text:
Country: Paraguay
Flavour of America S.A. v. Paraguay [Paraguay] [July 12, 2018]
The petitioners filed an appeal for legal protection, challenging the constitutionality of two administrative decrees that implemented Article 8 and Article 11 of the FCTC. The Court held that the Executive Branch's decrees established duties, obligations, and restrictions not allowed under the National Constitution, the law ratifying the FCTC, or the Sanitary Code. According to the Court, the FCTC contained only "programmatic" clauses and not "self-enforcing" provisions. As a result, in the case of a framework convention, the law that approves it must necessarily be regulated by another law enacted by Congress. That Law can then be regulated by a decree issued by the Executive Branch. The Court stated that there is no express legislative delegation that enables the Executive Branch to regulate Articles 8 and 11 of the FCTC by decree, especially when there are already prior and subsequent laws entirely in force.
Tabacalera del Este S.A., et al. v. Paraguay [Paraguay] [October 18, 2010]
The petitioners filed an appeal for legal protection, challenging the constitutionality of two administrative decrees that implemented Article 8 and Article 11 of the FCTC. One of the decrees provided warning and labeling requirements for tobacco products, and the other one established that enclosed public places, workplaces, and public transportation were 100% smoke-free places.
The Court held that, even though the FCTC had become legally binding to Paraguay upon its ratification, the provisions implementing the treaty needed to be adopted first by a law enacted by Congress. According to the Court, the FCTC contained only "programmatic" clauses and not "self-enforcing" provisions. The Court stated that the Executive Branch's decrees established duties, obligations, and restrictions not allowed under the National Constitution, the law ratifying the FCTC, or the Sanitary Code. Further, one of the decrees established infractions and penalties, violating the principle of criminal legality, and was enacted in ignorance of a previous law that protected non-smokers, which was entirely in force. Therefore, both administrative decrees were declared unconstitutional, as the Executive Branch had issued them in violation of the separation of powers, among other principles.
Philip Morris Paraguay S.A. et al. v. Paraguay [Paraguay] [October 18, 2010]
British Tobacco Productora de Cigarrillos Sociedad Anonima (Probat S.A.) v. Paraguay [Paraguay] [October 18, 2010]
The petitioners filed an appeal for legal protection, challenging the constitutionality of two administrative Decrees that regulated Article 8 and Article 11 of the FCTC. One of the decrees provided warning and labeling requirements for tobacco products, and the other one established that enclosed spaces with access to the public, workplaces, and public transportation were 100% smoke-free places.
Unión Tabacalera del Paraguay, et al. v. Paraguay [Paraguay] [December 28, 2009]
Several tobacco companies filed an appeal for legal protection, challenging the constitutionality of a resolution that established stricter and more compelling warning requirements for cigarette packs and labels than those required in the originating law. The petitioners argued that the administrative decree exceeded the scope of the law and was therefore unconstitutional. In its response, the State argued that the decree had been issued in accordance with its obligations to apply stricter labeling standards pursuant the FCTC. The Court found that the Ministry of Health had acted outside the scope of its mandate, holding the resolution unconstitutional. According to the court, the FCTC, though binding to Paraguay, contained only "programmatic" clauses and not "self-enforcing" provisions. Therefore, the FCTC could only be enacted by a regulating law passed by Congress or a Presidential regulating decree, not by a resolution from the Ministry of Health.


text:
Preparing for Your Trip To China
This post may contain affiliate links which means Trip Scholars may make a small commission (at no extra cost to you) if you make a purchase. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Read more here. Thanks for helping us keep the lights on!
China is one of the world's most fascinating countries. As the world's third-largest and most populous country, China has risen from near poverty in the 1950s to become a genuine global superpower. Featuring several thousand years of history, a rich cultural heritage, and jaw-dropping natural wonders, China is one of the world's most rewarding and exciting places to visit. But how to make sense of it all? Where do you even start with such a massive and imposing place. Read on, for the best resources to explore when preparing a trip to China.
Follow the Story of China
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Recorded Chinese history dates back over 4,000 years, and has a dizzying array of dynasties, kingdoms, periods, invasions, counter-invasions, and much more. In this six-part documentary series produced by PBS, historian Michael Wood travels across China to trace its dramatic rises and falls – from the 4,000 year old Shang Dynasty, right through to the Communist revolution and modern economic boom. Beautifully filmed and edited, The Story of China is a fantastic overview to help learn your Qins, Qings, and Mings! Consider making a history timeline to deeply understand the rich history of China.
Delve into the past with the China History Podcast
Farmers with Water Buffalo Photo by Zhengfan Yang
For those who prefer listening to watching, Laszlo Montgomery's The China History Podcast has been running since 2010, and has clocked up over 250 episodes! Each episode focuses on a different aspect of China's long history, and features anything from the history of a particular city, to profiling a prominent Chinese figure. One highly recommended series is episodes 14 through 42, which profiles each ruling dynasty, their accomplishments, and their impact on Chinese history. Each episode runs for about 25 minutes, so it's great bite-sized content to consume at your leisure.
See China's World Heritage Sites with World Heritage Journey
With its long history and impressive culture, it's hardly surprising that China has the equal-highest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites (55, equal with Italy). Along with famous monuments such as the Great Wall, Forbidden City, and Terracotta Warriors, China's World Heritage Sites include many lesser known places, too. There's everything from prehistoric burial caves, to sacred mountains, hidden temples, and even migratory bird sanctuaries! In this YouTube series, a pair of Australian travel bloggers attempt to visit all 55 Chinese sites, and produce a short video about each one. Get tips and ideas about visiting UNESCO sites in this article.
Watch China's most famous story: Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Romance of the Three Kingdoms is China's most beloved story. An historical novel written in the 14th century, Romance tells the story of the Three Kingdoms period, roughly 184 – 280 AD, as various warlords fought for control of the collapsing Han Dynasty. With its potent mixture of history, legend, and myth (similar to Homer's Iliad and Odyssey in Western culture), Romance follows memorable characters like the tyrannical Dong Zhuo, duplicitous Cao Cao, charismatic Yuan Shao, and inspiring Liu Bei. If you'd prefer to read the story, the Moss Roberts translation is highly recommended.
Enjoy China's most beloved tale: Journey to the West - Legends of the Monkey King
Journey to the West is another of the greatest Chinese novels. It dates from the 16th century, and follows the travels of Xuanzang, a Buddhist monk who travels through central Asia and India in search of sacred Buddhist texts. Well known in the West as Monkey (and other adaptations like The Legend of Monkey), Journey to the West – Legends of the Monkey King is equal parts funny, moving, inspiring, and dramatic. A classic of Chinese animation, this joint Chinese-Canadian animated production is a great way of introducing kids to Chinese culture. For more ideas about including kids and teens in travel planning and research, check out our article, Joyful and Educational Trip Planning for Families.
Read about the clash of cultures in Mao's Last Dancer
One of the most important narratives of the past 30 years has been the clash of cultures between China and the West. Understanding the clash is key to preparing for a trip to China, and reading Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin gives a fascinating perspective. Mao's Last Dancer is a 2003 memoir written by Li Cunxin, a talented ballet dancer from an impoverished Chinese village. Allowed to study in the United States, Li struggles to reconcile his propaganda-heavy education with the reality around him. It's a fascinating insight into the varying mindsets of different cultures, and ultimately an uplifting and inspiring story.
Experience one of the world's great cuisines
One of the best experiences when visiting any country is of course – the food! Naturally, China is no different, and as such a huge and ethnically diverse country, there's a colossal amount of variety available. Look beyond Panda Express, and discover the delights of regional Chinese cuisine. Down south in the warmer climates, you'll find Cantonese style cooking with dim sum, dumplings, and more. Sichuan province is famous for hotpot, and fiery dishes laden with chilli and mouth-numbing peppercorns. The long coasts of Fujian and Shandong provinces have fish-heavy diets, while up north in Beijing you'll find classic roast duck, jiaozi dumplings, and various noodle dishes. Do some research to learn about the different regional cuisines offered at your local restaurants. Or consider taking an online Chinese cooking class.
Try your hand at the ancient Chinese art of calligraphy
Calligraphy, or the art of drawing characters, is an instantly-recognisable facet of Chinese culture. It requires great skill, poise, delicacy, and attention to detail, and it's little wonder that practising calligraphy is a classic Chinese pastime. Obtaining your own Chinese calligraphy set and learning to draw some simple characters can be a great way of engaging with one of the world's oldest written scripts. Try this affordable calligraphy set and follow along with instructional videos on YouTube.
Learn some Chinese
Mandarin Chinese is the world's most widely-spoken language, with over a billion native speakers. With unfamiliar characters and delicate pronunciation, Chinese can be a difficult language to learn. Although most tourist sites in Beijing and Shanghai have signs in both Chinese and English, learning a few key phrases is a great way to prepare for visiting China, and will absolutely endear you to the locals. Basic phrases like "hello" (ni hao) and "thank you" (xie-xie) are a great start, along with counting to ten. Although guidebooks will teach phrases like "where is the toilet", it's often unhelpful as the answer will be in Chinese! One suggestion is to learn phrases where you don't need to understand a response, like: "the food was delicious" or "it is very beautiful". For learning some Chinese, read our article on language learning for travel.
Plan your Trip to China
Overall, China is an enormous blend of people, languages and cultures, blessed with a spectacular natural environment and several thousand years of history. If you're planning to visit China, a little background knowledge of the land and its people will go a long way to enriching your visit. Happy travels!
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You've landed in the right place! Tripscholars is here to help you extend the joy and wonder of travel far beyond your days on the road. Find travel education tips and inspiration in our ROADMAPS BLOG. Save yourself time and money by using our TRAVEL RESOURCES LIBRARY where we have already gathered top resources for you to enjoy from home. Tripscholars is where curious travelers come for meaningful travel planning and trip research.
This guest post was contributed by Joel Baldwin of World Heritage Journey
We love to learn from our guest writers and appreciate their expertise! Vitis Joel's website by clicking on his name or miage below. Or, use the button to check out his profile on our site.
joelbaldwin
I'm Joel, a digital nomad and native of Sydney, Australia. In 2016 I quit the corporate life and began travelling the world, with a specific focus on visiting UNESCO World Heritage Sites. As of late 2020, I've visited 505 of the 1121 sites! I produce a short documentary about each site, which you can see at www.youtube.com/WorldHeritageJourney. I'm also a freelance writer and video producer. My passions are history, travel, football (soccer), craft beer, and my miniature dachshund, Schnitzel.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Leesa mattress is made in the United States. The mattress is well developed. The engineering involves three layers of premium quality foams. The upper layer is Avena foam. It is 2 inches thick and is primarily accountable for 2 qualities of the mattress. Avena foam adds to the cooling effect to guarantee the bed mattress does not maintain any temperature, therefore allowing an excellent night's sleep. The foam likewise adds to the bounce that many people like. The topmost layer is firm enough to guarantee steadiness however the bouncy feel makes one easily lay on the mattress without sinking in. The second layer is the 2 inches of memory foam. This layer mainly relieves all the pressure of the bodyweight. This is essential to make sure even circulation of bodyweight so the sleeper doesn't feel any pressure point. Pressure relief and even weight circulation naturally contribute to body contouring. It is this layer that ensures the sleeper is sleeping in a comfy posture and has no pain whatsoever. The third or the bottom layer is six inches base foam. This is for strength, stability, core support and sturdiness.
Every Leesa mattress has what the business calls Universal Adaptive Feel. It is a trademarked technology that makes sure individuals of all sizes and with various sleeping choices will find equivalent convenience while utilizing the mattress. The leading two layers have the ability to comply with the weight, size and sleeping choice of a specific or of a couple. The base layer is thick and strong enough to provide the core support needed for the 2 top layers to provide this level of personalization or flexibility. However, the Leesa mattress can not be equated with the Helix bed mattress which is actually customized based on inputs from the private or couple through a Sleep Quiz.
Leesa mattress features hundred nights of risk totally free trial. There is totally free shipping and returns. The company donates one bed mattress for every single 10 offered in the nation. As you explore Leesa reviews, you would observe that the mattress is one the costlier side but it is likewise a soft and encouraging mattress compared with many of its rivals. Leesa bed mattress doesn't have the sinking in problem. It doesn't have the overheating problem. It is suitable for those who lay on their back, side or stomach. Leesa bed mattress is readily available in the six basic sizes consisting of Twin that weighs 45 lbs, Twin XL which weighs 48 pounds, Full weighing 56 lbs, Queen weighing 71 lbs, King weighing 90 lbs and California King weighing 92 pounds. The 10 inches thick Leesa mattress is on the lighter end of the spectrum when you compare it with the closest competitors. Leesa bed mattress is CertiPUR-US ® accredited. It is made with no material or procedure that causes ozone depletion, there is no PBDE flame retardant or lead, mercury or other heavy metal, there is no formaldehyde, phthalates and it adheres to the low volatile natural compound emissions basic, which is less than 0.5 parts per million for the acceptable quality of indoor air. There is a 10 year minimal service warranty.
Leesa Vs Casper can be come down to 2 simple differences. Casper is substantially more budget friendly than Leesa. Casper has 4 layers of foam including 2 layers of poly foam, one layer of memory foam and one of base foam. While both have the same density, the additional layer of Casper definitely makes a distinction. Leesa Vs Tempurpedic has one similarity with Leesa Vs Casper, relating to the layers. Tempurpedic mattress has four layers, 2 of memory foam and 2 of polyurethane foam. The bed mattress is more than eleven inches thick however softer. Leesa is firmer. However, the rate of Tempurpedic makes it unaffordable for many people. A Twin XL Leesa bed mattress is tagged at $625. A Twin XL Tempurpedic bed mattress is tagged at $3,099.
A lot of Leesa reviews and comparison with Nectar will tell you that the latter is a far much better alternative. You can read about the shortcomings of Leesa bed mattress on Amazon or you may conduct more evaluation of Leesa Vs Tuft and Needle. If you mean to purchase Leesa bed mattress topic to evaluations then you will find Nectar a far remarkable alternative. Nectar is a number of hundred less expensive than Leesa, without discount. It would be more reasonable with discount. Nectar has more layers of memory foam, adding to convenience and stability. Nectar has less bounce than Leesa which matches individuals who are somewhat obese or obese and essentially everybody who is on the larger side. Nectar is an inch thicker. It has life time guarantee and 365 nights of trial. There is no contrast in these 2 relates to.


The Moon's influence on human destiny has been recognized since ancient times, but its potential for generating positive outcomes has often been ignored until now. In this breakthrough book, astrologer Jan Spiller reveals the secrets of harnessing the Moon?s astonishing power to make your goals a reality!
On New Moon Power Days, your desires become incantations with amazing focus and strength. Using the special Moon chart included here, you'll be able to express your wishes during a "magic moment" a personal power period in the astrological cycle setting forces in motion that transform your desires into reality. To have your Granddaddy Power Period calculated for you, free of charge, click here.


Explore the Amazon Jungle, Hike the famous Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, view the stunning Iguazu Falls and spend time in the party Capital of the World, Rio de Janeiro.
Trip price is split into two components: £2645 plus US$1510 local payment (paid direct to your Tour Leader when you join the trip).
This is trip packed with South American highlights – Explore the Amazon Jungle, Hike the famous Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, view the stunning Iguazu Falls and spend time in the party Capital of the World, Rio de Janeiro. Experience the vastness of the Bolivian Salt Flats, visit vineyards by bicycle in Argentina and take in a Tango Show in the metropolitan city of Buenos Aires.
Otavalo – a small market town famous for its colourful arts & crafts.
Amazon Jungle – journey to our jungle camp where we spend two or three nights to view the exotic wildlife – our guide will show us examples of medicinal, edible and hallucinogenic plants.
Banos – a spa town where Ecuadorians go to relax in the thermal baths and hike the various mountain trails by foot or horseback plus the opportunity to go canyoning!
Cuenca – UNESCO World Heritage site.
Pacific Ocean coast – Punta Sal/Mancora, chill out by the beach and try your hand at surfing.
Chan Chan & Temple of Sun and Moon – built by the pre-Inca Chimu Kings, the largest mud brick city in the world.
Lima – the capital city with many plazas, museums and great local seafood (Ceviche).
Ballestas Islands – a boat trip takes us close to the Islands which are bursting with exotic & rare marine wildlife.
Nazca Lines – huge figures and shapes carved into the stony desert, best viewed from the air.
Chauchilla Cemetery – ancient eerie tombs.
Arequipa – a magnificent colonial city with authentic Peruvian nightlife.
Colca Canyon – accompanied by a local guide, you have the opportunity to view the majestic condors, which can be seen circling lazily on the thermals rising from the canyon floor.
Inca Trail trek to Machu Picchu – 4 day hike on the Lares, Classic or Salkantay trail.
Machu Picchu – finally on day 4 we reach the famous UNESCO World Heritage site – entrance and guide included.
Puno – Lake Titicaca – the world's highest navigable lake at 3800 metres.
Floating reed islands – home to the Uros Indians – explore Titicaca by boat & spend a night with one of the local families.
La Paz – highest capital city in the world, visit the colourful witches market!
Potosi – option to enter a working silver & tin mine where techniques have remained unchanged for centuries.
Uyuni Salt Lake – take a 1 day excursion out onto the vast salt flats.
Tupiza – follow in the steps of Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid.
Salta – founded over 400 years ago and a great place for live music, mountain biking, mountain trekking, and horse riding.
Cafayate – wine growing region, visiting wineries by bicycle.
Travel through cowboy country across the vast Pampas grasslands to Buenos Aires.
Buenos Aires – a smart cosmopolitan city with plenty to do; museums, horse racing, football matches, shopping, tango dancing & restaurants that serve the best steaks in the world.
Optional 2 hr ferry across the River Plate for a 1 or 2 day visit to the buzzing capital Montevideo & the quieter town of Colonia.
We cross the border to Brazil to allow us to visit the falls from both the Argentine & Brazilian sides.
Bonito – swim & snorkel in crystal clear river and lakes as well as hike into lush forests to look for monkeys, alligators & anaconda.
Pantanal – organise treks out into the vast wetlands, home to hundreds of species of birds & fish, including Piranha!
Parati – laid back historic coastal village, explore the secluded islands by taking a sailing trip in a traditional schooner.
Interested in Southern Trans Oceanic Quito to Rio via Buenos Aires? Ready to enquire?


text:
var html = require("../");

describe(".tag()", function () {
    it("should return a complete tag normally", function () {
        html.tag("i", "").should.equal("");
        html.tag("b", "Bold Text").should.equal("Bold Text");
    });

    it("should return only an opening tag when content is null or undefined", function () {
        html.tag("div").should.equal("
");
        html.tag("link", undefined).should.equal("<link>");
        html.tag("form", null).should.equal("<form>");
    });

    it("should include attributes if an objet is provided", function () {
        html.tag("form", null, { action: "/some-url", method: "post" })
            .should.equal('<form action="/some-url" method="post">');

        html.tag("td", "Data", { colspan: 2 })
            .should.equal('Data	');
    });

    describe(".open()", function () {
        it("should only return an open tag", function () {
            html.tag.open("div").should.equal("
");
            html.tag.open("button", { type: "button" }).should.equal('<button type="button">');
        });
    });

    describe(".close()", function () {
        it("should only return a closing tag", function () {
            html.tag.close("html").should.equal("");
            html.tag.close("body").should.equal("");
        });
    });

    describe(".attributes()", function () {
        it("should return an empty string when given no arguments, or an empty object", function () {
            html.tag.attributes().should.equal("");
            html.tag.attributes({}).should.equal("");
        });

        it("should return a string of html attributes when an object is passed", function () {
            html.tag.attributes({ name: "foo", title: "test" })
                .should.equal('name="foo" title="test"');
        });

        it("should treat numbers like strings", function () {
            html.tag.attributes({ colspan: 5, rowspan: 2 })
                .should.equal('colspan="5" rowspan="2"');
        });

        it("should treat booleans like flags (true: key only, false: no attr)", function () {
            html.tag.attributes({ disabled: true, name: "foo", readonly: false })
                .should.equal('disabled name="foo"');
        });

        it("should ignore null and undefined values", function () {
            html.tag.attributes({ foo: null, bar: undefined })
                .should.equal("");
        });
    });
});

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Become a Thousand Daughters Club Member!
We are looking for 1,000 women across Oklahoma to partner with us to see ministry happen in our great District.
Desire to pray for the leadership of Women's Ministries.
Desire to see us have strong, Pentecostal events for the women of our District to Empower them through the Gift of the Holy Spirit.
Desire to see us reach out to Oklahoma Daughters of every age, ethnicity and economic sphere to participate in our Annual LIFE Rallies. These Dinner Rallies are held in 14 locations simultaneously throughout our State on the 3rd Friday night of each January. These Mission's Rallies provide women with interpersonal connection, a place to gather and grow. They also financially underwrite Oklahoma Missionaries, Oklahoma-based non-profits and Special Missions projects worldwide. We currently raise well over $100,000 in a single night for Missions but we can do more.
Desire to see a strong leadership team for the Region of Oklahoma.
Desire to see training and Bible Study made available for every church in our District, regardless of size, that would allow us to raise up strong multi-generational, multi-ethnic teams of women in leadership in our A/G churches throughout Oklahoma.
Desire to see all Oklahoma Ministry Wives supported with prayer, ministry, retreats and training on a consistent basis.
fighting together for the women of Oklahoma.
A monthly Daughters of the King e-Blast with "Call to Prayer" highlighting our Missionaries and Ministry Leaders in need, as those needs are made available to us.
An Annual Gift- to thank you for your support in becoming an annual Thousand Daughters Club Member you will receive our new themed products yearly, after joining (i.e. t-shirt, mug, etc.) You will also receive a special-colored silicone bracelet giving early access into Daughter's Conference each September. (Separate Conference Registration applies.) This dedicated wristband will identify you as a Thousand Daughters Club Member. The bracelet color changes annually and will be given out after the annual membership dues are paid each year. Open Enrollment period is January 15th - February 15th, yearly. Membership is for one "fiscal year" and Members would re-join as desired the next year.


text:
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  	<grizzly.version>2.2.16</grizzly.version>
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		<groupId>com.google.guava</groupId>
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		<version>r05</version>
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    <dependency>
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		<version>1.4</version>
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		<version>1.1.1</version>
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		<artifactId>jersey-server</artifactId>
		<version>${jersey.version}</version>
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text:
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What is the Nasdaq 100?
What Moves the NASDAQ?
How to Trade on the Nasdaq 100 Movements
History of the Nasdaq 100
The Nasdaq 100 is not in itself a tradable instrument. Traders who want to gain exposure to the Nasdaq 100 without purchasing the underlying shares that make up the index can choose to trade Mutual Funds, ETFs, and Futures-based CFDs. This allows them to trade on the movements of this popular index with fewer fees and more controlled exposure.
CFD Instruments for Trading Nasdaq 100
Futures for Nasdaq 100 (US- Tech 100) work similarly to futures for commodities.
Using Futures-based CFDs allow you to trade irrespective of whether you believe an index will rise or fall, and without having to own the underlying asset. Plus500 traders can trade the Nasdaq 100 index online by opening a long or short position on the instrument 'US-Tech100'.
For example, if a trader believes that the price of the Nasdaq 100 will rise, they can open a 'Buy' position on US-Tech 100. This places them in a position where they could profit from the index's movement, should it rise above the price at which the position was opened. Conversely, this exposes them to risk, since if the value of the instrument falls below their opening price, they will incur a loss.
If the trader believes that the price will fall, they can trade CFDs on the Nasdaq 100 by opening a 'Sell' position on US-Tech 100, also known as 'going short. In contrast to a 'Buy' position, a 'Sell' position allows a trader to profit when the index loses value. If the value of the index drops below the price at which the position was opened, the trader will make a profit. If the value rises above the opened value on a Sell position, then the trader will incur a loss (the difference between the opening price and the higher closing price).
Options* CFDs
Options CFDs allow you to trade on the value of an Options contract instead of the underlying instrument itself.
Benefits: Options are generally traded at a lower price than the asset on which it is based. This means that a trader can gain exposure to the instrument at a lower price, or gain more exposure than they would have, had they opened an index futures CFD on the underlying instrument.
Risks: While the lower price and heightened risk may be what some traders are looking for in Options trading, Options are also highly volatile instruments which can swing higher or lower suddenly, without notice. For this reason, Options are generally traded by experienced traders.
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) comprise various securities and tradable assets but act as a single instrument. They commonly mimic or closely copy other popular country indices or sectors.
A popular ETF to track the Nasdaq100 is QQQ*. ETFs differ from futures in that they are traded during regular trading hours. In addition, their pricing may be at a lower valuation than a whole index, allowing traders to open positions with less equity.
NASDAQ 100 Trading Strategies
Trading the Nasdaq100 works similarly to trading other instruments. However, in comparison to trading shares, there are no specific company earnings reports or other insights to observe. This implores traders to rely on trading strategies such as these:
Swing trading refers to opening a position based on market trends.
Before opening a position, a Swing Trader will rely on technical analysis tools such as charts and other key information to understand the underlying instrument's behaviour and predict if it will rise or fall. These positions are commonly held for a medium period of time but can be closed at any point, should the trader want to close their position.
Day trading focuses on a position, or positions, that are open and closed on the same day.
For example, a trader opens a position, hoping it will move in a favourable direction throughout that day. Before that day's trading ends, they close the position and are left with either a profit or a loss.
Position Trading
Position trading refers to a trader who holds on to an open position for an extended period of time, such as weeks or months, hoping it moves in their favour.
For example: A trader opens a buy position on five futures CFDs on US-Tech 100 on Monday. Speculating that the price will rise, they may wait until the end of the month before closing their position. This allows them to gain exposure to weeks of trading, in comparison to Day Trading which limits a trader to a single trading day.
Trading on the movements of the Nasdaq 100 using US-Tech 100 allows traders to gain exposure to the Nasdaq's top 100 companies in a single instrument.
*Subject to operator.
or try a FREE Demo Account
Risk Disclosure Notice
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 72% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
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Bitcoin price near $23,000 as it shrugs off Genesis bankruptcy
Bitcoin saw a climb of over 8.9% in the past week. Photo: Getty
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) is continuing its 2023 bull run, surging past $23,000 for the first time since August 2022 before retreating to around $22,705 on Monday.
Bitcoin smashed through a price position not seen since before the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange in November 2022, which plunged the market into a series of liquidations.
Bitcoin stood at $22,714 (£17,383) at the time of writing, up from a low of $16,000 at the beginning of the year. This was a climb of over 8.9% in the past week.
Bitcoin pioneer Max Keiser said: "Bitcoin shakes off the FTX scandal off like water off a duck's back.
"People focus on price when they should focus on hash rate, and adoption rates hitting new all time highs and how bitcoin is transforming Central America and Africa while additionally making inroads globally."
The second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, ethereum (ETH-USD), was up over 5% in the week to $1,633.
The crypto-market shrugged off Friday's bankruptcy filing of crypto-lender Genesis, with the entire market capitalisation for the sector now standing at $1.08tn, according to data from Coingecko.
Analysts speculated that the bankruptcy of the investor platform had already been expected by traders, with signals being telegraphed for many weeks.
Jamie Burke, head of web3 accelerator Outlier Ventures, said: "I guess it was already priced in."
Genesis is part of the Digital Currency Group (DCG), a conglomerate of more than 200 crypto-focused businesses.
The insolvency of Genesis is linked to the bankruptcy of FTX, which went under last November amid allegations of fraud.
The firm had recently been charged by US regulators Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with illegally selling crypto.
Owners of the Gemini crypto platform, the Winklevoss twins, have now threatened to sue Genesis boss Barry Silbert.
Gemini used the Genesis platform for its interest accruing accounts.
The Winklevoss twins now want Silbert to offer "a fair offer to creditors who were duped" into losing $900m, as the crypto company files for bankruptcy.
Gemini lent Genesis the $900m as part of its Earn program, which let clients earn interest by loaning out their assets
More than 340,000 Gemini clients have been impacted by the bankruptcy.
Second batch cheetah are expected to be flown in February this year


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New ASU worldwide resource for exploring genes' hidden messages
by Arizona State University
Marco Mangone has devoted his career to looking at a peculiar region found at the ends of genes, called untranslated elements, or 3'UTRs. The are found on the end of messenger RNAs, but as the name suggests, they don't actually make protein. Stresses Mangone: "They have to be there for a reason." Mangone's goal is to understand the function of every UTR in the human body, called the h3'UTRome. Credit: Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University
After a decade-long $3 billion international effort, scientists heralded the 2001 completion of the human genome as a moon landing achievement for biology and the key to finally solving intractable diseases like cancer.
But it turns out this was only the end of the beginning, with a much greater complexity to life revealed by the roughly 20,000 genes found within the human genome. For one, most diseases are incredibly complex, with very few caused by a single gene mutation. Rather, the more accurate picture is many acting genes acting in concert, with the routes to disease looking like public transit or subway maps.
Since then, efforts such as the modENCODE project - a $57 million multi-center initiative funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) - have been aimed at identifying all the genome elements that can turn on and off genes.
Now, an international scientific team, led by Arizona State University professor and Biodesign Institute researcher Marco Mangone, has added a new worldwide resource with the first library built for researchers to explore genes' deep and hidden messages. The paper was published in BMC Genomics, DOI: 10.1186/s12864-015-2238-1).
The end of the message
"If the genome is considered the blueprint of the cell, proteins are the really bricks and mortars," said Josh LaBaer, director of the Virginia Piper Center for Personalized Diagnostics, which aims to undercover the telltale early warning signs of disease from a systematic study of all of the proteins in the human body, a field called proteomics.
But to make proteins, first the DNA genomic information must be transcribed with complete fidelity, chemical letter by letter into an intermediary molecule, called messenger RNA, or mRNA. In what is known as the central dogma of biology, DNA makes RNA, which makes protein.
Marco Mangone, a core faculty member in LaBaer's center, has devoted his career to looking at a peculiar region found at the ends of the mRNA sequence information, called untranslated elements, or UTRs. As the name suggests, these regions do not go on to make protein, but stresses Mangone: "They have to be there for a reason."
Mangone's raison d'etre is to understand the function of every UTR in the human body, called the 3'UTRome (3' indicates a location at the end of the mRNA).
And so he and his team have painstakingly put together the first and largest human 3'UTRome library in the world. It is made up of 1,461 human 3'UTRs to date (representing about 10 percent of genome), and freely available to the worldwide scientific community to explore all aspects of biology, gene regulation and disease.
Shooting the messenger
Sophocles first wrote in his Greek civil war play "Antigone": "no one loves the messenger who brings bad news." And when all roads led to ancient Rome, and messengers were sent about delivering the news, a revolutionary change occurred in communications tactics: killing the messenger to prevent the communication from taking place.
Mangone, a native Italian who did his doctoral studies in Rome, has harkened back to this strategy when examining the role of the 3'UTRome. His lab uses standard molecular biology and bioinformatics tools to study the production, function and disease contributions of UTRs and their role in governing gene expression. He pioneered this work in a simple animal, the worm C. elegans, and now, in the new BMC paper, toward human genomics.
Why would this elaborate system be in place? Based on numerous studies, the role of the 3'UTRome is complicated, but one major theme that has emerged is to prevent the mRNA message from ever being delivered, or in biology terms, ever translated into protein.
Small RNAs, called micro RNAs (miRNAs), work to pair with a UTR to block translation, killing the message, and thus, silencing a gene. Uncovering the interplay between miRNA and their specific UTRs have become a hot area in biology, and big business.
Big pharma, big future
These gene silencers have become all the rage in the pharmaceutical industry. So much so, that the global miRNA research market was valued at nearly $295.1 million in 2011 and is expected to reach $763 million by 2017.
It's become big business because of their potential as therapeutics for the treatment of some severe diseases, including cancer and genetic disorders, by introducing specific miRNAs into diseased cells to silence the defective gene.
A broad portfolio of miRNA pathway drug candidates have been developed, some already in Phase II clinical trials, showing promising clinical data in different areas of medicine, such as cancer, HCV infection, and cardiovascular diseases.
Mangone's team, which involved an international collaboration with Dublin City University, demonstrated the feasibility and potential of their human 3'UTRome library by screening a panel of 87 3'UTRs for targeting by two miRNAs: let-7c, which is implicated in tumor formation, and miR-221, implicated in atherosclerosis and heart disease.
After screening, the panel was enriched with genes involved in the RAS cancer signaling pathway, and the team identified many novel targets for the two miRNAs, as well as new genes implicated in tumor formation and heart disease.
Mangone ultimately seeks to map all the UTR targets for every miRNA, and to accelerate discovery, has made the first high-quality human 3'UTRome library available to researchers worldwide. "Once we have this in place, we will be able to build the framework for understanding the underlying commonalities between gene networks," said Mangone.
MicroRNA, the puppet master of the genome
More information: Kasuen Kotagama et al. A human 3′UTR clone collection to study post-transcriptional gene regulation, BMC Genomics (2015). DOI: 10.1186/s12864-015-2238-1
Journal information: BMC Genomics
Provided by Arizona State University
Citation: New ASU worldwide resource for exploring genes' hidden messages (2015, December 11) retrieved 22 January 2022 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-12-asu-worldwide-resource-exploring-genes.html
From Genome Research: Genome-wide annotation of primary miRNAs reveals novel mechanisms
Researchers discover new aspect of gene regulation and possible target for cancer drugs
Master gene regulator could be new target for schizophrenia treatment
It's a trap! New laboratory technique captures microRNA targets
Researchers develop tool to determine function of MicroRNAs
New AI model helps discover causes of motor neurone disease
Association found between de novo genetic mutations and obsessive-compulsive disorder
Arthritis-related gene also regenerates cartilage in joints and growth plates
Gene variant that protects against COVID-19 identified


Kuwait's National Petroleum Company (KNPC) has said it will set up a new company to run its planned al-Zour refinery and petrochemical complex which, when built, will be the biggest in the Middle East.
Mutairi said in October that commissioning of the 615,000 barrel per day refinery was expected to start in November 2019. Contracts to build the 3 billion cubic feet per day LNG import terminal were expected to be awarded early this year.


Economic research has established that a large part of income disparities between poor and rich countries can be attributed to differences in governance and in the quantity and quality of human capital. In the latest long-run reference scenario published by the OECD, GDP per capita growth is relatively strong in the BRIICS in the coming decades, but living standards nevertheless remain less than half those of the United States in 2060, in part because of remaining gaps in governance and educational attainment. But the BRIICS can accelerate economic catch-up by improving these aspects of the economic environment, as demonstrated in an alternative scenario.
The quality of governance depends on a cluster of related institutions, including economic, political, legal and social aspects. In the model behind the long-run projections, institutional quality is proxied by a rule of law index, one of six governance indicators regularly updated by the World Bank. It is a perceptions-based index intended to capture "…the extent to which agents have confidence in and abide by the rule of society, and in particular the quality of contract enforcement, property rights, the police, and the courts, as well as the likelihood of crime and violence". In the model, improved governance not only raises productivity in the long run, but it also boosts the speed at which the full long-run effects of reforms are attained, including in other domains, such as education.
Education not only embeds knowledge and skills in individuals, raising their productivity, but it also encourages participation in groups, opens doors to job opportunities, develops social interactions, makes individuals better aware of their rights, improves health, reduces poverty and facilitates the sharing and transmission of knowledge needed for developing new technologies.
The potential for reforms in these areas to improve long-run economic prospects in the BRIICS can be illustrated by comparing the reference scenario – featuring no change to governance and only a "most likely" evolution of educational attainment – with an alternative scenario in which governance is strengthened and bigger gains in educational attainment are made. The alternative scenario assumes that rule of law scores and mean years of schooling in the BRIICS catch up to the OECD medians over the 2020-to-2060 period.
Better governance and higher educational attainment raise an economy's productivity, allowing living standards to rise. The gains build up slowly over time but by 2060, annual growth in living standards in the BRIICS is roughly 2 percentage points higher than in the reference scenario (see figure), and levels are between 30% and 50% higher. The positive growth impacts from the reforms would start tapering off gradually after 2060 while the level impacts would continue to accumulate, corresponding to the long lags involved in benefitting fully from structural reforms. In terms of relative importance, strengthening governance makes the largest contribution in this alternative scenario, with two thirds of the aggregate BRIICS effect. It is particularly important in Russia, while Brazil, China and India also have much to gain by improving educational attainment.
The results underscore the importance for the BRIICS of targeting education and governance as areas for improvement, and of taking a long-term view of their importance for growth and well-being. And while the BRIICS are used here for illustrative purposes, other countries could similarly benefit from faster gains in education and from governance reforms. Notably Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Turkey score relatively low on governance.
Guillemette, Y. and D. Turner (2018), "The Long View: Scenarios for the World Economy to 2060", OECD Economic Policy Papers, No. 22, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/b4f4e03e-en.
Gönenç, R. (2017), "The middle income plateau: Trap or springboard?", OECD Economics Department Working Papers, No. 1446, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9cba114b-en.


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Houston teacher union calls for online classes after Thanksgiving break, shut down in-person classes
Karen TownsendPosted at 5:31 pm on November 27, 2020
The Houston Federation of Teachers wants to go back to only virtual learning as classes begin again after the Thanksgiving break. However, the Houston Independent School District (HISD) says that students will return to online and in-person classes after the break. The teacher union asked HISD to revert back to only online instruction because of the recent spike in coronavirus cases.
The Houston Independent School District is the largest public school system in Texas, and the seventh-largest in the U. S. The original reopening plan for the schools in the district noted that if the average coronavirus positivity rate was greater than 7% for a 14-day period, then all schools would go to virtual learning. In October the policy changed to adjust protocol for schools closing due to positivity rates. Like a lot of school districts across the country, there is a struggle between union demands and the needs of students.
Andrew Dewey, executive vice president of the Houston Federation of Teachers said the union wants the district to go back to online learning and the Harris County Judge (a non-judicial position) seems to agree. HISD, it should be noted, was the last school district in the Houston area to reopen for in-class instruction this fall. The district held out until well into September though the school year begins in August. School districts take public health authorities' recommendations, according to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) but school leaders have the final say. The local teachers union didn't want to go to in-person classes when the district did in September. Now the teachers union wants to solely have online learning through the end of the semester.
On Oct. 26, the Harris County COVID-19 dashboard showed the average positivity rate for the past 14 days at 7.4%, a rate that would have called for all HISD schools to go virtual under the original policy. Even more alarming, on Nov. 17, the 14-day average was up to 8.4%, according to the Harris County COVID-19 dashboard.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo reiterated this point.
"In-person instruction is a lifeline for working parents and we all recognize that," Hidalgo said. "But I also recognize and we have to be realistic and accept that the current set up where schools open before the numbers got to where they needed to be has us on a ping pong, of sorts, a yo-yo effect where we're opening schools only to see numbers rise dramatically and that's not a sustainable situation."
"The reality is we have to go back to virtual. We thought it was a mistake to open in-person when they did. HISD, to its credit, delayed it as long as they could. Strangely enough, the surge has been going on since schools began to open up in September. It's now again in a situation where it's out of control. We are asking the district today to go all virtual after Thanksgiving break, at least through the end of the semester. And we understand the consequences that may be coming to the state regarding funding, but it's time to do this, just in the name of safety," said Dewey.
It's not just that schools lose a portion of state funding if classrooms aren't filled, the main worry should be that Houston-area students are not thriving while under online learning lockdown. Students are failing classes at unprecedented rates. In the first marking period, some districts reported nearly half of their middle and high schoolers received at least two F grades because they routinely missed classes or neglected assignments. The percentage of students failing at least one class has doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled in several of the region's largest school districts. If this failure rate continues, graduations will be affected and summer school enrollments will increase. HISD offered only on-line classes during the first 6 week grading period. The results were not good – 42% of students failed two or more classes in the first marking period, up from about 11% in a typical year. Texas legislators and education officials have not pledged to allocate additional funding for summer school yet. Given some disastrous failure rates from virtual learning, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath decided last month to allow public school districts to force their failing online students back into the classroom, with some exceptions. This means some schools are requiring students failing classes to come in for in-person instruction while students passing their courses can continue with only online classes if that is how their school is proceeding.
HISD's response is the following: "Decisions about whether HISD returns to 100 percent virtual instruction would involve collaborative guidance from the district, City of Houston Health Department and Harris County Public Health authorities. We may also receive guidance from physicians and medical experts in the Texas Medical Center."
Teacher unions have been a source of contention for many parents. Teachers in 35 school campuses held a strike – a sick-in – to protest the school COVID-19 policies in October. It was only days after schools re-opened. The confusion isn't good for families trying to keep their school-age children current in classwork as well as looked after at home if the parents are working outside the home. Teachers complained that the governor wasn't doing enough to have safety procedures in place for schools but that falls on deaf ears to many Texans. School districts have had plans in place since last summer.
The reality is that there is no big outbreak of positive COVID-19 cases being reported from HISD schools. Schools are a relatively safe environment for students and teachers with protocols in place to keep the spread of the virus down. It's important that children get back into the classroom as soon as possible. Virtual learning isn't better than classroom instruction for most students. The cure can't be worse than the problem, as shutting down all the schools again for the rest of the semester would be. Schools are closed when necessary and deep cleaned so that students can return as soon as possible. It has to be done on a school by school basis, as problems arise, instead of a blanket order to close all school campuses in the district.
Tags: Coronavirus COVID-19 HISD Houston lockdown online learning teacher unions Texas


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Washington – OSHA issued a correction and technical amendment (.pdf file) to its Hazard Communication Standard to change references of "Material Safety Data Sheets" to the updated "Safety Data Sheets." OSHA inadvertently left in the old phrasing when the standard was revised last March.
References to the acronym "MSDS" likewise were changed to "SDS," according to the Feb. 8 amendment. The amendment, which also corrects some table notations, is effective immediately.
The hazcom standard was updated last year to align it with the multi-national Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals.


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Is Haley Bennett Playing Catwoman in 'Gotham City Sirens'?
The 'Girl on the Train' actress posted a Catwoman picture on her Instagram account, and fans began speculating whether she would play the DC character in the 'Suicide Squad' spin-off.
AceShowbiz - Haley Bennett might suggest that she would appear as Catwoman a.k.a. Selina Kyle in "Gotham City Sirens". On Thursday, February 2, Bennett posted a picture of Catwoman without any caption, raising speculation that she would play the DC character.
She also uploaded a photo of herself with short hair, which resembled Selina Kyle's traditional short cut. Bennett wrote in the caption, "This is me now @garrennewyork."
A photo posted by Haley Bennett (@halolorraine) on Jan 31, 2017 at 11:35am PST
Bennett is known for her roles as Emma Cullen and Megan in "The Magnificent Seven" and "The Girl on the Train" respectively. She got a lot of buzzes for her performance in "The Girl on the Train". People even called her the next Jennifer Lawrence. Her upcoming movie is "Song to Song", in which she will star opposite Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale, Natalie Portman and Michael Fassbender.
There hasn't been any official announcement that Bennett will play Catwoman. So far, Margot Robbie is the only cast member confirmed to appear in "Sirens". Robbie will reprise her role as Harley Quinn in the movie centering on the pig-tailed anti-heroine. Director David Ayer has hinted that Poison Ivy will also appear in the movie, and Megan Fox was rumored to play the character. However, neither Warner Bros. nor Ayer confirmed it.
This is me now. @garrennewyork
A photo posted by Haley Bennett (@halolorraine) on Jan 31, 2017 at 2:07pm PST
"Gotham City Sirens" is currently in early stage of development and will reportedly start its production in summer. The movie will be directed by Ayer and executive produced by Robbie, with Geneva Dworet-Robertson penning the screenplay. Plot details and release date haven't been announced yet, but the movie is expected to hit U.S. theaters sometime in 2018.
'The Fate of the Furious' Super Bowl Spot Highlights Vin Diesel's Betrayal
Britney Spears Breaks Silence on Niece Maddie's ATV Accident


I watched the rest of this. It improves substantially towards the end of the series and manages to establish enough new ideas that I stopped thinking about Punxsutawney Phil and Ned Ryerson. I still find the lead to be a bit of a charicature, but it's a good watch.
I'm 5 episodes in and thinking of rationing the rest to one a day to eke it out a bit more. Loving it.
Awesome! Glad you're enjoying it! I think it's by far one of the best of Netflix's home grown shows.
It's like Pringles. Not very good, unsatisfying and yet I keep reaching for just... one... more.
Is there a line in this about putting as much cocaine in a cake as the Israelis?
If so, I haven't seen it but my girlfriend watched about five episodes in a row one night last week while I was playing the Playstation or something equally constructive. She then declared it to be a lot of rubbish and she wasn't wasting her time watching any more.
If not, the same but with a different programme.
Gotta get up, gotta get out, gotta GET THAT BLOODY SONG OUT OF MY HEAD!
Yes - it's a blink and you miss it, but you see them both from behind. I thought that was a great touch!


The difference is a military triangle with two points on each side at 12 o 'clock, the sans serif font of the Numbers (including a bar that looks like an undecorated bar), and the diamond hand. Almost all the IWC aviator watches today can find these functions. Even Mark XVIII retained the family's design, though its prototype, the Mark 11 aviator watch made for the raf in 1949, used other markers and hands.
But it wasn't until 2002, when the IWC Replica Swiss Movement launched the Big Pilot watch, its 46mm steel case and its seven-day internal Calibre 5011, that the successor to the original model was unveiled. With its large, striking size and stylish simplicity, the watch soon became known for its masculine statement on the wrist. In addition to the featured dial, the conical crown also has a distinct feature and is a user-friendly dial, as the shape of the crown makes it easy to wear gloves.
While the current version includes an improved Calibre 51111, the diameter of the classic Big Pilot's Watch case remains the same (46 mm) (46 mm). Like the logo model, the Big Pilot's watch is a classic series, with images of the classic Junkers Ju 52 on it. The watch has a strap made by Santoni, a maker of handmade Italian shoes and leather goods. Over time, the IWC made the Big Pilot watch series into a small series. Here, the top swiss IWC replica watch is pursuing several different paths: new models are more historic, more modern, more complex or more elegant than traditional models.
The classic series also includes four Heritage items that are definitely worth looking at. 48 mm diameter of the Big Pilot 's Watch the Heritage 48 wrapped the IWC own manual chain Calibre 59215 8 days and date display, but the Big Pilot's Watch Heritage 55 can get bigger effect: 55 mm diameter chain containing Calibre 98300 manual on the exterior of the machine, can store up to 46 hours. Here, the copy IWC replica watches is restoring the original 55 mm diameter. Using beige luminous materials and a frosted case, the novice's style is very close to its predecessor, even though it has a small second hand dial. The original model had a central second hand.
The IWC recently launched the Big Pilot's Watch Heritage, a classic 46mm diameter. Unlimited edition with titanium metal case, limited release of 1,500 pieces, with bronze case. All are equipped with a soft iron inner casing to protect against magnetic field-a practical detail that previous predecessors lacked. According to the IWC replica watches, the 48-millimetre version has a small window on the back cover that can see the balance and does little harm to magnetism.


Hit the water with your stag party in Barcelona!
Heading out onto the deep blue sea when you're on the Spanish coast for the big lad's last stand is a no brainer. If you want to make it an unforgettable experience that'll set the tone for the rest of your time in the Catalonian capital, sign your stag party up for seats on the Barcelona Pedal Boat Cruise. Completely different and immensely legendary, the groom is going to love this one!
Have a blast with your stag party on the Spanish coast aboard an oversized pedal boat! That's right lads, this is like those little paddle boats you use on lakes in the UK but so much bigger! Ready to tackle the ocean and have some drinks while you're at it? Give our stag party planners a call. We're experts when it comes to waving goodbye to the single life in Barcelona and will make sure everything is epic for his final fling before the ring.
On the day, your stag party will head down to a centralised meeting point close to some of the best places to eat, drink and dance in the city. There, you'll be met by your captain; he'll tell you what to expect and get everyone seated onboard his vessel. Stow your bum bags and extra bits in the onboard wardrobe and get ready for some fun.
While you're on the pedal boat, each of the lads will get 1 litre of sangria, beer or soft drinks to quaff while they take in the sights, catch up with the chaps or just relax under the hot summer sun. Come on, guys; you know it makes sense! Forget sunning yourselves on a beach crowded with tourists! Head out onto the waves for an afternoon to remember.


Male Wiki - What is the male?
What does the word male mean? Find synonyms, antonyms and the meaning of the word male in our free online dictionary! Find words starting with male and anagrams of male.
Words that are spelled similarly to "male"
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 Similar to a "hop" ? regardless I would take it in to a shop and see if they can adjust it, I can true one side to side no problem usually but some things better left to the pros, 15 minutes at the Trek store and they had it 100% good again and $25.
Re: Why I should buy a Cervelo R3?
Re: R2/3 S2/3 - Why the huge stack height ?


Round 2 of the Candy Tracker. I was able to get a few more candy loggers this year as we embarked on another Halloween Candy Haul. The SweetSpots map was on hot with candy logging action. Let's see how the night unfolded.
TLC kicks the night off from 3PM-5PM. a great way to get a candy score before dinner. It is the earliest event around our town so of course it makes sense to hit it first and hit it hard. My boy Luke threw such a fit getting his Thor costume on (refused to take a nap) that we didnt realize he wasn't wearing shoes when we got to TLC. Oh well, we are not going to let a couple sore 4 year old feet slow us down on our first score (it is a short walk don't hot line me).
You can guarnetee you are going to get some "Gimmicky Garbage" here at the TLC Trunk or treat. We were not let down. A small box of tissues, a first aid kit (pretty cool on any other night), and some new frisbees (to add to the 2 from last year). They also had a ring toss and a bean bag game where you got to pick out some trinkets from the bucket. The Kleenex box rated right up there with the Twizzlers at a 3/10. The only other red score here was the dreaded Almond Joy. Coop actually made an attempt to eat an Almond Joy, he knew the error of his ways about .2 seconds in.
Second stop of the night was the Liberty Square. We had to book it back home to get Luke some shoes for this haul. This one involved a little more walking. This event is from 5PM-7PM. Again another great way to score a ton of candy in a small area. As an added double bonus there is also a great Trunk or Treat just 1 block from the square as you can see on the SweetSpots map.
The Liberty Square is what we call a pure candy score. Businesses can't afford to let the kids down here, so they hand out candy. We had 1 red pin here but it was actually a combo score of Gimmicky Garbage and candy. The Gimmicky Garbage was a stress ball which was involved later in the night in a brother on brother battle royal where said stress balls were taken away.
The Trunk or Treat off the square is a decent spot for candy. It has a great candy to distance walked ratio. However as you can see there are a couple folks who haven't read the rules of proper candy dispersion. Some poor lady was trying to give out Colgate toothpaste. I was so proud of my little Thor when he just flat refused to take the toothpaste and walked past her.
We made a final stop, after hitting Chipolte for 3$ burritos, at Grandma's neighborhood. This is more of a tradition then a good strategy for maximizing our candy score. Grandma's street does have a lot of houses that participate so it's not a terrible score. Usually by this time I am pretty much Halloween-ed out. That and we were wanting to catch Game 4 of the World Series to cheer on our Royals.
I logged a few pieces and we called it a night.
As I mentioned I had a few more people log candy this year. My Gladstone friends were logging crazy. Look at all those pins.
A quick review of the data and I did not find any green pins. Man what gives. So I started looking more closely.
PB cups a 7? Milky Way a 6? Twix a 6? Kit Kat a 6? Tough candy crowd out at Gladstone. They are not totally crazy because Swedish Fish and Nerds were properly rated at a 2 and 3. Team Gladstone did not rate a single piece of candy higher than a 7. Wonder what Gladstone folks think is a 8,9 or 10 piece of candy.
We had a few other pieces logged throughout the metro.
All and all not a bad candy haul this year. We had Thor and a Jedi so we doubled up on Candy. We are sending a large bag up to school with Coop to give to the Troops. Thanks for all who logged candy. Here are the counts.
Heath bar gets an unfair advantage cause it is one of my favorites.
Snickers and Kit Kat were among the most popular.
Healthy at a 4 was the toothpaste...seems a little high but I was rating on utility.
Seems simple enough. Straight forward definition. But my buddy Chad Bisher challenged this definition and taught us all to reach for our dreams and follow our hearts this week.
It all started with a friendly Fitbit Work Week Step count challenge thrown down by none other than thejoestory. I invited a few Fitbit friends to step up to the challenge in what I am now labeling "THE Hot Stepper October Work Week Challenge of 2015, Murderer".
I knew something was a miss Early Tuesday of the competition. Chad Bisher had a big lead (like a whole day's worth of steps lead) by Tuesday Morning. I quickly rememberd what gave Chad Bisher the early week edge.
Chad Bisher owns a desk cycle. For the uninformed, the desk cycle is a small bicycle apparatus you can fit under your desk that allows you to pedal while you are sitting at your desk. Chad Bisher was racking up thousands and thousands of steps on the desk cycle.
Taken a back by this brazen display of competitive advantage I decided to email some folks for an impartial opinion. The problem, in my opinion, was that a step counted on a desk cycle is not truly a step. You are not supporting your full body weight and you are not moving from your current position.
Emails started flooding in, and quickly two teams formed.
Some crazy folks were actually in support of Chad Bisher.
"hahahahahaha" was one response which I counted as a support for Bisher.
"So have you ever tried so called deskcycle? What's preventing you from doing the same thing?"
"If seated cycling was allowed it should have been clear to all competitors"
"Would you count steps any differently if he was riding a stationary bike...if you would then you count the deskcycle steps too"
Some supporters went as far as printing up some tshirts for the FREE BISHER CAUSE.
The other side of the argument, the more sane people, had this to say.
"I am sure he is a nice guy and all but it also seems like he is a pumpkin eater (cheater cheater)"
"In my world there are many kinds of steps, but they all requires two components... moving ones lower extremity forward (even 0.01 inches), AND transferring standing body weight to that extremity. So I would say that he is not taking a step by pedaling a bike in a non weight-bearing position, as one cannot sit and walk simultaneously. Id have a hard time coming up with a formula to translate pedaling a bike to walking, too many variables. Walking and pedaling use a few of the same leg muscles, but it would be like comparing casually throwing a ball 100 times to doing 100 push-ups. Similar arm and shoulder muscles used, but too many variables to compare. If it was a competition of STEPS, I would say he knowingly racked up thousands of "steps" on his pedometer without leaving his seat, and should either subtract the approximate number of revolutions he made on he bike from his score, or be disqualified from he competition."
"While it seems that the majority of the competitors are all within "steps" reach of one another, Chad is walking away by 20k plus. I feel that this is similar to the Barry Bonds doping scandal with home runs. Rumor has it that steps are being calculated with the Fitbit attached somewhere other than the proper wrist location. I feel there needs to be an investigation launched by federal authorities into this scandal. "
"I don't have a Fitbit so I don't feel like I should get a say. Since you asked though, it's cheating for sure. Punish him!"
I agree that Chad has an advantage that does not permit a level playing field.
So after the crowd weighed in...where do we stand? I think we have to do a step adjustment. I proposed a very straight forward calculation for adjustment.
From here you arrive at the adjusted step count for Chad Bisher. Then we see where he stands in the leader board. If he is still ahead of me then we subtract off just enough steps so the calculation still looks legit while allowing me to maintain the step total victory. Seems simple enough.
So for all intents and purposes Chad Bisher was out of the competition. So it ended up being a battle between me and the Doc. Friday I ran to The Scout and back which is around 4.75 miles. Doc hit the gym after work and straight owned it.
I was down by about 5000 steps when I got home. The Royals started Game 6 of the ALCS at 7:00PM. By 8:10PM I convinced myself that I must defeat the Doc. So I embarked on another 4 mile run.
I get back from the run and realize I am still 1200 steps behind. The Doc is on the move, the Royals game is a nail biter, and we only have about 3 more hours to go on this competition.
I would sync, up 300 steps, the Doc would sync down 412 steps. We are both pacing and walking at this point in a fight to the finish. The ALCS game had a 45 minute rain delay and the Doc made the mistake of taking a breather during the rain delay. I never stopped walking from 9:00PM - 12:00AM and finished up a couple thousand steps on the Doc.
I earned the 35K step badge. It took 8.5 miles of running and 3 hours of constant walking but somehow I managed to edge past the Doc.
The step contest ended 10/23/2015 @ 11:59:59PM. Here are the final results: Adjusted and non-adjusted.
I ended up multiplying Chad Bisher's steps by .582 which, to me, factors in resistance settings and other steps taken throughout the week. Remember this is me coming up with some arbitrary metric to ensure my victory.
I stumbled on a cool tool on the KC Open Data page today: http://maps.kcmo.org/apps/parcelviewer/ The parcel viewer shows the owner of various parcels of land. When you get to the spot on the map you want you can click download CSV, and what do you know Lat and Lon are right there in the feed.
The data is all public but I blacked it out anyway.
So of course from there you can plug the data into Google Fusion Data and it will create a map for you.
Bam now you know your neighbors...at least their name. Of course remember this data is only as good as the parcel viewer. Case in point we had some friends move recently (2 weeks ago) and they are still listed.
The boys setup a K'NEX Mario Kart track the while I was at work earlier this week. So naturally I did what any cool father would do. "Boys which Kart can finish the track the quickest? We should run some hot laps and time each Kart, keep track of it and then I'll blog abotut it". And here we are.
The course is a modified oval. Long straight stretch to help build up speed. Turn 1 and 2 are standard turns. The back straight away has a ramp and an S-turn as you move into Turn 3. Another quick S-Turn as you enter Turn 4 and then you hit the finish.
We have 3 working Karts, one busted Mario Kart. All Karts have fresh batteries. Using the standard eye test, the Donkey Kong Kart appeared to be the fastest Kart. Mario seemed to be the slowest and Bowser was somewhere in the middle.
We started trying to time one lap. All Karts finish a lap pretty quick. So we quickly changed to a 5-Lap run.
Each Kart finished 3 5-Lap runs.
Again DK seemed to be the fastest. However the Kart would build up so much speed on the first straight away that it would wreck out in Turn 1. If it made it past Turn 1 it would get too much air on the ramp out of Turn 2 and would crash out by the tree.
The Mario Kart was slow so it had a clean run around most of the track. However it would not get much air on the ramp so it kept crashing into the wall where it would have to re-accelerate costing time.
The Bowser Kart set the fastest lap in Heat 2. It had a clean run and was faster than the Mario Kart.
We made a slight adjustment to the track by lining up the ramp a little better to smooth out the landing. DK set the course record in Heat 2 by pulling off a clean run.
Mario was the most consistent across all three heats.
Bowser crashed out in one heat, and then had wheel trouble in the other two heats. If not for the wheel trouble Bowser would have probably set the course record in Heat 1.
So there you have it. Bowser set the 5-lap record. DK Sets the 10-lap record. I challenge the boys to come up with some new configs so we'll see what they come up with. I'd like to calculate the scale speed but we already tore the first track down. I will try to remember to measure the next track.
Found a laptop laying around at home and wanted to throw linux on it. The laptop does not have an optical drive so I needed a Linux on USB solution. Here is what I did.
Download the Linux distro you want to throw down.
Wait....it took a long time.
Then slap that USB stick in your laptop and boot that mug up.
Simple as that. I went with CentOS 7 and it worked perfectly.
I dislike meetings. I make that pretty clear to anyone that wants to listen. So anytime an opportunity arises to expose meetings for what they really are (99% waste) I jump at the challenge to qualify/quantify how terrible meetings can be. In my 14 year professional career I have sat in numerous meetings. I can remember 2 meetings total that actually brought value and one of them was a 3 day working meeting to solve a very specific problem. I'd probably call that a focused collaboration session but it was billed as a meeting.
So where do we go from here? Well in the past I have created meeting waste calculators and created a meeting buzzword tracker. Me and a friend were chatting the other day and he knew I had created a calculator and he wanted the link. I sent it over. After some normal I hate meetings banter I mentioned I need to work on my meeting buzzword tracker. Like most of my projects I cobbled something together quickly without thinking about flexibility/scale-ability and such.
The meeting buzzword tracker was written for a single, very specific dataset I wanted to collect. How many times was the word project mentioned in our standard weekly team meeting? So I sent the link to my buddy and then he asks this question which pretty much sparked the remaining of this blog post: "How do I adjust the meeting tracker for the guy who fell asleep?"
My response to this question was "perhaps we have a few counters you can tick".
He responded. "We need a scoring system for meetings, buzzwords, people nodding off, snores, nose picks, etc." BOOM! and now we are off and running.
After some more back and forth I decided to email some folks in the lame meeting world to get some more feedback. Several responses later and we now have the Meeting Tracker 1.0 system in development.
First we collect some standard meeting info: Meeting Name, Date/Time, Duration in minutes, and the Buzzword. The buzzword is a word you want to track the frequency of during your meeting. As mentioned earlier I used to track the word project. We once had a meeting where project was mentioned 32 times in about a 25 minute span. It was glorious.
Next we have a standard set of counters. These are the various counters you want to track. Here is our current list.
We added a series of conditions to track during the meeting. These are yes/no true/false type conditions about the meeting. Here is our current list.
Then we came up with a set of bonus points. These items remove points from our overall Meeting score. We will talk more about the scoring system below.
Cancelled - the meeting was cancelled.
Now that we had a series of metrics I started assigning values to the various metrics. For the counter section we assign a value to the counter and then just multiply the count by the value to get the metric for that meeting. For conditions I just assigned a value to each condition based off my own personal biases for how bad the various condition effects the overall meeting score. Finally for kickers I added points back for various items. Therefore kickers are negative numbers.
After the math we are left with a Meeting Score representing how terrible the meeting is. The higher the number the worse the meeting. Since whole numbers are not really cool I decided to create a variable to multiple the final score by. I call this variable the Inherent Terribleness of Meetings in General (ITMG coefficient). Right now the ITMG coefficient is 1.73123.
Below is a snapshot of the current values along with 3 sample meetings.
So for our sample meetings, Meeting 3 is the worst at 328.93.
We probably need to tweak things a bit, and I need to track some meetings with the web app to see how it works on mobile devices. I am thinking I also need to create a PDF sheet that you can print and take to the meeting. That way you can just track the data in the meeting and then record it in the system at a later date. You don't want to have to add yourself to the Offliners count.
So I am all ears on Suggestions and feedback. Can you think of some more counters, conditions, or kickers for the meetings? Have any suggested value tweaks for the metrics above? Have a meeting war story to share? Send them my way.
I think meeting duration should play a role some how. So the longer the meeting the worse the meeting. I may add that into our scoring system somewhere. Do you have any other ideas?
Recently I started capturing data from the Speed Sensors of the KC Scout system here in the KC Metro detailed in this post. So I am collecting tons of data from the Speed Sensors daily (archive table has over 9 million rows already) and I started to wonder what I should do with all that data.
Why not build a heat map for day of week and hour of day? Having no good answer to that question I threw together a quick website that allows you to select a Speed Sensor and then generate a Heat Map for that speed sensor.
Here you get a big ol list of Speed Sensors with cryptic names and such. One future feature I want to implement is to plot all the sensors on a Google Map and let you select a Sensor from the map to generate the HEAT MAP.
This will give you a map of where the sensor is located and the average speed for each day of the week and each hour of the day in a sweet looking heat map. I am using the sweet D3js.org Library to build the Heat Map.
Like most of my stuff this is pretty bush league. I am actually building a Tab Separated Values file on the fly and using that to source the Heat Map. Therefore its pretty slow and I cannot send out the link to folks cause it will not be able to handle multiple requests very well.
I need to spend some time to figure out how to make the D3js heat map hit the database directly but as typical with my stuff I just crank it out and figure out the details later.
Now you can select a sensor from the map and then link to the Heat Map. Pretty Boss. Anyway yeah I think the next step is to figure out how to dynamically build the Heat Map using D3 hitting the database directly. Hopefully I can figure that out eventually.


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Home » Orlando Bloom
Movie Review: NEEDLE IN A TIMESTACK
Rating: R Stars: Leslie Odom Jr., Frieda Pinto, Cynthia Erivo, Jadyn Wong, Orlando Bloom Writer: John Ridley, based on the short story by Robert Silverberg Director: John Ridley Distributor: Lionsgate Release Date: October 15, 2021 NEEDLE IN A TIMESTACK is based on a short story by Robert Silverberg, published in a collection of his work by the same title in 1966. Writer/director John Ridley has adapted this into a feature film that has some intriguing science-fiction ideas and questions about the nature of romantic love. Unfortunately, things don't seem to be fully thought through. We are meant to be invested […]Read On »
Exclusive Photos from PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES U.S. Premiere
By SUE SCHNEIDER 05/19/2017
Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer Films held the U.S. Premiere of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES at the Dolby Theatre, May 18th in Hollywood. The carpet ran down Hollywood Boulevard to the entrance of the Hollywood/Highland Complex and up to the entrance of the Dolby, which was lined with fans, as a matter of fact fans were everywhere on the street and the lucky ones got to be right on the carpet to see the stars up close. Smoke before the actually premiere started came down the carpet, which I guess was suppose to be fog! Thankfully […]Read On »
Movie Review: THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES
Rating: PG-13 Stars: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Luke Evans, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Benedict Cumberbatch, Aiden Turner, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Manu Bennett, Lawrence Makeore Writers: Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro, based on the novel THE HOBBIT by J.R.R. Tolkien Director: Peter Jackson Distributor: Warner Bros./New Line/MGM Release Date: December 17, 2014 Steal from a dragon, lie to a wizard and underestimate Peter Jackson at your peril. The filmmaker, who first managed to get J.R.R. Tolkien's sprawling LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy to fit into three movies […]Read On »
Movie Review: THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG
Rating: PG-13 Stars: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Stephen Fry, Ken Stott, James Nesbitt, Orlando Bloom Writers: Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro, based on the novel THE HOBBIT by J.R.R. Tolkien Director: Peter Jackson Distributor: Warners/New Line/MGM Release Date: December 13, 2013 On one level, filmmaker Peter Jackson and his loyal companions have a problem uncommon in book-to-film adaptations. Most of these require that large chunks of the source material be removed or at least condensed and altered to fit into a running time […]Read On »
Exclusive Photos from THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG Los Angeles Premiere
New Line Cinema, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures presented the Los Angeles Premiere of THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG recently at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Fans lines the street and up the center of the Hollywood/Highland Complex where the black carpet ran right up to the stairs leading to the doors of the Dolby Theatre. The fans were more then happy to be able to get up close to get pictures and autographs of the stars. THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG continues the adventure of Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) on an epic quest to reclaim the […]Read On »
Blu-ray and DVD picks of the week including THE DESCENDANTS
By PETER BROWN 03/14/2012
Your time is short. We know this. So in order to expedite your buying and Netflix decision making, we provide you with a list of the cool and not-so-cool titles coming out for movies, television and everything in-between. So put your feet up, grab some popcorn and check out this week's selections. MOVIES THE DESCENDANTS – This is the most cheerful film that you will see any time soon. In fact, if you are in a good mood and want to come out of it this is the film to see. George Clooney stars in this film about a real […]Read On »
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES is one of the Blu-ray and DVD picks this week
Your time is short. We know this. So in order to expedite your buying and Netflix decision making, we provide you with a list of the cool and not-so-cool titles coming out for movies, television and everything in-between. So put your feet up, grab some popcorn and check out this week's selections. MOVIES PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES – Yeah, times have changed. No longer is Keira Knightley or Orlando Bloom involved but really the first three films were all about Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) and this fourth installment of the action franchise delivers him in spades. […]Read On »
Breaking News: The HOBBIT prequels are officially named and given release dates
By CARL CORTEZ 05/31/2011
Director Peter Jackson has earned enough good will in his impressive career, that he's afforded a misstep or two every now and again. However, with the full titles for his new THE HOBBIT prequels to his LORD OF THE RINGS now officially announced, this may be one misstep that is going to haunt him for some time. The first film will be called THE HOBBIT: AN EXPECTED JOURNEY and hits theaters December 14, 2012, while the second, dubbed THE HOBBIT: THERE AND BACK AGAIN, arrives a year later on December 13, 2013. Jackson scripted the films with Fran Walsh, Philippa […]Read On »


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Hungary warned over far-right policies
HUNGARY faces sanctions from the European Parliament over its anti-immigration policies amid warnings that Viktor Orban's right-wing administration poses a serious risk to the values of the European Union (EU).
The European Parliament will discuss whether to invoke Article 7, which would trigger disciplinary proceedings against Hungary amid accusations that Mr Orban has violated "the rule of law and respect for human rights."
Mr Orban will appeal against such a move which could see Hungary lose its voting rights in the European Parliament if he does not take appropriate measures.
Tomorrow's vote will require the support of two-thirds of MEPs to impose disciplinary measures, but Mr Orban's Fidez Party is in a bloc that includes German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union which could shield him from the sanctions.
Mr Orban's party won two-thirds of the seats in Hungary's parliament after running an anti-immigration campaign, cutting funding for organisations that support migrants and criminalising lawyers who help asylum-seekers.


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Driver rams into police car after chase
Danielle Ferguson
A Des Moines man on Saturday was arrested after he lead officers on a car chase and rammed into the side of a police car.
An officer twice used a police car to ram into the suspect's car to prevent harm from officers on foot, according to a police report, but the suspect was not injured because of it.
At about 4 a.m. Saturday, officers were at a stop light on the corner of 19th Street and Carpenter Avenue behind a car with no license plates matching the description of a car that lead other officers on a chase the night before, a black Mercury Mountaneer, according to a police report.
Officers attempted to do a traffic stop, but the car did not slow down, according to the report. The officers turned on emergency sirens and pursued the car for about five minutes with speeds ranging from 40 to 90 mph, according to the report. The chase ended in the yard of a house on 29th Street south of Interstate-235.
A second police car arrived and the driver of the car, William Taylor, 55, of Des Moines, struck the side of the second police car with the officer inside, according to the report.
A third police car arrived and two of the officers had gotten out of their cars to tell Taylor to turn off the vehicle.
The officer driving the first police car reported he heard the suspect car accelerate again and "felt inclined to take immediate offensive action...knowing (the) suspect intended to harm officers having already intentionally rammed (an officer's) vehicle," and hit the passenger side of the suspect vehicle, according to the report.
The driver was "stunned" long enough for the officers on foot to get out of the way and moved the car away from being able to ram into officers, according to the report. At this point, three officers were on foot with their weapons drawn asking the driver to turn off the car, according to the report.
Taylor opened the door "glaring" at officers and the officer stated he thought Taylor might try to hit the foot officers again and used his car to box in Taylor's vehicle, according to the report.
An officer took Taylor into custody and found a steak knife on the ground near the driver's side door that came off Taylor, according to the report, but it is unknown if he would have attempted to use the knife on officers.
Taylor told officers he tried to get away because he had warrants out on him.
According to the report and Polk County arrest records, Taylor was arrested on charges of assault on peace officers with a weapon, driving with a suspended license, eluding officers and operating a non-registered vehicle.