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Home Movie Reviews Movie Review: "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra"
Movie Review: "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra"
SoCalThrills Staff
It's very true, it is doubtful that Baroness wearing a bra during any of the filming, which was very entertaining to watch. It was the only entertaining part of the movie that kept the entire audience hooked. Thank you very much Sienna Miller for those wonderful cobras because lord knows your acting performance wasn't giving any leverage for the film. Honestly, the movie was not that bad. It was a mediocre film for what it was. Well… except for all the CGI that they used. I was truly surprised with all the CGI used because they really made Channing Tatum look real! Hell, I kind of hope that Sienna Miller was also CGI because if that was a real acting performance then I hope they list this movie under the comedy genre. Okay, enough with the jokes! Here's the breakdown…
James McCullen (Christopher Eccleston) is a weapon specialist that runs a weapon company called MARS. He designs a special nanotechnology type missile that can literally eat through metal destroying cities. His company sells the weapon to NATO and the US Army has a task of delivering the weapons. In charge of special care and delivery of the weapons is Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans). During their mission, Duke and Ripcord are ambushed by the Baroness (Sienna Miller) who later is known as Duke's ex-fiancée Ana Lewis to retrieve the weapons back to McCullen because he wants to sell them to NATO's enemy as well. Duke and Ripcord are soon rescued by a group of special ops known as the G.I. Joe's (Scarlett played by Rachel Nichols, Snake Eyes played by Ray Parks, and Heavy Duty played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje).
The warheads are taken to The Pit, which is G.I. Joes' command center where they meet General Hawk (Dennis Quaid). Duke and Ripcord soon learn about this unknown government organization and have the desire to join the team especially after General Hawk learns about the relationship that Duke has with the Baroness. We begin to learn that McCullen has a special Scientist named The Doctor (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) that is designing the same nanotechnology in soldiers to start a new world order. Duke is subsequently kidnapped when The Cobra's retrieve the warheads again and the team of G.I. Joe's must now rescue Duke and prevent McCullen and The Doctor from launching these disastrous weapons onto the world.
The movie can definitely be categorized under the term convoluted. There is a lot of complexity to the plot because there are too many subplots happening. The movie is very much like the Watchmen in terms of creating subplots for character depth. The film goes through a series of flashbacks to reveal who the characters are and where they came from. So, that being said, this is where a film must be careful because it could fall into the complexity of the story and most films that try often do fall in. As for this film it did a good job not falling into that trap because the story was pretty clear and concise. It had many cheesy moments, but what do you expect, Oscar Buzz! Please, give me a break! The film is meant to be a fun entertaining ball-busting blockbuster action packed, mountain of CGI mastering chunky monkey FUN! It definitely delivered that! (And the team tried to deliver weapons as well!).
Sure, the acting performances are not Oscar worthy but they tried to pull it off. And folks, Marlon was not that bad. He had his funny moments and he did a decent job with the serious scenes. Channing seemed to be at a one-dimensional level. It was surprising because he didn't deliver any range or emotion. He only delivered weapons and was bad at that too! Oh Snap, Crackle and POP! Sienna Miller, my God, she was hard to watch. It felt like torture watching her do whatever she was trying to do. It was surprising because her mother ran the Lee Strasberg School of Acting in London. She also attended the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York where Al Pacino, Robert Deniro and Dustin Hoffman acquired some of their skills. Apparently, she probably flunked out. Maybe it was her character that was annoying. That should be the benefit of the doubt. The best performer was by far Snake Eyes and he barely did any acting. He had more emotion and conveyed so much range and he didn't even open his mouth to say one word. He was indestructible. The Joe's should have just sent him on all the missions because he was simply amazing! He never lost a battle nor blew a mission. The G.I. Joe's got they're butt kicked and he just destroyed everyone. They should have set-up lawn chairs to relax and watched a real soldier do some major damage. The character Zartan (Arnold Vosloo) should be tortured to a bloody vile hell! Actually, the actor deserves most of the torture because he tortured the audience so much that it almost brought the demons out of us! If that a**hole whistled, "For he's a jolly good fellow," one more time, I was going to punch my neighbor's eardrum! He was very obnoxious throughout the movie.
With all that said and done the entire movie was a blast. It had rough moments and fun moments. It had sorrow and 'humorow' (humor). It had peas and pods (the cool suits). It had black and white. It had Marlon and Pain (I mean Wayne). It had the villain from Gone in 60 Seconds and the kid from "3rd Rock from the Sun". It had CGI and more CGI. It had Sienna Miller and her coBRAs (boobies). It had Brendan Fraser and an angry Asian guy. But what it didn't have was the G.I. Joe Public Service Announcement. "Don't judge people! That is good to know Sergeant Slaughter… and knowing is half the battle… (G.I. Joe theme song) G.I. JOE!!"
You kind of wish they added that service announcement at the end of the movie. Trust me; the movie had an abundance of cheesy moments that it would have never made a big difference.
Our team has been covering Theme Park Events (including the Disneyland Resort, Universal Studios Hollywood, Sea World San Diego, Knott's Berry Farm and others) as well as Hollywood Red Carpet Premieres, Grand Openings, movie screenings and Entertainment related special events.
Movie Review: "Birds of Prey"
Movie Review: Disney's 'Frozen 2'
Movie Review: IT CHAPTER TWO
Marvel's "WandaVision" new Behind-the-Scenes Featurette
Socalthrills Staff - January 15, 2021
The new featurette offers a look behind the scenes and a glimpse at what's to come in Marvel Studios' "WandaVision."
What we Learned from Marvel's "WandaVision" Press Conference
Disney+ "Flora and Ulysses" Release New Trailer
What's Next on Disney+ and Hulu in January 2021
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text:
Embassytown
China Miéville
In the far future, humans have colonized a distant planet, home to the enigmatic Ariekei, sentient beings famed for a language unique in the universe, one that only a few altered human ambassadors can speak. Avice Benner Cho, a human colonist, has returned to Embassytown after years of deep-space adventure. She cannot speak the Ariekei tongue, but she is an indelible part of it, having long ago been made a figure of speech, a living simile in their language. When distant political machinations deliver a new ambassador to Arieka, the fragile equilibrium between humans and aliens is violently upset. Catastrophe looms, and Avice is torn between competing loyalties: to a husband she no longer loves, to a system she no longer trusts, and to her place in a language she cannot speak—but which speaks through her, whether she likes it or not.
Praise for Embassytown
"A breakneck tale of suspense . . . disturbing and beautiful by turns. I cannot emphasize enough how terrific this novel is. It's definitely one of the best books I've read in the past year, perfectly balanced between escapism and otherworldly philosophizing."—io9
"Embassytown is a fully achieved work of art. . . . Works on every level, providing compulsive narrative, splendid intellectual rigour and risk, moral sophistication, fine verbal fireworks and sideshows, and even the old-fashioned satisfaction of watching a protagonist become more of a person than she gave promise of being."—Ursula K Le Guin
"The Kafkaesque writer journeys to the distant edges of the universe in his latest sci-fi thriller."—Entertainment Weekly
"Utterly astonishing . . . A major intellectual achievement."—Kirkus Reviews
"Brilliant storytelling . . . The result is a world masterfully wrecked and rebuilt."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY MAR 21, 2011
Mi ville (Kraken) adds to the sparse canon of linguistic SF with this deeply detailed story of the ways an alien language might affect not only thought patterns but ways of life. Avice Benner Cho returns to her backwater colony home of Embassytown so her linguist husband, Scile, can study the almost empathic, in-the-present language of the planet's natives, the Hosts. When a Host learns to lie, the resulting massive cultural earthquake in Host society is compounded by two new Ambassadors whose voices have a profound physiological effect on the Hosts. Mi ville's brilliant storytelling shines most when Avice works through problems and solutions that develop from the Hosts' unique and convoluted linguistic evolution, and many of the most intriguing characters are the Hosts themselves. The result is a world masterfully wrecked and rebuilt.
Penguin Random House LLC
JRubino , 06/15/2012
100 Words or Less
This novel's core is understanding language, alien and otherwise; so it's ironic that the primary fault rests in a vocabulary maze:
"Not many of us scored particularly highly in these latter, in the various flairs prized elsewhere, in the out."
Ooooookay. At times, sentences were so twisted they needed translation.
Yet, be patient. Much like Shakespeare, you may not know what's what, but the emotional thrust is felt. Continuing forward, settling down into the wordly rhythm, it makes sense. In its way, it's beautiful. The characters, the worlds, the plot, the Language … it's real. And in sci-fi, that's special.
Mardi 55 , 07/07/2018
Embassyville by China
A fantastic story with its own language. In fact the book is about language.
M382 , 06/18/2013
The opposite of an easy-breezy beach read with no real substance. Meaty on many different levels. New ideas; great story. The ONLY book I've ever read that's also - bonus - included fancy words I'd previously not known. Thank you, Mr. Mieville! Fantastic book.
More Books by China Miéville
Perdido Street Station
The City & The City
Iron Council
This Census-Taker
Three Moments of an Explosion

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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2019 August - Global Edge
Demand for Off-The-Peg ESG is Growing in Europe
PRESS RELEASE | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
But ethical portfolios aimed at investors with less to spend face challenges
August 2019, LONDON - Fund providers are starting to introduce off-the-peg, managed ethical portfolios in low-cost solutions to meet the surge in interest in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment—but, the latest research from The Cerulli Edge—Global Edition, indicates that there are hurdles, including ensuring diversification and liquidity.
According to Cerulli Associates, a global research and consulting firm, one of the biggest issues affecting the rollout of ready-made ESG portfolios relates to passive ESG investment in fixed income. There are few sustainable bond funds, and ESG integration in sovereign bonds, which make up the bulk of the fixed-income market, is limited.
Investors' approaches vary. For some, the positive role a government plays in, say, healthcare, education, or the wider common good compensates for its spending on defense or contentious foreign policy. For others, however, investing in emerging market government bonds requires an ESG rating and in-depth research.
"The bond issue goes to the heart of the challenge facing these ready-made portfolios," says Fabrizio Zumbo, associate director, European asset management research at Cerulli. "Ethical investing is subjective, but low-cost portfolios designed for those with less to invest are not bespoke and often include products that some ethical investors would not wish to buy."
Issues around how ESG products are constructed and the extent to which they match clients' expectations are contributing to the decision of some managers to delay launching passive ethical funds.
One of the problems with tracking an index is the lag between news that a company has flouted ESG standards and reaction from the index. Indices typically rebalance every quarter, so it can take up to three months for a laggard to be dropped; the implications of this time lag are a deterrent for some investors.
Wider diversification across other asset classes can also be problematic, given the scarcity of ESG products available to build a multi-asset portfolio and ensure liquidity, with some diversifying allocations out of bounds altogether. For example, portfolios including commodities or derivatives— where aggressive short selling, which is is rarely deemed ethical, is common—are controversial.
Despite the difficulties, Cerulli expects growing standardization in the sector, followed by mass customization. "Progress around new products and strategies, take-up, and rollout is slow, but it will not be too long before there are enough products available for investors to select portfolios that match their own individual values and concerns," says Zumbo.
OTHER FINDINGS:
ESG investing has gained momentum among Japan's institutions, especially the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), in recent years. However, Cerulli has found that, whereas Japanese public pensions are keen to follow the GPIF's example, the country's corporate pension funds are still hesitant about ESG investing. On the retail side, there is limited interest in ESG products in Japan.
A growing number of asset managers in the U.S. are using active ownership to address ESG issues. Almost all (96%) of the firms surveyed by Cerulli reported that they are voting via proxies to spur change and 78% are engaging in dialogue with management. Many of the asset managers Cerulli has spoken to have pointed to workforce and board diversity (race, ethnicity, gender) as a top focus of their active ownership efforts.
These findings and more are from: The Cerulli Edge—Global Edition, August 2019 Issue.


text:
What's Holding Crypto Back from e-Commerce Adoption?
Adoption of crypto in e-commerce is up, but there's still a long ways before widespread adoption is a reality.
Rachel McIntosh | News ( CryptoCurrency ) | Tuesday, 12/11/2019 | 15:51 GMT+2 2019-11-12T13:51:31+00:00 2019-11-15T12:39:20+00:00
Photo: (Photo: Bloomberg)
Although market caps may not be as high as they were in late 2017, cryptocurrency is slowly reaching towards higher levels of adoption and usage than ever before.
One of the most recent examples of this was presented last week when blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has found that the amount of money processed by crypto merchant payment provider services increased 65 percent between January and July of this year.
Kim Grauer, senior economist at Chainalysis, told Bloomberg that this figure suggests that "there's more overall trust in crypto." Indeed, the average amount of crypto used in commerce each day rose from $3 million in January to $5.5 million in July–a nearly 100% increase, though the total amount remains so small in the greater scheme of the commercial world.
What could have caused this increase? And what's holding crypto back from further adoption in e-commerce?
Bitcoin's bull run played an important role
The most obvious reason for the increase in usage of crypto in e-commerce is the fact that Bitcoin rose so steeply during the first half of the year; indeed, Bitcoin rose from the $3000-$4000 range in the first four months of the year to the $10,000-$12,000 range in July.
According to Bloomberg, however, "typically, steep run-ups in [Bitcoin's] price push people to spend less, and instead to hold or speculate."
Jon, Shapeshift COO.
However, Jon, the co-founder, and chief operating officer of cryptocurrency exchange Shapeshift (who prefers not to use his last name), told Finance Magnates in an email that the opposite is actually true.
"While counterintuitive, when crypto prices go up people who hold crypto are more likely to spend it," he explained. "They feel more comfortable and become more liberal with their spending decisions."
"When crypto prices are low, people don't want to spend"
Correspondingly, "when crypto prices are low, people don't want to spend as they believe prices will come back. So the obvious correlation here is that when the price rose, people became much more liberal with their spending."
Jon also said that he has observed a similar pattern emerge on ShapeShift: "we see this in trading volumes too – in crypto, the trading volume tends to be way higher when the price is rising versus when it's going down. All of that leads to more activity in general."
John Frigo, SEO Lead at MySupplementStore and cryptocurrency industry commentator, expressed similar sentiments.
"I the increase in spending has more to do with the prices of crypto being up, whereas when crypto prices were in the toilet, nobody wanted to spend," he told Finance Magnates.
"When prices got a little higher…people were willing to spend again. People didn't want to spend crypto when they were getting pennies on the dollar of buying power compared to what they had back at the tail end of 2017 or early 2018."
Has increased adoption of crypto across the board played a role in its increased usage in e-commerce?
To that end," Frigo said that he "[doesn't] think this has anything to do with increased adoption."
However, while increased adoption may indeed not have had a significant effect on an increase in the use of crypto in e-commerce, Shapeshift's Jon said that technology may still have played a role–and that an increase in the quality of the technology in the cryptosphere could have brought more users to the space.
"Another factor here is that the technology has gotten better and better," he said to Finance Magnates. "There is more diversity in the merchant processors' ability to take crypto payments and that impacts the frequency in which people are using crypto."
"More services accept crypto payments" now than ever before
And indeed, better technology could have led to an increase in users: "more services accept crypto payments. More people are using crypto now than there were a number of years ago."
"Inevitably, you see the reflection of that in the crypto user base when the markets rise. This is especially true between April & July of this year; that was the biggest rise we've seen in the crypto market in number of years and the usage becomes more prevalent – it's hard to say exactly how many, but there are more users."
Indeed, market data provider Statista found that the number of blockchain wallet users had increased over 40 million during the first half of 2019, an increase of over 10 million since the previous year.
Data from Statista.
"Currently, there's little to no reason to spend crypto as opposed to use a credit card."
However, Frigo pointed out that there are still some serious obstacles to mass adoption of the use of crypto in e-commerce.
"While yes, there are more options out there for implementing crypto payments into your Shopify store or other eCommerce stores…Currently, there's little to no reason to spend crypto as opposed to use a credit card unless you're doing it for no other reason than to help try to help adoption, or for the novelty of doing so," he told Finance Magnates.
"In order for a new technology or new way of things to take off it has to be ten times better than the alternative," he said, pointing to payment cards issued by banks like Chase and Bank of America as counterexamples. Indeed, many of these cards offer a wide array of benefits that crypto payment providers simply cannot: cashback, travel bonuses, warranties, and other purchase protections.
"What does crypto offer on top of that?" he asked. "The one perk crypto might have is privacy, which I might care about if I was buying marijuana on the dark web or paying an escort, but buying my coffee or a Playstation game–I don't really care about privacy."
Other inhibiting factors: "if people don't hold crypto, they won't spend it"
Charles Phan, CTO of cryptocurrency exchange Interdax, also pointed to the volatility in cryptocurrency markets as a possible inhibiting factor when it comes to crypto adoption in e-commerce.
After all, "merchants are unwilling to accept cryptocurrencies directly if a cryptocurrency can lose 20% of its value overnight," he said, adding that for this reason, "many of the vendors don't actually accept bitcoin or cryptocurrencies directly but use a payment processor which converts the payment into USD or fiat for them."
Interdax CTO Charles Phan
Phan also pointed to a general lack of awareness around crypto as an inhibiting factor: "there is a learning curve associated with cryptocurrency," he told Finance Magnates.
If e-commerce merchants want to accept crypto directly (rather than using a payment processor that converts funds into fiat), they " will have to know the basics of cryptocurrency, how to secure a private key, how to run a node and so on. This might be too intensive for some people, but there are merchants out there that are accepting crypto in this way."
"The biggest thing (especially in the Western world) is a lack of regulatory clarity."
Beyond that, Phan also pointed out that there is a serious lack of "ways for people to earn cryptocurrency."
"If people don't hold crypto, they won't spend it," he said, adding that a number of e-commerce merchants who have dropped their crypto payment options "cited the low usage of the payment method before removing [them]."
ShapeShift's Jon also pointed to legal ambiguity around the cryptosphere. "The biggest thing (especially in the Western world) is a lack of regulatory clarity," he told Finance Magnates. "This is the biggest impediment. There's also unseen loss that comes from this – you don't see the companies that don't get created or features that don't get developed due to regulatory uncertainty."
"There's no reason crypto technology can't become the standard of e-commerce."
However, in the longer term, Jon said that "from a technology standpoint, there's no reason crypto technology can't become the standard of e-commerce. It may or may not be bitcoin – but there's no reason that in the giant, Internet-connected world and economy that we live in, there shouldn't be some sort of native digital asset that we interact with and use to run our e-commerce."
Indeed, he said that "there's no reason the majority of payments should not be digital – which would make things faster, cheaper, more transparent, and more secure – it would make e-commerce better." In his opinion, "crypto is safer, more secure and more efficient. All of e-commerce is held back by not adopting this technology more quickly."
Frigo echoed Jon's sentiments: "I don't doubt that crypto has a bright future," he said. However, "right now crypto isn't user-friendly enough nor can it match the benefits of a credit card or debit card or even something like Paypal or Venmo."
Tags: bitcoin / crypto / E Commerce / retail


text:
Q: Highlighting and notating part of a line in a code block There is a need to highlight, or more precisely bring attention to, part of a line of code, that the current markdown does not support.
First let's establish if that statement is true.
Here are just some of hundreds of posts this year alone where the poster needed to highlight parts of a line and used just one type of work around:
Some answers by T.J. Crowder (246K ranked 31), here:
$('.edit').each(...);
// ^---- ., not #, for class

and here:
FuncCallHack(SomeFunction, [1, 2, 3]);
// Note this is an array --^-------^

And another by Marc B (171K ranked 61), here:
Timer Timer = new Timer();
      ^---- capital T
timer.schedule();
^---lower case T

Note that these guys are amongst the top contributors in the community, and if they felt the need to bring attention to some particular code characters, it is reasonable to accept that there's a "need".
Using data explorer, I found that since the start of this year, there have been 853 posts that used this type of work around, and T.J. Crowder does 2 per week. So, hopefully I've established reasonable support for the need. I certainly believe a decent code highlighting capability would be a big plus. With, or without a notation.
Now then, what to do about it? What are the requirements?
From a strictly behavioural perspective:
Whole-line highlighting is not a solution. While it may on occasion be enough, it alone is inadequate and may be considered an edge case of a solution.
A simple color reversal (like selected text) might be a good first implementation.
A superimposed felt-tip pen style underline for characters in the code would be great, so it might look like this.

The optional notation could even be a rollover popup over the code, with the underline under the code fragment left as permanent highlighting, so with the popup active:

Or leave the popup active all the time (implementation choice - whatever).
But, how much more clear is this type of rendering than the lame ascii art pointer?
If an clean markdown extension could be created to render like this, it would be awesome.
Just one idea might be (don't get too hung up on this rough proposition - we can figure out the details later if this idea gets support):
$('{!.!:dot, not #, for class}edit').each(...);

So, what do you think?
p.s. I'll put my hand up to help do the work to make this happen.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Mistrovství Evropy se konalo v Hale Orbit ve Vratislavi, Polsko, ve dnech 18.-21. května 2000

Program
Vyřazovací kola
 ČTV - 18.05.2000 - těžká váha (+100 kg, +78 kg) a polotěžká váha (−100 kg, −78 kg) a střední váha (−90 kg, −70 kg) a polostřední váha (−81 kg, −63 kg)
 PAT - 19.05.2000 - lehká váha (−73 kg, −57 kg) a superlehká váha (−60 kg, −48 kg) a pololehká váha (−66 kg, −52 kg) a bez rozdílu vah

Finálová kola
SOB - 20.05.2000 - těžká váha (+100 kg, +78 kg) a polotěžká váha (−100 kg, −78 kg) a střední váha (−90 kg, −70 kg) a polostřední váha (−81 kg, −63 kg)
NED - 21.05.2000 - lehká váha (−73 kg, −57 kg) a superlehká váha (−60 kg, −48 kg) a pololehká váha (−66 kg, −52 kg) a bez rozdílu vah

Výsledky

Muži

Ženy

Odkazy

Reference

Externí odkazy
 Oficiální výsledky z mistrovství Evropy 2000

Mistrovství Evropy v judu
Judo v roce 2000
Judo v Polsku
Sport v Polsku v roce 2000
Sport ve Vratislavi

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


MTB Holiday Tours follow roads and paths with moderate until steep gradients. Advanced mountain bike riding skills, MTB bike control and sporting condition are the requirements for the MTB Single track program participation.
This is our full program in the prefecture of Rethymnon, Crete. You can select 5 tours which you would like to make.
This is our short program in the prefecture of Rethymno, Crete. You can select 3 tours which you would like to make.


text:
Bill Text: TX HB4149 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced
Texas House Bill 4149 (Adjourned Sine Die)
TX State Legislature page for HB4149
Bill Title: Relating to the creation of the business court and the Court of Business Appeals to hear certain cases; authorizing fees.
Status: (Introduced) 2019-04-08 - Left pending in committee [HB4149 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HB4149-Introduced.html
86R15747 CAE-F
By: Leach H.B. No. 4149
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
relating to the creation of the business court and the Court of
Business Appeals to hear certain cases; authorizing fees.
SECTION 1. Subtitle A, Title 2, Government Code, is amended
by adding Chapter 24A to read as follows:
CHAPTER 24A. BUSINESS COURT
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 24A.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Controlling person" means a person who directly
or indirectly controls a governing person, officer, or
(2) "Governing documents" means the instruments,
documents, or agreements adopted under an organization's governing
law to govern the organization's formation and internal affairs.
The term includes:
(A) a certificate of formation, articles of
incorporation, and articles of organization;
(B) bylaws;
(C) a partnership agreement;
(D) a company agreement or operating agreement;
(E) a shareholder agreement;
(F) a voting agreement or voting trust agreement;
(G) an agreement among owners restricting the
transfer of ownership interests.
(3) "Governing law" means the law governing the
formation and internal affairs of an organization.
(4) "Governing person" means a person who is entitled,
alone or as part of a group, to manage and direct an organization's
affairs under the organization's governing documents and governing
law. The term includes:
(A) a member of the board of directors of a
corporation or other organization;
(B) a general partner of a general or limited
partnership;
(C) a manager of a limited liability company that
is managed by its managers;
(D) a member of a limited liability company that
is managed by its members;
(E) a trust manager of a real estate investment
trust; and
(F) a trustee of a business trust.
(5) "Governmental entity" means:
(A) the state; or
(B) a political subdivision of the state,
including a municipality, a county, or any kind of district.
(6) "Internal affairs" means:
(A) the rights, powers, and duties of an
organization's governing persons, officers, owners, and members;
(B) matters relating to the organization's
membership or ownership interests.
(7) "Managerial official" means a governing person or
officer.
(8) "Officer" means a person elected, appointed, or
designated as an officer of an organization by the organization's
governing persons or by the organization's governing documents.
(9) "Organization" means a foreign or domestic entity
or association that is for profit or nonprofit. The term includes:
(A) a corporation;
(B) a limited partnership;
(C) a general partnership;
(D) a limited liability partnership;
(E) a limited liability company;
(F) a business trust;
(G) a real estate investment trust;
(H) a joint venture;
(I) a joint stock company;
(J) a cooperative;
(K) a bank;
(L) a credit union;
(M) a savings and loan association;
(N) an insurance company; and
(O) a series of a limited liability company or of
another entity.
(10) "Owner" means an owner of an organization. The
term includes:
(A) a shareholder or stockholder of a corporation
or other organization;
(B) a general or limited partner of a partnership
or an assignee of a partnership interest in a partnership;
(C) a member of, or an assignee of a membership
interest in, a limited liability company; and
(D) a member of a nonprofit organization.
(11) "Ownership interest" means an owner's interest in
an organization, including an owner's economic, voting, and
management rights.
(12) "Qualified transaction" means a qualified
transaction as that term is defined in Section 271.001, Business &
Commerce Code.
Sec. 24A.002. ADVISORY COUNCIL. (a) The governor shall
appoint a Business Court Nominations Advisory Council consisting of
seven members. A member of the council serves at the pleasure of
the governor.
(b) Members of the council must meet the requirements of
Section 24A.054 for judges of the business court and be experienced
in the areas of law in the jurisdiction of the business court.
(c) Not more than four members of the council may be
associated with the same political party as the governor.
(d) To fill a position of a business court judge on the
creation of the business court, the position of a court of business
appeals justice on the creation of the court of business appeals, or
on the occurrence of any subsequent vacancy on the business court or
court of business appeals, including a vacancy created by the
expiration of a judge's or justice's term of office, the council
shall provide the governor with a list of at least five candidates
for each vacancy. Each candidate must be well qualified to serve as
a judge or justice of the business court or the court of business
appeals.
(e) The governor may request that the council enlarge the
list for any vacancy by adding not to exceed five additional
qualified candidates.
(f) The governor must appoint a judge or justice to fill a
vacancy from the list of candidates submitted by the council.
SUBCHAPTER B. BUSINESS COURT
Sec. 24A.051. JURISDICTION. (a) The business court has
civil jurisdiction concurrent with district courts in:
(1) a derivative action on behalf of an organization;
(2) an action arising out of or relating to a qualified
transaction in which the amount in controversy exceeds $10 million,
excluding interest, statutory damages, exemplary damages,
penalties, attorney's fees, and costs;
(3) an action regarding the governance or internal
affairs of an organization;
(4) an action in which a claim under a state or federal
securities or trade regulation law is asserted against:
(A) an organization;
(B) a governing person of an organization for an
act or omission by the organization or by the person in the person's
capacity as a governing person;
(C) a person directly or indirectly controlling
an organization for an act or omission by the organization; or
(D) a person directly or indirectly controlling a
governing person for an act or omission by the governing person;
(5) an action by an organization, or an owner or a
member of an organization, if the action:
(A) is brought against an owner, managerial
official, or controlling person of the organization; and
(B) alleges an act or omission by the person in
the person's capacity as an owner, managerial official, or
controlling person of the organization;
(6) an action alleging that an owner, managerial
official, or controlling person breached a duty, by reason of the
person's status as an owner, managerial official, or controlling
person, including the duty of care, loyalty, or good faith;
(7) an action seeking to hold an owner of an
organization, a member of an organization, or a governing person
liable for an obligation of the organization, other than on account
of a written contract signed by the person to be held liable in a
capacity other than as an owner, member, or governing person;
(8) an action in which the amount in controversy
exceeds $10 million excluding interest, statutory damages,
exemplary damages, penalties, attorney's fees, and costs that:
(A) arise against, between, or among
organizations, governing authorities, governing persons, members,
or owners, relating to a contract transaction for business,
commercial, investment, agricultural, or similar purposes; or
(B) involve violations of the Finance Code or
Business & Commerce Code;
(9) an action brought under Chapter 37, Civil Practice
and Remedies Code, involving:
(A) the Business Organizations Code;
(B) an organization's governing documents; or
(C) a dispute based on claims that fall within
the provisions of this subsection; and
(10) an action arising out of the Business
Organizations Code.
(b) The business court has statewide jurisdiction of an
action described in Subsection (a) and all matters arising out of or
related to an action described in Subsection (a).
(c) The business court may grant any relief available in a
district court.
(d) Notwithstanding Subsections (a) and (b), the business
(1) does not have jurisdiction of a civil
action brought by or against a governmental entity, unless the
governmental entity invokes or consents to the jurisdiction of the
business court; and
(2) must sever any claim in which a party seeks
recovery of monetary damages for personal injury or death or any
claim arising under Chapter 17, Business & Commerce Code, the
Estates Code, the Family Code, or Title 9, Property Code, unless all
parties and the business court judge agree that the claim may
proceed in the business court.
(e) If a claim is severed as provided by Subsection (d)(2),
the business court has discretion to stay or abate its own
proceedings pending resolution of the severed claim.
Sec. 24A.052. INITIAL FILING; REMOVAL AND REMAND; TRANSFER.
(a) An action in the jurisdiction of the business court may be
filed in the business court. If the business court does not have
subject matter jurisdiction of the action, or part of the action,
the court shall dismiss without prejudice to refiling the whole or
part of the action. A claim that is dismissed under this subsection
may be refiled in a court with jurisdiction by the party who filed
the claim in the business court not later than the 30th day after
the date the claim was dismissed by the business court,
notwithstanding the expiration of a period of limitation provided
by statute.
(b) A party to an action filed in a district court or county
court at law that is in the subject matter jurisdiction of the
business court may remove the action to the business court by filing
a notice of removal with the business court and the court in which
the action was originally filed. If the business court does not
have jurisdiction of the action or part of the action, the business
court shall remand the action, or the part in which the business
court does not have jurisdiction, to the court from which the action
was removed. A party may appeal an interlocutory order of the
business court that grants or refuses a remand under this
subsection to the court of business appeals.
(c) Removal of a case to the business court is not subject to
the statutes or rules governing the due order of pleading.
(d) Removal of a case does not waive a defect in venue or
constitute an appearance to determine personal jurisdiction.
(e) Any claim in which the business court does not have
jurisdiction under Section 24A.051(d) must be transferred to a
district court in a county in which the claim could have been
originally filed. If the claim could have been filed in more than
one county, the party bringing the claim may elect the county to
which the claim is transferred.
(f) A cause of action filed in the business court shall be
assigned to the docket of a judge on a rotating basis.
(g) The supreme court shall promulgate rules of civil
procedure providing for the timely and efficient removal and remand
of cases to and from the business court.
Sec. 24A.053. POWERS AND DUTIES. (a) The business court may
issue any writ necessary for the enforcement of the court's
jurisdiction, including a:
(1) writ of injunction;
(2) writ of mandamus;
(3) writ of sequestration;
(4) writ of attachment;
(5) writ of garnishment; and
(6) writ of supersedeas.
(b) The business court may answer a question regarding a
matter in the court's jurisdiction that is certified to the
business court by another court.
Sec. 24A.054. QUALIFICATIONS OF JUDGE. A judge of the
business court must:
(1) be at least 35 years of age;
(2) be a United States citizen;
(3) be a resident of this state for at least two years
before appointment; and
(4) be a licensed attorney in this state and have 10 or
more years of experience in:
(A) practicing complex civil business
litigation;
(B) practicing complex business transaction law;
(C) teaching courses in complex civil business
litigation or complex business transaction law at an accredited law
school in this state;
(D) serving as a judge of a court in this state
with civil jurisdiction; or
(E) any combination of experience described by
Paragraphs (A)-(D).
Sec. 24A.055. COMPOSITION OF COURT. (a) The business court
is composed of seven judges appointed by the governor with the
advice and consent of the senate.
(b) A business court judge may be reappointed.
(c) The governor may not appoint:
(1) more than three judges who reside in the same
county; or
(2) more than a majority of judges associated with the
same political party.
Sec. 24A.056. TERMS OF OFFICE. The judges of the business
court shall serve staggered six-year terms of office.
Sec. 24A.057. VACANCY. If a vacancy occurs on the business
court, the governor, with the advice and consent of the senate,
shall appoint, in the same manner as the original appointment,
another person to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term.
Sec. 24A.058. JUDICIAL AUTHORITY. A business court judge
has all powers, duties, immunities, and privileges of a district
judge.
Sec. 24A.059. JUDGE'S SALARY. (a) A business court judge
shall be paid a total annual salary from the state that is the sum
(1) the salary paid to a district judge by the state
under Section 659.012; and
(2) the maximum amount of county contributions and
supplements allowed by law to be paid to a district judge under
Section 659.012.
(b) The salary shall be paid in equal monthly installments.
Sec. 24A.060. REMOVAL; DISQUALIFICATION AND RECUSAL. (a)
A business court judge may be removed from office in the same manner
and for the same reasons as a district judge.
(b) A business court judge is disqualified or shall recuse
himself or herself in a particular case for the same reasons as a
district judge. Disqualification or recusal of a business court
judge shall be governed by the same procedure as disqualification
or recusal of a district judge.
Sec. 24A.061. PRIVATE PRACTICE OF LAW. A business court
judge shall diligently discharge the duties of the office on a
full-time basis and may not engage in the private practice of law.
Sec. 24A.062. VISITING JUDGE. (a) A retired or former
judge or justice may be assigned as a visiting judge of the business
court by the chief justice of the supreme court. A visiting judge
of the business court is subject to objection, disqualification, or
recusal in the same manner as a retired or former judge or justice
is subject to objection, disqualification, or recusal if appointed
as a visiting district judge.
(b) A visiting judge must meet the qualifications of a
business court judge as provided by Section 24A.054.
(c) Before accepting an assignment as a visiting judge of
the business court, a retired or former judge or justice shall take
the constitutional oath of office required of appointed officers of
this state and file the oath with the supreme court.
Sec. 24A.063. JURY PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE. (a) A party in
an action pending in the business court has the right to a trial by
jury when required by the constitution.
(b) A jury trial shall be held in a county in which venue
would be found under Section 15.002, Civil Practice and Remedies
(c) Subject to Subsection (b), a jury trial in a case
removed to the business court shall be held in the county in which
the action was originally filed.
(d) Subject to Subsection (b), a jury trial in a case filed
initially in the business court shall be held in any county in which
it could have been filed under Section 15.002, Civil Practice and
Remedies Code, as chosen by the plaintiff.
(e) The parties and the business court judge may agree to
hold the jury trial in any other county. A party may not be required
to agree to hold the jury trial in a different county.
(f) The drawing of jury panels, selection of jurors, and
other jury-related practice and procedure in the business court
shall be the same as for the district court in the county in which
the trial is held.
(g) Practice, procedure, rules of evidence, issuance of
process and writs, and all other matters pertaining to the conduct
of trials, hearings, and other business in the business court are
governed by the laws and rules prescribed for district courts.
(h) The business court may adopt rules of practice, which
must be approved by the supreme court.
Sec. 24A.064. COURT LOCATION; STAFFING. (a) The business
court shall have a clerk, whose office shall be located in Travis
County in facilities provided by the state. The clerk shall:
(1) receive all filings in the business court; and
(2) fulfill the legal and administrative functions of
a district clerk and an appellate court clerk.
(b) The judges of the business court shall maintain chambers
in the county seat of their county of residence in facilities
provided by the state.
(c) Subject to Section 24A.063, the business court, or any
judge of the business court, may hold court at any location in the
state, as the court determines is necessary or convenient for a
particular civil action.
(d) The business court shall use the most advanced
technology feasible when necessary and appropriate to facilitate
expeditious proceedings in matters brought before the court. As
determined by the business court, counsel and parties may appear
before the business court by means of Internet-based or other
technological devices rather than in person.
(e) In a county in which the business court sits, the
sheriff shall in person or by deputy attend the business court as
required by the court. The sheriff or deputy is entitled to be
reimbursed by the state for the cost of attending court.
(f) Subject to any limitations provided by the General
Appropriations Act, the business court may appoint personnel
necessary for the operation of the court, including:
(1) the clerk of the court;
(2) staff attorneys for the court;
(3) staff attorneys for each business court judge;
(4) court coordinators; and
(5) administrative assistants.
(g) The court officials shall perform the duties and
responsibilities of their offices and are entitled to the
compensation, fees, and allowances prescribed by law for the
Sec. 24A.065. FEES. The business court shall provide rates
for fees associated with filings and actions in the business court.
The fees shall be set at a sufficient amount to cover the costs of
administering the provisions of this chapter, taking into account
fee waivers in the interest of justice.
Sec. 24A.066. SEAL. The seal of the business court is the
same as that provided by law for a district court except that the
seal must contain the name "The Business Court of Texas."
SUBCHAPTER C. COURT OF BUSINESS APPEALS
Sec. 24A.101. APPEAL; COURT OF BUSINESS APPEALS. (a) An
appeal from an order or judgment of the business court is available
in the same manner as an appeal from an order or judgment of a
district court. The procedure governing an appeal from an order or
judgment of a business court is the same as an appeal from an order
or judgment of a district court.
(b) The governor shall appoint seven active justices from
the courts of appeals to serve as the intermediate appellate court,
called the court of business appeals.
(c) The appointment of a justice to the court of business
appeals shall be made by the governor from the list of qualified
appellate justices as provided by Section 24A.002.
(d) A justice of the court of business appeals must meet the
qualifications of a judge of the business court as provided by
Section 24A.054.
Sec. 24A.102. CHIEF JUSTICE. The governor shall designate
one of the seven justices appointed under Section 24A.101 as the
chief justice of the court of business appeals.
Sec. 24A.103. COMPOSITION OF COURT. Not more than three
justices appointed to the court of business appeals may be from the
same court of appeals.
Sec. 24A.104. TERM OF OFFICE. A justice appointed under
Section 24A.101 shall serve on the court of business appeals for a
six-year term of office. A justice may be reappointed by the
governor. A justice who retires or resigns from or is not reelected
to the court of appeals must cease service on the court of business
appeals on the date the justice is no longer serving on the court of
Sec. 24A.105. PANEL. The justices appointed to the court of
business appeals shall sit in randomly selected panels of three to
hear and determine appeals from the business court.
Sec. 24A.106. LOCATION. The justices hearing appeals from
the business court may sit in any convenient place to hear the
appeal.
Sec. 24A.107. JUDGMENT. The court of business appeals
shall render judgments and hand down opinions in the same manner as
any other court of appeals under Chapter 22.
Sec. 24A.108. REVIEW. (a) A party may seek an en banc
review of a decision of a panel of the court of business appeals.
(b) A party to an order or judgment of the business court or
the court of business appeals may file a petition for review in the
supreme court in the same manner and circumstances as a party to an
order or judgment of a district court or court of appeals.
Sec. 24A.109. CLERK. The clerk of the business court shall
serve as the clerk of the court of business appeals.
Sec. 24A.110. COMPENSATION. A justice of the court of
business appeals shall receive compensation equal to that of the
chief justice of a court of appeals, including the maximum amount of
local contributions. The compensation is in lieu of, not in
addition to, a justice's compensation for service on the court of
Sec. 24A.111. SEAL. The seal of the court of business
appeals is the same as that provided by law for a court of appeals
except that the seal must contain the name "The Court of Business
Appeals of Texas."
SECTION 2. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective
date of this Act, the governor shall appoint judges to the business
court, as required by Sections 24A.002(f) and 24A.055, Government
Code, as added by this Act, as follows:
(1) the governor shall appoint two judges to a term
expiring December 31, 2020;
expiring December 31, 2022; and
(3) the governor shall appoint three judges to a term
expiring December 31, 2024.
(b) As soon as practicable after the effective date of this
Act, the governor shall appoint justices to the court of business
appeals, as required by Section 24A.101, Government Code, as added
by this Act.
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply to
civil actions commenced on or after January 1, 2020.
SECTION 4. (a) The Supreme Court of Texas has exclusive and
original jurisdiction over a challenge to the constitutionality of
this Act or any part of this Act and may issue injunctive or
declaratory relief in connection with the challenge.
(b) If the appointment of judges by the governor to the
business court under Section 24A.055, Government Code, as added by
this Act, is held by the Supreme Court of Texas as unconstitutional,
the business court shall be staffed by sitting or retired judges who
are appointed by the supreme court.
(c) If the appointment of a justice by the governor to the
court of business appeals under Section 24A.101, Government Code,
as added by this Act, is held by the Supreme Court of Texas as
unconstitutional, the court of business appeals shall be staffed by
sitting or retired justices who are appointed by the supreme court.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.


I awoke this morning facing the new year. Oddly enough my thoughts were not on making New Year's resolutions. My mind was transported back to my childhood. I was remembering the retro toy called Viewmaster. This was a contraption that you put a thin cardboard disk containing a 3D color photograph into so you could view the picture. Some showed travel attractions; others cartoons or TV shows. I vividly remember putting the slide in wrong many times. Of course I could not see clearly or figure out what was before my eyes. I twisted and turned the slide until it fit correctly. I am sure directions were written on the disk, but it was so easy not to follow them or pay attention. Life sometimes seems like this cardboard disk: twist, turns, and being upside down. So the new year rings in, and we all determine to make those resolutions either to do something or to not do something. Resolutions can be profitable, but we usually do not keep them.
I guess the closest thing to the retro Viewmaster in this century might be virtual reality headsets. Let's view life through the lens of the Word of God. The spiritual lens of this "viewmaster" will be the test for showing me what I need to do this year or what I should leave off. The only reality our lives need is clearly seen in Scripture. 2 Peter 1:3-4 sums up perfectly what my spiritual "viewmaster" disk should look like. "According as His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him Who has called us to glory and virtue; Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." When viewing this disk, what should be my spiritual response?
So this new year I open my eyes and see that it is not about making a New Year's resolution but giving diligence to the Word of God; by His grace making my calling in the Lord sure; and knowing by His promises I shall never fall. "Open Thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of Your Law." (Psalm 119:18).
Place in my hand the wonderful key, That shall unclasp and set me free.


text:
Fisherman's Church Brixham
Resto Man
The Church already had planning permission when we acquired it.
However, the existing permission did not match our requirements, so early on we applied for, and successfully varied the existing permission to include two critical new basement roof lights as part of the works. In addition during the process we also separately applied for a new design of roof slating - in a 'fish tail' design - this permission was refused, much to Jackie's annoyance!
Following on from this, building regulations approval was managed through a private firm who reviewed & approved the plans, checked progress, carried out regular inspections and issued a completion certificate.
We estimate that we brought about 40 tons of materials onto the site including:
* 300 sheets of plasterboard from Lafarge
* 125 sheets of Kingspan insulation
* 10 tons of ceramic tiles (floor, wall and victorian) from British Ceramic Tiles
* 1.5 tons of grout/ adhesives from Norcros
* 40 'bales' of Rockwool insulation
Best estimates are that about the same tonnage of waste materials was generated with as much being recycled and reused as possible.
We used new Victorian tiles in the master bedroom, master bathroom and in the kitchen. In the 3D kitchen design alone there are over 1150 individual ceramic tiles, each laid individually by hand. Ian and Neil laid them, and they were the first floor tiles they had ever laid!
The whole of the lower area of the building was waterproofed with a swiss waterproofing compound called Vandex plus Kingspan composite insulated plasterboard. In addition all of the external walls and and roofs (apart from the historic main church lounge walls which were newly lime plastered) were fully insulated. New bronze church style replacement double glazed windows to match the existing pattern were fitted.
There were three areas of glass flooring. The main glass floor in the lounge area comprises four sections of glass 40mm thick, with a clear span of 1.7m and no intermediate beams. Total weight 0.75 tons. There is a glazed slot of 34mm thick glass panel in the kitchen area about 1.8m long that enables a view from the top to bottom of the Church and sets off the double height original stone arch. There is also a smaller square piece of glass 1m square enabling light to flow down from the 'sky lounge' in to the dining room area. Elsewhere in the lounge, there is solid oak floor with a 'four quadrant' design.
The ceiling with its vivid colours has panels going from dark to light, with six shades of emerald green and 750 individually stencilled gold stars. Painted by Mark Cox (Mark-el-angelo!). He did a perfect job of all that, six metres up a scaffolding tower...!
The column and wall panels (approximately 125 individually shaped pieces) were made of factory computer (CNC) cut in a Torquay workshop and sprayed MDF, done locally in a car repair workshop. The kitchen is a bespoke design with MDF cupboards and a natural slate worktop to fit within the overall design of the Church.
The roof was fully renovated, insulated and re-slated with Penrhyn and Ffestiniog reclaimed Welsh slates in a faint striped pattern on top of a super-insulated new roof structure.


what will it take for a service technician to come out and actually do something. My last one said it wasn't his job to fix the poles.
Schedule a technician, and if/when they say that tell them to make a maintenance ticket. He/she was being lazy. If they don't, call back and ask for a supervisor. If they keep failing, file a complaint with the FCC. Make sure to SAVE THE TICKET NUMBER!


text:
<?php

namespace Kanahei\GameBundle\Tests\Controller;

use Symfony\Bundle\FrameworkBundle\Test\WebTestCase;

class RegisterControllerTest extends WebTestCase
{
    public function testIndex()
    {
        $client = static::createClient();

        $crawler = $client->request('GET', '/register');
    }

    public function testComplete()
    {
        $client = static::createClient();

        $crawler = $client->request('GET', '/register/complete');
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Here's Why Queen Elizabeth Isn't Attending Baby Archie's Christening
Krystin Arneson
13 Movies and TV Shows to Stream on Netflix When You Need a Good Cry
Christopher Rosa
Hunter McGrady Is Calling B.S. on the Pressure Put on Brides to Lose Weight
Germaine Greer: It's Very Important That Feminism Is Not Defined, That It's Allowed to Grow
Roxane Gay, Germaine Greer, and Elizabeth Gilbert convened for a panel at the All About Women festival in Sydney this past Sunday, International Women's Day. I don't have a whole lot to say about this video clip, above, featuring the three luminaries, except that it's an inspiring must-watch. One of my favorite parts is when Greer says: "If you define something you limit it, you actually straitjacket it. It's very important that feminism is not defined, that it's allowed to grow and be organic. We should also consider whether we can put any real meaning into the word equality. What with? With the current state of men? With the corporate society we live in, which is unjust to everybody in it? Equality is OK because everybody thinks they understand it, but in fact nobody does understand it." If you have some time today, check out the entire panel talk (it's about an hour): And more from the All About Women festival in Australia on its YouTube channel.
Danica Lo
Roxane Gay, Germaine Greer, and Elizabeth Gilbert convened for a panel at the All About Women festival in Sydney this past Sunday, International Women's Day.
I don't have a whole lot to say about this video clip, above, featuring the three luminaries, except that it's an inspiring must-watch.
One of my favorite parts is when Greer says: "If you define something you limit it, you actually straitjacket it. It's very important that feminism is not defined, that it's allowed to grow and be organic. We should also consider whether we can put any real meaning into the word *equality. *What with? With the current state of men? With the corporate society we live in, which is unjust to everybody in it? Equality is OK because everybody thinks they understand it, but in fact nobody does understand it."
If you have some time today, check out the entire panel talk (it's about an hour):
And more from the All About Women festival in Australia on its YouTube channel.
TopicsElizabeth Gilbertvideofeminisminspiration


text:
Paul Philosophy Gains Steam with GOP Establishment
Libertarian ideas of smaller government, cutting domestic spending and a balanced budget not only run in the Paul family, but are starting to take a hold with mainstream Republicans as well.
Just ten years ago, the budget and domestic spending would not have been as high of a priority to many within the party other than Senator Rand Paul's (R-Ky) father, Senator Ron Paul (R-Texas).
When the younger Paul proposed his latest take on the FY 2013 United States Budget, it was seen as the "most radical" of today's four proposed Republican budgets by many on the left. But it was also seen as a refreshing change by many on the right.
Most surprising about the Paul Budget is not that it made it to a vote at all, but that 17 of the Senate's 47 Republicans voted for a budget that was supposedly too radical.
Today's vote got a 'yea' from Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC), Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senator John Thune (R-SD) just to name a few.
The Paul budget most notably called for the elimination of the Departments of Education, Energy, Commerce and Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which is seen as a large step by mainstream conservatives in getting the nation's finances back on track.
According to the American Spectator, the Paul budget will also reduce federal spending by $11 trillion relative to President Obama's budget, reduces discretionary spending to 2008 levels, and reduces foreign aid at $5 billion per year.
Theoretically, the Paul budget will not only balance the federal deficit in five years, but it would actually achieve a $111 billion surplus by 2017. If that wasn't juicy enough for most conservatives, the Paul Budget would also repeal Obamacare, Dodd-Frank and the Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements.
Super committee defense spending sequesters would also be ended, and the Federal government would also be required to end ownership of any failed private sector companies and stop bailing corporations out.
Despite the spending cuts that will be seen as 'hefty' by those on the left, the Paul budget sets out to prove that many items can be cut without touching entitlements. A separate bill addressing Medicare has yet to be drafted.
None of the senators were available for comment.
Source: Paul Philosophy Gains Steam with GOP Establishment.
Senate Republicans Vote Overwhelmingly For Controversial GOP Budget (tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com)
Republicans in Senate vote overwhelmingly for Paul Ryan's extreme budget (dailykos.com)
Ron Paul Urges Supporters to Continue Fighting (usnews.com)
GOP measure freezes lawmakers' office budgets (kansascity.com)
Voting on budget will provide 2012 ammo (thehill.com)
GOP senator calls on Speaker Boehner to do what the Senate won't on debt (thehill.com)
Posted in AMERICAS, North America, United States
Comments Off on Paul Philosophy Gains Steam with GOP Establishment
Tags: Jim DeMint, John Thune, Mitch McConnell, Orrin Hatch, Paul, Rand Paul, Republican, Ron Paul
Chris Hedges: A Victory for All of Us
By Chris Hedges
In January, attorneys Carl Mayer and Bruce Afran asked me to be the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta that challenged the harsh provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). We filed the lawsuit, worked for hours on the affidavits, carried out the tedious depositions, prepared the case and went to trial because we did not want to be passive in the face of another egregious assault on basic civil liberties, because resistance is a moral imperative, and because, at the very least, we hoped we could draw attention to the injustice of the law. None of us thought we would win. But every once in a while the gods smile on the damned.
U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest, in a 68-page opinion, ruled Wednesday that Section 1021 of the NDAA was unconstitutional. It was a stunning and monumental victory. With her ruling she returned us to a country where—as it was before Obama signed this act into law Dec. 31—the government cannot strip a U.S. citizen of due process or use the military to arrest him or her and then hold him or her in military prison indefinitely. She categorically rejected the government's claims that the plaintiffs did not have the standing to bring the case to trial because none of us had been indefinitely detained, that lack of imminent enforcement against us meant there was no need for an injunction and that the NDAA simply codified what had previously been set down in the 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force Act. The ruling was a huge victory for the protection of free speech. Judge Forrest struck down language in the law that she said gave the government the ability to incarcerate people based on what they said or wrote. Maybe the ruling won't last. Maybe it will be overturned. But we and other Americans are freer today than we were a week ago. And there is something in this.
The government lawyers, despite being asked five times by the judge to guarantee that we plaintiffs would not be charged under the law for our activities, refused to give any assurances. They did not provide assurances because under the law there were none. We could, even they tacitly admitted, be subject to these coercive measures. We too could be swept away into a black hole. And this, I think, decided the case.
"At the hearing on this motion, the government was unwilling or unable to state that these plaintiffs would not be subject to indefinite detention under [Section] 1021," Judge Forrest noted. "Plaintiffs are therefore at risk of detention, of losing their liberty, potentially for many years."
The government has 60 days to appeal. It can also, as Mayer and Afran have urged, accept the injunction that nullifies the law. If the government appeals, the case will go to a federal appellate court. The ruling, even if an appellate court upholds it, could be vanquished in the Supreme Court, especially given the composition of that court.
Read more: Chris Hedges: A Victory for All of Us – Chris Hedges' Columns – Truthdig.
Amy Goodman's Interview of Chris Hedges on "Monumental" Ruling Blocking NDAA Indefinite Detention (obrag.org)
| Resisting NDAA: A Victory for All of Us! (truthaholics.wordpress.com)
Journalist, Plaintiff Chris Hedges Hails "Monumental" Ruling on NDAA Indefinite Detention (occupyblogosphere.wordpress.com)
Journalist, Plaintiff Chris Hedges Hails "Monumental" Ruling Blocking NDAA Indefinite Detention (democracynow.org)
NDAA: A Victory for All of Us by Chris Hedges (dandelionsalad.wordpress.com)
Judge Blocks Controversial NDAA (weeklyintercept.blogspot.com)
Chris Hedges: Ruling overturning indefinite detention provision of NDAA is 'huge' (rawstory.com)
NDAA: Indefinite detention stopped? Not so fast (rt.com)
Chris Hedges challenges NDAA in court (1oneday.wordpress.com)
Posted in AMERICAS, NDAA, North America, UnAmerican, United States
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Tags: Barack Obama, Carl Mayer, Chris Hedges, Leon Panetta, National Defense Authorization Act, NDAA, United States, United States federal judge
Katzenberg Tied to Chinese Corruption
BY: Washington Free Beacon Staff
The New York Times reports today on the rise of China's "princelings," the children of the Communist Party's former and current leadership, who have taken control over many of that country's most profitable businesses.
The New York Times reveals that Katzenberg's silent Chinese partner in the deal is Jiang Mianheng, the son of former Communist Party leader and Chinese President Jiang Zemin.
What the New York Times does not reveal is that Katzenberg is the largest donor to President Obama's Super PAC Priorities USA at $2 million and a major bundler to the Obama campaign, having raised more than $500,000 for the President's reelection campaign.
Also not revealed by the New York Times, Katzenberg and his studio are currently under SEC investigation for bribing Chinese officials in order to obtain access to the Chinese market.
The Dreamworks deal has raised questions about pay for play on the American side as well. The nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation notes that Katzenberg's deal was made possible with help from the Obama administration, which arranged a meeting for Katzenberg with Chinese Vice President and heir apparent Xi Jingping after his White House visit in February. Xi traveled from the White House to Los Angeles to sign the deal with the major Obama donor.
The Sunlight Foundation asks if "Katzenberg's support for Obama fast-track[ed his] movie deal with China?" But Dreamworks would not respond to on-the-record questions from the good government watchdog group.
Vice President Biden also personally engaged in the negotiations with the Chinese government in advance of Katzenberg's deal that effectively raised the number of U.S. films that could be released in the Chinese market each year—an agreement that made the Katzenberg deal significantly more valuable.
Earlier this month, President Obama embraced Katzenberg just days after the SEC announced its investigation. "I want to thank Jeffrey (Katzenberg) not just for this evening, but for his tenacious support and advocacy since we started back in 2007. He has consistently been there for me, through thick and through thin," Obama said.
"The only person I don't have to remind [of how difficult the 2008 campaign was] is Jeffrey because he was there, through all the ups and downs, and occasionally he would call, and he would say, 'Barack, I don't think that things are working the way they're supposed to.'"
Barry-O's Huge Hollywood Donors Go Chinese (dewgeneral.wordpress.com)
'Starmageddon:' Angelenos dump on $15 million Obama/Clooney party (twitchy.com)
Katzenberg to the rescue for Obama Super PAC (laobserved.com)
Posted in China, Crony Capitalism, Fraud & Corruption, One and Done, Pay to play, Progressive Agenda, Tax Payer's Dime, United States
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Tags: Barack Obama, Biden, China, Cronyism, DreamWorks, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Jiang Mianheng, Joe Biden, Katzenberg, New York Times, Obama, Obama campaign, Pay for play, United States, Xi Jinping
You Might Not Realize How Awful This Market Is
by Joe Weisenthal
The benchmarket S&P 500 index is not really down by that much from its highs. The decline is on the order of 7%, which is significant, but not a massacre.
However, there are massacres happening in this market if you look at the right places, and especially if you look at some areas which are very economically sensitive.
Check out a chart of BP, which is getting hit by the double whammy of a slowing economy and falling oil.
We're talking about a third of the company gone.
Read more: You Might Not Realize How Awful This Market Is – Business Insider.
Joe Weisenthal vs. the 24-Hour News Cycle (nytimes.com)
The brilliant Joe Weisenthal (blogs.reuters.com)
Posted in Quick Links
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Tags: Business Insider, Henry Blodget, Joe Weisenthal, New York Times, Twitter, United States, Wall Street