I've installed Arch several times now and I want my main computer to be fully encrypted!
So I followed this guide LVM on LUKS with encrypted Boot Partition in combination with the usual installation guide (Arch Installation).
And then nothing happens for 30 minutes and I quit the process. I've gone through the installation about 4 times now. In a VM and on physical hardware and I've followed the exact steps in this video in a VM with UEFI enabled too Installing Arch Linux (with EFI, encryption, LVM) after following the wiki, but the same thing happens... It freezes after running grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg!
Please use [ code ] tags when posting commands and output.
Thanks for this thread! Got stuck at this problem for 2 days now.
Maybe this should be added somewhere in the wiki.
I've been struggling for weeks to get my laptop booting with arch doing lvm on luks, sounds like roughly the same issue, but none of the posted workarounds work... Using grub-mkconfig, os-prober never finishes without lvmetad, but I can't get anything work with lvmetad even when running. Unlocking and starting the lvm volumes is never an issue manually, just the kernel being built doesn't seem to find the volumes in any way (uuid, partition) even when I do get grub to boot off a grub.cfg normally.
I finally had to make my own grub.cfg manually from a working ubuntu install on the same drive, and still the arch initramfs kernel will not boot. It doesn't seem to be grub, but rather it seems the kernel still isn't trying to decrypt the luks volume, it just errors out in grub and gives up. Oddly when setting the base root to be even the fat efi partition or a standard ext2 /boot, it doesn't see the uuid or direct partition defined any way. I have the proper mkinitcpio.conf defined, as this setup works on my primary desktop, and use my hooks exactly from it that boots fine. It just seems... broken.
The install procedure at this point is just broken for anyone duplicating a lvm on luks setup, anyone figure any other workarounds for this? Happy to post my configs, but everything for my system is rather typical of examples, other than the disk is an nvme, but again so is my other system.


text:
Федо́скино — село в городском округе Мытищи Московской области на обоих берегах реки Учи. Население —  чел. (). В 2006—2015 гг. — село сельского поселения Федоскинское.

Федоскино расположено в 2,4 км от деревни Шолохово и в 19,5 км от Московской кольцевой автодороги по автодороге . Ближайшие населённые пункты — деревни Семенищево, Аксаково и Крюково. Федоскино связано автобусным сообщением с железнодорожной станцией Катуар, расположенной в посёлке городского типа Некрасовский.

Постановлением губернатора Московской области от 9 сентября 2015 года № 389-ПГ в состав села Федоскино вошла деревня Данилково.

Население

Достопримечательности

 ГУП «Федоскинская Ордена "Знака Почёта" фабрика миниатюрной живописи», специализирующаяся на знаменитом старинном Федоскинском промысле лаковой миниатюрной живописи, основанном в 1795 году.
 Московский областной музей народных художественных промыслов (расположен в доме-усадьбе купцов Лукутиных, где с 1795 г. работала фабрика лаковых изделий купцов Коробовых-Лукутиных, а после её закрытия в начале XX в. — трудовая артель живописцев). В собрании музея — самая полная коллекция федоскинской лаковой миниатюры.
 Деревянная Никольская церковь с шатровой колокольней, построенная в 1875 году, стала первой работой известного русского архитектора Александра Никаноровича Померанцева. Возле церкви похоронен архитектор И. С. Каминский.
 Музей-галерея Надежды Стрелкиной «Сказочный мир».

См. также
 Федоскинская миниатюра

Примечания

Ссылки
 fabrica-fedoskino.ru — Официальный сайт
 http://www.folkartmo.ru
 Фабрика «Федоскинский промысел лаковой миниатюрной живописи» — Официальный сайт
 Артель «Федоскино» — Официальный сайт
 Музей-галерея Надежды Стрелкиной
 Федоскино. Фабрика миниатюрной живописи
 Про Федоскино и Федоскинский промысел
 Раскопки у села Федоскино

Населённые пункты городского округа Мытищи
Населённые пункты Московского уезда

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Donald Trump accidentally identifies secret Navy SEAL team in tweet from Iraq visit
A sloppy mistake by Donald Trump could put American serviceman in serious danger after the President broke basic security protocol.
AP, New York Post
News Corp Australia NetworkDecember 28, 201811:27am
Donald Trump threatened with impeachment and jail time
US President Donald Trump arrived in Iraq on his first visit to US troops deployed in a war zone since his election two years ago. Picture: AFPSource:AFP
Shortly after his first visit to US troops stationed in a war zone, US President Donald Trump posted a video on Twitter that showed him posing for pictures with service members who appear to be from SEAL Team Five in Iraq — without shielding their faces.
Mr Trump, who had taken criticism for not visiting US forces in hot zones, travelled with the first lady to the al-Asad Airbase near Baghdad, where he mingled with troops, signed MAGA hats and defended his decision to pull out of Syria.
.@FLOTUS Melania and I were honored to visit our incredible troops at Al Asad Air Base in Iraq. GOD BLESS THE U.S.A.! pic.twitter.com/rDlhITDvm1
But during the trip, which had been shrouded in secrecy earlier on Wednesday, the president apparently accidentally revealed classified information by showing the special-ops forces, the New York Postreported.
According to a pool report, details of Mr Trump's visit were embargoed until he finished addressing a group of 100 mostly elite members of the highly secretive unit engaged in combat operations in Iraq and Syria.
At one point, Mr Trump paused to take a selfie with US Navy Lt. Cmdr. Kyu Lee, who said he was the chaplain for SEAL Team Five, which is based in Coronado, California.
US President Donald Trump greets members of the US military during a stop at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, on December 27, 2018. Picture: AFPSource:AFP
The chaplain said the US president told him: "Hey, in that case, let's take a picture."
After Air Force One left the country's airspace, Mr Trump posted a video in which Lee Greenwood's God Bless America is heard as he and Melania Trump posed for pictures with the special warfare operators clad in full battle gear and night-vision goggles.
US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump greet members of the US military during an unannounced trip to Al Asad Air Base in Iraq. Picture: AFP/Saul LoebSource:AFP
Malcolm Nance, a former US Navy intelligence specialist, told Newsweek that posting the video ran against traditional procedures that are meant to protect the identities of US special operations forces in a combat zone.
"Operational security is the most important aspect of personnel deployments. The real names, faces, and identities, of personnel involved in special operations or activities, are usually a closely held secret in a combat zone," Mr Nance said.
Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive to speak to members of the US military during an unannounced trip to Al Asad Air Base in Iraq on December 26, 2018. Picture: AFPSource:AFP
"Revealing them casually, through an unusual media exposure even if it's the commander-in-chief, would prove a propaganda boom if any of this personnel are detained by a hostile government or captured by a terrorist group. There would be no denying who you are and what you do."
Contacted by Newsweek, the Pentagon referred questions to the White House, whose reps did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post.
The Naval Special Warfare Command also did not return a request for comment from Newsweek.
ANGRY IRAQI POLITICIANS TELL TRUMP TO GET OUT
Iraqi politicians have demanded US forces leave the country following Mr Trump's surprise visit which has been denounced as arrogant and a violation of Iraqi sovereignty.
Politicians from both blocs of Iraq's divided parliament on Thursday called for a vote to expel US troops and promised to schedule an extraordinary session to debate the matter.
Qais Khazali, the head of the Iran-backed Asaib Ahl al-Haq, seized on Donald Trump's surprise visit to Iraq and demand US forces leave the country. Picture: AP PhotoSource:AP
"Parliament must clearly and urgently express its view about the ongoing American violations of Iraqi sovereignty," said Salam al-Shimiri.
Mr Trump, making his first presidential visit to troops in a troubled region, said he has no plans to withdraw the 5200 US forces in the country.
Containing foreign influence has become a hot-button issue in a year that saw al-Sadr supporters win the largest share of votes in May elections. Al-Sadr has called for curbing US and Iranian involvement in Iraqi affairs.
US troops are stationed in Iraq as part of the coalition against the Islamic State group. American forces withdrew in 2011 after invading in 2003 but returned in 2014 at the invitation of the Iraqi government to help fight the jihadist group.
But after defeating IS militants in their last urban bastions last year, Iraqi politicians and militia leaders are speaking out against the continued presence of US forces in Iraqi soil.
This article originally appeared in the New York Post and has been republished with permission.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


She wasn't that old, no younger or older than seventeen. Drifting off into the river, pebbles keeping her down. Dull dead eyes closed by Death's fingers. Fingers curled gently, ever so slightly. Shadow of a smile on her pale face. Beautiful.
He wasn't that old either, no younger or older than eighteen. His face was red and white, purple spots beneath his violet eyes. His eyes, still alive and blinking and crying, screamed of sorrow. He wanted her back more than anything, despite that fact she was nothing, not his to keep.
She was drifting in the river, her eyes fluttering in his presence. He walked, ran for her, fell to his knees close to the water. Fat tears of sorrow dripped down his cheeks, unable to be suppressed.
He sniffed and wiped his eyes. "We haven't forgotten about you." He choked. "Your parents, me, your friends. We're still waiting for you to come home." He spluttered on the word "home" and started sobbing again.
"But, it's so nice. Being dead. I have nothing to worry about." She bends her elbows above her head slowly and smiled to herself. "I don't have to worry about anything. Anything." She repeats, closing her eyes to enhance the sentence.
He grasped her hand so hard that his fingers turned pale. "I can't die, I'm too young!" She turned in the water and said quietly, "I didn't say die. I said embrace." She put her other curled hand onto his and said, "Just let go." "I can't let go of your hand. I won't, I won't, I won't…" More tears of sorrow ran down his face, down his chest, down into the river.
Her white dress rippled, making the tear look more than it was worth. "Just let go." She said again, softer than the first. "Just let go." He shook his head, whimpering like a young child. "No, I won't. I'll never let go." She yanked on his hand and he tumbled into the water, and his fingers moved. One hand to her perfect skin, her cheek. Another to her waist. Her. What he'd hungered for, for so long. "I'll never let go." They were at least 6 feet below the surface, the pebbles had vanished. His vision started to darken.


text:
Tag: #FloridaImmigrantCoalition
The Immigrant Youth Project Hopes to Inform Central Florida and Lawmakers
Featured alexandermichaelbuonoLeave a comment
According to Dr. Heide Castaneda, Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of South Florida, and co-founder of The Immigrant Youth Project, recruiting undocumented youth to speak on their experience for the federally funded research project has been a challenge after the DACA recision.
"When people had DACA, they felt certainty with their status, they were more willing to talk about how they felt, what they experienced," Castaneda explained. "As soon as the DACA recision was announced, people shutdown," she added.
The project began in Sept. 2017 with the aim of investigating the social and emotional well-being of undocumented young adults living in Central Florida and across the United States. The legal battle to decide the uncertain fate of DACA recipients is still being waged in U.S District Courts. On Tuesday, The New York Times reported that the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that DACA protections should remain in place, and the government must continue to accept new applications.
According to Dr. Castaneda, the goal of the project's research is to inform policymakers and the public on the social implications of undocumented young adults who are living in a transitional status.
"We've talked to people who are afraid to enter long-term relationships because they don't know what's next for them, and I think that really impacts their ability be full members of society and express themselves as humans," Castaneda said.
Castaneda is a co-creator of the project along with University of South Florida Assoc. Prof. of Sociology Dr. Elizabeth Aranda and former USF faculty and now Assoc. Prof. of Sociology at George Washington University, Dr. Elizabeth Vaquera. The three professors met at the University of South Florida in 2007, and all shared a common interest in immigrant families, youth, and incorporation into society. According to Castaneda, The National Science Foundation awarded their project proposal in June of last year and provided the perfect opportunity to combine their research efforts into an interdisciplinary focus on "an urgent issue In their own backyard" in Central Florida. The project has also extended an outreach partnership with the Florida Immigrant Coalition, where the researchers themselves take part in events and clinics held by the coalition.
In Castaneda's and the researchers' view of their preliminary findings, participants have shown a variety of responses, ranging from high levels of emotional distress, depression, and suicidality to high levels of political engagement and activism. According to a Jan. 2017 article from the National Institute of Mental Health, child of immigrants born in the U.S. may have a higher risk for mental disorders than their parents. According to the Pew Research from Sept. 2017, two-thirds of DACA recipients are ages 25 or younger.
President Trump continues to press Democrats on the issue of immigration, where on Monday Trump tweeted out on Monday that he has instructed Secretary of Homeland Security Kristjen P.Nielsen to, "not let these large Caravans of people into our Country."
According to Castaneda, the key for Central Florida to understand the plight of its undocumented immigrant youth is how ingrained they already are in the community.
"The key thing to understand is that what passport you are holding and how valid your visa is, it's not that it's not important, but for the everyday experience of living in our communities here in Central Florida, it's not as important," Castaneda said. "These are people who have jobs in all sectors of society," she added.
[infogram id="foreign-born-civilian-labor-force-by-us-citizenship-status-in-the-state-of-florida-2016-1hke60x9rog165r" prefix="xl9″]
As the project heads into the summer, their recruiting push is expecting an increase in participants, with the overall goal of reaching 140 individual experiences for the project's total.
"More and more people in the US are living in a family where there is at least one undocumented person," Castaneda said. "Immigration doesn't just affect the immigrant, it affects their family members and their communities," she added.
For more information on how to get involved with the Immigrant Youth Project, click here.
Posted in #Local, DACA, Education, Immigration, Manatee County, Politics, UncategorizedTagged #FloridaImmigrantCoalition, #ManateeCounty, #southwest, DACA, Florida, Immigration, Politics, SouthwestFlorida, Status, The Immigrant Youth Project
In Tampa, International Women's Day is a Celebration of Immigrant Voices
March 13, 2018 March 13, 2018 alexandermichaelbuonoLeave a comment
In Tampa on Thursday, International Women's Day was ushered in at Ybor City's Centennial Park with the International Women's Day: Stand with Immigrant Women event held by the Hillsborough Community Protection Coalition. Nearly 100 attendees gathered to celebrate local immigrant women's voices who feel an urgency to express their stories as immigrant women that feel under siege in the Trump presidency, as immigration enforcement partnerships with ICE in Hillsborough and sixteen other counties have been recently initiated, according to the Bradenton Herald.
"My family was undocumented for some years, so we understand the plight of undocumented people," said Pamela Gomez, an event organizer. "Which has lead into a lot of the work I do with the community in fighting for immigrant rights," she added.
Tampa Immigration Attorney Ahmad Yakzan explains the change in litigation from the Obama to Trump Era, (below).
https://alexmbuono.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/ahmad-yakzan.mp3
Posted in #Local, DACA, Immigration, Manatee County, PoliticsTagged #FloridaImmigrantCoalition, #southwest, Florida, Immigration, International Women's Day, Politics, Tampa
A Manatee Dreamer Helps Her Community as DACA Fades
January 30, 2018 May 5, 2018 alexandermichaelbuonoLeave a comment
On Sunday, Holy Cross Catholic Church of Palmetto hosted the Protect the People Clinic & DACA Renewal, an event organized by the Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC). The event offered information on civil rights, free legal screenings, and emergency planning for Manatee county residents looking to impacted by the September repeal of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. FLIC volunteer coordinator Patricia Lara, 29, of Bradenton, is a DACA recipient and a Manatee local.
"It's Manatee County, you know, it's home. This is where I've been since kindergarten through graduation," Clara said. "That's why I love working in it, because I know everybody, I know where everything is."
According to Migration Policy Institute data, as of September 2017 there are an estimated 27,000 DACA recipients in the state of Florida, where 72,000 non recipients meet the requirements to apply. For the immigrant community in Manatee, the County's health department currently offers the immigrant community medical examinations and immunizations required for immigration status. On Jan. 17 the Bradenton Herald reported the partnership between the Manatee County Sheriff's Office partnership with ICE to hold arrested undocumented immigrants for up to 48 hours as a part of "basic ordering agreement." According to the Herald article, Sheriff Rick Wells commented in response to the agreement, "We're just trying to keep our community safe, and when you have a criminal illegal alien who has been committing crimes in our community, they need to be held accountable."
Patricia Lara, 29, of Bradenton checks in arrivals at the event. (Photo: Alexander Michael Buono)
To Lara, it is crucial that the immigrant community knows their rights to protect their loved ones in Manatee County, especially in the current political climate.
"Just to know how they can keep themselves and their family's safe and protected and make sure that they understand that the even though they don't have a documented status here, they still have civil rights."
To learn more about the Florida Immigrant Coalition, click here.
Posted in #Local, DACA, Education, Immigration, Manatee County, News Media, Policing, Politics, UncategorizedTagged #FloridaImmigrantCoalition, #Local, #ManateeCounty, #News, #newsmedia, #southwest, DACA
alexandermichaelbuono
A Pinella's County Elementary School Teacher was found with a Loaded Gun and Knives in School yesterday.
Rep. Vern Buchanan Releases Statement on Russian Election Hacking via Twitter
Sick Day Part 2: More Sick Child, More Unreleased Content
Sick day today, so why not watch a spec video I made?
Trump's Trade Battle unsettles local Bradenton Business Owner


text:
Au08-06_mpk6_heat_stressed-Transcriptomic analysis of mpk6 KO mutant after heat stress treatment
ABSTRACT: au08-06_mpk6_heat_stressed - au08-06_mpk6_heat_stressed - Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways are key regulators of cell proliferation, differentiation and stress effectors. The core of the MAP kinase signal transduction cascade is composed of a three-kinase module consisting of a MAP kinase kinase kinase (MAPKKK), a MAP kinase kinase (MAPKK), and a MAP kinase (MAPK). The signaling pathway is activated upon stimulation by a phosphorylation cascade. In previous studies, it was shown that the mpk6 KO mutant plants are significantly more tolerant to heat stress in comparison to wt and that after 3h treatment at 37°C, an activation of heat-shock proteins occures in the mpk6 mutant. To better understand the changes occuring in the mpk6 mutant upon heat stress at the gene expression level, we would like to perform a microarray transcriptomic analysis. - Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways are key regulators of cell proliferation, differentiation and stress effectors. The core of the MAP kinase signal transduction cascade is composed of a three-kinase module consisting of a MAP kinase kinase kinase (MAPKKK), a MAP kinase kinase (MAPKK), and a MAP kinase (MAPK). The signaling pathway is activated upon stimulation by a phosphorylation cascade. In previous studies, it was shown that the mpk6 KO mutant plants are significantly more tolerant to heat stress in comparison to wt and that after 3h treatment at 37°C, an activation of heat-shock proteins occures in the mpk6 mutant. To better understand the changes occuring in the mpk6 mutant upon heat stress at the gene expression level, we would like to perform a microarray transcriptomic analysis. Keywords: treated vs untreated comparison Overall design: 4 dye-swap - CATMA arrays
INSTRUMENT(S): URGV Arabidopsis thaliana 25K CATMA_v2.3
ORGANISM(S): Arabidopsis thaliana
SUBMITTER: Soubigou-Taconnat Ludivine
Project description:au08-06_mpk6_heat_stressed - au08-06_mpk6_heat_stressed - Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways are key regulators of cell proliferation, differentiation and stress effectors. The core of the MAP kinase signal transduction cascade is composed of a three-kinase module consisting of a MAP kinase kinase kinase (MAPKKK), a MAP kinase kinase (MAPKK), and a MAP kinase (MAPK). The signaling pathway is activated upon stimulation by a phosphorylation cascade. In previous studies, it was shown that the mpk6 KO mutant plants are significantly more tolerant to heat stress in comparison to wt and that after 3h treatment at 37°C, an activation of heat-shock proteins occures in the mpk6 mutant. To better understand the changes occuring in the mpk6 mutant upon heat stress at the gene expression level, we would like to perform a microarray transcriptomic analysis. - Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways are key regulators of cell proliferation, differentiation and stress effectors. The core of the MAP kinase signal transduction cascade is composed of a three-kinase module consisting of a MAP kinase kinase kinase (MAPKKK), a MAP kinase kinase (MAPKK), and a MAP kinase (MAPK). The signaling pathway is activated upon stimulation by a phosphorylation cascade. In previous studies, it was shown that the mpk6 KO mutant plants are significantly more tolerant to heat stress in comparison to wt and that after 3h treatment at 37°C, an activation of heat-shock proteins occures in the mpk6 mutant. To better understand the changes occuring in the mpk6 mutant upon heat stress at the gene expression level, we would like to perform a microarray transcriptomic analysis. Keywords: treated vs untreated comparison 4 dye-swap - CATMA arrays
transcriptomic analysis of wild type vs mpk3 mutants
Project description:au09-01_mpk mpk Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways are key regulators of cell proliferation, differentiation and stress effectors. The core of the MAP kinase signal transduction cascade is composed of a three-kinase module consisting of a MAP kinase kinase kinase (MAPKKK), a MAP kinase kinase (MAPKK), and a MAP kinase (MAPK). The signaling pathway is activated upon stimulation by a phosphorylation cascade. 2 dye-swap - wild type vs mutants
wt-col0_flagellin
Project description:au09-01_mpk_flagellin - wt-col0_flagellin Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways are key regulators of cell proliferation, differentiation and stress effectors. The core of the MAP kinase signal transduction cascade is composed of a three-kinase module consisting of a MAP kinase kinase kinase (MAPKKK), a MAP kinase kinase (MAPKK), and a MAP kinase (MAPK). The signaling pathway is activated upon stimulation by a phosphorylation cascade. Flagellin is a protein present in the flagellum of almost all bacteria and triggers Innate Immunity in plants, mediated by a MAPK phosphorylation signal cascade. To better understand the changes occuring in wt-Col0 flagellin treatment at the gene expression level, we would like to perform a microarray transcriptomic analysis. 1 dye-swap - treated vs untreated comparison
Project description:au08-06_mpk6_heat_stressed-Transcriptomic analysis of mpk6 KO mutant after heat stress treatment
| PRJNA128435 | ENA
Flg22 regulates MAP kinase 6 interaction with an ethylene response factor substrate via ethylene
Project description:Despite their importance, plant MAP kinase targets are still poorly elucidated. Here, the specific in vivo interaction of an ethylene response factor (ERF104) with the Arabidopsis MAP kinase, MPK6, is shown by fluorescence resonance energy transfer. The interaction, which is lost within minutes after treatment with the flagellin-derived flg22 peptide, is dependent on both MPK6 kinase activity and rapid ethylene signaling initiated downstream of MPK6 activation. ERF104 is an MPK6 substrate and phosphorylation site mutations affected its stability. ERF104 activates promoters with GCC elements. This was evident from microarray data of overexpressing transgenic plants, where promoters of up regulated genes contain GCC motifs and chromatin immunoprecipitation showing ERF104 association with PDF1.2 promoter. The ERF104 overexpressor did not affect biotrophic bacteria proliferation but was more susceptible to necrotrophic Botrytis cinerea. Microarray performed with erf104 or mpk6 revealed only a limited number of flg22-induced genes that require these elements - possibly as a result of functional redundancies. Thus, ERF104 phosphorylation by MPK6, in concert with ethylene signaling induced by pathogen-derived molecules, modulates defense in Arabidopsis. Overall design: Leaves of six week old Col-0, erf104, mpk6 and 35S::ERF104 plants were infiltrated with 1µM Flg22 or water and harvested four hours later. Total RNA was isolated and processed according to the Affymetrix protocol for biotin-labelled cRNA and hybridized to the Affymetrix ATH1 chip. The data was analyzed with Genespring GX 7.3.1 software (Agilent) with the following parameters: Filter on Flags for present or marginal in 50% of all considered experiments, Filter for reliable differentially expressed genes based on volcano plot (one way ANOVA p-value <0.05 and >3-fold change in expression). For the flg22 experiments, analysis for each genotype was separately performed and a composite list of flg22-regulated genes compiled – with the aim of including genes that may be differentially regulated in the genotype. Global expression profile was visualized by k-means clustering and condition tree (Genespring).
2009-05-15 | GSE11807 | GEO
Pathak2013 - MAPK activation in response to various biotic stresses
Project description:Pathak2013 - MAPK activation in response to various biotic stresses MAPK activation mechanism in response to various biotic (fungal and bacterial pathogens) stress conditions in plants This model is described in the article: Modeling of the MAPK machinery activation in response to various abiotic and biotic stresses in plants by a system biology approach. Pathak RK, Taj G, Pandey D, Arora S, Kumar A. Bioinformation 2013; 9(9): 443-449 Abstract: Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases (MAPKs) cascade plays an important role in regulating plant growth and development, generating cellular responses to the extracellular stimuli. MAPKs cascade mainly consist of three sub-families i.e. mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase (MAPKKK), mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MAPKK) and mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK), several cascades of which are activated by various abiotic and biotic stresses. In this work we have modeled the holistic molecular mechanisms essential to MAPKs activation in response to several abiotic and biotic stresses through a system biology approach and performed its simulation studies. As extent of abiotic and biotic stresses goes on increasing, the process of cell division, cell growth and cell differentiation slow down in time dependent manner. The models developed depict the combinatorial and multicomponent signaling triggered in response to several abiotic and biotic factors. These models can be used to predict behavior of cells in event of various stresses depending on their time and exposure through activation of complex signaling cascades. This model is hosted on BioModels Database and identified by: BIOMD0000000492 . To cite BioModels Database, please use: BioModels Database: An enhanced, curated and annotated resource for published quantitative kinetic models . To the extent possible under law, all copyright and related or neighbouring rights to this encoded model have been dedicated to the public domain worldwide. Please refer to CC0 Public Domain Dedication for more information.
2013-11-15 | BIOMD0000000492 | BioModels
Pathak2013 - MAPK activation in response to various abiotic stresses
Project description:Pathak2013 - MAPK activation in response to various abiotic stresses MAPK activation mechanism in response to various abiotic stress conditions, such as cold, salt, drought, H2O2, heavy metal and ethylene, in plants This model is described in the article: Modeling of the MAPK machinery activation in response to various abiotic and biotic stresses in plants by a system biology approach. Pathak RK, Taj G, Pandey D, Arora S, Kumar A. Bioinformation 2013; 9(9): 443-449 Abstract: Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases (MAPKs) cascade plays an important role in regulating plant growth and development, generating cellular responses to the extracellular stimuli. MAPKs cascade mainly consist of three sub-families i.e. mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase (MAPKKK), mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MAPKK) and mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK), several cascades of which are activated by various abiotic and biotic stresses. In this work we have modeled the holistic molecular mechanisms essential to MAPKs activation in response to several abiotic and biotic stresses through a system biology approach and performed its simulation studies. As extent of abiotic and biotic stresses goes on increasing, the process of cell division, cell growth and cell differentiation slow down in time dependent manner. The models developed depict the combinatorial and multicomponent signaling triggered in response to several abiotic and biotic factors. These models can be used to predict behavior of cells in event of various stresses depending on their time and exposure through activation of complex signaling cascades. This model is hosted on BioModels Database and identified by: BIOMD0000000491 . To cite BioModels Database, please use: BioModels Database: An enhanced, curated and annotated resource for published quantitative kinetic models . To the extent possible under law, all copyright and related or neighbouring rights to this encoded model have been dedicated to the public domain worldwide. Please refer to CC0 Public Domain Dedication for more information.
Transcription profiling by array of Arabidopsis expressing ERF104 under the control of the 35S promoter, mutant for erf104 or mpk6
Project description:Despite their importance, plant MAP kinase targets are still poorly elucidated. Here, the specific in vivo interaction of an ethylene response factor (ERF104) with the Arabidopsis MAP kinase, MPK6, is shown by fluorescence resonance energy transfer. The interaction, which is lost within minutes after treatment with the flagellin-derived flg22 peptide, is dependent on both MPK6 kinase activity and rapid ethylene signaling initiated downstream of MPK6 activation. ERF104 is an MPK6 substrate and phosphorylation site mutations affected its stability. ERF104 activates promoters with GCC elements. This was evident from microarray data of overexpressing transgenic plants, where promoters of up regulated genes contain GCC motifs and chromatin immunoprecipitation showing ERF104 association with PDF1.2 promoter. The ERF104 overexpressor did not affect biotrophic bacteria proliferation but was more susceptible to necrotrophic Botrytis cinerea. Microarray performed with erf104 or mpk6 revealed only a limited number of flg22-induced genes that require these elements - possibly as a; result of functional redundancies. Thus, ERF104 phosphorylation by MPK6, in concert with ethylene signaling induced by pathogen-derived molecules, modulates defense in Arabidopsis. Experiment Overall Design: Leaves of six week old Col-0, erf104, mpk6 and 35S::ERF104 plants were infiltrated with 1µM Flg22 or water and harvested four hours later. Total RNA was isolated and processed according to the Affymetrix protocol for biotin-labelled cRNA and hybridized to the Affymetrix ATH1 chip. The data Experiment Overall Design: was analyzed with Genespring GX 7.3.1 software (Agilent) with the following parameters: Filter on Flags for present or marginal in 50% of all considered experiments, Filter for reliable differentially expressed genes based on volcano plot (one way ANOVA p-value <0.05 and >3-fold change in expression). For the flg22 experiments, analysis for each genotype was separately performed and a composite list of flg22-regulated genes compiled – with the aim of including genes that may be differentially regulated in the genotype. Global expression profile was visualized by k-means clustering and condition tree (Genespring).
RNA-seq analysis of chitin-triggered transcriptional reprogramming in the Arabidopsis mapkkk5 mutant
Project description:Perception of microbe-associated molecular patterns by host cell-surface pattern recognition receptors triggers a series of immune responses such as activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades. In Arabidopsis thaliana, the receptor-like cytoplasmic kinase PBL27 interacts with the chitin receptor CERK1 and regulates chitin-induced MAPK activation. We found that the MAPK kinase kinase MAPKKK5 connects PBL27 to the downstream MAPK Kinases (MKK4/5) and MAPKs (MPK3/6). RNA-seq analysis using the mapkkk5 mutant indicated that MAPKKK5 plays important roles in chitin-induced transcriptional reprogramming. As far as we are aware, this is the first report pointing to the significance of a complete MAPK cascade in defense-associated transcriptional reprogramming in plants. Overall design: Arabidopsis Col-0 and mapkkk5-1 were treated with mock or chitin (40mM) for 3 hours. Three independent experiments were performed.
A new identified suppressor of Cdc7p/SepH kinase, PomA, regulates fungal asexual reproduction via affecting phosphorylation of MAPK-HogA
Project description:The septation initiation network (SIN), composed of a conserved SepH (Cdc7p) kinase cascade, plays an essential role in fungal cytokinesis/septation and conidiation for asexual reproduction, while the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway depends on successive signaling cascade phosphorylation to sense and respond to stress and environmental factors. In this study, a SepH suppressor–PomA in the filamentous fungus A. nidulans was identified as a negative regulator of septation and conidiation such that the pomA mutant was able to cure defects of sepH in septation and conidiation and overexpression of pomA remarkably suppressed septation. Under the normal cultural condition, SepH positively regulates the phosphorylation of MAPK-HogA, while PomA reversely affects this process and the phosphorylated HogA in MAPK could be a downstream product of the activated SIN. However, under the osmostress condition, the induced phosphorylated HogA is capable of bypassing the requirement of SepH to fulfill septation and conidiation. Findings demonstrate that crosstalk exists between the SIN and MAPK pathways.
2019-06-17 | PXD012514 | Pride


000054830 520__ $$aIn most watermarking systems, masking models, inherited from data compression algorithms, are used to preserve fidelity by controlling the perceived distortion resulting from adding the watermark to the original signal. So far, little attention has been paid to the consequences of using such models on a key design parameter: the robustness of the watermark to intentional attacks. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate that by considering fidelity alone, key information on the location and strength of the watermark may become available to an attacker; the latter can exploit such knowledge to build an effective mask attack. First, defining a theoretical framework in which analytical expressions for masking and watermarking are laid, a relation between the decrease of the detection statistic and the introduced perceptual distortion is found for the mask attack. The latter is compared to the Wiener filter attack. Then, considering masking models widely used in watermarking, experiments on both simulated and real data (audio and images) demonstrate how knowledge on the mask enables to greatly reduce the detection statistic, even for small perceptual distortion costs. The critical tradeoff between robustness and distortion is further discussed, and conclusions on the use of masking models in watermarking drawn.


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Герберт В. Гринфилд (;  — ) — канадский политический деятель, 4-й Премьер-министр Альберты с 1921 по 1925 год. Родился в Уинчестере, Англия, позже иммигрировал в Канаду. Жил сначала в Онтарио, а затем в Альберте, где занимался сельским хозяйством. В 1919 году вступил в United Farmers of Alberta (UFA), а позже стал вице-президентом организации.

Биография

Молодость
Герберт В. Гринфилд родился 25 ноября 1869 года, в Винчестере, Хэмпшир, Англия. Его отцом был Джон Гринфилд, а мать звали Мэри Лик. Гринфилд учился в Веселианской школе в Далстоне, но после банкротства отца вынужден был покинуть её. Также, до эмиграции в Канаду в 1896 году, он в 1892 году работал на судне для перевозки крупного рогатого скота.

В Канаде он работал на нефтяных месторождениях близ Сарнии, Онтарио, и фермером в Винстоне. 28 февраля 1900 года он женился на Элизабет Харрис. У них было двое сыновей: Франклин Харрис Гринфилд и Арнольд Лик Гринфилд. В 1904 году по экономическим причинам семья отправилась на запад и осела близ Эдмонтона. Гринфилд нашёл работу на деревобрабатывающем заводе, позднее вернувшись к фермерству. Во время первого года жизни в Альберте их дом сгорел от пожара, и они с женой зимовали в коровнике. В 1906 году они переселились в большой дом в четырёх километрах южнее от Вестлока.

В 1922 году, когда Гринфилд уже был премьер-министром, Элизабет внезапно умерла в ходе обычной операции. Он вступил в повторный брак в 1926 году с Марджори Гринвуд Кормакк, которая родила ему двух детей.

Ранняя политическая карьера
Вскоре после переезда на новую ферму Герберт Гринфилд начал общественную деятельность. Он был избран в местный школьный совет, в котором он провёл двенадцать лет, в том числе в качестве председателя, секретаря и казначея. Также он являлся вице-президентом образовательной ассоциации Альберты, президентом сельскохозяйственного сообщества Вестлока, а также соучредителем и президентом ассоциации муниципальных районов Альберты. Кроме этого, Гринфилд был чиновником по всем провинциям в Ассоциации по улучшенным местным районам, которая защищала реформы, такие как переход с 10-часового на 8-часовой рабочий день из-за проблемной конкуренции улучшенных местных районов (LID) с рабочими железной дороги. Позднее Джон Э. Броунли рассказывал относительно причастности Гринфилда к ассоциации LID, «что сначала он принимал участие в дискуссиях об общественных предметам, и это стало учебным полигоном для его последующего успеха».

Премьер-министр
Герберт Гринфилд занял пост премьер-министра на фоне больших ожиданий. «Летбридж Джеральд» назвала его «единственным новым Моисеем, который может возвести мост через Красное море», в то время как «Кэлгэри Джеральд» отметила, что «Ни одно правительство этой страны не входило в этот кабинет с такими наилучшими пожеланиями в своём успехе». Гринфилд занял свой пост без предоставления ему места в законодательном органе. Это последнее обстоятельство вызвало добровольную отставку Дональда Макбета Кеннеди, победившего на выборах от избирательного округа Пис Ривер, представляя интересы ассоциации фермеров Альберты. Гринфилд получил место 9 декабря 1921 года путём аккламации.

Смерть
Герберт Гринфилд умер в 8 часов 25 минут утра 23 августа 1949 года. Его отпевали в Grace Presbyterian церкви и похоронили в Калгари на кладбище Содружества. В 1968 году начальная школа в Эдмонтоне была названа в его честь школой Гринфилда.

Литература

Примечания

Предприниматели Канады
Премьер-министры Альберты


You are viewing an exquisite pair of English gilt candelabras in the manner of Paul Storr. The pair stand in each at an impressive two feet tall and would have a great presence in any interiors scheme. The details to the ornamentation on these is amazing with hand chased and engraved decorative motifs including rosettes, garlands, festoons and other arabesques.
Can you imagine how these would look set up with candles? We bought these from a dealer in Londons Camden Passage and we will ship them to anywhere in the world.
Paul Storr (b. 1771- d. 4 March 1844) was a British sculptor, goldsmith and designer. An example of his work is the cup made for the British admiral Lord Nelson to signify his victory at the Battle of the Nile.
You are viewing a gorgeous bronze casting with a silver finish depicting a Spanish lady with castanets. I hope the photos go some way in conveying the quality to this piece, it is certainly better in the flesh.
The piece is signed P Phillipe on the base and this is a later casting from the original. Phillipe was a famous artist working in Paris at the turn of the last century and was famous for his art deco pieces and figurines.
He has really caught the poise and form the lady with great skill as she throws her head back provocatively as she clicks her castanets. Check out details like how her dress flows and wraps around her legs.
The piece stands firmly on marble base which has been polished and is smooth touch. The piece is offered in perfect condition ready for home use right away.


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MARKETS LIVE BLOG:
Editorial Roundup: U.S.
December 8, 2021, 12:12 p.m. ·23 min read
Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:
The Kansas City Star on Sen. Bob Dole and the spirit of compromise:
Robert J. Dole — war hero, senator, presidential candidate, Kansan — has died, at the age of 98.
We offer condolences to his wife, Elizabeth, his family, and the many friends and colleagues he met over a full lifetime of service to his country.
We didn't always agree with Bob Dole's politics. He usually didn't agree with us. But there can be no doubt the Russell native will be remembered as a titan of 20th century American government, and as one of the most important political figures in Kansas history.
At the same time, Dole's legacy extends beyond his many accomplishments in Washington, or his resume. He remains important in our time. His tireless effort to find common ground with political opponents is more critical today than it was when he left elected office in the 1990s.
WAR WOUNDS INFORMED PUBLIC SERVICE
His story begins plainly enough.
Dole was not born to wealth — his family ran a small cream and egg business in Russell, Kansas, where he went to high school. After graduation, he enrolled at the University of Kansas.
World War II intervened, however, as it did for millions of Americans. Dole joined the 10th Mountain Division of the U.S. Army, where he served as a second lieutenant.
In April 1945, just days before Germany surrendered, Dole's unit engaged the enemy on an Italian hilltop. A fierce battle left Dole grievously hurt, with internal injuries, a shattered shoulder and a permanently disabled arm. He barely survived.
The wounded veteran returned to the United States, where he began a grueling four-year struggle to regain his health. Famously, friends and neighbors in Russell passed a cigar box to help pay for his care. Experimental medicine and a series of operations aided the wounded veteran.
Dole's war injuries deeply informed his life in public service. Through his rehabilitation, and setbacks, he developed an iron will, a sometimes caustic sense of humor — and an understanding that no one truly walks alone in this world. Sometimes you need help.
"I had a more optimistic view of the human race," he later wrote. "Having benefited from an extraordinary outpouring of affection and support, how could I feel otherwise?"
REPUTATION FOR PARTISAN POLITICAL WARFARE
At times, Dole's optimism could be hard to find.
As his career developed — state representative, county attorney, the U.S. House, the Senate — Dole's reputation for sometimes heated partisanship grew. He was called a "hatchet man," a caricature that, like all caricatures, contained a stubborn grain of truth.
He barely won his 1974 Senate reelection campaign, leaning on a controversial anti-abortion commercial to prevail. Two years later, some Republicans blamed Dole's "Democrat wars" debate wisecrack for Gerald Ford's presidential defeat in 1976.
Dole's 1980 presidential campaign collapsed quickly. But the seeds of his greatest days had been planted.
MAJOR ROLE IN RONALD REAGAN YEARS
In 1980, Americans overwhelmingly elected Ronald Reagan as president, and put Republicans in charge of the U.S. Senate, Dole among them.
Mainstream conservatives remember the Reagan years as the pinnacle of their movement. Yet Dole's essential role should not be overlooked: The Kansas senator, more than any other single person, was responsible for the tax cuts of 1981, the 1980s rescue of Social Security and the myriad smaller accomplishments of Reagan's terms in office.
He was, for a time, the most influential man in Washington. "People had real problems!" journalist Richard Ben Cramer wrote, explaining Dole's thoughts at the time. "Government had to respond."
Dole's support for the food stamp program was legendary, and essential. He worked to protect the disabled. As Senate majority leader, he shepherded the massive immigration reform act of 1986.
He fiercely protected agriculture.
He helped create the national holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. "To those who would worry about cost, I would suggest they hurry back to their pocket calculators and estimate the cost of 300 years of slavery," he said at the time.
In all of this, the senator worked harder than anyone, and always — always — believed a deal could be found. Almost always, he found it.
Yet Dole's party was changing, even then, in ways few recognized. Dole's obsession with excessive federal red ink and solid accomplishment was giving way to the cultural anti-government conservatism of Newt Gingrich and others.
Dole's time was running out. He reached twice more for the White House.
PRESIDENTIAL BIDS UNSUCCESSFUL
It was not to be. Dole's temper backfired after a surprise loss in the 1988 New Hampshire primary, dimming his White House aspirations. He tried again in 1996, seizing his party's nomination, only to lose to incumbent President Bill Clinton.
He left the Senate that year — "a private citizen, a Kansan, an American, just a man," he said. His lifelong public career, falling just short of the ultimate prize, drew to a close.
"We can lead or we can mislead, as the people's representatives, but whatever we do, we will be held responsible," he told colleagues, Republicans and Democrats.
"I'm not talking about 1996," he said. "I'm talking about any time, or the next century."
A FORGOTTEN LEGACY OF COMPROMISE
Today, America mourns Bob Dole.
We remember the man who worked as a private citizen to honor fellow World War II veterans. We think of the man who tried to extend disability protections to the world.
We mourn an elected official who understood, through his own pain, responsibility — for a neighbor, a friend, a constituent, a country. We mourn the loss of that understanding in our politics.
We mourn the disappearance of compromise. It's said Dole could not have won an election in Kansas in the 21st century. It's probably true. That's our fault, not his.
But his example remains with us, if we listen closely for the voice of Kansas' favorite son, his words a reminder of what our nation used to be, and might be again.
"The American people are looking at us," he said in his final Senate speech. "And they want us to tell the truth."
ONLINE: https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/editorials/article256354172.html
The Dallas Morning News on Texas execution and a dying man's religious request:
In 2008, John Henry Ramirez, 37, was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to die for the 2004 murder and robbery of Pablo Castro, a convenience store clerk in Corpus Christi.
But his scheduled September execution was delayed, not because of something to do with his case but because of an issue over how Ramirez wants to die.
Ramirez has requested that his pastor, Dana Moore of Second Baptist Church in Corpus Christi, be in the death chamber with him, praying aloud and touching him at the moment of death. The state of Texas says its protocols protecting the "security, integrity and solemnity" of executions allow Moore to be present, but only if he stays quiet and does not touch Ramirez.
Given the enormous burden that comes with taking a life as punishment, we believe the state has a responsibility to show compassion as much as possible here, so long as it doesn't threaten safety or interrupt the appropriate decorum of the death chamber.
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in the case and, according to reporting by The Washington Post, the justices seemed split into unusual alliances. The court's conservative members, who are typically hawkish on religious freedom issues, seemed skeptical of Ramirez's request, while the court's more liberal members seemed sympathetic.
Texas Solicitor General Judd E. Stone II argued that Ramirez's request was simply an effort to delay execution, and that the state has a right to reduce the risk of disruptions during the event.
The former point stands only because the state opposes Ramirez's request. The delay is as much the fault of the state as the inmate.
The latter point is stronger. Certainly, prison officials have a responsibility to keep the scene orderly and safe. They have a right to vet anyone who enters the death chamber and require certain behavior of them. But the state didn't seem to convince the justices that safety would be threatened by Ramirez's request. Justice Elena Kagan asked Stone whether any other state that allowed similar behavior reported problems with decorum. Stone couldn't produce such an example, The Post reported.
We're not comfortable with the state being the arbiter of religious expression. A Protestant warden, for instance, shouldn't reject a condemned man's request for last rites because he's unfamiliar with that practice. On the contrary, we would say the state has an extreme obligation toward compassion in these situations because, let's not forget, the state is taking a human life. The death penalty is a practice we have opposed because it is too unreliably and inconsistently meted out. And, appropriate for this discussion, it is a practice opposed by many faith leaders.
As long as Ramirez's religious expression isn't dangerous or disorderly, the state should find a way to accommodate a dying man's request.
ONLINE: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2021/12/07/dont-deny-a-dying-mans-religious-request/
The Chicago Tribune on Putin and Ukraine:
In July, Russian President Vladimir Putin released a long-winded treatise on Ukraine — the country's history both medieval and modern, its kinship with the Russian Motherland, and its latter-day relations with the West. Mixing truths with half-truths and outright falsehoods, it rested on the dominant theme that the notion of Ukraine as its own nationality, ethnicity, culture and language is a figment, and that Ukrainians and Russians have always been, and always will be, "one people."
"I am confident that true sovereignty of Ukraine is possible only in partnership with Russia. Our spiritual, human and civilizational ties formed for centuries and have their origins in the same sources, they have been hardened by common trials achievements and victories," Putin wrote. "Together we have always been and will be many times stronger and more successful. For we are one people."
The document was more than a monograph in need of a heavy edit. It serves as a veiled justification for what the former KGB agent has desperately wanted for years — the reabsorption of Ukraine into the folds of Moscow.
So far, it's been an achievement that has eluded the Russian leader. Putin can claim credit for rescuing his country from post-Soviet economic doldrums and restoring Russia to a level of geopolitical prominence. By commandeering free media and neutralizing opposition — often through brutal means — he has cemented his place atop Russian governance for as long as he desires. Ukraine, however, remains for Putin unfinished business.
By amassing thousands of Russian troops near Ukraine's border, Putin has sent a blunt message to the West. Submit to the Kremlin's demand that Ukraine will never join NATO, or watch the tanks roll into Kyiv.
Strategically, Putin sees Ukraine as existential for Russia. Following the Soviet collapse in 1991, former Soviet republics and eastern European satellites of the Kremlin eagerly fell like dominoes into the hands of NATO, the Western military alliance formed as a bulwark against post-World War II Soviet aggression. Keeping Ukraine in Moscow's orbit gives the Kremlin a valuable buffer against further eastward expansion by NATO.
Personally, however, Putin sees Ukraine as a fabricated state, a place with a 1,100-year history inexorably twined with Russia's ancient past. To Putin, Ukraine is Russia as much as Moscow is Russia.
How to respond to Putin's incendiary display of brinkmanship arguably poses President Joe Biden's biggest foreign policy challenge to date. Biden can neither give into Moscow's demand nor thrust NATO into direct military conflict with Russia. Kyiv economically and politically leans westward, but Ukraine isn't a NATO member and therefore does not benefit from the "attack one, attack all" defense commitment that the military alliance applies to all of its member nations.
Ukraine is, however, a sovereign state with aspirations of joining NATO, and the U.S. and its European allies cannot simply allow Putin to steal land, cities and people with brute force in the same way he pilfered the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.
Diplomacy armed with the cudgel of sanctions — punishment stronger than what was imposed on Russia after the Crimean annexation — is the best tack Biden can take. The White House has been mulling sanctions that choke Russia's financial sector, including cutting off the country's access to SWIFT, the international payment system used by the world's banks. Heavy sanctions against Russia's energy sector — the lifeblood of Russia's economy — should also be on the table.
No amount of sanctions will work, however, without a unified front from America's European allies, many of which rely far too heavily on Russian oil and natural gas. For years, that reliance has given the Kremlin powerful leverage over NATO and European Union countries. European nations have known Putin's playbook from the start, and should have been steadily weaning themselves off Russian energy. They haven't, and that drives a wedge into the unity the West needs to put up against Putin now.
Western leaders can only hope that Biden's video call with the Russian leader Tuesday seeded the beginnings of a diplomatic solution out of this crisis. The message to Putin should be unequivocal. Neither Ukraine nor its people are the property of Russia. As a sovereign nation, Ukraine has license to forge its own domestic and foreign policies and pick its own allies — even if they belong to NATO. Military conflict must be avoided, but Russia should be warned that it faces the prospect of becoming a pariah state if it absorbs Ukraine the same way it swallowed up Crimea.
That's a chapter in Russia's history that Putin certainly would regret.
ONLINE: https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/editorials/ct-editorial-ukraine-biden-putin-russia-invasion-20211208-okmo7knhefd5bdeejrfaxiva6i-story.html
The Detroit Free Press on Oxford High shooting and gun status quo:
Our hearts are with the parents of the four students slain Tuesday in Oxford, a hell no parent should have to endure; and with the seven others wounded in the same attack. We pray for their swift, full recovery.
We sympathize as well with parents who felt death brush past their children; with teachers who prayed they'd never stand between their young charges and a murderer, and with hundreds of Oxford High students whose hopes that that their school could provide a sanctuary from senseless violence have been forever shattered.
Fifteen-year-old Ethan Crumbley, a sophomore at Oxford High School, was arraigned Wednesday on 22 counts related to the brutal attack, carried out with a semi-automatic handgun purchased by his own father just four days before. He is being tried as an adult, and faces life in prison.
Some will say that nothing can be done to prevent such attacks. Oakland County officials report that Crumbley's parents met with school administrators over the boy's classroom behavior just hours before the attack, but found no cause to send him home. Crumbley's father, it seems, purchased his firearm legally.
Those same voices will argue that the hundreds of millions of firearms already in private hands make new restrictions on their sale or manufacture futile, and that any attempt to promulgate such restrictions will only violate the Second Amendment rights of lawful gun owners.
We disagree.
There are sensible measures that state and federal lawmakers can adopt without risk of violating anyone's constitutional rights, if they have the courage to face down the manufacturers and Second Amendment absolutists who call the gun lobby's tune. We can't guarantee that any of them will dramatically reduce gun deaths. But not trying them hasn't worked, either.
A comprehensive approach
Gun violence has three prongs: High profile massacres like the devastating attack in Oxford, which are thankfully rare; shootings associated with crime and gang activity; and suicide. Public policy solutions should recognize all three.
Let's start with Michigan.
More than 1,200 people die and more than 3,500 are wounded by handguns each year in Michigan, according to the gun reform advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety. Most of the fatalities are suicides.
Guns are the second-leading cause of death among children and teens; 89 die on average each year. More than half of youthful gun deaths are homicides.
Michigan's figures roughly track national averages. There have been 29 gun-related injuries or deaths on American school grounds this year, Education Week reports.
Poll after poll confirms Michiganders' support for prohibiting guns in schools, daycare centers and churches, enacting red flag laws that would keep guns out of the hands of people who pose an imminent threat to themselves or others, and other precautions ensure the safe storage and handling of firearms. And Democratic lawmakers in the GOP-controlled state Legislature have tried to deliver, proposing laws that would require universal background checks, make gun owners criminally liable for failing to secure weapons where children cannot find them them, ban weapons from state-owned public buildings, and increase funding for violence prevention programs. A bill with bipartisan support would keep weapons out of the hands of domestic abusers.
The same partisan gridlock that has left all those initiatives stalled in committee has stranded Republican efforts to weaken Michigan's existing gun laws. Legislation proposed by GOP lawmakers would exempt some firearms owners from complying with gun-free zones, abolish the state's pistol registry, reduce the fee for a concealed-carry permit, and exempt gun stores from shutdown orders imposed pursuant to a public health emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the local level, Detroit Police Commissioner Linda Bernard has proposed a gun buy-back similar to initiatives that have taken thousands of guns out of circulation in Seattle, Baltimore and Philadelphia. Although buy-backs have had mixed results in reducing gun violence, it's an idea worth exploring.
A role for Washington
There's also work for our federal government.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was forbidden to study the causes of gun violence for nearly a quarter century after 1994, when Congress adopted the Dickey Amendment — named after the lawmaker who called himself "the NRA's point man in Washington."
But in 2018, former President Trump signed legislation that allowed the agency to resume limited research, and the CDC's current director, Rochelle Walensky, has expanded the agency's efforts.
If you're inclined to scoff at the notion of studying gun violence, consider that the CDC also studies obesity, fatalities among firefighters, school health, fatal injuries to youth in agricultural settings, smoking, and social behavior that contributes to the spread of viruses like COVID-19. The agency's public health writ is far-reaching, and the number of gun deaths in this country has long commanded its attention.
The CDC is investing in 18 separate initiatives to prevent gun violence and death, and it has begun tracking the number of people who come into the nation's emergency rooms with gunshot wounds arising from assaults, suicide attempts and accidents— something it hadn't done before.
Congress should supplement the paltry $25 million currently allocated for this important research. While they're at it, lawmakers should increase and redeploy funding for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which relies on just 770 investigators to oversee more than 77,000 licensed gun dealers and manufacturers and 9,500 businesses licensed to sell explosives.
A better world
There's no evidence that implementing any of these proposals, or all of them together, would have prevented this week's massacre. But the tragedy in Oxford does underline how reluctant Michigan legislators have been to demand that gun owners exercise even minimal caution. Even as detectives investigate how the Oxford shooter acquired a handgun he was not authorized to own, a bill that would make failing to secure a weapon beyond the reach of minors a $500 misdemeanor is languishing in Lansing for want of GOP support.
"If the incident yesterday with four children being murdered and multiple kids being injured is not enough to revisit our gun laws," Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said Wednesday, "I don't know what is."
So far, Republican lawmakers have been immune to that sense of urgency. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey says he remains wary of overregulation, and cautions that if he and his colleagues endeavor to eliminate every threat, Michiganders could wake up in a world they don't recognize.
Shirkey means that as a warning. But as Michigan residents survey the all-too-familiar damage in Oxford, they may consider it a hopeful prospect. What would a world we don't recognize be like? It has to be better than this.
ONLINE: https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/editorials/2021/12/03/oxford-school-shooting-gun-violence-regulatory-reform/8813668002/
The Boston Herald on investigating UFOs — really:
A few years ago, it would have drawn jokes and scorn. But given the continuing mystery over what, exactly, U.S. military pilots are seeing in the skies, a congressional proposal to create an "Anomaly Surveillance and Resolution Office" — an office to investigate what used to be called UFOs — makes sense.
This is no laughing matter. In 2017, The New York Times reported that the U.S. military was gathering data from pilots who had reported unexplained encounters during their flights. Recently released video of some of those encounters defies conventional explanation — objects moving at speeds and in ways that don't conform with current aviation technological capabilities. And unlike most of the wack-a-doodle stuff from UFO culture, the Pentagon confirms those videos are real.
It's not to say these are little green men. This could be Russian or Chinese or North Korean technology being taken out for a test-drive under the noses of American military pilots to gauge U.S. reaction. Among the most startling aspects of the Pentagon's recent new openness on this topic is its acknowledgment that this isn't one or two or a half-dozen unexplained encounters. It's happening with relative frequency, often in restricted airspace.
The abbreviation UFO — unidentified flying object — was a military creation from the 1950s but has since then been so thoroughly commandeered by pop culture that the military has ditched it and now uses a new abbreviation: UAP, for "unidentified aerial phenomena." (No doubt it'll appear in the title of a Steven Spielberg film some time soon.)
The Pentagon this summer issued a report on UAP sightings that raised more questions than it answered. It found no solid evidence that the still-unexplained sightings were from global adversaries or … something else … but it encouraged political leaders to begin taking the issue more seriously than they traditionally have.
Not so long ago, it would have sounded like science fiction, but today it makes perfect sense that Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., is proposing creation of the Anomaly Surveillance and Resolution Office, dedicated to investigating these sightings as they occur. Gillibrand has introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act establishing the office.
"If it is technology possessed by adversaries or any other entity, we need to know. … Burying our heads in the sand is neither a strategy nor an acceptable approach," Gillibrand told Politico last month. "I can count on one hand the number of hearings I had in 10 years on this topic. That's fairly concerning given the experience our service members have had over the last decade."
The idea has wide bipartisan support — a rarity these days, and an indication of how seriously this once-snicker-inducing topic is now being taken in Washington. For once, Washington is right.
ONLINE: https://www.bostonherald.com/2021/12/08/editorial-u-s-needs-to-solve-mystery-in-the-skies/
The Toronto Star on diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics:
The Biden administration made it official on Monday: none of its diplomats or officials will attend the Beijing Winter Olympics in February.
In light of the Chinese government's egregious violations of human rights and international norms, said a spokesman for Washington, "it cannot be business as usual."
Which asks the question: what on earth is the Trudeau government waiting for?
After the ordeal of the "two Michaels," jailed in China for more than 1,000 days, Canada has more reason than almost any other country to know that it cannot be business as usual these days with Beijing.
And yet there's no word so far that Ottawa will at the very least impose what's become known as a "diplomatic boycott" of the Winter Games.
That involves letting athletes compete but denying the host country the extra validation that comes with official delegations from participating countries, cheering in the grandstands and lending the respectability of their presence to the proceedings.
We have little doubt that Ottawa will soon declare such a partial boycott. But in light of China's recent treatment of Canada it should have been out ahead of Washington, not trailing along behind.
Other countries should also join in. China threatens to take what it calls "resolute countermeasures" against the U.S. boycott, but it would be a lot tougher for Beijing to act against a united front of nations that refuse to grant it the respect it seeks by hosting another Olympics.
And make no mistake, a diplomatic boycott will sting the Chinese government. When Beijing hosted its first Games, the Summer Olympics of 2008, it was regarded as a kind of "coming out" party for a country that was seeking full recognition as a major global player after decades of conflict and isolation.
The Olympics are always intertwined with politics and power displays and these Winter Games are no exception. The government of President Xi Jinping has been flexing its muscles, challenging its neighbours, and will definitely not appreciate the dissing implied by an absence of foreign leaders and officials in Beijing next February.
You can sense this in Beijing's ridiculous attempts to dismiss possible boycotts as meaningless. Its line goes something like this: we weren't planning to invite you anyway, so you can't boycott us. It's laughable.
Others argue that a diplomatic boycott, especially one led by Washington, is just part of a "new Cold War" waged by the U.S. against China.
The problem with that is that it ignores the Xi government's turn in recent years to a much more aggressive posture toward anyone who challenges it, whether internal or external. That includes the repression of its Muslim Uyghur minority, the murky fate of Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, the crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong, threats against Taiwan, political kidnapping of foreign citizens, violations of trade agreements, and so on.
The West, on the whole, would have been happy to continue with "business as usual" with Beijing. It's the Xi government that's making that increasingly impossible.
With the benefit of hindsight, it would be better if the 2022 Winter Games were being held almost anywhere else but Beijing. But that's done, and punishing athletes by withdrawing entirely from the Games would be terribly unfair.
At the same time, it's impossible to imagine a Canadian minister or even lower level official smiling and waving as the Maple Leaf flag is paraded around a stadium in Beijing. So stay home, and watch the athletes compete on TV.
ONLINE: https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2021/12/06/us-declares-diplomatic-boycott-of-beijing-olympics-so-whats-ottawa-waiting-for.html
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A pipeline that carries oil from Iraq to world markets resumed operating Wednesday after an explosion in southeastern Turkey forced it to shut down for several hours. No one was hurt in the explosion late Tuesday near the town of Pazarcik in Kahramanmaras province. The blast caused a huge fire, and authorities also closed a highway, state-run Turkish news outlet Anadolu Agency reported. The pipeline carries oil from the Kirkuk oil fields in northern Iraq to the Turkish port
Greece boosts air force with advanced French jet fighters
TANAGRA, Greece (AP) — French-built fighter jets roared Wednesday over the Acropolis as Greece races to modernize its military and flaunts new security alliances aimed at checking neighboring Turkey. Six advanced Rafale jets, purchased from the French air force, flew in low formation over Athens before their official handover to the Greek armed forces at a nearby air base. "The arrival of these Rafale aircraft signals an upgrade for our country operationally, technologically and geopolitically,"
US announces $83M in latest round of tribal housing grants
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Emergency management officials on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota have a new building, but they have been operating out of an old jail that's set to be torn down. That's because the new building near a small airport doesn't have water and sewer connected, said Lislie Mesteth, who runs the Oglala Sioux Tribe's solid waste program. A new round of grant funding that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Tuesday will make those connections
Kinder Morgan profit tops expectations on higher gasoline, jet fuel volumes
Global jet fuel demand, however, has again come under pressure with some countries reimposing border restrictions and other curbs to keep the Omicron coronavirus variant at bay, prompting travelers to reconsider their plans. "We saw a little bit more downside momentum on jet fuel due to omicron variant, but combined, we didn't really see a meaningful impact as we exited the year," senior executive Dax Sanders said in the earnings call. Kinder Morgan reported a 48% jump in jet fuel volumes and 7% jump in gasoline, following a year of coronavirus-driven decline.
COVID contact means Michel can't be at EU parliament session
BRUSSELS (AP) — European Council President Charles Michel on Wednesday became the second top-level European Union official who has had to pull out of the bloc's parliament session because of contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen already canceled her attendance on Monday. Michel said "I have been informed that I was in close contact with someone who tested positive," Michel said. "Therefore I will not be able to attend" th


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Loving our cold winters
Well, it's the dead of winter, and there is little that is green in the northeast landscape this time of year. (Surprisingly, this winter, there is little that is white, but that's another story). Peering carefully at the forest floor, we might find green mosses (see Ulota) and ferns (see Dryopteris spp.), but overhead the forest canopy is mostly leafless. Only our native evergreens, cone- and needle-bearing species, many of them members of the Pine family, are green and active, soaking up whatever sun they can while the flowering trees lie dormant. Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) is one of my favorites. Frequent on the moist, cool slopes that line the gorges of the Finger Lakes, eastern hemlock is also found in upland forests, along with sugar maple, birch, and American beech. The species is restricted to the cool regions of North America, ranging from northeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin eastward through southern Ontario and Quebec, and northward into New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Eastern hemlock occurs in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the mid-Atlantic states. Southward the species is found in the Appalachian regions of northern Georgia and Alabama.
tsuga_sm barney penn st.jpg
Among the conifers, eastern hemlock is easily recognized. The mature trunk is reddish brown in color, and deeply furrowed. Bearing short (1/2 inch), flat, single needles in a two-ranked array, the thin brown branches have a light, feathery appearance. The underside of each needle bears two rows of white lines running parallel to the midrib. These lines contain pores with the stomata that regulate the flow of water vapor and CO2 during photosynthesis. Hemlock cones are diminutive, with papery scales. Maturing in the fall, they dangle delicately from the branch tips, dispersing small, light seeds into the winter.
Hemlock trees are extremely shade tolerant, slow growing and long-lived. They are said to live for hundreds of years; one individual, felled by a windstorm in 1989 at Smith Woods in Trumansburg, NY, was determined to be over 315 years old. A mature eastern hemlock individual can be 80 or more feet tall, and have a diameter at breast height (dbh) of 30 inches. The tree has a dense, conical crown, and often the most terminal branch droops to one side. These tall, aged individuals are an important presence in the mature forest, providing excellent cover and food for white-tailed deer, ruffed grouse, wild turkey and several songbird species.
Hemlock timber was once prized for the high tannin content of its bark. Consequently, in many parts of its range the species only persists on steep wooded slopes where it was inaccessible to logging. Barns were often sided with hemlock lumber, and you can still occasionally see the warm, gray patina of hemlock siding on ancient local barns.
An important species in the northeast, both ecologically and historically, eastern hemlock today is threatened by the hemlock wooly adelgid, an introduced sap-sucking insect that has caused extensive decline and mortality of hemlock over nearly half of its range. Though there are efforts underway to control the adelgid using chemical and natural means, the pest is expected to continue its spread.
By Anna Stalter
Photos by Paul E. Barney, Jr., Penn State Arboretum
Plants Referenced
Tsuga canadensis
eastern hemlock
Recommended for gardening
Showy fruit


Affiliate marketing on its own is still one of the many ways people try to get into the "make money online" dream. A lifestyle dream is nice and some people make it work, but for the vast majority of folks, it is just a dream.
As a family owned business you can include affiliate marketing to supplement your business income and leverage your current marketing efforts to increase your ROI. There are however, a few important things to be wary of.
The most common and simplest form of affiliate marketing works like the old referral system. Through some activity of yours, a person is referred to a product or service of another business, and they give you a kick-back. This can be accomplished online by putting a special "affiliate link" on your website. This link, when clicked, will drop a cookie on the computer of the web visitor who clicked. The visitor will then be redirected to the intended website, and if they buy something while the cookie is still active, you get credited for the sale. In some cases there is credit given for leads as well.
Consider then, if you have a website for your septic cleaning service, you know that no amount of persuasion will convince a DIY type of person not to at least TRY to fix their septic issue on their own first.
1. The DIY person comes to your website because you have effectively used your business blog to attract them there with SEO or PPC.
3. After they sign up for your report you can follow up with the report. In both the email and the report you refer them to a place they can purchase the magic solution that dissolves septic content rapidly.
4. When they buy the magic solution from the other company you get a percentage of the sale.
GOOD NEWS! This short process ensures you have the contact info of someone who has a septic issue, AND you made a few dollars while they work at fixing the problem themselves. Because you have their info you can stay in touch with them through the autoresponder sequence OR contact them direct. If you are helpful they will likely call you first if they are unable to fix their problem.
As mentioned earlier, cookies store the information on the visitors browser. Just like it recalls usernames and passwords it will also recall your affiliate ID when the person goes to the referred site.
This won't work if the person has their browser set to not allow cookies.
You can also lose the sale if the person is shopping around and reading reviews on a particular product. This is another good reason to make sure your articles are top notch informative. By writing a compelling article it could be your link that was the last one they clicked. Also using the affiliate link in your followup emails and in the report will increase the likelihood their last click will be your link.
Usually affiliate cookies will be valid for a specified time period. How long your cookie is set for will be outlined in your "Affiliate Agreement" with the advertiser. Usually 30 – 60 days a cookie will be valid on your referral customers browser. This means that even if a person doesn't make a purchase right away, you will still get the sale provided they purchase within the expiry period of the cookie.
The procedure to becoming an affiliate is commonly a simple process. One mistake people make is they begin to apply to many networks to put links on their sites. It is better to take the time to plan what you want to do first.
Some affiliate companies are better than others and some are here today and gone tomorrow – with your commissions. Take the time to investigate who you are sending your customers to. Remember, you are making the referral and it WILL reflect on you. A customer, lead, even a visitor, should have a positive experience with your business website.
The larger companies that have been around for awhile have just about every niche you can imagine. Advertisers are lined up hoping to find an affiliate that will help bring in the customers. Of course the opposite is true too. There are some sneaky advertisers that will do a "bait and switch" with your affiliate links so you really have to stay on top of things. When you have a website with links, these links need to be checked on a regular basis. Make sure they are still live, going to the location you intended them to, AND – if they are still affiliate links.
The procedure of signing up usually just requires a step or two. First to sign up with the main affiliate company and the second part is to apply to an advertiser. Some companies do have their own affiliate system which will require further investigation.
Applications will ask for your name, company name, and the methods by which you plan to promote their business or products, and how you will be paid. Some affiliate companies make deposits to your PayPal account, mail cheques, and others deposit direct to your bank account.
Another method is to find a company you want to promote. Maybe you ran across them in your research or perhaps you just like their stuff. Whatever the reason, you can find out if they are set up to have affiliates by just doing a little digging around. Check on their website for a link that says either "affiliates" or "referral". Or you can just send them an email using the contact information on their site.
Try searching for affiliate products related to your business by using one of the Search Engines and typing in their company website ie: companyilike.com + "affiliate" the search result might show you an affiliate page.
It is still common for to get an answer back from a potential advertiser I have contacted that says "a what?" "what's an affiliate?" Not to worry, there is a way to capitalize on this too!
Being an affiliate adds to the bottom line of your business. As a result you need to have a means to get paid as well as disclose your tax information. There is and probably always will be an Underground Economy, but the tax hounds are closing in on affiliates and there are few ways to make affiliate revenue without having to report it. No one want to go to prison for tax evasion so in most cases, if you do not provide the necessary tax forms, you will not get paid. When you do get paid they will usually withhold the highest tax percentage.
Seasoned advertisers will supply you with "creatives" (pre-written ads) to put on your website. It is up to you if you want to use them or not.
Previously I mentioned it might be a good idea to NOT sign up willy-nilly to everything and anything. The first reason is because it will be more helpful to you, in the long run, to do a little research on what it is you want to promote. Make sure it is tied in well with your business.
Do you have the answers to these questions? How do you plan to promote? What is your purpose for wanting to promote these particular affiliate products anyway?
It will save you a tonne of time later on if you don't have to re-do a bunch of affiliate links.
The second reason not to apply to everyone is because some of the more lucrative advertisers will start to reject your applications. They will inspect your website and may not want to have their product associated with another one you are promoting. Or, if they see you have affiliate links everywhere, it will be obvious to them than you don't know what you are doing.
I have seen people get romanced away from their core business with the promise of doing nothing and making a good living at it. I don't know of anyone who has succeeded in the affiliate world who don't work really hard at it. Many of them make their money selling the dream of making money doing little or nothing.
There are two ways to use affiliate links to help your business increase its income. The first was already touched on above. The second is to start tracking the data. You can use the affiliate links to effectively find out what people are buying so you can position yourself to sell them what they want. Information and data collection is where the real power lies.
In sales its a numbers game. There are ways to improve your odds at every juncture for sure, but the bottom line is – the more eyeballs that see your offer, the more sales you will make. This means you need to either bring the eyeballs to your offer, or get your offer out to the eyeballs.
If your offer is bad, or your pre-sell is bad, or your advertisement is bad, or your headline is bad, or, or, or, or… You won't get any sales.
But not to worry, there is help here so you can get it all figured out.
The pre-sell is like a review but where you give a more personal story regarding the product you are promoting. In the event of a septic cleaning product you can talk about how it worked for you. Remember the hard-nose DIY person probably won't call until they have tried everything else first. Consider that you know of a product that will effectively help dissolve the sludge in the septic tank that could give a person an extra couple of months before they need it pumped out. Talk about it on your business blog. You are selling your services and also giving them a way NOT to call you, YET. They will be happy you have given them this option. In a couple of months when they can no longer put it off, there is a better chance they will call you!
Tell them a story about how it did work; for you, or a customer. A good story can go a long way when persuading someone to make a purchase.
Using hype or bold lies will eventually work against you. It might seem like you are just trying to be more encouraging but people become offended when they think they are being hoodwinked. Hype-y-ness will lose you a sale, and if they remember who YOU are, they won't believe you the next time either.
Think of yourself more as a personal shopper. Your customer is someone who has a need and you have been tasked to fill that need.
thanks Cynthia Zohizan! M7y eyes are still watering!
I hope they are tears of joy!


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ANALYSIS: The NHGOP Needs Less Base, More Bedford
Posted to Politics December 03, 2020 by Michael Graham
For most New Hampshire families, COVID-19 is a crisis. For the New Hampshire GOP, it's turning into a fiasco. Watching Speaker Dick Hinch and the House caucus handle — or rather, mishandle — the politics of the pandemic, one wonders if they understand the party's fundamental challenge in 2021 and beyond.
Republicans don't have a "base" problem. They have a Bedford one.
Gov. Chris Sununu knows it. What some political pundits describe as "triangulation" is really just Sununu's natural political instinct to go where the voters are. In the Trump era, Republicans sometimes sound like they've forgotten that getting a majority of the votes is a good thing. Yes, America has an Electoral College and yes, we have a Republic, not a democracy, etc. etc.
But politics in its simplest terms is "getting more votes than the other guy."
And those votes aren't on the side of refusing masks, catching COVID and not telling anyone until the day before gathering in a group of several hundred.
"It was badly managed from the beginning," Sununu said of the NHGOP House caucus's COVID track record, and most Granite Staters agree. They hear that the GOP House members headed off to a ski lodge to hang around an open buffet — without masks — and they are flabbergasted. And then they find out that some of the attendees were infected with COVID and the GOP leadership kept the news under wraps, and that made the Republicans look utterly reckless.
"As things moved forward, communications should have been happening between both parties and both bodies," Sununu said, "I don't know how that [communication] transpired, but my understanding is it wasn't good."
No, it wasn't.
For some Republicans, this sounds like surrender. Why even acknowledge the Democrats' complaints? Throw off the mask! Own the libs! Attack!
This was the spirit behind the move to break tradition and push through the rules allowing guns on the House floor and ending mandatory sexual-harassment training on Organization Day. If the Democrats are dumb enough to stay home, then we'll just pass our rules while they're gone, amirite?
If your goal is to defeat the Democrats, that's fine. You've got the votes for the moment. But in the long term, the NHGOP doesn't need more "defeats." It needs more "wins." It needs to win back college-educated, suburban voters who once were a pillar of the party but who have been trending more and more away from the GOP.
And "guts, guns and girl- gropin'" isn't a winning message for these voters. Worse, this seemingly cavalier approach to COVID-19 is happening at the same time cases are soaring. New Hampshire suffered seven deaths on Thursday. The U.S. recorded its highest single-day death toll yet: 2,804 fatalities and more than 100,000 hospitalizations.
Suburban moms in Bedford watch news stories of Republicans refusing masks and catching COVID, and they don't see a political organization they want to be a part of. This behavior makes it that much easier for suburbanites who've been voting Democrat to start actually thinking of themselves as Democrats.
When that happens, the GOP is really in trouble.
Not that they aren't already. For all the chest-thumping about taking back the Legislature, Democrats actually won 49.7 percent of votes cast for state Senate. GOP-friendly districts turned that narrow popular vote margin into a solid 14-10 majority. The story is similar in the House.
Meanwhile, look at the trend in Bedford. Ten years ago, Republican Frank Guinta carried Bedford with 66 percent of the vote. In 2016, he got just under 50 percent of the vote. In 2020, Republican Matt Mowers eked out a win in Bedford by just 164 votes.
In 2016, Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte won Bedford by 21 points. This year, Democrat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen carried it by 8 points — a 29 percent swing. Joe Biden won it, too.
Obviously, these races aren't entirely comparable. Nobody believes Ayotte vs. Hassan is the same as Shaheen vs. Messner. And Trump vs. Biden is obviously different from Obama vs. Romney. But the trend is clear and undeniable.
For years Republicans have complained, and not without cause, that GOP politicians spent too much time sucking up to media outlets and seeking approval from the political establishment rather than fighting for the interests of their base. These Republican activists want representatives who'll stand up, not back down. OK, fine.
But while sucking up to the press may be problematic, sucking up to potential voters is called politics. It's literally the name of the game. New Hampshire Republicans may want to think about playing smarter, not harder.


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Tribeca: Dreamland (2019)
By Abe Friedtanzer
Gangsters possess a certain allure that can be wildly infectious. Those with no desire to see innocent people or even criminals killed may still look upon infamous outlaws with admiration, envious of the way in which they comport themselves and answer to no one. Impressionable young people who read comic books and detective novels are especially prone to fantasizing about what it would be like to meet a real-life gangster, which would be the greatest escape of all from a life lacking excitement.
That fantasy comes true in the Tribeca film Dreamland for Eugene Evans (Finn Cole), who never imagines getting out of sleepy, depressed Bismarck, Texas. After seeing wanted posters for a murderous bank robber, Allison Wells (Margot Robbie), he wanders out to his family barn to find her holed up there, bleeding and in search of a hero to help hide her and protect her.
Earlier in the film, Eugene steals a comic about detectives and outlaws from a local store, sneaking away to read it at home before his stepfather, George (Travis Fimmel), who works for the local police department, finds it and tells him to stop wasting his time imagining silly things. For Eugene, meeting Allison enables the fulfillment of two ideas: to be in the presence of someone who takes what she wants and to give a middle finger to George, since most of his days are spent hunting down that very fugitive.
Allison is also well aware of her audience, taking advantage of the fact that Eugene is clearly attracted to her both ideologically and physically. She plays the damsel in distress rather than threatening to kill Eugene, something she could easily do, instead knowing that her charm will ultimately be her most useful asset. As happens in these types of situations – especially in movies – she does eventually fall for Eugene, though unlike him, she knows that it can't last. He may be ready to run away to Mexico with her and never look back, but life on the road and on the run has taught her that it's never smart to choose that kind of life with someone else, since it always ends badly.
*image courtesy of Dreamland (2019) and Tribeca
This film has a distinct feel to it, one that aims to capture the spirit and look of its times. Bismarck is presented as extremely prone to dust storms, which dampen an already bleak and boring existence. The costumes of the era, particularly those that Allison wears, pop against the desolate background. The way that Eugene acts and speaks makes him feel most authentic, thanks to a solid performance from Finn Cole, best known for his performances on two TV crime dramas, Animal Kingdom and Peaky Blinders. Robbie, nominated for an Oscar two years ago for playing a different kind of femme fatale in I, Tonya, knows how to play Allison to make her most appealing to Eugene, though it's a far cry from her breakthrough turn as the main character's wife in The Wolf of Wall Street. Though George is supposed to be a good guy, there's nothing more intense in the film than Fimmel's piercing blue eyes, which seem to strike a certain fear in Eugene that threatens to trap him where he is forever.
And that's fitting, because in a film like this where the son of the law falls in love with an established criminal, the greatest threat of all isn't their death – it's succumbing to the monotony of real life.
*lead image courtesy of Dreamland (2019) and Tribeca
Filed Under: Abe FriedtanzerFilmMovie ReviewTribeca
Abe Friedtanzer
Abe Friedtanzer is a film and television enthusiast, making sure to see every Oscar-nominated movie each year and watch every new TV pilot. He has covered numerous film festivals including Sundance and SXSW. When he's not staring at a screen, Abe enjoys traveling the country with his wife, Arielle, and using bikeshare systems in whatever city he's visiting. You can read his reviews at www.MoviesWithAbe.com and www.TVwithAbe.com.
Revisiting 1971's Cult Classic Horror Film Let's Scare Jessica to Death
By Brian Greene
Many of us film watchers rely on critical reviews of movies to help us decide whether a particular title is worth our time, whether it's a new release we're thinking of seeing in a theater or an old one we're considering checking out through various means. But what to do when a certain movie has…
See No Evil, Hear No Evil: The Six Senses of Horror
By Angie Barry
Film is a medium of two senses: sight and sound. We can't touch the people or objects depicted, we can't smell or taste them. But horror? Horror involves all the senses.
18 Near-Future Films Worth Watching
By Steven James
I've always loved thrillers and science fiction stories, especially those that occur in the near-future rather than hundreds or thousands of years from now. As I worked on my latest novel Synapse, I ended up thinking a lot about my favorite near-future films, especially thrillers. Here is a list of my top eighteen (with a…
Scream, You're a Star: Susan George in 1971
Susan George (born 1950) had a string of movie roles under her belt before 1971. In those early film appearances, the gorgeous blonde with the alluringly pretty eyes and nice legs was sometimes used largely as cinematic eye candy. And while there were varying degrees of more dramatic roles for George through that slew of…


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Trapped Russian miners rescued
All but one of 13 trapped Russian miners have been rescued from one mine even as a blast in another underground mine claimed five lives.
The 'tunnel of hope' succeded in rescuing the miners
Of 13 miners trapped in a flooded Russian mine in Novoshakhtinsk for five days, 11 have been found alive, one is dead and one is unaccounted for.
"Twelve have been located, but one of them is dead, while one is still missing," said Kirill Zhitenyov, a local administration official.
In all, 46 miners had been trapped up to 800m below ground since Thursday evening when an underground lake burst into their shaft, flooding the mine and cutting off the miners' communications and air supply.
On Saturday, 33 were rescued and emergency workers had been digging what they dubbed a "tunnel of hope" to reach the remainder.
Five killed
Even as the rescue efforts succeeded, in another Russian mine in the far-eastern region of Primorye, five men were killed by a powerful underground explosion.
The blast was believed to have been caused by methane gas.
Of 71 people known to be working in the Tsentralnaya mine in the town of Partizansk at the time of the blast, five were found dead and five others were in a serious condition, an emergencies ministry spokesman said in Moscow on Wednesday.
Fifteen managed to scramble out on their own in the aftermath of the blast, and it took rescuers several hours to lift out the remaining 56, including five dead.
The injured miners were taken to a local hospital with severe burns and wounds, Partizansk's health chief Galina Pautova said.
The blast was apparently due to methane that had accumulated about 750m below ground, the second such incident since 1996 in one of the region's deepest mines.