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Malvin Wald (* 8. August 1917 in New York City; † 6. März 2008 in Sherman Oaks, Kalifornien) war ein US-amerikanischer Drehbuchautor.

Leben

Wald absolvierte 1936 das Brooklyn College. Im Anschluss folgte er seinem Bruder Jerry Wald (1911–1962), einem Drehbuchautor und späteren Filmproduzenten, nach Hollywood. Ab Beginn der 1940er Jahre trat er als Drehbuchautor in Erscheinung. So basiert der 1942 veröffentlichte Film 10 Leutnants von West-Point auf einer Geschichte von ihm. Während des Zweiten Weltkriegs diente er in den United States Army Air Forces. Später unterrichtete er Drehbuchschreiben an der University of Southern California. Bis zu Beginn der 1950er Jahre war Wald an einigen Kinofilmen beteiligt, im Anschluss verlagerte sich sein Schaffen vor allem auf Fernsehserien.

Für das Drehbuch zu Stadt ohne Maske war er 1949 für den Oscar in der Kategorie beste Originalgeschichte nominiert. Außerdem war er hierfür gemeinsam mit Albert Maltz in zwei Kategorien für den Writers Guild of America Award nominiert.

Wald war verheiratet und Vater zweier Kinder. Seine Frau verstarb 1999.

Filmografie (Auswahl)
 1948: Stadt ohne Maske (The Naked City)
 1949: Alarm in der Unterwelt (The Undercover Man)
 1955: SOS! Flieger nach vorn! (Battle Taxi)
 1958: Employees Only (Dokumentar-Kurzfilm, Drehbuch)
 1959: Al Capone
 1961: Der Mann mit der stählernen Klaue (The Steel Claw)
 1966–1968: Daktari (Fernsehserie)
 1977–1978: Der Mann in den Bergen (The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, Fernsehserie)

Weblinks

Einzelnachweise

Drehbuchautor
US-Amerikaner
Geboren 1917
Gestorben 2008
Mann

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Out Reach Cruisin. Free Hot Dogs, Drinks and Chips. Door Prizes to registered cars. Open to cars, trucks, motorcycles. All Free.
Celebrate more than 100 years of Crimson Tide football, revealed through photographs, uniforms and sports memorabilia. State-of-the-art videos display highlights of Bama coaches, players and unforgettable plays. "Where the season never ends!"


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Cyr Honoré François de Crémont, né en 1731 à Versailles, où il est mort le , fut ordonnateur de l'île Bourbon, l'actuelle île de La Réunion, de 1764 à 1784.

D'abord écrivain du roi dans l'escadre du comte Anne Antoine d'Aché en route pour les Indes, il atteignit cette petite colonie française dans l'océan Indien après être passé par l'île de France, l'actuelle île Maurice, où il fut commissaire de la marine puis premier conseiller au sein du conseil supérieur. De là, il passa sur l'autre grande île de l'archipel des Mascareignes, où il fut également le premier conseiller du conseil supérieur.

Il y prit part à plusieurs expéditions sur le volcan actif, le piton de la Fournaise, et fut ainsi à l'origine de la découverte par des esclaves au cours de l'une d'entre elles du passage de montagne appelé pas de Bellecombe, toujours utilisé de nos jours. Pour le reste, il s'illustra par une ambitieuse politique d'aménagement qui modifia en profondeur l'organisation de plusieurs villes de la colonie, notamment de la principale, Saint-Denis.

Biographie

Fonctions officielles
Né en 1731, Honoré de Crémont sert comme écrivain du roi Louis XV dans l'escadre du comte Anne Antoine d'Aché, sur l'Illustre, commandé par Jacques de Ruis ; escadre chargée en 1757 de soutenir le gouverneur Thomas Arthur de Lally-Tollendal aux Indes. Alors que la normale est alors de quatre à six mois, l'expédition en met sept pour arriver à l'île de France, l'actuelle île Maurice. Il rentre en France sur un bateau de la Compagnie des Indes qui est capturé par les Anglais au travers des Açores. Il est déposé à Lisbonne.

Là, Honoré de Crémont devient en 1766 commissaire de la marine de Maurice puis premier conseiller au sein des conseils supérieurs de cette île et de Bourbon, aujourd'hui l'île de La Réunion.

Explorations
C'est au titre de ses hautes fonctions qu'Honoré de Crémont participe en octobre 1768 à l'expédition sur le piton de la Fournaise au cours de laquelle est découverte grâce à lui le Pas de Bellecombe, passage dans le rempart de Bellecombe qui permet de descendre dans la dernière caldeira formée par ce volcan actif. Ainsi, si l'on en croit ce qu'écrit Jean-Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent a posteriori dans son Voyage dans les quatre principales îles des mers d'Afrique, paru en 1804, il se montre alors plus déterminé que le gouverneur Guillaume Léonard de Bellecombe, qui rebrousse chemin en découvrant l'Enclos Fouqué après deux jours de marche. Pour maintenir le moral des hommes, il promet six pièces de toile bleue aux Noirs qui trouveraient un passage dans le rempart, et celui-ci est identifié peu après.

Il gravit alors le cône principal du volcan au prix d'un effort excessif qui le fatigue et l'assoiffe. Faute d'eau, il boit tout le rhum qui restait dans son flacon et ne peut plus se soutenir. Il est alors chargé sur ses larges épaules d'un autre homme qui le ramène à la Plaine des Sables aidé d'un esclave. Ils manquent de se tuer à plusieurs reprises.

Quelques mois plus tard, Honoré de Crémont participe à la première équipée véritablement scientifique qui part du Baril, dans l'actuelle commune de Saint-Philippe. À la même période, il est l'hôte de Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre au cours du séjour de celui-ci à Bourbon. Il restera son ami jusqu'à la fin de sa vie.

Il meurt vers 1800.

Réalisations

Hors de Saint-Denis
En tant qu'ordonnateur, Honoré de Crémont s'illustre par les travaux de voirie, d'adduction d'eau et d'assainissement qu'il initie et accompagne en même temps qu'il soutient le développement agricole par ailleurs.

En 1769, il fait construire à Saint-Paul une chaussée le long de laquelle s'élèvent les premières grandes bâtisses de la ville. Plus au nord, il fait entreprendre le pavage de la voie aujourd'hui appelée chemin des Anglais, ou chemin Crémont. L'opération est terminée en 1775.

À Saint-Denis

Reste que c'est surtout la réorganisation du schéma urbain de Saint-Denis qui accapare le plus l'attention d'Honoré de Crémont. Ainsi, il embellit les rues et tente d'organiser la distribution de l'eau du chef-lieu. Ce faisant, il se heurte cependant au caractère anarchique du développement des quartiers populaires à la démographie croissante et décide donc de fixer de nouvelles limites à la ville. Pour ce faire, il charge le chevalier Gustave Banks de dresser un plan de la capitale en 1774. Celui-ci sera validé par le tribunal le .

Saint-Denis y est délimitée  :
 Par la rue de l'Embarcadère, aujourd'hui rue de Nice, au nord.
 Par les terrains des héritiers Pitou à l'est.
 Par le rempart aujourd'hui parcouru par le boulevard Lacaussade à l'ouest.
 Par la rue Dauphine, désormais appelée rue du Général-de-Gaulle, au sud. Elle prend naissance à Champ-Fleuri pour se terminer au sommet des rampes Ozoux.

En 1777, suivant ce plan, Honoré de Crémont fait tracer cinq nouvelles rues dans cette ville et leur attribue toutes un nom de saint - parmi elles, la rue Sainte-Anne et la rue Sainte-Marie. En outre, il fait construire un marché à Saint-Denis à l'angle de l'actuelle rue Jean-Chatel et de la rue de l'Église.

Il est par ailleurs à l'origine du transfert de l'actuel Jardin de l'État du fond de la rivière Saint-Denis au quartier de La Source, un transfert qui s'imposait en raison des conditions climatiques favorables. On sait qu'il tenta de créer un autre jardin public avoisinant mais qu'il n'y parvint jamais. En tout cas, il fait planter des manguiers le long de la rue Royale, l'actuelle rue de Paris.

En parallèle, il lui aura fallu plusieurs années pour faire construire le canal de La Source, la première canalisation de Saint-Denis. Elle est terminée en 1772.

Postérité
Une rue de Saint-Denis porte le nom d'Honoré de Crémont actuellement.

Notes et références

Ordonnateur de La Réunion
Explorateur de La Réunion
Urbaniste français
Naissance en 1731
Naissance à Versailles
Décès en juillet 1800
Décès à Versailles


Stuttgart lies in the Neckar Valley and is the capital of Baden-Württemberg in the south of Germany. Since the nineteenth century it has been one of Germany's industrial powerhouses.
Stuttgart derives its names from a Stuotgarten (stud farm) established in AD 950 by Duke Liudolf of Swabia. By 1160 the area was emerging as a trade centre. The town flourished after becoming the residence of the Counts of Württemberg in the fourteenth century and won city status in 1321. In 1495 it became the capital of the Duchy of Württemberg and from 1805 was the capital of the Kingdom of Württemberg.
Stuttgart suffered badly during the Thirty Years' War (1618–48), losing half its population. To celebrate the end of a devastating famine in 1818, King Wilhelm I inaugurated the annual Cannstatter Volksfest (beer festival). In the nineteenth century the Industrial Revolution and, in 1871, the arrival of Gottlieb Daimler's automobile transformed Stuttgart into a key industrial centre. Having been decimated by Allied bombing raids in the Second World War, the city was largely rebuilt after 1945.
Stuttgart is renowned for producing motor vehicles and electronic equipment. It is the headquarters of industrial giants including Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Bosch, Hewlett Packard and IBM. Other important industries include research and development and publishing. Stuttgart is also a major banking hub, with the second largest stock exchange in Germany, and is one of Germany's centres for wine-production and brewing.
The city is linked by motorway to Munich and Singen and has an international airport (Flughafen Stuttgart). The main railway station is Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof. Local transport within the city is provided by the S-Bahn, U-Bahn, buses and Straßenbahn (trams). There is also an inland port.
Schlossplatz (Royal Square) is the old central square of Stuttgart. Many of its surrounding buildings, dating from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, were damaged during the Second World War but have been sympathetically rebuilt or restored. Sites of historic interest around the square include the Siftskirche (a Gothic church), the Altes Schloss (a renaissance castle) and the Königsbau (the King's Building).
Stuttgart is home to a renowned city ballet, the State Opera and a Philharmonic Orchestra. Among its many fine museums is the Stuttgart State Gallery, which contains an extensive collection of fourteenth- to twentieth-century works by masters including Rembrandt, Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Dalí, Matisse and Picasso.
The Fernsehturm Stuttgart, the world's first TV tower.


In September 2001, President Bush appointed Senator Danforth as special envoy and his leadership was in fact instrumental in securing, after two and a half years of negotiations, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), thereby bringing about an end to the war. Danforth was a high-profile appointment. He had the ear of the president and the secretary and didn't get bogged down in the department's bureaucracy. He was uniquely positioned to negotiate and his stature, prior to taking the job, communicated a clear sense of urgency and priority on the part of the U.S.
With current envoy to the Sudans Princeton Lyman retiring, the Enough Project continues to call on the Obama administration to appoint a new U.S. special envoy to Sudan and South Sudan. As Wolf noted, history has shown that an experienced and respected U.S. special envoy can play a critical role in implementing U.S. policy towards Sudan and South Sudan, sustaining the U.S. government's attention on the situation, and maintaining diplomatic relations with officials from the two Sudans, as well as other key regional and international actors. Indeed, given the complex issues at play in the region—conflict prevention, humanitarian assistance, national security, the Arab Spring, and promotion of human rights and democracy—and the multiple stakeholders involved, the appointment of an experienced special envoy is critical.
The original press release and full text of the letter can be found on Congressman Wolf's website.


I work @ Baggataway Tavern, formerly Billy Cunningham's Court, in West Conshohocken.....not far from the Trappe.......we have been carrying Redbridge for some time now.....in addition, since I have celiac disease, the kitchen & wait staff are very knowledgable & helpful in ordering meals safely.
I am a bartender in the philadelphia area and have celiac as well. Specifically, I bartend in West Conshohocken @ a bar called the Baggataway Tavern. We now carry Redbridge gluten free beer @ the bar. Management & ownership has become aware of the dietary concerns of people with celiac disease because of me. Likewise, the kitchen is very aware of the special needs in ordering meals as well. One of the partners also owns a bar in the manayunk section of Philadelphia called The Ugly Moose. Redbridge is also available @ The Ugly Moose & is a restaurant that I also eat @ frequently. Likewise, the kitchen staff is very knowledgable about the special needs that are required for a gluten-free diet. I just wanted to make this known to anyone in the Philadelphia area, that I can assure that the kitchen staff & management @ both restaurants are very concious to our needs & that I personally have a very high comfort level eating @ both restaurants knowing this. In addition, the food & service is outstanding.
Gluten Free Beer At Outback!


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My St. John's
Safe Church Guidelines
Bringing Kids to Church
Daily Office (Morning and Evening Prayer)
Spiritual Life Groups
Children (age 5 to grade 6)
Youth (grade 7-12)
Winifred Bean Sacred Music Series
The Parish Choir
The Royal School of Church Music
The Handbell Ensemble
Artaria String Quartet & Chamber Music School
Mission & Tradition
How Funds Are Used
Cornerstone Trust
Vestry (Leadership Committee)
Resources and Facility Use
"The Evangelist" – Our Bimonthly Magazine
Why Minnesota Nice Is Not Good Theology
A Sermon by The Reverend Barbara Mraz
St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church
Exodus 17:1-7, John4:5-2
Like all of us, I am especially sensitive to certain phrases. My current favorite is: "So how do you really feel about that?"
I sometimes hear this after I've made what I think is an especially emotional or heartfelt statement.
"So how do you really feel about that?" I'm asked.
This phrase is, in my opinion, an indirect and unhelpful way of saying, "Whoa… all that emotion is making me really uncomfortable and you're kind of scaring me. And, I have no idea how to respond."
So everyone laughs (at me) to defuse the tension and often avoid direct discussion.
I've been told more than once that I should live in New York because keeping Minnesota Nice can be hard for me. Minnesota Passive –Aggressive is what it often seems like to me, as in:
"That is a really interesting outfit.
I mean it's nice for you.
If you like that sort of thing.
Personally, I don't but then I've never been one of the cool kids. Heh heh."
There's a difference between niceness and kindness, between respect and refusing to engage. And it's clear which side today's lessons are on.
Scripture is far more direct and uncompromising than we realize. Often what we think it says (because we've heard it interpreted it this way for so long) is not what it really says. The consequence of doing Minnesota Nice with the Bible, of not being direct about Scripture, of sanitizing it, and allowing only the most pat and pious interpretations, can cost us a credibility that we need our faith to have.
The lesson from Exodus finds the Israelites in an ugly mood indeed. The camp where Moses has led them has no water and people are angry and quarrelling. They don't say (wistfully), "Sure was nice back in Egypt where we had water but you know best, Moses…."
No, they tell him, "Hey, we're dying of thirst here and it's your fault!" Moses doesn't respond with, "And how did you like the slavery part in Egypt?" He is direct with God – "They're ready to stone me! And God responds and provides.
It can often be unproductive to do Minnesota Nice with our faith.
Today's Gospel is a story that appears only in John, of the woman at the well. It has been misunderstood and misquoted a lot.
Let's take an honest look at the story and what Scripture tells us about the woman:
She is, in the eyes of the Jews, a triple outsider: a woman, a Samaritan, and it could reasonably be concluded, not respectable because she gets her water at the hottest time of the day, at noon, and not in the cooler morning or evening hours when the other women gather, as people gather at the water cooler at coffee break.
She has the longest recorded conversation with Jesus of anyone in scripture.
She seems to be intelligent, witty, and able to hold her own in the give and take banter she has with Jesus. One person says, "She plays word games with him. She argues theology and politics with him. It's clear she understands they're talking about something more than well water."
She knows her religious history. The Samaritans were Jewish in that they accepted the Torah but not other parts of the Jewish Bible. The woman refers to their common ancestor Jacob who worshipped on this mountain but notes that Jesus would see Jerusalem as the place to worship.
She admits she has had five husbands and is current living with a man who is not her husband.
We don't know her name her age or what she looks like.
However, a portrait of her has emerged in conservative circles that goes well beyond this information. The conservative preacher John Piper says: "She is a worldly, sensually-minded, unspiritual harlot from Samaria, a whore."
And another person says, "Before this immoral woman could embrace the Savior, she had to concede the full burden of her sins and be forgiven."
She never admits any sinfulness and never asks for forgiveness, nor does Jesus offer any. As for her marital status, the Lutheran David Lose writes, "She very easily could have been widowed or abandoned or divorced(which in the ancient world was pretty much the same thing for a woman). Five times would be heartbreaking but not impossible. Further she could now be living with someone that she was dependent on, in what's called a Levirate marriage, where a childless woman is married to her deceased husband's heir yet is not always technically considered the brother's wife. There are any number of ways that this woman's story may be tragic rather than scandalous, yet some preachers assume the latter…. The long history of misogyny in Christian teaching and preaching has not ended."
It is worth taking a moment to compare the Samaritan woman's conversation with Jesus to what precedes it in John: that is, the encounter with Nicodemus. Nicodemus is a man, a leader of the Jews, but he comes to Jesus at night ("Nick at Night"). Is he afraid of being seen visiting Jesus?
Another Lutheran, Karoline Lewis, writes this: "Nicodemus lasts all of nine verses in his conversation with Jesus before fading into the night from which he came. The Samaritan is an unnamed woman who meets Jesus at noon in full daylight. Whereas Nicodemus is unable to move beyond the confines of his religious system, the Samaritan moves outside of her religious expectation and engages Jesus in theological debate. She hears the actual name of God when Jesus says, 'I AM he.' While Nicodemus' last questioning words to Jesus expose his disbelief, 'How can this be?' the last words of the woman at the well lead her to witness to her whole town. … She demonstrates what can happen when we actually engage in conversation and questions about our faith."
And when the Woman tells people "he told me everything I ever did," I think that what she means is that Jesus (to use the contemporary phrase) gets her. He understands who she really is beneath the labels, acknowledges her good intentions, her mixed motives, the decisions she maybe had to make, the suffering she's been through, the burdens she carries – What else could make her run to the village and say "He told me everything I ever did"?
And as for us, what explains the reticence we have with others and with God, our failure to engage and to move our relationships beyond their present state?
We can't be best friends with everyone we met, of course, and some of us are introverts; we're shy, busy, preoccupied, or just disinterested. As our last-Wednesday-evening speaker on technology addiction suggested, more and more we are using a tech device to act as an intermediary and reduce "face time." Hence, people texting each other across the dinner table, using email instead of the more personal phone call (how many of us have called someone while saying to ourselves, "Don't be home, don't be home don't be home…"? )
Perhaps we have been wounded before and don't want to try getting closer to anyone again. Or our lives are just full.
I think a lot of it is an attempt to keep our anger in check and our fear, fear of being abandoned, fear of what might happen if we become more honest with one another.
And, as for being honest with God? Karoline Lewis again: "The woman at the well demonstrates what can happen when we actually engage in conversation and questions about our faith She shows us that faith is about dialogue growth and change. If we are content we have all the answers, if we believe more in our own convictions (and doubts) than the possibility of revelation, we will be left to ponder whether or not God will choose to be made known."
In fairness, it can take extraordinary powers to interpret some of the messages sent to us. We cannot all be like little Timmy on the old TV show "Lassie," the story of an extraordinary collie who lived on a farm with her adoring family.
Lassie runs up to Timmy: "Woof woof."
"What girl? Little Ellen has fallen down the abandoned well at old man Harper's place?"
"Woof Woof."
"Good girl. Let's get help!"
"Woof Woof!"
And Lassie leads the way.
Today's lesson is extraordinary because, foreshadowing his crucifixion, Jesus makes a direct request: "Give me a drink of water." We are left to wonder what it is that we can provide when asked the same question. The least we can do is avoid thinking about it.
Our hearts may be hard but water is soft. We know that if a bottle is hung above stone, allowing the water to fall drop by drop, it will wear away the stone. And that is why we show up, why we step up, and not remove ourselves from the holy water that will seep into our very souls. Because we, too, are thirsty.
The often-quoted poet Mary Oliver writes:
to see Jesus,
maybe in the clouds
Or on the shore,
just walking,
And clearly
besides.
On the hard days
I ask myself
if I ever will.
Also there are times
my body whispers to me
that I have." Amen.
Karoline Lewis, "Commentary on John," Working Preacher.org
David Lose, sermon on Working Preacher.org
Mary Oliver, "The Vast Ocean Begins Just Outside Our Church" in Thirst, 2007.
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"Our modelling shows that people from the East Coast as well as South Australia would fly domestically to Perth to connect to our non-stop London service. Some will take the opportunity to break their journey, whether it's for business meetings in Perth, to holiday or to visit family." The new flight will operate through Qantas' existing domestic terminals (T3/4), which will be upgraded to accommodate international flights. The airline's current international services from Perth (to Singapore and to Auckland) will also move to this terminal, helping to simplify the journey for thousands of people every year. Qantas will move its operations to an expanded Terminal 1 at Perth Airport by 2025, pending a commercial agreement.
First (and only) non-stoppassenger flight from London to Sydney in 1989 with a B747-400.
First to operate the world's largest passenger aircraft (A380) on the world's longest route (Sydney- Dallas) in 2014.


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A couple of years ago I bought a £1 bear from Ikea and made him some clothes. Occasionally I like to do this kind thing. It is comforting. He is the bear on the right. I thought he was lonely and bought him a wife. But she was naked for a long time. This year when my daughter asked what I wanted for Christmas I said some clothes for the lady bear. So she made clothes and we now have a couple. They don't have names but they have a dog – I'm not sure where he came from – possibly Ikea as well. They did have a tiny, felt, black cat but she has gone missing. I hope she didn't end up in the bin.
I think of them as a shepherd and his wife. Quite peasant like. If I was better at sewing then they would be POSH bears but I'm not so they will have to stay poor.


"Diana", ink on Amalfi paper.
"Caracalla" pencil on Amalfi paper.
You may remember some months ago I was commissioned to create a drawing base for a mosaic in a residential project. Recently I received this image from the mosaic shop with a detail of one of the pheasants. I'll post more images as the work progresses.


Full description of Mynet TV .
To Download Mynet TV For PC,users need to install an Android Emulator like Xeplayer.With Xeplayer,you can Download Mynet TV for PC version on your Windows 7,8,10 and Laptop.
4.Install Mynet TV for PC.Now you can play Mynet TV on PC.Have fun!


The Trend Snappy system is a revolutionary quick-release drilling system that is designed to make changing between drilling attachments simple and fast, to significantly increase productivity when drilling and fixing on site and in workshops.
The Trend Snappy system comprises of a Quick Chuck that can be fitted to a drill to allow for quick interchanging between attachments. The Quick Chuck is spring loaded and the various parts can simply be snapped into place and are held until the sleeve is pulled back and the part is released.
This quick-change drilling system is designed to be used with power drills and screwdrivers, as well as direct drive ¼" hex shank power bits. The huge range of different attachments available for this system makes it the most comprehensive range of quick-change tooling on the market today and it's a favourite with professional tradesmen and DIY home users.


Carburising is undertaken under a protective endothermic gas atmosphere in integral quench furnaces. Controlled levels of carbon are diffused into the steel surface at appropriate temperatures until the desired case depth is achieved. Carburizing followed by hardening produces a hard case with good wear and fatigue resistance and a softer, tough, core. Common alloy case hardening steels processed: EN36, En39B, 4317 (Hycase), 8620, Hollow Bar (20MnV6). Case depths frequently undertaken: 0.25 –3 mm. Surface hardnesses of 60HRC+ are achievable.
Carbonitriding is a modification of the carburizing process. Nitrogen, formed by the dissociation of ammonia, is diffused into steel surfaces along with carbon. This has the effect of increasing the hardenability of the case of low carbon, mild steels and free cutting steels. Lower alloy case hardening steels such as 8620 or Hollow Bar may also be carbonitrided. Case depths frequently undertaken: 0.15-1 mm. Surface hardnesses of 60HRC+ are achievable.
Constructional steels and spring steels are hardened by heating to elevated temperatures (austenitising) under a protective (endothermic) atmosphere and then oil quenched in integral quench furnaces. Parts are then tempered to achieve the specified hardness (mechanical properties).Common steels processed:1040/1045, 1340, 4140, 4340, 5140, EN25, EN26, 300M (S155), Arne/01/Silver steel, K245, CK1055, 9258, 5160, SUP9n.
Stress Relieving is undertaken to remove residual stresses generated by processes such as machining, forming, welding etc. These stresses may result in unwanted distortion after further processing. They may also have detrimental effects on fatigue life and stress corrosion. Whilst peak stresses can be relieved at 150-200°C after hardening, to remove all residual stresses, stress relieving is undertaken at temperatures 550-680ºC. Stress relieving at high temperatures may often be referred to as sub-critical annealing or process annealing.
Shot peening is a surface treatment where small spherical shot is impacted on a surface. This results in a residual compressive stress at and beneath the surface of a part. This process is highly beneficial in the prevention of fatigue cracking, fretting fatigue and stress corrosion cracking. VHT uses fully conditioned, hardened steel cut wire shot complying with the requirements of AMS2431. This shot is well suited to shot peening case hardened parts such as gears and other parts susceptible to fatigue failure.


Venture to the magical island of Capri, playground of the rich and famous for more than 2,000 years. Visit the city of Capri and Anacapri, with the famous Villa San Michele, the residence of the Swedish doctor Axel Munthe, described in the book "Storia dei San Michele."
Spend the New Year in the main square of Sorrento and drive on one of the most beautiful roads of Europe, the breathtaking Costiera Amalfitana, stopping in Meta and Massa Lubrense and visiting the famous towns of Positano, Amalfi and Ravello.


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Stimwave's Spinout Enrolls First Patient in Drug-Free Chronic Craniofacial Nerve Pain Study
Study is focused on patients afflicted with neuropathic pain of the face, head or neck.
Abbott's Dorsal Root Ganglion Stimulation Outperforms Traditional Spinal Cord Stimulation
Abbott's Proclaim DRG Neurostimulation System Launched in Europe
VEXIM Completes Enrollment in Clinical Trial
Cellular Biomedicine Group Awarded $2.29 Million Grant
StimRelieve LLC has enrolled the first patient in a clinical trial of the world's first implantable device for the treatment of chronic craniofacial nerve pain. The StimRelieve device uses wireless technology and is placed through an introducer device the size of a needle near the inflicted painful nerves to modulate nerve activity and provide therapeutic relief. The study is focused on patients afflicted with neuropathic pain of the face, head or neck, which can result from a variety of modalities, including, but not limited to, trigeminal neuropathy, postherpetic neuralgia, trigeminal or occipital neuralgias, facial or neck trauma, oral, facial or dental surgery, infections, whiplash, TMJ, or even atypical facial pain.
"Why no other product was ever really practical for placement in the head was due to the need for extensive tunneling down the neck with connection to an implanted pulse generator system. Now, for the first time ever, patients in this trial have an option for wireless stimulation for potential pain relief from various modalities that are impacting their quality of life," said Richard Weiner, M.D., of Dallas Neurosurgical and Spine Associates, the developer of occipital (ONS) stimulation.
Epidemiologists estimate that approximately 39 million adult Americans have some degree of ongoing chronic craniofacial pain.1 A large number of these pain suffers are completely "undiagnosable," making treatment very difficult.
"The development of a minimally invasive implantable neuromodulation system targeting craniofacial nerves has the potential to help patients suffering from facial pain without the added complexity associated with extension cables and implantable pulse generators," said Dr. Ashwin Viswanathan of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, a recognized authority on facial pain. "StimRelieve's technology has the potential to be that innovation." Viswanathan serves as the principal investigator at Baylor College of Medicine, the site that enrolled the first patient.
The study will include approximately 50 patients. This is a randomized, controlled study that compares the efficacy of the device as opposed to receiving no stimulation. The clinical trial will focus on implanting a small neurostimulator at craniofacial nerves under ultrasound guidance and utilizing a discreetly worn external transmitter to provide energy and therapy to the implanted device. The clinical trial will assess the effectiveness of delivering pulsed electrical energy to the targeted craniofacial nerve for the treatment of chronic pain.
"If the safety and effectiveness of the device is successfully trialed, the StimRelieve technology would allow neuromodulation to be offered to an underserved population living with chronic refractory craniofacial pain as a viable alternative to drug based therapy," said Laura Tyler Perryman, managing director and co-founder of StimRelieve. "The StimRelieve solution proposes a treatment option that is simple and not intimidating for patients. We look forward to the potential of positive results from the study on the path to bring this technology to market."
StimRelieve is a privately held firm that develops, manufactures, and commercializes wirelessly powered microtechnology neurostimulators, providing patients with a convenient, safe, minimally invasive, and highly cost-effective solution for the treatment of chronic pain. StimRelieve's goal is to evolve its patented platform into the default for neuromodulation, increasing the accessibility for patients worldwide while lowering the economic impact of chronic pain management.
1. Pain Management, An Issue of Neurosurgery Clinics of North America. Ashwini Sharan. November 22, 2014. Elsevier Health Sciences.
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CyMedica Orthopedics Enrolls First Patient in e-vive Rehabilitation Trial
The Shift to Outpatient Total Joint Replacements


Entries for the 2018 Pennine Film Festival have now been announced. You can visit our FilmFreway page for more information and to submit your film.
Feature Competition (60+ Mins) The winners of Best Narrative Feature and Best Documentary Feature will win a distribution deal with Indie Rights Films in Los Angeles.
FilmFreeway.com, the world's best online submission platform. FilmFreeway offers free HD online screeners, unlimited video storage, digital press kits, and more.
The Pennine Film Festival is a premiere event at the heart of Lancashire that develops and inspires young and new filmmakers.


Fish and chips on Friday = definitely a kiwi thing. (Guess what we had for dinner last night?) Roast dinners on Sunday also used to be kiwi, but probably slipping a bit now. (Kiwi traditions take from UK traditions a lot).
I'm not actually culturally Thai - I forget that readers here don't know me as well as those at my Separate Life blog (link is in the About Me section). I lived in Thailand as a teenager (just posted about it), and then again in my late 20s/early 30s with my husband, and it is very much part of me.
I love this.. I am sure they would have been interesting and full. And I am glad knowing this doesn't make you sad.
I also smile because we used to have a tradition at a camp in Oregon where we'd put lit candles in the river on tiny boats we made from things we found in the forest. We'd sing and put them in the water and watch them float away. It was always a very powerful and moving way to let go and say goodbye. Writing it like this, it sounds so cheesy and hippy-dippy Oregon, but I still fondly remember that tradition.
Not exactly a tradition, but I wanted very much to raise truly bilingual kids. I wanted them to grow up in this country but still be able to communicate with my family back home. I am a spelling fanatic in my own language, and I would have made sure they got their spelling and grammar rules right.
Valery, I did think about doing that myself, as I learned I'd never have children only a few weeks before Loy Krathong. I'd definitely have done it if I'd been in Thailand at the time - I can't think of a more lovely way to say good-bye.


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The Basset Hound Club of America was founded to encourage and promote quality in the breeding of pure-bred Basset Hounds and to do all possible to bring their natural qualities to perfection, to encourage the organization of local Basset Hound clubs in those areas where there are sufficient fanciers of the breed to meet the requirements of the American Kennel Club, and to assist them in their activities, to urge members and breeders to accept the Standard of the breed as approved by the American Kennel Club as the only standard of excellence by which Basset Hounds should be judged, to do all in its power to protect the interests of the breed by encouraging sportsmanlike competition at dog shows, field trials, obedience trials, and tracking tests, etc. and to conduct such events under the rules of the American Kennel Club.
Written circa 2000. An update is pending.
The Basset Hound Club of America, Inc. was started in 1933, at the home of William Fritz, in Detroit, Michigan. The charter members are listed as having been Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Bissell, B. B. Chaney, Harold R. Frazee, William Fritz, George C. Gregg, Carmon Klink, Alfred E. Kannowski, W. P. Klapp, Jr., James E. Lee, Ann Levy, Gerald Livingston, Carl Nottke, Effie Seitz, and Lewis Thompson.
The Constitution and By-Laws were drawn up in 1934 and they were adopted in 1935 during the Club's first Annual Meeting. The rules for Field Trials were drafted in 1936 and the Club became an American Kennel Club member club in 1937. The Constitution and By-Laws were revised and the Incorporation of the Club was approved at a special meeting. The incorporation, at Racine, Wisconsin, was accomplished through the efforts of Cathryn A. Burton, James Fornary and George R. Simanek.
According to Mercedes Braun, in her book, The New Complete Basset Hound, Fourth Edition, 1979, and now out of print, the original Standard for the American Basset Hound was written by Will Judy, publisher of the well known Dog World magazine. A well known dog man in his day, Mr. Judy did the initial work on a number of new breed standards. This attempt at approving a standard was rejected by the membership at its 1940 Annual Meeting with forty members in attendance and voting. Available records indicate no further action was taken concerning the standard until 1953. A six member committee composed of Loren Free, Dorothy Hardy, Jean Look, Helen Nelson, Effie Seitz and Chris Teeter presented a proposed Standard at the Annual Meeting in 1955 and it was accepted by majority vote. A restlessness concerning the Standard seemed to prevail and in 1961 the membership apparently decided that it should be revised. Braun states: "The committee was appointed headed by Peg Walton. Others on the committee were Dick Bassett, Effie Seitz and Walter Brandt. The final draft was sent to the Board in 1962. However, this was rejected by AKC. The Board took over the work and it was again presented to the membership in October of 1963. The present Standard was accepted by the AKC in 1964."
As the Club grew, it was determined that the By-laws needed revision and work was started to accomplish such in 1964 under the chairmanship of Col. Julian Dexter. The 1965 Annual Meeting was conducted under those new By-Laws with one major change being in the method of the election of the Officers and Directors. Previous elections had been by nomination from the floor and limited to those members who were present at the Annual Meeting. Another major change was reflected in the appointment, by the Board of Directors, of individual members to fill certain positions within the Club. The By-Laws were revised again in the mid 1970's and in the mid 1990's. The 1970's effort was chaired by Finn Bergishagen, who withdrew after being elected President and the work was finalized under the guidance of Bob Swanson. The proposed revisions were not finally approved by the membership until 1980. The 1990's effort in this area was again chaired by Finn Bergishagen and approved by the membership in 1995. This latest change was major in that it changed the composition of the Officers and Board of Directors by the addition of a Second Vice-President and a Corresponding Secretary.
The First Annual Specialty Show was held in Chicago in 1955 with an entry of forty Basset Hounds. The Annual Specialties continued to be held in Chicago, in the spring, in conjunction with the Chicago International K.C. all breed show through 1959, and after 1960, came to be known as the Spring Nationals. The first Fall Annual National Specialty was held in Lebanon, Pennsylvania on October 7, 1960. While there is now only one National Specialty each year, the Club did continue to host a Spring Nationals at Chicago through 1962. In June of 1963 the California clubs hosted a Spring Specialty at Long Beach and after that the Spring Show moved to different areas by invitation of a local club. This has since changed to having the local clubs being authorized to host a BHCA Regional Specialty Show each year, but being limited to one show per region, per year. The Annual National Specialty now runs four full days during the week of the first full weekend in the month of October each year. The locations move each year, limited only by the availability of a local host club and the availability of Field Trial and Tracking Grounds, and the entries are, of course, significantly higher, numbering in the several hundreds. Judges for the conformation events are nominated and elected by the membership and must come from among the members who are AKC-approved judges.
By about 1963 there was considerable interest in obedience and an Obedience Committee was appointed. Benjamin Harris was its chairman and other members were Mercedes Braun, Bob Noerr and Lena Wray. Initially, the Basset Hound was required to jump one and one-half time its height for the high jump exercise. It took quite some time for the committee to have the Basset included among the other breeds that were required only to jump their height, rather than the one and one-half times their height, but they were eventually successful. Virginia Jones and Joan Thurlow were on the committee at that time and worked very hard for this change. The Club offered Obedience Classes for the first time at the 1968 Nationals. Tracking was added to the list of events at the Nationals in 1970 with Lena and Billy Wray being among the early leaders of this discipline.
Until the mid to late 1960's, the Club had continued to be guided by the Field Trialers, a normal progression of leadership since they were the ones that had started the Club. Astutely, as pointed out by Ms. Braun in her book, They could foresee the day when it would be possible that the Club would be governed by persons who might be unsympathetic, perhaps even opposed to the sport. Bill Rider proposed that a committee could be formed to look after the interests of field trials. The Board appointed him chairman of the Field Trial Rules and Running Order committee. In 1963, the AKC agreed to give Bassets running rules of their own although they are still, largely, run under the same rules as Beagles. By 1969 the committee, as it is known today, came into being. Each trial giving club has a representative on what is now called the Field Trial Advisory Council. This group reviews proposed changes in regulations, submits needed proposals, oversees the trial schedules, and is in charge of field activities, subject to Board approval. John Eylander succeeded Bill Rider for a short time, and then Kenneth McWilliams became chairman in 1971, serving until 1977 when Leonard Skolnick took over. Dale Fleming followed, with Dick Spurling next, and Ken McWilliams taking over again in 1992 and still serving the club to keep the hounds running.
All disciplines of the breed, Conformation, Obedience, Tracking and Field Trialing, are held at the Nationals each year. BHCA is one of the very few parent breed clubs to do this and it gives interested observers the opportunity to see the hounds perform in whatever area their interest may lie.
In the early days of the Club, a Newsletter was published, at first by the Secretaries and then by elected Publicity Directors. According to Merce Braun, Ethel Ferge was the last to put it out in newsletter form, but this writer can find no record confirming that. Merce also states that Ruth Turner was elected the first Publicity Director and changed it to a magazine type publication. Merce Braun followed Ruth in 1963 and Kay Ellenberger took it over in 1965. After the By-Laws change in 1965, the editor's position was appointed by the Board of Directors. Jean Spaulding was the first appointee to this Herculean task, followed over the years by Jeanne (Dudley) Hills, Eileen Schroeder, Pat (Fellman) Gellerman, Beverly Stockfelt, Pat (Fellman) Gellerman again, Vicki Steedle, Sherry Neiberger, Vicki Steedle (temporary), Tonta McHale, Brenda Jubin & Eva Balogh (jointly), Vicki Steedle again, Melody Fair, Francisca Vassy, Marjorie Wikerd, Loraine Russell, Mary Ann Clark, Carolyn Young and our newest appointee, Carol Ann Hunt.
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Home	Finance	ByteDance in talks with banks to borrow over $3 billion, sources say
ByteDance in talks with banks to borrow over $3 billion, sources say
(Reuters) -ByteDance, the Chinese owner of short-video platform TikTok, is in talks with Wall Street banks to borrow more than $3 billion to refinance its debt, according to two people with the knowledge of the matter.
The company plans to take advantage of currently low interest rates to repay its debt, one of the people said, adding that terms and the loan size are still subject to changes.
The people declined to be identified citing confidentiality constrains. ByteDance declined to comment.
Technology news website The Information reported that ByteDance and the banks discussed raising $4 billion to $5 billion to refinance debt and fund overseas expansion.
ByteDance had been exploring a public listing in the beginning of 2021, sources have told Reuters, but in April the company said it had no imminent plans for an initial public offering.
In 2019, ByteDance secured a loan of about $1.3 billion, which will mature in April 2022, from a syndicate of 12 banks including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Citi, Bank of China and China Merchants Bank, according to data provider Dealogic.
(Reporting by Yingzhi Yang, Scott Murdoch, Kane Wu; Additional reporting by Aakriti Bhalla and Anirudh Saligrama; editing by Devika Syamnath and Jason Neely)
Ryanair says British airports to struggle this Christmas
U.S. markets regulator takes aim at Coinbase lending product


5 Things You Should Know About Rick Perry : It's All Politics The former Texas governor is running again for the GOP presidential nomination. Did you know that he was once an Al Gore Democrat, he and George W. Bush have bad blood and he used to be a cheerleader?
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks at the Iowa Faith & Freedom 15th Annual Spring Kick Off in Iowa in April.
This post has been updated to note that Perry has entered the 2016 presidential race.
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry released a video Thursday morning strongly suggesting that he's running again for president. The video ends with a "Perry President" logo and notes that it is "Paid for by Perry for President Inc." His website has also been rebranded ahead of his expected midday announcement speech in Dallas on Thursday.
His 2012 presidential campaign was tripped up by back surgery medication and several embarrassing missteps, including his "oops" debate moment, in which he forgot the third federal agency he said he wanted to cut.
1. Perry started his political career an Al Gore Democrat.
2. Perry was for big government projects before he was against them.
Interstate 35, which runs right up the middle of the state all the way to Canada, was in desperate need of expansion. Gov. Perry came up with the Trans-Texas Corridor — a superhighway, super-train track, super-everything that would transport people and goods to and from Mexico like nobody's business. The only problem was that it was so wide it ate up half of Texas and rural landowners hated it. Conservative talk show celebrity Alan Jones accused Perry of trying to create his own country out of the middle parts of Mexico, the U.S. and Canada. Perry denied it. The Trans-Texas Corridor proposal eventually made like Gen. Douglas MacArthur and faded away.
3. Perry tried to protect young teenage girls from cervical cancer.
To the surprise and delight of the state's Democrats, in 2007 Perry ambushed and bypassed the predominately Republican legislature by issuing an executive order mandating HPV vaccines for all sixth-grade public school girls. Liberals were puzzled but thrilled with Perry's "enlightened" order, while conservatives, especially the state's evangelicals, were beside themselves. It turns out that Perry's former chief of staff and longtime supporter Mike Toomey had become a lobbyist for Merck. And Merck made Gardasil, the vaccination which protects girls from the sexually transmitted cancer. And protecting hundreds of thousands of Texas's sixth graders would have required quite the batch. Indignant, the Legislature repealed Perry's order. During their 2011 presidential debate, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann accused Perry of "crony capitalism" because of this controversy. The accusation surprised and stung the Texas governor.
4. The two former GOP Texas governors — Perry and George W. Bush — aren't big fans of the other.
It started in 1998, when Perry was first running for lieutenant governor and was in a very tight race with Democrat John Sharp. Perry's campaign wanted to run an attack ad against Sharp, but Gov. George Bush's man Karl Rove said no. Rove was in the midst of re-electing a very popular Gov. Bush in a sort of "compassionate conservative" campaign, laying the groundwork for Bush to run for president in 2000. Rove knew Bush had the governor's re-election in the bag, and he didn't want to alienate any Democrats with negative campaigning. Rove said that if Perry ran the attack ad against Sharp, Bush would withhold his endorsement from Perry. So the Perry camp caved, didn't run the attack ad and barely squeaked out a win. There's been bad blood ever since. When Bush did run for president, Perry backed Rudy Giuliani instead and called Bush a profligate fiscal spender. It did not help smooth relations.
5. Rick Perry was a cheerleader at Texas A&M — specifically, an Aggie Yell Leader.
At Texas A&M, the cheerleaders are all men, as was the entire student body a long time ago. While cheerleaders at other academic institutions dress in colorful outfits and lead their fans in cheering the team, at A&M the Yell Leaders dress all in white and make large gestures while screaming at the fans — thus the name. When a game is close, they've been known to, well, squeeze their private parts so as to share the pain of the team on the field. It's serious business in College Station.


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How to choose a medical laser?
What are medical lasers used for?
What effect does a laser beam have on the body?
Are there any risks associated with the use of a laser?
What are the different classes of medical lasers?
Choosing the right medical laser
The word "laser" comes from the acronym "Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation". A laser is a device which, following the excitation of an amplifier medium, makes it possible to generate, by stimulated emission, a beam of coherent and monochrome photons (of identical phase and wavelength).
The generated beam is therefore an electromagnetic wave characterized by its wavelength, amplitude and the duration of its emission (pulses). These characteristics will, depending on the type of tissue, mainly determine the absorption depth and the power transmitted. These factors therefore make it possible to define the laser's application.
View our medical lasers
The criteria for choosing the right laser obviously depend on your intended use. But this is not the only factor you should consider.
It is also important to take into account the cost of the device itself, as well as the cost and time required to train caregivers.
The maintenance contracts offered by the manufacturer or distributor are also important, as is the reliability of the equipment depending on the intended frequency of use. It is important to balance cost and quality and never to make a hasty purchase without first looking into the different manufacturers and what they have to offer.
Lastly, it is essential to weigh the therapeutic value of using a laser versus another type of technology, such as radio frequency, intense pulsed light or cryoablation (using cold to destroy tissue).
Several medical specialties have for some time now integrated laser technology into their daily practices:
Deka hair removal laser
Dermatology and aesthetic medicine are the most popular.
Lasers are used for tattoo removal, long-term hair removal, acne treatment and skin rejuvenation to improve and firm the skin. When it comes to hair removal, the results depend on the type of skin, given that the lighter the skin and the darker the hair, the more effective the results will be. Several sessions are necessary.
Urology also uses lasers for prostate enucleation. This minimally invasive surgery, performed endoscopically, uses a laser to remove tissue that blocks the flow of urine into the prostate. Similarly, lasers are also used in lithotripsy to destroy stones in the kidneys, bladder or ureter.
A.R.C. Laser ophthalmic laser
Ophthalmology has also seen the use of lasers become very popular, particularly for refractive surgery, which can treat various pathologies such as myopia, astigmatism, hyperopia and presbyopia. Another application is retinal photocoagulation, which consists of applying a laser beam to the deepest structure of the eye, the retina, in order to produce a therapeutic burn to a given area. Lastly, still in the ophthalmology sector, selective laser trabeculoplasty reduces eye pressure in chronic glaucoma.
General surgery also uses lasers, particularly for soft tissue ablation. Laser treatment is also increasingly being used in dental practices for early detection of cavities, gum disease, teeth whitening and lesion removal.
Physiotherapy offers laser biostimulation of cells, which represents an effective technological innovation for pain management. It consists of transferring light energy to the cell to stimulate its metabolic functions. This induces several observable clinical effects including pain relief, reduction of inflammation and healing.
A laser beam can have multiple effects on the body. These essentially depend on the type of laser beam applied (the wavelength, electric field amplitude, pulse duration, beam width) and the target tissue.
There are four types of effects:
The thermal effect:
Hyperthermia: the use of the laser causes a moderate increase in temperature to the target area, ranging from 41 to 44°C. This lasts a few dozen minutes. The result is cell death due to changes in the enzymatic processes. This method, which is rather difficult to control, is rarely used.
Coagulation: this process consists in reaching a high temperature that can go from 50 to 100°C in the course of a second. This leads to desiccation (water evacuation), bleaching and shrinking of tissue by denaturing proteins and collagen.
Vaporization: the different tissue components disappear into vapor from 100°C within the relatively short time of about one tenth of a second.
The mechanical effect (cavitation): this process consists in creating a thermal effect that is not diffused. The heat boils the water inside the cell and creates air bubbles that accumulate until they burst the cell in question.
The photoablation effect: in this case, the laser (especially in very short wavelengths) will break certain molecular bonds in the tissue and create a very clean cut without generating any heat. It is a topical, precise technique, but it does not allow for in-depth intervention.
The photodynamic effect: this process consists of first injecting a photosensitizing agent into a patient intravenously. When it comes into contact with the laser light, the product will absorb this energy and become toxic, in this way allowing for the treatment of the tumors it has attached itself to.
There are some risks associated with the use of a medical laser. The main risk is retinal damage or even blindness. There is also a risk of burning the skin or other soft tissue, but this is rare. In the case of long-term hair removal, for example, the laser should only damage the hair follicle and not the skin.
However, not all lasers present such risks and this mainly depends on the class of laser used. In order to take precautions for a laser presenting risks, individual protective equipment is necessary, such as both the administrator and the patient wearing glasses. Eyes are the most vulnerable organ to lasers.
According to the international standard IEC 60825-1-2014, there are eight different classes of lasers, classified according to the dangerousness of the device.
Classes 1 and 1M: these classes concern lasers that do not represent any danger during their use, including direct vision of the beam over a long period of time. Class 1 also includes high-power lasers that are completely enclosed, so that no potentially dangerous radiation is accessible during use. This includes, for example, devices with built-in lasers.
Class 1C: this class concerns lasers intended for direct application of laser radiation to the skin or internal body tissue. It includes lasers used for diagnostic, therapeutic and cosmetic procedures (hair removal, wrinkle and acne reduction, etc.). Eye exposure to this class of lasers is prevented by technical means.
Classes 2 and 2M: these classes concern lasers that emit radiation in the visible spectrum but remain safe if the exposure is temporary (less than 0.25 seconds). They can be dangerous if you deliberately look into the beam. A warning message on the labels indicates not to look continuously or intentionally into the beam and to react actively to protect yourself, for example by moving your head or closing your eyes.
Class 3R: this class concerns lasers that emit radiation that can exceed the MPE (maximum permissible exposure) for direct vision into the beam. But the risk of injury in most cases is relatively low. It increases with the duration of exposure. In all cases, the use of protective glasses is strongly recommended.
Class 3B: concerns lasers that are dangerous when eye exposure to the beam occurs, including for short-term accidental exposure. These lasers can produce minor skin lesions or even present a risk of combustion for tissue or materials in contact with the beam. Wearing protective glasses is mandatory for these lasers.
Class 4: this class concerns lasers that are dangerous to look at or expose skin to. These lasers also present a fire hazard. Wearing protective glasses is mandatory.
Choosing the right hematology analyzer
How to evaluate the performance of a hematology analyzer?
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Anxious Masculinity Under Threat: Google+ and Diversity, part 6
Google+'s naming policy isn't failing because it's poorly implemented, or because Google's enforcement team is stupid. It's failing because what they're trying to do is (1) impossible, and (2) antisocial.
— Bob Blakley, Google+ Can Be a Social Network Or The Name Police — Not Both, Gartner Blog Network
I wonder what folks at Google thought of Chairman Eric Schmidt's description of Google+ as an "identity service" which requires people real names? So friendly! So out of sync with what they've been telling the media! So … creepy!
It's hard to see this going over well in the rest of the world, where everybody is sooo eager to share their personal information with a US company so that it's subject to the PATRIOT Act. And here in the US, Gartner is only the latest to point out how destructive this is for Google+.
Despite its imperfections Google+ was on track for being a grand slam, taking a big chunk of audience from Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and yes even Quora.* And now? The joy of the brilliantly-executed launch has dissipated. Passionate early supporters are now so anti-Google that they're switching to Duck Duck Go and even Bing.
"Data-driven"?
"Operational excellence"?
Anxious masculinity under threat
Basically, any situation in which a group of less privileged people makes critiques or observations of the dominant group in a way that threatens to upset the dominance of that group, to change the established order somehow, or to at least make the established order seem less virtuous, normal, and inevitable, is a situation in which the tone argument gets pulled out.
— Sheila Marie on "the tone argument"
The rhetoric's gotten somewhat heated, with Tim O'Reilly calling Google's critics "self-righteous" and a "lynch mob", and Douglas Crockford calling us entitled, selfish, hysterical whiners. [Explain to me again how real names increase civility?] The guys from Google keep trotting out the party line which basically comes down "we're going to intentionally make our system less safe for women, transgender people, activists, and a whole bunch of other groups, and it's okay because they don't have to use it".
It's almost like they want us to go away.
Sure enough, a lot of people are going away. And who can blame them? While Google+'s promise continues to shine through tantalizingly, a lot of folks are finding it a mighty oppressive place to be these days. There's only so many hours in a day, and everybody's sick of talking about nymwars. Talk about annoying your passionate early adopters: Technogran left not long after she wrapped up an excellent ten-part series on Google+. Zauber Exonar and Bonnie Nadri, along with sites like Goodbye Google and the Genius Files' Google Plus Strike, are providing great road maps for others who want to follow them. It's a boon for Dreamwidth, Diaspora*, and quite possibly startups like Unthink.
For all I know Bradley, Vic, Joseph, Eric et. al. are cheering these departures, as their "identity system" becomes more like their idealized "real world". Who knows, maybe in their "real world" everybody wears name tags and they never interact with people who have weird-looking names. For a social network site, it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense from a business perspective: women are the most valuable demographic online, and women and minorities are the most avid users of other social networks. But as I observed last week, for a bunch of rationally-identified guys at a rationally-identified company, Google+'s leadership don't seem to be optimizing particularly well.
I wonder why?**
So much to look forward to!
Then again there are plenty of people who aren't planning on leaving. And with more and more discussion of how Google+ relates to NSTIC, the US government's "Trusted Identities in Cyberspace" initiative, the opposition seems to be settling in for the long haul.
Not to sound like a broken record or anything, but Google can change course at any time if they want to. As Kathy Sierra says, keep the pseudonyms and lose the assholes. Drop the name policing; instead, introduce some decent moderation tools and enforce anti-harassment policies. And to once again quote Suw
Reinstate everyone you've suspended…. Collaborate with the community on how best to moderate bad actors. If you need some sort of identity policy, let us help you write it. And, finally, apologise to everyone you've bullied. There are lots of them, so you might want to start now.
Of course, admitting they were wrong and apologizing is often a very hard thing to do for guys who are anxious about their masculinity. So we shall see.
Wouldn't you love to be a fly on a wall inside Google next week as everybody comes back from Burning Man, looks at the train wreck-in-progress, and realizes it's not going to go away? Until things change, every day will be spent dreading the latest round of press, the next faux pas by execs, the next critique by someone they respect and admire. And coming up in October is the next Internet Identity Workshop, organized by Kaliya "banned from G+" IdentityWoman.
* as long-time readers know, I'm fascinated with Quora. Prisms, Kool-Aid, and Opportunity has more — along with analysis of Google's vulnerability in their core search market.
** Just to be clear, I don't mean to ignore all the other dimensions of diversity affected by Google's naming policy. My Name Is Me does an incredible job at showing how many different reasons it's important for people to be able to choose their own name. But Google's decision makers on this are all guys, and they're reacting very much the way guys do when they're feeling under threat: toughing it out, making strong statements that turn out to have no basis, ignoring what women and trans people have to say, and limiting their public interactions to supportive guys like Robert, Alexander, and Tim. Especially factoring in how they're treating Skud and Identity Woman … yeah, I really do think gender has a lot to do with it.
Check out the previous posts in the series: A Work in Progress, Why it matters, #nymwars!, A tale of two searches, and The double bind of oppression
Posted by jon on Friday, September 2nd, 2011, at 12:25 pm, and filed under Professional, Tales from the Net.
erehweb | 02-Sep-11 at 4:00 pm | Permalink
Google+ is failing, but I think the tech community is overstating the importance of the naming policy. Not to say that it isn't important, but more important, IMHO, is that there's really no reason to be on G+. Facebook adequately serves most people's needs, so is safe for now against losing major audience to G+.
Anon4fun | 02-Sep-11 at 5:45 pm | Permalink
"Of course, admitting they were wrong and apologizing is often a very hard thing to do for guys who are anxious about their masculinity."
This is no doubt a factor, but it's unlikely for an organization as successful as Google to get into this kind of trouble though neurosis alone. Their stubbornness in the face of so much bad press is likely due to a yet-unpublicized business strategy they're working on which requires knowing a user's "real" name. The famous "identity service" comment is a big hint in that direction.
jon | 02-Sep-11 at 10:24 pm | Permalink
erewheb, first of all I think it's a lot to early to conclude that Google+ is failing — no matter what they do on the name policy, I think they'll invest enough to make it at least semi-successful.
As for how significant the name policy is to G+'s growth stalling, hard to know. G+ community manager Natalie Villalobos had an interesting thread a couple weeks ago where she asked for feedback from people about what was keeping their friends from using G+. #1 on the list was unsurprisingly "there aren't enough friends here for it to be useful"; that's the cold start problem any new social network faces. But the names policy was #2 or #3. I've talked to dozens of people who aren't inviting their friend networks because of the name policy, or have had several friends say "no way unless I can use the name I want." So it's certainly a factor …
Anon4fun, Google's business strategy here seems pretty clear: use social signals to improve search, compete with Facebook Connect on the identity side, and use all the information to better target ads. Why have they repeatedly responded to "many women feel at risk from a real names system" with "then they shouldn't use it"? How will their strategy if most women aren't using G+? So, I totally agree that you can't reduce the situation to corporate neurosis. But I still think gender's a big part of it.
Liminal states :: Still a Ways to Go: the Suggested Users' List (part 7 of Diversity and Google+) | 04-Sep-11 at 12:36 pm | Permalink
[…] Check out the previous posts in the series: A Work in Progress, Why it matters, #nymwars!, A tale of two searches, The double bind of oppression, and Anxious masculinity under threat […]
Liminal states :: Notes from Underground: Intention and Transition | 05-Sep-11 at 8:17 pm | Permalink
[…] the week was filled with writing, outlining, and business modeling. Oh and Google+ of course. Anxiously masculinity under threat, structural oppression, and nymwars … no shortage of interesting topics! In a depressing […]
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Still a Ways to Go: the Suggested Users List (part 7 of Diversity and Google+) »


text:
Anthem files appeal to reverse court's blocking of $54B Cigna merger
Ana Mulero @anitamulero
Update: Cigna sued Anthem after terminating the merger deal. Read more here.
Anthem's notice of appeal to reverse a federal judge's recent decision to block its pending $54 billion acquisition of Cigna has been sent to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
Last week, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled in favor of the Department of Justice, which filed an antitrust lawsuit against the insurance giants last summer to block the merger, citing anticompetition, hindered innovation efforts, and increased prices to consumers.
The $37 billion proposed merger between Aetna and Humana, which was also challenged by the DOJ's antitrust division, was recently blocked in court on antitrust grounds as well.
According to the final court decision blocking the megamerger, Anthem and Cigna are the second and third largest health insurance companies in the country. Combining the two would result in the nation's largest payer, and the judge found this would substantially lessen competition in the insurance market.
The effect the merger would have on the insurance industry could be highly detrimental, as many in the hospital industry have contended, including the American Medical Association. It would likely lead to higher prices for consumers, eliminate the companies' "competition against each other for national accounts," and hinder innovation efforts in the insurance market, according to the court ruling.
The bickering between the two companies, which was at least in part due to Cigna's uncertainty that was made public through court documents of whether it wanted to proceed with the deal, had an influence on the judge's ruling. "...the Department of Justice is not the only party raising questions about Anthem's characterization of the outcome of the merger: one of the two merging parties is also actively warning against it," the court order states. "Cigna officials provided compelling testimony undermining the projections of future savings, and the disagreement runs so deep that Cigna cross-examined the defendants' own expert and refused to sign Anthem's Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law," the filing adds.
The judge argued Anthem has urged "the Court to look away, and it attempts to minimize the merging parties' differences as a "side issue," a mere "rift between the CEOs." But the Court cannot properly ignore the remarkable circumstances that have unfolded both before and during the trial."
Anthem had indicated it would file for an appeal on the same day of the court ruling. This move had been expected given the large sum of the contractual breakup fee Anthem would have to pay Cigna if the merger fails to go through – $1.85 billion. However, Anthem is perhaps attempting to buy more time to avoid having to pay the breakup fee as antitrust lawyers and analysts argue the ruling is unlikely to be reversed, CNBC reported.
Healthcare Dive Anthem-Cigna merger blocked by federal judge
CNBC Anthem's fight for Cigna deal may come down to breakup fee
Healthcare Dive 5 financial considerations in the Anthem/Cigna-DOJ trial
Axios Lawyers and bankers reap $1.5 billion from failed health insurance mergers
Follow Ana Mulero on Twitter


Alcoholism is not a disease that is created overnight. Continuous, repeated drinking can cause women to develop a tolerance towards alcohol, which means that they must drink more and more to achieve the same effects. Once this happens, alcoholism is the next step. In fact, more than 14 drinks per week for seven to eight weeks can greatly increase the possibility of developing a dependence on alcohol, yet anyone who drinks is potentially at risk.
There are other factors that put you at an increased risk for developing a dependence on alcohol, as well. These include having family members who are alcoholics, a familial history of substance abuse, a familial history of depression, having PTSD and easy proximity to alcohol.
At Orchid Recovery Center, we help women recover from their dependence on alcohol by providing them with the tools and treatments they need to break their addictions – for good.
Research on alcoholism has indicated that there may be a genetic factor, so if you have a family history of alcoholism, you may be at a higher risk of developing it yourself. The rates of alcoholism for people who have at least one alcoholic parent versus no alcoholic parents is nearly tripled, so if you have family members who are alcoholics, you should take special care with your alcohol consumption. Addictions can also skip generations, so you look to your grandparents as well as teach your children about the risks associated with becoming an alcoholic and educate them on how they can protect themselves.
While it is still unknown precisely which genes may be responsible for the hereditary passing down of alcoholism from parent to child, there is most definitely a danger of this happening. Be cautious of developing a dependence on alcohol if one or both of your parents were alcoholics or abused alcohol regularly.
Cultural influences can also have an effect on whether or not a person is more likely to develop alcoholism. In cultures where alcohol use is much more common and people often drink in social situations, the risk of developing alcoholism is significantly higher. Conversely, cultures where alcohol consumption is limited or forbidden, women have much lower rates of alcoholism.
In addition to hereditary and cultural factors, researchers have also found that there may by psychological and psychiatric factors at play when alcoholism is present. Women who have high self-expectations and who are aggressive and/or impulsive are at a higher risk of developing alcohol dependence.
Statistically speaking, there are several areas that can be examined to see patterns in alcohol dependence and abuse. For example, when women start drinking in their teens as opposed to after they turn 21, they are more likely to develop a dependence to alcohol. Additionally, the highest rates of alcohol dependence problems are in women who are between 18 and 29 years of age, and the lowest rates are in those who are older than 65.
At the Orchid, we provide women with the tools they need to recover from alcohol addiction. If you have any questions about the alcohol rehab available here at Orchid Recovery Center of if you would like to get started on treatment, contact us today.


Extender via Fiber Optic Cable extends a digital flat panel display up to 1,640 feet (500 meters) away from a DVI-D dual link video source using a 2-strand fiber optic cable. Each DVI optical extender consists of a transmitter that connects to a computer and a receiver that connects to a monitor.
Also known as: DVI Optical Extension, DVI-D dual link extender, DVI digital to multimode fiber, 2560x1600 optical extender, fiber optic digital video extender DVI over fiber.
Supports uncompressed 2560x1600 WQXGA and 3840x2400 WQUXGA resolutions for dual link devices.
Signal transmission via two-strand multimode LC fiber optic cable – no RF interference.
Virtual DDC by self-EDID programming.
Connectors (for transmitter and receiver): one male DVI-D dual link connector and two LC fiber connectors.
Supports HDTV resolutions to 1080p and computer resolutions to 3840x2400.
Operating/storage relative humidity: 0 to 85% non-condensing RH.
1,640 feet (500 meters) over 50µm or 62.5µm multimode LC fiber optic cable.
Use one duplex LC 50-micron or 62.5-micron multimode fiber optic cable to extend the receiver from the transmitter up to 1,640 feet (500 meters).
How to extend a dual link digital DVI display up to 1,640 feet (500 meters).


They said they are Socialists and want Socialism. They were accused of being unwise; their existence was unwanted. The Master turned blind to them but how fortunate that they came across Micaville and Chanakya's write-ups. They are appreciated now and Master has started liking them because they are Capitalist men in Socialist men's bodies.
Gandhi, if was sane then would have not argued with his the then English master. The Great Britain asked Gandhi to help them in their fight to protect the English land against Adolf Hitler, in exchange of considering Independent India after the end of 2nd world war. Gandhi eager for free India, misjudging the offer and situation, found that a good opening to revenge the British colonization of India, made his mind "Let the white men fight the white men war" made the biggest blunder of his political career, leaving no options to the Britain than to provoke the sleeping Muslim leaders to mobilize their Muslim followers to bring "The two nation theory" into practice in order to teach Gandhi a lesson.
Congress leaders were detained; Iqbal was asked to see the dream of "The land of pure". Jinnah working out the dream led the Muslim League, the resolution of Pakistan was passed in 1940 & the Islamic Republic of Pakistan came into being in 1947. My state became a province of Pakistan.
Gandhi died and English lives, leaving its botch behind and her decision has become a headache to Union Jack and Uncle Sam and advocates the biggest threat to the whole world's peace. Westerners thought that they would use this piece of land and its people as long as they safeguard their interests and will wipe it out whenever needed. This philosophy kept providing Pakistan some fine reasons to sustain & flourish; a watchdog of Muslim countries, proved to be a good servant of the Master, serving westerner's interests fought the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and delivered a high loyalty performance.
The English philosophy fired back when Pakistan in Raskoh Chagi, Balochistan, carried out the Atomic Bomb tests on 28th May, 2008 and became the 7th nuclear country. Following the experiment it had to face different trade sanctions by United States and European Union and was nearly economically deceased but Osama Bin Laden provided it another reason to sustain. 9/11 again impelled America to seek Pakistan's help declaring it a key ally in the war on terror that motivated the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban Government. Sanctions were detached and a large sum of Dollars flowed into Pakistan to combat Taliban and it took 5 years to U.S to literally realize and explicitly admit that the servant is double dealing, when Frederic Grare a leading expert and writer on South Asia in 2006 exposed the dual dealings by Pakistan and that the Taliban and the elite of Pakistan army and it's secret agency ISI, are the two sides of a coin.
"The people we are fighting today, we funded twenty years ago. We did that because we were locked in the struggle with the Soviet Union. They invaded Afghanistan and we did not want to see them control central Asia. So by dealing with the ISI we recruited these mujahids and imported the Wahabi brand of Islam from Saudi Arabia to fight Soviet Union. They retreated, which lead to the collapse of Soviet Union" says Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State, America.
After ending Soviet Union's presence from Afghanistan, America without closing the chapter of its imported/sponsored Mujahids who later on became the Taliban, left Pakistan to deal with the situation and mujahids. The latter had a soft spot for its breed so it recruited all mujahids who today are its strategic weapon. Westerner policy makers are seriously reflecting on their Ancestor's decision of making Pakistan.
"The basic confrontation which seemed to be colonialism versus anti-colonialism, indeed capitalism versus socialism, is already losing its importance. What matters today, the issue which blocks the horizon, is the need for a redistribution of wealth. Humanity will have to address this question, no matter how devastating the consequences may be". Frantz Fanon Pakistan kept proliferating Taliban and had Afghanistan in its control through its supported Taliban since the withdrawal of Soviet Union. That period saw Afghan ground being used as the base for the nourishment of all religious extremists/terrorists and a safe haven for Al-Qaida and its leadership Osama bin Laden.
The energy hungry U.S with its Unocal and other oil firms in Afghanistan, intrigued by the idea of building energy pipelines from the Caspian Sea across Afghanistan to Indian Ocean energy hubs like Gwadar, eventually found out, the Taliban were hardly an agent of stability and were barrier to their plans and notably the incident of 9/11 was planned there and the master was ditched further when the formula for nuclear bomb were sold to Iran, North Korea and Libya.
There should be no hurdles by anyone in the extraction of raw materials from mineral rich countries to meet the U.S energy needs and none should challenge the military superiority of U.S. whereas the servant with its associates seemed to be disobeying both of the commandments.
"A bustling deepwater port at the extreme southwestern tip of Pakistan, much more a part of the Middle East than of the Indian subcontinent, equipped with a highway, and oil and natural-gas pipelines, extending north all the way through some of the highest mountains in the world, the Karakorum, into China itself, where more roads and pipelines connect the flow of consumer goods and hydrocarbons to China's burgeoning middle-class markets farther east. Another branch of this road-and-pipeline network would go north from Gwadar through a stabilized Afghanistan, and on into Iran and Central Asia. Gwadar, in this way, becomes the hub of a new Silk Road, both land and maritime; a gateway to landlocked, hydrocarbon-rich Central Asia; an exotic 21st-century place-name".
This plan of Pakistan and China turned out to be a ruined scheme. It was Gwadar that motivated Russians imperial visions but the occupation of Afghanistan proved to be a graveyard to them, denied them of this treasure. From Gwader the Soviet Union could have exported the hydrocarbon wealth of Central Asia while Islamabad's aims to establish roads and pipelines to the new oil states of Central Asia were to consolidate a vast Muslim rear base for the containment of India and to counter its power into the Indian Ocean and to accommodate a Chinese naval outpost in Gwadar to protect Beijing's oil supply lines from the Middle East and to counter the growing U.S. presence in Central Asia.
However, United States, in competition with China, would like to control the oil supply lines from the Middle East and Central Asia and would also like to use its Greater Middle East initiative to dismantle the major Muslim states and redefine borders in the region and to counter the Chinese presence at large.U.S according to the strategic priorities of the moment, eagerly seeks for a stable Afghanistan to make its all plans possible.
Yet the story goes on. Since U.S invaded Afghanistan, overthrew Taliban government and installed a friendly government, headed by Hamid Karzai. The reconstruction process to stabilize Afghanistan was initiated by U.S in collaboration with its western allies.
Afghanistan was the only country to vote against Pakistan's accession to the United Nations after its independence because of Kabul's claim on the Pashtun territories located on the Pakistani side of the Durand Line and still refuses to recognize the Durand Line. India has always been supportive to Kabul promoting good relationships with every Afghan Government except that of the Taliban. The opening of Indian consulates in Afghanistan to participate in the reconstruction process, was seen as a threat by Islamabad, claiming that the Indian consulates have less to do with the humanitarian aids and are more in to increasing the presence of Indian intelligence agency RAW to use the Afghan ground to destabilize Pakistan. Both India and Afghanistan enjoy good relations with United States that further threatens Islamabad for internationally being marginalized. Islamabad fears a stable Afghanistan that it would renew the Pashtun issue and establish a reverse alliance with India and together they will support the Baloch Freedom fighters in their fight for Free Balochistan and make another regional alliance with the Baloch. India will utilize its presence to pressurize Islamabad to give up Kashmir once and forever. Islamabad feels increasingly being encircled by India and India's regional allies through an Indian presence on both its eastern and western borders but also the chance that Pakistan would become more attractive to the rest of the world would be lost and won't remain an ally in war on terror if Afghanistan is stabilized. This makes Afghanistan a very important component of Islamabad's larger game. Pakistan caught in a dilemma, is threatening the international reconstruction process by fueling insurgency in Afghanistan through its backed Taliban.
The insurgency is taking place in certain parts of Afghanistan where most attacks are carried out in southern Afghanistan by Taliban coming from Pakistan's Waziristan and Quetta district a safe haven for Taliban. According to Frederic Grare some witnesses also claim that militants are brought from the Quetta district to the Afghan border by Pakistani military trucks. Senior lieutenants to Taliban chief Mullah Omar are said to operate from Quetta, from where they run military operations in the south-central Afghan provinces of Helmand, Kandahar, Oruzgan, and Zabol.
Colonel Chris Vernon, British chief of staff for southern Afghanistan, who declared that "the thinking piece of the Taliban is out of Quetta". The torching of NATO trawlers by ISI in different parts of Pakistan is also a reason to disrupt the ongoing reconstruction process in Afghanistan. Islamabad aims to assert pressure on Karzai's government to sign an agreement on the Durand Line question and most importantly signaling to the international community that no settlement of the Afghan problem can be obtained without Islamabad's interests being taken into account. It keeps manipulating Taliban through its intelligence agencies to pressurize the Afghan government, US and NATO and on the other hand maintains a fiction that it is still committed to the war on terror. Providing Western forces, in particular NATO forces, with logistical support while it retains its activity to harass Western troops through its Taliban proxies. Following the practice of plausible deniability, Pakistan adjusts attacks according to the political necessities of the moment. This trick is doubly rewarded remaining in the alliance with the United States against Al Qaeda and benefiting in the form of weapons sales and financial aid.
What prevents America from attacking Pakistan?
United States aware of all maneuvers is still supporting Pakistan being very patient according to the need of the moment. Pakistan enjoys few important reasons for its sustainability among which the very important one is its Islamic Bomb.
U.S very cautious about direct confrontation is concerned about Pakistan's atomic plants which it does not want to be used to carry out any terrorist activities that will raise questions over the larger interests of the international community. Some analysts suggest that Islamabad has approximately 3,000 Nuclear Scientists/technicians working in its nuclear plants that will flee Pakistan and can be recruited by either Iran or North Korea and will become another threat to the west, in case if Pakistan is directly invaded.
A massive attack on Pakistan by U.S and its western allies will result into a high number of casualties and injuries and millions of people will be affected for which United Nations will be bound to look after the shelter, food and medicine that will cost UN a huge money and physical engagement, which it is not likely willing to spend.
It is important for United States to support Pakistan in order to stabilize Afghanistan. U.S would like to take out a solution to dismantle the Pakistani nuclear plants through a diplomatic approach and by increasing its presence in Pakistan, to teach it a lesson, it needs a stable Afghanistan.
Pakistan with an 8% of decrease in its economy, the revenue that it generates is less than half of its Annual requirements. The remaining amount is compensated by the financial aid that it gets from U.S and its western allies. With a collapsed economy it relies on foreign aid to meet its economic needs. Hence, U.S to carry out its plans of stabilizing Afghanistan has started training the Afghan army to take over the responsibilities of the security of the country. It is estimated to have trained approximately 150,000. Afghan army and by the end of 2011 it will equip the Afghan army with around 300,000 Army personnel with advanced weaponry, limiting itself to a symbolic presence. Afghanistan with its trained and well equipped army will be able to look after its security and counter/eliminate the Pakistani involvement that will reduce the importance of Pakistan among the international community and the financial aid that it enjoys in the wake of war on terror will stop. A country without economy will no more be a country.
Pakistan with its weak institutions except that of the army, sets a classic example of being a country that history has failed to evidence, even the Pakistani citizens believe in that claiming that "Pakistan ko Allah chala raha hai" God is running the country as scientifically the state exist no more. The country since its birth has seen more of military rule leaving no space for democracy to breath, ranks as the 10th failed state of the world.
Balochistan straddles three countries (Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan) and borders the Arabian Sea, is both economically and strategically important. Rich in Oil and Gas, with its soil that holds large quantities of gold, coal, copper, silver, platinum, aluminum, and above all, uranium, is a potential transit zone for a pipeline transporting natural gas from Iran and Turkmenistan to India. With its strategically important Gwadar, Balochistan is an un-ignorable segment of U.S's war on terror as quoted by different respective writers and journals that a large part of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan are launched from the Pasni and Dalbandin bases situated on Baloch territory and recent U.S plan of opening a Consulate/CIA centre in Quetta enhances the importance of Balochistan.
U.S and its allies would like to have a calm Balochistan to not to pose any threat to their ongoing war against terrorists and are more concerned about their interests. Whereas the possibility, that U.S can use Baloch to exert diplomatic pressure on Pakistan and Iran cannot be ignored.
On the other hand Pakistan to weaken the Baloch stance to earn that support or International intervention has always tried to conceal the real nature of the Baloch problem from the outside world. To discredit the Baloch nationalism and its struggle for national rights, Pakistan has put allegations of Indian involvement in Balochistan and to further weaken the Baloch claims, it with its intelligence agencies has always manipulated religion/Islamism to counter Baloch nationalism. The army has always adopted a military approach towards the political issues in Balochistan and with its foul tactics it carried out the target killing of Punjabi civilians, (the largest ethnic group in Pakistan that forms the country's establishment) in Balochistan and then charging the Baloch Freedom Fighters for those target killings at large, was to find a legitimate stand for army to intervene in Balochistan and to neutralize the international opposition.
So far working on this tactic it has established death squads like that of Al-shams and Al-badr that carried out the hit-squad style execution of Bengali professionals in Bangladesh, now in Balochistan they operate as Baloch Musalla Defai Tanzeem, Sipah-e-Islam and the Ansar-ul-Islam backed by Pakistan intelligence, are carrying out the target killing of Baloch at large and with its pick and dump policy in Balochistan, where the Baloch from every walk of life including intellectuals, poets, writers, lawyers, doctors and students who ask for their political rights are picked up by the intelligent agencies and are brutally tortured and after few days of their abduction the humiliated dead bodies of the person is dumped in different parts of Balochistan and these agencies are answerable to none. There is no rule of law in Pakistan and the international human rights champions are also silent on these tragic human losses.
U.S and its western allies, so much concerned about their fight are losing a friend and an ally in their war on terror. Baloch being secular in nature fiercely oppose the influence of the mullahs and also oppose the Taliban, can be a good ally of Westerners. Balochistan unlike Pakistan will be a nonnuclear state as we have tasted the Islamic Bomb and it tastes bitter. Balochistan will play its dual role in fighting against terrorists as well as be an important part of international peace and prosperity and with its geopolitical importance can serve a larger share of the western interests. U.S should intervene in Balochistan and should initiate talks with the Baloch stakeholders in abroad to form a good partnership and find a way out. On the other hand, realizing the seriousness and need of time to counter the anti Baloch strategies, the Baloch has to sustain its force and the Baloch nation at large and especially the leadership respecting every stakeholder's democratic right to adopt different forms of struggle have to join hands as division at such a complex situation will be suicidal. Baloch stakeholders according to the need of time coming out of their socialist aspirations should befriend U.S. The Baloch youth in particular putting aside the politics of slogans, should stress the leadership to unite for the bigger cause. As soon as the foreign aid for Pakistan will stop, its army will look towards Balochistan to meet its economical needs and will turn more violent. Unity among Baloch stakeholders will answer best that violence.
Miran Baloch is a student of Political, Behavioral and Social Sciences.
In an effort to provide our readers with as many viewpoints as possible, Crisis Balochistan posts articles from both established journalists and unpublished writers, including those who are not native English speakers. We do not have time to edit the articles we publish, so please accept our apologies for any errors.