text:
Firestorm Rotations Update - So long and thanks for all the Duo!
DrunkOnRedWine
1693 postsMember, Battlefield 3, Battlefield 4, Battlefield, Battlefield 1, BF1IncursionsAlpha, Battlefield V Member
No chance to play with your buddy now so I guess it's goodbye for Firestorm
GrofSekeres
1 postsMember, Battlefield, Battlefield 1, Battlefield V Member
I bought game to play duos with my brother and now it's removed. I don't want to uninstall game.
Bring it back please!!!
HarskiTude
1 postsMember, Battlefield 3, Battlefield 4, Battlefield, Battlefield 1, BF1IncursionsAlpha, Battlefield V Member
Everybody wanted Firestorm Duo back, it worked fine (okay, it took few minutes to join game..) but instead EA removes it. I mean, WTF EA?
Archonei
1 postsMember, Battlefield 3, Battlefield 4, Battlefield Hardline, Battlefield, Battlefield 1, Battlefield V Member
I am so disappointed in the way Dice supports this game...
I was a real fan of the duo mode and than Dice removed it out of nowhere...
Dice please, get your **** together!
VODABiscan
why remove duo
I pay BF5 80euro give me back my money
Bettsy_Dan
5 postsMember, Battlefield 4, Battlefield, Battlefield 1, Battlefield V Member
Epic work dice. Epic. Back in the day i was a massive COD fan, massive. MW2 was the daddy.......COD did everything right......so what did they do.....they started to make major changes.......they had it sooooo right........that they decided to change it......4 COD games on.......i moved to Medal of Honor........then finally BF. Awesome. Again the nail had been hit on the head, i caught BF4 half way through its life, although i missed out on BFBC i was sooooo looking forward to BF1.......and i loved it. Dice had me......i was theirs.........they could of sold me anything on that game, i thought they listened to the people, the games were spot on, the guns were class. I loved it.......time passed......we get BF5......great, love it.........firestorm......really looking forward to it.......duos......OMG........my **** was dripping......awesome.
Then you removed it! WTF......you bought it back.......thank **** for that. You guys just saved BF5 for me.........oh hold on even though the people want it.....and even though the people love it.......heres what we're gonna do.....yeah you listening......right here we go......were gonna remove it again........yes what a plan. We **** up removing it the first time, so what we're gonna do is bring it back, make everyone happy.......then **** up even more and remove it again.
Epic work.
Epic.
Why dont you concentrate on fixing the many issues the game has? Simple things like not being able to climb a sodding ladder in firestom.....i love climbing a ladder out of water making lots of noise, with an enemy at the top im gonna jump.....but splash clang you get glitched of, and now any chance of survival has gone.
The marker you place on the map.....its about 50meters out on the actual map.....great for making precision drops......
Or the fact that 1 out of every 4 games involves either me, or a mate having a connection issue when joining a game, resuting in a restart as the game is so **** slow to load anything.......
The fact that no new guns are being added to fire storm, most from the main multiplayer modes are missing.......and desperately needed to mix it up a bit......but no.......the best idea in a recent meeting of people who seem to have no idea what the public want, love or are actually playing or need to get fixed.....was......get ready......remove duos......again.......well **** me dead.
And thats just it.........BF is becoming the new COD..........DEAD.........due to their own dumb **** decisions.
Well played you utter turds!
IZRANA
Я купил игру только для дуэтов, верните деньги!
I bought the game just for the duets, return the money!
Nezion
Are you **** Kidding me DICE!.. duos is like the best thing ever to come to battlefield firestorm in my opinion. me and my mate play Only Duo after it was released. and now you remove it ????? cause of some **** talk about amount of people playing squard vs duo. W H O cares ! as long as their are 64 people wanting to play duo, why the hell should you remove it. i mean this is beyond stupid to punish people who found something their love to play with inside the game. and then have it removed.. no Reason is good enough for this..
And one more thing. if you for this **** reason want me to play squad.... FIX the **** matchmaking for it. when i join with my mate into squad, like 7 out of 10 times we will not get any squad nembers and get joined as duo... missing 2 players from the start. then running into teams of 4 players just makes this game **** ****!.. Dice remove a game mode, then when you join you get into games as only 2 and meet teams of 4. G R E A T I D E A DICE !
HarskiTude wrote: »
Really? When I gry to play squads it takes 4-5 minutes to start a game and still I get no squad mates apart from my friend i start game with. But when two of us start duos i took Mac 50 seconds to find a game. Duos worked better than squads
LEXXZAN
SmaleC said:
Varuna357
Booth of me and my friend we are huge fans of COD and when battlefield V comes out it was perfect even better with firestorm DUAL mode because only 2of us are playing all the time.Please bring it back so we can continue playing it thank upfront.
Conroy1988Mixer
5 postsMember, Battlefield 3, Battlefield 4, Battlefield Hardline, Battlefield, Battlefield 1, BF1IncursionsAlpha, Battlefield V Member
Sign and share guys, should be way more people signing this - https://www.change.org/p/ea-bring-back-battlefield-v-firestorm-duos
GirthQQuakes
The game management needs to be fired. They're doing a worse job then doing nothing at all.
proHammocker
1 postsMember, Battlefield 3, Battlefield Member
Really battlefield. Why you got to do this to me. I only have one friend and we like to play firestorm together. However we cant play anymore. We have tried to play squads but have only been betrayed by our fellow teammates when they run away from a firefighter leaving us to die. Please bring duos back so I can play firestorm because that's the only reason I bought this game.
How **** high are you guys?? This is all my and my brother would play. Thx plz give us a logical explanation.
cicr0n
1 postsMember, Battlefield 4, Battlefield Hardline, Battlefield, Battlefield 1, Battlefield V Member
Why didn't you remove solo instead? On ps4, two friends cannot choose squad. It's rarely the game finds two more and the game starts with just two. Then you have wasted over 5 min on nothing. Duo solved this, though you got connection failure every now and then. Turn on the duo again. Release firestorm for free as fortnite and make money in the same way as fortnite!
Chilli_Rumble
3 postsMember, Battlefield, Battlefield 1, CTE, Battlefield V Member
Really angry duo has gone, it's the mode I play most by far, now I'm stuck playing as a 2 against squads of 4. Thanks for that. I've got no interest in single player - I got bfv as a squad game
smiggyg
49 postsMember, Battlefield 3, Battlefield 4, Battlefield Hardline, Battlefield, Battlefield 1, Battlefield V Member
May 11, 2019 5:59PM edited May 2019
My son and I tried to play squads last night. It took 4+ min on average to search for squad on a Friday night? It only filled the squad maybe 4 out of 10 attempts so we landed as a duo and got wiped right away or anytime we came across a full squad. Wait forever to find a squad then wait longer to find a game so you can die and repeat sitting in a que. What a trash experience! Forget about bothering with taking a Supply Point as a duo in a squad game. It takes twice as long with only 2 players. I'm sure little things like that were well thought out when it was decided to remove Duos to funnel those players back into squads. Smh. Needless to say we're done bothering with Firestorm. It's a shame because it was nice getting my kid to actually play a game with 3-4 nights a week. Now he's back off to Fortnite and swears he'll never touch a Battlefield game again. I don't blame him or the few friends I've talked into buying BFV just for Firestorm.
Look I get that the player count for Firestorm or BFV is really bad. I also understand why Duos was victim over Solo or Squads. The thing is the decision to remove Duos is only going to drive more players away. Sure player counts for Solos and Squads will go up for a few days then drop off quickly. Then what? Remove Firestorm? Seems to me that after a poor reveal, negative comments from CEOs, and lack of content that BFV failed. So the saps like me that actually bought the game have to suffer because a game studio/publisher got into gender politics, ticked people off, and then put out a WW2 game that felt unfinished with no iconic locations or battles which resulted in poor sales and negative feelings. This whole "Live Service" BS is nothing more than a Beta to see what works for the next Battlefield title.
The only way to salvage this game is to forget all these extra timed game modes, add more maps, and offer Firestorm as Free to Play. If not Free to Play offer it as a stand alone for $5-10. At minimum offer Free to Play weekends to test the waters.
Post edited by smiggyg on May 2019
lionstyle777
Me and my bro LOVE duos. LOVE IT. BRING IT BACK PLEASE


text:
Tardive Dyskinesia is a syndrome that often includes Rhythmic involuntary movements of the tongue, face, mouth, or jaw (e.g. frequent poking out of the tongue, chewing, puckering, or blowing out of the cheeks).
Sometimes this is accompanied by involuntary twitching or tremors in the hands or feet.
What Causes It?
Antipsychotic (Neuroleptic) Medication.
People that have been on antipsychotic medication for a long time, people on high doses of antipsychotics (particularly older people), and people who have recently stopped taking antipsychotic medication.
Women seem more likely to get it than men.
Can You Treat It?
No, There is no known effective treatment for Tardive Dyskinesia. In some people it is irreversible.
If it begins to appear, possibly with involuntary tongue movements one of the first indicators, the medication should be immediately stopped. This may mean that the syndrome goes away, in any case, the person should be closely monitored.
The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) is a nonprofit, grassroots, self-help, support and advocacy organization of consumers, families, and friends of people with severe mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, major depression, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and anxiety disorders.
URL: http://www.nami.org/illness/
Tardive Dyskinesia Fact Sheet - Reference guide to the side effect tardive dyskinesia a serious side effect of some antipsychotic medications, which says, in part:
Tardive Dyskinesia (TD), a term coined in 1964, describes a set of abnormal, involuntary movements of the orofacial area or extremities. TD is thought to result from prolonged treatment with the neuroleptic (antipsychotic) medications that help to control symptoms of severe mental illness, particularly schizophrenia. Tardive means "late" and "dyskinesia" means "movement disorder."
What are the symptoms of TD?
The symptoms of TD range from occasional to continuous, and from barely perceptive to blatant. At one extreme are slight movements such as involuntary blinking, lip-licking, tongue-twitching, or foot-tapping - symptoms that may go unnoticed even by the patient, his/her family, or doctor. At the other extreme are conspicuous movements such as writing, rocking, twisting, jerking, flexing, and stiffening of virtually any or all parts of the body. Fortunately, the occurrence of severe cases of TD is relatively rare (about five percent).
How do antipsychotic drugs increase the risk of TD?
Although it is not clear how antipsychotic drugs do what they're supposed to do, much less how they increase the risk of TD, it is know that they change how nerve impulses jump from one set of nerve cells (pre-synaptic neurons) across a gap (synapse) to another set of nerve cells (post-synaptic receptors). The impulses are carried by substances called "neurotransmitters." Anti-psychotic drugs block a particular neurotransmitter called "dopamine," allowing little of it to reach the post-synaptic receptors.
It is assumed (but not proven) that dopamine blockades in various nerve pathways of the brain cause the unwanted effects of antipsychotic drugs, including TD. According to one hypothesis, the dopamine blockade results in the post-synaptic receptors becoming hypersensitive to the little dopamine that does leak through. Constant (and possibly increasing) doses of medications may be needed to keep dopamine from playing havoc with the hypersensitive receptors.
Perhaps no single hypothesis will ever fully explain TD because it may not be a single disorder. Instead, TD may encompass two or more disorders - each with a different cause and treatment. Recent studies suggest that other neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine, serotonin, and GABA may play a role in the development of TD.
To date, it is thought that many available neuroleptic medications cause TD. The relatively new neuroleptic clozapine is thought to not cause TD, and risperidone - another new medication - may not be associated with a major risk. This observation lends considerable hope to the possibility that better antipsychotic agents will be developed.
See above link for complete fact sheet.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
News Release 24-Mar-2020
PETA Science Group contributes to first non-animal 3D lung alveolar model of its kind
MatTek Life Sciences launches model of the human lower respiratory tract
Grant and Award Announcement
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
image: EpiAlveolar™ can be used to study the health effects of different kinds of substances instead of conducting tests in which animals are confined to small tubes and forced to inhale substances for hours or months before being killed. view more
Credit: PETA International Science Consortium Ltd.
Ashland, Massachusetts - Researchers can now buy a first-of-its-kind human cell-based alveolar model to study the effects of chemicals and other substances on the deepest part of the lungs without forcing animals to inhale them.
The PETA International Science Consortium Ltd. provided MatTek Life Sciences with funding to develop EpiAlveolar - a three-dimensional model composed of human cells from the lower respiratory tract (the alveolar region). On one of its sides, the tissue can be exposed to the test material in the air, and on the other, it receives nutrients from a blood-like liquid - similar to the workings of a human lung.
EpiAlveolar can be used to study the effects of inhaling different kinds of substances, such as chemicals, nanomaterials, pathogens, (e-)cigarette smoke, and other respirable materials, instead of conducting tests in which animals are confined to small tubes and forced to inhale them for hours or months before being killed.
A report describing the EpiAlveolar model and its application to test the effects of nanomaterials - carried out at the Adolphe Merkle Institute at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland and Heriot-Watt University in Scotland - has been published in ACS Nano. The model is being further assessed under the EU Horizon 2020 project PATROLS as a promising tool to predict the health effects of long-term and repeated exposure to nanomaterials.
"EpiAlveolar is the latest example of how modern technology can replace animal tests and give us a better understanding of the human body," says Dr Amy Clippinger, president of the Science Consortium. "We are proud to have partnered with MatTek on the development of this model and look forward to its contribution to life-saving research."
"Part of our mission at MatTek is expanding the use of non-animal test methods through the development of human-relevant tissue models and test methods," says Alex Armento, president and CEO of MatTek Life Sciences. "We were glad to have the PETA International Science Consortium's support for the development of EpiAlveolar and look forward to future collaborations."
As part of its larger initiative to replace animals in inhalation toxicity testing, the Science Consortium has also awarded international researchers inhalation exposure devices designed to be used with such cell-based models.
The PETA International Science Consortium Ltd. works to accelerate the development, validation, and global implementation of animal-free testing. It was established in 2012 to coordinate the scientific and regulatory expertise of its members - PETA US, PETA UK, PETA Germany, PETA India, PETA Netherlands, PETA France, PETA Asia, and PETA Australia. The Science Consortium and its members have donated millions of pounds towards helping to reduce and replace animal use.
Founded in 1985, MatTek Life Sciences is an in vitro life-science company based in the Boston area. The privately held company is an industry leader in the production of innovative three-dimensional in vitro human tissues used worldwide for non-animal testing across the cosmetics, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries. As an in vitro expert, MatTek has expanded its products and services to include the highest-quality glass-bottom cultureware, primary cells and media, and contract testing.
For more information, please visit PISCLtd.org.uk or MatTek.com.
ACS Nano
10.1021/acsnano.9b06860
Tasgola Bruner
TasgolaB@peta.org
/Scientific community/Research programs/Animal research
/Life sciences/Organismal biology/Animal science
/Life sciences/Computational biology/Biological models/Animal models
https://www.peta.org/media/news-releases/peta-science-group-funding-contributes-to-first-non-animal-3-d-lung-alveolar-mode-of-its-kind/


Vertical wheel-rail contact forces with high magnitudes are generated in vehicle operation on track sections with periodic (rail corrugation) or discrete (rail joints, crossings) surface defects and/or in operations with out-of-round wheels. This may result in severe wheel damage, such as subsurface rolling contact fatigue and deep shelling. Based on input data in the form of contact forces measured by an instrumented wheelset, including contributions with frequencies up to about 2 kHz, Interfleet Technology Sweden has developed a Track Condition Analyser (TCA). The dominating and most frequently occurring types of track irregularity can be detected, their location along the line can be determined and their detrimental effect on the fatigue life of wheels can be estimated. This means that the TCA can be used as a tool for assessment of current track quality and to determine the need for immediate and planned track maintenance. Using the instrumented wheelset on a Swedish high-speed train, the 450 km line Stockholm-Gothenburg can be measured in both directions during an eight hour test campaign.


A quick learner that can familiarize themselves with how to use till software on the shop floor.
Able to learn how to make 4-5 dishes (cold food) such as Bhel, Samosa Chaat ect.
Able to bring new recipes and ideas to our Al La Carte menu, not only for Indian dishes but Chinese & Mexican also.
Ability to motivate kitchen staff and able to handle pressure during busy periods.


M.I.A. (@MIAUniverse) gives us a slightly tweaked and more twerkable version of her news single Bring The Noize. It's the latest offering from her forthcoming highly anticipated project, Matangi. Listen below. Sidenote: M.I.A. "Bad Girls" got swagger jacked on Jay-Z's "Tom Ford".
Trey Songz (@TreySongz) decided to share a new tune for his fans through Angel Network. For those that don't know, Tremaine got credited on Magna Carta Holy Grail for vocals on Open Letter. Listen below.
TYGA (@TYGA) hops on @MigosATL trap anthem and adds a new verse. Listen below.
This is a joint Jay-Z's new album Magna Carta Holy Grail where he fires back shots at Lil Wayne for his Carter IV diss "It's Good". Magna Carta Holy Grail will be in stores July 9th. Pre-order on iTunes.
Here goes another joint from Jay-Z's "Magna Carta Holy Grail". This is the Travis Scott featured track produced by Travis Scott and WondaGurl called Crown. Magna Carta Holy Grail, which will be in stores July 9th. Pre-order on iTunes. UPDATE: CDQ.
Here goes another joint from Jay-Z's "Magna Carta Holy Grail". This is the Frank Ocean assisted cut, aptly titled Oceans. Magna Carta Holy Grail, which will be in stores July 9th. Pre-order on iTunes. UPDATE: CDQ.
Check out this new track from Jay-Z's new album Magna Carta Holy Grail, which will be in stores July 9th. Pre-order on iTunes. UPDATE. CDQ.
Below is the full album stream of Jay-Z's thirteenth opus, the highly anticipated Magna Carta Holy Grail. It is finally here, well for Samsung users anyway. Listen below and pre-order on iTunes.
After previewing the track on Instagram last night, Meek Mill (@MeekMill) comes through with the remix to Migos' "Versace". Dreamchasers 3 is coming soon…apparently.


text:
| Listen Live
Ultimate Marvel Marathon at AMC theaters
Posted by Glenn Yoder April 26, 2012 03:15 PM
Looking for an excuse to dress up as Captain America? Fans excited for the upcoming movie "The Avengers" will flood the AMC Loews Boston Common 19 and other theaters around the country on Thursday, May 3, ahead of the film's release for a lineup of all the Marvel Comics films that tie into the upcoming film's storyline.
The films being shown are, in order, "Iron Man," "The Incredible Hulk," "Iron Man 2," "Thor in 3D," "Captain America in 3D," and finally, "The Avengers in 3D." The new superhero flick, starring Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Sudbury native Chris Evans as Captain America, and more, will premiere at midnight (Friday, May 4).
Tickets went on sale March 11 and are already sold out at Boston Common and Liberty Tree Mall 20 in Danvers, but as of this posting, tickets are still available at AMC Framingham 16 for $40. Interest in the forthcoming film is high, with one report stating that ticket pre-sales for "The Avengers" outnumber pre-sales for all the previous Marvel films combined. Other nearby theaters hosting the event include two cinemas in Connecticut: Danbury 16 and Plainville 20. The complete list can be found here.
Paramount releases 'The Dictator' opening scene, starring Sacha Baron Cohen
Movie critics on 'The Five-Year Engagement,' more films
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Ty Burr is a film critic with The Boston Globe.
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Tom Russo is a regular correspondent for the Movies section and writes a weekly column on DVD releases.
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WASHINGTON — Since the emergence of an unverified dossier with salacious claims about President-elect Donald J. Trump, Americans have debated the ramifications of the arrival of "kompromat" as a feature of American politics.
But those debates — for example, over the ethics of publishing the dossier — have often framed this practice as little more than a political form of blackmail, and one particular to Russia.
In fact, kompromat is more than an individual piece of damaging information: It is a broader attempt to manufacture public cynicism and confusion in ways that target not just one individual but an entire society.
And although this practice tends to be associated with Russia — the word kompromat is a portmanteau of the Russian words for "compromising" and "information" — it is a common feature of authoritarian and semiauthoritarian nations around the world.
Specific leaks may take aim at powerful individuals, but in the longer term, kompromat serves the interests of the powerful, which is why it is often a tool of autocrats. By eroding the very idea of a shared reality, and by spreading apathy and confusion among a public that learns to distrust leaders and institutions alike, kompromat undermines a society's ability to hold the powerful to account and ensure the proper functioning of government.
When Katy E. Pearce, a professor of communications at the University of Washington in Seattle, began studying access to technology in Azerbaijan, she expected to focus her research on how it could be a positive tool for promoting political freedom. But she changed her tack after encountering widespread fear of the ways that the government could use technology as a tool of repression.
"When I was interviewing people, it kept on coming up and coming up," she said. Kompromat is "a very cheap and easy way for the regime to demonstrate its power, and to harass people in a very visible way," she added.
That was a danger and a deterrent for the young activists she spoke to. But individual targets of kompromat are not its only victims, Professor Pearce said. It also harms society by diminishing public trust.
Thomas Rid, a professor of security studies at King's College London, wrote on Twitter that disinformation campaigns have "often deliberately blended accurate and forged details" to sow distrust and confusion.
Degrading that trust can be deeply damaging. While in Russia in 2015, I was struck by how many of the people I met saw the world through a lens that I began to call the "prudent hypothetical." They reacted to all information, whether from official sources or thirdhand rumors, as if it might be true. I came to realize that it was a self-protective impulse, a way to prepare for any potential outcome in an unpredictable, unreliable world.
But they were also careful not to rely on that information, lest it turn out to be a fabrication. They trusted only the facts they had verified themselves, and only the people to whom they had close personal ties.
I had seen the same thing in Guatemala several years earlier. There, spreading lies and salacious gossip to discredit one's enemies is referred to as a "campaña negra," or a black campaign, rather than kompromat. But the result was the same: Public trust had been so eroded that lies were equally capable of destroying the honest and rehabilitating the criminal.
When it appeared that Yasmín Barrios, the judge presiding over the trial of Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt, Guatemala's former dictator, might convict him of genocide and crimes against humanity in 2013, a campaign of coordinated leaks and rumors portrayed her as a corrupt agent of foreign governments, willing to discredit her country in exchange for personal gain. Leaks and rumors attacked Judge Barrios personally, but by extension, they also undermined the credibility of the justice system in which she worked.
For example, the news media reported that the judge had been seen dining with "foreign women" at a restaurant in Guatemala City, and suggested that this was evidence of foreign influence on her rulings. In fact, the "foreigners" were Judge Barrios's Guatemalan mother, her neighbor, and a nun who was a friend of the family. But the rumors had their desired effect: They discredited not only Judge Barrios but also the genocide trial.
The Guatemalans I met knew that the stories they heard through the news media might be part of disinformation campaigns. But lacking better options, many still saw the world through the lens of the prudent hypothetical, viewing everything as possible and nothing as certain.
Professor Pearce said she saw parallels between the use of kompromat overseas and recent news in the United States.
Although the Trump dossier purported to be a warning about kompromat elsewhere, she said, it could also be seen as a form of kompromat itself. She listed the parallels to what she had seen in her research: Its content is damaging but unverified. Its distribution was multilayered, with a website — in this case, BuzzFeed — publishing the unverified material and other outlets amplifying its impact by reporting on the ensuing controversy.
The document also fostered uncertainty and division. Masha Gessen, a Russian journalist, wrote in a recent opinion column in The New York Times that the release of the dossier had allowed Mr. Trump to say that "there was no such thing as truth, only a battle of opinions proffered by different actors, each of whom strives to be loudest." For some Americans, the dossier sowed concern about Mr. Trump's vulnerability to Russian influence. Others saw its publication as evidence that Mr. Trump was the victim of a disinformation campaign.
That may ultimately be to Mr. Trump's benefit if better-supported allegations against him arise in the future.
Americans were similarly divided in their views on the hacking of the Democratic National Committee's computer system. When Russian hackers leaked emails stolen from the committee, some saw it as evidence that Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, was a victim of foreign machinations, while others viewed the documents' content as confirmation that Mrs. Clinton was unreliable and dishonest. The leaks distracted from more substantive campaign issues and fueled public distrust and rancor.
Many people in the United States traditionally see the leak of confidential documents by whistle-blowers, like Daniel Ellsberg's release of the Pentagon Papers, as a way to hold the powerful to account. We tend to believe that transparency serves the public good, and secrecy the interests of the powerful.
Such a belief presumes that there is a fixed quantity of hidden information out there that the news media is or is not revealing. But in a kompromat society, incriminating material, real and fake, will be manufactured as needed to serve a political purpose.
To smear a president, undermine a judge or sow distrust in an institution or process, all someone needs to do is create a set of documents salacious enough to attract discussion, persuade some corner of the web to publish them and then wait for the resulting controversy to be reported as news.
That does not hold the powerful to account. And worse, it undermines the institutions that are supposed to do so.
In the United States, Professor Pearce said, "grabbing on and holding to the truth is becoming more challenging." If kompromat becomes a more widespread tactic, public trust will erode even further.
Max Fisher contributed reporting from London.


text:
New Movies And TV Shows To Watch At Home This Fall
By Eric Deggans,
Aisha Harris, Linda Holmes, Bob Mondello, Glen Weldon
Published September 15, 2021 at 6:00 AM EDT
WarnerMedia, FX, Amazon Studios, ABC, FX, Disney+
Clockwise from top left: Insecure, Impeachment: American Crime Story, Everybody's Talking About Jamie, The Wonder Years, The Premise and Star Wars: Visions.
It's time to find something good to watch.
Maybe you didn't have exactly the hot vaccinated summer we were all hoping for. While we can't fix the big stuff, our critics do have good news about staying entertained — and challenged, and invigorated, and curious.
We're back with a guide of what to watch this fall. Because the lines between movies and television are being rapidly blurred, we've included both. Plus, everything we're recommending can be seen from the comfort of your couch. You can search by release date, genre, and, most importantly, where in the heck you're supposed to find it.
It's not a complete listing by any means though, so take a look and then head to the Pop Culture Happy Hour Facebook page to let us know what you'll be watching.
Aisha Harris
Aisha Harris is a host of Pop Culture Happy Hour.
Linda Holmes
Linda Holmes is a pop culture correspondent for NPR and the host of Pop Culture Happy Hour. She began her professional life as an attorney. In time, however, her affection for writing, popular culture, and the online universe eclipsed her legal ambitions. She shoved her law degree in the back of the closet, gave its living room space to DVD sets of The Wire, and never looked back.
See stories by Linda Holmes
Bob Mondello
Bob Mondello, who jokes that he was a jinx at the beginning of his critical career — hired to write for every small paper that ever folded in Washington, just as it was about to collapse — saw that jinx broken in 1984 when he came to NPR.
See stories by Bob Mondello
Glen Weldon
Glen Weldon is a host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast. He reviews books, movies, comics and more for the NPR Arts Desk.
See stories by Glen Weldon


In UK, once a company has received a VAT number, the company following that is expected to complete their VAT return UK. In various other countries of the European Union, these companies may also have to file a VAT return multiple times a year.
The general laws suggest that the VAT returns across member states of the European Union need to be submitted once in a year, but there have been certain exceptions as well. The individuals are expected to declare all of the VAT transactions, all of the applicable charges on the frontier and the VAT that is due to be declared as well.
There are a set of basic requirements which need to be fulfilled for filing a VAT return under the common and specified guidelines of EU and UK respectively.
The sum of all taxable transactions which includes the sales and the purchases as well as net value.
It also includes the VAT that has been charged on each of these transactions including the aspects of the standard VAT rates and the reduced VAT rates on the end of the consumers.
The value of the goods needs to be individually assorted showing the arrival rates and the dispatch rates from other EU member states.
The net amount of VAT due till date as well.
This briefing is an important step owing to the fact that it provides for the necessary insight into the EU VAT return policy, especially in this case which refers to the policies of VAT return UK.
Separator image Posted in Business / Financial Services and tagged with VAT returns UK.


To be competitive in today's business environment, managers must understand how economic forces affect their business and the factors that must be considered when making business decisions.? This is the only book that provides business students and MBAs with a thorough and applied understanding of both micro- and macroeconomic concepts in a way non-economics majors can understand.
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You are looking for a rental apartment or a furnished room near downtown , our type of residence aparthotel welcomes you to affordable and volume discounts depending on the duration of your stay .
Acadia Résid'Hôtel offers many advantages including its location in a residential area close to the city center of Nancy , near the train station and 5 minutes walk from the ARTEM campus.
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Very well located in Nancy, 23 rue Graffigny , Acadia Résid'Hôtel is located in a very nice residential area with on-site multiple shops comfort including a supermarket and other local services ( laundry, bakery , ...) for facilitate your stay.
A few steps from the beautiful Parc Sainte Marie, ideal for jogging and relaxation, close to Nancy Thermal pool , school of fine arts, the city court and the General Council .
Near the city center , the train station, tourist office , the theater Opera, the Museum of Fine Arts and the prestigious Place Stanislas jewel of the eighteenth century.


Georges Braque, two single page lithographic colour reproductions, 38 x 28 cm each.
DLM no. 85-86 published in 1956 on the occasion of the artist's exhibition of paintings and sculptures at the Galerie Maeght in Paris, containing four lithographic colour reproductions: the cover, a double page, two single pages.


Just Reduced!!! 2 bedroom 2 baths with washer & dryer included. Newer windows. Kitchen has beautiful tile floor, upgraded countertops & cupboards with built-in microwave. This unit is very close to the elevator. Room measurements approximate. This is an incredibly active community for 55+ and their pets. There are two dog parks - one for large dogs and one for small ones. Two clubhouses with all kinds of amenities. There is a grand ballroom, woodworking, a wonderful gym with all kinds of machines, a restaurant type room where you can purchase concessions or take food out to cook in your own home. There are two golf courses with free golf, a lake where you can take a kayak or a canoe out on the lake, billiards, etc. There is much more - too many things to name them all.


It's a year and a half since I moved to Arrowtown and I still had not updated my business cards. I liked my old ones and still have plenty, but almost all my contacts have changed from the old cards. About time I changed them up.
A brooch I made on commission for a friend. The photo I took of it made a nice background for my old biz cards.
I sort of already have a logo. Must be about 12 years ago now I had Regal Castings jewellery supply company make me a hallmark stamp. For this I needed something unique, but it needed to be simple, so that it could be milled out of hard tool steel in tiny profile. I made this little design below out of my initials. I made the original using the Microsoft Paint program.
My initials are A.C.T. I put them together in this little design to make a hallmark stamp. On the stamp, it's in reverse to come out the right way around on the jewellery.
The inside of the ring is curved so doesn't take the whole ACT stamp. I've also marked it with my 925 stamp, which stands for sterling silver - 925 parts silver, 75 parts copper.
I reckoned I could do better than that logo now. Not me personally of course, I'm a jeweller, not a graphic designer.
I engaged Finnbar Glover, one of my many creative cousins, who recently graduated from Otago Polytech's Communications Design degree to do the job. He spent a bit of time reworking the ACT logo. That stamp cost me over $400 to have made so I'm not changing it in a hurry. The plan was to incorporate it into a new design, but when Finn showed me the cool ideas he had for the anvil logo, the ACT logo just distracted from the effect so it got turfed off and removed to the back of the business cards.
I had searched up a bunch of images online of the sort of look I was after to show Finn and tried my best to describe it. Finn listened hard and came back with some ideas showing exactly the sort of look I wanted. This one went through a few little changes but is very much like one of the initial designs. What a good listener.
The big heavy looking shape is an anvil. I wanted an anvil because it's relevant both to my arts practice and to my weightlifting.
I love metalwork, and the thing I love the best is forging. I learnt how to forge steel and iron in the sculpture department at Art School, using a coke-fired forge, an anvil, hammers and tongs. I love the beauty of the process, the fire, the rhythm, and the feel of shaping hard metal blow by blow. It's hot, heavy, dirty work and I would be overjoyed to do it all day.
For various reasons I ended up being a jeweller rather than a blacksmith. I still forge silver, using hammers and an anvil, but everything's a bit smaller and not quite so exciting. In the photo below is one of my anvils. It's a bit beaten up, but it serves my purposes well. My good friend and jewellery artist Brendon Jaine gave it to me.
One of my jewellery-sized anvils and the two hammers used in the logo, the ball-pein hammer and the watchmaker's hammer.
As for my strength training, my garage gym is already called "The Forge". The hot, heavy, dirty work of getting strong is like both being the blacksmith and being the metal in a forge. I hammer my body, rep by rep and week by week in all seasons, slowly getting into the shape I need to be to do what I want to do. This analogy has not escaped other people. CrossFit.com's tagline is "Forging Elite Fitness". Mine isn't the only gym that references the art of the blacksmith in it's name either.
One of the hammers crossing the anvil in the logo is a ball-pein hammer. It's a robust, all purpose hammer with one flat and one rounded face. It's used to bash stuff into shape in many fields of craftsmanship. The finer hammer will be recognised by jewellers as a watchmaker's hammer. They come in different sizes. Mine is actually quite big for this sort of hammer. The watchmaker's hammer is for precision work, such as riveting and forging delicate wee pieces of precious metal.
The line in between the words is a barbell, the primary tool of an Olympic Lifter, a CrossFitter and a Powerlifter. The barbell is a tool I use to forge this body to make it as strong as possible.
Here's the finished cards! It actually didn't take much (well not from me, Finn put in plenty of work) to get the logo right, but it wasn't ready for printing yet. Figuring out exactly what information I wanted, deciding on a font, and then balancing out the possibilities and the costs of what sort of printing on what sort of paper took a whole lot more mental energy.
I actually wanted silver foil printed onto black card, but this was going to be very expensive to print, if possible at all. Because of the nature of the silver foil, apparently cards can only be printed on one side if this technique is used. The metallic grey card is very 'me' though, and I'm happy with it.
On the bottom right of the back the card you can see the old A C T logo in slightly sleeker form than I made it in Paint back in the way back when. As this is still hallmarked on my jewellery I'm holding onto it and want it on my cards. You might notice, annact.com has ACT in it, and so does my Instagram handle, act_ion.
Finnbar Glover, the designer can be found at www.finnbar-glover-design.com. He can make you an awesome logo too.
To see and even have a go at some real blacksmithing yourself head on down to Dunedin to the Gasworks Forge.
You can catch Brendon Jaine, buy his wonderful glass jewellery, and have a good yarn at the Queenstown Markets every Saturday in downtown Queenstown.
If you love tools like hammers, get onto the Regal Castings website and have a drool. Just don't use your precision-crafted jeweller's tools to try to make big sculptures. you'll wreck them. I learnt that the hard way.


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Palmarès
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Teaching Personnel are currently working with a 'Good' school in Hull that is working to raise attainment amongst children with challenging behaviour and SEMH conditions. The school is well run and provides a nurturing supportive environment for students and staff alike and would be a great opportunity for prospective candidate looking to increase their levels of experience.
The school focuses on a mixture of core subject learning with the aim of equipping pupils for life post education and ensuring they have the skills and abilities to lead productive, independent and fulfilling lives. Alongside core subjects, there is also a focus on vocational courses across the school and some pupils will work offsite at other locations to hone their skills so as to prepare for life after school. Your role as a TA will be to facilitate a strong working environment for pupils, assisting them in lessons where appropriate and giving pupils the necessary skills to achieve their potential.
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CMT Website
Irvin "Herb" Brochstein: 1927-2013
Michael Raine Jan 21, 2013 0 Comments
Irvin** "**Herb" Brochstein, musician, industry pioneer, and founder of Pro-Mark Drumsticks, passed away on Jan. 16 at the age of 85.
Launched in 1957 with just 1,200 drumsticks, the Pro-Mark became one of the premier manufacturers of drum sticks in the world . Aside from his drumstick success, Mr. Brochstein was multi-dynamic throughout his long music career of recording and performing, teaching, and owning a drum shop.
After he bought a few pairs of drumsticks made out of oak from a passing salesman, Mr. Brochstein's interest in sticks took hold. Noticing their superior performance over sticks made of traditional materials, he began selling the sticks to his students as well as travelling drummers passing through Houston, TX.
Acquired by D'Addario in 2011, Pro-Mark still operates as a family business based in Houston. Exporting to 110 countries around the world, their products are endorsed by top current drummers from from Rush to Radiohead.
"I had the privilege to know and work with Herb Brochstein in the early 1980s. Herb was a mentor and friend throughout my career. We at D'Addario look forward to continuing to build on Herb's goal of providing the best quality sticks available," stated Rick Drumm, president of D'Addario
Services were held at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 20 at Emanu El Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers the family requested donations be made to the Houston Humane Society.
For more information on ProMark, visit www.promark.com.
Michael Raine is the Senior Editor at Canadian Music Trade. He is also a co-host of the popular Canadian Musician Radio weekly podcast.
MusiCounts Surpasses $1 Million in Grants for Music Education
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Birds Eye View of New Zealand - Part 1
This is another great example of what's possible when hitchhiking, the most dynamic form of travel. This story starts off as it should, being dropped off in Queenstown by a couple who'd picked me up the day before while hitching.
I'd contacted a couple of couchsurfing hosts, one in a town about an hour back the road called Wanaka and another here in Queenstown. I wandered the streets a bit and was able to get myself online, but then found that they hadn't written me back quite yet.
While I was sitting there, looking at a map online to see where some good camping nearby may be, there was a tap on my shoulder. It was the Israeli guy I'd met the second night in the country near the beach, he'd been car camping where me and a couple who'd picked me up hitching were camping as well. I didn't recognize him right away, I knew that I knew him from somewhere in New Zealand along the way, but didn't put my finger on it until later. Either way, we just said hellos and he was off.
I made another stop into the DOC center to see some more detailed trail maps, I left there settled on an idea of where I could go hike in a ways and camp. I walked my way to the edge of town, my sleeping bag, still damp from the night before, was draped over my shoulders still drying out, although the sun was just an inch away from being hidden by the mountains.
I stuck out my thumb when I got past the bulk of town, in no time a car was pulling over for me. "Where you heading?", he asked.
"Towards Arthurs Pass", I told him.
"Arthurs Point", he corrected me.
"Right. It seemed like there was a hiking trail there where I could probably camp for the night", we were driving now, he looked exhausted, I think I sounded a bit the same.
"I live just up the road here and have a spare bedroom, now if you want to, you can come stay there for the night", he offered.
"That would be great actually, give me a chance to get my sleeping bag a bit dryer too", I thanked him and accepted the offer.
"The only thing is I'm tired. I run my own company and am just exhausted, so when we get home, don't talk to me. I just need my space, you're free to spend the night, relax, whatever".
"Fair enough", I assured him, "I know how it is".
There was a break in the conversation.
"I don't mean don't talk to me in the car", he told me.
"Right", I said, then said one thing or another to fill the air and keep the words flowing. He asked what I did back home, I jumped back a few years and brought of audio engineering, this peeked his interest since he was a bit of a musician and had some gear back at his place. This put things at ease and I felt like it gave me some sort of credibility.
We drove up the long driveway going up the base of the mountainside to his house, a helicopter rested in front and a silver Porsche. He showed me the room I could stay in and pointed to the bathroom and washer/dryer.
"Listen, make yourself at home, don't be polite", he said, "If you see something you wanna eat, eat it, there's beer in the fridge", he looked at me as if to say, "need I go on? You get it, I'm in a rush", then he disappeared to his room and I soon heard music come on.
I got my clothes in the was straight away and then cooked up some noodles from my pack, grabbing a beer from the fridge and relaxed in the living room. The windows opened up to the valley and mountains, it was on sunset now and the view alone was worth anything. The living room flowed into the kitchen, a grand piano halfway between with a few microphones pointing out hooked up to a little rack with a multitrack recorder, I noticed his little drum machine too, the same model as my first drum machine.
He came out briefly, we talked audio for a few minutes, then he disappeared again. He used to be a street musician in California where he'd haul his piano on the street and do pretty well.
At one point he had to go out and meet a friend. "Nothing weird will happen if I leave you here alone?", his mind's eye looked directly behind him through the walls at his audio equipment and then scanned the rest of the house. "nope, you're good", I assured him, and he was assured. "ok, make yourself at home", he hurried out and drove off.
In the morning I got a shower in and got my now dry sleeping bag packed up. Adam was his name, he told me where a good hiking trail was where I could camp too, "This will blow your mind", he told me. He told me his company was about hiking, so he should know.
Just then his assistant came in. She introduced herself as Ellen, she was there for a meeting. I made myself scarce in the bedroom and heard a couple more people come in, soon they were having a meeting in the living room. I heard one more person come on Skype to join them. I was happy to be using the internet myself, so while they had their meeting I checked up on messages and maps and the like, once in a while overhearing things like "Facebook strategy" and "the new website".
The night before he'd mentioned I was free to stay more than just a night if I'd liked, and by the time his meeting was over I figured I might as well stay another and get an early start the next day. I spent the rest of the day catching up on writing and things like this, scarfing abandoned leftovers I found in the fridge.
The next morning I was set to go. Before I left I stood in the kitchen talking to Adam.
"So what's the deal with your company anyhow, what do you actually do?"
"We do guided trips", he told me, explaining the adventure trips they did for people visiting doing things like hiking, kayaking and so on.
"I overheard you guys yesterday talking about Facebook and the website, how's that all working out?", I asked him, he explained it to be more or less a mess, hence the reason for the "emergency marketing meeting". He sensed some spark of interest in me regarding the website element of it all and asked if I had any background in that, I mentioned I made some websites here and there. I mentioned how it would be pretty cool if there was a map of all the hiking trails in the country and asked if his company did anything like that, it didn't, "It's surprising", I told him, "looking online last night I couldn't find a cohesive map anywhere, it wouldn't be that difficult of a thing to build either", that was the comment that decided the rest of my trip.
"You reckon you could build something like that?", he asked me inquisitively.
"Probably wouldn't be too tough, depends what data is already available out there, but either way it would be a pretty straight forward thing. Strange no one's done it, or at least I can't find a good map anywhere".
"Would you consider working at all? That's something we could use, I'm not sure where we could fit it in, but we would. I imagine you'd do something like this for a lot less than someone else we'd hire. Maybe I'm totally wrong, I just assume... could you put a month aside to do this?"
I hesitated for a second, I figured I could build a map like this pretty easy in far less than a month, but I was in New Zealand for the first time in my life, the thought of staring at a computer screen, albeit for a cool project, wasn't instantly my idea. I half agreed, "Yea... that sounds pretty good. Only thing is I wanna be doing some hikes too, not just mapping them."
"We could chuck you on one of our trips", he showed me their website and pointed me to the trip he had in mind. "I've got to run to the office, give it some thought and we can get you in today to see if it would work", he hurried out the door then.
I looked at the trip itinerary, it lapped around the south island for two weeks going on hikes, kayaks, bike rides, seal swimming - sounded like a good time. I started looking at how I'd put the map together, in an hour or so Adam's assistant came and picked me up and gave me a ride to the office. There I talked with Adam, the marketing girl and one of the tech guys. Adam told them the idea and I told them I could do it, they all agreed it was cool and gave the thumbs up.
Adam took me to his office afterwards where the agreement felt a bit more official, he would have assistant set me up on which trip I'd be sent on and said he'd throw me $100 a week for food, they asked me what else I needed, I said I'd be good to go and it was agreed I'd stay at Adam's for the time being while I got it all together. They also agreed to pay the fee for me to push my flight back so I'd be able to stay in the country an extra few weeks.
I got started right away, pecking at the computer and staring out at the mountains. Adam took me up in his helicopter, over Queenstown and buzzing the mountains. He left for a weekend where I stayed up into the nights watching the sunrise before going to sleep. He came back days later, at nights he'd get fish and chips or make up burgers or some such.
It had been just less than a week and I made the trip with him into the office to show the marketing team my progress so far. They all crowded into the room around the computer while I ran them through it. Later when we left Adam told me, "That's the best laugh I've had in a while, they were blown away. It was silent in there", he reckoned they didn't expect me to have done as much as I did in such little time. I was happy they were all impressed, Adam included. I knew what would happen though, everyone saw the potential and wanted more, "oh, could you add this too?", the features would start piling up, but I was game for it.
The next day I put together a 3D fly through for each trail using Google Earth. I showed Adam and he really loved it.
We had some dinner and he told me about a big plane crash he'd been in while flying. Him and another guy hit the water and busted themselves up really good, nearly drowning, but luckily were rescued by some nearby people. He said his foot was hanging off his leg by a thread. He seemed well together now considering all he told me, but apparently still had bad back problems. To help with this he'd kept up his biking, he told me about some pretty big trips he'd done, including one meant to be halfway across America that got postponed halfway because of a sickness he'd caught in the midst.
The next day I came to the office again to show off the 3D virtual hike and some other things, they seemed to like that a lot too. A group of them were heading to the bar afterwards, I told them I'd follow them. I would have, but Adam came out of his office saying, "You feel like flying?".
We rolled up to his airstrip down the road from his house in the rugged little jeep filled with tanks of fuel, which we poured into the wings of his two seater plane. He described it as "high performance" and gave me a full rundown before hand. He'd only brought one headset, so we went through some hand signals to use.
We took off and started cruising towards the mountains, I was loving it right away. He held up one finger and looked at me, he'd said before there was three levels of "extreme" we could go to, and I should tap him if it was too much. We started shifting around, then doing rolls upside down and darting all around. He looked back to make sure I'd handled it ok, I was all smiles. I hadn't eaten nearly a thing that day, I could feel that in my stomach now, but all the same I wasn't gonna let that stop the ride from kicking on.
He held up two fingers, I nodded again. We were well over the mountains now, spiking up way in the distance and behind us. The next move he did flew straight up and upside down in a full spin where we were "catching G's" as he later put it. I got a huge head rush and could feel myself blacking out from the force and empty stomach light headedness, I used my smile and every ounce of mental thought to hold the light and push through without going to black. Completely awesome.
Afterwards he shook the joystick which made the one in back shake, he'd said he'd do this when I could take over the controls and fly, "There's no way you can crash this plane, so just have fun with it", is what he'd said. I started flying us, getting a feel of left and right and forth. He made a motion to me to hold the joystick right, I hammered it over and we did a barrel roll, after that I knew I could do no wrong and just kick it however I wanted. I jammed us around and did some double rolls and swerved every which way.
Eventually he took over the controls again and we came around to a big lake it the mountains, tricking above it for a bit. The clouds were coming in and we spun around for a minute, hi jiggled the joystick again and I took over. A minute later he passed me a note, "air's getting to rough, fly us back", so I began navigating back. He took over once again and soon we landed on the field where his hangar was.
It was an incredible flight, I'd never been in a plane going upside down and so much before.
The next day Adam took off to head up north for a week. I stayed at the house with his dog pecking away at the computer, watching a movie every now and again.I borrowed his Porsche and grabbed some food and a good stout - he'd already stocked the fridge with beer, but I felt like I needed one really good one for the right moment.
The week went on, plugging away at the map. The days got repetitive and routine - in the morning it was hot water kettle on, toast in toaster, rinse french press, coffee grounds in, orange juice in glass, toast up, butter/honey/nutella, kettle pops, pour in french press and off to the computer. Ten minutes later, pump down, pour coffee in mug, minutes later, sip sip, back to the computer. His dog acted wild at times, barking and whimpering up a storm when someone would come to walk her. At night she laid by the door itching to get out, but I was told not to let her out on her own. Once she had a stare down with a brave possum who came right up to the window - this is why she wanted out so bad, to hunt the possum and bunnies running around and any New Zealander would bless her for it.
By the end of the week I was getting near stir crazy, itching for the road again. Luckily my reward of an adventure trip was next to come.
Labels: First Overseas Trip - Jan 2011 to Oct 2011 helicopter New Zealand plane
Picture of the Day - Fire in Sabino Canyon
Picture of the Day - Jackson Reflections
Picture of the Day - Smooth Hoperator
Picture of the Day - North Carolina Dog
Picture of the Day - Sweet As Bro!
Picture of the Day - The Top of New Zealand
Picture of the Day - Stagecoachella Mobile
Hitching the West Coast of the South Island
Picture of the Day - First Big Win in Vegas
Picture of the Day - Winning Sip of Whiskey
Picture of the Day - Hopping Hitchhikers
Picture of the Day - Cross Country Car Carrier Ride


Falmouth School has been using the Falmouth Way framework for 6 months now and we'd like to give you an update on how it is going. The Falmouth Way sets out what we believe to be the foundations for academic achievement and enabling our students to grow into happy, healthy, confident young people.
There has been great news for Falmouth School this week. The Government's official statistics were published on Thursday which include exam results for A levels and GCSEs. 'The Times' newspaper has collated all this information and picked out its top ten schools in each county. They have named Falmouth School as the top school in Cornwall which is fabulous news!
Over the past week it has been fabulous to see and hear of our students involved in so many extra-curricular events. At the RNLI concert in Falmouth Methodist church playing with Pendennis Brass band, dancing as part of 'The Hotel Experience' community dance event, playing for so many local sports clubs, competing in the Rotary Young Chef competition, as well as helping out in charity shops in town.
Immediately before the half term holiday the Government issued information which forms the school performance tables. I am delighted to inform you that Falmouth School students have once again achieved results which place the school highly in all categories and well above national averages, with a first, two seconds a third and a fourth place among the 31 state secondary schools in Cornwall.
I hope that you had a fabulous summer with some of the best weather for a very long time. School is busy as ever with students excited to return and see some friends they haven't seen for a while.
As we draw towards the end of another very busy term and academic year, there have been many fabulous events that our students have excelled in.
You are now able to access the Falmouth MAT website by using the www.falmouthmat.org.uk address. The website contains the MAT documents that detail our operations in the partnership across the three schools along with job vacancy and contact information. The website will be updated with additional information regularly so please go to the site to be fully informed about our MAT work.
Welcome back to the start of the Spring Term 2018. We are straight back to business with January exams being sat by some of our students in the first week back!


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Roger Federer, Tennis News, Tennis Tournaments
6-time champion Federer would 'go to the moon' to play ATP Finals
Six-time ATP Tour Finals champion, Roger Federer, has declared his great love for the season-ending showpiece, claiming he would 'go to the moon' in order to play at the event.
Speaking in a Zoom interview with Tim Henman and Bjorn Borg, as part of a series of interviews for the ATP Tour Finals, the Swiss maestro spoke of how important this tournament has been for him throughout his illustrious career.
Recalling his first ATP Finals win, Federer outlined the importance of arriving at the top table for the future of all tennis players wanting to reach the summit of the game. "Qualifying for the Tennis Masters Cup (in 2003) was a huge deal," Federer told Henman. "It opened my belief that I could beat the best baseline players from the baseline. 2003 was a true breakthrough tournament for me at the time."
The former World No. 1 went on to win his debut appearance in the competition. The rest is, perhaps not quite yet, history.
This year's tournament will be the last in London. It traditionally moves around the globe every few years, having previously been held in Shanghai, Houston, and Sydney, as well as a host of other major cities. The O2 Stadium in London has been home to the ATP Tour Finals for the past twelve years, due mainly to the huge success the event has enjoyed there. After more than a decade in the capital, it will be moving to Turin in 2021.
For Federer, the destination is secondary to the prestige of the tournament itself – "Honestly it doesn't matter where it moves, any player will go where it goes… I would go to the moon if I could", said the 20-time Grand Slam champion.
After a season decimated by injury, surgery, and a global pandemic, it will be a glorious return for Federer to compete next year in Turin. His last victory at the ATP Tour Finals came in 2011. Ten years on, his ambitions will not just be to compete, but to win… yet again.
By Jamie Smith


White blood cells (WBC) scintigraphy is widely used for the assessment of suspected bone infection (BI) and joint prosthesis infection (PJI) because of WBC accumulate in time in infection site. Early total-body images (30 min), acquired for the in vivo quality control, delay (3-4h p.i.) and late images (20-24h p.i.) are usually acquired to detect WBC pathological accumulation. In this study we evaluated whether a scintigraphic acquisition at 6h p.i. can substitute lated images acquired at 20-24h p.i.
We studied 50 patients (22 men and 28 women) with suspected bone and joint prosthetic infectious process. The mean age was 65.5 ± 13 years. 39 patients with suspected PJI, 11 with suspected BI. We collected clinical history and laboratory analysis (Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate, Reactive C Protein, WBC values) of all patients. Final diagnosis was based on microbiological colture or follow-up for at least 12 months. All patients underwent 99mTc-HMPAO WBC scintigraphy. Total-body and planar images (anterior and posterior) of the region of interest were acquired 30 minutes p.i., planar images (anterior and posterior) of the region of interest were acquired 4h, 6h and 22h p.i. using a two-head gamma-camera equipped with an integrated CT scanner (Infinia GE Medical System, Milwaukee). The time of acquisition, corrected on the decay time of the 99mTc, were respectively 300 sec, 476 sec, 600 sec and 3808 sec at 30min, 4h, 6h and 22h p.i.
All images were double-blind evaluated by three nuclear medicine physicians comparing 4h to 22h images and 4h to 6h. Consensus was reached for discordant cases.
Considering all 3 readers, planar scintigraphic images, acquired 4h and 6h p.i. showed 12 TP, 0 FP, 34 TN and 4 FN and planar scintigraphic images, acquired 4h and 22h p.i. showed 11 TP, 0 FP, 34 TN and 5 FN.
Our results suggest that WBC scintigraphy for diagnosis of PJI and BI could be performed in single-day in all patients with positive findings at 6h. The acquisition at 6h p.i. could replace the acquisition at 22h p.i. with less discomfort for the patient. In doubtful and/or negative scintigraphic results after 6h p.i. late images (20-24h p.i.) acquisition remains suggested.


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Techweek Chicago
Hunter Clauss | Charles Jefferson | June 18, 2015 11:30 am
Charles Jefferson
Ahead of the annual congregation of entrepreneurs, visionaries, and innovators at Techweek Chicago, we'll talk with Techweek CEO Katy Lynch about what to expect this year and how the weeklong event has rebounded from last year's snafu involving controversial party invites.
New TechWeek CEO Katy Lynch
Last month, Techweek named Chicago social-media expert Katy Lynch as its CEO. The company says this is a major step in advance of the Chicago conference that set off a firestorm on the issue of women in tech last year. We've compiled some things you should know about the new CEO.
Social Media Prowess
Lynch's first job in Chicago was overseeing social media and marketing for Where I've Been, a travel website and social platform that lets users share where they've been around the world. When the website sold to TripAdvisor in 2010 for $3 million, Lynch started her own business: SocialKaty, a media marketing agency that helped startups launch digital campaigns. By the time she sold the company in 2014, she had 25 full-time employees and 60 clients.
Moving Techweek Forward
"Simply put, I know exactly what happened last year," Lynch said. "The photo shared was an error in judgment."
Since then, Techweek has worked on making the events more women inclusive. The organizers are working with women's groups in each market and are growing the number of women presenters.
Good Reputation
Jellyvision CEO Amanda Lannert, who served as a speaker at Techweek in the past, told the Chicago Tribune that Lynch's skills, grace and penchant for transparency make her a good fit for the role.
"Strip away her gender, it's still a smart hire," Lannert said.
Katy Lynch
Hunter Clauss
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Alexander Elkan
An accomplished and knowledgeable environmental lawyer and litigator, Alex works efficiently to achieve his clients' goals. He provides strategic counsel on all manner of environmental, natural resources and land use matters, and represents clients in permitting and transactional matters as well as litigation before state and federal administrative tribunals, and trial and appellate courts. Alex often represents companies in the mining, timber, real estate, manufacturing, and waste management industry sectors, as well as municipal governments and individuals.
aelkan@brookspierce.com
Alex focuses his practice on environmental, natural resources, and land use law and litigation before state and federal administrative, trial, and appellate courts. He has extensive experience counseling and representing clients in virtually all manner of environmental compliance, transactional, permitting and litigation matters. Alex regularly handles a wide range of matters relating to mining, manufacturing, timbering and real estate development.
Examples include: obtaining Clean Water Act permits (401/404, NPDES, stormwater) and Clean Air Act permits; counseling waste management companies on regulatory compliance (including RCRA and CERCLA); advising real estate development companies on environmental and land use permitting; counseling manufacturing and other business clients on environmental, health and safety issues; and litigation involving permitting, government fines and penalties, and contamination.
Alex is recognized by clients and peers as a leading environmental lawyer and litigator. This recognition includes listings in The Best Lawyers in America© (Environmental Law), Business North Carolina's "Legal Elite" (Environmental Law), North Carolina "Super Lawyers" (Environmental Litigation) and as a "Future Star" by Benchmark Litigation.
Learn more about this practice area
Alex's trial and appellate litigation practice involves representing individual and corporate clients in all manner of business, environmental, natural resources and land use disputes before local, state and federal administrative tribunals, and trial and appellate judicial courts. Alex regularly litigates a broad range of complex matters involving mining, real estate, contaminated properties, toxic torts, permits, waste, and various other land use, environmental, and business matters.
Alex has represented clients before state agencies, commissions, and judiciary courts, including: the Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Administrative Hearings and Environmental Management Commission; numerous Superior Courts throughout the state; and the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court. He also regularly litigates matters in all Federal District Courts in the state, and in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Some of Alex's more notable cases include:
Trial and appellate litigation to judgment in defense of mining and real estate development clients against advocacy groups' challenges of Clean Water Act wetlands and discharge permits - including a case involving the successful defense of a state 401 Certification allowing one of the largest areas of wetlands impact, mitigation and preservation ever authorized. [See Pamlico-Tar River Foundation et al. v. NC DENR (Office of Administrative Hearings, Environmental Management Commission, and Wake County Superior Court)]
Trial and appellate litigation to judgment in defense of manufacturing clients against multiple personal injury and property claims based on alleged groundwater contamination. The clients' success stands as the leading toxic tort decision under North Carolina law. [See Curl et al. v. American Multimedia et al. (Alamance County Superior Court and North Carolina Court of Appeals)]
Appeal to the North Carolina Supreme Court in defense of a real estate development client against state government fines and penalties issued for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act. The client's success stands as a leading decision on third-party intervention and government penalties under North Carolina law. [See Holly Ridge v. NC DENR (North Carolina Supreme Court)]
Trial and appellate litigation to judgment in successful defense of a real estate client in a matter involving a commercial lease and contract dispute. [See Kennedy v. Gardner (Guilford County Superior Court and North Carolina Court of Appeals)]
Trial litigation to judgment in successful defense of a law firm client against business tort and contract claims arising out of real estate development and securities matters. [See Synergy Financial, LLC v. Zarro et al. (Federal District Court for the Western District of North Carolina)]
Defense of a manufacturing company client and successful resolution of federal government fines and penalties issued for alleged violations of environmental reporting requirements. [See U.S. Environmental Protection Agency v. Greenfiber, LLC (U.S. EPA Region IX)]
Alex maintains a land use practice in which he counsels and represents developers and property owners in relation to all manner of zoning and land use matters, including representation before planning boards, boards of adjustment, city councils and county boards of commissioners, as well as related litigation before trial and appellate courts when appropriate to achieve clients' goals.
Alex understands that each matter is unique to the project, the land, and the legal, political and technical circumstances presented, and tailors his approach to pragmatically and efficiently achieve his clients' goals. His role may range from "behind the scenes" counselor to comprehensive representation in which he takes the lead in communicating with landowners, regulators, municipal staff, and elected officials to minimize opposition and garner support.
His experience includes successfully working throughout North Carolina – from the mountains to the piedmont to the coast - on matters involving rezonings, variances, special use permits, CAMA and wetlands permitting, stream buffer and stormwater issues, and other concerns. Alex has helped clients obtain government authorizations for highly contested projects, and has skillfully litigated numerous real estate and land use matters. He very much enjoys the multifaceted nature of land use matters and working creatively to achieve his client's goals.
Alex has extensive experience representing clients before local, state, and federal administrative tribunals on a wide range of complex environmental, natural resources, and land use matters. Alex handles regulatory compliance issues, variances, administrative rule-making and interpretation, environmental investigation, audit and penalty matters, and administrative contested cases.
Recognized as a "Future Star" by Benchmark Litigation (2019-2021)
Recognized by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© in Environmental Law (2013-2021), Natural Resources Law (2021)
Selected by his peers for inclusion in Business North Carolina's "Legal Elite" in Environmental Law (2012, 2014, 2019-2021)
Recognized in North Carolina Super Lawyers (Thomson Reuters) for Environmental Litigation (2016-2017, 2019); named a "Rising Star" in Environmental Litigation (2012-2013)
2010 Herb Falk Society Pro Bono Award (Greensboro Bar Association)
2014 Pro Bono Award (Greensboro Bar Association)
Adjunct Law Professor, Environmental Law, Elon University School of Law (2016-present)
American Bar Association, Litigation and Environmental Sections (2003-present)
North Carolina Bar Association, Litigation and Environmental Sections (2003-present)
North Carolina Bar Association, Environmental Section Council (2006-2012, 2016-present)
Chair, Pro Bono Committee, North Carolina Bar Association (2015-present)
Defense Research Institute, Toxic Tort and Environmental Litigation Committee (2004-2008)
Greensboro Bar Association (2003-present)
Greensboro Bar Association, Young Lawyers Section Board of Directors (2004-2006)
United Way of Greater Greensboro, Community Grants Committee (2006-2010)
Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro Future Fund, Grants Committee (2007-2010)
President, Board of Directors, Green Hill Center for North Carolina Art (2005-2011)
YMCA and GUSA, Youth Athletics Coach (2005-2015)
Assistant Scoutmaster, Boy Scouts of America Troop 101 (2012-present)
"Environmental law: A litigator's perspective on permitting considerations," Business North Carolina Law Journal, 2017
"Environmental Issues Related to Mining Activities" chapter in North Carolina Environmental Law Desk Manual NCBA 2015
"North Carolina Shale Gas Mineral Rights and Access," UNC School of Law Festival of Legal Learning, 2013
"North Carolina Shale Gas Mineral Rights and Access," Half Moon Land Law Seminar, 2012
"Environmental Risks of Lenders," North Carolina Bankers Association Annual Meeting, 2011
"Recent Developments in Environmental Law," Annual Meeting of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association, 2007
"Legal Perspectives on Phase I Environmental Assessments," S&ME Environmental Professional Seminar, 2007
"Environmental Law Developments", Annual Meeting of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association, 2006
I grew up on a farm and learned diligence and perseverance working in the agriculture, construction, and fishing industries. My education and experience prior to earning a law degree include earning a masters degree and an "all-but-dissertation" doctorate in environmental science and policy, and working as a commercial fisherman in the North Pacific Ocean, a volunteer in West Africa, an ecological research scientist in the Gulf of Mexico, a staffer in the U.S. Senate, and a teaching and research associate and environmental policy consultant in North Carolina.
I deeply appreciate the interconnectedness of our economy and environment, and enjoy using my scientific and legal expertise to creatively address complex matters. While I find it particularly rewarding to counsel clients at a stage when we can work together to foresee and address issues before they become problems, I also relish the opportunity to solve problems when they arise and litigate matters to final judgment when appropriate to achieve clients' goals.
Recent Publications & Media
North Carolina Governor Issues "Modified Stay at Home" Order
This week, Governor Roy Cooper issued a "Modified Stay at Home" order. His new Executive Order 181 , among other things, requires people to stay at home between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. It also requires restaurants, bars, entertainment venues, personal...(read more)
Governor Tightens Mask Requirements and Enforcement — Again Extends North Carolina Phase 3.0 COVID-19 Restrictions
This week, Governor Roy Cooper tightened mask requirements and enforcement and again extended North Carolina's Phase 3.0 COVID-19 restrictions. His new Executive Order 180 is effective on Nov. 25, 2020 at 5 p.m. and extends Phase 3.0 restrictions (...(read more)
Twenty-six Brooks Pierce attorneys have been recognized by their peers for inclusion in the 2021...(read more)
Brooks Pierce has been named a "Highly Recommended" law firm for general litigation and "...(read more)
The 2021 edition of The Best Lawyers in America © recognized 73 Brooks Pierce attorneys as industry...(read more)
Twenty-one Brooks Pierce attorneys have been recognized by their peers for inclusion in the 2020...(read more)
Forty-four Brooks Pierce attorneys have been recognized in the 2019 edition of North Carolina Super...(read more)
Twenty-five Brooks Pierce attorneys have been recognized by their peers for inclusion in the 2019...(read more)
Thirty-eight Brooks Pierce attorneys have been recognized in the 2017 edition of North Carolina...(read more)
Thirty-six Brooks Pierce attorneys have been recognized in the 2016 edition of North Carolina Super...(read more)
Three Brooks Pierce attorneys recently received the 2014 Pro Bono Award from the Greensboro Bar...(read more)
The 2015 edition of The Best Lawyers in America© recognized 46 Brooks Pierce attorneys as industry...(read more)
Business North Carolina magazine publishes annually the "Legal Elite," lawyers throughout the state...(read more)
Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, LLP is pleased to announce that 46 lawyers were...(read more)
Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, LLP is pleased to announce that 45 lawyers,...(read more)
Brooks Pierce is pleased to announce that 38 lawyers, representing 43% of the firm's attorneys,...(read more)
Governor Again Extends Phase 3.0 COVID-19 Restrictions for North Carolina
This week, Governor Roy Cooper extended and modified North Carolina's Phase 3.0 COVID-19 restrictions effective through 5 p.m. on Dec. 4, 2020. His new Executive Order 176 extends and modifies the Phase 3 restrictions that were first detailed in...(read more)
Governor Extends Phase 3.0 COVID-19 Restrictions for North Carolina
This week, Governor Roy Cooper extended North Carolina's Phase 3.0 COVID-19 restrictions through 5 p.m. on Nov. 13, 2020. His new Executive Order 170 extends the Phase 3 restrictions that were first detailed in Executive Order 169. Highlights of the...(read more)
Governor Moves North Carolina to Phase 3.0 COVID-19 Restrictions
This week, Governor Roy Cooper issued Executive Order 169 moving North Carolina to Phase 3.0 COVID-19 restrictions. The new Order is effective Oct. 2, 2020 at 5 p.m. through 5 p.m. on Oct. 23, 2020. Highlights of the new Order include : Large...(read more)
Governor Moves State to "Safer at Home" Phase 2.5 COVID-19 Restrictions; Extends Limited Hours for Alcohol Sales
This week, Governor Roy Cooper issued Executive Order 163 moving North Carolina to a "Safer at Home" Phase 2.5. The new Order is effective Sept. 4, 2020 at 5 p.m. through 5 p.m. on Oct. 2, 2020. Highlights of the new Order include : Mass gathering...(read more)
Governor Extends "Safer at Home" Phase 2 COVID-19 Restrictions
On Aug. 5, Governor Roy Cooper issued Executive Order 155 , which further extends North Carolina's "Safer At Home" Phase 2 through 5 p.m. on Sept. 11, 2020. The new Executive Order extends and continues the measures of Executive Order No. 141...(read more)
Governor Extends Phase Two of COVID-19 Restrictions and Adds New Face Covering Requirement for North Carolina
Governor Roy Cooper this week issued Executive Order 147 . The Order extends until 5:00 p.m. on July 17 the "Safer at Home" Phase 2 of the State's plan to respond to the COVID-19 virus. Cooper cited a number of metrics, including an increase in the...(read more)
North Carolina Moving to Phase Two of Easing COVID-19 Restrictions
Governor Roy Cooper took additional executive action this week related to North Carolina's response to the COVID-19 virus. The move transitions North Carolina into the second phase of a plan to gradually ease statewide restrictions designed to slow...(read more)
North Carolina Enters Phase One of Easing COVID-19 Restrictions
Gov. Roy Cooper took executive action this week related to North Carolina's response to the COVID-19 virus. The move transitions North Carolina into the first phase of a plan to gradually ease statewide restrictions that are said to have slowed the...(read more)
NC Governor Cooper Extends Statewide "Stay at Home" Order and Order Closing Schools
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper took additional executive action this week related to the COVID-19 virus and its impact on the state. On Thursday, April 23, he issued Executive Order 135 , which extends until May 8 the statewide "Stay At Home"...(read more)
Alex Elkan Discusses Essential Business Designations with the Triad Business Journal
Brooks Pierce partner Alex Elkan was recently quoted in an article with the Triad Business Journal discussing Gov. Roy Cooper's "stay at home" order. The article, "What you need to know about which businesses are essential and which aren't," details...(read more)
NC Governor Cooper Issues Statewide "Stay at Home" Order (Critical Infrastructure and Essential Business Operations Continue)
On March 27, 2020, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper issued Executive Order No. 121 , a statewide "Stay at Home" order, which is intended to slow the spread of COVID-19 in our state. The Order goes into effect at 5 p.m. on Monday, March 30, 2020,...(read more)
Clean Water Act Controversy
A point source by any other name. Federal Courts of Appeals have recently split on the question of whether pollution of surface water via groundwater is a violation of the Clean Water Act. The U.S. Supreme Court may weigh in. The Clean Water Act...(read more)
Brooks Pierce Partner Alexander Elkan Published in Business NC
Brooks Pierce partner Alexander Elkan recently wrote an article for Business NC focusing on strategic issues for businesses to consider when siting and developing facilities that require environmental permits. Elkan identifies eight elements for...(read more)
Environmental Law Update: Uncertainty about the time limit for filing a groundwater contamination claim in North Carolina
What is the latest date upon which a private plaintiff must file a claim for personal injury or property damage based on groundwater contamination in North Carolina? Until recently, the answer to this question appeared to be well-settled at ten...(read more)
Joint News Release from Brooks Pierce, Legal Aid of North Carolina and Mary's House
Greensboro program for homeless mothers and children recovers significant back-funding in settlement of lawsuit against stateRead more
Brooks Pierce attorney Alexander Elkan Appointed to Sustainable Furnishings Council Board
Five new members have recently joined the board of the Sustainable Furnishings Council, a national organization advocating for the responsible sourcing, manufacturing, marketing and sale of residential furnishings. The new members beginning three-...(read more)
Law of the Little: Federal Court Sends Conditional Registrations of Nanosilver Pesticides Back to EPA
Swiss company HeiQ Materials proposed to use new pesticides AGS-20 and AGS-20 (U) on manufactured textiles such as clothing, blankets, and carpet. Nanosilver is used in the pesticides to suppress microbes that cause odors and stains. The U.S...(read more)
2013 North Carolina Environmental Legislation Summary
The 2013 session of the North Carolina General Assembly came to a close on July 26, 2013, and a number of legislative actions this year impacted environmental regulation in North Carolina. Governor McCrory has now signed into law all of the Bills...(read more)
Steps Toward Wind Energy Development Off North Carolina Coast
The possibility of wind energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) off North Carolina's shores moved one step closer to fruition last week, as the Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) released its Call for...(read more)
North Carolina Mineral Rights / Access to Shale Gas
Shale gas is natural gas (methane) found within hydrocarbon-rich sedimentary rocks. The gas is located in "shale gas plays" – gas-rich rock formations with similar geologic properties and geographic distribution. Nationally, significant shale gas...(read more)
From Copenhagen to Greensboro: Green Market Opportunities for Businesses
In December, leaders representing 200 countries will meet in Copenhagen, Denmark for negotiations on a new international agreement addressing global warming. In Washington, Congress has been debating domestic legislation for reducing greenhouse gas...(read more)
ADA Amendments Act
On September 25, 2008, the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 ("ADAAA") was signed into law by President Bush. The ADAAA makes significant changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), expanding protections for individuals with disabilities. The...(read more)
Alex Elkan provides insight into environmental law changes
In The Business Journal article "Underground storage tank site eligibility among reform changes," Brook Pierce attorney Alex Elkan provides insight into environmental law changes impacting the use and development of contaminated properties. The...(read more)
Compliance & Internal Investigations
Land Use & Zoning
University of North Carolina School of Law
J.D., 2003
M.E.M., 1996
B.S., 1991
Bar & Court Admissions
US Court of Appeals
US District Court - North Carolina
Middle District
Certified North Carolina Superior Court Mediator


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Seattle are Champions of MLS!
Seattle Sounders FC win the MLS Cup!
Alexander Thomas, Staff Writer
Seattle Sounders FC won the MLS Cup by beating Toronto FC yesterday with a score of 3-1. This is the third time in four years where both teams have met in the finals. The first time they met was in the 2016 final where Seattle won 5-4 on penalties. The second meeting was in 2017; Toronto won 2-0. This is Seattle's second title in club history. This was also the first time these two teams played at CenturyLink Field in Seattle (the previous two matches were held in BMO Field, Toronto's home ground). Over 69,000 raving Sounders and Toronto fans were in attendance, marking this game the second largest MLS Cup final in order of attendance.
SeattleSoundersFC
TorontoFC
Alexander is a Communication major on track to become an MLB/NFL play-by-play announcer. He originally was an Accounting major, but eventually realized...
A Battle Red Loss…
Rockets beat the defending champs in Toronto
Texans beat the Patriots for the first time under Bill O'Brien
Texans win a close one against the rival Colts!
Texans get WHOOPED by Lamar Jackson and Co.
HCC offers entrepreneurial opportunities, competitions to students
Houston Astros Organization accused of Sign-Stealing
Kanye West will appear at Houston's Lakewood Church after Jesus Is King Album success
Texans win in the London!
Our Biggest Fear came true…