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Microsensor-Fitted Locust Swarms? Sci-fi Meets Conservation
NEW DELHI, Sep 19 2016 (IPS) – Every November, India's Gahirmatha beach in the Indian Ocean region develops a brownish-grey rash for 60 to 80 days. Half-a-million female Olive Ridley turtles emerge out of the waves to lay their eggs, over a hundred each. For the sheer numbers, this arrival is hard to miss.
However, knowledge about this IUCN's endangered species' exact migration route across oceans has remained fragmentary for conservationists seeking to protect its globally declining population owing to destruction of habitat, global warming and trawl fishing.
As pressures from climate change, ecosystem loss and wild life crime threaten biodiversity and wildlife around the globe, scientists are responding by harnessing the power of sophisticated space technologies.
Migrating songbirds, beetles and dragonflies can soon be hooked up to space satellites helping to predict natural disasters and the spread of zoonoses – diseases that jump from animals to humans like swine flu and avian influenza. Radars will help locate poachers through infrared, detect through an elephant's agitated movements, its imminent poaching. Cameras orbiting in space can capture the presence of crop diseases and invasive species in remote locations. The realm of science fiction has already stepped into the real world.
The International Cooperation for Animal Research Using Space (ICARUS) project, whose trial phase starts in 2017, is developing solar-powered sensors weighing 1 to 5 grammes which can be attached to migratory songbirds, even dragonflies, beetles. The transmitted data will inform not simply the geo-positions and movements but provide important clues about the body functions or senses of the animal, giving significant indicators about impending natural disasters.
By 2020, ICARUS sensors could be small enough to fit into locusts, possibly even to use the micro-sensors to control the locust flight path to divert the swarm from valuable crops, say its researchers at Germany's Max Planck Institute for Ornithology.
Scientists working on ICARUS say battery life is a major limiting factor for tracking small animals since the miniature batteries they can carry do not last long.
However, Russian space agency Roscosmos's International Space Station, on which ICARUS hardware will be installed, is closer to the Earth than satellites, thus decreasing the amount of power required to upload data. Saving more battery life, the Station will wake the bird-mounted mini transmitter from its energy-saving mode only when it has visual contact to the in-flight bird. It'll take only a few seconds to transmit all data back to the Station.
The urgency to go beyond manual patrolling to advanced space-based technology to combat poaching and illegal wildlife trade comes strongly from the World Wildlife Crime Report 2016.
The report builds on the data platform World WISE (The World Wildlife Seizures) that contains over 164,000 seizures related to wildlife crime involving 7,000 species from 120 countries spanning 2004 to 2015.
Trafficking of wildlife is now recognised as a specialised area of organised crime and a significant threat to many plant and animal species. The focus of the upcoming 17th Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is set to be the illegal wildlife trade. According to a 2016 UN Environment Programme report, the wildlife trade is estimated at 7 to 23 billion dollars annually.
With poachers increasingly using more sophisticated technology, wildlife rangers need to be equipped too. When a poacher moves in for the kill, elephants and rhinos will often behave unusually. Animal sensors help detect such behavior and send alerts to law enforcement, giving them time to act.
Other high-resolution constellations (10 or more) of radar satellites, unlike optical Earth observation satellites, are powerful enough to penetrate dense forest canopies, clouds and cover of darkness that aid poachers from detection. Infrared sensors attached to drones controlled by Global Positioning Systems (GPS) can also be used to detect campfires or warm bodies hiding in African bush land, say researchers.
Sophisticated satellites are already monitoring the extent of illegal logging, rate of deforestation and even soil moisture. The launch of hyperspectral imaging satellites that record detailed images in hundreds of electromagnetic wavelengths can assess the extent of disaster, crop growth and diseases, availability of water in remote locations and glacier melts, besides general biodiversity.
Development experts say the role that space tools can play for achieving the SDGs is broad and diverse, specifically Goal 15 to protect, restore and promote sustainable management of ecosystems, forests, soil and biodiversity, monitor not just wildlife but assess whether management practices put in place are having the desired effect.
"There are many types of satellites flying in space," said Werner Balogh, a programme officer at the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA). "But how are they being used, is there more that can be done? Can we find joint mechanisms to share this data? It's an exciting field and there's still lots that needs to be explored."
There has emerged consistent demand from developing countries who host rich biodiversity that mutual partnerships, free technical assistance, knowledge transfer, adequate resources and capacity building in space-based technologies to developing countries will significantly help achieve the 2030 Agenda.
But the high cost of technology solutions and access to the latest science and knowledge remain major constraints for the global South.
"In India, we use radio-collars to track movement for large animals like tigers and elephants. However, permits costs and taxes add to the already high cost of obtaining wildlife collars; for example, satellite collars to be used on elephants are available for 2,500 dollars each, plus annual subscription costs of 500 dollars," Shashank Srinivasan, spatial analysis coordinator of World Wildlife Fund, India, told IPS.
The South Asia region, with 40 percent forest cover in Bhutan and Nepal and precious biodiversity, is very vulnerable to illegal traffic and wildlife crimes mainly because there exist easier traffic routes to large markets like China.
"The international community must design low-cost space-based appliances for sharing with developing countries like the solar transmitter chips (ICARUS) Germany is developing. It would be of great conservation value if we could procure it for 50 to 100 dollars," Saroj Koirala, geospatial technologies expert with the World Wildlife Fund, Nepal, told IPS.
"Even if international commercial companies can provide us with, for example, hyperspectral images as old as of year 2010, this would still help country research. The process to access these are conditional and time-consuming," Koirala added.
Srinivasan said except for initiatives like wildlabs.net that allow for the sharing of conservation-relevant technology, he knew of no other national, regional or international technology sharing or funding.
Experts say awareness of the importance of space-based technologies needs to be created among law makers for need-of-the-hour policies and fund allocation. Koirala said since nature conservation is linked to livelihoods, people themselves will pressurise democratic governments to set aside funds for latest technologies.
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Q&A:UN Deputy Chief Amina J Mohammed – As countries look inward, development cash falls short
Cómo gestionar la falta de agua cuando la escasez es la norma
© Copyright 2018 Manipadma Jena all rights reserved.


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D Magazine's 40 Greatest Stories: The Starck Club's Prince of Ecstasy
To celebrate a landmark anniversary, we're saluting our best articles ever.
By Jason Heid Published in FrontBurner February 12, 2014 8:00 am
Meet Rodney Kitchens
Please forgive the following bit of navel-gazing, some of a personal nature, some professional.
When I was in college studying abroad for a semester in Budapest, the university where I took classes had a discotheque in its basement. My fellow American students and I were regulars there, dancing the night away to all the Euro-trashiest of late 1990s club music. You wouldn't know it to look at me now, but I enjoyed letting loose among a sea of strangers, not giving a thought to how ridiculous I must have appeared on that floor.
One night I had the good fortune to catch the attention of a fetching blonde with a bobbed hairstyle and raccoon eyes. She oriented herself to dance in my direction, and we began circling each other. Though neither of us explicitly acknowledged the other, we danced in tight formation for song after song. Must have been an hour, at least. Then the music temporarily stopped, and with it my glorious lack of self-consciousness.
She stood there, her body still turned my way, but looking around the room, anywhere other than right at me. I did likewise. I knew she was waiting for me to say something, maybe to offer to buy her a drink. But I froze. In my more forgiving moments, I explain it away by noting that I'm not certain she even spoke English. My inner drill sergeant calls that the load of horse pucky that it is, since what the hell would that have mattered anyway.
In any case, I did nothing, and when the music resumed she soon moved elsewhere. Pretty sure I saw her in a corner making out with another guy as I walked out later with my falling-down-drunk roommate. As we made our way home just before dawn, I stewed over the notion that my teetotaling had cost me a more exciting conclusion to the evening. My fear might have been washed away in a flood of alcohol, right? I could have become, at least for a little while, a different person.
I couldn't help thinking back to that ancient regret when reading the story of Rodney Kitchens, a man who literally brought ecstasy to the legendary Starck Club at its mid-'80s hedonistic heights. The article, which first appeared in the October 1989 issue of D Magazine, is the first of the 40 greatest stories in our print product's history that we'll be highlighting over the coming months. Read the whole thing here.
Our excuse for revisiting the past is the 40th anniversary of the first issue of D, an event we'll officially celebrate this fall.
Dino strikes a pose.
Kitchens was a 20-something lacking in confidence when he found his way to Starck. He and the club "fit together like lost pieces of a puzzle." He transformed himself into "Dino," a purveyor of chemically-induced delights. "Slowly I was creating a person that everyone seemed to like. He didn't have any of the faults that Rodney did. He was popular, Rodney wasn't," he said.
Richard West's article largely reads like a fever dream from the perspective of one devoured by Dallas' creatures of the night. It captures a sense of delirium that comes with disappearing onto a dance floor, music pounding, a drug-induced haze encasing your mind in cotton. It's reminiscent of other tales of the Starck Club that still get told today, 25 years after the place closed. Two different documentaries have been made in recent years, both seeming to paint the club as a singular cultural achievement for Dallas in the last 30 years. (The second, which we wrote about last year in D, is still seeking funds to complete its final cut.)
As for what has become of Rodney Kitchens in the intervening years, I could find only hints in the public record. I might be mistaken about some of this, as I've been unable to reach a friend or family member who can confirm details. One thing I am certain of is that our original article got his birthdate wrong, stating that it was October 28 instead of December 8, 1965. I've made that correction. Other than that, it appears he got married and then divorced in 1995. At some point his name became Rodney Raiser. There are indications he spent time living in Nevada and Florida, with some trouble with the law over writing bad checks along the way. Next exists a Social Security death record for someone with his name and his birthdate, on January 12, 2004. If that's him, he was 38.
And it might turn tragic the optimistic note on which the story ends:
"I hope my story shows how I or anyone can let the scene consume their life and how easily you can become a product of your environment. I hope that my life will be an example of this and possibly help someone not to fall into the traps that I did."
40 Greatest Stories

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


To this very day, I STILL don't understand why "Dubya" was even compared to Hitler. In his entire eight years as president, not ONCE did the man even attempt to grow a mustache.
I'm certain being a parent isn't easy. I myself am anxious for the day when I cross into the realm of fatherhood and have to explain to authorities why my six year old is repaving the driveway, and why an infant is doing some light roofing. (I'd like to say this would never happen but times could be tough.) Naturally, the main aspect of parenting is being able to keep the little rugrat in check throughout various disciplinary means. The hope being that this sculpts them into a productive member of society so they avoid becoming a forty year old schizo with a freezer full of beheaded cats.
Every catastrophic event starts the same way:the villain devises a new scheme that will grant him dominance over humanity, and unleashes his/her plan on the hapless citizens on the same metropolitan area they have numerous times in the past. The relative peace and quiet of the city streets is shattered as a giant beam of death fires out from across the river and slices a skyscraper in two. Those on the street turn their gaze upward and quickly come to terms with their own death as they drop to the ground, huddle over loved ones, and clench their eyes shut as they brace for the impact.


Christmas in the Air, Still!
Christmas has come and gone in Portal Arizona, but the snow keeps coming! We've had snow and extremely cold days and nights for the past few weeks with lows in the teens and highs in the 50s!
Before Christmas, I held a wreath making class at the library with 4 students and we had a good time building our wreaths from local greens and berries. Once again the community members decorated downtown Portal, only this year, we didn't try to decorate the large trees, we simply adorned the Post Office and Library with garland, bows and wreaths. Simple is better. On Christmas Eve day, the community came together at the Post Office to sing Christmas carols. Another Portal tradition and though we were not always together or in tune, we had a good time.
We continue to get rain and snow and El Nino is keeping our temps low. It's good to see snow in the mountains, and it's good that the creek is running, but we are burning up our firewood a lot faster than we expected. We have permits for another half cord, so we might go out and get more wood if we get too low, but I don't think that will happen. We still have a half cord in the yard we haven't split yet.


By sheer volume, I can say that the city of Dubai has reached a saturation point for Italian cuisine.
After some careful estimation (looked it up on Zomato) there are more than 750 Italian restaurants just in Dubai. Throw that out to the broader Emirates, and that number goes above 1,000.
While I have not visited all of them, I can pretty much guarantee each serves pizza and pasta "just like mama used to make", plates will be served on red and white checkerboard tablecloths, and there will be at least one man (probably not from Italy) who goes by the name of 'Mario'.
That makes the Italian restaurant trade incredibly competitive here, and for any Italian to stand out, it needs to go above and beyond the oft flaunted stereotypes of 'typical' Italian cuisine, which is surely a bit of a concern for the likes of the Ritz-Carlton's trademark Italian eatery, Splendido.
In the ridiculously competitive game of Italian food, does it do enough to sate the city's diners (most of whom are already gorged-full of the stuff)?
Splendido Dubai: what's the vibe?
Splendido is very Italian - no bad thing, all things considered. The staff are mostly Italian (or they feign it fantastically well), and the service has been dialled up a notch to reflect that this is a restaurant inside one of Dubai's best resorts.
Walk through the big wooden double doors in the colder months, and you might be a tad disappointed to see an almost empty dining room and bar area. That's because anyone and everyone should sit outside, on Splendido's candle-lit terrace under the stars.
The clientele is generally rather dapper – a good mix of locals and well-heeled resort guests – and the overall feel is classy, but not stuffy.
Spill a good glob of linguini sauce on the bright, white tablecloth and – almost ashamedly – a member of staff will cover it up with another smaller, bright, white tablecloth. You don't find that very often in good old Italy.
Splendido Dubai: how's the food?
The menu is selective, and all the better for it. Gone are the days where punters wanted to leaf through a sixty-page menu. Instead, you get the paired-back list of Italian staples. That's it.
In a world where seemingly every dish must come along with some sort of whimsical 'modern twist', Splendido didn't get the memo. While the dishes are plated with Instagram in mind, the food is true to the best of Italian cuisine – find some good ingredients and then don't mess about too much.
Stick with the classics here (or ask the waiters to recommend a dish), and you won't leave disappointed.
What makes Splendido different in a city awash with Italian restaurants, is how little it has done to try and stand out. Far be it from trying out brand new recipes, or cheesy 'out there' dining concepts, it stays true to what makes Italian food so popular in the first place.
Throw in excellent service and the ability to dine under the stars, and Splendido does more than compete. It sets a benchmark that the other 1,000 or so restaurants in the Emirates should be aware of.
Splendido Dubai: where is it?
Splendido is situated downstairs from the lobby of The Ritz-Carlton Dubai, Jumeirah Beach Residence. During the colder months, insist on a seat on its delightful terrace. But given enough fellow diners, the interior dining room is also rather cosy.


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Orlando Bloom Just Got a Tattoo of His Son's Name but Accidentally Spelled It Wrong
Starr Bowenbank
14 February 2020, 10:49 am ·2-min read
Photo credit: Jacopo Raule - Getty Images
Orlando Bloom got a tattoo of his son's name, Flynn, on his forearm in Morse code.
Orlando's tattoo was misspelled—instead, it says "Frynn."
Ah, don't you just love it when celebrities get tattoos? You never know what'll end up being your next tat inspo and what'll end up being a cautionary tale! Today's latest celeb to get new ink is Orlando Bloom, who was itching to get inked up again after debuting a huge tree chest tattoo. Let's discuss!
Orlando decided to stroll into a tattoo shop to get some fresh new ink to honor his 9-year-old son, Flynn. (Orlando shares Flynn with his ex-wife, model Miranda Kerr.) Instead of getting something big and gaudy, Orlando opted for a minimalistic design in Morse code (bc ~trendy~) to spell out Flynn's name, birth date, and birth time on his forearm. Sounds cool, right? Well, it does...until you find out that Orlando's tattoo artist actually spelled Flynn's name wrong. 😬
Orlando shared the picture of his tattoo on his Instagram, writing, "New tattoo, can you guess who?" Most of Orlando's fans guessed that it had something to do with Flynn, but one person had more of an eagle eye than everyone else in the comments section.
new #tattoo can you guess who?
A post shared by Orlando Bloom (@orlandobloom) on Feb 11, 2020 at 12:17pm PST
"If the Morse code is supposed to spell out Flynn, then there is a mistake," one of Orlando's followers wrote, revealing that the order and number of Morse code in the tattoo spells out "Frynn" instead of "Flynn." This means that Orlando accidentally pulled an Ariana Grande—alright, he may not have gotten something as bad as "teeny BBQ grill" on his arm, but having his child's name misspelled is also not great, if ya ask me.
The good news here is that both Orlando and his tattoo artist, Balazs Bercsenyi, know there is a mistake in Flynn's name. Balazs made his own Instagram post about doing Orlando's tattoo and wrote, "A beautiful reminder for @OrlandoBloom of his son. And yes, a dot is missing, we know, it will be fixed."
a beautiful reminder for @orlandobloom of his son 👨👦
A post shared by BB (@balazsbercsenyi) on Feb 11, 2020 at 8:30am PST
Thankfully, Orlando's son is too young to know Morse code and Balazs makes it sound easy to fix! All's well that ends well.
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text:
set -euo pipefail
IFS=$'\n\t'

python -m pip install --user --upgrade virtualenv pip
python -m virtualenv --clear -q ./env

if [ "$OSTYPE" == "msys" ] ; then
  PYVE="Scripts"
else
  PYVE="bin"
fi

LHOST=127.0.0.1
LPORT=5000

./env/$PYVE/pip install --requirement requirements.txt

echo "./env/$PYVE/python -B run.py runserver --host $LHOST --port $LPORT" > devrun.sh

chmod +x ./devrun.sh

echo ""
echo "To start: ./devrun.sh"
echo "Then see: http://$LHOST:$LPORT"
echo ""

sleep 3

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


St Lawrence Players is a group of people from the Eastcote, Middlesex area, who produce three productions a year just for the fun of it! We are based at St Lawrence Church. Since our first production in 1948, The Players have produced over 200 productions - repeating a couple of favourite plays and musicals!
In 1948, in the days of Father Godwin, Miss Angell organised a dramatic group for young people. With the success of this junior group, a senior group was formed and soon the two merged to form what has become today's Players. In these early days, subscription to The Players was 3d, there were four productions a year, including entertainment after the Summer Fete, and scenery was made from kitchen linoleum! Recently some earlier details have come to light. See Pre-history.
Founder members of The Players remember Fr. Godwin helping them in any way he could. Not only did rehearsals sometimes last until four in the morning but also stagehands, on one occasion, borrowed the carpet from Fr. Godwin's bedroom while he was sick in bed!
Father Hitchinson came to St Lawrence in 1956 and with him came stricter rules. Membership to The Players was open only to communicants. In one performance when a stage bird failed to appear, the actor was heard to mutter "where's the bloody robin?" As they left, Father Hitchinson apologised to every member of the audience. Had this occurred at the October '78 production of A Voyage Round My Father he would only have had to apologise to twelve people!
At the beginning of 1959, St. Laurence became St. Lawrence !
A few years ago, The Players almost took their last curtain call. Legislation and public safety rules nearly caused the end of the group. Having made considerable changes to the scenery, back stage area, hall and working procedures, The Players will continue to delight audiences and add to its ever-growing anthology of past productions.
The Players two year interegnum without hall lights came to an end for the October 2017 production. Sound facilities are still very primitive but it will be some time befiore that is tackled.
2017 marked the fiftieth year in which Dorothy and Malcolm Bentote have been members of Players. In the programme for the May 2017 pproduction, they wrote an interesting, brief rememberance of those years. You can read it in "Fifty years on ..."


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Incident and Tip lines
1-888-991-5555 (FLOW)
1-888-935-5550 (DIGICEL)
INDECOM Act
Management and Operations Team
News INDECOM investigating fatal shooting of 14 year old Yuhembi Bryson
REPORT A COMPLAINT/INCIDENT
Home > About Us > Achievements
Impact of INDECOM: Changing a culture of impunity
The recognition by the Government of Jamaica that independent oversight of the nation's Security Forces is essential was the beginning of a change in Jamaican culture and security of citizens. The introduction of the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) Act and the resultant authority of the Commission would have greater influence on policing, as culpable and discreditable conduct would be exposed. Impact and success should therefore not be measured by convictions, as we do not provide oversight and investigate to charge. We investigate to know and explain what happened to all concerned, with the expectation that through our reports and meetings, lessons will be learnt, there will be improvement in conduct and practices toward the professionalization of our security forces and where there is liability, recommended sanctions implemented.
When considering impact, think on these things:
Have dangerous practices and procedures that we report on decreased?
Can complainants be assured that there was a thorough, impartial, transparent and objective analysis based on complaints, public concerns raised or evidence uncovered?
Since full operations began in 2011, how much change has been achieved?
Overall reduction in police involved shootings
The critical effect on the reduction in police involved shootings began with the introduction of INDECOM's operations in April 2011. The three-year period prior to INDECOM (2007-2009) recorded 733 deaths. The three year period after INDECOM (2011-2013), recorded 687 deaths, and the following three year period, with the establishment of working protocols and awareness sessions between the agencies, 2014-2016, recorded 327 deaths. This represents a significant 53% reduction between the latter two periods. Though, there was an increase in deaths at 168 in 2017, the annual total of below 200 continues. In 2019, we recorded the lowest deaths by Security Forces in two decades, with 86.
The enforcement of issues raised by the Commission with the leadership has been noticeable with the change in behavior and practices.
Year Fatal Shootings
Reduction in fatalities from planned police operations
Planned police operations, where fatalities occur, have previously been a significant contributor to the total fatalities per annum by the police force. The introduction of the 'post event' questionnaire/evaluation for police Commanders, to examine and assess the level of planning in such operations, has been implemented since 2015.
There has been a continued, reduction in the number of police related fatalities arising from planned police operations. Oversight has contributed to a greater care and compliance of the JCF's own Use of Force policy and INDECOM's monitoring of the issues, have effected some changes, as we seek to ensure that such operations result in arrest, not fatalities.
Observation of the six year period 2014 – 2019 shows the continuing decline in security force fatal shootings arising from planned police operations. Up to 2015, such fatal shootings accounted annually for between 33%-37% of all fatalities. 2016 saw the first marked reduction in the number of fatalities arising from planned police operations, when the proportion of such deaths accounted for a quarter, falling to 25%. In 2017 they were less than one fifth. 2019 has seen the number of deaths occurring during PPO's accounting for less than 12%. A significant change.
Year Total Fatal shootings
Planned Op where fatality occurred
Total killed during Planned Ops % of total shootings
2014 115 36 38 33.04%
2019 86 9 10 11.62%
Suicide prevention in juvenile correctional facilities
In 2012, Vanessa Wint, a ward at a Juvenile Correctional Centre allegedly committed suicide. Upon completion of our Commission's Report in 2013, recommendations were made for suicide prevention protocols to be implemented to minimize and detect changes in behaviour.
Since 2012 to June 2018, there have been sixty-two (62) suicide attempts and two incidents of suicide of wards who were in the care of Department of Correctional Services (DCS). Both suicide incidents were investigated by INDECOM. The first, was in 2013 and occurred prior to the release of INDECOM's recommendations following the death of Vanessa Wint. The circumstances surrounding this incident bore similar features with Vanessa's death. This matter was referred to the Special Coroner. The second incident was in 2015. In this investigation, it is apparent that DCS had made changes in the way staff responded to the scene.
"A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus, but a moulder of consensus" Martin Luther King, Jr.
1 Dumfries Road, Kingston 10
Mon – Thursday
info@indecom.gov.jm
Ministry of National Security
Jamaica Constabulary Force
Jamaicans for Justice
Copyright 2021 The Independent Commission of Investigations. All Rights Reserved


Norway will have an electric aircraft from next summer.
Airport operator Avinor says it wants Norway to become the first country in which electric powered airplanes take a significant market share, reports news agency NTB.
The aircraft – an Alpha Electro G2 – has been ordered from the Pipistrel manufacturer in Slovenia and will primarily be used for demonstration purposes, according to the report.
It has a range of 130 kilometres and a maximum flight time of around one hour.
It is scheduled to be delivered in May next year.
Avinor has joined up with Norges Luftsportforbund (The Norwegian Air Sport Federation) in investing in the aircraft, writes NTB.
But the company – which operates most of Norway's civil airports – says there is reason to believe commercial flights with electric aircraft can become a reality by 2030.
"Electric aircraft would change the environmental consequences of the commercial flight industry substantially. It could also become cheaper to fly, because maintenance costs for several models of aircraft are significantly lower," Avinor's CEO Dag Falk-Petersen told NTB.
The company is currently working towards giving Norway a leading role in the electric aircraft sector, and has established partnerships with a number of companies involved with innovation and development of the technology, according to the report.
The goal is for Norway to become the first country in which electric flights have a significant market share.
"With the introduction of Norway's first electric aircraft, we aim to demonstrate that this is not just a distant vision for the future," transport minister Ketil Solvik-Olsen told NTB.


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ja nOa uNJVer P Y EuSoUUAUlx
Home — Psychiatry — Dr. Cates named Vice Chair for Clinical Services in Psychiatry
Dr. Cates named Vice Chair for Clinical Services in Psychiatry
Dr. David Cates has been named Vice Chair for Clinical Services within the Psychiatry Department. Along with his new role, Dr. Cates will continue to lead the Behavioral Health Division at Nebraska Medicine.
Nebraska Medicine Behavioral Health Director Dr. David Cates had added Vice Chair of Clinical Services for the Department of Psychiatry to his title. Dr. Cates succeeded Dr. Rebecca Wysoske, who had been the interim Vice Chair of Clinical Services.
"Dr. Cates is one of those rare leaders who combines a sophisticated ability to analyze the big picture with the heart to treat each team member as a valued contributor," UNMC Department of Psychiatry Chair Dr. Howard Liu said. "He brings integrity, intellect and an incredible work ethic to every challenge and I have full confidence in his ability to thrive as our new vice chair clinical."
Dr. Cates said, along with his new role, he will continue to serve as Nebraska Medicine Director of Behavioral Health, including providing patient care in the Psychology Department and Pain Management Program, and serving as Behavioral Health Consultant for the Biocontainment Unit and National Quarantine Center.
Dr. Cates said it is a privilege to collaborate with talented and dedicated colleagues at both institutions.
"Serving as both Director of Behavioral Health at Nebraska Medicine and Vice Chair for Clinical Services in Psychiatry provides an opportunity to align UNMC and Nebraska Medicine strategy and operations even more closely," Dr. Cates said. "We all share the same goals, namely, improving wellness and reducing suffering by expanding access to quality behavioral health and addictions services, training and research. Behavioral Health is growing at Nebraska Medicine and UNMC. This is an exciting time and I look forward to the challenges ahead."
Dr. Cates took on the Nebraska Medicine Behavioral Health Director role in 2016. In that capacity, he worked closely with primary care leadership on the integration of behavioral health in primary care as part of the Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) initiative, led the development of Nebraska Medicine's Intensive Outpatient Program for patients with psychiatric illness and substance use disorders, and collaborated with Psychiatry Department leadership and a private donor to develop the Behavioral Health Connection Program. Dr. Cates has also developed online training modules for NETEC (National Ebola Training and Education Center) on behavioral health considerations for patient and staff, and is a member of the workgroup developing inpatient suicide and violence screening/prevention protocols. Dr. Cates serves on the Nebraska Psychological Association Ethics Committee and is involved in a variety of community behavioral health initiatives, including the Douglas County Health Department's Community Health Improvement Plan for Integration of Care.
Dr. Liu said Dr. Wysoske did an excellent job as Interim Vice Chair of Clinical Services during the year-long search for a permanent leader. "Dr. Wysoske is a dedicated member of our leadership team and will embrace a new role as Phase 3 Director in medical student education and continue as ambulatory medical director in psychiatry."
+ 7 = eleven
UNMC takes over ADMSEP again
Vicki Adolf still going strong after 35 years


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On the hot seat: The Falcons' offensive line
Falcons center Alex Mack #51 prepares to snap the ball during the second half against the Packers at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on September 17, in Atlanta
ON THE FALCONS BEAT
By D. Orlando Ledbetter , The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Falcons center Alex Mack and offensive line mates know they are in for a major rumble against the Eagles on Saturday.
"Their (defensive) front is as good as it gets in our league," Falcons offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian said. "Handling that, is probably where it begins for us, whether it's in the run game or the pass game."
Mack and guard Wes Schweitzer and Ben Garland will have their hands full with Eagles tackles Fletcher Cox and Tim Jernigan.
The Falcons just faced Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald last week.
"You could argue that the best comparison is that they are probably the two best interior defensive linemen in the game right now," Sarkisian said. "(They are) a little bit different in the twitchy-ness that Donald brought. He is a very twitchy, quick guy, but still yet powerful. Where Cox really brings a lot of power to the table and uses his power to create some of his rushes in the pass game."
The Falcons don't plan to walk away from their rushing attack.
"We are a lot better when our run game is going," Sarkisian said.
The Eagles also have a diversified pass rush.
Defensive end Brandon Graham lead the team in sacks with 9.5. Fletcher Cox has 5.5, rookie defensive end Derek Barnett and Chris Long have five sacks. Vinny Curry had three sacks.
But Cox is the key to the Eagles' operation.
"He's one of the more talented defensive linemen that we are going to face," Mack said. "It's going to real hard-hat day of work for us."
D. Orlando Ledbetter
D. Orlando Ledbetter, Esq is the award-winning Atlanta Falcons beat writer for the newspaper, has been on the staff since 2003. Every day D. Orlando strives to provide inside in the Falcons and the NFL. He finds the most joy in providing insight into the team, the coaching moves, the offseason business moves, the draft and the games.
Falcons' 2021 season in review: Quarterbacks
Ex Falcons scout Carthon interviewed for Giants' GM spot
Falcons' 2021 season review: Running backs


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The Cardano Report · ADA Cryptocurrency · Blockchain News
A New York Federal Court Issues a Federal Ruling against Longfin firm for its Regulation A+ Offering
In 2017 Longfin crypto firm held its Regulation A+ offering to investors and generated quite an amount of funds. However, per the US Securities and Exchange Commission Longfin held a fraudulent securities offering and even went further to falsify investor's records. Now, a New York Court has issued a federal ruling against Longfin, and the ruling comes with penalties.
Per the litigation documents, SEC laid charges to Longfin Corp as a company and to Venkata S. Meenavalli who is the CEO after issuing it with permits to run its Regulation A+ offering. The lawsuit came after SEC discovered that Longfin had falsified records while filing for its certificate.
During its application, Longfin lied to SEC claiming its firm, management, and assets are in the US. However, upon carrying out further follow up, SEC discovered all of Longfin's management, assets and operations are based overseas. Further on, per SEC documents, Meenavalli alongside his firm went further and falsified records of shares sold together with qualifying shareholders to meet the requirements put forth by Nasdaq.
It is alleged that Longfin distributed 400,000 worth of shares to affiliates and insiders. The 2017 offering from Longfin amounted to more than 90% of the revenue that Longfin reported in 2017. In 2017, Meenavalli and Longfin made $66 million from its sham commodities offering transactions.
Through Honorable Denise L. Cote, a US District Court from the South District of New York has formally laid out a default judgment requiring Longfin to pay penalties. The penalties amounted to $6,755,848. However, when broken down, Longfin is to pay $3,532,235 as disgorgement charges and another $3,243,613 in the form of a civil monetary fine.
As Meenavalli alongside his firm prepare to fork out all the fines, the two are not new to fines and court cases. Together they are facing criminal charges in the District of New Jersey after the US attorney's office took them to court.
Besides that, it is just recently that three affiliated firms alongside Longfin and Meenavalli got another default charge issued out against both the firm and Meenavalli. Meenavalli was ordered to pay $28,416 while his firm had to fork out $284,139. The three firms, on the other hand, were ordered to pay $26 million.
The post A New York Federal Court Issues a Federal Ruling against Longfin firm for its Regulation A+ Offering appeared first on Crypto Economy.
https://crypto-economy.com/a-new-york-federal-court-issues-a-federal-ruling-against-longfin-firm-for-its-regulation-a-offering/
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Horizon Health Care, Inc. will implement evidence-based client reminders and provider assessment and feedback processes to increase human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination rates.
Mobridge Regional Hospital & Clinics will implement evidence-based client reminders to increase breast and colorectal cancer screening rates.
Sanford Health Brookings Clinic will implement evidence-based interventions to reduce structural barriers to increase screening for breast cancer, cervical cancer, and increase HPV vaccination rates.
Sanford Medical Center will implement evidence-based patient navigation, workflows, and referral processes to increase access and early referral to palliative care services.
A South Dakota physician and a health care facility are being recognized for their efforts to increase colorectal cancer screening as part of a national effort to screen 80 percent of the eligible population by 2018.
The South Dakota Cancer Coalition Colorectal Cancer Task Force has honored Dr. Daniel Heinemann, MD, a vice president and medical officer for Sanford Health Network, and Falls Community Health in Sioux Falls for increasing screening rates among their eligible patients. Dr. Heinemann was awarded the 80 percent by 2018 Champion of the Year Award and Falls Community Health received the 80 percent by 2018 Organization of the Year Award.
According to the 2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, just 65.8 percent of South Dakota adults aged 50 to 75 were up to date with colorectal cancer screening. The state and several partners are part of a national effort working toward the goal of increasing colorectal cancer screening rates to 80 percent by 2018.
March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Men and women age 50 to 75 should talk to their healthcare provider about getting screened for colorectal cancer. For more information about screening, go to GetScreened.SD.gov.
Dr. Heinemann is pictured with (left to right) Kelly Hasvold, MBA, RN, CPHQ, Director Quality and Safety, Sioux Falls Region, Sanford Health; Abby Kuper, Manager of Employee Health Sioux Falls, Sanford Health; Dr. Daniel Heinemann, MD, a vice president and medical officer for Sanford Health Network; Jennifer Weiss, Improvement Advisor, Sanford Health Quality Department; Sarah Quail, Cancer Programs Coordinator, SD Department of Health.
Pictured is the staff at Falls Community Health in Sioux Falls.
Sanford Medical Center will implement evidence-based nutrition interventions for cancer patients. As part of project efforts, an evidence-based nutritional screening tool, best practice alert, and nutrition services will be implemented for cancer patients.
Black Hills Pediatrics, LLP will implement the following evidence-based interventions to increase human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination rates: client reminders, provider reminder and recall systems, and provider assessment and feedback.
Andrea Polkinghorn, RN, Clinical Services Manager at Sanford Health was recognized as the HPV Vaccination Champion of the Year for her efforts to improve HPV vaccination rates. Andrea is pictured with Sarah Quail, SD Department of Health Cancer Programs Coordinator (left), and Tim Heath, SD Department of Health Immunization Program Manager (right).
Platte Medical Clinic was recognized as the HPV Vaccination Organization of the Year for their dedication to increasing HPV vaccination rates. Pictured from left are Sarah Quail, SD Department of Health Cancer Programs Coordinator; Lori Heath, RN at Platte Medical Clinic; Mindi Veurink, RN at Platte Medical Clinic; and Tim Heath, SD Department of Health Immunization Program Manager.
A South Dakota health care professional and a health care facility are being recognized for their efforts to increase colorectal cancer screening as part of a national effort to screen 80 percent of the eligible population by 2018.
The state's Comprehensive Cancer Control Program Colorectal Cancer Task Force has honored Sara Romeo, RN Navigator for Falls Community Health, and Sanford Health Family Medicine Clinics in the Sioux Falls Region for increasing screening rates among their eligible patients. Sara was awarded the 80 percent by 2018 Champion of the Year Award and Sanford Health Family Medicine Clinics received the 80 percent by 2018 Organization of the Year Award.
According to the 2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, just 66.7 percent of South Dakota adults aged 50 to 75 were up to date with colorectal cancer screening. The state is part of a national effort working toward the goal of increasing colorectal cancer screening rates to 80 percent by 2018.
For more information about screening, go to GetScreened.SD.gov.
Sanford Clinic & Sanford Health Network received the 80 percent by 2018 Organization of the Year Award for increasing colorectal cancer screening rates. Pictured from left are Jill Ireland, SD Comprehensive Cancer Control Program Colorectal Cancer Task Force, Dan Heinemann, MD, Health Network Vice President and Medical Officer, Sanford Clinic and Sanford Health Network, and Terri L Carlson, Executive Director, Sanford Health.
Sara Romeo, RN, Falls Community Health Nurse Navigator, received the 80 percent by 2018 Champion of the Year Award for increasing colorectal cancer screening rates. She is pictured with (left) Sarah Quail, SD Department of Health Cancer Program Coordinator and (right) Jill Ireland, SD Comprehensive Cancer Control Program Colorectal Cancer Task Force.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now recommends that 11- to 12-year olds receive two doses of the HPV vaccine at least six months apart rather than the previously recommended three doses to protect against cancers caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV) infections. Teens and young adults who start the series later, at ages 15 through 26 years, will continue to need three doses of the HPV vaccine to protect against cancer-causing HPV infections. For more information, read the full MMWR.
The Blue Ribbon Task Force issued a report describing 10 transformative research recommendations for achieving the Cancer Moonshot's ambitious goal of making a decade's worth of progress in cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment in just 5 years. Read the report.


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Sam Cooke with American Bandstand's Dick Clark on why he went from gospel to pop
Bruce Warren November 15, 2018 Blog, Home Row 1, Watch
In this interview on American Bandstand from April 4th, 1964, with American Bandstand host Dick Clark and Sam Cooke, Cooke explains why he left "spiritual" music for pop. At thirty seconds into the interview Cooke offers an honest explanation. Born in Clarksdale, Mississippi in 1931, Cooke's family moved in Chicago in 1933. He first became known as lead singer with the Highway QC's when he was a teenager. At the time, Cooke became friends with fellow gospel singer and neighbor Lou Rawls and they sang together for a brief period of time in the Teenage Kings of Harmony, and then with the Holy Wonders. When Cooke left the Highway QC's, Rawls replaced him and in 1950, Cooke replaced gospel tenor R. H. Harris as lead singer of the gospel group the Soul Stirrers, founded by Harris, who had signed with Specialty Records. Their first recording with Cooke was the song "Jesus Gave Me Water," and they went on to become one of gospel music's most important singing groups.
Below, listen to several songs by The Soul Stirrers.
This article was written for WXPN'S GOSPEL ROOTS OF ROCK AND SOUL. GOSPEL ROOTS OF ROCK AND SOUL has been supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.


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July 2008 Issue of Skadden's Class Action Chronicle
Skadden has posted the July 2008 issue of Class Action Chronicle, which includes several interesting, brief comments by Skadden lawyers, including Communicating Ethically with Class Members, by David Clancy; an interview with Raoul Kennedy on defending class action trials; and an editor's note by Russell Jackson on trends in consumer class actions.
July 31, 2008 in Class Actions, Ethics, Procedure | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Anti-Tobacco Activist Dr. Richmond Dies at 91
Bruce Weber of the New York Times reports that Dr. Jules B. Richmond, known for founding Project Head Start and campaigning against the tobacco industry, died Sunday. Here's an excerpt:
In his 80s, [Dr. Richmond] testified in two trials involving flight attendants that secondhand smoke was responsible for their ill health.
One of those cases, a class-action suit involving a flight attendant who developed lung cancer though she had never smoked, led to a $300 million settlement in 1997 that included starting a research institute to study tobacco-related diseases. In the second case, a class action on behalf of Florida smokers, a court awarded $145 billion in punitive damages against six tobacco companies, the largest such award in history until it was overturned by an appeals court.
July 30, 2008 in Tobacco | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Ninth Circuit Overturns Sua Sponte Class Certification
Last week the Ninth Circuit overturned a district court judge's sua sponte class certification in Bonlender v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc., 2008 WL 2873264 (9th Cir. July 22, 2008). Apparently the district court failed to make any Rule 23(a) or (b) findings and did not analyze whether variations in laws of the four states involved defeated Rule 23(b)(3)'s predominance requirement. The Ninth Circuit also reassigned the case to a different district court judge on remand. This is the first time I've heard of a sua sponte class certification and would be interested to know of other instances and their outcomes.
July 29, 2008 in Class Actions | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Part II of Catherine Sharkey on FDA Preemption of State Law Products Liability Claims
Part II of Professor Catherine Sharkey's essay, What Riegel Portends for FDA Preemption of State Law Products Liability Claims, has been posted on Northwestern Colloquy.
July 27, 2008 in FDA, Mass Tort Scholarship | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Catherine Sharkey on FDA Preemption of State Law Products Liability Claims
Professor Catherine Sharkey (NYU) has published part I of her essay, What Riegel Portends for FDA Preemption of State Law Products Liability Claims, on Northwestern Colloquy, an extension of the Northwestern University Law Review. Here's an excerpt:
When such policy predilections undergird preemption decisions—even, as in Riegel, in the narrowest realm of express preemption based upon clear statutory text, let alone in the comparatively unbounded realm of implied preemption—it is time to consider alternative models to that of courts' being left to their own devices under the guise of imputing congressional motives.
This Essay presents that alternative, building upon my previously articulated "agency reference model," which provides a framework for courts to decide implied conflict preemption cases by seeking guidance from the relevant federal regulatory agency. The basic question at the core of implied conflict preemption inquiries is whether or not state common law actions are irreconcilable with, or would stand as an obstacle to, or frustrate, the command of federal regulatory directives and goals. To answer this question, courts need a fine-grained account of the precise regulatory review conducted by the agency and evidence as to its compatibility with state law tort claims. The agency reference model aims, as a general matter, to facilitate input from federal agencies on these issues.
As the Court moves beyond Riegel and the realm of express preemption to tackle implied conflict preemption in the pharmaceutical context in the upcoming Wyeth v. Levine case, the time is ripe to consider such a model. Indeed, where, by definition, statutory text alone will not resolutely decide the implied conflicts in products liability cases, articulation of an analytic framework for where the courts should turn is a pragmatic necessity. Drawing upon some suggestive gestures toward agency input in Riegel, this Essay applies the agency reference model to the concrete setting of the regulation of pharmaceutical drugs and extends the model by specifying searching judicial review of evidence taken from the FDA's regulatory record (record evidence) to substantiate FDA findings of implied conflicts between state common law failure-to-warn claims and the federal regulation of the safety and efficacy of drugs.
Kevin Clermont on Litigation Realities
Professor Kevin Clermont (Cornell) has posted his forthcoming article, Litigation Realities Redux, on NELLCO/Bepress. Here's the abstract:
Both summarizing recent empirical work and presenting new observations on each of the six phases of a civil lawsuit (forum, pretrial, settlement, trial, judgment, and appeal), the author stresses the needs for and benefits from understanding and using empirical methods in the study of the adjudicatory system's operation.
July 19, 2008 in Mass Tort Scholarship, Procedure, Settlement | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
FDA Focuses on Hot Peppers in Salmonella Investigation, Lifts Tomato Warning
Article in the Wall Street Journal -- Hot Peppers Are Focus Of Salmonella Probe, by Jane Zhang. Here's an excerpt:
The Food and Drug Administration declared tomatoes safe to eat, saying it is focusing on hot peppers in its hunt for the source of a salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 1,200 people in the U.S. and Canada.
The agency has sent investigators to look into a Mexico packer of jalapeño and Serrano peppers, though it can't say that facility is the source of the contamination, said David Acheson, the FDA's associate commissioner for foods, in a conference call with reporters Thursday.
The FDA, which originally blamed tomatoes for the outbreak that started April 10, says it is focusing on jalapeño peppers, which it said have caused illnesses, as well as Serrano peppers, which can be confused with jalapeños.
July 18, 2008 in FDA, Food Poisoning | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Climate Change and the Tort Paradigm
Can notions of corrective justice or distributive justice inform discussions of global warming? Is tort law helpful as a paradigm in which to resolve global warming concerns? Professors Eric Posner (Chicago; picture left) and Cass Sunstein (Harvard; picture right) probe these questions and others in a brief, informative article, Global Warming and Social Justice, in the Cato Institute's Regulation (Spring 2008).
July 18, 2008 in Mass Disasters, Procedure | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Russell Jackson on Lead Paint Litigation
J. Russell Jackson (Skadden, Arps) has published Products Liability: Lead Paint Litigation in the National Law Journal. The article discusses the state of lead paint litigation after the Rhode Island Supreme Court's recent reversal of lead-paint nuisance claims.
July 16, 2008 in Lead Paint, Mass Tort Scholarship | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Increase in Use of Drug-Coated Stents, Despite Past Safety Concerns
Article in the Wall Street Journal -- Use of Coated Stents on the Rise, by Keith J. Winstein. Here's an excerpt:
Drug-coated heart stents, whose U.S. sales were hard hit over safety concerns in the past two years, appear to be mounting a comeback.
In June, 73% of stent procedures in the U.S. used a coated stent, according to the Goodroe Data Warehouse unit of VHA Inc., of Irving, Texas, based on a survey of 60 U.S. hospitals. That is up from 62% in December -- which was the lowest level in several years -- and puts coated stents' popularity at levels not seen since February 2007, when a scientific firestorm raged over the devices' safety.
Coronary stents are tiny scaffolds that relieve chest pains by propping open clogged arteries that feed the heart. About a million Americans a year receive stents. The fanciest models are coated with drugs that prevent scar tissue from reclogging an artery and cost about $2,000, making them far more profitable than uncoated, bare-metal stents, which sell for less than half the price.
July 16, 2008 in Medical Devices - Misc. | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Mark Herrmann on Alison Bass's Book, Side Effects
Book review in the Wall Street Journal -- The Plaintiff Was Unhappy, by Mark Herrmann (of Jones Day and the Drug & Device Blog; picture left). Herrman is critical of the new book, Side Effects: A Prosecutor, a Whistleblower, and a Bestselling Antidepressant on Trial, by Alison Bass (picture right). Here's an excerpt of Herrmann's review:
For Ms. Bass the judgment of researchers, together with their data and claims, are untrustworthy if they have received money from drug companies to finance clinical trials. She is particularly hard on a professor of psychiatry from Brown University who has defended Paxil. But if the drug companies didn't pay for such trials, who would? And why shouldn't companies seek advice from the best scientific minds and pay them for their efforts?
Most odd of all, Ms. Bass treats the FDA as a shill for industry—despite its having thoroughly reviewed the suicide matter and required warnings on product labels where it saw fit. She makes the usual complaint that the FDA has reduced its time frame for approving new drugs: "That sprint came with a price tag. A flood of questionable drugs was unleashed on the market, many of which," like Vioxx, "would later have to be recalled."
But she says not a word about how society suffers when the FDA approves new drugs too slowly, depriving patients of life-improving and life-saving medicines. Nor does she mention the studies showing that more rapid drug approval timelines in the European Union have not led to more drug-safety withdrawals. There are two sides to this story; Ms. Bass tells only one.
July 16, 2008 in FDA, Pharmaceuticals - Misc. | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Kia Class Action Appealed to Pennsylvania Supreme Court
As reported by the Legal Intelligencer, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has agreed to hear the following four issues from the Kia class action in Samuel-Bassett v. Kia Motors America, Inc.:
whether the fact-specific claim that the class representative's brake express warranty was breached can be certified and tried on a classwide basis;
whether Kia's due process rights were violated when trial court Judge Mark I. Bernstein entered judgment for the class without requiring individual proof of the breach of the class members' express limited warranty contracts;
whether the trial court's award of a $1 million risk multiplier to attorney fees violated U.S. Supreme Court precedent and if Pennsylvania courts must follow U.S. Supreme Court precedent about federal fee shifting statutes;
whether an attorney fee can be awarded under the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (MMWA) -- which requires that fee awards be entered as part of the judgment -- when final judgment was entered at the trial court level before the fee award is entered.
Plaintiffs' instituted the action over allegedly defective brakes and were awarded $5.6 million. The Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas also awarded plaintiffs' attorneys $4.13 million in fees.
California Supreme Court to Review Punitive Damages Award in Ford Rollover Case
Article in Bloomberg.com -- Ford Gets California Review of $82.6 Million Rollover Verdict, by Edvard Pettersson. (H/t to AmLaw Litigation Daily.) Here's an excerpt:
Ford Motor Co., the second-biggest U.S.-based automaker, will get a review from California's highest court of an $82.6 million verdict stemming from a 2002 rollover crash that left a woman paralyzed.
The California Supreme Court, in a notice posted today on its Web site, granted Ford's petition for review of a California appeals panel's decision not to reduce the $55 million punitive damages part of the verdict or to grant a new trial.
The U.S. Supreme Court last year ordered the appeals court in San Diego to reconsider the punitive damages in light of a decision in a smoker's lawsuit against Altria Group Inc.'s Philip Morris unit that said punitive damages couldn't be based on harm to people not involved in the court case. The appeals court said March 10 there was no evidence the Ford jury based its award on harm to people who weren't part of the lawsuit.
July 14, 2008 in Punitive Damages | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
New Mexico High Court Upholds Multi-State Class Action
The New Mexico Supreme Court issued an opinion recently upholding a 13 state consumer class action against Allstate alleging breach of contract. The Court found that the state laws in the 13 states were sufficiently similar to New Mexico law that the case could be tried under New Mexico law. The Court carved out two other states that plaintiffs wanted to include in the suit because of different contract disclosures in those states.
The slip opinion in Ferrell v. Allstate is available here. Thanks so Tony Sebok for alerting me to this case!
July 11, 2008 in Procedure | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Update on Kentucky Fen-Phen Lawyers' Trial
The Wall Street Journal Law Blog reports that Judge William Bertelsman declared a mistrial in the Kentucky lawyers' fen-phen case after the jury reported that they were "hopelessly deadlocked." Here's an excerpt:
Cunningham, Gallion and a third defendant, Melbourne Mills, who was acquitted, were on trial in federal court for allegedly bilking their clients out of $65 million of a $200 million settlement over alleged injuries caused by the diet drug Fen Phen.
But things seem to be looking up for Gallion and Mills. The jury foreman from the first trial, Donald A. Rainone, told the Lexington Herald-Leader that the majority of the jury — including himself — thought that others involved in the 2001 settlement, approved by Boone Circuit Court judge Joseph "Jay" Bamberger, should've been charged as well. (Rainone, who declined to name names could've been referring to Judge Bamberger, who at the first trial testified to being "embarrassed" by the way he handled the underlying Fen-Phen suit, or Stanley Chesley, the well-known Cincinnati lawyer who negotiated the settlement for a fee of $20 million.)
July 11, 2008 in Fen-Phen | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Judge Overturns Punitive Damage Award in Prempro Case
Arkansas district judge Bill Wilson overturned an Arkansas jury's punitive damage award of $27 million to Donna Scroggin. The award included $2.75 million in compensatory damages. Judge Wilson based his decision on discarding plaintiff's expert evidence from Dr. Suzanne Parisian, a former FDA official. Scroggin sued Wyeth for inadequately warning her of the increased risk in breast cancer from Prempro. After taking the drug for 11 years, she developed breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy. The Wall Street Journal story can be found here and the Associated Press story can be found here.
July 10, 2008 in Prempro | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Canadian Class Action Law
John Beisner, Allison Orr Larsen, and Karl Thompson, all of O'Melveny & Myers, have published an article, Canadian Class Action Law: A Flawed Model for European Class Actions, in the most recent Federalist Society Engage.
July 7, 2008 in Class Actions, Mass Tort Scholarship | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Bhopal 25 Years Later
An article entitled "Decades Later, Toxic Sludge Torments Bhopal" in the New York Times today by Somini Sengupta, discusses the continuing aftermath of the Union Carbide Bhopal disaster. The failure to clean up the mess left by the disaster is attributed both to the failure of the company and that of Indian government bureaucracy. The article reports:
Beyond who will pay for the cleanup here, the question is why 425 tons of hazardous waste — some local advocates allege there is a great deal more, buried in the factory grounds — remain here 24 years after the leak?
There are many answers. The company was allowed to dump the land on the government before it was cleaned up. Lawsuits by advocacy groups are still winding their way through the courts. And a network of often lethargic, seemingly apathetic government agencies do not always coordinate with one another.
Local children play in a "pond" filled with chemical sludge. The ground water tastes of chemicals and corrodes utensils.
Sungupta reports that Dow Chemical, which bought Union Carbide in 2001, denies successor liability for cleaning up the mess. The Indian government is split as to what it wants Dow to do, with some arms of the government wanting the company to put money towards cleanup, and others fearing that too much pressure on the company will quell other investments by the company in India.
July 7, 2008 in Mass Disasters | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
MTLB named a Top 100 Law Blog
Well, congratulations to us. The Mass Tort Litigation Blog was named a "Top 100 Law and Lawyer Blog" by the Criminal Justice Degrees Guide, along with fourteen other law professor blogs including Lessig, Volokh, Bainbridge, Madisonian, Tax Prof, and other noteworthies.
July 3, 2008 in Mass Tort Scholarship | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
State Court Rulings Undercut Consumer Arbitration Clauses That Waive Class Actions
Article in the Wall Street Journal -- Recent Rulings Bolster the Case For Class Actions, by Nathan Koppel. Here's an excerpt:
Widespread efforts by companies to prevent consumers from pursuing class-action suits against them are increasingly getting quashed by state courts.
The New Mexico Supreme Court last week followed several other state courts in holding that a consumer agreement prohibiting class-action suits violates that state's public policy and is "unconscionable." The case concerned Dell Inc.'s requirement that its customers pursue claims through arbitration, and on an individual basis only.
"The opportunity to seek class relief is of particular importance to the enforcement of consumer rights, because it provides a mechanism for the spreading of costs," the court ruled.
July 3, 2008 in Class Actions, Procedure | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


Reported in the New York Times, eighty years ago today.
The indictment was issued on May 25, 1925. (Via RPM at Evolgen.) Note that the Scopes Monkey Trial did not begin until July 10. Expect the science blogosphere to erupt around the time the 80th anniversary of the trial this summer. Certainly, I plan on commenting on it.
You'd think that eighty years later this wouldn't still be an issue, but you'd be wrong, unfortunately. Look around at how Kansas or Georgia debate the teaching of evolution, and you'd hardly know that eighty years have passed.


Photoshoot: Bored last night, 12 pics of the STi.
Thread: Bored last night, 12 pics of the STi.
Bored last night, 12 pics of the STi.
Front lip should be here in 2-3 weeks as its ben on order for 7 months now.
So how does a Subaru exhaust sound like in that tunnel?
I kept the exhaust quiet as there were tons of cops passing over and over.
Really liked these pictures man! how much do I owe for having the pleasure of veiwing these beaut's?
lol, your welcome to come out anytime for a shoot man!
get that thing to the strip for some launches!
Waiting on installing the 1000cc injectors and new 255 pump and I got a new turbo for it that Im waiting for so should be fun! The oem one falls flat around 5500. The new one will make much more power and will pull hard right till redline.
pics when i get it!
Looks real clean!! How do you feel about me posting these photos on another forum?
Where is that tunnel posted? Never seen it before.
I honestly preffer not as I generally dont even post pics on this site.
Its my tunnel, stay away lol!
Too bad I posted them.
Haha just kidding, wont post them it looks nice.


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The Archivist's Blog
Songs From the Govanhill Baths Archive – A Follow Up Blog
Morning all! As promised, if a little late, here's one of the tunes from 'The Song Factory' album mentioned in last weeks blog. It's a rendition of 'The Wild Rover' re-imagined by Alistair Hulett as 'The Bold Swimmer'.
http://govanhillbaths.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/The_Bold_Swimmer.mp3
Alistair was a key figure in the Save Our Pool campaign, using his talents as a singer and songwriter to raise awareness of the cause. There's barely a song on the album which he didn't have something to do with! Alistair was a gifted musician and political activist who sadly passed away in 2010. He had a long and distinguished career which spanned five decades, writing music which encompassed the best of folk, punk and rockabilly. I don't have room here to do justice to the man's achievements, but please do take a look at his website.
http://www.alistairhulett.com/
Alistair Hulett
During the early occupation of the Baths, Alastair's songs played an important role. Every Wednesday, in order to commemorate the start of the occupation, the 21st of March 2001, people would gather outside of the Baths and sing campaign tunes. These musical demonstrations helped the movement gather momentum, not to mention raising the spirits of the activists inside!
2nd February 2016 /by editor
https://www.govanhillbaths.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Govenhill-Baths-alt-Logo.png 0 0 editor https://www.govanhillbaths.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Govenhill-Baths-alt-Logo.png editor2016-02-02 11:21:302016-02-02 11:21:30Songs From the Govanhill Baths Archive – A Follow Up Blog


The World Music Mission is a ministry department of the mission sending agency Artists in Christian Testimony International (www.actinternational.org). This past weekend I had the privilege of attending the annual Gathering outside of Nashville at Harpeth Community Church in Franklin, TN. Imagine a room FULL of like minded, like hearted and spirited musicians, worship leaders, songwriters, painters, sculptors, photographers, writers, film makers, screen writers, actors, and even creatives in fields like healthcare and prison ministry.


text:
World's vanishing glaciers put millions at risk
From the Himalayas to Switzerland, the world's glaciers are melting – threatening vital water supplies and increasing the risk of sea level rise.
LONDON, 23 May, 2017 – In the next 25 years, more than half of all of Switzerland's small glaciers will disappear − and Canada could lose 70% of the volume of its frozen rivers by 2100.
Some of the 37 glaciers in Glacier National Park, Montana, have been reduced by 85%, and of the 37, only 26 remain large enough to warrant the classification of glacier − that is, they have enough mass to flow.
And in high Asia, where 800 million people are at least partly dependent on summer meltwater, there are worries.
Hamish Pritchard, a glaciologist at the British Antarctic Survey, reports in Nature journal that the summer meltwater from the glaciers in the Himalayas, the Hindu Kush, Karakoram, Pamir and other mountain ranges altogether delivers enough for the basic needs of 136 million people.
Glacial meltwater
During droughts, meltwater is the principal source for the upper Indus and Aral river basins, and any glacial water loss would increase the risk of social instability, conflict, and sudden, uncontrolled migrations of population.
According to Dr Pritchard, in total, the glaciers of high-mountain Asia send 23 cubic kilometres of water downstream each summer. Without these glaciers, summer monthly water inputs in an average year would be down by 38% in the upper Indus basin, and by up to 58% in drought conditions.
In the upper Aral basin, lost summer water inputs would frequently reach 100%. Glacial loss would be bad news for the people of Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
All the more reason, says Twila Moon, postdoctoral research associate at the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Boulder, Colorado, to systematically monitor the condition of the world's glaciers and to maintain data.
"The evidence is overwhelming − Earth is losing
its ice. Much of this loss is irreversible and
the result of human-caused climate change"
She argues in Science journal that although glacier melt contributes to sea level rise, it may be even more important to work out when society will start to experience the coastal flooding that could displace millions.
And only careful assessment of the scale of glacier loss worldwide – including in Greenland and the Antarctic – could provide planners with the information they need.
Glaciers going
That the glaciers are going is a given. Careful studies over many years suggest that some of Greenland's glaciers are accelerating on their way to the sea. There have also been alarming losses reported from Bolivia, and even in Canada.
Reports from the high mountains of Asia have been incomplete, but there is enough evidence to suggest that perhaps half of all the ice could be gone in the next 30 years.
Dr Moon says: "The evidence is overwhelming − Earth is losing its ice. Much of this loss is irreversible and the result of human-caused climate change.
"Unless substantial climate response action is taken, and the trend of global temperature rise is reversed, we will continue to see Miami streets swallowed by sea, and glacier freshwater reservoirs melt into mud.
"And we can expect this pattern to continue for decades, centuries, and indeed millennia. As scientists, we must make this reality clear and help to ensure that action is taken to minimise impacts globally." – Climate News Network
Rapid Cost Reductions Strand Early Utility Investments in Renewables


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00:00 Jillian Fernandez at goalie for Western Connecticut.
01:04 Corner kick by WCSUWS Celia DeVoe [01:04].
01:49 Shot by WCSUWS Lisa Sanzari WIDE LEFT.
04:34 Offside against Western Connecticut.
06:22 Offside against Western Connecticut.
08:12 Shot by WCSUWS Autumn Sorice, SAVE Annaliese Schmidt.
08:18 Shot by WCSUWS Celia DeVoe WIDE RIGHT.
10:00 Corner kick by WCSUWS Celia DeVoe [10:00].
11:51 Shot by WCSUWS Kelsey Chacho, SAVE Annaliese Schmidt.
13:05 Shot by PSU Emily Bell BLOCKED.
13:28 Shot by WCSUWS Kelsey Chacho BLOCKED.
13:50 Shot by WCSUWS Kelsey Chacho BLOCKED.
13:56 Shot by WCSUWS Celia DeVoe WIDE LEFT.
16:49 Shot by WCSUWS Kelsey Chacho HIGH.
20:15 Shot by WCSUWS Autumn Sorice HIT POST.
20:19 Shot by WCSUWS Autumn Sorice, SAVE Annaliese Schmidt.
22:07 Shot by WCSUWS Celia DeVoe BLOCKED.
23:15 Substitution!PSU substitution: Taylor Wright for Leah Swanson.
24:48 Shot by WCSUWS Autumn Sorice WIDE LEFT.
28:24 Substitution!WCSUWS substitution: Samantha Carbonell for Lisa Sanzari.
29:03 Corner kick by WCSUWS Celia DeVoe [29:03].
31:19 Shot by WCSUWS Autumn Sorice, SAVE Annaliese Schmidt.
32:32 Offside against Western Connecticut.
34:00 Substitution!PSU substitution: Ashley Brenner for Sabrina Sweeney.
34:00 Substitution!PSU substitution: Kate Dasey for Cassie Lacroix.
34:00 Substitution!PSU substitution: Tabitha Josefik for Adrianna Kippenberge.
35:50 Shot by WCSUWS Kelsey Chacho, SAVE Annaliese Schmidt.
36:07 Substitution!WCSUWS substitution: Brooke Hellman for Andrea DeVoe.
39:21 Shot by WCSUWS Autumn Sorice WIDE LEFT.
39:46 Substitution!PSU substitution: Emily Crawford for Emily Bell.
39:46 Substitution!WCSUWS substitution: Aileen Maloney for Autumn Sorice.
39:46 Substitution!WCSUWS substitution: Allison Oakley for Kelsey Chacho.
40:51 Offside against Western Connecticut.
42:56 Substitution!WCSUWS substitution: Paige Martin for Emily Newhard.
45:00 For WCSUWS: #0 Jillian Fernandez, #3 Michele Reggiano, #23 Andrea DeVoe, #6 Lisa Sanzari, #7 Rebecca Rivera, #9 Autumn Sorice, #10 Celia DeVoe, #11 Emily Newhard, #13 Camille Lawson, #20 Meaghan Gustafson, #21 Kelsey Chacho.
45:00 For PSU: #21 Annaliese Schmidt, #3 Sophie Brisere, #16 Taylor Wright, #12 Kate Martin, #2 Naomi Kramer, #24 Shannon Crowley, #28 Cassie Lacroix, #4 Hannah Kallis, #10 Caitlin Johnson, #7 Emily Bell, #19 Sabrina Sweeney.
45:23 Shot by WCSUWS Autumn Sorice, SAVE Annaliese Schmidt.
46:17 Shot by WCSUWS Emily Newhard, SAVE Annaliese Schmidt.
47:16 Shot by WCSUWS Autumn Sorice WIDE RIGHT.
49:26 Shot by WCSUWS Autumn Sorice, SAVE Annaliese Schmidt.
49:32 Shot by WCSUWS Kelsey Chacho HIT POST.
51:12 Shot by WCSUWS Lisa Sanzari, SAVE Annaliese Schmidt.
51:42 Corner kick by WCSUWS Celia DeVoe [51:42].
51:56 Corner kick by WCSUWS Celia DeVoe [51:56].
53:26 Offside against Western Connecticut.
56:44 Corner kick by WCSUWS Celia DeVoe [56:44].
56:46 Header Shot by WCSUWS Rebecca Rivera BLOCKED.
56:52 Shot by WCSUWS Emily Newhard WIDE RIGHT.
57:20 Substitution!PSU substitution: Emily Crawford for Emily Bell.
61:08 Shot by PSU Hannah Kallis BLOCKED.
61:34 Corner kick by PSU Cassie Lacroix [61:34].
63:29 Corner kick by WCSUWS Celia DeVoe [63:29].
63:35 Header Shot by WCSUWS Rebecca Rivera, SAVE Annaliese Schmidt.
63:49 Substitution!PSU substitution: Adrianna Kippenberge for Shannon Crowley.
66:23 Header Shot by WCSUWS Andrea DeVoe, SAVE Annaliese Schmidt.
67:55 Substitution!PSU substitution: Tabitha Josefik for Cassie Lacroix.
70:59 Substitution!PSU substitution: Emily Bell for Naomi Kramer.
70:59 Substitution!WCSUWS substitution: Samantha Carbonell for Lisa Sanzari.
71:43 Shot by WCSUWS Emily Newhard, SAVE Annaliese Schmidt.
72:12 Offside against Western Connecticut.
73:43 Substitution!PSU substitution: Kate Dasey for Sabrina Sweeney.
73:43 Substitution!PSU substitution: Cassie Lacroix for Emily Crawford.
75:16 Substitution!WCSUWS substitution: Lucy Daniels for Kelsey Chacho.
77:33 Substitution!PSU substitution: Ashley Brenner for Kate Dasey.
78:43 Offside against Western Connecticut.
79:27 Shot by WCSUWS Samantha Carbonell, SAVE Annaliese Schmidt.
80:29 Substitution!PSU substitution: Leah Swanson for Caitlin Johnson.
82:05 Substitution!PSU substitution: Sabrina Sweeney for Cassie Lacroix.
83:28 Offside against Western Connecticut.
84:16 Shot by WCSUWS Autumn Sorice WIDE LEFT.
84:21 Substitution!PSU substitution: Naomi Kramer for Tabitha Josefik.
84:21 Substitution!WCSUWS substitution: Lisa Sanzari for Samantha Carbonell.
85:05 Offside against Western Connecticut.
86:09 Substitution!WCSUWS substitution: Kelsey Chacho for Lucy Daniels.
87:19 Shot by PSU Sabrina Sweeney WIDE LEFT.
90:00 Shot by PSU Ashley Brenner WIDE RIGHT.


text:
Q: Road Closures not visible on Mapbox Traffic Layer I am trying to implement road closures in the traffic layer of our map but I am not able to verify it as I cannot see any change w.r.t road closure on the map.
I took reference from this link https://docs.mapbox.com/vector-tiles/reference/mapbox-traffic-v1/#road-closures
Please find this JS fiddle link.. I had used the closed class earlier but was not able to see any change so reverted the code to initial state.
[Mapbox traffic layer][1]
[1]: https:// jsfiddle.net/navv_navi/Lt3hmawd/3/

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Project Manager. I am responsible for estimating, design and sales of remodeling projects. I have earned the designations of Certified Kitchen and Bath Designer and CAPS – Certified Aging in Place Specialist.
I come from a large family, and being at PBI for over 20 years is like a second family for me, which is important. What I enjoy most about the remodeling industry is that every client and job is different, so I am always stretching my creativity. I enjoy seeing the jobs go from where they started to the finished product. Remodeling is in my blood. Both of my grandfathers were farmers so they built a lot of things with their hands, and my father was always building things for our family: furniture, a small replica of a barn for his storage shed, and a camp trailer.
I enjoy whatever is outside. I just love being in the outdoors. It can be biking, golfing, boating, carpentry or even gardening.


text:
« The Wrestlemania Countdown: Day Eight
We made it cool to wear medallions and say "Hotep!" »
Five Years Blogging: A Life Well Wasted 01
March 24th, 2010 by david brothers | Tags: blogosphere, chad nevett, Five Years Gone
Chad Nevett had the good idea to do some kind of team-up for our fifth blogging anniversaries. We ended up doing an informal chat, going over our respective histories, approaches, and various things related to blogging. I think we both like to talk, because it ended up being pretty huge. Hopefully it's interesting, too, in that "two guys talking about each other and themselves" sort of way. I liked doing it, hopefully you like reading it.
The image up top comes from Jordan T Neves, a reader who shot that over to me on Twitter a couple weeks ago. Thanks Jordan! Check out his site (with sketchaday) or his twitter.
On with the bloggers talking about blogging! There are going to be several parts spread between 4l! and Chad's site over the next few days, each in relatively easy to manage chunks. I'll update this with links as we go along. Chad's piece should be up later today.
Chad Nevett: I guess we should begin at the beginning… February and March 2005. Where were you at the time, what were you doing, and why did you begin a blog?
David Brothers: I'd have to push back to January 2005, when I started Guerilla Grodd. Or actually, a few months prior is the true secret origin of 4thletter!. I'd spent the past couple years making side money reviewing video games for a fistful of websites while sleeping my way through state school. I noticed that a comics site had an open call for reviewers. I figured, hey- I can do this for video games, why not comics? I picked JLA Classified #1 (a Grant Morrison and Ed McGuinness piece), wrote a review, and mailed it off. I never heard back, or maybe I didn't wait to hear back, and posted it on a brand new Livejournal account.
Basically, I began a blog just because I could. Why not, right? After a couple months and 54 posts doing brief reviews, a couple of analytical pieces on the first two Grant Morrison and Cameron Stewart's Seaguy (which remain unfinished, but are still online), and some pretty basic and personality-less linkblogging, I bought a domain, moved the site over to Blogspot, and christened it 4thletter! because I'm an unbelievable narcissist. I drafted Gavin "Gavok" Jasper and Thomas "Wanderer" Wilde, old e-friends of mine, to help out and we took off running.
Kinda. We made 50-some posts between March and late September, mostly courtesy of me and Gav, before petering out. But, it was enough to build a small fanbase as a foundation and kind of get our legs under us, comics blogging-wise. I put down some money on a server in November and launched all over again.
What about you? I feel like I was a Millarworld poster/reader/lurker (now reformed) back when Graphicontent first launched. I know that I was aware of it back when I started writing about comics. Did I imagine the Millarworld connection?
CN: Nope, I am a Millarworld alum… if you can call it that. GraphiContent began with myself and another Millarworld poster, vacuumboy aka Steve Higgins. We, in our naive way, were bemoaning the lack of intelligent blogs about comics and decided to start our own. If you read the GraphiContent missions statement that I wrote for the blog's launch, you can cringe with me. Some big goals and high ideals brought about by not knowing what else was out there (though, there was a lot less then, I believe). At the time, I was in my third year of my undergrad at the University of Western Ontario, earning a combined honors BA in English and political science, and, oddly, looking for anything to do outside of school. I was also writing for the school paper and felt pretty confident that I had something to say. Which I did for a couple of posts on Marvel Boy and Codeflesh with the odd 'snippet' thrown in. Sometime near the beginning, Steve and I recruited a few others to join, but that didn't really increase our output and the blog remained pretty unused for a couple of years as my life got a little busier with school and being an editor at the school paper.
Things didn't really pick up again until the fall of 2006 when I moved out of my parents' house and a couple of hours away to Windsor to get my master's. Being in a strange city resulted in me needing to fill time a bit more, so I began writing about the trades and random issues I got at the school's bookstore, which slowly became writing about all of the comics I bought and my opinions on various developments in the industry. And slowly building back a readership after so much time giving them no reason to visit us. Around this time, I officially made the blog just Steve and myself with me doing the bulk of the posts. I don't know how, but people slowly noticed that I was alive and I began making nice with others like Tim Callahan… the rest, as they say, is history.
I find it funny that both of us went the groupblog route and maintain that mentality now. Why did you get others to join you? Why not just go it alone? And when did Esther join?
Continued over at Chad's spot!
Help Chad Nevett Help The Hero Initiative
4l! is sitting pretty
Posted in comic books, Five Years Gone by david brothers |
jean-luc godard's pierrot le fou , featuring anna karina and jean-paul belmondo
4thletter! is:
David Brothers:
email, posts, twitter
Gavin "Gavok" Jasper:
posts, twitter
Esther Inglis-Arkell:
(please don't email for promo of any sort. you're not the exception, either.)
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