Kaleane Villas, located in the quiet of Krabi creates the ultimate, peaceful getaway. Built on stilts within a lake and also at the beach front this is the perfect location for all people!
The villa we had the pleasure of staying in was named Issara (one of the Kaleane villas) and it was architecturally fascinating! Issara is built on stilts within a lake filled with beautiful lily pads and ravenous fish. Through winding mangroves you can see The Andaman Sea as the villa is built on the beach front too. Within the Andaman Sea there is a direct view of various different Islands which are simply picture perfect. We were lucky to have one incredible sunset during our stay and with the mangroves, the ocean, islands and this stunning sunset you could imagine just how breath-taking the view was.
Issara sleeps up to 8 people and contains four bedrooms each with their own bathroom, a kitchen with drinking water (rare), a living area, an outdoor dining area, a stunning spacious pool with spa and a large grass area. The styling of the villa was modern and also included a Thai twist, particularly in the kitchen/living area. The walls in this huge room were a stunning yellow colour which made the room pop plus the inclusion of wood within the detailing reinforced that you were in fact in Thailand. An amazing attribute of Kaleane Villas was the peacefulness you felt due to the isolated location. You could lay on a sunbed by the pool with the warm sun on your face, listening to the breeze within the trees and the waves rolling to shore.
Kaleane Villas contrast from accommodation in Aonang, and whilst there is not much distance in between them (this is good for island hopping) all the loudness and chaos is removed. A basket with brochures and flyers regarding trips to various islands was available and the staff were more than happy to help organise these too! Each morning we woke to a beautifully prepared breakfast within our villas kitchen prepared by staff. We were served eggs, pancakes, orange juice – all of the good stuff! For any other meals we headed to the restaurant just across the road or an alternative was to walk down the road to the local village where they had ingredients for you to cook your own meals.
As you are amongst nature you come across the usual creatures such as geckos which you see everywhere within Thailand – just something to be mindful of. Kaleane was a wonderful tropical getaway and was the perfect space to relax within. The location of Issara was peaceful and away from the loud of Aonang not to mention, it was lovely to be surrounded by both a lake and the sea – something we had never seen before!
Aonang Cliff Beach Resort is located within one of the most popular towns of Krabi and consists of both breath-taking views and excellent services.
Our room at Aonang Cliff Beach Resort was located all the way up on the eighth floor and was absolutely gorgeous! Modern, white and with a pop of colour, not to mention a spectacular view off of our balcony which showed enormous cliffs and the dazzling beach. Beyond impressed with our room we soon found out that this was only the beginning. This resort itself was huge and consisted of endless different facilities such as infinity pools, 3 restaurants, the infinity spa and a gym! The main infinity pool was absolutely stunning and overlooked the most magical cliffs as well as Aonang Beach! Surrounding the pool was comfortable sun beds under umbrellas right next to a bar, and if this wasn't enough there were also in water tanning beds ensuring you kept cool whilst tanning (heaven). During our stay we didn't have time to try all three restaurants but what we did try was definitely impressive. For dinner one night we indulged in a buffet which had everything! We ate traditional Thai cuisine, curries, pasta, salads, fruit, cake, ice cream and this is just what WE ate… there was an endless list of foods to choose from! We left this divine dinner with the fullest and happiest bellies imaginable!
We were lucky enough to receive a 60 minute aroma massage at the infinity spa where we were beyond pampered – recommend highly! Any unwanted knots were carefully removed, our backs were cracked with permission and on departure we were given some delicious ginger tea! One of the best massages we've had and we left feeling so cleansed. One of many perks of this resort was the ease of accessibility to shops, restaurants, the beach and other islands. During our stay we were able to easily island hop as we were so close to the beach front where taxi boats are available. The staff members at this resort were organised, kind and carried out their jobs thoroughly. We would return from a quick (and delicious) breakfast buffet with a fully tidied room and along the way pass many smiling faces.
Alisea Boutique Hotel is an affordable hotel which thrives off of its prime location.
We were welcomed with a spacious bedroom consisting of both a double and single bed. A winding, wooden staircase led us up to the second story which was a perfect chill out spot. Onwards from this area was a big, golden door which opened up to reveal the balcony. A big bath tub was placed on top of the balcony and no matter what time of the day this was the perfect spot to admire lush Aonang. The hotel itself had a large infinity pool which was surrounded by tanning beds, umbrellas and a bar! Also just a level up was Alisea's own spa facilities available under booking. The main restaurant of the hotel is located on the ground floor and specialises in Italian foods. It also offers an extended list of wines which has been made all over the world! In the mornings this restaurant transforms into a breakfast buffet with plenty of options to indulge in. The helpful staff let us know of Alisea's own private beach club and their free shuttle buses takes you directly there. Unfortunately due our short stay we ran out of time to visit and from what we heard we definitely missed out there!
Due to the hotels prime location accessibility to markets, restaurants and the beach was simple and this was certainly a highlight! All of these were within walking distance so it removed the added expense of transport.
Overall our experience at Alisea was short but sweet! Alisea is an affordable choice of accommodation in a central location with helpful staff.


Protege Thompson Consulting Gr is located at the address 2702 Gateshead Dr in Naperville, Illinois 60564.
For maps and directions to Protege Thompson Consulting Gr view the map to the right. For reviews of Protege Thompson Consulting Gr see below.


Non-native plant species are frequently found along river corridors in urban areas. This reflects the numerous potential sources of these species in urban areas, including domestic gardens, public parks, road and rail verges, abandoned land, and golf courses, and also the ability of rivers to collect, disperse and deposit seeds during spates.
Numerous non-native plant species may be present in the vegetation and soil seed bank, and a few of these can become invasive to the extent that they cause significant problems for native vegetation. The Environment Agency recently identified seven non-native plant species that have caused serious problems within rivers and along river banks across Britain: Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera), Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica), Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum), Floating pennywort (Hydrocotyle ranunculoides), Australian swamp stonecrop (Crassula helmsii), Parrot's feather ((Myriophyllum aquaticum), Creeping water primrose (Ludwigia grandiflora).


text:
Q: SingleChildScrollView on overall body I want to wrap the body inside a SingleChildScrollView widget but for some reason, it is not working. When I wrap the Container inside a SingleChildScrollView widget everything goes away. Any solution?
Scaffold(
      body: Container(
        padding: const EdgeInsets.all(20),
        child: Column(
          crossAxisAlignment: CrossAxisAlignment.start,
          children: [
            Spacer(),
            DisplayText(),
            Spacer(),
            Form(
              child: Column(
                children: [
                  TextFormField(
                    decoration: InputDecoration(
                      border: UnderlineInputBorder(),
                      labelText: 'Enter your username',
                    ),
                    textInputAction: TextInputAction.next,
                  ),
                  TextFormField(
                    decoration: InputDecoration(
                      border: UnderlineInputBorder(),
                      labelText: 'Enter your password',
                    ),
                  ),
                ],
              ),
            ),
            .
            .
            .
            .

          ],
        ),
      ),
    );

A: You can wrap the entire layout with Column and expand the child using Expanded widget then add SingleChildScrollView. Please remove Spacer, if you need space in-between widgets use SizedBox instead.
Scaffold(
      body: Column(
        children: [
          Expanded(
            child: SingleChildScrollView(
              child: Container(
                padding: const EdgeInsets.all(20),
                child: Column(
                  crossAxisAlignment: CrossAxisAlignment.start,
                  children: [
                    SizedBox(height: 10,),
                    DisplayText(),
                    SizedBox(height: 10,),
                    Form(
                      child: Column(
                        children: [
                          TextFormField(
                            decoration: InputDecoration(
                              border: UnderlineInputBorder(),
                              labelText: 'Enter your username',
                            ),
                            textInputAction: TextInputAction.next,
                          ),
                          TextFormField(
                            decoration: InputDecoration(
                              border: UnderlineInputBorder(),
                              labelText: 'Enter your password',
                            ),
                          ),
                        ],
                      ),
                    ),
                  ],
                ),
              ),
            ),
          ),
        ],
      ),
    );

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Quotes from the movie the vow.
Quotes from the movie the vow. What is your Duty?
He pushed for changes to Medicare that would enrich other clients of his.
Black Templars 4th Edition [Needs Citation].
After Arlington Cemetery rejects offer to bury Boston bomber, Westboro Babtist Church steps up with premium front lawn plot.
This extremely narrow reading of the law basically said "so what if he used the course to recruit, organize and groom candidates; as long as they didn't say 'Vote for Jones', it wasn't partisan.
The past proves nothing, save that the Blood Angels are cursed and but a single step from damnation!
Some are vindictive and dangerously authoritarian Giuliani.
Guard your tongue, whelp, lest I cut it out.


text:
Quentin Tarantino Backpedals and Admits Roman Polanski Victim 'WAS Raped'
Movies By TooFab Staff | 2/8/2018 10:51 AM PT
Every Guy in Hollywood Who's Been Fired For Sexual Misconduct Claims View Photos
Quentin Tarantino has issued an apology to the woman Roman Polanski drugged and raped when she was 13.
On Tuesday morning, the director was on the receiving end of some pretty intense backlash for an interview he did in 2003, in which he told Howard Stern that Polanski's 13-year-old statutory rape victim -- Samantha Geimer -- "wanted to have it."
Quentin Tarantino Once Argued Roman Polanski Didn't Rape 13-Year-Old Victim Because She 'Wanted to Have It'
"I want to publicly apologize to Samantha Geimer for my cavalier remarks on 'The Howard Stern Show' speculating about her and the crime that was committed against her," Tarantino said Thursday in a statement. "Fifteen years later, I realize how wrong I was. Ms. Geimer WAS raped by Roman Polanski."
"When Howard brought up Polanski, I incorrectly played devil's advocate in the debate for the sake of being provocative," he added. "I didn't take Ms. Geimer's feelings into consideration and for that I am truly sorry."
Busy Philipps Tears Into Quentin Tarantino Over Roman Polanski Rape Comments: 'F--k This Guy'
He concluded his brief statement by saying he was "ignorant, and insensitive, and above all, incorrect. I am sorry Samantha."
In the 2003 recording, Tarantino vehemently defended Polanski. "It was statutory rape. That's not quite the same thing," he tried to explain to a baffled Stern. "He had sex with a minor, all right. That's not rape. To me, when you use the word rape, you're talking about violent, throwing them down -- It's one of the most violent crimes in the world."
When Stern suggested that you should know it's wrong to have sex with a 13-year-old girl, Tarantino retorted, "Look, she was down with it."
The tape was the second high-profile smudge against the "Hateful Eight" director in less than a week, with two quick statements of remorse. He'd just expressed his regrets over the serious injuries Uma Thurman sustained during a driving sequence for "Kill Bill" that he had insisted she perform.
Hollywood's History of Sexual Misconduct View Photos
#HowardStern #QuentinTarantino #RomanPolanski #TheHowardSternShow
More in Movies
5 Shockers and Easter Eggs From New Scream We Just Need to Talk About
Failed Twilight Script Included Shocking Deaths, Jet Skis and 'Bad Ass' Bella
Andrew Garfield on the Scene That Convinced Him to Return, Whether He'd Play Spider-Man Again
Angelina Pivarnick Details Marriage Issues with Chris, 'Nonexistent' Sex Life on Jersey Shore
Nicolas Cage Unsuccessfully Begged Uncle Francis Ford Coppola for Godfather Role

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Alpha Gamma () was an American collegiate fraternity.  It was founded at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee in 1867.  Perhaps 21 chapters may have developed, with prominent chapters at Washington & Jefferson College, Trinity College (Duke), Mercersburg College, Southwestern Presbyterian University, Cumberland University, and the West Virginia University. Eight of these are known.

The fraternity's badge consisted of a golden shield with a globe, six stars, and a pennant with the letters  centered on the globe.

The fraternity eventually disbanded, with Baird's indicating that this occurred in the 1880s.  The Trinity (Duke) and West Virginia chapters met their demise because of local anti-fraternity laws.  Several chapters, including those at Washington & Jefferson College, Southwestern Presbyterian University at Alabama became chapters of Alpha Tau Omega, with the Washington & Lee chapter joining Chi Phi. These chapter withdrawals occurred over a period of several years, with no specific merger process.

Chapters
Known chapters of Alpha Gamma include the following.  Those which merged into other national organizations are in bold, those which went dormant are in italics.

References

Student organizations established in 1867
Student societies in the United States
Defunct fraternities and sororities
1867 establishments in Tennessee

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Some babies breastfeed for months, some don't at all. Some babies love avocados, others spit them out.
Nikki Reed, who shares a child with actor Ian Somerhalder, is here to assure moms that "whatever you're doing you are doing it right!"
The actress opened up about her own mothering techniques on social media and explained that she doesn't know when she'll stop breastfeeding her 20-month-old daughter, Bodhi Soleil.
"I often get asked how long I plan on breastfeeding. To be honest, I have no idea how long her and I will be on this journey together," Reed captioned an Instagram post. "I follow her lead, and she tells me exactly what she needs. At 20 months she is only just becoming interested in food."
She added that it took her a year of trying to feed Bodhi blended food until someone suggested that she just give her daughter solid foods instead.
"Who knew some kids just don't ever go for blended baby food. I tried bananas, avocado, all the semi-soft good stuff and she rejected everything," Reed wrote. "Never in a million years did I think to skip that step when she only had two teeth."
What the "Twilight" actress is doing is called baby led weaning which entails letting your child feed themselves solid foods and skip right over the "mush" phase.
Reed suggested that if other moms had trouble giving their babies puréed foods, they try steaming vegetables and letting their child play with the different textures. The 30-year-old mom also took the time to remind other parents out there to continue doing what they feel is right.
"Every baby is on their own path doing things when and how they need to, and our job is to trust our gut, talk to other mamas and just go with the flow!" Reed finished off her post.


text:
- All HTTP-layer services and protocols (e.g. http, websocket) within the Broid API use TLS 1.2.
- All API requests must be made over [HTTPS](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_Secure).
- Calls made over plain HTTP will fail.
- API requests without authentication will also fail.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
La guerra russo-turca (1806-1812) fu una delle molte guerre combattute fra l'Impero russo e l'Impero ottomano.

Antefatto
La guerra scoppiò nel 1805–1806 sullo sfondo delle guerre napoleoniche. L'Impero ottomano, incoraggiato dalla sconfitta russa ad Austerlitz, depose gli ospodari dei suoi stati vassalli filo-russi di Moldavia (Alexandru Moruzi) e Valacchia (Constantine Ypsilanti). Simultaneamente, i suoi alleati francesi occuparono la Dalmazia e minacciarono di invadere i principati danubiani in qualsiasi momento. Al fine di salvaguardare il confine russo contro un possibile attacco francese, una forza di 40.000 russi avanzò in Moldavia e Valacchia, conquistando alcune fortezze ottomane tra cui quella di Bender. Il sultano reagì bloccando i Dardanelli alle navi russe e dichiarò guerra alla Russia.

Prime ostilità
Inizialmente, lo zar era riluttante a concentrare forze di grandi dimensioni contro la Turchia, mentre i suoi rapporti con la Francia di Napoleone erano ancora incerti e la parte principale del suo esercito era occupato a combattere contro i francesi in Prussia. Una massiccia offensiva ottomana a Bucarest venne prontamente controllata a Obilesti da un contingente di 4.500 soldati comandati da Michail Milordovič (2 giugno 1807). In Armenia, il forte contingente di 7.000 uomini comandato dal conte Gudovich sbaragliò la forza turca di 20.000 uomini ad Arpachai (18 giugno). Nel frattempo, la Marina militare russa comandata da Dmitrij Senjavin bloccò i Dardanelli e distrusse la flotta ottomana nelle battaglie dei Dardanelli e di Athos, stabilendo così la supremazia russa sul mare.

Campagne del 1808–1810
A questo punto la guerra avrebbe potuto aver termine, se non fosse stato per la pace di Tilsit. Alessandro I di Russia, costretto da Napoleone a firmare un armistizio con i turchi, approfittò del tempo di pace per trasferire più soldati dalla Prussia alla Bessarabia. Dopo che l'esercito del sud fu aumentato a 80.000 unità e furono riprese le ostilità, il settantaseienne comandante in capo Aleksandr Prozorovskij fece pochi progressi in oltre un anno di conflitto. Nell'agosto del 1809 fu infine sostituito dal principe Bagration, che prontamente attraversò il Danubio e invase la Dobrugia. Bagration pose sotto assedio Silistra ma, sentendo che l'esercito turco, forte di 50.000 uomini, si avvicinava alla città, ritenne opportuno evacuare la Dobrugia e ritirarsi in Bessarabia.

Nel 1810, le ostilità vennero riprese da Nikolaj Kamenskij, che sconfisse le forze ottomane presso Silistra e cacciò i turchi dalla Dobrugia (22 maggio). La posizione di Silistra ora appariva senza speranza, e la guarnigione si arrese il 30 maggio. Dieci giorni dopo, Kamenskij pose l'assedio a un altro forte, Šumla. L'attacco alla cittadella fu respinto con grande spargimento di sangue nella battaglia di Ruse del 22 luglio. Quest'ultima fortezza non venne conquistata dai russi fino al 9 settembre, dopo che l'esercito di Kamenskij aveva sorpreso e messo in rotta un forte distaccamento turco a Batyn (26 agosto). Il giovane Kamenskij morì poco dopo e il nuovo comandante, Michail Kutuzov, secondo il suo carattere prudente, evacuò Silistra e lentamente iniziò a ritirarsi verso nord.

Risultati
Il ritiro di Kutuzov indusse il comandante turco, Ahmet Paşa, a guidare i suoi 60.000 uomini contro l'esercito russo. La battaglia ebbe luogo il 22 giugno 1811 vicino a Ruse. Nonostante la sconfitta inflitta ai turchi, Kutuzov ordinò alle sue forze di attraversare il Danubio e tornare in Bessarabia. Diversi mesi dopo, un distaccamento separato tornò segretamente e sorprese Ahmet Paşa di notte, infliggendo forti perdite al suo esercito (2 ottobre). Più di 9.000 ottomani furono uccisi durante quella notte, che portò alla resa di Ahmet Paşa nei confronti di Kutuzov il 23 novembre.

Secondo il trattato di Bucarest, firmato da Kutuzov il 28 maggio, i turchi cedettero la Bessarabia alla Russia (anche se quella terra apparteneva al loro vassallo Moldavia, che avrebbero dovuto proteggere). Il trattato venne approvato da Alessandro I di Russia l'11 giugno, appena tredici giorni prima dell'invasione napoleonica della Russia.

Bibliografia
 А.Н. Petrov, The War between Russia and Turkey, 1806—1812, vol. 1-3. SPb, 1885—87.

Altri progetti

Guerre russo-turche
Guerre napoleoniche


text:
The collapse of Low Cost Holidays will go beyond the distress caused to holidaymakers, employees and certain businesses here in Majorca. The collapse leaves behind it a series of questions, the first one of which is: where is Paul Evans?
The founder of Low Cost has not been heard of since last Friday's announcement. Locally, there has been comment, none of it complimentary, about how he didn't face up to any of the stakeholders affected by the collapse. Here is someone who has been feted by the travel industry. A holiday guru no less. Perhaps the greatest lesson to be learned is to never trust someone portrayed as a guru or wishing to be portrayed as a guru.
But plenty of trust was placed in him, or at least in his businesses. The trust extended to the fact that in terms of consumer protection here was a business built on sandy foundations - Majorcan sand, Spanish sand. Why did Low Cost make the move to Majorca? One reason would have been the lower cost of protection. When it moved away from the UK, Low Cost would have been into Atol alone for some 2.5 million pounds. There were savings to be made by switching to a jurisdiction that is less rigorous in regulation and in governance requirements, such as accounts.
Moving the operation made a good deal of business sense, though. The ever-increasing costs associated with regulation in the UK was one reason, as probably also was how IVA (VAT) is accounted for and allocated in the sale of packages: there were savings to be made with this as well.
The trust ran so deep that the move, and so the loss of Atol and Abta coverage, had only initial marginal impact on sales. If the consumer senses a deal, he or she will snap it up, protection logos or no protection logos. Moreover, travellers had been promised benefits in terms of financial and consumer protection from the move. The 1.24 million bond that the Balearic government is sitting on is presumably the sum of these benefits.
Biel Barceló, the tourism minister, has attacked the fact that sales were still being made shortly before trading ceased. While some have drawn conclusions that are unsubstantiated, any revenue being brought in may have been to try and buy time by paying off whatever liabilities could be paid off.
There has to be an investigation of Low Cost. The questions are of what and by whom; questions made more complicated by the fact that the administrators are UK-based. There are also questions to be asked of the Balearic government and of national government regarding regulatory controls. The Balearic government's handling of the affair has been embarrassing, made more so by an announcement from the consumer affairs branch suggesting that hotels shouldn't be demanding payments from holidaymakers, which is what has been happening. So, do those tourists who have paid now have to file further claims to get their money back?
And there is more embarrassment for the government. The names at the ministries and at the presidency have changed since 2013, but the sentiments would still be the same as they were when former tourism minister Carlos Delgado and the then president Bauzá were proud to speak of the investment that was to be made in jobs and technology. Barceló, Negueruela, Armengol - none would have said any different. But they may now be minded to be more cautious when welcoming businesses bearing gifts of innovative and employment-rich gold. The combination of technological innovation and tourism is a government dream. It shouldn't be shackled by burdensome regulation but it should come with some understanding by those who are in effect the regulator. Did the government then or does the government now fully understand the nature of the business?
On top of this was the fact that the rapidly changing business model didn't guarantee loyalty to Majorca. In September last year, with redundancies in the offing, Low Cost explained that there was to be greater concentration on its operation in Krakow, a university town with, as was said, graduate students seeking a career in tourism. Unlike Palma, therefore.
There is another question to be asked of the government. As it has emerged that the industry locally had its suspicions about Low Cost's situation, as it is known that some hotel chains had stopped dealing with Low Cost, as pretty much anyone will say that blaming things on Brexit is a smokescreen, was the government aware of any difficulties? It's hard to believe that it wasn't.
Labels: Balearic Government, Low Cost Holidays, Mallorca, Regulation


The idea of introducing peacekeepers to the Donbas: Do people in the controlled territories want it?
17% of Ukrainians believe that the authorities of Ukraine should officially recognize the territories as occupied.
Support for the idea of the introduction of an international peacekeeping contingent in the Donbas remains unchanged at 60%, the same as last year. At the same time, only one in every five citizens continues to oppose such an initiative, according to data from the Democratic Initiatives Foundation (DIF) and the Razumkov Center.
Meanwhile, Ukrainians believe that in order to establish peace in the region, it is necessary to improve living conditions in Ukraine, as well as to enlist the support of international partners, according to Professor of Political Science of NaUKMAand research director of the Democratic Initiatives Foundation, Olexiy Haran. He added that the population agrees with the continuation of international pressure on Russia and supports the reconstruction of the Donbas.
Ukraine has offered to place a peacekeeping contingent under the UN mandate throughout the Donbas, including in the uncontrolled areas on the border with Russia. Kyiv believes that peacekeepers will become a solid guarantor of conflict resolution.
What and to what extent do Ukrainians support this idea?
The most positive attitudes towards the idea of launching UN peacekeepers were observed in the western region of Ukraine. There, this idea is supported by almost 80% of the population. In the central part of Ukraine - 70%, in the South - 56%, and in the East - 33%. Concerning the establishment of peace in the Donbas through the use of force, 17% of citizens are in favor. The largest number of supporters of the forcible option of peacemaking is in the West (24%).
The forcible option of peacemaking is barely supported by every tenth Ukrainian in the South and East. In the uncontrolled areas the population has no single opinion on the policy.
Respondents from uncontrolled areas are generally restrained in communication, avoiding political themes.
17% believe that the Ukrainian authorities should officially recognize these territories as occupied and stop any and all contact, while 20% believe that it is necessary to keep an economic blockade in these territories.
22% believe that Ukraine should supply food to these territories, and Donbass should supply anthracite in return. The proposal to maximize the development of trading ties with the uncontrolled areas, as well as humanitarian ties is supported by every fifth Ukrainian. Only 20% of the respondents agree on achieving peace at any price.
Experts have researched the public opinion of those who live in the controlled territory of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts. The poll showed that the population in the Donbass has little confidence in the Ukrainian media, while at the same time, interpersonal relations continue to be maintained on both sides of the line of separation, as stated by political analyst of the Democratic Initiatives Foundation (DIF), Ruslan Kermach.
"Our respondents from the controlled territories say that a certain degree of restraint in avoiding political topics and assessments of the situation, instead they talk mainly about some household topics or family issues. Whatever is not related to politics,"Kermach said.
The poll was conducted from May 19 to May 25, 2018, in all regions of Ukraine, except for in the occupied territories. 2,019 respondents aged 18 and over were polled. The theoretical sample error does not exceed 2%.


Amethyst is one of our best sellers in the True Colours Collection.
Amethyst is the birthstone for February. The most precious form of quartz, amethyst receives its colour from iron and manganese. The colour of amethyst is pale lilac to deep purple.
Amethyst was a valuable gem until the discovery of large deposits in South America in the late 1800s; Brazil is the primary exporter to this day, although it is common in many countries.
Still, its deep and attractive colour makes it extremely popular. Banding - darker and lighter zones of colour - is quite common. A good amethyst will be very clear, and the deeper the colour, the better. The most common enhancements are heat and irradiation. Try not to expose an amethyst to excessive amounts of bright sunlight, as this can fade its colour.
With a hardness of 7, it's durable and great for everyday wear.


text:
The Fortnite World Cup Was A Kids' Paradise
Photo: Sarah Stier / Stringer (Getty Images)
Riley MacLeod
Filed to:fortnite world cup
The people who filled Queens, New York's Arthur Ashe tennis stadium for this weekend's Fortnite World Cup were people who love Fortnite, or at least those people and their parents. The bulk of the attendees I saw were young kids, swimming in soccer shorts and baggy Fortnite t-shirts. They performed the game's emote dances. They played miniature golf holes designed after in-game icons like the Durr Burger mascot and the Battle Bus. They competed in Fortnite trivia contests, demonstrating so much knowledge of the game that one young contestant even corrected the host on a prior day's question. The World Cup, like Fortnite itself, felt like a kids' world.
As an adult—and as a reporter—I have to be attuned to the cracks: the cheating competitors, developer Epic's penchant for stealing dances from real-life artists, the V-bucks scams that proliferate on Twitter and YouTube, the in-game bullying a teacher friend once told me goes on among his students. I'm inherently suspicious of the money swirling around the World Cup, with its $30 million prize pool, and the juggernaut of Fortnite and the estimated $3 billion Epic has profited off the game. But I'm also, frankly, afraid to love anything with the openness of Fortnite's fans.
A father with their child at the World Cup fan festival
Photo: Riley MacLeod/Kotaku
What I saw in Queens, however, wasn't a slavish devotion to an astonishingly popular game. The times the stadium announcer referred to "making history," one of Epic's well-worn phrases, felt crassly commercial. There was the drummed-up exclusivity and the carefully-controlled branding of any major event. But the purest moments of excitement I saw weren't about things that came from Epic. They were about people—fans, players, self-made stars—sharing their passion with each other.
The Fortnite World Cup Finals were the culmination of months of worldwide qualifying matches, hype by Epic Games, and awe at the millions of dollars on the line for winners. The three-day event brought together hundreds of competitors in solo and duos finals, as well as a competition in various creative modes and a Pro-Am featuring celebrities like streamer Tyler "Ninja" Blevins, wrestler Austin "Xavier Woods" Creed, and boy band NSYNC alum Joey Fatone.
The Fortnite World Cup stands
According to Epic, the event sold out, but I saw an unexpected amount of empty seats and closed sections in the approximately 23,700-seat stadium. Lines for the accompanying outdoor fan festival were long, with some attractions having posted wait times of over an hour, but the event felt mobbed to me only once: before a concert of electronic DJ Marshmello, for which an event security person told me fans had lined up two hours ahead of time to score some of the limited Marshmello bucket masks, cardboard signs, and noisemakers promised to the earliest attendees. The crowd surged forward the moment the arena doors opened, and the security person told me he'd stopped several people from trying to sneak in before opening time.
The stadium itself was a wall of sound (Epic provided attendees with Fortnite-purple earplugs.). Players sat on a multi-story stage fenced with images of Fortnite's wood and metal building materials, with overflow on the ground. The stage was topped with giant monitors and ringed with screens showing match details. Players' face cameras appeared in front of their seats; when they were eliminated, the virtual fences replaced their images. The acoustics were terrible, and the casters' voices echoed unintelligibly. I watched Saturday's duos finals from home, where Epic's website featuring match stats, player profiles, and multiple streams gave me insight into the proceedings that I and other viewers had longed for during the 10 weeks of qualifiers. In the arena, only the main cast was available, and without being able to comprehend the casters, much of the game was just swirling colors and headache-inducing noise.
The Fortnite World Cup stage
The crowd's energy focused things. Friday's creative finals and Pro-Am were the least attended. More showed up for Saturday's duos and Sunday's solos, which were six matches each. People didn't trickle in and out much, even when ultimate solos winner Bugha headed into game six with a nearly-untouchable 15-point lead. One of the strengths and weaknesses of the World Cup has been the sheer amount of unknowns, with most of the big-name Fortnite streamers failing to qualify. While this could make it hard to have a favorite, it also gave the event a communal feel. It felt like a scrum of people who all play Fortnite, with some being better than others. I saw a few signs in the stadium for particular players or teams, but it felt like attendees were happy to cheer (and sometimes boo) just about anyone who showed up on the big screens. It seemed like many people didn't care too much who won. They just wanted to watch each other play.
On Friday, I was sitting in the grass outside the stadium trying to surreptitiously vape without kids noticing. (This futile task continued throughout the weekend.) A short, blue-haired kid milled nearby, looking like every other dyed-hair kid I'd seen in the crowd. I watched a young person approach him and ask cautiously, "Are you Sceptic?" It was in fact the 15-year-old duos player. In the finals, he'd jump in childish alarm when smoke cannons went off during the pre-show, triggering all of my uncle instincts even through my computer screen. In competition, he braggadociously flashed the "take the L" emote during the finals and then almost immediately got killed by player Mongraal, a moment that spread widely on social media.
On Friday, he wasn't that person yet. He graciously took a picture with the fan who spotted him. The telltale selfie pose attracted others, who recognized that he was a player even if some of them might not have known which one. Sceptic was polite and well-spoken in the way grownups praise kids for being. Adults hovered in the background, a protective audience to a crowd that was, in many ways, peers. Sceptic is a professional esports player, but he's also a streamer with over 1.3 million YouTube subscribers, someone kids can spend virtual time with whenever they want.
Kids dance during a music set of in-game skin DJ Yonder
Many of the World Cup qualifiers have made their fame on Twitch and YouTube, and while they all made more money in a weekend than most adults at the event—every competitor was guaranteed to take home at least $50,000—they didn't feel as inaccessible as traditional sports or television stars. Security was tight at the finals, but there was a collegial air to most of the event, a lack of separation between players and fans.
Fans held up signs with their creator codes, a name Fortnite players can enter in the game's shop to fiscally support their favorite streamers or themselves. More than one person introduced themselves with their creator code during the trivia contests. I was surprised not to find the promotion cringe-worthy, though I might be numb to it from too much Fortnite on Reddit and YouTube. These self-promoters, especially the younger ones, seemed at home in their moments in the spotlight, like they'd come to expect it from Fortnite's world of clip-sharing and fan art. The World Cup's "anyone can win" ethos, certainly a big part of what drove its hype, felt repurposed in their hands.
The youngest player to qualify for the World Cup was 13, the minimum required age, and the oldest was 24. Bugha, who won the solos finals and took home $3 million, is 16. Fortnite is a young person's game.
Fortnite's adults also skew young. Popular player Tfue is 21; superstar streamer Ninja is 28. During Friday's celebrity Pro-Am, content creator CouRageJD took a potshot at the age of player and caster DrLupo in a joke announcement for a "Geriatric Gamer Foundation." Lupo is 32, five years younger than me.
Ninja during the World Cup preview day
Photo: Epic Games
Fortnite's adults don't quite feel like adults. Ninja wears brightly-colored clothes and dyes his hair to match. Tfue spent most of his finals matches in a leopard-print vest. I find Lupo preternaturally fresh-faced. Over the weekend, fans hung off the stadium railings trying to get these adults' attention, shouting "Lupo!" and "Ninja!" even though they were much too far away to interact in any meaningful way. These shouts didn't feel needy or full of awe. They sounded more like people hollering to their friends. At the end of the tournament, I overheard some teenagers trying to sneak into a restricted part of the arena. "I'm meeting someone," one said, and the event staff member appeared to almost believe them before refusing.
The adults' accessibility is a brand, obviously. Ninja wore a yellow World Cup hoodie when he cast some of Saturday's matches, and the next day I saw dozens of kids in it despite the heat. The game's adults need to portray the family-friendly image that encourages parents to let their kids play and brings in the money that keeps the machine running. They aren't perfect: Ninja rapped a slur last year and later apologized. I don't know if Fortnite's adults need to be role models, or if that's just my own expectation as an adult who second-guesses my every word when I squad up with kids. A 24-year-old and a 13-year old aren't peers, even if they're competing in the same game. The day before the World Cup kicked off, Sceptic tweeted a selfie with Ninja, their arms around each other. He captioned it "Finally met my Dad." Ninja retweeted it.
As I lingered at the fan festival after the Sunday crush for Marshmello's concert had filtered inside, a new crowd appeared. Whispers of "That's Marshmello!" went up, which attracted more people to the fast-moving cluster. Marshmello is a Fortnite mainstay, having played an in-game concert in February. His catchy beats and simple lyrics make him popular with kids: The entirety of one song's lyrics go "I'm so alone/ nothing feels like home/ I'm so alone/ trying to find my way back home to you." I spotted glimpses of a white bucket mask and a purple sweatshirt, the outfit Marshmello would wear during his performance. It seemed like him, but I wondered how anyone would know if it really was. It would be so easy, I thought, to pretend to be the musician for attention.
"Look, it's Marshmello!" a mom shouted to her kids, who were busy watching a performance on the fan festival's small stage. Their dad eventually heralded them over to the crowd, which paused by the end of a zipline ride to form a mass of waving arms and selfie sticks before mysteriously dissolving.
The mom and her family were from Orlando; her kids, ages 10 and 12, love Fortnite and were thrilled to be at the event. She told me she didn't play but that her kids' dad played with them. She said her kids had wanted World Cup tickets since the moment they were announced, and when I asked her how she felt about being there with them, she said, "It's nice to see what they love." She told me they hadn't gotten into the stadium in time to get Marshmello souvenirs, but their dad had somehow scored a poster, though she said, with pride, that she didn't know how.
Fortnite fans admiring a young Marshmello
Marshmello had vanished, but there was a new crowd. A small kid in a Marshmello mask was wandering by the line for the stage. An adult started up a call of "Hey, it's Marshmello!" I couldn't tell if they were related, though the adult had the friendly air of someone used to kids. "Let me know if you need a bodyguard, Marshmello," he offered congenially. Some other kids waiting in the line asked for the miniature Marshmello's autograph. They obliged, marching along the row with their bucket mask knocking loosely.
I expected parents to look out of place, the way I felt. But for the most part, they appeared to be having fun. I watched an adult beaming as he filmed a kid during in-game character DJ Yonder's music set, rushing up to take the kid's lanyard and store it around his own neck in a move that screamed "dad." Parents held bags of goodies and food, ushered kids into the shade and waited patiently in lines. They seemed used to their kids' excitement and by and large happy, or at least comfortable, sharing in it.
Smeef's parents
Parents of the competitors beamed with pride. Heading back to the subway at the end of the weekend, I fell behind a couple wearing matching jerseys with "Smeefdad" and "Smeefmom" written on them. They confirmed to a man nearby, with his arm over a young boy in a Ninja Turtles backpack, that they were Europe competitor Smeef's parents. Bugha's dad danced unabashedly when his son won; Brazil powerhouse K1ng's father embraced him as he cried after coming in fifth in solos.
The Fortnite World Cup fan festival with the iconic World's Fair Unisphere in the background
Throughout the weekend, I was impressed with how much fun everyone was having. People were excited to be there, getting pumped not just to see the likes of Marshmello but also a kid dressed as him. They didn't seem as excited to watch Marshmello as they were to just be excited about him with each other. The Epic-produced event of him, though enjoyable, was secondary.
That's how the whole event felt. Whatever corporate stuff was going on was an excuse for people to gather, the same way Fortnite can function more like a hangout spot than an attraction in its own right. The impressive gameplay in the World Cup finals was a worthy draw, but I can imagine a kids' party with Fortnite balloons having a similar energy. While only some people left with prize money, a lot more had a great time simply being around their fellow Fortnite fans.
Fortnite Battle Royale: The Kotaku Review
Bugha Wins Fortnite World Cup Solo Finals
Nyhrox and Aqua Win Fortnite World Cup Duos Finals
Editor-at-large


It's "Heathens" and OITNB together at last in this hilarious new opening credits video.
By now you will have seen Twenty One Pilots' amazing, moody AF, Suicide Squad-starring video for "Heathens".
But, did you notice a few similarities with our favourite Netflix show?
Tyler would clearly fit right in at Litchfield so we thought we'd see exactly how it would look with a good old fashioned mash up.
Brace yourself skeleton clique - it's time for "Tyler Is The New Black".


I send my condolences to the family., our God Jehovah has promised mankind a resurrection so we can see our love ones again ,that the Bible speaks of at John 5:28,29 again I am sorry for your loss.
My heart breaks with you. I pray for the peace of God to over flow in the hearts and minds of those who face tomorrow without your joy and laughter. May the promise of the future that you have entered into bring us hope that we will see you again.
May you find comfort in knowing that God our Heavenly Father is close to the broken-hearted and he saves those who are crushed in spirit Psalms34:18 he also comforts us in difficult times all of our tribulations .Revelations 21:3,4 -5 Promises thasickness , death, pain, and sorrow will be gone forever. The real joy comes when you will welcome your love to life again John 5: 28,29 My condolences to all.
This is so incredibly sad. Justin was a light in the darkness for many of us. Some former classmates created a crowd funding site to collect donations in Justin's name for the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. https://www.crowdrise.com/o/en/campaign/in-memory-of-justin Sending love and prayers to his family.
so sorry to hear news of justins passing.he was a friend and fellow musician.very talented.we talked music many times at Islands Christian. He will be missed by many.our hearts and prayers are with you.
Our thoughts and prayers are with you all during this difficult time. May you find strength from each other and love from those around you. We are so very sorry for your loss.
May God give you strength and peace. My deepest sympathy to all friends and family of Justin's.
My pray are with the family and deepest sympathy,.
So sorry to hear of this tragedy.You are all in my prayers.
Justin, You will be truly missed. For some odd reason the Plain White Tee's remind me of your music and everytime I hear them I think of you. So from this day forward I'll always think of you when I hear them. May your rest in Peace cousin. You were loved and I had to pleasure to know you and your beautiful heart along with all the fun times at the reunions listening to your music and laughter. My Prayers and Hugs go out to all the family. Love you Justin. Love always Michele Evans Distant cousin.
So very sorry for the lose of the wonderful young man. My prayers are with his family and friends.
My deepest condolences go out to Justin's family. We just saw him last month and met his beautiful wife.He will be greatly missed.
My sincere condolences to the family of Mr. Boykin, sorry for your loss. During this difficult time please read 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 26, because that scripture tells us that soon death will be done away with for good.
I pray for comfort and peace for all of Justin's family and friends during this difficult time. God Bless you all.
I offer my sincere condolences to your family during this difficult time. Continue to lean upon family and friends for support. God gives us comfort and hope at 2 Corinthians 1:3,4 and Revelation 21:4 when we mourn during occasions like these. May you find the peace and strength needed to endure the days ahead.
Justin was such a kind and caring person, with many God-given talents. Listening to him play guitar and sing was such a lovely gift, and it regularly moved me to the point of holding back tears of joy. He often spoke of how much he loved his family and God, and he approached every stranger with an open and loving heart. May he rest in love and peace, and my sincerest condolences to his sweet family and to all who loved him.
Bonnie, Eddie, Rachel- I am so very sorry for your loss. Justin was such a sweet boy. Even when I see his pictures, I still see that sweet little, shy boy that was in my kindergarten class. Rest assured, he is playing beautiful music in Heaven. I will be praying for God's grace and His peace for your family.Courtney, I did not meet you, but you will certainly be in my prayers, as well. I am so very sorry you are experiencing the loss of your husband. Cling to God and family during this devastating time. God' s Grace be with you !??
Justin, you were always so kind to me and brought fun and laughter to many. My thoughts are with your family in this difficult time.
My condolences to the family. May you find comfort in the scripture at Revelation 21:4 where Jehovah God promises to do away with death forever. We look forward to this wonderful hope in the near future. For more information and encouragement please visit jw.org.


This is a personal article by Steven Gaythorpe, one of our site contributors . Dave Golder reviews Pride And Prejudice And Zombies for SFX in the next issue. Are you intrigued by the concept? Your thoughts welcome as always, in the comment thread below or on our forum .


text:
MMP14 () – білок, який кодується однойменним геном, розташованим у людей на короткому плечі 14-ї хромосоми. Довжина поліпептидного ланцюга білка становить 582 амінокислот, а молекулярна маса — 65 894.

Кодований геном білок за функціями належить до гідролаз, протеаз, металопротеаз, фосфопротеїнів.
Білок має сайт для зв'язування з іонами металів, іоном цинку, іоном кальцію.
Локалізований у цитоплазмі, мембрані.

Література

Примітки

Див. також
 Хромосома 14

Металопротеази


For years, CREPIM has been developing intumescent systems, which are applicable in reaction and in fire resistance.
In this context, CREPIM has been equipped for 10 years with fire resistance tests, completed in 2018 by a new laboratory, operating under accreditation and located in Marly, in the Valenciennes region.
Maritime sector with FTP code 2010 part 3 and part 4 for partitions and walls, ceilings and doors.
Our equipment is constantly evolving and aims to adapt to the different needs of our customers.
Working with CREPIM guarantees the professionalism associated with an accreditation practice. This is combined with our knowledge and historical know-how on materials in order to bring more value to our clients for a better understanding of the results.


text:
'Men hide behind their wives': DHS chief faces protest at home after agents storm Portland
Protester speaks during demonstration outside Chad Wolf's home (Twitter/screen grab)
Neighbors of acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf came to his home to protest on Sunday after his agency clashed with demonstrators in Portland, Oregon.
According to writer Julia Rosas, the group of neighbors assembled outside Wolf's home because they oppose the use of force against protesters in Portland.
One woman, who described herself as Wolf's neighbor, complained that powerful men and women often face no consequences for misbehavior.
"We know there are no career consequences for these men and women," she explained. "We know there are no financial consequences for these men and women. We know there are no legal consequences for these men and women. We must make social consequences for these men and women. We must make it uncomfortable for them."
"We will not be good Germans!" the neighbor continued. "We will not be the people who watched our neighbors commit these atrocities and said nothing because their kids were home, because they were polite."
She added: "What has been made more clear than ever is that men hide behind their wives, behind their children!"
Wolf and his family were reportedly not at home at the time of the event.
One speaker at the protest outside of Sec. Chad Wolf's home complains how there's no financial, career, and legal c… https://t.co/QRbuAIzDYe
— Julio Rosas (@Julio Rosas)1595777072.0
Additional steps are for the massive deployment of National Guard troops to defend the inauguration following the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
"The National Guardsmen providing security in the U.S. Capitol ahead of the inauguration are soon getting cots, after images went viral last week of troops sleeping on the floor in the halls of Congress," Politico reported Saturday, citing "four people familiar with the decision."

"The Army is coordinating the effort with FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security and the Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region, said a Guardsman familiar with the planning. Officials will collect cots from National Guard armories in Maryland and Virginia and transport them to the Capitol, the person said. Many officials believe the cots are unnecessary, but the photos of Guardsmen resting on the floor of the Capitol quickly became a 'PR issue,' the person said — particularly after more than a dozen House Democrats called Thursday on the Army Secretary to send cots, bedding, shower facilities and other resources," Politico reported.

"The cots will arrive Saturday and Sunday, the person said, adding that no costs should be incurred aside from the time and transportation," Politico reported. "A Jan. 15 memo obtained by POLITICO cited guidance from Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville that Guardsmen 'who are resting inside the U.S. Capitol Building are to lay on a cot, and not on the ground.'"

"No more cold marble!" a D.C. National Guardsman told Politico.

While some GOP House members complain about having to walk through metal detectors, National Guard troops spent nig… https://t.co/UxsqvgAgCr
 — Greg Miller (@Greg Miller)1610548573.0

Hundreds of National Guard troops nap inside the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center as the House prepares to debate on an… https://t.co/YSY4tA4mbr
 — NBC News (@NBC News)1610552336.0

These are National Guard members in the Capitol on Wednesday, as the House is poised to impeach President Trump for… https://t.co/ipusipBKvO
 — The New York Times (@The New York Times)1610553243.0

On MSNBC Saturday, former White House staffer Omarosa Manigault Newman said that some of the aides still working in the administration are crippled by the inability to find work — and that one staffer she knows will be forced to go back to grad school and drive for Uber on the side to get by.
"This same report that I was citing earlier, it also details how no one on the White House staff has any fight left in them," said anchor Alex Witt. "I mean, it's just gone. What are you hearing about the mood there these final days?"

"Yeah, they're certainly demoralized," said Omarosa. "I've done a couple of references for these really young kids who started as interns under us during the campaign, and now they're trying to go to grad school because they can't find a job. One of them told me he's going back home to New York City and probably going to Uber while he tries to get into grad school."

 "Wait, what?" said Witt. "Somebody who worked in the White House — they're not able to get jobs. Some of them going to grad school, nothing wrong with that, that's always a good investment. But really? They're having trouble getting jobs? Because they were associated with this administration?"

 "Yeah," said Omarosa. "Right now, Donald Trump has made everyone in that White House, in that administration, radioactive, no one wants to touch them. So yes, he's going to Uber until he finds something else. But no one has been biting. He's been putting in resumes for about three and a half months and can't find anything."

 Watch below:

Republicans who pushed the conspiracy theory of election fraud continue to lose political support as the backlash agains the insurrection they incited continues to mount.
"The communications director for Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, a firebrand Republican freshman who boasts about carrying a gun to work, has quit after less than two weeks on the job," Axios reported Saturday.

"Ben Goldey's resignation cited last week's insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, which followed efforts by Boebert and lawmakers to block certification of Joe Biden's Electoral College victory. The Hill veteran's departure highlights the deep divide among Republicans over President Trump's conduct," Axios noted.

Goldey used to work for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

"Boebert is a strident Trump supporter firmly on the right flank of the House GOP caucus. She was clear about her views during her campaign, but they have suddenly become politically toxic following last week's attack," Axios noted. "Boebert's quickly become a lightning rod by railing against 'fraudulent' votes for Biden in a floor speech ahead of the attack, and by making a show — including in an ad filmed on the Hill — of her desire to carry a handgun in the Capitol."

'Bitter infighting' over Trump has Republicans worried they'll lose even more seats in 2022: report
Republicans knew they were making a deal with the devil — now they're paying for it
Internet explodes as Trump meets With 'My Pillow guy' whose notes reportedly mention 'Insurrection Act' and 'martial law'
Ivanka's political future in question after Capitol riot: 'It's a stain we'll never be able to erase'
GOP insider urges harsh crackdown on GOP zealots who should be crushed and banished


text:
Defiant Vladimir Putin Lauds Crimea Accession
By The Brics Post
Global Research, January 05, 2015
The Brics Post
Region: Russia and FSU
In his New Year address to the nation, Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked Russians for their "invariable readiness to defend Russia's interests, to be with it both in days of triumph and in times of trial".
Russia is struggling to avoid a recession next year having been hit hard by the steep fall in oil prices and economic sanctions imposed by the US, EU and their allies over Moscow's alleged role in the Ukraine unrest.
The Russian currency has hit an all-time low in 2014 and has declined more than 50 per cent since the start of the year.
A defiant Russian President, in his New Year's address on Wednesday, lauded the decision by Crimea to "reunite" with Russia.
"It has found its reflection in our fraternal aid to the residents of Crimea and Sevastopol, after they made the firm decision to return to their native home. This event will remain a landmark in national history," said Putin.
He did indicate that Russia would need to brace itself in facing its worst economic crisis since 1998, when the country defaulted on its debt.
"In the coming year, we are facing quite a few tasks and the year will be as good as we make it, depending on how efficient, creative and effective each one of us is. There are no other recipes. We need to implement all our plans – for our own sake, for the sake of our children, for the sake of Russia," urged Putin.
Putin has blamed the economic problems on external factors, principally the West but has also pointed out that "internal mistakes" have played their part in the downturn.
"The hardships we are facing are not only external, they are caused not only by the sanctions restrictions or by restrictions linked with the objective international situation, they are also caused by our mistakes that have been made over the years," Putin was quoted by Tass news agency.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has said restoration of Russian-US relations is possible only if Washington is ready to conduct a dialogue with Moscow as an equal partner.
"We drew on the fact that restoration of bilateral relations would be possible if Washington showed its readiness to conduct a dialogue on the principles of true equality, and mutual respect for each party's interests," a Ministry statement said this week.
Relations between Russia and the EU has also deteriorated amid the Ukrainian crisis, as European leaders criticized Moscow for its alleged role in backing the separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine.
Over the past few months, the EU, the US and their allies have imposed several rounds of sanctions targeting Russia's banking, energy and defense sectors, as well as a number of high-ranking officials.
The original source of this article is The Brics Post
Copyright © The Brics Post, The Brics Post, 2015
Articles by: The Brics Post


text:
The Maple Leafs need consistent goaltending if they want to make a run in the playoffs
By Nick Barden
When approaching the NHL trade deadline, we knew the Maple Leafs needed a defenceman and a top-six forward, but will they be looking at a goaltender too?
After the strong start to @Jack Campbell's season where it felt like he was playing every game, his play has seemed to cool down. A lot.
Looking at Saturday's game was a prime example of just how much the 30-year-old's game has changed. Toronto had a 7-2 lead heading into the third period, and somehow, Detroit was able to claw their way back and make it a 7-6 hockey game. When a team like the Maple Leafs is a possible contender, this shouldn't be happening.
While you can say that this is Toronto's style of play (which it is), at some point it has to stop if they want to be serious about winning.
But I don't think you can blame the players after a performance like that, since they had 10 goals. This game was all goaltending.
"He's got to be better," said Sheldon Keefe of Campbell's game on Saturday night. "That goal to start the (third) period, it's a nothing play, really. It's a routine save that he can make there and doesn't, and then it kind of snowballs obviously from there. So that's a tough one there that he's gotta have and he will."
While some say Campbell's goaltending numbers have 'come down to earth' since his incredible start to this season, it actually looks worse than that. In the 30-year-old's first 20 games, he had a record of 13-4-2 with a Vezina Trophy-worthy .942 save percentage. From game 21 onwards to now, Campbell has a record of 10-4-2 and a .890 save percentage.
It's far below him coming down to earth at this point.
When discussing goaltending, we obviously cannot leave @Petr Mrazek out of the conversation either. With injuries and not playing a lot, the 30-year-old has never really found his game in Toronto. Of the 12 games Mrazek has played in, he's only had a save percentage above .905 three times. And he's never been able to put solid numbers up consistently. Even in his last five games, Mrazek has an .880 save percentage, which is not great.
Toronto, though, has seemed to keep up a winning record throughout their goaltending issues going 18-8-3 since the beginning of December. That, though, has a lot to do with the players in front of them.
The Maple Leafs have outscored their opponents 124-99 since December 1st. It's the third-most goals in the NHL during that span. However, their goaltending has put together an .889 save percentage since then, which is the 7th-worst in the NHL.
If you'd like a more recent picture, Toronto's goaltending has come up with an .878 save percentage since January 15th, while seemingly still outscoring their opponents and having the most goals in the NHL since.
It's a bleak look for Toronto's goaltending. While there have been games where it's looked good, the inconsistency can't happen if they want to keep up in the Atlantic. The goaltenders need to play better.
If this play continues, though, what will the Maple Leafs do? Will they save a piece ahead of the deadline to try and acquire a goaltender or can the two netminders they have bounce back?
The next few weeks are going to matter a lot — for both Kyle Dubas and the team he has in front of him.
(Statistics from NaturalStatTrick.com and Hockey-Reference.com)
Here's more from theleafsnation.com:
Leafs Prospect Mailbag: Answering all of your prospect questions heading into the trade deadline, Kyle Cushman
What's next for the Leafs' blueline?, TLN Staff Roundtable
The Jake Muzzin situation, Earl Schwartz
The Maple Leafs need more from their goaltenders, Mark Norman
Auston Matthews scores twice and earns Hart Trophy praise from the coach, David Alter
Recent articles from Nick Barden
Adam Gaudette continues to shine, Erik Kallgren trending upwards: Marlies Weekly
Joseph Woll has played his way into being next goaltender called up to Maple Leafs


text:
In this week's New Statesman: Ink-stained assassins
Can political cartoons survive in a digital age? Helen Lewis investigates.
By Charlotte Simmonds
Ink-stained assassins: On the future of the political cartoon
In our cover story this week, Helen Lewis reports on the fate of Britain's political cartoonists in a digital age. With print newspapers (long the stalwart of illustrated political satire) struggling for sales, how will cartoonist fare in the transition to digital? Lewis writes:
Print sales are falling; the latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations show the daily newspaper market contracted 7.79 per cent in the past year. Do cartoons work divorced from the topography of the newspaper page? Will they bring enough "eyeballs" to advertisers to justify their existence on the internet? And, if this is the last generation of newspaper cartoonists, what will we lose when they are gone?
In interviews with many of today's leading cartoonists, Lewis uncovers a sense of unease about the future of the craft. A lack of young enthusiasts, many of whom are turning towards less specialized fields of illustration, is credited – among other issues – as evidence of a tradition on the decline.
"The tradition started with me," says Ingram Pinn, the first political cartoonist at the Financial Times. "I hope it doesn't die with me."
Martin Rowson of the Guardian is more optimistic, however: "We've been parasitising on the back of newspapers, and when newspapers die, like any hideous sensible parasite, we'll just jump off on to the next host."
David Blanchflower: Perhaps IDS will accuse me of "peeing" on the data
New Statesman politics editor David Blanchflower offers some hard-hitting reflections on George Osborne's austerity "nonsense".
"I have to tell you something. I never had any doubt that George Osborne's austerity nonsense was going to be a disaster. None… I went so far, stupidly, as to say that I was 100 percent certain that austerity would result in a double-dip recession," he writes. "There had never been any examples in the past in which austerity led to growth in the midst of a deep recession when a country's neighbours were also in trouble. All the empirical evidence was to the contrary."
He follows up with 20 economists who have backtracked in their support of Osborne's scheme. The "cowardly" John Vickers keeps mum, while Spanish economist Albert Marcet and the Daily Telegraph "remained supportive". Nine of 20 told the NS they thought "the facts had changed" and "it was time to invest in infrastructure".
He also issues a challenge to Iain Duncan Smith, who accused the BBC's Stephanie Flanders of "peeing all over British industry":
Much of the strain of recession has been taken by earnings, which have fallen in real terms, not least because more people are being forced to work for fewer hours than they would have wished. Over the past year, there has also been growth in self-employment of 218,000, against a decline of 33,000 in the number of employees. In all likelihood, these new self-employed jobs are low-paid . . Perhaps Iain Duncan Smith, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, will accuse me of peeing on the data. He wouldn't dare.
Slavoj Žižek: On the politics of Batman
In an exclusive essay, philospher-critic Slavoj Žižek dissects the politics of the Batman films and what it reflects about our "age of anxiety". He opines on the capitalist archetypes rife within the latest instalment of Christopher Nolan's trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises.
Although viewers know Wayne is mega-rich, they often forget where his wealth comes from: arms manufacturing plus stock-market speculation, which is why Bane's games on the stock exchange can destroy his empire. Arms dealer and speculator – this is the secret beneath the Batman mask. How does the film deal with it? By resuscitating the archetypal Dickensian theme of a good capitalist who finances orphanages (Wayne) versus a bad, greedy capitalist (Stryver, as in Dickens).
On the evident allusions to Occupy Wall Street in the story of Bane's uprising, he notes:
It is all too simplistic to claim that there is no violent potential in OWS and similar movements – there is a violence at work in every authentic emancipatory process. The problem with The Dark Knight Rises is that it has wrongly translated this violence into murderous terror.
John Pilger and Luke Harding: On Julian Assange
Senior international correspondent for the Guardian Luke Harding reports from outside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where Julian Assange has spent the past two months hiding after being granted asylum. He writes of the danger of mixing Assange's current allegations with the Wikileaks cause ("Assange faces no prosecution anywhere in the world for anything Wikileaks has done"), adding:
"Assange would be a more convincing champion of human rights if he were to speak up about abuses everywhere, rather than ignoring the record of countries such as Russia and Ecuador that are friendly to him…Paradoxically, the asylum furor over Assange has focused attention on Ecuador's poor record on press freedom."
John Pilger. calls the "pursuit" of Assange "an assault on freedom and a mockery of journalism".
"Threatening to abuse a law designed to expel murderers from foreign embassies, while defaming an innocent man as an 'alleged criminal'," he furthers, "[William] Hague has made a laughing stock of Britain across the world, though this view is mostly suppressed in Britain."
Stuart Hall: We need to talk about Englishness
Jonathan Derbyshire profiles Stuart Hall, the éminence grise of the British intellectual left and one of the founders of the discipline of cultural studies. They discuss the politics of "Englishness" and the legacy of the New Left (of which Hall was a pioneer in the 1950s).
On his arrival to England in 1951: London was "full of people off the boat train who had come out of the [Jamaican] countryside… It was the subaltern position. On the knees to the dominant culture."
On his pioneering analysis of Thatcherism in the late 1970s and early 1980s: "When I saw Thatcherism, I realised that it wasn't just an economic programme, but that it had profound cultural roots. Thatcher and [Enoch] Powell were both what Hegel called 'historical individuals' – their very politics, their contradictions, instance or concretise in one life or career much wider forces that are in play."
On Tony Blair's inheritance of the Thatcherite mantle: "New Labour come closer to institutionalising neoliberalism as a social and political form than Thatcher did… Thatcherism was a slash-and-burn strategy. With Blair, the language became more adaptive; it found ways of presenting itself to Labour supporters as well."
On Ed Miliband: "He has been so watchful of his back that he can't go forward. You can't conduct a successful political revival on that basis. Sometimes, you have to have some courage."
Åsne Seierstad: Diary of a nobody
The Norwegian reporter and author of The Bookseller of Kabul, Åsne Seierstad, reports from Oslo on the imminent verdict in the trial of Anders Behring Breivik. She probes the flaws in the initial police and the subsequent scrutiny of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg's national security measures. She argues Breivik has achieved all that he hoped:
"Up till now, the killer has got everything he could wish for. The former high-school drop-out – the nobody – became a somebody."
Elsewhere in the New Statesman
In his 'Grit in the Oyster' column, Dan Hodges analyses the rhetoric coming from Ed Miliband's allies, concluding: "As for Ed Miliband, he is operating with the safety catch on. Difficult decisions – the really difficult decisions – will be saved for after the election….The settled view seems to be that the next election will be fought between the nation-builders and the nation-wreckers."
In The Critics, pop singer Tracey Thorne pays tribute to the novelist Elizabeth Taylor, while in Books Leo Robson reviews Ian McEwan's latest novel, Sweet Tooth.
In Observations, we have Royal Court playwright E V Crowe on Pussy Riot, Michael Brooks on Neanderthal sex, plus a stellar bit of graphic reportage as Karrie Fransman tackles political correctness and comedy.
All this and more in this week's New Statesman, on newsstands around the country and available for purchase here
Topics in this article :
Charlotte Simmonds
Can art change the world?
How are the parties' economic promises playing out on social media?
The debate: is the London housing market broken?


text:
Help us continue to fight human rights abuses. Please give now to support our work
Philippines: Lasting Harm to Children from 'Drug War'
Thousands of children in the Philippines have suffered lasting physical, emotional, and economic harm from President Rodrigo Duterte's abusive "war on drugs," Human Rights Watch said in a report and accompanying video released today. Governments at the United Nations Human Rights Council in June 2020 should support an independent international investigation into the "drug war" killings in the Philippines, including violations against children.
The report, "'Our Happy Family Is Gone': Impact of the 'War on Drugs' on Children in the Philippines," details the plight of children whose parents or guardians have been killed. Many children have suffered psychological distress, and all experienced economic hardship made worse by the death of a family breadwinner. The increased poverty and trauma have led many children to leave school or compelled them to work. Some children who lost a family member have faced bullying in their school and community. Some were forced to live on the streets.
Region / Country
Philippines' 'War on Drugs'
Protecting Rights, Saving Lives
Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people in 90 countries worldwide, spotlighting abuses and bringing perpetrators to justice


Last year IHCA formed a PAS Task Force at the request of the Division of Aging (DA) in order to help the DA with ideas to reform the PAS process. With the passage of Senate Bill 465 in the 2015 Legislative Session we are on our way to reforming the PAS process as we know it today. That law requires that the current PAS statute expire next July 1, 2016. The DA intends to put in place of PAS an options counseling process for a portion of the population that may be admitted to a nursing facility. The law requires the DA to issue a report to the legislature by November 1st that addresses the replacement of PAS with options counseling and any necessary changes to PASRR.
The DA is first focusing on reforming the PASRR process, looking to an electronic solution that is much faster than the current process Indiana has today. The DA has engaged the PASRR Technical Assistance Center (PTAC, http://www.pasrrassist.org/http://www.pasrrassist.org/) for help with this process. PTAC has scheduled provider/industry-focused moderated sessions for June 4th. The objective of that session is to get down to the specifics of each provider/industry groups issues with the current process and how the DA's path forward can solve those issues. Members of the IHCA PAS Task Force will be attending the session on June 4th and we will report back to the IHCA membership.


C&V Portable Accommodations Ltd Located at 285062 Frontier Rd , Rocky View County,Alberta, T1X 0R4, , Rocky View County, Alberta. https://corporatedir.com/canada/company/234567010367-c-v-portable-accommodations-ltd.
Trailers Company involved in manufacturing, designing and sales of relocatable housing for industrial workforce. Construction of container accommodations.


First of a four-part NFL draft data series.
There is no sure thing in the NFL draft. No magic potion to unlock this riddle. Each spring, 32 teams beg to differ. They dedicate untold resources, devote countless hours, spend sleepless nights in pursuit of the draft's hidden treasures.
Then the guesswork commences. First-round picks become busts. A sixth-round pick becomes perhaps the greatest quarterback of all time. March may have more madness, but there are plenty of upsets to be found in late April.
Despite the uncertainty, some bets are better than others. After the draft's opening round, there is an immense drop in talent. The chance of drafting a Pro Bowl player in the first round has been about 35 percent since 2005. In the second, that number dips below 15 percent.
The first round is expected to have more talent. In a competitive market, the best players generally will be taken first. The surprise is in how Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson has maximized his second-round picks, compared to his first-round selections.
Thompson, the NFL's most prolific GM in the draft, has made his mark unearthing second-round value. Since Thompson was hired in 2005, the Packers lead the NFL in games played by second-round draft picks, according to a USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin study conducted this month. Their five Pro Bowlers drafted in the second round are more than any other team.
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin's study broke the draft's seven rounds into six categories: games played, games started, number of two-year starters, number of four-year players, Pro Bowl players and All-Pros (as voted by the Associated Press). Together, the six divisions gauge a team's draft production, retention of players and quality of talent — essential elements for any successful draft class.
Thompson's second-round dominance contrasts sharply with his first-round results, which are about average compared to the league. It also raises an intriguing question with the 2016 draft just over two weeks away. If these past 11 years are any indication, the Packers are the rare team that might increase the likelihood of a successful pick by trading out of its 27th overall slot and into the second round.
Consider what makes a successful draft class. Talent, yes. Accomplishments, even better. There's also something more basic, fundamental to the game.
On the clock, general managers search for players they hope eventually will play. Ideally, those players fill starting roles at some point in their careers. That doesn't mean every draft pick is destined to be a starter.
Last summer, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin interviewed Pittsburgh Steelers GM Kevin Colbert as part of an extensive story on managing the NFL draft. Colbert said he breaks the draft into three segments. At most positions, starting players are expected to be found in the first three rounds. The fourth and fifth rounds mostly produce backup players, while the final two rounds primarily consist of special teamers and raw, developmental prospects.
There are exceptions to the norm. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was drafted 199th overall in 2000. More regularly, starting offensive linemen are found after the third round. They are outliers. Round-by-round data confirms the difficulty of finding starting-caliber players increases with each passing round.
The transition from first to second round is a mild decline, but significant. Of the 86,300 games played from players drafted since 2005, almost a quarter (23.9 percent) came from first-round picks. The slice is larger among the 47,959 games started (34.5 percent).
On average, an NFL team produced 517 starts and 646 games from first-round players since 2005.
The Packers' first-round production hasn't varied far from average. Under Thompson, first-round players have made 558 starts (27.5 percent of their total) and appeared in 695 games (19.3 percent).
The difference is how much more production the Packers have gotten from Round 2 compared to their 31 league competitors.
Since 2005, NFL teams have averaged 300 starts and 489 games played from second-round draft selections. With 496 starts (24.4 percent of their total), the Packers have developed considerably more second-round players into key roles. They lead the NFL with 752 games played (20.9 percent).
Thompson's draft success hasn't been confined to the second round.
His teams rank second in the league with 340 games started and third with 587 games played by fourth-round picks. Thompson's propensity to acquire compensatory picks, and his ability to find starting offensive linemen early on the draft's third day, have boosted those numbers. Left tackle David Bakhtiari, left guard Josh Sitton and right guard T.J. Lang comprise 60 percent of the Packers' starting offensive line. All three were taken in the fourth round.
But the second round is where Thompson contrasts most against the NFL's norm. The Packers' success in that round extends beyond raw productivity.
Once rookies arrive in Green Bay, the Packers show uncommon patience with their development. That patience becomes clear when compared to the Patriots, another perennial NFL contender that hordes draft picks.
The Patriots have drafted 100 players since 2005, four fewer than the Packers. While the Packers rank second in the NFL with 35 drafted players retained four full seasons, the Patriots rank 23rd with 25. The Packers lead the NFL with 30 two-year starters drafted since 2005. The Patriots are tied for 29th with 18.
Patriots coach/GM Bill Belichick is known for having a quick trigger when cutting players, even those he drafts. For Thompson, draft picks are a special currency. They have an assigned value. Often, the investment can be a tiebreaker when deciding final roster spots.
Rookie contracts are constructed for four seasons under the collective bargaining agreement, setting draft classes on a four-year track. Before the fourth season ends — and often much sooner — teams know what kind of player they've drafted. Thompson's teams have excelled particularly with retention of players drafted in the second round.
That doesn't mean the Packers have avoided second-round busts over the years. Quarterback Brian Brohm, drafted 56th overall in 2008, was a poor choice. Jerel Worthy, drafted 51st overall in 2012, never became the interior pass rusher the Packers expected.
But Thompson has retained second-round players at an unprecedented rate. Since 2005, his teams have developed eight second-round picks into two-year starters, tied with the Cleveland Browns for most in the NFL. In our study, players qualify as a "starter" if they made nine starts in a 16-game season, or eight starts if they played only 15 games.
The Packers have made 15 second-round picks since 2005, four more than the NFL average. A league-high nine of those players have stayed with the franchise four full seasons.
The Packers' ability to retain second-round players far exceeds the NFL model. Of the league's 877 draft picks who have stayed with their original teams four full seasons, 217 (20 percent) were taken in the second round. That percentage is slightly higher among the 708 two-year starters league-wide (22.4 percent).
Under Thompson, the Packers' have inverse results with the retention of first- and second-round draft picks. They are one of three teams to have more four-year players and two-year starters in the second round than the first, joining the Browns and Philadelphia Eagles.
Neither the Browns nor the Eagles have matched the talent the Packers have pulled from the second round.
Nobody questions the best — and most important — player Thompson has drafted in the past 11 years. It was his first pick as Packers general manager, when he accepted the gift of quarterback Aaron Rodgers falling to the draft's 24th slot.
Over the years, Thompson has found plenty of first-round talent. His two All-Pro players from Round 1, Rodgers and linebacker Clay Matthews, are on par with the NFL's average of two opening-round All-Pro players per team since 2005. Thompson has drafted four Pro Bowlers from the first round, on par with the NFL average of 3.78.
Perhaps the most exceptional aspect of Thompson's round-by-round draft history is his ability to duplicate his team's talent haul in the second round.
From safety Nick Collins to receiver Jordy Nelson, no general manager has drafted as much talent from the second round. The Packers are the only team in the league to reap five Pro Bowlers from the second round since 2005 (Collins, receivers Greg Jennings, Nelson and Randall Cobb and running back Eddie Lacy).
Rodgers is the heartbeat of the Packers' organization. Around him, Nelson, Cobb and Lacy comprise the core of what is expected to be a vaunted Packers offense.
Nelson is the best example of how Thompson used the second round to build an annual Super Bowl contender. Before missing last season with a torn ACL, Nelson had developed into one of the league's elite receivers.
There are other exceptions, but elite receivers almost always come from the first round — if not top 10. In 2008, Thompson traded out of the first round and into the early second, selecting Nelson 35th overall.
It remains one of Thompson's best draft decisions. A sign that while his competitors stumble after Round 1, Thompson is just hitting his comfort zone.