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Case Update: Treyanna Summerville's Mother is Arrested and Charged in Her Death
Treyanna Summerville.
There's nothing I love more than reporting good news. Well, as "good" as any news surrounding a child's death can be.
At the very least, we're on the right track toward real justice for Treyanna Summerville, and that's the best news I've heard in awhile. I'm as grimly elated about this news as I was when I heard that Alex Hurley's 18-year-old aunt, Madison Sasser, was finally arrested.
18-year-old Treyanna was found dead in the family's home at 135 Rowley Street in Gouverneur, New York in the early morning hours of June 22, 2020. By the end of the day, Treyanna's 13-year-old half-sister, Rhianna, had been arrested and charged with murder.
The community of Gouverneur exploded over the perceived injustice of the situation, because, as I discussed in my initial post about Treyanna as well as on my most recent episode of Suffer the Little Children Podcast (Episode 20: Treyanna Summerville), many people familiar with the family had seen evidence over the years that Lashanna abused her older daughter.
(Clockwise from right): Isiah, Treyanna, and Rhianna in their younger days.
Isiah Samuels, Treyanna's older stepbrother, told reporters about his experiences being abused by Lashanna while he lived in the home, including being hit with a baseball bat and a frying pan. Isiah moved out in 2015 and assumed the abuse stopped, but friends and classmates of Treyanna knew otherwise.
Treyanna frequently appeared at school with visible injuries; often, she wore long sleeves and pants even in hot weather to hide them. She reportedly showed up to school one day with hair torn out and a tooth missing. Sometimes she didn't show up to school at all; in fact, her absences had affected her grades so much that she was not on the list to graduate with her class on the evening of Friday, June 26.
Several classmates said they told school officials and even police of their concerns about Treyanna's home life, but they were brushed off, according to the teenagers.
Lashanna Charlton.
(MyLife)
Gouverneur police had been called to the Charlton home 16 times in the past seven years for multiple complaints, including child abuse and neglect and domestic violence. Lashanna was even charged with felony assault and endangering the welfare of a child after whacking her stepson with a baseball bat in 2013. The disposition of that case is unknown, because the case is sealed.
By all accounts, Treyanna and her younger sister, Rhianna, were very close, and in all the discussion I've seen about this case, not a single person has made a comment suggesting they believe Rhianna was the person responsible for ending Treyanna's life.
Well, here's the good news: at around 9:00 AM on Wednesday, July 15, Lashanna Charlton turned herself in at the New York State Police barracks in Gouverneur. Shortly before 11:00 AM, Lashanna was arraigned in Gouverneur Town Court on a single charge of second-degree manslaughter, to which she pleaded not guilty.
Lashanna Charlton's booking photo.
(WWNY)
Lashanna appeared feeble and weak and was escorted into the courtroom with the assistance of state troopers. The criminal defense attorney she hired the very week her daughter was murdered, Melissa Swartz, said that Lashanna had been hospitalized for most of the past week, and prior to that, she had spent some time after her daughter's death in a psychiatric institution.
I'm holding my thoughts on this until I finish discussing the court appearance, but I can taste blood from biting my tongue so damn hard.
Ms. Swartz asked the judge to release Lashanna on her own recognizance, saying that her father was in the courtroom and wished to take his daughter home to Virginia with him.
St. Lawrence County District Attorney Gary Pasqua said hell no (I'm paraphrasing), arguing that Lashanna is a flight risk.
The judge split the difference, setting Lashanna's bail at $25,000 cash or $50,000 bond. Because her family could only afford $12,000, Lashanna was remanded to St. Lawrence County Jail.
Lashanna is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at 10:00 AM on Monday, July 20.
(BBC News)
(Radar Online)
(Screen Daily)
Now. As for Lashanna's so-called "frailty," my opinion on the matter is BULLSHIT, lady. She's playing the "poor me" card as hard as she can to wring every ounce of possible sympathy out of the court system, the authorities, and the public. Good luck with that last one; the public has absolutely no use whatsoever for this woman. This is the same bullshit we've seen multiple celebrities pull when they get themselves in big-time legal trouble; think Michael "I'm so sick I wore pajama pants to court" Jackson, Bill "I'm blind when it's convenient" Cosby, and Harvey "the elderly pervert" Weinstein.
St. Lawrence County District Attorney Gary Pasqua.
(County website)
I'm betting that, if she doesn't take a plea deal, Lashanna is going to aim for an insanity defense, and again, I say good luck with that. In New York state, not only does a defendant have to prove they're mentally ill (or "insane"), but they must also prove their illness prevented them from discerning between right and wrong, knowing what they did was wrong, and understanding the consequences of their actions.
Of course, at a news conference this morning, which I will embed below, Pasqua placed a good deal of emphasis on the fact that Lashanna is innocent "only until — and if — proven guilty."
Anyway, my opinion aside, one more very important thing is still up in the air: what's going to happen with Rhianna and her murder charge?
Such a beautiful girl. (Facebook)
"That charge is still pending at this time," Pasqua told reporters. "This is a fluid investigation. That charge was laid at that time based upon the evidence that we had and still have. Through the course of our investigation, based on the evidence collected by the New York State Police, there was a belief that there was probable cause to make this arrest today."
When a reporter asked if the ongoing investigation could include anything besides Treyanna's death, such as pursuing neglect charges against CPS caseworkers, Pasqua answered, "My focus right now is on the death of Treyanna Sumemrville and making sure we do everything in our power to uncover whatever the truth of that matter is and make sure that we do our best to get justice for her and make sure anyone who was involved in that is held responsible. That is our main focus right now. I've heard those rumblings; I understand what the community is saying, but as far as I'm concerned, job number one is what we're doing right now, and that involves her death and the cause of that."
One more bittersweet update on Treyanna's case: on Saturday, June 11, family and friends gathered in the outdoor pavilion outside the Gouverneur Community Center to celebrate and memorialize Treyanna.
Treyanna's senior picture.
(NCPR)
Not only was the gathering a memorial service; it was also a graduation party of sorts for the high school senior who should have graduated with her class last month. Treyanna's diploma case was set up in the pavilion, and attendees lined up to sign her senior class yearbook.
Treyanna's friend, Emily Burgess, said, "She didn't get to have a graduation party, and this is kind of us giving her one for it. I feel like she deserves it."
Gouverneur Mayor Ron McDougall attended the ceremony, saying, "We lost a teenager. I lost a neighbor. The community lost a great young person, a member of the class of 2020."
Amidst balloons, flowers, and photos of Treyanna on display, classmates shared memories of their beautiful friend.
"Every day that we would see each other, I would hear 'Hi, Taylor,' really, really loudly from like the opposite end of the hallway or the school," said Taylor Hance. "And I would turn around, and it was always Trey. We'd always see who could yell 'hi' the loudest, every single day."
Emily Burgess said, "With her at lunch, it wasn't a boring day. It was always fun, and jokes, and food fights sometimes."
Beautiful Treyanna.
Alexis Stevens reminisced, "Treyanna was happy, bubbly, and she always had a smile on her face when she came to school."
Taylor added, "She was so, just happy, and made every situation better, even though hers wasn't always the greatest, but she was so determined to make everyone else's better. She was the most selfless person."
From Treyanna's obituary: "On June 22, 2020, God decided that Treyanna was too beautiful for earth and He took her Home to His loving arms. She was a quiet, sweet young lady, whose smile could light up your soul. Treyanna was a member of the GHS Class of 2020, who had dreams of attending college or joining the U.S. Air Force. She enjoyed her time at school, where she was a dedicated student and track athlete. She would often be seen walking to her favorite places around town to enjoy quiet time. Treyanna was very kind and compassionate to those that were blessed to know her and will be greatly missed by many."
Click here for my ongoing coverage of Treyanna's story.
Sources: 7 News WWNY, North Country Public Radio, O'Leary Funeral Service
Treyanna Summerville
Previous 18-Year-Old Treyanna Summerville Dies After Years of Abuse at Mom's Hands… But 13-Year-Old Sister is Charged
Next Suffer the Little Children Podcast – Episode 21: Sereniti Sutley


In an attempt to control multidrug resistant dilemma, a library of s-triazine based on two novel series of thiazolidinone (4a-e) and chalcone (7a-e) derivatives were designed and synthesized with simple and efficient etiquette. The newly synthesized compounds were studied for efficacy against several bacteria (Staphylococcus Aureus, Bacillus Cereus, Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Klebsiella Pneumoniae,) and fungi (Candida Albicans, Aspergillus Clavatus) using the broth dilution technique. Compound 7d was the best bioactive desired antibacterial analogue with less MIC value against different tested strains. Results of bioassay study revealed the future hope of the potent drug-candidate based on s-triazine scaffold. All the final synthesized compounds were characterized by IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, mass and elemental analysis.
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This article was published on August 4, 2019
Here's how researchers are making machine learning more efficient and affordable for everyone
August 4, 2019 - 5:06 pm
Binary District Journal
Founded in 2017, Binary District is an international сollaborative technology community which creates unique competency-based workshops and (show all) Founded in 2017, Binary District is an international сollaborative technology community which creates unique competency-based workshops and events on new technologies, including blockchain, VR, AR, AI, cybersecurity, big data, IoT, biotech, SMM, Scrum/Agile, and machine learning. An important part of the ecosystem created by Binary District is the newly launched Binary District Journal, which serves as a comparative display of different opinions. The primary focus of the Journal is to educate and inform — "no hype, just facts."
The research and development of neural networks is flourishing thanks to recent advancements in computational power, the discovery of new algorithms, and an increase in labelled data. Before the current explosion of activity in the space, the practical applications of neural networks were limited.
Much of the recent research has allowed for broad application, the heavy computational requirements for machine learning models still restrain it from truly entering the mainstream. Now, emerging algorithms are on the cusp of pushing neural networks into more conventional applications through exponentially increased efficiency.
Neural networks are a prominent focal point in the current state of computer science research. They are inspired by complex human biology, which, for all but the most niche use cases, still outperforms computers on most conceivable scales.
Computers are excellent at storing information and processing at speed, while humans are more adept at efficient use of the limited computational power that they have. A computer could perform millions of calculations per second, which no human can hope to match. Where humans possess their advantage is efficiency, being more efficient than computers by a factor of many 10s of thousands.
What computers lack in algorithmic complexity, they make up for in sheer processing power, analyzing information at a rate that is continually developing.
That computational power comes with a catch: despite the costs of computational power decreasing exponentially, machine learning still remains an expensive affair — outside the reach of most individuals, businesses and researchers, who must rely on expensive third-party services to perform experiments in a space that could have staggering ramifications in myriad verticals.
For example, simple chatbots could cost anywhere in the range of a few thousand dollars to upwards of $10,000, depending on the complexity.
Enter The Neural Architecture Search (NAS)
To overcome this barrier, scientists have been investigating various techniques to reduce the cost and time associated with machine and deep learning application.
The field is a mix of both software and hardware considerations. More efficient algorithms and better-designed hardware are both priorities, but the human development of the latter is enormously labor-intensive and time-consuming. This has spurred researchers to create design automation solutions for the field.
Advancements are being made on both the software and hardware side. Currently, the most common technique in the implementation of neural networks is the Neural Architecture Search (NAS), which, though effective in designing neural networks, is computationally expensive. The NAS technique can be considered something of a basic step towards automated machine learning.
MIT, where much of the research in the field has taken place, has published a paper that shows a hugely more efficient NAS algorithm that can learn Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) for specific hardware platforms.
The researchers who worked on the paper succeeded at increasing efficiency by "deleting unnecessary neural network design components" and by focusing on specific hardware platforms, including mobile devices. Tests indicate that these neural networks were almost twice as fast as traditional models.
Co-author of the paper, Song Han, assistant professor at MIT's Microsystems Technology Laboratory, has said that the goal is to "democratize AI".
"We want to enable both AI experts and nonexperts to efficiently design neural network architectures with a push-button solution that runs fast on specific hardware," he says. "The aim is to offload the repetitive and tedious work that comes with designing and refining neural network architectures."
Image: Chelsea Turner, MIT
Other techniques have also been proposed. As opposed to being executed in resource-heavy controlled environments, machine learning algorithms can be reduced to run on specially designed hardware that utilizes lower levels of power.
Researchers from the University of British Columbia have shown that Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) are faster and more power-efficient in the implementation of machine learning applications. In addition to making machine learning more affordable and less time-consuming with customized hardware, FPGAs can make Deep Neural Networks (DNN) more accessible to those with lesser technical expertise.
FPGAs are used in conjunction with the High-Level Synthesis (HLS) tool to "automatically design hardware", eliminating the need to specifically design hardware for trialling machine learning inference solutions, and consequently achieve faster implementation of applications for a variety of use cases.
Other researchers have considered FPGAs for the specific DNN subset that is the CNN, a technique that is known for its application in analysing images, which itself has taken inspiration from the visual cortex of animals. This method also refers to the use of HLS and FPGA.
To further demonstrate the diversity of specific use cases, some research has looked into the implementation of DNN to execute automated design with respect to engineering tasks.
Agent 001: The Machine Learning Agent
Still, there is a long road ahead for the field of machine learning research. Neural networks and machine learning researcher Robert Aschenbrenner points to an upcoming shift in the technology and emphasises how machine learning agents will improve their performance and algorithms.
"Today, automation tools are largely isolated and segmented into their own fiefdoms," Aschenbrenner said. "A website chatbot doesn't typically interact with a customer service employee unless it is programmed to hand off a conversation if certain conditions are met. The chatbot just follows its programming, never altering course unless it's ordered to do so.
"Rather than determining a process that we want to automate, a machine learning agent will observe the way we work, collecting and mining historical data to determine where opportunities for automation lie. The AI tool will then hypothesize a solution in the form of an automated process change and simulate how those changes will improve productivity or lead to better business outcomes."
Train Your Algorithm
As promising as that sounds, there is much work to be done in training an algorithm to learn like a human or any animal does.
Aschenbrenner lists five major areas where humans still have an advantage over machines: vision, unsupervised/reinforced learning, explainable models, reasoning and memory, and rapid learning.
While AI has made advancements with respect to these points, humans still have a far greater capacity at learning things quickly and without the need for explicitly labelled data – 'putting two and two together', as it were.
The capacity to reason and find connections between seemingly disparate ideas is something humans possess to a high degree, while the ability to be completely independent and achieve emergent learning still eludes machines.
While there is much activity in the field of neural networks, the fundamental broadening of the use of machine learning algorithms means that its application could extend far beyond the somewhat limited use cases it currently operates in.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is proliferating and is seeing practical deployment, but the expectation of AI to become a ubiquitous phenomenon will be dependent on rapidly designed hardware and software solutions that are accompanied by the aforementioned resource benefits.
Source: McKinsey
Democratizing Artificial Intelligence
Optimized algorithms and affordable solutions are expected to 'democratise AI', as MIT has described it, putting large-scale machine learning techniques in the hands of individuals and groups that lack the resources to run massive computers farms for the purpose.
While research may still be early in this field, the newly proposed solutions for design automation show much promise. This is accompanied by decreasing costs of computer hardware, and the introduction of interoperable technology like cloud computing, which together may expedite the arrival of more mainstream utilisation of machine learning.
The increased accessibility to sophisticated algorithms and tools can enhance education, medical care and business performance.
Additionally, businesses can reduce operational costs by having AI handle tedious tasks, thereby allowing human resources to be better utilized on more critical tasks.
It is a matter of when, not if, these more powerful software tools become more readily usable.
This article was orginally published on Binary District by Colin Adams. Binary District is an international сollaborative technology community which creates unique competency-based workshops and events on new technologies. Follow them on Twitter.
Artificial intelligence (video games)
Published August 4, 2019 - 5:06 pm UTC
Researchers trained this AI to 'think' like a baby — here's what happened
Smart: This AI spots Deepfakes by analyzing light reflections in the eyes
Study: Girls show more interest in STEM when they're not fed harmful stereotypes
What the hell is 'dataraising?' And why is everyone doing it?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Ben Quayle, son of the former vice president and a Republican candidate for a House seat from Arizona, was accused of misleading voters this week when he sent out a mailer touting his family values and hanging out with two adorable little girls.
And one of his primary opponents, Vernon Parker, asked in a press release why Quayle was "renting a family" for the mailers.
Quayle readily admits the little girls aren't his daughters. They're his nieces.
Most of the stories relied on the Capital Times, which had a quote from a Quayle spokesman saying, "They're just terribly cute kids." The spokesman was apparently wrong and the Capital Times, for one, corrected its story.
During his segment on local news, Quayle brought out his nieces in front of the camera.
"They want to clear their name," he says.
We're gonna go ahead and chalk this one up as a win for Quayle.


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En théorie de la complexité computationnelle, la classe de complexité TFNP est la classe des problèmes fonctionnels totaux qui peuvent être résolus en temps polynomial non déterministe. C'est la classe des problèmes fonctionnels où on a la garantie d'avoir une réponse, et cette réponse peut être vérifiée en temps polynomial; ou encore, c'est le sous-ensemble de FNP où une solution est garantie. L'abréviation TFNP signifie "Total Function Nondeterministic Polynomial".

TFNP contient de nombreux problèmes naturels qui intéressent les informaticiens. Ces problèmes incluent la factorisation d'entiers, la recherche d'un équilibre de Nash et la recherche d'optima locaux. Il est largement supposé que TFNP contient des problèmes difficiles sur le plan informatique, et plusieurs de ces problèmes sont difficiles sous des hypothèses cryptographiques. Cependant, il n'y a pas de résultats connus de difficulté inconditionnelle pour TFNP. On ne pense pas que TFNP ait des problèmes complets.

Définition
La classe TFNP est définie comme suit :

 Une relation binaire P(x, y) est dans TFNP si et seulement s'il existe un algorithme en temps polynomial déterministe qui peut déterminer si P(x, y) est vrai ou non, étant donné x et y, et pour chaque x, il existe un y dont la taille est bornée par un polynome en la taille de x tel que P(x, y) soit vérifié.

TFNP a été définie par Megiddo et Papadimitriou.

Sous-classes notables
Les sous-classes de TFNP sont souvent définies par le théorème mathématique qui garantit l'existence d'une solution.

Notes et fréférences

Classe de complexité

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Condemning Charleston Shootings
The Fountain shares its condolences with the families and friends who lost their beloved ones in what appears to have been a crime of racist hatred in Charleston, South Carolina. We condemn the attack regardless of any reasons that motivated it.
During times of tragedy like this, when everyone seeks answers to questions like "why?" and "how?" we are reminded of the lead article in The Fountain's very first issue. It was on compassion.
"Compassion is the beginning of being; without it, everything is chaos. Everything has come into existence through compassion and by compassion it continues to exist in harmony."
All religions have compassion at their basis. The Fountain, as such, takes compassion as its very mission statement. The best way to fight hatred and potential hate crimes is not with anger or more violence; it is with love. This is the timeless message faith teaches us. By condemning racism, we are celebrating diversity. The Fountain has always tried to spread a message of diversity and love, and it will continue to do so, because it is only through education and awareness that we can eliminate the true seed of hatred and intolerance: ignorance.
In an article by Alphonse Dougan in 2006, the author uses a poem by Rumi to summarize why praising the beauty of compassion is a must, rather than solely discussing acts of hatred:
When the full moon shines on a clear night,
What would it have to fear of the dogs or their barking?
The dogs continue to do what they are supposed to do
And the moon continues to beautify the face of the night.
Throughout our issues, we've devoted many articles to combatting racism. Religion is particularly well suited to this cause; for, as Ekrem Dumanli wrote in his article "Media and Hate Messages," Satan was the first racist. He claimed that he was superior to others, and therefore deserved special privileges.
"Since this early racist dialectic, all racist groups and their followers have used similar arguments to justify their beliefs and prove that they are the best. The result of such an effort has been a very bloody history."
It isn't just a religious imperative to stand up to such claims; as Daniel Hummel's 2015 article emphasizes, condemning hate crimes is a duty upon every human being: "Responses to hate speech are to be measured with a strong foundation of forgiveness and patience, but it does merit a response. Hate speech and its potential negative effects have to be addressed either by calling attention to it through research, lobbying, providing counter messages and rallies, and legal actions, if needed."
Combatting violence and standing up for human rights begins at home. We must practice compassion, forgiveness, and understanding in our daily lives. Only when we truly live a life of love can we begin to overcome the deep chasms that some people use to divide us. We cannot look at someone of a different faith, ethnicity, or color and see "an other"; we must look at them and see a friend and fellow human being. Above all, this is what The Fountain strives to do.
Let's conclude with a quote from James C. Harrington, who initiated the Texas Civil Rights project in 1990, which included the Violence Against Women Act program for immigrant women in Texas. The project educated more than 50,000 lawyers, offering more than 3000 pro-bono legal services to combat violence. In his article, Harrington names Fethullah Gulen, Eleanor Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy as the sources of inspiration in his struggle for international human rights:
"The struggle goes on, building on those who went before us, for the benefit of those who come after us. Eleanor Roosevelt put it well in her remarks at the United Nations in 1958:
'Where, after all, do universal rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerned citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world."
We offer up our thoughts and prayers to those who are suffering right now in Charleston. And we vow to continue the stand for equality and human dignity.


I've been passing the guard with the Kimura for about 10 years now, shortly before getting my BJJ black belt. Ever since then, my game has evolved largely around this technique, which I've used at every level of competition in the world, up to and including the IBJJF Pans and local US Grappling events, not to mention every day on my students and training partners. I hope to share some of these tricks with you here. This system has helped students win pro MMA fights, advanced no-gi divisions, and black belt matches ever since I started teaching seminars on the system back in 2009.
I like to think in terms of a very linear progression of techniques. I'll start with gripping the Kimura, as shown in this first video. After that, I'll try to separate the arm from the body. If I can do that, I'll simply finish the person right then and there with one of these two moves. It's important to always be threatening with the Kimura as a submission in order to be able to use it as a position.
This is the cornerstone technique for passing the half guard from the hip-switch position when you have the Kimura grip. Remember- this is a linear progression. If the arm separates from the body, simply revert to the straight arm finish or stepover finish (if you can't straighten the arm). However, an experienced grappler is likely to recognize the submission threat, and this is exactly what opens up the floating pass for you. The Float is comparable to a basic hip-switch half guard pass, just with much better leverage.
Continuing our logical progression, now the opponent tries to buck you upwards in order to reverse the position. If you're not ready for this, it may well work for them. However, the "El Gato" pass, along with the unique belly down finish, are the perfect answers to this common response to the floating pass.
Although not technically a pass, I think most people would agree that a back take is an acceptable alternative. Here, your partner is a little too quick for you to switch your hips during the "El Gato" movement (hence the "lazy" moniker). This one also works (as shown in the video) when you're standing and your opponent takes a "sitting up guard" position, or a butterfly guard variation, as shown here.
This presumes your opponent is a little bit slicker, and tries to take your back by grabbing your "trail leg" during the floating pass. Like the "El Gato" variation, "The Trade" relies on you realizing what your opponent is trying to do before he or she can accomplish it. I find this variation to work extremely well against brown and black belts.
Note: you absolutely must have "The Trade" down pat if you're going to work on catching the trail arm, and it's really helpful for Kimura takedowns.
Always remember, simple is better. Don't try to unnecessarily complicate your jiu jitsu, because that is your partner's job! Having said that, there is a time and place for some wild, unorthodox attacks in BJJ. If you enjoy unorthodox attacks in general, you might really enjoy this "Fancy and Funky Legocks" page. For more orthodox leg attacks, check out how to do a kneebar from the bottom of half guard. Be safe, and enjoy!
I like some of these options, and it is a good condensed lesson on kimura utility.
I really like the way this looks on Hubpages.
@RinchenChodron: Thanks for taking a look!
Nicely executed step by step instructions.


Every dog can benefit from massage therapy, even if there is not a specific issue or injury that you can see. This is a great way of maintaining their muscles and joints and improving their quality of life. Massage can boost circulation, flex the musculature and joints, reduce discomfort and stress, all while giving your dog the positive association of touch.
Sometimes it isn't just your dog that needs a massage but YOU! Luckily Massage by Chris is a great local service which offers excellent holistic massage.


Phylogenetic comparison of the methanogenic communities from an acidic, oligotrophic fen and an anaerobic digester treating municipal wastewater sludge.
Identification of methyl coenzyme M reductase A (mcrA) genes associated with methane-oxidizing archaea.
The mcrA gene as an alternative to 16S rRNA in the phylogenetic analysis of methanogen populations in landfill.
The genome of M. acetivorans reveals extensive metabolic and physiological diversity.
Isolation and identification of methanogen-specific DNA from blanket bog peat by PCR amplification and sequence analysis.


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Restore Our Parks Act Passes Committee, Ready for Senate Vote
A national parks bill with overwhelming bipartisan backing easily cleared a key Senate committee this week, likely putting the bill on a fast track for full Senate approval.
With a vote of 15-5, the Senate Natural Resources Committee approved The Restore Our Parks Act, which would divert a portion of the rents and fees generated by mineral and energy development on federal lands to address backlogged Natural Park Service maintenance.
"This bill would help address the multi-billion dollar deferred maintenance backlog at our National Parks. There is perhaps no better step we can take to protect those treasured places than sending this bill to the President in this Congress," said committee chair Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R, Ak.).
Western Wire
As the National Parks Service is struggling to work through $12 billion in backlogged maintenance, including deferred repairs to roads, trials, and buildings at parks throughout the country, the act would provide more than $6.5 billion over five years to address the problem. It has so far received strong bipartisan support.
Since being introduced earlier this year, the Restore Our Parks Act has garnered impressive bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate. It currently has 45 cosponsors in the Senate and 329 in the House. Western legislators from both political parties were original cosponsors of the bill, including Colorado Sens. Cory Gardner (R) and Michael Bennet (D) as well as both Montana Sens. Steve Daines (R) and Jon Tester (D) and Sen. Martin Heinrich [D-N.M.].
The measure is one of the most significant changes to the National Park Service in years and comes as visitor numbers set new records across the country.
"As our parks face years of record-breaking visitation, they are falling into disrepair," said National Parks and Conservation Association President and CEO Theresa Pierno. "Billions of dollars are needed to fix parks' crumbling roads, overgrown trails, broken water and sewer systems and outdated visitor centers. This isn't the legacy we should be leaving for our children and grandchildren."
Maine Sen. Angus King (I), who called the vote "an important, bipartisan step toward establishing lasting protections" for the Park Service, agreed.
"We have a collective responsibility to maintain this spirit of the wilderness in our National Parks – and this starts with the $12 billion maintenance backlog," he continued. "Stewardship of our public lands is not a partisan issue, which is why I'm pleased that the Restore Our Parks Act passed our Committee with strong bipartisan support."
Despite broad support for the proposal, the bill was still met with criticism from Sen. Mike Lee (R, Utah), who acknowledged the maintenance backlog, but argued that the Restore Our Park Acts was not the way to fix it.
"This bill deceives the taxpayer about how the funding is accounted for," said Lee, who said that he was worried about the impact the bill would have on the federal budget.
"The receipts are not just sitting on a shelf somewhere in the treasury waiting for someone to dream up a way to spend them. They are deposited and spent every year. We are not just taking advantage of something that would otherwise be left idle," he added.
Lee pushed for alternative funding sources to address the maintenance issue, such as raising fees for foreign visitors or dedicating a portion of Land and Water Conservation Fund funding presently earmarked for new land acquisition to park maintenance. While Lee urged the committee to direct the Government Accountability Office to study the impacts of increasing park entrance fees, they declined to adopt his motion.
The National Parks Conservation Association says it "strongly opposes" this amendment as it "imposes arbitrary costs on visitors with no research on the potential for pricing visitors out of their parks."
Now that the bill has cleared committee hearings in the Senate, it will be up to Congressional leadership to schedule a Senate floor vote. Murkowski told the committee that she would push for the Senate to take up the legislation promptly.
The House Natural Resources Committee approved the legislation in June, but a full vote in the House has yet to be scheduled.
This summer, Western Wire profiled four national parks–Mesa Verde, Glacier, Arches and Canyonlands, and Chaco Canyon–showing how park staff balance long lists of needed maintenance against limited funds.
Tags: Angus King, featured, House Natural Resources Committee, Lisa Murkowski, maintenance backlog, Mike Lee, national parks, National Parks Service, restore our parks act, Senate Natural Resources Committee


We are looking for volunteers to talk to folks at Get Outdoors Nevada Day about Wilderness. Our local partner SH Architecture donated a booth at the event so we can spread the word about the work we do it the Wilderness areas in our backyards! We'll need help explaining the projects we host, asking folks to support protection of Gold Butte and running the crosscut saw demonstration for all ages! Experience is not required, just a love for the outdoors and willingness to share your passion. RSVP here if you can donate a couple hours or so to give us a hand.
Get Outdoors Nevada Day is a huge community event! Last year attendance was estimated around 3,000 people! It's a perfect event for the family and a great place to meet others who are also inspired by the outdoors. For more information about the Festival visit the website.


text:
Sarah Edgcumbe
Perspectives section writer
Sarah holds an MA in conflict studies and human rights and an MA in refugee protection and forced migration studies. She considers home to be wherever she has good friends and has many interests which essentially boil down to human rights and resistance movements. Sarah also loves wide expanses of wilderness and dogs.
(12.06.20) – We Need to Talk About the Rioting and the Looting
We need to talk about the rioting. And the looting. And the destruction of statues during recent Black Lives Matter protests. We really do. The failure to recognise the entrenched nature of historical and enduring structural violence in both the US and the UK speaks volumes in terms of the normalization of oppression, enforced poverty, racism and discrimination in contemporary society. Whilst there are certainly white victims of structural violence, it is an irrefutable fact that Black or minority ethnic communities experience the most severe intersecting consequences – not as uncomfortable rarities, but as a grinding, every day, relentless struggle, which as we have seen in the case of George Floyd along with so many other black men, women and youth, can too often have fatal results.
(01.06.20) – Will Iraq's New Prime Minister Recognise Roma Rights?
In early May 2020, Mustafa al-Kadhimi was appointed as Iraq's new Prime Minister against the context of ongoing protests and popular discontent resulting from widespread government corruption. This corruption has contributed massively towards increasing poverty, reduction in public services and rising unemployment. Since the 2003 U.S. led invasion of Iraq, social cohesion has fractured perhaps (but hopefully not) irrevocably, with politics and society becoming increasingly sectarian.
The effects of the sectarian conflict in Iraq have been widely reported on, but the media has remained largely silent on the dire situation of the Iraqi Roma. This lack of attention by the media is reflective of the neglect of the Roma of Iraq by the government, humanitarian and human rights organizations and largely speaking, civic society in general. The complete lack of information produced by the Iraqi government on the Iraqi Roma is symptomatic of the de facto policies of ostracization and othering which have persisted since the formation of the Iraqi state in the 1920s. The number of Roma residents in Iraq, including the Kurdish Region of Iraq (KRI), is unknown, but best estimates place the figure at nearly 200,000 – translating to roughly 0.5% of the Iraqi population.
(21.04.20) – The Acid Test of 'Britishness'
(04.04.20) – Resistance and Rebellion after Covid-19
(05.01.20) – Slaughter and Mass Displacement in Idlib
"Children and anybody with a free spirit have become terrorists in the eyes of the world." My Syrian friend and I are discussing the current situation in Idlib. We are both exasperated that the world is standing idly by as thousands of innocent people are murdered or made homeless. Idlib, a governorate in North West Syria, is often portrayed as home exclusively to terrorists and violent Islamist extremists. My friend's reference to "a free spirit" is his description of the people who participated in the Syrian revolution: those who dared to demand a free and peaceful life including the right to participate in democratic elections and to exercise freedom of speech and assembly without fear of being arbitrarily detained, tortured, executed or otherwise disappeared into the Syrian regime's nightmarish prison system.
(08.12.19) – Narratives of Power and the Silencing of Community
The monopolization and manipulation of public narratives by the powerful has long been a pernicious political reality on both a national and global level. Invariably, they who shout the loudest somehow assert a claim to legitimacy, despite the commonly ill-conceived and downright harmful nature of the content being peddled.
(09.11.19) – Rojava, Refugees, and EU Responsibility
Since Turkey's aggressive offensive against Rojava, an area of North Eastern Syria, began early in October 2019, at least 160,000 Syrians have fled their homes. A BBC report from the 17th October states that airstrikes and ground attacks have killed civilians on both sides of the Turkey / Syria border and quotes a UNICEF estimate that 70,000 children have already been displaced. This is a tragedy for the Kurdish citizens of Rojava, as well as the broader Middle East, given what the Rojava political project represented.
(15.10.19) – Colonialism, Corruption & Chaos: The Disillusionment of Iraqi Youth
During early October 2019, in the space of just nine days, Iraqi state forces killed over one hundred young people and injured thousands more. Thousands. In just nine days. As anti-corruption protests broke out, the state deployed live ammunition almost immediately. In some places, snipers positioned themselves on rooftops, picking off young Iraqi citizens who had nothing left to lose except the hope that they would one day experience a government that provides for their basic needs rather than greedily shovelling oil revenue into its own pockets.
The catalyst for these protests was the sacking of Lieutenant General Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi, who led the fight against ISIS as part of Iraq's elite counter terrorism unit, and who was widely acknowledged as the liberator of Mosul. As soon as his transfer to an administrative role was made public, speculation arose that 'his refusal to back a specific political party made him unpopular among officials in Baghdad', and that he was 'removed from his post because he broke sectarian barriers in Mosul.' The sacking of al-Saadi was widely perceived as emblematic of the corruption that has characterized successive post-U.S invasion administrations, resulting in widespread protests against corruption, unemployment and poor public services.
(12.09.19) – Problematic 'Peacebuilding': When the Powerful Don't Ask and Won't Listen
Afghanistan, a country that has been in and out of the news since the 9/11 terror attack and subsequent U.S.-led coalition invasion, is once again at the forefront of media attention this month, as a result of Trump's decision to cancel peace talks with the Taliban on 9th September. The relentless violence and bombings conducted by Afghan state forces, U.S.-backed Afghan militias, Taliban, religious extremist groups, career criminals and other groups are no longer considered to be remarkable events; they happen so frequently that the international audience has become desensitized to them.
(21.08.19) – Legacy of Empire: Darkest Days of Indian Democracy
CW: rape, torture
Since 5th August 2019, the Indian government has shut down Kashmir in the most repressive and terrifying fashion possible. 48,000 Indian troops have been moved into the state, making it, with 70,000 Indian troops already posted there, the most densely militarized zone on Earth. These troops are now operating under a "shoot-to-kill" policy and hundreds of Kashmiri human rights activists, academics and business leaders have been arrested. Meanwhile, the Indian government has simultaneously imposed a media and communications blackout, cutting off the internet and thus preventing Kashmiris from being able to communicate their suffering in real time to the rest of the world. Pakistan too revoked state subject rule from Gilgit-Baltistan (part of Pakistan occupied Kashmir) in 1974, in a move similar to India's current strategy. However, in doing so, there was no media black-out nor curfews imposed. India, on the other , has jailed all Kashmiri leadership, transferring them to jails in New Delhi, as well as, according to a magistrate speaking on condition of anonymity, arresting and detaining over 4,000 Kashmiri citizens since 5th August.
(21.07.19) – What We Call a Terrorist Should Apply to Powerful States As Well
In April of this year, President Trump further demonstrated his ineptitude as world leader, and cemented his status as an intellectually defective moron, by designating Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. Yes. Trump has designated a sovereign country's state forces "terrorists" despite his single-handed destruction of the Iranian Nuclear Deal, wholehearted support for Israeli aggression and murder of unarmed Palestinians, and the fact that U.S state forces have unjustifiably slaughtered millions. The pot is definitely calling the kettle black.
(29.06.19) – Rebel Kites
"We are fighting for freedom. We are fighting for our smiles. We don't care what the occupation thinks about us or what they will do. This is an act of defiance."
The certainty of retribution implied within the above statement seems exaggerative for merely flying kites, but this is the reality in Burin, a village that holds fast among beautiful rolling hills in the countryside of the northern West Bank, and which is also surrounded by three illegal Israeli settlements. Centuries old, with a population of nearly three thousand, the villagers of Burin have long cared for this land. They've raised their families here for generations, celebrated births and marriages, supported each other, grown and harvested ancient olive trees, with roots that symbolize the hundreds of years of Palestinian toil that connect the people to this land. This land that Israel wants so badly but will never have.
(02.05.19) – The Enemy Of Your Enemy Is Not Your Friend: Pseudo-Leftists, Assad & Russia
For a few years now so-called leftists have been acting as cheerleaders for Syria's President Assad. The apparent logic seems to go something like this: "American imperialism is abhorrent, so naturally we will embrace America's enemy – Russia – and by extension, Assad as our friends." Let me be clear: in this case, the enemy of your enemy is not your friend. It is perfectly feasible to recognise that Russia is an imperialist power and serial abuser of human rights without legitimizing America's terrible track record of imperialism, occupation and human rights abuses.
(19.03.19) – Shamima Begum Is A Reflection Of Societal Failure: We Must Bring Her Home And Learn
The British press has been in a frenzy recently over nineteen-year-old Shamima Begum and her desire to return to the UK from the refugee camp in Syria where she currently resides. There are probably very few people in the UK who are unaware that Shamima travelled from the UK to ISIS territory in Syria at the age of fifteen, where she married an ISIS militant, conceived and lost two children before giving birth to a third (who also passed away) in the refugee camp in Syria she currently calls home.
(03.02.19) – The Perfect Gift For Right-Wing Nationalist Acquaintances? Letters To A German Friend
The collective Letters to a German Friend were clandestinely written and published by Camus during the Nazi occupation of France. The context must be taken into account here: these letters do not discuss Germany as it stands today, but rather what it represented under the Third Reich – fascism and the intolerance of diversity and dissent. Camus himself states that the letters should be viewed as "contrasting two attitudes, not two nations, even if, at a certain moment in history, these two nations personified two enemy attitudes."
(06.01.19) – Sudan Uprising
Sudan is burning. Literally.
Government offices have been set on fire. Areas in Darfur have been burning for quite some time, though Western media no longer reports on it. The killings in Darfur that proved to be the initial acts of a campaign of genocide took place in 2003. Since then 480,000 have been killed by President Bashir's forces, which include his 'Janjaweed' militia, with a further 2.8 million being displaced.
(09.12.18) – Let's Make 2019 the Year we Stand with the Traveller Community
'Gypsy and traveller families 'hounded out' of areas in act of 'social cleansing' as councils impose sweeping bans' was the ominous heading of a story printed in the Independent last month. It may sound like a news article from 1940s Italy, but this demonstrates the alarming fact that antigypsyism is perceived by many to be the last socially "acceptable" form of racism in the UK today.
(28.10.18) – Red Poppies vs White Poppies (and the problem with pacifism)
The red poppy/white poppy/no poppy debate has become increasingly emotive in recent years, as certain right wing groups have co-opted it for their own warped ethno-nationalist causes, bringing forth the notion of 'poppy fascism': If you're not wearing a red poppy you must be some kind of terrorist sympathizer, or a communist… if you don't like this country and what it stands for you can fuck off to another. Nice. Of course most people who wear a red poppy don't behave like this, but the minority who do, aside from being obnoxious, are loud, determined and represented by sensationalist and divisive British tabloids, resulting in 'poppy fascism' spreading exponentially.
(20.09.18) – On Anarchy, Antifa, and Apathy
In a left wing social media group I am part of, a member recently asked whether anybody supported Antifa, before continuing on to state that he personally feels that "they sound like the fascists they are trying to rid the world of" and harming the potential of the left. This sentiment was unexpected given the online location. Why do the words "anarchist" and "Antifa" provoke such strong negative reactions?
(16.08.18) – Palestine Solidarity: Compulsory Defence of Human Rights, not Anti-Semitism
CW: torture
May 2017 saw Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli detention uniting to take part in a hunger strike. Every Friday during the strike, street protests were held in solidarity and various other events took place under the motto 'salt and water'. Some of my friends from Nablus, viewing horses as inextricable from 'non-horsey' aspects of life (their lives are absorbed by riding horses; taking selfies with horses; racing horses; breeding horses; bathing horses…) demonstrated solidarity non-violently by riding their horses into Nablus city centre, carrying Palestinian flags and calling for solidarity with the prisoners.
(07.08.18) – Refugee Solidarity in the Face of the Rising Far Right
Owen Jones recently pointed out that the far right is now at its strongest since the 1930s. A horrifying reality of today's populist Europe. These groups have been unfailingly and cynically opportunistic in using terrorist attacks in Europe to galvanize hatred against Muslims, whilst presenting themselves as protecting white European innocents from the depravity of the Qu'ran, or simply as "not racist" concerned citizens who feel that we should help "our own" (read: white) homeless before helping others. This mindset has contributed to the election of far right governments in Poland, Hungary and Italy and demonstrates that we should not view these groups as fringe street-movements – they are effecting political change with horrifying efficiency through influencing voters.
Mainstream media is in on this, of course. As Chris Jarvis wrote in October 2016, the media's reaction to refugees and migrants has been nothing short of inflammatory. The influence of mistruths presented in the media has led to vilification of refugees and migrants. In our failure to protect vulnerable people who are unable to seek protection in their country of origin, we have failed to learn history's lesson. Enoch Powell would be proud of us. We should all be fucking ashamed of ourselves.


UNDER, the petite fashion showcase is entering its 3rd annual fashion fundraiser.
UNDER is devoted to the petite consumer, so models for the show male or female, must be a height of 5' 7" or SHORTER to participate.
Designers interested in showcasing can register via the website www.undertheevent.com by visiting the REGISTRATION page.
ALL SEATS $15 and available online. Tickets on sale now. Click Here To Purchase Tickets.


If I were targeting young women (who are sadly underrepresented in the martial arts) I would definitely use a picture of a woman or women in my ad. Martial arts can sometimes be perceived as a boy�s game � so, to attract women you have to show that your school is also appealing to women. I might even have glowing testimonials from several of your female students.
Severe WARNING: I do not use fear to advertise my self defense or martial arts classes. I once read an ad - printed in red, which talked about how women who didn�t sign up for a self defense class might be the victim of sexual assault. I not only find this in really bad taste, but it�s a terrible advertising idea.
Your ads should only be about positive things or people will start to associate being scared with your school. This is an important concept when it comes to �branding�. People should associate feeling empowered with your school.
To fill your kids� classes with vibrant energetic youth, you want to attract parents who want the best for their kids. Your ad should make parents feel like they are really doing right by their kids by signing them up. Tell them how your young students get better grades, have more self-discipline, and wind up happier kids with lots of friends who are into healthy activities.
Place your ad for kids classes in a local paper when they run a special article or section on parenting. Place your ads at a local arcade, or grocery store. Look for parents with young kids � not babies and toddlers unless you�re teaching baby kung-fu.


The Glasshouse restaurant at Rydges in Hawkstone Street (formerly the Portland Towers hotel) first came to my attention during this year's Wellington on a Plate.
Their element of surprise was one of the most innovative around and was extremely well executed – mains presented as desserts and vice versa (pork belly with crumble custard and gelato; peanut butter and jelly toastie for dessert). And so I ended up going back and chatting to Chef Andy and Marketer Rebecca about what's going on.
Quite a lot as it happens.
The Glasshouse has done a little re-decorating, is upping the food ante, and is starting to emerge from its cocoon.
Andy started at the Glasshouse as an apprentice some 14 years ago, and has been around a number of other Wellington establishments before circling back.
Given they're a home-away-from-home for many of their guests, many dishes have a familiarity to them, but are done with a focus on local, seasonal and artisan ingredients (On-Trays, Gelissimo, Zany Zeus, among others). And I liked the introduction at the front of the menu telling some of the provider stories.
They're also very focused on giving a friendly welcome, and relaxed but professional service. And I can say over two recent lunch visits, both boxes were ticked.
And most impressively, on ordering the caesar, the immediate response was to ask whether I had any gluten issues. Very smart.
While understated, the Glasshouse is a very pleasant, light and airy place to have lunch away from the corporate rat-race. There was an interesting mix of conference-goers, locals, corporate folks and even a retired group of gentleman having their weekly lunch on my last visit (and looking like they were thoroughly enjoying it!), so its not pretentious, and welcoming to all.
Stand-by for bean bags, bbq's and more in their sunny, sheltered bar courtyard this summer. And possibly even some Sunday family feast type events too.


Utah Jazz: Tapes??? Showws????? Is 9-11 an inside job????????
Tapes??? Showws????? Is 9-11 an inside job????????
Yes they were here and they sold out! But Dr. Stephen Phloyd says there are more! Sooooo..... If you haven't got yours yet contact one of us and we will get one to you. The are $3 each.In fact you can grab one at our next gigger!
Buffalo's tardlots attempt premembering all their songs AND MOOR. At l...east 1 & 1/2 new songs from these high-end wet brains. Their last show until 2012. They have t-shirts with an Iranian folk singer on the cover too. I think. 3 demos also exist.
Homegrown post-punk/art rock reminiscent of Meat Puppets and mid-90s skate videos.
Lock up your daughters, lock up your wives. 1st show for the "old man band".
Around punk show time. 7pm thats punk right?
Drinking and drugzz is allowed and encouraged at The Vault, where you don't have to play on carpets. THANK GAUD.


You Can Crimp Your Eye Lashes Like You Crimp Hair?
Get your eyelash curler out.
When it's hot, but no so hot that you can't touch it, curl your lashes. It works WAY better than normal and lasts until you wash your makeup off. I've done it for years!


Constitutions are written to be the girders of civilized society. They enumerate what is allowed and what is not, all with the goal of constraining power and documenting a country's values.
But how do constitutions really affect society and keep governments in check? If anyone knows the answer to that question, it's Mila Versteeg. The University of Virginia law professor has read about 700 national constitutions, from the United States' seminal document to Thailand's and everything in between.
Versteeg, who was named a 2017 Andrew Carnegie Fellow, is co-writing a book that explores whether and how constitutional rights constrain government behavior. She answered a few questions about what she's found.
Q. Your research has found that we know remarkably little about whether or not constitutional rights actually make a difference. Can you explain why?
A. What I have found is that respect for constitutional rights cannot be taken for granted. Writing a right into the constitution does not necessarily translate into better rights practices. In many countries, even democratically elected governments routinely ignore the constitution.
And indeed many U.S. presidents have violated the Constitution: John Adams signed the Alien and Sedition Act that, amongst other things, criminalized making false statements critical of the government; Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus; and Franklin Roosevelt ordered the internment of Japanese-Americans. Around the world, there are many more examples; more than we can possibly recount here.
Together with my co-author, Adam Chilton at the University of Chicago, I have spent the last few years studying the effectiveness of constitutional constraints around the world. We fielded surveys among the general public in Turkey and the U.S., traveled to Tunisia, Myanmar, Russia and Poland to conduct case studies, and used statistical methods to analyze a dataset on rights protections in every country's constitution. The goal of this research is to understand whether the promises written in constitutions protect the citizens when governments seek to encroach upon their rights.
A. There is good news and bad news.
First, the bad news: Constitutional rights are often ignored. For example, of all countries that constitutionally prohibit torture, a mere 12.3 percent fully uphold this prohibition in practice. And as we learned in December 2014 with the release of the U.S. Senate Torture Report, the U.S. is among the countries that has violated this prohibition. The U.S. is not alone: there is data suggesting that in 2011, of the 107 democracies in existence, 40 frequently engaged in torture and another 41 occasionally engaged in torture.
Similarly, just 22.9 percent of countries that constitutionally guarantee fair trial rights deliver on that promise, and only 26.7 percent of countries that protect the freedom of expression fully do so. These basic patterns hold even when using statistical techniques that control for a range of factors – like a country's wealth, population, judicial independence or system of government. This means that, even in democracies with independent courts, constitutional constraints are circumvented.
Recent events in Europe reveal how constitutionally constrained government can be a fragile institution. In 2010, the nationalist populist Fidez party rose to power in Hungary. The new government proceeded to undermine the freedom of the press, change the country's electoral laws and weaken the opposition by banning paid advertising on television. The rights provisions of Hungary's new constitution are routinely ignored or amended. The Hungarian Constitutional Court, once one of the strongest constitutional courts in the region, has been packed with sympathetic judges and stripped of much of its power. In just a few years, Hungary has gone from being a well-functioning democracy to being a quasi-authoritarian country were freedom of the press is restricted, minority rights are disrespected and civil society is under threat. And Hungary isn't alone; similar transformations are currently underway in Poland and Turkey.
What is more, leaders have become increasingly sophisticated in restricting constitutional rights without clearly violating the constitution. One common strategy to curb free speech, for example, employed successfully by presidents Putin in Russia and Peña Nieto in Mexico, is to buy most of the airtime from independent broadcasters, or to simply buy the news station entirely. It would be like the Trump Foundation buying CNN, MSNBC and the New York Times, and then turning it into a mouthpiece of the government.
These comparative examples illustrate how constitutional rights alone do little to constrain governments. Leaders who pull the state's purse strings and command the military can often find their way around the constitution.
Even independent courts do not necessarily stand in the governments' way. As Alexander Hamilton famously noted, courts lack the power of the sword and the purse. Executives can thus get around meddling judges by packing the courts with new jurists, withdrawing funding, stripping their powers or simply ignoring their decisions. After all, the Hungarian government wasn't the first to think of packing an uncooperative court: President Roosevelt threatened to expand the Supreme Court if it continued to strike down its social welfare programs.
Q. What is the good news?
A. Where there is strong popular resistance to rights violations, violating the constitution can become so costly that most governments will refrain from doing so. Moreover, we find that some rights tend to be particularly costly to violate. This is the case for rights that are practiced by and/or within organizations. Organizations are particularly well- equipped to resist rights encroachment by the government.
One example is the freedom of religion. Religious rights are typically exercised collectively, through religious organizations such as churches, synagogues and mosques. When a government seeks to encroach upon religious freedom, these organizations have both the incentives and means to mobilize to protect their own interests. They can lobby against proposed religious restrictions, mobilize the political opposition, bring cases to courts or organize their followers to take to the streets. In doing, the constitution can be an important tool in resisting rights encroachment as it allows the organization to portray the government actions as a violation of the constitution.
For example, when Russia opened up a space for religion after the fall of the Soviet Union, a diverse set of religious organizations emerged. Subsequent decades witnessed various attempts to favor the Russian Orthodox Church over smaller religious groups and to restrict these smaller groups' rights. Yet strong resistance from these groups, backed by the constitution, substantially slowed down the government's progress in doing so. It was only in 2016, after a number of failed attempts, that the Russian government passed comprehensive legislation that restricts religious freedom. By contrast, the decline of free speech was almost immediate.
Other examples of rights that empower organizations include the right to unionize and the right to form political parties. Where rights are practiced within organizations, they can constrain even leaders in autocracies without independent courts. This is because they are supported by organizations that do whatever they can to make it politically costly to violate rights, and thus make it more difficult for government to encroach on them.
By contrast, where rights do belong to no group or organization in particular, such as the prohibition of torture, mobilization to enforce the right can be more challenging. It is often difficult for unconnected citizens to mobilize and punish governments that violate rights.
Of course, that does not mean this cannot happen. Dedicated groups of citizens might still be able take action to protect their rights. For example, when thousands of people took the streets in Poland this October to protest the government's abortion ban, the government backed away from the proposal. And when thousands of Americans rushed to the airports when the Trump administration announced its travel ban, they simultaneously emboldened the courts that struck down the ban and caused the Trump administration to back down.
Q. How would you say the U.S. Constitution is holding up?
A. The U.S. Constitution is a document that clearly matters. But one of the key insights from my research is that, for the Bill of Rights to be more than a mere parchment barrier, there need to be dedicated citizens that punish governments that seek to violate the Bill of Rights.
In that sense, I think there is both cause for both worry and hope in the U.S. It is well-known that President Trump has on a number of occasions proposed plans that clearly violate the Constitution. For example, Trump announced his belief that the government should restrict freedom of speech by criminalizing flag burning, curtail freedom of the press by loosening up libel laws to make it easier to sue newspapers, and limit freedom of religion by requiring Muslim Americans to register themselves in a database maintained by the federal government. While it is still unclear which of those plans he will follow through with, many people around the country are concerned that the Constitution will not be enough to protect their rights during Trump's presidency. My research shows that such concerns are justified: rights alone will do little to halt the president.
But there is also hope. America's constitutional tradition is the oldest in the world and civil society is strong. If President Trump were to attempt to restrict free speech, for example, he would likely encounter a wave of protests and lawsuits. Free speech is an individual right that does not belong to any group in particular, but America's press is well-organized and will almost certainly fight vigorously to defend its freedoms. Unlike in Russia, it will be difficult for President Trump to simply buy CNN, or to subject it to comprehensive tax audits (another technique commonly used by repressive regimes). The U.S. also has a strong and independent judiciary, and we can count on courts to defend the Constitution.
But we should not count on the press or courts to do this work alone. Ensuring that constitutional promises are met requires civil society organizations to mobilize, draw public attention to proposed rights violations, litigate unconstitutional proposals tooth and nail, and take the streets in protest.
Thus far, Americans have done just that. For that reason, I am hopeful that the U.S. Constitution will hold up, even where many other country's constitutions have failed.
Q. How long does a constitution typically last?
A. Nineteen years. This is an interesting story. It is not a finding from my research, but it is one of the things that I encounter in my work.
There was this debate between James Madison and Thomas Jefferson about how long a constitution should last. Madison had the idea that a constitution should not be easy to change because those in power would change the constitution in their favor. Jefferson said that approach cannot govern the living and every generation should write its own constitution. He calculated that a constitution should last about 19 years.
If you look through the constitutions around the world, they last 19 years on average, which is incredible. Jefferson's prediction is sort of what governs constitutions globally. In fact, my research has found that many U.S. states follow this formula.


My dad	he is such a soft man. Even if he has these opinions about my boyfriends	he will be the sweetest guy. He will make you feel like you're fascinating and awesome	even if he doesn't like you that much.


2015-03-06· A classic Mexican churros recipe. You will need cinnamon, butter, vanilla, flour, an egg, and sugar for this recipe.
Find great deals on eBay for churro. Shop with confidence.
A churro (Spanish pronunciation:, Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a fried-dough pastry—predominantly choux—based snack. Churros are traditional in Spain and Portugal, from where they originate, as well as the Philippines and Ibero-America .
Churros are amazing when dipped in rich and creamy Spanish hot chocolate or sprinkled with sugar. Cinnamon is not a typical topping in Spain, but it is common with Mexican churros. Cinnamon is not a typical topping in Spain, but it is common with Mexican churros.
For the dunking duo - 6 "Choco Churros" and 2 pots of melted couverture chocolate.


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CEO of Infrastructure Tasmania appointed
THE Tasmanian Government last week said it is getting on with its plan to make the state attractive for investment and to create jobs, following the appointment of a Chief Executive Officer for the newly created Infrastructure Tasmania (ITas).
Infrastructure Minister Rene Hidding said Allan Garcia, currently the CEO of the Local Government Association of Tasmania, will bring valuable skills in leadership, intergovernmental relations, negotiation and policy implementation to the new role.
Above: 'Light trails', Tasman Bridge, Hobart / by Jenne.
"The establishment of ITas delivers on a key election commitment that will enable more efficient infrastructure development and drive productivity, economic growth and community amenity," the Minister said in a statement.
"ITas is a new body which will provide independent advice to the Minister for Infrastructure and Treasurer. It was established to ensure the effective coordination, planning and assessment of major infrastructure proposals in Tasmania, with an initial focus on transport infrastructure.
"As CEO, Mr Garcia will establish develop strong and influential relationships with key stakeholders including local infrastructure providers, Infrastructure Australia and the Australian Government.
"He will lead strategic thinking and planning to support the implementation of the Government's long-term future directions including the identification of current and future infrastructure needs.
"A priority task of ITas is the development of an Integrated Freight Strategy to address system bottlenecks and barriers to efficiency and productivity. ITas will work closely with relevant State Government agencies, local government, the business community and infrastructure interest groups in this work.
"The appointment of Mr Garcia is another demonstration that the Government is heading in the right direction and I look forward to working with him on the important infrastructure priorities before us.
Photo: 'Light trails', Tasman Bridge, Hobart, Tasmania / Jenne / Licensed under Creative Commons BY-ND 2.0.
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New vision for Hobart's Macquarie Point unveiled by Tasmanian Government


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Thrift store moves location
By Rayce Patterson
Mission Mart will soon be moving location and rebranded as ReNewed Boutique and Thrift. Photo provided by Google.
Rayce Patterson | The Echo
Grant County Rescue Mission (GCRM) will be moving the location of their thrift store on May 1.
GCRM's Mission Mart is currently located on South Western Avenue in Marion. Mission Mart is a thrift store that helps funds many of GCRM's programs, but the public often is not aware that the store and the organization are connected.
"I would talk to people on a regular basis that had no idea that the Grant County Rescue Mission had a thrift store," Executive Director Rick Berbereia said. "We want people to understand that when you shop at our thrift store or you donate goods to our thrift store, you're helping promote life change."
This is the reason behind the rebranding of Mission Mart. When GCRM's thrift store opens on South Adams Street, it will be called ReNewed Boutique and Thrift.
One of the other issues that caused GCRM to move the thrift store location was operational costs. Thankfully, First United Methodist Church was looking to lease one of their buildings. The location plus a common mission made the choice to move into First United Methodist Church's property an easy one, according to Berbereia.
"I felt like if we wanted to be good stewards of our community's donations, then we needed to find a way to cut our operational costs down," Berbereia said.
The funding from ReNewed Boutique and Thrift goes towards GCRM's various programs, including shelters for men, women and children, as well as a recovery program for the men and women.
GCRM also has their Meals on Wheels program, which provides food services to people in Grant County that are unable to get to GCRM's facilities. According to Berbereia, Meals on Wheels provided over 70,000 meals in 2018 alone.
"We are very excited about our new name and location," Board President Troy Simpson said. "The new building gives us opportunities to serve the community in ways we have never been able to do in the past."
According to a press release GCRM issued on March 27, ReNewed Boutique and Thrift will have a ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 3 at 11:30 a.m. The Marion-Grant County Chamber of Commerce and the Gas City Area Chamber of Commerce will both attend. There will be an additional celebration on May 4 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for the community.


Makin' it in Memphis: Cat+Dog.
Sebastian has a "house" that he goes into when we're gone (since he is psycho when we aren't there and goes crazy and finds things in bags to chew up). He loves his house and whenever we get ready to go, he goes into it on his own.


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#Business #Featured #Ideas #People
Interview with the CEO of Estimote – start-up that is about to revolutionize indoor LBS
Aleks Buczkowski
Recently I had a pleasure to talk to Jakub Krzych – CEO & Co-Founder of Estimote – start-up that is about to revolutionize indoor location-based services. Check this out:
Hello Jakub, thanks for talking to me today.
Jakub Krzych – CEO & Co-Founder of Estimote
Thanks for having me, appreciated.
So please tell our Geoawesome readers what is Estimote?
Estimote is a digital platform delivering real-world context to consumers' phones. We use small sensor devices called beacons that installed in a physical space like retail stores could detect people presence and engage by showing contextual micro-location based messages and actions on people's phones.
Why indoor location-based services? What is your vision around it?
The technology that we use enables to make smartphones even smarter and solve basic problems like indoor-navigation, real world analytics or efficient customer service in brick-and-mortar retail.We want to enrich customers' experience in the brick-and-mortar stores and improve efficiency of the retail business. The most popular applications are: indoor-navigation (down to the inches), proximity marketing and retail analytics.
What's the model here? Does the project require a critical mass of beacons to be installed in venues around the world?
The model here is to build a network of sensors that enables to locate the phones within inches, but also make them aware of the context that surrounds them. That is because what matters to customers doing for example the shopping are not their exact geographical coordinates, but rather their proximity to the check-out or changing room. The projects requires the particular venue to set as many sensors, as could improve the experience. There is no critical mass, that needs to be achieved before the system could work.
What value will Estimote bring to users and business?
Estimote redefines completely the geo-fencing capabilities. It enables to create a context-enriched reality, where people can interact with objects through their phones. Imagine an app for a museum that shows different messages on a phone screen, depending on the distance between the user and the exhibition item. Or imagine shopping at Ikea, where an app shows you all the items you approach, enables to buy them and orders straight to your door.
How is Estimote different from other proximity solutions we've seen to fail over last decade?
Bluetooth Low Energy and iBeacon could replace old technologies like QR codes, NFC and RFID tags and make smartphones even smarter, because they are so much more usable compared with those technologies. Our beacons send signals that are received by phones without the need to open any application or even unlock the screen. The experience is seamless – you get contextual messages, or you trigger dedicated actions based on your proximity to the sensors.
Tell me something about the technology… You have chosen new Bluetooth Low Energy over other technologies like WiFi positioning… why is that?
Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy called also Bluetooth Smart is a completely new, redesigned connectivity protocol which has nothing to do with old Bluetooth used for headsets and car systems. It's really low energy – battery-powered radio devices could last 2+ years on a single coin battery. Thanks to this technology the old concept of "Internet of things" is finally possible because now objects are able to connect to the Internet through phones people have in their pockets. BLE is a game changing technology, that could revolutionize many industries – from healthcare through retail to army. As for now, the retail offers biggest opportunities, as BLE could redefine completely the customers' experience.
You're based in Cracow, Poland and Mountain View, California, tell me something more about your team and how you operate.
Our team benefits from the great intellectual talent that grows in Poland. We have top-notch developers and designers in our team. We work with a team in the US using all the tools supporting remote work. The teams actually complement each other as we operate in different time zones.
You had a cool and innovative idea and you've manage to successfully build a business around it. What hints would you give to Geoawesome readers who would like to develop their own projects?
Be determined and stick to your vision, at the same time be flexible and open to new opportunities.
#Business #Featured #GeoDev #Ideas
Death by pushpins – Location data and user experience
The Geospatial Index Fund
The Geospatial Investor 01.16.2023
Roads of Death: Maps with a social conscience!
Transportation and Communication technology have helped improve connectivity and interaction between people and nations across the world, making our earth – "the global village". But sadly more than 1.2 million people are being killed on the roads each year and worryingly that number is increasingly rapidly.
More people are being killed in the developing world in road accidents than in the developed world. Countries with a poor economic background account for 90% of road fatalities. At this rate, road accidents will soon become the 5th leading cause of death in these countries. (Source: WHO Global Burden of Disease Study). In most of the cases with such accidents, it is simply because of distractions and indifference to the surroundings. People need to be lectured to and informed about the seriousness of the problem.
Sometimes mere statistics and graphs are not enough to raise awareness to such problems. Statements and articles don't create the same impact as a picture or a map. Maps with a social conscience as I like to term it are required to shake people and organizations to take the problem seriously. "Roads Kill" is a Pulitzer centre initiative that hopes to raise visibility on this growing public health crisis.
The Interactive map with a social conscience from Pulitzer Centre on Road accidents across the globe.
Highway fatalities are also a "poverty-inducing problem," according to Jose Luis Irigoyen, a highway safety expert at the World Bank. "It's costing on average between 1 and 3 percent of GDP" in low- and middle-income countries, he says, an amount that can offset the billions of dollars in aid money that these countries currently receive.
The UN had adopted a resolution in 2010 calling for a "Decade of Action" on road safety. The objective of the call is to stabilize and eventually reverse the upward trend in road fatalities—saving an estimated 5 million lives during the period.
Geoawesomeness is deeply rooted and passionate towards making the world a better and safer place to live and it's satisfying to see more and more applications of spatial science to help the world. I hope we drive more safe and be more agilent when crossing the streets. Let's make the roads a safer place! Peace.
Source: Pulitzer Centre


You see that image above? I guess you already recognize that it's one of the expensive coffees around to date. And if you greet each morning saying venti or tall or whatever fancy drink sizes you order then I guess there's a big chance you really wouldn't know much about Starbucks as a company. To be honest I really don't know much too but I do know their coffee jelly tastes so great that I'm willing to pay PHP 170.00 for a taste of the chewy caffeinated goodness. Okay enough of that I'm too lazy to go out and order. Hhhmmm... I'm pretty sure we'll see Starbucks delivery one day. Check the break to see what other logos Starbucks used over the years and a short clip of CEO Howard Schultz going on and on about how great their coffee is.


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VGJunky
VGJunky's Achievements
I have a song by kLuTz: Simple Joys (A Final Fantasy Town Theme Rearrangment for Piano)
VGJunky replied to FireWhale's topic in Community
I think you guys are missing the point, FireWhale actually transcribed the sheet music to the song (something that he started work on two years ago) and he's planning on posting it here. He's wondering if it's ok because apparently klutz never added this song Klutz in fact could not have posted sheets because he never made sheet music for most of his stuff in the first place and instead relied on other people to transcribe it for him. It's just sheet music to an existing song and I don't really see any harm in it so I'll post it anyway. if not then somebody can delete the link from my post (please don't delete the whole post though!) (no viruses) http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8Q6XCQME
I support this
Fastest SM64 tool-assisted speedrun breaks 7 minutes
VGJunky replied to Less Ashamed Of Self's topic in Community
Remember the older vid. Checking out this one now.
Looking for a Digital Piano
VGJunky replied to suzumebachi's topic in Music Composition & Production
This topic is relevant to my interests. I'll sit in the background and see where it goes.
VGJunky replied to watkinzez's topic in Community
Well.. (spoiler)After the credits, it is revealed that Will and Elizabeth have had a son, whose name is also William Turner, and the family is seen reuniting ten years later. In the film, it is unclear whether Elizabeth's fidelity will allow Will to be with her, but the writers confirmed that the flash of green light seen at the end is the sign that Will's soul has returned to Earth and that they can live as a family. http://pirates.wikia.com/wiki/Pirates_of_the_Caribbean:_At_World%27s_End#Synopsis
Eh.. spoilers I did some research on it, and apparently the pact of being captain and only being able to touch land every 10 years is ended when the one that you left is faithful for the entire 10 years. Supposedly this scene was cut from the conversation between Calypso and Davy Jones due to time constraints, but it was stated by the writers as being the truth. So he was pissed not only due to the fact that he waited 10 years, but due to the fact that he was abandoned after it. No such thing happened to Will, as evidenced by the after-the-credits scene (which I missed the first time around, but got to see eventually). Not sure if this was stated in the previous pages, as I skipped a few. Oh yeah. Norrington's death sucked.
Student arrested for creating a game map of his school
VGJunky replied to Bigfoot's topic in Community
Pretty damn ridiculous. Video games aren't a sign... there's usually plenty of other signs that people just plain ignore because they're too stupid to see them
Why no Greg eagles for Grey Fox in Twin Snakes?
VGJunky replied to Siamey's topic in Community
Mei Ling originally had a Chinese accent, but it conflicted with the fact that her character was supposed to be raised in America. With that in mind, getting rid of her accent made sense. The other characters, well... Anyway, some of the dialogue was pretty forced in TTS. Several cutscenes were over the top, yeah.
FFXIII confirmed to be multiplatform.
VGJunky replied to Ero Elohim's topic in Community
I know. I'm trying not to be a dick about it :-/ Well MGS4 going multiplatform wouldn't be unheard of. MGS2 Substance did it (but it didn't do so well, I beieve). I'm not worried about a special edition multiplatform release. I'm more worried about a simultaneous release of the base game. RE4 brought a lot of attention to the Gamecube (too late in its life, though) and I bet if it had come out on the PS2 simultaneously, the Gamecube wouldn't have gotten nearly as much attention due to having such a good game. The PS3 desperately needs something like that... and it needs it now with big titles like MGS4 and FFXIII. Smaller titles can't afford to stay single platform, no matter how awesome they are, because smaller companies can't generate enough revenue by appealing to just half a market. And in general, it's the biggest titles that sell systems. Every other title has the opportunity to become big because of the fact that people own the system in the first place. (note: buying a system just for a few games is stupid.)
Hey, thanks.
As of March exclusivity of FFXIII was under discussion by execs. according to Gamespot. Midway through April, it would make sense for the decision to have been made. However, whether this is games within the FFXIII series or this is FFXIII itself, still is left to be seen. The article linked says that it is, but I'll wait for other sources to confirm as well. As an early PS3 adopter myself, of course I'll be disappointed, but we'll see how this all pans out. I'm not afraid of Xbox owners getting the game... I'm just afraid of the PS3 fading off and losing what little support it seems to be getting due to the good effort Microsoft is putting out (I'll be the first to say that Sony has been screwing up time and time again with this console.) Meh, hopefully in due time both consoles will be able to prove that they're worthwhile, because I'm thinking about picking up a 360 on top of my Wii and PS3 at some point. The Wii can keep on trucking as far as I'm concerned (Brawl and Metroid better be good, damn it). Bleh. It won't be the end of the world if more people get the game. That's common business sense. But I think Square might be underestimating the effect that their games can have on console sales. They claim that they don't want to show favoritism so that the three consoles can have some healthy competition... except the competition is already tilted towards the 360's side and they're just skewing it even more by doing this, on top of Capcom and DMC. If Konami follows with MGS4, then the PS3 will have to make up a hell of a lot of ground to stay in the contest.
pixietricks selected for Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword
VGJunky replied to zircon's topic in Announcements
Hey nice work.
TheWingless: Internet B-list Celebrity
VGJunky replied to The wingless's topic in Community
Actually that wasn't even officially the Spartan from DOA4 either. Rather than make up his own female Spartan, he just decided to use the number for one that we didn't know all that much about. One thing, the incredible action sequences which I believe are original (or which I just haven't seen before) are really brought down by the moves taken from The Matrix. If you're going to go through the trouble to make something this badass on your own, go the extra mile and put in some more effort so that it's ALL yours instead of just some of it. I didn't mind the use of the soundtrack for the Burly Brawl and the same slow-motion timing as the movies so much, but rather the fact that even some of the moves were based on what they did there. Creating an original Spartan and giving her a new identity is better than creating an original Spartan and trying to fit her to somebody that already "exists" (even though the DOA4 Spartan is sort of an anomaly). Edit: Oh, and I know I'm sounding harsh, but that's just because I thought that this movie was so damn amazingly well done that the tiny problems I had with it seem huge in comparison. It's amazing, really.
Yeah. But hey, you're just cool like that.
OCR01569 - Touhou Youyoumu: Perfect Cherry Blossom "Icy Peaks"
VGJunky replied to djpretzel's topic in ReMix Comments/Reviews
Hey. Awesome song. Do more. Post sheets. Keep it up. That's all.


Bulgaria's Finance Minister Simeon Djankov will hand on Friday the budget draft for next year to parliamentary speaker Tsetska Tsacheva.
Bulgaria is planning to sell bonds amounting to EUR 1 B on the international market in 2011 to shore up its finances, according to a finance ministry draft paper.
The cabinet plans to collect in 2011 BGN 25.8 B in revenues, which is BGN 1.3 B more than the 2010 updated budget. In the expenditure side of the balance sheet there is a planned reduction of BGN 12 M – down to BGN 27.9 B. If executed, this will lead to a lower budget deficit for 2011 – BGN 1.9 B compared to BGN 3.3 B in 2010.


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Overview: What Is Media Literacy, Who Cares, and Why?
by Gretchen Schwarz - 2005
This chapter offers a brief history of the field along with an attempt to define media literacy and offer a rationale for its inclusion in the American public school curriculum. Part I of the yearbook, on the whole, deals with why media literacy can make a difference in American schools. Part II, on the whole, deals with the implementation of media literacy, in and outside the public schools, and the problems facing those who aim to implement it. Media literacy is not without its opponents and its issues. Still, despite differences in theory, focus, and experiences, the contributors to this volume demonstrate their belief in the power of media literacy to transform curriculum, teaching, and even society.
Purchase Overview: What Is Media Literacy, Who Cares, and Why?
This article originally appeared as NSSE Yearbook Vol 104. No. 1.
Cite This Article as: Teachers College Record Volume 107 Number 13, 2005, p. 5-17
Living Within the Media
Uninformed in the Information Age: Why Media Necessitate Critical Thinking Education
Why Media Literacy Matters in American Schools
How the Media Teach
Obstacles, Challenges, and Potential: Envisioning the Future
Researching Media Literacy: Pitfalls and Possibilities
Merging Media and Science: Learning to Weigh Sources, Not Just Evidence
Media Literacy: A Powerful Tool for Parents and Teachers
The Library Media Center: At the Center of Media Literacy Education
Media Literacy for a Future Teacher
Terrain in Transition: Reflections on the Pedagogy of Media Literacy Education
The Most Reasonable Answer
Gretchen Schwarz
E-mail Author
GRETCHEN SCHWARZ is a Professor in the School of Teaching and Curriculum Leadership at Oklahoma State University.


At our east coast food lab, our Delavau Bakery Partners by SafPro® group improves ingredient systems, performs structure-function research, and more.
All too often and unjustly opposed, yeast and sourdough actually have many similarities, from their natural origin to the way they are used.
A closer look at steamed buns known as mantou—thier history, method, and consumption.
In this entry, we discuss the growing trend of consumers looking for gluten-free alternatives, due to intolerance or by personal choice.