For nearly four years, Japan has been under a nuclear dilemma. Following the 2011 Fukushima disaster, the country had shut down all of its 54 nuclear reactor units for safety checks and upgrades. On August 11, Japan turned nuclear again by restarting one of the reactors at the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant in south west Japan's Kagoshima Prefecture. The reactor, owned and operated by Kyushu Electric Power Company, became the first unit to pass the safety tests based on post-Fukushima regulatory standards conducted by Japan's new Nuclear Regulation Authority. The plant spent about $100 million to meet the stringent standards. A second reactor is expected to start functioning soon and both are likely to rejoin the national grid by the end of the month.
The nuclear shutdown has forced Japan to import more fossil fuels, making it the world's largest importer of natural gas and the second largest importer of coal. Fukushima happened, ironically, at a time when Japan had unveiled plans to raise its production of nuclear energy to meet up to 40 per cent of its power requirements as the country has virtually no fossil fuel deposits.
The decision had severely affected the Japanese economy, which was trying to recover from the aftershocks of the 2008 global financial crisis. Till 2011, a third of Japan's electricity requirements were met by nuclear power. The reactors at the Sendai plant alone generated more than 12 billion kWhs of electricity annually. The move pushed up electricity prices by up to 20 per cent, putting the Japanese economy under grave strain.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said his government wanted to put the reactors back online so as to reduce Japan's dependence on imported fossil fuels. However, it may not be an easy task since most people in Japan are yet to get over the horror of Fukushima. Before the disaster struck, nearly 65 per cent of the Japanese were in favour of nuclear power. But the situation turned upside down after Fukushima, with over 70 per cent of the population demanding phasing out nuclear power. Most people support the decision by the previous government under prime minister Naoto Kan of the Democratic Party of Japan, to phase out nuclear power by the 2030s. The move to restart nuclear reactors has brought down the popularity of Abe, considerably.
"By moving ahead with restarts, the Abe administration is leading a doomed country," said Kan, who was prime minister four years ago, when the huge tsunami dismantled the cooling systems at the Fukushima reactor, affecting more than 1,00,000 people. Yet, the public opposition to nuclear power has not translated into political success for anti-nuclear politicians like Kan. Post Fukushima, Kan had announced a policy to phase out nuclear power, but his party was voted out of power in the parliamentary elections in 2012, and was replaced by the conservative, pro-nuclear right wing government under Abe.
The government's move to reopen the nuclear plants has been challenged in courts. Several protest demonstrations have taken place outside reactors, which have applied for permission to restart. At least 25 plants have put in requests to restart functioning. But for most reactor managements, the process is an uphill task. The plants will have to meet the stringent standards set by the Nuclear Regulation Authority. And, even if the NRA gives the go ahead, the final say in the matter rests with local authorities. For instance, the NRA has given clearance to five reactors so far, but only Sendai has been permitted by the local government to restart functioning. Meanwhile, 19 more reactors are now awaiting NRA's inspections.
The government, however, seems to be determined to go ahead with its plans. "Japan won't be able to keep power rates down and tackle climate change without nuclear power," said Yoichi Miyazawa, minister of economy, trade and industry. If all 25 nuclear reactors awaiting approval before the NRA are granted permission to restart operations, economists predict that energy prices in Japan would drop by nine per cent.
Apart from regaining its economic competitiveness, nuclear energy is also important for Japan to realise its clean energy goals, by bringing down its greenhouse emissions. Right now, Japan is focused on harnessing wind and solar options to fight climate change. But with its limited land availability, it is proving to be a tall order.
Japan's dilemma also has international implications. Several countries have put their nuclear reactor operations under hold following the Fukushima disaster. They are all waiting to see whether Japan will be able to put back on track its nuclear sector and are looking at the developments at Sendai. Meanwhile, the fight rages on at Sendai. "We don't need nuclear plants," said Kan, addressing a group of protesters outside the reactor. "The Fukushima disaster had exposed the myth of safe and cheap nuclear power, which turned out to be dangerous and expensive."


text:
Trump, Denmark and Greenland: What Next?
For example, creditor information? Debtor's statistics? Help finding a document?
(This post draws directly from ideas from co authored work with Joseph Blocher; and particularly the numerous discussions we have had about the incentives that a market for sovereign control might create for nations to take better care of their minority populations in outlying areas (e.g., the US and Puerto Rico). Mistakes in the discussion below, however, are solely mine).
It seems like forever ago, but it has only been a few weeks since the news came out that our esteemed chief executive wanted the US to purchase Greenland. The notion was widely ridiculed in the press and provided wonderful fodder for comics around the globe. But as people looked beneath the surface, it quickly became apparent that there was nothing in international law that prohibited the purchase and sale of sovereign control over a territory. Where Trump was wrong was in his assumption that he needed to purchase Greenland from the Danes. Under post World War II international law, however, a former colony such as Greenland has the right of self determination. To quote the Danish prime minister, responding to Trump, "Greenland is not Danish. Greenland belongs to Greenland."
The Danish PM also said "I strongly hope that this is not meant seriously." And, from her perspective of apparently wanting to keep the status quo of Greenland being part of Denmark, it makes sense that that's what she hopes. But let us focus on the words "Greenland is not Danish. Greenland belongs to Greenland." If one thinks about those words just a little, they mean that Trump's purchase (and maybe he should start calling this a "merger", since that seems more polite) is perhaps a lot easier to execute than he initially thought.
Trump and any other suitors that Greenland might have (Canada, China, Iceland, Russia, etc.) need to only focus their attention on making the Greenlanders happy; they don't need to worry about the Danes. No need for Trump to do diplomatic trips to Copenhagen. Trips should be to Nuuk instead. After all, it is the approval of the 55,000 Greenlanders that he needs.
How many Greenlander votes, specifically? (assuming that there would need to be a referendum first). International law doesn't clearly say; but surely more than a majority – and ideally with a voting mechanism designed in such a way that the rights of the minority that might not want to be part of the merger being appropriately protected.
The point is that if DJT and his supporters remain committed to the Greenland strategy – and it appears they do (see here) – the next step is will be to persuade the people of Greenland that this merger is in their interest. That way, the next time Trump offers a merger deal to the roughly 55,000 Greenlanders, they will react with enthusiasm rather than horror. One would expect, therefore, to see the US taking steps to mount the charm offensive in Greenland. And, as it turns out, preliminary steps in this direction have already been announced with the US planning to open a consulate in Greenland and engage in various outreach programs as part of its broader arctic charm strategy (here).
But that should not be the end of the story. After all, there is no reason other countries cannot make offers to the Greenlanders and, in preparation for that, exert efforts to persuade the Greenlanders that they are better long-term partners. We saw this play out in Greenland in a micro fashion just some months before the current drama when a set of Chinese financial institutions offered to help Greenland finance a set of much-needed airports that Danish institutions had been unwilling to fund. As the Wall Street Journal reported the story, the Pentagon freaked out and the US and Denmark figured out how to make a better offer to help the Greenlanders. Trump's interest in buying Greenland, we suspect, was at least in part a product of discussions about those airports. For us though the point is that the US and Danish interest in funding development was prompted by the need to compete with the Chinese for influence over the future of Greenland. In the end, the result of the competition was a positive for Greenlanders. (For more on the competition dynamic, see here and here)
That was just a few airports though. The stakes are higher if Trump and the US need to persuade Greenlanders that they are good long-term marriage partner. Maybe the US will decide to build a few hospitals and universities in Greenland over the next year, in addition to that consulate in Nuuk. And, if Canada gets interested in competing (after all, it is a lot closer), maybe it will offer to fund more stuff. Maybe, in addition to improved medical care, educational facilities, and airports, Greenlanders need other stuff – like better fishing boats. And China, if it were interested, could do even more. Last but not least, given that the Danish seem to have discovered a renewed interest in keeping Greenland happy over the last few weeks, they might want to do even more than the others to show the Greenlanders that it is in their long-term interest is in staying Danish.
If we are correct that there is nothing stopping the US and other nations making merger offers to Greenland in the future (let us say that Trump is preparing to make his next offer a year from now, in September 2020), we should expect to see those nations to be competing, starting now, to persuade the Greenlanders as to where their best long-term interests lie. And, that, from the perspective of the Greenlanders, strikes us as an unambiguously good state of affairs.
And if this dynamic could work to improve the life of Greenlanders, could it help the welfare of the citizens of other former colonies. Maybe, if Canada showed some interest in Puerto Rico, the US Congress would begin to treat the people there better and move quickly to give them better funding for development and rights like the right to vote in federal elections. (For more on the Puerto Rico/Self Determination connection, see here).
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Is there any way to capture the state of an application so as to restore execution of it later?
I want to know the difference between stripped binary and obfuscated binary.
What is the format of this binary file?
Is this firmware using a substitution cipher?
Why would an ELF SHT_REL section contain relocations outside the section its sh_info refers to?
Is this Bignum multiplication of 2048 RSA number a Montgomery multiplication?
Ldr arm thumb2 must be multiple of 4?
How to obtain memory address of string literal?
Test malware files in host machine?
Frameworks like mcsema is used to convert an executable file into LLVM bitcode which can be further used to perform program analysis. Is there any way to convert an object file in the similar way?


text:
export class DomUtils {
	static removeChildren(n: Node) {
		if (!n) {
			throw new Error(`Element not set: ${n}`);
		}
		while (n.firstChild) {
			n.removeChild(n.firstChild);
		}
	}

	static moveChildren(source: HTMLElement, target: HTMLElement) {
		while (source.firstChild) {
			target.appendChild(source.firstChild);
		}

		if (source.parentElement) {
			source.parentElement.removeChild(source);
		} else {
			source.remove();
		}
	}

	static getIdentifier(e: HTMLElement): string {
		if (e.id)
			return e.id;

		var name = e.getAttribute("name");
		if (name != null)
			return name;

		name = e.getAttribute("data-name");
		if (name != null)
			return name;

		var attrs = '';
		for (var i = 0; i < e.attributes.length; i++) {
			attrs = attrs + e.attributes[i].name + "=" + e.attributes[i].value + ",";
		}

		return e.tagName + "[" + attrs.substr(0, attrs.length - 1) + "]";
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Voters Will Required To Show ID In Pilot Scheme
A number of councils in England, including Birmingham and Bradford, will trial the scheme at local elections in 2018.
Constitution minister Chris Skidmore said the pilot would "ensure the integrity of our electoral system."
The move has also received support from the Labour party.
A full list of the participating councils has not been released, but the government wants to use the pilot scheme to see if it should be rolled out across the whole country.
Mr Skidmore said: "The government's view is that electoral fraud is unacceptable on any level. I want to protect the right of everyone to have their say and participate in our democracy.
"That is why the new measures we are announcing today will protect anyone who is at risk of being bullied, undermined or tricked out of their vote - and their democratic right.
"By eliminating fraud and tackling improper practices, we are ensuring the integrity of our electoral system while building a clear and secure democracy that works for everyone."
The reform was first touted by former cabinet minister Sir Eric Pickles in August, when he released recommendations amid growing concerns about electoral fraud.
Different councils will trial different types of photo ID, including driving licences, passports or utility bills to prove addresses, although the creation of a new form of ID specifically for voting has been ruled out by ministers.
Northern Ireland already requires voters to show ID before casting their ballot.
Labour's shadow minister for voter engagement and youth affairs, Cat Smith MP, said the party supported the plan.
However, she said more needed to be done to ensure eligible voters were registered after a change to the rules by the Conservatives in February meant people had to register as individuals, rather than as a household - a move that saw thousands of people wiped off the register.
"The Government's priority should be to ensure the integrity of the system, but also to address the fact that under them hundreds of thousands of people have fallen off the register due to their unnecessarily rushed changes," she said.
"Despite what the Tories say, they have been more interested in fixing the rules to suit themselves, rather than helping the many eligible voters who are not on the electoral roll."
As well as the trials, election officials and police will be given new powers to tackle intimidation of voters by activists, who will also be banned from collecting postal votes for submission - a practice known as "harvesting".
And the government has said it is also considering plans to check the nationality of voters to stop fraudulent registrations.
There will also be reforms to improve the security of the postal ballot system, such as requiring postal voters to re-apply every three years.


My biggest fear is failure, I've never chased any dream because I don't want to fail. I guess we all have a slightly different definition of what failure means, but I've always thought hearing the word 'NO' was a fast pass to a dream crushing end.
Surprise, I'm still here. Feeling ALL the feels and crying my heart out because as painful as I knew hearing D E N I E D would feel — I didn't expect the heart ache of still wanting something I'm not able to achieve.
So often the strongest women are those that dont know it. But your strength, determination and love shines through, you got this! 🖤💙 And I know I'm not the only one out here praying for you!


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For most of you, I suspect, graduate school has had its ups and downs. But you are here now, at the very last moment of your graduate student life; you will leave today with a degree in hand. So first things first: Congratulations to you and all the people here who have supported you.
For some of you, today is a moment of unalloyed joy. It's over. . . the studying, the tests, the hard work. . . today you have your degree and you won't look back.
For some of you, graduation is more bittersweet. Yes, it's wonderful to be done, but you leave behind the friends and community, the intense lunch-time debates, and a place where you have worked hard and succeeded.
For most of you, today is probably just a little scary. However much you might have cursed your classes and your professors, school has been a familiar place. The next steps and the new responsibilities you'll take on are still unfamiliar.
All of you have done one thing right: You've received a degree from a school that is soaring up in the rankings. . . particularly in science and engineering. The value of your degree is enhanced by the fact that it comes from a place that commands growing respect in higher education.
As a commencement speaker, it is my duty to give you advice this morning. While I am a Ph.D. economist, my own career has included many jobs, as a researcher, a teacher, a policy analyst, an organizational manager and administrator, and as a public servant. By my count, I've worked in 10 jobs since I finished my Ph.D., at four universities, one think tank, and in four different federal-level positions. While that might suggest to you that I can't hold a job, I would like to think that it means I've kept looking for new and interesting opportunities to learn more and take on new challenges.
So I'll share a few of the things that I've learned over the course of my career. If these comments are useful, great. If not, just sit there and think about how you're going to miss the free appetizers at GSA Happy Hour at Flat Tuesdays.
First: I can wish nothing better for you than that you have a career, as opposed to just having a job. Some of you have been employed throughout grad school and will return to that same employer; some of you have new opportunities; some of you are still looking for work. Paid employment is a wonderful thing – as I'm sure your families have told you – and I very much hope that your degrees give you access to good pay and benefits. But, as you enter the next stage of your life, if you think only about your job…that is, about what you do every day and what you earn every month in your paycheck…you will be missing something important.
Don't get so lost in the daily routine that you forget that over the days, you are forging the story of your career. . . building a record of who you are and how your work—and your life – has contributed to society. Make sure that over time, you don't just work on a job, you build a career and a story of contribution that makes you proud.
You have done the work necessary to get a master's degree or to complete a Ph.D. because—I hope—you were deeply interested in a particular field of study. Take that passion with you as you embark on a career. If you are lucky, you will find work that not only allows you to pay the bills, but that needs your passion; a job that engages you intellectually but that also speaks to who you are as a living and caring person. When that happens, you will have found work worthy of your full engagement.
Second, your life is more than your work. Yes, look for engaging and important work, but if you spend 20 hours every day in the lab or in the office you risk losing another important part of yourself. I know that graduate school can be all-consuming. You have probably had to be very focused while here at UMBC. In order to get your degree, you've put less time into your friends and less time into your family than you would like. Be careful of that. You need to replenish yourself.
I have learned that I work smarter and more effectively when I take time away from the office. At the end of the day, I try very hard to get out of the office and go home to have supper with my family; then I turn the computer back on again. I also have a pretty strong rule that I have followed for years: I take one day a week off. For me, because of my religious commitments, that's Sunday. Now, I can't always follow this rule; for example, I've surely responded to far too many e-mails on Sunday afternoon. But I know that I need time doing other things than my job. . . reading, biking, being part of a neighborhood, and—most important—spending time with family or friends. Time doing other things keeps me sane and it helps me return to work with renewed energy and passion.
Third, and I want to spend a little time on this: Think about how you can give back. This can take many forms.
For instance, as you gain experience at work, you'll have a chance to work with younger people. Think about how you can mentor them. I say this particularly to the scientists and engineers among you: In our global economy, we are going to need more and more people with the sort of scientific, mathematical and technical training that you have received here at UMBC. But all of you need to be a role model and a mentor to others who have the interests and the skills to follow in your footsteps.
For some of you, giving back will come not through your job, but through community and volunteer work. There are thousands of organizations and causes that need people who want to give back by offering some of their time. Find one. Trust me when I say that these kind of experiences will help you be more understanding, more effective, and a better person overall.
Let me say a bit about one particular form of giving back that I care a great deal about: Public service. I know working for the government is not the route to riches, and it's not even very popular in many circles these days. But more than ever before, the government needs good and committed people like you.
I work at the U.S. Department of Commerce. We do a wide variety of things that serve both businesses and consumers: We promote U.S. exports. We issue patents for new inventions. We oversee the Census, the National Weather Service, and cutting-edge labs at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
We have close to 45,000 employees, and I am impressed every day with their dedication to their work. Many of them have multiple job options outside government, but they choose to work inside government because—among other things—they believe that government helps people and they want to make sure it works effectively.
You've all heard about the scandals in government because that sells papers—or should I say—attracts click-throughs. But when did you last hear about the success stories? There are dozens every day.
For example, last September, the president signed a law that modernized our patent system. Among other things, this will make it easier and quicker for an entrepreneur or small business to get a patent on a new idea. Some of you in the audience will receive patents for your work in the years ahead. . . maybe some of the overachievers here already have one. Public servants at the Commerce Department's U.S. Patent and Trademark Office are making them easier to get.
Another example. Cleaning up the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is not for the faint of heart. Our experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have been working on this since that oil rig exploded. Just last month, we teamed up with the Department of the Interior and several Gulf states to start $60 million in restoration projects. The projects will help create marshes and reefs, and improve dune habitats, among other things.
Or, here's another. Doubling U.S. exports in five years is a big job, but that's the goal set by the president. We're working on this at Commerce because exports expand the market for U.S. goods and create jobs. My colleagues at the International Trade Administration have been helping businesses sell their products to other countries that want Made-in-America goods and services. A month ago, we hit the mid-point in this five-year goal. We are currently on track to meet the president's goal.
These three examples are just at the Commerce Department—a tiny fraction of the local, state and federal public service opportunities across the country.
So, for those of you who feel a calling towards public service—and I'm not just talking about those of you with public policy degrees—I hope you look at your options in government. We need people with science degrees, environmental expertise, communications skills, and more.
As President Lyndon Johnson once said, "You will find meaning only by sharing in the responsibilities, dangers and passions of your time." Being a government employee is not always easy, but I can guarantee you that you will indeed share in the responsibilities and passions of our time.
I told you earlier that I have held a number of jobs. At some key moments in my life, I've had very different job options in front of me—with very different career paths. When faced with these big choices I've always tried to do one thing: Take the job that scares you the most. That's the one that you'll learn the most from. And that's the job that will give you the most satisfaction when you master it.
So, celebrate your new degrees. Take your friends out to Flat Tuesdays, Fish Head, or—for the biology students—Judge's Bench. And when you're done celebrating, move into your new life.
Don't just find a job. Build a career.
Remember that your life is more than your work.
Give back, and consider public service.
And take the job that scares you the most.
Finally, whenever possible, find a way to pass along a bit of your talents, your knowledge and your good fortune to others who can use your help. And, don't forget that you owe a little loyalty to UMBC, the place where you acquired some of that knowledge.
Congratulations to all of the graduates for 2012 and best wishes as you move forward into the future.


text:
Bogey - that Pakistan will collapse economically
February 21, 2019 By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd) Photo(s): By Wikipedia
There is jubilation in a cross-section in India over Pakistan being in an economic mess. Even Prime Minister Modi said in a recent public rally that Pakistan is roaming around with its begging bowl but not getting help from the world, which drew applause from the crowd. No doubt cash-strapped Pakistan is seeking $8 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to bail itself out from a severe balance-of-payments crisis that threatens to cripple the country's economy. In October 2018, Pakistani media also stated that the IMF "could place strict conditionalities, forcing Pakistan to seek additional loans for meeting those restrictions and this could expand the loan facility to $12 billion." In December, 2018 news emerged that IMF would check Pakistan's debt sustainability before granting it a loan, mainly because of concerns that given Pakistan's growing Chinese debt, the same could happen to the Gwadar port and other major projects linked to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). IMF Director Communications Gerry Rice told reporters in December 2018, "Clearly debt transparency is essential to conduct a proper analysis of the sustainability of a country's debt. That's what the IMF does when we are going into a programme with our member countries. So that will be the case in Pakistan."
On February 8, 2019, the foreign currency reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) were recorded at $8,205.9 million, up $13 million compared with $8,192.5 million in the previous week; an increase of 0.16%, for which the SBP gave no reasons. Earlier, Pakistan's foreign currency reserves had fallen below the $7 billion mark, raising concerns over Pakistan's ability to meet its financing requirements. However, in December 2018, news reports indicated UAE would deposit $3 billion in the SBP to shore up Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves. As of now, UAE has already provided Pakistan $1 billion as part of its $3 billion balance of payment support. Overall, the liquid foreign currency reserves held by Pakistan, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stand at $14,895.8 million. Net reserves held by banks amount to $6,689.9 million.
In November 2018, China assured Pakistan of a financial package to boost its foreign currency reserves, hinting that it would be bigger than that pledged by Saudi Arabia. With the anticipated $2.5 billion in deposits agreed recently, China's contribution in the current fiscal year alone will surge to $4.5 billion. Now during the two-day visit of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Pakistan in February 2019, Saudi Arabia has signed investments worth $20 billion in Pakistan, with Salman announcing, "We are creating a great future for Saudi Arabia and Pakistan." The $20 billion investments include setting up a $10 billion oil refinery in southwestern city of Gwadar. Despite all this, the issue we must acknowledge there is little chance of Pakistan collapsing economically because of the support from China, Saudi Arabia and the US. Pakistan, already a de-facto province of China, is strategically is too important for her.
The CPEC doesn't only provide investment opportunities for Chinese companies, employment for Chinese nationals, and assimilating Pakistan culturally and financially, but it is also China's strategic highway for China to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. It is for this reason that all bridges on the CPEC are Class 50 so that heavy weapon systems, mobile missile launcher, rail guns and tanks can roll down when required. The PLA Brigade in Skardu region provides a springboard for operations in the south and towards the west. Chinese marines are already stationed in Gwadar and access of Pakistani coastline to PLA Navy (PLAN) provides tremendous strategic advantage to China. Saudi Arabia-Pakistan relations have always been strong because of the Wahabi-Sunni bond, besides other reasons including Saudi Arabia-Iran (Sunni-Shia) animosity. Pakistan provided regulars in covert mode for Saudi ground operations against Yemen and Pakistan also has a nuke package ready for Saudi Arabia should Iran turn nuclear.
The US has been warning IMF that Pakistan is likely to use any loan given to her for repaying China. However, such pressure may ease with indications that US-China may arrive at a trade agreement, given President Trump's eccentricity. The US is looking for safe exit from Afghanistan for which Trump is seeking Pakistan's cooperation. There is also the purported US fear that economic collapse of Pakistan will end up with nuclear weapons in hands of the terrorists, without acknowledging part of Pakistani army are already jihadis who call themselves Allah's army before saying they are Pakistan army. Trump would also be happy with Saudi investment in Gwadar, which would have impact on Iran's Chahabar. Besides, Taliban in control of Afghanistan, together with radical Pakistan, suit Trump's plan to mount more pressure Iran. Incidentally, the Central Bank of Afghanistan recently inducted $150 million into the country's foreign exchange reserves to boost Afghanistan foreign exchange reserves estimated at $7.5 billion. Afghanistan is burning with Pakistan-supported terror attacks, compared to Pakistan suffering odd terror attack in Balochisan and FATA. On balance, the thought that Pakistan will collapse financially is a bogey.


How much does a Benefit Specialist make in Oakville, ON?
The average salary for a Benefit Specialist is $45,950 per year in Oakville, ON, which is 18% below the national average. Salary estimates are based on 8 salaries submitted anonymously to Indeed by Benefit Specialist employees, users, and collected from past and present job advertisements on Indeed in the past 36 months. The typical tenure for a Benefit Specialist is 1-3 years.


text:
Diddy launches political party as he endorses Joe Biden for U.S. President
Sean 'Diddy' Combs has followed Kanye West's lead and launched his own political party, while endorsing Democrat Joe Biden for president in the upcoming U.S. general election.
During an appearance on Revolt TV with Charlamagne Tha God, the hitmaker and producer had some harsh words for current U.S. leader Donald Trump, insisting politics in America has to change.
"White men like Trump need to be banished," he said. "That way of thinking is real dangerous. This man literally threatened the lives of us and our families going to vote... We're in a war. We're not taking this like it's a war. We're taking it like it's a presidential election. We're in a war of love versus hate.
"The number one priority is to get Trump out of office. The tribe of people that have the responsibility and really should be scared to death of this man is white people."
Diddy then revealed he is setting up his own political party, called the Our Black Party, with "some young, fearless black activists" and elected officials in an effort to give African-Americas a greater voice.
"Our Black Party's number one goal is to unify behind a black agenda," he explained. "We have to cease our political power because it'd just be more of the same. We have to change the tone, we gotta start with us stepping up and really taking the responsibility and the accountability to be a part of this political movement."
But he still wants fans and followers to vote for a white man, Biden, at the polls next month stating, "We don't have no choice (sic). You can say what you want about Biden... but we got to get him in office and then hold him accountable."
ON TOUR - BUY TICKETS NOW!


text:
Gildargaming
Game guides, news and views (Under construction)
Game development resources
Tutorials and courses
First impressions: Europa Universalis IV
February 23, 2014 | Posted in First impressions | No comments
If you think the Civ series has become dumbed down or just want something deeper, maybe this game is for you. That said, this is not Civ. I would describe it as a historical world simulation. The game starts in 1444 during the decline of the Byzantin empire and close to the end of the 100 year war., and ends in 1821. You can basically pick any country during this time period (even though some of them has a lot more events and country specific decisions then other countries).
I'm writing this after having spent about 50 hours with this game. That's how long I feel it takes to really get a grasp of the game. I still don't know everything there is to know about the game, but I feel comfortable playing and know what to do in most situations.
Graphically, this game looks quite good for a strategy game, even though graphics are not that important in this genre. The most important thing is that the map is easy to read.
The sound effect are ok, but the music is really great. THis is a good thing since you'll have to listen to it for hundreds of hours
Despite the complexity of the game, the UI is quite easy to get used to. It's quite intuitive, even though I sometimes spend time looking for something that I know can be found somewhere (A lot of statistical
This is a grand strategy game, so expect to spend a lot of time looking at a map. Well, the concept is easy. You pick a nation, and control it from 1444 (or whenever you like to start) until 1821. Theis is a very interesting time period in most of the world, and the experiance may differ depending on what country you decide to play. For example, as England, you'll start out in the hundred year war, but later on probably end up cononizing, trading and exploring the rest of the world, pretty much staying away from the european continent. ON the other hand, if you picka country such as Poland, you'll end up in a lot of the big european conflicts. The game isn't scripted per say, but some historical events will trigger under certain conditions, such events can turn out to be both good and bad. There are also a lot of other events that will trigger under certain conditions, such as big revolts, trade events and formation of new nations. The game has no real goal, even though there is a score system. it's more of a simulation then anything else. The game has the usual features of other strategy games such as research, but things are structured in a slightly different way. When you first start out, it feels like you have very little control over your country's progress, but as you dig deeper, you realized that there's a lot of things to manage. I would recommend starting as a decent sized country without to many enemies. I started out as spain, and I feel that was a good idea. Your wars early on won't be that complex and you can experiance some colonizing right off the bat.
Right now, I love the game. It's the best strategy game I've played for years. If you want a game that's relatively easy to learn, but has a lot of depth, I would pick this up right away. Just be aware that each game will take 50 hours plus, especially before you get used to the game.
First Impressions: Dawn of man
First impressions: Frostpunk
Started looking into git LFS för gamedev
Added a new section
First Impressions: Kingdom come: Deliverance
Video game history
X3: Albion Prelude
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The Ultimate Masters Preview & Tips – Who will win, who will miss the cut and what would we pick for the Champion's Dinner?
With the 2016 Masters upon us, we've sought some tips and hints including expert opinions (and some not so expert ones!) to bring you one of the most comprehensive previews for The Masters you'll ever see. Our tipsters include Your Golf Travel staff members, many of whom have been lucky enough to visit Augusta and walk the course, as well as some experts from the world of golf.
If you're stuggling to pick a winner for The Masters, check out who we all think will win it below and, just for some fun, we've also covered topics including what we think might miss the cut, whether Gary Player or Jack Nicklaus will hit the longest ceremonial tee shot, and even what we'd pick for our Champion's Dinner menu if we one day won the Green Jacket!
To keep things simple, we've included each contributor's initials at the end of each answer, as well as a key at the footer of the article…so just scroll down to see who said what!
1) Who you think will win the 2016 US Masters? And who do you want to win it?
2) What will be the leading score after the first round?
Most Popular Picks: -6, -7 (66,65) seem to be the most popular, there's always 1 who goes low on the first round. Who will it be?
3) Who do you think is most likely to miss the cut?
4) Who is your outside bet?
Other Outside Bets include Charl Schwartzel (TW), Rafael Cabrera-Bello, (TM), Mark Leishman (MC), Danny Willet, (TH), Brandt Snedeker (CB) & Branden Grace (KM).
5) Who will hit their ceremonial tee shot further, Nicklaus or Player?
6) If you had a ticket to go this year, what is the first thing you'd go and see / do?
>> Use my Masters Chair (100% essential!) to secure a spot behind the 16th tee…then head to the concessions stand for a hot BBQ sandwich and a pink lemonade*.
7) If you won the Masters, what would you put on the menu for your Champions Dinner?
8) Which of these would you do for a round at Augusta National?
Most Popular: Move A Child's Birthday…I'm sure when the grow up they will understand!
They're you have it! The Ultimate Masters Tournament Preview from the biggest golfing geeks you could ever come across. I'm already at the edge of my seat looking forward to Masters Thursday…who do you think will win?
MC – Matthew Cooper – @MattCooperGolf – Curious About Golf – Curious Ideas, Stories, Travel and Videos.
KM – Kevin Markham – @kevinmarkham – Hooked Irish Golf Blog – The most comprehensive guide to Ireland's 18 Hole Golf Courses.
MH – Martin Hopley – @golfalot – Golfalot Reviewing and Reporting on the latest golf equipment.
Loving the outside bets on this, hadn't thought about the Marc Leishman bet, will be following in on that for the Masters.


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The History of the "Father Time" Clock, the Jewelers Building, and the Stratosphere Club in Chicago.
ABOUT THE JEWELERS BUILDING CLOCK
The "Father Time" Clock at 35 East Wacker Drive, in Chicago, is located at the Jeweler's Building which faces the Chicago River.
Weighing an estimated six tons, the clock was donated to the building by one of its first major tenants, the Elgin National Watch Company.
If you visit the northeast corner of the building, the clock at first glance looks like the Marshall Field's clocks. That is until you notice the creepy guy who looks like death. He is really supposed to be Father Time.
At night the clock is outlined in dark red lights, which makes it look even creepier. The clock was a gift from the Elgin Watch Company. Father Time was their logo. They had an office in the building.
ABOUT THE JEWELERS BUILDING
Aside from the fact that it's a beautiful building with a fancy dome on top of it, it has a very cool history. Construction started in 1924 and was completed in 1927. The Jewelers' Building was renamed the Pure Oil Building on October 1, 1926.
The Jewelers' Building, seen here under construction in 1926.
The lower floors were opened to their first tenants in May 1927, the upper stories opened in the summer, and the tower in October of 1926.
Since this was originally a jewelers building, it had many innovative security features. One of them was a really extreme version of a parking garage. Since jewelers would carry their merchandise around with them, they were often in danger of being robbed. So, to make sure no one was attacked on the walk between the car and the office, jeweler's just drove their car straight into the building! For its first 14 years, the building had a car lift that served the first 23 floors and facilitated safe transfers for jewelry merchants. The car elevator would bring you to the floor you worked on and then drop your car off on one of the parking levels. From the security office, a lock-down would commence upon any tenant's trigger of the alarm system. All outside doors would lock, and elevators would stop at the next floor, doors remaining closed and would not move.
The best part of this 40 story building is the dome at the top.
Formerly the Pure Oil Building, then the North American Life Insurance Building, 35 East Wacker was listed in 1978 as a contributing property to the Michigan–Wacker Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places and was designated a Chicago Landmark on February 9, 1994.
Instead of sticking four ungainly water tanks on steel legs (there are four of these towers on the building), Yiaver & Dinkleberg, architects and engineers of this huge structure, designed these attractive and ornamental tank screens, which beautify the building instead of disfiguring it.
THE STRATOSPHERE CLUB FOLKLORE
When the 40-story Jeweler's Building was completed in 1927, the dome sat empty for some time. In 1930, the Chicago Tribune reported that a hawk had taken up residence in the dome and was preying on migratory birds in the loop. References seem to indicate that it was used for storage.
The Stratosphere Club in the dome was not, nor ever was a speakeasy, and Al Capone never stepped foot in the Stratosphere Club which opened in March of 1937. Al Capone was in Alcatraz Federal Prison since August 22, 1934, and prohibition ended on December 5, 1933.
The creation of the Stratosphere Club was announced in the Tribune. On January 10, 1937, a Tribune article entitled "City's Highest Restaurant Being Built." Owner Paul Streeter named the club after a closed club in the Rockefeller Center in New York City.
The Stratosphere was scheduled to open in March and was the top four floors – a kitchen on the 37th, a regular restaurant on the 38th and 39th, and a cocktail lounge on the 40th. An ornate birdcage elevator took guests to the 40th-floor. The lounge was decorated as a hot air balloon, accentuating the outstanding views of the Chicago River and the Loop.
The club was a big hit, but by 1954, the cupola was converted into a showroom for a commercial artist who kept and used the old circular bar of the Stratosphere Club. It was the private conference room and showroom for architect Helmut Jahn (1940-2021), with his offices in Suite 300 of the North American Life Insurance Building.
Jahn designed that awesome United Airlines Terminal 1 at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in the late 1980s with the moving walkways, ceiling light sculpture, and heavenly music.
Jahn was killed on his bicycle on May 8, 2021, in suburban Campton Hills. The collision happened near his home and horse farm in St. Charles, Illinois.
A photoalbum of Jahn's building.
Movies love this building. It's the Gotham City Courthouse in "Batman Begins," and Batman sits on one of the turrets in one scene. In the movie "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" there's a giant robot battle on top of the building.
NOTE: A Facebook comment from Mr. T. R. about this article:
"I used to give [Chicago] tours on double-decker buses, river & lake tours. We [and I] used to tell the story of Al Capone and the Stratosphere Club [being a speakeasy] and we always believed it to be true. All those people that I lied to through the years."
Living History of Illinois and Chicago® Al Capone, Chicago, Chicago Landmarks, National Register of Historic Places
Ginny Carruthers Orlina Wednesday, May 16, 2018 at 8:02:00 AM CDT
Chicago has so many beautiful, historical buildings. The Jewelers Building is one of them!! Thanks, Neil.
JPeterson Wednesday, April 8, 2020 at 8:15:00 AM CDT
Very cool. My father was a commercial artist and worked at one time in this building. I distinctly remember riding in that elevator as a child. Always looked for that gold dome when we were downtown!
Unknown Wednesday, April 8, 2020 at 8:36:00 PM CDT
A wonderful article! Thank you!
DDK Tuesday, July 21, 2020 at 10:47:00 AM CDT
Gosh, I love our city history good and not so good. It is the best. And I miss it in spite of all it's flaws - it's home
Unknown Thursday, February 4, 2021 at 2:49:00 PM CST
Fascinating! Wasn't this building also featured in the opening credits in the "Untouchables" TV series?
Kathleen Tuesday, February 1, 2022 at 11:14:00 PM CST
I used to work for Murphy/Jahn and we would celebrate in the cupola after being awarded a major contract. And I loved that elevator! Thank you for another great article, Dr. Neil!
Unknown Wednesday, February 2, 2022 at 5:21:00 AM CST
Was part of the Matrix movie filmed in this building?
Joe Paschen Wednesday, February 2, 2022 at 3:32:00 PM CST
Well done, Neil, as always. One of the many unknown stories that are the back story of the great history of Chicago.


Some rappers use their artistic skills to illustrate meaning, others seem to design their wording to simply be enjoyed by the listener. Good artists are able to capture imagination whilst also tell a story, or deliver a message. Of course, there are many instances of this, but Will.I.Am is a perhaps another example. This article takes a look over why. Let's begin.
William James Adams, who goes by the name of Will.I.Am, is an entertainer, musician and songwriter, among other attributes you'd assign to a creative entrepreneur. Active since 1992, William, from Las Angeles, California, gradually raise to popularity. Born in 1975, William has plenty of experience, which includes associated acts with The Black Eyed Peas, Britney Spears, and Cheryl Tweedy.
William's latest music video involves Coronation Street, a British TV soap, popular amongst ITV watchers. Some are asking the question; why is Will.I.Am's new music video 'Fiyah' shot at the TV set of Coronation Street? Of course, this could have the conspiracy orientated mind go into overdrive, yet the answer could be rather simple. Let's delve a little deeper, shall we?
why has https://t.co/lburGUfmYC made a music video set on coronation street?????????
Firstly, William spends much of his time over in the United Kingdom, partly thanks to a show called The Voice. This show is also hosted on the very same channel that Coronation Street is aired on. You might be catching my drift at this point. Will.I.Am is attempting to bring attention to the commercial soap; Coronation Street.
There you have it, this is the simple explanation as to why Will.I.Am is bringing our attention, and yours as well to himself and good old Corie. Can't say that I'm a fan myself, but ITV have clearly had a few fans puzzled – wasn't that what the video was most likely created for? Probably.
We should also like to point out that Will.I.Am appears to enjoy promoting the Apple brand too, since it is highly featured in this video. Isn't it great when the props and the setting are both profitable? Finally, Will.I.Am is a great talent and we hope to see more thought-provoking videos and moments soon.


on April 1st, 2015 18:20pm in Mortgage Blog.
Last Updated on December 21st, 2018 13:30pm.
Why is it that so many contractors think first buyer mortgages are off limits to them? They're not, of course. But do please forgive me for committing this old bugbear of mine to digital ink.
So, what ignited the conundrum this time? I saw the February 2015 Housing Report figures from NAEA and it was like, Ping! – a light bulb moment.
It's not so much that contractors don't need a first time buyer mortgage from the High Street. It's just that by the time they decide to go it alone, they've already taken out their first mortgage as a permie.
This is more than a hunch, as confirmed by the latest self-employment report from the BoE. It confirms that an aging workforce correlates well with the record 15% self-employed figure.
But that statistic, I feel, is about to change. Perhaps that's why the matter kept me up all night, eventually turning on the PC to craft the infographic, below.
The ever-increasing number of Britizens opting for self-employment will have a knock-on effect. And sooner, rather than later. Led by a generation of elders, running your own business will become preferable to working for the man.
When that happens, many younger UK contractors will face a mortgage adviser for the first time in their life. They need to know the score. Especially with schemes like Help-to-Buy paving the way for so many, who've only had the chance to save 5% deposit.
If permies can get on the property ladder with a 95% LTV mortgage, surely even those newest to contracting can, right? Well, yes and no.
It's tempting to go to your local branch the first time you want a mortgage. They know you, you have history with them and they're forever sending you mail shots to upgrade your bank account.
In the old days, that would have been the right way to go. Not so, now.
Since the credit crunch, High Street lenders are yet to offer a bespoke product for self-employed people of any type. That's not to say they don't cater for contractors. They do. But at senior underwriter level only.
That's why I'm beseeching you today to go through a specialist mortgage broker for your first mortgage. The High Street will leave you with the impression that your contract counts for nothing. That's so not the case.
They'll ask you for accounts. If you don't have them because you're new, they won't risk giving you a mortgage on your short term contract.
If you have limited accounts, 2- to 3- years, they'll use your 'take home' to work out your affordability. If you're doing your tax-planning right, their figure will be too low to secure you anything near worth what your contract could get.
First time buyer contractors need only a few documents to get a mortgage. That's whether you've been contracting for decades or weeks.
It's how a broker expresses your affordability, based on your contract, that will make the difference.
your CV, to prove time served in your industry if you're expressly new to contracting.
And that's it. You'll need to speak to your broker so that they can get a clear understanding of your situation. The more they know, the better they're able to package your application in its best light. Then they can take it from there.
The next thing you know, you'll have the keys to your new home. You'll wonder what all the fuss was about and why contractors never went that route before.
Here's the Housing Market infographic that was the catalyst to today's post. You see, 30% of all NAEA mortgage completions were first time buyer mortgages. I'd love to see that figure increase as contractors take advantage of the trend, too.
Previous The Contractor Lifestyle: Does it Live Up to the Billing?


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Labour History Research Unit
About the Labour History Research Unit
An evening of history and politics with Roy Hattersley
On Thursday 4 March 2010, 250 people, many from the Cambridge region as well as University staff and students, packed into Anglia Ruskin's Mumford Theatre to listen to Roy Hattersley, the distinguished politician, journalist and broadcaster.
This special occasion was chaired by Professor Mike Thorne, Vice Chancellor of Anglia Ruskin, who welcomed Roy Hattersley on his return to Anglia Ruskin after speaking at the Chelmsford campus last year during the Essex Book Festival.
Roy Hattersley argued eloquently for a return to 'ideological politics' in Britain and the recreation of the 'progressive alliance' of radicals in the Labour and Liberal parties. He has become a recent convert to proportional representation and the benefit of coalition government. In answers to questions, he opposed fines on universities and revealed he had wanted a graduate tax rather than student loans.
As a life-long Labour supporter, Roy Hattersley had never considered switching to the SDP in 1981 but, nonetheless, found it preposterous to be campaigning on different platforms to former Cabinet colleague Shirley Williams, (Liberal Democrats), with whom he shared common ground.
Professor John Shepherd said:
"Whatever one's politics, this was a most memorable and highly engaging talk by Roy Hattersley. he is one of Britain's most experienced politicians, having served in Harold Wilson's governments, Jim Callaghan's Cabinet and as Deputy leader of the Labour Party. Many have commented how much they enjoyed the occasion. It was certainly one of the best events I have organised for the Labour History Research Unit."
Below you will find videos of Roy Hattersley's talk and Q&A session, along with a selection of photographs from the event. We apologise for the brief loss of sound five minutes into the first video - unfortunately this was owing to technical difficulties on the night.
Roy Hattersley
Roy Hattersley on stage
Roy Hattersley addresses audience
Michael Thorne and Roy Hattersley on stage
Michael Thorne and Roy Hattersley on stage (2)
Michael Thorne and Roy Hattersley
John Shepherd, Michael Thorne, Roy Hattersley, Richard Howitt
Roy Hattersley, Jon Davis, Rohan McWilliam
John Shepherd, Roy Hattersley and Jon Davis
Jon Davis, Roy Hattersley, Alison Ainley
Colleen Moore, Roy Hattersley, Alison Ainley
Roy Hattersley talking to guest
Sean Lang and Paul Bloomfield
Karen Sturt and Rick Allen


Click – Page 2 – The essence of an ephemeral moment.
The streets were full of people, but Danny pretended not to see them, keeping his eyes on the ball as he kicked it to Ash and she kicked it back again. It was still bright. They wandered down to the wall, the huge cement thing that stitched its way though the city, separating the estates. It was at least five times higher than Danny.
"Why is the wall there?" Ash asked.
"To keep bad people out," Danny answered, pressing his cheek against the cool concrete and staring up at the twisted wire which topped the wall. Ash kicked at it.
"What bad people? Pirates?" Ash was six.
Danny thought for a minute. It was possible, he supposed. It was possible that two other kids were playing football on the other side of the wall. Maybe there was another Danny with his own little sister over there.
Seagulls cried an answer at him. Ash put her fingers on the wall, lightly, and looked up. Clouds scutted by as if the dark, towering concrete meant nothing to them. Danny could hear no other human voice.
"No," Ash answered doubtfully. She was still staring up, but whether it was at the wall or the sky, Danny couldn't tell.
He dropped the football and gave it a good kick. It bounced back and he kicked it again in his sister's direction.
"You go in goals," he said.
Le strade erano piene di gente, ma Danny pretendeva di non vederle, mantenendo gli occhi sulla palla mentre la passava a Ash e lei gliela ripassava. Faceva ancora chiaro. Camminarono lungo il muro, quell'enorme blocco di cemento che si ritagliava il cammino attraverso la città, separando le case. Era almeno cinque volte più alto di Danny.
"Perché c'é il muro?" Domandò Ash.
"Per tenere fuori la gente cattiva" rispose Danny, appoggiando la guancia contro il cemento freddo e fissando il filo spinato che stava in cima al muro. Ash diede un calcio al muro.
"Quale gente cattiva? I pirati?" Ash aveva sei anni.
Danny ci pensò un minuto. Era possibile, suppose. Era possibile che altri due bambini stessero giocando a calcio dall'altra parte del muro. Forse c'era un altro Danny con la sua sorellina dall'altra parte.
I gabbiani gli gridarono una risposta. Ash pose le sue dita sul muro, con leggerezza, e guardò in alto. Le nuvole passavano come se per loro lo scuro, sovrastante cemento non significasse nulla. Danny non sentì nessun'altra voce umana.
"No", rispose Ash dubbiosa. Stava ancora guardando all'insù, ma Danny non sapeva dire se stesse fissando il muro o il cielo.
Danny lasciò andare il pallone e lo colpì forte. Rimbalzò e lo calciò ancora in direzione di sua sorella.
"Tu vai in porta". disse.


Throughout the year and especially in the holiday season, there is little we are more thankful for than family. As parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and family of the heart, the team at the Brod Law Firm knows that protecting our youngest loved ones is one of our greatest duties and greatest honors. We are proud to serve as an Oakland child injury law firm and we are also dedicated to preventing accidents that hurt young children. One danger that often goes unnoticed until it is too late is improperly mounted and/or unsecured furniture, a danger illustrated in a recent accident at an area preschool and one that everyone who loves a child should know about.
This week's Oakland Tribune reported on an accident that left two youngsters injured at a Fremont preschool. According to police, an improperly-mounted large wall cabinet fell onto two children while they were napping at an unnamed preschool located near Warren Avenue and Warm Springs Boulevard. Fire officials and police responded and found one child, a 3 year-old female, unresponsive. She was taken by helicopter to a children's trauma center with critical injuries. As of Monday, her status had improved but she remained in the hospital. A second child incurred minor injuries.
A fact sheet authored by the Child Injury Prevention Alliance, a research group working to prevent intentional and unintentional injuries impacting children and adolescents, includes some surprising statistics on injuries caused by falling televisions and other furniture. Every day more than 40 children visit emergency rooms because of injuries caused by furniture tip-overs. For children under age 10, televisions are the leading culprit while desks, cabinets, and bookshelves cause the most injuries to those between 10 and 17 years old. More statistics are found on the US CPSC poster at left (image link follows entry). In some cases, children too young to appreciate the potential danger either pull the furniture down or are hurt when they try to climb on an item.
The Alliance recommends that TVs either be mounted to walls with appropriate brackets or strapped to stands made for the heavy-duty job, preferably a low and wide base with the TV as far back as possible. Other heavy items should be kept on low shelves to minimize danger with large pieces of furniture secured to the wall using L-brackets, safety straps, or other attachments. There are options that do not require drilling holes available for items under 100lbs. Drawer stops should be placed on all drawers to prevent them from falling out onto an unsuspecting child.
In addition, adults should try to think of the room from the perspective of a curious child. Avoid placing toys or other items that are likely to attract a child's interest on high shelving or on top of a television to avoid the risk of the child attempting to climb up to get the item and causing the unit to tumble. Likewise, cords should be tucked away to avoid a child pulling an item down.
We hope every parent and caretaker hears about the danger of falling furniture before witnessing it firsthand and that none of our readers ever has to receive the type of phone call that must have gone out to the parents of the two Fremont-area children. We urge that readers in any home or facility that hosts young children take a moment right now to walk around and look for any furniture or other bulk items that could fall over and injure a child. If you find a danger, fix it — do not run the risk of a terrible regret.
When a child is injured, medical care (and love!) should be the first concern. Parents or guardians should also consider whether someone may be legally liable for the injuries, especially those that may have long-term impact on the child's well-being. Was a caregiver negligent? Was a property owner careless? Did a company produce an unreasonably dangerous product? Was someone otherwise to blame?
If your child has been injured in the Northern California region, our injury lawyer can help. Call our child injury law office in Oakland, San Francisco, or Santa Rosa to arrange a no-cost consultation. Most injury cases are handled on a contingency basis so you only pay us if you (or your child) recover compensation.


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Argentinian Artist Hyuro Debuts New Paintings and Mural in Rome
by CaroPosted on May 20, 2016
Argentinian artist known as Hyuro's art makes use of negative space through a series of repeating figures, where the location of her work is integral to how we perceive it. Featured here on our blog, this has usually taken place in the streets. But whether she is mural painting, building installations, or showing her paintings in a gallery, Hyuro is making observations about life: framed by an empty white background, the people in her work demonstrate our relationships and how we interact with one another.
The artist will debut a new series of watercolor paintings in her upcoming solo show "Convivencia" at Dorothy Circus Gallery on June 9th, paired with a new mural, which she recently completed. The show mark's Hyuro's first in Rome. In her minimalist style, her works challenge stereotypes and address themes surrounding urban relationships, co-existence and the notion of being "alone together". Separated by a wall of white, her subjects cluster in groups at the beach, at the office, and even when they are alone, they are often blindfolded and cannot see each other.
Many of the socio-political messages in her work revolve around women, particularly housewives, though Hyuro does not label herself a feminist. "The issue of women is recurrent in my work; it's my reality," Hyuro says. "I am a woman, mother, housewife, lover, friend and a professional, it is from this set of roles that most of my inspiration arises. The idea of "woman" plays an important role in my work, not only from her gender status, but also from her human condition, is the role that I know best and from which I can speak most honestly."
"I think that beyond the fact that we could be accompanied in one way or another, we live all our life experiences from the perspective of loneliness. On the other hand the emptiness and loneliness that are reflected in my work in some way are the opposition to the constant pollution of information, advertising and entertainment in which we are immersed. I think there is some fear of facing the void and loneliness which I consider important in order to find ourselves."


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Home> Celebrities
Liu Yuxi
Liu Yuxi, a poet, philosopher and essayist active during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), was born in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, in 772.
Xiang Yuanbian
Xiang Yuanbian (1525-1590) was famous for the calligraphy works, paintings, and jadeware he collected.
Chu Fucheng
Chu Fucheng (1873-1948) embraced progressive ideas and supported reform in China.
Jiang Baili
Jiang Baili (1882-1938) used to study military affairs in Japan and Germany and was a supporter of patriotic movements such as the Northern Expedition (1926-1927).
Li Shanlan
Li Shanlan (1811-1882) was a mathematician, astronomer, and scientist who contributed greatly to the spread and development of science in China.
Miao Huixin
Miao, a 62-year-old former farmer, is excited to see many visitors are coming to his village to see his works. He has won many awards for his paintings of rural life.
Shen Zengzhi
Jiaxing native Shen Zengzhi (1850-1922) was a renowned scholar, poet, and calligrapher who assumed office during the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
Huang Hong
Huang Hong has been on the list of the world's top 2 percent of scientists foroutstanding performance in material science and analytical chemistry.


The Hudson Trophy was presented to the Malsis Old Boy's Association in 1961 by Charles Hudson, father of Tony Hudson (45 – 51). It was for a golf competition for members of the Old Boys Association.
The first winner was J.C.N. Tetley. The event was annual, and was organised for many years by Brian Parkinson, and courtesy of Geoffrey Turner, was held at Hawksworth Golf Club. After a few years, it was moved to Ilkley Golf Club, where a number of OM's were members.
Names which occur in the winner's list, some with monotonous regularity, include illustrious OM's such as Parkinson, Cockcroft, Ackernley, Clark, Waring and Obank.
From 1996 – 1999, the winning scores were ridiculously high (from 50 – 54 Stableford points) which reflects the fact that the event was held on the Malsis course.
From 2000 a form of competition was held at Malsis, but not specifically for Old Boys. Winners names suggest that Father and Son teams competed, but names were not recorded on the trophy.
In 2008, an attempt was made to resurrect the competition for Old Boys at Skipton Golf Club. However, that venture never received enough support to make it worthwhile, and so, in 2010, with the full agreement of the above mentioned Tony Hudson – Son of the donor – the trophy was 'loaned' to the current headmaster of Malsis School, Marcus Peel, to be used as he thought fit.
When the School sadly went into administration in December 2014, there was no trace of the Hudson Trophy, and it did not appear on any inventory, or in the catalogue of sale of chattels.
After extensive enquiries, in March 2015 the whereabouts of the trophy was revealed, and in May 2015, it was recovered and handed back in perpetuity to Tony Hudson and his family.


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Toby Stephens
Altura: 5' 11" (1.8 m)
Toby Stephens began his acting career while a stagehand at the Chichester Festival Theatre, in end-of-season productions mounted by the crew. In his brief professional career, he has already won the Sir John Gielgud Prize for Best Actor and the Ian Charleson Award for his performance in the title role of "Coriolanus" at the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1994. His other work at the RSC includes "Measure for Measure", "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "Antony and Cleopatra", "Wallenstein", "All's Well That Ends Well" and "Unfinished Business". Stephens also starred in Peter Hall's production of "Tartuffe" at the Aldwych Theatre and has just finished filming The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1996). His television appearances include A View from the Bridge (2012) and The Camomile Lawn (1992). He made his screen debut in Sally Potter's Orlando (1992).
Fúria em Alto Mar
Ação, Suspense
Black Sails First Trailer
Trailer - Fúria em Alto Mar
Meu melhor amigo


HAL-9000, that intelligent computer from 2001: A Space Odessy, kills its creators. I sometimes wonder if we software engineers don't do the same. Think about it… our goal is to have software systems so automated and efficient that its creator becomes unnecessary. We tend to program ourselves out of a job.
Maybe that is not completely true in the past, as we tend to enjoy inventing a new computer language and then convincing business and managers that our currently used code needs to be rewritten in this new machina du jour. But we've burned them so many times, they might not buy into another time.
How many times are we going to invent high-level data transport protocols? I remember studying ASN.1 that attempted to universally transmit data in an efficient and effective method. But after rolling our own, we came back to that idea, but this time we are going to use XML… where internal program data is streamed out in text and then converted back again. And then we complain about the speed! I'm surprised we haven't thrown away our DSL modems for analog-to-digital modems.
But assuming that we have plenty of opportunity to create and develop new things, I am surprised at how difficult we make things for ourselves. For instance, most of our computer language syntax have a character separating commands or statements (think of the semi-colon in C, Java, Perl and the like). We did this so that we could organize our code according to our own aesthetic tastes. But then we complain about the lack of similarity of code formatting among our peers and colleagues (yes, you Pythoners have solved everything).
Above all, programmers prize brevity--the ability to write a program in the fewest lines possible, an undeniable sign of a highly evolved mind. Real programmers love compact code that often verges on the hieroglyphic.
(This echoes Joel's recent point that has become so talked about).
To illustrate his point, David quoted a regular expression from Perl. QED. Perhaps I'm narcissistic or something, but I enjoy reading articles about "my world" that written for people in the "real world." I find articles like this one, or business reports about the money to be made from Linux or even 60 Minutes exploits about security vulnerabilities and viruses fascinating. Not for what they say, but how they are explaining my world to the common man. There is a gulf between us.
So I've also noticed that we not only burn ourselves and our business partners, but we also have disdain for the ultimate outsider-- our customers. We have this attitude similar to Howard Roarke, that architect in Ayn Rand's book, The Fountainhead, who only needs other people to give him enough money and opportunity to create and design. We need our customer's to buy our product, but heaven forbid we should design something for them.
One last self observation that David Ng also notices… Like American pop culture, age and perspective are not respected in software engineering. Perhaps it stems from the "duality of arrested emotional maturation and left-lobe overdevelopment," or perhaps its a by-product of our hatred for old (we call "out-dated") hardware.
Perhaps the source of all these conclusions are obvious. I mean, given an economy like America's where your business is dying if it isn't expanding exponentially, programmers must continue to re-invent their world to keep themselves employed. Eventually this dizzying roller-coaster ride begins to wear us down, and we either leave the industry to open up a coffee shop, become a computer writer, or the tops of our heads cave in and we go into management… the ultimate retirement before retirement.
Originally written on 27 May 2004.


Thank you for your interest in the Interactive Fund. Below are answers to the most commonly asked questions.
For information about application or project eligibility, evaluation criteria, financial participation or the deadline, please visit here.
Can I submit my project for review to Creative BC prior to applying?
No, Creative BC is unable to provide feedback on your project or idea, however we can answer questions regarding the application process. The Interactive Fund is adjudicated by a third-party group of industry professionals. Creative BC does not take part in the subjective review.
My project has no monetization strategy, can I apply?
Yes, a monetization strategy is not required, however a marketing strategy is. All applicants must provide a strategy as to how their project will be distributed or seen. Whether it's online, mobile, or in a gallery, applicants must demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge of their target audience.
I do not have any funding attached, can I apply?
Yes, you can still apply. No matching funding or outside investment are required at the time of application. However, the presence of other confirmed funding, including cash investment from the company and/or applicant, will benefit an application.
My budget exceeds $50,000, can I apply?
Yes! Applicants can apply for early stage development, prototyping, versioning, etc. You do not have to complete the entire project; however, you must complete a phase of development and report on it.
If I am successful can I use the funds retroactively?
No, the funds must be used between January 1, 2019 and March 1, 2020.
One applicant may submit one application as the lead. You may be attached as a service provider on several projects, however you may only have ownership in one project.
I have multiple companies; can I submit more than one application?
No. Creative BC will do a look through to the shareholders of the applicant company. If an individual is a majority shareholder in multiple applicant companies, they will be asked to withdraw all but one submission.
I just found out about the Interactive Fund and the application is due today, can I have an extension?
No, you may not have an extension. We cannot make exceptions based on when you found out about the fund. Late or incomplete applications will not be accepted.
I submitted my application and I forgot to add a document, can I submit it after the deadline?
No, in the sake of fairness to the applicants that submit a complete application in prior to the deadline, you cannot submit required documents and or revised versions of documents after the deadline.
Is there a budget template?
No. Please us a spreadsheet with line items. We require a cash budget. The cash budget must match the finance plan. If the cash budget is $100,000, the finance plan must equal $100,000.
Will you provide feedback to unsuccessful applicants?
Unfortunately, no, Creative BC does not have the capacity to provide feedback to all applicants.
What is the best advice you can give applicants?
Think like you are on the jury. For example, if the jury is reading 100 applications, why would they remember yours? What is special, unique, or exciting about your application? Does your workplan have images? Did you provide metrics? Make sure your application clearly conveys the strengths of your project with respect to the evaluation criteria.


DRYDRY Light is recommended for people with normal and excessive sweating. Perfect for everyday use.
DRYDRY Light combines the strength of classic DRYDRY and delicacy of DRYDRY Sensitive. Fragrance-free.
Suitable for underarms, feet and palms.The skin staysdry byreducing sweat glands without causing excessive sweating in other places. A complete absence of absorption of active components by the human body makes DRYDRY Light absolutely safe in long-term use.
Apply onto the skin an hour or so before sleep on absolutely dry and clean skin. Use DRYDRY one or two times a week or if needed. No restrictions on use.


Bring in an ultimate lounging experience indoors with a Stingray Daybed inspired directly from the marine fish. It has a smooth sloping form that makes the bed an unusually attractive piece of home furniture you could use for spending those chat afternoons with friends comfortably. The undulating top surface can be used by multiple people at the same time which makes the bed quite a stunner in terms of being a lavish couch for those long chats and discussions you have with your dear buddies at home. The base has also maintained the neat approach in design which makes this bed an aesthetic piece of furniture you could flaunt in any corner of the house without losing the charming effects of your home decor in any way.


Angles matter. Whether cutting garlic cloves to release the most flavor, testing the doneness of steamed cauliflower, or simply choosing a spatula -- it's all about esthetics & practicality.
Tony Hendra, Charleston Academy's Dean of Wit, likes to thinly slice his garlic because "the large combined surface area of the garlic means it releases its flavor faster and more fully when it hits the oil. Also crispy sautéed garlic slices are one of the great toppings for pasta, fish, and veggies (e.g. haricots verts.) In fact they're up there with 'amandine' or crispy sautéed almond slices. Sometimes I mix them to make my own special amandine.
I rarely mince unless I'm in high heels. I only chop wood and suey."
When testing the readiness of steamed vegetables, people often use the tip of a knife. The Dean has learned that sometimes a knife tip is wrong for the gig. Using the tines of a fork with cauliflower is better. Three or four prongs provide greater surface area for poking and give a more accurate decision of doneness.
Finally, the almighty spatula. The angle of the spatula makes the utensil more, or less, useful. In the photo, the top spatula, by Oneida, will enable the cook to slide food from the pan without having to tilt a screaming hot object.


Make this paisley-patterned nightgown yours if you're looking for softness, stretch and a lightweight feel. Made of knit rayon and spandex.
V-neck with covered elastic edges.
Short cap sleeves have solid trim.
Center front is 34-3/8" tall.
Side seams are 33-1/2" tall.
Cap sleeves are 3-1/2" across top.


Some kids have imaginary friends. Not content with that, I dreamed up an imaginary village. I can't remember a time in my life where my head hasn't been full of stories, characters, and worlds, so it's no surprise that at a young age I decided I wanted to be a writer when I grew up.
I love writing as much as ever, though these days my stories feature hot guys falling in love and steamy man-on-man action. I strive for realism in all aspects of my work, so if you want your m/m romance with believable plots and relatable characters you've come to the right place.


Feminist icon Frida Kahlo. Revolutionary Diego Rivera. Surrealist extraordinaire Salvador Dalí. The great cubist Pablo Picasso.
We've all heard of them; we've all seen examples of their work. There were even recreations of Picasso and Dali's work on display in the University of Nevada, Reno's own Sheppard Contemporary Gallery last April.
But there are three more incredible and influential Latin@ artists you should know.
One of the three "Mexican Muralists", Orozco focused on politics and human suffering, themes that eventually set him apart from his peers and led many to consider him the most important 20th-century muralist working in frescos.
Before any of this however, Orozco was a child of the Mexican Revolution who grew up in extreme poverty and suffered many tragedies throughout his lifetime, including the death of his father. Many believe this is why his work is so devastatingly real.
His notable works include the first ever true fresco in the United States at Pomona College, a 24-panel mural titled "The Epic of American Civilization" at Dartmouth College, and his proclaimed masterpiece "The Man of Fire," which is inside Guadalajara's governmental palace.
Often more confrontational and controversial than the other muralists of his time (Rivera and Siqueiros), Orozco's murals and frescos are viewed significantly less and some are even dilapidating, but his legacy remains an important introspective look at the political systems and human experience in Mexico.
The art for this is the "Hombre en llamas"mural.
Another Mexican artist who was alive during and after the Mexican Revolution, Rufino Tamayo's paintings were apolitical and had a lot of figurative abstractions with hints of surrealism. Tamayo renounced the reverence for revolution depicted by muralists such as Rivera, Orozco and Siqueiros. Instead, Tamayo believed that the revolution would harm the Mexican people. He depicted what he believed to be the native and traditional Mexico, a concept many believe stems from his inspiration from his Zapotec heritage.
Tamayo spent time living and making art in both Mexico and New York where he used and experimented with various mediums besides painting including oils, watercolors, lithographs, and a medium Tamayo invented himself called mixografia. Along with paper and canvas works, he was also a muralist.
Tamayo was known for his use of color, or rather, his deliberate nonuse of an excess of colors, as well as his tendency to use his composition as the focal point instead of the subject, as seen in one of his most famous works "Tres personajes" (1970).
"Tres personajes" is seen as one of the best examples of Tamayo's work, but that's not why he reached levels of infamy. In 1987 the piece was stolen from a warehouse in Texas only to be rediscovered in New York City 16 years later by Elizabeth Gibson, a writer. The painting later sold for $1,049,000 at auction.
Lola Alvarez Bravo was a famous Mexican photographer, who along with the other artists on this list, made significant contributions to the post-revolution Mexican art and political scene. After first working as an art school teacher, Alvarez Bravo took a job cataloging photographs and eventually fell in to taking her own pictures after harboring the desire for years while watching her husband, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, succeed in the field.
The two played a vital role in the art scene of the time, influencing (and taking influence from) their friends such as Rivera, Kahlo, Tamayo and Siquerios, but Lola's art was often overshadowed by her husband's until they separated. Photography then became her full-time profession.
The work Alvarez Bravo generated serves as a comprehensive guide to the Mexico of her time and the groups of people who inhabited it. Alvarez Bravo's work is comprehensive and includes all subject types while also always maintaining her same formal aesthetic with focus on the composition and lighting. She eschewed posing or staging photos and instead sought out candid, human moments, creating a body of work that serves as both a historical record and a social critique of the time.


text:
TAC legislation and regulations
Changes to the Transport Accident Act 1986
On 25 September 2018, the Treasury and Finance Legislation Amendment Act 2018 received Royal Assent. This Act makes a number of amendments to the Transport Accident Act 1986 (TA Act), which are intended to clarify the intent of the legislation, to increase the benefits available to TAC clients and their supporting family members and to address an existing anomaly in the TA Act by extending TAC coverage to cyclists if they are injured as a result of a collision with a stationary vehicle. Read more about the changes here.
The legislation
This is the main legislation that guides the TAC in the types of benefits it can pay and any conditions that apply.
Transport Accident Act 1986 DOCX, 0.36MB
Transport Accident Act 1986 PDF, 1.42MB
The regulations below specify certain injuries for the purposes of the definition of a severe injury in the Transport Accident Act 1986. They also prescribe the forms to be used for the purposes of that Act.
Transport Accident Regulations 2017 DOCX, 0.06MB
Transport Accident Regulations 2017 PDF, 0.12MB
The regulations below prescribe the manner of calculation of periodic payments of impairment benefits under section 47(4) and section 48(1) of the Transport Accident Act 1986. They also determine for the purposes of section 56 of the Transport Accident Act 1986, an amount being in redemption of the sum of periodic payments under section 48 of that Act and the weekly payments under section 49, 50 or 51 of that Act.
Transport Accident (Impairment) Regulations 2010 DOCX, 0.07MB
Transport Accident (Impairment) Regulations 2010 PDF, 0.21MB
The regulations below prescribe the periods and times or intervals for the payment of transport accident charges in relation to motor vehicles of specified classes.
Transport Accident (Administration of Charges) Regulations 2011 DOCX, 0.05MB
Transport Accident (Administration of Charges) Regulations 2011 PDF, 0.1MB
The regulations below prescribe the threshold amount that the TAC must not exceed for a payment or contribution to a person under Section 60(4) of the Transport Accident Act 1986 unless the person enters into an agreement with the Commission in relation to the ownership of, and maintenance of modifications to, a home or semi-detachable portable unit.
Transport Accident Amendment (Home Modification Agreement) Regulations 2018 DOCX, 0.04MB
Transport Accident Amendment (Home Modification Agreement) Regulations 2018 PDF, 0.08MB


What is the preferred scenario?
Codeine is a commonly used medicine of abuse. Codeine in over the counter (OTC) combination analgesics and codeine dependence contributes to severe adverse health outcomes associated with overdose of other active constituents such as paracetamol or ibuprofen. There is substantial evidence of harm from abuse or misuse of codeine-containing medicines, including liver damage, gastrointestinal perforations, respiratory depression and death. The Department of Health, through the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), has reviewed OTC access to codeine-containing medicines in Australia to ensure that regulation protects public health and safety.
Scenario 1: No change to the status quo.
Scenario 2: Schedule 2 and Schedule 3 entries for codeine to be amended to reduce the pack size to not more than 3 days' supply and include a label warning that codeine can cause addiction.
Scenario 3: The current Schedule 2 entries for codeine in cough and cold preparations to be up-scheduled to Schedule 3. All Schedule 3 entries to be amended to reduce the pack size to not more than 3 days' supply, and include a label warning that codeine can cause addiction.
Scenario 4: Schedule 2 and Schedule 3 entries for codeine to be up-scheduled to Schedule 4.
In addition to extensive public consultation by the TGA prior to and during preparation of this RIS, the consultancy firm KPMG produced a regulatory costing model and an economic and social impacts model (health economic model). Each of these models were informed by a range of sources, including industry and peak body consultations, as well as guidance from the TGA and the OBPR. A summary of the results from the modelling is presented in the following table.
if the quality of life gain from treatment is reduced by 80%.
The variables that the net benefit was most sensitive to were the average Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY) gain resulting from additional treatment received for pain symptoms, and the number of repeat scripts. The economic model was only moderately sensitive to the discount rate, number of deaths prevented, and the co-payment for GP and specialist consultations.
Scenario 4 will provide the greatest protection of public health and safety as a result of positive changes in consumer purchasing behaviour, raising awareness of codeine dependency through education, and the increased exploration of alternative therapeutic and treatment pathways for pain management. This scenario also delivers a net economic benefit to society significantly greater than any other scenario.
The implementation of Scenario 4 involves up-scheduling codeine entries from Schedules 2 and 3 to Schedule 4, the implication of which is that no codeine-containing products would be available without a prescription. The minimum implementation timeframe for Scenario 4 is 12 months. At this time, the estimated regulatory burden is expected to be less than $12.5 million per annum, which will be offset in the ensuing couple of years.