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Climate change: Is Oakland a model for a local approach?
Melanie Mason on February 24, 2010
Garrett Fitzgerald, towering over the podium in a blazer, button-down shirt and no tie, is at the Al Gore part of his talk—briskly outlining what scientists are saying about climate change. His presentation has nothing like the standard climate activist's well-worn stock of photos of adorable polar bear cubs, futilely clinging to disappearing ice. Instead, his pitch hits much closer to home: Oakland.
He clicks through maps illustrating how a projected rise in sea level by the end of the century could take out Oakland's airport. Next comes a chart documenting how a decline in the Sierra snowpack is endangering the city's water supply. He veers away from sensationalism as he clicks through his PowerPoint: "Some of you may have seen the movie The Day After Tomorrow," he says, referencing the 2004 epic in which global warming gets the Hollywood disaster treatment. "It probably won't be that bad. But there's plenty of reason to say we need to be cautious." His message is simple: don't worry about climate change's effects on the poor cute polar bear—worry about climate change for yourself.
His audience consists of about sixty or so environmental activists and interested citizens, convened Saturday morning for a community meeting on climate change at Peralta Elementary School by Jane Brunner, City Council President and North Oakland's representative. Fitzgerald is the sustainability coordinator for the city of Oakland, a position that only about a third of the participants in the room knew existed before this meeting.
Council President Jane Brunner addresses the audience at a community meeting
For years, climate activists had two main strategies. They could emphasize the importance of individual actions: buy a hybrid car, use compact fluorescent light bulbs, set your thermostat lower and wear a sweater. Or they could go big-picture, pressing for sweeping national and international action policies.
But one individual's action can quite easily be counterbalanced by somebody else's inaction. And as for pinning the movement's hopes on major political institutions—well, just ask the disappointed environmentalist community about the takeaway from December's international climate talks in Copenhagen. Or look at the cap-and-trade bill now languishing in the U.S. Senate, the momentum of last summer's House bill nowhere to be found.
There is momentum, however, in a new locus of climate change activism: the city. City policies can promote collective action that offers more oomph than the personal choices of individuals. But city-level officials and activists can also be more responsive to the specific quirks and considerations of local residents and industries, and can be more dexterous than the one-size-fits-all approach of international, national or state policy. At Saturday's community meeting—and at the Clean Power, Healthy Community conference held earlier this month at the California Endowment in downtown Oakland—there was a distinct sense among attendees that cities, and Oakland in particular, are now the nerve center of climate action efforts. "In the United States, the leadership on climate change has come from the local level," Fitzgerald said.
Sitting in the elementary school's multipurpose room—where a shower of blue and green algae made from crepe paper hung from the ceiling, and the walls were colorfully adorned with students' paintings of the map of California—the attendees were asked to mull over two questions. The first was out of the old environmentalist handbook: What can an individual do to combat climate change? But the second question—what can the city do to combat climate change?—is the one that has been putting Fitzgerald to work.
As sustainability coordinator, Fitzgerald is spearheading the creation of Oakland's Energy and Climate Action Plan, a wide-ranging policy that will dictate the steps Oakland must take to significantly reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. The city's goal: Reduce Oakland's greenhouse gas emissions to 36 percent of what they were in 2005 by the year 2020. To do so, the plan will recommend policy initiatives that tackle building energy use, transportation and land use, and materials and solid waste. "All of these sources of emissions are local," Fitzgerald explained during his presentation. "We have leverage over all these things."
As of November 2009, there were at least 139 cities in the United States with climate action plans completed or in progress. In the Bay Area, both Berkeley and San Francisco have already passed their own climate action plans. Nationally, more than one thousand mayors have signed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, in which they pledge to meet or beat the climate reduction targets set by the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol in 2005.
For climate activists, cities are a natural focal point for action. "Cities are where it all happens—the resources are consumed, the pollution is created, things go up in the air," said Dave Room, coordinator of the Local Clean Energy Alliance based in Oakland.
And according to Emily Kirsch of the Oakland Climate Action Coalition, cities have natural advantages when it comes to crafting policy. "Locally, there's more agility and ability," said Kirsch, who also spoke at Saturday's meeting. "All we need is five votes from City Council. Cities can move quicker. They can construct programs that are unique to each city. Cities can be models to other cities."
Emily Kirsch, of the Oakland Climate Action Coalition, participates in the "World Cafe"
Or, in Oakland's case, perhaps the city can be a model for the nation. If Oakland's climate action plan delivers on its promise, it will be, according to Kirsch, "one of the most ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets in any city in the United States."
The idea of a formal, comprehensive climate action plan in Oakland was first developed in late 2008; the City Council officially directed the Public Works Department—specifically, Fitzgerald as sustainability coordinator—to form a plan on July 7, 2009. Since then, Fitzgerald has been working with city staff and consultants to identify specific policies that would reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.
Oakland emitted approximately 3 million metric tons of carbon in 2005, the year on which Oakland's reduction target is based. Transportation—both highway and non-highway—constituted over half of those total emissions, and policies dealing with transportation and land use will be a major component of the city's climate energy plan. Kirsch and the Oakland Climate Action Coalition hope that the plan will include public transit-friendly items, like the proposed Bus Rapid Transit lane that would connect San Leandro, Oakland and Berkeley.
Energy use in buildings—both commercial and residential—combined for 38 percent of Oakland's 2005 emissions. Oakland's climate action plan will likely promote green development and energy retrofits to existing structures to make building energy use more efficient. "It's not just about CFL [compact fluorescent light bulb] replacement," Fitzgerald explained to Saturday's attendees. "We need to spend 10, 12, 15 thousand dollars on things that are in fact cost effective. They will ultimately pay for themselves."
On March 30, Fitzgerald will present the first draft of the climate action plan to the City Council. The draft will contain a ten-year plan designed to hit that 36 percent emissions reduction target, but will also identify a three-year priority plan, which will spotlight the initiatives that can make an immediate impact.
While the March 30 presentation will represent a significant milestone in the development of the city's climate plan, Fitzgerald anticipates that it will not be the final stop. "I've never seen any city develop a climate plan where the first draft becomes the final plan," he said after his presentation. "We've gotten a ton of community input in this process. I expect we'll get a lot more input once we have a draft for people to react to." After the first draft of the plan is released, Fitzgerald will hold workshops in late April to solicit comments from the public.
Saturday's meeting took on a "World Café" format—to use Brunner's term—where, befitting the artwork-plastered schoolroom, participants sat in groups and used markers to jot their energy-saving ideas on butcher paper. The meeting concluded with each group presenting its brainstorm. One group raised the possibility of shuttles for neighborhoods located far from BART stations. Another participant wondered what renters could do to make their homes more energy efficient, since renters cannot make structural changes to their residence the way homeowners can.
Much of the community input Fitzgerald has already received is thanks to the work of Kirsch and the Oakland Climate Action Coalition. The coalition grew out of the Ella Baker Center's Green-Collar Jobs Campaign, an initiative that trains low-income communities for jobs in the renewable energy sector. The Oakland Climate Action Coalition, born in the basement of the Ella Baker Center in April of 2009, brought together labor interests, environmentalists, bike advocates, and youth groups—over 40 interested parties in total—seeking to put their imprint on the city's climate action plan. Kirsch, the lead organizer of the campaign, saw the climate action plan as a chance not just for environmental improvements, but racial equity and opportunity as well.
"People don't really think of Oakland as a green city," Kirsch told Saturday's audience, adding that Oakland was better known for its high crime rate. "But it's so integrally connected. In order to stop crime, prevent violence and lower incarceration rates, there has to be job opportunities."
Kirsch also cited "The Climate Gap," a May 2009 study led by Rachel Morello-Frosch out of UC Berkeley's School of Public Health that found that the effects of climate change would disproportionately affect poor and minority communities. "Look at [Hurricane] Katrina," Kirsch said. "We can see who was saved and who was left. We don't want that to happen in Oakland."
The coalition has put on workshops throughout the city to get community input on what the plan should include, and Kirsch said specific suggestions from those meetings have been incorporated into the coalition's policy proposals. At the group's Chinatown meeting last October, for example, one resident expressed concern that land-use policy that promoted more housing at transit hubs like BART stations would lead to the building of pricey apartment complexes that would price long-time residents out of their neighborhoods. To prevent such gentrification, the coalition is recommending that development near transit hubs be high-density, mixed use, and offer affordable housing opportunities for low-income residents.
Council President Brunner is taking a similar approach in engaging her constituents in North Oakland. At last Saturday's community meeting, Brunner announced her office will be taking these discussions "neighborhood by neighborhood, block by block" to identify involved citizens—christened "climate action leaders" by Brunner's office—and to consider suggestions from residents.
The efforts represent a renewed commitment to climate action from Brunner, who admitted at the meeting that she had been "slacking for a few years" when it came to energy policy. The catalyst for this new burst of energy was her recent trip to China for a conference on low carbon cities. "If the United States doesn't step up, China will be the leading country to be doing climate change action," Brunner said after the meeting wound down. "China has a top-down government. China's top government gets it—they're making the policy decisions. The U.S. is the reverse. We have the momentum on the ground, but we need to combine ground level organizing with the government to make progress."
Compared with, say, the political logjam facing the United States Congress, there are significantly fewer political pressures on city governments that could derail a climate action plan. But that doesn't mean political obstacles don't exist.
Brunner said that in advance of the February 20th community meeting her office got a lot of unhappy phone calls. "A lot of people don't believe in climate change," Brunner said. "They don't believe the city should be doing this. There are potholes, there are budget problems. I say we can take care of both."
Dave Room, of the Local Clean Energy Alliance, said pushback could happen in Oakland if the climate plan includes mandatory action for individuals, like energy efficient retrofits to that home and business owners may consider expensive or onerous.
Fitzgerald said he's hoping to avoid policies that require mandatory action from individuals. Instead, he'd rather Oakland's plan provide enough incentives that individuals and business owners will voluntarily choose to make energy efficient choices—making the bus more appealing than driving one's own car, for example. Still, he said, it's a challenge to make sure the plan is not just preaching to the choir of citizens already on board with climate action. "The big question is: how do we get more than just the early adopters to do it?" Fitzgerald said. He pointed to a recent Wall Street Journal article that showed that even in green-friendly Boulder, Colorado, residents who philosophically support energy conservation are doing little in terms of follow-through.
Political and community pushback aside, there is another significant limitation on what a city can do about climate change: When it comes to crime, commerce and especially the environment, the borders of a city are porous, easily impacted by the decisions of its neighbors. Other cities may not have the political will for an aggressive climate action plan. For a phenomenon like climate change, which is determined by the aggregate emissions of cities, states and nations all together, a city with a climate action plan will not necessarily be spared from rising sea levels or poor air quality or diminishing water supply. "One of the challenges that we do run into is that there's only so much the city can do," Kirsch said.
Although the Bay Area is known for its progressive politics, the region is also a major transit hub—two ports, several major airports, and a vast and well-trafficked highway system—which complicates environmental considerations. Some cities in the region have important economic stakes in keeping heavy industry within their borders, such as Richmond with its Chevron refinery.
Room said the Local Clean Energy Alliance has shifted its focus in the last four or five months, from a municipality-based approach to a wider-reaching regional course of action. "Our perspective is informed from the 10,000 foot view of the Bay Area grid," Room said. "What it looks like to us is a patchwork quilt where you have certain areas where all the interested parties are really engaged—places like Oakland or Berkeley—and in other places you have very little activism. Those places could negate some if not all of the results of Oakland and Berkeley's climate action plans."
Room cited the Russell City Energy Power Plant, a proposed natural gas-powered plant to be built in Hayward, as an example of how policies in a neighboring city could offset climate action in a place like Oakland. Local Clean Energy Alliance is pushing for renewable energy alternatives to power plans that operate on natural gas.
Even programs that run through Oakland's borders are not entirely under the city's control. Transportation and land use, for example, account for about half of the city's greenhouse gas emissions. But much of local transit policy is determined by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, a regional organization that sets transportation policy for the Bay Area's nine counties. "That doesn't discount the need for local plans," Kirsch said at the Clean Power, Healthy Communities conference, "but it speaks to the need for regional and statewide policies."
One policy climate activists are looking to is California Assembly Bill 32, also known as the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. The law established regulations and incentives to lower the state's greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. Speaking at the Clean Power, Healthy Communities conferece,Timothy Burroughs, climate action coordinator for the city of Berkeley, said AB 32 offered "an unprecedented time for collaboration between the state, regional and local levels." But AB 32 has come under fire by conservative activists, who are organizing a November ballot measure to suspend the act until the unemployment rate drops to 5.5 percent.
There is, of course, another factor in the success or failure of Oakland's climate action plan—one that could render all the philosophical considerations of local action moot. It's the money, no small consideration in a cash-strapped city that just approved an additional $15.3 million in budget cuts.
That means the plan must have specifics—how much these proposals will cost and where that money will come from. "City council is not likely to pass anything unless there is clear funding attached to it," said Kirsch. She added that the OCAC was working to identify "the local, state and federal pots of money that could fun the policies we are looking at."
Some of those funding streams—particularly from the state and federal governments—have increased recently, thanks to economic stimulus efforts. Last week, Mayor Ron Dellums announced that the city was named a partner in five State Energy Program stimulus grants, which total over $40 million for projects that deal with climate change and energy efficiency. The grants, awarded by the California Energy Commission, will fund energy efficiency initiatives like retrofits in downtown Oakland commercial buildings and other projects across the state.
The funding streams from stimulus programs offer a window of opportunity that Brunner does not want to pass up. She said she wants to see a final version of the climate action plan passed before the Council goes on recess in July.
The crafting of Oakland's climate plan has occupied the bulk of Fitzgerald's two-year tenure as the city's sustainability coordinator. To get it to the finish line, he will need to make the case that each proposed policy has the requisite funding and staff, and will lead to quantifiable impact. He will need to tap into adequate political will from city council and an engaged community.
"Ask us to do something," an attendee encouraged during Saturday's brainstorming session.
It is likely Fitzgerald—and the climate action plan—will do just that. "We will only get a fraction of the way there if there isn't significant community leadership," Fitzgerald remarked after his presentation. "We need that leadership to hit the type of performance we want."
For more information about Oakland's Energy and Climate Action Plan, go to www.sustainableoakland.com.
This article has been updated to make the following corrections: the proposed Russell City Energy Power Plant would be powered by natural gas, not liquid natural gas, and Oakland is a key partner in the State Energy Grants totaling $40 million, not the sole recipient.
Environment | Politics | Public Policy
Nic Nak Liquors fight returns
Oakland cab outfit goes hybrid

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Q: TypeScript creating a type based on number of parameters Why does the extends clause succeed when checking whether a 0-arity function extends a 1-arity type?
Is there any way to make the first form work?
The same check on tuples works as I'd expect, so I can use Parameters instead, but I'm curious as to why.
function foo(bar: number) {
  // ...
}

function baz() {
  // ...
}

type Foo = typeof foo extends (bar: infer T) => void ? T : never; // number - expected number
type Baz = typeof baz extends (bar: infer T) => void ? T : never; // unknown - expected never

type Foo2 = Parameters<typeof foo> extends [infer T] ? T : never; // number - ok
type Baz2 = Parameters<typeof baz> extends [infer T] ? T : never; // never - ok

Playground Link

A: I find this behavior strange myself, but the issue is that TypeScript says that less parameters is a subtype of more parameters. What this means is that () => void extends (x: number) => void, but not vice versa. TypeScript doesn't know the value of the parameter in type Baz (since there are no parameters in typeof baz) so it says the extends clause is true and sets T to unknown.
On the other hand, tuple types can't really extend each other unless the type in each index of the subtype tuple extend the value of the corresponding index in the supertype tuple (i.e. it's true that [number & string, number] extends [number, number]). That means when there are a different number of parameters, the extends clause always returns false and makes your second example work.
This is definitely pretty confusing, so here's a playground showing the difference.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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HOME > NEWSROOM > ARTICLES > Mike Huckabee, Chuck Norris to Speak at NRB15
Mike Huckabee, Chuck Norris to Speak at NRB15
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and international television and film star Chuck Norris are the latest to join the impressive list of 50+ speakers who will participate at the NRB 2015 International Christian Media Convention in Nashville, TN.
In addition, Norris will be receiving the NRB Chairman's Award.
"Governor Huckabee is a watchman on the wall," remarked Dr. Jerry A. Johnson, President & CEO of NRB. "He consistently raises the alarm when our First Amendment freedoms are attacked, and we are grateful for his strong voice for freedom. We are honored that he will be with us again for NRB15."
Before becoming the host of the number one rated weekend show Huckabee on the Fox News Channel, Huckabee was the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 until 2007, making him one of the longest serving governors in his state's history. Today, in addition to his weekend show, Huckabee is heard three times daily across the nation on The Huckabee Report, syndicated on nearly 600 stations. He is also a New York Times bestselling author of 11 books, and his 12th is set for release in January 2015.
Chuck Norris first made his mark as a renowned teacher of martial arts and was a six-time undefeated World Professional Middle Weight Karate Champion. He is the first man from the Western Hemisphere in the 4,500+ year tradition of Tae Kwon Do to be awarded an eight degree Black Belt Grand Master ranking. He has also starred in 24 motion pictures. Furthermore, his television series, Walker, Texas Ranger, ran for 8 1/2 years and was the most successful Saturday night series on CBS since Gunsmoke.
"Chuck Norris is a legend in his own time," noted Dr. Johnson. "We are proud to honor him and his legacy at NRB15."
Adding to that, NRB Chairman of the Board Bill Blount said: "On behalf of the NRB, it's thrilling to present Chuck Norris with the Chairman's Award. Chuck Norris has had an extraordinary career in martial arts and entertainment. Through all his productions, he's maintained a high level of integrity, ethics, and family-friendly programming. Because of his superior standards, in a world that does not usually reward those ideals, we want to honor and recognize his achievements."
For more details regarding the speakers scheduled to take the stage at NRB15, visit www.nrbconvention.org.
To save up to $200, register by November 15, 2014.
By NRB Staff


Our neurovascular surgeons use catheters to perform procedures in the brain through arteries in the groin, eliminating the need to open the skull. These procedures could vary from finding a blood clot causing a stroke and removing it, to placing coils in the brain to repair a ruptured aneurysm and stop bleeding.
Offering endovascular procedures requires neurosurgeons trained in working with the vascular systems and labs with the equipment needed to perform complex treatments safely and efficiently. Our neurovascular lab is the only in North Florida and South Georgia with the necessary technology.
Who would need an endovascular procedure?
Endovascular procedures are primarily used to treat two types of patients – those who have a neurological condition that is found during an exam and need treatment to prevent future complications, and those who are critically ill and may have experienced an emergency such as stroke or a ruptured aneurysm.
Historically, these patients were required to travel outside of the area, sometimes hundreds of miles away, to receive care. We are proud to be the first facility in the region to offer these revolutionary treatments so patients can recover close to home.


Madonna Amulet - An amulet of a Mother looking upon her sleeping baby in her arms. With stars in her hair she is the image of the eternal mother.
Madonna Amulet - An amulet of a Mother looking upon her sleeping baby in her arms.


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A way-too-early look at which 2020 Democratic contenders are overrated
The betting website PredictIt offers an opportunity to take stock of current conventional wisdom.
By Matthew Yglesias, Laura McGann, and Dylan Matthews Aug 31, 2018, 6:30am EDT
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Photo by Gabriel Aponte/Getty Images for Concordia Americas Summit
It's obviously way too early for anyone to have a realistic sense of who is going to prevail in Democrats' large field of 2020 presidential candidates, but it's never too early to start breathless speculation about at least parts of it.
The betting website PredictIt offers a perfect opportunity to take stock of where the conventional wisdom currently lies, and where it may be wrong. The site runs an ongoing market about the 2020 race where you can buy "stock" in any candidate, and each share you own of the candidate will pay out a value of $1 if they win the nomination. That means you can interpret the current market price, in cents, of a single share as offering implicit odds on the probability of that contender winning.
As of Thursday afternoon, for example, a share of Kirsten Gillibrand costs 11 cents, implying an 11 percent chance that she will be the nominee.
What the bettors say — and what we think is correct — is that at the moment, there is no overwhelming frontrunner, just a broad field of plausible contenders with a real chance of winning. Given that reality, we're not going to try to guess the final outcome (at least not yet), but instead give Vox staffers a chance to take regular peeks at the current odds and offer some thoughts about who may be overrated or underrated at current prices.
Sell Andrew Cuomo, buy Jay Inslee
It feels petty to dump on a guy who's currently at 3 percent, but honestly, 3 percent badly overrates Andrew Cuomo's odds. As the governor of New York, he naturally attracts media attention, and the fact that his brother is a CNN host doesn't hurt in that regard either.
Yet even though all polls indicate Cuomo will prevail fairly easily against Cynthia Nixon, who is challenging him in the primary, the fact that we're even talking about a primary challenge by Cynthia Nixon shows Cuomo's profound problems as a potential nominee.
Years ago, when Cuomo first became governor, he made a bet that the biggest risk to his presidential aspirations was that as governor of a large blue state, he would find himself pushed to tack left on policy and render himself "unelectable" in a national race. That got him sucked into all kinds of antics designed to keep Republicans in control of the New York state Senate that completely soured his reputation with progressives over a period of years during which the overall center of gravity in the Democratic Party has moved considerably to the left. Basically, he zigged when in retrospect he should have zagged.
He's running for reelection with the backing of a strong party machine and almost all of the state's labor unions, and he will almost certainly win especially given black voters' historic distaste for white insurgent reformers like Nixon. But none of these strengths will apply in a presidential primary. Against professional politicians, some of whom are black themselves, and without a machine to back him, there's just no way Cuomo can prevail. The right price for him is zero.
Speaking of which, if you want to take a flyer on a white male governor with presidential ambitions, I'd consider investing in Washington's Jay Inslee. He's obviously not likely to win the nomination, and right now he isn't on the board at all. But I don't think it's too hard to tell a story in which in a field crowded with senators making broadly similar pitches about health care and fighting Donald Trump, a blue-state governor manages to catch fire by talking about actual policy accomplishments in his home state and a message focused on climate change. Is Inslee going to win? Probably not. But is he worth taking a gamble on if you can get him for cheap? Absolutely. —Matthew Yglesias
Sell Joe Biden, buy Tim Kaine
Former Vice President Joe Biden is near the top of the board at 15 cents. It's time to sell.
Biden is back in the news this week since the passing of his friend John McCain. He'll serve as one of McCain's pallbearers on Saturday. Biden's friendship with McCain is more than a bromance; it's a symbol of America's aspirational politics — one that values bipartisanship and civility.
This is Biden's appeal. He's an old-school, glad-handing politician — a man who loves to stump and to mix it up with voters. He's a throwback who seems like he would make a great candidate.
The reality, though, is that not only is that not the politics of the moment, but Biden has never been very good at it anyway. His first two presidential campaigns, in 1988 and 2008, went down in flames. He bowed in 1988 after he was accused of plagiarizing a speech and a law school paper. In 2008, he never performed above single digits nationally during the Democratic primary. He wasn't able to raise much money. Above all, despite his folksy image and reputation for retail politics, he came in fifth in the Iowa caucuses. If there's a state for a Democrat who does well with white working-class voters, Iowa would probably be it.
Certainly, Biden's name recognition and reputation are much higher after eight years serving as Obama's affable vice president. The press loves him.
But besides the press, Biden doesn't have much of a constituency in the Democratic Party. He's not part of the emerging Bernie Sanders/Elizabeth Warren wing. His policy ideas are liberal, but they aren't the woke politics around identity. He's a neoliberal throwback, not the future of the Democratic Party. At 15 cents, it's time to sell.
If you're looking to take a gamble on a former senator who ran for the vice presidency, you might as well buy Tim Kaine at 2 cents, a relative bargain compared to Biden. He's also a nice-guy candidate, affable and consensus-building. Ideologically, he's a similarly situated Democrat as Biden — a liberal as it used to be defined, so relatively moderate today.
He's got the upside of recent campaign experience, running with Hillary Clinton and seeing the pitfalls of her run up close. He could carry Virginia in the primary and in the general (a potentially appealing case to strategic primary voters). And he's been in Clintonworld for many years and has connections to that donor network. Is he the most likely to win the primary? Probably not. But he's a good buy at 2 cents. —Laura McGann
Sell Kamala Harris, buy Bernie Sanders
At the very top of the PredictIt betting markets is Kamala Harris, whom you can bet on for 22 cents. It would be foolhardy to rule out Harris entirely, but top of the pack? No way:
Harris polls poorly at this point. In fairness to her, polls two years out are basically meaningless. Rudy Giuliani was not the Republican nominee in 2008, nor was Al Gore the Democratic nominee in 2004. But the polls serve as at least a small data point against the idea of her as a frontrunner.
The core of the case that she'll be the nominee, as FiveThirtyEight's Perry Bacon explains, is the theory "among political insiders" that "Harris could win the Democratic nomination with a coalition of well-educated whites and blacks, the way Obama did in 2008." This, I think, is a misreading of what Obama pulled off in 2008.
For one thing, Obama completely dominated both the ideologically left segment of the primary electorate and the black vote. There was no credible candidate plainly to his left; John Edwards tried to outflank him on economic issues but had voted for the Iraq War, and Dennis Kucinich was generally treated as a UFO-believing punchline. (And Kucinich clearly saw Obama as the furthest-left mainstream candidate, as he threw his Iowa supporters toward him at the last minute.)
Harris, by contrast, will almost certainly not be the most left-wing candidate running, and will face a challenge winning over Black Lives Matter activists, #AbolishICE proponents, and other voters critical of mass incarceration and police brutality. Yes, she wants to reform cash bail and has tried to improve her anti-prison bona fides in the Senate. But she started her career as a prosecutor; has a long record of defending the death penalty against legal challenges (while claiming to be personally opposed it it); resisted strong reforms to the state's "three strikes" law; and in 2015, as California attorney general, tried to block two trans prisoners from getting gender-affirming surgeries. In a crowded field, stuff like that could be a real problem.
Nor is she likely to be the only black candidate in the field. Her Senate colleague Cory Booker is almost certainly going to jump in, and it's possible that former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick or former Attorney General Eric Holder will as well. That not only prevents her from, as Obama did, putting together a winning coalition with an overwhelming majority of black voters plus elite whites, but it also, along with her weakness on criminal justice issues, means she'll be forced to actively court black voters in ways that promise to turn off racist white voters in both the primary and the general.
So who should be first in a crowded field in these betting markets? My pick would be Bernie Sanders:
Do I think it's probable (as in, more than 50 percent odds) that Sanders wins the nomination? Absolutely not. He'd be the oldest president ever elected by a wide margin, he'll probably lose the black and Latino vote and continue to struggle in the South, and this time, around he won't be the only alternative to the frontrunner that most people consider (sorry, Martin O'Malley).
But consider what he has going for him:
He tied in Iowa last time, and there's no regional candidate who would obviously be stronger than him there.
He won New Hampshire in a blowout, and even against fellow New Englander Elizabeth Warren, he's in a strong position to do the same again.
It's common for parties to choose runners-up as their nominees the next time around (as Sanders learned when he lost to Clinton).
Every other major contender (except perhaps Biden) has spent the past year scrambling to go as far left as Sanders has always been. He's the genuine article in a field of imitators. If you're a nurse in Iowa, would you rather go with someone who's supported single-payer health care his whole life, like Sanders, or someone who signed on last year, like Booker, Gillibrand, Harris, or Warren?
Of course, it's entirely possible that Sanders declines to run, deferring to Warren or staying out of the race entirely. But if he does run, I put his odds much higher than 15 percent. —Dylan Matthews
Next Up In Politics & Policy


By the end of september Ruf Records sent out a press release that mentioned the find of 'historical recordings by Luther Allison, found in a safe by Bernard Allison in the house of his mother Fannie Mae Allison'. Furthermore it was mentioned that the recordings dated from a session done in the Wonderful Studio in Chicago in 1958.
I checked my record collection and found out that Luther had made his first recordings at - indeed - the Wonderful Studio in Chicago on March 8, 1967. Those were released on the Delmark-anthology 'Sweet Home Chicago' (Delmark LP DS-618/CD DD-618).
EVERY ORDERED LP BOX INCLUDES THE VINYLSINGLE WITH THE SONGS You Can't Always Get What You Want & Night Life BY LUTHER ALLISON FOR FREE!


The School District operates on a school year and financial year that starts July 1 and ends June 30.
An "Annual Budget" (Preliminary Budget) is prepared in the spring preceding each school year based on estimates and projected factors for the upcoming year. At that time student populations and government and other grants are based on estimates and projections. The Annual Budget must be approved by the Board and filed with the Ministry of Education by June 30.
An "Amended Annual Budget" (Final Budget) is prepared each fall/winter based on known and projected factors for the balance of the year. At that time student populations are known, and government grants recalculated based solely on September 30 student demographics. The Amended Annual Budget must be approved by the Board and filed with the Ministry of Education by the end of February.
"Annual Financial Statements" are prepared each summer to reflect the actual financial results of the school year just concluded, as well as the financial position of the Board on June 30. The statements are audited by an independent auditor and must be approved by the Board and filed with the Ministry of Education by September 30 following the end of the school year.


I admit, I'm humiliated. I'm so confident in my previous post that the Colts will win no matter what happens. But a surprising miracle happened, the New York Jets won in the AFC wild-card matchup last January 8, 2010.
A lot also predicted that the Colts will surely win and they will have a big chance to make it to the Super Bowl this year, but were disappointed.
The final score is 17-16 in favor of the Jets. Mark Sanchez leads the drive to set up Nick Folk's game-winning kick. As we've seen last Saturday night, Nick Folk made a 32-yard field goal before the game ended. This goal gave the Jets a 17-16 playoff victory over Manning's Colts to wrap up a head-to-head showdown. Everyone was really thrilled, everyone was shouting and screaming before the game ended.
In the last 53 seconds of the game, Manning moved the Colts into position for a go-ahead field. Then the four-time league MVP watched helplessly as the New York Jets drove down the field for the final seconds of the match-up.
Manning and the Colts were really disappointed with their lose. "It's disappointing with the way we lost tonight. Any time you lose on a last-second field goal, it certainly stings", Manning said in an interview.
A year ago, The Colts beat the Jets for the AFC title with a final score of 10-7. But this year is not Colts' year.
Congratulations to the Jets and good luck this Saturday!
Who will be the NFC and AFC champions? Let's find out after the 23rd of January!
It was a mind-blowing game! the NY Jets did great. I also thought that the Colts will win last night. It was so close... but the Jets were also really good and they did everything to win.
Right now, I'm looking forward and is excited to watch the Divisional Playoffs of the Jets vs the Patriots this coming Sunday!


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SKYSAWA Building A, Poland
SKYSAWA Building A, Poland10th March 2020
The first building in Poland to receive the BREEAM Interim certificate with an Outstanding rating for BREEAM 2016
Scheme & Version: BREEAM International New Construction 2016 – Office
Certification Stage: Interim
Rating: Outstanding
Overall Score: 90.7%
Developer / Client: Polski Holding Nieruchomości SPV 1 Sp. z o.o.
Architect: "Projekt" Polsko-Belgijska Pracownia Architektury Sp. z o.o.
Assessor Company: Go4Energy
SKYSAWA is a complex of two office buildings designed by "Projekt" Polsko-Belgijska Pracownia Architektury. The complex is currently under construction at the prestigious 36, Świętokrzyska Street, in Warsaw's central business district. It will fill a lot previously occupied by an old 10-story block of flats built in the 1960s and later turned into an office building. With a rapid development of Warsaw's office market, which has reshaped the skyline of the city, the old property was out of place and no longer competitive against the office buildings in the area. As it was slowly emptying and degrading, it was finally demolished in 2017.
SKYSAWA's total gross floor area is 65,000 sqm. Building A will feature 9 floors and offer over 11,500 sqm of lease space. At 155 m, Building B will have 40 floors and offer 28,000 sqm of lease space. The cascade architecture of the complex allowed the architects to create irregular terraces located at floors 4 and 5 of building A, and at floors 3 and 4 of building B. The outdoor lounge area will allow the tenants to hold meetings in a less formal environment, or relax during their workday, thus positively influencing their well-being.
SKYSAWA was designed to fit into the historical and modern contexts of the city, and to provide modern and sustainable office and retail spaces to its tenants. One of the key goals was to create an office building which will encourage tenants to use sustainable forms of transportation. As a result, SKYSAWA will be one of only a few buildings in Warsaw with a direct underground passage to a metro station.
SKYSAWA's building A underground parking will provide 116 parking spaces for bicycles, 52 parking spaces for cars and four battery charging stations for electric cars. The whole complex (building A and B) will provide over 280 parking spaces for bicycles, a washroom for cyclists, nine battery charging stations for electric cars and 140 parking spaces. Its proximity to bus and tram stops operating numerous lines, as well as the direct vicinity of a bicycle path, allow for easy transport to any part of the city. Moreover, the building is located within walking distance to the Central Railway Station, which enables further travels without the need to use a car.
The building scored particularly well in the categories:
The ecological solutions were implemented at the stage of demolition of the old building occupying the lot. All waste generated during the demolition process was monitored and disposed of by an external company specializing in waste processing. The building process is being managed in a way that allows us to limit the amount of waste, the use of water and energy. Monthly measurements of water and energy consumption will be recorded and displayed on site. The main contractor will establish the Site Waste Management Plan in order to clearly define the practices which will be used on this site to maximize diversion of construction waste for landfill disposal. According to the recycled waste target, all construction waste should be recycled in at least 95%. The transport of the materials is being optimised to limit its carbon footprint. The main contractor operates an environmental material policy which promotes use of local materials. Concrete used for structure is manufactured locally – approximately 10 km from the site. The wood used as a temporary material is being sourced from legal sources, independently certified from sustainability-managed sources. Temporarily-used wood is certified in accordance with the Forest Stewardship Council. At later stages the composition and certificates of all materials used for the construction will be verified to ensure their eco-friendliness. The building will be equipped with a water retention system which will allow the use of the rainwater for plant watering.
Why did the building undergo BREEAM Certification?
It was known as early as the concept stage that BREEAM certification would be seeked. Being BREEAM-certified is proof that the building is designed and built in line with the highest standards and with utmost respect for the environment. Additionally, the BREEAM certificate ensures a significant advantage to any office building during the leasing process. Tenants in Poland seek offices which offer lower running costs thanks to modern and sustainable technologies used in the buildings. Moreover, easy access to the municipal transportation system and an infrastructure for bicycles and scooters to encourage green commute, are very sought for.
At the end of the concept and design stage, the Investor implemented a Sustainability Procurement Plan – a policy and procedure that sets out procurement requirements for all suppliers and trades to adhere to relating to the responsible sourcing of construction products. During the concept and design stage a lot of additional analyses were provided. As the result of BREEAM, the following analyses were carried out;
Energy Simulation
Life Cycle Cost (LCC)
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
Analysis of Thermal Comfort
Low and zero carbon, passive design analysis
Daylight Analysis
Overview of Green Strategy
95 % of total waste created is diverted to landfill – the main contractor has established the Site Waste Management Plan in order to clearly define the practices which will be used on this site to maximize diversion of construction waste to landfill disposal. Monthly measurements of waste production will be recorded and displayed on site.
Use of responsibly-sourced materials – at the concept and design stage, the Investor prepared Sustainability Procurement Plan. At the Design stage, responsibly sourced materials were specified in the Detailed Design. During construction stage, the general contractor will provide certificates confirming responsible sources of materials.
Reduction of energy consumption – a numerical energy model of the building has been developed. A simulation estimated the maximum possible energy savings in accordance with the requirements of the BREEAM International New Construction 2016 ENE01 credit. The results of the simulation were analyzed by Design Team and implemented into the Detailed Design.
Reduction of water consumption – fitting and fixtures specified in the detailed design allow for 65.60% improvements according to the BREEAM WAT01 Water consumption calculator.
Use of rain water for watering plants – in the building, a rainwater tank and rainwater pumps will be installed, which will allow for used rain water to be applied to plant watering.
Reduction of CO2 production during occupation stage – one of the main goals was to encourage tenants to use sustainable forms of transportation. A direct link with the metro station, proximity to bus and tram stops, electric recharging stations, bicycle infrastructure and a walking distance from Central Railway Station all contribute to the reduction of CO2 production as a result of effective occupant transportation.
The value of summer weather external temperature used for dimensioning the HVAC equipment was raised to 35 degrees Celsius, which is higher than both PN code's requirement and regular designing practice (30 degrees Celsius and 32 degrees Celsius, respectively). Thus, the HVAC systems are prepared for a global climate warming challenge in the future. We are prepared for much hotter and longer summer periods, which may be expected to come.
Chillers were designed and chosen to meet requirements that will be mandatory in Europe after 2021. All are HFO-ready, it means that in a far more distant future, the same chillers are already prepared to switch refrigerant to HFO – having a neutral environmental impact. A special safety factor to the chiller capacity demand was designed. Altogether, SF is +31% – calculated to demands (+8% only for using HFO refrigerant) This environmental-friendly design approach (HFO-ready system) also means a safe future of HVAC system operation should there be global climate warming.
All HVAC equipment (AHU's, fans, fan-coils etc.) is designed with PM and EC electrical motors – being of highest possible electrical energy consumption efficiency.
Rain falls evacuated from roofs are gathered into special retention tanks that allow for use of rainwater later; for the maintenance requirements and plant watering during hot and dry days. Based on rainfall observations in Warsaw over the last 20 years, the retention tanks were designed with a safety factor of +100% to calculated rain water capacity. Such heavy rainfalls may occur as early as once every 5 years, and the periods observed were of 15 minutes. Nevertheless, but the building is fully prepared to collect storm rainwater's of any capacity. All water meters – every group of water supplied devices are metered – are put under the BMS real-time supervision, so any abnormal water consumption, when indicated, triggers an alarm signal to the facility management shift supervisor for immediate action. To save water, reduction of water losses and consumption is one of the top priorities in this building.
An advanced BMS system providing an easy and highly effective way of supervision, controlling, monitoring and optimization of the facility's infrastructure connected to the system.
Measurement of the electricity consumption: Additional measurement system allowing for data transfer to BMS as well as analysis of the current consumption of the electricity will be installed. The systems will allow the supervision of at least 90% of the energy consumed.
Electric car battery charging stations: The building will be equipped with 22kW 3f AC dual charging stations allowing for simultaneous charging
Benefits of assessing to BREEAM
The BREEAM assessment process gave us much broader outlook onto the way we should approach design. We learned the importance of combining project management, design and build processes. We are convinced that the eco-friendly perspective allowing enhanced performance should lay at the centre of our future projects. Thanks to BREEAM we noticed the factors that have the strongest impact at the way the buildings should be designed and built – the current and forecast changes in climate force us to take into account the type of materials are being used – if they are certified, how they are sourced and transported. The analysis carried out as a result of BREEAM assessment will become a standard procedure for our future commercial projects.
BREEAMBREEAM Awards 2020Poland
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HOME › Bookshop › Crime and Thrillers › CHRONICLES OF THE TIME
Chronicles of the Time
by Penny Freedman
March 2020. Gina Gray returns to the Lake District to share COVID isolation with her oldest friend, Eve. They are joined by Gina's teenage granddaughter, Freda, who is finding her own home too crowded for comfort.
Locked down in the countryside, Gina is not expecting murder or mystery, but life without drama and challenges doesn't suit her and knitting, baking and creativity with home-grown vegetables soon lose their appeal. Very soon she manages to find mysteries both at home and further afield.
Why did Eve really invite her here? What is going on with the strange couple whose garden backs on to theirs? What has happened to the cat? Why is Freda being so secretive about her history project? Most importantly, who murdered a teenage girl on a riverbank in an upmarket London suburb, and how can Detective Superintendent David Scott possibly track down the killer without Gina's help?
Told in three narrative voices – Gina's, Freda's and David Scott's – Chronicles of the Time explores these interlocking mysteries against a background of personal tensions and strained relationships in the strangest of times – the lockdown months.
Penny Freedman found the idea for 'This is a Dreadful Sentence' when she was teaching English at a college in Kent and noticed a kitchen knife lying on one of the bookshelves in the library. This picture lodged in her mind and came out years later as a new twist on the classic 'body in the library' plot: a foreign student is found stabbed and crushed to death in a college library.
Penny says, 'Once I had my plot, I knew I wanted to create a female sleuth who wasn't a superwoman but a real woman whose life readers would recognise and sympathise with.' And so she created Gina Gray, a forty-something divorcee with two daughters, one a stroppy teenager and the other a single mother frequently looking to Gina to step in and mind the baby. 'I had a picture in my mind,' Penny says, 'of a woman who does her investigating while pushing a baby in a buggy. And however exciting or scary her investigation gets, she still has to fit in trips to the supermarket. I find that readers like Gina because she's real and because she's brave and funny and speaks her mind.'
First I want to say.... I loved Freedman's "Where Everything Seems Double".. Waa released January 2021
If you haven't read that one yet to read it now! Such a great story.
Now about Chronicles of the Time....
two things caught my attention here:
1. Penny Freedman 2. The description
Ever since the Pandemic started I've been so interested in books with Covid 19 settings.
And this one delivered everything I was anticipating here.
This mystery held my attention from first page to the last.
The characters are a great cast and deftly drawn.
I found this story drew me in immediately.
I really enjoyed the writing style.
Overall a good, fun, quick story I hope others enjoy as well!
Original review: https://www.netgalley.co.uk/book/235759/review/680240
by NetGalley review
I found this book to be interesting. I wondered if I would like the way the narrative is delivered in three voices, but I got so invested in the story and how the author explains things that I didn't even care. This is a really good book and this author is on my follow list on Amazon. Thank you to Matador and the author for allowing me an early peek at this wonderful book
by Annette Herbst
I found this book to be interesting. I wondered if I would like the way the narrative is delivered in three voices, but I got so invested in the story and how the author explains things that I didn't even care. This is a really good book and this author is on my follow list on Amazon. Thank you to Matador, NetGalley and the author for allowing me an early peek at this wonderful book
Original review: https://www.netgalley.com/book/235759/review/256629
Three separate narrators really works here - they each bring such fascinating perspectives and getting to know each of them is an added bonus to a strong plot line. The COVID context is an interesting new angle amd the author manages to spin a great tale within the confines of a locked down world.
Penny Freedman
Penny Freedman has taught English and Drama in schools, colleges and universities. Her experience as director of English Language courses for overseas students forms the background to her murder mystery, 'This is a Dreadful Sentence'.
She has always been an enthusastic amateur director and actress and has had short stories and theatre criticism published. Her book on Shakespeare's language was published in 2007.
She has two grown-up daughters and now lives with her husband in Stratford-upon-Avon, where she writes and lectures on Shakespeare in performance.
'This is a Dreadful Sentence' is her first novel but there is a sequel to follow and she plans further Gina Gray mysteries to come.
Also by Penny Freedman / Related Books
This is a Dreadful Sentence
Drown My Books
Where Everything Seems Double
Weep a While Longer
Little Honour
All the Daughters
One May Smile
by Richard Holland
Ravens Gathering
by Graeme Cumming
Samson's Syndrome
by Steve Monaghan
Master of Starlight
by Keith Short


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India ranks 110 out of 149 nations on the SDG Index
The Index gathered data for 149 nations to analyse where each nation stands in 2016, with regard to attaining SDGs.
India has been ranked 110 out of 149 countries that have been assessed with regard to attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDG Index highlighted, that almost all nations face key challenges when accomplishing the given ambitious goals. Sweden ranked first in the chart, followed by Denmark and Norway.
Jeffrey Sachs, Director of SDSN, said, "The Sustainable Development Goals are stretch goals, but they are within reach if countries work towards them with clarity and determination. The SDG Index and Dashboard can help each country to chart out a practical path for achieving the goals."
The report also made a startling clarification that the nations which are quite close to achieving the SDGs are not large economies but small, developed nations like Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. This gives a clear indication that the Norwegian countries have always been on the right path to growth and development in every sense of the term.
In the index, Germany was at the 6th rank, the UK at 10th. These were the only G7 nations that were listed in the top 10 performers. While the US was ranked in the 25th position, the other two economies Russia and China hold the 47th and 76th, respectively. India is 110 on the chart, with Lesotho ranking 113, Pakistan 115, Myanmar 117, Bangladesh 118 and Afghanistan 139. Underdeveloped and developing nations understandably ranked low on the index as these countries often have fewer resources compared to developed nations. Liberia and Central African Republic are at the bottom and have a long way to go in fulfilling the SDGs.
The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) along with Bertelsmann Stiftung started a new SDG Index and Dashboard and gave an assessment card while tracking the progress of SDGs and to ensure accountability.
The index gathered available statistics for 149 nations to analyse where each nation stands in the year 2016, with regard to attaining the SDGs. The index then ranked the nations depending on their performance on 17 ambitious global goals of sustainable development, that is, social inclusion, economic development, and environmental sustainability, supported by good governance. This is a dynamic joint initiative by Bertelsmann Stiftung and SDSN, as their assessments help nations to identify priorities that need timely actions and highlights the major challenges that every nation faces in attaining SDGs.
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They shall grow not old: restorers honour the dead of Dud Corner
Tom Rowley visits the cemetery in north-west France near where one of the first great battles of the First World War was fought
By Tom Rowley, Vermelles
8:30AM GMT 03 Nov 2013
In a corner of a foreign field, two dozen men are hard at work. Dud Corner Cemetery, near the village of Vermelles in north-west France, is normally as still as the sugar beet field that surrounds it. But today, men in fluorescent jackets push wheelbarrows heaped with soil between the columns of headstones, while others lug pneumatic drills from grave to grave.
For a dozen days in autumn 1915, one of the first great battles of the First World War, Loos, raged here. The Allies planned a "big push" to break the stalemate of the Western Front, attacking along a 19-mile front and using poison gas for the first time.
It badly misfired, however, and 8,500 British Expeditionary Force troops died on the first day — then the highest toll. By the end of the fortnight, 20,000 were dead.
After the war, some 2,000 men were buried at Vermelles. The cemetery was named Dud after the quantity of unexploded shells discovered as the fields were cleared.
Now, nearly a century later, stonemasons and engravers have returned. Ahead of Remembrance Sunday, they have been here for two months, restoring the cemetery to its original condition.
£6m for First World War centenary projects
Will the costly carriers be fit for purpose?
How should we remember the Great War?
The stone that will celebrate WW1 VC heroes
Row over publication of private conversations between Gordon Brown and George W Bush stalls Iraq inquiry
Unsung hero who recorded graves of fallen WW1 soldiers finally honoured
Dud is one of 18 First World War cemeteries and memorials in France, including those at Vimy and Thiepval, chosen by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as "iconic sites" for their historical significance, and earmarked for restoration by next March, before the centenary of the outbreak of war.
In the next three years, it will replace 66,000 headstones that have eroded over the decades, ensuring they are always in place at least a year before the centenary of the death they mark.
Thousands more will be re-engraved to ensure they are legible. Its workshop has more than tripled its annual production of headstones, which each cost about £500, including labour.
For the past two years, The Telegraph's Lest We Forget campaign has called for each of Britain's war memorials to be returned to first-class condition in time for the centenary.
At Dud, the stonemasons share this ambition.
"It is a lot of work," admits David Moody, 43, who usually works as a gardener for the commission but has been drafted in to help replace headstones.
"But these soldiers gave their lives for us. It is an honour for me to keep their graves tidy."
Their work may commemorate all who have fallen but it is also a lasting reminder of just one man, Fabian Ware, without whom none of the cemeteries would line the roads of the Pas-de-Calais.
Though the cemeteries are now one of the most potent images of war, the name of their mastermind has largely been forgotten.
Before the First World War, British soldiers were often buried in mass graves abroad. At Waterloo, the dead were buried together and covered in lime. In the Crimean and Boer wars, individual graves were sometimes dug and marked, but only on the initiative of their comrades.
As soon as Ware arrived on the Western Front in September 1914, he set about changing this. At 45, the former editor of the Morning Post — once one of Britain's most popular newspapers, which later merged with The Daily Telegraph — was too old to fight, but keen to do something for the war effort. He readily responded to an advertisement for Red Cross volunteers and was made commander of an ambulance unit.
His remit was to search for British wounded and ferry them back to a British base. But he soon extended his powers to cover the dead, fearing that their graves would be lost forever in the chaos of total war.
He began to instruct his unit to record the graves, putting makeshift crosses at each spot.
In 1915, Ware gained his first official recognition, as the War Office incorporated his unit, naming it the Graves Registration Commission.
Once again, he took the initiative and rapidly expanded its scope, responding to hundreds of requests from British families for information about relatives who were missing in action, and sending back 12,000 photographs of their graves in the first two years.
"I think the Army was just looking for a sort of undertaker-general because people at home were getting upset about the way the dead were being treated," says the historian David Crane, whose recently published biography of Ware, Empires of the Dead, is shortlisted for this year's Samuel Johnson prize for non-fiction, which will be awarded tomorrow night.
"No one else would have had the energy, the resourcefulness and the clout to impose his will, not just on the group of men around him but on an Empire, too.
"He had the zeal of a missionary, the idealism of a politician and the savvy of a newspaperman."
Over the next two years, he waged a bureaucratic war, slowly persuading opponents that he should be put in sole charge of efforts to commemorate the fallen. At last, in 1917, he convinced the Imperial War Conference to establish the Imperial War Graves Commission by Royal Charter. Ware was named vice-chairman, a position he held until a year before his death.
He quickly made two decisions that now seem inevitable but split opinion at the time. First, he insisted that all headstones were uniform, regardless of rank, to "symbolise equality of sacrifice".
More significantly, he prevented bodies being repatriated, arguing that burying the dead where they fell reflected the brotherhood of the Army, and the soldiers' connection to the villages they fought to defend.
"There was an enormous swathe of the country that felt disinherited from their dead by the limitations Ware insisted on," says Crane.
"He also restricted the length of the inscription and the type of stone."
The debate was finally settled in 1920, when Winston Churchill, chairman of the commission, argued in Parliament that the cemeteries' emotional power would far outlast the grief of the current generation, and remain an "abiding and supreme memorial" to the sacrifices of war "in periods as remote from our own as we ourselves are from the Tudors".
By 1927, more than 400,000 headstones stood in 500 cemeteries across France. Building finished in 1938, just a year before world war broke out again.
Ware had hoped that his cemeteries would prevent another war, but wrote to Neville Chamberlain to gain permission to return to record the graves as soon as it was declared.
He corralled the commission to temporarily mark graves with wooden crosses and set aside land for future cemeteries. By 1945, 350,000 new headstones were required, which were erected in 559 cemeteries within a decade.
He was twice mentioned in dispatches for his efforts and was knighted in 1920. When he died in 1949, aged 79, his grave was marked with a Commission headstone.
The body he established was renamed the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in 1960, and it cares for British soldiers' graves in 153 countries today.
"I often remind the staff about Ware," says Carl Liversage, who is in charge of the commission's First World War commemorations in France, as we walk alongside the roses that line the graves at Dud Corner. "Everything we are doing now is because we are seeking to carry on his work as best we can. I'm sure he'd be incredibly proud to see what he set up so long ago is still as fitting a commemoration of all those who lost their lives today as it was then."
For the team at Dud, attention to detail is paramount. In one corner, five lime green tents stand between rows of headstones. Inside each, an engraver wearing a face mask leans against a headstone. If an inscription is becoming faint but the headstone has not eroded, they re-engrave the stone on site, first tracing over each character with a pen before moving a drill with a tiny diamond tip over the letters and regimental badge. Each headstone takes up to an hour.
If the elements have eroded a stone, however, stonemasons break its concrete base with a drill before digging it out and installing a replacement.
Some 18 miles away, at the commission's headquarters in the town of Arras, a pile of rejected headstones outside the engraving workshop are testament to the same exacting standards. "The writing on this one is not deep enough," says Mike Diaz, the headstone production manager, pointing to one stone. "So I said 'no — it's not going'." Here, a team of a dozen men work in shifts, keeping the five engraving machines going 18 hours a day. Portland stone from quarries in Dorset was used for the original headstones but it has now largely been replaced with Botticino limestone from Italy, which is easier to buy in large quantities.
One at a time, the headstones are fed into the machine as the spindle rotates 7,500 times a minute, carving each character in turn. Before the process was mechanised, it took a week to produce a headstone; now they are finished in 55 minutes.
As I visit, the machine is engraving the name of Major James Smith from Bournemouth, who died in August 1944 at Bayeux in Normandy. His family's original inscription is once again being carved into limestone: "After battle, sleep is best/After noise, tranquillity." In a few weeks, Major Smith's headstone will be eased back into place alongside his fallen comrades', extending by at least another century Fabian Ware's vision of the perpetual peace of the cemeteries.
"It doesn't matter who the casualty is," says Liversage, as we leave the workshop behind. "To us, it is the name of somebody who lost their life and we want to preserve that name forever. That is our motivation."
Empires of the Dead by David Crane (William Collins, RRP £16.99) is available from Telegraph Books at £14.99 + £1.35 p&p. To order, call 0844 871 1514 or visit books.telegraph.co.uk
Defence »
In World War One
Gallipoli memorial service on ANZAC day
Soldiers and suffragettes
Tito's secret bunker
Unseen WWI photographs
Poppy harvest
Red Baron flies again
Women's Life
Gardening Pictures


text:
Миха́йло Ві́кторович Плю́щ ( — ) — солдат 79-ї окремої аеромобільної бригади Збройних сил України, учасник російсько-української війни на Сході України.

Життєпис
Народився 15 червня 1987 року в селі Петрове Кіровоградської області. Мати Галина Миколаївна рано овдовіла і виховувала трьох синів сама.

Навесні 2014 року мобілізований до 79-ї окремої аеромобільної бригади. З весни 2014 року брав участь в антитерористичній операції на сході України.

Загинув в часі обстрілу з установки «Град» бойовиками близько 4:30 ранку 11 липня 2014-го українського блокпосту біля Зеленопілля.

16 липня 2014 року похований на кладовищі села Подорожнє Світловодського району Кіровоградської області. Залишились мати та двоє старших братів.

21 липня 2014-го через його загибель в Подорожньому оголошено жалобу.

Нагороди та вшанування
 8 вересня 2014 року — за особисту мужність і героїзм, виявлені у захисті державного суверенітету та територіальної цілісності України, вірність військовій присязі під час російсько-української війни, відзначений — нагороджений орденом «За мужність» III ступеня (посмертно).
 22 жовтня 2014 року у селі Подорожнє, біля місцевої школи, відбулося урочисте відкриття меморіальної дошки в пам'ять про Михайла Плюща.
 занесений до Книги Пошани Світловодського району (рішення Світловодської районної ради сьомого скликання № 83 від 22 квітня 2016 року).

Примітки

Джерела
 Плющ Михайло Вікторович  // Книга пам'яті загиблих
 Плющ Михайло Вікторович  // Український меморіал
 «Повік невгасимою буде всенародна шана мужності та героїзму українських воїнів». В Міноборони вшановували загиблих Українських героїв

Уродженці Світловодського району
Померли в Довжанському районі
Поховані у Світловодському районі

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Desiree Dalton is a high-pressure interior designer and a good-looking female at 45-years-old. What that babe urges this babe receives. When contractors working on her clients' houses are not snappy, fast and professional, that babe acquires aggressive in every way.
Largo finds out the inflexible way when this fellow gets a phone call in the middle of Ms. Dalton's directions for a redesign job. The interruption urinates her off so during the time that that charmer is on the phone, she grabs his junk to make her position clear.
Design work takes a less important position when Largo takes this as a cue to unveil Desiree his workman's tool. That babe needs to chill her bitchy attitude. As is often the case, a priceless screw will chill out her.
He undresses Desiree and begins mouthing and playing with her merry mellons. Desiree's nice teats receive rock hard as fast as quick-drying cement. This chab sticks his fingers in her muff and face hole to prepare her for his prick.
Largo sits Desiree down and finger-bangs her some more while licking with tongue her shaven seize. This babe likes that tongue action. Now she's ready to swallow his salami hero. What a face hole! As much as that babe craves to take up with the tongue and engulf it, she too wants it inside her muff so this babe sits on his stupendous jock for starters, poking it into her tight hole and bouncing up and down. This should calm her down. For dessert, she milks it and swallows every drop of his load. Largo will be sure to give this stressed-out talented much more attention in their future dealings.


Cape Cod Rail Trail	 Outdoor Activities 2.77 mi.
Dennis Pines Golf Course	 Golf Course 5.45 mi.
We have rented this cottage before, and think it is one of the best for the size.
No big luxe, but everything hoped is there! Cute, clean, well equiped with dishes, beach chairs, even an outside terasse with chairs, table and ombrella was very appreciated. A cozy place we wish to go back. It was just so restfull and pleasent! The only little improvment would be to have air conditioning when it gets hot. I would reccomand it to all!
Well appointed, immaculately clean and only steps from the beach. We will definitely be back!
Small & quaint Cape Cod cottage. Sleeps 4. Clean condition throughout. New outdoor shower & deck. Small kitchen is only drawback. Private association beach across the street.


text:
Is being gay legal in your country?
Page 2 of 5 First 1234 ... Last
Thread: Is being gay legal in your country?
4th December 2011, 01:59 #21
Received: 4,468
Given: 3,043
in the land of the long white cloud it's perfectly legal, I can even have a civil union.
in kuwait?
heck no!
BBpin:22598D92
mungiyu
In Serbia by the law everyone are equal,but also LGBT persons can't marry and addopt.Also here you can not say that you are a member of the LGBT group,if you say you will be attacked, discriminated and even killed.Here are many factions of nationalists who say that members of the LGBT are 'sick' and that should be eliminated from society (read: 'kill'). So here you can be gay, bi or lesbian only in secrecy.I hope that this situation will soon to change.
jinger
Parked Account
Received: 38
That sucks Mungiyu I hope things are gonna change ASAP
geckogecco1983
everyone should open thier eyes to sweden's way of life
FalsoDeus
Given: 12
It is, and we can also get married. Portugal is just behind in terms of adoption for gay couples and surrogacy for any couple, although that stops no-one.
scotland is a great place to be gay - very open , safe and comfortable
bardd
Legal in Norway
Gay people have the same rights as straight people. Wa have a gender-neutral marriage law.
stykera
I live in Bulgaria and we are somewhere in the middle. It's not illegal to be gay, but gay rights are very little cared for. And I'm not even talking about marriage or addoption, here gay bashing is not considered a hate crime, just an ordinary small offence. We do have our gay pride events for a couple of years now and I can see that people are starting sloooooooowly to think and talk about gay issues. But I can never see my country being like sweden or norway... People living in such countries should really feel lucky and never take for granted what they have.
love & peace everyone
g_roch
Dave the Admin
Originally Posted by stykera
Those nations weren't always as friendly to gays. Talking is the number one way of expanding rights and gradually receiving the same protections and acceptance that the rest of society enjoys without thinking about it.
I'm on Yahoo, Skype, Google+, FaceTime, iChat, Whatsapp, Snapchat, Facebook and Twitter. PM me for details.
Gays have always been. Million years ago we gay dinosaurs. Who needs laws nor 3rd party acceptance to do what you wanna do? I say fuck it to modern society everywhere and don't git me started bout fuckin ma own sex. I cut yous lame white people fat ass off! lol
__Miguel_
First up, great thread. Glad to be able to know how homosexuality is seen/dealt with in other countries.
@FalsoDeus: Viva, compatriota
As FalsoDeus has already said, here in Portugal homosexuality is legal. It''s also legal for two men or two women to get married, since sometime last year (can't remember exactly when). Civil marriage is basically equal no mater which gender the spouses are, with one single difference: the right to adopt is restricted to straight couples (though I've read that might change in the near(ish) future). Do keep in mind, though, that one man or one woman, married or otherwise, can still adopt as a single individual, though there are other obstacles to that (read below). Also, since 2001, both same-sex and opposite-sex couples who can't/won't marry may file a single tax form as a couple, plus other minor benefits.
Crime-wise, if I believe correctly, homosexuality left the Penal Code sometime around the 1980's as a punishable offense "per se". There was, however, a crime that stayed behind, and only recently (about two years ago) was removed: it was called (rough translation) "Homosexual Acts With Teenagers". According to this particular law, any man/woman (18+) found to have performed any kind of sexual act with a same-sex teenager (aged 16-18 ) would be found guilty of committing a crime, even if was consensual. Funny thing, though: the previous article (literally) of that Code was titled "Sexual Acts With Teenagers", only found it a crime for a man/woman (18+) to perform any kind of sexual act with a opposite-sex teenager (aged 16-18 ) if it was not consensual... Funny, right? When I was 18 (still a virgin), I met a 16-yo gay lad who, quite literally, knew the Kama-Sutra from A to Z and backwards, yet if we have had consensual sex, it would be my first time, and I could go to jail for up to three years for that (!).
Apart from that oddity, which thankfully was finally removed from the Penal Code (only the "Sexual Acts With Teenagers" crime remains, encompassing both non-consensual same-sex and opposite-sex sexual acts) a couple of years ago, there are no other homosexual-specific crimes.
As for donating blood, up to a few years ago, the blood donor's guide clearly stated you could not be a donor if, "being a man, you had sexual intercourse with another man". Still, there were some teams who didn't ask if you were gay or not, they simply followed common sense and tried to check if you had any potentially dangerous behavior, not caring for sexual orientation. There was a major backlash about that guide on the gay community that lasted a few years, and finally the subject is mostly resolved. However, there are still teams that keep asking men if they have ever had sex with men, and rejecting them for that alone, and the head of the country's Blood Institute has clearly backed up the idea that any man who has ever had ANY sexual contact with another man should not be allowed to donate blood.
Speaking of medial-related situations, in part it somewhat depends on how homophobic the doctor/staff is for non-married couples. However, at least since last year, you are entitled to have a person (anyone, not just blood-related family) with you at all times when you are in a Hospital, unless the attending physician considers it to be too dangerous or inconvenient. You might need to be carrying a previously-signed (and notarized) declaration if your significant other is not awake to state who should be allowed to be with him, but it's not too much of a hassle (and yes, I do know you don't usually carry a signed declaration with you, it's the lawyer in me speaking... lol).
Finally, in society at large. It really depends on where you are. The two major cities are big enough so most people just don't care either way, but even then there are reports of homosexual-related bashings, rapes and deaths, not to mention school bullying. A few smaller cities are somewhat alike. But on smaller cities, towns and villages, especially in the North, rural areas and, generally speaking, anything more than 50Km away from Lisbon and Oporto, you should not tempt your luck.
It has come to my attention that in some schools, gay kids are coming out with only minor issues, but on the work market you're better off keeping your sexual orientation to yourself. Especially if you're working in the Medicine, Law, anything Public Administration-related or blue-collar areas. At least in those areas (I work in the Law and Public Administration area), insults towards gay people are not only common, they're encouraged, so I usually just put my headphones on and crack up the volume so I don't have to hear such nonsense... That is why adoption doesn't really work for gay couples: the minute a Social worker gets wind that it's a gay couple, one of them trying to adopt (heck, or even a single gay person), you can basically forget about adopting. To my knowledge, it has never happened: both the Social Workers and the judges prefer to have children in the system to have them be with someone gay (same thing when it comes to child custody in divorces).
OK, I think that gives you a nice look of what being gay in Portugal can be like, even if it is legal to be gay here. Sorry for the colossal post.
Originally Posted by __Miguel_
Boas! Esse conhecimento dá ares de activista (sem nada pejorativo associado, obviamente)
I'd like to add that I do remember the case of a single gay man going for adoption a few years back (four, perhaps?) and I think those news were reporting success on his part. Besides that, if you can keep the "gay" part hidden, you can get to adopt, and later on include your same-sex partner (not legally, but you get the point) which makes it a tad harder to creat problems on that area.
I'd also like to address this phenomena: more and more in the city I live in, Porto, you see a major amount of young male and female homosexuals and bisexuals (around16+ age) around the downtown areas. For what I've gathered, there's been a sort of coming out "boom" ever since the gay marriage law from last year, although I have no idea if it's country-wise or just in some cities/regions.
RaveRocks
While it is legal to be gay and legal for same sex marriages in Canada, we still hear about gay bashings and killings. Small minded people live everywhere and as long as it is legal for parents to instill hatred in their young children's heads, we will always live on a planet filled with bigotry and hate directed at people who are different. Pierre Elliot Trudeau took the state out of the bedrooms of the nation, but that doesn't mean homosexuality is accepted by everyone. Boat loads of new Canadians brought their culture with them and many of them are upset with our liberal laws on this topic and regularly try to stop schools from teaching that gay is normal and ok. Even in Canada, it's one step forward and two steps back.
: I have a You-Tube channel, mostly Psytrance clips and Oldies Montage vids.. cu there : Enjoy!
mystic_2009
okay as weird as it's gonna sound....not technically
Erial_D
Here in Mexico city since last year we can legally marry as it is, obtain social security from our partner and all the stuff, this year the goverment aproved the law to allow homosexual couples adopt. Im very glad to see this progress...about the blood donation as far as i know, theres no sexual orientation restriction here either
hsgen86
In Australia, it's legal to be gay but can't marry yet, although we can register as a couple and receive all the same rights and benefits. Most people are very accepting though and more and more are now supporting gay marriage, and there has been slow but definitely steady progress on that front, which is good. So yeah I'm lucky to be here.
And I honestly don't understand why people are so against gay rights and marriage equality; It has absolutely no effect on any other their lives, why waste that much energy protesting it?
And whether by religion or government, no matter how you want to try and justify it, it's still just prejudice. You're prohibiting a group of people from accessing common rights purely because of who they are, that's prejudice.We've come a long way as a society to respect the rights of people of different ethnicities and genders, yet when it comes to gays, suddenly everyone's like "nononononononono".
Civil union is a nice start but seperate but equal is never truly equal. Civil union will still identify gay marriage as different or out of the ordinary.
And it's so easy to legalise gay marriage. Just have to change the definition of marriage from "between a man and a woman" to "between two people". It costs the government nothing.
One day society will look back at this era the same way we look back at slavery.
11th December 2011, 07:22 #38
in egypt
i live in egypt and its ( no fuck'n way ) u cant even say that ur gay and its sooooooo hard 2 find another gay ppl here thats y being gay in egypt isnt fun and gay supposed to be fun , so ya
Welcome to GT, meno. And welcome to the forums, more specifically.
We have a number of Egyptian and Middle Eastern members here. Like you, they must live in secret, but here you can be yourself.
Originally Posted by mungiyu
Originally Posted by sv20
Originally Posted by klobbi
Originally Posted by meno
It's great to have you here guys


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text:
GM Gelfand: "Not My Best Game, But I'm Satisfied With the Outcome"
Round 7 of Paris Grand Prix finish unsuccessfully for GM Alexander Grischuk much like for his Italian opponent Fabiano Caruana.
Image - paris2013.fide.com
There's still five rounds to go, but it's obvious that Mamedyarov who finished his performance in Grand Prix is the main candidate for the second place in the series. As Caruana, so Grischuk are yet too far from their main aim - winning the last and decisive stage taking place in Paris.
Таble, schedule, results, all games and other information
Grischuk was black and played for a win, apparently he overestimated his chances. At the press conference Israeli GM noted fairly that moving knight from d7 to g6 was a bad idea.
GELFAND - GRISCHUK
31.c5! Nh4? is losing immediately. Black should have been more patient: 31...bxc5 32.dxc5 dxc5 33.Bxc5 Rf5.
32.cxd6 Qd8 In case of 32...Nxf3 winning was 33.dxc7 Rxc7 34.Rxg7+! Qxg7 35.Rxg7+ Rxg7 36.Qc8+ Kf7 37.Qf8+ Kg6 38.Qxf3.
33.dxc7 Isn't the best choice as there was much nicer strike which was leading to a quicker win: 33.Rxg7+!! Rxg7 34.Rxg7+ Kxg7 35.Qxc7+. "Maybe I wasn't that accurate while converting the advantage, but I never lost control under the situation," Gelfand said.
33...Rxc7 34.Qe4 Qd5 35.Qf4 Qd8 36.e4 Ng6 37.Qd6 Qc8 38.d5 Rc2 39.R3g2 Rxg2 40.Rxg2 exd5 41.Qc6 1-0
"This is definitely not my best game, but I am satisfied with the outcome," the winner added.
[Event "FIDE GP Paris"] [Site "Elancourt FRA"] [Date "2013.09.29"] [Round "7.3"] [White "Gelfand, Boris"] [Black "Grischuk, Alexander"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A40"] [Opening "Queen's pawn"] [Variation "Franco-Indian (Keres) defence"] [EventDate "2013.09.22"] 1. d4 e6 2. c4 Bb4+ 3. Nd2 b6 4. a3 Bxd2+ 5. Qxd2 Bb7 6. Nf3 f5 7. g3 Nf6 8. Bg2 O-O 9. O-O Qe8 10. b4 d6 11. Bb2 Nbd7 12. Rac1 Be4 13. a4 a5 14. b5 Qh5 15. Ba3 Bb7 16. Qc2 Be4 17. Qd2 Bb7 18. Qc2 f4 19. gxf4 Bxf3 20. Bxf3 Ng4 21. Bxg4 Qxg4+ 22. Kh1 Qxf4 23. Rcd1 Rf5 24. f3 Rh5 25. e3 Qh4 26. Qf2 Qf6 27. Rg1 Rf8 28. Rg3 Rf7 29. Rdg1 Nf8 30. Qc2 Ng6 31. c5 Nh4 32. cxd6 Qd8 33. dxc7 Rxc7 34. Qe4 Qd5 35. Qf4 Qd8 36. e4 Ng6 37. Qd6 Qc8 38. d5 Rc2 39. R3g2 Rxg2 40. Rxg2 exd5 41. Qc6 1-0[Event "FIDE GP Paris"] [Site "Elancourt FRA"] [Date "2013.09.29"] [Round "7.1"] [White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"] [Black "Ponomariov, Ruslan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A14"] [Opening "English"] [Variation "Neo-Catalan declined"] [EventDate "2013.09.22"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. d4 dxc4 7. Ne5 Nc6 8. Bxc6 bxc6 9. Nxc6 Qe8 10. Nxe7+ Qxe7 11. Qc2 c5 12. Qxc4 cxd4 13. Qxd4 e5 14. Qh4 Ba6 15. Bg5 Bxe2 16. Re1 Bd3 17. Nc3 Qe6 18. Bxf6 gxf6 19. Ne4 Bxe4 20. Qxe4 Rac8 21. b3 Rfd8 22. Rad1 Kg7 23. Qe3 a6 24. Qe2 Rxd1 25. Rxd1 f5 26. Qd3 h6 27. Kg2 Rc5 28. Qd6 Rc2 29. Qxe6 fxe6 30. Rd6 Rxa2 31. Rxe6 e4 32. g4 fxg4 33. Rxe4 h5 34. Re6 a5 35. Ra6 Ra3 36. h3 gxh3+ 37. Kh2 Rxb3 38. Rxa5 Rf3 39. Rxh5 Rxf2+ 40. Kxh3 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE GP Paris"] [Site "Elancourt FRA"] [Date "2013.09.29"] [Round "7.2"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D70"] [Opening "Neo-Gruenfeld defence"] [EventDate "2013.09.22"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nb6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. Be3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. O-O-O Qd6 10. h4 Rd8 11. Nb5 Qd7 12. h5 a6 13. Nc3 Nxd4 14. hxg6 hxg6 15. Bxd4 Qxd4 16. Qe1 Qxd1+ 17. Nxd1 Na4 18. b3 Nc5 19. e5 Bf5 20. f4 a5 21. Nf3 a4 22. b4 Nb3+ 23. axb3 a3 24. Qc3 e6 25. Ne3 a2 26. Qa1 Bf8 27. Nxf5 gxf5 28. b5 c6 29. bxc6 Rdc8 30. Bc4 Rxc6 31. Nd4 Rcc8 32. Kc2 Bb4 33. g4 fxg4 34. f5 1-0 [Event "FIDE GP Paris"] [Site "Elancourt FRA"] [Date "2013.09.29"] [Round "7.4"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Fressinet, Laurent"] [Result "*"] [ECO "E17"] [Opening "Queen's Indian"] [Variation "Opovcensky variation"] [EventDate "2013.09.22"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. Nc3 Ne4 7. Bd2 d5 8. cxd5 exd5 9. O-O O-O 10. Rc1 Nd7 11. Bf4 c5 12. Nd2 Nxc3 13. bxc3 Rc8 14. Re1 Re8 15. e4 cxd4 16. cxd4 Rxc1 17. Qxc1 Nf8 18. e5 Qd7 19. Qb1 Rc8 20. Be3 g6 21. h4 Qc6 22. Bh3 Ne6 23. Nf3 Qc2 24. Bxe6 fxe6 25. Qb5 Rc6 26. Rc1 a6 27. Qf1 Qxa2 28. h5 Rxc1 29. Qxc1 Qc4 30. Qd1 a5 31. hxg6 hxg6 32. Qb1 Kf7 33. Qxb6 Ba6 34. Qxa5 Qf1+ 35. Kh2 Be2 36. Nd2 Qe1 37. Qc7 Bg4 38. Qb7 Qe2 39. Kg2 Qe1 40. Qb8 Bh3+ 41. Kh2 Qd1 42. Qh8 Bf5 43. Kg2 Qh5 44. Qb8 Bh3+ 45. Kg1 Qd1+ 46. Kh2 Bf5 47. Qb7 Ke8 48. Qc8+ Kf7 49. Qb7 Ke8 50. Qb5+ Kf7 51. Qf1 Qxf1 52. Nxf1 g5 53. f3 g4 54. Kg2 Kg6 * [Event "FIDE GP Paris"] [Site "Elancourt FRA"] [Date "2013.09.29"] [Round "7.5"] [White "Tomashevsky, Evgeny"] [Black "Wang Hao"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E04"] [Opening "Catalan"] [Variation "open, 5.Nf3"] [EventDate "2013.09.22"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 c5 6. O-O Nc6 7. Qa4 Bd7 8. Qxc4 b5 9. Qd3 c4 10. Qc2 Be7 11. Nc3 O-O 12. Bg5 b4 13. Bxf6 gxf6 14. d5 bxc3 15. dxc6 Bxc6 16. Qxc3 Rc8 17. Rfd1 Qb6 18. Rd4 f5 19. Rxc4 Bb7 20. Ne5 Bf6 21. Nd7 Bxc3 22. Nxb6 Rxc4 23. Nxc4 Ba6 24. Rc1 Bxc4 25. Rxc3 Bxe2 26. Bf1 Bh5 27. f4 Rd8 28. Rd3 Rc8 29. Rd2 Bf3 30. Bg2 Rc1+ 31. Kf2 Bxg2 32. Kxg2 Kf8 33. Kf3 Ke7 34. Ke3 h5 35. Rd4 Rc2 36. Ra4 Rxb2 37. Rxa7+ Kf6 38. h4 Rg2 39. Kf3 Rc2 40. Ra8 Rc3+ 41. Kf2 Rc2+ 42. Kf3 Rc3+ 43. Kf2 Rc2+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE GP Paris"] [Site "Elancourt FRA"] [Date "2013.09.29"] [Round "7.6"] [White "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Black "Bacrot, Etienne"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C67"] [Opening "Ruy Lopez"] [Variation "Berlin defence, open variation"] [EventDate "2013.09.22"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 Ke8 10. Nc3 h5 11. Bf4 Be7 12. Rad1 Be6 13. Ng5 Rh6 14. Rfe1 Bb4 15. g4 hxg4 16. hxg4 Ne7 17. Nxe6 Rxe6 18. Re3 Rg6 19. Rg3 Bxc3 20. bxc3 Rd8 21. Rxd8+ Kxd8 22. Kg2 c5 23. Bc1 Ra6 24. a3 Ra4 25. f4 g6 26. Rd3+ Ke8 27. Kf3 b6 28. Rd1 Rc4 29. Bd2 Ra4 30. Bc1 Rc4 31. Bd2 Ra4 1/2-1/2
Games - theweekinchess.com
Grand Prix Paris: Ivanchuk Regreted Not Learning "Kramnik's Lesson"
Alexander Grischuk celebrated his first win at Paris Grand Prix. Today he defeated Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine as black.
Grand Prix Paris: Ivanchuk Losses to Caruana, Recalls Yesterday's Defeat (VIDEO)
Round 6 of the last Grand Prix stage finished Paris. The only decisive game took place between Caruana and Ivanchuk. The win helped Italian to catch leader - Boris Gelfand. Despite that Ukrainian grandmaster got most of the attention at the press conference.
Grand Prix Paris: Gelfand Knows How to Win Queen vs. Rook
In Round 3 of Grand Prix Paris Fabiano Caruana defeated Laurent Fressinet and got closer to his aim. Let us remind you, if he finishes first he will get into Candidates. It is still, however, too early to make prognosis as Caruana is not even a leader. Boris Gelfand who beat Leinier Dominguez dominates the tournament. Dominguez resisted till the very end, he even checked Israeli GM's knowledge in queen against rook endgame - Gelfand knew it perfectly.
Four Moves That Saved Caruana
Grand Prix Paris: Grischuk hasn't won a game yet
Following Nakamura
Paris Grand Prix: Caruana only half a point behind the leader
Grand Prix Paris: One Wrong Move. Caruana Losses Nakamura In the Opening
Nakamura - Caruana duel of Round 7 Paris Grand Prix lasted for 14 moves per se. Italian made a terrible blunder in a well known position:
NAKAMURA - CARUANA
Caruana Content With Quick Draw. Mamedyarov Qualifies to Candidates
Grand Prix Series finished in Paris
Grand Prix Paris: Caruana and Gelfand Back to Joint Lead
Fabiano Caruana gained a very important win in round 10 of Paris Grand Prix. He defeated Evgeny Tomashevksy for whom it was the first loss in the competition.
"Too Winning to Spoil It Easely." Aronian Beat Kramnik
Levon Aronian recovered from the yesterday's loss at the Alekhine Memorial.
3-0 In Black's Favor
Round 1 of Grand Prix Beijing brought three decisive games
World Cup Kasparov Aronian Ivanchuk Sutovsky Hou Yifan Olympiad Svidler Jobava FIDE Vachier-Lagrave Giri Grand Prix Mamedyarov rapid chess Women's Grand Prix Ilyumzhinov Kramnik Gelfand Grischuk Gunina Karjakin Nakamura Karpov Anand Wijk aan Zee Topalov Morozevich Caruana Carlsen
Good move! The only way to
Michael Baron
Good move! The only way to fight FIDE's corrupt management (as no change can be realistically...
Nothing is given in the GA
Mark Watkins
Nothing is given in the GA agenda regarding Ilyumzhinov, but you never know, something might occur...
If they remove Ilyumzhinov by
If they remove Ilyumzhinov by the above Statute, currently the position would be unfilled. Statute...
Chapter 12 - Removal from
Chapter 12 - Removal from Office 12.1. Any elected or appointed official in FIDE can be removed...
I have to agree that the
I have to agree that the standard of play usually increases after rest days, to say nothing of...
Hmm, the 37th anniversary of
Hmm, the 37th anniversary of the ayatollahs (Feb 11).
The World Players' Council
The World Players' Council has published a response to these declarations on the forum "...
With a week now having passed
With a week now having passed into February and still no announcement from Agon/FIDE on the World...
Hmm, 70... Ke3? and it's no
Hmm, 70... Ke3? and it's no longer winning for Hou Yifan. Needed to play Ke4 (or Ra2). One tempo...
Hou Yifan could have traded
Hou Yifan could have traded off the knights with 47. Ne5+ Kb5 48. Nd3 Nxd3 49. Kxd3 Rb1 50. Kc3 Ka4...


text:
History for Kids: The Illustrated Lives of Founding Fathers – George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison (Kindle Edition)
Review of : History for Kids: The Illustrated Lives of Founding Fathers – George
Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton,
and James Madison (Kindle Edition) Written by: Charles River EditorsReviewed by: Barbara Ann Mojica
This well written narrative relates the lives of Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, and Madison. The introductory passages read like biographies. Readers learn how Madison, Washington and Franklin were born in this country, but that Hamilton came from the West Indies. They had different views on politics. Hamilton and Franklin wanted a strong central government. Madison and Jefferson envisioned a nation of farmers. Hamilton favored a strong central bank and foresaw an industrial society. Madison outlined the three branches of government. Jefferson increased the area of the country by 25% with the Louisiana Purchase. The book is filled with details showing their human qualities. Myths are dispelled; Pictures depict the site where Hamilton was shot in a pistol duel and the weapons used. The illustrations include paintings, sketches, photos and monuments. The editors suggest the target audience ages 7-9. I think it is more appropriate for 9+. Teachers, parents, and students will find this book a valuable learning tool and an enjoyable reading experience.
March 6, 2013 bamauthor
« NEW YOUNG ADULT FANTASY NOVEL BY DIANE MAJOR COMING 3/12/13
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This is the first of five books in the Amino Acids, Peptides and Proteins in Organic Synthesis series. Closing a gap in the literature, this is the only series to cover this important topic in organic and biochemistry. Drawing upon the combined expertise of the international "who's who" in amino acid research, these volumes represent a real benchmark for amino acid chemistry, providing a comprehensive discussion of the occurrence, uses and applications of amino acids and, by extension, their polymeric forms, peptides and proteins. The practical value of each volume is heightened by the inclusion of experimental procedures. The 5 volumes cover the following topics: Volume 1: Origins and Synthesis of Amino Acids Volume 2: Modified Amino Acids, Organocatalysis and Enzymes Volume 3: Building Blocks, Catalysis and Coupling Chemistry Volume 4: Protection Reactions, Medicinal Chemistry, Combinatorial Synthesis Volume 5: Analysis and Function of Amino Acids and Peptides This first volume is clearly divided into two parts. The first section deals with the origins of extraterrestrial and "terrestrial" amino acids and their evolution. The second part looks at their production and synthesis, including recent developments in the synthesis of ss-Amino acids. Originally planned as a six volume series, Amino Acids, Peptides and Proteins in Organic Chemistry now completes with five volumes but remains comprehensive in both scope and coverage. Further information about the 5 Volume Set and purchasing details can be viewed here.
Andrew Hughes is a reader and Head of the Department of Chemistry, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. He obtained his degrees from the University of Western Australia before taking up post-doctoral appointments at the University of Cambridge starting 1989. After three years working with Professor Andrew Holmes, he joined Professor Steven Ley's group in 1993. While at Cambridge he was appointed the Shell Research Fellow at Robinson College. His interests lie in the general field of asymmetric synthesis and methodology, with a recent focus on amino acid chemistry.