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United Palace Cathedral Gets Landmark Approval, Despite Church Opposition
By Carolina Pichardo | December 14, 2016 2:08pm
@c_pichardo
The United Palace, which last served as a theater in 1969, was approved for landmark designation on Tuesday.
DNAinfo/Nigel Chiwaya
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — The historic United Palace Cathedral got a long-awaited approval for landmark designation by the Landmarks Preservation Commission Tuesday — but the cathedral's owners and local elected officials have mounted a full-scale fight against the decision.
The Palace, which was among the hundreds of buildings that had languished for up to a half-century on the LPC's backlogged applications, got the green light to receive designation Tuesday afternoon, officials said. The cathedral was built more than 85 years ago, and had been on the LPC calendar for 20 years or more, according to city documents.
But despite its historical significance, the new owners, United Christian Evangelical Association church, oppose the designation and are urging churchgoers and others to write letters to the City Council urging them to vote against it, a church official told DNAinfo New York.
Designating the church as landmark would "cause extra expense" for the church and "add nothing to the Church's programs and events," church officials wrote in their open letter opposing the designation.
Landmarked sites often have to spend more on renovations and wade through more red tape before making run-of-the mill construction decisions, critics say. That can be a hardship for places like churches, which may struggle with dwindling congregations and rising overhead costs.
The Palace, however, has long been known for hosting big-name events, including concerts by performers including Bob Dylan, Bjork and Sigur Ros. It's also currently raising money with the help of Lin-Manuel Miranda to revamp its screen and sound system as part of the United Palace Cultural Arts Center.
"The church has spent enormous amounts of money over the years maintaining the United Palace without government support," said president and chairman of the United Palace, Xavier Eikerenkoetter, in a statement to DNAinfo New York. "With Tuesday's vote to designate the building a landmark, not only will it increase the cost of maintaining the building by requiring specific materials to be used for any repairs, it will also unnecessarily lengthen any renovation by requiring consent from the Landmarks Commission."
Eikerenkoetter also said the "church would prefer to preserve its right to have full control over its building in order to best continue its mission of serving the community" after almost five decades.
Some residents, however, support the landmarking of the exterior of the United Palace. Maggie Clarke, founder of Inwood Preservation, said the palace is a "gem to be preserved."
"Current owners should be stewards and there is a real concern of selling off the property that should be preserved," Clarke said. "Financial pressures are real and anything down to the exterior will cost, but that should not be a reason to take it off as a landmark. Landmarking will also open other opportunities."
Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, who earlier this year said he was also against the designation, said it was it unfair to single out the Palace as the only landmark designated site, when there are other locations in Washington Heights worthy of designation.
Rodriguez said the LPC "disrespected our community" by neglecting other landmark-worthy sites like the Wadsworth Avenue Baptist Church, which "has now been torn down by developers," and the Coliseum Theater at 181st St., which he fears will suffer the same fate "given their denial to save it."
Although Rodriguez didn't confirm this week whether he was still against the designation, he did say he will meet with "community stakeholders," including the owners, before making a final decision.
"The United Palace has been owned by the same family for over 50 years. They have been tremendous stewards over this treasured site, opening it up to the joy of the community and keeping it in great shape," said Rodriguez.
The Palace's application now moves to City Planning, where the commissions has 60 days to review and explain to the City Council what impact the designation will have on zoning and public improvement.
From there, the application will move to the City Council, where members have 120 days from the time of the LPC designation to either modify or disapprove the application. A majority vote is needed before it can move to the mayor, who can veto or approve the City Council's vote.
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By: NathanAre you bored with chewing gum and walking at the same time? Want to step up to the next level of doing two things at once? Come try Bicycle Karaoke!
With plenty of songs to choose from and two wireless mics we're ready for karaoke on the go.
We can queue up a few tracks in the park at the start and have a few drinks of liquid courage. The route will be fairly flat and slow.


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It's not them — it's us: Raccoon sightings, injuries in Toronto soar during COVID-19 lockdown
With people staying home more, the number of calls the city has received about sick raccoons —and injuries from raccoons — has skyrocketed.
By Ben CohenStaff Reporter
Tue., March 2, 2021timer3 min. read
Sightings of diseased raccoons and raccoon-related injuries skyrocketed last year — but it's probably not because Toronto's masked dumpster-divers are getting sicker and more violent.
During the pandemic, we're spending more time roaming our own neighbourhoods, instead of visiting other cities or commuting to work. As a result, we're running into raccoons more often — and probably getting a little too close for comfort.
According to the city, Toronto Animal Services received 13,712 requests to help sick and hurt raccoons last year, compared to 4,172 in 2019.
And they clearly weren't keeping the required two metres apart, either. Between January last year and February this year, Toronto Public Health saw a 62 per cent increase in reports of people being bitten or scratched by raccoons, compared to the two-year average between 2018 and 2019.
There doesn't seem to be any safe haven, either — raccoon reports came from all areas of Toronto, according to the city.
Animal behaviourist Suzanne MacDonald said in an email that the city's data is hard to interpret.
"There could be an increase in sick or aggressive raccoons, but in my mind, it is much more likely due to the fact that people are spending more time at home and thus are interacting more with raccoons that they otherwise wouldn't even be aware of," she said.
In fact, in its news release, the city speculates that the increase could also have been caused by Torontonians spending more time outside exercising in their neighbourhoods during the pandemic.
Like most things nowadays, raccoons — and all wild animals — need to be kept at a distance, the city warns.
The main reason Toronto Animal Services gets calls about sick raccoons is because they are suffering from canine distemper virus. It's easy to spot, causing affected raccoons to stumble around in apparent confusion and suffer from gastrointestinal distress — and it can be spread to dogs.
"An outbreak of distemper started in fall of last year," said Sande Terry, owner of Sande Wildlife Control. "It spreads when people trap and release the animals without checking for diseases."
Distemper incidents have since levelled off, Terry said, as is usually the case once winter starts.
"Raccoons don't typically bite unless people are trying to touch them," said Terry. "They're very gentle animals."
However, raccoons can be provoked to violence by people trying to feed or pick them up, TPH spokesperson Paul Di Salvo said, though the public health unit's reports indicate raccoons attacked without cause about a third of the time this year.
Watch: With humans away, Toronto's wildlife comes out to play
Toronto doesn't have a coyote problem, it has a people problem. How human behaviour is shaping our urban wildlife population
Toronto warns pet owners after coyotes killed two dogs this month
Not surprisingly, the city is warning residents to avoid feeding or getting near the wild animals, and to keep a close eye on their pets, making sure their rabies vaccinations are up to date.
"While the risk of rabies remains low in Toronto, it should be noted that raccoons are considered to be a higher risk species for rabies transmission in Canada," said Esther Attard, director of Toronto Animal Services.
The last time a rabid animal was spotted in Toronto was 2019, but it can be lethal if left untreated. Only one human is known to have survived rabies after symptoms presented. Treatment left her with lasting brain damage.
If bitten or scratched by a raccoon, TPH advises you to immediately wash the wound with soap and water for at least 15 minutes, apply antiseptic to it and seek medical attention.
Ben Cohen is a Toronto-based staff reporter for the Star. Reach him via email: bcohen@thestar.ca
Have you seen more raccoons in your neighbourhood recently? Share your experience.

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CASE provides logistical support for large and small events,including the Lowell Folk Festival, the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race, Bay State Marathon, Blues 'n Brews, Puerto Rican Festival, the Southeast Asian Water Festival and other. CASE can provide assistance with your event permitting process.
CASE also works to promote Lowell as a tourist and visitor destination by marketing Lowell and all the great things to do and see in the city through a variety of channels.
At the heart of this effort is the #Lowell: There's A Lot To Like campaign and LikeLowell.com the City's web page highlighting all there is to like about Lowell — museums, restaurants, galleries, events and historical tours.
CASE can help residents and event producers to promote their event on the City's Community Events Calendar. You can access that calendar at likelowell.com/calendar.
Please review the descriptions below to determine which permit you may need. The permit application in the documents section is a "fillable" PDF that can be saved to your desktop, edited electronically and emailed back to our office; or it can be printed if necessary. A Special Events Permit fee of $25 (check or money order only) will be required at the time of application. Additional fees may apply. Please contact our office at 978-446-1482 if you have any additional questions.


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The Real Stakes in Wisconsin
Home|Time Magazine|The Real Stakes in Wisconsin
If you don't look too closely, the battle lines between Wisconsin's Republican governor, Scott Walker, and his state's public employees' unions seem to be clearly drawn. Walker wants public employees to pay more toward their health care and retirement benefits, while teachers and public workers howl that Walker's plan to curb most collective bargaining is a malicious plot to bust up their unions.
Of course neither side wants to discuss what is really at stake in this battle: the public-sector unions are fighting for their shady ability to take millions of dollars from their members' dues money without really asking, and the governor is not really owning up to his ambition to smash the political power of public employees' unions to smithereens.
(See photos of the showdown in Wisconsin.)
The stakes are rising because, if Walker succeeds, other swing states with newly elected Republican governors, such as Ohio and Michigan, could follow. A growing movement by cash-strapped states to limit the political clout of public-sector unions would bring disastrous results, not only for the unions but for every Democratic candidate eyeing the 2012 ballot, from local officials all the way up to Barack Obama.
Walker has a strong case on the fiscal merits. The cost of state employees' benefits has skyrocketed in tandem with the rising power of public employees' unions. It has become a perverse and semicorrupt arrangement: the unions raise millions from dues, which are then used to elect labor-friendly politicians who cave at the contract-negotiating table, especially on long-term employment deals, whose cost really begins to crush the state or city budget in the years after the agreeable politician has left office. This is where public-sector unions lack the moral authority of their private-sector brethren. When the United Steelworkers negotiate with a steel company, they don't also control the company's board of directors.
(See the protesters spending night after night sleeping in the capitol.)
Few Americans understand how the public-employee-union money machine works. Many unionized state and local public workers have their dues automatically deducted from their paychecks. On average, a teacher in Wisconsin pays more than $1,000 per year to the union (from an average salary of $51,264). A decent chunk of this money is used to fund political activities. That doesn't mean just making contributions. It also means running lavish independent ad campaigns in support of their chosen candidates and against their opponents. Even Democratic candidates who oppose union priorities can face massively funded negative campaigns targeting them in primaries. Engaging in such well-funded political activity is the unions' right, of course, but their immense financial power means they are bringing a machine gun to a fistfight.
Can rank-and-file employees opt out of their unions' political spending? They can, but they have to ask for that exemption, and few do. The system is set up to allow the unions' political barons to easily skim big money from dues with very little member involvement. Under Walker's proposal, employees have to opt into their union and its dues every year; nothing is automatic. Union leaders fear that few rank-and-file members would do so, and their political machines would quickly grind to a halt. And if Walker wins his battle in Wisconsin, it could become a game changer for the GOP as other states follow suit.
This brutal battle of political realpolitik is why both sides in Madison are dug in deep, hanging from the rafters of the Wisconsin state capitol and vowing to fight to the death. National labor and interest groups are funding TV ads trying to push public opinion in Wisconsin to one side or the other. (Disclosure: I work with a communications firm doing some of the pro-Walker ads. I also belong to a union affiliated with the AFL-CIO.)
(See why the protests in Wisconsin are spreading around the nation.)
Both sides have polls showing they are winning, but the ground truth is murkier. Walker is prevailing in the argument over the budget. But the unions have cleverly begun to defend what they call the right of collective bargaining. That move is as politically effective as it is factually dubious. Collective bargaining for public employees didn't begin to gain strength until the 1960s, when growing union power (and Democratic statehouses) conspired to adopt it. Two generations later, only 26 states allow collective bargaining for most public employees, and this "right" has largely not been extended to federal workers.
Like all political battles, the Wisconsin fight will come down to numbers. I'm betting on Walker. He has the votes.
Murphy is a GOP political consultant and writer. He Twitters at murphymike


Having a late night out on the town and need something to munch on? We've got you covered. Here are some of the best places that are great and open late.
1.) Main Hub 1300 N. Main St. Open until 2 AM.
What to get: Any of their specialty corn dogs! Serving up a dozen or more varieties including gyro corn dogs to the more adventurous lobster tail corn dogs and alligator corn dogs. There's also the option of having your dessert (either cheesecake or Snickers) served the same way!
2.) Ivanhoe 231 Main St., Racine, Open until 2 AM.
What to get: The BBQ Whiskey Bacon Cheddar: Bacon, cheddar cheese & an Irish whiskey BBQ sauce, for starters, Guinness battered fried cheese curds and raw cheese curds served with ranch. You're in Wisconsin, you can't go wrong with cheese curds.
What to get: The sandwich that made them famous - The Great Bambino! Made with steak or chicken, grilled onions, bacon, cheese, and topped hot or mild Bambino sauce. Treat yourself to one of their award-winning Bloody Mary's while you're there!
What to get: Cheesy Bacon Bombs - Imagine warm biscuits stuffed with cheese and wrapped with bacon and finished with a drizzle of sugar and a side of chipotle mayo.
What to get: The Burger Flight Trio - 3 oz sliders on toasted pretzel buns served with fries. Feeling adventurous? Try it with their goat cheese tator tots.


You see tons of inspiration for wearing your hair up, but it's not as easy to find looks for when you want to let your hair hang down, loose and flowing. To help you out on those days, I've gathered these photos that will help you create a look that you'll love without much fuss. Check these out!
Some curls at the end makes a down look just about perfect!


Fulbright awards for Americans in Korea are available to students with degrees in a variety of undergraduate fields or who enrolled in a graduate school program seeking independent study. Proposals submitted by applicants for Fulbright student research awards offered by KAEC must be relevant to Korean studies or Korean-American comparative studies.
The Institute of International Education (IIE), which is located in New York, is responsible for handling applications from Americans for Fulbright student awards. IIE publishes an awards brochure each year which provides relevant details on the Fulbright awards available in Korea and other countries. Anyone interested in applying for a Fulbright student award should contact IIE or CIES for further information and application forms.
KAEC does not accept applications from Americans directly. Full applications are available from IIE (www.iie.org) and CIES (www.iie.org/cies), depending on award category.


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The first obvious question with any new regulation is, who has to comply? The FDA has provided this table as a helpful tool to determine if compliance is required. Simply stated, the FSVP importer, whom the FDA will hold responsible for compliance, is the U.S. owner or consignee of products for import. The entity whose DUNS number is entered into the Customs & Border Patrol system is the one who will be held accountable.
Because of the large risk associated with compliance, we highly recommend that any food importers attend a voluntary FSVP course to help ensure they understand the requirements. According to FDA inspectors, nearly half of all importers audited this year had significant gaps in compliance with the regulation. There are many elements to the regulation that are difficult to implement without the proper food safety knowledge and understanding, so it is much better to be prepared than to find yourself in a stressful audit later. In order to ensure your compliance with the rule, schedule a third-party gap analysis with Safe Food Certifications at samg@safefoodalliance.com.
Rule's Intent: to ensure that imported foods are produced as safely as products made in the U.S., and are in accordance with FSMA regulations.
To meet that intent, importers are held responsible for verification of their foreign suppliers' programs. In most cases your suppliers will need to comply with the Preventive Controls rule or the Produce Safety rule.
There is an excellent summary of the Foreign Supplier Verification rule here.
A key concept within the FSMA rules by FDA is the "Qualified Individual", referred to by some as the "QI." The idea is that anyone with a key responsibility that may impact food safety of products, should be specifically qualified for that role through a combination of job experience, knowledge, and training. In essence it comes down to employee competence, similar to any GFSI audit or ISO-based audit. It makes sense if you consider it; anyone who is involved in approving or verifying suppliers, assessing hazards, or maintaining documentation, should be qualified to do so. It's also worth noting that you can use contractors or third party service providers to conduct some of the functions required by the regulation. If you require such assistance feel free to contact us for help.
You can find a helpful guide here that will allow you to identify and keep records of who is responsible in your organization for each key function required by the FSVP rule.
For companies who not only import, but also process, there is an important consideration regarding the FSVP rule. Companies who have programs in place to comply with the Preventive Controls rule, are considered in compliance with the FSVP rule, if they fully comply with the PC rule supply chain requirements. The requirements are basically equivalent, although not the same word for word. The only exception is that import documentation requirements still must be complied with, including obtaining a DUNS number and other relevant requirements.
It's important to identify which U.S. regulations your imported items fall under. Items like dietary supplements, alcoholic beverages, and red meats will still be regulated according to applicable regulatory structures already established.
If FDA makes a request for records, they must be submitted within 24 hours of the request. This is where cloud-based systems come in handy.
The training should be expected to last 1 ½ to 2 days.
Complete attendance of all sections is mandatory of the attendee to be granted a certificate.
Many importers will have to seek outside help to comply with all the aspects of this regulation.
The importer of record is not necessarily the FSVP party who will be regulated by FDA.
Supplier verification records that are not in English must be translated before being submitted to FDA. If the importer does not employ someone who is able to read and translate them, they must be translated anyway – these documents have to be reviewed before items can be received and sold.
First, make sure you understand the requirements of the regulation. If this involves training, be sure to get it.
Identify key roles required by the regulation, and who your organization will rely on to complete those roles. This document should help with that.
Ensure that you have a good system for tracking documents and records. We strongly recommend a cloud-based system, whether something like Dropbox, Google Documents, or a paid provider. You need to have records readily available.
Consider attending Safe Food California this coming April to get important updates on various aspects of your program.


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Home > Journals > The Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature > Volume 65 > Issue 1
The Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature
VOL. 65 · NO. 1 | March 2008
RULINGS OF THE COMMISSION (9)
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65(1), 1-7, (1 March 2008)https://doi.org/10.21805/bzn.v65i1.a1
Murex rostratus Olivi, 1792 (currently Fusinus rostratus; Mollusca, Gastropoda): proposed conservation of the specific name
Giovanni Buzzurro, Paolo Russo
65(1), 7-11, (1 March 2008)https://doi.org/10.21805/bzn.v65i1.a2
KEYWORDS: nomenclature, taxonomy, Mollusca, Gastropoda, Fasciolariidae, turridae, Fusinus rostratus, Turricula rostrata, gastropods, Mediterranean
The purpose of this application, under Article 23.9.5 of the Code, is to conserve the name Murex rostratus Olivi, 1792 (currently Fusinus rostratus) (Mollusca, Gastropoda, fasciolariidae) in its prevailing usage by ruling that this name is not invalid by virtue of being a junior primary homonym of Murex rostratus Solander in Brander, 1766 (currently Turricula rostrata). The senior homonym is currently included in turridae and has not been considered congeneric with Murex rostratus Olivi, 1792 after 1899.
Malmgrenia McIntosh, 1874 (Annelida, Polychaeta, polynoidae): proposed conservation of usage by designation of Malmgrenia andreapolis McIntosh, 1874 as the type species
A.I. Muir, S.J. Chambers
65(1), 12-16, (1 March 2008)https://doi.org/10.21805/bzn.v65i1.a3
KEYWORDS: nomenclature, taxonomy, Polychaeta, polynoidae, Malmgrenia, Malmgreniella, Malmgrenia whiteavesii, Malmgrenia andreapolis, scale worm, northern North Atlantic
The purpose of this application, under Article 81.1 of the Code, is to conserve the current usage of the widely used name Malmgrenia McIntosh, 1874 (a polynoid worm genus from the northern North Atlantic) by designation of Malmgrenia andreapolis McIntosh, 1874 as the type species of Malmgrenia. The type species of Malmgrenia is at present Malmgrenia whiteavesii McIntosh, 1874, which is virtually a nomen nudum. The type material of Malmgrenia whiteavesii McIntosh, 1874 has been lost and no other specimens referable to this species have been recorded. It is proposed that Malmgrenia andreapolis McIntosh, 1874 be designated as the type species of Malmgrenia to maintain the current usage of this generic name.
Scleropauropus Silvestri, 1902 (Myriapoda, Pauropoda): proposed conservation of usage by replacement of the holotype of the type species Scleropauropus hastifer Silvestri, 1902 with a neotype, and replacement of the holotype of Scleropauropus lyrifer Remy 1936 by designation of a neotype
Ulf Scheller, Alessandro Minelli
KEYWORDS: nomenclature, taxonomy, Myriapoda, Pauropoda, Scleropauropus, Scleropauropus hastifer, Scleropauropus lyrifer, pauropods, Europe
The purpose of this application, under Article 75.5 of the Code, is to conserve the usage of the name Scleropauropus Silvestri, 1902 for a group of pauropods (Myriapoda, Pauropoda) while also conserving as its type species the nominal species S. hastifer Silvestri, 1902, by replacing with the same neotype the unsuitable holotypes of both S. hastifer Silvestri, 1902 (type species by monotypy), and S. lyrifer Remy, 1936 (consistently, but erroneously treated as the type species of Scleropauropus since Remy (1957)).
Charilaidae Dirsh, 1953 (Insecta, Orthoptera): proposed precedence over pamphagodidae I. Bolivar, 1916
David C. Eades, Lesley S. Deem
KEYWORDS: nomenclature, taxonomy, Orthoptera, charilaidae, charilainae, pamphagodidae, pamphagodinae, Charilaus, Pamphagodes, Charilaus carinatus, Pamphagodes riffensis, grasshoppers, Africa
The purpose of this application, under Article 23.9.3 of the Code, is to conserve the usage of the name charilaidae Dirsh, 1953 for a group of African grasshoppers. The name is threatened by a little used senior name pamphagodidae I. Bolivar, 1916. The name charilaidae Dirsh, 1953 has become widely accepted and is in prevailing usage. It is proposed that the name charilaidae Dirsh, 1953 be given precedence over pamphagodidae I. Bolivar, 1916.
Pseudococcini Cockerell, 1905 (Insecta, Hemiptera): proposed precedence over sphaerococcini Cockerell, 1899
Nate B. Hardy, Penny J. Gullan
KEYWORDS: nomenclature, taxonomy, Hemiptera, Coccoidea, pseudococcini, sphaerococcini, Pseudococcus, Sphaerococcus, mealybugs
The purpose of this application, under Article 23.9.3 of the Code, is to conserve the usage of the family-group name pseudococcini Cockerell, 1905 (type genus Pseudococcus Westwood, 1840) for the mealybugs, a speciose group including many pests of agriculture, by giving it precedence over the senior family-group name sphaerococcini Cockerell, 1899 (type genus Sphaerococcus Maskell, 1892).
Helops Fabricius, 1775 (Insecta, Coleoptera, tenebrionidae): proposed conservation of usage by designation of Tenebrio caeruleus Linnaeus, 1758 as the type species
Maxim Nabozhenko, Patrice Bouchard, Ivan Löbl
KEYWORDS: nomenclature, taxonomy, Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae, Helopini, helopina, cylindrinotina, Helops, Stenomax, Anteros, Helops lanipes, Tenebrio caeruleus, darkling beetles, Western Palaearctic, Nearctic and Neotropical Regions
The purpose of this application, under Article 70.2 of the Code, is to conserve the current usage of the widely used name Helops Fabricius, 1775 for a genus of tenebrionid beetles from Western Palaearctic, Nearctic and Neotropical Regions by designation of Tenebrio caeruleus Linnaeus, 1758 as the type species. The type species of Helops Fabricius, 1775 is at present Tenebrio lanipes Linnaeus, 1771 (currently Stenomax lanipes). The use of the original designation would seriously affect the nomenclatural stability of long-recognized generic and subtribal concepts in the tribe helopini. It is proposed that all type fixations for the nominal genus Helops Fabricius, 1775 before that of Tenebrio caeruleus Linnaeus, 1758 by Hope (1840) be set aside.
Pedionomus Gould, December 1840 (Aves, pedionomidae) and Leipoa Gould, December 1840 (Aves, megapodiidae): proposed conservation of usage
Richard Schodde, Walter J. Bock
KEYWORDS: nomenclature, taxonomy, Aves, megapodiidae, pedionomidae, Leipoa, Pedionomus, Leipoa ocellata, Pedionomus torquatus, malleefowl, plains-wanderer, Australia
The purpose of this application, under 23.9.3 of the Code, is to conserve the generic names Pedionomus Gould, [1 December] 1840 for the Australian plains-wanderer (pedionomidae) and Leipoa Gould, [1 December] 1840 and the specific name Leipoa ocellata Gould, [1 December 1840] for the Australian malleefowl (megapodiidae). The names Pedionomus Gould, [1 December] 1840, Leipoa Gould, [1 December] 1840 and Leipoa ocellata Gould, [1 December] 1840 have been in prevailing usage as the valid names for these taxa for over 150 years. However, Gould on 31 October, 1840 used the name Pedionomus ocellatus for the malleefowl, and this name has been used as valid for the malleefowl on at least one occasion in the 20th century. Suppression of Pedionomus ocellatus Gould, [31 October] 1840 will maintain stability in nomenclature.
Specific names of nine Australian birds (Aves): proposed conservation
KEYWORDS: nomenclature, taxonomy, Anthochaera chrysoptera, Geopelia placida, Geopelia tranquilla, Gerygone olivacea, Grallina cyanoleuca, Leucosarcia melanoleuca, Lichenostomus melanops, Manorina melanocephala, Oriolus sagittatus, Psophodes olivaceus, little wattlebird, peaceful dove, white-throated gerygone, magpielark, wonga pigeon, yellow-tufted honeyeater, noisy miner, olive-backed oriole, eastern whipbird, Australia
The purpose of this application, under Articles 24.2 and 81.2.3 of the Code, is to conserve the usage of nine specific names of Australian birds. The names, chosen as senior by First Revisers, were later replaced almost a hundred years ago by simultaneously published names on grounds of page precedence. The names chosen by page precedence, all of common and often popular Australian birds, have been in prevailing use ever since and are in universal use today. This application seeks to validate these names for reasons of nomenclatural stability.
Atrichornis Stejneger, 1885 (Aves, atrichornithidae): proposed conservation
65(1), 42-45, (1 March 2008)https://doi.org/10.21805/bzn.v65i1.a10
KEYWORDS: nomenclature, taxonomy, atrichornithidae, Atrichornis, Atricha, Atrichia, Atrichornis rufescens, scrub-birds, Australia
The purpose of this application, under Article 23.9.3 of the Code, is the conservation of the generic name Atrichornis Stejneger, 1885 for the Australian scrub-birds (atrichornithidae), which has been in universal use as a valid generic name for almost 90 years. It is threatened, through the incorrect subsequent spelling Atrichia, by the name Atricha Gould, 1844, which was used for the scrub-birds into the first decade or so of the 20th century, and thus cannot be replaced under Article 23.9.2 of the Code. It is proposed that the name Atricha Gould be suppressed to confer stability in nomenclature.
Comments on the proposed conservation of araneidae Clerck, 1758, Araneus Clerck, 1758 and Tegenaria Latreille, 1804 (Arachnida, Araneae)
Peter Jäger, O. Kraus, Herbert W. Levi, Nikita J. Kluge, David T. Jones, Catherine A. Tauber, Frank-Thorsten Krell, J.F. Genise, J.H. Laza, A.K. Rindsberg, Andrew Polaszek, Amir Yassin, V. Sidorenko, Maurice Kottelat, Helen K. Larson, Ron E. Watson, Philippe Keith, Gilles Cuny, Robert M. Sullivan, Claudia A. Marsicano, Bernhard Hausdorf, Uwe Fritz, Charles W. Myers, Walter E. Schargel, Thomas M. Donegan
RULINGS OF THE COMMISSION
Opinion 2188 (Case 3353)
Obovaria Rafinesque, 1819 (Mollusca, Bivalvia): usage conserved by designation of Unio retusa Lamarck, 1819 as the type species
KEYWORDS: nomenclature, taxonomy, Bivalvia, Unionidae, Obovaria, Obovaria obovalis, Obovaria retusa, Fusconaia ebena, eastern United States, freshwater mussel
The Commission has ruled that the usage of the name Obovaria Rafinesque, 1819 is conserved for a freshwater bivalve from the eastern United States by designation of Unio retusa Lamarck, 1819 as the type species and that the name Obovaria obovalis Rafinesque, 1820 is a nomen oblitum.
Oncopus Thorell, 1876 and oncopodidae Thorell, 1876 (Arachnida, Opiliones): proposed conservation of the names not approved
KEYWORDS: nomenclature, taxonomy, Insecta, Lepidoptera, Geometridae, moths, Arachnida, Opiliones, Oncopodidae, Oncopus, harvestmen, Southeast Asia
An application to conserve the generic name Oncopus Thorell, 1876 for a group of nine opilionids from Southeast Asia, together with the family-group name oncopodidae Thorell, 1876 for geometrid moths from Asia, by suppressing the little used senior homonym Oncopus Herrich-Schäffer, 1855 for two South American Lepidoptera has not been approved.
Tydeus Koch, 1836 (Arachnida, Acari): Tydeus spathulatus Oudemans, 1928 designated as the type species
65(1), 68, (1 March 2008)https://doi.org/10.21805/bzn.v65i1.a14
KEYWORDS: nomenclature, taxonomy, Acari, Tydeus, Tydeus spathulatus, tydeid mites
The Commission has ruled that all previous type species fixations for the nominal genus Tydeus Koch, 1836 are set aside and Tydeus spathulatus Oudemans, 1928 is designated as the type species.
Cercophonius brachycentrus bivittatus Thorell, 1877 (currently Orobothriurus bivittatus; Arachnida, Scorpiones): proposed replacement of the holotype by the designation of a neotype not accepted
KEYWORDS: nomenclature, taxonomy, Arachnida, Scorpiones, Orobothriurus, Orobothriurus bivittatus, scorpions, Argentina
The Commission has ruled that the type material of the scorpion Cercophonius brachycentrus bivittatus Thorell, 1877 (currently Orobothriurus bivittatus) from Argentina should not be replaced by a neotype. The original material still exists and there is no exceptional need to designate a neotype.
Curculio contractus Marsham, 1802 (currently Ceutorhynchus contractus; Insecta, Coleoptera): specific name conserved
KEYWORDS: nomenclature, taxonomy, Curculionidae, Curculio, Ceutorhynchus, Ceutorhynchus contractus, Europe, weevil
The Commission has ruled that the specific name Ceutorhynchus contractus (Marsham, 1802) is conserved for a well known species of European weevil (family curculionidae) by suppression of a little used senior primary homonym Curculio contractus Geoffroy in Fourcroy, 1785.
Celaenorrhinus ratna Fruhstorfer, 1908 (Insecta, Lepidoptera): specificname conserved
KEYWORDS: nomenclature, taxonomy, Hesperiidae, Celaenorrhinus ratna, Celaenorrhinus kawakamii, hesperiid butterfly, Asia
The Commission has ruled that the specific name Celaenorrhinus ratna Fruhstorfer, 1908 is conserved for a widespread tropical butterfly (hesperiidae) by suppression of Notocrypta kawakamii (currently Celaenorrhinus kawakamii) Matsumura, 1907.
Schizechinus Pomel, 1869 (Echinodermata, Echinoidea): usage not conserved and designation of Psammechinus serresii Desor, 1856 as the type species not accepted
KEYWORDS: nomenclature, taxonomy, Echinodermata, Echinoidea, toxopneustidae, Schizechinus, Echinus serresii, Schizechinus serresii, Neogene, Miocene, Mediterranean
The Commission has ruled that the current usage of the name Schizechinus Pomel, 1869 (Echinodermata, Echinoidea) for a genus of toxopneustid echinoids from the Miocene of the Mediterranean region and possibly the Neogene of Australia is not conserved. The name Echinus serresii Des Moulins, 1837 is maintained and designation of Psammechinus serresii Desor, 1856 as the type species of Schizechinus Pomel, 1869 is not accepted.
Hyloxalus panamansis Dunn, 1933 (currently Colostethus panamansis; Amphibia, Anura): original spelling maintained
KEYWORDS: nomenclature, taxonomy, Amphibia, Anura, Dendrobatidae, Colostethus, Hyloxalus panamansis, Hyloxalus panamensis, Central America, Panama, frog
The Commission has ruled that the original spelling Hyloxalus panamansis Dunn, 1933 should be maintained for the specific name of a Central American dendrobatid frog. The subsequent spelling Hyloxalus panamensis Dunn, 1940 is not conserved.
Calamaria H. Boie in F. Boie, 1827 (Reptilia, Serpentes): usage conserved by designation of C. linnaei H. Boie in F. Boie, 1827 as the type species
KEYWORDS: nomenclature, taxonomy, Reptilia, Serpentes, Calamaria, Calamaria linnaei, snakes, Asia
The Commission has ruled that the current usage of the generic name Calamaria H. Boie in F. Boie, 1827 for a genus of Asian colubrid snakes is conserved by setting aside all previous fixations of type species and designating Calamaria linnaei H. Boie in F. Boie, 1827 as the type species.


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Photos: NASCAR at Martinsville Speedway, Friday Apr. 1, 2016
April 1, 2016 NASCAR/ Getty Images/Greg Engle Photos 0
MARTINSVILLE, VA – APRIL 01: Rico Abreu, driver of the #98 Safelite Auto Glass/CURB Records Toyota, stands in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville Speedway on April 1, 2016 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images)
MARTINSVILLE, VA – APRIL 01: Danica Patrick, driver of the #10 TaxACT Chevrolet, sits in her car during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on April 1, 2016 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images)
MARTINSVILLE, VA – APRIL 01: Danica Patrick, driver of the #10 TaxACT Chevrolet, adjusts her equipment during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on April 1, 2016 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images)
during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on April 1, 2016 in Martinsville, Virginia.
Kurt Busch (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)
MARTINSVILLE, VA – APRIL 01: A towel rests on the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, driven by Jimmie Johnson (not pictured), during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on April 1, 2016 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images)
MARTINSVILLE, VA – APRIL 01: Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Jimmy John's Chevrolet, stands in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on April 1, 2016 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)
MARTINSVILLE, VA – APRIL 01: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, drives through the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on April 1, 2016 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)
MARTINSVILLE, VA – APRIL 01: Ryan Blaney, driver of the #21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, stands in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on April 1, 2016 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)
MARTINSVILLE, VA – APRIL 01: Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Jimmy John's Chevrolet, practices for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on April 1, 2016 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images)
MARTINSVILLE, VA – APRIL 01: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Furniture Row Toyota, practices for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on April 1, 2016 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images)
MARTINSVILLE, VA – APRIL 01: Trevor Bayne, driver of the #6 AdvoCare Ford, and Josh Wise, driver of the #30 Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet, practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on April 1, 2016 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images)
during practice for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville Speedway on April 1, 2016 in Martinsville, Virginia.
MARTINSVILLE, VA – APRIL 01: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's 75th Anniversary Toyota, gets into his car during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on April 1, 2016 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)
during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on April 1, 2016 in Martinsville, Virginia.
MARTINSVILLE, VA – APRIL 01: Brad Keselowski, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Ford, stands on the grid during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on April 1, 2016 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images)
MARTINSVILLE, VA – APRIL 01: Natalie Decker, driver of the #14 Corvetteparts.net Chevrolet, sits in her truck during practice for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville Speedway on April 1, 2016 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)
MARTINSVILLE, VA – APRIL 01: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, stands on the grid during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on April 1, 2016 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)
MARTINSVILLE, VA – APRIL 01: Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, poses with the Coors Light Pole Award after qualifying for pole position for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on April 1, 2016 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)
Written by: NASCAR/ Getty Images/Greg Engle, April 1, 2016
Joey Logano dominates qualifying for third consecutive Martinsville pole
Camping World Truck Series Alpha Energy Solutions 250


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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Coach, Gap, FXCM, Lululemon, Netflix, Target and More
By Jon C. Ogg	January 16, 2015 8:40 am
Stocks were down again on Friday morning ahead of the weekend. It remains to be seen what the trend will be for 2015, but throughout 2014 (and before) investors proved day in and day out that they will buy stocks on weakness or will buy value. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning to find new investment and trading ideas for its readers. Some of these analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while other reports cover stocks to sell or avoid.
These are this Friday's top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen from Wall Street.
Abraxas Petroleum Corp. (NASDAQ: AXAS) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and its price target was cut to $2.75 from $4.00 (from a $2.69 close) at Canaccord Genuity.
Boston Beer Co. (NYSE: SAM) was started as Buy at Jefferies.
Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) was started as Market Perform at Bernstein.
Costco Wholesale Inc. (NASDAQ: COST) was started as Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.
Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) was started as Market Perform at Bernstein.
GrubHub Inc. (NYSE: GRUB) was started as Buy at Stifel.
Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo, just a day after Goldman Sachs raised its rating to Neutral from Sell.
ALSO READ: How Low Oil Prices Are Already Affecting Houston
FXCM Inc. (NYSE: FXCM) appears to have suffered a catastrophic loss on the Swiss central bank move. With shares down over 80%, we have seen two downgrades so far: to Sell from Neutral at Citigroup and to Underperform from Neutral with a $4 price target at Credit Suisse.
Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE: FDO) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies.
Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) was started as Outperform at Bernstein.
Marlin Midstream Partners L.P. (NASDAQ: FISH) upgraded to Buy from Neutral with a $28 price target (versus a $19.02 close) at Janney Capital Markets.
ALSO READ: Oppenheimer's Top 5 Ideas for 2015
Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: KORS) was started as Outperform at Bernstein.
Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Cowen. Just two days earlier, Stifel raised its rating to Buy from Hold.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: HOT) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Merrill Lynch.
ALSO READ: J.P. Morgan's Top Defensive MLPs to Buy in 2015
T. Rowe Price Group Inc. (NASDAQ: TROW) was downgraded to Underweight from Overweight at J.P. Morgan.
TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX) was started as Outperform at Bernstein.
We recently have been giving the S&P 500 price targets from major strategists, but now we have our own DJIA target modeled showing why the Dow will hit 19,142 in 2015. It includes a bullish and bearish case for each of the 30 DJIA stocks.
In case you missed Thursday's top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they were in shares of Apple, Barrick Gold, Corning, Groupon, Peabody Energy, SolarCity and over a dozen more.
« 5 Top Trading Ideas for 2015 From Oppenheimer
Not Even Goldman Sachs Escapes Bank Earnings Drag »
Read more: Investing, Active Trader, Analyst Downgrades, Analyst Upgrades, featured, Research, Abraxas Petroleum Corp. (NASDAQ:AXAS), Coach (NYSE:COH), Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST), Family Dollar Stores (NYSE:FDO), Gap (NYSE:GPS), Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worl... (NYSE:HOT), The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY), MICHAEL KORS HOLDINGS LTD COM ... (NYSE:KORS), Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU), Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM), Target (NYSE:TGT), The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX), T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)


Astrological yellow sapphires: High quality, untreated, jyotish gemstones for Vedic purposes.
Yellow sapphire belongs to the mineral specie Corundum or Aluminum Oxide, with chemical formula Al2O3, that forms in prismatic tabular, bipyramidal or rhombohedral crystals, as well as granular or massive habits, and may be transparent to opaque. The yellow colour is given by traces of iron in low concentration.
Yellow sapphire helps in better clarity, focus and therefore better decision making ability.
repeated 19 times at the time of wearing the yellow sapphire talisman.
Wealth, name, fame, success and honor.
The native will not be a moderate but an extremist.


It's been a little over 13 years since the events of 9/11 took place and yet there is still a huge divide in what the truth is about the events that took place on that day.
For some, the idea that the official story is incorrect are mere conspiracy theories while for others it is closer to self evident. Whether it's Daniel Ganser's telling revelations about how the official story cannot be true or whether it's over 2200 architects and engineers who have questioned the official story and scientifically shown how unviable it is, it's clear that this isn't simply a conspiracy theory.
Something that many are not aware of is that much of the questioning that has happened about 9/11 has come directly from the families who lost loved ones, firefighters, police officers and architects/engineers. This idea that it's only a crazy internet conspiracy could not be further from the truth.
Rudy Dent is one of those firefighters who has questioned the official story of what happened that day based on his eye witness experience and also his expertise. He is a Vietnam War veteran, a four year member of the NYPD and spent thirty-two years as a NYC firefighter.
The following interview was conducted by Infowars reporter Lee Ann McAdoo.
Are We Getting Closer To The Truth?
As years have gone by polls have revealed that more and more of the world does not believe the official story about 9/11. In fact 1/3 of Americans do not believe the official story the 9/11 commission report sent out regarding the attacks that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001. (Scripps Howard/Ohio University poll) Some believe that number could be as high as 50% now.
This of course is for good reason when you consider the amount of unanswered questions surrounding the event. On top of this, since the events of 9/11, there have been worldwide crack downs on security including the introduction of many bills and acts that put the rights and freedoms of citizens at risk in various countries. It has also created cultural stigmas that continue to divide and pull people apart.
As time goes on we get closer and closer to the truth and more momentum builds towards finally pressuring the US government to re-open the investigation into what happened that day. On Wednesday December 10th 2014, David Long (9/11 survivor and author of the 9/11 petition presented to parliament on December 3rd by Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party), Bill Brinnier (NY architect and board member of New York City Coalition for Accountability Now), Isabelle Beenen (Spokesperson for NYC based Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth) and Dr. Graeme MacQueen (Spokesperson for Consensus 9/11 and founder of McMaster's Centre of Peace Studies) delivered powerful statements at a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa challenging the government to respond.


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Grosseto Dining out in Maremma - restaurants Grosseto - eating in Maremma - eating out Grosseto - eating & drinking in Grosseto
> Italy
> Tuscany
> Grosseto
Hotels & Lodgings
Segui @noziotravel
Guide of Grosseto, Italy
Author: Roby Ferrari
Tips on where to stay
Places and charm
Download Guide Grosseto:
PDF to print and bind
Grosseto Eating And Drinking, Italy
Maremma cooking is simple but very genuine and flavorful, based on peasant traditions. It could be said that the Maremma is divided into two very distinct areas: a lot of fish is eaten on the coast, either caught or farm-raised in the lagoon; in the hinterland, on the other hand, there is a predominance of seasonal vegetables, wild game, deli meats, cheeses and its famous truffles.
Among the pasta dishes, one that is very popular is tortelli maremmani, stuffed with ricotta and spinach and seasoned with tomato or truffle. There are also the very typical pici, large, rough spaghetti that are seasoned with a sauce made from hare or wild boar. One famous dish from Orbetello is bottarga, made from mullet or tuna eggs that are dried and then grated on pasta or bruschetta. It's a specialty that you ought to try at least once in your life.
There are many soups that come from poor peasant cooking, in particular, acquacotta: there are many versions, but the basic one is made from onion, egg and seasonal vegetables. There is also ricotta soup, made from spinach and ricotta, or fish soup. All Maremma soups are served on slices of toasted stale bread.
The meat in Maremma cooking is of three main types: wild boar, lamb and, of course, Maremma beef. The wild boar is stewed, as in cinghiale alla maremmana, but it also used a great deal to make excellent deli meats such as prosciutto and culatello. Maremma cows are typically allowed to graze wild and provide a lean, flavorful meat: and don't pass up a chance to order a buttera, a steak at least 3 fingers high, grilled over the coals and seasoned with salt, pepper and olive oil. As for the lamb, the most original Maremma recipe is, without doubt, buglione.
Fish is represented by many varieties, from the sea or lagoon, and is prepared in many tasty recipes, on the grill, baked or in soups. One typical dish is scavecio, made from the so-called poor fish because full of spines and not very saleable; these are marinated to soften them and make them more appetizing. There is also the delicious baccalà alla maremmana, which is dried salt cod fried and seasoned with tomato and spices while, from Orbetello we have a tradition of eating eel, which is marinated in vinegar or lemon and then fried. Spanish domination left a heritage of anguilla sfumata, which is eel smoked after a very long and laborious process.
The sweets of the Maremma are the typical "poor sweets" made with simple, always available ingredients, such as dried fruit, honey and eggs. This tradition has also provided panforte which is made from dried, candied fruit, castagnaccio made with chestnut flour, or sfratti, which are the typical sweets of the Jewish community of Pitigliano. You should also try pastiera, a cake filled with ricotta.
Wine has been present in Maremma since Etruscan times. Recently, production has made enormous strides forward, reaching prestigious levels of quality.
The northern area of the Maremma, around Massa Marittima, produces the good Monteregio DOC wines, which can be red, white or rosé. The area of volcanic origin between Scansano and Pitigliano, is distributing new types of wines, the pleasant and fruity Baby Tuscans that, unlike the more famous Super Tuscans, require shorter aging of two or three years. The best known of these red wines are Morellino di Scansano and Sovana, but there are also Capalbio Rosso and Parrina Rosso. This area also produces a good white wine: the Bianco di Pitigliano.
Finally, the entire coastal area near the Argentario produces excellent white wines like Ansonica and Vermentino, which is very popular in Tuscany, and even a good desert wine: the Vin Santo.
Author:Nozio
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Rain greets us as we arrive in Bergen, Norway. The Captain said it would rain all day. Accuweather said it would let up as the day progressed. Accuweather was right!
We braved driving rain and wind and made our way to Bryggen. We had purchased Ho Ho bus tickets, but with the weather, the buses were full. Within 10 minutes, the rain and wind had let up. We gladly tucked the umbrellas away! Bryggen (the old harbor) is as pretty as advertised…and expensive.
My fridge magnet was roughly $12. Yikes! We walked over to the fish market and saw live langostinos (a first for me) and cooked lobsters going for about $40 each! I must say "Yikes" again! After a couple of hours walking around, we headed back to the ship for lunch. We were not going to pay $20 for fish and chips!
The moment we were back in our stateroom, the Heaven's let loose anothet torrent of rain. Excellent timing on our part. We opted for a quick meal in the buffet before settling in to read for a bit.
DH was keeping an eye on the top of Mount Floyen. We wanted to take the funicular to the top, but the mountain had been shrouded in clouds. A bit before three o'clock it cleared and off we went. Although still overcast, we had a great view of the harbor.
Despite the less than stellar weather, we really enjoyed this first stop in Norway.


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Recently I was reminded how the musical arrangement of a hymn can influence the interpretation of the story and of the message of the hymn. The words of the old hymn "My Jesus, I Love Thee" were probably written in 1862. It is attributed to then sixteen year old William R. Featherston. That he was sixteen when he wrote this confession of faith in and love for Jesus Christ is an impressive story in itself. Apparently this fact is all that is known about the writing of this hymn. With this hymn the young Featherston provides us with words by which we confess our love for Christ.
We love Jesus who has poured out upon us the grace of God as our Redeemer and Savior. In response to His love for us, we express our love to Him by turning away from the follies of sin. "If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now," as I commit my life to living the life to which You have called me.
A hymn of praise and celebration of Jesus, our Redeemer and Savior. A hymn of thanksgiving. A hymn of love expressed to Jesus. A hymn of confession, of faith, of commitment.
The traditional tune was written by Adoniram J. Gordon in 1876. When I sing the hymn with this tune I sing the story of celebration and joyous thanksgiving. The story of the hymn is one of a grateful disciple of Jesus, in the wondrous grace and hope of salvation in Christ, expressing his love for Jesus.
As my wife and I recently drove three thousand miles we listened to one CD of hymns again and again. One of the hymns was "My Jesus, I love Thee." The words were the same. Only the musical arrangement was different, a more recent arrangement. As I listened the story and the message of the hymn changed. It was still a hymn of confession, a hymn of faith, a hymn of commitment, a hymn expressing love for Jesus, especially now. Only the story was now of a disciple of Jesus in the depths of suffering, in the depths of grief. The hymn was now the story of a disciple who had every reason to doubt the love of Jesus and to question his own love for Jesus. In this disciple's suffering, in his grief, Jesus seems so silent, so far away.
This entry was posted in Cross of Christ, Devotion, Discipleship, Faith, Grief and Faith, Hope, Jesus Christ, Life in Christ, Suffering and Faith and tagged Cross of Jesus, Faith, Hope, Love of God, Perseverance and Hope, Suffering, Suffering and Faith, Suffering and Hope. Bookmark the permalink.


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Indiana extends contract with Gary schools manager
WFYI Public Radio | By Dylan Peers McCoy
Published May 27, 2022 at 9:01 AM EDT
Dylan Peers McCoy/WFYI
The financial outlook for Gary's schools has improved. But lawmakers have yet to agree on a plan for ending the takeover.
The state board charged with overseeing the Gary school district voted Thursday to extend its management contract with MGT Consulting Group while committing to focus on improving academics.
The Indiana legislature seized control of the Gary Community Schools district five years ago in response to dire financial problems. Under state oversight, the financial picture has improved. But lawmakers have yet to agree on a plan for ending the takeover.
Without a clear vision for how the takeover will end, the Distressed Unit Appeal Board voted unanimously to negotiate up to a two-year contract with Florida-based MGT, which has run the school system since 2017.
"We see this as the beginning of the end," said board chair Justin McAdam. "We believe that as a board that we are in a position where this engagement — at least in its current form — can be concluded in two years. However, that does require legislative intervention."
The legislature is not set to reconvene until 2023.
Ahead of the contract vote, the board held a meeting in Gary where MGT made a presentation to residents and heard public comment. More than a dozen Gary residents came to Indianapolis earlier this week to urge lawmakers to return the schools to local control.
DUAB has become something akin to a school board for the Gary district. But instead of locally elected board members, it is made up of state officials and non-voting lawmakers. Its meetings often focus on the financial condition of the school system.
Over the next two years, the board expects to prioritize academic improvements, McAdam said.
"We are fortunate to be in a position where now the resources of the district can be primarily focused on academics," he said. "That's as it should be. That's how most school corporations get to act. And it's where we want the school corporation to be focusing its effort now and in the future."
Eric Parish, MGT executive vice president, outlined some of the strategies the group plans to improve academic performance in Gary. It will rely on two additional team members, Transformation Director Andre Wright and Project Director Rajeev Bajaj. Paige McNulty will continue as district manager.
At the meeting. Rep. Vernon Smith (D-Gary) was aggressively critical of MGT's approach to engagement with the Gary community and families.
"People aren't … gonna always remember what you do. They're not gonna always remember what you say. But they do remember how you make them feel," said Smith, a non-voting member of the board. "And I'm saying, MGT makes people feel inferior."
But after MGT presented its academic plans for the school system, Smith said he was "encouraged" by the data-driven approach.
Rep. Liz Brown (R-Fort Wayne) urged the board not to lose sight of how severe the problems in Gary were before the takeover. The year the state intervened, the district had accumulated more than $100 million in long-term debt. At the time, teachers lacked textbooks and curriculum guides, and some buildings were unsecured.
"We need to remember, though, there is no rainy day fund now. There are no cash reserves. We finally got to a point — under the amazing management of MGT — where they are not spending more money than they are taking in," Brown said. "But we had a long way to go, financially."
Since MGT took over management, the district has made budget cuts to reduce the annual deficit and has benefitted from a massive influx of local, state and federal money. That included a crucial increase in local property taxes, which voters approved in 2020.
Contact WFYI education reporter Dylan Peers McCoy at dmccoy@wfyi.org. Follow on Twitter: @dylanpmccoy.
Copyright 2022 WFYI Public Radio. To see more, visit WFYI Public Radio.
Indiana News Localgaryschoolsschool takeover
Dylan Peers McCoy


text:
"""Processes Google Workspace logs for loading into Timesketch."""

import os
import tempfile
import json
import string

from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional, TYPE_CHECKING

from dftimewolf.lib.module import BaseModule
from dftimewolf.lib.containers import containers

from dftimewolf.lib.modules import manager as modules_manager

if TYPE_CHECKING:
  from dftimewolf.lib import state

class WorkspaceAuditTimesketch(BaseModule):
  """Transforms Google Workspace logs for Timesketch."""

  _FORMAT_STRINGS_PATH = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__),
      'workspace_format_strings.json')

  _IGNORABLE_RECORD_FIELDS = [
      'time', 'datetime', 'timestamp', 'data_type', 'timestamp_desc']

  def __init__(self,
               state: "state.DFTimewolfState",
               name: Optional[str]=None,
               critical: bool=False):
    super(WorkspaceAuditTimesketch, self).__init__(
        state, name=name, critical=critical)

    with open(self._FORMAT_STRINGS_PATH, 'r') as formatters_json:
      self._all_application_format_strings = json.load(formatters_json)

  def SetUp(self, *args, **kwargs): # type: ignore
    """Sets up necessary module configuration options."""
    # No configuration required.

  def _ExtractActorInformation(
      self, actor_dict: Dict[str, str]) -> Dict[str, Optional[str]]:
    """Extracts actor information from a Workspace log record.

    Args:
      actor_dict (dict): contents of the 'actor' dict in a Workspace log record

    Returns:
      dict[str, str]: a dictionary containing actor information suitable for
          adding to a Timesketch record.
    """
    return {
        'actor_email': actor_dict.get('email'),
        'actor_profileId': actor_dict.get('profileId'),
        'actor_callerType': actor_dict.get('callerType'),
        'actor_key': actor_dict.get('key')}

  def _FlattenParameters(
      self, parameters: List[Dict[str, str]]) -> Dict[str, str]:
    """Flattens out parameter information from a Workspace log record.

    The parameter list looks like this:
      [{"name": "event_id", "value": "4"}, {"name": "title", "value": "foo"}]

    This method turns it into:
      {"event_id": "4", "title": "foo"}

    Args:
      parameters (list): the contents of a Workspace parameters list.

    Returns:
      dict[str, str]: a dictionary containing parameter information suitable for
          adding to a Timesketch record.
    """
    parameters_dict = {}
    for parameter in parameters:
      name = parameter.get('name')
      if not name:
        self.ModuleError(
            'Encountered a parameter with no name. '
            'Full parameter dictionary: {0:s}'.format(str(parameters)))
        continue
      name = name.lower()
      value = parameter.get('value')  # type: Optional[str]
      if not value:
        multivalue = parameter.get('multiValue', '')  # type: str
        value = ', '.join(multivalue)
      if name and value:
        parameters_dict[name] = str(value)
    return parameters_dict

  def _AddMessageString(self, timesketch_record: Dict[str, Any]) -> None:
    """Builds a Timesketch message string from a Timesketch record.

    Args:
      timesketch_record (dict): a dictionary that will be serialized to JSON
        and uploaded to Timesketch.
    """
    application_name = timesketch_record.get('applicationName')
    format_strings = self._all_application_format_strings.get(
        application_name, {})
    if not format_strings:
      self.logger.warning(
          'No format strings found for application name {0:s}'.format(
              application_name))
    event_name = timesketch_record.get('_event_name', '').lower()
    format_string = format_strings.get(event_name)

    if not format_string:
      self.logger.warning(
          'No format strings found for event_name {0:s}'.format(event_name))
      columns = [
          f'{{{field}}}' for field in timesketch_record.keys()
          if field not in self._IGNORABLE_RECORD_FIELDS
      ]
      format_string = ' '.join(columns)

    message = ''
    formatter = string.Formatter()
    for literal_text, field, _, _ in formatter.parse(format_string):
      message = message + literal_text
      if field:
        if field == 'actor':
          actor = (timesketch_record.get('actor_email') or
                   timesketch_record.get('actor_profileId') or
                   timesketch_record.get('actor_key'))
          message += '{0!s}'.format(actor)
          continue
        value = timesketch_record.get(field)
        if not value:
          value = timesketch_record.get(field.lower())
        if not value:
          value = ''
        message += '{0!s}'.format(value)

    timesketch_record['message'] = message

  def _ProcessLogLine(self, log_record_string: str) -> List[str]:
    """Processes a single JSON formatted Google Workspace log line.

    Args:
      log_record_string (str): a JSON formatted Workspace log entry.

    Returns:
      list[str]: one or more Timesketch records.
    """
    log_record = json.loads(log_record_string)
    actor = self._ExtractActorInformation(log_record.pop('actor', {}))
    identifiers = log_record.pop('id', {})
    timestamp = identifiers.pop('time')
    events = log_record.pop('events', [])
    timesketch_records = []
    for event in events:
      timesketch_record = {
          'datetime': timestamp,
          'timestamp_desc': 'Event Recorded',
          '_event_type': event.get('type'),
          '_event_name': event.get('name'),
      }
      timesketch_record.update(actor)
      timesketch_record.update(identifiers)
      timesketch_record.update(log_record)

      parameters = self._FlattenParameters(event.get('parameters', {}))
      timesketch_record.update(parameters)

      self._AddMessageString(timesketch_record)

      timesketch_records.append(json.dumps(timesketch_record))
    return timesketch_records

  def _ProcessLogContainer(
      self, logs_container: containers.WorkspaceLogs) -> None:
    """Processes a Workspace logs container.

    Args:
      logs_container (WorkspaceLogs): logs container.
    """
    if not logs_container.path:
      self.ModuleError('Encountered a logs container with an empty path')
      return

    output_file = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(
        mode='w', encoding='utf-8', delete=False, suffix='.jsonl')
    output_path = output_file.name
    self.logger.info(
        'Adding Timesketch attributes to logs from {0:s} to {1:s}'.format(
            logs_container.path, output_path))

    with open(logs_container.path, 'r') as input_file:
      for line in input_file:
        transformed_lines = self._ProcessLogLine(line)
        for transformed_line in transformed_lines:
          output_file.write(transformed_line)
          output_file.write('\n')
    output_file.close()

    timeline_name = 'Workspace {0:s} logs'.format(
        logs_container.application_name)
    if logs_container.user_key:
      timeline_name = f'{timeline_name} for {logs_container.user_key}'
    if logs_container.start_time:
      timeline_name = f'{timeline_name} from {logs_container.start_time}'
    if logs_container.end_time:
      timeline_name = f'{timeline_name} to {logs_container.end_time}'
    if logs_container.filter_expression:
      timeline_name = (
          f'{timeline_name} filter {logs_container.filter_expression}')

    container = containers.File(name=timeline_name, path=output_path)
    self.state.StoreContainer(container)

  def Process(self) -> None:
    """Processes Workspace logs containers for insertion into Timesketch."""
    logs_containers = self.state.GetContainers(containers.WorkspaceLogs)
    for logs_container in logs_containers:
      self._ProcessLogContainer(logs_container)

modules_manager.ModulesManager.RegisterModule(WorkspaceAuditTimesketch)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
The real horror of the "Midsommar" end
McCain on Graham: Not the person I knew
Trump's Cabinet exodus is an emergency
Sophia Tesfaye
Jihad from the Caribbean
In Trinidad, Salon meets longtime Muslim agitator Yasin Abu Bakr, who is allegedly linked to the plot to blow up JFK airport.
Check out this article! https://www.salon.com/2007/06/27/jfk_plot/
Tristram Korten
June 27, 2007 3:11PM (UTC)
For Yasin Abu Bakr, the 65-year-old leader of the Muslim sect Jamaat al Muslimeen in Trinidad and Tobago, the timing couldn't have been worse. On Monday, June 11, Bakr headed to the Hall of Justice in Port-of-Spain, the capital of the Caribbean island nation, to start his trial on sedition charges stemming from a sermon he gave in 2005. That same day three men accused of plotting to sabotage New York's JFK International Airport and arrested in Trinidad appeared at an extradition hearing a block away from the Hall of Justice in Magistrate's Court. Ever since the U.S. indictment of the three alleged JFK plotters mentioned that one of the accused had met with Bakr to discuss the plan, the imam hasn't been able to shake the association. In print, on TV, in sidewalk conversations spanning the Caribbean, Bakr and the plotters were linked. And now their court dates were shadowing each other. Bakr's lawyers were left to fulminate in open court that the media circus had made a fair trial impossible.
Even the black-robed presiding judge at Bakr's trial, Justice Mark Mohammad, a round-faced man with a close-shaven head, was sympathetic. From his perch at the front of the wood-and-cloth-paneled courtroom, Mohammad chastised the media. He warned the scrum of print and electronic reporters in attendance that they could be held in contempt of court for linking the two cases in their stories, a crime under Trinidad's British-based code of law. Yet the next day defense lawyers in very British black robes and stiff white collars with ribbons contemplated whether Mohammad himself should be removed for penning a prior legal opinion regarding yet another Bakr matter.
Mohammad remained, and the trial was delayed. Everyone in this country of 1.3 million has an opinion about Bakr, the man who once launched the only violent Muslim uprising in the history of the Western Hemisphere. So does America's Federal Bureau of Investigation, which has been monitoring him at least since 2001. No court order can change that.
Trinidad and its much smaller sister island of Tobago, which lie just off the coast of Venezuela, comprise the second-largest (and southernmost) of the English-speaking Caribbean nations. Thanks to oil and gas revenues from wells and refineries, the predominantly black and Indian population enjoys a better standard of living than most of their neighbors. Port-of-Spain, on the northwest coast of Trinidad, is a slightly grittier version of Miami, a bustling, low-rise tropical metropolis of 130,000, teeming with cars and people rushing to office buildings and Indian restaurants. Construction cranes dot the horizon. Three daily newspapers make for a well-informed public. And nobody has dominated the headlines of those papers more than Yasin Abu Bakr.
It's not just his reputation that stands out. Bakr cuts a striking figure as he strides to the Hall of Justice every morning. Most days he's dressed in a vest, white ankle-length jilab (or gown) and white pleated kofi hat. At well over 6 feet tall with café-au-lait skin, he looms above the Jamaat bodyguards in fatigues, combat boots and knit caps who surround him. He has long limbs, elegant fingers and a trim mustache, and he carries himself with a regal calm, which both belies and augments his image as the feared leader of a violent group. During pretrial hearings he sits in the wooden defendant's box alone, alert and upright, sometimes rubbing his furrowed brow as if the barrister's arguments tired him. Three women in head scarves, identified by a local reporter as three of his four wives, sit in the courtroom to his right.
"Maybe when all this is over, we can talk," Bakr explains apologetically outside the courtroom after his guards, standing stiffly and wearing sunglasses even though they're inside, reluctantly permit access to him during the break in the proceedings. He is seated on a bench in the polished stone rotunda of the courthouse, considering whether to give his side of the story to the American public. "But I can't necessarily trust what you say," he says. He pauses a beat, smiles and adds, "It's not personal. Things get taken out of context all the time."
His reticence is understandable given the judge's harangue to the press, and the fact that Bakr's own words are what landed him in court. He is charged with sedition, terrorism and incitement, for threatening violence against rich Trinidadian Muslims who wouldn't pay him zakaat, religious contributions to help the poor. He faces up to 25 years in prison for warning, according to the indictment, of "a war in which lives may be lost." Yet the Jamaat's fiery leader and orator has never been known for keeping his mouth shut. Now, though, it's not just Trinis who can hear him. To the north the U.S. government is paying close attention. Bakr may sense his ability to bully local authorities has reached its limits.
From a U.S. perspective Jamaat's potential role in global terrorism has been a concern for nearly 20 years -- ever since Bakr and his followers tried to take over Trinidad. In 1990, it attacked government and media buildings and took hostages in a failed coup attempt. (It subsequently negotiated a pardon.) Its members are widely reported to have received some military training in Libya.
The group took on greater significance after Sept. 11, 2001. In 2002 Maj. Gen. Gary Speer, acting commander of the U.S. Southern Command, listed Jamaat al Muslimeen alongside Peru's Sendero Luminoso terrorist group as regional threats, capable of striking U.S. interests in their respective countries, during testimony before the House Appropriations Committee. In 2004 the Institute for Analysis of Global Security focused on Jamaat in a report pointing out that Trinidad and Tobago supply the U.S. with up to 80 percent of our natural gas, much of it shipped on tankers in liquid form, which are vulnerable to terrorist attacks. But the consensus had been that Jamaat's reach was limited, and Bakr's ambitions parochial.
The group officially graduated to the level of international problem on June 1, the day of the U.S. indictment in the JFK plot. It stated that in May, a Guyanese citizen named Abdel Nur visited Bakr at his mosque and briefed the imam about the plot to blow up the airport's fuel lines, and that Bakr instructed him to come back in a few days to go over the details.
"I know nothing of these matters," Bakr told Trinidadian journalist Tony Fraser, writing for the Associated Press. It was Bakr's sole public comment on the matter.
Jamaat officials acknowledge that two of those accused in the JFK plot visited their mosque, but they have tried to distance themselves from the group's past reputation for violence. Kala Akii-Bua told reporters gathered at the compound for a June 9 press conference that the group had evolved over the years and "turned not one, but many corners."
Most Trinidadians still scoff at the idea of Bakr as a jihadist willing to wage war on the U.S., largely because they don't see how he would profit from it. To them, he is a gang leader out for money and power. They see him as too comfortable in his white mansion perched in the hills above Port-of-Spain. And he is too public a figure, always in the headlines. In 2005 alone, he was tried and acquitted for conspiracy to murder two ex-Jamaat members, he was detained for questioning after a series of bombings in Port-of-Spain, and he gave the controversial zakaat sermon.
Then again, that same year a Jamaat member was convicted of trying to buy crates of rifles and machine guns in Florida for shipment to Trinidad. Although Jamaat denied the guns were meant for the group, it was a reminder that just 17 years ago, Yasin Abu Bakr had tried to take over a country.
Establishing an Islamic state in Trinidad and Tobago doesn't seem likely. This is the land of Carnival, steel drum bands and calypso and the birthplace of V.S. Naipaul. Muslims make up only about 7 percent of the population and are mostly of Indian descent. Most observers assumed the wealthy Muslims Bakr was threatening were Indo-Trinidadians. The Afro-Caribbean Muslims in Jamaat are relatively new converts and are inspired by the black nationalist movement. Bakr, who began life as Lennox Phillip and was once a Trinidadian policeman, himself converted to Islam after studying in Canada.
What was meant to be Bakr's sedition trial has for the time being devolved into a series of hearings about the press and its behavior. Bakr puts the blame for his bad publicity on the government. "It's not the press," Bakr says almost apologetically during a lunch break. It's the Trinidadian officials who talk to the press, he says. "The attorney general [John Jeremie] said some very wrong things about me." A scowl flickers across his face. A woman in a head scarf comes over and whispers in his ear. "Really, they don't want me to talk right now." He smiles graciously and steps away.
On Park Street, around the corner from the Hall of Justice, is the four-story building where Jones P. Madeira, the advisor/manager of communications for Trinidad's Ministry of Health, has his office. There was a time when Madeira, a former member of the media, talked to the imam often.
"Oh yes, I've seen Bakr quite a few times," Madeira says. "He's always very cordial when he greets me. He's even invited me to have dinner with him." So far, Madeira, a former broadcast journalist with neatly trimmed white hair, has politely declined. He has no desire to catch up on old times.
Madeira was working at the national television station TTTV in 1990. On the afternoon of July 27 he had holed up in an editing suite to work on a couple of reports when he heard a commotion, what sounded like a gunshot, then a tap on the door's glass window. "I turned around and saw a gun pointed straight at my head," Madeira recounts. "I saw the guy's eyes because he was staring right down the barrel at me, and he was screaming." Madeira eventually summoned the courage to open the door.
What he stepped into was a nightmare world of men shouldering automatic rifles, shooting into the air and marching his staff around. But he didn't fully comprehend what was going on until he heard the shouts of 'Allahu Akhbar!' "That's when it hit me," Madeira recalls. "'Jesus, it's the Jamaat.'"
Bakr's attack was motivated by a land dispute, according to "Society Under Siege," a book by Ramesh Deosaran, a sociology professor in Trinidad. In 1978, as Deosaran tells it, Bakr's group had taken over an eight-acre parcel that had been given to the island's Islamic Missionary Guild in 1969 by the government but never developed. The Jamaat built several buildings, including a mosque and school, without permits. Then it tried to expand to outlying acreage. The government pushed it back and put up a fence. This was, apparently, an unpardonable affront to Bakr.
As gunmen marched Madeira down the hallway, Bakr emerged in a "flowing white robe" from the main studio, where a children's show had been taping. "Abu Bakr's eyes catch mine and he comes up to me: 'Mr. Madeira, you know I don't want to hurt anybody. You must take over and get everybody calm.'" Madeira took his new role to heart. His first act was to ask Bakr to release two German visitors and any women and children in the building. Bakr agreed.
At that point Madeira had no idea of the scope of Bakr's plan. One hundred and fourteen of Bakr's followers had launched a coordinated attack aimed at paralyzing the country. The Jamaat guerrillas stormed the ornate Parliament building on St. Vincent Street, known as the Red House, shooting the then prime minister of Trinidad, Arthur Robinson, in the leg before taking him hostage. Across the street a Jamaat member used a tactic then unheard of in the Western Hemisphere -- suicide bombing. He drove a car laden with explosives up to the police station, shot the guard at the gate, then rammed the building. The ensuing explosion nearly leveled the structure.
Two miles away at the TV station, on-air and at gunpoint, Bakr ordered Madeira to announce to the nation that the government had fallen. Later Bakr made his own on-air proclamation, telling viewers that Prime Minister Robinson had been arrested and he, Bakr, was now in charge. He warned against looting, appealed for calm, then added a bit of prosaic populism for good measure. The value-added tax, 15 percent added to the sale of goods, was abolished.
Then a tape of the animated Disney film "The Little Mermaid" played over and over.
A weeklong ordeal ensued, in which the Trinidadian army surrounded both buildings. Madeira says he saw a mostly unarmed Bakr in complete control. "I think I saw him with a revolver maybe once," he says. "He has a very commanding voice, and was very authoritative without having to shout or be belligerent."
Hours after a second broadcast, the imam grew impatient and told Madeira the army must have blocked the signal. "He told me, 'Mr. Madeira, they're trying to prevent me from making my transmission. The people need to hear me because by now they should be at the station lifting me on their shoulders."
And that is when Madeira realized that Bakr probably didn't have a plan or exit strategy beyond the attack. "I really think he thought the people would rise up and support him."
The people didn't rise up. Before it was over, the seven-day siege was punctuated by two intense shootouts at the TV station. Bakr finally made some demands, among them that he be proclaimed minister of national defense and that Prime Minister Robinson resign. Both demands were rejected. Finally, on Aug. 2, the interim prime minister agreed to sign a pardon for the Jamaat if the group would release the hostages and surrender its arms. Bakr accepted the deal, and the ordeal was over. Afterward, the army held the Jamaat guerrillas prisoner while the government tried to renege on its bargain, but Trinidad's highest court sustained the pardon. Twenty-four people had died in the coup and the siege that followed, but the Jamaat went free.
The pardon is still an open wound in Trinidad. The man responsible for the most violent event in the nation's modern history walked away a free man. It made the government look impotent, and it emboldened Bakr. He sued the government for destroying some Jamaat buildings during the coup, won and received a $2.1 million settlement. (The government won its own civil suit against Jamaat for damage caused to government buildings during the coup, but the group has simply not paid.)
In the years since, Bakr has tried to refashion his organization into a more mainstream political force by offering to recruit votes from the poor Afro-Caribbean community for whichever political party would reward him. In 1995 Bakr was the first visitor to call on newly elected Prime Minister Basdeo Panday of the United National Congress, according to Fraser, the Trinidadian journalist. In 2002, when the opposing People's National Movement candidate Patrick Manning won the election for prime minister, Bakr and about a dozen of his men showed up at PNM headquarters during the victory celebration, also attended by Fraser. "They had on their long gowns and their hats," Fraser recalled, as he sipped a mixture of beer and ginger ale, called a shandy, at a small Port-of-Spain bar. "And they kept to themselves." But the message was clear: We helped you get here; now we want what is ours.
Devant Maharaj, a Hindu and the president of the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin, was campaigning against Manning's PNM party in 2001. "I met people who had been threatened by Jamaat with guns and told not to vote," he asserts. "So I know firsthand the terror Jamaat visited upon the people."
The Jamaat became closely identified with a PNM initiative called the Unemployment Relief Program, which put the jobless to work. Jamaat's members allegedly swelled the ranks. A program foreman and Jamaat lieutenant, Mark Guerra, was murdered in 2003.
Meanwhile, an increasingly violent crime wave swept the nation, including a spike in kidnappings for ransom. This is unusual in an oil-rich country with a growing economy and a relatively low 7 percent unemployment rate. Bakr became the No. 1 boogeyman in the popular imagination. His pardon was seen as the defining moment when law and order were defeated. Maharaj says his group did a study showing that the majority of the kidnap victims are Indian business owners, and that in the Indian community there is a strong perception Jamaat is involved. Maharaj has petitioned the government to outlaw the group.
But Bakr has said this association with crime is unfair. In 2005, while standing trial yet again, this time on charges he conspired to have two ex-Jamaat members assassinated, Bakr explained in court that part of his mission was to reach out to society's cast-offs, often young men involved in crime. When some of his recruits inevitably rejected the religious regimen and returned to their outlaw lifestyles, his group's image was unfairly tarnished. "I cannot say to them ... I can't help you because you are a criminal," Bakr said on the witness stand, according to the Trinidad Guardian newspaper. (After two trials, he was acquitted of the charges.)
The U.S. has monitored Jamaat al Muslimeen keenly since 9/11. But in 2005 the FBI opened a permanent office in Trinidad. Agents were brought to Port-of-Spain largely to help try to solve the bombings about which Bakr had been questioned. The bombings remain unsolved.
Steve McKean, a Florida-based undercover agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, is not surprised to see the Jamaat in headlines again two years later. Several years ago he set up a weapons deal with a "high-ranking" Jamaat member in Trinidad named Clive Lancelot Small. Posing as a drug dealer, McKean spent more than a year negotiating over the phone to sell Small 70 semiautomatic MAK-90 rifles (imitation AK-47s) and 10 MAC-10 machine pistols with silencers.
"He told me he was going to sell some and keep some for the group," McKean recalls. "It was obvious what they were for." The Jamaat planned to use them for its criminal activities, he says, and because "they were having trouble with the government."
The ATF recruited a Jamaat member imprisoned in the U.S. as a confidential informant in the case. The informant introduced McKean to Small, and helped maintain the cover story. Talking to the informant, McKean says he learned that the group smuggled heroin and cocaine into the U.S., mostly in Brooklyn, N.Y., home to tens of thousands of Trinidadian immigrants and a community of the Jamaat.
In 2001 Small sent Keith Andre Gaude to pick up the weapons from McKean. The ATF arrested Gaude, and he agreed to cooperate against Small, who was extradited from Trinidad and Tobago in 2005 and has since been convicted. Bakr was never directly implicated.
But terror and violence, it seems, can flow both ways. McKean never delivered any American firearms to anybody in Trinidad. America is, however, where Bakr's arsenal originated in 1990. The ATF traced many of the guns used in the coup back to the Fort Lauderdale area, where several Jamaat members then lived.
After a few days of negotiation, Yasin Abu Bakr finally agrees to have a Jamaat member give a tour of the compound on Mucurapo Road that serves as the group's headquarters. "Yes, we can do that," he says outside the courtroom, then stretches a long finger toward a lean young man in wire-rimmed glasses and a moss-colored jacket. "You." The anointed tour guide looks surprised. Away from the group he explains, "I have construction business and I won't be here tomorrow. Maybe the next day?" He arranges to meet in court.
On the appointed day, however, he is nowhere to be found. This time a smiling, spritelike 75-year-old in a turban and khaki jilab is guarding access to Bakr. He gives his name as Mohammad, and delivers a complex dissertation on life and rebirth before addressing the issue of talking to Bakr about the promised mosque tour. "He has assigned someone. Our leader has spoken," Mohammad says without moving, though Bakr is only 10 feet away, conferring with other robed figures. "We cannot bother him again."
Tristram Korten is a journalist living in Miami Beach.
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Our cities are literally throwing away hundreds of millions of dollars every year on plastic bag clean up costs. It's estimated that Americans use over 380 billion plastic bags and wraps a year.
Wash the bag with soapy water. You can throw it in the washing machine, as long as it didn't come with a tag saying that you shouldn't. Or, hold it under the faucet and clean it inside and out with a sponge and dish-washing detergent.
Plastic in an animal's gut can prevent food digestion and can lead to a very slow and painful death.As plastic bags can take up to 1000 years to break down, once an animal dies and decays after ingesting plastic, the plastic is then freed back into the environment to carry on killing other wildlife.
Usually, lunch bags have foamy inserts between the exterior and interior, and a gentle plastic lining. The exterior is a similar material to that of a backpack, so fairly durable and easy to clean. The exterior is a similar material to that of a backpack, so fairly durable and easy to clean.
The bag's interior was gently wiped down with this paper towel. Then, newly Febreze-sprayed paper towels were placed in the bag for a few days. We found this to only mask the bag odors temporarily. Then, newly Febreze-sprayed paper towels were placed in the bag for a few days.