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Eats October 27, 2014
Popeye and the Underground City
A short walk from the Imperial Palace sits Tokyo Station, host to more than 3,000 trains and nearly 416,000 passengers every day. However, the station is more than just a transportation hub. Completed in 1914, it's seen war, assassination and rejuvenation over the last 100 years.
In 1921, Prime Minister Takashi Hara was assassinated at the station on a trip to Kyoto. Nine years later, Prime Minister Osachi Hamaguchi was shot in an attempted assassination and died a few months later. In 1945, much of the station was destroyed by Allied powers during the Second World War.
Today, Tokyo Station is a standard Japanese combination of function, commerce and history. Last week, we visited the station for the first time to buy our Shinkansen (bullet train) tickets for our upcoming trip to Osaka and Kyoto. We quickly got lost in the underground labyrinth of the station. Passageways are given "street" names to help navigate between the different lines as well as the myriad of shopping, dining and cultural opportunities throughout the station known as Tokyo Station City.
Fortunately, there are information desks in each area of the station with English-speaking attendants. We were given directions to the ticket counter, but first we needed to eat!
We hadn't had a purpose to go through Tokyo Station before, so we'd been saving a special stop for this occasion. T's Tantan is a vegan ramen shop located inside the JR gate of the station. We actually had to pay fare (140 yen) to enter the restaurant area even though we weren't boarding a train.
Awesome signage at T's Tantan and our meal, Shirunashi Tantan, Daizu Karage (fried soy meat) and Midori Tantan
The place was busy for 5 p.m. in Japan. There were a couple granola-types, but also a lot of people in business suits who showed up because the food was good. We ordered a couple amazing Tantan bowls, which are flavored-up ramen with fresh vegetables, and a side of fried soy meat.
T's philosophy is playfully illustrated on the walls of the shop. One sign shows roughly-drawn figures of animals and a human surrounding the English words "We live to eat vegetables." That's when I knew this place was for me. We even scheduled our return trip from Osaka to arrive at Tokyo Station around dinnertime. Get ready T's… I'm coming for you!
Enjoying a couple Oregon beers at Popeye Beer Club in Ryōgoku
Popeye Beer Club was another stop on this side of the city that hadn't fit into previous visits, but today it was just a short train ride from Tokyo Station in the Ryōgoku area. What started as a standard izakaya 60 years ago is now one of Tokyo's best destinations for both local and international craft beer. Popeye even has several of their own brews among the 70-plus beers they rotate on tap.
For once, we took the approach of "Hey… we're in Japan for awhile!" and skipped the local beers in favor of a taste of home. I had a Breakside Brewing IPA from Milwaukie, OR and a Rogue Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout from Newport, OR. Incidentally, that Breakside IPA recently won the 2014 Great American Beer Festival gold medal for best American-Style India Pale Ale. Viktoria had the Rogue Old Crustacean Barleywine, which was appropriately served in a snifter to trap the aromas of the macadamia nut and strawberry notes.
Sumo statues outside of Ryōgoku Station
We did a lap around the neighborhood before getting back on the train for our 90 minute ride home. The famous Ryōgoku Kokugikan sumo hall is on the opposite side of the station from Popeye. While it was dark and locked up tight, you could still sense the grand tradition of this religious ritual-turned-sport. The outer walls were adorned with ukiyo-e murals of wrestlers and the modern temple (built in 1985) rises with an agelessness unmatched by its neomodern neighbors.
After seven months, we already have our standard stops in Tokyo, so it was great to explore a different part of this massive city. There's a fair chance this day will see a repeat in about a week when we return from Osaka.
BeerCraft BeerCulturefeaturedMidori TantanPopeyeRyogokuRyōgoku KokugikanShirunashi TantanSumoTokyoTokyo StationTravelWorld
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Reply	"Isn't Japan Expensive?" | Cascadian Abroad December 17, 2014 at 8:56 am
[…] one area I'll concede is more expensive on average is Tokyo's craft beer bars. It's common to pay 900-1200 yen ($7.58-10.11) for a pint of craft beer. Even the big brewery […]
Your Burning Questions Answered!
Kawagoe Festival 2014


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John McCain Photos
John McCain at the UNLV in Las Vegas.
John McCain and Ehud Olmert at the Olmert's Jerusalem residence as part of his senatorial Middle East trip.
John McCain at the national convention of the League of United Latin American Citizens.
John McCain at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.
John McCain at the 2008 American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference.
John McCain at the town hall meeting in the Royal Poinciana Ballroom.
John McCain at the Town Hall Rally at Lehigh Valley Hospital.
John McCain at the Global Competitiveness Roundtable at Finelite Inc. manufacturing facility.
John McCain at the TIME's 100 Most Influential People Gala.
John McCain at the Campaign Town Hall Meeting In Alexandria.
John McCain at the Elysee Palace in Paris.
John McCain at the Presidential Campaign in Brooklyn.
John McCain and Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace.
Sela Ward and John McCain at the Hope Village for Children.
John McCain and Gordon Brown at the Downing Street in London.
John McCain at the joint press conference with Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak at southern Israeli town of Sderot.
John McCain at the Downing Street in London.
John McCain at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The purchase of real estate in Turkey doesn't require much effort. Turkish real estate market is changing rapidly, so as an investor you must be aware of the market and its tendencies for future.
1- It Does Not Require Much Money To Enter The Turkish Real Estate Market.
One of the most popular rumors about Turkey real estate sector especially in the Arab market is that Turkish real estate is expensive, and many people who are interested in real estate investment in turkey think that the cost of entering the market is very high and this is not true. The most important fact is the awareness and understanding of the market well. You can start in real estate investment in Turkey with only $50,000, which provides a good ROI (Return On Investment).
2- Real Estate Firms Don't Earn A Lot Of Money!
We cannot deny that real estate firms work for money. It is the nature of all businesses, people work to make money! The impression that the real estate companies earn a lot of commissions in Turkey is completely wrong. The average commission earned by firms in Turkey is 3% of the price of the property and they get this commission from the construction company of the project, not from the client.
There are a lot of expenses for real estate companies in the Turkish market, which lowers the profit levels. These expenses include the taxes and other expenses related to the sale regulations and legislation requirements of the location.
Many beginners in real estate investment in Turkey are looking for very quick profit, which makes them hurry in their decisions and they often end up in an inevitable loss. The real estate sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in Turkey which provides its investors with a worthy ROI, but the key to success in this sector is time.
Investor's efforts must first be based on understanding the market and then selecting the best property in terms of region and quality.
4. Real Estate Companies Are Not Similar.
The correct choice of a real estate company to deal with when buying the property in Turkey is essential. Many buyers who had a bad experience with real estate firms think that the quality of all firm's service is similar and this is definitely not true. It is truly essential to watch out for the trustworthy company which, preferably, built a good reputation for itself in the market or is making you feel confident in their interactions with you throughout the vital information flow processes, by all means.
5- There Is No "Cheap" Luxury Property.
Unfortunately, many people believe that they can find luxurious and cheap property for sale in Turkey. This is not true, especially if you are looking for an apartment for sale in Istanbul. What people do not know about cheap apartments are: 1-Most of the cheaper projects are not within residential complexes and 2-Typically there is no transportation available, the quality of infrastructure in these areas is weak and most of them are older buildings.


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Home MMA News Georges St. Pierre Georges St-Pierre reacts to recent UFC Canada layoffs
Georges St-Pierre reacts to recent UFC Canada layoffs
bjpenndotcom
Recently, news has surfaced that the new WME-IMG owners of the UFC have been cleaning house, and plan to fire between 60 and 80 UFC employees in a major shakeup.
Several key UFC executives were let go, including Chief Global Brand Officer & Head of International Business Development in Vegas, Garry Cook, Chief Content Officer Marshall Zelaznik, UFC Executive VP & GM of UFC Asia Ken Berger, and UFC Executive VP & GM of Canada, Tom Wright to name just a few of the nearly 15% of the worldwide employees let go by the WME-IMG owners. In addition, approximately 80% of the UFC's Canadian Office was let go.
That upset former UFC middleweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre, who recently revealed that he was able to terminate his UFC contract due to the fact that the promotion didn't secure him a fight in a timely manner.
St-Pierre took to social media to reflect on the recent layoffs within the promotion:
Sad to hear about the layoffs at UFC Canada this morning and other UFC offices yesterday… 1/3
— Georges St-Pierre (@GeorgesStPierre) October 19, 2016
Got to know many of these good and dedicated people over the years, the UFC staff accomplish a lot of work behind the scenes and… 2/3
Always make the extra effort to help fighters. Big thanks to all of them! 3/3
While there has been quite a bit of concern regarding the recent layoffs within the promotion, with the morale at the UFC HQ in Vegas going as far as to be compared to a morgue, layoffs are rather common after an organization is sold to another company.
While St-Pierre was reportedly close to returning to the UFC earlier this month, negotiations before the former welterweight champion and the UFC failed, likely in part to St-Pierre being unable to wear Under Armour in the Octagon due to the UFC's apparel deal with Reebok.
Earlier this week, St-Pierre announced that he was a free agent after his contract with the UFC was terminated. The UFC brass was quick to fire back with a statement in which they revealed that St-Pierre was still under contract.
This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


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Haringey Film Festival
Babes in Arms
Streamed Theatre
The Independents
ARTHOUSE in association with PLY GALLERY
PERFORMING ARTS WORKSHOPS
at Ply Gallery Hornsey Town Hall
Monday 22nd – Friday 26th October
10am – 3:30pm
Age Range: 12-14 & 15-18
The Arthouse Studio is a new innovation designed to provide a platform and collaborative opportunities for young theatre and film makers to get together and create work that is important to them.
The Arthouse Studio is inviting teenagers of all ages to come on board and join our monthly weekend classes and workshops over the October Half-term – to learn, create, explore & present ideas, produce and share original unique pieces of work in a big team of new and old friends.
THE ARTHOUSE STYLE
Moving away from a more traditional understanding of how to teach drama and performing arts we are hoping to create a community of people who want to communicate and express themselves using a wide range of artistic genres and tools. We will work as a collaborative group led by art industry professionals and where participants are part of deciding what we want to learn, which in turn guides the direction of travel that our ideas & discoveries lead to.
Helping students to find confidence and a voice within the group and developing personal presentation skills forms the bedrock of our teaching at the Studio.
We are also determined that the 'learning' is student-led – where the teachers are there to provide a platform and create a space for the students to discover and make their own journeys and set out their own goals.
We will generally work as one big collaborative group and explore different storytelling techniques & media. Students will be given the opportunity to play with and explore new & different ways of storytelling and self-expression. As a group of individuals, we will create our own space and the opportunity to present, share and enjoy our various creative & artistic talents.
The Big Picture is big! We hope to grow a community of teenagers who will use art, theatre and cinema-making as a means of self-expression and developing a personal sense of empowerment.
Story-telling and communication are one of the most basic distinctions of what makes us uniquely human. Through movement, song, pictures, speech and words – people have been telling each other stories and expressing themselves since the dawn of time.
At the Arthouse we want to tap into that very core desire and nurture a space and process that encourages and develops our own natural instincts to tell our stories and share our vision.
We want students to tell us what interests them, what worries them – what they'd like to share. We want them to tell us how they would like to tell their stories using which means and media they choose and express which messages they want to share with an audience and the world at large.
STUDIO WORKSHOP AIMS
Throughout a series of workshops, we will look at the many options and various media/techniques and genres for storytelling.
Whilst every workshop is full of possibility, with no genre 'off-limits' and holding the potential to run off into different directions, guided by students, we will also have a structure and specific aim for each workshop or programme held. Each workshop will have a special Skill Focus and a Theme Focus. A skill focus is when we look at a particular medium or technique such as 'Directing' or 'Writing' or 'Cinematography'. And a Theme Focus is when we look more towards a genre like 'Fantasy' or 'Classic Theatre' or 'Comedy' or 'Street life'.
Throughout our programming we will aim to introduce many skills and themes which will include:
Live Performance, Film, Theatre, Presentation Skills, Directing, Script Writing, Producing, Cinematography, Photography, Sound-Scape Design, Image Projection, Stand up Comedy, Animation, Singing, Physical Movement, Mime, Lighting, Costume, Make-up, puppeteering, Rap, Music composition and Presentation.
Themes would include:
Fantasy, Dystopia, Old World, Classic Theatre, Shakespeare, Greek Action, Street life, Comedy, Crime, Fear, Hopes, Musical and many more. These are some of the themes that have been looked at so far but we would hope to have the input of our students to discover what themes interest them.
HOLIDAY AND WEEKEND PROGRAMME
Welcome to Workshop One
Every Monday to Friday throughout October:
Price for full week participation is £100
Part-time membership & sibling discount available. Please call if you have any specific needs – we are here to try and accommodate you!
During this packed week of activities, we will focus on some basic and more developed skills in self-expression and personal presentation skills.
We will look at basic directing, acting, storylining, storyboarding and the beginnings of script development which will culminate into supporting the main focus of the week which will be:
– Devising and Improvisation
– Working with Camera
Our themes to look at will be loosely based around the thoughts below & developed by the students:
The World We Live In Now
The Streets of London
Our Fears & Hopes
The Dystopia Effect
We are delighted to introduce Actress and Director Rachel Isaac who has come on board to facilitate and develop this exciting concept and programme for The ArtHouse Studio Workshops.
Rachel has worked extensively as an actress in television, film and theatre for many years in the UK and internationally. Rachel has also dedicated much of her time working with children, teenagers and young professional actors in theatre arts. Directing and assist in directing Youth Projects and Professional projects on the London Fringe.
I am thrilled to be invited to work with the Art House to develop this ambitious and unique programme for teenagers and young adults in the area. We are in need of a space to play and encourage young adults to create and express themselves. Sometimes it's the only outlet – set in a safe environment. I'm really excited to see what our local teenagers have to say and want to share with us. I love working collaboratively and teaching with a student-guided approach – and in the past, I have been stunned by the talents and abilities of teenagers from ALL WALKS OF LIFE – They are an absolute inspiration. Watch this space!!
Rachel IsaacActress & Director
Sign up to get the latest news in your inbox!
159A Tottenham Ln,
London , N8 9BT
Mon-Sun: 12:00PM-Late
© Arthouse Crouch End. All Rights Reserved. 2021.


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Full coverage: Congress certifies Biden's win after Trump supporters storm U.S. Capitol
Dylan Stableford
·Senior Writer
Hours after a violent mob of President Trump's supporters breached the U.S. Capitol Building, forcing a lockdown and leaving four people dead, Congress reconvened to certify Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election.
Vice President Mike Pence, who presided over the vote count, formally announced the results of Biden's 306-232 win over Trump in the Electoral College.
The confirmation came nearly 12 hours after hundreds of pro-Trump demonstrators stormed the Capitol while lawmakers were counting the electoral votes inside. Four people, including a woman who was shot by police, died during the chaos.
For a recap of the day's events, see the blog below. For the latest on the fallout, visit the Yahoo News homepage.
How the chaos unfolded
• Hundreds of President Trump's supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol as Congress was convening a joint session to count the certified Electoral College votes affirming Joe Biden's election victory.
• Some breached hallways, offices and even the Senate chamber, forcing evacuations. Others broke windows to get inside.
• Capitol police were seen with guns drawn in an armed standoff near the door to the House floor. Lawmakers were instructed to put on protective gas masks because police had deployed chemical irritants in Statuary Hall.
• A woman who was shot by police later died. She was identified by local news reports as Ashli Babbit, an Air Force veteran and Trump supporter from San Diego.
• Three others who suffered medical emergencies also died, officials said.
• Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered a 6 p.m. ET citywide curfew, and the D.C. National Guard was activated.
• The joint session resumed on Wednesday night after the Capitol was cleared, and Congress formally certified Biden's win in the wee hours of Thursday morning.
• Trump, who had spoken at a rally urging demonstrators to surround the Capitol, reportedly watched the mayhem on TV from the White House dining room.
• Vice President Mike Pence, who was presiding over the vote count, called on those who illegally entered the Capitol Building to leave immediately.
• President-elect Biden called on Trump to "step up" and condemn his supporters who breached the Capitol.
• Trump released a video telling demonstrators to "go home," but repeated his false claims that the election was "stolen from us."
• The video was subsequently blocked by Facebook and Twitter, with both platforms temporarily suspending him.
• Meanwhile, the Associated Press projected that Jon Ossoff will win his runoff in Georgia, beating incumbent GOP Sen. David Perdue and giving Democrats control of the U.S. Senate.
Trump statement: 'There will be an orderly transition'
In a statement released by the White House shortly after Joe Biden was certified by Congress as the winner of the 2020 presidential election, Trump said: "Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th. I have always said we would continue our fight to ensure that only legal votes were counted. While this represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history, it's only the beginning of our fight to Make America Great Again!"
Pence presides over the joint session of Congress. (Photo: AFP via Getty Images)
Congress votes to certify Biden's win
After an extraordinary act of violence from a riotous mob forced U.S. legislators to evacuate the Capitol Building during the counting of the Electoral College votes in the presidential election, Congress voted to certify the results showing President-elect Joe Biden defeated President Trump.
While a group of Republican lawmakers challenged the results in Arizona and Pennsylvania, those objections did not withstand a vote in either the House of Representative or the Senate.
In the wake of the attack on the Capitol, fewer Republicans followed through with promises to contest the certification, yet enough did to drag debate on into the early morning hours of Thursday.
At 3:32 a.m. ET, Congress had certified enough electoral votes to surpass the 270 threshold that guaranteed Biden would become the 46th president, effectively ending a futile bid by Trump and his supporters to overturn the results of November's election.
House rejects challenge to Pennsylvania's electoral count
The House joined the Senate in voting to reject the motion to object to the state of Pennsylvania's electoral votes.
As was the case with the injection to Arizona, a majority of House Republicans (138) voted in favor of objecting to Pennsylvania's vote count.
Congress has now reconvened a joint session — which began at 1 p.m. ET Wednesday — to continue its certification of Joe Biden's victory.
It's 3:15 a.m. ET.
Kate Murphy
Rep. Connor Lamb (D-Pa.) speaks on the House floor early Thursday.
House shouting match almost leads to 'fist fight'
Tensions ran high in the House Chamber overnight as the House debated the objection raised over Pennsylvania's presidential election results.
"A woman died out there tonight, and you're making these objections," Rep. Connor Lamb, D-Pa., said.
House Republicans objected to Lamb's statement. A shouting match ensued and, according to one Capitol Hill reporter, a fist fight almost broke out between Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., and Colin Allred, D-Texas.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on the sergeant-at-arms to restore order and clear the chamber.
Analysis | Trump's rage ignites mob assault on democracy https://t.co/bxE2i7H1w8 https://t.co/xtIeREzYtv
Christopher Wilson
From Pennsylvania's Democratic attorney general
Senate rejects objection to Pennsylvania's electoral votes
In all, 92 senators voted against the measure, with seven Republicans voting in favor. The House, meanwhile, continues its debate.
Pro-Trump rioters swarm the U.S. Capitol building during a protest Wednesday. (Photo: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Capitol riot was false-flag operation by leftists, Trump backers claim, with no basis
Yahoo News Senior Reporter Caitlin Dickson reports:
As an angry mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, vandalizing offices, occupying the House and Senate chambers and sending legislators and staffers running for cover, several of President Trump's key allies knew just where to cast the blame: on the loose-knit movement of left-wing agitators known as "antifa," a favorite bogeyman of Trump and the right wing for the last several years.
They were undeterred by video showing rioters in MAGA hats, carrying Trump 2020 flags, descending on the Capitol from a rally near the White House where Trump himself had exhorted them to disrupt the counting of Electoral College votes submitted by the states, the final step in certifying President-elect Joe Biden's victory. To them, that just showed that the insurrection was actually a leftist false-flag operation meant to embarrass the president's peaceful supporters.
One of the first to push this narrative was Rep. Mo Brooks, an Alabama Republican and part of a small group of Trump loyalists who'd pledged to challenge the Electoral College results from several states during Wednesday's joint session of Congress in an ill-fated final attempt to undo Trump's defeat. "Rumor: ANTIFA fascists in backwards MAGA hats," Brooks tweeted from the locked-down Capitol where he was taking cover from the mob. "Time will tell what truth is."
Objection raised by Republicans over Pennsylvania's presidential election results
The objection, which was raised shortly after midnight local time, was signed by Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.
Both chambers will now debate the objection to President-elect Joe Biden's win in the Keystone State for up to two hours and then vote on it.
An earlier objection to the certification of Arizona's results failed.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Quarterback Josh Allen spent the regular season leading the Bills to a franchise-record matching 13 wins and their first AFC East title in 25 years. Buffalo's defence has done its part the past two weeks in getting the team to its first conference championship game appearance since 1994. Both units will need to be much sharper than in a 26-17 loss to Kansas City in Week 6 if the second-seeded Bills (15-3) stand a chance of upending the top-seeded and defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs (15-2) in the AFC championship game on Sunday. The outcome three months ago left Bills coach Sean McDermott taking a sobering approach to correcting what went wrong. "Two good opponents, I know. But the minute losing gets easy, that's not a good deal," McDermott said following the loss, which came on the heels of a 42-16 defeat at Tennessee. "We take it hard. There's no moral victories," he added. "We've got to really take a good look at our football team and be truthful with ourselves and say, `What do we have to get corrected?'" Buffalo's offence finished with a season-low 206 yards, with Allen managing 122 yards passing — the third-year player's second-lowest total in a game he starts and finishes. As for the defence, Buffalo successfully limited Patrick Mahomes to 225 yards passing, his third-lowest total of the season, and two touchdowns. The Bills were instead trampled by rookie Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who finished with a season-best 161 yards rushing. McDermott defended his team's defensive approach by calling it a "pick your poison" choice between selling out to stop Mahomes or Edwards-Helaire. He might have to make the same choice this weekend with the running back expected to return after missing three games with an ankle injury. Mahomes' status, however, remains uncertain after he sustained a concussion in a 22-17 win over the Browns on Sunday. If there is a bright side, the Bills have grown progressively better, particularly on defence, in having won 11 of 12 since the loss and eight straight to match the team's longest run since 1990. Though Allen led the way with a three-touchdown outing in a playoff-opening 27-24 win over Indianapolis, the defence was the star in a 17-3 win over Baltimore on Saturday. Aside from holding the Ravens to their lowest scoring output in 12 years, including playoffs, the Bills sealed the victory on cornerback Taron Johnson's NFL playoff-record matching 101-yard interception return in the final minute of the third quarter. Most important, the Ravens' dynamic QB Lamar Jackson was held in check, going 14 of 24 for 162 yards with just 34 yards rushing before being knocked out of the game with a concussion on the final play of the third quarter. The outing continued a trend: Buffalo's defence peaking over the final stretch of the season. After allowing 273 points through a 32-30 loss at Arizona in Week 10, Buffalo has given up just 137 over the past eight games. Johnson's touchdown was the fifth scored on a return in Buffalo's past six games. The Bills' defence might have finished 14th in the NFL in yards allowed, after ranking among the top three the previous two seasons, but it remains a prideful unit. Defensive end Jerry Hughes was thankful Buffalo had the late playoff game on Saturday. That way, he got an opportunity to spend the early afternoon hearing TV analysts dismiss Buffalo's chances of containing Jackson and the Ravens' NFL-best running attack. "We took it as a challenge," said Hughes, who sacked Jackson twice. "When we see the guys on TV talking about how they don't play defence in Buffalo, we're going to give up 30 points ... I think we went out there and we played like we had something to prove." Bring on the Chiefs. WHAT'S WORKING The Bills' red-zone defence has clamped down, allowing just four touchdowns and three field goals in opponents' last 11 trips inside Buffalo's 20 over the past three outings. WHAT NEEDS HELP Any semblance of a running attack after Buffalo called one running play in the first half against Baltimore and finished with one first down rushing. Buffalo's 32 yards rushing were the fewest in a win since gaining 31 in a 45-39 OT victory at Minnesota on Sept. 15, 2002. STOCK UP Johnson's interception return for a touchdown was his second in five weeks, after his 51-yard return put Buffalo ahead for good in a 26-15 win against Pittsburgh. Allen referred to Johnson's TD on Saturday as being "a potentially franchise-altering play." STOCK DOWN RB T.J. Yeldon had two carries for 4 yards rushing in replacing injured backup Zack Moss. INJURED None reported. KEY NUMBER 4-0 — Buffalo's record in the AFC championship game during its run of making — and losing — four straight Super Bowl appearances from 1991-94. NEXT STEPS McDermott faces his former Philadelphia Eagles boss, Chiefs coach Andy Reid, for a third time since taking over in Buffalo in 2017. McDermott is 1-1 against Reid following a 16-10 win at Kansas City on Nov. 26, 2017. ___ More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL John Wawrow, The Associated Press


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Summary: (1)	Subject to subsection (2), these regulations come into force on the day on which section 26 of The Traffic Safety Amendment Act, 2014 comes into force.
(2)	If section 26 of The Traffic Safety Amendment Act, 2014 comes into force before the day on which these regulations are filed with the Registrar of Regulations, these regulations come into force on the day on which they are filed with the Registrar of Regulations.
These regulations will amend RRS T-18.1 Reg 10 to prescribe the conditions under which speed monitoring devices may be used in highway works zones.


Cancellation less than 3 days forfeit the full deposit / accommodation amount.
Cancellation 7 - 14 days: Forfeit 75% of the full deposit amount.
Cancellation 14 - 21 days: Forfeit 50% of the full deposit amount.
Cancellation 21 - 30 days: Forfeit 25% of the full deposit amount.
Cancellation 31 days or more an admin penalty of R200.00 will be charged which will be debited from the deposit.
No show / failure to check-in: Forfeit 100% of the full deposit / accommodation amount.
The Family Suite (two bedrooms) feature queen sized beds in each room, en-suite bathrooms, flat screen televisions in each bedroom, patio/terrace, kitchen with a microwave, fridge, washing machine and a stove and the rooms have lounge with a television.
Two bedrooms each with a queen size bed, air-con, bathrobe, tea/coffee station, TV, DSTV, full kitchen, safe.
Three bedroom suite each with a queen size bed,the suite also offers air-con, bathrobe, tea/coffee station, TV, DSTV, full kitchen, safe.


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Wreck Diving the USS New York ACR-2 Armoured Battle Cruiser in Subic Bay Philippines
by Administrator | Latest News | 0 comments
Are you looking for information on Wreck Diving the USS New York ACR-2 Armoured Battle Cruiser in Subic Bay Philippines?
If there is a single shipwreck that is synonymous with diving in the Philippines it must be the USS New York ACR-2 Armoured Battle Cruiser. Coming in at 115m long and fitted with forward and aft twin 8-inch cannons and propeller blades that tower over a diver, this is truly a remarkable wreck.
Whether you are a metal head or a coral reef kind of diver one is simply drawn to the New York with its impressive layout and history which spanned 50 years of conflict all over the world…
Request for the USS New York ACR-2 Armoured Battle Cruiser
In the fall of 1888, the United States Congress commanded the purchase of an armoured battle cruiser of approximately 7,500 tonnes. The ship would be integral to the re-birth of the US Navy and a symbol of power and grace. For almost 10 years the USS New York would be the flagship. Regardless of which admiral was at the helm or which new ships entered service the flagship was to continue on with the New York as a sign of naval supremacy.
But for what reason was this one ship so appreciated, to be made an almost permanent flagship?
This wasn't the first modern steel armoured warship to be ordered for the American Navy. To the contrary, the design of the USS Maine and USS Texas came much earlier indeed. However, those two were based on British designs and were widely regarded as nothing more than second-rate vessels, clearly inferior to what was being built in Europe. The US Navy demanded a vessel that was far superior to either the current British or French vessels, the latter considered the current benchmark.
Building the USS New York ACR-2 Armoured Battle Cruiser
Whilst the contract for her construction was signed in 1888, the build time was a long one. As of 1890, there was still no commencement works as the Navy was still unsure of exactly the ship they wanted.
The initial design was an under-gunned vessel with single 8-inch gun turrets fore and aft and ten 5-inch guns organized in six single turrets and four firing through ports. It was clearly another second-rate effort. Fortunately, the uninspired design of 6,350 tons and 19-knot speed was rejected. The second attempt produced a much more satisfactory goal, a cruiser of 8,100 tons with a 20-knot speed and armed with six 8-inch guns. William Cramp of Philadelphia won the contract by bidding $15,000 less than the only other bid of $3,000,000 from Union Ironworks of San Francisco. The high freeboard slab-sided hull, large funnels, and fighting masts gave her the appearance of a battleship, although she had much finer lines. Her design proved extraordinarily good in sea trials as well as in service. This fair lady was extremely stable and seaworthy.
The New York was the US designed, built and was the most powerful ship of her kind ever built… Indeed, she became the first of the new armoured ships to join the fleet, well ahead of the ill-equipped and slow constructed Maine and Texas. When this behemoth joined the fleet she became the first prima donna, an instant diva for the US Navy.
Other New York Named Ships
The USS New York ACR-2 was the fourth ship to be named New York, the previous 3 being;
1, USS New York (1776) A gundalow that was built on Chaplain Island and participated in the Battle of Valcour Island.
2, USS New York (1880) A 36 gun frigate laid down in 1880 and burned by the British in 1914.
3, A screw sloop called Ontario was commissioned in 1863 and later named the USS New York in 1869 before being sold whilst on the stocks in 1888.
The USS New York ACR-2 was renamed on two occasions. The first being to the USS Saratoga in 1911 and then to the USS Rochester in 1917.
Since the ACR-2 was renamed the Saratoga the famous name has continued on with several other ships. These are;
5, USS New York BB-34 The first full battleship to carry the NY name was laid down in 1911, commissioned in 1914, served her navy in both world wars before being decommissioned in 1946. The BB-34 was used in both submerged and aerial atomic tests during the infamous Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll in 1946. She survived both and was later towed to Pearl Harbour to be used for target practice where she met her final demise following a large assault from ships and planes in 1948.
6, The USS New York City The only submarine to be named the NY, this was a nuclear fast attack Los Angeles class submarine which served from 1977 – 1997.
7, USS New York (LPD-21) This is the latest vessel to carry the namesake. She is in active service after being commissioned in November 2009. This San Antonio class amphibious transport dock was constructed partially from steel recovered from the Twin Towers Buildings that were destroyed in terrorist attacks in New York City in September 2001.
Early Missions of the USS New York ACR-2 Armoured Battle Cruiser
The USS New York ACR-2 entered service on the 1st August 1893 and upon the commencement of the Spanish – American War was sent to Cuba and bombarded Matanzas before joining other American ships in San Juan seeking the Spanish Fleet. The NY was carrying Admiral Simpson to a meeting with Major General William Shafter when the Spanish Fleet made their attempted getaway eventuating in total destruction on the entire fleet.
In 1901 the NY was transferred to the Asiatic fleet and immediately became the Flagship with active service in the Philippines, China, Hong Kong, Russia, Korea, and Japan.
In 1903 she was made the Flagship of the Pacific Squadron and sailed to Honduras and Mexico before returning to San Francisco joining a reception for President Theodore Roosevelt.
Modernization and Recommission
The ACR-2 was decommissioned 1905 for modernization and recommissioned in 1909. Much of the works completed were to improve her firepower and armouring.
The extensive re-fit included the replacement of the four main guns and turrets with four 8-inch Mark 6 guns in new Mark 12 turrets. The two torpedo tubes were completely removed along with the side 8-inch guns. The ship also had extensive improvements to armour plating around the barbettes, turret, and hull. The secondary armourment was also replaced with ten 5 inch Mark 6 and eight 3 inch guns. Twelve of her boilers were replaced and the funnels were extended to improve natural draft through the boilers.
On the second and final refit, the two 5 inch and all 3 inch guns were removed, with the addition of two 3 inch anti-aircraft guns. Their was also a reduction of Horsepower to 7,700, due to a reduction of boilers to a total of four.
In July 1909 she joined the Armoured Cruiser Squadron and served in Atlantic and Gulf ports before being placed in fleet reserve later the same year.
New Missions With A New Name: The USS Rochester
Commissioned again in 1910 she steamed to Manila via Gibraltar and Singapore to once again join the Asiatic Fleet. It was during this deployment that she was renamed the USS Saratoga to make way for the BB-34. During this period she intercepted and captured a merchant ship transporting 32 German agents and several Americans attempting to dodge military drafting.
In 1917 she was renamed the USS Rochester and conducted escort runs from Paris to Chesapeake Bay. On her third trip, the ship was escorting convoy HM-58 when a German U-boat torpedoed the British ship "Atlantian". The Rochester sped to her aid, however the stricken vessel sunk in under five minutes.
In 1925 the USS Rochester carried delegates to Chile to arbitrate the Tacna – Arica dispute and remained there until she headed for the troubled region of Nicaragua.
The Rochester also saw service in Haiti in 1930 where she transported the 1st Marine regiment to Port Au Prince to provide support after an uprising from bandits unhappy with the US Government.
She also provided much-needed assistance evacuating refugees after an earthquake rocked through Nicaragua in late 1931.
The final tour for this once powerful figurehead of US Navy supremacy was for service in the Asiatic fleet in early 1932. Arriving in Shanghai in April to join the fleet in June. She departed the Yangtze River, steaming to Cavite, Philippines. She was struck from the US Navy register on the 28th October 1938 and remained at the Olongapo Shipyard until she met her fateful demise when she was scuttled on Christmas Eve 1941 to prevent her falling into the hands of the Japanese Imperial Navy that were quickly overrunning the Subic Bay area.
The New York ACR-2 now rests silently in 28 metres of water. What was once a figurehead of Naval power she is now home to resident eagle rays, a school of juvenile yellowtail barracuda, octopus and a plethora of nudibranchs.
Wreck Diving the USS New York ACR-2 Armoured Battle Cruiser
Whilst no two dives are the same, what a diver would likely experience goes something like this…………
Begin the dive descending down her anchor line and land on her starboard gunwhale toward the stern at 17 metres right above her twin rear 8 inch guns. Venturing toward the stern will find many entry points into her cavernous hull before sweeping around to the huge propeller. Venturing forward along the underside will see divers pass another entry point, the initial blast hole used to sink the vessel located along her mid ship bilge keel.
Continuing forward will find the "shovel" shape bow and an entry point right at the very point of the hull. Heading back along the top deck of the NY will introduce divers to the twin forward 8-inch guns and the line of gun positions along the gun deck that stretch the entire length of the vessel.
Heading back toward the stern a diver will notice a large area of broken steel. This "blast zone" was caused by US divers in 1967 to lower the bow to allow larger ships to pass with our obstruction.
Once past the blast zone, a diver will pass masts complete with crows nest and much of the superstructure. Right behind the superstructure is the rear 8 inch guns and of course the anchor line. This is a complete circumnavigation of the wreck but by no means a complete tour as there is simply so much to see…
Many divers want more from the wreck and wish to see inside the vessel to see more of the WW1 Battle Cruiser.
For recreational wreck certified divers, there are some amazing passages through the blast zone along with the long trip through the gun deck with an entry point right above the Admirals bathtub.
For technical wreck certified divers, this is truly a world class playground. She is quite simply a labyrinth with engines, boilers, pipework, gauges, ladders, and stairways that seem to lead forever. These areas are not for the faint of heart with many restrictions and silt to keep even the best-trained divers on point with even the smallest error with buoyancy or a fin kick directed in the wrong direction causing a loss of visibility. To get it right is a rush only a wreck aficionado will understand.
If you would like to schedule a dive on this amazing icon of US Naval history or would like to further your education with quality Wreck, Advanced Wreck and/or Technical Training then contact us at the following locations;
Facebook : Arizona Dive Shop Subic Bay
Also a big thanks to Mr. Sun Shaoguang for the awesome pics of divers on the New York!
Are You Ready to Book Your Next Scuba Diving Holiday in Subic Bay?
If you're ready to choose your scuba diving adventure in the Philippines, then click here to get started, we look forward to hosting you.
El Capitan Wreck Dive Site in Subic Bay Philippines
PADI Self-Reliant Diver Specialty Course
Japanese Patrol Boat Wreck Video Upload…
Beautiful Underwater Sea Life


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Polimeria consiste no fenômeno da formação de substâncias compostas a partir da repetição de um determinado agrupamento chamado monômero.

Os seres vivos apresentam em sua constituição diversos polímeros naturais. São exemplos desses polímeros os carboidratos, as proteínas e os ácidos nucléicos (DNA), responsáveis pelas características genéticas dos seres vivos. Além disso, os seres humanos aprenderam muito cedo a utilizar polímeros em suas atividades.

Por volta de 1000 a.C., os chineses já usavam extratos vegetais ã base de polímeros para impermeabilização de madeiras. A utilização do âmbar, um polímero natural, é citada pelo romano Plínio, o Velho (23—79 a.C.), em seus escritos.

Embora os primeiros relatos sobre a utilização da borracha sejam do século XVI, sabe-se que nativos da América Central há muito tempo já empregavam esse material para impermeabilizações e na confecção de pequenos objetos. Levada para a Europa durante a colonização da América, a borracha foi gradativamente ganhando novas utilidades.
A palavra plástico é um adjetivo que a "capacidade de ser moldado". Para os químicos plásticos são materiais poliméricos, constituídos por substâncias orgânicas.

Os polímeros (do grego, poli muitas, e meros = unidade) são constituídos por macromoléculas. Estas o formadas por meio de ligações covalentes, feitas entre várias moléculas menores, e podem conter centenas ou milhares de átomos.

Todo polímero é constituído por macromoléculas. Entretanto, nem toda macromolécula é um polímero, pois muitas são formadas por unidades que não se repetem.

As reações para a formação de polímeros são denominadas reações de polimerização. Controlando-se as condições nas quais essas reações ocorrem, é possível obter moléculas maiores ou menores. Embora parecidas, as moléculas são diferentes em quantidade de monômeros. Por isso, os polímeros são chamados de materiais, pois não são formados por um único tipo de constituinte, uma vez que no processo de polimerização são formadas moléculas de diferentes tamanhos. Assim, em um polímero podem ser encontradas moléculas com 10 000 meros, outras com 10.010, outras com 10.050, e assim por diante.

O exemplo mais simples de polímero é o poli(etileno) — constituído pela união de centenas de moléculas do eteno (CH2=:CH2), também conhecido como etileno. A formação do poli(etileno) ocorre a partir da quebra de uma ligação covalente entre os átomos de carbono do eteno e a formação de outra ligação covalente com moléculas vizinhas de eteno, conforme a equação química a seguir.

n H2C = CH2 - ( CH2-CH2-)n

Polímeros

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Frustrated with the new block editor (Gutenberg) for WordPress? You're not alone. While many are excited about the new features, others are unhappy with the disruption to their process. If you find yourself in the latter group, here's how you can install the classic editor for WordPress and return to normal.
You'll get a nifty animation while it installs, then the button will rename itself "Activate". Click the newly named button.
When you're happy with your choices, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the "Save Changes" button.
Now you should be able to resume creating and editing your posts with an editor you understand – as if WordPress 5 were just another update.


The Camu Camu Berry has rapidly gained a well deserved spotlight in the food ingredients sector for its remarkable nutritional density, and in particular for presenting the highest levels of Vitamin C of any fruit tested to date, by a wide margin, with results topping in at 56 times the level of vitamin C provided by lemons.
This is significant as it has opened up a whole ray of possibilities in the food and beverage industries since it offers a natural alternative to food preservatives, particularly as a substitute for synthetically produced ascorbic acid, making labels cleaner and more attractive to consumers.
It has also been taken up by the nutraceutical industry as a natural Vitamin C Supplement. This comes with various benefits as it not only provides customers with a wholefood alternative, it may also avoid some of the negative side effects, such stomach upset, that can be experienced from pharmaceutical Vitamin C supplements.
Camu Camu (Myrciaria dubia) has been valued by communities throughout the Amazon, where it is found to grow naturally in regions spanning Brazil, Peru & Bolivia. It has been used traditionally for a wide number of health benefits such as its capacity to boost vitality, fight off colds and other viral infections and to detoxify the liver.
To fit the requirements of the industry, Superfood Ingredients offers its range of Camu Camu ingredients in a variety of formats, from a Camu Camu Puree to 100% pure Camu Camu Powders (dried at low temperatures to minimise nutrient loss), as well as Camu Camu Dry Extracts that have a standardised Vitamin C content, and Dried Camu Camu Berries ideal for use in cereals and cereal bars. These products are valuable not only for their nutrient contribution to any formulation, but also for the refreshing tart flavour that they impart. To date Camu Camu can be found as an ingredient in applications such as juices, smoothies, ice-creams, health foods, natural supplements, nutraceuticals, cereals, nutrition bars and as a preservative in anything from meat to confectionary.
The Camu Camu fruit (Myrciaria dubia) is a powerhouse of vitamins, bioflavonoids and amino acids. Its high levels of vitamin C puts it among the Amazon's latest natural superfruits. The berry is also packed with beneficial minerals and vitamins such as iron, phosphorus, calcium, thiamin, niacin, riboflavin and beta-carotene. Camu Camu is know to contain essential amino acids serine (for mental and overall nervous system health), valine and leucine (both of which aid in the supply of energy to the muscles).
With its exceptionally high content of Vitamin C, Camu Camu is able to provide some real heath benefits. That Vitamin C is an important part of a balanced diet is a well known fact, for the important role that it plays in our immune defenses (helping to protect against viral infections such as cold sores, shingles and the flu), in keeping our tissues healthy (such as helping protect against gum disease) and as an anti-inflammatory vital for maintaining good health. Whilst camu camu powder cannot compete with vitamin C supplements on weight-by-weight basis, its mixture of natural phytochemicals along side the Vitamin C puts it on top in effectiveness according to research. After all, nature has been doing this for a long time!
Its high levels of vitamin C make Camu Camu a good supplement for collagen formation and skin cell regeneration. The berry is also a rich source of beta-carotene, which like Vitamin C is another powerful antioxidant, and has been found to help protect skin against sun damage. Its antioxidant properties do not stop there though, as camu camu is packed with highly antioxidising bioflavonoids such as anthocyanins, flavonols and flavanois that also aid in the fight against free radicals, and the effect that these free radicals have on the ageing process of the skin and of the body as a whole.
Nutritionists and researchers list camu camu among the top holistic treatments for depression. Camu Camu is believed to balance brain chemistry, thereby helping to regulate mood, by acting to increase the levels of serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is a mood-balancing substance found in the brain that is associated with a sense of happiness and well-being, and it is also thought to improve sleep. With an ever growing dependence on drugs for tackling the problems of depression, and the associated health and social concerns that arise from this drug use, many are embracing this natural alternative in the form of Camu Camu Powder supplements and encapsulated Camu Camu powder.
Studies have indicated that as the Camu Camu fruit ripens the levels of Vitamin C drop, whilst its sugar content increases. The time of harvesting therefore plays a critical role depending on the desired end application. For nutraceutical and health food supplements where taste may be secondary, and when using Camu Camu as a natural preservative, the unripe fruit is often desired. For food and beverage applications where taste becomes important, and the light pink colour of the ripe fruit desirable, then Camu Camu ingredients made from the ripened fruit become favourable. Luckily at Superfood Ingredients we have both options to offer, to make sure that we can supply the right ingredient for the right application.
Please contact us if you are interested in wholesale bulk supply of our Camu Camu Powders or Camu Camu Pulp.
For customers interested in buying our Camu Camu Powder as a retail product please click on the link below to go to the Superfoodies website in New Zealand.
We have seen an increasing demand from consumers for natural, wholefood alternatives to the level of chemical preservatives and synthetic vitamins used in food, beverage and health supplements applications. The outcome has been a remarkable raise in awareness and demand for superfoods, such as the Amazonian superfruit Camu Camu, that offers just this; a natural food that delivers the functionality needed for product developers and food technologists to fill this brief.


Next Sunday, September 17th, at our 10 am Family Mass, we will recognize all of our wonderful catechists who exercise the Ministry of Catholic Religious Education with all of our public school boys and girls. We are very grateful for their dedicated and loving efforts and the many sacrifices they make in order to fulfill this year-long commitment. Go forth and preach the Gospel to all nations!


Have you gone gluten free yet find yourself missing pasta? It's time to invest in a spiral slicer so you can whip up some delicious raw pasta! Ribbons of spiralized zucchini and carrots replace wheat-based noodles, and are the perfect carrier of flavor for this creamy raw pesto sauce made with cold pressed olive oil, raw cashews, basil, garlic, black pepper and sea salt. Top with pine nuts, micro greens, and fresh herbs and enjoy!
Spiralize your zucchini and carrots. Set aside in a bowl.
In a food processor or vitamix, blend together the cashew, pumpkin seeds, EVOO, basil, garlic if using and pepper. Once it is well blended, transfer on top of the spiralized noodles. I use my hand (washed of course!) to get the pesto all blended in to the noodles.
Summer Sanders has long had a passion for holistic health, fresh foods, and fitness. She trained at the Matthew Kenney Academy, and eventually took a job with the school as a raw food instructor in Santa Monica. She is founder of Local Juicery in Sedona, AZ, and runs a whole food cleansing and health consulting company called Strong and Radiant. She is a certified personal trainer, weight management coach, prenatal exercise coach, and fitness nutrition specialist with National Academy of Sports Medicine. Summer has just finished her first raw food lifestyle book that is due out in mid 2014 with Vegan Heritage Press.


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Tag Archives: policy paper
COMMUNIA policy paper on leveraging copyright in support of education
Principles for education exceptions to copyright
LicentieLeerlingen in een lokaal van een kunstnijverheidsschool in AmsterdamPublic domainAnonymous
January 11, 2016 — Timothy Vollmer
Communia has published a policy paper on the topic of leveraging copyright in support of education. We contend that exceptions and limitations to copyright for education should support broad access and re-use of copyrighted content of all types in a variety of education settings and across borders.
The best way to achieve the proper balance of interests at stake is through the adoption of an exception or limitation to copyright for educational purposes that meets the following requirements:
it should be able to address local and cross-border education needs;
it should be mandatory;
it should be neutral with regard to media type, format, and technology;
it should be flexible; and
it should cover all necessary uses provided they are in accordance with fair practice.
We note that an exception or limitation to copyright for educational purposes is crucial because licensing will never be a wholly adequate solution to provide access to these works.
The full policy paper can be viewed online or downloaded as a PDF here.
Expand Public Domain and User Rights: COMMUNIA position paper on copyright reform
April 14, 2015 — Alek Tarkowski
We are publishing today our position paper on copyright reform in Europe (PDF), as a statement in the ongoing debate that focuses on the reform of the Information Society Directive.
Our position is based on the 14 policy recommendations that are at the heart of our organisation, as well as on our previous policy documents. We start by defining three basic principles:
Exclusive rights should be limited.
The public domain should not be eroded by legal or technical means.
Limitations and exceptions to copyright should continue playing their role of adapting copyright to technological changes.
Based on them, we formulate 12 positions on the EU copyright framework reform. We will be using them as guidance for our own advocacy work – but we present them also as recommendations for policy makers.
These positions are result of a discussion on ways of translating a general principle of defending and expanding the public domain into recommendations that fit onto current policy debates in Europe. In this light we are pleased to see that the majority of our positions have been covered by MEP Reda in her draft report on the implementation of of the InfoSoc directive.
New policy paper on the re-use of public sector information in cultural heritage institutions
November 3, 2014 — Paul Keller
In 2013 the European Union enacted Directive 2013/37/EU amending Directive 2003/98/EC on the re-use of public sector information (PSI). The 2013 directive is an important pillar of the European Union's open data strategy. It establishes the general principle that public sector bodies' available information shall be reusable in accordance with a number of conditions, such as open formats, terms and conditions. Member States are asked to transpose the new rules into domestic law by 18 July 2015, i.e. about nine months from now. One of the major new features of the PSI directive is the inclusion in its scope of libraries (including university libraries), museums and archives. However, if Member States are not careful, the implementation of the changes required by the new directive could do more harm than good to cultural heritage institutions.
The directive attempts for the first time to define a general framework for sharing cultural heritage information all around Europe. Under the amended directive, libraries, museums and archives are now asked to make parts of their collections available for reuse. In particular, documents in the Public Domain (either because never protected or because the protection expired) are under the general re-use rule of Art. 3(1), while documents in which libraries, museums and archives hold intellectual property rights are under the derogatory rule of Art. 3(2): only when institutions allow re-use are they under the obligation to ensure that the general re-use conditions are respected. Accordingly, the re-use requirements of the directive only apply to works that are not covered by third-party intellectual property rights.
While laudable in principle, the inclusion of cultural heritage institutions in the scope of the directive raises a number of questions related to how Member States should implement the new PSI directive. If Member States are not careful, the implementation of the changes required by the new directive could do more harm than good to cultural heritage institutions. In order for the directive to meet its overall objective, i.e. to contribute to opening up the resources held by Europe's cultural heritage institutions, three main recommendations for member states can be formulated:
Member States should implement the Directive in line with the principles established by Article 3 and ensure that all documents that are not currently covered by third party intellectual property rights fall within the scope of the Directive.
Member States must not implement the Directive in such a way that encourages or requires institutions to charge for the reuse of works that they make available for reuse. The decision to charge for reuse must be up to the individual institutions. If this is not the case the Directive will limit access and reuse of the public domain.
For documents that are still protected by intellectual property rights but where these rights are held by the cultural heritage institutions, Member States should encourage the use of Open Definition-compliant licenses, such as the Creative Commons licenses or the Creative Commons Zero mechanism. This applies in particular to metadata produced by cultural heritage institutions, in the limited cases where these metadata can attract copyright (such as long form descriptions of cultural heritage objects).
For a deeper analysis of these issues see the full policy paper on the re-use of public sector information in cultural heritage institutions.
COMMUNIA policy paper on digitization agreements
June 13, 2014 — Primavera De Filippi
The aim of this policy paper is to make policy recommendations for cultural institutions to preserve the Public Domain when using digitization services provided by private entities. This becomes particularly relevant in the context of the 2013 Public Sector Information (PSI) Directive which adds Museums, Libraries and Archives in the list of Public Sector Bodies (PSBs) that have to make their information reusable.
The Public Domain ensures the free dissemination of knowledge and provides everyone with the potential to access and create new works based on previous works. Thus, all Public Domain works should be free for everyone to use and reuse. Yet, as many cultural heritage institutions are entering into contractual agreements with third parties for the digitization of Public Domain works, there are serious concerns regarding the conditions of access, use and reuse of the resulting digitized copies.
Ideally, digital copies of Public Domain materials would be made immediately and freely available to the public. However, in practice, many of these public-private partnerships impose contractual restrictions that limit access and re-use of Public Domain materials. These restrictions have the same effect as introducing a new proprietary right over the digitized copies of Public Domain material, thereby substantially limiting the use and reuse of content that belongs to the common cultural heritage by subjecting it to a requirement of prior authorisation.
This risk is further increased with the introduction of the PSI 2013 regime, which allows the conclusion of exclusive agreements between private entities and PSBs under restrictive terms and with a potential perpetual validity.
COMMUNIA policy paper on proposed Directive on collective management of copyright
Today the COMMUNIA International Association presents its sixth policy paper. The paper is a reaction to the European Commission's proposal for a directive on collective management of copyright and related rights and multi-territorial licensing of rights in musical works for online uses in the internal market.
The COMMUNIA Association welcomes the European Commission's efforts to modernise collective management in Europe by providing rules for multi-territorial licensing of rights in musical works for online uses, and more generally by increasing the standards for transparency and accountability of Collective Rights Management Organizations (CMOs) operating in Europe.
Copyright management plays a central role in determining legal certainty for the digitisation of the European cultural heritage and for enabling an accessible and reusable digital Public Domain. This proposed directive intervenes at a crucial moment in the evolution of the information society and in the history of the European copyright system, where innovation and public access to knowledge should be a priority of policy-making.
The policy paper draws attention to two issues where the proposal should be improved. The first one concerns the transparency of repertoire information. We consider the proposed measures not sufficient and suggest an amendment to require that CMOs must provide this information more widely. The second issue concerns the relation between collective management and open content licenses. In our opinion, the proposed directive fails to address the existing incompatibilities between the collective management of rights and open content licensing.
The full COMMUNIA Association reaction on the Directive proposal on Collective Management of Copyright can be downloaded here. For further information about the paper please contact the COMMUNIA Association at communia DOT association AT gmail DOT com.
COMMUNIA Positive Agenda for the Public Domain
December 5, 2012 — Mélanie Dulong de Rosnay
This policy paper proposes to contribute to defining a positive agenda for the Public Domain. It is grounded on a WIPO study by Professor Séverine Dusollier, Communia policy recommendations and Communia previous WIPO statements.
This work-in-progress document presents policy recommendations and strategies aimed at the transnational level, namely WIPO CDIP and SCCR. Legal language will be drafted at a later stage.
Policy recommendations are:
1. Definition of a positive status for the Public Domain
2. Recognition of the validity of voluntary dedication to the Public Domain
3. Facilitating the identification of the Public Domain status
The full policy paper can be downloaded as a pdf: Communia Positive Agenda for the Public Domain and the full text is also available below/after the jump.
COMMUNIA policy paper on proposed amendments to PSI Directive
Today the COMMUNIA International Association presents its second policy paper. The paper is a reaction to the European Commission's proposal to amend the Directive on re-use of public sector information (2003/98/EC).
COMMUNIA is supportive of the Commission's suggested changes to the PSI Directive — most notably the decision to include cultural heritage institutions into the scope of the amended Directive. Access to and re-use of public sector information (PSI) has been one of the issues that has featured prominently in the work of COMMUNIA. The EC proposal to amend the PSI Directive is aligned with one of COMMUNIA's January 2011 policy recommendations (#13), which states, "The PSI Directive needs to be broadened, by increasing its scope to include publicly funded memory organisations – such as museums or galleries – and strengthened by mandating that Public Sector Information will be made freely available for all to use and re-use without restriction."
The policy paper draws attention to two issues where the proposal to amend the Directive should be improved. The first one concerns the conditions for re-use of public sector information that falls within the scope of the Directive and the second one deals with public domain content that is held by libraries, museums and archives.
Conditions for re-use of public sector information
From the perspective of COMMUNIA the way the amended Directive addresses licensing of public sector content remains underdeveloped and as such has the potential to create diverging and potentially incompatible implementations among the Member states. The article of the amended Directive dealing with licensing mentions "standard licenses," but does not sufficiently clarify what should be considered to be a standard license, and encourages the development of open government licenses. Instead of recommending the use and creation of more licenses, COMMUNIA suggests that the Commission should consider advocating the use of a single open license that can be applied across the entire European Union. Such licenses (stewarded by the Open Knowledge Foundation and Creative Commons) already exist and are widely used by a broad spectrum of data and content providers.
Public Domain Content held by libraries, museums and archives
COMMUNIA supports the decision to include cultural heritage institutions under the purview of the PSI Directive, as such a move will improve citizens' access to our shared knowledge and culture and should increase the amount of digitized cultural heritage that is available online. While the amended Directive makes it clear that documents held by cultural heritage institutions in which there are no third party intellectual property rights shall be re-usable for commercial or noncommercial purposes, it does not address the largest category of works held by cultural heritage institutions — those that are not covered by intellectual property rights because they are in the public domain. COMMUNIA thinks that explicitly including public domain content held by libraries, museums and archives in the re-use obligation of the amended PSI Directive will strengthen the Commission's position with regard to access and re-use of public domain content.
The full COMMUNIA association reaction to the EC's proposal to amend Directive 2003/98/EC on re-use of public sector information can be downloaded here. For further information about the paper please contact the COMMUNIA Association at communia DOT association AT gmail DOT com.
COMMUNIA policy paper on the proposed orphan works directive
October 27, 2011 — Communia Association
Today the COMMUNIA International Association presents its first policy paper. The paper analyzes the European Commission's proposed directive on certain permitted uses of orphan works (COM/2011/0289) in the light of its effects on the Public Domain. The paper contains suggestions for improving the directive to make it more suitable to the stated objective of increasing access to cultural heritage material that is currently locked away by a dysfunctional copyright system.
COMMUNIA is especially concerned with the narrow focus of the directive and its one-sided view on diligent search. In its current form the directive does not meet COMMUNIA's March 2011 policy recommendation on orphan works:
Recommendation #9: Europe needs an efficient pan-European system that guarantees users full access to orphan works. Both mandatory exceptions and extended collective licensing in combination with a guarantee fund should be explored. Any due diligent search requirements should be proportionate to the ability of the users to trace the rights holders.
According to the policy paper, a main weakness of the proposed directive is its narrow focus on public cultural heritage institutions as the only beneficiaries of the proposed exceptions allowing the use of orphaned works:
It is COMMUNIA's position that the group of users who may benefit from the orphan works directive should be widened to include everyone. The targeted group of end users should include individuals as well as non-profit initiatives like Wikipedia, which would currently not benefit from the proposed directive. Wikipedia is one of the most important platforms for access to cultural heritage information drawing more than 136.9 million European users alone.
A further concern is the vague standard for search.
There need to be mechanisms to determine the location where a search has to be carried out in cases where the works have not been published or where it is unclear where the works in question have been first published.
The full set of comments in the COMMUNIA policy paper on the proposed orphan works directive can be downloaded here. For further information about the paper please contact the COMMUNIA Association's Orphan works working group at communia DOT association AT gmail DOT com.


Tue, 13:09: Just because amazon has something, doesn't mean I necessarily need to buy it. I mean, do I really NEED fireweed honey?
Tue, 13:18: I can never take Robitussin anymore without hearing MC Chris making gagging noises in the back of my mind.
Tue, 14:56: IT'S SNOWING! IT'S SNOWING! I am abruptly five years old.
Wed, 00:42: I can not adequately express in words just exactly how much I do not want to do this history assignment. Total, nauseated aversion.


I was surprised nobody mentioned Ted's hair... He was actually briefly dismantled after being gobleted, so his reassembly may not have been completely accurate.
That could have actually explained his hair color transformation in the story, too, lol.


As if we need another blog post on change. The word got a workout in the last presidential election. If it is not a cliche yet for a leader to invoke the promise of change while ignoring the inherent difficulties of the proposition, it should be. Seth Godin, must have been reading the Gospel of Luke when he commented on his blog that, "It's a lot easier for an organization to adopt new words than it is to actually change anything. Real change is uncomfortable. If it's not feeling that way, you've probably just adopted new words." As I look ahead with trepidation at the work of starting a new church that embraces the possibility of change, the Gospel, and Seth Godin, remind me that it should not come easy.
Technology: Too much of a good thing?