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Victim begs lawmakers to pass bill that would help police pursue Internet crimes against children
MADISON -- Wisconsin lawmakers heard harrowing testimony from a survivor of sexual exploitation Wednesday as part of an effort to funnel more resources to police who investigate Internet crimes against children.
Two legislative committees held hearings on the bill, known as "Alicia's Law." It would impose a fee on people convicted of crimes and direct the money to investigations, while allowing police to more easily get an administrative subpoena and learn who owns a suspected IP address.
Alicia Kozakiewicz, who was abducted and abused for four days in 2002 before police found her in Virginia, shared her story with committee members and urged them to pass the legislation.
"It's not easy to share," Alicia Kozakiewicz said. "I was that terrified young girl who was lured from my home, taken across state lines, chained by the neck, forced into a disgusting basement dungeon, and tortured."
Her abductor posted videos of the sexual abuse online, where a viewer saw it and contacted police. Officers used the abductor's IP address to track Kozakiewicz down.
Kozakiewicz has since become an advocate and the namesake of "Alicia's Law." Similar legislation has passed in 11 states and three other legislatures are considering versions of it this year, said Camille Cooper, a national advocate.
Police who handle Internet crimes against children in Wisconsin say they lack manpower and technological resources to handle more than a fraction of the cases.
"We'd definitely like more resources, hardware and time to train to be able to keep up," testified Jason Falkner, an officer with the Town of Summit Police Department. Falkner said he's handled six cases in his first two years in the program.
Two Democrats on the Senate Judiciary committee voiced concerns with the funding mechanism within the bill.
The legislation would tack a $20 fee on any misdemeanor conviction, and a $40 fee on felony convictions. Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee, said she doubted the state would get much money from the surcharge because many criminals can't pay the fees that are currently assessed.
"When we do a surcharge, it sounds good. But the problem is, we have an inability to collect ," Taylor said. She said she was still a supporter of the bill, but wanted the funding to come from the state budget instead.
Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, said he hadn't yet decided how he would vote because of the surcharge issue. Risser asked the Legislature's council to provide a list of all fees that the state adds to criminal fines. The data wasn't immediately provided.
Advocates for the bill said Virginia assesses a $15 fee on all misdemeanors and convictions, and has netted $3.4 million a year dedicated to investigations of Internet crimes against children.
Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel testified in favor of the legislation, saying that it would "help ensure" that investigators would have more resources to do their work. A companion bill received a hearing in an Assembly committee. Neither committee has voted on the legislation.


Pastor Waggoner shares from God's Word the reasons we come to the table and how we should honor the Lord's death.
In this study Pastor Waggoner teaches us how to use moments of total clarity sent from God.
Do we really need a fresh start? Pastor Waggoner elaborates using Noah as our example.
Pastor Waggoner shares the way to generational success as defined by God.
Pastor Waggoner refreshes us on the ten commandments and and the need to examine ourselves.
How can we find peace, even in today's tumultuous world?
What does honor really mean and how should we extend it?
While we may never have perfection we can adopt the purposes for which God created us.


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#aww2018 · 2018 Reviews · Australian · historical fiction · new release
New Release Book Review: Enemies within these Shores by Debbie Terranova
January 15, 2018 Amanda Barrett
Title: Enemies within these Shores
Author: Debbie Terranova
Published: November 13th 2017
Publisher: Terranova Publications
Genres: Fiction, Australian, Historical
Spring 1939. To appease his electorate, Delahunty orders a police roundup of Italian sugarcane workers. With his marriage failing, he initiates a volatile affair with Amy. What will be her revenge?
Summer 1941. Canefarmer Luigi is a naturalized British citizen, yet he is classified as an enemy alien during the war. Captured and interned for three years, what will he find on his return?
Autumn 1943. Edith is the wife of Tony Zucchero, an accountant and canefarmer. When he is unjustly interned, her father refuses to help. How will a city girl manage the farm alone?
Winter 1945. At Loveday Internment Camp, shell-shocked WW1 veteran Ted prevents a breakout and an uprising, and oversees secret experiments for the army. After the war, what will he do with his life?
Enemies within these Shores is a page-turning saga that sweeps from the sugar towns of tropical north Queensland to the Riverland district of South Australia. Based on a true story, the novel brings the WW2 home front to life.
Enemies within these Shores is a historical fiction novel, penned by Australian author Debbie Terranova. It is a touching story that brings to life a neglected chapter in our nation's history books, the internment of Italian sugar cane workers from Queensland, in World War II. Inspired by true events, directly drawn from the first hand experiences of the author's family, this is a novel that has much to say about policy, politics, freedom, discrimination and culture in Australia's dark past.
Enemies within these Shores opens in the early echoes of World War II, in the state of Queensland. William James Delahunty is the representative for his electorate in Endeavour, located in far north Queensland. Delahunty makes a bold move and requests the police gather all Italian sugar cane workers. It is a controversial move that directly impacts many families and hard working citizens of the state. What follows is the continued round up of these 'enemy aliens', from the opening of the war in 1939, through to the end of the war in 1945. Enemies within these Shores explores the process of ripping these men away from their lives and families, to be transported to internment camps. It is also the story of those left behind on the home front, forced to step up in the fight for survival and in the hope that one day they will be reunited again with their loved ones.
It is so important to have books such as Enemies within these Shores published. Debbie Terranova has done a fine job with this novel, bringing to life a chapter in Australia's past that has been overlooked. Centralising a fictional narrative around the events of the round up and internment of Italian workers in far north Queensland, gives a voice to those impacted by these events.
Terranova's meaningful narrative is told through the eyes of a number of key characters. Through the experiences of these characters, we learn about their pasts, their current lives working in the cane fields of Queensland, the conditions of their internment and a little of life following their imprisonment. Each character has a moving story, which comes with a strong air of authenticity. I can easily see how the characters featured in Enemies within these Shores are modelled on real life figures.
Terranova strives to cover all bases in her involving novel. From the politician, Delahunty, who as a protagonist gives us an insight into the political side, the policies and pressures from the government to intern these men. Then there are the guards that worked at these camps, charged with controlling these men. We learn how these internment camps later housed not only Italian workers, but Nazi's and eventually the Japanese. The final and most moving perspective for me personally in this book was the women left behind. Through the character story of Edith Zucchero, a very brave and admirable protagonist, we learn how women had to remain strong, holding together the farms and properties to ensure continued survival.
Enemies within these Shores is grounded in a solid level of research. This can be evidenced by the quality of the narrative itself, the author's note, the references and acknowledgments section and finally, the detailed bibliography. In addition, the author explains in the opening of her novel that this is a book very much informed by the firsthand accounts of her husband's Italian family, who were subjected to the internment camps. For me, the strength in this novel lies in Terranova's internment camp scenes. There was so much realism to these scenes that I felt like I was there as a prisoner with these men.
Enemies within these Shores exposes tough times and a particular segment in our nation's history that I was only a little aware of, through my experience of reading another novel set around Cowra, another internment camp. I could quite shake the events and experiences of this novel. After I finished Enemies within these Shores, I felt compelled to complete a little bit of extra research on Loveday, the internment camp that features in this book. It is well worth following my lead if you want further information on what is a shameful chapter in Australia's past. I am still astounded by this World War II political move, particularly as many of these men were long standing citizens, having lived and worked on Australia's shores for generations. I highly recommend this insightful novel to all Australian readers, it is a good way to familiarise yourself with events from our not too distant past.
Enemies within these Shores by Debbie Terranova was published on November 13th 2017 by Terranova Publications. Details on how to purchase the book can be found here.
To learn more about the author of Enemies within these Shores, Debbie Terranova, visit here.
*I wish to thank the author, Debbie Terranova for providing me with a free copy of this book for review purposes.
Enemies within these Shores is book #4 of the Australian Women Writers Challenge
#aww2018 Debbie Terranova Enemies within these Shores New Release Book Review Terranova Publications
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Keynote Speech by Vice-President Jourová on Data Privacy post-Covid-19′ at Euroactiv's Virtual Conference
Mar 12, 2021 data privacy, disinformation, media freedom, Rule of Law
"Check against delivery"
Mr President, Honourable Members,
Thank you for including this important issue on the plenary agenda.
Media are not just an economic sector, but an important pillar of democracy and the rule of law. Press freedom and media pluralism are vital to democracy. Independent media play an essential role to help citizens make informed decisions, to fight disinformation and the manipulation of the democratic debate.
That is why, the Commission has included media freedom and pluralism as one pillar of our annual Rule of Law Report, with the first one published last September. The Rule of Law Report assessed in particular the independence of the media regulatory authorities, transparency of media ownership, state advertising, the safety of journalists and access to information.
It looked at the situation in all Member States, including in Hungary, Poland and Slovenia. The problems and our concerns were made very clear. We will continue to cover media pluralism and freedom also in this year's Rule of Law Report which is expected in July.
Each Rule of Law Report is preceded by fact-finding visits in all EU countries, discussions with national authorities and a wide range of stakeholders.
Media is also covered in the Article 7 procedure launched by this house in relation to Hungary. I expect us to soon have an occasion to come back to the Article 7 procedure in the General Affairs Council, where we have to discuss recent developments in relation to media.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown more than ever the essential role of journalists to inform citizens. But at the same time, the media face an economic crisis which started well before the pandemic. More than ever it is time to support the work of the media, not put additional burdens or pressures on them.
This is exactly what the Commission proposed. In December, for the first time ever, we presented a comprehensive approach for the media.
With the European Democracy Action Plan we put the media where they should be: at the core of democracy.
Let me highlight two initiatives in particular that we will present this year: a Recommendation to Member States to improve the safety of journalists and an initiative on tackling abusive litigation – the so-called SLAPP cases: strategic lawsuits against abusive litigation. Very often threats and groundless lawsuits are used to silence free media. We will also take action to increase the transparency of media ownership and of political advertising.
With the Media and Audiovisual Action Plan, which we also adopted in December, we help the media recover economically from the crisis, adapt to the digital transformation and develop new business models. The stronger the economic situation of the media, the easier it is to resist political pressure.
But there should be no political pressure in the first place. Strong leaders are those that gain respect through their actions, that accept diversity of opinions and that allow citizens to be duly informed, not those that try to silence critical voices. In democracy, independent media should do their work and ask questions without fear or favour. Our job, as politicians, is to answer with facts, not with attacks.
Unfortunately, in recent months additional worrying developments have happened. Allow me to name some of them which are just examples of the worrying trends. In Hungary, most notably, we have seen that the independent Klubrádió was denied renewal of its licence on grounds which have raised concerns and it remains off air awaiting the outcome of a new procedure.
In Poland, a draft legislation on an advertising tax targeting media outlets led to black screens as a sign of protest. I spoke about it here in the Parliament after this happened. This draft is now being reviewed and we expect that the voices that raised concerns, will be properly heard.
In Slovenia, continuous attempts to undermine the sustainable funding and the independence of the national press agency and frequent verbal attacks against journalists are also a cause of serious concern.
For each of these cases, the Commission has been in contact with the national authorities and continues to monitor the situation. And let me assure you that the Commission does not hesitate to act when there are issues about the compliance of national laws or decisions with EU rules.
In particular, I would like to highlight that we are analysing closely the transposition of the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive which introduced, for the first time, new independence requirements for national media regulators.
We will also watch closely the transposition of the modernised copyright framework and continue striving for a level playing field in the online world – this is also the aim of the new Digital Services and Digital Market Acts. This is essential for the sustainability of the media sector, as I already mentioned earlier.
And in the concrete cases at hand we watch for instance the potential impact on telecom and taxation rules.
However, the reality is, as you know well, that the competences of the Commission when it comes to media are very limited. Whilst we will use those competences in a very diligent manner, I want us to identify how we can widen and strengthen the toolbox that the Commission has, from financial support, to regulation and enforcement actions. We need a tool which recognises the role of media as the key players in democratic society. At this moment, we only have the rules which recognise the role of the media as the actors on the European Single Market and this is what is limiting our ability to act.
We will play our role. But governments also need to fulfil their obligations to ensure that media freedom is safeguarded and to enable a healthy environment for media pluralism.
Source: Keynote Speech by Vice-President Jourová on 'Data Privacy post-Covid-19′ at Euroactive's Virtual Conference on Data Privacy
EU Parliament declares the European Union an "LGBTIQ Freedom Zone"
Committee of the Regions: The EU SME Strategy one year on: Challenges and Opportunities


For heating only or cooling only systems. Includes one annual tune-up visit.
Please select the equipment, appliances, and the accessories you would like to include in your Gold Shield Base Plan from the lists below. Include all gas, electric, and oil equipment in your home, plus any accessories you would like to be included in your agreement.


The Bacula Director service supervises all the backup, restore, verify, and archive operations. It can run as a daemon or as a foreground service which administrators can use to schedule backups and recover files.
This package stores Bacula's catalog in an SQLite 3 database, and thus is only suitable for small or test installations.


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Drug testing on Queensland road a necessity
March 9, 2018 March 9, 2018 JohnLeave a comment
Like other states, drug testing on Queensland roads has its share of criticism, chief being that roadside drug testing catches people who are safe to drive and therefore shouldn't be punished. However, with Australian states using the latest saliva drug testing methods, this criticism is unfounded in our books. Saliva drug testing provides a true indication of whether people are safe to drive or not, which is why we recommend saliva drug testing in workplaces.
Like alcohol testing before it (which also had its fair share of critics in early days), drug testing on Queensland roads can save lives.
Drug testing increase in Queensland
In February, the Queensland Government announced plans to conduct thousands more roadside drug tests each year, as part of a new strategy to tackle methamphetamine use.
It's expected that over 12,000 additional drug tests will be conducted on Queensland roads annually, a significant increase on the 62,000 tests that were carried out in 2017.
"There is a disturbing number of drug drivers on our roads in Queensland with almost 11,000 motorists returning a positive drug test last financial year," said Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services Mark Ryan.
"That is far too many drivers and riders creating a dangerous environment for all other road users across our state."
Queensland Assistant Commissioner Mike Keating said police take a zero tolerance approach to drug drivers.
"Much like drink driving, the community does not accept the lives of innocent people being put at risk by someone driving while affected by drugs. We now have more than 500 officers trained in roadside drug testing and we will continue to conduct targeted operations on roads right across Queensland," Assistant Commissioner Keating said.
Roadside drug testing facts, Queensland
10,804 drug drivers returned positive roadside drug tests in 2015/2016 compared with 3,178 in 2014/2015.
51,389 roadside drug tests were conducted in 2016/2017 compared with 49,445 in 2015/2016 and 20,289 in 2014/2015.
502 officers have been trained to carry out roadside drug testing since the program started in 2014, when 60 officers had been trained.
Queensland roadside drug testing shame file
A male driver recorded positive to both marijuana and methamphetamines when he was pulled over by Queensland Police for drug testing on Christmas Day 2017. He was found guilty in court a few days ago. It's the driver's second drug driving offence. He has also been charged with drink driving in the past.
A male driver, high on ICE and other drugs, who crashed head-on with another car badly injuring the driver, has been again caught by police during drug testing. The man spent 15 months in jail for the first incident and has now been sent back to jail for a further six months.
drug testing Queensland
Drugs and drug testing a worldwide issue
Drug and alcohol testing in Western Australia a huge task
View posts by John
John is the Queensland Manager of Integrity Sampling QLD and is based in the Brisbane office. Integrity Sampling provides its range of drug and alcohol management services, including drug and alcohol testing, right across the state.You can connect with John Lorenzen on LinkedIn


This month Richy and Adam visited the Avalon 2019 Australian International Airshow Aerospace and Defence Expo. They had the opportunity to network with defence and aerospace primes and fellow industry suppliers – a valued opportunity for APT.
This month APT featured in our industry magazine – Australian Manufacturing Technology.We are proud to have been included in the Set to Soar article written by William Poole about the thriving Australian defence industry with major projects and government initiatives creating opportunities for Australian manufacturers both large and small.
Our ever reliable employee, Dave Hoey, celebrated 10 years at APT. Richy is pictured here thanking and congratulating Dave.
This year we spent our annual Christmas breakup at the Yarra Valley Races. APT sponsored a race and a fun day was had by all.
On Wednesday 14 November 2018 the Hon Josh Frydenberg MP, our Federal Treasurer visited APT to unveil the government's plan to enable small business to get loans easier and cheaper.
APT bro's rallied together to grow their mo's (sister's walked) to raise money for Movember. A great effort by all.
Richy travelled to Auckland, New Zealand for the Iscar LOGIQ product launch. The special LOGIQ seminar day was dedicated to increasing productivity and profitability on our production floor.
Cost saving machine solutions and productivity innovation was explored utilising Industry 4.0. The event also gave Richy the opportunity to catch up with our industry partners.
Richy and Adam attended Land Forces in Adelaide. They are pictured here with the Rheinmetall Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle (CRV) which is the chosen vehicle for Land 400 Phase 2.
Land Forces provided a great opportunity for them to meet up with defence primes and valued customers. They got to see the latest equipment, technology and services for the defence forces of Australia and the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.
We installed a new Tornos CNC Lathe to increase our capabilities in supplying the defence sector with their expanding requirements. We would like to thank Subrat Sahu, from the Tornos team, who was with us for two and a half weeks to help train and share his knowledge.
Wade Bishop and Jayden Wilson started with APT in 2015, straight out of school, to begin their Certificate III in Engineering – Mechanical Trad through the AI Group. They completed their apprenticeship in July 2018 and attended Chisholm Institute for their schooling. We have enjoyed seeing Wade and Jayden develop into accomplished Fitter and Machinists.
APT was proud to welcome our Second Okuma MU-5000V-L Axis Mill with advanced automation to increase our milling capacity.


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India Travel Basics
India Travel News
Corona Virus Covid 19
Thread starter adsatinder
adsatinder
News are coming from everywhere about Corona Virus.
Many are infected with it.
Many survivors are also there.
Don't worry about it.
Keep calm.
Prevention is best cure.
Use mask and Gloves, if you want to avoid it.
Warm weather soon will follow in India, this will prevent it automatically with increasing temperature.
Reactions: Suneesh Sharma and umeshp
What is Corina Virus ?
Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans.
Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people. Detailed investigations found that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to humans and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans.
Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.
Standard recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs. Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing.
What are impacts ?
Impact of coronavirus on Indian tourism could run into thousands of crores of rupees
According to industry chamber CII, this is the one of the worst crises ever to hit the Indian tourism industry impacting all its geographical segments - inbound, outbound and domestic, almost all tourism verticals - leisure , adventure, heritage, MICE, cruise, corporate and niche segments.
Last Updated: Mar 12, 2020, 02.52 PM IST
New Delhi: The coronavirus pandemic could deal a crippling blow to the Indian travel and tourism industry, specially with the government suspending all visas, with the economic impact being assessed to run into thousands of crores of rupees. According to industry chamber CII, this is the one of the worst crises ever to hit the Indian tourism industry impacting all its geographical segments - inbound, outbound and domestic, almost all tourism verticals - leisure , adventure, heritage, MICE, cruise, corporate and niche segments.
The whole tourism value chain across hotels, travel agents, tour operations, destinations, restaurants, family entertainment venues and air, land and sea transportation have been hit.
In an impact assessment of the coronavirus pandemic, CII Tourism Committee said inbound foreign tourism of over USD 28 billion in value terms accounts for an average 60-65 per cent between October to March.
"As the news of the virus started picking up from November, the percentage of cancellations started going up in this segment exponentially and is reaching a peak of almost 80 per cent now in March in many Indian locations. The value at risk from this segment will be in multiples of tens of thousands of crores," the CII assessment report said.
With India cancelling all visas, the chamber said the impact "will be worse".
It further said,"The forward bookings for the inbound season of October 2020-March 2021 which should have started picking are all muted. These are showing highly discouraging signs with cancellations of important global travel marts which are marketplaces for contracting for the next season."
It further said there are reports of large scale forward cancellations from NRI segment from developed markets, which account for over 60 per cent during April to September inbound visits.
"Unless the progression of the virus stops, almost the entire value for the remainder of 2020 season is at risk," the report added.
ANAROCK Property Consultants Chairman Anuj Puri said India's hospitality sector will definitely be impacted by the announcement of a global pandemic, and the mounting numbers of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country.
"The cancellation of visas for foreigners as well as the strong advice issued to Indians to refrain from unnecessary travel will have a marked effect. This is the most unsettling healthcare crisis in recent times and hotel bookings will go south," he added.
On Indians being advised to refrain from unnecessary travel, as per the CII report almost 28 million plus Indians are estimated to have travelled outside in 2019 and there were almost 1.8 billion domestic tourist footfalls.
The holiday season of Indians -- those travelling within the country and outside -- is heavy in April-July, October and December.
"The December holiday season of 2019 took an estimated hit of almost 40-50 per cent, the holiday season of April to July 2020 is likely to take a humongous hit which could be as high as 80-100 per cent, unless there is positive news of the progression of virus decreasing," the CII assessment report said.
There are advanced cancellations and highly reduced forward booking pipelines for the holiday season. Only corporates are flying and that too only on highly essential same day travel. Most of the MNCs are advising work from home, stifling travel, it added.
On suspension of visas, MakeMyTrip Group CEO Rajesh Magow told ,"The period between February till the end of March is typically a lean period because of exam season but we are seeing a demand slowdown for the upcoming summer holiday season especially for international travel. The situation remains dynamic making it hard to quantify the actual impact on our business and industry at large."
He further said,"The decision by the government will have an impact on inbound and outbound international travel. So far there are no restrictions or advisories issued for domestic travel."
VFS Global Regional Group COO - South Asia, Middle East and North Africa, Americas Vinay Malhotra said,"While it is too early to comment on the impact of coronavirus on visa application trends, so far, our visa application processes in India continue on schedule as per the mandates of our client governments."
He also said the company is exploring steps to assuage concerns of people about visiting busy public areas due to the nature of the virus by considering discounted rates on courier return services for visa customers who want to avoid returning to the visa centres to pick up their passports.
Besides, he said,"We are also contemplating lower fees for our Visa at your doorstep service, for those customers who are requesting an alternative to visiting the centres to submit visa applications."
It is given so much importance.
No, Coronavirus Isn't 'Just Like The Flu'. Here Are The Very Important Differences
Aches and pains, sore throat, fever – although they may feel similar to those suffering from their symptoms, the novel coronavirus is not the same as the seasonal flu, experts stressed Wednesday.
COVID-19, the illness caused by coronavirus, proves deadly in around 3.5 percent of confirmed cases.
While this is not the same as its mortality rate, given many people may be infected but not realise it, it is significantly higher than seasonal flu, which typically kills 0.1 percent of patients.
"There is still considerable uncertainty around the fatality rates of COVID-19 and it likely varies depending on the quality of local healthcare," said Francois Balloux, Professor of Computational Systems Biology at University College London.
"That said, it is around two percent on average, which is about 20 times higher than for the seasonal flu lineages currently in circulation."
Serious cases
But the true danger of coronavirus is unlikely to be the death toll. Experts say health systems could easily become overwhelmed by the number of cases requiring hospitalisation – and, often ventilation to support breathing.
An analysis of 45,000 confirmed cases in China, where the epidemic originated, show that the vast majority of deaths were among the elderly (14.8 percent mortality among over 80s).
But another Chinese study showed that 41 percent of serious cases occurred among under 50s, compared with 27 percent among over 65s.
"It's true that if you're older you're at greater risk, but serious cases can also happen in relatively young people with no prior conditions," said French deputy health minister Jerome Salomon.
Disease experts estimate that each COVID-19 sufferer infects between two to 3 others.
That's a reproduction rate up to twice as high as seasonal flu, which typically infects 1.3 new people for each patient.
Vaccine/treatment
Salomon said that humans have lived with influenza for more than 100 years.
"We've studied it closely," he said. "This new virus resembles the flu in terms of physical symptoms but there are huge differences."
Number one is the lack of a vaccine against COVID-19, or even any treatment shown to be consistently effective.
While some trials have shown promise delivering anti-retroviral drugs to serious cases, as well as some experimental therapies, their sample sizes are too small to roll out to the general population.
Hundreds of researchers around the world are working frantically to find a COVID-19 vaccine, but the development process takes months and is likely too late for the current outbreak.
Even if a vaccine magically appeared, getting everyone access it to it is no small order. Health authorities regularly complain that not enough people receive the flu vaccine to guarantee "herd immunity".
But the new virus does share some characteristics with flu, notably the measures each one of us can personally take to slow the infection rate:
Avoid shaking hands, frequently wash your hands with soap and water, avoid touching your face and wear a mask if you are sick.
Such actions can limit new infections just as they can with the flu, gastro illnesses and other infectious diseases.
France's health ministry says that only two in 10 people regularly wash their hands after using the bathroom.
"And only 42 percent of people cover their mouth with an elbow or tissue when they cough or sneeze," it added, not encouragingly.
SARS-CoV-2 Experience Will Help Agency Strike Right Balance With LDTs, FDA Says
Kelsy Ketchum, 360Dx, 2020
Commercial Labs Step up Coronavirus Test Efforts After FDA Guidance
360Dx, 2020
Novacyt Gets CE Mark for Coronavirus Test
staff reporter, 360Dx, 2020
In Combination with Rapid Tests, Adoption of MDx for Influenza, RSV on the Rise
Leo O'Connor, 360Dx, 2016
Novel Coronavirus - This is live count keeps changing as and when it gets updated
https://infographics.channelnewsasia.com/wuhan/gmap.html
This gives you an idea where the virus is spreading on daily basis. This will help you to plan your travel around the world.
Is there anything wrong in this ?
India puts in visa curbs as WHO calls Covid-19 a pandemic
ET Bureau | Mar 12, 2020, 06.25 AM IST
BCCL - Non Copyright
NEW DELHI: India imposed stringent travel curbs to the country as the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic with more than 118,000 confirmed cases and 4,291 deaths in 114 countries. India's count of infected people is 62 with no confirmed deaths so far from the disease.
The WHO had classified the coronavirus outbreak as a global public health emergency on January 30 and had been reluctant to call it a pandemic over concerns that it would create unnecessary panic.
The government late on Wednesday suspended "all existing visas, except diplomatic, official, UN/international organisations, employment, project visas" until April 15. The visafree travel facility for Overseas Indian Card (OIC) holders has been suspended until the same date. The curbs go into effect at 1200 GMT on March 13 at the port of departure.
Visas Valid for Those Already in India
Any foreign national who needs to travel to India urgently will have to contact the nearest Indian mission. This includes holders of medical visas. Apart from this and in continuation with earlier advisories, the health ministry said a 14-day quarantine was mandatory for all travellers, including Indian nationals, arriving from or having visited China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, France, Spain and Germany after February 15.
Incoming travellers, including Indian nationals, are advised to avoid non-essential travel and are informed that they can be quarantined for a minimum of 14 days on arrival. Indian nationals have also been advised to avoid all non-essential overseas travel, the health ministry said. On their return, they can be subjected to quarantine for a minimum of 14 days. International traffic through land borders will be restricted to designated check posts with robust screening facilities.
The decision followed a meeting by a group of ministers (GoM). This included health minister Harsh Vardhan, aviation minister Hardeep Puri and foreign minister S Jaishankar. A committee of secretaries chaired by the cabinet secretary had made detailed recommendations to the GoM.
The latest measures only refer to those traveling to the country, said an official. "The circular is only applicable for those coming into India. For those already in India, the existing visas are valid and normal rules for extension apply."
The visa curbs will have an impact on flights to India, airline executives said, but it was too early to quantify.
Coronavirus a pandemic: India shuts doors for outsiders, under self imposed quarantine
The government late on Wednesday suspended "all existing visas, except diplomatic, official, UN/international organisations, employment, project visas" until April 15. The visafree travel facility for Overseas Indian Card (OIC) holders has been suspended until the same date. The curbs go into...
rediff.ly
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WHO is guiding about it.
HomeWorldCoronavirus Outbreak Is A Pandemic: World Health Organization
Coronavirus Outbreak Is A Pandemic: World Health Organization
A disease or an outbreak is declared a pandemic when it occurs over a massive geographical area - for instance several continents.
Edited by Vaibhav Tiwari (with inputs from AFP)
Updated: March 12, 2020 06:28 am IST
Coronavirus, which originated in China's Wuhan, has so far infected more than 119,711 people globally.
Novel coronavirus, which has killed around 4,300 people across the world, can be characterised as a "pandemic", the World Health Organization has announced.
"WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction. We have therefore made the assessment that COVID19 can be characterized as a pandemic," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom said at a press conference.
A disease or an outbreak is declared a pandemic when it occurs over a massive geographical area - for instance several continents. Coronavirus, which originated in China's Wuhan, has so far infected more than 119,711 people globally.
"Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly. It is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death. Describing the situation as a pandemic does not change WHO's assessment of the threat posed by this coronavirus," he added.
He said the world has never seen a pandemic triggered by a coronavirus, and a pandemic that can be controlled.
"We have called every day for countries to take urgent and aggressive action. We have rung the alarm bell loud and clear," he added.
@WHO
· 21h
Replying to @WHO
"I remind all countries that we are calling on you to (1):
-activate & scale up your emergency response mechanisms
-communicate with your people about the risks & how they can protect themselves
-find, isolate, test & treat every #COVID19 case & trace every contact"-@DrTedros
-ready your hospitals
-protect and train your #healthworkers
-let's all look out for each other"-@DrTedros #COVID19 #coronavirus
10:06 PM - Mar 11, 2020
Since the novel coronavirus first emerged in late December 2019, 80,778 cases have been detected in China.
The worst affected countries after China are Italy (10,149 cases, 631 deaths), Iran (9,000 cases, 354 deaths), South Korea (7,755 cases, 60 deaths) and France (1,784 cases, 33 deaths).
Spain later reported that its number of infections had passed the 2,000 mark, with 47 deaths, thus overtaking France.
India is also grappling with the outbreak with 67 people tested positive for the virus. The government on Wednesday suspended all visas to India. In an order this evening, the Union health ministry said all existing visas -- diplomatic, official, UN/International organizations, employment, project visas will be suspended till April 15.
Coronavirus, which has killed over 4,300 across the world, can be characterized as a "pandemic", the World Health Organization has announced.
Whoever is travelling to any city of India from affected international countries etc.
Self Declaration Form
take a print out of this form
and fill it up,
As there may be shortage of these forms at arrival,
Long queues and commotion,
Just to get this form.
And immigration does not let you pass till you hand over this form to them.
It's taking time for immigration clearance due to self reporting form and health screening.
A Friend did this on my arrival at Chennai airport. Some Flight attendee's are providing this forms.
Maybe it is in shortage at some places.
Forward the message to all your groups.
Form Attached :
Self Reporting Form for Travelers arriving from 2019-nCov affected countries.pdf
98.5 KBViews: 3


text:
FOUNDATION_EXPORT double RxAlamofire_macOSVersionNumber;

//! Project version string for RxAlamofire_macOS.
FOUNDATION_EXPORT const unsigned char RxAlamofire_macOSVersionString[];

// In this header, you should import all the public headers of your framework using statements like #import <RxAlamofire_macOS/PublicHeader.h>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
In order to advance NG-PON2, Verizon Ventures takes the reins on $4.5 million investment round in Portuguese optics vendor
06 Aug In order to advance NG-PON2, Verizon Ventures takes the reins on $4.5 million investment round in Portuguese optics vendor
Verizon Ventures is strengthening its NG-PON2 hand by leading a $4.5 million financing round in PICadvanced, which has been supplying Verizon with tunable lasers for its NG-PON2 deployments.While Verizon has previously named other NG-PON2 vendors, such as Adtran and Calix, Wednesday marked the first time it has mentioned PICadvanced (PICa.) Joining Verizon Ventures in the round was a 200M Co-investment Fund managed by PME Investimentos, which makes co-investments in high-growth Portuguese startups.
Founded in 2014 and based in Ílhavo, Portugal, PICa has been active in the development of optoelectronic transceivers for NG-PON2. In addition to optical, PICa, which derived its name from photonic integrated circuits (PIC), also develops electronics and software.
Sponsored by EQUINIX
The Opportunity for CBRS and Private Wireless Services
Learn how Private Wireless Networks and CBRS enable business opportunities for service providers and new capabilities for enterprises.
RELATED: Verizon seeks to simplify its network with NG-PON2, a converged core and automation
Verizon announced two years ago that it was going directly from GPON to NG-PON2. NG-PON2 has four 10 Gigabit wavelengths that increase the reliability of the service. If one PON card goes down, the other wavelengths are able to continue providing service. The NG-PON2 wavelengths work on top of the GPON service and NG-PON2 doesn't' require active amplification due to signal loss.
A key element of NG-PON2 is the tunable lasers that PICas provides. Tunable lasers allow operators to assign different subscriber types to different wavelengths. Using dynamic load balancing, a service provider could move a data hog to a separate wavelength via a provisioning command to the optical network tuners (OTL.) In Verizon's GPON deployment, there's a separate broadband network gateway that the OLTs "talk" to.
NG-PON2 is also a core piece of Verizon's previously stated goal for driving down its cost per bit by 40% year over year as part of its Intelligent Edge Network initiative.
Samy Ben Aissa
Using its fiber network, NG-PON2 will also create a universal access platform for Verizon across its consumer and business verticals. Samy Ben Aissa, managing director at Verizon Ventures, said that 5G small cell deployments were also a driver for NG-PON2.
Ben Aissa works in tandem with Verizon's core network team, which does the network planning for Verizon's network. He said PICa has deployments with global and European telcos, but they're not listed on PICa's website.
"We've been very active in deploying capital to augment the strategies that we have set for Verizon and communicated publicly, one of which is NG-PON2," Ben Aissa said. "We felt we could augment the partnership that we have with a little company out of Portugal called PICadvanced. We reached the point with our network planning team where it was very strategic for us to deploy capital to help them further innovate very critical R&D."
Ben Aissa said PICa, which has about 20 employees, is using the funding to further develop its optical ambitions. While Verizon relied on PICa for first generation optical transceivers that were compliant with the NG-PON2 standard, NG-PON2 is headed towards an optical refresh.
"Their future generation of optical transceivers is based on integrated photonics, a technology breakthrough that allows multiple optical components to be packed together to execute high complexity functions," Ben Aissa said. "It's achieved by fitting all required optics components onto a single chip — one of PICa's specialties."
The chip will reduce the size and complexity of manufacturing the optical modules, according to Ben Aissa. PICa will unveil features of its new chip at upcoming industry conferences in September and December.
RELATED: AT&T tees up 1-Gig XGS-PON speeds in more than 40 cities
While Verizon is taking the NG-PON2 route, AT&T has opted for XGS-PON. In March, AT&T announced it used XGS-PON to launch 1 Gbps speeds in over 40 U.S. cities. XGS-PON is a fixed wavelength symmetrical 10Gbps passive optical network technology. AT&T has cited the cost benefits of going with XGS-PON over NG-PON2.
Verizon has a NG-PON2 test underway in Tampa, Florida, which was also the location of one of its first Fios deployments in 2004. Verizon declined to say whether it has been deployed in other locations. In addition to Verizon, UK Fiber, NTT and Vodafone are also kicking the tires on NG-PON2.
Verizon Ventures
As its name implies, Verizon Ventures is the corporate investment arm for Verizon. Ben Aissa said Verizon Ventures currently has about 70 companies in its portfolio. According to Crunchbase, Verizon Ventures has made 114 investments and has a total funding amount of $14 million.
"We're funded by our balance sheet," he said. "So we don't really have a separate budget. And from my side of the portfolio, we're very strategically driven in the investments that we make. We can deploy capital from Series A, which we're doing here, all the way to Series D."


text:
Photos from the issue dated March 23, 2012
Photos from the editorial files of The Newtown Bee. Browse through and/or purchase the photos that appeared in this week's print edition. Often there are more photos here than were in the print edition, so don't be surprised to find some extra photos in here that you haven't seen in The Newtown Bee.
Newtown High School's girls' basketball team won the first state title in the program's his-tory with a 44-42 win over Mercy High School of Middletown at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville on March 16. Members of the Nighthawks celebrated their championship at center court. Pictured are, from left, front: Kerry Scallon and Tressa Scott; middle: TJ and Chloe O'Connell (Coach Jeremy O'Connell's children), Bridget Power, Riley Wurtz, Erin Kenning, Mary Jo Rossi, and Sarah Lynch; back: Assistant Coaches Katy Carbone, Meg Kelley, and Matt Murphy, Kristiana Engler, Assistant coach Sean Colley, Jess Lynch, Maddy Good, Carly Iwanicki, Cassie Ekstrom, Sam Steimle, Kristie VosWinkel, Carly Ferris, and Coach O'Connell. —Bee Photo, Hutchison
Nighthawks Cap Run With First State Title
http://newtownbee.com/2012-03-22__13-04-20
NHSgirlsteam


text:
History at Work
Reverb Effect Podcast
Keyword Search of history
History Honors
Admissions Procedures
Recent Dissertations
History Matters Magazine
Comrades in Art
Graduate News
History in the Public Service
Digital Pedagogy Blog
At the U-M Museum of Art, Professor Ronald Suny's students view iconic Soviet-era film posters
by Susan Hutton
At the exhibit, students examine the posters on a tour led by curator Lehti Keelmann. (Photo: Natalie Condon)
Donated to U-M's Museum of Art, twenty-five rare, iconic film posters capture the ethos of an overlooked period in Soviet history whose progressive ideas and optimism inspired an artistic revolution that also altered the course of graphic design.
The events of the 1917 Russian Revolution are pretty well known. The peasants overturned the government, deposed the royal family, and aspired to a utopia in which workers would get a fair share of the wealth. The revolution also launched constructivism, a relatively unknown modernist art movement that was radicalized and inspired by these ideals.
It was a time in which industry and machines were transforming Russian society, and the optimistic spirit emerging from this change inspired constructivists to create an art that matched. Part politics and part aesthetics, constructivism spurned art's traditional concern with composition and favored an art that defined beauty by its materials and function instead. Constructivism's influence can be seen across all mediums, but it was particularly apparent in design.
The University of Michigan Museum of Art's collection includes twenty-five of the most iconic constructivist film posters thanks to a donation from the estate of James T. Van Loo (BSE '68). Van Loo's estate also funded programs in both the Department of Mathematics and the Department of Physics, as well as programs to encourage interdisciplinary symposia, research, and teaching between mathematics, physics, and complex systems. A software engineer at both Sun Microsystems and Microsoft, Van Loo also had a lifelong interest in Russian modernists and Russian silent films.
Facing Forward
"The film posters reflect the gumption of the early Soviet days, where artists felt freed to engage in experimental artistic practices and make fearless design choices," explains Lehti Keelmann, a PhD candidate in the Department of History of Art and a co-curator of UMMA's exhibit, Soviet Constructivist Posters: Branding the New Order. "They were made for the masses and displayed on building facades and in shop windows. These posters evidence a decade of short-lived but explosive artistic freedom in the Soviet Union—a time of transformation and transition combined with daringness and daydreaming."
Excited by film's movement, designers used type, color blocks, and images to incorporate techniques they saw on-screen into their advertisements, such as dramatic close ups. In addition, constructivist designers pioneered photomontage, a process that involves cutting and reassembling photographs to make different images and create effects that recalled the process of editing film. They similarly juxtaposed images from still shots in film to create surprising new meanings and metaphors. "In finding novel ways to advertise films, these young artists created a new visual language," adds David Choberka, the Andrew W. Mellon Manager of Academic Outreach and Teaching and a lecturer in Germanic languages and literatures.
In the early 1920s, Russia was a rural, peasant country whose citizens were largely illiterate. In order to communicate its ideals to the broadest possible audience, the government needed a visual language. As the government of the people, it believed art and culture should serve its political needs, which meant it saw art as a vehicle that could spread its message. At the same time, film was becoming increasingly popular, and the government realized its potential as a propaganda tool. Progressive artists, still inspired by the era's forward-thinking ideals, experimented to find novel ways to advertise films in order to deliver the government's message to the broadest possible audience. Film posters were among the most arresting and ambitious works the constructivists made.
The posters capture an important point in graphic design, and they also offer the chance to examine the physical remnants of an important historical moment. After taking his Stalin and Stalinism class to see the exhibit, Ronald Suny, William H. Sewell Jr. Distinguished University Professor of History, observed, "The posters are sensational, so revealing of a particular moment in the history of the 20th century, a moment of utopian hope, of working collectively toward the future. My students really loved the exhibition because they received a visual representation of the Soviet Union, at least in its idealized images. One can only feel regret that the future proved to be far darker than the artists of that short period expected."
Link for more information on the exhibit, "Soviet Constructivist Posters: Branding the New Order."
This article reprinted with permission from LSA Today. Link to the original version here.
The movie posters in the exhibition helped to communicate the era's ideals to a largely illiterate populace in the Soviet Union's formative first decade. (Photo: Natalie Condon)
1029 Tisch Hall
umhistory@umich.edu


text:
Challenges Holding Back Open Data In Nonprofits
The positive applications of open data to the nonprofit industry are vast, but as are the challenges.
AnalyticsBig DataData Science
Public discourse around the many applications of big data has generally revolved around its uses in the private sector, whether this be to better advertise to consumers or increasing operational efficiency. However, there is one area that has hitherto been neglected, and it's an area with the potential to do substantial social good - the nonprofit sector.
In recent years, nonprofits have made great strides towards collecting and exploiting data, finding ever more innovative ways to help solve some of the worlds oldest problems. However, impactful data projects are not cheap. In order to join the big data revolution that has proven so beneficial in other areas, many nonprofits rely on open data. Fortunately, there is also motivation to share such data.
One nonprofit leading the way in open data is the World Bank. We spoke to Eric Anderson, a senior disaster risk manager and ICT specialist with the World Bank, about how open data was helping the organization bring relief to millions and help achieve its ultimate goal of ending world poverty.
How important is open data for disaster management?
Oh, super important! One of the biggest challenges during an emergency is that you simply don't have the time to clean up, organize, and begin the data discovery process. Having the data already open means it's more user-friendly - easier to discover, easier to access, and easier to use and reuse. This means you don't have to worry about issues regarding licensing or permissions. So I think open data as a philosophy and as a standard has really helped accelerate that data problem during emergencies.
Have you seen more organizations making their data open in recent years? Is there more that people could be doing?
In international development, I think recognition has increased that the underlying data of risk assessments, damage maps, and other products like this which deal with a lot of data, should, as much as possible, be made open. I think the World Bank, certainly many UN agencies, and governments are beginning to treat these input datasets as public goods themselves. It is a little bit of a tricky situation because many of these datasets are expensive to collect and maintain and there's a lot of data gaps. So I think one area that needs improvement is making government data available openly where it has a humanitarian case.
Do commercial obligations hold back open data?
I think that's really the forefront of the challenge - figuring out the business model for maintaining datasets. On one hand, there's a good case that some datasets should be viewed as public goods that should be freely and openly available. But on the other hand, someone has to pay to collect and to maintain it.
You find it with mapping data in particular elevation models or constant time series data, like weather data. I don't think anyone's really cracked it yet as there are different ways forward, but there is certainly a business model and a strategy that has to be built around the data.
How is technology helping you?
I think technology is driving a real demand for full raw data. You know, there are more devices connected to the internet now than people, so they are more likely to interact with datasets from their mobile phone than by downloading a PDF of a website. If you think about day to day activities, things like looking up navigation or looking for the next train, you look it up on your phone, you're not going to download and print out an itinerary or schedule. That's really provoking agencies to make the underlying dataset machine readable and define standards API's for different applications.
As you mentioned, IoT devices are becoming more prevalent and making more real-time data available. What are the challenges of collecting all that data? Do you think governments are prepared for the future?
They are not just collecting it but using it. I think in the developing world, there's obviously been a shortage of resources, skills, and people. Hence, we have to try and design data services for that bandwidth-constrained environment. I mean this in many senses of the word; in terms of the human capital as well as the skills, resources, and budgets these kinds of governments have.
I think IoT can help in other areas, but in some, there may be a deluge of data that isn't being actioned. Sources that are low complexity and low cost are actually part of the innovation today. For example, with OpenStreetMap, you know you don't have to worry about hosting as there are over three million volunteer editors and a community there. If a developing country wants to engage with OpenStreetMap, it's a relatively low barrier to entry.
When we think about IoT in the developing world, we're thinking about simple sim card connected devices like weather stations, flow meters, and other kinds of datasets. However, we also consider mobile phone transactions as mobile money is actually very big in East Africa. As people buy water with their phones, they are digitizing a payment that is actually giving you a lot of by-product information. You can begin to see other rural water points working through mobile money transactions, so if there are no sales, presumably, there's no water.
This means you might be able to see the signals for drought and climate change early. When those surface waters dry up, people come to the formal water points so the number of users goes up tenfold. However, are governments really set up to see those flags and to take action on those flags? That's part of the organizational change that needs to accompany any kind of new investment in technology and data.
If you want to hear more about how data is rapidly transforming the world, attend our Big Data Innovation Summit in London, March 21-22.
Why Blockchain Hype Must End


text:
Los Estados Unidos Mexicanos cuentan con 18 denominaciones de origen (DO), otorgadas por el Instituto Mexicano de la Propiedad Industrial (IMPI), que además emite las declaratorias para proteger al producto, registrar la marca y autorizar su uso. No obstante, estas denominaciones no las crea el IMPI, sino que «existen por situaciones de hecho; es decir, primero se usan, son famosas y reconocidas por el público que las consume, y posteriormente, se les protege mediante la declaración correspondiente».

La primera denominación de origen declarada en México fue el tequila en 1974 (DO que gozan 181 municipios repartidos entre Jalisco, Michoacán, Tamaulipas, Nayarit y Guanajuato), mientras que la última fue el café pluma en 2020 (30 municipios de Oaxaca).

Listado

Definición legal
La Secretaría de Economía del Gobierno de México define denominación de origen como: «Nombre de una región geográfica del país que sirva para designar un producto originario de la misma, y cuya calidad o características se deban exclusivamente al medio geográfico».

Ciertos criterios han sido determinados por el IMPI para definir una DO.
Producto de calidad con características únicas que lo diferencian de otras variedades de su especie.
 Estas características son fruto de factores naturales
 El producto está asociado a una región particular del país.

Estos criterios están en consonancia con el Arreglo de Lisboa relativo a la Protección de las Denominaciones de Origen y su Registro Internacional, un tratado internacional de 1958 que regulan estas denominaciones de origen a escala global. Este es el principal, luego además existen otros tratados, como el Arreglo de Madrid de 1891 que regula todo lo relativo a las DO falsas o engañosas que circulan en el mercado.

Crítica
En 2013, el diputado federal Abel Salgado Peña (PRI) puso en evidencia en una carta pública las limitaciones que presentan el actual sistema legal que regula las DO en México, además de la falta de planeamiento económico en lo relativo a las DOs:

Referencias

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Lufthansa planes
Organizers at press conference
Photo: Elior Levy
Lufthansa cancels airline tickets of 'flytilla' participants
German airline informs dozens of passengers that their reservation on flight to Tel Aviv has been canceled at behest of Israel. Fly-in organizers: airline violated international law
AFP|Published: 04.13.12 , 13:21
German airline Lufthansa canceled the tickets of dozens of pro-Palestinian activists scheduled to fly to Tel Aviv on Sunday as part of a mass fly-in dubbed "Welcome to Palestine," the organizers said Friday.
"Dozens of passengers who bought a plane ticket to travel to Tel Aviv on Sunday, April 15, were notified Thursday by Lufthansa that their reservation was canceled at the behest of Israel," they said in a statement.
Israel braces for another 'flytilla'
Police gear to stop 'flytilla' activists at BG Int'l
'Flytilla' organizers: Israel won't determine who enters Palestine
The "flytilla" participants, which consists of some1,500 pro-Palestinian activists from several countries, plan to land in Ben-Gurion Airport on Sunday, and from there proceed to the Palestinian Authority.
Israeli authorities announced they would deny the activists entry into Israel and said they would seek to prevent their boarding by providing airline passenger lists.
"Lufthansa, like all airlines, is obliged by the principle of following the laws and guidelines on entry to the territory of countries to which it transports its passengers," said a spokesman for the company.
"The Israeli authorities have written to several airlines including Lufthansa, and asked them not to fly certain passengers to Israel. Therefore, Lufthansa is obliged to follow this directive," he said.
However, in their statement, the fly-in organizers warned that passengers "will arrive, as expected, at airports this weekend," adding that the move constituted a violation of international law.
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At Long Last, They Are Here !
On 28 June 1917, the First Expeditionary Division, later designated 1st Infantry Division and soon to become known as "The Big Red One" landed at St-Nazaire under the command of General William L. Sibert (1860-1935) in presence of Generals Pershing and Etienne Pelletier standing of the pier. Journalists and photographers and cameramen were also present to immortalize the event. Once the ceremony over, German POW and African American soldiers unloaded the military equipment. The 1st Infantry Division marched to rest camp situated on the outskirts of the city. This division consisted of 28.00 men and included two organic brigades of two infantry regiments each, one field artillery brigade of three field artillery regiments and smaller units. It underwent its baptism of fire on 3 November 1917.
The port facilities of Saint-Nazaire being too small in capacity for the expected amount of tonnage and number of troops of the U.S. Army, the port facilities of Brest, Bordeaux and Cherbourg were also made available to the A.E.F.. The port of Brest was to become the main port of disembarkation for troops and equipment. In November 1917, the U.S. Army installed a military base nearby were more than 7.500 soldiers transited. The capacity of the port was greatly improved as the Engineers built wharves, railways tracks and warehouses, services such as telephone and telegraph were also installed.
A military police station, a hospital, a prison and offices for the YMCA and the American Red Cross were built. The American population was at the time higher than the French in the vicinity. In all, some 804.000 American soldiers disembarked in the port of Brest.


text:
Q: Trying to add ActionListener to JButtons I cannot figure out how to add Actionlisteners to the JButtons, any help would be much appreciated.
public class Translator extends JPanel implements MouseListener, ActionListener {

    private JButton french = new JButton();
    private JButton german = new JButton();
    private JButton irish = new JButton();

    public Translator(){
        french = new JButton("French");
        german = new JButton("German");
        irish = new JButton("Irish");
        setLayout(new GridLayout(2,1));
        buttonPanel.setLayout(new GridLayout(1,3));
        buttonPanel.add(french);
        buttonPanel.add(german);
        buttonPanel.add(irish);
    }

    @Override
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub
    }

    @Override
    public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent e) {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub
    }

    @Override
    public void mouseEntered(MouseEvent e) {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub
    }
}

A: There are plenty of ways to add an ActionListener, to a given JComponent (that supports it's use). I have added some comments in the code snippets, to help explain them a bit better, and some links in the comments for future reference.
1.) If the class implements the ActionListener interface, i.e. the class itself contains the actionPerformed(...) method, then one can do it, in this manner:
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;

public class Skeleton implements ActionListener {

    private JFrame frame;
    private JPanel contentPane;
    private JButton button;

    private void displayGUI() {
        frame = new JFrame("Skeleton");
        /*
         * EXIT_ON_CLOSE is same as putting System.exit(0),
         * which in some sense, doesnot allows one's
         * application to terminate graciously.
         */
        frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);

        contentPane = new JPanel();
        button = new JButton("This is a button.");
        /*
         * This is one way of attaching an ActionListener
         * to the JButton, but the main disadvantage of
         * this approach is, it breaks encapsulation,
         * as you can see the public method, actionPerformed(),
         * is lying free to be accessed by any code outside
         * the scope of the class
         */
        button.addActionListener(this);

        contentPane.add(button);

        frame.setContentPane(contentPane);
        frame.pack();
        frame.setLocationByPlatform(true);
        frame.setVisible(true);
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Runnable runnable = new Runnable() {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                new Skeleton().displayGUI();
            }
        };
        EventQueue.invokeLater(runnable);
    }

    @Override
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
        JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(frame, "BINGO!",
            "Information: ", JOptionPane.INFORMATION_MESSAGE);
    }
}

2.) If one doesn't wants to create unnecessary class files. Then this approach, which uses, EventHandler can be used:
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.beans.EventHandler;
import javax.swing.*;

public class Example1 {

    private JFrame frame;
    private JPanel contentPane;
    private JButton button;

    private void displayGUI() {
        frame = new JFrame("Skeleton");
        /*
         * EXIT_ON_CLOSE is same as putting System.exit(0),
         * which in some sense, doesnot allows one's
         * application to terminate graciously.
         */
        frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);

        contentPane = new JPanel();
        button = new JButton("This is a button.");
        /*
         * This is another way of attaching
         * an ActionListener to the JButton,
         * the main advantage of this approach
         * is, that one does not have to create
         * a new class to handle events
         * More info regarding the use of this
         * approach, can be found on this link :
         * http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/events/generalrules.html
         */
        button.addActionListener((ActionListener)
                EventHandler.create(ActionListener.class
                        , Example1.this, "buttonAction", ""));

        contentPane.add(button);

        frame.setContentPane(contentPane);
        frame.pack();
        frame.setLocationByPlatform(true);
        frame.setVisible(true);
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Runnable runnable = new Runnable() {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                new Example1().displayGUI();
            }
        };
        EventQueue.invokeLater(runnable);
    }

    public void buttonAction(ActionEvent e) {
        JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(frame, "BINGO!",
            "Information: ", JOptionPane.INFORMATION_MESSAGE);
    }
}

3.) If one is more concern about the concept of Encapsulation, then this approach is beneficial:
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;

public class Example2 {

    private JFrame frame;
    private JPanel contentPane;
    private JButton button;

    private ActionListener buttonActions =
                            new ActionListener() {
        @Override
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae) {
            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(frame, "BINGO!",
                "Information: ", JOptionPane.INFORMATION_MESSAGE);
        }
    };

    private void displayGUI() {
        frame = new JFrame("Skeleton");
        /*
         * EXIT_ON_CLOSE is same as putting System.exit(0),
         * which in some sense, doesnot allows one's
         * application to terminate graciously.
         */
        frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);

        contentPane = new JPanel();
        button = new JButton("This is a button.");
        /*
         * This is another way of attaching
         * an ActionListener to the JButton,
         * the main advantage of this approach
         * is, it adheres to encapsulation.
         */
        button.addActionListener(buttonActions);

        contentPane.add(button);

        frame.setContentPane(contentPane);
        frame.pack();
        frame.setLocationByPlatform(true);
        frame.setVisible(true);
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Runnable runnable = new Runnable() {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                new Example2().displayGUI();
            }
        };
        EventQueue.invokeLater(runnable);
    }
}

4.) If one is more inclined towards creation of Anonymous Classes, then this approach can be used:
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;

public class Example3 {

    private JFrame frame;
    private JPanel contentPane;
    private JButton button;

    private void displayGUI() {
        frame = new JFrame("Skeleton");
        /*
         * EXIT_ON_CLOSE is same as putting System.exit(0),
         * which in some sense, doesnot allows one's
         * application to terminate graciously.
         */
        frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);

        contentPane = new JPanel();
        button = new JButton("This is a button.");
        /*
         * This is the fourth way of attaching
         * an ActionListener to the JButton,
         * the main advantage of this approach
         * is, it adheres to encapsulation, the
         * public method remains hidden
         * inside the Anonymous Class
         * More info can be found on this link :
         * http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/javaOO/anonymousclasses.html
         * The main disadvantage of this approach is
         * that it doesnot gives you the privilege
         * of separation of concerns, which can
         * be done using the fifth approach,
         * which is MVC - Pattern (Model-View-Controller)
         * and moreover, it creates a hell lot of classes, in
         * your project, which can lead to extra overhead
         */
        button.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
            @Override
            public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae) {
                JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(frame, "BINGO!",
                    "Information: ", JOptionPane.INFORMATION_MESSAGE);
            }
        });

        contentPane.add(button);

        frame.setContentPane(contentPane);
        frame.pack();
        frame.setLocationByPlatform(true);
        frame.setVisible(true);
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Runnable runnable = new Runnable() {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                new Example3().displayGUI();
            }
        };
        EventQueue.invokeLater(runnable);
    }
}

EDIT:
5.) This approach, includes using Action instead of ActionListener. This is to be used for sharing same functionality among various JComponents, which leads to code reusability
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;

public class Example4 {

    private JFrame frame;
    private JPanel contentPane;
    private JMenuItem showMenuItem;
    private JButton button;

    private Action myActions;

    /*
     * This approach is basically used, when
     * one wants to share the same functionality
     * of different JComponents among each other,
     * without writing redundant codes for each
     * one of those components. Here JMenuItem
     * and JButton are both using the same
     * functionality, to perform the same task.
     * More info can be found on this link:
     * http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/misc/action.html
     */
    private class MyActions extends AbstractAction {
        public MyActions(String title, String desc) {
            super(title);
            putValue(SHORT_DESCRIPTION, desc);
        }

        @Override
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae) {
            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(frame, "BINGO!",
                    "Information: ", JOptionPane.INFORMATION_MESSAGE);
        }
    }

    private void displayGUI() {
        frame = new JFrame("Skeleton");
        /*
         * EXIT_ON_CLOSE is same as putting System.exit(0),
         * which in some sense, doesnot allows one's
         * application to terminate graciously.
         */
        frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);

        contentPane = new JPanel();
        button = new JButton("This is a button.");

        myActions = new MyActions("Show", "A small description");
        button.setAction(myActions);

        contentPane.add(button);

        frame.setJMenuBar(getJMenuBar());
        frame.setContentPane(contentPane);
        frame.pack();
        frame.setLocationByPlatform(true);
        frame.setVisible(true);
    }

    private JMenuBar getJMenuBar() {
        JMenuBar menuBar = new JMenuBar();
        JMenu fileMenu = new JMenu("File");
        showMenuItem = new JMenuItem(myActions);
        fileMenu.add(showMenuItem);

        menuBar.add(fileMenu);

        return menuBar;
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Runnable runnable = new Runnable() {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                new Example4().displayGUI();
            }
        };
        EventQueue.invokeLater(runnable);
    }
}

A: french.addActionListener(an_instance_of_the_class_where_actionPerformed_is);

which, as I can see after the edit, would be this
Also, see this Example and some tutorial text in this corner of the web
I think that the reference to the tutorial and the many examples is highly relevant.

A: button.addActionListener(<your_ActionListener_here>);

In your case, it'll be:
french.addActionListener(this);

If you want to use the same ActionListener for all the three buttons, you can use the getSource() function of ActionEvent e to detect which button was actually pressed.

A: If you are using Java8, you can try this.
JButton french = new JButton("French");
french.addActionListener(new ActionListener(){
    @Override
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae){
        System.out.println("Button french clicked!");
    }
});
french.addActionListener(button -> System.out.println("Button Click listener..."));
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Button Listener Test");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.add(french, BorderLayout.CENTER);
frame.setSize(250, 250);
frame.setVisible(true);

A: Obviously the answer is place this into your addActionListener method.
The addActionListener method takes as an argument an object that implements ActionListener interface, this interface force you to implements/place-in-your-code theactionPerformed method which is the one that is called, when an action is triggered to the component that is assigned.
So, placing this in your method, it will search inside the object you passed, in our case, the Translator object for an actionPerformed method and call it.
this.french.addActionListener(this);

Of course there is a lot of code missing in order to work.
I really liked @Sandeep answer take use of lambda expression.
You can see a full example below.
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;

public class Translator extends JPanel implements ActionListener {

    private JButton french = new JButton();
    private JButton german = new JButton();
    private JButton irish = new JButton();

    @SuppressWarnings("empty-statement")
    public Translator(){
        french = new JButton("French");
        german = new JButton("German");
        irish = new JButton("Irish");
//        setLayout(new GridLayout(2,1));
        this.setLayout(new GridLayout(1,3));
        this.add(french);
        this.add(german);
        this.add(irish);

        ActionListener ac = (ActionEvent ae) -> { System.out.println(((JButton) ae.getSource()).getText()); };
        this.french.addActionListener(ac);
        this.german.addActionListener(ac);
        this.irish.addActionListener(ac);
        this.irish.addActionListener(Translator.this);

    }

    @Override
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
        System.out.println(((JButton) e.getSource()).getText());
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        JFrame jframe = new JFrame("StackOverflow");
        jframe.add(new Translator());
        jframe.pack();
        jframe.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
        jframe.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        jframe.setVisible(true);
    }
}

A: JButton button = new JButton("Button");
button.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
        @Override
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
        //To-Do
        //Button clicked
        });

Hope this helps, it's relatively simple! You just need to add an ActionListener to your desired JButton
To give you a broader idea of how to implement it in a case-scenario where I would like to run a new GUI frame after pressing a button:
startNewFrame.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
        @Override
        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
            System.out.println("Starting new frame");
            SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
                @Override
                public void run() {
                    NewFrame newFrame = new NewFrame();
                    newFrame.setVisible(true);
                    dispose();//Disposes of current frame
                }
            });
        }
    });

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: Why AWS.S3 getObject().createReadStream() doesn't return data while getObject().promise() does? I created a Lambda function that is invoked every time a file is added to my bucket.
I want my Lambda function to read the file that added as a steam from the bucket and save it in another bucket, so I wrote a code using aws-sdk with NodeJS that supposed to do that:
...
try {
    const file = s3
        .getObject({ Bucket: srcBucket, Key: srcKey })
        .createReadStream();
    console.log(file);

    const destParams = {
        Bucket: dstBucket,
        Key: dstKey,
        Body: file,
    };
    await s3.putObject(destParams).promise();
} catch (e) {
    console.log(e);
}

I tested my code by uploading a file to the bucket, and after the function invoked I checked the logs and saw this error:
INFO    Error: Cannot determine length of [object Object]

So I checked the console.log of the file variable and saw that object:
2021-04-02T08:52:40.642Z    3641187f-4d79-44e1-89f4-45c7e1967816    INFO    PassThrough {
  _readableState: ReadableState {
    objectMode: false,
    highWaterMark: 16384,
    buffer: BufferList { head: null, tail: null, length: 0 },
    length: 0,
    pipes: [],
    flowing: null,
    ended: false,
    endEmitted: false,
    reading: false,
    sync: false,
    needReadable: false,
    emittedReadable: false,
    readableListening: false,
    resumeScheduled: false,
    errorEmitted: false,
    emitClose: true,
    autoDestroy: true,
    destroyed: false,
    errored: null,
    closed: false,
    closeEmitted: false,
    defaultEncoding: 'utf8',
    awaitDrainWriters: null,
    multiAwaitDrain: false,
    readingMore: false,
    decoder: null,
    encoding: null,
    [Symbol(kPaused)]: null
  },
  _events: [Object: null prototype] { prefinish: [Function: prefinish] },
  _eventsCount: 1,
  _maxListeners: undefined,
  _writableState: WritableState {
    objectMode: false,
    highWaterMark: 16384,
    finalCalled: false,
    needDrain: false,
    ending: false,
    ended: false,
    finished: false,
    destroyed: false,
    decodeStrings: true,
    defaultEncoding: 'utf8',
    length: 0,
    writing: false,
    corked: 0,
    sync: true,
    bufferProcessing: false,
    onwrite: [Function: bound onwrite],
    writecb: null,
    writelen: 0,
    afterWriteTickInfo: null,
    buffered: [],
    bufferedIndex: 0,
    allBuffers: true,
    allNoop: true,
    pendingcb: 0,
    prefinished: false,
    errorEmitted: false,
    emitClose: true,
    autoDestroy: true,
    errored: null,
    closed: false
  },
  allowHalfOpen: true,
  [Symbol(kCapture)]: false,
  [Symbol(kTransformState)]: {
    afterTransform: [Function: bound afterTransform],
    needTransform: false,
    transforming: false,
    writecb: null,
    writechunk: null,
    writeencoding: null
  }
}

Then, for debugging I tried to do that without steams, so instead of using createReadStream () I used .promise():
try {
    const file = await s3
        .getObject({ Bucket: srcBucket, Key: srcKey })
        .promise()
    console.log(file);

    const destParams = {
        Bucket: dstBucket,
        Key: dstKey,
        Body: file.Body,
    };
    await s3.putObject(destParams).promise();
} catch (e) {
    console.log(e);
}

In this way it worked well.
I have no clue what is wrong with the createReadStream function.
Do you have any idea?

A: Try using s3.upload to upload a stream to s3. It will handle chunking the file and using a multipart upload behind the scenes if needed.
Also if you are just copying the file from S3 to S3 consider using S3 replication or s3.copyObject instead.


text:
Ronit Roy: The audience will accept and enjoy Hostages even on TV
Ronit Roy on his show Hostages, the lockdown and more.
Written by Sana Farzeen | Mumbai | April 13, 2020 9:42:00 pm
Actor Ronit Roy thinks Hostages will make its mark among the TV audience as well (Photo: Instagram/ronitroy).
Hotstar Specials original Hostages is all set to air on television. Starring Ronit Roy and Tisca Chopra in the lead, the web series has been helmed by Sudhir Mishra. An adaptation of the Israeli show by the same name, the series tells the tale of a doctor whose family is taken hostage and she has to make a tough decision– to kill an innocent man or to save her loved ones.
Ronit Roy, in an exclusive quick chat with indianexpress.com, spoke about Hostages making its way to the small screen, and his expectations from the same.
Excerpts from the conversation.
Do you feel the lockdown has helped more people discover Hostages?
The time is such that people will look out for entertainment after they are done with their day-to-day work. Of course, people found it on the web earlier, and now, that it's set to air on Star Plus, all those who haven't watched it will get a chance to see it. Hostages is a popular show and after it airs on television, there would be more curiosity among the audience regarding the new season.
You resurrected your career on Star Plus with Kasautii Zindagii Kay and Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. Does it feel like coming home?
I keep saying that Star and I make a lucky pair. I think they should soon start a new 100-episode show with me.
While Hostages was perfect for a digital medium setting, do you feel the TV audience will also accept it?
It's a very normal thriller. Just like we can have films like War, Uri or Andhadhun doing well together, we can also have a varied range of TV shows. It's not in a language that they would not understand. Also, Hostages is a story of ordinary people in extraordinary situations, which fits our current scenario. So I have no doubt that the audience will accept and enjoy our show on the small screen.
There are a lot of past shows being re-aired, do you have a wishlist of serials you want to see make a comeback?
Honestly, I have never been an avid TV watcher. I never got the time to see it. Traditional television requires appointment viewing, which is not possible for people like us. I do manage to watch a film, or a couple of episodes of a web show while I am traveling to and from set. It's much easier that way.
Kehte hain koshishen kamyaab hoti hain!
A post shared by Ronit Boseroy (@ronitboseroy) on Apr 7, 2020 at 8:08am PDT
Has the lockdown been a much required break for you or are you missing work?
From the time I started doing films in 2016, my work has been kind of sporadic, as we don't shoot everyday. So even last year, I was studying and traveling for three months. This year, till the first week of March, I was shooting constantly, however, I had some free dates in April. I am a reclusive person anyway, so the lockdown hasn't really changed things for me. I recently brought out my saxophone, and have been practising it. I also contribute towards sanitising the house and keeping my kids entertained. Whenever I have some time on hand, I believe in polishing my craft, and study books on acting. I then go back, watch films and shows, take notes of the performances of the mentioned actors. So I have my hands quite full.
Starting April 13, Hostages will air Monday to Friday at 10:30 pm on Star Plus. It also stars Parvin Dabas, Dalip Tahil, Aashim Gulati and Mohan Kapoor among more.
Sana Farzeen... read more
Natasa Stankovic writes an emotional note on the demise of Hardik Pandya's father
Devoleena Bhattacharjee to take Eijaz Khan's place on Bigg Boss 14
TV stars who broke their image on the web space


About Access Ltd is a consultancy that specialises in accessibility. It is based in Hull and works all over the UK as distance is no object. We work on projects of all sizes from the £80 million shopping centre to the half day training session.


Rated 9.4 of 10 in 75 reviews. 14 rooms.
Surrounded by the Malá Fatra National Park, Hotel Rozsutec provides elegantly furnished rooms with free Wi-Fi. The Vrátna Ski Resort can be reached within a 10-minute walk. The hotel features an on-site wellness area. All rooms have a flat-screen satellite TV, a minibar and a bathroom with a shower. Some rooms come with views of the ski area or a balcony. Guests can sample a wide range of Slovak and International dishes at the restaurant. Hotel Rozsutec features a bar. Room services can be requested and a breakfast buffet is served in the morning. The wellness area can be used free of charge and comes with an indoor pool, a hot tub, different saunas and a gym. Billiards and table tennis facilities are provided on site. A ski storage room and the sun terrace can be used by all guests. The village of Terchová is 4 km from the hotel. Žilina can be reached within a 30-minute drive. Free shuttle services are provided and free private parking is available on site.
Urcite si dajte cesnacku, halusky a makove sulance. Dokopy to asi nezjete, ale je to super!
Krasny obraz ako to na severe s podnikanim nevedia. 2x parky a 2x caj za 7€. Chlieb suchy, caj anglicky a horcica ceska. Nulova podpora regionalnej produkcie. Proste hanba....pozdrav z Kosic.
V prevadzke jeden blatovo-ladovy svah, ostatne nepremavaju. Nemozu sice za to, ake je pocasie, ale pytat za to plnu cenu na urovni stredisk v Rakusku nie je v poriadku.
Everything! Very kind stuff, excelent traditional slovak food and greit atmosphere.


text:
Professor John Hatgioannides
Yiannis' Blog
The path of least resistance lures us with the promise of an easy ride; but where does it take us?
I consider myself as a versatile financial economist, a disciple of the opulent and diverse tradition of classical political economy and a fervent advocate of broader and more critical conceptions of rigorous economic theorising. What I consider as the important and socially valuable imprint of my research work departs from the dominant group in contemporary economics that confines itself to a largely asocial and ahistorical mathematical modelling. The eminent German physicist Albert Einstein wrote that "perfection of means and confusion of goals seem to characterize our age".
Despite its deep methodological flaws and half-baked intellectual foundations, the dominant paradigm (since the 1960s) of economics and (since the early 1980s) economic policy itself, solely driven by strong priors on its form/purpose and the mathematical necessity that a pure logical system entails, offered a pseudo-positivist demarcation criterion about what is acceptable as scientific economic theory and what is not: a priori micro foundations equals "theory"; all competing accounts of institutional, social and historical aspects in economics are synonymous to "story telling". As a result, the intellectual cabal of neoliberalism and neoclassical thinking embarked in an ideological cleansing of mainstream economics from its multi facet heritage and holistic alternatives and rendered economics, outside the self-referential professional circuits, into a dismal science.
There is a dire cost in being shut down to publish in the highly rated mainstream economic journals when one objects to the pseudo-methodological pogrom that editors and referees have unleashed in the last couple of decades to a priori curtail scholarly pluralism. I am content that I did never bow to the stranglehold of such an odious academic monoculture.
I believe in what the scientist Rosalind Franklin wrote "you have to endeavour to tackle in your research long and difficult problems rather than merely publishing as many as possible, at best clever papers."
I completed my Doctorate in the roaring nineties when precarious, as the ensuing Great Recession proved, euphemisms like the "Nice", or even bolder, "the Fabulous Decade", "Goldilocks Economy" and the "Great Moderation" were recited by the neoliberal consensus. Still, I was sceptical as to whether the standard economic paradigm of the "holy trinity" of GDP growth, inflation and unemployment management suffices as a snapshot of a rich economy's well functioning. In contrast with the neoliberal mainstream technocracy, I felt that inequality is the missing vital fourth statistic.
The shocks of the interwar years, including the two World Wars and the Great Depression, gave the illusion that issues of capital accumulation and concentration had been solved. In contrast, Thomas Piketty in his Capital in the Twenty-First Century treatise, writes that the data indicate that in the past 30 years the incomes of the wealthiest have surged into the stratosphere (and the higher up in the income hierarchy one is, the greater the increase has been), while the incomes of the large majority have stagnated. This had led to a level of inequality in wealth in the developed world not seen since the eve of the Great Depression. This much is without dispute. Where there is dispute, he emphasizes, is in trying to explain just why the rise in inequality has taken place, whether and to what degree it will continue in the future and, even more importantly, whether it is justified.
My research attempts to explain the why's and the how's behind the soaring inequality. Through my original work with Dr Marika Karanassou on Warrant Economics and, very recently on Warrant's Neoliberalism with Dr Roberto Bande and Dr Hector Sala as well, I have addressed the structural and systemic flaws of modern capitalism that paved the way to the Great Recession. I have elaborated on the anatomy and the apparatuses of the neoliberal, highly-globalised, monopoly/finance mode of resource allocation and price utility. My main argument is that the global fields of a dysfunctional market system have mushroomed into what I called "Warrant Economics for the Free-Market Aristocracy", a power structure of insiders' capitalism. I reflected upon the deep-seated reasons that Warrant Economics has unfolded in two symbiotic tenets: (i) the systemic creation and preservation of inequality and business concentration via Call-Put Policy Options, and (ii) the systemic exploitation of inequality via novel and toxic forms of financial engineering and securitisation.
In co-authored work with Dr Marika Karanassou, Professor Menelaos Karanasos and Dr Hector Sala, I have reflected on the flawed neoliberal economics of the Eurozone as a whole and the genesis and unfolding of the Greek crisis. I have argued against austerianism (mainly targeting the poor and middle classes, fringe groups of a society, the disabled and the elderly) and have written about the precise details of a viable implementation of a parallel currency (without exiting the Eurozone) in troubled member states as a temporary pressure mechanism to halt the tearing of the social fabric.
Together with Dr Marika Karanassou, I have recently developed the Fiscal Inequality Coefficient (FIC), a novel and holistic index, which measures the true progressivity of a given income (and wealth) tax system. I did suggest that the incumbent progressive taxation schemes applied to the wealthiest individuals in advanced economies should be steepened to make the richest echelons of the income and wealth distributions pay a fairer and higher tax. My initial findings, co-authored also with Dr Hector Sala, were covered by Larry Elliott, Economics Editor at The Guardian, who run a full page story which was shared by more than 60,000 times online and was subsequently reproduced in major news outlets including MSN and Yahoo Finance. The research was also brought to the attention of parliamentarians in the UK including the Chancellor, Shadow Chancellor, the Chair of the Treasury Select Committee and its members and the members of the All-Party Groups on Taxation and Responsible Taxation.
In my work with my former PhD student Dr Spyros Mesomeris, on the returns generating process and the profitability of trading rules in emerging capital markets, I presented robust results that cast serious doubts on the weak form of the efficient markets hypothesis, one of the cornerstones of neoclassical finance.
I have also written, predominantly with my former PhD students, about convexity adjustment for constant maturity swaps in a multi-curve interest rate framework (with Dr Nikos Karouzakis) , integrated credit and market risk measurement of interest rate swap portfolios (with Dr George Petropoulos), dynamic modelling of credit risk (with Dr Yang Liu), stochastic evaluation of credit spreads (with Dr Hugh Patience), two-factor valuation of convertible bonds (with Dr Ana Bermudez), yield curve modelling and corporate bond pricing (with Dr George Bezerianos).
Professor John Hatgioannides (Ioannis Chatziioannidis)
Chair in Mathematical Finance
City, University of London, UK
106 Bunhill Row, London EC1Y8TZ
john@hatgioannides.com j.hatgioannides@city.ac.uk