Here you'll find some of the most frequently asked questions regarding your CDL concerns.
What is a commercial driver's license? What vehicles are considered commercial vehicles?
A single vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 26,001 lbs. or more.
A trailer with a GVWR of more than 10,000 lbs. if the combined weight of the vehicle and trailer is 26,001 lbs. or more.
Any size vehicle that is required to show Hazardous Materials placards.
Do I need a CDL to drive a recreational vehicle or to tow a camping trailer behind my pickup truck?
No. If the combined weight is lower than those weights listed above, you do not need a CDL.
Are there age limits for a CDL?
If you wish to drive a commercial vehicle within Oklahoma only, you must be 18 years old. If you wish to drive interstate (outside of Oklahoma) you must be 21 years old.
What kind of testing will I have to take in order to get my CDL?
First, you will be required to take and pass (with at least an 80% or better) a general knowledge test. If you plan to drive a bus, you will be required to take and pass a passenger transport test.
There are also specific tests for doubles/triples, for vehicles with air brakes, for tankers, and for hazardous materials transport.
Refer to our Commercial Driver Education section for detailed information about testing.
I'm planning to drive a school bus. Is there a section of the Commercial Driver's Manual just for me?
Yes there is! Take a look at the Supplement for Bus Drivers.
It has all the additional information you'll need to become a bus driver in the state of Oklahoma.
I need to transport an oversize load within Oklahoma. Where do I apply for the proper permits?
Just visit the Size and Weights Permits Page on the Department of Public Safety's website for more information on oversize load permits. You may apply online for the oversize permit if your load falls within the size and weight categories indicated.
If I fail any of my testing for my CDL, am I still required to pay a fee?
Yes and no. You will not have to pay a fee on the day that you take and fail a test. However, if you decide to re-take the test and pass, you will be charged $4 for each time you took the test and failed. This is known as the "fail fee."
I need to transport hazardous materials for my job, but I don't need to drive anything larger than a standard pickup truck. Is it true that I need a CDL to do this?
Yes. The law in the State of Oklahoma states that if you drive any size vehicle that requires Hazardous Materials placards, you must have a CDL. In addition, you must apply for a background check and fingerprinting through the federal TSA. This costs $86.50 and is good for 5 years.
I want to drive a shuttle bus for my church. The bus holds 10 people, plus the driver. Do I need a CDL?
No. You are only required to hold a CDL if your bus is designed to carry 16 passengers or more, including the driver.
Please note that if your bus is designed for 16 passengers or more, but you never carry that many, you will still need a CDL if you're driving it for hire (either for pay or volunteer). The requirement is based on the vehicle size, not the usual passenger numbers.
I see the listing of Tag Agents in Oklahoma, do I need to go to one of these for my testing?
No, you may contact the tag agent, the local police department, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, or your local Sheriff's Office to get the dates, places, and times of testing in your area. You will need to go to a tag agent to get your license and pay all applicable fees, though.


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PCMag Australia Reviews Software Personal & Home Personal Finance - Products Cryptocurrency
Apple Co-Founder Wozniak Has a New Startup That Melds Blockchain and Green Tech
His startup, Efforce, is supposed to act as a digital marketplace that companies can use to raise funding for energy efficiency projects via a virtual token dubbed WOZX.
5 Dec 2020, 9:18 a.m.
(Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has started a new company that's promising to innovate the energy industry through a virtual currency called "WOZX."
We know, it sounds weird. But Wozniak is hoping the new startup, Efforce, will help stop climate change by promoting "green" energy efficient technologies. It marks only the second time Wozniak has founded a company since starting Apple with Steve Jobs back in 1976.
"We can save the environment simply by making more energy improvements," Wozniak said in today's announcement. "We created Efforce to be the first decentralized platform that allows everyone to participate and benefit financially from worldwide energy efficiency projects, and create meaningful environmental change."
So how will this actually work? Well, Efforce is supposed to act as a digital marketplace that companies can use to raise funding for energy efficiency projects. This might include switching over to low-energy LED lighting, or adopting a better manufacturing process to save on electricity.
"The companies will then have more available cash to use for other critical projects such as infrastructure or hiring," said Jacopo Visetti, another co-founder of Efforce.
(Credit: Efforce)
Specifically, Efforce plans to work with energy service companies (ESCOs), which specialize in arranging financing for energy-saving projects. Wozniak's startup will evaluate the investment needed for the projects, calculate the anticipated savings, and then come up with a contract that'll detail the returns for both the company and investors.
"The platform then lists the project for crowd contribution. The participants may buy into the project using fractional or whole WOZX tokens," Efforce added. The startup will then use special meters to measure the energy savings from the project and log them on the WOZX blockchain. Any savings made will be distributed into the investors' profile as energy credits, which can then be used or sold.
Although Wozniak is one of six co-founders of the company, it's unclear what role he'll have in leading Efforce. For now, the startup's website merely lists him as an engineer. However, his name and presence will certainly drive up publicity for a company that claims to be already valued at $90 million.
The company yesterday also listed the WOZX token on the cryptocurrency exchange HBTC, where it's currently being traded at around $1.09 per token.
Wozniak Sues YouTube for Hosting Bitcoin Video Scams Exploiting His Image
Musk, Woz: Let's Hold Off on the Killer Robots
TSMC Boosts Chip Manufacturing Budget by $10 Billion for 2021

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News from the 9th: So-Called Inflation Reduction Act Taxes and Spends, Won't Reduce Inflation
From the desk of Rep. H. Morgan Griffith
Like a horror movie monster seemingly finished off at the end returning for a sequel, the Democrat tax-and-spend reconciliation bill that once appeared dead has returned in the summer of 2022.
Originally dubbed "Build Back Better," this monster bill now goes by the "Inflation Reduction Act." The text, however, shows that it does no such thing.
Instead, it seeks to implement provisions of the Green New Deal, impose socialist price controls, raise taxes, and empower the Internal Revenue Service.
Analysts have already dispensed with the idea that the so-called Inflation Reduction Act would meaningfully reduce inflation. According to the Penn Wharton Budget Model, "The impact on inflation is statistically indistinguishable from zero." In fact, the model finds that the bill would continue to push inflation upward until 2024.
So the bill does not do what its title says it does, rendering it an example of George Orwell's Doublespeak. But what do its authors and supporters say it will do?
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) tweeted: "The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 will be the largest package on climate change ever passed by Congress."
The text of the bill supports this contention of Senator Schumer more than it supports the idea of inflation reduction. But the provisions he has in mind will hurt Americans already struggling to cope with soaring costs and unreliable energy while providing negligible benefits to the environment.
Shelling out billions of dollars to subsidize solar and wind power will not make those power sources more reliable. At the same time, the bill targets reliable and affordable fossil fuels with more taxes. More power plants using fossil fuels will close, but wind and solar will not be able to meet the resulting demand. Handing out billions of dollars in "environmental justice" grants will be little comfort to Americans who cannot be sure their power will stay on.
Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), one of the bill's negotiators, argues that these provisions are balanced out by a commitment from Senator Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and President Biden to pass permitting reform separately, apparently including accelerating completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). There is reason to doubt, however, that these reforms will get enough support from his side of the aisle to become law. Further, many Virginians I know who live in the path of the MVP are opposed to its completion. Progressives may be happy to take what Senator Manchin offers them now and object to his permitting reforms later.
Another major Democrat priority included in this bill is price controls on prescription drugs. I agree that drug prices are too high and have worked on legislation with Democrats and Republicans to address the problem. The approach to drug prices taken in this bill, however, threatens to harm medical innovation without actually solving the price problem.
The bill's authors call the price controls "negotiations," but the negotiations take the form of telling drug companies that they have to come to terms or else be subject to punitive tax rates. When Democrats pushed similar legislation in the House of Representatives, I noted that this provision would run afoul of the Constitution's takings clause prohibiting the taking of private property for public use without just compensation. After I made that point, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service agreed with my analysis that this provision was unconstitutional.
In addition to their unconstitutionality, these price controls would lead to less investment in medical innovation, reducing the number of treatments and cures available to patients. That outcome counts as a significant cost to taxpayers.
To pay for these schemes, Democrats opted to raise taxes and expand the Internal Revenue Service. The bill would spend $80 billion for the IRS to hire 87,000 new agents to go through the returns of ordinary Americans. A corporate minimum tax would fall heaviest on manufacturing and producing industries such as coal.
President Biden pledged not to raise taxes on Americans making under $400,000, but citizens of all income levels would feel the hand of government falling heavier upon them.
Reducing inflation should be a priority of the Biden Administration and congressional Democrats. After all, they did so much to cause the problem. But bringing back the same old agenda and calling it inflation reduction is an insult to the Americans now pressured by surging costs and shrinking real wages.
If you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405, my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671, or my Washington office at 202-225-3861. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov.
Know Before You Go: Roanoke College Edition
Briefly: Salem News In Brief 8/11/22


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Ryan Reynolds Responds to Rumors His Marriage to Blake Lively Is In Trouble
I could use a little "me time."
Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively routinely troll each other on social media, but the Deadpool star took it to the next level when he was forced to defend his marriage this weekend.
Ryan Reynolds Trolls Blake Lively in 'Deadpool 2'
An "insider" allegedly told IB Times, "The past few years, Ryan's been working out of town while Blake stays home with the kids. The distance between them has taken its toll." The gossip site tweeted, "Ryan Reynolds and wife Blake Lively struggling to spend 'quality time'" together.
And Reynolds' response to this report? "I wish. I could use a little 'me time'."
As per usual, Reynolds is ready to tease his wife on social media, which suggests that their marriage is more than fine.
I wish. I could use a little "me time". https://t.co/S6kXFsWaMe
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) March 31, 2018
Reynolds and Lively have a long history of trolling one another, and their constant joking appears to help keep their relationship alive.
But, perhaps the couple's sweetest online moment, was when Reynolds was photographed with Lively for the Humans of New York Instagram account. Explaining why their marriage worked, Reynolds revealed:
"She always responds with empathy. She meets anger with empathy. She meets hate with empathy. She'll take the time to imagine what happened to a person when they were five or six years old. And she's made me a more empathetic person. I had a very fractured relationship with my father. Before he died, she made me remember things I didn't want to remember. She made me remember the good times."
"She always responds with empathy. She meets anger with empathy. She meets hate with empathy. She'll take the time to imagine what happened to a person when they were five or six years old. And she's made me a more empathetic person. I had a very fractured relationship with my father. Before he died, she made me remember things I didn't want to remember. She made me remember the good times."
A post shared by Humans of New York (@humansofny) on May 1, 2017 at 6:33pm PDT
It's pretty clear that Reynolds and Lively are just fine right now, thank you very much.
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds's Body Language
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As the sun sets, you don your equipment and slip into the underwater world by night. Even the most familiar dive site takes on a new dimension as you discover it and its nocturnal inhabitants by your dive light. In this course you will learn night dive planning, organization, procedures, techniques and how to control your buoyancy at night. As well as seeing nocturnal aquatic life, since many of the plants and animals you will see are different.


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Q: A property of centroid Let $\triangle ABC$ be an arbitrary triangle and let $G$ be its centroid. Three medians are denoted by $AD,BE,CF$. I am attempting to show that the circumcentres of $\triangle AGF,\triangle GFB,\triangle BGD,\triangle DGC,\triangle CGE,\triangle EGA$ lie on a circle. I've worked on the problem several days by some analytic means and find it hard to solve, so I wonder if there is an elegent way to prove the result, and is there a description of the center of this circle?
Any advise or help would be appreciated, thanks.

A: The problem describes famous Van Lamoen circle.
The proof is not elementary (won't fit a single sheet of paper, I mean) and you can find several diferent ones on the web. Actually, this is the problem of the Olympic caliber. Two different proofs:
The Lamoen circle, Darij Grinberg
Another proof of van Lamoen's Theorem and Its Converse,
Nguyen Minh Ha
The hexagon $A_bA_cB_aB_cC_aC_b$ has other interesting properties. For example, the opposite sides are parallel and main diagonals are of equal length.

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It is time for another SU Only Challenge and we are asking to see your invitations! Whatever your occasion, we can't wait to see how you invite people to join you.
I knew I wanted to make an invitation using the Up, Up and Away set. Of course I love the set as balloons but it can also make flowers!!! Using a sketch from the Pals Paper Arts Challenge designed by the talented Margaret Moody, I stamped the striped balloons on the angle and put them together to look like a flower. My Brights Designer Paper Pack provided the DSP and I added an Old Olive button as the flower center. The sentiment comes from Inviting which is one of those great to have, all purpose word sets!
I decorated the inside of the card with another kind of balloon and a place to put all the party details.
I hope you can come over and join the fun on this challenge. Don't forget that you have almost two weeks to complete your entry!
Thanks so much for stopping by today. I will be back on Friday for a Stampin' Addicts Holiday Mini Blog Hop. You won't want to miss it!!
OOh, very nice! I hadn't considered "what else" could be done with the hot air balloons. Very clever and the card is so colorful and fun! TFS!
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Cool idea! I love it when people show me how to "think out of the box"! Thank you for sharing your creativity!


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Terance Mann was a star in Florida State's win over Gonzaga in the Sweet 16 (18 points), and he's one of the young pieces Leonard Hamilton returns next season.
The Seminoles had few bad losses in 2017-18 and finished 9-9 in a strong ACC. The NCAA could give Phil Cofer (12.8 PPG) another season of eligibility after he missed the bulk of the 2015-16 season to injury.
Oregon will have the kind of lengthy athletes that carried the Ducks to the Final Four in 2017. This year's team never found that rhythm. Bol could turn this program into a Pac-12 power and NCAA tournament squad again.
To remain ranked this high, the Orange will need Tyus Battle — a projected late first-round pick — to announce his return. The sophomore was Syracuse's leading scorer (19.2 PPG) and has not signed with an agent.
Oshae Brissett (14.9 PPG, 8.8 RPG) is officially back, as is Cheap Baseball Jerseys China Frank Howard, so if Battle returns, Jim Boeheim will have the personnel to build upon last season's Sweet 16 finish. Five-star prospect Darius Bazley chose to turn pro and enter the NBA's G League, but Boeheim is Boeheim. Syracuse will figure it out.
The Giants are hoping to squeeze more respectable play Cheap China Jerseys out of Manning before he retires, trusting in his past spikes and giving him more of a running game and defense on which to lean. There's no clear successor in New York for now, but Lauletta could push Webb and get closer to that status.
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In our Brazilian Jiu Jitsu kids program, students will learn effective ways to defend themselves if forced into a physical confrontation. They will learn ways of dealing with bullying and gain confidence as a result. More than that, they will learn life skills that enable them to tackle life's obstacles.
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Henri Ruel, a long-time resident of Kennedy Lake passed away peacefully on August 15, 2018, in Duncan, BC. Henri was predeceased by his beloved wife, Dorothy Ruel and is survived by his children Jeannette (Rob) Humphreys, Roland (Janet) Ruel, Denise (Jack) Mihaichuk, nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Henri hosted Friday jam nights at Living Water Community Church, played drums in the Backdoor Blues band, and gave drumming lessons to people of all ages. His illness forced him to move to a care facility closer to his children, but he never stopped talking about the fun he had while living in your community.
An informal Celebration of Life is being hosted at Kennedy Lake on Saturday, April 20 from 11 am to 2 pm. Due to the lack of cooking facilities, please bring your own picnic lunch to enjoy along with your acoustic instruments so that we can remember Henri the way he would want, with the people he cared about jamming together.


text:
Evidence for a rapid decrease of Pluto's atmospheric pressure revealed by a stellar occultation in 2019
K. Arimatsu, G. L. Hashimoto, M. Kagitani, T. Sakanoi, Y. Kasaba, R. Ohsawa, S. Urakawa
We report observations of a stellar occultation by Pluto on 2019 July 17. A single-chord high-speed (time resolution = 2 s) photometry dataset was obtained with a CMOS camera mounted on the Tohoku University 60 cm telescope (Haleakala, Hawaii). The occultation light curve is satisfactorily fitted to an existing atmospheric model of Pluto. We find the lowest pressure value at a reference radius of r = 1215 km among those reported after 2012. These reports indicate a possible rapid (approximately 21-5+4% of the previous value) pressure drop between 2016, which is the latest reported estimate, and 2019. However, this drop is detected at a 2.4σ level only and still requires confirmation from future observations. If real, this trend is opposite from the monotonic increase of Pluto's atmospheric pressure reported by previous studies. The observed decrease trend is possibly caused by ongoing N2 condensation processes in the Sputnik Planitia glacier associated with an orbitally driven decline of solar insolation, as predicted by previous theoretical models. However, the observed amplitude of the pressure decrease is larger than the model predictions.
https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202037762
Kuiper belt objects: individual: Pluto
Planets and satellites: atmospheres
Planets and satellites: physical evolution
10.1051/0004-6361/202037762
Dive into the research topics of 'Evidence for a rapid decrease of Pluto's atmospheric pressure revealed by a stellar occultation in 2019'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
stellar occultation Physics & Astronomy 100%
Pluto (planet) Physics & Astronomy 91%
Pluto Earth & Environmental Sciences 91%
atmospheric pressure Earth & Environmental Sciences 59%
glaciers Physics & Astronomy 36%
trends Physics & Astronomy 31%
insolation Physics & Astronomy 31%
condensation (process) Earth & Environmental Sciences 29%
Arimatsu, K., Hashimoto, G. L., Kagitani, M., Sakanoi, T., Kasaba, Y., Ohsawa, R., & Urakawa, S. (2020). Evidence for a rapid decrease of Pluto's atmospheric pressure revealed by a stellar occultation in 2019. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 638, [L5]. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202037762
Evidence for a rapid decrease of Pluto's atmospheric pressure revealed by a stellar occultation in 2019. / Arimatsu, K.; Hashimoto, G. L.; Kagitani, M. et al.
In: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Vol. 638, L5, 01.06.2020.
Arimatsu, K, Hashimoto, GL, Kagitani, M, Sakanoi, T, Kasaba, Y, Ohsawa, R & Urakawa, S 2020, 'Evidence for a rapid decrease of Pluto's atmospheric pressure revealed by a stellar occultation in 2019', Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 638, L5. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202037762
Arimatsu K, Hashimoto GL, Kagitani M, Sakanoi T, Kasaba Y, Ohsawa R et al. Evidence for a rapid decrease of Pluto's atmospheric pressure revealed by a stellar occultation in 2019. Astronomy and Astrophysics. 2020 Jun 1;638:L5. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202037762
Arimatsu, K. ; Hashimoto, G. L. ; Kagitani, M. et al. / Evidence for a rapid decrease of Pluto's atmospheric pressure revealed by a stellar occultation in 2019. In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. 2020 ; Vol. 638.
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title = "Evidence for a rapid decrease of Pluto's atmospheric pressure revealed by a stellar occultation in 2019",
abstract = "We report observations of a stellar occultation by Pluto on 2019 July 17. A single-chord high-speed (time resolution = 2 s) photometry dataset was obtained with a CMOS camera mounted on the Tohoku University 60 cm telescope (Haleakala, Hawaii). The occultation light curve is satisfactorily fitted to an existing atmospheric model of Pluto. We find the lowest pressure value at a reference radius of r = 1215 km among those reported after 2012. These reports indicate a possible rapid (approximately 21-5+4% of the previous value) pressure drop between 2016, which is the latest reported estimate, and 2019. However, this drop is detected at a 2.4σ level only and still requires confirmation from future observations. If real, this trend is opposite from the monotonic increase of Pluto's atmospheric pressure reported by previous studies. The observed decrease trend is possibly caused by ongoing N2 condensation processes in the Sputnik Planitia glacier associated with an orbitally driven decline of solar insolation, as predicted by previous theoretical models. However, the observed amplitude of the pressure decrease is larger than the model predictions.",
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author = "K. Arimatsu and Hashimoto, {G. L.} and M. Kagitani and T. Sakanoi and Y. Kasaba and R. Ohsawa and S. Urakawa",
note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgements. We thank Dr. Bruno Sicardy for careful reading and providing constructive suggestions. This research has been partly supported by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI) Grant Numbers 15J10278, 16K17796, and 18K13606. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} ESO 2018.",
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T1 - Evidence for a rapid decrease of Pluto's atmospheric pressure revealed by a stellar occultation in 2019
AU - Arimatsu, K.
AU - Hashimoto, G. L.
AU - Kagitani, M.
AU - Sakanoi, T.
AU - Kasaba, Y.
AU - Ohsawa, R.
AU - Urakawa, S.
N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgements. We thank Dr. Bruno Sicardy for careful reading and providing constructive suggestions. This research has been partly supported by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI) Grant Numbers 15J10278, 16K17796, and 18K13606. Publisher Copyright: © ESO 2018.
N2 - We report observations of a stellar occultation by Pluto on 2019 July 17. A single-chord high-speed (time resolution = 2 s) photometry dataset was obtained with a CMOS camera mounted on the Tohoku University 60 cm telescope (Haleakala, Hawaii). The occultation light curve is satisfactorily fitted to an existing atmospheric model of Pluto. We find the lowest pressure value at a reference radius of r = 1215 km among those reported after 2012. These reports indicate a possible rapid (approximately 21-5+4% of the previous value) pressure drop between 2016, which is the latest reported estimate, and 2019. However, this drop is detected at a 2.4σ level only and still requires confirmation from future observations. If real, this trend is opposite from the monotonic increase of Pluto's atmospheric pressure reported by previous studies. The observed decrease trend is possibly caused by ongoing N2 condensation processes in the Sputnik Planitia glacier associated with an orbitally driven decline of solar insolation, as predicted by previous theoretical models. However, the observed amplitude of the pressure decrease is larger than the model predictions.
AB - We report observations of a stellar occultation by Pluto on 2019 July 17. A single-chord high-speed (time resolution = 2 s) photometry dataset was obtained with a CMOS camera mounted on the Tohoku University 60 cm telescope (Haleakala, Hawaii). The occultation light curve is satisfactorily fitted to an existing atmospheric model of Pluto. We find the lowest pressure value at a reference radius of r = 1215 km among those reported after 2012. These reports indicate a possible rapid (approximately 21-5+4% of the previous value) pressure drop between 2016, which is the latest reported estimate, and 2019. However, this drop is detected at a 2.4σ level only and still requires confirmation from future observations. If real, this trend is opposite from the monotonic increase of Pluto's atmospheric pressure reported by previous studies. The observed decrease trend is possibly caused by ongoing N2 condensation processes in the Sputnik Planitia glacier associated with an orbitally driven decline of solar insolation, as predicted by previous theoretical models. However, the observed amplitude of the pressure decrease is larger than the model predictions.
KW - Kuiper belt objects: individual: Pluto
KW - Occultations
KW - Planets and satellites: atmospheres
KW - Planets and satellites: physical evolution
U2 - 10.1051/0004-6361/202037762
DO - 10.1051/0004-6361/202037762
JO - Astronomy and Astrophysics
JF - Astronomy and Astrophysics
M1 - L5


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Britain requests Brexit delay until June 30
Britain has asked EU leaders to delay Brexit until June 30, Prime Minister Theresa May told parliament on Wednesday, on eve of an EU summit in Brussels.
May said she had written to EU President Donald Tusk "informing him that the UK seeks an extension to the Article 50 period to June 30".
"I don't want a long extension," she said, warning that a longer delay would mean Britain having to hold European Parliament elections at the end of May.
"The idea that three years after voting to leave the EU, the people of this country should be asked to elect a new set of MEPs is, I believe, unacceptable," she said.
"As prime minister, I am not prepared to delay Brexit any further than June 30," she said.
In the letter to Tusk released by Downing Street, May said she intended to bring the Brexit deal she has negotiated with the EU back to parliament even though MPs have rejected it twice by overwhelming margins.
"If the motion is passed, I am confident that parliament will proceed to ratify the deal constructively. But this will clearly not be completed before 29 March 2019," she wrote, adding that the timetable for passing the necessary legislation to allow Brexit was "inevitably uncertain".
"I am therefore writing to inform the European Council that the UK is seeking an extension to the Article 50 period… until 30 June 2019."
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U.S Court hands life sentence to drug kingpin, El Chapo
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Apps/Software
Google Home Can Now Be Paired With Other Bluetooth Speakers
Ron Caraos, Tech Times 29 March 2018, 07:03 am
The Google Home app now allows users to pair a Google Home device with their Bluetooth speakers, which they can then control with voice commands.
This feature has been possible for a while now with the use of a Chromecast Audio streamer that plugs into a speaker. Through this tool, the Home assistant is able to control it with the user's commands. Now, Google has eliminated the middle man and now allows a Home device to connect directly to the speaker.
Google Home Now Compatible With Non-Google Bluetooth Speakers
When a Bluetooth speaker is paired, Home automatically uses it to play music, podcasts, and audiobooks. Users can pair more than one speaker, which will enable the Assistant to output audio to rooms where there's no Home device. In relation to that, Google has a little reminder for people: this does not make the Bluetooth speaker a smart gadget.
"Note you'll still need to talk to your Google Home device — not the connected Bluetooth speakers — for queries like asking questions, getting weather updates and using smart home commands," the company stated in its announcement.
How To Set Up Bluetooth Speakers With Google Home
To start issuing voice commands to the Bluetooth speaker, users must pair it with Google Home first. To do that, they must have the Google Home app, where pairing instructions will be in the Device Settings.
After successfully pairing the devices, users can start ordering the smart assistant to turn up the volume or even shuffle the playlist. Via the app, people can associate the speaker with rooms or add it to a group to have the audio follow them around the house, provided that they have multiple speakers scattered in different rooms.
While users can pair more than a few speakers, the audio output goes to only one at a time. Currently, a Home device won't be able to blast music in two or more speakers at once, but that's something that fans are hoping will change in the near future.
If the owner so chooses, they can also make the Bluetooth speaker the default speaker for the Home. Doing this, the Google Assistant will respond through the designated speaker and not through the Home device.
Google hasn't divulged which Bluetooth speakers are compatible yet. However, the company assures that the selection is broad, as compatibility is not exclusive to Chromecast-enabled speakers. On the other hand, any device in the Home family, including the Google Home Mini, has this feature.
Tags: Google Google home Bluetooth Speakers
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Transfer Talk: Liverpool eye Juventus' Dybala in January
Published on: 06 December 2021
The summer transfer window was unlike any other. See all the major deals and check out how we graded the biggest signings. And just because the window is shut until January, that doesn't mean the rumours won't keep coming. Here's the latest gossip and speculation.
TOP STORY: Dybala on Liverpool's radar
Liverpool are interested in signing Juventus forward Paulo Dybala on a free transfer, according to Calciomercato.
The 28-year-old is out-of-contract with the Old Lady at the end of the season, with the Reds said to be interested if he was to leave on a free.
Messi vs. Ronaldo: Two superstars, two summer moves. How is it going?27dMark Ogden, Julien LaurensMaguire, Coutinho, Van Dijk: How it started, how it's going for soccer's most expensive XI39dMark OgdenThe biggest star every top Premier League team has traded69dTor-Kristian Karlsen
The Serie A club have been quiet on the agreement, with some reports claiming he already has an agreement in principle over a new deal that just needs pen put to paper and an official announcement.
Speaking on his contract situation, Dybala said to DAZN: "Right now the club has other things to resolve so for now we can wait on this, what's happening now is more important than my contract."
Journalist Fabrizio Romano has claimed that an agreement has been reached over a new deal, which will extend the forward's stay with the Bianconeri for another five-years.
Dybala has spent six years at Juventus, joining from Parma back in 2015 for a valuation of £36 million. He has since gone on to score 108 goals with 46 assists in 269 competitive appearances for the club, winning 12 trophies at Juve.
Despite an apparent deal agreed between the two parties, an announcement is still to be made on the renewal, with the player able to negotiate a pre-contract outside of Italy from Jan. 1.
Juventus star Paulo Dybala has yet to settle his long-term future. Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images
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- ESPN+ guide: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, FA Cup, more (U.S.)
PAPER GOSSIP
- Barcelona have reached a decisive week over the contract renewal of winger Ousmane Dembele, with Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United all interested in a move. The 24-year-old's current deal runs out at the end of the season, with the Catalan club making an ultimatum over a new contract that is reaching its last few days, reports Mundo Deportivo. He is said to be asked to decide over a final deal or the chance to play elsewhere.
- Real Madrid have identified midfielder Lovro Majer as the successor to Luka Modric in their central ranks. According to El Nacional, the Stade Rennais player is the top priority, with the Ligue 1 outfit valuing him at €35m.
- Atalanta have an agreement in principle for Sassuolo winger Jeremie Boga, reports journalist Nicolo Schira. The contract would run until 2026, though an agreement is yet to be reached between the clubs over the transfer. The reporter claims that Sassuolo value the player at €20m and don't want any other players included in the deal.
- Juventus are looking to move midfielder Arthur on loan in January, says Gazzetta dello Sport. The 25-year-old has struggled since his arrival in Italy from Barcelona, with the club looking to move him on due to his high wages in comparison to his game time.
- Newcastle are lining up a move for Stoke City striker Tyrese Campbell in January, says The Sun. The 21-year-old has impressed in the Championship, with new boss Eddie Howe willing to match the £20m valuation set by the Potters in a bid to avoid relegation.


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How much of money those Venezuelan dictators have in Dominica?
Mustafa Ali Noor
It is known to all that Dominica's Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerritt now only maintains deeper relations with the socialist nations like Cuba and Venezuela, he considers those cruel and corrupt dictators in Venezuela as his mentors. As Nicolas Madur's days already are numbered, a report from an intelligence agency suggest that those dictators from Venezuela and other nations have already transferred hundreds of millions of dollar into some dubious business ventures under direct help from Roosevelt Skerritt. There even are intelligence reports about those dictators using Rosevelt Skerritt as the handler of their dirty money.
Roosevelt Skerritt though obtained higher education in the United States, he has extreme hatred towards America and the West. In his political career, Skerritt has always associated with anti-America and the anti-West bloc. Moreover, he also has joined hands with countries like Iran or terrorist entities like D-Company [operated by notorious terrorist Dawood Ibrahim], Hezbollah or even the Iranian mullahs.
History finds no evidence of any people, race, tribe or culture known as Palestinian
Hezbollah has been using Roosevelt Skerritt as one of its most confident contacts in trafficking narcotics to the Western nations. It is even reported that some of the diplomatic missions of Dominica are compelled by Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerritt in involving into narcotic trafficking and their 'diplomatic pouches' are being used in this purpose.
Venezuelan socialist dictator Hugo Chavez had extremely cordial relations with Roosevelt Skerritt and now Nicolas Maduro has even much warmer relations with him. Maduro is investing millions of dollars in various businesses including narco-trade through Roosevelt Skerritt, while the Prime Minister of Dominica reportedly has connections with the drug cartels in South American nations.
There had been reports in the international media about the scandal centering Dominica's diplomatic passport, where it was learned that a Nigerian corrupt minister was issued Dominica's diplomatic passport by Skerritt. But the international media are yet to report about Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari. Although portrayed by a section of the Western media as "Nigeria's anti-corruption President", Buhari and members of his family are amassing huge wealth, most of which are either deposited in offshore bank accounts or being invested into shadowy companies.
Related Topics:Hugu Chavez, Nicolar Maduro


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Home Opinions
Patrick Tay: Forging Ahead with Transformation
in Opinions
This is a post by NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Patrick Tay. Any extracts should be attributed back to the author. 5 April 2018.
Since the inaugural Future Jobs, Skills and Training (FJST) Forum 2018 on 11 January 2018, it has been all hands on deck at the Labour Movement as we forge ahead with the push for transformation on various fronts.
The FJST Forum, organised by NTUC's Future Jobs, Skills and Training capability (FJST), kicked off 2018 with insights on future trends on jobs, skills and training through sharing by thought leaders and industry experts from the Labour Movement, the Government, enterprises and consultancy firms to vision the future and inspire action.
For me, the key takeaways from the FJST Forum centered on "Action" (you can read the full report at this link http://bit.ly/FJSTForum2018Report):
Companies need to transform to stay relevant. Technology and their workforce's skillsets are enablers of success and employers need to take charge and adjust their organisation's skillsets to enable business transformation.
Workers need to keep abreast with business developments and technological advancements so that change does not take them by surprise. Getting connected with networks allows workers to access the best ideas, training and opportunities to stay competent to take on the jobs of tomorrow.
Collective action on the part of all stakeholders is a key driver to enable deep, sustained and meaningful change.
These takeaways have been an influencing factor in the Labour Movement's work.
Taking Care of Our Workers as Industries Transform
While companies push forward with transformation efforts, it has been at the top of mind of the Labour Movement to amplify our efforts to advocate for enhanced protection of our workers' employment rights in these times of change.
I am heartened that the Labour Movement's call for expansion of the Employment Act has been heeded by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) at the recent Committee of Supply debate. With the removal of the salary cap of the Employment Act, the core benefits of the Act will now be extended to all employees. Adjustments will also be made to extend protection on hours of work and overtime pay to more workers. My fellow Labour Members of Parliament have also called for policy enhancements to safeguard our workers' interests and ensure that no one is left behind.
With increased volatility and streamlining of businesses, I have also been particularly concerned about the need to have greater clarity of the ambit of Section 18A of the Employment Act which allows employers to transfer employees in a transfer of business undertaking. MOM has concurred that greater clarity is needed, and the tripartite partners, MOM, Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) and NTUC will be embarking on the formulation of guidelines to provide greater clarity on the scope of application of Section 18A of the Act.
Encouraging Employers to Systematically Equip Existing Workforce for the Future
At the FJST Forum, speakers also alluded to an increase in the phenomenon of employers looking to hire talent to "plug and play" (applicants who are ready for the position without any requisite training). I am concerned that employers are overlooking the value of developing talent in their organisation's existing workforce.
Panel discussion on jobs and skills at the launch of the Tripartite Advisory on Human Capital Practices for Banking.
I am glad to share that headway is being made in the Financial Services sector to encourage employers to systematically equip their existing workforce with relevant skills and capabilities for the future and encourage professionals to continuously upgrade their skillsets and competencies. The Tripartite Advisory on Human Capital Practices for Banking[1] was developed by The Association of Banks in Singapore, Monetary Authority of Singapore, MOM, SNEF and NTUC and it sets out good practices for banks in hiring, reskilling, redeployment and retrenchment. Nearly 160 banks[2] have committed to adopting the Tripartite Advisory. This is a prime example of how collective efforts and commitment by stakeholders can bring about deep, sustained and meaningful change and I look forward to more industries following suit.
To encourage and enable capability transfer from foreign expertise to the local workforce, I have also asked MOM to consider making exceptions to the funding cap of $300,000 under the Capability Transfer Programme. MOM has agreed that in exceptional cases where the cost of capability transfer is high, and local expertise is much needed but lacking, funding support of up to 90% and project cost of more than $300,000 will be assessed on a case by case basis.
In furtherance to the speakers' recommendations at the Forum for employers to take charge of training and equipping their organisation's workforce for the future, I have also called for the formulation of a tripartite capability development toolkit for employers to address capability gaps within their organisation and put best practices in place to achieve Human Capital Partnership outcomes.
Supporting Our Workers' Career Progression
To strengthen support for workers in securing their next job, I have lobbied for enhancements of the national Jobs Bank and Adapt & Grow programmes to better address missed matches and mismatches. Responding to this call, MOM will be transforming Jobs Bank into a new platform called MyCareersFuture in 2Q 2018 to reduce missed matches and close skills or wage mismatches by leveraging on technology to provide intelligent job matching. Adapt & Grow programmes will also be enhanced to provide workers with more opportunities to try out jobs with increased training allowance and enhanced salary support.
Trying out the U Leap app for bite-sized on the go learning!
In tandem with work at the policy front, the Labour Movement has also been working on sharing information on jobs and skills trends with workers, engaging workers to review their skills portfolios for relevancy, encouraging workers to upgrade themselves and to join learning networks such as NTUC's U Future Leaders Exchange and NTUC's e2i's U Leap, so that they are equipped with the necessary skillsets ahead of time to take on the jobs of tomorrow. Going forward, the Labour Movement will continue to amplify mobilisation efforts to encourage workers to take up training and progression initiatives.
FJST will also continue to deepen its sector-specific analysis efforts through partnership initiatives with the different limbs in the Labour Movement, government agencies, private sector and Institutes of Higher Learning in six critical growth sectors – Financial Services, Infocomm & Technology, Healthcare, Manufacturing (Engineering), Wholesale Trade and Professional Services. Together with Labour Movement partners, FJST will undertake a targeted approach to more keenly identify jobs at risk of displacement and identify measures to upskill and place affected workers in in-demand jobs.
Co-Creating the Future Together
In 2018, the Labour Movement will be focused on efforts to "operationalise" the Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs) and many have asked me what "operationalising" the ITMs means. To me, it means the co-creation of Singapore's future economy with all stakeholders. The ITMs are but blueprints. Action is required to translate vision into reality.
As we advance further with our efforts to push for transformation, I hope that we can co-create our desired future together with our "Feet on the Ground, Hand on Heart and Eyes to the Future".
"Feet on the Ground" because we must ground ourselves on solid footing and fundamentals. We ensure our businesses and enterprises do well so that our workers benefit through better jobs and pay and stay employed and employable.
"Hand on Heart" because we must have courage to confront difficult challenges arising from transformation, share the fruits of our labour and ensure that no one is left behind.
"Eyes to the Future" because we have to have the clarity of focus to build our future together, the curiosity to test new innovations and the conviction to stay the course and prepare for the future.
Together, we accomplish more than we can alone. I welcome your feedback and your ideas and suggestions on all matters concerning future jobs, skills and training and how we can work together in preparing Singapore's workforce to be future-ready, please contact the FJST team by email at FJST@ntuc.org.sg
[1] https://abs.org.sg/docs/library/tripartite-advisorybe07a69f299c69658b7dff00006ed795.pdf
[2] https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/advisory-to-strengthen-human-resource-practices-in-banks-10042172
Tags: FJSTMinistry of ManpowerSingapore National Employers Federation


. 2016 and accepted for partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Bachelor of Technology of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology (formerly West Bengal University of Technology).Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering ST. Thomas' College of Engineering and Technology This is to certify that the project entitled "FPGA BASED DIGITAL CLOCK SYSTEM" has been carried out by DIBYAJYOTI SARKAR (12200312039) ASHIK ILAHI SARKAR (12200313063) DIPJOY SARKAR (12200313066) ABDUL HALIM under my guidance during the year July. 2015 to June. THOMAS' COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY May. 2016 Certificate Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering St. Kolkata.
(Project guide) Countersigned by (Head of the Department) Acknowledgement This group feels greatly indebted to ECE department of ST Thomas' college of engineering and technology for the opportunity given to us to undertake this "FPGA based Digital Clock" project . Secondly.This project includes thoughts and contributions of our mentor respected Prof. We would also like to express our gratitude towards our group members. Hence this project was successfully done upto this part with each of the above mentioned person's effort and we are grateful and thankful to each.For the allotment of machine for this project purpose . as without their help. Ankush Chattopadhyay and we wish to express our sincere appreciation and gratitude to him.we are also thankful to respected Prof. Dibyajyoti Sarkar Ashik Ilahi Sarkar . support and encouragement. Prasun Chowdhury. We appreciate all his comments and suggestions which were incorporated into this project.. this project would never have been completed upto this portion. We thank you all for your endeavors and efforts towards this project. we wish to thank our lecturers we had in our educational program through whom this project has become a reality.
Thomas' College of Engineering and Technology Kolkata .700023 Contents .Dipjoy Sarkar Abdul Halim Date: St.
Introduction 1 2- 2 Background of the project 9 103 Project details 29 4 Results / observations 5 Status of the project 39-40 6 Conclusion 40 7 Reference 41 30-38 .Chapter no Page number Chapter name 1.


Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi, known as a "liberal" and open-minded maulvi (cleric) in his native Pakistan, said this week that blasphemy laws, which severely punish conversion from Islam or insults against the prophet Mohammad or the Qur'an, protect citizens from vigilante justice by turning them over to public officials.
As reported by the Catholic online news outlet Crux, Ashrafi made reference to the 2012 case of a Christian girl named Rishma Masih, who suffers from a mental disability and was arrested under the blasphemy laws after complaints that she had burned pages from the Qur'an.
According to the law, the 14-year-old could have been sentenced to execution, but upon review of the case and considering her condition, the girl was released.
Mr. Ashrafi made these declarations during a recent visit to the United Arab Emirates where he took part in a major International Interfaith Meeting on 'Human Fraternity,' together with Pope Francis and a number of other clerics and prelates.
Not everyone takes such a sanguine view of Pakistan's blasphemy laws, however.
In Pakistan's most notorious case, that of the Christian woman Asia Bibi, authorities imprisoned an innocent woman, holding her on death row for nearly a decade because of trumped-up charges by jealous coworkers that she had insulted the Prophet.
Although one could theoretically argue that she was safer in jail than on the streets, this can hardly be put forward as a model of enlightened jurisprudence.
As egregious as this case was, it was far from unique.
Less than two months ago, a Pakistani court sentenced two Christians in Punjab to death for the crime of blasphemy, following their arrest in 2015.
Two brothers, Qaisar and Amoon Ayub, were accused in 2011 of posting material offensive to Islam on their website, and subsequently sent to the Jhelum prison in Lahore in 2015.
There, a judge heard the case on December 13 and declared the brothers guilty, sentencing them to death. The men are both married and Qaisar is the father of three children.


Born on 20 December 1937 in Terry, Mississippi, Robert Smith was the ninth of Joseph and Wilma Smith's twelve children. The family operated a cattle farm on land purchased by his grandfather during Reconstruction: the farm eventually grew to more than two hundred acres, and the Smiths raised vegetables, pigs, and chickens in addition to cows. Although Robert attended a segregated school and was aware of racism, Joseph Smith shielded his children from segregated businesses and most contact with the local white community. Travel was rare among Mississippi youth at that time, black or white, but as a teenager Smith visited Atlanta and Washington, D.C., and in his role as a national officer in the New Farmers of America even met Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower.
An excellent student, Smith decided to become a doctor. He earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Tougaloo College in 1957 before enrolling at Howard University Medical School. Mississippi had no integrated medical school at the time, and the state operated a program that provided five-thousand-dollar scholarships to African Americans attending medical school outside the state. Smith graduated from Howard in 1961, interned in Chicago, and was preparing to accept a residency in obstetrics and gynecology when the draft board called him back to Mississippi.
At the time, Mississippi had about fifty black doctors—roughly one for every seventeen thousand black citizens, the highest ratio in the country. Fifty-two of Mississippi's eighty-two counties had no practicing black physicians, and many white doctors refused to see black patients unless they could pay in cash. While Mississippi acknowledged its need for more African American doctors, the state refused to train them and had difficulty attracting those trained elsewhere. Aside from the Jim Crow policies that affected all black citizens, the state's African American doctors were barred from most hospitals and found that their roles as community leaders made them targets of white segregationists.
Smith's return to Mississippi coincided with a time of tremendous civil rights activity in the state, and he began what he termed his "real education" and underwent his "great awakening." He began working closely with civil rights movement members, especially Medgar Evers, and treating civil rights workers and students at Tougaloo College, which was considered a radical institution because of its aggressive stance on integration. After Evers's assassination in June 1963, Smith traveled to Atlantic City, New Jersey, to join an integrated protest against the American Medical Association's discriminatory practices. He became known as the "doctor to the movement," an association that won him few friends among the southern white community and earned him a few trips to jail.
Smith frequently treated civil rights workers injured during demonstrations and served as Martin Luther King Jr.'s personal physician during the 1966 March against Fear. Smith also worked closely with the Council of Federated Organizations and founded the Medical Committee for Human Rights to train and supervise the northern doctors who helped care for the hundreds of volunteers who traveled south for Freedom Summer in 1964 and in subsequent years. He worked with the Delta Ministry to improve poor black Mississippians' access to and quality of care. He served as medical director for the Child Development Group of Mississippi, one of the earliest and most successful federally sponsored Head Start Programs, was active in the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, and was instrumental in the creation of the Mound Bayou Delta Health Center.
Since its founding in 1963, Smith has headed the Mississippi Family Health Center (now known as Central Mississippi Health Services), which was the state's first multispecialty clinic to provide care regardless of a patient's ability to pay. It now operates three facilities in the Jackson area. He has also worked to educate future doctors through adjunct professorships at Meharry Medical College, Tufts University, Jackson State University, and Brown University. In 2014 the Mississippi Board of Trustees of the State Institutions of Higher Learning honored Smith with its Community Service Award "for his lifetime of service to the state and nation and his commitment to improving the health care profession, strengthening our communities and improving race relations for all citizens of the state of Mississippi." In part as a consequence of Smith's efforts, Mississippi had more than 350 African American doctors by the 2010s.


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THE region's grape producers "must remain united" as the wine industry awaits government action over the China trade dispute. The Riverina Winemakers Association (RWA) has called on the industry to come together and make their voices heard on the matter. RWA president Andrew Calabria said while the news to impose tariffs of up to 212 per cent on Australian winemakers would be devastating for the industry, it was still too early to predict what the accurate consequences were going to be. "What we do know is that it poses a great risk to predominantly local and regional communities, and the impact across the Riverina will be widely felt as our growers and wineries trade across all levels of the market - from premium, commercial and bulk wines," he said. The RWA has raised concerns about the steady decline of bulk wine prices, as well as Chinese wine drinker's preference for bottled Australian Shiraz and Cabernet wines, which make up 82 per cent of Australia's wine exports abroad. IN OTHER NEWS: "These direct sales into the Chinese market must be taken into consideration as there will be long-term consequences should these wines be flooded back into our market," Mr Calabria said. While there have been many calls for the industry to "pivot" to new markets, Mr Calabria felt more needed to be done by the government to help the industry explore this option. "It is harder than ever to build new business relationships abroad as we deal with the COVID-19 pandemic," he said. "We need hard and fast assistance to open these international pathways and the best way for that to be done is on a diplomatic level." The chief executive of Australian Grape and Wine, Tony Battaglene, agreed that the industry needs a helping hand from the government to see winemakers and grape growers through this trade spat. "It is vital that governments come to the party and works with the industry to help open up and expand new markets. This is not the time for a short-term sugar fix but a short, medium and long-term strategy needs to be implemented immediately," Mr Battaglene said. Of most importance to the RWA is that clear and factual information be passed on to regional growers and wineries as they begin to manage through this tough situation. "While the news is tough to swallow for the industry, I remain positive that we will get through these turbulent and uncertain times," Mr Calabria said.
/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/cMJhfEv9TADJPBxPT74Wz7/7f0300d1-6cef-4eb1-a2d7-57d7433d55d2.jpg/r6_73_2043_1224_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg
Riverina Winemakers Association assessing impacts of China trade tarifs
Talia Pattison
Riverina Winemakers Association president Andrew Calabria. Photo: Contributed
THE region's grape producers "must remain united" as the wine industry awaits government action over the China trade dispute.
The Riverina Winemakers Association (RWA) has called on the industry to come together and make their voices heard on the matter.
RWA president Andrew Calabria said while the news to impose tariffs of up to 212 per cent on Australian winemakers would be devastating for the industry, it was still too early to predict what the accurate consequences were going to be.
"What we do know is that it poses a great risk to predominantly local and regional communities, and the impact across the Riverina will be widely felt as our growers and wineries trade across all levels of the market - from premium, commercial and bulk wines," he said.
The RWA has raised concerns about the steady decline of bulk wine prices, as well as Chinese wine drinker's preference for bottled Australian Shiraz and Cabernet wines, which make up 82 per cent of Australia's wine exports abroad.
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"These direct sales into the Chinese market must be taken into consideration as there will be long-term consequences should these wines be flooded back into our market," Mr Calabria said.
While there have been many calls for the industry to "pivot" to new markets, Mr Calabria felt more needed to be done by the government to help the industry explore this option.
"It is harder than ever to build new business relationships abroad as we deal with the COVID-19 pandemic," he said.
"We need hard and fast assistance to open these international pathways and the best way for that to be done is on a diplomatic level."
The chief executive of Australian Grape and Wine, Tony Battaglene, agreed that the industry needs a helping hand from the government to see winemakers and grape growers through this trade spat.
"It is vital that governments come to the party and works with the industry to help open up and expand new markets. This is not the time for a short-term sugar fix but a short, medium and long-term strategy needs to be implemented immediately," Mr Battaglene said.
Of most importance to the RWA is that clear and factual information be passed on to regional growers and wineries as they begin to manage through this tough situation.
"While the news is tough to swallow for the industry, I remain positive that we will get through these turbulent and uncertain times," Mr Calabria said.
This story China trade spat affecting Riverina's winemakers first appeared on The Irrigator.
Discuss "China trade spat affecting Riverina's winemakers"


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Philosophy: What & Why?
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Philosophy is the systematic and critical study of fundamental questions that arise both in everyday life and through the practice of other disciplines. Some of these questions concern the nature of reality: Is there an external world? What is the relationship between the physical and the mental? Does God exist? Others concern our nature as rational, purposive, and social beings: Do we act freely? Where do our moral obligations come from? How do we construct just political states? Others concern the nature and extent of our knowledge: What is it to know something rather than merely believe it? Does all of our knowledge come from sensory experience? Are there limits to our knowledge? And still others concern the foundations and implications of other disciplines: What is a scientific explanation? What sort of knowledge of the world does science provide? Do scientific theories, such as evolutionary theory, or quantum mechanics, compel us to modify our basic philosophical understanding of, and approach to, reality? What makes an object a work of art? Are aesthetic value judgments objective? And so on.
The aim in Philosophy is not to master a body of facts, so much as think clearly and sharply through any set of facts. Towards that end, philosophy students are trained to read critically, analyze and assess arguments, discern hidden assumptions, construct logically tight arguments, and express themselves clearly and precisely in both speech and writing.
Here are descriptions of some of the main areas of philosophy:
Epistemology studies questions about knowledge and rational belief. Traditional questions include the following: How can we know that the ordinary physical objects around us are real (as opposed to dreamed, or hallucinated, as in the Matrix)? What are the factors that determine whether a belief is rational or irrational? What is the difference between knowing something and just believing it? (Part of the answer is that you can have false beliefs, but you can only know things that are true. But that's not the whole answer—after all, you might believe something true on the basis of a lucky guess, and that wouldn't be knowledge!) Some other questions that have recently been the subject of lively debate in epistemology include: Can two people with exactly the same evidence be completely rational in holding opposite beliefs? Does whether I know something depend on how much practical risk I would face if I believed falsely? Can I rationally maintain confident beliefs about matters on which I know that others, who are seemingly every bit as intelligent, well-informed, unbiased and diligent as I am, have come to opposite conclusions?
Metaphysics is the study of what the world is like—or (some would say) what reality consists in. Metaphysical questions can take several forms. They can be questions about what exists (questions of ontology); they can be questions what is fundamental (as opposed to derivative); and they can be questions about what is an objective feature of the world (as opposed to a mere consequence the way in which creatures like us happen to interact with that world). Questions that are central to the study of metaphysics include questions about the nature of objects, persons, time, space, causation, laws of nature, and modality. The rigorous study of these questions has often led metaphysicians to make surprising claims. Plato thought that alongside the observable, concrete world there was a realm of eternal, unchanging abstract entities like Goodness, Beauty, and Justice. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz claimed that the world was composed of tiny indivisible souls, called monads. Even today contemporary metaphysicians have been known to doubt the existence of ordinary objects, to deny the possibility of free will, and to argue that our world is just one of a plurality of worlds.
Logic is the study of the validity of patterns of inference. Logic is not a branch of psychology: It does not concern how people actually reason or which kinds of reasoning they find intuitively compelling. Rather, logic concerns the question of when a claim is conclusively supported by other claims. For instance, the inference from the claims "it is raining" and "if it is raining then the streets are wet" to the claim "the streets are wet" is logically valid – the premises conclusively support the conclusion. The validity of this specific inference, and of other inferences of the same form, is tied to the nature of the concept "if … then". More generally, the notion of logical validity is closely connected to the nature of concepts such as "and", "or", "not", "if … then", "all", and "some". In studying the notion of logical validity, logicians have developed symbolic languages. These enable us to state claims clearly and precisely, and to investigate the exact structure of an argument. These languages have turned out to be useful within philosophy and other disciplines, including mathematics and computer science. Some of the questions about logic studied by members of the philosophy department include: Given that logic is not an empirical science, how can we have knowledge of basic logical truths? What is the connection between logic and rationality? Can mathematics be reduced to logic? Should we revise logic to accommodate vague or imprecise language? Should we revise logic to answer the liar paradox and other paradoxes concerning truth?
Political philosophy is the philosophical study of concepts and values associated with political matters. For one example, is there any moral obligation to do what the law says just because the law says so, and if so on what grounds? Many have said we consent to obey. Did you consent to obey the laws? Can one consent without realizing it? Are there other grounds for an obligation to obey the law? Another central question is what would count as a just distribution of all the wealth and opportunity that is made possible by living in a political community? Is inequality in wealth or income unjust? Much existing economic inequality is a result of different talents, different childhood opportunities, different gender, or just different geographical location. What might justify inequalities that are owed simply to bad luck? Some say that inequality can provide incentives to produce or innovate more, which might benefit everyone. Others say that many goods belong to individuals before the law enters in, and that people may exchange them as they please even if this results in some having more than others. So (a third question), what does it mean for something to be yours, and what makes it yours?
The Philosophy of Language is devoted to the study of questions concerned with meaning and communication. Such questions range from ones that interact closely with linguistic theory to questions that are more akin to those raised in the study of literature. Very large questions include: What is linguistic meaning? How is the meaning of linguistic performances similar to and different from the meanings of, say, gestures or signals? What is the relationship between language and thought? Is thought more fundamental than language? Or is there some sense in which only creatures that can speak can think? To what extent does the social environment affect the meaning and use of language? Other questions focus on the communicative aspect of language, such as: What is it to understand what someone else has said? What is it to assert something? How is assertion related to knowledge and belief? And how is it that we can gain knowledge from others through language? Yet other questions focus on specific features of the languages we speak, for example: What is it a name to be a name of a particular thing? What's the relationship between the meanings of words and the meanings of sentences? Is there an important difference between literal and figurative uses of language? What is metaphor? And how does it work?
Moral Philosophy
Ethics is the study of what we ought to do and what sorts of people we ought to be. Ethicists theorize about what makes acts right and wrong and what makes outcomes good and bad, and also about which motivations and traits of character we should admire and cultivate. Some other questions that ethicists try to answer are closely related to the central ones. They include: What does it mean to act freely? Under what conditions are we responsible for our good and bad acts? Are moral claims true and false, like ordinary descriptive claims about our world, and if they are what makes them so?
The History of Philosophy plays a special role in the study of philosophy. Like every other intellectual discipline, philosophy has of course a history. However, in the case of philosophy an understanding of its history - from its ancient and medieval beginnings through the early modern period (the 17th and 18th centuries) and into more recent times - forms a vital part of the very enterprise of philosophy, whether in metaphysics and epistemology or in ethics, aesthetics, and political philosophy. To study the great philosophical works of the past is to learn about the origins and presuppositions of many of the problems that occupy philosophy today. It is also to discover and to come to appreciate different ways of dealing with these problems, different conceptions of what the fundamental problems of philosophy are, and indeed different ways of doing philosophy altogether. And it is also the study of works—from Plato and Aristotle, through Kant and Mill and more recent writers—that have shaped much of Western culture far beyond academic philosophy. Many of the most creative philosophers working today have also written on various topics in the history of philosophy and have found their inspiration in great figures of the past.
Why Study Philosophy?
This question may be understood in two ways: Why would one engage in the particular intellectual activities that constitute philosophical inquiry? And how might the study of philosophy affect my future career prospects?
Philosophy as intellectual activity may have a number of motivations:
Intellectual curiosity: philosophy is essentially a reflective-critical inquiry motivated by a sense of intellectual "wonder." What is the world like? Why is it this way, rather than another? Who am I? Why am I here?
Interest in cultural and intellectual history: as a discipline, philosophy pays a great deal of attention to its history, and to the broader cultural and intellectual context in which this history unfolds.
Sharpening thinking skills: the study of philosophy is especially well suited to the development of a variety of intellectual skills involved in the analysis of concepts, the critique of ideas, the conduct of sound reasoning and argumentation; it is important to emphasize that philosophical inquiry also fosters intellectual creativity (developing new concepts, or new approaches to problems, identifying new problems, and so on).
Sharpening writing skills: the writing of philosophy is especially rigorous
Philosophy might affect future career prospects in a number of ways:
Some philosophy concentrators go on to graduate school to earn a Ph.D. in philosophy. Most of those become professors of philosophy, which means that their professional lives are devoted to research and teaching in philosophy.
A philosophy concentration is not limiting: in fact, the skills it develops and sharpens are transferable to a wide variety of professional activities. Obvious examples include the application of reasoning and argumentation skills to the practice of law; less obvious examples include the application of analytical and critical skills to journalism, investment banking, writing, publishing, and so on; even less obvious examples include putting one's philosophical education to work in business entrepreneurship, political and social activism, and even creative arts.
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Enjoy a country paradise set in a 1000 acre cattle stud with mountain river and plenty of privacy.
The wide verandah is the spot to enjoy breakfast and the morning sun. With a background of magnificent mountains and cattle grazing contentedly closer to the cottage, the sound of birds is just the antidote for relaxed country living. Enjoy river swimming, strolls along country roads, time to read a good book and space to play a game of bush cricket, kick a ball around or throw a frisbee. You might also try catch & release river fishing, after all, the river's only a stone's throw from the cottage!
Country Haven Cottage provides year-round comfort with air conditioning, ceiling fans and wood fireplace. Self-contained holidays suit all ages – no need to worry about restaurant hours and what the meals might be like! The fully equipped kitchen is complemented by an outdoor gas BBQ. All linen and towels provided.
If time permits, discover beautiful Barrington Tops – bushwalks with magnificent views, kayaking or even skydiving. Between the 3 local towns, there are a number of events year-round that guests may like to attend. Guests can also stock up on produce, and enjoy a relaxing cappuccino or cold ale in town.
Two queen rooms and one with three single beds. Fold-up single bed available.
Discover some of the other accommodation nearby in Monkerai Valley.


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Former Gators captain Tony Joiner charged with murder
Earl Antonio "Tony" Joiner, the former Florida Gators safety and team captain, was charged with murder this weekend. He was booked into the Polk County Jail on Saturday.
Joiner is now facing a second-degree murder charge in connection with his wife's death, according to the Fort Myers News-Press. Heyzel Obando died in 2016.
The publication also states that Joiner was arrested twice previously for allegedly beating Obando. The News-Press wrote that Obando was dead in her Maple Crest Apartments on Valentine's Day in 2016.
READ MORE: Click here for our latest Crime coverage
Her death was unsolved before Joiner was arrested. He was arrested in Lake Wales, according to the authorities.
Joiner is expected to be transported to the Lee County Jail.
"As a mother, I understand the pain his mother is going through," Obando's mother Isabel Martinez said to the News-Press. "But as a mother, no one is going to take my pain away. Now that he is arrested, I hope he feels the weight of the law."
The authorities believed her death was suspicious from the beginning. It was ruled as a homicide two months after her death.
Joiner played for the Games from 2004 through 2007. He was also a member of the 2006 Gators National Championship team that defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes.
He had 150 tackles, including 9.5 tackles for a loss in 43 games. He also had five interceptions.
Joiner is now the second Gators player, who has been charged with murder when Urban Meyer was head coach. The 2007 season also featured Aaron Hernandez, who had nine receptions for 151 yards.
See also Report: Panthers re-engage Browns for Baker Mayfield
Hernandez was convicted of murdering Odin Lloyd in 2013. He was charged and convicted of first-degree murder.
His sentence was life in prison without parole. He was also acquitted of murder charges in the deaths of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado.
Hernandez had many other troubling incidents, including an alleged shooting of Alexander Bradley. There was also a double shooting in Gainesville in 2007 that Hernandez allegedly took part in.
Jazz head coach Quin Snyder steps down after 8 seasons
Anthony Caruso III - June 5, 2022 0
Super Dave offers Swanstrom money to fix Prenup; he declines it


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Q: Where are the standard operator functions defined? As far as I understood
if (n>1)

stands for
if (greater(n,1))

Where is the function for > defined?

A: It is not "defined" anywhere. It is an integral part of the compiler and the language. int, float, etc. are standard types, so there is no source file describing them or something but they are implemented in the compiler.
In the case described above, > directly compiles down to instruction/s in the native instruction set.
The upper case is only for n being of one of these standard types. If n is an object of a user-defined type like std::complex, the class is free to implement the operator (in shape of the std::complex::operator> member function) just as you mentioned; only there is no greater function but it's called as uttered before. By default, this member function is unimplemented, though, so applying it to arbitrary user-defined objects will not work for sure.

A: n>1 doesn't stand for greater(n,1). It can stand for operator>(n,1) or n.operator>(1) under certain circumstances.
The basic rules are that if no operand of an operator in an expression has a class or enumeration type, the operator is assumed to be built-in. Built-in operators are not functions, their meaning is defined directly in the standard (specifically, Clause 5).
If one of the operands is of class or enumeration type, a user-defined operator function might be declared which implements the operator. Alternatively, some user-defined conversions could be used to convert to appropriate types for using built-in operators.
So operator>(n,1) is not defined somewhere assuming n is of a type which is compatible with the built-in operators when used with in int. Otherwise, operator>(decltype(n), int) could be declared as a free function somewhere, or operator>(int) could be declared in the definition of n's type, or there could be some user-defined conversion from decltype(n) so that the built-in operator can be used.


The day is finally here, folks! Joker is arriving in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a playable character today.
A star of Persona 5, Joker is arguably one of the flashiest fighters on the Smash scene. We're completely down for the red and black theme presented in his main costume and stage, but there are plenty more costumes available, too. As such, we thought it'd be a good idea to present a full gallery of every Joker costume.
We've gathered all eight of Joker's alternate costumes for you below, and we've even tracked down the Mii outfits based on the Persona series and a quick look at Kirby's appearance after swallowing Joker whole. Video games are weird.
So, let's kick things off with these four alternate costumes below. Straight colour swaps from Joker's main outfit (which you can see in the main image above), these costumes each resemble past entries into the Persona series. The purple represents the colour scheme of Revelations: Persona; the blue resembles Persona 3; yellow for Persona 4; and red serves as a reversal of Joker's usual appearance.
We also have this white outfit, which kind of resembles Phantom Thieves of Hearts member, Goro Akechi, in his Crow outfit.
Next up are these two school-based outfits. Because Joker loses his mask for this outfit, you'll notice that he actually takes off his glasses when summoning Arsene instead.
And finally, the four Mii Fighter costumes. Arriving as paid DLC, we have the Morgana Hat (Persona 5), Persona 4 Protagonist and Teddie Hat (Persona 4) and Persona 3 Protagonist (Persona 3). Each of these are also available to purchase from today for $0.75 each.
So, there we have it. Make sure to let us know if you'll be checking out Joker in the full game today with a comment below.


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Home Politics & Society Privacy and Pandemics
Privacy and Pandemics
By Emily Benson, on Mar 23, 2020
In bucolic China, a child has braved cold temperatures for some fresh outdoors air. Overhead, a drone hovers. Its loudspeaker, a haunting combination of human direction in the machine age, chides him for being outdoors. "Hey kid! We're in unusual times… The coronavirus is very serious… run!!" it barks. "Staying at home is contributing to society."
The ferocious spread of COVID-19 in 2020 has revealed stark policy differences among governments. The type of actions and degrees of severity with which governments have responded varies widely, but one pressing issue the crisis raises is how COVID-19 will affect civil liberties in the digital age.
The Chinese Approach
Images of riot gear with heat-sensing cameras and temperature gun checks in metro stations have been plastered in the news since the beginning of 2020, when the Chinese government undertook drastic measures to contain the spread of COVID-19. The government quickly set about enacting strict restraints on society that dictated where people went and what they could do.
Photo by Josh Shaw on Unsplash
In China, Alipay, an Alibaba subsidiary and equivalent of Elon Musk's PayPal, joined forces with Ant Financial to launch Alipay Health Code, a software for smart phones. It indicates individuals' health in green, yellow, and red, ultimately determining where citizens can and cannot go. The government has since mandated that citizens use this software, despite inaccuracies of temperature-reading technology that has led to the confinement of otherwise healthy individuals. It also remains unclear how this data will be used going forward–whether it will be stored indefinitely or used to augment civilians' social scores. As the New York Times noted, this Chinese gathering of data would be akin to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) using data from Amazon, Facebook, and Google to track citizens and then share that data with law enforcement–something that no longer seems so far-fetched.
An Evolving EU
The European Union is home to what is arguably the most progressive privacy regime in the world. In May 2018, the EU implemented the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). While processing personal data is generally permitted in cases in which individuals have provided explicit consent to the use of their data, several exceptions to these mining prohibitions are proving problematic in the time of COVID-19. For example, GDPR Article 9 provides an exception for public interest, permitting the processing of personal data when it is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest, and on the basis of Union or Member State law which must be proportionate to the aim pursued.[1]
GDPR Article 9 provides an exception for public interest, permitting the processing of personal data when it is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest […]
EU member states are already exploiting this exemption. A1 Telekom Austria, a major network operator, is already using data to track citizens to combat the virus, amid mounting concerns that other European telecom companies will soon follow suit. A1 claims that the data is anonymized, but it is difficult to reconcile how that could possibly be when it is explicitly used to track an individual's location and their interactions with friends.
Another concern regarding the GDPR is that the regulation does not cover security forces. Like the U.S., Israel's intelligence services have been collecting data on its civilians for years. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Israel, Shin Bet, the country's equivalent to the U.S. FBI, has begun using telecom data to track civilians. Thus far, the European Commission has indicated that Israeli policy does not threaten the EU-Israel data adequacy agreement. Using emergency powers to thwart privacy mechanisms could set a potentially dangerous precedent for the long-term safeguard of civil liberties in the digital era.
The United States of Silicon Valley
Whereas the Chinese government was able to act swiftly to impose a strict shutdown, the Europeans are for now somewhat more constrained due to societal traditions that favor privacy and the recent codification of privacy rights. The U.S. federal government, on the other hand, has so far seemed like a deer in the headlights. As of mid-March, the U.S. government is in talks with tech giants such as Google and Facebook to coordinate a data-based response to COVID-19.
The sudden collaboration between Washington and Silicon Valley, such as Alphabet's launch of a COVID-19 screening site on its health care platform Verily, underscores the under-preparedness of the U.S. government, particularly when it comes to leveraging technology itself. While meal delivery startups and online shopping companies abound, the public sector has largely failed to develop technology-based responses to crises. It is therefore difficult to foresee a scenario in which the U.S. government could suddenly deploy a large-scale surveillance system that would help enforce policies like San Francisco and New York's "shelter in place" decrees.
The ultimate goal of Washington's collaboration with Silicon Valley is to build out infrastructure to monitor citizens' movement in order to track infection rates and ensure that people keep safe distances from each other. Tech giants and the White House claim that this data would be anonymized. Again, it is difficult to envision a system in which anonymized data and geographic precision can coexist.
The ultimate goal of Washington's collaboration with Silicon Valley is to build out infrastructure to monitor citizens' movement in order to track infection rates and ensure that people keep safe distances from each other.
Regardless, Mark Zuckerberg is loath to admit that Facebook tracks users' movements, and libertarian Jeff Bezos seems reticent to hand over data involving which consumers have purchased what kinds of medical supplies. Overall, a likely scenario is that a U.S. government, hobbled by decades of systematic privatization and unable to maneuver in today's tech savvy world, would beg Silicon Valley for a concrete bailout. This collaboration would involve sharing algorithms to comb through data and the mutual use of highly personal civilian information. While big tech could use this time to incur goodwill from citizens–something they badly need–in doing so they would risk exposing just how much user data they already possess. What will likely transpire, then, is that the U.S. government uses Silicon Valley tools and algorithms in a way that muddles transparency and establishes greater allowances for government secrecy.
In times of crisis, governments can more easily argue in favor of employing extraordinary measures in extraordinary circumstances, such as in increasing surveillance and monitoring tactics. The ability to challenge governments thus weakens. The U.S., for example, saw a substantial uptick in citizen surveillance following 9/11, the time during which behemoth and highly secretive organizations such as the National Security Administration (NSA) were created. These advances in surveillance have led, over time, to a decrease in democratic scrutiny that has precipitated losses in civil liberties, and those have proven difficult to gain back. An increasingly enmeshed Silicon Valley and the U.S. government could represent a substantial step backward in the fight for individual liberty and 21st century digital rights.
For example, the carrying out Medicare's IT system by Lockheed Martin or the privatization of family and child welfare systems by companies like Maximus. These privatizations, over time, weaken the ability of states and local governments to perform numerous tasks, whether maintaining paper or digital records of citizens or distributing social benefits to residents.
Emily Benson
Manager, Transatlantic Legislative Relations
emily.benson@bfna.org