Digital technology has transformed the way we work and where we can work. As more and more teams move towards a global workflow, more and more workers are making the choice to work remotely, otherwise known as telecommuting. With the option and ability to work from home and the increasing popularization of co-working spaces like WeWork, ideas of the traditional eight hour workday within a cubicle have largely dissipated.
In a 2018 global study, Swiss office services provider IWG surveyed 18,000 business professionals across 96 international companies on the evolving perceptions of remote work. From the responses accumulated, IWG reported that 70 percent of professionals telecommute at least once a week, while 53 percent work remotely for at least half of the week.
"If you offer workers the chance to work where they need to be, and not where they are told to go to, it completely transforms their view of the company, they are more productive," said IWG Chief Executive Mark Dixon in a 2018 interview with CNBC.
With these numbers it's clear that telecommuting isn't just a passing business trend and can actually help companies and teams achieve their goals.
However, the benefits to remote work aren't just for companies and organizations. Employees are enjoying the perks on an individual level too.
Perhaps the biggest benefit to telecommuting is the flexibility it grants employees. From more sleep to healthier diets to regular exercise to family time and travel, the ability to freely choose when to get things done has allowed remote workers to achieve a healthy work-life balance.
Plus, being able to step away from your computer and hit the gym can really get your creative juices flowing and grant you a fresh perspective on how to handle the next item on your to-do list.
Flexible scheduling also means you get to work when you feel you're at your most productive. Employees who telecommute are not so much tied down to the 9–5 work day and can instead choose when to work at a time that works best for them.
If you're not so much of an early bird, you can take your time getting the day started and let yourself re-charge your batteries before tackling your agenda. On the other hand, if you find yourself ready to hit the ground running at 6 in the morning, then you can do that too! It's all a matter of riding the productivity wave when and where you feel it, and having the freedom to do it at your own pace.
Working remotely is usually associated with being isolated from the rest of your team. And while this may have been true in the past, technology has allowed us to connect across timezones, borders, and regions conveniently and regularly. With the advent and spread of professional communication platforms like Slack, keeping in touch with your team is easier than ever before.
Setting up a weekly check-in with your team or one-on-one meetings with colleagues are a fantastic way to communicate your progress and your project contributions. Not to mention, individual calls don't always have to be about work. They're also a great place for you to share life updates and can give you the opportunity to connect with your teammates on a more personal level. Doing so will only build team camaraderie and it'll feel like you've been in the office with them all along.
The number of remote workers is only expected to increase as companies untether themselves from the notion of a physical space for teams to collaborate and work together.
Employees are also embracing telecommuting with open arms, as evidenced in Buffer's 2018 State of Remote Work report. Surveying more than 1,900 remote workers from around the globe, Buffer found that 90 percent of telecommuters planned on working remotely for the rest of their careers — a hefty change from the notion that all team members need to be in the same room to get things done.
Thinking of going remote? Then make sure you check out Ruum. At Ruum, we're on a mission to streamline collaboration and project management in the cloud, which means more flexibility for you and your team regardless of where you're located. It's the one place that shows you where your team's at, project timeline progress, and what your next steps should be.


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Q: How to update values in list of type  in F#? I am currently studying F# and at the same time, a bit struggling to get the hang of how discriminated unions and records exactly work.
I'd like to know how I can update some values from a list of type <'T>?
My code
type Position =
| Location of (int * int)

type Ship =
{
    Position : Position;
    Projectiles : List<Position>;
}

I create an instance of a ship:
let aShip =
{
    Position: Location(1,5);
    Projectiles: [Location(1,1);Location(2,5)]
}

Now, I tried to loop over the projectiles, but I get this:
for elem in aShip.Projectiles do
    printfn "%A" elem

// prints out
Location(1,1)
Location(2,5)

But I only like to get the values (1,1) and (2,5) back, how would I achieve this?

A: Discriminated unions can be destructured by providing a pattern with some places in it occupied by identifiers. The compiler will then generate code that tries to match this pattern to the data, and bind data points to appropriate identifiers. For example:
let loc = Location (1,2)
let (Location (x,y)) = loc

For the second line, the compiler will generate code to the effect of "make sure this is a Location, then bind the first int to name x, and the second int to name y"
Alternatively, you can use more verbose match syntax:
let x = match loc with Location(x,y) -> x

For your specific case, this is overkill, but for discriminated unions with more than one case, match is the only way to handle them all, for example:
type Position =
   | Location of int*int
   | Unknown

let xOrZero =
   match loc with
   | Location(x,y) -> x
   | Unknown -> 0

Above examples demonstrate how patterns can appear in let-bindings and within match expressions, but this is not all. In F# pretty much anything that you'd think of as "variable declaration" is actually a pattern. It's just most of the time patterns are trivial, as in let x = 5, but they don't have to be - e.g. let x,y = 5,6
The corollary from the above is that the elem in for elem in ... is also a pattern. Which means that you can destructure the element in place:
for Location(x,y) in aShip.Projectiles do
    printfn "%d,%d" x y

Or, if you'd like to extract the pair as a whole, rather than x and y individually, that is also possible:
for Location xy in aShip.Projectiles do
    printfn "%A" xy

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
HomeForeign PolicyWashington Urges the UK to Repair Relations with France after AUKUS Row
Washington Urges the UK to Repair Relations with France after AUKUS Row
October 18, 2021 Elizabeta Bozinovska Foreign Policy
Angry over British PM Boris Johnson's reluctance to try harder to improve relations with French President Emmanuel Macron after the row over France's submarine deal with Australia, the US diplomats are urging UK to follow its lead and patch ties with Paris, The Guardian reports citing unnamed American diplomatic sources.
Though he stressed in mid-September that the UK is very proud of its very important relationship with France, BoJo later voiced frustration about French complaints following French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian statement that there's a crisis of trust beyond the broken contract.
Le Drian spoke about France's relations with London and Washington who earlier announced the AUKUS defence alliance with Canberra that entailed its exit from a hefty contract with France to construct 12 submarines.
Le Drian stressed that European countries should "put together their own priorities and strategy" and discuss it with the US, that needs to take into account the Europeans' fundamental interests.
The US appeal toward UK comes after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spent two days in France and Brussels trying to repair Washington's relations with Paris and Brussels in the wake of the AUKUS signing.
Diplomatic sources, dubbing the British handling of the Australian cancellation of the French contract on submarines an unforced error, expressed hope that the UK would start thinking more strategically about its relations with Europe.
Meanwhile, Paris is doing its best to capitalise on Washington's political embarrassment, winning concessions from the US over a strengthened European defence pillar inside NATO, increased US cooperation in fighting terrorism in the Sahel, and a recognition of the EU role's legitimacy in the Indo-Pacificduring a special conference to be convened during French presidency of the EU in the first half of 2022.
Sen. Taddeo Launches Bid to Become Florida's First Latina Governor
Russia Suspends NATO's Information Office in Moscow, Its Permanent Rep to NATO
House Armed Services Panel Wants 12 Aircraft Carriers
June 21, 2017 Focus Washington Administration
The Defense panel wants the Navy to maintain 12 instead of 11 aircraft carriers and acquire the vessels at a more rapid pace, committee aides said Tuesday. The Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces calls for […]
Uber Founder Travis Kalanick Resigns
June 21, 2017 Focus Washington Technology
Uber founder Travis Kalanick has resigned as chief executive after pressure from shareholders. His resignation comes following a review of practices at the company and scandals including complaints of sexual harassment. Last week he said […]
Trump Sparks Rush of NAFTA Lobbying
June 21, 2017 Focus Washington Business
Lobbyists are preparing for the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a sweeping trade pact of critical importance to the United States, Canada and Mexico. Officials from the three nations are set […]

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Lecture: Intro to Disability Studies
Dean of Students Office Diversity Lectures
"Beyond Accommodations: An Introduction to Disability Studies," Dan Van Sant, staff advocate at Disability Rights Iowa, will talk about : ableism as a form of oppression, how ableism is deeply entrenched in our culture/language, and the idea that disability is more than accommodations -- it is a way of existing in the world, similar to other forms of diversity. Part of Disability Awareness Week.
Documentary and discussion: How Millennials Can Save America and the World
South Ballroom, Memorial Union
"The Revolution Generation: How Millennials Can Save the World (Before It's Too Late)" is a new film - and book - from Sundance Award-winning filmmaker Josh Tickell. The film explores the challenges millennials and other young people face in solving current environmental, economic, and social crisis. The film features interviews with Corbin Bleu, Senator Bernie Sanders, Rosario Dawson, and Xiutezcatl Martinez.


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Tag Archives: Speak Memory
John Updike on Falling Airplanes and His Faith in a Fallen World
Posted by jrbenjamin in Religion
Archimedes, Autobiography, Biography, Christianity, Church Going, Donna Tartt, Ernest Hemingway, Experience, Faith, G.K. Chesterton, Hitch-22, John Updike, Joseph Conrad, Julian Barnes, Karl Barth, Life, memoir, Miguel de Unamuno, Mortality, Nothing to Be Frightened Of, Philip Larkin, Proof of God, religion, Rudyard Kipling, Søren Kierkegaard, Self-Consciousness: Memoirs, Speak Memory, T.S. Eliot, The Secret History
"Early in my adolescence, trapped within the airtight case for atheism, I made this logical formulation:
1. If God does not exist, the world is a horror-show.
2. The world is not a horror-show.
3. Therefore, God exists.
The second premise, of course, is the weaker; newspapers and biology lessons daily suggest that it is a horror show, of landslides and plagues and massacres and falling airplanes and incessant carnivorousness… Yet this and all bad news merits reporting because our general expectation is for good: an instinctive vision of health and peace underlies our horror stories. Existence itself does not feel horrible; it feels like an ecstasy, rather, which we only have to be still to experience. Habit and accustomedness have painted over pure gold with a dull paint that can, however, be scratched away, to reveal the shining under-base. The world is good, our intuition is, confirming its Creator's appraisal as reported in the first chapter of Genesis.
During that same adolescence, I reluctantly perceived of the Christian religion I had been born into that almost no one believed it, believed it really — not its ministers, nor its pillars like my father and his father before him. Though signs of belief (churches, public prayers, mottos on coins) existed everywhere, when you moved toward Christianity it disappeared, as fog solidly opaque in the distance thins to transparency when you walk into it. I decided I nevertheless would believe. I found a few authors, a very few — Chesterton, Eliot, Unamuno, Kierkegaard, Karl Barth — who helped me believe. Under the shelter that I improvised from their pages I have lived my life. I rarely read them now; my life is mostly lived. God is the God of the living, though His priests and executors, to keep order and to force the world into a convenient mould, will always want to make Him the God of the dead, the God who chastises life and forbids and says No. What I felt, in that basement Sunday school of Grace Lutheran Church in Shillington, was a clumsy attempt to extend a Yes, a blessing, and I accepted that blessing, offering in return only a nickel a week and my art, my poor little art…
My writing here about my religion feels forced — done at the behest of others, of hypothetical 'autobiography' readers. Done, I believe, in an attempt to comfort some younger reader as once I was comforted by Chesterton and Unamuno… But there seems, my having gone this unfortunately far, still this to say: One believes not merely to dismiss from one's life a degrading and immobilizing fear of death but to possess that Archimedean point outside the world from which to move the world. The world cannot provide its own measure and standards; these must come, strangely, from outside, or a sorry hedonism and brute opportunism result — a greedy panicked heart and substance abuse. The world punishes us for taking it too seriously as well as for not taking it seriously enough."
From John Updike's magisterial Self-Consciousness: Memoirs.
Well, it's beautifully written. That'll be your initial reaction to Self-Consciousness. No, let me rephrase: Wow, it's beautifully written. Updike is a writer who pulls the sublime from effortless, conversational sentences, affirming his reflection that "to give the mundane its beautiful due" was the purpose of his writing style. And man, do you feel the power of that impulse in these memoirs.
Typically, a writer's memoir is not really about his or her lived-life. Writers are not boring people, but they often do, when viewed from the outside, lead boring lives. Sure Conrad manned a steamer in the Congo and Kipling was deployed with a battalion in India and Hemingway drank his way through every bullring in Cuba. But that was a century ago. Nowadays, as writing has become largely professionalized, the pulse of a writer's life has slowed significantly. A writer's craft is a solitary and silent one, done with a pen and a pad, at the desk, day after day. So his memoir must concern matters beyond the workaday. Just to stick to some covered on this blog: Martin Amis's memoir is about family; Christopher Hitchens's is about friendship; Nabokov's is about education. John Updike's is about faith (and sex, as he could never avoid the subject).
At the conclusion of one of the finest contemporary novels I've read, Donna Tartt's The Secret History, the young protagonist Richard Papen wonders if he possesses a singular fatal flaw. "I have always mistaken beautiful or intelligent people for good" is his paragraph-long confession paraphrased, an admission which, upon reading, spurred within me a pang of recognition ("I'm busted"). And so too it is with writers. Beautiful prose can hide myriad sins of logic. So it's essential when reading excerpts like the one above (found on pages 230-235) that you do not fall lazily into the ease of the prose, surrendering the critical faculties that such dense epistemology demands.
There is more to say here, but I will leave it for another day. Perhaps for when I post another section from Self-Consciousness. Still, there are two relevant sources concerning Updike's final point about seriousness which may add some flavor to the discussion:
From Nothing to Be Frightened, Julian Barnes's memoir about mortality (see: there's always one unifying theme).
But if life is viewed as… something dependent on a greater reality elsewhere, then it becomes at the same time less valuable and more serious. Those parts of the world where religion has drained away and there is a general acknowledgement that this short stretch of time is all we have, are not, on the whole, more serious places than those where heads are still jerked by the cathedral's bell… On the whole, they yield to a frenetic materialism. [emphasis mine]
There is also Philip Larkin's exquisite poem "Church Going," where the writer wanders into a church and in the final stanza muses on its perennial significance:
A serious house on serious earth it is,
In whose blent air all our compulsions meet,
Are recognized, and robed as destinies.
And that much never can be obsolete,
Since someone will forever be surprising
A hunger in himself to be more serious
Not to put too fine a point on the issue, but I think the contemporary American Church, with its Hollywood aesthetic and prosperity gospel, has lost much of that crucial, validating seriousness.
Updike, who died in 2009, would have been 82 this week.
G.K. Chesterton's defends his faith from cynics
Updike and a host of other thinkers reflect on whether we can simply assume God's existence
Philosopher Alvin Plantinga dissects how evolutionary psychology intersects with Christian docrine
The Odyssey Home
battle, Chris Hedges, classics, conflict, epic poetry, Greek, home, Homer, Iraq War, literature, Military, New York Times, Odysseus, poetry, PTSD, Speak Memory, Stanley Lombardo, The Iliad, The Odyssey, Trojan War, Vladimir Nabokov, War, Western Civilization, Writing
SPEAK, MEMORY—
Of the cunning hero,
The wanderer, blown off course time and again
After he plundered Troy's sacred heights.
Of all the cities he saw, the minds he grasped,
The suffering deep in his heart at sea
As he struggled to survive and bring his men home
But could not save them, hard as he tried—
The fools—destroyed by their own recklessness
When they ate the cattle of Hyperion the Sun,
And that god snuffed out their day of return.
Of all these things
Speak, Immortal One,
And tell the tale once more in our time.
By now, all the others who had fought at Troy—
At least those who had survived the war and the sea—
Were safely back home. Only Odysseus
Still longed to return to his home and his wife.
Book I, Lines 1-18 of Homer's Odyssey (Stanley Lombardo's translation).
These lines were composed in the 8th century BCE. Other than the Iliad, the work which these words set off is the oldest extant work of Western literature.
As a reminder to those who've forgotten their 10th grade English curriculum, the Iliad is the story of the final few weeks of the Trojan War. The Odyssey is the decade-long tale of its hero, Odysseus, as he returns home to his wife and son in Ithaca, where he is king. Odysseus is noted for his brilliance, perseverance, and cunning; he devised the Trojan horse, the winning ruse which, after ten years of warfare, led the Greeks to "plunder Troy's sacred heights".
The larger narrative of the Iliad and Odyssey is an immortal one, vibrating with harsh and immediate lessons for our own age. Philosophically, it relates the pitfalls of pride, the capriciousness of fate, the pulls of romantic love, and the truth of Oscar Wilde's great dictum to be careful what you wish for — you may get it. On a practical level, however, it tells of war's horrors and pities, its moments for heroism and glory, and the fact that, oftentimes, the settling of the dust marks only half the battle, because it's the return home that often proves most perilous. It was true in the day of Patroclus, and true in the age of PTSD. As Chris Hedges noted, in his New York Times review of the Lombardo translation, "every recruit headed into war would be well advised to read the Iliad, just as every soldier returning home would be served by reading the Odyssey."
Some brief notes about SPEAK MEMORY:
The opening words are essential. Homer's poems would not have been codified on tablets or parchment; instead they were orated to an audience and set to some form of rhythmic music, such as the slow beat of a griot's drum. For this reason, it's important to try to hear his words spoken, either by yourself or by a performer such as Stanley Lombardo, who penned the above translation and reads them in the video below.
"Speak Memory" is also crucial because although we don't know whether Homer was an actual person, folklore tells us that he was real and that he was also blind. So the "memory" part was something he would have only been able to express through his tongue. What's more, like Shakespeare, he may never have existed; like Milton, he may never have actually seen the works over which we now pore.
Third, "Speak Memory" is notable because it is also the title of Vladimir Nabokov's memoir. In a strong field, one of the most compelling titles I know of for an autobiography.
Watch Lombardo perform this portion of the Odyssey, as well as an extended discussion about the work, here:


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Iranian Air Force takes delivery of 3 Saeqeh fighters
May 14, 2012 - 15:46
TEHRAN – Three new-generation Saeqeh (Lightning) fighters have been manufactured and delivered to the Air Force, Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi told the Persian service of the Fars News Agency on Monday.
He also said that new domestically designed fighter jets will be manufactured and delivered at the planned time.
The Saeqeh is an Iranian built single-seat jet fighter, derived from the U.S. Northrop F-5. It is a joint product of the Iranian Air Force and the Iranian Defense Ministry. It is the second generation of the Iranian Azarakhsh fighter. Saeqeh fighters were tested successfully on September 20, 2007.
Vahidi added that the project to design and manufacture the radar-evading Sofreh Mahi (flatfish) unmanned aerial vehicle is well underway.
In March 2011, the Iranian Air Force announced that Iran had designed and tested a scale model of the Sofreh Mahi and said that a full-scale version of the aircraft would be manufactured in the near future.
Iran unveils its own fighter jet


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The class exemptions provide a standard form of exemption to apply to common classes of transactions. This will reduce significantly the need for applications for specific exemptions for particular transactions. The terms and conditions of the class exemptions are designed to ensure that the underlying purpose and intent of the Code are fulfilled. If the terms and conditions of the class exemptions do not fit the circumstances of a particular case, a specific exemption may need to be sought.
transactions involving lenders and receivers, proxies and corporate representatives, sharebrokers, underwriters, nominee companies and bare trustees, executors, trustees and administrators of deceased estates and intra-group transfers.
Another class exemption relates to the requirement to send a copy of the securities register of the target company to the Takeovers Panel.
The fundamental rule in the Code prevents any shareholder from becoming the holder or controller of more than 20 percent of the voting rights in a Code company except in a manner permitted by the Code.
However, if a transaction falls within one of the class exemptions, increases that might otherwise be in breach of the fundamental rule will be exempted if certain conditions are met.
The purpose of the class exemptions for buybacks and allotments is to facilitate these transactions. Transactions of this type can inadvertently lead to a breach of the fundamental rule.
The policy of the class exemptions is to ensure that people are not breaking the law because they have inadvertently breached the Code. However, conditions apply to these exemptions to ensure the policy of the Code is complied with.
the increase is eliminated (wholly or, in some cases, in part only) within six months and the additional voting rights are not exercised before that elimination (clause 5).
the control percentage of the person immediately before the decrease (clause 6).
Company A holds 30% of the voting control in Company B. Company B buys back a number of its shares with the result that A's voting control reduces to 20%. Within six months of that decrease, A may increase its voting control to 25% (see (a) above).
Acquisitions by associates in the six months following the decrease will also need to be taken into account in calculating the thresholds permitted by this exemption.
the allotment is made as a result of a pro rata offer to all shareholders, or under a dividend reinvestment scheme, and the increased voting control is eliminated (wholly or, in some cases, in part only) within six months and the additional voting rights are not exercised before that elimination (clause 8).
If a person's voting control decreases as a result of a Code company's pro rata offer or dividend reinvestment scheme, clause 9 permits that person to top up its voting control to the previous level within six months. Increases in voting control by the shareholder's associates in this period will need to be taken into account.
the control percentage immediately before the decrease.
Company X holds 53% of the voting control in Company Y. Company Y makes a non-pro rata allotment with the result that X's voting control reduces to 50%. Within six months of that decrease, X may increase its voting control back to 53% (see b. above).
Lenders (including persons holding security interests for lenders) and receivers appointed by lenders, are exempted from the fundamental rule if they acquire control over voting rights in a Code company under the terms of a security interest. This is subject to the condition that the security interest is held in the lender's ordinary course of business and as part of a bona fide transaction for lending of money or provision of other financial services that does not have any purpose of circumventing the Code (clauses 11 and 12).
There are consequential exemptions for those who control lenders, their associates and associates of lenders or receivers.
Subject to certain conditions (including that no consideration is paid to the appointer), persons who are appointed as corporate representatives or as proxies for meetings of Code companies are exempted from the fundamental rule (clauses 13 to 16). There are consequential exemptions for those who control proxies, their associates and associates of proxies or corporate representatives.
Subject to certain conditions, sharebrokers are exempted from the fundamental rule when, in the ordinary course of their business, they acquire control over Code company voting rights, so long as they exercise those rights only in accordance with the instructions of their clients. There are consequential exemptions for those who control sharebrokers and associates of sharebrokers (clauses 17 and 18).
an acquisition on intestacy (clauses 20 to 22).
Nominee companies and bare trustees are exempted in the same way as executors and trustees if they hold Code company voting rights as a result of acquisitions in the ordinary course of their business and they do not control those voting rights (clauses 23 and 24).
There are consequential exemptions for associates of nominee companies and bare trustees.
Clause 25 exempts intra-group transfers within wholly-owned groups from the fundamental rule.
The target company in a takeover is required under rule 42(2) of the Takeovers Code to provide the offeror with a copy of its securities register. This exemption provides that there is no requirement on the target company to also send a copy to the Takeovers Panel, provided that certain conditions are complied with.
This is a broad summary of the class exemptions. If you wish to rely on the Takeovers Code (Class Exemptions) Notice 2001 you must refer to the specific exemption that is applicable.


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Serena Williams Natalie Portman Launching Women's Pro Soccer Team
Serena Williams And Natalie Portman Are Launching A Women's Pro Soccer Team
Andrea Swindall - Pop Culture Writer	July 21st, 2020
Several big names in Hollywood are joining forces to bring Southern California a pro women's soccer team. According to People, the group, called Angel City, is working on establishing the first pro team in L.A. by 2022.
Lead investors on the project include Natalie Portman and Alexis Ohanian, Reddit co-founder and husband to Serena Williams. Williams is part of another investment group affiliated with the team, along with Jessica Chastain, America Ferrera, Eva Longoria, Jennifer Garner, Uzo Aduba, and Lilly Singh. Also involved are soccer legends Abby Wambach, Julie Foudy, Mia Hamm, and Shannon Boxx.
In a statement about the new National Women's Soccer League team, Natalie Portman said, "Today we take an exciting step by announcing the first women majority-owned and led ownership group. I am thrilled by the opportunity to partner with this incredible group of people to bring a professional women's soccer team to Los Angeles."
She adds, "Together, we aim to build not only a winning team on the field, but also to develop a passionately loyal fan base. We also hope to make a substantive impact on our community, committing to extending access to sports for young people in Los Angeles through our relationship with the LA84 Foundation."
"Sports are such a joyful way to bring people together, and this has the power to make tangible change for female athletes both in our community and in the professional sphere."
There is no word yet on what the team name or logo will be.
Natalie Portman,Serena Williams


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Bay Area: Rain totals continue to rise from…
Bay Area: Rain totals continue to rise from January storms
People wait for a bus on San Pablo Avenue near 63rd Street as rain falls in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
By Mark Gomez | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: January 20, 2017 at 5:43 a.m. | UPDATED: January 20, 2017 at 8:01 p.m.
Mother Nature's seemingly endless supply of January rain continued as the Bay Area woke up Friday morning to another wet commute, which dumped more than 2.5 inches in the Santa Cruz Mountains and caused more roadway flooding and closures.
Showers are expected into Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
As of 8 a.m., there were some staggering six-hour rainfall totals in the Santa Cruz Mountains, including Soquel at 2.75 inches. Many other cities throughout the Bay Area received nearly an inch or more of rain through 4:30 p.m. Friday, including 1.25 in Santa Rosa, .95 in San Francisco, .82 in San Jose and .84 in Oakland, according to the weather service.
Friday morning, residents who live along the San Lorenzo River woke up to the sound of a siren sounding, warning of fast-rising waters.
Theron and Cassie Miller, who live along the river in the Felton Grove neighborhood, have become accustomed to the warnings. When they woke up, the Millers said they heard the sounds of a rushing river. They put on their parkas and walked down to check out the water level.
After seeing the waters below the river bank, the Millers believed they would be OK.
"You get used to it," said Cassie Miller, adding that Friday marked the third time this winter the flood siren has sounded. "This is the most it's happened in a long time. It's been quite a wet season."
At 10:18 a.m., the weather service canceled the flash-flood warning, stating waters have receded in the San Lorenzo River.
The weather service also issued a flash-flood warning for the West Little Llagas Creek through Morgan Hill, which came close to flood stage. The warning was canceled just before 9 a.m.
There were also several reports of roadway flooding throughout the Bay Area, according to the California Highway Patrol.
A tree fell on Highway 17 north of Redwood Estates Road at 5:21 p.m., closing all southbound lanes and one northbound lane, according to California Highway Patrol.
In Castro Valley, a person was injured when a large tree fell on a car around 4 p.m. Friday in the area of Greenridge Road and Cold Water Drive, according to Alameda County Fire.
Castro Valley: Crow Canyon Rd is closed to traffic btwn Greenridge Rd & Cold Water Dr due to a tree falling on a car. One adult w/ injuries pic.twitter.com/FbnDb4TvVS
— Alameda County Fire (@AlamedaCoFire) January 21, 2017
The storm system moved through the Bay Area "quite rapidly," said Steve Anderson, a meteorologist with the weather service. "It's also dropping a lot of rain in a short amount of time and causing some problems out there."
Ben Lomond in the Santa Cruz Mountains reported .94 inches of rain during a one-hour period ending at 5 a.m., according to the weather service.
"That's torrential," Anderson said.
Reading this on your iPhone or iPad? Check out our new Apple News app channel here and click the + at the top of the page to save to your Apple News favorites.
As the heavy rains clear, continued showers are expected to linger into Saturday morning with a likely wetter system arriving late Saturday into Sunday.
Bay Area weather: Showers trail off, another storm brewing for Friday
"King tides" flood low-lying coastal regions in the Bay Area through Monday
Snow on tap for northern Sierra, light showers possible over Bay Area in next few days
California has topped last season's rainfall. Will trend continue in 2022?
Authorities identify two found dead in submerged car on flooded roadway in Millbrae
The next storm, which will exit the area Monday, is expected to deliver rainfall totals ranging from an inch to 2.5 inches in most urban areas, said Brian Mejia, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. The storm may have a bigger effect in the Santa Cruz Mountains and other southern coastal locations, as opposed to the North Bay, which has received the brunt of the January storms.
The January storms have sent rainfall totals across the Bay Area surging above normal for this time of year. Through Friday at 4:30 p.m., Santa Rosa has received 34.78 inches of rain (184 percent of its average total) since the rainfall season began on Oct. 1. Other rainfall totals include San Francisco at 16.64 inches (142 percent of normal), Oakland at 14.72 inches (141 percent) and San Jose at 8.99 inches (127 percent).
The storms are also expected to bring more snow to the Sierra Nevada, where the snowpack level is at 168 percent of normal. The statewide Sierra snowpack, the source of one-third of California's water supply, has more than doubled since Jan. 1 when it stood at 64 percent.
On Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center in Maryland delivered its one-month weather outlook for the state, favoring below-normal precipitation and above-normal temperatures for the Northern California coast and most inland areas.
Staff writers John Woolfolk and Jason Green contributed to this report.
Bay Area Storm
Mark Gomez | Breaking news reporter
Mark Gomez is a breaking news reporter for the Bay Area News Group.
Follow Mark Gomez	@markmgomez
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It is being described as a celestial phenomena that is taking place after three decades time.
The lunar eclipse to take place on Wednesday will be most visually appealing.
The eclipse will display a triple line-up of blue moon, supermoon and total lunar eclipse.
The phenomena is very rare as there hasn't been a celestial lineup like this since 1982 and there will also not be any such occurrence until 2037.
The totality of this eclipse is expected to last more than an hour and NASA has been planning to provide a live stream of the moon from telescopes in California and Arizona.


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Shackles Off My Feet: IF The "Chosen People" Curse Completes In 2019? Then What?
Michael Erevna
Just the investigation into the identity of the "Chosen People" in the Bible causes immediate push back by many so called Christians. The very act of investigation causes people to ferret out Scripture that says all are included and while this Scripture is true, it does not preclude the identification process of the classified "Chosen People" in the Bible. These are a people who had their identity erased and as an ethnic group removed to foreign lands with a yoke around their necks.
And He said unto Abram, "Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years.  -- Genesis 15:13
Before I continue let me reiterate I am not encouraging division or endorsing any groups that promote hate. I have seen the slick style (which works on weak and uneducated minds) of some other people out there who attempt to characterize this subject matter as Black supremacy, which is really a joke in America. They seemed to be threatened by the fact the Most High even designated a people as "chosen." If anything these people are attempting to change the gospel to support their own racial supremacy. That is their own little red wagon to drive…not mine. We are ALL part of the body of Christ!
With that being said let's clarify the truth in the Scripture where it says all are included in Christ, so there will be no debate there. What it does not tell you is who exactly the "Chose People" are because they were set apart in ancient times and received special favor from the Most High and because of their arrogance (and stupidity) received a 400 year generational curse from the Most High. This curse exiled the "Chosen People" from their land and banished them to slavery throughout the 10 Kingdoms of the Earth.
Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.  -- Colossians 3:11 King James Bible
There are two distinct periods in the Bible which require differentiation regarding the Israelites. One is a 430 year period of captivity/slavery where an entire ethnic group famously escapes the clutches of Pharaoh Ramsey. This escape was led by Moses, where the Book of Exodus, states, "37 The Israelites left Rameses to go to Succoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, plus all the women and children." This historical narrative was complete at this time and is distinctly separate from the 400 year curse in the Book of Deuteronomy.
Curses of Deuteronomy 28 – Complete Illustration
The curse in Deuteronomy is still over a people in modern times and there is a checklist to define which ethnic groups matches the Biblical curse criteria. All races have a rich and detailed history and surely you would know if there is a match. How many races qualify as being "shipped" as slaves to the 10 Kingdoms? The country with the "eagle" would be the worst country to be shipped to as slaves. In modern times this country can only be America.
Slavery in America began when the first African slaves were brought to the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619, to aid in the production of such lucrative crops as tobacco. As American slavery became institutionalized it progressively matured into a horrific inhumane period in American history. In conformance with the curse in Deuteronomy the slaves had their history erased, education suppressed, were chained, beaten, raped, murdered, were reviled, toiled in fields with no fruits of their labor, and were force fed mistranslated Bible verses to ensure docile behavior from a higher power.
Goodbye Uncle Tom (Italian: Addio Zio Tom) is a 1971 Italian film directed by Mondo film documentary directors Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi with music by Riz Ortolani. The film is based on true events in which the filmmakers explore antebellum America, using period documents to examine in graphic detail the racist ideology and degrading conditions faced by Africans under slavery. Because of the use of published documents and materials from the public record, the film labels itself a documentary, though all footage is re-staged using actors. Though the film is presented as a documentary, it is more of a historical drama or docudrama because of its fantasy framing device of the directors travelling back in time combined with the re-staging of historical events.
The Emancipation Proclamation, was signed January 1, 1863, which ended the slave industry after 244 years. This did not end the institutional slavery after erasing a people's history, denying them education, and the ability to generate wealth. In essence invisible shackles were perpetuated by a system to ensure the "Chosen People" were oppressed and racism was institutionalized to deny the "Chosen People" equal opportunity. Racism is the by product of slavery and as long as racism exist, as does slavery. My point is even today we can see the effects of a people never made whole, as afforded to the American Indians, Japanese Americans, and the Ashkenazi Jewish peoples.
The descendants of the cursed "Chosen People" were shipped into slavery to all the Kingdoms and not just America. The thing is America was set apart as the Kingdom where the most brutal form of slavery would be deployed upon a people. There is no secret that some slave owners where aware of the Hebrew origin of the slaves and there are historical markers in America illustrating this point. The "Chosen People" in America being slaves can all be dispelled if another people can authenticate their ethnic group fits the curse.
Currently, there is no other ethnic group can make this claim. Not even the Ashkenazi Jewish people in Israel. Prior to this the Ashkenzai Jewish people migrated from country to country and in some cases were instructed to leave. The curse in Deuteronomy did not afford the "Chosen People" the opportunity to leave slavery and it is said they will one day return to Israel. So who are those people claiming to be the "Chosen People" taking up residence in Israel?
These are questions that prophecy will sort out over time. What we can deduce is, American slavery started in 1619, which would make the expiration date of the curse in 2019. This would mean the Most High will cease spiritually influencing the inhabitants of the Earth to punish the "Chosen People." If you think about it, anyone oppressing the "Chosen People" were just playing their role. It is the Most High who personally cursed the "Chosen People." The "Chosen People" are in a bit of a quandary because as a whole they do not know their history or identity.
This was erased 400 years ago and though some today are town criers for the "Chosen People" identity match many are ignorant. The Scripture is clear in Deuteronomy 30:2, "2 And shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; and this is a problem. The "Chosen People" in America are lost and Census Bureau data reveals a high percentage of Black males between the ages of 18 to 24 are either in jail, gay, or dead. Churches have become barren and the Word is not embraced or practiced by the majority.
If Black Americans are truly related to the "Chosen People" this is not a good look. It also says in 2 Chronicles 7:14-14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Here is another major problem because Hip Hop is now the church of the majority of the modern Black culture. Their pastors are now Jay Z, Future, and Migos. The Most High, is waiting for the "Chosen People" to be humble and pray to Him.
Is it possible the "Chosen People" will be in limbo until they seek the Most High collectively? Normally, when a people is lost a prophet is sent to them to teach the ways of the Most High. Will someone be raised up to play this role? If the curse ended today how would this affect the "Chose People?" I have noticed many people are gung ho to be designated as part of the "Chosen People", but this was a special affection gained by obedience to His will, in ancient times. The modern day "Chosen People" are a far cry from a state of obedience.
In my opinion, only a supernatural intervention can fix what took 400 years to break. Materialism is the god of today's culture. Success is defined by where you sleep and what you drive. Not by how you pray and how you live. The "Chosen People" in America suffered through the worst slave system on the Earth and now they appear to be emerging to a curse-less life. What happens next solely depends on the spiritual education of their people and their ability to practice the spiritual teachings and laws in the Bible. What we know is if the timelines are correct then 2019 will begin a new era for the "Chosen People" in all the Kingdoms. Stay woke.
Black Chosen peopleChosen people
Michael is the Editor-in-Chief of RevelationNow.net fulfilling his true passion of researching and writing about Biblical scripture, ancient text, and esoteric mysteries. His book "Thy Sun, Thy Rod, and Thy Staff" is available on Amazon.com. He has appeared on "In Search Of..." with Zachary Quinto and other radio appearances.
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Chat: Matthew Kory
Welcome to Baseball Prospectus' Monday April 23, 2012 2:00 PM ET chat session with Matthew Kory.
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The "Daily Hit List" and "Out of Left Field" author stops by to take your questions in his inaugural BP chat.
Matthew Kory: Hello, BP readers! It is I, Matt Kory, the (as the above probably notes) author of your favorite columns/features here at the Prospectus. I'm here to take your questions. We can talk about anything. The Red Sox, Albert Pujols, Archduke Ferdinand, electronic survivor-shot, cats, or really what ever. Let's dive right in!
Brandon5tewart (Miami): What are the chances that the Red Sox reach out to JD Drew, need a solid bat in the lineup!
Matthew Kory: Considering they just traded for Marlon Byrd, I'd say fairly limited. Drew was so bad not to mention injured last year that, at his age, I'd be surprised if he got another shot in the majors. Which is kind of a shame. I've always been a fan of his.
Preston (Washington, DC): Did you have a winning record in Electronic Survivor Shot when you were younger?
Matthew Kory: As a matter of fact, I did. I'm the one who figured out how to shoot through the windows into the back yard and if I got to the tree around the house without taking fire you were toast, my friend. Toast.
k3o3r9n0 (Santa Clara): Since you asked.... how would you have assassinated the Archduke to avoid getting caught by the Austrian authorities?
Matthew Kory: I'm not sure avoiding getting caught was really the issue, but since you asked... I'd probably have run him over with my go-cart. (I have a go-cart in this fantasy.)
Tim (NY, NY): What would surprise you more?: Bobby Valentine coaching the Red Sox on April 1, 2013 or Youkilis playing elsewhere on April 1, 2013.
Matthew Kory: I'm not sure either of them is likely to happen. If the Red Sox continue to play they way the they've been playing, Valentine may not last very long whether or not he deserves to. Youkilis has an option year on his deal after this one, so getting a player like him on a one year deal (at, I believe $13 million) isn't so bad. That assumes Youkilis isn't in the midst of falling apart. I don't think he is, but there are some who might. But you asked a question and I haven't answered it yet. So: I'll go with: if Valentine is still the Red Sox manager next April I'll be (mildly) more surprised.
Chester Trout (Dallas): Knock Knock: I eat mop.
Matthew Kory: You go, girl.
jr (mass): Hi matt thanks for the chat! How would u fix the red sox pitching and bullpen? That is the issue with this team no? Bard to the pen???thanks
Matthew Kory: You're quite welcome. I'm excited to do this. Fixing the Red Sox? That's like solving the problem with the environment. There are lots of things that go into it. Yeah, the pitching has been bad, no question (I wrote about that today (http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=16617) but the hitting has been (forgive me) very hit or miss. They score nine or 12 runs then they one or two. But on the whole, the pitching has been the problem.
I think they can get better performances out of some of the guys they have in the pen now (Aveces and Morales aren't this bad). Pulling Bard and Doubront from the rotation would improve things, but that's cutting off your nose to spite your face. Or pulling your ear off because you're hungry. Or something of that nature involving body parts. I don't think it fixes the greater problem.
The answer is, I think, they just have to get better performances out of most of the guys they have. I wouldn't move Bard. I like him in the rotation. Now the Sox need good innings and he'll give you more of those in the rotation than out of the pen.
Besty (Las Vegas): What team is going to win the Stanley Cup?
Matthew Kory: Probably not my Capitals. Other than that it's an interesting field of teams, all with some problems. The Bruins sure could win again. I'll go with the Blues. They seem to have it, as the kids say, going on.
Derek (Washington, DC): ...but seriously. Are you surprised by the Washington Nationals pitching staff success this year so far?
Matthew Kory: Well, yes and no. They've got a lot of talent there in Gonzalez, Zimmermann, and Strasburg. That's a formidable top three, no question about it. I think they may be a bit over their head right now, but this is probably a better team than some of us (me) thought. Now a question for you: how come people aren't coming out to the park more? The Nationals are in first place. I don't think the DC baseball team has been in first place this late in the year since probably 1924 or something.
HalfStreet (Fairfax VA): I love the Daily Hit List, at least now that the Nats are near the top. If they don't start hitting, though, I don't see that as sustainable. It appears that the Nats are trying to get Tyler Moore to play LF so he can provide some of the needed pop. Assuming that some of that translates as it has every time he has moved up, would it make sense to have him learn LF in the bigs so that we no longer have to see Xavier Nady or even Roger Bernadina?
Matthew Kory: Thanks! The Hit List is fun to write, so I'm glad you're enjoying it. I understand we are endeavoring to add comments soon so that should make it even more interactive.
I agree the Nats will need some more offense if they want to make the next level, proverbially speaking. My guess though is that any additional offensive boost will come in trade. Unless you think Bryce Harper can play in the majors now. I'm dubious of that, but I'd bow to Kevin Goldstein if he has a different answer.
David (Fredericton NB Canada): Now that the AL East seems to be a dog fight how will the Blue Jays depth and youth give them an edge over the long season?
Matthew Kory: It could, but I'm not sure I buy that they are much deeper than their AL East competition. If they are going to stay in the race long term they're going to need their pitching to hold up, and I'm not sure that is likely to happen. Still though, you have to like what the Jays are doing over all if not this year.
Mike (Philly): What's wrong with Matt Moore? Slow start or should we start to worry/move on to Bauer?
Matthew Kory: Well, his strikeouts are way down and his walks are way up, but we're talking about 19.1 innings at this point. I don't think that is nearly enough to determine if something is wrong with him or not. I'll go with "nothing is wrong with him" until I hear otherwise.
Jason W. (It's a secret): What if Bobby Valentine just put the fake mustache back on? That's the most obvious solution to the team's ills, right?
Matthew Kory: There is nothing in the world that isn't improved by fake mustaches. That includes real mustaches as well.
Eric Johnson (Costa Rica): Albert Pujols is now enduring the 2nd longest HR drought of his career. The 1st longest being during last season if I remember correctly. Is this an age regression that we are seeing?
Matthew Kory: It could be. I think it's important to remember though that when we talk about peak years and age regression we're talking about the whole of baseball history. Albert Pujols is a massive exception. Could he be taking a step down? Maybe, but I think it's still early. If you can trade for him in your fantasy league for cheap, do it now.
LindInMoskva (DC): The Nats were in first place on 7/24/2005.
Matthew Kory: This is true. I stand corrected. That team didn't have the talent that this team does though.
Brandon5tewart (Miami): Now the burning question we all have been waiting for... Cake or Pie?
Matthew Kory: You're going to hate me... it depends. Carrot Cake is the bee's knees. But generally I consider pie more decadent. I love both... ?
toadhunter911 (Eastpointe. MI): Has Justin Verlander shown anything so far that leads you to believe he can NOT reproduce the season he had last year?
Matthew Kory: He hasn't, but he's a pitcher so he's saddled with the inherent infallibility (did I spell that right?) of his kind. His arm/shoulder/elbow could explode at any moment. I don't expect it to, but that's always the danger. He's pretty awesome though and so far has been every bit the force he was last year.
9mangame (ATL): Is Colby Ramus going to break out this year? Seemed like he had/has all the right stuff; power, speed, etc. Thanks for the chat!
Matthew Kory: I'm not sure what you mean by break out. I have him at .255/.311/.473 so far this year which is pretty outstanding for a center fielder if he keeps it up.
tim (seattle): Hi, I'm afraid to go outside my house because I might suffocate from the analysis of the proper way to use Jesus Montero. Isn't it simple? Shouldn't he be the backup catcher and DH when he is not backing up cather? So, at the most, he plays catcher twice a week and his bat is in the lineup everyday. Maybe I can be a GM.
Matthew Kory: I'll be honest and say I haven't seen Montero play catcher. If he's as bad back there as everyone seems to say maybe the answer is just put him at DH, let him mash, and stop complaining about it (not that you were). He'd be a much bigger asset if he can catch, but the possibility exists that he just can't do it.
What a beautiful day here in Portland, OR. I hope it's as nice where you all are.
R.A. Wagman (Toronto): Matthew - could you provide some parenting advice? I just became a father last Wednesday and need to find new and creative ways of juggling that in amongst the watching of baseball, hockey, writing about the latter and having a day job. What do you got?
Matthew Kory: Congratulations, R.A.! Well, it's complicated. (Duh.) When the little one is still young you just put on the game you want and sit there holding them. When they get bigger and can run around, that's when it gets really tough. So enjoy it now before they're chewing on electrical wires and pooping on the kitchen floor. Or maybe that's just my kids.
MartinRiggs (Toronto): In a 12 team mixed H2H league. 26 man 6x6 scoring. I have Jose Reyes and Dee Gordon, Gordon doesn't see much time, and I need SP help. What should I expect in return for Reyes and what for Gordon? I have been told for Reyes a top tier SP + B bat/B arm...people have scoffed at such offers though. Thinking Gordon could get Lohse type pitcher. Thoughts?
Matthew Kory: OK, I'm really not much of a fantasy guy, but I'm learning. Reyes is a huge talent and plays in a big market. You very well could get some real pitching talent for him. As for Gordon, it probably depends on how desperate/smart the other people in your league are. I'd stay away from Lohse though. He's been excellent this year, but nobody, not Roy Halladay or Justin Verlander, is as good as he's been.
Matt (not as nice as Portland): What is it with the Boston media and fans that cannot grasp that the problem is 95% the players and not the manager?
Matthew Kory: Hard to say. Some writers just like to stir stuff up. I'm not sure why. I guess they just want page-views or attention. Maybe it's a conscious effort to drum up interest in their papers. Be careful about painting with too broad a brush though. The guys at the Providence Journal do an excellent job as does Alex Speier at WEEI. I'm big fans of all their work.
Valentine hasn't covered himself with glory, but the problem is almost always the players. As I said above and has been said elsewhere, the bullpen has been sub-atrocious and the starters outside of the guys they're considering moving to the pen have been pretty bad as well. I think there is a zero percent chance though that the team is this bad. They've been '62 Mets bad so far.
JuanBobo (The Sun): Do you think one of the big 3 of Arizona's pitching prospects will be moved by season's end to address current or impending holes? If so, who do believe who be most likely to be moved?
Matthew Kory: Arizona is middle of the pack offensively but losing Chris Young obviously hurts a lot. I'm sure they'll look to add offense as the season continues, but who they give up will depend on the talent coming back. Personally I wouldn't trade Trevor Bauer period.
A lady just walked by on the street crying. I always wonder about stuff like that.
jcjohnson (Washington, DC): To answer your question about the crowds at Nats Park, I'd compare it to the crowds for the Caps at Verizon Center. There's a loyal core, but the masses are slowly realizing that this is a talented team ready to win. If they have success, you'll see regular sellouts, just like the Caps have for the past several years.
Matthew Kory: That's a good and reasonable answer. Being from the DC area (though I haven't lived there in a long time) it pains me to say it, but I think that's probably true of all their pro sports teams. People like to except the Redskins from that, but football is such a different animal in the way the tickets are sold and the number of games.
Tim (Seattle): How does it feel to be the master of the chat?
Matthew Kory: It feels pretty awesome, actually. I've long been a BP reader and I've participated in lots of chats by asking questions, but, and I probably shouldn't say this, this is way more fun.
And there goes a guy playing an accordion. Right on the street. Oh, Portland, you weird weird place you.
Karl (Chicago): Brandon Belt comp at his career peak?
Matthew Kory: I'm so not the guy to answer this question. So on that basis I'll go with part John Olerud, part Babe Dahlgren, and part sad clown. I'll let you pick which parts.
halbent (Boston ): If Red Sox hovering near .500 at trade deadline, is there a possibility that the team gets blown up? Youkilis/Ortiz/Ellsbury/Crawford/Beckett/Bucholz/anyone else not named Lester, Pedroia or Gonzalez on the block? What do you think. I say start right now. :)
Matthew Kory: Yeah, though I don't see it being that extreme. I can't imagine them trading Ortiz or Ellsbury. I think Crawford is pretty much untradeable. Buchholz is either a part of the Sox future or he's untradeable too. I could see them moving Youkilis and some supporting players if they're around .500 at the deadline though.
David (Fredericton NB Canada): Who do you see making the most impact this year, in 3 years, in 5 years: Brett Lawrie or Jesus Montero?
Matthew Kory: I'm tempted to go with Lawrie because he can play defense. If Montero figures out how to catch then he's huge, just huuuuuuuuuuuge, but from what I know that probably isn't going to happen.
Steve M. (Winnipeg): Could Atlanta be the best team in the NL this year? Or does Fredi screw it up? Thoughts?
Matthew Kory: Winnipeg! I've always wanted to go there. Seriously. How do you like living there?
Sure, Atlanta could blow everyone away. They have a pretty impressive offense and run differential going on now, but it's early. Chipper hasn't even got hurt yet (again). As for Fredi, well, he's a manager and as bad as people seem to think he is at in-game decision making (and lineup decision-making for that matter) if the team is that good he probably can't screw it up. Please don't read that as a challenge.
jr (mass): Pooping on the floor? What??? My kids too lol jk. R a wagman congrats cherish the time they grow up fast! Replace bobby this quick? Really
Matthew Kory: I'm not the only one!
I don't see them replacing Valentine unless he decides to go. Not this early. I do think the Red Sox front office and ownership expected the team to compete this year though, so if they aren't doing that then firing the manager is always an easy thing to do even if it isn't actually a solution.
HalfStreet (Fairfax VA): Although I have been a fan of the Nationals since the beginning in 2005, I have not always been able to make it to a lot of games each year. I expect, though, that many fans will intend to see more this year, as I do. It will show up as an overall improvement. And hey, it's a lot more than the Expos drew.
Matthew Kory: I know attendance picks up when school lets out (and a friend of mine just wrote me to say he just took his daughter to a game the other day) so maybe that'll improve things. I just know what DC summers are like so... I don't know. It's a nice park though and a compelling team.
HalfStreet (Fairfax VA): BTW, no matter how weird Portland is, it needs to pick up its game and population. As the US population grows, we will need a team in Portland and another somewhere else to give us 32 teams and even numbers in the AL and NL. Oh, and Fairfax has the Tuba Guy, who walks 5 miles through town every day playing a sousaphone with propellers and messages all over it.
Matthew Kory: I'd love to have a team out here in Portland. The economy won't support it now. The barriers to entry are too huge. They'd have to build a new stadium (the old Triple A park is now a soccer stadium) and considering the weather it would probably have to have a retractable roof. The expense would be dramatic. I'd go to a ton of games, but for now I'll probably have to make the trek up I-5 to Seattle to get my baseball fix.
I'll one-up your random weird guy story: there is a blue guy in Portland. He's blue. His skin is blue, his hair is blue. He's blue. Top that.
Steve M. (Winnipeg): Living here is okay. Drivers are awful though. And if you can deal with the temperature extremes it can be a pretty fun place for a small big city. Just stay away from the North End
Matthew Kory: I've lived on both coasts of the US and spent time in Florida and Massachusetts and all over. Everywhere I go people complain about two things: the weather and the drivers. Everywhere. I suspect they complain about the weather in southern California where it's perfect. In fact, I know they do.
Winnipeg is on my list of places to visit though. Now that they have the Jets maybe I head up there one winter. How's the beer?
Chester Trout (Dallas): Qualitatively, how different is the current Red Sox mess than the team that, for 3 months last year, was basically an 800-pound gorilla with an Uzi? The September collapse lingers in people's minds, but that team was nearly unbeatable during the summer.
Matthew Kory: The Sox were ridiculously good from May through August. I believe (from memory) they went something like 80-41 over that time. The thing is, this team isn't really that different. They're missing Papelbon who is the biggest name (how about that contract?) to go, but other than that they're very similar. A few different role players, some different names in the pen and in the dugout, but I think that's what makes the way they're playing so perplexing. This is pretty much that team.
I think they'll start winning soon. They're too good to be this bad. Everyone is too good to be this bad. If they don't though, you're going to see some impressive fireworks.
Jarrod Parker (Oakland): Will I be fantasy-worthy right off or will I need adjustment time? And, they told me to get that T-John surgery because it is now almost necessary. Doesn't sound right but the arm feels good! thx...
Matthew Kory: I guess that depends on the depth of your league. Will you need to play him immediately or can you just hold on to him and see how he does?
Chester Trout (Dallas): Basic one since it's yr first BP chat: Your favorite MLB park(s)?
Matthew Kory: I love Fenway. Whatever-they're-calling-it-this-week in San Francisco is an amazing place to see a game. The berm in San Diego might be the most awesome way to spend $4 or however much it costs to sit there (and they sell vegetarian hot dogs!). Camden Yards is a wonderful place to see a game too and you can usually move up to better seats.
One place I've always wanted to go is Kansas City. It just looks really... nice.
Mike Fuji (Ottawa, ON): How long would you give Eric Thames in the Blue Jays outfield before considering a change? He is already being benched in favour of Rajai Davis/Ben Francisco vs. LHP and his power has yet to show up vs. RHP. Blue Jays fans should know that AA is pretty committed to giving Eric Thames a fair chance to keep the LF job. However, if his current offensive production is determined to be roughly in the neighbourhood of his ceiling and his defence remains painful to watch, how long will it be until they give the major league at-bats to Snider who has offensive upside for days and can actually play above average D in LF. He's not going to learn to hit breaking balls in the thin air of Vegas, so the choice for me is obvious. I'd honestly only give him 3 more weeks, but I'm admittedly partial to Snider. What do you think is a reasonable sample size to allow AA to show players he didn't mess with Thames and gave him the fair shot that he was promised?
Matthew Kory: You wrote so much I had to answer it.
I think it depends on what AA thinks. I know that's a terrible answer, but with this kind of sample size I think you have to fall back on scouting. Can he hack it at this level? I don't know. The other thing is that the Jays are tied for first place. Are they going to try to stay there? If so they might need to get some offense at the position. If they're going to play for next year then maybe you try to give the young guy some ABs and hope he gets it. That's probably what I'd do.
David (Fredericton NB Canada): Do the Texas Rangers win 120 games? Seriously they are loaded and firing on all 12 cylinders! Not fair as the rest of the league (maybe not Detroit) has a sixpack under the hood..
Matthew Kory: The Rangers are crazy good, no question about it. The baseball season is a long one though, so injuries will play a role. How hurt is Adrian Beltre? If he's out for a long time how much defense will they lose by playing Michael Young there? There will be some inevitable downturns in performance as well. Josh Hamilton is good, but he's not .418/.438/.776 good.
I don't mean to rain on Rangers fans parade. The team is crazy good.
Chester Trout (Dallas): How's it feel to spend your afternoon rooting like crazy against a Boston team, then your evening rooting like crazy for a different Boston team?
Matthew Kory: It's odd, I grant you that. (the question refers to my pro-Red Sox and anti-Bruins stance) But Go Boston/Down With Boston!!
Charlie (Bethesda): I think DC has the transient issue - but the stadium is also pretty tough to get to from the NW Maryland suburbs, which also happens to be one of the most affluent areas. That being said, there isn't a ton of baseball tradition here, the Senators left before anyone under 40 was born. Give it some time, I think they'll draw more and more as the years go on. This team is going to be good for quite a while
Matthew Kory: That's the hope, isn't it. DC doesn't have that downtown core like some of the other East Coast teams do. But they're building up the area surrounding the new Nats Park (and pushing out some long-time residents to do it, which is another issue) so I imagine as more people move into the area and density increases that could help attendance too.
LoyalRoyal (Kansas): Rumor has it Jordany Valdespin is being called up. Do you see him carving out a role in that offense or is it just a short-term move? Thanks..
Matthew Kory: Considering who the Royals have at shortstop, he probably isn't any kind of drop off. But Yuniesky Betancourt is the very definition of a low bar to jump over.
Matthew Kory: Well BPers, that is going to do it for me. I have to head home and help the wife with the kids. Let me say though that it has been an absolute pleasure chatting here with you all today. This has been a blast. I hope the powers that be let me out of my cage again soon. Thanks!
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text:
Retired Assistant Commissioner Elvis Weaver to receive King's Fire Service Medal
Recently retired Fire Chief, Assistant Commissioner Elvis Weaver is among four outstanding Antiguan and Barbudan Nationals, who will be honoured in the King's New Year's Honours for 2023.
St James' Palace in the United Kingdom announced on Saturday, that King Charles has given orders for Antigua and Barbuda Retired Assistant Commissioner of Police, Elvis Weaver to be awarded the King's Fire Service Medal for services to the Fire Department of the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda.
On Thursday 22 December 2022, ACP Weaver officially retired from the Police Force, having given over forty-three years of unbroken services to the nation of Antigua and Barbuda.
A ceremony was held in his honour at the Multipurpose Cultural Center, where Commissioner Atlee Rodney and several other officers, friends, and family members took the opportunity to thank Weaver for his contributions to humanity.
Also among the honorees is the General Manager of ABS TV\Radio, Mrs. Erna Mae Brathwaite who is appointed as an Ordinary Member of the Civil Division of the Order of the British Empire, MBE for services to Youth and Community Development.
Dr Leon Errol Cort is being appointed as an Ordinary Commander of the Civil Division of the Order of the British Empire, CBE for services to National Development.
Antigua and Barbuda's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Her Excellency Karen-Mae Hill is being appointed an Ordinary Officer of the Civil Division of the Order of the British Empire, OBE for services to Youth and Community Development.
Governor General His Excellency Sir Rodney Williams has congratulated the 2023 honourees.
Brixtonian December 31, 2022 At 9:11 pm
Another worthless UK COLONIAL trinket 🤮 – why not an Antiguan commemorative medal 🥉 or honour instead?
And why not?
Hopefully, Mr Elvis Weaver (and any other nominees) won't travel around Antigua with any MISPLACED 'heirs' of arrogance. Tarl!
BWOY, BARBADOS GOT IT RIGHT!
🎶GEH RID AH DEM AS WELL, 🎵GEH RID AH DEM AS WELL 🎶 GEH RID AH DEM!!!🎵
SHERFIELD BOWEN SHOT TESSA BARTHLEY January 1, 2023 At 9:35 am
Wicked January 1, 2023 At 9:04 pm
Hear lies, he said he tried to be the best leader he could, motivating, the men etc. He is a badminded, selfish, lier and you name it. If he was such a good person why at his luncheon on the 22 December none of his colleagues said a word on his behalf? He post of 43 years service in the Department but what is his legacy?.. The Auditors Report on the Fire Dept. Under his command is not forgotten.


text:
La Commissione per la cultura e l'istruzione (CULT) è una commissione permanente del Parlamento europeo.

Competenze
In base al regolamento del Parlamento europeo la commissione per la cultura e l'istruzione è la:

Presidenti

Note

Collegamenti esterni

CULT

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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text:
2.300 venues in Red to ask for help - News
Venues urge government support for the live events sector
Last night, 2300 buildings of thousands of cities across more than 25 countries lit in Red in support of Global Action Day.
The #WeMakeEvents campaign is calling on governments to offer tangible support for a live events sector that has been one of the hardest-hit industries during the Covid crisis.
Last week, the UK's Chancellor Rishi Sunak overlooked the sector in announcing a new job support' scheme that created further confusion by stating that employees must be in 'viable' jobs in order to benefit from it.
The organisers of the #WeMakeEvents campaign said, "We welcome the announcement of the new job support schemes in the UK, which will provide a measure of relief for our industry. However, with the increased restrictions that have been announced, it looks unlikely that we will be able to return to work in a financially viable way within the next six months," a statement read. This means that the majority of businesses in our sector will not be able to generate sufficient revenue to support their contribution towards employees' salaries, nor will they be able to contract in the huge self-employed community within the industry."
The campaign said that it will continue with its activity to put pressure on the UK government to put adequate support in place for a sector that employs more than a million people and contributes billions of pounds each year to the national economy.


text:
Former Blizzard boss discusses the death of Titan and the birth of Overwatch
By Ian Boudreau 2019-06-26T15:25:13Z
"We failed to control scope."
(Image credit: Blizzard)
Mike Morhaime, one of Blizzard's co-founders and its former president, was on hand for the Gamelab conference in Barcelona, and gave a talk that spanned his career at the company. Morhaime discussed why Blizzard cancels about half of the games it starts, and the icy reception fans gave to the announcement of Diablo Immortal in November.
Eurogamer has the full breakdown on the talk, but one part that sticks out is Morhaime's comments on Project Titan. This was meant to be a groundbreaking new MMO, changing the landscape the way World of Warcraft had done years before. But Titan grew too big and ambitious for even Blizzard to handle.
"We failed to control scope," Morhaime said today. "It was a brand new universe, and it was going to be the next generation MMO that did all sorts of different things, it had different modes. We were sort of building two games in parallel, and it really struggled to come together."
Morhaime and other studio leaders had to make the tough decision to pull the plug on Titan, which Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan has said came with a "horrific" sense of failure after years of successful Blizzard franchises.
But it was from the wreckage of Titan that Overwatch was eventually built.
"We thought we could make a really compelling game with much tighter scope control," Morhaime said. "And I think it was probably one of the best decisions that we made. We took something that wasn't going to ship for a very long time, might never have shipped, and turned it into an awesome game."
Indeed, Overwatch has been a resounding success for Blizzard. But it's hard not to wonder what might have been if Titan had eventually reached players. Morhaime says, though, that Blizzard's philosophy is only to ship "great" games—a message the company took from the success of the original Diablo after multiple delays in 1996.
"The lesson that we took from that is that it's way more important that the game is great—it's way less important that you hit the date," he said.
Mike Morhaime
PC Gamer is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.


I had grand plans of finding a perfect shot to reflect the day, but in the end madness and wet weather combined to deny me any more than a few figs stuck in the boardwalk. None the less the red berries do give some sort of vaguely Christmassy tone... don't they?
Ha ha, sure. nothing says Christmas like...these berries.
Merry Christmas to you and yours Peter.


With the ticketing service in place, the companies involved in natural gas imports to Poland no longer need to arrange the storage of mandatory stocks of natural gas on their own. The total volume of gas stocks kept by PGNiG on behalf of other companies amounts to nearly 370 000 MWh (about 33 million m3).
Under the law, natural gas importers to Poland are required to keep the mandatory stocks of natural gas in storage facilities located in Poland or countries that are a party to the agreement on the European Economic Area. One way to satisfy this statutory requirement is to sign a so-called ticketing service contract, ordering another entity to keep the mandatory stocks in a storage facility on its behalf. The Minister of Energy decides about the release of the mandatory stock.
Natural gas stocks maintained by PGNiG on behalf of other entities will be stored in Gas Storage Poland facilities, located in Poland. Appropriate storage capacity has already been allocated by PGNiG, and gas stocks have been injected.
"PGNiG keeps the mandatory stocks of natural gas because of its own imports, but it also owns the commercial stocks. Based on the injected commercial stocks we have offered the ticketing service under competitive conditions", commented Maciej Wozniak, Vice-President of PGNiG Management Board, Trade. "In essence, this means that we make some of the gas we own already injected in the storage facility available to the importers, providing them with comprehensive services in terms of gas stock management and logistics. As a result our counterparties do not have to go through complicated logistic process, and are able to focus on their core business instead", he added.


For nearly a decade, residents and officials have battled Pioneer City's largest landlord over trash, crime and blight - with little success.
In their bid to clean up Arwell Court, one of Anne Arundel County's most dangerous streets, they have pursued Mohammad Zuberi through state and federal courts, through nuisance claims, liens and bankruptcy.
The latest push: a lawsuit by the county Health Department, based on more than 1,000 alleged code violations on Arwell Court that include rodent infestations, rotting wood and malfunctioning plumbing.
But little has affected Zuberi, who owns 30 homes on Arwell Court - and more than $3 million in property holdings across the region, according to the Columbia resident's 1998 bankruptcy filing.
"To say that he is the biggest problem over there is not to overstate it," says Anne Arundel County Assistant State's Attorney Thomas J. Fleckenstein. "An absolutely, astronomically enormous problem."
In Pioneer City, Zuberi is not the only landlord accused of neglect; two other Arwell Court property owners face Health Department lawsuits. Even his harshest critics acknowledge he is not solely to blame for problems on Arwell Court - a street so troubled, officials at nearby Fort Meade won't let soldiers spend housing allowances there and federal officials won't redeem rent subsidies there.
But many say that without pressing Zuberi, it will be impossible to improve the community, which looks more like West Baltimore than western Anne Arundel.
"You can't keep up the neighborhood when you have one street with 30 houses that keeps going down," says longtime Arwell Court property owner Robert Farmer.
Zuberi, an engineer-turned-real estate entrepreneur, owns about 70 properties in all of Pioneer City and about 15 other properties in the region, bankruptcy court records show.
Although he declared Chapter 13 personal bankruptcy in 1998 - he has since converted it to a Chapter 11 reorganization - those properties remain his primary income. His residence in Dorsey's Search, Columbia, is assessed at $270,000.
Zuberi says the county unfairly blames him for Arwell Court's problems.
"I've been a landlord for 30 years. Nobody's ever made a claim against me," he said in a recent interview.
Zuberi says he takes care of his tenants "just like they were my own family" and fixes problems promptly. "If I don't, I don't get the rents, do I?"
Lengthy legal battles suggest otherwise.
In 1995, the state filed a nuisance claim against Zuberi for failing to screen tenants, many of whom were selling drugs. But by the trial date, the evidence had "unraveled," according to prosecutor Trevor Kiessling Jr., and the case was settled with Zuberi admitting no wrongdoing and promising to screen tenants better in the future. Though neighbors say they were demoralized, Zuberi says the state "cleared" him and its case was weak from the outset.
In 1996, when Zuberi wouldn't shorten a fence that was higher than neighborhood rules allowed, he was sued by Warfield Condominium Association No. 3, which governs the street. He lost the trial, and a judge ordered him to pay the association's $23,000 attorney's fees. He shortened the fence, but court papers show he never paid the fees, now part of the bankruptcy case.
In 1998, after Zuberi stopped paying Arwell Court condo assessments, the association took out liens on his properties. But just before the foreclosure sale, he filed for bankruptcy. In court records, he lists $3.6 million in assets and $3.2 million in liabilities. Warfield remains one of Zuberi's largest creditors, with more than $80,000 in claims.
In the recent health department lawsuit, Zuberi agreed to create a list of all necessary repairs with health inspectors by mid-July and fix them by mid-October. But officials say he skipped several appointments. And when inspectors completed the list, Zuberi declared few items violated health standards. He also says the code is ambiguous and few of the alleged violations affect life and health.
A week of mediation was fruitless; a district court hearing on the repairs is expected to begin in November. This month, county attorneys served Zuberi with another lawsuit claiming he owes close to $200,000 in civil fines for failing to comply with orders to make repairs.
Police are concerned, too, because several drug seizures on Arwell Court were at homes that Zuberi rents out.
"He's the biggest property owner, and we can't get him to work with us," says county spokeswoman Pamela Jordan, who knows Zuberi from her years in the zoning office.
"If he were a more engaged landlord, and more concerned with improving the quality of life in the community, I think there would be a big difference."
Zuberi says he has worked with the county and has even offered to help the county's office of law update the health code. "Where they said there was rotting wood, I changed it," he said. "Where there was peeling paint, I painted."
Dione Rodman, who lived at 1848 Arwell Court for more than a year, waited months for Zuberi to fix the gaping hole in her bathroom ceiling; she says it collapsed in May while her 3-year-old son was in the room.
Other holes in her home were never patched, letting rodents into her kitchen. Old appliances stayed in her yard for months before they were removed. Some windows have no screens.
In May, Rodman paid only part of her rent because Zuberi hadn't fixed the ceiling. By June, she had an eviction notice.
She fought it, because finding a new home was difficult. Rodman, 22, came to Zuberi because she has a drug conviction on her record and heard he wouldn't check her background. She says he didn't even ask for a Social Security number - and she paid rent in cash. Her case is now incorporated in the 88-page list of alleged violations that the health department cited.
"I was desperate. I didn't know it would be this bad," says Rodman, who moved out of her Arwell Court home this month as the eviction process began.
Rodman is not the only one with complaints. Bridget Lovick, who planned to move into one of Zuberi's Arwell Court homes this summer, compiled a long list of needed repairs and brought it to one of his court hearings. She says conditions were so bad that she left before unpacking her first box.
Zuberi's hold on Pioneer City dates to the 1970s, when the community of affordable condominiums was built. So named because Pioneer Drive bisected it, the $30,000 brick-front homes appealed to low-income workers and investors alike.
Farmer, a retired NASA engineer and home improvement contractor, bought nine Arwell Court homes. Pasadena businessman David Blanch bought three. Retired Marine Lt. Col. Kent Leonhardt bought five on Arwell Court and 10 more throughout Pioneer City. All still own property there.
At first, they had no problems finding responsible, credit-worthy tenants. Affordable homes were so scarce in Anne Arundel County that prospective tenants started bidding wars.
"I never had a vacancy," Leonhardt recalls. "If somebody left, somebody was there the next day."
Zuberi bought several homes in those early days, and few complained about him then.
By the 1980s, the community had changed. Crack cocaine infiltrated the streets. Gunshots were more frequent. By 1990, Arwell Court lost a solid tenant base when the Army would no longer let soldiers at Fort Meade, less than a mile away, spend housing allowances there.
Desperate homeowners sold quickly to the few willing buyers. And Zuberi was one of the most willing. Property records show he bought 15 units during a single week in 1994, seven of them on Arwell Court. He paid less than $25,000 apiece.
With so many aging properties to manage, other landlords say, Zuberi seemed unable to keep pace with repairs. He says the problems stemmed from a difficulty finding tenants.
"Even you wouldn't want to go to Arwell Court if you are sane in your mind," he says. "Everybody you ask there, it's very visible they want to move out."
Amid the legal wrangling, Zuberi calls the condo board "extremely jealous little people."
He adds, "I own 20 percent of the units. They hate me."
Instead of fighting him in court, Zuberi says, the board should invest in a security company to patrol Arwell Court. And far from trying to control the street, he says, he would sell his homes there "to any donkey who comes up with the money."
In July, Zuberi told District Judge Vincent Mulieri that he was broke and asked to rent out his vacant properties - the most unlivable on the list, according to health inspectors - to supplement his income. The judge declined.
Despite that claim, Zuberi's filing lists about $3 million in rental real estate assets. He owns four cars. And he can keep business expenses low by relying on contract laborers instead of a steady staff, occasionally hiring down-on-their-luck tenants for maintenance jobs.
That practice spawned problems in January, when a tenant-turned-employee threatened to attack Zuberi because he hadn't been paid. According to court records, when Zuberi tried to drive away, the employee threw a brick into the car window, cutting Zuberi's face. The employee pleaded guilty to malicious destruction of property.
The long-running legal fight and Zuberi's bankruptcy have frustrated residents and other Pioneer City landlords.
"The reason that most people file for bankruptcy before a foreclosure sale is that they can't pay the liens and want to keep the property," says Kathleen Elmore, the Severna Park attorney who has represented the association against Zuberi. "It's not that he couldn't pay. It's that he wouldn't pay."
Zuberi and his lawyer still dispute that he owes the money.
"We and the residents are trying very hard to get him to do what's right. But it's very frustrating," Elmore said. "For the most part, they don't have any money to fight him. They're working their butts off just to keep their homes."
If the failed 1995 nuisance case demoralized Arwell Court's property owners, the bankruptcy filing only deepened the despair. Leonhardt, the career soldier, began to lose faith.
"The government writes all these laws, telling us what we have to do, and yet they're not enforcing them in the most extreme cases of violating the law," he says. "I think Zuberi thinks he's above the law."
As lawyers wrangle over his bankruptcy and the long list of repairs, yet another squabble has begun - over plans to turn Arwell Court's fetid, decrepit pool into a community center.
New Beginnings United Methodist Church wants to buy the pool, closed for eight years, and turn it into a recreation center offering health services, computer training, religious outreach and basketball courts.
The board is several votes short of the majority needed to approve the plan. If Zuberi would vote with them, the Rev. Cynthia Belt says, they could start building immediately.
But Zuberi says he's against the idea because the pool, owned by the community condominium association, belongs to all denominations. "I'm not signing [the plan] because I don't believe in it," says Zuberi, whose property makes him a major power in the association.
Activists and tenants who filled an Annapolis courtroom for a June 6 health department hearing did not let him forget their anger over the pool.
"Why won't you support the center? Why are you against the children?" former Zuberi tenant Glenda Gathers shouted as other residents gathered.
Even after a sheriff's deputy dispersed them, Gathers and her group chased Zuberi, who shielded his face from news cameras with a file folder, to the parking lot seeking an answer.
Today, many residents and neighbors are encouraged by the health department's resolve in the latest lawsuit. They hope that, with the county at his heels and the bankruptcy court looking over his shoulder, Zuberi will soon begin repairing the Arwell Court homes. Maybe one day, he'll vote to support the community center plan.
Standing at the pool on a sweltering day, Belt says she's praying for it: "No one can be a stumbling block forever."


WASHINGTON (AP) _ U.S. intelligence officials are worried that economic crisis and ethnic tensions in nuclear-armed Ukraine could lead to a breakup of the former Soviet republic.
CIA Director R. James Woolsey said Tuesday that secessionist forces in Ukraine might appeal to Moscow for support. That would put further strain on already uneasy relations between Ukraine and Russia, he said.
In an oral review of key trouble spots around the world, Woolsey put special emphasis on what he called a ″potential crisis″ in Ukraine, where a significant minority in some regions populated by ethnic Russians favor secession.
Woolsey did not specifically refer to a reported new U.S. intelligence analysis of Ukraine, but his remarks echoed the study's main theme: economic distress and ethnic tensions could lead to a partitioning of the nation and to conflict with Russia.
″The celebration of Ukrainian independence has given way to disillusionment as a result of economic mismanagement and political drift,″ Woolsey told an open hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
″Reform has been nonexistent, energy shortages have become a way of life, the inflation rate for December was 90 percent and nearly half of Ukraine's citizens are living below the poverty level,″ he said.
Woolsey also expressed concern about economic distress - especially the threat of hyperinflation - in Russia. On the prospect of ever-increasing rates of inflation in Russia, he said: ″If it even begins to occur it would be a very heavy blow″ to President Boris Yeltsin's efforts at democratic reform.
Woolsey said a further sign of trouble in Ukraine was the outcome of a recent election in Crimea, the only region in Ukraine where ethnic Russians comprise a majority.
A pro-separatist candidate who has endorsed Crimea's eventual reunification with Russia won nearly 40 percent of the vote in the first round of a presidential race and is expected to win the runoff election next week, the CIA director said.
″Any move toward secession will lead to confrontation between the Ukrainian and Crimean leadership,″ he said, adding that the secessionist forces probably would appeal to the Russian government for support.
That would be a dangerous development, particularly in view of Ukraine's possession of an estimated 1,800 strategic nuclear warheads. President Leonid Kravchuk agreed during President Clinton's recent trip to Kiev to turn over all the nuclear weapons to Russia, but the plan has yet to be implemented.
Indeed, Woolsey noted pointedly that the U.S.-Russia-Ukraine nuclear accord is being heavily criticized by hardliners and nationalists in Ukraine, and is being examined by the Ukrainian parliament.
The Washington Post reported Tuesday that a comprehensive new U.S. intelligence study, known as a National Intelligence Estimate, forecasts that Ukraine's worsening economy will lead to ethnic conflict that will provoke the nation's partition into two states and create a new dispute over the nuclear weapons.
Woolsey was not asked specifically about the Post report. When pressed by Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., for a more straightforward estimate of whether Ukraine was headed for disaster, Woolsey said he could only do that in a closed session.


Actress Shruti Haasan is on a promotional spree for her film Behen Hogi Teri which hit theatres on June 9, 2017. The actress was sapped at a Philips event held at Gurugram on June 9, 2017. Shruti, being the brand ambassador of Philips, launched a new product by Philips Hue during the event.
Apart from endorsements, the actress is busy promoting her film Behen Hogi Teri which also stars Rajkummar Rao. The actress was recently snapped at a screening event which was also attended by sister Akshara Haasan. The bond between the two sisters was clearly visible at the screening event as they posed for the cameras.
Shruti ,at the Philips Hue event, looked gorgeous in a black skirt and a white shirt. The actress was all smiles as she interacted with the media and launched the new product. Shruti was last seen in the film Rocky Handsome which also starred John Abraham.


Viwinco windows prices are at the lower cost range of the vinyl replacement market. Viwinco windows are often compared to companies sich as Silverline, Vinylmax, and MI.
The Edgemont uses a very narrow vinyl frame. The double hung has a U-value of 0.30, a DP rating of 35, and an SHGC of 0.26, all okay performance numbers. The AI of 0.09 is fairly good for the price. A Solarban 60 Low-E glass package comes standard. It features fusion corner welds, a stainless steel Intercept super spacer, and a tilt lock mechanism.
Compare to the Slimline Series from Harvey.
The Cambridge is Viwinco's most popular window. The performance numbers are essentially the same as the Edgemont, with a U-value of 0.30, a DP rating of 35, a 0.09 AI, and an SHGC of 0.26. It has the same glass package and locking action as well as most of the same features.
Compare to the Silverline 9500 series. Find more on Silverline windows prices.
Viwinco makes the Ocean View for coastal areas that need a window for hurricanes or severe storms. The window was originally made for CertainTeed and then bought by MI. With the laminated glass package, the sound transfer rating is 34.
Compare to the PGT 2200 series.