text:
8 Dead 11 Injured in Truck Terror Attack in New York City
Labels: Manhattan, New York, Terror
The Rainbow with the American Flag Will be Displayed Permanently in a Michigan City
Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly blocked provisions of the memorandum concerning the enlistment and retention of transgender military service members, holding that the plaintiffs "have established that they will be injured by these directives, due both to the inherent inequality they impose, and the risk of discharge and denial of accession that they engender. "
The judge also blasted Trump's initial abrupt announcement via Twitter that came "without any of the formality or deliberative processes that generally accompany the development and announcement of major policy changes that will gravely affect the lives of many Americans."
In partially granting a preliminary injunction pending appeal, the judge said the plaintiffs -- current and aspiring service members who are transgender -- are "likely to succeed" on their due process claims.
The judge said that the effect of her order was to "revert to the status quo" that existed before the memo that was issued August 25. The memo indefinitely extended a prohibition against transgender individuals entering the military and it required the military to authorize, by no later than March 23, 2018, the discharge of transgender service members.
Trump administration lawyers had asked the judge to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that it was premature because the Pentagon is currently studying how to implement the President's directive and no action would be taken until after the policy review is completed.
They also argued that "federal courts owe the utmost deference to the political branches in the field of national defense and military affairs, both because the Constitution commits military decisions exclusively to those branches and because courts have less competence to second-guess military decision making."
But Kollar-Kotelly, of the US District Court for the District of Columbia, declined to wait, ruling that even though the policy was still subject to review, the government's arguments "wither away under scrutiny."
"The Memorandum unequivocally directs the military to prohibit indefinitely the accession of transgender individuals and to authorize their discharge," she wrote, "this decision has already been made."
Justice Department spokeswoman Lauren Ehrsam said, "we disagree with the court's ruling and are currently evaluating the next steps."
Ehrsam added: "Plaintiffs' lawsuit challenging military service requirements is premature for many reasons, including that the Defense Department is actively reviewing such service requirements, as the President ordered, and because none of the Plaintiffs have established that they will be impacted by current policies on military service."
Kollar-Kotelly also had harsh words for the administration, highlighting the "unusual circumstances surrounding the President's announcement" of the ban that initially came in a July 26 tweet and the fact that the "reasons given to them do not appear to be supported by any facts."
In her 76-page opinion, she actually posted a screen grab of the President's tweets on the subject.
"After Consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military," read one July 26 tweet.
Sessions says civil rights law doesn't protect transgender workers
And Kollar-Kotelly said that the President's decision was not supported by the facts.
"All of the reasons proffered by the President for excluding transgender individuals from the military, in this case, were not merely unsupported, but were actually contradicted by the studies, conclusions, and judgment of the military itself," she wrote.
Shannon Minter, a plaintiffs' lawyer and legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, called the ruling "a complete victory for our plaintiffs and all transgender service members who are now once again able to serve on equal terms and without the threat of being discharged."
"Although this ruling is very preliminary, it's significant in at least two respects," said Steve Vladeck, CNN legal analyst, and professor at the University of Texas School of Law. "First, it is based on the judge's conclusion that the Constitution in some way limits the government's ability to discriminate against transgendered individuals. Second, it once again recognizes that the President's words (and tweets) have consequences, especially when those words are turned into official policy."
By Ariane de Vogue, CNN Supreme Court Reporter
Washington CNN
Over 5Million Reads Adam Gonzalez at October 31, 2017 No comments: Links to this post
Labels: Gays In Military, Transgender Rights
Kevin Spacey Comes Out as Gay and Sex Predator All in One Tweet
Kevin Spacey apologized and came out as gay in a statement after the actor was accused of sexual advances on an underage actor.
Harvey Weinstein: What You Need to Know
Over the last week, a deluge of allegations have come out against the Hollywood producer, ending with him getting fired from own company
"I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over 30 years ago," Spacey wrote. "But if I did behave as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior, and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years."
Spacey's statement arrived after Buzzfeed published an account of the 1986 encounter as remembered by actor Anthony Rapp, who has appeared in Rent, Dazed and Confused and currently stars on Star Trek: Discovery.
Rapp, who was 14 and a child actor on Broadway at the time, said he attended a party at fellow Broadway actor Spacey's Manhattan apartment; as the party ended, Rapp – who became bored and ended up just watching television alone in Spacey's bedroom – was approached and then thrown atop the bed by Spacey, he told Buzzfeed.
"He was trying to seduce me," Rapp said. "I don't know if I would have used that language. But I was aware that he was trying to get with me sexually."
After pushing Spacey off of him, Rapp ran into the bathroom before making his way to the front door. "He followed me to the front door of the apartment, and as I opened the door to leave, he was leaning on the front door[frame]," Rapp said. "And he was like, 'Are you sure you wanna go?' I said, 'Yes, good night,' and then I did leave."
Although Rapp initially put the incident behind him, the ascension of Spacey, who would go on to find Hollywood success soon after, haunted Rapp, as seeing Spacey on the big screen and award shows would always bring back his memories of that encounter.
While Rapp often told his friends, fellow colleagues and – in one case – another publication about what happened with Spacey, the accusations took on additional weight in the aftermath of the Harvey Weinstein sexual assault allegations.
Not long after Buzzfeed published Rapp's account of the incident, Spacey issued a long Twitter statement that both apologized for his actions and – after decades of rumors, non-committal confirmations and a refusal to discuss his private life – revealed that he is gay.
"This story has encouraged me to address other things about my life," Spacey wrote. "I know that there are stories out there about me and that some have been fueled by the fact that I have been so protective of my privacy. As those closest to me know, in my life I have had relationships with both men and women. I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man."
Spacey concluded, "I want to deal with this honestly and openly and that starts with examining my own behavior."
Rapp added on Twitter Sunday night, "I came forward with my story, standing on the shoulders of the many courageous women and men who have been speaking out to shine a light and hopefully make a difference, as they have done for me. Everything I wanted to say about my experience is in that article, and I have no further comment about it at this time."
By Daniel Kreps
"I have a lot of respect and admiration for Anthony Rapp as an actor. I'm beyond horrified to hear his story," Spacey said in a statement posted on his Twitter account late Sunday night. "I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over 30 years ago. But if I did behave as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior, and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years."
In the same statement, Spacey also came out as gay.
"This story has encouraged me to address other things about my life," Spacey's statement continued. "I know that there are stories out there about me and that some have been fueled by the fact that I have been so protective of my privacy. As those closes to me know, in my life, I have had relationships with both men and women. I have loved and had romantic relationships with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man. I want to deal with this honestly and openly and that starts with examining my own behavior."
Quartz:
"He picked me up a like a groom picks up the bride over the threshold. But I don't, like, squirm away initially, because I'm like, 'What's going on?' And then he lays down on top of me," Rapp explained. "He was trying to seduce me… I was aware that he was trying to get with me sexually." Rapp quickly left the apartment, he says, and didn't tell anybody about Spacey's behavior.
There's a long and ugly history to the notion that there is some sort of relationship between homosexuality and pedophilia—and Spacey's conflation of the two is as distressing as it is infuriating. Members of the LGBT+ community have had to face the misconception that they're more likely to be abusers time and time again, whether in debates over gender neutral bathrooms or when trying to become parents through adoption. For years, homophobes have played up to the wrongheaded and pernicious belief that gay men somehow pose a danger to young people, and this notion has played into discussions of the child sex abuse scandals in the Catholic Church.
As one user on Facebook remarked, Spacey's statement is a "grotesque setback" for the community: "The journey towards genuine equality is still a long way off, so kudos Spacey for making it just a bit longer & harder, and further blurring the very distinct lines between homosexuality & pedophilia."Whether intentional or not, Spacey's apology implies that his sexuality offers an explanation for his behavior. But the LGBT+ community is united in saying: Whatever your sexuality, making sexual advances on a 14-year-old is wrong.
Labels: Comes Out, Sexual/Crime/Predator
Flip-thump Up Trump
Labels: Trump
Right Group Confirms Russian Gay Pop Star Killed By Chechnya Crack Down
In mid-October, a gay Russian man became the first to officially accuse authorities in Chechnya of jailing and beating him as part of a broad crackdown on LGBT people.
Maxim Lapunov said during a news conference that unidentified people detained him on a street in the Russian region's provincial capital, Grozny, in March and drove him to a detention facility.
Lapunov's story came almost ten full days before a leading Russian human rights group announced it "seriously fears" that Zelimkhan Bakayev, 26, a gay pop star, was killed as part of Chechnya's deadly crackdown. According to the Guardian, Bakayev went missing in August when he left his home in Moscow to visit the capital, Grozny, for his sister's wedding.
"When a person disappears and the police force refuse to investigate his disappearance, we have serious fears for the life of that person," Oleg Orlov, from Memorial, Russia's oldest civil rights group, told AFP on Friday.
Lapunov's chilling account of guards beating him with sticks during the nearly two weeks he was kept in custody and forcing him and his partner, who also was detained and beaten, to fight each other add weight to the concerns surrounding Bakayev.
"Day after day, they were telling me how precisely they want to kill me," he said.
Lapunov is the first person to file a complaint with Russian authorities over a wave of arrests of gay people earlier this year that human rights defenders and media outlets say have taken place under Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov.
Lapunov said other people in the same detention facility were tortured and beaten for being gay. He was let go after he signed a statement acknowledging he was gay and was told he would be killed if he talked about his time in detention, he said.
Lapunov, a resident of the Omsk region in Siberia, had a job in Chechnya.
"When I would fall, they would give me a break and then force me to stand up and continue for several more rounds," he said of the beatings he received.
"When I was leaving Chechnya I could barely walk," he said.
Human rights group say more than 100 gay men were arrested and subjected to beatings and torture during the spring, and some of them were killed. Other victims have spoken about the crackdown without revealing their identities.
"I keep having nightmares about what I went through there," Lapunov said. "Those cries moans and prays for mercy has left an imprint."
The crackdown has drawn international opprobrium. Some foreign leaders have raised the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"I want justice, I hope it will come," Lapunov said. "I don't want to feel unprotected in my own country so that anyone from Chechnya could come after me and kill me at any moment."
Igor Kalyapin, the head of the Committee against Torture, a Russian NGO that provided legal assistance to Lapunov, said the Russian investigative agency has dragged its feet on launching a probe based on his testimony even though Russia's human rights commissioner followed the case.
Kadyrov and other officials in Chechnya have denied any crackdown on gay people.
The Kremlin has relied on Kadyrov to stabilize Chechnya after two devastating separatist wars, effectively allowing him to run the mostly Muslim region in the North Caucasus mountains like his personal fiefdom.
Kadyrov has enforced strict Islamic rules in Chechnya, relying on his feared security forces to stifle any dissent.
"There has been no official investigation into the hunt for gays that saw extrajudicial detentions and torture of dozens of people during the spring," Tanya Lokshina, the Russia program director at Human Rights Watch, said. "And the persecution of gays has continued on a smaller scale."
LGBT activists said Chechen authorities have handed over some detainees to relatives along with demands that they are punished. Homosexuality is taboo in Chechnya, and most people there are prejudiced against gay people.
Activist Igor Kochetkov said his group has collected information about 15 detainees who have been missing since they were handed over to relatives and been missing since then.
"They provoke people to kill their relatives," Kochetkov said.
Labels: Anti Gay Russia, Chechnya, Russia-Nazi like
Gay Concentration Camps in Russia and Neo Nazis in Florida-Next: Where You Are
Two men he didn't know bundled him into a car earlier this year and took him to a cell that was already blood soaked. Then the beatings began. "They burst in every 10 or 15 minutes shouting that I was gay and they would kill me," he told the press conference arranged by human rights activists last week.
"Then they beat me with a stick for a long time. In the legs, ribs, buttocks, and back. When I started to fall, they pulled me up and carried on. Every day they assured me they would kill me, and told me how."
At night he couldn't sleep due to all the terrifying screams he heard from nearby cells. When he was finally released he couldn't walk for days. Every night they had brought in a new captive he said, and every night a new torture session began.
Because Lapunov was an ethnic Russian he was assured by Chechen authorities that he would not be beaten as badly as native Chechens. They did not electrocute him with wires as they did their own countrymen. Instead, they forced him to watch other detainees being beaten and bloodied.
Human rights groups have detailed the cases of at least 15 detainees who "were released to their relatives and have since disappeared without a trace," raising the suspicion of "honor killings" by their own families. Kill them before we do, they are reportedly told.
Meanwhile, Russia's independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta has published a list of the names of 27 men, executed in a single night in Grozny on January 25, 2017.
Because Russian authorities have reportedly made no serious attempt to investigate these charges, Lapunov made the decision to come forward last week, putting a face to the allegations. He is risking his own life to do this. But he feels he had no choice but to go public. This year, for the first time since Nazi Germany, people on the European continent are being targeted for extermination based on their sexuality alone.
One survivor of a camp located at a former military base in Argun claimed he was tortured and interrogated by the Chechen officials themselves. They had used a hookup app on his phone to lure him into their trap, then they tried to use his contacts to identify and arrest his contacts.If this sounds a page from the Nazi playbook, that's because it is.
In the 1930s, when fascists began to target out-groups for detention, torture, and extermination, many people told themselves they were not directly affected. Yes, the wider atmosphere was being poisoned by their propaganda, but they did not anticipate that the doses would be slowly increased until they resulted in millions dead.
If we keep looking the other way when fascists arrive in our public squares with their burning Tiki Torches, they can assume we no longer oppose them so vehemently, they can even assume we may secretly share some of their aims.
Sadly we don't even need to look overseas now to recognize the growing threat. Last week three neo-Nazi's were charged with attempted homicide here in the United States after they shot at protesters outside an event hosted by white supremacist Richard Spencer at Florida State University. Flyer campaigns by fascist groups have become more common across the country this year. Now they march without hoods or masks. They clearly believe their time has come. So the time has come for us all to decide what we stand for too. If we thought we'd still have a little longer to figure it out that's too bad. If we thought we weren't directly threatened by the forces that are gathering around the globe that's too bad too. We are all of us threatened by the global resurgence of fascism. The moment is here. Now.
This simple truth needs to be remembered: fascism is an inherently violent ideology. It does not seek to live in peace with its neighbors because it will not. What it wants is to remove, first by threats and intimidation, then by violence or extermination, all threats to its total dominance. Today they are targeting the most vulnerable. That's how all of this starts. Tomorrow it will be you.
Cahir O'Doherty
Irish Central
Labels: Gay Persecution, Nazism, Russia-Nazi like
Iconic Musician Songwriter Marc Almond Says "I hate the LGBT thing"
at October 30, 2017 1 comment: Links to this post
Labels: LGBT
Puerto Rico Cremates Hundreds of its Dead Few Cemeteries Still Standing
"Every death is a horror," Trump said during a meeting in San Juan, "but if you look at a real catastrophe like Katrina and you look at the tremendous -- hundreds and hundreds of people that died and you look at what happened here with, really, a storm that was just totally overpowering ... no one has ever seen anything like this."
BY JANISSA DELZO
AGUADILLA, Puerto Rico — Funeral directors and crematoriums are being permitted by the Puerto Rican government to burn the bodies of people who died as a result of Hurricane Maria — without those people being counted in the official death toll.
The result is a massive loophole likely suppressing the official death count, which has become a major indicator of how the federal government's relief efforts are going because President Trump himself made it one.
During Trump's photo-op visit to the US territory — whose residents are US citizens — three weeks ago, he boasted that the death toll was just 16. It doubled by the time he returned to Washington that same day. The death toll is now at 51, a figure widely contradicted by what funeral homes, crematoriums, and hospitals on the ground tell BuzzFeed News.
Then, last week, when asked how he would rate the White House's response to the crisis, Trump said, "I'd say it was a 10." More than a month after the storm made landfall on Sept. 20, 2.6 million people are without power, at least 875,000 people don't have access to running water, and 66% of the island still doesn't have cell service.
Trump added, "I'd say it was probably the most difficult when you talk about relief, when you talk about search, when you talk about all of the different levels, and even when you talk about lives saved." Meanwhile, two US representatives and 13 senators recently wrote letters to the acting head of homeland security requesting investigations into the death toll.
Last week, BuzzFeed News visited 10 funeral homes and crematoriums in two Puerto Rican municipalities on the territory's western coast, Aguadilla and Mayagüez, at least two hours away from the bustling San Juan. The findings include:
Communication between the central institute certifying official hurricane deaths, called the Institute of Forensic Sciences, and funeral homes or crematoriums appears to be fully broken, with each side waiting for the other to take action.
The central institute is also giving crematoriums permission to burn bodies of potential hurricane victims — which is happening more because it is cheaper and logistically easier as families rebuild their lives — without examining them first, which means they are not being counted in the official death toll.
Disaster experts say this lack of a transparent and consistent approach to counting deaths means the toll is likely inaccurate.
And experts also say an inaccurate official death toll potentially cheats families out of FEMA relief funds and could hurt how future disasters are handled.
The funeral home and crematorium directors told BuzzFeed News that they had received dozens of bodies of people who died of hurricane-related causes — just the cases from these two municipalities would potentially more than double the death toll if they were included. The Forensic Institute permitted the bodies of at least 42 potential hurricane victims to be burned, according to one crematorium director.
Puerto Rico's safety department says the funeral and crematorium directors should send any potential hurricane-related victims to the institute before they're burned — but admit they haven't actually officially communicated that to them.
John Mutter, a professor of earth sciences and public affairs at Columbia University who studied how the death count was handled after Hurricane Katrina, said Puerto Rico's procedures seem to be "deliberately trying to keep the numbers low," which he called "unconscionable." Other experts called it a failure of bureaucracy.
The White House and the office of the Governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rosselló, didn't respond to a request for comment.
Asked directly if the number of hurricane-related deaths in Puerto Rico is being undercounted, a spokesperson for the Puerto Rico Department of Public Safety dodged, saying, "We can't infer or reach any assumptions or inferences. If there really are cases like this, they have to present them to the authorities."
But, at this point, many of those bodies have been burned to ash. "I never expected all of this"
In Aguadilla, a municipality of around 60,000, the official death toll currently counts three fatalities from the hurricane: one person who drowned in flooding, one person who fell off his roof while trying to repair hurricane damage, and one person who died of a bone infection.
But staff at the only crematorium in the municipality, Crem del Caribe, said they were given permission by the forensic institute to cremate at least 42 bodies of other people who had died as a result of the hurricane. That included people who died due to a lack of oxygen supply, failure of dialysis and oxygen machines because of the lack of electricity, and people who died of heart attacks. (Seventy-five percent of the island still has no power, and questions are being raised about the firm contracted to fix it.)
The majority of those cases came from funeral homes in the area, like Vitin Alvarez, 68, who died a week after the hurricane made landfall.
"I'm still trying to adjust to life without him."
Alvarez had Alzheimer's disease, and his death certificate states his primary cause of death was respiratory failure. His wife, Blanca Alvarez, 63, told BuzzFeed News he died because she couldn't get gasoline to power the generator he needed for his oxygen machine. There's no mention of the lack of electricity on his certificate.
"It's so difficult to get gasoline. And there wasn't a way to communicate with anyone," Alvarez told BuzzFeed News outside her home in Aguadilla.
Nidhi Prakash / BuzzFeed News
Blanca Alvarez outside her home in Aguadilla.
Alvarez cremated her husband because of financial concerns and because she was overwhelmed handling basic things like finding food and water after the hurricane. He was the first person in the Alvarez family ever to be cremated instead of buried.
"We were always together. I'm still trying to adjust to life without him," said Alvarez. "I never expected all of this to be happening at the same time."
Several funeral directors told BuzzFeed News they're seeing an increase in cremations over burials after the hurricane, in part because it's less expensive and requires less planning as people rebuild. They had already seen an uptick in the number of cremations as a result of the financial crisis in Puerto Rico, they said, but said the numbers have increased even more in Maria's aftermath. The cremation cost Alvarez $1,300, she said. One funeral home director said burial services cost between $4,000 and $12,000 in Aguadilla.
She said her husband had life insurance but she's still waiting for the payout. Alvarez wasn't aware that FEMA has a disaster funeral assistance program "to help with the cost of unexpected and uninsured expenses associated with the death of an immediate family member when attributed to an event that is declared to be a major disaster or emergency." FEMA did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Nidhi Prakash / BuzzFeed News
A cemetery in Aguadilla.
A confusing process
The Puerto Rican government has said that the island's Institute of Forensic Sciences, in San Juan, must examine and certify the bodies of any hurricane-related deaths before they are counted in the official death toll. When the region isn't dealing with a disaster, the bodies of people who killed themselves, suffered a suspicious death, or were possible victims of a crime are sent to the institute for investigation.
The spokesperson for the Puerto Rico Department of Public Safety, Karixia Ortiz Serrano, acting as spokesperson for the institute, told BuzzFeed News that the institute does not have guidelines for which hurricane-related deaths to add to the official death toll and which to keep off, and said they're making decisions on a "case-by-case" basis.
"There are no specific categories, but they look at the situation," interview family members, "analyze it, and come to their decision — and everything has to be scientifically-based," she said.
Here's where things go awry.
The public safety department says it's the responsibility of funeral homes, crematoriums, and hospitals to notify and send or bring bodies to the forensic institute if they're possible hurricane-related deaths.
But all 10 funeral homes and crematorium directors BuzzFeed News spoke to said they haven't received any specific guidance on what they're supposed to do with the bodies of people who died as a result of the hurricane. Ortiz confirmed to BuzzFeed News that no official guidance was sent to funeral homes and crematoriums, many of which take in bodies that don't need to go to the hospital first.
Ortiz says the directors of the facilities should know better. "They know that the place that they do all the scientific investigations is at the institute," she said. "The funeral homes are in constant communication with the institute because they're the ones that bring the bodies and take them back."
Still, cremating a body requires written approval from the forensic institute — which has the option to ask for the bodies to be sent to San Juan for examination before they're burned. But the funeral and crematorium directors who spoke to BuzzFeed News said the institute has given them permission to cremate dozens of bodies of people who died of hurricane-related causes, and were not asked to send them to the institute.
Asked specifically about this, Ortiz reiterated it's on crematoriums and funeral homes to communicate with the forensic institute if they think a death should be examined for inclusion on the death toll.
"We have heard," that possible hurricane victim were being cremated without examination, Ortiz said. "We aren't saying that they're totally true or totally false. But what we are saying is, if you have a case like that, send us all the information to be able to look at it" before cremation.
Many funeral directors have conflicting definitions of what counts as a hurricane-related death and what doesn't.
Some funeral directors classified cardiac and respiratory failure after the hurricane as death by "natural causes" only. Others said they consider those hurricane-related because they happened as a result of the conditions created by the Maria: a lack of food, water, electricity, and fuel. (The official death toll does include people who had heart attacks, took their own life, and who died for lack of oxygen and electricity for dialysis machines.)
Experts said this goes back to a lack of guidance from the public safety department.
"If you wanted to make the count as small as possible that's the way to go about it."
"If you wanted to make the count as small as possible that's the way to go about it," Mutter, the Columbia professor, said about lack of uniform procedure and communication about certifying hurricane-related deaths. "Because somebody's sitting there saying, this is a disaster death, this one is not."
Mutter said that based on Puerto Rico's poverty level and the strength of the storm, he would have expected the death toll to be in the hundreds by now.
"In fact there's a lot of deaths that come from the exacerbation of preexisting conditions by the trauma of the disaster event. And they are normally counted. They ended up being counted in Katrina. They are considered disaster deaths. If you take them out you get a small number," he said.
A review of the funeral homes and crematoriums BuzzFeed News visited shows the discrepancies.
Monica Rodriguez, of Funeraria Soto Rodriguez, said her funeral home has received six bodies since the hurricane. Of those, four came from senior homes — their death certificates say they died of cardiac arrests. Another was a quadriplegic man who died of an infection after arriving at a hospital too late to be treated effectively, and another was a dialysis patient who died in their home when their machine failed. Two of the six were cremated, Rodriguez said.
"They didn't have air-conditioning. It's possible they didn't have enough oxygen."
Here's her definition of a hurricane-related death: "You can't exactly say these people died because of the hurricane, because they were old people or they already had health conditions," she said, adding that in general, death certificates don't necessarily account for the conditions in which someone died.
But she also said she believed the conditions created by the hurricane lead to these deaths.
"I can tell you that we had four deaths of elderly people who were in senior homes. They didn't have air-conditioning. It's possible they didn't have enough oxygen. I'm telling you about the conditions that were caused by the hurricane, not causes of death as they're written" by doctors on death certificates, Rodriguez said. At the Javariz funeral home in Aguadilla, 19 bodies have come in since the hurricane. Of those, most died during the hurricane or because of conditions created by the hurricane, said director Tomas Javariz. Thirteen were cremated.
Javariz considers two who died by suicide, five due to a lack of oxygen, one from an organ failure, and 11 attributed to cardiac or respiratory arrest as hurricane-related deaths.
He sent the two who died by suicide to the forensic institute — standard practice for suicide cases — but he said he didn't send the others because the institute never asked for hurricane-related deaths. The institute gave him permission to cremate them.
Another funeral home in Aguadilla, Funeraria San Antonio, received six bodies since the hurricane. Those included one of the three counted in Aguadilla's official death toll — a man who fell off his roof while trying to repair it — whose body was examined by the forensic institute in San Juan. Another died of cancer and the rest died of "natural causes," an employee at the funeral home said, which included cardiac and respiratory arrests. Funeraria Hernandez-Rivera, the fourth funeral home in the region, received 15 bodies since the hurricane, including five or six heart attacks, according to funeral director Raul Hernandez-Rivera. He also said that he didn't believe those cases could be counted as hurricane-related because they didn't involve people drowning or dying while trying to repair hurricane damage.
The institute gave him permission to cremate 8 of the 15 bodies. He sent one to the institute — the body of a woman who was bedridden and drowned during the hurricane — and she is counted in the official death toll.
In the nearby municipality of Mayagüez, there were no hurricane-related deaths, according to the official toll. That's at odds with the number of cases received by local funeral homes.
Lynette Matos and Javier Granell of Funeraria Fernandez.
Funeraria Fernandez received 13 bodies since the hurricane. They said at least six of those people died because of a lack of oxygen supply, and one died because of a dialysis machine not working, in addition to several heart attacks. Nine of those were cremated. Five were sent to the forensic institute for examination. None have been included in the death toll.
Another, Mayagüez Memorial, received 42 bodies since the hurricane, 10 of which were cremated with the forensic institute's permission without an examination, according to a staff member there.
"There were some that had to be the result of the hurricane," said the staff member, who asked not to be named.
Funeraria Martell received 39 bodies since the hurricane — 16 were cremated with permission from the institute without examination.
"I would say that almost all of them were [related to the hurricane],"said Germarie Hernandez, the funeral director. She said she received 10 cases from Hospital Perrea and three from the Centro Medico Mayagüez, all from the intensive care units. The other 26 cases came from private homes or senior homes. Mario Tama / Getty Images
"That is a failure of government"
The lack of guidelines for creating an official death toll is a recurring problem after large-scale disasters in the US, according to experts, who say there is no federal standard because local coroners and governments have jurisdiction over counting and certifying deaths.
After Hurricane Katrina, FEMA organized teams of mortuary experts through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) — known as Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Teams or DMORT — to assist the state of Louisiana in counting storm-related deaths. (Puerto Rico's safety department said they have 40 DMORT personnel assisting the Institute of Forensic Sciences in San Juan.)
During Katrina, FEMA also contracted Kenyon International, a private company that specializes in recovering and identifying remains after disasters. The company has not been contacted by federal agencies or the Puerto Rican government for relief on the island, they told BuzzFeed News. FEMA did not respond to a request for comment.
"One of the things I advise governments to do is … come up with and put out guidance on what is the time period, the definition, the cause, manner, and mechanism [for counting deaths]," said Robert Jensen, CEO of Kenyon International, which also assisted authorities after 9/11, the Oklahoma City bombing, and the Grenfell Tower fire in London.
He said instructions should be clear for funeral homes on what the actions and reporting requirements are in cases like Maria.
"What we want to be able to do is clearly identify what was the human cost in this event and make it easier," he said. "In the absences of leadership or guidance, people are going to take action. The dead can't just sit."
"It's just bureaucracy at its worst."
He said the current lack of transparency and communication with those handling burials and cremations across the island means the count is less likely to be accurate.
"That is a failure of government. That is part of the responsibility," he said, adding that having accurate death toll data can be used to help governments prepare better for future disasters. For example, "We have one generator— it needs to go to location A and not location B."
"Short of having really clear guidance issued then you leave the decision up to each individual funeral director, doctor," he said. "I'd love to say that it's an intentional cover-up but it's just bureaucracy at its worst."
The forensic institute has heard from some funeral directors who said they had cases of hurricane deaths that had not been examined by the institute before burial or cremation, Ortiz said.
"There were a few situations like this, and when [the director of the forensic institute] asked for information and specific data, and when she looked at the cases … it turned out that they were just rumors, or that they couldn't be substantiated."
Ortiz could not provide details about how many funeral directors had raised such concerns with the institute, or the details about the investigations that lead the institute to believe that they were "just rumors." But the institute is open to investigating any case that's specifically brought to them, she said.
"If it's a rumor they don't register them," she said.
Jensen said the Puerto Rican government's process is not consistent with a scientific approach.
"Scientifically based is great but the thing about science is it has to be repeated given the same conditions and everyone has to be able to repeat it given the same parameters," he said. Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello said three weeks ago that he had conducted a survey of the island's hospitals and medical centers to update the death toll. The Department of Public Safety, when asked about the survey, said they will do them "periodically" but couldn't say when. They said the government is in contact with hospitals but that there are communication difficulties that make it hard to do another survey.
Jensen said that after six months or a year, families will begin to think about the deaths of their loved ones in the context of this crisis — and whether they could have been eligible for more financial support through insurance policies if their loved ones' deaths had been classified differently. One clear area they could have lost financial resources, he said, was in receiving federal grants through FEMA to assist with emergency funeral costs.
"Here's where it has an impact. It has an impact for different insurance policies, it has an impact on families," he said, adding that in at least one other large-scale disaster Kenyon has worked on, families hired forensic experts months later to determine whether they had a legal case that first responders were at fault in their family members' deaths.
"In a national disaster you're one of however many and everyone is focused on food, water, life support," he said, "and that makes it just a little bit harder for the families of the dead because it feels like their life didn't matter."
Nidhi Prakash
BuzzFeed News Reporter
Reporting From
Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
8 Dead 11 Injured in Truck Terror Attack in New Yo...
The Rainbow with the American Flag Will be Display...
Trump's Anti Transgender Military Order is Blocked...
Kevin Spacey Comes Out as Gay and Sex Predator All...
Right Group Confirms Russian Gay Pop Star Killed B...
Gay Concentration Camps in Russia and Neo Nazis in...
Iconic Musician Songwriter Marc Almond Says "I hat...
Puerto Rico Cremates Hundreds of its Dead Few Ceme...
Gay Men Will Receive An Apology from The Scottish ...
The Arrest to Occur Monday Shows IC Mueller is De...
If People Were to Step Down When Bullying Occurs i...
Kentucky Judge Who Refused to Hear Gay Adoptions I...
WH Running Away from PR's$300Mil Contract (TrumpWH...
36% of Americans Think Puerto Rico should Become a...
Egypt's Crack Down on LGBT Music Band and Gays Ove...
Colton Haynes and Evan Peters Burn The Screen with...
3 Yrs After Supremes OK Gay Marriage AK-ChinTribe ...
Right After Emergency Surgery 10yo Detained by Bor...
Corey Feldman Goes After Hollywood Pedophiles
New Study Shows Sex is Not Seen As Sex for All Peo...
Judge Would Give You $100 off While on His Practic...
The Body Trade } Cody Died at 24, Had His Body Par...
Death of A Music Legend, Fats Domino Dead at 89
Tesla Makes Good For Hospital in Puerto Rico
Raids in Belarus Against Gays and Chechnya's Killi...
Tiny, Inexperience Montana Comp Connected to Inter...
This Gay Homecoming King in Texas Trolls His Close...
Russia Has Overtaken Saudi Arabia and Tunis Export...
Trump, Is a 10 Doing Surgery by Cell Phone Light? ...
"A Catholic Funeral may be Denied to LGBT People t...
Students Rally Against The Bullying of A Classmate...
68 of 506 Arizona Cities Earned Perfect Scores on ...
Reports Missing Russian Gay Pop Star Tortured, Kil...
Agent of Young Actor "Of Stranger Things" Fired Fo...
Money for Puerto Rico Comes in Racist LOANS Not Gr...
{Ex Nazi HideOut PARAGUAY} Adopts Russian Style La...
An "Absurdist" Young Funny Comedian Coming Out Gay...
Not Every Question Out to Be For a Vote! BBC Radio...
Kelly LikeHis Boss Doesn't Care for Details } Woul...
Gay Persecution in Egypt Are Making Many Decide to...
How Old Are You, 90 and No Love? Jonathan The Gay ...
Puerto Rico's LGBT Community and Families Still Tr...
Is Texas Gay Friendly? Depends Wether Live or Go t...
Australian Olympic Medallist Talks about Coming Ou...
No Mention of Soldiers Killed in Niger for 12 Days...
A Navy Hospital Ship Sits in Puerto Rico Mostly Em...
World Medical Body Condemns Forced Men Anal Exams ...
Jewish Neo-Nazi Far Right Activist Comes Out As Ga...
UN Peacekeepers Ready to Go Into Raqqa in Syria
8 Yr Boy Dies After A Man's Beating Who Thought He...
The First Self Identified Victim of Chechnya's Gay...
End of ISIS (DASH) in Raqqa At The Stadium of Maca...
Trumps Jokes Pence Would Be Happy Seeing Leviticus...
Puerto Rico One of The Worse Environmental Disaste...
Comedian, Actor Sean Hughes Dead at 51 (too young)...
Senior College Skier Comes Out in Social Media
Trump's Latest Approval and Impeachment Probabilit...
Puerto Ricans use Their Smarts to Survive The Deva...
In Brazil Judge Ok's Conversion Therapy and Gay Ri...
The Reasons Japanese Business' are Endorsing The L...
Trump is Undermining The Gains LGBT Have Made in A...
Jeff Session Working Hard at Disfranchising Gays-H...
Queer Cinema Still Finds Gay Sex, Misogyny and Whi...
British Gay Singer Craig David Speaks About The Sp...
The Reason Why Gay Men/Trans-women Are Being Round...
Work Place Sexual Harassment is Fed by the Saintho...
How Puerto Rico Looked on Wednesday in Pictures
What Gay Republicans Say About Trump's Anti LGBT A...
U.S.House Rushes Vote For Puerto Rico's Help and P...
Trump's Justice-AG Sessions Openly Defends Anti Ga...
Apple, Microsoft, Google Urge Supremes to Hear The...
Trump"s Favorite Weapon Against The LGBT Community...
Puerto Rico's Water-Heath Condition is Dire
The Only Dictator in NATO Turkey's Erdogan Create...
After Condemning 'Weinstein' Ben Affleck Apologize...
Trump Threatens to Fill The US Thus The World wit...
Puerto Rico Calls Elon Musk to Help Rebuilt Their ...
Trump Asks Congress $4.9 For Puerto Rico at The En...
From Romania U.S. Evil Fighter Against Gay Marriag...
LGBT Community Knows Trump Shores Up The Evangelic...
Puerto Rico Struggles to Come Out of The Dark Week...
Russian Gay Porn Guy M.Lucas Calls Liberals Apolog...
The Donald With His Bud Billionaire Sexual Predato...
PR Gov. Sends Letter to Congress PR Going Down fo...
Puerto Rico Recovery by the Numbers, Deaths Keep I...
Child of Same Sex Couple is Refused Passport in Du...
He Finished 10th in The Race but His Penis Waving ...
On Dove Commercial Black Woman Turns White People ...
"Small Talk" (Taiwan's LGBT Movement) Submitted to...
A Young Dan Amboyer Comes Out Gay and Gets Married...
2 Iraqi Gay Men In Military Found Love Amid War Bu...
FCC Gives Google Ok To Use Balloons to Re-establis...
Russians FaceBook Page_ UPDATE: Google YouTube Als...
"If It's Not Gay, It's Not Gay
For This Korean American The Coming Out Was Very T...
Trump is Not Killing the LGBT Community But Only L...
"Hamilton" Creator Releases New Song For Puerto Ri...
The First Time The Rainbow Will Fly Permanently on...
Elon Musk Says He Can Fix Puerto Rico's Electrica...


4238.2 Miles (6820.7 Kilometers / 3680.5 Nautical Miles).
Approximate flight duration time (for a non-stop flight) from Thimphu, Bhutan to Antananarivo, Madagascar is 8 hrs, 48 mins. This is the In-The-Air flight time. You should add the taxi time before take-off and taxi time after landing for the total flight duration time. You should also consider airport wait times and possible delays due to bad weather, etc.
You can find out what time you arrive at your destination (Antananarivo) by checking the time difference between Thimphu and Antananarivo.


This is a 1-hour adult Krav Maga introductory training class for partners, couples, and friends. Held on the first Sunday of every month October through March. Please register for each class you'd like to attend. You may purchase multiple registrations. Please notify your instructor of the dates you plan to attend. Registration is for two students.


text:
Ecological genomics of Chinese wheat improvement: implications in breeding for adaptation
Guo, J and Li, C and Zhao, J and Guo, J and Shi, W and Cheng, S and Zhou, M and Hao, C, Ecological genomics of Chinese wheat improvement: implications in breeding for adaptation, BMC Plant Biology, 20, (1) Article 494. ISSN 1471-2229 (2020) [Refereed Article]
Preview PDF (Published version)
� The Author(s) 2020. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License, (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.
DOI: doi:10.1186/s12870-020-02704-w
Background: China has diverse wheat varieties that adapt to very different environments divided into ten agro-ecological zones. A better understanding of genomic differences and patterns of selection among agro-ecological zones could provide useful information in selection of specific adaptive traits in breeding.
Results: We genotyped 438 wheat accessions from ten zones with kompetitive allele specific PCR (KASP) markers specific to 47 cloned genes for grain yield, quality, adaptation and stress resistance. Phylogenetic trees and principle component analysis revealed clear differences in winter and spring growth habits. Nucleotide diversity (π) and π ratio (πCL/πMCC) suggested that genetic diversity had increased during breeding, and that Chinese landraces (CL) from Zones I-V contributed little to modern Chinese cultivars (MCC). π ratio and Fst identified 24 KASP markers with 53 strong selection signals specific to Zones I (9 signals), II (12), III (5), IV (5), V (6), and VI (6). Genes with clear genetic differentiation and strong response to selection in at least three zones were leaf rust resistance gene Lr34 (I, II, III and IV), photoperiod sensitivity gene Ppd-D1 (I, II, III, IV and V), vernalization gene Vrn-B1 (V, VII, VIII and X), quality-related gene Glu-B1 (I, II and III) and yield-related genes Sus1-7B (I, II, III, IV and IX), Sus2-2A (I, II, III., IV and VI) and GW2-6B (II, V and VI).
Conclusions: This study examined selection of multiple genes in each zone, traced the distribution of important genetic variations and provided useful information for ecological genomics and enlightening future breeding goals for different agro-ecological zones.
bread wheat, agro-ecological zones, selection, KASP marker, ecological genomics
Agricultural, Veterinary and Food Sciences
Crop and pasture production
Agrochemicals and biocides (incl. application)
Plant Production and Plant Primary Products
Zhou, M (Professor Meixue Zhou)
TIA - Research Institute
10 View Download Statistics

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
White Hat Bias Documented in 3rd Data Quality Act Request for Correction Filed by Pavement Council
by Anne LeHuray | Sealcoating
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, Sept. 30, 2013 – On Sept. 18, PavementCouncil.org submitted its third Data Quality Act (DQA) challenge since May to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The third DQA Request for Correction (RfC) describes in detail the exaggerations and violations of as many risk assessment guidelines as was needed to make it appear that refined tar-based pavement sealers (RTS) are associated with elevated cancer risks. A team of USGS employees based in Austin, Texas has been leading a concerted nationwide advocacy campaign to ban the manufacture and use of RTS in what is believed to be a case of "White Hat Bias," the first case to be described in environmental research. White Hat Bias is defined as "bias leading to distortion of information in the service of what may be perceived to be righteous ends," and was first described in a case involving obesity research. White Hat Bias is conjectured to derive from "feelings of righteous zeal, indignation toward certain aspects of industry, or other factors." PavementCouncil.org is filing a series of DQA challenges in part to document the scientific inaccuracies, exaggerations, misleading statements, unexplained omissions of data and absence of context in USGS publications about RTS. In the process, the submissions are documenting White Hat Bias within this Department of the Interior agency.
The USGS has indicated that the new risk assessment DQA challenge will be considered separately from the first two challenges. The USGS will post the entire 3rd DQA challenge on its web site, here. Until then, the challenge can be viewed on the PavementCouncil.org web site, here. The first request, filed May 15, documents that USGS claims that RTS is a significant source of PAHs in urban sediment are inaccurate. The second request, filed May 31, asks the USGS stop using misleading and inaccurate photographs in its advocacy materials. The USGS consolidated the first two requests and has extended the schedule for its response to mid-November.
About PavementCouncil.org
Members of pavementcouncil.org are manufacturers of pavement sealants and their suppliers. Also known as the Pavement Coatings Technology Council (PCTC), a not-for-profit trade association engaged in research, education, training and communications to improve understanding of the business of pavement coatings.
Most of the companies involved in the pavement coatings industry are small and medium size businesses – just the sort of businesses that are disadvantaged by the rush to regulation that seems to be in fashion with governments at all levels. Pavementcouncil.org members are good corporate citizens, with well paid, often unionized work forces. Recently,pavementcouncil.org held a webinar for sealcoating contractors. Of the 265 industry participants who registered for the webinar, 47% were from companies with 10 or fewer employees. Another 32% were from companies with 11 to 35 employees. This reflects the industry, dominated by small to very small local businesses.
If you would like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview, please send an email to news@pavementcouncil.org. Additional background and other information are available at pavementcouncil.org.
Asphalt Patching / Infrared
Crack Sealing
General Pavement Maintenance
Pavement Contractor's Guide to Marketing
Pavement Striping / Marking
Sealcoating Equipment


Freeperiod was designed by educationalists who understand that what you need is a quick and easy way to share rooms and resources, not another timetable to manage. Signup now.
Schools throughout the UK are using Freeperiod!
Freeperiod is being used by schools throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to share ICT rooms and resources. In fact schools are now using Freeperiod to share offices, equipment and much more.
Signup now for a free 30 day trial and and see how other schools are managing their resources.
Freeperiod is really easy to use yet transforms ICT management. Using a few clicks you can capture teacher, year group and subject data for each period.
You can analyse departmental and ICT room usage through the use of graphical charts. Very useful data if you are working towards the ICT Mark.
We support one week timetables, two week timetables and setting aside times for holidays. You can also display a note to staff based on the current week.
Freeperiod is easy to setup. Simply email your existing timetable information from SIMS, or any other MIS system, and you will be live within 24 hours!
"We have been using Freeperiod for well over a year now. Previously, booking rooms meant going the the room and checking a paper calendar which was not reliable and was time consuming , especially if you had to go to 3 or 4 rooms to find out nothing was available. Freeperiod has saved a lot of time for teaching staff and makes the best use of the rooms possible. Simple to use with excellent back up from the company. Very good value as well. Can thoroughly recommend." Lindsay Rouse, School Support Co-ordinator, Turriff Academy, Scotland. "If you want a website that's easy to use and does everything you want this is the one for you. Booking rooms and equipment has never been easier, before we used Free period everything was slow being booked on paper or email but now it's all done online so it gives us time to other things. I requested other equipment to be put on our site and this was done within the hour, fantastic." Mark Smith, Network Manager, North Shore Health Academy, Stockton on Tees, England. "I spent months researching booking software and none came close to the simplicity and ease of use that Freeperiod offers."	D MacDermott, Webmaster, Belfast Model School for Girls (ICT Specialist School), Northern Ireland. "Free period has really helped us to improve the way we share ICT and other resources across the school community. Staff can view the availability of rooms and key pieces of equipment at a glance and book quickly. We have had a lot of positive feedback since introducing Freeperiod, it is very easy to use and from a resource management point of view, the ability to monitor what is being used and when, helps in planning where to focus valuable school funds." Colleen Pinkman, Support Services Coordinator, Banchory Academy, Scotland. "At Integrated College Dungannon we find Freeperiod really useful for managing our ICT suites and some meeting rooms."	W McCreedy, ICT Network Manager, Integrated College Dungannon, Northern Ireland. "Freeperiod, it does exactly what it says on the tin. Easy to use, well-designed and extremely functional piece of software."	M Yetman, ICT Network Manager, Campbell College Belfast, Northern Ireland. "Having used Freeperiod for over 5 years now at school I have found it so useful to be able to check availability and book the computer rooms anytime of the week. As Head of a department, it is really useful to be able to check how much my department are using the computer rooms with the admin facility. This is a really useful piece of scheduling software."	D Mooney, Head of Mathematics, Lagan College, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Try Freeperiod free for 30 days!
Head teachers are still considering legal action after the exam regulator refuses to order boards to regrade this summer's GCSEs in English.
Some 2,600 foreign students affected by the London Metropolitan University visa ban are given until at least 1 December to find a new course.
Education Minister, John O'Dowd, asks the Northern Ireland exams regulator to carry out its own review into GCSE English grades.
Michael Gove is asked by Labour to reveal how much has been spent on collapsed free schools projects.
A university is banned from teaching and recruiting overseas students, leaving more than 2,000 potentially facing removal from the UK.


text:
using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Management.Automation;
using System.Management.Automation.Internal;

namespace Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Base class for Enable/Disable/Remove-PSBreakpoint
    /// </summary>
    public abstract class PSBreakpointCommandBase : PSCmdlet
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// the breakpoint to enable
        /// </summary>
        [Parameter(ParameterSetName = "Breakpoint", ValueFromPipeline = true, Position = 0, Mandatory = true)]
        [ValidateNotNull]
        public Breakpoint[] Breakpoint
        {
            get
            {
                return _breakpoints;
            }
            set
            {
                _breakpoints = value;
            }
        }
        private Breakpoint[] _breakpoints;

        /// <summary>
        /// The Id of the breakpoint to enable
        /// </summary>
        [Parameter(ParameterSetName = "Id", ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName = true, Position = 0, Mandatory = true)]
        [ValidateNotNull]
        public int[] Id
        {
            get
            {
                return _ids;
            }
            set
            {
                _ids = value;
            }
        }

        private int[] _ids;

        /// <summary>
        /// Gathers the list of breakpoints to process and calls ProcessBreakpoints
        /// </summary>
        protected override void ProcessRecord()
        {
            if (ParameterSetName.Equals("Breakpoint", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
            {
                foreach (Breakpoint breakpoint in _breakpoints)
                {
                    if (ShouldProcessInternal(breakpoint.ToString()))
                    {
                        ProcessBreakpoint(breakpoint);
                    }
                }
            }
            else
            {
                Debug.Assert(ParameterSetName.Equals("Id", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase));

                foreach (int i in _ids)
                {
                    Breakpoint breakpoint = this.Context.Debugger.GetBreakpoint(i);

                    if (breakpoint == null)
                    {
                        WriteError(
                            new ErrorRecord(
                                new ArgumentException(StringUtil.Format(Debugger.BreakpointIdNotFound, i)),
                                "PSBreakpoint:BreakpointIdNotFound",
                                ErrorCategory.InvalidArgument,
                                null));
                        continue;
                    }

                    if (ShouldProcessInternal(breakpoint.ToString()))
                    {
                        ProcessBreakpoint(breakpoint);
                    }
                }
            }
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Process the given breakpoint
        /// </summary>
        protected abstract void ProcessBreakpoint(Breakpoint breakpoint);

        private bool ShouldProcessInternal(string target)
        {
            // ShouldProcess should be called only if the WhatIf or Confirm parameters are passed in explicitly.
            // It should *not* be called if we are in a nested debug prompt and the current running command was
            // run with -WhatIf or -Confirm, because this prevents the user from adding/removing breakpoints inside
            // a debugger stop.
            if (this.MyInvocation.BoundParameters.ContainsKey("WhatIf") || this.MyInvocation.BoundParameters.ContainsKey("Confirm"))
            {
                return ShouldProcess(target);
            }

            return true;
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// This class implements Enable-PSBreakpoint
    /// </summary>
    [Cmdlet("Enable", "PSBreakpoint", SupportsShouldProcess = true, DefaultParameterSetName = "Id", HelpUri = "https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=113295")]
    [OutputType(typeof(Breakpoint))]
    public class EnablePSBreakpointCommand : PSBreakpointCommandBase
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Gets or sets the parameter -passThru which states whether the
        /// command should place the breakpoints it processes in the pipeline.
        /// </summary>
        [Parameter]
        public SwitchParameter PassThru
        {
            get
            {
                return _passThru;
            }
            set
            {
                _passThru = value;
            }
        }

        private bool _passThru;

        /// <summary>
        /// Enables the given breakpoint
        /// </summary>
        protected override void ProcessBreakpoint(Breakpoint breakpoint)
        {
            this.Context.Debugger.EnableBreakpoint(breakpoint);

            if (_passThru)
            {
                WriteObject(breakpoint);
            }
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Black people are being briletuzad by the criminal justice system like this all the time, every day, ..
That _a href="http://tooptrbiab.com"_adsrdsees_/a_ several of my concerns actually.
I was really confused, and this answered all my quensiost.
It's getting to the point where it doesn't make sense to allow a cop to aresrt you any more. The sys..
The LEO's are going to support the SEAL no mtater what the comment was. Just my take. Although it mu..
Most cops are kids. What do you expect? Whats wrong with most of the young today is the same that is..


text:
Q: ratings of woo-commerce products are not displaying with woocommerce custom theme I am working on product ratings, I only want to add ratings not reviews.
Here is my code.
Content-single-product.php

    <?php
        /**
         * woocommerce_single_product_summary hook
         *
         * @hooked woocommerce_template_single_title - 5
         * @hooked woocommerce_template_single_rating - 10
         * @hooked woocommerce_template_single_price - 10
         * @hooked woocommerce_template_single_excerpt - 20
         * @hooked woocommerce_template_single_add_to_cart - 30
         * @hooked woocommerce_template_single_meta - 40
         * @hooked woocommerce_template_single_sharing - 50
         */
        do_action( 'woocommerce_single_product_summary' );

    ?>

functions.php
add_action('woocommerce_after_single_product_summary', 'my_print_stars' );

function my_print_stars(){
    global $wpdb;
    global $post;
    $count = $wpdb->get_var("
    SELECT COUNT(meta_value) FROM $wpdb->commentmeta
    LEFT JOIN $wpdb->comments ON $wpdb->commentmeta.comment_id = $wpdb->comments.comment_ID
    WHERE meta_key = 'rating'
    AND comment_post_ID = $post->ID
    AND comment_approved = '1'
    AND meta_value > 0
");

$rating = $wpdb->get_var("
    SELECT SUM(meta_value) FROM $wpdb->commentmeta
    LEFT JOIN $wpdb->comments ON $wpdb->commentmeta.comment_id = $wpdb->comments.comment_ID
    WHERE meta_key = 'rating'
    AND comment_post_ID = $post->ID
    AND comment_approved = '1'
");

if ( $count > 0 ) {

    $average = number_format($rating / $count, 2);

    echo '
';

    echo ''.$average.' ';

    echo '
';
    }

}

themes/new/inc/woocommerce/hooks.php
remove_action(
remove_action( 'woocommerce_after_single_product_summary','woocommerce_template_single_rating',10 );
add_action( 'woocommerce_after_single_product_summary','woocommerce_template_single_rating',10 );

Here is the code. The problem is ratings sections not displaying in product detail page. Is there anything wrong with this code? or I have to add new one.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Today I read through the controversial and rather lengthy US Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby ruling. Reading it is like watching an epic giant robot battle, except you get to learn something as well. Nine judges of the highest court in the land split their votes 5-4, each side providing a substantial argument. Exciting! I'm in no position to provide legal analysis, instead I'll just comment on parts I found interesting.
This is the first time the court has recognized a for-profit corporation as being covered by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA), so potentially sets a precedent for future deliberations. The decision hinges on the interpretation of the act covering a "person's exercise of religion". The Dictionary Act defines "person" as including corporations, but this definition only applies "unless the context indicates otherwise". Does the modifier "exercise of religion" provide sufficient context to exclude corporations from the definition? The court was split on this point.
Congress provided protection for people like the [Hobby Lobby owners] by employing a familiar legal fiction: It included corporations within RFRA's definition of "persons." But it is important to keep in mind that the purpose of this fiction is to provide protection for human beings.
This justification is too convenient. What about protection for the thousands of women the leglislation being contested would provide? They also argue that since a corporation can be formed "for any lawful purpose", the characterization of them as "for-profit" is inaccurate. A religious non-profit is basically the same thing.
By incorporating a business, however, an individual separates herself from the entity and escapes personal responsibility for the entity's obligations. One might ask why the separation should hold only when it serves the interest of those who control the corporation.
Religious organizations exist to foster the interests of persons subscribing to the same religious faith. Not so of for-profit corporations.
This highlights the distinct feel of the opposing arguments. The majority opinion is technical and theoretical; the dissent contains a wider array of supporting research and comments to give context to various laws.
Futher court reasoning on "compelling interests in public health", "substantial burden" and "least restrictive means" follow a similar trend: theoretical arguments that are internally consistent, but in my opinion ultimately less convincing than the dissent's simarly consistent arguments also supported by real world context.
The vote was split along party lines, with five male Catholic Republican appointed judges concurring and four Democrats appointed–three of them women–dissenting. (For balance, three of them Jewish, one Catholic. Where my atheists at!?) What happened next casts a particularly negative light on proceedings.
imperimissibly burdens Wheaton's free exercise of its religion in violation of the [RFRA] on the theory that its filing of a self-certification form will make it complicit in the provision of contraceptives by triggering the obligation for someone else to provide the services to which it objects.
In a single page of breezy justification, the court grants the injunction.
The women of the court were not pleased. In a scathing 15 page dissent, they relentlessly dismantle the standing from which the injunction was made, the single reference the court used in support (it actually supports their position), and the probability that the Wheaton claim2 could be even remotely valid.
So while technically there isn't necessarily a legal connection between the two cases, this injunction provides an exemption to the very alternative the majority was proposing in Hobby Lobby. That seems to undermine their authority somewhat, and overall the whole thing just ends up looking shady.
For further reading, Dorf On Law has a great 10-part(!) post-mortem of the case.


text:
Fyodor Dostoevsky >> Crime and Punishment (page 9)
"Get in, get in!" shouted one of them, a young thick-necked peasant with a fleshy face red as a carrot. "I'll take you all, get in!"
But at once there was an outbreak of laughter and exclamations in the crowd.
"Take us all with a beast like that!"
"Why, Mikolka, are you crazy to put a nag like that in such a cart?"
"And this mare is twenty if she is a day, mates!"
"Get in, I'll take you all," Mikolka shouted again, leaping first into the cart, seizing the reins and standing straight up in front. "The bay has gone with Marvey," he shouted from the cart– "and this brute, mates, is just breaking my heart, I feel as if I could kill her. She's just eating her head off. Get in, I tell you! I'll make her gallop! She'll gallop!" and he picked up the whip, preparing himself with relish to flog the little mare.
"Get in! Come along!" The crowd laughed. "D'you hear, she'll gallop!"
"Gallop indeed! She has not had a gallop in her for the last ten years!"
"She'll jog along!"
"Don't you mind her, mates, bring a whip each of you, get ready!"
"All right! Give it to her!"
They all clambered into Mikolka's cart, laughing and making jokes. Six men got in and there was still room for more. They hauled in a fat, rosy-cheeked woman. She was dressed in red cotton, in a pointed, beaded headdress and thick leather shoes; she was cracking nuts and laughing. The crowd round them was laughing too and indeed, how could they help laughing? That wretched nag was to drag all the cartload of them at a gallop! Two young fellows in the cart were just getting whips ready to help Mikolka. With the cry of "now," the mare tugged with all her might, but far from galloping, could scarcely move forward; she struggled with her legs, gasping and shrinking from the blows of the three whips which were showered upon her like hail. The laughter in the cart and in the crowd was redoubled, but Mikolka flew into a rage and furiously thrashed the mare, as though he supposed she really could gallop.
"Let me get in, too, mates," shouted a young man in the crowd whose appetite was aroused.
"Get in, all get in," cried Mikolka, "she will draw you all. I'll beat her to death!" And he thrashed and thrashed at the mare, beside himself with fury.
"Father, father," he cried, "father, what are they doing? Father, they are beating the poor horse!"
"Come along, come along!" said his father. "They are drunken and foolish, they are in fun; come away, don't look!" and he tried to draw him away, but he tore himself away from his hand, and, beside himself with horror, ran to the horse. The poor beast was in a bad way. She was gasping, standing still, then tugging again and almost falling.
"Beat her to death," cried Mikolka, "it's come to that. I'll do for her!"
"What are you about, are you a Christian, you devil?" shouted an old man in the crowd.
"Did any one ever see the like? A wretched nag like that pulling such a cartload," said another.
"You'll kill her," shouted the third.
"Don't meddle! It's my property. I'll do what I choose. Get in, more of you! Get in, all of you! I will have her go at a gallop!…"
All at once laughter broke into a roar and covered everything: the mare, roused by the shower of blows, began feebly kicking. Even the old man could not help smiling. To think of a wretched little beast like that trying to kick!
Two lads in the crowd snatched up whips and ran to the mare to beat her about the ribs. One ran each side.
"Hit her in the face, in the eyes, in the eyes," cried Mikolka.
"Give us a song, mates," shouted some one in the cart and every one in the cart joined in a riotous song, jingling a tambourine and whistling. The woman went on cracking nuts and laughing.
…He ran beside the mare, ran in front of her, saw her being whipped across the eyes, right in the eyes! He was crying, he felt choking, his tears were streaming. One of the men gave him a cut with the whip across the face, he did not feel it. Wringing his hands and screaming, he rushed up to the grey-headed old man with the grey beard, who was shaking his head in disapproval. One woman seized him by the hand and would have taken him away, but he tore himself from her and ran back to the mare. She was almost at the last gasp, but began kicking once more.
"I'll teach you to kick," Mikolka shouted ferociously. He threw down the whip, bent forward and picked up from the bottom of the cart a long, thick shaft, he took hold of one end with both hands and with an effort brandished it over the mare.
"He'll crush her," was shouted round him. "He'll kill her!"
"It's my property," shouted Mikolka and brought the shaft down with a swinging blow. There was a sound of a heavy thud.
"Thrash her, thrash her! Why have you stopped?" shouted voices in the crowd.
And Mikolka swung the shaft a second time and it fell a second time on the spine of the luckless mare. She sank back on her haunches, but lurched forward and tugged forward with all her force, tugged first on one side and then on the other, trying to move the cart. But the six whips were attacking her in all directions, and the shaft was raised again and fell upon her a third time, then a fourth, with heavy measured blows. Mikolka was in a fury that he could not kill her at one blow.
"She's a tough one," was shouted in the crowd.
"She'll fall in a minute, mates, there will soon be an end of her," said an admiring spectator in the crowd.
"Fetch an axe to her! Finish her off," shouted a third.
"I'll show you! Stand off," Mikolka screamed frantically; he threw down the shaft, stooped down in the cart and picked up an iron crowbar. "Look out," he shouted, and with all his might he dealt a stunning blow at the poor mare. The blow fell; the mare staggered, sank back, tried to pull, but the bar fell again with a swinging blow on her back and she fell on the ground like a log.
"Finish her off," shouted Mikolka and he leapt beside himself, out of the cart. Several young men, also flushed with drink, seized anything they could come across– whips, sticks, poles, and ran to the dying mare. Mikolka stood on one side and began dealing random blows with the crowbar. The mare stretched out her head, drew a long breath and died.
"You butchered her," some one shouted in the crowd.
"Why wouldn't she gallop then?"
"My property!" shouted Mikolka, with bloodshot eyes, brandishing the bar in his hands. He stood as though regretting that he had nothing more to beat.
"No mistake about it, you are not a Christian," many voices were shouting in the crowd.
But the poor boy, beside himself, made his way screaming through the crowd to the sorrel nag, put his arms round her bleeding dead head and kissed it, kissed the eyes and kissed the lips…. Then he jumped up and flew in a frenzy with his little fists out at Mikolka. At that instant his father who had been running after him, snatched him up and carried him out of the crowd.
"Come along, come! Let us go home," he said to him.
"Father! Why did they… kill… the poor horse!" he sobbed, but his voice broke and the words came in shrieks from his panting chest.
"They are drunk…. They are brutal… it's not our business!" said his father. He put his arms round his father but he felt choked, choked. He tried to draw a breath, to cry out– and woke up.
He waked up, gasping for breath, his hair soaked with perspiration, and stood up in terror.
"Thank God, that was only a dream," he said, sitting down under a tree and drawing deep breaths. "But what is it? Is it some fever coming on? Such a hideous dream!"
He felt utterly broken; darkness and confusion were in his soul. He rested his elbows on his knees and leaned his head on his hands.
"Good God!" he cried, "can it be, can it be, that I shall really take an axe, that I shall strike her on the head, split her skull open… that I shall tread in the sticky warm blood, break the lock, steal and tremble; hide, all spattered in the blood… with the axe…. Good God, can it be?"
He was shaking like a leaf as he said this.
"But why am I going on like this?" he continued, sitting up again, as it were in profound amazement. "I knew that I could never bring myself to it, so what have I been torturing myself for till now? Yesterday, yesterday, when I went to make that… experiment, yesterday I realised completely that I could never bear to do it…. Why am I going over it again, then? Why am I hesitating? As I came down the stairs yesterday, I said myself that it was base, loathsome, vile, vile… the very thought of it made me feel sick and filled me with horror.
"No, I couldn't do it, I couldn't do it! Granted, granted that there is no flaw in all that reasoning, that all that I have concluded this last month is clear as day, true as arithmetic…. My God! Anyway I couldn't bring myself to it! I couldn't do it, I couldn't do it! Why, why then am I still…?"
He rose to his feet, looked round in wonder as though surprised at finding himself in this place, and went towards the bridge. He was pale, his eyes glowed, he was exhausted in every limb, but he seemed suddenly to breathe more easily. He felt he had cast off that fearful burden that had so long been weighing upon him, and all at once there was a sense of relief and peace in his soul. "Lord," he prayed, "show me my path– I renounce that accursed… dream of mine."
Crossing the bridge, he gazed quietly and calmly at the Neva, at the glowing red sun setting in the glowing sky. In spite of his weakness he was not conscious of fatigue. It was as though an abscess that had been forming for a month past in his heart had suddenly broken. Freedom, freedom! He was free from that spell, that sorcery, that obsession!
Later on, when he recalled that time and all that happened to him during those days, minute by minute, point by point, he was superstitiously impressed by one circumstance, which though in itself not very exceptional, always seemed to him afterwards the predestined turning-point of his fate. He could never understand and explain to himself why, when he was tired and worn out, when it would have been more convenient for him to go home by the shortest and most direct way, he had returned by the Hay Market where he had no need to go. It was obviously and quite unnecessarily out of his way, though not much so. It is true that it happened to him dozens of times to return home without noticing what streets he passed through. But why, he was always asking himself, why had such an important, such a decisive and at the same time such an absolutely chance meeting happened in the Hay Market (where he had moreover no reason to go) at the very hour, the very minute of his life when he was just in the very mood and in the very circumstances in which that meeting was able to exert the gravest and most decisive influence on his whole destiny? As though it had been lying in wait for him on purpose!
It was about nine o'clock when he crossed the Hay Market. At the tables and the barrows, at the booths and the shops, all the market people were closing their establishments or clearing away and packing up their wares and, like their customers, were going home. Ragpickers and costermongers of all kinds were crowding round the taverns in the dirty and stinking courtyards of the Hay Market. Raskolnikov particularly liked this place and the neighbouring alleys, when he wandered aimlessly in the streets. Here his rags did not attract contemptuous attention, and one could walk about in any attire without scandalising people. At the corner of an alley a huckster and his wife had two tables set out with tapes, thread, cotton handkerchiefs, &c. They, too, had got up to go home, but were lingering in conversation with a friend, who had just come up to them. This friend was Lizaveta Ivanovna, or, as every one called her, Lizaveta, the younger sister of the old pawnbroker, Alyona Ivanovna, whom Raskolnikov had visited the previous day to pawn his watch and make his experiment…. He already knew all about Lizaveta and she knew him a little too. She was a single woman of about thirty-five, tall, clumsy, timid, submissive and almost idiotic. She was a complete slave and went in fear and trembling of her sister, who made her work day and night, and even beat her. She was standing with a bundle before the huckster and his wife, listening earnestly and doubtfully. They were talking of something with special warmth. The moment Raskolnikov caught sight of her, he was overcome by a strange sensation as it were of intense astonishment, though there was nothing astonishing about this meeting.
"You could make up your mind for yourself, Lizaveta Ivanovna," the huckster was saying aloud. "Come round tomorrow about seven. They will be here too."
"To-morrow?" said Lizaveta slowly and thoughtfully, as though unable to make up her mind.
"Upon my word, what a fright you are in of Alyona Ivanovna," gabbled the huckster's wife, a lively little woman. "I look at you, you are like some little babe. And she is not your own sister either– nothing but a stepsister and what a hand she keeps over you!"
"But this time don't say a word to Alyona Ivanovna," her husband interrupted; "that's my advice, but come round to us without asking. It will be worth your while. Later on your sister herself may have a notion."
"Am I to come?"
"About seven o'clock to-morrow. And they will be here. You will be able to decide for yourself."
"And we'll have a cup of tea," added his wife.
Title: Crime and Punishment
Author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 ...


In a situation where there are a lot of multi-homed nodes (ie, 100's or more of properties files in the engines directory), startup can be chaotic and taxing on the databases involved.
Add a parameter that instructs SymmetricDS to start X number of nodes at a time (e.g. 5 at a time), in order to stagger the startup.
Maybe we should also alphabetically sort the list of properties files read from the engines directory as well (if not already), so that the order of startup would be predictable and controllable if desired.


text:
Home/Celebrity Net Worth/Actresses/Amirah Vann Net Worth
ActressesSingers
Amirah Vann Net Worth
Amirah Vann Net Worth 2021: Wiki Biography, Married, Family, Measurements, Height, Salary, Relationships
Amirah Vann net worth is
Amirah Vann Wiki Biography
Amirah Vann was born on 2nd July 1978, in New York City, USA of African-American and Puerto Rican descent through her father and mother respectively. Amirah is an actress, probably best known for starring in the television period drama series "Underground", aired on WGN America. Vann has been active in the entertainment industry since 2015.
How much is the net worth of Amirah Vann? It has been estimated by authoritative sources that the overall size her wealth is as much as $300,000, as of the data presented at the end of 2017. Television, films and stage are the major sources of Vann's modest fortune, and her popularity.
Amirah Vann Net Worth $300,000
To begin with, the girl was raised with her sister in Far Rockaway, New York. After matriculation from Far Rockaway High School, Amirah entered Fordham University where she studied acting, in which she earned a Bachelor's degree. Afterwards, Vann furthered her education at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, from which she earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in 2004.
Concerning her professional career, she starred off-Broadway in the plays including "The Mountaintop", "Trouble in Mind" as well as "Laughing Pictures". Talking about the big screen, Vann made her debut in the action film "Tracers" (2015) by Daniel Benmayor. However, the actress is probably best known for starring in the drama series "Underground" (2016 – 2017) created by Misha Green and Joe Pokaski. More, Amirah Vann created a role for the drama television series "How to Get Away with Murder" created by Peter Nowalk.
Since 2017, she has been seen in the police procedural series "Major Crimes" by James Duff, portraying the special agent Jazzma Fey.
In addition to being an actress, Amirah is also known as a singer and songwriter.
To conclude, all the above mentioned engagements have added sums to the total size of Amirah Vann net worth.
Finally, in the personal life of the actress, Amirah gives little away and apparently is still single. Vann does not reveal any details about her private life, nor are there any rumours of romantic associations, yet!
Net Worth $300,000
Date Of Birth July 2, 1978
Place Of Birth New York City, USA
Profession Actress, stage actress, singer-songwriter
Education Far Rockaway High School, Fordham University, NYU's Tisch School of the Arts
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/amirahvannofficial
Twitter https://twitter.com/amirahvann?lang=en
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/amirahvannofficial/?hl=en
Awards NAACP Image Award - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (2017)
Movies "Don't Worry Baby" (2015), "Tracers" (2015), "And So It Goes" (2014), "80/20" (2013), "Girls" (2013), "Harry" (2017), "Once More with Feeling" (2009)
TV Shows "Tracers" (2015), "Underground" (2016), "How to Get Away with Murder" (2017-2018), "Major Crimes" (2017), "Mozart in the Jungle" (2014), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (2017), "Family Values" (2007)
The Hostess 2016 Short completed Latoya Corbyn
Underground 2016-2017 TV Series Ernestine
Don't Worry Baby 2015 Alison
Tracers 2015 Angie
Mozart in the Jungle 2014 TV Series Nurse
And So It Goes 2014 Rashida
Believe 2014 TV Series Maid
80/20 2013 Bonita
Girls 2013 TV Series Angry Lady
First World Problem 2011 Video Rosario Sanchez
Once More with Feeling 2009 Bartender
Family Values 2007 TV Series Blanca
Three and a Half Thoughts 2006 Short Saidah
Harry 2017 TV Series Herself
2017 Image Award Image Awards Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Underground (2016)
Tracers (2015)
as Angie
Underground (2016-2017)
as Ernestine
And So It Goes (2014)
as Rashida
Don't Worry Baby (2015)
as Alison
"80/20" (2013) "And So It Goes" (2014) "Don't Worry Baby" (2015) "Family Values" (2007) "Girls" (2013) "Harry" (2017) "How to Get Away with Murder" (2017-2018) "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (2017 ) "Major Crimes" (2017) "Mozart in the Jungle" "Once More with Feeling" (2009) 000 1.68 m 1978 300 Actress American Amirah Vann Amirah Vann Net Worth Daniel Benmayor Far Rockaway High School Fordham University James Duff Joe Pokaski July 2 Misha Green NAACP Image Award - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (2017) New York City NYU's Tisch School of the Arts Peter Nowalk Tracers (2015) Underground (2016) USA
Melba Moore Net Worth
Holland Roden Net Worth
Geraldine Zinat Net Worth
Phillip Phil Ruffin Net Worth
Laila Ali Net Worth
Nicolas Cage Net Worth
Daniela Castro Net Worth
Mike Comrie Net Worth
Marcos Baghdatis Net Worth


The city of Famagusta is one of the finest examples of mediaeval architecture in the eastern Mediterranean and, in its present state of preservation, is equal to that of the old cities of Carcassone and Ragusa (Dubrovnik). One full day spent in Famagusta will reveal the history of Cyprus in a nutshell.
Much of the history of the town is obscure as there are no written records and our only source of material is from travellers' accounts of merchants passing through. Some historians declare that it was founded by King Ptolemy Philadelphus of Egypt in 285 B.C.
It is believed that the city occupies the site of ancient town of Arsinoë. Famagusta prospered through the destruction of the neighbouring Salamis, the former capital of the island.
By the year 1300 A.D. the town was one of the principal markets of the Eastern Mediterranean, the rendezvous place of rich merchants and the headquarters of many Christian religious orders as revealed by numerous churches of various denominations still to be seen in the town today. This was the time of the Crusades and when the rich Lusignan dynasty ruled Cyprus. Lusignans fortified the town, and in the thirteenth century built the beautiful Cathedral of St. Nicholas, transformed since then into a mosque.
Famagusta was the seat of a Latin diocese from the twelfth century and had residential bishops till the end of the sixteenth. The city is protected by ramparts which encircle the town and the citadel castle guarding the harbour, the best in Cyprus. This citadel or Othello's tower is the first main focus of attention for visitors.
Famagusta of today is a vibrant youthful university city. This buzz is evident in the city that offers comfortable and relaxing destination for switching off, enjoying the history and sights.
The city boasts numerous cafés, restaurants, bars, clubs and casinos catering for all tastes. While delicious Cypriot cuisine is a must, a sumptuous Mediterranean meal is rounded with a good cup of Turkish coffee.