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O-Tay! U.S. Consulate Tijuana Has A New Home
They just cut the ribbon today.
Here's a nice video from the Consulate web site that introduces TJ's many clients to its new office compound, which is located next to the Otay Mesa crossing, practically straddling the border.
Consul-General Steven Kashkett gave an interview with a San Diego newspaper that covers the basics, like the cost of the new compound ($120 million), its size (100,000 square feet in the main building), staffing (50 U.S. and 100 local employees), number of visas issued annually (190,000) and resident U.S. citizens (250,000).
The new compound is an antiseptic and boring bit of standard embassy architecture, of course. But that's a big improvement over the old consulate, a ratty little hovel located a few steps away from the Agua Caliente racetrack, a greyhound and horse racing joint that was like a living fossil from the 1930s culture of border sleaze.
[ Download ]
Labels: Department of State, U.S. Consulate Tijuana
The Hidden Side Of A Soul Revealed
I feel that unique kind of nausea that arises from learning that someone you might have worked with, or next to, has been arrested on child pornography charges.
A co-worker called this sad news to my attention today - Undercover FBI Porn Site Snares Federal Agent:
The bureau's operation last month snared a Department of State diplomatic security officer, according to court records. James Cafferty, 45, who was stationed at the U.S. Embassy in London, was named in an August 29 felony complaint charging him with possession of child pornography.
-- snip --
During a search last month at his Florida home, Cafferty reportedly confessed to using his PayPal account to purchase subscriptions to about 10 child porn web sites. He also admitted to "having approximately 10,000 to 15,000 files of child pornography" and accessing the FBI undercover web site, according to the confidential affidavit. Cafferty, a federal investigator noted, "provided a hand written confession to agents wherein he admitted to having child pornography on the computer media seized from his residence that he had transported home from London."
-- snip--
As detailed in a confidential affidavit, recipients of the e-mail were provided the undercover web site's url and a unique password (which was needed to advance beyond the site's home page). Site visitors are met with a greeting welcoming them "to the hidden side of your soul, where you view the yung and innocent."
Free on $50,000 bond, Cafferty has been placed on home incarceration by a federal magistrate who has barred him from using the Internet or having any unsupervised contact with minors.
Just wow.
Posted by TSB at 6:59 AM 2 comments:
"Massachusetts Man" Plotted To Bomb The Pentagon And Capitol Building
That's how all the news media are reporting it, anyway. Just a "Massachusetts man" of no special interest. And if his name happens to be "Rezwan Ferdaus," it would be very wrong of you to infer from that any foreign national origin, non-Western civilization, or religious identity.
You can take it from U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz herself that Ferdaus's actions do not reflect on any particular culture, community, or religion. She says so right there in the FBI press release announcing Ferdaus' arrest:
"Our top priority is to protect our nation from terrorism and national security threats. The conduct alleged today shows that Mr. Ferdaus had long planned to commit violent acts against our country, including attacks on the Pentagon and our nation's Capitol. Thanks to the diligence of the FBI and our many other law enforcement partners, that plan was thwarted," said U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz. "I want the public to understand that Mr. Ferdaus' conduct, as alleged in the complaint, is not reflective of a particular culture, community, or religion," she added. "In addition to protecting our citizens from the threats and violence alleged today, we also have an obligation to protect members of every community, race, and religion against violence and other unlawful conduct."
But wait. What about this statement in the very same press release?
During various recorded meetings, Ferdaus envisioned causing a large "psychological" impact by killing Americans, including women and children, who he referred to as "enemies of Allah." According to the affidavit, Ferdaus' desire to attack the United States is so strong that he confided, "I just can't stop; there is no other choice for me."
Enemies of Allah? Are they a big problem in Massachusetts?
The affidavit and complaint filed in the case says the same thing:
"Ferdaus ... began planning to commit violent "jihad" against the United States, which he considers an enemy of Allah."
Why don't we just come clean and say that a "Muslim man in Massachusetts" was plotting to commit terrorism against the United States? That's what happened, after all.
Back to the press release, we learn that the FBI toyed with Ferdaus for a year before hooking him up with the weapons and explosives that are the basis for most of the charges against him:
According to the affidavit, at today's meeting the [FBI's undercover agent] allowed Ferdaus to inspect the explosives and firearms (a quantity of C-4 explosives, three grenades, and six fully-automatic AK-47 assault rifles) that the [undercover agents] delivered, and that Ferdaus had requested for his attack plan. After inspecting the components, Ferdaus brought them to his storage unit, took possession of the explosives and firearms, and locked them in his storage unit. Ferdaus was then immediately arrested.
Maybe Ferdaus didn't read chapter seven of the al Qaeda manual, which instructs the jihadi on precautions he should take when buying or transporting weapons. In particular:
"Prior to purchasing, the seller should be tested to ensure that he is not an agent of the security apparatus."
Good advice, that.
All in all, Ferdaus ought to have stuck with his bitchin' Freestyle Americana band, the Silk Road. He made a better drummer than terrorist.
That's An Excellent Point, LTC Peters
While channel-surfing TV news programs this morning, I caught a few seconds of the retired Army officer and writer/columnist Ralph Peters commenting on the Afghanistan situation and how it forces us into a highly troubled relationship with Pakistan.
Quoting him from memory, he said this:
"When I went to Command and General Staff College, I would have flunked out if I proposed to put 100,000 troops at the end of a single supply line that ran through a thousand miles of hostile territory."
That is an excellent point. After ten years, we still haven't found an alternative to routing all our Afghan-bound truck convoys from the port of Karachi through the Khyber Pass, thereby putting ourselves at the mercy of Pakistan's ISI and its Taliban allies. Shouldn't the CGSC have revoked some diplomas by now?
Labels: Afghanistan, Pakistan
Take A Hike, Shane
The WaPo photo, above, had the caption: "Shane Bauer, center, greets fiance Sarah Shourd."
I'm glad they indicated which one was Shane, since otherwise I would have been at a loss. I guess it's true that some couples start to look like each other over time.
Anyway, this remark in the WaPo story on the release of the two U.S. hikers from Iran is what prompts me to comment on Mr. Bauer:
"Two years in prison is too long," Bauer said. He expressed hope that Wednesday's release would lead to "freedom for political prisoners in America and Iran."
How's that again? Who are these political prisoners in America? Later in the story we get a clue:
News of the release was welcomed Wednesday by officials from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, who were part of a delegation of U.S. religious leaders and American Muslims who traveled to Iran to ask that the hikers be allowed to leave.
"We believe the efforts of the recent interfaith delegation to Iran offer a positive example of bridge-building initiatives that may be undertaken to help promote mutual understanding and cooperation between nations," CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a statement. "We hope our government will now address the issue of Iranian citizens detained in the United States with the same spirit of compassion."
Apparently these unnamed detainees are persons convicted of illegally exporting U.S. military equipment and restricted items to Iran, like this guy, plus a few who have gone missing in other countries. The first group belongs in prison, and the second group is not under our control.
Maybe Shane was suffering from some kind of late onset Stockholm Syndrome when he made that remark about political prisoners. Or maybe he's just a jerk.
Shane's freedom was purchased by a $1 million bail payment sent by Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman to the account of the Iranian judiciary. Is it too late for the Sultan to return Shane and get his money back?
So I Asked Starbucks For The Government Discount ...
... and they charged me $16 for a muffin.
Congress and the Washington media are in a frenzy over MuffinGate, and Foreign Policy's Blake Hounshell has had about enough of it:
The latest tempest in a teapot in this season of austerity? Congressional outrage over the Justice Department's spending on food and beverages at one of its conferences in 2009. An inspector general's audit report [here] found that the department paid $4,200 for 250 muffins and $2,880 for 300 cookies and brownies.
"By itemizing these costs, with service and gratuity, muffins cost over $16 each and cookies and brownies cost almost $10 each," the report reads.
OK, let's stipulate that spending $16, or even $10, for a muffin is excessive, and a waste of taxpayer money. But give me a break -- this kind of spending is hardly the problem.
Not only are spiraling health-care costs the real cause of America's long-term budget woes -- something Congress has done hardly anything to address -- but defense spending is by far the biggest chunk of annual discretionary spending. The Pentagon can't even pass an audit, and won't be able to do so until 2017, according to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's Senate testimony today. With the enthusiastic patronage of Congress, the U.S. military spends tens of billions of dollars on weapons systems that either don't work as adverstised (Future Combat Systems, anyone?), cost far more than budgeted (all of them), or are wholly unnecessary (remember the Kafkaesque fight over the Joint Strike Fighter's "alternate engine"?).
The Justice Department's entire budget request for 2012 is $28 billion -- less than what the U.S. spends in Iraq and Afghanistan in three months. Before it was cut to only $200 million in July, the Pentagon's budget for military bands was $325 million. Military bands!
But by all means, rant about the muffins...
Truth to tell, the $16 muffin meme is a bit off-base anyway since DOJ was really paying for hotel meeting space rather than fancy noshes, as the New York Times calmly explained yesterday:
A five-day conference in August 2009 at the Capital Hilton in Washington to train immigration lawyers saved money by serving only snacks. But it still cost $4,200 for 250 muffins and $2,880 for 300 cookies and brownies, more than $16 a muffin and nearly $10 per cookie and brownie.
- snip --
Moreover, the department told auditors that some food costs were exaggerated because of the way deals with the hotels were often structured: the hotels provided "free" meeting space in exchange for an agreement to use their pricey food and beverage services.
Planners often did no cost-benefit analysis to determine whether it would have been thriftier to pay for the meeting space directly and obtain cheaper catering, the report said. But it noted that the conferences often ended up spending tens of thousands more on food and beverage than the minimum necessary to secure the "free" meeting rooms.
DOJ was spending other people's (tax) money on this training conference, and they spent it with predictable abandon. But how much damage can they possibly do with their comparatively small budget?
Meanwhile, Congress has appropriated $1.283 trillion in the last ten years for military operations, base security, reconstruction, foreign aid, embassy costs, and veterans' health care for operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, with no end in sight.
This Could Have Made Me Go For A Ph.D.
What a bummer that this was removed from the staff directory:
Trinity College Dublin has said it is taking seriously an incident in which a profile page, complete with image, was inserted on its website for a fake staff member named 'Dr Conan T. Barbarian'.
His full title and academic qualifications were given as: "Dr Conan T. Barbarian, B.A.(Cimmeria) Ph.D. (UCD). F.T.C.D. (Long Room Hub Associate Professor in Hyborian Studies and Tyrant Slaying)."
His profile indicated he had been "ripped from his mother's womb on the corpse-strewn battlefields of his war-torn homeland, Cimmeria, and has been preparing for academic life ever since".
"A firm believer in the dictum that 'that which does not kill us makes us stronger,' he took time out to avenge the death of his parents following a sojourn pursuing his strong interest in Post-Colonial theory at the Sorbonne."
The profile went on to say Dr Barbarian completed his PhD, entitled 'To Hear The Lamentation of Their Women: Constructions of Masculinity in Contemporary Zamoran Literature' at UCD and was appointed to the School of English in 2006, "after successfully decapitating his predecessor during a bloody battle which will long be remembered in legend and song".
"In 2011/12, he will be teaching on the following courses: 'The Relevance of Crom in the Modern World', 'Theories of Literature', 'Vengeance for Beginners', 'Deciphering the Riddle of Steel' and 'D.H. Lawrence'.
Whoever put that profile up is just the kind of academic mentor I'd like to have.
Hillary Benefits From Presidental Buyer's Remorse
There is no reason to think Hillary Clinton will run for President again - she has said she won't - but, if she does, it looks like she would have a surprising level of support. According to a recent Bloomberg National Poll, Hillary is now the most popular politician in America:
The most popular national political figure in America today is one who was rejected by her own party three years ago: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans hold a favorable view of her and one-third are suffering a form of buyer's remorse, saying the U.S. would be better off now if she had become president in 2008 instead of Barack Obama.
The finding in the latest Bloomberg National Poll shows a higher level of wishful thinking about a Hillary Clinton presidency than when a similar question was asked in July 2010. Then, a quarter of Americans held such a view.
And take a look at where some of that wishful thinking is coming from:
Republicans are slightly more inclined than the national average to think the U.S. would be better off with Clinton running the country, with 39 percent saying so. A majority of Democrats -- 57 percent -- say things would be the same.
A plurality of Tea Party supporters -- 44 percent -- say the U.S. would be better off with Hillary Clinton as president, even though 59 percent of those respondents have an unfavorable impression of her.
The Rasmussen Presidential Tracking Poll currently has Obama at 43% "strongly disapprove" to 23% "strongly approve." Approval is even lower among independent voters.
Apparently, Hillary has benefited big-time by having been sequestered from domestic politics as SecState during the Obama administration.
It looks like there is agreement all around, then. She ought to run in 2012. We already know she'll have Dick Chenney's vote.
I've Got Pictures Of A U.S. Government Facility (Including Security Countermeasures!)
Yeah, I've got them right here on the internet.
But I'm not violating the prohibition against posting pictures of U.S. Government facilities because my pictures are of the remains of the former U.S. embassy in Kuwait City.
That's the embassy that was attacked by a suicide bomber in 1983, and was later placed under siege when Saddam Hussein invaded and annexed Kuwait in 1990. The embassy moved to a nice new compound a few years later after the Gulf War, leaving nothing but rubble behind at the old site.
I find it irresistible to poke around in places that are rich in memories, so I dropped by the former embassy location. It's an empty lot today, with one lonely palm tree growing there amid the debris of the former chancery, administrative annex, pool, Marine House, and Ambassador's residence.
The Kuwait Tower - those three spires that were seemingly in every CNN camera shot during the Gulf War - are located just up the street.
The rubble piles contain remnants of the buildings that stood there from around 1960 to 1995. Lots of little bits of marble, red octagonal terrazzo tiles, water pipes, bricks, rebars, power conduits, and so on. The detritus of a diplomatic facility.
Local employees who remember the old embassy immediately identified the different bits by their color and finish. 'This was from the wall in the Ambassador's residence' or 'this was the floor in the Marine House,' etc.
Pieces of door sill and concrete flooring. Exciting, no? Maybe just to me.
Large concrete planters still line the sidewalk where the embassy perimeter wall was located.
The only intact structure on the site is this sheet metal shed.
This Jersey barrier is the only other part of the old embassy that is still upright.
The most striking thing to happen at the old embassy was the suicide bombing that occurred on December 12, 1983, one of the first such attacks in modern history. A truck laden with gas cylinders and plastic explosives broke through the front gates of the embassy and exploded against the administrative annex building. The blast killed five people and wounded over 80. Greater loss of life was averted because the explosive device only partially detonated, and because the driver hit the annex and not the more heavily populated chancery building.
This plaque is not located at the former embassy. It reads:
In memory of our colleagues who gave their lives in the tragic events of December 12, 1983
Ahmad Samarra
Mufeed Al-Hakeem
Ali Al-Jamal
I'm Famous, Kind Of
I'm still a little bit jet lagged while TDY-ing it, and have been staying up much too late at night, surfing the internet in my hotel room. Tonight, I came upon a surprise when I found my name in the latest batch of WikiLeaks cables.
These are the cables that were released without redactions, and they can be searched via an online database. I was browsing the database for cables on a particular topic of interest to me, when I saw one that granted me country clearance for a visit of a few years ago.
Material for my memoirs, I guess.
Touring About, Trying To Keep Cool
I'm currently doing the Grand Tour of the Persian Gulf, and on Sunday I attended the 9/11 commemoration at one of the posts in the region. Very well done. Dignified, and featuring personal recollections by the embassy staff.
But it is seriously hot over here. I just landed at my next TDY post, and at 10PM the temperature was still 96 degrees. If I don't melt, I'll be home next week.
Bollard Envy
In this 9/11 anniversary week Foreign Policy is running a rather nice retrospective article on how the threat of terrorism has changed the built environment of Washington DC, and in particular, the perimeters of federal facilities. See The Blast-Proof City, and its accompanying slideshow Washington's Barriers to Entry.
The author, an architectural critic, correctly dates the beginning of the present concern with physical security to 1995 and the Oklahoma City federal office bombing, and not to 9/11, as is commonly assumed. He also correctly identifies the State Department as the leading contributor to new federal facility security guidelines that were published by Executive Order within weeks of the OK City attack.
A few quotes:
It used to be that D.C. architecture consisted of graceful Georgetown mansions, neoclassical federal buildings -- and, of course, the monuments. When the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts was founded in 1910 to guide Washington's architectural development, it reviewed designs such as those of the Lincoln Memorial and the Federal Triangle. Over the seven years I've served on the commission, however, an increasing amount of time is spent discussing security-improvement projects: screening facilities, hardened gatehouses, Delta barriers, perimeter fences, and seemingly endless rows of bollards. We used to mock an earlier generation that peppered the U.S. capital with Civil War generals on horseback; now I wonder what future generations will make of our architectural legacy of crash-resistant walls and blast-proof glass.
How did we become so insecure about our buildings? Although the 9/11 attacks loom large in the public's imagination, the event that changed the way federal buildings in the United States are designed and used -- perhaps forever -- was a presidential directive issued six years prior to the attacks ... President Bill Clinton, whose most prominent addition to the White House was a hot tub, is not known as an architecture buff. But by issuing Executive Order 12977 in October 1995, he set in motion a process that thrust politics squarely in the center of the design process.
The executive order was the result of the Oklahoma City bombing. The day after the destruction of the Murrah Federal Building, which claimed 168 lives and injured more than 680 people, Clinton directed the Justice Department to assess the vulnerability of all federal facilities to acts of violence.
The resulting report, prepared by a large team headed by the U.S. Marshals Service, is generally known as "The Marshals Report." To implement the report's recommendations, Executive Order 12977 established an interagency security committee charged with developing standards for all federal facilities as well as "long-term construction standards for those locations with threat levels or missions that require blast resistant structures."
The Marshals Report proposed no fewer than 52 specific criteria, which resulted in the deployment of a host of building security devices. Some, such as reinforced structure, blast-resistant glass, and hardened curtain walls, have a small impact on a building's appearance. That is not the case with perimeter security.
"Depending on the facility type," the report cautions, "the perimeter may include sidewalks, parking lots, the outside walls of the building, a hallway, or simply an office door." Because truck bombs are the simplest and cheapest way of creating large detonations and given what happened in Oklahoma City, the focus has been on keeping vehicles far away from their target by creating a so-called "standoff" distance. The optimal standoff is large -- at least 100 feet -- and new buildings, such as the ATF headquarters in Washington, achieve this standoff by creating a sort of landscaped demilitarized zone between the building and the street. (Note that the Marshals Report came out at a time when the federal agency with the greatest experience of terrorism was the State Department, which had developed expertise in hardening diplomatic buildings abroad in the wake of several embassy bombings. This may explain why federal buildings are protected as if they were divorced from their surroundings and why so many federal buildings today, surrounded by barricades and layers of security, resemble foreign outposts: They're actually modeled after embassies.)
But existing urban buildings are generally too near the street. The only alternative to closing a street completely -- as with Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House -- is to keep the potential truck bomber from driving right up to the building. This is achieved by a device that could serve as a symbol for our insecurity: the bollard.
Some agencies don't seem to mind this intrusion, as it's an external marker of their building's strategic importance. In Washington, we've come to see the bizarre phenomenon that one federal official characterized to me as "bollard envy," where the degree of protection becomes a symbol of bureaucratic status, like a choice parking spot or a corner office. Perhaps the most egregious example is the screening center for visitors that Congress built for itself; by the time the underground facility was finished it covered half a million square feet and cost $620 million.
Government officials regularly speak of integrating perimeter security "unobtrusively" into a building's design. A rare case where this has been achieved is the landscape improvement to the Washington Monument. Designed by the OLIN landscape architecture firm, the perimeter security is disguised as a set of curving stone retaining walls that are invisible from the monument and are designed for visitors to sit on. A similar retaining wall provides security for the Lincoln Memorial, but here the topography requires additional intrusive bollards as well.
The security plan being designed for the Jefferson Memorial will depend on walls as well as scores of bollards. Where to put the perimeter security is a Hobson's choice: put it farther away and you need more bollards; nearer and you need fewer, but they are more visually intrusive. In either case, the experience of John Russell Pope's handsome building will hardly be enhanced. The directive to secure the Jefferson Memorial is intended to protect a precious national icon. It may end up having the opposite effect.
Since the author blames the State Department for exciting bollard envy among its domestic counterparts, he really ought to have mentioned that it was also the State Department that took the lead in introducing the National Park Service to those unobtrusive anti-ram retaining walls that are currently in place around the Washington Monument. Give credit where credit is due.
Actually, I think he gives the State Department far too much of the blame - and I agree that some blame is deserved - for adverse architectural impacts of the 1995 Marshals Report (see Vulnerability Assessment Of Federal Facilities). The Marshal's Report was the work of all federal agencies, and they were trying to come to terms with the threat of large vehicle-borne bombs. Domestic federal buildings are really not modeled on Fortress Embassies, and to the extent that they now have similar perimeter security measures, that simply reflects the reality that they now face the same type of explosive threat we once faced only overseas. The State Department was there first, and other agencies saw no reason to reinvent the wheel, or the bollard, as the case may be.
Posted by TSB at 10:47 PM 6 comments:
Banned In Bahrain!
Well, that's a relief.
On TDY this week, I was unable to connect to a particular FS blog, one whose author recently had a session with official critics of her employment of social media. I was afraid that meant she had decided to take her blog down.
But it turns out she is merely Banned In Bahrain. The reason for that ban is unknown to me. Quite possibly, there is no reason. But it's no big deal, and much better than what I feared had happened.
Looks like I posted too soon. While it appeared to me that the blog was merely being blocked, I'm informed it has indeed been taken down.
Where Were You On 9/11/01?
I've added a new Blog Roll entry for The OpSec Blog, which is written by a DOS Security Engineering Officer. This week, OSB is asking where were you on 9/11/01?
Many of us can relate how we learned of the attack while at work, and how it almost instantly changed the nature of that work. However, since many current members of the Foreign Service blogosphere were, I believe, not yet employed by the State Department on 9/11, I'd be interested to learn whether the attack was a personal turning point for them, leading them into a career that otherwise they might not have entered.
Briefly Noted
If many USG employees are perceiving a recent increase in the level of security-related concerns about blogging, today's news reports about the 2009 espionage case of Shamai K. Leibowitz might go some way toward explaining that uptick.
From the New York Times, Leak Offers Look at Efforts by U.S. to Spy on Israel:
Mr. Silverstein, 59, [who received classified information from Leibowitz] writes a blog called Tikun Olam, named after a Hebrew phrase that he said means "repairing the world." The blog gives a liberal perspective on Israel and Israeli-American relations. He said he had decided to speak out to make clear that Mr. Leibowitz, though charged under the Espionage Act, was acting out of noble motives. The Espionage Act has been used by the Justice Department in nearly all prosecutions of government employees for disclosing classified information to the news media, including the record-setting five such cases under President Obama.
Mr. Silverstein said he got to know Mr. Leibowitz, a lawyer with a history of political activism, after noticing that he, too, had a liberal-minded blog, called Pursuing Justice. The men shared a concern about repercussions from a possible Israeli airstrike on nuclear facilities in Iran. From his F.B.I. work from January to August of 2009, Mr. Leibowitz also believed that Israeli diplomats' efforts to influence Congress and shape American public opinion were excessive and improper, Mr. Silverstein said.
After Leibowitz shared his concerns with Silverstein, he then went too far and began to share classified information as well. Leibowitz was subsequently convicted of espionage, and he now resides in a Federal Bureau of Prisons halfway house.
The fact that an espionage case began with a connection made in the blogosphere, while it is not directly pertinent to the administration of routine restrictions on social networking, is just the sort of thing that can work its way down the counterintelligence food chain until it morphs into a knee jerk reaction against employee blogging in general.
Labor Day - Bing Versus Google
For my money, Bing wins.
Dear Colonel Qaddafi ... Your Friends, Gordon and Tony
Well, this is embarrassing for someone. The UK Daily Mail has the story, with photos, of a "devastating stash of documents" that was left behind when the British Ambassador's residence in Tripoli was evacuated four months ago.
The revelations come in documents – some marked 'UK secret: UK/Libya Eyes Only' – found strewn on the floor of the British Ambassador's abandoned residence in Tripoli.
Many of the papers demonstrate the warmth of the relationship between Britain and Libya and, in particular, the extraordinarily close links between the Blair Government and the Gaddafi regime.
The notes show how:
• Tony Blair helped Colonel Gaddafi's playboy son Saif with his 'dodgy' PhD thesis while he was Prime Minister.
• British Special Forces were offered to train the Khamis Brigade, Gaddafi's most vicious military unit.
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• MI6 was apparently willing to trace phone numbers for Libyan intelligence.
• Gordon Brown wrote warmly to Gaddafi in 2007 expressing the hope that the dictator would be able to meet Prince Andrew when he visited Tripoli.
• MI6's budget (£150 million in 2002) was readily disclosed to Libyan officials, along with details of how Britain's Downing Street emergency committee Cobra operates.
• Britain's intelligence services forged close links with Gaddafi's brutal security units.<>
Those sensitive documents had been lying there in the vacated Ambassador's residence all this time. Evidently, no one tidied them up when the UK reopened its Tripoli embassy a week or so ago, and visiting journalists were allowed to make off with them.
The incriminating documents were found in the wreckage of the British ambassador's home in Tripoli, a three-storey house vandalised in April by Gaddafi loyalists.
There were several booklets filled with the faces of suspected terrorists, scores of personally signed letters sent from Downing Street and detailed intelligence data on the Gaddafi regime.
Incredibly, all this had lain amid the debris for four months, with no attempt made to secure the papers even in the week after the rebels ousted the dictator from the city.
Mountains of shredded paper showed British diplomats tried to destroy many documents before fleeing.
The U.S. counterparts of those British diplomats can surely empathize, because they've been there before. Like in Tehran, 1979. It's not so easy to ensure you've destroyed everything that needs to be destroyed when you're under attack and have only a skeleton staff to bag n' drag all those files to the shredder. And then you never know when the paper shredder will jam.
Here's a tip for the UK Foreign Ministry, from the bottom of my governmental heart. Next time, spend the money to get really fast, durable, crosscut paper shredders. Here's a list. When you need to evacuate in a hurry, accept no substitutes.
Labels: Libya, UK
U.S. Embassy Tripoli, The Sequel
ABC News knows a guy who knows a guy who told them that we are beginning to re-establish a diplomatic presence in Tripoli:
US officials tell ABC News the United States plans to begin re-establishing its diplomatic presence in Tripoli over the coming weeks now that rebel forces have taken control of much of the Libyan capital.
The first step comes this weekend when the State Department will send a small team of technical staff to Tripoli to assess the security situation on the ground and to assess the condition of the US embassy, which sustained significant damage since being shuttered in February.
Depending on the team's findings, American diplomats could return to Tripoli as early as next week, officials said, though they suggested that perhaps that timeline was too optimistic given security concerns and what is believed to be extensive damage to the embassy compound. The United States is under diplomatic pressure to show support for the rebel leadership by re-establishing its embassy in Tripoli, especially since several European countries already have, or are preparing to do so.
[TSB note: Those countries include France and Britain.]
It's unclear whether the Obama administration would send its ambassador to Libya, Gene Cretz, with the first group to re-open the embassy, though the State Department has said Cretz will eventually return to Tripoli. One official suggested that Chris Stevens, who has been the U.S. liaison to the Transitional National Council in Benghazi for the past several months, could go first with a small team of diplomats.
The State Department is also weighing whether to send Jeffrey Feltman, it's top diplomat for the region, to Tripoli. He would be the highest-ranking American official to visit the capital since the uprising began earlier this year. Officials considered sending him there on Friday, after a big international conference on Libya in Paris, but decided to postpone the visit, in part for security reasons.
A video posted on YouTube in early June, which officials say appears to have been shot inside the American embassy, shows evidence of significant damage and looting.
ABC News' Jeffrey Kofman in Tripoli tried to visit the embassy Thursday, but was turned away by rebels who were guarding the compound. He saw evidence of damage, including windows blackened by fire. Kofman also obtained exclusive cell phone footage shot from a nearby rooftop on May 1 showing huge plumes of black smoke rising from the embassy after it was ransacked and looted. Neighbors told him Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's soldiers were the ones who stormed the embassy grounds, not a spontaneous mob like the regime claimed at the time.
According to the Washington Post [here], which also interviewed Libyans who live near the embassy, it appears the regime encouraged busloads of people to storm the empty embassy on May 1 after reports that one of Gadhafi's sons had been killed in a NATO strike. Witnesses told the newspaper they saw massive looting and that parts of the building were eventually set on fire.
The Obama administration pulled all of its diplomats out of Tripoli in late February just hours before the Gadhafi regime was hit with strong sanctions that froze billions of dollars of the longtime dictator's assets.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Paris for the Friends of Libya conference, where she announced that the U.S. has already released about $700 million of Gadhafi's frozen assets for the rebels to pay fuel bills, operational costs, and salaries. That is part of roughly $1.5 billion the UN authorized the US to release last week to pay for fuel, UN humanitarian relief efforts, and other emergency needs.
The U.S. government hopes to hear from the rebel leadership about their plans for a post-Gadhafi Libya and to see what their needs are. The Obama administration has expressed its hope the United Nations will play a large role in the rebuilding effort.
Our vacated embassy compound was described by the former DCM as having "not the best security." And that was before it was looted and burned. Let's hope we don't stay there any longer than it takes to find a more secure place for our diplomats to live and work.
Labels: Libya
CNN Traces A "Complicated And Fascinating Family Tree"
Kudos to CNN for presenting this handy guide to the POTUS's family tree - not the entire tree, which would take more time than is available in a segment of The Situation Room, but just the central portion of the paternal side - and sorting out the connection between him and the Uncle Omar who is now locked up in Massachusetts on a federal immigration warrant.
We also learn that Onyango "Uncle Omar" Obama obtained a Social Security number and a Mass drivers license at least nineteen years ago. That was presumably illegal, but who knows?
CNN legal analyst Jeffery Tobin seemed pretty sure that a drunk driving conviction would be enough to get Uncle Omar deported if he is here illegally, but "usually" not if he is here legally. And Tobin was unwilling to speculate about Omar's immigration status.
I'm not a lawyer like Tobin, but ... if Uncle Omar is here legally, wouldn't he be able to produce some documentation, like a Green Card, to prove that status? And if he is here legally, wouldn't the immigration authorities already know that? Evidently, these immigration matters are trickier than they appear.
The disposition of Uncle Omar's case promises to be entertaining on so many levels.
Labels: Uncle Omar
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Chandigarh: One person has on Sunday been taken into custody by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), who is probing the Rewari gangrape case. The team is headed by Mewat Superintendent of Police (SP) Naazneen Bhasin.
The prime accused and two others were identified on Saturday following which Haryana Police released the photographs of all three. They were identified as – Manish, Nishu and Pankaj – a defence personnel stationed in Rajasthan.


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text:
Dollar steadies as boost from Fed rate rise expectation fades
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: An employee counts U.S. dollar bills at a money exchange in central Cairo, Egypt, March 20, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
By Saikat Chatterjee
LONDON (Reuters) -The U.S. dollar took a breather in its climb towards a 14-month high on Thursday, after riding the tailwind of minutes from the Federal Reserve's December policy meeting which bolstered expectations of a U.S. rate hike as early as March.
The meeting minutes showed officials had discussed shrinking the Fed's overall asset holdings as well as raising interest rates sooner than expected to fight inflation.
Money markets are now pricing nearly an 80% probability of a U.S. interest rate rise by March and more than 80 basis points of cumulative rate increases in 2022, a huge shift in expectations as only three months ago investors were not expecting the first U.S. rate hike until the summer of 2023.
Elsa Lignos, head of FX strategy at RBC Capital Markets said that while rate hike expectations for 2022 have propped up the dollar, the possibility of more rate hikes for 2023 could provide further strength to the currency.
"The consensus narrative seems to be the Fed will 'overtighten' in 2022 and be forced into slowing down materially in 2023", she wrote in a note.
"We think it's a repricing higher for 2023 which has the most potential to boost USD this year – and we are watching this as a key driver for the dollar", she added.
At 1220 GMT, the dollar index which measures the greenback against major peers was unchanged on the day at 96.17 after creeping up closer to a 14-month high of 96.93.
The greenback nevertheless made substantial gains against some rivals like the Australian dollar which at one point lost more than 1%.
The Aussie gradually recouped some losses, stabilising down 0.70% at $0.717. The yen also limited its losses from a high of 116.18 per dollar to 115.84, down 0.23%.
Sterling traded down 0.13% at $1.3538, having retreated overnight from the $1.3599 level - its highest in nearly two months - following the Fed minutes.
The euro stood broadly unchanged, slightly above the $1.13 mark as it continued to consolidate in the middle of the trading range in which it has sat since mid-November.
Cryptocurrencies were among the hardest hit in the overnight market selloff with Bitcoin nursing losses below the $43,000 levels after falling more than 5% overnight.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


SAN BERNARDINO – A band of red, white and blue balloons stretched across the main foyer of the Central Courthouse downtown as judicial and other public officials rededicated the historic structure, more than eight decades after it was built.
The four-story building on Arrowhead Avenue at Court Street has undergone a massive seismic retrofit and renovation campaign to make it safe during an earthquake and restore its historic lustre.
During the ceremony on Wednesday, Presiding Judge Douglas Elwell cut red ribbon strung across the main stairwell in front of scores of onlookers.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are open for business," Elwell said as cheers came from the crowd and cameras flashed.
In addition to the courthouse ceremony, court officials also dedicated a third-floor courtroom, Dept. S-12, in memory of Superior Court Judge Roberta McPeters. A former presiding judge in the San Bernardino District, McPeters died in May 2006 of complications from cancer.
Her fellow jurists spoke during a "family" ceremony held an hour before the courthouse celebration about McPeters' love for the courts and her colleagues and the legacy she left behind.
McPeters, the first female presiding judge in the San Bernardino District, was described as tough but fair, hard-working, respected, adventurous and an inspiration to young women.
"She would be honored to be honored by you," her husband, Judge John Wade, told the audience.
A large painting of McPeters commissioned by San Bernardino County judges with their own private funds will be placed in the courtroom.
Restoration of the historic courthouse was funded by a grant from the state Historical Preservation Office, matching funds from San Bernardino County and a small surcharge on civil filing fees.
Eventually, the courthouse will house San Bernardino's civil courts, said Tressa Kentner, court executive officer. Groundbreaking occurs next month on a new 11-story, 36-courtroom criminal courts building, south of the current courthouse.


Total ankle replacement is now a treatment option for the management of some patients with debilitating ankle arthritis. The newer designs of ankle replacement have allowed patients to become more active, and help the pain of arthritis with good results observed in 80 percent of patients for up to 10 years after surgery. Unlike ankle fusion which eliminates pain and arthritis by permanently stiffening the ankle joint, ankle replacement is designed to permit some motion of the joint following surgery. This has important advantages since there is less stress on adjacent joints, and the likelihood of arthritis developing in these joints is therefore lessened considerably. Recovery from surgery is generally rapid, and full walking on the foot and ankle is usually permitted about two weeks following surgery.


Knowledge of multiscale mechanisms in pathophysiology is the bedrock of clinical practice. If quantitative methods, predicting patient-specific behaviour of these pathophysiology mechanisms, are to be brought to bear on clinical decision-making, the Human Physiome community and Clinical community must share a common computational blueprint for pathophysiology mechanisms. A number of obstacles stand in the way of this sharing—not least the technical and operational challenges that must be overcome to ensure that (i) the explicit biological meanings of the Physiome's quantitative methods to represent mechanisms are open to articulation, verification and study by clinicians, and that (ii) clinicians are given the tools and training to explicitly express disease manifestations in direct contribution to modelling. To this end, the Physiome and Clinical communities must co-develop a common computational toolkit, based on this blueprint, to bridge the representation of knowledge of pathophysiology mechanisms (a) that is implicitly depicted in electronic health records and the literature, with (b) that found in mathematical models explicitly describing mechanisms. In particular, this paper makes use of a step-wise description of a specific disease mechanism as a means to elicit the requirements of representing pathophysiological meaning explicitly. The computational blueprint developed from these requirements addresses the Clinical community goals to (i) organize and manage healthcare resources in terms of relevant disease-related knowledge of mechanisms and (ii) train the next generation of physicians in the application of quantitative methods relevant to their research and practice.


text:
Q: Delphi BluetoothLE WriteCharacteristic Access Violation This is Delphi 10.1 Berlin (probably unpatched).
This code is pretty basic.
This code is not stable.
Why?
procedure TBLEEnumerator.WriteToSubScribedCharacteristic(bs: TArray<byte>);
var
  //member ble is an instance of TBluetoothLE
  chr: TBluetoothGattCharacteristic;
begin
  chr := ble.GetCharacteristic(FBLEGattService, ChooseCharacteristic);
  chr.SetValue(bs);
  ble.WriteCharacteristic(self.dev, chr);
end;

A few other notes:
This error is when running on Windows, but I intend this code to run also on mobile devices.
This function is called from the Main Thread and is a wrapper around the TBluetoothLE component.  The original connection/scan is also handled from the main thread.
It is pretty simple, obviously.  TArray is a reference-counted dynamic array.
Here's the call stack when it tanks:
:761d31ce ucrtbase.memcpy + 0x4e
System.Win.BluetoothWinRT.BytesToIBuffer(???,???)
System.Win.BluetoothWinRT.TWinRTBluetoothGattCharacteristic.SetValueToDevice
System.Win.BluetoothWinRT.TWinRTBluetoothLEDevice.DoWriteCharacteristic$52$ActRec.$0$Body
System.Classes.TAnonymousThread.Execute
System.Classes.ThreadProc($7511F40)
System.ThreadWrapper($5A30D30)
:740162c4 KERNEL32.BaseThreadInitThunk + 0x24
:77060fd9 ;
:77060fa4 ;

A: Here's the deal.  This is a BUG in the Embarcadero Libraries.  Yes, Yet another bug that they will probably never fix.
Here's how to fix it for yourself:

*

*copy System.Win.BluetoothWinRT.pas to your project directory or some other path used by the project.

*open the file in the IDE.

*Search for "BytestoIBuffer".

*Remove the word "const" from the function signature.

Very few people seem to realize this (including the authors of FMX and VCL) but the use of "const" strings and dynamic arrays causes the Win32 compiler to optimize-out the reference count handling for those structures.  I don't know if it affects the mobile compilers or the Win64 compiler, but maybe.
The nasty effect of this is that if that string or dynamic array originated from another thread, that other thread might very well decide to destroy that string or dynamic array before the new thread (in this case an anonymous thread created to write-behind the data) is finished working with it.
Removing const from this function fixed the instability.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Coordinates all activities for residents of community to ensure they have an enjoyable and stimulating quality living experience through exercise and leisure time activities. Coordinates and communicates the Elmcroft Healthy Lifestyles wellness program and Employee Assistance Program for Associates.
Directly supervises volunteers for Elmcroft, and indirectly supervises persons assigned to activities during evening and/or weekend hours.
• Meets Elmcroft Standards established for the Activities department.
• Plans a varied monthly activity calendar with at least 5 activities per day (6 activities per day for excellent performance) addressing male and female, active and passive, inhouse and outside activities. Additionally, the activities should address the preferences of the residents.
• Arranges for appropriate spiritual activities both in and outside of the community as reflected by resident preferences.
• Posts a community calendar monthly according to Elmcroft Standards.
• Encourages all residents to participate in some or all of activities. Maintains record of resident attendance.
• Drives the community vehicle to transport residents on trips outside Elmcroft for shopping, entertainment, education, and/or to obtain medical or dental services, as assigned.
• Records activity participation upon completion of each activity in CareTraker.
• Participates in the planning and coordination of Family Nights.
• Works with the Community Relations Director in planning and assisting with all community programs which involve residents/staff/family participation.
• Arranges for a variety of entertainment to be brought to the community for the entertainment of the residents.
• Arranges for a variety of exercise opportunities suitable for the elderly population to enhance residents' mobility, strength, bone mass, and social interaction.
• Oversee the Care Connect program in conjunction with the Community Relations Director to ensure each new resident makes a happy, healthy transition to the community.
• Participation in and fulfillment of at least one Second Wind Dream wish per month, each dream should be recorded in CareTraker.
• Prepares or directs preparation of a monthly community newsletter in order to inform residents, families, prospects, and referral sources of major events at the community.
• Attends Resident Council Meetings and takes minutes in order to record all suggestions or concerns of the residents.
• Communicates with other department heads and staff in order to gain necessary participation in activities as necessary.
• Performs activity assessments on all new residents and reassesses each year for all residents in order to understand resident abilities and preferences.
• Recruits and trains volunteers to assist with activities in the community.
• Support Elmcroft Associate health and wellness initiatives by coordinating the annual health fair with screenings for blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol, etc.
• Encourage healthy active lifestyles by communicating the Annual Health and Wellness Communication Plan by conducting monthly activities related to each month's health subject.
• Manages expenses within given budget parameters utilizing spend-down sheets.
• Keeps sufficient activity program and craft supplies on hand for in-house entertainment.
• Participates on weekends in the Manager on Duty program as assigned.
• Is fully knowledgeable of the fire evacuation and disaster policy of the community and participates as assigned in fire and disaster drills.
• Demonstrates an understanding of compliance and ethics program policies and procedures.
• Completes all mandatory compliance, HIPAA and state and federal regulatory training as required.
• Maintains appropriate degree of confidentiality.
• Performs other duties as assigned and which relate to the success of Elmcroft and the Care, Comfort, and Happiness of our residents.
• Education: Bachelor's Degree from a four-year college or university, or one to three years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Licenses: Assisted Living Activities certification, if required by State.
• Must be in possession of, or have the ability to obtain, a valid state driver's license.
• Travel may be required as needed.
Must have a Valid Driver's Licenses and be able to pass both Drug and Background Test.


Are you passionate about revamping fiscal policy as an instrument for growth and equity? Do you want to help governments to improve the quality and efficacy of their policies? Are you looking to play a key role in building fiscal institutions for better policies and outcomes?
If so, this is an opportunity for you!
We are looking for a Division Chief for our Fiscal Management Division (IFD/FMM) based in Washington DC. The division supports governments in Latin America and the Caribbean in their efforts to strengthen fiscal policy and management both at national and subnational levels to promote economic growth and reduce inequality and poverty.
Our main areas of work are tax policy and administration, public expenditure, subnational fiscal policy and management, fiscal sustainability and macro-fiscal policy and fiscal transparency. In the area of fiscal policy, we design programs and projects to reform tax systems, including tax administration, as well as public spending—both current and capital— and public procurement, provide advice and technical assistance on specific fiscal issues and instruments such as Integrated Financial Systems, and generate and disseminate knowledge to guide our evidence-based interventions and learn from our work.
This is a strategic managerial position to lead, steer, craft and deepen Bank support to our member countries to address critical challenges for achieving shared development and deepening trust in fiscal policy and institutions.
Represent the Bank in relevant regional and international initiatives, public forums, conferences and seminars as speaker, panelist and participant.
Education: A Master's degree or Ph.D. (preferred) in Economics, Public Policy with Concentration in Economics and/or Public Finance, Development Economics, or other relevant field/s. Proven ability for lateral thinking and foresight planning and thrust for implementing promising innovations, especially the potential of digital solutions.
Experience: A minimum of 10 years of relevant experience in government, bilateral aid agency or multilateral institution. Track record of handling high-performance teams supporting the design and implementation of loan and grants programs to strengthen government institutions and improve public services.
Experience working with a wide range of aid instruments (policy-based lending, investment loans and technical assistance grants). Proven in-depth technical knowledge in one or more areas under the purview of the Division and exposure to Latin America and the Caribbean's governance challenges.
Strong interpersonal skills: with demonstrated ability to quickly establish and maintain trust and credibility with all stakeholders.
Languages: Excellent English and Spanish language proficiency, oral and written, is required. French and Portuguese a plus.
Location: Washington DC. The IDB reserves the right to reassign the staff member to a different location based on business needs. Frequent travel is required for this position.
Requirements: You are a citizen of one of the IDB's 48 member countries and have no family members currently working at the IDB Group.
Our culture: Working with us you will be surrounded by a diverse group of people who have years of experience in all types of development fields.
The IDB is committed to diversity and inclusion and to providing equal opportunities in employment. We embrace diversity based on gender, age, education, national origin, ethnic origin, race, disability, sexual orientation, and religion. We encourage women, Afro‑descendants and persons of indigenous origins to apply.


My Summer Cottage in Babylon: When you've only got a hundred years to live.
Every day's a new day.
2. I'm totally inventing my very own tag! I tag all of you! Post a picture of yourself at 15, 22 and 33. If you're not 33 yet, then use your most recent picture. If you're not 22 yet you're too young to be reading this blog. If you're older than 33, here are the rest of the ages listed in the song: 45, 67 and 99. Go ahead and post pics for as many ages as applicable (And post the appropriate lyrics. It makes it more funnerer).
Seriously this is freaking me out!
I was JUST listening to this song in the car and thinking how it always gives me goosebumps!
Hm... I don't have a scanner so the 15 picture may be difficult. I also have to remember what grade that is. I'll work on something when I get home.
April--I have pictures of you at 15. I'll e-mail you a couple.
Goodness...how many kids did I have at 22? I may have to do some digging, too.
I love to belt that one out at the top of my lungs...when I'm the only one in the car. This will be interesting because at 15 I lost 30 lbs in preparation for my insecure self to enter high school, and at 22 I lost 15 lbs puking my guts out prego with Michael. At 33 I hope to have all my kids in school (or very close) and I'll probably gain all that weight back getting to sit around and eat all day.
This is gonna take some homework. 15? Do I hafta? It was a bad hair year. Also...I'm the person that finds this song annoying. But I'll do it, just for you.
And BSG? Really? Awesome first hour, then that was it?!
And what was with Starbuck and her Field of Dreams exit?! Everyone else got a fab happy ending! As much as I love Helo, I would have traded his being alive (did you see how he was shot? he should be dead!) to see Starbuck and Apollo make babies. Not see it, but ya know.
But best part ever? Chief. My friend was like, "Uh, i dont' think he really likes women." :D But we were all yelling at the tv cheering for him. Did anyone actually like tory?


Bulimia can cause serious damage, and it doesn't just affect your internal organs. Your dentist can confirm that an eating disorder and teeth problems are often related. Repeated cycles of binging and purging are the primary culprit. When you vomit, your teeth are bathed in stomach acids, which are powerful enough to cause erosion of teeth. In just a few months, acid erosion can produce obvious damage. Cavities, periodontitis, and tooth loss may follow. Because dental problems appear early in the course of the disease, your dentist might be the first person to notice bulimia effects on teeth.
When bulimia effects on teeth become evident, conservative treatments may have limited value. Dentists typically recommend strict dental hygiene including twice-daily brushing and daily flossing. Crowns may be needed when erosion of teeth becomes severe. When a tooth is damaged beyond repair, extraction may be the only option. Your physician may be able to refer you to a dentist who specializes in treating bulimic patients. Before having extensive restorative dental work performed, it's best that you obtain treatment for your bulimia. If you continued to vomit regularly after dental treatment, further damage would compromise your new restorations.
Dental professionals can often recognize signs of past or present bulimia during a routine exam. If you have the disease, your teeth may appear clear in color because of severe damage to tooth enamel. They may be slightly rounded in shape. Tooth decay and gingivitis are common. The type of damage seen is similar to that of patients who had nausea and vomiting during chemotherapy treatment or who suffered severe morning sickness while pregnant. However, damage caused by bulimia is usually worse due to the long duration of the purging behaviors.
Bulimia can destroy your general health as well as your smile. Because having an eating disorder is a serious matter, your dentist is likely to refer you for specialized treatment if he or she suspects bulimia. A medical doctor or mental health specialist can help you understand your illness, and find ways to stop your unhealthy behaviors.


text:
Northeast (NE or N.E.) is the northeastern quadrant of Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It encompasses the area located north of East Capitol Street and east of North Capitol Street.

Geography
Northeast includes the 35 neighborhoods of:

 Arboretum
 Benning
 Benning Heights
 Brentwood
 Brookland
 Burrville
 Carver Langston
 Capitol Hill
 Central Northeast/Mahaning Heights
 Deanwood
 East Corner
 Eastland Gardens
 Eckington
 Edgewood
 Fort Lincoln
 Fort Totten
 Gateway
 Hillbrook
 Ivy City
 Kenilworth
 Kingman Park
 Lamond Riggs
 Langdon
 Lincoln Heights
 Mayfair
 Michigan Park
 Near Northeast
 North Michigan Park
 Pleasant Hill
 Riggs Park
 River Terrace
 Stronghold
 Trinidad
 Woodridge

A significant section of Capitol Hill is also located in Northeast, as is part of NoMa.

Landmarks
Northeast is home to Gallaudet University, a federally chartered private university for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing located in the Trinidad neighborhood. It is also home to The Catholic University of America and Trinity Washington University, two of the Catholic institutions which give the Brookland neighborhood its nickname of "Little Rome" or "Little Vatican." Others include the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the Saint John Paul II National Shrine, the Mount St. Sepulchre Franciscan Monastery, the Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family, Saint Anselm's Abbey Benedictine Monastery, the Dominican House of Studies, the Missionaries of Charity Gift of Peace Home, the Capuchin College, and the headquarters of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The quadrant is home to two large public gardens located below the waistline of the Anacostia River: the United States National Arboretum and Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. The headquarters of The Heritage Foundation, one of the nation's largest think tanks, and The Washington Times, a daily newspaper in the city, are also located in Northeast.

Transportation

Northeast is bounded by North Capitol Street on the west, Eastern Avenue to the east, and East Capitol Street to the south. Other principal roads include the Baltimore–Washington Parkway (DC 295); Bladensburg Road and South Dakota Avenue running north–south; and Florida Avenue, Benning Road, New York Avenue (U.S. Route 50), and Rhode Island Avenue (U.S. Route 1) running east–west.

Northeast is served by all six lines of the Washington Metro: the Orange, Silver, Red, Blue,  Yellow, and Green Lines. Union Station is a major intermodal hub, combining the busiest station in the Metrorail system; rail service by Amtrak as well as the MARC and Virginia Railway Express commuter rail systems; and bus services provided by Greyhound, Peter Pan, Trailways, Megabus, and other bus companies. The DC Streetcar's H Street NE/Benning Road Line also serves the area.

Politics
Politically, Northeast includes most of Ward 5, much of Ward 6 and Ward 7, and parts of Ward 4.

Demographics
The population of Northeast is predominantly African-American, particularly east of the Anacostia River.

See also
SW—Southwest, Washington, D.C.
SE—Southeast, Washington, D.C.
NW—Northwest, Washington, D.C.

External links

Stanton Park
Report on WAMU: Northeast DC Heritage Trail Opening

.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Wall Street-Backed Symphony Wants To Revolutionize Financial Services Communication
by Team HG February 22, 2015 April 16, 2019 0131
The company's backers include a who's who of Wall Street financial companies: Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BNY Mellon, BlackRock, Citadel, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Jefferies, JPMorgan, Maverick, Morgan Stanley, Nomura and Wells Fargo. Last fall, these companies contributed $66M to finance Symphony, and using that money, purchased Perzo, a… Read More
Big Birdman: Is viral Sesame Street film a late contender for Oscars success?
Movies4Men action television network is branded 'offensive'
BBC Radio 6 Music leads the way as radio's digital revolution gathers momentum
Team HG February 9, 2015
MTV VMAs 2014: Katy Perry and Riff Raff pay tribute to Britney and Justin in worst matching outfit this side of the 90s
Team HG August 25, 2014
Opera is the new circus


NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 Free Shipping!
Incorporating new hardware-based ray tracing engines, Turing is the industry's first graphics processor enabling real-time ray tracing. A single Quadro RTX 4000 board can render complex professional models with physically accurate shadows, reflections, and refractions to empower users with instant insight. Working in concert with applications leveraging APIs such as NVIDIA OptiX, Microsoft DXR and Vulcan ray tracing, systems based on Quadro RTX 4000 will power truly interactive design workflows to provide immediate feedback for unprecedented levels of productivity.
New dedicated hardware-based ray-tracing technology allows the GPU for the first time to real-time render film quality, photorealistic objects and environments with physically accurate shadows, reflections, and refractions. The real-time ray-tracing engine works with NVIDIA OptiX, Microsoft DXR, and Vulkan APIs to deliver a level of realism far beyond what is possible using traditional rendering techniques. RT cores accelerate the Bounding Volume Hierarchy (BVH) traversal and ray casting functions using low number of rays casted through a pixel.
New mixed-precision cores purpose-built for deep learning matrix arithmetic, delivering 8x TFLOPS for training, compared to previous generation. Quadro RTX 4000 utilizes 288 Tensor Cores; each Tensor Core performs 64 floating point fused multiply-add (FMA) operations per clock, and each SM performs a total of 1024 individual floating point operations per clock. In addition to supporting FP16/FP32 matrix operations, new Tensor Cores added INT8 (2048 integer operations per clock) and experimental INT4 and INT1 (binary) precision modes for matrix operations.
Provides a compute-based geometry pipeline to speed processing and culling for geometrically complex models and scenes to improve performance by up to 2x.
Offers more granular control over how GPU horsepower is distributed (i.e. more cycles applied on the detailed areas of a scene and fewer on the less detailed areas) to increase performance and at the same image quality, or product similar image quality with a 50% reduction in the time required to generate shaded pixels.
More control over pixel shading rate; efficient for effects like motion, blur, foveated shading. This capability enables shading and geometry samples to process at different rates for more efficient execution.
Decouples shading from screen space, improving shading efficiency and reuse.
Extension of Single Pass Stereo rendering multiple views in a single pass with unique view origin positions or view directions.
Built with Turing's vastly optimized 8 GB GDDR6 memory subsystem for the industry's fastest graphics memory (416 GB/s peak bandwidth), Quadro RTX 4000 is the ideal platform for latency-sensitive applications handling large datasets.
Meet strict data integrity requirements for mission critical applications with uncompromised computing accuracy and reliability for workstations.
Deliver faster than real-time performance for transcoding, video editing, and other encoding applications with a dedicated H.264 and HEVC encode engins and a dedicated decode engine that are independent of 3D/compute pipeline.
Ray tracing and variable rate shading enhance visual quality, while Multi-view rendering provides wider field of view, support for next-generation HMDs and displays. The RT Cores provide for accurate acoustic simulations and VirtualLink makes VR setup easier than ever with a single cable connection.


On January 21, 2013, a group of 14 Combat Wounded and Injured military veterans and their support staff embarked on a courageous and inspirational expedition to summit the highest mountain on the African Continent, Mount Kilimanjaro. Their objective: to find medical solutions to further improve the science impacting the advancement of their prosthetics, Post Traumatic Stress (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) treatments. U.S. mountaineering guides who accompanied the Team included the founder of the Alaska Mountaineering School (AMS), Colby Coombs, and AMS senior guide Tim Hewette, both of whom are uniquely familiar with the members of the team, experienced and prepared to deal with the challenging conditions encountered by the veterans. Tanzanian mountaineering guides included Dawson, Thomas Meela, Danford, Hubert, Waziri and Roman. The expedition was the team's second Explorers Club Expedition. Explorers Club Flag #93 was carried by the Kilimanjaro team. Flag 93 was first carried in 1939.
The J.E. Hanger College of Orthotics and Prosthetics, St. Petersburg College in St. Petersburg, Florida, partnered with the Combat Wounded Veteran Challenge to provide clinical support for amputee climbers during their expedition. In addition to the clinical support Certified Prosthetist and Program Director Arlene Gillis provided, the school allowed O&P student Ted Graves to accompany the Combat Wounded Veterans to document his own case study. His case study followed each amputee's reaction to the environmental stresses of Mount Kilimanjaro, specifically, residual limb fluctuation in traumatic amputees during periods of increased activity at high altitudes. The main objective of the prosthetic case study was to note ways to improve and expand prospects for amputee service members who wish to return to active duty, specifically focusing on controlling and adapting volume changes inside the prosthetic socket during extended periods of high activity.
St. Petersburg College J.E. Hanger College of Orthotics and Prosthetics Mrs. Arlene Gillis, CP, LPO, M. Ed, Program Director Saint Petersburg College (SPC) is one of less than a dozen colleges in the United States to offer a degree program in Orthotics and Prosthetics. St. Petersburg College (SPC) and Florida State University (FSU) have entered into a consortium to offer a graduate program of study leading to a master's of science in industrial engineering with specialization in engineering management of orthotics and prosthetics (MSIE-EMOP). Through this consortium, students earn a bachelor of applied science (BAS) in orthotics and prosthetics from SPC and then apply to matriculate at FSU to earn their master's degree. http://www.eng.fsu.edu/ime/graduate/msie_emop.html Saint Petersburg College's J.E. Hanger College of Orthotics and Prosthetics partnered with the Combat Wounded Veteran Challenge to give back, by means of support, to Combat Wounded Servicemen and women. Certified Prosthetist and Program Director Arlene Gillis and student Ted Graves participated in the expedition by conducting initial evaluations of each amputee climber and securing any needed prosthetic equipment before the journey began. In Africa, each amputee's residual limb was inspected daily to ensure the climber's safety. Orthotic and Prosthetic student Ted Graves was also given the opportunity to document a prosthetic case study throughout the expedition.
In the case study, three Combat Wounded amputee participants were measured for volume changes twice a day. During each data collection, a measurement of total body volume was taken along with segmented measurements of the residual limb. For data collection, bioimpedance spectroscopy was used. This method was utilized due to its proven accuracy when compared to other known volume measuring devices. It proved to be the best and most rugged tool for accurate measurements during the ascent of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Bioimpedance spectroscopy uses low current electrical pulses that flow through the body tissues at different frequencies. The device analyzes and converts these frequencies into usable data. The fact that this device can read the different frequencies is of high value in this study because it was required to analyze the difference between the amounts of volume that is inside the cells during that moment compared to that outside the cells. This data will aid in providing us with some answers as to what exactly is going on in the limb during activity.
We hypothesized that the changes and differences of the fluid inside the cells, also known as intracellular fluid, and the fluid outside of the cells, extracellular fluid, will be patterned according to the participant's activity level.
Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) measures the impedance or opposition to the flow of an electric current through the body fluids contained mainly in the lean and fat tissue. In practice, a small constant current is passed between electrodes spanning the body and the voltage drop between electrodes provides a measure of impedance. Using the Bioimpedance Analyzer (BIA) for a total body measurement consists of placing a total of four electrodes on the wrist and ankle and logging the data point in the BIA. The segmented body measurement consists of placing the four electrodes on the residual limb followed by the same process to log the data point in the BIA. The objective will be to correlate short-term physiologic changes with extracellular fluids volumetric changes and long-term physiologic changes with intracellular fluid's volumetric changes. Bioimpedance measurements will be taken at key intervals throughout the day while logging environmental conditions to include, but not limited to: participant's daily hydration, time of day, humidity, altitude, ambient temperature, and activity level.
Each data collection will consist of a total body composition measurement and a segmented body composition measurement of their residual limb. These two measurements allow us to log the total fluid in the participant's body and track how much of that fluid is retained in their residual limb. The aim of this case study is to better understand how extreme environmental conditions affect socket fit, suspension, and its resulting adverse effects on the residual limb.
The first ever concentrated study at altitude concerning the effects of elevation, decreased atmospheric pressure and O2 Saturation on Traumatic Brain Injury was conducted and authored by Combat Wounded veteran SFC Michael Rodriguez during this expedition. SFC Rodriguez is an active duty United States Army Special Forces Green Beret with a history of multiple Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs) sustained from blast and blunt force. SFC Rodriguez still exhibits strong residual neurological symptoms from these events. SFC Rodriguez's desired end-state is to document and find more effective ways to differentiate between altitude sickness diagnosis and progression versus residual TBI symptoms, ultimately learning how to prepare for and cope with these symptoms. His hope is that the data he collected will increase the survivability of service members operating in high altitude environments by delineating possible duty limitations for those with a history of TBI or even provide a safe means for an individual with neurological injuries or deficiencies to take on the challenges that increases in elevation can offer.
Mr. Tom Barnhill, PTSD counselor, conducted in-field psychological research assessing veterans with PTSD demonstrating that a positively aimed team-based adventure activity, which challenges veterans both mentally and physically, best supports quality of life and a lasting reduction in PTSD symptoms.
Tom assembled a unique survey placing together validated scales, isolating some clinical dimensions of combat stress but also focusing on functioning in life. This allowed Tom to capture those without PTSD and to focus on quality of life gains while also noting clinical dimensions such as avoidance behaviors and depression. "It's all relevant data for PTSD research", he indicates, "specifically as well as for those without a formal diagnosis but with wounds from combat whether they be PTSD, amputations or TBI". The results of Tom's Case Study are forthcoming in six months after further post-event interviews.
Arlene Gillis; CP, LPO, M. Ed, Program Director, Orthotic & Prosthetic Program, College of Health Sciences, St. Petersburg College (TBD).
Mr. Tom Barnhill; Expedition PTSD Research Analyst, Coordinator and TBI Evaluator.
Dr. David W. Zaas; Medical Director, Lung Transplant Program, Duke University.
Mr. Colby Coombs; Alaska Mountaineering School, U.S. Mountaineering Guide.
Mr. Tim Hewette; Alaska Mountaineering School, U.S. Mountaineering Guide.
Expedition brief to be conducted on site by AMS staff, indigenous guides and porters, equipment staging and final preparation.
After completing the necessary registration formalities, the team transfers by road to Nale Moru (1,950m) to begin our climb on this unspoiled wilderness route. The first day is only a half-day walk on a small path that winds through farmland and pine plantations. It is a consistent but gentle climb through attractive forest that shelters a variety of wildlife. We reach our first overnight stop by late afternoon at the edge of the moorland zone (2,600m). Approx. 3-4 hours walking.
The morning walk is a steady ascent up to 'Second Cave' (3,450m) with superb views of the Eastern ice fields on the rim of Kibo, the youngest and highest of the three volcanoes that form the entire mountain. After lunch, we leave the main trail and strike out across the moorland on a smaller path towards the jagged peaks of Mawenzi, the second of Kilimanjaro's volcanoes. Our campsite, which we reach in late afternoon, is in a sheltered valley near Kikelewa Caves (3,600m). Approx.. 6-7 hours walking.
A steep climb up grassy slopes is rewarded by superb panoramas of the Kenyan plains to the north. We leave vegetation behind close to Mawenzi Tarn (4,330m), spectacularly situated in a cirque beneath the towering cliffs of Mawenzi. The afternoon will be free to rest or to explore the surrounding area as an aid to acclimatization. Approx. 3-4 hours walking.
Depart from camp to cross the lunar desert of the 'Saddle' between Mawenzi and Kibo to reach Kibo campsite (4,700m) at the bottom of the Kibo Crater wall by early afternoon. The remainder of the day is spent resting in preparation for the final ascent before a very early night! Approx. 5-6 hours walking.
We will start the final, and by far the steepest and most demanding, part of the climb by torchlight at around midnight. The team will proceed slowly in darkness and cold on a switchback trail through loose volcanic scree to reach the Crater rim at Gillman's Point (5,685 m). We will rest there for a short time to enjoy the spectacular sunrise over Mawenzi. Those who are still feeling strong can make the three hour round trip along the snow-covered rim to the true summit of Uhuru Peak (5,895m), passing close to the spectacular glaciers and ice cliffs that still occupy most of the summit area. The descent to Kibo Hut (4,700m) is surprisingly fast and, after some refreshments and rest, the team will continue descending to reach our final campsite at Horombo (3,720m). This is an extremely long and hard day, with between 11 and 15 hours walking at high altitude.
A sustained descent with wide views across the moorland takes us into the lovely forest around Mandara (2,700m), the first stopping place on the Marangu route. The trail continues through semi-tropical vegetation to the National Park gate at Marangu (1,830m). We leave the local staff to return to our hotel in Marangu by mid-afternoon for a well-earned rest and a much needed shower. Approx. 5-6 hours walking.
The times and days listed above are relative to able body climbers with few physical limitations. When you factor in the compromised physical condition and prosthetic element into the equation, you will add several hours in some instances to the estimated climbing and decent times shown. Kilimanjaro is a formidable challenge that favors the strong. This exactly the element of the challenge that favors our wounded and injured veterans! Although many will attempt this climb with only one hand or one leg, others with newly tested lungs and still others bearing the sometimes crippling emotional scars of war they climb as a team with a bond few can truly understand. These men are American heroes and represent the very best this nation has to offer, we invite you to follow our progress via social media and encourage you to support this research in any way possible.


The City of Mount Pleasant parks system is one of the best in Northeast Texas. The available sports and recreational facilities provide the entire area with opportunities to be involved both as a spectator and participant. From our annual sanctioned drag boat racing event to our youth baseball and softball activities, large numbers of area residents are entertained yearly. All of our sports facilities are available for reservation. You need not be a resident of Mount Pleasant or Titus County to use the parks facilities.
Come enjoy a stroll in our beautiful Heritage Park, or bring a fishing pole and try your luck in one of our three city lakes. Bring your team and join one of our spring softball tournaments and play on state of the art fields with names such as "Candlestick" or "Wrigley." If you prefer the quiet life, lounge on the deck at Dellwood Park under the cypress trees overlooking a beautiful reflecting pool. Whatever your pleasure, the Mount Pleasant parks system has something for you.
How many pavilions are available for rental?
Is fishing allowed at the city lakes? Is a license required?


Hanoi Art House is a UK-based art gallery specialising in Contemporary Vietnamese art. The gallery was founded upon a great passion for original art and showcasing Vietnamese art to a wider audience outside Vietnam. They work with a select group of established and emerging artists, whose works inspire greatly by their uniqueness and originality.
By promoting and exhibiting their artists at the gallery, exhibitions and leading art fairs, Hanoi Art House engages international audiences with the artists' talent and brings a breath of fresh air to the exciting British and international art scene.
This is the second year running that Angie and the team at Hanoi Art House will be participating in Cambridge Art Fair and we look forward to seeing them again. You can find them on Stand G6 in the Small Hall.


Saint-Mihiel săN-mēyēl´ [key], town (1993 est. pop. 5,435), Meuse dept., NE France, in Lorraine, on the Meuse River. Its chief manufactures are eyeglasses, plywood, and copper products. Saint-Mihiel grew around a Benedictine abbey founded in 709. Abbey buildings constructed in the 17th and 18th cent. are now used as a courthouse, library, and school. Points of interest include St. Michel church (17th cent.), with a door from Roman times, and the Church of St. Étienne, designed by Ligier Richier. In Sept., 1918, Saint-Mihiel was recovered from the Germans in the first battle of World War I in which American forces fought independently.


Class of '89 & '12 | The connection between 750 homeless Philadelphia kids and 5,000 shelter animals might seem tenuous. But it's not.
"They've all been helped by Hand2Paw," asserts Penny Ellison L'89, who runs the nonprofit. Since it was established in 2009, Hand2Paw has given at-risk teenagers a sense of purpose as well as valuable work experience while helping animals at understaffed shelters.
Ellison, an adjunct professor at the Law School, teaches Animal Law and Ethics. Hand2Paw was the brainchild of Rachel Cohen C'12, her former student, who remains on the board.
After Cohen graduated four years ago, Ellison took the reins. She recruited second-year students from Penn's School of Veterinary Medicine to serve as volunteers and mentors. Every week, about eight teenagers—most from Covenant House, a shelter for homeless teens—come to a Hand2Paw volunteer session at PAWS or another city animal shelter. There they are divided into smaller groups and given different tasks, such as feeding kittens in the maternity ward, socializing adult cats, or giving dogs some outdoor training time.
Furthermore, Ellison says, about 20 of them have earned internships at shelters, paid for by Hand2Paw. And several have gotten permanent jobs and/or gone back to school. She mentions Drew, a youth whom Hand2Paw featured in a segment on TV's Wild About Animals. He obtained employment at a pet supply store.
Jerome, who earned an internship at the Pennsylvania SPCA through Hand2Paw, was hired on a permanent basis. He has since moved on to other employment, made possible by the work experience he obtained through the program. He now attends Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) while working.
Ellison may be most proud of Cheryl, who could be a poster child for Hand2Paw.
Ellison continues to mentor Jerome and Cheryl, while also supervising the Animal Law Project, a Penn student-run program that provides pro bono legal work to non-profit animal advocacy groups. In addition, she works as a circuit mediator for the US Court of Appeals and has mediated more than 1,200 cases.
She hopes to expand the program to other cities—and, perhaps, other animals.
I'm interested in starting a similar program here in Indianapolis. I am a veterinarian with pre-vet training in Family Therapy at the Philadelphia Child Guidance Center and post-vet training in Public Health & Epidemiology.
Thanks for reporting on this inspiring program!


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Q: FQL link_stat Values Not Correct I am trying to access the like_stat information for a FB Page, specifically facebook.com/womenmakemovies. Navigating to the page manually, the Likes tile shows over 14K likes for the page.
In order to access this data using the FB API, I ran the following query:
SELECT url, normalized_url, share_count, like_count, comment_count, total_count, commentsbox_count, comments_fbid, click_count FROM link_stat WHERE url="facebook.com/womenmakemovies"
All of the "counts" that were selected returned with the value of 0.
Is there some other way to gather all of this data in a single query or some alteration I can make to the current query in order to get the proper data?
Side Note: I am having this issue with other pages also, but most pages I am getting stats for are returning with the correct data given the above query

A: You can't query a Facebook page with link_stat. You have to use either the page or insights tables.
This will get you the current number of likes your page has:
 SELECT name, fan_count, new_like_count FROM page WHERE username="womenmakemovies"

A: For the likes count you could just use: https://graph.facebook.com/womenmakemovies
{
   "name": "Women Make Movies",
   "is_published": true,
   "website": "www.wmm.com\nwww.youtube.com/wmmnyc",
   "username": "womenmakemovies",
   "founded": "1972",
   "company_overview": "Women Make Movies is the world's leading distributor of independent films by and about women, with a focus on cutting-edge documentaries that give depth to today's headlines, as well as artistically and intellectually challenging works in all genres. Our films are showcased in prestigious exhibition venues and festivals both nationally and internationally. The Women Make Movies collection of more than 500 films and videotapes is also used by thousands of educational, community and cultural organizations annually.\n\n\n\n",
   "mission": "http://www.wmm.com/about/general_info.shtml",
   "products": "DISTRIBUTION SERVICE\nhttp://www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/new_releases.shtml \n\nPRODUCTION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM\nhttp://www.wmm.com/filmmakers/production_assistance.shtml\n \n\n",
   "about": "www.wmm.com youtube.com/wmmnyc twitter.com/womenmakemovies",
   "location": {
      "street": "462 broadway, ste 500",
      "city": "New York",
      "state": "NY",
      "country": "United States",
      "zip": "10013",
      "latitude": 40.72103,
      "longitude": -74.00049
   },
   "general_info": "WMM Funders:\n\nNew York State Council on the Arts\nNational Endowment for the Arts\nNew York City Department of Cultural Affairs\nThe Educational Foundation of America\nThe Little Family Foundation\nThe Weinstein Company\nThe Friends of Women Make Movies",
   "checkins": 6,
   "were_here_count": 33,
   "talking_about_count": 142,
   "category": "Non-profit organization",
   "id": "6574279597",
   "link": "https://www.facebook.com/womenmakemovies",
   "likes": 14704,
   "cover": {
      "cover_id": "10150730604649598",
      "source": "http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/s720x720/536830_10150730604649598_87318500_n.jpg",
      "offset_y": 74
   }
}