Atlanta is a TV show created by and starring the multi-talented Donald Glover, who earlier in 2018 briefly broke the Internet with a hard-hitting music video called This is America. The show itself is loosely pitched by Glover as "Twin Peaks, but for rappers" - by which I personally take away that it eschews the steady pace of a narrative arc for irreverent non sequitur explorations of various scenarios within the thematic context of being black in America.
Atlanta is not a comedy, though there are some darkly funny moments. But it isn't a drama either - at least not in the sense that the narratives in each episode are designed to be suspenseful, sensational or otherwise theatrical in any way. It is not a documentary, it does not have a "message". It isn't particularly fantastic but I'm tempted to think of the show as "magic-realist" anyway… but please understand that the magic we're talking about here is capricious and somewhat malicious that one nevertheless has to learn to live with, like the most delicate snowflakes blowing in through broken windows making it impossible to even light a fire to stay warm. Sublime perhaps to someone else somewhere else, but actively unkind right here right now and unfortunately one has to get through the night under these conditions regardless.
In this peculiar way, Atlanta's ambiance provokes a two-way conversation with the screen. What these add up to is an unflinching rendezvous with an unnamed character who is nevertheless present not just in this fictional world, but also back in the real world - the black experience. You might think we are now more aware of the black experience thanks to social media but, all too often, the outrage-storms about racial justice - especially under the banner of (unnecessarily controversial) wedge issues like Black Lives Matter - focus on isolated aspects of the black experience such as police brutality or implicit bias. Atlanta however manages to convey the day-to-day lived reality of the black experience that invisibly orders every second and every step of a black person's life. In one episode for example, we see how an entire entertainment industry from record studio executives to interns are doing well for themselves based on the creative output of rappers like the protagonists, who do not even have proper recording equipment and so have to make do with noisy cellphone recordings. The socio-economic contrast could not be more obvious, and only dialed to 11 when the lead executive refers to the whole enterprise as an "outreach programme" for deserving black artists. In another episode, the main character and his girlfriend are told by their daughter's teacher that she has great academic potential, perhaps deserving of the guidance and support that only private schools can offer. Normally this would be a joyous moment for any parent, but the helpless reality of poverty means the couple knows they cannot afford a private school education - it is not a matter of priorities and tough choices, it is quite simply an impossibility forever out of their reach. Again an unkind irony… the protagonist is himself a Princeton dropout and in that moment one imagines that he sees his daughter's future in his mind's eye, fast-forwarding and inevitably settling into a trajectory much like his own. Is it his fault? What could he have done differently? What options are there to change this future? Can anyone help? Will they?
There comes a gnawing ache from watching Atlanta that there is no light at the end of this tunnel, and nobody's doing anything about that, and even if someone wanted to, where would they even start to fix this mess? It feels as if these characters are stuck in a Kafkaesque groundhog life - invisible to all yet uncompromising in effect - forced into a pattern of life because they simply cannot escape the gravitational pull of their circumstances. The protagonists have internalised this knowledge - they know this truth so deeply that they seem older and wiser beyond their years. They remain stoic in the face of endless frustrations and momentary joys, perpetually wearing a thousand-yard stare that is unflinching and rarely surprised.
This sparked for me a peculiar realisation that the restless anger that seethes in response to unfairness is itself a privilege reserved to those who have a reason to believe they can ultimately get justice, and have avenues through which to seek recompense. What if one has neither the confidence nor the means to seek fair outcomes? Imagine if your cries for help were never heard, and even if they were, they may be ignored. Perhaps the characters in Atlanta have learnt to stay detached because it is the only way they can get through each and every unchanging day.
Atlanta for me is the closest inkling of the black experience put to mass media since Jordan Peele's Get Out. It perfectly follows the formula of "show, don't tell", thus giving the viewer the ultimate responsibility of deciding how they interpret the black experience for themselves. Definitely give it a watch sometime.


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Hollywood's Most Famous Scream
Greg Williams/WikiWorld
The Wilhelm scream is possibly the most famous piece of stock sound footage used in a wide variety of movies. It has been used in over 200 films starting from 1951. It's a good bet you've heard it more than once.
The Wilhelm scream was believed to originate during the 1951 western, Distant Drums. One of the soldiers in the movie gets bitten and dragged underwater by an alligator, and the scream was recorded in a different take. The sound was likely voiced by actor Sheb Wooley. The sound is named after the character, Private Wilhelm, in the 1953 western, The Charge at Feather River. Wilhelm gets shot by an arrow and belts out the now famous sound effect.
Sound Designer, Ben Burtt, found the soundclip in later years, appropriately titled, "Man being eaten by alligator". He inserted the sound into a scene of Star Wars, and Burtt is credited with naming it the Wilhelm scream. Burtt continued to use the sound effect in movies he worked on, including all of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies. The sound became a sort of in-house joke between sound designers, and they began to spread the use of the clip.
Since 2011 the sound clip has been used in over 225 movies, video games, and T.V. shows. Peter Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings, even used it in his productions. Here is a compilation of the Wilhelm scream used in the movies. You'll never miss it again.
How To Get a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Origin of the Paparazzi
Why is Darth Vader on the Outside of the Washington National Cathedral?
The Six Degrees of Separation and Kevin Bacon
Why Harrison Ford Wasn't the First Pick to be Indiana Jones
Why is Movie Theater Popcorn So Expensive?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Judicial safeguards
Direct Democracy
The Bureaucracy
The Legislature
Supra-national organizations
by Matthew Bransgrove | Dec 21, 2015 | Foreign Policy
Private supranational organizations are agents of peace and prosperity. The Wellcome Trust, Oxfam, Coca-Cola, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, McDonalds, Google, Microsoft—all have furthered human progress in their own way. By contrast, supranational...
The Irish must fight for an Irish Republic all over again
The French foreign minister said the Irish would be ungrateful if they voted against the Treaty of Nice. When the Irish responded by voting against it, the French president commented simply, "They will have to vote again." Who do these French planners, these socialist...
Greeks must say no to the EU
Make not so foolish a bargain, as for a little loose money to give up desperately all you have; your liberties, your estates, your families . . . for every bucket of water thrown into your wells, they will pump out tuns. —John Trenchard. Cato's Letter No. 69, Address...
Why England must the leave EU first
The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution are worth defending at all hazards: And it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors. They purchased them for us with toil...
The European Union is void under the natural law
Constitutional power inherently belongs to the people A … government … cannot have the right of altering itself. If it had, it would be arbitrary. It might make itself what it pleased and wherever such a right is set up, it shows there is no constitution. —Thomas...
The European Union is a tyranny
The British embraced socialism after World War II, and year after year, election after election, they moved further towards the cesspit of totalitarianism. They nationalized their industries, indentured their doctors, persecuted business, and taxed and spent until...
Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. —The Declaration of Independence A nation's sovereignty is derived from the individual sovereignty of its people. Thus, despotically-ruled nations such as China cannot...
It is not what a lawyer tells me I may do; but what humanity, reason, and justice tell me I ought to do. —Edmund Burke. Edmund Burke, speech on conciliation with the American Colonies, March 22, 1775. There is no such thing as international law. This is because a...
Pirates are a scourge of humanity who threaten, steal, rape, and murder on the high seas. In addition to the direct consequences of their actions, they also destroy the one thing that brings all humanity together in fraternity, commerce. The right of self-defense...
The moral duty to rescue those in danger There is a moral difference between charity and rescue. Charity is ethically non-obligatory: rescue is ethically mandatory. Rendering charity to someone, for example by paying for an orphan to be raised, is voluntary because no...
As we peel back the moral squalor of the socialist regimes in Eastern Europe, we discover the natural and physical squalor underneath. They exploited nature every bit as ruthlessly as they exploited the people. In their departure, they have left her choking amidst...
Industrial espionage
Industrial espionage is just as damaging to a country's long-term national interests as military espionage. The essence of the problem is theft. Countries like China, which sponsor industrial espionage, are stealing the fruits of other nations' efforts, leaving their...
Treaties and standing ultimatums
There is nothing sets the character of a nation in a higher or lower light with others, than the faithfully fulfilling, or perfidiously breaking of treaties. —Thomas Paine. The American Crisis, May 31, 1782. Defense treaties It is not a case of the encirclement of...
National self-interest
Every man's business must be done according to his own mind: and if this be true in particular persons, it is more plainly so in whole nations. —Algernon Sidney. Discourses Concerning Government, 1689. A country's motivation is its own concern, but the righteousness...
Every individual is entitled to rule himself, and from this right is derived the right of self-government of groups of people through democratic political compacts. However, when one people rule another people, regardless of the nature of their own government—it is...
The third world
The economic success of the Western world is a product of its moral philosophy and practice. The economic results are better because the moral philosophy is superior. It is superior because it starts with the individual, with his uniqueness, his responsibility, and...
Dealing with tyrants
Poor Neville Chamberlain believed he could trust Hitler. He was wrong. But I don't think I'm wrong about Stalin. —Winston Churchill. Remark to his cabinet ministers, February 23, 1945, quoted from the diary of Hugh Dalton. Churchill understood the threat posed by...
If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without blood shed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of...
The assassination of tyrants
Executive Orders 12036 (President Carter), 11905 (President Ford) and 12333 (President Reagan) prohibit United States intelligence agencies from sponsoring or carrying out assassinations. These are absolutely correct; a free people should never be ashamed of anything...
How to treat tyrants
As to those monsters who, under the title of sovereigns, render themselves the scourges and horror of the human race, they are savage beasts, whom every brave man may justly exterminate from the face of the earth. —Emerich de Vattel. The Law of Nations, 1758....
The nature of tyrants
Arbitrary power in a single person has made greater havoc in human nature, and thinned mankind more, than all the beasts of prey and all the plagues and earthquakes that ever were … . A bear, a lion, or a tiger, may now and then pick up single men in a wood, or … an...
Reforming tyrannies
We ask only for a process, a direction, a basic code of decency, not for an instant transformation … . While we must be cautious about forcing the pace of change, we must not hesitate to declare our ultimate objectives and to take concrete actions to move toward them....
Executive officers should not purport to speak for their people
An executive officer is appointed to execute the laws; it is therefore illegitimate for him to pretend to speak for the people of his country. Accordingly presidents, chancellors, prime ministers and other executive officers should avoid making foreign policy speeches...
Free Countries
Since men are naturally equal, and a perfect equality prevails in their rights and obligations, as equally proceeding from nature—Nations composed of men, and considered as so many free persons living together in a state of nature, are naturally equal, and inherit...
by Matthew Bransgrove | Dec 7, 2015 | Foreign Policy
Diplomacy should be wholly transparent. There should be no back-room deals or secret arrangements with dictators. All diplomatic communications should be published on the Internet in real time, and national leaders and diplomats should never meet privately. AGAMEMNON:...
Reject Realpolitik
Realpolitik is a foreign policy based primarily on pragmatic considerations, rather than on moral principles. It should never be engaged in by a free country because a nation should always act according to the moral values of its citizens. Ambitious amoral politicians...
I … have … seen much of the miseries of war. I am, therefore, in my inmost soul, a man of peace. Yet would I not, for the sake of any peace, consent to sacrifice one jot of England's honor. Our honor is inseparably combined with our general interest. Hitherto there...
Free trade spreads civilization The essence of capitalism's foreign policy is free trade—i.e., the abolition of trade barriers, of protective tariffs, of special privileges—the opening of the world's trade routes to free international exchange and competition among...
We should persistently seek to advance freedom, democracy and human rights across the world. The reasons why are, above all, practical. Democracies do not by and large make wars upon each other. Regimes which respect human rights at home are more likely to forswear...


Ennui is the newest brand of Powerslide. Ennui is a manufacturer of high-performance protective gear for all extreme sports. All Ennui products are designed with maximum usability - using the riders feedback ensures safety and total protection even in the most extreme situations.


I'm about to tackle the task of replacing my front and rear break pads and rotors. Any advice from the group. As well any special tools I need?
like to have what I need before I rip it apart.
New Break pads, rotors or what?


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Xenorhina bidens est une espèce d'amphibiens de la famille des Microhylidae.

Répartition

Cette espèce est endémique de Nouvelle-Guinée. Son aire de répartition concerne quatre sites dans le sud de la province indonésienne de Papouasie, en Nouvelle-Guinée occidentale, et en Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée. Elle est présente du niveau de la mer jusqu'à environ  d'altitude, limite qu'elle ne semble pas dépasser. La carte ci-contre présume de sa présence entre les différents sites connus.

Publication originale
 Van Kampen, 1909 : Die Amphibienfauna von Neu-Guinea, nach der Ausbeute der niederlänischen Süd-Neu-Guinea Expeditionen von 1904-1905 und 1907. Nova Guinea, ,  (texte intégral).

Liens externes

Notes et références

Anoure (nom scientifique)
Asterophryinae
Faune endémique de Nouvelle-Guinée
Amphibien d'Indonésie

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


In botanical oil extractions, supercritical CO2 extraction (sometimes called supercritical fluid extraction or SFE) extracts oils from the plant material using different phases (liquid and gas) of carbon dioxide as the extracting solvent. CO2 is unique because its solvency power can change by simply adjusting the temperature and pressure during the extraction. When the temperature and pressure of the CO2 are above 1083psi AND 88F, the CO2 is considered supercritical (high pressure/high temperature). If the temperature is drops below 88F, the CO2 changes to a liquid and is referred to as subcritical (low pressure/low temperature).
Supercritical is a phase that has a unique combination of gas and liquid-like properties – it can effuse through solids like a gas (meaning it has low surface tension and can get deep into the nooks and crannies of the plant material to get access to the oils within), and dissolves materials like a liquid (important for extraction!). Supercritical CO2 is sometimes described as a "cloud" because it is cloudy and you can't see through it.
During an extraction, the CO2 is pumped into the extraction vessel containing the plant material to extract the oil. Then the CO2 and oil are pumped and decompressed through an orifice into a separator vessel converting it back to gas. The gaseous CO2 naturally separates from the denser, heavier oil which falls to the bottom of the separator vessel into a collection cup. The CO2 continues its journey through the closed-loop CO2 extractor, circulating until the run is complete, then flows back into the gas cylinder. About 90% of the CO2 is recovered during an extraction.
Supercritical being a much stronger solvent than subcritical CO2, allows for faster and more complete extractions. This means the lighter oils as well as the not-so-desirable higher molecular weight materials (like waxes, paraffins, lipids and resins) are extracted. These fatty waxes, etc. will then need to be removed from the extract by a process called winterization (described below).
The advantage of subcritical over supercritical is that the extracted oil is pure, free of fats, waxes, and lipids so less post processing work, if any, is required. The purer oil doesn't need to be further refined and can be used just as it is in vape pens, edibles, and other products. Subcritical oil is full of terpenes (smell) and flavonoids (taste) which are proving very popular among cannabis consumers. Subcritical extractions take longer than supercritical, but with the new Apeks Duplex system that is no longer the case. This system — optimized for fast subcritical extractions — extracts 1 pound in 20 minutes, which is comparable to a supercritical extraction.
Because all Apeks Mid-Range and High Production Series systems extract at both subcritical and supercritical parameters, processors can perform a "fractional extraction" by first extracting at lower temperatures and pressures to remove the lighter, temperature-sensitive volatile oils, and then subsequently extract the same material at a higher pressure and temperature to extract the remaining denser, heavier oils (waxes, etc.).
The winterization process is commonly used to separate unwanted compounds from supercritical extractions. To winterize, the extract (which has the consistency of runny peanut butter) is mixed well with 200-proof alcohol, and then put in a deep freezer overnight. The next day, the mixture is poured into a funnel through a filter paper, trapping the waxes and lipids. This process can be done several times to completely filter all the unwanted elements. Once the oil is filtered, the alcohol is removed by heating the oil extract using a rotary evaporator. Alcohol boils at a different temperature than oil, so it evaporates, leaving the pure oil behind. Although effective, winterization is a labor-intensive process, requiring additional equipment.
Customers can further refine oil extracts using a process called short path distillation whereby individual compounds are separated by applying heat. For example, in cannabis oil extracts, CBD can be separated from THC. Each compound boils at a different temperature. When the oil is reheated, each compound can be siphoned off at the relevant temperature.
Read more about short path distillation here.
Unless the plant material (cannabis) was heated before extraction (a chemical process called decarboxylation), the THCa in the plant remains inert, meaning it has no psychotropic elements. Preserving the THCa is essential if the extract is used in certain medicines. THCa converts to THC when heated. This is called decarboxylation. Non-decarboxylated oil is used in vape pens – when the oil is heated, the THC activates. Processors often decarboxylate their source material in an oven before extraction. This increases the yield of the extracted oil now containing THC used for non-smoking products, such as edibles, tinctures, and topical creams. Any post processing to further refine the extracts, must be done very carefully to avoid overheating the oil (thermal degradation).
To avoid thermal degradation during the extraction process, Apeks systems are engineered for cold separation processing. The vessels are water jacketed, which keeps the temperature below 40 F. Keeping the plant material cool is essential for high-quality oils. Our customers attribute Apeks systems and cold separation for allowing them to create consistent, pure, award-winning oils.
Apeks Supercritical systems can run at high pressures (up to 5000 psi), which sounds dangerous, but it's not, because each machine is built with multiple levels of safety protection. Manufactured in an ASME-certified facility, every vessel features a non-isolable spring-loaded safety relief valve to prevent accidental over-pressurization and is safety tested before it's installed. And the systems don't require additional overheads for safety equipment. They can be placed in a room with no special venting. Only a CO2 monitor (pictured left) is required in case of a leak.
There are a number of advantages to extracting with CO2, whether subcritically or supercritically. One is that no traces of the solvent are left behind versus other methods of extraction using hydrocarbons. Purer, cleaner oils are especially important for medicinal products. Additionally, CO2 is not a volatile solvent so there's no need for special safety equipment. Finally, CO2 is relatively cheap, and Apeks systems recover and recycle 90% of the CO2 used in each extraction.
Download a price list to get started!


This year, we have been very busy updating our devices to support all global satellite navigation systems (GNSS), including GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO and BeiDou. Our advanced devices (AT110 & AT240) have also been upgraded to support 3G/UMTS with 5 bands to support all global territories in a single device. Device appearance, configuration, accessories and usage remain largely unchanged, so that existing clients won't have to start the learning curve again.
AT200, AT210 and AT240 are now shipping in the new hardware specifications, and the AT110 will follow a little later this year.
Next post Next post: Introducing the AT200, our lowest cost device ever!


Anna Benson made money by Models niche. For all time, at the moment, 2019 year, Anna Benson earned $500 Thousand. Exact sum is $515000.
Anna Benson is an American model, former stripper, and ex-wife of former Major League Baseball pitcher Kris Benson. Anna Benson was born outside of Atlanta, Georgia on February 12, 1976. Benson dropped out of school following her sophomore year of high school and left home when she was sixteen. About that time, she says, I was a dancer in the Atlanta strip clubs. I had a baby and then a husband when I was seventeen- they subsequently divorced.


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Utility of Dosimetric Contouring in Treatment Recommendations Following IMRT for Head and Neck Cancer
5:45 – 6:15 p.m. CT
Cherry L. Estilo, DMD
Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is widely used around the world in the treatment of head and neck cancer. IMRT allows for conformal dose distributions around the tumor target while sparing surrounding critical structures. However, there is still inevitable radiation exposure to nearby healthy organs and tissues such as the salivary glands and the jaws. High radiation dose to the jaws is associated with increased post-RT complications, such as the significant complication of osteoradionecrosis (ORN). Due to the intensity-modulated radiation therapy's (IMRT) complex multibeam delivery, clinicians planning post-RT dental alveolar procedures (e.g., dental extractions, placement of dental implants) are often faced with challenges in assessing the dose delivered to the bone surrounding teeth or structures of interest. Dosimetric contouring determines the prescribed dose to the different regions of the maxilla and mandible. Information from contouring is invaluable to clinicians in making post-RT treatment recommendations and decisions.
At the conclusion of this session, attendees should be able to:
Describe intensity-modulated radiation therapy in the treatment of head and neck cancer.
Employ dosimetric contouring as a valuable tool in making post-treatment recommendations after IMRT.
Propose a nomogram to predict dose to the jaws after IMRT.
Biography: Cherry L. Estilo, DMD is a full-time Attending and Clinical Member in the Dental Service, Department of Surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) and an Associate Professor of Surgery (Dentistry, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery) at The Weill Cornell Medical College, New York. She began her career at MSKCC in 1999 and has been there ever since. Since March 2006, she has served as the Director of the Dental Oncology Fellowship program at MSKCC and liaison for the rotation program with general practice dental residents of Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Estilo received her undergraduate degree from Cornell University. She obtained her Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) degree from the University of Pennsylvania.


Influencer marketing has entered adolescence: Brand budgets are increasing, and the government is paying closer attention. According to the Association of National Advertisers, three-quarters of national advertisers in the U.S. make use of influencer marketing and are so pleased with the result that 43 percent of them expect to increase their spending over the next year.
Sidestep barriers by creating an outline.
To make sure your resort adheres to FTC guidelines, it's best to clearly define goals with an influencer in advance and outline a plan. "If you have a goal in mind, make sure you are up-front with the influencer so they know the outcome you are looking for. Are you looking to drive more followers to your page? Then ensure the program is geared toward gaining followers," Callandrello says.
When working with a new influencer, consider screening their content before they post it, Callandrello says, "the first time you work with an influencer, you may want to require that all content is approved before going live." Have an agreement form with any influencers to ensure they are aware of FTC disclosures, and sign off they will comply. Make sure your team reviews the content once it is live to ensure disclosure has been posted, and if not, have a way to contact the influencer to remove or edit as soon as possible.
Track down influencers familiar with vacation ownership.


text:
These New Low-Price Airways (May well) Present Promotions
This spring, the Icelandic airline Play commenced flying involving the United States and Iceland. Service has by now started involving Baltimore and Boston to Reykjavík, with ongoing flights to Dublin, Prague and virtually two dozen European towns. Flights to and from New York Stewart Global Airport, an hour's travel from Manhattan in New Windsor, N.Y., are predicted to get started this month. If you want to verify out how significantly baggage service fees or seat assignments could cost — or even pay for your ticket — you are going to have to have to sign-up for an account with an email address.
Other new intercontinental carriers incorporate Zipair, a Tokyo-primarily based airline giving day by day nonstop flights to Tokyo from Los Angeles and Honolulu (at the time day by day right after July 16). But contrary to a lot of other lower-charge carriers, Zipair has a separate company class cabin on its Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet with lie-flat seats. These seats can begin as minimal as $900 a person-way, as opposed to the business-class tickets on recognized carriers that can very easily prime $3,000 just about every way.
And Arajet, a very low-charge carrier in the Dominican Republic, plans to get started functions in July with a fleet of Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets. With a base in Santo Domingo, the airline expects to provide locations in the United States, Brazil and Colombia, but a route map has not but been declared.
New domestic selections through the state
Avelo Airways began service previous April, with nonstop flights to much more than 30 U.S. locations from hubs in Burbank, Calif., New Haven, Conn., and Orlando. As with numerous other low-price tag carriers, Avelo's flights are not scheduled daily. Tickets on its newest routes, together with Baltimore to Orlando and Burbank to Denver, start off at $29 each way.
Breeze Airways, started by the previous chief government of JetBlue, David Neeleman, commenced functions in May well 2021. The Utah-dependent airline serves additional than 30 U.S. destinations, such as airports in Westchester County in New York, Louisville, Ky., and Charleston, S.C., and stresses its "point-to-point" one-route process — as an alternative of the traditional hub-and-spoke product — as a traveler advantage.
In Could, the airline also announced that it would get started nonstop assistance in between Jacksonville, Fla., and eight cities, which include New Orleans and Las Vegas. Fares get started at $49 each way. If you're accustomed to contacting client provider to purchase, improve or terminate flights, you are out of luck the airline only responds to requests by electronic mail, text or by means of Facebook.
How not to get soaked by "drip pricing" by airlines and motels when booking your family vacation
Wed Jul 6 , 2022
With vacation prices soaring, consumers could be tempted to select the lowest priced base possibility they come across. But the base cost of airfare and resorts signifies only a fraction of the overall costs. A parade of incorporate-on costs awaits any traveler hoping to navigate the checkout method, ballooning the […]
Secure Wholesome Travels In Tulum And The Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
Staying Sincere About My Travels
The 3 Greatest Methods to Uncover Affordable Airline Tickets
Southwest Airlines disruption leaves customers stranded, call centers swamped
Staying Honest About My Travels
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Business Safety News


Nexus Group has named Mike Sibthorpe as CEO of its insurance and reinsurance business as the business gears up for a potential sale in 2018.
Sabre Insurance's valuation rose 9% to roughly £630m in the first hour of its London Stock Exchange debut this morning.
Sabre Insurance has set out the share price range for its initial public offering next month.
Sabre's plans for an initial public offering will allow the group to continue its existing broker-focused strategy, CEO Geoff Carter said.
Motor insurer Sabre has confirmed its plans for an initial public offering next month, bringing to a close months of speculation.
Exclusive: Motor insurer Sabre has recruited UK insurance veteran Patrick Snowball – a man who once sold the business - to its board as it gears up for its IPO.
The long-awaited initial public offering for online-only insurers Zhong An has launched.
Sabre has hired Barclays and Numis Securities to oversee a listing on the stock market that could be worth £500m, according to Sky News.
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange has halted, at least temporarily, the attempted listing of a Hong Kong corporate insurance broker.
India could launch IPOs for up to five state owned insurers this year.
Esure CEO Stuart Vann will get £1.5m and CFO Darren Ogden will get £1m as a result of the Go Compare demerger, now confirmed for Thursday.
Hastings has seen gross written premiums up by 26% from the same period last year.


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Kenneth Turner
Other California Cases with Mistaken Witness Identifications
On July 28, 1994, 32-year-old Ronald Keef, a live-in apartment building maintenance worker, was fatally shot while attempting to stop the theft of a potted plant in Rosemont, California.
Two months later, police arrested 30-year-old Kenneth Turner on a charge of murder after his fingerprints were found on the planter.
Turner denied shooting Keef and told police that he was riding his bicycle near the scene when Keef was shot. He said he saw the shooting and that the gunman went by the name "Cheetah."
Turner went to trial in Sacramento County Superior Court in March 1995. Witnesses testified for the prosecution that they saw Turner arguing with Keef, then heard a shot and saw Keef fall to the ground.
On March 28, 1995, a jury convicted Turner. Facing a maximum sentence of 20 years to life in prison, Turner filed a motion for a new trial in May 1995, saying the gunman was Lavester Oliver. Turner claimed he had not previously identified Oliver for fear of retaliation.
The Sacramental District Attorney's office investigated Turner's claim and in July 1995, filed a motion to vacate Turner's conviction. The motion said that shortly after Keef was shot, Oliver, who had a prior conviction for robbery, was arrested on charges of being a convicted felon in possession of a gun.
Ballistics tests on the gun were inconclusive, but crime laboratory analysts said the bullet recovered from Keef came from a gun with the same general characteristics.
Moreover, Sacramento County Sheriff's officers and District Attorney investigators tape-recorded telephone calls between Oliver, Turner and Turner's brother. During the conversations about the shooting, Oliver did not deny he shot Keef, which the prosecutors contended was a tacit admission of guilt.
On July 31, 1995, a judge vacated Turner's conviction. The prosecution dismissed the charge, but simultaneously filed a perjury charge against Turner for falsely claiming he did not know the true identity of the man he called "Cheetah." At the same time, Oliver was charged with murder.
Ultimately, Turner pled guilty to the perjury charge and was sentenced to probation. Oliver pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a weapon. The murder charge against him was later dismissed.
County: Sacramento


text:
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The Benefits of Exercise
New Fetal Transplant Study
Thalassemia Adoption Clinic
Story of an Alpha Thalassemia Baby
What is Thalassemia?
Alpha Thalassemia
Focus on Alpha Thalassemia
Beta Thalassemia
Trait/Minor
Hemoglobin H and variants
Thalassemia disease and trait PDF
Thalassemia fact sheet PDF
Genetics 101
Thalassemia Trait
--fact sheet PDF
Getting Tested for Trait
Hemoglobin E trait
California/PHRESH
Diagnosing thalassemia
Untreated thalassemia
Intrauterine Therapy for Alpha Thal Major
DNA testing prior to treatment
Blood transfusions
Iron overload and chelation
Deferoxamine (Desferal)
Comprehensive Desferal guide
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Living with Thalassemia:
Student Projects:
▶ "Blood Transfusions - the Lifeline for Thalassemia Patients", by Natalie Maino
Patient Stories:
▶ Thuy Carpenter
▶ Chandan Das
▶ Paul DiLorenzo
▶ Meghan Foe
▶ Jane Huynh
▶ Rammeet Kaur
▶ Kim
▶ Perry Lai
▶ Imsub Monmeesin
▶ Braulio Navarro
▶ Huythong Nguyen
▶ Olivia Stahl
▶ Siddhant Talwar (2009)
▶ Abby Torkelson
▶ Susan Winner
▶ Karim Zamani
▶ Serafina Sammarco: Isabella's Journey
My Experience with Gene Therapy:
Imsub Monmeesin, interview by Mint Bhetraratana (April 2015)
Imsub's mother, Imsub, Cyrus Bascom and Marci Moriarty from the BMT team
Imsub Monmeesin is a 22-year-old student from Thailand. She has beta-thalassemia and recently concluded her participation in Bluebird Bio's Northstar Study at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland. This experimental gene therapy involves inserting a functional human Βeta-globin gene in the patient's stem cells ex vivo --meaning that the cells are altered outside the human body -- and then reinserting these modified stem cells into the patient's bloodstream. This process is also known as autologous stem cell transplantation (www.bluebirdbio.com). I was able to sit down with Imsub -- or "Ae," as she is known to her friends -- to talk to her about her journey. The following is an excerpt from an interview translated from Thai.
MB: Hi, Ae, let's start with the basics. How would you describe your home? IM: I have a one-story home. I have a big family and I live in the country where we raise pigs.
MB: What do you study in Thailand, and what are your career goals? IM: I am in my second year studying pharmacy at Srinakharinwirot University. When I finish school, I would like to become a pharmacist. But I would also like to own my own café and sell pastries.
MB:How old were you when you were diagnosed with beta-thalassemia? IM: I was diagnosed with thalassemia at two years old, because I was sick for a long time. I went to the doctor and was treated at the Ramathibodi Hospital from then until now. Also, my sister was tested for the disease, and we found out she also has thalassemia. We both were treated.
MB: What was one of the challenges you faced growing up with beta-thalassemia? IM: Oh, well, I don't remember much from when I was a child, but what I do remember is that I had to see the doctor every month to get blood transfusions and take my medications.
Imsub and Mint Bhetraratana
MB: Can you describe what your treatment is like in Thailand? IM: In addition to getting blood transfusions and medications, I also have to get lab work done as the doctor orders. For instance, I have to get MRIs and other tests done that the doctor recommends to check my overall health. When I was younger, we looked into the possibility of getting matched for a bone marrow transplant. There was no match in my community, so we sent my blood work to Taiwan, but there was still no match.
MB: Do you know a lot of people who have thalassemia in Thailand? IM: I do not know of anyone else close who has thalassemia [other than my sister], but I became friends with the other thalassemia patients I met at the hospital.
MB: Why did you want to participate in the Bluebird Bio Northstar study? Was it a hard decision to make? IM: In the beginning, it was hard. At first, I didn't want to [participate in the study], because I didn't want to miss school and fall behind in my studies. At that time, there wasn't a lot of information [about the study], because it was new, so I wasn't sure if it would be safe or what to expect. It was a hard decision. But my parents wanted me to do it, and after speaking to a lot of doctors and getting more information about this therapy, I decided to do it, because we thought this could be a possible cure.
MB: Had you been to the United States before? When did you first arrive and who did you come with? IM: This is the first time I have been to the United States. I came to the States in April 2014; this is also my first time outside of Thailand! I came with my mother. When I arrived in the United States, I thought my English wasn't that good, but I wanted to visit this country.
MB: What other places did you visit in the country? IM: I went to San Francisco and visited Pier 39. [She also visited Oakland, Los Angeles, and Arizona.]
MB: What was your favorite place? IM: [Imsub turns to ask her mom this question.] My mom liked many places! I liked San Francisco and L.A. the most.
MB: Can you explain the timeline of the gene therapy process? IM: For the first two weeks, I had to get a physical exams and other medical tests. Then my stem cells were collected over four days. My stem cells were then sent to the lab, which took about five to six weeks. Then they had to collect my stem cells for a second time, so it took longer than expected. After my stem cells were modified, I had to stay in the hospital for 40 days to get them transplanted. Overall, I will have stayed in the United States for almost nine months. [She went back to Thailand at the end of December.] I thought it would only take five to six months.
MB: Overall, was the gene therapy what you expected? IM: Yes, it was what I was hoping for. All of my lab work is okay now. I'm not sure what to expect in the long run, but I believe I will get better.
MB: Were there any challenges with the gene therapy? IM: I am uncertain because this was an experimental treatment, and the results are not yet known.
MB: What does completing gene therapy mean to you? IM: I hope to be cured of thalassemia, which means that I wouldn't have to get monthly transfusions or take medications. If this treatment is successful, I will be cured, and others will be, as well!
MB: Are you cured of beta thalassemia? What are your next steps? IM: At this point, I am not 100 percent sure that I am cured because it has only been two months since the end of the treatment. I will need continuous followup. Having needed blood transfusions every month -- to now not need them for these past two months, I feel like it's so far so good. When I go back to Thailand, I will have to get a monthly checkup, and see if everything is okay.
MB: Is there anyone that you'd like to thank who's helped you on your thalassemia journey? IM: I would like to thank everyone! I would like to thank all of the bone marrow transplant team, the thalassemia team, the doctors, and all of the staff who helped me at the hospital. I would like to thank Dr. Lal, Dr. Vichinsky, and Mint, too. [All laugh.] I would also like to thank my Thai interpreters, Joy and Benjawan.
MB: Please finish this sentence. One thing that I want people to know about me is ... IM: Wow, that's a hard question. I think...even though I have thalassemia, I will not give up; I will keep on fighting.
MB: How about this? One thing that I want people to know about thalassemia is... IM: Some people may see thalassemia as a hardship, but I think it helps me know how to take better care of myself. I hope in the future, [this therapy] will provide a cure, and that everyone will take care of themselves and be well in their treatment. My mom also says that before you decide to have a family, you should get tested to see if your child will have thalassemia.
MB: What is the first thing that you will do when you go back to Thailand? IM: I will hug my dad!
MB: Will you come back to visit the United States? IM: I will definitely come back to visit the United States, but not for treatment -- for vacation, because there are many places I want to see!
MB: Thank you for your time, Ae. IM: Thank you.
Mint Bhetraratana has been a Thalassemia Outreach intern since June 2013 after graduating from U.C. Berkeley with a B.A. in Public Health and Integrative Biology. She also works as an advocate coordinator with Health Leads and as a medical and dental assistant with a local nonprofit called Kerry's Kids. Mint has enjoyed getting to know Ae over this past year and loves educating the community on thalassemia at health fairs and blood drives.
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Austria football season hanging in balance over how to deal with player who tests positive
Austria's top-flight football teams were among the first in Europe to resume training again after the Covid-19 stoppage, yet the season is now hanging in the balance over the question of how to deal with a player who tests positive.
The Austrian Bundesliga's plan to re-start was thrown into doubt last week when it was told by the Health Ministry that if a player was infected, his team would be placed into quarantine plus the opposing side if they had just played a match.
The league's chief executive Christian Ebenbauer said afterward that the decision had left the sword of Damocles hanging over the league as a positive case would prevent both teams for playing for at least 14 days.
Austria was one of the first European countries to loosen a lockdown imposed to slow the spread of the new coronavirus and professional teams were allowed to start training again on April 22, albeit with players divided into small groups.
But the initial optimism was dampened last Thursday when the Health Ministry laid down the policy about dealing with an infected player.
"It was a knockout blow for team sport in general," Ebenbauer told the newspaper, Der Standard, in an interview on Monday.
The situation in Austria is likely to be watched by other leagues, such as neighbouring Switzerland, who are also working on plans for a re-start.
Ebenbauer said the Bundesliga's negotiations with the government had been based on "positive signals" from Minister of Sports Werner Kogler.
"We have worked intensively together with doctors and experts on the concept of how we can best start operations under the strictest safety requirements," he said.
"The Ministry of Health is ultimately responsible but our contact person is the Ministry of Sport and our concept was known to the public long before this date. The fact that we were not told that it was not possible to avoid collective quarantine despite a thorough testing system is painful."
The next meeting of Bundesliga clubs is due to take place on Thursday and Ebenbauer said he was not giving up.
"It is not us but the government that decides under which conditions Bundesliga matches can be played," he said.
source:https://supersport.com/football/news/200504_Austrian_football_season_hanging_in_the_balance


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At Sign Pro Lincoln we are committed to providing you with a positive experience throughout the process of your project. We will be there to walk you through the necessary steps to ensure that you receive the highest quality product and that it fits the needs of your company or organization. We can work with you whether you have a large company with a fleet of vehicles that you would like wrapped, or a small shop opening your doors for the first time. It is our job to help you stand out from the competition at any level.
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Home / Vice President's account of Philippines 'war on drugs' shows failure of deadly campaign
Vice President's account of Philippines 'war on drugs' shows failure of deadly campaign
Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo has called on the government to review its anti-drug strategy, including ending violent police operations. In response, Joanne Mariner, Amnesty International's Research Director for Southeast Asia, said: "Vice President Robredo gave a damning insider account of the government's murderous approach to the drug problem.
"This is yet more proof that the Duterte administration should address the problem through drug rehabilitation programmes rooted in communities, not through a brutal policy of extrajudicial killings.
"Robredo's assessment gives credence to what Amnesty International and others have said time and again: the government's 'war on drugs' is a war on the poor, marked by human rights violations and rampant impunity for the police and other high-ranking officials.
"Another approach is possible, one based on respect for human rights, human life and human dignity, which addresses the social conditions that give rise to illegal drug use and trade.
"President Duterte must end 'Oplan Tokhang' – his violent drug war policy – and initiate credible and independent investigations into past deadly operations, to obtain justice for countless victims of extrajudicial killings over the last four years."
Operation Knock and Plead
On 6 January 2020 Vice President Robredo publicly discussed her office's findings during her 18-day stint as co-chair of the Inter-agency Committee on Anti-illegal Drugs.
She said the government has only been targeting small-time drug dealers, and that treatment and rehabilitation programmes are inadequate. She called on the government to end the deadly Oplan Tokhang ('Operation Knock and Plead'), bring proceedings against more significant individuals, and improve its collection of drug-related data.
Robredo was appointed to the anti-drugs committee on 6 November last year. In the short time that she held the position, she demanded transparency and access to documents and intelligence reports. She also called on the government to address the policy of abusive drug watchlists and recommended the adoption of a health-based approach. On 24 November, President Duterte fired her from her role.
Thousands of people have been killed in a wave of state-sanctioned violence since the start of President Duterte's presidency in 2016, many of which amount to extrajudicial executions.
In July 2019, Amnesty published a report, 'They just kill': Ongoing extrajudicial executions and other human rights violations in the Philippines 'war on drugs' documenting how police commanders who previously supervised abusive operations in Manila were later transferred to Central Luzon and have continued to oversee brutal operations there.
* Read 'They just kill': Ongoing extrajudicial executions and other human rights violations in the Philippines 'war on drugs' here
* Amnesty International https://www.amnesty.org.uk/
Keywords:Amnesty International | drug dealers | extrajudicial executions | impunity | philippines | police | war on drugs


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Rebooting the Mathematics Behind Gerrymandering
Those oddly shaped voting districts, usually drawn for the benefit of the party devising them, can be improved
By clumping certain groups of voters together, line-drawers can give one particular group a substantial advantage over its competitors, in this case, the Seventh Congressional District in Pennsylvania. Photo: Wikipedia
By Moon Duchin and Peter Levine
On Oct. 3, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a major case about the Wisconsin State Assembly districts.
In the U.S., we elect members to the House of Representatives and to state legislatures in a way that depends heavily on how states are divided into geographical districts. To win, you must simply get more votes than anyone else within your district's borders. Whoever draws those borders can have a profound effect on the outcome of an election.
In the Wisconsin case, the court is being asked to find—for the first time—a legal framework to control partisan gerrymandering. Their decision could limit the ability of a political party to draw maps to their own advantage.
However, partisan gerrymandering is just one way to rig election maps. With districting cases in contention around the country, citizens and experts alike need to better understand the math of redistricting and the choices involved in drawing electoral maps.
Our group of mathematicians is hosting free public workshops around the country. By improving understanding of the mathematics of redistricting, we hope to empower the public to engage in informed debates about district boundaries and composition.
An Age-Old Problem
The word "gerrymandering" derives from an 1812 political cartoon ridiculing a map drawn under Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry. The cartoon suggested that one district in Boston's North Shore was shaped like a menacing reptile. (Gerry + Salamander = Gerrymander.)
That district actually isn't too bad by modern standards, either in terms of shape or demographic sophistication. Early 19th-century politicians lacked the tools of modern gerrymanderers.
Compare that with the current Seventh Congressional District in Pennsylvania, drawn by partisan actors armed with data on every registered voter. The district looks like fractal tumors oozing out from the suburbs of Philadelphia. Its only geometrically tame feature, a circular arc, comes from the Pennsylvania-Delaware state boundary!
But even more troubling than maps like these are those that push an agenda without such flagrant irregularities by, for instance, slicing a city into several pieces in order to dilute the votes of urban dwellers.
Each voter has numerous attributes, such as race, age, wealth and partisan preference. By clumping certain groups of voters together, line-drawers can give one particular group a substantial advantage over its competitors. This way, they might strengthen or weaken the representation of minority groups; protect incumbents or aid challengers; and make primary campaigns more or less likely.
The authorities who control the lines—usually state legislatures, but sometimes nonpartisan commissions or judges—are practicing political geometry, whether they think of it that way or not. They're carving up the population into pieces, and the shapes of those pieces matter.
Fair Maps Are Complicated
What makes a map fair? Since competing values are at stake, there's no purely mathematical solution.
The Constitution and subsequent court decisions suggest that each district should have very nearly equal populations. Other legally recognized principles tell us that districts should be connected; should try, when possible, to keep political subdivisions (like counties and cities) together; should respect natural geography; and should be "compact," or not too eccentrically shaped.
Many reasonable people believe that districts should be competitive and follow some guidelines of rough proportionality. In other words, the electoral representation shouldn't be too out of whack with the state's partisan breakdown, racial demographics, and so on.
These values often conflict, and no technical analysis could decide which should matter more.
For the first time, technology is catching up to the redistricting problem. Teams of mathematicians, political scientists, and computing experts at Duke and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are building algorithms that can explore the enormous universe of possible districting maps.
These computer samplers generate thousands or millions of alternative maps in a given state. The maps can be used to assess whether a legislature's proposed plan is an outlier.
If programmers are given specific rules for fair districting, they can then compare a given plan to a pool of valid alternative plans to figure out if its properties are too extreme.
Compactness Matters
Let's look at just one possible constraint on plans: compactness.
Compactness is a legally recognized districting principle with a clear geometric flavor. It's intuitive that districts shouldn't have shapes that look manipulated or eccentric.
The more degrees of freedom the map-drawer has, the more control he or she exerts over the outcome. The ability to draw wild and wiggly shapes simply gives too much power to the person who wields the pen. Compactness is meant to constrain that.
But what does "compact" mean? At least 30 definitions can be found in the technical literature. Some invoke "isoperimetry," the idea that a district shouldn't have a very long boundary relative to its area. Some are based on "convexity," which means a straight line between two points in the district should stay in the district. Others are based on "dispersion," or the idea that districts shouldn't sprawl.
Looking back at Pennsylvania's Seventh District, you can see that it would fail all of these kinds of tests.
However, most existing definitions look at only the outline of the district on a map. They don't take into account the "guts" of the district, or how population clusters are lumped together by the line-drawers. A square district that completely encompasses a city is very different from one that splits it right down the middle.
One simple idea is to represent districts as networks, where the nodes are population units like census blocks and the edges represent proximity or similarity. Ideas from discrete geometry may help us reinterpret compactness in a way that is much more relevant to the political realities.
But even with this new framing, compactness will still be in tension with other values. Citizens must consider the trade-offs between all the political ideals in play. Mathematical analysis can help clarify the choices.
Empowering Debate
Shortly after the Supreme Court heard arguments on partisan gerrymandering, our group convened a conference in Madison, Wisconsin to discuss that case and the national scope of the gerrymandering challenge.
In a few weeks we are headed to Durham, North Carolina for public workshops that will center on the complex ongoing litigation there.
We hope to keep seeing a broad spectrum of people—mathematicians, political scientists, demographers, legal experts, coders, election officials, citizen advocates, and more—coming together to figure out what is fair and how to measure it.
If you're interested, you can see public talks from our first workshop in August or join us at upcoming workshops around the country.
Moon Duchin is associate professor mathematics in the Tufts School of Arts and Sciences and a senior fellow in the Tisch College of Civic Life.
Peter Levine is associate dean for research and Lincoln Filene Professor at the Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts.
Fixing Gerrymandering with Geometry
How to Make Voting Fair
Tufts Mathematician to Aid in Pennsylvania Gerrymandering Case


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BoE consults on resolution
Bank of England consults on resolution
The Bank of England is consulting on the resolvability assessment framework
› BoE consults on resolution
The Bank of England (BoE) is consulting on the resolvability assessment framework and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) is consulting on the resolution assessment and public disclosure by firms. Both consultations run until 5 April.
The draft BoE Guidelines and proposed PRA requirements set out requirements for banks to demonstrate (both to the BoE and publicly) their preparedness for resolution and that they have identified and addressed the potential barriers to a successful resolution. Banks would have to publish the key aspects of their own resolvability assessment and the BoE would make a public statement on its view of their resolvability.
The draft Guidelines form part of a wider picture which reflects a focus both here in the UK and in Europe more widely for banks to address impediments to resolution and for the authorities to put in place a comprehensive statutory resolution regime with clear resolution objectives.
Implications for firms
Banks have been working over the last few years to reduce impediments to resolution, not least in response to a series of regulatory initiatives such as Operational Continuity in Resolution (OCIR) requirements, exercises to analyse the speed at which Non-Ring Fenced Banks (NFRB) could be wound down under Solvent Wind-Down conditions (SWD), and exercises to ensure that restructuring can be conducted rapidly in resolution utilising a defined list of a bank's internal businesses and service offerings.
The proposed framework brings together these previous standalone activities under a single public disclosure requirement, ultimately requiring approval from a bank's Board. An additional implication of the proposed framework for firms is that there is a shift of focus to maintaining all of a bank's business in the initial stages of resolution, rather than just its critical functions.
The BoE has identified a 2022 timeframe by which it would expect firms to meet the proposed Guidelines, with the first round of resolvability assessments under these Guidelines being expected to start in 2020. While banks will have had experience of regulatory expectations for individual aspects of the framework, the external disclosure requirements give an added incentive to ensure that an accurate picture is communicated (given the knock-on impact in terms of increased investor scrutiny and an enhanced link between resolvability and investor profile).
Banks will need to identify to what extent they can leverage existing regulatory reform programmes or project teams. There are likely to be similarities to the introduction of ICAAPs and more recently ILAAPs, where documentation required by the regulator and firms' own control arrangements have evolved over time.
Given the demands on senior management time relating to Brexit and the knock-on impact for legal entities based in the UK, it is clear that banks will need to manage carefully their compliance efforts with respect to the resolution framework. There will need to be a continuing reliance on substantive governance arrangements such as a Resolvability Steering Committee and / or assurance programmes (with the associated time implications) in order to provide the Board with assurance on the quality of the output, during a period of continuing upheaval for many banks.
The draft guidelines
The BoE has previously published various guidelines on a number of constituent parts of the resolution framework including MREL, Valuation in Resolution and OCIR. However, it is clear from the proposed Guidelines that the resolution framework is now viewed as having a wider remit, in order to improve the likelihood of delivering a smoothly managed resolution.
The draft Guidelines cover:
Minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL)
Valuations (Valuation in resolution)
Funding in resolution
Continuity of financial contracts
Operational Continuity In Resolution (OCIR)
Continuity of access to Financial Market Infrastructure (FMIs)
Coordination and communication
Management, governance and communication
There is little change in some areas of the guidelines such as MREL and Valuations, whereas Funding in resolution and Restructuring bring in additional requirements.
Peter Rothwell
KPMG in the UK
Basel 4
Basel 4 is emerging even before Basel 3 has been implemented.
Risk and regulatory challenges
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2H2SO3 + 2H2SeO3 = H2Se2SO6 + H2SO4 + 2H2O.
The acid is even less stable than selenotrithionic acid; its aqueous solution decomposes in the light or on warming; in fact, it cannot even be preserved in the dark. Acids and alkalis also bring about its decomposition. Treatment with barium carbonate, as in the case of the preceding acid, gives a solution of the barium salt which, however, is less stable than barium selenotrithionate, and the solution decomposes slowly in the dark.


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Battle Flag Represents Heritage – Of Hate
July 10, 2015 — jamieumbc
I'm going to take a few minutes to put the Confederate battle flag debate into a historical context that I think has been largely overlooked by the media, mainly because they have no idea how we got here.
During the Civil War, the Confederate battle flag's use on the battlefield was confined generally to Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, and in its rectangular version, the Army of the Tennessee. (It was also used as a naval jack, but honestly, there just wasn't much of a Confederate navy out there.) In 1863, the battle flag was incorporated as the canton in a new national flag, where it remained throughout the remainder of the war, through two versions of that flag.
When the war ended, and through twelve years of Reconstruction, the federal government extended their ban of Confederate symbology throughout the conquered South. The battle flag would have been rarely seen in public during this time. It was during Reconstruction that the federal government worked hard to elevate the status of the freed slaves, and to prevent the defeated whites from returning them to something akin to their previous state. It was a relentless task, as southern whites were determined to restore the status quo, regardless of federal occupation troops.
By 1877, the North had grown weary of its expensive military occupation duties, the former states of Confederacy had all been readmitted to the Union, and both sides were eager to let the legacy of the Civil War fade. "Reconciliation" became the new watchword, and chief in accomplishing this was a gracious attitude from the victors. (Key in this "graciousness" was allowing the southern states to impose what came to be known as "Jim Crow" laws on its black population, which for the whites, came as close to restoring the status quo ante bellum as they were likely to get.)
An important part of this atmosphere of reconciliation was allowing a Confederate mythology to emerge, a mythology that essentially washed the war clean of its most distasteful elements, and allowed the southern people to be proud of the part they played in the war. It was seen as a positive development for the defeated South to have its own pantheon of heroes and cherished legends. At the very least, it was assumed to be harmless.
The major elements of the new Confederate mythology, the "Lost Cause," were:
– The "War Between The States" was fought over states' rights and self-determination, not slavery
– Southern military leaders were superior to Northerners, both in character and in skill
– The Southern soldiers had an élan and dash that was lacking in the soldiers of the industrial North
– The Northern armies succeeded mainly because they were blessed with an abundance of men and materiel, which allowed them to simply grind the noble, long-suffering Confederates into the ground
– The South knew it probably couldn't win the war, but fought on anyway, because they believed their cause to be just
– Confederate victories were combined examples of military genius and southern courage, while Union victories were the result of overwhelming natural advantages
– Many slaves were loyal to their masters, and saw the rightness of the Confederate cause
– Slavery was generally a benign institution, and while some masters were cruel, most treated their "servants" as extended family
– The ante-bellum South was an agrarian Camelot, destroyed by the barbarity of war
This new mythology was aggressively promoted by former wartime leaders anxious to justify treason, and a society full of unreconstructed Confederates. Northerners of the same era, despite the fact that they knew better, allowed it because, after all, they had won the war, hadn't they? They had taken away the power of the slave states forever, reducing them to rural backwaters. Why punish the South even more by robbing them of their dignity? (Southern pride was much discussed at this time.)
Confederate leaders such as Robert E. Lee, "Stonewall" Jackson and Jefferson Davis became noble icons of a beautiful past. Statues to them and to the soldiers who fought for them were erected across the country. Wreaths, bouquets, and yes, flags, were placed at their cold, stoney feet. A new religion was being born.
By 1900, much of the Confederate mythology of the "Lost Cause" had become accepted as fact, and was incorporated into textbooks and the narratives at a growing number of federal military parks that had come to occupy the sites of former Civil War battles. In the interest of sectional harmony, the South's version of the war became the official version of the war. Coincidentally, in the deep South lynchings had become regular occurrences by 1900, with over 100 blacks victimized in 1900 alone.
During this time, Confederate symbology began to feature prominently in public places in the South, as angry whites yearned for their lost Camelot, and lost power. As the 20th century progressed, the Confederate battle flag became the banner not of specific armies in a previous century's war, but as the symbol of resistance to change – and African-American civil rights. The Ku Klux Klan adopted the flag as its own, as did the Dixiecrats in mid-century. The Unreconstructed Confederate of the 19th century had become the segregationist of the 20th, and the battle flag was his emblem.
The pain felt by African-Americans at the sight of this symbol of repression was, however, still not believed to be of consequence to the majority of whites. Sectional harmony, especially critical to candidates with national aspirations, was of more immediate concern. The flag, while certainly representing a backwards-looking ugliness, was really a harmless thing, it was believed. Educated whites may have mocked it, but at the same time they underestimated the statement it made, and the influence it had.
In the 21st century, segregation is legally dead (through practically alive), but a new generation of white supremacists have adopted the flag, not as a way to honor selected regiments in the Army of Northern Virginia, but because of what they believe the flag represents. And none of those values are good.
The white population in the United States, had, until June 17, been able to delude itself that the Confederate battle flag was simply a harmless symbol of "Southern pride," as if "Southern pride" revolved around certain types of food, or a pleasing manner of hospitality. Sadly, on that day, Dylann Roof delivered what our consciousness had always been lacking: a clear, direct connection between Confederate symbology and racist violence. We had been able to easily dismiss the wounded feelings of African-Americans, but we could not dismiss their bloodied corpses.
Now, one hundred and fifty years after the perpetrators of the Fort Pillow massacre lost the Civil War, the victorious United States of America finally seems willing to correctly play the role of the victors.
And finally, after decades in denial, we may finally appreciate the role that symbols have had in perpetuating the racial hatred and violence we have, for too long, struggled to explain, much less conquer.
Posted in Current Events. Tags: Charleston, Civil War, Confederate Battle Flag, Dylann Roof, Racism. Leave a Comment »
5 Worst Christmases in U.S. History
Not every Christmas season is uplifting, in fact, some American Christmases have been downright depressing. In today's Friday History List, I look at the five worst Christmas seasons in United States history. If you ever get tempted to think that this holiday season is tough, just remember these, and be thankful for what we have.
5. Christmas 1963 – Barely one month before, the young and popular President John Kennedy had been killed in Dallas. At Christmastime, much of the nation was still in shock and mourning.
4. Christmas 1941 – In the days following Pearl Harbor, the Japanese invaded the Philippines, Burma, Borneo, Hong Kong and Guam..On Christmas Day 1941, Americans worried about Japanese midget subs in San Francisco Bay and German U-boats off the coast of New Jersey.
3. Christmas 1929 – This was the first Christmas after the Stock Market crash of October. With banks failing, companies shutting down and the life savings of many Americans having evaporated, there was plenty of coal in the nation's stocking this year.
2. Christmas 1862 – When 1862 began, both North and South were hopeful that "the late unpleasantness" might soon be over. The North trusted in their new commander, George McClellan, and the South was buoyant after the successes of 1861. By Christmastime, inconceivable slaughter at Shiloh and Antietam had ended all illusions. In the North, the families of Union soldiers mowed down at Fredericksburg only days before had even less to celebrate.
1. Christmas 1776 – The United States, barely five months old, seemed on the verge of extinction this Christmas. George Washington's continental army had been driven from New York, chased through New Jersey and now sat, malnourished, sickly and demoralized, on the Pennsylvania shore of the Delaware River. Many of Washington's troops planned on going home in a week, since their enlistment papers expired with the new year. The British busied themselves making preparations for their winter quarters, in full expectation of accepting the surrender of whatever remained of the American rebellion in the spring. A list had already been prepared, detailing which American leaders would be granted amnesty, which would be imprisoned, and which would be hung for high treason. What no one knew that Christmas morning was that Washington was about to save the American Revolution and in doing so, change the course of history.
Posted in Christmas, History List Friday!, U.S. History, War. Tags: 1929 Stock Market crash, American Revolution, Antietam, Christmas, Civil War, Delaware River, Fredericksburg, John Kennedy, Pearl Harbor, Shiloh, Trenton. Leave a Comment »
Today's Friday History List examines the ten most decisive battles in the history of Western Civilization. These are battles that, by their outcomes, changed the course of events in a very dramatic way. They are listed chronologically:
202 B.C. – Zama. The Romans, commanded by Scipio, routed Hannibal and drove him from the field. Carthage was removed as a rival to Rome in the Western Mediterranean, and Rome became the dominate power in Europe. This in turn ensured that western Europe would become subject to heavy Latin and Greek influences.
312 A.D. – Milvian Bridge. Constantine, having seen a vision of victory ("in hoc signo vinces"), defeats Maxentius' armies to become the master of first the Western Roman Empire, and eventually all of it. Fulfilling a pre-battle vow, he converts to Christianity, taking all of the Empire with him. At the Council of Nicea, Constantine assigns blame for Christ's death to the Jews, and he makes Christianity the predominate religion of his empire. Much of Europe's future has just been written.
451 – Châlons. Attila the Hun is defeated by a combined Roman/Visigoth force, preventing him from dominating Western Europe. Into the vacuum steps Germanic culture and the Catholic Church, expressed by papal power in Rome.
732 – Tours. Muslim invaders, intent on spreading the religion of Mohammed, enjoyed unchecked success as they expanded their influence from India to Spain. At Tours, Frankish leader Charles Martel defeated a Muslim force commanded by Abd er-Rahman, ending the Muslim threat to Western Europe, establishing the Franks as dominate in Gaul and preparing the scene for Charlemagne.
1588 – Spanish Armada. The Spanish, fueled by precious metals stripped from the Americas, achieved military and political hegemony in the 16th century. When England left the Catholic Church under Henry VIII, the Spanish became their sworn enemies; when English pirates began raiding Spanish galleons, threatening Spain's financial windfall, the situation took on a new sense of urgency. In 1588, the Spanish, aided by the French, intended to invade England and forcibly reconvert the population. Stormy seas and a plucky English navy caused the destruction of almost half of the Spanish vessels and England not only survived, but rose to become the preeminent naval power in the world. With the Spanish badly weakened, the English decided to move rapidly into the colony business. England's time had arrived.
1776 – Trenton. In the fall of 1776, it looked like the American Revolution had failed. George Washington's dwindling army seemed on the verge of disintegration, and the British relaxed for the winter, intending on finishing off whatever remained of the rebellion in the spring. Rather than watch his army die, Washington led a surprise attack on his enemy's forward position in Trenton, New Jersey on Christmas night, 1776. What resulted was a stunning victory over Hessian mercenaries that changed the direction of the war and set the stage for the eventual ejection of the English from their American colonies.
1813 – Leipzig. Napoleon, his army greatly weakened by losses the previous year during the Russian campaign, faced for the first time a combined allied army. At Leipzig Napoleon is defeated and forced to retreat to France; he will abdicate the next year, effectively ending his influence and dramatically shifting the balance of power in Europe.
1864 – Atlanta. The summer of 1864 was the North's darkest hour, as the bright hopes of springtime campaigns had been ground away to dark disappointment. U.S. Grant's battles against Robert E. Lee in Virginia had been enormously bloody (over 50,000 new Union casualties) with no end yet in sight. In the South, William Tecumseh Sherman's army sat outside of Atlanta with little hope of breaking its own deadlock. To the public, and more particularly to prospective voters that year, it looked as if Mr. Lincoln's war might never end. Confederate President Jefferson Davis did the Union a favor that summer as he replaced the defensive-minded Joseph Johnston with the reckless John Bell Hood. Within weeks Hood had taken massive casualties and was eventually compelled to give up Atlanta. The Union victory there gave the electorate in the North the optimism they needed to reelect Abraham Lincoln, which doomed any Southern hopes for victory. At Atlanta, both the Confederacy and American slavery died forever.
1914 – 1st Marne. One of the reasons Germany welcomed the start of the First World War was their absolute faith in the Von Schlieffen Plan, which they expected to result in the fall of France in no more than six weeks. (Don't forget that the last time Germany and France fought, in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, the Germans had won a resounding victory.) In August of 1914, in spite of tough resistance from the Belgians and a combined British-French defense, all was on schedule. What the Von Schlieffen Plan didn't take into account though, was the logistical nightmare of trying to keep rapidly moving troops adequately supplied in a day when most ammunition and provisions were still carried in horse-pulled wagons. Losing confidence, German Chief of Staff Moltke changed the plan in mid-stream and exposed his army to attack. This the French did at the 1st Battle of the Marne. By the first week of September, the German Army had been halted, and both armies began to dig trenches in a line that would eventually extend to the North Sea. A war of rapid movement had suddenly become a nightmare in the trenches.
1940 – Dunkirk. At the end of May 1940, it was clear that the Nazis would conquer France; all that was left to be decided was whether the 400,000 British and French survivors could be evacuated to England, where the fight might go on. If the Germans could have entrapped and destroyed those troops, the Second World War might have ended that spring, as Britain would have had little but the Home Guard with which to defend their island. The evacuation, called Operation Dynamo, was aided by German hesitation and the heroic efforts of those on the thousands of boats that helped in the rescue. In addition, the RAF inflicted serious losses on the Luftwaffe as it harassed the troops on the beach. By the time the effort was called off on June 4, 338,000 men had been taken out of France and the Germans had lost 240 aircraft. Hitler would eventually realize that he could never have England, instead, he turned his attention to the Soviet Union – with disastrous consequences.
Posted in History List Friday!, U.S. History, War, world history. Tags: 1st Battle of the Marne, Abd er-Rahman, Abraham Lincoln, American colonies, American Revolution, Americas, Atlanta, Attila the Hun, battles, Belgium, British, Carthage, Catholic Church, Charlemagne, Charles Martel, Châlons, Christ's death, Christianity, Civil War, Confederacy, Constantine, Council of Nicea, Dunkirk, England, Europe, First World War, Franco-Prussian War, Franks, galleons, Gaul, George Washington, Germanic culture, Germany, Greek, Hannibal, Henry VIII, Hessian, Hitler, Home Guard, in hoc signo vinces, India, Jefferson Davis, Jews, John Bell Hood, Joseph Johnston, Latin, Leipzig, Luftwaffe, Maxentius, Mediterranean, mercenaries, Milvian Bridge, Mohammed, Moltke, Muslim, Napoleon, Nazis, North Sea, Operation Dynamo, Overland Campaign, Papal power, pirates, RAF, Robert E. Lee, Romans, Rome, Scipio, Second World War, slavery, Soviet Union, Spain, Spanish, Spanish Armada, Tours, trenches, Trenton, U.S. Grant, virginia, Visigoth, Von Schlieffen Plan, Western Civilization, Western Roman Empire, William Tecumseh Sherman, Zama. 7 Comments »
For today's edition of History List Friday, I'm looking at what I consider to be the five best American field commanders of all-time. (Note that I didn't say "United States," because two of them displayed their genius while making war against the United States.)
Ready? OK, here we go:
5. Winfield Scott – Scott spent fifty years as a commander in the army, and participated in some of its most notable campaigns during the first half of the 19th century. In the War of 1812, Lt. Colonel Scott led the American assault on Queenstown Heights, Ontario. His troops were winning until New York militia refused to cross the river in support; Scott was forced to surrender. Exchanged in 1813, Scott commanded the First Brigade in the Niagara campaign of July 1814, decisively winning the battle of Chippewa before being wounded at the Battle of Lundy's Lane, ending his involvement in the war. In the Mexican War, Scott led a successful amphibious invasion of Mexico at Vera Cruz, and then through a series of flanking maneuvers, forced Santa Anna's army to backpedal into Mexico City. (No less an authority than Wellington himself had predicted that Scott's army would never be heard from again.) Santa Anna, believing that the walls of Mexico City could not be breached, fortified the town and secured the fortress-less castle of Chapultepec and dared Scott to attack. Scott did attack, his men carried Chapultepec, and Mexico City quickly fell. Wellington, learning of the feat, now called Scott the world's "greatest living general." At the outbreak of the Civil War, Scott was the commander of the Union forces, and as such, was the primary architect of the Anaconda Plan, which was a naval blockade of the South. While this plan took years to show concrete results, it was key in eventually choking the South off from resupply and severing in into easily managed segments. During his lifetime, Scott published the Abstract of Infantry Tactics, Including Exercises and Manueuvres of Light-Infantry and Riflemen, for the Use of the Militia of the United States in 1830 and in 1840, he wrote Infantry Tactics, Or, Rules for the Exercise and Maneuvre of the United States Infantry.
4. U.S. Grant – Grant might not have been a brilliant military strategist, but he was at the least a very good one. It was Grant's battlefield demeanor, however, that places him in the top five. Named a brigadier general in August of 1861, Grant quickly established himself as a bold, aggressive commander, seizing Paducah, Kentucky, a key port on the Ohio River. (In the Western Theatre, control of the rivers would be the key to victory, and Grant understood this from the beginning.) A few months later, Grant seized Fort Henry on the Tennessee River and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland. At Fort Donelson, Grant's army suffered a surprise attack while he was away; Grant regrouped and counterattacked, and Donelson surrendered a few days later. In was here that Grant earned his nickname of "Unconditional Surrender" Grant. When asked for terms by the Rebel commander, Grant coolly replied that he would accept no terms except "unconditional and immediate surrender." Grant's troops were taken unawares at Shiloh, but, once again, Grant calmly regained the offensive the next day and carried the field. Grant's dogged persistence and gutsy, imaginative campaign at Vicksburg resulted in the capture of the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi. Coming east after having been given command of all Union Armies in March of 1864, Grant's campaigns against the heretofore unconquered Robert E. Lee were brutally effective, though terribly costly. It is worth noting that Grant's tactics changed when he changed theaters; in the West, he maneuvered to gain control of critical waterways. In the East, he used his massive manpower advantage to bleed Lee white. In both cases, he was ultimately successful.
3. George S. Patton – George Patton was the father of American armored tactics. During World War I he was the first officer assigned to the U.S. Tank Corps, and became a vocal advocate for expanded use of armor in battle during the interwar years. In 1942, following U.S. entry into World War II, Patton trained his tanks for battle in California before participating in the successful capture of Morocco from Vichy France. Given command of II Corps after its disastrous losses against the Afrika Korps, Patton counter-attacked, and in combination with British General Bernard Law Montgomery, drove the Germans out of North Africa. In Sicily, Patton commanded the U.S. 7th Army brilliantly, driving westward across the island and then north, again in conjunction with Montgomery, until the Germans and Italians were compelled to evacuate. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), while on Sicily, Patton's slapping of a serviceman cost him the chance to follow the 7th Army into Italy, and he was instead rotated among several locations as a decoy to the Germans, who expected Patton to lead an invasion wherever he went. Eventually he was assigned to England, where again he was a decoy for the fictitious "First U.S. Army Group," which the Nazis were convinced would be assaulting Calais. This misinterpretation resulted in the misplacement of several German Panzer divisions, making them unavailable at Normandy on D-Day. After D-Day, Patton was given command of the Third Army, which he relentlessly drove across France (until he outran his supplies and was forced to stop; the interval allowed the Germans to fortify Metz, which resulted in a protracted siege). When the Germans surprised allied troops with their 1944 Winter Offensive, Patton disengaged a corps-sized element of his army and turned it north toward the "bulge." This complicated and dangerous move was executed to perfection, and within days Patton's men were fighting at Bastogne, which the 101st Airborne were barely holding. The Germans, seeing the strength of the forces opposing them, retreated. Patton's army then continued moving east, cutting a swath across southern Germany, finally reaching Czechoslovakia in May as the war ended.
2. Stonewall Jackson – Thomas J. Jackson received his famous nickname at the First Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas), when his brigade's unflinching stand in the face of coordinated Union assaults helped turn the tide of battle. In his historic 1862 Valley Campaign, Jackson's 17,000 men marched 646 miles in 48 days, engaging three different Union armies (totaling about 60,000 men), and preventing them from reinforcing George McClellan's drive against Richmond during the Peninsula Campaign. Union leaders were intimidated by Jackson, and refused to release any of the valley troops, fearing that Jackson would turn his attention to Washington, D.C. Called to Richmond's defense just before the Seven Days Battles, Jackson removed his men by train unnoticed, and much to the chagrin of Union commanders, turned up in Richmond just as McClellan prepared to attack. Jackson joined Lee's army for the battles around Richmond, but he did not distinguish himself there. It has been suggested that he was at his best when given independent command. Jackson's men did much better at Second Bull Run, Antietam and Fredericksburg, but his fame was sealed at the Battle of Chancellorsville. There Jackson accomplished his famous flank march, which annihilated the right of Joseph Hooker's Union Army and sent them flying north in panic. Sadly for Jackson, however, as he was scouting for a night attack, he was accidentally shot by his own pickets. He died of pneumonia while recovering.
1. Robert E. Lee – No American commander has ever been as beloved as Robert Edward Lee. Taking command of the rebel army in June of 1862, with George McClellan's vastly superior federal forces only nine miles outside of Richmond, Lee discounted the odds and audaciously attacked the Union troops repeatedly over a seven day period, driving them back down the Virginia Peninsula from which they had come. With the exception of the battle at Gaines Mill, each of Lee's attacks had cost him more men than it had McClellan, but the federal commander was so disturbed by the carnage that he treated them as losses. Lee continued his aggressive tactics at Second Bull Run, where John Pope's Union Army of Virginia was shattered. Largely because of bad luck (Lee's campaign orders somehow fell into the hands of a Union soldier), his Maryland Campaign ended badly at Antietam, although the odds there were not in his favor. Lee routed the Union forces again at Fredericksburg in December and at Chancellorsville the next spring, before launching into the north again with a campaign that would end disastrously at Gettysburg. From this point forward, with Confederate supplies and men dwindling, Lee changed his tactics and took up a more defensive posture. In doing so, he was able to inflict devastating casualties on numerous Union armies. However, with the elevation of the determined Grant to command, and the reelection of Abraham Lincoln in November of 1864, Lee and the South were doomed. Ground down to a mere 25,000 men by the spring of 1865, Lee held out for as long as possible before accepting Grant's offer to surrender. Rather than dispersing his army and continuing the struggle with guerrilla warfare, Lee asked his men to go home and become good citizens; his men did as they were told, and the nation's reconciliation began. Even at the hour of his greatest defeat, Lee demonstrated that he was still a successful leader of troops.
Posted in History List Friday!, U.S. History, War. Tags: Civil War, generals, George Patton, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, U.S. Grant, U.S. History, War, War of 1812, Winfield Scott, World War II. 1 Comment »


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Maritime Simulation Solutions Overview
Since 1982, Buffalo Computer Graphics, Inc. (BCG) has been a prominent provider to the Maritime Training & Electronic Navigation community. Our Veteran-Owned Small Business is located in Buffalo, NY and has an experienced technical staff consisting of hardware and software engineers focused on providing realistic simulation both for operator training and for system testing.
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