text:
02/15 Links Pt1: Mutual Recognition Never Happened, Palestinian Leaders Are Stuck in 1948; Gaza's self-inflicted health crisis shows why peace remains a fantasy
From Ian:
Gerald Steinberg: Mutual Recognition Never Happened, Palestinian Leaders Are Stuck in 1948
In the Israeli election free-for-all, the prospects for peace with the Palestinians will get some attention, but without engagement from the other side, there is little to discuss.
At the same time, many Israelis are aware of the need for a change to the "temporary" status quo, which has lasted 51 years. The fundamental question that remains unanswered is: how will Israel continue to be Jewish and democratic if millions of Palestinians are included indefinitely? Although Israelis are wary of the "ultimate peace deal" that U.S. President Donald Trump promises to push after the election, it adds to the momentum for rethinking the issues.
For most Israeli political parties, the two-state formula (very few Israelis think a "solution" is realistic) has run its course, without yielding any results. Proposed in 2002 by then-U.S. president George W. Bush and grudgingly accepted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2009, the hope was that the Palestinians would finally accept the legitimacy of a Jewish state, in exchange for their own sovereign nation.
But this never happened – Palestinian leaders are stuck in 1948, still hoping to reverse the creation of Israel altogether. Dreams of returning to the 1949 armistice lines, including re-dividing Jerusalem, are obvious non-starters. They are also busy fighting each other, with Hamas in control of Gaza and Fatah governing the West Bank. At the same time, terror and incitement continue, and Israelis are not convinced that the two-state approach will improve the situation (most think it will make things worse). The "international consensus" that presses Israel to take all the risks, while exempting the "powerless" Palestinians from any responsibility, has no traction here.
In this political vacuum, a number of civil society institutions are discussing alternatives, in part to pre-empt the Trump plan. After a hiatus of a decade or more, think tanks are publishing maps showing which parts of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) should be annexed to Israel for pragmatic, security, historic or other reasons, and which areas should be relinquished, and under what conditions.
The Key to Middle East Peace Is Getting Palestinians to Say "Yes"
The necessity for the Palestinians to make peace with Israel as a prerequisite for the establishment of a Palestinian state isn't arbitrary or the result of inherently "unfair" imbalances of power. It is a reflection of the reality that the Palestinians rejected the UN partition plan of November 29, 1947, establishing two states, in favor of open-ended war. This rejectionism continues to this day.
The Palestinians have been given multiple opportunities to reverse their historic own-goal and accept statehood many times since then but have always broken off talks at the moment of truth, refusing the very independence they claim to pine for if the price is to end their conflict with Israel. Martin Indyk, President Obama's special envoy on the Middle East, told Al Jazeera in 2016: "We have [Israeli Prime Ministers] Barak and Olmert offering the Palestinians 95-97% of the West Bank and all of Gaza, and they didn't take it." Since 2014 the Palestinian leadership has refused to negotiate at all.
Israel cannot make peace on its own, nor can it be expected to accept the creation of a hostile, armed state on the doorstep of its major cities without a viable peace agreement. Unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood would be rewarding the Palestinians for continuing to say "no."
Evelyn Gordon: Gaza's self-inflicted health crisis shows why peace remains a fantasy
Gaza's health system is on the verge of collapse, Israeli defense officials warned last week. Their report echoed an international aid agency's findings that Gaza hospitals are severely short of doctors, especially specialists, and lack 60 percent of necessary medications, including basics like painkillers and antibiotics. Entire hospital departments have closed due to the inability to offer treatment, and patients with cancer, diabetes or renal failure are simply being sent home.
You might think this situation would prompt at least one of the Palestinians' two rival governments to take action. But you'd be wrong.
Subscribe to The JNS Daily Syndicate by email and never miss our top stories
The Palestinian Authority, which repeatedly proclaims itself the sole legitimate government of both the West Bank and Gaza and is recognized as such internationally, receives billions in international aid to provide for humanitarian needs in both places. It ostensibly budgets 150 million shekels a year ($41.3 million) for medical supplies for Gaza. But it hasn't paid this money in months.
Yet this same P.A. has no trouble finding $330 million a year to pay salaries to jailed terrorists. Evidently, paying terrorists is more important to it than its people's health.
Dr. Martin Sherman: 2019 Intelligence Assessment- implications for Gaza
Last December, I was excoriated by the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, for reaching what I consider to be an inescapable, fact-based conclusion that, "Eventually, there will either be Arabs in Gaza or Jews in the Negev. In the long run, there will not be both!"
Accordingly—since there appears little chance of the Palestinian-Arabs in general, and the Gazans in particular, morphing into something they have not been for over hundred years—for anyone who favors the option of Jews remaining in the Negev, there is little option but to reconcile oneself to the lamentable fact that "The solution to the problem of Gaza is its deconstruction—not its reconstruction."
Indeed, I would be intrigued to hear what my detractors have in mind for Gaza and how they envisage the fate of the hapless enclave in, say, ten to fifteen years from today. For already, its unfortunate inhabitants are in dire straits, with most of their natural water sources polluted, with raw sewage flowing into the streets, and with electrical power available for only a several hours a day.
Significantly, this grave situation has been precipitated despite the fact that Gaza has received one of the world's highest levels of international aid and massive flows of humanitarian merchandise from Israel, which have, almost invariably, been promptly expropriated by Hamas. Ominously for the people of Gaza, this aid appears to be diminishing, making the future seem even bleaker than the present.
Eli Lake: Netanyahu Accidentally Tells the Truth
Just before a U.S.-sponsored conference that was supposed to be about Iran but isn't, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu changed the subject back again. At the conference in Warsaw, he said, Israel would be meeting in public with Arab foreign ministers "to advance the common interest of war with Iran," according to a tweet from his office.
Yikes. Twitter pounced. Headlines blared. The prime minister's office swiftly erased the tweet and claimed there was a translation error. A new tweet changed "war with Iran" to "combating Iran."
It's tempting to think of this as a blunder. A better way to see Netanyahu's tweet is as a so-called Kinsley gaffe, named for the editor Michael Kinsley: when a politician accidentally tells the truth.
In other words, Netanyahu was right the first time. Israel and America's Arab allies are indeed at war with Iran. And despite efforts this week to entice war-weary European allies to join the effort, for Arab and Israeli delegations the conference was a chance to further coordinate their campaign against Iran.
Much of this happened behind closed doors. But in his public speech on Thursday here, Vice President Mike Pence hinted at what was going on. Everyone who spoke at the inaugural banquet, he said, talked about the common threat that Iran posed to the region.
The War Between Iran and Israel Moves to Iraq
Israeli officials have made clear that they will do whatever is necessary to prevent Iran from achieving its goals in Syria, even if that means going to war. But, as I wrote last month, "the real danger is that the conflict spills into Lebanon, triggering another war between the Jewish state and Hezbollah, [which] … has an estimated 130,000 rockets ready to fire at Israel. Because Israel is such a small country with few key strategic targets, it would need to act immediately in a conflict with overwhelming force."
For months, if not years, there have been growing signs that Iraq would be involved in such a war. A commander of Iraq's PMUs warned recently that the militias are ready to respond to Israeli acts of "hostility." Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has also said that a future war with Israel could draw thousands of fighters from Iraq. Iran's decision to redeploy soldiers only makes it more likely that Iraq would be a key belligerent in a future conflict.
This coming storm should be a warning to Washington that its focus in Iraq and Syria should not only be on the Islamic State. If the United States does not want to risk a disastrous, region-wide war erupting in the Middle East—one with its most important regional ally, Israel, right in the middle—then it needs to keep American soldiers in Syria and stay committed to making Iraq a more unified, inclusive state, while maintaining a military presence there as well. Ultimately, that is the best way to reverse Iranian gains in Iraq, where many citizens do not want to live under Tehran's imperial vision.
The conflict between Iran and Israel has remained below the threshold of formal war. But there is no guarantee that will remain the case. So far, however, deterrence has worked; Iran takes Israel's warnings about using force very seriously. That is the main reason why Iran has not really retaliated against Israel's airstrikes: the Iranians know that whatever they do, the Israelis will come back with a much harsher response. Iran has no interest in going to war with Israel, which enjoys a significant military advantage in Syria, especially in the air. In the coming months, Israel will likely try to establish that same level of deterrence further to the east, where Iranian forces will be. The United States needs to be ready to support its ally in this effort.
David Singer: Israel, PLO, Jordan, EU and UN Must Agree on Boundaries of Palestine
Ending the Arab-Jewish conflict over the territory called "historic Palestine" has little chance of success until its territorial boundaries are first agreed between Israel, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), Jordan, the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN).
Rima Najjar – a retired professor of English literature at Al-Quds University – claims in a recent article that the territory of "historic Palestine" has been subdivided into Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip but is effectively controlled by the Jewish State.
The following facts contradict her assertions:
Jordan comprises 78% of the territory of Palestine under the League of Nations 1922 Mandate for Palestine – and Jews were denied the right to reconstitute the Jewish National Home in any part of that area of Palestine under article 25 of the Mandate
The Old Testament records that two and a half of the twelve tribes of Israel settled in Jordan and cities of refuge were established by the Israelites in Golan, Ramoth, and Bosor – on the eastern side of the Jordan River – and Kedesh, Nablus, and Hebron – on the western side.
Jordan, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza form one indivisible territorial unit under Article 2 of the PLO Charter.
Many leading PLO, Jordanian, Arab and Israeli leaders have acknowledged that Jordan formed part of Palestine and that Jordanians and Palestinians are one people – not two.
Under the 1993 Oslo Accords and following Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2006 – the PLO effectively controls 40% of the West Bank and Hamas effectively controls all of Gaza.
Najjar's intention is clear: to misleadingly and deceptively allege that Israel effectively controls 100 per cent of historic Palestine – when Jordan effectively controls 78 per cent.
In fact:
Jared Kushner says Trump peace plan won't include Saudi initiative
US special envoy Jared Kushner confirmed Thursday that US President Donald Trump's peace plan won't be based on past international understanding such as the 2002 Saudi initiative, which the international community and the Palestinians have long touted as the basis of a two-state solution.
"I think it was a great initiative, in 2002 when it was done, but it hasn't produced peace, so if that was the framework under which something would be accomplished then I think that would have been accomplished a long time ago, and then I wouldn't be doing the duty I'm doing right now to try to bring the people together," Kushner reportedly said behind closed doors at the Warsaw summit. His words were leaked to the Israeli media.
He also confirmed that the Trump peace plan would not be published until after the April 9 election.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Kushner had dismissed the Saudi peace plan and spoken of a rollout date after the elections, when he gave a private briefing to Israeli reporters on the sidelines of the Warsaw summit.
He said Kushner had not provided any specific details about the plan and Netanyahu ducked a question about territorial concessions.
Peace Process Veterans See Growing Israeli-Arab Alignment in Warsaw
Veteran U.S. peace negotiator Dennis Ross moderated a panel of three Arab foreign ministers at a closed-door dinner in Warsaw on Wednesday. Ross wrote on Twitter, "The PA may not like it, but Arab states will pursue their interests even when the Palestinian leadership opposes. Case in point: the Warsaw Conference. Arab states had more of an interest in arguing for unity of effort against Iran than boycotting a conference the PA opposed."
"At the Warsaw Conference, I conducted back-to-back discussions first with three Arab ministers and then with Israeli PM Netanyahu. Same room, same views of Iran's aggressive, threatening posture in the Middle East, and unmistakable convergence of what should be done to counter it."
U.S. Middle East peace hand Aaron David Miller said: "Look, the prime minister of Israel had dinner in a private session with...a number of Arab foreign ministers....What is so stunning, so preternaturally amazing, is that at a time when there is no peace process and no prospect of one...Israel's stock in the region and in the international community is higher now than at any point since the state was created."
What Middle Easterners Really Think about the Israel-Palestinian Conflict
Polls conducted in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates indicate that popular opinion has become surprisingly moderate in some of these countries. In most cases, the public's positions on foreign policy align with those of the government. A full two-thirds of respondents support the two-state solution. Moreover, while each public largely disapproves of American foreign policy and the Trump administration, the percentage who believe it is important to maintain good relations with the United States is much higher.
Respondents in these countries also share their governments' animosity toward Hezbollah and Iran. In each case, 80 to 90% of the public disapproves of Iran, Iranian proxies, and Hezbollah. The only exception to this trend is Lebanon's Shia community, which largely support the group and its patrons in Tehran. Yet even this support is dropping, and only 30% of Lebanese Shia believe Hezbollah should confront Israel.
Regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a small plurality of respondents in Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon still see it as a top foreign policy priority, but the issue is low-priority in the Persian Gulf states. Support is high in all countries for giving both sides incentives to adopt more moderate positions. Yet support is generally low for collaborating with Israel on technology and similar issues before a peace agreement is signed with the Palestinians—around 20% in total, albeit a little higher in Egypt and Jordan.
Meanwhile, Hamas retains some popularity, though favorable views are dropping. Support for the organization hovers around 30%-40%, indicating that a sizeable minority still backs a hardline stance against Israel despite significant support for the two-state solution.
In clip leaked by PMO, Arab ministers seen defending Israel, attacking Iran
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on Thursday leaked a video in which the foreign ministers of three Arab countries can be seen harshly attacking Iran and defending Israel, and in one case saying that confronting the Islamic Republic is more pressing than solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The 25-minute YouTube clip, a link that the PMO sent to several Israeli reporters, showed a segment from a panel discussion at the opening gala of the Warsaw Middle East conference, which was closed to the press.
The comments made by the foreign ministers widely confirmed what Netanyahu told Israeli reporters during a briefing earlier in the day, when he described at considerable length the Arab ministers' positions.
Less than 30 minutes after reporters published the clip, the PMO removed the video from its YouTube channel.
In the clip, the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan indicated that Israel was justified in attacking Iranian targets in Syria.
"Every nation has the right to defend itself, when it's challenged by another nation, yes," he answered in response to a question by the panel's moderator, former US Middle East peace negotiator Dennis Ross, about Israeli strikes intended to prevent Iran from entrenching itself militarily in Syria.
Netanyahu: Israeli-Arab ties advance, but full peace unattainable now
Israel can advance normalized ties with the Arab world without resolving the Israeli-Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but won't be able to fully make peace with those countries, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.
He spoke with Israeli reporters on the sidelines of the US-led Warsaw summit, that gathered 60 countries, including from the Arab world, to talk about challenges in the Middle East region, with a focus on Iran.
Netanyahu said the meeting was a historic breakthrough with regard to Israeli-Arab ties and that the taboo against Israeli meeting with Arab leaders had been broken.
"I didn't say we could make peace" without resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, "but we can advance normalization," Netanyahu said.
Places of advancement could include commerce, including direct flight and a change in public opinion in the Arab world toward Israel.
The fear Arab states with regard to Iran, has helped fueled a new horizon for Israel in the Arab world, Netanyahu said.
Four out of the five Arab foreign ministers who spoke behind closed doors at the conference spoke about Iran and "said exactly what I have said," Netanyahu explained.
Iran's 'toxic money' preventing Israeli-Palestinian peace- Bahraini FM
Iran's "toxic" funding of violence in the region has prevented the resolution of conflicts in the Middle East, including between the Israeli and Palestinian people, Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa said at a closed-door session of the Warsaw summit.
He spoke on Wednesday, but his words were leaked on Thursday after the closure of the two-day US led summit of 60 countries called the Ministerial to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East. The summit was hosted by the Polish government and included several Arab states.
In a private briefing that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held with journalists, he said that Arab leaders at closed doors meetings were more concerned with Iran than with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
A video of a closed Wednesday night session, placed at the bottom of a WhatsApp message about the US Vice President Mike Pence's meeting with Netanyahu, showed that his words were correct.
Yemeni FM: Seat next to Netanyahu in Warsaw was 'protocol error' by organizers
The foreign minister of Yemen on Thursday addressed Arab criticism for sitting next to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a conference in Warsaw, saying "errors pertaining to protocol are the responsibility of the organizing parties."
At the opening session of a Middle East conference in the Polish capital, Netanyahu was placed next to Khaled Alyemany. The Yemeni top diplomat was already in his seat when Netanyahu arrived, and as the latter sat down, the two men exchanged a brief smile.
Later, during a part of the session that was closed to the press, Netanyahu prepared to address the delegates but found that his microphone wasn't functioning properly, according to US peace envoy Jason Greenblatt. Alyemany then let him use his.
Greenblatt joked about the incident on Twitter, calling it a "lighthearted moment" and suggesting it may be the unlikely first step in establishing cooperation between the rival countries, which have never had diplomatic relations.
Netanyahu and US leaders have hailed Arab leaders' willingness to sit alongside Israel at the conference. Netanyahu and Arab officials also shared a stage during a group photo of meeting participants.
Poland moves to end spat with Israel over PM comments, blames media manipulation
Poland on Friday moved to settle a brief diplomatic spat with Israel over comments made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Polish collaboration with the Nazis, saying it had received clarifications from the Israeli government that had alleviated its concerns.
The presidential office blamed "media manipulation" by the Jerusalem Post for a misunderstanding about Netanyahu's comments.
And Israel's Foreign Ministry issued a statement to similar effect: "The Prime Minister's comments concerning Poland were misquoted by the Jerusalem Post, which quickly issued a correction clarifying that an error had been made in the editing of the article."
Netanyahu landed back in Israel late Friday and his office then clarified again: "In a briefing, PM Netanyahu spoke of Poles and not the Polish people or the country of Poland," it said in a statement. "This was misquoted and misrepresented in press reports and was subsequently corrected by the journalist who issued the initial misstatement."
Nonetheless, Israeli Ambassador Anna Azari was summoned by Poland's Foreign Ministry for a dressing down over the issue, The Times of Israel confirmed Friday. Israel's Foreign Ministry did not immediately comment on this development, which was first reported in Polish media.
Venezuela unveils anti-US coalition at United Nations
It was almost a who's who of America's foes as Venezuela's foreign minister, Jorge Arreaza, was surrounded on Thursday by some of the world's most notorious human rights violators. He was announcing the formation of a group of countries that he said would defend the United Nations Charter.
In an attempt to fight off what the Nicolas Maduro government has claimed to be the threat of a U.S.-led coup, and flanked by more than a dozen ambassadors and diplomats from countries including Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Syria, China and Russia, Arreaza read off a statement defending the charter and the principles of nonintervention.
Those principles included respect for sovereignty of all states. The principles also called for states to refrain from the use of force against any state, and to respect territorial integrity.
In reference to the sanctions put on his country by the United States, he said all people "have the right to live without the threat of use of force and without the application illegal, coercive, unilateral measures."
Arreaza said that the new group would be conducting "a series of actions to increase awareness around the dangers that our peoples currently face, particularly the case of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. We call upon all the member states of the U.N. to join us in defending international law as the only guarantor of ... peaceful coexistence."
Venezuela's Maduro says rival 'serves the interests of the US and the Zionists'
The president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, called the self-declared interim president and opposition leader Juan Guaido "a CIA agent who serves the interests of the United States and the Zionists" in an interview with the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese media outlet, al-Mayadeen.
He added in the interview posted on Tuesday that he feels "love for the noble Palestinian cause," and sent words of "encouragement to the Palestinian and Arab prisoners confined in Israeli jails."
Maduro denied that there are Hezbollah operatives acting in Venezuela. And he accused the United States for trying seize the wealth and oil of Venezuela.
Guaido, the president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, on January 23 declared himself the country's interim president and called on Maduro to order new elections.
The United States, European countries and other world leaders maintain that Maduro's re-election last year was fraudulent and have recognized Guaido as the country's interim leader, as has Israel. The country's military remains loyal to Maduro, however.
Hezbollah, a Lebanese terror group, backed Maduro as president after Guaido announced his takeover.
India's PM Modi Warns Pakistan of Strong Response to Kashmir Attack
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned Pakistan on Friday to expect a strong response to a bomb attack in the disputed region of Kashmir that killed 44 paramilitary policemen, ratcheting up tension between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
The car bomb attack on a security convoy on Thursday was the worst in decades of insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, India's only Muslim majority state.
"We will give a befitting reply, our neighbor will not be allowed to de-stabilize us," Modi said in a speech, after meeting security advisers to discuss options.
The attack comes months before an Indian general election.
The Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claimed responsibility soon after a suicide bomber rammed a explosives-laden car into a bus carrying police personnel.
India has for years accused Muslim Pakistan of backing separatist militants in divided Kashmir, which the neighbors both claim in full but rule in part.
Pakistan denies that, saying it only offers political support to the Himalayan region's suppressed Muslim people.
Canadian Parliament Approves New Israel Free Trade Deal
The Canadian Parliament on Feb. 8 approved an updated free trade agreement between Canada and Israel. Two-way trade between Canada and Israel has tripled since the original 1997 deal, reaching $1.7 billion last year, Liberal MP Bardish Chagger told the House of Commons, speaking on behalf of Trade Minister Jim Carr.
Canada's "strong friendship and partnership with Israel spans more than 70 years and stretches back even further to the arrival of the earliest Jewish settlers in Canada more than 250 years ago," she said, noting that there are more than 350,000 Jews in Canada "who are an important source of information and support in the political and commercial spheres for both Canada and Israel," and 20,000 Canadians currently living and working in Israel.
Ontario Conservative MP David Sweet said we need to ensure that Israeli businesses continue to be able to hire Palestinians from the West Bank "without the crazy pressure from this boycott, divestment, sanctions movement that does not understand that they actually employ and allow Palestinians to prosper, to have jobs that are not in the Palestinian Authority." He said he feels "very bad for the innocent Palestinian people who suffer every day under tyrannical regimes like Hamas and for those people who suffer under the corruption of the Palestinian Authority."
'No reason why Canada shouldn't move its embassy to Jerusalem'
It's incredibly hard to anger someone from Canada. Try as you might, it will take some time before a Canadian begins to lose their temper or raise their voice – unless of course the topic of discussion is ice hockey. Canada takes pride in being a country where, unlike the American behemoth to its south, everything goes smoothly – and culturalism takes precedence over aggression, to the point where things can get extremely boring.
In the international arena, too, Canada has for years taken care to do the "correct" thing to ensure it is accepted by everyone. That is why Canada has historically taken a central role in peacekeeping forces and has always tried to differentiate itself from U.S. policies in the world.
Canada refused to help out in the Vietnam War or the Iraq War, and it seems as if Ottawa has always wanted to show the world that Canada is most definitely not the United States' younger sibling. That was all true until 2006, when a new sheriff by the name of Stephen Harper came to town. He would serve as the country's prime minister until 2015.
Almost overnight, Harper, the leader of Canada's Conservative Party, shook up the conventions that had guided Canadian policy on the Middle East and Israel over the years. And most importantly, he made it clear that although Canadians may be the friendliest and most peaceful people in the world, they will not blindly toe the line.
When the rest of the world wanted to turn Israel into a scapegoat, Harper would not have Canada play along. In the decade in which he served as prime minister, and even as the head of a minority government, Israel had a loyal ally in the country. Harper closed the Canadian Embassy in Tehran. And in 2011, he ordered the Canadian delegation to walk out in protest when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered his address to the United Nations.
In an interview with Israel Hayom in Jerusalem, Harper spoke with pride of the steps he took while in office.
Former Israel Security Agency Director: PA Will Not Protect Israel from Palestinian Terrorism
Yoram Cohen, 58, who headed the Israel Security Agency from 2011 to 2016, said in an interview that his experience taught him that the Palestinians' capability to take over counter-terrorism efforts is very weak, even if Israel gives them land.
Cohen states that PA counter-terrorism forces "do not have anything remotely similar to Israel in professionalism, technology and motivation" for protecting Israel from Palestinian terrorism. He asks how PA security forces can be trusted when the PA pays salaries to Hamas terrorists in Israeli prisons. Moreover, "No one can be sure that Hamas will not take over the West Bank by force or by election."
For this reason, he is opposed to full Palestinian statehood and would only support Palestinian "autonomy plus in Judea and Samaria or a state-minus," noting Yitzhak Rabin had endorsed a state-minus (where the PA would govern nearly all internal issues but would lack formal sovereignty, since the IDF would still provide external security).
He says, "It is in Israel's national interest to get to a final agreement with the Palestinians and its representative the PA. In the near future, we cannot get to a final agreement between us and the Palestinians" due to unbridgeable gaps in positions about what that deal should look like, chronic instability and religious extremism in the Middle East.
"No external force has an interest in conquering Gaza and freeing the residents there from the burden of the murderous terrorist organizations, led by Hamas, that want to destroy Israel." Israel is not interested in conquering Gaza because of the inevitable cost in Israeli soldiers' and Palestinian civilians' lives as well as the absence of someone else to hand over control to.
He opposes any kind of sea or naval port in Gaza or an artificial port off the Gaza coast, viewing this as "a big open door to bring in a much higher quantity and quality of weapons and military equipment and hostile actors."
In Hebron, Palestinians patrol in place of ousted foreign monitors
Following Israel's expulsion of an international observer force from the West Bank city of Hebron, Palestinian activists are trying to fill the void by launching their own patrols to document alleged Israeli settler violence.
Armed with video cameras and donning blue vests, the activists say they will replace the Temporary International Presence in Hebron. The group has enlisted 18 volunteers and began its work this week.
"By expelling the international monitors, the Israeli government wanted to hide the Israeli settlers' and soldiers' violations, but we will not let them get away with that," Issa Amro, an activist leader, told The Associated Press. "We will document any attack by photos and words, and we will circulate it all over the world."
On January 28, Israel suspended TIPH operations after 25 years, alleging the body is corrupt and routinely violated it mandate by systematically targeting Jewish settlers.
"We will not allow the continuation of an international force that acts against us," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.
Hezbollah has plans for Israel on the Golan
On Monday, the IDF shelled Iranian-linked targets—most likely held by Hizballah—in the Quneitra province, which lies in the Syrian part of the Golan Heights. There can thus be little doubt that the Islamic Republic has positioned its proxies in deadly proximity to Israel's borders. Yossi Yehoshua comments:
Hizballah is trying to entrench itself in Syria now that Bashar al-Assad has reclaimed the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, precisely as it did in 2014 and 2015, [before Syrian rebels retook the area]. This was when one of the terror organization's more prominent members, Jihad Mughniyeh, was appointed by Hizballah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to be in charge of the Golan Heights area and of planning terror attacks against Israeli civilians. Mughniyeh was killed in a 2015 airstrike attributed to Israel. . . .
In addition, an increase in the number of incidents along the Syrian border was noted over the past two months, with the Israeli strikes in Syria . . . meant to signal to the enemy that it is best not cross any red lines. This is similar to the message Jerusalem conveyed to Iran when it [previously] attempted to entrench itself in [this part of] Syria and was pushed out of there after a series of Israeli airstrikes.
Unlike the situation of four years ago, Iran now has a real presence along the Syrian border, while Hizballah is working to resume its confrontations with Israel. And since the organization is up to its neck in domestic problems and thus cannot allow itself to face Israel on the Lebanese front, it finds Syria to be a more comfortable staging ground from which to take on the Jewish state.
IDF conducts massive drill to 'simulate conditions of war with Hezbollah'
The army conducted a massive drill over the last week which was designed to train soldiers for combat operations in topographical conditions similar to those in Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces said Friday.
The exercise was the largest one carried out by the 401st Brigade of the Armored Corps in recent years, according to Channel 12 news. The soldiers carried out drills in coordination with the Israeli Air Force, as well as the engineering and intelligence corps.
Dozens of tanks, armored personnel carriers and helicopters were deployed in the training zone in the Jordan Valley, the IDF said.
The brigade's commander, Col. Dudu Sonago, said that Lebanese Hezbollah fighters have gained extensive experience and have developed more sophisticated battle techniques after fighting in neighboring Syria's civil war, at the same time as deepening entrenchment above and below ground in Syria.
"As the situation in Syria stabilizes, Hezbollah is returning its forces to Lebanon," Sonago said. "They are no longer a guerrilla organization, but a real army. They fought there in regiments of companies and battalions, very similar to the military," he told Channel 12.
"They operate in civilian areas and are ready with a large quantity of anti-tank missiles," Sonago added. "This is a challenge the IDF must train for."
Golan Druze Mark Anniversary of Israeli Annexation
Carrying Syrian flags and pictures of President Bashar al-Assad, hundreds of Arab Druze who live on the Israeli side of the Golan Heights gathered on Thursday to mark the annexation of the territory Israel captured from Syria more than five decades ago.
Dressed in traditional black garb and white hats, the protesters chanted, pledging loyalty to Syria.
"This land is the land of our fathers and grandfathers, the land is ours. No one has the right to it other than the Syrians," said Qasem Mahmoud al-Safadi from the village of Majdal Shams.
The Golan was part of Syria until Israel took control of it in the 1967 Six-Day War. Israel annexed the territory in 1981 in a move not recognized internationally.
The Druze are an Arab minority who practice an offshoot of Islam and whose adherents in Syria have long been loyal to its ruling Assad family.
Around 22,000 Druze live on the Israeli Golan. Israel, seeking to further integrate them, has offered citizenship but most Druze rejected it.
Another 120,000 Druze living in Israel make up about two percent of the population and are one of the country's most integrated minorities.
Murderer to Martyr: Did Israel turn criminal into 'freedom fighter?'
Israel's decision to label the murder of Ori Ansbacher as a terrorist attack will enable the family of her murderer, Arafat Irfaiya, to apply for financial aid from the Palestinian Authority or other Palestinian groups, a PA official told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.
No Palestinian group has claimed responsibility for the February 7 rape and murder of Ansbacher in Jerusalem. Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which often praise terrorist attacks against Israelis, have refrained from commenting on the case of Irfaiya.
The official criticized the Israeli decision and claimed that the PA does not believe that the rape and murder of Ansbacher was "nationalistically motivated." The PA, he said, believes that this was a criminal murder.
Noting that Irfaiya was not affiliated with any Palestinian group, the official said that by labeling him as a terrorist, Israel has "turned a criminal into a freedom fighter."
According to the official, Irfaiya's family will now use the Israeli decision as an excuse to demand that he be added to the list of Palestinian security prisoners who are entitled to a monthly salary from the PA or any other Palestinian group.
"This will not happen," the official told the Post. "As far as we're concerned, this was not a nationalistically motivated attack, even if Irfaiya and Israel are trying to make it look like that."
Denying incitement, Fatah Facebook page chief claims incendiary posts 'symbolic'
A knife with a Palestinian flag on its handle stabbing a religious Jew. Praise for a Palestinian terrorist partially responsible for the deaths of 38 Israelis, including children. A claim that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party has killed thousands of Israelis. These are among the incendiary posts in recent years on a Facebook page connected to the PA leader's Fatah faction.
The Israeli government and independent watchdogs have regularly denounced the Facebook page, called "The Palestinian National Liberation Movement 'Fatah'/ The Official Page," and international news outlets, including the New York Times and CNN, have critically covered some of its posts.
In a recent hour-long interview, the page's chief editor Munir al-Jaghoub talked to The Times of Israel about its inner workings and its most controversial posts. In his northern Ramallah office decorated with a collection of photos of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Jaghoub deflected criticism of the page and contended that its opponents have misinterpreted its content.
Jaghoub, who is also the spokesman of Fatah's Mobilization and Organization Commission (the party body that oversees local branches, activities and recruitment) and previously worked for the PA, claimed critics of the page misunderstand what he called the "symbolism" of some of its most controversial posts. He also contended it has never overtly incited violence.
Why are Israeli food products so popular in Gaza?
Difficulties in the Gaza Strip are being exploited by a number of special interest groups inside Gaza that are doing everything in their power to deceive the vulnerable residents there. The latest scandal deals with food. It began when Gaza's government food inspectors filed a lawsuit against Badri & Hania Co. The inspectors had seized four tons of coffee, spices and raw materials whose expiration had passed, just before they were to be distributed to stores across the Gaza Strip.
As happens after each new crisis in the food industry in Gaza, consumers began the inevitable comparisons between food items that are produced in Gaza with products brought in from Israel.
Angry responses to the latest swindle soon began appearing on local residents' Facebook pages. These included calls to buy Israeli-made products as long as Palestinian-made products do not meet the high standards the Palestinian government has committed itself to following.
In fact, just this week, Rola Ravi, 37, strolled into a large supermarket in the center of Gaza, whose shelves hold a large variety of Israeli products. She happily purchased a jar of Israeli Elite coffee. When asked why she bought an Israeli-made product, she responded by saying she prefers Israeli products because of their higher quality, and because she feels secure in knowing they meet certain standards.
"For 10 years I drank my favorite brand of locally produced coffee, Badri & Hania," explained Ravi. "But recently, there was a problem. The company has been charged with forging production and expiration dates on their products. As a result, I've lost all faith in locally produced food items. I prefer to pay a little more for Israeli products. For example, I used to buy the 250-gram jar of the local Palestinian-made coffee for 10 shekels. Now I'm spending eight shekels for a 100-gram jar of Elite coffee. Quality is important to me."
Answering questions like only a globally designated terror organisation can. pic.twitter.com/u2lYxBLfl0
— The Mossad (@TheMossadIL) February 14, 2019
#AskHamas @HamasInfoEn
We noticed you use condoms as incendiary devices to cause mass destruction. Have you ever tried using them the way they're meant to be used?
Follow up question: Can you please do so? pic.twitter.com/nlDnCBAZEN
Egyptian Researcher Mohamed Gad El-Zoghby: We Should Erect a Statue of Hitler Because of What He Did to the Jews pic.twitter.com/gGdL2YQYiy
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) February 15, 2019
Lebanese Philosopher Dr. Ali Harb: Colonialism Brought Arabs Out of Middle Ages into Modernity; We Need to Change How We See the World pic.twitter.com/lmSyI1L6jK
Week-long Juniper Falcon joint U.S.-Israeli drill comes to an end
US and Israeli troops have finished the week-long Juniper Falcon drill, which tested the level of coordination between the two countries in the event of a ballistic missile threat against Israel.
As part of Juniper Falcon 2019, some 300 Americans from the United States European Command (USEUCOM) flew into Israel last week and joined some 400 IDF troops from various units, including the Air Defense Array, the Operations Directorate, the navy, logistical units and medical forces.
Juniper Falcon focused on scenarios, which would see the deployment of US forces in Israel under fire during conflict and saw troops train in several theaters, including Hatzor Air Force Base and the IDF headquarters and other locations across the country.
As part of the preparation for the exercise, which began 18 months ago, the IDF carried out infrastructural and logistical preparation ahead of the US Forces' arrival.
According to military officials who spoke to The Jerusalem Post on Thursday, the purpose of the exercise is not only to improve the readiness of both countries to defend against ballistic missile threats, but to strengthen the robust and agile partnership and cooperation between the militaries of the two countries.
Brig.-Gen. Erez Maisel, the head of the Israel Defense Forces' Foreign Relations Division, said that the drill focused on the "three Cs: common language, confidence and capabilities" of troops to enable the maximum protection of Israel.
Today marks the end of the Juniper Falcon 2019 exercise. US and Israel, side by side. 🇮🇱🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/3OJBDdEmWs


text:
Who is eligible for higher education grants?
Higher Education grants are limited to the following North Carolina and South Carolina institutions:
Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina
Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina
Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, North Carolina
Does the Endowment award scholarships to individuals?
No. We provide scholarship support to the four eligible institutions, which in turn award scholarships to individual students.
When are grant applications due?
Staff in the Higher Education program area works with the four eligible grantees to determine when grant requests may be submitted. Typically the Endowment's Trustees consider new requests from these schools two to three times per year.
Why does the Endowment only give higher education grants to four institutions?
All of our grants benefit organizations in the Carolinas. In the field of education, our founder Mr. Duke chose to direct all grants to private institutions of higher education that were known and respected by him or his business associates.
Is there a process by which other colleges and universities can become eligible for Endowment funding?
No. Our education grants are limited to the four institutions named in 1924 in the Indenture of Trust (pdf). You can learn more in the About us section about how the work we do today is connected to Mr. Duke's life and continues to honor his philanthropic intentions.
Does the Endowment fund primary or secondary education, after-school programs or teacher training programs?
No. While he obviously appreciated the importance of high-quality primary and secondary education, Mr. Duke chose to focus his philanthropy on higher education. As he wrote in his Indenture of Trust, broader grantmaking "probably would be productive of less good by reason of attempting too much."
Have questions about the Endowment's new Zero to Eight emphasis? Find answers here.
Kristi K. Walters
Susan L. McConnell
Vice President / Director of Higher Education / Director of Human Resources
Anita L. Wyatt
Senior Administrative Specialist
Currently there are no events scheduled for this program area.
Supporting A Strong Start for Children
Embracing the 'New Normal' in Higher Ed
7 Facts About… Breaking Barriers to Care through Medical-Legal Partnerships
Supporting Scholars – and their Scholarly Work
Learning More About Student Resilience

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Guidelines & Eligibility
Current Financials
It is our policy to respect your privacy regarding any information we may collect while operating our website. We are committed to protecting personally identifiable information you may provide us through the website. We have adopted this privacy policy ("Privacy Policy") to explain what information may be collected, how we use this information, and under what circumstances we may disclose the information to third parties.
Like most website operators, we collect non-personally-identifying information of the sort that web browsers and servers typically make available, such as the browser type, language preference, referring site, and the date and time of each visitor request. Our purpose in collecting non-personally identifying information is to better understand how our visitors use this website.
Our website may contain links to external sites that are not operated by us. If you click on a third party link, you will be directed to that third party's site. We strongly advise you to review the privacy policy and terms and conditions of every site you visit.
The Nord Family Foundation
© The Nord Family Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy Board Portal Contact


9H Hardness for maximum protection against scratches and impacts.
Industry leader in screen protection.
Unmatched protection for the screen of your tablet.
STANDARD HANDLING: Packs and ships in 24 hours.
FAST PROCESSING: Most Orders Paid by 12 PM (PST) and your order may ship the same day.
COMBINE SHIPPING: All shipping rates / discount is per item. all items must be added to your cart and check out at the same time for the discount to apply.
SHIPPING DISCOUNT: SHIPPING IS A PER-ITEM RATE.
EXPEDITED SHIPPING: Expedited shipping is offered and must be selected under shipping.
Transit Times for Domestic is 2-6 business days.
International: 15-25 days. Unfortunately, there is no tracking number available for shipments outside USA.
Import Duties/ Tariffs may apply. Please check with your customs for more details and check for more details.
ALL shipments does not include handling time, weekend, and holidays in transit times.
We accept VISA, MASTERCARD, AMERICAN EXPRESS, or DISCOVER through PAYPAL.
Most items requires immediate payment.
Orders will be sent to the address provided at checkout and your paypal account.
Address must have a physical mailbox serviced by the US Postal Service.
Our fast and friendly customer service will reply to you within 24 hours.
Your satisfaction is important to us. If you have any issues or problems please contact us first before leaving feedback and reviews.
We work hard in providing the best products and services and correct errors as they arise.
Please send us a message using the eBay messaging system with any of your questions or concerns.
ALL returns require seller approval.
We must be notified within 30 days from receiving your package to submit your return.
Please inspect the package and product immediately upon delivery and notify us with any issues.
DO NOT dispose any of the products, parts, packing materials, manuals, inserts, or accessories.
ALL UNAUTHORIZED/UNAPPROVED RETURNS WILL BE REFUSED.
Everything must be mailed back to us in it's original new/unused/unopened/sell-able condition.
For Broken/Missing Items: Please inspect the package thoroughly and write to us immediately and let us know of the problem.
We will resolve the issue as quickly as possible. Please write to us in detail with your order information and what the problem is and our customer care representative will assist you shortly.
All the brands mentioned are registered trademarks. This is not a product made by them nor they are endorse the use of any of these products. We are not affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected with these respected brands or any of it's subsidiaries or it's affiliates.


Handsome & Heavy Vintage Silk Road Ethnic Tribal Torque Lapis Necklace measuring approximately 1 inch in torque metal diameter. Torque length is approximately 14.5 inches, offers an approximate 6 inch inner circumference and a rear opening of approximately 2 1/4 inch. In spite of being of substantial weight, the torque itself is surprisingly comfortable to wear. Is one of the most sought after stones in use since man's history began. Its deep, celestial blue remains the symbol of royalty and honor, gods and power, spirit and vision. It is a universal symbol of wisdom and truth. Its name comes from the Latin. "Stone, " and the Persian lazhuward, blue. The item "Handsome Heavy Vintage Silk Road Ethnic Tribal Torque Lapis Necklace" is in sale since Wednesday, June 28, 2017. This item is in the category "Jewelry & Watches\Vintage & Antique Jewelry\Vintage Ethnic/Regional/Tribal\Other Vintage Ethnic Jewelry". The seller is "togwotee" and is located in Alamo, California. This item can be shipped to United States.


A genetic testing mini-lab developed by researchers at the University of Alberta to set to begin commercial trials within a year. The Domino system provides a portable, cheap and powerful alternative to conventional laboratories that delivers a range of point-of-care diagnostic possibilities including tests for blood borne diseases such as malaria and those affecting farm animals.
At the core of the Domino system is a thumb-sized, disposable plastic chip containing 20 tiny compartments for the reaction gel used to test each bio-fluid sample. When this chip is fed into the portable lab - which contains a laser, CCD detector and heater - DNA-based diagnostic results can be obtained in one hour.
The system doesn't require highly-skilled operators and each compartment performs an independent test. It's also projected to cost US$5,000, while the disposable chip will cost only a few dollars, so the benefits are obvious for health-care in developing nations, as well as large scale testing in the livestock industry.
Developed by U of A experimental oncologist Linda Pilarski, the Domino technology is licensed to Edmonton-based Aquila Diagnostic Systems.
Aquila's chief technology officer John Acker says previous studies show the mini lab produces results that match the accuracy of larger, centralized labs.
The livestock industry will be the company's first target market, with trials at feedlots in southern Alberta expected to begin within a year.
The University of Alberta animation below shows how Domino works.


I've been wanting to create this sign the moment I saw it. Starting with raw wood planks of different sizes, stained , painted and sanded back to reveal distressing. For this project I pulled out my silhouette to make the lettering stencil. When it was done I debated to frame it,then I remember I had an old chippy window , it was a perfect fit. Now completed it compliments my spring garden theme I has going on in the shop.
May's hosting gift is this beautiful custom centerpiece.
Choose the color the wood serving tray, a hostess only 24 oz.
2-wick Jar with a scent of your choice.
New Season brings a new Site look. As the season changes you'll notice I always freshen up our website with seasonal fragrance selections and home decor. Throughout the season I'll be adding additional items for sale, so check back often. Tell me if you've been looking for a specific home decor item... I'd be glad to source it for you. Talk soon.
The longer days have finally arrived and so has the warmer weather., this make me so happy. The other day I actually herd the tree frogs... which indicates warmer days are ahead. We are adding more spring arrival goods in the store along with fresh greenery . If it's been awhile since you shopped with us, stop in and see what's new. We'll be adding new spring scents.
Is anyone else ready for Spring??? We set the clocks ahead this weekend ,then just a few short weeks to springs arrival. I'm adding a lot of greenery and flowers in the shop and it makes me so happy. Using flowers and greenery instantly make a room look fresh for a minimal amount of $$$.
I've been testing new spring scents that I'm excited about, hoping you'll enjoy them too. What scent do you look forward to burn when spring arrives? Take care friends.


Investing in the system of rainwater harvesting is also a great step towards the green movement. Drive ways and pathways must be permeable, so that the rainwater can easily seep in the soil. Using SFC certified woods for the wooden fittings is highly favorable for an eco-friendly house construction. Employing low or no VOC paints to coat the walls of a house helps to create healthier and safer living conditions. VOC paints emit harmful gases in the air, which pose serious threat to the health of the residents of a dwelling.
Harnessing the energy of sun by installing photo-voltaic cells and solar heaters in the house helps in lowering utility bills by reducing electricity consumption. Higher reflection of a light-colored roof, in comparison to a dark-colored roof, helps to reduce the heat buildup inside the house. In addition, a light-colored roof also lasts longer, since the amount of heat that is absorbed is quite less, which prevents it from expanding thermally. Green construction handles both, movable and fixed, items of a house. When it comes to the interiors of a house, furniture is probably one of the most important things. To have a green lifestyle, recycled wooden furniture makes the best option.
As an eco-conscious citizen, you should go for bamboo or cork flooring, rather than the conventional hardwood flooring. Besides, it is advisable to use natural linoleum, instead of vinyl linoleum. Also, make sure to have leak proof ducting in your house, as ducting leaks are known to cause more than fifteen percent of total energy loss in a dwelling. Installing flow reducers in the facets and other bathroom fittings can help you reduce up to forty percent water consumption. The best part is that it is possible without the residents noticing any difference.
When it comes to wall insulation, cellulose wadding made from recycled paper or soy beans can make a wonderful option. In an eco-friendly home construction, using energy-efficient double-pane doors and windows can offer more insulation to the house. It is also advisable to go for wooden frames to enhance the effect of these low emission doors and windows. All the above stated tips for eco-friendly home construction would not only save you a great deal of money but also proffer a number of amazing health benefits. Above all, i t would make you a more responsible citizen.


text:
Q: How to tab-focus paper-button polymer? I have a form with several input fields and checkbox. I can shift focus through the input fields and checkboxes. But the "SAVE" paper-button at the page wont get focus at all. User needs to use a mouse to click the paper-button.
How to make paper-button focusable?

A: Tabbing seems to work fine for me with the following code:

<head>
  <title>Hello</title>

  <base href="http://element-party.xyz/">
  <link rel="import" href="all-elements.html">
</head>

<body>

  <dom-module id="element-name">
    <template>
        <paper-input label="input 1"></paper-input>
        <paper-input label="input 2"></paper-input>
        <paper-input label="input 3"></paper-input>
        <paper-input label="input 4"></paper-input>
        <paper-input label="input 5"></paper-input>
        <paper-checkbox>Checkbox</paper-checkbox>
        <paper-button>Button</paper-button>
    </template>
    <script>
      Polymer({
        is: "element-name"
      });
    </script>
  </dom-module>

  <element-name></element-name>
</body>

</html>

Can you provide some code showing your problem?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Voltia Van
VOLTIA completes 150th all-electric delivery van for European customer
Electric delivery vans are critical as European cities ban diesel while e-commerce grows
Bratislava – Slovak company VOLTIA, which deals with the upsizing of electric light commercial vehicles and helping companies switch to electric, just produced its 150th converted electric van.
This is a significant milestone for VOLTIA, and also for the light commercial vehicle and "last mile" urban delivery sectors more broadly. VOLTIA vans are of great interest to courier companies throughout Europe due to their size, payload, and walk in rear door access. These specifications are in great demand by European parcel and postal carriers but not widely produced or available. As e-commerce grows and more European cities go electric, with Madrid being the most recent one, urban delivery operators increasingly need to use zero emission vehicles for their deliveries.
VOLTIA vans are already in use by carriers in cities in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Austria, Czechia, Poland, Slovakia, Estonia and Ukraine by clients such as Direct Parcel Distribution (PDP), Chronopost, Menzies Distribution UK, DHL, and Slovak Post. In some cases they are used as regular delivery vans, just like any other. In other case they are one part of a whole emissions free delivery network involving regional depots and carriers on bike and foot.
"Converting our 150th vehicle is a real milestone for us, but we're just getting started." said Juraj Ulehla, cofounder of VOLTIA. "There is tremendous interest in the van. We are currently filling an order for 300 and have calls from parties interested in ordering further hundreds, so we are talking fleet scale now. Most of these vehicles will be going to courier services in Western Europe to support their transition to zero emission deliveries. We're very proud to be providing the tools to enable this transition to occur."
The growing demand has naturally required increased production. VOLTIA cooperates with another company, HOLLEN s.r.o. to perform the conversion work.
HOLLEN is a quality services provider for OEMs and Tier 1 and 2 auto parts and services suppliers, with offices and facilities in four countries.
"We like working with VOLTIA to convert electric vehicles," said Tomáš Osuský, CEO of HOLLEN, "We work with the leading auto companies in Central Europe and it is nice to now apply our skills to the task of helping fleets go electric, the new direction in the auto industry. Our team working on this project has grown to 17 people and we expect to be able to convert up to 1500 vans in 2019 to meet the orders. We look forward to continued cooperation with VOLTIA to meet the demand for electric vehicles with enough cargo capacity in the light commercial vehicle segment."
About VOLTIA a.s.
VOLTIA is one of a group of companies developing leading electric vehicle solutions. VOLTIA's focus is on speeding up the transition to electric vehicles through providing vehicles, helping companies optimize their use, and via a software tool, connecting people and companies up with the right EV for them. The VOLTIA electric van is a conversion of the Nissan eNV200 and its parameters fully meet the needs for today's urban parcel delivery operations. With 8m3 of cargo space it has up to twice the cargo volume of other vehicles in its size category. It also has 580kg of payload capacity and up to 200km of range on a single battery charge. The cargo hold also features walk in rear door access.
About HOLLEN s.r.o.
Since 2001 HOLLEN has been a quality services supplier in the automotive sector in Central Europe. It has offices in Slovakia, Czechia, Hungary and Russia and employs up to 1500 people. Its main customers are OEMs (VW, Skoda, Audi, Porsche, Kia, Hyundai, PSA) and a majority of Tier 1 and Tier 2 companies in the CEE markets.
Download the document
Not enough information? contact our pr department
Datasheet Regional contacts Service portal
Contact us Company info
Switch to electric now
info@voltia.com +421 948 892 749
sales@voltia.com +421 948 244 538
service@voltia.com +421 948 764 260
press@voltia.com +421 911 371 827
©2019 All rights reserved by Voltia Automotive s. r. o. | Legal | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy


text:
Q: Django doesn't respect the maxlength widget attribute I have the following field in model:
short_description = models.CharField(max_length=205)

and the widget in ModelForm:
'short_description': forms.Textarea(attrs={'rows': '3',
'minlength': 250,'maxlength': 250})

The issue:
In HTML, input, Django adds correctly minlength value, but for the maxlength value he get the value from the model field and not the one specified in the widget.
<textarea name="short_description" cols="40" rows="3"  minlength="80" maxlength="205" required="" id="id_short_description"></textarea>

How do I "force" Django to take in consideration what is specified in the widget and not in the model field.


To spark discussion, the Walker invites Twin Cities artists and critics to write overnight reviews of our performances. The ongoing Re:View series shares a diverse array of independent voices and opinions; it doesn't reflect the views or opinions of the Walker or its curators. Today, composer and multimedia artist Noah Keesecker shares his perspective on Saturday night's program of The Music of Bryce Dessner, co-presented by the Walker Art Center and the SPCO's Liquid Music series. Agree or disagree? Feel free to share your thoughts in comments!
Let's dispense with the obvious. Bryce Dessner is a sorcerer, Buke and Gase is a griffin, Ben Lanz is a cyborg, Caroline Shaw is a unicorn, and Sō Percussion is a machine.
Seriously though. There was a lot of energy in McGuire Theater on Saturday night and I am not going to say it was all good. It was certainly well crafted, well educated, and well executed but there were some elements of the evening that I just couldn't get over. Liquid Music is one of my favorite concert series anywhere but the more I pay attention the more I wonder if this trend of the Indie/Classical interloper isn't simply a new version of orchestra pops concerts; Indie Chamber Music for Millenials. There. I said it. We've got Sufjans and Newsoms and a good line of bands working with top tier chamber ensembles and symphonies. Of course this isn't a revelation, good old Pitchfork has tossed the Indie Classical label around for quite some time. And so what? The label is just the words we make up so we can talk about something that doesn't have a name. And so what.
This overnight review has turned into three, four, five overnights for me. Like that old college friend that's "just passing through" and crashes on your couch for a few too many days, I've been wrestling with identifying what it was about this concert that left me so, well, not impressed.
So I broke this down into my main observations (read: complaints) and a silver lining.
Nothing feels more like the eye-rolling snake oil call of a traveling salesman than waving credentials like a white flag of peace before you enter the hallowed white walls of contemporary art institutions. You know that scene from Oh, Brother Where Art Thou?
Do I really need to state for the millionth time that college degrees are not a magic recipe for making good art? They mean something but they do not guarantee quality. Correlation does not imply causation. I got hung up on the fact that everybody wanted me to know Dessner went to Yale for music. Yes, I just kicked that dead horse so let's move on.
Silver Lining: The more I think about it the more I feel that my own bias is the problem here. The institution waves the academic flag because the institution needs it, not the audience, not the artist. The artist is going to make their work regardless of announcing their pedigree and the audience is going to like or dislike their music regardless of the artist's pedigree. Dear Audience and Artist, you are free to go.
Can we just admit that Minimalism is the Pop Art of the classical music world? That hocket is the audio equivalent of halftone and being functionally monophonic is an harmonic palette of just primary colors?
Silver Lining: There is some great Pop Art in the world and talented artists continue to test its boundaries.
It's a structural thing. It's about the construction of the work, specifically Dessner's work. I just couldn't shake the feeling that he writes straight into a DAW. Not that there's anything wrong with that! I would be the last person to tell another artist that he must suffer the misery of a quill and inkwell or that you should write your canon out by hand rather than click a couple buttons, trim the fat and call it a day. But I'm not talking about canons, I'm talking about being able to hear the tool. "And how, all knowing and curmudgeonly wizard, can you hear the tool of composition? Please, enlighten us!" Well, there was an overwhelming amount of blocks. A layer begins, another layer is slapped on top, then you pull something out for a bit, then you layer it all back in. It was as if you could just see someone punching tracks in and out on a sequencer. Lines did not blend, they were jutted up against each other like a mixture of hard geometric shapes. Melody was down played in favor of textures and process, nudge a loop, get a new permutation. Nudge it again, get another permutation.
Silver Lining: Electronic dance music and a majority of popular music idioms have ingrained a very satisfying appreciation for blocky layers and abrupt change. The reason is because time is difficult to parse when things move slowly so the more you repeat with a frequent change the more you demarcate time for the listener. It's pleasing to hear, it's jarring, it's well crafted, which all makes it exciting.
Did anyone else notice that there were very few dynamics during this concert? Ben Ganz had dynamics (but some suspiciously flat sounding audio quality at times), and Caroline Shaw wins the nuance award for the evening with her clever, delicate, and expertly balanced work for solo violin and voice. The rest of the concert was mostly just… loud. Not uncomfortably loud but just consistently lacking in the use of softer amplitudes. This to me is something that really sets classical music apart from pop genres. It's super hard to listen to Mahler, or Brahms, even Stravinsky in your car because the works are constructed out of a amplitude range that goes from bombast to susurration. The Saturday night show had very little whispering and felt more like any other rock show. One could argue that loud is a choice, and it can be, but when you deny yourself the expressive power of using a full dynamic range, I consider that to be a poor choice. Not to mention tiring.
Silver Lining: Loud is easy. Loud is fun. Loud keeps your attention.
You may be wondering if I have any compassionate or happy bones in my inner ear and the answer is yes, yes I have a few. Buke and Gase proved to be a fantastically quirky duo that write some really fine songs and Arone Dyer's voice and melodic sense cannot be overstated. For two people and a pile of invented instruments, they produce a facile capriciousness of style and an amazingly varied color palette.
As mentioned previously, Caroline Shaw performed a felicitous little piece for violin and voice. It was a simple little piece and like great simple things it was deceptively complex. I call this easy complexity and it is a mark of artistry.
Finally, we come to Dessner's Music for Wood and Strings, a percussion piece written for a mutated sort of dulcimer created by Aron Sanchez. I'm going to be totally honest and say that the dulcimer is probably one of my least favorite musical instruments ever created and a 21st century dulcimer is still a dulcimer. The one magical moment from the work was near the climax there was a sheet of resonance hanging in the air and then like some kind of magical creature, there emerged some of the most sparkling overtones that I have heard in person for some time. And it occurred to me that no sorcerer's apprentice is going to make this kind of ethereal sonic event happen, only a full fledged sorcerer can pull that off.
Overall, I thought I hated this concert but as I wrestled with the lingering sounds and mulled over all these pesky details I came to really enjoy how persistent the music had been. I am not an advocate for liking everything that is made. I like to dislike things because it is in taking issue with work that we are faced not just with those challenges in front of us but the challenges inside of us as well.


text:
World Wellbeing Week: The Chairman of the British Safety Council encourages all businesses to make the wellbeing of their staff as important as their health and safety
As we celebrate World Wellbeing Week (27 June- 1 July), the Chairman of the British Safety Council, Peter McGettrick, is calling on all businesses and employers to make the wellbeing of their staff as important as their health and safety.
It comes on the back of findings in a survey conducted by the British Safety Council last week, that found a third of people (32 per cent) say their employer is not particularly, or not at all committed to their wellbeing. While 42 per cent do say their employer is committed to wellbeing, however, they think they could do more - and only 26 per cent believe their employer is very committed to wellbeing.
Peter McGettrick said: "Now more than ever, as we emerge from more than two years of the Covid pandemic, I believe we have a duty to make people's wellbeing as much a priority as we do preventing them from being injured or made ill through their work.
"And what do we mean by 'wellbeing'? We mean that the skills, talents, individuality, and contribution of every employee should be at the heart of any successful business. That way, people can truly thrive, both in and outside of work."
In the British Safety Council's poll, the biggest issue affecting people's wellbeing following the Covid pandemic was the cost of living, according to 59 per cent of the survey respondents. Other issues were workload pressures (mentioned by 17 per cent), effects of staff shortages (13 per cent) and challenges to do with balancing hybrid work and life (11 per cent).
Recently, McGettrick addressed MPs and peers in the House of Commons at an event held to launch the British Safety Council's Keep Thriving campaign among parliamentarians and encourage their support. MPs Wendy Chamberlain, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on Work and Pensions, and Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, Shadow Minister for Mental Health, spoke at the event and gave the Keep Thriving campaign their backing.
Chamberlain said: "Wellbeing is absolutely vital for both workers and businesses. Following Covid, looking at people's wellbeing is going to be really important not only for organisations but for governments, economies and countries."
Dr Allin-Khan commented: "Mental illness can affect us all, and studies show that for every £1 invested by employers in workplace mental health initiatives, they get £5 in return.
"Campaigns like Keep Thriving not only help break down the stigma of mental illness in the workplace but show employers how a few simple changes can really benefit the wellbeing of their employees. For too long, people have had to hide their poor mental health, at work. We need to work together to make this a thing of the past."
The Keep Thriving campaign is calling on employers, government and wider society to come together to improve people's wellbeing. Among its eight calls to action, organisations and businesses are encouraged to sign up and commit to:
Appointing an executive director responsible for wellbeing, acting as a sponsor driving change
Actively engaging employees in determining workplace wellbeing interventions that work for them
Adopting a holistic approach to health, safety and wellbeing, focused on training people to enable prevention and avoid poor wellbeing.
In British Safety Council's LinkedIn poll, just 55 per cent of respondents say their workplace has an integrated health, safety and wellbeing strategy.
McGettrick added: "At British Safety Council, we believe that employers should adopt a holistic approach to health, safety and wellbeing, as we know they affect each other. When people are stressed or suffer poor mental health, they are also much more likely to have accidents or injure themselves. Likewise, someone who is unwell or recovering from something, they can often find their wellbeing suffers as a result."
As a charity which has campaigned for over 65 years on issues of safety and health, British Safety Council is one of the first organisations to take a truly holistic, integrated approach to health, safety and wellbeing.
Through its Being Well Together programme, the charity offers training, audits and consultancy, and advice across all aspects of wellbeing – including social, emotional, mental health, financial and environmental.
Free workplace wellbeing support for SMEs from the British Safety Council
In the face of pressures following Covid and in light of a worsening economy, British Safety Council is offering any organisation employing up to 500 staff the chance to get free support to improve the wellbeing of their workplace.
How to protect your female employees and colleagues after 5 pm this winter
As winter sets in and the nights draw in, the UK can see darkness from as early as 4 pm. For many women and female-identifying people, this unfortunately indicates the end of their day, as feelings of safety and security are put on hold until daylight appears the next day.
Employers are rethinking their employees' benefits as the global recession looms
Russell Glass, CEO and founder of Headspace, recently spoke with LinkedIn News UK to explain how companies are now rethinking their employee benefits packages amid challenging economic conditions.
Only registered users can comment on this article.


All Single Game Football Tickets on sale Tuesday July 16th!
Check out www.westernmustangs.ca/tickets to see how you can save with Season Tickets and Group Packages!
Western Students receive FREE admission to Mustangs games by presenting their valid Student ID at the box office on game day. Students can also pick up their FREE game ticket at the WSRC Welcome Desk before the game (Playoffs and Homecoming excluded).


text:
Nigeria vs South Africa - MTN likely to become biggest losers
Following the deportation of 125 Nigerians by the South African immigration authorities, the Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru, Tuesday vowed that the Federal Government would henceforth take tough action against any country that takes delight "in ill-treating Nigerians".
Immediately, 56 South Africans were deported from the Murtala Muhammed Airport, a day after 28 were returned to that country obviously in retaliation.
Ashiru told the Nigerian Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs at an interactive session that the Federal Government is considering further reciprocal action against South Africa.
Ashiru, who was reacting to various misgivings expressed by members of the Senate committee over the deportation saga, said: "This is the first time in all my career in the foreign service where a supposedly friendly country would send 125 Nigerians back home on the flimsy excuse that they are carrying fake yellow cards (vaccination against yellow fever)."
He added: "Even if those deportees were actually carrying fake yellow cards, the worst the South African authorities could have done was to have quarantined them and given them the necessary inoculation."
Ashiru however vowed that "Nigeria would react in a matured and calculated way to this assault on our people", adding: "We will deliberately show that we mean business."
The minister, who informed the senators that the Federal Government had on Monday taken a reciprocal action by deporting 28 South Africans "for irregular travelling documents", said the administration would also look into the activities of South African companies operating in Nigeria.
He accused the South African firms, whose names he refused to mention, of bringing half-baked graduates into the country to occupy positions that could be filled by Nigerians, adding that the companies were flouting the nation's expatriate quota regime.
Ashiru said: "Nigeria will take reciprocal action. The Federal Government has summoned the South African envoy to demand an apology and to ensure that the officers involved in the deportation are punished."
He said Nigeria would demand that the South African immigration officials were re-orientated to see Nigerians and other Africans as brothers, including asking for compensation for the deported travellers and the airline.
Also, the minister said the government would protest the indiscriminate arrest of Nigerians on the streets by the South African police.
Earlier, Senator Matthew Nwagwu had directed the minister to use the opportunity of the present diplomatic row between the two countries to settle scores with South Africa.
At the House of Representatives, Ashiru vowed to bring to an end the humiliation of Nigerian emigrants abroad and those who travel to other countries for business and leisure.
The tough posture came the same day the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs demanded that the Nigerian government should no longer handle the harassment of her citizens by other countries with kid gloves.
Ashiru, who appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs to explain the circumstances that led to the deportation, said that henceforth, it would be measure for measure until countries like South Africa recognised the need to accord due respect to Nigerians.
He said that the South African immigration personnel breached the diplomatic procedures and protocols when they decided to deport the 125 passengers on board two airlines without informing the Nigerian High Commission in South Africa.
"We were shocked because for a brotherly country, South Africa should have followed normal diplomatic procedure. You don't just deport our nationals and send them back. It's not done. In fact before they do it, they were supposed to invite our own officials in Johannesburg to come over so that they will parley and resolve whatever problem they may have with our citizens," Ashiru said.
He disclosed that Nigeria had already conveyed her grievances on the matter to the government of South Africa and both countries were going to address it through the Nigeria/South African Binational Commission.
"We are going to make sure that we convene the next session of the Binational commission to address this issue. I want to make one thing clear: African countries including South Africa should not take Nigeria's maturity and the friendliness of our people to foreigners for granted.
"Also, they should not take the friendly business environment we have in Nigeria whereby South African companies are making more profits from Nigeria than in South Africa for granted. I believe as we go on, these are the issues we'll bring to the table and sort out.
"I believe that the present administration is determined to ensure the dignity of Nigerians anywhere. When you deport two Nigerians from a country, there will be appropriate reaction. It may not be retaliation but we know that we are responding one way or the other," Ashiru said.
He said the deportation goes beyond their alleged non-possession of the yellow fever vaccination card.
According to Ashiru, the underlying problem has to do with the attitude of the ordinary South African to Nigerians.
He observed that though a cordial relationship existed between the leadership of both countries, the average South African appears to have a xenophobic attitude towards Nigerians.
"This is why they are very hostile to Nigerians in all their immigration procedures and deportation of our citizens from their country.
"South Africa immigration authorities and officials do not have the monopoly of deporting travellers. I'm sure you also saw the newspapers today. So we will get to the root of the problem. South Africa will know that we are very serious on this matter and henceforth any deportation of any Nigeria will be met with equal reciprocal measure; we will not let it go unreciprocated," the minister said.
Chairman, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Hon. Nnenna Elendu-Ukeje, had in her presentation urged the Federal Government to be prepared at all times to defend her citizens wherever they may be in the world.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Immigration Service yesterday deported 56 South Africa citizens who arrived the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, for not having the appropriate documents as demanded by Nigerian law.
The passengers who had arrived with South African Airways flight SA 061 were returned on the same flight which took off at about 10.30pm.
Also yesterday, the South African authorities deported 300 level Nigerian students in that country who just returned from holidays.
A local daily reported that during Immigration procedures, all the other passengers including Nigerians and citizens from other countries who arrived with the flight were made to pass through security checks while the South Africans were held back and returned to the aircraft after some delay.
This is the outcome of a soured diplomatic relations between the two African countries that are the economic pillars of the continent.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has designated Nigeria as yellow fever free, a fact that was given credence to by the Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, who said yesterday that there were no cases of yellow fever disease in Nigeria since the past 13 years.
But on Friday South Africa authorities deported 125 Nigerians who arrived OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg and after some delays and embarrassment, sent them back to Nigeria through Arik Air and South Africa Airways flights respectively.
The insistence of South African government on demanding yellow fever vaccination document from Nigerian passengers has been a recurrent controversial issue, which many Nigeria believe is a way to discourage citizens from Africa's most populous nation from visiting the country that gained independence from its apartheid past in 1994.
So, Nigeria's action yesterday may seem to be a retaliatory measure, a quid pro quo in accordance to the principle of reciprocity by also treating South African citizens who come to Nigeria in the same manner Nigerian passengers are being treated over there.
On Monday, top officials of organisations involved in air transport met in Lagos at the instance of the Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr Harold Demuren, and agreed to resolve the thorny diplomatic problem between the two countries.
The meeting also agreed that head of Port Health and other officials should be sent to South Africa to find out exactly the grouse of the health officials of that country that they turn Nigerians back even after they showed that they were inoculated for yellow fever with relevant documents to back their claim.
One of the officials who attended the meeting told a local daily that the Nigerian government wanted to know why South Africa had become hostile to Nigerians.
"Government wants to know what South Africa wants. There is a directive that before you get South Africa visa that you must have been proven to have been vaccination of yellow fever disease, which means that anyone that has that visa must have been vaccinated but now they are repatriating Nigerians who have their visa," he said.
via THISDAY


text:
Apple gets feds' OK to start selling electricity
By Ethan Baron | ebaron@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
August 4, 2016 at 9:48 a.m.
CUPERTINO — Apple can start reaping the fruits of its $850 million Monterey County solar power investment.
Federal energy regulators Thursday approved the firm's application to start selling electricity at market rates.
Apple's solar power investments can generate 20 megawatts of electricity in Nevada, 50 megawatts in Arizona and 130 megawatts in California. The latter output — enough to power tens of thousands of homes — will come from Apple's $850 million partnership with sun-farm company First Solar, at the California Flats solar project in southeast Monterey County.
"It allows them to sell electricity into the wholesale markets and also use the wholesale markets as sort of a hedge," said GTM Research analyst Colin Smith. "If they're buying power at 10 cents per kilowatt hour and wholesale power prices happen to move up to 15 cents, they can actually sell power directly and pocket the difference. This turns them much more into an independent power producer and really enables them to work the energy markets more freely."
Thursday's ruling from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission goes into effect Saturday.
Apple's 200 megawatts of generation capacity represents a "measurable fraction" of the more than 10,000 megawatts of solar-generated power that has come online in the U.S. this year, Smith said.
For Apple, investment in solar is also a step toward its goal of powering all its operations with clean energy.
"We know that climate change is real," Apple CEO Tim Cook told a conference last year when announcing the Monterey County investment. "Our view is that the time for talk has passed, and the time for action is now. We've shown that with what we've done."
In March, Lisa Jackson, Apple's vice president of environment, policy, and social initiatives, said 93 percent of the company's facilities around the world were running on renewable energy.
Costs of electricity generated from the sun and wind are "very competitive with wholesale market pricing" and other firms are likely to follow Apple's lead and add their own generation capacity or at least move toward buying renewable-source energy, Smith said.
"We're seeing a tremendous increase in the number of companies that are looking to procure renewables both for sustainability reasons, but really to drive down the costs of what they pay for power," Smith said. "There are just multiple benefits across the board. It's a huge, big, broad-stroke way to really bring down your carbon footprint."
Apple has another application before energy-trade regulators, to sell excess electricity from 14 megawatts to be generated from solar panels, and 4 megawatts from fuel cells, at its under-construction "spaceship" campus in Cupertino. Regulators in 2010 gave Google approval to make similar sales.
Contact Ethan Baron at 408-920-5011; follow him at Twitter.com/ethanbaron.
Ethan Baron | Business reporter
Ethan Baron is a business reporter at The Mercury News, and a native of Silicon Valley before it was Silicon Valley. Baron has worked as a reporter, columnist, editor and photographer in newspapers and magazines for 25 years, covering business, politics, social issues, crime, the environment, outdoor sports, war and humanitarian crises.
ebaron@bayareanewsgroup.com
Follow Ethan Baron	@ethanbaron
Microsoft buys Activision Blizzard in $69 billion game deal


The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has adopted an important new requirement affecting shippers. The IMO amended the Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS) to require shippers to verify weights of packed containers, regardless of who packed the container.
The measure is intended to address a problem with shippers providing incorrect packed container weights. This had led to casualties such as the one involving the containership MSC Napoli in January 2007 off the coast of the United Kingdom.
Vessel operators do not have the capability to weigh containers that are being loaded, and proper vessel stowage planning requires the verification of accurate container weights before vessel loading. Thus, verification of actual container weight must be obtained on-shore, and provided to the vessel operator and the port terminal facility prior to the vessel loading process.
In November 2014, the IMO adopted SOLAS amendments to address safety problems at sea and on shore related to container shipments with incorrect weight declarations. Since the U.S. did not take a reservation to the amendment, the requirement is also U.S. law. The U.S. Coast Guard is the responsible U.S. agency for enforcement of the new requirement.
There are two permissible methods for weighting. Method 1 requires weighing the container after it has been packed. Method 2 requires weighing all of the cargo and the contents of the container and adding those weights to the container's tare weight as indicated on the door end of the container. Estimating weight is not permitted. Either the shipper (or a third party selected by the shipper) must weigh the packed container or weigh its contents.
Generally, the party packing the container cannot use the weight somebody else provided. In order to comply with the requirement, the shipper's weight verification must be signed, meaning a specific person representing the shipper is named and identified as having verified the accuracy of the weight calculation on behalf of the shipper. The carrier may rely on the shipper's signed weight verification to be accurate. The carrier does not need to be a verifier of the shipper's weight verification.
Terminal operators will also need to have in place procedures to deal with containers that do not have signed shipper weight verifications. Terminal operators can remedy these failures by weighing the packed container at the port. If the marine terminal does not have equipment to weigh containers and provide a verified weights, alternative means must be found to obtain the verified container weight. Otherwise, the packed container cannot be loaded. Procedures will have to be developed by marine terminals and carriers to deal with situations where no shipper verified weight is provided.
Vessel operators and terminal operators are required to use verified packed container weights in vessel stowage plans. They are prohibited from loading a packed container aboard a vessel for export without this information. A shipper's failure to comply with the new requirement will thus be extremely disruptive to maritime operations adding to the problem of congestion which has plagued ports.
There are many issues that remain to be addressed, such as how the new law will be administered and enforced. Nonetheless, shippers, freight forwarders, shipping lines, and container terminals are urged to begin discussions on implementation of the new IMO regulation. The stakeholders should not let this requirement, which becomes legally binding on July 1, 2016, come as a surprise.
This post originally appeared on GlobalTradeMag.com on October 12, 2016.
How the Trump Administration's Trade Policy affects your international business and what you can do about it?
The Suarez Firm © 2019. All Rights Reserved.


This is YOU becoming the conscious architect of your thoughts. Allowing you to shape your own future in line with your desires. You getting more of what you want from life.
Is there Something you Can't Do?
This is a self imposed limit not, flying by flapping your arms!
"What would happen if I could?" - How does it change what came to mind?
"What will happen when I do?" - How does that change what came to mind?
"I'm already doing it!" - How does it change the though that came to mind?
What about the feelings in your body, how do they change?
How much more possible does that 'can't' seem now?
Sometimes just shifting of a few words makes a difference.
Weird! Suddenly I'm filled with purpose and desire to do it. Its like the reason stopping me has just fallen away.
Lovely, thank you John. I struggle talking on the phone and it really felt different when I did this with you… Looking forward to testing it out.
How excited are you to test it out?
Just how curious are you to notice how different you feel?
Thank you John for the inspiring and powerful insight, more than often we look far for what is just near and within our reach (within us) and a lot of time passes by as we mark time.
I can't write a book!
I AM Already doing it. AMAZING! So good.


You heard it here first, the official PRE-NYE 2019 crawl! We just can't get enough of the New Years Eve shenanigans. Some of us may be spending the NYE weekend traveling, visiting family and friends, or looking for a fun way to end the year in style. Why not explore the town, take in sights, and hang with friends before the big night? A time to see just why Boston is one of the greatest cities in the world! Dive right in to the action this New Years Eve and treat yourself with that long weekend escape from reality you always wanted. Our crawls offer the towns best bars, drink specials, and crowds guaranteed. So what are you waiting for? Gather up your squad and prepare to leave 2018 in the past as we leap into a beautiful and bright new year full of love and opportunity!


text:
ROCKTOBER
Brushes / Cleaners
Miss Chatelaine
Happy Anniversary PopStars!
Most Popular Albums of 2020 (So Far)
Record Store Day 2020!
Canada: Nielsen Year End Music Report 2018
Year End Sale 2020
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Home / Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Delivery time: 2 to 5 business days
When Montreal's Arcade Fire released Funeral in 2004, it received the kind of critical and commercial acclaim that most bands spend their entire careers trying to attain. Within a year the group was headlining major festivals and sharing the stage with U2 and Bowie and Byrne, all the while amassing a devoted following that descended upon shows like moths to a flame. On their alternately wrecked and defiant follow-up, Neon Bible, one can sense a bit of a Wall being erected around the group. If Funeral was the goodbye kiss on the coffin of youth, then Neon Bible is the bitter pint (or pints) after a long day's work.
Heavyweight double vinyl produced by Sony Music. Gatefold sleeve.
'Everything Now' is a departure from the sound of Arcade Fire's previous records, influenced by synth-pop, dance-rock, and other derivatives of electronic music.
Arcade Fire - Everything Now (Day Version)
Fronted by the husband-and-wife team of Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, Arcade Fire's emotional debut album "Funeral" is rendered even more poignant by the dedications to recently departed family members contained in its liner notes.
Arcade Fire - Funeral
'The Suburbs' is the critically acclaimed third album from Arcade Fire, originally released in 2010. It was the Grammy Award winner for "Album of the Year" in 2011.
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Arcade Fire's fourth official album 'Reflektor' was hotly anticipated after their commercial breakout success from their previous album 'The Suburbs'. The album was produced by the band, along with LCD Soundsystem front man James Murphy, and long-time col
Arcade Fire - Reflektor
#ForTheFans
© Copyright 2021 Pop Music Records & Tees - Powered by Lightspeed