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11 three-point line out hand, hit kevin durant shoes 7 goals, including vast kilometers of three points. Wearing warriors baseball hat sitting in the stands to watch the actual old garage, it also appears to have son's playing god appear to be some incredible performance. The lens for the old garage, he cannot help but shook the head.
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And the second half, knight to defensive strategy is apparently shaken, they don't have too much double again, help, oddly enough, JR in 1 with 1 against Arsenal, and directly put your garage was pushed towards ground.
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Half-court done,stephen curry shoes the garage 12 items and 4 rebounds 6 helps, Owen 17 rebounds, 2 assists 1 has got the upper hand slightly. But as knight defeat within the second half, even the one-on-one hit his things. In this series, OuWenBen needs to have certain advantages in counterpoint, like the finals last year, since the season of Christmas wars, with their strong personalized fortunes turned.
But today the warriors on the changes, let knights staggered, also let like one-on-one hit Owen curry shoes to discover the rhythm. Actually, today more often than not was clay - Thompson Lord Owen, although Owen hit a dead when in front of him, but clay height reach or to a certain extent, limits the Owen's strike. In only a few times in the face of single singled out within his Arsenal, although Owen possesses good performance, but also it's hard to come back for a knight.
Complete play, scored 28 points 6 rebounds and 10 assists inside the Treasury, 6 of 11 three-point kd shoes pictures. 24 points and 3 rebounds, a couple of assists, Owen has scored 17 points from the first half, he scored seven points from the second half. Facing the big four on the mighty, and only Erina Owen in one-on-one earn garage have chances, but today's garage to accomplish better.
After having a brought the first curry shoes baseball, a garage at the match: each other presented a perfect diamond top, teammate Steve Blake flew to follow up, left the clippers defend darren collison (microblogging) the length between two steps driving their closely, Danny granger would be the only defender in pull. This is the storage superior court intuition and which embodies: his shot assortment. He seems to recognize the defensive player from the ideas, can predict the next move, then strike beforehand. "When other people tend to be doing gesture, garage inside judgment, and the video game, this is Stephen is the better place, in this respect the actual league may be first rate. Find field space, know the location where the defense space will happen, it is the key with the art of his shots. Because no matter just how good your shots, more exquisite technology, no room is useless. "ESPN's Jesse thorpe, once wrote throughout his article.
Garage very carefully stephen curry shoes observing the defense, he have reason to be so cautious. Before this, the warriors have have missed 12 goals in 13 shots in the past, is now 33 to be able to 37 behind the clippers, disturbed by the right leg muscle tension of garage after only 1 of 4. For shed himself, this ball is essential: before a season, he hit a record in NBA history using 272 grains of about three points, if again set up three points today, his three points this season hit number will exceed 200 mark. So that library can become the sixth in a row has at the very least two season hit 2 hundred grains of three participants, at the same period, still can have a few points to continuous hit game streak keep 54 games - it'll be the warriors team record record.
"I like everything kevin durant shoes relevant to the shooting, " garage once said within the interview, "but with the most especially in perfect side posture. When your person is in good rhythm, from standing in the feet and incapacitated, his hands to complete an attempt, all series of joint actions will probably be calm and smooth, similar to waves. It's a amazing feeling. ".
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Table frames in 6 a few minutes and 31 seconds, garage from his chest muscles slightly next point position organized the ball, the index finger in addition to middle finger instinct to locate gaps in the plastic ball center. His wrist gently lifted back, eventually left his palm the ball, but still control among his fingers. His right arm into every one of the joints is close to be able to 90 degree Angle, on the shoulder to the knee, from the elbow towards wrist, from wrist to talk about, as if a eating place waiter in carrying a tray.
Glen Davis clippers, 289 - pound before, curry shoes need to speed up their action within the Treasury, since the childhood to lay a good foundation for complete to garage in different state, the right arm and shooting is able to keep perfect posture and durability. And in addition to perfect hand movements, garage carries a precise shot needed another factor: enough deep muscle memory. Shooting touch is just not a proper adjective, anyone player, able to throw an excellent shooting there is yet one secret to all - day after day, year after year process, until a set associated with complex dynamic chain implanted into parts of your muscles. Garage never resist for example monks meditate boring practice, it also helped while he graduated from secondary school, eventually grow into another leading little-known Davidson college or university NCAA elite last eight.
"Game changing, there is no time to kevin durant shoes you consider your own shooting steps is correct, " curry explained, "you can only depend on their daily at the training ground building muscle recollection, hit and believe that we can. We're so a lot of practice in training, to be able to the game, you can rely on instinct to react. But if it is not in the correct way, the game will really feel very strange. ".


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The theme I speak of in today's post title is the civil war within the GOP between the Washington establishment and the Tea Party, conservatives, and other grassroot organizations throughout the states. Karl Rove, using his Crossroads PAC, started the war several years ago. He attacked conservatives claiming they couldn't win. He supported Romney against other conservative candidates.
He was successful. Romney lost in 2012, Obama won.
Karl Rove is still here. He continues to stir up division within the party, supporting McConnell, Boehner and other establishment RINOs against conservatives and attacking the primary opponents of establishment candidates across the country.
The establishment isn't keeping the war secret. No, they're proud to be known for supporting the democrat agenda saying, "we don't want to make waves in an election year." They ignore the political fact that during an election year is the time to make waves, to score points against the dems, else, what difference is there between the dems and the 'Pubs if the 'Pubs continues to support the democrat agenda?
The likely result will be a repeat of 2012 when enough conservatives stay home. When there is no difference between the two parties, what difference does it make who wins? The nation will still continue on the path of authoritarianism, and toward a one-party dictatorship like that of the old Soviet Union.
I'm not the only one who has observed the civil war. IBD, in an editorial this week, agrees.
Politics: Republican Party leaders seem willing, anxious even, to walk away from the Tea Party, certain that such bedrock support will brand the GOP as extremist in voters' eyes. If anything, polls show, the opposite is true.
With 10 months to go before the crucial midterm elections, Republicans understandably will try to avoid screwing up their chances for victory.
Democrats have taken to vilifying any Republican who actually stands for something — such as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz — as a captive of what they'd like to label as the far-right fringe.
This kind of hardball has Republicans in a bit of a panic. And in case you're wondering, it's a big reason why they supported the pork-filled $1.1 trillion spending bill this month, and why GOP leaders are talking about legalizing millions of illegal immigrants.
• A Quinnipiac Poll finds 53% believe the Obama administration has been incompetent at running the federal government. And 56% oppose ObamaCare, the Democrats' signature accomplishment since 2008.
• In a recent Gallup Poll, almost two-thirds of Americans said the U.S. government has gotten too big and too powerful, and are unhappy with how it works.
Get the picture? Average Americans show a strong preference for smaller, more-accountable government. And which group most closely fits that description in its basic beliefs? Why, the Tea Party, of course.
Republicans would be wise to heed the people's clear will and not fall for Democrat ploys to make them feel "extreme." If anything, it's the Democrats, now a party of the far left, who are the extremists.
Republicans shouldn't look at them and say, "Me, too." As a statesman once said, Americans deserve a choice, not an echo.
"Americans deserve a choice, not an echo." What a closing statement. I wish I could come up with ones of that caliber.
Other news today is a reflection on the liberals new attacks against capitalism in favor of "income equality." Income, whether to individuals or corporations, is dependent on a single statement: Wages and salaries are dependent on the revenue the individual brings to his employer.
Income has no relationship to individual worth. Everyone has worth. Income is driven by the value an employee provides to his or her employer. The more value an individual provides, the more income he should receive. If not, find another job using the skills and training you received from your prior employer. Note: you aren't likely to gain any marketable skills flippin' burgers. Choose a job or career, wisely.
There's more to the article, you can read it here. The point I'm making is this: consider McDonald's position if the minimum wage is raised to $15, almost twice the minimum wage in most states. How would that increase in the cost of doing business affect McDonald's plans for more service, more value for the customer's dollar?
When income, as it is happening to McDonald's, goes down, the last thing the company needs is more expenses. It matters not if the increased expenses come from higher taxes, federal mandates like Obamacare (when McDonald's waiver expires) or increased wages, such as would occur if the minimum wage is raised. Increased cost, with little or no improvement in revenue equals reduced or no profits.
McDonald's employs 1.7 million people around the world. It's certainly more than those employed in California and the other socialist states in the nation who would rather destroy an employer affecting hundreds of thousands, rather than admit their agenda does not work.
No, what income equality creates is not higher incomes, it is less. Why? Because with the increased employee cost, McDonald's only choice is to layoff people and reduce their cost of doing business to a level that will allow them to remain profitable. Without profits, there is no McDonalds.
But, that is inconsequential according to the levelers who drive income equality. They would rather see McDonald's cease to exist than admit income equality, like all such socialist schemes, doesn't work.
The big news this morning is the the "unemployment" rate dropped to 7.7%. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also said that Hurricane Sandy had NO effect on unemployment or employment.
We know the pattern now. Statistics are released favorable to Obama and within days, those figures are quietly revised, bit by bit, until the next report is released. It's a well established pattern.
So, unemployment is now 7.7% with 146,000 new jobs created. Really? Let's examine those numbers.
Number dropping out of the labor force: 540,000.
Take a look at those numbers. 146,000 jobs were added but the work force dropped 540,000. If you calculate the unemployment rate by the size of the workforce, the unemployment rate will go down. If you can't create new jobs sufficient to drop the unemployment rate, decease the labor force so those "new" jobs appear to be more significant. I expect those "Sandy" figures to change that unemployment rate upward as soon as this becomes old news.
Oh, and where were those dropping off the radar coming from? Those lost jobs? The private sector, of course. The public sector unemployment rate was 3.8%. The actual number of unemployed people changed little.
This comes under the category: Who'd'a thunk it?
Right-to-work law has passed the legislature in…Michigan! Home of the UAW!
Lansing — The birthplace of the nation's modern-day labor movement moved closer to becoming the nation's 24th right-to-work state after bills Gov. Rick Snyder vowed to sign into law passed their first hurdles in the Republican-controlled Legislature on Thursday.
The historic legislation passed over the thunderous chanting from thousands of workers who descended on the Capitol, resulting in at least eight arrests and a temporary lockdown of the building by Michigan State Police. Democrats in both chambers staged walkouts and procedural maneuvers to stall passage while workers protested in and outside the Capitol.
When the votes are against dems and their stooges, they revert to their norm and riot. They tried that tactic in Wisconsin and it backfired. Now they're trying it in Michigan. I expect it won't work in Michigan, either.
In case you haven't been watching, "law" enforcement organizations want to dissolved more of your 4th Amendment rights. How? By removing the requirement of a search warrant to monitor your text messages and to seize your call logs.
Modern communications are making the world smaller and, in many ways, better. The electronic devices that bring consumers a constant stream of information are, at the same time, increasingly capable of relaying back a record of their activities, shrinking privacy. Americans need to take action if they want to keep Uncle Sam from spying on their smartphones.Law enforcers are looking for the power to read through everyone's text messages, the oftentimes frivolous missives Americans launch back and forth among friends and family. A coalition of police groups that includes the Major Cities Chiefs Association has asked the Senate Judiciary Committee to examine a plan to mandate that Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and other wireless providers save their customers' texts for two years so the local constable can read through them as desired. The association has characterized the proposal as an attempt to bring the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 in line with 21st-century technological capabilities, according to CNET. Some wireless firms store texts for short periods, while others do not. Presumably, access to text records still would require a court warrant — though the pro-surveillance lobby has been agitating to break down that barrier as well.
Another troubling high-tech development could allow outside eyes and ears to zero in on activities inside the home. Verizon is seeking a patent on a detection system that uses infrared cameras and microphones installed in digital video recorders (DVRs) to sense the number of people in a room and the nature of their conversations. The patent, titled Methods and Systems for Presenting an Advertisement Associated With an Ambient Action of a User, would use the information to tailor personalized TV commercials, thereby maximizing chances for subsequent purchases. For example, detection of an "ambient action" such as "cuddling, fighting, participating in a game or sporting event," according to the patent application, could prompt a related televised sales pitch.
More snooping, less privacy, no need for warrants, less liberty, less freedom; makes Orwell's 1984 more real every day.
This week contains April 15th—National Tax Day and the day Tea Parties will be sprout all over the country. There is a large one scheduled for April 15th in Kansas City, KS near the NASCAR track hosted by KC's Political Chips. There are many Tea Party organizations across the country. Find your local one and help them replace all the dems up for election. That's all dems in federal, state and local offices. We can no longer afford or accept the policies, agendas and goals of that party is we want our liberty to survive.
Mark Steyn, writing for the Investor's Business Daily has some thoughts on Tax Day.
Summer should have a season, and baseball should have a season, but not tax. Happily, like candy canes and Christmas tree lights on Dec. 26, the TurboTax boxes will soon be disappearing from the display racks until the nights start drawing in and the leaves fall from the trees and tax season begins anew in seven or eight months' time.
And yet for an increasing number of Americans tax season is like baseball season: It's a spectator sport. According to the Tax Policy Center, 47% of U.S. households will pay no federal income tax for the year 2009. Obviously, many of them pay other kinds of taxes — state tax, property tax, cigarette tax.
But at a time of massive increases in federal spending half the country is effectively making no contribution to it, whether it's national defense or vital stimulus funding to pump monkeys in North Carolina full of cocaine (true, seriously, don't ask me why).
Half a decade back, it was just under 40% who paid no federal income tax; now it's just under 50%.
By 2012, America could be holding the first federal election in which a majority of the population will be able to vote themselves more government lollipops paid for by the ever-shrinking minority of the population still dumb enough to be net contributors to the federal treasury.
In less than a quarter-millennium, the American Revolution will have evolved from "No taxation without representation" to representation without taxation. We have bigger government, bigger bureaucracy, bigger spending, bigger deficits, bigger debt, and yet an ever smaller proportion of citizens paying for it. The top 5% of taxpayers contribute 60% of revenue. The top 10% provide 75%. Another two-fifths make up the rest. And half are exempt.
This isn't redistribution — a "leveling" to address the "mal-distribution" of income, as Sen. Max Baucus, (D-Kleptocristan) put it the other day. It isn't even "spreading the wealth around," as then Sen. Barack Obama put it in an unfortunate off-the-prompter moment during the 2008 campaign.
Rather, it's an assault on the moral legitimacy of the system. If you accept the principle of a tax on income, it might seem reasonable to exclude the very poor from having to contribute to it. But in no meaningful sense can half the country be considered "poor." The U.S. income tax is becoming the 21st century equivalent of the "jizya" — the punitive tax levied by Muslim states on their non-Muslim citizens: In return for funding the Islamic imperium, the infidels were permitted to carry on practicing their faith.
Likewise, under the American jizya, in return for funding Big Government, nonbelievers are permitted to carry on practicing their faith in capitalism, small business, economic activity and the other primitive belief systems to which they cling so touchingly.
In the Islamic world, the infidel tax base eventually wised up. You can see it literally in the landscape in rural parts of the Balkans: Christian tradesmen got fed up paying the jizya and moved out of the towns up into remote hills far from the shakedown crowd.
In less mountainous terrain where it's harder to lie low, non-Muslims found it easier to convert. That's partly what drove Islamic expansion. Once Araby was all-Muslim, it was necessary to move on to the Levant, and to Persia, and to Central Asia and North Africa and India and Europe — in search of new infidels to mug.
Don't worry, I'm not so invested in my analogy that I'm suggesting the Obama-Reid-Pelosi shakedown racket will be forced to invade Canada and Scandinavia. For one thing, pretty much everywhere else got with the Big Government program well ahead of America and long ago figured out all the angles: Two-thirds of French imams are on the dole. In the Stockholm suburb of Tensta, 20% of women in their late 40s collect disability benefits. In the U.K., five million — a tenth of the adult population — have not done a day's work since the New Labour government took office in 1997.
America has a ways to go to catch up with those enlightened jurisdictions, but it's on its way. Rep. Paul Ryan pointed out recently that, by 2004, 20% of U.S. households were getting about 75% of their income from the federal government. As a matter of practical politics, how receptive would they be to a pitch for lower taxes, which they don't pay, or lower government spending, of which they are such fortunate beneficiaries? How receptive would another fifth of households, who get about 40% of their income from federal programs, be to such a pitch?
And what's to stop this trend? Democracy decays easily into the tyranny of the majority, in which 51% of voters can empty the pockets of the other 49%. That's why a country on track to a $20 trillion national debt exempts half the population from making an even modest contribution to reducing it. And it's also why the remorseless shriveling of the tax rolls is a cancer at the heart of republican citizenship.
Pace Max Baucus, this isn't about correcting the "mal-distribution" of income. What Mal Max is up to is increasing dependency. In the newspeak of Big Government, "tax cuts" now invariably mean not reductions in the rate of income seizure but a "tax credit" reimbursed from the seizure in return for living your life the way the government wants you to.
With ObamaCare, we've now advanced to the next stage — "tax debits," or additional punitive confiscation if you decline to live your life in accordance with government fiat. ObamaCare requires you upon penalty of law to make provisions for your health care that meet the approval of the state commissars.
Unfortunately, as they discovered after passing it, the bill didn't provide for any enforcement mechanisms. But not to worry. The other day Douglas Shulman, commissioner for the Internal Revenue Service, announced that, if you fail to purchase the mandated health insurance, he'll simply confiscate any tax refund due to you from your previous 12 months' withholding.
We are now not merely disincentivizing economic energy but actively waging war on it. If 51% can vote themselves government lollipops from the other 49%, soon 60% will be shaking down the remaining 40%, and then 70% will be sticking it to the remaining 30%. How low can it go?
When you think about it, that 53% of U.S. households prop up not just this country but half the planet: They effectively pick up the defense tab for our wealthiest allies, so that Germany, Japan and others can maintain minimal militaries and lavish the savings on cradle-to-grave entitlements.
A relatively tiny group of people is writing the check for the entire global order. What proportion of them would need to figure out the game's no longer worth it to bring the whole system crashing down?
Never forget. We are in a war for the survival of this nation as a representational republic governed by a Constitution that documents our God given rights. Our liberty and that of our children is at risk. We cannot afford to fail. Failure means slavery to a statist government ruled by a select group of elitists and you won't be one of them. The ability to better yourself, your family and your children will be dictated by those in power. Don't expect them to allow you to share their power. It will be closed to all but those belonging to their statist clique. No peons or serfs allowed within the circle.
Attend a Tea Party. Join a group. It matters not whether you are a republican, libertarian, independent or even a democrat who has finally realized how the rank and file of the democrat party has been duped. We must return the country to that envisioned by the founders. Not one envisioned by Marx and Lenin.
This caught my eye since is was primarily about Missouri.
Applications already have hit a record this year in Clay County, Mo., where the sheriff's office received 888 through June, compared with 863 in all of last year, Sheriff Bob Boydston says.
They tell him the bad economy will lead to more thefts and break-ins, he says, but his statistics show recession-related violent crime hasn't gone up.
They also fear gun control, he says. Last week, an elderly couple seeking a permit told him they were sure the president was "on the verge of coming to our homes and taking our weapons," he says.
Statewide, the Missouri State Highway Patrol has processed 18,878 background checks this year for the permits, the most since the agency began keeping statistics in 2005, Lt. John Hotz says.
In May, Obama signed a law that will allow guns in national parks. "The president respects and supports the Second Amendment and the tradition of gun ownership in this country," White House spokesman Ben LaBolt says.
Interest groups on both sides agree that demand is up because of economic and political uncertainty.
People worry the administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress will try to "enact more gun control," says Andrew Arulanandam, spokesman for the National Rifle Association.
Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, fears that violent confrontations will increase. "When someone's carrying a gun around and they're not fully trained, oftentimes they'll use it just because it's there," he says.
•Florida. The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services hired 61 temporary workers to tackle a backlog in applications, spokesman Terence McElroy says. It got 75,520 applications through June, on pace to beat last year's record of 90,331.
•Utah. June ranked as the top month ever for applications, with 11,292 received, says Lt. Doug Anderson of the state Bureau of Criminal Identification. The year also is on pace to be record-setting, he says, with 49,499 applications in through June.
Ya think? Yep, basic mistrust of the gubbmint and their minions. Always remember.


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Tag Archives: peace activist
"Governments sign treaties, people make peace": Buma Inbar
Mourning can be paralyzing, a melancholia that never abates. Living with bereavement can
Buma Inbar with Turkish aid workers at the Erez crossing point to Gaza, during the Israeli war on Gaza, 2014. Courtesy of Buma Inbar
be no life at all, a life that is entirely absorbed by loss and grief. When the death of a loved one is the consequence of war, it's easy for those, like me, who have never experienced such loss to imagine some ways to respond to the loss: to seek vengeance against the enemy; to become a bitter cynic about those responsible for the war; to flee to another life, in another part of the world, or in addiction. Harder to imagine is the response of Buma Inbar, an Israeli humanitarian and peace activist who works independently under the slogan "Governments sign treaties (may it come to pass), people make peace." You can read more about his work and his story in this interview on the Just Vision website, and in this profile of him by the Fund for Reconciliation Tolerance and Peace.
I am on Buma's email list, and October 10th I read this moving message from him, (which I have translated from Hebrew with his permission) calling on his contacts to attend the annual rally to commemorate the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin.
On October 15 1995 my oldest son Sergeant Yotam Inbar, a soldier in the Golani Brigade, was killed along with another six soldiers in an utterly unnecessary and preventable incident. To my great sorry, in the last war, "Protective Edge", once again seven soldiers from the same unit were killed because they were in the wrong APC in the wrong place.
A few days after my son Yotam was killed, I took part in the rally where Prime Minister Rabin was murdered. At the rally, sensing the steps of peace around the corner, arriving any moment, I felt that my son would be the last sacrifice before peace. To my great sorrow, that's not how things turned out, and the wars and lack of peace continue in our region, along with the awful Occupation.
I lost my faith, but I didn't lose my hope for peace, reconciliation, and prevention of further bereavement in our region. And so I keep going on my path.
And so indeed he keeps on going, when others are paralyzed. It would be too easy for Buma to connect his own personal grief with the collective grief about Rabin, in fatalistic mourning for the peace that never came, that was killed along with Rabin leadership in that Tel Aviv square in November 1995. Instead, he is driven by his son's memory to keep going, as he said in an interview: "I wonder sometimes what he would think about what I'm doing. I know he would be proud."
The Erez crossing point from Gaza into Israel. Courtesy of Buma Inbar.
Unlike many others in the "peace camp," Buma did not give up hope when the Oslo process failed because his hope is not in what governments can do, but in what he and other people can do. Much (but by no means all) of his humanitarian work has been dedicated to enabling Palestinians from the Gaza and West Bank to access medical treatment in Israel or East Jerusalem. The recent Israeli war on Gaza didn't interrupt his efforts, working at the Erez crossing point to assist sick and injured Palestinians to travel to Turkey and Jerusalem, even as rockets fell. In an interview on Israel's Channel 1 TV about his work, his voice almost failed him as he expressed his condolences to the families of the Golani soldiers who had just been killed, like his son, "my heart goes out to them".
Buma carries on despite criticism. Why does he help the enemy, the people who killed his son? Because their suffering and loss is no different to his, he says. For others, his humanitarian work is not political enough, not sufficiently critical of the occupation and the system of power through which Israel rules and oppresses. He has to cooperate with the Israeli army and security services – or Israeli occupation forces – to get things done, and he doesn't mind praising their humanitarian procedures. His work can be exploited to show "good" Israelis in contrast to "cruel" Palestinians. By relieving, even to a small extent, the suffering caused by the Israeli attack, he's making it easier for the unbearable situation to be borne. Perhaps, but more likely he's doing what he says he's doing, making peace one sick person at a time, having compassion for the pain of the occupiers while tending the wounds of the occupied.
This entry was posted in Coexistence and tagged Buma Inbar, Fund for Reconciliation Tolerance and Peace, Gaza, Israel/Palestine, Israeli peace activism, Just Vision, peace activist, Rabin on October 17, 2014 by Jon Simons.
Israeli Election Results Bring Peace No Closer | Ceasefire Magazine
Israeli Election Results Bring Peace No Closer | Ceasefire Magazine.
This entry was posted in Anti-occupation and tagged American Peace Now, bibi netanyahu, Haaretz, Israel/Palestine, Israeli elections 2013, Israeli peace activism, New York Times, peace activist, South Hebron hill, Ta'ayush, Umm el-Arayes, Yair Paid on January 25, 2013 by Jon Simons.


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Home » »Unlabelled » Why Fans Are Forgetting the Point of Mixed Martial Arts
Why Fans Are Forgetting the Point of Mixed Martial Arts
A lot has changed in mixed martial arts since the founding of the UFC.
The negative reactions to Georges St. Pierre's decision victory over Dan Hardy are just the most recent examples of people forgetting the point of mixed martial arts.
Some have criticized St. Pierre for being boring, or for not finishing his opponent. I can speak to the personal preferences of what qualifies as entertaining, since I am entertained by dominance and excellence and always happy to see a fighter use his strength. I am often disappointed when I see things like a world-class grappler engaging in a striking match on a much lower skill level.
As for the other criticism, finishing a fight is certainly better than not finishing, so I can understand and agree with that criticism. If those are your only complaints, so be it—they are not my issue.
My concern is with those who have criticized St. Pierre for not engaging in a striking battle, choosing instead to win in an easier way. I don't know when such an action became blameworthy, but things certainly weren't like that when the UFC originated.
At UFC 1, Royce Gracie's strategy was never a question.
He needed to take the fight to the ground and force a submission. It would have been ludicrous for him to go out and strike against the karatekas, kickboxers, and boxers involved, and it would have been downright insane if he tried to push around Akebono as if he needed to not only win the fight, but also prove his competence in sumo.
For Gracie, it was enough that he could win the fight under the short list of rules and regulations in place.
Since the time of Gracie, not only have the rules changed, but it also seems that casual fans' expectations have changed as well.
In my recent articles, I've received many comments with the same general sentiment that BJ Penn, Fedor Emelianenko, and Anderson Silva are all better mixed martial artists than St. Pierre because they are all willing to engage their opponents in any area, and not just in their strengths, while St. Pierre only plays to his strengths.
I keep on getting comments with the same general idea, so I'll set aside the possibility that these people are just St. Pierre critics, and I'll address the factual basis of the complaints.
First, I'll consider the idea that Emelianenko, Penn, and Silva don't play to their own strengths.
People say that Emelianenko beats elite strikers on the feet and grapplers on the ground, and this is at least mostly true. My first thought here would be that while Emelianenko has struck with Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, Tim Sylvia, and Andrei Arlovski, the issue here is that the heavyweight division isn't really filled all that deep.
That's not a criticism of Emelianenko, but the truth is that while Sylvia and Arlovski might be considered elite strikers in MMA, that's more of a reflection on the depth of the heavyweight division than it is a reflection on Sylvia and Arlovski's striking abilities.
The best striker Fedor ever fought may have been Semmy Schilt. Fedor took Schilt down almost instantly en route to a dominant decision victory.
The statement that Emelianenko engaged world-class grapplers on the ground may be true, but is also a bit misleading.
Against the greatest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners, Emelianenko found success by avoiding spending much time on the bottom, choosing instead to use ground-and-pound from top position.
Against wrestlers like Mark Coleman and Kevin Randleman, Emelianenko used his significant submission advantage to capitalize on the fact that Coleman and Randleman never really evolved their skill sets.
The Randleman and Coleman victories certainly show that wrestling without submission defense is useless in MMA, but more than that, it's important to recognize that when Fedor is on the bottom against such wrestlers, he's not really fighting against his own advantage. When he's fighting from top position against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, again, he's fighting in the position that is beneficial to his own skill set.
The idea that Penn doesn't care about where the fight takes place is also a bit ridiculous. If that were true, he wouldn't have spent seven rounds defending takedown attempts by Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez.
He also wouldn't have taken down Duane Ludwig or Jens Pulver as he did in their first fight.
Silva definitely avoids his weaknesses on the ground. He stayed far away from Thales Leites in their fight, and tried his best to avoid being taken down by Dan Henderson.
He did engage Henderson on the ground, but only after he had him severely hurt by strikes—and only with Henderson on his back, where he is least dangerous.
The truth is that none of these fighters truly fight where they are uncomfortable if they can avoid it.
Emelianenko and Penn have both taken fights to the ground to avoid the stand-up or conversely used takedown defense to avoid having to work off their backs. Silva doesn't usually take other fighters down, but he most certainly tries to avoid being taken down.
This isn't a criticism of these fighters.
Emelianenko would have been foolish if he chose to work a guard game against Nogueira instead of working from top position as he did.
Penn would have been foolish if he decided to get involved in a striking match against Ludwig, who never really developed a ground game.
These are just moderate examples of some of the best fighters in the world choosing not to engage their opponents in their strongest positions and in their strongest disciplines.
In the extreme hypothetical situations, no Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter is going to out-box Manny Pacquiao, and no professional boxer is going to win a grappling contest with Demian Maia.
In mixed martial arts, two fighters are put in the cage under a small set of rules, and they fight however they must in order to win. Taking advantage of stylistic matchups is still very much an essential component.
If you don't appreciate any particular discipline used in mixed martial arts, you have a right to your opinion, but it just doesn't make any sense to criticize a fighter for using his own strengths to win, rather than playing into the strategies of his opponent.
If we truly demand that fighters fight in such a way that plays up to their opponents strengths, then we defeat the entire reason behind mixed martial arts.
Darren Wong
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Browse through numerous BX, Flex, MC, and Teck electrical fittings at CapitalTristate. Shop for armored cable fittings, conduit connectors, and conduit parts with duplex, screw in, straight, threaded, male, or female features. These supplies are available in numerous trade sizes and lengths to suit your needs.


The Duramax is a line of Diesel engines available in light duty and medium duty trucks. Though this motor is sold exclusively by the American automotive giant General Motors, it was actually designed by Isuzu. The 6.6-liter Duramax is sold by a GM-Isuzu venture known simply as DMAX. Moraine, Ohio is the sight for the DMAX plant and GM has sold nearly 2,000,000 DMAX engines to date.
When it comes to towing and hauling, the GMC and Chevy brands depend on the latest DMAX from Ohio. The 6.6 liter LML is the latest rendition of the GMC Duramax, V8 diesel engine. This improvement over the LMM DMAX engine emits less pollutants while still delivering 397 horses and 765 lb-ft of torque. Fuel efficiency and power are finally combined into one package though total MPGs will vary from vehicle to vehicle. DMAX has also agreed to invest $60 million into an Ohio plant which manufactures these engines. Apparently, both Isuzu and GM want to see the DMAX engines become even more fuel efficient. The 500 individuals employed at the plant are certainly thrilled as are people who drive the GMC Sierra and Chevy Silverado which feature the LML diesel engine.


text:
appConfig = { //eslint-disable-line
  // If you don't know what you want for some configuration items,
  // leave them as-is and see what happens in UI.
  // You may need to clear browser history/cache before your changes take affect.

  /**
   * Styles and colors
   *
   * In addition to the functional settings in this file,
   * you can edit the settings file in client/assets/scss/_settings.scss
   *
   * There you can edit settings to change look and feel such as colors, and other
   * basic style parameters.
   */

  /**
   * localhost is used here for same computer use only.
   * You will need to put a hostname or ip address here if you want to go to
   * view this app from another machine.
   */
  host: 'http://localhost',
  port:'8764',

  /**
   * The name of the realm to connect with
   *   default: 'native'
   */
  connection_realm: 'native',

  /**
   * Anonymous access
   *
   * To allow anonymous access add a valid username and password here.
   *
   * SECURITY WARNING
   * It is recommended you use an account with the 'search' role
   * to use anonymous access.
   */
  anonymous_access: {
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  //  password: 'search-user-password-here'
  },

  // The name of your collection
  collection: 'twitter',

  // Please specify a pipeline or profile that you want to leverage with this UI.
  query_pipeline_id: 'twitter-default',
  query_profile_id: 'default',
  use_query_profile: true, // Force use of query-profile

  // Search UI Title
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  logo_location: 'assets/img/logo/lucidworks-white.svg',

  /**
   * Document display
   * Fusion seed app is set up to get you started with the following field types.
   * web, local file, jira, slack, and twitter.
   *
   * Customizing document display.
   * You can add your own document displays with Fusion Seed App. You will have to
   * write an html template and add a new directive for your document type.
   * @see https://github.com/lucidworks/lucidworks-view/blob/master/docs/Customizing_Documents.md
   *
   * If you want to edit an existing template for a datasource you can edit the html for that document type in the
   * client/assets/components/document folder.
   */

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  // ADDING ADDITIONAL FIELDS TO DEFAULT DOCUMENTS
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  //
  // SIMPLE CONFIG BASED FIELD DISPLAY
  //
  // This is the simpler option, but wont look as good.
  // It creates a list of field names next to field results
  // in the format of:
  // field label: field result
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  // FLEXIBLE HTML FIELD DISPLAY
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  // You are able to use basic javascript to show hide, or alter the display of
  // any or multiple results.
  //
  // The HTML/Angular template is located in the following directory:
  //    your_project_directory/client/assets/components/document/document.html
  fields_to_display:['title','id','name', '*'],
  field_display_labels: {
      'name': 'Document Name',
      'userLang': 'Language'
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  //typeahead_requesthandler: 'suggest', // recommended (requires configuration)
  typeahead_requesthandler: 'select'

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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Q: Transform system to polar and sketch phase portrait. Show that $(0,0)$ is an unstable focus.
Transform the system
$$x' = y - x(x^2+y^2-1)$$
$$y' = -x - y(x^2+y^2-1)$$
to polar coordinates, and sketch the phase portrait. Show that it has a unique limit cycle and that all trajectories (except the singular point) tend to it as $t \to \infty$. Show therefore that the origin is an unstable focus.

What I tried:
The system becomes

$$r' = r(1-r^2)$$
$$\theta' = -1$$

For $0<r<1$, $r'<0 \to (0,0)$ is an unstable focus.
For $r>1$, $r'>0 \to (0,0)$ is a stable focus.
So I'm guessing we have to show that $r>1$ is problematic? How is it problematic?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
By Sharif Amiry, TOLOnews Reporter
Sharif Amiry
Sharif Amiry reports on politics, peace and security for TOLOnews. @sharifamiry1
Taliban Accepts They Cannot Win By Warfare: Khalilzad
The US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, in an interview with TOLOnews said Taliban has accepted that they cannot win by warfare and that political settlement should be sought for ending the crisis in the country.
Khalilzad said in the Abu Dhabi talks, they discussed with Taliban representatives on announcing a three-month ceasefire and Taliban representatives have said they would consult with their leaders in this regard.
Khalilzad, who arrived in Kabul from Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, said in they did not hold discussions on changing the political system and Afghanistan's internal affairs, but added that Taliban has reached a point where they cannot win through warfare, and that political options should be sought for putting an end to the current situation.
"Taliban said there is no military solution, we cannot defeat you. We first should sit with the US and then with the Afghan government to resolve the problem," said Khalilzad.
In the Abu Dhabi talks, representatives from the United States, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and representatives of Taliban attended. Also, a negotiating team from the Afghan government went to Abu Dhabi to hold close talks with Taliban, but the Taliban representatives refused to meet the Afghan government negotiating team.
Khalilzad said, "I think they made a mistake in not meeting the Afghan government delegation. The countries who were present there, their reactions to this stance of Taliban was very negative, and questions were raised on whether the Taliban really wanted peace."
According to Khalilzad, the release of Taliban's prisoners including Anas Haqqani, son of the founder of Haqqani network Jalaluddin Haqqani, who is in an Afghan government prison, was also discussed in Abu Dhabi.
Khalilzad said after reaching a peace deal with Taliban, the presence of the US in Afghanistan would somehow change.
According to Khalilzad, Taliban representatives in Abu Dhabi said they would share the issue of a three-month ceasefire with their leaders. "We talked about a ceasefire. The Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates' suggestion was that negotiations should be held on all issues for three months and a ceasefire should be announced during the negotiations," Khalilzad said.
Now the question is, if a peace agreement is made with Taliban, would the current political system change to an Islamic Emirate?
Khalilzad said, "It is not an issue that has been proposed and there is no chance of that. I would be surprised if anyone thought such a system would come about."
Khalilzad also said Trump's administration had promised the Americans that the Afghan war would end, but if the war continues, Washington would stand with the Afghan people.
Khalilzad also praised Pakistan for its recent efforts in the Abu Dhabi peace talks.
In Abu Dhabi, for the first time a comprehensive delegation from Taliban's leadership team and members of Haqqani network met with representatives from the US.
In their meeting with representatives from US, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE in Abu Dhabi, the Taliban once again called for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan.
On Wednesday Khalilzad met with Pakistani leaders in Islamabad and then arrived in Kabul where he met with President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah and National Security Advisor Hamdullah Mohib.
In the meantime, a number of Afghan politicians and former Jihadi leaders on Thursday met with Khalilzad in former president Hamid Karzai's house in Kabul.
Sources told TOLOnews that Khalilzad asked the politicians and leaders to create unity in the Afghan peace negotiating team.
The leaders who met Khalilzad included former president Hamid Karzai, chief executive of Jamiat-e-Islami party Atta Mohammad Noor, former vice president Mohammad Younus Qanooni, chief of the High Peace Council Karim Khalili, second deputy of the Chief Executive Officer Mohammad Mohqiq, former Hajj and religious affairs minister Nematullah Shahrani, former national security advisor Mohammad Hanif Atmar, former urban development minister Sayed Masour Naderi, chairman of Mahaz-e-Milli party Sayed Hamid Gailani, former national security advisor Rangin Dadfar Spanta and former acting foreign minister Zarar Ahmad Moqbil.
According to sources, Khalilzad assured the Afghan politicians and leaders that he has not discussed the establishment of an interim government with Taliban.
Full transcript of the interview:
*Interview translated from Dari
Najafizada: Mr. Khalilzad, why has the United States suddenly, as you said, entered peace negotiations with the Taliban?
Zalamay Khalilzad: Well, first I should say that we see a chance for reaching peace in Afghanistan and want to make use of that chance.
Najafizada: What are the signs of this chance?
Zalamay Khalilzad: One of them is that the Taliban say there is no military solution.
Najafizada: Have they told you?
Zalmay Khalilzad: They told me we cannot defeat you, so we should first sit with you, which means the U.S., then with Afghans, and resolve the issues through political means. The Afghan government says it is unconditionally prepared to sit and talk about peace with the Taliban, and taking into account that the Afghan people in general are tired of war and want to live in a secure environment, which is understandable. The U.S. also wants the costs it bears and challenges it faces in war… why if not a political settlement is reached to achieve Afghanistan's objectives as a friend of the U.S. and an Afghanistan that it is not a threat to the U.S.
Najafizada: Is the U.S. President also in a hurry?
Zalmay Khalilzad: Definitely, the U.S. President promised the American people during the election that he wanted to end the war in Afghanistan. But it should not be misinterpreted - we want peace here with respect to set objectives - that Afghanistan will not be a threat for the U.S. - and that we have a positive relationship with Afghanistan. If we achieve that through peace, then we will continue, but if the Taliban are not prepared for that and war continues, then we will stand by the Afghan government and people, and I explicitly told this to the Taliban team in Abu Dhabi.
Najafizada: You had negotiations with the Taliban several times in Doha, Abu Dhabi, and in Pakistan. How much progress has been made in the past two or three months?
Zalmay Khalilzad: First I would like say we had talks with the Taliban and most of our discussions were focused on two issues. That was, what do you want from us? Because they have always insisted they want to talk with the United States. They've said we have concerns to ask the U.S., and we are here, please share your concerns about the future of Afghanistan, the long term policy of the United States in Afghanistan, terrorism, the end of war and most important, about negotiations between Afghans, about a working schedule based on a political plan…
Najafizada: Is there any progress?
Zalmay Khalilzad: Yes, there is some progress, but not much.
Najafizada: What issues have been agreed upon?
Zalmay Khalilzad: The fact that war does not resolve the problem. Also their concerns and questions about the United States' long-term policy were answered.
Najafizada: For example, the United States should withdraw from Afghanistan?
Zalmay Khalilzad: For example, the presence of the United States in Afghanistan relates to the situation. Our goal is not to have permanent military bases in Afghanistan. The goal is that if Afghanistan becomes peaceful and terrorism from Afghanistan is not a danger to the world, the United States will withdraw and will have a new relationship with the government of Afghanistan based on a bilateral agreement.
Najafizada: Mr. Ambassador, was an agreement made about a ceasefire?
Zalmay Khalilzad: A ceasefire was discussed. The suggestion put forward by the UAE and Saudi Arabia was that all sides, including the Afghan government, negotiate all matters in a three month timeline, and a ceasefire should be declared during these three months. The Taliban said that they would give feedback to their leadership and then respond to Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Najafizada: Was the exchange of Anas Haqqani for the two AUAF professors discussed?
Zalmay Khalilzad: Prisoners' issues were discussed in the meeting in Abu Dhabi. One of the topics brought up by them was prisoners' issues.
Najafizada: Is Anas Haqqani, Mr. Ambassador, part of these negotiations?
Zalmay Khalilzad: No, Anas Haqqani was not particularly part of the discussions, but everyone knows Anas Haqqani is one of Haqqani Network's demands. But the issue of prisoners, which probably included him as well, was one of the talking points.
Najafizada: Why do the Taliban negotiate with you, the U.S., but do not negotiate with the Afghan government and Afghan people?
Zalmay Khalilzad: Well, this is a good question. We support that they sit with Afghans, since there was an Afghan government delegation in Abu Dhabi.
Najafizada: But no negotiations were carried out between them?
Zalmay Khalilzad: We met with them, others…
Najafizada: How close you are to the Taliban to negotiating with the Afghan representatives?
Zalmay Khalilzad: That belongs to the Taliban. I think the Taliban made a mistake in not seeing the Afghan delegation. They made a mistake because the participating countries' reactions were negative and very unhappy. Questions were raised about if they really want peace, and if they want peace then why not sit at the negotiation table with opposite side.
Najafizada: Mr. Ambassador, to what extent are democracy, human rights, and freedom of speech in Afghanistan important for the United States?
Zalmay Khalilzad: First, no discussion took place on the internal issues of Afghanistan with the Taliban, including the points you raised. All internal issues should be discussed and decided between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
Najafizada: That means there hasn't been any discussion about postponing the elections and changing the government structure?
Zalmay Khalilzad: No, not a single word was discussed in this regard, because this is an internal issue for Afghanistan and should be discussed between Afghans and the Taliban.
Najafizada: Peace has a price, do you agree with this statement?
Zalmay Khalilzad: Certainly.
Najafizada: What price should be paid for peace?
Zalmay Khalilzad: Afghans, both the government and Taliban, should think about this.
Najafizada: Right, but currently Afghans are not meeting the Taliban. You are meeting the Taliban.
Zalmay Khalilzad: Well, as long as they don't meet each other, there won't be progress possible on these issues. In order to have progress both sides should start getting prepared to meet and discuss their expectations. The United States cannot speak on behalf of Afghanistan. I clearly told the Taliban there is no alternative except serious peace talks with the Afghan government.
Najafizada: In case the Taliban do not meet the Afghan delegation, your peace efforts won't have a positive result and that will be the end of the process?
Zalmay Khalilzad: In this case, Afghanistan's problems won't be resolved, the conflict will continue and in such a situation we will stand with the people of Afghanistan.
Najafizada: Mr. Ambassador you are one of the players in the establishment of the post-Taliban government system. As an American as well as an Afghan, is return of the Islamic Emirate of Taliban a red-line for you?
Zalmay Khalilzad: Returning to the system before 9/11 is not the issue to be discussed. I am surprised with this question, if the people think that the discussion topic was a return back to that system. The point is that Afghans should talk with each other about how to establish a system that will be acceptable for everyone and to lead Afghanistan towards peace and prosperity.
Najafizada: Do you believe the Afghan government assigned an appropriate delegation, or do they need some changes and adjustment?
Zalmay Khalilzad: Well, I have always insisted on a broad, inclusive, and influential delegation. It is important for Afghans to be united and create opportunities to build trust between those Afghans who are against the Taliban and the Taliban who are not creating serious problems, to be part of the delegation, and they should use each other's capacity. That is why I suggest Afghans get along with each other and compose a powerful delegation.
Najafizada: More powerful than the current delegation?
Zalmay Khalilzad: I prefer not to comment on the status of the current delegation.
Najafizada: Mr. Ambassador, can you assure Afghan women that no woman will ever be punished in a sports stadium as they were punished in 1996 to 2001?
Zalmay Khalizad: Well, that was debauchery, what happened at that time was against human rights. America is an advocate for equal rights of men and women in the law. America believes every country that wants to be successful has to build positive relations with world, and its entire people, men and women, must have the same rights.
Najafizada: And you have concluded that the Taliban will not pose a threat to the United States after reconciliation and taking part in power?
Zalmay Khalizad: We did not come to this conclusion; they told us that they are ready to convince us. However, talking is the first step, they should prove it in practice. We will reach a conclusion in coming meetings based on an agreement in which Afghans share.
Najafizada: Mr. Ambassador, the last question regarding Pakistan. You are always criticizing Pakistan, particularly its Army. What changes you have seen in its policy as you met the Chief of Army Staff yesterday?
Zalmay Khalizad: Yes, it was apparent in their words and the role Pakistan played in Abu Dhabi. I see a positive move on their side.
Najafizada: For example, what?
Zalmay Khalizad: For example, they encouraged the Taliban to sit at the negotiation table with the Afghan government; there is no other way.
Najafizada: … and brought the Taliban from Pakistan?
Zalmay Khalizad: They helped the Taliban to come from there and pushed them in a meeting that Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and we were in; they emphasized this and promised to cooperate in preparing the Taliban to sit at the negotiation table with the Afghan government.
Najafizada: Where we will be in the next year?
Zalmay Khalizad: I hope that peace will come to Afghanistan; war will come to an end… If not now, then when? Why should the war continue when most people believe in a political settlement?
Najafizada: Are you very hopeful now?
Zalmay Khalizad: Yes, I am more optimistic compared to the past months.
Najafizada: Very nice meeting you.
Zalmay Khalizad: Stay safe.
Khalilzad has said Taliban's refusal to meet Afghan negotiating team was a mistake made by the group.
US Was Losing War So It Negotiated: Khalilzad
Khalilzad: No Military Solution to Conflict in Afghanistan


Can cats sense earthquakes before they strike? A video from a cat cafe in Japan shows some of the animals perking up and running across the room before a temblor last month.
Some of the cats begin moving about 10 seconds before any visible shaking can be seen in the footage.
The incident took place on June 18, when a 6.1 quake shook the Osaka region.
Five people were killed and hundreds injured. However, SoraNews 24 reports that none of the cats in the footage from CAT Cafe CATchy in nearby Wakayama Prefecture were harmed.
There have been reports over the years of some animals acting odd or fleeing earthquakes.
The full shaking begins about 10 seconds later.
Japan has an earthquake early warning system that pushes alerts and triggers alarms seconds before the shaking starts, so it's also possible the cats heard something that wasn't picked up by the camera's microphone.
The cats in CAT Cafe CATchy and some of the nation's other cat cafes are all rescues available for adoption, according to SoraNews 24.


text:
Integrated PCR testing and extended window contact tracing system for COVID-19 to improve comprehensiveness and speed
Joren Raymenants, Caspar Geenen, Jonathan Thibaut, Sarah Gorissen, and 1 more
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Testing and contact tracing are standard tools for controlling the spread of COVID-191. Their effectiveness hinges on a sequence of processes encompassing testing coverage and timeliness, testing quality and speed of reporting, contact tracing speed and comprehensiveness and compliance with advice given2–6. We optimized this sequence of processes in the context of a public health program targeting around 33,000 higher education students through a combination of low barrier PCR testing with rapid turn-around-time, close integration of testing and tracing teams and IT infrastructure, community engagement and the implementation of bidirectional contact tracing by extending the contact tracing window from 2 to 7 days before symptom onset or test of the index case. We anticipate this combined intervention to help improve epidemic control.
backward contact tracing
bidirectional contact tracing
contact tracing window
source investigation
This protocol was developed to help control transmission of COVID-19 in a target population of higher education students studying in the city of Leuven, Belgium. It was designed to improve current COVID-19 testing and contact tracing standards and was refined through practical experience over the course of one year.
Case under-ascertainment through inadequate testing coverage and timeliness was tackled by lowering financial, logistical and regulatory barriers for testing and sensitizing the target population to the need for testing, thereby reducing testing delay (i.e. delay between a test indication arising and a test being administered). The reporting delay (i.e. delay between a test being administered and the reporting of a result) was minimized through close collaboration with the diagnostic laboratory. The contact tracing delay (i.e. time between in index case being diagnosed and their contacts being quarantined and tested) and comprehensiveness were improved by closely integrating testing and contact tracing operations from an IT and human process point of view, by engaging the community in the contact tracing process and by extending the contact tracing window to 7 days prior to symptom onset or testing as a practical implementation of bidirectional contact tracing.
We thus propose to provide low barrier rapid turn-around-time PCR testing, to closely integrate the IT infrastructure and the human processes for testing and contact tracing, to engage the community and to implement an extended contact tracing window as a practical implementation of bidirectional contact tracing.
Provide low barrier rapid turn-around-time PCR testing
In a setting with community transmission of COVID-19, index cases are diagnosed either after referral by contact tracers or following screening for other reasons associated with an increased risk of infection7–10. For a Test, Trace, Isolate, Quarantine (TTIQ) cascade to be effective, coverage and timeliness of testing are pivotal since a delayed first step has knock-on effects downstream 2,3. PCR testing on an upper respiratory sample (nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal swab) is considered the gold standard for diagnosing SARS-CoV-2 infection with regards to sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy11. PCR testing can pick up infections earliest, when the viral load has not yet reached its peak, expediting the contact tracing process. They also remain positive longer than rapid antigen tests do, which is of particular importance when implementing bidirectional contact tracing, where the aim is to identify the parent case (the infector of the index case) and sibling cases (infected by the same infector) in addition to child cases (persons infected by the index case).
Barriers to testing experienced by individuals may relate to confusion and uncertainty regarding testing guidelines and where to go for testing, lack of accessible testing locations, perceptions that the nasal swab method is too painful, and long wait times for testing results12. We minimized these barriers by conveniently locating our testing centre in a centrally placed University building (Figure 1). Tests were made free of charge. Appointments could be made online by all students without prior triage. Testing indications were broadened for students to include "self-assessed risk" from February 2021 onward (see Figure 2 panel A) and communicated widely through email, the University website, national media and a social media campaign, to which student organisations actively contributed (Figure 1).
Between 1st February and 31st May 2021, a period encompassing a wave of infections in Belgium, a total of 3.8 tests were performed per 1,000 persons daily in our target population as opposed to 4.48 tests per 1000 persons performed daily in a national control group, selected through random sampling stratified by age (Figure 3 panel C). Despite the lowering of testing barriers, less tests may thus have been performed in our target population, likely owing to reduced circulation of SARS-CoV-2. The much lower test positivity rate (3.64%) in students as compared to the national control group (8.27%) refutes the idea that this was due to case under-ascertainment.
When COVID-19 like symptoms were the indication for testing, the mean and median time between symptom onset and test administration were 3.1 and 3 days respectively, highlighting students' ability to recognize suggestive symptoms and respond accurately by booking a diagnostic test. The mean and median time between booking of the test and its administration was 11.8 and 11.7 hours respectively for this group, highlighting rapid availability of appointments for testing. Turn-around-time between test administration and reporting was a mean of 9.12 hours (median 7.83 hours) for tests finally classified as positive and a mean of 7.79 hours (median 7.48 hours) for tests finally classified as negative, which was the result of close cooperation with the collaborating diagnostic laboratory. Students were informed about their test results through one of several mobile phone apps and government websites, reducing reporting delays.
Integrate the IT infrastructure for testing and contact tracing
In order to optimise the flow of information and thereby increase efficiency of testing and contact tracing, we developed a custom server based version of Go.Data, an outbreak investigation tool developed by the WHO and GOARN (Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network) partners14. The system was integrated with a custom appointment module and a laboratory information system. (Figure 3).
An appointment module is accessed through a secure University login system. Upon submission of the online appointment form, the scheduled time slot, the student's contact details, testing indication and current address are loaded into Go.Data. If the inputted phone number (unique key) is already known, inputs are stored under the existing case file. Otherwise, a new case file is created.
On the morning of sample collection, students are invited by email to list their recent activities and the phone numbers of attendants via an online web form. These details are automatically loaded into Go.Data to create an event based social network linking existing and new case files15. From the 22nd of February until the 30th of May, 30.9% of tested students filled in this form.
Just prior to sampling, student workers manning the test centre administration desks query the patient about symptom onset, vaccination status, recent exposure to a confirmed COVID-19 case and that case's identity, recent attendance at high risk events, recent travel and living situation. All the information is entered in a structured format in the Go.Data case file.
Once available, PCR test results are pushed to Go.Data by the laboratory information system and matched to existing case files.
In case of a positive test result, a contact tracer conducts a thorough phone-based interview of the index case as soon as possible after the result is reported. Information about recent activities and attendants is collected again during this conversation, entered into an online web form, and loaded into the event based social network in Go.Data.
All close contacts are contacted and referred for testing as soon as possible and 7 days after last exposure. Residents sharing facilities with the index case are quarantined and tested either once or twice depending on results of the first round of tests. Their follow up status is recorded in Go.Data and an outcome registered after follow-up phone calls.
Integrate human processes for testing and contact tracing
Testing and tracing operations are coordinated on a daily basis by a team of medical doctors, researchers and logistical coordinators. The contact tracing team is physically located adjacent to the testing centre and visible to students attending for testing. Workers are assigned to administration desks, sample collection or contact tracing depending on their background, skills and preferences.
A case or cluster is followed up by one case manager, who can be assisted by one or several contact tracers, allowing for the integration of information from different sources. This approach seems to help with quality of work and worker morale.
The administration desks in the testing centre function as "flagging stations" for referral of attendants to the contact tracing team for a live interview or follow up by phone in any of the following situations: they report a possible source case or source event which is unknown to the team, they are part of a cluster which is known to the contact tracing team but requires additional assessment or they had a positive antigen test either at home (0.21% of our attendants between February and June 2021) or in the context of a clinical trial at the test centre (1.02% of attendants between the 22nd of February and the 30th of May).
Engage the community
Engaging communities in public health programs has been shown to improve such programs' overall effectiveness16. In the context of the COVID-19 response and contact tracing in particular, community engagement is recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) 17–19. Engaging the student community has been front and centre in our approach20.
Our program has been heavily based on student workers functioning as a community workforce from the outset and throughout. Over a period of just under one year, a total of 537 students (1.63% of the estimated target population) had a contract with the University to contribute to the testing and tracing program as a paid worker. Their engagement with peers fosters trust and familiarity, they can assess risks related to particular activities and venues and they function as ambassadors of the program to their social circle.
The target population is regularly informed of the latest measures and guidelines through University specific channels (emails, webpage, social media, information sessions) and student organisations. A hotline and email address are manned by the testing and tracing team 7 days a week, allowing students to ask for advice or support on any COVID-19 related issue.
Care provision by students for students is a central theme in all operations and communication. In any interaction, students are empowered to manage the spread of infection amongst their social circle, by providing relevant medical knowledge in detail and by taking into account their own preferences. Student contact tracers are provided with updated training material on the latest guidelines and trained in communication skills. The training stresses care provision, empathy, active listening and avoidance of appointing blame. They initiate the tracing conversation by explaining the University's mandate for performing contact tracing and the contact tracing process itself, and they invite question and answer exchange. Index cases are linked to quarantine support provided by the municipality if required.
Hands on medical supervision the contact tracing team ensures expertise and continuity. Every index case is phoned by a medical doctor attached to the University health centre for tailored health advice.
Several numerical indicators exemplify the high level of community engagement achieved within the KU Leuven test & trace program17,20. First, of the 729 students with a positive test in the period from February to May 2021, only six could not be contacted by the contact tracing team, demonstrating the team's ability to reach index cases effectively and the target population's responsiveness. Second, as previously mentioned, 30.9% of students undergoing a diagnostic test at the testing centre between the 22nd of February and the 30th of May shared recent activities and contacts with the KU Leuven testing and tracing team regardless of them having a positive result. Third, of the 2691 contacts newly identified during contact tracing, 2403 (89.3%) underwent at least one diagnostic test, showing high compliance with guidance provided. Fourth, of the students booking a test between weeks 8 and 21 of 2021, 54.9% reported having Belgium's proximity tracing app on their phones since at least one week21. In contrast, nationwide there had been 2.76 million downloads of CoronAlert by the end of May 2021, which corresponds to 30,4% of the number of smartphones in use in Belgium in the fall of 2020 (data provided by the CoronAlert team).
Implement an extended contact tracing window
Despite ubiquitous rollout of contact tracing to counteract the spread of COVID-19, few countries have been spared from widespread community transmission, highlighting the need for more effective tracing strategies1,2. In the context of the KU Leuven testing and contact tracing program, we have opted to implement bidirectional contact tracing by introducing a combination of an extended contact tracing window and testing of contacts both immediately and 7 days after exposure to an index case. This approach has shown the potential to markedly improve control of community transmission of COVID-19 in modelling studies5,15.
Bidirectional contact tracing combines forward contact tracing and backward contact tracing. Forward contact tracing of an index case (the person diagnosed with COVID-19 undergoing contact tracing) intends to interrupt onward transmission from child cases (persons infected by the index case)15,22–24. In practice, this means identifying contacts of the index case up to two days before symptom onset or positive test, whichever is earlier25,26. Backward contact tracing attempts to identify a larger part of the transmission tree, by looking for the parent case (the infector of the index case) and sibling cases (infected by the same infector) in addition15,22–24. However, to our knowledge there is no standardised protocol on how to achieve this.
In our experience, the only way to identify source events for most index cases is to systematically test all recent contacts in a period before onset of symptoms (or positive test) which is sufficiently long to include the source event in most instances (Figure 4)27. Our extended contact tracing window goes back 7 days before onset of symptoms or positive test. In this period, all the index case's contacts at risk are identified. Contacts are labelled as a close contact requiring quarantine and testing if they were reported by the index case as having had either direct physical contact, an interaction at less than 1.5 meters without face masks, an interaction at less than 1.5 meters for more than 15 minutes or an interaction without face masks for more than 15 minutes. Also included as close contacts were co-attendants at a "high risk event" of up to 20 attendees, defined as fitting at least 2 of the following 3 criteria: crowding (at least 5 individuals belonging to at least two households), close contact (<1,5 meters without masks) and closed environment (indoor).
Each contact thus identified is notified of their risk, and advised to undergo an PCR test as soon as possible. If the test is negative, the contact is asked to quarantine until a second test 7 days after exposure, regardless of immune status. Quarantine is ended if this test is negative. Each contact is also advised to undergo an PCR test as soon as possible if symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 appear. Individuals having recently used the same facilities as the index case in student housing are asked to quarantine until screened. The detection of an additional infection in this group leads to quarantine and a second round of testing 7 days later.
We anticipate this test and trace protocol to improve epidemic control while improving cost effectiveness of a testing and contact tracing program through the following pathways: low barrier rapid turn-around-time PCR testing and community engagement improves individuals' compliance with referral for testing and empowers them to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in their social circle. Maximum integration of the testing and contact tracing procedures from an IT infrastructure and human process point of view improves speed and comprehensiveness of the overall process, thereby improving case management of index cases and clusters of infections. Community engagement principles generate trust in the program, leading to greater effectiveness overall. Extending the contact tracing window backward until 7 days prior to symptom onset or test is a straightforward implementation of bilateral contact tracing which allows to interrupt a larger fraction of transmission chains.
In conclusion, these interventions lead to a lower overall incidence of COVID-19 in the target population as compared to an age matched control group at national level.
1. Yalaman, A., Basbug, G., Elgin, C. & Galvani, A. P. Cross-country evidence on the association between contact tracing and COVID-19 case fatality rates. Sci. Rep. 11, (2021).
2. Davis, E. L. et al. Contact tracing is an imperfect tool for controlling COVID-19 transmission and relies on population adherence. Nat. Commun. 12, (2021).
3. Kretzschmar, M. E. et al. Impact of delays on effectiveness of contact tracing strategies for COVID-19: a modelling study. Lancet Public Heal. 5, e452–e459 (2020).
4. Scarabel, F., Pellis, L., Ogden, N. H. & Wu, J. A renewal equation model to assess roles and limitations of contact tracing for disease outbreak control. R. Soc. Open Sci. 8, (2021).
5. Fyles, M. et al. Using a household-structured branching process to analyse contact tracing in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci. 376, (2021).
6. Smith, L. E. et al. Adherence to the test, trace, and isolate system in the UK: results from 37 nationally representative surveys. BMJ 372, (2021).
7. Ge, Y. et al. COVID-19 Transmission Dynamics Among Close Contacts of Index Patients With COVID-19. JAMA Intern. Med. (2021) doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2021.4686.
8. ECDC. Maps in support of the Council Recommendation on a coordinated approach to travel measures in the EU. https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/covid-19/situation-updates/weekly-maps-coordinated-restriction-free-movement.
9. Treibel, T. A. et al. COVID-19: PCR screening of asymptomatic health-care workers at London hospital. Lancet 395, 1608–1610 (2020).
10. Lavezzo, E. et al. Suppression of a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in the Italian municipality of Vo'. Nat. 2020 5847821 584, 425–429 (2020).
11. Kevadiya, B. D. et al. Diagnostics for SARS-CoV-2 infections. Nat. Mater. 2021 205 20, 593–605 (2021).
12. McElfish, P. A., Purvis, R., James, L. P., Willis, D. E. & Andersen, J. A. Perceived Barriers to COVID-19 Testing. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 18, 1–8 (2021).
13. sciensano.be | Healthy all life long. https://www.sciensano.be/en.
14. World Health Organization. Go.Data. https://www.who.int/tools/godata (2021).
15. Bradshaw, W. J., Alley, E. C., Huggins, J. H., Lloyd, A. L. & Esvelt, K. M. Bidirectional contact tracing could dramatically improve COVID-19 control. Nat. Commun. 12, (2021).
16. O'Mara-Eves, A. et al. The effectiveness of community engagement in public health interventions for disadvantaged groups: a meta-analysis. BMC Public Heal. 2015 151 15, 1–23 (2015).
17. World Health Organization. Operational guide for engaging communities in contact tracing. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-2019-nCoV-Contact_tracing-Community_engagement-2021.1-eng.
18. CDC. Contact Tracing: A Community Engagement Checklist for Health Departments.
19. Ecdc. Monitoring and evaluation framework for COVID-19 response activities in the EU/EEA and the UK Background Monitoring and evaluation framework for COVID-19 response activities in the EU/EEA and the UK Contents. (2020).
20. World Health Organization. Case study 1: Building trust and ensuring success through student engagement - YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU9LBor4H0s.
21. Coronalert - Stay safe. Protect each other. https://coronalert.be/en/.
22. Joren Raymenants, Caspar Geenen, Sarah Gorissen, Klaas Nelissen & Emmanuel André. Empirical evidence on the efficiency of bidirectional contact tracing in COVID-19. (2021) doi:10.21203/RS.3.RS-952839/V1.
23. Endo, A. et al. Implication of backward contact tracing in the presence of overdispersed transmission in COVID-19 outbreaks. Wellcome Open Res. 5, (2021).
24. Kojaku, S., Hébert-Dufresne, L., Mones, E., Lehmann, S. & Ahn, Y.-Y. The effectiveness of backward contact tracing in networks. Nat. Phys. 17, (2021).
25. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Contact tracing: Public health management of persons, including healthcare workers, having had contact with COVID-19 cases in the European Union-second update. ECDC, Stock. (2020).
26. World Health Organization and others. Contact tracing in the context of COVID-19: interim guidance, 10 May 2020. (2020).
27. Alene, M. et al. Serial interval and incubation period of COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Infect. Dis. 21, (2021).
We thank everyone involved in the set-up and running of the KU Leuven test and trace program, especially the many student workers who formed the bulk of the team and Prof Dr Jan Verhaegen and Prof Dr Paul De Cock for their many hours volunteering. We also thank the senior supervisory team consisting of Prof Dr Chris Van Geet, Prof Jef Arnout, Mr Bruno Lambrecht, Prof Leen Delang, Dr Rikka De Roy, Dr Anja Vandeputte, Prof Dr Katrien Lagrou and Mr Lieven Put as well as Dr Femke Kerkhofs and Mr Cis Dejonckheere for their work on coordinating the testing centre and contact tracing operations.
The test centre was funded by both the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (RIZIV/INAMI) and the regional Flemish government's Agentschap voor Zorg & Gezondheid.
The contact tracing program benefited from the generous contributions of KU Leuven University.
Joren Raymenants is funded through an FWO strategic basic research fellowship.
Data on student numbers was provided by Mr Kris Cuppens and Mr Jeroen De Keyser from the KU Leuven and KU Leuven association data cells.
Sciensano provided data on test results at country level. We thank Mr Ruben Brondeel and Mr Dieter Van Cauteren for their help in retrieving the data.
Data on the number of CoronAlert downloads was provided by Prof Bart Preneel from KU Leuven.


Bad news for those with a sweet tooth: JJ Virgin says sugar deserves its bad rap. The celebrity nutritionist breaks down the issue with the sweet stuff, and recommends substitutes to keep cravings at bay.
Larry King: Is sugar our enemy?
JJ Virgin: Absolutely, it's the #1 recreational drug of choice, it's taking us down. One of the simplest things you can do in your diet to make a massive change is first of all, make an oil change, get more healthy fats. So take the sugar down, take the fat up, you will make yourself so much better fast.
Larry King: But you can't avoid it. Sugar's in almost everything, right?
JJ Virgin: So there's a difference between mainlining sugar, or helping your body make it slowly from the carbohydrates you eat. So what you want to do is eat things like butternut squash, it's carbohydrate, it's going to break down into simple sugars. That's very different than say, having honey.
Larry King: Is all fruit okay?
JJ Virgin: So all fruit is okay, depending. If you've got insulin resistance, if you're diabetic, if you've got fatty liver, I would not eat fruit. Because it is one of the big sources of fructose, and fructose goes straight to the liver, the only organ that can metabolize it, and it starts making fat. I think the issue with fruit more is that we are not eating natural, raw, fresh fruit. We're drinking our fruit, which basically turns your fruit into a soda, we're eating dried fruit or fruit jams, that's basically candy, so if you're eating one or two pieces a day of fresh fruit, that's very different than say, apple juice.