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The Belmont Report's Misleading Conception of Autonomy
Sigurdur Kristinsson, PhD
Virtual Mentor. 2009;611-616. doi: 10.1001/virtualmentor.2009.11.8.jdsc1-0908.
National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research. The Belmont Report: Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research. Bethesda, MD: US Government Printing Office; 1978.
Practically all human subjects research in the United States is regulated by the Federal Policy for Protection of Human Research Subjects [1]. That policy was formed by the Department of Health and Human Services in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and was later adopted by 14 federal departments and agencies. The policy's ideological foundation had been laid by the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research [2]. The commission's 1978 report, generally known as the Belmont Report, identified three ethical principles as basic to the ethical guidance of research involving human subjects: respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. This influential analysis has provided the background for ethics policy concerning human subjects research to this day.
Despite its political success, the Belmont Report is not beyond philosophical criticism. In what follows, I will argue that the report makes a philosophical error in its attempt to derive moral requirements for informaed consent from the principle of respect for persons. Although neither the principle of respect for persons nor the need for robust informed consent policy will be questioned, I will argue that the report's manner of linking these two is based on a misguided conception of autonomy. Instead of invoking the autonomy of the consenter, the report should have based the duty to seek informed consent on the status of the researcher as an autonomous moral agent.
The Belmont Report and Respect for Persons
Since the publication of the Belmont Report, the standard ethical justification for informed-consent policy has been that obtaining informed consent is a way of respecting persons, which in turn is a fundamental moral requirement. The report states:
Respect for persons requires that subjects, to the degree that they are capable, be given the opportunity to choose what shall or shall not happen to them. This opportunity is provided when adequate standards for informed consent are satisfied [3].
Informed consent provides more than an opportunity for choice; it provides choice based on adequate information. But why would it be disrespectful to offer choice without information, and how are we to judge when the provision of information is adequate? The report's answer is that persons with the capacity for self-determination—those capable of deliberation about personal goals and of acting under the direction of such deliberation—must be treated as autonomous agents; their autonomy must be respected (emphasis added). The report explains that:
To respect autonomy is to give weight to autonomous persons' considered opinions and choices while refraining from obstructing their actions unless they are clearly detrimental to others. To show lack of respect for an autonomous agent is to repudiate that person's considered judgments, to deny an individual the freedom to act on those considered judgments, or to withhold information necessary to make a considered judgment, when there are no compelling reasons to do so [3].
Persons with a capacity for self-determination should thus be (1) free to act on their considered judgments as long as they don't harm others, and (2) informed as needed so that they can form a considered judgment concerning how to act. Together, these statements imply that respect for autonomy requires informed consent.
Self-Determination and the Duty to Inform
Respect for persons is surely a fundamental moral principle. It is less clear what to make of the Belmont Report's attempt to derive from that principle a general duty to inform, i.e., a duty not to "withold information necessary to make a considered judgment." It would be implausible to think that we are all generally obligated somehow to inform each other, out of mutual respect, in every way that might be helpful for the formation of considered judgments. There is simply no such general duty. Instead, a duty to inform out of respect is inherent in specific contexts of personal and communicative transactions [4]. For example, when money is borrowed, the lender and borrower must be mutually informed about terms and conditions. When service is rendered, the provider must similarly inform the client about the service and its cost. The same applies, only with greater moral force, when the service carries substantive risks for the client or is physically or psychologically invasive. It would be disrespectful to expect the client to agree to such services without being informed about their nature or probable risks and benefits.
Such behavior would not only be disrespectful but also potentially harmful and unfair to the client. It is therefore quite possible that informed consent receives part of its justification from considerations of beneficence and justice. This is not the spirit in which it is presented in the Belmont Report, however, which explicitly states that "the moral requirement that informed consent be obtained is derived primarily from the principle of respect for persons" [3].
It is beyond the scope of this article to examine the ways in which the principles of beneficence and justice underwrite requirements for informed consent. In the absence of such examination, however, the report's emphasis on respect for persons as the main foundation for informed consent seems quite unreasonable in the context of human subjects research. Informed consent should not be the primary tool for preventing research subjects from harm and ensuring fairness; instead, ethics governance should ensure that subjects are not exposed to unreasonable risks or treated unjustly. To put the main burden of assessing the risks and benefits of participation on the individual subject through informed consent would indeed be unfair.
The primary role of informed consent seems better understood as a way of respecting each person as a rational agent who enters into agreements as a moral equal based on honest information. In its secondary role, informed consent protects the subject's well-being, because (1) judgments of what is burdensome or beneficial are often relative to the individual's conception of the good, and (2) the experience of being coerced, deceived, or manipulated is generally a strike against one's well-being.
In typical cases of human subjects research, it would clearly be disrespectful and maleficent to omit informed consent. Infamous failures in this regard were indeed a major motivation for the establishment of the National Commission and for the subsequent regulatory framework for research ethics that received its justification from the Belmont Report. The authors of the report, however, made a mistake in the way they chose to justify informed consent. They tried to argue that informed consent is morally required because it promotes self-determination, i.e., informed personal deliberation leading to the formation of a considered judgment. Such deliberation is obviously valuable, but the mere fact that something is valuable, even intrinsically valuable, does not entail a moral requirement to do whatever is necessary to promote it.
Each of us can promote only a limited number of valuable goals. There will always be an infinite number of goals that we might have promoted but didn't, and this does not mean we have failed morally. Similarly, a human subjects researcher might be sufficiently interested in promoting the self-determination of his research subjects to take measures to inform them about the research with its risks and benefits.
But suppose, hypothetically, that he is not? Merely to point out the value of self-determination, as the Belmont Report seems to do in its arguments for informed consent, may not be enough to persuade him. Why should he value these subjects' self-determination more than, say, the maximum cost-effectiveness of his research? Where's the argument that says he must, morally, weigh these values in one way rather than the other? And what if he can argue that omitting informed consent in this instance would ultimately lead to greater benefits to society or mankind? Simply to assert that self-determination is intrinsically valuable is insufficient because any measures to promote self-determination will come at a cost to some other intrinsic value that might then just as well be presented as a ground for an opposing moral duty. The value of self-determination can only be ranked in relation to that (or those) other value(s). (Interestingly, it is even possible to imagine, as Sarah Buss has, a person who genuinely values self-determination and yet, without contradiction, sees nothing wrong in manipulation and coercion [5].) So valuing self-determination will not alone get us very far in the direction of justifying requirements for informed consent.
An Alternative Approach
Fortunately, there are alternatives on the philosophical menu. The term "autonomy" was first introduced to ethical theory by German philosopher Immanuel Kant [6]. Kant's conception of autonomy differs greatly from the one indicated in the Belmont Report [7, 8]. The Belmont definition of autonomy (as self-determination) describes a psychological capacity for personal deliberation and action, a capacity that individuals may enjoy and exercise to various degrees. For Kant, by contrast, our autonomy is the free exercise of our practical reason in accordance with the good, and consists in the fact that the practical reason we all possess has direct implications for how we should act, no matter what our individual desires might be. More specifically, practical reason demands of all of us that we never use humanity in our own person or that of another merely as a means but always at the same time as an end in itself [6]. This principle, often referred to as Kant's Formula of Humanity (FH), is indeed relevant to the morality of informed consent, because it implies a prohibition against coercing and deceiving human beings, as well as an obligation to benefit others and avoid harming them.
In addition to providing this promising lead toward a normative principle, the Kantian conception of autonomy puts us in a better position to address the hypothetical researcher who valued cost-effectiveness more than the self-determination of his research subjects. If we assume that the researcher has true autonomy, in Kant's sense of the word, it follows that he has an obligation not to deceive or coerce his human research subjects.
Implications for Informed Consent
With the Formula of Humanity in hand, we are in a better position to consider when informed consent is required and what should count as "adequate standards of informed consent." Kant scholars generally agree that the most plausible candidates for Kantian duties are the duties not to coerce or deceive rational agents [8]. According to Wood, for example, "coercion and deception obviously violate FH because they achieve their end precisely by frustrating or circumventing another person's rational agency and thereby treat the rational nature of the person with obvious disrespect" [9]. Granting this, informed-consent procedures are justified by FH to the extent that they serve the purposes of noncoercion and nondeception.
The remaining question is which standards of informed consent are likely to serve these purposes. O'Neill claims that "informed consent is ethically important because it adds a tough safeguard by which individuals can protect themselves against coercion and deception" [8]. At the same time, she warns that the tendency to increase the amount and specificity of information and to insist on informed-consent procedures in every possible context is not warranted by this goal and can be contrary to other morally important purposes, such as beneficence, public health, trust, and trustworthiness. Her suggestion is that, instead of inflating informed consent in a misguided attempt to solve all moral problems through one instrument, we should try to make sure that patients, research subjects, and tissue donors have control over the amount of information they receive and whether or not to go along with a proposed course of action (therapy or research). The danger of their being deceived or coerced is effectively limited when they "know that they have access to extendable information and that they have given rescindable consent" [10].
This suggestion seems plausibly motivated by Kant's FH, and it implies that research ethics is not reformed by every additional demand placed on the informed-consent process. All such demands must serve the purpose of minimizing deception and coercion, and it is possible to imagine requirements for more information processing after that purpose has been served. On the Kantian view, the ultimate point of informed consent policy is not to increase endlessly the incidence of personal deliberation on the subject's part, but rather to decrease the incidence of manipulation, deception, and coercion on the researcher's part; the demands of autonomy bind the researcher. In fact, insisting that patients or potential subjects engage in extensive deliberation and information processing may arguably have the effect of frustrating their self-determination if they are neither willing nor able to engage in such efforts. Attempts to implement inflated informed-consent procedures may thus bespeak inadequate respect for persons who would rather not have the responsibility of deliberating and reflecting on the pros and cons of what they are being offered.
The Belmont Report rightly insists that informed-consent policy is justified by respect for persons and considerations of autonomy. The justification, however, should be along the lines of Kantian autonomy, basing informed consent on the Formula of Humanity and not on the value of self-determination. Informed consent may of course have unrelated benefits, such as helping individuals protect themselves from harm and exert control over their lives. These benefits will not, however, justify the significance informed consent has been given in bioethics in the past few decades. Insofar as that emphasis is justified, it rests on deeper considerations of real respect for persons.
This conclusion is of more than mere academic interest because the Formula of Humanity will guide our judgments about informed-consent policy differently than the Belmont Report does. Policy will no longer be based on how far it goes in the direction of offering people opportunities for personal deliberation. Instead, it will be rated by how well it protects people against deception and coercion. This difference in approach should certainly lead to policies that are different—perhaps less demanding and more flexible—than those that are naturally supported by the Belmont Report.
Clinical research/Vulnerable populations,
Clinical research/Institutional review boards,
Clinical research/Informed consent,
Clinical research/Authorship,
Clinical research/Dual roles as clinicians and researchers
Department of Health and Human Services. Basic HHS policy for protection of human research subjects. CFR 45. Part 46. 2005. http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/45cfr46.htm. Acessed July 2, 2009.
Department of Health and Human Services. History of the Belmont Report and the federal regulations. 2008. http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/belmontArchive.html#histReport. Accessed July 2, 2009.
Manson NC, O'Neill O. Rethinking Informed Consent in Bioethics.New York, NY: Cambridge University Press; 2007.
Buss S. Valuing autonomy and respecting persons: manipulation, seduction, and the basis of moral constraints. Ethics. 2005;115:95-235.
Kant I. Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press; 2002.
Hill TE. Dignity and Practical Reason in Kant's Moral Theory. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press; 1992: 76-96.
O'Neill O. Autonomy and Trust in Bioethics. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press; 2002.
Wood AW. Kant's Ethical Thought. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press; 2002.
O'Neill O. Some limits of informed consent. J Med Ethics. 2003;29(1):4-7.
Virtual Mentor. 2009;611-616.
10.1001/virtualmentor.2009.11.8.jdsc1-0908.
Sigurdur Kristinsson, PhD is a senior lecturer in philosophy and dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Akureyri, Iceland. He has also taught at Cornell University, the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and the University of Iceland. Dr. Kristinsson has published a number of scholarly articles and book chapters on the concept of autonomy and its various applications, including its relation to informed consent in bioethics.


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Le ministère du Commerce et du Tourisme () est le département ministériel responsable de la politique commerciale, du commerce extérieur et du développement touristique en Espagne.

Occupé par trois titulaires, il existe entre  et , puis de  à .

Fonctions

Missions
Le ministère du Commerce et du Tourisme était chargé du développement de la politique commerciale, du commerce intérieur et extérieur, de la stimulation des investissements directs étrangers, de l'exécution et du développement de la politique touristique du gouvernement, et de la coordination, de l'impulsion et de la détermination des lignes directrice générale de la promotion extérieure du tourisme.

Organisation
Le ministère s'organisait de la façon suivante :
 Ministre du Commerce et du Tourisme (Ministro de Comercio y Turismo) ;
 Secrétariat d'État au Commerce extérieur (Secretaría de Estado de Comercio Exterior) ;
 Direction générale de la Politique commerciale ;
 Direction générale du Commerce extérieur ;
 Direction générale des Investissements extérieurs ;
 Sous-secrétariat du Commerce et du Tourisme (Subsecretaría de Comercio y Turismo) ;
 Direction générale des Services ;
 Secrétariat général technique ;
 Direction générale du Commerce intérieur ;
 Secrétariat général au Tourisme (Secretaría General de Turismo) ;
 Direction générale de la Politique touristique.

Histoire
Le ministère est créé après les premières élections démocratiques, en 1977, par la fusion du ministère du Commerce (Ministerio de Comercio) et du ministère de l'Information et du Tourisme (Ministerio de Información y Turismo), tous deux établis en 1951 par le régime franquiste, le dernier étant notamment responsable de la censure de la presse. Il est cependant dissout trois ans plus tard, ses compétences étant réparties entre le ministère de l'Économie et du Commerce (Ministerio de Economía y Comercio) et le ministère des Transports et des Communications (Ministerio de Transportes y Comunicaciones).

En 1982, les compétences en matière commerciale passent au ministère de l'Économie et des Finances (Ministerio de Economía y Hacienda), celle sur le tourisme restant dans le champ du ministère des Transports. À l'occasion d'un important remaniement ministériel, le , le ministère de l'Industrie est réorganisé en ministère de l'Industrie, du Commerce et du Tourisme (Ministerio de Industria, Comercio y Turismo).

Finalement, en 1993, le ministère du Commerce et du Tourisme (Ministerio de Comercio y Turismo) est recréé. Il est absorbé trois ans plus tard par le ministère de l'Économie et des Finances.

Titulaires depuis 1977

Notes et références

Voir aussi

Articles connexes
 Ministère de l'Économie (Espagne)
 Économie de l'Espagne

Ancien ministère espagnol
Économie en Espagne
Tourisme en Espagne
Espagne
Espagne

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Brice in October 2004
Pierre Brice (born Pierre-Louis Baron de Bris; 6 February 1929 – 6 June 2015) was a French actor and singer. He began his career in the 1950s. He was best known for his role as the Apaca chief Winnetou in the German Karl May movies.
Brice was born in Brest. He fought for the French Army in the First Indochina War. He was married to Hella Krekel from 1981 until his death.
Brice died from pneumonia on 6 June 2015 in Paris. He was 86.[1]
↑ "Pierre Brice ist tot Ein Leben als Winnetou" (in German). Süddeutsche Zeitung. 6 June 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015. Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pierre Brice.
Pierre Brice on IMDb
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Deaths from pneumonia
French military people
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French singers
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This page was last changed on 7 June 2015, at 13:06.

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[ January 30, 2023 ] Couple married for 69 years reunited as first residents of Chartwell House in Broadstairs News
HomeEducationHarvest Festival celebrations at St Joseph's Primary School
Harvest Festival celebrations at St Joseph's Primary School
October 11, 2022 Kathy Bailes Education 0
Harvest Festival at St Joseph's
The end of summer was celebrated at St. Joseph's Catholic Primary School this week with the annual Harvest Festival.
Pupils at the Broadstairs school marked the end of the growing season and gave thanks for a bountiful summer. Pupils also remembered those members of the community who are not as fortunate by bringing in contributions of food which will be sent to the local food bank at St. Austin and St. Gregory in Margate.
As well as celebrating, the school reflected on the links it has with Parish Church, Our Lady Star of the Sea, by hosting a harvest tea for older residents of the parish.
An afternoon tea of sandwiches, scones and cakes was provided for around 25 parishioners and older members of the community, all served by Year 6 pupils. Entertainment was provided by each year group who had prepared special songs.
A school spokesperson said: "Our Harvest Festival is always an opportune time within school to reflect on what we have, and the need for generosity and compassion for those who are unable to share in this fruitful season."
Wanderers overturn half-time deficit to record handsome win against Ashford
Thanet's SpeakUpCIC group marks World Mental Health Day


Today Crystal 0.27.2 was released to address some bugs that existing in 0.27.1. We have added support for the new release and changed the Crystal runtimes on FaaStRuby.
Existing functions that are configured with Crystal 0.27.1 should be updated to Crystal 0.27.2 and you can do that by editing faastruby.yml.
FaaStRuby 0.4 adds support for Ruby 2.6.0 and... Crystal 0.27.0!


Update: The episode aired on PBS Friday May 1st.
Watch it on the Moyers site or as a stand alone M4V file.
I just got news that a few of my photos will be featured on the PBS show Bill Moyers Journal. The images will accompany a story about the Boston organization City Life/Urbana Vida focusing on the eviction blockades they have been using to keep people in their homes after foreclose often due to predatory loan practices by large banks. For those of you in the US the episode will air on your local PBS station at 9pm (check local listings). Also see this months Progressive magazine for more on people fighting evictions in the Boston area.
This entry was posted in news and tagged photography, television. Bookmark the permalink. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.


In October members of Wellington's medical and scientific community and the public attended lectures by two world-renowned American biomedical researchers, courtesy of the GMRI.
The GMRI's latest strawberry birthmark research was recently presented at the Human Proteome Organisation World Congress in Vancouver.
A Martinborough man brutally beaten in 2012 has finally met the plastic surgeon who put his face back together.
The GMRI has attracted another highly regarded person to work on cancer stem cell research, while at the same time securing significant expertise in a major new field of surgical research.
I would first like to thank Dr Swee Tan and his team at the Gillies McIndoe Research Institute for inviting me to visit their fantastic facility to learn more about their exciting new research into cancer and other diseases.
GMRI staff joined thousands of Wellingtonians in celebrating the All Blacks' Rugby World Cup victory at the welcoming parade on 6 November.


Buffalo, NY. – Tri-City Storm goalie Filip Larsson won a Silver Medal with Sweden at the 2018 World Junior Championship in Buffalo, NY earlier this week. Sweden fell to Canada 3-1 in the Gold Medal game on Friday night at the KeyBank Center in front of a crowd of 17,544. Larsson was the only active USHL player to win a medal in this year's competition. Larsson was one of only four active USHL players to be selected to the event this year.
Filip Larsson, 19, of Stockholm, Sweden currently leads the USHL in several goaltending statistical categories and has appeared in 18 games with the Tri-City Storm this season. Larsson has posted a 14-4 record and currently leads the USHL in Goals Against Average (GAA), Save Percentage, and Shutouts. He has posted a 1.45 GAA and a .946 save percentage in his first 18 starts. Larsson also has a league leading 5 shutouts for the Storm this season.
Larsson appeared in one game for Sweden during the tournament, stopping 20 of 22 shots in a 7-2 Sweden win over Switzerland during the preliminary round.
Larsson announced his commitment to the University of Denver on December 12th. He was selected by the Tri-City Storm 8th overall in the 2017 USHL draft. Filip Larsson was also selected 167th overall in the 6th round of the 2016 NHL Draft by the Detroit Red Wings.


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Odumase (eller Odumase Krobo) är en ort i södra Ghana. Den är huvudort för distriktet Lower Manya Krobo, och folkmängden uppgick till 15 245 invånare vid folkräkningen 2010. Ngmayemfestivalen hålls i slutet av oktober varje år i Odumase.

Källor

Orter i Ghana


Together Equal has developed a set of conversation cards that are designed to reset social norms. Through using these cards our aim is to dispell any unconscious bias, bringing down the invisible barriers of societal norms. These cards are predominantly for parents who want to find different ways to engage with their children and start thoughtful conversations concerning equality. With a wide variety of 52 different questions ranging from 'If a man and a woman do the same job should they be paid the same?' to 'What makes a person clever?' through to 'Should celebrities be role models because they're famous?' and 'Do you think aliens exist?' The cards will help develop key 'soft skills' including debate, discussion and communication as well as giving parents cue cards to engage their family. According to research from the OECD, they were able to confirm the positive impact that conversations between parents and their children can have. Using this as a launching point, Together Equal has created a fun and engaging game that can be played at home or on the go. Developed for families with kids aged between 7 and 12, the cards cover a variety of topics, some fun, some thought-provoking and some concerning societal gender stereotypes. This is a key part of our sustainable income ethos. Every penny we make from app downloads goes directly to our charity partners; Mums in Need, a Sheffield-based emotional abuse charity and The Dash Charity which helps individuals and families affected by domestic abuse with confidential advice and support. It doesn't stop there as we also have sets of cards for sale through our charity partners and via eBay. The unit cost of every item sold is reinvested into producing more cards to sell and creates an organic way of raising money for charity. Please support us.


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Inspiration From Around The 'Net – March 25, 2012
By Damien Lawardorn March 25, 2012
This past week marked a historic moment in the history of video games. It wasn't widely reported, but legislation for the R18+ rating has passed through the House of Representatives in Australia, after it was held up with an inquiry last month. It's only another step towards the realisation, but it is a major one, and the furthest that the idea has gotten since it was first floated a decade ago. It is now expected to be approved by the Senate easily enough and will then progress to final approval by the Governor-General. Following this, each state and territory is obligated to pass their own legislation regarding the sale of such titles by the end of the year for it to fully come into effect on the 1st of January 2013.
You may wonder why I've elected to kick off this article with the preceding information, and the only response I can grant is vanity. As an Australian, I've felt chafed, at times, by this cumbersome restriction that prevents adults from enjoying the full, uncensored experience of certain video games. There are a number of titles that have had to be edited to enter our shores, from Grand Theft Auto to Left 4 Dead and The Witcher 2. I concede that most examples to be brought up offer no real difference in terms of the gameplay itself. It's a simple matter of adjusting the level of violence and sexual content that is portrayed. It's often gratuitous and immature, but it's an important step towards gaining maturity to have every major market able to enjoy uncensored games, as films such as Taxi Driver, Scarface and A Clockwork Orange may attest to. Furthermore, it can only result in an unshackling of creative freedom. Now, there is only Germany that labours under major restrictions of what can be released and this means that developers should feel more free to examine what it means to be human in games.
Speaking of creative freedom, Tameem Antonaides, lead designer of Ninja Theory, the maligned studio behind the upcoming reinvention of Devil May Cry, was interviewed recently by PSM3. In the course of it, he mentioned that he believes that games should not be designed around what the fans insist that they want. That, he argued, will only lead to "creative bankruptcy" and thusly to the destruction of a series. He also said that the goal of any designer should be to create a product that "everyone involved is proud of". On both of these counts, I am heartily in agreement. There is a certain, singular pleasure to be had in working on something that is entirely your own, ignoring what any detractors have to say about it in the process. While Antonaides doesn't exactly display conviction in saying that consumers will respond to the vision of an auteur, that has already been proven in the past with artistically driven games, examples of which were rife in last week's debut of this column. People respond to fresh ideas, and that is exactly what Ninja Theory are offering with DmC: Devil may Cry. Sure, there was a backlash to it, but that has cooled, and while it may never sell five million copies, it should still do better than any of the studios earlier titles thanks to the brand recognition and the controversy that it has sparked.
Alas, I could continue on the topic of creativity until my fingers drop off, it really is a favourite of mine, but it was not what I intended to write about when embarking on this article. I began with a look at video games in Australian politics, but an idea was brought up by U.S. Congressman Joe Baca this past week also, regarding the placement of warning labels upon all games that garner a rating of or above 'E for Everyone'. Now, content warnings, I can fully understand, they are already in place to tell us if a game contains drug references, violence or sexual content. That's not only reasonable, but responsible. It's a quick indicator for parents to gauge whether that particular game may be suitable for their child, but that is NOT what is being proposed by this bigoted fool.
No, what he wants is a label affixed somewhere on the cover with the words: "WARNING: Exposure to violent video games has been linked to aggressive behavior" upon it. The statement is barely short of an outright fallacy. No unbiased study to date has managed to prove an intrinsic connection between the violence portrayed in video games and that which often erupts in the schoolyards and streets. Indeed, some have gone a way to prove the exact opposite and that people turn to games as a way to relieve the stress of their daily lives. In contrast to this, I acknowledge that, in individual cases, lines can be drawn between gaming habits and outwardly violent behaviour, but I do not, for a second, believe that this is the case on anything even approaching a large scale. There is an axiom which states that "guns don't kill people, people kill people". The same ideology can be applied here. A game will not make someone think that it is alright to go on a shooting spree or commit acts of overt violence, anymore than a film will, unless that person suffers from a disconnection with reality, is predisposed to violence or is impressionable to a point that cannot be reasonably expected in a person over twelve years of age.
As part of Baca's press release for the introduction of this Bill, you'll find the following: "… research continues to show that playing violent video games is a casual risk factor for a host of detrimental effects in both the short- and long-term, including increasing the likelihood of physically aggressive behavior." At no point, however, is there any indication of the research mentioned. Okay, it is only a press release, not the Bill itself, but the least that could have been offered to give it any credence would be to supply the sources of that research so that interested parties could take a look at exactly what he is basing his assertions upon. There is nothing of the sort.
What is offered is unfounded statements by biased men that have, very likely, never played a video game in their lives, and are basing their actions upon the slant of the media, which, in concert with some defence counsels, has made gaming into a scapegoat for crime. They've blamed everything from petty theft to riots, murders and school shootings on games, displaying, in the process, a heavy slant towards the intended vilification of the hobby. This is nothing new, however. It is not dissimilar to what happened at the introduction of rap music and heavy metal to the masses. It is simply a case of history repeating itself ad nauseum, as we appear to need to something to blame for the shortcomings of society and those bad apples that make this world a rather unpleasant place to live.
To put a positive spin on this however, gaming has been around for more than thirty years. This means that those that were engaged with the inception of it are now the ones to lead the world into a new era, where it is accepted. It really is only a matter and with a seeming majority of today's youth in the first world nations partaking of the hobby, that acceptance will only continue to grow. It may be another twenty years before we can put such inimitable nonsense as this proposed Bill behind us, but it will come to pass.
In the meantime, however, we will have to continue to put up sensationalist headlines such as those found in 'The Sun' newspaper, one of the more recent of which would have us believe that terrorists are using popular first person shooters to communicate their plans and plots to one another. First of all, I'm not sure why anyone would give 'The Sun' the time of day. It's a sensationalist tabloid newspaper that, frankly, covers nonsense and not a whole lot more. Nevertheless, there is a portion of the population that is willing to take note of this kind of abject stupidity.
The article states that the terrorists use such games so that they can mask their plots as discussion relevant to what they are doing in game. The reason why they have chosen this method is that phones and e-mails can be monitored. This argument is probably the most ridiculous of all. The thought that an organised cell would be so blind as to think that gaming lobbies are completely safe from prying eyes and ears is simply incomprehensible. The assertion that they use the games as training is even more laughable. Anyone that has ever played a game like this, and has even the most remote knowledge of real weaponry knows that it is not so easy to handle and reload as pushing a button. And with the complete lack of tactics displayed by most players, it certainly couldn't be used to simulate a realistic scenario.
The ideas in that article are flawed beyond belief, working, at best, upon assumptions made by a writer that is firmly in the camp of those that are determined to write gaming off as harmful. Frankly, I find it insulting.
Look, I'm hardly an unbiased person in respect to effects that gaming has on a person, but I pride myself on being reasonable and logical. Even so, I can't give any weight to the arguments put forth by gaming detractors in light of scientific evidence contrary to what they've put forth. It's pathetic, and I can't wait for the day that we can look back on this tumultuous period and laugh at the foolishness that we all felt so embroiled in.
Ninja Theory
Tameem Antonaides
The Witcher 2 Assassins of Kings
Damien Lawardorn
Damien Lawardorn is an aspiring novelist, journalist, and essayist. His goal in writing is to inspire readers to engage and think, rather than simply consume and enjoy. With broad interests ranging from literature and video games to fringe science and social movements, his work tends to touch on the unexpected. Damien is the former Editor-in-Chief of OnlySP. More of his work can be found at https://open.abc.net.au/people/21767
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DarthPrince says:
It's a bit frustrating actually, mainly because I feel so helpless. I wish there was something I could do to let people know that there's nothing wrong with gaming.
I've had lengthy debates with a few people who view gaming as nothing more than an addiction that they must warn against. Broke my heart, when they compared gaming to drugs. Grated there are a few cases where people have gotten addicted, but that is hardly a majority. Alas, even after presenting most of the points you've outlined above (admittedly, I wasn't nearly as articulate), I failed at changing their minds. The worst part is, they are extremely nice, well educated people who have decided that gaming is bad. They feel they have made an educated decision =(Funny thing is, I still enjoy hanging out with them, but we never talk about video games anymore =p
Damien Lawardorn says:
Thanks for reading, DP. Largely, I share your sentiment, if not your experience. For me, about half of the people that I know are the type that regard games as being a hobby for children, which I find disheartening and offensive. Most of the rest are ambivalent about it, or at least don't voice negative opinions in my presence and the few that remain do partake of the entertainment experience. One way or another, I've never had anyone, in my day-to-day life, try to tell me that gaming is addictive or any more harmful than watching TV for an equal amount of time, and I'm thankful for that.
Even so, you can't blame people for their convictions. We all have some beliefs that may not be in line with general public opinion. That's a part of what makes us human, and makes us different. However, I think it's important to note that when video game addiction DOES set in, it can be just as destructive as drugs or alcohol, so should, perhaps, be monitored by interested parties.
I don't understand though, why you prefixed your last sentence with "Funny thing is". Gaming may be a large part of your life, but you shouldn't feel that a quibble over it should stand in the way of long-established friendships… I think I should shut up.


For those of you with a sweet tooth, you're sure to love this flavor! It has the same soft and chewy texture of our Original granola, but adds a bit of tartness with dried cherries.
The best flavor combo ever? We certainly think so. Now available in multi-packs!
Made with all-natural, creamy peanut butter and dairy free dark chocolate, this irresistible blend of flavors is sure to become a fan favorite!
The best flavor combo ever? We certainly think so. Made with all-natural, creamy peanut butter and dairy free dark chocolate, this irresistible blend of flavors is sure to become a fan favorite!
Can't decide which granola flavor is your favorite? That's ok. Try one of each!


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FROM PUBLIC TO PRIVATE, PRE-K TO DOCTORAL DEGREES, THERE IS AN EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY AWAITING YOU IN THE GREATER BANGOR REGION.
The Greater Bangor region is home to world-class education for all students. Public and private schools are available for children and young adults from pre-k through high school. Additionally, there are six post-secondary educational organizations within the Greater Bangor region providing specialized and unique learning opportunities.
Husson University
Eastern Maine Community College provides the highest quality post-secondary technical, career, and transfer education, and serves as a dynamic community and economic resource. EMCC offers over 30 one-and two-year program options, as well as short term and specialized training and retraining courses for business, industry, and community. From Automotive Technology and Plumbing to Criminal Justice and Fire Science, from Nursing and Surgical Technology to Culinary Arts and Liberal Studies, EMCC is dedicated to providing all students with a well-balanced education focused on problem solving, decision making, communications, social understanding, computer applications, mathematics, and science.
Husson University, founded in 1898, is committed to strengthening Maine's future by preparing the business, health and communication professionals of tomorrow. It enrolls over 3,500 undergraduate and graduate students across three campuses in Maine and online. Husson offers 80 degree programs in business, communications, health, education, criminal justice, science, and the humanities. The College Database included Husson University on its list of Top Ten Maine Colleges with the Highest Financial Return on Investment.
The University of Maine System has campuses across the state, including the flagship campus in Orono. UMaine educational programs cover a large range of studies in undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs. Their facilities feature the state of the art New Balance Recreational Center, the Collins Center for the Arts, and the state's only NCAA Division 1 athletic teams. The University of Maine System also offers a satellite campus in Bangor through their Augusta campus.
Eastern Maine Community College
Nearby Unity College is a leader in sustainability science educating responsible, optimistic individuals committed to solving the world's most pressing environmental problems. For over fifty years, Unity College has been preparing the next generation of environmental professionals and leaders to successfully face real-world challenges.
Also within the Greater Bangor Area, you will find Maine Maritime Academy in Castine.


I love walking in to work everyday knowing I am a part of such an amazing team! Each team member has a wide range of HR knowledge and we all have a lot to bring to the table. When we all put our heads together there is nothing we can't problem solve or accomplish. The small office atmosphere and culture is unlike any other I've experienced and I am beyond proud to be a part of it!
It's hard to just pinpoint just one! Overall I really enjoy working one on one with employees to help them navigate through the value of their benefits. Sometimes insurance terms can be a bit confusing and when I can help them understand things better, they are appreciative and I truly feel like I've made a difference and made their life much more simple.


Products: Women's,men's clothing and accessories.
History Colin's was established in 1983 to face the challenge of the international fashion field and to compete with the well-known denim players.Over the last 25 years the brand has developed into one of the most respected brands in global fashion industry.Today Colin's has 480 stores and over 3000 retail points worldwide. Colin's maintains its global expansion goals with its current locations in more than 36 countries worldwide and growing continuously by 50-60 stores per year.Authentic Denim is the motto of the new Colin's denim collection: Tinted and discharge colours are the leading motives for Summer 2010 and also new sky bleach washes will be introduced. Vintage look and bleach washes will be presented in new flare styles. Besides this the must-have X-FIT Jeans, with its 2-way Lycra stretch will be presented in new shapes and colours. The main themes for Spring Summer 2010 in womenswear are Rockaholic, College fun and Sailors bay. The menswear is concentrating more on simplicity and comfort look with particular attention to details. It's the mix what makes Colin's unique, fashionable and contemporary.


OAO Sahalinenergo during 2004-2005 has used thermocouples and RTDs on its stations. Equipment was supplied in time. Complaints as to the quality of products made by OOO NPO Vakuummash were not had during the entire use period.


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Australia alight on New Year's Eve
Thu, 2020-01-02 08:40 — brolga-brolga
Our city was alight last night as was the countryside
the first, an exhibition the latter ecocide.
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brolga-brolga's blog
IPAN: Bushfires a National Security Threat
Mon, 2019-12-23 18:08 — admin
Bushfires in Australia a real national security issue in contrast to talked up threats of hostile nations in our region. Climate change a significant cause of the fires. [Illustrations by Sheila Newman.]
Bushfires in Australia are a real national security issue in contrast to talked up threats of an alleged hostile nations in our region, according to the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN).
Australians are heading into a Christmas day of smoke, fires, death and devastation, with no significant rain projected for weeks, anxiety is rising about when this catastrophe will end.
Australian Defense Force
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Flying Scales - Story of a family of Ospreys
Fri, 2019-12-20 19:38 — David Rennie
Very early on I made a decision that I wanted to understand a few birds rather than know a little about a lot. In my area, the three birds I loved were the Little Egrets, Spoonbills, and the Osprey. This focus stayed with me till the last photo taken. Any other photo of any other bird came about due to the fact they were in the area of these three birds.
David Rennie
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David Rennie's blog
IPAN Statement on interference in the internal affairs of Australia
The escalating tensions between US and China are directly impacting on Australia militarily, economically and politically and threaten to drag Australia into another imperialist war, according to the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network. IPAN calls for an independent foreign policy from all big powers, and that includes independence from both China and US; an independent foreign policy that promotes friendship with people from all countries.
US-warmongering
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Rethinking how to deal with animal cruelty in Australia
Wed, 2019-11-27 15:53 — Barrie Tapp
If the Minister for Agriculture were to endorse at least one officer from each local council under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986 (POCTA) provisions (section 18), this would add at least 120 new animal welfare officers/inspectors to combat animal cruelty within their area. This would alleviate the workload of authorised enforcement agencies i.e.( RSPCA/VicPol) in the town or city in which an alleged offence has occurred. A section should also be added into POCTA as it was back in the 80's before it was repealed, that half of the fines from a successful prosecution be paid to council and the other half to state revenue. This would also give council an incentive to work toward costs as RSPCA now do subsequently no out of pocket expenses.
Barrie Tapp
Barrie R Tapp
POCTA
Animal Welfare Officers
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Barrie Tapp's blog
Tony Kevin, "Russia & the West" - Book Launch, Readings - Nov 25, 2019
The Melbourne launch of Tony's latest book, being held at Readings in Hawthorn Monday, 25 November 2019, is likely to attract an interesting and critical audience. This book looks at the "last two action-packed years" – which is to say "false-flag packed" years, because it's about the way Australian media and the Australian commentariat has enabled Imperial lies to spread and take hold in the population. The key ones Tony considers are the Syrian chemical weapons stories, the Skripal poisoning hoax, and Ukraine/Crimea. He centers his study around the disinformation operations of the Institute for Statecraft and the way he thinks it is operating in Australia to counter the "Russian point of view".
Tony Kevin
Russia and the West
counter spin
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Queensland: 19 Nov 2019 - First public hearing for 5G inquiry
The Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts is holding a public hearing at Southport, Queensland on Tuesday, 19 November 2019 for its inquiry into the deployment, adoption and application of 5G in Australia. This will be the first public hearing for the inquiry, and will begin a series of public hearings and site visits to gather evidence about the challenges and benefits of 5G in Australia. Information about the inquiry, including the public hearing program, may be found on the Committee's webpage. See inside for details. There is also a facebook page of the Australian activist group: "We say no to 5G in Australia, which has a lot of information.
Read more about Queensland: 19 Nov 2019 - First public hearing for 5G inquiry
Good horse welfare initiative in Campaspe Council Echuca & District Livestock Exchange
Sun, 2019-10-27 17:41 — admin
Campaspe Shire has introduced a great new horse welfare change to its Echuca and District Livestock Exchange. It will no longer accept horses that do not have clear origins and destinations. Let us hope that other shires will follow this example. As you may read in Horses need an identity urgently, Victorian laws are extremely irresponsible towards horses, and many horses suffer greatly in this state.
animal registration
Echuca & District Livestock Exchange
Campaspe Shire
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When the Wheels fell Off
Tue, 2019-10-22 12:23 — Don Owers
The 100 years from 1870 is described as the innovation century in which there more more inventions, starting coincidentally with the light bulb, than in the rest of mankind's history. For the most part their roll-out into society was slow enough to dampen the impact of the invention. Electricity, for instance, wasn't connected fully in Australia until 1989. But for me, one event stood out, and that occurred on the 4th of October 1957, just before my birthday.
Don Owens
dumbing down
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Don Owers's blog
IPAN calls for volunteers to help with its Remember Vietnam moritorium
This is a call for volunteers to help with organising committees for 50th Anniversary of Vietnam Moratorium Campaign towards the celebration of 50 years on from the Vietnam Moratorium Campaign or offers of memorabilia from that campaign for display.
Please pass this on to your members or friends who might be interested.
To make it national, committees are needed in each state/territory to mirror that historical and successful national political campaign
Contact: bevanlramsden@gmail.com
This is an IPAN supported activity
The Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN)
Remember Vietnam and Keep Australia out of U.S. wars
Vietnam moratorium
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3 billion birds lost in America - same trends in Australia
Fri, 2019-09-27 09:58 — Sheila Newman
This short documentary shows the problems that birds face in the US, but they face the same problems in Australia. The current push by powerful property developers, niched in our government, will remove more habitat for the birds where most of us live. Birds Australia's report, The State of Australia's Birds 2015, showed shorebirds in steep decline, and that our familiar friends, magpies, kookaburras, and willy-wagtails, are now struggling.
habitat-loss
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Video: Property off the plan - Residents' rights hijacked in an unregulated industry
This is the second in a series of interviews with Nerrida Pohl about lack of proper regulation of the construction and development industry in Australia. Nerrida talks about the 30 story appartment building in Victoria, where she bought two appartments 'off the plan'. The building is a shared commercial/private one, that is meant to share one plan, but Nerrida has discovered with some amazement that there are actually two different plans. Although the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) ruled, in a dispute between the developer and Stonington Council, that residents would share the building's loading bay with commercial occupants, this right was sold off by a member of the building management for $1.00 per annum peppercorn rent. This has meant that moving vans park at the front entrance, causing traffic problems in a very busy area. The front doors are propped open so that furniture etc can be brought into the building, creating a security risk. Furthermore, the ''Residents Meeting Room' specified in the plan, has been occupied by a real-estate agency. This means that residents have no formal or designated place to meet, communicate, and organise for their own benefit. It is especially hard because many appartment owners dwell overseas and cannot easily be contacted by other owners who, when they ask, are only given overseas mailing addresses, which might be PO boxes or legal firms in distant cities.
property-off-the-plan
residents' rights
unregulated industry
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If Waleed Ali wants to be part of the solution, he cannot be part of the problem.
Sat, 2019-09-14 14:09 — Graham Clews
Waleed Aly ("A Rhetorical State of Emergency," Sydney Morning Herald, 12 September 2019,) has dressed up banality as insight and has been very long-winded about it. His focus is climate change and he laments the fact that we have so "engineered a lack of [political] consensus" that Australia is never likely to successfully address it.
environmental decline
Waleed Aly
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Graham Clews's blog
MP Clifford Hayes supports residents against the North East Link
(Photos by Fiona Bell.) I have strongly supported the RUANELA (Residents United Against North East Link Option A) campaign against the North East Link. I am opposed to the removal of thousands of mature trees and the massive loss of open space particularly in the Koonung Creek Reserve. 12.7 hectares of parkland will be permanently lost.
Clifford Hayes
North-East-link
counter-growth lobby
tollway
Residents-United-Against-North-East-Link-Option-AA
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Sydney shelters for homeless at capacity - but don't stop mass immigration
Sat, 2019-08-24 22:30 — Neutrino
Lord Mayor Clover Moore has nothing to congratulate herself on with regard to homelessness in Sydney. The City of Sydney's most recent street count has revealed that homelessness has risen and crisis shelters are at capacity. Although the City has been collecting levies from developers to create affordable housing since 2004, it has only created 835 new affordable housing dwellings in that time. Whilst the *official* number of homeless in Sydney reached 592 in August 2019 (with so many more couch-surfing and living on credit), Australia has continued to import approximately one million immigrants every two years, pushing up the price of housing and causing pressure on Sydney's very scarce land, to the extent that NSW State Premier, Gladys Berejiklian asked the Federal Government to halve the immigration numbers - to no avail. Lendlease private developments is forcing new suburbs into koala territory despite years of organised protests from nearby residents. It is clear that property development is disorganising human communities, extinguishing wildlife, and over-riding every democratic measure in our society. It is ironic that the City of Sydney, in a country run by property developers for their own enrichment through population growth, should give the biggest private landowner in Australia (the Catholic Church) $100,000 to pay various humble workers to telephone between services looking for empty beds each night for the homeless. The same Catholic Church is a notable property developer, owner of the oldest bank in the world, and a chronic promoter of mass immigration.
Read more about Sydney shelters for homeless at capacity - but don't stop mass immigration
Neutrino's blog
IPAN says No to sending Australian military to Straits of Homuz
Australia shows contempt for an international rules-based order, agreeing to join the US and UK with a naval, air and ADF personel presence in the Persian Gulf without any national debate or UN resolution.
Primeminister
US-NATO warmongering
oil-wars
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Letter to Geraldine Doogue re her incompetent treatment of the infrastructure problem
Sun, 2019-08-18 14:23 — John Coulter
"Your program and so many on the ABC ignore the real prospect of widespread social, economic and environmental breakdown consequent on a human population having exceeded the long term carrying capacity of Nature. The ABC in its general coverage assumes a continuation of Business as Usual. Climate change, if present trends continue leads to a world 3 – 4 degrees warmer at century's end. (David Attenborough in his recent TV program on climate change used the figures 3 - 6 degrees.) Together with declines in soil quality, water availability, food shortages and massive biodiversity loss these things have many scientists foreshadowing an imminent reduction in the global human population and a world in chaos."
John Coulter
Geraldine Doogue
incompetence alert
irresponsibility alert
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John Coulter's blog
Parliament ignored warning about population growth 10 years ago, to our detriment
Tomorrow it will be exactly 10 years since Kelvin Thomson spoke to the Parliament describing increasing population as the underlying cause of the world's problems. He listed each of them - global warming, food crisis, water shortages, housing affordability, overcrowded cities, traffic congestion, species extinctions, fisheries collapse, increasing prices, waste, terrorism and war - and described the role that population growth was playing in fuelling them.
Kelvin Thomson
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How apartment owners got hooked to pick up the massive bill for dodgy cladding
Sun, 2019-08-04 14:07 — Anne Paten
Victoria's Planning Minister, Richard Wynne recently dropped a bombshell on thousands of apartment owners whose buildings are covered in flammable cladding.New loan laws likely to be passed by Parliament have been billed as a kindly gesture to help owners of apartments covered in the flammable cladding to fund the rectification costs. This news might seem a worthy initiative, except that the most iniquitous elements in this scandalous swindle are unspecified. Principally, Wynne's decree provides that owners who bear no blame for this combustible catastrophe are to be burdened with a debt that could run into billions of dollars. [Article first published at https://www.thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/materials/apartment-owners-dodgy-cladding/ on 13 September 2018.]
apartment-owners
dodgy-cladding
Richard Wynne
building insurance
Andrews government
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Anne Paten's blog
The Endless Growth Paradigm
Script by Mark Allen of Population, Permaculture and Planning and Michael Bayliss of Sustainable Population Australia.
endless growth
Michael Bayliss
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One giant leap for mankind - but since? - Article by Kelvin Thomson
It has been great to re-live the Apollo 11 Moon Landing's 50 th Anniversary. What a monumental achievement and tribute to human intellectual candlepower, endeavour and above all courage. I was a Year 9 student at the time; like other classes we downed tools to watch it unfold. Our teachers were just as astonished by the audacity and precision of the Landing as we were. I – and I think most of the people who I talked with or heard from at that time – had a very rosy view of the future. Yes we were involved in a stupid war in Vietnam, but I thought the Second World War and the Holocaust were so wicked and so evil that we'd learned from that, and that there was a very strong worldwide appetite for peace. I thought that war and conflict would become a thing of the past.
moon landing 13 September 1959
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Birdwatchers highlight declines of seabirds off south-eastern Australia
Thirteen species of seabirds are declining off the coast of south-eastern Australia, a 17-year study by researchers at the Centre for Ecosystem Science at UNSW Sydney revealed. The species include iconic and globally threatened birds such as the enormous Wandering Albatross, as well as locally breeding Flesh-footed Shearwater. Pelagic citizen science data was used in this study.
Eastern-seabord
sea-birds
citizen-science-data
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Was Pontius Pilate right after all? The modern state and Julian Assange
Pontius Pilate, of course, was the judge who condemned Jesus Christ to death, according to the bible. The crime Jesus was punished for was that of leading a religion critical of the values of the Roman state. Modern authorities try to defend their right to have criminal secrets in order to justify pursecuting Assange, who has led a world-wide movement for transparent and just government. If UK or Swedish judges deliver Assange to authorities who then deliver him to the United States, they may claim that they are only doing their duty under the law, just like Judge Pontius Pilate. I am not religious, but I think this is a valuable parable for our time.
US military bases
modern state
US-NATO
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Australia's skilled migrant visa sham - Article by Leith van Onselen
Australian employer groups frequently claim that a strong 'skilled' migration program is required to overcome perceived labour shortages – a view that is shared by Australia's state and federal governments. However, the available data does not support their assertions.
Leith van Onselen
Australia's overpopulation problem
Australia's immigration problem
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Authorities removing legal protection from nature reserves: study
An https://science.sciencemag.org/content/364/6443/881international study has revealed extensive removal of legal protection for conservation reserves, at a time when the preservation of these areas is more important than ever to biodiversity. The study, published today in Science, involving a global consortium of researchers led by Conservation International, documents how governments from 73 countries, including Australia, have removed more than 500,000 km2 from protected areas and downgraded protection for an additional 1.65 million km2 to allow greater human impacts.
conservation reserves
conserving nature
Dr Carly Cook
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So you tell me, where are we going, Australia? Conspiracy or accident?
Mon, 2019-05-27 15:23 — Don Owers
There is an accepted truism that when it comes to politics what appears to be a conspiracy is usually just the result of poor government decisions. It is a logical conclusion given that conspiracies require clever conspirators and politicians are generally not seen as being clever. This of course is not correct, its a belief acquired because politicians are continually criticized by the media and even more so by their colleagues.
Like or loath him John Howard was a smart politician – he did after all survive 10 years as PM and won an election after involving us in an illegal war in Iraq. Having said that, how many bad decisions can be made on one issue before we have to conclude that no government could be that incompetent without intent?
Don Owers
car industry
houses and holes economy
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Starving, wounded, dying Brumbies: Barmah and Singleton: Parks Vic & RSPCA responsibility
Mon, 2019-04-22 17:18 — Barrie Tapp
These photographs are of horses at Barmah Vic, and Singleton NSW. As we are aware, they are not native to this country. They were introduced here by pioneers/settlers to help settle this land. They were carted off to war - 300,000 - never to return. They ploughed the fields and transported goods/settlers all over this country. They are used in entertainment, such as rodeos and racing, and even left to die in paddocks. At the end for many are the knackeries, some for overseas human consumption. Horses are not even recognised as "livestock" in Acts of parliament. What a bum deal these magnificent animals have endured from mankind. Now they are being slaughtered by this government, in the name of being 'feral' and destroying the land. (Photographs copyright Renee Neubaur. Sincere thanks from Candobetter for permission to use them.)
Parks Vic
Singleton Army Base
aerial shooting
Barmah Forest
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How will the candidate seeking your vote act to prevent the US plans to kidnap Julian Assange?
As found by the Australian Federal Police in 2010, Julian Assange has committed no crime. Yet, Julian Assange, the courageous and visionary founding editor of Wikileaks, who is not even a citizen of the United States and has never been there, now faces the threat that he will be extradited to the United States from Britain. There he is to supposedly be tried only for the 'crime' of 'conspiring' in 2010, with Chelsea Manning to have her retrieve classified U.S. defence department information which revealed to the world evidence of U.S. war crimes. - the sort of 'crime' that many serious journalists have engaged in.
Scott Ludlam
Socialist Equity Party
Read more about How will the candidate seeking your vote act to prevent the US plans to kidnap Julian Assange?
Art Exhibition: Overwintering project migratory birds
Exhibition opening Friday 19th April, 5.30-7.30pm. Art Space, Lord Street, Port Campbell.
Andrea Radley
Overwintering Project
Jill Quirk
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(Earlier version of) Policies that should be put to voters at the forthcoming Australian Federal elections
Tue, 2019-04-16 04:11 — James Sinnamon
The article below is a copy of the earlier, more original version. That earlier version is to be substantially modified. The layout will be somewhat changed. Some content will be added and some of the original content will be modified. That updated version will be at the same location, previously pointed to by other links. It will include a link back to this page. That article, in turn, had been adapted from "Policies that should be put to voters at the Australian Federal elections of 2 July" (5/6/2016).
In the forthcoming Australian Federal elections to be held on 11, 18 or 25 May, the choice of candidates should include candidates who support policies that would attempt to preserve and, where possible, improve our quality of life. Such a candidate, if elected, would begin trying to rectify the harm that has been done in recent years to global peace and stability, our natural environment, civil rights and our quality of life, by corporations, NGOs and governments - federal, state and local. We believe such a candidate would support the policies listed below. We intend to ask each candidate standing for each House of Representatives seat and for each of the 12 Senate seats for each state, whether he/she supports, or is opposed to each of the policies. Particularly defining the decency of any Australian Government now is Policy 53: Julian Assange: Send a contingent of Federal Police to fly to London, go to the Ecuadorian embassy and escort Julian Assange back to Heathrow Airport and thence back to Melbourne Airport. What British government authority would dare obstruct Australian Federal Police who are clearly acting to uphold the law and to end such a cruel denial of basic human rights?
Read more about (Earlier version of) Policies that should be put to voters at the forthcoming Australian Federal elections
James Sinnamon's blog


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Federal Cyber Funding Announced
FEDERAL CYBER FUNDING ANNOUNCED - STRENGTHENING AUSTRALIA'S DEFENCES AGAINST CYBER THREATS
JLT welcomes the Australian Government's investment in addressing the risks and challenges posed by the continual increase in malicious cyber activity facing Australian business and government, announced in last night's Federal Budget.
"Continuing to strengthen Australian networks and systems, and investing in key government agencies will assist Australia in protecting itself against threat actors seeking to infiltrate Australian businesses through criminal networks or compromised government agencies" says Leo Demer, CEO of JLT Australia.
Addressing the current shortage of cyber security skills and knowledge through employment and education initiatives and corporate partnerships is key to defending government agencies and Australian business. This will ensure Australia is properly equipped to detect, deter and respond effectively to the growing numbers and complexity of cyber threats and to defend our interests in cyberspace into the future.
JLT supports the Federal Government establishing a Cyber Security Advisory office to centralise governance for cyber security as well as its further funding of the Australian Federal Police, designed to combat serious cyber-crime, counter-terrorism, and related organised crime.


Our corporation mostly engaged and export anodized aluminum panels . we rely on sturdy technical force and constantly create sophisticated technology to meet the demand of anodized aluminum panels consumers. We are sincerely welcome close friends from different circles at residence and abroad come to cooperate!


Divorce is never easy, but the divorce of a long-married couple can be especially hard, particularly when it comes to retirement and estate plans. Assets, including retirement accounts, can be hard to divide, and the presence of children—and possibly grandchildren—can require the wholesale revision of existing estate plans.
If you're divorcing or moving on to a second marriage, it's important to work toward the fair and accurate division of assets, including retirement funds, so you don't wind up facing a shortfall later in life. You'll also need to update estate plans to make sure your wishes—no matter what your marital status—will be honored when you pass.


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Bradford Brinton (26 June 1880 – 15 February 1936) was a machinery manufacturer whose collections of Western and American Indian art formed the basis of the collections of the Brinton Museum created as a memorial to him by his sister after his death.

Early life
Brinton was born in Tuscola, Illinois to William B. Brinton, owner of several wagon and plow companies, and his wife, born Rhoda Wyeth. His only sibling, Helen, had been born in 1874.

Brinton attended Morgan Park Academy, and then Sheffield Scientific School at Yale University, where he was a member of Book and Snake and was graduated with a Ph.B. degree in 1904.

Career
Brinton joined his father in the farm implement business, becoming secretary and then vice president of the Grand Detour Plow Company. The company merged with the J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company to become the J. I. Case Company, where Brinton was made general manager and then director.  He became a manager of the King, Farnum & Company brokers, and a limited partner of the William Henry Barnum & Company, dealers in New York City real estate, as, successively, vice president, treasurer, and director.

Brinton was commissioned a captain in the Quartermaster Corps of the U.S. Army in 1917, and was involved with government testing of motor vehicles.  He served overseas as liaison officer to the Motor Transport Corps in 1918 and took part in the Meuse-Argonne and Somme offensives.

Personal life and death
Brinton married Catherine Bell Metcalf on 2 September 1916 in Chicago. They had twin daughters, Barbara, and Patricia, in 1926, and were divorced that same year.

Brinton died at the age of 56 of acute pancreatitis following surgery in Miami Beach, Florida and was buried in Dixon, Illinois. He left his ranch to his sister Helen, who used it as a summer home. On her death on 18 January 1960, she left the ranch in trust with the Northern Trust Company of Chicago, which administered it in accordance with her will as the Bradford Brinton Memorial & Museum. Hosting her brother's collection of 17th, 18th and 19th century Western and Indian art, it subsequently was renamed "The Brinton Museum."

References

1880 births
1936 deaths
People from Tuscola, Illinois
Military personnel from Illinois
Yale University alumni
American ranchers
American art collectors


The Dude is mostly inspired by Jeff Dowd, a man the Coen brothers met while they were trying to find distribution for the feature film, Blood Simple. Dowd had been a member of the Seattle Seven, liked to drink White Russians, and was known as "The Dude." The Dude was also partly based on a friend of the Coen brothers, Peter Exline (now a member of the faculty at USC's School of Cinematic Arts), a Vietnam War veteran who reportedly lived in a dump of an apartment and was proud of a little rug that "tied the room together." Exline knew Barry Sonnenfeld from New York University and Sonnenfeld introduced Exline to the Coen brothers while they were trying to raise money for Blood Simple. Exline became friends with the Coens and, in 1989, told them all kinds of stories from his own life, including ones about his actor-writer friend Lewis Abernathy (one of the inspirations for Walter), a fellow Vietnam vet who later became a private investigator and helped him track down and confront a high school kid who stole his car. As in the film, Exline's car was impounded by the Los Angeles Police Department and Abernathy found an 8th grader's homework under the passenger seat. Exline also belonged to an amateur softball league but the Coens changed it to bowling in the movie because "it's a very social sport where you can sit around and drink and smoke while engaging in inane conversation," Ethan said in an interview. The Coens met filmmaker John Milius when they were in Los Angeles making Barton Fink and incorporated his love of guns and the military into the character of Walter.
According to Julianne Moore, the character of Maude was based on artist Carolee Schneemann, "who worked naked from a swing," and Yoko Ono. The character of Jesus Quintana was inspired, in part, by a performance the Coens had seen John Turturro give in 1988 at the Public Theater in a play called Mi Puta Vida in which he played a pederast-type character, "so we thought, let's make Turturro a pederast. It'll be something he can really run with", Joel said in an interview.
The film's overall structure was influenced by the detective fiction of Raymond Chandler. Ethan said, "We wanted something that would generate a certain narrative feeling – like a modern Raymond Chandler story, and that's why it had to be set in Los Angeles … We wanted to have a narrative flow, a story that moves like a Chandler book through different parts of town and different social classes". The use of the Stranger's voiceover also came from Chandler as Joel remarked, "He is a little bit of an audience substitute. In the movie adaptation of Chandler it's the main character that speaks off-screen, but we didn't want to reproduce that though it obviously has echoes. It's as if someone was commenting on the plot from an all-seeing point of view. And at the same time rediscovering the old earthiness of a Mark Twain."
The significance of the bowling culture was, according to Joel, "important in reflecting that period at the end of the Fifties and the beginning of the Sixties. That suited the retro side of the movie, slightly anachronistic, which sent us back to a not-so-far-away era, but one that was well and truly gone nevertheless."


The statement expressed in the title sounds so simple yet for some is difficult to achieve. So let's together demystify the two steps for getting a job offer.
Because of the enormously large pool of job applicants nowadays, even a very good résumé may not get singled out when compared with the many outstanding résumés. It's a competition for sure, and only, say, five résumés might be considered for invitations to face-to-face interviews. So, how does one put together an excellent résumé? That depends: if you have good writing skills, you can draft a résumé and then have some people whose proficiency and judgment you trust review and edit it for you until it becomes excellent. Consult career coaches, human resources professionals, or recruiters. Hopefully, you've developed good relationships with such people, who will agree to help by expressing their opinions.
If you are not skilled with language, I suggest you seek a professional résumé writer who has performed work for others and brought them success. This is a good investment, since otherwise, you're merely spreading around a noncompetitive résumé that brings no action–and you will never find out why. Many people fall into that trap, and they therefore lose time and of course the opportunity to make money. So, how does one know whether one's résumé is excellent? The answer is very simple: Excellent résumés get action. The rest don't–or do only very rarely.
Congratulations! Your résumé was attractive and intriguing enough to persuade a hiring manager to want a conversation with you in order to explore your candidacy for an opening, competitively with a few others. Now the real competition starts. All of those who have been invited to interview stood out too and could potentially take the job, meaning that they have the skills for it. But the hiring manager has another need to satisfy–and that is whether you fit and will be committed to the company. Ascertaining whether you fit is very much psychological on the part of the hiring manager, who is asking himself whether your future peers would accept you, whether you and he are aligned ideologically, whether his own boss would consider you a good hire, and whether you represent a promising investment. And there are other, similar questions, whose answers can be rather subjective.
The hiring manager's final area of vital interest has to do with whether you seem committed to the job. He wants to ensure (1) that you have potential for growth within the company, (2) that you won't move to a competitor if the company goes through some difficult times and someone else is offering you a fraction more compensation, and (3) that you deliberately targeted this company as an employer.
If you can convince the hiring manager that you're the right choice, if you answer questions properly, and if you project positivity and energy, your chances for getting an offer are good. Good luck on your next job. Feel good about yourself. You deserve it.
I am a Career Coach and my specialty is Interview Preparation. I'm known as "The Landing Expert." My clients are 90% job seekers in transition and 10% those who contemplate a career change.
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Bruce Willis Wears Hamilton Jazzmaster Watch in "A Good Day to Die Hard"
Action star Bruce Willis returns to the role of everyman hero John McClane in A Good Day to Die Hard, which opened in theaters this week. Keen-eyed watch buffs will note the timepiece that Willis wears in the film, which has been identified as a Hamilton Jazzmaster Viewmatic. Actor Jai Courtney, who plays McClane's estranged son, also sports a Hamilton, the Khaki X-Patrol.
Hamilton watches have been fixtures on the big screen for years, appearing in films ranging from 2001: A Space Odyssey to Men in Black to the previous entrant in the Die Hard series, 2007's Live Free or Die Hard, in which Willis, as McClane, also wore one.
In A Good Day to Die Hard, maverick New York City cop McClane travels to Moscow to come to the aid of his son, Jack, only to find the two of them in an international adventure that involves tangling with the Russian underworld and trying to prevent a war. McClane's simple, classically styled Viewmatic fits his no-nonsense persona, while the more modern-looking Khaki X-Patrol — which includes an advanced conversion table that provides units in both metric and Imperial systems — is suited to the younger, world-traveling Jack, a CIA operative. Technical data on both watches are beneath the respective photos, and a link to the trailer for A Good Day to Die Hard appears below.
The Hamilton Jazzmaster Viewmatic has a 44-mm stainless steel case, water-resistant to 100 meters, and has either a black or silver-colored dial. It comes on either a brown, stitched leather strap or a stainless steel bracelet, and is powered by an ETA 2824-2 automatic movement. The price is $795.
The Hamilton Khaki X-Patrol (which we covered in a detailed Watch to Watch article last July) has a 42-mm stainless steel case, water-resistant to 100 meters. It has a black or silver-colored dial and is available with either a black stitched leather or black rubber strap or a steel bracelet. The watch contains Hamilton's H-21 chronograph movement and retails for $1,695.
Click here for the "A Good Day to Die Hard" Movie Trailer
Tags: Celebrity Endorsers, Hamilton, Watches In The Movies
No Responses to "Bruce Willis Wears Hamilton Jazzmaster Watch in "A Good Day to Die Hard""
Matt August 16, 2015
Actually they are manufactured and owned by Swatch.
David Fisher February 16, 2013
Hamilton Watches are mfg. by Seiko and of very high quality!
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Top 5 Unique Ideas to Surprise Your Loved One with a Jewelry Gift
Home/Science/Nature/Top 10 Hottest Places In The World
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Top 10 Hottest Places In The World
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Summer is a season when snow vanishes; rain disappears and fog of frosty weather farewells. It is said by some that it is the season of holiday and freshness, where people gather in groups on beaches, saying good-bye to the winter and the raindrops sliding on the windows. Yet, the world embraces some extreme spots that are deemed to be the hottest ones. Information about these spots is provided in this article, as follows:
10 Dallol, Ethiopia:
Dallol is hot township located in the Afar Depression of Ethiopia, it holds the record of the highest average yearly temperature ever recorded. It recorded about 95 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature is always hot all over the year. In 1960, it was one of the mining settlements. Moreover, Afar Depression is a volcanically active area that is not far from a volcano holding the same name.
9Timbuktu, Mali:
Desertification is a most important concern in Timbuktu, as immense dunes covers the city that is commonly buried in windswept sand. Temperature is soaring in this town, it reaches 130 degrees Fahrenheit, but do not dash your hopes, the Niger River is only about 15 miles away.
8 Tirat Zvi, Israel:
The religious kibbutz located in Israel, in particular Beit She'an Valley. It is placed 722 feet below sea level. Jordan River does not contribute a lot in cooling this area; it is still deemed a hot place, where temperature is 129 degrees. In order to flee heat, people plunge into pools fed by springs.
7 Kebili, Tunisia:
It is a desert oasis in Tunisia. It still has palm trees that provide shadows. Measuring the temperature, it soared at 131 degrees Fahrenheit. However, it is a must-visit town, as it is so charming. Indeed, it is not full of residents, but almost vacant.
6 Jizan, Saudi Arabia:
Jizan is a city that is positioned in the south of KSA. Being one of the most extremes in the globe, the temperature is recorded in July at average 101 degrees Fahrenheit. The water bodies surrounding this area do not provide a hand of help to get the temperature down. I think it also requires winter clothes to protect yourself from burning.
5 Ghadames, Libya:
It is a desert oasis, the World Heritage Site, according to UNESCO. It is situated in the Nalut District of the Tripolitania area at the north west of Libya. Ghadames is characterized of the desert climate. In July, the temperature reaches about 105, it is the hottest month all over the year. The oasis has short warm winters.
4 Rub' al Khali, Arabian Peninsula:
It is the main sand desert in the world. Rub' al Khali covers an area of about third of the Arabian Peninsula. It is not only hot, but dry as well. Temperatures are recorded soaring; the average reaches 133 degrees Fahrenheit. Humans are not recommended to settle there. So, if you visit this place, do not forget to bring your shoes with you, because the expanses of the sands are absolutely hot.
3 Death Valley, United States:
It is located in the Mojave Desert of California. It is the hottest area in North America and its highest temperature ever recorded is 134 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperature recorded in the valley is cut from the same cloth of that in Rub' al Khali. When rains fall, wildflowers come into clear from their dried up cell and cover the valley flooring in stunning blooms. Puzzling moving rocks reside in Death Valley. Actually, it is a picturesque place that you must-visit.
2 Australia's Badlands:
Much of the Australian continent is desert. In Australia's Badlands, temperature readings record at the season of drought about 156 degrees Fahrenheit. The area has no many residents; it is a remote one, where you feel that sands themselves produce heat. Summers of the badlands are awfully hot. If you decide to have a visit to this area, you have to be well-equipped to face the intense heat.
1 Dasht-e Lut, Iran:
Actually, it the hottest place on Earth. Ironically, it is said that you can feel as if you are touching the sun itself. Temperature is not monitored on a regular basis as it is an isolated region. The highest reading ever officially measured and accredited for a location on Earth is the Lut as it reaches 159.3 degrees Fahrenheit.
Summer is a chance for having a holiday in moderately hot sunny climate, but it is not the same with the above mentioned places, where heat cannot be endured. Some are slightly hotter than the others, but it will not make a difference. It is like jumping out from the frying pan into the fire.
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The new 'World's Ugliest Dog' is little Peanut
Jun 23, 2014, 10:00 PM | Updated: 10:00 pm
BY LAUREN BERKLEY
Poor little Peanut has been through a lot: He's survived being set on fire as a puppy, is a rescue and now was awarded the dubious honor of "World's Ugliest Dog."
The lucky owner of this bundle of joy is Holly Chandler, of Greenville, N.C. According to MLaughing Squid, she said she entered Peanut in the competition, held annually at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma, Calif., to raise awareness for abused pets.
"It will not be about winning or losing. It will solely be about telling people his story and showing that we cannot stick our heads in the sand," said Chandler. "Animal abuse happens, it is time to face it and come together to stop it."
When he was just a puppy, Peanut was set on fire, causing him to lose his lips and unable to close his eyes, because his eyelids were burned.
Chandler said she often gets rude looks or comments, when Peanut goes out in public. She added that despite his appearance, 2-year-old Peanut is a happy, healthy pup.
She is using the $1,500 prize money to help pay the vet bills of others.
Tom Cruise crushes Jimmy Fallon in 'Tonight Show' lip sync battle
Here are four words that will remind us all why a certain someone's movies have made millions: Tom Cruise lip syncing.
Smooth criminal: Police release unusual video after local burglary
Hide yo' kids, hide yo' wife and hide yo' husband cause someone's robbin' all the supermarkets out here.
Never-before-seen photos show White House reaction after 9/11
The U.S. National Archives recently released never-before-seen photos of then-Vice President Dick Chaney and other White House officials after 9/11.
Russian-built jet's vertical climb will astound
Fast and upright could describe a sprinter during a race. Or it could describe this jet in the air.
Chic geek: Fit your car with KITT from 'Knight Rider'
For serious fans of the 1980s TV show, "Knight Rider," KITT rides again, disguised as a car charger.
Brave little girl battling cancer receives special message from Frozen star
The little things can go a long way, especially for someone who has been dealt a frightening and entirely unfair hand.


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Zheng Lu (China 1978 -)
The gravity-defying sculptural works of Zheng Lu are deeply influenced by his study of traditional Chinese calligraphy, an art form he practiced growing up in a literary family. Zheng Lu uses language as a pictorial element, inscribing the surface of his stainless steel sculptures with thousands of Chinese characters derived from texts and poems of historical significance.
To create his metal sculptures, Zheng Lu begins with a plaster base. He then laser-cuts characters into metal, and in a fashion similar to linking chainmail, the pictographs are connected and heated so that they can be shaped to the support. The resulting works are technically astonishing; their fluid, animated forms are charged with the energy (qi) of the universe, belying their steel composite.
Zheng Lu graduated from Lu Xun Fine Art Academy, Shenyang, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture in 2003. In 2007, he received his Masters of Fine Arts in sculpture from the Central Academy of Fine Art, Beijing, while also attending an advanced study program at The École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts in Paris in 2006. Zheng Lu has participated in numerous exhibitions in China and abroad, including at the Museum on the Seam, Jerusalem; The Ekaterina Cultural Foundation, Moscow; Musée Océanographique, Monaco; Musée Maillol, Paris; the National Museum of China, Beijing; the Long Museum and the Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai.
Born in Chi Feng, Inner Mongolia, in 1978 | Lives and works in Beijing


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Here Are Five Things That Caught Our Attention In The Trailer Of 'Bharat'
By Athulya Nambiar • 22/04/2019 at 5:13PM
The trailer of Salman Khan's upcoming film Bharat is three minute long and tries to fit in a lot of exciting elements.
Actor Salman Khan surprised his fans by dropping the trailer of his next film Bharat.The trailer begins with Nehru's famous independence day speech and gives us a glimpse into Bharat's (Salman Khan) life. The three-minute trailer has a lot of exciting elements in it. But here's looking at 5 of them which caught my attention:
For those who are unaware, Bharat is an official remake of the South Korean film Ode To My Father. After Tubelight, this is another Salman Khan film that is a remake of a foreign film. However, Tubelight bombed at the box-office.
Bharat is directed by Ali Abbas Zafar will be released on June 5th 2019.


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The Armorial Hall of the Winter Palace, Saint Petersburg, is a vast chamber originally designed for official ceremonies.  The Armorial Hall is located between the Military Gallery and the palace courtyard.

The current hall was designed by Vasily Stasov in the late 1830s, after the original hall was damaged by an extensive palace fire in 1837; it was at this time that the fluted columns were gilded. Along with St George's Hall and the Nicholas Hall, it was one of the palace's main areas for entertaining.  The edges of the hall are decorated with vast stucco panoplies.  In the center of the hall sits a lapidary vase made of aventurine from 1842.

Under the direction of Anatoly Lunacharsky, who became the Commissar of Enlightenment after the October Revolution, the Armorial Hall was used as a concert hall, with a capacity of up to 2,000.

Today, as part of the State Hermitage Museum, this room retains its original decoration.

Photographs of the Hall, taken in 2008

References
  Hermitage Museum Website Published by the Russian state Hermitage Museum. Retrieved 13 October 2008. Archive link

Hermitage Museum
Vasily Stasov buildings and structures