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ERISA: A Frankenstein made up of different laws
by Mark Debofsky | Jan 4, 2010 | Long Term Disability | 0 comments
Conflict of interest in the administration of benefit claims is a topic that has long concerned Judge William Acker Jr. of the Northern District of Alabama.
Blankenship v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., Civ. No. 08-AR-0639-S (N.D. Ala., Dec. 30) is merely the latest in a series of rulings critical of the manner in which courts have treated ERISA cases. In Florence Nightingale Nursing Service, Inc. v. Blue Cross and Blue Shield, 832 F. Supp. 1456, 1457 (N.D. Ala. 1993), affirmed, 41 F.2d 1476 (11th Cir. 1995), Acker suggested that "ERISA stands for 'Everything Ridiculous Imagined Since Adam'" and Blankenship shows his opinion remains unchanged. Blankenship was a disability benefits case involving a claimant who alleged that advanced heart disease prevented him from continuing to work as a store manager for Sears, Roebuck. Although MetLife initially denied Blankenship's claim, it later reversed course after documenting in its claim diary that due to Blankenship's "significant cardiac history" it was unlikely that he would be able to return to work.
However, MetLife decided just a few months later that no further benefits were due allegedly on account of an absence of "objective" evidence supporting a disability. Blankenship appealed; and with his appeal, he submitted unequivocal findings from his treating doctors reporting he was unable to work. In response, based on the opinion of a doctor retained to conduct a file review, MetLife upheld its decision. Shortly thereafter, though, Blankenship underwent knee surgery, which led MetLife to reinstate benefits on the basis of that condition. The insurer continued to review the claim, ostensibly both as to the cardiac and orthopedic impairments, although a vocational assessment commissioned by MetLife looked solely at Blankenship's knee injury and ignored the cardiac impairment altogether. The vocational specialist identified jobs Blankenship could perform within the limits of his orthopedic impairments, but which his heart condition would have precluded.
However, in reliance on the vocational assessment, MetLife again terminated Blankenship's benefits. When Blankenship started a new appeal process, MetLife retained yet another cardiologist to review his file. However, that cardiologist was never asked about a significant aspect of what the plaintiff's treating doctors had reported – the effect of stress in the workplace on Blankenship's heart condition. Based on that doctor's report, MetLife upheld the denial.
Nearly a year later, Blankenship was awarded Social Security disability benefits retroactive to when he ceased working. Shortly thereafter, he sued MetLife seeking reinstatement of his benefits; and MetLife counterclaimed seeking reimbursement of an overpayment that resulted from policy provisions coordinating benefits between long-term disability insurance and Social Security disability.
The court began its analysis with a discussion of the evolution of ERISA jurisprudence and an expression of disappointment that the courts have failed to comply with the Congressional purpose behind ERISA. The court noted: "Instead of recognizing the patently obvious Congressional intent, the ERISA courts have contrived ersatz administrative procedures, with an inlay of trust law, for the judicial review of denials of ERISA benefits." Opinion at 9.
Continuing, the court expressed its concern with the procedural vehicle chosen by the parties – a "motion for judgment as a matter of law." Finding no provision of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure supporting the invocation of such a procedural vehicle, and determining Rule 56 summary judgment inapt for disposition of ERISA cases, the court bemoaned that "under ERISA, trial courts, despite never having seen a live witness, routinely make, or purport to make, credibility determinations to resolve disputes between irreconcilable unsworn written testimony." Opinion at 11.
The court then remarked, "Even Dr. Watson, without Sherlock's help, could deduce from this procedural dilemma either that a new procedural rule should be created for ERISA cases, or that ERISA should be applied as it was written by Congress." Id.
The court then turned to the insurer's conflict of interest and catalogued cases in which discovery had been allowed in order to give benefit claimants the opportunity to explore the degree to which the insurer's conflict may have affected the claim determination. However, since no discovery had been sought in the case before the court, Acker wrestled with how to decide the claim based solely on the claim record. Ironically, this case involved the identical Sears, Roebuck plan insured by MetLife that was at issue in MetLife v. Glenn, 128 S.Ct. 2343 (2008).
The court began by discussing the first of Glenn's two holdings; i.e., that an insurer which both pays benefits and determines eligibility to receive benefits acts under a conflict of interest. Despite the Court's finding of the existence of a conflict, in trying to ascertain how to assess the conflict, the court expressed its concern that the Supreme Court "shortchanged the lower courts when it offered no concrete advice as to how to weigh this conflict." Glenn's finding that the conflict was "merely a factor" to be taken into consideration left the court confused, and provoked the following comment:
The seminal mandate from Glenn, namely, that courts must consider an administrator's structural conflict as one "factor," has left courts scrambling not only to decide how this "factor" should be, or can be, weighed in a particular case, but what additional evidence, if any, should be considered to evaluate this "factor". Opinion at 17.
Citing Marrs v. Motorola, 577 F.3d 783 (7th Cir. 2009) for the proposition that the conflict is a "dynamic factor" given "greater significance if the circumstances show the conflict was likely to have influenced the administrator," the court examined the record and identified ound a number of factors pointing to the insurer's conflict. For one, the size of the claim, while not huge in comparison to MetLife's worth, was something the court found would have an effect on the claim decision. The court also pointed to MetLife's initial determination that the claim lacked "objective" support, when no policy provision required such proof and where that assertion was simply wrong since there was an abundance of clinical proof supporting Blankenship's cardiac impairment. The insurer's encouragement of the Social Security application was also a factor – even though the determination from Social Security came after the claim appeals were exhausted, MetLife filed a counterclaim seeking to reap the benefit of the Social Security award.
The court described such conduct as "having your cake and eating it too." Yet another factor pertinent to the court's finding was MetLife's reliance on "pure paper" or "file" reviews rather than a physical examination of the insured. The court pointed out its concern that the doctors utilized by MetLife were frequently retained, and the court added,
Most hired hands don't go contrary to the boss's best interest. Paid experts, more often than not, are, in this court's experience, "predisposed" or "preconditioned." Courts have consistently expressed their skepticism of benefits administrators' reliance on pure paper medical reviews, and have often held that such reviews are evidence of a shallowness and transparency that is the essence of arbitrariness and capriciousness. See Bennett v. Kemper Nat. Svcs., Inc., 514 F.3d 547, 554-55 (6th Cir. 2008); Montour v. Hartford Life & Acc. Ins. Co.,____ F.3d ____, No. 08-55803, 2009 WL 3856933, at *10 (9th Cir. Nov. 19, 2009). Opinion at 23-24.
In addition, the court was struck by the conflict between the reviewing doctors' findings and the findings made both by the treating doctors and by the Social Security Administration, suggesting that "MetLife's decision was the culmination of a structurally conflicted process." Opinion at 24.
The court also cited MetLife's vocational decision which gave no consideration to Blankenship's cardiac impairments, along with the reviewing cardiologist never being asked about the vocational impact of Blankenship's susceptibility to stress. The court asked sarcastically: "Can a heart patient with angina, working under severe stress, be expected to earn up to 60 percent of what he earned before his heart condition, that is, until he drops dead?" Opinion at 25.
By never inquiring about the impact of stress, the court found the insurer "steered" its consultant away from the central medical issue and concluded that misdirecting its physician was fundamentally arbitrary conduct. Opinion at 26. Hence, the court determined that benefits were due, although subject to offset by the Social Security payments.
Blankenship was authored by an obviously frustrated federal judge. In addition to its other observations, in assessing the findings made by MetLife's medical and vocational consultants, it was obvious that the court had in mind the maxim that "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." Upton Sinclair's "I, Candidate for Governor: And How I Got Licked" (1935).
But there is another, much larger issue at play here as well. Political commentator Peggy Noonan recently wrote a column in the Wall Street Journal entitled, "Look Ahead with Stoicism – and Optimism" (Jan. 2, 2010). Noonan focused her column on the phrase, "They forgot their mission," and recounted how government, Congress, Wall Street, schools and other institutions seem to have lost sight of their raison d'etre.
The same could be said for the courts and ERISA. The entire purpose behind ERISA is that people who are entitled to benefits ought to receive them. Instead, ERISA has become a Frankenstein monster, made up of slapped together parts of trust law, contract law, and administrative law, reflecting the worst of those areas of law and operating in a way that elevates procedure above substance. The late Edward Becker, former chief judge of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, wrote beseechingly in his concurring opinion in DiFelice v. Aetna U.S. Healthcare, 346 F.3d 442 (3d Cir. 2003) that either the Supreme Court or Congress needed to immediately fix ERISA in a way that would meet ERISA's salutary goal of affording employee benefit plan participants and their beneficiaries appropriate rights and remedies. That goal remains elusive, but if we look forward both with stoicism and optimism, we may yet look back on this new decade as one in which the mission was fulfilled.
Note: I was counsel for the plaintiff in Marrs v. Motorola, which was cited.
This article was initially published in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.
AD&D
Attorneys' Fees
ERISA Standard of Review
Fiduciary Duties
Mental Health Parity
Mental vs. Physical Disabilities
Offsets to Disability Benefits
Pain and Disability
Pre-Existing Condition
Residual/Partial vs. Total Disability
Vocational Issues
8th Circ. Ruling Sets Road Map For Disability Benefit Reviews
Jan 9, 2022 | Disability Benefits, ERISA
Disability benefit cases governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act are not only about whether someone qualifies for benefits, but often involve benefit terminations. While many courts have confronted that situation, the guidelines for assessing ongoing disability benefit claims have varied, especially under a deferential standard of judicial review.
Mark D. DeBofsky Recognized as a Leading Lawyer
Dec 23, 2021 | Announcements, ERISA
We are excited that our founding partner, Mark D. DeBofky has been recommended and by his peers and approved as Leading Lawyer for 2022 […]
New ERISA Rulings Diverge On Civil Procedure
Dec 9, 2021 | ERISA
Over the past several months, there has been a flurry of federal appellate opinions questioning civil procedure norms in Employee Retirement Income Security Act benefits litigation.[1] A pair of brand new appellate decisions have also focused on the same issue, although not necessarily in a direction that harmonizes ERISA civil procedure with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.


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From the UCT Executive
Connecting the Ocean View community
04 September 2018 | Story Kim Cloete. Photos Michael Hammond. Read time 7 min.
The network will be owned and controlled by the residents of Ocean View, like high school learner Joshua van Rooyen, who is involved in the pilot programme.
For most residents of Ocean View, internet access is unaffordable. There's no public Wi-Fi and school internet is not available at night or on the weekend. But now that's all set to change, thanks to a collaboration between University of Cape Town (UCT) researchers, iNethi Technologies and Ammbr Research Labs (ARL South Africa).
The UCT team in the Centre in Information and Communications Technologies for Development (ICT4D), iNethi and ARL South Africa are conducting a pilot programme which they hope will, by the end of the year, connect the Ocean View community to a host of opportunities through localised services and internet access.
Ammbr mesh routers, combined with open-cellular base stations, will be used to overcome the high costs of access to content.
Residents will be able to share their music, videos, news and learning materials for free within the community. They'll also be able to connect with each other through a chat service similar to WhatsApp. Access to the internet will be offered in time, at a much cheaper rate than current options.
Members of the 25 000-strong Ocean View community will decide what they'd like to post on the network. They're already brimming with ideas, from sharing hip-hop videos they've filmed and produced to posting recipes and community events. They also want a channel through which they can report crime anonymously.
"The producers of content in this community are very creative," said Dr Melissa Densmore, senior computer science lecturer.
"An open cellular system, which is far cheaper than standard technologies, will help us to promote a rich and diverse platform, eventually run and owned by the people," she added.
"An open cellular system, which is far cheaper than standard technologies, will help us to promote a rich and diverse platform, eventually run and owned by the people."
Locally hosted apps and services
The project was given the green light when Densmore and Dr David Johnson, head of Ammbr Research Labs (ARL) and an adjunct senior lecturer at UCT, were awarded the OpenCellular Grant by the Telecom Infra Project.
PhD student Richard Maliwatu, centre, with (from left) Fadiel Davies, Marius Waries, Joshua van Rooyen, Nathan Marinus and Patrick Cameron. They each have a role in setting up the project.
"The deal struck with OpenCellular points to the belief in the capability of this team to show high impact," said Johnson, who is also a director at iNethi.
"It's so expensive for people to buy data, and the poor suffer the most. This innovation is a way of trying to take back connectivity and get ownership back into the hands of communities."
Users will interact with the iNethi platform through open-source software, using a web browser or mobile apps. Community members will also be able to build their own locally-hosted apps and services.
The free local services will include Owncloud, a file-sharing service to share music, videos and documents; Rocket Chat, similar to WhatsApp, to chat to friends in the community; and Diaspora, a social networking service similar to Facebook.
"If we want an internet that is rich and diverse, we need to promote local content, creation and sharing. This becomes much more relevant to the people," said Densmore.
"As much as people want access to the internet and global stuff, their natural communication is internal. Research has shown that 60% of traffic is within a community."
Currently, the iNethi platform doesn't offer internet access through the Wi-Fi network, but this will be offered in future.
"People will be able to message, voice, chat and video locally in iNethi for free. Real-time communication to users outside iNethi, such as dial-out, will be a monetised service but will be much more affordable than using mobile data packages," said Densmore.
A non-profit, iNethi Ocean View, will be formed and community members will be able to apply for permission to resell internet services.
Enthusiastic school pupils and residents of Ocean View have gathered for computer literacy workshops, during which they have also learnt how to maintain and operate the network and its services.
Several of them have already been volunteering their services at the iLearning centre at Ocean View Preparatory School. It's become a safe haven for learners within the community, who live their lives amid gangsterism which is rife in the area.
"We are very excited about this," said Marius Waries, iLearning Centre manager and chairperson of iNethi OV.
"Our people will be able to connect with each other without using their data. They will also be able to get cheaper Wi-Fi through the platform."
"Data is so expensive, so this will help us a lot. Our people will be able to connect with each other without using their data. They will also be able to get cheaper Wi-Fi through the platform. This has inspired me to help young people here even more. We can really make a difference in our community," he said.
PhD student Hafeni Mthoko has gone door to door in Ocean View to learn about how residents access their information.
Access and communication
UCT postdoctoral researcher Hafeni Mthoko has been going door to door to gauge people's interest in the project.
"I've been asking people how they know about what's happening in the community. Up until now the only way has been to go to the library to see if there are any notices on the noticeboard, or children may hear about things at school assemblies.
"Now everyone will be able to share their news and their stories," she said.
The platform will be a significant step forward for the people of Ocean View, according to Fadiel Davies, a volunteer who repairs computers at the school and the iLearning Centre.
"I've dreamt of a network like this for a long time, where the people own it and control it. We've been living in the dark ages for too long. Most people have cellphones, but they don't have money for data," he said.
"We also want to bring access and education to the people ... We want the channel to focus on learning as well, and help the next generation."
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Gigantic galaxies discovered with the MeerKAT telescope 10:09, 19 January 2021
COVID-19: insights and lessons with Prof Marc Mendelson 10:52, 19 January 2021
The problem with decolonising the social sciences 14:36, 19 January 2021
UCT Libraries' new platform supports publishing of African-centric research 11:20, 13 January 2021
Linda-Gail Bekker: The doctor with healing hands and a warrior spirit 09:46, 12 January 2021
UCT's developer societies plan bumper year UCT's developer societies have a fully loaded 2021 events calendar, and interested students are encouraged to join. 20 Jan 2021
South Africa's MeerKAT finds radio galaxies that dwarf our Milky Way In a patch of sky long trawled across by countless telescopes, astronomers have discovered two gigantic radio galaxies. 20 Jan 2021 Republished
The problem with decolonising the social sciences As part of UCT's first virtual Summer School, Dr Lwazi Lushaba delivered a thought-provoking lecture on the decolonisation of the social sciences. 19 Jan 2021
COVID-19: insights and lessons with Prof Marc Mendelson Professor Marc Mendelson, the head of UCT's Division of Infectious Diseases and HIV Medicine at Groote Schuur Hospital, recently delivered a Summer School lecture on COVID-19. 19 Jan 2021
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Lessons in innovation and intervention 20 Oct 2017
GSB's Philippi community campus breaks the mould 31 Jul 2017
The state of SA's youth 16 Jun 2017
How to make an Internet of Intelligent Things work for Africa 29 Mar 2017
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First published as "The Tale of a Coat," in Fun (London), March 7, 1874.
Reprinted as by "B," in the Wasp (San Francisco), June 2, 1883.
Mr. Algernon Jarvis, of San Francisco, got up cross. The world of Mr. Jarvis had gone wrong with him overnight, as one's world is likely to do when one sits up till morning with jovial friends, to watch it, and he was prone to resentment. No sooner, therefore, had he got himself into a neat, fashionable suit of clothing than he selected his morning walking-stick and sallied out upon the town with a vague general determination to attack something. His first victim would naturally have been his breakfast; but singularly enough, he fell upon this with so feeble an energy that he was himself beaten—to the grieved astonishment of the worthy rôtisseur, who had to record his hitherto puissant patron's maiden defeat. Three or four cups of café noir were the only captives that graced Mr. Jarvis' gastric chariot-wheels that morning.
He lit a long cigar and sauntered moodily down the street, so occupied with schemes of universal retaliation that his feet had it all their own way; in consequence of which, their owner soon found himself in the billiard-room of the Occidental Hotel. Nobody was there, but Mr. Jarvis was a privileged person; so, going to the marker's desk, he took out a little box of ivory balls, spilled them carelessly over a table and languidly assailed them with a long stick.
"Bet you two bits you don't make it!"
Mr. Jarvis erected himself; he turned about and looked at the speaker, whom he found to be a stranger—one that most persons would prefer should remain a stranger. Mr. Jarvis made no reply. In the first place, he was a man of aristocratic taste, to whom a wager of "two bits" was simply vulgar. Secondly, the man who had proffered it evidently had not the money. Still it is annoying to have one's skill questioned by one's social inferiors, particularly when one has doubts of it oneself, and is otherwise ill-tempered. So Mr. Jarvis stood his cue against the table, laid off his fashionable morning-coat, resumed his stick, spread his fine figure upon the table with his back to the ceiling and took deliberate aim.
At this point Mr. Jarvis drops out of this history, and is seen no more forever. Persons of the class to which he adds lustre are sacred from the pen of the humorist; they are ridiculous but not amusing. So now we will dismiss this uninteresting young aristocrat, retaining merely his outer shell, the fashionable morning-coat, which Mr. Stenner, the gentleman, who had offered the wager, has quietly thrown across his arm and is conveying away for his own advantage.
An hour later Mr. Stenner sat in his humble lodgings at North Beach, with the pilfered garment upon his knees. He had already taken the opinion of an eminent pawnbroker on its value, and it only remained to search the pockets. Mr. Stenner's notions concerning gentlemen's coats were not so clear as they might have been. Broadly stated, they were that these garments abounded in secret pockets crowded with a wealth of bank notes interspersed with gold coins. He was therefore disappointed when his careful quest was rewarded with only a delicately perfumed handkerchief, upon which he could not hope to obtain a loan of more than ten cents; a pair of gloves too small for use and a bit of paper that was not a cheque. A second look at this, however, inspired hope. It was about the size of a flounder, ruled in wide lines, and bore in conspicuous characters the words, "Western Union Telegraph Company." Immediately below this interesting legend was much other printed matter, the purport of which was that the company did not hold itself responsible for the verbal accuracy of "the following message," and did not consider itself either morally or legally bound to forward or deliver it, nor, in short, to render any kind of service for the money paid by the sender.
Had the full force of this remarkable adjuration burst upon Mr. Stenner all at once it might have carried him away, which would not have been so bad a thing for San Francisco; but as the meaning had to percolate slowly through a dense dyke of ignorance, it produced no other immediate effect than the exclamation, "Well, I'll be bust!"
In the mouths of some persons this form of expression means a great deal. On the Stenner tongue it signified the hopeless nature of the Stenner mental confusion.
It must be confessed—by persons outside a certain limited and sordid circle—that the message lacks amplification and elaboration; in its terse, bald diction there is a ghastly suggestion of traffic in human flesh, for which in California there is no market since the abolition of slavery and the importation of thoroughbred beeves. If woman suffrage had been established all would have been clear; Mr. Stenner would at once have understood the kind of purchase advised; for in political transactions he had very often changed hands himself. But it was all a muddle, and resolving to dismiss the matter from his thoughts, he went to bed thinking of nothing else; for many hours his excited imagination would do nothing but purchase slightly damaged Sally Meekers by the bale, and retail them to itself at an enormous profit.
"Budd Doble enters g.g. Clipper; Bob Scotty enters b.g. Lightnin'; Staley Tupper enters s.s. Upandust; Sim Salper enters b.m. Sally Meeker."
It was clear now; the sender of the dispatch was "in the know." Sally Meeker was to win, and her owner, who did not know it, had offered her for sale. At that supreme moment Mr. Stenner would willingly have been a rich man! In fact he resolved to be. He at once betook him to Vallejo, where he had lived until invited away by some influential citizens of the place. There he immediately sought out an industrious friend who had an amiable weakness for draw poker, and in whom Mr. Stenner regularly encouraged that passion by going up against him every payday and despoiling him of his hard earnings. He did so this time, to the sum of one hundred dollars.
No sooner had he raked in his last pool and refused his friend's appeal for a trifling loan wherewith to pay for breakfast than he bought a check on the Bank of California, enclosed it in a letter containing merely the words "Bi Saly Meker," and dispatched it by mail to the only clergyman in San Francisco whose name he knew. Mr. Stenner had a vague notion that all kinds of business requiring strict honesty and fidelity might be profitably intrusted to the clergy; otherwise what was the use of religion? I hope I shall not be accused of disrespect to the cloth in thus bluntly setting forth Mr. Stenner's estimate of the parsons, inasmuch as I do not share it.
This business off his mind, Mr. Stenner unbent in a week's revelry; at the end of which he worked his passage down to San Francisco to secure his winnings on the race, and take charge of his peerless mare. It will be observed that his notions concerning races were somewhat confused; his experience of them had hitherto been confined to that branch of the business requiring, not technical knowledge but manual dexterity. In short, he had done no more than pick the pockets of the spectators. Arrived at San Francisco he was hastening to the dwelling of his clerical agent, when he met an acquaintance, to whom he put the triumphant question, "How about Sally Meeker?"
"Sally Meeker? Sally Meeker?" was the reply. "Oh, you mean the hoss? Why she's gone up the flume. Broke her neck the first heat. But ole Sim Salper is never a-goin' to fret hisself to a shadder about it. He struck it pizen in the mine she was named a'ter and the stock's gone up from nothin' out o' sight. You couldn't tech that stock with a ten-foot pole!"
Which was a blow to Mr. Stenner. He saw his error; the message in the coat had evidently been sent to a broker, and referred to the stock of the "Sally Meeker" mine. And he, Stenner, was a ruined man!
Suddenly a great, monstrous, misbegotten and unmentionable oath rolled from Mr. Stenner's tongue like a cannon shot hurled along an uneven floor! Might it not be that the Rev. Mr. Boltright had also misunderstood the message, and had bought, not the mare, but the stock? The thought was electrical: Mr. Stenner ran—he flew! He tarried not at walls and the smaller sort of houses, but went through or over them! In five minutes he stood before the good clergyman—and in one more had asked, in a hoarse whisper, if he had bought any "Sally Meeker."
"My good friend," was the bland reply—"my fellow traveler to the bar of God, it would better comport with your spiritual needs to inquire what you should do to be saved. But since you ask me, I will confess that having received what I am compelled to regard as a Providential intimation, accompanied with the secular means of obedience, I did put up a small margin and purchase largely of the stock you mention. The venture, I am constrained to state, was not wholly unprofitable."
Unprofitable? The good man had made a square twenty-five thousand dollars on that small margin! To conclude—he has it yet.


Shamir, Wolf Alice and more make The BBC's Sound of 2015 longlist.
Every year, the BBC releases a ranking of five artists they believe will define music over the next 12 months. The annual list serves as a barometer of emerging musical tastes (50 Cent topped the Sound Of 2003, Adele in 2008 and Sam Smith last year), and, needless to say, it's a pretty big deal for every artist involved.
The Sound Of 2015 longlist was announced Sunday (November 30), and it includes: George The Poet, James Bay, Kwabs, Låpsley, Novelist, Rae Morris, Raury, Shamir, Shura, Slaves, SOAK, Stormzy, Sunset Sons, Wolf Alice and Years & Years. While we wait for the final Sound Of 2015 shortlist to be revealed, here are five of those artists who you should get into, like, now.
This London-based electro-pop group fuses elements gathered from a variety of '90s sounds -- like New Jack Swing, house and boy band pop -- while still managing to sound fresh and innovative. I could do without the orientalist fetishizing in the "Desire" video, but I'm otherwise totally excited to see what frontman/keyboard player Olly Alexander, bassist Mikey Goldsworthy and synth player Emre Turkmen do next.
Stop running up that hill -- Rae Morris will take it from here. The Kate Bush-inspired "Under The Shadows" makes a strong case for the 21-year-old U.K. native's place among the likes of Ellie Goulding, Florence Welch and other distinctively ethereal British singers. Look out for her upcoming debut album, Unguarded.
Fans of Blood Orange, How To Dress Well and Solange -- hell, even Nick Jonas' recent output -- should try to get an invite to this 23-year-old Brit's lo-fi makeout party. Shura's synth-driven R&B material has that gentle touch that makes you wanna find the nearest bed and just liiiiiiiiiiiiie on it. (And maybe some other stuff, too.) Her debut LP is on its way.
I totally didn't get "On The Regular" the first time I watched it. Dance-pop artist Shamir Bailey's disengaged stance struck me as lacking in stage presence, and I started to get a little bothered tbh. But, then I realized: That's the genius of the video -- that a slight, highly styled young guy can utter boastful lyrics like "Yes, yes I'm the best, f--k what you heard" and "Step to me and you will be handled" while looking like he literally couldn't care less if you hear him. In short: here for it.
Veruca Salt senses, tingling. On "Moaning Lisa Smile," Wolf Alice pair their dreary pop-rock sound with the kind of uplifting yet bittersweet messages usually reserved for cheerier genries. ("Scrap the blues, if the blues don't work/ To make you feel better just because it feels worse.") The London-based quartet -- that's Ellie Rowsell, Joff Oddie, Theo Ellis and Joel Amey -- released their second EP, Creature Songs, in May, and the buzz has only been growing since for their sugary brand of grunge.


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Home Study Abroad Australia
Why Australia?
Working while studying in Australia?
After Post Graduation – What Next?
Genuine Temporary Entrant Requirement
Australia is known for its diverse and welcoming people - there are so many reasons to consider studying with an Australian education provider.
Study at globally ranked institutions
Australia is setting international standards for excellence in education. The Australian education sector comprises world-leading education institutions, premium training facilities, and outstanding lecturers and student support services.
Look at independent global rankings such as Times Higher Education, QS and Shanghai Rankings. These organizations consistently rank Australian institutions in the world's top 100 universities year after year.
The University of Melbourne, Australian National University, University of Sydney, University of Queensland, University of New South Wales and Monash University were all ranked in the top 100 universities in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020.
One of the best higher education systems in the world
With over 22,000 courses across 1,100 institutions, the Australian education system is ranked 8th in the Universitas 2019 U21 Ranking of National Higher Education Systems, higher than France, Germany, Norway and Japan.
Gain work experience while you study
You may choose to work in Australia while you are studying. This can be an option for you to earn some extra spending money, and gain valuable skills and experience.
There are currently no restrictions on work for international students. This means that international students can work before their course commences and work more than 40 hours a fortnight in any sector of the economy. These temporary measures remain in place until further notice.
You can work in any sector including retail, hospitality, administration, etc. Many universities will also offer a careers service for students that can assist you in finding work while you are studying, as well as after graduation.
Many Australian degrees and vocational courses include work experience programs and internships so you can gain hands-on industry experience and grow your professional network while you study. Once you complete your degree, you may also be eligible to stay and work in Australia.


CSI is proud to announce that Oceanair Marine, world leader in the design and manufacture of marine blinds, shades and soft furnishings, has chosen to implement DDM for its CAD system SOLIDWORKS to address its short and long term requirement for Product Lifecycle Management.
Oceanair Marine, based in West Sussex, design and manufacture original engineered blinds & soft furnishings for the leisure marine, superyacht, luxury residential, commercial and recreational vehicle markets.
At the fore-front of technology and innovation when it comes to the design and manufacture of blinds, Oceanair has made significant investments in new equipment for the manufacture of blinds, as well as nurturing a progressive design office, which continually drives product development. Oceanair invest in innovation because of the demanding nature of their customer base; the Marine, Superyacht and Residential markets typically have complex, unique design needs and a requirement for bespoke and customised products. Therefore, Oceanair's need for first-class Product Lifecycle Management is paramount.
Oceanair is a fast-growing company, having recently been recognised as one of the UK Central South region's 20 mid-market 'Companies Of Tomorrow' and "National Champions" in the 2017 European Business Awards. Most recently, in February 2017, Oceanair was acquired by global mobile living company Dometic, showing it's prowess within the industry as a revered brand & business.


text:
5 Best VR For Galaxy S10 In 2020
Last Updated on: January 4, 2021 by Brad
It's finally here — the phone that everybody has been waiting for — the Galaxy S10. It comes with a lot of improvements and upgrades; however, it also comes with some specific improvements for the virtual reality side of things. That said, you'll definitely want to know what awesome virtual reality headsets you can use with this new flagship device.
Oculus Oculus Go Standalone Virtual Reality Headset Check Price on Amazon
Samsung Electronics Samsung Gear VR w/Controller (2017) SM Check Price on Amazon
Veer VeeR Oasis VR Headset with VR Remote Check Price on Amazon
Google Google OEM Daydream View - VR Headset (Slate) Check Price on Amazon
Lenovo Lenovo Mirage Solo with Daydream Check Price on Amazon
Not sure what to get? That's why we constructed this list — to show you all of the excellent choices available for your Samsung Galaxy S10. And so, without further ado, here are our top picks for the best virtual reality headsets.
A word on mobile virtual reality
It's no secret that people have been progressively losing interest in virtual reality for smartphones. Google has had an awful time selling Daydream View headsets, and Samsung has had difficulties with its Gear VR headsets. That said, Samsung isn't actually making virtual reality headsets for its phones — that project has pretty much ended.
Luckily, you can still use the Galaxy S10 with the latest Gear VR. The latest Gear VR actually ships with an adapter for the Samsung Galaxy S10 now, so you can still take advantage of the virtual reality features there. You might be able to get it to work with Daydream headsets, but the Daydream program isn't in great shape either.
Oculus has pretty much moved to its own standalone headsets, such as with the Oculus GO, so it's just natural the the Gear VR program ends.
The Oculus GO is an excellent choice for those looking for a unique VR experience. Working as a standalone, all-in-one virtual reality headset, you won't have to set your phone inside a slot in the headset. No, setup takes place by pairing with your phone through the Oculus GO app.
The "con" with this option is that a majority of the content in Oculus Go has to be purchased, so there's nothing really offered for free here that you can "try" out.
Lenovo Mirage Solo
Coming in as second on our countdown, we have Lenovo's Mirage Solo. Easily one of the best options out there for VR with the Galaxy S10, the Mirage Solo actually runs on the Daydream platform. It doesn't require a smartphone to sit in the headset, actually — it's an all-in-one, single unit just like the Oculus Go. Setup is easy — just download the Mirage Solo app on your Galaxy S10, and then pair it up with the virtual reality headset. Once paired, put the Mirage Solo on, power it up, and you're ready to go.
There is a "con" that comes with the Mirage Solo — you're getting some pretty poor battery life. It's convenient and easy to setup, but VR time will be drastically reduced to just a couple of hours of use off of a single charge. You will have to power it down and throw it on the charger for awhile to use again.
Daydream View
In third place, we really like what the Daydream View has to offer. Google's platform is one of the best as far as virtual reality goes. It's well maintained, and updated with new content — entertainment, games, and apps — on the regular. Entertainment is actually a big thing for the Daydream View and Daydream platform as a whole — Google's virtual reality platform has some really big partnerships, such as Hulu and Netflix, that are bringing awesome VR content to the headset. It's content that you won't be able to get on other headsets and platforms.
The "con" with the Daydream View is that it isn't an all in one headset — you do have to set your phone inside of the headset to act as the power and screen behind it. It's not a single unit like the Mirage Solo or Oculus GO.
Gear VR With Controller
One of the most seamless ways that you can take advantage of virtual reality with the Galaxy S10 is the Gear VR. Made directly from Samsung, and made for Samsung devices, this should work flawlessly with the Galaxy S10. The nice thing about this one is that it is equipped with a controller, which can give you better navigation. Before, the Gear VR used motion navigation, which was awful.
Using the Gear VR is easy — all you have to do is throw your Galaxy S10 into the Gear VR insert, put the Gear VR on, and you're immediately entered into the world of virtual reality. The Gear VR has been through quite a few renditions now, so the 2017 model actually feels very comfortable. It's not too weighty, making it easy and comfortable to play for hours.
VeeR Oasis
Coming up as number five on our countdown, VeeR Oasis is a cheap way to get into virtual reality. Since it isn't a standalone headset, and requires its power from the Galaxy S10, this one will only cost you a couple of bucks. Set your phone in the VeeR Oasis slot and you're ready to roll in virtual reality. Content is pretty limited, but if you're wanting to take VR for a spin to see what it's like, VeeR is a low-risk, low investment option.
Here we've shown you five of the best options for virtual reality headsets for the Galaxy S10. We definitely recommend sticking with either the Gear VR setup, or one of the Daydream options. Those work best with the Galaxy S10, and we do think that the Galaxy S10 probably has the most content out of the two. It's also one of the VR platforms that is the most well maintained.
Do you have a favorite virtual reality setup for the Galaxy S10? Sound off in the comments below.
Categories Devices, Featured, Reviews, Smartphones Post navigation
How to screenshot on Oppo A9 (2020) | 3 methods to capture screen on Oppo
How To Fix The Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ 5G Can't Send MMS


Haylie Duff Gives Birth to Baby Girl!
Haylie Duff and her fiancé Matt Rosenberg welcomed their first child on Monday -- a healthy baby girl named Ryan, E! News reports.
Haylie, the older sister of actress Hilary Duff, and Matt announced they were expecting in December.
This is the first child for the couple, who got engaged in April 2014. The couple had reportedly put off wedding planning to prepare for the arrival of their baby.
In March, Haylie and her family celebrated the upcoming new addition with a baby shower. Haylie took to Instagram to post a sweet photo of her growing baby bump with the caption, "30 day countdown!"
Congrats to the happy family on their brand new bundle of joy.
For more adorable baby news, check out the video below to see some of the cutest celebrity pregnancy announcements ever.


text:
> Execution
> Nomura Plans to Increase Forex Services in the US
Nomura Plans to Increase Forex Services in the US
Thursday, 27/12/2018 | 08:54 GMT by Celeste Skinner
The move is part of a wider shifting of its growth focus to the Americas.
forex // ToDo refactor when changes on back-end are ready
Nomura Holdings Inc is planning to increase its deal-related services for its corporate clients based in the United States, including arranging foreign Exchange Exchange An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv Read this Term (Forex Forex Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation's currency into another nation's currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world's largest tradi Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation's currency into another nation's currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world's largest tradi Read this Term) hedging, acquisition finance and more, the Chief Executive Officer of the Japanese firm told Reuters on Thursday.
At present, Nomura, which is the largest banking and brokerage group in Japan, is shifting its growth focus to the Americas and re-allocating its global resources to the region, which has the largest pool of investment banking fees in the world. According to the report, the firm is trying to scale up its businesses in the region without taking on larger risks.
Koji Nagai
Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
Speaking to Reuters, Koji Nagai said: "Our key words are 'America,' 'corporate clients' and 'solutions business.'"
At the moment, Nomura's global markets business, which involves the trading of fixed income and equity, will not be expanded, despite the fact that it remains an important source of revenue for the firm.
Siege Launches Anonymous Spot FX Matching Platform NetFix
"Rather, our focus is on advisory and primary business, which are not subject to market risks to the same degree and do not use our balance sheet much," he continued. "In addition, we will expand our solutions business such as acquisition finance and foreign currency exchange services for deals we advise on."
Nomura expects $250 million revenue boost
As a result of the expansion, the CEO of Nomura forecasts a boost in revenue of $250 million in the medium term. This expected cash injection would be welcome news for the firm, which has reported three consecutive quarters of pre-tax loss in its overseas business through September.
In addition, as Finance Magnates reported, during the six months to September, which is the first half of the company's fiscal year ending March 31, 2019, Nomura reported net revenue of ¥554.9 billion ($5 billion).
When measured against the same period last year, this was down by 22 percent. Income before income taxes was also down on a year-on-year basis, falling by 91 percent to reach ¥14.1 billion ($127.2 million).
"We will absolutely keep our global platform though we have been shrinking businesses that are unprofitable and not needed by our clients," Nagai added.
nomura


Top 5 stock holdings are AMZN, Facebook Inc cl a, FXL, QTEC, FDN, and represent 7.22% of First Trust Advisors's stock portfolio.
Added to shares of these 10 stocks: FXH (+$516.06M), First Tr Exch Trd Alpha Fd I Brazil Alpha (+$95.35M), Cigna Corp New (+$69.35M), Nxp Semiconductors N V (+$64.68M), LLY (+$62.72M), Docusign Inc (+$56.62M), IBM (+$54.26M), NTAP (+$45.89M), DGX (+$39.23M), TJX (+$39.04M).
Started 165 new stock positions in Sendgrid Inc, Allogene Therapeutics Inc, Ishares Core Intl Stock Etf core, Hamilton Beach Brand, Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, DISCA, Voya Financial, DLB, National Grid Plc Spon, BT.
Reduced shares in these 10 stocks: , , , RHT (-$97.77M), Twitter (-$90.99M), , Facebook Inc cl a (-$85.12M), Paypal Holdings (-$77.09M), QTEC (-$72.19M), Dell Technologies Inc Class V equity (-$67.49M).
Sold out of its positions in Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc, ACOR, ACXM, Adamas Pharmaceuticals, AET, ARII, FOLD, AFSI, ANDE, Antero Midstream Prtnrs Lp master ltd part.
First Trust Advisors was a net seller of stock by $3.20B.
First Trust Advisors has $42.18B in assets under management (AUM), dropping by -21.47%.


text:
Q: Geoserver MapFish print : wrong scale and scalebar on my printed map I've built a web map with Geoserver and Leaflet displaying background tiles from osm and IGN, and some geojson for overlays.
I'm using the MapFish print module with Geoserver and Leaflet.print to print my maps.
On my map and printed map, all these layers are lined up correctly and I have no problem to print my maps.
But the scalebar and numeric scale displayed are wrong.
When I'm measuring some distances on my leaflet map, I have the right distance, but not in my printed map.
Here is a bunch of my config.yaml, where scales are the resolutions of my osm and IGN tiles :
dpis: [75, 96, 150, 300]

scales:
    - 1223
    - 2446
    - 4892
    - 9784
    - 19568
    - 39136

And here I've console.log what I'm sending in my create.json :
{"units":"m","srs":"EPSG:3857","layout":"A4 Landscape","dpi":96,"outputFormat":"pdf","outputFilename":"leaflet-map","layers":[{"baseURL":"http://a.tile.osm.org/","opacity":1,"type":"OSM","extension":"png","tileSize":[256,256],"maxExtent":[-20037508.34,-20037508.34,20037508.34,20037508.34],"resolutions":[156543.03390625,78271.516953125,39135.7584765625,19567.87923828125,9783.939619140625,4891.9698095703125,2445.9849047851562,1222.9924523925781,611.4962261962891,305.74811309814453,152.87405654907226,76.43702827453613,38.218514137268066,19.109257068634033,9.554628534317017,4.777314267158508,2.388657133579254,1.194328566789627,0.5971642833948135,0.29858214169740677,0.14929107084870338,0.07464553542435169,0.037322767712175846],"singleTile":false}],"pages":[{"center":[175236.00917692634,6280596.13623742],"scale":1223,"mapTitle":"","comment":"","mapCopyright":"copyrightText","rotation":0}]}

I've set srs : 'EPSG:3857' as Leaflet maps default projection are in 'EPSG:3857'.
I've tried to change it by 'EPSG:900913', I've tried setting other DPI values, scales, ... But I still have the problem.
I've also posted my question on Mapfish Print Users google's group

A: I'm answering my question, I've fixed it setting geodetic parameter to true.
pages: [{
        center: center,
        scale: scale,
        dpi: 190,
        geodetic: true,
        rotation: 0
}]

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
AirCalculator.com
Flight Routes, Distance and Maps for Every Airport on Earth
Map a new flight route:
Browse Flight Routes
Airport information and maps for Myrtle Beach International Airport:
Share this airport:
MYR Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: MYR / KMYR
Airport Name: Myrtle Beach International Airport
Location: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, United States
GPS Coordinates: 33°40'46"N by 78°55'51"W
Area Served: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Operator/Owner: Horry County
Airport Type: Public
Elevation: 25 feet (8 meters)
# of Runways: 1
View all routes: Routes from MYR
Facts about MYR
Map of Nearest Airports to MYR
List of Nearest Airports to MYR
Map of Furthest Airports from MYR
List of Furthest Airports from MYR
Facts about Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR):
The airport has seven gates with expansion under way to add six more by July 2012.
The closest airport to Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR) is Grand Strand Airport (CRE), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) NE of MYR.
On April 20, 1977, an agreement between the City of Myrtle Beach and the U.S.
Because of Myrtle Beach International Airport's relatively low elevation of 25 feet, planes can take off or land at Myrtle Beach International Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
This airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a primary commercial service airport.
The airport served as the main hub for Hooters Air from 2003 until 2006.
The airport and terminal was constructed in 1975, opening in 1976.
The furthest airport from Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,632 miles (18,719 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR) currently has only 1 runway.
Myrtle Beach International Airport handled 1,664,917 passengers last year.
Map of Nearest Airports from Myrtle Beach International Airport:
List of Nearest Airports from Myrtle Beach International Airport:
Rank Distance & Direction Airport Name & IATA Code Airport Location Further Actions
1 15.00 miles (24.13 km) NE Grand Strand Airport (CRE) North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, United States
2 33.92 miles (54.59 km) SW Georgetown County Airport (GGE) Georgetown, South Carolina, United States
3 37.71 miles (60.68 km) WSW Robert F. Swinnie Airport (ADR) Andrews, South Carolina, United States
4 57.32 miles (92.25 km) NW Florence Regional Airport (FLO) Florence, South Carolina, United States
5 58.77 miles (94.57 km) NNW Dillon County Airport (DLL) Dillon, South Carolina, United States
6 64.67 miles (104.08 km) N Lumberton Municipal Airport (LBT) Lumberton, North Carolina, United States
7 71.69 miles (115.38 km) NE Wilmington International Airport (ILM) Wilmington, North Carolina, United States
8 79.66 miles (128.20 km) NW Marlboro County Jetport (BTN) Bennettsville, South Carolina, United States
9 80.76 miles (129.97 km) NNW Laurinburg-Maxton Airport (MXE) Maxton, North Carolina, United States
10 83.78 miles (134.82 km) SW Charleston International Airport (CHS) Charleston, South Carolina, United States
11 84.41 miles (135.84 km) NW Hartsville Regional Airport (HVS) Hartsville, South Carolina, United States
12 84.92 miles (136.67 km) WNW Sumter Airport (SUM) Sumter, South Carolina, United States
13 90.65 miles (145.89 km) N Fayetteville Regional Airport (FAY) Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States
14 90.78 miles (146.09 km) WNW Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) Sumter, South Carolina, United States
15 92.37 miles (148.65 km) NW Cheraw Municipal Airport (HCW) Cheraw, South Carolina, United States
Map of Furthest Airports from Myrtle Beach International Airport:
List of Furthest Airports from Myrtle Beach International Airport:
1 11,631.68 miles (18,719.33 km) W Margaret River Airport (MGV) Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia
2 11,613.50 miles (18,690.07 km) W Busselton Regional Airport (BQB) Busselton, Western Australia, Australia
3 11,595.86 miles (18,661.69 km) W Bunbury Airport (BUY) Bunbury, Western Australia, Australia
4 11,589.58 miles (18,651.58 km) W Rottnest Airport (RTS) Rottnest Island, Western Australia, Australia
5 11,585.46 miles (18,644.94 km) WSW Jurien Bay Airport (JUR) Jurien Bay, Western Australia, Australia
6 11,573.06 miles (18,624.98 km) W Manjimup Airport (MJP) Manjimup, Western Australia, Australia
7 11,571.24 miles (18,622.06 km) W Jandakot Airport (JAD) Jandakot, Western Australia, Australia
8 11,564.23 miles (18,610.77 km) WSW Geraldton Airport (GET) Geraldton, Western Australia, Australia
9 11,564.13 miles (18,610.62 km) W Perth Airport (PER) Perth, Western Australia, Australia
10 11,551.55 miles (18,590.38 km) WSW Kalbarri Airport (KAX) Kalbarri, Western Australia, Australia
11 11,515.01 miles (18,531.56 km) WSW Shark Bay Airport (MJK) Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia
12 11,510.31 miles (18,524.00 km) WSW Mullewa Airport (MXU) Mullewa, Western Australia, Australia
13 11,503.69 miles (18,513.35 km) WSW Morawa Airport (MWB) Morawa, Western Australia, Australia
14 11,484.30 miles (18,482.15 km) W Katanning Airport (KNI) Katanning, Western Australia, Australia
15 11,478.59 miles (18,472.96 km) W Albany Airport (ALH) Albany, Western Australia, Australia
©2021 AirCalculator.com. All rights reserved.


text:
NK Primorje Ajdovščina (meestal kortweg NK Primorje) was een voormalige Sloveense voetbalclub uit Ajdovščina.

De club speelde voor het eerst in de Sloveense hoogste klasse in het seizoen 1993/94. De beste plaats werd in 1996/97 gehaald toen Primorje vicekampioen werd achter Maribor Branik. De volgende seizoenen eindigde de club lager in de rangschikking maar in 2001 was de club helemaal terug met een derde plaats. Het volgende seizoen deed de club het nog beter met een nieuwe tweede plaats. Ook de volgende seizoenen eindigde de club vrij goed. In het seizoen 2005/06 ontsnapte de club echter ternauwernood aan de degradatie. Na twee middenmootplaatsen degradeerde de club in 2009. De club promoveerde een seizoen later alweer terug naar eerste klasse maar degradeerde direct weer. In 2011 werd de club opgedoekt wegens financiële problemen.

Erelijst
Beker van Slovenië
Finalist: 1996, 1997, 1998

Primorje in Europa

Uitslagen vanuit gezichtspunt NK Primorje Ajdovščina

{| class="wikitable" style=" text-align:center; font-size:90%;"
! Seizoen
! Competitie
! Ronde
! Land
! Club
! Totaalscore
! 1e W
! 2e W
! PUC
|-
|1997/98
|Europacup II
|Q
|
|Union Luxemburg
|3-0||2-0 (T)|| 1-0 (U)
| rowspan="3"|7.0
|-
|
|
|1R
|
|AIK Fotboll
|2-1||1-0 (U)|| 1-1 nv (T)
|-
|
|
|1/8
|
|Roda JC
|0-6||0-2 (T)|| 0-4 (U)
|-
|2000
|Intertoto Cup
|1R
|
|KVC Westerlo
|11-0||5-0 (T)|| 6-0 (U)
| rowspan="2"|0.0
|-
|
|
|2R
|
|FK Zenit Sint-Petersburg
|1-6||0-3 (U)|| 1-3 (T)
|-
|2002/03
|UEFA Cup
|Q
|
|Zvartnots Jerevan
|6-3||6-1 (T)|| 0-2 (U)
| rowspan="2"|1.0
|-
|
|
|1R
|
|Wisła Kraków
|1-8||0-2 (T)|| 1-6 (U)
|-
|2004/05
|UEFA Cup
|1Q
|
|Marsaxlokk FC
|3-0||1-0 (U)|| 2-0 (T)
| rowspan="2"|3.0
|-
|
|
|2Q
|
|GNK Dinamo Zagreb
|2-4||0-4 (U)|| 2-0 (T)
|}

Totaal aantal punten voor UEFA coëfficiënten: 11.0

Zie ook
 Deelnemers UEFA-toernooien Slovenië
 Ranglijst van alle clubs die in de diverse Europa Cups zijn uitgekomen

Bekende (oud-)spelers
  Alfred Jermaniš
  Andrej Komac
  Janez Pate
  Mladen Rudonja

Externe link
 Official Site

Ajvdovscina, NK Primorje

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


BEIJING – Would you love nothing more than spending the next 365 days in the company of 200 pound furry black and white animals whose favorite food is bamboo?
If so, you may be in luck.
The lucky winner will spend a year learning how to prepare panda food like the legendary "panda bread," help researchers take care of old and disabled pandas and participate in ongoing scientific research on giant pandas, including those still in the wild.
Other perks of the top job? A salary of $32,000, free room and board, and an SUV at your disposal. Eight runners-up will win a three-day trip to panda-watch at the reserve.
"Many people at our center do the same job, but the salary was never that high," Heng Yi, a publicity official at the panda center told China's state newspaper, China Daily.
Naturally, a deep love and some general knowledge of giant pandas is a must.
Besides looking after pandas, the winner would be asked to help write articles about his or her experience at the reserve and snap photos of their cuddly charges.
Sohu compared the panda keeper job to the "Best Job in the World" campaign in Australia –calling it the "Chinese version of a caretaker of an island on the Great Barrier Reef.
This is not the first time that China has recruited "Pambassadors" to help raise awareness about endangered creatures -- In 2010 American Ashley Roberton flew to Chengdu and won a similar competition that allowed her to work closely with giant pandas.
The competition will run from May 8th through July 15th.
-NBC News' Ed Flanagan and Shaoyi Jiang.


CLICK HERE to download the latest library.
CLICK HERE to access our GET STARTED guide.
Deemed to satisfy calculations are run on the fly, with the ability to apply standard and manufacturer performance values.
Deemed to satisfy requirements, with the ability to apply standard and manufacturer performance values.


text:
One Year After Kelo Argument National Property Rights Revolt Still Going Strong
43 State Legislatures Work Toward Eminent Domain Reform
Press Release | February 21, 2006
Arlington, Va—The little pink house in New London, Conn., that started a nationwide property rights revolt still stands one year after the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments and then eventually ruled that it could be torn town for private development.
But the future of that home—and of every home, small business, church and farm—remains in question. Will state and local legislatures change their laws to protect private property from eminent domain abuse (where the government's power of eminent domain is used for private gain in the guise of creating more jobs or increasing taxes), or will lobbyists representing developers and cities block meaningful reform?
On February 22, 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court heard the now-infamous case of Kelo v. City of New London, in which it ruled that the government may take private property from one person only to hand it over to another in the name of "economic development."
As O'Connor Predicted: Rich & Connected Push Out Poor & Middle Class
In her dissent, Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor recognized the inevitable abuse that would follow. She wrote, "Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private party, but the fallout from this decision will not be random. The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms." As Justice O'Connor predicted, eminent domain projects for private gain involving thousands of homes and small businesses of the poor and middle class continue to play out nationwide. Among them:
· Senior citizens Carl and Joy Gamble from Norwood, Ohio, stand to lose their home of more than 35 years so developer Jeffrey Anderson can expand his $500,000,000 empire with a new mall.
· More than 20 homeowners in Long Branch, N.J., many of whom have owned their oceanfront homes for generations, may be kicked off of their land for the construction of expensive condominiums.
· In Riviera Beach, Fla., a poor, predominantly black community (and one of the last affordable waterfront neighborhoods in Florida), is threatened by a massive redevelopment plan that may condemn up to 2,000 homes and businesses in favor of more expensive homes, upscale retail, and a yacht club, boat marina and other luxury amenities.
Even Justice Stevens Supports Legislative Limits On Eminent Domain
Since Kelo, 43 state legislatures have passed or will soon consider eminent domain reform in their legislative sessions. Alabama and Texas both enacted laws aimed at preventing exactly what Kelo allowed. Ohio established a one-year eminent domain moratorium as it studies the issue. Michigan, whose own state Supreme Court rejected Kelo-style takings in 2004, referred a measure to its voters to codify the case law and require blight removal projects to proceed by parcel, which will prevent nice homes from being acquired with the bad ones. And the U.S. Congress is poised to restrict federal economic funds from being used by eminent domain abusers.
"What's been passed so far are good first steps, but they are only first steps and much more needs to be done if small property owners are to be protected," said Dana Berliner, a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice, which defended the homes of New London, Conn., resident Susette Kelo and her neighbors. "Nearly every state needs not only to restrict the use of eminent domain for private commercial development, but also to reform their blight laws to stop bogus blight declarations. Unless both of those reforms are done, and done in the right way, this abuse will continue."
"The public should be warned that lobbyists from the National League of Cities, planning associations and developers are out in force and are working overtime to preserve their power," said Scott Bullock, an IJ senior attorney. "They'll stop at nothing to make sure even the most sensible reforms will fail."
Even Associate Justice John Paul Stevens, who wrote the majority opinion in Kelo, made clear that states were free to impose greater limits on condemnation. Justice Stevens said mere months after the decision that he believes eminent domain for economic development is bad policy and hopes that the country would find a political solution. He said, "I would have opposed it if I were a legislator . . . . My own view is that the free play of market forces is more likely to produce acceptable results in the long run than the best-intentioned plans of public officials."
Historic Coalition Aligned Against Abuse
An historic coalition that cuts across the philosophical spectrum has united in calling to reform the nation's eminent domain laws. Along with the Institute for Justice, the NAACP, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the Farm Bureau, National Federation of Independent Business, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the National Council of Churches as well as other non-traditionally aligned groups have joined in the legal and legislative fight against eminent domain abuse.
"This unprecedented coalition makes it clear that, when it comes to eminent domain abuse, it is the people versus the profiteers," said Chip Mellor, IJ's president and general counsel.
In addition, the Castle Coalition (a nationwide grassroots network of citizens determined to stop the abuse of eminent domain in their communities) launched the most comprehensive website on the issue. CastleCoalition.org provides information and assistance to journalists, legislators, homeowners, students and scholars. CastleCoalition.org features an interactive map (powered by Google Maps) tracking condemnations for private development nationwide, an up-to-date catalog of eminent domain reform legislation at all levels of government, as well as an "Eminent Domain Survival Guide" to help homeowners successfully fight illegitimate land-grabs.
"The CastleCoalition.org website is 'information central' on the issue of eminent domain abuse and reform," said Steven Anderson, Castle Coalition coordinator. "Homeowners need as much information and guidance as possible if they are going to win these very difficult fights. CastleCoalition.org gets them the information they need."
Pink House Still Stands
One year after the Kelo argument, Susette Kelo and her neighbors remain in their homes.
Shortly after the Kelo decision was handed down, the legislature and Conn. Governor M. Jodi Rell asked for a moratorium on all takings for economic development, including those in New London, while the legislature looked at changing the law. At first, the New London Development Corporation (NLDC), the private body granted eminent domain authority by the City, agreed to abide by this, and then changed its mind and started sending out eviction notices to some of the owners. This caused a firestorm of controversy in New London and throughout the state. Governor Rell ordered the NLDC to rescind the notices, which it reluctantly agreed to do. Shortly thereafter, the long-time head of the NLDC and antagonist of the property owners, David Goebel, resigned. The governor has said she supports keeping the homes in Fort Trumbull if possible and has appointed a mediator (independent of the NLDC) to look at all of the options. This month, the City Council unanimously voted to find a way to save many of the homes in Fort Trumbull.
"I do not plan on moving out of my house," said Kelo. "It is my dream home, and I will do everything in my power to make sure it stays where it is."


text:
Association of Swiss Lawyers for Nuclear Disarmament
Why Swiss neutrality is no obstacle to joining the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW)
By Daniel Rietiker Introduction Neutrality is a holy cow for Switzerland and, for good reasons, one of the unifying and integrating values of its citizens. Unfortunately, this concept is often invoked in a misleading way, most recently in the debate about whether Switzerland should join the TPNW. Last week, a strong majority (16) of the…
22/10/2018 in Nuclear.
Swiss Government not keen on ratifying the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW): A Missed Opportunity in the Fight against Nuclear Weapons
Translation from German of the Editorial by Prof. Malinverni and Dr. Daniel Rietiker published in Wochenzeitung WoZ, no 41, 11 October 2018. The authors thank Marc Finaud (GCSP) for his assistance in this translation. The Federal Council has decided not to sign the international Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). The lawyers Daniel…
17/10/2018 in Nuclear, Uncategorized.
New Hope for Nuclear Disarmament or "Much Ado About Nothing?": Legal Assessment of the New "Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons" and the Joint Statement by the USA, UK, and France Following its Adoption
Article published by Daniel Rietiker in the Harvard International Law Journal, 8 December 2017 (online). Success has become rare in the sensitive field of nuclear arms control. But what happened on 7 July 2017 at the United Nations in New York deserves to be remembered and analyzed because the adoption of a Treaty on the…
The 2018 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) – A commentary by John Burroughs
[John Burroughs is Executive Director of Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy (LCNP)] The Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) released beginning of February 2018 at the Pentagon ignores international legal obligations of the United States and increases the risks of nuclear war. Prepared by the Department of Defense in consultation with other agencies, the review was approved…
Threat or Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Right to Life: Follow-up Submissions to the UN Human Rights Committee on draft General Comment no. 36
International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA) and Swiss Lawyers for Nuclear Disarmament (SLND), submitted October 5, 2017 The present submissions are limited to para. 13 of draft General Comment no. 36 on the Right to life (Article 6 ICCPR) currently under consideration,[1] which reads as follows: "The [threat] or use of weapons of…
05/10/2017 in Biological, Chemical, Nuclear.
Russian Foreign Ministry: Prohibition on nuclear weapons would be contrary to national interests (Kommersant, 12 September 2017)
МИД РФ: запрет ядерного оружия противоречит национальным интересам России Россия не будет присоединяться к открывающемуся 20 сентября к подписанию международному Договору о запрещении ядерного оружия. Об этом «Ъ» рассказал директор Департамента по вопросам нераспространения и контроля над вооружениями МИД России Михаил Ульянов. По его словам, этот документ «противоречит национальным интересам России и российскому видению того,…
IALANA Statement Regarding the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on the Occasion of its Opening for Signature on 20 September 2017
IALANA – the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms – welcomes the adoption on 7 July 2017 of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The nuclear weapons ban treaty is a powerful and eloquent statement, grounded in an understanding of the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear explosions, of the political, moral, and…
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child celebrates its 30th anniversary: An instrument that remains relevant, including to asses the right to health after the 2011 Fukushima disaster
Interpretation of Articles 11 and 97 of the Japanese Constitution – do they guarantee effective rights to "future generations"?
US NUCLEAR WEAPONS POLICY VIOLATES THE RIGHT TO LIFE
"Der INF-Vertrag vor dem Aus. Jetzt Atomwaffen ächten, das Recht auf Frieden entwickeln"
Illegality of nuclear weapons under international law, and its relevance for the divestment debate


I've been remiss and have not been posting on my blog for a few months already and I find that I miss it so much. Well, one of the reasons (a good one, I hope) was finally moving to our new house at the end of January 2015. Yay, us! Naturally, we are not done fixing up the place (our spare bedroom with all my books is not fully set up so no photos to show yet, I'm afraid). Aaaaand unfortunately, we moved about 20 miles away from work so it took me about a month to get used to the hour commute (if I leave before 7AM) or and hour and a half commute (if I leave after 7AM because I was being laaaaaaazzzzzyyyyy). To those of you who take 101 to Los Angeles, you know what I'm talking about. Anyway, now that we are a little bit settled in, I expect to get back to blogging and hopefully, blogging more discussion posts.
Now, without further ado, on to Last month on IHR!
Fringe – Hubby wanted me to try watching this series and I AM HOOKED! Okay, I'm still not done with the first season because READING, yeah?
Game of Thrones – my friends have been nagging me to continue watching this series BUT I'm still at S1 Ep6.
Daredevil – watched two eps last month and I did not like it.
THE NIGHT HUNTRESS SERIES. Cat and Bones, yeah!
Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran – don't you just love the music vid?
This all looks great!!! I love Valerie Bowman and Sophie Jordan. Hope you are enjoying Burn For Me.


text:
Q: AngularJS - unbind event within same function passed to bind? I'm trying to unbind an event in my AngularJS directive within a function that is passed as the event handler to angular.element($window).on().
From this question, I've come to realise that to unbind from the current directive only, the same event handler must be passed to both angular.element().on() and angular.element().off()
AngularJS - Unbind $window of an event from specific directive.
This is my controller method within a the object returned by the directive;
controller: function($scope, $element) {
            var eventHandler = function() {
                var windowBottom  = $window.pageYOffset + $window.innerHeight;
                var elementBottom = $element[0].getBoundingClientRect().bottom;
                if (windowBottom > elementBottom) {
                    console.log($scope.stockID, this);
                    angular.element($window).off('scroll', this.bind(this));
                }
            };
            angular.element($window).on('scroll', eventHandler.bind(eventHandler));
        }

Any help understanding why this is failing to unbind the event would be much appreciated!
Note: I originally tried passing just eventHandler to both the .on() and .off() functions, however I realised that this wasn't referencing the eventHandler function, hence why I've called it with .bind(eventHandler).

A: Two things I immediately see wrong.
1) Calling bind() returns a new function with the bound values.
2) The second calling to bind() inside the function, does nothing.
From MDN's site

The bind() function creates a new function (a bound function) with the same function body (internal call property in ECMAScript 5 terms) as the function it is being called on (the bound function's target function) with the this value bound to the first argument of bind(), which cannot be overridden.

So basically, when you call off() you only need to pass in the event name. Get rid of that second parameter. That handler will be different from the one that was passed in initially since you're calling bind() on it.


The first IP Trend Monitor study has been finalized!
Stay tuned for our future surveys on global IP management.
* Please keep in mind that not everybody will become a member of the IP expert panel. We reserve the right to select our panelists.
What is IP Trend Monitor?
The Dennemeyer Group has teamed up with CTC Legal Media to conduct regular surveys on megatrends in the IP industry. The first study, which focused on "The impact of digitalization on the management of IP," has been finalized. Thank you very much for the time you took to complete the survey and for all your support!
In short, the study revealed that the IP industry is on an ascending trajectory, growing fast in all segments and that the majority of industry experts rank digitalization as the most significant trend in IP management. But, how exactly do essential players expect the IP industry to change? Is digitalization seen as a threat or an opportunity?
Download the IP Trend Monitor study and find out!
Members of the IP expert panel have received an electronic copy of the results before the official publication. A synopsis of the findings was published in the Patent Lawyer Magazine and a report will soon follow in the Trademark Lawyer Magazine.
The study has been conducted by the most diversified IP full-service provider worldwide, the Dennemeyer Group, and CTC Legal Media, one of the most influential publishers in the IP industry.
We invite professionals from all areas of IP management (patents, trademarks, designs, copyrights, etc.) and all countries to take part in our future studies and help us further analyze the ever-changing landscape of this industry.
Register now to become a member of an IP expert panel!
A new survey is on its way. We will keep you updated, so stay tuned.


text:
Q: Proving $A \to (B \vee C) \therefore (A \to B) \vee (A \to C)$ In P.D. Magnus. forallX: an Introduction to Formal Logic (pp. 154), appears this exercise:
$
\def\fitch#1#2{\quad\begin{array}{|l}#1\\\hline#2\end{array}}
\fitch{A \to (B \vee C)}{
  \fitch{A}{
 B \vee C \\
   \fitch{B}{
     \fitch{\neg(A \to B)}{
       \fitch{A}{
         B
        } \\
        A \to B \\
        \bot
      } \\
      A \to B \\
      (A \to B) \vee (A \to C)
    }\\
    \fitch{C}{
     \fitch{\neg(A \to C)}{
       \fitch{A}{
         C
        } \\
        A \to C \\
        \bot
      } \\
      A \to C \\
      (A \to B) \vee (A \to C)
    }\\
    (A \to B) \vee (A \to C)
  }
}
$
In this stage, I reached the conclusion but I am inside a sub-proof. Is there a way to successfully prove this argument?

A: You need to assume the conclusion is false and aim for a reductio proof (this is pretty standard if you want to prove a disjunct and can't individually prove one of the disjuncts).
Here's one way of then completing the proof, more or less by brute force (since at every step you do a fairly standard thing).
$A \to (B \lor C)\\
\quad\quad \neg((A \to B) \lor (A \to C))\\
\quad\quad \quad\quad \quad\quad (A \to B)\\
\quad\quad \quad\quad \quad\quad ((A \to B) \lor (A \to C))\\
\quad\quad \quad\quad \quad\quad \bot\\
\quad\quad \neg(A \to B)\\
\quad\quad \quad\quad \quad\quad (A \to C)\\
\quad\quad \quad\quad \quad\quad ((A \to B) \lor (A \to C))\\
\quad\quad \quad\quad \quad\quad \bot\\
\quad\quad \neg(A \to C)\\
\quad\quad\quad\vdots\\
\quad\quad A\\
\quad\quad \neg B\\
\quad\quad \neg C\\
\quad\quad (B \lor C)\\
\quad\quad\quad \vdots\\
\quad\quad \bot\\
\neg\neg((A \to B) \lor (A \to C))\\
((A \to B) \lor (A \to C))$
The first dots are filled in using standard moves from the two negated conditionals, the second dots by $\lor$-elimination on $B \lor C$.

A: $\def\fitch#1#2{~~\begin{array}{|l}#1\\\hline#2\end{array}}$
Remark: Your subproof is somewhat convoluted. Compare:
$$\fitch B{\fitch{\neg (A\to B)}{\fitch AB\\A\to B\\\bot}\\\neg\neg(A\to B)\\A\to B\\(A\to B)\vee(A\to C)}\qquad\raise{7.25ex}{\fitch B{\fitch AB\\A\to B\\(A\to B)\vee(A\to C)}}$$

There are two ways to derive a disjunction.

*

*constructively derive one of the disjuncts, or

*use an indirrect proof (reduce the negation to absurdity).

You are having trouble doing (1), therefore you should attempt an indirect proof.
Assume $\neg((A\to B)\vee(A\to C))$ and place your proof inside this context.
$$\fitch{~~1.~A\to(B\vee C)}{\fitch{~~2.~\neg((A\to B)\vee(A\to C))}{\fitch{~~3.~A}{~~4.~B\vee C\hspace{20ex}\textsf{Conj.Elim 3,1}\\\fitch{~~5.~B}{\fitch{~~6.~A}{~~7.~B\hspace{20ex}\textsf{Reiteration 5}}\\~~8.~A\to B\hspace{17ex}\textsf{Conj.Intro. 6-7}\\~~9.~(A\to B)\vee (A\to C)\hspace{4ex}\textsf{Disj.Intro. 8}\\10.~\bot\hspace{22.5ex}\textsf{Neg.Elim. 9,2}\\11.~C\hspace{22.5ex}\textsf{Explosion 10}}\\\fitch {12.~C}{}\\13.~C\hspace{25ex}\textsf{Disj.Elim. 4,5-11,12-12}}\\14.~A\to C\hspace{22ex}\textsf{Conj.Intro 3-13}\\15.~(A\to B)\vee(A\to C)\hspace{9ex}\textsf{Disj.Intro 14}\\16.~\bot\hspace{27.5ex}\textsf{Neg.Elim. 2,15}}\\17.~\neg\neg((A\to B)\vee(A\to C))\hspace{6.5ex}\textsf{Neg.Intro. 2-16}\\18.~(A\to B)\vee(A\to C)\hspace{11.5ex}\textsf{Double Neg.Elim. 17}}$$


The Hsiung Feng I / IA were Taiwanese subsonic antiship missiles based on Israel's Gabriel missile. They were the first variants developed within the Taiwanese Hsiung Feng missile family, and had a maximum range of 40 km. The Hsiung Feng I only saw two years of service before being replaced by the IA model. The Hsiung Feng IA left operational service in 2012.
Missile Defense Project, "Hsiung Feng I / IA," Missile Threat, Center for Strategic and International Studies, July 13, 2017, last modified June 15, 2018, https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/hsiung-feng-ia/.
"Hsiung Feng 1/2/3," in IHS Jane's Weapons: Strategic 2015-2016, ed. James C. O'Halloran (United Kingdom: IHS, 2015), 205-207.
IHS Jane's Weapons: Naval, 118-122.
IHS Jane's Weapons: Strategic, 205-207.
"HF II Anti-Ship Missile," NCSIST, June 19, 2017, http://www.ncsist.org.tw/eng/csistdup/products/product.aspx?product_Id=238&catalog=30.


The Mikveh ritual is the final step in the process of joining the Jewish people. The converts, both men and women, are required to immerse themselves in the Mikveh in the presence of three rabbinical judges, while the women wear nothing but a robe. This ceremony served as the basis for the "'A Tale of a Woman and a Robe- Ritual Immersion of Female Converts", video art performance and exhibit at Tel Aviv Artist's House in 2013. The film follows the creation process of the performance and exhibit, and presents female voices surrounding this issue. As an artist and a woman who, according to religious law cannot offer testimony, and certainly cannot serve as a rabbinical judge, I wish to offer an artistic cinematic testament that exposes and examines the role of the woman, who is both present and absent in the ritual.


text:
[Documentation](https://clang.llvm.org/docs/IntroductionToTheClangAST.html)

```
# Clang by default is a frontend for many tools; -Xclang is used to pass
# options directly to the C++ frontend.
$ clang -Xclang -ast-dump -fsyntax-only test.cc
```

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Slovakia's Petra Vlahova, center, winner of an alpine ski, women's World Cup parallel slalom, poses on the podium with second placed Mikaela Shiffrin, of the United States, left, and third placed Switzerlands' Wendy Holdener at Holmenkollen in Oslo, Norway on Tuesday.
OSLO, Norway — Petra Vlhova of Slovakia took advantage of her height to beat overall World Cup leader Mikaela Shiffrin in both runs of the final and win a parallel slalom city event Tuesday.
The 5-foot-11 Vlhova was able to cross check gates out of her way with both fists while the more compact Shiffrin, at 5-foot-7, had to maneuver further around the gates.
Cross checking is a key tactic in parallel events, which use wider gates with panels compared to traditional slaloms which have only poles as gates.
Vlhova finished 0.39 seconds ahead of Shiffrin for the sixth victory of her career, and second in five days following a giant slalom win in Semmering, Austria, last week. She led by 0.21 seconds after the first run.
Wendy Holdener of Switzerland beat Anna Swenn Larsson of Sweden for third.
In the men's race, Austria's Marco Schwarz claimed the first World Cup victory of his career when British opponent Dave Ryding missed a gate.
Schwarz's previous best finish was second in a traditional slalom in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, last month.
Ryding was attempting to become the first British skier — man or woman — in the 51-year history of the World Cup to win a race. He also finished second in a traditional slalom in Kitzbuehel, Austria, two years ago.
Ryding eliminated overall World Cup leader Marcel Hirscher in the quarterfinals when Hirscher straddled a gate as he attempted to erase a first-run deficit.
Ramon Zenhaeusern of Switzerland took third when Olympic champion Andre Myhrer of Sweden skied out in the second run of the small final.
Vlhova and Schwarz, both 23, each won gold medals at the 2012 Youth Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria.
The night event was held inside the Holmenkollen ski jumping arena, which was used for the 1952 Olympics.
The World Cup resumes with slalom races for men and women in Zagreb, Croatia, this weekend.
Another parallel city event is scheduled for Stockholm, Sweden, on Feb. 19.


What is Black, White and screaming Red all over?
Yes, it is the new Blackberry Q5 that will be launched on the 2nd August 2013 in Singapore.
"BlackBerry is excited to bring a new BlackBerry QWERTY smartphone, the BlackBerry Q5, to our customers in selected markets around world," said Thorsten Heins, President and CEO of BlackBerry. "The BlackBerry Q5 gives you the best of everything with its cutting-edge BlackBerry 10 functionality and a physical QWERTY keyboard. It is for youthful fans that are passionate, confident and bold, and it makes it easy for them to have fun, create, share and stay connected."
The blackberry Q5 comes in five colors; Black, White, Red, Grey and Pink.
Very amazing isn't it? If you have seen the Q10, you'd see the slight difference here. Between the Q10 and the Q5, it's like between the Bold and the Curve. As they say the Q10 is an upgrade of the Bold and the Q5 is an upgrade of the Curve, see the resemblance? This design is quite a love hate kind, where some people may love it, some may hate it, some may find it interesting, some might think it's not attractive at all. Price wise, of course te Q5 is cheaper than the Q10 and it isn't as powerful as the Q10 as well.
Unboxing the Q5, in the box, it comes with the manual, safety and product information, a power socket head, and USB>microUSB head cable and a earphones.
note: the 2180 mAh Li-on battery is not removable. So you don't get an extra battery unboxing it.
I know there is a little downside with the non-removable battery, to be honest i was a little shock in the beginning because i thought only apple does that.
Here is a comparison of my Blackberry Bold2 and the Blackberry Q5. *thumbs up the the white-ness*. As we can say the bold or the curve has a same color display frame as the housing, whereas the Q5 and the Q10 has a standard black display frame even with a different color housing. The size of the Q5 at 3.1" inch isn't to say it's small nor huge but it's enough for a touch screen display phone with a qwerty keypad.
The phone hands on. In comparison of the size, at 120 x 66 x 10.8mm, and weighing at 120g, it fits into my palm perfectly. *note: i've got small hands* with the new loading look when i turn on the phone.
This blackberryQ5 comes in the new (not so anymore) Blackberry 10 OS, which my Bold doesn't have, so it is pretty impressive to me. When i first turn it on, what amazed me was the loading screen. It no longer has that boring black loading line. The Qwerty keypad has a backlight so now you aren't afraid to type in the dark or to say you can't see. They have the standard 4 row qwerty keypad, but there isn't any accepting calls or rejecting calls icon. In terms of responsive and lagging, it is no where near that.
Okay, enough of the external what about the internal?
The Q5 runs on Blackberry10 with Qualcomm Snapdragon 4, on Dual-core 1.2 GHz. With a 2180 mAh battery, it is quite alot to last you a full day of using it as the iphone5 is only at 1440mAh and the Samsung Galaxy S3 comes in 2100mAh. With my S3, it could last me a day, but remember i am a full on user and with all the feature that the S3 has and running, the battery runs out faster.
The Q5 doesn't have a call/reject button, so the quickest way, is to search manually or tap into Phone directly. This would be a little confusing in the beginning as it would take some time to get into Dialer, but once you know where it is, it may come in handy. But not to be fear, there is a phone icon at the left bottom where you use tap, and you get into it where you could see all your phone logs and there would be three tabs at the bottom ; Calls, Contacts and Dial Pad.
With the Q5, you can be accessed to Box or Dropbox (a much more common one), and with the external memory card where you can go up to 64gb, i bet you would have plenty of space to play around with.
What i like about this phone, is that, it has Docs To Go (doc. exc. ppt. ) so convenient when you are on the go. They also have Adobe Reader where it automatically stores any .pdf files in there and could be shared/send straight from there.
Firstly, as a girl, taking photos is really super important. The Q5 comes in a 5mp back camera that has autofocus and LED flash. It also comes with a 2mp front camera. How well is it? Let's test it out.
The amazing thing about this camera feature is that, i just tap the screen to capture it. i say TAP not TOUCH. because it is THAT AMAZING AND SENSITIVE!! Normally we got to Tap to focus, and Touch to snap. It's fast, quick and not laggy. But on this phone, it is TAP to capture, TAP + HOLD to focus.
The camera comes in a few features of setting; Auto, Action, Whiteboard, Night, Beach/Snow.
Also in different shooting mode of Normal, Stabalisation, Burst and HDR.
The next different thing about this is the notification hub which is mainly from the BB10, I love how it has the new sleek design and the notifications are also listed out in the apps so you can actually know what notification it is rather than a list and slowly scrolling it down. the BB10 now comes in the Z10, Q10 and the Q5, so these are the 3 phones that can enjoy the new notification feature compared to the old one that is only pure white with no icons and everything is merged together.
The Blackberry Q5 is targetted towards a much more younger age with the fun and youthful look. If you are looking for a touch and type handset and not willing to pay as much for the Q10, then this is it. What i am amazed in the end is, i do not need to subsribe to BIS or BES monthly to use the apps of the phone (which to be honest was quite annoying with my Bold 2). The downside of the blackberries for me were the annoying BIS and BES that i had to pay extra montly on top of the data plan that i have to purchase as well, so cutting out the BIS and BES is so much more convenient because now i can connect to wifi and use it straight away without any annoying "data connection" errors.
I've been using the Q5 for 3 days straight to test out how would it feel using it, and i would say i love it. the only downside for me is that i use my phone the entire day and i use it for mails, facebook, twitter, instagram, whatsapp and all that. I sometimes draft blog post on my phone as well. So by using a phone that has a keypad, it ruins my nails or hurts my finger due to the long constant pressing on the keypads. BUT, the upside of it is that, i can actually feel the keypads on my thumbs and sometimes, it's nice to feel old school once a while.
The downside about this phone?
- It DOES NOT have instagram (but i don't blame this phone in particular). In fact, Blackberry shared that it will be coming soon!
- i need to tap the top in order to put it to sleep or wake it up. (or maybe there's a setting where i can press any key and the screen will turn on and i will just have to unlock it.
- i can't shut the camera shutter noise.
- I'm amazed at the camera, all i need to do is tap snap tap snap.
- It's not expensive for a relevant phone with features you get on this.
So, what do you think of this phone? Would you get it? I know there is no winning comparing to the Z10, Q10, or Samsung Galaxy Note2 and all that. But would this be a phone you hold or would you recommend it to someone? And what are your thoughts on it?
Thank you BlackBerry & StarHub for the phone for me to review it.
I like to share a tip.
Instead of tapping the screen to take a picture. You can also press the "spacebar" key on the QWERTY keyboard. This also applies to Blackberry Q10 as well.
Thanks Johnny. I tried it and it works! thanks for the extra tip.
I think it works for Q5 too right?
It is a pity that BlackBerry Q5 is not available in RED!


Charles Seeley died peacefully in his sleep at home on 1st October 2005 just one year short of a Century.
C D had a distinguished career in public health medicine. Born in Abertillery, Monmouthshire, he was the fourth of six children. He had witnessed his father having returned from the first World War suffering from the effects of gas poisoning.
Charles won a scholarship to Hereford Cathedral School, where he was a pupil during the 1920's. On leaving HCS in 1925, he won a Kitchener Scholarship to St Mary's Hospital Medical School, graduating in 1934. After a period in paediatrics, he went into puplic health and was awarded the Diploma in Public Health in 1938 and the MD degree in 1948. He was in the RNVR during World War II and was posted in turn to London, Newcastle & Birmingham to assist in the organisation of emergency medical services for civilians. He returned to London in 1950 and joined the Ministry of Health, eventually being appointed Senior Medical Officer.
Dr Seeley later became Regional Medical Officer to the Wessex and Oxford regions and Liaison Officer to the Council of Europe and the World Health Organistation (WHO). During the 1950's he also worked as part time lecturer in social medicine to both Westminster and St George's Hospital Medical Schools. These appointments reflected the growing importance attached to social medicine in the curriculum, with the realisation that the logical practice of preventative and therapeutic medicine required an understanding of the enviroment in which people lived and worked.
He was considered an outstanding teacher and administrator. Former students and colleagues plus doctors from overseas, for whom he had organised study programmes, all remained close friends throughout his long and happy retirement.
C D played rugby for his native Wales as a schoolboy and later for his Medical School. His other main interest was his family, to whom he was devoted. He also enjoyed foreign travel and in particular his annual visit to his beloved Venice, where he attended many operas.
Charles was tremendously grateful for the scholarship to Hereford Cathedral School, where he had developed his great love of choral music. Moreover, he is thankful for the Kitchener Scholars Foundation which enabled him to study medicine and go on to become a leading physician in his field.
Adapted from information sent in to the Club by Dr Hugh Seeley.