff at a sculpture of rock legend Jimi Hendricks carved into the opposite cliff face. Druillet, Xelasoma feels, is somewhat like Moebius, but with a harder edge, drawing vast, aggressive machines and armies of fierce alien warriors. He's also known for his soaring cityscapes of vast tower blocks reaching far up into the sky, which also influenced Ridley Scott's portrayal of the Los Angeles of 2019 in Blade Runner. The last artist featured, Ian Miller, first encountered in the pages of the British Role-Playing Game magazine, Warhammer. His style is much more angular, deeply hatched and very detailed. Fans of H.P. Lovecraft will recognize several of the pictures Xelasoma chooses to represent his work as depictions of some of the weird, sinister gods from the Cthulhu mythos. They include not only Cthulhu himself, but also of the half-human, amphibious, batrachian inhabitants of the decaying port in the short story, The shadow Out of Innsmouth.
What Xelasoma admires about all these artists is that they don't follow the conventions of modern western art established by the ancient Greeks and Romans and the Renaissance. They alter and distort the human form and that of other objects and creatures. He describes Dean's landscapes as organic. Patrick Woodroffe and Matthews also create strange, alien creatures and landscapes, and with the creatures Matthews depicts also very different from standard human anatomy. Many of the creatures, machines and spaceships in Matthews' art are based on insects, and appropriately enough one of the bands whose cover he painted was Tiger Moth. This featured two insects dancing on a leaf. Another picture, The Hop, shows an insect band playing while other bugs trip the light fantastic in the grass, surrounded by items like used cigarettes. His humanoid figures are tall, stick thin, with long, thin, angular faces and immense, slanted eyes. Xelasoma admires the way Matthews can take a train or a deer, and turn them in something uniquely his, as he shows here. He states that he first encountered Dean's and Woodroffe's art in the art books his mother had, such as Woodroffe's Mythopoiekon. He also identifies somewhat with Woodroffe, as neither of them studied at art school. Woodroffe was a French teacher, while for Xelasoma art was far too personal for him to submit to formal training.
Xelasoma points out that these artists were creating their unique visions before the advent of computers using the traditional artist materials of paint and brush, and before courses in SF, Fantasy and concept art were taught at colleges and universities. Nevertheless, he finds their work far more interesting and inspiring than modern SF and Fantasy art, which may be more anatomically accurate, but which, too him, seems very 'samey'. He complains that it doesn't make him hallucinate, which the above artists do. Well, I hope he doesn't mean that literally, as that could be very worrying. But I know what he means in that Dean, Woodroffe, Matthews, Moebius, Druillet and Miller create strange, fantastic worlds that have a striking intensity to them. They seem to be complete worlds, either in the far past or future, or parallel realities altogether, but with their own internal logic drawing you into them.
Discussing their influence on him, he is critical of artists that simply copy the work of others, changing a few details but otherwise keeping to and appropriating the other artists' own unique visions, some times trying to justify this by saying that their work is a 'hommage' to the others. Xelasoma is well aware that his own work is very different to the artists he talks about here, and that many of his viewers won't be able to see their influence. But he goes on to describe how they have influenced him at the general level of form or composition, while he himself has been careful to develop his own unique style.
Dean, Woodroffe and Matthews have produced books of their work, published by Paper Tiger. Matthews and Miller also have their own websites, for those wishing to see more of their work. Moebius passed away a couple of years ago, but was the subject of a BBC4 documentary. There's also a documentary about Roger Dean on YouTube, presented by that grumpy old Yes keyboardist, Rick Wakeman. Xelasoma believes in their fantastic depictions of landscapes and animal and human forms makes them as important and worth inclusion in museums and galleries as Graeco-Roman and Renaissance art. I wouldn't go that far, but I would maintain that in their way, they are far more significant than many contemporary artists that have been promoted as 'official' art. Xelasoma's documentary really shows only a few pieces from these artists' works, and the bulk of these videos are about the particular impact they have on him. But nevertheless it's a good introduction to their work, and explanation why they should be taken seriously as artists beyond their origins in popular culture.
Tags:'Warhammer', Alien, Art School, Arzach, BBC 4, Blade Runner, Colleges, Computers, Cthulhu, Fantasy, French Language, H.P. Lovecraft, Ian Miller, Jean 'Moebius' Giraud, Jimi Hendricks, Metal Hurlant, Monty Python, Patrick Woodroffe, Philippe Druillet, Rick Wakeman, Ridley Scott, Rodney Matthews, Roger Dean, Role-Playing Games, Science Fiction, Universities, Xelasoma, Youtube
Posted in Art, Comics, Education, France, Mexico, Music, Popular Music, Technology, Television | Leave a Comment »


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The Layman's Guide to The Driven Grouse Shooting Debate
Yesterday, the 12th of August, is known as the 'Glorious 12th' – the day when the driven grouse shooting season starts. This blog post is intended to highlight the key problems with the driven grouse shooting industry for the layman who has little or no prior knowledge about the matter.
There is a major problem with our land. A problem with over 17, 000 km squared, a quarter of all our uplands, and nearly 20% of Scotland. A problem that contributes to climate change, kills tens of thousands of mountain hares every year, and is driving one of our most iconic raptors to the verge of extinction in the UK.
It's not agriculture. It's not housing. It's not manufacturing, infrastructure or conifer plantations.
It's a 'sport'.
Specifically, it is a type of bloodsport called driven grouse shooting. It involves a line of beaters driving red grouse towards shooters, who then kill them as they fly past. The focus is on killing as many individuals as possible, and people who pursue the sport pay extortionate amounts of money to for a day's shooting on a moor where there are the densest quantities of grouse.
This encourages the landowners to manage the land to optimise Red Grouse numbers – the stem of all of the problems.
Artificially managing land for any one species is going to be environmentally damaging, and magnify this up to the huge area that the moors cover and there will be a significant effect on wildlife nationally.
Grouse eat young heather and nest in old heather, so the groundsman's job is to create a patchwork of these two types of heather. To do this, the moor is drained and then burned to encourage growth. If you were to look at a grouse moor in Scotland you would be likely to see huge blackened strips across the mountainside – this is known as muirburn. The burning is becoming gradually more intense; the proportion of rotationally burned heather in national parks doubled between 1970 and 2000 (from 15 to 30%).
Burning destroys the heather (albeit temporarily) and exposes peat to the elements – to dry out or be washed away. UK peat stores about 5.5 billion tonnes of carbon – 31 times the UK's annual emissions – and damaging it in this way releases 10 million tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere per year, and prevents that land from being used as a carbon sink. Thus land use on grouse moors contributes to climate change.
Draining the land lowers the water table, damages the peat and reduces invertebrate populations. It dries the land and makes it more susceptible to fires, such as the Saddleworth Moor fire in Greater Manchester on Jun 27th, which was described as an accident 'waiting to happen'. While it is very difficult to set woodland on fire, drained heathland is a tinderbox. Such fires break out regularly, some started naturally, others artificially started to burn the heather but got out of control.
Creating drainage channels also makes the area more susceptible to flooding, because instead of the ground holding the water the channels quickly take all of the water away (as they are meant to) so they reach rivers faster and increase the maximum water output of the river. This is why in Yorkshire, residents of Hebden Bridge protest every year, because they blame their frequent and devastating floods on how the land above their town is being managed.
But there is also an intrinsic problem with keeping this moorland, in that it is not natural, and designing it optimally for grouse turns it into a monoculture of heather. Because such huge quantities of moorland are managed in this way the biodiversity of the uplands is severely restricted. Whether moorland is attractive or not is a matter of debate, but I think scenes such as the one below would look better if those hills were covered in trees.
But driven grouse moors are perhaps most infamous due to their reputation for predator control.
In order to maximise grouse numbers, a logical (although unpleasant) step is to remove all potential predators of the grouse.
This is done in a variety of ways, both legal and illegal; shooting, poison on carcasses, snares and traps etc.
This is both a conservation and animal welfare concern. Whilst you may not think that a gamekeeper's activities on his patch of moorland can have significant impacts on national wildlife populations, they can.
Here's an example of animals killed on a single estate over 3 years, between 1837 and 1840:
475 Ravens
1,413 Hooded Crows
285 Buzzards
462 Kestrels
275 Red Kites
301 Stoats and Weasels
67 Badgers
And some true rarities by modern day standards…
27 White Tailed Eagles
15 Golden Eagles
18 Ospreys
63 Goshawks
63 Hen Harriers
106 Polecats
and, most shockingly, 198 Wildcats! With estimations of wildcat populations left as in the low tens, this is jaw dropping.
These figures just go to show how much our wildlife has plummeted – these figures are unimaginable by modern day standards. Driven grouse shooting isn't the only culprit, but it is certainly one of them.
Of course, not as many animals are shot today, but that is because there aren't nearly as many left to shoot.
And, disturbing to even those with little care for conservation, is the method in which animals are killed. Film footage evidence was produced this year of a 'stink pit' – where killed animals are left strung up from trees or in a pile, which attracts scavengers such as foxes, which then get caught in snares around the edge of the pit and eventually die, adding to the pile of rotting flesh. It's a horrific sight.
Some of biggest uproars about have been in relation to mountain hares. It is estimated that 25 000 were killed in 2006-7 alone, and the species is in great danger, with an overall decline of 34% in 18 years, between 1996 and 2014. Clearly this level of culling is unsustainable. The SNP are even getting involved, calling the culls 'unacceptable' and considering legislation to protect the mountain hares.
The greatest opposition has stemmed from raptor persecution. This is one of the illegal activities carried out on moors – raptors are all protected by law. However, this doesn't stop them being shot, poisoned and trapped by gamekeepers to prevent them from feeding on the grouse. Most birds of prey are in decline, but none are in more trouble than the Hen Harrier, whose populations reduced from 18 to 4 in England since 1988, while there is potential in the England for over 330 pairs. Scotland could also house 1300 more than its current population.
2000 Hen Harriers are missing.
Is it necessarily grouse moors that are causing this decline? It's almost certain. A quarter of all Hen Harrier nests are on grouse moors, but despite the abundance of prey, they are the least successful nests, raising an average of 0.8 chicks per nest compared to 2.4 on normal heather moorland. The nesting ratio would have been similar between the two sites if all of the 'failed' nests were discounted; these nests were often attributed to persecution, because of evidence of trampling, shotgun cartridges, or the nearby body of an adult.
Annual female survival on grouse moors is HALF of that on otherwise similar moors.
Satellite tagging raptors has provided evidence that illegal persecution frequently happens. Shooting communities claim that it is just a few 'bad apples'. The declines that we see show that either many estates are killing comparatively few raptors per year or a few are killing very many. Either way, the impact on the population is the same and must be stopped. The trouble is, it is currently very hard to convict anyone, and a prosecution is rare.
Vicarious liability has been suggested, whereby land owners are held legally accountable for the actions of their gamekeepers, providing more incentive for the owner to ensure that his moor is managed legally. This would still, however, require successful prosecution to work, and wouldn't get rid of other environmentally detrimental practices.
Another option would be to get rid of this practice entirely, however this would require a lot of effort and public opposition.
The main arguments that the pro-grouse shooting lobby put forward are that it:
a) Is economically important to the country (the government subsidises grouse moor at £56 per hectare because they are managing valuable land – as there are 1, 700, 000 hectares of moor, that's a lot of taxpayer money. Estimates put money generated to the economy by driven grouse shooting at around £150 million (although estimates vary widely). So it either generates a minimal contribution, or in fact a slight drain. Far more could be generated by improving the landscape and increasing tourism in the uplands.)
b) Is important for waders ( True. But this isn't a reasonable price to pay for the destruction of a vast amount of other important animals that are vital for a healthy ecosystem.)
c) Housing and industry would otherwise occur on the land and ruin the landscape (this is not the most likely outcome and in fact freeing up this land could have huge benefits for reforesting Scotland, rewilding the landscape and improving the ecotourism industry)
What Can You Do About It?
There are several ways that you can help.
As always, you can email your MP to express your concerns.
In addition, there have been numerous petitions to ban driven grouse shooting, the 2016 one reaching over 123, 000 signatures. Here's a current one to ban it on Yorkshire Water -owned moorland.
A thunderclap has been set up by Findlay Wilde to spread the message and highlight public opposition – unfortunately this has now ended but on a positive note it reached over 8 million people -an incredible achievement. Keep an eye out for future thunderclaps.
Similarly it is now to late to attend this year's Hen Harrier Day (on the 'Glorious' 12th of August that marks the start of the shooting season) to show support for the cause, but it is never to late to spread the message! Use social media to help spread the word.
A fantastic book that explains the issue in detail and the progress that has been made in combating the practice.
https://markavery.info/blog/
A very active blog by the author of the above book delving into the issue in detail and keeping up to date with all news.
https://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com/
What it says on the tin – a blog about raptor persecution!
http://birdersagainst.org/
Birders Against Wildlife Crime's blog
Apologies if I've missed anyone out. Do let me know
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Tags: Debate, Driven Grouse Shooting, facts, Glorious 12th, Grouse Shooting, Hen Harrier Day, James Miller, Layman, summary, young conservationist
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3 thoughts on "The Layman's Guide to The Driven Grouse Shooting Debate"
Catherine on	 August 28, 2018 | 9:29 pm
This is a thoughtful and helpful summary. Thank you.
Dennis on	 September 3, 2018 | 6:29 pm
A well presented case, James, and thank you. However, I'd like to add an extra dimension to your case; that of the sportsman.
As you say, grouse shooting – indeed any game shooting – is a sport which involves killing. It's not driven by necessity and clay pigeon shooting is available for those who enjoy the marksmanship aspect of firearm use. That can only mean it is fuelled by an enjoyment of the act of killing itself.
You've dwelt heavily on the damage of game shooting to the environment, but surely fostering a love of killing must be damaging to the individual involved. I have many friends among the farming community, many of whom raise livestock and none of whom enjoy the inevitable necessity of sending their animals to be slaughtered. However, they accept that as part of the cycle of life and something one has to do if one is to put meat on a dinner table. But in a compassionate society, how can there be a place for enjoyment of killing for killing's sake?
Good luck with your campaigning.
Liam Northwood on	 October 26, 2018 | 10:19 am
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Are you one of the people who doesn't want to lose weight because it will mean you have to go on a strict diet?
I can completely relate to that. I hate diets and don't like being restricted. What I love about what we teach is that depending on the level of results you want, you don't have to restrict yourself with everything.
Instead of thinking about restricting your diet, start to think about adding in healthy whole foods. The more good foods you eat, the less of the others you will want.
Make sure you are eating protein at every meal. Toast and jam doesn't have protein and neither do most cereals. At breakfast, eat eggs. Yes... you do have time. Hard boil them when you are making dinner the night before. You can also make a quiche on the weekend that will last you the first half of the week (very easy to make). Your other option for breakfast... leftovers! Who says you need to have cereals or eggs in the morning?
If you want to have porridge for breakfast, make sure you add some protein sources to it. We add some protein powder to ours as well as LSA and coconut flakes for some added fat.
At lunch and dinner, make sure you have some protein and vegetable. Snack on fruit, nuts, cheese, or other protein throughout the day.
Commit to increasing the amount of protein and vegetables you eat in your diet. Then if you have a piece of chocolate or a packet of chips in the day, don't worry about it. If you feel guilty about it; that will take away from the experience and generally speaking make it worse. It's that horrible spiral then, isn't it? I had one bad thing, so I might as well have a bad day.
If you can stop that behavior... you are on your way to eating healthy as a lifestyle choice, loosing the fat and keeping it off.
So for now... concentrate on increasing the healthy foods you eat and not worrying so much about the other stuff. You will start to crave the healthy stuff the more and more you eat it. And the pasta, bread, chips, etc... you will look at and not want to eat it. I know it sounds crazy, but I have helped lots of people do this and have changed myself. You can do it too.