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War at One Month
The month-old war has forced more than 3.6 million people to flee Ukraine. WaPo
The Biden administration says the U.S. will accept 100,000 refugees from Ukraine. NYT
Biden and allies hold three summits Thursday: NATO, G7, European Council NYT
NATO: 7,000 to 15,000 Russian troops dead in Ukraine AP
U.S., allies set new sanctions on Russia, targeting 400 people, entities WaPo
The U.S. government accuses Russian forces of war crimes. NYT
The statement cited "atrocities," including a March 9 attack on the Mariupol maternity hospital and a strike that destroyed a theater in the same city where hundreds of civilians were sheltering.
The statement also mentioned the destruction of "apartment buildings, schools, hospitals, critical infrastructure, civilian vehicles, shopping centers, and ambulances."
NATO doubles its battlegroups in Eastern Europe ahead of multiple summits. NYT
State of the War
Russian forces stalled
Russia showed almost no signs of advancement this past week: U.S. defense official NPR
Russian forces in Ukraine have shown almost no signs of advancing over the past week, a senior U.S. defense official says, though they have stepped up artillery shelling in recent days.
Russia's war for Ukraine could be headed toward stalemate WaPo
The front lines have barely moved in more than a week. Russians are being killed or injured at the rate of up to 1,000 a day, according to Western intelligence estimates, and even more according to Ukrainian ones.
Russia's combat force has shrunk, a Pentagon official says, reflecting casualties and other struggles. NYT
The Pentagon has assessed that Russia's "combat power" in Ukraine — comprising more than 150,000 troops massed in Belarus and western Russian prior to the invasion — has dipped below 90 percent of its original force for the first time, reflecting the losses Russian troops have suffered at the hands of Ukrainian soldiers.
Russia bombarding civilian populations with artillery and missiles.
The ferocity of the Russian assault has only intensified as the advances have slowed, with Russia substituting harsh bombardments of civilian populations for progress on the battlefield.
A Russian missile strike reduces a Kyiv mall to smoldering ruins. NYT
A Russian missile strike reduced a sprawling shopping mall in Kyiv to a smoldering ruin, one of the most powerful strikes to rock the center of the Ukrainian capital since the war began last month.
Russia's Attacks on Civilian Targets Have Obliterated Everyday Life in Ukraine NYT
In the weeks since Russia began its invasion, at least 1,500 civilian buildings, structures and vehicles in Ukraine have been damaged or destroyed. More than 953 civilians have been killed, including at least 78 children, according to the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, who noted that the real toll was likely to be considerably higher.
It's Now Putin's Plan B in Ukraine vs. Biden's and Zelensky's Plan A, Thomas Friedman NYT
Putin, having realized that his plan A has failed — his expectation that the Russian Army would march into Ukraine, decapitate its "Nazi" leadership and then just wait as the whole country fell peacefully into Russia's arms — has shifted to his plan B.
Plan B is that the Russian Army deliberately fires upon Ukrainian civilians, apartment blocks, hospitals, businesses and even bomb shelters — all of which has happened in the past few weeks — for the purpose of encouraging Ukrainians to flee their homes, creating a massive refugee crisis inside Ukraine and, even more important, a massive refugee crisis inside nearby NATO nations.
Putin's plan B, though, is running headlong into Biden and Zelensky's plan A, to fight the Russian Army to a draw on the ground, break its will, and force Putin to agree to Zelensky's terms for a peace deal — with only minimal face-saving for the Kremlin leader.
US is sending Ukraine 800 anti-aircraft Stingers
wikipedia.org/wiki/FIM-92_Stinger
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Launched_FIM-92A_Stinger_missile.jpg
US is sending Ukraine 2,000 antitank Javelins
What was the anti-tank weapon US GI's used in WW2?
wikipedia.org/wiki/FGM-148_Javelin
Javelin is a fire-and-forget missile with lock-on before launch and automatic self-guidance. The system takes a top-attack flight profile against armored vehicles, attacking the usually thinner top armor, but can also make a direct attack, for use against buildings, targets too close for top attack, targets under obstructions and helicopters. It is equipped with an imaging infrared seeker. The tandem warhead is fitted with two shaped charges: a precursor warhead to detonate any explosive reactive armor and a primary warhead to penetrate base armor.
The missile is ejected from the launcher to a safe distance from the operator before the main rocket motors ignite – a "soft launch arrangement". This makes it harder to identify the launcher, though backblast from the launch tube still poses a hazard to nearby personnel. The firing team may change their position as soon as the "fire-and-forget" missile has been launched, or immediately prepare to fire on their next target.
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Javelin_Fire!_(48638261261).jpg
US is sending Ukraine Switchblade drones
axios.com/switchblade-kamikaze-drones-ukraine-russia-b7e1be35-5fce-497a-b11e-e6bcab8d2cad.html
wikipedia.org/wiki/AeroVironment_Switchblade
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Switchblade_300_launch.jpg
The Smaller Bombs That Could Turn Ukraine Into a Nuclear War Zone NYT
Today, both Russia and the United States have nuclear arms that are much less destructive — their power just fractions of the Hiroshima bomb's force, their use perhaps less frightening and more thinkable.
Concern about these smaller arms has soared as Vladimir V. Putin, in the Ukraine war, has warned of his nuclear might, has put his atomic forces on alert and has had his military carry out risky attacks on nuclear power plants. The fear is that if Mr. Putin feels cornered in the conflict, he might choose to detonate one of his lesser nuclear arms — breaking the taboo set 76 years ago after Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Russian Propaganda and Disinformation
Truth Is Another Front in Putin's War NYT
The Kremlin has cycled through a torrent of lies to explain why it had to wage a "special military operation" against a sovereign neighbor. Drug-addled neo-Nazis. Genocide. American biological weapons factories. Birds and reptiles trained to carry pathogens into Russia. Ukrainian forces bombing their own cities, including theaters sheltering children.
Russia's message has proved successful domestically, where the Kremlin's claims go unchallenged. Surveys suggest a majority of Russians support the war effort.
Another meme gained even more traction, relying on a yearslong campaign in Russia to stoke unfounded fears that the United States was manufacturing biological weapons in Ukraine.
Putin's war propaganda becomes 'patriotic' lessons in Russian schools WaPo
Children are told that Ukraine never truly existed as a country and was once just a tiny piece of land called Malorossiya.
Events of the past few weeks, such as Russian attacks on civilian targets including a maternity ward in Mariupol and a school near the western city Kharkiv, are presented as fake news.
Major Western platforms such as Instagram and Facebook have been banned in Russia.
In one school presentation Russia attempts to shift the blame for attacks on residential areas in Kharkiv:
"Fake: Russian military is attacking residential areas in Kharkiv. True: High-precision Russian weapons only strike military targets and don't hit civilians, which the Ministry of Defense said many times," it said.
Facing Putin's wartime censorship, a Nobel laureate fights to keep truth in Russia alive WaPo
Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov, the editor of Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, is still publishing Novaya Gazeta three times a week. But the paper must abide by a new censorship law, signed on March 4, that threatens up to 15 years in prison for publishing what Russia calls "fake" news about the country's military. Among other things, the censorship means Russian media can't call the war a war — only a "special military operation."
Russian American filmmaker Maxim Pozdorovkin one Russian propaganda WaPo
I don't think Americans fully understand what's been fed to Russians about the U.S. and the West for literally the past decade. It's been an information war — a totally one-sided information war — and it has been waged so fully and artfully that it's made a lot of what's happening now preemptively possible. What this information war boils down to is this: "The West is completely against us and trying to stifle and destroy our way of life." It's a simple message. But people are told this over and over, in so many different ways.
If you ingrain this message of victimhood so completely, what it does is when there's any kind of Putin aggressive action, as there is now, a lot of people in Russia don't see it as aggressive — they just see it as standing up for their way of life.
Internet Access in Ukraine
Elon Musk's Starlink is keeping Ukrainians online when traditional Internet fails WaPo
Starlink is a unit of Musk's space company, SpaceX. The service uses terminals that resemble TV dishes equipped with antennas and are usually mounted on roofs to access the Internet via satellite in rural or disconnected areas.
When war broke out in Ukraine, the country faced threats of Russian cyberattacks and shelling that had the potential to take down the Internet, making it necessary to develop a backup plan. So the country's minister of digital transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, tweeted a direct plea to Musk urging him to send help. Musk replied just hours later: "Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route."
Ukraine has already received thousands of antennas from Musk's companies and European allies, which has proved "very effective," Fedorov said in an interview with The Washington Post Friday.
starlink.com/
Putin's Strategy
Commentary by Joshua Yaffa NYR
Putin considers the expansion of the NATO to Eastern Europe and the Baltic states a direct threat to Russia's security, and the idea of Ukraine drawing closer to NATO an existential red line. In his mind, given that Western leaders once promised that NATO would not expand toward Russia's borders, he is merely rectifying a geopolitical injustice. At his annual press conference last December, Putin made his version of events clear: " 'Not one inch to the East,' they told us in the nineties. So what? They cheated, just brazenly tricked us!"
Image Credit: npr.org/2022/02/26/1082964072/russia-ukraine-nato-article-5
Countries that joined NATO after 1992:
Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Albania, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia
Image Credit: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/02/21/ukraine-invasion-putin-goals-what-expect/
Interview with Fiona Hill, Politico
Reynolds: So is Putin being driven by emotion right now, not by some kind of logical plan?
Hill: I think there's been a logical, methodical plan that goes back a very long way, at least to 2007 when he put the world, and certainly Europe, on notice that Moscow would not accept the further expansion of NATO. And then within a year in 2008 NATO gave an open door to Georgia and Ukraine. It absolutely goes back to that juncture.
Back then I was a national intelligence officer, and the National Intelligence Council was analyzing what Russia was likely to do in response to the NATO Open Door declaration. One of our assessments was that there was a real, genuine risk of some kind of preemptive Russian military action, not just confined to the annexation of Crimea, but some much larger action taken against Ukraine along with Georgia. And of course, four months after NATO's Bucharest Summit, there was the invasion of Georgia. There wasn't an invasion of Ukraine then because the Ukrainian government pulled back from seeking NATO membership. But we should have seriously addressed how we were going to deal with this potential outcome and our relations with Russia.
Reynolds: Do you think Putin's current goal is reconstituting the Soviet Union, the Russian Empire, or something different?
Hill: It's reestablishing Russian dominance of what Russia sees as the Russian "Imperium." Putin has articulated an idea of there being a "Russky Mir" or a "Russian World." The recent essay he published about Ukraine and Russia states the Ukrainian and Russian people are "one people," a "yedinyi narod." He's saying Ukrainians and Russians are one and the same. This idea of a Russian World means re-gathering all the Russian-speakers in different places that belonged at some point to the Russian tsardom.
OpEd by Fiona Hill NYT
In 2008 NATO announced that Ukraine and Georgia would eventually join the alliance.
We warned President Bush that Mr. Putin would view steps to bring Ukraine and Georgia closer to NATO as a provocative move that would likely provoke pre-emptive Russian military action.
Within four months, in August 2008, Russia invaded Georgia. Ukraine got Russia's message loud and clear. It backpedaled on NATO membership for the next several years. But in 2014, Ukraine wanted to sign an association agreement with the European Union, thinking this might be a safer route to the West. Moscow struck again, accusing Ukraine of seeking a back door to NATO, annexing Ukraine's Crimean peninsula and starting an ongoing proxy war in Ukraine's southeastern Donbas region.
From David Remnick's interview with Marie Yovanovitch, NYR
Why do you think Putin decided to invade now and not during the Trump Presidency?
There are probably a lot of factors. President Zelensky is a Russian speaker from the east of Ukraine, and has a real affinity for Russia and Russians. He came to power [in 2019] to do two things.
One was to get control of corruption.
The second was to achieve peace in the Donbass.
He was incredibly popular in Ukraine, and got a seventy-per-cent-plus mandate. Putin was hopeful that this was going to work out very well for himself. And it didn't. Ukraine continues to turn west. When Zelensky came in, he was ambivalent about NATO, but over the years his appeals to NATO member countries have been increasingly strong. I think that Putin senses that he has nothing to offer Ukraine, that time may be running out.
The other thing is that it's no secret that our country is divided. Putin himself has tried to exacerbate some of those divisions. Clearly, the withdrawal from Afghanistan was not a shining moment for the United States. The Nord Stream 2 decision [not to impose sanctions on a proposed pipeline that could carry gas from the Russian coast into Germany]—which now has been reversed, thankfully—was in place. I think he thought, Hmm, you know, they're not going to react strongly. NATO and the E.U. are not cohesive. I can take advantage of this moment.
He's finding out now that this calculation was wrong. Diplomatically, Biden and [Secretary of State] Antony Blinken have done an incredible job of keeping the allies together. And every day our policies get stronger.
It almost seems disrespectful to say so on such a day, but here's a Jewish, Russian-speaking comic actor who became President. It's as if Jerry Seinfeld or Jon Stewart had become President in our country. And yet look!
He's done a phenomenal job. He's also winning the Twitter and Facebook wars, which are impacting the kinetic war. He is inspiring his people, and he's inspiring the world. I just hope it can continue.
Putin's exploitation of NATO's expansion for domestic political purposes
OpEd by Thomas Friedman NYT
In my view, there are two huge logs fueling this fire.
The first log was the ill-considered decision by the U.S. in the 1990s to expand NATO after — indeed, despite — the collapse of the Soviet Union.
And the second and far bigger log is how Putin cynically exploited NATO's expansion closer to Russia's borders to rally Russians to his side to cover for his huge failure of leadership. Putin has utterly failed to build Russia into an economic model that would actually attract its neighbors, not repel them, and inspire its most talented people to want to stay, not get in line for visas to the West.
Analysis by Samuel A. Greene and Graeme B. Robertson WaPo
To most outside observers Vladimir Putin's actions this past week look shockingly reckless. Whatever his mental state, Putin's actions seem at cross-purposes with his goals.
To understand Putin's thinking it's helpful to take the Ukraine crisis out of the realm of foreign policy and put it into the world in which Putin spends most of his time: that of Russian domestic politics. Viewed in that light, the war represents a continuation of Putin's efforts to govern by presenting Russia as threatened by external forces bent on its destruction, and himself as the only leader who can successfully oppose them.
To maintain and consolidate his power in the face of challenges such as eight years of economic decline, Putin has spent much of the last decade restructuring Russian politics around the idea that the nation faces existential threats from outside its borders, aided by traitors within.
When we see his pursuit of domestic control and his foreign policy as part of the same strategy, each catalyzing the other, what Putin has done in recent days begins to make more sense. From the standpoint of domestic politics, exactly what Putin achieves at the negotiating table or on the battlefield is less important than maintaining a geopolitical confrontation sufficient in scale to justify his domestic repression and, ideally, with no end in sight.
Putin's gamble is that a combination of military success, a powerful propaganda machine and widespread repression will keep domestic discontent under control and, crucially, keep the elite on his side.
Bank of Russia's Foreign Exchange Reserves
The West's Plan to Isolate Putin: Undermine the Ruble NYT
By targeting Russia's central bank with sanctions, experts said, American and European leaders have taken aim at what could be one of President Vladimir V. Putin's greatest weaknesses: the country's currency.
At the heart of the move to restrict the Bank of Russia are its foreign exchange reserves. These are the vast haul of convertible assets — other nations' currencies and gold — that Russia has built up, financed in large part through the money it earns selling oil and gas to Europe and other energy importers.
The crux of why the Western allies have such leverage comes down to a reality of the modern financial system: Although Russia's central bank owns the assets, it doesn't control them.
As Michael S. Bernstam, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, explained, the Bank of Russia has roughly $640 billion in foreign exchange reserves on paper — or rather as electronic entries. But a big chunk of that money is not in Russian vaults or financial institutions. Rather, it is held by central and commercial banks in New York, London, Berlin, Paris, Tokyo and elsewhere around the world.
In countries like Russia, where the currency is not so stable, the ability to convert to a strong and trusted one like the dollar or the euro is crucial. It is evidence that the home currency — in this case the Russian ruble — has value. Russia's vast store of foreign exchange backs up that value.
britannica.com/topic/central-bank
Central banks buy and sell foreign exchange to stabilize the international value of their own currency. The central banks of major industrial nations engage in so-called "currency swaps," in which they lend one another their own currencies in order to facilitate their activities in stabilizing their exchange rates.
wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Russian_financial_crisis
The Russian financial crisis of 1998, which hit Russia on August 17, resulted in the Russian government and the Russian Central Bank devaluing the ruble and defaulting on its debt.
James Cook, the senior vice president of the U.S. Russia Investment Fund, suggested the crisis had the positive effect of teaching Russian banks to diversify their assets.
Image Source washingtonpost.com/business/2022/03/03/russia-ruble-putin-sanctions/
Image Source nytimes.com/2022/02/28/business/russia-sanctions-central-bank-ruble.html
Moody's lowered Russia's credit rating to B3, or junk status, noting the growing risk that Moscow would not repay its sovereign debt "given the severe and coordinated sanctions and significant concerns around Russia's willingness to service its obligations."
OpEd by Ezra Klein NYT
The sanctions, as proposed, are ferocious in cutting Russia off from global financial markets, but they exempt energy and agricultural goods. That's a big loophole. "If we're not interrupting the payment for energy deliveries, we are not hitting the bit of the Russian economy which generates the juice, which sustains Putin's regime," Adam Tooze, director of the European Institute at Columbia University, told me.
Those exemptions exist because the United States and Europe fear the pain that cutting off Russia's core exports would cause their economies. That's exactly what Putin is banking on, and what mutes the West's leverage over him.
Pressure will build on Biden and the Europeans to choke off Russia's energy exports. Both the sanctions we've seen and the sanctions that may come will be felt, in America and Europe and elsewhere, as inflation.
More than a third of the natural gas in Europe comes from Russia. NYT
Image Source nytimes.com/interactive/2022/02/15/business/energy-environment/russia-gas-europe-ukraine.html
Other Sanctions, imposed by US, EU, UK, Canada, and others
For Russian banks such as Sberbank, VTB Bank, Bank Rossiya, and Promsvyazbank
Freezing their assets
Prohibiting citizens from doing business with them.
Blocking their access to the SWIFT international payment system
For corporations such as Gazprom and Russian Railways:
Preventing them from raising money through Western credit markets
Blocking Russian purchases of high-tech goods
For Putin, Sergei Lavrov, Sergei Shoigu, Alexander Bortnikov, Valery Gerasimov, members of the Kremlin's security council, members of the Duma, and a dozen billionaire oligarchs.
Cutting them off from Western financial systems
Prohibiting them from traveling to Western countries
Banning Russian planes from EU, UK and US airspace
Canceling Nord Stream 2 pipeline project
Some retailers have paused sales in Russia, e.g. Dell, Apple, and H&M Group
Oil companies, including BP, Exxon Mobil and Shell said they would exit the country
The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros said they would pause the release of films in Russia.
Volvo Cars and General Motors have halted vehicle exports to Russia
Several of the world's largest shipping companies have stopped servicing customers in Russia, including UPS, FedEx and Maersk.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a military alliance established by the North Atlantic Treaty of April 4, 1949, which sought to create a counterweight to Soviet armies stationed in central and eastern Europe after World War II.
NATO Countries (countries in italics belonged to the Warsaw Pact):
Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States
Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, 1949 nato.inc
The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defense recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.
NATO versus the Warsaw Pact during the Cold War
What is SWIFT, and why does it matter in the Russia-Ukraine war? WaPo
SWIFT, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, is a messaging network that connects banks around the world and is considered the backbone of international finance. The Belgian-based consortium links more than 11,000 financial institutions operating in more than 200 countries and territories, acting as a critical hub to enable international payments. Last year, the system averaged 42 million messages a day, including orders and confirmations for payments, trades and currency exchanges. More than 1 percent of those messages are thought to involve Russian payments.
Russia created an alternative network, the System for Transfer of Financial Messages, but financial experts say it is an inadequate replacement. By the end of 2020, the system included only 400 participants from 23 countries. There is also China's Cross-Border Interbank Payment System, which would allow both countries to bypass SWIFT. This is a greater concern, since China is the second-largest economy in the world, and any strengthening of this alternative system could erode the current dollar-dominated global financial system, undermining Western power.
What is the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, and how does it relate to the Ukraine crisis? WaPo
The project is a natural gas line that stretches from Russian fields to the German coast, spanning 764 miles under the Baltic Sea. The line, at a cost of $11 billion, will double the capacity of the original 2011 Nord Stream, which runs parallel to the new project. The line will supply gas to Germany — a nation heavily dependent on gas and oil imports — at a relatively low cost as the continent's production capacity decreases.
The new pipeline is entirely owned by Gazprom. The company also owns 51 percent of the original Nord Stream pipeline. A group of European energy companies, including Shell and Wintershall, paid half the construction costs.
Construction was completed in September, and the pipeline has been filled with gas since late December. Before it becomes operational, though, it needs regulatory approval from Germany and a review by European Union authorities. Scholz's announcement on Tuesday stopped that process.
Analysis by David Frum Atlantic
What does it mean that Russia "has" X or Y in foreign reserves? Where do these reserves exist? The dollars, euros, and pounds owned by the Russian central bank—Russia may own them, but Russia does not control them. Almost all those hundreds of billions of Russian-owned assets are controlled by foreign central banks. Russia's reserves exist as notations in the records of central banks in the West, especially the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve. Most of Russia's reserves are literally IOUs to the Russian central bank from Western governments.
Analysis by Timothy L. O'Brien Bloomberg
Standard analyses of Putin's ability to withstand sanctions (including my own) have highlighted as evidence the Kremlin's fortress balance sheet and its huge $630 billion stockpile of reserves. Experience has taught Putin the merits of having lots of money in his central bank vaults.
But here's the rub: Most of Russia's reserves are in institutions outside of the country. As my Bloomberg News colleagues have charted, 78% of that $630 billion is held in China, France, Japan, Germany, the U.S., the U.K. and elsewhere. And the West just told Russia that it plans to block its central bank's access to those funds. Think about that. The West is attempting to disarm Russia by crippling its financial autonomy. It's a move Putin may not have anticipated and should give him pause.
OpEd by Robert Kagan WaPo
When the Russians complete their operation, they will be able to station forces — land, air and missile — in bases in western Ukraine as well as Belarus, which has effectively become a Russian satrapy.
Russian forces will thus be arrayed along Poland's entire 650-mile eastern border, as well as along the eastern borders of Slovakia and Hungary and the northern border of Romania. (Moldova will likely be brought under Russian control, too, when Russian troops are able to form a land bridge from Crimea to Moldova's breakaway province of Transnistria.)
The most immediate threat will be to the Baltic states. Russia already borders Estonia and Latvia directly and touches Lithuania through Belarus and through its outpost in Kaliningrad. Even before the invasion, some questioned whether NATO could actually defend its Baltic members from a Russian attack. Once Russia has completed its conquest of Ukraine, that question will acquire new urgency.
One likely flash point will be Kaliningrad. The headquarters of the Russian Baltic Fleet, this city and its surrounding territory were cut off from the rest of Russia when the Soviet Union broke up. Since then, Russians have been able to access Kaliningrad only through Poland and Lithuania. Expect a Russian demand for a direct corridor that would put strips of the countries under Russian control.
Indeed, with Poland, Hungary and five other NATO members sharing a border with a new, expanded Russia, the ability of the United States and NATO to defend the alliance's eastern flank will be seriously diminished.
The new situation could force a significant adjustment in the meaning and purpose of the alliance. Putin has been clear about his goals: He wants to reestablish Russia's traditional sphere of influence in Eastern and Central Europe.
The map of Europe has experienced many changes over the centuries. Its current shape reflects the expansion of U.S. power and the collapse of Russian power from the 1980s until now; the next one will likely reflect the revival of Russian military power and the retraction of U.S. influence. If combined with Chinese gains in East Asia and the Western Pacific, it will herald the end of the present order and the beginning of an era of global disorder and conflict as every region in the world shakily adjusts to a new configuration of power.
OpEd by Richard Haass NYT
The Russian president's justifications hold no water: There was and is no consensus about bringing Ukraine into NATO in the next decade or later. There was and is no threat to ethnic Russians in Ukraine. And the United States and NATO have voiced their openness to discussing European security arrangements that take legitimate Russian interests into account.
The West should aim to penalize Russia and to discourage it from further aggression. Germany's suspension of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is a strong start, as are the financial sanctions targeting two Russian banks and Russia's sovereign debt announced by President Biden on Tuesday.
The United States and its NATO allies should expand support to Ukraine — military, intelligence, economic and diplomatic — to such an extent as to significantly raise the costs of a Russian occupation.
Removing the Kremlin's cushion of high energy prices (by increasing oil and gas production in the U.S. and the Middle East), which have long been a windfall for the government, would be the best sanction.
The history of wars of choice offers some useful perspective. While many start well, most — particularly those that are ambitious — end badly. The Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan, which began in 1979, dragged on for a decade and badly damaged the state's authority, is a case in point.
How new sanctions could cripple Russia's economy Economist
The new measures targeting Russia's financial system announced by America, the EU and other allies on February 26th are capable of triggering financial mayhem in Russia because they target its central bank and may lead to the freezing of its $630 bn of foreign-exchange reserves. This could trigger a run on Russia's banks and currency, and will cause shudders in global markets and a further spike in energy prices. It may also trigger Russian retaliation
Meanwhile limits on Western technology and industrial exports to Russia will take months or years to have an effect. Even American sanctions announced on February 24th against Sberbank and vtb Bank, which together hold 75% of the Russian banking industry's assets, were a serious but not killer blow, particularly since energy transactions were exempted.
Analysis by Tom Pepinsky WaPo
Putin's options for how to address this problem are limited. His choices boil down to the following: print lots of money on demand to cover all withdrawals; raise interest rates really high; or implement currency controls of some sort.
The first option generates inflation.
The second option seeks to keep money in banks (and rubles in Russia) by offering much more attractive returns for people holding ruble savings. But this is unattractive for many other reasons. With luck, it may eliminate inflation, but it may also put a sharp halt on spending and investment within Russia. It may avoid financial crisis, at the cost of a full-blown recession.
The third option would seem to be the most attractive. Indeed, this is an option that Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad followed during Malaysia's economic crisis in 1998. But it was very unpopular among Malaysia's most wealthy elites, who were no longer able to move their savings and investments across borders. Moreover, in Russia today, such controls would have to be paired with controls on bank withdrawals to shore up the domestic financial system itself. Russia's central bank is proclaiming that its financial system is liquid precisely to avoid having to do this.
Biden's Russia sanctions may let Moscow profit from oil, gas AP
There is a glaring carve-out in President Joe Biden's sanctions against Russia: Oil and natural gas from that country will continue to flow freely to the rest of the world and money will keep flowing into Russia.
"Energy exports are the whole game," said Columbia University historian Adam Tooze, an expert on finance and European politics. Politicians in the United States and Europe chose to "carve out the one sector that might truly be decisive. I don't think Russia is blind to what is going on and it must indicate to them that the West does not really have the stomach for a painful fight over Ukraine."
What Biden's Sanctions on Russia Will Actually Do Time
Blocking Major Russian Banks From U.S. connections
The U.S. is cutting ties with Russia's 10 largest financial institutions—effectively severing any flow of money between the U.S. market and institutions representing almost 80% of assets in the Russian banking sector.
The most notable restrictions fall on the country's biggest bank, Sberbank, and 25 of its subsidiaries, all of which account for over one-third of Russia's financial assets. Other major financial institutions that the U.S. will fully restrict include VTB Bank, Bank Otkritie, Sovcombank OJSC, and Novikombank. Any of their assets that even touch the U.S. financial system will be blocked, and the U.S. government and its citizens are prohibited from doing any business with them. "That means that every asset [these banks] have in America will be frozen," Biden said at the briefing.
Sanctions on Individuals in Putin's Power Hierarchy
The White House has added more than 10 people and entities to the list of Russian elites (and their family members) that the U.S. has sanctioned over the Ukraine threat and invasion. That means any assets those individuals hold in the U.S. will freeze. These individuals will be cut off from the U.S. financial system, and they are prohibited from traveling to America.
Restrictions on 13 Major Corporations and Other Entities
The sanctions also target 13 major Russian companies and other entities beyond the banking sector. That means the U.S. will apply new debt and equity restrictions on transactions involving the state-owned gas company Gazprom, the financial institution supporting Russia's agricultural sector, and the Russian Railways train service.
These entities–representing Russia's major industrial sectors–can no longer raise money through the U.S. market. The move is designed to damage the Kremlin's ability to raise capital and generate revenue, according to the White House.
Restrictions on Russian Military Purchases
The U.S. will specifically target Russia's means of expanding its military, Biden said Thursday. Blocking the country's armed services from certain imports and financing will frustrate Putin's strategic ambitions, the White House said.
The Biden administration is restricting exports of "nearly all" U.S. items–as well as products made in other countries using U.S. technology, equipment or software–to entities including the Russian Ministry of Defense, which includes the Armed Forces of Russia.
A Block on Russian Purchases of High-Tech U.S. Goods
With so much of the world's technology originating in the U.S., the White House wants to strike a blow to Russia by curbing its access to those advances. Blocking Russia's (non-military) high-tech imports has widespread implications—it could affect the entire Russian economy, including its defense industry, and ultimately stymie its long-term growth.
A Russia-wide block of U.S.-produced "sensitive technology" will land heavily on the defense sector. The U.S. will also restrict access to technology produced in other countries that relies upon things like American equipment and software, which could also affect the military, as well as Russia-wide access to smartphones, telecommunications, televisions, avionics, maritime tech, and game consoles.
britannica.com/event/Warsaw-Pact
OpEd by Madeleine Albright NYT
Mr. Putin's revisionist and absurd assertion that Ukraine was "entirely created by Russia" and effectively robbed from the Russian empire is fully in keeping with his warped worldview.
Mr. Putin has for years sought to burnish his country's international reputation, expand Russia's military and economic might, weaken NATO and divide Europe (while driving a wedge between it and the United States). Ukraine features in all of that.
Such an act of aggression would almost certainly drive NATO to significantly reinforce its eastern flank and to consider permanently stationing forces in the Baltic States, Poland and Romania. (President Biden said Tuesday he was moving more troops to the Baltics.)
Commentary by Anne Applebaum Atlantic
Like the Russian czars before him—like Stalin, like Lenin—Putin perceives Ukrainianness as a threat. Not a military threat, but an ideological threat. Ukraine's determination to become a democracy is a genuine challenge to Putin's nostalgic, imperial political project: the creation of an autocratic kleptocracy, in which he is all-powerful, within something approximating the old Soviet empire. Ukraine undermines this project just by existing as an independent state. By striving for something better, for freedom and prosperity, Ukraine becomes a dangerous rival. For if Ukraine were to succeed in its decades-long push for democracy, the rule of law, and European integration, then Russians might ask: Why not us?
Analysis by Brett V. Benson and Bradley C. Smith WaPo
Ukraine's membership in NATO was hardly imminent, but Russia felt threatened enough by the possibility that it was willing to launch a war to prevent it (in addition to other nationalist goals Putin thinks he is achieving). Recognizing the dynamic at play is the first step toward understanding the conflict — and recognizing how NATO's membership process may unintentionally invite this kind of crisis.
And in a situation with marked parallels, albeit on a smaller scale, to the current crisis in Ukraine, Russia attacked Georgia in 2008 after NATO membership for that country was proposed. Perhaps not coincidentally, Georgia is still not a NATO member.
White House Vows to Avoid Future Sanctions on Russian Crude Oil Bloomberg
The Biden administration won't sanction Russian crude oil because that would harm U.S. consumers and not Vladimir Putin, a U.S. State Department official said Friday.
"The sanctions will not target the oil flows as we go forward," Amos Hochstein, the State Department's senior energy security adviser, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television.
The remarks underscore the Biden administration's approach to sanctions that are intended to maximize pain for the Russian president while minimizing the blowback for U.S. and European consumers.
"If we target the oil and gas sector for Putin, and in this case the Russian energy establishment, then prices would spike. Perhaps he would sell only half of his product, but for double the price," Hochstein said. "That means he would not suffer the consequences while the United States and our allies would suffer the consequences."
Oil prices have already eased in response, Hochstein said, and the administration "can see prices go down from here."
First Log: NATO Expansion
Most Americans paid scant attention to the expansion of NATO in the late 1990s and early 2000s to countries in Eastern and Central Europe like Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, all of which had been part of the former Soviet Union or its sphere of influence.
On May 2, 1998, immediately after the Senate ratified NATO expansion, I called George Kennan, the architect of America's successful containment of the Soviet Union. Having joined the State Department in 1926 and served as U.S. ambassador to Moscow in 1952, Kennan was arguably America's greatest expert on Russia. Though 94 at the time and frail of voice, he was sharp of mind when I asked for his opinion of NATO expansion. Kennen said:
"I think it is the beginning of a new cold war. I think the Russians will gradually react quite adversely and it will affect their policies. I think it is a tragic mistake. There was no reason for this whatsoever. No one was threatening anybody else. This expansion would make the founding fathers of this country turn over in their graves.
Our differences in the Cold War were with the Soviet Communist regime. And now we are turning our backs on the very people who mounted the greatest bloodless revolution in history to remove that Soviet regime."
It's EXACTLY what has happened.
Second Log: Exploitation of NATO Expansion for Domestic Political Reasons
During Putin's first two terms as president — from 2000 to 2008 — he occasionally grumbled about NATO expansion but did little more. Oil prices were high then, as was Putin's domestic popularity, because he was presiding over the soaring growth of Russian personal incomes after a decade of painful restructuring and impoverishment following the collapse of communism.
But across the last decade, as Russia's economy stagnated, Putin either had to go for deeper economic reforms, which might have weakened his top-down control, or double down on his corrupt crony capitalist kleptocracy. He chose the latter, explained Leon Aron, a Russia expert at the American Enterprise Institute. And to both cover and distract from that choice, Putin shifted the basis of his popularity from "being the distributor of Russia's newfound wealth and an economic reformer to the defender of the motherland," Aron said.
And right when Putin opted for domestic political reasons to become a nationalist avenger and a permanent "wartime president," as Aron put it, what was waiting there for him to grasp onto was the most emotive threat to rally the Russian people behind him: "The low-hanging fruit of NATO expansion."


Featuring a removable rack for baking poultry, beef roasts and vegetables, our polished stainless steel pan is a high-quality cookware essential for family meals and holiday entertaining. An aluminum core allows for even heating while the non-reactive stainless steel construction makes it a perfect casserole baker or lasagna pan without the rack. Convenient side handles provide easy handling for a fresh oven-to-table presentation.


text:
Primavera Sound announces Primavera Pro lineup
Bilbao BBK Live adds My Bloody Valentine, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Bad Sounds and more
Lollapalooza Berlin announces 2018 lineup featuring The Weeknd and The National
Iceland's Secret Solstice 2018 adds Slayer, Gucci Mane, Clean Bandit and more
Wilderness Festival 2018: Nile Rodgers Ft. Chic, Bastille, Jon Hopkins, Kamasi Washington and more
Bilbao BBK Live: Florence + The Machine, Childish Gambino, Mount Kimbie, Friendly Fires and more
Reading and Leeds Festival line up reavealed: Fall Out Boy, Kendrick Lamar and more
NOS Primavera Sound lineup revealed
Mad Cool adds Tame Impala and Franz Ferdinand to 2018 lineup
Portugal. the Man, Glass Animals, Hurray For the Riff Raff, and Frankie Cosmos are among the other new additions to next year's massive lineup.
Iceland's Secret Solstice 2018 announces exclusive performances inside a glacier + lava tunnel
Combining a world-class music festival with the many one of a kind attractions that the land of fire and ice has to offer, Secret Solstice will once again prove why it has earned the title of the world's "most unique festival" thanks to their spectacular event experiences.
Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, Queens of the Stone Age and more to headline Mad Cool Festival 2018
Massive Attack, MGMT, Kasabian, and Snow Patrol will also be joining the line up of the Spanish Festival.
Two Door Cinema Club and The Vaccines to headline Community Festival 2018
The festival will also see You Me At Six appearing, alongside Circa Waves, Rat Boy, Sundara Karma, with more bands set to be announced.
New acts unveiled for Bilbao BBK Live 2018 including Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds and alt-J
The announcement comes hand in hand with a special 72-hour ticket offer that ends on Monday.
Noel Gallagher and The Courteeners to headline Neighbourhood Weekender
The festival moves to Warrington's Victoria Park for 2018 and will take place on May 26 and 27.
Bilbao BBK Live 2018 announces Gorillaz and The xx
With the festival taking place just moments from the city, there is plenty to explore before the music starts each day.
Jake Bugg closes Leefest Friday with support from Wild Beasts, Parcels, Crazy P and more
Friday headliner Jake Bugg closed the ever ethereal Bangerang stage with a diverse mix of folk love songs and pop anthems.
Electroland, Disneyland Paris wows in first year
Disneyland Paris's Electroland off to a magical start, as thousands gathered at Walt Disney Studios Park® on Saturday July 8th 2017.
The Killers begin their set at Hyde Park with "The Man"
The Killers headlined British Summer Time at Hyde Park this weekend.
Electroland, the world's first EDM festival at a Disney park will take place this week in Paris
Steve Aoki and NERVO will headline the EDM festival in Disneyland Paris.
The Killers surprised everyone with a Glastonbury set at John Peel stage
The Killers performed in the same tent they did 13 years ago.
Watch Foo Fighters perform "Everlong" at Glastonbury
Dave Grohl dedicated the song to Devon teacher who passed away after a battle with cancer.
Isle of Wight Festival to support island's first ever Pride event
Recent events on the Island, including ill-judged and poorly timed comments made by certain individuals, has prompted John Giddings and his team to take a stand and show their support for Pride and the LGBT community on the Isle of Wight.
Frank Ocean cancels appearance at Primavera Sound Festival
Frank Ocean announced that he won't perform in Barcelona's Primavera Sound due to "production delays beyond his control", according to an official statement.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


I followed this video, but since I had different size needles I had to changed it to work with what I had. The video calls for 24 chains, but I had to cast on 32 for the finished glove to fit my hand. The more chains you cast on the bigger the glove will be. Just make sure it is an even number. After you cast on 32 chains you knit 15 rows of rib stitch, (knit 2 purl 2) then 12 rows alternating between knit and purl rows. Lastly, return to the rib stitch with 6 rows (remember you can adjust these numbers to the size of glove you want). It might take a few times to get it just right but when you figure out your numbers the finish product is great.


text:
Farmers Ledger
AGRICULTURE MARKET
After four and a half years of silence, a French nano-satellite resurfaces
ByRusty S. Cowart
PicSat had been sent into orbit to observe exoplanets, but had quickly shut down. It is thanks to a ham radio frequency that the signals it was sending were spotted…
In 2018, a team of astronomers from the Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA) at the Paris Observatory sent a nano-satellite, PicSat, into space. Its mission was to send back to Earth valuable information on the exoplanets orbiting the star Beta Pictoris. However, after four years of work and a smooth launch, nearly two months after its launch, the satellite fell silent from one minute to the next… for more than four and a half years. It did not return to life until June 2022, when the mission had been abandoned for years.
"During its two months of operation, it was a discovery for the whole team, we started from nothing. We managed to take it in hand, to control it, to stabilize it, to test the different systems and after two months, on March 20, it became silent. We tried everything to get in touch with him. It was quite sad, after four and a half years of work" says Sylvestre Lacour, astrophysicist at the Paris Observatory.
The satellite was followed by observatories that deal with all space debris, "we knew it was intact, but it stopped giving us news." In France, a law prohibits the sending of satellites without means of deorbiting when it is no longer useful. "According to this law, the satellite must leave its orbit within 25 years. On the small nanosatellite style satellites, in low orbit, they are small enough that with air friction, after ten years, they disintegrate in the atmosphere." After PicSat's science mission failed, the team of astronomers was counting on the fact that it would disintegrate within ten years.
By Rusty S. Cowart
Energy: these startups are developing more responsible solutions
Could we transcend space-time with the multiverse?
NASA: Artemis 1 will search for water on the Moon
Aug 17, 2022 Kathryn D. Moore
Aug 17, 2022 Rusty S. Cowart
Aug 17, 2022 Gary M. Kurtz


text:
Gonadotrophins or clomiphene citrate in couples with unexplained infertility undergoing intrauterine insemination: a cost-effectiveness analysis
Amsterdam SUPER Study Group
Research question: What is the cost-effectiveness of gonadotrophins compared with clomiphene citrate in couples with unexplained subfertility undergoing intrauterine insemination (IUI) with ovarian stimulation under strict cancellation criteria? Design: A cost-effectiveness analysis alongside a randomized controlled trial (RCT). Between July 2013 and March 2016, 738 couples were randomized to gonadotrophins (369) or clomiphene citrate (369) in a multicentre RCT in the Netherlands. The direct medical costs of both strategies were compared. Direct medical costs included costs of medication, cycle monitoring, insemination and, if applicable, pregnancy monitoring. Non-parametric bootstrap resampling was used to investigate the effect of uncertainty in estimates. The cost-effectiveness analysis was performed according to intention-to-treat. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) between gonadotrophins and clomiphene citrate for ongoing pregnancy and live birth was assessed. Results: The mean costs per couple were €1534 for gonadotrophins and €1067 for clomiphene citrate (mean difference of €468; 95% confidence interval [CI] €464–472). As ongoing pregnancy rates were 31% in women allocated to gonadotrophins and 26% in women allocated to clomiphene citrate (relative risk 1.16, 95% CI 0.93–1.47), the ICER was €21,804 (95% CI €11,628–31,980) per additional ongoing pregnancy with gonadotrophins and €17,044 (95% CI €8998–25,090) per additional live birth with gonadotrophins. Conclusions: Gonadotrophins are more expensive compared with clomiphene citrate in couples with unexplained subfertility undergoing IUI with adherence to strict cancellation criteria, without being significantly more effective.
Reproductive Biomedicine Online
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rbmo.2019.09.004
Gonadotrophins
Subfertility
10.1016/j.rbmo.2019.09.004Licence: Unspecified
Fingerprint Dive into the research topics of 'Gonadotrophins or clomiphene citrate in couples with unexplained infertility undergoing intrauterine insemination: a cost-effectiveness analysis'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
Clomiphene Medicine & Life Sciences
Insemination Medicine & Life Sciences
Gonadotropins Medicine & Life Sciences
Infertility Medicine & Life Sciences
Cost-Benefit Analysis Medicine & Life Sciences
Live Birth Medicine & Life Sciences
Amsterdam SUPER Study Group (2020). Gonadotrophins or clomiphene citrate in couples with unexplained infertility undergoing intrauterine insemination: a cost-effectiveness analysis. Reproductive Biomedicine Online, 40(1), 99-104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rbmo.2019.09.004
Gonadotrophins or clomiphene citrate in couples with unexplained infertility undergoing intrauterine insemination : a cost-effectiveness analysis. / Amsterdam SUPER Study Group.
In: Reproductive Biomedicine Online, Vol. 40, No. 1, 01.2020, p. 99-104.
Amsterdam SUPER Study Group 2020, 'Gonadotrophins or clomiphene citrate in couples with unexplained infertility undergoing intrauterine insemination: a cost-effectiveness analysis', Reproductive Biomedicine Online, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 99-104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rbmo.2019.09.004
Amsterdam SUPER Study Group. Gonadotrophins or clomiphene citrate in couples with unexplained infertility undergoing intrauterine insemination: a cost-effectiveness analysis. Reproductive Biomedicine Online. 2020 Jan;40(1):99-104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rbmo.2019.09.004
Amsterdam SUPER Study Group. / Gonadotrophins or clomiphene citrate in couples with unexplained infertility undergoing intrauterine insemination : a cost-effectiveness analysis. In: Reproductive Biomedicine Online. 2020 ; Vol. 40, No. 1. pp. 99-104.
@article{bdab7d7372214a5aa57035b7ed9c5ca4,
title = "Gonadotrophins or clomiphene citrate in couples with unexplained infertility undergoing intrauterine insemination: a cost-effectiveness analysis",
abstract = "Research question: What is the cost-effectiveness of gonadotrophins compared with clomiphene citrate in couples with unexplained subfertility undergoing intrauterine insemination (IUI) with ovarian stimulation under strict cancellation criteria? Design: A cost-effectiveness analysis alongside a randomized controlled trial (RCT). Between July 2013 and March 2016, 738 couples were randomized to gonadotrophins (369) or clomiphene citrate (369) in a multicentre RCT in the Netherlands. The direct medical costs of both strategies were compared. Direct medical costs included costs of medication, cycle monitoring, insemination and, if applicable, pregnancy monitoring. Non-parametric bootstrap resampling was used to investigate the effect of uncertainty in estimates. The cost-effectiveness analysis was performed according to intention-to-treat. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) between gonadotrophins and clomiphene citrate for ongoing pregnancy and live birth was assessed. Results: The mean costs per couple were €1534 for gonadotrophins and €1067 for clomiphene citrate (mean difference of €468; 95% confidence interval [CI] €464–472). As ongoing pregnancy rates were 31% in women allocated to gonadotrophins and 26% in women allocated to clomiphene citrate (relative risk 1.16, 95% CI 0.93–1.47), the ICER was €21,804 (95% CI €11,628–31,980) per additional ongoing pregnancy with gonadotrophins and €17,044 (95% CI €8998–25,090) per additional live birth with gonadotrophins. Conclusions: Gonadotrophins are more expensive compared with clomiphene citrate in couples with unexplained subfertility undergoing IUI with adherence to strict cancellation criteria, without being significantly more effective.",
keywords = "Clomiphene citrate, Cost-effectiveness, Gonadotrophins, Intrauterine insemination, Subfertility",
author = "Danhof, {Noor A.} and {van Wely}, Madelon and Sjoerd Repping and {van der Ham}, {David P.} and Nicole Klijn and Janssen, {Ineke C.A.H.} and {Rijn-van Weert}, {Janne Meije} and Moniek Twisk and Traas, {Maaike A.F.} and Pelinck, {Marie Louise J.} and Perquin, {Denise A.M.} and Boks, {Dominique E.S.} and Alexander Sluijmer and Mol, {Ben W.J.} and {van der Veen}, Fulco and Mochtar, {Monique H.} and {Amsterdam SUPER Study Group}",
doi = "10.1016/j.rbmo.2019.09.004",
journal = "Reproductive Biomedicine Online",
T1 - Gonadotrophins or clomiphene citrate in couples with unexplained infertility undergoing intrauterine insemination
T2 - a cost-effectiveness analysis
AU - Danhof, Noor A.
AU - van Wely, Madelon
AU - Repping, Sjoerd
AU - van der Ham, David P.
AU - Klijn, Nicole
AU - Janssen, Ineke C.A.H.
AU - Rijn-van Weert, Janne Meije
AU - Twisk, Moniek
AU - Traas, Maaike A.F.
AU - Pelinck, Marie Louise J.
AU - Perquin, Denise A.M.
AU - Boks, Dominique E.S.
AU - Sluijmer, Alexander
AU - Mol, Ben W.J.
AU - van der Veen, Fulco
AU - Mochtar, Monique H.
AU - Amsterdam SUPER Study Group
N2 - Research question: What is the cost-effectiveness of gonadotrophins compared with clomiphene citrate in couples with unexplained subfertility undergoing intrauterine insemination (IUI) with ovarian stimulation under strict cancellation criteria? Design: A cost-effectiveness analysis alongside a randomized controlled trial (RCT). Between July 2013 and March 2016, 738 couples were randomized to gonadotrophins (369) or clomiphene citrate (369) in a multicentre RCT in the Netherlands. The direct medical costs of both strategies were compared. Direct medical costs included costs of medication, cycle monitoring, insemination and, if applicable, pregnancy monitoring. Non-parametric bootstrap resampling was used to investigate the effect of uncertainty in estimates. The cost-effectiveness analysis was performed according to intention-to-treat. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) between gonadotrophins and clomiphene citrate for ongoing pregnancy and live birth was assessed. Results: The mean costs per couple were €1534 for gonadotrophins and €1067 for clomiphene citrate (mean difference of €468; 95% confidence interval [CI] €464–472). As ongoing pregnancy rates were 31% in women allocated to gonadotrophins and 26% in women allocated to clomiphene citrate (relative risk 1.16, 95% CI 0.93–1.47), the ICER was €21,804 (95% CI €11,628–31,980) per additional ongoing pregnancy with gonadotrophins and €17,044 (95% CI €8998–25,090) per additional live birth with gonadotrophins. Conclusions: Gonadotrophins are more expensive compared with clomiphene citrate in couples with unexplained subfertility undergoing IUI with adherence to strict cancellation criteria, without being significantly more effective.
AB - Research question: What is the cost-effectiveness of gonadotrophins compared with clomiphene citrate in couples with unexplained subfertility undergoing intrauterine insemination (IUI) with ovarian stimulation under strict cancellation criteria? Design: A cost-effectiveness analysis alongside a randomized controlled trial (RCT). Between July 2013 and March 2016, 738 couples were randomized to gonadotrophins (369) or clomiphene citrate (369) in a multicentre RCT in the Netherlands. The direct medical costs of both strategies were compared. Direct medical costs included costs of medication, cycle monitoring, insemination and, if applicable, pregnancy monitoring. Non-parametric bootstrap resampling was used to investigate the effect of uncertainty in estimates. The cost-effectiveness analysis was performed according to intention-to-treat. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) between gonadotrophins and clomiphene citrate for ongoing pregnancy and live birth was assessed. Results: The mean costs per couple were €1534 for gonadotrophins and €1067 for clomiphene citrate (mean difference of €468; 95% confidence interval [CI] €464–472). As ongoing pregnancy rates were 31% in women allocated to gonadotrophins and 26% in women allocated to clomiphene citrate (relative risk 1.16, 95% CI 0.93–1.47), the ICER was €21,804 (95% CI €11,628–31,980) per additional ongoing pregnancy with gonadotrophins and €17,044 (95% CI €8998–25,090) per additional live birth with gonadotrophins. Conclusions: Gonadotrophins are more expensive compared with clomiphene citrate in couples with unexplained subfertility undergoing IUI with adherence to strict cancellation criteria, without being significantly more effective.
KW - Clomiphene citrate
KW - Cost-effectiveness
KW - Gonadotrophins
KW - Intrauterine insemination
KW - Subfertility
U2 - 10.1016/j.rbmo.2019.09.004
DO - 10.1016/j.rbmo.2019.09.004
JO - Reproductive Biomedicine Online
JF - Reproductive Biomedicine Online


text:
Q: npm command : Cannot find module npm-cli.js Since today I can't use any npm command.
Here's what I get everytime:
internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:584
    throw err;
    ^

Error: Cannot find module 'C:\Users\Adrien\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\npm\bin\npm-cli.js'
    at Function.Module._resolveFilename (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:582:15)
    at Function.Module._load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:508:25)
    at Function.Module.runMain (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:754:12)
    at startup (internal/bootstrap/node.js:283:19)
    at bootstrapNodeJSCore (internal/bootstrap/node.js:622:3)

I use Windows 10. The commands for node work. I tried to uninstall Node.js, change the path in environment variables, but nothing changes...
Everything worked fine until I work on my new React.js project and got errors.
I have no npm folder in C:\Users\Adrien\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules
Thank you for your help.

A: Simply just restart your PC, refresh code editor and run the command.

A: Okay, so I solved my problem thanks to @LOTUSMS that answered to himself here.
In summary :

*

*Uninstall Node.js from Programs & Features.

*Reboot the computer.

*Delete every node and npm folders :

*

*C:\Program Files (x86)\Nodejs

*C:\Program Files\Nodejs

*C:\Users\{User}\AppData\Roaming\npm (or %appdata%\npm)

*C:\Users\{User}\AppData\Roaming\npm-cache (or %appdata%\npm-cache)

*C:\Users\{User}\.npmrc (and possibly check for that without the . prefix too)

*Remove all npm or node references in the environment variable.

*"If it's still not uninstalled, type where node at the command prompt and you'll see where it resides -- delete that (and probably the parent directory) too."

*Reboot the computer

*Install Node.JS and NPM from beginning.

A: The issue is due to wrong path of node in system variable. Please make sure that points to the right directory.

A: Spent the past 24 hrs trying to resolve this and good now:
Go to settings - apps - node.js.
Here, two options prevail, 'modify' or 'unistall', select 'modify' and then press the 'repair' button which appears on the next dialogue window. Doing so will re-install a complete set of the files.
Go to PwerShell (Windows) or Bash (Mac) and type in 'npm -v', you should get a positive return, i.e., a display of the npm version number successfully installed.
I needed to resolve this as a pre-requisite to installing Truffle to support my Ethereum development environment.

A: A quick solution is npm install -D npm. Although this is not a great solution because you need to set your workspace correctly. But, it works and you can use it on urgent basis. ;)

A: if you struggle with the same probleme here how i personnaly solve it :
Just open the configuration panel windows like if you want to uninstall node, but right clic and select repair

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
2006 Suzuki Boulevard M109R
Posted by Rider Magazine on June 1, 2006
About a year ago I rode one of those big V-twins made by a low-volume alternative or "clone" manufacturer, a 100-incher with about 100 horsepower, torque like an earthmover and a rear tire wider than the ones on my van. At idle it would sit there going rump-rump-rump, and you could feel the pulses in the frame. When you let out the clutch and got on the gas it would gather itself up and flat leap off the line, yanking your arms straight and squirming the tire as the sound welled up around you. Riding the new Suzuki Boulevard M109R reminds me of that experience—a lot.
In the world of the Big Four cruisers from Japan, Suzuki has long played the backmarker—the one company that failed to take full advantage of the huge metric cruiser wave that's been cresting for the past two decades. While the other guys were moving container loads of big-inch Vulcan, Star and VTX V-twins, Suzuki's Intruder line was dated by comparison and the bikes were rather modularized, marginalized and not as easily customized. When you checked out the metric division at the local custom bike show, Suzukis were conspicuous by their absence.
For 2004, Suzuki decided that it was necessary to start rumbling in a new and more aggressive direction, so it not only consolidated its entire cruiser line under the name Boulevard, but also updated several models. To relate them more to the American market, Suzuki now designates it cruisers by their cubic-inch displacement rather than by cubic centimeters, and attached the prefix S (for stylish), C (for classic) or M (for muscle).
And boy, does this 109-cubic-inch M109R have muscle! Your first hint of this bad boy's sinister intent is that 8.5-inch-wide, 240-series rear tire. My confirmation of the bike's power occurred in just taking it up to speed for the first time on the freeway. I immediately had the impression that this baby could kick the sorry behind of most other stock bikes in terms of torque and power, yet out in the twisties it was also a hoot.
To power its cruiser flagship, Suzuki designed a new liquid-cooled, 1,783cc (OK, 109-cubic-inch) V-twin with dual overhead cams, dual crankpins and a wide vee angle of 54 degrees—that's to keep engine height manageable. Inside is a pair of big 112mm forged-aluminum pistons that wear fashionably short skirts as they slide up and down a relatively short 90.5mm stroke at dizzying speeds. They're helped in part by Suzuki's Composite Electrochemical Material (SCEM) cylinder coating that's been used in its GSX-R sportbikes and offers optimal heat transfer and a tighter fit between the pistons and cylinders. The use of a 10.5:1 compression ratio assures that the big Suzook must sup on a minimum of 90-octane fuel. A company spokesman stated that one reason for the M109R was to appeal to older Suzuki riders who had owned GSX-Rs and wanted to slow down and cruise—but not slow down too much.
While the more classically styled cruisers tend to have an airy, open, upright stance, the M109R looks massive, hulking, low, thick and mean, with a decided forward thrust. The neat forward-sloping fairing with its chromed swoosh houses a clear-lens headlight, and is mimicked at the back by that plastic housing that may be used in place of the standard rear seat. All lines converge on the wide, dished-out rider's seat. That chromed air-cleaner cover is wedged between massive cylinders with their polished fins, which in turn are bookended by the shrouded radiator at one end and the side covers—not much light gets through this dense machine.
Park your fanny in the wide seat and notice that the tank is wide, but the view forward has that distinctly clean look of a custom bike. The analog speedometer is placed in a chromed nacelle on the tank, while up on the chromed handlebar, nestled between those huge, clean, 9-inch brushed aluminum risers, is the businesslike LED tachometer housed in a chromed pod. The only way to make it cleaner would be to route the cables and wires through the handlebar. To hold it all together Suzuki has utilized a high-tensile, double-cradle, tube-steel frame with a male-slider cartridge fork having large 46mm stanchions and 5.1 inches of travel.
The key resides down by the rider's left thigh, and thanks to electronic fuel injection with its new Idle Speed Control system, cold starting and idle speed are handled automatically with no need for a manual control. Get 'er idling and what a delicious sound, a hollow, thumping bark that seems to well up around the rider and may well annoy the neighbors. Most big-inch cruisers develop their power in the basement, then blast it
briefly till it falls off at a redline of around 5,500-6,000 rpm. Suzuki, on the other hand, has chosen through its comparatively short-stroke design to move the M109R's power up higher into the rev range. It doesn't start building significant torque till about 2,500 rpm, and redline is an unusually lofty (for a V-twin cruiser) 7,500 rpm.
Another factor in the bike's high-rpm powerband is that the M109R inhales through a pair of unusually large 56mm throttle bodies, but the dual throttle valve system (SDTV) is designed to maintain optimal air velocity from low through midrange rpm. SDTV operates in concert with the tuned two-into-one-into- two stainless exhaust system, and two spark plugs per cylinder to promote cleaner burning. It works; check the dyno figures.
Suzuki fitted the M109R with a cable-actuated clutch, and ours exhibited unusually notchy shifting for such a high-end bike. It gnashed and snarled at times going into first gear, and was also notchy in other gears. However, once it got into gear it stayed there. Clutch lever effort is, shall we say, manly. With the engine belting out its lumpy idle we chunked it into gear and, once rolling, holy mother of pearl, did that thing pull! Give it heavy throttle low in the rev range, and the M109R shudders and pounds through the seat like a built bike, but as soon as it crosses about 2,500 rpm the engine smoothes out and remains so up to redline. Dual crankpins, along with six rubber engine mounts, assure that "character" stops short of annoying vibration.
Gone are the days when cruisers were automatically regarded as one of the least comfortable bikes around. The big Boulevard's seat is a dream—broad, flat and with just the right thickness and compliance of foam. It floats the rider 27.8 inches off the pavement.
The wide, flat bar and forward-placed pegs bend the rider forward and it's a reach, but at 6 feet in height I did not feel inordinately stretched. Shorter riders, however, may feel a bit pretzeled by the seating position.
We've watched with interest over the years as the custom-bike builders, in cooperation with the aftermarket, have introduced bikes with ever-wider rear tires. The 250-series tire was a sensation six or eight years ago, and now the market is salivating over 330-series and larger rear skins. These translate to wheel widths of from 8-11 inches or more. The Boulevard M109R, with its low-profile Dunlop Sportmax 240/40-R18 radial, carries one of the widest stock rear tires going. By the way, the 40 in the 240/40 size refers to the tire's aspect ratio, and indicates that it is only 40 percent as high as it is wide. The real question is how well it works in concert with its 130/70R-18 front tire, with its aspect ratio of 70.
With its 67.3-inch wheelbase, 31.15 degrees of rake and 4.9 inches of trail no one expects this incredible hulk to offer crisp handling. Its narrower front tire allows the bike to initiate the turn well, but once leaned over the wide, somewhat flat profile of the rear tire causes the bike to want to stand up. Through turns the rider must maintain some pressure on the handlebar to maintain the lean and keep the bike down. Meanwhile, if you get a little too frisky and lean too far your heels will be brushing the pavement. A bike with such an impressive engine must have controllable performance, and thank goodness Suzuki has given its biggest Boulevard both suspension and brakes to match. The cast aluminum alloy swingarm is hooked to a progressive link-type shock absorber that's adjustable for spring preload only, and delivers 4.7 inches of travel. It's quite well damped, and it wasn't until we had the bike well heeled over and pushing hard in the turns that we started wishing for more rebound damping. Though non-adjustable, the 46mm male-slider fork is likewise well damped and controlled.
The M109R's front brakes are dual discs based upon those used on Suzuki's race-proven GSX-R sportbikes, with radial-mounted four-piston opposed calipers grasping 310mm rotors. In the rear is a single disc with a two-piston, pin-slide caliper and a single 275mm disc. Braking is sure and very controllable, but at 765 pounds wet, this is a heavy bike and it also demands a manly grip on the brake lever. Fortunately, the wide flatter profile of the rear tire helps make the big bike easier to roll up and hoist off the sidestand.
If you want to take your honey for a ride, your new Boulevard comes with both a standard passenger seat and a seat cowling. We found the rear seat firm, wide enough, and the seating position a fairly roomy perch for the passenger. Switch to the cowling, and there's room underneath for perhaps a pair of gloves.
Like previous Suzuki cruisers, the all-of-a-piece modular styling of the biggest Boulevard does not lend itself to easy bolt-on customization. In fact, Suzuki's Web site does not show a single bolt-on for the M109R, and Suzuki says that only some windscreens, bags and seats are in the works. Apparently you'd better really like the style of the M109R as it comes from your dealer, as it's not going to change appreciably unless you spend some considerable bucks with a customizer.
As for the M109R's styling, you can judge for yourself. We liked the swoop of the front end, the wide rear tire, the LED taillight and those impressive exhausts. While the tank has that flowing, sculpted look of a stretched, custom item, its bottom flange betrays the fact that it's a mass-produced unit. It holds 5.2 gallons (4.9 for California models), and our test bike averaged 36.4 miles per gallon. Of course, part of the reason for this low figure is that it's just so darn much fun to twist that throttle.
Want one of the meanest, most tailkickin' cruisers on your block? The motor is the message with the biggest Boulevard. It's fun, it's fast, and when you crack the throttle it will plaster a 109-inch grin on your face. Just be prepared to deal with the neighbors.
2006 Kawasaki Ninja 650R
2007 Yamaha FZ6
Base Price$12,399
Warranty1 yr., unltd. miles
Engine TypeLiquid-cooled, transverse 54-degree V-twin
Displacement1,783cc
Bore x Stroke112.0 x 90.5mm
Valve TrainDOHC, 4 valves per cyl.
Fuel DeliveryEFI w/ dual 56mm throttle bodies
Lubrication SystemSemi-dry sump, 3.8-qt. cap.
Final DriveShaft 2.823:1
Charging Output400 watts max
Battery12V 10AH
FrameTubular steel double cradle w/ box-section and tubular aluminum swingarm
Rake and Trail31.15 degrees/4.9 in.
Suspension, FrontMale-slider fork w/ 46mm stanchions & 5.1-in. travel
Suspension, RearSingle shock, adj. for spring preload w/ 4.7-in. travel
Brakes, FrontDual discs w/ opposed 4-piston radial calipers
Brakes, RearSingle disc w/ 2-piston pin-slide caliper
Wheels, FrontCast, 3.50 x 18 in.
Wheels, RearCast, 8.50 x 18 in.
Tires, Front130/70-R18
Tires, Rear240/40-R18
Fuel Capacity5.2 gals. (4.9 in CA)
Estimated Range189


text:
IDOE meets with community to discuss, share ideas on ESSA
Megan Erbacher
Megan.Erbacher@courierpress.com
To prevent more teachers from leaving the profession, Michael Rust said it's critical to change the lack of local control in public education, and require less testing.
Rust, Evansville Teachers Association president, said the rate teachers are leaving the field is "frightening," and he believes the Every Student Succeeds Act, if implemented correctly, could help fix that. ESSA became law in December 2015, and goes into effect next school year. ESSA replaces No Child Left Behind.
Rust was one of more than 60 people, many of whom were area educators, who gathered Thursday night at the North Park Branch Library to learn more about, and share ideas on, ESSA.
Rust said teachers have a tough time being comfortable enough with curriculum to be fully efficient because supports aren't there in a time when things change and move at the "speed of light."
This has resulted in a roughly 50 percent turnover rate in the first five years an individual is a teacher, Rust said.
"We (also) get a lot of teachers retiring that really say they're not ready to retire, but with the testing that we've done in the past and with the expectations and everything that is going on, it is just very stressful," he said. "The demands are overwhelming for many of our teachers."
The goal of the community meetings, organized by the Indiana Department of Education, is to collect community feedback on Indiana's plan to fulfill ESSA. The department is hosting meetings in each of the state's nine congressional districts, as well as one online forum on April 24.
Evansville was the first stop in the series of meetings.
"ESSA is enormous, I don't have to tell you that," Marsha Bugalla, IDOE general counsel, said. "It is an opportunity for all of us to help fashion the future, but we can't do it without you. We don't want to do it without you. You are the authors of the future."
Each meeting is expected to start with a brief overview of ESSA, followed by small group discussions to generate feedback. Ideas and recommendations will be compiled into a community report, officials said, which will be used as a guideline to meet ESSA requirements.
"I think we're seeing a sincere attempt by the state in having these ESSA input sessions because part of the law states that all stakeholders should have input," Rust said.
While ESSA will continue to require a state accountability system, annual tests in grades 3-8 and in high school, and support struggling schools and development of teachers, it will allow more local control in the approach states take to accomplish policy goals.
Common themes among the small groups on Thursday night included: flexibility and additional funding for all programs; teacher retention; and support of all students, including poverty, at-risk and gifted.
"I think so often, at every level, people are so out of touch with education and what our students need. I believe, and I think most teachers would say the same, that if you allow the teachers to be the professionals that they are and teach our students, we would have much more success."
Lisa Koester, EVSC psychologist, was at the meeting on behalf of the Indiana Association of School Psychologists. Koester wants to ensure they are included in conversations because they have a background in education and social/emotional learning.
"If a child isn't prepared emotionally or socially to learn, no matter what intervention we try, they're just not going to be able to gain those skills," she said. "We have to do what we can to establish a relationship, make the learning environment approachable to them and make the connections they need, because so many of them don't have a secure environment."
Adam Baker, IDOE spokesman, said it's important to get community feedback.
"One of the important things about these meetings is it's more of a listening session for us," Baker said.
An RSVP is not required to attend the meetings, but Baker said it is "highly recommended."
For a full list of meeting dates, visit www.doe.in.gov/essa/essa-community-meetings.
Indiana will submit its ESSA plan to the U.S. Department of Education on Sept. 18, according to the state's education website.


text:
Deysel destroys Cheetahs
Published on 1st September 2017 | Leave a response
Ulster's South African strong man Jean Deysel destroyed the Cheetahs Guinness Pro 14 debut with a man of the match display as the hosts won 42-19.
Deysel, the former Sharks enforcer, was imposing and immense on his Ulster debut. He was one of six South African players in the Ulster starting XV.
The Cheetahs, fielding the same players who had won five of six Currie Cup matches, started well to lead 14-8 after 20 minutes, but when they lost a man to the sin-bin Ulster scored three tries in a 10 minute spell. The Cheetahs never recovered from this Ulster onslaught.
Ulster led 27-14 at halftime and another of the Belfast-based South Africans, former Lions fullback Louis Ludik, scored early in the second half to extend the lead.
Ulster scored six tries to three to claim the bonus point and were comfortably the better side, despite this being their first match of the season. Deysel and former Sharks and Springbok flanker Marcel Coetzee were the best of the forwards. Coetzee, who missed most of last year with a knee injury, started at No 8 and excelled. He played the first 50 minutes.
The Cheetahs have played an entire Super Rugby season and half a Currie Cup season. More was expected of them in their debut but the South Africans who have made Belfast their home were at the forefront of a home team who physically were stronger and who technically were smarter.
In other matches, Rassie Erasmus's Munster also won their opening game of the season and Edinburgh were away winners in Cardiff.
Scorers:
Tries: Tommy Bowe, Alan O'Conner, Stuart McCloskey, Charles Piutau, Louis Ludik, Peter Nelson
Conversions: John Cooney (2), Nelson
Penalties: Cooney (2)
Tries: Clayton Blommetjies, Makazole Mapimpi, Sergeal Petersen
Conversions: William Small-Smith (2)
Posted in International Rugby, Opinions Tagged Cheetahs, Guinness Pro14, Ulster
Article written by Keo
Keo has written about South African and international rugby professionally for the last 25 years
Follow @mark_keohane on Twitter.


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text:
Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business
Home > MichaeliaCash > Media Releases > To support small business, big businesses must pay on time, or earlier
To support small business, big businesses must pay on time, or earlier
Minister for Small and Family Business, Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash, said that reports of large businesses delaying payments to their small business suppliers or requesting cash on delivery from their small business customers are disturbing and completely out of step with the Prime Minister's call for all Australians to step up and share the load.
Minister Cash said that the Prime Minister has made his expectations clear - big businesses must step up and do what they can to support small and family businesses in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Minister Cash said the spread of COVID-19 has impacted every Australian business, but big businesses making payments to small businesses on time and even ahead of time is something that will make a critical difference in helping small businesses continue to operate and survive.
"We find ourselves in an unprecedented economic climate but as the Prime Minister said: 'we all need to share the load'."
Minister Cash said that big business is no exception.
"It is an extraordinarily difficult time for all business, large and small, but we are in this together.
"Large businesses have stewardship over important supply chains and it is critical that they pay their suppliers on time and even ahead of time, for the good of the businesses involved and ultimately the whole economy.
"This will say more about those large businesses, their corporate values and the integrity of their brand than anything else they've likely done as an organisation.
"The Government has changed its payment system, to make sure small businesses receive payment for government contracts under $1 million within 20 days and where e-invoicing is used the government will pay in 5 days or less."
Some big businesses have recently taken steps to reduce their payment times but we call upon more businesses to follow this lead.
The Morrison Government has also announced an historic $320 billion economic support package to help pay Australians wages, keep businesses running, and supporting the unemployed.
These measures are available to support businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes:
The introduction of JobKeeper Payment of $1,500 per fortnight, per eligible employee, for up to 6 months.
Tax free payments of up to $100,000 will be made to eligible businesses with a turnover of under $50 million, to provide temporary cash flow support to businesses that employ staff.
The Coronavirus Guarantee Scheme for new unsecured loans in working capital to help businesses with a turnover of under $50 million through the coming months.
The expansion of the Morrison Government's Business Hotline – 13 28 46 – to provide specialist advisers and extended hours to support impacted small and medium businesses.
Helping sole trader by temporarily expanding eligibility to income support payments and establishing a new, Coronavirus supplement to be paid at a rate of $550 per fortnight.
A 50 per cent wage subsidy that will support up to 70,000 small businesses and around 117,000 apprentices.
The early release of up to $20,000 in super for individuals in financial stress.
For more information visit www.australia.gov.au.
Media contact: Minister Cash's office 02 6277 7610


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text:
Q: how to parse yahoo historical csv with Attoparsec i am a beginner of haskell, how to parse with attoparsec into open array, high array etc
module CsvParser (
      Quote (..)
    , csvFile
    , quote
    ) where
import System.IO
import Data.Attoparsec.Text
import Data.Attoparsec.Combinator
import Data.Text (Text, unpack)
import Data.Time
import System.Locale
import Data.Maybe

data Quote = Quote {
        qTime       :: LocalTime,
        qAsk        :: Double,
        qBid        :: Double,
        qAskVolume  :: Double,
        qBidVolume  :: Double
    } deriving (Show, Eq)

csvFile :: Parser [Quote]
csvFile = do
    q <- many1 quote
    endOfInput
    return q

quote   :: Parser Quote
quote   = do
    time        <- qtime
    qcomma
    ask         <- double
    qcomma
    bid         <- double
    qcomma
    askVolume   <- double
    qcomma
    bidVolume   <- double
    endOfLine
    return $ Quote time ask bid askVolume bidVolume

qcomma  :: Parser ()
qcomma  = do
    char ','
    return ()

qtime   :: Parser LocalTime
qtime   = do
    tstring     <- takeTill (\x -> x == ',')
    let time    = parseTime defaultTimeLocale "%d.%m.%Y %H:%M:%S%Q" (unpack tstring)
    return $ fromMaybe (LocalTime (fromGregorian 0001 01 01) (TimeOfDay 00 00 00 )) time

--testString :: Text
--testString = "01.10.2012 00:00:00.741,1.28082,1.28077,1500000.00,1500000.00\n"

quoteParser = parseOnly quote

main = do
    handle <- openFile "C:\\Users\\ivan\\Downloads\\0005.HK.csv" ReadMode
    contents <- hGetContents handle
    let allLines = lines contents
    map (\line -> quoteParser line) allLines
    --putStr contents
    hClose handle

Error message:
testhaskell.hs:89:5:
    Couldn't match type `[]' with `IO'
    Expected type: IO (Either String Quote)
      Actual type: [Either String Quote]
    In the return type of a call of `map'
    In a stmt of a 'do' block:
      map (\ line -> quoteParser line) allLines
    In the expression:
      do { handle <- openFile
                       "C:\\Users\\ivan\\Downloads\\0005.HK.csv" ReadMode;

           contents <- hGetContents handle;
           let allLines = lines contents;
           map (\ line -> quoteParser line) allLines;
           .... }

testhaskell.hs:89:37:
    Couldn't match type `[Char]' with `Text'
    Expected type: [Text]
      Actual type: [String]
    In the second argument of `map', namely `allLines'
    In a stmt of a 'do' block:
      map (\ line -> quoteParser line) allLines
    In the expression:
      do { handle <- openFile
                       "C:\\Users\\ivan\\Downloads\\0005.HK.csv" ReadMode;

           contents <- hGetContents handle;
           let allLines = lines contents;
           map (\ line -> quoteParser line) allLines;
           .... }

A: The error has nothing to do with parsec or attoparsec. The line the error message points to is not an IO action, so it causes the error when you try to use it as one:
main = do
    handle <- openFile "C:\\Users\\ivan\\Downloads\\0005.HK.csv" ReadMode
    contents <- hGetContents handle
    let allLines = lines contents
    map (\line -> quoteParser line) allLines   -- <== This is not an IO action
    --putStr contents
    hClose handl

You ignore the result of the map call. You should store it in a variable with let, like you do with the result of lines.
The second error is because you are trying to use Text as String which are different types, even though they both represent ordered collections of characters (they also have different internal representations). You can convert between the two types with pack and unpack: http://hackage.haskell.org/package/text/docs/Data-Text.html#g:5
Also, you should always explicitly give main the type signature main :: IO (). It can sometimes lead to subtle problems if you don't.
As other people have said, though, you should probably use a csv parser package.

A: You can use attoparsec-csv package or you can take a look at its source code to have some idea on how to write it by yourself.
The code will be like
import qualified Data.Text.IO as T
import Text.ParseCSV

main = do
  txt <- T.readFile "file.csv"
  case parseCSV txt of
    Left  err -> error err
    Right csv -> mapM_ (print . mkQuote) csv

mkQuote :: [T.Text] -> Quote
mkQuote = error "Not implemented yet"


text:
Le château d'Aubusson (parfois aussi appelé le Chapitre ; Chastèl d'Aubussó en occitan) est une ruine du château-fort médiéval construit entre les Xe et XIIIe siècles par les vicomtes d'Aubusson, situé sur la commune d'Aubusson, dans le département de la Creuse, région Nouvelle-Aquitaine, en France.

Présentation
L'ensemble des ruines est constitué par un pan de mur sud et une partie du pan de mur ouest des constructions de 1470-1475.

Historique
Chef-lieu d'une vicomté à l'époque carolingienne, il fut réuni à la Marche en 1260 par Hugues de Lusignan, comte de la Marche. Culturellement, le complexe du château ainsi que le village furent un lieu de réunion important pour les plus illustres troubadours du Limousin .

Vers le milieu du , la seigneurie du Monteil, à laquelle le site du château appartenait, fut séparée de celle d'Aubusson et passa à une branche de la famille dite du Monteil-au-Vicomte d'où sortait Pierre d'Aubusson, Grand maître de l'ordre de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem en 1476-1503.

Le château fut détruit en 1632 sur ordre du Cardinal de Richelieu, afin d'enlever aux Huguenots tout moyen de résistance militaire. Ses pierres ont ensuite servi à construire une partie des maisons du vieil Aubusson - comme par exemple la maison des Vallenet - ainsi que le pont de la Terrade.

Vendu comme bien national à la Révolution, le château fut utilisé par les habitants comme carrière.

En 1885-86, un « Musée d'Aubusson » fut construit par l'architecte Albert Mazet au sein même des ruines du château, faisant corps avec une partie des murs médiévaux. Ce petit musée fut détruit en 1934.

Le château est inscrit au titre des monuments historiques en 1964.

Il ne reste aujourd'hui qu'un pan de donjon rectangulaire, la muraille attenante et la base de la tour carrée du .

Architecture
Comme son histoire, l'architecture du lieu a grandement évolué en deux millénaires, passant d'une simple tour de guet sous l'Empire romain à une quasi-citadelle à l'époque médiévale et retombant à l'état de ruine après sa destruction par Richelieu et son utilisation en carrière par les révolutionnaires.

D'après un document du 18e siècle, le château médiéval se composait d'un corps de logis rectangulaire encadré de deux grosses tours rondes. Le corps de logis était divisé par un mur de refend en deux appartements. Une tour carrée d'escalier à vis s'élevait en avancement sur la façade. Des fossés entouraient le château au nord et à l'ouest.

Avant sa démolition sur ordre du roi de France, la forteresse était réputée inexpugnable, de plus:

La tour nord est la partie la mieux conservée de nos jours avec, au rez-de-chaussée, une salle voûtée en berceau.

Galerie

Références

Annexes

Bibliographie

 Le château d'Aubusson sur www.pop.culture.gouv.fr/
 Le « Chapitre » d'Aubusson, Vidéoguide Nouvelle-Aquitaine

Articles connexes
 Liste des monuments historiques de la Creuse
 Liste des châteaux de la Creuse
 Aubusson
 Liste des châteaux de Nouvelle-Aquitaine

Pages externes

 Dessin du début du XVIIe siècle
 Carte postale ancienne reprenant l'architecture pré-1632
 Vue d'artiste, d'après documents historiques, du château au XVe siècle

Aubusson
Aubusson
Aubusson
Monument historique à Aubusson (Creuse)
Monument historique inscrit en 1964

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia